4111

ill

II

•^

THE

CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S

JOURNAL

SCIENTIFIC AND RAILWAY GAZETTE,

VOLUME 11.-1839.

LONDON:

PUBLISHED FOR THE PROPRIETOR, ,57, KING STREET, WESTMINSTER ;

H. HOOPEK, PALL MALL EAST; GROOMBRIDGE, PANYER ALLEY, PATERNOSTER ROW; J. WEALE, 59, HIGH IIOLBORNi J- TAYLOR
1, WELLINGTON STREET, STRAND; J. WILLIAMS, 106, GREAT RUSSELL STREET, BLOOMSBURY;

JACKSON, NEW YORK.

LONDON:
THOMAS BURROWS, 57. KING STREET, WESTMINSTER.

PREFACE.

Another year has been acUled to our labours, and it is again a pleasant duty to lay before our readers a brief account of the progress
of the two professions, to the service of which we are devoted. It will naturally be expected that in a year of severe financial embarrass-
ment, succeeding also to one so fertile in important resvdts as was the last, there nuist necessarily be a falling olfin tlic amount of what
would otherwise have been eftticted, and a delay in the execution of many works, the completion of which is thereby retarded. Our own
exertions, however, we have not suffered to flag under circumstances so dispiriting, but trust that so far as has depended on us, the present
volume is worthy of its predecessor, and of the patronage with which our endeavours have been crowned.

In considering the general features of architecture, we find that the invasion of tlie Renaissa)ice style, wliich we announced last year,
has actually occurred, but has singularly been accompanied with, or rather smothered by, a resuscitated taste for Eli,!abethan external and
internal deebraticn. Considerable attention hiis also been devoted to the early antitpiities of Moresque architecture. Our own ecclesias-
tical antiquities, we are happy to mention with praise, have been chosen as the special object of enquiry by a Society of Clergymen at
Oxford, and thus we are led to hope for an improvement in taste, in a qu.u'ter which hitherto has had but too great a part in producing
the present degeneracy.

A striking and interesting circumstance to every well wisher of the arts, is the great zeal with which both associated bodies and
individual members of the profession have engaged in the struggle for maintaining the true principles of competition. Among these
cases have been the Nelson Testimonial, St. George's Hall Liverpool, and the Royal Exchange, in the still pending contest respecting
which latter, we believe we may say with truth, " Quorum pars maxuma fui." On learning the extraordinary attempt to impose a tax of a
guinea on applicants, for copies of the Instructions of the Committee, we immediately obtained copies both of the instructions and the
plans, and left them at our office for the free use of any ajjplicant— a course of conduct for which we feel an abundant reward, in the vote
of thanks unanimously bestowed on us by the Manchester Architectural Society. From these exertions hitherto, no immediate fruit has
resulted, but much has been already attained from the influence which they have had in awakening the public mind from its lethargy, and
calling its power to a subject so importantly affecting the national glory and the general taste.

Great progress has been made this year in bringing the accessary science of geology to bear upon architectural pursuits, and with a
success which must have an influence on the future progress of each respectively. Government issued a commission, composed of
geologists and architects, to examine the quarries of England, for the purpose of ascertaining the stone best fitted for the construction of
the new Houses of Parliament. This commission has produced a report which must lung be a standard of information to the profession,
and a valuable model in future enquiries. The Goverment has also formed a Museum of Economic Geology, attached to the deijartment
of Woods and Forests, in which the commissioners specimens are collected, and to which future accessions will be made. Special courses
of lectures on the connection of these two subjects have been delivered by eminent geologists : at the Royal Institute of British Architects
by G. F. Richardson, (reported in our Journal), and at the Architectural Society, by E. W. Brayley, jun. Great attention is also paid to
these subjects in the several faculties of civil engineering. Although not yet brought into immediate connection with architecture, we
feel it our duty to allude to the discoveries in photograpy by Daguerre and Fox Talbot, and to those in engraving by voltaic electricity
made at Liverpool. In the British Museum great improvements have been eft'ected, and a Museum of Antiquities has been formed by
the city authorities, in Guildhall. We regret, however, that the Soane Museum, the proper Museum of Architecture, as yet manifests
no progress. The elementary drawing and professional schools throughout the country have exhibited a remarkable improvement, as
have the schools of design, and the class of decorative artists appears to have attained a higher standard than it ever before reached. An
act has been (lassed for giving protection to the copyright of manufacturing deeigns, and it is to be hoped that this symptom of a better
system of legislation for art, may be pursued successfully. We may mention here as another legislative act, although not in perfect
regularity, that an amendment has been made in the Brick Duties Act.

2 U

9<2:>7f

.1 PREFACE.

(iro.it iiiimbcrs of cliiuihes havo this year been erected, and more are in progress, but of works of a high class few have been com-
jjleted. Wc may however mention tlic Reform CUib; llie Club Chambers Association; the Atliena;um and Unitarian Chapel, ^Manchester;
the Iligligate Cemetoiy ; a Conservatory at Chatsworth for the Duke of Devonshire, one of the largest in the world; and a Colossal
Monument in Scotland, to the Duke of Gordon. Many elegant commercial buildings have been erected ; and an increased taste has
manifested itself for public gardens, cemeteries, and other branches of landscape gardening. It is with regret that we are still obliged to
compUdn of the little regard that is paid to the maintenance of the public taste, by the managers of the funds for the new churches. As
to the other arts they are totally neglected, and architects have generally to complain of the niggardliness and inefficiency of the means
placed at their disposal. In fact the advocates for new churches, like the fitters out of emigrant ships, seem to think that plenty of
stowage is of much more importance than either convenience or safety. Tlie members of the establishment have a rich inheritance of
artistieal wealth left to them by our ancestors, and they are morally bound to maintain its dignity, yet so far from doing so, they make
little provision for the future, and take little care for the preservation of what they have in baud. We have to regret this year the
demolition from such neglect of the nave of St. Saviour's, Southwark, a shrine rich in its antiquarian and historical associations, and the
injury by a most terrific hurricane in the early part of the year of the Cathedrals of York, Chester, and St. Patrick's Dublin, and of the Town
Hall, Birmingham, and subsequently of the Cathedral of Ripon. Repairs and restorations have been effected of Wolverhampton, Collegiate
Church, i\ladley Church, tlie Pilgrim's Chapel Maidstone, St. Mary's Redcliife, the east end of Guildhall, and many of our Cathedrals. A
Government grant has been made for the restoration of the Cathedral of Glasgow, a work meritorious in itself, but an act of local favouritism,
which has been vainly solicited for other parts of tlie empire. But a small grant would have preserved St. Saviours. Some slight improve-
ments have been made in Whitehall, but no measure has been taken to render more worthy of the public a line of communication which
possesses many interesting monuments, and recalls many historical scenes. The palaces of Whitehall and Northumberland House, both
have' a back view upon this site, and here also are situated the statue of James 2d, the United Service Museum, and the Water Gate.
The principal foreign edifice completed this year, has been the Winter Palace of St. Petersburg, a work of great splendoiu: and of rapid
execution, a wonder of power if it were not an emblem of the weakness of the Russian empire. While this monument of selfish
barbarism has been erected, what has been done for the temporary and permanent welfare of that immense realm ? Canals have been
projected a hundred years, and the only railway is that leading to the palace.

We have to deplore the loss of two members of the profession, each of whom has left a name, which must long live in its history.
William Wilkins vvas the architect of Downing and University Colleges, of the University Club, St. George's Hospital, and the National
Gallery ; Rudolph Cabanel most distinguished himself as a theatrical architect, and by the improvements he introduced in many of the
technical branches of architecture. Mr. Hardwicke has succeeded Wilkins as a Member of the Royal Academy, and Mr. Charles Cockerell
as Professor of Architecture. Architects have as usual been lax in the literary career, but many valuable works have been produced,
among which we may mention the new^ edition of the Public B\iildings of London, by W. H. Leeds ; the Public Buildings of the West of
England, by John Foulston ; the Traveller's Club, by W. H. Leeds ; the Ancient Hali'-timbored Houses of England, by M. Haljershon ; the
Suburban Gardener, by J. O. Loudon ; the Architectural Remains of the Reigns of Elizabeth and James 1st, by C. J. Richardson ; and the
new edition of Repton's Landscape Gardening, by J. O. Loudon.

When we come to contemplate the government measures affecting the engineering interest, we are at once struck by a combination of
jobbery, such as no year has hitherto so abundantly produced. Defeated in the House of Commons on the Irish Railway business, they
managed to perpetrate the Shannon Navigation job ; and again repulsed by the public voice on the Steam Vessels Accidents Connnission,
hydra-like they bring out a new report on Railways, teennng with all the elements of fertile mischief, at the very period wdien their own
oflTicers had exposed in the case of the Caledonian Canal, the cousununateil evils of a long process of ignorance and mismanagement. One
of their last acts has been the appointment of a commission, to investigate the Harbours on the south coast of England, and another to
decide on the competing railway lines to Scotland and Ireland. The results of these two measures the experience of their predecessors has
taught us to look to with dread, and we have little hope from their origin of any error in our prognostic. It is to us a matter of consola-
tion that we have not been remiss in opposing so far as in us lay, measures so fraught with iniquity, and we believe we may say with some
little effect, but it depends neither on our temporary exertions, nor on those of others to combat this growing evil, it requires the united
energy of every person interested, to resist a series of measures which are confined to no party and to no set of men, but are part of a
system taken up with the robes of office and uniformly pursued by the most opposite in opinion. The civil engineers have an iinmediLite
interest in exerting themselves for this object, as the certain result of government success in this system must be to reduce the members
of the profession here as abroad, to be the liveried sycophants of the government, instead of the independent officers of the public at
large. To resist these attempts on the part of the government authorities, a Railway Society has been formed, although, we believe, not
conducted with the spirit necessary to ensure success.

A circumstance greatly affecting the mechanical members of the profession, is the great development given to public taste for
subjects, by the successfid results of the Leeds and other Mechanics' Exhibitions. Some experiments, interesting to the profession
generally, have been made on the explosion of mines, and charges of powder under water by voltaic electricity.

The agitation in the early part of the year respecting the Great Western Railway enquiry, subsided on the decision of the proprie-
tors of that undertaking, to continue the plans of Mr. Brunei. The second Report of the Committee on Railways is only valuable from
its statistical facts, which show indisputably the necessity for lowering the present high fares. Above one hundred and fifty miles of
railway have this year been opened, of which the London and Croydon, and Aylesbury branch have been opened throughout, and the
folh.wing partially, the Eastern Counties to Romford ; the York and North Midland from Y(jrk, to the Leeds and Selby Railway ; the
Southampton from Plartley Row to Basingstoke, and from Winchester to Southampton; the Great Western from Maidenhead to
Twyford; the Manchester and Leeds, from Manchester to Littloborough; Birmingham and Derby; Midland Counties; and Glasgow,

PREFACE. V

Paisley and Ayr, from Ayr to Irvine. Tiie system of galvanic telegraphs on the Great Western Raihvay, established by Professor
Wheatstone, has completely succeeded. Several foreign railways have been opened, among which are the Versailles, Amsterdam and
Utrecht, Taunus,and Emperor Ferdinand's from Vienna to Brimn. For ordinary roads active exertions are now being ma<le to introduce
wood pavements.

We have already mentioned that a commission has been directed, to examine the harbours between the Thames and Portsmouth, and
we may farther state that the hydraulic department of engineering has this year effected many important improvements, and shows an
energy wdiich promises much more. The works in the Wash are continued with success, and active measures have been taken for the
improvement of the north west coast. The Mersey, Ribble and Wy re have been deepened, and important plans are in agitation for
effecting the remaining objects. After many suggestions from different quarters, actual experiments have at last been made on the
propelling of vessels on canals by locomotive engines on the banks, and with such success as to leave little doubt of the permanent
establishment of this mode of transit. Experiments have also been made on the use of steam vessels on canals. At Cardiff, extensive
docks have been formed at the expense of the Manpiis of Bute. One of the finest hydraulic works of the year, has been the river wall
for the new Houses of Parliament. In France nmch attention has been directed towards the improvement of tlieir harbours, and a pre-
liminaiy grant of nearly two millions sterling has been made fur this purpose.

Steam navigation maintains the interest which it excited last year, and has received many important accessions. — A vigorous
attempt has been made by government to establish over it a spy and job system, but it is to be hoped that the miserably trilling results
of their intrigues, will induce them to give up this barefaced attack . no exertion must however be omitted by all parties steadily to resist
the obnoxious measure. The utility of iron steam vessels seems to have been fully established, and they \\s.\e been most extensively
used, particularly for river navigation. — Many also have been sent to distant parts of the empire, and to foreign countries. Their success
has led to the employment of iron as a general material for ship building, and the example of the Ironsides has been followed by the
building of many other iron sailing vessels. The experiments on the Archimedes and other vessels have been continued, but have led to
no permanent residts, the French steamer Veloce was unfortunately burned, but a sailing vessel called the Vernon, is making a voyage
to the East Indies, provided with a new kind of propeller. Professor Jacobi has made some experiments on the Neva, with a boat
propelled by electric apparatus, but these like the previous attempts of the Americans have been hitherto inefficient. The steam navy has
been greatly increased, and the dockyards improved, at Woolwich a central establishment has been formed. Among the vessels launched
are the Cyclops (the largest steam frigate in the world), the Hecla, the Stromboli, and the Prometheus. For the East Indian navy have
been built the Sesostris and the Queen. The adoption of large hollow shot as an armament for this class of shipping has greatly
increased its efficiency. Sweden, Russia, and Holland, are among the foreign powers who have shown attention to their steam n^\y, to
which our Engli»li vessels have served as models. Transatlantic steam navigation has been increased by the accession of the British
Queen steamer, and government has entered into a contract for the conveyance of the mails by steam from Liverpool to Halifax, Boston
and Quebec. The company for steam navigation to India by the Cape, has been discontinued, and their large class steamer sold ; for the
line by the Red Sea, however, the East India merchants have raised a hmidred thousand pounds. Dunkirk and Rotterdam may be
mentioned as rising steam ports, and Hull has by this mode of communication, successfully increased her eastland trade. The French
have made their steam voyages to Russia productive of great commercial advantages in the sale of articles of luxury, and they have
greatly extended their steam commercial marine.

Engineering literature has been increased by the production of many valuable works, most of which, even in the present progressing
age of science, must remain standard works in the library. The mental labours of the profession have not indeed been of less importance
than those in the field, and as great care has been shown to leave our successors good instructions asgood examples. We may enumerate :
Sections of English Railways, by George Bradshaw ; the London and Birmingham Railway, by Thomas Roscoe and Peter Lecount ;
Illustrations of Jlechanics, by the Rev. T. Moseley ; the Practical Treatise on Bridge Building, by E. Cresy ; on Steam Boilers, by Josiah
Parkes; the Theory, Practice and Architecture of Bridges, by James Hann and William Hosking; On Oblique Bridges, by George
Buck; On Arithmetical Perspective, by C. E. Bernard; On Steam Engine Boilers, by R. Armstrong; On the Construction and
Formation of Railways, by James Day ; and on the Construction of Oblique Arches, by John Hart.

The faculties of Civil Engineering, established in different Universities during the last year have gone on with success, and that at
King's College, London, has particularly distinguished itself by improvements in instruction, and by the zeal of its professors. The
University of London has announced its intention of granting diplomas for attainments in Civil Engineering, but un what basis the_v
proceed wl' have not yet been able to learn. If the previous course required for this be similar to that required for llieir other degrees,
it may be very difficult, and very useless ; an engineer would rather have in his employment a working man than a college diplomatist.
Attempts are now being made to establish a College for Civil Engineers, which it is to be hoped may be conducted on such principles as
to render it useful.

A monument to Telford, has been complete<l, and placed in Westminster Abbey, and a handsome testimonial has been presented to a
living engineer, Robert Steplienson, for whom also a statue is contemplated. Biographies and memoirs have been published of Watt,
Telford, Trevithick, and James.

The proceedings of the several professional societies, this year, have been such as to maintain their previous high reputation. The
several architectural bodies, the Royal Institute, the Architectural Society, and that .at Manchester have applied themselves with vigour to
obtain a fair system of competition, and have shown every attention to the improvement of tlieir members, bv courses of lectures on the
collateral sciences, and by the tlistribution of prizes. The Royal Institute of British Architects has conferred a testimony of esteem on

vi PREFACE.

one of it-i officers, TlioitiMs Leveiton Donaldson, whose services liave been long and publicly known. To the Manchester Architectural
Society we feel indfhteil for a tribute of praise to which we have already referred. In Ireland an Institute of the Architects of that
countrv, is in a promising state of progress, but we regret that the efforts for the establishment of a similar one in the United States, have
]>roveil abortive. The Institute of Civil Engineers has maintained a high rank, and the president has worthily followed the example of
his brotlier president, the noble Earl De Grey, in his sedulous attention to the duties of his office and the interests of the society. The
Military Engineers have published the Third Volume of their Transactions, which well keeps up the reputation of its predecessors. In
the United States an attempt is now being made to establish an Institute of Civil Engineers, which we earnestly hope may be crowned
with success.

Having dismissed the general interests of the two professions, we believe we may refer to our exertions with some complacency. We
announced last year that the pressure of matter would oblige us to increase the size of the Journal, and we have accordingly, with the
exception of one number, issued during this year an enlarged edition at one shilling and sixpence. That this was called for by
tlie wants uf <.ur s\ibscribers has been proved by the successful results of this measure, and we trust that we may appeal to
our columns whether we have exerted ourselves in a manner worthy of this support. In the jiresent volume will be found nearly five
hundred closely jirinted pages, and above two hundred wood engravings, among which are those of the Synag<igue in Great St. Helen's,
the Athenaeum Derby, the Font du Carrousel, Bow Bridge, the Arc de I'Etoile, the Nelson Column, and the Club Chambers Association.
There will also be found the Reports on the Great Western Railway Enquiry, on Steam Vessel Accidents, on the Caledonian Canal,
and on the Stone for the New Houses of Parliament ; a series of papers by Ralph Redivivus, Candidus, and on the Theory of the Steam
Engine, by A. Aristides Mornay ; on Railway Curves, and on Harbours, a Memoir of Trevithick, the Designs for the Nelson Memorial ;
and translations from the French of Arago's Life of W&tt, and De Clairac's Ancient Marbles.

To our correspondents we have been much indebted for their valuable contributions on many occasions, and we can assure them,
sincerely, that nothing shall be wanting on our part, at all times to show everv attention to their communications. The Journal has
always been open to every thing uf merit, and, we trust, we shall never be found remiss in doing justice to any subject committed to our
charge.

INDEX.

[The abbreviation rev. indicates a book reviewed.]

Academy, Royal, animadversions on, Iiy Vindex, 3G7.

Accident on tlie Eastern Counties railwav, inquest,
273.

Acoustics, necessity of investigations on, 392.

ActiEon steam ship, papier niaclie ornaments for, 20.

Alarm-gong, invented by Capt. G. Smith, 309.

Alkaline, formation of, 1.'jO.

Ancients, jmblie IniiMings of, 215 ; polycliromy, 220.

Ancient monuments of Rome, ai'cbitcctural restora-
tions of, 105.

Antiquarian Sociefv, 471.

Antiquities, 29, 115, 23S, 357.

Apparatus to take up carriages whilst at full sjieed,
Cnrlis's patent, 418.

For making signals, 448.

Arago, life of Watt by, 399, 407.

Arches, gothic, method of striking, 08.

skew, 164.

Bland's cxijerimental essays on, 309.

Archimedes steam-boat, explosion on board, 273.

Annstrong on steam-engine boilers, rei'., 390.

Are de I'Etoile, I'aris, ilescril)cd, with cuts, 159.

Architects, Royal Institute of, meetings and pro-
ceedings of, 21, 75, 112, 147, 192, 220, 268,312.

Report of council, 226.

Ireland, 442, 470.

Architectural Society, meetings and proceedings, 22,
75, 112, 149, 194, 269.

Manchester, 149, 312.

Architects : — Davies, 1 ; Pritcliett, Walhvorth, Rick-
mann and Ilussey, 28 ; \Yallace, 31 ; Salvin, liurn,
39; White, 77 ; Railton, 217; Paunet, ifj. ; Ken-
dall, Donthorn, Dvce, ib.; Lamb, 218; Hill, T.
H. Wyatt, Ebbcls; 237 ; Inwood and Clifton,
Messrs. Atkinson, 277; D. Burton, Elmes, 317 ;
Tattersall, 357 ; Wilkins, 388; Wightwick, 397 ;
Ehbels,Thomas, 445;ChantreIl,476; Pugin, 477;
A. & G. M'illiams, 477, J. Duff, 477.

Architecture of tlie middle ages, French & English,
chronology of, 193.

Application, &c., of various styles, 247.

Character and design on, 365.

Arithmetical balance, or new calculating machine,
389.

Perspective, rei'., 349.

Artesian wells, 145, 180 ; at Paris, 339.

Artists' convei-sazione, 22.

Asiatic Society, 157.

Association, British, meeting of, at Birmingham, 313.

Aspects and prospects, 40 ; remarks on, 255.

Athenainm at Derby, described, 31.

Augsburg, improvements at, 15.

Austria, restoration of gothic buildings, 40.

Avery's rotai-y steam-engine, 257.

Bald, W., report on the river Clyde, 382.

Bann reservoirs, Ireland, 21.

Barker's mill, improvement of, 449.

Barometer, a compensating, account of, 194.

Bath, Queen's College, 445 ; Mechanics' Institute,
ih. ; other buildings, &c. 428.

Belgium, public works in, 191.

Bennett's new steam-engine, 44.

Bernard's Arithmetical Perspective, rev., 349.

Berthier, M.P., analysis of Bituminous Minerals, 339.

Biddell's, C, experiments on iron-built ships, for
correcting the compass, 269.

Birmingham, new church, by Mr. Thomas, 445.

Meeting of British Association, 313.

New buildings, &c., at, 427.

Bitumen, Theoretical and Practical Review on, 191.

Bituminous Minerals, analysis of, 339.

Bland, Experimental Essays on Arches, rev., 309.

Blasting rocks by aid of galvinisni, 177.
J. J. on, 256.

Blocks for railways, 226.

Boilers of the Victoria steam-ship, 322.

Of Steam-engines, .\rnistrong on, rev., 300.

Bourne's Views of London and Birmingham Rail-
way, rev.. 352.
IjOx 'runnel, Great ^^■estern Railway, 314.
liradsbaw's Map of Railways, rev., 35.
lirick and Tile Machine, 254.
Brick-making, meclianical, 371.

Duties, new Act of Parliament relative to.

442,

Hride's, St., Fleet-street, 220.
Bridges : — Pont du Carrousel, 70.
Bow bridge, 119.
Hythe bridge, failure of, 101.

llann and Ilosking's Theory and Practice

of, rei.'., 260.

Buck on Oblique, »•«'., 309.

Bristol, improvements and buildings at, 427.
British Museum, e.arly Greek sculpture at, 179, 256,

vase room, 385; Etruscan scul])ture, 428; the

/Egina Marbles, 458 ; the Phigalian Marbles, 459.
British .Association, meeting of at Birmingham, 313;

papers read at, 421.
'British Queen' steam-vessel, 274.
Britton's Architectural Dictionary, 172.
Brougham, Lord, on the Composition of W.ater, 117.
Brnff, on Railway Curves, 139.
Brunei, J. K., report on Great Western Railway, 53,

second ditto, 09.
Brussels, new buildings, &c. at, 191.
Buck on Oblique Bridges, rev., 309.
Bude light at the House of Commons, 223.
Accident, 474.

Bute Docks, at Cardiff, opening of, 444, 468.
Bunnett and Corpe's patent concentric steam-engine,

253, 370, 441.
Burton, D., Club Chandlers, Regent-street, 319.
Buildings, improvements in, 361.
Buildings, tables of:

London, 187.

Munich, 426.

Erratum, 238.

Buildings, descriptions of :

Synagogue, Great St. Helen's, with cu/s; 1

liigh Cliffe, 4.

Athena'um, Derby, atis, 31.

ILarlarton, 39.

London and Westminster Bank, 40.

Pont du Carrousel, Paris, 10 cu/x, 70.

Bow Bridge, 4 cuts, 119.

— Arc de I'Etoile, Paris, 4 cufs, 159.

Proposed Nelson Column, 279.

Club Charaliers, Regent-street, 319.

Burstall on peat fuel, 338.

Patent railway buffer and elastic drag, 306.

Cabonel, R., architect, death, 118

Calculating machine, new, 389.

Caledonian Canal, the, 142; Walker's report on,

174,221.
Caledonian testimonial, Ireland, 477.
Canals ;— Caledonian, 142, 174, 221.

Crinan, 221.

in France, 174.

Locomotive power applied to, 393.

Candidus's Note Book, Fasc. I., 37 ; IL, 82; IIL,

128; IV., 163; V., '205; VI., 247; VII., 305 ;

VIII., 327; IX., 364; X., 424 ; XL, 455.
■ on the Daguerrotypc, 306.

Capillary attraction, lubrication by, 142.

Carburetted hydrogen gas, new mode of preparing,

339.
Carlisle, Cornish steam-engine at, 258.
Cast-iron gutters for roofs, 363.
Carriage safety, 465.
Carvings in wood, 118.
Cement, on arches built in, 44.

Martin's patent, 100.

Cerograpliy, new moilo of engraving, 345.
Chalk excavations, S. Hughes on, 206.
Charlton, F., on railway curves, 130.
Charters, Capt., letter to Lyell, 151.
Chateauncuf, A., design for Royal Exchange, 441.
Chemical equivalents, 112.
Chelsea Waterworks, 340.
Chester, ancient chapel discovered at, 238.
Chronology of French and English medeval archi-
tecture, 193.
Churches, New —

Binningham, 28, 445.

St. Chad, a C^atholic church, 477.

Brighton, 28.

Coventry, 237.

Clydesdale, 237.

Dunkinfield, 357.

Greenock, 476.

Ilo.xton, Christ Church, 317

Islington, St. Mary's, 277

Isle of Portland, 356.

Ketley, 356.

Leeds, 476.

Liverpool, Scotch church, 277.

Madley, 357.

Manchester. Unitarian chapel, 397.

Great Ancoats, 4 76.

Meltham Mills, 28.

Plummers Plain, Sussex, 4 76.

Potteries, 356.

Rye, 397.

Sibford, 237.

St. Helen's, Lancaster, 477.

St. Saviour's, Borough, 317.

Southwark, 445.

Sand Ilutton, 445.

St. Leonard's Forest, chapel, 477.

Tipton, 237.

Tyncmouth, 397.

West Bromwich, 237.

Wolverhampton, 237.

Wetherby, 277.

Walsall, 397.

Windsor, Old, 445.

Yorkshire, Middleton, 470.

Poole chapel, 4 76.

Circular railway curves, 140.

Claridge's patent Asphalte, 233.

Clay, W. N., new mode of producing wrought iron

from the ore. 1 7.
Cicognara, Fabbrichc di Venezia, 8.
Civil Engineers' College, 354.
Claxton's Hints to Mechanics, rev., 34.
Cloth-making without spiiming or weaving, 308.
Clongh, description of a floating, 147.
Club Chambers, Regent-street, with cuts, 319.
Clyde, river, report on, 382.
Coft'reDam at Westminster Bridge, 311.
at St. Katharine's Dock, 430.

Coke and Peat, 467.

Colchester, failure of the Hythe Bridge at, 191.
Coquet, river, improvements at mouth of, 337.
Cornish high pressure steam-engine, 258.
Cornwall, Mining School, 152,

INDEX.

Companion to Almanac, rev., 4.

Competition designs, 454.

For tlie Royal Exchange, 473.

Competitions, remaiks on, l)y E. B. Lamb, 211.

Cottage window stay-l>ai', 361.

Counter remarks, 458.

Craee, Mr., paper on the history of paper-hangings,
99, 140.

his Stndio, 285.

Crank engines, economy of working, 146.

Cresy's Treatise on Briilge-lmildiiig, 392.

Criuan canal, 221.

Curtis's Uaihvay improvements, 122, 239, 43G ;
447.

Curves, Railway, Ely on, 138; Assistant Engineer,
139 ; P. Brcff, /*. ; F. Charlton, ib. ; Simms re-
marks on, 245, 98, 202, 245, 254, 337.

Daguerrotype, the, 321, — Candidiis on, 36G.

Dams, Obstruction of streams by, 333.

Day on Constiuction of Raih-oads, rev., 392.

Derby, Atbenannn at, 31.

Design Act, the, 3111.

Designs, architectural, Royal Academy, 21 G.

Nelson Memorial, 133 : author's description

of 290.

Royal Exchange, 440.

Devonshire and Cornwall, rocks of 229.

Dibdin's Northern Tour, i-ev., 4.

Dictionarv, Architectural, Stuart's, 44; Britton's,
172.

Diving Bell, by Col. Tasley, 4G9.

Donaldson, T. L., design for Royal Exchange, 441.

Door stay-bar, 3G2.

Dover, railway-works near, 45.

Draining land by steam-power, 341.

Dumfries, hurricane at, 113.

Dynamometer, 138.

Earthquake on the Island of St. Mary, 112.

Edinburgh, School of Engineering at, 86.

Elizabethan architecture, 391.

Ely, J., on railway curves, 138.

Encroachments and Recessions of the Sea, 464.

Engine smoke, invention for consumption of, 345.

Engineering, school of, at Edinljurgh, 86.

Works, 27, 76, 117, 157, 237, 315,355,

395,444,476.

Engraving, new mode of, 345.

By means of voltaic electricity, 465.

Equicatomic compound, new, 228.

Ericsson's steam-boat propeller, 115.

Etruscan Sculpture, British Museum, 428.

Excavations and embankments, setting out slopes
of, 18.

Excavator Locomotive, 4G8.

Exhibition, designs Royal Academy, 216.

Designs for Nelson Memorial, 133, 290.

Royal Excluange, 440.

Manufactm-es and works of art, Paris,

223.

Falling Bodies, momentum of, 18.
Filtering apparatus, Jonville's, 339.
Fine Arts in Italy, 388.

in Greece, 461.

Fire bars, Miller's patent, 468.

Fire-escape, 97.

Flexible water main at Glasgow, 451.

Floating Harbours, 1 72.

Floating Clough, description of, 147.

Fluids, incompressible, equilibrimn of, 353.

Foreign inteUigoncc, 28, 77, 110, 197, 237.

Foreign Monthly Review. French decorations and

shops, 259 ; furniture anil manufactm-es, 369.
Fossil shells, Capt. Bayfield's collection of, 228.
Francis on tlie Fine Arts in Greece, 461.
Fuel, economy of, 180.

— New, for steam navigation, 421.
Galvanic Telegraph, Great Western Railway, 31.
GalvaiMsm, mode of blasting rocks by aid of, 177.
Geological Society meetings, and papers, of, 151.
Geology, physical, researches in, bv V,'. lIoDkini

150.
, Richardson's lectures on, as applied to

architecture, 147, 192, 271, 330.
German Architecture, .tee Munich.
Ghent, new buildings at, 191.
Gibbon's Law of Dilapidations, rev., 2.
Glass, duty on, case relative to, 76.

Glenarm harbour, 82.

Godwin, G., Letter to Col. Pasley, 18.

' Churches,' 324.

On investigation of acoustics, 392.

Architeetmal Tour in the Provinces, 426.

Gothic arches, method of striking, 98.
"Gothic architecture, on the parallel styles and period

of, in France and England, 193.
Gradients, table of, 460.
Grauwacke or Transition system, in Somerset, &c.,

228.
Granton Pier, 356.
Greeks, polychroney of, 220.
Grellier, \\'., design by, 217, first premium for Royal

Exchange, 437.
Ground-rope apparatus, Curtis's patent, 447.
Gunpowder, method of firing, under water, 192.
Gutters for roof, cast-iron, 363.
Habershon's Ancient Half Timbered Houses, rev.,

351, 439.
Ilam, F., remarks on steam power,
llarliours, Glenarm, 82 — plan for, at Hastings, 85.
llarlarton, Mr. Gregory's mansion at, account of, 39.
Hastings, proposed harbour at, 85.
Hawkins, J. J., remarks on wooden pavement, 308.
Hawkshaw, J. report on Great ^\■esteru Railway, 48.
Ilershel, Sir J., on photography, 150.
llodgkinson, E., experiments to ascertain the

strength of different species of wood, 422.
Ilngan's ' Pieta,' colossal group, 363.
Holbeach, sea-bank at, 450.
Hopper, Mr., letter on the Roy.al Exchange, 218 ;

remarks on WelUngton Testimonial, 307.
Hortiodtural Society, 22.
Houses of Parliament, works at, 157 ; stone for

building, 331, 372, 419,— tenders for, 442.
Hughes, on the Steam Dredging Machine, 9.
Hull, proposed new dock at, 16.
Hydraulic gas-holder counter-balance, 201.
Hydrostatic Chain, 449.
Hydrostatic Jack, 436.
Improvements in buildings, 3G1.
Incorporated Church-building Society, 317.
Ipswieh new dock at, 356.
Iron, on use of, by R. E. Phillips, 11.

Clay's new mode of producing, &c., 1 7.

Works at Rhymney, description of, 147.

Jobbing, Government, 321.

Jones' Principles and Practice of Levelling, rev., 339.

Jonville's filtering apparatus, 339.

Iron, experiments on, by Mr. Fairbairn,

Iron-trade, state and prospects of, 342.

Statues, 118.

Houses, 152.

Isolated Harbours of Refuge, 135,

Italy, Fine Arts in, 388.

Ivory, artificial, 345.

Katharine's, St., Dock, Telford's specification and

drawings for entrance lock, &c., 430.
Kilsby Tunnel, 224.
Lamb, E. B., remarks on public competitions, 211 ;

designs by, 218.
Lardner, Dr., on Railway Constants, 383.
Law Proceedings, 23, 75, 153, 233, 273.
Leeds', Illustrations, Public Ibiildings, rev., 5.

Studies and Examples, rev., 202.

Lemon's, Sir C, Mining School, Cornwall, 152.
Liglit-houscs, construction of, on sands, 37.
Lighting of the House of Commons, with Bude

lights, 223.
Lithograjihing Old Prints, new method of, 308.
Lock Gates, on framing without iron. 111.

Description of a lloating Clough, 147.

X new plan of construction, 470.

Locomotive engines, wheels of, 44.

On lulling of the lioilers. 111.

On the comparison between the powers

of, 146.

On the priming of, 455.

Locomotive excavator, 468.

London and Birmingham Railroad, 19, 252.

and M'estminster Bank, descriljed, 40.

Illustrations of Public Builibngs, rei>., £

Table of Public Buildings, 187.

Loudon's Sidnnban Gardener, rev., 258.

Lowtber Arca<le, critique on, 83.

— — — — — Designed by Mr, Young, 254,

Luxor Obelisk, the, 222.

Lyell, Mr., on fossil shells, &c., 228 ; on the tertiary

deposits in Norfolk and Suftblk, 229.
Machine for cleaning, &c., fronts of houses, 97.

Sawing, for cutting railway bars, 192.

Calculating, new, 389.

Macrae's patent hydraulic gas-holder, counter-
balance, 201.
Manchester, Unitarian Chapel at, by Barry, 397;

general remarks on new buildings, &c., 420.

jVrchitcctural Society, 149, 312.

Manchester and Salford canal opening,
JManufacture of paper-hanging, important invention

in, 344.
Mai-ine railway slip, 389.
Martin's patent cement, 100.
Mayo, survey and map of, 113.
Mersev, changes and improvements in the embouchere

of, 421.
Meteoric stone, account of fall of, 194, 195.
MetropoUs, jmblic statues in, 218.

Plan for supplying with sining water, 441.

ililler's patent fire bars, 408.

Modern School of English .\rcbitecture, rev., 262.

Momentum of Falling Bodies, 18, 43.

Monscale, Cathedral of, 4 10.

Montrose, Wet Dock, 98; Suspension Bridge, 111.

Monuments, National, 15.

Mornav, A., on general theory of the steam-engine,

128, 200, 423.
Mowing machine, 345.

Munich, buildings at, 425 ; Talile of Ditto, 420.
Museum, British, see Britis/i.
Soanean, managemont of exposed, 13;

critique on, 304.
National Monuments, 15.
Nelson Monument, exhibition of designs and models,

133 ; second competition and exhibition, 290 ;

meeting of committee ; 309.

letter on, by Omega, 136 ; second

ditto, 169.

view of Mr. Railton's design, 279.

^— — — — -^— remarks on decision of the com-
mittee, 280.

Oldham's system of warming Bank of England, &e.,
96.

Omega on the Nelson Monument, 136.

Ouze Outfall Improvement, 467.

Oven, roasting and baking, plans, &c., of, 359.

Oxford Street, experimental paving in, 393,474.

Panorama of Rome, &c., 135.

Painted glass window, by Iloadley and Oldfield, 308.

Paper, new kind of sentitive, 195.

Paper-hangings, history of, 99.

important invention in manufacture

of, 344.

Pasley, Col., on the Suspension Bridge at Montrose,
111; operations by, for blowing up the wreck of
the Royal George, 392.

Pambour on the steam-engine, 219 ; rev., 345.

Papier machee ornaments for Acteon steam-vessel,
20.

Paris, Pont du Carrousel, 79.

Arc de I'Etoile, 159.

architectural taste, 328.

- shops, kc,

Parkes on steam-boilers and steam-engines, rev., 363.
Parliamentary Proceedings, session 1839, 349.
Patents, New, 30, 78, 118, 158, 198, 238, 277,318,
358, 398, 446,

American, 230.

Paving, experimental, in Oxford Street, 20, 201,

314.

Act, 153.

Pavements, Roman, 357.

Peat, use of ,in manufacture of iron, 111 ; M'illiams'
patent, ii.

Peat and resin fuel, 145.

Penny Cyclopaedia, art. " London," 186 ; Table of
Public Buildings from, 187; Ditto, "Munich,"
424.

Philomusffius, rambles by. No. I, 285 ; No. II, 327.

Photography, Sir J. Uersdiel on, 150; the Daguer-
rotype, 321 ; " Histoiy of," rev. 437.

Plymouth Breakwater, 165.

Pointing a chureli steeple, 449.

Polychromy of the ancient Greeks, 220,

INDEX.

Font du C'.irrcii\se1, Parii, ilescril)crt with ciils, 79.

Priming of locomotive boiler.^, 4.5.').

Prints, old, inetliod of litliogvaiiliing. 308.

Prussian railway law, 20.

Fuhlic Uuildings and Imiirovemcnls, 28, 77, 277,

317, 3.56, 397, 446.
Pngin, W., Ilabershon's rcjily to his insiiiuation.s,

351.
Quarries, list of, examined for stone for New Houses

of Parliament, 372.
Quarterly Review, paper from, on styles of archi-
tecture, 247.
Queen's College, Bath, 445.
Quetclet on the calculations of probabilities, 144.
Railways: —

Aylesbury (opening), 276.

Birmingham and fUoster, 26, 116, 137.

Birmingham .md Derby, 275, 396.

Blackwall, 155.

Bolton and Preston, 237, 277.

Bristol and Exeter, 116, 355.

Chester and Crewe, 396.

Chester and Birkenhead, 26, 197.

Croydon, 155, 275.

Cheltenham and Creat Western, 236.

Dundee and Arbroath, 275.

Eastern Counties, 27, 116, 154, 197, 236, open-
ing 275.

Edinburgh, Leith, &c., 27. "^

and Glasgow, 313.

Glasgow and Paislev, 236, 276, 313, 396, 444.

Glasgow and Ayr, 26, 236.

Great Western, 41, 47, 76, 197, 236, 276, 355.

Hidl and Selby, 196, 444.

London and Southampton, 197.

and Southampton, 276.

and Brighton, 26, 116, 197, 277.

and Birmingham Railway, works near

Blisworth, 19; excavation, 252.

Lewes and Hastings, 26.

Liverpool and llanchester, 76, 355.

Manchester and Leeds, 26, 146, 237, 276, 313.

and Birmingham, 26, 76, 155, 237,

277, 355, 396, 444.

Midland Counties, 355, 396, 444.

Newcastle and North Shields, 197, 277.

Preston and Longridge, 277.

and Lancaster, 355, 396.

Sheffield and Rothcrham, 197, 236.

Stockport Viaduct, 396.

S. Eastern, Dover, 76, 235.

York and North Midland, 276, 313, 355.
Foreign : —

Reports, Irish railway commission, 39.

London and Brighton railway, 46.

Great Western ditto, 46.

Liverpool and Manchester, 75.

Institute British Areliitects, 226.

Institution of t ivil Engineers, 111, 145, _

Rotative Disc Engine, 315.
Royal Academy, architectural designs at, 216.
animadversions on, 367.

192, 225, 268, 311, 467.

River Dee and Ilarlmur of Chester, 267.

Royal Excliauge, (36.

America, 116.

Austria, 27, 116.

Brunswick and Harzbuig, 27.

Danube and Black Sea, 197.

Havre, 27, 197.

Philadelphia, 116.

Russia, 116.

Versailles and St. Cloud, 116.
Railway bar, Tilghman's, 449.
Railway Constants, by Dr. Lardncr, 383.
Railway Curves, setting out of, 13.
Railway points, 449.
Railways, construction of, in America, 146.

on setting out widths, by H. Carr, 192.

on the present mode of executing rail-
ways, by F. Wisliaw, 192.

'- Society, 152.

.Signals, t'luiis's patent, 447.

• Wheel, 422.

Railton, Mr., design for the Nelson monument, 280.
Rain, impressiou of drops of, on new red sandstone,

151.
Ralph Redivivus, No. 12, The Pantheon, Oxford

Street, 8.

No. 13, Excise OfRce, 36.

No. 14, Lowther Arcade, 83.

No. 15, York Column, 127.

No. 16, Pindieo Literary Insti-

tution, 162.

1 — No. 17, Soanean Museum, 304.

Rennie's, Sir J., account of Plymouth breakwater,
165.

■ report on tlie River Oiize imrrove-
meut, 467.

Rcpton, aspects and prospects by, 40.
Resins, constitution of, 228.
Restoration of ruins, observations on, 369.
Reviews :

Armstrong on Steam-engine Boilers, 390.

Bartholomew's Hints, 190.

Bernard's Arithmetical Perspective, 349.

Bland on Arches, 309.

Boilean's Traverse Tables, 352.

Bourne's Lonilon and Binningham Railway, 352.

Bradshaw's Map of Railways, 35.

Brees' Apjicndix to Railway Practice, 190.

Buck on Obhqne Arches. 309.

Cicognara, Fabliriche di Vcnezia, 8.

Companion to the Almanac, 4.

Cresy's Treatise on Bridge-building, 189,392.

Day on construction of railroads, 392.

Del Duomo di Monreale, 440.

Design Act, 309.

Dibdin's Northern Tour, 4.

Essay on Bitumen, 191.

Engineers, royal, profe.ssicnal paper, 438, 463.

Foreign Monthly Review, 259.

Foulslton's Public Buildings, 34.

Gibbons' Law of Dilapidations, 2.

Grand Junction Railway, 144.

Ilaliershon's Ancient Half Timbered Houses, 351,
439.

Ilann and llosking's Architecture of Bridges, 260.

Hart on obhipie arches, 392.

Hay's Laws of Harmonious Colouring, 188.

Herculaneuni and Pompeii, 7.

Hints to Mechanics, 35.

Hopper on the Royal Exchange, 143.

llosmer's Tables, 309.

Il)betson on Tuning, 352.

Instrument, on a box of, 437.

Jones' Principles of Levelling, 309.

Journal of the American Institute, 35.

Leeds' Public Buildings of London, 5.

Loudon's Subiuban Gardener, 258.

Mechanics, by the Rev. 11. Moseley, 183.

Monmnens d'Archit. Byzantine, 7.

Morin sur I'Adherence dcs Pierres, 8.

Pambour on the Steam Engine, 345, 466.

Parkes on Steam Boilers, &c., 263.

Pasley, Col., on Cements, &c., 32, 105.

Penny Cyclopaedia, (London), 186.

(Munich), 424.

Photogence drawing of, histoi'v of, 437.

PolytechnLschen Journal, 8.

Quetclet's Calculations of Probabilities, 144.

Rennie's, Sir J., Report on Improvement of the
River Dee, 267.

Rejiton's landscape gardening, by Loudon, 392.

Richardson on Warming and Ventilation, 345.

Richardson's ^ii'chitectural Remains, &c., 391.

Koscoe's London and Birmingham railwiiy, .

Shaw's Eneyclopsedia of Ornament, 266.

Sopwith's Isometrical Pcrsi)cctive, 110.

Studies and Examples, Modern English -Vi'chitec-
ture, 262.

Tavlor's Design for Exchange Buildings, Man-
chester, 2C8.

Telford's Life, 107.

Thomas' Gothic Ornaments, 268.

Ure's Dictionary of Arts, &c., 185.

Wallace's Universal Calculator, 110.

Westminster Improvements, 34.

Year Book of Facts, 144.
Rhymney Iron Works, 147.
Richardson, C. J., on W.arming Bnihlings, 371.

Arclutect\n-al Itcmaius, rev., 391

Royal Exchange, 114, 137 ; letter respecting, 171;
proceedings and resolutions of the committee,
173 ; letter from Mr. Hopper, 218 ; report of the
architects, 436 ; ditto committee, 437 ; exhibition
of the designs, 440, 473.

George, blowing up of wreck of, Spithead,

392.

Ruins, observations on restoration of, 369.
Ruinous buildings, on means employed for remoring,

135.
Running Gauge for measuring railway rails, 245,

338.
.Safety lamp. Baron Mesniel, 472.
Salvin, Mr., employed at Horlaxton, 39.
Savery, Capt., inventor of the steam-engine, 137.
Sawing Machine for cutting of railway bars, 192.
Schiller's Monument at Stuttgard, 237.
School of Design, Margaret Street, 113.
Sculpture and Architecture, remarks on. 214.

early Greek, at British Museum, 179, 256.

Hogan's " Piefa, 363.

Etruscan, British Museum, 428.

Ancient Statues, 367, 434.

j-Egina Marljles, British Musenni, 4.')8.

Phigalian Marbles, ditto 4j9.

.Sea-bank at Ilolbeacli, 450.
Sea, encroachments and recessions of the, 461,
Sesostris, Colossus of, 280.
Sewage of Westminster, 311.
Shaw's Encyclopaedia of Ornament, ret\, 266.
Simms, F. W., on curves on railways, 245.
Skew Arches, 104.

Smcaton's estimate of animal power, 192.
Soanean Museum, the, 304.
Sopwith's Isometrical Perspective, rev., 110.
Southampton docks, 4 76.
St. Helen's town-hall, 477.
Statues, public, in the metropolis, 218.
ancient, 367, 434,452.

G. F. on Geology as applied to Arclii-

tecture, 336, 147,192, 271.
Rocks of Devonshire and Cornwall, 229.
Rome, architectuial restoration of aucieiit juouu-

uicnt« of, 105.

Steam-boilers and steam-engines, Parkes on, 225,

363.
Steam-engines, on the economy of working expan-
sively in crank engines, 146.
Steam-engine, theory of, by Pambour, 345, 466.
Steam Navigation, Steam-vessels, &c. : —
Iron Steam-vessel, Brazilian steam navigation,

&e., 25.
Great ^\'estern, 76 ; Hecla, 76 ; steamers from

France to America, 76.
Stcnm-boat Inspectors, 91.
Ericsson's steam-boat propeller, 115, 154; Great

Western, 15, 154 ; the Kite, 115.
Lauuch of the Nicholai, 154 ; the Star, ib. ; steam
conveyance to America, ib. ; Mediterranean
steam navigation, ib.
MaUs to America, 196; the Union iron steamer,

ib.
Steamers from Clyde to New York, 235; iron

ships, ib.
The British Queen, 274, 354 ; iron ship, 275.
Steam-ships, 313 ; communication with America,

ib.
Government steamers, 354 ; the Cyclops steam

frigate, ib.
The ' Sesostris,' 394 ; Boston ajid Liverpool steam

ships, ib.
Canal steam navigation, 395.
The ' Medusa ' steamer, ib.
The ' Archimedes,' 442 ; the ' Queen,' 445,
"The New York," 475.
Steam, new fuel for, 421.
■ power. Ham on, 287.

vessels, power of tonnage, 421.

On the elastic powers of, 467.

On the density of, by Dr. Ure, 4 73.

Steel, difference between Eiuopean and Indian,
151.

Stone for the new Houses of Parliament, 331 ; hst
of qu.Trries examined for, 372 ; tables giving re-
sults of experiments, 419.

Surrey County Lunatic Asylum, 357.

Tait, J. F., on the pubUc builcUngs of the ancients,
215.

Telegraph, Galvanic, Great 'ffesterii Hail^vay, 381.

INDEX.

clford, T., specification and dramngs for entrance

lock, &c., St. Katharine's Docks, 1:^0.
Thames embankment, at New Houses of Parliament,
35o.

Tnnnel, work at, 158.

Sliield, 32G.

I'hilomusieus on, 328.

Tite, \V., paper bv, read at Architectural Society,

212.
Tilghnian's railway bar, 449.
Tonnage in steam vessels, most economic proportion

of power to, 421.
Transferring old prints, 465.
Traveller's Club House, work on, vev., 2C2.
Traverse Tables, Boileau's, rep., 3.'>2.
Trevithick, Richard, memoir of, 93. |

Tides, Prof. "Whewell on the, 472.
Tumulus or BaiTow, near Rush, county of Dublin,

113.
Tnrnbridges on the Hereford and Glo'ster canal, 192.
Turnbull, Major, letter from, 42.
Turn-table, Railway, substitute for, 202.

Turning, Ibbctson on, rev,, 352.
Voltaic battery, by W. R. Grove, Esq., 472.
Wallace, R., the Derby Athenaeum liy, 31.
Walker, J., report on Caledonian Canal, 174,221.
Warming buildings, Richardson on, 371.
Warming and ventilating of builditigs. by Hood, 469.
Water, Lord Brougham, on the composition of, 417.
Waterworks, Chelsea, 340.
Water Company, new, 441.

Main, Glasgow works, 451.

Waves, Mr. .Scott Russell on, 471.

Well sinking, 245.

Wellington Testimonial, remarks on, 307.

Statue in the city, 114.

Westminster Bridge, works at, 157 203.
W'heels of locomotive engines, 44.

new railway, 442.

For common roads or railways, 449.

Wliite, J., design for raising sunken vessels, 284.
Wightwick, Mr., on the "National Gallery, 97; design

for Public Hall at Plymouth, 397.
Wilkins, W., necrological notice of, 388.

I Willoughby de Eresby's, Lord, patent machinery fo

compressing pe.it, 281.
Williams' patent boiler, 306.

( patent peat fuel. 111.

j Lieut. Col., on sliingle of the coasts of

Sussex, 126.
^^■ood, experiment to ascertain the strength of diffe-
rent species, by Mr. E. llodgkinson, 422.
Wood, W, first report on Great Western Railway,

47 ; second ditto, 58.
Wooden Pavement, 20, 43, 201, 314.

Hawkin's remarks on, 308.

Woolwich Dockyard Improvements, 444.

Worcester, buildings at, 427.

Wreck of the Royal George, Spithead, blowing up
of, 392.

^^'^Te Harbour, 444.

Vates, on changes and improvements in the embou-
chure of the Mersey, 421.

Yorkshire Paving, on the effect of climate on, 463.

Young, Mr., architect of the Lowther Arcade, 254.

Arc de I'Etoile, Paris, i cuts, 159.

Apparatus to take up a carriage, 2 cuts, 448.

Aspects and prosjiects, 1 cut, 41.

Atlienicum, Derby, 3 cuts, 31.

]5oiler, Williams' wrought iron, 1 cut, 306.

Break, for arresting the progress of an engine or

carriage, 6 cuts, 123.
Bridgks : —

Architectiu-e of, 2 cuts, 261.

Bow, Old and New, 4 cuts, 119.

Pont dn Carrousel, I'aris, 19 cuts, 79.

Wesfnunstcr, repairs at, 2 cuts, 203.
Building, lm]novcmcnts in, 15 cuts, 361.
Contrivance for sluitting doors, 1 cut, 33.
Caledonian Canal, cutting of, 1 cut, 109.
Chalk excavations, 5 cuts, 206.
C:istern for water, 1 cut, 35.
Churches of London, 4 c\its, 325.
Club Chambers, Regent Street, 2 cuts, 319.
Cofferdam at St. Katharine's Docks. 9 cuts, 431.
Dock, plan of (iroposed new, at Kingston-upon-Hull,

1 cut, 16.
Dynanometer, 1 cut, 138.
Fire escape, 1 cut, 97.
Glenarm Harbour, 2 cuts, 83.
Ciothic arches, method of striking, 2 cuts, 98.
Cironnd-rope apparatus, 2 cuts, 447.
Gauge, running, 1 cut, 245.
—— improved, 1 cut, 338,

LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.

Hahbours : —

Gleiiaim, 2 cuts, 83.

Hastings, 1 cut, 86.

Of Refuge, 3 cuts, 121.

Of Refuge, 1 cut, 172.
Hastings, harbour at, 1 cut, 80.
Hydrostatic Jack, 3 cuts, 435.
Chair, 2 cuts, 449.

Iron, new mode of prod\ieing wrought or malleable,

direct from the ore, 3 cuts, 17.
Lamji, Parker's hot-oil, 1 cut, 329.
Lighthouses, construction of, on sand, 4 cuts, 38.
Locks, reservoir canal, 1 cut, 67.
Locomotive, animal, 14 cuts, 239.
Lubrication, 3 cuts, 142.
Nelson Memorial, 1 cut, 279.
Oven, roasting or baking, 7 cuts, 359.
Peat compressing machine. Lord de Eresbv, 8 cuts,

•281.
Perspective ^Viithmetical, 8 cuts, 349.
Plymouth Breakwater, 2 cuts, 165.
Railway buffer, 6 cuts, 306.
Paihvay constants, 2 cuts, 384.
Railwav curves, 9 cuts, 139, 140, 164, 202, 254,

337, 436.
Railway turntable, substitute for, 1 cut, 202.
Sea-bank at Holbeach, cut, 450.
Sesostris, Colossus of, 1 cut, 280.
Shingle, course of, 3 cuts, 126.

Signals, (on railway), apparatus for making, cut, 448.
Skew arches, 2 cuts, 164.
Spring bow or arch, 1 cut, 35.
Steam Engine : —

.\tmospberic, 1 cut, 407.

Bennett's, 1 cut, p. 46.

Boilers of, Armstrong on, 4 cuts, 390.

Boulton and Watt's single acting, 1 cut, 408.
Ditto double acting, 2 cuts, 409.

Bunnett and Corpe's concentric, 3 cuts, 199.
Ditto 2 cuts, 245.

Double acting engine for supplying water, 1 cut,
411.

Fourway cock of, 2 cuts, 407.

Governor, the, of, 1 cut, 410.

Leopolds, 1 cut, 407.

Maj-qius of Worcester, 1 cut, 403.

Neucomen's, 1 cut, 405.

Papin, 1 cut, 405.

Parallel motion of, 2 cuts, 460.

Saven's, 1 cut, 404.

Steam toy, Hero's, 1 cut, 401.
Streams, obstruction of by dams, 3 cuts, 334.
Synagogue, new. Great St. Helen's, 3 cuts, 1.
Thames tunnel shield, 1 cut, 326.
Vessels, raising sunken, 1 cut, 284.
Victoria boilers, 5 cuts, 322.
Water-main, flexible, 6 cuts, 451.
Well at the Hampstead Road, 1 cut, 216.
Wheel for the common road or railway, 2 cuts, 449.

THE

CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'^

JOURNAL.

THE NEV\' SYNAGOGUE. GREAT ST. HELEN'S BISHOPSGATE-STREET.

J. DAVIES, ESQ., ARCHITFCT.

;SIl'^^^'^"^.^''-L«.Afefe^W-^- d,MMi.

SECTION.

10 !,

I ' ' ■ ' I '

Scale of Feet,
10

I —

20

30

1

On tuming to the Index of our last, or w c .should say our first
volume, our readers will there find the pages referred to, where wc
have already spoken of this building. To the second account there
given of it we have now little more to add, except that the cuts will
supply information as to various particulars not pointed out at
pa^e '339.

The section shows the general style of the interior, and the design
of that end at which the ark is placed, also the arrangement of the
lamps, and of some of the candelabra; but it conveys no idea of the
effect, either as regards splendour of colour or perspective appear-
ance. Most of our readers, however, will, so far from requiring to be
reminded of this, be able to complete the picture for themselves, from

No. 16,— Jamvart, 1839, Vot, II,

the sketch here given ; or shoidd they not have done so before, lliey
will now most likely take an opportunity of visiting the building
itself. We ourselves have not seen it since it was opened for service,
but .should judge that it must look particularly rich ^hen lit up;
though at such times the effect of the jiainted windows within the
ark inust be lo>r— not, however, necessarily so, because a few gas-
burners placed before them on the outside would show to perhaps
even greater advantage than bv day, and would diffuse a brilliancy
and glow over the upper part of that recess. We caimot conclude
without congratulating Mr. Davies both on the opportunity he has
had for displaying his taste, and the able manner mth which he has
turned it to account.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

The references to the plan of the ground-floor of the front building
and lower part of the synagogue are as follow : —

A. Open vestibule or loggia, with arches on coupled Tuscan
columns; 29 x 14.6'.

B. Inner vestibule or corridor, communicating with J. J., the stair-
cafes to the galleries.

C. The open area or floor of synagogue, 23 feet wide, between the
lower sittings, F. F.

D. The readers' platform.— G. G. Waterclosets. — H. Office. —
I. Strong closet. --Iv. K. Staircases in the private residences. —
L. Secretary's residence.— M. AVarder's residence.

In the other plan is the committee-room, 46 x 22 feet, and 0.0.0.
the ladies' galleries.

:.:; ii jr'^. <=, ™J ;; ■■,-.-i&

I IMIlUi LJLJiiii ii'ji

^iiiillnftNllliiil

' ''"'"nrijiij I

!^^Ur!fe^t:;^',.^lUCa3«Jj!,..a^^--

PLAN OF UPPER FLOOR.

PLAN OF GROUND FLOOR.

Scale of Feet.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60
I".- '■ r i ■ l-r I ■■■ J i

REVIEWS.

A Treatise on the Law of Dilapidations and Nuisances. By David
Gibbon, Esq., of the Sliddlc Temple, Special Pleader. London:
J. Weale, 1838.

Architecture has its jurisprudence as well as medicine, and
equally as connected with the rights of property, as a matter of
police, it has been necessarily the subject of extensive legislation.
Coming more within the province of the lawyer than of the builder, and
being a subject in which the latter is not tarn Marie qiiam Mercurio,
we derive the greater pleasure from seeing it in the hands of one
who is best capable of doing justice to its technicalities. The utility
of its study is so evident, that there is indeed scarcely a day in which
its necessity is not impressed. Its extent, too, is so great, that
almost every branch requires a separate treatise, and it comprehends
the laws of contracts, awards, fixtui'es, dilapidations, nuisances,
buildings, sewers, drainage, prescriptive right, highways, &c.

Mr. Gibbon has already obliged the profession with a work on
the law of fixtures, ar.d we are now indebted to him for one on
dilapidations. It does not diminish the confidence derived from its
predecessors, and is written in a plain and intelligible style, and sup-
ported by numerous legal authorities.

In the' introduction, the author has given a general view of the
law on this subject, and then enters into the detail of its branches in
the subsequent chapters. In the first chapter we find the law of
dilapidation as it affects ecclesiastical structures and lands. The
second exhibits, with equal skill, this law as it regards leases, either
for life or dm-ing a term of years. From this chapter we shall
make a few extracts, and show our readers with what ability Mr.
Gibbon has treated his subject, although we must necessarily omit
the references to the notes. These, indeed, form a most valuable
and extensive portion of the work, and illustrate, by various autho-
rities, the law as explained by the author.

For the natural decay of buildings, which is the inevitable effect of lime
or for fair and ordinary wear, a tenant for years is not, generally speaking
chargeable; but for extraordinary decay, caused by suffering the premises to
be exposed to the elements, or for accidents happening during the term, the
tenant is liable. .Sutfering houses to bo uncovered, whereby the s-pars or
rafters, planehers, or other timbers, become rotten, is waste ; but barely
suffering them to be uncovered, without rotting the timber, is not waste.
Where, after the determination of a yearly tenancy, the landlord had an esti-
n.ate made of the sum necessary to put the bouse into complete and tenantablo
repair, and brought his action for thai snm. Lord Kenyon said, " That it was
not to be permitted to go for the damages so claimed. A tenant from year
to year was bound to commit no waste, and to make fair and tenantable re-
pairs, such as putting in windows or doors that hare been broken by him, so as
to prevent waste and decay of the premises ; but that, in the present case, the
plaintiff claimed a sum for putting a new roof on an old worn-out house." In
another case, where plaintiff declared on a contract by defendant to deliver up
premises in same state as he received them, and merely proved a tenancy from
year to year, Gibbs, C. J., nonsuited the plaintiff, saying, " That the obligation
was staled too largely. Can it be contended," he continued, " that a yearly
tenant wovild be bound to rebuild if the premises were destroyed by accidental
fire, or if they hecame ruinous by any other accident ? He is only to use them
in a husband-like manner ;" that is, with ordinary care. In Anworth v. John-
son, an action against a yearly tenant, it appeared that the stairs of the house
were worn out, new sashes were wanted, t!ie doors were rotten and falling to
pieces from decay, latches, keys, and locks, were broken and damaged, and
a panel of a door was broken. Lord Tenterden, in summing up, said, " It
appears this was a very dilapidated house, when the defend,ints took it, and they
have had a very considerable quantity of work done upoii it. The first ques-
tion is, what are the things an occupier of a house from year to year is bound
to do ? He is o.ily bound to keep the premises wind and water tight. A
tenant, who covenants to repair, is to sustain and uphold the premises, but
that is not the case with a tenant from year to year. A great part of what is
claimed by plaintiff consists of new materials, where the old were actually
worn out ; for that the defendants are clearly not liable. But if you thirk that
defendants have done all that tenants from year to year ought to do, consider-
ing the state of the premises when they took them, the defendants are entitled
to your verdict.'' * *

The covenant to repair must be construed with reference to the nature and
condition of the building as to age, &c., though it must be concluded that
the house was in proper and durable repair at the time of the demise. If it
appear that the covenants have been substantially complied with, and the
buildings are in as good condition as, considering their age, they n.ight
reasonably be expected to be, the landlord will have no right to complain of di-
lapid.itions. For this we have the hish authority of Tindal, C. .1., in three
several cases. la Harris v. Jones, the covenant was to leave the premises in
good and substantial condition. It .''ppcarcd, on the part of the landloid, that
glass in the skylight was broken to the amo nt of 40a., that ir.)n rails, tiling,
and coping, were dilapidated. Oil the part of the tenant it was proved, that
be had laid out considerable sums in repairs dtuing the term, and that the
premises were, in the whole, in tenantable repair, and in a better state than
when demised, The Lord Chief Justice said — " The question is, whether the

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

3

covenant has been substantially complied with ? The defendant was onlj' bound
to kepp up the house as an old house, not to give the plaintiff the benefit of
new work." The Jury found for the defendant. Again, in Gutteridge v.
Munyard, the same erudite .Judge remarked — " Wherever an old building is
demised, and the lessee enters into a covenant to repair, it is not meant that
the old building is to be restored, in a renewed form, at the end of the term,
or of greater value than it was at the commencement. What the natural ope-
ration of time, flowing on effects, and all that the elements bring about in di-
minishing the value, constitute a loss, which, sa far as it results from time and
nature, falls upon the landlord. But the tenant is to tske care that the tenements
do not suffer more than the operation of time and nature would effect. He is
bound, by seasonable applications of labour, to keep the house, as nearly as
possible, in the same condition as when it was demised. If it appear that he
has made these applications, and laid out money from time to time upon the
premises, it would not, perhaps, be fair tojudge him very rigorously by the
reports of a surveyor, who is sent on the premises for the very purpose of find-
ing fault."

Again, in Stanley v. Twogood, where the covenant was to preserve, keep,
and have the house in good and tenantable order and repair, Tindal, C. J.,
held that the question was, whether the house was in a substantial state of re-
pair, as opposed to mere fancied injuries, such as a mere crack in a pane of
glass, or the like. That although the state of repair at the time of the demise
was not to be taken into consideration, yet it would make a difference whether
the house were new or old at the time of the demise.

In Marke v. Noyes, Abbott, C. J., held that under a covenant substantially
to repair, uphold, and sustain, the tenant was bound to keep up the inside pain-
ing. This, it will be perceived, is requiring such a tenant to do more than
the incumbent of a benefice. The decision does not appear to have been very
deliberate, and is not altogether consistent with those subsequent judgments of
Tindal, C. J., and therefore I think cannot be safely relied on. It is usual in
leases specially to provide for painting at stated intervals.

From these cases it will be seen, that principles of law are not strictly en-
forced in considering what are dilapidations ; that of minute defects the law
takes no notice, " de minimis non curat lex." Therefore, unless the premises
have been much neglected or misused, and are in a much worse condition than
they ought to be, it will not be safe for a landlord to take legal measures
against his tenant: alihough, where there are substantial dilapidations, these
minute defects may and should all be taken into account.

The following explanation of the law, with regard to the manner
in which the tenant is bomid to repair dilapidations or restore
their value, does not appear to be supported by any legal decision of
the judges, and this we regret, for it is a point of great moment to
the profession. Certainly, most of the decisions of Tindal (Chief
Justice), have a tendency this way ; and there is very little doubt
that if the question was to come before that judge, he would take
the same view of the law as laid down by Mr. Gibbon.

Where any part has fallen away, the tenant is not bound to replace it with
new materials, but only with materials of the same value and in the same
condition as those deficient ought to have been, had they only been subject to
ordinary decay and wear, except from accident or exposure to the weather.
In determining this, reference must be had to the age of the building at the
time of the lease granted, and to the duration of the lease, and so much ought
to be deducted from the cost of new materials as it may be supposed they
would bo depreciated in value by ordinary wear during the period the materials
to be supplied have formed part of the building. Mr. Woosis thinks, that in
hardly any case could the landlord require more than three-fourths of the new
value, and none would occur in which ouefourth ought not fairly to be de-
manded.

Chapter III. explains the law regarding dilapidation by tenant,
without impeachment of waste.

Chapters IV. and V. point out the law when the property is
mortgaged, and held by joint tenants and tenants in common.

Chapter VI. relates to party-walls and fences. The author ex-
plains numerous points of law concerning the Building Act, which
probably has caused more misunderstanding and litigation than any
other Act of Parliament ; several attempts have been made to amend
it, but all to no purpose. We shall give one extract from this
chapter, to point out an error regarding the time at which it is impe-
rative to deliver accounts concerning the re-building of party-walls :—

Within ten days after the party wall is built, or se soon after as conveniently
maybe, the builder is to leave at the adjoining house, &o., a true account of
the number of rods in the party wall, &c., for which the owner of the adjoining
building is liable to pay, of the deductions to «hich he is entitled, and an ac-
count of all other expenses and costs.

The express directions of the Act are— that the account shall be
ielivered wit/ii/i ten days after the party-wall shall be built; it says
nothing about " or so soon as convenienllv can be." This ought to
be impressed upon the minds of every architect or surveyor, for we
know instances in which parties have foiled in recovering the value,
in consequence of the omission to deliver the account within the
ten days.

Chapter VII. explains the law relative to churches; Chapters
VIII. and IX. highways, bridges, sewers, sea walls, &c.; and

Chapter X.is one of considerable importance; it explains the law
touching nuisances, in which the author has taken considerable pains
and trouble to collect numerous decisions as to what may be consi-
dered a nuisance. We shall give two or three extracts to show the
able manner Mr. Gibbon has treated the subject.

In determining what acts are nuisances, we must ascertain the extent of the
possessions of our neighbour; end here we may refer to the maxim of law,
that he to whom the soil belongs is entitled to all the space of air above to
the sky, and of the earth below to the centre. His rights extend perpendicu-
larly above and below his own land, and not laterally, so as to claim any MiQ
from the earth beneath or the air above the adjoining land. It is, therefore,
not only a nuisance to cause an encroachment or injury to the soil of a neigh-
bour, as if .lohn build a house overhanging the land of Thomas, whereby
the rain falls upon Thomas's land, and injures it ; but also if John corrupt or
annoy the air over Thomas's land by noisom.e smells or deaftming noises, it is a
nuisance. But if John, by building or otherwise, exclude from the land of
Thomas theTair flowing over his own land, and the light which comes through
that medium, he does no more than he has a right to do.

It is not every disagreeable smell or noise which I cause on my land, and
which the wind wafts to my neighbour's, that will give him a riglit of action ;
it must aiise, it would seem, from some permanent cause, and occasion him
continual annoyance and discomfort; and that to a degree sufficient to depre-
ciate the value of his dwelling-house, and render it less eligible in consequence
of the neighbourhood. I cannot be restricted in the fair and reasonable use of
my land by any delicacy of sense or peculiarity of habit of my neighbour. A
swine-sty, limekiln, privy, smith's forge, tobacco-mill, tallow furnace, and glass-
house, set up neara private residence, have respectively been held nuisances.
And so a mill for steeping sheep-skin=, by which the air was corrupted ; a
building for manufacturing acid spirit of sulphur, which occasioned noisome
and offensive smells ; a place for slaughtering horses. It is not essential that
the stench raised should be unwholesome ; it is sufficient if it renders the en-
joyment of life and property uncomfortable. * *

Easements over a neighbour's land can only be acquired by grant or by pre-
scription, which raises the presumiition of a grant. Grants of easements are
either express or implied. An express grant needs not observation ; a grant
of an easement is implied in the following case. Where a man, having built
a house upon his own land, conveys that house to another, he thereby impliedly
grants the easement of light over his own land to the windows of the house,
as it then stands, and neither he, nor any person claiming under him, will be
permitted to derogate from his grant, and build upon the adjoining land to the
obstruction of the light. And, in like manner, where an unfinished house is
granted with openings for the windows, or ground is leased upon condition that
the lessee shall build thereon in a specified situation accor.lingto a certain plan,
the gantor or lessor, or those claiming under him, cannot build upon the ground
adjoining, so as to darken the w ndovvs of the house, when finished according
to the plan. And where a house and the land adjoining are conveyed at the
same time to different persons, and the land is desciibed as building land, the
purchaser of the land cannot build so as to obstruct the windows of the house, he-
cause it must be presumed that the easement of light was conveyed as appurtenant
to the bouse, and the land was convened subject to that easement. ♦ •

The prescriptive period of twenty or of forty years must be the period next
before the commencement of the action or suit in which the claim is brought
into question. And, therefore, where a party biings an action for the obstruc-
tion of his light, he must prove that ho has had the unhiterrupted use of the
light for the twenty years immediately preceding the action.

The usage must have been uninterrupted, but no act or matter is deemed an
interruption, unless it has been submitted to, and acquiesced in, for one jear
after the party interrupted has had notice thereof, and of the party making or
authorising the same to be made. Thus, if windows have existed for twenty
years, an occasional obstruction will not affect the prescription ; but if any
such obstruction has continued unabated for a year, the prescription will be
wholly destroyed. In like manner, if the owner of the house has pulled dow n
his house, and not rebuilt it with windows in the same situation within a year,
or has blocked up the windows for a year, his right will be gone. Though a
disuse of the right for a shorter period would not, I apprehend, be deemed an
abandonment thereof, so as to interrupt or destroy the prescription.

A prescription for the use of light may be destroyed by an alteration of the
manner in which it is enjoyed, as by altering the size or situation of the aper-
tures through which it is received. Thus, where a party, having the right te
light, carried out the wall of his house, and made a bow window in the new
wall, in the same elevation as the former one, it was held that the easement
was gone, since he had no right to receive the light through the new window.
But it has been considered that the enlargement otan ancient window will not
of itself destroy the prescription, so as to entitle the owner of adjoining land to
obstruct the passage of light into any part of the space occupied by th«" -tncient
window. And where a building, which had been a malt-house, tr r con-
verted into a dwelling-house, Macdonald, C. B., ruled that it was stil l.'ntitled
to so much light as was sufficient for the purpose of making malt, though not
to any greater quantity. And where a party was entitled to lights by
means of blinds fronting a garden, and took away the blind.s, and thereby
opened an uninterrupted view into the garden, Lord Kenyon held that the pro.
prietor of the garden was not justified in making an erection which diminished
the light heretofore coming into the house through the blinds. From the
modern decision of Garritt v. Sharpe, it would seem that, in all these cases,
it ought to be left to the jury to say whether the nature of the aperture 13
essentially changed. Where there is a right to pen Ijack water by means of a
dam, and the dam is destroyed, the party has no right to erect another dam in'

i

1 JIE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL

a ditfercnt ^ilitatiuti. Antl where uiio lias a right to ancient pitb by the side of
a rivulet, for the watering his meadows and cattle, and they arc choked with
mud, he may cleanse, but cannot enlarge them, or dig other pits.

Wr have inaile several exfracls, to show the value of the book to
the architect and surveyor; il has our entire approbation, and
we are encouraged by Mr. Gibbon's existing contributions, in the
hope that he will again devote liis ability to the chieidation of some
other branch of architectural jurisprudence.

Companion to the Almanac, for 18.'?!). Knight and Co.

By this time, most probably, tlie greater part of our readers will
liave provided themselves with this little work, and could we be
assured that such were really the ease, we should not return to it.
Yet, as our conjecture is grounded chiefly upon the belief that they
woiikl procure it if rnvare of the highly interesting architectural
notices it contains, wc sliall make a few c.Ktraets from it. more
especially as there is nothing whatever either on the title or in the
advertisements of the publication to point out that it affords the
kind of information just alluded to.

The '• Companion" may be truly characterised as an exceedingly
valuable annua! miiltum in parvo, for, besides many scientific articles
;ind statistical reports, it gives abstracts of Parliamentary documents
and acts of Parliament, a chronicle of the session of Parliament,
a list of public petitions, and a chronicle of occurrences. Another
very useful feature, though .a minor one, is the necrological table of
literary men and artists, both foreign ,and English. After this men-
tion of the usual contents in general, we shall particularise those
uloue in the present volume which are akin to the character of our
own journal ; we, theretbre, point out the two articles on " Steam
Navigation" and the " Railways of Great Britain."

The buildings most fully described are the Synagogue, Great St.
Helen's ; the interior of the Fitxwilliam Museum : the Eastern
Institution ; tlie Railway Terminus, Euston-square : the London and
Westminster Bank ; the Athen;eum, kc, at Derby ; .and the Victoria
Rooms, Bristol. I\Iany others, however, are spoken of or commented
upon, including those at the Highgate and Norwood Cemeteries.
Referring for these to the publication itself, wc shall extract only
what is said of High C'LirrE, Hants : —

The splendid mansion of Lord Stuart de Rothesay, whioli, after having been
in progress for many years, has now so far advanced towards completion that
many of the ap.trtments are fitted up. The style adopted for the exterior is
not a little remarkable, IjcinR- formed upon continental models of domestic
Gothic, eontrmporaneous with onr English Tudor, and. independently of its
novelty in this country, highly striking' for tlic richness and variety of the
details, and tlie care and precision witli which they are wrought. The prin-
cipal fronts are entirely of stone, and that facing tlie sp.t lias, in addition to a
profusion of other decorations, a parapet «/«i()-, or of open work, forming
mottoes and inscriptions in Gothic characters. On this .side subordinate
ranges nf building br.ancb out from the body of tlie mansion, so as parli.illy
to form a kind of court, enclosed Ijy three sides of an octagon, whose eleva-
tions, altliougb somewhat difiercnt in design, all agree in being elaborately
enriched. Among other distinguishing features is a magnificent oriel, forming
an open tribune or b.alcony gallery on the level of the upper floor. The north,
or other principal front has a spacious arched carriage porch, flanked by lofly
octagonal turrets, which latter are crowned by ogive dome roofs andfinials;
and between them is the splendid window, and decorated gable, which form
that end of the entrance hall. Tliis hall, which is about sixty feet in length,
l;y nearly forty in height, has .ilso a range of windows in the upper part of
each of its sides, the wall bene.-itli them being wainscotted, and panelled with
reliefs in stone. The pavement is inlaid somewhat after the fasliion of mosaic,
in patterned compartments, variegated with numerous badges and devices ;
and the ceiling, or roof, is of oak timber, carved. At the north, or entrance
end, is a handsome stone screen, with a gallery above it, immediately under
the great window, which is entirely filled with compartments of painting
representing the genealogy of Jesse. At the opposite end is the staircase,
consisting of an ascent on each side, in a single flight, with a superb railing
of wrought melal highly gilt. Between these flights of stairs is the door
leading into the ante-saloon, a .spacious octagon fitted up in the I.ouis
Quatorze style, in carved oak and gold, and with cosily marble doorcases.
This room communicates with tlie principal apartments — viz., the state draw-
ing-ioom, library, dining-room, &c.

Dibdin's Norlliern Tour — {continued).

Wc now resume otn- notice of Dr. Dibdin's Tour, and proceed to
cull from it Ihe chief information it contains as to the modern build-
ings and architects of Scotland. Most of the latter, who are noticed,
bvhim at all— for we have not met with the name of Mr. Burn,
although we have heard him sjioken of as a mair of very high abilities
and attainments, and zealously devoted to his art — arc spoken of in
terms of unqualified praise: we hope justly so, for to say the truth
the Doctor deals $<? largely in puff that his'praise goes for' very little.

(Ifthe wholesale pull' we have a clioicc specimen, when he calls
'• Auld Reekie," or Ihe " Modern Athens," as it has heretofore been
slyled, " a City of Palaces, the Genoa ok the North." Both
the italics and the capitals are his own, and are, no tloubt, intended
to give all possible emiihasis and enei'gy to the compliment. Yet
one more mal-a-propos could hardly have been stumbled upon ; since,
so for from looking like a city of palaces, Edinburgh has far more
the appearance of city of barracks ; nor can anything lie more dis-
smiilar than the style of its architecture and that of O'enoa, the one
lieing as naked and frigid as the other is exuberant and pompous.
^\ hat could have caused the Doctor to utter such rhodomontade .•"
Was it tlie effect of one of those symposia which he chronicles with
so much gusto ? Very possibly it might ; since, otherwise, it is per-
fectly unaccountable. One thing is certain, that there is nothing
I whatever in the book to bear out this assertion ; whereas he might
very well have cut short some of his gossip, and employed himself in
pointing out and describing sotne of the archhectural features that
entitle Edinburgh to the epithet of the Genoa of the North. Or else,
instead of giving views of its most dismal and dowufally holes and
hovels, and such exceedingly iminteresting, as well as hackneyed
subjects, as the Regent MuiTay's house, he might have favoured our
eyes with some specimens of its magnificence. Without perplex-
ing ourselves any further by questions and remarks that must he
rather perplexing to the Doctor himself, we will begin quoting at once.

With all its architectural attractions, the New Town of Edinburgh is de-
fective in two material points. It wants a tine church, and a noble square.
Tlie church of St. George, at the western extremity, is a dwarfish representa-
tion of Si. Paul's at a distance, if its dome only be considered. At hand it
shrinks into insignificance, and is flat and tame. There is no bold projecting
portico, and the qu.antity of dull suiface above Ihe entrance, to the springing of
the- dome, is a sad and striking failure. The church of St. Andrew, at nearly
the eastern extremity of George-street, is a inost inconceivable failure.

Tills, it must be o^vned, carries something to the debit side of the
account, though by no means so much as ought to be, for a great
many more deficiencies, defects, and failures, might be pointetl out,
while there is scarcely a modern building that rises above mediocrity
of design, or of which more can be said than that it is endurable. In
venturing, however, to find fault, and that, too, in the most unquali-
fied manner, with St. Andrew's, the Doctor quite upsets Mr. Britton's
opinion : for if wc may rely upon the taste and critical acumen of the
latter antiquary, " it is distingui.^hed by its fine tapering spire, and a
bold Corinthian portico." For our part, wc greatly incline to
the Doctor's opinion, and even Britton's own plate of it quite con-
firms if, since at all events it there looks like " an almost incon-
ceivable failure." In likening St. George's church to St. Paul's, the
man of '■ Bokes'' seems to speak by the book, and after the fashion of
that which tells us St. Paul's at Liverpool is a miniature imitation of
St. Paul's at London. To be sure a dome is a dome all the world'
ovei' ; but the man, and much more the critic, who can perceive any
semblance between lliat at Edinburgh and the one in London, is in
great danger of mistaking his wife's bonnet for his own beaver.

That the Doctor did not bestow the epithet he has chosen for
Edinburgh unadvisedly, is evident enough from the first sentence in
the following quotation, where he speaks of some of the living Scotch
architects.

I have more than once called Edinburgh a Cilii of I'n/aces, Of course
architecture is the sole means of achieving this splendid result ; but if the
materials for building were not at once abundant and lasting, as well as pic-
turesque in tint, such an eft'ect woidd with difficulty be produced. Where
to begin y How to describe? Hie labor — hoc opus est."

This, it must be confessed, is exquisitely naive : how to eulogise —
there seems to have been the jiuzzle.

But it cannot be done successfully — at least to my own tasti?. Here is .Famos
Gillespie Graham, Esq., with a genius all over Gothic ; rich, original,
tasteful.* Would that he were employed to case the whole of the Castle in a
coat, cut according to the fashion of the early part of the fifteenth ecniury.
Then, again, I would have him put an ecclesiastical vestment over the whole
of .St. Giles's, or the mother-church, in the fashion of the fourteenth century.
He would do it co)i amore ; nor would he displease his own times or posterity
if he raised the tower a good fifty feet, and reconstructed the " imperial ciown"
thereupon, as it is called, upon more intelligible principles of Gothic art.

In Grecian and Roman architecture a love of taste, and yet more of truth,
induces mc to place Mr. Playfait at the head ; simply because lie has not only

■•■ We cannot withhold the Doctor's own note here introduced. " My friend, Mr.
Mackenzie, took mo one day to call upon Mr. Graham, more especially to v'ww his de-
sif^n for the new^ House of Commons on the Gothic plan. It is very raagiiilicent ; but
perhaps in too detached buildings; while Mr. Barry's, on the contrary, from its con-
tinuity, has too much the air of a large manufactory, which, however, may be broke
fhroktm) by a boldness and variety of relief in the external ornaments. .Mr! Graham's
ialents are likely to he successfully employed in the restoration of Glasfrow Cathedral."
We should likc'very much to know what are Ihe manufactories of wiiich Mr. Barr>'*s
desifc'R hM pt all tl>e air of.

THE Civil, ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

had the opportunity of doing great things, but of doing them well. His Aca-
demy of Painting, &c., is doubtless his masterpiece ; but for just proportion,
it should lose just one-fourth of its length. But the pride and glory of Mr.
Playfair's interior, is the Library-room in the Universily of Edinburgh. It is
at once lofty, broad, and commodious, and of a very singular construction in
the arrangement of the shelves for the books. There /s a point where you
may stand, and although the room be one hundred and ninety feet long in the
clear (longer than any library at Oxford), yet you shall not obtain the sight of
a single volume. The ceiling is lofty and gilded ; but why docs good Mr.
Playfair consider burnished gold to be a heresy ? In such a magnificent inte-
rior you can hardly be too brave and saucy in the upper ornaments.

" Saucy" is a rather queer — certainly not very tasteful expression,
except as it may serve to denote that poignancy of flavour so greatly
studied by artists of a diflereiit class.

Having got among the books in the library, the worthy Doctor
(lies ofl'in a tangent, without bestowing another syllabic upoir either
" good Mr. Playfair," or any other architect ; nor does he touch on
the subject of arcliitecture again until he readies Glasgow, when he
speaks of the Exchange as

One of the noblest commercial rooms in Europe, whether we consider its
interior or exterior design, its facilities for carrying into effect all the objects
fur which it was built, or its spaciousness, iightsomcness, and beauty. I was
inlinitely struck and gratified with it. The architect is no less a personage
than David HA.Mir.Tox, Esq., who without scruple or flattery may be called
the Vitruvius of the North.

.Scruple lie certainly has none, but we suspect that our Doctor docs
administer llattery in very large doses, weighed out, not by apotlie-
caries' scruples, but in pounds avoirdupoise weight. M'ith him,
ahiiosi every person he names is of superlative merit, Iherefore lie
makes his praise so dog-cheap, that those who really merit il lind it
hardly worth having. Of this we have proof in the very next page,
where he goes on to say —

Here, as at Edinburgh, the late Uobert Adam has done a considerable
stroke of work, in the architectural department ; and some things, especially
in the .Vssembly Rooms, and the Andersoniau University, are executed with
more than his ordinary skill. Of churches there is no' proud or particular
display ; but one or two recent ones, from the designs of Mr. Hamilton, show
a great improvement in the department of ecclesiastical architecture. The
two principal squares of Glasgow, are those of St. Geoige and Blythswood.
The former is in the heart of the city, the latter at its western extremity.
\\ ithin the former are erected the bronce statues of Sir John .Moore and
Watt; and at this moment the foundation stone has just been laid for the
erection of a lofty triumphal pillar to the memory of Sir Walter Scott. To
me the taste of it is perfect. The typav/iius have here shot a-head of the
j\thenians.

Judging from the plate given of it. which is said to be an " accu-
rate representation," wo must totally dissent from the praise bestowed
on this column; for it is nothing" more than a meagre llufed Doric
column, with a capital of most insignificant proportions and cha-
racter, anil with a base « hose tori arc enriched with guilloches and
other carving! What degree of iincniioii is shown, ma_\- be inferred
when we say that, like others of its kind, litis eoluimi also has square
abacus to its capital, as if intended to support an architrave. The
only recommendation such pillars have is, that any thing like a hu-
man figure will do on tile top of them; yet they always look top-
hea\y. ^\■e trust that we shall have no such puerile enormity perpe-
trated in th.c centre of Trafalgar-square.

Of the cementing in the same city the Doctor says—

The very entrance, over a bridge across a river bestud by one of the
most elegant arches of stone ever w itnessed, is full of classical feelings ;
adding in a note, " David Hamilton, Esq., is the architect. He cannot for the
soul of him commit a blunder. Mr. Hryce, an architect of Glasgow, has
erected a facade of the time of our .lames I., of which the opposite plate is a
faithful copy ; and it must be allowed that he has been singularly happy in all
its component parts." This last sentence is also accompanied by a very
curious note, viz — " I recommend Mr. John Hrvcc first to be the architect
of every park enti-ance in Scotland, and afterwards in England. But let it
not be supposed that he is confined to the period of 1600-1 (3.W. His
Tudorian elevations are fraught with the most felicitous features and efliccts."

What ^Ir. John Bryce's " Tudorian elevations" may be we know
not, having never seen any specimens of them ; and with ns the
Doctor's jirescriptions^.e., his recommendations — obtain very little
credit. .\s a sample of «hat \u: can tolerate, if not very cnlogistically
extol, he presents tis with a view of the mansion at Abbotsford, to
which, if the original bears any resemblance, it must be perfectly
detestable — one of the most hideous specimens of architectural bal-
derdash and bathos ever perpetrated. Happy would it be for the me-
mory of Sir Walter's taste were il razed to the ground.

Since this article was in type, we have received some information
relative to Mr. Gregory's splendid mansion at Harlaston, correcting
the Doctor's errors and misstatements respecting it. But we mus't
now defer communicating it till next month.

Ilhtstrations of the Public BuihUiujs of Loiiduii. wit/i Histurical and

Descriplive Accounts of each Edifice. By Pf gin and Bhitton.

Second Edition, greatly enlarged, by W. H. Li:lds. In •-! vols.

London. John Wcale, 1838.

In our last number wc informed our readers of the object of this
work, and presented some extracts from the preface ; we now, there-
fore, avail ourselves of the oppiirtunity of taking a more general view
of the subject. We cannot, however, disirass the preface without
requesting the attention of the reader to the adniirable rctuaiks on
criticism given by the editor. They point out with force and truth the
advantages which the profession luust derive frotn cxtetidcd invebtigatiou,
and the necessity of freeing our.selves from the trammels of siiper-
anuated pedantry. In this age of stcaui, we have a right to distrust
whatever is old, and particiihnly when tlic ICIgin tiiarbles have produced
a new style of art, and the stuijy of the true antitptc given a diH'ereut
im|Htlse to atchitecture.

To the general reader this work must afford many points of interest,
bitt to the aichitcct it presents a dotible attryction ; fiist, that he coii-
tctiiplatcs the glories of the metropolis of the empire, and next that
he himself maj' become a contributor to its splendour. — " lo ancltt.
son pittore" is a remark well to be expected from the proCcssional
spectator of St. Paul's or the new London Bridge. The metropolis has,
indeed, in this eentuiy attained a grandeur which our fellow citizens
may admiie, and of which our artists may be proud. It has, as it were,
been so created that the extent ot its limits are not yet ascertained ; wc
flutter still between the recollections of the past and the exislencies of
the present day. We are too apt to think of the old city, or to con-
template tlic vast mass in its political divisions, and thus lose the eon-
ce))tion of the immense rusemblc.

\\'itli no superior in the .Vsiaticworlil, and none but infeiiois in this,
an ICnglishman luav look down itpun the modern queen of the world
and prize it as one of the phenomena of that empire, which is the greatest
that has been established. But it is not on immensity alone, or on
artistical riches that this stipremacy is based : the liistorical associations
which it recalls are so entwined with the annals of our race as to shed
a brighter lustre on its crown. It is w ellfbr those who can do no honour
to the present day to exaggerate the glories of the past; but to the
thinking mind the splendour of an illustrious name is not reckoned by
centuries of homage, but by the depth of genius and the strength of
thought. We can resuscitate the Attic theatre, or in imagination hear
Cicero's eloquence wake the ruined (brttm from the sleep of ages ; but
wo, who have such susceptibilities, and such a burst of sentiment, can
leave the tombs of native bards nnhonoured and unsought. If the arts
are to be inspired from sources so sublime as the poet's song and the
warrior's deeds, we want no -\theniaii to teach us what is great, nor a
Roman to precede us in the art of copying : but we have it here in the
streets trod by the busy crowds, in the halls devoted to the national
laws, and in tlie temples consecrated to the public worship. Here the
greatest of the modern bards have first seen light— here has been the
theatre of tiieir exploits ; and in AN estminster Abbey inoic honoured
names repose than in any shrine in Christendom. To repc:it all these
localities, to tell over the sacred ground, would be a task as inexhaust-
ible as the glory of its subject; but we cannot refrain from calling the
attention of the reader to some among the many great men who bad
here their birth-place. -Vinong the poets, artists, and musicians, are —
Chaucer, Spenser, Beii Jonson, Fletcher, Jlilton, Cowley, Pope, and
Gray ; De I'oe, the immortal author of Robinson Crusoe, Bolingbroke,
Gibboti.aiid Lillo _: Lord Bacon and Barron ; Hogarth, Bacon, Banks,
and Nollekeus ; Ante, Arnold, Boyce, Aldrich,aiid Greene ; Hampden,
Howard, and William Penu.

These are names to wiiich lie who can attach no associations should
never add the disgrace of belonging to a kindied profession. Wo
think, however, they are sitch, of wliich, while no city can bo;ist the
equal, so any might feel justly proud. Tliey have left us their iiunior-
tality, and if we cannot c(pial them iti our works, at least wc can deco-
rate that metropolis on which they have confeired the lustre of their
names. Tiiis is a duty which, we feel happy to say, has been in no way
yet neglected, and wliich every day is meeting with a greater fiilfilment,
and we may justly feel proud in retlecting that we have not in onr days
been remiss in fullilling that service to posterity wliich our ancestors
bequeathed to us. Since the year eighteen hundred so inucli has been
done that it has almost effaced what [ireviously existed, and to such a
degree, that a person of the last century would justly feel astonishmeiit
at the new world, in which all his former recollections would be lost.

The metropolis, on the east, has been extended into Essex and
Kent; on the south it has advanced to the tops of those hills from
which it is perhaps again to make farther encroachments ; on the west
it extends to Hammersmith, and has thrown numerous juburbs to the
opposite bank of the Thames ; while on the north, again, other vil-
lages have been drawn into the vortex, .Tud sacrificed th(;ir rural cha-

6

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

ractcr. These new districts include Pimlico, the several branches of
Chelsea, the whole space from Kentish and Camden Towns through
the Regcnt's-park to Bayswater, great part of Clerkenwell and Isling-
ton, another section at "Hackney and Kingsland, on the east, besides
the suburban accessions, the greater portion of the docks, and on the
south large tracts from Greenwich to Wandsworth. The whole of
this district has been supplied with light and water by new means,
and increased facilities of communication by canal and railway afforded
■with the whole of England. It forms, indeed, a mass extending at
least twelve miles in length and eight in breadth, with two millions of
inhabitants.

The new lines of street whic'i have been erected are not of less im-
portance. On the south a grand entrance from the continental road
leads over London-bridge, through King William and Moorgate-
streels to the New-road. Anolher crosses Blackfriars into Farring-
don-strect, and a third over Waterloo-bridge into Wellington-street.
On the north are the Edgeware-road and Regent-street, while Pall-
mall and the Strand have been re-cnnstrucled, and two magnificent
lines of road brancli oif through Poplar and Mile-end to the eastern
counties. Over the river new bridges have been thrown of various
onnstructions, and include New London Bridge, Southwark, Waterloo,
all by Rennie ; Vauxhall, by Walker ; and Hammersmith, by Tierney
Clarke. Our squares and public places, which are justly the admira-
tion of Europe, have bsen equally increased, and include Trafalgar-
square, the place before the Mansion-house, Eaton-square, Belgrave-
sqnare, Park-square, Euston-square, and above twenty others.

Nor have the isolated buildings been less numerous : in every de-
partment works of importance have been executed. Buckingham-
palace, by Nash ; the Council Office, State Paper Office, Bank of
England, Law courts, by Sir John Soane ; the Post-office and Judges'
Chambers by Sir Robert Smirke ; the National Gallery and Uni-
versity College, by Wilkins ; the British Museum and King's
College, by Smirke; there are also the Colleges of Surgeons and
Physicians, City School, Blind School, &c. The charitable institu-
tions are extensive, Bethlehem Hospital, Christ's, St. George's,
Westminster, and others. The municipal buildings have attained
great splendour, and include Fishmongers and Goldsmiths Halls.
The churches are too numerous to admit of any lengthened enumera-
tion ; among uhera — are Marylebone, by Hardwick; St. Pancras, by
Inwood; St. Luke's, Chelsea, by Savage; and St. Dunstan's, by
Shaw. The theatres include Covent-garden and Drury-lane, by
Wyatt ; the Haymarket, by Nash ; the English Opera and St.
James's, by Beazley; and the Colosseum, by Burton. Commercial
buildings and clubs have also increased to an extent unprecedented,
and greatly contribute to the ornament of the eitj'.

Public monuments and statues have been erected to the Duke of
York, to George the Third, Pitt, Fox, Duke of Bedford, and Can-
ning, while those which are in progress assure the splendour of this
branch of decoration.

All the Parks have been improved, and an addition made to them
in the Regent's-park, which presents a unique feature in this world of
novelty. The Regent's-park and Surrey Zoological Gardens have
been formed, and Botanic Gardens are in progress, while the number
of Cemeteries must greatly contribute to the health of the inhabitants.
Former edifices have been improved, or placed in better points of
view, and made to promote more powerfully the adornment of the
metropolis : among these have been St. Martin's, St. Bride's, St.
Saviour's, ar.d the Monument.

All these improvements necessarily call for a history in themselves,
and to the volumes of Pugin and Britton the profession are greatly
indebted for the information conveyed. The rapid growth of the
metropolis, however, and tlie increase of novelties, had long since
called for an addition to tliiswork, but until the present period without
success. The public spirited publiEher now having the property of
this work, has, however, supplied this want, and we are happy to
Eay in a manner worthy of himself, and of the object concerned. The
editor, too, in taking upon himself the task of producing this work,
found that his efi'orts must not be confined merely to chronicling what
is new, but that it might be beneficially exerted in remedying some
defects which existed in the labours of his predecessors. He found
that in many cases extraneous matter might be removed, which, how-
ever interesting to the general reader, was by no means useful to the
professional student, and in doing this he availed himself of the oppor-
tunity of introducing the new matter without increasing the expense
and consequently the bulk of the volume. At the same time he has
amended ihe old subjects, by introducing some further professional
information, and rectifying some of the errors which are inseparable
from a work of such discursive churacier.

The subjoined extract relates to St. Pancras Church, and while it
cannot fail to prove interesting to the reader, will afford him a fair

proof of the manner in which Mr. Leeds has acquitted himselt of the
task which has devolved upon him : —

Whatever may be alleged against some of the combinations it presents,
this church stands unrivalled as a correct example of the riclicst and most
graceful variety of the Hellenic Ionic style ; we say shjle, in preference to
order, because it embraces so many distant modes, some of which have little
else in common than their family characteristic, the voluted capital, and even
that marked by striking diifercnces, both in its mass and details. I'leviously
to the erection of this building we had, with the exception of that at the India
House, hardly a single Ionic portico of any note in the whole metropolis — cer-
tainly no instance of one applied to a church — since for such purpose preceding
architects seem invariably to have had recourse to the Doric or Corinthian, in
which, perhaps, they showed their judgment i for the Ionic known to us before
that from Greece was introduced here, was the most insipid and inelegant of
the orders, although complimented with the epithet due only to that from
which it proved its descent, by its egregious falling off from it. But were it on
no other account., this church would stand pre eminent among its picdecessors
and contemporaries for the classical air of its portico, in wliich no quotidian
features are allowed to obtrude themselves ; while the tljree doors are of such
exquisite design and admirable execution, that they serve as a climax to the
beauty of the whole fa(,-ade. They are, in fact, specimens of the most relined
taste in detail and embellishment. Would that a tiihe of the praise could be
extended to the side elevations, where, had there been no more than the upper
range of windows, that might have been tolerated ; but the smaU oblong ones
beneath them are decidedly injurious to the design, marring its Grecian phy.
siognomy. The east end presents both a pleasing and appropriate deviation
from the ancient temple plan, and the roof of the projecting hemicycle combines
agreeably with the pediment ; still the effect would have been all the belter
had there been only the three centre windows. The low square wings, at-
tached at the angles, give play and variety both to the plan and elevation ; at
the same time, they do not interfere with the outline of the prnciple mass. In
themselves, these features are exceedingly beautiful, and a very commendable
adaptation of one of the choicest architectural relics of classical antiquity.
The chif f thing to be objected against them is, that the architect has not con-
nected them with the body of the cdilice, by carrying on the mouldings of
their antie as a sort of string-course along the side elevations, and resting the
windows upon it, which would have required these latter to be raised but a
very little higher than what they now are.

The article of theatres has been retrenched in what related to
matter of purely general tendency, and its place has been supplied
with some judicious comments on the plan and construction of these
edifices, which we know cannot fail to be gratifying to whoever has
considered the subject. It also contains a well-digested table, exhibit-
ing the relative dimensions of various great theatres.

It must be confessed that our theatres are susceptible of much improvement,
being so planned at present that many of the audience can neither hear nor see
properly. This has been erroneously attributed to the large size of some of
our houses, for in the very largest of them, all might both see and hear dis-
tinctly, were it not that accommodation in the way of mere sitting is made for
a far greater number than can possibly be accommodated in regard to the pur-
pose for which, it is to be presumed, they come thither — namely, to enjoy the
performance. iVIany are placed, not at too great a distance, but much too near
— thrust quite close upon the proscenium and up to the actors themselves ; some
directly on one side, so that they can see the stage only obliquely; while others
are elevated so much above it, both in front and on the sides, as to look quite
down upon it, and obtain almost a bird's-eye view of it. These inconveniences
are increased, when, as is the case at Covent- Garden and in many foreign
theatres, the house expands from, or ia other words, contracts towards, tho
stage, so that those in the side boxes cannot obtain even a side view without
turning very considerably to the right or left. Besides which, every variety
of such form, the oval, or elliptic, is architecturally disagreeable in itself,
being attended with a degree of irregularity ofl'ensively perceptible to the eye.

The semicircle is unquestionably the best figure, because it brings all the
spectators, even those placed at the extremities of its chord, facing towards,
though not exactly in front of, the stage ; for it in fact cuts off what can
properly be termed side boxes, or such as are at right angles, to the diameter
or chord. Yet a simple semicircle would be objectionable on more than one
account, because the stage would then be placed on the lomjer side of the
area of the spectatory; consequently, as the diameter would give the width
of the proscenium (which would be double the depth of the house, measured
from the orchestra to the front of the centre box), either the latter must be
very great in regard to breadth, or the house itself of small dimensions, or
even if not small in itself, yet confined and contracted in comparison with the
proscenium and opening of the stage ; which inconveniences would bring
others along with them, since, were the height of the house to be proportioned
to the width of the proscenium, it would become excessive, in comparison with
the dimensions in the other direction, and cause the spectatory to appear still
more contracted and squeezed up. On the contrary, were it to he regulated
by the depth of the house, or semi-diameter, the proscenium would be ren-
dered much too low. This will be apparent to any one, if he turns to any of
the plans of theatres here given ; by applying his compasses— to that of Covent.
Garden, for instance, and taking the line separating the orchestra from the
pit, for a diameter— he will perceive it would be reduced to half its present
depth, whereby, as he would see on consulting the section also, the height
would become preposterous in comparison with such a contracted area.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

Still, as the semicircle is by far tlie most advantageous, it ouulit to be
retained for them, as might easily be done, should the house itfelf be equal
to an entire circle, or so(neivhat more (as is the case at Drury Lane) ; and to
effect this, nothings more would be requisite than to omit boxes entirely be-
tween tlie chord of the semicircle and the proscenium. Were this done, there
would hardly be a seat in any of the boxes th- 1 would not command a suffi-
ciently favourable view of the stage ; while, in an architectural point of view,
all tlie space so givan up or lost, as perhaps it will be considered, would be a
decided gain, because it would afford ample field for decoration in conneiion
with and continuation of the proscenium, so that the wliole might be made to
form a rich arcliitectural framing to tlic stage; \vhereas, according to the
present mode, the connexion between the boxes and proscenium is too abrupt,
and can rarely be well managed ; and whenever the boxes ailjoining the stage
are comparatively empty, tlicy present a forlorn appearance, which docs not at
all reconcile us the better to their being In themselves a drawback on the
general design. There would be another advantage arising from the system
here recommended, namely, that as far as the boxes are concerned, there
would be a sort of neutral territory between the audi3n(e and the stage, highly
favourable to scenic eftect and illusion. Every one in the boxes would then be
seated where he would behold the stage and performance, not only conveniently,
but from a proper distance station. The stage ought to be considered as a
picture upon a large scale, and when a man looks at a picture of any dimen-
sions, he neither pokes his nose against it nor does he place himself on one
side, so as to view it askew, but in such a manner that he can distinctly
behold it. In regard to the stage, however, such certainly is not the case
with a very large proportion of the spectators in the boxes. Many of them
are obliged to take up with places where they cannot possibly see the scene
or flat, as it is technically termed, at all, let them twist their necks as much
as they will, though en revanche they see a great deal more between the
wings and side scenes than is either necessary cr proper. * *

Weshall here put togethera few particulars relativeto soraeof the principal
theatres hitherto erected ; not with the expectation of satisfying the reader,
butrathor of inducinj him to prosecute the object fun her by his own researches;
and the following table, it is presumed, will be found both interesting and use-
ful, as exhibiting a comparative and synoptical view of several of the most im-
portant structures of this class : —

n

a

s

d

n

W

iH

o

^

fa

^

London, — Opera House

Covent Garden ....

Drury Lane

Ne V English Op>;ra
Paris. — Opera

The itre Feydeau . . . .

Cirque Olympique . . . .

Bordeaux

Milan. — La Scala

Naples. — San Carlo

Venice. — La Fenioe

St. Petersburgh

Berlin

Hamburgh

Mentz

New Orleans

Dublin

Birmingham

Turin

Ghent

Feet.
102
73
70
57
78
.52
86.6
64
94
90
72
102
61
69
65
73
64
44
66.6

Feet.

75

63

70

55

52

64

83
62.6

78

76

07

96

58

68

58

71

62

45

.52

68 ! 6U

Feet
40
32
32
32
40
48
44

39.6
44
49
42
52
38
39
38
44
33
28
40
37

Feet,
35
59

48

98

Kfe

Feet.

52

57.6
75
80
49
92
43
56
43
«S

Feel.

56X19
90X26

96

100X24
82X20
.56x32

125X30

129X25

82X40

From this it will be seen that the London Opera House, although of the
same extent as the Great Theatre at St. Petersburgh, measured on a line from
the curtain to the back of the boxes, is considerably less in its other dimensions,
and consequently very dififerent in its proportions ; it being narro.v in compa-
rison with its average breadth, owing to which, and to the contraction towards
the stage, the greater part of the persons in the boxes are not placed even at
right angles to, but actually turned nbliquely from, the stage ; as will be seen
by the plan of it, and still more palpably by the section, which shows a consi-
derable extent of the side boxes, tvhose fronts would not be visible in such re-
presentation were they at right angles with the curtain. .Another great defect
is the absence of proscenium, the bo.xes coming quite up to the opening of the
stage, in consequence of which prepusterousness in the plan, all architectural
e.xpression and propriety are destroyed, and a disagreeable flimsiness takes
place, giving to the whole house the appearance of having been hurriedly fitted
up for some temporary purpose. Besides which, this immediate contact of
stage and box. s would render it almost impossible to cut off the flames from
communicating to every part, should a fire break out among the scenery. In
Schiiikel's new tlicatr.-, at Berlin, the proscenium is formed by exceedingly
massive walls ; and the spectatory itself has the advantage of not being ex-
tended greatly beyond a semicircle. Covent Garden partakes in some degree
of the faulty plan adopted in the Opera House, aa the boxes between the semi-

circular portion and the stage are carried, not at right angles to the laiter, hut
sloping towards and consequently inclined from it. Had the boxes been con-
tinued on the sides for no more than a third of their present extent, this would
have been of comparati\ely little moment ; but as these sloping sides are pro-
tracted to such a distance that an entire circle might be described between the
centre box and the proscenium, the speet.^lors iu the boxes nearest the stago
are better stationed for rccomioitering the audience, than for viewing tha
scenery or the performance. Therefore, at lea.t three of the boxes on each
side should have been shallower than the rest. The plan of Druiy Lane is de-
cidedly preferable in every respect to that of ( 'event Garden, as well in the
arrangement of the vestibule, staircases, and approaches, as in the form uftho
spectatory itself. It would indeed have been better had it not exceeded a per.
feet circle, that ii, had the distance from the centre box to the curtain been no
more than the diameter of the pit. Yet, notwi hs anding that the general
form itself is good, it exhibits an adherence to the erroneous practice of con-
tinuing the boxes beyond the semicircle facing the stag<>. \Vc will not be so
rigorous as to insist that they should in no degree be suffered to extend beyond
th.at diameter or line, but most assuredly, tlie less they were to do so the
better.

We have now extracted al; some length from this admirable work ;
but we only fear that, .ilthoiigh at some extent for our columns, not
sufficiently to gratify the wishes of the reader. We know, indeed,
that although ancient knowledge may be useful as tlie basis of our
studies, we shall only be able to carry them on etfectively by attentiorj
to the progress of the present. To all those, therefore, who ara
desirous of ascertaining the actual state of art in the metropolis, and
of availing themselves of it, we can only refer them to this work,
which will not only give them food for their observation, but teach
them how to exert it.

It has thus been our lot to criticise a work devoted to criticism, but
such is the fate of all publications, and to which our own must sub-
mit. Criticism must take its food from everything like death, fur, in
the words of Horace — " Pallida mors equo pulsat pede regum turres,
pauperas que tiibernas."

Wefeel h.ippy, however, that, as brethren, it has not been our fate to
disagree ; but that on the other hand we are enabled to bear testimony to
the correctness with which the editor has carried out the principles
declared in his preface. Publishers are but too little looked upon in
these things, hut we must bear in mind that they are entitled to some-
thing more than the organ-blower's meed. There is much judgment
to be exerted in the choice of a work, and often much boldness in the
manner in which expense is incurred, and he who well carries out a
great work is as well entitled to praise for his discrimination and
public spirit as the auihor or editor himself. We are happy, there-
fore, in alFording our tribute to the manner in which the publislier has
complied with his duty, and not the less so that he has chosen in Mr.
Leeds, one whose exertions deserve to merit the confidence of the
public as much as his own.

Collection des principaux Monumens cT Architecture Bizantini, Go'
thiqiie, Sj'c, <ie la France. Paris, folio, 1 1 th number.

Ornemens Classiques exemities d'apres les Peinturei Origimles de
Jules Roinain et de ses Eleves. Paris, 4to.

These publications are the fruits of our Parisian neighbours' raga
for the Renaissance. The first is the introductory number of a work
on the early architecture of France, and includes the Byzantine, a
style of which we know little in England. The second is a collection
of the arabesques of Guilio Romano and his pupils ; and they are
both works of reference of which we have a deficiency here.

Herculanum und Pompeii Vollstandiije Sasmmlung der Vis svfden
neutigen Tacj dasellst entdecltten Malereien, Bronzen, u. s. w. En-
thai tend scmnitHche in der Aiitichila di Ercolano, dem Museo Bor-
bonica und dem ubiiyen bisher erschieiien Werkeu, mit Neuern noch
vnedirlen Aeqenstanden vermehrt. Von H. Roux et Ad. Bnuchet.
Deutuft Vearheilet von Dr. A. Kaiser. (Complete Collection of
all the Herculaneum and Pompeian Paintings, Bronzes, Mo.saics,
&c., described in the Antiquities of Herculaneum, the Bourbon
Museum, and the latest Works. Translated into German from the
French of H. Roux, sen., and Ad. Bouchet, by Dr. A. Keiser.)
Hamburg : Meissner.

This splendid work is to be completed in two hundred numbers of
four plates each, groat octavo, six of which have already appeared.
The first division of the work, containing the paintings, is to consist
of architectural ornaments, groups of figures, single figures, fi-iezes,
landscapes, and mosaics. The second division includes statues, busts,
lamps, &c. The work is cheap and well got up, and cannot fail to
promote the knowledge of these elegant styles.

8

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

Le fabbriche e i Mommenti cospicui di Venezia di Leopoldo Cicog-
nara. A. Diedi e G. Selva. Venice : Folio (in Parts).
A work on the arts from songless Venice, and where but a few
yeai-s ago even painting was extinct, is an unexpected occurrence in
these days, and we hail with pleasure this promise of new life in the
countrj-raen of Canova. It is needless to say that the public build-
ings of Venice possess an interest which is not local, but one which
speaks to all European associations.

Polj/technischen Journals. Edited by Andrew Romberg, of Ham-
burgh. {1st Quarterly Part.) Altona : Hammer.
This is a new weekly German periodical, devoted to the different
arts and sciences, and contains, besides accounts of improvements in
arts, machinen,-, and manufactures, articles on architecture, and par-
ticularlv on practical building. It is indeed a kind of extended Me-
chanics' Magazine, and shows an an.xious disposition on the part of
our German brethren to profit by our progress, it being the avowed
object of the public to take advantage of those opportunities of ob-
taining information from the manufacturing countries which are
afforded by the extent of steam navigation at Hamburgh.

Nouvelles Experiences sitr V Adherence des Pkrreset de Brigues. Par
M. MoRiN. Paris. 4to.
This work gives an account of several experiments made by M.
Morin, at Mefz, in 1834, on the adhesive power of stones and bricks
placed in a bed of mortar or cement. These experiments were exe-
cuted bv means of windlasses or ropes affixed to the stones and
bricks ; "and the work further describes the tension which was exerted
on these motive powers. As M. Morin gives nothing beyond the
recent experiments at London, we have not thought it necessary to
go at greater extent into the work, although the minutia; are treated
Tery elaborately.

LITERARY NOTICES.

We have examined tlje article on Railway chairs in Crelle's Berlin Archi-
tectural Journal, Bd. 11, p. 100, but we have not observed anything of
TOhich to avail ourselves. The improvements suggested are of doubtful
utility, and great labour has been bestowed in establishing a comparison witli
other modes of construction. We do not concur in this comparison, and
particularly as ivhile the ,\merican plan is founded for temporary purposes,
and the Belgian suited to a level and sandy country, they can afford no
criterion upon which to decide for other circumstances.

The Churches of London, by George Godwin, jun., F. S.A., assisted by
John Britton, Esq., F.S. A., &c. Parts 21 to 24 — This work continues to
give the same interesting historical descriptions of the ecclesiastical edifices of the
Metropolis as the former numbers we have previously noticed. It would add
considerable interest to the work if a few more interior visws were given, and
likewise plans of the churches. The latter might be given in an appendix to
the present volume.

A Course of M'dUarij Surveying;, incliiiHiifl Instructions fur Shctchimj in Hic
Field, Plan Draifinij, Levelling, MitiWry Reconnaissance, ffc, by Major Basil
Jackson. — A very useful elementary work, suitable for the student ; it con-
tains several valuable hints for military surveying, and description of various
instruments, tlie latter principally borrowed, as acknowledged by the author,
from Mr. Simms' work on the use of instruments.

Treatise mi Jsometricul Drmeinr/ as applicable to Geological and Mining
Flans. Second Edition, with thirty-five Engravings. By T. SoPwrrH, F.G. S.
— We have no time to spare for noticing this work in the present number. We
will endeavour to devote our attention to it next month. It having arrived
to a second edition, shows that the work is justly appreciated by the profession.

The Life of Telford shall be noticed in the next Journal.

The Improved Builders' Prk'e-book, containing upwards of 6,000 Prices and
2,000 useful and important Memorandums and Tobies, by W. Laxton, Sur-
veyor and Civil Engineer. Twelfth Edition — This work has been revised
and corrected throughout, and published in a new form, a size adapted for the
pocket, which will be a great convenience. It contains a larger number
of prices than any other book of the like description.

Mr. Foulston's work ou the public buildings in the west of England erected
from his designs, will be noticed in the next Journal.

We have great pUasure iu announcing that Mr. Wyld has determined upon
enlai ging his highly useful work the Index to the Times. It is to be published
as bifore, monthly and at the same price of one shilling, and will give above
three thousand references to the live morning papers, the Times, Morning
Ckroniele, Morning Herald, Morning Post, and Morning Advertiser, showing
the day of the month, number of the paper, and of the page and column in
which the article is to be found,

Among the new periodicals to be started with the new year is the Sybjl, a
monthly publication of literature, philosophy, and the fine arts.

Mr. Tiunothy Claxton, who is well known by his exertions for the enlight-
enment of the working classes, has now in the prees a book, called Hints for
Mechanics on Self Education and Mutual Instruction. Appended to this is
some of the njost valuable matter relating to Mechanics' Institutions wliich
has yet been published.

ORIOINAL PAPERS, COMMUNICATIONS, &c.

RALPH REDIVIVUS.— No. 12.

THE PANTHEON, OXFORD-STREET.

Perhaps it is a most fortunate circumstance for the reputation of the
original structure, and for the credit of the tasteof its applauders,that
no record of it remains in engravings, save in a few, which are such ex-
cessively trumpery ones as to be palpably giaphic libels. Nevertheless,
making all allowance for most execrably bad drawing and execution, I
have never seen anything to warrant one tithe of the praise bestowed
on the building, or tliat could be taken as an indication of either
masterly invention or excellence of other kind. On the contrary,
supposing any of those representations to have been tolerablv correct
in regard to general design, I should say that while the whole mani-
fested a littleness, not to say paltriness of taste, there were also nu-
merous improprieties and faults for which much better taste in decora-
tion would hardly have atoned. Such is the impression made upon me
by the few views I have seen of the interior, and which I ought therefore
perhaps, to take for granted must have very grossly falsified it, it being
else next to impossible to account for the unqualified terms of admira-
tion in which it was eulogised. There is indeed one way of solving the
mystery, naiuelv.bv presuming that for the encomiums bestowed upon it,
it was indebted far more to the want of discernment on the part of the
public, wliicii blinded them to its defects, than to their discriminating
perception of the beauties so liberally ascribed to it. I am all the more
inclined to adopt this hypothesis, because I have never seen it critically
appreciated anywhere, but merely spoken of in general terms of
pompous rhetoric and panegyric. Nothing iseasiertbau to bandy about
a set of superlatives and fine-sounding epithets ; but in nine instances
out of ten it is exceedingly diflicult indeed to particularise any one
of the excellent qualities attributed to the thing itself by wholesale. In
matters of art, if in nothing else, the rox popiili is not at all to be
trusted. It is apt to make up in noise for deficiency in sense. In re-
gard to architecture more especially, this same vox was least of all to
be relied upon during the seventies o( the last century, at which period
the Pantheon had just risen, and was hailed as a marvel and eighth
wonder of the world, at any rate of the London world. It was quite a
novelty as a place of amusement, and completely verified the adage of
" Omne ignotum pro inagnifico." Higlilv fortunate was it, we repeat,
both for its own reputation and that of its admirers, that the first edi-
fice was burnt to the ground ; fur had not such event occurred, in all
likelihood the wonder it would now have excited would have been of a
very different kind from that it first produced.

Should we, for want of satisfactory evidence as to what it really was,
have formed a too unfavourable and an unjust opinion of it, we can
only regret that James Wyatt himself should have behaved with such
indifference towards this his first production — certainly not his last
in point of celebrity — as not to publish a series of architectural draw-
ings of it on a liberal scale. Had he done so, we should now be at no
loss to understand what his Pantheon really was. In neglecting to do
so, he was either highly imprudent, or the reverse ; most likely the
latter, unless we are willing to believe, that the Pantheon greatly
eclipsed everything else he designed in the same style. Without going
quite so far as the author of the " Contrasts," who very summarily
terms him " James Wyatt, of execrable memory," I cannot help
thinking that the architect of the Pantheon was praised greatly be-
yond his deserts. Had he been less cried tip in his day. his name
would, in all probability, have stood very much higher than it now
does at the present moment. He who is certain of applause before-
hand, will seldom exert himself to deserve it ; while the flatteries of
his contemporaries persuade him that there cannot possibly be any
hisses in store for him from posterity — that is, supposing him to
bestow a single thought on posterity, which is scarcely ever done by
any of the ^petted minions of fashionable patronage. To be sure,
there are persons iu the world who profess a most pliilosophic contempt
for posthumous reputation. James Wyatt appears to be one of them ;
hi? merits seem to have been chiefly negative : he avoided the grosser
errors of his predecessors. His generally bald and frigid style of design,
which the public of tiiat day were good-natured enough to accept as

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

9

classical simplicity, afforded no room for grotesqueness and eccen-
tricity, I'oi- heaviness and exaggeration. The women had laid aside
their formal stomachers and long ruffles, and put themselves in the
array, "arm-pit waists," and clear muslin a hi Adam Buck: in like
manner did Wyatt strip arcliitecture of much of its cumbrous old-
fashioned finery, till he almost cut of!' the very hem of its robe.

With tlie exception of one or two designs for Gothic buildings, all
the rest appear to have been put together upon the "save-tro\ible ''
principle. Tliey exhibit no study, no con amorc feeling, no attempt at
character; nor do I know of any epithet which would describe tiiem
30 appropriately as that of " lack-a-daisical." As buildings, indeed,
they may be perfectly unexceptionable, but as productions of art they
are absolutely nought ; nor can I call to recollection one that deserves
to be rsscued from this sweeping censure. Of the exterior of the
Pantheon an adequate idea may be formed from what it was previously
to the late alterations, for when the edifice was rebuilt after the tire,
the front was restored, with only some trifling alterations from tlie first
design ; consequently, it could never have possessed much architec-
tural pretension externally. Whether tlie porch was erected in strict
conformity vvith the original, I am unable to say; but it certainly
was a most contemptible specimen of arcliitecture, with its ugly sham
pediment, like a triangular board stuck upon it ; and mean iron rails,
tliat seem intended for no other pr.rpose than to atiord a stay to the
pediment, and prevent its being blown away. This bit of trumpery
has been removed by Mr. Sydney Smirke, who has further improved
the general appearance by adding four more coUunns in front to the
porch, fluting them, putting them in pairs, and thereby reducing the
excessive width of the intercolumns. Even those who are decidedly
opposed to the practice of coupling columns nuist admit, that in this
case, there was hardly any other alternative ; because, to have reduced
the width of the intercolumns by merely dividing them, by inserting a
column in each, would not only have rendered them as much too nar-
row as they were originally too wide, but would have occasioned one
of the columns to be in the centre; while the addition of only two
columns, so as to convert the tetrastyle into an hexastyle, would not
have sufiiciently remedied the defect. One defect, to wliich no remedy
has been a|)plied — probably because the architect was not allowed to
devise any — consists in the great disparity between the front and lateral
elevations of this porch.* The Venetian window above the porch
remains as before, and certainly conveys no very favourable idea of
the great ^^'yatt's taste.

As rebuilt by Mr. S. Smirke, the interior of the Pantheon displays
much invention, and several good points of design, not onlv in the
large hall or bazaar, but in otlier parts of it, and not least of all in
the conservatory or in-door garden, which fornix the approacli from
Great Marlborougb-street. Much more, indeed, might have been made
of it, but we ought to be thankful for the practical example of a highly
pleasing novelty, instead of objecting to it, that tlie idea is capable of
being greatly improved upon. The idea itself was probably derived from
the conservatories at the Colosseum ; but that circumstance in no degree
detracts from this particular application of it, as Mr. Smirke has pro-
duced a design of quite a difl'erenl character, and in a situation where
a garden of this description is most desirable, and where such a one
would add materially to the agretnens of a house in town : because,
while it would present a highly agreeable scene in itself, and might, if
lit up, be enjoyed of an evening as well as by day — if not otherwise,
at least from the ground-floor windows looking out upon it — it would
also serve to exclude the sight of dull brick walls, and other disagree-
able objects.

THE ORIGIN AND USE OF THE STEAM DREDGING

MACHINE.

COMMLMCATED BY THOMAS HUGHES, ESQ., CIVIL ENGlNlitK.

The honour of having first applied steam power to the purposes of
dredging has been assigned to various engineers at different times, but
it will be found on examination that the greater part of those who have
hitherto laid claim to be considered the contrivers of this great addition
to the resources of the engineer, have no other foundation for their
claims than that of having at periods not long subsequent to the erec-
tion of the first steam dredging machine, constructed engines on the
same principle.

From the evidence of living witnesses, who arc no other than the
very men who first worked tlie dredging machine by steam power, as

■* The same fault displays itself still more ofl'erisively in the portico of tbe Haymarket
Theatre. In that of Dover, ci-dev(tnt Melbourne House, Whitehall, the portico (throuyh
which foot passengers pass, as in the one just mentioned, and that uf ttie Panthoon)
is mucli better managed, although it loses much of its eflfect in consequence of being on
a diminutive scale, compared with some of the buildings around it. The facade of Dover
House is one of the most tasteful and classical pieces of design in the metropoliu. The
view of It, ill M«lton's " Picture«que Tour," shows it to great advaoiase.

well as from documents in my possession, I can prove beyond the pos-
sibility of doubt, tliat the first steam dredging machine ever used was
constructed by my own fiitlier, the lute .John Huglies, in the execution
of several contracts which he undertook tor the Corporation of the
Trinity House.

The following extract?, from a report by my late father, details the
necessity which gave rise to the introduction of this new power, and
goes on to show the difficulties he met with in the practical application,
and how at length they were all overcome by tlie production of a
dredging engine, wliich may almost be denominated perfect, when we
consider the trifling value and importance which can be attached to
any improvements made up to the present time.

When the docks at Blackwall were being formed for the East India Dock
Company, it was found necessary to deepen the bed of the river Thames at
the moorings opposite the dock gates. With this view the Corporation of the
Trinity House were employed lor nearly two years, at the expense of tlie Port
of London Committee ; but at the end of that period they abandoned their
pursuit, as being impracticable, after incurring an expense of fi-om sixty to eighty
thousand pounds, because their ballast spoons and other implements were not
suflicienlly powerful nor properly constructed to penetrate the strata, which,
at this part of the river, consist of strong blue clunchy clay, intermixed with
layers of rock. Well Inowing that these strata were impenetrable to all the
ballast. lifting implements of that day, and that the Corporation of the Trinity
House had, at the suggestion of the House of Commons, advertised for en-
gineers and others to furnish plans for raising ballast upon an improved prin.
ciple, t immediately, in the absence of my well-known and respectable part-
ner, Mr. William Bough, then attending to a large contract we had at the
Dartmoor prison, « rote and suggested to him a mode or principle of a floating
steam engine, to work a dredging machine, that I thought would fully answer
the intended purpose ; to this ho readily agreed. I immediately set about
preparing it, which I was able to do in about three months ; and as soon as it was
ready, I proposed to the Port of London Committee to deepen and finish the
East India moorings. They accepted iny proposals, and I became the con-
tractor. When I was ready to commence operations, the Port Coiimittco
came down to see the working of the engine, and were exceedingly sanguino
about the success of this (iit that time) novel and singular contrivance. Several
trials were made in their presence, and I had the mortification to see many
parts of the engine, which had cost me much expense and intense thought,
torn to atoms, and links of chain, one and a half inch square, broken and
snapped off, just as easy as the stalks of so many tobacco pipes, by the expan-
sive power of the steam; finally, the machine was almost torn to pieces, and
rendered useless, which was a great disappointment to me as well as to the
Port Committee. Having, however, been bound under a penalty to execute
the work, it was of no use to reflect on the disasters of this day's trial, which,
after all, gave me an opportunity of seeing- that the engine had sutTicient power
to penetrate the strata ; but at the same time many improvements were wanting
to make the machine equal to its task, it was therefore laid up in .Mr. Perry's
Dock at Blackwall, and in the course of a few weeks I had many additional
friction blocks fixed to prevent breakage, and several other improvements
made, which, on the next trial, proved successful, to the greatest degree of per-
fection, and enabled me effectually to accomplish and complete my contract, to
the entire satisfaction of my employers.

About this time .Messrs. Millie, Huddart, and Rennie. civil engineers,
were employed by the Navy Board to inquire into the cause and nature of the
accumulation and deposit of mud, vegetable, and marine substances, at his Ma-
jesty's moorings at \V'oolvvich. They were engaged a long time in making
the necessary observations, .ind o'btaining the desired informa' ion ; and subse-
quently made a Ion;; report thereon, which stated that the deposit of mud, &c. ,
in the river at Woolwich, had so increased of late years, as to render the
Dockyard useless, and unlit for Government ; and where there was a depth of
1j or 20 feet of water, \'l or 14 years ago, there was now no more than six or
eight feet. This report ended by submitting to the Navy Board the pro-
priety of allowing them more time to make an actual survey and soundings
of the river, which was granted. Messrs. Giles, then eminent land surveyors,
were actively employed for nearly twelve months on this tedious and expensive
survey. I had by this time constructed, at an expense of eight thousand
pounds, a large and powerful floating steam dredging engine exactly on the
same principle as the first, on board the Plymouth bomb vessel, which was
purchased from GovernmcHt for this purpose. It was far superior in power to
the first, that being only a six horse power, and this one a thirty horse power.
I therefore made a proposal to the Board to remove all the deposit at the
King's moorings, off Woolwich, and offered not only to reinstate them, but to
deepen the river several feet below the original channel. At the request of
Charles Cunningham, Esq., the Commissioner at Woolwich, 1 brought my
new dredging machine from Mr. Perry's Dock, where she had been
erected, to make trial of the strata and deposit at Woolwich ; the trials
were continued nearly a fortnight, during which time it was clearly proved, to
the satisfaction of the officers of the Dockyard, that the engine was not only
capable of removing gravel and sediment, but was actually competent to ])cnc-
tiate several feet into the original bed of the river, which in this situation is
an accumulation of mud, gravel. Hint, and chalk. In one day wo actually
excavated and lifted the incredible and astonishing quantity of two thousand
tons from an average depth of :50 feet of water, which can be proved by the
Government accounts kept by the master attendant and other officers at Wool-
wich Dockyard. Having so far succeeded we tried no other experiments, but
made further proposals tQ reinstate the depth of the mgoringi, &c., which

10

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

feemed (with the sanction of tlie officers) to meet with the entire approval of
the board : but by this time the civil engineers bcforementioned had
brought in their voluminous and conclusive report, stating, that Woolwich
was unfit for the purpose of his Majesty's Ordinary, and that the sediment off
M'oolwich Dockyard had so accumulated of late years, that it «ould take a
period of five years to remove it, and that at an outlay of at least 152,0001. ;
and after all it would be so uncertain in its efl'ccts, that they declined entering
into any further particulars, but recommended its being abandoned altogether,
and that the Naval Dockyard should be established at Northfleet.

It is well known to every member in both houses of Parliament, at
that period, with what violence the propriety of this immense work
was agitated, which was estimated at the vast sum of seven millions
sterling, or upwards. Pamphlets were written on the subject and circulated
in all directions ; one, I believe, by the late Lord Melville ; another by
tho late George Rose, Esq.; a:id several others. We had, however,
the satisfaction of being addressed officially, by the Navy Board, request-
ing us to send them our report to have it compared in all its bearings with the
detailed reports of the engineers beforemcntioned ; with this we of course
complied, and offered, in open contradiction to our opponents, to reinstate the
harbour in eighteen months. This proposition and statement (so much at vari-
with those of the other engineers) astonished the Navy Board, and they
(inally declined to decide on the eligibility of one report or the utility of the
other ; and with this impression, I believe, they laid the whole business before
the Admiralty Board. 1 ought to add, that the plan of the new Dockyard
(ind naval arsenal at NorthHcet, was in such a state of forwardness, that
the land at Northfleet for the intended docks was actually purchased by
Government, and it was at one time fully expected that the works were to
commence. But, notwithstanding all these preparations, the Board of Admi-
ralty decided in favour of tho mud engineers, with which name we were
honoured in some of the pamphlets of that date. The grand work at North-
fleet was consequently abandoned, and we, in the end, entered into a contract
with the Navy Board, whereby we undertook to restore the Woolwich moor-
ings to their former slate. How far this has been accomplished may be
easily ascertained hy application to Mr, Cunningham, who, 1 believe, at one
time, much to his credit, stood alone unsupported against the opinion of those
engineers who advocated the abandonment of the Dockyard at Woolwich.

John Hi'ghes.

The preceding extract will show that the first steam dredging engine
with frames, links, and buckets, was used by my father in the year
180-t, in a contract under the Corporation of the Trinity House, at the
moorings opposite the East India Dock gates.

Of the advantages that have been derived by the Government and
shipping interests of this kingdom, from the means afforded by the
Bteam diedging machine, of deepening and clearing the various har-
bours, I am quite unable to give anything like an adequate idea.
With respect, however, to its application by the civil engineer to the
numerous operations connected with the improvement of navigation,
it is quite certain, according to the experience of upwards of thirty
years, since its first introduction, that a more eftective and necessary
machine has never been placed under his command.

I propose noiv to notice the further improvements that were made
in the steam dredging engine under my own inspection, whilst
managing the dredging operations on the Caledonian Canal, under my
late uncle, Mr. William Hughes. In order to convey a proper idea of
the great value of the system of steam dredging, as practised on this
important work, it will be necessary to give seme description of the
nature of the country through which the canal is carried, from which
it will be seen that difhculties almost insurmountable would have
occurred to impede the execution of the canal, had not the dredging
proved effectual to the full e.vtent of the most sanguine anticipation.

The line of country wliich had been fi.\ed on for the course of the
canal, comprised three deep and extensive lochs or lakes, extending
longitudinally with the canal for the length of thirty-seven miles and
a half, whilst a distar.ce of about twenty-three miles intervened
between the lakes. Thus it was necessary, in order to complete the
communication between the eastern and western shores of Scotland,
to excavate between one lake and the oilier, and afterwards to deepen
all the shallows that occurred in the direction through which the canal
was to be carried.

The method of dredging which had been pursued by my father, as
before described, on the river Thames, and subsequently by Mr.
Eeniiie at the Hull docks, was found perfectly successful in every situa-
tion where the machine could float above the spot at which the
dredging was required. The position of the buckets, however, required
considerable alteration before tho engine could be rendered capable of
cutting her way across a neck of laud, or througli the various .shoals
which occurred on many parts of the lakes. It was accordingly
found necessary so to construct and fix the ladder or bucket frame,
that when lowered to the working position it projected several feet
beyond the bows or stem of the vessel — an exjieriment, of which the
ultimate success was at the time considered very doubtful, and con-
cerning which great anxiety was felt by all those interested in the
proceedings. It, therefore, afforded universal and infinite satisfaction

to find that the engine worked with the irjost perfect ease, cutting a
passage on the very first trial out of a piece of the canal (which had
previously been filled with water for the purpose of floating her)
through a neck of land into the eastern end of Loch Docli Four.
This work having been accomplished, the engine was successfully em-
ployed in removing several extensive shoals which occurred in the lake.
At the eastern end of Loch Doch Four where the water fiom Loch
Ness falls into it, close to the ruins of Old Ness Castle, occurred
perhaps the most diflicolt case of dredging that can well be imagined.
This was occasioned by the necessity of carrying the canal along the
bed of the river Nes.s, which discharges tlie water from Loch Ness
into the lower level of Loch Doch Four. The bed of the river was
composed of an exceedingly hard stratification known by the term
monntain-clay : and it would be diflScult to conceive anything more
calculated to resist all eflxirts to remove it than this very compact and
almost impenetrable substance. It occurs in great masses almost with-
out any appearance of stratification, and entirely free from vertical
cracks or fissures. Gunpowder applied in the ordinary mode of blasting
was found to produce little or no effect on this clay, as it blew out
of the orifice made to receive it without loosening any quantity of the
mass.

The river Ness flowing over this primitive and hitherto undisturbed
bed, falls into Loch Doch Four with rather a rapid current, and against
this the engine had to light her way, while the duty to be performed
w.ts the excavation of the river-bed, to a depth varying from four to
twelve feet, and very often the sides had to be widened, and in places
where considerable bends occurred in the course of the river, a new
channel had to be formed with a breadth at bottom of fifty feet accord-
ing to the regular section of the canal. It was soon evident when the
engine was set to work against the current, and required to tear up tlie
hard bed of tlie river, that the exercise of every possible contrivance
was necessary in order to the fulfilment of this difficult task.

It was at first found impossible to keep the vessel, containing the
engine, steadily moored against the current, in consequence of the slip-
ping and giving way of chains, cables, and anchors. The machinery,
which was of the very best description, and constructed by the Messrs.
Donkln, was quite unable to withstand the immense force applied to
it. in order to make the buckets cut into and bring up the excavated
clay. All the ground tackle, comprising a full complement of anchors,
cables, and hawsers, was first-rate, both in workmanship and materials ;
tho links were of the best Swedish iron ; all the bolt-holes were steel-
bushed; while the bolts themselves were of the best tempered steel, and
case-hardened.

The whole of the buckets were not only made of the best Swedish
plate-iron, but had strong pieces of tempered steel -plate riveted to their
edges. The friction-blocks throughout the engine were manufactured
and fixed with most surpassing care, and could always be adjusted to
act with the greatest nicety. Notwithstanding, however, all the per-
fection of this engine, and the constant care with which every operation
was performed, tlie most vexatious and apparently insurmountable in-
efficiency, v.'as the result of her first labours in the situation above de-
scribed. It was no uncommon occurrence to witness, in rapid succes-
sion, the tearing away of the buckets, the stripping of the cogs from off
the wheels, the snapping of the chains, breaking of bolts, and giving way
of the anchors and cables, while on more than one occasion the whole
string of chain, buckets, and bolts, was carried overboard.

No sooner were the necessary repairs executed upon the shattered
machinery than it was again torn to pieces, and after all no impression
was made, no effect produced, on the solid and obstinately resisting
mass, against which the engine was contending. Without dwelling upon
the various unsuccessful contrivances which were introduced, it will be
sufficient to mention at once, that none of these proved effiictual until
the expedient was tried of removing every alternate bucket from off
the chain, and fixing, instead of it, two cittters formed of plates of
iron and hardened with steel, which projected at right angles to the
line of the chain, and, as this revolved, cut vertically into the ground
below. Each pair of cutters, therefore, effected two simultaneous
incisions longitudinally in the direction of the vessel, and the lip of
the succeeding bucket descending immediately afterwards, scoops up
the mass separated by the cutters, and carries it to the top of the
frame. After this alteration the work of the engine was performed
with much greater efficiency than before ; but, in consequence of the
hard and incompressible natureof the clay above described, the counter
resistance offered to the buckets and cutters would have been sufficient
to tear them off' and otherwise derange the machinery, had this not
been prevented by the action of the friction-blocks. By means of
these, whcuever a visible tightening and straining of the chain
throughout its whole length, denoted that some extraordinary resist-
ance was opposed to the motion of the buckets, the engine continued
to work and the wheels to revolve, while the chain and buckets re-

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

11

mained stationary. The dredging-vessel was then allowed to drop
back with the stream, in order to loosen the bucliet, which, being thus
extricated from the incision made in the ground, passes back without
resistance.

The vessel is then hove up to her original position, and the next
descending cutters render the previous incision more perfect, and the
bucket immediately following these cutters commonly succeeded in
tearing up the obstinate mass. Sometimes, however, it happened
that the vessel had to be dropped from her work, and hove to it again
several times before this effect could be produced.

These operations, tedious and difficult as they were, succeeded in
forming the complete communication between the two lakes in the
course of about four months. The distance thus dredged was about
300 yards, and the total quantity removed about '20,000 yards. It
must, however, be noticed, that the returns of the work done did not
exhibit bo large an amount as the above, and this is accounted for by
the fact, that a great deal of the material loosened and dislodged by
the cutters and buckets was carried down by the stream into deep
water, instead of being raised in the buckets to the top of the frame.
The excavated earth being in this way as effectually disposed of as if
it had all been hauled up by the buckets, it may not appear surprising
to learn that the current of the river, although seeming, at first sight,
so obviously an obstacle to the process of effective dredging, proved
in the way described a great auxiliary to the power of the engine.

Another instance of the immense advantage which may be derived
in some situations from the employment of the dredging engine
occurred at the west end of Loch Ness. In this part of its course
for a short distance out of the lake the canal runs side by side with
the river, which descends from Loch Oich, the summit lake, to Loch
Ness. The canal attains the level of Loch Oich by means of six
locks, five of which are situate above Fort Augustus, about half a
mile from Loch Ness, and the sixth at Kytra, about half way between
the two lakes. The locks were founded and carried up beyond the
reach of water before the canal was excavated on either side of them ;
and here it will be useful to observe the difficulties which would
have presented themselves had not the power of dredging been
applicable to this work.

In the first place, any attempt to excavate iu the ordinary way
between Loch Ness and the ascending locks would have been
immediately followed by a deluge of water from the river, and
it was certain, on account of the open and inadhesive nature of the
strata between the river and the canal, that the water penetrating into
the excavation made fur the latter would have stood at least as high as
the level of Loch Ne5s, wh'ch is the lowest drainage it could possibly
obtain. Thus the operatio.is of excavating must have been carried on
under a depth of twenty feet of water — a case in which manual labour
could not possibly be emploj'ed.

On the other hand the expedient of carrying the canal on a higher
level, by building two of the locks immediately at the end of Loch
Ness, and in this way obtaining drainage into the lake, would have
been attended witli almost equal objections, for the immense coffer-
dams which wo\ild have been required in getting do«n tlie foundations
in such a situation would have seriously increased both the time and
the cost of execution. As it was, however, by means of the dredging
engine the canal was easily excavated to its full depth and breadth,
from the end of Loch Ness to the tail of the first ascending lock.

The application of the dredging engine in the case just described
leads us to consider one of far greater importance, where a most diffi-
cult and extensive work would have been entirely avoided, had the
power of the dredging machine been as well known at that time as it
has since become. Every history of the Caledonian canal dwells with
great minuteness upon the diiEculties experienced in building the sea
lock at the eastern end of the canal where it terminates in the Beauly
Frith, a part of the Eastern Sea. At this place an embankment was
actually carried out into deep water, and after sufficient time had been
allowed fur its consolidation, the excavation for the lock was formed in
the middle of it. This expedient, ingenious at it certainly was, would
have been quite unnecessary if the lock had been built on the solid
ground inland, and a passage had been dredged out into deep water.
Although it is probable, considering the state of engineering knowledge
at that time, that the plan adopted was the best that could then be
devised, it is certain that a much better work could have been con-
structed in the solid ground before entering the Beauly Frith, and in
corroboration of this it may be mentioned, that the sea lock at this day
has a considerable dip or inclination towards the sea, an effect no doubt
occasioned by the after settlement of the artificial mound in which it
was placed.

With respect to the dredging on the Caledonian canal very little
more remains to be said. In various places on the west side of Loch
Oich its powers were brought into requisition, but to describe the cir-

cumstances of its application at length would be merely to repeat what
has already been told, witli reference to Locli Doch Four, and Loch
Ness.

Without any disposition to disguise the fact that difficulties serious
and annoying occasionally presented themselves, I am quite safe in
asserting that in every case a persevering and determined application of
tlie dredging engine, in tlie capability of which every one engaged
placed the most implicit reliance, succeeded without exception in a com-
plete fulfilment of the duties expected and required. As it may be
interesting to know the quantities of work performed by the engines on
this canal, the following numerical statement may safely be depended
on. The total quajitity of dredging on the Caledonian canal exceeded
one million of cubic yards, and the engines enriployed were only two in
number, a six and a ten-horse power. The former of these was era-
ployed in the dredging out of Loch Ness up to the first ascending
lock, in which district the quantity dredged amounted to 170,000
cubic yards andoccupied eight months. Tiiis engine was also employed
in dredging througli tlie slioals of Loch Doch Four, and between this
lake and Loch Ness. The ten-horse- power engine was built at Loch
Oich, in the year 1816, and was employed in dredging into the lake,
through the shallows, and between the summit level and Loch Lochy
descending westward. The greatest quantity raised in one day by tlie
ten-horse-power engine on the Caledonian canal was 1.300 tons.

In reviewing the extraordinary performance of the dredging engine
in every situation where it has liitherto been employed, it appears to
afford "to the engineer means of the most powerful and extensive
capability in the construction of a das? of works which must ever hold
a place of great importance iu the rank of engineering operations. I
allude to docks and harbours, in the construction of which, during late
years, the greatest acquirements, both practical and scientific, have been
called into action. The well-attested performances of the dredging
engine clearly establish the fact that this machine, being set to float in
a basin or a channel of water, is capable not only of tearing up and
deepening the bed, however hard or solid, but also of cutting away the
adjacent land, and extending either the length or breadth of the body
of water in any required direction. In the same way the engine would
be quite competent, when placed out at sea, to work inland, either to
clear out the embouchure of old rivers, docks, or harbours, or, as a still
bolder undertaking, to excavate new cliannels where tlie old ones from
any cause have been impeded and rendered useless. The design of
constructing docks, harbours, and basins of any kind in sheltered situa-
tions, at any convenient distance from the sea, may be safely carried
into effect, relying on the power of the dredging engine to perfect the
communication with the sea, at an expense not exceeding that of
ordinar}' excavation.

To enter into details respecting the cost of dredging in various
situations wouW be out of place in a paper of tliis kind, wliich pro-
fesses to be a mere outline of its advantages. But I shall at any
time feel great pleasure in affording to any individual, or public body,
who may think proper to communicate with me on the subject, the
benefit of my experience and practical acquaintance from earliest youth,
with every particular relating to tlie practice of dredging by steam
power.

4, Acre-lane, West Brixton. THOMAS HUGHES.

D.xember 15, 1838.

ON CONSTRUCTION, AND THE USE OF IRON.

Read before the Architectural Society, on Tuesday, Dec. 4, 1838, by
R. E. Philips, Esq., Member.
The great end of all the arts is that of making an impression on
the imagination and feeling. That imitation of nature frequently does
this I believe will be readily admitted ; but that on some occasions it
fails, I conceive will also be conceded : the true tests of the arts,
therefore, does not rest solely upon the production of a true copy of
nature, but whether it answers the end of art, which is to produce a
pleasing effect on the mind. Architecture does not rank itself under
the banners of an imitative art •, but, like music and poetry, appeals
directly to the imagination. There is in architecture an inferior
branch of art, in w-hich (he imagination has no concern; it does not
lay claim to its appellation as a polite and liberal art from its useful-
ness, or as an accessory to our wants and necessities ; but from higher
and loftier principles, we are convinced that a man of genius would
render it capable of inspiring sentiment, and of filling the mind
with great and sublime ideas. The influence of the fine arts upon
the intellectual and moral character of a people, their utility and
their value, as conferring upon a state iu which they are justly
appreciated as the highest proof of civilization, are considerations
which cannot be loo much entertained. Persons ai-e too apt to
regard the art of design as a mere elegance, as the sign of wealth

1-:

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

rn.tlier than the production of « isdom, and as more the effect of plea-
sure than utility- It may be veil for tlie members of our profession
to consider what means and materials arc in their hands, that may
prove conducive to these ends, and whether this art has not in its
power to address itself to the imagination by more ways than those
usually adopted by architects. That the mere theoretical architect
combines those (pialifications, has not, I think, been proved in the
buildings of the ancients, for I imagine that many of the deformities
observable in the buildings of Greece and Rome have arisen from
tlieir ignorance of construction, and the modes adopted to supply
tliat deficiency, some of which have been contrary to every rule of
beauty and convenience. The strength and duration of their
erections may, I think, be attributed to the goodness of the materials,
and the quantity used, rather than any practical display of mecha-
nical skill : and, at the same time, I cannot help regi-elting that at
the present day, when the flourishing appearance of the arts would
lead us to look for a display both of the one and the other, a sad
deficiency exhibits itself, and especially when we are continually
hearing the former decried, the latter so much commended.

To the Gothic architects we are considerably indebted for the
unity of both, for in their works tliey exhibit a lightness, an art
and boldness of execution, clearly proving tliat neither the singly
jiractical or theoretical architect will ever exhibit to the mind a
pleasing object for its contemplation, unless the union of the two
becomes apparent to the imagination by the working of its effects.

England, perhaps, exhibits more than any other nation magnificent
examples of these qualifications, equally admirable for the art with
which they are executed, and the taste and ingenuity w ith which
they are composed. I camiot here refrain from expressing a feeling
of regret, that these structures, sacred to the soil, are not more con-
sidered, better understood, and held in higher estimation, and more
encouragement given to our auticjuarians ni that peculiar branch, to
undertake a correct publication of our ecclesiastical and domestic
architecture, before ruin spreads its extending mantle, and preserve
to after ages the remembrance of an extraordinary style, now fast
sinking into oblivion, at the same time publishing to the world the
riches of a great nation in the splendour of her ancient structures,
and rendering a real service to the art of design.

That some of our modern architects liave developed great skill and
considerable know ledge in their erections, I candidly and joyfully
confess ; for instance, St. Paul's, and many other works of Sir
Christopher Wren, present us with a display of numerous examples
of admirable works, executed with so nmch art, that they are and
ever will be studied and admired by all intelligent and researching
observers.

" J'huse massy coliumis in a cirrk- ri^c.

O'er %s Iiioh a pompous doine invuOes Ibo skie^ ;
tSuarcc to tUo tup I stretdit-d my achinj,' sight.
So large it spread, and suclk-d to sucli a lit-iylit."

To him and many others we owe great improvements in practice,
especially in carpentry, which has been carried to a much higher
state of perfection than by any other nation; and we are considerably
indebted to many of our countrymen for several valuable books,
■which have been published, explaining the various modes of con-
ductingtheseveral Vorks,andenumcrating the apparatus used, together
with the propei-ties and nature of materials adopted; and let me here
bear an humble tribute to the periodicals which now monthly add to
our store; to these, then, the various structures to be found in the
United Kingdom, and elsewhere, must the architect devote much of
his attention, in order to acquire and collect the rudiments of con-
struction, and other branches of his profession, which practice,
experience, and attentive observation alone will render him con-
summately skilled in.

Perhaps there is no material so much in requisition in buildings as
iron ; but yet so little attention is devoted to tlie parts thereof, that
although capable of being converted to tlic most ornamental pur-
poses, at the same time uniting stability with utility, it is made an
eyesore, or, in many instances, a severe reproach on the skill and
ingenuity of the architect. The use and advantage of a thorough
knowledge of the material will be best appreciated l)y those who
seriously consider the dread effects of a lailuro in its application, as
it would happen most likely when the consequences would be most
serious; and, perhaps, there is no material wliich requires more the aid
and assistance of science in its use, therefore the greater necessity for
a constant study of its properties and capabilities. That very great
improvements have been made in its application is every dav more
apparent, and which nuiy be chiefly attributed to its great acquisition
in manufacturing districts, and thereby produces additional reasons
for a more minute cultivation of a thorough knowledge of its utility
and value. Another reason for its adoption is on the score of
economy, for altlwugh the optilcnci; of tlic nation might warrant a

supposition of prodigality in its public buildings, yet where thousands
and tens of thousands are squandered in the most trifling, con-
temptible, and ridiculous modes, yet, in respect to the arts, especially
architecture, the public liberality has yet been seen only to extend
to almost a nu're nothhig, a foundation certainly nmch too weak to
sustain an edifice either creditable to the national taste or native
genius.

The existence of jturc iron was formerly (piestioiu'd : of the fact
that such pieces have been found, I believe tlicre remains little
doubt, indeed none at all, if we rely on highly respectable authorities.
A large jiicce of native iron was found in South America in 1 7^(3, by
a Spaniard, w hich w as found to be pure aiul soft iron, easily cut, and
cajiable of being wrought without difficulty when heated, some
portions of which are deposited in the British Museum, as specimens
of the block. It has been likewise a matter of doubt whether the
ancient Greeks, towards whom w'c generally look for authorities as to
the early progress in the arts, were acquainted with the use of iron.

In the description of the games instituted by Achilles on the death
of Patroclus, translated by Cowper, we find the following ; —

" Tliolit-ro next an iron clod produced

Uonpli frnni the foj'gc, and wont to tasic the might

t )f King.-Ktiun; but when him he slew

J 'elides' glorious chief, ^\ith oilier spoils,

I'rom Thebes conveyed it in his fleet to Troy." — Iliap.

If iron had been common among the Greeks, we may assume tliat
a lump of the metal of the size described by the poet or his transla-
tor would have been no unworthy prize of heroic contention ; but as
it is by no means clear that the knowledge of iron for military pur-
poses really existed, much less that the art of subjugating so stub-
born a material, w as at that time known.

At what period tlie smelting of iron ore. so abundant in this
country, was first undertaken, does not. I believe, appear. It will
be readily admitted by those conversant in early history, as well
as by those who respect traditional prolKibility, that the earliest
uses to which it was devoted were probably w capons of warfare.
Although a considerable degree of perfection appears to have been
attaineil at a very early period in the working of ii'on, the art of
easting articles in sand from the metal in its crude state seems to
have been either unknown or not practised till a comparatively late
]icriod. That it is fitted for every purpose in building is not asserted,
especially considering the climate of England: but its usefulness
for the support of great weights exposed in situations subject to
rapid decay, and for the prevention of fire, must be self-c^'ident. as,
in the latter case, we have seen severtd instances lately, which fully
bear testimony to the correctness of this observation, where there is
every reason to suppose, that, had not the brestumnier supporting the
front wall of the liouse been of iron, the same would have been
l)recipilated into the street, and thereby, ))erhaps, a sacrifice of many
lives. There have been instances of failures in the use of this
material, which, perhaps, lias much prejudiced the public mind
against its adoption more genei-ally in buildings; but yet these may
liave been cases where it lias arisen from a want of a proper know-
ledge of its properties, and not from any defect in the material itself.
Persons are too apt to imagine that a large piece of inm must
possess infinite sfrengtli, and the dimensions of the most important
parts of structures are frequently fixed upon by guess, and from such
causes ensues unpleasant consequences. The chief and principal
object is to regartlthe fitness, strength, and durability, at the same
time endeavouring to produce, with those qualifications, a pleasing
effect, correctness of design, and lightness of parts, yet at no sacri-
fice to the stability of the erection. When it is considered that the
parts of a building should assume any particular form or position, as
well as stress, it will become obvious that something more than
mere resistance to fracture should be calculated. In the evidence
given before the jury on the failure of the Royal Brunswick Theatre,
the architects examined on that occasion differed materially as to the
application of iron for the purposes of roofs : yet there tire many
recent instances where iron roofs have been adopted with complete
success. I might mention the roof over the fruit market at C'ovent-
garden, where it is composed of iron and wood, that has a \ cry light,
and agreeable cflect ; the fisli-market at the Ilungerford-market
is w holly of iron, with sheet-iron ( ? zinc) covering. In chapels
lately erected, the cluster-columns have been made of iron, six
inches diameter, cast liollow, with a stone core for their reception,
and the heiglit of which, I believe, are 25 feet ; but yet, for the want
of a little attention to these matters, every body must regret the bad
elTect which is produced by tlic introduction of iron girders, in
chapels and elsewhere, without combining a spirit of design with that,
of utility, and perhaps economy; little or no attention is paid to the
adoption of iron columns in shop windows where they become neces-
sary for tlic stability of the building, which, if properly considered,

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

13

instead of tbrniiufT a blot in the design, might be made conducive
to its general good effect, and that without detriment to its stability
or usefulness.

As regards the qualifies of iron, we find the following recom-
mendations :^Whitc cast iron is less subject to be destroyed by rust-
ing than the gray kind ; and it is also less soluble in acids ; therefore
it may be usefully cmiiloyed where hardness is necessary, and where
its brittleness is not a defect : but it should not be chosen for pur-
poses where strength is necessary. When east smooth, it makes
excellent bearings for gudgeons or pivots to run upon, and is very
durable, having little friction; white east iron, in a recent fracture,
has a white and radiated appearance, indicating a crystalline strnc-
tiu'e, it is very brittle and hard; gray cast iron has a granulated frac-
ture of a gray colour, with some melallic lustre; it is much softer and
tougher than the white cast iron, but between these kinds there are
varieties of cast iron having various sliades of these qualities, those
should be esteemed the best which approach nearest lo the gray
cast iron. Gray cast iron is used for artillery, and is sometimes
termed gun-metal.

The utmost care should be employed lo render I he iron in each
casting of an uniform quality, because, in iron of different qualities
the contraction is different, which causes an unequal tension among
the parts of the metal, impairs its strength, and renders it liable to
sudden and unexpected failures. When the texture is not uniform,
the surface of the casting is usually uneven where it ou^lit to have
been even. This uneveuness, or the irregular swells and hollows on
the surlace of a casting, is caused by the unequal contraction of the
iron of different qualities.

Too nuich attention cannot be paid by the architecl to the fact of
ascertaining the capabilities of every portion used, by the necessary
proofs, the importance of which has been frequently proved, the
castings having been, to the eye, good and sound, but, under the
necessary proofs, were failures, but which reflects no discredit either
on the architect or founder, but only shows the high necessity for
the before-mentioned caution.

I have been led to make these few remarks from a wish that some
more able hand, and well-stored mind would, some evening, instruct
us with a better and more elucidated detail of so interesting a
topic.

The architect who has his mind thus filled with ideas, and made
expert by practice, will work with ease and readiness, whilst he who
woidd have yon believe he is waiting for inspirations of genius, is,
in reality, at a loss how to begin: whereas tlie well-grounded architect
in theory and practice has only maturely to weigh liis subject, and all
the mechanical parts of his art follow ; without conceiving the
smallest jealousy against others, he is content that all shall be as
great as himself, who have undergone the same fatigue, confirming
the importance of the fine arts, and drawing forth a strong response
from the generous hearts of all classes, ere a nation may wear that
high intellectual honour which the production of masterpieces in
painting, sculpture, and architecture has ever conferred.

May we not trust and be persuaded that we shall have the gratifi-
cation, al no distant period, of adding a new page of lustre to the
English history, there being nothing of glory left to achieve, we
may still snatch the only remaining laurel in the midst of the enjoy-
ment of peace and plenty ; we may, after a long and severe struggle,
enjoy those enchanting, fragrant, and ever-blooming laurels of
painting, scidpture, and architecture, entwine them round our
country's brow, stamp the age in which we live, and, by the patron-
age and encouragement given to the mass of talent in all the
branches of the arts now in this country, if to the glorious names of
Augustus, Pericles, and Leo, we may add that of Victoria, as the
most enlightened and liberal patroness of the arts since the bygone
days of Italian splendour, and make those days in which she ruled
the golden age of England's pride.

RAILWAY CURVES.

Sir, — I have recently been engaged in staking out the line of one of
the principal railways now in progress of formation, and in the course
of my operations met with some difficulty, in consequence of being
compelled to cross several roads and rivers, and certain lands, at fixed
points. To accomplish this, I was obliged to make use of curves of
different radii for shorter distances than usually adopted.

Now, although it is, doubtless, an object in laying the rails, to make
the resistance equal by continuing a good working curve, or gradient,
as far .as possible, yet I think it would be an improvement upon the
system of running directly from a straight line to a curve of H, '2, or
'■i^ miles radius, if a curve of ;i, 4, or 5 miles radius for a short distance

(say 6 or 10 chains, or any dietance which the locality would make
convenient) were made use of to connect them.

I would add, that projectiles (where the resistance is equal) assume
the parabolic curve, to which the plan I propose is an approximation.

If any of your more experienced readers would correct any error I
may have fallen into, they would much oblige

Vour obedient servant,

Dec. U, 1838. " A SUB."

THE SOANEAN MUSEUM.

Under the head of •' Weekly Gossip,"' in its number for December
1st, the Allieiicriim has made the following rem.arks respecting this so-
called /)K?i/;V establishment : — " Whilst upon the subject of ^luscums.
let us ask, are the Soanean trustees still nodding ' in the pleasant
land of Drowsihood,' as well as their great prototypes abovemen-
tioned r (vi?.. those of the Rritish Museum), llow long is the Public
Inheritance in l.incohi's-inn-fields to remain a close borough for Mr.
So-and-so, the curator, and Mrs. So-and-so, the housekeeper? A rich
Aichite.cturul Library was left, we submit, to be devoured by some-
thing else than the dry-rot. Wh.en sh.all we have the use and enjoy-
ment of our heritage ? Or has the entrance been removed to terra
incognita f Two years almost has the testator been dead, yet the
British people must still be satisfied with permission to visit their men
properly some few months (rather some few days) during the fashiou-
.able season ! Let us hope that by next spring such arrangements will
have been made, as may render a recurrence to this subject unne-
cessary."

It affords us great pleasure to find the matter so strongly taken up
in such a quarter ; for were we solitary in our condemnation of the
svstem of nominal access to, but viitu.al exclusion from, the Soanean
Museum, we might be thought to plead rather for our own conve-
nience, than for the right of the public generally. So long as it con-
tinues upon its present footing, the whole is a monstrous piece of
humbug — an absolute dog-in-the-manger affair, and as such cannot be
too strongly reprobated. As far, too, as the liberal donor's memory is
concerned, it would be infinitely more charit.able towards him, to pay
no regard to his childish freaks and whims, but throw the Museum open
to the public, " every day and all day long," than, by adhering to them,
to remind the public perpetually of his stingy disposition, which in-
duced him to tie up the property in such manner that no one^ncither
the public nor his own family, can enjoy it; the only parties who can
really be said to be in actual possession, being Mr. Curator and Mrs.
Housekeeper — the servants of the public — who, no doubt, have full
leisure to perform " high life below stairs," or. lor the matter of that, up-
stairs, too. If there be a rich Architectural Library, which, after
what we have heard, we very much doubt, let all those who can benefit
by it have free access to it. The only respect in which the .Soanean
Museum can now be considered i\ pro bono publico, \^, that it seems
likely to be a bone of public contention. Let u?, therefore, fight for it
manfully— no, not manfully, but doggedly, imtil one part} or the other
get the day. At all events, it is a case wherein the next best tiling to
a decisive victory would be an equally decisive defeat.

SCHOOLS OF ENGINEERING, MINING, AND SURVEYING.

As very great ignorance seems to exist among the would-be poli-
tical economists as to the state and progress of the schools for
engineering, mining, and surveying, we are induced to publish the
following remarks : — The fiovernment have the departments at
Sandhurst, Woolwich, and Chatham ; the East India Company have
also a college ; the Royal Dublin Society have long given regular
courses of lectures and' instruction, under the superintendence of
Mr. GriflRths ; and surveying has been so cfieclively taught at the
Agricultural Seliool of Templemoyle, that the Ordnance Surveying
Department there has received considerable assistance from it. Sur-
veying is one of the regular branches of instruction at Elizabeth
College, Guernsey; and we believe also at King William College, in
the Isle of Man.

But if any deficiency of these institutions exists, it will be fully
supplied by the faculties established at Durham, and in University
and King's Colleges, London. In the college in progress at Bath,
professional instruction is part of the course proposed, and we have
no doubt that it will soon be adopted in Ireland or Scotland.
The southern mines will also have a school founded by means of the
Dunstanville subscription.

We wonder that the admirers of the Polytechnic School had not
pointed put the defici<;ncy of agricultural schools in England, while

14

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

there are shoals in foreign countries, and there are establishments even
in Ireland and Scotland. This would be about on a par until their other
reasonin", for although the Irish and Scotch may want agricultural
schools, The English do not. " It is not the healthy who want a phy-
sician, but the sick."

IRISH RAILWAY COMMISSION.

" Haviug thus eiideavoureil to explain, tliat tlie constnu-lion of the best lines of
Railviay between Loudon and Dublin, and between Dnblin and Cork, the latter
beiDj rstablislied as the fixed port of embarliation, a mure eertain, expeditious, and
convenient, if not a cheaper, comrannication would be eflected lAilh America, than
from any port of Great Britain directly, unless with partial advantages from Bristol
only ; ami that even from Bristol, circumstances are likely to induce many vessels to
touch at Cork, We may, then, safely urye the construction of these Railways as a
consiiieration of national importance, quite independent of the amount of direct
profit from increased busiuess which the intercourse thus created is likely to pro-
Jiic0_ — Page 00, Irhh ConuninSfonen^ UtiiUoaij Report.

I shall now endeavour to examine and investigate the general
utility of this plan recommended by the Irish Railway Commissioners,
as its main object is put forward on merely assumed data, evidently for
the purpose to induce the Government of tlie country, either to em-
bark in the project, or to advance public money to carry it into execu-
tion ; and as it is an undertaking not only gigantic, but of a very
formidable kind, it otight to be subjected to tlie test of the stern
scrutiny of reason and discussion; because it appears to involve the
making of 140 miles of railway througlt Wales, and also 316 miles
througb the south of Ireland, and a consecpient expenditure of more
than ten millions sterling. I sball, therefore, be brief, and approach
the subject at once by caUing public attention to the time of travelling
from London to Cork by railway, as compared to tlie sea voyage by
steam to the same port. The merits of the direct voyage from London
to NeviT York — the superior advantages of the route from London
to New York, by the Western railway to Bristol, and then
direct by steam across the Alantic — the central position of
Liverpool, in the British empire — its great American trade,
and the many advantages it possesses as a point of general departuie
for America, and its becoming the great emporium of steam intercourse
with the states of the new contiiiciit. To the nautical and geographical
statements to illustrate and show that the recommendations of the Irish
Railway Commissioners, as to Cork being established as the fixed port
for embarkation, would be productive of no benefit, either as to general
convenience, economy of time, or expense to passengers departing from
the port of London, Bristol, or Liverpool, boiintl to America ; and
that even the making of 456 miles of railway through Wales and Ire-
land, would neither lessen the time nor the expense of steam navigation
intei course between the principal ports of Great Britain and those of
North America ; but on the contrary, if viewed on the basis of national
utility, would be attended with immense trouble, inconvenience, and
expense, not only in general to the travellers of England and Scotland,
but also as to the transmission of packages by that route from Great
Britain to America.

It is stated in the Irish Commissioners' Railway Report, that if the
line of railway they recommend be made from Dublin to Cork, "and
the most rapid possible communication opened between London and
Dublin, persons or packages might then reach Cork from London in
about twenty-nine hours, allowing twenty miles per hour for railway
travelling." The Railway Commissioners have not given any detail of
tlie calculations regarding how the journey fiom London to Cork by
railway could be performed in twenty-nine hours, it may therefore be
worth while to examine that statement put forth by them.

Hours.
Railway conveyance from London to the Irish Channel . 11
Steaming across to Dublin . . . . . 12

Travelling from Kingstown to the Cove of Cork . . . 9

82

The Railway Commissioners mention tliat a saving of two or three
days would be made in going by railway from London to Cork, as com-
pared with performing the same voyage going by sea. This, upon in-
vestigation, does not appear to be the case, for tlie distance from Lon-
don to Cork straight through the English Channel is about 595 English
miles, which a powerful steamer could perform in about fifty hours in
favourable weather, and which would only be a saving by the railway of
about eighteen hours instead of two or three days ; so that this state-
ment of the Commissioners does not even appear to stand investigation
when compared to the circuitous route of touching at Cork.

Looking into this question, and viewing it in another way ; sup-
posing passengers and .packages leaving London in a steam vessel
bound direct for New York in America, they would reach it even
sooner than if they were to travel by railway to Cork, and then em-
bark, for America ; because Cork lies 230 miles north-west of the

middle entrance of the English Channel : and again, a ship steaming
from London bound for New York, and calling at Cork, incurs an
immense loss in running from the Land's-end to that port, her course
then requiring to be changed from W. by S. to N. W. 4;^ west for a
distance of about one hundred and eighty miles, and in place of
making southing, which she ought to do if sailing in a direct course,
she would be making northing to the amount of not less than 190
miles, taking it from the centre of the mouth of the English Channel
te the harhour of Cork. The direct voyage from London to New
York would, therefore, possess many advantages in lessening the time
compared to the same voyage being performed by going round the
Land's-end and calling at Cork ; or even going by railway through
Dublin to that port, and then embarking for New York. Let it be
further observed, that besides the great expense of this railway land
journey from London to Cork, that the embarkation to cross the Irish
Channel, the disembarkation at Kingstown, arrival at Cork, and again,
the re-embarkation at the Cove, would entail much more trouble, loss
of time, expense, and inconvenience to passengers and packages taking
this route, than the Iiish Railway Commissioners appear to be awar«
of. But let any one acquainted with travelling just examine for a
moment this plan recommended by the Commissioners, and it will
appear, that there is neither reason for it, nor any kind of advantage to
be derived from its adoption, and much less to the interests of the
state ; that there should be 456 miles of railway made, costing more
than ten millions sterling, at the public, expense, upon such a senseless
project, and which could never be of any national benefit whatever in
accelerating the communication between London and New York, or
the other ports in Nortli America.

Can this favourite project of the Irish Railway Commissioners, so
strongly advocated and put forward by them, of London passengers
and parcels going through Dublin to Cork, and embarking for Ame-
rica, stand one moment in competition with the route from London by
the Great Western Railway to Bristol, and then direct by steam to
New York. A glance at the map of Great Britain and the chart of
the Atlantic, will show the very great superiority of this line of com-
munication between London and 'New York, as compared to any other
that has yet been laid before the public, and which is now working
practically to a great extent, with the most triumphant success. The
Great Western Railway from London to Bristol, is wide and level,
which will ensure to it a very considerable velocity per hour. The
time of travelling on it from London to Bristol may be taken at about
four or five hours, and then 28 hours steaming W. by S. towards New
York, would place the passengers on board of the steamer at the end of
.32 hours after departing from London, not less than 1.50 miles S. by
W. of Cork. I ask, what is the Royal Commissioners' London, Dub-
lin, and Cork project, requiring 456 miles of railway to be made, and
costing more than ten millions sterling, compared to this plan, which is
now, to a great extent, in full operation.

The Railway Commissioners' reasonings as to the advantages of
Cork, compared to Liverpool, are equally fallacious as those which
they have expressed regarding London and Bristol. As Liverpool is
the largest commercial port on the west of Great Britain, and possesses
a very large American trade, I shall offer a few observations in com-
paring it with Cork, as a fixed point of departure for America, and
which the Commissioners very erroneously think will become the great
port of communication with the states in the new continent.

Hours.

Passengers crossing from Liverpool to Dublin, say . .11

From Kingstown to the Cove of Cork . . .9

Amount of time from Liverpool to Cork . . .20

A powerful steamer departing from Liverpool and bound for New York
would, in 26 or 27 hours, with moderate weather, reach the same longi-
tude as Cork, but with a favourable wind 50 miles more southerly ; £0
all that would be gained in point of time would be about six or seven
hours, and as to the expenditure of fuel it would only be about 25 or
26 tons. But on the other hand, looking to the many eminent
advantages which Liverpool possesses, and above all to lier central
position in the British Isles ; united already to London and Hull by
a railway, and also will be with Glasgow shortly— possessing a steam
navigation intercourse with Dublin, Belfast, Glasgow, and all the
principal ports on the west of Great Britain, and those on the shores of
Ireland, her immediate connection with all those great manufacturing
districts within the interior of England, the work-shop of the world, and
justly exciting the admiration of people from every region of the globe.
Looking at her wealth, the extent of her commercial activity, her
rapidly growing trade, points out Liverpool, without requiring 456
miles of railway, and a ten million expenditure, to be destined to
become the emporium of Britain, for steam navigation intercourse with
all the rising states of Araerica^ The writer of this is as thoroughly

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAIi.

15

Convinced that such will be the case as any mathematician can be of
any of the axioms of geometry.

The recommendations and assumptions of the Irish Railway Com-
missioners as to this important question tend eminently to mislead, not
only the government of the country, but also the various companies,
and the public. But if they had taken the trouble of examining with
the least attention the chart of the Atlantic, exhibiting the eastern and
western shores of America and Europe, and the map of the British
Isles, they never could have fallen into such a gross misconception
regarding the best and most direct routes of communicating by steam
between London and New York, and also between Bristol and New
York.

Are the Railway Commissionei-s not aware, that by the chart the
course from the middle of the western entrance of the English Channel
to New York is about W. by S. V and from Cape Clear, in Ireland, it
is about W.S. VV. 6J west ? and further, that the middle of the Atlantif
entrance of the British Channel, is north of the parallel of New York
about 585 miles, Bristol 743 miles, and Cork 775 miles? and that any
northing made in sailing from London or Bristol to New York, by calling
at Cork, is a dead loss equivalent to double that amount, because a ship
has ns much southing again to make by such a deflection from the true
and direct course? As to a London, a Bristol, or a Liverpool steamer
getting business at Cork to compensate them for such a deviation and
delay, is altogether out of the question, particularly looking at the state
of the present existing trade in Ireland. The additional supply of fuel
which the Commissioners think the Atlantic steamers outward-bound
from London would requii'e, and which they recommend should be
procured at Cork, it may be observed, in reply, tliat the steam ships
even from Londoir can carry quite enough of fuel to carry them from
that port to New York, without incurring a loss in northing of nearly
200 miles, by calling at Cork ; and that Falmouth, in this respect,
would afford the supply much better, if required, and without loss of
time or lengthening of the voyage. Looking at the geographical posi-
tion of both Liverpool and Br'istol, steamers from tliose ports would
stand less need than those of London in calling at Coi-k for fuel.

It is presumed these observations show there can be no beneficial
results from the making of 456 miles of railway through "Wales aud
Ireland, costing more than ten millions sterling, in lessening- either the
time or expense in going from London or Bristol to New York, by
iTiaking Cork the port of departure ; unless it be to involve the unfor-
tunate existing executive of Britain in an expense of more than
ten millions sterling, and to support one of the most extraordinai-y
projects or jobs that ever was proposed, or even ventured to be recom-
mended to the government of any free country. Yet it has been so
far countenanced by those in power, that augmented salaries and
honour's have been bestowed, marking' their approbation of the
measure.

Injustice I deem it right to give the following quotation : — " The
Viscount Melbourne and the Chancellor of the Exchequer st.nte to
the Boai-d, that whilst they consider the importance of a safe and
expeditious line of communication between Londnn and Dublin to be
such as to justify the inter-fei-ence of tire pidilic, they ai-e by no means
prepared to recommend any survey of a line of railroad. Sevei-al
private bills have passed, and works are either in contemplation, or are
actually undertaken, upon the successful completion of which a direct
lino of railroad from Dirblin to London must depend. They therefore
consider that any interposition on the part of the state, even if it were
limited to the single object of a survey, would have a tendency of
interfering with private entei'prise, and discouraging the applicalion
of capital, when it may be required for the general improvement of the
country." — Report on Liverpool, Holyhead, and Port DynVaen
Harbours, 2\st. Feb, 1837.

W.

NATIONAL MONUMENTS.

Sir, — No one who knew London fifteen years ago but will see with
pleasure how much it has been improved since then, especially near
Charing-cross, and that truly nuble structure, London-bridge. It
would, however, puzzle a foreigner (and it puzzles me who am not
one) to account for the incongruity which exists in the names of the
principal streets and squai'es, and of the buildings and monuments that
are placed near one another. For instance, how comes it that we aro
to have a monument of Nelson and Trafalgar-square in front of the
National GiiUery ? Had the building been an Admiralty-nfBce, no-
thing coidd be more appropriate; but a name bearing refer-ence to the
fine arts, and a monument of Hogarth, of Reynolds, or of some other
of our famous artists, would have been more fitly applicable to a gal-
lery of paintings. If bronze statues should (as they generally do)
represent none but princes, warriors, or statesmen, King Charles's

statue might have been removed further from the scene of his dis-
astrous death, and turned towards the immortal woi-ks of the painters
he so liberally patronized.

However, I suppose that, in spite of all that can now be said, Tra-
falgar-squai'e will retain its name, and Nelson's statue will be placed
there — at the risk of sti'angers to our history who have visited our chief
towns (Edinburgh, Dublin, Liverpool, Birmingham, &c.) sup|)osin^
England to have produced so few great men that we have been obliged,
in or'der to have statues enough, to make a dozen for each of them.
With the Greeks and Romans, our masters in architecture and sculp-
tirre, bravery only was virtue, and warriors the greatest of men ; but
are we Chrisitians of the same opinion ? Why have we not statues of
Bacon, of Locke, of Newton, of Howard, or of King Alfred, in our
squares and public places ? or, if we must have soldiers and sailors,
why not one of the great and virtuous Cnllingwood — of that warrior
who, as a husband, a father, a commander, a patr-iot, and a subject,
merits the unalloyed admiration of posterity, and whose whole cha-
racter and conduct may well be held up as a pattern worthy of all
imitation ? Surely the monument in Trafalgar-squai-e should be
dedicated to both the admirals and to their brave companions also — to
the men whose patr-iotism was not excited by the hope of immortalizing
their names, as well as to those whose narues were in the mouths of
friends and enemies, and will be handed down with those of CcBsai',
of Hannibal, and of Napoleon.

With regard to the form of the monument, I would protest against
sticking a statite on the top of a column at such a height that it is not
to be seen with comfort — unless it be the statueof acocked-hat, a wig,
or a pigtail, for then the farther from sight the better. More especially
would I protest against a column with an unor-naraented shaft, with a
detestable ii-on i-ailing above the abacus, and this supporting- a round-
topped sentry-box ; frorii the inside of which the half-naked sentinel
appears to have emerged in a fit of melancholy madness, with the in-
tention of falling on the pavement below ; when the wind blowing on
his shivering carcass and on the clothes that hang about his legs, shall
overcome his endeavours to stand upon the slippery convexity, and
take his feet from under him. If the Nelson monument is to be a
statue on a column — 1st, let the shaft bo ornamented; 2nd, let it not
be heavy Doric (fi/w*- English) ; 3rd, let the abacus itself form a stone
parapet instead of a railing ; and, 4tli, let the statue stand or appear
to stand (from the best points of view) almost immediately above the
column, and on a flat surface not much raised from the abacus. Not
that I approve of any Stylitic monuments, unless in honour of Simon
himself. The Greek column is perfectly unfit for an isolated monu-
ment, and i do not know that the Greeks themselves ever made such
use of it ; nor yet the Romans, until the time of Trajan, when the
arts began to decline. A column has an abacus as a preparation f«ra
great weight to be placed above. Without this superincumbent mass
it is incomplete and useless; but an isolated monument should be
complete in itself, and it should terminate in a point or something
nearly appr-oaching one. Pr-ejudice apart, how much more beautiful
is the Turkish minaret, the Egyptian obelisk, or a Gothic spire, than
a solitai-y Greek column ! For my part, I pr-efer a well-built factory
chimney when the smoke curls fi-om its top, and gradually mixing with
the air above it, leaves one with nothing to expect. It only wants a
well-imagined railing to cari-y the eye gradually from the solidity of
the edifice to the lightness of the vapour.

While so much has been done for the ornament of the city of Lon-
don, it is to be lamented that Sir Christopher Wren's monument should
still retain its pot of brass flames— the disgrace of English taste — the
laughing-stock of all foreigners. It would be infinitely better with a
statue ; and whose would be more fitly placed there than that of Wren
himself? There would be something like justice in that, and the great
builder's ghost could not grumble, even though in another world he
has improved his taste, which in this was certainly far inferior to his
science and his skill. Yours obediently,

B.

IMPROVEMENTS AT AUGSBURG.

Great activity has prevailed here irr improvements, and it shows that in
cultivating tire tirre arts. King Louis does not neglect the useful. An important
sluice has been constructed or. the river Lccb, su^iplying a thousand feel of
nater in a second, for the use of the factories. The Protestant and Catholic
cemeteries have both been enlarged, and the dead houses orrrameuted with
Doric favades. The great cotton factory besun in Api-il is roofed in, nnd
will contain 30,000 spindles and 800 looms, and is to be worked by water by
means of two of Fonvneyron's newly invented Turbines, wliich will give 200

brc feet of water per second at 15 feet fall. To car-ry oflf the water, a cut is
to be made a mile long, ii feet broad, and 12 feet dpcp. A new street has
been formed to communicate with the Jakobcr suburb, O'ld the railway to
Munich is in a very advwced state,

It;

THE CIVIL EKGTXEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

PLAN OF A PROPOSED NEW DOCK AT KINGSTON-UPON-HULL.

Designed by James Oldham, Civil Engineer,
To he railed the Q[if,i;n'> DorK ; shoiinng its connerimi with llie Mifcm, and t/ic pre.trnl Doris of the Port.

(RrrEBENTK TO Tiir Plan"!.

A, River Humber.
lion Area, Ga. Or. rjp.

f' old '?wk"Ar''r''7 Z "^Ir "/.'"Tr- "^"'""p" R'^-^in '<"'"> present Docks._D, Humbcr Doek, Are« 7a. Or. 24p.-E, June-
The convenience for trade aftorded bv

_, tlie extensive svstein of docks.
lias perhaps more contributed than its local situation to" the prosperitv
of Liverpool, while it has fully counterbalanced the difficult entrance
of the harbour. Bristol, too. has e(iiialh- found it neccssar\ to extend its
attention towards these entrepots, and'it is onlv, perhaps,' owin^' to the
want of a corporation as rich as those two cit'ies, that Hull has not
taken advantage of such indispensable adjuncts to trade.

The present Dock Companv was established in 1774. Their capital
is 90,0001. ; divided into shares of .5001. each. They have constructed
three dock*, occupying twenty-three acres, with quays and warehouses,
all out of the profits, at a cost exceeding 4.50,0001., aiul they pay a divi-
dend of twelve per cent., besides rescriing the like sum 'to p"av oft" a
debt of about 70.0001., contracted to make their last dock.

It is not surprinng that the accommodation supplied by this companv
should be considered insufficient, when at Liverpool a'lone there are
one hundred and eleven acres of dock room and eii;ht miles of quays
The increasing trade of Hull, and its position as tht° great midland out-
let, evidently point out the deticieucy, and we need not he surprised if,
from the consequent inconvenience, loss of trade has ensued ; for Hull
does not, like Liverpool or Bristol, bear no rival near thethon'e, but has
at her very doors two powerful competitors, in Grimsby and Goole
which not only attract much of the growing traffic, but threaten the
usurpation of the whole.

Here, as Bristol, the existing institutions areattended by defects that
tend still farther to .aggravate the deficiencies they cannot supply and
like the case of the Great Western, the largest class of steam vessels
are unable to enter the present Docks at all, though taxed to an im-
mense amount for benefits which they never receive ; for other large
ships the accommodation is glaringly insufficient, and the notorious want
of quay room is entailing upon shipowners and merchants a delay and
expense to which they will not longer submit.

Under these circnmstauces it has-been dete'rinined to apply to Parlia-
ment in the next session for the establishment of a Company, to be in-
corporated under the name of " The Queen's Dock t^ompanv" with
power to construct a new Dock or Docks, thereby puttino-an end to the
mischiefs complained of, and at the same time'aHbrdinn- to the pro-

fJoo?, ?■''■'■' P™5P''<'*."*' ^ li«'i;l«ome remuneration : tli? capital to be
180,0001., in shares ot (001. each.

The intended site is a piece of ground of about 30 acres, chiefly
extra-parochml, lying te the east of the garrisoji, and e.vtending down

to low-water mark in the Humber. The water in front is, at low water,
in spring tides, of the depth of tour fathoms, and the works will be
so far carried out .as to give tlie entKince to the proposed Dock the full
benefit of tliat depth of water. In this situation a sufficient quantity
of land can be obtained to aflford the amplest ipuny room, with every
other necessary appendage for landing, storing, and loading merchan-
dise ot every description. A cominnnication will be made between the
river Hull .a'nd the proposed Dock.

The Dock will contain about twelve acres; the principal entrance
will be through a spacious basin extending into the Humber, to a line
drawn parallel to the extremities of the piers of the Humber Dock.
The basin will communicate with the proposed Dock by a lock of the
width of ()5 feet, the depth of 35 feet, and (he length between the gates
of .')00 feet, capable of admitting the largest men-of-war or steam ships.
The Dock will be excavated to the depth oi'8.) feet. It will communicate
with the Old Harbour at its northern extremity by a short canal and
lock of the ordinary dimensions. The quays on the eastern and
western sides will be 210 feet wide, attording ample space for ware-
houses and sheds. There will also be sufficient space on the south
side of the Dock for Graving Docks communicating with the Dock for
ship-building upon the most extensive scale. The Dock and Quays
will be surrounded by a lofty wall, rendering them in every w.av
adapted for the bonding system.

It is not our business to pointoiit .advantages, or to lead the opinions
of capitalists, but it is a necessary professional duty to see thata])ioject
is required or that it is likely to be remunerated ; and we certainly con-
sider that in this instance, as the plan is justified by the most urgent
necessity, that so it is likely to meet with the happiest results. The in-
come of the present Docks has increased from -24,7891., in 1832, to
37,8081. in 1837 ; and this latter year was by no means distinguished for its
commercial prosperity. The situation of Hull is certainly of the highest
importance, for it occupies with the Thames that position on the
west of the North Sea, «liich Hamburgh and Bremen do on the east.
With this advantage in position, by its river communication and by
the railw.ays, which on one side of the Humber will unite it to Liver-
pool and the Atlantic, .and on the other, by the intended Hull and
Nottingham Railway, give it through a rich agricultural country the
monopoly of the midland manufacturing district, Hull wants but energy
and spirit in its merchants to becortie the mart of the Baltic and the
German Ocean,

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

17

THE NEW MODE OF PRODUCING WROUGHT OR MAL-
LEABLE IRON DIRECT FROM THE ORE.
Patented by Mr. William N. Clay.

Fig. 1 —LONGITUDINAL SECTION OF BALLING AND PILING
FURNACE, WITH RETORTS.

(ii n0t\ ni'i ai; m ni ini Bfijit|ftii|

.„//!,,///&„. . .

The retorts are corered with a Inyer of sand.

Pie. 2.— PLAN.

FMrmitt. Hetortt, Chimney,

Fig. 3 — TRANSVERSE SECTION OF RETORTS AND HORIZONTAL

FLUES.

The O are small apertures to allow a
portion of the Hame to pass over the top
of the retorts. The retorts may be in-
creased or diminished, as the waste heat
is greater or less.

REMARKS BY THE PATENTBE,

Iron is popularly divided into two descriptions, cast and wrought.

Cast, or pig iron, is principally a combination of tlie metal with
carbon, which it absorbs from tlie coke or charcoal of the blast fur-
nace. Wrought iron has been hitherto produced by freeing cast iron
from the carbon, &c., with which it is combined: the nearer it ap-
proaches to a state of purity, the better wrought or malleable iron
will it be.

The richer ores of iron contain the metal combined with oxygen ;
if thiit oxygen were separated, the metal would be in its malleable
state as wrought iron.

And yet, the advance of science has left this great branch of our
national prosperity so far behind, as to suffer the manufacturer still
to continue the practice of impregnating the iron with carbon in the
first instance, W'hich carbon must afterwards be separated, by
tedious and expensive processes, to produce wrought iron of good
quality.

Bat there are other evils in the common mode. It is necessary
for the manufacturer to have a sort of glass floating on the molten
iron at the bottom of his furnace, to prevent the oxydation of the
recently produced metal by the bl.tst. This glass is formed I'rom the
earths with which the ores of iron are mixed, and limestone to fiux
those earths : so that, ores of a very superior quality cannot be used
by themselves, but only in part, to enrich such poor ores as have
more earths combined with them than are necessary for llieir own
fusion. Thus it is, that the Hematites, and other rich ores, found
abundantly in Lancashire, Cumberland, Cornwall, &c., reach no
higher a marketable value at the place of tlieir production than the
common earthy ores of the coal districts, although they conl.ain twice
as much iron, and that iron of a very superior cpiality.

Again, English iron is, from its mode of reduction, almost certain
to be injured to a greater or less extent by combination wilh sulphur ;
the earthy ores, which form nine-tenths of those generally used, are
impregnated with that deleterious mineral to a great extent ; the
coals from which the coke is formed are likewise more or less sul-
phurous; and this gives the high estimation and value to charcoal
iron, or such as has been reduced in the several processes by the
agency of wood instead of coal.

It is the object of the patent taken out by Mr. William Clay, to
produce wrought iron of best quality, dlTect from the rich ores

No. 1.— January, 1839.— Vol. II.

hitherto so little used from the causes beforenamed, by a process
simple, rapid, .and economical.

To make wrought iron of such quality, for instance, aa chain
cables are made from, five several operations are necessary, besides
the preliminary one of making the coke for the blast furnace,
namely —

1. Roasting the ore.

2. Smelting in the blast furnace.*

3. Refining.

4. Puddling, balling, hammering, and rolling.

5. Cutting up, piling, ;md rolling.

All these processes requiring a separate application of heat.

It is stated in the article on iron, the lOGth number of the " Library
of Useful Knowledge," a work written with great clearness, and an
intimate knowledge of the subject, that 8 tons 17cwt. 3qrs. 31bs. of
coals are required for the production of one ton of finished bar iron ;
doubtless, the introduction of the hot blast has reduced the consump-
tion of fuel in the smelting operation considerably, and the adoption
of anthracite coal may decrease it still further. It seems, however,
yet doubtful, whether the best bar iron can be produced from " hot
blast pig:" at all events, veiy small proportions of that description
arc as yet used in the fabrication of iron of superior quality.

On the patent plan, the operations are reduced to three ; namely —

1. Reducing, or preparing the ore in retorts, or other close
vessels.

2. Balling, hammering, and rolling.

3. Cutting, piling, and rolling.

The first of these processes is accomplished by the otherwise
waste heat of the two latter, so that only two separate applications
of heat are required ; and the second operation on this plan com-
mences with the iron in as forward a state as the fourth of the old
mode, whereby the cost of fuel and labour, and the enormous outlay
of capital in land, blast furnaces, and machinery required to bring
iron on the old mode to the third stage, are all avoided.

It is now necessary to state how this is to be accomplished.

Referring to the plan, it will be seen that between a reverberal ory
furnace of tlie common construction employed in "puddling," "ball-
ing," or "piling" iron, and the chimney, a range of retorts are
placed, which are heated oii their exterior by the otherwise waste
heat of the furnace.t

Into these retorts are thrown 100 parts of Ulverstone, or other rich
ore, and 20 parts of coke dust, ground charcoal, .anthracite, or other
carbonaceous matter, well mixed together. The retort is closed, and
the vapours generated escape as gas. In the course of from thirty to
forty-eight hours, as the heat is greater or less, the carbon will carry
ofl'the oxygen, and leave the iron in a metallic state.

It has then to be taken to the balling furnace, where it welds up,
like scrap iron, and in fifteen minutes is ready for the hammer ; thence
it undergoes the customary process of rolling.

It is then cut up, piled, and rolled, and the operation terminates
with the production of bar iron of superior and extraordinary quality.

The fourth operation of the old process, " puddling," takes from one
and a half to two hours to perform ; the second operation of the pa-
tent, only fifteen minutes ; consequently, the consumption of fuel
will be mucli less than if refined iron were used. It would be idle
to compai'e the simplicity and economy of the first stage of the patent
process, with the cost of the three stages required to make the iron-
stone into refined iron on the old mode, when we find by referring to
page 28 of (he work alluded to, that of the 8.S89 tons of coal consumed
in the whole process, 6.989 tons are used up to the refining, so that
the 1.9 tons required for the subsequent operations, may be calculated
on as more than sufficient for the patent j)lan — to h hicli may be
added (if the furnaces themselves do not supply sufficient cinders),
the one-fifth part of the weight of the ore used, to mix therewith, as
carbonaceous mattey.

An objection may be made by an iron master that (he mode is not
wholesale enough— that (he retorts contain only hundred weights,
while his mighty tower furnaces hold tons. If the question were
I he production of'pig, or cast iron, there might be some weight in this ;
but llie superiority of the patent mode refers more particularly to the
production of wrought iron ; and liere, the largest maker in the king-
dom must await the laborious and tedious o|)eration of the puddler —
him he can only supply with a few hundred pounds of iron every two
hours; so that, (lie retorts have only to furnish the same (piantity, to
keep up with the puddling furnace of the present system ; if necessary,
it might be shown that a balling furnace, on this plan, will produce
considerably more than a puddling furnace on the old one^

• In this opfi-aliiin, the cxiienses of limestone and breakint; it have also to be
incnrreJ.

+ T.i show what this waste heat is. it is onlv necessary to state, that the chimneys
of these fuvnaces iu tlie ii-ou disti-iciii are comjielleil to be liueJ with lire-bricks to
the top.

B

18

THE CIYIL ENGINEER AND AUCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

It now only remains to notice the quality of (he iron. In no one
respect is it inferior to '' best common," and in many of its properties
it is eqnal to Swedish or charcoal iron ; its tenacity is so groat, that
of four trials made with patent iron (I inch chain), at the corporation
testing machine, Liverpool, not one broke with a less strain than 2fi
tons, and one link required 28 tons 12 j cwt. to break il, the standard
test for that size being 16 tons.

Experiment on Mr. Clay's method of making bar iron. — ISOlbs.
of Ulverstone ore and 40jlbs. of wet coke (losing 12J per cent, in
drying) were put into one of the gas retorts in Dale-street, on
Saturday, Nov. 24, at five in the morning, and remained in till fen on
Tuesday evening, or sixty-five hours. The heat was maintained at a
full red, or common gas-making heat. The above quantity reduced
at the Mersey forge (two miles distant) produced in thirty-four
minutes two balls of iron — one of 321bs., and one of 261bs. — '581bs.
The former rolled to l-l inch puddled bar, weighed 301bs., and was
then brought down under the tilt to j inch square, and samples taken
when broken. The yield 38| per cent.

Comparative result of melting iron in a cupola with a mixture of
antlu'acite coal and coke, and with coke alone, obtained from re-
peated trials : —

Old method of filling and tuorking the
cupola with coke alone.

cwt.

qrs. lb.

(j

0 0

0

2 0

5

0 0

0

1 20

3

2 0

Charge with coke
Ditto limestone .
Ditto iron
Ditto coke . .
Ditto iron . .

And continue filling jcwt. 201b.
of coke to every 3J cwt. of iron, as
long: as necessary.

New method of filling and working the
cupola, with a mixture of coke and
anthracite j'aw coal.

cwt

qrs. lb.

Charge with coke

. . 2

0 0

Ditto anthracite

raw

coal . . .

. . 2

2 0

Ditto limestone

. . 0

2 0

Ditto iron . .

. . 15

0 0

Ditto coke . .

. . 0

1 0

Ditto anthracite

raw

coal . . .

. . 0

1 0

Ditto iron . .

. . 8

0 0

And continue filling- a^cwt.

of coke,

and J cwt. of anth

raciteraw coal, and

8 cwt. of iron, as

ong as necessary.

The cost of coke fuel for melting each ton of iron, reckoning the
coke at 30s. per ton, is 3s. 8d. The cost of the mixed fuel, reckoning
the coke at 30s. per ton, and the anthracite coal at 25s. per ton,
is only Is. 8d. per ton, causing a saving of upwards of 50 per
cent. ; and the anthracite coal being almost pure carbon, has the
further effect of improving the quality of the iron.

This experiment was tried at Messrs. Weber's foundry, Liverpool.
The anthi-acite coal was obtained from the Ystalyfera Iron Works,
near Swansea, now erecting under the direction of Mr. E. O. Manby,
civil engineer.

N.B. The cupola which is now at work, according to the improved
method above described, is 2 feet 2 inches wide inside, 8 feet high,
and is blown by a fan blast through a twyere 6 J inches in diameter.
The blast was not heated. The quality of the iron was decidedly
improved by remelting with anthracite.

FURTHER REMARKS ON THE SLOPES OF EXCA-
VATIONS AND EMBANKMENTS ON SIDELONCx
GROUND.

Sib, — Having carefully read Mr. Bowman's contribution to your
number for tliis month, on the above subject, I am induced again to
address you. Mr. Bowman having stated the method he has described
as being more expeditious and more accurate than that described
by me iu your Journal for November, in reply to his statement, that it
is more expeditious, it could only have arisen from Mr. Bowman's not
having practised the method I described ; as instead of planting the
instrument at each estimated width from the centre, as iu tlie metliod
described by him, I set up the spirit level in such a position as to com-
mand the ground backwards and forwards for several hundred feet, in
which distance there would necessarily be several widths to set out ;
but this can be done only on moderately hilly ground. The metliod I
adopt, where the ground is very abrupt and sidelong, is to plant my level
so as to command the centre stakes, and as many of the upper widths as
possible, which I rectify in the manner I have previously described ;
I then remove my instrument so as to command the centres and .is
many of the lower widths as possible, which I alter in a similar manner ;
in this way the widths on sloping ground, however rapid the fall may
be, can be set out with great facility.

It must be very apparent to your readers that once planting liie spirit
level can be done much more expeditiously tlian(I speak within compass)
half a dozen times wif ': tlm tbporlolite — not taking into account tlie much
longer time requisite in planting th« latter instrument than the former.

As to the greater accuracy, if Mr. Bowman does not impugn the method
I think there is no doubt but that with the spirit level is infinitely
superior, bearing in mind that the calculations with the latter in the
field (simple as they are) is not trusted to the head only, but the read-
ings of the staff', registered (on a waste sheet), and the necessary deduc-
tions or additions made ; but without this latter precaution I cannot
understand why a mistake wo\ild be less likely to occur in first reading
the level staff, then setting the instrument to the angle of the slope and
again reading the staff, than it would be to simply note the diff'erence
of level, multiply it by the slope, and correct the distance accordingly.
In conclusion, although I would be sorry to be thought discourteous
towards Mr. Bowman, whose method I highly appreciate, and in some
localities would undoubtedly practise it, yet I much doubt its useful
application in the majority of instances.

I remain, &e.,
Charlotte-street, Bloomsburv, PETER BRUFF.

Decembej-, 1838.

MOMENTUM OF FALLING BODIES. '

Sin, — Oblige me by allowing your Journal to be my medium for
submitting the following remarks to the perusal of your correspondent
C. E. C, and your other, I hope, numerous readers.

Mathematical works tell us that the momentum of a body in motion
is proportional to its weight multiplied by its velocity. I doubt this,
and the following is my reason for so extraordinary a scepticism : —

The velocity of a body at rest (or, to avoid a contradiction, of a

body all but at rest) is evidently z= x^^^^i^. = 0. If tn were as 6 v,
the force or pressure of a body just moving from a state of rest would
be 0 ; for. as we have already seen, v then = 0, and 6X0 = 0,
whereas in fact it is b.

I beheve that the momentum of a body can never be less than its
mass, and that it is equal to the body's mass added to the product of a

certain function of the body multiplied by the velocity — or, algebrai-
cally expressed, that m =: b -\- M *''.

I have some years ago endeavoured to measure the ratio of the
momentum to the velocity per second of time. I repeated an experi-
ment after reading your correspondent C. E. C.'s letter, and the
following is an account of it and the results I deduce from it : —

Having- attached one end of a cord to a weight of half-a-pound, I
tied the other end to the hook of an accurate improved spring balance,
by Salter, and having made the distances from the hook to the weight
successively 16 feet, 8 feet, 4 feet, 3 feet, 2 feet, and 1 foot, let the
weight fall these distances, and observed that the scale marked nearly
241bs, lOlbs, 14ibs, 121bs, lOlbs, and 6Jlbs, so that the power acquired in
falling the distances was for a velocity of 32 feet per second = 23ilbs ;
fur22| feet= 18^; for IG feet = 13^; for 13;; feet = 11^; for Hi
feet = 9^ ; and for a velocity of 8 feet per second =: 61bs. Dividing
the velocities by the weights, we find that a body falling (or a body in
motion) at the rate of one foot per second acquires a force equal to
10-7ths and 13-8ths of its mass, or, perhaps, very nearly once and a
half its mass or weight. The momentum, then, is equal to the sum of
t he weight and the product of the weight multiplied by once and a half

the velocity per second, or wi =: 6 -j 2" ^= 1* "I" "0-1/32 s, where s

= the space fallen through.

A monkey of 2001bs. weight falling 25 feet on a pile head will,
therefore, strike it with a force equal to the weight of 200lbs. -j-

'—j^t/SOO = 8,685lbs. nearly ; and a weight of lOJ.OOOlbs. falling
one-hundredth of a foot would strike with a force equal to a pressure
of 100,OOOlbs.-}-^552^|^ 1/0^01X^32 = 184,840ibs.: or it will
require a force of 184,840lbs. to lift 100,0001bs. one-hundredth of a
foot, with the velocity of fifty-six-hundredths of a foot in a second.
By the old formula of m — hi\ which has been erroneously applied for
?« is as bv, this weight would be moved at the above rate by a dead
weiglit of 5(),0001bs, 44,0001bs. less than its weight.

I remain, yours obediently, B.

COL. C. W. PASLEY, C.B., F.R.S., &c., AND MR. GEORGE
GODWIN, JUN., F.S.A.

[We have been requested to insert the following letter, addressed
to Col. Pasley, in reference to the di.'-puted point touching the first
use of concrete in England.]

Sir, — I'crniil me, although personally a stranger, to claim your
attention for a few minutes.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

19

In yn'ii' recent!)- published and most valuable work, " Observa-
tions on Limes," you have honoured me by referring to an essay on
concrete, for which the Institute of British Architects awarded their
first medal in 1836 : and in the course of your remarks have taken
occasion to contradict a statement showing (if true) that concrete
was used by the late Ralph Walker, Esq., at the East India Docks,
in the year 1800, and to complain of the omission of the name of Sir
Robert Smirke, to whom you, perhaps justly, ascribe the credit of
having introduced the use of concrete in its present shape to this
country.

When I commenced the essay in question, which was in 1835, I
found materials for the attempt exceedingly scant and meagre. I was
unacquainted with any modern work containing useful reference to
the subject (at that time I had not met with your lithographed
" Course of Practical Architecture"), and found few persons able to
give me authentic information. Two or three distinguished archi-
tects, to whom I applied, and who since then have extended to me
the favour of their acquaintance, declined affording me any particu-
lars; and Mr. Ranger, known to have knowledge on the matter, re-
fused positively, although with great politeness and some show of
reason, to give me the slightest explanation of his own system, or
the least item of information generally, so that I was compelled to
trust for the most part to my own resources and observations. Under
these circumstances T did not attempt to give to any one individual
merit for its introduction, but, recording briefly such points in con-
nection with this qiiestion as fell under my notice, passed on at once
to treat of its composition and its uses, with an impression that what
was said, would elicit such other information as might enable us here-
after to arrive at truth and fill the hiatus.

The assertion that concrete was used by Mr. R. Walker in
1800, was made, as you have seen in the essay, on the au-
thority of Mr. Macintosh, the contractor, who, at the time I
applied to him, was engaged in the construction of the Greenwich
Railway. On the day that he related the circumstance (Oct. 5th,
1835), we were together directing the composition of concrete for the
foundation of the archway over the Grange-road, Bermondsey, and the
matter was so fresh in his recollection — was so far from a thing of
doubt — that he allowed me to make notes as he proceeded with the
conversation. These notes, Sir, I have sought for and foimd, and
from them I see that Mr. M. said more upon the subject than I have
printed — quite sufficient, indeed, to show that there was no mis-
understanding on my part ; and I beg leave, therefore, to copy for
you one or two of his sentences, in order that you may judge for
yourself. " I executed concrete," said he, " thirty-six years
ago at the East India Docks. The ground was a mud bank, with here
and there gravel and sand, affording, therefore, most unequal bearing ;
butthe concrete has, nevertheless, answered admirably. I think this was
ihe Jirst time concrete was used in England, indeed I know it was.
Trenches for outer walls were merely filed in with gravel, sand, and
water, no lime, and this has stood well ;" and he then went on to
speak of the quantity of lime which he considered best. Sec, &c.
Upon this, then. Sir, my statement rests. I had no wish, nor the
slightest motive to add to the reputation of Mr. Walker, still less, if
possible, to withhold credit from Sir Robert Smirke, for whose talents
(in common, I believe, with the profession generally) I entertain the
highest respect and admiration. The information which has been
furnished you, and which is set forth in your book, seems to show
that Mr. Macintosh was mistaken, imless, mdced, the measure was
detej'mined on after the specifications were issued, and was adopted
merely in some particular places by way of experiment ; but as I
have nothing farther to add on this head, t must content myself with
affording the above explanation, and leave time to reconcile the
apparently conflicting evidence.

In regard to the omission altogether of Sir Robert Smirke's name,
of which you justly complain, I am bound to confess that I was not
aware, at the time of writing the essay, that Sir Robert Smirke was
more intimately connected with the subject than were several other
architects also not referred to, although I knew well that he
had used concrete in several places; in excuse for which
want of information, I can only offer the circumstances men-
tioned at the commencement of this letter. Immediately after
the publication of the " Transactions of the Institute," wherein
the essay appeared, I learnt that Sir Robert Smirke had paid par-
ticular attention to concrete : and in a second edition, which
closely followed the first, I introduced his name in a paragraph
concerning the foundation of the Custom House; and later still —
namely, in the second of a series of papers published in Ihe " Archi-
tectural Magazine," and headed " Hints on ConBtnirticn," I appended
the following note to a remark, that " Ralph Walker, Esq., and Sir
Robert Smirke, were among the first, if they were not the first, who
employed concrete, and adyoeatedits tise in England," serving, I

trust, to show my desire to correct the omission so soon as it was dis-
covered. This is the i.ote :— " The name of this distinguished
architect (Sir Robert Smirke), in connection with the re-introduction
of concrete, was omitted, through want of positive information in
the essay on that subject, printed in the ' Transactions of the Insti-
tute of British Architects,' and the author of it seizes the oppor-
tunity here offered to rectify the error."

Here, Sir, I should have left the subject, as I felt it woidd be
impertinent to thrust myself forward to state that on which, perhaps,
no^one might care to have my opinion, and knew that nothing which
I could say, or omit to say, would increase or lessen the high reputa-
tion of Sir Robert Smirke. As, however, you have been pleased to
draw attention to the circumstance in a book, w4iich probably will be
read universally, I feel called upon not only to render you this expla-
nation, but to make it as public as circumstances may pei-mit, lest
any should imagine, were I silent, that I still saw no reason for con-
necting Sir Robert Smirke's name with the first use of concrete in its
present shape in England.

I trust, Sir, that imder these circumstances you will not deem me
wrongor rude, for intruding at this length on your valuable time, but
that vou will accept my profound respect, and believe me. Sir, your
faithful humble servant, GEORGE GODWIN, Jun.

Brompton, Nov. 20, 1838.

THE LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY.

The following account of the construction of the works in the
neishbouihood of Blisworth, we have extracted from the fourth part of
" RoscoeandLecount's History and Description of the Railway," which
we have before favourably noticed. Besides the usual illustrations, the
present part contains a very useful map of the line of the country
through which the railway passes, reduced from " ChefBn's Official
Map."

Tliis cutting is one of the largest on the line, and according to the original
estimate, would have contained 800,000 cubic yards ; in consequence, however,
of the necessity which was found of adding to the length of the wide part of
it, which was considered to bo essentially requisite during the execution of the
work, together with the materials arising from numerous slips in the upper
part, the total quantity removed approximated to 1,000,000 cubic yards.

The greatest depth is about 5a feet, and the lengtli a mile and a half. The
materials excavated consisted of clay and limestone. The clay and rock may
be described generally as running into strata nearly on a parallel with the hne
of rails, which rise from each end of the cutting towards its centre, at an
inclination of 16 feet in a mile. . , ,

The different beds of rock in the excavation abound with fossil shells, in a
good state of preservation, consisting of nautilus, terebratula, oysters, &c.
There were also two or three fossils of very considerable magnitude disco-
vered which were of the Saurian tribe, and were found embedded in a stra-
tum immediately on the top of the rock. This rock is a species of half-formed
stone, of considerable hardness when dry, but becoming soon softened when
exposed to the air and damp.

The quantity of stone excavated was about one-third of the contents of the
cutting, and considerable difficulties occurred at this point of the line. The
rock was found not to reach to the depth of the excavation, and underneath it
lay a deep bed of clay, in some parts to the thickness of 20 feet, through which
the rails had to be carried. To secure this from bulging out, it was necessary
to build retaining walls of considerable thickness along the sides of the_ ex-
cavation, which arc inclined at two slopes ; that portion which reaches from
the railway to the top of the rock is at one quarter to one, and for that above
the rock the inclination is at two to one, a ledge or benching, of nine feet in
width, being formed where the two slopes meet. The object of the benching
is to catch any loose portions of the clay which might be detached from above ;
they have also been found very useful in affording foundations for walls of
pebblc-stonc, which it has been found necessary to erect upon them m many
places, to retain the numerous slips of the clay above. _ . ■. .

Immediately below the solid rock, in some parts of the excavation, is a bed
of loose shale, mixed with a considerable quantity of water, and to such an
extent, that pumps had to be constantly employed to allow the work to pro-
gress. The shale has been taken out, and the rock underset several feet, to
allow retaining walls of stone to be built in its place ; these walls in fact,
support the rock above, and as a further security, an inverted arch has been
built beneath the railway to the opposite side, in a similar manner to the in-
verts of tunnels. As soon as the retaining walls were built, a drift was formed
behind them three feet six inches high by three feet wide, forming a culvert
to receive the water which still keeps abundantly flowing out of this strata ;
and at intervals there arc openings left in the retaining walls to conduct the
water to the side drains of the railway, where it is carried off.

During the first year and a half, the progress of this excavation was ex-
tremely slow, owing to the want of proper energy on the part of the contractor,
combined with general bad man.igement. The time was frittered away with-
out anything like a proper quantity of work being done ; and if this was
evident at the commencement, when there were no particular difliculties to
grapple with, what mi;;ht be expected towards the end, when nothing but the
most energetic measures could insure success? At last the Company were
obliged to get rid of the contractor of the Blisworth excaTRtion.

20

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

I'Vom tlie moment it came into tlie Company's hands, no trouble or expense
was spared to remedy the evil of the previous slow progfress ; and nothing
could exceed the animation of the scene which the works presented when in
their most active state. I''roni 7(X) to 800 workmen in vigorous employment,
numerous barrows and waggon runs in continual motion, a steam-engine in
constant activity pumping out the water, locomotive enginesat either end, drag-
ging Ions trains of waggons full of earth, or bringing the empty ones back, and
blasts of the rock continually deafening the ear. In fact, the whole cutting
seemed alive ; and the busy hum of labour, resounding from the one end to the
other, gave ample testimony to the zealous exertions of the engineer. Of
course the expense was considerable. The article of gunpowder alone was, in
many cases, 25 barrels, of lOOlbs. each, )ier week ; enormous quantities being
used before the rock could be removed.

The mode of blasting made use of was by drilling a hole in the stone, about
one inch in diameter, the depth being determined by the thickness of the bed.
This was done by means of a round iron bar shod with steel, which was lifted
up and then struck down, in the hole, water being used with it to cause the
stone to cut more readily, till tlic hole was drilled to the requisite depth. When
sufficiently deep it was dried out ; a piece of fuse of the requisite length was
then put in, and the gunpowder poured all round it, and secured by a covering
of pounded brick or stone. Several charges being thus prepared, tlie ends of
the fuses were lighted, and the workmen retreated to a sufficient distance for
security. In a few minutes the whole exploded, rending up large masses of
rock, and sending the lighter pieces high into the air.

This excavation is crossed by five bridges, some of which are of considerable
span, and presents a fine appearance from the railway. They are composed of
a mixture of the stone of the cutting and brickwork. It was originally in-
tended that the whole of the materials which came out of the excavation
should be used in the formation of the embankments at each end of it ; but ow-
ing to the slowness with which the work advanced while under the contractor's
hands, it was found necessary to throw about 150,0110 cubic yards into spoil.
The land for receiving this, together with that necessary to make up the corre-
sponding deficiency in the embankments, of course still further increased the ex-
pense of the work.

The stone, gravel, and clay which were taken from the south end, had to be
conveyed an average distance of about a mile and a half, and considerable diffi-
culty was found in the formation of the embankment near the village of Ashton,
owing to the unsound state of the valley which formed its base. Immense
quantities of materials were teemed daily, which, as in the case of the Wolver-
ton embankment, totally disappeared, and the natural surface of the ground
actually burst up outside the limits of the railway, in consequence of the
enormous pressure. A culvert near the spot was entirely destroyed from this
cause.

The embankment at the north, or Birmingham end of the excavation, has
more earth in it than the other ; but the substratum on which its deepest part
rests is of a better description, and no slip of any importance took place in that
portion of the works ; but a culvert of considerable length was in great danger
of being crushed in ; the expedient, however, of completely filling it with peb-
ble stone was resorted to ; notwithstanding this precaution, it was carried con-
siderably out of its straight direction, so much so, that the light can but just be
perceived when it is looked through. It may, perhaps, be thought uninterest-
ing to mention works of so small a magnitude as culverts ; but no person, who
lias any knowledge of the difficulty of their erection, when they have to sustain
the weight of an embankment of 40 or 50 feet in height, could feel otherwise
than nervous during the process of placing the material over them. An en-
gineer could be wished no worse fortune than to he required to construct cul.
verts upon a soft foundation under a deep embankment.

F'rom this view of the nature and extent of this contract, and the means
which were resorted to, in order to make up for the serious delay which oc-
curred while the work was under the contractor's hands, every body will be
prepared to expect that a sura of nearly 100,0001. has been expended beyond
the original estimate ; and bem expended wisely, too, as the loss would have
been considerably greater if these exertions had not been made. Viewing the
work altogether, it aifords one of the finest specimens of engineering this
country can boast of. It is a spot beset with difficulties of every kind, and
the bold and eft'ectivc manner in which it has been executed, is a bright ex-
ample of the talents of the Engineer-in-Chief.

PAPIER MACHE ORNAMENTS,

For file Aetmtn, Lwcrjwol and Glasgow Steniit Ship:
We have been favoured, within tlic last few days, with an inspection, at the
manufactory of Messrs. Jennoiis and Bettridge, of a set of panels, in piipirr
maclir, intended for the decoration of the Actieon, Liverpool and Glasgow
steamer ; which, as works of art, have not, we believe, been surpassed by any-
. thing of the kind over produced at this celebrated establishment. The panels
are 28 in number, four of which are very large, and consist of historical sub-
jects, some original, and others copies from the works of celebrated masters.
The first represents, the triumphal entry of Alexander into Babylon ; the second
exhibits a view of a Grecian sea-port, and the arrival of a victorious fleet ; the
third describes the Olympic games, the combats of gladiators, &c. ; the fourth
gives a representation of the Hippodrome, the temple of Victory, and chariot
races. Each of these subjects is depicted by the artist with the vividness and
freshness of life. The various groups of Grecian, Egyptian, and Persian
figures, tlie richness and brilliancy of the costumes, the colossal statues, temples,
and columns, in their architectural grandeur and beauty, furnish a vivid repre-
sentatiwi of the barbaric porop and magnificence of bygone ages. The

smaller panels are divided into the classes, devoted to the illustration of par-
ticular subjects. The first series represents full-length figures, emblematic of
Victory, Commerce, and the Arts and Sciences, surrounded with beautiful
ornamental work, drawn in imitation of uUu-relicvu ; the whole surmounted
with the arms of Liverpool and Glasgow. The second embraces mythological
subjects, representing the triumph of Neptuna, Juno, and the Graces, Actaeon,
&c. ; the whole adorned with an emblematic fr.-unework. The third comprises
mosaic heads, and emblems, ornamented with arabesque foliage, birds, flowers,
and fountains. Viewed separately, each of these paintings is an exquisite spe-
cimen of the advanced state of this depaitment of our manufactures and the
fine arts; and, as a whole, they form unquestionably one of the most unique
and splendid collections of the kind ever produced. The panels will not, we
believe, be removed for a few days from the show-rooms of the manufactory,
where artists and other visitors may have an opportunity of inspecting them. —
Hirntinnham HeniltL

PRUSSIAN RAILWAY.

The Prussian Slate Gazette publishes the text of a laic for the regulation of
raiUrnij euiiijiunics in the Prussian dominions. It consists of 49 articles, and is
framed in such a manner as to guard the public as much as possible from the
speculation and jobbing to wbicli undertakings of this nature are so liable to
give rise. Among the more essential stipulations which it makes with this
object in view, it provides, that while tlie shares may be made payable to
bearer and free from stamp duty, no promises of shares before the undertaking
of a railway is authorised, nor provisional acknowledgments are to be issued.
Every subscriber for shares is to be bound personally to pay 40 per cent, of
the nominal capital subscribed for by him, and he cannot get rid of this obli-
gation in favour of a third person or of the company, under any pretence
whatever. In case of a railway not being terminated within the time fixed
in tiie grant of privilege, the government is to have the power, after a delay
of si.x months, of ordering the road to be finished by public contract, at the
charge of the company. The privileges of the post establishment may be
exercised by railway companies under certain conditions. Railways are to
be charged with an impost proportioned to the amount of the reserved fund of
the company, but only after the railway shall have been opened three years,
and that the state of its returns admits of it, and no other taxes are to be laid
upon it. This impost is to indemnify the state for the diminution of revenue
caused by the railway in the post department, and to form a sinking fund for
the paying off the capital employed in the construction of the road. The
state reserves to itself the right of purchasing the railway after a lapse of 30
years, on paying to the company 2.5 times the amount of the mean annual
dividend received by it during the last five years of the 30, the state at the
same time taking upon itself the liabilities of the company, but becoming
absolute owners of all its property, including the reserved fund. No grant of
a rival line can be made for the first 30 years; but after the first three years
other companies may acquire the right from the state of conveying passengers
and merchandise by the same line, on paying a fixed rate of charge to the
original company. One of the concluding stipulations of this law is, that no
damage occasioned to the railway by measures adopted, even by order of
government in time of war, is to be paid for by the state. This law affects all
grants of railways already made, as well as those to come.

OXFORD-STREET EXPERIMENTAL PAVEMENT.

The importance of ascertaining the best species of pavement for the car-
riage-roads of the metropolis is some excuse for the confusion, accompanied
by the smoke and offensive odours from the cauldrons, which have prevailed
at the east end of Oxford-street for the last two months. The inhabitants
have, however, been great sufferers thereby ; but we may now congratulate
them that, at last, all the ground is assigned and set out for the diflferent
varieties, while many of them are completed, and the rest are in progress.
Commencing at Charles-street are the asplialimn blocks of Robinson, one half
laid straight, the other diagonally. This is followed by granite parement
nine inches deep, jointed with Clatidge's asphaltum ; then is to succeed a
granite pavement of stones only 4^ inches deep, also to be joined with the same
substance, Mr. Claridge being of opuiion, and desirous of proving, that his
cement is suflBcieutly strong to bind even these shallow stones into one solid
mass. To this succeeds the Bastcnnc Compani/s portion ; the blocks in this
part are in the form of bricks, but somewhat larger ; they have been laid
both ways, straight and diagonally. Next follows the granite pavement, laid
by the parish, which is undoubtedly one of the finest specimens of work of its
kind to be found in London. It consists of three parts : — 1. Stones laid in
the ordinary way, on a well-formed bed of concrete. 2. Similar stones laid
diagonally on a bed of the same material ; the joints of both these portions
are filled with a grouting of lime, sand, &c. 3. Stones laid in the usual
manner, but on the earth without any official bed, and the joints are filled in
with fine gravel. The whole of this work has a good curved surface, and
the regular thickness of the stones has evidently been carefully attended to.
The next experiment, going towards Tottenham-court-road, is what is called
the Scotch asphal/um granite (said to be a patented article). This composi-
tion has the appearance of stone, and the blocks are about six inches thick,
nine inches broad, and 18 inches long on one face, while the other is only 13
inches long. In laying them (which is done with Parker's ce'
ment), every alternate block is reversed, so that every second block
lies soiid on iis Use, or longest face, while the others fit in between

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

21

them as keystones, and, when joined, each may be said to support
the other. The next division is the wood pavement, composed of
blocks of fine timber Kyanized, tliey are of a hexagonal form, 7 inches diameter
and 15 inches deep, part is laid on a bed of U inch plank'?. Then follows
the Vulde Travers Jsp/talie , which will occupy the remaining portion of the
street devoted to the experimental pavement. This last .article consists of
blocks, about 10 inches square and five inches thick, formed of a bitumen
thickly studded by broken pieces of granite ; so that, when laid, it may be
looked upon as a sort of Macadamised road, where, in lieu of earth for filling
the interstices between the broken granite, and making the whole of a solid
mass, a strong binding composition has been employed.

MONUMENT TO DR. VALPY.
A committeo of the pupils and friends of the eminent classical scholar. Dr.
Valpy, being desirous of testifying their esteem for his memory, have employed
Mr. Samuel Nixon to execute a statue of him. The statue is of stone, from
the quarries of Roche Abbey, Yorkshire, and represents the Doctor, the size
of life, in a standing posture, and draped in the robes of a doctor of divinity.
The sculptor had not the advantage of seeing the Doctor during his life, but
he has been able to avail himself of a bust by one of the Westmacotts, and of a
portrait by Opie, so as to give a satisfactory likeness. At the same time he
has been freed from those conventional and habitual trammsls by which friends
and relations too often distress the artist. The figure and drapery are formed
with ease, and their details are carefully executed, and altogether it is a work
by which the subscribers may feel gratified, and Mr. Nixon honoured. It is
intended to be placed in the parochial church of St. Lawrence, at Reading ; but
this site seems by no means to meet with the approbation of tlic press, so that
the subscribers may, perhaps, be induced to give it a more public destination.

STEAM SHIP "LIVERPOOL."

The voyage of this steam vessel to New York appears likely to throw some
light on the subject of the most judicious means of economising fuel. In the
first unsuccessful attempt of that vessel, she appears to have consumed hourly
a very large quantity of coal beyond what had been the estimate of the engi-
neers ; and to which circumstance was attributed her return to Cork. The
cause of this extraordinary expenditure of fuel will be hereafter worthy of
consideration, as it may lead to some valuable information.

On her voyage from Cork to New York the following facts have been elicited.
The voyage occupied IH days 17i hours, during which time 464 tons 17 cwt.
of coals were consumed, being about '23^ cwt. per hour, and which was less
than the e»gineers had, in the first instance, calculated on. On her first stfirt-
ing from Liverpool she had, it appears, 503 tons on board, of which 3i0
remained when she put back for Cork. One remarkable feature in the economy
of steam, and of course, of fuel, appears to have been the use of the expansion-
valves, and which varied from 4'2 to 24 inches. The application of these expan-
sion-valves, from some hitherto unexplained cause, were not brought into
operation on the first unsuccessful voyage on any occasion. The following
extract from the log will show what an important feature these valves, and
the means of using steam expansively, present on long voyages : —

Extract from the Lotf of the Licerpool, on her voynge from Cork to Nciu York

Fuel consumed. Hours. Miles by ob- Daily average

T. C.Qrs. servatiou. expansion.

Nov. 6 3 22 2i 20 43lucbes

7 29 18 0 24 180 41

8 21 8 0 24 184 34i

9 27 8 0 24 216 35

10 27 18 0 24 207 39

U 28 12 0 24 228 42

12 28 16 0 24 212 42

13 27 13 0 24 140 42

14 27 11 0 24 144 34

15 24 17 0 24 144 31

16 24 12 0 24 151 35

17 24 8 0 24 202 34

18 25 8 0 24 175 28

19 26 8 0 24 212 25

20 26 12 0 24 176 2.5

21 28 16 0 24 200 24

22 30 4 0 24 165 24

23 24 6 0 15 170 24

Tons 464 17 2

423i Hours 3156 Miles

The engines of the Liverpool arc of the largest power yet in use, being IS?
horse power, diameter of cylinder 75 inches, and length of stroke 7 feet or 84
inches ; considering that the greater part of the voyage was under cireum.
stances of tremendous head seas and gales of wind, the daily consumption ap-
pears a fair one.

Since writing the above the Liverpool has returned to England. She de-
parted from New York on the 6th, and arrived at Liverpool on the 21st of
December. She steamed 3239 miles in 348^^ hours, and consumed 44a tons
9 cwt. of fuel, and had remaining, when she reached Liverpool, sttflicient fuel

on board for 11 days noro, qr 24^6 miUa ^dditioo^ distancci

THE BANN RESERVOIRS, COUNTY OF DOWN, IRELAND.

MU. BATEMAN, ENGINEER,

The river called the Upper Bann, is peculiarly liable to great irregularity
in the quantity of water; presenting, sometimes almost a dry bed, while, at
others, floods are pouring down with destructive violence.

The principal mills and bleach works are situated near the town of Ban-
bridge, where the river is closely occupied, above and below the town, for
about ten English miles.

Very considerable inconvenience was occasioned, during the summer
months, and other dry seasons of the year, by the inadequate supply of the
river; and, to remedy this inconvenience, it was propcsed to construct
reservoirs.

The greater part of the merchants and land proprietors connected with the
district, having formed themselves into a body, in the spring of 1835,
instructed Mr. Fairbairn, of Manchester, to examine and report on the mo.st
favourable sites. Three sites were, consequently, fixed upon — Lough Island
Reavy, near Castlewellan and the Deers' Meadow, near Hilltown, as impound-
ing reservoirs; and Corbet l.ough, a few miles above Banbridge, as au
auxiliary reservoir. A bill was brought into Parliament, which received
the Royal assent, on the 4th of .luly, 1830, empowering the company to
raise 40,000;., in 50/. shares, and to levy a rate on each foot of occupied fall,
not exceeding 10/. per annum, the interest of the money expended being-
limited for the protection of the fall-holders, to 7J per cent, per annnm.

The construction of the Lough Island Reavy reservoir, the largest and most
important of the three, has been carried on with vigour, and is now nearly com-
pleted. This, before the construction of these works, was a natural lake of
about 92i statute acres ; but the area of the reservoir will be about 253 statute
acres, the' surface of the water 35 feet above the level of the old lake, and the
average depth of the whole about 27 feet. It will be capable of containing
upwards of 290 millions of cubic feet of water, and will keep up the water
of the river, during the whole year, at about six or seven horses' power to
each foot of fall. The construction of the Corbet Lough reservoir, by saving
the night water from Lough Island Reavy, or that portion wliich would be
running past the mills, when they were not working, would increase the
power of the river to nine or ten horses' power, upon each foot of fall, belt w
the outlet, from Corbet Lough.

The land, for the Lough Island Reavy reservoir, including the value of
some chief rents, payable by the company, has cost about 6,000/. ; and the
expense of constructing the various works — viz., embankments, feeders,
roads, &c., will amount to between 14,000/. and 15,000/.

There are four embankments to retain the water in the reservoir, mea-
suring together about 1,560 yards in length, and containing about 219,000
cubic yards of earth and stone work. The principal bank is 700 yards long,
and contains about 112,000 cubic yards. The inside slopes are faced with
stone pitching, varying from two to three feet in thickness, according to the
sheltered or exposed situation of the banks. They are formed in concave
horizontal layers, about three feet thick, with an upright " puddle wall" in
the centre.

The water is discharged by two cast-iron pipes, of eighteen inches in
diameter, within an ashlar granite culvert, extending under the principal
embankment, the valves being at the outer end, and enclosed in a handsome
vault or building of the Egyptian style of architecture.

To supply the reservoir, the river Muddock is directed into it by a feedei-, or
new river course, 1 mile 550 y.ards in length, 4 feet 6 inches deep, 19 feet
6 inches wide at the top, with stop-gates and waste weirs to regulate the
quantity of waters. The surplus waters of the Moneyscalp brook, and of the
Slievenalargy brook, are also taken into the reservoir ; the first by a feeder of
1,060 yards long, and 3 yards wide; and the latter by a drain of about a
quarter of a mile in length.

To convey the water from the reservoir to the river, the old drain from flic
Lough to the Muddock, about a mile in length, has been made 5 yards "'ide.

The reservoir, when full, will be one and a quarter English miles in
length, half a mile across in the broadest part, and near a quarter of a mile
in the narrowest, and, with the assistance of a little judicious planting, will
present one of the most interesting objects in tliat part of the country.

PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.

ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.

The first meetiu;/ for the present s-cssion was held on Monday evening, 'ird
December, Earl de Grey, president, in the chair.
The noble president, on taking the chair, expressed his satisfaction at meet-
ing the members on that occasion, and briefly alluded to the circumstances
which had transpired since the last session. During the recess an attempt
had been made to consolidate this society along with another formed for the
prosecution of similar objects, but without success. Since they had last met
the profession of architecture had lost one of its most distinguished members
in M. Passier, a foreign corresponding member. To show the reciprocity of
feeling and spirit which existed between the architects of our own and foreign
countries, it was stated that the intimatiou of his death was oflicially com-
juunicated to the society. Another instance of the growing interest and im-
portance attached to the institute was also recently shown in the case of the
visit to this gountry of M. Zant, a foreign professor, who m^de it his deposi-

22

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

tory. During the recess the council have made ananijoments for the ilelivcry
of "lectures on acoustics and g-eology, two important ohjects connected with
aichitecture, and wliich will soon be delivered. It is also intended to enlarge
the benefits of the institute by establishing a new class, to be called the
students' class, for the instruction of those who arc not forward enough for
associates.

Mr. Donaldson announced the list of presents received suice the last session,
and stated that the noble president had communicated with the Rajah of
Tanjore, to whom the institute is under so many obligations, to continue an
intercourse which has already been so beneficial.

Mr. Barry exhibited various medals taken out of tl*e.xcava<ions for a sewer
near the site of the new Houses of P.'irliament, a deswiption of which was
promised on an early occasion.

Mr. Fowler read a highly interesting paper on the art of glass painting, by
Mr. Shaw, member, entering at length into its antiquity, general divisions,
classification, diflerent styles, and proper employment.

Messrs. Hoadley and Oldfield, of the Hampstead-road, exhibited some beau-
tiful specimens of stained glass.

Mr. Godwin, jun., presented to the meeting an engraving of Girard College,
Philadelphia, now in progress of execution, together with the original drawing,
which had been left with him by the architect, T. Q. Walters, Esq., for that
purpose. Mr. Godwin did this personally, in order that he might inform the
meeting of the great respect with which the Institute was regarded by the
American architects, and of the endeavours which had been made to form a
similar society there. Widely separated as the .States are, circulars were
addressed to the chief architects in each, inviting thorn to attend in New York
on a certain day, for the purpose of organizing an association ; and several of
the instigators of the attempt travelled a hundred miles to keep the appoint-
ment. The meeting was more numerous than could have been expected.
Resolutions were passed, rules drawn up, and then, having first arranged an
annual re-union, they each departed to their widely-separated homes. The
second meeting, it need hardly be said, when the difficulties are considered,
was less numerously attended. The chief members of the society, who were
much engaged, found the sacrifice of time too great, and the attempt was
ultimately given up, although not before much good feeling had been pro-
moted, and some other good results effected. As Mr. Godwin observed, the
whole transaction was so creditable to our Trans- Atlantic colleagues that It
was worthy of mention at the Institute of Architects.

Tlie second meelirir/ for the session ivas held Monduy ei'ening, 1 Ith Decemher,

Mr. Robinson, F. P., in the chair.
Mr. Godwio,jun.,reada letter in explanation of some pubUshed views of
His upon concrete, and in reply to some remarks on the subject by Colonel
Pasley.

The donations to the hbrary contained several works of rare archaiological
and architectural interest ; and amongst various novel objects exhibited were
some drawings of the Cathedral of Carlisle, and in particular of the circular
roof, from Mr. Billings ; some very superior embellishments and designs in
paper-hangings, from Mr. Clark ; and a French work from Mr. Bohn, on the
antiquities of Mexico, bemg a continuation of the splendid work of Lord
Kingsborough on the same subject.

Mr. Donaldson, the secretary, read a memoir of the late Mr. Thomas Lee,
architect, who died in 1834, and who was one of the founders of this institute.
He was engaged in the construction of a great many public works, the most
prominent of which was the column to his Grace the Duke of Wellington,
erected on Wellinf^tou-hill, one mile and a half from Blackdowu, in Somerset-
shire, and near the place from which the title is derived. After a very suc-
cessful and eminent course, this deserving architect was found dead on the
shore, near which he had been bathing, near Exeter, meeting aii untimely
death at the age of 40 years.

An interesting conversation ensued on the subject of the various com-
binations of the different ordersof architecli;;-, on which the probable opinion
was given of the formation of an English s'. ii-, of which there are now so
many proofs.

ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY. " ':

At an ordinary monthly meeting of the society, held at their rooms, No. 35,
"Lincoln's-inn-tields, on Tuesday evening, Dec. 4, 1838, William Tite, Esq.
F.R.S., President, in the chair, a letter was read from Mr. Sims, on various
uses of asphalte, which the writer did not, however, consider applicable to
ornamental structures, from the ease with which it was affected by heat, from
the sun, and other causes. A notice was given that the next subject for a
sketch was a design for an entrance to a railway station, without offices. Mr.
Phillips read an interesting essay on some essential points connected with
strncturc, which we have inserted in another part of our journal.

The foUou'hig Idler was inadverlently omilled to be forwarded hist month, but

which tvas received some time since from the Architectural Union at Berlin,

and read at the opminij ntceting.

TO THE ARCUITECTUIIAL SOCIETY, LONDON.

The Architectural Society have received our friendly greeting, which Mr.
Alexander undertook to deliver. We herewith beg to repeat the same, and
likewise to express the wish that, by means of interchange of information,
with a view to the promotion of our art, we may cement an intimate connexion
between the two societies.

We observe by the laws of the Architectural Society, which Mr. A. pre-
sented to us, that, with some variation in form, the society has the same object
jn view, and consists of similar members to our own. Wo believe, therefore,

that each society may he benefited by reciprocal communication.^, and accord-
ingly beg that wc may be entrusted with inquiries and commissions within the
sphere of our profession, and that we may be permitted to use the same free-
dom.

With the laws of our society we beg herewith to present the first number
of the Architectural Album, which is not the work of the members of our
society alone, like the architectural designs, but of German architects gene-
rally, and which, by means of details, individual buildings, and construction,
may be also useful to the workmen.

We purpose sending the continuation of this work, as well iis the designs
from the collection of the Architectural ITnion, together with the appertaining
letter-press, and wc beg your friendly acceptance of the same.
With high respect,

THE COUNCIL OF THE ARCHITECTURAL UNION, BERLIN.

SOCIETY OF ARTS.
The ordinary meeting was held on Wednesday evening, 19th December,
David Pollock, Esq., vice-president, in the chair. The silver medal was bal-
loted for, and awarded to Mr. J. Gray, for an improved instrument for taking
out teeth and stumps from their sockets. The arrangements allowed of a
greater facility for its introduction, and upon extra claws which allowed of
freer purchase upon the stump. A letter was read from the secretary of the
East India Company, accompanying a sample of tea from Assam for the opi-
nion of the society. A silver medal was next voted to Mr. H. Page, for an
improved, easier, and more durable method of lettering marble. A commu-
nication was read from Mr. Geoi'ge Aikin, on the recent agricultural improve-
ments in the lens of Cambridgeshire. The natural soil of these parts is dark,
being almost gray, and is mixed with a quantity of silt, below being a spongy
peat, and great part being on a stratum of blue calcareous clay. The Bedford
level, comprising 300,000 acres, was formerly very subject to overflows, and it
was only possible to work the land in spring and summer. The greatest
quantity of oats that could be procured was from four to five quarters pel acre,
and the crops were often lost by the floods , but now, owing to improved agri-
culture, principally resulting from the application of steam power for windmills
in drainage, the produce was from five to eight quarters. One great insprove-
ment was in the introduction of clay or marl, and where formerly only bad oats
grew there could now be obtained excellent crops of good wheat and oats.
The proportion and succession of crops were stated, and the thanks of the
society were voted for the communication. Communications were next read
from Mr. Roberts and Mr. Hickson on the growth of a new variety of potato,
submitted to them by the society in January last, but which were referred
back for further experiments. The meeting then adjourned over the recess to
the 9th of January.

ARTISTS' AND AMATEURS' CONVERSAZIONE.
The first'conversazione for the season of this valuable society took place on the
5th Dec. last, at the Freemasons' Tavern. We cannot expect many visitants at
this early period of the season, but we were pleased to see It so well attended.
There were perhaps not so many publishers present as on ordinary occasions,
and fewer novelties, as to engravings ; but this deficiency was well supplied by
the general interest in the proceedings which seemed to animate the company.
Among the engravings was one in the line style, by Robert Graves, A.R. A.,
from the picture of .Shakspeare, taken before Justice Lucy for deer stealing.
It does equal honour to the engraver, and to Mr. George Harvey the painter.
An additional point of interest attached to this work is that the room and its
furniture are studies, by permission of the descendants of the Midas judge
from the objects now in their possession. The picture and engraving both
belong to the Scotch Association. There was also a picture by Allen, of
Whittington and his cat, and another by Cooper, and also an engraving of the
Battle of the Covenanters at Drumclog. Stanfield contributed several draw-
ings, and among the minor objects were a portrait of Miss Roberts by Mr.
John Wood, a miniature, copied from Gainsborough, by Miss Augusta Cole,
and nautical sketches by D. Serres, &c. We were glad to see the ladies come
forward to support those elegant arts which instead of meriting the designation
of Pliny, " Solatia servitutis," ought more properly to he considered as
ornaments of the household, and handmaids of the domestic virtues. As the
season advsmces these conversazioni will, no doubt, be more fully attended by
the numerous members ; but even at the present early period thoy afforded full
evidence of the pleasure they were capable of communicating, and the good
they are likely to effect. It is, indeed, through such means that artists must
hope to promote the progress of the Arts, which are no mysteries to he kept
secluded, nor objects of difficult comprehension, but as they appeal strongly to
the human mind, so by that they must be judged, and to be admired they must
first be known.

HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.
At the ordinary meeting on the 4th instant. Dr. Henderson in the chair. Dr.
Lindley read a lengthened report of the effects of the late frost of 1837-8.
The intensify of the cold was much greater than in many previous years. It
had been proved, notwithstanding the assertion that the ground had been frozen
to a depth of two feet, that although on the surface the thermometer was four
degrees and a half below zero, it was never frozen for a foot below the surface.
In the kitchen ground the frost was not found at more than nine inches, in
ordidai7 soil at ten inches, and in an arboretum of moss not below five inches.
The concluding part of the paper was devoted to an examination of the
mechanical and other effects of frost upon plants.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL,

23

MEETINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.

Royal Society, Somerset House, Thursdays, at 8A p.m., 10, 17, 24, and 30.

Society of Antiquaries, Somerset House, Tiiuridays, at 8i p.m., 10, 17,
and 24 .

Institution of Civil Engineers, 25, Great George-street, Westminster,
Tuesdays, at 8 P.M., 8, lo, and 29.

Koyal Institute of British Architects, 16, Lower Grosvenor-strcct, Mondays,
at 8 P.M., 7, and 21.

Architectural Society, 3i), Lincoln's-inn-fields, Tuesday, at 8 p.m., 1.

Society of Arts, Adelphi, Wednesdays, at 8 P.M., 9, 16, 23, and 30.

LAW PROCEEDINGS.

ALLEGED BREACH OF CONTR.^CT.

The following case, relative to contracts, is so important to the profession,
that we recommend it to their especial notice : —

VICE-CHANCELLOR'S COURT— Dec. 7, 8.

RANGER V. GREAT WESTERN RAILWAX COMPANY.

Mr. K. Bruce, Mr. Jacob, and Mr. Stevens appeared on hchalf of thr Great
Western Railway Couipany, in support of a demurrer put into a bill^ tr/iich the
plaintiff'^ who is a larfje couiractor with the eompani/., had ^filed against them, to
obtain relief under certain eontraets he luid entered into icith them, prineipal/i/
with reference to work^ at the Bristol end of the tine. The learned counsel said
the demurrer had been filed on two grounds — multifariousness and want of
equity. Before reading the prayer, however, it would be necessary to give
the court a short outline of the case ou which it was founded, as well as to
make the alternatives it contained intelligible to the court. The plaintiff,
Willianr Ranger, had entered into four contracts with the company for the
prosecution of works on various parts of the line. The contracts knov/n in
the pleadings by the letters B 1 and B 2, and the supplemental or extension
contract, all related to portions of the works on the Bristol end of the line.
They were not connected together, but all had reference to a neighbouring
district of the country. The fourth contract, distinguished in the pleadings
as L 8, from its relating to the London end of the line, referred to works in
tlie neighbourhood of Reading, and was materially distinguished from the
other three. In the course of making these contracts the plaintiff found it
necessary to obtain sureties to join with him in his contracts with the com-
pany. The sureties to the three first contracts were James Cordy and
Richard Ranger only, and to the last James Cordy. Richard Ranger, and
George Ranger. These sureties and the company were the defendants to the
suit. The contracts contained provisions similar to those which were familiar
to the court, from having occurred in the Popish chapel case at Hereford,*
where the contracting parties submitted to refer every dispute as to the suf-
ficiency of the work to the decision of the architect. The only dift'erence in
this case was that the superintending engineer, instead of the iirchiteet, was
to be the absolute judge of the fitness of the work, and as to the payments to
be made from time to time on certificates under his own hand. Nothing
could be more absolute than the powers given by these provisions ; they
were, nevertheless, generally adopted in contracts of this description, and
though it might excite some wonder how parties would willingly submit
themselves to them, still they had not yet been found in practice to be ordi-
narily attended with inconvenience. Independently of this power the contract
contained a stipulation that the company should be empowered to resume pos-
session of the works, in case the plaintiff made any default in its execution.
Under the provisions of this contract tlie works had proceeded from time to
lime to a very considerable e.-itent, when, after various disputes and defaults
(as the company alleged) on the part of the plaintitf, tlie company at length,
in exercise of their powers, had taken possession of the plants, works,
materials, &c., which were situate in that part of the Bristol end of the lim
comprehended in the contracts B 1, B 2, and the extension contract. Of tlie
works comprised in the other contract in the neighbourhood of Reading pos-
session had not been taken, but they were now in progress and diligent
prosecution by the plaintift'. This brief abstract of the case would enable
the court sufficiently to understand the prayer of the bill, with this .additional
observation. In the course of the works the company, at Ranger's request,
made payments to him which, as they represented, exceeded the amount of
what was justly due to him, whereon they took certain security on the plant,
materials, &c., as a kind of mortgage, without taking possession, and of the
reserved funds of 20 per cent, in the hands of the company. These matters
being all fully set out, the principal portions of the prayer were that the
company might elect whether they would permit the plaintiff to continue and
complete the several works which on the 2nd of July last he was in the course
of completing, or whether they would discharge the plaintift' from tlie further
execution of them, the plaintiff offering to accept either alternative, on being
paid the amount justly due to him on the footing of his contracts and agree-
ments, or otherwise on such terms as the court should think fit to direct.
And in case the company should elect to permit the plaintiff to continue and
complete the works, then that they might be directed to reinstate the plaintift'
in the possession of such of the works and of the plant and materials thereon,
of which they had taken possession, and to pay him such amount as, upon a
just account to be taken as after prayed, should be found to be justly due to

* Reportea in Jputmii H<>, S, i>, SOI,

moneys paid to him or for his use, and all moneys which the company
should be entitled to deduct or retain by way of a reserve fund or under
their mortgage deeds or otherwise, during the progress of tfce works,
and tliat all proper accounts might be taken for ascertaining such
balance, and that all proper directions might be given for ascertaining
the quantity and price of the contract works. And in case the com-
pany should elect to discharge the plaintift', then that he might be wholly and
completely exonerated from all future liability to see to the execution of the
works, and from all responsibility to arise therefrom ; and that thereupon all
accounts in relation to the contract and works, or such of tliera from which
the plaintift' should be discharged, might be taken, and that the company
might pay the balance, deducting therefrom the amount due on the footing of
their mortgage securities, the plaintift' offering, in case a balance should be
found due from him, to pay the same, and that the company might be decreed
to deliver up to him the plant, engines, &e.,of which they had taken possession,
and permit him to remove that portion of which they had not taken pos-
session ; and that it might be declared the plaintiff' was not subject to or was
entitled to be relieved in equity against any penalties or forfeitures under his
contracts ; and that the company might be restrained from retaining or with-
holding from the plaintiff the possession of his plant, &e., of which they had
taken possession, and from doing any act whereby he might be prevented
from completing the works or from removing off the ground, or otherwise
altering the situation of the plant and materials already upon the ground.
The court would thus see the relief piayed turned upon the rigtit of
the company to make their election which course they would take, no offer
being made to redeem the mortgages, nor any question of account raised,
except on this imaginary right to have an election. He should now proceed
more in detail with the case made upon the bill. It set out with a statement
of the act of Parliament of the 6th of the late King, incorporating the company,
and setting forth their powers, under which any three directors might enter
into written contracts, which would be binding on the company. It then
stated subsequent acts under the several provisions of which, taken together,
they had entered into the four contracts with the plaintift', which it was alleged
were signed by the plaintiff', and under the common seal of the company, or
otherwise executed on behalf of and assented to by them. The first contract
(B 1), diited March, 1833, related to the erection of earth work, tunnelling,
building a bridge over the river Avon, &c., stipulated the works should be
done to the satisfaction of the company, and of their principal and resident
engineer, clerk of works, surveyor, and inspector, and declared that all dis-
putes were to be referred to the exclusive arbitration of the principal engineer
for the time being, and the instalments for works done were only to be paid
on a certificate under his handwriting. It then contained the usual powers
to tlie company, requiring a sufficient number of workmen to be emploj'ed,
and preventing sub-contracts without the consent of five directors. Then
followed a clause, that in case the contractor should become bankrupt or
insolvent, or should neglect or otherwise become incapable to proceed with
the works, the company should have power to give him notice in writing
to proceed, and if default was made for seven days after such notice, the
company were at liberty to employ others to proceed with the works, and
any previous payments were to be considered as the full value of any works
already done.

With reference to the nature of the engagement into which the defendants
had entered, they were found to exist in all trades and professions. The
direction being absolute, the company had taken possession on a breach of
the contract, and, if they had taken wrongful possession, an action of trover
or ejectment was the proper proceeding. The learned counsel concluded by
observing that no fraud was alleged either against Mr. Brunei or the com-
pany. The plaintiff only disagreed with Mr. Brunei on questions of time
and other calculations : he only attacked his skill, or accused him of negli-
gence, but nowhere complained of fraud. In one place he said he was
unfairly dealt with ; and, as it had been decided in the Hereford case a
charge of fraud was necessary, and was nowhere to be found in the present,
it could not be relieved against in a court of equity. On all these grounds,
therefore, the demurrer must prevail.

Mr. Sergeant Wilde, Mr. Wakefield, and Mr. Girdlestone, severally ad-
dressed the court in support of the bill. The learned counsel dwelt upon
the importance of the case to the plaintiff', whose property, to the value of
100,000/., was arbitrarily seized by the company, and himself left to the
mercy of his creditors, whose money he had expended in purchasing that
property. The contract, it was contended, was so manifestly unrighteous,
and the use made of it was so unjust, that the court was bound to interfere.
The plaintiff' contended there was no forfeiture. The company, it was
charged, was labouring to create one by inequitable means, and this manner
of acting, both prior and subsequently to the notice, bore out the imputation
of the fraudulent motives which dictated the notice; and when the plaintiff"
was earnestly praying for some specific information as to the causes of com-
plaints, the defendants were as cautious in concealing them. Upon the point
of multifariousness, the decisions of the present Lord Chancellor showed that
was a question of convenience, and the company, at least in this instance,
had no reason to complain that one bill, rather than four, had been filed,
against them.

During the discussiou, which occupied the whole day, his Honour asked
whether the vaUdity of such contracts of forfeiture as these had been dis-
cussed in courts of law '^

Mr. Sergeant Wilde did not recollect any instance in which the question
had been tried.

liim, under the contracts or otherwise in respect of the contract works and
e.%tra iidditioni^l AUer«4 works and extension works, After deducting all

4-2

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

His Honour said tliis wm ii case very much parallel to that of the Roman
Catholic chapel at Hereford, where the whole works were seized, and the
contmctors were left to get what redress they could ; and certainly they got
none in this court. It was a case of heart-hreaking hardship, but his Honour
never heard there was an appeal from his decision.

Mr. Sergeant Wilde — Probably the men became bankrupt.

When it was urged by Mr. Wakefield that the principle of law would not
permit the parties to constitute Mr. Brunei a judge without appeal.

His Honour asked, then what would become of the case of Heap v. the
Archbishop of Canterbury ?

Mr. Wakefield relied on the well-known rule as to arbitration clauses.

His Honour, without calling for a reply, delivered judgment, and said he
must allow the demurrer for want of equity. He did not think the obje. tioTi
for multifariousness was well founded, for the contracts, though not one and
the same, were yet in pari vmtcria ,■ and if the court had jurisdiction at all, it
could only exercise that jurisdiction upon the contracts altogether, and the
parties had, in their dealings under the contracts, blended them togetlier,
.Tccording to the allegations in the bill. One observation, however, occurred
to him : the suit was so framed that if any other parties should make the
objection, it can hardly be made witliout producing that objection to the bill
for want of parties which the jilaintitf had already submitted to as insuperable.
It was impossible not to see that George Ranger had nothing to do with llie
three first contracts, and if he objects, his name must be struck out of the
record ; and if be is off the record, the objection for want of parties revives,
and thus the bill is placed between Scylla aud Charybdis. With respect
to the general point, he could not but himself think it was the intention of
the company that they should have, in a very great degree, an arbitrary
power to dismiss the contractor if they should feel dissatisfied with him ;
and, to his mind, the language of the clause which related to the notice of
dismissal proved it. The clause was thus ; — " In case William Ranger should
become insolvent, or be declared a bankrupt, or from any cause whatever
other than the act of the company, their engineer, or agent, should be pre-
vented from, or delayed in, proceeding with and completing the work accoid-
ing to the contract, or should not commence or proceed with the work to the
satisfaction of the company, then it should be lawful for the company to give
him notice, requiring him to enter upon and regularly proceed with the work ;
and incase he should, within seven days after the notice, make default, it
should be lawful for the company to employ another respectable workman,"
and so on. His Honour observed upon llie generality of the second member
of the sentence, namely, " in case the contractor should not conmience or
proceed with the work to the satisfaction of the company," and said it ap-
peared to him that the parties in forming the clause were sensible if they
allowed it to stand in the spirit of the first member of the sentence they
would have taken away from the company their arbitrary power; and if they
meant to guard against a despotic and arbitrary exercise of power or whim,
how came it that none of the exceptive words in the first branch found their
way into that sentence? And it appeared to him that there was very great
reason for the company to stipulate for that power, for these works must be
performed in a particular time, and it would never do for the company to
enter into bickerings with the contractor from time to time whether he was
going on witli the works in a proper manner ; and, therefore, in his opinion
vei-y wisely, and with the full knowledge of the contractor, they stipulated
for an arbitrary power to give notice ; and he could not but think the only
reasonable method of construing the words " make default" was to read them
with reference to the preceding sentence, so as to make the dismissal to de-
pend simply upon his not going on to the satisfaction of the company. Any
other interpretation would be nonsense ; for, suppo.'ie the company gave
notice, and the contractor went on to their dissatisfaction, they must, it is
said, give notice again ; and so on you have a succession of notices, and the
company in a perpetual state of dissatisfaction with the contractor. That
could not be the meaning of the parties. It was evidently their intention that
that the company should have liberty to exercise the arbitrary power of
ejecting the contractor. His Honour then referred to the case of Heap r. the
Archbishop of Canterbury, in which, if he recollected aright, a parly con-
tracted with the commissioners for building churches that a contract should
be performed to the satisfation of certain individuals. Upon a question of
forfeiture for breach of c(»ntract, it was urged that the stipulation was arbi-
trary and unjust ; but the answer was, it was quite impos&il>le for the persons
on whose behalf the work was done, themselves to form a fair opinion upon
it, and they were perfectly justified in stipulating that it should be performed
to the satisfaction of some given individual on whom he had reliance, and, if
he was not satisfied, they meant, as the contractor was aware, that there
should be no appeal. He could not for the life of him think but that the
rompany meant to reserve, and did reserve, to themselves an arbitrary right to
4is«oiss (he plaintiff; and although it was staled in the bill that the company
had .dismissed him with a view to get hold of his property, and so on, that
iuay be true; yet, if they have dismissed him, they have only exercised the
right which Ibey possessed, and the exercise of that right was followed with
consequences which they did not contemplate, and which were mere accretions
in exercise of the right. Just consider the power of arbitrarily dismissing
persons in their employment, which parties possess, in many instances, under
the law of England. Put the case of common day labourers or servants,
^'ou may go hom£, a complaint may be made, and you dismiss your servant,
."vnd refuse to give him a cha'acter, yet he has no redress. If you give a false
character, that is a different matter. But supposing the po\yer 9f dismissal
in this case were not arbitrary, he could not see how the court could inter-
fere. If the forfeiture was legal, there was no redress at law. A party

applying for equity must do equity. And how was a court of equity to
relieve against the forfeiture without providing for the execution of the con-
tract? And if the court will not execute a building contract, n foiiiori, it
will not execute such a contract as this. Thus the court was disabled from
giving any equity to the plaintiff, because it was disabled from giving
that reciprocal equity to the defendant of effectually providing at once
for the completion of the railroad without interruption, lo which he was
entitled. And if the court cannot relieve the plaintiff because it cannot
relieve the defendant, there is no portion of the bill on which it can be sus-
tained. The case was nothing more than that the company had illegally, and
without warrant, sei/.ed the plaintiff's spades, wheelbarrows, &c., and there-
fore the bill was filed. There was no case for an account. The payments
were all on one side for work, and labour on the other. If there was a
question of trespass, or if there was a question upon a qnanlitin mcruity a
court of law was the place where that should be decided ; but so long as the
work was in progress this court could not interfere. He should therefore allow
the demurrer.

This decision, of course, disposed of the motion for the injunction.

A;/(tiust //us (lecifion the phiintijf appealed to the Court of Chancrry, the
appeal was argued before the Lord Chancellor on the 23rd of Aui/Uit last^ aud
f'llowiufj daj/. On Tuesday^ December ith last, the Lord Chancellor delivered
the following judi/meiil, reversing the decision of the Vice Chancellor :—

This was a demurrer which came before him daring the long vacation.
He had been induced to hear it, although the sittings were terminated, be-
cause it was represented as necessary that the demurrer should be disposed of
in order to give the party an opportunity of moving for an injunction ; but he
was so satisfied from the discussion which took place on the case made by the
bill that it was not one in which he should interfere, that he had delayed
pronouncing his opinion till now. The demurrer was a general demurrer by
the Great Western Railway Company, on account of multifariousness; but
he saw no reason for entertaining it on that ground, the company being im-
mediately interested in the whole matter introduced in the bill. It remained
to be considered whether the general demurrer for want of equity could pre-
vail. It could not of course prevail, if there was any part of the relief
prayed to which the plaintiff was entitled. The bill was certainly singular
in its form, because it prayed that the defendants might elect whether they
w-ould restore the plaintiff to the situation in which he was in possession of
the work, so as to enable him to complete the works he had contracted to
perform, or if not, that they should consider the contract at an end ; but in
either alternative the prayer was, that the accounts which subsisted between
the plaintiff and defendants might be taken. In was not necessary lo go
into the very detailed circumstances laid before him at the hearing, because
if any part was capable of giving an equity, of course the demurrer could not
prevail. But for the purpose of explaining the view he took of the case on
the bill, it w,xs sufficient to state, that the plaintiff alleged he had entered into
contracts to do certain works on the railway ; tl)ai it was part of the pro-
visions of those contracts that the surveyor and engineer of the company
should every fortnight ascertain the quantity, or rather the value of the
work done according to certain stipulated rates of charge ; that the
contractor, the plaintifl', should be paid four-fifths. 801., out of every
1001., for the amount of work so ascertained to be done, the 201. per
cent- irnpaid being to remain in the hands of the company until it had accu-
mulated to a certain sruu, 4,0001., and on allaining that amount, the engineer
having satisfied himself that the work was well done, ihe contractor was to
be paid the whole that was due. In these contracts there were certain con-
ditions imposing great penalties and giving great powers to the railway com-
pany. Among others there was this condition — if the engineer shoirld not
be satisfied with the mode in which the works were conducted and the pro-
gress made, the company were to give notice to the contractor to prosecute
the works, and if he did not within seven days prosecute the works, they
should be at liberty to enter upon the works in progress. Upon that taking
place, not only all the plant, machinery, utensils, &c., employed by the con-
tractor was to become forfeited to the company, but the plaintiff was also to
forfeit all that remained unpaid on the work previously done — i. e., that the
money actually paid should be considered in full satisfaction of the work up
to that time. If the engineer had done that which the contracts required — if
he had provided for the ])aynienf. according to the contracts, of 801. per cent,
on all the work done every fortnight, the forfeiture would have operated oir
the 201. per cent, remaining unpaid ; but the case made by the bill was, that
this had not been done, and that in fact Ihe engineer, favouring the company
and acting oppressively towards the contractor, did not estimate the work
done so as to give the contractor 801. per cent. According to the statement
in the bill, a very much larger sum was due to the contractor than 201. per
cent, on the previous estimates, yet the penalty was sought to be enforced on
all that was due, not only to exclude the contractor from the 201. per cent.
not paid, but also from a very large proportion of the 801. per cent, which
he ought to have received. How was this, then, to be ascertained ? Only
by an investigation of the work done, and the mode in which the engineer
had estimated it. But that was not the whole case stated in the bill. Inde-
pendently of the works carried on under these several contracts, which were
in writing, there were other contracts not in writing ; there was also what
was called the extension contract for carrying on the line, which was not in
writing, but to be carried on at certain stipulated prices. Under that con-
tract, the bill alleged payments had been made, but very laige sums
still remained unpaid. The bill stated that upwards of 30,0001. remained
due on works actually completed by the contractor ; so that if the
company were right iq doing wbut lliey bad done, aad enforcing

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

25

the contracts for forfeiture, they were in possession of a large sum of
money, wliich, even in that case, must be coming to the plaintiif,
while the amount could only be ascertained by the quantity of work done,
and the mode in which payment had been calculated — an investigation
obviously which could only take place under the superintendence of a court
of equity, for it was utterly impossible such an account could be taken in
any court of law. The case, however, went still further than that. The
bill stated, that the plaintiff being pressed for money to carry on the works,
applied to the company for an advance on loan ; they consented, and three
several advances were made, secured on the property of the contractor —
namely, on the plant, utensils, and tools employed in carryincj on the works,
and by a mortgage on what remained due to him, the 20/. per cent, for work
previously done, but that the bill alleged applied only to the plant,
implements, and tools for the works under the written contracts : it did not
apply to the plant, utensils, and toolsemployed on the contract not in writing.
The company, however, had taken possession of the whole ; they claimed
all under the penalty as forfeited. Now, the bill contained a statement which,
if true, showed that the company had no title under that clause of forfeiture.
The forfeiture could only be enforced if the contraclor disregarded the
monition after seven days ; and the bill alleged that within the seven days,
taking up the very words of the contract, the plaintifl" had put himself in
that situation, which, if true, would have prevented a forfeiture. The com-
pany therefore had no title under that clause of forfeiture; but if they had
no title under that clause of forfeiture, they were in possession of large
property, stated in the bill to amount to 70,0001., on which they undoubtedly
had a lien for the repayment of the simis advanced to the contractor. The
bill also stated that the engineer of tlie company declared that in making the
certificates he should consider what was the state of the account upon all
the contracts. The result, therefore, would be, according to the allegations
in the bill, that the defendants had illegally and without authority possessed
themselves of properly which they contracted to leave in the hands of the
plaintiff, and an unsettled account remained between them. It was impossible
to say, if such a case were made out, that the Court would not administer
some relief; it was impossible to say the plaintiff had no equity, and the
denuirrer could not be supported.

The Vice-Chancellor's decision allowing the demurrer was accordingly
overruled.

PRIVY COUNCIL, Wednesday, Dec. 12.

The petition of .lames Russell, Esq. , of Handsworth, came on for hearing
before the Privy Council this day. The lords present were Lord Brougham,
Mr. .lustice Parke, Mr. Justice Bosanquet, Sir Stephen Lushington, and the
Hon. Mr. Erskinc.

The petitioner prayed for the renewal of a patent " for certain improve-
ments in manufacturing tubes for gas and other purposes," assigned to him
by Cornelius Whitehouse, a workman employed by him for the purpose of
carrying into effect the manufacture of tubes by machinery.

Mr. Cresswcll (in the absence of Sir William Follett) detailed the history
of gas-tubing from the period of the application of old gun-barrels for that
purpose. The present invention had arisen in consequence of the petitioner
having been prevented by the combination of his workmen from meeting the
demands of the (las Companies for tubes, the supply afforded by manipula-
tion being limited, and too dependent upon the caprice of his workmen to
allow him to enter into contracts. The great demand for tho patent tubing,
and its great superiority over the hammered tube, had led to numerous in-
fringements, which, coupled with the enormous extent of litigation conse-
quent on such piracies, had deprived the petitioner of the fair and adequate
remuneration he ought to have obtained for so valuable an invention, without
which gas-lighting could not have been carried on to its present extent,
and which had led to several inventions of great utility.

Angier March Perkins, ICsq., Civil Engineer, proved that he was the in-
vcnlor of an improved mclhod of heating buildings, which had been adopted
m the British Museum, Milbnnk Penitentiary, and in many churches, houses,
and other buildings, both public and private, to a great extent, and that his
patent was entirely dependent upon the patent tubing of Mr. Russell, without
which he could not have carried out his invention.

Francis Bramah, Esq., Civil Engineer, proved that he had inspected Mr.
Russell's works, and was delighted with the beauty of the invention ; that he
bad for some years used the patent tubing, and had submitted it to a pressure
of 3 tons upon the square inch. Mr. Bramah also spoke to the great reduc-
tion in price effected by the patent, and its utility for hollow axles, spindles
for machinery, and a variety of mechanical purposes, independent of its value
for transmitting heat, gas, or fluids.

The Lordi of the Council having intimated their opinion that the value of
the patent was in some degree proved by the numerous decisions of the Courts
of Law in its favour, the accounts were put in and verified.

Mr. Fletcher, of Dudley, as solicitor to the petitioner, produced the original

fiatents and other documents, and proved that he had complied with the regu-
ations promulgated by the Privy Council.

The Attorney General then addressed their Lordships on behalf of the
Crown, and stated that he was fully acquainted with Mr. Russell's patent,
having been employed in opposition to it in different Courts of Law. He
could, however, fully attest the value and utility of the invention ; and if their
lordships should be of opinion that sufBcient remuneration had not been
afforded, he should, under the peculiar circumstances of the case, rejoice if
their lordships would grant an extension, in order that adequate reward might
be given to fui JJiTentien of great public benefit.

Lord Brougham : Their lordships having taken the whole of this matter
into account, retain the opinion which they have had impressed upon their
minds from the very begmning — that this is an invention of extraordinary
merit, doing the greatest honour to the inventor, conferring great benefit
on the community ; founding in this eminent merit not merely the application
of a known principle embodying it in new machinery, and applying it to prac-
tical purposes, but involving the discovery of a new, curious, and most im-
portant principle, and, at the same time, applying that principle to a most im-
portant purpose. Their lordships have on the same side of the question taken
into account (which it is material to mention) Mr. Russell's merit in patro-
nising the ingenious and deserving author of this invention, in expending
money till he was enabled to complete this invention, and in liberally supply-
ing the funds which were requisite for the purpose of carrying this invention
into execution. On the other hand, their lordships have taken into mature
consideration (which they always do in such cases) the profit made by the
patentee, Mr. Russell, standing in the place of the inventor. They find that
it is not a case, as in claims of other inventions of great ingenuity and cer-
tainly of great public benefit, of actual loss in some, and of very scanty if any
profit at all realised in others, but that a considerable profit has been realised,
and upon the whole no loss. It is to be observed that the profit is not, per-
haps, very much greater, if at all greater than the ordinary profits on stock to
that amount employed without the privileges and extra profits of a monopoly.
It is proper to consider that one great item of deduction from those profits
also involves great pain and anxiety and suffering to the party, namely, the
litigation to which he has been subjected, and which is generally found to be
in proportion to the merit and the usefulness of a patent, namely, the tempta.
tion to infringe it, and to set at nought the right of the patentee, both in the
Court of Chancery, when he applies for protection by injunction, and after-
wards in a Court of Law, when he comes to claim compensation for damages ;
the temptation being, as I have stated, in proportion to the benefit and the
demand for the invention. That is an item which has, to a considerable degree,
attracted the attention of their lordships in this profit and loss account which
has been laid before them in the course of these transactions. Taking the
whole of the matter into consideration — the merits of the patentee, the merits
of Mr. Russell, and the loss that has been sustainsd in the litigation — and
setting against those, on the other hand, the profits which have been made,
their lordships were of opinion that the term ought to be extended, and upon
due execution being given to the undertaking, which has been just given by
Mr. Fletcher on behalf of the inventor, that the term ought to be extended
for the period of six years.

STEAM NAVIGATION.

An iron stfam ressil, of 50 tons burden, 71 feet in length, and 10 feet of beam,
with wheels at her stern, constructed rm the sculling principle, called the Robert .T.
.Stockton, came round from Liverjiool l<> Lnudou upon an experimental trip, «lurilig
the late tremendous weather, anil arrived in the river in safety on Monday evening,
Dec. 3. The superiority of the wheel introduced into this vesRel, in comparison with
what is called the .\reliiniedcnii screw, and other contrivances, was satisfactorily
shown, and no dotibt whatever is entertained of its extensive adoption. The Robert

J. Stockton will in a l«\v days proceed on a voyage across the Atlantic Evening

paper.

Sli-'amer.- — On Tliursjay morning sowe curiosity was excited at Blackwall, and
below, towards Gravescnd, by the novel spectacle of a large heavy-laden ship pro-
ceeding down the river prujielled by a steam apparatus. Her appearance was that ui
an ordinary vessel, with the exception of a few bars of iron on Iier sides, crossed in
difterent lUrections, to which the propellers appeared to be attached. No paddle,
boxes were visible, nor was the water thrown up, as in the case of the paddle-wheels
— the action seemed to be smooth and equable. This is the first attempt, as far as
we know, to adapt the use of steam power to propel a vessel of the ordinary construe-
tion ; and it certainly does, on reflection, seem extraordinary that some plan for
eJlectijig this object should not have been, before now, brought into beneficial use, the
enormous expense attending the constant consimiption of fuel in steam vessels being
the great obstacle to the application of steam power to distant voyages. The ship above
alluded to is the Maria, going to India; her machinery, iu«luding the boilers, occa-
pies comparatively little space. — Dailj/ paper.

Nfu.foundlaitd Sham Nafigalion.—'l'\ie House of .-Vssembly of Newfoundland have
voted 600^ for the promotion of steam coramuuicaUon between NewibumUand and
Great Britain and Ireland.

JlorJcau.T atid Xiw I'ork Sleam Navigalion. — A public meeting, attended by eighty,
mne of the most respectable merchants, was held at Bordeaux on the 29lh of 'Nov.,
and appointed a committee to take preparatory measures. — Commerce.

North America. — The important topic of sIcam-naTigation to the British North
.\mcrican colonies is engaging mui-b attention in Halifax and St. John's. Mr. Howe,
who bad been advocating in England the expediency of a change in the present
system, has retimied to Halifax. — IJoriimg Adrcrtiier.

Went India Islands. — We have socnj within the last few daj's, a circidar containing
a prospectus of a plan for opening and midntuining a regulai- comnumioatiou by steam
betwixt Liverpool and the did'eront West India Hlanil^.-^Li cerpool Albion.

Brazilian Sleam Navigation. — Tho Bahia people were looking forward with im-
patience for the arrival of some of }hc steamers which the Balda Uny Sleam Navigation
Company proposed to put into operation iu that tpmrter, and there seemed to be every
dispo^iti^^n on the part of the residents to give all tho encouragement in their power
to thenudertakillg— jVoduhi/ Post.

French Ejcperimcntal Hteom-lioat. — The steamer Veloce has received orders to hold
herself in readiness to sail for Havannah and Mexico, to try the new system of mastic
adopted by her commander, M. Itechamiel. The question whether ste^u aud ivind
caii be tumbiued will thus be speedily aolred.— ^mon'cui>i,

re

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

Steam Cutter — The United States discovery sbip in tlm .Soiitli Si\is, the Mace-
donian, has nn eiglit-liorse stciiiu engine .to put into the cutter of the frigate, to ply
up the various rivers in New ZeaUuid.

Adriatic Steam Navigation. — The Austrian Lloyd's Company ha\c established
steam vessels between Ancona and Trieste.

Tlie Itoyal William started on the IStli ultimo from Liverpool for America. She
was provided witli fuel sufficient for 27 days, of which 3(i tons 9 cwt. were of Mr.
Williams' patout peat stone fuel.

PROGRESS OF RAILWAYS.

Railway- to Lewes and Hastinf/s. — The plan comprehends a line of railway, com-
mencing from the line of the London and Brighton Railway, at St. John's Common,
and running in nearly a straight line to Lewes, where it crosses the river a short dis-
tance below the bridge; it is then caiTied on through the levels of Laughton, across
the Cuckmere river near Selmeston, and from thence through the Eastbounie and
Pevensey levels, passing to the north of Eastbourne, and in front of the Castle at
Pevensey, and thence in nearly a straight line to St. Leonard's and Hastings. The
line selected passes through so level a country, that the works required for its con-
struction are scarcely of greater magnitude than those of ordinary turnpike roads,
which is a circumstance of the most material importance, as diminishing tlie cost of
the line far below the usual average cost of other railways. The gradients are also
peculiarly favourable. In connexion with this line of railway, it is proposed to con-
struct a shii» canal from Newhaven Harbour to Lewes, with a wet-dock and basin at
Lewes, a Uttle below Lewes bridge ; the canal will contain twenty feet depth of water,
and by reason of avoiding the intricate windings of the river, will reduce the dis
tauce from Newhaven bridge to Lewes to five mUes and a half. By this canal,
therefore, Lewes will become, as of old, a port, and tlie whole of the trade and com-
merce of the district be brought to the merchant's own door. — Simex Express,

Brandling Junction Baibcay — Every exertion is being made to open tliis hne of
railway for public conveyance as early as January next. Four splendid locomotive
engines, from the factory of Messrs. Longridge and Co., at the Bedlington Ii-on
Works, have this week been forwarded through this town for the Brandling Com-
pany; and, from what we can learn, those etigines called the BraniUing, Newcastle
(now being tried on the Newcastle audCarhsle lino), BedUngton, and Gateshead, are
of a Tery superior construction, and reflect much credit upon the manufacturers of
them. — Newcastle Journal.

A Contrast. — Great Western Railway. — The works on the Great Western Railway,
near Reading, continue to he at a total stand-still- Some of the labourers are beg-
ging about the streets of that town, and others have left, to obtain work elsewhere- —
Reading Mercury. — The works on the Groat AVestern Railway, between Reading
and Didcot, are progi-essing with a rapidity and punctuality exceeding that on any
other portion of the line. There is a report that a temporai'y station will be erected
between this town (Reading) and Twyford in April, but we do not beheve it -n-ill be
retjuired so soon. — Berkshire Chronicle.

AVe understand that the eastern arch of the Maidenhead bridge has been taken
down, for the purpose of rebuilding it : this we were afraid woidd be the case when
we surveyed the bridge iu June last-

London and Southampton Railway. — Part of an embankment on this line, near
AVeybridge, gave way, and blocked up the road so as to oblige the passengers by the
five o'clock train to leave the carriages.

London and Brighton Railway — The works on the London and Brighton Railway
are proceeding iu the most satisfactory manner. There are 1,600 men now employed
on the line. Messrs. Thornton ai-e making rapid progress iu the Long embankment
north of Clayton-hill : and the tunnel shafts at Merstham, Clayton, and Baleombc,
are nearly completed. In order to expedite the execution of the works in the Shore-
ham branch, it is understood that a double set of men are engaged for the cutting on
Mr. Fuller's farm at .\ldriugton, the work being by these means carried on night and
day without iutermissiou. — Brighton Gaiette,

London and Greenwich RaiUcay. — On Tuesday, tlie 4th of December, the remain-
ing portion of the London and Green-n-ich RaiUvay, extending from Deptford to the
Prince of Orange public-house, in Greenwich, was privately opened, under the super-
intendence of the directors, who were accompanied by Colonel Landman, the
engineer. The new part of the line is laid upon longitudinal wood bearers, sup-
ported upon transverse wood sleepers upon a bed of ballast. The top of tlie arches
have been coated with Clai-idge's asplialte. On the 24th December it was opened to
he public.

Great North of England Railway. — The workmen have now commenced laying
the foundation of the fifth and last bridge of the Great North of England Railway,
near Northallerton, a little to the south of the town, which n-UI cross over the high

road leading to Boroughbridge, near to the 220th milestone from London Nelo-

castle Journal.

Tamworth and Rugby Railway. — So confident are the parties engaged in tliis un-
dertaking of obtaining their act for tarrying the ilanchestcr Railway through Tani.
worth to Rugby, that a legal gentleman in tlie neighbourhood of Nuneaton has
received authority to contract for the purchase of any land which may be required
in that district. — Birmingham Advertiser.

Mancliester and Leeds Railway.— The poitiou of this eitensive undertaking wliich
lies betivixt this town aud Rochdale is in a very satisfactory slate of forwardness,
AT-n ^'u'li'" "" Piobability, be opened in May or June next. Of the part betwixt
Mills Hill and Rochdale, which was the most heavy and diflicult, about three parts
in the hundred only remained unfinished in the middle of November. Tlio cuttings
and embankments, the latter including the important one of Mills Hill and Castleton
Clough, were nearly perfected, and permanent rails will be laid in good time on the
whole of tho.se r^orks. The bridges (tram' a ditliculty in obtaining stone) were the
only works not in a con-espouding ^late of forwai'ihiess. The tunnelling at tho
summit IS proceeding as fpt (is iuuiiau skill and acUvity can promote it, and at
Gauxholme a lai-ge muster of workmen are daily employed in sinking fouudalions
and cutting stone for the erection of wai-ebouses aud other reciuisite buildings.—
Wnkrfietd Journal. The hue of railw ay from Manchester to Littleborough is ad-
vancing so rapidly towards completion, that, if the severity of tho weather do not
materially protract operations, it mil certainly be ready for" opening, between these
two places, in the spring of next year. About half of the permanent raUs liave, we
unaerslwid, beea lOieadj laid.-Zfs^^ra* Express. * '

Manchester and hirmingham. Railway. — A deputation of the directors, accompanied
by G. W. Buck, Esq., tho engineer, met the committee appointed by the town coun-
cil of Macclesfield, in order to communicate to them the plan for a diversion of tho
proposed branch to Macclesfield. Mr. Buck's report was read ; it stated that the
Macclesfield branch enters the main line in a cutting, on a curve, and at Uie foot of an
inchncd plane which is npwai-ds of a mile iu length. Under such circumstances,
approaching ti-ains would be invisible to each other, and, therefore, to prevent acci-
dents from collision, it would be absolutely necessary that the trains coming from
Macclesfield should stop before entering upon (he main line ; but stopping here
would be impracticable, on account of the momentum acquired in descending tho
inclined plane. Again, although no trains might be approaching on the main line,
still the Macclesfield trams should enter the main line at a slow speed, which would
be impracticable for the same reason. It is obvious that these defects are such as
would constantly give rise to serious accidents, and, therefore, ought, if possible, to
bo obiiated ; with tliat riew, Mr. Buck recommends that tlie Macclesfield line shall
branch off near the seventh mile, on Uie Parliamentary plan, at Cheadle Hulmc, and
thence proceed in a direction nearly south, passing by the Siddall houses, then
gradually bearing eastward to Hcdlingworth smithy, where it should pass under the
road to Adlingtou Hall, and fall into the Parliamentary lino a short distance beyond,
froni which place to Macclesfield the Parliamentary "line will be retained. By di-
verting the turnpike road near the Mill-house, no crossing of it will be required in
the whole distance, except at Beech bridge. The length of this deviation will bo
about 54 miles, of winch the first 26 chains adjoining the main line may be level, and
the romainiiig distance will have an a.scent of 10 feet in a mile, or 1-26-i- From Hoi-
liiigworth smithy to Macclesfield, the railway may be constructed of one gradient of
1-232, or about 23 feet in a mile. Tlie advantages which will accnie from adopting
the proposed line are the follow ing ; — The lengtli to constriujt will be about one mile
less. The junction talies place where the main Une is straight, upon a level, and
upon a small embankment. The maximum gradient will be 1-232, or about 23 feet
per mile, whereas on the Parliamenlai-y plan, it is 1-160, or 35 feet per mile. The
proposed line will be cheaper to execute and cheaper to work.

Manchester and Birmingham Railway. — The extensive viaduct across tlio
Mersey and valley at Stockport, has been left to Messrs. Tomkinson and Messrs.
Holme, of Liverpool, at a little below ;£70,000. It wiU have twenty-two arches of
between .sixty and seventy feet span, the centre arch crossing the river at a height of
100 feet. The lowest estimate was about i'02,000, and the highest was about
£ 100.000 —Macclesfield Courier.

Slicjlield and Rulherham Railway. — The station and its vicinitj- still continue the
great scene of attraction. On Sunday the number of passengers conveyed amounted
to 2,500. The number of passengers who have travelled on the railway since it was
opened for business, have averaged 1,360 daily. A gentleman has made a wager that
300,000 persons will be conveyed in tlie railway carriages during the first twelve
months.. — Sheffield Iris.

Birmingham and Gloucester Railway. — The Gloucester jiortion of the line is
rapidly approaching to completion. The earthwork is remarkably light, as is also
the masonry, of wliich the whole is being executed at prices liitherto unknown to
railway proprietors. Workmen are engaged all along the line, which is let in small ■
contracts. At Tewkesbury the depot is commenced, and the Lansdown depot
will be immetUately proceeded witli — the di-awings being already in the builder's
hand. A idain but elegant skew bridge, under the Arle road, is now waiting for the
iron work ; and we observe the workmen very busy on the large bridge which is
to carry the old Gloucester road over the railway. — Cheltenham Lookcr-On.

Chester and Birkenhead Railway. — Wc understand that Messrs. Clements and
Henry, the contractors for the Chester end of the Birkenhead and Chester Railway,
are progressing satisfactorily in the heaviest portion of their work — riz., the filling
up of the valley, and the erection of the bridge over the Dee and Mersey Caual at
MoUington. They are preparing an inclined road, and fitting up a stationai'y engine
at great expense, in order to expedite the conveyance of the earth into the valley.
Great progress has been made at the other end of their conb-acts, near Sutton ; a
great quantity of earth has been removed, and through the deepest portion of the
cutting great preparations of material are now being made, in order to prosecute
vigorously the whcde line next year; combining the lighter portions of the work
between MoUington and Chester, as also on the other end, between Sutton and
Plimyard Brook, in the township of Eastham, which terminates their portion of the

line Chester Gaeette.

Glasgow and Ayr Railway.— Wc iuc enabled to inform the public that this great
national undertaking is carried on most satisfactorily, and that the whole expenses
yet incurred have not exceeded the parliamentary esumates — a circumstance as
unprecedented as creditable to Mr. Bliller, the engineer. The same may be siud of
the first part of the line as far- as Paisley, which is executed by Mr. Locke, for the
Ayrshire and Greenock Companies jointly. The whole line, we are' assured, will be
completed by the time the Glasgow'end is ready, which will be in the spring of I&IO.
— The Earl of Eghnton has, we understand, determined on completing the harbour
and docks at Ardrossan, aud making the necessary arrangements for goods and pas-
sengers ; whilst the inhabitants of Ajt ai-e also bestirring themselves to render tlieir
river harbour as good as it is capable of becoming, and a company is already formed
to establish a steam navigation from Troon to Belfast. — Glasgow Courier.

Glasgow and Grectwck Railway. — The directors, at their last meeting, let the two
remaining contracts on this lino, Mr. Brassey having gained the Walkinshaw, and
Mr. M'Keuzie the Finlaysou. .fudging from tlie rapid progress already made by
these gentlemen at Arkleston and ISishoplon, there is no doubt but the opening of the
railway to the public in the early part of the summer of 1840 is secured. — -We under-
stand that at the Bishopton ridge nearly 100,000 cubic yards have been excavated,
that oue steam engine is already at work, for pumpuig the water and hauluig the
rock from the tunnels, and that another engine is preparing here at Messrs. John-
ston's works — At Arkleston the same rapid progress has been made, the tunnel shaft
is completed, and the tunnel commenced. About 90,000 cubic yai'ds have been
excavated, and ballast of a very superior quality has been found in great abundance.
— In this town the masonry for carrjing tho railway over the streets is proceeding
rapidly for the season ; four arches are turned, several others in hand, and a lengtli
of wall is built — The works are equally stirring at Port-Glasgow, where, for nearly
half the length of the town, tlie masonry is in progi-ess.- — In I'aisley, the large bridge
over tlie river Cart is buUt above flood water, which is very creditable to the con-
tractor, Mr. Lyon, who only commenced work late in the season. The bridges over
Gilmour street and Greenlaw-street, together with the retaining walls, are also con-
siderably advanced — Two cargoes of rails have arrived from Bristol, aud several
milea of the road will be laid early in the sj^xuig.—Gretitock M/ertuer,

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

27

Edinburgh, Lcith, and Newhal'en Railway. — An elegant and substantial hriilRe, of
thirty feet span, under tliB Queensferiy road, aljoiit one mile from tlie city of Kdin-
burgb, has been llnisbed, under llie superintendence and design of Mr. James Adam,
.Jan., the assistant euifineer, for 1,400/. The lowest offer by contract was 1,900/.
The contract from this bridjce to the Water of Leith is now nearly completed. It
consists of embankments and excavations of thu-ty-four feet in height and depth, and
has an interesting appearance from the city. The contract at Trinity is also far ad-
vanced. Tho principal depot is situated at this teruiinus ; and from this it is
intended to cany the branches to the pier at Granton, and the harbour at Leith. It
is also expected that the tannelwillbe commenced immediately, at the principal depot
at Canal-street. The Edinburgh and Glasgow, as well as the great Newcastle and
Loudon line, will terminate at the same spot, which i.s in the very centre of the city. —
Raihra)/ Times,

West Cumberland Railway. — Another source of distrust towards the coast line
scheme is that the parties do not look for obtaining the general support and con.
cnrreuce of the residents in tho distincts through which Uie line is to pass. This
may account for the cavalierness of the committee, but it also suggests that some
jobbing interest is at the bottom. — Kendal Mercury.

Railway to Glasyow. — The people of Gla.sgow have ah-cady begun to evince their
anxiety to imite with Carlisle, to communicate with the south, either by Mr. Hyde
Clai-ke's Morecorabe Bay Line, or that over Shap. — Dumfries Courier.

Saatch Railway. — The Dumtries people are anxious to form a junction with
Carlisle, and to give every assistance for this object. It would be worse than
superfluous in ns to add one word of ai-gument in support of the eligibility of Mr.
Hydo Clarke's West Cumberland railway communication with Scotland. — Dumfries
Times.

Preston and Lancaster Railway The operations on this line of railway ai*e pro-
ceeding with great activitj', and, so far as the work has proceeded, everything has
been highly favourable. A great number of men are at work, and the respective
conti-actors are sparing no pains to advance the works with all possible rapidity. —
Manchester Guardian.

Eastern Counties Railway. — The following is a statement of the progress of the
works on this line between I^oudon and Romford: — TForlis completed in Brickwork,
Masonry, and Inn — A bridge over the Regent's Canal, of iron, 36 feet span ; bridge
over the river Lea, 70 feet span ; Stratford viaduct, of five arches, 36 feet span each ;
Mill Pond bridge, 46 feet span ; Stent's bridge, of four arches ; Abbey bridge, 33 feet
span ; Aldersbrook bridge, 40 feet span ; Roding bridge, 40 feet span ; Romford river
bridge, SO feet span, in 34 feet embankment ; Essex tumpike-road bridge, carried over
railway on cast iron girders for a distance of 1 54 feet ; besides 1 1 bridges over public
roads, and six occupation bridges ; six other road bridges are in progress, and also
the viaduct between Cambridge row and Devonshire-street. — Earthwork — Embank-
ment over Regent's Canal to Hatfield's archway, nearly ready for ballasting and per-
manent way ; ti'om Grove-road bridge to Tredegar-square, the embantraerit up to the
baUiLst line : Coborn-road to Fairficld-place, embaulmient partially formed ; from the
west culvert to Forest-gate, the cutting and embankment complete, and the per-
manent way laid for nearly two miles ; from East Ham up to and beyond Ilford, the
cutting and embaukment crossing the Ilford valley complete, and the permanent way
laid for more than a mile.

The portions of cutting and embankment not yet begun amount to not quite a mile
and three quarters. About a mile and a quarter consists of a cutting only eight feet
in depth, in very favourable soil ; a quarter of a mile is embankment, not averaging
six feet iu height, and the remaiuuig quarter of a mile is that portion of the embauk-
ment over the Stratford marshes, where the gromid for a depth of eight feet is
inchned to " spew up." Considerable ditficnlty and delay might have arisen by the
consequent subsidence of the embankment, but this has been completely obviated by
carrying a frame-work of timber, supported upon piles, in advance of the operations.
.\ certain proof of this, is the fact, that between the llth of September and the 23rd
of October, the embankTuent was cai'ried from the east side of the Carpenters' Com-
pany's occupation archway over Stent's Mill bridge, a ilistance containing 4^4,680
cubic yards, although the lead was one mile and a half

In order to insure an early opening of the line up to Romford, four locomotive
engines ai*e working night and day in the formation of the embankments. — Extracted
from the Railway Times,

A Railway Warner. — There is an ingenious contrivance by which accidents may
be plfectuijly prevented. It consists of a bar of iron fixed in front of the engine,
at a small distance above the rails, crossing the whole breadth of the road, which
pushes any obstructing body before it, and, when so obstructed, rings a bell, which
L-i.cs notice to the eugiucer. The benevolent inventor allows the use of liis con-
Irivauce gratis. — Morniuy Advertiser.

Railway Missionaries. — The Bishop of Bath and Wells has appointed the Rev. F.
Campbell, M.A., as a missionary among the navigators employed on the Bristol and
Exeter Railway. Tlie Railway Directors, and the Church Pastoral -\id Society, have
liberally contributed, and it is hoped that the same well-judged efforts will be made
elsewhere to reclaim them from their present heathen state. — Battt paper.

FOREIGN RAILWAYS.

Railway .from. Brunswick to Harzbury. — The iirst section ft-om Brunswick to
Wolfenbuttel was opened on the 30lh of November. The duke himself was
present on the occa,sion, and the train, consisting of five cai'riages, set out
at twelve o'clock, and reached Wolfenbuttel (seven English miles) in twenty
minutes. The duke, the ministers of state, and other distinguished persons, were
highly pleased with the result of this trial, which was loudly cheered by the crowd
that had assembled to witness the novel sight. On the return, it was resolved to
divide the train between two machines, in order to try theil- power and the gooduess
of the road. Their progress was accelerated as much as possible, and the seven miles
were passed in ten minutes. The road was opened to the public on the 1st instant,
and in the first seven days there were 6,.527 passengers, and the number would have
lieen much greater, did not the shortness of the days prevent the trains from going
more than four times in the day, backwards and forwards — Hanorer Gazette, Dec. 1 1.

Nuremberg and Furih Railway, — The number of passengers on this Hue in three
years has been 1 ,357,28.5, and the receipts 173,443 florins. During this period no
loss of life has been incurred. — Globe,

Havre Railway. — Two important measures were adopted at the recent meeting of
the Council of Administration of the HaVTe Railway Company, which decided that a
new .survey shall be made of the whole line from Paris to the sea by the engineers of the
company, and has also named from amongst its members a committee charged to disciuis
with the Government the modilications which it may be necessary to inti'oduce uito
the contract, in consequence of tho estimates and plans to w hich the investigations
abo\e alluded to may lead. Till the expenses of the railway shall bo laid down witli
accuracy and precision, the Council of Admiuistratiou, it adds, has suspended the works
which were commenced according to the estimates of the Government engineers, but
w hich might have compromised the capital of the shareholders in an undertaking
impossible to be terminated w ith the funds at the disposal of the company. — Commence.

Havre Railway — The committee have determined to have the whole line re-sur-
veyed by their own engineers, not beiny abk to place any dependence on the yovernni£nt
enyincers. M. Lebobe has been appointed temporary managing director in the place of
Count .Taubert. — Commerce.

The German Diet, before it broke np, took a resolution which has caused great joy
at Mayeuce. It consented that the iron railroad of the Taunus should have its ter-
minus in the federal fortress of that city, and even that one of the bastions should be
pierced, if necessary, for that purpose. It seems that the Bavarian ambassador de-
clared that he had orders to oppose whatever might, in the smallest degi-ee, affect the
security of that important fortress. The Austrian and Prussian engineers declared
that there was not the smallest danger in complying with the wishes of the citizens
of Mayence ; and an eminent Danish engineer cleaiiy demonstrated it. — Morning
C lironicle.

Austria, — The statutes of the company for the Milan and Venice Railroad have
been approved of by the Austrian govei-nnient, and tho works are to be commenced
next spring. The journey will be accomplished in eight hours, and the fares are to
be exceedingly moderate.

America. — The late accounts from the United States present some interesting de-
tails of the progress of the improvements in the free states of the federal union. The
state of Pennsylvania has completed the survery of the route of the raih'Oad to con-
nect Pittsburgh with Philadelpliia, and the state was about to make an immediate ap-
propriation for making on its own account a railroad to conitect it with the Harrid-
burgh and Lancaster road, by which. the Ohio and other great rivers will be reaches
in 24 hours. The same state has also made a railway to Lancaster, and will continue
it from Harrisburg.

ENGINEERING -WORKS.

Fortijicaliun of Slieerness. — A suiwey of the Isles of Sheppy and Grain has been
going on for some months past by order of Government, with a view of imme-
diately fortifying her Majesty's Dockyard, whicli is at present without almost the
slightest power of resisting an invading foe. Several plans have been laid before the
Lords of the Admiralty, but the one that is most likely to be brought before the house
next session proposes a line of fortification across the range of hills extending from
Minster church to the Swale. A range of batteries here, it is said, will cover tho
whole island, and woidd at any time prevent an enemy from laniUng at the soutli-
eastern extremity. The Dockyard and Miletowu are to be covered by strong batte-
ries, and martello towers will be also erected along the shores at given distances.
The Isle of Grain is to be fortified with strong batteries, extending in the shape of a
half-moon. These will nut only cover the entrance of the Thames, but also the Med-
way. The estimated expense is nearly a milhon and a half of money. — Greenwich
Advertiser,

London Docks A great improvement has been lately made in these docks, by the

erection of a magnificent jetty, supported on massive piles, extending from the south-
west quay, eight hundred feet across the large basin, afl'ording a quay frontage on
botli sides for the loading of outward-bound ships of 1,600 feet. The jetty is 62 feet
in width, and three lofty sheds, each 208 feet long by 18 feet wide, for tho recsption
of goods and merchandise for exportation, are in the cotu-se of erection ; one of these
storehouses is already completed. There will be a space of seven feet cleai- on each
side of the warehouses. The erection of the jetty is said to have cost the London
Dock Company not less than 60,000/., and it will afford great acconmiodalion to tho
sliipping, and particularly to the Sydney and Hobart Town ships. There are now
eight large vessels bouud to those places lying alongside the new jetty. They will all
carry out a great number of emigrants. There is snfiicient depth of water for tho
largest ships iu the jetty, and at sjuing tides there is twenty-three feet of w'afer. The
whole work rellects great crecht on the skill and enterprise of the respectable com-
mercial body by whom it was designed. A capital of one million sterhug has been
expended during the last twelve yeai's in enlarging and improving the London Docks,
including the excavation of the eastern bason and enti-ance, and we understand fur-
ther improvements are in contemplation. The dock, with the various rows of lofty
warehouses and vaults, is the fii-st establishment of the kind in the world.

The Eddystone.—We feel great pleasure in statuig that, on examination by the
competent authorities sent here from the Triiuty Board, it is ascertained that tho
Eddystone Lighthouse has not sustained the shghtest injury dming the late severe
storm. The report forwarded from this port to London, that it was feared that the
lighthouse had been severely damaged, created, as might be imagined, gi-eat sensation;
and an eminent engineer (Mr. Burgess), and a member of the Trinity Board, were
immediately dispatched to ascerUuu the extent of the injuries, and preparations were
made to place a floating light near the rock, if it should be found uecessai-y. On the
arrival of the deputation here they proceeded to the rock and commenced their survey,
making the most careful examination tlu-oughout the structure. They repeated their
visit a few days after, accompanied, we understand, by two eflicieut public officers of
tlie port, and wo ai-c enabled to state, from what we consider uudcjiibtid authority,
that it has been found that the noble structure has not received tho slightest damage,
unless the washing off tho paint from a portion of the upper piut of the building,
which exhibits a crevice in the paintwork about a yard in length, and damaging two
of the panes of glass in tho lantern to tho extent of a quarter of an inch, be called
iuiuries. The result of the survey will, no doubt, be made public, iu order to restore
co'nlidence as to tho stability iif "the edifice after the alarming reports which have
been made. It may be fairiy presumed that the extreme violence of tlic slorm, and
its continuation for so many days, created fears iu the minds of the men iu the light-
house for thcij- safety, and this, no doubt, gave rise to the rumour that the buUdinij
had been shalsou by the sloriu. — Plymouth Herald,

28

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

I'lymouth Breakwater.— T:\\o utility of this gre«t national work has been fully <ie-
inonstrateil in tlw? lato stciniis. All the vessels in the Sound rode out the gale, tliougli
at high water there was a heavy sea rolling over the Breakwater. It i« feared, in-
deed that it will Vie umth injured; all the cranes on the west end have been washed
down by the violence of tlie sea.

Vurt Carlisle. — The wet and dry docks and pier are in active progress under the
superintendence of Mr. Boyd. The contract for the pier has been taken by Mr.
Nelson,

Fortifying l\t Cotut. — Surveys are being made on the cast coast of this county
and the river Humber for the most eligible sites on which may bo erected batteries,
in the event of hostilities with Russia, ^\^lethe^ a war now take place or not it is
intended to secure the ground in the event of any future occasion. A site at High
I'auU and the opposite coast will be again occupied as military establishments for
the defence of the Humber. — Hull paper.

Artl^last Pier. — The lighthouse and part of the pier at Ardglass, in the Bay of
llundrum, which had been nearly completed at an expense of 26,000^, were
destroyed by the violence of the late storms. — Morning Pott.

Seiilaphorc on Shnolcr's-hiU Tho engineers have been surveying the ground be-
tween Shooter's-hill and Woolwich, for tho purpose of erecting a semaphore, and
perhaps a fort, upon that spot. Should a battery be erected there, it would be found
that one or two traversing guns will command the river below the Royal Arsenal —
Eoehcsler Gazelle.

Dangerout Stale of the South Coast. — During the late severe gales, upwards of 100
lives were lost on the Dorsetshire coast, between the adjoining ports of Bridport and

Weymouth Times. [Surely this calls for some remedy. Why are not ports of

refuge established in different parts of our coast, as recommended by the Committee
of the House of Commons ? The utility of Rarasgate and Plymouth has now been
fully established, but doubtless the absurd standing orders impede this branch of
public enterjirize, as they do others.}

Cnmmon Road Steam Carriages. — Sur James Anderson, an Irish baronet of peculiar
ingenuity and extensive fortune, has completed a vehicle of this class, which will be
placed, about ten days hence, upon one of the London roads, and is warranted to
]>erform fifteen miles within the hour. Sir James's experiments to accompHsh this
object have been so costly, that upwards of 30,000i. were sunk on them some months
ago, — Irish paper.

Waterloo Bridge A general assembly of tho proprietors of Waterloo-bridge was

held at the Crown and Anchor, Strand. Mr. Bredell, the secretary, read the last
half-yearly report to the 23rd of August. The report stated that the select com-
mittee appointed, on the motion of Sir Si. Wood, Bart.. M. P., to consider the interests
of the Waterloo-bridge proprietary as regarded the City Improvement Bill, had not
oouie to any decision on which they could report. The soundings of the bed of the
river had, suice 1835, suflered but trivial variations, not exceeding sis inches in any
direction connected with the bridge, and the latter structure continued without the
least defect. A gradual improvement has taken place in the receipts of the bridge.
Mr. Plews observed that the approaches to the bridge contained an acciunulation of
water which had saturated the embankment, and would ultimately reach the abut-
ments and wall of the bridge, if a remedy was not immediately applied. The chair-
man, in reply, said that the directors had arranged to abate the evil complained of in
the early part of next spring.

Sea Ordnance. — At Woolwich Dockyard the workmen are busily engaged in en-
larging the bores of 21-pounders for the purpose of lessening the weight of ordnance
between four and five cwt,, and at the same time enabling them to discharge a 32-
pound shot and shell of the same calibre. This is in accordance with a plan some time
since recommended by the late Liout.-General W. Miller, R.A., and which will thus
enable the guns to bo worked with greater facihty. — Morning Advertiser.

Ilolloa' .Sliot. — The Prince George, which has been used to ascertain the elTect
of the hollow shot and shell fired from the Excellent, has been taken into the South
Dock to be broken up. Her appearance sufficiently indicates the tremendous effect
of tlie(*e projectiles, as well as tlie skill and preceision with which the scientific and
practical course of instruction piu*sued on board the Excellent is arming our officers
and seamen.

PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND IMPROVEMENTS.

NEW CHURCHES.

(.'(ithotic Cathe'Jrnl.— It is stated in a pro\-incial journal to be the intention of the
Roman Catholics to crcLt a uin^niifioent cathedral in London, and that 100 wealthy
jippFH and commoners are expected to subscribe l,000i. each towards it.

Worcester. — It is in contemplation to build a church on tho site of old St. Clement's,
in the city of Worcester, to be called the Wnternien's Church. This will, it is hoped,
prove a great blessing to this hitherto much -neglected people. — Ibid.

Xew Church, Meltham Millf, m-ar Huddersflcld . — This church, dedicated to St.
.TatHes, was opened on tin; 2nd iuBtant. It is built upon a ]'lan recommended by tho
bishop of Sodor and Man, and will seat 250 pevsouB; and adjoining it is a school for
600 children, which, by means of Bliding shutters, may be thrown open and form part
of the chnrch. It is in the Gothic style, by Mr. J. F. Pritchett, York. — It is hand-
somely finished inside, lighted with gas, and has an excellent organ, by M'ard, of
York." The expense, which was 4,000/., was defrayed by Mr. James Brook, the mill-
owner. — Ijci'fh hilfUigcfii\-r.

Trinity Church, (iray's Inn Road. — This church was consecrated on Thursday
December 13th, hy the Bishop of London.

Asthury Cliurch -S'l'/rf.— This venerable structure (which was struck by lightniiig
in August last) the pride of the surrounding district, has been raised to its former
beauty and elevation by Mr. Thomas Wallworth, architect and builder, of Con-
gleton.

Brighton. — Tho new church of St. John the Evangelist, which, through the
praiseworthy exertions and lilierahty of the rev. vicar, is now in course of erection
ouCarlton-hill, is already nearly roofed in ; and, as the works proceed very rapidly,
it is expected to be completed for divine worship in six mouths from tlie present
time. — Briifhti^n Hazcitc.

Prfx/on. — Tiie first stone of a new Catholic chapel was laid on the Srd ult.

iiir>iiiii<jhaiii. — A new church, named Bishop Kyder's Church, was consecrated on
the 18th December. It was erected under the threction of Messrs. Rickman and
Hutchins, architects. It contains 1,674 sittings, 813 of which are free. The whole

expense of erectipgtlio clivtfcli amoufiti to ftlwul £i,'^Q0,^L9<^miftfft9n GhrQnicki

Statue to Iluskigsnn. — At tlic meeting of the Liverpool Town Council, on the 5th,
a letter from Mrs. Huskisson to the Mayor was road, requesting permission to place
a statue to her late husband under tlie dome of the large hull of tho new Custom
House, A resolution w as unanimously agreed to, acceding to Mrs. Huskissons re-
quest.— Moniimj Herald,

Coulis's Banking //ou«c.— Vast improvements are now going on at Coutts's bank-
ing-house, in the Strand, under the direction of Mr. Hopper. Great altitude has
been given to several of the offices, by the removal of the floors of the rooms above ;
iron staircases have been constructed, and the adjoining house, westward, has been
thrown into the former extensive premises. Messrs. Price and Manhy have fitted
up their apparatus for warming tho various offices.

Honmlow — In consequence of the dark state of that portion of the Great Westeru-
road which passes tlxrough the town of Hounslow, a public meeting of the inhabitants
unanimously resolved to light the town with gas, the expense to be defrayed by a
private subscription.

linckiTjghain Palace is filled with workmen, employed in the repair and improve-
ments now in progress. A portion of the wall extending from tho Mows to the
Conservatory will bo rebuilt.

Kensington Palace. — Considerable repairs are going on in this palace.

lyeBlern Literary and Sc!cnl(fic Institution. — A new lecture theatre is to be built
at the back of the premises in Leicester-square, under the direction of Mr. Godwin,
jun, Tho estimated expense is 1,0001.

Carlisle. — The progress of the spacious public buildings is most satisfactory ; the
lecture room, for 800 persons, is nearly completed, and over it an exliihilion room
66 feet 6 inches by 46 feet 6 inches, is now being constructed. — Carlisle Journal.

New Cudovi-houae f Liverpool...~.The long pending question of the warming and
ventilating the Long-Room of the New Custom-House, is set at rest by an order from
the Treasury to Messrs. Price and Manby, to apply their patent apparatus, a
description of which we gave in No. 10 of our Journal. The great extent o( tliis
room, and the approaches to it having together a cubic content of upwards of
631,000 feet will require considerable power to raise tho temperature sufliciently.and
at the same time insure perfect ventilation; but judging from the very successful
application of the system to the Elgin and Egyptian Galleries of the British Museum,
the work-rooms of the Indigent Blind School, and other buildings of equal extent,
there can be Uttle doubt of the desired end being obtained.

Taymouth C<if^/c.— Workmen have been busy during the last summer and autumn
in building a wing to this magnificent scat of the Manjuis of Breadallmne, to corre-
spond with that on the oast side, which formed part of the original building. It is
generally understood that the cause of the completion of the building at the jiresent
time is to be referred to no less than an expected visit of royalty. Rumour says
that it is fixed, so far at least as such movements can be so, that our young Queen'is
to ^isit her ancient kingdom of Scotland next year ; and in the list of noblemen's
residences to be honoured by her presence Taymouth Castle occupies a distinguished
place Perth Courier.

Improvements in Westminster. — Notices have been served upon the tradesmen and
other persons occupying tenements between M'estminster Abbey and Grosvenor-
place, Pimlico, at tlie instance of the Westminster Improvement Company, who sUite
in such notice that it is their intention to apply to Parliament in the en.-sning session
for leave to bring in a bill for forming certain new squares, streets, terraces, &c.,
witlijn the said district, and requiring the person upon whom such notice is served to
give his or her assent or dissent to the proposed proceednigs on or before the Ist day
of January, 1839.

A marble bust of Sheridan Knowles has just been sculptured by Mr. Tate, an artist
of Newcastle, for some spirited fiiends in the north.

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

Danube and Black Sea Canal. — The negotiations between Austria and Turkey ara
going on with vigour. Austria undertakes the direction of this important work,
which is to commence a little below Rassowa on the Danube, close to Csornavoda,
and will proceed thence in a straight line to Luke Lorazo, falling ultimately into the
Black Sea at Kustendji, where a port is to be established.— i'Vti?ao7i/a« Mercury.

Public Works, Egypt. — Mehemet Ali has held a divan, in which it is suid that the
continuation of the dams on the Nile was deferred for want of money. For the same
reason the railway from Cairo to Suez was postponed, but its place was resolved to
be supplied by a cauul. — Journal dcs licbals.

Gas in the Orkneys. — The town of Kirkwall, in Orkney, is now lighted with gas,
wliich now burns in the VKima Thule — Morning Chronicle.

Restoration of St. Oiicn., — The municipal council of Rouen have just approved of
the plans for the completion and restoration of the cluu-ch of St. Ouen. one of the
Gothic chef d'ceurres. The estunate is l,400,000h-. or 10,000l.~Morning Herald.

Russia. — The rebuilding of the Winter Palace, on which several thousand work-
men have been employed during the summer, proceeds rapidly, and externally it is
neai'ly finished. The Emperor, who viewed it a fow days ago, expressed himself
fully satisfied with the progress of the work. It is said that the state apartments of
the palace will be ready for use next Easter. The commission wliich was sent at the
beginning of the year 1837 to Tefiis, the object of which « as to draw up the sclieme
of a reform in the several branches of the administration in the Transcaucasian
provinces, appears to have terminated its laboiu-s. Baron Von Hahn, the president,
and some other members of the commission, have lately arrived here from Teflis.
At the end of last month the Cleopatra frigate, Captain Grey, arrived here from
Cronstadt, liaving on board the Moiquis of Chiniicarde, the British Ambassador.
Count Strogonoff has returiu'd from his extraordinary mission to London.

To-day there is to be a brilliant parade of the Imperial Guards, and the newly
erected triumphal gate at tho barrier on the Moscow road will be inaugurated. Their
Imperial Majesties, and the members of the Imperial Family, arrived yesterday from
Zur.skojoselo, to be present at both,

Iliiarkni Meer. — In the second chamber of the States General at the Hague, on
the 12th inst., a Royal message was brought up with a project of ('our, for raising
a loan to defray the expeaw of drajjuug the Lake of Haftileiu.*-t/o«/-/iflf rfe C'om^

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

29

The Government Ims Intely ptircliasinl in England two iron steam boats — the
Tnkermaun and the Newka. The first is intended to ply between Constantinople and
Odessa. It arrived at Odessa on the 9th of this month, having peribrmed the voyage
from London in 38 days. The Alexandria steamboat, wliioli ought to have arrived
here on Monday, is not here. To-day it ought to set out on its return to Lubeck.
We learn hero "tliat it has been compelled by a storm at sea to put into Ballischport. —
Hainhunjh papvr.

Vienita. — Tlie church of St. Stephen's is to be wholly repaired, and we are happy
totinJthe Vienna ArchUnctnralJournal contradiet the report current in Germany
that part of the spire was to betaken d(>wn on account of the inclination in the upper
part being 3 deg. 3 rain. This we believe was caused in the siege by the Turks, and we
believe is no nmre productive of danger than the settling of Salisbury spire, or the
vibration of our Montnuent. The Town House, at Prague, as interesting as a work of
art as it is from its historical associations, is also to be fully restored and beautilied
The Emperor Ferdinand has at his own cost repaired the romantic castle of Karlsteiu
in Biphemia, one of the bestworks of tlie Cintpie cento ; and instead of being used
as a powder magazine, it is to be converted into a museum or national Valhalla, like
that at Munich.

Bi-iihji' at Preshnrg. — The engineers have chosen the locality for the perma-
next stone bridge over" the Daixube at Presbiu-g, which is to form part of the Vienna
and Raaber railway.

Engineering Prizes in Hungary, — The recent devastation of the city of Pesth by
inimdation has caused the public spirited Count George Andrassy, to ofl'er munificent
prizes for the best treatises on the history of these overflows of the Danube, and the
Mieans of averting them, and with a generosity worthy of their donor, tliey are thrown
open to foreign competition.

Texas. — A company lias been formed to establish a road for waggons, and to carry
on trade from Galveston Island through Chihuahwa to Montery on the upper part
of the Gulf of Califoruiii. — New Orleans paper.

Egiipiiaii Dv4k. — M. Mongel, a French engineer, has arrived at Alexandria. The
pacha has sent for liim to confide to his care the consti-uction of the repairing dock
which Sahir Eft'endi commenced, but could not finish. M. Mongel's reputation
leaves no doubt of his success. The viceroy has granted him 30,000 francs a year,
and 2,000 for his lodging. If, as he has promised, M. Mongel terminates this work
before three years, he is to have besides a gratuity of 60,000 francs.

Versailles TValerworks. — The king has appointed a Commission of engineers to
inspect the waterworks at Marly, and to draw up plans for the better supply of
Versailles with water. — GalignuJii's Messenger.

St>$pertsion Bridges, dmstantinople. — A French painter and architect, M. Hector
Korean, has drawn up the plan of a suspension-bridge, which is to open a new com-
munication between Constantinople and Galata. It is to have several suspensions,
and that of ihe centre is to bo sufficiently high to admit of the jiassage of the largest
vessels. Tlie principle advantage of the construction will be to concilinte the naval
movements with the public circulation. The plan, wliich is a sort of revival of that
conceived by Michael Angclo for the same spot, is to be presented to the Sultan.

French Mail Coaches.— A decree has been issued authorising the Minister of
Finance to pay 400.000 francs, or £16^000, for the establi-shment of the new mail
coaches on the great roads of France. — Moniteitr.

Quicksilrer Mine. — We are informed by Mr. Cooper, that in boring near this place
through the soft sttme upon which this region of country is based, his auger, at the
distance of several hundred feet from the surface, dropped into a lake of quicksilver,
fourteen feet and some inches deep. — Marengo Ala. Gazette.

Paris. — The clearing away of the small houses surromiding the fine Tower of Saint
Jacques la Boucherio appears to have been suspended. On the site of one of the
porches of the church a reservoir is now forming for supplying the inhabitant of the
adjacent quarters with filtered water. — In consequence of the frost nearly all kind,
of masonry work has been suspended at Paris, and more than 15,000 workmen are,
now out of employment in the capital. — Galignani.

Calais. — It is in contemplation to erect a new light.house at Calais, 200 feet high
in the room of the Tour du Guet, whicli stiiuds only 120 feet above the level of the
sea. Tlie precise spot of the new buibhng is not yet decided upon, but a commis-
sion has been appointed to select the most eligible position.

The Journal (h C'herbimrg announces that the Minister of War intended to call for
a credit of 10,000,000f. for the completion of the fortifications of Cherbourg and the
establishment of a new powder magazine.

Greece. — Tlie king has laid the foundation of a monument to Marco Bozzaris, at
Missolonghi. — Times.

French F'ortificatiom. — There are 121 fortified places in France, of which 21 are
of the first class, 18 of the second, and 52 of the third. — Times.

Dutch Engineers. — The minister of the colonies, at the request of the governor-
general of the French Indies, has published in the Staals Courant an invitation to
the young officers of the Waterstaat who are unmarried, and if possible not above 20
years of age, to be employed in the colonial possessions, whither they will bo sent,
and in the first three years with salaries of 2 to 300 florins per month (20/. to 30/.),
exclusive of other emoluments. — Times.

Australia. — The estimates of colonial expenditure for the year 1839 are, for roads,
bridges, and streets, 25,070/. 2s. 6d.

The King of Bavaria has received, as a present from the Emperor of Russia, a
vase of malacliite, of extraordinary beauty and size, being twelve feet high with the
pedestal.

Professional Press in Russia The government publishes the following : — Mining

Journal, Engineering Memoirs, and Journal of Ways of Communication (roadw and
bridges). There is besides a Gazette of the Arts, published 18 times a year, with
100 engravings. Most of these are in French or German. — Journal des Debuts.

Sleep on Railroads. — The following notice of an invention of accommodation " to
sleep," as if at home, while travelling on railroads, appears in a recent number of the
Baltimore American: — " The introduction of the newly-iuvented sleeping cars on our
railroads makes that kind of travelling almost perfect — all that is wanting now is a
dining car. The sleeping cars will soun be placed on the railroad between this and
Philadelphia, so that travellers leaving here in the seven o'clock train may go to
sleep in this city, and not be disturbed till they reach Philadelphia. These cars are
fifty feet in length, and the seats, which are sideways, can, by a simple movement, be
converted into berths; iu each car forty-eight passengers can be accommodated with
berths."

ANTIQUITIES.

Carthage. — Sir Grenvllle Temple has employed six months in executing exca-
vations in the neighbourhood of the site of Carthage, and his labours have been
rewarded by a variety of interesting discoveries. In the ruins of the temple Juno
Cielestis, at Ganath, the protecting divinity of Carthage, he found about 700 coins,
ditferent articles of glass, and earthenware utensils. But the most remarkable and
unexpected of kis discoveries lias been that of a vflla on tlie sea shore, and fifteen feet
under ground. Eight chambers have been entirely cleared, and their form and deco-
rations prove that the house belonged to some distinguished personage. The walls
are painted, and the vestibule is paved in superb mosaic, iu the same style as those of
Pompeii and Herculaueum, and representing a variety of objects, such as marine
divinities of both sexes, fishes of difterent species, marine plants, a vessel with women
dancing an the deck, and surrounded by martial admirers, lions, horses, leopards,
tigers, zebras, bears, gazelles, herons, and other birds. In the dillerent chambera
were found several human skeletons, supposed to be the remains of warriors killed
during the storming of the villa. In another house Sir Grenville Temple has also
discovered various interesting mosaics, representing gladiators combating wild animals
in the arena, with the name of each combatant written over his head. In another
part are represented horse-races and men breaking in young horses. — Gulignani's
Messenger.

A Roman Mosaic Pavement. — It will be remembered that Dr. Allnatt publishetl a
statement a few weeks since, which appeared in most of the public journals, of some
ancient reHcs nhich had been discovered at Pangbouni, Berks, by the labourers
employed on the Great Western Railway, and which were supposed to be of Roman
origin. This supposition has received within the last few days further confirmation
by the exhumation of an almost perfect floor of tessellated pavement, situated in a
beautiful valley near the Thames, about two miles from the scene of the former dis-
covery. It is conjectured to have been the floor in the chamber of a Roman villa.
The pavement is formed of " quarries," or the small, irregularly square, detached
tesserje, so characteristic of Greek and Roman manufacture, and the figures are of the
most elaborate and beautiful design. The ornamental portion, constituting the centre
of the floor, is eight feet square, of four tUstinct colours, ^dz., red, gray, brown, and
white. The colour appears to be formed of a species of fire-hardened cement laid
upon the surface of the tesserfe, for it is superficial, and does not pervade its whole
structure. The discovery has excited much interest : a great many persons from
distant parts of the country, artists, and scientific gentlemen, having visited the spot;
they ai*e unanimous in declaring the floor to be a beautiful and interesting specimen
of ancient art. The site of the house (or, as some imagine it to have been, a military
tent) can bo traced with tolerable accuracy by the lines of mortar, charcoal, and
flints, used iu the foundation. Two human skeletons were lying exterior to the walls,
near one of which a Roman coin was found, and by the side of the other a curious
species of broadsword, which antiquarians suppose to be identical with that used by
the auxiliary legions. Orders have been given by Mr. Brunei, the engineer, for th»
whole to be preserved entire. — Times. — [It is with great regret tliat we have since
learned that Mr. Brunei has directed this interesting relic to be broken up. Messrs.
Grissel and Peto, however, have had a drawing made, which is intended to be litho-
graphed. We are sorry to see this disrespect for objects which are of universal
interest to every man of education and refinement. Such deeds of barbaiisui have
been but too frequent, and geologists have repeatedly complained of the ravages
which have been committed through the negligence of the engineers. Very little
expense would have restored tliis pavement, and it would have formed an interest-
ing object iu the waiting-room of the station. We do not see, indeed, why museums
should not be formed at every station, illustrative of the geology of the line. —
Editor C. E. & A. Jour.]

Irish Canoes. — A short time ago, when the water was drawn ofl", for the purpose of
deepening a part of Lough Reavy, nearest the discharge pipes, three old cauoes, of
very antique appearance and construction, being apparently hollowed out of a single
tree, were discovered imbedded in the mud. One has been conveyed to Lord Down-
shire's seat at Hillsborough; another is at Castlc-Ward, the seat of the Bangor
family; and the thu-d is iu the possession of Lord Roden at Tullymore.

The fine remains of the abbey of Saviguy, near Mortain, iu Normandy, have just
been purchased by M. do Caumont, the well-known antiquarian, arid will llius be
preserved to the country. — Galignani.

MISCELLANEA.

Zincography. — The Baltimore American states, that a method has been invented of
drawing on zinc, said to be very superior in effect to lithography. The mode of pre-
paring the metal so as to fit it for the purpose is said to be a secret unknown but to
one person in the country. In the process of stamping, a delicate pink tint is
conveyed to the paper, by which the engraving is made to assume the appearance of
drawing ou chalk.

Sculpture. The Duke of Devonshire, who was so liberal a patron of Canova has,

during his present sojourn in Italy, added several fine productions of Ihe chisel of
Thorwalsden, Marches!, and other living artists, to his already large and valuable
collection of marbles.

Brighton Pavilion. — In the storm on the 2ud instant, at a quarter before twelve,
a flash of lightning struck the pinnacle over the nortli gateway of the grotuuls, and
carried a portion of it away, and shattered several panes of stained glass. — Mornimj

Post.

Cheap Repairs. — A society has been formed at Paris for preserving and describing
tlie French historical monuments of the middle ages. The economical laboius of this
patriotic associaliim are well worth the attention of such as may be struggUng to
resist the havoc of time and man. In their accounts, which we have before us, we
find that with a sum of only 08/. they congratulate themselves upon having, in six
montlis, repaired the churches of the Lot and Auvergue. those nf Moutrezor, St. Louis,
(hi Pre, and Beaulieu, the Chateau of Langoais, the Priory of Morlaiige, the tombs of
Oirou, and stained glass of Ponl-Audemer.

T7ie tolls of the Audover and Basingstoke turnpike have been let at an increase of
upwards of two hundred pounds per annum, in consequence of the additional travel
ling through Andover, occasionetl by the partial opening of the Londou aad South-
aroptou Railway.— JK»i^* Judepmdent,

so

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

Sei/.isel Agphalte. — The Seyssel Asphalte property i^ ocinipyiug the gentlemen of
the long robe tii France, iinil if, appeai-s doubtful IJ-oin what has transpired whether
there existed any right to transfer it to a company. It is very unlnrtunate thr.t this
was not found out earlier, as, whatever may be its olhi'r applications, the asphalle
has paved the way to much gambling and serious niislurtuuc to the shareholders.
No mines of guhl. silver, nor copper, e^■er excited more sanguine speculation. — IhifL
Htart of O'tk. — One of the piles used in the fi.mulatiou of the old bridge at
Lancaster was taken out a short time .since, and found to be " as sound as an acorn,"
allhough it nnist have been under water at least 900 years.

Prei:err(i/ion of Sculpture. — Experimeul.s are in progress at the Ecole des Beaux
Arts at Pai'is, with some oily substance to be used for the preservation of marbles

and worlis of art, which suffer so much in the weax and tear of a great metropolis.

O'afiifnaiii's Mtssent/er. [We do not know whether this is one of our neighbours'
reinventions of old English inventions anew ; but some years ago Henning, the
sculptor used a coating of wax on the triumphal arch in the Park, and hitherto with
complete success. ]

The newly inrenleiVi'ijht of M. Gaiulin, on which experiments were recently made
at Paris, is an improved modification of the well-kno«n invention of Lieutenant
Drummond. Wliile Drummond pours a stream of oxygen gas through spirits of wine
upon unslaked lime, Graudin makes use of a more ethereal kind of oxygen, which he
conducts through burning essence of turpentine. The Druumiond light is fifteen
bundi-ed limes stronger than thatof bm-niuggas ; the Gaudin light is, we are assured,
by tlie inventor, as strong as that of the suu, or Ilftceu thousand times stronger than
gas, and of course ten times more so than the Dnimmond. The method by which
M. Gaudin proposes to tm-n the new indention into use is smgularly strildng. He
proposes to erect, in the island of the Pont Neuf, in the middle of the Seine and
centre of Paris, a lighthouse five hundred feet high, in w hich is to be placed a light
from a hundred thousand to a million gas pipes strong, the power to be varied as the
nights are light or dark. Paris will thus enjoy a sort of perpetual day; and as

soon as the sun of the heavens is set, the sun of Pont Neuf will rise Mt'ckaiiics'

^lagazine.

NEW PATENTS.

LIST OF ENGLISH PATENTS GRANTED BETWEEN THE 26Tn
NOVEMBER, ANlJ THE 24th DECEMBER, 183S.

John Small, of Old Jewry, Merchant, for " Improvements in the Maiuifacture of
Thread or Yarn, and Paper, by the Application of certain fibrous Materials not
hitherto .so employed." — 1st December ; 6 months to specify.

Peter Tavlou, of Birching Bower, in the County of Lancaster, RopeMalcer
and Slate Merchant, for " Improvements in Machinery for propelling Vessels Car-
riages, and Machinery, Parts of which Improvements are applicable to raising of
Water." — 1st December; 6 months.

Ambrose Bowdex Johns, of Plymouth, Artist, for " Improvements in colouring
or painting Walls and other Surfaces." — 1st December; 6 months.

James Hartley, of Bishop Wearmouth, Glass Maniifacturer, for " Improve-
ments in tlie Manufacture of Glass." — 1st December ; 6 months.

Theodore Cotelle, of the Hayraarket, Civil Engineer, for " Improvements in
Extracting the Salt from Sea or Salt Water, and rendering it pure or drinkable, and
in Purifying other Water." — 1st December; ti months,

John Plaver, the younger, of Longhor, near Swansea, Glamorgan, for " Im-
provements in Furnaces and Fire-places, for Consuming Anthracite and other Fuel

for generating Steam, Evaporation, Smelting and Heating Iron and other Metals."

1st December ; 6 months.

William Pontifex, of Shoe Lane, in the City of London, Coppersmitli, for
"Improvements in Apparatus and Materials employed in Fdteriug and Clarifying
Waters and other Liquids." — 1st December; 6 months.

John McCurov, of Tonbridge Place, New Road, Esquire, for " An Improved
Method or Methods of Generating Steam and applying the same to the Evaporation
and Boiling of Fluids, which Metliod or Methods is or ai-e applicable to Steam
Engines and other Purposes where Steam is or may be applied." — 1st December;
6 months.

Stanislaus D.^hthez, of Austin Friai's, in the City of London, Merchant, for
" Certain Improvements in the Construction and in Arrangement of Axles, Axle-
trees, and the Naves of Wlieels for Carriages." — 1st December; 6 months.

John Shaw, of Glossop, Brass Worker, for " Certain Improvements in the
Arrangement and Construction of Wind Musical Instruments." — 1st December;
tJ months.

Luke Hebkrt, of Camden Town, Civil Eu^neer, for "An improved Mode or
Modes of Fastening Trowsers and other Parts of Dress or Apparel." Communi-
cated by a Foreigner residing abroad 1st December ; (i months.

Daniel Chandlee Hkwitt, of Store Street, Bedford Square, Professor of Music,
for " Certain Improvements in Musical Instruments." — 6th December; 6 months.

•loHN Chisholm and Marin Hyppolite Bellenois, of Pomeroy Street, Old
Kent Road, Manuiactui-ing Chemists, for " Improvements in treating Massicott,
Litharge, and other Compounds of Lead, for the Purpose of obtaining therefrom
Silver and certain otlier Products." — 6th December ; H months.

GoDFROY C.A.VAIGNAC, of Tavistock Row, Covent Garden. Gentleman, for "Im-
provements in Apparatus for transporting Materials for various I'urposes from one
Place to another, particularly applicable to Road Cutting and otlier Embanlnnents."
— 6th December ; 6 months.

Thomas Sweetapple, of Cotteshall Mill, Godalniing, Papermaker, for " An
Improvement or Improvements in the Machinery for Making Paper."— 6th Decem-
ber ; 6 months.

Frederick Neville, of Paneras Lane, in the City of London, Gentleman,
for " An improved Method or Process of Manufacturing Coke, whereby the Sal-
ammoniac, Bitumen, Gases, and other resident Pi-oducts of Coal are, at the same
time, separately collected, and the Heat employed in the Process is applied to vai'ious
t>ther useful Purposes." — 6th December; 6 montli:*.

Miles Berry, of Chancery Lane, Patent Agent, for " Improvements in the
Means i.f, and Appai-atus for, Manufacturing Gaseous Liquids, and for filling Bottles
and other Vessels used for holding the same, and rttaiuing theconfc:'ts therein, and
applyini? tho same when required." Communicated bv a Foreigner residing abroad."
— (JthlDecember ; 6 mouths.

James Carson, of Liverpool, Doctor of Medicine, for " A ney? Mode of Slaughter-
ing Animals intended for human Food." — 12tli December; 6 months.

Thomas Robinson Williams, of 61. Cheapside, CMvil Engineer, for " Certain
Improvements in Machinery for Spinning, Twisting, or Curling, and Weaving
Horsehair, and other Hairs, as >vell as various iibrous Substances." — 12th
December ; 2 months.

HicNRY Count de Crouv, of Picardy, in the Kingdom of France, now
residing at 14, Cambridge-street, Edgeware Road, for " Certain Improvements in

Filtration." Comnuiuicated by a Foreigner residing abroad 12ih December;

2 months.

Ji>HN Alexander Eleazar Desgrand, of the Boulevart du Temple, Paris,
now residing in Paul's Chain, in the City of London, Civil Engineer, for " Improve-
ments in the Production of Motive Power, and in Macldnery, for applying the
same to useful Purposes." — 12th December ; 6 months.

James Gardner, of Banbury, Ironmonger, for " Improvements in cutting
Swedish Turnips, Mangel Worzel, and other Roots used for Food for Sheep, homed
Cattle, and other Animals." — i2ih December; 6 months.

Thomas Vaus, of Woodford, Land Surveyor, for " Improvements in Tilling and
FertiUsing Land.'' — I5tli December; 6 months.

Crofton Willia:\i Muat, Putney, for " An improved Mode of applying Horse
Power to Carriages on ordinary Roads " — 17th December ; 6 months.

Barclay Farqi^iiarson Watson, of Lincoln's Inn Fields, Solicitor, for " Im-
provements in Crushing or Preparing New Zealand Flax." — 17tli December;
G months. *

Edwin Edward Cassell, of Millwall, Poplar, for " Improvements in Lamps."
— 17th December ; 6 months.

Job Cutler, of Lady Poule L;iiie, Biniiingham, Gentleman, for " Improvements
in Combinations of Metals jipplicabb- to tin- maliing of Tiil>es or i'ipes, and to other
Purposes, and in the Method i4 Making Tubes or Pipes therefiom, which improved
Method is apphcahle to the Making of Tubes or Pipes from Certain other Metals
and Combination of Metals." — 17tli December ; 6 months.

James Lees, of Salem, near Oldham, iu the County of Lancaster, Cotton Spinnei-,
for " An Improvement in the Machinery for Spinning, Twisting, and Doubling
Cotton, Silk, Wool, Hemp, Flax, and other fibrous Materials." — 17th December;
6 months.

John Hawkshaw. of Manchester, Civil Engineer, for " Certain Improvements in
Mechanism or Appai-atus ap[ilicable to Railways, and also to Carriages to be used
thereon." — I7th December ; 6 months.

Benjamin Goodfellow, of Hyde, in the County of Chester, Mechanic, for
" Certain Improvements in Machinery or Apparatus for Planing or Cutting Metals."
— 18th December ; (^ months.

John Roberts, of Manchester, Machine Maker, for " Certain Improvements in
Machinery or Appai'atus for Planii^ or Cutting Metals." — 18th December ;
6 montlis.

John Radcliffe, of Stockport, Machine Agent, for "Tlie Application of an
improved Covering for the Rollers used in the several Processes of Preparing
Drawing, Slubbing, Roving, Spinning, Twisting, and Doubling of Wool, Cotton
M'ool, Flax, Silk, Mohair, or any other fibrous Material or Substance, or so many,
of such Hollers as require, or are deemed to requu-e covering for such several Pro-
cesses, or any of them. ' — 10th December ; 6 montlis.

Joseph Zambeai;, of St. Paul's Churchyard. Chemist, for *' Improvements
iu Rotatory Engines." Communicated by a Foreigner residing abroad. — I9th
December ; 6 months.

Andrew Smith, of Princes Street, Leicester Square, Engineer, for " Certain
Improvements in Apparatus for Heating Fluids and Generating Steam." — 20tli De-
cember ; 6 months.

Samuel Parker, of Argyle Place, Lamp Maker, for " Improrements on Stoves."
— 20th December ; 6 mouths.

CAur, AuiiiSTTs Holm, of Mincing Lane, Engineer, and John Barrett, of
Vauxhall, Printer, for " Certain Improvements in Prio ting. "—20th December ;
6 months.

Daniel Stafford, of 25, St. Martin' s-le- Grand, in the City of London, Gentle-
man, for "Certain Improvements on Carnages, behig an extension for the term of
seven years, from the 21th day of December." — 21st December.

EKRATA.

In the last number, page 403, in the description of Roe's patent water closet basin
there is an error in lines 10 and 11 ; it states that "this chamber is alicays krjif charged
with water ;' it should read, " tlie chamber is onlj/ charged with water when the
handle is lifted, tlie water at tlie same time being discharged all round the basin."

Page 405, in the ride for converting French measure, line 0, describing the method
of reducing francs into pounds, instead oVaM twoiigures," read "cw( oif two figures."

TO CORRSSPONDENTS.

Our correspondent respecting Dover Hiirbour, will hear from us liy post.

Our correspondent at ('armarthen is informed that there i.s no defined dimension
f >r slating called " Queens" — both Queen's and Rag's vary in size from iwu to four
feet iu length, and from 18 inches to tliree feet in width ; the average size is ;iG inches
by 24 inches ; they are sold by weight, and not by the thousand.

" One of the Public" will be noticed next month.

M'e cannot notice Prospectuses of Companies at length, unless paid fur as
advertisements.

Subscribers are ]>articuliuly requested to complete their sets of numbers for the
first volume immediately.

We shall feel obliged to the profession if they will forward us accounts of works
m progress, new inventions and discoveries; and particularly if our country sub-
scribers will send us any new.spapcr containing any matter relative to the objects of
our Journal.

Books fur review must be sent early in the month; communicalions prior to the
■20th ; and advertisements before the 20th instant.

*♦* The first volume may be hadboiuul iu cloth, and letteretl in gold, price 17?.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

THE RAILWAY TIMES, published
every Satm-dav, price SLxpence, stamped, eontams
full and accurate reports (taken exclusively for this paper)
of all railway meetings, with directors' and engmeers'
reports, and all other oliicial documents at length — au-
thentic reports of the progress of railway works — notices
of railway publications and plans— all the jmhlic and
private proceedings of ParUament on railway bills — no-
tices of railway improvements of every kind — detailed
reports of all law cases affecting railways — the fullest
particulars of the rise and progress of foreign railways-
complete railway share lists for London, Liverpool, and
Edinburgh, and a great variety of information on other
works of public utility, and on the arts and sciences
generally.

The Railway Times is an excellent medium for railway
and scientific advertisements. Office, 123, Fleet-street,
facing St. Bride's Church, London; and maybe had of
authorised agents in Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester,
Bristol, Bath, and Edinburgh ; also by order of all book-
sellers and newsmen in town and country.

THE MINING JOURNAL
AND COMMERCIAL GAZETTE
is the only Newspaper exclusively devoted to Geology,
MineralogV, and Metallurgy ; combirfing therewith Re-
ports of the Proceedings of Public Companies, Correspon-
dence from the English and Foreign Mining Districts
Sales and Purchases of Ores, Prices of Shares in Mines
Railways, Joint-Stock Banks, Canals, &c., with ParUa.
meutar'y Summary, London Gazette, and much original
and interesting Scientific Intelligence, &c. ; forming an
invaluable record of every occurrence relating to
MINES, R.AJLWAYS, JOINT-STOCK BANKS, &c.
To wliich is now added (gratis) monthly,

THE MINING REVIEW,

AS A SUPPLEMENT,

containing, as heretofore, Original Articles, Reviews of
Scientific Works, Foreign Extracts, Proceedings of Scien-
tific Bodies, and Miscellaneous Intelligence.

The MINING REVIEW is ako published monthly,
price Sixpence, in a yvrapper.

The MINING JOURNAL is published at Two o'clock
every Saturday afternoon, at the ofhce, 1*2, Gough-
square. Fleet-street, London, price Sixpence, and may be
had of all booksellers and newsvenders in town and
country.

OBINSON'S ANTI-CORROSION

' VARNISH PAINT, Black, 5s. ; Green, 8s. per Gal-
lon, ready for use. This approved preservative of
"WOOD, IRON, TIN, COPPER, and LEAD, at less cost than
any other composition, prevents rust, decay, dry rot, or
the worm, it dries quick, does not blister or crack, en-
dures permanent immersion in fresh or salt water, great
heat or cold, is adapted for park paling, wood buildings,
ships bottoms, steam-enffine boilers, tanks, machinery,
hot ami cold water pipes, nurdles, waggons, carts, smith's
use, and all out-door wood and iron work.

ROBINSON'S ANTI-CORROSION PAINT, to mix
with oil, is unequalled for painting Stucco, Roman Ce-
meut, and Brick-work ; also for Tiling ; is a cure for damp
and Porous Walls.

H. M. Robinson and Co., Manufacturers, 19, Minories,
Aldgate.

To MANUFACTURERS, &c.— The
attention of manufacturers is solicited to the
following letter addressed by Messrs. S. and J. Holme, of
Liverpool, to Messrs. Price and Manbv (patentees), 4,
Chester-place, Belgrave-street, London, and 13, Nelson-
street, Bristol : —

*' We hare delayed writin» until now, that we might
give our Drying' Stove a lair trial before we expressed
any opinion upon its merits.

" It has now been filled and emptied three times, and
it has certainly exceeded our expectations. The stove
holds about 30,000 superficial feet of inch boards, and
upon our late system (steam pipes) occupied us nearly a
month in drying; jour apparatus, with rather less fuel,
has thoroughly dried each stove-full in ten days, thus
sparing us considerable extra labour, enabling us to expe-
dite our business, and saving us the consumption of
twenty days' fuel. The average temperature is 104 deg. ;
and as the continuous stream of pure air, passing between
the metallic plates, is divested of its moisture, it carries
off the dampness from the timber in an imperceptible but
most effectual manner. We find it a very great conveni-
ence, from the superior way in which the timber is dried,
and beeause it will not be liable to shrink in the least.
We are satisfied that the apparatus would be invaluable
for many purposes in our national manufactures, as it
combines etfieacy with simplicity. Our yardmen and
night watchmen attend to it successively, and it seems
mpossible that it can get out of order.

LONDON ZINC WORKS AND
ROLLING MILLS, Wenlock Road, Cily Road.—
Malleable Sheet Zinc, Zinc Nails and Tacks ; planished
Plates of assorted sizes for Zincography and Duor Plates ;
and Patent Zinc Slates tor Roofing^all of the very best
qualilv— will be promptly supplied to Dealers and Con-
sumers on application to JOHN BALL and Co., No. U,
Finsbui} Ciicus.

ARCHITECTS, ENGINEERS, and
BUILDERS, are respectfully informed that JAMES

JONES, of No. 10, Hart Street, Long Acre, is ready to
tender fur fitting^up Churches, Club-houses, Public Build-
inss. Railway Termini, Factories, &c., with every de-
scription of Gas Fittings; Chandeliers in every style, or
made to design ; Lamps, Lanterns, &c. : Gas Burners, on
an improved principle, applied to old fittings; Gas Stoves,
and improved Economic Apparatus for generating heat
for every purpose of manufacture, superseding the use of
Charcoa'l. Stair Plates, Hand Rails, and every kind of
Brass Fittings fur Steam Vessels, &e.

BY HER MAJESTY'S LETTERS PATENT.

C;<ERISHS PATENT SPRING-
J HINGE.— Manufactory, 16, East-road, Hoxton
New Town.

E. W. GEEISH begs to caU the attention of Iron-
monciers. Builders, and the Public in General, to a Patent
which he has just obtained for a Dooa Spring.

This Improved Spring merits general attention, as it can
beappUeato any door in a few minutes without defac-
ing the woodwoi-k. It is easy in its action, neat, and not
visible when the door is shut ; and is made to surpass in
power the best springs now in use, AT ONE-HALF THE
PRICE!

TO SURVEYORS, BUILDERS, and
OTHERS.— SASHES and FRAMES, md GREEN-
HOUSE LIGHTS, manufactured of the best Yellow Deal,
and Workmanship warranted, at J. SHARPE'S. 30, White
Lion-street, Norton Falgate.

CASH PKICES. Per Ft.

Superficial.
One inch and a half Greenhouse Lights, made
andGlazed Os. Ud.

One inch and a half Ovolo Sashes, made and
Glazed 1 6

One inch and a half Ovolo Sashes, Deal-cased
Frames, Oak-sunk Sills, Glazed, with Weights
and Line complete 1 8

Ditto, with Brass PuUe-ss, Patent Sash-line,
Glazed, with Best Thirds Newcastle Crown
Glass, the best that can be made 1 9

With every other Article in the Trade equally cheap.

All Letters to be post-paid.

**• Please to observe the Address, 30, White Lion
Street, Norton Falgate.

PATENT PORTABLE WATER
CLOSETS, on WISS and HAWKINS' PRINCIPLE.
— Fifteen ;ears' labour and experience have not only es-
tablished their superiority, but the decided conviction that
they cannot be improved. ROBERT WISS, the actual
mventor, and holder of the patent, feels justified in calling
attention to the above as the most simple and perfect
article of the kind. Also Water Closets, for fixing on the
same principle, are particularly recommended for the
country and exportation, the machinery and cistern re-
quiring no more room than is occupied by the seat. To
be seen in great variety at the manufactory. Plumber's
work of every description executed in town and
country.
Address, 38, Charing Cross, near the Admiralty, London.

COCOA NUT FIBRE MAT-
TRESSES.— C. GARTLAND solicits the PubUc to
inspect the Mattresses manufactured by him with Coi'OA
Nut Fibke, a material well known to possess superior
qualities to all others now in general use for every pur-
pose to which horse-hair is applied, and less than one-
half the price, as the various Establishments and Institu-
tions supplied will show.

Cocoa Nut Fibre Mattress Warehouse, No. 9, St. Martin's
Place, Trafalgar Square.

/"(HEAP AND ELEGANT PAPER-

V^ HANtjINfiS. — G. TEN respectfully invites the
public to inspect his extensive STOCK of Fashionable
PAPER-HANGINGS, which he can ofier for Sale at the
following very reduced prices; — Bedroom and Staircase
Papers, from Id. per yard; P.irloui- ditto, 2d. per yard;
Satin ditto. 4d. per yard ; and .all other sorts in propor-
tion. 20,000 nieces always ready at No. 33, Lowther
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The Trade, Country Dealers, and Builders supplied on
the most liberal Terms. — The Trade supplied with Gold
Mouldings.

BY ROYAL LETTERS PATENT.

BUNNETT and CORPE, Engineers
and Machinists, Patentees and Manufacturers of
REVOLVING SAFETY SHUTTERS and BLINDS, in
Iron or Wood, W'rought Iron Doors, Strung Rooms,
Fire-proof Safes, Plate or Jewel Cases, Book-cases, and
various Inventions for the eflectuai protection of valuable
property.

Having availed themselves of every practical improve-
ment suggested by an extensive use, tne Patentees con-
fidently solicit the attention of Architects and the Public
to the above Invention, as one of the most complete, con-
venient, and eftectual modes of securing Houses and other
Property ; the combination of the Safety Shutter and Sun-
Bliud is especially adapted for the Mansions of the Nobi-
lity, Gentry, andfor Private Residences generally.

Office, 26, Lombard Street, London.

Manufactory, Upper Road, Deptford, Kent.

MARBLE WORKS by PATENT
MACPIlNERY.~The public are invited to view
the extensive SHOW-HOOM fitted up bv the LONDON
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and Fancy Glass in every varietj- ; Looking Glasses of
the most magnificent dimensions, and of a quality that
cannot he surpassed, may be obtained at this Factory,
93, Bishopsgate-street-within, London.

THE PRESERVATION OF IRON
from CORROSION is efiectually secured by the
use of LITHIC PAINT. Sheet Iron, after many years'
exposure to damp, covered witli this cheap Paint, is found
to be as perfect and bright as in the first hour it was
applied. For Rough Wood Fencing, Agricultural Imple-
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Manufactured by Charles Francis and Sons, of Stone,
Lead, and Green* Colours, at their Roman Cement Works,
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LITH^

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., 3, George Vard, Lombard
Stieet, ijondon,

For the esfculion. either on ZINC »' STONE, "' «»"y "'s""!"'™ "' . ,

Iiandscapes, Portraits, Botaulcal, Mechaaical, Anatomical,

and other Drawings, Maps and Plans of Sstates, Elevations,

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With the o-inosl Diiputih, and on the most m.iiIerEie Tvrnia,

STRAKER'S IMPROVED LITHOGRAPHIC PRESSES.WARRAIMTED OFTHE BEST CONSTRUCTIOM

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ZINC PLATF"! <!TONF<; «ud EVKHV MAI'KRIAL UKUUlllF.D IN THE AKT, fomir JeJ to .11 P.iru ol the li orlJ.
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Zinc Door and MTlndow Plates of every deacriptton.

CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

Just Piibliehed, Price £1 Is. (pilnteil villi a tint in iniitaCion of tlie Originals), Fart II. of

DRAWINGS OF THE LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY,

BY JOHN C. BROWNE,
With Topographical and Descriptive Accounts, by John Britton, F.S.A.

The present Part contains a Map of the Line of Railway hy Clieffins, antl nine Drawings of the following subjects :— Excavation anj Building Retaining. Wall ;
Camden Town; Watlbrd Embanknient ; Colne Viaauct ; Obli(jue-brid|^'e, Box-iiioi.r ; View, near Berlihauipsteud; Wolverton Viaduct; A Working-shaft, Kilsby Tunnel ■
Great Ventilatiiig-siiaft, Kilsby ; Head-gear, Engine, &c., Kilsby. To be completed in Four I'arts (size, Imperial folio).

London: Published by John C. Bourne, 19. Lamb's ConduitstreK ; Ackermann and Co., Strand; John Weale, 50, High Holborn ; John ■\Villlauis, Great Rus-
■elbstreet, Bloomsbury ; Grapel, Liverpool; Sowler, Manchester ; Drake, Birmingham ; M\ F. Watson, Edinburgh, and J. Nixon, jun,, Glasgow.

VALUABLE ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS FOR

SALE.

A COLLECTION of WORKING
DRAWINGS of many Important Buildings,
executed by the late Francis Goodwin, as follows : —
Working Drawings of Kidderminster Church, about 00
Large Drawings; Working Drawings of West Brom-
Tvich Churcli, about (JO large Drawings ; Working Draw-
ings of Stoclqiort Church, of Hyldersley Chapel, of
AValsall Chapel; a beautiful set of Drawings of St.
Saviour's, Southwark ; and other beautifid Drawings of
West Bromwicli, in a Portfolio.

To be sold at very h)w Prices, at the Library of Arts,
306, Great Russell-street, near tlie Muscimi.

Mr. Goodwin was well known as a man of first-rate
ability as an Architect.

THE ARCANUM. — Comprising a
Concise Theory of Practicable, Elementaiy, and
Definitive Geometry ; exhibiting the various Transmu-
tations of Supertices and Solids ; obtaining also their
actual capacity by the Matliematical Scale, inclutling
solutions to the yet unanswered Problems vi the
Ancients. By Jopin Bennett, Engineer.

On Saturday, the 5th of January, 1839, will be ready iu
one vohune, octavo, with upwards of ItiU original Cop-
per Plate Problems. Price ld«.

Also ready, by the same Author, the Second edition of
the MiLLWiuGHTsandENGiNEEn's Pocket Dikectok.

" A very useful work." — London' Architectural Ma.
gas inc.

Also, the Second Edition of the Ahtificeh's Com-
TLBTE Lexicon, adapted for Gentlemen Architects,
Engineer.'*, Millwrights, Builders, and Tradesmen iii
general. In one volume, 8vo. Price 16*.

Loudon : John Bennett, 4, Three Tun-passage'
Newgate-street; Sold by Simpkin, Mar.shall, and Co.'
Stationers' Hall-court ; and all Booksellers.

THE THAMES TUNNEL, Entrance
near the Church at Ii4.ttherhitlio, on the Surrey
side of the River, is open to the public every day, (ex-
cept Sunday) from Nine in the Aforning until dark. —
Admittance One Shilling each. —Both Archways are
brilliantly lighted with Gas, and the descent to tliem is
by a new and more oonunodious Staircase. — Tlie Tunnel
IH now upwards of Eight Hundred and Thirty feet in
lengtli, and completed to within a distance of less than 90
feet of low water mark on the Middlesex shore.
By Order,
J. CHARLIE U, Clerk to the Company,
Thames Tunnel Ollice, Walbrook Buildings,'
Wul'uiook, December, 188S.

N.B.— Conveyances to the Thames Tunnel, by Omni«
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aud London Bridge, every half-hour. — Books descriptive
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Messrs. Charles Knight and Co., have just published the
following

ALMANACS AND YKAR-BOOKS FOR 1839,

lender the superinteiulence of the

society fob the diffusion of useful KNoWLKnUE.

THE BRITISH ALMANAC, extend-
ing to 9U pages, aud euibracing a body of informa-
tion suited to the Tradesumu, the Maiuifiicturer, the
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The BRITISH WORKING-MANS ALMANAC,

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THE REPERTORY of PATENT In-
ventions, No. 01 (New Series), commencing
\iA. XL, will be published on the First of January, 1839,
jirice 3jf., and contains Specifications of the following
I'atents, with Engravings; —

Cooke and W^heats tone's, for giving Signals and Sound-
ing Alarums in distant Places, by means of Electric Cur-
rents transmitted through Metallic Circuits.

Gifiord's, for Improvements in Paddle-wheels.

Finlayson 8, for Improvements iu Hiurows.

W'alker's, for Apparatus to be used in Cleansing Beer,
and other Fermented Liquors.

Desgrand's, for a new Pulpy Product to be used in
Manufacturing Paper and Pasteboard, prepared from
Substances not hitherto used.

Stephens" and Nash's, for Colouring Matter, and for
rendering certain Colours applicable to Dyeing, Staining,
aud \Vriting.

Also, Stephens' and Nash's Alteration In ditto.

Expired Patents and New Patents.

J. S. Hodson, 112, Fleet-stieet.

Will be published on the 10th Jnst.,
THE IMPROVED

BUILDER'S PEICE BOOK,

FOR 1839;

Containing upwardsof EIGHT THOUSAND PRICES,
founded upon actual calculations, carefully digested and
corrected from the present price of materials and labour;
also the Wiirknuin's Prices fur labour only ; the most
preferable mode of measuring pointed out, and upwards
of t\vo thousand useful aud important Memorandums and
Tables ; together with Extracts from the linilding,
Paving, snd Chimney-swee]ier»' Acts, and Tables for
Purchasing Leases, Estates, or Annuities.

By W. LAXTON, Surveyor and Civil Engineer.

Thirteenth Edition, with considerable additions and
alterations.

The work is printed in a small type, so as to make it
suitable for the pocket ; it may be bad either bound in
cloth, price 4s., or bound as a pocket-book, price fis.

London: John Weale, 59, High Holborn; Simpkin
and Maishall, Stationers' -court; I. Williams, Great Rus-
sell-street ; Groombridge, Panyer-allcy, Paternoster-ro>y.

A

Just published,

COURSE OF MILITARY SUR-
VEYING : including the SKETCHING of
GROUND, PLAN-DKAWIN(i, LEVELLING, .tc;
and embracing a variety of information equally useful
to the SOLDIER, the CIVIL ENGINEER, and the
TR.WELLER. Also, a particular description of tlie
princii.al SURVEYING INSTRUMENTS commonly
employed, with explanations of the methods of useing
them, aud instructions for tlieir adjustment.

BY MAJOR BASIL JACKSON,

late of the Royal Staft" Corps, and Professor of Military
Surveying at the Honorable East Endia Company's Mili-
tary College — 8vo. 12s. 6d. in cloth.

This work is on an entirely new plan, and intended to
enable a Student to master the subjects it treats, with-
out other assistance. The volume contains more than
300 pages of letter-press, illustrated by eighteen plates
Ucopper and Hthogra]»hic), and 100 diagrams and figures,
on wood. The price is Uierefore unusually low.

London : AVm. H Allen and Co., 7, Leadeuall-street ;
Egkrton, W'hitehall; Whale, 59, High Holborn ; and
Trouuhton and Simms, 130, Fleet-street.

JOHN ISAAC HAWKINS, Civil En^
gineer, has K^^moved bis Otik-e for British and
Foreign Patents, from liis residence in tlie HaiopsteaJ-
road, to Chancery CkanlierB, Quality-court, Cbaucery-
lau«, Loudou.

TO architects.— ROE'S Patent
Self-Supidying Basin, when fixed upon the Valve
or Pan W^ater closets, makes them nuich more simple
and cloanly than any other Closet.

F. R. solicits the inspection of the Profession to some
Closets he has fixed at 09, Strand, opposite the Adelphi
Ttieatre, to which premises he is about to remove the
Manufactory from Camberwell, as »oon as the repairs
are completed.

They may be supplied either with or without a charged
Pipe.

N.B. The Rira round the Bosla ifi not |charg«d only
whild the handle is up.|

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

31

THE ATHEN^UM, AT DERBY,

ABCaiTECT, R. WALLACE, ESQ.

ELEVATION.

PLAN OF THE UPPER OR PRINCIPAL FLOOR.

PLAN OF THE GROUND FLOOR.

Scale of Drawings, 20 Feet to the Inch,

No. 17.— Fkbruart, 1839. Voi. u.

3-2

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

THE ATIIEN.EUM, Xc, AT DERBY.

The " Coini anion (o the Almanac" has ah'pady given a general
view of tile four bnildings of which the Alhena'um forms one, and a
tolerably full description of them ; yet although we have so far been
anticipated by that publication, whai is there said rather invites us
to give further particulars respecting those spirited improvements
than not, more especially as we are enabled, through the kindness of
the architect, Mr. R. Wallace, fo exhibit an elevation and plans of
fliat portion of the design which has most architectural pretension
and cliaracler, namely, tlie Athenti'mn. j

As our wood- cut renders verbal description uiuiecessary, all that
we need explain in regard to it is, that the blank ^pace or opening in
the lower ])art of the right-hand pavilion or wing is the covered gate-
way leading to the iim-yard at the rear of the building (as is shown
in the ground plan), where is sclii one of the entrances into the Hotel.
Hardly, tlierefore. need we obser\-e that the latter building irnnie-
diately adjoins the Athcntcum on that side, being divided from it
below only by the covered passage or gateway between the two; bnt
we should explain that both entablatures of the sejiarate fagade
here shown are continued through the two fronts of the Hotel, so as to
keep up a certain general uniformity of ajipearancc, although th?
Athenaeum forms a distinct comiMsition. Indeed, further than the
reguhirity th\is produced by the continuation of the principal hori-
zontal lines and mouldings, and that of tlie style adopted, there is
little similarity : the elevations of the hotel presenting two ranges of
windows above, the lowermost of whicli, or those of the first floor,
rest upon a socle immediately above the cornice fo (he basement.
Besides which, there is a series of smaller windows in the attic, which
is somewhat lower than that in centre of the elevation here given.
Consequently that portion of the entire line, or the south side facing
Brook-street, has more of the dwelling-house appearance, wliile the
Athenicura distinguishes itself by presenting wliat our French
neighbours term n momimeiital character; to which both the disposi-
tion of the windows and the great proportion of solid wall contribute
in no small degree. In (his respect alone the design exhibits some
novelty and piquancy, particularly in the centre compartment, where
the three openings Ijelow and the five above them produce a good
architectural contrast : though the eftect would have been belter still
could the width of the two lower window^ have been limited to that
of their middle openings, because at present they extend too closely
to the angles, where the adjoining anta> at the "breaks indicate aii
imier wall, although, in regard to the rooms within, the w indows are
tmexeeptionably placed, as is apparent from tlie ground plan. The
upper part of this centre compartment is well imagined — solid and
unbroken, yet without either blankness or heaviness. The chief ob-
jection to be made to it is, that the cornice of the upi)er order is too
poor and scanty — in fact, is only a repetition of that to the basement
floor, whereas greater richness was here demanded, if only to bring it
into keeping with the architrave beneath it, more especially as the
depth of this latter is considerably increased by the mouldings of
the antce being continued immediately beneath it. M'e are bound to
observe, however, that I he projection of the upper facia and cynia-
tiuin of this architrave have been greatly exaggerated by our wood
engraver. The two pavilions or extreme compartments are pleasingly
treated, and these features bear some general resemblance to the
similar ones of the new Corn Exchange, Mark-lane, but liy no means
to such degree as to incur the charge of plagiarism. The tripods at
their angles, through «liicli the chimncy-llucs are brought, produce
an excellent cITce;.

In the plan of the ground fioor, a c, are the separate entrance ves-
tibule and staircase leading to the Athcna;uni Hall above: A, the
vestibule, to the library c, ;u!d news-room e. Tlie former of these,
which measures 36 feet by Ki, or 21 at the widest end, opens into a
smaller room d. appropriated as a reading room. The ne\vs-i-oom e is
30 feet by 19.

The upper floor is, with the exception of the room 6, which serves
both as a eommitlcc-room and a cloak-room for ladies, entirely occu-
pied by the Atheua:uni Hall, which extends over (he gateMay,
^vhereby its total length becomes G9 feet by a widlhof 30 feet G inches
and 23 feet in height.

While (he general symmetry is well )^eserved, (he apartment
acquires not only much pleasing architectural varietv in its i>lan,
but apparent, as well ;is real, extension, by the addition of the
division over the gateway-. At the same time we arc of opinion that
it would have been an improvement had there been four columns at
that end instead of (wo, so as to form four lesser intercolumns (of
the width of those between the columns and ant:e on each side)
and a wider one in the centre. Such u screen of pillars would have
made the tno divisions more distinct to the eye, yet would by no means
have separated. Ibcm loo much, or occasioned a ciowikd appeeuvince,

or obstructed the view of the tireplace at that end; for the centre
intercolumn would have been 7 feet G inches wide, and the others
nearly 5 : whereas the distance from column to column is now
19 feet, which must be equal to the height of the columns them-
selves, if not more. Another thing that would have been an im-
provement would have been to remove tlie doors at that end of the
hall further from the fireplace, putting them into the extreme inter-
pilasters, so that one would have oqieiied immediately into the card-
room, the other (as at present) into the supjier-room.

Judging from the plan, the back front of (he Atliena:'uni, appears to
be of architectural design, although it only faces (he iiui-yard of the
Ho(el : at least tlie pilasters between the windows seem to indicate
that sneh is the case; and, if it really be so, we thuik the co>t so
bestowed might have been better applied; more especially as that
side of the building appears to be quite shut out from view by oilier
buildings abutting on that angle of (he A(hcna-um, where (he s(air-
casc is placed, and in consequence of which (he architect has been
compelled to adopt a very ij'regular and inconvenient form for the
.staircase ; whereas only four or five feet more at that angle would have
greatly improved that approach to (he Athenanmi Hall, Above the
hall is' another room of the same dimensions, although considerably
lower, which is lighted from above, .and intended to be fitted up as b.
museum.

REVIEWS-

Obsenations on Limes, Culcareoun Cements, Morlars, Stiiccos, and
Comrele. ; and un Puzzolcmas, Natural and Artificial; tor/ether
with liiiles deduced from mtmerous experiments for making an
Artificial Water Cement, &,-c. By C. W. Paslev, C.B., Colonel in
the Corps of Roval Engineers, F.R.S., &c. London ; John Weale,
1S38.

We are indebted (o Col. Pasley for this practical work, and for an
admirable example of how theory may be applied as the assistant of
practice. Cement has long since attracted a greater attention than
stone itscir, and many have longed for that power which enabled the
Romans to make such durable works from materials so fragile. Col.
Psisley has devoted himself to his task w ith an energv and application
which have seemed equal lionour to himself and value to his admirable
work. Few men immersed in professional labour have the time to
follow up such subjects in a proper manner, for it is onlv from a
connected series of experiments that success can be obtained. '

The work now before us is the result ot ni.iny ycais' labour and study,
and enters elaborately into the examination of materials employed in
Imildiug, and the cements used to unite them. He gives at great length
his experiments on theirstrength and durability, and also on the quality of
substances for fornn'iig limes and cemcut*. He thus tlirows great light
on the principles of coirstriiction, and enables us to ;usccrtain the pro-
perties of tlie materials, tliecomponems of the mortars and cements, and
the proportions in which they should be amalgamated. This is an
important service rendered to the Architect and the Engineer, and gives
the work a character of interest which we doubt not will be appreciated
by our readers.

Wc make our first selection from the dissertation on limes, which
conveys some judicious remarks on mortars : —

We found by repciitcd e.^periments at Cliatliam, that one cubic foot of
Hailing lime weiglied neaily tlie Siinie when fresh from (lie kiln, and by (he
gradual addition of waler tiiat it dilated to the same increased bulk, in (he
suite of quick-lime powder, but when worked up into inoilar not too short for
use, (hat it would not bear quite so large a proportion of sand as the common
chalk lime bad done. 'Ibis experiment leading to a result in opposition (o a
common opinion amongst the builders of the metropolis, which is that (be
Doiking- and Hailing limes, as being slronger limes, will, when m.rde into
mortar, bear move amid tlian common ibalk lime, 1 was induced (o examine
(he piinciple upon whicli (hey found this opinion, which on consideration
appears to me to be erroneous ; because these two limes and all (he other
hydraulic limes are undoubledty in an intermediate s(a(e be(ween pure lime
which is lie weakest, and the water cements which are the strongest, of all
calcareous cements : and every one will acknowledge that (he propordon of
sand, which wMl make good mortar with chalk lime, would entirely ruin
cement, which if scarcely capable of bearing one (bird of that quantity.
Hence it follows that (he hydraulic liines ought not (o admit of so much sand
as chalk, but (ha( (bey will bear more (ban cemen(, without being injured.

Accordingly I conceive (hat three cubic feet of sand to one of Dorking or
Halting lime, will be a good proportion for making mortar with those liines,
which approach very nearly to pure lime. The water required will be nearly
one cubic foot, and (he quaudty of mortar produced will be about two cubic
feet and nine-tcnibs, beinj rather less than (he original sptsce occupied by the
sand aloue.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

3S

But the blue Lias lime will not make g^sod mortar if mixed witli more than
two cubic feet of sand to one of lime. This opinion first formed by me from
analogy, and in consideration of the blue lias approaching- very nearly to a
water cement, proved on due enquiry to be borne out by, and exactly con-
formable to, the practice of the masons of Lyme Regis. But Captain Savage
of the Royal Engineers, who was employed professionally some years ago in
improving the Cobb or Pier of that little seaport, which was "done by tide
work, and in which no other kind of lime was used, assured me that he found
that a smaller proportion of sand than 2 to 1 made still better mortar. We
have sinceascertained by repeated experiments at Chatham, that 1 cubic foot of
blue lias lime from the kiln weighing 47lbs , mi.xed with 2 cubic feet of sand,
and about 3 quarters of a cubic foot of water, made mortar fit for use, but
which could not have borne more sand without becoming too short. The
average quantity produced was two cubic feet and one fifth, which contrary
to the result obtained with the purer limes, occupied more space than the sand
alone originally did. We found also that blue lias lime from the kiln, like
all the other limes that we e.xperimemed upon, tilled only about two thirds
of its original measure, when reduced by pounding to the state of quick lime
powder ; but one cubic foot of blue lias lime when slaked, only dilated into
one cub c foot and a third of slaked lime powder, not including about one
eighteenth part of a cubic foot of core, which we threw away. Hence it ex-
pands less by slaking than either chalk lime or Hailing lime."

The Colonel very justly attributes the modern introduction of
concrete for foundations to Sir Robert Smiikc, who first used it at the
Penitentiary, Milbank, London. The Colonel remarks that : —

Neither gravel without sand, nor sand without gravel can form good con-
crete. The large pebbles composing the former, if mixed with quicklime
powder and water would only be cemented together by lime paste, or as it is
technically termed //«;<> /y»//y, filling up the large interstices between tliem,
which is known to be the weakest form of lime. On the other hand, fine
sand alone would produce nothing better than a mass of common mortar,
which has very little sti-ength in itself, but is excellent for cementing larger
materials. The proportions of the gravel and sand used are of little imp°ortance,
provided that the former be rather large, and the sand sufficient to fiil up the
interstices in it, for which purpose a mi.xture of coarse and of fine sand is
better than one sort only. But no such mixtures are necessary, in using the
sandy gravel of many parts of the Thames, where it is found in the state most
suitable for making good concrete, and is employed both for this purpose,
and as ballast for shipping.

It being known that clean gravel and sand when put dry into any measure,
will almost immediately settle to a lower level on the addition of a certain
quaritity of water, and it being a matter easily proved that no ramming can
possibly compress them afterwards, it appears to me, that the proportion of
Irme used in concr-ete should be just sufficient to combine with the gravel and
sand in this compact state ; that is after the violent action of slaking shall
have subsided, which causes a temporary expansion, that is counteracted
whilst in operation, but the usual process of treading down or ramming
concrete.

Examples are given of several buildings in which concrete has been
applied in the formation of tlie external walls, and the Colonel shows
by their fallrne the impolicy of this mode of construction, however
strongly he recommends its ad"option for foundations.

The composition, commonly called Roman cement, has witliin the
last few years been employed pretty extensively in the metropolis for
building purposes, and has certainly greatly contributed to the extension
of external decoration. A pi-cjudice, however, still exists asrainst its
application for ornaaient in our churches and public building's, which
may have arisen from an improper use of it, and from the frauds of
some of the manufactures, but the general result has been to convince
us strongly of its applicability for these purposes. In our O])iiiion, if of
good quality and properly worked in the mixture with sand, it is of
equal dii lability with Bath stone, and capable of employment for the
same objects. An unfortunate prepossession against its application to
ecclesiastical structures seems to prevail, even as if a mandate of inter-
diction were issued against if, although it would most certainly
materially assist the architect in giving some character and decoration
to these edifices. Neither would its expense be such as to call for a
great increase of the penurious allowances of the church commissioner^
who show as niggardly a spirit in these respects as if tliey wished to
imitate the union workhouses. It would be well if the architects
generally could prevail upon the proper authorities to allow its intro-
duction, which we are sure could not fail to atford gratification to the
public. It is only necessary to guard against the application of inferior
preparations, and this could be fully secured by providing in the specifi-
cation that the cement should be procured from competent manu-
facturers, which the architect may appoint.

We found by experiment at Chatham, that two thirds of a cubic foot of
calcined Sheppy cement powder, which is equivalent to one cubic foot of
cement from the kiln, would not bear much more than one cubic foot and one
third part of a foot of sand, without evidently becoming too short for building
purposes. This is equivftlent to a mixture of twQ lueasutes of siina to on«

of cement powder. But experience has shown that even this proportion of
sand is too great in practice, for the builders of the metropolis, who have used
immense quantities of the Sheppy and Harwich cements for many years, a?ree
that more than 5 parts of sand to 4 of cement powder, or \\ measure of the
former to one measure of the latter, injures the cement, by retarding its setting-
and rendering- it loo friable, whether used as mortar for walls, or as stucco
for the fronts of houses; but they consider that equal parts of sand and of
cement powder, involving a smaller proportion of the former ingi-edie.it, are
still better.

But not to lose sight of the just comparison between cement and lime, these
proportions, when stated in the same manner as we did in treaiinj; of lime,
imply that whilst one measure of cement from the kiln will not bear more
tlian two thirds or at the utmost five si.xths of a measure of sand without in-
jury, one measure of the various sorts of lime from the kiln, according- to its
quality, will bear two or three measures of sand or even more.

There are two properties of cement, which ought to be thoroughly
understood.

First. It only sets rapidly when made up into small balls or in very thin
joints. In largo masses or in thick joints, the rapid induration lakes pl.ice
near the surface only, from whence it extends towards the centre so very
slowly, that the cement there may remain in an inrperfect .state for a very hirig-
lime. This property it has in common w-ith lime mortars and concrete, which
when in mass .set more slowly at the centre than at the surface, in the like
proportion (33).

Secondly. As was before remarked in article 42, cement is alwa' 3
weakened by sand, no matter how small the proportion of that ingredient may
be, so that if both materials were equally cheap, it would be be»t to dispense
with sand altogether in using cement as mortar for building walls, but not in
using itas stucco for plastering the fronts of houses.

Numerous experiments have convinced me of the truth of these maxims,
which any of my readers may easily verify. In respect to the hatter in par-
ticular, take a small quantity of the best cement powder, mix it with three or
four times its bulk of fine sand and make it up into a ball with water, and
you will find that instead of setting, it «ill either remain quite friable or
crumble to pieces, both under water and in air.

Upon the whole cement sets most quickly, and unites itself most powerfully
to bricks or stones, when it is perfectly pure or unmixed with sand, provided
only, that the joints be thin, I should say not exceeding half an inch in thick-
ness. For this reason, in forminj^ cement into chimney pots, copings, &c.,
where the general thickness mwch exceeds the above dimension, and con-
sequently where pure cement alone would not make sound work, insiead of
frittering aw;iy its strength with sand, I would recommend fragments of broken
tiles or gravel, to he mixed with it, the interstices of which are such as to
allow the pure cement which fills them, sufficient body to attain a due degree
of strength, without being quite so large as to retard its setting, and thereby
cause weakness in the central parts of those spaces.

Among other interesting illustrations of the powers of cement, tiie
Colonel has fully proved its great strength when applied as a joint for
stone-work. One of these experiments was made upon two blocks of
Bramley-fall stone, each 39 inches long, 29 inches broad, and 26 inches
deep, weighing about •26(32 lbs. The beds or contact surfaces of the
stones at the joints were roughed over by picking down the surface;
they were then united with some of Messrs. Francis & Son's best Roman
(English) cement, composed of a mixture of Sheppey and Harwich
cement stone. Six weeks after, the experiment was continued by sus-
pending the upper stone, and loading the under one with weights, to the
enormous extent of 36,544 lbs. without breaking the joint. This was
then split by means of a mallet and chisel, when, to the Colonel's asto-
nishment, it was found that witli the exception of the outer part of
the cement, which had been exposed to the air, and was extremely
hard, the whole interior of the cement joint was sof'tisli, and
neither resisted the action of the thumb-nail nor of a sixpenny piece on
edge, which scored the surface to the depth of nearly a sixteenth of an
inch. From this and other experiments, the Colonel deduces the im-
portance of the "application of cement in masonri/, even in the union of
the largest stones.'' ^

The author gives some experiments on the strength of stone, which
we think will be found serviceable to the architect and engineer in the
choice of this material : —

As the value and importance of artificial stone used for the walls of build-
ings, or for those of wharfs or docks, must depend upon its strength in opposi-
tion to a breaking- weight, it now appeared desir,able to ascertain its resistance
in competition with that of the common building stones of this country, as
well as with that of bricks and of pure chalk from the quarry, for which pur-
pose I caused a number of similar small prisms, eai-h four inches long and
two inches square, to be cut out of all those substaucos, which beirrg sub-
jected to the proper breaking .apparatus, yielded the results contained in
another Table, No. Vlll., and, in order to render this more complete, the
cohe^iveness of the same stones has been repeated from Table HI., whilst
that of well-burned bricks and of inferior bricks has been estimated, from
the average of the strongest ftud some of the weakest results, vccorded in
Tables I, and II.

34

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

Tabic )'IJ2. — Cumpiiratirc Iteaisftiiirt^ of various Natural >V/o«f\s', Jir'irhs, and
Chalky reduced to Si/Uitre Prisms of the same dimensions as the small Artifi-
cial Stones hefoje E.rperimented upon, with their comparative Cohesirenegs
also.

Description uf Stoues, &f.

Weight Weight i
of I per

Prism, cubic in se\'eral .«uccessivt'

jin Troy, fuot,
iGrains. in lbs. \

Experiments.

Kentish Rug ;1073fl J10.5-G9 !

Yorkshire Landing | 9."i71 1 17-67 ■

, Cornish (irftnite U I(U il7-2'2l

Portland ' i\:,us ] is 08 !

Craig Leith , r»:i8:t 1 II ;7

Dfttli 791.) (I2*J .58

I j

AVell burned Bricks | 59U i J>1-71 I

Inferior Briek-s . .
I'nre Chnlk (dry)

ai57 I 94-90 I

4-2Sfl

3817

■ioio

2.5011

;tl70

2801

2195

2S92

1940

1780

70(S

091

rrni

79ci '

-Jo.w

022

(-22

-oc

204

202

4U

205 1

•')099

318a

2M5

2»d8

1961
.■590
717-)
640 V
823 J
522
314

Average

.\verage

resist-

colies-

ance, in

i\eness.

lbs.

in lbs.

4581

3773 1

2887

.■!0J2

2808

:i811

2082

4004

1890

2439

600

1408

7J2

3007

329

UOS

334

473

In our npxt .Tounial we intend to continue our remarks upon tliis
excellent work, and to give some farther extracts ; and in the meanwiiile
ue cannot too strongly recommend to tlie profession the utility of
examining tliis work for themselves. We do not pretend to ofi'er a
suhstitnte for the works which come under our notice, but rather to
enable our reader's to form such opinions as may guide them in their
use and selection. It is as nnrch as we can do in some cases of such
extensive scientilic works, to aftbi'd even a specimen ; but in case of
works like Colonel Paslej's, it would be irrdeed the old Greek story of
ort'ering a brick as tire pattern of a house, to attempt to condense such
important niaterinlsl

Westminster Improvements : A Brief Account of Westminster, with
Observatinns ou Plans of Improvement. Bv One of the Architects.
London, 183f».

This small volume is designed to call attentloir to the plairs of the
author, as adopted by the Westminster Improvemeirt Company, and is
therefore necessarily subservient to that object. It contains, however,
•iome interesting matter as to the site of Westminster, its levels, and its
drainage, and some agreeably-written antiquarian matter.

The basis of Mi-. Bardwell's plan is, that it shall be conducted on a
large scale, so as to insure the thoi-ough drainage of the district, which
certainly cannot be effected by the piecemeal operations which ai-e now
adopted. Airy change either in the population or the salubrity of the
district in question, cannot liiil to do some good, and the proposition is
extremely opportune in the preseirt state of the Houses of Parliament.
We think, that in this consideration care should be taken not to mar
the splendid mass of gothic which we shall soon possess, and this induces
us to demur a little to Mr. Bardwell's admiration of the Italian stvles.
This comes strangely indeed from one who, in the early part of his
book, evinces such a love for Edward the Confessor, and siich a yearninc
for the preservation of St. Margaret's.

Considering the object of the work, we are not entitled to expect
perfection, and we are therefore not very much astonished at an infusion
of egotism, which prevails towards the conclusion of the book. We
dissent, however, from Mr. Baidwcll in some few of his opinions, and to
some of these we beg to call his attention. We cannot see how the
insalubrity of London can increase the fogs, for indeed if they arose
from land miasma, they ought rather to have diminished from the drain-
ing and clearing of the metropolitan districts. He obliges us with a
lengthened enumeration of the many causes of London uiihealthiness,
hut he totally omits to state that London is one of the healthiest cities
in the world, and that the average of human life has rapidly increased in
value. We rather doubt also that our Saxon ancestors were the
founders of the civilization of modern Europe, however much we migirt
wish it, arrd we should recommend our readers to peruse this statement
" cum grano salis." Mr. Bardwell may remember in what state Alfred
found England after the time of Bede, and how France sank subse-
quently to the labours of Charlemagne and Alcuin. We dissent also
from him as to St. Margaret's being a vestige of Edward the Confessor,
and we cannot see any claim of antiquity which can be urged against its
removal. The epithets applied to Westminster strike us also as rather
incongruous, for we cannot see wliat resemblance it Iras to the Isle de
la Cite, the Palatine Hill, or the Acropolis, nor what it has to do with
the arou, jBaiiXiy.r,. '* Lucus i non hicendo."

Public Buildings erected in the West of Enghmd ; as designed by
John Foiii.ston, F.R.S., B.A. Quarto, 117 Plates. .T.Williams.
London, 18:58.

This is almost the only work of the kind which has appeared in this
country lor several years, for, with the exception of Laing's, containing
the Custom House, and some other buildings erected by him, we are
irot aware that any architect has published his own executed designs,
although it used formerly to he by no means an uncommon practice
among professional men. Gibhs, Adam, Paine, 8iC., for inst.ance, pub-
lished the plans and other drawings of all their principal edifices, and
that at a time when architecture w.is compar'atively little studied. It
is all the more singular, therefore, that such custom should h.ave been
laid aside precisely at the time when architecture itself has become
more prolific than it was during the last century, and when structures
of very varied design are risiirg up yearly, if not daily, not in the me-
tropolis alone, but in almost every provincial town of any note, and, in
fact, .alnrost all over the country. Whether it be th.at, notwithstanding
the very increased scope and demand for architectur.al embellishment,
there exists less demand than formerly for studies in design, both on
the part of the profession and of private individuals, we undertake not
to decide ; but it certainly does look like a very anomalous fact, that
such should be the case, let the cause be what it may. We could, in-
deed, make two or three giresses .it the latter, one of which is, that
those who have done most and best are not particularly anxious to
bring out their designs as studies for the benefit of others ; while those
who have been less favoured by opportunity have not done enough to
enable them to come before the public with a collection of the kind.
Another reason, perhaps, is that, although greatly more has been done
within the last twenty or thirty years than in the course of the whole
of the preceding century, out of that nunrber of buildings there are
comparatively few that rise above a certain average standard of merit ;
consequently few that the public would care to have geometrical draw-
ings of. Or, it may be that we are now so accustomed to behold
decorated fronts, porticos, and other architectural embellishments, as to
regard them as mere matters of coitrse, and deserving no more than
cursory inspection. Or else — but we will put an end to fiirthei con-
jecture ; for even could we hit upon the real cause, it would be idle to
expect that any tiring we could say would tend to remove it. What
may be taken for granted is, that there is no demand — we mean no
adequate demand — for works of this description, else, doubtless, as is
the case with all other produce, whether manual or mental, it vvoitid be
followed by supply.

At all events, we bid welcome to the solitary " stranger" now before
us, and not the less heartily because he comes from the provinces —
from Devonshire and Cornwall, where, at Plymouth, Devonport, and
other places, Mr. Foulston has erected not a few public and private
buildings. Nor can we do better than give, before we proce2d further,
a list of those which form the subjects contained in the volume : —

Pti/ntouth — The Hotel, Assembly Rooms, and Theatre, 47 plates ;
the Athenjeum, 6 do.; Public Library, 5 do.; St. Andrew's Chapel,
8 do.; Do. Church, 8 do.; Exchange, 4 do. Devonport — Town Hall,

4 plates ; Commemorative Column, 5 do.; Civil and Military Library,

5 do.; Mount Zion Chapel, 4 do. Stonehouse — St. Paul's Chapel, I
plate. Torijuay — ^Interior of Ball-room, I plate. Tavistock — Library,
Ball-room, iSrc, ."! plates. Cornwall — County Lunatic Asylum, 8
plates. Bristol — Gaol, 5 plates.

Conceiving that every work ought in some measure to be judged by
what it aims at, and by what is the author's professed aim, we shall
here let Mi\ Foulston explain himself in order that more may not be
exacted of hiirr than he jiromises : —

The author, in publisliing^ this work, illustrating the buildings erected
from his designs, makes no claim to origiirality, except as regards construction
and adaptation. * *

In exUibiling his designs, the author is aware they must be considered
merely as models calculated for the atmosphere of a town remote from the
metropolis, and, tliougli spirited, proverbially poor. * *

Many volumes of general plans and elevations have been published from
time to time, giving soma notion of anaugcment and proportion, but affording
none of that practical inforntation which chiefly, of a professional student,
constitutes the value of an architectural book. Wliile, therefore, it has been
the author's aim to obtain the attention of the amateur by his general eleva-
tions and perspective views, he lias been still more desirous of attracting the
notice of the young architect by his " details at large," as they are architec-
turally termed ; and by thoroughly developing the internal mechanism of his
more important buildings.

With these extracts from the plain and sensibly-written " Address "
prefixed to the work, an .address so different from the pompous, lum-
bering prefaces which a certain other party puts to his publications, we
dismiss the work for the present, reserving our further remarks on it
for our next number.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

35

Jlints to Mechanics on Self-education and Mutual Instruction. By
Timothy Claxton'. London: Taylor and Walton. 1839.

Just in the same manner as in physical subjects wevalue the experience
of practical men, so in moral and social questions we derive pleasure
from seeing them treated by those who are '" to the manner born." This
is the gratification which must be communicated to every reader of the
amusing book before us, wliich has all the ease and simplicity of De Foe,
and the exemplary utility of Franklin. To tlie meelianic it oft'ers at
once an example and a pleasant companion in the pursuit of knowledge,
and to the general reader it aftbrds a deep insight into those labouring
classes which are the sinews of the nation. This bearing of the work we
must, however, leave to our literary brethren, and content ourselves with
such practical extracts as may be of interest to our utilitarian readers.

The author, in his plain and easy style, while giving an account of his
labours in Russia, thus mentions the columns of the church of St. Isaac,
the greatest cathedral work of the present century- : —

Some of their columns minle of granite are very large aud liiglily polished.
I took the pains to measure one of the columns intended for a new churili,
and found it fifty- six feet long, and near seven feet diameter at the base.
They were brought from Finland, and two of tliem were a load for a ship,
one on each side of the masts, to balance each other. 'J'hey were rolled
from the deck to the vicinity of the intended building- on timbers nine inches
square, (placed but little distance apart,) which were completely crushed to
splinters. The rolling was performed by two ropes ; one end of each being
made fast, some distance ahead, to stakes driven into the ground. They
were passed under the column, up the back side, and over the top. The
other end of each rope was wound round a separate capstan. Each capstan
had four long levers, with from ten to twenty men at each lever. These
columns were placed in a temporary building for polishing.

I also visited the foundry where the bases and capitals were made. They
were of brass, of the Corinthian order, and highly pohshed and gilt. The
square plinth for the bottom nu^asured about nine feet on each side, and one
foot thick. Several women and children were polishing these with pumice-
stone. The torvs, a round bead belonging to the base, was turning in the
lathe, and the workman had a very strong tool for this purpose. A steam-
engine, with a man to attend it, was employed entirely on the work. The
capitals, with their leaves and volutes, had a very splendid appearance.

The following is but one feature of the great scale on which they do
things in Russia. The whole empire.indeed, is a great poor-law union,
which beats our Somerset House commissioners by a long way: the
whole is carried on with such system, that it almost realizes the satirist's
suggestion of boarded, lodged, clothed, and flogged by steam : —

The bxiilding in which I was engaged in putting up the gas-works, was for
transacting the business of the Russian army. In this building were several
departments, with a ** general" at the head of each, some ^)f whom employed
above two hundred clerks. In this building I saw lithographic printing for
the first time ; copper-plate and letter-press printing were carried on here,
and a very extensive establishment fur the manufacture of mathematical
instruments, all belonging to the government ; also a drawing-school, con-
sisting of about two hundred young officers.

The next extract exhibits anotlier of their arrangements for removing
great weights : —

In another building I noticed a model of the machine on which a large
hlock of granite, weighing ujnvards of nine hundred tons, was removed seve-
ral miles. Peter the Great is said to have stood on this rock, giving com-
mands to his army, wlien he subdued the Fins. The Empress Catherine
ordered it to be removed to the city for a fomidation on which to place a
bronze statue of that monarch on horseback. Many inett'cctual attemiits
were made for its remo\ al ; but it was easily performed afterwards by intro-
ducing cannon-balls for rollers between bars of iron.

The three wood-cuts exhibit some ingenuity, and although there is
little that is new about them, we thought that tliey might be of interest
to some of our readers : — •

Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Fig. 3,

Figure 1 represents a contrivance for shutting doors. The power is ap-
plied in the same manner as in our modern printing presses. There is a pill
at each end of the apparatus : one pin is fitted to and tunis in a socket at-
tached to the frame, and the other is fitU'd to a similar one on the door. In
opening the door the pins are brought nearer together, and the weight in the
centre is raised. The door is shut by this weight straightening the bars, and
spreading the pius AirtUer apart, Sumc of these articles are made uf iron,

and are black; others are of brass, and kept bright; both kinds are exten-
sively used. Figure 2 is a cistern for water, with a valve in the bottom,
which is much used fur Hashing the face and hands. liy r.iisiiig the valve
the water is let down in small quantities, and, as it is used, passes off by
means of a sink placed underueath. The advantages of this method are that
persons do not w ash in the same water with others, ncu- use it more than
once themselves, which is not only more conducive to health, but makes less
water necessary than washing in a common basin. These cisterns are made
of various forms and sizes. Some of them have a dozen or more pipes, each
furnished with a valve, so that many persons may wash at the same time ;
the large ones are made in a circular form, and placed in the middle of a
room, but the small ones are hung against the wall. In figure 3 is repre-
sented a spring bow or arch. This is used with the horse-collar, for tho
horse that is placed in tho shafts, as other horses do not have them. It was
a long time before I could ^-ee any other use for this contrivance than to ■
cause the horse to hold up his head, and to keep him from stumbling, by th»
bridle being hooked to the top of this arch. I was informed afterwards by
an intelligent man, that the spring being connected with the collar prevented
the shoukier of the aiiim.il from chathig, by continually easing the collar ofT,
and suflering the air to p:iss between that and the shoulder of the horse.

This work will doubtless prove of considerable interest to our
American readers ; but the strict boundaries which limit the sphere of
our labours, prevent ns from entering into tlie work generally. It may,
however, be read with gratification, for.as a piece of autobiogiaphy, it is
as amusing as it is valuable, and fully reflects the ch.aracterofits author,
who is known and esteemed for his endeavours for the improvement of
his working brethren.

Journal of the American Institute for Promoting Agriculture, Com'
merce. Manufactures, and the Arts. Vol.3. "New York. Wake-
man, 1838.
This is a publication belonging to the New York Society of Arts and
Manufactures, and is an excellent compilation of valuable materials
from European and native sources. We find that our own work,
among others, lias been laid under contribution.

It contains, among other interesting subjects, the account of the
last mechanics' fair at New York. Mechanics' fair is the term for
an exhibition like that of the Conservatoire des Arts ct Metiers at;
Paris, or rather like those of some of the continental provincial
towns, and it is an omniuin-gatherum of new inventions, old manu-
factures, confectionary, pictures, baby -linen, penmanship, perfumery,
liobby-liorses, and the fine arts. At' the last fair there were above
1,500 contributors, and 160,000 persons paid down their admission
shillings to the tune of about £2,000. The greater part of tins
money is re-issued in the shape of medals and premiums, and the
institution, no doubt, stimulates enterprize equivalent to its
popularitv.

These fairs both at Boston and New^ York are strongly supported
from political motives, being mainly upheld by the home manufac-
turing party. It is astonishing to see the strength with which pro-
tective duties and anti-free trade notions are maintained in tlie
annual addresses ; and it is very tridy observed that partial free
trade, without universal concurrence, is something like Govenior
Penn's peaceable constitution, laid at the mercy of neighbouring
nations. Free trade is no favourite in the northern states, so that
if our political economists are in the right, tl;e progressing nation
must be behind-hand for once.

We feel very happy to see ourselves in the far-west, for it is an
additional proof to our readers, that we have been successful in endea-
vourino- to fulfil our duties to them, while it imposes on ourselves the
task of seeing that our labours may be such as to merit the extended
circulatiouwhichourwork has obtained both in the old world and the
new.

Map and Sections of the Railways of Great Britain, icith Tables of

the Gradients. By George Braushaw. jSIanchester : Brad-

shaw, 1839.

This is a verv careful compilation, on a large scale, from tlie best
authorities, executed in a good style, and surpassing any publica-
tions of the same kind yet attempted. The railways for which acts of
Parliament have been obtained are accurately delineated, and the
accessories are executed with equal attention. The canals and roads
are given in such a manner as to render it equally valuable for a
general map as for its special object. By the side of the map arc
sections of all the railways, enabling the'spectator to form an esti-
mate of the gradients at a glance. The canals in the map have their
levels miirked upon them^ and it would have been a considerable
benefit if the same plan had been pursued as to the railways.

On the whole, it is a work which does credit to its compiler, and
^cems to be attended with few faults either of omission or comniia-

30

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

sion. By some en-nr of the oolourist, llic Oxford and Diidcot branch
is represented as if it had obtained parlianicnlaiy sanction, and we
observe that this and sonic other minor proposed Hnes, as the Har-
wich are inserted, while others in agitation, as the St. fieorgc's
Harbour, Morecambe Bay, i;c., are omitted. ^\ e suppose that llie
London Grand .Junction is left out on account of llic expiration of the
act. We are t,'lad to perceive that an announcement in the prospectus
i;s to all the levels being reduced to that of low water at Liverpool is
incorrect, all hough it would be advantagco\is if the datum were
taken from the Trinity standard, as that of tlie longitude is from
(ireenwich.

In conclusion, we may award the meed of approlmlion to this
work, as being one of great practical utility, and conferring higli
honour on its compiler. It is most appropriately deflieated, by per-
mi^sion, to .lames Walker, the President of the Institution of Civil
Engineers ; and thus, while it acquires a higher v.due with the
public, pays an honourable tribute to the exertions of that gen-
tleman.

LITERARY NOTICES.

Thi Monthly Chronicle, with an article on the Great Western Railway ques-
tion, has ht'iw sent to us, but we have not thouglit it necessary to extract iVom
it, as tlie matter seems only a ililatation of Mr. Wood's report, puhlislied by
us in our present number. As to the arsoment pursued by the well-linomi
autlior, relative to atmospheric resistance, he shows too uuich doubt hiuiself of
its feasibility by the intercalation of the phrase "in the present state of science,"
to render it necessary for us to refute it. Perhaps the author may do so
himself; at any rate the present experiments are evidently incomplete, and it
does not follow that a ratio of resistance existing at a certain period should
continue nuiform throughout. This resistance, as well as others, may be
subji^ct to the cyclar law of variation, and lilie the velocitv of boats on canals
become more favourable at a higlterspeed.

That vnliiable and cheap compilation, U'l/ld's Muiithh/ Imkx (u the Times
Nin'siviper, has with the new year increased the sphere of its labours, and is
enlar.;ed to an Inilrx to tlie Metropolitan Morninff Papers, Times, Chronicle,
Nertilil, Post, nnd Advertiser. It gives fur the same price as before, 10,000
distinct references to 3,000 heads, and presents such a mass of figures, that
•were it not for the clearness of the arrangement, it would be sufficient to
repulse the reader. The address contains some most interesting remarks,
and the work itself is of that utility that no man of business should be with-
out it.

Our attention has been called to a pamphlet entitled, Hints on the uduplion
of the Broad Gauije on the Great Western Railway, by Traffic ; but as it is only
a puff of a proposed line, repeating oft-refuted assertions, we do not think it
necessary " tn buniish the refined giild."

We have examined the last three parts of Dr. Ure's Vielionnrt/, and we feel
pleased to see that it still maintains its high character for utility. In the last
cuinb-r, which is the fifth, is an interesting table of chemical foimulie, and an
excellent account of the nuiinifaclure of gas, which we should be tempted to
exUact, were we not assured that most of our readers have provided them-
selves Willi the original work, so that it would be lil;e carrying coals to New-
castle. We see that the Doctor promises a new work on chemistry, which we
h;iv.^ linle do\ibt will be, like his other compilations, a valuable addition to the
(tock of science.

s> e shali refer to Danj on Foundations in our next Journal.

ORIGINAL PAPERS, COMMUNICATIONS, &c.

RALPH REDIVIVUS.— No. J3.

THE EXCISE OFFICE.

Most persons, I am inclined to suspect, employ certain current
epithets and plnascs, either without attaching any meaning at all to
them, or else a very false one. One of the cant terms thus bandied
ahout is ^iniplidly ; but when yon ask what is meant by simplicity, you
are stared at as being a most dunce-brained ignoramus, or an exceed-
ingly disagreeable and impertinent bore. The result of all your
inquiries and cross-questioning will be, that simplicity is simplicity,
notl.ing more nor less, and tliat you must be a prodigious simpleton
not to understand it. Perhaps, the better definition would be that it is a
quality which everybody admires, or pretends to admire, which most
jjeoiile fancy they can see where it does e.\ist, and which very few can
perceive when it is actually before their eyes.

That it exists, for the most part, only iu the imagination, or, perhaps,
Oidy upon the tongue, can hardly be denied, when we consider the sort
of things which are prai>ed for theirsimplicity, although more frequently
than not, they are mongrel compounds most cliunsiiy put together : for
irinauce, a didl school-boy copy of a portico, (that is, of a few columns
with an entablature and pediment — tied to a building where it is not only
Biipcrfluous as far as utility is concerned, but worse than superfluous, a

positive absurdity as regards consistency of style, or even mere artistical
etTect), shall be admired for its simplicity, although it ought ratherto be
reprobated as a vulgar aU'ectati(Ui and absurdity, manifesting notliing
so much as sheer obtnseness of taste, and utter sterility of ideas. On
the other hand, tliat it cannot he perceived or estimated when actually
placed before people's eyes can liardly be denied, when we consider
how ill we appreciate an edifice that, for its dignified simplicity and
nnati'ected nobleness of expression, has not its equal in the metropolis. I
mean the Ex( ise Offic e . Let any one, after looking at the tawdry insigni-
ficance of the columned tarades iu the Rcgent's-park, go and contemplate
the uiiprctending grandein- of the edifice in Broad-sticet,and hecannot
fail to be struck with the vast superiority of tiie latter, and with the
imposing presence it makes. If such rcallv be the case, it will be said,
how happens it that its merits have been overlooked, and that no one
ever refers to it as a piece of architecture ? Is not that extraordinary?
7'ovt an cotitraire ; that it should be neglected is quite in the ordinary
course of things. It is marked by no striking features, much less does
it recommend itself to the vulgar eye, by any of tiiose prettinesses
which arc almost sure to command vulgar applause. Its value lies in
character and expression, and in its totality of effect, qualities which, it
would seem, arc altogether caviare to the million. Besides which it is
not, like St. Bride's steeple, one of those things for which the good
citizens are tauglit from their infancy to entertain traditional admiration.
While it is too old to be stared at as a modern improvement it is not
old enough to be gaped at as being of longstanding and universal note.
Above all, it has never, like some productions greatly inferior to it, had
the good luck to have a current reputation given it, by any generally
recognized critical authority.

Nevertheless, all honour be to James Gandon, for in what he has
here achieved, he has shown the true feeling of a master. It is,
indeed, almost the only thing in all London that really looks like a
palace, or that is worthy to pass for one. That erected, in evil hour, by
Nash, admits of no comparison with this edifice, for greatness of manner,
and stateliuess of appearance. There, every part has a squeezed-up,
little, and finical look ; and, notwithstanding that there is a good deal of
embellishment, or what is intended as sucTi, the building has not the
slightestair of richness; neither does it offer anything that can properly
he termed variety ; but, contradictory as it may sound, is stamped by
insuff'erable monotony, although it exhibits nothing whatever of unity.

It is absolutely refreshing to turn from Nash's architectural
Micronwyus to this work of Gandon's, where the eye reposes with
prolonged satisfaction on the breadth and e/randiose physiognomy of
the ensemble; to which all the proportions very happily contribute.
Considerable as is the extent of front, it is not so great as in any degree
to counteract the expression of'umisnal loftiness, which may be said to
be the predominating one ; and what conduces not a little to it is that
there arc no horizontal members dividing the height, and cutting it up
into a succession of distinct compartments from the ground to the
summit. If we compare it in this respect with Inigo Jones's building
at Whitehall, we can hardly help feeling the great superiority of
Gandon's. There, we behold a diminutive basement, and two small
orders without any crowning member to give importance to the summit
of the edifice ; here, a basement of unusual loftiness comprising two
series of windows, and above it a principal and secondary floor
surmounted by the cornice that crowns the entire mass. Without
thereby losing any of the consequence it derives from height, the
first-mentioned portion of the structure acquires more importance in
the design from the variety thrown into it, owing to the modes of rusti-
cating employed, that below being of a more masculine character than
the other. Nor is variety the only merit arising from this combination,
because, to my eye at least, the upper part of the basement thus forms
an agrceJble transition from the more massive substructure to the more
finished superstrnctuie. This duplication of the basement is, besides,
excellently well-motived by the lofty arch, which is so effective a feature
in the whole composition. Substitute an ordinary sized doorway for
it — either in idea or upon paper, and it will instantly be evident how
greatly all the rest would suffer by such alteration alone. Another,
circumstance that mainly contributes to the air of external grandeur
and internal spaciousness which distinguishes this piece of architecture
consists in the proportions between the solids and apertures. Even in
some parts of Somerset-house, a certain petifesse prevails, owing to the
windows being too numerous for the surface they occupy ; besides
which the intermixture of windows with dressings and others without
them, upon the same floor produces a patchy and parsimonious appear-
ance. Here, on the contrary, the apertures are admirably propor>
tioned to the whole facade, are cfTective but not obtrusive features —
and although far t'rom petty in themselves — subservient to the larger
Sliaces; whereas in the building by Jones before alluded to, the
windows predominate too much, and cause the columns and pilasters
to appear diminutive in comparisou with them.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

37

Honour be to James Gandon, an architect to whom Dnhlin, I should
observe, is indebted for its finest structures, and tlie antliur of what is
undoubtedly by far the finest specimen of simple unailorncd grandeur
in our own metropolis.

CANDIDUS' NOTE-BOOK.

(Second Series.)

[The First Scries of these papers appeared in the " ArcliitecUiral
Mai-azinc," which work being now terminated, the writer lias con-
sented to continue them in this journal, under the same title, as
that will ideiilify him at once — perhaps reconnnend him bcttci-
than a fresh one, to those of his present readers who here mecl
witli an old acquaintance.]

FASCICULUS I.

I. Within about the same time that was employed on the single
church of St. Peter's at Rome, the norlhem metropolis, named after
the same saint, has arisen from its foundalioii to its present magni-
tude and grande\ir. Yes, not quite a century and half have elapsed since
the site of St. Petersburg was a dreary morass, and ere tlial century
and half will have been completed, will (he St. Isaac's cliurcli, one
of the most stupendous achievements of modern architecture, be
finished. The works are now proceeding with great rapidity, and it
is confidently anticipated that the whole will be complcled by the
year 1842 ; and w henever it is, it may perhaps challenge the Horld
to produce its equal for external grandeur and for sumptuousness of
material. The whole of the exterior will be of marble, granite, and
bronze, and the dome « ill be gilt whh ducat gold. The height of
this dome is 340 Russian feet, or very nearly 400 English ones, con-
sequently greatly exceeds that of St. Paul's, which dillerence, though
inconsiderable in proportion to their actual size, gives prodigious in-
crease of magnitude, just as every additional inch above six feet does
to the stature of a man. The number of columns, each consisting of a
sinn-le piece of highly-polished granite, is 104. of which tho^e rormiug
the porticos are nearly sixty feet higli. and the reinaiuing thirty-two,
around the tower or tambour of the cupola, of somewhat less dimen-
sions. Neither is it in the magnitude alone of some of these struc-
tures that the Russians surpass us, but also in the celerity witli which
they execute them. The 'Winter Palace at St. Petersburg was burnt
down about the same time as our Royal Exchange ; but while the
ruins of the latter arc but just cleared away, the former is by this
time rebuilt !— at least, in the middle of last; August the works had
advanced so far that it was expected the Emperor would be able to
hold his new-year's levee there, for no few'er than five thousand men
(a Treat number of them soldiers) were employed on the edifice.
Very possibly this energy may in some respects be censurable, inas-
much as liardly any time can have been allowed for duly maUiriug
the plans; but it certainly offers a very striking contrast to (he
drowsy motle in which we proceed here at home. The British Mu-
seum creeps on at a most tedious snail-like pace ; indeed, if it does
not soon begin to mend its pace, it is hardly likely to be finished
before they end of the present century.

II. To me it appears almost inexplicable, tliat among the swj'.rras
of tourists and travellers who rctiim every season from abroad with
the materials for a volume or couple of volumes in their note-books,
there should never be an architectural one. Most assuredly it cannot
be because an architect can now meet with nothing that has not been
described again and again, since to go no farther than Paris and
Versailles, they alone would furni.sh matter both of description and
criticism hitherto quite untouched. Even the hackneyed route to
Rome allbrds many ungleaned patches, there being scarcely an Ita-
lian building of the present century which has obtained any notice from
travellers. It is true, Italy has produced comparatively little in the
way of architecture of late years ; nevertheless, much has been accom-
plished that is exceedingly well worthy of note. There is, for in-
stance, Canova's Temple di Passagno, or Church at Passagno ; to say
nothing of several beautiful edifices at Milan and elsewhere, by
Cagnola, and others by Dordoni, Bianchi, Durelli, Di Secco,
Peverelli, &e. But if Italy holds out little that is new, there
are Muniidi, Berlin, St. Petersburg, and various other capitals, whicli
are as yet quite untrodden ground to English architects — places
W'here tliey might at any rate pick up some fresh ideas. Non-archi-
tectural writers and tourists, on the contrary, arc apt to make ex-
ceedingly bad work of it, whenever they attempt to describe buildings
or discuss their merits. It is, therefore, quite a god-send when we
meet with such clever descriptive sketches as (lie ■' Critical View of
the Architecture of New York," and the " Fragments of a Provincial
Tour," in the concluding number of the " Architectural Magazine."
The only fault in them is, that, although not short articles in them-

selves, they create a longing tor very much more from the same pens.
Mr. Humphries ought (o extend his' tour much further; and, as he is
quite ail fait with his pencil as well as with his pen, should give it to
the public in an illustrated octavo volume. His intelligent descrip-
tions and remarks would be most acceptable, particularly were the
former to be somewhat more expanded.

III. Among much other informatimi to be obtained fi-om Mr.
Humphries' " Provincial Tour," the following is not the least worth
notice : — " Beyond the church (at Manchester) I found the old col-
lege, an interesting building, unrestored and unadulterated by
modernization of any sort. It was founded by one Cheatam, a high-
minded merchant like Gre.-,ham, who has thus conferred a lasting
bene lit upon his native town. It contains a good library, which is
public in the (rue sense of the word ; that is, any person may go at
any time, and call for any book he re(iuires, imanuoyed liy any irk-
some rostriotiou wliatevcr." Prodigious ! What a simple, plain-
dealing creature must that same Clieatam have been to have given a
libr.iry to the public upon such easy terms, without so much as im-
posing am/ iHsome restriction whttever ! What grovelling, childish
notions of munificence and public spirit the man must have had! —
certainly widely dilTerent from those entertained by old Soane, who
would far more worthily than the other have become the name of
Client' em.

IV. The two great stumbling-blocks of art, or the Scylla and
Charybdis on which it is generally wrecked, are pedantical, spiritles.s
precision and exactness on the one hand, dull licentiousness and di.5-
reganl not only of all authorities, but of all conditions of art, on the
other. The great point is to know, how to emancipate ourselves from
the trammels of slavish imitation, without— I will not say running
into wild, chimerical extravagances, but without destroying those
qualities of (he s(yle aimed at, which confer upon it its chief charm
and value.

V. It does not often happen that the " Gentleman's ivlagazme
ventures upon anvthiiig like hone.st critical remark in regard to any
of the buildings it notices. The following strictures, therefore, in the
volume for 182(i, deserve to be here brought forward again, and to
many will l)e entirely new. '• Expensive andnumerous," says E. J. C,
'• as are the public buildings in progress, though the names of Soane
and Smirke may be quoted as the architects, and the thousands ex-
pended in their construction be adduced in their favour, are, I would
ask, anv one of them yraml? On the con.traiy, do not the new
buildings present one uiiiform air of meanness 1' The spacious wing
added to the British Museum, with its unbroken brick wall, seems to
have been built to compete in beauty with the King's Bench, or the
Fleet. The new Post-ollicc, like the new Mint, and the generality of
Mr. Sinirke's buildings, is as tame and spiritless as plain stone walls
with dwelling-house windows, and a few columns stuck about them
as apologies for porticos, can be. If the ephemeral praise of peri-
odicals w^as sufficient to exalt the character of a building, it is but a
few years since that all the uewsp-'ipers and periodicals, trom one end
of (he kingdom to the other, were filled with applauses on that huge
and senseless pile the Custom-house.'' As to the new Mint, that has
certainly not conduced at all to Sinirke's fame. Indeed, it lies m a
terrilory criticism never travels into ; which, however, may be a
rather fortunate circumstance for it than not, because the less it is
known and spoken of, the less likely is it to be condemned.

CONSTRUCTION OF LIGHTHOUSES ON SANDS.

We now lay before our readers one of the most important experi-
ments of the ju-esent dav, which iiromises to give to the engineer a
foundation as secure in" the sea as he has hitherto enjoyed on the
surface of the earth. The success of this attempt will give us
resources to battle with an antagonist, Viefore which all our mechani-
cal strength ha.s too often proved defective, while, to the maritime
interests of the country it will aftbrd new and further protection.
We can appreciate the difticulty w liich Smeaton encountered in plant-
ing the Edvslone on the firm rock; but we have now the means
otfered to us of security even upon the shifting sand.

At page 22 of our last volume, we were, through the kindness of
Air. Elmes, enabled to give a description of " Mitchell's Patent
Screw Moorings," but we did not then anticipate the application
which they have .since received. It having been brought under the
notice of the Corporation of the Trinity House that this insd-ument
might be advantageously applied in establishing lighthouses on
sands, their attention was immediately given to (he subject, and
accordingly directed an exjierimcnt to "be made to .-iscertain i(s prac-
ticability, under the supermtendance of their engineer, Mr. James
Walker.
The spot selected is on the \ergc of the ^laplin sand, lying at the

38

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

mouth of the Thames, ahout twenty miles below the Nore, forming
the northern side of the Swin, or King's Channel, which, on account
of its depth, is much frequented by large ships, as also by colliers
and other vessels from the North Sea, and where a floating light i.s
now maintained. This spot is a shifting sand, and is dry at low-
water spring-tides. The plan is to erect a tlxcd lighthouse of tim-
ber framing, with a lanteni, and residence for the attendants. For
this purpose, in August last, operations were connnenced to fiirm the
base of an octagon, 40 feet diameter, with Mitchell's mooring screws,
one of which was fixed at each angle, and another in the centre ;
each of these are 4 feet 6 inches diameter, attached to a shaft of
wrought iron about 25 feet long, and 5 inches diameter, and. conse-
quently, presenting an immense liorizontal resisting surface. For
the purpose, a stage for fixing the screws, a raft of timber, 30 feet
square, was floated over the spot, with a capstan in the centre, which
was made to fit on the top of the iron shaft, and firmly keyed to it;
a povi er of about .30 men was employed for driving the screws ; their
united labours were continued until the whole force of the ,30 men
could scarcely turn the capstan : the shafts were left standing about
5 feet above the surface of the sands. The fixing of llie nine screws,
including the setting out the foundation and adjusting the raft, which
liad to be replaced eveiy tide, did not occupy more than nine or
ten days.

This is the portion of tlie «ork liitherto eflected. and its continua-
tion will be proceeded in when the proper season comes in the ensu-
ing spring. Upon this foundation the superstructure of timber is to
be constructed, consisting of a principal post, strongly braced and
secured, with angle-posts made to converge until tliey form a diame-
ter of about 16 feet at the top, giving the superstructure the appear-
ance of the frustrum of an octangular pyramid, the feet of the angu-
lar posts and braces are well secured and keyed down to the tops of
the iron shafts, and the whole is connected at top and bottom with
strong horizontal ties of wood and iron. The entire height of the
superstructure will be 30 feet above the top of the iron shafts; up to
a point about 12 feet above high-water mark spring tides the work
Avill be open ; the part above will be enclosed as a residence for the
attendants ; in the centre and above this will be erected a room or
lantern of about 10 feet diameter, from which the lights are to be
exhibited.

The interval that has elapsed since the screws were fixed has fully
proved the security of them, which, although driven into sand, seem
as if fixed into clay, and in this state they have remained since the
summer. The whole process confers the greatest credit both on the
engineers and Mr. Mitchell, the patentee of the screws who super-
intended the work, (assisted by his son) and we feel happy to hear
that his ingenious invention daily obtains a greater extension.

The importance of this experiment certainly called for a trial, and
it was with due liberality that the Trinity Board sanctioned the ex-
pense. To them it involves the question of a better security of the
light, and a less expense in its maintenance, both objects justifying
the experiment, and counter-balancing the expense of prime cost in
such construction. The insecurity of floating lights has been too
manifestly productive of disastrous consequences not to call for a
remedy, and it will be for(unate if by this means it be obtained.
Within the last mouth the Nore light was blown from her mooring;
and the breaking away of the North-west Light of the Mersey is
supposed to have led to the lamentable shi)iwreeks at liivcrpool.

AVc can perceive only one objection which can be started, and that
is rather to be determined by experience than conjecture, that is how
far the edifice is liable to be washed away by slonns as one of the
lOdystone buildings was ; but this, in our opinion, will be mainly
l)rovided against by the unity of constniction and the breadth of base
well secured I o the shafts by the screws.

The progress of this work will naturally be watched with interest,
for it is one which in its influence is not limited to this individual
case. It is of much more importance than chain pieis, as it will
enable us to obtain a foundation in positions where (hey cannot at
present be used. It must be remembered that the screw can be em-
ployed where the pile is of no avail, and that it possesses a much
stronger hold, and has greatei' durability.

We shall thus, therefore, be able to construct piers and break-
waters in localities inaccessible, and be enabled to render important
senice to the interests or commerce. We think, too, that the screw
itself would be of great utility in securing the end chains of suspen-
sion-bridges, as its powers of resistance can bcextcndtd toanyneces-
sary degree by an increase in size. The greater employment of the
screws, which would arise from their successful application, will
have a further beneficial effect in enabling the jialcntce to supply
them at a diminished expense, which, under their present limited
sale, is necessarily high.

The carpenters' work of the superstructure is about to be contracted
for, which is intended to be erected and put together at the Wharf
at Blackw^all to save time of fitting, &c., at the spot.

In order for the better understanding of our description of the
mooring screws at page 22 in our last volume, we have obtained of
Mr. Weale the use of the wood engravings illustrating his valuable
publication, the " Public Works of Great Britain." "They will ex-
hibit, in a nmch clearer light, tlie construction of the moorings. The
screws described above for the foundation of the lighthouse, difl'er in
some respects from these engravings ; instead of being furnished
with a chain and shackle, they have a wrought iron shaft connected
to the screw as before described.

Fig. 4.

Figure 1 shows the screw mooring as prepared for use. o is a
spiral or screw flange of about one tuni and a half, having a hollow
cylindrical centre, ns shownin^^»)T2, and of cast-iron in one piece;
Z> is a wruught-iron spindle, which passes through the cylindrical
socket of the screw flange, somewlmt tapering in form, as shown in
fiqurc 3, and wlien driven up tight, is fixed thereto by a forelock,
w-liich passes through botl ; it is formed with a square head, c, to
receive the key for Bcrcwing it into the ground ; rf is a collar of

wrought iron, the front of which is shoWn in figure 4, fitted so as to
turn freely on the upper part of the shaft of the spindle below the
collar. Figure 2 shows the upper surface of the spiral flange;
fgurc 3, the spindle ; and .figure 4, the collar and shackle. The
shackle is fixed to the spindle by means of the loose collar, in order
to prevent the dragging round, and the consequent fouling of the
chain, whilst the spindle is

> being turned in or out of the ground.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL

39

HARLAXTON.

When we stated, in onr review of " Dr. Dibdin's Tour," that Mr.
Gregory's splendid new mansion at Harlaxton, near (iranthani, was
begun "by Mr. Blore, we had fallen into a mistake, which we now
correct. The architect originally employed, when ihc building was
commenced in 1832, was Mr. Salvin ; and although the execution
of the work has since been committed to other liands, his designs
liave been adhered to. Mr. Blore was called in, but only to be con-
sulted ; and Mr. Burn, who was afterwards engaged to complete the
edifice, had only to erect what remained to be done, in strict con-
formity with that half or portion whicli had been built by Mr.
Salvin; consequently, to the last-mentioned gentleman belongs
whatever reputation this mansion may acquire as a piece of archi-
tecture; and, notwithstanding that it is in a style to which, as a
style, we are by no means partial, we are free to confess that it is
infinitely more to our taste than almost any other specimen of it we
are acquainted with.

The principal or entrance front — that facing the north — is, indeed,
a most picturesque and masterly composition, presenting a refined
ideal of the style, where all its "best qualities are brought out and
blended together, and where features, which, taken by themselves,
have no pretensions to grandeur or elegance, are made to c(ratribule
towards the richness and stateliness of the ensemble. The true feel-
ing of an artist manifests itself throughout every part of this lag.ide.
It is so perfect a picture that all onr prejudices against the style itself
not only are silenced before it, but serve to enhance our a(hniration.
when, contrary to all our preconceived ideas, we behold what may be
produced out of it when treated with geniality of taste. AVe shrink,
however, from the task of attempting to convey, by mere words, any
intelligible idea of so complete and varied a compositi(m as this
front. In description, the whole would aj)pear little better than
profusion and confusion ; whereas, in the design itself, notwithstand-
ing the great number and diversity of its features, the whole is per-
spicuous and harmonious. The centre compartment, flanked by two
turrets, and crowned by a larger one of highly decorative character,
jiresents itself as almost one entire mass of ornament, yet without
seeming in any degree crowded ; there is nothing superfluous,
because there is notliing that does not evidently conduce to the cha-
racter here aimed at. The other principal front, which is not quite
so lofty, being raised on a terrace occupying the depth of the
ground-floor on the entrance side, is that facing the west ; and here
the lower part, or that on the level of the terrace, is occupied
through the whole extent from north to south by the gallery, that is,
by what Dr. Dibdin describes as the drawing-room. This gallery
measures 97 feet by 25, exclusive of the norlhern oriel, besides
which there are two bays and a lobby comnnmieating with the terrace
on the west side. On the other side of the gallery are two fire-places,
one facing each of the bays just mentioned, and between them a
door leading into an ante-room, (25 feet square,) beyond which is
the dining-room, 40 feet by 25, exclusive of an additional space 37
feet by 1(5, and further extended by oriels, and recesses with win-
dows, which latter are in the turrets at the angles of the centre com-
partment of the north front. Behind this dining-room is a spacious
hall or reeeption-room (78 feet by 27, and iwo stories in height),
whose lofty oriel and other windows form such conspicuous and
characteristic features in the elevation of the south front. The \irin-
cipal drawing-room (.30.6 X 25) is at the west angle of this front,
where it f(n-ms a projecting wing, between the great hall and the
gallery, with the principal staircase at the rear of it. This latter
communicates w ith the ante-room between the gallery and dining-
room ; thus affording a line of upwards of a hundred feet, from the
tire-place in the ante-room to the south bay of the drawing-room.

IRISH RAILWAY COMMISSION.
{Continued from page 15.)

The Irish Railway Commissioners speak of the port of Havre, in
France, at page 6G, thus : —

" We know that it is a question of doubt still pending whether
Havre, or some other place in France, or a port of tlic Britisli Empire,
shall henceforth become one of general resort for tlie business to
America for a great part of the continent of Europe, and a favouralde
result for our own country can oidy be obtained by the establishment
of facilities manifestly superior to those of Havre or other French
ports."

In looking over the very few pages which the Railway Commissioners'
Report contains regarding the best harbour on the western shores of
Ireland, which should be selected as the port to communicate with
America, and the very few and limited observations tbcy have given as

to the success of an intercourse by steam with the new coniinent. The
total want of any kind of exposition on the very extended range that
steam navigation across the Atlantic will naturally assume with all the
large commercial sea ports situated on the western shores of Europe,
with those on the eastern coast of America. The extremely objection-
able system of railways, which the Royal Commissioners have laid
down, to connect the three largest cities in Ireland, viz., Dublin,
Limerick, and Cork, shows thu the Commissioners have not been able
to elucidate in a full, clear, and satisfactory manner, even any one of
those very interesting subjects, although " My Lords have full evidence
from the character of the gentlemen appointed to form the commission,
that their labours will be conducted in a satisfactory manner."

The position assumed by the (Commissioners as to a general port or
ports, either on the south or west coast of Ireland, to communicate
with America by steam, and to be a general port for a considerable part
of Europe, is not shown to be based upon any reasonable grounds for
such an assumption ; and in merely assuming that this will he so it has
been recommended by them not only to connect Dublin, Limerick, and
Cork, by railways, amounting to ;U0 miles, but also to make a new
railway "through Wales, not less than 140 miles long, and which will
cost more than ten million sterling.

The Commissioners' report strongly recommends that the Govern-
ment should make no less than 45() miles of railway, or nearly double
the length from London to Liverpool* for the principal object of
endeavouring to make Cork, as they state, the general point or port m
Europe for communicating by steam with America. I am thoroughly
convinced that when the British parliament examines those magnificent
projects of the Royal Irish Commissioners that it ought not to advance
one sinjle penny towards the execution of a line of railway through
Wales of 140 miles in length, or to the making of 310 miles of rail-
way through the southern part of Ireland for the mere hazardous cliance
tha't one of the southern ports of Ireland might become the port ot
general communication by steam between Europe and America. Does
not reason announce that such has been the success of steaming from
America into Bristol and Liverpool, that no western or southern har-
bour in Ireland is ever likely to become, in the present condition of
commerce, the general port to communieate with America by steam, or
for any portion of the continent, Great Britain, or even Ireland hcisclf.

From the triumphant success which has attended the voyages of the
Great Western and other steamers in navigating across the Atlantic
between Europe and America, it must be quite clear to every person
at all acquainted with the progress of steam navigation, that all the large
British ports which may have business with the states of America, to
.any extent, such as Bristol, Liverpool, Glasgow, London, 8;c., will all
have their own American steamers in the course of a short period.
This is fully established by the present condition of steam navigation
between London, Cork, Belfast, Dundee, Inverness, Hamburgh, St.
Petersburgb, Portugal, Malta, Egypt, &c.,&c.

Let any one acquainted with the rapid progress of maritime steam
navigation during the last -25 years, read the extract at the head of this
article and say if it does not lead to conclusions and speculations of the
most absurd and ridiculous kind. To state that people in America re-
ti:

to arrive at an Insli port in pr

carries its own refutation. I can venture to tell the Government of
this country, the Royal Irish Commission, as well as those who are
concocting this very extraordinary job, that France will have her own
steam vessels for American intercourse as well as Britain. France is
too powerful, too great, too maritime, too commercial, and too ambitious,
not to avail herself of all those advantages which steam intercourse witli_
America will confer and offers to other nations. The noble harbour of
Brest lies nearly under the sanre longitude as Falmouth, and is niuch
more westerly than Bristol, Liverpool, or indeed any port in England
e.\cept the first, and a steamer sailing from Brest only requires 1-2 tons
of additional coal for a voyage to America to reacir the longitude ot
the most westerly harbour in Ireland, while on the other hand the
parallel of Brest is a much better climate than that of Ireland to navi-
gate from for America ; besides tlie port of Brest would be the best for
Central Europe to communicate by steam with America, and possess
many advantages in this respect over any of the southern or western
ports or harbours in Ireland. Even the ports of Havre and Bordeaux
will yet have steamers plying regularly to America.

Looking at the immense revolution which the application ot the
steam en"me to navigation has so successfully achieved in all the seas
of Europe and North America , looking again at St. George's Channel
and the Irish Sea leading from the Atlantic to the port of Liverpool ;
to the Bristol Channel running from the main ocean to the port of
Bristol ; to the English Channel reaching up to near the port of London

mosL ausuru auu iiuiciiiuiis i^iijii. a^j aimc n.wi- ^t^yj^t^ ... .»...^..^«. ...
turning to England, France, Belgium, Germany, &c., would be desirous
to arrive at an Irish port in preference to an English or a French one

• The expense ot makins the Liverpool, liirraingham, and Lonilun Hailwa.v (about
SIO miles long.', has Ueeo stated at ten luUlicnii sterliDg.

40

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

on tlic shores of the Geimaii ocean ; to the Northern Channel and tlic
Estuar}' of the Clyde stretching up to Glasgow. Are not these com-
munications extending iVom the Atlantic Ocean to tlie principal ports
of Great Britain admirable channels, and qnite snHicient for all kinds
of steamers to navigate to these respective ports. Tims has nature laid
open the whole of tlie harbonrs and conn>icrcial ports in tlie Empire to
all the advantages of steam navigation with the stales of the new world ;
and be it further observed that lliese magnidcent sea channels liave
cost the nation nothing and ne\ei will require any kind of repair. On
till' other hand, looking to the land, is there not a railway already made
and extending from Liverpool to London V and from which harbour or
ports steamers are plying to all the principal ports of Holland, Bel-
gium, and the north of France, Hamburgh, and even to St. Petersburgh.
Again a railway communication exists between England and Hull,
facing Hamburgh on the continent, and laying oiien liie whole of the
northern countries bordering the Baltic sea ; and is there not a railway
in full progress of execution which will connect Bristol and London
called the (ireat Western ': I ask are not tliesc channels, harbours.and
railways, qnite sufHcient to aflbrd all reasonable facilities and accommo-
dation to general intercourse witli the American continent by steam,
■without embarking the government in the great expense of making
140 miles of railway through the mountains of Wales ; and ;llt> miles
of railway througli the southern districts of Ireland, which would incur
an expenditure of ten millions sterling, on a inere chance or prob.ability
that Cork might become the " tjenci-al resoii for the Imsiiiessto^lmcrica
for a rjreat part of tlie continent of Europe." The endeavour to malce
Cork a point of general resort for the business to America is made to
appear the ostensible reason why government should make se many
hundred miles of railway through Wales and the south of Ireland. It
is under this mantle of a western port for the accommodation, as it were,
to the intercourse of a great part of the continent of Europe is concealed
one of the most extraordinary projects that has ever been attempted to
be carried into execution within the realms of this empire, but it is to
be hoped that the good sense of the British parliament will at once put
a stop to any further proeeedings as regards the recommendations of
the Railway Commissioners. W,

LONDON AND WESTMINSTER BANK.

AuciiiTECTs.— Charles CocKERELL Esq. R.A., F.S.A.; and William
TiTE, Esq. F.R.S.

The new building for the city establishment of llie Loiidon and
AVestminster Bank, which has just been completed, is situated on the
north .side of Lothbury, immediately opposite to the north-east angle
of the Bank of England. The whole structure occupies a site of
nearly 80 feet in frontage, and 90 in depth. The facade consists of
one general plane or face, broken only by an advancing pier iit each
end. It has seven apertui-es in the length, and three tiers of them in
the height ; the two lower tiers, comprehending the openings on tlie
ground and one-pair lloors, are included in one architectural story, ov
order, if such it may be called, the upper tier, which consists of the
windows of the two-pair lioor, being contained in an attic story. The
whole of the front is of Portland stone, with the exception' of the
plinth, which is from the Bramleyfall quarries. The entrance vesti-
bule or aveiuie has, on each side, a line of four plain Doric columns,
with appropriate accessories. From this vestibule access is gained
on the right to the country bank, the principal staircase, and some
official apartments ; and directly in front, to the principal or town
bank. The latter apartment is by far the most considerable in the
building. Its general form is a square of about 3/ feet, whose height
is that of the entire building, and it is extended by lateral recesses,
east and west, to a portion of this height. These additions or aisles
are divided from the centre, on each side, by an arcade of three
arches, springing from Doric columns, with cornices. The surround-
ing walls are channelled in rustic courses to the height of this order.
The recesses are sufficiently lofty to allow of the introduction of a
gallery on each side, finished in front by a balustrade, abutting
against the columns at such a height that the capping of the balus-
trade ranges with the abaci of the columns. Above this, the arches
of the arcades run across over the aisles, and are intersected bv a
contrary vaulting, producing a system of groins as ceilings to the
galleries ; they are also advanced" over the main body of the build-
ing, and treated as a series of lialf groins, so as to aflbrd support to
an upper gallery, which passes quite round the principal square.
The verge of this uppei- gallery is guarded by a barrier, consisting of
a double horizontal rail, _ sustained at intervals by ornaments of a
scroll foliage. Over this gallery the lines of the cubical form
below are contiinied through, and gathered vip by means of penden-
tives in a domed figure, exhibiting nearly a hemisphere cut off" by
planes rai>ecl upon thides of a square inscribed within its circutU"

ference. Tlie top of this dome is pierced by a large circular open-
ing for a skylight, the nir.rgin of which is covered, and additionally
ornamented with mouldings and lions' masks. Light is also obtained
by triple window's, occupying the flat semicircular spaces left by the
pendentives of the dome, on tiie three sides which are exposed to the
view of a person entering; these windows are filled with glass in
geometrical compartments, alternately ground and polished. Smaller
semicircular windows are introduced likewise in the three arches on
the north side, which form a continuation to those of the lateral
arcades. Oft he remaining apartments, the principal is the boarding-
room, occupying a frontage of fonr windows on the one-pair story.
On the same story are various apartments for the business purposes
of the establishment. The two-pair story, and another above it, the
frontage of which last is concealed behind the balustrade of the attic,
are appropriated to the use of the resident manager. Ample accom-
modation for cellarage, strong-rooms, porters' apartments, &e., is
provided in the basement story, which is fire-proof. Tlie time occu-
pied in the completion of this building has been about 18 months.

ASPECTS AND PROSPECTS.

The following judicious remarks relative to the choice of aspect
for a house, we have extracted from the vtiluable work, entitled
" Fragments, by the late H. and J. A. Reptou." They are given in
the form of a report concerning the situation for Walwood House,
Laytonstonc, Essex : —

Nothing is more common, than for those who intend to build, to
consult many advisers, and to collect different plans fi'om which they
suppose it possible to make one perfect whole ; but they might as
well expect to make an epic poem, by selecting detaclicd verses from
the works of different poets. Others take a plan, and fancy it may
be adapted to any situation: but, in reality, the plan must be made
not only to lit the spot, it ought actually to be made upon the spot,
that every door and window may be adapted to the aspects and
prospects of the situation.

It was a remark of my venerable friend, Mr. Carr of York, after
fourscore years' experience as an architect, that " to build a house
we had only to provide all that was wanted, and no more, then to
place the best rooms to the best aspects and the best views." Simple
as this apothegm may appear, it contains more truth in tlieorv', and
more difficulty in practice, than all the rules which have ever been laid
down in books by architects, or the remarks of all the admirers of
rural scenery with w lioin I have conversed. The former never think
of aspects, and the latter think of nbthing but prospects. I will,
therefore, beg leave to enlarge on these two subjects.

I consider the aspect of infinitely more consequence to the comfort
and enjoyment of the inhabitant, than any prospect whatever; and
every common observer must be convinced, that in this climate a
soutlicrn aspect is most desirable ; but few are aware of the total
difference in the effect of turning the front of the house a few points
to the east or to the west of the south ; because, although the south-
east is the best, yet the south-west is the worst of all possi'ule aspects ;
for this reason — viz., all blustering winds and driving rains come from
the south-west, and consequently the windows arc so covered with
wet, as to render the landscape hardly visible. My intention was
originally drawn to this subject by travelling so much in jKi^t car-
riages, and often remarking the dill'erence betwixt tlie window to
the south-west and that to the south-east, during a shower of rain,
or immediately" after; when the sun shining on the drops causes au
unpleasant glitter, obstructing the prospect, while the view towards
the south-east remains perfectly visible.

At Organ Hall, in Hertfordshire, the living room was towards the
south-west, and during a heavy storm of wind and rain we acci-
dentally went into the butler's pantry, which looked towards the south-
east, where we found the storm abated, and the view from the w'in-
dows perfectly clear and free from wet; but on returning into the
other room, the storm appeared as violent as ever, and the windows
were entirely covered with drops, which obstructed all view.

On considering the prevalence of south-west winds, it was deter-
mined to reverse the aspects of the house by changing the uses of the
room, making a very comfortable house of one which, from its aspect
only, was before Itardly habitable ; since no window, nor hardly any
brick walls, will keep out the wet, where a front is exposed to the
south-WTSl ; for this reason, it has been found necessary in many
places, as at Brighton, &c., to cover the walls with slates, or pendent
tiles, and to use double sashes to the windows so situated.

If we had only one front, or one aspect to consider, our difficulty
would soon vanish ; but the prevailing partiality for variety of
prospect seems to require that in every direction the views should
be retained; and as the opposite walls of the house must be parallel,

THE CmL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

41

and the comers at right angles, we must consider the effect on each of
the four sides thus ; —

Bail.

Good.

First, the aspect due north is apt to be gloomy, because no sun
shine ever cheers a room so placed.

Secondly, the aspect due east is not much better, because there the
sun only shines while we are in bed.

Tliir.ily, tlie aspect due west is intolerable, from the excess of sun
dazzling the eye through the greatest part of the day.

From hence we may conclude that a scjuare house, placed with its
fronts duly opposite to the cardinal points, will have one good and
three bad aspects.

Let us now consider the effect of turning the principal front
towai'ds the south-cast, then the opposite front \vill be to the north-
west; an aspect far better than either due north or due west; be-
cause some sunshine may be preserved, when its beams are less
potent than in the west, and the scene will be illuminated by those
catching lights so much studied by painters; especially where, as in
the present instance, the landscape consists of large masses of
forest trees, and thickets richly hanging down the side of an opposite
hill. An aspect open to the north-east would be objectionable
daring the cold winds of spring ; but in this instance it is effectually
sheltered by an impervious screen of trees and large hollies, not
drawn across the landscape, but perspectively receding in a deep
bay, and forming an admirable defence against the north-east winds :
while the rielnifss and variety of this amphitheatre of evergreens
will render the prospect as perfect as the aspect. This warmly
sheltered corner will in\'ite the i-attle from every other part of the
grounds, to enliven the home view near the windows.

It now remains only to mention the side towards the south-west;
and having stated the objection to this aspect, we may consider it
fortunate that the prospect in this direction is such as requires to be
hid rather than displayed ; and consequently the detached offices
and plantations, to connect the gardens with the house, will defend
the latter from the driving storms of the south-west, and give that
sheltered and shady co;ino:;ioii betv>ixt the house, offices, and gar-
dens, which constitute one of the most delightful agreiiieiis of a
country residence.

While speaking of the three difierent aspects, I have .slightly ad-
verted to their respective views or landscapes, but I will speak fur-
ther on that towards the south-east, to which all the others may be
considered as subordinate, although not sacrificed.

It is very common for admirers of landscape or natural scenery to
overlook the dilference betwixt a tree and a pole, or betwixt a grove
of old trees and a plantation of young ones. We fancy that time will
reconcile the diflerence ; but, alas! we grow old as fast as the trees,
and while we dot and clump a few starving saplings on an open lawn,
we indulge hopes of seeing trees, when in fact we only live to see
the clumsy fences by which for many years they ra\ist be protected.
Happy, therefore, is that pioprietorof the soil whobecomes possessed
of large trees already growing on the land he purchases, since no
))rice can buy the effect of years, or create a full-grown wood ; and
without that we may possess a garden, or a shrubbery, but not a land-
scape. This consideration alone is suiHeient to attach u.s to the
vicinity of that venerable avenue, which it would be a sort of sacrilege
to desert, and whose age and beauty will give an immediate degree
of importance to the house, which could never be expected in any
more open pai't of the estate.

The view towards the south-east will consist of a glade into
the forest, where distant woods of Wanstead are seen betwixt the
stems of large trees in the foreground, producing a purple tone of

colouring so much studied by painters and admirers of picturesque
elfect. To this may be added the cheerful moving scene of a public
road, not too near to be offensive ; for however some may affect to
prize the solitude and seclusion of ;i forest, shut out from all the
busy haunts of men, yet within six miles of the capital few places
can boast such privacy as Wallwood House commands within its
forty acres, surrounded by a lores! . ^\'ho then would regret to see
occasionally, and at a proper disttnicc, the enlivening mixture of man
witli animal life, and vegetation in its most interestinrr forms?

From its situation williin so few miles of the metropolis, this place
ought to combine all the pleasures of the counlrv witli the conve-
niences of a town residence.

REMARKS ON THE REPORTS OF THE GREAT WESTERN
RAILWAY.

BV AX OLD ENGINEEK.

Sir, — The report of Mr. Wood to the directors of the Great Western
Railway, upon the principle of construction adopted by Mr. Brunei,
its advantages and disadvantages, iVc, and the contrasted results
obtained by experimenl upon other lines, having largely engaged the
attention of the public for some days past, and as I do not coincide
in opinion with ]\Ir. Wood and Dr. Lardner, as to the mode in which
some of the experiments were coiulucted, and the inferences deduced
from them, yon will perhaps oblige me by laying my strictures upon
the report in (juestion before your readers.

Before entering upon the subject, I cannot refrain expressing my
admiration of the honourable and conscientious feelings evinced by
Mr. Wood at the very threshold of the enquiry, that he was deter-
mined to constitute himself the mere chronicler of experiment, and in
the spirit of a real philosopher, to go no farther than justified by its
evidence. This temper contrasts beautifully, with the reckless, empty,
report of Mr. Hawkshaw; and I am happy to record my respect in
favour of Mr. Wood here, in tlie hope that his distinguished conduct
may have its due inlluence with my professional brethren, to induce
them more frequently, in like eases, to do likewise.

The experiments made to ascertain the tractive power and per-
formance of the engines, and the tabulated arrangement by which
the results are exhibited, meet my fullest concurrence ; but I object
to the statement " that the average weight of coke reqvtired to convert
a cubic foot of water into steam, is not greater than what is required
by the best constructed stationary engines, and less than Mr. Watt's
standard, viz., 8 lbs. of coal to each cubic foot of water." Mr. Watt
found that, to produce equal heat, coke is to coals, as 0.375 to 1, so
that 8 lbs. of coke is equal to 30 lbs. of coal ; thus, the locomotive
in question consumes, comparatively, nearly four times as much as
a fixed condensing engine.

The experiments to which I would particularly direct your atten-
tion are those made upon the inclined planes, with the view of as-
certaining the atmospheric resistance, and the experiment was only
varied in two ways, viz., by impelling a train of empty carriages down
the plane, and then the same carriages loaded, and noting at what
point the speed became uniform. The manner of conducting the ex-
periment I consider [by no means the best, and the results deduced
from it exceeding fallacious. The first thing I should have done,
would have been, to ascertain the velocity which the plane, or angle
of inclination, was capable of generating; and I should have
done this, by a skeleton carriage, alternately empty and loaded,
exposing the least possible frontage or surface to tlie wind ; tlie
result would then have shown a certain point at which the
velocity would not increase, a point at which gravity was
counteracted by friction, &e. ; this ascertained, then, the car-
riages, loaded "and unloaded, might have been subjected to a
like experiment, and the difference of the two velocities would have
been then justly due to the enlarged frontal area. But even this
method, if the subject sought had been merely the determination of
the resistance due to the atmosphere, is not that which is most con-
clusive, if the frontal area alone be considered ; for, had a surface
like a kite been exposed against the wind, and the string con-
nected with a spring balance or weighing-machine, the resistance
of the surface at varying velocities, could then have been read off
by the weights indicated upon the limb of the instrument. This
would have been the true way of determiuhig the matter, and would
have been best made upon a level, and in an open couutiy ; but in
whatever wav the experiment had been made, it ought to have been
when the wind was still, because, driving against the wind and
with it are very different matters, and in the experiments, thiscircum-
stance ought to have been noted.

A body freely descending an inclined plane of 1 in 9t>, will be 96
times as long descending, a-s a body falling through the vertical height

4-2

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

of the plane, and making no deduction for friction, when it reaches
the bottom of the iilane, its velocity would be the same as that
attained by the falling body; now a body falls freely through 'JO
feet in two seconds and a half, at the end of two seconds and a half
il will have acquired a velocity of 80 feet ; but this velocity along
the inclined plane will have been acquired when the body has
reached the foot of the plane ; but in practice the resistance from
friction will be such as to reduce the velocity uniformly to a point
.somewhere about the mean, or lialf, which is proved by the experi-
ment, and the addition of weight can produce no efl'eet further than
to increase the momentum of the body by so much as the wciglit is
increased, but the velocity itself will be scarcely affected by the
change, for the same reason as a cannon shot or a bullet, if let fall
from the top of the Monument at the same moment, will both reach
the ground at the same time ; that this view of the case is correct, is
proved by the experiment down the Madeley plane, on the Grand
Junction Railway ; here, as in the former case, the carriages being
propelled down the inclined plane at a velocity of 30 miles per hour,
(it is only a fair experiment to jjrcsume the starling velocity in both
cases the same) and the carriages attained an u:iiform velocity of 30
feet per second, or 21 miles per hour, so that they were retarded
until they were brought to the velocity the inclination itself was
capable of generating without friction.

Mr. Wood says, " The force exerted by 15C Ions down an inclina-
tion of 1 in 9() is equivalent to 3()-l lbs., and as this was the weight
of the train in the first experiments, it follows that such a coach
train, moving at 31 miles an hour, suffers a resistance of that amount,
which includes both friction and atmospheric resistance," or, what
is the same thing, tliat 364 lbs. represents the tractive force neces-
sary to propel such a train, at the rate of 31 miles an hour, upon a
level, including both friction and atmospheric resistance ;" 364 lbs.
raised 45 ft. per second is equal to tlie power of a 30-horse engine,
and to produce the same I'csnlts on a level, as shown by the experi-
ments, requires a locomotive, evaporating li)/'/ cubic feet of water
per hour, or, in other words, an engine of U)"'/ horse-power. This
fact proves, that the power of a locomotive to produce a high speed is
destroyed, or is most disadvantageously applied, and shows most
conclusively that the great loss of power is nottobeaccoimtcd for by
the atmospheric resistance, as proposed.

As regards the observations respecting deflection, no notice seems
to have been taken of the comparative bearing surfaces of the stone
blocks, sleepers, iS;c. A stone sleeper is usually 4 ft. surface ; placed
at 3 ft. asunder will be 8 ft. bearing surface for the two rails, or a
yard in length. A transverse wooden sleeper is scarcely ever more
than 10 inches wide; if 6 ft. long, and 3 ft. asunder, the bearing sur-
face will be only .5 feet. A longitudinal timber is seldom wider than
13 inches, giving Gj ft. surface; this view of the ease at once ac-
counts for the superior solidity of the stone sleepers, for in fact the
question of solidity must always be brought down to a question of
surface, and that railway will be the most solid, other things being
equal, the rails of which have the widest base ; the mode, as admilted
by Mr. Wood, of fixing llie rails to the timbers is beyond all com-
parison safer than fixing thcni in chairs. A chair is seldom wider
than 4 inches, and an inch and a quarter thick at the point of lea.^l
section : then supposing them placed 3 ft. asunder. I '-, inch wdl be
distributed over a space of .3 ft., or a section of little more than one-
eighth thick of cast iron, is placed to bear all the concussion of the
engines and train, whereas, as in the case of Mr. Brunei's rail, everv
section of it is held down by a section of half an inch thick of wrought
iron, and the leverage of the rail reduced fully one-half less than
upon the London and Birmingham Railway.

However additional smoothness of motion may be attained by the
removal of the piles and transoms, unless additional bearing sur-
face be supplied, or the line perpetually packed, the levels will be
lost by the sinking .of the timber, for it is quite absurd to expect that
any degree of consolidation can take place in a yielding and inelastic
soil. In my opinion, the only proper method to be adopted is, to
place the cross transoms closer together, and foi'in a sort of flooring
under the longitudinal timbers, thus throwing the load upon a wider
surface, and tliis would be equally desirable if the weight and stiff-
ness of the rail is increased.

Mr. Wood, in his enumeration of the conditions to be taken into
accountto form a perfect carriage, has omitted to note the perfect
parallelism of the axles, a condition of more importance than any
other, for if this be correct, the carriage is certain to run well.

The machine described to have been used to note the various vibra-
tions, in my judgment nmst have been very ill adapted for the pur-
pose ; it must have been too mercurial, too sensible ; had a heavy
pendulum been employed instead, it would have given far more
batihfaetory results.

There is no doiil^t thai the proper mode to liuk carriages, 50 that

there shall be no concussion, is by an inflexible link between each
carriage. Mr. Booth's patent draw-screws produces a good effect,
but the simple inflexible link as adopted by Mr. W. J. Cm-tis, on the
(ireenwieh Railway, is much more simple and very much better.

The 7 feet guage, which has been so nuich reviled, is most un-
questionably the only gauge to carry out the plan which has been
recommended by every person who has studied safety in railway
travelling, and by no one more so than Mr. Brunei himself, to place
tlic carriage within the wheels. By tloing this, and allowing only one
inch clearance, a width of 6 ft. 6 in. is obtained, and lowering the
carriage to within 6 inches of the rail, a vertical height of / feet is
procured, giving an area 45 ft. G in. ; so that the Great Western car-
riages will be to the London and Birmingham as 45 ft. 6 in. to 53 ft.
and it is impossible, with the London and Birmingham carriages, to
make a similar improvement, without making them 8 or 12 inches
wider.

One great advantage results to the public from the investigation
^\hieh has taken place into the merits of this railway, proving the
very defective condition of the system of railways generally, ren-
dering it the imperative duly of railway companies to avail them-
selves of the suggestions and improvements of others, besides their
own people. If it has the effecl, thei'efore, of breaking down the
spirit of domination and exelusiveness at present existing, which
forbids the introduction of other methods than the crude and original
ideas of Stephenson and Co., such a conclusion is well obtained at
the expense and noise this in(iuiry has created, and must be regarded
with satisfaction by every well-wisher to the railway system, and by
none more so than by

AN OLD ENGINEER.

LETTER FROM WM. TURNBULL, Major U.S. Topographical
Engineers.
It is with considerable pleasure that we publish the following
letter received from a highly respectable and valuable member of the
profession residing in the United States. We are happy in enlisting
him as a correspondent to the pages of our Journal, and it will be a
gratification to ns to receive the oilier engravings of the Potomac
Aqueduct promised by the Major, in order that v-e may be able to
lay before our readers the progress of that \\ork.

Washington City, Aug. 31, 1838.
Sir, — Several months ago, when a specimen number of your
valuable journal was exhibited in this eily, I became a sub-
scriber ; but, owing to the remissness of our booksellers, or the
want of a proper agent here, I did not receive it until within a few
days, when I received three cpiarterly numbers at once.

I feel highly flattered that you should have thought a description
of the work (Potomac Aqueduct) imder my charge, worthy of a
]ilaee in your joinnal, and avail myself of the opportunity of our
Charge d'Aflaires to Belgium, M. Virgil Maxey, who visits London
on his return to Brussels, to send you a copy of the drawings and
description, which have been added to since the first publication.

There are still three or four more drawings, showing the condition
of the work at the end of the year 1837, and some changes, sug-
gested by our experience, made in the construction of the coffer-
dams, which have proved of great utility, and which should accom-
pany the description, but, unfortunately, they are yet in the hands of
the engraver. I shall have the pleasure to forward them by the next
opportunity that offers.

The subject of coffer-dams is one of peculiar interest to me. I
remarked in the third number of your journal, a drawing and descrip-
tion of the eoftcr-dam to be used in the constniction of the terrace-
wall, &c. of the new Parliament-house, and hope that it will be in
your power to give some details of the operations of emptying, &c.,
as that work progresses.

On examining the plan, I observe a great many iron bolts, passing
through the puddling at different heights. I was once forced, by
the spreading of the outer row of piles,"to use bolts in a similar way,
at low-water mark ; and, as the puddling settled, a cavity was left
ruider each bolt, through which the water found its way, and was the
cause of very great inconvenience : the dam was filled with water
several times by means of them.

I should be much pleased to know their efl'eet in the coffer-dam for
the new Parliament-house.

With my best wishes for the success of your journal, which, I
think, bids fair to be of extensive utility.

I have the honour to be, Sir, very respectfully, your obedient scr\anlj
WILLIAM TURNBULL,

Major U. S. Topo. ilngiueers.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

43

MOMENTUM OF FALLING BODIES, COLLISION, &c.

Sib,— In further elucidation of my letter of last month, I beg to
ofter the following remarks, which I request you will be so obliging as
to insert.

" Momentum is said to be (vide Hutton's Course of Mathematics,
Vol. II, page m, &c.) the power or force in moving bodies witli which
they strike any obstacle which opposes their motion :" and (page .'JH,
proposition 149) it is mid that " B being a body moving with the
velocity I', BV=M\s the momentum witli wliich it strikes anotlier

body b :" — and an example is given of two bodies, Ji weighing o, and b
weighing .S, moving respectively witli velocities T'=;3 and i' = -2, which,

it is said, would, after collision, move with velocities — ; y = '2^

■" ' b

if previously moving in the same direction i

liifin

BV

opposite directions, and 1 = IJ if 6 were at rest. Now I

'^' n + b ^

hold this to be incorrect. I conceive the momentum of a body moving
with a given velocity, to be the smn of two similar forces (>n =: /* -j-
M), whereof ,a is the force that acts to overcome the ineitia of the
body and is measured by its weight (;J- =: b), and j\I is the force ne-
cessary to preserve the motion of the body at the given velocity ;
which force is in proportion to the product of the weight by the
velocity (M is as bv). — From the experiment detailed in my last letter

I conclude that M = (ph>, where ^ is > ',- and < ~ nearly = #.
Hence m :=. b + ii bv ; and v in feet per second = ?, ('^^- \ — The
following would be the working of the problem .ibove rpioted.
Itithe momentum of ^ = 5 + ;} (5 X a) = •27i.|wlieie the formula
m ditto of 6' = 3 + 1 (3 X 2) = 1-2. j 's m = 6 + ^ bv.

Making use of these values of the momenta and the formula

r := 5 ( — r - ) applied to the various cases, we have

" "^ "' ^ — X I = 2;a velocity when B and b moved in

(I)

(11)
(III)

27i— 12 — S

27i — 8

the same direction.
X I = 5 velocity when they meet.

X I =: If velocity when B was moving and b a

rest before the collision.
These resulting velocities are very different from those given in
" Hutton's Course." — Experiment would decide which are correct.
Were the experiment, detailed in page 18 of this Journal, repeated
with good spring balances, and different weights let fall, a more exact
value of p would be obtained, and the formula ;7i := /* + iH = 6 -f- fbv
would be tested.

Yours obediently, B.

Errata. — Pago 18, line .34, for w; :=: J + M'"', read m := i + fbv,

„ 49, insert between, and read equal to be-

tween 10-7th3 and 13-8ths, &c.

WOODEN PAVEMENT.

Sir, — I was much gratified the other day, in passing along Oxford-
street, to see that a comparative trial is about to be made of various
kinds of pavement. It is only by laying down the different sorts in
juxtaposition, on a much frequented thoroughfare, that any thing like
a just estimate of their respective advantages can be made. I know
not whether the works now going on are under one particular supcr-
intendance, or whether the laying down of each kind of pavement is
confided to the particular persons whose interest it is to see that every
precaution necessary to ensure success be attended to. This latter
mode would seem not only the most natural, but the most desirable ;
for if each sort of pavement be not as perfect in its kind as it is possible
to make it, the comparison will not be a fair one. Nevertheless, from
what I have observed, it would appear really as if the persons directing
the laying down of the wooden pavement were exerting themselves in
behalf of their rivals, for never did I see work done in so slovenly and
insufficient a manner. I must, however, premise what I have further
to say by observing, that I am in no way whatever interested in the
question of the relative merits of the different kinds of pavement ; but 1

am acquainted, well acquainted, with the nature of wooden pavements,
their advantages, and defects, and can affirm that no kind of pavement,
perhaps, requires to be constructed with greater care.

1 . The hexagonal blocks must be cut with mathematical exactness
in all their dimensions.

2. The surface on which they rest must be not only perfectly even,
but so solid and compact as not to be irregularly compressible into
hollows. The latter circumstance, indeed, is necessary to all pave-
ments.

3. The blocks must be dry when laid down, else, if they be much
swollen by wet, they will contract considerably in drying, and the
pavement be no longer solid, but rickctty. When laid down dry, the
blocks will always be far enough from perfect contact to admit of such
slight swelling as may result from rain falling on their upper surface.

4. The successive blocks of each successive range should be hard
rammed down to a level, determined by a transverse rule laid on them
from side to side, before another row is placed, so that if any block
sinks lower than another by being rammed, it may immediately be
lifted up, and fresh sand or fine gravel placed beneath it.

5. The cross-section of a wooden pavement should have but very
little slope.

Now, Sir, every one of these essentials to a good wooden pavement
is neglected in laying down the one in Oxford-street.

1. The hexagons are very difterent in size.

2. The surface on which they rest is one of a most irregularly- sized
gravel, a mixture of large and small rounded stones ; the very worst
bottom that could be chosen for the purpose.

3. The blocks are quite wet when inserted.

4. The blocks are not rammed as laid down. I believe they will
not be rammed till the space is all paved.

.5. The cross section presents by far too great a convexity. The
different size of the blocks is such, that in many places the faces are
more than half an inch asunder, and the irregularity of the bottom on
which they rest will make them very ricketty. If, while wet, such
openings exist, what will there be in summer ? The ramming will be
done to make an even surface ; but unless each block be driven down
till it can go no further, the passage of carriages will soon make an
uneven road of it ; and if every block be rammed down to the utmost,
the whole pavement, with much labour, must be beat down to a level,
when any single block that may happen to go down lower than the rest.

If well made, the surface of a wooden pavement is so smooth that
the slightest slope is sufficient to let the water run off. Too great a
slope is very dangerous on a wooden pavement ; for one of its incon-
veniences is its being exceedingly slippery in wet weather or in frosty
weather; indeed, this 1 take to be the great disadvantage of wooden
pavements for the streets of London (for court-yards, when well done,
it is excellent) ; many a poor horse's knees will suffer from it, and the
omnibus drivers, who already pull up their horses so suddenly that
they slide a few feet on the roughest stone pavement, will find it im-
possible to stop suddenly, but by the wheels striking against the
prostrate bodies of their cattle.

It is found that the mud of our streets is produced from the squeezing
up of the subsoil. Now, this cannot possibly happen in a well-con-
structed wooden pavement, and such is, therefore, always free from
mud in winter, and from dust in summer, both very great advantages.
But the pavement, as laid down in Oxford-street, is so badly done,
that it will soon be covered with our slimy mud, and no horses' feet,
unless their shoes be made with iron spikes to them, will hold. Indeed
the thing is done in so hurried a manner that it cannot be good. A
clever workman cannot lay down more than two square fathoms of
wooden pavement in a day, supposing the soil beneath all ready to his
hand, and if the blocks are secured to each other by wooden pins, as is
found advantageous in some cases, he will not do more than 49 square
feet in a day.

The necessity of a good bottom is such, that in some places it has
been found necessary first to lay down a good solid pavement, on
which a perfect floor of two inch planking is laid down, this is smeared
over with pitch, and finally, the hexagonal blocks are carefully placed
and secured each to the other with woodon pegs. This is, of course,
very expensive, and with us unnecessary, but a bard and perfectly
even bottom should be made before laying down the blocks.

I could say a great deal more on the subject, having had opportu-
nities of studying it, not from motives of interest, but from a love of
information. I must, however, conclude this article, already, I fear,
too long. Any information in my power to give I will be happy to
communicate ; my address may be learned of Mr. Weale, Architectural
Library, Holborn. I am, Sir, your most obedient,

27th December, 18.38. J. R- J-

[The above communication was intended for our last Journal, but
was received too late for insertion. The wooden pavement in Oxford-

44

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

street'already indicates our correspondent's predictions ; hut the bad
success of the experiment is not to be attributed to defects inherent in
that kind of pavement, but to the unwarrantably careless manner in
which it has been laid down ; another cause of its failure may be
attributed to the small space allotted for the experiment, the mud from
the roadway at each end is brought on to it by the horses' feet and
carriage-wheels, which keeps it constantly covered with mud or dust
as the other 'pavement, whereas tlie great cleanliness of a wooden
pavement is one of its prominent advantages, which can only be secured
by having it for some distance.]

WHEELS OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES.

Sir, — I beg to submit to the consideration of the readers of your in-
fluential Journal, a suggestion on the construction of the wlieelsof loco-
motive engines, should you consider it of sufficient value to be admitted
to your pages. It is simply to call attention to the feasibility and utility
of employing brass as the material forthose parts of the engine. Weweil
know that in machinery generally, it is considered of great saving in wear
and tear to prevent thecoataet of kindred metals, and perhaps it might be
deserving of consideration how far the wear of the rails might be
lessened by such an expedient.

Anything tending to promote this object I know will meet with
attention; and it might perhaps be practicable by the use of brass
wheels to save the expenditure of metal on the length of rails which
are more difficult to repair, and therefore more expensive. I do not
pretend to decide upon the utility of this suggestion or its actu.al
economy in working, but perhaps some of your leaders who are en-
gaged in experiments on railways and have the means of trying it,
might be induced to ascertain what would be the practical result.

In machinery, as you know, the contact of homogeneous metals is
sometimes prevented by the application of leather, but it would be
absurd to propose such an expedient for adoption on a railway on a
large scale. It might, however, be well worth experiment on a small
scale, as elucidatory the laws of friction, how far the application of
leather or other substance to the wheels or rails, by producing a smoother
surface, would be caliMilated to diminish the friction.

I am, sir, yours, &c.,

■ HYDE CLARKE, C.E.

STUART'S DICTIONARY.

Sir — 111 the last iiuniTier ofyour u.^eful Journal your correspondent,
" A Constant Header," while noticing Mr. Britton'.s Biclionary of
Ancient Architeclure, adverts to the deticieneies of preceding similar
works; and, among others, he names '• Stuart's Dictionary of Archi-
tecture." Having had the misfortiuie of projecting that compilation,
I am desirous of your permission to ^-ay a few words in explanation of
.«o»(e of its manifold imperfections.

It was originally designed to eonlain a ycnerul collection of tech-
nical architectural terms, a popular history' of the arl in all countries,
and biograidiical notices of archil eels ; but the eugagenicnls of the
publishers, urging a greater haste in publication tlian was consistent
with a careful preparation of the manuscript, I found it inipractica-
l)lc, under the circumslanees, to carry out the design fo my own
satisfaction. The labour of crude and undigested compilation became
so irksome, that after hurrying a fi:ir of the first sheds through the
press, and preparing about twenty-live of (he engravings, 1 was glad
to resign my share of the speculaiion. Feeling, however, the weight
of my own faults, I was imwilliug to ran the ri.sk of being loaded, in
addition, with the editorial sins that niighl possibly be co'lumitted by
my successor, and I tliercfore stipulated Ihat the name of another
Editor should be substituted for nunc in the future parts of (he com-
pilation. Some time after this the publi^hel•s became Iiaukrupt, and
1 thought the book had deservedly died, as it '• made no sign." The
IcKer of your correspondent first informed me dial it had subse-
quently been revived, and eonliuued, and Ihat (oo under (he original
title. A peep, a few days ago, into the Iruly '■ finished" Dictionary
of Architecture, by Koljert S(uar(, makes nie anxious (o assure the
'• Constant Reader" that I am uKcrly innocent of niuetcen-twenticths
of its nonsense and plagiarisms. Sliould any of his friends be sim-
pletons enough to buy the volumes, in the liope of linding that kind
of inforniHtiou which the title pages say (hey eonlain, and in (he bit-
terness of di.sappoinlmeut, proceed fnmi damning the book to i)crforiu
the same duty towards its authors, I eulreat (he " Constant Reader"
to interpose his friendly offices, and direct tliat ouc-tweuticth part
only, and no more, of the deserved lualedictions shall res( on mv
devoted head in time coming. I am sure he will feel the reasonable-
ness and justice of my reiiucst, when he reflects that for several vears

past I have, unknown to myself, borne all the blame of compiling
that miserable production. 1 am, sir, your obedient servant,

ROBERT STUART.
London, 22d Jan. 1839.

ON ARCHES BUILT IN CEMENT.

The custom of turning arches in cement has now become very
general with engineers, more particularly where great strength is
required, as culverts under heavy embankments, and arches of a flat
elliptical form. It appears questionable whether the additional strength
acquired by turning arches in cement is leal or imaginary ; taking into
account the great liability to fracture in all brick structures built in
cement, the least settlement occasions a fracture, by which the adhe-
rence of the cement to the brick is totally destroyed, "but which would
not be the case did the cement possess any yielding properties, as
common mortar.

In some cases I have observed arches turned in mortar, and a few
feet at the crown only built in cement; and again elliptical arches
built in mortar as high as the haunches, and the remainder in cement ;
this latter method will doubdess allow the arch to settle in a slight
degree without detriment, in which case it would merely have the effect
of forcing out some poilion of the mortar joints ; that part in cement
remaining a compact mass, any rupture in which would occasion its
destruction. A slight percussive force will often have the effect of
rupturing a wall in cement, which would be comparatively harmless if
built in mortar.

It has often occurred to me, and I now respectfully submit it to the
notice of engineeis, whether in the case of an arcli being turned in
cement, it would not be preferable to have mortar joints in each ring
running quite through the arch, which I suppose would allow of some
considerable settlement to take place without injury to the structure : —
say in the case of a brick arch having three or more courses in tlie first
half brick ring turned in cement, and as many courses in the remaining
rings as necessary to allow of a continuous mortar joint from the
soffit to the back of the arch. The part in cement assimilating to a
string course in masonry. I imagine that this method of construction
would possess many advantages over that in present use — especially
where there would be reason to suspect a subsidence of the abutments.

PETER BUUFF.
Charlotte Street, Bloomsbnry,
January -iOth.

BENNETT'S NEW STEAM ENGINE,

FOR CAPT.MN COBl'S STEAMER.

We make the foUowinj extract from a pamphlet, forwarded to us from Ame-
rica, entitled " Allanlic Stenm S/iips" : —

This vessel, built under the immediate superintendence of C'.iptniii Nathan
Cobb, and intended for the Liverpool trade, is now completed, and will be
ready for her first voyau^c across the Atlantic on the lOth of June (1838).*

This enterprise was planned and decided upon by Captain Cobh (then of
tlie Liverpool packet Columbus) in 1834. Ho memorialized the legislature on
the subject, without success ; but, determined to test its practicability, he en-
tered into a contract with Mr. Phineas licnnott, of Ithaca, to supply the
machinery for his intended vessel before the 1,5th November, 18;3G. Various
delays, however, occurred in performing the same — the engine being con-
structed on a principle entirely new, the sole invention of Mr. Bennett ; but,
had the contract been duly fulfilled. Captain Co'^b's vessel, having been built
upwards of two years, would doubtless have reached the English docks several
months before (he first voyage of the Sirius to this country.

Presuming the annexed description of her engine will interest many ef our
readers, we copy it entire : —

This engine has undergone the scrutiny of great numbers of scientific pro-
fessors, ingenious and experienced loechanics and engineers, citizens and stran-
gers ; and the examinations have resulted in a general convictiun that the
world is about to realize a new improtcmeiit, not inferior to that of Walt and
Holton — an improvement that will effect a new era in ocean navigation, and
bring all parts of the world in approxiniaiiou to each other. A voyajje to
Liverpool, it is btlicvod, may, by the power of this engine, be accomplished in
ten days, and with only uiie linllt of the fuel heretofore required, thereby
allowing more room for passengers and freight.

The following descrijition and drawing, it is hoped, will fully explain liow the
fire and the water can be brought and continued in actual contact with each
other, and, rapidly generating tbe steam, sliil kept in controul, and iti potency
safely directed to piopel the ship, or utlicr object to which it may be a|)plied.

The engine for Captain Ccbb's Liverpojl steam-packet, is a double hori-
zontal high-pressure engine, thirty-five inch cylinder, and six ieet stroke, with
two blowing cylinders, of half ihj capacity, worked by the piston-rod of the
stcom cylinder passing' through the loner or extreme head, and into the blo« ing
cylinders; consequently, both will be of the same motion.

* \\'c luivc not jct received anv iutelli-icnce i.l tlii.-. vcsatl having been CQmptefcd uj
ready lot her intcu'ltil \ oyafc.— Bn. C. E. & A, Jovr,

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

46

References Pipes, C, witli the necessary

valves attached to the blowing cylinders, con-
vey the air to the steam generator, wliosc outer
case, a, a, is four feet diameter, and twelve
feet high, and the inner case, or furnace, B, is
three and a lialf feet diameter, and nine feet
high. Smoke and feed-pipe, D, is constructed
with two slides, e, e, which closes the pipe per-
fectly tight when thrust into it— their uses will
hereafter be explained ; /is a cap-valve in the
steam chamber, placed over a short pipe or
nozzle on the upper head of the furnace, and
fitted to its seat perfectly tight, with a rod ex-
tending through the upper head of the outer
case; (/ is the ash-pit below the grate; h, an
opening into the ash pit, with a slide to close it
tight, when necessary.

In order to put the engine in operation, and
successfully use all the advantages of this gene-
rator over any other, it will bo necessary to set
open the feed and smoke-pipe D, and the pipe
h ; introduce fuel down the feed-pipe, in suffi-
cient quantity, and ignite it. Previously fill
the space between the outer and inner case
with water up to the dotted line, half way
up the cap-valve /; which will completely
immerse the furnace ; and when steam is generated of sufficient elas-
ticity to start the engine, say seventy-five pounds per square inch, close
the pipes D and A, with their respective slides ; then start the engine in the
usual nay, by opening a communication with steam-pipe ; ; then the blowing
cylinders will force their charges of air through the pipe C into furnace B,
partly taking its course through the mass of fuel on the grates, a suiKcient
quantity being introduced above the fuel to burn the smoke, which can be
regulated by slides in the branch pipes, terminating the air-pipe C. You will
discover that there is no escape lor the air thus forced into the furnace, until
its elasticity is, by the continued blast from the blowing cylinders, a little
superior to the steam in the steam chamber, when the cap-valvc/'will rise from
its seat, and the air, flame, and gases arising from combustion will be forced
to pass under the edges of the said valve out into the water ; and in this process
all the heat generated will be imparted to the water, without the possibility of
escaping otherwise.

By the repeated experiments I have heretofore made, I find that one foot of
air blown into the furnace to promote combustion, by the expansion it under-
goes, and by the addition of the gases and steam, is augmented in bulk at least
five times its original size, or, to speak briefly, there is five limes as much com-
pound steam as air forced into the furnace ; consequently, it will lake one-
lifth part of the power of the steam to operate the bellows, plus the friction, or
this is nearly the power ; but I forbear at present, nor is it necessary, to speak
at large on that subject in this paper.

By a careful examination, it will be seen that the pressure of steam will
wholly depend upon the proportion of the size of the blowing cylinder to the
steam cylinder. In my engine now building, the blowing cylinders each con-
tain twenty cubic feet, the steam C}lindcrs each forty feet; but the steam being
cut ott'when the piston has made but one half its entire stroke, which reduces
its size, as a measure to deal out the steam, to exactly the size of the blowing
cylinder, the measure of the air forced in by the blowing cylinders being aug-
mented, by passing through the generator, to five times its bulk, has to he
forced into a space in the steam cylinder of just its original bulk; it will,
therefore, exert a force equal to fi\e atmospheres, which will be sisly pounds
to the square inch above the atmospheric pressure.

This force, per inch, will not be e.xerted during the nhole length of the
stroke of the piston, but only half way, or to where the steam is cut oti'; and
at the end, its elastic force is reduced to about twenty pounds, whit:h will make
the average pressure fifty pounds per square inch, and the piston contains y62
square inches, which multiplied by .'jO, will produce -18,100 pounds — the whole
average force the piston moves with. It is calculated to have the engine make
thirty-five double strokes per minute; hence, the piston will mnvc i'lO feet per
same time, which multiplied by 48,100, produces iO, 202, 000 potuids : the
weight that the piston would lift one foot high per minute, divided by 33,00Ol
being what a horse-power is estimated at, gives 6I"2 horse-power for each
steam-cylinder. But the power abstracted to operate the blowing cylinders
and overcome the friction, I allow nearly equal to the power of one of the
cylinders; therefore I estimate the power of the engine at fil2 hoisc-power.

The amount of fuel consumed will depend upon the amount of air forced into
the furnace by the blowing cylinders, and my two blowing cylinders, at evc:y
revolution, would force in 80 feet, if there were no leak either in piston or
valves, and no space between said piston and valves for the air to compress in,
and not be wholly forced out ; therefore, probably not more than 7 J feet will
be expelled each revolution of the engine ; and as it takes all the oxygen con-
tained in 175 feet of atmosphc'ric air to burn one pound of carbon, and .>;25
feet to burn one pound of hydrogen, I am of opinion, that to allow 22a feet to
be necessary to burn one pound of fuel, will not be allowing too much ; anil,
as before stated, 7.5 feet will be forced into the furnace at each revolution, it
will therefore lake three revolutions to burn one pound ; and, as a cord of yellow
pine weighs about 2,1U0 pounds, it will take (),.'i00 revolutions to burn one cord,
which, divided by .35, the motion of the engine per minute, will give three
hours for each cord'- which, compared with the engine of the stcRmer Eric/ on

the Hudson, of little less or nearly the same power (600 horse-power), will
consume furty cords in ten hours, or twelve cords in the same timo my engine
will one cord.

RESTORATION OF GOTHIC WORKS IN AUSTRIA.

M'j find that the attention of the Austrian government has been attracted
from the research of classical ruins to the restoration of their own fine fiothic
monuments, some of which thnatened to be equally lost. When we remem-
ber the expense which was employed in the antiquities of Pola, Spalato,
Aquileia, Trieste, Venice, Verona, &c,, we are justified in entertaining great
expectations from this zeal for their national architecture. We do not know
whether this is one of the fruits of the I'rench mania for the Renaissance, but
at any rate it forms an accession to the extension of that taste for the Gothic,
which already in France and Norlhcrn Germany seem to promise the revival
of this glorious style. Few countries are more intere.-ti)ig than those of the
Austrian empire to the student of medieval architecture, for they stand upon
that debatable ground where the iMoorish and the Byzantine influence both
exercised control, and where the churches are not less interesting from proper
Gothic monuments, than from the relics of those arts which Greece, even when
expiring, poured forth on the western world.

SOUTH EASTERN RAILWAY

WOBKS XE.\R DOVER.

Communkated lij iiii Eiit/iiieer on a ionr of inspection (J the Public Vi'orh in
Great Britain.

The works upon this line of railway, under the charge of Mr. Cubitt, are
now proceeding with vigour, and present a thorough business-like appear-
ance, indicating a decision on the part of the company to complete with as
little ddav as possilile this line of railway, which, as the great continental
outlet of the l;ingdom must, when completed, assume an important station
among the principal lines of internal communication.

At Dover the works which are nuder the charge of Mr. John Wright as
resident engineer, are very extefisi\e and also of peculiar interest; they con-
sist of the formation of" double (or parallel) tnuuels, together with open
galleries along the lace of the extensive and magnificent range of chalk
dills which extend fronr the harbour at Dover to the MartcUo towers east-
ward of Folkstouc. This very interesting portion of the line is being divided
into six spaces of unequal extent, three portions appropriated to tunnels, two
to the open galleries alternating with the tunnels, and the sixth to an open
cutting along that remarkable place the Warren, which is an underclitf
occasioned by a settlement of the chalk strata during one of those great con-
vulsions of nature, which causing both subsidence and elevation of the crust
of the earth, lias put us in possession of her intenial wealth, and given to the
science of geology its high importance.

The eastern tunnel terminates at the Dover side of Shatspeare's cliff,
where the cutting to form the face of the tuinicl will be about 110 feet, the
inunense masses of chalk rock required to be removed from this s]iot, and
from so great a height, has led to a \cry extensive use of gunpowder for this
purpose, and masses containing upwards of one thousand cubic yards of
chalk arc at one blast precipitated from the summit to the beaoh below, there
to be levelled for the formation of an embankment leading to the terminus on
the ijuay. \\'c were fortunate enough to witness two of these blasting
operations on the 12tb of January, the masses to be removed were nearly
cubes containing about 7(10 yards each, and isolated from Ihe great body of
the clilV, by excavaiiiig from behind Ihcm a sullicieut space for the workmen
to pass and repass convcnicnily ; al the foot of the nmss to be overthrown,
in the above-named excavation, two borings «crc made downwards, forming
an angle of about thirty degrees with Ihe perpendicular, each boring being
fifteen feet deep ; these were then tilled, first nith six inches of tow at the
bottom, then JOlbs. of gunpowder w as poured in, and lastly the boles were
rammed to the top with rubble chalk around an iron rod, which, upon being
withdrawn, left a hole from the surface to the cliarge to contain the priming,
which consisted of Cue gunpowder; in one of Ihe holes of Ihe second mass
to be overthrown, the priming was conveyed lo the centre of the charge by a
pewter tube i -inch bore, similar to those used as gas pipes : this was done by
way of experiment, and appeared to answer better than priming in the
common wav, which commnnicatcs with the top of the charge only instead
of the centre. ^Vlleu all was ready and the ordir for firing the train given,
a most animated scene presented itself along the extensive lace of Ibc cutting
tlic workmen, amounting in number lo about 170, were seen scrambling and
climbing along the almost perpendicidar face Xi( the clifi', to attain a respectful
distance from the scene of action. In a few .seconds after the ignition of the
train, a rumbling sound, like that of extremely distant thunder was heard,
iiiul the next instant the whole mass was lifted bodily from its base, and in
fallin" a"ain, it cleft asunder from top to bottom, and opening, crumbled to
fragments, which poured like a Uirren* down to the beach. The charge being
inserted oblinucly (below the mass to be ovcrOn-owii, as before described), at
the same time lliat it liflcd it up, forced out at least 300 yards from below
its base, making a total of not less than one thousand cubic yards of chalk
removed with one blast, and if both charges had gene oil' simultaneously, as
was intended (there having been a perceptible interval between the ex-
plosions), a nntch greater effect would in all probability have been jiroduced,
as it was, however, estimating it at 1000 yards, and allowing the specific
gravity of chulk lo he 23, as stated by Br. Mantcllj wo bfiYO for tho weight

46

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

of chalk thus romovcd witli lOOlbs. of powder, no less than 1,748 tons. In
a few minutes after the first explosion, the signal for firinf; was again given,
and the second mass similarly followed the tirst ; Ihxis this immense work,
which if executed by manual labour only would be very costly, is now
carried on at a comparatively trifling expense both of time and money.

The double or parallel tunnels are being formed by tirst drawing a heading
six feet high and four feet wide, the top of each headhig being within two feet
of the intended roof of the tunnel, the headings arc worked in o]>posite
directions from shafts sunk from the surface above, and the excavated chalk
is removed by side headings or driftways at right angles to the direction of
the tunnel and leading to the face of the clifl', where it is thrown into the
sea ; a trainway is formed along these drifts baring an inclination of 1 in :50 ;
the waggons when loaded from the heading are easily pushed by one man
down the trainway to the face of the cliff, he teems its contents into the sea,
and upon such an inclination is easily able to push the waggon back again
into the workings for anotlier load ; by such judicious arrangements the cost
of the earthwork of the tunnels is reduced very considerably, compared
with that of similar great undertakings. Upon an examination of these
works we could not but notice the precision with which the direction of the
various headings had been preserved during the excavation, for we could not
discern the least deviation from the right line where the workings met from
opposite directions.

REPOnX OF THE ENGINEER TO THE DIRECTORS OF THE
LONDON AND BRIGHTON RAILWAY.

Gentlemen, — The- state and condition of tlie Works up to the present time
are as follows: —

On CdNTRACT, No. 1. — Tile contractor has completed the bridge at Combe
Lane, and has cut through tlie high ground iu the late Mr. Cliolletl's land, and
foi'med tlie embankment across Birdhurst Lodge, and cut through the hill
beyond, and built a bridge over the lane on the south of the bill, and the
embankment is carried some way over this bridge.

An occupation bridge is also built, and the road formed under it. The
Works here are so well put together, that the temporary rails will be immedi-
ately laid down for half a mile, and then the long embankments will be more
rapidly proceeded with.

The works are also commenced at the junction with the Croydon railway
up to the cross-roads at Croydon counuon, and the contractor has laid in a
large supply of materials for the remainder of the bridges, which will be com-
menced as soon as the weather is sufficiently settled. There are at present
employed on this contract 170 men and 13 horses.

Contracts, Nos. 2 and 3, are let to one contractor. All the cuttings but
one on No. 2 contract are in active execution : the Coulsdonroad bridge, and
the occupation bridge No. 5, are nearly complete; the approaches will be
finished in a few days : the culverts and brickwork are all in jirogress, and
the temporary rails will in a short time be laid upon a great portion of the
work.

Considerable progress has been made in the excavations of No. 3 contract,
and although tlie contractor ought to have done more work in the time, yet the
w.antof lodging and accommodation for the workmen has been a great draw-
back to him, but as buildings are now erected for the extra accommodation
of above eight hundred men. I shall compel him to use his utmost exertions.

There are at present, however, employed on these two contracts seven hun-
dre,l and fifty four men, and thirty-two horses.

Contract, No. 4. — Mebstham Tunnel. — The contractor has got all the
shafts but one sunk to the bottom of the Tunnel, and that one is sunk to the
level of the top of the Tunnel.

The driftway between the shafts is in progress, that between the trial shaft
at the north end of the Tunnel and the first working shaft is completed, as
Avell as the driftway between the trial shaft at the south end of the Tunnel
anil the last working shaft. This Tunnel is perfectly free from water, and
the chalk is exceedingly hard and compact.

There are at work on this contract 162 men and 9 horses.

The extra contract at Merstham for the diversions of tlie turnpike |road is
proceeding iu a satisfactory manner, although the contractor was at first
delayed by not having possession of the Merstham tram-road.

There are 120 men and 30 horses at WQjk on these roads.

Contract, No. .0. — The coutractors have been at work little more than
one month, and tliey have commenced upon cuttings Nos. I and 2, and on
the side cutting for the large embankment on Earl's Wood common. The
bridge over the mill-stream at iMerstham is nearly completed, and they are
proceeding in a very satisfactory manner. I am informed they will have
possession of some laud they require for temporary purposes iu about a week,
when they will be enabled to make greater progress.

There are 337 men and 28 horses at work upon this contract.

Contract, No. 6. — The contractors have been at work on this contract
about one month, and as they have only possession of part of the land, are
obliged to confine their opiraliims to the side cutting on the Low Lands at
Ilorley. They have fenced off most of the land they are in possession of.

There are at work on this contract 1.58 men and 10 horses.

Contract, No. 7. — The contractor is at work upon the cuttings that will
require the longest time to execute, and is going on in a very satisfactory man-
ner. About three miles of this contract, is of so light a description of work,
that it is not necessary at present to enter upon it,

There aie at work 220 men and 10 horses.

Contract, No. 8.— Balcombe Tcnnel. — There are five working shafts at
this Tunnel, besides two trial shafts which are sunk down to the bottom of the
Tunnel, as well as two air shafts: one working shaft is finished. Two othera
are sunk down within five yards of the top of the Tunnel, another within
14 yards, and the third within 20 yards, and they are all proceeding night
and day.

The water here has been found in greater quantities than I anticipated, I have
therefore caused an adit to be driven up from the Brook Course, about 350
yards long, which is finished, and has tapped the water at the level of the
bottom of the Tunnel, whicli it carries clear olT the workings as fast as we
get them opened out.

The driftway at the soutli end of the Tunnel has been completed to within a
few yards of the first working shaft, and lays the work dry as it proceeds.
The driftway is also going on between the north trial shaft and the northern
working shaft. The total length of driflw.iy at present complete is 280 yards
in length. When the driftway is finished the wh.de of the water will run off
of itself, and the Tunnel for ever afterwards be perfectly dry.

'I'he contractor has at present 225 men and LO horses at work upon this
contract.

Contracts, Nos. 9, 10, II, and 12. — These contracts are all let, and the
contractors are actively engaged in casting up brick earth, preparing materials
and g^etting them to the ground, to commence the work immediately the
weather will permit.

Contr icT, No. 13. — This contract was entered upon la.st September, and
the contractor has pushed on the work with spirit, and has made a con-
siderable advance with the cuttings and embankments. He has completed
and ballasted half-a-niile of i-oad, ready to i-eceive the permanent rails, which
are in course of deli\'ery. He has also a very large quantity of temporary
rails.

The contractor has 300 men, 30 horses, and GO waggons at work on this
contract.

No. 14 Contract — Ci. vyton Tinnel. — There are 10 working shafts at
this tunnel, besides a trial sliaft at each end ; tive of the working shafts are
complete, four are sunk to the top of the tunnel, and the remaining one is
within about 18 yards.

In sinking the t-iial-shaft at the north end of the tunnel, an impervious
strata was found cropping up to the north, which prevented the water running
off. I therefore ordered an adit to be driven up from the low ground to the
trial shaft, which when cut through the impervious strata on a level with the
bottom of the tunnel, will let off the whole of the water, and no moro can in
future accumulate.

The driftway between the shafts is being driven, and has been opened out
between two of them. The chalk is firm and bard.

The contractors have at present 143 men and two horses at work on this
contract.

The Company have obtained possession of lands for making bricks for the
Tunnels and other works at convenient situations, and brick earth has been
cast up, and early iu the spring there will be a large supply ready for use.

Contracts, Nos. l.'j, IG, and 18. — These contracts extend from the
south end of the Clayton Tunnel to the station at Brighton, as well as the
station itself, and are all now advertised, and willbe let on the 14th of March next.

Contract, No. 17. — The Siioreham Branch. — The contractor has pro-
ceeded much to my satisfaction. He has got most of the bridges built, several
cuttings are opened, and the embankments formed, 2^ miles of road are formed ;
the ballast is being put upon it, and the permanent rails will be laid down
immediately.

A locomotive engine has arrived at Shoreham, which will be at work upon
the line as soon as the rails are laid. This will materially expedite the form-
ing of the embankments, and I expect this contract will be completed in
Sejjtember next, when the Shoreham bramch will be opened to the public,
wliich will be of great advantage in conveying materials for the main line.
The contractor has at present 280 men and 40 horses at work.

A large supply of rails, blocks, sleei>ers and chairs have arrived, and more
are daily expected.

The following is a summary of the number of men and horses employed
on the whole of the works : —

No. Men. Horses.

On Contract 1 170 13

2 468 23

3 286 9

4 162 !»

Turnpike-road diversions at Merstham 120 36

On Contract 5 337 28

6 158 10

7 220 10

8 225 15

13 300 30

14 143 2

17 280 40

Total 2869 22.5

This amoimt is exclusive of men casting and preparing brick earth.

The works now let and in operation extend over a distance of 41^ miles,
and are to be finished by tlie middle of August, 1840; and I cannot conclude
this Report without expressing my satisfaction at the rapid progress of the
works. I am. Gentlemen, your most obedient servant,

London, Jan. 16, 1839. JOHN V, RASTRICK.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND AUCHITECT'S .TOURNAL.

47

GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY.
[Wc trust that the importance of the following reports will be a
sufficient justification for having occupied so nikny pages of the
Journal. We hail intended to have made some remarks thereon, but
in consequence of our correspondent, " An Old Engineer," having so
ably commented upon them, we have refrained, for the present,
saying any thing further on the subject.]

EXTRACTS FROM MR. WOOD'S FIRST REPORT.

The increase of gauge has been from 4 feet 8j inches to 7 feet, and the
prominent reasons assigned for such a departure from the common width, is the
attainment of a higher rate of speed — increased literal steadiness to the
carriages and engines — a diminution of the friction by the use of wheels of a
larger diameter — and a greater space afforded for the works of tlie locomotive
engines.

The deviation from the ordinary mode of constructing the railway, has been
the substitution ofcontinuouslongitudinal timbers, with piling at certiiiu intervals,
and cross transomes ; with iron rails of a particular form screwed down upon
the longitudinal timbers.

The additional width of gauge has increased the breadth of the entire track
of the railway between tlie outside of the rails of the two lines (including the
breadth of the rails) from 16 feet .3 inches to 20 feet 10 inches ; consequently
all the works connected with the formation of the road will be increased to a
certain extent, but not in proportion to the above figures. The plan of continuous
wooden timbers and piling also involves an additional cost beyond that of forming
railways according to tlie ordinary method.

The questions submitted to mo for consideration, therefore, appear to me to
he shortly these ; are the advantages professed to be obtained by this departure
from the ordinary plan of construction of railways and increased width of gauge,
realized? to what extent — at what additional cost — and are the advantages an
equivalent for the increased cost of forming the railway according to this plan,
viewing the whole subject in connection with the present state of the works ?

Acting upon the principles hereinbefore explained as to the mode of
conducting tlie inqinry, it was my object, as much as possible, to subject all, or
as many as could bo, of the properties of this railway as contrasted with others,
to direct experiment ; certain advantages are stated to be dcri\'ed from tliis
departure from the ordinary width and plan of constructing railways, and the
circumstance of 23 miles of this railway having been opened, and having been
in operation since the 4th June, appeared to me to allbrd an opportunity of
subjecting to the test of experience, and of obtaining correct and indisputable
results by carefully conducted experiments, Hint which rested on coiijei lure, or
castliil oli^t'milion.

It is perfectly true that a daily opportunity has for some time existed of
observing the rate of travelling with the passenger trains on your railway, by
which some result of the rate of speed accomplished, or likely to be realized
when a greater length of line was opened might be obtained, but the engines on
the Great Western differ in many respects from those employed on other rail-
ways, and also from each other ; it', therefore, extended observations had been
made on the rate of travelling, it was necessary to distinguish what was due to
the road, and what to the engines, and if any increased speed or greater per-
formance was accomplished, whether such was applicable to the railway itself,
or to the particular construction of engine only, and whether, by the application
of similar engines to other railways (if practicable), the same results would not
accrue.

If this had been done, no doubt important and valuable information would
have been obtained, but that would have been, in fact, the very sort of inquiry
by your own people, which you have determined to entrust to others ; and it
may be remarked, that if the inquiry had been conducted by yourselves, it could
not have been at all conclusive or satisfactory in the comparison with other
railways, and without such comparisons it would have been useless.

At the first outset of the inquiry, it therefore appeared to me necessary to
institute a set of experiments, to ascertain the actual performances of the loco-
motive engines upon your own railway ; with this information carefully obtained
we then had the real working powers of the railway ; by employing heavy
loads, we obtained correct data for determining the maximum wciglit which
the engines, then upon the railway, could drag, at determinate rates of speed ;
and by subjecting the engines to very light weights, we likewise determined
the maximum rate of speed with certain known loads ; and by recording the
quantity of coke consumed and water evaporated in each trip, we also ascer-
tained, with considerable accuracy, the comparative cost of motive power in
dragging different loads at different velocities.

These experiments appeared to mo to be highly necessary and valuable,
inasmuch as whatever diil'erence of opinion might exist (in the absence of
correct experiments to ascertain the fact) as to the friction of the carriages, or
resistance of the road as compared with others, these experiments, by deter-
mining the real practicable expense of working the railway, would at once
ascertain what increased rate of speed could be accomplished, and at what
additional cost of motive power such higher rates of speed was attained. These
experiments would, in fact, anticipate, so far as the pnvcrs of the engines
reached, the experience of some years of regular work upon the railway, and
with more correct results. On my arrival upon the 1-ne on the 1 7th inst:int, I
therefore commenced a scries of experiments on the working powers of tlic
engines, which were crmtinued under my own observation during the ten days
I remained there, and are now in opi-ration, and will shortly be completed by
persons in whom 1 have perfect confidence.

It would be premature, to say the least, at this stage of tlie inquiry, to give
any results derived from experiments not yet complete; but it may be some

No. 17 February , 1831). Vol. H.

gratification to the proprietors of this great work to state, that one of the
engines, the North Star, accomplished an average performance from London to
Maidenhead and back, of dragging 180 tons, including engine and tender, at
the rate of nearly .'iO miles an hour, and that on some occasions, for short
distances, a rate of 4.J miles an hour was attained.

When the powers of the locomotive engines and capabilities of the Great
Western Railway are thus obtained, in order to comply with your instructions,
and contrast this information with the capabilities of other railways, it will be
necessary, in order to arrive at correct and conclusive residts, that we should
have the result of a similar set of experiments made upon railways of the
ordinary construction. Although isolated experiments have been made by
different individuals on several railways, and although I have made several
myself, it does not appear to me that a set of experiments have yet been made
sufficiently extensive and varied to fully develope the capabilities and powers of
other railways, so as to form indisputable data for contrasting with the experi-
ments made' upon the Great Western. The directors of the London and
Birmingham Railway, in the most liberal manner, granted me full permission
to make anv experiments on their railway, consistently with the noiiinterruptiou
of their traffic ; and Mr. Robert Stephenson, the engineer in chief, kindly
assisted mo all in his power, and furnished me with some experiments he had
made on that railway, on a former occasion. I deem it, however, my duty to
state to you that I do not think the information I am in possession of is sutn-
ciently extensive or conclusive as regards other railways to enable me to make
a comparison with the performances of the engines on the Great Western, so as
to arrive at an incontestible conclusion, nor do I think it right that I should go
into a comparative statement at all, unless the data be equally conclusive or
carefully deduced on both sides. The information 1 at present possess does nor
enable me to go further than report to you the performances of your engines
on the Great Western Railway ; and if it be your wish that 1 should comply
fully witl.i your request, and contrast their powers with the performances oil
other railways, it will be necessary that some experiments, similar to those
performed on your railway, should be instituted on some of the ordinary rail-
ways of a different width of gauge. It will not be necessary that the experiments
on those railways should bo equally numerous, as the engines on tlie other
railways are generally of one description, and consequently one or two seta
carefully conducted will be suflicicnt. It may be asked what practical advan-
tage will result from all these experiments to the interest of the proprietors of
the Great Western Railway ? The answer is shortly this : it is admitted thai,
the construction of that railway involves .an increased capital ; it is, therefore,
cpiite necessary to determine what arc the .additional advantages, in a practical
point of view, resulting from this mode of construction, and whether the
advantages are greater or less than are equivalent to the increased cost of
construction.

These observations apply more particularly to the plan of construction of the
Great Western Railway generally, and to the capabilities of the entire system,
or to the increased gauge, and the mode of construction combined ; but it is not:
necessary to the adoption of an increased gauge, that the railway should be
constructed on the plan adopted by Mr. Brunei ; it may be con-
structed on some modified plun of that system, or it might even be
constructed on the pl.in of the London and I3irmingham, or Grand Junction
railways. Neither is it absolutely necessary, if 'an increased gauge be deemed
advisable, that such increased gauge should be precisely seven feet ; all these
are separate and distinct questions, requiring different and distinct investigation,
and, therefore, the simple acquirement of correct information of the comparative
capabilities of the Great Western Railway in its present state, with the other
existing railways does not appear to me to comprise the whole question ; it
appears to me to admit of inquiry whether the width of gauge adopted by Mr.
Hrunel is or is not that which conduces most to accomplish all the objects for
which a departure from the more established width was deemed advisable, and
also whether the mode of construction of the railway is the best that can be
devised, or in what way it can be improved, consistently with the objects
required to be attained, and with due regard to economy.

The plan adopted by Mr. Brunei, as previously stated, consists of longitu-
dinal limber bearings secured by piles at proper distances, with cross transomes,
double at the joinings of the longitudinal timbers, and single at the intermediate
piles ; and upon these continuous bearings iron rails of a particular form are
fastened by screw bolts.

It has been .illoged that one of the objects of the increased gauge was a
greater stability to the carriages, and consequently less vibratory, or greater
smoothness of motion to the passengers ; it appears to be, therelbre, one of
the subjects of inquiry how far this is realized,— whether such a desideratum
is accomplished, — and to what extent. Keeping in view the principle set out
with in this inquiry, of, if possible, subjecting to experiment mechanically every
minutia, rather than to rely on opinion, or the more fallacious evidence of our
senses, I had constructed an instrument for measuring and recording upon
paper all the oscillations or vibrations of the carriages, from one end of the line
to the other; and by transferring this instrument to the carriages of the ordi-
nary railways, incontrovertible evidence is obtained, and such as can be nppre
elated by any one, of the relative vibratory motion of the carriages on the
Great Western Railway, compared with the motion on other railways.

We have thus produced a di,igram upj^n paper showing the number and
extent of the vibrations of the carriages, and hence it can not only be asccr-
tiiincd if there does exist less motion on this railway than on others of a less
width of gauge, hut to what extent: and thi3 is thus made cap.ible of being a
subject of aritiimetie.il detoimination.

It was soon found, however, and this shews the importance of this mode of
investigation, that the motion of the carriages on railways was a compound one ;
that besides a vertical motion, it was composed of an horizontal oscillatory

D

48

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

motion and of a transverse undulatory motion combined; and it appeared, so
far as we could depend upon observation, that less of one Jescr ption of motion
existed on the Great Western Railway, and more of tkc other, than upon the
ordinary railways; it therefore became necessary, and of some importance, to
measure and dctenninc each of llicse motions distinct from the other, not
merely for idle curiosity, but for the purpose of ascertaininfr the causes of each,
and having done so, to attain the first step towards accomplishing a remedy.
Ai\ this appliQS to the compound action of the rails and the carriages ; and it
will be seen that such a complication of motions required not only lime but
extreme labour and attention to investigate.

We now come to, perhaps, the most important consideration, that of the
construction of the railway ; this"is tlio substitution of longitudinal continuous
bearings of timber, with piling-, instead of isolated stone blocks, or transverse
timber sleepers, or, indeed, continuous timber beaiings without piling.

The investigation of this part of the subject, according to the principles laid
flown in this inquiry, was attended with extreme difficulty.

The first subject for investigation was, the relative firmness or solidity of
base exhibited by the continuous bearings of timber with piling, and compaied
with stone blocks, or continuous bearings without piling ; to determine this,
1 had an instrument, or dellcctonieter, made, which being placed underneath
the rail, measured the amount of deflection when the trains or known weights
passed over, and the more accurately to determine the precise action of the
load in passing over the rails, I employed three deflectometers at the same time.
The motion of one with the other was effected by a rod between each instru-
ment, one was placed underneath each of the supports or transomes opposite
the piles, and one in the middle of the rail ; and i)y a similar contrivance to
that employed in the instrument for measuring the oscillation of the carriages,
! got a tracing of the deflection of the rails recorded upon paper, and thus
obtained correct diagr.ams of the deflection at each of the places at the same
moment of time.

By subjecting the rails with piling in all their varieties, and also continuous
bearings of the same scantling of timber without piling, to the deflectometer, I
obtained a measure of the relative firmness or solidity of base of these two
varieties of construction ; and by likewise employing the same instruments to
measure the deflection of the rails and depression of the blocks, or cross
sleepers, on other railways, I thus obtained the relative firmness of base of
all these different modes of construction, and these diagrams being cappble of
being transferred to, and embodied in a report, and measured with undoubted
accuracy, will enable any one to pass their own judgment upon the relative
firmness of base of those different plans. It will at once, however, be seen,
that admitting we have obtained the relative firmness of base of the existing
plan of construction of the Great Western Railway compared with that of
known plans of construction of other railways, the degree of stifl'iiess developed
by the former, comprehends both the section of the timbers, and that of the
rails ; and that such a plan of continuous bearings, cither with or without
piling, does not necessarily imply the use of that particular form of iron rail ;
it was therefore necessary to determine what part of the deflection was due
to the timbers and what to the particular form of rail. To accomplish this, I
purpose having these rails removed, and the same rails which were subjected
to experiment on olher railways, where stone blocks or cross sleepers were
used, substituted; when the deflection will be again measured. By a combina-
tion of these experiments in all their varieties, I expect to arrive at results
which, not being matter of opinion, but facts, deduced from carefully-conducted
and self-recordinf; experiments, cannot fail of producing the most important if
not conclusive results.

Independently of those csperiments, to elucidate all the minutitc of action
of the different parts of the system of railway mechanism, and others, which it
is not necessary at this time to enumerate, I subjected to experiment, so far as
the means and circumstances afforded me, the resistance and friction presented
by the Great Western Rails to the passage of the carriages and engines along
them ; and by pursuing a similar course of experiments on other railways, we
shall thus have valuable corroborative evidence to that of the experiments made
with the engines, of the relative resistance of the Great Western Railway,
compared with that of railways of the ordinary width.

With the exception of some experiments on the London and Birmingham
Railway, made on my survey, and which were not sufliciently varied or
sufficiently numerous to afford conclusive results, we still require further
evidence of the resistance of the carriages and engines on other railways, to
compare with those made on the Great Western Railway, in order to arrive at
conclusive results, or indeed to enable me fully to comply with my instructions
for this inquiry.

REPORT OF JOHN IIAAVKSHAW, ESQ.
To the Direct, rs of the Great Western Jlaitwa)/,

Gentlemen, — Your instructions of the 5th September are to the following
effect : — That you are desirous of obtaining my assistance in ccmiing to a
sound and practical conclusion as as to your future proceedings, directing' my
attention to those points which may be said to constitute the peculiar features
of your railway, as contrasted with others, including the construction and
efficiency of your engines, as well as every matter connected with the loco-
motive department.

My attention is also called to the bridge at Maidenhead, as to its construc-
tion generally, and as to the means proposed to remedy an existing defect in
one of the arches. To arrive at an opinion, I am desired to undertake an
examination of that portion of the line now completed, and investigate the
result of the whole system which lias been adopted.

To come to a proper conclusion, it appeared to me to be necessary that I

should make myself acquainted with the gener.tl character of the whole line,
and consequently I have been over its whole length to Bristol. It seemed
also desirable that I should inform myself, as accurately as po.ssible, as to the
tratfic to be expected upon it generally, and in the aggregate, for this certainly
forms one of the most essential features of all lines.

The question seems also to require a still more extended view than this;
the district into which it goes has to be glanced at ; the area and extent of
population, which may be looked to for collateral tratfie, has to be seen ; and
these have to be compared with districts through which olher lines have been
made, and where olher line? are at work.

The necessity of such a view of the question became apparent to me,
because, on coining first upon your road, that which immediately strikes is,
the enlarged capacity of all things, engines, carriages, and road. And the
existence of such an arrangement pre-supposes, in my view, an equally en-
larged traffic ; trains of much greater weight, and of a greater number of
passengers than elsewhere. In short, though not to an equal degree, the
difference between your arrangements and those of other railway companies,
is something like tiie difference between a canal for barges and a canal for
ships; and this comparison will not be extraordinary, should it appear that,
taking your gradients into the question, your locomotives have twice the power
of those on other lines ; and the contrast will not have been useless, should
it be shown that it would be a parallel case to build a ship of 200 tons
burtlien, when there was no probability of ever obtaining a cargo of half
the weight.

Further, I may extend these preliminary remarks by observing, that the
object which I presume you to have in view is, (after paying a due regard to
to the accommodation and convenience of the public,) to carry out your mea-
sure in such a manner as shall be most conducive to the interests of those
who have invested their pro|erly in it. That this should be your object
there can be no doubt, and I wish to place it here as thf desiiJeratiim, because
it is one thing to design that which sliall be pleasing in outline, and grand in
dimensions, and it is altogether anolber thing to design that which, under all
the circumstances, shall best answer the end in view ; one of those ei.ds
being to obtain a return for the capital invested.

I am desirous that it should not be thought that I am here pre-judging the
question. To all questions there are conditions, and I only wish it to be
clearly understood what are the conditions of the question, which, as I under-
stand it, this rcpirt professes to consider. And they may be repeated, that in
carrying out the measure, there is to be the fulJest regard to the wants and con-
veniences of the public ; but also a constant regard to the prospects and ex-
pectations of the shareholders.

No»v, it will not be difficult to show, that the legitimate interests of these
two parties are one.

Tlie profits of a railway are determined by the ratio of the proceeds to the
cost; if the latter be greatly increased, it becomes almost imperative on the
proprietary to increase the former, either by curtailing the accommodation, or
by increasing the charge to the public. The public, therefore, is interested
as much in the economy of railroads, as in the economy of ma-
uufiictures ; in the one case, if it be in fabrics, it will cause a
reduction of the price per yard ; in the other case it will cause a
reduction in the rate per mile. And if the public, in the extended sense of
the word, is to be benefited by economy being exercised in the construction
of a railv^'ay, the public, in a more limited sense of the word, or the more
immediate district through which the line passes, will derive still greater
advantage.

Suppose, for instance, that the problem to be solved was, to give the great-
est impetus to the trade, and the greatest advantage to the town of Bristol.
The way to solve this problem, I think, would be, to connect it with the me-
tropolis by a road on which parties could be carried for the smallest sum, and
at a velocity not inferior to that at which they can be carried in any other
direction. Now the cost at which a parly can be carried will be as the in-
terest on the capital expended added to the cost of working the road.

For instance, call the gross revenue of a road paying 10 per cent., 100;
and call the cost of working SO per cent. ; 50 will then be left to pay 10 per
cent, on a capital of 500 ; double the capital, and it reduces the piofit to 5
per cent.

The capital ought not to be doubled, advisedly, therefore, unless one of
these two things is to be accomplished by it ; either that the cost of working
be reduced to nothing, or that the gross proceeds to be doubled. Should the
capital be increased without effecting any material reduction in the cost of
working, the consequence will be, that, to increase the proceeds, the rates
must be raised ; and this may or may not be effectual ; for an increase of
charge beyond a certain limit will not increase the proceeds. If it should not
be effectual, the shareholders will suffer. If it should be effectual, the public
will suffer, by having to pay the higher rates.

If, supposing in the case of a railway only partially constructed, it should
turn out that the traffic bad been as much under-rated as the cost of the line
had been increased, and that still a profit of ten per cent, would accrue, yet it
proves only this, that though iu the one case, by good fortune, a piofit of 10
per cent, will be obtained, in the other case a profit of 20 per cent, would
have been secured.

I would not apply this species of illustration to cases where the cost is in-
creased of necessity ; I would only apply it to cases where the increased ex-
penditure is for some sjiccijic object ; such as the attainment of much Hatter
gradients, or of very high velocities, or of much greater dimensions; wliieh
may or may not be desirable, according to the result when tried by this ndc.

Now supposing this species of test be applied to one great object which you
appear to have in view— the reduction of a great portion of jour line to a

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

49

practical level, for the ostensible purposs of obtaining higher velocities, or
diminished resistance.

Between your maximum parliamentary gradient, vehich was 1 in 528, or
10 feet per mile, and your present proposed gradient, which is 1 in 1320, or
only 4 feet in a mile, the question stands thus.

Calling friction, resistance from the atmosphere, &c., lOlbs. per ton, and
adding gravity, the resistance on 1 in 526 will be 14. 21bs. per ton, on 1 in
1320 it will be 11 "lbs. per ton, making a diminution of resistance, when
ascending, of 17 per cent. Now, supposing your railway was one inclination
throughout between the e.\treme termini A and B ; in rising from A to B the
increased resistance of 17 per cent, would be felt, and a corresponding in-
crease of steam would liave to be expended; but in descending from B tu A
there would be a diminished resistance in tlie same proportion, and a smaller
quantity of steam would be required ; and in such a case, as it regards cost of
working, there wovild be very little advantage in one gradient over the other.
The maximum load that an engine could draw on an incline of 1 in 528,
would be less than on 1 in 1320 ; but on an incline of 1 in 528 all average
loads could be taken.

On an incline of 1 in 528 also, to carry /Ac same load, an engine would
have to be a trifle heavier than on 1 in 1320; but on 1 in 528, to carry full
average loads, an engine could be made of as light weight as they ever are,
or perhaps can be made, consistent with the requisite strength.

If, instead of having one inclination, the line consisted of a series of in-
clinations greatly undulating, the advantages of the flatter line would approach
nearer to the 1 7 per cent. ; not but that it would still follow, that in going up
the steeper gradients tliere would be increased resistance, and in going down
there would be diminished resistance in equal proportion ; yet in practice it
has been found, that unless the inclines be of very great length, advantage
cannot be taken of the diniinishtd resistance in going down, as regards steam ;
for though it is not wanted to an equal extent, yet a great portion is wasted
by blowing off at the safety valve.

But your line corresponds to neither the latter nor the former of these cases ;
it is neither composed entirely of one plane, nor of a series of planes ijreutly
vndutalhiri ; but in result it will approach nearer to the form^case than the
latter ; for it may be said to be composed of two great planes, one rising up to
the summit, the other descending from it — one upwards of 70 miles in length,
the other upwards of 40, and dividing your line at the summit into two
parts ; it would then be analogous to the former case, in which it appears that
practically, and as regards cost of working, there would be no very material
difference between the inclination cf 1 in 528, and of 1 in 1320, iWieii so cir-
cumstanced. If in your line, therefore, the advantage of one gradient over
the other be put at 8.5 per cent., it will, in my opinion, be the fun
equivalent.

Now, if the whole cost of working a railway was expended on locomotive
power, by reducing the gradient from 1 in 528, to 1 in 1320, a saving of 8.5
per cent, would be effected, and therefore an increase of 8. 5 per cent, to the
capital to obtain it would not be expended uselessly.

But the expense of working railways does not consist entirely of the cost
of locomotive power. There are other expcnces that remain constant, what-
ever saving be effected in the locomotive department ; and this fact should be
kept constantly in view during the remainder of this report.

Taking the Liverpool and Manchester Railway as a standard, it will there
be seen that the cost of power does not form one-third of their half-yeavly
expenses. It is upon this item only, therefore, that an alteration of the
gradients of the nature I have been describing would effect a saving of 8.5
percent.; and 8.5 per cent, upon one-third of the annual expenses will be
only 2.8 per cent, on the whole of the annual expenses, and therefore a
company would do wrong in increasing their capital more than 2.8 per cent,
to effect such an alteration.

But the small saving to be obtained in many cases by reducing gradients
below a certain inclination may be proved by an appeal to actual practice;
not experiment only, but the every-day results of lines in operation, which is
far better, for it is upon the every-day business that the saving must be
effected, if it is to be.

Contrasting your line with one which opened about the same time, which
also has continuous bearings, upon which an equal velocity has been main-
tained, and which, as will appear from the statement below, has very different
gradients, it will be seen that in a case like yours 1 have put the advantage of
a gradient of 1 in 1320 over 1 in 528, high enough.

GRADIENTS ON GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY,

Miles.

Chains.

16

. . . level

2

1

rises

7

43

.

40

level

2

48 ....

. falls . .

„

40 ....

„

1

73

. . . level

30 ....

. falls . .

1

40 ....

.

„

20 ....

1

40 ....

rises

I

„ ....

„

20 ....

.

„

30 ....

„

1700
1320

1760
1320

1980
1320
2040
2040
2112
1320
1980
1830

GRADIENTS ON
iles. Chains.

10

MANCHESTER AND BOLTON
level

RAILWAY

26

falls
rises

...... 1

1312

28

16

...... 1

level . .

160
10.34

3}

rises

1

1834

1 50

4 61

1 32

1

1

1

„

544
200
274J

62

level

"

Tlie foUoiiiiig arelfhe results of Four Weeks' Traffic on each of these Lines,
eitdjng the I'Ath of September.

GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY.

Average number of ti'ains per day . . . -

On Sundays

Tiines of nuining ..---.-

.\verage number of can-iages per train

Average number of passengers per train . . -

.\verage weight per train

14

- - 12

8,9,10,12,4,5,6,7

. - 6. S

- HI

Cwt.

5

Average consumption of coke per mile ------

Average consumptiou of coke per ton per mile
.\verage consumption of coke per passenger per mile -

Length of trip

.-Vverage lime, 5.5 minutes, \\ith two stoppages.

MANCHESTER AND BOLTON RAILWAY.

.Vverage number of U'ains per day

On Sundays ..._...-

Times of running

.\verage number of can'iages per train
Average number of passengers per train

Average weight per train

Tons,
40
lbs.
51. 00

1. 20

0. 4.5
22i miles.

20
4

7, 8,9, 10, 12, 2i, 4, 5,0,

Tons.
24

Cwt.
1

Average consumption of coke per mile .__--- 27, 00

Average cousuniptiou of coke per ton per mile - - - - - 1. 16

Average consumption of coke per passenger per mile - • - - 0. 36

Length of trip ....... ... 10 miles.

Average time of making if, without stoppages - - - - - 27 minutes.

Average time, 35 minutes, with 5 stoppages.

From the foregoing statement it would appear that the consumption of coke
is considerably less on the line with steep gradients. But the average weight
per traiir is in each case exclusive of the engine and tender.

The average weight of engine and tender, in working order, on the Great
Western Railway, will be 27 tons.

On the Manchester and Bolton Railway the engine and tender, in working
order, weigh 16 tons 4 cwt.

Adding these to the respective trains, the average u-eight of the Great
Western train, including engine and tender, will be 67 tons 5 cwt.

The average weiglit of the Manchester and Bolton train, including engine
and tender, is 40 tons 5 cwt. And

Consumption of coke per ton per
mile on the Great Western, including
weight of engine and tender, is
0.75lbs.

Consumption of coke per ton per
mile on Manchester and Bolton, in-
cluding weight of engine and tender,
is 0.671bs.

And on the [Leeds and Selby Railway, with the following gradients, (he
results of a month's working, ending the 13th of September, are as under: —

n

G

miles

RADIENTS.

rises 1 in

210

1

„

1 „

176

2

,,

„ 1 „

152

■J

level

3

falls 1 „

135

3

„ 1 „

152

^

level

57

32 tons 5 cwt.
lbs.

- 36.00

- 1.1

- 0.63

- 20 miles.

Average number of trains per day, 7. 2 on Sundays.
One train extra on two market days per week.
Average number of passengers per train
Average weight per train, exclusive of engine and tender

Average consumption of coke per mile ...
Average consumption of coke per ton per mile
Average consumption of coke per passenger per mile -
Length of trip ----....
Average time 1 hour 7 minutes, with 4 stoppages.

The next subject for consideration is the increase of gauge. In examining
this question, it will be necessary to put aside useless and erroneous objec-
tions ; for the enquiry is one on which I am not only anxious to arrive at a
proper conclusion myself, but I am desirous of enabling others to do so also ;
and throughout this report I shall rather aim at developing the process by
which the opinions it contains are arrived at, even at the risk of being tedious,
and aware though I am, that this will be laying it more peculiarly open to any
who should be disposed to cavil at it ; yet, on such a subject, it is better that
it should partake more of Uie nature of demonstration than of mere assertioa.

50

THE CIVTL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

It may be observed lieie, that imicli that is alisurd lias been applied to llu-
r|uestion of gauge) some have looked for advantages so great as would have
left them little less than magical; thcy seem almost to have expected that on
.v»(7/ a qamiv the carriages would run of themselves. Others, on the contrary,
seem almost to have expected that on such a gauge carriages could never be
made to run at all. It has been applauded to the skies as being wonderful ;
it has been decried, and cried down, as being little less than nonsensical.
Now, it is neither the one nor the other of these ; it is simply a railroad of
greater dimensions than those ^litherto constructed, and the only question is, is
such an increase of dimensions judicious or notV And the next question will
be, if injudicious, considering the amount in money to which you arc com-
mitted to it, is it better for you to proceed or to make the alteration V

In the first place it may be stated, for there can be no doubt about it, that
just as good a road can be made 7 feet wide as 5 feet wide: it is simply a
question of cost. There are some, no doubt, who have connected tho effect
of the malformation of your road in the first instance, with the width of ways,
hut of course erroneously so.

In the next place, in determining on the question of gauge, it shoidd be
considered quite independently of anything that may have been done upon
your railway, which is notab-solutely consequent on the increase of gauge ; and
J shall class'among the non-essentials the peculiar mode of laying with piles,
engines of IC tons weight, and tunnels of 30 feet diameter.

It may be premised that determining the question of gauge in this country,
isa very different question from determining it with regard to countries where
the railway systenr is scarcely introduced. In England, what may be termed
the great trunk, connecting the north with the south, has already been formed,
or is in progress. Under the superintendence of men who were earliest con-
nected with the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and with railways even
prior to that, it has been constructed on a gauge of 4 feet 8i inches. They
had more experience than others in railway matters; and their continuing the
eame dimensions as to width of way proves .that they had found no occasion
for altering it. Moreover, it is indisputably true, that they who have had the
most experience, and who have been brought most into contact with the work-
ing of railways, see the least occasion for an alteration as to width, and are the
most satisfied with the present gauge.

In addition to this main trtmk, another line crossing it right angles, and of
which the Liverpool and Manchester, and the Leeds and Selby Hallways
form a part, and which will connect the eastern with the western seas, is
already constructed, or in progress, to a similar gauge : and other lines of
great extent, some of them surrounding and piercing into the district into
which your Railway goes, are also formed, or are rapidly forming- to the 4 feet
8J inch gauge.

And it will not be too much perhaps to say, that three-fourths of England
is already being traversed by railways to the narrower gauge.

It follows, then, that any contpany deviating from this gauge will be
isolating themselves to a certain extent ; if not as regards their main liue,
yet as regards their branches ; if not as regards their direct traflSc, yet cer-
tainly as regards their collateral tratlic.

But in the present early stage of r.iilway traffic, it yet remains to be seen
whether or not it may not become a great evil, for a main line to be thus
isolated and rendered impossible of connection with the great lines in its
neighbourhood ; that it will be an evil in this sense as it regards the branch
lines, there can be little dnnbt; for they or some of them, in course of time,
will of necessity run into the neighbourhood of other lines of different gauge ;
but with these, however vital the connection may be, all connection will be
impossible.

In this point of view only, it has become a serious matter for any company
in this country to make their line to differ as to dimensions from the majoiity
of lines around them. It is to a certain extent as if a canal company in a
country of canals shoidd construct a new navigation so, and with lock.? of
such a character, as would totally shutout the boats of all the canals that sur-
rounded it.

Still it is possible that there might be, coiqiled with the deviation, improve-
ments of such a nature as would counterbalance the inconvenience, as would
even compensate the loss. They might consist of arrangements that would
effect a.iireal anil iiiiporlantsarini/hi limp and monctj, and in a better conserva-
tion of the property to be conveyed, and it will be necessary to enquire if
such will be the result of the deviation in your case as to the width of way.

If the 7 feet gauge is to effect a saving in money, it must be in one of two
ways; either by calling for less capital in the first instance, or by reducing
the cost of working afterwards. The first of these it cannot do. On the
contrary, the caphal will be increasd certainly: to how great an extent it
would be impossible for me without more time for calcidation to say. But
contracting the dimensions to the smallest limit; two ways of 7 feet must of
necessity require a greater width than two ways of 4 feet 8^- inches. 1 should
say, to make a line equally as convenient, this increase of width would
amount to 4 feet ; for the width between the ways is not to be governed
entirely by the maximum width ;issigned to the load. A certain width is
found convenient for repairs and other purposes ; and too great a proximity of
the ways is dangerous ; as by it an accident occrrring on one line may be
productive of disastrous consequences on the other, as I have seen. And the
width outside the ways will also be nearly a fixed quantity whatever be the
gauge; for a certain width is requisite for safety, and for allowing proper
consolidation to the outer rail on the embankments, and to give room for
drainage in the cuttings ; and, therefore, the width of the road generally, to
make as convenient a road, would have to be increased by the extra width
given to the ways. And besides this increa.se of general dimensions as to earth
work and land, the locomotives would of necessity have to be heavier (I do

not say to an equal extent to those yon now have), and they would therefore
be more costly to some extent. The permanent road will also cost more of
the larger dimensions than if of the smaller; for it avails nothing to com-
pare a light rail on the large gauge, with a heavier rail on the smaller gauge ;
such comparisons must bo made when other things are the same, or they
.amount to nothing.

If then the capital will of necessity be increased, the next enquiry is, will
the cost of working be diminished? The cost of working will depend on
the first cost of the engines; for though, in the first instance, they maybe
charged to capital, afterwards they will have to be charged to current
expences. It will also depend on the repairs of the engines, the consumption
of coke, and the maintenance of way ; and on other matters which are in
nowise connected with the gauge.

As it regards the cost of the engines, it will be greater on the wide gauge ;
as it respects the repairs of the engines, should it prove in favour of the wide
gauge, it can only be in a small degree. For the repairs of locomotives on
lines v;here passengers are carried at great velocities, have been found to be
incurred chiefly on the wheels and axles, tubes, and fire boxes, which cannot
be affected by the gauge, excepting that if the wheels and axles be made
larger, the repairs will be increased. And, at all events, the common repairs
of a larger machine, necessarily so in consequence of the larger way, but not
necessarily so in consequence of any greater traffic, it is probable, will coun-
terbalance any saving tliat might be effected in the repairs of the smaller
gearing, in consequence of having more room to arrange it. Besides,
a great portion of the repairs of locomotives is not for common wear
and tear, but is on account of accidents. And in proportion as the machine
is made larger and more expensive, so will the cost of repairs consequent on
accidents be increased.

The maintenance of way will of course be /«% as great on a wider way,
and with heavier engines, as on a narrower way, with lighter engines; for
perhaps it would not be advancing too much to say, that the engines and
tenders do more harm to the superstructure of railways than all the rest of
the traffic put together; excepting perhaps loads of long timber.

And lastly, if the consumption of coke is to be reduced on the wider gauge,
it can only be by the friction being diminished, or by what has been called
the mechanical advantage of large wheels.

It would have been highly desirable, if before using this as an argument,
the Irish commissioners had clearly determined that there was an advantage
in larger wheels. For there arc some experiments and several reasons fur
doubting that any such advantage will be derived from increasing the size of
wheel. As it regards the friction of attrition, or that caused by the rubbing
of the axles, it may be supposed to remain constant, however the wheel be
enlarged ; if it be allowed that with an enlarged diameter of wheel, and espe-
cially when attached to a longer axle, there must be a corresponding enlarge-
ment of journal ; and in practice I think this would be the case. And .as
reg,ards the friction of rolling, it is not likely to be diminished by increasing
the size of the wheel, for the rolling friction on rails is very different
from the rolling friction on common roads, where obstacles are met
with that h.ave to be surmounted by raising the vehicle over them.
Small wheels on turnpike ronds have been found to create much more
resistance. But on a railw,ay, unless the wheels be very smtill, the obstacles
to motion from causes of this nature must be nearly imperceptible. And
there is another species of rolling friction, caused by the grinding of the
flanges of the wheels against the rails, which will be more felt in large wheels
than in small wheels, and especially rovmd curves.

But to arrive at something more definite on this subject, I will give the re-
sult of some experiments made on your line on the 20tb September.

A large train, consisting of nine carriages, one six-wheeled waggon, and
eleven trucks, laden with iron and stone, was got into motion up and down a
long- and perfectly straight inclination of 4 feet per mile. The experiment
was first made upon the whole train, which gave a result of 6.221')s. per ton
friction.

The experiment was made so as to ascertain the friction of the trucks and
the carriages separately, one truck only being left attached to the carriages,
and the result obtained was a friction of 6.51bs. per ton for the trucks and
waggons, which weighed together 79 tons 8 cwt. ; and a friction of 8. 15lbs.
per ton on the carriages and one truck alone, which weighed in the aggregate
7-1 tons 12 cwt.

On the 2Cth September I took six wagons on the Manchester and Bolton
Railway, each laden with 3^ tons of iron, and experimented in the same way
upon them, by getting them into motion, and noting the velocity and the
distance run, from which the friction was determined to be 6.31bs. per ton.
The plane on which this experiment was made w.as terminated at each end by
curves, one of 111 chains radius, the other of 67 chains r.adins. In the ex-
periment up the plane the distance run was 29.50 feet, the wagons having
run 330 feet into the curve of 11 1 chains radius before they stopped. In the
experiment down the plane the distance run w.as 3825 feet, 1980 feet of
which was in the curve of 72 chains radius in which the wagons stopped.
The same train of six wagons was then brought to an inclination where
gravity alone was sufficient to get it into motion. This portion of the line had
previously been divided by stakes into lengths of 100 feet, and the rails oppo-
site each stake accurately levelled.

From the starting point to the ninth stake the line was straight, but at this
point a curve of 42 chains radius commenced, and extended beyond the point
where the wagons came to rest.

The result of this experiment, repeated twice, gave a fiiclion of 7.321b.s.

per ton ; but it should .also be observed that besides passing for 1300 feet

along a cuvv? of abgut half a mile radius, the whole distance run being about

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

51

2200 feef, the train Imd to pass tbroiigli three shmits before comhig to rest,
which will probably account for the friction being higher than in the previous
experiments.

This line, as well as the Great Western, has continuous bearings of wood.
Though for a short distance in the curves in all the experiments on the Man-
chester and Bolton Railway, the motion was continued on continuous bearings
of stone. The Manchester and Bolton line has a heavier rail of (.531bs. per
yard). And in the Great Western experiments, three of the carriiiges and
one wagon had six wheels each, which have rather more friction than those
of four wheels ; but in such a large and heavy train, no great difference could
be caused by this.

The whole of the wheels in the Great Western experiments were four feet
in diameter, the journals 2 11-16 inches in diameter. In the experiments on
the Manchester and Bolton Railway the wheels were of three feet diameter,
and the journals of two inches diameter ; and four feet : throe feet : ; 2 1 1- IB
inches ; 1 1-10 or two inches nearly. But supposing that neither the fore-
going experiments nor reasonings are to be decisive as to the mechanical
advantage of increasing the size of the wheels, and 1 do not mean to say that
they are, for to determine the question clearly the experiments should perhaps
be made on the same road ; yet still as a general question there will be several
drawbacks on the theoretical advantage of the larger wheel, such as the
greater resistance on curves with the wider way ; more rubbing of the flanges
against the rails, not only inconsequence of the larger wheel, but of the greater
breadth of way ; for 1 think it is probable that friction would be reduced to a
minimum by concentrating the whole momentum of a train on one rail, and
that friction will be increased in some degree, as the distance between the
wheels, or as the width of way is enlarged.

The next enquiry respecting the gauge is as to the matter of safety. If the
gauge is to be altered on this account, it should only be because of a want
of safety in the present gauge. If A be safe, there cannot be the smallest ad-
vantage in making B safer.

Now the question is, is the narrower gauge safe ? It might have been rea-
soned a priori that the width between the railway wheels being equal to those
of turnpike-road carriages ; and from the very great weight of railway wheels
and the under carriages, the centre of gravity being in ,ill eases mueh lower on
a railway coach than on a stage coach ; and the railway itself being infinitely
more smooth asd perfect than the common road ; that though the velocities are
much greater, yet still there isnodanger of overturning. And the fact is, 1 have
never heard ofa ease of overturning, or of any accident that I should attribute
to the narrowness of base, occurring. And from what experience I have had
on Railways, I believe it would be a most difficult matter to overturn the
carriages upon them, with the present gauge, even if the object was purposely
to do so, and an experiment should be made for the purpose. But having
heard it urged that there was greater safety on the wider base, which may be
granted, but which amounts to little if there is quite enough of safety on the
narrower base ; and being unfible to call to mind a single instance of an acci-
dent or of an overturning in consequence of a narrower base, 1 addressed a
letter to Mr. Booth, the treasurer of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway,
on the subject, to know if he had ever known an accident that could be at-
tributed to the narrovvnessof base; I also wrote a similar letter to Mr. Smith,
engineer on the Leeds and Selby Railway, and I received the following re-
plies : —

" Liverpool and Manchester Railway,

" Lime Street Station, 21st Sept., 1838.

" Sir, — I have to acknowleilge the favour of yom* comnmnieation of the H)lli,
cni|uiriug whether or not, in my experience, there is any want of safely in the present
gauge, 4 feet 8^ inches as^to the chance of overturning; and also iV I have known
any case of overturning in consequence of narrowness of base, or are aware of any
accidents having occurred, which I would ascribe to the narrowness of the l feet
8A inches, base.

" In reply, I beg leave to inform you that in my opinion there is not auy want of
safety in the 4 feet 8^ inch gauge, and I am not aware of any accidents having
occurred, which I shoiUd ascribe to the 4 feet 8J inch gange. The only case of
overturning which I recollect occurred some years ago, when, owing to the breaking
of an axle, the engine (which had only four wheels) ijuitted the rails, and drc\v
several of the carriages over the embankment, near Bury-lane.

" Wliether in such a case a broader base would have prevented the carriages over-
turning, I will not pretend to say ; it might depend on the relative heiglit of the
carriages and other circumstances. " I am. Sir, &c.,

(Signed) "He.n'ky Bootu."

" John Hawkshaw, Esq."

"Leeds, 21st Sept., 1838.
•■ Dear Sin,— In reply to yours of the 10th inst., wc have had but one accident
(during the experience of four years) that w:is not occasioned either by tongues
being wrong or some obstacle m the way The one excepted, was caused by the
repairers raising some wood sleepers too mnch at once on a new made embankment.
I do not consider there is any want of safety in the gauge, (4 feet 8A inches) nor do
1 know of any accident or overtuniuig which can be attribnted to that guagc.

" I am, dear Sir, yours, i;c.,
(Sigucd) "Geo. Smith, R.K.,

" John Hawkshaw, Escp" " Leeds and Selby Railway."

Besides, there is no ditficulty in lowering the centre of gravity on the pre-
sent gauge very considerably, were such a thing desirable or called for. For
by making the coaches omnibus fashion, the passengers in each coach could
be made to sit a foot lower than at present. That this is not dune goes a
great way to prove that it is unnecessary. Or by keeping the centre of
gravity as it is, it is quite easy and practicable with the present gauge to in-
crease the siie of the wheels from three feet to three I'ect sw iuelics or larger,
if any thing was to be gained by it.

Having gone into the question of gauge abstractedly from what has been done
upon your line in connection with it, and debiting the system of a 7 feet rail
with such an increase of cost only as appears to me to be absolutely conse-
quent on its adoption, I feel compelled to come to the conclusion, that there
are no advantages to be obtained by adopting it, at all commensurate with
the evils that will be consequent on the deviation; and for the reasons which
follow, it is not desirable, in my opinion, to proceed with it, unless you were
already committed to it in a pecuniaiy sense, to an amount that will outweigh
all the objections to it, but which will be seen hereafter.

The additional reasons for not proceeding with it are these; — first, consi-
deiing the great cost, and the comparatively small profits of railway lines
generally on the smallest dimensions, and the great difficulty theie is, and the
corresponding increase of outlay that is incurred, in obtaining curves of suffi-
ciently large radius to be workable at the present narrower gauge ; I cannot
conceive that there is a single practical man in England who could recom-
mend the 7 feet gauge, as general system for this country.

If unfit as a general system for the whole country, it will be unfit as a par-
tial system for a portion of it ; unless that system is of necessity to be very
mueh confined ; its ramifications into other di.stricis impossible from natural
barriers, such as seas, or lakes ; and the nature of the country, such as to un-
dulations, that the cost of obtaining curves of larger radius will be trifling.

Even admitting that the latter condition is true of your line, and that from
its general flatness curves can easily be obtained of large radius, yet this
cannot be predicated of the whole of the branches and extensions to which
you will have to look for collateral and extended traffic. And even if it could,
still the system is unquestionably more expensive to some degree, and though
you with your large traffic might not be totally crushed by it, it has yet to be
seen what the effect will be on the smaller and less favourable lines; which,
to get into yours, will be compelled to adopt similar dimensions, and involv-
ing of course similar expenses. At the same time, the prosperity of your
line will be affected in no small degree by the prosperity of the tributaries to
it ; and in fact, a probable result of doing things on such a great scale will
be, to drive traffic which otherwise would come upon you, in some other direc-
tion. For in railway lines generally, in the same country, there will come to
be .1 mutual dependance one upon another. And surely it must be rather an
untenable doctrine to hold, that the gauge of each line is to be determined
only by reference to its curves and gradients, for by such a rule it would
follow that no two lines could be alike.

Finally, it may be said of railway lines, that they will not bear any addi-
tional expense. It may perhaps be said of every railway formed in this
kingdom, that if the company had to begin again, their object would be to
economise, and to diminish their first outlay, not to increase it ; or if there be
a railway company, and such are rare cases, that has already devoted its atten-
tion to the utmost in keeping down the expenditure in the first instance — that
railway company would not do otherwise if it had to begin again ; and that
railway company will feel that for the course that has been pursued, there is
every cause for congratulation.

I could not advise you to take the London and Birmingham as your model,
and feel satisfied if you exceed them as to cost in only a few particulars ;
their line was necessarily through a country very different, and far more e.K-
pensive than yours ; and their line is in a position in which, if a great ex-
penditure is to be repaid anywhere in this country, it will be to them. For
I cannot conceive that your line, or indeed any other line that I am acquainted
with, can expect an equal amount of thorough traffic ; for into their line a
great portion of the north of England, and a still larger portion of Scotland,
besides the great manufacturing and commercial districts of Birmingham,
Manchester, and Liverpsol, must of necessity converge before arriving at the
Metropolis.

Still, though I do not see that the aggregate of your traffic can ever be e.x-
pected to equal that of the London and Birmingham ; yet, considering the
much more favourable country through which your railway passes, and that
the traffic upon it will be unquestionably very large, I think your line pre-
sented equally as good features for investment, and perhaps may do so still ;
it will depend, in my view, upon the course you pursue.

That course, as far as my opinion goes, is not to go forward on your present
system. Knowing that railways hitherto, and on the smaller scale, have been
found greatly expensive, so much so as scarcely in any case to leave an ample
dividend, when the great risk of such investments is considered, I cannot
advise you to proceed on a plan which, in all human probability, will mate-
rially diminish that dividend.

It cannot be necessary for the attainment of safety, when in the present
gauge there is no danger.

It cannot be required for the attainment of high velocities, because on the
narower gauge velocities can be attained with perfect safety, greater than,
could be maintained by any railway company in England perhaps, without
absolute ruin to themselves in a pecuniary sense.

The Liverpool and Manchester Railway, by increasing their speed from 20
to 2l) miles per hour, have iucrciiscd their locomotive expenses about 15 per
cent. Much higher velocities ttan this arc attained, and with perfect safety,
on the narrower gauge ; but there is no company that could bear the increased
expense of maintaining such velocities constantly, or if there be, it will be
fcund to be that company which has expended the least in the first instance.
For example : the Grand Junction would feel the effects of increased expen-
diture to maintain a very high velocity, loss than would the Loudon and Bir-
mingham ; not that their gradients are better, they are worse; but simply
because their first outlay is much less, and therelbre their annual expenses
might be much increased, and still leave as large a revenue: in short, for very
much the saijie reason that 20s, for carrying ^ passenger 97^ miles oii theii

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

line, will probably pay them quite as well as 30s. will pay the London
and Birmingham Company for carrying a passenger 111 miles on their
line.

But in advising you not to proceed in constructing your line on the larger
scale, it is necessary to take a review of the consequences.

You are, to a certain extent, committed to it in a pecuniary sense. This
amount can be ascertained and contrasted with the saving to be effected by
contracting the dimensions, if there be a saving; if there be no saving as to
first cost, in making the alteration, yet as I believe there would be a material
saving in the expenses afterwards, and other advantages of greater magnitude
still, such as the avoiding the introduction of an expensive system into dis-
tricts which can ill afford it, the consequent re-action from which would be
felt by our own line, I feel bound to recommend you to make the alteration.

That which will go to the debit of making the alteration will be as fol-
lov.'s : — ■

22 Miles of road to be taken up and re-laid, the

same materials being used, £1,500 per mile.... XSS.OOO 0 0

14 Locomotives and tenders received

(adaptedforwidegauge)£l,980each, £27,720 0 0
7 Engines and tenders, constructing,

say same price 13,800 0 0

42 First-class carriages at £544 22,848 0 0

40 Second-class carriages at £351 14,040 0 0

118 Trucks and wagons at £106 12,508 0 0

90,976 0 0

£123,976 0 0
On the rails I do not consider there would be any loss, for though I think

them too light, yet they will be much less objectionable in this respect on the

narrower way.
That which will go to tlie credit of making the alteration will be as

follows : —

£1,000 per mile to be saved on 100 miles of permanent

way yet to be laid £100,000 0 0

£400 each less upon 60 engines and tenders yet to be ob-
tained to make full stock 24,000 0 0

£200 per mile less on earthwork, &c. yet to be completed,

say 60 miles 12,000 0 0

Say 20 per cent, on tunnelling yet to be done, by the nar-
rower gauge, requiring 4 feet less width, say 2,000
yards, at £10 20,000 0 0

£156,000 0 0

It is useless to push this enquiry further. Tt is clear that evsn considering
the question as if your present stock of engines, carriages, &c. would be
valueless if you alter the gauge ; and contrasting this loss with the saving
that would be effected by adopting the narrower gauge, supposing that in
prosecuting the 7 feet gauge you were only m future to do that which is
barely necessary, still, taking such a view of it, the advantage in a pecuniary
sense is decidedly in favour of an alteration of the gauge.

But if the comparison were made on the supposition that in carrying out
your system as to gauge, you were to continue the large dimensions you have
begun with, the pecuniary advantages in favour of reducing the gauge would
be very much greater.

Further, there is no necessity for considering all your present-stock of
engines and carriages as valueless ; for supposing you should decide upon
altering the gauge, it could be done as follows.

It would be necessary in the first place to curtail the dimensions of all the
works yet remaining to be done, and to proceed with taking up one of the
lines between London and Maidenhead and to relay it to the narrower gauge.
In the mean time your present traffic in passengers could be carried on very
well on one line. On the railway between Antwerp and Brussels, greater
numbers nre canied on a single line of way. This would of course afford
employment for your present stock of engines and carriages for probably a
year and a half, and would therefore go to diminish the sacrifice that ulti-
mately would h^ve to be made ; that sacrifice would be still further diminished,
by the value of such part of the carriages, trucks, and engines, as could be
applied in the construction of others for the narrower gauge.

Of course the traffic would have to be transferred to the line of narrower
gauge before the second seven feet way between London and Maidenhead
could be taken up ; it might then be relaid to the narrower gauge, and could
be got ready by the time that an extended portion of your line should be pre-
pared for opening.

Having come to a conclusion that so great an increase of guage as to 7 feet
is to be avoided ; the question will arise, is 4 feet 8i inch exactly the thing?
No one, perhaps, will pretend to say that it is so precisely, or that an inch or
two in addition could make much difference as to cost. Of course the ob-
jections to increasing the width of way, on the score of expense, become less
as the increase to be made is diminished ; the main reason in my view for
abiding by the 4 feet 84 inch guage io this country is, that it has been greatly
adopted, and that there are no very substantial grounds for altering it. 1 have
never heard any one, whose opinion I should esteem of great value from their
experier.ce of the working of locomotives on railways, wish for more than a
lew inches of additional width, five or six inches at the utmost ; and even as
to this increase, just in proportion as the parties had had much to do with the
working of the locomotives on railways, so in the same proportion did they
esteem even it to be of minor importance.

Perhaps, if railways were just commencing in this country, an addition of
a few inches, five or six inches at the most, might be made ; but the advan-
tage to be gained by making it now, in my opinion, would in no manner com-
pensate the evil that will arise from a variety of gauges in the same country.

Impressed with the importance of having other opinions on this subject than
my own, I addressed a letter to two of the largest manufacturers of locomotives
in this country, requesting from them to know what in their opinion were
the practical disadvantages o( the 4 feet 8§ inches guage as affecting the
manufacturer.

The opinions of both these parties in my view are peculiarly valuable, for
they were not only amongst (he earliest locomotive manufacturers, but have
also had much more experience as to the working of their engines on railways
than any other manufacturers I know ; and without this latter kind of ex-
perience, manufacturers are, to a certain extent, only theorists, as to the
question in hand.

Their answers an; below.

•■ Liverpool, Sept. iQtli, 1838.

" Dear' Sir, — In reply to your letter of tlie 27th inst. referring to the question of the
right guage, which at this time is so much agitated,

I beg to state that though we do not hiboiir absolutely under great difficulties, iu
consequence of the want of breadth, yet there is no doubt au addition to the present
width (4 feet 8^in ) of a few iuchcs would enable us to make a more perfect engine.
The ad(Ution of 6 inches would be ample, and I consider any thing beyond that would
tend to iucrease the difficulties beyond what we now experience, rather than othenyise.

" Yom*s truly,
(Signed) '" Edwakd Burv.

'' John Hawkshaw, Esq."

" Londou, Oct. 1, 1838.
" Mr. Johu Hawkshaw.
" Sir, — lire extent of inconvenience we experience in the construction of locomotive
engines of moderate power {say 14 inch cylinders) for a gauge of 4 feet 8| inches, is
very small iuileed. In our early eugines au addiduual width of 3 or 4 iuches would
have facilitated the arrangement of the workiug *^car and eccentrics; but tlus has
since been simplified, and our latest arrangement of those parts leaves scarcely this
small increase of width to be wished for.

" The construction of eugiues for Russia for a six feet gauge, leads us to believe
that a considerable increase of expense is attendant upon increased \ridth ; more
especially if the power of tlie engine is considered to bear any relation to the width of
the gauge. If the power or dimensions of the engine be kept the same, the additional
expense consequent upon au increase of gauge will uot be very considerable.
'* We are, Sir, &c.,
(Signed) " Robert Stecuenson & Co."

With respect to Mr. Bury, it may be observed, that if any manufacturer in
England has felt inconvenience from the 4 ft. 8 j in. guage, he must have done
so ; for, from the peculiar construction of his engines, it is a principle with
him to use inside bearings only, which necessarily leave less room for the
working gear than when outside bearings are used.

BRIDGE AT MAIDENHEAD.

I have carefully inspected this bridge, and find that at the crown of the
eastern arch, and for 12 or 14 feet on each side of it, there is a separation
between the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd rings of whole bricks, counting from the soffit
of the arch ; these separjitions generally are about half au inch wide ; and
extend tliree or four yards each way from the crown of the arch ; the dislo-
cation appears to be less towards the interior, for on making a hole quite
through the brickwork in the centre of the arch, it was found that there was a
separation only between the 2nd and 3rd ring of whole bricks, hut this se-
paiiition was about an inch in width.

There is nothing anywhere that I could perceive like crushing of the bricks,
or disloca'ion indirection of the thrust.

I think it probable, therefore, that if a few iron holts were ]iut thiough the
arch, so as to prevent any further separation, and the crown of the arch loaded
with additioni'Ll weight, that the bridge might stand, and perhaps be quite
strong enough for anything that ever may be required of it. But I cannot
say that I should advise such an experiment to be made on such a structure,
especially as putting its stability beyond all question will not be a very serious
matter.

1 should recommend, therefore, that from 25 to 30 feet of the crown of the
eastern arch be taken out, (the precise quantity will be seen as the arch is
opened), and replaced with stone, the facing of the elevation may still be of
brick, so as not to destroy the appearance of the bridge. The stone will give
greater weight to the crown of the arch, which I think is wanted; and I should
also recommend an additional weight to he placed on the crown of the western
aich; a couple of courses of 8 or 9 inch landings would do; for I find
difficulty in accounting for the appearances presented, otherwise than on the
supposition that the haunches of the arches have had more than their full
share of load ; and at all events, I am of opinion that some additional weight
on the crown of both arches will be of service, and will add to the general
stability of the structure.

PERMANENT WAY.

The mode adopted in laying the rails, is, I think, attempting to do that in a
difficult and expensive manner, which may be done at least as well in a
simpler and more economical manner.

LOCOMOTIVE POWER.

Beyond what may have been said on this subject generally in the preceding
parts of this report, the length to which it has already extended forbids ray
saying much more. Generally, I should say, that the power of your engines
should be proportioned to your loads.

Employing engines capable of drawing 200 tons to drag loads averaging 50
tons, will be very much like fastening eight horses to a post-chaise.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

53

The great weight of locomotives is a positive evil. It is so, because they
have to be caviled about for nothing. It is so, because tliey do more harm to
tlie road than anything else, and a railway is to be made stronger and more
costly on account of thein. But, to a certain extent, it is a necessary evil;
butimly toa certain extent. And if the weight be increased beyond this
limit, it will be so much thrown away.

The weight of the engine should be determined by the average load be taken,
and the nature of the gradients.

Moreover, the engines will work economically, or otherwise, in proportion
as their power appro.ximates to their loads.

The average of your passenger trains cannot be expected to be greater or
heavier than on the Grand Junction Railway. Supposing tlieni to be the
same, as to weight ; from your flatter gralients, engines of little more than
two-thirds the power of those on the Grand Junction, and therefore of con-
siderably less weight, would be sufficient for you to travel at equal velocities.
If you wish to travel at double the velocity, of course you must have more
powerful engines ; but it should not be forgotten, that you can only travel at
double the velocity, Ijy pretty nearly doubling the cost.

Finally, I should say of your line, that the country is favourable, and the
gradients good ; naturally so, or in so far as they are dependent on the un-
dulations of the country.

Further, with such a traffic as you may expect, and such a country, your
line holds out great inducements for the investment of capital.

But the advantages of country will be lost sight of and nullified, if for the
sake of a system, the cost of the road be greatly increased; and even the
good gradients will be rendered of non-etfect as to eccmomy, if the speed be
greatly increased ; for greater speed will entail greater cost and will be tanta-
mount to steep gradients.

And though the same results may perhaps be obtained on railways of better
gradients, with more dead weight than on railways of bad gradients, yet this
seems to be merely bringing down the good line to the standard of the bad.
I am. Gentlemen, your very obedient servant,
(Signed) JOHN HAV/KSHAW.

Manchester, 4th October, 1838.

REPORT OF I. K. BRUNEL, Esq.

TO THE DIHECTOUS OF THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY COMPANY.
Gentlemen, — In compliance with your request, 1 beg to submit to you the
following observations upon the only report which you have laid before me ;
that expected from Mr. Nicholas Wood not having yet arrived.

Knowing that I should be called upon to express an opinion upon the sub-
ject of these two reports, and that the time idlowcd me would necessarily be
very short, I had proposed to class, as far as posaible, their contents under two
heads, — \\z., &rst, /litis, including under this head the statement of actual
results ascertained upon the Great Western or other lines, and general prin-
ciples, or rules, laid down and assumed as axioms, whether of mechanics, ma-
thematics, or of the practical working oi' economy of railways ; and, secondly,
of the ari/miieiils founded upon these facts or axioms, including the inferences
drawn from them and the opinions expressed.

I proposed, in the next place, to consider how far the former were appli-
cable to the case, and, what is of great importance, how far they constituted nil
the facts that it was necessary to state for the purpose of arriving at a fair
conclusion. I intended then to have discussed the correctness of the latter,
and thus to have arrived, by a clear and satisfactory process, at the object I
had in view, which was, to give ray opinions and my views on the same subject
as that of the reports ; to compare them with those of the writers ; to show
wherein I agreed with them and where I differed, together with the reasons
and grounds for the differences between us.

This would, I think, have laid before you a business-like view of the case,
and such as I should have wished to have submitted to you. I regret that
the peculiar nature of the only report yet received puts it out of my power to
pursue this course ; for having carefully read it, Ifound, that by confining myself
to the division or classification which I had proposed, I should have passed
over in silence a very great portion of its contents, unless I funned a third
division, including neither such facts or arguments as I have described, hut
consisting of general remarks and hypothetical cases, and even the opinions of
others founded upon hypothetical cases. It is true, there are many remarks
and comparisons made which are not applied directly to the Great Western
railway, nor are they in terms stated to be strictly relevant ; neither are the
cases hypothetically put afterwards proved to have any practical existence,
or made to throw light upon any of the existing circumstances of the railway ;
but being interwoven with a report, specially made, upon the Great Western
railway, they are calculated, however inadvertently, to mislead, unless their
irrelevancy is pointed out.

I regret very ranch the necessity of considering these portions of the report,
as it involves the tedious process of referring almost to each page, and of I're-
(\uently entering into long explanations to remove a misapprehension, pro-
duced, perhaps, only by a single word ; but no alternative is left to me. The
utmost extent to which I can venture to depart from the line pursued by the
report which 1 have before me, will be to consider the subject, in the 6rst
place, in what appears to me the engineering and business-like view, and then,
subsequently and separately, to consider the particular manner in which the
writer has treated the question.

The report, after a few preliminary remarks, is divided under the the fol-
lowing heads, and they are considered in the order stated, — namely, the objects
to be attained in the construction of a railway, or what are very properly called,

"the conditions of the qiestion ;" the comparative advantages of good gra-
dients; the width of gauge; Maidenhead bridge; the construction of the
permanent way ; and the locomotive power. I shall now consider the subjects
in the same order, and, for the sake of P' rfect accuracy, refer to the pages and
paragraphs of the printed copy before me. As the opinions expressed, and
the conclusion arrived at, in this report, are generally, if not wholly, diame-
trically opposed to those which 1 am known to entertain, and which I am now
quite prepared to support, it is hut just to slate, at the outset, that I dilTor
altogether from the general principles laid down, which appear to mc to be
unsound, and, indeed, to be iiicorrcclly and insufficiently expressed ; and 1
must say, that I consider the reasoning fallacious and defective, and that many
of the calculations are incorrect or errontous from the omission of quantities
or conditions which must afreet the results.

In the report (p. 48), the conditions of the question are stated to be, that
"there is to ho the fullest regard to the wants and conveniences of the public,
hut also a constant regard to the prospects and expectations of the share-
holders," in wliich I concur. But the observations which follow I entirely
dissent from, for which I will shortly state my reasons. It is said that the
" profits of a railway are determined by the ratio of the proceeds to the cost ;
if the latter be greatly increased, it becomes almost imperative on the pro-
pietary to increase the former, cither by curtailing the accommodation or by
iincreasing the charge to the public.''

In noticin"- this paragraph, I wish to premise that I deprecate, as much as
any one, all useless espenditurc, every increase of the capital of any company
not justified by a fair probability of return, either by economy in the manage-
ment or in the maintenance of the work, or by increase in the income to bo
derived from traffic : — and I must distinctly say, that no departure from a sound
and wise economy would ever receive ray sanction. Having said this, I now,
in answer to the observation I have quoted, would beg to remark, that at what-
ever cost a railway may have been constructed, the only way to increase its
proceeds is the same in all cases : you can only induce the public to Iravil upon
a railway, by holding out better accommodation or lower charges, or both, than
they can find elsewhere, — by, in fact, rfrersinr/ the means recommended — by
increasin" the accommodation or curtailing the charges. Expedition, com.
fort, and"cheapness, are the temptations to railroad travelling, and, according
to the degree in which they exist are made manifest, will the public use tha
railway. " The object is, to get the largest income by these means, — the in-
come must depend upon the facilities afforded. Lot the railroad cost what it
may, it is by no such process as that recommonJed that " proceeds " can be
increased, but by one just the reverse, which is and must be the common
object of all companies, — viz., to obtain the mazimum ef traffic and income:
and no curtailing of the accommodation, no increase of charge to the public,
can do this.

It is stated in the succeeding paragraph (p. 48), that " the cost at which a
party can be conveyed will be .as the interest on the capital expended, added
to the cost of working the road ;'' and inversely, as the number carried, should
have been added. But this important condition, which totally alters the
arithmetical result of the cost of transport, is altogether omitted. Again, in
what immediately follows it is said, that if " capital be increased without
effecting any material reduction in the cost of working, the consequence will
be, that to increase proceeds the rates must be raised. May not the number of
passengers and the traffic be increased by such additional outlay, and thereby
the proceeds also ?

Such are the principles of railway economy which are laid down. I might
perhaps avoid the necessity of further discussing them, by dropping them as
suddenly and as completely as they are dropped after this last.quoted paragraph
in the report, but as an impression is produced (although no direct inference is
drawn) by their assertion, I will examine what I conceive to be the views of
the writer on their intrinsic mcri 1 3.

The theory of trade advanceu in this part of the report may be stated thus ;
that the only mode of increasing the gross profits is to increase the profit upon
each article by raising the price or by reducing the original outlay. No doubt
this is one method, if it can be effected ; but I believe it would be difficult to
point out any one great branch of trade which has thriven in this country by
such a course. But, on the contrary, in every branch of manufacture, each
year the necessary machinery and plant become more costly, the price of the
articles manufactured is reduced, and the profits upon any given quantity
diminished ; but the gross profits are at the same time maintained and increased
by the great incicase of consumption consequent upon diminished prices or
improved quality. . . ,

In railways, the same principle applies, and, if possible, in a still greater
decree • yet in the report it is assumed throughout that the consumption, or,
in the case of railways, the number of passengers and the traffic, is a constant
quantity which, on the one hand, is secured to the railway whatever may be its
comparative inconveniences or defects, and, on the other hand, cannot be
increased by any additional accommodation, or by any other inducement held

out to the public. ,,,.,. <■ , .■

It is upon these views that all the arguments adduced in favour ot reduction
, first cost arc founded in this report ; in no single instance is any allusion
lade to the possibility of increasing the number of passengers by improving
the means of conveyance. The great argument of all the promoters of rail-
ways, the striking results of experience in every railway— namely, the increased
number of travellers consequent upon the increased facilities of conveyance, is

totally lost sight of. , . . .• , i i

It is unnecessary to dwell any longer on tins point, more particularly as 1
shall have occasion to refer to it heaeafter ; but it appears to mc clear that no
owiclusion founded upon this reasoning can be safely relied upon.

of fir:

u

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

The next question namely, the effect or value of gradients, is one so

susceptible of calculation, that it might be supposed to be a point upon which
no great diffi-rencc of opinion could exist ; and when the calculations are
exactly made, and the simple results clearly stated, no difference will be found
to exist.

In the comparison between gradients of 10 feet per mile and 4 feet per mile
(p. 49), in which a diminution of resistance when ascending the latter, as
compared with the former, of 17 per cent, is admitted, data arc assumed
different from those generally given by the best authorities on the subject, and
conditions most essential to an accurate comparison are omitted. Ten lbs.
per ton are assumed as the resistance on a level ; eight lbs. have generally
been taken as nearer tlic truth, and, upon a railway in good order, with
carriages also in good order, may safely be taken as the total resistance of a
train. The effect of gravity in inclina'ions of 4 feet and 10 fcetwillbo I.Tibs.,
and 4. 25lbs., which, with the constant of 8lbs., makes 9.7lbs., and l-2.'2.jlbs.
per ton; this, or 1(10 to 12G, gives the ratio of tlie resistance on the two
gradients, being already 20 per cent., instead of 17. But if the maximum
load that an engine can draw (of course at the regular speed of the trains) up
the incline be taken, the weight of the engine and tender must be deducted, in
either case, to obtain the effcclive load. In fast trains, s,uch as those running
on the Liverpool and Manchester line, the engine and tender will be about 30
per cent, of the gross weight, in the three cases cited by the writer at p. 8 and
9, the proportion is even (jreater, being two-fifths, or 40 per cent. ; but I will
admit even one fourth to be the proportion, which would be allowing a fast
passenger- train to weigh nett tiO tons, with an engine and tender, such as
those of the Grand Junction, weighing 20 tons. From 100 and 120 is therefore
to be deducted one quarter of 100, or 2o, leaving 7J and 101, which are as
loo to 134, being an excess of 34 per cent, instead of 17 in the nett load
which the same engine will be capable of drawing at the same velocity up the
incline of 4 feet over that which it would draw on an incline of 10 feet ; but
the writer, after making the calculation, proceeds to sink all comparison by the
simple assertion, tlsat " on an inclined plane '' of 1 in 628 (10 feet per mile)
all average loads " could be taken." Undoubtedly they can, but at a propor-
tionate sacrifice of power or speed, which ought to have been added ; without
it the statement is incorrect, and with it I do not understand the object of the
observation. The naked result of the above calculation is not altered Ijy the
omission, although certainly it may in consequence escape the recollection of
the reader.

In the next paragraph the same thing is asserted in a different shape. It
nould have been desirable to have had explained what was meant by a " full
average load." It appears to be assumed as a fixed or constant quantity for all
railways, and quite independently of the gradients, or even of the power of the
engines. I do not understand how any such fixed quantity can exist. Several
of the present trains on the Grand Junction railway require two engines;
sbould they increase so as to require three, it will probably be necessary to
divide them ; the capabilities of the line, or of the engines, will then have
influenced the load. In the cases of the three different railways before referred
to as quoted in the report, the average nett loads of the trains referred to are,
24 tons, 32 tons, and 40 tons respectively ; and the average load in one case
is therefore nearly double that in another.

Whatever may be the results on other railways, we know from experience
on the Great Western, that our best engines, which are considered so
unnecessarily powerful, have been barely sufficient to take the loads which,
under certain arrangements of trains, we were obliged to carry, and that inter-
mediate or half-hour trains became necessary. That many such inconvenient
arrangements would have been required if the loads had practically been
increased 34 per cent., with gradients of 10 feet per mile, I need not tell you
who are familiar with the details of our traffic. I regret the necessity of
devoting so much space to an attempt to render more clear that which appears
to me to be self-evident, — namely, that a load of 134 tons cannst be carried at
the same speed and with the same power as one of 100 tons, or, in other
words, that the addition of a useless load of 10 or l.j tons to one of our ordinary
trains would not be unimportant ; but the paragraph I have referred to implies
this, and there being no argument advanced in support of it which could be
examined, it becomes the more necessary to take notice of it.

The particular arrangement of the gradients on tlie Great Western railway
and their effect upon the Irafiic are then gone into, and at the end of the para-
graph, page 49, the adv.antage of 17 per cent., before alluded to, is reduced one
half, or Si, per cent. Uow this is done I have not been able to perceive, as I
find neither argument nor calculation to justify it. It is true it is very fairly
given as an opiiiioii ; but, as there are iniiny figures and quantities given in the
course of the preceding paragraphs, the word " therefore," at the conclusion
of the paragraph, would lead a cursory reader to suppose it was proved by
some preceding calculation or reasoning. As some allusion is made to a
supposed saving of the power in one direction which is expended in the other,
and as 8j is half of 17, it is barely possible that it is arrived at by a system of
averaging the power required in the two directions ; but, in the first place, no
such average can be taken, the maximum power that is required in any one
part of the line must be provided, and must be carried at all times, even if no
power at all be required on other parts of the line; ind, secondly, if the
expenditure of power is to be aver.iged, then the increas e of gradients makes
no cii/flniicr in the average power, as the decrease of p> wer in descending is
said to be equal to the increase in ascending, and therd'orc balances it. Tlie
fact is, that there is no ground whatever for halving the 17 per cent, (which I
have shown to be 34 per cent.) as it nieiuMfc of tin: rjl'aiivc poit-cr nf llu- same
rnijines under Ike two cinumstuiices, and consequently none whatever for fixing
it at 82 percent.

After this, the 8i per cent, is reduced to 2,8 per cent., in so far as relates

to the value, in money, of such reduction in locomotive power ; and the asser-
tion is made, preceded again by the word *' therefore," that a company would
do wrong to increase the original capital more than 2.8 per cent., to effect a
saving of 2'8 per cent, in the annual expenditure. Can it possibly be meant
that if the capital be a certain sum, say 1000/., and the annual expenditure
150/., leaving 1 jO/. of nett profit, that a company would do wrong to add 2^
percent., or 25/., to their original outlay, unless this secures t!i per cent,
saving, or 31. l.js. on the annual expenditure, or 15 per cent, for the money ?
This is evidently a great mistake, arising from the total confusion of the capital
with the annual expenses, as if they were the same sum, and the apparent
accuracy and proof are produced only by the repetition of the same figures in
the two cases, although, in fact, there is no such identity. The way in which
a man of business should proceed, would be to capitalize the annual sum likely
to be saved at some given rate of interest, which in his opinion would cover all
risk, and leave a profit, perhaps of t>, 8, or 10 per cent., according lo circum-
stances, but having no reference to the particular per centage which the
annual expenditure might bear to the capital ; and this amount a wise man
would expend, not only to increase his future profits, but also to secure perma-
nent advantages to tlie concern.

The calculations, erroneous as I think I have shown them to be, do neverthe-
less, make out a case in favour of good gradients. But upon turning to a
statement given of actual results upon three railways, these very calculations
are annihilated. These experiments, if they prove any thing, prove an actual
advantage in favour of gradients, not of 4 feet per mile, nor of 10 feet, but of
very steep gradients of 30 feet per mile. The naked result gives a less
expense of power on two lines, on one of which half the length consist of
gradients above 26 feet per mile, and on the other, 8 miles out of 20 consst of
gradients upwards of 34 feet per itiile, over a line the maximum gradient of
which is 4 feet per mile. No explanation is given. The question here is not
one of the comparative perfection of the lines, in other respects, or of the
carriages, cr of the probable effects of circumstances not mentioned; it is
adduced expressly as a practical measure of the value of gradients, and is left
without comment or explanation, to produce its effect on the mind of the
reader. As such it does appear to me, and I think must to any impartial man,
that the proof is overmuch, and becomes valueless ; that the results cannot he
correct, and that there evidently must either be an error in the data, or there must
be circumstances quite independent of the gradients which require separation ;
otherwise vvc are driven to the conclusion that steep fjrailients arc best,

I have nothing before me but the results, and therefore I cannot pretend to
discover all the sources of error ; but I know that some of the data are such as
must introduce error ; for instance, the consumption of coke given as that of
the Great Western railway, includes all that had been used in raising and
keeping up the steam in the engines, which, in the first working of,a portion of
a line, and while the arrangements are not matured, is necessarily great; it
includes also the coke expended in ballasting trains and experimental trips.

In fact, during the four weeks ending September 13th, which .ire referred lo
by the writer, I find that there were generally seven engines in use, and of
these, two were employed upon the line, (not on the passenger traffic,) and
one was kept with the steam up, as a spare engine. How can the results of
consumption per ton per mile be correct with such sources of error ?

I must beg, however, to keep your attention to the 34 per cent, at which I
have arrived, as the advantage, in actual elVectivc powers of a gradient of 4 feet
over one of 10 feet.

The gradients must ultimately govern the power of your engines, their
speed, (at all events in one direction,) the size of each of your trains, a;id con-
sequently their number; and it must always be remembered, that their opera-
tion is a. permanent one, which nothing can remove or even alter, and the cH'ect
of «hich nothing can diminish. On the contrary, I am prepared to show,
that the value of low gradients will, in all probability, be much increased.

I have assumed 8 lbs. per ton as the resistance of a train ; but as the greatest
part of this resistance depends upon the workmanship, the form, and the
mechanical construction of the carriages, and other causes, and mav be reduced
by various contrivances already known, it would be contrary to all experience
to suppose that it will not be materially reduced when there is an object to bo
gained by its rednction.

In many experiments, with all the circumstances favourable, the resistance
has been as low as G lbs.

lu some made by Mr. Hawkshaw, on the Great Western Kailway, the re-
sistance of a train, consisting partly of trucks and partly of carriages, only
gives 6.22 lbs.

It may therefore be assumed, that w'e have now within our reach improve-
ments by which the resistance may be reduced to 6 lbs.

With this datum, and making tbc same calculations as before, we obtain 100
and 144 as the comparative loads which the same engine would take at the
same speed up the two gradients of 4 feet and 10 feet per mile.

Such an increase in the capabilities of engines must be of immense impor-
tance in passenger traffic. But how undeniably important it must be, even
accordirg to the principle laid down in the report, in the conveyance of goods ;
in this service the maximum power of the engine w brought into operation,
and (lues constitute the limit ; and if the engine, in such case, only forms one-
eighth of the gross load, the proportion will still be as 100 to 13.:).;').

This advantage, large as it is, is a highly probable one, and I venture to
predict it as a certain one ; but, confining ourselves to the results which may
be obtained with the existing rails and carriages, I will consider what is the
practical working of an increased useful effect of 3 4 per cent, by the same
engine, or an increased resistance of 26 per cent, with the same load. Ac-
cording to the view of the writer, in page &, of there being « fixed standard or

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

average power of engine which will be the same in cither case, tlie former, —
namely, 34 per cent, of increased effect — would be the correct mode of consi-
dering the comparison. I will assume, however, the latter, as being least
advantageous, and I will suppose the engines, although different in power, to
be of the same weight. Now, the resistance in ascending and descending a
plane of 4 feet per mile will be 100 and 66 ; with the 10 feet per mile, it will
be 120 in ascending, and actually only .19 in descending.

In the case of the Great Western Ilailvvay, from London to Slough, Maiden-
head, Reading, and to the point of departure to O.xford, the maximum rise is
4 feet. Had it been 10 feet, as I must infer would have been the recom-
mendation of Mr. Hawkshaw, the resistance going and coming would have
been 126 and 39. Now, of what avail would it have been, that in returning to
town the resistance was small? No more passengers or carriages couli be
brought one way than must be conveyed the other, or, to apply one of Mr.
Hawkshaw's own similes, the eight horses required to take the poft-chaise out
must return with it, though two might be enough. I quite agree with the
opinion very strongly expressed in another part of the report, that for the
economical working of locomotive engines, their power should he irc/l propor-
tioned to the load they have to draw. It is remarked, apparently in allusion
to one which we consider the best engine in our establishment, that to use an
engine capable of drawing 200 tons, to drag loads averaging TiO tons, will be
very like fastening eight horses to a post chaise. Although the remark s.ivours
of ridicule, I quite concur in it. It is a forcible description of the practical
working of a line with gradients of 10 feet per mile, such a line as the ima-
ginary one ( A B) described in p. 49 of the report.

Now, on this line (A B), the engines going in one direction would have to
exert a power of 126, and this at full speed, and in the other of 39, or as 200
to 62 — a proportion not very different from the 200 to 50, which is mentioned
only as something that would be very absurd.

Again, at another part of the report (p. 53), it is stated, that engines of little
more than two-lhirds the power of those on the Grand Junction Railway, and
therefore of conskleriibhi Ifss weight, would be sufficient on our line fnmt our
Hatter gradients. Such an admitted reduction of '25 per cent, in locomotive
power seems to me no mean economy to be obtained by these gradients, the
effects of which are treated so lightly at other times; but these contradictory
results are the necessary consequences of an attempt to argue against the
simple facts, that the inclination of the line increases the resistance, and that if
a regular speed is to be maintained, you must have power in proportion to that
resistance.

All the foregoing calculations upon gradients have been limited to the two
cases of 10 feet and 4 feet per mile. These are both unusually favourable, and
their comparison therefore is not calculated to render the advantages so striking ;
but had the gradient of4 feet per mile been compared with themoreordinary ones
of 10 foot and 20 feet, the superiority would have told much more in the dis-
cussion of the general question of the value of good gradients. To supply this
deficiency, I subjoin a table of the comparative effects of the same engine, with
the same consumption of fuel, and travelling at the same speed on the level,
and on the four gradients of 4, 10, 10, and 20 feet per mile, with a resistance
of 81bs. for friction, &c. ; and for the sake of uniformity with the previous
calculations, I take the same standard of 100 as the useful effect, or nctt load,
up the plane of ten feet: —

Comparative Effective Power.
Ascending. Descending.

Level .... 170 . 170

4 feet per mile . . . 134 . 226

10 feet per mile , . . 100 . 400

16 feet per uiile ... 77 , 1;}U.5

20 feet per mile . . . (JO ; the load onec in

motion >\oiiKl
ruit of itself.
The discrepancy between these results and those given in the report does not
arise merely from different data being assumed, and upon which there might be
a difference of opinion ; but from errors in the treatment of the calculation of
the latter. I subjoin a similar table, calculated upon the basis of 101b. per ton,
being the total resistance on a level : —

Comp.arutive Effective rower.
Gradients. .Ascending. Descending.

Level .... )o6 . 1.50

4 feet per niiln . . . 120 . 1 (1.3

10 feet per mile . . . lUO . 207

16 feet per mile ... SO . .5.J6

20 feet per mile , . . (JO . 720

By these tables the great superiority of a line approaching to the level is
made apparent , not only is the effective power of the engine in that direction
of the line which limits the load much greater, but the average work of the
engine is performed more economically by the greater regularity of the
resistance. On an inclination of ten feet per mile, as I have before shown, the
ensine, during half the time, is b.ircly perfomiing m quarter of the work of
which it is capable. On gradients of 10 feet per mile, the engine during half
the time is barely doing more than driving itself.

These are incontrovertible facts ; whether the total resistance arises from
friction, from the resistance of the atmosphere, or from whatever cause, the
amount is about as stated, and the increase caused by the gradients is in the
ratio stated in the above table.

It appears to me aln\ost to weaken the strength and obscure the clearness of
a demonstration which is mathematical in its correctness and certainty, to
attempt to support it by reference to certain experiments in which other causes
might have operated ; but on the Great Western Railway wc have every day,

»nd with every train, such evident smd striking proofs uf the effect of gradients,

that I should have thought it must be conclusive to any one who has had an
opportunity of witnessing them.

With powerful engines and light trains, running at a good speed of 30 to
35 miles per hour, the changes of gradients, (which only vary from a level to
2 feet per mile, and to 4 feet per mile,) are perfectly perceptible in the in-
creased or diminished speed, even without the assistance of a watch, and have
been frequently detected by persons previously unacquainted with the levels.

It must always be borne in mind that the resistance arising from the gra-
dients is a permanent evil which, once established by the completion of the
works, cannot be remedied, and the probable future effects of this must there-
fore be serioitsly considered. In the course of a few years, as railway travel-
ling becomes general throughout the country, and there are opportmiities of
reaching different parts of England by different roads, the usual results of
competition will follow ; prices will gradually be lowered ; the number of tra-
vellers will become immensely increased ; and the gross profits and expenditure
become proportionably large ; bearing then, particularly the latter, a much
greater ratio to the original outlay than at present. The profits will then
depend mainly upon the economy of transport, and then any saving in the
current expcns. s will be felt in a far greater degree.

I shall now consider the subject of the width of gauge. The question of the
disadvantage of differing in point of gauge from other railways, and the con-
sequent exclusion from communication with them, is the first. This is un-
doubtedly an inconvenience ; it amounts to a prohibition to almost any rail-
way running northwards from London, as they must all more or less depend
for their supply upon other lines or districts where railways already exist, and
with which they must hope to be connected. In such cases there is no
alternative.

The Great Western Railway, however, broke ground in an entirely new dis-
trict, in which railways were unknown. At present it commands this district,
and ha? already sent forth branches which embrace neatly all that can belong
to it ; and it will be the fault of the company if it does not effectually and
permanently secure to itself the whole trade of this portion of England with
that of South Wales and the south of Ireland ; not by a forced monopoly,
which could never long resist the wants of the public, but by such attention to
these wants as shall render any competition unneccessary and hopeless. Such is
the position of the Great Western Railway. It could have no connexion with
f.ny other of the main lines, and the principal branches likely to be made were
well considered, and almost formed part of the original plan ; nor can these
be dependent upon any other existing lines for the traffic which they will
bring to the main trunk.

At the London extremity, from the moment the junction, as originally pro-
posed, with the London and Birmingham Railway was obliged to be given up,
there existed no possibility of a connexion with any other line. London will
always be the terminus of those main lines now established, and which ap-
proach it from distinct quarters, and the traffic of each will cease at this
point ; and, unless when two such lines unite to form a common entrance into
the town, they will have no connexion with each other at this extremity.

The Great Western was therefore free to adopt its own dimensions ; arid none
of the difficulties which would entirely prevent such a course in the north of
England had any existence in the west ; and consequently, all the general
arguments advanced, and the comparisons made, on the supposition of such
difficulties occurring — all excellent in case they did — are totally inapplicable
to the particular case of the Great Western Railway, to which they have no
reference whatever.

The reasons for adopting any increased width'of gauge, and the particular
dimension of 7 feet, have been so frequently before you, that it is unnecessary
for me now to repeat them. The principal positive objection urged against it
in the Report is the increased cost, while the mechanical advantages arc
doubted, but not disproved.

As regards the cost, I have repeatedly shown that this amounts at the
utmost to a slight increase in the quantity of earthwork, and that the bridges,
tuimels, &c., are not necessarily affected. Mr. Hawkshaw seems to be of the
same opinion, as at p. SO he classes the " tunnels of 30 feet diameter" among
" the non-essentials," as " not absolutely consequent on the increase of gauge ;"
and at p. 50 he clearly limits the increased expense of construction to the
earthwork, land, and permanent ivay. There is some inconsistency in these
remarks, when compared with the estimate in page 52, where the width of
tunnels is considered a consequence of the wide gauge, and a saving of
estimated of 20 per cent. " in the tunnelling yet to be done, by the narrower
gauge requiring 4 feet less width."

I have only here to repeat, what is really capable of the clearest proof — viz.,
that the greater width of tunnels, proposed by me for special reasons, which 1
have explained on more than one occasion, has nothing whatever to do with the
wide gauge, inasmuch as tunnels of the ordinary width could be adopted, and
the saving pointed out would not, therefore, be necessarily the result of the
return to a narrower gauge. But the arguments advanced at p. 50 in the
Report, to show the necessity of increasing the earthwork by 4 feet, are
subsequently, without observation, applied to the tunnels. This error is occa-
sioned by neglecting to give precise dimensions to quantities quite capable
of it.

Arguments are founded upon the assumption that a certain width is necessary
between the centre rails, for repairs. This is true ; but the width should be
stated in feet and inches. On the Liverpool and Manchester, this space is
4 feet 8 inches ; and even with stone blocks, this is found ample for all the
purposes of repair ; indeed, it is the width which is so perfect in Mr. llawk-
shaw's estimation. Four feet 8 inches, with stone blocks ( ivhicli does not leave
more than 2 feet 8 inches between the blocks,) are not equal to 4 feet with
longitudinal wooden sleepers, vrhich would leave fiom - feet » inehes to 3 feet

56

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

between them. Suppose 4 feet, however, to be necessary ; then, with a 7 feet
gauge, the distance from centre to centre of the two lines is 1 1 feet, which is
the same as on the London and Birmingham, Grand Junction, and other lines,
and which has been adopted to give a general increase of space. The width of
tunnels, viaducts, &c., are therefore nul iiecessiirili/ nff'ccled by the 7-fcet gauge.
Neither do I understand how the cost of tlis permanent way can be sensibly
increased. The weight of rail would be the same. The engines, in other
respects similar, would be, at the utmost, only a few hundred weight heavier,
consequent upon the increased length of axles and breadth of frames — the
boilers, fire-bo.x, wheels, cylinders, and working gear (about nine-tenths of the
whole) remaining exactly the same ; and even with our present heavy engines,
the greatest weight upon one pair of wheels is noL greater than upon the
driving wheels of Mr. Bury's engines on the London and Birmingham
railway.

If the strength of the rails be not increased, the mere distance between them
cannot afl'ect the expense of construction beyond the cost of a few cube feet of
ballast per yard forward, and about eight loads of timber to the mile in transoms.
If 150/. per mile is allowed for these sources of expense, it is far more than
enough. This, with the liOOZ., assumed by Mr. Havvkshaw for the earthwork,
and M. for one quarter of an acre of land, whichhe has not allowed for, makes
400/. per mile as the outside of the additional cost incurred in the first con-
struction of the road on the 7 feet gauge. As to the consequent increased cost
in the engines and increased expense of repairs, they arc treated in so general
a way ihat it is diflicult, if not impossible, to meet what is said; but certainly
actual experience satisfies me that eventually there will bono material difference
in the first cost. The opinion of Messrs. Robt. Stephenson and Company, as
quoted page 5'3, is, that it " will not be very considerable." The wear and
tear, I am equally satisfied, will be diminished.

The whole subject of the diminished resistance arising from the increased
diameter of wheels, and the opinion of the Irish commissioners in favour of it,
is then disposed of in a summary manner. It is assumed that the liearings of
the axles must be increased in the same ratio as the diameter of the wheels,
and that hence no advantage would be gained, in so far as the friction was
concerned ; but such is not intended to be the case.

It is asserted that the grinding of the flanges against the rails must be more
felt with a large wheel than a small one. No reason is given for expecting such
a result, nor why this resistance should not be, as one might naturally expect,
inversely as the square root of the diameter, and therefore diminishing with an
increased diameter. As in the case of the gradients, however, the whole is
set aside by one experiment; this experiment (pages 50 and 51) gives
nearly the same i-esuU for wheels of 3 and 4 feet diameter. This is not sur-
prising, as the dift'erence in diameter was too small to be clearly detected by
the very uncertain and unsatisfactory mode hitherto adopted for ascertaining
the resistance. It appears to me also that they were not made under similar
citcurastances, or even on the same road, and the ratio of the bearings to the
wheels seemed to be rather in favour of the small wheels. The experiment,
therefore, appears to be perfectly useless and unavailable, and the writer says
that he does not think it conclusive. Nevertheless, these are the only expe-
riments adduced, whilst the point is assumed to be proved.

The next inquiry made is on the question of safety. I certainly never
thought of the danger of upsetting from the narrowness of base, as a stage-
coach occasionally does ; and therefore I need not occupy your time in dis-
cussing the manner in which this imaginary argument has been advanced and
then demolished. But I must call your attention to the extraordinary and
contradictory general assertions (p. 51) that " if A be safe, there cannot be
the smallest advantage in making B safer." This is a confusion of words.
If safety, commonly speaking, meant a total absence of possibility of danger,
then the statement is contradictory, and is not even sense ; for if B is made
safer than A, A cannot be perfectly safe. But safety is a term, after, all only
used comparatively, and then the statement assumes this extraordinary ahape —
that if A be tolerably good, it is useless to seek anything better. Now,
although no man, I believe, ever supposed that ordinary railway carriages were
much exposed to the danger of being upset, yet no man could witness, as I
have had the opportunity of doing, numerous accidents on railways of both
dimensions, without being struck with the great difference in the susceptibility
of the engines and carriages to being thrown off the rails on the 4 feet 8 inch
gauge and on the 7 feet gauge. The reason is obvious enough ; the oscilla-
tion and the velocity of the angular motion, or, in other words, the jerk
caused by any departure from level in the rails, or from any open joint or
obstacle, or from collision, must be much greater when actini;^ on a 4 feet 8
inch base than on a 7-feet base, and I have seen many accidents on the 4 feet
8 inch rail arising wholly from this cause, while on the 7-feet gauge 1 have
seen the same causes operating to a greater extent without producing any
serious results. I believe, also, that at high velocities much of the resistance
from the friction of the flanges, as well as the strain upon the carriages and
liability to accident, arising from lateral motion, which is imparted to the
carriage by angular motion, or rolling, and which must be lessened ill the
direct proportion as the base is extended. The great difference in the rolling
motion of the engine chimney, when running at high speeds upon the 7-feet
gauge, as compared with the same eflect on the 4 feet 8 inches, was remarked
at once by the engine-drivers sent by several of the manufacturers to erect
their engines, and is familiar to all now engaged on the line, although the
rails themselves were at that time undeniably in a bad state. Safety, there-
fore, may, and indeed must, be increased by the width of the gauge. As to
the efl'ects of the adoption of the wide gauge by the main trunks upon the
branch lines likely emanate from it, as I said before, these branches have all
formed [lart of the general plan, and were considered originally ; and there-
fore the assumption of the writer, that there is uncertainty or danger vpon

this point, is not correct. The Bristol and Exeter Railway, which is the ex-
tension of the Great Western to the south-west of England, is well fitted to
this gauge. A great extent of it will be the most level line in England, and
is nearly straight. On the Cheltenham Railway, for four-fifths of the length
it is free from any objectionable curve ; and on the remainder there will be no
curves of so small a radius, even in proportion to the 7-feet gauge, as there
are on the Grand .Junction and many other lines. The objections taken,
therefore, are not applicable ; and it seems to me that none of the grounds on
which the writer founds his somewhat startling advice to alter all that has
been done, are tenable. In fact they are none of them brought forward
in a clear and tangible shape, except the debit and credit account in page 52.
I will begin with the last, or the credit account. The first item is the
largest, and considering that it constitutes two-thirds of the whole, it is a very
important one; yet there is no proof, there is not even one single reason given
for supposing any such increase; the only reference to it that I can find is in
the middle of p. 50, where these words occur : — " The permanent road will
also cost more if of the larger dimensions than if of the smaller ; for it avails
nothing to compare a light rail on the larger gauge, with a heavier rail on the
smaller gauge ; such comparisons must be made when other things are the
same, or they amount to nothing.'' The assertion here made is unsupported
by a single argument or proof. What is meant by the truism contained in the
allusion to the light rail and heavy rail I am unable to comprehend. I have
quoted it lest it should have some reference to a wide and narrow gauge which
I may not perceive.

I have shown, I think clearly, that 130/. per mile instead of 1000/. is the
excess ; this makes a reduction of 85,000/. in the assumed saving. The 400/.
excess on the engine and tender I equally dispute ; it is also unsupported by
anything except the letter from Messrs. Stephenson, and their opinion is even
much qualified ; their concluding remark is — " If the power or dimensions of
the engine be kept the same, the additional expense consequent upon an in-
crcaic of guage will not be vei'y considerable." In fact, the same engine, in
all its material parts, and the same quantity of workmanship, answers for the
one as the other ; to widen the frame and lengthen the axles is all that is re-
quired ; and even making no allowance for any increased facilities in the con-
struction, 100/. will amply cover this, — say, 150/., as the increased expense
consequent upon the wide gauge. This, of course, has no reference to any
peculiar construction of the engine, such as greater evaporating surface, or
larger driving wheels, which are not, in fact, consequences of the width of
gauge, but which have been adopted with a view to economy of fuel and wear
and tear.

In the next item I should add 50/. per mile for land, although neither upon
earthwork, and still less upon land, have we (iO miles upon which we can effect
the saving. The tunnelling, as I have shown by actual calculation of the
measurement required, is not effected by the gauge. The account, therefore,
stands thus : —

150/. per mile on 100 miles of permanent way . . . £15,000
150/. less on 60 engines and tenders ..... 9,000

250/. per mile on (iO miles of earthwork ani land . . 15,000

Tunnelling — nothing. .

£39,000
Instead of 156,000/., as given in the Report.

I now proceed to consider the debit account, in which I find an important
umission. The change recommended from the 7-feet guage to the 4 feet
SMnch, is supposed to occupy a year and a half ; during this time no advantage
cmild bo taken of the extension of the line to Twyford, in the neighbourhood
of Reading, which, if the opinions expressed in this Report are to be
adopted, must be laid down with the narrow gauge, and it therefore would be
useless until one of the lines of the same gauge was open. By this delay at
least a year would be lost.

But besides this loss, another would be experienced by the confinement of
the trafSc to a single line. I believe it would be found iuipraeticable to carry
on our trade on a single line ; there can be no doubt that it would be mate-
rially diminished, which, together with the loss of twelve months' traffic
between London and Twyford, cannot fail to make a difference of upwards of
30,000/. The gross receipts upon the present line are about 80,000/. per
annum ; the extension of the line from Qij to 32 miles, (thereby securing all
the long traffic, which is now only partially obtained,) and the natural progres-
sive increase of the trafiic which would take place on the present line, cannot
be estimated to produce less than 60,000/. more, or 140,000/. per annum.
Supposing the expenses to be increased by 25,000/., there remains, as in-
creased nett profits, 35,000. ; to this add 15,000/., as a very moderate allow-
ance for the reduction, to which I have alluded in our receipts, unavoidably
consequent upon the working of only a single line, which would certainly not
diminish our expenses.

The debit account, therefore, will now stand : —

Expenses of alteration and loss upon stock, as stated in Report

(page 24) £123,276

Loss of profits on the extension to Twyford . . . 35,000

Ditto on traffic to Maidenhead 15,000

£173,976

Instead of £123,976.
And deducting the amount to be saved, 39,000?., it shows a sacrifice of
134,970/. as the'result of the proposed alteration. Even if the assumed in-
crease of 4U0?. on each engine were admitted, it would still leave 121,976/. as
the balance against the change, instead of anj thing in favour of it. In ad-
dition to this clear loss, it should also be remembered, that after the conver-
sion of the one line to Maidenhead from the broad to the narrow gauge, the

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

.37

other still remains to be altered. During- the whole of this operation, let me
repeat, the total traffic to Reading must travel on a single line, which, even ad-
mitting it to be possible, must necessarily cause a continued loss of traffic, with
great additional inconvenience and expense, and serious risk of accident, — all
so much in addition to the amount of sacrifice already calculated.

jrjMDENHEAD BRIDGK.

On this head it is unnecessary to say more than that the defective part of
the work has been condemned by me, and the contractor called upon to
replace it, which he is now doing.

FEUM.VNENT WAV.

The question of the construction of the permanent way appears to have been
thought a very unimportant one : three lines of the Report are devoted to it,
and these consist of the expression, in rather strong language, of an opinion
unfavourable to the mode in which thd attempt has been made ; but whether
the writer approves of the ultimate object sought to be attained — of the plan of
continuous support — or not, does not in any way appear. This is to be re-
gretted, as the writer has lately had some experience on this particular point,
and it was suppo.^ed might have been able to give some useful information
upon it.

LOCOMOTIVES.

The question of locomotive power is treated also very concisely ; nothing
whatever is stated, under this particular head, of the engines of the Great
Western Railnay. A few general principles are laid down, in almost all of
which I perfectly coacur, — viz., the necessity of proportioning the power of
the engines to the loads ; the advantage of keeping down the weight ; the
circumstance that the weight of the engine will depend on the average load to
be taken, and the nature of the gradients. The comparison between the
locomotive power supposed to be necessary on the Great Western and on the
Grand .Junction lines, is a powerful argument in favour of good gradients. On
the whole, these principles are precisely those on which I have founded my ar-
guments in the course of these observations, and I think they fully bear out
the views I have taken ; but the concluding observations of the Report appear
to mc to be the most strikingly erroneous views that I have yet had occasion
to call your attention to, and still arising from the same mistake — that of
omitting all consideration of increased profits to be derived from increased ac-
commodation or improved conveyance — objects at which I have aimed.

In the last paragraph but one, after condemning, very properly, any great
increase in the <||st of a road for the sake of a system, it is asserted that
" good gradients will be rendered of non-effect, as to economy, if the speed be
greatly increased, for greater speed will entail greater cost, and bo tantamount
to steep gradients."

It seems to mc, on the contrary, that the attainment of a greater speed at
the same cost is economical, just as it is to make a better and more saleable
article at the same price. And the next and last paragraph exposes still more
strongly this fallacious principle, and may be taken as a fair sample of the
theory of railway economy advanced in this Report. The words are — " And
though the same results may perhaps be obtained on railways of better gra-
dients, with more dead weights, than on railways of bad gradients, yet this
seems to be merely bringing down the good line to the standard of the bad ;
.^that is to say, if " more dead weights," or greater loads, are carried with
" the same results," or at the same cost, no advantage is gained ; so that, if
natural or artificial means enable you to carry greater loads, and, in fact,
perfonii more iroyk^ or, in other words, can'i/ on a t/rcater trade with the same
capital, you are not to avail yourself of these advantages to extend your busi-
ness, but merely to withdraw so much capital from a thriving concern. If
the sole object were to reduce the out-goings to the lowest possible scale,
without reference to the comparative receipts, such a maxim might be good,
If the construction of the railway, and the maintenance and working of it,
were a compulsory tax levied on the proprietors for the use of the public,
willinut benefn t) i!k.ii. then, indeed, t!i3 only advantage of good gradients
would be the diminution oi e;vcruu.i anU of expenditure of power. To the
beast of burden a good road is certainly of little consequence, if he is proper
tionably laden ; but his owner would be surprised at being told that he could
gain nothing by being able to carry more goods, because his horse would be
worked as much, and worn out as soon, as when he carried less.

I shall now make a few observations on the remarks and the hypothetical
cases which I before referred to, and I thiiik, when I have called your attention
to them, you will agree with me that they ought not to pass entirely unno-
ticed.

In p. 48 of the Report, the difference between the Great Western Railway
and other railways is compared to the difference between a canal for barges
and a canal for ships — a most exaggerated comparison, and one by no means
diminished in effect by the qualification introduced by the words which follow,
" though not to an equal degree." A .ship-canal is a totally different thing
from a barge-canal ; it is most costly, and if considered as a mere channel for
the conveyance of goods, is very ill adapted for the purpose. It is intended
Bolely for the transport of the ships to some inland port. The only change in-
troduced in the Great Western Railway is in the dimension of one of the
parts, not for the purpose of carrying larger individual cargoes, but for the
purpose of carrying the ordinary cargoes more advantageously. If a com-
parison be made with canals, it should be simply with the case of a canal
which, being intended for quick service, or fly-boats, is made rather wider, to
allow the boats more free passage through the water, and thereby diminish
tlie resistance. The comparison apparently is thought to require some apo-
logy, as it is said not to be extraordinary " should it appear that the locomo-
tives have twice the power of those on other lines ;" and " should it be
shown to be a parallel case to build a ship of '200 tons burthen, when
there is no probability pf ever obtaining a, cargo of half the weight," This :

certainly is tantamount to the statement in a subsequent part of the Report,
that the engines have this excess of power, and that we have, in fact, pro-
vided for a traffic four times as extensive as we can hope to obtain ; yet,
after producing this impression, the subject is dropped, and no attempt
made in any part of the Report to prove it.

In the ne.xt paragraph (page 48) there is a remark that "it is one
thing to design that which is pleasing in outline and grand in dimensions,
and it is altogether another thing to design that which, under all the circum-
stances, shall best answer the end in view, one of those ends being a return
for the capital invested.''

I must deny altogether that such a distinction necessarily exists." To
make that large for the sake of appearance which ought to be small, is un-
questionably, very different from studying the right size and adopting it ; but
I think that when a work is evidently well adapted to the object for which it is
intended, it is generally satisfactory to the eye ; and that then there is rarely
any difficulty in making it "pleasing in outline;" the distinction exists only
with those who, like a bad architect, commence by designing the exterior of a
building, and then make the interior arrangements subservient.

At the end of p. 48, a case is put which is strictly applicable, and which is
solved in a manner to assist the subsequent arguments ; but the solution
seems to me to have no other merit, certainly not that of correctness.

It is supposed (what is indeed the actual case) that it is desired " to give
the greatest impetus to the trade, and the greatest advantage to the town of
Bristol ;" and the way to do this is said to be, as if incontrovertible, " to con-
nect it with the metropolis by a road on which parties could be carried for
the smallest sum, and at a velocity not inferior to that at which they can be
carried in any other direction." This is the first time I ever heard that to
win the race it was sufficient to be not behind your competitor. If such were
the rule in trade, why was the Liverpool and Manchester railway made? The
means of communication were not merely not inferior to, but probably su-
perior to any in England. Why were railways introduced at all, and the
capital embarked in the general means of transit so enormously increased by
the addition of lotally new works ? Stage coaches and canals left all towns
exactly in the same position which is here said to ensure the greatest impetus
to their trade. Besides, are there no points of inferiority in the case of the
port of Bristol which have to be compensated for, in consequence of the su-
perior local advantages of other ports ? Bristol has, for some reason or other,
fallen far behind Liverpool. Will it be of no advantage to the trade of this
port, and thereby to the revenue of this railway, that it should have superior
facilities of communication with London ? Whether Liverpool continues at
eleven-hours' or is reduced to eight-hours' distance from London, it may be
said by some to be still a day's journey, while Bristol will be brought within
four hours, or four and a half hours' distance ; and if this is reduced to three
hours, which is undoubtedly practicable, letters and orders may be transmitted
and replied to during the business hours of the day ; and precisely the same
change introduced into the transactions of business that was effected by the
Liverpool and Manchester railway, and a great increase in the trade of the
place, and in the traffic of the railway must necessarily follow.

This doctrine of the all-sufficiency of a railway, without reference to its
quality, and the inutility of attempting to influence the amount of traffic by
increasing the advantages, appears, under diftcrent forms, in other parts, and I
shall not again refer to it, but shall proceed to another part of the Report.

The adoption of a different gauge is compared, at p. 50, to the construction
of a canal " in a country of canals, with locks of such a character as would
totally shut out the boats of all the canals that surrounded it." Now, in the
first place, as I have shown, the west of England is not a country of railways ;
and, in the next place, there is no similarity in the mode of conducting the
carrying department of a railway and a canal. A barge, with its master and
his family living on board, may go, and does occasionally go, without incon-
venience, far out of the usual beat. Railway carriages and waggons must
belong to the particular line on which they run ; and, except in such cases as
the Grand Junction and Birmingham railways which form in fact one line,
although they happen to be made by two companies, it will never pay to trust
them in the hands of others.

On the subject of the wide gauge, the opinions of Mr. Booth, of the Liver-
pool and Manchester railway, (which had been previously expressed in a letter
to the Irish Commissioners,) and of Mr. G. Smith, of the Leeds and Selby
railway, are quoted in favour of the 4 feet 8 inch guage, and their answer in
the negative, given apparently to the direct question whether they thought
there was any want of safety, or danger of overturning, on their own railways.
The case is purely hypothetical. I never heard of the danger of overturning
being advanced as an objection to the narrow gauge, although I have seen such
a thing happen ; and whether the objection be real or imaginary is the question
to be decided by such a reference ? At any rate the directors of the Great
^V'cstern Railway were quite competent to select the referees for its decision.

I have the pleasure of being personally acquainted with both these gentle-
men, and entertain the greatest respect for them, but I should never have
thought of asking them such a question. If before building the Great
Western steam-ship we had written to some of the highly respected and
talented gentlemen who command the New York liners, and asked them if
they considered there was any danger or inconvenience in the use of sails, and
whether they should prefer steam, I think we might have anticipated their
answers.

I shall here close my observations with the expression of ray regret, that the
manner in which the important questions at issue have been treated in the
Report has of itself prevented the discussion leading to any very satisfactory or
useful conclusion. It has been almost impossible to do more than to show
that, whatever may be the state of the case, the views taken in the Keport, aa^

58

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

the arguments advanced, are incorrect, and prove nothing. Another oppor-
tunity will probably occur of entering more fully into the real merits of the
question, and for that 1 shall be prepared.

I am, gentlemen, your obedient servant,

(Signed) I. K. BRUNEL.
Lumhii,Dcc, Vith, 1838.

REPORT OF NICHOLAS WOOD, ESQ.

TO THE DIRECTORS OF THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY.

Kil/in/iworlh, Dec. 10(/i, 1838.
* * * • Your instructions were, that 1 should undertake an
examination of that portion of the Great Western Railway now completed,
and investigate Ihe result of the whole system wliich hM been adopted ; and
my attention is particularly directed to those points which may be said to con-
stitute the peculiar features of the Great Western line, as contrasted with those
of other railways, including in such inquiries the construction and efficiency
of the engines, as well as every matter connacted with the locomotive depart-
ment of the company.

The Great Western Railway differs from the ordinary railways, in the width
of gauge adopted, in the construction of the rails employed in framing the
road, and in the adoption of much larger driving wheels than ordinary in the
locomotive engines.

The subjects for consideration are therefore comprised under the following
heads of inquiry, viz., the width of gauge, the mode of constructing the road,
and the efficiency, power, &c., of the locomotive engines.

The increased width of gauge might have been adopted, and engines of the
same description as those used on other railways might have been used, and
it does not necessarily imply that the adopting an increased width, should
render necessary the particular mode of construction adopted by Mr. Brunei,
except in one point of view in which Mr. Brunei has put it, viz. : — " That the
increased width of gauge was necessary for the accomplishment of a high
rate of speed, and that he believes continuous timber bearings to be a most
essential improvement where high speeds are to be obtained." Still, as the
two questions are in some degree distinct, we shall in the first instance con-
sider them separately, and shall afterwards consider them in their connexion
with each other, as advanced by Mr. Brunei ; and as the elucidation of these
two heads of inquiry, includes that of the power of the locomotive engines,
we shall not in this place make their consideration a'dislinct question.

In order, therefore, to bring the subject clearly before you, I shall first of
all point out the objects, so far as I can learn from the published documents of
your body, and from the reports of Mr. Brunei, which have been expected to
be realized by these departures from the more general plan of constructing
and working railways ; I shall then state some of the most prominent objec-
tions which have been made against the system, after which I shall give, in
detail, the inquiries and experiments which appeared to me necessary, to
ascertain how far these benefits have been, or appear likely to be realized, and
to what weight the objections appear to be entitled. The result of these in-
quiries and experiments will be next considered, and with these materials, in
obedience to your instructions, the system of construction of the Great Western
Railway will be contrasted with the most improved railways of the ordinary
construction and widlh of gauge.

Witllh ijf Gaiiije. — The width between the rails of all the public railways in
England is four feet eight and a half inches, the width of the Great Western
Railway is seven feet ; the ditTerence is therefore neariy one half more, or two
feet three and a half inches. From the documents previously alluded to, from
a careful perusal of Mr. Brunei's reports, and from personal communications
with that gentleman, the following appear to have been the prominent advan-
tages expected to be derived from the increased width of gauge, and which
induced the adoption of the width of seven feet.

Attttininent of a Ak/h rale of speed On this point Mr. Brunei remarks,

" with the capability of carrying the line upwards of tifly miles out of London!
on almost a dead level, and without any objectionable curves, and having
beyond this, and for the whole distance to Bristol, excellent gradients, it was
thought that unusually high speed might easily be attained; and that the very
large extent of passenger traffic, which such a line would certainly command,
would ensure a return for any advantages which could be offered to thepublic^
either in increased speed or in increased accomv.iodation." For iUr. Brunei
remarks, " I shall not attempt to argue with those who consider any increase
of speed unnecessary, the public will always prefer that conveyance which is
the most perfect, and speed within reasonable limits is a material ingredient in
perfection in travelling," and the attainment of high speed appeared to involve
he question of the width of gauge.

Mr. Brunei also considers, "that it would not have been embracing all the
benefits derivable from the favourite gradients of the Great Western Railway,
unless a more extended gauge was to be adopted, for if carriages and engines
of a certain weight have not been found inconvenient upon one railway,
greater weights may be employed, and the same results obtained on a railway
with better gradients ; and to adopt a gauge of the same number of inches on
the Great Western Railway, as on the Grind Junction Railway would, in fact,
amount practically to the use of a different gauge on a similar railway, for the
gaugj which is well adapted to the one is not well adapted to the other."

Meclianicid adcanliiric of increasing Ihc Diaiiiclcrofllie Il'/iecls, without raising
Ihe Bodies of the Carriages. — This comprehends what is deemed by Mr.
Biunel, the most important part of the advantage of an enlarged width of
gauge, viz., the reduction of friction by the increased diameter of ihe wheels,
while at the same time bjr being enabled to place the body of the carriage

within the wheels, the centre of gravity of the carriage is kept low, and
greater stability and steadiness of motion is expected to be attained. Four
feet wheels have been jnit upon the carriages at present in use upon the line,
but Mr. Brunei states " that he looks forward to the employment of wheels of
a larger diameter; and that he has been influenced to a considerable extent, in
recommending the increased width of gauge, by its capabilities of prospective
improvements, which may take place in the .system of railroads. He states,
" that though there , are some causes which in practice slightly influence the
result, yet practically the resistance from friction will be diminished exactly
in the same ratio that the diameter of the wheels is increased," and " consi-
dering that the gradient of four feet per mile only presents a resistance of less
than two pounds per ton, and that the friction of the carriages on ordinary
railways amount to eight or nine pounds per ton, being 8-lOtlis of the entire
resistance, any diminution of the friction operates with considerably more
effect upon a road with favourable, than one with more unfavourable gra-
dienls;" and he further says, " I am not by any means at present prepared
to recommend any particular size of wheels, or even any iiicrc.isc of the
present dimensions. I believe they will bo materially increased ; but my
great object would be in every possible way to render each part capable of
improvement, and to remove what appears an obstacle to any great progress
in such a very important point as the diameter of the wheels, upon which the
resistance which governs ihe cost of transport, and the speed that may be
obtained so materially depends."

Admits all sorts of Carriages, Siagc-Coaches, Syc. to he carried icilhin the

wheels Presuming that the adoption of wheels of a larger diameter is found

beneficial, to the extent expected by Mr. Brunei, it became necessary that the
carriages to be conveyed should be placed upon platforms within the wheels,
to keep them as low as possible, which could not be done with carriages on
railways of the ordinary width, a wider gauge seemed therefore necessary for
this purpose.

Increased facililies for the adoption of larger and more powerfal Locomotive
Engines, for the attainment of higher rate of speed. — Much stress has not been
laid upon this by Mr. Brunei, although it has been alleged that gre.at difficul-
ties exist and that considerable expense is incurred by being obliged to com-
press the machinery into so small a space ; and consequently, that a greater
width of gauge would enable the manufacturer to make a more perfect
machine, and by having more space for the machinery, the expense of
repairs would be lessened. ^

Increased stahilitg to the Carriages, and consequently increased steadiness of
motion, not from any danger to be apprehended, by the centre of gravity being
higher in carriages of a less width ; but that higher carriages are more liable
to oscillate upon the railway, than carriages of a greater widlh and less
heighl, and that a considerable part of the fiiction is occasioned by the
oscillation of the carriages throwing the flanches of the wheels against
the rails.

These appear to be the more prominent advantages set forth by Mr.
Brunei, as consequent upon the adoption of an increased width of gauge. I
have taken the extracts from the report to the Bristol meeting, in preference
to quoting from Mr. Brunei's communications to the directors, inasmuch as
that report is before the shareholders ; and also in that report Mr. Brunei
enters somewhat minutely into details on the subject, and gives in a more
determined and explicit plan tlie substance of all his communications to the
directors on the subject. It would have increased the bulk of this report
unnecessarily to have given all Mr. Brunei's reasons for the adoption of the
increased width set forth in that document, and this is also unnecessary, as
the report itself is before the shareholders and can be referred to. These
representations and recommendations of the engineer, appear to have been
the principal reasons which induced the adoption of an increased width of
railway, as stated in your report to the shareholders, at the half-yearly meeting
of the 2Sth of August , 1 836.

The objections which have been advanced against the adoption of this
departure from the ordinary width of lailways, have been principally the fol-
lowing, viz.

21ic increased cost of forming Ihe road track of the Umlwag, in consequence
of a greater width of base requited for the superstructure of the rails, and
upper works. That the carriages were required to be larger and heavier.
That the increased width of gauge caused additional friction in passing
through the curves. That it entailed a greater expense of constructing the
engines and carriage, increased liability to the breakage of axles, &c. That it
prevented a junction of the Great Western with other railways ; and above
all, that there were no advantages gained, commensurate with the increased
expsnses and inconvenience of such a departure and disconnection from rail-
ways of the ordinary width, and several other objections which have been
urged by differenl persons against the system, which it is not necessary to
enumerate.

Previously to entering upon the consideration of the presumed benefits and
objections incidenlal to the width of gauge, it will be advisable to bring
before you the second part of the system of Mr. Brunei, viz. : the mode of
constructing the railway, and in doing so I shall pursue the same plan as in
the case of the consideration of width of gauge ; first of all to point the rea-
sons which seem to have influenced Mr. Brunei in the recommendation of
this particular plan, and the improvements over other plans which he antici-
pated from its adoption ; I shall then briefly state some of the principal
objections which have been urged against it; and lastly, -detail and report to
you the mode I have deemed adviseable to investigate, and determine all these
conflicting questions, and then give the conclusions, which appear to me to
lesult from the enquiries and experiments 1 have made.

Oj/iilructiuit of the Eoad.^-U will uot be necessary for nie to enter into u

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

59

detailed descriiition of Mr. Brunei's plan of constructing the Great Western
Railway, furtlierthan what is absolutely necessary to explain the principles of
construction, and in wlual respects it differs from that of other railroads.

The plan adopted by Mr. Brunei is tliat of a continuous bearing of timber
with piles upon which the iron rails that constitute the track of the wheels
are placed.

The construction may be thus shortly described : Longitudinal timbers of a
scanning- of from five to seven inches in depth, and twelve to fourteen inches
in breadth, and about thirty feet long are placed along the whole line. Then
these timbers ate boiled to cross sleepers or transoms at intervals of every
fifteen feet ; double transoms each six inches broad and nine inches deep
being placed at the joinings of each of the longitudinal timbers, and single
transoms of the same scantling being placed midway between the joinings.
These transoms stretch across, and are boiled tb all the four lines of rails.
Within the two lines of rails of each track, piles of beech are driven from
the upper surface of the railway into the solid ground, so as to retain a firm
hold thereof, and the transoms are bolted to the heads of these piles. — Viile
JMirri/ition and Cuiisinicliuii of the llaibeuy, in Jimrnal No. 7, page 1(5G,
Vol. /.

This plan is pointed out very clearly by Mr. Brunei, in his report to you on
the 22d of .January, 1838, and presented to the shareholders at the half yearly
meeling on the 27lh of February, 1838. — Vide Journal Xo. 1 , page ICG,
Vol. I.

At the subsequent meeting (Oct. lOlh, 1838) of the Great Western Railway
proprietors, Mr. Brunei thus gives his reason for the adoption of this plan of
constructing the road : —

" The mode of laying the rails is the next point which I shall consider. It
may appear strange that I should again in this case disclaim having attempted
anything perfectly new, yet regard to truth compels me to do so. I have
recommended in the case of the Great Western the principle of a continuous
bearing of limber under the rail, instead of isolated supports, an old system
recently revived, and as &uih I described it in ray report of January, 1838 ;
the result of many hundred miles laid in this manner in America, and of some
detaclu'd portions of railways in England, were quite sufficient to prove that
the system was attended wiih many advantage?, but since we first adopted it
these proofs have been multiplied; there need now be no apprehension. There
.are railways in full work upon which theexperiment has been tried sufficiently
to prove beyond doubt, to these willing to be convinced, that a permanent way
in continuous bearings of wood may be constructed, in which the motion will
be much smoother, the noise less, and consequently — for ihey are effects pro-
duced by the same cause — the wear and tear of the machinery much less ;
such a plan is certainly best adapted for high speeds, and this is the system
recommended by me and adopted on our road. There are, no doubt, differ-
ent modes of construction, and that which I have adopted as an improvement
upon olliers, may, on the contrary, be attended with disadvantages. For the
system 1 will strenuously contend, but I should be sorry to enter with any
such determined feeling into a discussion of Ihe merits of the particular mode
of construction. I would refer to my last report {vide Journal No. \'2.page22!i,
vol. 1) for the reasons which influenced me, and the objects I had in view in
introducing the piling ; that part which had been made under my own eye
answered fully all my expectations."

These appear to have been the reasons for the introduction of this system
of railway construction, and the objections raised against it have been — The
increased cost of construction beyond that of other modes, — the additional
expense of keeping it in repair ; — -and that it does not accomplish tlie objects
proposed by Mr. Brunei, in recommendiug it to your notice, — that the motion
of the carriages is much greater than upon ordinary railways of the best con-
struction,— and that there is a considerable increase of resistance to the
carriages.

Tlie professed .advantages to be derived from the increased width of gauge,
and the construction of the road by continuous bearings and piles, are so ex-
tensive and numerous, while on the other hand, the objections alleged against
them are equally so, that it appeared to me, as stated previously, with the
exception of awaiting the result of the test of time, there was only one mode
of determining these complicated questions with any degree of satisfaction,
viz., to endeavour to investigate as many of the points as possible, by experi-
ments instituted for the e.xpress purpose, and to ascertain if by this mode
such a number of facts could be obtained as would, with the aid of the expe-
rience already obtained of the woiking of the system, enable me to arrive at
conclusions which would, to unprejudiced persons, determine the important
questions submitted to me.

On a review of all the proposed advantages and above-enumerated objec-
tions, the most important points to be determined by experiment appeared to
me to be comprehended within the following heads of inquiry ; —

1 . The question of the .attainment of a higher rate of speed than on other

railways ; whether the increased width of gauge is, or is not, either
necessary or best adapted for the accomplishment of this object, and to
what e.xtent.

2. The mechanical advantage or diminution of friction, by being enabled to

increase the diameter of the wlieels, without raising the bodies of the
carriages ; and in what respect, and to wh.at extent, the friction or resist-
ance of the carriages is affftted by, or bears upon the peculiar construc-
tion of the road.

3. The comparative advantage or firmne.=s of base, or road track, of the Great

Western Railway, with continuous timberbearings, eilherwilh orwithout
piles, and if it does or does not produce a greater steadiness and smooth-
ness of motion to the carriages, and to what extent.
These were the questions which appeared to me could not be delennined

in any other way than by experiment, but which appeared to be capable of
solution by that method, and which likewise appeared to constitute the
foundation of the entire system ; for if the plan was not either necessary for
the realization, or did not effect a greater rate of speed than ordinary railways ;
if no diminution of friction v/as accomplished, and if no increased steadiness
of motion to the carriages was produced, at least, a very considerable portion
of the inducements for a departure from the ordinary plan would be destroyed :
but if, on the contrary, the whole or some partof these desiderata were accom-
plished, then it remained to be determined whether the advantages did or did
not counterbalance the disadvantages or objections to the system.

Allainnient of Speed The first question to determine was, therefore, that

of the .attainment of speed. The most conclusive manner of effecting this
appeared to be, to subject .all the different descriptions of engines upon the
line to experiment; to ascertain at what rate of speed they could travel, the
loads they were capable of dragging at diUerent rates of speed, and the com-
parative power required to accomplish these different performances. Having
thus obtained the power of the Great Western Railway engines upon that rail,
way, by instituting a similar set of experiments on other railways; we then
had the comparative result of the engines as to speed, and performance upon
the railways of the ordinary width and plan of construction, and upon the
Great Western Railway.

A set of experiments for the purpose of ascertaining the performances of
the several engines on the Great Western Railway was therefore commenced,
and were conducted as follows : —

A certain number of first and second class carriages were selected and
weighed ; they were then loaded with such a weight as would equal that of
their full complement of passengers, with their luggage. A certain number of
trucks were also selected, weighed, and loaded with the weight which they
were calculated to carry.

The engine selected for the experiment was weighed, and also the tender,—
the quantity of coke in the fire-grate of the engine was carefully observed at
the commencement of Ihe experiment, and .also tlie quantity of water in the
tender. The engine was then attached to the carriages fixed upon for the ex-
periment, put in motion, and proceeded to the end of the stage without stop-
ping. The coke having been previously weighed into bags, the quantity put
into the firegrate during the journey was recorded, and at the end of the trip
the fire-grate was filled >ip, as nearly as could be estimated, to the same
height above the fire-grate as it w,as at the commencement of the trip, and
the quantity thus consumed correctly ascertained. Tlie qu.anlity of water at
the beginning of the trip being known, the boiler was kept to the same
height during the journey, the quantity of water left in the tender at the end
of the journey was gauged, and thus the quantity evaporated in the trip w,as
obtained.

The mode of conducting the experiments was this : — Comiuencing at P.id-
dington, the engine dragged the train from the depot to the first half-mile
post, when it was stopped ; the steam was then applied to the cylinders, and
the time noted ; for the first mile the time was recorded at every 1 10 y.ards,
for the purpo.se of ascertaining the progress of obtaining the average speed,
and afterwards at every quarter mile. The train then proceeded until it
arrived at the twenty-first mile post, when the steam was shut off from the
cylinders, and the train allowed to come to rest of itself. The quantify of
coke consumed, and water evaporated, during each journey was ascertained
as previously explained ; and the rate of speed being taken at every quarter
mile, the rate of velocity was also obtained, not only during that part of tlie
journey at which a maximum rate of speed was kept up, but also the lime
occupied in getting up the speed, and also of bringing the train to a state of
rest. The same process was observed in the return trip from M.aidenhead to
Paddington ; Ihe engine and train was brought up to Ihe twenty-second mile
post and slopped, the steam thrown upon the pistons, and the time, coke, and
water, ascertained in the same manner as in the former case.

Table 1. is the result of the experiments of the power of the Locomotive
Engines on the Great Western Railway, arranged in a tabular form, &c. ;

By classifying these experiments, under the respective lo^ds by which the
powers of the engines wero tested; we hare the comparative results, ai regards
the performances of the different engines with performances of the different
engines with specific loads, and the consumption of fuel, or power required to
drag these loads at certain rates of speed.

On attentively considering the result of these experiments, as exhibited in
the following tables, we find that the extreme mean maximum rate of speed
accomplished by these engines, has been 41.1.^) miles an hour, with the North
Star Engine, hut the load which was taken at that rate of speed was only 15
tons. It may here bo observed, that the rate of speed shown in these tables, is
the mean rate from the time the engine obtained its full speed, until the steam
was shut oft'at the end of the experiment ; and comprehended a distance gene-
rally of 19 miles, as may be seen on inspecting the tables in note E, Appendix.
A greater extreme rate was accomplished for a short distance, during some of
the experiments, as much as 45 miles an hour. The above expression of the
maximum mean rate of speed, is therefore the average rate of travelling from
one end of the stage to the other, after the engine had got into full speed, and
until the speed was .igain checked at the end of the stage.

A rate of 40^ miles an hour has, it will be seen, been accomplished by another
engine, the Apollo, but with a load of only nine tons ; when the load was in-
creased, both with this engine and with the North Star, the speed was corre-
spondly reduced. The result of these experiments show that to effect a mean
rate of about 40 miles an hour, exclusive of the lime of getting up the speed
and stopping at the termination, between the two ends of a stage, about twenty
miles in length, the load cannot be more than from I o to 20 tons, with engines
of the power of the North Star.

CO

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

TA^E I.

RKSILT OF THE PERFORMANCES OF THE DIFFERENT ENGINES ON THE
GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY.

s

z

LoaU.

^

Coke

(■onsunied.

Water
Evaporated.

o

-.^

5-^

^

s

§s

tx

S°

to .

I'or
Ton.

to

.5 A

1 '^

o

N

6

■II

Loads.

y 3

6

a^

O^

— e

5 ^

3

■iP

-•S

<

r,

Tons,

Ton.^i.

Tons.

"^

??

ibs.

■- o

rt

NmlliStiii

l.jfl

28 S!l

4 1-79

41-15

38 51

53-7

980

2-76

-98

095

197-7

878

3-2SI2

28 71

01 60

30 97

31-52

oii-(,-

924

1-25

-66

730

103-8

8 29

(

Jl lil

2(1-01

70-02

38-8

33-9

56-7

1040

1-09

-64

614

130-3

11-37

1

o:!-;-.H

2S-0.S

792U

3003

25-3

627

III88

-95

-01

847

1536

8-4S

83-U;i

28-57

110-01

32-81

30-66

55-4

1092

■69

•45

816

200-9

804

.•E..lns

Ki'JDCi

28-41

1947

23 3

18 OS

08-7

1102

-306

-230; 929

141-4

7-79

■31'27

28-41

o2-75

37-28

33-27

02-6

751

137

-03

5.52

130-9

8-46

:Jl-2-i

2S-2i>

69-52

33 25

29 77

599

839

1-15

62

572

117-9

9-08

4S:«

28-27

7059

28-9

19-72

05 (i

092

-02

-40

007

98-5

CO

\

•51110

28 37

78-93

32-20

27-9

613

8(i8

-75

-49

015

129-5

8-79

I

'j:!Sl

28-41

8223

25-8:J

23 83

- S'8

1114

-92

-56

049

114-7

10-67

TSI'CU

28-32

108-29

24-59

22-01

59-11

956

-31

■37

057

1104

889

A'euus

1040

2813

132.73

229

178

08-5

271

-89

■31

724

105-2

7 95

31-41

20-58

58-

31-2S

30 l(i

'-.0-J

681

-90

-52 500

nil

8-49

^Neptune

50-40

20-44

76-9

27-97

22-5

70-

718

-03

-41 370

96-9

7-84

31-42

20-57

58-

34-14

29-77

70-3

001

•81

-45

495

107-0

7-68

\

44-81

2653

7481

33-11

23-35

05-

003

-60

-37

310

87-43

7-4U

lApollo

50-40

20-57

77-03| 26-

23 53

7.5-

620

-04

-42

510

928

8-89

0-37

26-56

35.93 40-5

31-7

70-

014

305

-79

511

129-5

7-85

lS-.>5

26-01

44-86] 87-25

33-08

70-

61(i

1-51

-61

481

117-1

8 12

31-42

20 5

57-9 1 35-81

29-8

74-7

725

1-03

-56

549

1202

829

Premier

50-40

25-56

77 02, 25 75

21-05

75-

840

-79

-51

001

94-2

8-71

5!) 07

24 38

i
84-0.5' 20-15

24-05

00-

890

■07

-47

832

154-5

0-23

Lion

80-S

24-97

103-46^ 24-17

22-37

60-

952

-509

-40

842

140-4

7-02

52.45

24-33

i
70 78' 26 03

22.95

30

834

.73

-46

C3

110-3

83

80.5

23-9

104-4 ^24-07

22.28

50-

1169

.04

-49

86

143-6

9-

TABLE II.

TABLE OF THE RELATIVE POWERS OF THE DIFFERENT ENGINES ON
THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAV.

,1

North Star Engine,

10 in. C\ 1. 7 11.

Wlieels.

Mollis Engine.

14 in. Cj-1. 8 It.

Wheels.

Venus, Neptune,

and ApuIIo Engiia-s

13 in. Cyl. 8 It.

Wheels.

Premier and Lion

Engines,

14 in. Cvl. 6 and 7

It. Wheels.

n Tons of C
nd Passenge

.2 ^'

c

Co"

%%

.OH .

il

in .

gH .

EfS

S-S

ef-S

^fe

Si^-S

cS

a=-s

„ ffl)

as

III

Ml

oS

o

o

o

Ifcs.

lbs.

ibi.

lbs.

9

40-5

3-05

15)

41-15

276

37 35

1-61

18t

24 J

37-28

1-37

32
60

36.37
81-70

125
1-02

33-25
3-2-

1-16
•70

34-74
26-37

•91
-09

•2ij:j0

•70

80
104

32 81

•59

24-59
22-9

•61
•39

106

133

-306

It may be here remarked, th.it unless very large anil heavy tenders are con.
vcyed with the eni;incs, the stages cannot be of a much longer distance than
twenty miles ; the quantity of water evaporated in this distance, by the North
.Sior Engine, being upwards of three tons.

The performance with the North Siar was wiih a six wheel, and a four
wheel passenger carriage, capable of containing 56 passengers; the experi-
ment with the Apollo Engine was with a six wheel carriage capable of con-
taining 32 passengers, the full complement of luggage in both cases being
allowed.

It is scarcely necessary to state that, this is a load which cannot be considered
a profitable or adviseablc one, to be fixed upon as a standard for the weight of

the trains ; or such a load as should be considered to be the weight of the first
class trains on the railroad for permanent adoption. It is only necessary to re-
fer to the experiments to see, at what a sacrifice of poiver and consumption of
coke this rate has been accomplished, to arrive at once at the conclusion, that
if such a rate of speed cannot be kept up excejit at such a sacrifice, the rate
must be reduced.

The .'Eolus engine with 24 tons, realised a rate of .37 miles an hour, and the
twelve inch cylinder engines with 18 tons, accompli.'hed a similar p rformance ;
these are likeqvise loads below that which it will be necessary to provide for
the regular traffic of the railway.

We come now to the next load, on which experiments were made, viz. 32
tons; this would provide accommodation for about 1 12 people with their lug-
gage, with 2 six, and 2 four i^ecl first class carriages ; and with this load the
North Star accomplished a rate of nearly 37 miles an hour, and the other
engines about 34 miles. This is likewise a less load than can be reckoned
upon for the permanent working of the line, as it does not allow for the con-
veyance of pi ivate carriages, which must always be calculated to accompany
the swift or first class trains.

Wiih a load of 50 tons, ihe speed realised by the Northern Star is nearly
35 miles an hour; — with the Oiolus 32 railcs ; — but with the other engines
only 2C^ miles an hour.

When the load is increased to SO tons, the North .Star engine performs a
rate of nearly 33 miles an hour ; but the performance of the (Eolus engine is
diminished to '2-li miles an hour ; and we sec that a rate of 22^ miles an hour
is the performance of engines such as the ^'erus, Neptune, and Apollo, with
12 inch cylinders, and 6 and 7 feet driving wheels, respectively.

It docs not appear, therefore, that with the best of the engines at present
upon the Great Western Railway, a greater velocity can be calculated upon ;
at the mean maximum rate of speed than -35 miles an hour, with such loads as
may be expected to constitute a first class train. For extraordinary purposes,
with a diminished load, a rate of 40 miles may be attained, but looking at all
the circumstances incidenlal to railways, with engines and trains travelling at
the maximum rate of speed, it does not appear to rac, that any standard equal
to 40 miles an hour can be depended upon in practice Ihe weight of two first
class carriages, one with si.x wheels, and one wiih four wheels, and of two
second class close carriages, one with six wheels, and one with four wheels,
with their complement of passengers and luggage, will weigh about 31 tons;
but this docs not allow of any trucks for the conveyance of gentlemen's
carriages, or for horse boxes. Upon the London and Birmingham Railway,
since it has been opened throughout, the average weight of the trains, including
passengers, passengeis' carriages, carriage trucks, horse boxis and luggage
vans, has been about G5 tons ; this includes both first-class and mixed trains,
the former being upwards of 50 tons and the hatter about 70 tons. Taking
this as a standard for the Great Western Railway, it does not appear that, for
the first-class trains a less weight than 50 tons can be calculated upon ; and
with this weight the experiments show tliat a mean rate of 35 miles an hour
between the stages, after getting up the speed, and bofore its being checked
may be accomplished, under circumstances similar to those experienced during
the time these experiments were in being performed, and with engines of the
power of the Nonh Star. And it will be seen that with a load of 80 tons, which
would not much exceed the weight of a second class train, a velocity of nearly
33 miles an hour can be maintained, during the time the engine is at the full
rate of speed.

Taking 35 miles an hour, therefore, as the mean maximum rate of speed
between (he stages, it will have to be considered what general average rate
can be kept up between one end of the line and the other ; in this calculation
we have to take into account, the time lost in getting up the speed, and in
stopping the train, the time lost at each station, and all the vicissitudes of
wind, weather, and incidental casualties. On the other hand I think it my
duty to explain, that these ex| eriments, which are here brought forward .as a
standard for the assumption of this rate of speed on the Great Western Railway,
though it is not expected that more weight should be placed upon them than
upon experiments generally, which must be considered as exhibiting more
favourable circumstances tlian tlie everyday practical result ; yet it must be
taken into account, that the road for three or four miles fiom one end of the
line was under repair, and would not therefore present what may be considered
an average result, or what may be expected to be the permanent result when
the road is in the best possible order. We shall see alterwards to what extent
this may be supposed to influence the general result ; I thought it my duty,
however, to mention it in this place, that every circumstance connected vvitii
the enquiry likely to operate, in any degree whatever upon the general result,
should be brought into consideration.

On a mere inspection of these tables, every person must be struck with Ihe
enormous increase of power required to eflTect a high rate of speed, or a rate
of 40 miles an hour, compared with that which is required to propel a load M
the i-ateof about 20 miles an hour. We see the Noilh Star engine, dragging
166 tons at the mean rale of 23.3 miles an hour ; while the same engine under
similar circumstances is only capable of dragging 15 tons at the late of 41.15
iniles an hour. Again the /EdIus engine, drags 104 tons attlie rate of nearly
23 miles an hour ; and only 24 tons at the rate of 37.28 miles an hour. The
engines of less power exhibit precisely the same results, we see them dragging
50 tons at 2Ci miles an hour, and only nine tons at 40tV miles an hour.

If this had been the result of theoretical deduction, some suspicion might
have existed of its accuracy, but the above is the result of cai-efully-conducted
experiments, made under precisely similar circumstances; and although it
might have been desirable that a greater number of experiments had been
made in corroboration, tlieie can be no doubt that the results os shown by

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

61

this expwimeBt exhibit, if not strictly so, sufficiently correct data for all we
require in a practical point of view. ^

1 am aware that this ng-gregate result is composed of the effect of the
engines, the effect of the road, and the resistance of the carriages ; and that
each of these effects are hable to modification, to the extent to which each of
them influence the general result, and to which they are susceptible of fur-
ther improvement. We shall afterwards see to what extent each of these
operate in producing the general result, and we shall also see that this result
is completely and satisfactorily made out by subsequent experiments, on each
of these sections separately ; still, in practice, it is the ag:gregate result to
which we must look, and by which we must be guided in our inquiries into the
entire system. It is of tiie utmost importance to inquire into the causes,
that we may know how far the general result is capable of improvement, and to
what extent; but in practice, conclusions drawn from experiments on a working
scale and character, must carry with them considerable weight as a standard.

I must here revert to the often repeated expressions of opinion, that in
laying down any st.andard of power in engines, and especially any standard
with reference to the power of locomotive engines, it should be a varying
one, dependant upon their presumed increased powers; and, that looking
back to the rapid strides of improvement made in the engines, we may natu-
rally look forward to further improvements, and that, therefore, our calcula-
tions should rather be founded upon what may probably be the powers of
these engines in future, than upon the powers they exhibit at the present
time. The force of this is irresistible, but we must not, where the result in-
volves the expenditure of an immense amount of capital, yield to prospective
theoretical improvements, unless they carry with them stronir, and almost
certain grounds of practical realisation. The great impulse of improve-
ment giveu to these engines has has been their powers of evaporation, in pro-
ducing a sufficiently rapid evolution of steam with an engine of a tangible
weight. The system of small tubes has effected more than could at one time
be reasonably expected, and we now not only accomplished an immense
rapidity of production of steam ; but we have likewise effected this witliout
any waste of fuel, and this is a most important element in the consideration.
By an inspection of the tables it will be seen, that the average weight
of coke required to convert a cubic foot of water into steam, is not
greater than what is required by the best constructed stationary engines,
and less than Mr. Watts' standard, viz. 81bs. Of coal to each cubic foot of
water. When we consider the ingenuity exercised for so long a period upon
this part of the economy of stationary engines, with so little effect, and this,
with engines infinitely more favourably circumstanced than the locomotive
engine, it becomes extremely qiic&tionable to what extent we ought to cany
speculations founded upon a presumed increase of evaporating power of
these engines. But'allowing to the most sanguine every possible extent of
imaginative improvement, and supposing that we could effect an equally
economical and as great a rapidity of production of steam, with the North
Star, as with enciues of the weight of the Venus, Neptune, and Apollo,
which are only of half the power, and which, it may be presumed, would be
the limits of speculation by the most fertile mind, what do we gain, we have
a saving of two tons weight. Or, if we were to go even further, and take
the lightest engine working on the ordinary railroads, and suppose their
powers of evaporation to be doubled, we gain no more than five or six tons
upon a railway of the width of the Great Western, and this would give us
20 tons at 41 miles an hour, instead of 1.5 tons, and so in proportion at other
velocities. The only reasonable speculation of future improvements, is in the
expectation that increased evaporating powers may be given to such engines
as the North Star; and that retaining the same weight of the present most
powerful engines, we may so incre.ise their evaporating powers as to produce
an increase of effect. Here, however, we have practical data to guide us even
in this respect in these tables : the comparative evaporating powers of the
jEoIus and the North Star, are 16.5 : 115, and the Venus 1G5 : 106. These
tables show, that with such an increase of powers of evaporation, no more
than about three miles an hour is gained by the North Star over the .'Eolus
both engines being of the same weight. It results, therefore, from these
experiments, that it wouU, practically considered, be imprudent to indulge n .
speculations which are only necessary in case of considerable improvements
being- eflected in the locomotive engine, and by which a much higher rate of
speed can be realized than these engines are at present capable of effecting : —
we shall afterwards see that there is a limit to the velocity of railway trains,
by an element over which we have no control, and that it would be impolitic
in a practical or commercial point of view, to attempt more than a certain
rate of speed.

Having thus obtained, as far as the time permitted, the power and capa-
bilities of the engines upon the Great Western Road, the next step was by a
similar set of experiments to obtain the powers of the engines on railways
of the^ordinary width and construction. To accomplish this, application was
made to the directors of the London and Birmingham Kailway, who very
handsomely granted permission to make any experiments which might not
interfere with the traffic upon the road. When, liowever, it is considered
that these experiments can only be made in the interval between the trains
passing along the line ; that on the Great Western Railway, where, from the
line being short, much greater facilities are afforded for making the experi-
ments than upon a long line of road, the experiments occupied from the 13lh
of September to the 13th of October ; and when it is also considered that
these experiments involve considerable cxpen.se, and the almost exclusive
attention of the persons connected with the locomotive department, it is quite
unnecessary to state that it was extremely difficult to avail ourselves of the
permission granted by that company, without such interference with the
regular traffic of tUe road as would have been unjustifiable.

The engines upon these railways, however, are not so varied in their con-
struction as those of the Great Western Railw.ay, and therefore a less num-
ber of experiments were necessary ; for, instead of having to determine the
power of each different kind of engine, it only required experiments to deter-
mine the power of almost one engine, the other being so nearly alike, the
performance of one correctly ascertained was, in fact, the standard of power
of the whole.

I\Tr. Robert Stephenson, in the most handsome manner, placed at my dis-
posal some experiments made on that railway on the powers of their engines
during- the summer of this yrar, and, for the purpose of checking these by
my own personal observation, he arranged and accompanied me on an expe-
rimental trip from the Camden Town station to Boxmoor and back, and gave
me an opportunity of making otlier trips to corroborate the accuracy of his
experiments.

Table III. will show the result of those experiments on the London and
Birmingham Uailv/ay.

TABLE III.

ACCOUNT OF THE PF.RFOUMANCES OF THE ENGINES ON THE LONDON AND
BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY.

Load.

3

S,

s

Coke consumed.

Water
evaporated.

NAMES

OF THE

(3

i

3

to

i

1

to

ENGINES.

o

i

Is

a^

I

S
(-

a^

Is

5^1

p-t;

o

Tons.

Tons.

Tons.

£

%

o1
o

5^

th-.

H)S.

Ihs.

1

Harvey '

Combe.

3-3-60

\7r,

50-16

32-88

30-51

511

434

-89

-47

3O0

83-81

9-85

53-4.5

17.5

70-05

32-4

28-53

50

601

•59

■4

506

105-9

7-59

64 30

17-2G

8161

25-53

21-85

50

391

5-40

•35

317

70-00

7-62

'

34-4o

16 32

50-77

32-41

31-29

.50

606

1-01

-55

420

91-

8-9

Bury s C

."is-ni

ie-8.5

69-76

32-04 2n-8-3

,5(!

59U

-68

•41

405

04-.12

8-13!

Engine. )

67-2

16-33

83-53

23-81

19-42

511

1220

•30

•29

935

5S-8I

8-lli

1

These experiments, the results of which are shown in the aheve fable, were
made, as will be seen by an inspection of the section, upon a part of the rail-
way, the gradients of which .-.re very variable; the inclination being in some
parts 16 feet in a mile, and are the mean result in both directions.

Table IV. is a summary of these experiments arranged for comparison with
those on the'Great Western Railway.

TABLE IV.

TAHLE OF THE POWERS OF THE ENGINES OP THE LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM

RAILWAY.

Load in Tons

of
Carriages and

Passengers.

Harvey Comlje engine, ^2 inch
cyiiuder, 5 feet wheels.

No. 15. i\Ir. Bury's eh;?ine, 1 2 inch
cylinder, 5' feet wheels .

Maximum speed Coke per ton per
in miles per hour. mile in lbs.

32.65
34:45

63.45
63.91

64.36

67.20

32.88

32. t

25.33

.89

.59

.504

Maximum speed
in miles per hour.

Coke per ton per
mile in lbs.

32.41
32.04
23.81

.58

From this it will be seen that, on a railway of the ordinary widih, where the
gradients are variable, and where the resistance is more than doubled in some
parts, a mean velocity of 32 miles an hour may be maintained with loads
varying from 32 to 54 tons. These experiments were made for the express
purpose of comparison with those on the Great Western Railway, and with the
same loads ; and thev are, therefore, presented as expermients for such a
comparison. I have" done this in preference to producing as comparisons
other exper:mcnts made on the Grand Junction, and Liverpool and Manchester
Railways ; as if I had done so, these experiments not being made in the same
manner, many explaniitions would have been required ; it will, however, be
seen, on inspecting the results of the other experiments, that the general com-
parative result of the perform.ances of the engines on the London and Bir-
mingham R.ailways is corroborated by those other experiments.

On comparing the results of these experiments with those made on the
Great Western Railway we find, that with the same load, or whh a load of ^
tons, a greater rate of speed is accomplished by the Noith Star engine; but
that the perform.ances of the engines on the London and Birmingham Railnay
with that load, nearly approach those on the Great Western of a less pov/er
than the North Star, but of a greater power than the London and Birmingham
engines. With a load of DO tons, the North Star engine on the Great Western
Railway, acomplished a mean velocity of about two miles an hour greater;
the Jiioh\% engine the same rate; but the Venus, Neptune, and Apollo en-
gines, of the same power as those on tlie London and Birmingham RailwBy,

(52

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

do not come up to tlie performances of tbe latter engines by six miles an
liour.

We see likewise in tlie comparison of tliese performances a mucli greater
consumption of coke per ton per mile, by tlie engines on the Great Western
Railway, than by tlie engines on the London and Birmingham Kailway ; and
the construction of the engines being nearly the same, we consequently find a
proportionate quantity of water, or quantity <jf steam, consumed. It is
scarcely necessary to say, tliat the quantity of water used, or weight of steam
employed, in a given distance, is a correct test of the power e.spended in per-
forming a certain quantity of work on that stage ; we can, therefore, besides
knowing the relative dimensions of the engines, apply this as a test of the
power employed by the engines on the respective railways in the performance
of a similar quantity of work. Adopting the mode of estimating the relative
powers of the engines by a well-known rule, viz., that the power of evapora-
tion by tlie action of the radiant heat of the fire-box, is three times that of the
communicative heat of the tubes ; the following table will show the relative
powers of the several engines on which experiments have been made, according
to this mode of calculation, to which I have added the actual powers exhibited
by the experiments, as deteiTOined by the quantity of water evaporated into
steam.

T.iBI.E V.

THE K1:I.\T1VK POWFRS OF Till; LNC.INKS ON TIIK Onr.^T WFSTEfiN, AND
I.O-NDON A.\D UIRMINGHAM R.ilLWAVS.

,

"3

3

'3 '^

ir.

Estimated Powers

rt

e.

Comparative powers

of

£.

t^ 2

J=A

and

F

vaporatioii

3

•5 I

Consumption of Coke.

O 1 a

QJ

\.\MES

y.

* *:

■3 g

'S ^

d:S

S -s

.9 •-'

Ol-

n|

.^■si

'"'i

,^;

c ^

o S

rt 'U

t_ s

ENGINKS

"si

o3 -

CO*

SB

li

1 g<

<

■S'^-

5 <-^

aj o

O

1

w

1-

s

North Star...

70.10

054.76

288,28

1C5-C

:u.70

1.0-2

100.

100. 100. 1

.Mollis

.50.3

.534.19

328.09

115.3

32.

.'0

79.12

69. m

75.85

Venus. .....

Npjitnne. ...

-V polio

4-5.

46I..51

198.84

106.2

26.-57

.(ii)

68.97

04.13

C8.86

Harveyt'oinbe

30-72

332.45

1C3.S7

94.8o

32.4

.50

56.84

57.98 53.88

l!iiry\ Knpne

:)<l.2

378.2

165.26

92.74

32.04

.5S

57.32

50. t 57.88

We see by the above table, the comparative amount of power required to
pcrfov:r. the same quantity of work on the Great Western, and on the London
and Birmingham Railwiiy? ; arising partly from the much greater power and
\vei''ht of the engines, compared with the useful load on the former than on
the latter railway, and partly, as will hereafter be seen, on the increased resis-
tance oU'ercd by the rails and carriages.

On examining the account of the e.vperimenis on the London and Birming-
ham Ilailway, it will be seen that, although the mean rate of speed is 32 miles
an hour, occasionally on some parts of the line the velocity was much greater,
the maximum being 40.9 miles an hour. I shall, for the present, defer mak-
ing any further comparison of these results, and shall now offer to your notice
some experiments made on other railways, as corroborative of the above.

Through the kindness of my friend iMr. Booth, secretary to the Liverpool
and Manchester Railway, 1 have been enabled to make some experiments on
deflexion on that railway ; and the resident engineer, Mr. Edward Woods, has
furnished me with some experiments on the powers of the engines on that
railroad.

T.\BI.E VI.

SrMMAKV OF rXl'I-nlMFNTS ON THE I.IVKRI'OOr. AND M ANCIIF.STllR RAILWAY.

NAMES

OF

ENGINES.

Load.

Mean
Rate of'
Travel-
ing in
Miles
per
Hour.

Coke consumed.

Car-
riages,

Engine

and
Tender

Gross
Load

During
Tri]..

lbs. of
per ton,
per mile.

Tons.

Tons.

Tons.

lbs.

Of

Goods.

Gross
L«ad.

.26
.587

Phmot, Sun, I.i^'hlning,
I'lr.ilaiis, Eirefly, anil

137.3

26.

17.

10.4

154.3
42 4

19,16
29.1

12.18
747

297
957

Planet and Lightning

railway, .and received from that gentleman a letter, stating that Iw had laid
my application before the Board of Directors, and that they had authorized
him to say that they had much pleasure in meeting my wishes, leaving the
arrangement in the hands of their engineer, Mr. Locke.

On applying to Mr. Locke, he at once placed in my hands the result and
particulars of a most valuable set of experiments, made on the Grand Junction
Railway, and met me on the spot to arrange about any other experiments
which I might think advisable to make.

Tlie following are the experiments made on the Grand Junction Railway
on the consumption of coke of the locomotive engines.

These experiments are presented for a difi'erent purpose than the preceding
ones, the former gives the consumption of coke and powers of the engines,
with respect to speed, from the time of starting iit one end of a stage until
they arrived at the end of th.at stage, or the consumption and r.atcof travelling
during the time of performing the journey alone. The experiment,; on the
Grand Junction line gives the consumption of coke, from the time of lighting
the fire until the engine has finished the journey, including all the waste at
each end; or, in fact, .-.howing what is etpiivalent to the consumption in the
regular working ot the railway, from the time the fire is lighted until the
engine li.as iini.shed the day's work.

Table VII. is the result of these experiments: —

TABLE VII.
SUMMARY OP EXPF.HIMENTS ON THE GR \ND JI'NCTION RAILWAY ENfilNES.

Havin" been informed, that several experiments had been made on the
Grand .lunctioa Railway, on the consumption of coke, and some portions of
that Line being piirticularly favourable with respect to gradients, for experi-
ments on the friction of the carriages ; 1 made application to Mr. .Moss, the
Chairman of the Directors, for permission to make some experiments on that

rj

2

C--

C(

f.

■^

?- 3
u

o

>->

£^

^

,~i

•"^

u .

u

o

t-

<N

w

•^

CO

d

-^s

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^

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u'-^

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CO

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c&

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r^

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t'*

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o

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rH

"#

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00

cc

CO

M<

CO

CO

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3g£-

2

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1^

o

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<o

^5^

rfj

tCi

f

C4

'■O

o

Cl

ct

«

c»

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c*

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to

lO

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o

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^ ='

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,__l

CO

Sa

<- *.

c*

c^

s

s

o

s

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g

o

-T*

o

ec

o

**"

H

a

CO

CO

w

o

B

•o.iui')sia

Oi

CO

rr>

CO

K

PU"X

p^

c-

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tj

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o
c*

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p

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puu

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o"

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autSua

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o*

— ; "1 "~

tr

t>-

00

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CO

CI

c»

-rf

CO'

.

/-^fcA.^\

r*-*— '

>■ ' ^

/-^^^— -N

CI CO -^

(_, a

cc ?5

s 1 i

y.

s ■ • •
►^ ■ * '

2 • -

c *

u . . .

5 . . .

i-s . . .

w

<^ ,/

•r.

3

•

to 55

■3

.2

1

•c

w s

sg

"rt

g

rt

o

rf

?.s

g

^

^

E

£

Q^

The experiments were made for the purpose of ascertaining the comparative
qualities of the different descriptions of coke, and were consequently made
with the greatest care by Mr. Alcaid, the resident engineer.

For the purpose of comparing this result, with that of the consumption of
coke of the engines on the Greiit Western Railway, I have m.ade out Fable
VIII., from documents furnished me by Mr. Saunders. „ ^ „ ,

We «ee therefore that these statements corroborate the result of the for-
mer experiments m'ade in a diiierent manner, and show, for the reasons pre-
viously explained, a greater expenditure of power, or consumption of coke,
on theCreat Western Railway, than on the Grand Junction Railway, for
theperformanceof the s,ame quantity of work. • . .,

Ok a careful consideration of the d.ata furnished by these experiments, the
conclusions which appear to result from them, as regardsthe first proposition,
vi/.., the attainment of speed, &e., &c appear to be as fo lows :-

1st That the extreme rate of speed, accomplished on the Great Western
Railway, 'has been 45 miles an hour, with the North Star engine, and with
a load of fifty tons, for a short distance,

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

63

TABLE VIII.
CONSUMPTION OF COKE ON THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY.

1
S

Load.

Rate of Travelling.

Coke.

|S|

lbs. per Ton
per Mile.

NAMES OF
ENGINES.

Ed

■S«-s^

Dis- .<^";',>rean

3'la

Ihs.
per

o W^ Load.

o

tance.

" Rate.

g? =

Mile.

&

Miles

Goods.

M O

3 c

Tons.

MUes.

Mill, per
Ilour.

0>A

North Star.

Sc/S

■10.5 '2M

69.

8848.

1
.SKI 25.45

420784.

47.5

1.17

.69

-■Eolu.s

s ^

■al..'> 28. 1

(iK.9

7292.

.2:17 2:t.8l

853300.

48.4

1.19

.71

Venus

n

40.520.5

07.

140.

.100 22.5

12650.

52.7

1.3

.78

Neptune

■3 S-

40.5,26.5

07.

4728.

.949 2:i83

188381.

39.8

.95

.59

Apollo

40.O 26.5

07.

4:i92.

.942 '2:t.81

193080.

43.9

1.08

.66

Premier

a J

i0.5!2a.

05.5

S024.

.99 '22.7.1

159930.

52.8

1.3

.87

Lion

ES40.6 24.

04.5

S973.

.90 2S.43 1226570.

07.

1.4

.89

2d. That with a load of .50 tons, which may be considered to be the
extreme load of a first-class train, a mean rate, at fnll speed, of S.") miles per
hour, in both directions, has been accomplished upon the line at present
opened, viz., 22J miles, the e.xtreme gradient being 4 feet per mile ;
and that this has been performed with engines of an average evaporating
power of 1G5.6 cubic feet of water per honr, and with driving wheels 7 feet
diameter; and cylinders, IG inches diameter.

3rd. That with engines of a less evaporating power, or equal to 1 15 cubic
feet of w.ater per hour, the aver.age speed with a load of 50 tons has been 32
miles an hour ; the engines having eight feet driving wheels, and twelve
inch cylinders.

4th. That the extreme r.ate of speed accomplished on the London and
Birmingham Railway, has been 40.9 miles an hour, with the Harvey Combe
engine, and with a load of 34^- tons, but only for a short distance.

5th. That with a load of 50 tons, a mean rate of 32 miles an hour, at full
speed, has been accomplished, on a stage of about the same length as upon
the Great Western, or 24^ miles; the extreme gradient being 16 feet per
mile, and with engines, the mean evaporating power of which is equal to
94.85 cubic feet of water per hour, and with 5 feet driving wheels, and
cylinders 12 inches diameter.

6th. That on both railways, the consumption of coke, or power required
to accomplish the above stated performances, has been as nearly as possible,
in the ratio of evaporating powers of jthe respective engines.

7tb. That a high rate of velocity can only be attained by a very great
sacrifice of power, the following table, shewing the relative performances of
two of the most powerful engines on the Great Western, with respect to
speed and load, and also the consumption of coke per ton per mile : —

TABLE IX.

Loid in
Tons.

North Star El
Speed in
Miles per
Hour.

sine.

Consumpt. ©f

Coke per Ton

Per Mile.

lbs.

Load in
Tons.

.tiolus Kngine.

Speed in

Miles per

Honr.

Consumpt.

of Coke per

Ton per Mile

lbs.

16

... 41. .

2.76

24

... 37| ...
33| ...

1.37

33

... 37. .

1.25

31

1.15

50

... 35. .

1.02

51

32

.76

82

... 33. .

.59

80

... 24^ ...

.51

166

... 24. .

.306

104

... 23 ...

.30

We come now to the determination of the first section of the report, viz. ;
—the question of the attainment of a higher rate of speed, on the Great
Western Railway than on other railways, whether the increased width of
gauge, is or is not, either necessary, or best adapted for the accomplishment
of tUis speed,and to what extent.

We find, from the results previously enumerated, that a higher rate of
speed has been attained on the Great Western Railway, than on other rail-
ways. This has been accomplished by the increased power of the engines
employed on that railway, above that of those on other railways ; before,
however, we can determine whether the increased gauge, is or is not, neces-
sary, or best adapted for the accomplishment of this object, and to wliat ex-
tent, we Huist enquire whether engines of the power by which such perform-
ance waselfected on the Great Western Railway, or such a power of engine as
would accomplish that rate of speed, can be applied on railways of the ordi-
nary width.

The estimated powers of evaporation, of the largest of the engines on the
Great Western Railway, is 288.28, as per table ; and this engine per-
forms a mean rate of speed with 50 tons, of 35 miles an hour. The evapo-
rating power of the Harvey Combe engine is, by the same table, 16.;). 87, and
this engine performs a mean rate of speed of 32 miles an hour. Tlie largest
engines manufactured by Messrs. R. Stephenson and Co. , and in use upon
the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, have, however, an evaporating power of
253.21; and an engine, built by the same manufacturers, for the Leicester
and Swannington Railway, has an evaporating power of 263.8. The
.■Eolus engine on ihe Great Western Railway, which is the ne.xt powerful
engine on that line, has an evaporating power of 228.09, and this
engine eflfects a mean rate of speed of 32 miles an hour, with 50 tons.
?»o. J7.— FBBBUAay, 1839. Vol. II.

We see, therefore, that there are engines in use upon Railways of the ordi-
nary width, more powerful, in the proportion of 263 : 228, than an engin^
upon the Gre.at Western Railway, which effects a rate of speed, within thref^
miles an hour, of the most powerful engine on that railway. We have had
no opportunity of subjecting these more powerful engines, on ordinary rail-
ways, to experiment, which would have been very desirable on the present
occasion; but we find such engines with an evaporating power of 165.21)
efl^ecting the same rate of speed on those railways, as the engine of 228.09 on
the Great Western ; and therefore the presumption is, that engines on rail-
ways of the lesser width of gauge, of the evaporating power of 253.21, or
263. 8, would effect an increased velocity, ([uite equal, if not greater, than
that of the largest engine on the Great Western Railway.

This conclusion results from the engines on the ordinary railways, yielding-
a greater comparative useful efl'ect than the engines on the Great Western
Railway; partly owing to the much greater disproportion between the weight
and power of the engines, and the useful load on the latter than on the former ;
and partly owing to the increased resistance of the road, and also of the car-
riages themselves. Those parts only of the increased resistance, however,
which relate to the additional strength and weight of the engines, and car-
riages, and which is produced by the enlarged wind scare of the carriages, are
attributable to the wide gauge. We shall afterwards see, how much of the
increased power, on the Great Western Railway, exhibited by the preceding
experiments, as being necessary to drag the same quantity of goods, at the
same rate of speed, beyond that on railways of the ordinai-y width, is to be
placed against the width of gauge ; the inference which appears to me to result
from these experiments is, that with engines of the same power, a greater result,
and consequently a greater rate of speed, nmy be realised on the ordinary
width, than upon the increased width of gauge of railway. If the object be
to accomplish the greatest possible speed, a wide gauge is unquestionably
better adapted for the construction of Ihe largest possible engines, than the
narrow gauge ; considerable doubts may, however, be entertained if a gauge
of seven feet is the best for this purpose, and whether a less width of gauge,
taking into consideration every circumstance affecting the question, would
notalTord every requisite facility for the erection of engines, capable of attain-
ing a ma.\imum rate of speed.

The question, therefore, whether an increased width of g.iuge is or is not
neeessaiy, depends almost entirely upon the determination of what rate of
speed it is advisable to attempt, or it is resolved upon to establish. If a mean
rate of 32 miles an hour at full speed be suflScient for the purpose, or such
increased rate as engines of the largest dimensions now in use on other rail-
ways can accomplish, then it will not be necessary, so far as the motive
power is concerned, to increase the width of gauge. But if a greater rate of
speed is required, the question assumes a diffeient shape ; and it must then be
ascertained if an engine can be erected upon the lesser width of gauge to
perform that rate of speed.

As this appeared to be a very important part of the inquiry, I asked Mr.
Brunei the question as to the rate of speed proposed for both passengers and
goods. His answer was; —" The rate of speed proposed I conceive also to
be quite uncertain, my own opinion being, that it will always be ILxed at the
highest which we can maintain with regularity. With moderate loads we
might fi,x it at 35 miles an hour, and shortly, when the road is in complete
repair, and kept cleaner, when the short trains are established, so as to render
one stopping unnecessary, and our engineers more experienced in the ma-
nagement of the engines, at higher speeds, I think we may attain 38 to 40
miles."

If the object be the attainment of the rate of speed assigned by Mr. Brunei,
the present engines, it will be seen by these experiments, cannot accomplish
that performance, including all the vicissitudes of weather and other casualties;
and, therefore, if a mean rate of speed of 40 miles an hour, including stops,
is to be attempted, more powerful engines will be required.

These experiments, however, show the immense sacrifice of power inci-
dental to an extreme high rate of speed, or the accomplishment of a rate of
38 or 40 miles an hour, above that of 32 or 35 miles. If economy of con-
veyance is to be taken into consideration, it becomes a serious question
whether such a system should be acted upon as that of providing for an inde-
finite rate of speed, or that a maximum rate should not be determined upon,
and that such standard should be composed of that speed which will best suit
the public conveyance generally, and at the same time comprehend every pos-
sible economy and regularity. It is, however, not necessary to enter further
upon this at present, as the determination will be influenced to a certain ex-
tent by other facts elicited in the course of this incjuiry, .tnd wliich, in my
opinion, leads to the conclusion that the limit of practical speed, combined
with the requisite economy, is that which can be attained by engines capable
of being erected on a lesser width of gauge than seven feet.

The preceding experiments having been made for the purpose of ascertain,
ing the comparative power required to work the trains upon the Great
Western road, contrasted witli the power required to work trains on railways
of the ordinary width and construction, — and were quite necessary, in a
practical point of view, to show the comparative aggregate amount of
eft'ective power given to the load by the engines at present employed on that
line, and the effective power produced by the engines on other railways. But
these experiments, however extensive and valuable, do not determine the
whole question, for although they show the amount of power required to
work the respective railways, yet that power is employed to overcome the
aggregate resistance of the engines, the friction of the carriages, and the re-
sistance of the road ; it became, therefore, extremely desirable that we should
separate the results, to arrive at practical conclusions, by which to make a

64

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

comparison between the two systems of an increased and ordinary gaug^c of
railways.

If the object had been only to ascertain and develope the power required
to work the Great Western Railway, this would li.ve been shown by these
experiments, and it would have been less an object of utility to determine
what part of that power was expended in overcoming the resistance of <lie
engines, wliat part was due to the friction and resistances of the carriages,
and what amount of obstruction was caused by the road. But wlien the
inquiry was extended to a comparison with other railways, it then became
necessary to separate the results, the engines employed on the Great Western
Railway being, in some respects, different from those employed on other rail-
ways ; the carriages are also different, and the construction of the rcid vary-
ing likewise.

The carriages on the Great Western Railway are mounted on wheels four
feet diameter, whereas the wheels of the carriages on the other railways are
generally, and those on which the experiments were made were upon wheels
three feet diameter. The first inquiry, therefore, appeared to be to determine
the comparative friction of four feet and three feet wheels, or wheels of dif-
ferent diameters.

Again, the experiiuents with the trains included the resistance opposed to
the carriages and engines by the road, and the construction of the rails being
different from those on which the other experiments were made, it became
necessary to determine what effect the peculiar construction of the road had
upon the aggregate resistance determined by these experiments, and to ascer-
tain the comparative friction of a road with continuous bearings and piles and
a road upon isolated supports, or such as those on which the several experi-
ments were made.

These investigations, therefore, comprise the second proposition, viz. : —
The mechanical advantage or diminution of friction, by being enabled to in-
crease the diameter of the wheels without raising the bodies of the carriages,
and in what respect, and to what extent the friction of the carriages is affected
by the peculiar construction of the road. The first process will, therefore, be
to determine the actual friction or resistance of the carriages on the respective
railways. Many modes have been adopted by different experimentalists, of
determining this on railroads; that of variously constructed dynamometers,
the force of gravity, and several other modes.

The action of the dynamometers is so very irregular, requires such perfect
instruments, and even with the utmost possible care it is extremely difficult
to ascertain the correct resistance; the vernier in a state of constant vibra-
tion or oscillation, that no correct mean result can be determined by observa-
tion. I had a dynamometer constructed in 1835, which was mounted on a
truck, and, by a set of rollers connected with the travelling wheels, unwound
a roll of paper, upon which the vibrations of the vernier was traced by a
gjencil. By this mode of application the real vibrations of the vernier was
recorded, in a precisely similar manner to that which will hereafter be shown
to have been used in these experiments to record the motion of the carriages,
and by which a mean result can at any time be obtained by admeasurement
of the diagram. This machine being, however, constructed for a 56 inch
gauge of railway, and being rather cumbrous and bulky, could not be
adapted to the Great Western Railway in time for the purpose of this inquiry,
and this instrument is likewise liable to the objection of all dynamometers;
that being placed behind the tender, they do not show the entire resistance of
the train, the tender intercepting the effect of the atmosphere, and diminish-
ing, tlierefore. the entire resistance.

Ttie gradients of the Great Western Railway also, being nearly that of a
level, the action of gravity could not be made use of for determining ihe fric-
tion ; and therefore there appeared no other mode than the following, by
which the resistance could with any degree of accuracy be determined : —

A piece of road, perfectly straight, and as nearly level as could be obtained,
■was selected ; this road was staked out with pusts at every 110 yards. An
engine and train of carriages, the friction of which was to be ascertained, was
brought to one end of the stage so staked off ; the steam was set on, and the
engme and train put in motion, until they acquired a velocity of about 20
miles an hour; the steam was then shut off, the engine stopped,"and the train
of carriages being previously detached from the engine, they were allowed to
run along the line until the friction and resistance of the atmosphere brought
them to rest ; during the whule of the experiment, the time of passing each
post was carefully noted down, and also the time when the carriages came to
rest.

Note P, Appendix, is an account of the experiments and formulse, for
ascertaining the comparative friction of three and four feet wheek on the
Great Western Railway.

Note Q, the experiments made on that and other railways, for the purpose
of ascertaining the comparative resistance of railway trains.

These experiments were made at a velocity, at the commencement of the
experiment, not exceeding 20 miles an hour, and varying from that until the
carriages came to re-t ; and appeared to be the only mode of obtaining the
friction by a precisely similar manner on the Great Western and other rail-
ways. The resistance of the most important section of the experiments with
the engines are not, however, comprised within the rate of speed at which
the preceding experiments with the engines were made. We have already
remarked the very great diminution of effect at a high rate of speed, especially
when a velocity of from 35 to 40 miles an hour was attained; it became,
therefore, of the utmost importance to ascertain whether the diminution of
effect »as referable to the engines, or to the resistance of the carriages at those
higher rates of speed.

The chief part of the resistance to which practical attention has been di- '

reefed is that which is properly called friction. That the atmosphere offered
some resistance has been always, of course, admitted, but this resistance has
been generally considered to be so insignificant, compared with the resistance
depending on friction, (hat in all calculations which have come within my
knowledge it has been wholly disregarded.

It became, however, of the greatest importance to investigate, to the
fullest extent, every resistance offered to the motion of railway trains, espe-
cially at high rates of speed, and it was therefore determined to institute a
course of experiments, with a view to determine, by some direct and con-
clusive means, the actual amount of atmospheric resistance, independently of
any principles of calculation founded upon the laws of friction.

The method adopted was founded upon the following considerations ; — By
numerous experiiuents which have been made by different philosophers on
the resistance of the air, it has been satisfactorily ascertained that that resist-
ance variesjn a proportion somewhat higher than that of the square of the
velocity of the moving body. W hatever, therefore, might be the actual amount
of this resistance, at any particular speed, it was to be expected that its increase
would be very rapid, even by a small increase of speed. If, therefore, a rail-
way train was moved down an inclined plane, of an inclination so steep that
gravity would produce considerable acceleration of motion, the resistance of
the motion, so far as that lesistance depends on the air, would be subject to a
rapid increase. Now, if tlie resistance of tlie atmosphere be considerable, it
is quite clear that tlie speed which the train would acquire in descending the
inclination might be such as to tender that resistance so great that, combined
with the friction, it would be in equilibrium with the gravitation of the train
down the inclination ; and in such case the necessary consequence would be,
that the train would cease to be accelerated, that it would require an uniform
speed in the descent, which it would retain without any augmentation until
its arrival at the foot of the plane.

The Whiston inclined plane on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway
being straight and about a mile and a half in length, falling at the rate of 1 in
96, afforded a favourable opportunity for the experimental test. A train of
four first class carriages was accordingly prepared and brought to tlie level at
the summit of this inclination. In the first instance the carriages were not
loaded, save by the persons employed in making the observations, and the
gross weight of the train was lo, 6-lOth tons. Aa engine was placed behind
them, so as to push thera towards the summit of the plane, and then to dis-
miss them down it with a considerable speed. They commenced the descent
accordingly, moving 100 yards in seven seconds, or nearly 30 miles an hour.
As was expected, a uniform speed was soon acquired, which suffered no
change until the arrival of the train at the foot of the plane; this uniform
speed in the first experiment was 45 feet per second. The experiment was
repeated in the same manner, when a uniform speed was again attained of 46,
3-tenths feet per second, the mean spefid in these two experiments being 45,
6-lOths feet per second, or about 31 miles an hour. The carriages were now
loaded with a weight equivalent to their usual load of passengers, by which
the gross weight of the train was increased to 16 tons 1 cwt. ; the gravitation
of the train being thus increased it was expected that the speed would also in-
crease, the momentum of the descending body being adequate to encounter a
proportionally greater resistance of the air. Three experiments were then
made with the trains thus loaded, which showed results of considerable
uniformity ; in the first experiment the uniform speed attained was 46,
8-lOths feet per second ; in the second, 48 feet; and in the third, 47 I-lOth
feet per second, the mean of which is 47, 3-1 Oths feet per second, or 32|-
miles an hour.

The force exerted by 15, 6-lOths tons down an inclination of 1 in 06 is
equivalent to 364 pounds, and as this was the weight of the train in the
first experiments, it follows that such a coach train moving at 31 miles an
hour suffers a resistance of that amount, which includes both friction and
atmospheric resistance.

Again, the force exerted by 18 ton 1 cwt. down the same inclination is
421.12 pounds, and as the train having this weight moved with a uniform
velocity of 32^ miles an hour down the plane, this was its resistance at that
speed.

These experiments are quite conclusive as to the agency of the atmo-
sphere, in resisting the motion of trains on railways. It has never been
pretended that the actual resistance from friction amounts to more than
nine pounds a ton of the load, and many have stated that it does not exceed
seven pounds, and some that it is so low as six pounds. But even if the
highest of these estimates be taken, it would follow that the whole of the
resistance of 421 pounds, encountered by the train moving at 32^ miles an
an hour, only 162 pounds are due to friction, while about 260 pounds are
due to the atmosphere. But we shall presently show that this estimate of
the resistance from friction is overrated, and that, therefore the amount of
the atmospheric resistance here referred to is considerably underrated.

In comparing the results of these two sets of experiments, it will be ap-
parent in how great a degree the resistance is increased even by a small
increase of speed. The mean speed in the first two experiments was 13 miles
an hour, and in the last three 32 j ; the ratio of these velocities is about 100
to 10;3, the speed being in the latter case increased three per cent. Now the
resistances in the two cases were in the direct ratio of the gross weight of the
trains, which ratio was 100 to 115. Thus to gain an increase of speed amount-
ing to 3 per cent., an expenditure of power amounting to 15 per cent, is ne-
cessary. Nor can it be said, that the great amount of resistance here mani-
fested was produced by a head wind, though even were such admitted to he
the case, such an admission would equally involve the principle of a powerful

atmospheric resistance ; bnt in fiict, in all tbe experiments performed upon

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

fi5

this plane, there was a pretty strong wind directly in favour of the motion of
tlie train down the plane.

Scientific experiments shew, that the increase of resistance from the at-
mospere is in a higher ratio than that of the square of the velocity ; the expe-
riments just mentioned confirm this, for while the squares of the velocities in-
crease in the ratio of 100 to 107, or 7 per cent., the resistance is increased in
the ratio of 100 to 115, or 15 per cent.

These experiments, though conclusive as regarded the effect of the atmo-
sphere in this case, and though they give a total amount of resistance, were
insufficient to determine the proportion in which this resistance was due to the
atmosphere, and to friction. Various methods of determining this presented
themselves. If a train were moved down an inclined plane commencing from
a state of rest, or with any given speed, and allowed to be gradually ac-
celerated, suhject to the combined resistances of friction and the atmosphere ;
the circumstances of its motion could be investigated by the principles of
mathematics, assuming that the friction was, as it is generally considered to
be, independent of the velocity, and that the atmosphere varies either as the
square, or as any other assumed power of the speed. This, however, com-
prehended complicated problems, and it t' erefore became desirable that some
more direct method of deriving the required quantities should be adopted, and
if possible by direct experiment. By subjecting to experiment the same or
similar trains down different inclinations, different velocities would be attained,
and these velocities would balance the different resistances due to such inclina-
tions, and distinct data would be thus obtained, which being properly com-
bined and compared, would show the friction and the atmospheric resistance
separately. It was difficult, however, to find inclined planes precisely suited
to this purpose, and the following experiments, combined with those on the
Whiston Plane, were made for {he purpose.

An inclined plane occurs on the Grand Junction Railway, descending from
Madeley towards Crewe, the inclination of which is I in 177; four carriages
were selected, and loaded so as to render the gross load equal to that of the four
carriages with which the last three experiments were made on the Whiston
Plane, — that is, their gross load amounted to 18 tons 1 cwt. These carriages
were propelled by an engine to the summit of the Rladeley Plane, and
descended down it in the same manner, as was done with the carriages in the
former experiments on the Whiston Plane. A uniform speed was in like
manner obtained, which continued to the foot of the plane. In the first ex-
periment this speed was 30, 4- lOths feet per second, and in the second 31,
4-lOihs feet per second; the mean of th^ two being 3U, 0-Ulths feet per
second, or '21 miles an hour. The force of 18 tons I cwt. down this plane
being '228-4 lbs. it follows that this represents the resistance of such a train
moving at "21 miles an hour- Prom this and the experiments down the
Whiston Plane, two distinct data were obtained for the total resistance, in-
cluding atmosphere and friction, viz. at S'2^ miles an hour, the sum of the
resistances was 421 lbs., and at 21 miles an hour it was 228i lbs. By com-
bining these results, a simple mathematical process gives us the resistance due
to friction equal to one 4.33rd part of the weight, or 5'17 lbs. per ton ; hence
the total resistance due to friction for the coach train used in these experi-
ments was 933 lbs. and therefore the resistance due to the atmosphere moving
at 32j miles an hour was 329 lbs., and at 21 miles an hour I.Sj lbs.

From these experiments, therefore, it follows, that of the whole resistance
which the moving power had to encounter in these experiments, when a speed
of about 32 miles an hour is maintained, 22 per cent, only is due to friction,
while 78 per cent, is due to atmospheric resistance.

Having thus ascertained that a comparatively small proportion of the whole
resistance is due to friction, it ceased to be a matter of surprise that the
methods of calculating the resistance of trains, based exclusively on the laws
of friction, should give discordant and unsatisfactory results. Yet such
methods ai'e the only ones which appear to have been hitherto applied to this
enquiry. By such uietliods the common estimates of from 7 to 9 pounds a
ton from friction have been obtained, and as such estimates have been derived
from carriages in motion, and without any allowance for atmospheric resist-
ance, it is obvious that to whatever extent that resistance may have affected the
calculations, to the same extent has the estimate of friction derived from them
been augmented beyond the truth ; and this will satisfactorily account for the
amount of friction derived from the above calculations, which are independent
of atmospheric resistance, being so considerably under the common estimate.

These comparative results were, however, obtained from one set of experi-
ments only on each plane ; and although they determine most conclusively,
that a very considerable resistance arises from the effect of the atmosphere;
yet I would not have it understood that the amount of friction, properly so
called, as determined by these experiments, should be adopted as a standard ;
there can be no doubt that its precise amount is much less than the received
opinion, but it would require fui'ther experiments, more in number, and
more varied, to detei'mine the amounts which should be adopted as a standard
at different velocities and with different weight of ti'ains.

The expeinments ou the comparative friction of the four and three feet
wlieels, and also those made to ascertain the resistance of the road, having
been made by puttmg the cariHages into considerable velocity, and allowing
them to come to rest, the velocity was therefore variable, from the extreme
motion to rest. -\s the atmospheric re>islance vaiies as the si[uare of the
velocity, while the friction of attrition on the axles, and the resistance of the
wheels on the rails are constant at all i s'cc'.ties it requires a complicated
formula for calculating the amount of each separately, and it requires also a
series of experiments to come to a correct conclusion.

As, however, that part of the resistance of can'iages T\hich depends upon
the increase of the diameter of the wheels, has been, by the preceding experi-
saent proved to be so estremely small iii projtortiou to the entire icsislaucc ;

and as the experiments with the thi-ee and four feet wheels were made upon
waggons, (there not being both descriptions of wheel upon the passengers'
cari-iages), I did not think it advisable to give results deduced from compli-
cated formula, in this report; they are, liowever, given in the Appendix, Note
S, together with the formula by Dr. I^ardner, for calculating the resistance.

There can be no doubt, that the fi'iction on the axles, and also the resist-
ance of the wheels on the rails, will be diminished in the ratio of the diameter
of the wheels; but on the other hand, if large wheels have the effect of pre-
senting an increased frontage to the carriages, it is doubtful to what extent
they are productive of a diminution of resistance, at high rates of speed : —
witii heavy loads at a slow rate of speed, there is no doubt that a i-eductiou
of friction will be effected by them, but our enquiries are with high rates of
speed, and, therefore, until further expciimenls are made, it cannot be deter-
mined what the effect will be by ait increase of diameter of the wheels.

The above reasons, likewise, preclude us from determining with perfect
accuracy, the relative resistance of the Great \A'estern rails, and those of other
railways ; the mode of conducting the experiments being the same as above
stated, viz. of putting the can-iages in motion and running them to rest. The
atmospheric resistance being affected by a difference of the area of frontage
of the carriages, and the carriages on railways of a narrow width having a less
frontage than those of the Great Western, unless wo could determine what
effect the increaseil frontage had at all the varying velocities, we could not
determine that part of the resistance which arises from the wheels upon the
rails.

This is, indeed, more difficnlt than that ofdetermiuing the relative resistance
of wheels of different diameters, the experiments in the latter case, being made
with carriages of the same construction, whereas in the former case, they
made with carriages of a different construction.

It will be afterwards seen, that the rails of the Great Western Railway pre-
sent a less rigid surface to the wheels than stone blocks, but about the same
or rather less than wooden cross sleepers; and as it may bn presumed, every
other circumstance remaining the same, that the resistance opposed to the
rolling of the wheels upon railroad, will be in some degree proportionate to
the rigidity of the surface on which they roll, especially when the material
composing tlie surface is the same ; we may, therefore, conclude that the
resistance opposed to the carriage wheels upon the Great Western Railway,
will be about the same as that of a railway laid with cross sleepers, hut greater
than one constructed with stone blocks: — to what extent the present question
is affected by this, will be afterwards considered.

We come now to the first part of the third proposition, viz. The compara-
tive advantage, or firmness of base or road track, of the (ireat Western Rail-
way, constructed with continuous timber bearings, with or without piles.

The only mode by which this could be determined in a satisfactory man?
ner, appeared to me to he by direct experiment, by ascertaining the extent of
deflection produced on the rails of the Great Western Railway by the passage
of trains of known weights along them ; and by making similar experiments
on other railways differently constructed, thus to determine which of them
were least affected by the passage of the load.

In an enquiry in I 835, as to the best description of rails and fastenings for
the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, by Professor Barlow, he employed
an instrument which he called a Dcflectonieter, to test the amount of deflec-
tion produced by the passage of the trains along rails of different dcsciiptions.
This instrument, however, only recorded the extreme or maximum deflection,
and as in many cases jerks were produced by the lurching of the engine and
carriages, which threw the vernier of the instrument upwards in a very dis-
torted manner, the result was by no means so satisfactory as could be wished.
He likewise only employed one instrument, consequently the observed deflec-
tions in the middle of the rail, being affected by the depression of the blocks
supporting eaeh end, the entire effect was not shewni.

It occurted to me iImU by improving the fonn of this instrument, and by
applying the same apparatus which has been previously described as being
used for the dynamometer, the motion of the arm of the deflectometer, or
instrument showing the deflection of the rails, might he recorded, and
we should then obtain a diagram of the deflections of the rails as the
(rains passed over them ; and by employing three instruments at the same
time, one at each point of bearing at the blocks, {or transoms of the con
tinuous rails,) and one midway between the transoms, or in the middle of
the rail, and having all these connected together, so as to record their
action at the same time, we thus obtain correct diagrams of the deflections
produced at each of these points as the train passes over.

By this plan we not only had produced diagrams, showing the actua
amount of deflection of the rails and bearings ; but we had exhibited upon
paper, the nature of the action of the deflection produced, and consequently a
correct outline of the effect of the passage of the trains on rails of difl'erent
kinds.

On consideriHg the subject of the deflection produced hy the passage of the
trains on a railroad, it will be readily conceived that the deflection vertically
is not the only effect ; if the rails are not perfectly perpendicular, and the rim
of the wheel perfectly cylindrical, which in practice is seldom or ever the case;
or, if the base of the block or timber bearing be not perfectly horizontal, sup-
porting the load with equal firmness throughout the whole area of its base ;
when the incumbent weight comes upon the rail, there will be a certain extent
of deflection horizontally, as well as vertically. On almost all railroads tho
periphery of the wheel is conical, and the rails are laid at such an angle as to
correspond with the cone of the wheels ; the line of pressure of the incumbent
weight is not therefore vertical, but in a line at right angles to the cone of the
wheel, and has of course a tendency to produce horizcmtal deflection, and this
will also be further increased when' the llaiich of the wheel presses against thy

6C,

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

rail. The combined action of all these effects will be, a certain amount of
delluctiou in the direction of the resultant of the several forces, considered in
contiection with the position of the base whereon the blocks or aleejiers ulti-
mately rest. The direction of the combined action of the incumbent weight
upon so yielding a base, and liable to be affected by so many circumstances ;
must, it may he supposed, vary in almost even* case, and, therefore, no instru-
nieutcoultl be so placed as to indicate the resultant effect of these various motions.

The only mode of determining this appeared to be, the application of an
instrument to measure the extent of horizontal dellection, in addition to that
of the vertical di^liection, when it will at once be seen that the two motions
could bo resolved into their resultant.

In a practical point of view, independently of being able to res(dve the two
motions into one, it appeared desirable to know the amount of horizontal, or
lateral deflection, as well as that of vertical; a particular plan of construction
of railway misht exhibit very perfect results, as regarded the amount of vertical
deflection, and yet be very inferior, as regarded the lateral motion, or horizon-
tal deflection, and vice versa; the investigation could not, therefore, be com-
plete without having developed the extent of each description of motion.

The mode of conducting the experiments was as follows ; —

These instruments were first of all applied to the rails of the Great Western
Railway, one instrument being placed opposite a single transom, another in-
strument ojiposite a double transom, and the third midway between the
transoms. The trains were then run along the rails, at first with a slow mo-
tion and diagrams taken, the motion was gradually increased, and diagrams
were again taken ; several diagiams were thus taken at different parts of the
line, with the rails in their working state. The piles were then detached from
the transoms, by withdrawing the bolts, and diagrams taken in the same
manner ; next, the transoms were cut asunder, thereby allowing the longitu-
dinal timbers to act independent of any support from the transoms or piles;
and in some expeiHments, after the transoms were detached from the piles,
they were cut asunder between the two lines of way, when they acted as cross
sleepers between the timbers without piles, diagrams being taken in all these
variety of cases.

The instruments were not, however, always placed in the positions above
staled, they were varied, both as regarded the places where joints of the iron
rails occurred, and also with respect to the joints of the timbers, as regarded
their position with the joint of the rails. The experiments were likewise
made on embankments and in cuttings ; and also on the longitudinal timbers
where no piles existed.

It was also found to be desirable to ascertain if any motion of the rail upon
the timbers existed, and consequently diagrams were taken by applying the
instruments successively to the rail, and to the limbers.

The next set of experiments were made upon ihe London and Birmingham
Railyway, two of the instruments were here placed as near the chairs or points
of support as possible, and the other midway between them. Diagrams were
taken on oOlh. and 621b. rails respectively ;' but the vertical deflection only,
was taken on this railway, and on stone blocks.

Experiments were lilcewise made with the same instruments, on the I>iver-
pool and Manchester Railway, of both horizontal and vertical deflection, on
601b. rails with ibur feet bearings, and 751b. rails with five feet bearings.

A more extended course of experiments were made on the Grand junction
Railway ; on this line all the rails are of one weight and section, but thev are
placed in some parts of the road on stone blocks, on other parts of tlie liiie on
cross wooden sleepers, and ujion the Dutton Viaduct on longitudinal timbers.
Diagrams were taken at varying rales of speed, of both horizontal and vertical
deflection of rails supported by stone blocks, wooden cross sleepers, and lon-
gitudinal timber bearings respectively : the instruments were then applied to
the chairs, and diagrams of the deflections of these taken, and lastly, they
were .ipplied to the blocks, sleepers, and timbers respectivelv, and diagrams
taken of the depression produced by the passage of the trains' on these difl"erent
description of bearings.

The next railway on which experiments were made, was the Manchester,
Bolton, and Bury ; this railway is constructed parflv of continuous stone
blocks, but mostly of continuous timber bearings, witli cross timber ties, or
trans(uns, and without piles. It became, therefore, an object of great interest
to ascertain the comparative eflect upon the road by the passage of Ihe trains,
ov,T continuous bearings on this Una without piles", and on the Great ^^'estem
Railway with jdles. Experiments were therefore made, in every respect the
same as those on the Great Western Railway, the instruments being applied
successively to the rails and timbers. Upon "the stone bearings resting upon
masonry there was in fact no depression or yielding whatever, and therefore
these diagrams, though taken, are not given in the book.

The following tables will show the vertical and horizontal deflection of the
rails and timbers in the several varieties of application of the instruments, on
the Great Western and other railways in parts of au inch : —

TABLE X.

GREAT WESTERN HMI.WAV.

Engine.

Coaches.

Lateral.

Vertical

Lateral,

Vertical.

■0102

•0991

•0083

•0697

•0232

•1609

•0293

•1177

•U402

■I -271

•0366

■0981

•0013

■1116

■0030

■0827

•0!36

•0891

•0111

•0616

•0130

•0927

•0112

•0631

•0042

■1217

•0029

■0862

•0068

•0918

•0051

•3579

•P04-1

•J188

■0026

■0674

Instrument

applied to.
Single transom i
Midway >

Double ti ansom 3
Single transom J
Jjidway >

Double ti^ansoni j
Single transom 1
Midway '

Ponble transom)

Piles Febfect.

riLEs ClT.

TK.v^so.^! C'li,

TABLE XI.

. LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY.

dOlbs. Fisk-bellied Ea ih, 'A feel beariiif;s on Blocks.
Inslrument applied to the Hail at
Single Chair. Midw.ty. Joint Chair.

Engine. Coaches. Engine. Coaches. Engine. Coaches.
Vertical -0283 •0133 -0522 •03C2 •0638 •0488
OOlbs. Rails, 3^75 bearings on Blocks,
ditto -0422 •0266 -0633 0344 •0372 ^0273

TABLE XIL

LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAILWAY.

62lbs. Parallelllails, <ind 3 fert hearings on Blocks.
Instntmcnts applied to Jiails at
Single Chair. Midway. .Joint Chair.
Engines. Coaches. Engine. Coaches. Engine. Coaches.
Vertical. •0676 •0501 ^0743 '0415 •0445 -0240
ditto •OaiO -0197

TABLE XIII.

MANCHESTER AND DOLTON RAILWAY.

Instruments applied to Timber at
Transome. Midway Joint Midway.

Engine. Coache.5. Engine. Coaches. Engine. Coaches.

Vertical. -0980 •OeSO •0690 .0440 •0861 •0641

Instrum«7its applied iQ Raits.

ditto -1007 •0661 •0587 -0331 •1310 ^1004

TABLE XIV.

GR.\ND JUNCTION RAILWAY.

Rails of 65lbs. four feet bearings.
Instrument
1. applied to

Single chair ) Rails on

Midway J Stone Blocks.

Single Chair
Midway
Joint Chair
Chairs on Blocks
Chairs on Sleepers.
Blocks
Sleepers

Rails midway from Chair
Rails at Joint Chair
Chairs

Timbers at Chairs
Ditto Midway

On an attentive examination of the results of these experiments, as ex-
hibited by the preceding tables, but more particularly on examining the
diagrams themselves, and the measurement of each, it will be seen that stone
blocks (except in some cases where they were not properly seated), alTord
decidedly the firmest, and most unyielding base; that there is not much dif-
ference in the firmness of base between cross timber bearings, and continuous
timber bearings without piles, as exhibited on the Grand Junction, and
Manchester, Bolton and Bury Railways ; but that there is a greater variety
in the results of the diflerent experiments in cross sleepers than in continuous
bearings.

It will likewise be seen, that on isolated supports there is agreateramonnt
of deflection shown in the rails than in the chairs; and still less deflection in
the blocks and wooden sleepers than either Ihe chairs or rails. The in-
ference from this is, that the rails in these cases were not firmly fixed down
to the chairs > and also that the chairs were not immoveably secured to the
blocks and sleepers ; and as the experiments comprehend a great many cases,
it may be presumed that such is the case generally on isolated bearings.

On the Manchester and Bolton Railway, the joints of the rails rest on flat
chairs, the rails being on either parts of their length fixed to the timber
bearings with iron clamps ; here also we find a considerable yielding of the
rails upon the timbers, the latter showing less deflection than when the in-
struments were applied to the rails.

The experiments on the Great Western Railway, shew in the table a
less difference of deflection between the rails and the timbers, than any
of the modes of fastening either on isolated supports or on Ihe continuous
beaiinijs of the Manchester and Bolton Railway ; and hence we may
conclude, that the mode of fastening the rails to the timbers on that
railway by screws, eftects a firmer junction than any of the other modes
of fastening. On examining the table it will be seen that notwithstand-
ing the assistance sf the piles, the diagrams show a greater amount of
deflection of the timber bearings of the Great Western Railway than the stone
blocks, and quite as much as the continuous bearings without piles ; the firm-
ness of base as shown by these experiments, is, therefore, less than with stone
blocks, and not greater tlian with continuous bearings, without piles, but less
than cross isolated timber bearings. It must, however, be remarked, that these
tables show the deflection on the Great Western Railway, with engines and
carriages much heavier than those used in taking the deflections on the other
railways of the ordinary width ; and although they exhibit the comparative
delieetlons produced by the passage of the IraiBs, according to the respccti\«

Engine.

Coaches.

Lateral.

Vertical.

Lateral.

Vertie

■01 11

•0478

•0078

•0259

•0212

•0641

•0122

•0344

•0150

•1366

•0096

•0906

•0226

•1307

•0144

•0855

•2161

•1327

•0200

•0283

•0135

•0149

•0112

•1095

•0070

•0717

•0053

•0223

•0007

•0174

•0125

•0821

•0080

•0511

•0247

•1105

•0170

•0688

•03.50

• • • • •

•0272

•0387

•0823

•0265

•0570

•0808

•0633

•0130

•0574

•0099

•0494

RailsonCross
Sleepers.

Dutton Via-
duct on

Longitudinal
Timbers.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

67

STstems of working tlie railways at present in use, and wliicli may be eonsi-
(lereil as tlie practical result of the eflect of the trains on tlie rails ; still, if we
wish to know the actual comparative firmness of base, we must take into ac-
count the relative incumbent weights of the respective trains. I have not yet
been able to obtain the pressure upon the rails of the Great Western Railway
by the engines, tliere being no weighing machines on that raihoad by which
this could be ascertained, when these weights are kiiowu, the comparison can
then be made with the engines ; the weight of the carriages are known, and
th.> comparison can therefore be made with them. The weight on each wheel
of the (ireat Western llailway carriages may be taken at about 1-5 tons, and
oi' the carriages on the other railways at !• 12.1 tons; and consequently the de
flections have been produced with incumbent weights, in the proportion
of 4 : 3.

We coni'^ now to the effjct which the piles have upon the firmness' of base
of tlie continuous timbers on the Great Western Railway ; the reasons as-
.'<igned by ^ir. Brnnel for adopting piles was, for the purpose of securing and
holding the timbers down to the ground witli much greater force than merely
the weight of the timber itself, and thereby to effect a closer contact between
tlie timber and the ground. It became, therefore, necessary to ascertain whe-
ther the timbers were lield down to the ground, or if they were supported by
the piles. To accomplish this, the instruments were first of all applied to the
rails with the piles in action, or without being disturbed, and the deflections
taken ; tlie transoms were then divided near to the timbers, or between the
timbers and the piles, the instrum>>nts remaining applied to the rails, and the
effect produced by the separation of tlie timbers from the transoms was thus
obtained; in almost all, if not in every case, the timbers fell, on the transoms
l>''*ing divided, showing that the action of the piles was not to hold down, but
to support the timbers. Tiiis was also shown very conclusively in the effect
exhibited by the diagram* taken, before and after the transoms were divided ;
— (he first diagram taken after the transoms were divided, showed a greater
amount of deflection from the original line of the rails, than when the pilis
were in action ; it was found, however, that the rails diil not rise to tlieir
original level, but that, in fact, a permanent depression to a certain extent had
taken place; — in continuing the experiments the di'flectiou became less, show-
ing quite decisively, that the timbers were supported by the piles, and that
they were not in fact ill such close contact with the ground when attached to,
as they were after being detached from, the piles. This was the result in
every instance. Most of the diagrams were taken upon that part of the line
near to Paddington wliich had been recently packed, and being clayey
ground presented a wet and spongy base, and the packing was not so perfect
as in some other parts of the line ; the extent of the deflections on this part
should therefore be taken as being more unfavourable than an average result ;
liut on applying the instrnments to a part of the line, selected as being in the
best order, tlie same relative results were exhibited ; the timbers dropped on
their division from the transoms and piles, and it was found tiiat the amount
of deflection was less after the piles were detached than before, after the train
hail run along the rails for a few times.

Some iiart of the Great Western Railway is laid with continuous timbers,
without piles ; an experiment was made upon this, where the ground was not
the most favourable, or similar to that where the diagrams were generally
taken with piles, and deflections similar to the above were obtained ; — an ex-
periment was however made, and several diagrams taken, upon an embank-
ment with timbers without piles ; when the result was an amount of deflection
much less than that where the piles were in action, and very little, if at all,
inferior to that of stone blocks, taking into account the difference of the insist
ent weight. At this place, however, the scantling of the timbers was greater
than ordinary, being ten inches in depth, the general depth being six to seven
inches.

The experiments on the Manchester and Bolton Railway, it will be seen,
exhibit a coivsiderable amount of deflection, quite as much, if not greater,
than that of the Great Western generally, taking into account every circum-
stance of the scantling of timbers, section of rails, and weight of the engine
and trains.

The result of the whole of these experiments is, that stone blocks afford the
firmest base ; and that there does not exist any material difference of defli'c-
tiou between longitudinal timber bearings with a continuous rail, and cross
timbers with isolated supports ; the difference, if any, being in favour of con-
tinuous bearings.

The previous observations apply to the vertical deflection only, during the
progress of the experiments on all rails resting on chairs, it was ibund that in
a great many cases the rail was deflected inwards, the great majority of cases,
however, being outwards ; it has been, therefore, extremely difficult to reduce
the results into a tabular form, some of the diagrams exhibiting both inward
and outward deflection in the same experiment. The cone of the wheel hav-
ing a tendency to press the rail outwards, and also the action of the flange
having the same tendency, it is quite clear that when the deflection is inwards,
it must be the result of some accidental cause ; a want of solidity of the base
of the blocks or sleepers on the inner edge, or from the rail not bearing hori-
zontally in the chair, or at the proper inclination to the cone of the wheels.
Upon the Great Western Railway, the horizontal deflection was invariably
outwards, and this is no doubt owing to tlie particular construction of that
road ailmitting of a more perfect and pernianent adaptation of tlie rail to the
cone of the wheels. Want of time precludes me from going into the particular
results, exhibited by these experiments on horizontal deflection ; the general
result, however, appears to be, that they assimilate very nearly to the vertical
deflections, both in their nature and extent, on the different descriptions of
bearings.

The remaining part of this inquiry is the latter part of the third proposition,
Tiz. ; whether a greater steadiness and smootliueiis of motion is produced to

the carriages, and to what extent, on the Great Western Railway, by ttis
increased width of gauge.

Tlie solution of this question also appeal red capable of being subjected to
the test of experiment, although not without considerable difficulty. The mo-
tion of carriages on railways being the effect of so many distinct causes, it was
extremely difiicult to contrive an instrument to detect and record each motion
separately.

For instance, any sinking of the blocks, or supports of the rails, or the
deflection of the rails themselves, produce a corresponding depression of the
wheels of the carriages on that side where s;icli yielding lakes place ; — the
subsidence or shrinking of tlie base, or formation level of the railway, gene-
rally produces also an inequality of level on the two sides of the railway ; and
these variations of level between one side and the other, tend to produce a
continual rocking motion in the carriages transversely, which is aggravated
more or less in proportion to the frequency and extent of these inequalilies of
level of the two sides of the railway. The same causes, viz. the inequalities
of level, likewise produces a pitching or undulating motion, longitudinally ;
and those two motions combined, the nndulatory motion in the direction the
carriages are travelling, and the rocking motion traversely, produce a vertical
motion. Any change likewise in the direction of the road, throws the car-
riage wheels from a straight line against the interior side of the curve, and
thus produces a lateral motion of the carriages, and when the curve again
changes, or the line of direction becomes straight, the wheels are tlironu to
the opposite side of the rails. The difference of level between the rails on
the two sides of the railway, besides producing a rocking motion transversely,
causes the carriages to vibrate from side to side, in proportion to the extent
of the inequality of the level ; the depression in the first instance causing tho
carriages to fall towards that side of the road, and the fl.anch of the wheel t)
press against the rail, the conical form of the wheel immediat*:ly throws it
off towards the opposite side ; and we thus have a continual contest
between the gravitation occasioned by the difference of level between the
two sides of tlie railway, and the line of direction incidental to the
conical action of the wheel; — As these effects are continually in action,
we hence find that the lateral oscillatoi-y motion is the most predominant of
all the varieties of motion which occur on railways; and when a very liigli
rate of speed is attempted, this lateral motion is very considerably increased,
so much so that in extremely high rates of speed a sort of swinging lateral
motion is produced, the carriage wheels on each side being thrown alternately
back and forwards against the sides of the rails : — probably from the cone of
the wheels, not having lime, in extremely rapid velocities, to accommodate
itself to the proper line of direction.

t'onsidering, tlierefore, the variety of motions in action at the same time in
railway carriages, the different causes by which these are produced, and the
numerous adventitious circumstances operating to increase, modify, or coun-
teract them, it is not to be wondered that a difference of opinion should e.risf
in the public mind generally, as to the relative smoothness of motion of
railway eaniages on different railroads; — an increase of a lew miles per hour
in tlie velocity, not perceptible to a traveller, will make a considerable variation
in the motion ; — the number and nature of the curves ; — a difference in the
construction of the carriages; — the position of a carriage in the train ; — ^or
even difl'erent bodies of the same carriage, all tend to influence the aggregate
amount of motion in a railway carriage ; and few, if any, of the causes
whereby these different motions are produced, are sensible to the observation
of a passenger, at least to the gi-eat majority of passengers ; they judge from
the quantity of motion, without reference to the causes, and hence the differ-
ence of opinion, which has arisen as to the comparative smoothness of motion
on some of the existing railways.

To the most attentive observer, knowing all the causes which produce these
variety of motions, it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to judge
from observation of the relative smoothness of motion, or at any rate of that
which properly belongs, or has reference to, tlie construction of the railway.

These circumstances, therefore, rendered it almost absolutely necessary to
subject this part of the inquiry to experiment, it not appearing possible to
arrive at any conclusive determination by common observation ; and after
considerable "difficulty a set of instruments were contrived, which sulijected all
the different motions of railway carriages to experiment, and which produced
diagrams of all the oscillations of the carriages from one end of the Une to
to tlie other.

The different kinds of motion produced on railway carriages may there-
fore be comprised within the follow iiig heads, viz. : —

1st. A rocking motion transversely, produced by the inequalities of the
level of the two sides of the railway.

2ud. A pitching or vertical motion, in the centre of the carriages, being the
combined action of the alternate rocking motion of the two sides of tile car-
riages, produced by the undulations of the load.

iid. A lateral, or oscillatory motion horizontally, produced also by the
inequalities of the road, and tlie other causes previously enumerated , throwing •
the carriage wheels from side to side against the rails. ...

Having thus, agreeably to your instructions, and to the extent to wliicIi
the time and opportunities afl'ordi'd has enabled mo to accouiphsb, iiivesti
gated by experiiiu-utal data and in(|uiries all the properties of the system of
construction and working of the Great Western Railway, I now beg to lav
before you the conclusions wliidi appear to me to be the result of these in-
vestigations. I tliink it my duty however, in this place, to represent to you
that I have not been able, in draning out tliis report, to avail myself fully of
the vast mass of valuable information elicited in the ccuirse of this inquiry,
owing to the short period, (only six days,) between finishing the experiments
and behig reciuired that the report should be printed; and I trust that this
will bo a sufficient excuse for the impeil'eot manner iu which it is presented

Gft

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

to yniu' nolicp ; at the same tiinc, I beg to mtd, that I liiiTf in the slioit
perioil allowed to me, availed myself of every fact or ilisoovery of a practical
nature, wliicli appeared to me to hear upon the question, or to he in any way
conilucive towards your interests. I have, in the appendix, fjivcn in detail
all the experiments which I thouRhl would he of any utility, and from which,
aX any suhseiiuent period, the valualile information contaimd therein may he
extracted and investigated ; and it occurred to me to lie very important that
the^e documents should he (;iven in such a manner and in sncli detail, that it
should he in the power of yourselves or your engineer at any time, to exa-
mine into and compare the conclusions which I have arrived at, and which
appear to me to result from these experiments, with the experiments and
investigations themselves.

Widlb of Gauge. — Pursuing the same arrangement as set out with in the
first part of this report, I shall now consider in what manner, and to what
«'xtpnt, the results of these investigations and experiments hear upon the rea-
sons which induced the adoption of the increased width of gauge, and the
particular construction of the Great Western Railway.

The tirsi is the attainment of a high rate of speed. The experiments on the
power of the locomotive engines show, that the engines at present employeil
on the London and Birmingham Railway accomplish an average rate of
speed of 32 miles an hour, with weights equal to that of a first-class train,
(Tahle III.); hut that engines in the proportion of '263] 16o, more power-
ful than these, are in existence on the same width of railway. The
less powerful engines accomplish a rate of speed within three miles an hour
of the most powerful engines on the Great Western Railway, (Tahle V.);
and, therefore, the presumption is, that if the more powerful engines on the
ordinary railways had been tried, they would have accomplished a higher
average rate of speed than the most powerful engines on the Great Western
Railway, the effective power apparently yielded hy the former being nmch
greater tlian the latter. But we now find that a cause exists which perfectly
accounts for this comparative diminution ofefl'ect, and that it is, in fact, if not
almost entirely, attributable to the greater atmospheric frontage of the Great
Western Railway carriages, than those upon the London and Binuingham
Railway, and the powerful effect which the atmosphere has upon the resistance
to he overcome.

The experiments on atmospheric resistance being as yet confined to the
carriages of the narrow gauge, we cannot satisfactorily determine what the
precise increase of resistance will be by an enlarged frontage ; the carriages
of the Great Western Railway are 10 feet higli from the rails, and !) feet
wide ^90 square feet, whereas the London and Birmingham Railway car-
riages are only 9 feet high and Of feetwide = IJO square feet; hut an open
space exists below the wheels, which is only partly filled up by the fire-box
of the engine ; taking, in each case, a foot from the rails to he clear space,
the relative area of frontage will be 81 : .53. Every circumstance being the
same, we may suppose that the atmospheric resistance will he as the area of
frontage, but the figure of the engine preceding- the carnages, the comparative
length of the train, and several other circumstances, may affect the result ;
and, therefore, until the question has been satisfactorily determined by ex-
periment, no comparative standard can be assigned of the relative amount of
atmospheric resistance to trains of different areas of frontage.

For these reasons, therefore, I shall not go into an analysis of the pre-
sumed resistance of the Great Western trains, as compared with those of the
London and Birmingham Railway ; for the same reasons, likewise, it will at
once appear to be impracticable, with the data «e are at present in posses-
sion of, to determine with any degree of acciu-acy the comparative adi'antage
of large and smaller driving wheels to the engines ; — the incontrovertible
conclusion, that a very large proportion indeed of the resistance of railway
trains is attributable to atmospherical resistance, is quite sufficient to account
for all the differences of results between the engines on the two descriptions
of railways ; but to w hat extent, and what portion is attributable to atmos-
pherical resistance, what part to the engines, and what portion to the car-
riages, varying as both engines and carriages do, in the diameter of their
wheels, cannot be conclusively determined at present.

There ?\m he little doubt that the atmospherical resistance varies at least in
the ratio ^ f the square of the velocity ; considering, therefore, this rapid
increase of resistance, it appears to me, that no other conclusion can result
from these experiments, than that it is not advisable to attempt an extreme
rate of speed, and that 35 miles an hour, with the existing engine powers, may
he considei'ed as the limit of practical speed for passenger trains; combining
economy with regularity of transit, and giving due weight to the necessity of
accommodating the public, as regards celerity of travelling, to the utmost
practicable extent.

If such a conclusion is warranted by these investigations and experiments,
then it results that it is not necessaiy for the attainment of such a rate of
speed, that the gauge should he seven feet.

The next proposition is the mechanical advantage of increasing the diame-
ter of the wheels, without raising the bodies of the carriages. We see that
there is a diminution of friction bv the increase of the diameter of the wheels,
but it is doubtful to what extent this is modified by elevating the bodies of the
carriages ; a broad gauge by allowing the bodies of the carriages to he placed
within the wheels, and thus to reduce the height of the carriages, and conse-
quently diminish the area of frontage, is an advantage, considering the great
amount of resistance arising from the atmosphere. Then to carry out the
premises fully in this respect, we must not give any greater width of frontage
than is absolutely necessary for that purpose ; it will dejiend upon the result
of further inquiries, as to what superficies in terms of length and width of train
affords the requisite accommodation, and presents the least resistance to the
atmosphere, which has not been yet determined.
The next proposition, that the iucreased width of gauge admits all sorts of

carriages, stage coaches, &c., to be carried within the wheels, is readily an-
swered ; any width of gauge which reduces the height of these carriages above
the rails, will be preferable to that width which does not admit of such an
arrangement; and the ordinary width, not admitting them within the wheels,
renders an increased width, in this respect, advisable, this can, however, he
cfl'ected with a less width than seven feet. t

Increased facilities for the adoption cf larger and more powerful engines,
for the attainment of a higher rate of sjieed, has been answered previously;
it not appearing necessary for such a purpose that the w idth should be seven
feet. The remaining proposition is, that a wider gauge affords increased
stability to the carriages, and, consequently, increased steadiness of motion.
The diagrams given will shew how far this has been eflected on the present
portion of the Great Western Railway, aud certainly these documents would
prove that this has not yet been accomplished. Considering, howe^'er, the
causes of the dili'erent motions of railway carriages, there can be no donbt,
that an increased width of gauge must tend to produce that effect. In the
present instance this has been counteracted by the consti'uction and present
condition of the road and carriages ; and therefore it appears to me the only
conclusion we can come to is, that in similarly constructed railways the wider
gauge will afford greater stability and steadiness of motion to the carriages.

The objections alleged against the increased width, as detailed in page 8 of
this report, no doubt exist to a certain extent : the expense of forming the
road track of the railway is increased. This Mr. Brunei estimates at 151,840/.
for the entire line. The carriages are larger and heavier, and so far, there-
fore, as the weight acting upon the rails may he objectionable, must he ad-
mitted ; but I find that Mr. Brunei's statement of the relative weight,per pas-
senger, given in his report at the last meeting of the shareholders (vide Jciu"-
nal No. 12, page 324, vol. 1), confirmed by my enquiries, which shows that
there does not exist a greater weight, per passenger, with the Great Western
than with other carriages.

The increase of friction in passing the curves does not apply with much
weight in your case, the radius of these being so great. The comparative
expense of construction of the engines and carriages are not matters of great
moment, as there would not be any material diflerence if the engines were
similarly constructed ; and the amount, per passenger, is nearly the same
with the carriages. The next objection, that it prevents a junction with
other lines, does not .npply with such force to the Great Western Railway, as
it would to some other lines; that railway being complete of itself between
the two sides of the island. How far this may be affected by the branches, I
am not capable of judging, it being more a commercial than an engineering
question ; and an opinion could only be satisfactorily given, by an intimate
aciiuaintance with all the circumstances attending the required connuunicatiou
with the adjacent country.

The last objection, that there are no advantages gained commensurate with
the increased expense and inconvenience of such a departure, and connection
from railways of the ordinary width, does appear from a full consideration to
he substantially confirmed ; at the same time I must be allowed to say, that
there are counteracting advantages, incidental to an increased width of gauge,
above that of oli inches, which should not he overlooked.

Almost all the results arising from these enquiries go to establish a conclu-
sion, that 7 feet is beyond that width which may be considered the best; but
these investigations are far from conclusive, in the present state of our infor-
mation, as to what other width is, under all circumstances, the most advisable
to be adopted. Under these circumstances, and considering the great sacri-
fice of property which would result by the removal of the present rails, and
the substitution of any other width ; it appears to me that such a step would
not be justified by the result of these enquiries. We have only determined
one part of the proposition, viz., that seven feet is too great a width ; we have
not determined the most important section, to what injurious extent it will
operate practically. The only results bearing upon this is the increased
power required by the enlarged width, aud that is in some respects shewn by
the increased consumption of coke ; which, as per table V., appears to be with
the North Star, 21 jibs, per mile, and with the iEolus, 8Jlbs. per mile addi-
tional, the former, however, effecting an increased rate of speed of two miles
an hour. It is also necessary to state, that the results elicited in the course
of this enquiry shew, that considerable modifications may be beneficially
made in both engines and carriages ; and, therefore, until we have determined,
in the most satisfactory and conclusive maimer, the precise extent of injury
arising from the retention of the present width of gauge, and what width best
efl'ects all the objects required, and which, under all the circumstances, is most
conducive to the interests of the company, and affords the greatest accommo-
dation to the public, it appears to me the present width should be retained.

Construction of the llimd.- — The question of the construction of the road
comes next under consideration, and here, I presume, there will be less diffi-
culty than in determining on the width of gauge. No doubt can exist, after
these experiments, that the piles do not contribute to the firmness of base of
the railway, their action seems to prevent the contact of the timbers with the
ground ; and it is unquestionably proved, that the passage of the engines and
carriages along the rails, contributes, with a more powerful eflPect, to consoli-
date the road, aud produce a greater firmness of bearing to the rails, than the
packing connected with tlie jnles.

The principle of having at the end of every lo feet, vis:, at the transoms, a
comparatively unyielding hearing, with a scantling of timber intervening,
very far short of the requisite strength to support the weight of the engine
ami trains, renders it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to produce a
uniform rigidity of surface throughout ; and this uniformity cannot be
effected by any system of packing, dependent upon manual labour. If con-
tinuous bearings are preferable to isolated supports, it appears to me that the
most economical, and most perfect plau of couatructiou of continuous timber

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND. ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

69

bearings, 13 wiih common transoms ; and that a more uniform and firm base
will be obtained, by depending on the weight of the trains to ultimately con-
solidate the base of the timbers, than upon any system of piling, presuming
always, that a proper and firm base is prepared in the first instance.

The next consideration is, whether continuous timbers or isolated bear-
ings are preferable; the experiments on deflection show that there is a
greater amount of deflection on the continuous timber bearings on both the
Great Western and the Manchester and Bolton Railways, than on stone
blocks on the other railways ; the latter will consequently afford the least
resistance to the carriages; and the weight of the stone blocks intercepting
to a considerable extent the impact of the trains, they afford a permanently
firmer base. We have seen, however, that in hi^h rates of speed, the resist-
ance of the road itself is small, compared with the aggregate resistance ; and,
therefore, if continuous timber bearings are preferabll^ in wther respects, a
little additional friction cannot be of very great importance.

There is no doubt that timber bearings produce less noise in the carriages :
and it has been urged with considerable force, that the wear and tear of the
engines and carriages are less than with stone blocks. I have endeavoured
to ascertain this, which is a very important consideration ; but the returns of
the expenses of the different railways do not, in my opinion, produce con-
clusive evidence on this part of the subject. The impression produced in
my mind by the information obtained, however, is, that with longitudinal
timber bearings of adequate rigidity and strength, the injury to the engine
and carriages will be less than with stone blocks. The case of the Dublin
and Kingstown Railway has been often quoted, as exhibiting an instance of
the great destruction to the engine and carriages, and road itself, by the use
of stone blocks; and the cross wooden sleepers in Chat Moss, and the
American railways, as iitstances of the utility and cheapness of keeping in
repair, the timber bearings. Every engineer, however, knows that the Dublin
and Kingstown rails were much too weak for the stone blocks on which they
were placed ; and the inferior rate of speed on the American railways affords
no criterion whereby to compare with the effect of stone blocks in this
country, where a much higher rate of sjieed is practised, — the peculiarity of
base of Chat Moss likewise, does not admit of any comparison with stone
blocks on a firm foundation. Notwithstanding this I am inclined to think,
that the wear and tear of the carriages and engine upon timber bearings of a
proper strength will be less than upon stone blocks ; — of the comparative
durability no definite comparison can yet be made.

These experiments, however, show that the present scantling of timber on
both the Great Western and the Manchester and Bolton Railways, are much
too small for the loads which come upon them ; and that they do not present
a sufficiently rigid and unyielding base for a railway. One set of experi-
ments (No. 7, Parti. Book A-), on the Great Western Railway, on the
continuous timbers without piles gave very satisfactory results, but here the
scantling of the timber was 10 inches ; it appears to me, therefore, that if
continuous timber bearings are used, they should be of a scantling of timber
greater than that at present in use ; and it appears, also, that a more rigid
section, and greater weight of rail should be adopted.

This will, no doubt, make the continuous timber healings more expensive
than stone blocks, against which we have less noise, and a smoother, and a
more perfect road for high rates of speed ; sufficiently strong continuous
timbers present, iu fact, a more perfect, but a more expensive line of road
than stone blocks ; — of the comparative durability no satisfactory conclusion
can be drawn. .4t a lower rate of speed, and where economy is an object,
stone blocks being cheaper, will be preferable.

I have not in this i-omparison noticed cross timber sleepers, as compared
with continuous timber bearings ; as temporary roads, during the con-
solidation of embankments, the cross sleepers will be preferable ; but the
result of the experiments on deflection show, that there is not only a very
considerable yielding of the timbers, but that there is likewise an imperfect
fastening between the chairs and sleepers, which cannot be remedied without
increased expense and difficulty ; this road is much cheaper than either
adequately strong continuous timbers, or stone blocks, but it is less perfect,
and cannot be considered as a permanent description of road.

With respect to that part of your request, which relates to the examination
of the Maidenhead Bridge; while on tile works in September last I minutely
examined the state of the arches and the plan of construction ; — the cause of
its failure appeared to me to have been occasioned by the centering being
prematurely drami, and before the cement was perfectly hardened and had
taken a set in the interior of the brickwork forming the ring of the arch. Mr.
Brunei at that time pointed out to me the remedies which lie proposed to
repair the defects, iu which I concurred, and those I understand have not yet
been completed.

In conclusion, I trust that the magnitude and variety of the objects, and
the great and imposing interests embraced in this inquiry, added to the great
responsibility attached to the investigation, will be a sufficient excuse for the
protracted time occupied in making the experiments ; and I trust, also, that
these reasons, together with the unexpected and important results which have
aiisen out of these inquiries, will be deemed by you and the shareholders at
large, to be a sufficient apology for the delay which you have experienced in
not receiving this report at the time originally contemplated ; to comply
with which, to the utmost extent in my power, must also be my apology for
the imperfect manner in which this document is presented to your notice.
I am. Gentlemen,

Your most obedient senant,

NICHOLAS WOOD.

REPORT OF I. K. BRUNEL, ESQ.

TO THE DIRECTORS OF THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY COMPANV.

Gentlemen, — I have now before me the report of Mr. Wood, the latter part
of which I received only on the 17th. The appendix, without which, for all
purposes of investigation, the report is incomplete, I have not j'et received.

Considering the great mass of valuable matter contained in this report in
the shape o^ numerous experiments, of calculations founded upon them, and
the discussion and examination of the results and their consequences, the
collection and consideration of which have occupied several persons for about
three montlis, it will not surprise you that I should find a few days a very
short period in which to make myself sufficiently master of its contents to be
able to lay before you my observations thereon.

The extremely short time which circumstances allow me will prevent my
entering into a detailed examination of the various tables of experiments which
appear in the body of the report, or, in fact, doing more than refer to the prin-
cipal points and those general results which appear to have mainly influenced
Mr. Wood's opinions. Fortunately, the clear and methodical manner in
which these various results are arranged, and the fair and impartial way in
which they are treated, will render this an easy and comparatively an agree-
able task,"and will enable me to select such points as I consider most impor-
tant, and to separate such facts and conclusions as relate to these particular
points.

The satisfaction which I feel in approaching a subject, when treated in this
manner, is, however, very much diminished by one source of great regret ;
and if in the course of the following observations I should have occasion to
differ from Mr. Wood, either in the view he takes of the reliance to be placed
on, or the consequences resulting from, any particular experiment, I ascribe
this difference of opinion almost entirely to the cause which I shall refer to.

I think it is deeply to be regretted that Mr. Wood should not have been
able himself to have attended to and conducted all the experiments. I do not
mean to imply the slightest doubt of the accuracy of the records of the facts
as they were observed ; but that constitutes but a small part of the duty of
collecting evidence upon doubtful points, particularly when they relate to
questions of mechanics and science, which may be affected by a great variety
of causes, and where the results may be influenced and entirely changed by
the manner in which they are obtained.

It is certainly my opinion, that had Mr. Wood personally superintended the
experiments ; had he brought his own practical knowledge of the subject to
bear upon them ; he would have discovered many operating and interfering
causes, which either would have led him to repeat his experiments by other
methods, or to explain apparent anomalies, and thus, in my opinion, upon
many of tire most important points to come to very different conclusions. But
more especially do I think his opinions would have been changed upon all
those points which are necessarily capable of alteration and amendment by the
k-uowledge and experience daily gained in the working of a system new in
manv of its details ; and that before he drew definite conclusions, founded,
inevitably, upon very imperfect data, he would have made a larger allowance
for that progressive improvement which practice, observation, and experience,
never fail to produce.

To no part of the system do these remarks apply more strongly than to
that of the performance of the locomotive engines, and the question of the
practicability of attaining high speeds ; and as almost the only conclusions
arrived at iu the report upon which I think it necessary to epxress any material
difference of opinion, are founded entirely upon the results of experiments made
to determine these points, I shall apply myself principally to the consideration
of them, and the experiments by whicli they were obtained.

In order to show that I am not attaching undue importance to any one part
of the report, or to any one section of the experiments, I shall refer briefly
0 the general arrangement of the report, and to the order in which the con-
clusions are arrived at.

After stating the general questions to be treated, and the advantages and
objections which have been urged for and against the plans which have been
adopted on this railway, Mr. Wood arranges under' three principal heads the
points to be determined by experiments, viz. : —

" 1st. The question of the attainment of a higher rate of speed than on other
railways ; whether the increased width of gauge is, or is not, either
necessary or best adapted for the accomplishment of this object, and
to what extent.
"2nd. The mechanical advantage or diminution of friction, by being enabled
to increase the diameter of the wheels without raising the bodies of
the carriages; and in what respect, and to what extent, the friction or
resistance of the carriages is affected by, or bears upon, the peculiar
construction of the road.
"3rd. The comparative advantage or firmness of base, or road track, of the
Great Western Railway, with continuous timber bearings, either with
or without piles, and if it does or does not produce a greater steadiness
and smoothness of motion to the carriages, and to what extent.
" These were the questions," the report continues, " vvhich it appeared to me
could not be determined in any other way than by experiment, but which ap-
peared to be capable of solution by that method, and which likewise appeared
to constitute the foundation of the entire system."

The first division consists of summaries of experiments, the details of
which are to be given in an appendix, and of observations upon the perform-
ance of the Great Western engines, as compared with those of other railways,
and the comparative performance of all at different velocities. These constitute
the first section, and occupy the report to page 63. From thence to page 65
of the report is devoted principally to some experiments made upon the
resistance of the air to the moving train, with a view to account for, and to
ascertain the eauses of, the results apparently obtained in the experiments

70

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

recorded in the [ireceding section. The tliird section, from pages 6.0 to ti8,
is devoted to the investigation of the stability of the rails and eaiTiages. The
remainder of the I'oport is occupied with the eouclusioiis arrived at, founded
upon the preceding <diservations and results.

As regards llio construction of the road, to which the third section princi-
pally relates, ]Mr. \\'ood ajipears to he of opinion, that for high speeds, con-
tinuous longitudinal bearings of timber form a good mad, and that the mode
adopl'd on the Great Western Railway of securing the rail to the timber is
good ; but tlint the system of piling is bad, and that the weight of rail and
scantling of limber hitherto adopted on the portion of the line completed, are
insuflRcient. All this is in perfect accordance with the plans proposed for the
futnre eonsti'uction of the road. A rail considerably stifler and longitudinal
timber of gi'cater scantling are prepared, and a plan has been recommended to
you and approved of, in which the use of the piles is abandoned. Though I
do not, therefore, difler from Mr. Wood in his results, I think it right to say
here, as regards the experiments themselves which are recorded, that those
upon the deflection of the rails of the Great Western Railway necessarily give
a much less favourable result than would have been obtained had an average
been taken of experiments over the whole line : these experiments have been
confined iilmost exclusively to a short space of about two miles in the clay
cuttings in the neighbourhood of I'addington, where we liave always met with
the greatest difficulties, and which is undoubtedly the worst part of the road.
I conclude that this was accidental, and that want of time alone has prevented
further experiments being made; nevertheless, the results must not be taken
as a correct average of the line. As regards those upon the comparative
smoothness of the carriages, I am botmd to say that I doubt the accuracy of
the instruments. I always maintained that they were not correct in principle,
and were quite capable of indicating greater movements in an easy carriage
or on a good road, than in a rough carriage or on a bad road, if the motion of
the former should happen to coincide with the natural motion of the instru-
ment ; or, if the former should be of a character to which the instrument, from its
construction, might be more susceptible. If the instrument were good as
E comparative measure, it would, of course, in each experiment, indicate the
rough and smooth portions of our line. Now certainly, according to the
Table 15, there are no indications which would enable us to point out cor-
rectly these diti'erent parts of our line, although they are distinctly perceptible
to the traveller, and well known to us. And, upon turning to the Table, and
the correspnnding portions of the line referred to, I find, from an exact know-
ledge of every part of it, that the numbers indicate rather the reverse of the
fact, giving the low*est amount between the second and seventh miles, which
is a bad part, and the highest between the seventh and fifteenth, where the
road is good. It is not, however, xipon this discordance in the results that I
found my objection to the instruments used. Tliey might have been correct,
whilst the instrument was taulty. But considering the principles upon which
they were constructed to be unsound, and as I do not hence attach much
importance to the results, t only now allude to them, to prevent my silence
being misunderstood.

But, in the absence of an accurate instrument, the public are perhaps most
competent to determine whether, on the whole, they find the travelling on the
Great Western Railway as comfortable, and tlie motion as easy, even at pre-
sent, as upon other lines ; and this, notwithstanding the shorter time
our road has been opened, the greater speed of our engines, and that as
yet we work under all the disadvantages of new tools (carriages and road
inclusive), in which experience is absolutely necessary to adapt the vari-
ous parts to each other. Unless, indeed, instruments are contrived which
shall separate the different sources of motion, and measure them accurately,
they will hardly afl'ord as correct information as the mere sensations of a care-
ful observer.

Upon the question of the assumed amount of resistance from the air, as de-
duced from experiments made upon that part of the Liverpool and Manchester
Railway called \A'histon inclined plane, if, practically, the high speed be attain-
able, as I w ill prove it to be without the extravagant'cousumption of fuel which
was supposed to be unavoidable, it is perhaps unnecessary to occupy your time
at present with an inquiry into the subject. But as it has been looked upon
as the discovery of a new cause brought into operation, from which we are to
apprehend new and hitherto unexpected results, I must say alow words upon
it. The resistance to a body moving through the air has long been known,
and although perhaps not with perfect accuracy, yet tables giving a near
approximation were made and published sixty or seventy years ago, by
Sraeaton, (Phil. Trans. .51st vol.,) as well as by other eminent men, and are
now to be found in most elementary works.

-Any calculations founded upon these Tables shew that resistance of the
atmosphere is very considerable, and varies in some ratio approaching to that
of the squares of the velocities. I have long since, and frequently, made
such calculations, which I believe, if judiciously made, would give more cor-
rect results, though not nearly so large as the' experiments before us ; they
would at least be free from several very serious sotu'ces of error.

That there must liave been some great sources of error is evident from the
striking discrepancies between the result of the experiment on the Whistou
plane and every day's experience upon it. The passenger train, in descending
this plane, with the steam shut off the engine, which then causes some con-
siderable resistance, fiequently acquires a vcrv high velocity, exceeding forty
miles rather than thirty miles per hour, and requiring the iise of the break.
This I have seen occur without any favouring wind, while in the experiments,
Jiotmthstanding the assistance of a breeze, the carnages did not acquire a
Telocity of more than 3^ miles per hour. Although this is so contradictory,
there is nothing really inconsistent with the full operation of resistance of the
atmosphere, but merely an evident indication of the circumstances being
quite dissimilar in the experiment from those which occur iu actual practice.

Again; in the experiments themselves, a circumstance is mentioned which
destroys the apparent agreement between the result and the theory, and which
would prove that the resistance of the atmosphere is even much greater than
is stated, and in fact makes it so excessive, and so different from the result
obtained from the experiment on the Madeley inclined plane, which is also
given, as to destroy any dependence upon either of them.

It is stated in p. 05, that " there was a pretty strong wind directly in favour of
the motion of the train, down the Whiston plane." Now, 10 miles an hour
is below the velocity of anything that can be called" a pretty strong wind,"
— but assume 1 0 miles, so as to be on the safe side — deducting this from the
;i2.1 miles, we have '22\ as the real velocity of the train passing through th«
air, or the velocity to which alone any atmospheric resistance could be due.
At this velocity, 2,31bs. per square foot would be the utmost effect that could
be produced by the air, and the 3201bs. ascribed to atmospheric resistance
would therefore require 143 square feet of surfeue : if the four carriages had
been placed by the side of each other instead of behind, this surface would
hardly have been obtained ; or, again, if the 3291bs. were due to the atmos-
pheric resistance of four carriages of the narrow gauge at 224- miles per hour,
at -10 miles the same four caniages would meet the resistance of l,0631bs.,
which alone, without any allowance for friction, or for the increased width
of carriages, would be a greater resistance than the North Star engine is capa-
ble of overcoming. But the North Stor, as I shall hereafter shew, does take
a train of seven carriages, weighing 40 tons, and having seats for 188 passen-
gers, at 40 miles per hour, which according to the above data would require,
including friction, a tractive power of somewhere about l,5001bs., probably
nearly double that which the engine can possibly exert at that speed. But
these discrepaticies arc easily accounted for.

The experiments were made with very light loads, ISf and 18 tons; and
consequently the assumed comparative resistance for the air, which would bo
nearly the same even had there been .50 tons, appears much larger. The
friction of .50 tons would have been 28.51bs., and the atmospheric resistance
being still 3291bs., the relative per centage of the total resistance would have
been 44 and o6, and to the 44 per cent, has to be added, all the friction of
the engine itself, which is also a constant quantity independent of any resist-
ance of the air ; taking this at 15, or one-third of that of the trains, the pro-
portion becomes 51 for friction, and 49 for some other resistance, instead of
22 and 78.

But the sources of en'or to which I have alluded are much more serious,
and appear to me so incapable of measurement, and consequently of correc-
tion, as to render the experiments useless.

The circumstances were not really, though apparently so, in any one point
similar to those of an ordinaj-y train in jnotion. In the first place, the car-
riages are sent with the square end to meet and receive the full resistance due
to their surface, which is totally diflerent from the case when the engine pre-
cedes them. In the next place, this resistance is acting entirely against the
front of the first carriage of the train, while the motive power, — viz. the gra-
vity, is behind, that is, acting upon each carriage, and pushing one upon
another. Everybody experienced in railways knows that in such a case the
carriages are thrown out of square, and a degree of resistance created which
would alone account for the whole.

The ultimate conclusions, however, at which Mr. Wood aiTives on all the
principal points, vrill, upon perusal, be found to have been governed by the
results of the experiments upon the performance of the engines, and the as-
sumed resistance of the trains at liigh speed ; the exiJcriments upon the resist-
ance of the air being made to ascertain if this assumed increase of resistance
could be accounted for.

The mechanical advantage of large wheels for the caniages is, of course,
admitted ; but high speeds being assumed to be practically or economically
unattainable, the reduction of friction is considered unimportant. I shall
now, therefore, consider tliis branch of the subject — the performance of tlie
engines.

The locomotive engines niuniug upon the ordinary railways are the result
of nearly ten years' experience ; during which time the most talented manu-
facturers have been constantly engaged, not in inventing any new construc-
tion of engine, — for certainly, seven, if not eight years since, Messrs.
Stephenson constructed, what, in form and general arrangement, was exactly
similar to that now mad|0— but simply in adapting and proportioning the
different parts the one to Bie other, and by such trifling changes, if they can
be called so, important improvements have been effected, and greater speed
and economy attained.

On the engines made for the Great Western Railway the same experi-
enced manufacturers ha\e been employed ; but as a higher speed was sought,
a lai-ger evaporating surface of boiler . J|kreciuired ; and many of those pro-
portions which had been long studied, ■Bp*) which perfection had to a great
extent been attained, were necessarilT&ltered : and yet these machines,
brought into operation without the possibility of any sufficient previous trials,
in which their defects could be discovered or improvements introduced, are
taken as the full measiu-e of what can be effected in the new system of which
they form a part. It is certainly cimtrary to all experience to suppose that
they should at once be well adapted to a new system; for not only would this
have required more fore.'^ight than the most eminent of those engaged i» their
constniction could possibly possess, but it involved a departure from many
rules in favour of which long and successful experience had, to a certain de-
gree, created a prejudice.

The experience of at least some months of the actual working of these en-
gines, and that at a time when we should be sufficiently free from all the em-
barrassments of the first opening of the line to allow of such alterations being
tried as appeared likely to effect improvements, which involves the ability to
throw out of work any engine upon which it might be necessary to make the

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

71

trial; sonif such filiorl pxpoi-ionee and such trials were at least necessary to
bring the system even on a par with others long previously in operation ; hut
this opportunity «e have not yet had.

From the results obtained up to the present time, therefore, little could be
hoped for beyond very clear and decided indications of all defects, while the
advantages were still to be acquired ; and if, under such circumstances, the
performance had been nearly equal to that obtained on other lines, with the
benefit of long experience, I should liave been satisfied M'e should have had
a right to expect great improvements; we should have started from the point
at which others had arrived ; and when we had attained the same relative per-
fection in all parts which they had, with all the advantage of their previous
experience, and which we might calculate upon doing in a much shorter time,
we should be as much in advance of our present state as they are now of the
state in which they were some years ago.

But I a]n prepared to shew that we are now in that position ; that the per-
formance of our engines is not merely as great, but greater, than that which
has yet been attained on other lines ; that those changes and improvements to
which I have alluded an; just commenced ; and that, even since l\Ir. Wood
made his experiments, the advance has been so great, that if he were now to
repeat them he must arrive at totally dilferent conclusions.

Tables III. and IX. of his report give the performance of engines with
ditierent loads on the London and Birmingham, and on the Great Western
Railway. From them it would appear, that ou the Birmingham Railway the
same engines which took f>0 and 64 tons at 24 and 2vH miles j-.er hour, were
only capable of taking 34A and 33 tons at 32^ and 33 miles per hour, with
nearly double the consumption of coke per ton ; while on the Great Western
Railway the same engine — the North Star, was capable of carrying 82 tons at
3.3 miles per hour ; only 33 tons at 37 miles per hour, and Hi tons at 41 miles,
and to obtain which last additional velocity of four miles per hour the con-
sumption of coke per ton was more than doubled.

Such an enormous diminution of effect by a comparatively small increase of
speed, if unavoidable, or necessarily consequent on the increased resistance of
the train, would undoubtedly justify the conclusion arrived at by Mr. Wood,
that to attempt to exceed 35 miles per hour is not advisable ; and conse-
quently, that so far as the system of the Great Western Railway was adapted
for high velocities it was unsuccessful. But these conclusions are founded
upon the statements above referred to. Experiments have since been made
giving very different results, and I can prove, that if an engine be properly
con.structed for high .speeds in the manner which I liave always proposed, that
there is no such " immense sacrifice of power incidental to an extreme high
rate of speed, or the accomplishment of a rate of thirty-eight or forty miles
per hour above that of tlnrty-two or thirty-live miles," (page 03 ;) and that
tile same engine, which was then only capable of taking sixteen tons at an
average velocity of thirty-eight and a maximum of forty one miles and a half
per hour, is now capable of taking forty tons ut an average velocity of forty
miles per hour; and further, that the consumption of coke per ton, so far
from being extravagant, is not so great as that of the engines on the TiOndon
and Birmingham Railway, when only travelling at a mean rate of thirty miles
per hour.

The experiments have been made with the same engine and the same class
carriages as those used in Mr. Wood's experiments, and in every other re-
spect conducted in the same manner, and without any attempt to diminish
the resistance of the air, which may be done to a great extent, and which
as I shall hereafter have occasion to state, was always my intention, and has
been prepared for in the construction of engines and carriages.

The comparison between the performance of this engine in September
last and at the present time will therefore stand tlms : —

Cousmuption
Load. Average of Coke

Tons, .-(peed, per ton per mile.

September, 15.9 38i 2.70

December, 40 40 " .90

From which it appears that in less than three months (the change has really
been effected but lately) the performance of the engine is nearly trebled,
while the consumption is reduced to a moderate quantity, or by two-thirds
of that of the former experiments.

The explanation of this change is easily given. The great diminution
in the useful effect of the engine in the former experiments did not arise
solely from the increased resistance of the train — which might have been
more difficult to overcome — but principally from the diminished power of
the engine at that speed. This might appear, at first sight, to be the same
thing, but such is by no means the case. The increased resistance of the
load to be moved might arise from causes which could not l)e controlled.
The diminished power of the engine might be a mechanical defect, capable
of being remedied, and investigation has proved the truth of this most satis-
factorily. The engines at that time were so regulated by the proportion of
some of their parts, that their power was crippled when the speed was in-
creased. The great quantity of steam which is required, could not, in fact,
escape, and if allowed to escape more freely, there was a deficiency of draft
in the furnace. This was a difficulty incidental to the high speeds, and
also to the increaseil diameter of the driving wheels, but it is a difficulty
which is capable of being overcome, and, in a great measure, has been over-
come. There is, however, no doubt, still room for improvement ; but if, in
so short a time, we have made this great advance, it is fair to presume that
we may make still further improvements.

If, therefore, great speed is attainable— if there are no natural causes, no
insurmountable obstacles— the position taken by Mr. Wood (and in taking
which he was perfectly justified, by the evidence before him) becomes totally
changed. The hypothesis is ao longer correct oa which the opiniou was

formed and expressed in page 1)8, in the following words: — " If such a con
elusion" — viz. , the practical limit of 35 miles per hour — "is warranted by these
investigafions and experiments, then it results that it is not necessary for the
attainment of such a rate of speed that the gauge should be seven feet." But
all the advantages pointed out in the two following paragraphs of the Report
as resulting from an increased width of gauge over the four feet eight inch,
apply in a still greater degree than under the circumstances which existed at
the time. Some doubts are expressed as to the advantage of so great an in-
crease of gauge as seven feet; but these doubts, again, appear to arise entirely
from the circumstance, tliat the results of the experiments then made upon the
performance of the engines were unfavourable. The reverse appears now
to he the case; the work performed with a given consumption of coke i.s
much greater than in any of the experiments made upon other lines, the de-
tails of which are given in the Report.

On the subject of the seven-feet gauge, I can add very little to what I have
said before. It was adopted expressly to enable ns to effect that arrange-
ment which is recommended at page 08.

'*We see that there isadiminution of friction, by the increase of the diameter
of the wheels, but it is doubtful to what extent this is modified by elevating the
bodies of the carriages ; a broad gauge, by allowing the bodies of the carriages
to be placed within the wheels, and thus to reduce the height of the carriages,
and consequently diminish the area of the frontage, is an advantage, consider-
ing the great amount of resistance arising from the atmosphere."

To effect this, with the most convenient form of body, similar to that ordi-
narily adopted on railways, does require, as I have frequently stated in pre-
vious reports, a width of at least 0 feet 10 inches.

The advantage of stability is probably directly in proportion to the increased
width ; and upon this point I will quote the words of Mr. Wood, page 68 : —

" The remaining proposition is, that a wider gauge affords increased stability
to the carriages, and, consequently, increased steadiness of motion. The dia-
i^rams given will show how tar this has been effected on the present portion of
the Great Western Railway, and certainly these docucnents would prove that
this has not yet been accomplished. Considering, however, the causes of the
different motions of railway carriages, there can be no doubt that an increased
width of gauge must tend to produce that effect. In the present instance this has
been counteracted by the construction andpresenteondition ofthe road and carri
ages ; and therefore, it appears to me^ the only conclusion we can come to is,
that in similarly constructed railways the wider gauge will afford greater sta-
bility and steadiness of motion to the carriages."

As regards the expense of forming the railway of increased width, BIr.
Wood has made a mistake, which I believe he will correct in the Appendix.
The estimate of the increased cost is £39,000 only, instead of £151,840.
Upon all these points I have so frequently explained my views to you, that I
shall take the hberty to quote a passage from my report of the 1.5th of August,
which contains in a small compass the grounds upon which I adhere to my
opinions in favour of the width of gauge I have selected :^

" It has been asserted that four feet eight inches, the width adopted on the
Liverpool and ^lanchester railway, is exactly the proper widtli for all railways,
and that to adopt any other dimension is to deviate from a positive rule which
experience has proved correct ; but such an asseition can be maintained by no
reasoning. Admitting, for the sake of argument, that, under the particular
circumstances in which it has been tried, four feet eight inches has been proved
the best possible dimension, the question would still remain — What are the
best dimensions under the circumstances?

".Mthough a breadth of four feet eight inches has been found to create a cer-
tain resistance on curves of a certain radius, a greater breadth would produce
only the same resistance on curves of greater radius.

" If carriages, and engines, and more particularly, if wheels and axles of a
certain weight, have not been found inconvenient upon one railway, greater
v^'cights may be employed, and the same results obtained, on a railway with
better gradients.

" To adopt a gauge of the same number of inches on tlie Great Western
Railway as on the Grand Junction Railway, would, in fact, amount practically
to the use of a different gauge in similar railways. The gauge which is well
adapted to the one is not well adapted to the other, unless, indeed, some mys-
terious cause exists, which has never yet been explained, for the empirical law
which would fix the gauge under all circumstances.

" Fortunately, this no longer requires to be argued, as too maiiy authorities
may now be quoted in support of a very considerable deviation from this pre-
scribed width, and in every case the change has been an increase.

" I take it for granted that, in determining the dimensions in each case, due
regard has been had to the curves and gradients of the line, which ought to
form a most essential, if not the principal, condition. In the report of the com-
missioners upon Irish railways, the arguments are identically the same with
those which 1 used w hen first addressing you on the subject in my report of
October, 1835.

" The mechanical advantage to be gained by increasing the diameter of the
carriage wheels is pointed out ; the necessity, to attain this, of increasing the
width of way ; the dimensions of the bridges, tunnels, and other principal works,
not beiu" materially affected by this, but, on the other hand, the circumstances
which limit this increase being the curves ou the line, and the increased pro-
portional resistance on inclinations (and on this account it is stated to be almost
solely applicable to very level lines), and lastly, the increased expense, which
could be justified only by a great traffic.

'* The whole is clearly argued in a general point of view, and then applied to
the particular case, and the result of this application is the recommendation of
of the adoption of 6 feet 2 inches on the Irish railways. Thus an increase in
the breadth of way to attain one particular object — viz., the capability of in-
creasing the diameter of the carriage-wheels, without raising the bodies ofthe
carriages, is admitted to be the most desirable, but is limited by certain cir-
cumstances,— namely, the gradients and curves of the line, and the extent of
traffic.

72

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

" Every argument here adduced, and every calculation made, would tend to
the adoption of about 7 feet on the Great Western Railway.

" The Gradients on the lines laid down by the Irish commission are conside-
rably steeper than those of the London and Uirmingham Railway, and four
and five times the inclination of those on the Great Western Railway; the
curves are by no means of very large radius, and, indeed, the commissioners,
after h'xing the gauge of 6 feet 2 inches, express their opinion that, upon ex-
amination into the question of curves, with the view to economy, they do not
find that the effect is so injurious as might have been anticipated, and imply,
therefore, that curves, generally considered, of small radius on our English
lines, are not incompatible with the (i feet 2 inch gauge ; and lastly, the traffic
instead of being unusually large, so as to justify any expense beyond that abso-
lutely required, is such as to render assistance from government necessary to
ensure a return for the capital embarked. As compared with this, what are the
circumstances in our case? The object to be attained is, the placing an ordi-
nary coach body, which is upwards of t> feet 6 inches in width, between the
wheels; this necessarily involves a gauge of rail of about (i feet 10 inches and
a half to 6 feet 11 inches, but 7 feet allows of its being done easily; it allows,
moreover, of a different arrangement of the body; it admits all sorts of carriages,
stage-coaches, and carts, to be cariicd between the wheels. And what are the
limits in the case of the Great Western Railway, as compared to those on Irish
railways? Gradients of one-fiftli the inclination, very favourable curves, and
probably the largest traffic in England.

" I think it unnecessary to say another word to show that the Irish commis-
sioners would have arrived at seven feet on the Great Western Railway by
exactly the same train of argument that led them to adopt 6 feet 2 inches in the
case then before them.

" All these arguments were advanced by me in my first report to you, and the
subject was well considered."*

All the opinions expressed, and the arguments advanced by me on that
occasion, I consider to be supported by the general arguments of Mr.
Wood, and fully borne out by the experiments recorded in his report, when
taken in conjuuction with those recently made.

The experiments made during the progress of Mr. Wood's investigation,
and those, few in number, which I have been enabled to make since, have
given much useful information upon many points connected with the work-
ing of the line ; and, while they confirm the views which 1 had previously
taken, they also point out many imperfections which are capable of
removal. Upon the value of gradients particul(\rly, the records of the
experiments made for Mr. Wood, give most conclusive evidence. Upon an
average of about eighty experiments made with several difterent engines,
and various loads upon our line (with the nuinuscript details of which Mr.
Wood has kindly furnished ine), the mean velocity, after the speed vi'as
acquired in ascending a plane of eight miles in length of four feet per mile,
was 302 niiles ; on a short level summit of only half a mile, the speed
increases to 32i; and the average of the next seven miles, on which the
levels vary from 4 feet to 2 feet per mile descending, the velocity was 341 ;
and upon the remainder of the line, which varies from 2 feet to 4 feet per
mile ascending, the velocity is 33|. The velocity upon the latter part is
rather greater, from the circumstance of its being near the conclusion of the
journey, the engineer being thereby enabled to reduce the feed or the supply
of cold water to the boiler, or to avoid adding fresh fuel and in other ways
to maintain the steam.

This result gives a clear difference of four miles per hour between the
velocities in ascending a plane of eight miles in length, at four feet per
mile, and descending a plane of seven miles in length, averaging about two
feet six inches per mile. Nothing can be mere conclusive as to the actual
practical effect of even any very slight increase or diminution of the gradient
of a line, notwithstanding the vaguely expressed assertions — not that I
mean to imply that such are found in Mr. Wood's report — that after a
certain degree of perfection is attained it is useless to seek a nearer approach
to a level.

The observations which I have lately made upon carriages moving with a
high velocity satisfy me that a very great portion of the resistance at such
velocity is caused by the rolling of the carriage wheels from side to side.
And in proportion as this source of resistance is removed, which it undoubt-
edly may be in a great measure, if not entirely, so will the useful effect of
the engine be greatly increased.

I should have been glad to have taken this opportunity of entering inore
fully into the various questions, the agitation of which has led to these
experimental inquiries. But in order to comply with your desire to have
my observations printed and circulated this week amongst the proprietors,
I am compelled, though most unwillingly, to bring them to a conclusion.

It is but justice to myself to add, that being thus limited in time, I am
deprived of the opportunity of which I should, under other circumstances,
have readily availed myself, to examine most minutely every experiment
and inference drawn in the report, as well as of fully explaining, and I hope
I may add, of vindicating, the views and principles which, with your sanc-
tion and approval, I have hitherto acted upon in the construction of the
Great Western Railway.

I am, gentlemen, your obedient servant,

(Signed) I. K. BRUNEL.

London, December 27th, 1838.

At the special ineeting of the shareholders, held on the 9tli of Jatiuary,
the report of the directors was approved and adopted.

♦ Vide Mr. Brunei's Report in Journal, No. 18, pages 323 and 3S4, vol. I.

PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.

INSTITUTE OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.

[It aftbrds us much pleasure to publish the following very interesting
annual report of the Institute, and to announce tlie removal of the
Institute to premises in every way suitable to the station and rank in
wliich the profession is justly held by the public. The house which has
been lately fitted up for the members is one of the splendid mansions in
Great George Street, Westminster. In the rear there is a very conve-
nient theatre, capable of holding at the least 150 members, where the
proceedinas and discussions of the Institute will be conducted.]

Anmial Report, 1839.

It is with feelings of the greatest satislactiou, that the council invite the
attention of this meeting to the following report, the presentation of which
terminates the trust confided to them by the last annual general meeing.

The twentieth year of the proceedings of the institution has been marked
by events of considerable impoitance, furnishing the strongest evidence of the
steady progress and success which has attended the labonrs of the council,
aided as it has been by the unanimous co-operation of the general body. To
meeton the present occasion, under circumstances more favourable than perhaps
attend any similar society is most gratifying ; but the gratification stops not here,
to form a proper estimate of your present condition, it is necessary to contrast
that of earlier years with the steadily increasing progress of the last. In ful-
filling the more extensive duties consequent on this progress, as well as on
the many important changes which have taken place, the council have always
been deeply sensible of the high responsibility committed to them, and that their
endeavours have been well directed, will they trust he apparent from the pre-
sent report, to the details of which they now solicit your careful attention.

New Premisis- — The hopes which were at the last annual meeting held
out respecting the present premises have been more than fu'.ly realised. The
kindness of the commissioners of compensation, in resigning at midsummer,
that iKirfion of the premises in which the more important alterations were to
be made, has enabled the council to commence the session in the present place,
and though the repairs be yet incomplete, the council believe they will be
completed ere the institution again meets. The alterations and repairs will
be executed for about £1,000. More than £700 has been already subscribed,
and among the many gratifying circumstances of the past year, the council
would particularly select the liberality with which all have come forward to
further this object.

Such has been the unanimity of feeling evinced in this respect that the
council believe ample resources will be foiuid, and that the future council will
not have to avail themselves of the liberal off'er of your president to advance
whatever sum the institution might require.

The existing furniture is all available for the present premises, and the
outlay which will be required for what more may be desirable for your com-
fort and suitable accommodation will not be greater than the growing resources
of the institution can conveniently meet, so that there is no danger of any
pennanent debt being entailed on the funds of the institution. By the terms
of the lease you are secured from the expense of seiious repairs, and from
the completeness with which on the present contract they will be executed, the
council do nut anticipate that ariy thing further of importance will be
required for many years to come.

By-laics The council would next advert to other subjects which have

occupied their attention during the past year, some of which were dwelt upon
at length in the last anuual report. It mill be in the remembrance of most,
that during the year preceding the last annual meeting, some changes were made
in the constitution of the general body and of the council. The more important
of these changes were, the incorpoiation into the class of members, without
distinction of residence, of all those whose professional qualifications were recog-
nized as the same ; the creation of a new class under the term graduates, to
include those who either as pupils or assistants to engineers, were qualifying
themselves for the practice of the profession on their own accoiuit ; the
increase of the number of the council, and the addition of two as repre-
sentatives of the class of associates. The council, on the experience of the
past year, conceive that these and other important changes recommended by
their predecessors in office, and adopted by the general meeting of members,
have contributed to the success and permanent stability of the instittuiou.

The council conceive that the introduction of two from the class of associates
may be attended with great benefits to the institution. This change has been
objected to by some zealous friends of the instituticn among the associates
themselves, on the ground that such an introduction might tend to divert the
attention of the institution from objects strictly professional. The council,
however, do not conceive that such fears have any just foundation, so long as
the rest of their body consists of men honoured by the confidence of the pro-
fession, but on the contrary, that the class of associates containing many
distinguished for their attainments in pursuits intimately connected with the
practice of the civil engineer, will furnish those who may co-operate in
advancing not only the interests of the institution, but the cause of general
knowledge. The council cannot omit to beartcslimony to the valuable services
of Mr. Carpmael and Lieutenant Denisou during the preceding year, and
they would repeat the recommendation made to the last annual meeting, that
two" of the class of associates be elected on the council of the ensuing year.

Other alterations have been suggested, on which the council have bestowed
much deliberation, and in case the future council should think it advisable to
summon a general meeting of members to consider the propriety of making any
alteration in the existing laws, it may be advantageous briefly to adrert to

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

73

one or two of tlie proposal ivltorations which have occupied the attention of
the council during the past year. It has been suggested that the annual
election of the council should he conducted in a somewhat diflerent manner
from that at present pursued. That a greater number than that constituting
the council should be nominated, and that each person at the annual general
meeting instead of, as at present, erasing one name and substituting another,
erase as many names as the number on the ballotting list exceeds the consti-
tuted number of the council. It has also been suggested whether it may not
be for the advantage of tlie institution, that the council should be increased
by the addition of two mcmbeis ; that as frequently some of its most dis-
tinguished members are inevitably prevented by professional engagements
from attending the ordinary meetings, the council should be enlarged to as
great an extent as may be consistent with the true interests of the institution.

Hffviiers. — The council have frequently experienced difficulty in deciding
on the qualifications for admission into the class of members. It is a peculiar
feature in your institution that the class of members should consist of those
strictly engaged in the practice of the civil engineer. The objects of the civil
engineer are defined by your charter, and the council, considering that the
success and permanency of the institution must depend in a great measure
on the care exercised in admission into this class, have repeatedly considered
this subject with the view of presenting some definite rules for the guidance of
themselves and others. It has appeared that they will be aided in this diffi-
cult task by adhering as much as possible to the: two following conditions ;
either : —

He shall have been regularly educated as a civil engineer according to the
usual routine of pupilage, and have had subsequent employment for at
least five years in responsible situations as resident or otherwise in some of
the branches defined by the charter as constituting the profession of a civil
engineer ; or, he shall have practised on his own account in the profession of
a civil engineer for five years, and have acquired considerable eminence
therein.

It is thought that the first condition will include those who by regular edix-
cation have done their utmost towards themselves for the profession, and that
their subsequent employment in responsible situations will be a guarantee
that they have availed themselves of the opportunities which they may have
enjoyed.

In the earlier days of the science of the civil engineer such a condition
would have been inapplicable; then the force of native genius sufficed to
place the individual in that position of professional eminence which com-
menced with a Brindley and a Smeaton, and was in our own time exemplified
in a Rennie and a Telford. To such, of whom there are many illustrious
examples amongst us, the second condition is strictly applicable.

Transactions. — Since the dose of the last session the second vtdunie of
the Transactions has been published. The council regret that the volume
should have been delayed so long beyond the expected time, but tlicy would
remind the meeting that the preparation of a volume coittaining 23 highly-
executed plates, is a w^ork of no ordinary difficulty, and that a delay in any
part will of necessity preclude the publication of the volume. The danger of
delay, when a whole volume is to be published at once, has led the council to
consider whether it would not be for the interest of the institution to publish
in parts of volumes, and from time to time, as they can be prepared, such
communications as are destined to occupy a place in the Transactions. The
advantages resulting to all parties from sucli an arrangement would, it is
conceived, be great ; delay in the publication of a body of communications,
by reason of the incompleteness of one of them, would be entirely avoided,
authors would surely gladly avail tliemselves of this method of tnnismitting
papers to the world, since all the mt'rit due to priority of claim would then be
undoubtedly secured to them.

Minutes of Procet'dings. — Should, however, the succeeding council con-
sider the propriety of adopting some plan similar to the above, for tin-
publication of the Transactions, the council would urge the importance of
adhering to the publication of the minutes of proceedings. In these are re-
corded many communications of partial and transient interest, whidi would
be comparatively of little value unless published at the time. By these the
public is at once brought into immediate contact with the institution, the
labours of authors can be extensively made known, their merit in the priority
of invention and discovery secured as a matter of history, and their opinions
canvassed almost as soon as promulgated by many competent judges, who are
iniable to attend the meetings.

Telford Premiums. — At the close of the preceding session the council
issued a list of subjects to adequate communications, on which they would
award Telford premiums. The following commiuiications were received : —
A most elaborate anil beautiful set of drawings of the Shield at the Thames
Timnel, from Mr. Brmiel, and two sets of drawings of Huddart's rope ma-
chinery, the one from Mr. Birch, the other from Mr. Dempsey. The merits
of this celebrated shield, and its value as a means of executing works similar
to the Thames Tunnel, are so well known, that it were superfluous here to
insist upon the benefits which Mr. Brunei has, by the invention of it, conferred
on the civil engineer. The council, feeling that this communication and the
invention of the shield were entitled to a high mark of approbation, deter-
mined on presenting Mr. Brunei with a silver medal, accompanied by a suit-
able record of the sense entertained of the benefit conferred by him on the
practice of the civil engineer. Feeling also that the beauty of the drawings
fully merited some mark of approbation, they determined on presenting the
draughtman, Mr. Pinchback, with a bronze medal in testimony thereof.

The communications by Mr. Dempsey and Mr. Birch on Huddart's Rope
Machinery, likewise called for some special mark of approbation on the part
of the council. The liberality of Mr. Cotton, the intimate friend of the late
Captain Huddart, proprietor of the machinery, iu throwing open to the insti-

tution the works at Limehouse, is fresh in the recollection of most present ;
with that same liberality he at once acccdeil to the wish of the council, to
allow any person to attend and make drawings of this celebrated Rope Ma-
chinery for the institution. Two young men availed themselves of this libe-
rality, and with great perseverance measured and took drawings of this ela-
borate machinery, and the results of their industry are the two beautiful sets
of drawings, accompanied by suitable manuscript accounts, presented by them
to tlie institution. Of the accuracy of these drawings Mr. Cotton and Mv. Ro-
berts have spoken in high terms ; of their merits as mechanical drawings the
institution has had ample opportunity of judging. The council felt that to have
attempted to distinguish betwixt the merits of these two communications would
have been both difficult and invidious, they have therefore awarded a Telford
medal in silver, accompanied by books to the value of five guineas, both to
Mr. Birch and Mr. Dempsey.

The council have already spoken of the liberality with which Mr. Cotton
ha<l responded to the wishes of the institution ; his liberality stopped not,
however, here, but he has promised to supply to the institution that account
and history of this machinery of his late distinguished friend, which he alone
has the power of doing.

(In the other subjects then issued the council have not yet received any
communications of great merit. They have, however, the pleasure of being
able to announce that your associate Mr. Jones has made considerable pro-
gress with an account of the Westminster sew^age, that your associate Mr.
.Tohnson has promised some drawings and models connected with the Break-
water, ami your member Mr. Oldham a communication on the means which
he has adopted for warming and ventilation at the Bank of England. On
the nature and properties of steam considered in reference to its application as
a moving power, and on the ratio betwixt the velocity, load, and power of
locomotive engines on railways, no communication to which a premium could
with propriety l)e adjudged has yet been received. The subjects on which no
communication deserving a premium has been received, have consequently
l)een issued with others for the present session.

But though the council received no communication in which the subject of
steam was treated in the wide and comprehensive manner which was desired,
they deemed worthy of premiums the following communications on parts of
this great subject. On the effective Pressure of Steam in the Cornish Con-
ilcnsing Engines, by yotu' member, Thomas Wicksteed. On the expansive
Action of Steam in the Cylinder of some of the Cornish Condensing Engines,
by W. .7 . Henwood ; and on the E vaporation of Water in the Boilers of Steam
Engines, by yoiu- member, Josiali Parkes. To each of these the council have
awarded a silver medal.

The communication by Mr. Wicksteed is of great value, as containing the
only recorded experiment in whicii the water raised was actually weighed. It
will be in the recollection of most present, that this is the second communica-
tion from Mr. Wicksteed on the same subject. The two are valuable additions
to our knowledge on the subject. The water raised was weighed and measured.
The weights raised in the stamping machinery were also accurately ascertained,
and a comparison instituted between the duly of the single engine in raising
water, and of the double-acting and crank engines in working stamps.

The communication by Mr. Henwood is remarkable for the extreme
minuteness of detail with which the observations wei'e conducted, the com-
munication consists of two parts; the one, on the quantity of steam employed
and the mode of its distiihution on the working stroke, the other on the duty
performed with a given (juantity of fuel, t'nder the former the indicator is
accurately described, and the evidence furnished by the diagrams explained.
Under the latter is exhibited one of the most valuable specimens of detailed
obseiTations on record. It is a peculiar feature in the system pursued by Mr.
Henwood, that he never interfered with the ordinary working of the engine;
he obsei-ves with accuracy what is going on. Thus his paper is a record of
observation in the highest sense of the term. It is of importance to practical
men to keep in mind a distinction which has been often insisted on betwixt
observation and experiment. In the ibrmer, the phenomena which are going
on are noted as they go on, the circumstances under whii-li they occin- being
untouched ; in the latter, the phenomena are produced for the purpose of the
experiment. The former consequently requires great care in referring effects
to their proper causes, the latter in guarding against the results being influ-
enced by the circumstances necessary for the production of the phenomena.
The two are distinct, each requires their respective talents, the former would
lead a Newton to the law of gravitation, and guide a Smeaton in the construc-
tion of an Edystone ; the latter a Watt and a Black to a knowledge of the pro-
perties of steam ; the two combined would guide a Davy to the cousti'uction
of a safety -lamp.

In the communication of your member Mr. Paikes, we have an instance of
both these methods combined ; he observed what was going on under parti-
cular circumstances of evaporation, and then, having altered the circumstances,
recorded the results of these experiments. The researches of this author led
him to push slow combustion to its utmost limits. It would be foreign to the
object of this report to trespass on the time of this meeting, further than to
remark that the contents of this paper w ill furnish many most useful hints to
the practical engineer in the management of the fires of his steam boilers, and
to the theorist some imjiortant facts towards a true theory of combustion.

The council have also awarded a silver medal to the communications of
your associate, Lieut. Denison, on the Strength of American Timber, and of
your member, Mr. Bromah, on the strength of cast iron. Each of these com-
munications must be viewed as valuable additions to our knowledge. The
series of experiments by I.ieut. Denison was undertaken by that highly talented
officer, when stationed abroad, with a view of establishing some proportion
betwixt the str ngth of difTerenl kinds of American timber, and of affording a
means of ccmparing it with European. It is a peculiar feature in these

74

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

pxpcrinipiits, that the effect of time in incroiisiug the deflection is noted. After
tlio Plastic limit is passed the deflection increases with the time which the beam
is loaded, the amount i>f this increase is recorded in most of these experiments.
The council cannot but regret that Lieutenant Denison should have returned
to this country before the very extensive series which he had contemplated,
and for whicli he had made preparation was complete ; his intention of deter-
mining the change of strengtli and the amount of shrinkage betwixt green and
drv was thus unfortunately frustrated ; and they most earnestly concur with
him in the expression of hopes that officers and others employed in the colo-
nies will be induced to turn their attention to this subject. They point out
tlie above communication with especial pleasure as an example to other
military engineers, of the very valuable services which their opportunities will
enable them to render to the science of the civil engineer.

The other communication by Mr. Bramah is also a valuable addition to our
knowledge, undertaken with a view of verifying the principles assumed in the
widely-circulated work of Tredgold on Oast Iron ; they surpass every other
series in existence in their extent — the number of experiments being nearly
1.^00, and in the care taken to ensure accuracy, since two similar specimens of
each beam were made the subject of experiment.

The principles, with the view of establishing which this series of experiments
were iindertaken, are, that the forces of compression and extension are eiiual
within the elastic limit, and that consequently a triangular beam, provided it
is not loaded beyond this limit, will have the same amount of deflection
whether the base or apex be uppermost, and a flanged beam the same defltclion,
whether the flange be at the top or the bottoni.

This communication is accompanied by some valuable observations by your
associate, Mr. A. H, Renton, pointing out the agreement whicli subsists
between the experiments and the results of the formula of Tredgold. The
council have peculiar pleasure in pointing out the preceding, as communica-
tions of a kind on which they conceive the Telford medals mav be most
worthily bestowed. The undertaking a series of observations and experiments
«ith a view of establishing important physical principles, and froni a desire
after the truth, is an object worthy of the highest approbation of this institution.

A silver medal has also been awarded to yonr member, Mr. Green, for his
communication on the Canal Lifts on the Grand Western Canal; to your
member, Mr. Harrison, for his communication on the Drops on the Stanhope
and Tyne Railway, and to your associate, Josiah Richards, for his most ela-
liorate drawing of the Rhymney Iron Works.

The perpendicular lifts erected by Mr. Greeg on the Grand Western Canal
involve some ingenious applications of simple principles, and presejit maiiv
considerations of interest to the civil engineer. The principles of their con-
struction are simple, and the economy of construction and saving both in time
and water gives them great advantages in certain cases over locks for the
purposes of canal navigation.

The Drops on the Stanhope and Tyne Railway for the purpose of shipping
coals, present another instance of simple mechanical adaptation. These have
several points in common with the lifts just spoken of ; the original drawing
of these by Mr. Harrison is an exceedingly beautiful example of what drawings
of this nature ought to be.

Of the drawing of the Rhymney Iron Works by Josiah Richards, it would
be difficult to speak in too high terms ;-it is a most elaborate drawing, exhibit-
ing all the details of the manufacture of iron. The institution has not yet
received the description which will be necessary to render the communication
comj>lete ; but the council have the gratitication of stating that yonr associate,
Mr. Uowles, the chairman of the company, has promised that Mr. Richards
shall be furnished with every facility towards completing a commmiication
which, they doubt not, w ill be a most Aaluable acnuisilion to the records already
existing in the institution.

Tile council have also awarded a silver medal to Francis Whishaw for his
History of Westminster Bridge. Of the great labour and research of Mr.
Whishaw in collecting these documents, it would be difficult to speak in adc-
(|iiate terms. The history is extracted from voluminous records contained in
the Bridge-office, and you are indebted also to the kindness of your member,
Mr. Swinbunie, for the facilities which he furnished the author in the execu-
tion of his difficult task. The history of this bridge, the only one of the old
bridges now remaining, is interesting to the general reader no less than to tlie
engineer. The difficulties which presented themselves gave rise to contrivances
then for the first time brought into use, of which the introduction of caissons
is not the least remarkable. The difficulties and progress of the work are well
set forth in the reports of I.abelye, of which the more interesting arc embodied
in this communication ; and the account of the work furnishes a very complete
history of the state of this department of practical engineering a century ago.

This communication accompanied by an atlas of eleven drawings showing
the site and various details of the constniction of the bridge is one of those
historical records which it is especially the object of this institution to collect,
and which, from the labour and research employed upon it called for this
mark of approbation of the council.

The institution received during last session from your member Mr. Reudel,
a very elaborate and beautiful set of drawings, accompanied by a suitable
description of the Torpoint Floating Bridge. This interesting communication
is fresh in the recollection of most, and it would be difficult to speak in too
liigh terms of the forethought, skill, and design, displayed in the construction
lit these bridges, and the perfect success which has attended their establish-
ment. It does not often happen that the same individual has the genius to
in vent and the good fortune to see his invention brought into general use. In
this respect Mr. Reiidel has been singularly lorlnnate, as these bridges have
been already established in several difficult and dangerous passages. It would
be foreign to the present occasion to dwell more at length on this invention ;
but the council feel that in awarding a sBver medal to Mr. Rcnde), accompa-

nied by a suitable record of the sense entertained of the benefit conferred by
him on the inland communication of the country, this, the highest acknowledg-
ment in thi'ir power to make, is most amply merited.

A bronze medal has been awarded to your associate, Mr. Ballard, for the
drawing of his ice-boat, and description of his method it breaking ice by
forcing it upwards ; this simple method is a])plicable ai about one-third the
labour of the ordinary ice-boat. A bronze medal has also been awarded to
Thomas Macdoug.il Sniith, for his drawing and account of Kdward's, or the
Poiit-y-tu-prydd Bridge, in South \^'ales. Mr. Smith being for a short time
in the neighbourhood availed himself of this opportunity to make accurate
drawings of this curious ami interesting structure. The council would point
out this as an exam])le of the way in which every young man may, by avail-
ing himself of the opportunities afforded by his professional engagements, for-
ward the objects which the institution has in virw ; and they would earnestly
impress on all young men the importance of availing themselves of such op-
portunities, and o{ recording their observations on every work with which
they may be connecteil. This habit is of the greatest advantage to the indi-
vidual, .since only by such an habitual self-improvement can any one hope to
obtain eminence in the profession.

The council hare also awarded five guineas to I\Ir. Guy for his method of
making perfect spheres; this great desideratum in the mechanical art has
been in a great measure supplied by the ingenuity of this individual, and a
simple method furnished of readily producing spheres of metal, or other hard
substance, with a great degree of accuracy.

The preceding are (he communications of the last two sessions to which tlie
council have awarded premiums. The coumil in disposing of the premiums
placed at their disposal by the munificence of your late President, have en-
deavoured to select from the great number of communications wliich haAe
been brought before the institution, such of each class as especially deserved
this mark of distinction. They trust that these ]iremiiims may act as a sti
mulus to many, to forwai'd to the iustitulion records of matters of interest to
the profession, and ihal thus the object of the noble benefactor of the institu-
tion will be fully realized.

The council cannot dwell on the numerous communications received
during the last session, of which an ample account will be found in the
Minutes of Proceedings, they cannot however omit to remark on the great
interest of the discussions and on the value of the record of opinions and
facts which is thus obtained. They would especially refer to the discussions
on the duty of steam engines, and on the explosions of steam boilers, as
having led to the collection of much valuable matter; the practice of re-
cording the minutes of conversation is almost peculiar to your institution,
and is calculated in an especial manner to forward the interests of practical
science.

Life of Telford. — The council, in reviewing the events of the past year,
cannot omit to express their gratification at the publication of the Life and
Works of Telford. Every thing connected with his name is interesting to
this institution, and the life and works of so distinguished a man, written
by himself, cannot fail to be received with the gieatest satisfaction by all who
knew him or are able to appreciate his works. Through the kindness of your
honorary member, Mr. Rickman, the editor of the life and works, and acting
executor of Mr. Telford, the institution has been put in possession of two
copies of this valuable work.

Moiiumetit of Telford The council have also the satisfaction of announc-
ing through tile medium of this report, that the monument to Telford is
nearly finished, and that a jdace has been found for it in \\'estminster Abbey.
The site which the Telford committee have selected and hope to obtain, is
one well adapted for the statue, and they trust that by the next annual
meeting the nmnument will be placed among those who, by the benefits con-
ferred on their country, have justly deserved this tribute of respect.

Charles Teiiuant. — The institution has to regret the loss by death of Mr.
Charles Tcnnant, of Glasgow, the eminent practical chemist. Mr. Tennant
was born at Gleiiconna, in Ayrshire, in 1767, and commenced his career as
an improver in the chemical arts before the end of the last century. The
great revolution in the practice of bleaching which then occurred was carried
out by the discoveries made by him, first of the solution of chloride of lime,
and afterwards of the dry cliloride of lime or bleaching powder, — an in-
estimable gift to the arts with which the name of Mr. Tennant will always
be associated. The chemical works of St. RoUox, near Glasgow, which now
form st> conspicuous a monument of his energy and succes?, were erected
for the purpose of manufacturing this article, for wliich he held a patent.

The manufacture of sulphuric acid, and of alkali from salt, was also
greatly improved at St. RoUox, and first conducted there on a scale com-
mensurate with their national importance. The manufacturing interests of
this country possess an advantage in the extraordinary cheapness of these and
other chemical products, which they owe in a great degree to Mr. Tennant's
scientific talents, and activity as a manufacturer.

The arts are deeply indebted to Mr. Tennant for other benefits, particu-
larly for his exertions in removing the duty on salt. This he ultimately
succeeded in accomplishing, after a struggle of many j-ears with the kelp
proprietors. Few legislative enactments have been so binieficial to the
country, as is well attested by the immense increase of alkali manufactories.

For some years past, Mr. Tennant left the chief management of his manu-
facturing afl'iiirs to his sons, and devoted a great portion of his energetic mind
to the welfare of bis fellow citizens, among whom he was considered a leader
in every idiilanlliropic undertaking.

The success of railway undertakings occupied latterly much of his time
and attention ; the last great struggle in which he was engaged was in favour
of the Edinburgh and Glasgow line, the passing of the bill for which he had
the happiuessto live to sec. He died at his house in Glasgow on the 1st of

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECPS JOURNAL.

75

October, agdl 71, and has left a name which will long continue to be ex-
teusirely known, and associated with practical science.

Present. — The presents during the preceding year have been numerous
and valuable, and the council have made several advantageous exchanges
with other societies publishing transactions. From the Society of Arts, from
the (Jeographical Society, and from the Society of Literature, the institution
has received complete sets of Transactions. Tlie lloyal Society of Edin
burgh, and the Philosophical Soaiety of Manchester, have promised as com-
plete a set as their stock will furnish.

The council have also to acknowledge the continued obligations of the
institution to the Lord liieutenant of Ireland, the Master General of the
Ordnance, and Colonel Colby, for those maps of the Irish and English
survey which liave been published since the last annual meeting ; they have
also to acknowledge the liberality of your president in presenting that beau-
tiful painting of the Menai bridge and adjacent scenery, which is placed in
the library. They have also to acknowledge the liberality of your solicitor,
Mr. Tooke, who has refused to accept any remuneration for the advice and
information furnished to the council, accompanying his refusal with the
most obliging expressions of the deep interest he takes in the welfare of the
institution.

The following abstract of the receipts and expenditure, during the year
ending the 31st of December, 1838, will show the present stats of the funds of
the institution ; —

CASH ACCOUNT FOR LAST YEAR.

RECEIPTS.

To Balance in haiuls of Treasurer - - . . -
Subscriptions and Fees .---..-
Dividends - - .......

House Subscriptions .-.--..

Sale of Stock

£

s.

d.

27

1

5

1040

0

6

71

8

10

299

0

0

183

0

0

£1620 10 9

By House. expenditire. £ s. d.

Rent, Taxes, and Repairs, No. 1, Cannon-row - - - 140 6 0

Repairs, Jcc, 25, (Jreat George-street 250 0 0

Lease of Ditto 24 12 0

Salaries and Commission 353 12 1

Contingencies.

Postage and Parcels - - -^ 20 13 8

Stationery and Engraving - - 43 3 1

Coals, Oi"l, &.C 47 2 8

Tea and Coffee - - - - 34 6 5

Printing 35 16 1

Sundries 44 9 1

— 22.5 11 0

Library - - 62 l!l 10

Publication - - - - - - - - - - 36 15 0

Funiiture - - - - - - - - - 52 9 0

Telford Premiums - - 168 7 0

Balance 305 18 0

£1620 10 9

It will be observed with satisfaction; that the balance in the hands of the
treasurer, at the close of last year, was 305/. 18s. lOd., whereas at tlie close of
the preceding year the balance was only 27/. Is. 5d. The statement of this
balance does not represent the funds of the institution in a sufficiently favour-
able point of view, as the amount of outstandingbills on the current expendi-
ture at the commencemetit of the present year was considerably less than at the
commencenunt of the last. The institution also possesses 335/. 3 per Cent.
Consols, availuble for general purposes, and a lease of the house in Cannon-
row, for which n good premium may reasonably be expected.

Cuiidusioit. — Til conclusion, the council cannot but otfer to the meeting
their sincere congratulations on the prospect which now lies before them. They
congratulate the meeting on tlie recent accession of many names distinguished
in tlieir respective branches; and trust that the details of the preceding report
not only attest their own unremitting attention, but also will be found to record
many zealous and talented eflorts on the part of the general body to promote
Ibe objects of the institiiliun, and the progress of professional knowledge.
From every quarter have been received the most liberal aid and sympathy —
the most cordial co-operation. That by which you have been enabled to meet
in the present more spacious and convenient premises will be readily appre-
ciated.

The state of the funds is more prosperous than at any previous period ; and
in every point of view the present condition of the institution may form a sub-
ject of general congratulation.

The council now resign into your hands the trust committed to them, with
a sanguine confidence in the future importance and dignity, as well as pro-
•■pcrity of the institution, and of its forming a national cstahli.shment for the
advancement of professional knowledge, conspicuous even in an age of general
improvement.

ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.

I'hc Ordinary Meeting was held on Mondai/, January 7, Charles B.mirv,
Vice-Frcsideutf in the Chair.
The meeting proceeded to the election of the following gentlemen as Fel-
lows : — Messrs, Fcrrey, Walker, Wyatt, and Watsou. As Associates : — Messrs.

Brandon, Flower, Woodthorpe, Bury, AVright, Miles, Prichard, Peirce, and
Bales.

Amongst the con'espondence read, was a letter from Signer Nicolini, of
Naples, accompanying an Italian translation of tha several publications of
the Institute, published by the Royal Neapolitan Academy of Fine Arts.
These consisted of tiie constitution and by-laws of the Institute, the proceed-
ings of the opening meeting in 1830, and the series of questions drawn up for
the information of members, and which being thus circulated it was antici
pated would lead to eliciting \aluable information on architectural subjects
from the Two Sicilies and the whole of Italy.

Mr. Richardson exhibited drawings of the Old and New Bethlehem, and
there were also some interesting drawings of the architectural remains of the
period of Elizabeth and .lames, from a collection in the museum of the late
Sir .1. Soane.

Donations were also announced from M. Valdermini, who has been ema
ployed in the reconstruction of the Imperial Palace at St. Petersburgh, which
was recently burnt down ; and from Mr. .1. Wells, of drawings of the doorway
of the famous Baptisti-y at Florence.

Mr. Fowler read a paper by Mr. Pococlc, on the bond of brickwork, which
occupied the remainder of the meeting.

Ordinary Meetimj, Monday, ilsl January, Philip Habdwick, Vice-President,
in the Chair.

The meeting proceeded to the election of the Signer Besia, architect, Pro-
fessor of the I. and R. Academy of Brera, at Milan, as honorary and cone-
sponding member.

Tlie following donations were announced as having been received : —

Signer Cavaliere Gasse, lion, and corresponding member of Naples, three
volumes, folio, of lithographed views in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Mons. Suys, lion, and corresponding member of Brussels, one volume of
Illustrations of the Portico of the Pantheon at Rome, and prints of the Botanical
BuiUiiBg at Brussels.

Mons. Leon Vaudoyer, Illustrations of the Monument to General Foy,
erected by him in the cemetery of Pere la Chaise, Paris.

The following papers were read : —

Some observations on the heights of Entablatures, by Joseph Gwill,
Architect, F.S.A.

A description of the baronial castle of Sheriff Hutton, Y'orkshire; illus-
trated by drawings, being a restoration sent in for the Soane medallion.

The thanks of the meeting were voted to Mr. Gwilt, for his interesting
paper.

Mr. Catherwood, hon. and corresponding member of Now York, being pre-
sent, at the request of the meeting gave some explanation of the mode prac-
tised in America of transporting houses from one site to another, upon which
the chairman conveyed to him the best thanks of the members.

ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY.

At a Monllihj Meeting, held at Lincoln's Inn Fields, on Tuesday evening, \hth
January, 1839, William Tite, F.sq., President, inlheehair,

■lohn Griffiths, Esq., Finsbury Pavement, was elected a member of the
Society.

E. W. Brayley, jun., Esq., F.L.S., F.G.S., &c., delivered the first of a
Course of Lectures ; the subject of which was, " On the Geology and Miner-
alogy of Building Stones."

.\\ the conclusion of the lecture, the President gave notice that the next
public meeting would be held on Tuesday evening, the 12th February, when
Mr. Brayley would deliver his second lecture — subject, " On Limestones
and other Substances affording Materials for Cement ;" and a third lecture
on the 12tli March — subject, " On Artificial Substances employed as Sub-
stitutes for Stone."

MEETINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.

Roval Society and Society of Antiquaries, Somerset House, Thursdays,
at half-past eight, P.M., 7, 14", 21, 28.

Institution of Civil Engineers, 25, (ireat George-street, Westminster,
Tuesdays, at eight, P.M., 5, 12, 19, 26.

Royal Institute of British .Architects, 16, Lower Grosvenor-stieet, Mon-
days, at eight, P.M., 12 and 26.

Architectural Society, .35, Lincoln's Inn-fields, Tuesday, at eight, P.M., 12.

Society of Arts, Adelphi, Wednesdays, at eight, P.M. ,6, 13, 20, 27.

LAW PROCEEDINGS.

TITHE SURVEYS.

At the sitting of magistrates at Horsham, in December, a Mr. Baker, who
is employed in surveying the parish of Lower Beeding, appeared to answer an
information, charging him with having cut down ceitaia trees and teUows, the
property of R. Aldridge, Escp Tlie defendant admitted that he had cut down
the trees, but pleaded that it was necessary to do so, in order to make a con-ect
survey. After liearing evidence, the magistrates decided against the defen-
dant, "and fined him 5s., costs 40s. Mr. Baker intends to appeal to the quartet
sessions.

76

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

DUTY ON GLASS.

An important case as affecting the manufacture of glass was brought before
the magistrates of Sundei'land last month, in an appeal by the Messrs.
Hartley, glass-manufacturers of that town, against the amount of duty levied
by the Excise. Messrs. Hartley, it appears, have recently tnken out a patent
for the manufacture of *' broad glass,'' which bears a duty of £1 lOs. ptr cwt. ;
but as the quality was found to rGscinble " Gennan sheet," a superior kind of
glass, which is chargeable with a duty of £3 13s, Gd., the excise officers made
a surcharge on 80 cwt., amounting to £174. Mr. Wright, solicitor of Sunder-
land, who appeared for the appellants, conducted the case with gi'eat ability ;
and showed, by a reference to the act of Parliament, the distinction whicli the
Legislature laid down as regulating the duties on glass. "Broad glass,"
chargeable, yviih the low duty of i^l 10s. per cwt., was required to be annealed
in an oven iiaving but one opening, and the cylinder was required to be cut
hot, whereas " German sheet" was allowed two openings to the oven, and the
cylinder to be cut cold. By the introduction of various improvements, with-
out infringing the clauses of the act of Parliament in reference to broad glass,
Messrs. Hartley were enabled to manufacture glass bearing a close resem-
blance to German sheet. After a long investigation, the magistrates remitted
the surcharge, thereby allowing the manufacturers to proceed, on payment of
the smaller duty. IMr. Johnson, of Durham, appeared <in behalf of the Crown.
— Nei9castle Journal, [It is a disgrace to the country that such obstacles
should be put in the way of improvements in our manufactures. Ed. C E.
and A. Jovrnal.]

STEAM NAVIGATION.

Greal We&lcni Slram Ship. — Duriug her stay iu the Royal DoL-k-yard at Milford
great alterations have been made on board, all of which, we are assured, will very
materially contribute to the comfort and convenience of the passengers. The whole
of the lower berths under the saloon have been thrown into cargo space, and the pas-
sengers' berths reduced to a number which must ensure every comfort and accom-
modation. The house on deck has been removed, and in lieu thereof tiie cuddy has
been carried forward more to the middle part of the vessel, and has a range of cabins
on either side. The splendid saloon is lighted from upper skylights. Great addi-
tional room has been gained by the alterations, and a space under cover is obtained
sufficient for a promenade for the whole number of passengers. The whole of the
cooking establishment has been very nuicli increased, and several other conveniences
have been built on deck. The vessel, on examination, was found to be in the very
best order, without even a single strain or so much as a ruck in her copper.

Sti-am from Glas/j'HV to XfW I'ork. — The mei'chanls and manufacturers of Glas-
gow intend to try steam navigation to New York. They meditate, it is said, the
building of an iron vessel, of very large dimensions and great steam power, to ply
regularly between the Clyde and the Hudson. — Srots/uaif.

Steam from thfClyilctoXew York. — Glasgow is not to be held nd Bristol or Liverpool
iu having a line of steamers across the Atlantic. — ijlas>j>>a- Chroniclr.

JVie sjdendid sU'amshiii Hecla, of 811 tons, was launched on the 14tli .January, at
Chatham. This iaie vessel was built under the superintendence of Mr. S. Head,
from the School of Naval Architecture, Portsmouth, foreman of the shipwrights of
this vard. This is the tiuest steam-ship e\er built; her cabins, store-rooms, and
indeed the whole of her fitments, are superb. .Slie \\\\\ carry two of those tremendous
engines, eighty-pounders, on swivels, with four smaller guns. — Maidstouf Guzctte.

The last letters from Madras by the overland mail (the great irregularity of which
has caused much complaint) mention that the association to promote steam navigation
with Europe at that presidency has coalesced with the association at Calcutta, and
that the united body will endeavotn to promote the omprehensive plan of steam
navigation between Europe and Imlia,

Tlie little wooden steam-boat, I told you some thne ago \\\\& buihling at Cairo for
the Pasha's use, was launched the other day there, and has timied out a very pretty
boat. Another is ordered to be built immediately, and the enijines to he i/iade in
Cairo! — another step in the progress of civilization in this country.

Norel Mode of Xm iijadon. — Tlie French GoM-riniient steamer Veloce has been
(ittedouton a new principle forworkiugthe ves;-t:hvith eillier sails or steam, and is now
on her voyage from Uochefort to Mexico, fur the purjiose of testing this import;inf
invention. AV'hen fallen in ^rith of late by a Spanish ship, north lat. 40"^, long. W. of
Paris ll*-', the captain reported that her rate of sailing under topsails, studding sails,
and royals, had been for two days and a half upwards of eleven knots an hour.

France and America. — According to the plans proposed in its report by tlie
committee of merchants of Bordeaux fur the steamers to run between that port and
New York, the vessels are to be 320 feet in the keel, width from 32 to 30 feet in the
beam, and 21 to 22 feet in depth ; they are to measure from 2,000 lo 2,tio0 tons, are
to be moved by engines of -iSO-horse power, and ax'e to carry a crew of (37 individuals.
The report calculates on an average of 60 passengers each trip, which would generally
occupy IG dajs, and the charge of passage is estimated at l,OO0fr. The total capital
rccpured for the constructing and establislung one such vessel is estimated at
l,-100,000fr., and the annual net profit resulting from seven voyages at from
SJ0,000fr. to 280,000fr.

Spain. — A Barcelona letter of the 21st December states that the French merchants
in that city had just presented a handsome sword to M. Gautier d'Arc, the French
Consxd, in testimony of the good services he has so long rendered them. This
gentleman, the letter adds, has tbrwarded to the Government at home a project for
establishing a line of steamers to run from Marseilles to Barcelona, Cadiz, and the
Canaiies, thence to cross the Atlantic to IMartiniijue and Cuba, and so to return home.
Each vessel would carry engines of 200 horse power, woidd start the first day of each
month, and, according to his estuuate, would only cost 2o,000f. on its voyage out
and home.

Gvrntany. — Arrangements are being made for extending tlie steam narigation of the
Danube from Ratisbon to Ulin. IT the undertaking succeeds, and there appears little
doubt of it, the distance between these two cities may be performed in a single day,
and from Ulni to Vienna in three days. This operation will open the Danube from
itb nearest navigable point to the Khine, and thui olfer the readiest mode of conmiu-

fticatiou betiYeen L^uUva ftutl Ct/uetautinople,— /cur/tfli ik Fmncfort,

Holland. — Amsierda7n,Dfc. 29. — We hear that the English steam-boats will soon
be obliged to come to Scheveningen. It is to be lioped for the sake of travellers that
measures will be adojited to prevent the ground of complaint which existed last year.

Tlie Busk Gazette says a second line of steamers is to be setup next spring between
thatcit}' and Strasburg.

Goilingcn. — A German paper gives the speech of the King of Sweden in reply lo
one of the numerous addresses presented to him in the course of his progress through
his dominions. His Majesty told the authorities of Gotlienburgh that he only
awaited the concurrence of the British Government, to establish a regular communi-
cation by steam betu'cen Sweden and England.

PROGRESS OF RAILWAYS.

Soiilh Eastern Railwai/. — In the neighbourhood of Tonbridge the cuttings and em-
bankments are proceeding with vigour, and a considerable quantity of brictwork, iu
culverts and occupation bridges, is completed and in progress. The culverts vary in
(hameter from 2 to 12 feet. At Dover the works are proceeding with great vigour.
In another page of our present number will be found some particulars of the manner
of carrying on the operations at this place.

Great JFesttrn Iiuilua>j, — To make up for the time which has been lost on the
Great Western Railroad near Reading, upwards of 100 extra workmen are now em-
ployed, who work at night by iiredight.

MancJiestcr and Birmingham Railnuuj. — The viaduct across the valley and river at
Congleton has been let to Messrs. Nowell and Sons, Dewsbury, for £110,000. The
length is 1030 yards, and the greatest height 98 feet 0 inches. It is to be finished in
two j'ears and a half.

Liverpool aJtd Manchester Itaihvay. — At the last half yearly general meeting of
the proprietors of the Li\ erpool and Manchester railway, which took place on Tuesday,
22d January, in the Cotton Sales' Room, Exchange-buildings, the report stated tliat
there had been an increased tratlic in every branch as compared with the correspond-
ing period in tlie preceding yeai'; and that in the department of merchandise this result
had been contributed to by the revival of trade from the depression under which it
had laboured. Between Liverpool and Birmingham the traffic had also increased, and
since the 31st of October last, the North Union railway had been opened for the con-
veyance of passengers, though arrangements for the transportation of goods had not
yet been made, and perhaps no correct idea could yet be formed of the extent of the
coach traffic from what had taken place in two months of the worst period of the
year. The report concluded by stating that the directors intended to apply to Parlia-
ment, in the coming session for a bill empowering them to form a junction line,
through the town of Salford, to Leeds. A draft of the bill would be drawn up and
submitted to Paidiament; and after the bill had been once read, the whole subject of
the extension of the railway to Leeils, will then be brought before the pr<»prietors.
The receipts for the half-year were : —

Coaching department ..... X 79,277

Merchandise ...... 54,2 lo

Coals ....... 3,200

Total receipts ....
The total expenditure for the same period was

Leaving a balance of .

£13(1,692
80,978

i- 00,714

The largest items amongst the disbursements were — coach department, i"ll,051;
cai-rying ditto, £] 1,189; coals, i;743 ; engiueering department, ,C26,427 ; carting
£\i,07-2. The accounts further stated that to the net profit of X55.714, there was to
be added the sum of .£8'53, being the balance after providing for last year's dividend,
and thus making a total of £56,dti7. The total amotmt of shares were eipial to 10,495
£100 shares ; and the directors recommended that a dividend of £o per cent, should
be paid, which would leave a balance of i;4,092.

ENGINEERING WORKS.

Tht: L'oj}'er Dam of the new Houses of Parliament was enclosed on the 24th of
December last, since th;it time the men have been actively employed in clearing away
the silt within the cofl'er; a tine stratum of gravel covers the whole site, and that
part where tlie river wall is to be erected is now being excavated down to the clay
substratum for the foundation, the dam stands remarkably firm, there are very little
signs of leakage in any part of it. We shall, in our nest number, ^ve some ac-
count of the works in progress,

Dover, Jan. 13. — For the last few days past om harbour's mouth has been so com-
pletely choked up with shingle, in consequence of the prevalence of southerly and
westerly gales, that all ingress or egress of vessels, foreign or domestic, may be said
to have been entirely cut oiF. Even the small class of government packets have been
compelled either to put into Ramsgate hai-bour, or to anchor iu the Downs, there to
await the precarious chance of our ineflicient sluicing power wnabling them to eti'ect
an entrance by the next tide. The sluices have been run to night. The only ellect
these playthings seem to have is to throw the beach in a heap a few yards beyond
the pierdiead at low water, that it may be thrown back into its old position each
succeeding surge as the tide returns.

Caledonian Canal. — We are happy to learn that R. Steuart, Esq. , one of the Lords
of the Treasury, visited the Caledonian Canal lately, and we believe government
seriously contemplates completing this great work, and rendering it suitable to the
puqtoses originally contemplated, ^iz., to afford facilities of U'ade between the etisteru
and western coasts of the island, and the means of speedy and safe passage to
vessels from the east coast of America, and the west const to the Baltic. Even in
its present state, we learn a good many vessels of this class have passed lately, aud
the trade is daily increasing. When tug steam boats are estabUshed, we have no
doubt it will afford government an ample revenue. It should be recollected llio
Forth and Clyde Canal tlid not pay the original speculators for many years after it
was opened, but it is now one of the most profitable public works iu the country. —
Jnvcrnass Herald.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECPS JOURNAL.

77

Emhaiilimvnt of the Rircr Thames. — At a late Court of Common Couucil, a report
was presented from tlie Navigation Committee, recommending the embankment of
the'fhamfs, and regulating the line of T^liarfs on both shores of the river The fol-
lowing letter, written at tlie desire of the lorporation by Mr. Remembrancer, and
addi-essed to Alexander Mylne, Esq., one uf the Commissioners of M'oods and
Forests, fully explains the objects sought to be attained :—

"Guildhall, Sept. 17, 1838.

" Sir, — I am requested by the Navigation Committee of the C'orporation of
Ix)ndonto state toyou.fortheinformatiou ofthe Commissioners of her Majesty's Woods,
&c., that the great inconvenience occasioned by the accumulation of mud near the em-
bankment of the new Houses of Pajliament renders it necessary that some immediate
step should be taken to obviate the same, and that the Navigation Committee consider
tliat the annoyance can only bo efiectually removed by continuing tlie line of
embankment. Under these circumstances the Navigation Committee are uf opinion
that a survey and plan shouhi be made of the river Thames, for the purpose of
ascertaining the most dcshabh' line of embankment on both sides of tlie river from
London-liriilgc tu \ aiixliall-bridge, and also the expenses of making the proposed
embankment, and of excavating and deepenhig the bed of the river where required ,
and that a bill should be brought into Pailiament in the next session for embanking
the river Thames, according to a plan to be agreed on ; in which power should be
given to the Commissioners of ^^'oods, kc, to embank the bed and soil of the river
opposite the crown property, and that power should be given to the corporation either
to embank themselves, or to permit the owners of the wharfs and property on each
side of the river to embank, under their directions, upon such terms as may, upon
consideration, be thouglit desirable; half of the expense of the suiTey and of the
act of Parliament to be borne by the Commissioners of her Majesty's Woods, &c.

" Alexander Mylne, Esq.'* (Signed) " Edwahd Tyebkll.

The Lords of the Treasury have agi'eed to the above propositions, and have
appointed Mr. James Walker, of 23, Great George -street, M'estminster, to make the
necessary surveys and estimates. The Corporation have approved ofthe nomination
ol Mr. ^^'alker, and have given him, as a colleague, Mr. Stephen Leach, the clerk of
the works ot (he Thames Na\-igation.

Artesian Wvlh At a meeting of the St. Pancras vestry, a motion, proposed by

Mr. Vigors, was carried, to the efi'ect, that each member of the vesti"A' should sign a
declaration strongly approving of the plan of supplying the borough of Maiylebune
with water by means of Artesian wells.

Hastings, — The project of forming a harbour here has, after many weeks' agitation
and excitement, been abandoned, so far at least as respects the idea of going to Parlia-
ment for a bill in the approaching session.— -B;-/^ /(/(>« Gazette.

Moinil's Buy Bri\'J<u-ater. — A very numerous and higlily respectable meeting was
held at the J'own Hall, I'enzance, on Tuesday, the 1.5th January, to take into con-
sideiation the propriety of memorialising her Majesty's government for the protec-
tion of life and property, and the promotion of important natiojial objects, by the
immediate construction of a breakwater in the Mount's Bay. It was stated that the
breakwater would require 2,813,170 tons of stone, at Is., being 140,658/. 15s., and for
completing the slope, 1,108,529 tons at Is. 3d., or 69,233/. Is. 3d. — making tlie total
cost, with ten per cent, for contingencies, 230,itri5/. 18s. 3d.

MfTuii Brhhje. — So many contradictory reports have appeeu'ed relative to this
noble structure, and particularly as to the degree of damage it has sustained in the late
storm, that we are glad to avail ourselves of the communication of a friend, who
visited the bridge on Thursday last. He writes: — " I have this moment returned
from \isiting the Menai Bridge, and have now the pleasure ol acijuainting you that
the communication with Anglesea is again open ; the mails, cars, and carriagos,
having passed over in perfect safety since Friday last. This applies, however, only to
the di\"ision of roadway least injured by the huiTicane — the other part is expected to
be completed in a week or ten days. It is intended to strengthen, considerably, the
vertical rods. The flooring, also, which wa,^ heretofore of common plank, four or live
inches in thickness, will now be twelve and eighteen inches, and of Baltic limber. The
broken vertical rods are being replaced, and part of the sunken flooring on the
roadway, which suflered most, are completed. The main chains, which prove the
stability of the suspension principle, have remained fli'm as the rocks in which they
are embedded. — Moniimj Chronicle,

Portpairick- — The late dreadful gale has considerably damaged the extensive
works at Portpatrick, which our readers are aware hare been carrying on for a con-
siderable Uii.^th nf time at that place. In particular the pier head, on which the
hai'bour commissiuners had creeled a liy;ht-house, has been undermineil ; and the
light-house is in such imminent danger, that the light-keeper narrowly escaped, and
the light has since been transferred to the old tower, which is in a more sheltered
position, in the interior of the harbour.

Scotch School of Entjincfrhuj. — In the Scottish Naval and Military Academy is a
professor of civil engineering and of the accessory branches.

Improremtiit of Leith Harbour. — Our readers will leani with much satisfaction,
that the Lords of her Majesty's Treasury have been pleased to direct Messrs. Cubitt
and Walker, jointly furthwith to proceed to Leith. regarding the projected improve-
ment of the harbour ; and we anxiously hope that the report of two engineers of such
acknowledged abihly and experience will put an end to all doubts and dithculties on
the subject, iii the minds of well-informed persons, and that after the report of these
gentlemen is made, no farther obstacle from any quarter will be thrown ui the wav,
that no partial interests or local prejudices will any longer be suflered to retard an
immediate commencement of this long desired and necessary work for increasing the
trade of the port of Leith, and promoting the prosperity, not only ofthe city an<l
county of Edinburgh, but of a large portion of Scotland, that harbour being a great
transit port. It is much to be wished that such energetic measures may be adopted
by the engineers as will enable the commissioners to advertise in time for contractors,
so that the work may be begun early in the spring. Not a day should be lost in
securing the advantage of a low-water pier as near Leith as .^ay be consistent with
the general interests of trade and commerce. — Edinhurgh paper.

Filtration nf Water on a Great Scale. — In a recent number of the proceeilings of
the Institute of France, it is mentioned that a trial has been made of FouvJelli's
filtering apparatus, working under the enormous pressure of 70 mitres, or nearly 230
feet of water Four sets of apparatus, each about five feet high by three feet eight
inches in diameter, have been set to work at Belleville and at La ViUette. The water
after passing tlirough them possesses perfect limpidity, and it does not appear that
this great pressure occasions any derangement of the liltering materials, wliether the
water be passing through tliem in the direction it takes in the process of filtration, or
when the current is reversed during the time of cleansing, which occupies only a few
fuiuutes. Xlie Uoii^ produce gf the fguj; filter:^ is 177,108 gfUlouu,

PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND IMPROVEMENTS-

<.'omt:cralion of the New Church at Chcadle. — On Saturtlay last the new parish
church at Cheadle was consecrated by the Lord Bishop of Hereford. It is a very
splendid edifice, in the Gothic 8tyl«, containing nave, side aisles, chancel and tower,
at the west end, and will seat 1,-JOO persons. It is built by subscription. — Stajfford-
shire Gazette.

The new staircase of Buckingham Palace is completed. It is more light and
elegant than the former one, and gives access to the magnificent picture gallery.
Some projected improvements have been deferred nine die, owing to the eaidy return
of the court to town.

Hijde Park. — A quadruple row of elms, forming three distinct malls, has just
been planted, with mucli taste and judgment, at the eastern end of Hyde-park, and
will, in a few years, add greatly to tlie beauty of that favourite resort.

St. Paul's Covent-ijardni. — The new school-house, erected in Hart-street, Covent-
garden, cost nearly 2,tMHl/.. towards which the Duke of Bedford has largely contri-
buted. The school will ojmfortably accommodate, on three sepai-ate fluors, 3lt0
buys, 200 girls, and 200 infants, on week days ; and 400 childi'en are instructed by
35 giatuitous teachers, on Sundays.

The Late City of London Tarern. — The Wesleyan Methodists have purchased the
City of London Tavern. Bishopsgate-sti-eet, for the sum of 15,000/. A part of the
spacious building, which is freehold, is to be appropriated to meetings for business on
their missionary and other benevolent undertakings ; a portion being reserved for
public worship.

The New NationalSchool of St. George the Martyr, Soidhwark. — The building is
of Gothic aj-chitecture, consisting of a centre and two wings ; the former comprises
two school-rooms, one for the girls, and the other for the boys,' calculated to hold
upwards of 800 childreu. The Mings will furin residence."! for the masters and mis-
tresses of the schools. The architect, Mr. White, spared no pains iu making it a
handsome and permanent building.

A New Road. — Application, it is said, will be made to Parliament, next session, of
a bill for the purpose of forming a new road from Eaton-square tn Kensington.
The road is intended to cross Sloane-street, Alexander-square, and thence to the
gardens of Gloucester Lodge, the residence of the late Mr. Canning; thence to the
Addison-road : and tm terminate at Kensington. The length will be twii miles.

Tlie Goldsmiths* Company, at their own expense, are about to erect a new church,
adjoining their almshouses at East Acton, for Uie accommodation of the company's
numerous tenants, and their aged poor in that establishment. The Bishop of London,
as Lord of the Manor, presents tht'iii with a ring of bells and an organ.

Surrey Lunatic .h'/lum. — This luiiMing has been contracted for by Messrs. Baker
at the sum of i'3l).370. — William M.»/ely, Esq., is the architect.

The equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington, which excited so much attention
at the Duke of Rutland's grand party at Belvoir Castle, was designed and modelled
by Mr. Edmund Cotterill, and was manufactured by Messrs. Gai'rards.

Ascot Grand Stand. — The first stone of this building was laid on Wednesday last
by Lord Errol.one of the trustees, in the presence of a large and distinguished com-
pany. The conti'act is taken by a Mr. Cuthill, who is under penalty to complete the
structure by the 20th of May, sii that the public may calculate on finding ample
accommodation by the next meeting. The sum raised by 100/. shares is 10,000/.,
part of which will be paid ofi" yearly, until the stand is free, when it will become the
property of tlie trustees for the benefit of the race fund.

Chester. — In consequence of the falling of a part of the buttresses from the tower of
the venerable cathedral at Chester, the south transept was much injured, and the
timbers burst through and broken to pieces.

Leeds. — A magnificent hall is to be erected in this town for the society of A'etv Odd
Fellows, from the designs of Messrs. Perkins and Backhouse, architects.

Vork Castle, the barracks, and the venerable cathedral, were injured by the late
storm ; in the latter, some of the valuable windows have been partially damaged, and
such was the force of the wind tliat the lead roofing was driven a considerable distance
from the building.

Birmingham, Storm.. — The top of the Town-hall is roofed with lead, nearly three-
fourths of which is torn ofl". A newly-erected chimney of the vitriol works, upwards,
of 300 feet high, was partially blown down.

Dumfries, Storm. — Fl^e stones have been displaced from the spii-e of St. Michael's
and as it has long been ofl" the plummet line, serious fears are entertained for its
future safety. The same remark applies to the wooden top of the Mid-steeple, and all
the churches on both sides of the river have been more or less damaged, not excepting
St. Mary's.

Dublin, Storm. — The ball which surmounted the spire of St. Patrick's Cathedral was
blown down, providentially without doing mischief. It had beeu out of perpendicular
a considerable time, and fell within the railing in the North Close. About 27 years
ago the former ball fell, carrying with it several feet of the spire.

Ireland. — The Earl of Dunraven is completing a magnificent mansion at Adare
Abbey, upon which 40,000/. will have been expended. Lord Clarina is making an
outlay of 10,000/. upon valuable improvements at the hereditary seat, Ehu-park.
William Mansell, Esq., has commenced large improvements at the ancient mansion
and romantic demesne of Tervoe. General Lord Bloomfield, a beautiful mansion
and villa near Newport Sir Lucius O'Brien, Bart., still further embellishing the
splendid residence of his ancestors, at Dromoland. Mr. Barrington building a man-
sion at CaunercuUeu. — Limerick Chronicle.

Tlie Juvenile Prison at Parkhurst, Isle of Wight, being now finished, received its
fii-st fifty inmates in December, from the hulks at Portsmuutli.

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

Paris. — The commission which was appointed to examine and report upon the
new fire-proof machinery (consisting of Col. PauUn, M. Rohault, M. Maynich.aud
M Simonet) met on Friday, Jan. 11th. Their instructions are to furnish a report,
with a view to the introducliun of this perfect ionnetnent in theatrical mechanism, as
well into the })roposed new theatres as into tliuse afready constructed.

The large paintings in the church of the Madeleine, by Messrs. Ziegler, Abel de
Pujol, -fcc, are nearly finished ; the sculpture, gilding, and incrustations in marble
are almost completed; the altars, pidpit, baptistry, and banc d'wacrc are nearly
placed ; and the great bronze doors are rapidly approaching to completion. It is
expected that the liuiltliBg wiU Ve iuauguratcd iii the fetes of uext Jid;^,

7«

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

Xfiv French 0>}>l/ri'jhl liilf.— The author of a ilrawniK, picture, a work of
sculpture, architecture, or any other work of the same Jeseription, shall alone have
the right of reproducing or authorisiu{j; the reproihiciug of it, by engraving, or iu auy
other way. This right shall last during the author's whole life. After hi» death, his
widow, heirs, or representatives shall enj<iy it, conformably to the pro^ inions esta-
blished in the tirst paragraph of this present law. The authors of the works just
mentioned, or their representatives, may cede the right secured to them, retaining,
nevertheless, the property of tin* W(»rk; hut, in case the original work be sold, the
exclusive right of authorising the reproducing of it ,hy engi-aving or any other means
shall be transferred Xo the purchaser, if no stipulation to the contrary exists.

Immense wooden galleries are now being erected in the srpiare of the Champs
Elysees, for the impending exhibition of the produce of I'Vench manufacture.

A\tplcs. — According to letters from Palermo of the 24th Dec, referred to in Le
Cnmmercf, the King of Naples, previous to his departure from Sicily, publislied a
variety of decrees relative to the *'stab!i«hmeut of cemeteries, without the precincts of
towns, the opening of a mnnber of road^, ^tc,

Napoleim Column. — The Junrnal de la Corse slates, that the works on the column
wliich is to be erected iu honour of Napoleon, near the house in which he was horn
at Ajdccio, are going on with rapidity. The column will be formed of a single block
of the granite of the country 50 feet long, and will be surmounted by a statue of the
Kmperor.

Dutch liilf't:. — In the island of Beverland, which is only fifteen miles iu length by
seven in breadth, there aie 200 miles of dikes or artiticial embankments. — Chambers'
Edinburgh Jourmd.

Steam Ih^ck-yard in Ilnllund. — About a mile above Rottenlam, on our right, we
noticed I'injord, a considerable steam building station, where at present a large
number of men are employed, many of them upon an iron steam-boat of great magni-
tude.— Chamber^ Kdinhurgh Juurnal.

Bnigcfi Koad. — A new road is in the process of construction betwixt Bruges and
Calais. It will be much -shorter than any other now existing, and direct, except in
one part, where, on account of the mobile nature of the gravelly soil, a circuit of three
miles is rendered unavoidable.

Haarkm Lake. — It seems that there is a very great diversity of opinion in the sec-
tions of the two chauibers respecting the project for draining the Lake of Haarlem.

Ilamhurgh. — A private letter states that during the late tremendous gale, the
harbour of this place had been almost entirely destroyed, nearly every pile having
been torn away ; the whole town had been iiumdated.

In the dominions of the King of Wjrtemberg a royal theatre is to be built at
Stiitgard, and a smaller theatre, to be completed next year, at Kanstadt, within a few
miles of the tbnner town. Professer Zaiiht, who lately visited England, is the archi-
tect of the new theatres.

A grand theatre is about to be built at Dressden, at the public expense, for the per-
formance of German and Italian operas.

The Statue »/ Goethe, executed at Milan, arrived a few days since at Frankfort.

The celebrated Bavarian painter, M. Cornelius, wlio has lately visited Paris, has
been made a Knight of the Legion of Honour, and since elected Foreign Associate of
the Royal Academy of the FineArts, iu lieu of the late distinguished composer,
Zingarelli.

Copenhagen, Jan. 5. — The King has removed the principal obstacles to the erection
of the Thorwaldsen museum, by alloting to that purpose a building consisting of two
wings, and another portion of the palace of Christianburg.

^/rfetv.— Anadvanlageousdiacovery for the state has been lately made iu the mines
of Kunn, a better sort of coal than that as yet worked having been found.

Rotid to the Bed Sea — We learn by letters from Alexandria, that 800 Europeans
crossed the isthmus of Suez last year, on their passage to and from India ; and that a
regular coach conveyance will be soon established between the shores of the Levant
and the nearest point for euibarkation on the borders of the Red Sea.

Pe}in»i/lvania Public lf'o)-?cs.^rhe amount expended in 1837, by the state of
Pennsylvania, in public works, i\as, for canals and railways, 1,733,442 dollars, and
for turnpikes, 118,160 dd,, being about 400,000/. The receipts were, canal lotts,
415,631 dols.. railway lotts, 33.5,827.

NEW PATENTS.

LIST OF ENGLISH PATENTS GRANTED BETWEEN THE SIth OF
DECEMBER, 1838, AND THE 21>th OF JANUARY,i 1830.

Samuel Cle(jg, of Sidmouth-street, Gray's Inn-road, Engineer, for " A new Im-
provement in Valves and the combination of them with Machinery." — 3rd January ;
0 months to specify.

Henry Robert Arr.^ham, of Keppel-street Russell-square, Architect, for ** Im-
provements in Apjiaratus applicable to Steam-boilers." — 3rd Jannui-y ; 0 months.

Thomas Nicholas Raper, of Greek-streRt, Soho, Gentleman, for " Improvements
iu rendering Fabrics and Leather Waterproof." — 3rd January ; ti months.

Abel Mohrall, of Studley, Needle Maker, for " Certain Iniprovemcuts iu the
AT aking or Manufacturing of Needles, and in the Machinery or Apparatus employed
therein." — 3rd January ; 6 months.

Loi'is Matiu'rin BrssoN nu MAiiRiER,of Lombard-street, Gentleman, for *' Im-
provements in the construction of Springs for Carriages."' — 3rd January ; 6 months.

Miles Beru^, of Chancery lane, for" Certain Improvements in Rotatory Engines
to be worked by Steam or other Fluids. — 4tb January; 0 months.

William Hkkling Burn LTT^'ofWharton-street.Bagnigge Wells-road, Gentlemen,
for '' New and Improved Machinery for Sawing, Planing, Groving, and other pre-
paring and working Wood for certain purposes." — 8th .Tanuary: 6 months.

Joserii Cltsild Daniell, of Limphey Stoke, Wilts, for " An Improved Method
of weaving Woollen Cloths and C'loths made of Wool together with other materials. '
— Hth January ; 6 months.

Moses Poole, of Lincoln's Inn, Gentleman, for" Certain Improvements in Clogs."
— 11 th January: 6 months.

John Howarth, of Aldermanbury, Manufacturer, for " Certain Improvements in
Machinery in Spinning, Roving, Doubling, and Twisting Cotton, and other librous
materials. — Uth January; 6 months.

John Ashton. of Manchester, Silk Manufacturer, for " An Improvement or Im-
provements iu Mttuufacturiug Plush of Silkor other fibrou3inaterial6,"—lltU January ;
6 months.

.ToiiN SwAiN WoRTir,of Manchester, Merchant, for " An Improved Machine for
PreparingandCleaning Wool for Manufacturing Purposes." — 1 1th January ; Cmonths,

William Newton, of Chancerj'-lane, for "Certain Improvements in Machines
fur Drilling Land or Sowing Grain and Seeds of ditFerent descriptions." — 11th January ;
6 months,

FjtANris Brewin, of the Old Kent-road, Tanner, for " Certain Improvements in
using Materials employed in Tanning, and preparing the same for other useful pur-
puses." — 11th January ; ti months.

Robert Logan, nf Trafalgar-square, for " Anew Cloth or Cloths constructed from
Cocoa Nut Fibre, and for certain Improvements in preparing such fibrous materials
for the same and other'purposes." — Uth January ; 6 months.

William Ponsford, of Wang}-e-house, Essex, gentleman, fur " Improvements in
the Manufacture of Hals, and an Improved Description of Felt suitable for Hats and
various other useful pni-poses, and Improvements in preparing the Material or
Mateiials chielly used iu the Manufacture of such felt." — Jan. 12 ; six months.

Edwix Marten, of the village of Brasted, Kent, plumber, for "An Improved
.Method of Laj-ing covering composed of Lead or other Metal on the Roofs of Houses
ur olJiL-r IJuildings, with Drains, whereb}' the part of the Water falling on such roof
which would otlierwise penetrate, is carried off, and rolls and seams are rendered
unnecessary." — Jan. 12 ; six months.

Joseph Buucii, of Bankside, Blackfriars, calico printer, for " Certain Improve-
ments in printing Cotton, Woollen, Paper and other Fabrics and Materials." — Jan.
lo ; six months.

William Witiiaai, of Hudderslield, machinist, for " ImprovemenU in Engines to
be worked by Steam-water or other fluids." — Jan. 15 ; six luonths.

HiiiH Ford Bacon, of Fen Drayton, Camliridge, for " Improvement or Improve-
ments in Apparatus for regulating the I'low or Supply of Gas through Pipes to Gas
Burners, A\ith a view to uniformity of supply." — Jan. 17 ; six months.

AVilliam Holsie Heginbotuam, of Stockport, gentleman, for " Certain Improve-
ments in Machinei*y or Apparatus for propelling Boats or otlier Vessels, to be
employed either for Marine or Inland Navigation, and to be worked by steam or
other power." — Jan. 17 ; six months.

Wii.i.iAM Newton, of Chancery -lane, Civil Engineer, for " Certain Improvements
in Engines, to he worked by Air or other Gases." — Jan. 17 ; six months.

OcLETnoRTE Waki'lin Bauratt, of Birmingham, Metal Gilder, for " Certain
Improvements in the ]trocess of decomposing Muriate of Soda, for the Manufacture
of Mineral Alkali and other valuable products." — .Tan. 19; six months.

JosEi'ii Gaknett, of Hasliugden, Dyer, for " Certain Improvements in Machinery
or Apparatus for carding Cotton, Flax, Wool, or any other tibrous substances."' — Jan.
19 ; six months.

Richard Ducdale, of Paris, now residing at Manchester-street, Middlesex,
Engineer, for " >Iethod or Methods of increasing the secHrity, tenacity and strength
of Beams, Axles, Rods and other articles made of Iron and Steel."— Jan. I'J; sis
months.

Caleb Bedells, of Leicester, Manufacturer, for *' Improvements in Gloves,
Stockings and other Articles of Hosiery." — Jan. 21 , two months.

John Cooi'e Haddan, of Baring-place, Waterloo-road, Surrey, Civil Engineer, for
" Improvemenls in Machinery or apparatus for propelling Vessels and Boats by Steam
or other power." — Jan. 22; six months.

George Stevens, of Stowmarket, Brewer, for " Certain Improvements in Stoves." —
Jan. 22 ; six months.

TnoJiAS DowLiNfj, of Chapel-place, Oxford-street, gentleman, for '* Improvements
in preparing Metals for the prtvention of Oxidation." — Jan. 24 ; six months.

John Hakrocks Ainsworth, of Halliwell, Lancaster, Bleacher, for " Certain
Improvements in Machinery or Apparatus for Stretching, Drying and Finishing
Woven Fabrics." — Jan. 24 ; six months.

Robert Copland, of Courland, Wantlsworth-road, Surrey, Esquire, for " Im.
provements in AVater-wheels." — 24th January; 6 months.

Pierre Jean Isidore Verdure, of the Sabloniere Hotel, Leicester-square,
Gentleman, for " Improvemenls in the Manufacture of Starch, and in the Machinery
for preparing and in employing of the refuse matters obtained in such manufacture."
— 2-jth January; 6 mouths.

John Howard Kvan, of Cheltenham, Esquire, and William Hvatt, of Lower
Fountain-place, City-road, Engineer, for " Improvements iu Steam Engines." — 29th
January ; 6 months.

John Hillard, of Bread-street, Cheapside, Merchant, for '" Certain Improvements
in Macliiuery and Ajqiaratus for Making and JVIanufacturing Screws," — 29th Januar}' ;
Q months.

William Lukyn, of Lower Cowley House, Oxford, Dentist, for " Certain Im
provements in applying and attaching Artiticial and Natural Teeth." — 29th January ;
0 months.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Wc have received several communications on tlie subject of engineering education.
We had conceived that we had gone into the subject at sufficient length, but as theso
communications call for a reopening of the question we intend to go into it at greater
extent next mouth. We had commenced a reply this month, but on account of the
pressure of matter we are obliged to defer it until the next number.

M'e regret that we arc obliged to postpone Mr. Tail's counnunication on Improve-
ments in Railways. Likewise several other communications. We ^^^ll endeavour to
make up the arrears in our next journal.

In reply to the inquiry of the Country Subscriber respecting the Oxford-street
pavement, we must obsen-e that each party has laid down his specimen at his own
expense, and that the present experiiuent is not to try the expense but the durability
and working of the different systems.

Subscribers are particularly requested to complete their sets of numbers for the
first volume immediately.

We shall feel obliged' to the profession if thoy will forward us accounts of works
in progress, new inventions and discoveries : and particularly if our country sub-
scribers will send us any newspaper containing any matter relative to the objects of
our Journal.

Books for review must be sent early in the mouth ; communications prior to the
20th ; and advertisements before the 26th instant.

*•* The first volnmo may be had bouud in cloth, and lettered iji gold, price IT'S

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

81

Fig IS. rian of the 'J'up of one of the Eibs, Cross Stars, Ties, and
DLayonal Uraees.

cue D

~i

Fi^. 10. Sfctiou of the Fdh u;)on au er.larged S^-ale.

BRIDGE OF THE CARROUSEL AT PARIS.

REFERENCES TO THE DRAWINGS.

Fig. 1. Elevation of one of the side arches, span, 156 feet; rise, 15 feet 6
inches ; and width of pier, 13 feet.

Fig. 2. Section cf the arch, and elevation of pier, breadth of roadway, 17
feet, and two foot-paths, each 9 feet ; total width, 35 feet.

Fg 3. Plan of ribs of the arch, shown more at large in figure 18, Similar
letters in figures 3, 17, aud 18, reftr to similar parts.

Fig. 4. Section of part of the roadw.ay and footpath over the arch. A,
ihe upper part of the cast-iron rings (figures 14 and 15). — B, two
flitches of oak timber, 12 iiiclies by 8 inches, forming the longitudinal
bearers or girders ; they are bolted together with nut andsciew bolts. — C,
e.\ternal pla'es,th^ inner plate 10 by 12 inches, and the outer plate 8 by 10
inches, bolted together ; on the face is a ca.t iron paneled facia, forming

part of the cornices D, transverse bearers or joists, 12 by 10 inches, placed

4 fee 4 inches apart from centie to centre ; on the ends are cast-iron caps,
farming a modillion to the cornice. — E, a cast- iron moulded capping to the
modilhou. — F, longitudinal plate, 8 by 12 inches, to carry the edge of
foot-path and iion railing, with a fascia and moulding to form the cor-
nice.— G, ab:ock,12 bj 8 inches. — H, longitudinal bearer, 12Jhy 2i inches
under cefttre of footpath, with a plate 124 by 8 inches tocarrycurbof footpath,
and rebated out lo form an aperture for the water from the roadway to escape.

K, curb, 8 by 12 inches L, planking of footpath, with a narrow slip of

iron let in flush on the edge. — M, iron guards bolted down to curbs. —
Curb to roadway, 0 by 7 inches, s|)l,a>ed on the top, — P, planking of
oak4 inches thick. — Q, planking of firSiuches thick. — R, road materials.

Fig. 5. Elevation of cornice, 3 feet 10 inches high ; similar letters refer to
similar parts, as in figure 4.

Fig. 6. Section of one of the longitudinal beams in the centre.

Fig. 7. Section of the abutment A, stone springer, the face cut to an angle

of 66°. — B, iron abutment plate, v\ith 2 mortice holes, as shown in fig. 89.
C, rim of abutment plate, foiming a socket; the section of this nm is
shown in figs. 11, 12, and 13.

Figs. 8 & 9. Elevation and section of the back plate, with 2 mortice holes.

Fig. 10. Elevation of the front plate or rim, forming the socket.

Fig. 11. Seciioa of rim rouud abutment plate, acioss A. to B.

Fig. 12. Ditto ... ... across C. to D.

Fig. 13. Ditto ... ... across E. to F.

Fig. 14. Elevation and section of one of the rings and connecting pieces or
stays between the rings.

Fig. 15. Horizontal section and plan of ditto.

Fig. 16. Elevation of one of the e.xlernal lengths of the tubular ribs of cast
iron, 13 feet 9 inel}es long, and 2 feet 9 inches deep, including fimges.

Fig. 17. Elevation of the inside ribs, showing the section of the bolts
and ribs.

Fig. 18. Plan of top of one of the ribs, showing the edge of the flanges a'-d
connexions. — A, iron ttihular rib. — B, cast-iron hollow cylinders, 4^

inches diameter, foiming stays between the ribs C, wrought-iron bolts

or ties, 1^ inches diameter, with nuts and screws D, cast- iron diagonal

braces, with feathers, average 9 by 5k inches, and a groove at the ends,
fitting on, and bolted to the connecting pieces, screwed to both sides of
the upper flange of the tubular ribs ; similar letters refer to similar parts
in figure 17.

Fig. 19. An enlarged section of rib, drawn to a scale of two inches to the foot.
A, cast-iron casing B, nine thicknesses of timber, bent into a curvi-
linear form, and boiled together with nut and screw bolts, C C. — D,
coating of asphalte. — E E, nut and screw bolts, connecting the two cheeks
of the iron rib, with thin slips of wood between the flanges. — F, capping
of asphalte.' — G, lower pait of one of the iron rings, which carries (he
longitudinal bearers, as shown in fig. 4.

This bridge Avas constmcted under the direction of M. Polcnceau,
eno-ineer. It was commenced in the year 1834, and completed in
18i36. It forms a communication over the Seme, between tlie Place
du Carrotisel by the Qiiai du Louvre and the Quai Voltaire. The
bridge presents'some novel features in its eoni-truction, so as to merit
the attention of the profession. It is constructed of timber and iion,
with stone-cased piers and abutments. The bridge consists of three
arche.j, forming portions of an ellipsis. One only is shown in the
accompanying drawings. The centre arch is 18/ feet span, and I6i-
feet rise; "and the two side arches 15(i feet span, and 15^ feet rise.
The total length of the bridge, inchuung piers aird abutments, is 55S
feet, and the breadth of the roadwtvy 35 feet. The whole length of
tlte bridge in its design forms a Hat tirch. The chord line of tlie
side arches is slightlv'removcd from the horizontal, so that_ a line
dra«n from the springing at the pier to the springing at the tibutment
would make an angle of one degree with the horizon. The chord of
the middle arch is horizontal.

The piers are cased with hewn sandstone, and filled in with con-
crete. They are also erected on a foundation of concrete, and pro-
tected with sheet piling. The cut-waters at each end of the piers
are semi-circular, and are thus cari'ied up to a level with the spring-
ing of the arch, and terminated with a hemispherical head. Above
that level the piers are carried up square, and project about 1 foot
8 inches before the face of the arches. The abutments are also cased

8-2

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND AIlCHITECl^S JOURNAL

[March,

with stone, and founded on concrete. On account of the flatness of
the bed of the river, they are projected forward on each side, so as to
concentrate the stream in the centre of the river. By reference to
the drawings it will be seen that the cornice of the abutments and
piers follow tlie inclination of the roadway, which we consider an
imj)rovcment in the architectural effect on the ordinary mode of
making the cornice and parapet horizontal, as at London, Waterloo,
and otlier bridges.

We will now proceed to describe the construction of the arches.
It will be observed that at the springing of the ribs the abutments
are splayed or inclined to an angle of GG deg., and formed of solid
masses of stone, on the face of which oval recesses are sunk to
receive the abutment plates, and are made a little larger, to prevent
the vibration of the bridge splitting the stone off the edges. The
abutment plates are of cast-iron, in two pieces, as shown in figures /
to 13, wliich were firmly bedded on to the stone with Pouitly cement.
These plates form a socket for the reception of other plates bolted on
to the ends of the ribs. They were firmly connected together, and
the joints filled in with an iron cement, composed of 10 parts of cast-
iron filings, '2'5 of sal ammoniac, 1 '8 of sulphur, and 225 of metal
dross. All these were in fine powders, carefully amalgamated, and
mixed with only enough water to bring them to a good consistence.
The weight of each under plate is about 8501bs., and of the upper
plates r2201bs.

In order to unite the firmness of iron with the elasticity of wood,
and to insure both against the ravages of the weather, while light-
ness and cheapness of construction are equally consulted, M. Polen-
ceau has adopted a peculiar form of rib, which has been called, from
its shape, the " tubular rib." Each rib is formed in 22 lengths, and
composed of two separate cheeks of cast u'on, bolted together, wiih
nine thicknesses of timber inside, as shown in figure 19. The inter-
stices between the timber and iron are filled in with a composition
of two parts of Seyssel asphalte, and one part of gas tar, which also
forms a capping on the top of the ribs. In filling in the asphalte, the
ribs were heated by means of porlablc furnaces, so that an opportu-
nity was afforded of ascertaining (he extreme expansion of the metal.
The length of the ribs were of four kinds — outer and inner end
pieces, and outer and inner middle pieces, varying in size, but were
about 13 feet long on the average, and weighed about 2,8001bs. To
insure their strength, each half rib was subjected to a double proof,
first by suspending it by a fulcrum at each end, and then laying on
it 40 tons ; and again, by dropping a ton and a half on the middle,
from a height of 1,2, 4, and 6 yards; these lengths fit into each
other, and are fastened together by screw-bolts and iron keys, as
shown in figures 16 and 17.

Each arch is composed of five ribs, connected together by means
of cross ties, bolts, and braces, as shown in figures 2 and 3, and more
at large at figures 17 and 18: upon these ribs are placed the rings
which carry the superstructure ; they vary in size and weight, accord-
ing to their position. Some of the larger are 10 feet diameter, and
a ton and a half in weight; they are united to each other by bolts at
their circumferences, as shown in figures 14 and 15. By reference to
figure 19, it will be seen how the lower part of the ring rests upon
the ribs; and, by figure 4, how the upper part carries the longitudi-
nal bearers : these rings are again connected transversely, by means
of bolts across the arch. They required considerable care in setting
them, on account of the difference in the size of the arches. Some
of them were found too large, and others too small.

The longitudinal bearers or girders consist of two flitches of oak,
bolted together, as shown in figure 4: upon these are laid the trans-
verse bearers or joists of oak, which are notched or calked, and bolted
down ; upon the joists are laid two thicknesses of planks, breaking
joints over each other. The lower planks are of oak, and the upper
of deal ; over these are laid the road materials, and on the sides are
flitches of timber, forming a curb and gutter to the roadway ; the
footpath is also formed of oak plants, raised on longitudinal bearers,
as shown in figure 4, with a slip of iron let in flush, the whole
length, and iron guards at distances, as shown in figure 4. The
exterior of the footpath is converted into a cornice, an iron sunk
fascia, being laid over the face of the lower longitudinal bearer, and
on the ends of the joists, an iron capping, forming a modillion, witha
moulded capping also of cast iron, and the upper part formed into a
fascia with a bed molding under the edge of the footpath, the whole
having a pleasing effect, as shown in figures 4 and 5. The plankings
of the roadway were well rubbed over with tar, and all the joints
carefidly filled up with sand, and then rubbed with a mixture of
equal parts of vegetable and gas tar. The material of the road is
composed of while chalk stones and pebbles, the size of walnuts,
and the whole surface of the roadway and footpaths finished with
asphalte. On each side of the bridge, to protect the footpath, is an
iron railing, with bars 7 inches apart. All the iron work of the

bridge is painted with an iron grey colour, of M. Polenceau'.s
invention.

We have endeavoured to explain the construction of this bridge in
the best manner we are able, and for the better understanding of its
details, we refer the reader to the drawings and references which
will be found to contain the dimensions of most of the timber.

We are principally indebted for the drawings to our foreign con-
temporary, the " Algemeine Bauzeitung." We wish the editor of
that publication would be as generous in acknowledging the numerous
articles that have been copied by him from this journal.

GLENARM HARBOUR.

"Tlie chief ruler or slnlesman llial will be nble tnfcirm Hsylum-haibiiursi
on tlie unsheltered and dangerous parts of tlie coast, mid will also cause
to be marked or beaconed, by the erection of ffianile lowers, the danger-
ous rocks, the shoals, and the reefs which surround the shores of these
kin<(doiiis, thereby giving; safely and secuiiiyto the mariner in lime of
teni|iest and storm ; also saffly o the floiling wfaltli of these realms, and
the colonies ihereunlo belonging ; also lessening tlie wail ol the widow
and the orphan ihroughi'Ul this niaiiiime land — will not only receive Ihe
blessings of future generations for thee iiiion of these woi ks of mercy .
tfnding so much to the preservation of life and property, but will also
increase, to a great ex'enl. Ilie wnnllh. the [lower, and prosperilv of the
whole empire." — Bald's Evidence on Harbvuis^Public Works— Ireland.

Beport o/WilliamB.\ld, Civil Engineer, F.R.S.E. & M.R.I.A., &c.,
on the erection of a Pier, and formation of a Harbour in Glenarm
Bay, in the County of Antrim, Ireland.

The Bay of Glenarm, where the proposed Pier is intended to be
erected, is situated on the north-east coast of the county of Antrim,
bordering the North Channel. The bay is about half a mile in
length, and three furlongs in breadth ; containing an area of about
120 acres, and possessing a very considerable depth of water: four,
five, aud six fathoms. The bottom consists of clay, and is well known
to be excellent holding-ground to all classes of ships. At the head
of Glenarm Bay is situated the town of Glenarm, and the land sur-
rounding the bay rises to a considerable elevation, and protects it
from the prevailing southerly and westerly gales. This bay is, how-
ever, open to the channel sea from the north, north-east, east, and
south-east; but the greatest run of sea into it is from tlie north and
north-east. The Bay of Glenarm lies nearly opposite the entrance to
the Clyde, oft'ering very great facilities to commercial intercourse
with all the towns situated on the west of Scotland ; viz., Glasgow,
Ayr, Greenock, &c. &c. It is distant from Lame 10 miles, and from
Portrush nearly 50 miles ; so that, in an extent of GO miles of coast,
there is no harbour, either artificial or natural, to afford protection to
foreign traders, coasting vessels, or even to the smallest description
of fishing craft. These reasons alone are sufficient to prove the
great utility that would be derived from the erection of a harbour in
Glenarm Bay ; and it would, also, give shelter and security to a
great portion of the floating wealth belonging to the Clyde, the port
of Liverpool, the colonies of North America, and the West Indies,
which would pass through the Irish Northern Channel. Besides afford-
ing an asylum for vessels overtaken by storm, it would give a port
to the whole of the central portion of the county of Antrim, consist-
ing of large districts of country highly cultivated, and producing
great quantities of grain, and cattle of all kinds, and which could be
clieaply exported, by means of a harbour at Glenarm; and, also, the
valuable facility of importing into the country all the necessary arti-
cles of merchandize. Glenarm harbour w-nuld become the port to an
extent of country containing not less than 400 square miles, also to
the whole of the fertile interior country adjacent to the large and
populous town of Ballymena, distant only 12 miles; and it would
offer a ready means of direct commercial intercourse with the manu-
facturing and maritime districts of the Clyde in Scothind, both by
steam and sailing vessels ; and which would, in a very short period,
create and augment the trade of the country to a very great extent.
The Portrush and Derry steamers to Liverpool, touching at Glenarm,
would establish a trade of vital importance to the merchants of Bal-
lymena, particularly those engaged in the export of pork, butter,
provisions, and liiien cloth. The exportation of limestone from
Glenarm to Scotland, and the importation of coal in return, would
form a very lucrative and highly beneficial branch of trade between
the conntiies. At present there is not mure than about 6,000 tons
of limestone exported, and only 1,000 tons of coal imported. There
can be no doubt but the importation of coal would greatly increase,
both for burning lime, and working the steam-engines and machinery
in progress of erection at Ballymena and Brnughshane, when the
facility of procuring this necessary article from Britain is attained,
by the construction of a harbour at Glenarm.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

83

The port of Belfast is distant from Ballymcna about 24 miles, and
Glenarm is only 12 miles ; and independent of the saving of land-
carriage, it offers a gre;iter facility to direct intercourse with Scotland,
being nearer, and in a more direct line ; besides, the depth of water
within the proposed pier at Glenarm would enable vessels drawing
even more than 20 feet of water to enter and depart at all times of
tide. With these eminent and peculiar advantages, which no artifi-
cial harbour in Ireland possesses except two, there can be no doubt
but a very considerable trade would arise, fully sufficient to repay-
any moderate expenditure which might be made in erecting a pier at
Glenarm Bay.

Design for a Hai hour at Glenarm on tlie Coast of the County of Antrim,
Ireland. Diawn to a scale of 800 feet to IJ inch. By William Bald,
F.R.S.E., M.R.I. A., and Civil Ergii eer.

Fig. I. Plan of Harbour.

(The dotted line D)— N. bj E^ to the Mull of Cantire— (the other dotted
line)— NE by E 4 E, to Ciaig of Ailsi— AAA, Low-water— BB, High-
water — CCC, Proposed Piei or Break\vater~DD, Glenarm Bay — EE, Road-
way— FF, Harbour — GG, Line of Transverse Section — H, Town of Glenarm.

Fig. 2. Transverse Section at GG, 190 feet broad at base; drawn to a
scale of 55 feet to the inch.

AA, High-waler— BB, Low-water— C, Top of Quay, 18 feet wide— D, Pa-
rapet at top, 01 Storm Pavement— EE, Breakwater Glacis, or Storm Pavement.

The Construction. — It is proposed to run out a i-ough pier, or
breakwater, from Paixe's Point to a distance of 825 feet, then with a
cant of 3S0 feet in length, as laid down, drawn and described in the
chart containing the proposed design and sections of the breakwater,
deposited with the clerk of the peace. This work would effectually
protect and cover about 20 acres of the Bay of Glenarm, and give
security and shelter to trading ships of all kinds. The depth of water
within the mole would be from 22 to 30 feet at high water ordinary
spring tides. There is an abundance of limestone, in extremely thick
beds, lying close to the proposed site of the breakwater, easily
wrought, and which will afford an abundance of very heavy and large
material, at a remarkably cheap rate, to construct the breakwater
with. It is proposed, simply to lay down an abundance of stone
blocks, and then to permit the ocean, for some time during storms, to
shape down the slopes of the sea-side of the mole to the angles of
inclination which the momentum of that element would assign to
such materials. And for the purposes of landing and shipping of
goods, it is intended to construct a timber wharf within the pier or
breakwater, leaving to some future period, when the trade would
afford the means, the facing up of the inside of the pier with squared
masonry. Even the construction of only 300 or 400 feet in length of
the breakwater, would enable vessels to discharge and take in ear-
goes, so that an immediate traffic would be the result of even a very
small portion of this work being done.

I have drawn out two estimates : one for an extension of 1,205 feet
in length — amount, £17,312 16.?. 8rf. j the second estimate is for an
extension of, in length, 825 feet — amount, £11,217 2.?. 5rf.

William Bald, Civil En<rineer.

RALPH REDIVIVUS.— No. XIV,

THE LOWTHER ARCADE.

What advantages its more successful rival may possess in regard to
its shops, I am not prepared to say, neither is it a question of any im-
portance to my present purpose, but I may assert, almost without fear
of contradiction from any one, that the Lowther as far surpasses the
Burlington Arcade in its architectural appearance, as it falls short of
it in the degree of favour and patronage it receives from the public.
In itself this is hut very indifferent praise, since it might be greath
superior to the other, and yet scarcely worthy of notice for any archi-
tectural merit. In fact, as a design, this piece of architecture displays
both originality and taste, greatly more so than many tlungs which it
is the fashion to talk of, merely, it would seem, because they happen
to have been cried up in books, and their praises have been repeated
and handed down from one book-maker to another, without further
examination or inquiry.

Before, however, I touch upon the merits of this arcade, I must be
allowed to say something in regard to the class of buildings so deno-
minated in this country. As far as public convenience is concerned,
most assuredly nothing could be devised more suitable to such a climate
as ours — that is, supposing it to deserve one tithe of the ill-natured,
splenetic grumbling it prevokes, — than a covered street, which bids
defiance to the humours of the atmosphere, and where one may lounge
and look at the shop-windows, though the rain should come down in
torrents, or though an August sun should broil jieople as they walk
along in the open streets. Here there is no disagreeable, perhaps I
should say, delightful variety of nmd, ankle-deep at one time, and
hovering, but, alas ! not golden, clouds of dust at another. On the
contrary, there is a monotonous constancy of uniform, dry, and level
pavement, where a lady might walk without soiling a white satin
slipper. It is this monotony, I presume, that prejudices the public
against such galleries, as they may very fairly be styled, more
especially the one here under notice.

I say, " prejudices the public against them," because there is some
reason to presume they have no attraction, or else by this time we should
have many more erections of the same kind, if no where else, in
those places at least tiiat seem expressly intended for them, and unfit
for any tiling ebe ; for instance, the two squeezed- up alleys called the
" Turnstiles," leading into Lincoln's-Inn fields ; Middle-row, Holboin ;
Cranbourne-alley, and several others of the same description in Corn-
hill and its neighbourhood, all of them very greatly frequented
thoroughfares, and more particularly disagreeable to pass through in
wet weather. Were these widened, and covered in, and converted
into galleries lined with the shops, they would, I think, be so many
improvements ; spots which one would be more inclined to visit than
to avoid. It will, ]ierhaps, be said that merely widening them would
in many cases not be sufficient, some of these alleys being, if not abso-
lutely crooked, full of windings and turnings. To which it may be
replied, timt mieux, since, so far from presenting any obstacle, sueli
deviations from an uninterrupted straight line would suggest many

84

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[March,

new ideas and combinations to an arcliitect, tliat is, to an architect of
any 7ious and taste. Indeed, niucli as I admire the Lowther Arcade,
I by no means wish to behold any repetitions of the same subject, ivliere
there is so much scope for novelty and variety — far more, I will under-
take to assert, than in almost any other class of buildings tliat can be
mentioned. Styles that would be far too outre and fanciful for ordi-
nary street architecture — decoration that can hardly be applied in
exposed situations, might be employed here. Every variety of Gothic,
from Norman to the latest Tudor — if I may be allowed to say so with-
out getting a rap over the knuckles for apparently confounding Nor-
man with Gothic — the Byzantine, Lombardic, Moorish, Italian, in all
its rKost picturesque and peregrine fancies, or Pompeian, with its ara-
besque vagaries, or pure Greek, arrayed in all the pomp of its poly-
chrome embellishment, might be resorted to at will. What displays
of perspective might be obtained ! what pictures ! what painter-like
effects! what magic witchery of light and shade! wdiat — but this is
raving — the very coinage and oostacy of the brain. 1 am soaring on
Pegasus — no, I have got astride on Astolfo's hippogriff, and have got
ne.irly half way to the moon.

These harum-scarmxi (lights do not do for sober company ; my worthy
progenitor, I am sure, never gave way to any thing of the kind.
He never soared higher than a flying-fish, never frisked nor curvet-
ted at all — at least, not more than a horse does in a mill. Therefore,
let me endeavour to talk soberly ; and, in sober seriousness, I would
rather have a subject of this kind to work out according to my own
i ;eas, tiian one of those grand affairs which seem to be of more mark
and likelihood — at least, of far greater importance; yet which, after
a!!, generally turn out to be very little belter than common-place,
magnified and displayed upon a more than common scale.

Highly satisfactory as the Lowther Arcade is in itself, it goes very
little way towards showing what might be made of a gallery of this
kind, by throwing greater play and variety into the plan, by increased
loftiness in particular parts, by a sudden expansion in one place, and
consequently the effect of contraction in another. A central rotunda,
octagon, or hexagon, from which different vistas radiated, would even,
were it in itself but of moderate size, give a piquant complexity to the
design, and provide a point where some statue or other ornamental
object would produce a striking effect. Though not exactly in the
very best taste, the rotunda of tlie Passage C(rlbert, Paris, is a scenic,
architectural bit, which shows what might be accomplished in that
way. An upper aisle of shops on each side over those below might
occasionally be ado])ted, and would certainly aid very much in varying
the character of the particular design. In short, a place of this descrip-
tion is one that affords the utmost scope for invention, contrivance,
and taste, and also for bringing together tlie features and charac-
teristics of both external and internal architecture. There is hardly
any kind of embellishment tliat might not be applied ; and since the
introduction of asphalt for that purpose, the very pavement might be
made to assume a decorative character, and be variegated with orna-
mental patterns.

But how are such things to be done? Who is to pay for all this splen-
dour ? Taste is an exceedingly expensive and costly thing; such, at
least, seems to be John Bull s opinion, although Jolm is generally
ready enough to suffer himself to be Inunbiigged out of his mnnry in
paying double what he ought to do for many things that have no'pre-
tensions to taste at all. However, as I myself happen to have no taste
whatever for the L. S. D. part of the business in such matters, I leave
tliat consideration to other heads ; merely remarking, that so fiir from
there being any symptoms of lack of money among our shojjkcepers to
prevent their encouraging any architcctura'l enterprise of the kind here
mentioned, numbers of them seem to be contriving how to squander
away as much as possible of that commodity, witliout any return to
them for it in the shape of taste, for after all the extravagant expense
they incur, they seldom, if ever, produce more than what is a little
bedizened-ont patch in a street or row of houses.

Perhaps I have been somewhat indiscreet — a rather blundering tac-
tician in indulging my fancy as to what might be done, before I speak
of what actually has been done. N'imporle : the Lowther Arcade has
sufficient merit of its own to satisfy as a very excellent specimen in
itself: as a piece of design, it is in admirable keeping throughout ;
unostentatious, it is true, in its embellishments, but perfectly free from
any alloy of that meanness which too frequently gives a strangely
poverty-stricken air to buildings that, njion the whole, affect grandeur.
Here nothing more appears to have been aimed at than what has been
actually accomplished, which, .is matters are generally managed, is
certainly no little jiraise. There is none of that trumperv pomposity
which may captivate the vulgar, yet disgusts the informed. And by
vulgar I do not mean the vulgar in rank, but the vulgar in taste, let
their rank be what it may. Neither are there any of thosccrude whims
and whimsies that are occasionally palmed upon us as fancy and inven-

tion, I suppose, as for instance, that compound of heterogeneous absur-
dities and contradictions, the front of the British Insurance-office. In
the Lowther Arcade, on the contrary, the whole is made to appear
perfectly of a piece, and the different parts so skilfully reconciled
together, and harmonised one with the other, that wdiat is Greek does
not put us out of conceit with what is Italian, nor rice versa, does what
is Italian shock us by the side of what is Greek. Without being in
the least degree crowded, the whole design is well filled up. In regard
to the mode in which this passage is covered over, 1 greatly question
if there be in all the country a more beautiful ceiling vista than that
here produced by the series of small pendeiilive domes, upon wliich the
effect of the whole, as an architectural [licturc, so greatly depends. It
is true, the sides consist merely of shops; but how much taste is
shown in the design of the front contained within each comijartment,
more especially if compared with the insufferably dowdy ofhce-wiadows,
and those above them, that are thrust into ihe (/rwid Ionic ball of the
Post-office! — though, 1 su|ipose, it must still be allowed to pass as
extremely classical, because it has no admixture whatever of Italian
or any other style — save the genuine John Bull cockney. I have
beard, upon what I consider very sufficient authority, that the de.signs
fur tlie Lowther Arcade were furnished by a Mr. Turner. Wlio the
same Mr. Turner is, 1 know not, but I am sure he has no occasion to
be ashamed of bis name, at least not as far as this specimen of his
talents is concerned with it.

CANDIDUS'S NOTE-BOOK.
FASCICULUS II.

" I must have liberty
Withal, as larj;e a charter as the winds
To blow on whom I please."

I. Very few architects, I am sorry to say, appear at all to perceive
the piolicy of diffusing a taste for, and some knowledge of, their arc
among the public. On the contrary, many have endeavoured, as far
as ill them lay, to deter non-professional persons from attempting to
take it up as an agreeable study, by involving it in as much mystery
as possible, and representing it as one that demands nothing less
than a thorough acquaintance with the practical as well as the theo-
retical branch of it. This is not only decidedly foolish, but also
untrue, and at variance with the common-sense course adopted in all
analogous cases. You may allow a man to he an excellent judge of
cookery, although you entertain so poor an opinion of his actual skill
in it, that you would not trust him to dress a beef-steak. He may be
a profound connoisseur in music, although unable to compose a single
bar ; a supreme authority in matters of painting, though he never
put a palette upon his thumb ; an oracle in matters of sculpilure,
though utterly ignorant of the processes of it; yet, if he ventures to
meddle with architecture, to pretend to have an opinion of his
own in regard to it, the chance is that he is scouted at once as a
mere amateur, a conceited gentleman just capable of drawing out
pretty-looking things on paper, and perhaps hardly capable of that.
If, indeed, destitute of all practical knowledge, such a one assumes
to himself the power of doing more, he very justly deserves to be
treated as a shallow pretender, but surely not else. Did architect.s
clearly see their own interests — I do not mean their own individual
interest, because in many cases that may be best served by the
greatest quantum of ignorance on the part of their employers, but
the intelx'st of their art — so far from discouraging amateurship, they
would endeavour to render the whole public amateurs ; because, un.
less there be something very peculiar and anomalous in regard to ar.
chitccture, it should follow that the greater interest people in general
take in it the greater relish they have for it, and the better they com.
prehend it, all the more likely are they to encourage it, and to en-
courage it with a proper feeling. As a body, therefore, the profes-
sion ought to do everything in their power to create and foster such
taste ; not only not to check it, but to encourage it with the utmost
solicitude. At any rate, if they do not care to do so, they have no
right to reproach the public with that ignorance, and consequent in-
difference in regard to architecture, w'luch they themselves may be
said to keep up, because they do nothing towards removing it. After
all. of what are they afraid ? Are they really apprehensive tliat the
public would find out how very little talent, or original ability of any
kind, is to be found in many biiildings which, though they rank high
as edifices, are entirely the work of the hands, not of the mind ; in
fact, do not require more, if even so much, contrivance and intelli-
gence as is exhibited in many manufactures, which, nevertheless, are
held to be purely mechiinical ?

II. Among those whimsical absurdities to which custom reconciles
us is that of inscribing the name of the architect and the date of a

1830.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

85

building, not where they c;m be seen, and convey such information at
a single glance, but where they must remain unseen for ever, namely,
on the foundation-sl^ne. Surely this practice must have been of
Irish origin, since a more blunderinsj one, and one more contrary to
the plainest common sense, can hardly be conceived. It is all very
well to bury under ground the names of lord mayors, or other official
worthies and dignitaries who ax.si.st at the ceremony of laying the first
stone, because it matters not how soon they and everything relating
to the childish silver trowel part of the business are forgotten ; but
that there should ever be any mystery, or roemi for doubt, as to who
was really the architect of a building, when all uncertainty might be
obviated by a mere name and date, is quite preposterous. Besides
which, it is very likely to happen, and often does happen, that a
structure is either rebuilt, or nearly, on its old foundations, and in
such cases what becomes of the veracity of the inscription on the
foundation-stone, should it ever come to light at all ! Of this we
have two notable instances in the Custom-house and the College of
Surgeons, one of which has been, though only partially, altered so
greatly for the worse from its original design, bad as that design was ;
and the other so metnmorphosed from its original ugliness, as to be no
longer the same buildings they first were. Had architects invariably
made it the practice to afKx their names to their works, we should now be
at no loss to know who we are indebted to for those noble fabrics of
olden time, which are the admiration of all. Why it should not be
done I do not understand, \A'hen every engraver put his name to the
plates he executes. Neither would there be any occasion that the
architect's name should be ostentatiously displayed; for were it cut
merely on the lintel or architrave of a door, the plat-band above a
basement, or some member of that kind, it would not obtrude itself
on the eye, nor discover itself till sought for.

III. It looks somewhat like inconsistency, that at the very time
they wish architectiu'e should be ranked as one of the fine arts, pro-
fessional men should lay so much stress as they do, not merely upon
the practical but upon the mere business-like part of it. Should you
happen to express your surprise that Mr. Such-a-one obtains so
much employment, when he has on no single occasion shown any
talent, perhaps the reply will be, " Oh, but he is a most excellent
man of business ;" the plain English of which is, that let architects
fancy themselves what they may, the public consider them in no other
light than tradesmen; and in nine cases o>it of ten the public may
be perfectly right. By no means do I assert that talent never finds
employment, but it will, I believe, generally be found that it is the
very last thing that recommends a man to it.

IV. That the Elizabethan style possesses historical interest I do
not dispute,but that it offers any beauties oradvantages torecommend
it as a mode of architecture is wdiat I must be allowed most flatly
to deny. Its only principle is the disregard of all architectural prin-
ciples, and of all artistic feeling. "Very seldom do we meet with
anything in it that can be termed really good, even estimated accord-
ing to what may considered the leading taste of the examples them-
selves ; or if there happen to be some particular feature that satisfies
the eye, it is a mere solitary bit hi the composition — although it is
rather an abuse of term so to employ it — without anything to har-
monise with it. Besides which, notwithstanding their licentiousness
of design, the examples of this style betray great dearth of ideas and
poverty of imagination ; for, be it observed, there is a most wide dif-
ference between whimsies and fancies and fancy itself. I have met
with some people who, in aiming at being amusingly lively, have
only been impertinently fiisky : nor is it a small degree of awkward
friskiness that characterises the style in question, and causes it to
appear even more dull than it else might. It is no more than right
tiiat we should know what it really was; but its examples ought to
be held in lerrorem., certainly not for imitation, except it be that spe-
cies of imitation which enables an artist to appropriate wdiat is availa-
ble for better purposes, rejecthig all the dross. Yet those who have
of late served up this style to us have generally taken care to give us
garbage and all. Certainly no one has hitherto attempted to discri-
minate between its best and worst qualities, or to point out what it
offers for adaptation to our present purposes ; since, leaving taste
entirely out of the question, it has nothing whatever to recommend it
as a mode of building adapted to our present habits and tastes ; cer-
tainly nothing on the score of comfort and convenience, on that of
economy perhaps even less, since it is only lavish profusion of de-
coration tliat can conceal its native ugliness. I may be told that it
is a truly national style, that of our ancestors : national nonsense !
So were trunk-hose and cumbersome ruffs at one time our national
dress, yet what man — I do not say of sense, but in his senses — would
wear them now, unless determined to establish, for himself, at all
hazards, a character for singularity ? We do nothing else like our
ancestors; then why, in the name of common sense, should we put
ourselves into their most grotesque and unseemly architectural

fashions ? I have been led to these remarks by looking over the first
number of Richardson's " Architectural Remains ;" which work
professes to give only the choicest specimens of the Elizabethan pe-
riod ; and is therefore likely to effect good, by exposing the unmitigated
deformity that prevails even in what we must presume to be com-
paratively pure in taste, and happy in invention. It is a pity Mr.
Richardson, who, of course, thinks very highly of John Thorpe's ar-
chitectural taste, should not think sufficiently well of John Britton''^
literary taste as to take that learned sexagenarian's dedication to the
queen as a model for his own. In regard, however, to the style — I
do not mean of sexagenarian's dedications, but of Elizabethan ar-
chitecture— I conceive it would be a far nobler object of ambition in
the profession to aim at fonning what might hereafter be distin-
guished as the Victorian, than to content themselves with aping wliat
is called the Elizabethan.

V. Gwynn's "London and Westminster Improved" is pretty well
known to every one by name, but it is not, perhaps, so generally
known that that writer is apt to be occasionally rather satiric.
The following remarks, for instance, are somewhat in the spirit of
Boz. " The powers of inventive genius are at this time so very little
attended to, and the examples of Greece and Rome so firmly esta-
blished, that nothing more is required to model a youth of moderate
parts into a complete architect, than to put him ajqirentice to a brick-
layer, mason, or carpenter, under whose tuition he will acquire the
great art of scoring straight lines, and setting off their proportions by
scale and compasses. His servitude being ended, thus accompdished
and furnished with the rudiments of architecture, he may be sent to
Rome, and after he has spent the u^ual time for traversing that city,
he may cause it to be inserted in the London papers, that Mr. Trowel,
the celebrated architect, on account of his vast abilities, has had pro-
digious honours conferred upon him, and that he shortly intends to
revisit his native country, to which he will no doubt do infinite ho-
nour." This, it must beallowed, is tolerably Bozziih, and convinces
us that quackery was understood before our own time. "But to be se-
rious," he continues, " where is the necessity for this parade of going
to Rome ? Is there a building, or even a f'ragm.ent of a building in
Greece, or Italy, of which we have not accurate draughts and mea-
sures ? and is it not from these resources that ever;/ modern building
is compiled, without variation, and without the least attempt at no-
velty or invention ? It is very much to be questioned, if such an
attempt was to be made, whether a thorough-bred connoisseur would
vouchsafe to bestow a second look upon such a design." That
Gwynn must have been a brave fellow ! And yet, he might as well
have " whistled to the winds," as attempt to correct the inveterate
pedantry of " thorough-bred connoisseurs," and the servile common-
place routine of architects. What inconceivable magnitude of talent
it must require to be able to follow a pattern, and make an exact copy
of cohirans, and things of t'nat sort ! Is not that exactly your opinion
" My Public" ? Aye, to be sure it is.

PLAN FOR A HARBOUR AT HASTINGS.

BV A SERIES OF PROGRESSIVE IMPROVEMENTS.

By John Kooke, Esq., Author of" Geology as a Science," &c. &c.
Applied to EtigiucL'iing.

The plan of a harbour for Hastings, noticed in " The
Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal," vol. I, page .338, being
closely associated with the course of the tides in the l?ritish Channel,
so must the tideway be first considered; as upon the influence of
these tides, and the projections of laud upon the line of shore,^
depends the success or failure of artificial works for the shelter of
sea vessels. To the deeps of the Atlantic Ocean, the origin of tides
in the British Channel may be distinctly traced; the line of tidal
current is, therefore, from the westward, terminating in the strait of
Dover, and there meeting the opposing balance of a tidewave from
the North Sea. In the western section of the British Channel, the
force of flood tides propelled eastward by a powerful pressure from
the Atlantic Ocean, as a result of fluid action, drives beds of shingle
forwards, which are necessarily deposited in the eastern section
thereof, since the force of the reflux tides is less than that of the
flux tides. As Hastings is situated in the eastern section of the
British Channel, and not far distant from the terminus of a tidewave,
which has a general course parallel to the trending of the sliorc, so
shinn-le has a decided tendency to drive eastward, and convert
harbours lying in its course into what have been designated" shingle
traps." The cause of this result is plain. If the North Irish
Channel, where the tidewave is continuous, be compared to the
eastern section of the British Channel, where the tidewave termi-
nates, we observe a marked difference. In the one, drift is propelled
onwards, and deep water preserved, because a continuous scour
prevails; while, in the other case, the scour terminates, and the thift

8fi

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

rMARfiH,

is deposited. It is by observing tlicse results, that in planning a
harbour for Hastings, we ascertain the general laws by which the
engineer must be guided.

We may now restrict our observations to the localities of the
English coast, along the British Channel, and, passing from Land's
End up to the Isle of Portland, we see that the Chesil Bank is the
first decided accumulation of drifted shingle. The projection of this
isle, however, forcing the tidewave southward, causes it to run north-
ward, again, with great force, and scour out the Bay of Weymouth.
We next observe the Isle of Wight taking the position and form of a
geological deposit, projected from the headlands of St. Alban's and
Durlestone ; and opposite the great fresh-water drain of Southamp-
ton Water. In Swanage, Studland, ToUande, and Colwell Bays;
and in the Solent, Southampton Water, and Spithead, a deflection of
the tideway on shore, and, according to an angle of incidence,
operating in conjunction with the Isle of Wight, has preserved deep
water, and a continuous navigation. Between Selsey Bill and
Beechey Head, we observe another of those undulations seaward,
and deflections on the line of shore again, which have more or less
presei-ved continuously deep water. Beechey Head having driven
the tideway southward, necessarily causes it to run on shore again,
according to the angle of incidence on which it has been pressed
seaward, whence we are able to assign a distinct cause for the pre-
valence of permanently deep water in Pevensey Bay, and up to
Hastings. This may be regarded as so far encouraging for the success-
ful construction of the harbour proposed ; while the influence of the Isle
of Wight on the navigation of the Solent, Southampton Water, and
Spithead, gives an exact model, on a large scale, perfectly applicable
for planning a harbour, on reduced proportions, for Hastings. In so
much the Bay of Hastings resembles that of Whitehaven, as scoured
by the headlands of St. Bees in south-west gales ; one of those places
where (see vol. 1, page 337, Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal)
in the plan of a harbour, "our best engineers have been baffled, and
all their operations disconcerted." Why ? Because they failed in
combining and preserving smooth water, and an adequate tidal scour.

Mr. Tait's plan for forming isolated harbours proposes to meet the
objection arising from the drift of shingle. But as there is no tidal
scour provided foi', though shingle were disposed of along shore,
might not silt eventually choke such a harbour up ? The uncer-
tainty of the plan, its obvious expensiveness, its distance from the
shore, and an exposed locality, however ingenious and able the
scheme may be, involve objections which are more easily started than
answered. Were his plan, nevertheless, provided with a double en-
trance, under the terms which prevail in the instance of Hastings,
a requisite scour might be insured, a main objection obviated, and a
harbour of isolation brought nearly in communication with the town.
In the first place, therefore, taking the features of the Isle of Wight
as the model of a protected tideway and harbour for Hastings, the
following plan might answer the means of expenditure and the pur-
poses anticipated. Even its faihire in part, by carrying out further
works on the dotted lines, would give it all the advantages of the
double harbour system, an interior scour, and that of isolation, a, a,
the west and east walls ; 6, the breakwater.

^^m
^^w.

In the foregoing outline, it is proposed that each succeeding step of
the plan shall be determined or varied according to the practical re-
sults previously shown. In the first place, the breakwater b would
be constructed when a scour would commence, of which the extent

and direction should be closely watched. Next the west and cast
walls mig:ht be commenced and carried out according to the opera-
tions exhibited by the progress of the work. These finished, tlie in-
terior scour of the harbour, if insufficient, w»uld suggest the exten-
sion of the breakwater still further along the dotted line rf, until the
scour «ithin the liarbour should be sufficiently powerful, by which
the plan of the liarbour would bear a resemblance to the Isle of Wight
pressing upon the waters of Southampton, the Solent, and Spithead.
The scour thus established would then determine the position and
figure of a quay on the side of the dotted line c ; and if these various
works, when combined as a whole, should fail in afliirding a harbour
of refuge, then the dotted line, e, might be built in addition, and thus
give an inner harbour, g, and an outer harbour,/; or partly an isolated
harbour. Thus vessels taking refuge in the one, could be subse-
quently towed into the other by a steam-tug, if required ; and docks
might then be added as a security and convenience to the whole. On
the plan here detailed, the entire works Mould be determined by
practical results, errors would be corrected, and no step in the pro-
cess need be regretted or retraced.

What has been here sketched out must, however, be considered
merely as a free outline, subject to remodificationinits details, rather
than as an absolute or invariable plan. The convexity of the curved
line, 6, is intended to scour and preserve deep water along the line c f
the concave curve opposite thereto, marked c ; and if the rim of
water along these curved walls were too powerful, such defect might
be mitigated by adding undulating jetties at the dotted points, /, /.
Ever keeping experimental results in view, the spaces of the en-
trances, y and /(, and those of h and i, if called for, might be in some
measure determined by such a rule.

Though the harbour, g, might appear somewhat exposed to either
eastern or western gales of wind, from having double entrances, yet
the smoothness of regulated water flowing in continuous lines obvi-
ates its rebound, and more than compensates the security which a
single entrance affords. The breadtli of water within the harbour,
g, exceeding the space of the entrances, /and k, smooth water and
an accumulation of silt would be a more likely objection than the
excessive force of a passing and onward current. A material advan-
tage in disposing tlie lines of walls in curves and diagonally, in place
of at right angles to the course of the tideway, would be that of
smoothing the water, easing the various works, cheapening their
construction, and augmenting their security, besides directing the
force of the tidewave on those points mainly where a scour might be
desirable, and giving the greatest depth of water along the proposed
line of wharf.

SCHOOL OF CIVIL AND PRACTICAL ENGINEERING,
AT THE Scotch Naval and Military Academy, Edinbdrgh.

We had pre|iared last monili an account of the Eng-ineering School at
Edinburgh ; but the pressure of other matter compelled its delay. We
arc now, however, by tlie kindness of T. Comptoii, ivq. (formerly of
Woolwich), the Professor of Civil Engineering in the Academy,
enabled to give a better description than would otherwise have been in
our power. The class of civil engineering- has been in activity since
November, 1835, and consists of the departments of mapping and
plan-drawing, construction, practical surveying, and administration,
or the mode of making out specitications and estimates. The class
is actively employed in summer in surveying the most interesting
localities in the neighbourhood of Edinhursh ; and its success under
its able conductor has been such as to Icjil the diiectors to form a class
for practical engineers. This is to be divided into the sections of draw-
ing, iiattern-making, moulding, and ea-iting; millwright-work, theory
and construction of steam-engines, miscellaneous machinery, boiler-
making, and locomotive machinery. The course of instruction in this
latter department is intended to be three or four years; and the terms
thirty-two guineas the first year, twenty-four guineas the second,
twelve guineas the third ; and, if a fourth, six g\uneas ; the fees pay-
able (piarterly, in advance. These terms are high; but, altogether,
the institution, proceeding on a practical basis, is calculated to effect
much good. We should wish, however, that it was in the power of
the directors to place the institution within the reach of mechanics;
as, with great liberality, they have thrown theschool open to amateurs
at three guineas per (juarter. We think that it is well worthy of the
attention of the directors to make instruction in the steam-engine a
part of the course of their naval pupils, and also to afford facilities for
the instruction of steam-boat engineers, which would be a more
efficient measure for preventing accidents, than -any quack laws and
jobbing superintendents.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

87

OBSERVATIONS ON THE IRISH RAILWAY
COMMISSIONERS' REPORT.

With no iinfiiendly feeling eitlier to tlie Irisli Railway Commis-
sioners, or to those professionally ronnocteJ with tliem, we again make
fnrtlier observations on the Irish U;iilw.ay Report, as a pnhlio iloenment
exeeuted at the expense of the people.

Does not the following snggesteil distribution of railroads throngh
Ireland exhibit a spirit of favouritism and partiality, wlren, for the
southern division of Ireland, the Railway Commissioners have laid out
.')j!) miles of railway, estimate .'),;3 17,884/., and for tire northern 1.5'J
nriles, estimate '.2,3;)(i,'25S/. ; while no railway lr;is been laid out for the
centre of Ireland, nor for the whole province of Conirairghty

Iri^the September number of this Journal we took a general view of
the Report ; we showed that the general system of railways laid out
throrrgh Irelarrd hy the Commissioners was wrong ; we also showed in
correct detail numerous errors, both in the maps, plarrs, sections, and
gi'adients, srrch as were sufficient not only to destroy the reputation of
the work, as to ils accur-acy, but even affecting the very chai-acter-s of
the individuals who had incautiorrsly compiled and jHrblished so erro-
neous a docrrmerrt. Those numerorrs and serious errors were laid
before the public throrrgh the colunrns of oirr Journal six months a^o,
and have not been iprestioned or r-eplied to in any pirblished works to
orrr knowledge, by any of the conrmissioners or their fiierrds, no, nor
even by the grandson of Charles Ilutton, nor the elece of Telford,
deeply and seriously as it affects both of them, the Railway Conrmis-
sioners, and everr theGovernment, after an expenditrrre of rrearly twenty
thoirsand [rorrnds, and a loss of more than two years' time.

We ask, what will the engineers of France and of America say irr
examirringsrrch an iiraccurate prodirction ? Will they notjustly exclaim.
Behold, the people in the country of Newton, of Napier-, and Maclarrrin,
are now so reduced in scientific acquirement, that they are not able to
work accurately the simple operations of decimal arithmetic •' Is it not
humiliating to think that among the rrrleis of this great empire that so
few individuals of scientific acquirement are to be found ? Sir Davies
(iilbeit arrd Lord Oxmantown are men of science; the former has
now nearly reached the maximum age allotted to man, while we rc'jret
that political influence has swept the latter fi-om that position in "the
councils of the sovereign and the coinitry which Iris talents and acqrrire-
nreirts so pre-eminently entitled him to occupy, for to aid the advance-
ment and the progress of those interests connected witli the works of
science and improvement, which so few could comprehend and under-
stand so well among the represerrtatives of the country. Wo ar-e happy
to have an opportunity of testifying our great regai-d and esteem for
Lord Oxmantown, not only .as a cultivator of science in its hinhcst
branches, but also of his devotion to the pr'osecution of practical me-
chanics. Has not one of the most distinguished savann ofthe empire de-
clared— " That the sciences and the arts of England are in a wretched
state of depression, and that theirdecline is mainly owing to the igrrorance
and srrpineness of the Government, to the injrrdiciorrs organization of
our scientific bo.^rds and irrstitutions, to the indir-ect persecution of
scientific and liter-aiy men, by tlieir exclusion from all tlie honours of
the state." And has it not been truly said that — " The )oung diplo-
macy of the American States was raised into distinction when Franklin
took upon himself the functions of her ambassador, arrd France was at
the zenith of her glory when the Marquis La Place was President of her
Conservative Senate, Lagrange a Peer of France, and Carnot her
Minister of War."

A few leading articles have appeared from time to time in the minis-
terial papers, praising the Irish Railway Report, but the acquirements
of the editors of newspapers are such as to exclude them from being
able to review such a work, and to those who understand such subjects,
those leading articles must appear to have been put forwar-d by l!ie
commissioners and their friends, to support their very oljjcctionable
system of Irish railway projects. It is remarkable that the government
of the country found it necessary to employ a gentleman to travel
throngh Ireland for the express purpose of praising this railway
report, at various public meetings which had been held in that country
— and this was actually acknowledged pirblicly by the individual so
employed.

The " Quarterly Review" for January, 1839, contains an article on
the Report of the Irish Railway Commissicmers ; but it contains nothino-
that had not been previously published or well known before, and it {"s
only remarkable for introducing a vast variety of sulijects totally irrele-
vant to the one it professes to discuss. We beg to observe, that Mr.
David Stevenson never was at New Orleans, and that the information
regarding the steamers at New Orleans, which the " tiirarterly Re-
view" quotes at page (i, is from the pen of Captain Basil Hall, who
had visited New Orleans, and not from that of Mr. Stevenion, who
had not been there ; the statement of the "Quarterly" is therefore
No. 18.-- Vol. IL— March, 1833,

not correct. The observations made on the democratic insfitntions of
the North American Republic at page 25, are not only quite unworthy
of the intelligence of the age, but they are, in our opinion, unfounded
and unfrrie. The property of the people of the IJnited States of
America is just as secure as that of the people of any other country.
The laws which govern the free and independent states of the North
American Republic are more likely to spread through the great
American continent than those of the ar-bitrary and despotic govern-
ments of Europe ; irr all likelihood those principles of freedom which
have been spreading so widely for the last 50 years, will yet be ex-
tended much ruore, and ameliorate the condition of the human i-ace in
the most remote and distant regions ofthe earth. Matter-s of a political
kind we do not profess to discuss, and we regret to do so in any
manner ; but our excuse is, that for the American people of the United
States we entertain the highest respect, and we therefore do not like
to see them and their institutions calumniated in pages which profess
and avow to be consecr'ated to the discussion of a scientific subject,
and which our avocations oblige us to notice, and more particularly as
an attempt will be made to convert the Irish railway monopoly into a
political state job ; it therefore becomes a sacred duty with us to expose
it to the fullest public animadversion.

" We conceive the principal question in this inquiry to be — Does
the report emanate from persons possessing, in the opinion of Europe,
the requisite qualifications ? We have, accor-diugly, tak.en some
pains to inform ourselves upon this subject." — Quarterly Review,
December, 183S.

The account given by the " (Quarterly Review" on this very im-
portant matter, has established, in the clearest manner possible, that
none of the Irish Railway Commissioners had ever executed any kind
of railway works ; and it therefore cannot fail to appear to those pos-
sessed of practical knowledge in railway engineering, that the nomina-
tion of such a railway board was a very extraoi-dinary proceeding on
the part of the executive ; to depute such men to legislate on matters
they never had been previously acquainted witli, was certainly, to say
the least of it, not an arrangement either consonant to reason, nor
ci'editable to the wisdom of the government of this countr-y. When
the legislature had deerued such a commission necessary to lay out a
system of railways for Ireland, why were not individuals of the highest
practical skill in railway engineering, totally unconnected with Ireland,
selected for such a purpose? And this service, we affirm, could have
been accomplished in four months, and the reports, sections, plans,
&e., might have been with ease delivered in less than eight months,
while these Railway Commissioners required nearly two years, involving
in its consequences a loss (>( three years to Iri'land in tlie progress and
extension of railways, inflicting a deep and lasting injui'y upon her
prosperity, and the unemployed population of that country.

We are advocates that great works of national utility should ori
ginate with the people — we are inimical, in the highest degree, to legis-
lative interference with anything, from the making of a steam-engine
to that of the smallest article ; we conceive it is the duty of a wise
and a paternal Government to aid and assist public companiesin their
exertions and endeavours to execute works of public utility: but, on
the other hand, if a Government once assumes the mantle of general
manirfacturer of steam- engines, engineer-general of railroads, &c.,
under an act ofthe legislature, then the rights and interests of all the
industrious classes are directly invaded, a monopoly set up, and the
spirit of enterprise, of invention, and improvement ceases, and all those
vigorous trading impulses which have so eiuinently contributed to the
wealth and to the prosperity of all h-cc and enlightened countries, but
particularly the great advantages which would i-esult to Ireland by the
introduction of English capitalists. We deny the right of the British
Government to step in at the eleventh hour and interfere, except so
far as the public interests may require, with either the English rail-
way companies, or even those of Ireland, which have been formed,
by men who have, in England, Scotland, and Ireland, congregated
together, subscribed and risked capital, called into existence a
new power, executed the most stupendous works with the most
triumphant success, and all without the aid of a Royal commission.
Will not the Gnvernnicnt of this country read a lesson of wisdom
from past events? Has not steam navigation across the Atlantic
Ocean been achieved in the nrost .'•atisfactory manner by private enter-
prise ? Have not the river navigations, and also the whole of the canals
of England, been executed by companies V Are not all the steam-
vessels which cover, not only the British seas, but also tl ose of
Europe, entirely due to the successful enterprise of comjjanies?
And have not the noblest engineering works in the world been accom-
plished by private companies ? Look at the bridges of Waterloo and
•S lUthwark; they will prove that the people are quite capable of exe-
cuting works as stupendous and nionumtntal as the pyramids uf Egypt,
but of a much more useful and nollj kind. We are thoroughly con-

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Maech,

vinced that wherever wurks of a public nature have been executed by
the Government, they have not only besn inferior to those now named,
but they have also been attended with much more expense than if
undertaken by private enterprise. If we look at the imperfect execu-
tion, and unfinished state, of the Caledonian Canal, after an expendi-
ture of one raillion sterling, and thirty-live years of time, it is really
not calculated to inspire people with confidence in the executive of
the country, as either being the best or most competent authority to
execute public works. Or, again, at the suspension-bridge erected
over the straits of the Menai, a structure strongly characterised by its
inferiority of strength and durability, as compared to those bridge-
works erected either in ancient or modern tinie.«. This fragile and
perishable work was constructed under Royal autliority. and which
the passing breeze not only dismantles and renders impassable, but is
also fast consuming its strength by the vibratory motions to which it
is constantly exposed, as well «s the never-ceasing oxidation of the
material which forms the main and imposing feature of that structure.
The expense of the Holyhead-road and bridges is stated in the ap-
pendix, p. 366, of Sir Henry Parnell's book on roads, at £759,710. ()S.
Ud. sterling, and the expense of the execution per mile of the road is
from .£4,000 to .£.'i,000 sterling-, and the tolls upon that road are
much higher than upon any other road in England. We are not
aware that Government toll-roads or Government steam-boats are
cheaper to travel on, and voyage in, than those of private companies.
For example, the fare from Dublin to Liverpool, in her Majesty's
steam-vessels, is from five to ten shillings more than what is charged
by the Dublin Company's steamers from the quays of Dublin ; so
much for Government cheapne.ss.

It is not only painful to contemplate the odious monopoly of govern-
ment in the post-office department, but it is really extremely injurious
to this great commerci.il country tliat the postage of letters should
be overwhelmed with so high a tale of duty. Wiiat insanity th^n to
talk of the government of this country becoming constructors of railroads
and carriers of passengers. " Legislation is not health but human
welfare ;" and the government of Great Britain has quite enough to do
in legislating for this great empireand thecolonies thereunto belonging,
without interfering with projects which should be left entirely to the
enterprise of the people under proper legislative restrictions for the
good of the public.

Looking at France, one of the most powerful nations in Eui'ope, and
where by arbitrary authority the public works of that country had been
placed under the controul of the state ; are those works, we ask, more
substantially executed, or kept in a better .state of repair tlian those of
Great Britain ? Is it not allowed by every person who has travelled
through England and France, that the roads of the former country are
much better than those of the latter, and that the superiority in the
velocity of travelling in Great Britain is well known and admitted to
surpass that of any other country. It is also remarkable that our bridges,
docks, harbours, canals, aye and also our railways, are, we venture to
lay with pride, the most substantially executed, and the grandest works
of the kind that the people of any nation in the world has yet executed.
These noble engineering works astonish all travellers who' have visited
Great Britain ; they announce the genius and enterprise of not only a
great, but that of a free people, whose unparalleled activity and intel-
ligence have not been fettered and withered by legislative enactments
in the promotion of commerce, the increase of our national wealth, and
the consequent greatness of this empire : and this may be justly at-
tributed to perfect freedom being allowed to every kind of private en-
terprise under parliamentary regulation.

Let us examine how far the Railway Commissioners have been able to
lay out a judicious system of railroads lor the southern division of
Ireland, and whether they have been able to do so upon better levels,
and at a less expenditure of mileage than private companies.

First, to connect tlie cities of Dublin, Kilkenny, and Limerick, the
following will show the extent of mileage and the gradients.

Lengtli^of mileage by the Railway Length of mileage by the Coni-

the number of miles of Railways which will be required to connect
them, first, by the system proposed by the Railway Commissioners, and
secondly, by the Companies" system.

By the Railway Commissioners' > By the Companies' system.

svsteni. I

M.
Dublin to Limeiii'k 128

Kilkenny branch 2G

Cork branch 76

Small Southern htanch at }
Donahill ]

Commissioners' lines.

Dublin to, Limerick cha-
teristic gradient tIb

Branch to Kilkenny, clia-
teristic gradient -^^

M.
128

26 4

panics lines.

• Dublin to Limerick, cha- J
teristic gradient shs J
Branch to Kilkenny ^

M. F
111 0

28 0

155 0 I l;J9 0

Difterence in favour of the Companies' lines 10 0

Hence it appears by these facts that the svstem of railways proposed

by the Companies to connect Dublin, Kilkenny, and Limerick, would

be sixteen miles shorter than the length ol those railways proposed and

recommended by the Railway Commissioners.

At»in, taking Dublin, Kilkenny, Limerick, and Cork, and comparing

F.

M

F.

4

Dublin to Limetiuk

111

0

4

Kilkenny branch

28

0

7

Cork branch

68

4

13 0

244 4 207 4

Difference in favour of the Companies' lines 37 'i

Here again, in comparing the Companies' lines of proposed railways
with those laid out by the Railway Commissioners, there would be a
saving of 37 miles 3 furlongs by adopting the Companies' system, which
is very serious, viewed both as to the first expense of construction, and
afterwards in working those lines cf r.iilroads.

We shall now exhibit the distances to be travelled in going from
Dublin by Limerick to Cork, from Dublin to Kilkenny, and from
Limerick to Cork, &c., by the Commissioners' lines and also by those
proposed by the Companies.

I Dill', in

favour
of Com-
panies'
lines.
M. F. M F. M. F.

128 4 Dublin to Limerick 1 1 1 0 17 4:
98 2A Limerick to Cork 68 4 29 6^
S2 0 Dublin to Kilkenny 75 0 7 0

Bythe Railway Commissioners' lines By the CompanieE' lines

Dublin to Limerick
Limerick to Cork
Dublin to Kilkenny

Dublin to Limerick, ,„ . ,, ^i
and Cork '^^ * '^' ^''

Dublin toWaterfordlCJ 0 41 2

Dublin toLimerick & Cork220 6^

Dublin to Waterford 144 2

The direct distance from Dublin to Cork by the Commissioners' line
not passing thro\igh Limerick, would be 169 miles 5 furlongs; by the
Company's line, passing through Limerick to Cork, would be 179 miles
4 furlongs ; difference in favour of the Commissioners' line 9 miles 7
furlongs. Looking attentively at the above table, and also at the map
of Ireland, it «ill appear that the Companies' lines po.ssess many and
great advantages over the Railway Commissioners' system of railways
as laid out in the south of Ireland.

It appears by the Railw.iy Commissioners' maps that a railway has
been delineated on the map from Clonniel to Waterford, but in ex-
amining the estimates, it does not appear that any item of expense is to
be found for constructing the continuation of the railroad from Clon-
niel to Waterford, distance 261 miles, wliicli, at 10,000/. per mile, would
be 262,500/., which is a serious error committed by the Railway Com-
missioners ; for it is not pessible to think that they ever thought of ex-
cluding the city of Waterford from the benefit of railway communica-
tion. In the Railway Report, appendix A, No. 1, page 11, it i"^ there
stated that no survey was made of the Limerick and Waterford line for
the Coinniissioners further than (.'loHuiel. This is certainly an extra-
ordinary admission as regards the city of Water(ord, containing 30,000
inhabitants, having an excellent port, an immense shipping of both
sailing and steam vessels, and an export trade of more than two millions
sterling.

In looking over the Railway Report we find it st.tted at page 4 1 , tliat
the distance from

Dublin to Cork is 166 niiles 5 furlongs

to Limerick 125 4

to Waterford 141 2

to Kilkenny 79 0

These distances are all incorrect, for in looking over the sections, the
zero of mileage is placed three miles from the Dublin Post Office ; and
therefore three miles should be added to each of the above distances;
for example Cork is 169 miles 5 fui longs from Dublin according to the
figured sections given by the Railway Commissioners, and not 1(1(5 miles
5 furlongs, (&c., &c.

At pa>.'es 104 and 105 of the Irish Railway Report, the powers of lour
locomotiv !■ engines are given. The diameter of the cylinders, the length
of stroke of the pistons, diameter of the wheels, and the weight of the
engines and tenders have also been stated.

" No'.v ilie whole power of these several engines is found by niiihi-
plving tl'.c :;rea of their respective pistons by the pressure (64.71hs.,} and
then reducing this product to the circiuiiference of the wheel."
^' In this way it will be found that the whole power is : — Class first,

8a».]

THE CIVIL ENGIKEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

as

3755lbs. ; class second, 2468U)s. ; class third, 2;)37lbs. -, da^s fourth,
20901bs."

We have examined those calculations but have not found one of
llieni correct.

Class I.

3'141G X -54 = Ifi9.G4, circumference of wheel,

14^ X '7854 X 2 = 307-870, area of 2 pistons.

2x16 = .32 inches, length of double stroke,

.S07-876 X 6i-~ = 19919-C2ft9C, force applied on the pistons,

- — =:5'301, ratio of the velocity of wheel and pistun,

19919'62896 „,., ,,,, ,. •, , ., •

— ■ = 37o7'711bs. power applied to make the engine

^■'^"' advance.

Class 2.
12' X '7854 X 2 = 220-195, area of 2 pistons,
226-195 X 64-7= 11634-816, foice applied on the pistons,
.3-J416 X 60

— -— — =:5'S90, ratio of the velocitv of the wheel and piston

2 X 16 r .

14634-816 _„,.,,, ,. , , , .J

— r^gqK 24841l)s. power applied to make the engine advance.

Class a.
11- X -7854 X 2 = 190-0668, area of 2 pistons,
190-0668 X 64-7 = 12297-32196, force applied on the pistons.
8-1416 X 60 _
— g-J-yg 5-236, ratio of rhe velocity of wheel and piston,

12297-32196 _OQ,.in

j^^ _'.H8lbs. power applied to make the eng 1114 advance

C'LA^s 4.
ll'' X '7854 X 2 = 1900668, area of 2 pistons,
190-0668 X 64-7 =12297-32196, force applied on the pistons.

.^-1416 X 60

— — =5-890, ratio of the velocity of wheel and piston

2 X 16 ' '

12297-32196 „„„,,, ... , ,

— -^-^ = 20871bs. power applied to make the engine advance.

" The gradients .also, on the regulalion of which so much depends,
both in respect to the original cost and the ultimate v.alue of the rail-
way to the country, have been carefully gone over hv one of tlie com-
missioners, in conjunction with the engineer, and in consequence
several material .alterations were made, which have much lessened the
amount of the original estimate, without aflecting ; in an important
manner, either the rapidity of intercoiirse or tlie commercial advantage"
— Page ;j7, Railw.iy Report. °

In the September number of our journal for 18;JS, we jirinted a list
of sixty-live errors found in tlie gradients, .and upon a more full
ex.amination there will be found .at least fioiu forty to sixty more ■ this
clearly shows that very little care or attention was bestowed b'v the
commissioner and engineer who had ex.nnined and "one over the
gr.adients; indeed, the very numerous errors found in the gradients are
destructive to the character and accuracy of the Railway Report and
Sections, although '

" My Lords had full confidence, from the character of the gentlemen
appointed to form the commission, tliat their inrpiiries w.uild be con-
ducted in a satisfactory manner."

We consider an alteration in gradients from one in330, to one in 180
as most important.bothas to rapidity of intercourse, and also as to com'
mercial advantage, .although the raihv.ay commissioners do not think so

llie same force of traction which is required to draw llHt tons un .1
rise of one in 330, would draw on the level 195 tons.

Engine

tons,
100 X
100X2240

330
12x2240

lbs. lbs.
8 = 800

= 679

330

— = 81

(if"= 195 tons.)

1560 Total resistance not including the
friction of tlie engine.

The s.ame force of traction which is required to draw 100 tons up a
rise of one in 180 would diaw on the level 274 tons.

LBS.

100X8Ibs. = SOOlbs. friction at 8lbs. per ton. * . .800
100x2240 ,, ,, . _

— ^ = 12441bs. gravity of the 100 tons (reduced to

lbs.) on a plane inclined in the ratio of — L

180 1244
122X224()
-■ I'gQ-- = 149lbs.gravityof the engine on the same plane 149

Total resistance not including the friction of the engine 2193

/■2193 .,-,. N
(- = 274 tons, j

This shows the difference between the rise of one in aSO and one in
180.

The load, tender, and engine, taken at 1 00 tons, and running at the rate
of 20 miles per hour on the level plane, will, on ascending a slope of one
in 330, run only .at a rate of 14.20 miles per hour, and ascending a slope
of one in 180. will run at a rate of 1 1-43 miles per hour.

An engine capable of evaporating 48 cubic feet of water per hour wil
draw on the level plane 88-32 tons, at the rate of 20 miles per hour

up, 1 in .000 — 51-96 tons,

400 — 46-49 tons,

... 300 — 39-09 tons,

... 200 — 28-44 tons,

100 — 11-97 tons.

\Vood< on Railways. P.age 57S.

Looking at the levels whicli the surface ol Ireland presents, we differ
entirely with tlie Irish Railw.ay Commissioners, as to adopting 1 in 180
as the characteristic gradient for the main trunk lines proposed to be
laid out Ihrongb that country; and we object still more so to 1 in a 100
for the great m.ain line of railway laid nut from Dulilin to Cork, which
.appears by the Railway Commissioners' sections to be the characteristic
gradient of that line, because an engine running up such a slope can
only draw about oue-eiglith of the load that it can on the level plane ;
and running up 1 in 180 less than one third of tlie lo.ad it can draw-
on the horizontal plane. We are, therefore, thoroughly convinced that
the Irish Raihv.ay Commissioners have notsufficientiy studied this most
important element in raihv.ay engineering ; or lips their limited know-
ledge of such a subject precluded them from being able to comprehend
the vital advantages arising from tlie adoption of good gr.adients, even
.although attended with some expense in cutting and embanking?

In our journal for last September, we forcibly alluded to , the very
great injustice of not giving railway communication to the centre of
Ireland, and also to the fertile province of Connauglit; we stated our
reasons why that province ougl-.t to participate in railway intercom-
munication, as well as the other provinces of Ireland. In the same
niimber of the journal we stated our reasons fully against the line of
railway projected by the commissioners from Dublin to Armagh, and
we particularly observed that it ran parallel with the coast railway
for nearly one hundred miles, and that it could not be possible that two
such lines could exist, as one or other of tnem would be a total
failure. Having witli some attention sndied the commissioners' inland
lines of railway from Dublin to Armagh and Enniskillen, we think
that those projects recommended by them are extremely injudiciously
planned ; because, if an inland main trunk line was to be laid out
from Dublin to Armagh, with a branch line to Enniskillen, and were it
determined upon that the important tr.iding town of Drogheda should
be excluded from railway communication with the capital, then lines
of railway might h.ave been chosen which would have united Dublin
to Armagh and Enniskillen, with a saving of twenty-six miles of
railway, which would be a great advantage as regards economy, not
only in the first construction of these lines, but also in the working of
them afterwards.

The system of main lines of railway, which h.ive been proposed to
be carried into effect by the various companies through the south of
Ireland, possess superior advantages in connecting the various large
cities together, than those recommended by the Iri.sh Railway Com-
missioners. The lines proposed by the companies being much more
expensive, and laying open a wider, a more populous, and a richer
extent of Ireland's surface, with less mileage and better levels than the
Irish railway commissioners' main lines appear to do. This fact has
been established by the calculations already given ; and by examining
the Irish commissioners' index map of the'proposed railways, there is
to be seen a small triangular portion of country lying between Cahir
and Hollycross which is completely encompassed by railways, amount-
ing to more than 40 miles in length, and which cannot fail to strike
every engineer, who will take the trouble to examine the proposed

90

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[March,

system of Irish railways laid out by the commissioners, to be an
extremely defective and objectionable one, as to the distribution of
this intercommunication by railways through the soutlierti division of
Ireland, as far al regards the connecting- of the cities of Dublin, Kil-
kenny, Limerick, and Cork ; although the royal commissioners had
before them a very sen-sible and also an ably written |)a|)er by a gen-
tleman of the name of Sinclair, who seems to have studied the subject
of railways with deep attention. He states in his letter addressed to
I'eter Barlow, printed in the Railway Report Appendix, A. No. 12,
page 83, in which the following paragraph is to be found : —

" In laying out great or general lines of railway through a country,
my experience of the system generally leads me to think, that it would
be extremely desirable to carry such main lines so near to considerable
towns as to siipcrsei/e the nece.iKilj/ of branches."

Let us hear what the royal commissioners say on this subject : —
" It is not by selecting a line to some large town, and conferring upon
it the imposing title of a grand trunk line, that the object for which we
are contending is to be accomplished." Tlien, was it wrong to have
connected Liverpool, Birmingham, and London together by one main
line ? Was it wrong to have connected Bristol and London by one
direct main line, and titled it the Great "Western y Nothing, in our
opinion, is better than to have large cities at the termini of railways.

The system of railways which have been proposed in the south of
Ireland by the Irish Railway Commissioners, has evidently been copied
from a small map of Ireland, containing a proposed project for making
a main line of railway between tlie harbours of Kingstown and
Valentia; the map is dated London, May, 183.), and carries the sig-
natureof the person tlien engineerto'theDublin and Kingstown Railway
Company ; and to the activity of some of the members of that company
has fame assigned so great an influence in the councils of the late Irish
Railway Commission, not only in the drawing up of parts of the
report itself, but also in the selection of the railway lines, as will
ajipear by the small map alluded to ; and so highly injurious did this
appear to some of the individuals in higli aiitliurity, that part of the
report which had appeared in the liist numbers printed, was altogether
suppressed in those which subsequently appeared, and this gave rise
to a discussion in the House of Commons, to wliich the Chancellor of
the Exchequer was not able to give a satisfactory reply. Tliis trans-
action alone is strong presumptive evidence of the partiality and
favouritism which has characterized the proceedings of the Royal Irish
Kailway Commission.

We have been not a little surprised to find that one of the engineers
who had advocated and laid out the line of railway from Dublin to
Belfast, by Newry, along the sea shore, called the coast line of railway,
appears also as the engineer and advocate for the railway commissioners'
inland line extending from Dublin to Armagh and B'eldist. The in-
land line of railway is well known to be the avowed and open opponent
of the coast line of railway : we conceive this proceeding to be cer-
tainly an anomaly in the jurisprudence of civil engineering. It is
beyond our comprehension how a professional man could conscientiously
reconcile to himself such a proceeding, or continue to possess that
respect due to the integrity of his character, in becoming the professional
advocate of a competing line, destructive we should think to the in-
terests of the Coast Line Company, by whom he was originally em-
ployed. On this subject we have already, in a very forcible manner,
expressed our opinion that no engineer in the employment of any of
the Irish railway companies should liave been employed by the com-
missioners in laying out railways in Ireland, that they should have been
careful to have kept themselves free fiom any hercalter observations
which might be made as to such a proceeding ; but.tliis fair and straight-
forward course could not be done in Ireland, no, not even by a royal
railway commission ; their proceedings could not be conducted
without an open exhibition of partiality and lavouritism by the employ-
ment both in tlie south and also in the north of the engineers of various
competing and rival railway companies in Ireland.

It appears that two systems of railways have been laid out through
the south of Ireland by the professional engineers employed by the
commissioners ; one to please tlie Royal Irish Railway Commissioners,
the oth'.r to please thecompanies—thosesystems being at uttervariance
with each other ; we ask would it not be proper to have those im-
portant differences first examined and investigated, and then decided by
an impartial tribunal, composed of the highest engineering authority
winch could he found, totally unconnected with either the Rojal Irish
railway proceedings, or those of any existing Irish railway companies
in Ireland.

It is remarkable that although Mr. Nimmo, Mr. Telford, Mr. Bald,
Mr. Stephenson, and other eminent engineers who were professionally
employed in Ireland, to report on railroads, and ttiat their reports
'^•^"'' V'-i' an income profit would be derived from them often, twelve,
axid thirteen per cent.; yet, the Irish Railway Commissioners have not

noticed those statements and valuable reports. Further it appears by a
printed report of .Mr. Griffiths (one of the railway commissioners) on
the proposed Limerick and Cork railway, that it would pay a profit of
1 1 J per cent., wliile on the other hand it deserves notice that the Irish
Haihv.ay Commissioners state that the suggested lailways in Ireland
will only pay from .'!} to 4 per cent.

" And throngii whose agency do the railway commissioners arrive at
this conclusion? Why they employ Mr. Stanley, of the Stamp-oflice,
to make their calculations ; a person well qualified to close bankrupt
books, and give the balance whichever way the parties pleased." — Mr.
O'Comieirn Speech ; House of Commoim, :iOlh Jiilj/, 1838. And who
has since been promoted to be Secretary to the Irish Poor Law Com-
missioners through the influence of the Chairman of the Grand Canal
Company.

A cry h.is been set up by the jobbers in public money that Ireland is
not able to maintain railroads. It may be observed that it has not yet
been shown by any kind of well grounded facts, that such is tlie case.
Because, the Kingstown Railway has been finished by private enter-
prise, aided by a loan from the state. The Ulster and Drogheda
Railways are in progress of execution, and so would the Dublin and
Kilkenny Railway, if it had not been checked in its course by the
unfortunate publication of the Irish Railway Report, and also the
Dublin and Limerick Railway. In all of which British capitalists had
joined with the Irish companies, being perfectly satisfied, from accurate
calculations, of a profitable result. Scotland has alreadv made five
railways, and there are five or six more in progress of execution in
that country. And really we think that Ireland ought to be as well
able to make her own railways by private enterprise, aided by Britisli
capital, as Scotland, if the public companies who have projected those
works be not inteifered with by tlie state.

Have not all the Steam Navigation Companies in Ireland been
eminently successful ? and are there not fleets of steamers sailing con-
stantly from Cork, Waterfbrd, Wexford, Dublin, Droglieda, Dundalk,
Newry, Belfast, and Londonderry to the ports of Great Britain ? Has
not the Dublin Steam Packet (^'ompany alone raised five hundred
thousand pounds sterling? And is not that company as well as all the
others in a prosperous condition ; these well attested facts speak
volumes as to what private enterprise could effect in Ireland, z/' it be
nut shackled Uij stale monoplij, but aided and assisted by judicious
loans from the Government, or as recommended by a Select Committee
of the House of Commons in 183.J.

As a high authority of tlie value of private enterprise applied to
public undertakings, we beg to quote the following observations of Dr.
Bowring : —

" Dr. Bowring observed, there appeared to him to be a unanimous
feeling in favour of the communication by the Red Sea. At present it
was most imperfectly carried on ; but by the formation of such a com-
pany as that proposed, it would be greatly improved. An objection
had been offered to the proposed plan of its being left to a private
company, but that it should be taken up by the Government. He had
always thought that English commerce had spiead to the extent that it
had owing toils being /c^ toprivate enterprise, and that it was desirable
that it should be as independent of the Government as possible. It was
in this spirit that the French merchants replied to the great minister of
the day, when he asked what he could do for their advantage, when they
said, ' Leave us alone.' (Hear, hear, hear.)" — Steam Communication
with India. Public Meeting held at the London I'uvern, Hishoparjate-
street, Jan. ISth, 1839.

Looking at the total exclusion of central Ireland, and the whole pro-
vince of Connaught, from railway intercommunication by the commis-
sioners, and at the imperfect and objectioiml system of railways laid out
by them, both in the south and in the north of Ireland — again, at the
numerous errors existing in the commissioners' maps, sections, levels,
and gradients — fully authorises us in declaring tliat they present a mass
of inaccuracies unequalled in any work that has yet been published
under executive authority by any state in Europe. The Report is
deficient as an exposition of Ireland's manufacturing industry ; of her
internal traffic ; the amount of her agricultural produce; her mineral
wealth ; her lake and river water power; the extent of her improvable
wastes and sea lands : the value of her sea, river, and lake fisheries ;
the number of her steam-boats, &c. ; the extent of her coal and peat
fuel; her lake and river navigations ; the revenue of her chief towns,
&c. Nor does it appear that any correct geological survey has been
made of any one of the Irish counties; althougli a coloured map has
been piiblisiied by the railway commissioners, as if it really had been
the result of an examination of the whole of the Irish strata, but tliis
document is incorrect.

The etfect of the Railway Commissioners' Report, clothed as it is
with an official carb, has been to engender doubts in the minds of Bri-
tish capitalists as to tlie returns which they iiad previously expected

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

91

from the money wliicli tliey had subscribed towards Irisli railway under-
takings, in consequence of which tliey liave hesitated to proceed with
tliP works. Tiiis renders it imperative on tlie Government to repair
the deep injuries tlicy have inflicted on Ireland by the Railway Com-
mission, and to come forward promptly to reanimate that spirit of
vigorous enterprise which has been thus so unfortunately checked by
reasonable and judicious loans to such railway undertakings as have
been sanctioned by Parliament.

Railroads are being extended through France, Germany, Russia,
Belgium, England, Scotland, and the United States of America ; but,
unfortunately, in Ireland the Royal Railway Commission has paralysed
tile progress of these works of civilization, anil has sealed their doom
for years to come, unless the Britisli Executive assumes the mantle of
Engineer-General of Railways for Ireland, and constructs the.n at the
public expense. This Royal Commission has by its acts and writings,
for more than two years past, been contriving the most unfair practices
to railuay companies, the deepest injury to the existing rights of private
enterprise, and the total subversion in Ireland of all the freedom of the
pursuits of both the Irish and British people, as conn cted with the
promotion of those works of improvement, the offspring of human
invention, and which are shedding such a lustre upon the annals of the
nineteenth centuiy.

It is very remarkible that a distinguished public character, exercising
great influence in Ireland, and a strenuous supporter of the present
government has lately appeared in public as a prominent supporter and
advocate for the commissioners' report, and the plan of the execution o(
railways by the government, on their own responsibility, to the exclu-
sion of private enterprise. It may be useful to refer "to the recorded
opinions of the same honourable gentleman as delivered in the House
of Commons on the first appearance cf the Commissioners' Report,
and which appears more accurately to describe the injurious efl'ects of
that document than a more lengthened essay, for which we have shown
there was ample grounds.

" Mr. O'Connell said he was one of those who was dissatisfied with
the report. Tlie commissioners had not contented themselves with re-
porting proper lines for railroads hereafter to be undertaken, but they
take upon themselves to stigmatise those .ilready in progress. They
tell us, moreover, that no railroad in Ireland can yield more than
3j per cent, profit. And through whose agency do they arrive at
this conclusion? Why they employ Mr. Stanley, of the Stamp-
office, to make their calculations— a person well qualified to close
bankrupt books, and give the balance which ever way the party pleased,
lleally the result of this commission was a melancholy one for Ireland.
These commissioners having decided that 3^ per cent, jnofit is the most
the speculations could yield, it is now impossible to go to the Stock
Exchange and get money to forward these works. The result on the
whole is, that it woidd be useless to make railroads in Ireland. If we
had not this report, works would be undertaken, and employment given
to the people; and yet the Chancellor of the Exchequer comes forward
to praise these commissioners — and praise more undeserved was never,
in his (Mr. O'ConncU's) opinion bestowed iqion any men. The thing
is done — Ireland is stamped— there is the report. He rose to perform
a melancholy duty ; he could not approve of tlie report, and he had only
now to express his regret at the inevitable consequences which must
follow from it."— Mr. O'ConncU's Speecli ; House of CvrHnions,Moudau,
30th Julj, 1838.

STEAM BOAT INSPECTORS.

It is with great regret we learn that the Government has given
way to the clamours of a few idle twaddlers, and is on the point of
proposing measures in Parliament calculated to be in the highest
degree injurious to all parties interested in steam navigation. These
mcasiires arc said to be based on the plan of appointing inspectors to
examme all machinery, and to decide upon its safety and ai)plicability.
This is a course which will certainly not only defeat the objects of its
promoters, but strike a deadly blow at this important branch of public
enterprise, while, at the same time, it will inflict great injustice on a
particular class.

This is a measure totally uncalled for, as it is a question not to be
decided by the clamour of fools, but by the evidence of facts; and to
these we confidently appeal, to prove that instead of there being any
degree of danger, further than is incident to all human proceedings,
there is a less amount of loss of life than is to be found in any other
department of foreign, or domestic communication. Let figures
speak for themselves, and then we shall sec the thousands of lives
•which are yearly lost in the merchant marine of all nations, and the
numbers who daily perish on laud, by accidents from coaches and
other vehicles. While, if we look to other countries, and particularly
to the United States, wc sball fiinl that the accijeiits iij steanj vessels

far outnumber those with us. It must be remembered, also, that
where accidents with steam Ixials have occurred, thai where they have
nut iirocfeded from maritime causes, often so far from being the fault
of the manufacturer, they have arisen from avarice of the owners, or
the ignorance of the engineers on board. Thus, not only is there no
possible reason for such arbitrary proceedings, but there is no reason
for singling out for oppression a means of Intercourse which has
carried so many millions of ])ersons with such an incredibly small
number of casualties.

Why have not the shipowners been singled out ? They count sacri-
fices of life by thousands where we lose tens, yet none think ot'attaik-
ing an interest which s powerfnl enough to defenil i'self Neither are
there inspectors of coaches to decide wliether a rotten axle i-honld run
anutlier journey or be laid aside; while, because the rights of steam
boat owners are supposed to have no pnwerfiil protection, they are to
be selected as a peaee-oft'ering at the shrine of vulgar prejudice and
administrative ignorance.

While this novel legislation is thus uncalled for, we may see, by
anticipating its results, that it has no argument on which to base its
future utility. For by the introduction of inspectors, the whole talent
of the maniiliicturers will bo left at the mercy of men who, however
competent in other respects, caunot fail to be guided by prejudices
injurious to ;lie cause of science, and to the interests oi the parties
concerned. A stop will be put to all improvement, and all experiments
annihilated ; anil in the hands of two or three men will be left the
control of all this important department. What manufacturer will
run the hazard of incurring the veto of this despot, or what owner
will expose himself to the loss of capital in experiments ? That this
will be the result, it needs but little reflection to demonstrate ; for,
in a science which is not yet fixed, but is ever progressive, which must
be left to the decision of time, which would be rejected by the preju-
dices of men. Let us remember the opposition of Watt to the high-
pressure engine, and the conflict of opinion which still exists on the
subject. Let us imagine Watt a steam-boat inspector, and say where
would now be the locomotive and the Peruvian mine engine. Let us
recall the contest about the powers of the Cornish engines, or sup-
pose Dr. Lardner deciding on the question of Atlantic steam naviga-
tion ; and we may be assured that if this plan had been in activity
thirty years ago, wo should have been fiir behind ; and that if it is
carried on now, we shall bo as victims before the power of those
nations who have the sense to leave science unshackled.

Except to produce this mischief, the operations of these obstructors
must ever be a nullity ; for they must be more dispersed (ban poor
law commissioners, or as numetous as excisemen, if they have time
and power to make such an examination as shall ensure a remedy
against the evils which they are intended to prevent. Tlieir superin-
tendence must be indeed vigilant if they can climb every chimney and
poke themselves into every fire grate, while their occupation will be no
sinecure when they will aflbrd such admirable opportunities for dimin-
ishing the rcsiionsibility of the engineers, and thrusting it all on the
devoted obstructors. The eflect will be a check to the progress of
science, no guarantee against accidents, and a less available responsi-
bility than at present exists ; while the unfortunate employers will have
the benefit of all the odium of the class over whom they are spies, and
the certain blame of every mischance.

If there be even a shadow of a fault, and wc have shown that there
is scarcely that, the proposed measure, instead of remedying the evil, by
attacking wrong parties, perpetuates it and creates a greater. It is
not the manufacturers who are in fault, but the cupidity of the owners
or the want of instruction in the working engineers. These are the
sources of the evil, if any exist ; and it is to these that the measures of the
American government are chiefly directed. The skill of the manufac-
turer no inspectional ability can regulate; but, by making the responsi-
bility of owners and captains more direct, a more eflicient remedy will
be provided, and the error, if any, corrected.

Ill conchisioii, we deprecate this proceeding as mischievous and
unjust ; and we call upon the manufacturers and steam-boat owners to
unite and oppose this nieasure by all the means in tlieir power. It was
by such combination that the railway proprietors last yeai defeated the
government in a similar invasion ou their rights and property ; and iu
this case, even should not the entire proceeding be annulled, at any rate
many of its ill eftects may be removed, while the Itgislature may be
brought to entertain sounder opinions on the question. This associa-
tion of persons interested in steam-boat trattic has now become impera-
tive ; for not only in this instance, but in others, measures are contem-
plated for intlictiug severe injury on it. The question of tolls on
passengers is of paramount importance, while the proposal of inspectors
ei]ually calls for lesistance, and the steam-boat proprietors may feel
assured that it is only by union and prompt measures that these uiescnt
evils can be ^ivoided and luiure safety insured,

!)2

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[March,

ON THE GENERAL THEORY OF THE STEAM ENGINE.

Notwithstaiuling the number of years Avhich have elapsed since
the invention of the Steam Engine, and the immense extent to which
it is now employed, as well as the great importance at present
attached (particularly in some of its applications) to the perfection
and economy of its working : yet our knowledge of the general theory
of its action is still but very limited. We were led to investigate
this subject more fully on the jiernsal of a pamphlet wliicli appeared
in the course of last 'year, entitled, " A New Theory of the Steam
Engine," by the Chevaler G. de Pambour, and purporting to be an
analysis of a memoir by the same author, which was read at the
Institute Royale of France, during the year 1837. The author, after
shewing the inaccuracy of the ortlinary mode of calculation used to
determine the effects and proportions of steam-engines, exposes what
he calls his new theory, by means of which he undertakes to solve all
problems relating to those effects and proportions. M. de Pambour's
theorj- consists essentially in the following laws : —

1. That the pressure in the cylinder is strictly regulated by the
resistance on the piston and by nothuig else.

2. That the velocity of an engine is determined by the quantity of
water which can be evaporated m the boiler in a given time, and

3. That the pressm-c in the boiler is indifferent, provided it be at
least equal to the pressure in the cylinder.

The last of these laws is of ver%' little consequence, since it can have
no effect on any of the calculations ; but the two former serve to
solve all the problems relating to steam-engines ; for, having as-
certained the quantity of steam generated in the boiler, and trans-
mitted to the cylinder, as well as the velocity of the piston, which
gives the volume occupied by that steam, we find its density and
elastic force, and consequently the resistance on the piston. Inversely,
either of the two other quantities might be determined, the rest being
given. The principal difference between M. de Pambour's and the
ordinary mode of calculation is that, according to the former, the
effect of an engine is measured by the quantity of steam generated in
the boiler ; and according to the latter, by the quantity used in the
cylinder : both which quantities must be equal, if correctly measured ;
unless, of course, thei-e be any discharge through the safety valve, in
which case M. de Pambour's methoci would fail, if he had not the
means of measuring or estimating the quantity so lost; in place of
which he assiunes (for locomotive engines) an average loss of one
fourth of the whole of the steam generated, and therefore considers
the effective evaporating power of a boiler to be three fourtlis of its
total evaporating power. Now this clearly cannot be true for all
locomotive engines, nor even for one engine on all occasions ; the
safety valve will be more or less open, according to the load of the
engine and the pressure in the boiler; and the discharge of steam
through the valve, when open to the same degree, will depend on the

Eressure in the boiler. The latter circumstance would, however,
ave but an imperceptible influence if the difference of pressure were
not very considerable, the velocity of efflux being directly as the
effective pressure, and inversely as the density of the steam.

The mamier in which M. de Pambour arrived at the average loss
of steam thi'<jugh the valve, shows that it is seldom, if ever, correct.
He first ascertained what rise of the valve was necessary for the dis-
charge of all the steam generated, which corresponds to dilferent
numbers of degrees of the spring balance for different boilers, and
then observed the actual rise in a certain number of experiments
made with different engines ; he then compared the sum of all those
rises with the sum of all the rises necessary to give egress to all the
steam generated in the various boilers, taken once for each experi-
ment. In eleven experiments, the sum of actual rises was 12 degrees
of the various spring balances, and the sum of rises necessary to
give egress to all the steam, in each case 46'5 degrees : namely, five
experluicuis, \\ ilh engines requiring 5 degrees, give 2.5 ; tliree expe-
riments, with one requiring 4, give 12: two experiments, with one
requiring 3, give 6 ; and one experiment, with an engine requiring
,3'5, gives 3-5 ; which numbers, when added together, will be found
to make up 46-5. The i-atio of 12 to 46-5 being very near one-fourth,
this has been taken as the average rise of the valve, and conse-
quently as the average loss of steam.

Thus we see that we can make no use of the constant coeflicienl
075 in determining the effective evaporating pow-er of a boiler; for
it might very well happen that only one-eighth should escape
through the valve, in which case we" should find the effect one-
seventh too little : and if in any case there should be a loss of one-
half of the steam, then v,e should arrive at a result 50 per cent, too
great.

But, setting; aside the error we should ronimit by taking the
average rise of the valve, how arc the following facts to he accounted
for? In the table of experiments at j'age 220 of M. dc Pambour's

'• Treatise on Locomotive Engines," we see that the Finy ascended
the Sutton inclined plane, with a load equivalent to 183 tons on a
level, at a speed of 13%33 miles an hour, the rise of the valve being
5 degrees of the spring balance, which is sufficient (see the table at
page 175) to allow of the escape of all the steam generated in tlie
boiler. We also find (page 2.32) that the Vesta ascended the same
inclined plane, with a load equivalent to the former, at a velocity of
3-25 miles an hour, when the rise of the vulve was equal to 3-5
degrees of the spring balance, or sufficient, according to the above-
mentioned table, to give issue to all the steam. Also, (see page
234), the Vulcan is stated to have ascended the same inclined plane,
with a load equivalent to 188 tons on a level, at a velocity of 1I'42
miles an hour, the safety-valve being sufficiently open" to allow
of the escape of all the steam ; and, in the same page, the same
engine is stated to have ascended the Winston inclined jilane on
another occasion, witli a load equivalent to 186 tons on a level, at a
speed of 18-75 miles an hour, the safety-valve being open to the
same degree as in the preceding case.

Supposing the observations to have been correctly made, we can
only account for these apparent anomalies by supposing the evapo-
ration to have been more rajjid in the cases quoted than during the
experiments which had been made, with the view of determining the
rise of the valve necessary for the discharge of all the steam gene-
rated; for it is the absolute quantity discharged, and not the pro-
portion, which is determined by the size of the aperture. It is,
therefore, exceedingly difficult to deduce the power developed by an
engine from the evaporating power of the boiler, whenever there is
any escape llu'ough the safety-valve.

Before leaving the subject of these experiments, we must observe
that, from their nature, they were not susceptible of that precision
which is necessary to allow of their results being made the basis of
accurate calculation : for, on account of the irregularities of the
road, the circumstances were continually varying, and the momentum
of the trains rendered the effect of those variations less perceptible
than it ought to have been.

It is an essential part of the Chevalier de Pambour's theory, that
the pressure in the cylinder is independent of the pressure in the
boiler, and depends solely on the resistance to be overcome. This is,
to a certain extent, true ; but we cannot allow that the pressiu'e in
the boiler is altogether independent of the pressure in the cylinder,
for it cannot be denied that the law of the flowing of elastic fluids
must obtain in this, as well as in all other cases. The pressure of
the steam in the cylinder being, therefore, equal to the resistance on
the opposite side of the piston, and the velocity of the piston being
determined by the effective evaporaliiirj power of the boiler, which we
readily allow, the pressure ui the boiler will nccessainly be such as to
cause a correspondiirg efflux of steam from the boiler into the steam
pipe, and through tliat into the cylinder. If at any moment this
were not the case, the pressure would unmediately begin to adjust
itself, and would finally remain fixed as soon as it had arrived at that
point: suppose, for example, that the pressure in the boiler is too
low to cause an efflux at a sufficient velocity to supply the cylinder;
the pressure will instantly rise until it be sufficient to cause an
efflux at the velocity which will then be required, which is less than
before, as the density is greater. This cu-cinnstance has been
entirely overlooked, or rather neglected, by M. de Pambour, as well as
the effect of velocity on the resistance of the air to the trains, which
must considerably affect the results of his experiments.

Before entering upon the general discussion of the theory, wlien
we shall have occasion to revert to M. de Pambour's works, we shall
briefly advert to a paper on the application of steam as a moving
power, which was published in the second volume of the " Trans-
actions of tlie Institution of Civil Engineers." We should not have
stopped to notice this paper, but for the medium through which it
has been brought before the public, which naturally gives a certain
degree of importance to everything therein published, as it must first
obtain the sanction of a body of men, who, from their profession,
and the eminence which some of its members have attained in that
profession, have necessarily considerable influence over the opinions
of those who are personally imacquainted with mechanics.

The author of the paper in question appears to have had less in
view the advancement of science, as the title seems to promise, than
to create a doubt in the public mind as to the correctness of the
official reports of the duty performed by the Coniish engines ; and
he appears to have persuaded himself that he has demonstrated, on
scientific principles, that those engines could not have performed
anything like what they arc reported to have clone, and, consequently,
that the reports are erroneous ; but wc hope to be able to show,
satisfactorily, that he is labom'ing under a delusion.

We will, for the sake of argument, allow that the combustion ot
71bs. of coal is required to (.-oayert one cubic foot of water into steam,

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

93

and consequently that the quantity of steam generated by the com-
bustion of 841bs. of coal under a pressure of 151b.s on the square inch,
and recondenscd without having been allowed to expand, will raise
44,4G7,5001bs. one foot high and no more. This we will allow to be
the greatest eflcct that can be accomplished by atmospheric steam,
and yet we assert the possibility of raising not only 70,000,000 but
double that quantity, one foot high, by the combustion of the same
quantity of coal, by" making the steam in a condensing engine perform
a part of the stroke at a high pressure, and then causing it to expand
through the rest, though it should be reduced at theend of the stroke
even to a lower pressure than that of the atmosphere. But Mr.
Palmer attempts to demonstrate that " high pressure steam, M'hen
applied expansively, cannot produce so great aneirect as atmospheric
8team, thereby meaning to infer that no high-pressure engine can
perform the same amount of duty as a condensing engine, both con-
suming equal quantities of fuel." He professes to draw his arguments
from the established lawsofnature,andadducesthe foUowingtheorems ;
to prove which he Very unnecessarily occupies seven pages, and then
never makes any use of them ; indeeed, if he had, they would rather
have shown an advantage, both in the use of high-pressure steam and
in expanding it.

1. The sum of sensible and latent heat in steam is a constant
quantity, viz., about 1172 deg. F.

2. All matter (steam, of course, included), whether solid, liquid,
or gaseous, from the most dense and refractory to theUeast ponderable,
evolves caloric on compression, or increase of specific gravity, and
absorbs caloric on dilatation, or when its specific gravity is diminished.

3. To convert equal quantities of water of any assignable tem-
perature, and under like pressure into steam of given temperature
and elasticity, requires equal weights of fuel to be expended ; but,
although equal weights of water must absorb equal increments of
caloric, when atmospheric steam is generated, it does not follow that
all the caloric absorbed in high-pressure steam is exclusively supplied
by the fuel expended. The law maintained is simply this, that the
same causes produce the same effects.

4. Steam of two, three, or more atmospheres elasticity, is not com-
posed of two, three, or the like number of volumes of water con-
tained in an equal volume of atmospheric steam, when generated
under the same barometrical pressui-e, but contains proportionably
less water as the pressure under which the steam is generatedincreases.

From the first of these theorems we conclude that whatever be the
pressure of steam before expansion (so that it be in that state called
saturated, that is, as dense as it is possible for it to be at its tem-
perature), if its density be reduced by expansion to that of steam
generated under any given pressure, it will assume the latter pressure
and the corresponding temperature, and will therefore be still in the
saturated state ; so that if steam enter the cylinder of a steam-engine
at a pressure of three atmospheres, and, after having performed a little
more than one third of the stroke, be made to expand through the
rest, so that its density shall be reduced at the end of the stroke to
that of steam generated under the pressure of the atmosphere ; then
the cylinder will be filled with steam in every respect the same as
atmospheric steam, and, by the ttiird of the above propositions, gene-
rated at the same expense of fuel as that quantity of atmospneric
steam ; and yet the elfect will be about double what it would have
been if the steam had been worked at the pressure of the atmosphere
tlu'oughout the stroke, for the mean pressure is somewhere near two
atmospheres. The fourth proposition shows that the economy of fuel
is greater, the greater the pressure is at the commencement of the
stroke, for the consumption of fuel is in proportion to the density,
which, by the last named proposition, does not increase so rapidly as
the pressure. The steam will thus, at a higher pressure, be required
to woi'k at full pressure during a greater portion of the stroke than if
its density increased uniformly with its pressure, in order to fill the
cylinder with steam of a given density, which shows that the mean
pressure, and consequently the effect, will be greater, the liigher the
pressure at the beginning of the stroke.

The almost incredible advantages to be derived from the expansion
of steam becoming every day more generally knowii, from the ex-
perience of the Cornish pumping engines, and the adoption of this
principle constantly extending itself in consequence, as every body is
desirous of availinghimself of those advantages, it becomes absolutely
necessary that the action of the steam, during that portion of the
stroke ol the piston through which it expands, should be better un-
derstood than it is at present, in order that we may be enabled to
make a more exact calculation of the power exerted under such
circumstances.

The present rule for calculating the mean pressure on the piston,
when the steam is used expansively is extremely defective ; it sup-
poses the steam to lose none of its temperatiu-e during its expansion,
while (neglecting that lost by radiation, which is a comparatively

trifluig quantity) the caloric absorbed by the steam itself in con-
sequence of its dilatation, which no clothing of the cylinder can pre-
vent, amounts to many degrees, ])articularly if, in order to obtain the
greatest advantage possible from the principle of expansion, the
steam be cut off after the piston has performed but a small portion of
the stroke. In this case, the application of the law, that the pressure
and density increase in the same ratio, would make the mean pressure
appear much more consitlerablc than it really is. We shall attempt,
in a future paper, to bring this branch of the theory— we will not say
to perfection, for that were presumption, but as near that limit as can
be required for practical purposes.

MEMOIR OF RICHARD TREVITHICK.

While the biography of literary men has received full attention, al-
though rarely presenting any object of interest, the lives of men of
science, deeply enwoven as they are with the history of the pursuits in
which thev are engaged, have frequently remained unknown, or too
often neglected. Nothing, however, can be more interesting to the
student, or better calculated to animate him in his career, than the
perusal of those efforts of application and genius, which have overcome
impediments apparently unconquerable, or created a giant work from
the rudest and most incongruous material. It is here that we find the
most practical lessons of perseverance, and the most effective stimuli to
our exertions ; the slow and arduous path to fame is thrown open to our
view, and we are taught not to be daunted at the most protracted la-
bours, and not to neglect the slightest effort for success. When, too,
our own coimtryman is the theme, we warm as we take pride from
the halo shining on our native land, and we feel the exalted nature of
that genuine fame winch is not restricted to selfish enjoyment, but
brightens the whole human race.

It is not unaccountable that oblivion should often encloud the ine-
mory of the gieatest practical geniuses, for tlieir early labours are hid-
den in the obscurity of the study or the workshop, and then, after bat-
tling against the efforts of the malignant, or the immoveable resistance
of stoliditv, the inventor is long dead before the contest is ended, or his
works are'successfuUy established. In the meanwhile, the progress has
been so slow and so gradual, that, like a plant, casts off all semblance
of the seed, so the name of the author has ceased to keep company
with his labours. Often, too, where a name survives, we are led to dis-
trust, when, like that of an Arkwright, it has supplanted the rightful
owner.

One of the neglected benefactors of the human race is the subject of
the present notice, whose memory, except in his native mines, is
among his fellow-countrymen almost consigned to oblivion. At the
present period, therefore, "when we aie beginning to enjoy the benefits
of steam locomotion, we have thought that it would be acceptable to
present some account of the engineer to whom our country is so much
indebted for his efforts in promoting this improvement. We can only
regret that this task had not fallen to the lot ofothers possessed of more
ample materials for doing justice to the subject. Although we knew
Trevithick during a most active portion of his career, yet the lapse of
years soon renders the memory of incidents vague and imperfect. We
know no one, indeed, who could better have fulfilled this task than a
late President of the Royal Society, Trevithick's fellow-countryman and
friend. Many errors of omission must therefore be excused, and many
misrepresentations palliated ; and it must be remembered that we are
not so much to blame in committing faults, as that we merit protection
for attempting what has not been done before.

Richard Trevithick originally moved in that class of society called in
Cornwall the Captains of Mines, for which profession he was educated
in the mine counting-house as clerk, having as one of his colleagues at
that period Richard Griffiths, now the Chief Government Engineer in
Ireland. Cornwall, at that period, was something different from what
it is now, the mail road not extending beyond Exeter, the Cornish
language just extinct, and the great influx of London capital not having
commenced. This state of affairs, consequently, did not allow of any
superior education ; and although belonging to the mining aristocracy,
Trevithick had little but the routine of practice to qualify him for the
profession in which he was destined from his birth to move. Of his
early years, therefore, it is unnecessary to say more, than that his career
was distinguished by the introduction of many improvements into the
operations" in which he was engaged, and by a promise of distinction
which his future exertions did not belie.

The mine captains, from their inter-marriages, were nearly all re-
lated, and among Trevithick's nearer cousins were the Vivians. An-
drew Vivian, one of these, was a man of greater woridly abilities than
most of his class, and fertile enough in all those expedients which are
useful in raising money. With him Trevithick engaged in several
aflairs.he finding work, and Vivian supplying money. It was in part-

94

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Mauch,

iiersliip witii iiim that, in ISOi!, Trevithick, while at Camhonie, took
out his patent for tiie high-pressure steam engine.

About tlieyear 1723, Leupold, a German philosopher, in his comments
on Papin's apparatus in the Theatrum Maehiiiarura, had given the tirst
idea of the application of steam on the high-pressure principle, but his
suggestions remained without any practical results. Watt indeed had
made some allusion to ihis principle in his attempts to obtain a locomo-
tive power, but at any rate was not able to avail himself of it, even if
he understood its application, and to the last day of his life displayed an
obstinate prejudice against it. It does not appear that Watt had then
read the Theatrum Machinarum, and it is not likely that Trevithick in
his Cornish seclusion ever saw it, so that he has tlie merit of invention
as much as of application. The introduction of this improvement
gave increased powers to steam, and it is of that importance, tliat Stuart,
not likely from national sympathy to be over-prejudiced in favour of an
Englishman, is even inclined to date the era of the steam engine from
this invention. It is certain that independently of its merits, this ap-
plication of steam power is already of paramount importance from its
great extension. It affords the means of locomotion on all the rail-
wavs in the world, propels tlic swarms of American steamers, and is
greatly used in manufacturing operations.

In 1804, Trevithick had the opportunity of trying his engine on the
Merthyr Tydvil tramroad as a motive power applied to a carriage.
The engine hadan eight inch cylinder, and the piston had a stroke of four
feet six inches ; it travelled at the rate of live miles an ho\n', and drew as
many waggons as carried ten tons of iron, without requiring any w-ater,
for a distance of nine miles.* Stuart says that the great obstacle to its
introduction at this time was the supposed want of adhesion, or hold of
the wheels upon tlie rails, to effect the locomotion of the engine.

Trevithick and Vivian erected several of their high pressure engines
in Wales and other places, and it was about this time, although we do
not know whether before or after the experiment on the Merthyr Tyd-
vil tramroad, that Trevithick put into operation the first locomotive en-
gine in London. In the great metropolis Trevithick found ample
support in his countryman, Davies Gilbert, the Earl of Stanhope, Mr.
Isaac Rogers, Mr. Samuel Kehe, Mr. Henry Clarke, and others con-
nected with his native county or the cause of science. The engine he
used was about the size of an orchestra drum, and which he attached
to a phaeton between the back wheels. With this carriage an experi-
ment was made in Lord's cricket ground, at Marylebone, several men
ofscience alternately steering it, and expressing their perfect satisfaction
as to the ease with which it was directed. Erom hence it was steered
down the New-road,andGray's-inn-lane,to the coachbuilder's, whence the
phaeton was obtained. Thus it passed over ground, since the site of
Hancock's experiments, and perhaps ultimately destined to be witness
of the final triumph of this branch of locomotion. The next day
Trevithick took this same engine and exhil)ited it in a cutler's shop,
working the machinery ; which was one of his essays, to show its general
applicability. Subsequently he had a temporary tramroad constructed
■within an enclosure on the ground now occupied by Euston-sqnare.
This road was of an elliptical form, and on it he ran his locomotive.
It was opened to the public as an exhibition, and people crowded to
see it, but the second day Trevithick, in one of his usual freaks, re-
moved the engine, and, to the great disappointment of visitants, closed
thegroinid. This he did under the impression that it was better to let
the affair drop, until he saw the opportunity to avail himself of it
advantageously.

Another occupation of his metropolitan career was the tunnel
under the Thames, in which he owed it only to his own pertinacity
that he disappointed both the public and himself. Ralph Dodd, an
engineer of some note of the last ccntiny, was the first to commence
operations for a tunnel under the Tliames from Gravesend to Tilbury
Fort. His plan was to avail himself of the clialk stratum which he
supposed to run under the bed of tlie river, and he expected that the
cliaik quarried out would sufficiently pay tlie expenses of working,
leaving its subsequent use as a viaduct to afford a handsome income.
As was mentioned by a correspondent in one of our late numbers,-]- he
obtained an Act of Parliament for his plan in 179'J, with power to
raise 30,0Ulil., and to increase his capital incase of need to ,")0,0n01., his
estimate being only 1 j,00l)l. The work was commenced, and proceeded
for about three years, but was ultimately stopped on account of the
expense of drainage. He had gone on the assumption that the chalk
would be in one solid stratum, and that he should not be embarrassed
by water, having in his estimates allowed only 17801. for this purpose,
and treated the expense as merely contingent. He found, however,
such great inconvenience from undor-springs rising through fissures in
tlie elialk, that as we have said, he was obliged to abandon' the project.

^ Historical and Descriptive .Anecdotes of the Steam Engine, by R. Stuart p, 460. —
Mcholfon's Operative Meclianic, p. 2«».

t Vol. I,p. S81,

This tended to throw a damp on such plans, and when Trevithick pro-
posed a similar tunnel imder the Thames at Kotherhithe, he found a na-
tural rcltictance to support any such utidertakiiig. Several of his friends,
however, raised a subscription to enable him to make an experiment
on a small scale, and the result was anxiously awaited to justify an
appeal to the public for carrying out the entire plan.

In 1809, therefore, Trevithick was employed in rtinning a small
driftway parallel to the bed of the Thames. The committee of sub-
scribers justly felt every assurance of the success of the undertaking, for
the operation was extremely simple, while they had entire confidence
in his skill and ability, from the experience he had gained in similar
underground mining works. We have tunnels four miles in length to
some of our canals, and abundance of communications in the mining
districts under the surface of the earth, and even beneath the sea ; but
notwithstanding the ease of such a work, extraneous causes have always
hitherto prevented this kind of viaduct from being used under rivers.
Trevithick, to save labour and expense, committed the usual funda-
mental error of not going deep enough below the bed of the river, the
object in his case being a close-run endeavour to keep at the least
possible distance from it. Had his experiment been concluded, this
would have enabled him to give a plausible original estimate at any
hazaid of subsequent increased expense. This error, however, was not
prodtictive of much inconvenience to him, nor was it the immediate
cause of the abandonment of the enterprise, for he carried his drift-
wav to a greater extent without impediment than has been done in any
otlier attempt. It was not until he had gone 930 feet* under the river,
that he encountered any obstacle, when he got into a hole in the muddy
bottom of the river, and at one time a piece of uncooked ship beef,
which had fallen from one of the vessels, drifted into the works.
Although the Corporation authorities refused to allow him any
facilities, he managed to get this hole stopped, and again went on with
vigor ; he c.irried on the excavation at the rate of from four to ten feet
per day, and soon completed a thousand feet, to the great joy of every
one concerned. On arriving at this distance, according to his previous
agreement with the committee, Trevithick was to receive a hundred
guineas, which, after a verification of the work by a surveyor, were
paid to liini. This surveyor was appointed by the subscribers to check
Trevithick, and in giving in his report, confirming the measurement,
stated that the line had been run one foot out of the perpendicular.
This statement Trevithick took iu high dudgeon, and chose to consider
it as a deep leflection on his engineeiing skill to have deviated one
foot in a thousand. His Cornish blood was excited, and with his
usual impetuositv, he set to work to disprove the assertion, without
any regard to consulting his own interest, or embroiling himself with
the committee. Of all possible contrivances for effecting this object, he
adopted the most absurd, which was no less than to make a hole in the
roof of the tunnel at low water, and to push through a series of jointed
rods to be received b}' a party in a boat, and then observed from the
shore. Even had he been successful in carrying out this process, it
would have afforded no criterion of the precision of the work, as the
set of the current would necessarily have swerved the rod. Trevithick
was employed in the driftway in carrying out this contrivance, and as
delays of coinse ensued in fitting together the rods, the gidly consequent
on the opening in the roof ultimately admitted so much water as to
render a retreat necessary. With a moral courage innate to his
character, and worthy of a better cause, he sent the men on before him,
and very nearly fell a sacrifice to his devotion. It has been already
observed that the driftway was parallel to the bed of the river, and
consequently curved ; it necessarily happened, therefore, that the enter-
ing water would lodge, syphon-like, in the bottom of the curve, at which
part, on Trevitliick's arrival, he found so much water as hardly to be able
to escape, for as he ascended the slope on the other side, and climbed
the ladders, the water rose to his neck. It is needless to say, that this
act of rashness was the death-blow to the project, while it added the
climax to the manv acts of inconsistency with which Trevitliick's
erratic career was disturbed. On a subsequent occasion, being cross-
examined as to this occurrence while witness on a trial, he admitted the
fact of his ruining the woiks, and his determination iu any similar
circumstance to defend his own character at whatever sacrifice to other
people. The work thus ended after having readied 1,011 feet, and
remains within a hundred feet of its proposed terminus, a melancholy
monument at once of his folly and his skill.

After these events Trevitliick returned to Camborne, and we now
approach another of those epochs of his life, in which his labours were
again destined to be followed by tlie most extended results. Here we
have an instance of the operation of those trains of finite causes, which,
while they are someiimes productive of the most unexpected advan-
tages, too often baffle all human expectations and arrangements. t

' Mi'ehanics' Jlimaiint', Vol. I. , ,, .

t Tf iiiUfictiuiis vf tlw CvfH'ViiU U'olomcal So9ietj-, Mr, Bo»se s Memoir,

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

95

Uville, a Spaniard, seeing the decline of the American mines, from the
insufficient power of drainage in the old workt, was desirons of adopt-
ing the English method of pumping by steam. For this purpose he
came to London in 1811, but his efforts were bafHed by the difficulty
of transporting such cumbrous machinery over the mountain districts,
and the diminution of power which the atmospheric engines would
sustain when worked in the rarified atmosphere of the elevated mine
countries. When on the point of departing from England, frustrated
in his object, he chanced to see a finished working model of Trevithick's
engine, exposed for sale in the shop of Mr. Roland, in a street near
Fitzroy-square. This model Uville carried to Peru, and to his inex-
pressible joy he had the pleasure of seeing it work with success on the
high ridges of Pasco. Again encouraged in his favourite plan, he
entered into partnership with two rich merchants of Lima, and ob-
tained from the Viceroy of Peru the privilege of working some of the
neglected mines. He once move started for England, and while on his
voyage, talking with Mr. Teaguc, a fellow-passenger, of his anxiety to
discover the inventor of the model, he was most agreeably surprised to
hear Mr. Teague reply, " that Trevithick was his near relation, and
that he could bring them togetlier within a few hours of their arrival
at Falmouth."

Uville continued with Trevithick for some months at Camborne,
profiting by his instructions ; he then made a tonr under his guidance
in several of the mining districts, and afterwards went to Soho to con-
sult Bonlton and Watt. Whether, however, it was their jealousy of
Trevithick, or their geiniine want of resource on the subject, they gave
Uville no encouragement as to the success of his enterprifc. The
great elevation of the mines, the difficulty of the precipitous roads, and
the absence of means of transporting heavy masses of machinery, ap-
peared to those engineers insurmountable obstacles, and disinclined
them to engage in such a difficult undertaking. On the refusal of these
capitalists to assist, Trevithick himself undertook to furnish the neces-
sary engines; and in September, 1814, Uville embarked at Ports-
month for Lima, with three Cornish miners, and nine of Trevithick's
engines.

Long before this period Trevithick had married a Miss Harvey, a
lady of good connections; her brother subsequently acquiring a large
fortune. By her Trevithick had several children, and it will prove at
once the love he entertained for her, and his spirit of perseverance even
in trifles, that during his long courtship he never missed walking every
evening several miles to visit her. Dissensions had, however, arisen in
his family, and he was more prepared to engage in that distant career
to which he was now invited.

Uville was received at Lima with the greatest honours and rejoicings,
and landed with his cargo under a royal salute. It was not until the
middle of 181(i that he was able to surmount the local difficulties of
transport, and place the first engine in operation. Trevithick, however,
had nobly armed him against the antagonist obstacles, and all that his
ingenuity could suggest h.id been put into practice. The machinery,
simplified to its greatest extent, was so divided as to form adequate
loads for the weakly llama, and the beams and boilers made in several
pieces were transported over precipices, where astonemay be thrown for
a league. The engine erected at Tauricocha, in the province of Tarma,
was put into operation, and in the presence of the government deputies
drained the first shaft of the mine of Santa Rosa, one of the Pasco
district. The greatest anticipations were created, and amid the profu-
sion of honours showered upon the projectors, nothing was wanted but
the presence of the meritorious inventor himself.

Trevithick had in these latter years been fully as active in his con-
tributions to the cause of science, as in any previoiis portion of his
career. It was he who suggested the improvement on steam boats by
prop\ilsion at the stern, which is now the subject of experiments at
London and at Liverpool. He considered that a spiral wheel re-
volving at the stern of a vessel was preferable to the use of side paddle
wheels, and we believe that a vessel something on this principle is now
about to make the trial voyage across the Atlantic.

Another contribution of his to steam locomotion was his revival
of giving motion to the engines by means of the re-action of the steam
made to spout against the atmosphere.

In 181.J he effected a gieat improvement in his high pressure engines,
by forming the piston so that a ring of water should run all round it,
and render the whole air-tight ; as he found in practice that a verv
moderate degree of tightness in the packing produces this re.in It.*

Trevithick was now actively engaged in ICngland preparing for his
departure. He had constructed several new engines, and an apparatus
for the Peruvian Mint ; and his attention was directed to an object of
the greatest importance, to remedy the growing scarcity of quicksilver,
by constructing furnaces for purifying the silver ore by fusion. At last,
in October, 1817, Trevithick, Robinson Crusoe like, gave np all his

• Hislorical and Descriptive .Anecdotes gf the Steam Knginc, by SWart, p. 520,

property in England, and leaving it to his wife and children, set sail
for Pern.

In February, 1817, he arrived at Lima, where his presence excited
the utmost enthusiasm. He was received by the government and the
people with the greatest honours, viliile the official announcement of
his arrival in the Gazette created tlie highest expectations of the
whole population. He had immediately an audience of the Viceroy,
and the Lord Warden of the mines was directed to escort him with a
guard of honour to the seat of his future labours. The principal men
of the mining district cainc many days' journey to Lima to see and wel-
come him, and all exerted tliemsehes to testify their esteem for the
well-deserving Don Ricardo Trevithick. Never, perhaps, w.as Euro-
pean so well received in the New Indies ; it was not Las Cases coming
to rescue an injured population from oppression, but it was a man of
science who had arrived to augment their old resources, and to create
new mines of wealth. It was the first benefit which they had received
from the Old ^V'orld, and it is not surprising that an ardent people re-
ceived Trevithick with asgreat enthusiasm as Columbus had once awoke
in Spain.

The exertions of this great man were crowned with success, and he
was equally rewarded by their profitable return, and the gratitude of
the people. The produce of the mines augmented to an unexpected
degree, and the coining machinery was increased six-fold ; his compa-
nions united in expi'essing their obligations to him, and the authorities
were not remiss in showing how they appreciated them. We under-
stand that he was invested with the title of a marquis, and was created
a grandee of the Spanish empire, while the Lord Warden of the mines
even proposed to erect his statue in massy silver.

In these employments Trevithick was engaged for many years ; but
at last the political dissensions, and his own wandering disposition, in-
duced him to wish to leave the country. This was no easy matter :
for the veneration with which he was regarded as a benefactor sent t'lom
Heaven, made the people regard his absence as a public calamity, and
take every measure to prevent his departure. At last he made his
escape, through dangers which few, less adventurous than himself, could
have encountered ; and, after escaping the terrors of the mountain and
the desert, and the arm of the wandering savage, he again arrived safely
in England, where he was about the period of the great panic in 1827.

Here he endeavoured to raise capita! to carry on some of his colossal
projects, but with his usual ill-success— for those who knew his skill,
feared the waywardness of his character ; and those who did not, were
repulsed by the giant nature of his enterprises. It was in vain he
urged his own success, and represented the boundless resources of the
Andean territory. He had the mortification to find his provision for
his ow n fortune nullified by the ignorance and timidity of those with
whom he sought to participate. While in America he had acquiied
large tracts of land, and on one estate had a mountain of copper ore,
which, like the hill mines of Potosi or Montserrat, it would take cen-
turies to exhaust. Here he proposed to construct railways, and, by
the aid of capital and machinery, make the shores of the Pacific as
great a mart for the produce of the earth, as those of his own native
promontory.

Don Ricardo again returned to the New World, and resumed his
labours for the benefit of the American people ; for," it must be ob-
served, that however he may have been remunerated, and how much
so ever he may have desired to advance his own interests, yet the
apathy of his conntiymen ever prevented him from cairying out his
own wishes, or being any other than the great regeneiator of American
riches. He died, indeed, comparatively poor, and left, we believe,
little other inheritance to his family than the grandeur of his name
and the glory of his works.

In his person and manners he seemed formed to sustain the arduous
contests to which he Wiis destined. The robustness of form, inured by
yeais of toil and fatigue, was reflected by the innate self-confidence of
ins disposition. Blunt, but not rude, he maintained his opinions with
honesty and power, and was only in fault that too frequent success
made him .idhere to them with pertin.icity. In his moial character he
maintained with propriety all the social duties. Kind to his family, he
was ever ready to make any sacrifice, although the meddling of others
may have created dissension in his domestic circle ; while as a friend
none, perhaps, could be more relied upon, for his feelings of confidence
survived repeated disappointments and betrayals. His mental powers
aie best appreciated by the events of his life, for we may be assured
that if no one be great without some divine assistance,* so few have
done remarkable things without having in some degree participated
in their "reatness. His genius was of the highest order, while those
difficulties which his invention could not dissolve were overcoine by his
perseverance. His selt'-education also allowed him to borrow little from

• Nemo uii'inaia ina;;iiU3 fuit sine alimw afllattl diviuo.— C'lavv,

96

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Marcb,

others, but made him dependent on himself; and this confidence was
rarely in vain, lor his errors were always less tliose of judgment than
consequent upon a hastiness of disposition, which, as it had met with
but little sympathy from the world, was but too apt to despise it. His
skill in providing for all occurrences was rarely baffled, and could not
easily bo surpassed, while his original and gigantic conceptions, how-
ever nuich beyond the progress of his age, were seldom beyond the
bo\inds of ultimate practicability.

That his name is but slightly known, and his labours consequently
little appreciated, is by no means a result of their unimportance, but
the effect of concurrent circumstances, which, as they can elevate in-
significance, too often obscure merit. When he had conceived a plan
by the resources of his mind, and confirmed it by experiment, the very
Viistness of it surpassed his means of execution, and prevented it from
being carried into effect. He was himself no financier, and the asso-
ciations he formed with Vivian and others were either insufl!icient in
their extent, or turned more to the profit of his colleagues than himself.
It was true that he left no means unsought of obtaining the assistance
of others, but those who had capital feared to engage in enterprises to
which they were unaccustomed, while those used to business had no
disposition to deviate from the track in which they were long practised
and successful. It is the nature, indeed, of great monopolies, that
their very success engenders want of activity, for none feel so little in-
clination to engage in new processes as tliose who are accumulating
wealth by old ones. It is this that deadens the progress of the iron
trade, of distilling, and many others ; and the manufacturers, instead of
supporting new inventions, spurn them as associates, and trample them
down as rivals. It was the support of this influence which gave power
to Watt, while it cramped the energies of Trevithick ; for without
the aid of Boulton, the former might have wasted his life in experiments,
or, Hargrave-like, have been supplanted by another Arkwright. Tre-
vithick wanted but this to compete with Watt in worldly prosperity,
and he wants not this to ecpial him in the height of his genius, the
greatness of his works, or the wide-extending influence of his
inventions.

That the memory of Trevithick has not received the honours which
have been conferred upon others, is a neglect which has been shown to
many of our greatest names, and proceeds less from our want of venera-
tion for men of genius than from our national character. We do not,
like Frenchmen, dread a rival near the throne, nor are we, like Ameri-
cans, fearful of others denying to us what we are scarcely known to
possess. We are rich enough in illustrious names to consider their
admission in o\n- domestic habits and our thoughts as a sufficient sacri-
fice to fame, and it is only on the instigation of some provincial that we
raise statues to those who live in our hearts. Our population in the
north, however, less fertile in their contributions to the shrine of
genius, and more remarkable for local preference than extended sym-
pathies, give a greater share of admiration to the few of whom they
dare to boast. The English, in acceding to their suggestions, while they
commemorate inferior names, create mementos of their own neglect.
WHiile, therefore, there are three memorials of Walter Scott to one of
Shakspeare, and to Milton none, we must not consider the many tri-
butes to Watt as emblems of superiority, but as proofs of a better fate.
It is to this tha't we must attribute that a statue is rising to Watt in
Manchester, while Brindley's merit still relies upon the glorious memory
of his canal. We may carry, however, this self-confidence too far, and
where we meant only to show hospitality, may have brought in strangers
to master our own children ; when we see the generosity of the
American Congress to the spurious claims of Fulton, and the gratitude
of Peru for the labours of Trevithick, we are called upon to offer some
honour to his name, and to show that we are as proud of the inventor
of the high-pressure machinery as we are conscious of the benefits we
derive from his railway locomotives. But, neglect him as we may, the
name of Trevithick will live while his engines annihilate space in the
Old World, and in the New control the current of the Mississippi, and
disgorge the mountain riches of the Cordilleras.

MR. OLDHAM'S SYSTEM OF WARMING AND
VENTILATING,

AS iDOPTED .41 THE B.\NK 01' ENGLAND AND BA^K 01' lnl,L.\NI>.

Sir, — As the best mode of heating and ventilating apartments and
buildings is still an undecided matter among scientific men, I avail
myself of your journal to draw public attention to what appears to me
to be the best among the various plans and patents of the present day.

At a late meeting of the Royal Institution, Professor Brande, in the
course of his Lectures on Heat, and in considering its transmission and
diffusion by means of currents, pointed out the advantage of aiding the
operation of tliose currents by mcclmnical means.

In illustrating this mode of conveying heat where extensive apart-
ments are to be acted on, and where either a large volume of air or a
great quantity of heat may be required, the Professor described the
operation and etTect of an apparatus successfully adopted by Mr. Old-
ham, of the Bank of England, in which building it has been in use
during two years, having previously been adopted by him in the Bank
of Ireland, and where it has been in operation during sixteen years.

When heat h conveyed by means of natural currents, these are
necessarily, and exclusively, due to the difference in the temperature
and specific gravity of the column of air, when heated, relatively with
that of the surrounding atmosphere ; the force of these currents, and
the body of heat they are enabled to transmit, are therefore necessarily
languid, compared to what may be effected by artificial means.

That steam is the best medium for the transmission of heat is now
too well known to require much illustration. Its superiority over
water (independently of the greater facility with which steam is con-
veyed to a distance) i^ derived from the extraordinary quantity of heat
which water contains when in the state of vapour — a cubic foot of
water, in the form of vapour, having the power of giving out nearly
eleven times more heat, than the same body of water could when in its
liquid state.

The mode hitherto adopted in many establishments, and in the large
cotton-factories, is that of conveying steam through a continuous series
of cast-iron pipes, so arranged and extended, through the several
apartments to be heated, that each shall he supplied with a given
length and surface of pipe, proportioned to the dimensions of the
apartments to be heated.

This is manifestly a mode attended with great inconvenience and
expense in the conveyance of such pijies, in their liability to leak;
and in the want of uniformity in the temperature of the several parts
of the rooms in which those pipes arc introduced. But there is yet
another and more formidable evil attending this niude of heating,
namely, that while it merely conveys heat to the already existing air in
the chambers to be heated, it has no relation to the condilion of that
air, or the supply that may be required, or the changing and purifying
the same. In a word, the system, by means of steam-pipes, has the
power of heating, but not of ventilating. It has no relation to the
purity or impurity of the air to which it imparts the heat ; and it is a
fact, that giving an additional supply of heat to an apartment may
even be prejudicial, inasmuch as such apartment may require ventila-
tion, that is, change of air, rather than heat.

Now tlie process of heating adopted by Mr. Oldham has this peculiar
and distinguishing characteristic, which gives it a claim above all others,
namely, that it both heats and ventilates at the same time, to any extent,
and with any required rapidity.

As fir as health and comfort arc concerned, heating and ventilation
should never be separated. Mr. Oldham's process and apparatus most
effectually supplies this desideratum.

Doctor Ure, in his inquiry into the modes of warming and ventilating,
observes, that " the great principle of ventilation is, never to present
the same portion of air twice over to the human lungs, but to supply
them at each fresh inspiration with pure aerial particles in a genial
thermometric and hygromctric condition."

Where heating is alone attended to, as in the case of heat conveyed,
by steam in metal pipes, it becomes necessary to provide currents of-
cold air, to supply the required continued change in the apartments
for the pur'poscs of ventilation. It is manifest, then, that the best
principle must be, first, to heat the required volume of fresh air, and
then introduce it to the apartments to be heated and ventilated, instead
of efl^ecting this double object by two distinct processes. This is
effectually accomplished by the plan of Mr. Oldham under consideration.
The modus operandi is as follows : — A body of pure air, of any required
volume, and passing at any required velocity, is forced by the aid of an
air-condensing pump into a chamber or chest, where it is heated in an
ingeniously-contrived, but extremely simple apparatus, by means of
cross currents of steam. The peculiarity of this contrivance is, that an
ascending body of air, on entering this chest, divides itself spontaneously
into any required number of thin horizontal films, by which a very
extended surface is exposed to corresponding steam-heated metal sur-
faces. Instead, therefore, of passing the steam through a scries of pipes,
along which, hut in an opposite direction, the condensed water has to
return, it is conveyed at once from the boiler into the chest or condenser,
(which, in fact, it is,) where, on having parted with its heat to the air
as above described, it is condensed, and returned directly to the boiler.
The chest or condenser, in the apparatus at the Bank of England, is
but three feet square, yet the body of air to be heated, while passing
over but 3 lineal feet, spreads itself over no less than I j-1 superficial
feet, and coming in contact with a corresponding superficies, heated by
the steam, it necessarily receives a very large supply of heat in a short
space of time.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL

97

This apparatus In the Bank of England, independently of heating
and ventilating several large apartments, is put to the severest test
namely, that of evaporating the moisture from a series of 400 large
mill-boards, with a surface of 1000 feet, and which moisture they have
absorhed from the fresh-printed bank notes which are daily dried by
this process.

Witli respect to the quantity of heat which this small apparatus is
capable of imparting to the air, this is accurately tested by the quantity
of water which is condensed, and which amounts hourly to twelve
gallons. Now, as Professor Brande observed, when we consider what
an enormous body of heat is contained in the steam generated from
twelve gallons of w ater, we are enabled to appreciate the iiourly eftective
heating powers of this apparatus.

As to the volumes of warm air that may be required, tliat will of
course depend on the cubical contents of (he buildings to be heated.
This, however, may be stated, that there is scarcely any limit, eitlier to
the quantity of heat which may be thus given out, or the quatitity of
fresh air, so heated, that may be propelled by such a system. Of the
mechanical means by which this artificial current of air is created, little
need be said, these are within tlic reach of all.

Of the efficacy of an artifical current produced by means of a fan or
cylinder, Dr. Urc observes, that " it has been ascertained that a power
equivalent to one horse, in a steam engine, will drive at the rate of 80
feet per second a fan, the effective surfaces of whose vanes, and whose
inhaling conduits have each an area of 18 inches sfpiare, equal to that of
a large steam boiler chimney. The velocity of air in the chimney,
produced by a consumption of fuel equivalent to the power of twenty
horses, was no more than :i.j feet per second ; while that of the fan, as
impelled by the power of one horse, was (iO feet per second. Hence it
appears, that the economy of ventilation by the fan, is to that by the
chimney draught, as OS is to vij or, 38 to 1 . It is obvious, therefore,
that with one bushel of coals consumed in working a steam-impelled
excentric fan, we can obtain <is great a degree of ventilation, or we can
displace as great a volume of air, as we could with 38 bushels of coals
consumed in creating a chiunicy draft. Economy, cleanliness, and
compactness of construction, are nut, however, the sole advantages
which the mechanical sjstem of ventilation possesses over the physical.
It is infallible, even under such vicissitudes of wind and weather, as
would essentially obstruct any chimney drauglit ventilation ; because it
discharges the air vsith a momentum quite eddy proof; and it may be
increased, diminished or stopped altogether, in tlie twinkling of an eye,
by the mere sliifting of a band from one pulley to another. No state of
atmosphere without, no humidity of air within, can resist its power.
It will impel the air of a crowded room, loaded with the vesicular
vapours of perspiration, with equal certainty as the driest and most
expansive."

After so clear and practical an exposition of the advantages of a
current, mechanically created, nothing further need be said of natural
currents arising from mere increase of temperature, excepting that by
the adoption of the pump instead of the fan, a very considerable power
is saved, and the operation performed much more effectively.

Another peculiarity of Mr. Oldham's apparatus here merits atten-
tion. The large volume of air heated and passed off to the required
apartnienls is, previously to its being received into the heating chest,
filtered and putilied, by being deprived of all that noxious floating
matter with which the atmosphere, particularly that of London, is at
all times charged, and which, if heated and sent into the apartments
with the air, would but increase that noxious character and render it
still mote injurious to the respiration of hiuiian beings. Not only
indeed arc these offensive impurities which are floating in the atmo-
sphere effectually separated, but a power is given of charging it with
aromatic or antiseptic matter, thus rendering it not only the medium
of warmth and ventilation, but of purifying and healthful influences.
The peculiarities of Mr. Oldham's arrangements then, are, first, the
adoption of mechanical means for the creation of/i current of hot or
cold air, and which may be augmented to any required extent or
volume, instead of that comparatively feeble current wliich results from
the difference of temperature alone ; secondly, the causing this artificial
current of air to be heated by a peculiar arrangement which separates
its volume spontaneously into their horizontal films, thus making them
pass in contact with a corresponding immber of surfaces heated by
steam, imparting a large volume of heat to a large volume of air in a
small space and with great rapidity — and when so heated, of again
unitina these films — to be passed up in a body in whatever direction or
to whatever distance may be required ; thirdlj', the filtering the air
before it is received into the heating apparatus, thus efiectually ex-
cluding that offensive dust and black matter with which the atmosphere
is charged. I am. Sir, &c. C. W. WILLIAMS.

[We will, in our next Journal, if possible, give the drawings of Mr.
Oldiiam's apparatus.— Ediiok.]

MACHINE FOR CLEANING AND REPAIRING FRONTS
OF HOUSES, &c., OR A FIRE ESCAPE.

Sir, — As the many melancholy instances of loss of life by fire have
occasioned a very general interest in the invention of Fire Escapes, I
beg the favour of your notice of one which I think has all the desiderata
mentioned by Captain Manby, in his address to the Society (or the Pro-
tection of Life from Fire, namely, simplicity, portability, and efficiency.
I may add to these, economy in construction as being not a whit less
important, seeing that the cheaper such machines can be made the
greater will be the chance of their being kept in every part of the me-
tropolis ; the expense of mine will not exceed seven poinids ; and in
quantities, I have no doubt they may be made for a third less.

As I do not pretend to be more
than an amateur in mechanics, I
fear I shall very ill explain my-
self. By reference to the an-
nexed sketch it will be seen that
my invention consists of a car
traversing u\> and down the iimer
or under side of a ladder, which
it uses as a sort of inclined rail-
way, and is suspended to the top
ro\nid of the ladder by means of
a chain passing over a pulley of
a snatch block. The car maybe
adj usted to any sized ladder, which
is admitted within the double
framework of the machine be-
tween four rollers (two at the
top and two at the bottom), each
of which have occasionally a bear-
ing on the ladder, but generally
only the lowest inside and the
upper outside rollers. The car
weighs, including a single fall
rope and block, about 90lbs,and
I propose that every fire engine
should carry one, which may be
attached ver)' ornamentally at
the opposite end to the driving
■^box.

By means of this car a fireman
could be raised to the upper
windows of a house without dif-
ficulty by three persons, and thus
atlbrd personal help to those in danger, who, nine times in ten, have not
presence of mind to avail themselves of the aid thrown up from below.
As the car descends with the inclination of the ladder, it of course
recedes from the front of the house ; it is, however, enabled to put forth
in case of need an additional projection or stage of four feel, as shown
in the sketch, whicli I believe would be the utmost required. Such a
machine will also be found very useful for builders, plasterers, painters,
and others, for the purpose of repairing, cleaning, colouring, or painting
fronts of buildings. If generally adopted for such purposes, hardly a street
would be without one, which would form an additional certainty of the
fire-escape being ready in case of need.

I need not be reminded that my invention is nothing without a ladder ;
but as fires very rarely happen without their being speedily procured in
the neighbourhood, there cannot be any difficulty on that point.

Hoping to obtain, through jour widely circulated publication, some
practical opinion of the machine, I intrude this communication.

And remain, Sir, yours, &c..
Nine Elms, December 31, 1838. A, F.

THE NATIONAL GALLERY.

Sir,— I had been for some time coveting a little leisure to submit
a few opinions to you on this ill-fated building, when the " Supple-
ment to the Public Buildhigs of London," by Mr. Leeds, informed me
that my intentions were anticipated by one much more competent to
speak upon the subject. The points to which 1 more immediately
intended to advert, were for the most part those ou which Mr. Leeds
has so foicibly couunonted, viz., the absurdity of accusing the archi-
tect of having diminislied the capacity of the building by the very
measures which, on the contrary, increased it (see pages (i'J, 6ii) ; tlie
inconsiderate outcry concerning its being "too low" see pages 67,
68) ; and the injustice of " censuring in the lump, without caring to
hint at particular beauties in what upon the whole may be defective."

It is not for m« to presume that wnything- emanating from 60 hum-

93

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL,

[March,

Iile a correspondent as myself, will be .illowed to add inudi weight Ut
the eritiiisii) of Mr. Leeds; nor sliould I venture on these reiimrUs,
hilt that opinions — and very decided imcs — h.ive heeci expressed hy so
many person*, whose riglit to pass sentence is nut more than mine.

Tlie d 'fee's of the strnrture should have been criticised with a more
candid re fen nee to the imperative necessities width interfered with
the full exiTcise <if the arcliilect's taste; and the merits of the portico
(parti- ul.irly as rejiards its (dan) of tlie entrance liall, and of the
<re"eral proportions of the several conip irtments of the ficaile,
separately considered, slioiild have bi'en allowed. Gr.intrd. the central
cupola is small, its tambour much loo plain, and the tno smaller
cupola* or turrets unnecessary. The cornice of the portico, too, cer-
tainly lacks that prondnence and richness which the C Tintliian
coUiinns (particularly as thry are Ibited) rquire ; but the p irtico
dtherui.-^e, in Pi;ard lo its low- pitched pediment (lerliapsit may lie too
low) a'd the just approximation of its columns, is worthy of infinitely
more admiration than tho St. M.irtiiiians have yet besiowed upon it ;
a- d I 'ordially a^ree ivith the writer, whose minute ana ysis wou'd
nnder any furtlier comments uraluiloiis, that the " faia le, if erected
some years earlier, would have been probably as tnuch extolled as it
has now bi'en decri'd."

]My chief pnrpose in now addrcssinu' y >u, is tosup^g'st such remedial
nieisures as I conceive to be — at a vrrv little expense — practieub'c ;
and I tlierefore, with all defert-nce (as to an unquestionable superior
whom, in spiteotthe world, I deliglit to honour) snbiuit to the archi-
tect the adjoined sUeteh, simply showing: bow, by raisiiii; atlic stories
over the central and extreme compartments ; by tr.insposing the
columns now in the centre of the wings, and by placing a pila-ter attic
order round the (arahour of the dome, an altered ell'ect wmild be pro-
duced, which the public might deem an improvement. The dome will
still perhaps remain too small (the dotted line inelosinsf it being more
accordant with my own notions of proportion), but it will certainly
not be so objectionable on the score of plainness. If the dome could
be entirely reconstructed, it might possibly he made at once available,
for increased accommodation and elfect ; but I am speculating only
on what may be irathered from the small engravings before inc, and
saw too little of the building when in London some time back, to ven-
ture on anything more than mere suggestions.

Your obedient servant,

GEORGE WICiHTWICK.

Plymouth, Feb., 1839.

[VVe regret that it is out of onr power to comply with the request of
our correspondent as lo the insertion of a wo<id-cnt, as it would form a
precedent which would not tail in other cases of sHsgestions to entail
on us great inconvenience and expense. We think his proposed alb ra-
tions would be calculated t ; produce the ell'ect he describes, but they
would have a tendency to alter the character of the building from its
present classicality.] — Edit. Civ. Eng. §• Arch. Journal.

RAILWAY CURVES.

Sib, — Having been lately employed setting out railway curves, like
your correspondent, " A Sub" (in your January number), I cannot
help offering a few observations on bis plan ; althongb 1 fear I am
not one of the " more experienced readers" that be expected would
take it up. He says, he thinks " it would be an improvement upon
the system of running directly from a straight line to a curve of li, 2,
or ij miles radius, if a curve of 3, 4, or o miles radius, for a short
distance, were made use of to connect them."

Now to me it appears that the true principle is this : — When you must
change your line of direction in a railroad, do so with as iiiuable a
curvature as possible ; for we know that if the curvature is not equa-
ble, some parts of it must be sharper than if the same radius were
used all through. This, I think, would be a sufficient reason for
rejecting his plan at the outset.

But even if without injury we could have a gradual increase of
curvature — Cvi bono ? Is it to acmsloni the engines to a curvilinear
path ? Surely when an engine is at a point just entering on a curve,
it is pretty clear that its action on that curve will not be affected by
the nature of the path it vi3.s preciously describing, since its tendency
just then is in the direction of the tangent, which is quite independent
of that path.

Again, your correspondent says, " that iirojcctiles (where the
resistance is equal) assume the parabolic curve," by which he pro-
poses an approximation. Now the resistance heiny constant is not the
causeof a projectile's describing a parabola, but because gravity, which
acts upon it, is a constant force, producing a constantly accelerated
velocity, so that the distances gone in a vertical direction are as the
squares of those gone in a horizontal (counting from the highest
foint), -vvhich is not a very similar case to that of an engine moving

along a railway. But even if we were to draw an inference from the
motion of a projectile, I would do it thus : — We know that the curva-
ture of its path is not constant, neither is its velocity — the latter being
least when the former is greatcs'. ; now, the velocity of an engine
should be constant, if possible^ — therefore, let the curvature of its path
be so also. — I remain, Sir, your most obedient servant,

Feb. 19, 1839. R. W. T.

A METHOD FOR STRIKING GOTHIC ARCHES.

Sir, — I beg leave to make public, through the medium of your
Journal, the following method, which I discovered some years ago, and
which I believe to be original, for Striking Gothic Arches, more,
particularly that which has been termed the Tudor arch : —

Having determined the height and breadth of the arch, draw a
horizontal line on a whitened wall ; make the length of this line twice
the height of the arch, and from the centre of the line, let fall a perpen-
dicular, to which give one half the width of the arch. Let nails be
driven at the two extremities of the horizontal line ; to one of these
fix an end of a chain somewhat heavy, but composed of short links, and,
passing the other end over the other nail, draw np the chain till the
bottom of the curve correspond with the extremity of the perpendicular,
and when in that position make the chain fast to the nail over which
it was passed. This done, trace upon the wall, with charcoal or other-
wise, one half of the curve formed by the freely suspended chain. This
curve, placed in such a manner as that the lower or more curved part
may rest upon the impost, will form one half of the required Tudor
arch, the other half being its counterpait — thus : —

1.

Let A B (in fig 1) be the breadth of the required arch, and C D its
height. Set oft' on the wall (fig •2) E F=2 C D ; from the centre G,
of E F, let fall G =H— The chain being fastened at E, and then

passed over F, and drawn np until the bottom of the curve correspond
with H, make fast at F. Now the curve E H or F H placed so as that
the more curved part fall on the impost ; and the extreme E or F at
the point C (fig 1), will be half of the required Tudor arch. By this
bisection and arrangement of a Catenary, gotbic arches of various agree-
able curvature may be most easily and expeditiously traced.
I am. Sir, your most obedient,

13th Feb. 1839. J. K- JACKSON, Col.

[VVe have taken the liberty of altering onr correspondent's arrange-
ment of the figures, by making two answer the purpose of three, which
we hope he will excuse, particularly as it does not interfere with the
description of his ingenious and simple method of setting out the arch ;
a method which, we are sure, will be appreciated by the profession. —
Editor.]

MONTROSE ■VVET DOCK.

Jteport pf James Walker, Esq., Chit Engineer,
The Site. — Having risitcd Jlontroso, in ooininm.v with Mr. Leslie, early
in Peceinber last, I surveyed tlie sites and pUuis of Docks proposcil by tliat
cuRincer, viz.,— the Horologe Hill site, and the other h-tnccn Meiiiliiin Plaio
anil the patent SHp, or farther down the river than the Horologe Hill ; anil I
have no hesitation in preferring the lowui- situation. It places the entrnuce
in a wilier ami better part of the riyer, where the tcUly-tiile will reniler the
euturing of the ships very easy ; it inlorferis Irss with the present wliarfage ;
and (which I think very 'important) gives the opportunity of oxteiuling the
Docks as occasion mayrequire upon the links — a property which is uncovered
and belongs to the town. I consider this site also, whether as respects ap-
proach from sea, entrance to the Dock, or the Dock itself, peculiarly eligible.
FliiST, AS to the approach PiioM Ska. — Having had reference to an
apparently very accurate survey by Mr. Buclianau pf JSJinburgh, and having

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

99

been favomed liy Cniitain ISeaufui't with tlio Ailmiralty survey of tlip harbour,
a copy of nhicli is now before me, I find the depth between the Annat Sand
and tl»o Leads, at low water of sprin*^-tides, from seventeen to eij^hteen feet,
whieh was confinned by the sounding I tool; : outside of tliis to deep water,
there is notliingless tluui fifteen feet; inwards, tlie deptli decreases gradually
to less than luilf the above,* until opposite the Iiow F-ight, when it again
increases to 13, 12, 11, K), 10, and 1 1 feet, whieh last is in the Stell, opposite
to, and not far fi'oni the entrance to the proposed lower Dock. Four feet
maybe added to all the above depths fir the low water of neap-tides; thirteen
feet for the hiiih water of neap-tides ; and ei(;hteen feet for tlie high water of
spring-tides. The length from the entrance to the harbour to that proposed
for the Dock, is upwards of a mile, nearly straight, with rocky ground on
the south bank, and sand on the north ; but no rocks in the channel of the
river: the bearing being N.W. by W. ^ W., and the width in the Stell,
opposite to the proposed entrance to the Dock, about IKK) yards. In this
place, the direction of tlie ilood-tide is thrown over towards the south side, so
that for about a widtli of 100 yards from the shore, there is scarcely un.V
curi-ent, 'J"he passage from sea, therefore, up to the Dock entrance, may be
jironounced decidedly good.

SECONDi.r, AS TO TiiK ENTn.\NCE ^Ir. licslie has pointed the entrance

down thu river, whicli, had there been any current to interfere with ships en-
tering, would have been objectionable ; but in the present case, it is, for the
reasons above stated, a matter of comparative indifference. This entrance
is proposed to be fifty- five feet in width, and fifteen feet si.^ inches in depth,
at the liigh-water of neap-tides, which I think sufficient, and was so considered
by the trustees when the subject was mentioned at the meeting. Mr. I^eslie
proposes one ]»air of gates at first, and shows by (lotted lines upon the
genera! plan, how this extension nuvy be nnide at any future ]»-rind into the
river, so as to fcirm liie entrance into a lock with two pair of gates. This
is the part of the ilesign, the idea of which, for the reason I shall presently
state, ought, I think, to be abandoned. The Dock is to be of the same depth
as the entrance ; the form a rectangular parallelogram, four hundred and
filty feel long, and three hundred feet brt)ad, — giving an area of three acreSj
which, for a Dock, I citnsidcr decidedly too small ; and that the plan would
therefore be objectionable, were it not for the great facility of extension upon
the links, — my opinion being that, in a very few years, the three acre Dock
will not be too large for a tide basin, with one pair of gates into the river, to
be opened before high-watci- ; and that then the lock witli the double gates
should be at the upper end of the basin, to lock out of it, up to the inner l)ock
or Docks, [trojierly so called, which may then be of a size thought exjjedient;
for what would, in respect of size, be considered extravagant if nH-onimended
now, will not probably appear so when the first Dock, which will afterwards
be the basin, shall be found insufficient. The sketch which accompanies this
report will better explain my meaning. I would not recommend more being
done at first towards the ulterior plan than simply returning the wing walls to
form the future entrance, and making the front of the l)ock or basin wall
between these returns nf timber piles or baulks to form a dam for future
works within, and to be removed when these works shall be completed. Willi
the above modification, I entirely approve of Air. Leslie's plan, the execution
of which does not appear to me to pitsent any peculiar difliculty which Mr.
Leslie has not provided for.

Water — \\liat was said to me of the apprehension that there would be
great difireulty in keeping the works clear of water, led me to inciuire parti-
cularly respecting the wells that had been dug in the neighbourhoo<l, and the
nature of the strata. On these ]ioints, I bad information also from Charles
Gordon, an experienced well-digger, as well as from Mr. Leslie, and other
gentlemen. Tliere will be water undoubtedly, as the ground is sand and
gravel, witii silth below : this will have to be pumped out, and the springs and
wells round will be drained ; bnt, after this is done, the n ater will dimini^jh,
and the (juick-sanil lose its quickness. I feel assured, from expei-ience in
similar cases, that a moderate-sized pumping engine will overcome the diffi-
culty of watei-. The docks in the Thames are made in sand and gravel,
under a clay surface: the Hull docks are all in silth. Mr. Leslie having
furnished me with a copy of his working-plans, I have examined the same,
and find that great pains have been taken with them : they are very particular
and explanatory. I have also examined the estimate in detail, by taking out
the (piantitiesfrom the plaas, and find that the same care has been extended
to this. The sufficiency of the prices in some cases, particularly the
masonry, may be tested by those who have local information. From the
proximity to quarries, I think them sufficient ; but that the prices of the dams
and the excavation are close, considering the contingencies to which these
works are liable. On the whole, I would recommend an addition of 3,000/. to
the amount of 35,121/. uponthe worksdetailed in theestimati'. On examining
the detail, I do not find the following particulars to be included, viz : — The
Dock-gates, mooring and v\'arping buoys in the river, moorings or bollards in
Dock, pumping (with the steam-engine) while the works are in progress.
These will amount to 4,000/., making an addition of 7,000/. to the estimate
of35,121/.t

** The Admiralty survey makes six feet only upon the Cross Dykes, the shoalcst
place, which must be a very low tide.

t Mr. Leslie prepared two estimates ; tlie one being the parliamentary estimate,
romprehending the whole work, and amounting to about lO.eOO/. ; the other was gut
hy the Trustees, in October, 1837, along with workinj; plans and specifications for the
work, exclusive of Dock gates, in four department, and amounted to 3r»,0U0/. odds.
This last estimate, Mr. Leslie has explained, did include the cxpenst: of pumping
with the engine, liut did nut comprehend the Dock gates, stated in the parliamentary
estimate at '^,000/. Mr. Leslie did not view moorings a iiart of the Dock, properlv so
called. The workin" pLans, speciUcations. and estimate, got in October, 18if7, were
those sqbroitled to Mr, \Valker,

The Harhoi k. — The Harbour is intimately connected with the Docks;
and, as ray attention was called, and several cinestions asked, at your meeting,
on the various points relative to the former, it cannot be considered irrelevant
if I repeat what I then slated. I have already referred to the principal fea-
tures of the entrance and river up to the Stell. The harbour is considered
hv vou, and probably with reason, as the best between the Forth and
Murrav Firth : it is therefoie very important in a ]Miblic view, although cer-
tainly not a perfect harbour of refuge ; for, with north-east winds, the Leads
stone, and otlier rocks, are upon the lee, close to the entrance, and nearly dry
at low water ; and, with south-east gales, ships are stated to lie uneasy in the
Stell ; vet, with westerly, which are the prevailing winds, the harbour afl'ords
good refuge. The number of wind-bound vessels that entered the harbour
last vcar was sixty -four ; and it was stated to me that twenty to thirty were
in tlie harbour at" the same time. Considering the harbour thus, even in a
public light, a good beacon should be placed at the entrance, upon the
dangerous rock to which I have before alluded ; and, judging from my ex-
perience in this (luarter, I think it more than proliahle that, if a proper repre-
sentation were made to the Commissioners of Northern Lights, they would
either undertake the work, or assist in it.

The Basin. — .\s the harbour of Montrose may be considered the passage
through which the sea-water finds its way into the Basin* when the tide is at
flood, and out of it when the tide is at ebb, and as its depth and
width are proportioned to the (luantily of water that passes, so every
thing that diminishes that ipiantity, or lessens the basin, has the direct
efl^ect of lessening the width anil depth of the harbour. Therefore,
the basin, to the extent that is covered by a spring tide, should be
watched with jealousy, and every encroachment prevented. In the -Admiralty
survey, it is included as part of the hariiour ; it is part of the plan now before
me, and every encroachment upon it may, hy a special -Act of Parliament,
be the subject of prosecution ; hut your interests are more immediately con-
cerned, anil you have a better oiiportunity of guarding this, which may bo
considered the lungs of your harbour.

HARBom TRU.ST.— A meeting of the trustees of the harbour took place
in the Town-Hull, on Jlondav, 28th January last. Provost Crawford in the
chair, when the clerk laid on the table the above report. The meeting were
highly gratified with the tenor of the report, and concurred in a unanimous
opiniim, " that the authority of so eminent an engineer as Mr. Walker, in
corroboration of Mr. I,eslie's views, completely removes all objections to the
plan, in regard to site, foundations, eligibility, or otherwise, — and also justifies
the trustees in concluding that the works can bo executed for a sum below the
amount warranted hy the rates lev ialilr under the --Act, which aliord the most
adequate security to lenders." The provost then stated that several gentle-
men interested in the improvement had resolved to advance 15,000/. to the
trustees, or to give their guarantee to that amount ; and thai he was appointed
to announce this to the meeting. 'I'lie trustees expressed their hearty appro-
bation of the proposed loan or guarantee, and agreed to accept of the same,
and to record their thanks to the gentlemen who had come so liberally for-
ward to promote the undertaking. The meeting afterwards appcinted com
niittees for arranging and disposing of sundry matters preliminary to the
commencement of the work, which will be contracted for without loss of
time. We understand that the outer wall of the Doclc, which is 600 feet
in length, and will consequently be of some temporary service to the shipping,
is to be first completed. — Ilfonirose lierktr.

HISTORY OF PAPERHANGINGS.

Extracts from a paper hy Mr. ('PACE, read before the Royal Institute of
British Architects.

Paperhangings arc of comparatively nioilern origin, and although they ate
of such consequence both from tlie present extent of the manufacture, and as a
vehicle for the diflusion of taste, I believe that there has never yet been
written any detailed account of its lise anil progress in this, or as far as I
can discover, in any other eoiuitry. I imagine them to have been originally
manufacturod as a cheap imitation of the ric-h stuffs and tapestries used by
our ancestors to cover the stone walls and wainscoting of their apaiirnents.

The English and Flemish were the first in Europe who excelled in ta-
pestry, anii are supposed to haye brought the art from the Cnrsades; tho
workmen in France, from this cause, were called Sarozins.

The well known Bavcnx tapestry, rej resenting the invasion of tliis covmtry
by William the Conqueror, is supposed to be (he oldest existingspecimen. Tur-
ner, the historian, savs, that our .\nglo-Saxon ancestors had wall hangings,
some silken, some with figures of golden birds in needlework, others woven,
and some plain ; and in various illuminated manuscripts dating from the
Idth to tlic Ifjth centuries, I have found tliis material frequently introduced
as a covering for the walls, iind particularly as a canopy for thrones and
chairs of state.

It is in the reign of Henry the Eighth that I haye been first able to trneo
the distinct maniifacture of the wove tapestry ; and Dugdale, in his War-
wickshire, affirms that it was iioie first introduced into England by William
Sheldon, Esq., who brought over workmen i'nim Flanders about 15-10, and
employed them in drawing Iiangings, of whicli I believe specimens still
reniaiii at Weston. Notwithstanding the autliority of Dugdale, I think
the art was merely then rc\iyed ; for Lord .Arundel, by liis will in 1392,
tempore Richard the Second, bequeaths to his wife Ph'ilippa the hangings
of his hall recently made in London ; and even ten years previously Richard

« In the Admir»l»y survey the Basin is called the Slale,

100

THE Cn^IL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[March,

the Second graiUed a licfiicc ki (.'usmo Genlilis ul'six pieces of tapestiy, nt
a gi-ecn pi'ound, powcicrpd ^vith roses, which tlie king sent as a present to
the Pope. However, the art seems in the reign of Henry tlie Eiglitli to
h.ive been brmisht to a perfection it liad not before attained, and the great
Holbein is snpi)osed to have fnrnislied various designs for it.

About this time the \ise of tapestries was not confined to the nobility,
bnt it was not uncommon to see abundance of arras, rich li:ingings of tapes-
try, silver vessels, &c. iir Die houses of persons of much meaner quality.

In the reign of James the First, a very extensive manufactory of hose
tapestry was est.nblished at Mortlake, in Surrey, by .Sir Francis Crane,
wliich was niunilicently ])atronised by that king and his son Charles the
First, who praiileil an ,'inuuily id' Jt'iUUO towards the niainlcnanee of the
undertaking. Francis Cleyn, a painter of considerable reputation ill the
.senicc of the king of Denmark, recommended by .Sir Henry W'otton, w as
employed in this manufactory, and ga\e designs in both liistory and gro-
tesque. Indeed, the beautiful hangings which then adorned the British
palaces were much admired by Ibreigners of distinction, who visited this
country, and the maunfacture was held in high repute abroad. The civil
wars, however, mined this large manufactory to which I have just alluded,
and it does not appear to have been again carried on to any extent.

A Monsieur Pariport, in I7'2l), made a spirited attempt to compete with
the celebrated Gobelins at Paris, and founded a considerable manufactory
at Fulhain. in which he Avas nobly encouraged by the then Uuke of Cum-
berland, who assisted him with a gift of £G000, but this scion failed ; and
in 17;)9 a set id' designs for tapestry, painted by Znchandli, and executed
by Paul Saunders for the Kavl id' Fgremimf, fur a house he built in Picca-
dilly, were the last made in this cnuntry.

Connected with tapestry are the silk and satin damasks and the ri<-li
figured velvets ; and another material much employed in this country for
hangings and other purposes was the stamped and jiainted gilt leather, on
which was represented sometimes in relief divers kinds of grotesques, re-
lieved with gold and silver, vermilion and other coloiU'S. Many suppose it
to have been invented by the Spaniards, and by them communicated to the
Flemings. v\ho excelled in it, and introduccil here about the time of Heinv
the Eiglnh.

The writers in the Frencli Encyclopedia confess, even in 17G2, that though
the stamped leather of France equalled that from Flanders and Holland,
yet that that made in Venice and England was superior in both beauty of
design and d\u'ability. This manufacture so much resembles that of paper-
h,ingings, that I conclude it must have given the idea for the invention of,
at any rate, one branch of the subject now under consideration.

Paper hangings may be divided into three separate branches; the flock,
the metal, and tlie coloured ; and each of these seems to have been invented
at a difl'ercnt time, as an imitation of a distinct material — the Hock to imi-
tate the tapestries and iigured velvets, tlie metal in iinitalion of the gilt
leather, and the culoured as a cheap substitute fur painted decorations.
Professor Bi'ckman says, that the former of these, the liock, was lirst
manufactured in England, and invented by Jerome Langcr, who carried on
the art in London, in the reign of Cliarles the First, and obtained a patent
lor his discovery, dated May 1st, 16.3d. Various French and German
author.s give us the credit of this invention, yet it is disputed by a French-
man, M. Tierce, who in the .lournal /Economique says, that a man named
FraiiQois carried on this art at Rouen so early as the year 1620 and 1680,
and affirms that the wooden blocks employed are still preserved with the
before.mentioncd dates inscribed on them. Fraufjois was succeeded by liis
son, who followed the business with success for lifty years, and died at
Rouen in 1718 (?) M. Savan', in his Dictionnaire de Commerce, tints de-
scribes the manner in which the Frcncli manufactured their tonture de
laine, or Hock hangings: — The artist having joepared his design, drew on
the cloth, with a fat oil or varnish, the subject intended to be represented ;
and then the fiocker, from a tray containing the difl'erent tints of flocks,
arranged in divisions, took the colours he required, and sprinkled them in a
peculiar manner with his linger ami thumb, so that the various shadow ands
colours werepropcrly blended, and an imitation of the wove tapestry jiroduced.

Of the second branch, the metal papers. I do not tind much mentioned
liy the older writers ; and of the coloured papers, I almost despaired of
linding any early account, till, in an old French dictionary of commerce,
printed in 172.3, under the head of Dominoterie. I discovered an account
which seems to give tlie origin of the present system of paperstainiiig.
Dominoterie is an ancient l''riaich name for marble paper, such as used by
bookbinders; and the early French paperstaiuers were associated witii
the makers of that article, as a class called Dominotiei's. The manufacture
is thus described : —

The design having been drawn in outline, on paper pasted together of
the size required, the paper was then divided into parts of a suitable size,
and given to the carver or wood engraver, to cut the designs on blocks of
pear tree, much in the same manner as at present. The outline thus cut
was printed in ink with a press, resembling that then used by the letter-
press printers, on separate sheets of paper. When dry, they were then
painted and relieved with dift'erent colours in distemper, and aftenvards
joined together, so as to form the required design. The autlior then adds,
that grotesques and p.anels in which are iiilenuinglcd flowers, fruits, ani-
mals, and small figures, have up to this time succx-eded better than imita-
tions of landscapes, or other tapestry hangings, which are sometimes
attempted, and refers to article 61 iif the French laws in 1686, which con-
linns the statutes published in 1580, 1618, and 1619, in which rules are
given as to what kind of presses, &c., are to be used by the dominotiers,
and prohibiting them vuidei heavy penalties from piintiiig witli types.

llecurring to the subject as connected with this country; in the year
1704, a Mr. .Jackson, a manufacturer o!' paperhangings at Battersca, pub-
lished a work on the invention id" printing in Chiaro Oscuro. and the appli-
cation of it to the making of pajierhangings, illusti-aled with prints IH
proper colours. This book is a sort of advertisement of the kinds of papers
made, and the mode of manufacture employed by him. He adopted a
style of paper hangings executed witli blocks in Chiaro Oscuro, in imita-
tion of the most celebrated classic subjects.

To use his words, •' The person who cannot purchase the statues them-
sehes, may have these prints in their places, and thus eft'ectually show his
taste. 'Tis the choice and not the price which discovers the true taste of
the posses.sor ; and thus the Apollo helvedere, the Mediecan Venus, or the
Dying Gladiator, may be disposed of in niches, or surrounded with a
mosaic work in imitation of frames, or with festoons and garlands of
flowers, with great taste and elegance; or. if jireferred, landscapes after the
most famous masters, may be introduced into the paper. That it need not
be mentioned to any person of taste how much this way of tinishing with
colours, soltening into one another with harmony and repose, exceeds every
either kind of paperhanging hitherto known, though it has none of the gay,
giaiiug colours in patches of red, green, yellow, and blue, &c. which are to
pass for flowers and other objects in the common papers."

By the account of this gentleman we llnd that paperhangings were then
in common use, and had reached a certain degree of perfection, for that even
arabesques \\ ere executed ; and J therefore concei\ e that the art disco-
vered bv Lanyer had been conlinuetl from his time to the present ; parti-
cularly as in the year 1712, the 10th of Queen .\nne, a duty of IJd. per
square yard is imposed on this manutiuture. In the reign uf that queen
the Chinese paperh.angings were very much employed, and have continueil
in fashion to the present day. These hangings, though parts of them may be
executed by blocks orstencils, are almost wholly painted by hand. Cotempo-
rary with "Jackson. 1 have learned that a Mr. Taylor, the grandfather of
one of our present most eminent innnufacturers, carried on this business to
a Considerable extent, and accumulated a large fortune. He was succeeded
by his son, who. I .am informed, visited France, and was enabled to give
the m.anufaciurcrs there considerable information. He said, on his return,
that he foiuid the French paperhangings very inferior to our own, both as
to execution ;ind beauty (d' design. In those days we had an extensive
export trade in this material to America and other foreign parts, but we
are now driven out cd' this market by the French. The paperhangings at
that date, about 1770, were manufactured nearly in the same maimer as at
present ; I liave indeed seen a flock pajier of a large rich damask pattern,
more than 100 years old, which resembles in every way the modern mate-
rial ; it is singular that this art of Hocking was disused and almost lost dur-
ing a period of twenty years, and revived only about forty years ago ; a
mode of decorating papers was also liirmerly employed, which is now never
adopted. I ha\e seen papers ornamented with a substance commonly
called frost, a species of talc.

In the year 1786 there was estiiblished at Chelsea a manufactory for
paperhangings (if a superior description, conducted by Messi-s. George and
Frederick Echardts, gentlemen of considerable taste and spirit. The mode
of manufacture was difl'erent to that in general use ; for, besides the usual
printing blocks, copper plates, on which were engraved designs of great
linisli and beauty, were likewise employed, and they not only printed on
paper but also on silk and linen ; and by an underground uf silver or gold,
they obtained very beautiful eflects of colour'.

Only part of the design was given by printing; it was finished by .artists
constantly retaini'd by the nianutacturers, men of considerable talent,
who again were assisted in the inferior parts by young girls, of whom more
than fifty were employed ; and liad this undertaking been supported by the
government, it would, I do think, have been more a\aiUible as a school for
our rising artists, and of infinitely gi-eater service than our present school of
design, for it would have been a -wnrking school, and no other, 1 am con-
vinced, will be of any use in forming a talented race of decorative artists in
this country. 'I'here was also about this time .another establishment similar
to the former, conducted by Mr. Sheruighani, in Marlburough-street.

From this time the French began to excel in this superior branch of the
art, which with tis had fallen on suidi barren ground. Their manufacturers
were encouraged in every way by their government and the Emperor Napo-
leon, to attempt that perfection which they have now so successfully
attained.

Having now slightly sketched the liistory of this art up to the present
time, I propose on some future occasion, if agi'eeable to the society, to
explain to the best of my power the dUlerent processes employed in the
manufacture.

[The continuation of this interesting paper, which was read at a subse-
quent meeting, we shall publish in the next Journal.]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PATENT CEMENT OF MR. R. MARTIN,
OF DERBY,

Reail III Ihe Roijal Iiislilult of llriUsh Archilrcls, Ftbnicnj 18, 1839.

The composition of my cement consists of a solution of peaiiash and
sulphuric acid, mixed to the cx.act point of neutralization with powder of
gypsum, and the whole calcined together.

In calcination every particle of crystallized water and native acid is
driven from the gypsum, and their place supplied with the alkali and acid
made sulphate of potash as above described.

Tliis change of solidifying substances creates pviqiertics altogether new

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

101

and opposite in effect tu all other water-mixed cenunls. There is neither
heat nor expansion in solidification, nor subsenuenl swelling from absorption
of the atmosphere or hy immersion iu water. It thereliae results that the
cement neither cracks nor creases, wiicn nscd either as an in or out-door
stucco. The mode of using the cement is verj' simple — similar to common
lime pla«ter, but tJic purposes lu Avhich it is applicable are extremely
varied. .As it can be made of a variety of colours in manufaclme, or
Colours introduced, it will sojjersede the necessity of paint or pnper, where
their use is objectionable ; il is theret'ore particularly applicable fur attics
and basements.

For imitations of marble it must beci.nu' the substitute of jilaster of
Paris, il being much more dense, and throup:Ii its nonabsorptive qiialily
withstanding all atmospheres, as has been already pro\ed. As il dues nut
expand in solidilication, as abo\ e slated, solid figures may be cast witli it
if pressed into moulds. It cuinliines readily ■niih limes slaked m- quick,
and mixed with the latter it prevents its slaking, and with these, or by
itself and sand, it forms an excessively hard and durable stucco. In ils
prepared slate fur use it docs not receive the slightest injtiry fniin exi>osurc to
a damp atmosphere for any length of period, and will tliercforc carry
without depreciation to any part of the globe — it is effective for every
pm-pose for which the limes of iliis kingdom are used in its transatlantic
possessions; and from being double their weight, \\ill be nearly as
economical in use, iiulependent of ils pei-uliar properties excluding all
moisture and preM;nting the intrusion and ravages of insect and other
vermin: coubideratiuns not only important to the resident, but to the
government as conservators of the public stores.

For the joining together of stones, bricks, &c., it lias not ils enual, and
can be used with the greatest ad\antage, where lime proves but an
insufficient bond, and Roman ccmeni IVurn its expansive properties is
improper; say for light-houses aiul ollii'i very eliiated and much-exposed
stnictures.

-Applied .as a stucco over common lime plaster a very smooth and hard
surface is produced, and is so little absorbent that in painting two coals
ai'c sufficient. Tliis application was made by Mr. Chadwick above three
years since, on two halls at .\dclaide-]ilace, London Bridge, and who will
verify the fact here staled.

In the summer of 1837 il was applied iu castings and as a stucco, at
72, Cheapside (opposite the .\tlas Insurance Office) ; the stucco lias been
since painted over, but not so the two coats of arms, which, as well as the
stucco, have ^^ithstood the two last winters without the slightest injury.

.\ny further information respecting properties, &c., &c., may be obtained
of Mr. Bernasconi, Alfred-place, Bedford-square, and who will also show
specimens of its ^■ariou3 ajiplications.

PHOTOGENY ;

OR, THE tRT OF FIXING THE IM lOES OF VI.SUAF. OBJECT.*!.

The means of olitnining a self-aeling, permanent repvesciitation of
visual objects, has long attracted the attention of philosophers, and
in 1802 was the subject of experiments by Wedgewood and Sir
Humphry Davy. Their eflort.s, further than recognising the sensi-
bility of nitrate of silver, weie, however, ineH'cclivc, as were those
of a connnittee of the Ac,^delny of Sciences, composed of Laplace,
Malu.s, and Arngo, who were engaged in a similar manner investiga-
tion for ascertaining the power of moonlight. Chlorure of silver
was also known to be easily acted upon by the rays of light ; but it
was not until the close of last year that any announcemenl was made
of the progress of this art. Mr. Fox Talbot seems to have been first
in the field; but M. Daguerre, the inventor of the diorama, made
the first disclosure. As the two processes seem to be distinct iu their
results, we sliall give a description of each separately, as deri\cd
from the " Compte Rendu '' of the Academy of .Sciences, and from
the letters of Mr. Talbot. To commence with that of M. Daguerre,
it i.s effected by placing a copper plate in a camera obsiuira, wliicli
copperplate being covered with a chemical preparation susceptible
of the etl'ccts of light, produces a .shaded drawing on the jdale.
Those designs, when finished, may be exposed to the glare of the
sun without changing, and will bear the scrutiny of a microscoi e.
On reverting to the difi'erent powers of colours, it can be readily
C(mceived that the several tints and shades will produce an efl'ect
corresponding to their intensity ; the tlirce primitive colours, as
determined by Field, standing in the relation of three, five, and
eight; the time required for the process varies with the quantity of
light, and, consequently, with the season and time of day ; in sum-
mer, at noon, eight or ten minutes is sufficient. This apparatus is
at present incompetent lo the representation of moving objects, and
is imperfect even with regard to trees. A hackney-coach stopped
during the drawing of one of the scenes, and one of the horses,
turning his head during the process, is represented without one.
a shoe-black, also engaged in his vocation, appears without .irms ;
The Academy of Sciences expressed a unanimous opinion of the
utility aiul importance of this invention, and application has been
made to tlie French Government to remunerate the inventor. Tlie
aniioimcement of this discovery led to the declaration of Mr, Fox

Talbot, who has perfected another variety of the same process. He
uses a prepai'ed paper, and produces a representation in coloured
tints, which, after the drawing is finished, is not aft'eeted bv sunshine.
Both processes pos.scss peculiar advantages, and have a superiority
over any chemical medium heretofore known. Chlorure of silver
being while, is blackened by the light, and the white parts of the
image become black, wliilst the black parts remain white. Nitrate
and muriate of silver obtain an impression iu half a second, but -cvone
of these preparations iiroduce a pennanent efiect. The impoitance
of the new discoveries will open a new world to science, and even
by the results already produced, the bounds of human investigation
have been enlarged. The preparation of M. Daguerre is so sensible
t hat it has obtained an image of the moon in twenty minutes, although
the light of tliat body is 300,00(j times less than that of the sun, and
it produces no eflfect im any oilier chemical substance yet known.
M. Daguerre is also said to liave obtained an impression from the
star Sirius, thus proving the fixed stars to be suns, and that light is
homogeneous throughout the universe.

We cojiy the following very interesting account of the process
of Mr. Talbnt from our respectable contemporary, the " Athenojum " :

I. In the spring of 1S34 I hegau to pnl in |iractice a method whirb I had
devised some time previously, for employing to purposes of utility the very
curious property which has been Inug known to chemists to ba possessed by
the nitrate of silver ; namely, its discolouration when exposed to the violet
ray of light. This property appeared to me to be, perhaps, capable of useful
application in the following manner: —

1 proposed to spread on a sheet of paper a sufficient quantity of the nitrate
of silver, and then to set the pa])er in tfiesun.shine, liaving first placed before
it some object easting a well-defined shadow. The light, acting on the re^t
of the paper, would naturally blacken it, while the parts in shadow would
retain their whiteness. Thus 1 expected that a kind of image or piotuie
would be produced, resembling to a certain degree the object from wbieh it
was derived, 1 expected. howe\'er, also, that it would be neeessai>' to pre-
serve such images in a portfolio, and to view them only by candle-light ;
because, if by d.iy-lighl, the same natural process which formed the imagej
would destroy them, by blackening the rest of the paper.

.Such was my lending idea before it was enlarged and corrected by experi-
ence. It was not until some time after, and when I was in possession of
several novel and curious results, that I thought of inquiring whether this
pine.ss bad been ever proposed or allempted before? I found that in fact it
h.id ; but apparently not followed up to any extent, or with much peise-
veranee. The few notices that I have been able to meet with arc vague and
unsatisfactory, merely stating that such a method exists of obtaining the
outline of an object, Imt going into no details respecting the best and most
advantageous manner of proceeding.

The only definite account of the matter which I have been able to meet
with, is contained in the first volume of the " .lournal of the Royal Insti-
tution," page 170, from which it. :ippe,ars that the idea Wiis originally started
by Mv. Wedgwood, and a numerous series of experiments made both by him
and Sir Humphry Davy, wdiicb. however, ended in failure. I will take the
liberty of quoting a few passages from this memoir.

" The copy of a painting, immediately after being taken, must be kept in
an obscure place. It m.ny. indeed, be examined in the shade, but in this
case the exposure should be only for a few minutes. No attempts that iiave
been made to prevent the uncoloured parts from being acted upon by light
have .as yet been successful. They have been covered with a thin coating of
fine vainish ; but this has not destroyed their susceptibility of becoming
coloured. When the solar rays are passed through a print, and thrown upon
prepiired paper, the unshaded parts are slowly copied ; but tlie lights trans-
mitted br the shaded parts are seldom so definite as to form a distinct resem-
blance of them hy producing dift'erent intensities of colour.

" The images formed by means of a cai/iera obscKra have been found too
faint to produce in any moderate time an effect upon the nitrate of silver.
To copy these images was the fir.«t object of Mr. Wedgwood, but all his
numerous experiments proved unsuccessful."

These are the observations of Sir Humphry Davy. I have been informed
liy a scientific friend th.at this unfavourable result of Mr. Wedgwood's and
Sir Humphry Davy's experiments was the chief cause which discouraged him
from following up with per.seveiauce the idea wliich he had also enlertained
of fixing the beautihil images of the rainiin olisciirii. And, no doubt, when
so distinguished an experimenter as Sir Humpliry Davy announced "thai
all experiments had proved unsuccessful," snob a statement was calculated
materially lo discourage fuitber inquiry. The circumstance, also, announced
by Davy, that the paprr on which these images were depicted was liable to
become entirely dark, and thai nothing hitherto tried would prevent it, would
perhaps have induced me to ( onsider the attempt as hopeless, if I had not
(fortiuiately), before I read il, already discovered a method of overcoming
this diflficuiiy, and of //.//«// the image in such a manner that it is no more
liable lo injm-y or destruction.

In the course of my experiments directi d to that end, I have been
aslouiihed at the variety of effects which I have found produced liy a very
limited number of difti rent processes when combined in various \v:iys ; and
also at the length of time which sometimes elapses before the full effect of
these manifests itself with certainty. For 1 have found tliat images formed
in this manner, which have appe.ired in good pr«serv."ition at the end of

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[March,

twelve months from tlieir foiniation, have, nevertheless, somewhat altered
durint; the second year. This circumstance, added to the fact that the first
attempts which I made became indistinct in process of time (the paper
growing wholly dark), induced me to watch the progress of the change
during some considerable time, as I thought that perhaps all these images
would ii/limalfli/ be found to fade away. I found, however, to my satisfac-
tion, that this was not the case ; and, having now kept a number of these
drawings during nearly five years without their sutfering any deterioration, I
tliink myself authorised to draw conclusions from my experiments with more
certainty.

2. ICJIect and Appearance of these Images. — The images obtained in this
manner are themselves white, but the ground upon wliich they display them-
selves is variously and pleasingly coloured.

Such is the variety of which the process is capable, that by merely vary-
ing the proportions, and some tritling details of manipulation, any of the
following colours are readily attainable : — Sky blue, yellow, rose-colour,
brown of various shades, and black, (ireen alone is absent from the list,
with ihe exception of a dark shade of it, approaching to black. The blue-
coloured variety has a very pleasing effect, somewhat like that produced by
the Wedgwood-ware, which has white figures on a blue ground. This
variety also retains its colours perfectly if preserved in a portfolio, and not
being subject to any spontaneous change requires no preserving process.
These different shades of colour are, of course, so many diltVrent chemical
compounds, which chemists have not hitherto distinctly noticed.

3. First Apjdicaliuns of /his Prucvss The first kind of objects which I

attennpted to copy by this process were flowers and leaves, either fresh, or
selected from my herbarium. These it renders with the utmost truth and
fidelity, exhibiting even the venation of the leaves, the minute hairs that
clothe the plant, &c. &c.

It is so natural to associate the idea of hibutir with great complexity and
elaborate detail of execution, that one is more sliuck at seeing the thousand
florets of an A'jrostis depicted witli all its capillary branchlefs (and so accu-
rately that none of all this multitude shall want its little bivalve calyx, re-
quiring to be examined tlirough a lens), than one is by the picture of the
large and simple leaf of an oak or a chesnut. But, in truth, the difliculty is
in both cases the same. The one of these takes no more lime to execute
than the other ; for the object whicli would take the most skilful artist days
or weeks of labour to trace or to copy, is effected by the boundless powers of
natural clieniistry in the space of a few seconds.

To give an idea of the degree of accuracy with wliich some objects can bo
imitated by this process, I need only mention one instance. Upon one occa-
sion, having made an image of a piece of lace of an elaborate pattern, I
showed it to some persons at the distance of a few feet, with the inquiry
whether it was a good represewtation V wlien the reply was, " Tliat they were
not so easily to be deceived, for that it was evidently no picture, but the piece
of lace itself."

At the very commencement of my experiments upon this subject, when I
saw how beautiful were the images whicli were thus produced by the action
of light, I regretted Ihe more that they were destined to have such a biief
existence, and I resolved to attempt to point out, if possible, some method of
preventing this, or retarding it as much as possible. The following consi-
derations led me to conceive the possibility of discovering a preservative
process : —

The nitrate of silver, which has become black by the action of light, is no
longer the same chemical substance that it was befoie. ('onsequently, if a
picture pioduced by solar liglit is subjected afterwards to any chemical pro-
cess, the white and dark parts of it will be differently acted upon ; antl there
is no evidence that, after this action has taken place, these white and dark
paits will any longer be subject t(fi a spontaneous change ; or, if the} are so,
still it does not follow that that change will ui^ir tend to assiniihne them to
each other. In cases of their reirraining cltssimihtr the pic ure will remain
visible, and therefore our object will be accomplished.

If it should be asserted that exposure to sunshine would nrressnri/i/ reduce
the whole to one unilbrm tint, and destroy the picture, the omm ]>roba»di
evidently lies on those who make the assertion. If we designate by the letter
A the exposure to tlie solar light, and by B some indeterminate chemical
process, my argument was this: —Since it cannot be shown, u pnotiy that the
final result of the series of processes ABA will be the same with that
denoted by B A, it will be, therefore, worth while to put the matter to the
test of experiment, viz., by varying the process B luUil the right one be dis-
covered, or until so many trials have been made as to preclude all reasonable
hope of Its existence.

My hist trials were unsuccessful, as, indeed, I expected; but after some
time I discovered a method which answers perfectly, and sliortly afterwards
another. On one of these more especially I have made numerous experi-
ments; the other 1 have comparatively little used, because it appears to re-
quire more nicety in the management. It is, however, equal, if not superior,
to Ihe first in brilliancy of effect.

This chemical change, which I call the prv^riping process, is far more
effectual than could have been anticipated. Tlie paper, which had previ-
ously been so sensitive to light, becomes completely insensible to it, inso-
much that I am able to show the society specimens which have been exposed
for an liour to the full summer sun, and from which exposure the image has
suffered nothing, but retains its perfect whiteness.

4, On Ihe All of fifing a Shallow. — The phenomenon which I have now
briefly mentioned appears to me to partake of the character of the viarcellons,
almost as much as Rny fact wliich physical investigation has yet brought to

our knowledge. The most transitory of things— a shadow, the most pro-
verbial emblem of all that is fleetinj and momentary — may be fettered by
the spells of our " natural magic," and may be fixed for ever in the position
whicli it seemed only destined for a single instant to occupy.

This remarkable phenomenon, of whatever value it may turn out in its
application to the arts, will, at least, be accepted as a new proof of the value
of the inductive methods of modern science, which by noticing the occur-
rence of unusual circumstances (which accident, perhaps, first manifests in
some small degree), and by following them up with experiments, and varying
the conditions of these until the true law of nature which they express is
apprehended, conducts us at length to consequences altogether unexpected,
remote from usual experience, and contrary to almost universal belief Such
is the fact, that we may receive on paper the fleeting shadow, arre.^t it there,
and in the space of a .single minute fix it tliere so firmly as to be no more
capable of change, even if thrown back into the sunbean from which it
derived its origin.

.0. Before going further I may, however, add, that it is not always neces-
sary to use a preserving process. This I did not discover until after I had
acquired considerable practice in this art, having supposed at first that all
these pictures would ultimately become indistinct if not preserved in some
way from the change. But experience li.is shown to me that tliere are at
least two or three diftereut ways in which tlie process may be conducted, so
that the images shall possess a character of durability, provided they are kept
from the action of direct sunshine. These ways have presented themselves
to notice rather accidentally than otherwise ; in some instances without any
particular memoranda having been made at the time; so that I am not yet
prepared to sla'e .accurately on what particular lliiuf; this sort of semi-dura-
bility depends, or what course is best to be followed in order to obtain it.
But as I have found tlut certain of the images which have been subje«ted to
no preserving process remain quite whitt* and perfect after the lapse of a year
or two, and, indeed, show no symptom whatever of changing, while others
differently prepared (and left rmpreserved) have grown (juite dark in one
tenth of t'lat time, I Iliink this singularity reqiiirfsto be pointed out. Whether
it will be of much value I do not know. Pcrliips it will be thought belter
to incur at first the small additional trouble of employing the preserving pro-
cess, especially as the drawings thus prepared will stand the sunshine ; while
the unpreserved ones, however well they last in a portfolio or in common
daylight, should not be risked in a very strong light, as they would be liable
to change thereby even years after their original formation. This very
quality, however, admits of useful application. For this semi-durable paper,
which retains its whiteness for years in the shade, and yet suft'ers a change
whenever exposed to the solar light, is evidently well suited to the use of a
naturalist travelling in a distant country, who may wish to keep some memo-
rial of the plants he finds, without having the trouble of drying them and
carrying them about with him. He would only have to lake a sheet of Ibis
paper, throw the image upon it, and replace it in his portfolio. The defect
of this particular paper is, that in general the (/round is not even ; but this
is of no consequence where utility alone, and not beauty of effect, is
consulted.

0. I'orlroils. — Another purpose for which I think my method will be
found very convenient, is Ihe m.aking of outline portraits, or sillii.iulles.
Tiiese are now often traced by the liand from shadows projected by a candle.
But Ihe hand is liable to err fronr the true outline, and a very small deviation
ciiuses a notable diminution in the re.semlilance. I believe this manual pro-
cess cannot be compared with the truth and fidelity with which the portrait is
given by means of solar light.

7. Pointings on Glass. — The shadow- pictures which are formed by ex-
posing paintings on glass to solar light are very pleasing. The glass itself,
around the painting, should be blackened; such, for instance, a; are often
employed for the magic lantern. The paintings on Ihe glass should have no
blight yellows or reds, for these stop the violet rays of light, which are the
only effective ones. The pictures thus formed resemble the productions of
the artist's pencil mure, perhaps, than any of the others. Persons to whom I
have shown them have generally mistaken llicm for such, at the same liiue
observing that Ihe stith- was new to them, and must^be one rather difiicult to
acquire. It is in these pictures only that, as yet, I have observed indications
o{ colour. I have not had lime to pursue this branch of the inquiry further.
It would be a great thing if by any means we could accomplish Ihe delinea-
tion of objects in their natural colours. I am not very sanguine respecting
the possibility of this ; yet, as I have just now remarked, it appears possible
to obtain at least some indication of variety of tint.

8. .■Ipplictition to the Microscope I now come to a branch of the subject

which appears to me very important, and likely to prove extensively useful,
the application of my method of delineating objects to Ihe solar microscope.

The objects which the microscope unfolds to our view, curious and wonder-
ful as tlicy are, are often singularly complicated. The c\c, indeed, may
comprehend the whole which is presented to it in the Held of view ; but the
powers of the pencil fail to express these minutiaj of nature in their innumcra-
hie details. What artist could have skill or patience enough to copy them?
Or granting that he could do so, must it not be at the expense of much most
valuable lime, which might be more usefully employed?

Contemplating the beautiful picture which the solar microscope produces,
the thought struck nic whether it might not be po-sible to cause that image
to impress itself upon the pjpcr, and thus to let Nature substitute her own
inimiiable pencil for the imperfect, tedious and almost hopeless attempt of copy-
ing a subject so intricate ?

My first attempt had no success. Although Icliose a bright day, and fornied

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

103

a goad imajje of my object upon prepared paper, on returning at the expira-
tion of an liour I found that no eflfect liaj taken place. I was therefore half
inclined to abandon this experiment, when it occurred to me that there was no
reason to suppose that the common muriate of silver was the most sensitive
substance that exists to the action of the chemical rays ; and though such should
eventually prove to be the fact, at any rate it was not to be assumed without
proof. I therefore began a course of experiments in order to ascertain the
inrtueuce of various modes of preparation, and I found these to be signally
different in their results. I considered this matter cliietly in a practical point
of view ; for as to the theory, I confess that I cannot as yet understand the
reason why the paper prepared in one way should be so much more sensitive
than in another.

The result of these experiments was the discovery of a mode of preparation
greatly superior in sensibility to what I had originally employed; and by
means of this, all those etl'ecti which 1 had before only anticipated as theoreti-
cally possible were found to be capable of realization.

With a sheet of this, which I shall call " Sfinilire Pujifr," is placed in a
dark chamber, anil the magnified image of some object thrown on it by the
solar microscope, after the lapse of ])erhaps a quarter of an hour, the picture is
found to be completed. I Inve not as yet used high magnifying powers, on
account of the consequent enfeeblement of the light. Of course with a more
sensitive paper, greater magnifying power will become desirable.

On examining one of these pictures, which I made about three years and S0
half ago, I find, by actual measurement of the picture and the object, that the
latter is magnitied seventeen times in linear diameter, and in surface conse-
quently 2y'J times. I have others which I believe are considerably more
magnified ; but I have lost the corresponding objects, so that 1 cannot here
atate the exact numbers.

Not only does this process save our time and trouble, but there are many
objects, especially microscopic crystallizations, which alter so greatly in the
course of three or four days (and it could hardly take any artist less to delineate
them in all their details,) that they could never be drawn in the usual way.

I will now de>^cribe the degrcf ul ^eniilirt'iit'is which this paper possesses,
premising that I am far from supposing that I have reached the limit of which
this quality is capable. On the contrary, considering the few experiments
which ! have made, (few, that is, in comparison with the number which it would
be easy to imagino and propose) I think it most likely that other methods may
be found, by which substances may be prepared, perhaps as much transcending
in sensitiveness the one which I have employed, as that does the ordinary state
of the nitrate of silver. But to continc myself to what 1 have actually accom-
plished in the preparation of a very sensitive paper.

When a sheet of paper is brought towards a window, not one through which
the sun sliines, but looking in the opposite direction, it immediately begins to
discolour. For this reason, if the paper is prepared by daylight, it must by no
means lie left uncovered, but as soon as Buished be shut up in a drawer or cup-
board and there left to dry, or else dried at night by the warmth of a lire.
Before using this paper for the delineation of any object, 1 generally approach
it for a little time towards the light, thus intentionally giving it a slight shade
of colour, for the |>urpose of seeing that the i/nnt/ui is i-i'fn. If it appears so
when thus tried to a small extent, it will generally be found to prove so in the
final result. But if there are some places or spots in it which do not acquire
the same tint as the rest, such a sheet of pai)er should be rejected; for there is
a risk that, when employed, instead of presenting a ground uniformly dark,
which is essential to the beauty of the drawing, it will liave laige wh'te spots,
places altogether insensible to the ell'ect cif light. Thi^ singular circumstance
I shall revert to elsewhere; it is sufficient to mention it here.

The paper then, which is thus readily sensitive to the light of a common
window, is of course much more so to the direct sanshine. Indeed, such is the
velocity of the effect then produced, that the picture may be said to be ended
almost as soon as it is begun.

To give some more definite idea of the rapidity of the process, I will state,
that after various trials the nearest evaluation which I could make of the time
necessary for obtaining the picture of an object, so as to have pretty distinct
outlines, when I employed the full sunshine, was /ici// « svcuml.

9. An-hitectio'e, LfimUctipe,and E.tlvr/tal iVuturc. — But perhaps the most
curious application of this art is the one I am now about to relate. At least
it is that which has appeared the most surprising to those who have examined
my collection of pictures formetl by solar light.

Every one is acquainted with the beautiful effects which are produced by a
cimera obscura, and has admired the vivid picture of external nature which it
displays. It had often occurred to me, that if it were possible to retain upon
the paper the lovely scene which thus illuminates it for a moment, or if we
could but Hx the outline of it, the lights and shadows divested of all iuluitr,
such a result could not fail to be most interesting. And however much I might
be disposed at lirst to treat this notion as a scientific dream, yet when 1 had
succeeded in fixing the images of the solar niicroscope by means of a peculiarly
sensitive paper, there appeared no longer any doubt that an analogous process
would succeed in copying the objects of external nature, although indeed they
are much less illuminated.

Not having with me in the country a camera obscura of any considerable
size, I constructed one out of a lari^e box, the image being thrown upon one
end of it by a good object glass iixed in the opposite end. This apparatus
being armed with a sensitive paper was taken out in a summer afternoon and
placed about one hundred yards from a building favourably illuminated by the
sun. An hour or two afterwards I opened the box, and 1 found depicted upon
the paper a very distinct representation of the building, with the exception of
those parts of it which lay in the shade. A little experience in this branch of
the art showed me that with smaller camcrii) obseurro tb* vtiW\ \\m\\d hti uj-q.

No, IB.— ftUncH, 1839. Vol. {I.

duced in a smaller time. Accordingly 1 had several small boxes made, in which
1 fixed lenses of shorter focus, and with these I obtained very perfect but
extremely small pictures ; such as without great stretch of imagination n.igbt
bo supposed to be the work of some Lilliputian artist. They requite indeed
examination with a lens to discover all their miimliK.

In the summer of I83j I made in this way a number of representations of
my house in the country, which is well suited to the purpose, froiu its ancient
and remarkable architecture. And this building 1 believe to be the first that
was ever yet known ht huiw drtin-n ih uirn jihIui-l'.

The method of proceeding w.as this ; having first adjusted the paper to the
proper focus in each of these little camei;e, I then took a number of them with
mc out of doors and placed them in different situations around the building.
After the lapse of half an hour I gathered them all up, and brought them
within doors to open them. When opened, there was found in each a minia-
ture picture of the objects before which it had been placed.

To the traveller in distant lands who is ignorant, as too many unfortunately
are, of the art of drawing, this little invention ni.ay prove of real service ; and
even to the artist himself, however skilful he may be. For although this
natural process does not produce an efl'.ct much resembling the productions of
his pencil, and therefore cannot be considered as capable of replacing them, yet
it is to be recollected that he may often be so situated as to be able to devote
only a single hour to the delineation of some very interesting locality. Now,
since nothing prevents him from simultaneously disposing, in different positions,
any number of these little caiiiei-a; it is evident that their collective results
when examined afterwards, may furnish him with a large body of interesting
memorials, and with numerous details which he had not had himself time either
to note down or to delineate.

10. DeliiinUhiiix of Sculiilun Another use which I propose to make of my

invention is for the copying of statues and bas reliefs. I place these in strong
sunshine, and put before them at a proper distance, and in the requisite
position, a small camera obscura containing the prepared paper. In this way
I have obtained images of various statues. Ike. I have not pursued this branch
of the suiiject to any extent : but 1 expect interesting results from it, and that
it may be usefully employed under many circumstances.

11. Coin/ill,/ al' EiKjmruujs. — The invention may he employed with great
facility for obtaining copies of drawings or engravings or facsimiles of MSS.
For this purpose the engraving is pressed upon the prepared paper, with its
engraved side in contact with the latter. The pressure must be as uniform as
possible, that the contact may be perfect ; for the least interval sensibly
injures the result, by producing a kind of cloudiness in lieu of the sharp strokes
of the original.

When placed in the sun, the solar light gradually traverses the paper,
except in those places wheie it is prevented from doing so by the opaque lines
of the engraving. It therefore of course makes an exact image or print of the
design. This is one of the experiments which Davy and Wedgwood state that
they tried, but failed, from want of sufficient sensibility in their paper.

The length of time requisite for effecting the copy depends on the thickness
of the paper on which the engraving bas been printed. At first I thought
that it would not be possible to succeed with thick papers ; but I found on
trial that the success of the method was by no means so limited. It is enough
for the purpose, if the paper allows any of the solar light to pass. When the
paper is thick, I allow half an hour for tile formation of a good copy. In this
way I have copied very minute, complicated, and delicate engravings, crowded
with figures of small size, which were rendered with great distinctness.

The effect of the copy, though of course unlike the original, (substituting as
it does lights for shadows, and rice rersn), yet is often very pleasing, and would,
I think, suggest to artists useful ideas respecting light and shade.

It may be supposed that the engraving would be soiled or injured by being
thus pressed against the prepared paper. There is not much danger of tljis,
provided both are perfectly dry. It may be well to mention, however, that in
case any stain should be perceived onthe engraving, it may be readily removed
by a chemical application which does no injury whatever to the paper.

In copying engravings, &c. , by this nicihod. the lights and shadows are
reversed, consequently the effect is wholly altered, lint if the picture so^
obtained is first pfrsrfpinl so as to bear sunshine, it may be afterwards itselt
employed as an object to be copied ; and by means of this second process the
lights and sh.adows are brought back to their original disposition. In this way
we have indeed to contend with the imperfections arising frmu two processes
inste.ul of one ; but I believe this will be found merely a difficulty of manipu-
lation. I propose to employ this for the purpose more particularly of
multiplying .at small expense copies of such rare or unique engravings as it
would not be worth while to re-engrave, from the limited demand for them.

I will now add a few remarks concerning the very singular circumstance,
which I have before brielly mentioned, viz. that the paper sometimes, alihough
intended to be prepared of the most sensitive quality, turns out on trial to be
wholly insensible to light, and incapable of change. The most singular part
of this is the very small difference in tlie mode of preparation which causes so
wide a discrepancy in the result, b'or instance, a sheet of paper is all prepared
at the same time, and with the intention of giving it as much uniformity as
possible; and yet, when exposed to sunshine, this paper will exhibit large
white spots of very detinite outline, where the piepariiig process has tailed:
the rest of the paper, where it has succeeded, turning idaek as rapidly as
possible. Sometimes the spots are of a pale tint of cierulean blue, and are
surrounded by exceedingly definite outlines of perfect whiteness, contrasting
very much with the blackness of (he part immedi.ately succeeding. With
reg.ard to the theory of this, I am only prepaied to state as my opinion at
present, that it is a case of what is called " unstable equilibrium." The
[jvoccss followed is such »i to pvodure one uf two definite ciieinical compounds ;

104

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[March.

and when we happen to come near the limit which separates the two cases, it
depends upon exceedingly small and often imperceptible circumstances, which
of the two compounds shall be formed. That they are both definite compounds,
is of course at present merely my conjecture ; that they arc signally different,
is evident from their dissimilar properties.

I have thus endeavoured to give a brief outline of some of the peculiarities
sttending this new process, which I oft'er to the lovers of science and nature.
That it is susceptible of great improvements T have no manner of doubt ; but
even in its present state I believe it will be found capable of many useful and
important applications besides those of which I have here given a short account.

The sxibject (says Mr. Talbct) naUually dividi^s itself into two heads —
the preparation of the paper, and the means of fixing the design. In order
to make what may be called ordinary photogenic paper, the author selects,
in the first place, paper of a good firm quality, and smooth stu-facc ; and
thinks that none answers better than superfine writing paper. He dips it
into a weak solution of common salt, and wipes it dry, by which the salt is
uniformly distributed thi-oughout its substance. He then .spreads a solution
of nitrate of silver on one surface only, and dries it at the fire. The solu-
tion should not be saturated, but six or eight times diluted with wafer.
When dry, the paper is fit for use. He has found, by experiment, that
there is acertain proportion between the quantity of salt and that of the
solution of silver which answers best, and gives the maximum effect. If
the strength of the salt is augmented beyond this point, the ett'ect
diminishes, and, in certain cases, becomes exceedingly small. This paper,
if properly made, is very useful for all ordinary photogenic purposes. For
example, nothing can be more perfect than the images it gives of lea\es
and flowers, especially with a summer sun. The light passing through
tthe leaves delineates every ramification of their nerves. If a sheet of
paper, thus prepared, be taken and washed with a saturated solution of
salt, and then dried, it will be found (especially if the paper has been kept
some weeks before the trial is made), that its sensibility is greatly
diminished, and, in some cases, quite extinct. But if it be again washed
■with a liberal quantity of the solution of silver, it becomes again sensible
to light, and even more so than it was at first. In tliis way, by alternately
washing the paper with salt and silver, and drying it between times,
Mr. Talbot has succeeded in increasing its sensibility to the degree that is
requisite for receiving the images of the camera obscura. In conducting
this operation, it will be found, that the results are sometimes more,
and sometimes less satisfactory, in consequence of small and accidental
vaiiations in the proportions employed. It happens sometimes that the
chloride of silver is disposed to darken of itself, without any exposure to
the light — this shows, that the attempt to give it sensibility has been
carried too far. The object is, to approach to this condition as near as
possible, without reaching it; so that the substance may be in a state
ready to yield to the slightest extraneous force, such as the feeble impact
of the violet rays when much attenuated. Having, therefore, prepared a
number of sheets of paper, slightly difi'erent from one another in the com-
position, let a piece be cut from each, and, having been duly marked or
numbered, let them be placed side by side in a vei-)' weak diffused light,
for about a quarter of an hour ; then, if any one of them, as frequently
happens, exhibits a marked advantage over its competitors, Mr. Talbot
selects the paper which bears the corresponding number to be placed in
the camera obscura.

With regard to the second object — that of fixing the images — Mr. Talbot
observed, that, after having tried ammonia, and several other re-agents,
with reiT imperfect success, the first which gave him a .successful result,
was the iodide of potassium, much diluted with water. If a photogenic
picture is washed over with this liquid, an iodide of .silver is formed, which
is absolutely unalterable by svuishine. This process requires precaution ;
for, if the solution is too strong, it attacks the dark parts of the picture.
It is requisite, therefore, to find, by trial, the proper proportions. The
fixation of the picttires in this, way. with proper management, is very
beautiful and lasting. The specimen of lace, wliich Mr. Talbot exhibited
to the society, and which was made five years ago, was preserved in this
manner. But his ustial method of fixing is different from this, and some-
what simpler — or, at least, requiring less nicety. It consists in immersing
the picture in a strong solution of common salt, and then wiping off the
superfluous moisture, and drj'ing it. It is sulRciently singular thtit the
same substance which is so useful in giving sensibility to the paper, should
also be capable, under other circumstances, of destroying it ; but such is,
nevertheless, the fact. Now, if the picture which has been thus washed
and dried; is placed in the sun, the white parts colom- themselves of a pale
lilac tint, after which they become insensible. Numerous experiments
have shown the author that the depth of this lilac tint varies according to
the quantity of salt used, relatively to the quantity of silver; but by pro-
perly adjusting these, the images may, if desired, be retained of an absolute
whiteness. He mentions, also, that those preserved by iodine are always
of a very pale primrose yellow, v\-hieh has the extraordinary and very
remarkable property of turning to a full gaudy yellow, whenever it is
exposed to the heat of a fire, and recovering its former colour again, when
it is cold.

Sliip-building. — The ship-builders of Liverpool, have seldom, if ever, been so busy
as they are at present. All the yards on both sides the Mersey aj-e occupied by
vessels, of various tonnage, in process of buiWing; and more fraiues wouldbelaiJ down
if the builders could undertake the work. The ship-buiiders along the west and the
east coast are equally busy, and have frequent occasion to refuse proffered contracts
for building vessels. All these circumstances show that the shipping interest is iu a
very flouiishing itiW -^Liverpool paper.

NELSON MEMORIAL.
Merely a single vi,it to Mr. Rainy's Gallery — ^^just before our presen
number iv.is goius; to press, and when of course we ourselves were
greatly hurried, — does not enable us to enter into any critical remarks
on any of llie desiitns and models individually, or even to give a general
opinion as to the average talent displayed in this competition, further
tlvin that satisfactory as the coup d'a:it of the exhibition itself is, we
observed very few designs characterised by originality of invention or
propriety of adajjtation to the intended site. On the contrary, llic
larger majority, we apprehend, would be found, on deliberate exami-
nation, to be but poorly calcitlaled to suit either the area itself, or the
surrounding buildings.

DESIGN BY W. RAILTON, ARCHITECT.

To which the first premium is proposed to be adjudged by the first Connnittee.

The design makes no pretension whatever to originality, being no more
than a fluted Corinthian column, 1 74 feet high, on a pedestal ornamented with
rehefs, and surmounted by a statue 17 feet bigb, consequently for want of
some basement or .substructure will be apt to look too small, except as merely
a lofty central ornament in the square.

The following description of the tsvo other prizes are by their re.ijpective
authors: —

• DESIGN, BY E. H EAILY, R.A.

To which the committee propose to award the second prize.

Description. — An Obelisk raised to the memory of Nelson by his
grateful country. At the base, our great Naval Commander is repre-
sented supporting the Imperial Standard; on his left stands the Cienius
of Britain, bailing with affection the Hero of Trafalgar ; his attendant.
Victory, being seated on his right. At the back of the Obelisk rests the Nile —
Neptune with the subordinate Deities of the Ocean, form a Triumphal Pro-
cession round the Hock on which the Monument is placed, thereby indicating
that the Victories of Nelson were as extensive as the Element on which h
fought.

Dimensions.— The height of the Monument is intended to be 60 feet ; the
diameter of the steps the same extent ; and the height of Nelson to be nine
feet, the other figures in proportion, as in the sketch.

Estimate. — To execute the whole monument in Ravaccioni Marble, (the

same as the arch before Buckingham Palace is built of) 22,000/ if executed

in Bronze, .30,000/.

DRAWINGS AND MODEL BY CHARLES POWLER, ARCHITECT, AND R. W.
SIEVIER, SCULPTOR.

To which the committee propose to avrard the third prize.

This design has been composed upon the principle of combining Architec-
ture and Sculpture; with a view to obtain a more striking effect from their
union than either is calculated to produce separately ; the one by its forms and
mass, to arrest the attention and make a general impression, which may be
heightened and perfected by the more refined and interesting details of the
other. It would appear from the result of existing instances that a mere
structure cannot properly convey the feeling or produce the effect intended by
a ISIonument, designed to commemorate any celebrated character or event.
On the other hand a Statue or Sculpture Croupe is inefficient for want of mass
and general form ; the former is appreciated as a distant object, and the latter
only on close inspection. The desideratum, therefore, lies in avoiding these
objections, or rather in combining the advantages which peculiarly belong to
each art, so that the many who pass by may be struck with the general aspect
of the Monument, and the few who may pause to examine its details may find
their first impressions carried forward and perfected by the beauty and
significance of its historical illustrations.

With respect to the design now submitted, the endeavour has been to render
it characteristic and appropriate to the occasion, avoiding plagiarism but
without affecting novelty. The rostraied decoraiions of the pedestal, and its
accessories proclaim it at once to be a naval trophy; and the hero to be com-
memorated will be not less plainly indicated ; whilst the sculpture and other
details will set forth his achievements.

In regard to the structure, simplicity and strength are the distinguishing
qualities of the basement, which is proposed to be constructed of granite, in
large blocks, so as to be striking for their massivcness, solidity, and giving
dignity to the superstructure. The pedestals at the angles of the platform are
to be surmounted with piles of trophies executed in bronze, and crowned with
lamps to light both the area and monument ; massive granite basins are set to
receive the running fountains on three sides, the fourth being reserved for an
entrance to the structure within. The colossal figures seated agaiuil the four
fronts of the pedestal, are designed to represent Britannia, Caledonia, Hibcrnia,
and Neptune, distinguished bv their appropriate insignia and attributes.

On the south front of the pedestal, and at a legible distance from the spectator,
is proposed to be inscribed a brief eulogium of the hero, — some attempt at
which, by way of illustration, is madi? in the drawing, without presuming to
anticipate that delicate task, which will properly devolve upon other and more
able hands. The opposite side is intended to contain the historical or matter-
of-fact inserijition, comprising also a record of the erection of the monument.
The other two sides are to have each a shield of arms in relief, encircled by a
wreath. The cap or cornice of the lower pedestal is decorated by antique
prows of vessc-ls, to give the rostrated character, enriched with festoons of oak
and marine ornaments.

The middle compartment of the strueliire contains on the four faces of the
dado simply the names of the four principal actions in which Nelson was en-
gaged ; and in tlip panel over each is a representation in Basso reliero of some
striking incident, in each battle— the front being distinguished by the grand

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

105

cataslioplie, which formed at once the climax of \\h achipveinents, and the
termination of his brilliant career.

In Older to give character, as well as to provide for an nnnsnally bold pro-
jeclure, the Gallery above is supported on Cannons, in lieu of the nsnal ar-
chitectural consoles : and the intervals in the soflile are enriched with bombs
and grenades. The railing of the gallery is composed of decorations and em-
blems, having reference to the occasion, so as to combine ornament with
characleristic expression.

The upper <'ompartment of the monument is distinguished by its circular
form, and is more completely charged with decoration, illustrative of the honors
which Nelsou had achieved. The four large wreaths, embracing the entire
circuit of the pedestal, contain respectively the Naval Crown, the Viscount's
Coronet, the IMural Crown, and the Ducal Coronet. I'Vom these wreaths
are suspended the decorations of the four " Orders" to which he belonged.

The frieze of this pedestal is entirely occupied by the heraldic motto,
which ha])iiens to be peculiarly appropriate to the occasion. The ornaments
surmounting the cornice, which are analogous in form and application to the
Grecian antefixa, are composed of escallop shells, and the cupola is to be
of copper gilt.

The Statue of Nelson crowns the whole, and is to be executed in bronze,
about sixteen feet in height, and the entire height of the structure and statue
will be 120 feet from the area of the square — viz : eleven feet more than the
Column of the Duke of York.

The monument, with all its decorations and .iccessories, to be completed in
the most perfect style for the sum i;/' tii-fnti/-firc thoiistiml poiiiitls. This we
are ready to undertake, an3 to give security for the accomplishment. Having
taken the pains to arrive at the conclusion upon which this boiui fide oifer is
grounded with all the responsibility it envolves, it is hoped that due precau-
tions will be observed in testing the accuracy of the estimates generallj', so as
to avoid the delusion that too commonly occurs, which besides misleading the
promoters of the undertaking inflicts an injustice in those who are more careful
and scrupulous in their proposals.

RESTORATIONS OF ANCIENT MONUMENTS OF ROME, &c.

EXECUTED BY THE PENSIONARY AUCHITECTS OP THE ROVAI. ACADEMY OF

FRANCE.

{Extract from a Paper spnt hy M. Vaudoyer, of Paria, Architect, to T, Dintnhhon
Esq., Architect ; read Iteforc the Hoyal Institute of British Architects.)

Nos. Monuments. Architects.

1. Temple of Modesty— Biibut,

2. Temple of Vesta - - Cous.sin

3. Mars LUlor - - Gasse.

4. Tower of Metelhis • Gramljean.
Autouiuus&FanstiuaMLuayer:
Arch of Titus - - . Giit-uepiu.

Prcenesle Huyot.

Pantheon - . . - . Leclerc.
Temple of Peace - Gauthier.
.ItiijiterTonuns - - - Provost.

1 1 . Juititer Slator - - . Suy-s.

12- Temple of the Sybil -\'au Cleempntte.

J:i. Aecpiii Giiilia - - - Garuaud.

14. Forum Pompeii - - Callet.

15. BiwiliL-a of Appian—Lesueur.
Hi. Basilica of Antoni-
nus Villain.

17. The Baths of Cara-

calla Blouet.

Temple at Ostia - ■ Gilbert.

6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

18.

Nos. Monuments. Architects,

19. Portico of Octavia - Dubau.

20. Temples of Ptf!stum--Labrou.ste, jnn.

21. Coliseum Due.

22. Temple of Venus and

Home ------- Vaudoyer, jiui.

Q.S. Temple of Cora - - Labrouste, sen.
2-4. Isle of Esculapius - Delauuoy.

25. Port of Trajan at

Ostia Gan-ez.

26. Forum of Trajan Morey.

27. Roman Forum - - - Leveil.

28. Theatre of Pompev-Baltard, juii.

29. Theatre of MaV-

cellus Vauiloyer, sen.

30. Column of Trajau - Percier.
31.* Baths of Diocletian-- Laiidon .
32.* Circus of Caracalla-Destouches.
33.* Temple of Serapis - CarLstie.
34.* Temple of Concord-Constant.

* In hand, but not yet Ihiislied.

These 34 restorations, with from 8 to 10 drawings each, forming in all more
than 300, are sketched upon canvas, and richly bound, each set in a distinct
volume of the same .shape and size, 3 feet 3 inches English in height. Tliey
are also accompanied by a very curious and erudite historical memoir.

This work is not a production of tlie imagination, but is ba.sed for the most
part upon positive materials, which up to the present time have never yet been
examined and studied with so much judgment and perseverance, and is the
faithful record of invaluable monuments, which are daily perishing, and of
which many will be lost to posterity— and will one day form a work of the
greatest interest, not only with regard to architecture, but to the history of
archeology and the fine arts in general.

The Minister of the Interior propo.ses to publish theiu fur the use of French
artists, and for circtilation in foreign countries.

Vtutdators 'of the Kew Court, Old Baihy. — Mr. Perkins has Ciiused giibterraneous
cluimbers of a capacious size to be formed, in ^^hicli are placed eniln of hot water
p;pe>:, and others containing cold air, which are so arranged that by turning a valve,
tlic warnu-d fresh air \* admitted through apertures made in the Hoor and m alnscoting
of the court — so that a comfortable temperature may be preserved, whether the court
be more i)i' less crowded. 'I'lie foul air, which naturally generates in a i-vowded court,
is drawn oir by a shaft under the inisouer's dock, as well as fvum the gallery and
eeiliug, which, communicating with large curves on the roof, the ibul air makes a
thorough exit, and fresh air, cither warm or cold, can be supplied in suili ipiaiititios as
necessity may require. Great credit is coIu^edell to Mr. I'eikius fiu- his excellent
ciiutrivance, and theimprovement which he effected upon llie auliijue method of ven-
lilatiug the courts by i'au\a» b.igs, and warming them widi bjaKiers tilled with ehareiial.
There is one matter connected with this coutrivame which ought not to lie over-
b.oked. The lu-isouers for trial on each day were placed in dauip and iinwholesouie
cells, where they were kept shivering with cold in the winter months, A genial
Har-jnth now pervades their gloomy recesses, so that for the time being their uuen-
viaWe jitualion is remlsiaiUess iutokrahle,— ;)/or«»y Aduertiser.

REVIEWS.

Ob.\en-aliovs on Lime, Culcoreoii.t Cement, Morlur.i, S/uccns, and
Concrete : and on Puxzolunas, Natural and Artijicial ; together
iiil/i Rules deduced from numerous Enpen'meiils for making an
Artijiciai Water Cement, &;c. By C. W. Pasiev, C.B., Colonel
in tile Corps of Royal Engineers, F.R.S., &c. London : .Tohn
Weale. 1838.

{Second Notice.)

We now take tlie opportunity of again referring to Colonel Pasley'3
work, less (or any purposes of criticism than to aftord our readers an
opporttinity to judge of the correctness of tlie views which we adopted,
in recommending it as a highly practical work. In the first extract,
of which we shall avail ourselves, the Colonel very properly .stippoits
the necessity of specifying the proportions of lime to be used for making
moj tar by weight, and not, as^is generally the case, by measure.

Forthispurpo.se I beg to suggest, that whenever the common mode of
measuring lime in lumps from the kiln has been intended and used, this shall
be particularly specified, and that the average weight per cubic foot of the
lime in this state, estimated, however, not from the contents of a single cubic
foot measure, but from that of some larger measure, which need not except
10, and should not be less than •'J cubic feet shall also be recorded.* In fact,
supposing it required to mix 3 measures of sand with 1 measure of Hailing
lime, it would afford much greater accuracy and uniformity in the quality of
the mortar, to direct 3 cubic feet of sand to be mi.xed with 371bs. of quick
lime fresh from the kiln, or as a 10 feet measure is most convenient, let it be
stilted that the mortar shall be made in the proportion of 10 cubic feet of sand
to about 1241bs. of lime, which is nearly equivalent to the former; and the
mode of measuring the lime from the kiln should also be described or speci-
fied, because, although it may be presumed that fair and full level measure is
intended or has been u.sed, it is best to leave nothing doubtful.

When the lime from the kiln is directed to be ground to a fine powder, it is
still more essential to define the mode in which it is to be or has been mea-
sured, whether liglitly, or after temporary compression only, or under actual
compression.

In respect to sand, the custom is to serve it in by stricken measure, in
whatever state it may be at the period of sale, which may vary between more
or less dry or wet, according to circumstances, known to the persons who use
it, but not to others unless explained, amongst which circumstances the state
of the weather has its influence ; for sand is not kept under cover, but laid
out in masses in the open air. Hence, in order that we may have any precise
knowledge of the re.al proportion which the sand bears to the lime, in the
mortar of any work of importance, the person who describes such mortar
ought to specifyl particularly the state in whicli the .sand was measured,
wliether absolutely dry, or damp, or wet ; because the actual quantity of sand
obtained by the same measure in these three states, varies considerably be-
tween the second, which is the minimum, and the latter, which is the maximum
of quantity. But the sand used for building in this countrj' is scarcely ever
in either of these two extremes of perfectly dry or wet. It generally varies
only between more or less damp, and probably the difference in real quantity,
between equal measures of it in those two states, does not exceed one-tenth in
the practice of building at any one place. To describe accurately the .state
in which it has genenally been used for the mortar of any important work,
the author should specify not only the mean space occupied by it in that state,
but also the spaces which the same quantity of the same sand is capable of
occupying wjien perfectly dry, and when thoroughly wet, stating also its
weight per cubic foot when psrfectly dry, there being 110 certainty as to the
weight of .sand in any other state. Moreover to enable a person, who does
not know the sort of sand obtained from a particular locality, to understand
the nature of it, the size of the particKs shoidd be described in the way tn.^t
has been done by M. Vicat, by stating the diameter of the smallest and of the
largest grains composing it, tne latter of which may be sufficiently defined by
describing the sort of screen through which even very fine sand is almost
always sifted, to exclude pieces of wood or other extraneous substances gene-
rally found in it. When sand and gravel are to be mixed together, in any given
proportion, the size of both should also be described in the same manner ; and
even in using some natural mixture of these ingredients, such as Thames
ballast, in the mortar of any important work, it is desirable that it should be
defined in the satne manner, for the use not only of foreigners, but of our own
countrymen, in those parts of the United Kingdom where it is not used,
although those who .are accustomed to the daily use of it will of course need
no such de.scription.

" Whilst investigating the subject of measures and weights, I found by repealed
trials that a lO-cubie-fect measure made of two reetangular wooden cases:, open at top
and bottom, and eaeli measurin;; 2 feet by 'i\ feet square in the clear and I foot high,
either to be used separately iw 2 flve-cubie-feet measures, or jointly hy placing one
upon the other, was a move convenient arrangement for the measurement oi dry mate-
rials, as well as for ealeulation, than the cubic .vard measure in eommoii use, which is
also usually made in two part:-, each composed of a similar ease 3 feet square in the
clear and 18 inches high. In small buildings, where only fow masons or tjriek]a\ers
are employed, the half of the lO-eubic-fect measure maybe the most convenient, as
small quantities of mortar only are reiiuired to be mixed at a time. But to use a
smaller measure than this woiild not atVord a satisfactory estimate of average quau-
tit> . because the eu!)ie foot of liure in lumps, measured singly in a oue-cubie-loot niea-
sui-e is not equal to one-tenth part of the contents of a ten-cubic-J'eet measure
uot tu 01^-tiXth pari of the cuatuat^ of a. live-cubic-feet a>ea»ure.

10(5

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[March,

We liave next|clctailed seroral experiments upon brick and cement
beams, combined with hoop iron, laid horizontally between the joints.
I'roni the experience obtained in this investigation, the Colonel derives
tile following conclusions : —

That cement bond, consisting of four or five courses of brickwork laid in
pure cement, if strengthened by longitudinal pieces of lioop iron in all the
joints, may be used to supersede not only the wooden bntels of doors and
windows, but all timber bond generally in the walls of buildings, as suggested
in Article 234, which was written before we had liied these last experiments.
In using hoop iron bond in w.alls, the irons should extend, if possible, the
whole length of each wall in one piece; but if a break be necessai'y, the ad-
joining ends need not be imited together by the blacksmith, Ijut turned down
at right angles into one of tlie vertical joints of the wall by the bricklayers
tiiemselves. Without hoop iron bond, on the contrary, the additional strength
communicated by cement alone would not suffice in difficult cases.

It is to be observed, liowever, that a continued string of four oi five courses of
cement and hoop iron bond, in the walls of a building, would not be exposed by
any means to the same strain asour experimen^l brick beams ; for it would not
have to bear much more than its own weight in all the unsupported parts over
a door or a window, there being other windows above those, and in all the
intermediate portions of the wall corresponding with the ends of our experi-
mental brick beams, the courses of cement bond alluded to would not only be
supported from below, but their strength would be greatly increased by the
weight of the solid parts of the wall above, it being well known that all beams
have a much greater resistance, when firmly fixed, than when merely sup-
ported at their ends, which Mr. Barlow in his able and useful treatise on the
strength and stress of timber estimates from his own experiments, as l)eing
in proportion to the numbers of 3 and 2. Besides which, 10 feet between the
bearings is a much greater width than would be given in practice to the
windows, or even to the doors of the largest building, unless the latter were
carriage-gateways, which are more usually covered by semicircular or elliptical
arches, than by flat arches or straight lintels.

It only remains further to remark, that the flattest and thinnest brick and
cement arch has sufficient power to resist great pressure, in openings of 10 or
even 15 feet, as was proved by one of our former experiments; though
a straight brick and cement beam is not to be recommended, over such open-
ings, unless consolidated by hoop iron bond.

We have then some experiments on cements, tiles, and bricks, ap-
plied for steps or .staircases ; an investigation bearing upon a very useful
professional subject.

In both of these artificial steps the fracture takes place near to the wall, but
that part of each, though entirely broken through, was suspended by the irons,
which did not break, but elongated or were drawn out from their original
position within the wall, just enough to admit of the far end of each step
striking the ground in falling. In reference to the consideration before stated,
the stone step may be considered to possess a resistance of about 5 times, the
plain tile step a resistance of about 3 times, and the paving tile step a resist-
ance fully double of the greatest weight, ever likely to press upon one step of
a geometrical staircase 4 feet wide ; tliat is, provided iis width, which was
only 12 inches, had been increased to 14 or lO inches, which is the more usual
width of the steps of such staircases, and which would of course increase its
resistance in proportion. I .shall observe also, that as the resistance of plain
tiles and of paving tiles without cement was proved to Ije very nearly equal
by our former experiments recorded in Table XVIII. (324), the marked
superiority of resistance of the plain tile and cement step over the
paving tile and cement step, though both formed of materials equally
or nearly equally strong, may probably be ascribed in this experi-
ment to the former being composed of a much greater number of tiles
and therefore having a much greater number of cement joints than the latter.
Notwithstanding, Ijowever, this inferiority of the paving tiles, 1 would recom.
mend their being used in preference to plain tiles, if the expedient of building
staircases with artificial steps composed of tiles, with cement and hoop iron
bond, should ever be adopted, because the paving tile step is quite strong
enough, and gives much less trouble in the workmanship than any very small
sort of tiles, such as plain tiles would do. But instead of using tiles 12 inches
square and 1^ inch thick, like the common paving tiles of this country, they
should be made 15 inches long, 12 inches wide, and about H or 1^ inch thick
only, so that 4 courses might be used for the steps of the principal staircase,
and .5 courses for those of a second rate staircase of the same house, the latter
of vt-hich are always made higher and also usually narrower than the former.
And in order to break joint properly, it would be better to make a proportion
of hall tiles of the same length, but only six inches wide, than to cut whole
tilesin two for this purpose

Colonel Pasley strongly asserts the superiority of cement mortar over
hydraulic lime, in the coiistruction of wharf and river walls. Several
instances are given of the failure of liydranlic lime forthis purpose, and
particularly one remarkable instance— in the case of a wall wliich had
stood forty years without showing any symptoms of decay. The
Colonel observes, —

Instead of plain tiles, long thin stones, such as schists, or coarse slates not
good enough for tiie roofs of buildings, might be used for the same purpose
of forming artificial steps, when united by cement and strengthened by hoop
iron bond ; but in all materials not before tried, it would be proper to make
ftn experimc.a step beforehand to asijertain Jhe most unitable dimeusieus of

the parts, and the best mode of breaking bond in putting them together.
About tluee months should be allowed for the cement to set, before such steps
are let into the walls of a building. • *

I h."ive seen an official drawing, of 1789, evidently in reference to a project
for the completion of this wharf, a section contained in which very nearly
agrees with the present profile of the wall, which is known to have been
finished more than 40 years,»andl have ascertained by inquiry that no appear-
ance of failure was ever noticed until the year 1K25, when part of it was
observed to have bulged a little forward, but no materiid change took place
until soiue yers afterwards, when a substantial granite cojiing was laid in front
of the wall, as a substitute for the timber capping and laud ties, which had
become rotten. The weight of this coping, which could have done no harm,
had the mortar of the brickwork been good, has undoubtedly accelerated the
sep.aration of the front of the wall from the counterforts, which action has been
gradually in progress, but exerted itself more powerfully, as soon as the bond
timber and lower row of bond ties became rotten. f . .

The circumstance of this wall having remained perfect for at least 27 years
after it was finished, and of some parts of it still remaining so, may be con.
sidered a proof, that the profile was sufficient, if belter mortar had been used,
for the wall, which was about 24 feet high and had olfsets or footings at
bottom, had an exterior slope of one tenth of its height, and would have been
fj^ feet thick at top, if the back of it had been carried up vertically, instead
of which its thickness was reduced to 4 feet at top, by a step iir rear, about
7i feet below the level of the ground. It had very substantial counterforts
measuring rather more than 6 feet square in plan, at central intervals of
18 feet, and terminating about 4 feet below the same level, that is .several feet
higher than the step at the back of the wall, the lower part of which by being
thicker was in itself a sort of counterfort to the upper part of it, in consequence
of which the front part of the wall being the thinnest and less capable of re-
sisting the pressure of earth in rear, separated from the b.ack part in rear
of the said step, whereas had the whole back of the wall being carried up ver-
tically, the separation, resisted by a greater mass of brickwork, would have
been less considerable, and would have taken place farther back, entirely be-
hind the back of the wall, and in front of the counterfort.

In the following judicious observations the Colonel points out the
cases, in which hydraulic lime may be used, and those in which it ought
to be avoided.

For the general purposes of Civil Architecture, concrete should therefore,
I again repeal, be chiefly confined to foundations ; but I conceive that the
failure of the new concrete foundation of the .Storehouse in Chatham Dock-
yard has proved, th,it it is generally, or at least when formed as Mr. Ranger
has usually done, with rather a greater proportion of lime than was originally
adopted by Sir Robert Smirke, liable to settlements like lime mortar, whicii
in fact forms the principal part of it. Hence care must be taken, in com-
mencing the brick footings of a building over a concrete foundation, not only
to use cement mortar and hoop iron bond, in order to do away the necessity
of the more expensive expedients of Yorkshire landing stouts and chain tim-
bers, but also to coniitruct inverted arches under all the proposed openings
for doors and windows, in order to equalize the pressure.

In using- concrete for the backing of wharf walls or other retaining
walls, care must be taken to connect it well with the stone or brick facing of
the wall, but I apprehend, that the wall and its backing .ahoidd be constructed
of a sufficiently substantial profile to dispense with coimterforts, because a
substance having so little resistance and adhesiveness, as concrete, would
admit of the wall in front being forced away from the counterforts, by the
pressure of earth acting upon the^back of it ; as has often occurred to retaining
walls and their counterforts, even when built of brickwork.

In works of Fortification, whilst 1 have already reprobated the use of con-
crete for casemates or vaults, yet as the severest frosts seem to destroy those
surfaces of concrete only, which are alternately saturated with water and then
exposed to the atmosphere, as in the facing of the wharf w.alls of tide rivers,
I see no reason to withdraw the opinion fornred by me, previtiusly to the re-
cent failures in her Majesty's Dock-yards at Woolwich and Chalham, that it
may be used for retaining walls not exposed to the action of water, as in the
sea wall at Brighton improperly so termed, and also for the revetments of
fortresses in the peculiar situations before mentioned, in which it is possible
that it might be so much cheaper than regular masonry or brickwork, that
although greatly inferior in resistance and consequently liable to be much
sooner and more easily breached, whether by battering guns or by mining, this
disadvantage would not be a sufficient argument against the use of it in those
situations.

We omitted to mention in its projier place that the Colonel has dis-
covered a cement, wliich appears from the trials to which it has been
subjected, stronger than Roman cement, and very useful as an hydraulic
mortar. It is composed of 4 parts of pure chalk, and ."jj parts of fresh
blue alluvial clay ; and the method of preparing, mixing and calcining
is fully described.

At the end of the work is an appendix, giving a description and the

* From thia drawin;; one would inter, that a briuk wall with counterforts, either
tinislied or perhaps only in in-ogress, existed in 1789, which it was proposed to face
with stuni'. But lliis is conjecture, as 1 have never seen any docuiueut cxidanatorj of
the drawint? alluded to.

t To guard against thii evil, chain cables or strong iron bolti or bars have recently
been used by the engiueers of the present dav as land ties, for wharf walls. These are
parlicularh'necessarv in wharfs iaeed with iron, which lm« very little stability in
itieir, and must there'lore be aided by long land lies running through the backing ut
the wharf, and well secured to some immoveable objests in rear.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL

107

composition of most of the cements and mortars used in this country, so
as to give the architect and engineer much useful infurniation. In tliis
appendix the Colonel has given a description of l\Ir. Binnel's experi-
mental hricl^ arcli, the dimensions and details of vvlhcli he states that he
has derived chiefly from the sixlhnumberoftlhs journal. This accoiuit
he believes to be correct, except that He<< cement was used instead of
mortar, composed of cement and sand, as stated by us. In conseq\ience
of this correction by tlie Colonel, we again made encpiiries of thcbrick-
layer who assisted in the construction of tlie arcli, and wlio still persists
that cement and sand were used, and not ncU cement ; we have also
procured a piece of the brickwork from the arch, and we feel bound to
state that from its appearance it seems to be constructed of nettcement.
We do not think it necessary to say anything further in praise of tliis
work, for we feel assured that the extracts which we have given from
it are sufficient to convince our readers of its highly valuable and prac-
tical nature. It is, in fact, a work which every member of the pro-
fession may refer to with advantage, as he may place every reliance upon
the correctness of the experiments which are there detailed.

Life of Thomas Telford, written by Himself. Edited bij John Hickman.
Loudon : Payne and Foss, 18-38.

We have purposely delayed our notice of this work, lliat we might
not he accused of not paying due attention to it, or hastily passing a
judgment nnfavourable to its claims. It is a work whicli was anxiously
awaited by the profession, and naturally looked for as a great ac-
cession to the stores of scientific literature, but we regret that its
appearance has deceived these expectations. The "Life of Telford,"
described by his works, offered a field which, in judicious liands,
could not fail to have produced a book of standard reputation. The
price also, of eight guineas, demanded for the present volume, and
the circumstance of funds having been provided for its execution by
Telford himself, is so high, as to require great exertions (o justify
such a charge, and we vainly hoped that, from among the papers of
Telford, many valuable ideas would thus have acquired a greater
circulation. A large volume of plates is certainly given, but they
contain so much that is trite, and so much that is useless, that they
greatly derorate from the value of the mass.

The work lias been thrown into the form of a narrative, under the
plea of insuring greater ease and freedom, but the subject has been
so mutilated by the editor, that it is neither an autobiography nor
anything else. The few snatches of Telford that are left, give a
promise of what he was capable of effecting ; and we should have
derived an invaluable example in the relation of a progress through
life, of which he has given us such a modest commencement. Tel-
ford, however, never lived to finish his work, and his editor
lias taken such liberties, that if anything of Telford is left, it
is principally his faults. He lias wavped the current of the
subject to make room for irrelevant dissertations ; the descrip-
tions of works, instead of showing the minute care with which an
author would dwell on his designs, are derived from the commonest
sources, and a considerable part of the work is occupied with parlia-
mentary reports, superannuated doeimients, Roman baths, and other
men's works. We deplore this catastrophe, as it is one which we
have heard greatly regretted by many members of the profession,
and we had certainly expected something better wlien we looked at
other engineering works of less pretensions. The money and repu-
tation of Telford have been lavished on it, but it shrinks in the scale
when compared with such volumes as the " Public Works of Eng-
land," " Railway Practice," the reprint of " Smeaton's Reports,"
or the new edition of " Tredgold's Steam Engine ;" any one of
which contains far more practical information, at half the cost, than
this "splendid work of Telford." We need scarcely say that the
editor htis fully redeemed his pledge of "not recpiiring classifi-
cation of subjects," and that he has produced a most admirable and
agreeable confusion. As to the literary portion of the work, which
Telford's diflidence imposed on the editor, it is very scanty and unsa-
tisfactory; and although we could excuse this from Telford, we can
make no concession lo the editor. Instead of this work being called
the " Life of Telford, written by himself," it should be the " Life of
Telford," with the part of "hinijielf" by Mr. Rickman; and thus
the name of Telford would be redeemed from the slur cast on it by
this compilation. Altogether, Telford is most singularly unfor-
tunate, that when, having taken some care to maintain his reputation,
he should have confided the task to one so manifestly incompetent.
To deny that the \\ork has some merit would be absurd ; for it would
be impossible that Telford could be associated with an enterprise
without conferring some lustre on it ; but our opinion of the conqii-
lation as a whole is, that neither the quantity of information comniii-
jiicated, nor its quality, are at \x\\ eonjinensurate Mith thy extent vf

its assumptions or the magnitude of its price. The drawings of
Telford, it is true, are to be found in the library of the Instituticm
of Civil Engineers, but who can find time to study them there :' Few
men can afford to sacrifice, in such researches, their leisure and I heir
time.

The work commences with a descriptive narrative of the works of
Telford, and such short snatches of his life as the editor has left un-
pruned. Thomas Telford was an orphan of a working mason in an
obscure part of Scotland, and this avowal which his sense of innate
dignity [irompted stands in solitary contrast with the lack of farther
information. We find him successively working at Edinburgh ami at
Somerset House, then of a sudden superintending works in Ports-
mouth Dock-yard, and afterwards county surveyor of Shropshire. We
see no proof of merit which could warrant this rapid rise, and we look
in vain to the work for an explanation of the circumstances which
thus determined his career in fulnre life. We can appreciate the
studious and laborious attention with which he cultivated his mental
powers, but we must look to other operations for the causes of his
promotion, and we may believe that had it not been for the patronage
of his schoolfellow, Sir William Johnstone Pulteney, his career might,
have been in a lower grade, and his reputation of less extent. As
county surveyor, we find Telford first engaged as a civil engineer ;
and here he had full scope for his favourite pursuit of bridge-building.
The first bridge the construction of which he superintended was one
of three arches over the Severn, and soon afterward he constructed
the second east-iron bridge in England, at Buildwas, the first having
been at Colebrookdale. This consisted of a single arch of 130 feet
span, of which the iron-work was executed, in \7'Mh by the Cole-
brookdale Company, by contract with the county magisi rates, for
6,034;. I3s. 3d. Of this bridge an engraving is given in the Atlas;
and besides these, he erected forty smaller bridges in the county.
This led to further employment in the same line, and he also at-
tempted some works as an architect, though with very little credit to
his taste. The parish church of Bridgenorth, in Shropshire, which
had been the chapel of a Norman Castle, he rebuilt in a mixture of
the Greek and Roman styles.

In 1793 we find him engaged in one of his first great works, the
Ellesmere Canal, the managing committee of which was principally
composed of county magistrates. Telford's management of this com-
plicated work was such as fully lo justify their confidence in him, and
he thus acquired new means of displaying the boldness and originality
of his mind. Here we find descriptions of two works of magnitude,
the Chirk Aqueduct and that of Pont-y-cysylte.

" The Ccriup, nr Chirk valley, is 710 foct in width ; (holiiuiks arc steep,
with a flat alluvial meaduw lictwrcii tlicm, throufcli wliith llio river passes.
Tu preserve the canal level, tlie .surface of its water must be' maintained at
G.'i feet above the ineadiiw, and 70 abuve the water in the river. There are
10 arches, eaeli of which is 40 feet span. The first stmie of this aqueduct
was laid on the 17lh .fuiie, 1790. Previously to tliis time, such canal aque-.
ducts had been uiiifuniily made tu relaiii the water necessary for navigation,
by means uf puddled earth retained by masonry ; and in order lu oblnin
sufheient breadth lor this superslruetiire, the masonry of the piers, abut-
ments and arehi'S was of massive strength ; and after all this expense, and
every imaginable precaution, the frosts, by sw'cUing the moist puddle, fre-
quently created fissures, burst the masonry, and suffered the water to es-
cape, nay, .sometimes actually threw down the aqueducts ; instances of this
kind having occurred even in llie works of the justly celebrated Briiulley.
It was evident that the uiereased pressure of the puddled earlli Avas the
chief cause »i such failun's ; I tlu'refore )iad reeuurse to the ibllowiiiR
scheme in order to avoid using it. Tlie spaudrills of the stone arelies wen;
constructed with longitudinal walls (as at Kirkcudbright Bridge), instead
of being filled with earth, and across these the can.al bottom was formed l>y
cast-iron plates at each side, infixed in square stone masonry. Those l)o|.
toiii plates had flaiiches on their edges, and w'ere seciu'ed by nuts ami
screws at every junctun-. Tlw sides 'jf the canal were made waterproof by
ashler niasoinv, backed with liavil liunit briiks, laid iu Parker's cement,
on the outside of which was rnbhle stone work, like the rest of the aque-
duct. The towing-path had a thin bed id' clay under the gravel, and its
outer edge was protected by an iron railing. The width of the water-way
is 11 feet, of the masonry on each side, b feet 6 inches, and the depth of
the water in the canal is 5 feel.

"By this mode of eonslruelion the quantity of masonry is nun h dimi-
nished, and the iron hoKoiu plate forms a continued tie, and pievenis the;
side walls from separation liy lateral prcs.sure of the conlaineil water.
There b<'iiig a quarry of cxeelli.'iil flat bedded rubblc-stone within a quarter
of a mile of the site, and Unie-kilns within two miles, the whole, with (he,
exeojilion of quoins, coping and lining the sides of the water-\\'ay, wliirh
are of ashler masonry, is of rubble work, laid in lime morlar; the nialeri.il.s
and workmanship ciiually cxeclb'iit. The ediliec w;us completed in the
year 1801, and is still in a perfect stale ; the total cost was £'20,8'J8."

" .\boul four miles north of Chirk, the aqueduct of Pont y-c\'.syllc forni.s
a slill more striknig object than that which I have just described. The
ij'.'itli bank vi tltc rivcj- l)ve \.\\ tliis place is iibrupl ; on tlw south >Jd ' ikg

108

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[March,

accliiily is niori' piaduul ; and lieru, nil acioiiiil of gra\ullY carlh btiiig
readily procured from the adjacent bank, it was found most eeoiioiiiical to
push forward an eartlien embankment, 1,500 feet in length from the le^■el
of the -nater-wav of the canal, until its perpendicular height liccame 75
feet; still a distance of 1,007 feet inleneiied before arriving at the north
bank, and in the middle of this space the river Dee was 127 feet below the
water level of the canal, which was to be carried o^ or it ; therefore serious
consideration was requisite in what manner to accomplish this passage at
any reasonable expense. To lock down on each side 50 or 60 feet, by 7 or
8 locks, as originally intended, I perceived was indeed impracticable, as
involving serious loss of water on both sides llie valley, whereas there was
not more than sufficient to supply the imavoidable lockage and leakage of
the summit level. To construct an aqueduct upon the usual principles, by
masonry piers and arches 100 feet in height, of sutiicieiit breadth and
strength to afl'ord room for a puddled water-way, would have been hazar-
dous, and enormously expensive : necessity obliged nie therefore to con-
trive some safer and more economical mode of proceeding. I had about
that time carried the Slirewsbury canal by a cast-iron trough at about 16
feet abo\e the level of the ground; and linding this practicable, it occurred
to me, as there was hard sandstone adjacent to Pont-y-cysylte, that no very
serious difficulty could occur in buildmg a number of square jiillars of suf-
ficient dimensions to support a cast-iron trough, v\ith ribs under it for the
canal. Afler due consideration I caused a model to be made of two piers,
a set or compartment of ribs, the canal trough, the towing-path, and side-
railing, with all the flanches, tlieir nuts and screws and jouiting complete.
The loiuidatioiis of the river piers arc placed upon hard sandstone rock ;
those on each bank are either on alternating coal strata, or hard firm gra-
vel. Thus secure of good foundations, suitable sandstone for the masoniy,
the best of iron, a satisfacloiy model of the iron work, and able experienced
workmen, I proceeded with conhdeiice of ultimate success, although tho
undertaking was unprecedeuled, and generally considered luizardous.

" The height of the piers above the low water in the river is 121 feet,
their section at the level of high water in the river is 20 feet by 12 feet,
at the lop 13 feet by 7 feet 6 inches. To 70 feet elevalioii (ioin the base
they are solid, but the upper 50 feet is built hollow; the outer walls
being only 2 feet in Ihickness, with one cross inner \\'all ; this not only
places the centre of gravity lower in the pier, and saves masonry, but insures
good workmanship, as every side of each stone is exposed. " I have ever
since that lime caused eicry tall jiier imder my direction to be thus buill.
The \\idtli of the v\ater-way is 11 feet 10 inches, of which the lowing-patli
covers 4 feet S inches, lea\ing 7 feet 2 inches for the boat; but as the
towing-path stands upon iron pillars, under which (he water flucluates and
recedes freely, the boat passes witli ease. The stone piers are 18 in num-
ber, besides the two abutment piers ; they were built to the level of 20
feet, and then the scaflblding and gangways were all raised to that level,
and the materials being brought from the liorlh bank, the workmen always
commenced at the most distant or soutli aliutmeiit pier, receding pier by
pier to tho nortli bank ; and by thus ascending IVoin time to time in their
work, they felt no more apprehension of danger when on tho lughest, tlian
at first on the lowest gang-ways ; one man only fell during the whole of the
operations in building the piers, and affixing the iron work upon their sum-
mit, and this took pla<-e from carelessness on his part.

'■ By referring to Plate 14, the general fonn, and also the details of con-
struction, will be readily vmderstood. Tliis singular aqueduct was opened
in 1805, and has now been navigated 28 years with facility and safety ; and
thus has been added a striking feature to the beautiful vale of Llangollen, -
111 which formerly was the fastness of Owen Glyndwr, but which, now :
cleared of its entangled woods, contains a useful line of intercourse between
England and Ireland ; and the water drawn from the once sacred Deva,
hmushes the means of distributing prosperity over the adjacent land of the
Saxons.

"Tho whole expense of the aqueduct, and great embankment, was
£47,018 ; a moderate sum as compared v\ith what by any mode herc'tofore
in practice, it would have cost."

Telford had now sufRcient standing to recommend him for the exe-
cution of great works, and sufficient ability to justify the choice, and
we consequently find Ifim employed on (he Caledonian canal. This
was one of the political lions of the day, and many exjiectations were
formed of the utility of this national iinckrlaking ; but except forming
a fertile source of government and local jobbery and an interminable
sink of Englisli money, it has produced nothing but disappointment
and disgrace. We shall endeavour to give some explanation of the
causes whicli led to this, and from our own sources point out the
reasons for its defeat. To understand the subject better, however, it
IS necessary that the reader should understand somethino- of the
nature of the countiy, which is explained in the following extracts,
describing a singular valley,

" Called the Great Glen of Scotland, which, commencing between the
promontory of Burgh-Head in Elginshire, and Cromarty, passes through a
succession of sea-mlets and fresh-water lochs (lakes) to the southerir ex-
tremity of Cantyre, a distance of 200 mUcs, and in nearly a straight direc-
tion between the Naze of Norway and the north of Ireland. Tlie
whole of this extensive valley, with the exception of about 22 miles, being
occupied by navigable waters, and the excepted space by a navigable canal,
^avcs upwards oi 500 miles of dangerous navigation, as compared with that
by the Orkneys and Cape Wratli, ,';liips of «ar, were this track open to

them, might in two days, from a station at Tort George near Inverness,
reach Ihc north of Ireland."

The description of the works on the canal is meagre in the extreme,
deficient in interest, and destitute of tliat practical instniction which
such immense works might have afforded. Numerous difficulties
were to be encountered and overcome, and, as Telford liimselfob-
serves, the narration of failures often leads to more practical informa-
tion than the description of succes.s. From the account of the Cale-
donian Canal we shall give a few extracts, whicli may serve to
explain the comments we have to make thereon.

" About ten miles within Fori George, and one mile to the north-west
of the mouth of the river Ness, the tide-way of the Beauley Water is from
5 to 7 fathoms deep, and here, at the fishing village of Clacluiacharry, is the
entrance of the Caledonian Canal. In order to secure an entrance for ves-
sels of 20 feet draught of water, at the top of neap tides, it was nei^essary,
from the flatness of the shore, to place the tide-lock 400 yards from
liigh-water mark, at the end of an embankment ; and in constructing this
lock, very considerable difficulties occuiTcd. wliich will be afterwards
described. I shall here only observe, that this sea or tide-lock is 170 feet
long in the chamber and 40 feet wide, and that its rise is 8 feet; from this
lock the canal is formed by artificial banks, upon a flat mud shore, uiilil it
reaches high-waler mark at Clachnacharry, where another lock of similar
dimensions is pla<'ed upon liard mounlain clay. Immediately to the soulli
of this, is formed a basin or floating dock, 067 yards in length and 162 in
bicadth'; it.s area is about 32 English acres. It is furnished with a wharf-
wall and warehouse at the south end, and its ample dimensions produced
earth by excavation for its own banks, and also for supporting the adjoin-
ing locks, instead of having recourse to back-cutting.

" At the soulli end of this basin, the great north road passes over a
swing bridge, and adjacent to it are tho four miited Muirtown locks, each
180 feet 'oiig and 40 feet wide, which together rise 32 feet, lifting the canal
to the level of the surface water of Loch Ness, when in its ordinary summer
slate. From the lop of these locks the canal, 50 feet wide at the bottom,
20 feet deep, and 120 feet at surface water, is carried by easy bends in tlie
rear of the insulated hillock of Tomnahuric, to the river Ness at Toriaine,
where, by reason of a precipitous liank, the canal is constrained to occupy
the former bed of the river, a new channel being made for it by removing
the opposite bank, which at the same lime produced earth for separating
the river and canal ; a gi'eat work, more than half a mile in length. The
same kind of difficulty, but less in extent, is overcome in the same maimer
twice before the canal enters the small loch of Doughfour, (six miles from
Clachnaclmrry) by a regulating lock 170 feet long and 40 feet wide, actually
placed in the old channel of the river Ness, which in this place was hereto-
fore separated uito a double stream by an island of gravel. .Such a situa-
tion points out the difficulty of keeping an extensive lock-pit free from the
influx of river water, the ordinary level of which was 20 feet above tho
necessary excavatii>u. Mr. Davidson's incessant attention was necessary
and conspicuous during tliis unusual operation in the years 1813 and 1814,
as well as that of Messrs. .Simpson, Cargill, and Rhodes.

" Between the small Loch of Doughfour and the outlet of Loch Ness at
Bona Ferry, the river has been deepijped, chiefly by a dredging machine.
Loch Ness is about 22 miles in length, no where less than a mile in breadth ;
in depth varying from 5 to 120 fathoms, (a greater depth than is found
between the Murray Firth and the Baltic sea,) its direction is straight, with
several small bays of moderate depth, aft'ording good anchorage, as at
UrqiUiart, Inverniorrison, and Port-Clare, on the north side ; taiid at Dores,
the fall of Fyers, and the Horse-shoe on the south side.

'' At the south-west end of the Loch stands Fort-Augustus, on the north
side of which the river Oich enters Uie Loch where the canal leaves it,
crosses the glacis, and at the back of the village ascends 40 feet by means
of five connected locks, each IsO feet in length ; from thence it passes along
the south side of the river to the norlh-east corner of Loch-Oich. In this
distance of about five miles is the Kytra lifting lock, and a regulating lock,
each 170 feet long and 40 feet w-ide, and the channel of the river has been
changed in two idaces; the breadth of Loch-Oich is inconsiderable and
irregular ; in some parts it requires deepening by dredging, especially
where the river Ciarry falls in from the north, draining the whole of Glen-
garry', and ha^■iIlg in its course Loch-Garry 6 miles in length, and Loch-
Quoicli 10 miles ; the summit supply of water for the Caledonian Canal is
therefore abundant.

'■ Between the western end of Loch-Oich and the east end of Loch-
Lochy, a distance of about two miles, the surface of the ground is about
20 feet above the water level, and the depth of the canal water being 20
feet, there is 40 feet depth of cutting. Near Loch-Lochy are two locks, a
regulating lock and a lifting lock ; the diflerence between the surface of
the water in these two locks (.although Loch-Lochy has been raised 12
feet,) is nearly 10 feet.

" At the south-west end of Loch-Lochy (which is 10 miles in length)
there is a regulatuig lock as usual, and the canal is carried over rugged
ground along the north-west side of the river Lochy, its line intersected by
one considerable riier, and by scleral momitain streams ; tho ordinary
level of Loch-Lochy is continued along the canal to within one mile of
Loch-Eil, where are eight coimected locks, each 18tl feet long and 40 feet
in width, and together falling 64 feet ; from thence the canal is continued
on a level to Corpach, where are two connected locks falling 15 feet, and a
single sea-lock entering the tideway of Loch-Eil. The sill of this last-
niciiiioned lock was laboriously excavated iii rock, so as to ensure a depth

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

109

of 20 feet of water at liigh water of an ordinary neap-tide. Tlie operations
wliich were necessary in making tliis lock were entirely dissimilar, but not
much less difficult than those at Claclmacharry, and are worthy of
attention.

•' The connection with the tideway being to the westward of the general
line of the valley, and at the rectangidar turn of Locli-Eil towards Fort -
William, a well-sheltered roadstead and good anchorage are here obtained.
Loch-Eil and the Linnhc-Loch are inlets of the west sea, and the latter
joins the usual channel of navigation south of the Sound of Mull.

" The navigation by tlie Caledonian Canal between the two seas was
opened at the latter end of 1823 ; the eastern district had previously been
navigated three years."

From the above description of the works in the neighbourliood of
Torvaine the profes.sional reader would be led astray, Ibv no notice is
taken of the difficulties wliich impeded the progress of the «orks,
and wliich still cause them to remain in a defective state.

To understand this, it must be observed that Torvaine is the name
of a very high hill of sand and gravel, at the base of which flows
the River Ness, and it was necessary to widen the bed of the river
on the south side, which, at the same time, produced earth for sepa-
rating the river and canal, as staled above, by removing the opposite
bank ; for in fact, there was no opposite bank to remove, t!ie land on
that side being very low and flat ; and although the widening was
rather considerable, the earth so obtained formed but a small portion
of what was necessary to separate, by a proper embankment, the
river and the canal, the hill of Torvaine, although at least 150 feet
above the river, had to be cut into to a considerable extent, before a
sufficient quantity of stuff coidd be procured and the canal was
partly constructed on the hill, and partly in the river. The annexed
sketch will better describe the features of the canal at this particular
place, and show the peculiar nature of the position.

A— The Ness River.

B — The Caledonian Canal, partly cut out of the foot of the hill, 50

feet wide at the bottom, and 120 feet at the top, and 20 feet deep.
C — Embankment formed from the cutting opposite, with a slope of 1|

to I , and 20 feet wide on the top, which divides the canal and the

river Ness.
D — The part of Torvaine Hill cut away, with a slope of 2i to 1, and

benches 10 feet wide-

The course of the canal from the Muirtown Locks, on towards
Torvaine, passes through a stratum of clay, but as it more nearly
approaches Tomnahuric and Torvaine, the stratification ! becomes
loose and porous. At Torvaine, in particular, the whole hill is com-
posed of sand and gravel, which continues through the Muir of
Dunanclu'oy, and on to Dochgaveh. The engineers, notwithstanding
the knowledge of these materials fonning the banks of the
canal, neglected taking any precaution to line the canal with
puddle, but entirely depended on the great supply of water which
they had in the Loch and River Ness, which run close to the canal
through nearly the whole district. Tliese, they trusted, would
supply the loss of any water by filtration ; and they also calculated
that, by means of this, the deposit of the river would ultimately have
filled up the interstices of the gravel, and that, thereby, the canal
would be rendered water-tight. With this impression, no side-
lining or bottcm puddle was provided, and the consequence was,
that they could never keep the canal full, but the water filtered out
before it reached Tomnahuric. This circumstance occasioned much
surprise and dijappoiritmcnt at that time, and a dam was placed
across the canal, to retain a dej th of about five feet of water through
the Moir of Dunanchroy, so as to try the effects of filtering. Many
thou^and tons of loamy silt were brought down and hove into the
bottom of the canal, but to no purpose; for, as fast as it was thrown
in, it was carried through the sides and the bottom into the river ;
and instead of the silt filling up the interstices, every part of the
canal when the water was let in, became more and more porous ; for

the water not only carried away the stuff thrown into the canal, but
it also caiTJed away all the sand and smaller pebbles, making the
gravel still more porous, so that in a very short time the bottom and
sides of the canal became as open as if it had been made through a
mountain of macadamized stone. The contractors were employed
for many days near Dunanchroy, trying to prevent the leakage, but
without the least practical effect.

There can be no doubt that the want of a puddle lining in this
part of the canal was attended with disappointment, great expense,
and to a certain extent a failure of what the canal proposed to be,
and what it ought to have been conducted on a different plan. Instead
of using the porous materials of Torvaine Hill for the embankment,
the clay which was found between Torvaine and the Muirtown
Locks should have been employed, instead of which it was wheeled
into spoil, and thus thrown to waste. The canal ought also to have
been cut much deeper and wider, not only to receive the necessary
puddle of clay, but also for a sufficient protection of gravel facing to
keep it firm. All this could have been done at half the expense, or
perhaps one-third, of that afterwards incurred ; but the most unfortu-
nate part remains yet to be told. It is a fact, that after having proved
the ineffectual and superficial manner in which the canal had been
constructed, and having determined to deepen and \viden it to the
necessary size for receiving a proper thickness of puddle to resist the
pressure of water, by some unaccountiible en'or the canal was never
made deep nor wide enough for the purpose, and up to this day the
canal at that part has not strength of side and bottom lining to
carry more than 12 feet water, instead of 20. We ask the editor, is
not this the true cause of the failure of the canal, instead of the ridi-
culous statement set forth in the work before us at page 66 ? The
facts we have stated are quite sufficient to prevent large vessels from
navigating this canal, and until the line is made perfect there, it is
quite uieless to have 20 feet of water in any other part. We recom-
mend strongly that an inquiry should be made to see liow far the
defect we have pointed out, and any others, might be remedied, so
that the canal may be perfected for 20 feet of water throughout, and
what would be the cost.

After such an immense sum of money has been expended upon
this canal formed on such a grand scale, with its locks of size
and depth to carry through a frigate with all her stores, it is w'orth
while knowing why and wherefore no vessels drawing more than
twelve feet water can navigate through it. We are of opinion that
a comparatively small sum, as compared with what it has already-
cost, would make this canal a credit to its projector and a source of
profit to the country ; and, in time of war in particular, its advaittages
in letting through ships of war and steam boats would confer incal-
culable benefit, which in a Russian war could not be too highly
prized.

To revert to the progress oT the work before us, the next object
of considerable magnitude and Ijoldness is the formation of the sea
lock at the eastern entrance.

FouIsIoh's Public Buildings.

SECOND NOTICE.

Of the buildings here described, that containing the Theatre, Hotel,
and Assembly Rooms, is the most important subject in the volume, both
on account of its extent, and of the fulness with which it is illustrated.
Its principal, or north front, is 270 feet in extent, 70 of which are
occupied by its octastyle Ionic portico, which is raised on five steps,
and whose columns are thirty feet high. The remaining one hundred
feet on each side of this centre, has three tiers of windows (seven in
each tier), viz. ground floor, principal, and attic or mezzanine ; all of
which openings have dressings to them, those of the ground floor and
mezzanine hieed architraves, in addition to which those of the principal
floor have both frieze and cornice. The general appearance is good, — ■
has a certain degree of breadth and simplicity that are sufficiently
pleasing ; and although it is upon a somewhat lesser scale, this facade
very much resembles in its style tliat of our Post-office here in town,
while it certainly cannot be said that the architect was in any degree
indebted to the latter building, since it appears that his own was com-
menced several years before, namely in 1811, the foundation stone
having been laid on September lOtli in that year.

So far, indeed, from suffering very greatly by a comparison with a
structure tliat is a national work, and one moreover that cost the
country upwards of 230,000/., the Plymouth building— and Plymouth,
as Mr. Foulston himself tells us, is, though spirited, proverbially poor —
need not shrink from it, as in some respects it will gain by such com-
parison, particularly if we bear in mind its priority of date, and the
means placed at the disposal of the respective architects. This difler-
euce in regard to means becomes all the more striking, when we

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fMAnrn,

consider that tlic Plynioiitli arcliitect had to provide a good deal in the
way of decoration botli in tlie assembly room and theatre, tosay iiothini;
of the varions other apartments ; whereas the rooms at the Post-ofiioc
exhibit nothing further tljan desks and bare walls. We may further
remark, that in regard to the windows, their features are fat better
in the Plymouth building than in the metropolitan one ; and while they
are less bald and insipid in themselves, they are not sipieezed so close
together, consequently do not imjiart to tlie design that ordinary dwell-
ing-house aspect which, whatever the design may be in other respects, is
almost sure to communicate itself to the rest where such openings arc
too numerous in regard to the space allotted to them. We may further
observe, that the style of the farade is very properly kept \ip in the
adjoiningfronts, or returns at the ends, whereas in Sir R.Smirke's building
very little similarity of character seems to have been aimed at in its
dirterent sides. While we admit tinismnch in favour of what Mr. Fonl-
ston has here done, we feci it incumbent upon us also to notice some
defects. As he himself, so far from putting forth any claim to origi-
nality, is content to forego all commendation on that head, we feel no
reluctance in saying that we must withhold it; but it also appears to
lis, that notwithstanding his professed admiration of Greek architecture,
he docs not show himself to have imbibed its real spirit, and caught its
feeling. Tlie portico exhibits to ns an Ionic order, treated with literal
correctness, indeed, as regards certain established particulars of detail,
but without any artistical expression or ert'ect. Were it not for the
capitals of the columns it would bean absolute negation of any distinct
order, because as to all the rest, it is marked, not by positive character-
istics of its own, but merely by the omission of those which serve to
distinguish the orders.

The entablature is of the plainest description, far more so than that
of the Doric order, which is the only one, we may observe, in which our
modern architects have thought fit to retain any degree of decoration as
regards the frieze. Here both the entablature' and frieze have a par-
ticularly naked, and not a little heavy appearance ; and yet, notwith-
standing the rigorous economy — not to say poverty — displayed in those
parts, statues are introduced on the acroteria. The doors within the
portico are, taken by themselves, pretty enough ; but although their
piettiness, would recommend them as part of a shop front, or something
of that kind, it is altogether out of keeping with the character which
ought to be kept up in a building of this class. There is, however, one
merit in this portico that ought not to be passed over in silence, which is,
that instead of being crammed full of doors and windows, there are only
three doors, and as many windows over them, placed so as to correspond
with the alternate inter-columns in front, owing to which there is an
agreeable degree of breadth and repose in the back ground to the colon-
Hffle- The ball-room, which is on the principal floor over the great
dining-room, is 77 feet by -40, and 32 high to the centre of its segmental
ceiling, throngli which it is lighted from five lunette windows on each
side above the cornice, forming arcs tloulilcau.v in the curve of the
ceiling itself. The Lysicrates example of the Corinthian order is here
introduced, in columns placed two at each end on the sides of the room,
coupled with ant;c behind them ; and the capitals of these latter, which
are continued each side, so as to divide it into five compartments or in-
ter-cohimns, are similar to those of the columns themselves. Whether
the.se pillars and pilasters are of scagliola, or painted cither in imitation
of that material or of stone, is what we arc not informed, neither is it
said what is the colour of the walls, although a very few words to that
effect would have served to remove the uncertainty in which we are now
left in regard to what is a matter of some importance in itself. In oiir
opinion too it would have been far more satisfactory had Mr. F.,
who is so liberal of his illustrations as to gives a representation of the
Lysicrates capital and entablature, favoured ns with a drawing of one
of the comiiartments of the ball-room, drawn to the largest size his book
would allow. In that case we might perhaps have been better satisfied
with the design of the panels on the walls, which, as shown in the
general section, have a poor, not to say too trumpery look, for tliev appear
to consist of mere lines with sprigs at their angles. Whether thev are
really such, or raised mouldings, or whether distinguished by gilding
from the general surface of the walls, we are unable to judge.

There are many other parts of the interior which, on examining the
plan, seem greatly to stand in need of further elucidation, by means of
particular sections on a larger scale. A larger section, or "rather two
or three of the kind, are very much wauled to show the interior of the
audience [lart of the theatre,' for, as represented in the general section, it
is so small that very little can be made out in regard to it, especially as
the mode of engraving here adopted (lithography) is by no means very
Javourable to neatness and distinctness when the subject is minute.

On tlieotlier hand, a greater number of plates than seems altogether
necessary — no fewer than twenty are devoted to explaining the carpen-
try and machinery of tlie stage — and as very little, if anythiii!;, liasbein
jjefore published in tl)is country on the conblrnctioii of' that oh rt of a

theatre, and the various apparatus required for effective scenic changes
and exiiibitions, this work will doubtless afford great assistance to those
who may be called upon to execute anything of the kind ; but the
letter|)ress explanation to these plates is exceedingly brief indeed, which
is the more to be regretted, because it requires some previous
familiarity with such mechanism and contrivances in order to compre-
hend it — at least to judge how fiir that here shown is marked by any
improvement.

At p.ige 7 of onr present volume will be found a table of the dimen-
sions of some of the principal theatres, by referring to which the com-
parative size of the Plymouth one may at once be estimated ; for we
shall here transcribe the author's own account of it.

" This is the only fire-proof theatre in the country, the whole of the
framing for the boxes, corridors, kc, being of cast-iron. The roof (the
span of which is 60 feet) is of rolled iron, and though no piece is more
tlian jg of an inch in thickness, it is yet remarkably strong, and not
more than half the weight of a timber roof. The particular construc-
tion of the ironwork to the boxes and the roof is shown in plates No.
41 to 4d.

" The auditory is included within a circle, the ends of the boxes being
rounded oft'at three-foiirths, and their back paitition continning to the
columns of the proscenium, by which there is a perfect view of the
stage for the spectators, to the depth of "25 feet from the least eligible
seat in the boxes. The pit, which is 33 feet in diameter, will afford ac-
commodation for 200 persons. There arc two circles of boxes, capable
of receiving 512 persons, and above them a gallery and slip boxes, which
will jointly contain 4H0 persons. By means of an arched colonnade,
continning along the gallery and the slips, the ceiling of the theatre is
completed in a perfect circle."

The other dimensions are as follows : the diameter across the boxes,
48 feet; width of curtain, 28 ; depth of stage from curtain, 30 ; height
from floor in centre of pit to ceiling, 40.

Almost adjoining the preceding building, or separated from it only
by a street on the west side of it, is another edifice of Mr. Foulston's,
namely the Athenaeum, which was begun in 1818. Its north front, or
that on a line with the hotel, is a Grecian Doric tetrastyle, and though
somewhat lower than the other, is of a richer character, for in addition
to the usual ornament of the frieze, the pediment is filled with sculp-
ture, at least is so represented both in the view and elevation, and is
surmounted by a figure on its apex. Within, this portico has only a
single door below, and three windows above, or rather a window-niche,
over the door, with a statue, and a window on each side of it, which
arrangement gives some originality and play to the composition. As
to the details of the order, which occupy two out of the six plates
devoted to this subject, we could very well have spared them, and
should have been better pleased to find the various parts of the interior
more fully represented. Of the remaining designs we must defer
speaking till next month, when we shall pass them in review, and
examine how far Mr. Foiilston has been successful in his attempts
with other styles.

Isomctiical Perspective. By T. Sopwith. AVeale. 1838.

This is a new edition of Mr. Sopwith's well-known work of
Isomctrical Perspective, in which he has extended its a|)plication to
mining. In this department it appears well calculated to be iiscfnl
equally for professional purposes, as to explain the subject to persons
generally interested in it. Mr. Sopwilh has introduced several
improvements in principle into this edition, and altogether it presents
one of the most valuable works which has yet been publislied on this
subject.

The Universal Calculator. By J. Wallace. Glasgow, M'Phiin-

1838.
This is the cheapest work on the subject which has yet been
published, and has condensed in the smallest possible space, most of
the arithmetical knowledge necessary to the engineer. Most of tiie
calculations are made by logarithms, and many new processes of calcu-
tioii suggested by the able compiler. Altogether it is a work recom-
mended by its portability and the moderation of its price.

LITERARY NOTICES.

\\ c liavc an article prepared on the subject of Eiigiiici rin/; Eihiciiliini, but
wc regret lliat tlie prcssuie of matter has obliged us to defer its publication
until iKxt niontb.

W'c .sliall next month refer to Mr. Hay's work on Cvlnnr as ujtjili'd In nilcriuil
JJcnntfiait and Ifotisr rii/nCinif.

Loiulun's biglily interest ng work, Tlic Siihii}b,ni flor.l, mr, wc shall review
ill o'lr next number, lor in our present crowded coluninn we should not be able
to dii justice to it.

We arc happy to find ijiat the sister Avt^, J'ahjling and Sculpture, have now

1839.]

THE Civil/ ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

Ill

a periodical devoted to them under the title of the " Art- Union," the first
number of which has been transmitted to us.

We have had placed in our hands the correspondence between Mr. Hyde
Clarke and the West Cumberland Uailway Committee, but it is too lonj? for
our pages, although we think that Mr. Clarke has not been treated with
proper attention.

PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.

INSTITUTE OF CIVIL ENGINEKKS.

ADDRESS or JAMES WALKER, ESQ., Tllli IMIESIDENT,

To the Amiual General Mcethtij, Jamiary I.'), 18.'?0.

I thank you very sincerely for the manner in wliieh you have exprrssod
yourselves cif my ondoavotirs during the past year. It is truly pratifyiiiR to
liie if, tlirouj;!! your partiality, I have been at all the instruun'ut of fur-
■vvardiuf; lliis iiisl'itutiou, and the object of the excellent man (Telford) whose
])icture is now bclijnd me.* * *

There is really so much doing in tliis country alone, that without drawing
largely >ipon genius, it would be suffii-ient to register but a proportion of
the new works in progress to keep us fully employed; aiul surely the most
timid associate or graduate need not be afraid of assisting in this. By the
original by-laws a candidate for admission was required to present a
drawing or paper; this has been waived, but still I consider the claim
remains as almost a debt of honoiu-, and the discharge of it would be foimd
agreeable, if set abcjut ; agreeable not only in the execution, but in the an-
ticipation of reward ; and I would have gentlemen only reflect upon the
subjects fin- which premiums have been adjudged, to see that the distini'tion
requires no particular skill, but only resolution and moderate application;
where there is the will. I am sure there is in this case an easy way. I am
aware of the dilhculty that frequently arises from indeiision ai\d in choos-
ing a subject; a difficulty often felt and confessed by our most distinguished
Knglish essayist. To remove this, the council have gi\en subjects for
papers; and it has occurred to me that it might even be desirable to charge
individuals with particular subjects— thus not only imposing more specially
a duty upon the individual, but confining his attention to the particular subject
(and even to limit the time)— both of which, I have fmuid, from long ex-
perience, the best preventives to wandering and proeraslmation.

Let us remember also, that as the importance of our profession is increas-
ing, and is being felt, it behoves us to exert ourselves to maintain our
relative station. Classes, with professorships, for the education of the civil
engineer, are established at our colleges; and there is now upon the table
a prospci-tus for the establishment, on a large scale, of a college for civil
engineering.

We have every reason to be grateful for our success heretofore, but our
motto must be " Forward," and we must keep up to it. There is an ample
harvest to reap from the new works which arc going on throughout tliis
country, from the Land's End to the northern extremity of Scotland, and in
Irelancl ; and as the powers of human invention and discovery increase, the
range fi>r it becomes nmre ample— -the higher we rise, the more enlarged is
the sphere that bouiuls our prospect. There is reason to believe, from
analogy, that we know as yet but a small jiortion of the powers and capa-
bilities ipf matter, and which require but the application of mind to bring
them to light. Much, I admit, has been done witlun the last century; but
as our deepest pits are, when compared with the radius of the earth, b\it
scratches on the surface, such, I believe, would our stock of knowledge,
much as we think of it, appear to a mind that could comprehend all the
properties and beauties of »ature, even of that province with Mliich the
civil engineer has to deal; andtliis would appear the case to the last of a sue.
cession of Newtons, or Watts, or Huddarts, siipposing each to add to the
stock of his predecessor, even more strongly than it docs to us. How nmch
then ought we to admire that beautiful adaptation, which is fitted to ni.an
in every stage of his mental improvement! I sometimes doubt whether,
when mechanical and other scientific improvements are made, we are disposed
suflieiently to refer to nature, and then to rise to the author of Nature, in
admiration of" the treasures wliich have been opened, and are still in store for
mankind. Thus, in admiring the genius of a Ncwtim, and others, we arc
not so disposed as we ought to be to carry our admiration back to the natural
substances which lia\c produced the glass, without which tlie principal
phcnonicna of light would still be unknown; and to reflect, that these sub-
stances have existed from the beginning, although their ci>mbinations are of
human disco\ery of no very ancient date. Again, when we admire the
stvipendous fix<'d or the active locomotive engine, or the fine machinery of
Huddart, for drawings of which you have seen two premiums awarded, and
reverence the minds which have brought these to their present statelet us not
forget how small are these compared with the materials for steam and for
manufacturing the steam-engine,— the water, the coal, ami the iron; li.iw
insignificant these minds compared with the mind which ga\e to them the
properties they have,— to steam its elasticity and wondrous velocity,— and
impressed upon matter those beautiful and uniform laws which govern it,
and enabled a Huddart to calculate with certainty the strength of his
materials, and what would be the result of his complex combination of
wheels and pinions! What the poet said of tin' uiidevout astronomer, that
"111' is mad," may apjily with ecpial truth to the undevout mei'hanic or
engineer; and it would be well if those delightful feelings were cuUivated,
and invariably associated with the stuciy and practice of the engineer, so
tJwt Jui! jjiiiul Jiiijiht ill cvfry piusuit dwvU upon tlic wvudrvu.'j adajitutious of

nature to the wants and pleasures of the community, and botli in its lowest
and most improved stale be led to the contemplation of the power which
formed, and the goodness which so admirably fitted the whole for the use of
his creatures.

I have been led without premeditation info this train of reflection. I
gratcfnlly acknowledge the attention you have jiaid to me on the present
.ind on every occasion, and now leave the chair with a repetition ol my
thanks for all your kindnesses.

Jan. 8. — The President in the chair.
The discussion on this occasion was on the use of peat in the manu-
facture of iron. It had been remarked at a previous meeting that the iron
made with peat fuel was more malleable than Swedish, and that the tooln
were of a superior quality. It was doubted whether peat fuel had been
recently employed, or, indeed, v\hether it could be used at all in the
puddling furnace, though it might in tlie refining or smelting furnace, but
with a diminished produce. The working of iron by peat fuel was known
to improve its quality in some respects, and the welds especially thus made
were superior to those made with coal. Tlic Dartmoor peat was frequently
used for this purpose, and found exceedingly good. The improvement of
iron by tlie use of a particular fuel seemed a very diflicult question. The
weld made with* ligneous carbon, owing to the absence of sulphur and
pyrites, must be better than that made with a fuel containing these
impurities. The analysis of peats is very various. They all contain 5 per
cent., and some 20 per cent., of earthy matter. Some kinds of peats were
stated to produce three times as much gas as coal. Peat was said to con-
tain no sulphur, but the experience of several gas-works, in which peat
was employed, proved that some peats contain large quantifies of sulphur,
as the purifiers become rapidly filled with sulphuretted hydrogen. All
coal, however pure t.) the eye, contains pyrites and sulphur, so that
sulphur must be considered as one of the elements of coal. Much if to be
attributed to long practice in the use id' fuels; the smiths of Cornwall can
use peat, and the smiths of Pembrokeshire anthracite, for all purposes of
working iron ; both would, however, use pit coal could it be conveniently
procured.

Jan. '29.— Bryan Doniun, V.P., in the chair.

On framhiy Lock Gates withont Iron-tfork, by S. Ballard, A. Inst. C.E.

The horizontal pieces in gates thus framed are held to the back by dove-
tailed tenons and wedges; the use of iron T pieces being thus wholly dis-
pensed with, the premature decay which invariably takes place where
wood is in contact with iron is entirely avoided. The mortices nito which
the pieces arc inserted arc previously filled with tar, or white lead, and on
the wedge being driven in, every part is rendered perfectly water-tight.
This method has been adopted in gates on the Herefordshire and
Gloucestershire Canal, and, after eight years' experience, found completely
successful.
On Tubinrj the Boikrs of Locomotive Engines, by G. Buck, M. Inst. C.E.

The author's object has been to delerminc the diameter of the tubes of
a locomotive boiler, so that the greatest quantity of steam may be produced
by a given quantity of fuel, on the condition that the evaporating efiect ot
the hot air, in passing through the tubes, is in proportion to the extent of
surfivce in contact with the hot air and the time of contact conjointly ._
The resiUt of this investigation is, that the distance betwixt the diametiT of
two adjacent tubes should be equal to four times the illtcr^•al between their
internal surfaces. On comparing the aggregate surface of a locomotive
boiler tube, in this proportion, with those generally employed, the former
is superior by from '23 to '20 per cent, to the latter.
On the state of the Suspension Bridr/e at Montrose, after the late

Hurricane, xeith remarks on Suspension Briciyes, by Colonel Pasley,

Hon. M. Inst. C.E.

The hurricane of the lltli of October carried away a third part of the
roadwav of the suspension bridge at Montrose, and broke or bent very
much all the rods on the west side. Froin the effect here produced, and
his experience of the motions of suspension bridges, the author is of opinion
that the dangerous undulations are longiludiual ; that the mIioIc roadway
is brought, by the action of the wind or pressure of the air beneath, into a
state of waves, by which the roadway is ultimately broken up ; that this
can only be obviated by adopting a strong longitinlinal trussing, as has
been done by Mr. Tierney Clark in the Hammersmith Bridge, in which no
motions of this nature are experienced, even in the most violent gales.
This opinion of the action of the wind on the under side of the roadway, is
confirmed by what Crdoncl Pasley once wilucssi'd at Chatham Dockyard.
One side of the roof of a large .shiii-building shed rose up and down
repeatedly, flapping like the leaf of a book, until a portion, of about the
extent of' 10 feet by lit, was floated up like a sheet of paper, and carried to
a distance of 60 yards.

^>ft. ,5. — The President in the chair.

The following gentlemen were elected:— Alfred Biirges, John Taylor, as
Members; Joseph Baxendale, J. M. Parsons, J. Bennett, as Associates;
and Charles Wood, M.P., as an Honorary Member.

.Mr. C. W. Williams presented siieciineiis of Peat, from the first state,
as taken from the bog, tii the last, avIicu compressed and converted into a.
hard coke ; and of his new lit sin Fuel, or artilirial coal, which is composed
of resin and turf coke. This resin fuel is louiid of the greatest use in long
voyages, when used with a proper proportion of coal, as it enables the firc-
juau lo HiauitaiiUUc icquisilciuvssmv'ul'ijtcivni with great rcguluiiiy, and alsq

112

THE CIVIL ENGINEEU AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[March,

fo raise steam more rapidly on any emorgonry It is not adapted for use asa
fuel by itself, but when about 2j cwt. of this fuel is used with about 20
cwt. of coal, by throwing it iu front of the fire with cacli charge of fresh
coal, a much belter combustion of the coal takes place, and the effect is
equal to that whicti would be produced by 27 ewt. of coal. Tluis 2i cwt. of
this fuel so employed is equivalent to 7 cwt. of coal. The cost is from
.^s. to 40s. per ton. The Transatlantic steamers carried from 40 to 60 tons
of it, and besides the advantage attending its use, there was a saving in
room, which was applicable to the stowage of cargo.

A long discussion took place on the important facts wliicli the application
of tliis fuel liad elicited. Tliese .appeared in some mea.sure contradictory to
tlie results, which could not be doubted, that 9 lb. of ctikc will do as nuicli
in any department of the arts as 12 lb. of coal : for on adding to coal a peal
and a hydro-carbou far more inflammable than coal, the result is equivalent
to that wliich is produced by all the carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, inmany
tinu's the quantity of coal. It was remarked, that the circumstances under
which fuel was eiuployed ought tobe considered, as the consumption of fuel
under steam-boilers could hardly be compared with the consumption for
simply heating and keeping liot a large mass of matter as in a glass-house.
It could not be believed, that the absolute quantity of heat from the coke
of a ton of coals is the same as of the ton of coals, for in that case all the
heat of a coke oven would go for nothing, and there were instances of this
being beneficially emi)loye(l.

INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.

Feb. 4. — P. F. Robinson, V.P., in the chair
The Cavalier Bianchi was elected an Honorary and Corresponding
Member.

The report of the Council, as to the adjudication of the Prize for the best
restoration of an ancient castle, was read and confirmed ; and tlie letter,
bearing the motto of the successful drawings, having been opened, the
author appeared to be Mr. Samuel Sharp. Associate, of York. In consi-
deration of this being the secoiul time that Mr. .Sharp had entitled himself
to the approbation of the Institute, for the zeal and talent with which he
had executed the restorations of St. Mary's Abbey, York, and Sherifl' Hut-
Ion Castle, it was resolved that a gold rim be added to the .Soane me-
dallion, wliicli will be awarded to him.

A traHslat'ion, by Mr. Donaldson, was read, of a memoir of the late M.
Perciei!, architect, of Paris, Honoranj and Corresponding Member, for-
icu'ded by M. V.\uDoyER, archilcet.

Charles Percier was born at Paris of a respectable family, and received *
liberal education. From his earliest age he evinced a talent for drawing,
was placed by his father at the free school for drawing, then under the ma-
nagement of the formder, M. Bachelier, painter to the king. His tasti;
leaning to tlie side of architecture, he soon after entered the studio of M.
Paris, whose school had long enjoyed considerable reputation. In 178.3, M.
Percier carried off the second great prize; and in 1786, having gained the
first great architectural prize, he became a travelling student to the French
Academy at Rome. He there became the companion and intimate friend
of M. Fontaine, who, possessing like tastes, like ardour, and like infornni-
tinu, entered with him into the same branches of study, and from that time
the two friends worked together, travelled together, and Ined in the same
dwelling ; and, till they were separated by death, they shared the same
glory, the same joys and sorrows. On the return of MM. Percier and Fon-
taine to France, the storm of 17'J2 was raging, and they employed their ta-
lents in designing for manufacturers of carpets, paper, furni(iu-c, &c. It
was at tills time, also, that they engraved and publislied tlieir many useful
studies in Italy. A calm having at length succeeded, M. Percier's talents
began to be appreciated under the Emperor, and in the following reigns he
was called to assist in great works. Le Carrousel, the Triumphal Arch,
the interior of the Tuilerics, the line de Hi\oU, the completion of the
Louvre, Le Chapelle Expiatoire, the improvements of rEIy.se'e, de Malmai-
son, de NeuiUy, and Fontaincbleau. M. C. Percier died on the .^th of
September, 18.38, at the age of seventy-four. He was a man of gicat gene-
ral information, conversant with the literatiue of )iis own and foreign
countries, well informed in history, antiquities, a lover of painting and of
music, to all of which he had devoted much attention. In consideration of
the advantages he had in his youth derived from the Royal Free School of
Design, M. Percier bequeathed a sum of l.')0,()00 fi-ancs to this institution,
for the encouragement and assistance of poor and deserving students. At
the conclusion of the paper, Mr. Donaldson reviewed at some length the
various merits of the numerous works published by Messrs. Percier and
F'ontaiue.

At an Ordinary General Meeting, held at 16, Lower Grosrcnor-street,
ISlh Feb., 1839, P. F. Robinson, V.P., in the Chair.

A letter was read from Mons. Vaudoyer, acknowledging the thanks of the
Institute for his former communication, and enclosing a list of the restorations
made by the students of the French Academy at Rome, and preserved at the
Academy of Fine Ai'ts, at Paris.

The following donations were announced as having been received since the
last meeting : —

From Mons. Laves, Hon. and Cor. Mem. at Hanover : A Print of the Water-
loo Column and Hall of the Knights, Hanover; and Pamphlets on the Qualities
Of Words.— George Saunders, Escj., : two steel standard foot measiues, pre.

pared by Ramsden. — H.E. Kendall, Fellow : Cast of the Lion's Head, from the
Parthenon. — C. J. Richardson, Fellow: Proof impression of a view of Hol-
land House. — T. L. Donaldson, H.S. : one volume of Transactions of Ameri-
can Institute, containing the (luestions published by the R. I. B. A. — ^W. C.
Mylne, Fellow : Editio Princeps of \itruvius, and Autograph T,ettersof G.B.
Piranesi, Bonorai, Robert Mylne and Lewis, Architi'Cts ; andof Sir William
Hamilton, formerly British Ambassador at the Court of Naples. — Copy of
Resolutions of Associated Architects, to consider cases of frequent fire and
means of prcventimi. — Thomas Chawner, Fellow, presented twenty guineas.

A paper was read from Mr. Martin, of Derby, describing a new species of
cement invented by bim, accompanied by specimens.

A paper was read by John Shaw, F'ellow, on Ecclesiastical Architecture
applicable to Modern Churches ; a printed copy of which Mr. Shaw also
presented.

A Description of the Manufacture of Paper Hangings, by Mr. John Gregory
C race, was read; Ulnstrated liy various samples of papers, and explained by
specimens executed by Mr. Crace's assistants at the tiuu'.

A Letter was read from Wm. Wilkins, Esq., R.A., addressed to his Lordship,
the President, calling attention to some drawings which accompanied the
letter, made by a young self-taught draughtsman at Cambridge. The Icttsr
also stated that another volume of the Dilettanti would soon be ready for
publication.

ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY.

Ordiirary Mretiiii/ of the Society lield 39//i January, ISSO — William Baenes,
Esq., in the chair.

Michael Meredith, Esq., of Blomfield-street, Finsbury Circus, was elected
a member.

The Chairman announced a donation of twenty guineas, by J. Griffiths,
Esq., (member,) of Finsbuiy place, South.

MonthJij Maiing of Ihc Soiirlij lield Tncsihuj crenliii/, tlie VZlli Fehruary, 1839 —
William Tite, Esq., President in the chair.

Thomas Nichols, Esq., of Castle-street, Holbern, was elected a Member.

E. W. Brayley jun., Esq., delivered a Lecture " On Limestones and other
substances affording materials for Cements," being the second of a course of
lectures now in progress of delivery in the Society's Rooms.

The Chairman announced that the subject for the sketches proposed to be
produced by the student members at the next meeting was as follow? :— " The
elevation and plan of an entrance to a Lunatic Asylum, detached with lodges
each side."

The next Public Meeting will be held on Tuesday evening, the 12th instant,
when Mr. Brayley will deliver his third lecture " On artificial substances
employed as substitutes for Stone."

ROYAL SOCIETY.
Feb. 7 The Marquis of Nortuvmpton, President, in the chair.

James Heywood, Esq., and the Rev. H. Mosely, M.A., were elected
fellows.

A paper was read, entitled, ' Notice of a Shock of an Earthfialc, felt in the
Island of.St. Mary's, one of the Hcilly Islands, o/i the 2\st of January, 1839.
Bii the Rco. George Wordley.'

The tremulous motion of the ground is described as being very slight, and
felt chiefly in the south parts of the island. It was accompanied by a pecu-
liarly harsh and grating sound, which was only of momentary duration,
.and no particular agitation of the sea was obsei'^d.

A paper was also read iu part, entitled, ' Observations on the Paralkl
IZoads of Glen Hoy, andof other parts o/'Lochabar, ivith an attempt to prove that
they are of marine orifjin,* by Charles Darwin, Esq., F.R.S.

Feb. 14. — J. W. LliBBOCK, Esq., V.P. and Treas., in the chair.

A paper was read, entitled, ' Itesearchcs on the Chemical Eqniealents of certain
bodies,' to/ Richard Phillips, Esq., F'.R. S.

The author examines, by a new series of experiments, the truth of the
theory of Dr. Prout and Dr. Thomson, namely, " that all atomic weights are
simple multiples of that of hydrogen"' — a theory which the late Dr. Turner
had maintaiueil is at variance with the most exact analytic researches, and
consequently untenable. Although the experiments of Dr. Turner, and the
inferences which he drew from them, agree very nearly with those of Berze-
lius, it still appeared to the author desirable to investigate this subject ; and
it occuncd to liim, tbat the inquiry could be conducted in a mode not liable
to some of the objections which might be urged agamst the processes usually
employed. Dr. Turner having adopted a whole number, namely, 108, as the
equivalent of silver, this substance was selected by the author as the basis of
his inquiry into the equivalent numbers of chlorine, and some other elemen-
tary gases". It appeared to him, tbat the chance of eiror arising from the
fusing of the chloride of silver might be entirely removed, and other advan-
tages gained, by experimenting on silver on a large scale, with such propor-
tions of the substances employed as were deemed to be equivalents, and in-
stead of calculating from the whole product of the fused chloride, to do it
merely from the weight of such small portion only as might arise from the
difl'erenco between theoretical views and experimental results. The author
concludes, from the train of reasoning he applies to the series of experiments
so undertaken, that no material, and even scarcely any appreciable, error can
arise, from considering the equivalent numbers of hydrogen, oxygen, azote,
and chlorine, as being 1, 8, 14, and 3(j respectively.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

113

sc=

A -paper was also read, entitled, ' Some Jrrotml of fhe Hurricane of the llli of
January, 1839, as if was expericutvti in the nait/hbourhood of Duiu/rii-e,' in a li-lh'r
aihlresxid lo P. M. RoGET, M.D.,Si.c. T^.S,, by P. Garden, Esq.

After describing the position of his house, and the iiiitnre of the instruments
employed for observation, the writer gives his observations of the barometer
and tiierniometer on the tiih and 7 of January last, and proceeds to state,
that on the 6th, at about ten minutes past ten o'clock, p.m., violent siiuulls
eonimenoed, at first with intei"missions of perfect calms, but gradually becoming
more frecjnent, and being accompanied by the sound of sti'ong and increasing
whirlwinds. By eleven o'clock, the wind was observed to proceed from the
east, and its velocity was estimated at forty miles an hour. Its violence then
increased, and threatened to blow down the chimneys. At midnight it abated,
at the same time shifting to the south or west. At two o'clock in the morn-
ing, nearly two tons of lead were torn away by the wind from the west-end
platform on the house-top, and thrown down behind the house in a westerly
direction. Some of the lower windows having been left a little open, the
wind thus admitted into the house forced up and blew off the very heavy
hatch door of the roof, which was covered with lead. The whole house rocked
terribly, and even the stone floor of the half sunk kite-hen story heaved as if
shaken by an earthnuake ; the slates from tlie roof were blown in every
direction, some being carried to a prodigious distance. During the greater
part of tlie night the rain fell in tremendous torrents. In the interval from
two to lialf-past three in the njorning, the barometer sunk very nearly an inch
and a half, and reached its greatest dejiression. But the tempest continued
till about four o'clock, when it began grailually to subside. Extensive devas-
tation occurred among the trees ; some that were blown down raising two or
three tons of clay soil with the roots. Several trees thus thrown down fell
with their tops to the W.N.W. The writer concludes, from these and either
observations, that the first and squally part of the storm began from the
E.S.E., and blew from S. by W. at about midnight, and that most injury was
done to the slatitig and roof when the wind was nnt far from the south. It
then gradually veered to the west, till noon, and reached the N.W. point by
eight o'clock in the evening of the same day.

Feb. 21. — J. G. Children, Esq., V.P., in the chair.

Captain Arthur Conolly, and Lieut. -Col. W. Reid, C. B., were elected fel-
lows of the Society.

The following papers were read : —

I. 'An Account of the Processes employed in Photogenic Drawing,' in a
letter to S. H Christie, Esq., Sec. R.S., by "H. Fox Talbot, Esq., F.R.S.

2.-' A Description of an Hydro-pneumatic Baroscope,' by T. J. Cooper, Esq.

3. Continuation of Mr. Darwin's paper ' On the Parallel Roads of Glen
Roy, and other parts of Lochabar.'

THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY.

Jantja'by 14, 1839.— Sir W. R. Hamilton, A.M., President, in the Chair.

His (irace the Archbishop of Dublin, V.P., having taken the chair j<ro
trmporc, the President communicated U, the academy the first part of his
researches on the Dynamics of Light.

WiLi-iAM Bald, Esq., Civil Engineer, read a paper entitled " An Account of ihc
tSnrvey and Map of the County of Mayu."

The author commenced by giving a brief account of the origin and pro-
gress of the construction of topographical maps in Europe. In modern limes,
the first attempt at the construction of topographical maps may be dated from
the seventeenth century, and was due to the Swedes. Under Charles the
Ninth, a surveying department was organised, placed luider the direction of
Buneus, and particularly encovu'aged by Adolphus. In lOSl, the Swedes
had completed the general topographical map of Sweden ; but it was kept
secret, and at the end of a century, they had only published some parts of it.
These maps were consti'ucted for the purpose of ameliorating the condition
of several provinces of the kingdom, which had been desolated by war. The
Dutch also connnenced early to construct topographical maps.

The measurement of many arcs of the meridian to determine the figure of
the earth, had very much extended geodetical operations, and had, in many
cases, become the elements on which topographical maps were based. The
numerous geodetical surveys called into activity the inventive powers of the
ablest artists in Europe, and instruments of exlieme accuracy were pro-
duced ; and the skill of observing and determining angles kept pace w ilh
those improvements connected with this important brandi of science. The
repeating principle due to the celebrated Tobias Meyer, gave birth to Borda's
circle of repetition about 1789, an instrument which has been connected with
the most brilliant scientific operations which adorn the annals of tlie eighteenth
century.

Mr. Bald then showed to the academy some specimens of the new map of
France, and noticed briefly the trigonometrical survey of England — the
Down survey of Ireland — the maritime surveys of Ireland — the county sur-
veys, and the bog surveys. He made some observations on the great import-
ance of accurate maps, especially to professional men engaged in conducting
public works, .such as roads, canals, river navigations, harbours, railways,
supplying towns with water, irrigations ; to the geologist and miner, exploring
the strata, and mineral wealth of the coinitry ; to the statesman devising im-
provements, and developing its resources ; and to the poor, by affording use-
ful employment to the working classes.

The author then alluded to the map of Esyi'h which was made duruig the

period it was under the dominion of the French republic, and which received
from Bonaparte all that protection and assistance, which so much distin-
guished him on all occasions regarding the advancement of the works of
science. This map was engraved on fifty-three sheets of copper, and the
names are engraved both in Arabic and French.

After this introductory account of the rise and present state of the topo ■
graphical art, Mr. Bald i)roceeded to the details connected with the suney
of Mayo.

The instruments used in this survey were a seven inch theodolite ; two
five-inch theodolites, by Troughton ; a small theodolite, by Dollond ; and
also a five-inch one by the same artist. In taking the levels over the bogs,
two of Troughton's best levels were used. The barometers were made by Mr.
TiKtmas Jones, of London. There were also two plain tables, a chain for
measuringjbase lines, a sextant four inches radius, and two sextants, each ten
inches radivis, divided to ten seconds for observing altitudes, one of which was
made by Troughton.

The proceedings of the geometrical details of the survey were then given,
and the mode of describing the rise and fall of the ground, which was shaded
on the map with a depth of colour corresponding to the sines of the angles of
inclination. The irregularities of surfaces were simply delineated by hatch-
ing lines, drawn in the direction of the declivities, forming a series of nor-
mals, perpendicular to the horizontal lines of equal level.

Dit. Smith read a paper (by LieotenXnt Nkwenham, II. \.) " On a Tumulus or
Barrow, near Rush, County of Duhliu.'*

The barrow, called Knocklea, or the Giant's Hill, is situated on the edge
of the cliff, about midway between the village of Rush, county of Dublin, and
the martello tower to the northward, called Dronianick, and immediately in
front of Sir William Palmer's residence, Kinure Park.

It appears to have been composed of quantities of bonlder stones and earth
heaped up into a conical form, and sloping away to the base, which was
square, as appears from the eastern angle, which yet remains perfect. Within
the base of the mound there was a circle formed of large stones placed on
their ends, and about one hundred paces in circumference.

The farmer who rents the land on which it stands has removed about one-
half of the mound, for the sake of the earth as a manure, and nearly one-
half of the circle of stones on the south side, for the purpose of building a
wall, part of which is erected on the stones tbnniug the western side of the
circle. In the course of his depredations he discovered a passage which
opened on the south side;* its entrance was funnel-shaped, and the walls of
this passage were formed of flagstones placed on their ends, and roofed in
with the same. It was about eleven yards long, and one in width; and led
to a low chamber about eight feet long, and six wide, which was situated
nearly in the centre of the liarrow, and formed of stones in the same manner
as the passage.

The farmer removed all the stones forming the western side of the passage,
and in the course of his excavations found some human bones on the south
side of the chamber, and within the circle of stones. The lines of stones
foiming the sides of the passage appear to continue on through the mound
towards the north side ; and a few feet below the present surface of the bar-
row, a little to the north of the chamber, there is a bed of periwinkle shells,
about eight inches thick, with some limpet and muscle shell? intermixed ;
and beneath this bed of shells there is a cjuantity of rich daric mould, with
some reddish earth, which has the appearauo" of being burned. A few
human bones, and some bones of small anim;i'.«, ivcre fourjd in the earth
beneath.

Outside the circle of stones, and on the very edge of the cliff, near the
western angle of the mound, there was foinid a rudely -forn".ed*f.;ra'-i contain-
ing a human skull, with the bones of the arm, leg, and thigh, which appa-
rently had never been disturbed ; the bones of the back, ribs, &c., could not
be discovered.

Tliere are several remains of entrenchments and smaller mounds in the
neighbourhood.

Circles of stones arc found enclosing many similar barrows in Ireland.
At New Grange, near Dowth, in the county of Louth, the circumference of
one measured about four hundred paces ; and in a barrow near Drogheda,
an engineer oflicer found a gigantic skeleton, a pair of elks' horns, and a
spear, in an upright position : the h(:)rns were above the skeleton. There are
many barrows in the neighbourhood of Drogheda, which, if opened under
the direction of competent persons, would probably lead to many very inter-
esting discoveries.

The President gave an account of a singular appearance of the clouds,
observed on the 16th of December, 1838, at the Ohservatoi-y of Trinity Col
lege, Dunsink. They appeared, for at least the last four hours of day-lighl,
to be arranged in arches which converged very exactly to the N.E. and S.W.
points of the horizon ; while the breaks or joints in these arches were directed,
though with less exactness, to two other horizontal points, which seemed to
be always opposite to each other, but ranged from N.W. and S.E. to N. and S.
Conjectures were ofl'ered with respect to the cause of this appearance.

SCHOOL OF DESIGN,

MARGARET-STREET, CAVENDISH -SIJUARE.

Wc arc happy to witness the progress of this excellent institution, which
under ils able conductor, Mr. A. de Villalobos, seems to effect all the purposes

• Mr. Newenham thinks that, as f»r as liis Observation ha8 extended, the entrance
of all bariDW) is on th« south side.

114

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[March,

for which it was originally designed. In addition to the excellent system of
instruction, and the valuable collection of the antique. Lectures on Anatomy
have been commenced, and form an additional attraction, if any were needed.

MEETINGS OF SCIENTIFIC .SOCIETIES FOR M.4RCH.

Royal Society, Thursday, half-past eight, r.M., 7lh, MHi, and '21sl.

Society of Antiquaries, Thursday, eight, f M.,7th, J lib, and "i 1st.

Iiistitutioi of Ci\il Engineers, 'io, Great George- street, West, Tuesday,
eight, P.M., 5lh, 12th, I9th, and 26th.

Royal Institute of British Architects, 16, Grosvenor -street, Monday, eight,
P.M., Ith and 18th.

Architectural Society, Tuesday, eight, p.m. 12th.

Society of Arts, Wednesday, lialf-past seven, p.m. ,6th, 13th, 20lh, and 27th.
Ditto, Illustration, Tuesday, eight, p.m. Tith.

Geological, Wednesday, half-past eight, p.m., 7tli and 21st.

Royal Geographical, Monday, nine, p.m., 11 th and 2.jth.

Graphic, Wednesday, eight, p..m. 13lh.

ROYAL EXCHANGE.

We regret that wc cannot ycl annomicc any final decision in regard to
this building. Tlic disgraceful delay which has now arisen in consequence
of the dispute between the City and Government will he the cause of losing
the very best time of the year for petting in the foundations of the building.
If the city authorities were to determine to-day to issue notices to archi-
tects for the designs, there must be a delay of at least three months, to
give them an opportunity of working out their ideas, and at the end of that
tune after the committee should have determined upon the design to be
adopted, there must be a fartluT delay of another three mouths for the
preparation of the contract and working drawings, speciliealion and
estimates for the builders, which would bring us to the autumn, and drive
the builder into the short day and the inclement season. As there cannot be
any difl'ereucc between tlie parties as to the necessity of clearing away the
immense quantities of rubbish and the old foundatioiis for the new building,
we should recomineiid to the city the necessity of immediately engaging
Avith a contractor for that purpose, which wilfbo very considerably for-
vvarding the works.

For our part wc cannot sec for what reason the city sliould be afraid of
suhniitting the selected design to government. If .ill is " to be fair and
above-board," and if tlic city really intend to submit the designs to public
competition, and select the best willujut ./iicoHc or nffWihn Jhr nni/ pnrli/.
there can be no fear tliat the government will act in opposition to the city,
vvlicii thus so honourably calling upon the profession for their labours. Wc
do hope and trust that before our next .lournal is published, some decision
will have been made and this vexatious delay arrested.

THE FINE ARTS.

THE NELSON MONUMENT.

On Saturday the 2.'Jlh ultimo, a highly respectable meeting of the general
committee was held at the Thatched-bouse, St. .lames's-street, to receive the
report of the sub-committee, who were appointed to recommend to the con-
sideration of the general committee those models and designs which were sent
to Rainey's gallery, Regent-street, for the Nelson monument, and also to ad-
judge to the three best the prizes of 200/., 1.50/., and 100/. Amongst these
present we observed Lord Minto, the Marquis of Northampton, Sir .lohn
Barrow, Mr. Rice, the Marquis of Breadalbanc, Lord Melville, Lord Yar-
borough, the Earl of Hardwickt. Sir Thomas Troubridge, the Right Hon.
John Wilson Croker, Sir George Coekburn, Lord Colchester, the Hon. Captain
Grey, Sir George Murray, Lord llotham, and numerous other persons of
distinction. .

In the absence of bis Grace the Duke of Wellington, the Marquis of North-
aniptoii was called to the chair. Mr. .Scott, the secretary, then read the
resolution of the general committee, appointing the sub-committee, declaratory
of their power to recommend which of the models and designs were entitled to
the prizes. There were in all 118 drawings, and 41 models. The report
stated to design No. S\ tliey recommended the first prize, that of Mr. Raillon,
being a column of 174 feet, surmounted by a statue of 17 feet. The commit-
tee, however, expressed an opinion that they thought on a column of such an
altitude that the features and character of the statue would be lost, and they
therefore were of opinion that a sLttue e.xecuted in marble, placed under the
shelterof the National G.-vllery, or some other public building open to the
public, was the most appropriate way to evince a country's gratitude. The
report further .staled, that the model No. 10, of Mr. G. H. Bailey, was entitled
to the-second prize, and that of Messrs. Fowler and Sievcr was entitled to the
third prize. The secretary thought it fair to state, that between the second
and third prizes there was a diversity of opinion amongst the committee on
their re.speetive merits.

The Hon. Captain Grey objected to lbs confirmation of the report as re-
garded the prizes, as many members of the committee hadnotseen the designs
and models; and out of a committee of upwards of 140, not more than 37

had been to view them. He therefore proposed the consideration of the re-
port should be adjourned for a fortnight, so as to afford an opportunity to the
committee to inspect them.

Sir G. Coekburn was willing to consent to an adjournment, particularly
as bis Grace the Duke of Wellington was absent, who had taken so great an
interest in the business.

After a desultory conversation between several members of the committee,
a resolution was proposed by Mr. Rice, and seconded by Lord Minto, " That
the public, in the week after next, might obtain cards of admission to view
the Models and designs in Rainey's gallery, by application to the secretary or
any member of the committee."

[We sincerely hope that the committee will delay finally fixing the choice
of the models or drawings for the three prizes until after the exhibition of the
whole of the Designs has been open to the public inspection, as by this means
a tolerable correct opinion may be obtained as to the feelings of the public on
the decision of the committee. It appears, however, to us rather out of place
that the committee should have selected a design for the first prize, and at
the same time think it ^unsuitable for that situation which has been almost
universally admitted to be the best, Tra/alijnr-squarc. — Ed.]

WELLINGTON STATUE IN THE CITY.

On Saturday, 'i.'ith ultimo, the general committee assembled at llie
Mansion-house for the purpose of comiileting the final arrangements with
the sculptor, Sir Francis Chantrey. The Right Hon. the Lord Mayor in the
chair.

Sir P. Laurie presented the report from the sub-committee, which stated
that her M.ijesty's government had presented to the fund for the city statue
of the Duke of Wellington, gnn-mctal taken in his victories by his Grace of
the value of l,,'j'21l/-, which, together with the sum of about 'J, 111)0/. already
subscribed, rimstitiited an amount of ll),520/. It also stated that the sub-
conimitlee had come to an agreement, subject to the approval of the
committee, to hand over to .Sir Francis Chantrey .S.tlDO/, upon signing the
agreement, 2,01)0/. with the metal when the small mr»dcl is finished, and
the remaining -l.tiOO/. upon the ct.>mpletioii of the work. The time for the
completion is fixed for the IStli of June ( Waterlo.i-day), 1843. The
report concluded with stating that the 6,000/. he immediately invested in
the government fluids, in the names of Sir P. Laurie, Mr. Masterman,
Mr. Barclay, and Mr. R. L. Jones, as trustees.

It is to be ail ci|ucstrian statue of bronze, and not less than (en feet high,
from the top of lh<' pedestal on wliich (he horse stands to the (op of tlie
head of the rider. The site was not determined iijion, but (he most eligible
one was coiisiderored to he between the Bank and the Globe-oftice, where
the buildings arc now occupied by the Sun Fire-office, Messrs. Ladbrokc
and Co., and Mr. Thomas's, but intended to he taken down to improve the
avenues to the new Royal Exchange. Sir F. Chantrey was unable to
attend, being engaged at Buekinghain-palace with her Majesty, -who sat to
him for her bust, but his acquiescence ill the contra<;t and entire approval
of the whole proceedings was signified by .Sir Peter Laurie on his behalf.

The committee are to provide a site and to erect a pedestal of granite or
some other stone three montlLj before the completion of the statue.

STATUE TO MR. STEPHENSON.

Meascrfs are now in progress to cnniineniorRte the services rendere.l bv Mr. Ro'oert
Stephenson in the improvement of Inconiotive power. 'J'his proposition lias origi-
nated with the iron trade, and a biglily infliieiiti.ll conimittee of iron masters has
tipen fnrinpd for its proniolion. It is intended to erect n statue, whii-li, on the sug-
goslioii (if Mr. Hyde Clarke, is to be made of cast iron. We believe that this material
has been pmployeil in an etpiestrian statue at Berlin ; no doubt means may be disco-
vered fur defending the iron troin oxidation. At all events the esporiiiiont is worth
trying, as its success would enal)lo ns to use statues mole extensively as a means of
decoration. The committee met on the 15th February, wlien models were laid
before tiiein by Mr. Loft and several other eminent artists. We think that tliero is
nnother name connected with the progress of loeomotive poirer, which is well worthy
of some tribute, we meMi Uicharil Trevitbiek, the inventor of the high pressure system,
and the rival of Watt, and tu ivliom the Spanish government proposed to erect a
statue of silver.

COLOURED PRINTS.

htstntrfioni; to fhe Printer^ or Colourer of Engyai'inpf.

The plates to be printed in a bluish-gray ink (this is the neutral tint for the
light and shade of the landscape), and the colourer to wash in the sky with
blue or violet, &c., according to each sketch; also^i^yj/;/^ wire the distances with
each colour, then wash the foregrounds and middle distances with red, orange
or yellow, copying the drawings ; and when dry, wash over with blue, to pro-
duce the greens in the middle distances : this being done as a dead colouring,
a few touches with the hand of the master, and a harmonizing tint to soften the
whole, will pioduce the effect expected from a coloured print. — Fragmcnl fruni
liejiouf.

A Trunnpairul M'atch, — A watch has been presented to the Academy of .'science at
Paris, couvtrncfed of very peculiar materials, the parts being princiitally formed of
rnck crystal. It was made l>y M. Reliellier, and is small in size. The internal works
am visible ; the two-teethed wbeids which carry the bands are rock crystal, the other
wlieels of metal, Id prevent accidents from tlie breaking of tlie springs. All the screws
arc fixed in crystal, and all the axles turn on rallies. The esoapeuient is of sapphire,
tlie balance-wheel of rock crystal, and its springs of gcihl y The regularity of this
w atcb as a time-kee]ier is attributed by the maker to the feeble expansion of the rock
crystal in the balance.wheel, ^tc. The execution of the whole shows tu what a state
of perfection the art of cutting precious stones has been carried iu modern timts.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

115

ANTIQUITIES.

Disrovenj of Ancient C'olm, S^c, in the Tcinpk. — M'itliin llie last few days the
workmt^n euiployed in Jigging tlie lountlalion of tho chambers in Paper-buildings,
Templf, have discovered several earthen ve^isels of curious construction, some of them
containing coins of an ancient date. Many hu\e been purchased, and the spot is.
daily visited by antiquaries, who evince great anxiety to possess some of iho relic*. —
Morning Chronicle.

EaiNA Casts. — These casts in the British Museum have now been arranged
as the originals arw in tho Cilyptothdi at Munich, so as to exhibit their position
on the pediiuent of tlie temple. This is almo>t the solitary arcliitecttual monu-
ment in the museum, and it is well calculated to animate tho public mind in
favour of architectural decorations, while it more than ever induces us to regret the
blind policy of tho governnu-nt in having allowed the originals lo escape them. The
arrangement confers great credit on Mr. Loft, the modeller to the museum, who has
liad the supeiintendeuce of the work.

Vfiicruhlv RlUc. — In the very ancient ecclesiastical structure called King's Chapel,
at Islip, in Oxfordshire, formerly stood a stone foul, which was used, as tradition
athrms, tor the baptism of Kdward the Confessor, more than 800 years ago. It lias
long been displaced, and now occupies a far less pious position in the gardens ot Sir
Henry Brown, who resides not lav oH", at Nether Ituddington, and attords free access
to this antiquarian curiosity.

E<jnptian Slnnt- Coffin. — There is now on board of the brig Klizabeth Ann. Captain
Ellis, lying at the north end of the (Queens Dock, a renmrkaUy ancient Egyptian
stone coifin, recently importeti from Alexandria, in the vessel called the Hope, whence
it has been transhipped, to be taken to the British Museum. It is eight feet six inches
ill length, measured outsidf, and three feet six inches in width. It is covered with
curious carving of human figures, hieroglyphics, and emblomalical devices. It was
discovered far in the interior of Egyjit, and has been sent to England by our consul
at Alexandria. Tho cost of its conveyance it is supjiosed will reach 1 ,000/ , owing to
tho want of roads iu Egypt, and the necessity of employing men chioily as ctirriers. —
Lirerjwol Paper.

SarcopJuigim. — In the Island of St. Margaret, on the Danube, betwixt Pesth and
Ol'en, has been found a sarcophagus of coloured marble, and of distinguished work-
manship, containing th« body of a female, embalmed, and in a jemarkable slate of
preservation. It is clothed in a dress of silver brocade, with a crow n of massive gold
on tho head ; a pearl necklace .surrounds the neck, and eacli hnger i"* covered with
rings, made of precious stones, besides which there aro many other ornaments of the
same material, as well as of gold. It is generally thought that it is the body of St.
Mai'garet, daughter of Bela IV., King of Hungary, patroness of the island. The
sarcophagus having been taken to the Bishop of Pesth, he lias ordered it to bo
temporarily deposited iu tho Catbedvid. — Near Pesth has also been discovered in a
cave, on a hill, amidst the bones of the mammoth, and other extinct species of animals,
an ancient vase, of an extraordinary shape, totally new to anliciuarians.

At Marsal, iu /•Vajicf, workmen excavating the bed of tlie river Seille have found,
amidst the remains of aquatic plants, and buried deep in the soil, twenty skeletons iu
perfect preservation. They lay in ditlerent positions, without any WL^apons by llieni
some liaving fractured skulls, some with their face to the ground, appearing to indicuts
their having been peaceable men, who fell victims to an unexpected attack of warlike
invaders. Their necks, their arms, and their legs were surrounded by bronze rings
like those found iu the tumuli of Brittany. One of these rings, or solid necklaces, is
of remarkable workmanship, elegance and finish. This is formed of gold and bronze,
and being tittod tight to the neck, so that it could not pass over the head, it must
either have been put on the person who wore it in early youth, or have been soldered
when on. Those relics, supposed to bo two thousand years old, are occupying the
attention of the antiquaries of France, whose descriptions, details, and suppositiitns
would consume more space than we caw spare. Tho bodies, from the appearance of
tho ancient brickwork beneath them, appear to have sunk into tho soft slime of the
river, which has subsequently soliditied, and been augmented by successive depositions
of earth and aquatic plants.

The Society of Antiquarians of Normandy have decided on elevating once more in
its place a miliary stone found in 1819, near Bayoux. It bears an inscription in
honour of the Emperor Claudius, and was erected in the XLVT. year of the Christian
era. It is tlie most ancient monument of Romans found in Normandy. In coming
to invade England tho Emperor Claudius twice traversed Franco, and Suetonius
relates that in the last journey he made, which only took up six months from the
moment he left Rome, till that when ho returned there in triumph, he travelled on
foot from Maiseilles to Bouhigne. It was probably after these expeditions that ho
established tho military road of which this miliary stone was one of the appendages.

Cathedral of Chartres. — The Monitfur publishes areport, addressed to the Minister
of Public Instruction by M. Didron, Secretary of the Historical C<immittoo of Arts
anil Mmuiinents, on tho archffiological monography of the cathedral of Chartres.
Amongst other interesting facts, M. Didron establishes that the statues taken d»'«n
during the revolution of 1793 from tho gallery over the grand portal of Notre Dame
do Paris were not the statues of tho Kings of France, as lias been stated by tho
Benedictines and Sauval, and as was believed by Napoleon, who iutondud to repeople
the gallery, but simply the statues of the Kings of Juda, the ancestors 4if the Virgin
Mary, and Joseph. In tlic rojjort the statue of Liberty is aUo described — a statue
belonging to tho 13th century, and decorating tho northern porch of tho Cathedral
of Chartres.

A curious and Inferestinij sci'ulcliral monument has lutciy been discorcnd at Hu/ni'.
The ancient aqueducts at the Porta Maggiore, bearing on their lofty entablature the
three inscriptions, will be taiuiliar to the recollection of all persons who have visited
the pntiquitiesof Rome, — (The reader will tind a description of these majestic arches;
and the subsequent rude works of Iloiiorius phiced against them, iu Burgess's " To-
pography and Antiquities of Rome," vol. ii. p. all, 312, and 3i9.) Two of the arches
<d' tho Claudiim aqueduct served for two gates of tho city, respectively conducting to
tho roads which led to Prieneste and Eabicum. Stilicho, the general of the Emperor
Honorius, placed some cumbrous walls against those arches. In an attempt to clear
and repair some of these walls last September, the workmen discovered a portion of a
bas-relief, which tinally led to the demolition of the tower on tho right in going
but of the city gate. The tan« was found to enclose a renmiUtibltf luonuiocntj a*

singular for its construction as fttr the subjects it ropvesents. It was found in very-
good preservation. In clearing away thn surrounding walls, the next discovery,
after the hasieUef, h as a slab of marble, on which were two recumbent statues, ratlier
larger than the life, male and female ; close by thorn was tho foUi>wing inscription, —

FVIT ATISTIA VXOR MIIIEI

FBMINA OPITVMA VEIXSIT

QVUIVS COKl'ORIS BELIQVIAE

HOC PANARIU.

The form of the monument is that of a machine which was used by the Romans for
encloMiig the uewlvbaked bread, and which was perlorateil wilh hde.-s or tubes to let
out the steam. These are curiously imitated in the construction of the tomb. The
bas-relief represents the whole jirocsss of making bread ; it runs all round the top, and
is supported at the angles by pilasters, the capitals of which aro neatly ornamented.
These descend halfway down, and repose upon a broad square plinth, on wliich is
the following inscription on one side : —

EST HOC. MUNIMENTVM MaUCI
VEftGILl KVRVSAC

On the other side the three first words are wanting as far as the m in monimentum
and the name of Marcus Vcrgiliiis Eurysax is written with some little dittt^rence in
tlie paleography. The cognomen of" kvrvsacis, however, is complete, and then
follow these three words, pistoius. rf.dkmotoris aim-aret. On the sides, along tho
upper part, are placed horizontallv, in ritws of three, nine hollow stone cylinders, and
in the lower part (be-iieath. the inscription Est Hoc, Arc.) two columnar masses aro
placed perpendicnlarlv. separated by a square block. The " Panarium" was also
found, and is carved 'in the form of a circular wicker basket. It is observable that
the southern side of the monument, which probably stood within the property of
Vergilius Eurysax, is formed of line Travertine slone, while the sides exposed to the
public roads aro of Tufo. The whole of this sepulchral monument was completely
enveloped in the comparatively modern wall built against tho aqueduct. It is pro-
posed to clear away the obstructing walls, and to lay open the tomb and the Poi ta
Labicana to public view. The two statues have been conveyed tr. llie Vatican
Museum. The materials of which this tomb is bnilt, and tlie paleography of tho
inscription, appear to show that it is a monument of the republic. It is not impro-
bable that the Travertine stone may have been added at a more recent period : the
words gvoivs, mihei, and opitvma, nmy be compared w illi tho inscription on the
sarcophagus of L Scipio Barbatus, where we have qvuivs fouma virtvtxi pakisvma.
KKLiut'iAii QvoD is also very ancient. — Atheanum.

STEAM NAVIGATION.

Ericsson's Steam-Boat Propeller. — The great power exhibited during the early
tj-ials of this propeller, about eighteen months since, induced some American caniil
proprietors to order an iron steam-boat, with a 50-horse engine, to be fitted witli the
new propeller. This small iron steamer, called the Robert F. Stockton, has lately
arrived in the Thames from Liverpool, and will shortly proceed to tho liuiled States ;
her dimensions are 70 feet length on deck, and 10 feet beam. A variety of experi-
ments have been made in presence of several scieiititic and practical men, who con-
sider the success to be perfect. Although constructed for towing purposes only, this
boat has frequently gone at the rate of twelve miles au hour. As to her power as a
tug, we are informed that on Tuesday, Jan. 29, she towed the American packet ship.
Toronto, from Blackwall to the lower point of Woolwich, a distance ot three milea
and a quarter, iu forty miniiteB, against tho Hood tide, then running from two to ^yn
and a half miles ; tlnis towing her through the water at tho rate of upwards oi six
miles an hour. The Toronto is tJ50 tons burden, she measures 32 feet beam, and
drew at tlie time of the trial 10 feet U inches ; thus preieuting a secUonal area of
more than 4Q0 square foet. Now the fact of this body hawog been moved at a rato
of upwards of six miles an hour, by a propeller, or piece of mechanism, measuring
only six feet four inches in diameter, and occupying less than three feet in
length, is one which, scientifically considered, is interesting in the extreme, and ni
a practical or commercial point of view, is of immense importance. ^\ e understand
a company is about being formed to apply the propeller to a shipof 1,000 ti«ns burden,
to be employed in trans-Atlantic na\igation ; and as her sailing qualities will not at
all interfere with her steaming power, it is confidently anticipated that increased
safety will be insured, and her passage greatly accelerated, at a saving of at least ono-
ludf the fuel. — Times.

Depurlurc of the Great Western, lirislul Jan. 28.— The Great Western having been
completely roiitted during hor stay at Pator, a new quarter deck having been built,
and increased stowage room provided for upwards of fifty tons, sailed this day on her
first voyage for New York this season. She set sail at about twenty minutes beli.ro
six p. m., carrving with her 107 passengers, among whom is < 'aptam Hudson ol llie
Guards, with Government despatches, and Mr. Balls id' Covent Garden upwards ot
8,000 letters, and a full cargo of Biiiish JBanufactured goods, consisting ot silks, IrisU
p(qdins, and cotton goods. She is expected to return about the 7th ot Marcli.

Christiana, Jan. 22.-Orders have been given to build au armed steam-boat of lOO
or 120 horse power, after the drawings of Lieutenant Sommorteldt, on the model ot
tho Medea, which is reckoned to be tho first armed steam-boat lu Europe.

The Kite Posl^o(fice Steam-ie.sstl. running from Litciiiool to Dublin, has lately
been refitted at Woidwich. Her machinerv and boilers aro the manufacture of
Messrs Fawcett Preston, and Co . of Liverpool, who liavo introduced some im-
provumonts into them. On her first trial, about tho 22nd of January, in consequence
of tho immense draft to tlie boilers, it was considered proper to shorten the chimney
eleven feet, which, in ordinary cxses. would so check the draft as almost to destroy
it. She then proceeded on her second trial, when it was admitted that her machinery
was excellent and satisfactorv ; that the boilers, with tho chimney eleven teet
shorter produced a suuerabundance of steam, the engines making their lull comple-
ment of revolutions; and. lo the surprise of all on board, scarcely any or no smoke
was seen issuing from the chimney, which was then explained to be in consequence
vf tho peculiar form of the bridges applied to the turnnces. These are a new
invention of Mr. E. Hopkins, Gl, Si. Johu-strect. ClerkenwcU, and have the ettect of
returning the Ijglit fuel and gases uu tu lh« file, tth^u the swokt; is tunsviwed. ftBU
coftU live consequeiilly SBved.

H6

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[March,

FOREIGN RAILWAYS.

Aiit^trio. — The rails in the Austrian railways are now made of iron from Sfyria
fsliich are said to he found luure durahU* than those supplied in Kngland.

Aiisfria. — The Austrian Ku\rrnnient is at present occupied with the plan of a rail-
road between Vienna and Sal/.hnrg, by the way ut" Len/., tipon the right bank of the
Danube, which will be speedily carried into execution. The couataut cuiniuunicalioii
upon this joad promises every prospect of success to thiti undertaking.

'J'ht VtrMiilles ami St. Cloud liailuuiy. — The works have been commenced at
five points at once within the commune of Versailleii, and are carried on with the
utmost activity. As tlie works on the other parts uf the line are nearly tinished, the
whole of the two lines of rails are expected to l*e laid from Asiileies to tlie limits of
Versailles before the end of the niontli. Indi-pendent of the ordinary works^ the
company has had to form the tunnel under the Park of St. Cluud, lt>54 feet in length ;
Another tuuntl nf 6*^7 feet, under the Park of Montretont, and the high road between
Saint Cloud and Mantes; a third tumiel of 272 feet, at Courbevoie. under the road
het^een Paris and Puissy ; two large viaducts of five arches each; 3ti bridges over
high, departmental, and crossroads, anil 10 rtqueducts. Tiiere remain besides tive
bridges to he erected in ^'ersallles. All tliese works are comprised within a limit of
four and a half leagues. In the plan laid down by the goverinnent engineers, upon
which the undertaking was foiuided, there were only one tunnel, 28 bridges, and four
aqueducts mentioned; and tlie greater part of the adilitional works have been occa-
sioned by the decrees of the municipal councils.

AV. Cloud Railway.- — The jury of expropriation has just decided at Versailles upon
the indemiiities to be paid to proprietors aflected by the last portion of the liaie uf
tlie Versailles and St. C'loiul Railroad, from Virollay to its entrance into the first-
named town, hut the suuis awarded have in general been much less than those
demanded. Property in Jlonlreuil, fur which 0.5t>,75.'5f. were demanded, has been
adjudged at 2G4,lllf. Ten houses in the same place, estimated by the owners at
207,343f., have been awarded at 83,4UUf Some gardens in Versailles, for which
!:ill,Glof. were asked, have been given to the jcompany by the jury at .50,200f. ; and
the total amount of l,546,l5tJf, for the portion of the line has been reduced to
040,005 Two extreme cases deserve to be mentioned: the lessee of a field at A'er-
soilles demanded 21,243f. as an indemnification for one acre of land, and produced
docuraeuts ^lg^il' 1 by some architects of that place in support of his estimate. It
was, however, rc.luc^l by the jury to 400f. Another proprietor claimed U,tl20f for
th« suppression •'•i a right of way across his land ; the company ofiered lUf. fur it,
and the jiu'y aw:;ided him nothing.

Belgivin. — Froiu a report recently laid before the Belgian Chamber of Representa-
tives by the IMlnister of Public Works, it appears that the total expense of mainte-
nance, purchase, and repair of maehinery, watching, Sec, of the Belgian x-ailways-
since the completion of the first line i?! 1834, up to the 1st of November, 1838, is
3,374, 670frs. ; that the total receipts during the same period have been 5,144,645frs. ;
giving a net profit of l,770,075frs., wbicli, upon tl;e capital expended in the con-
struction of the roads, returns an annual dividend of 4 per cent. Thf average cost
of tlie construction per league has been 531,l)U0frs., about a sixth of tlie cost of the
English lines ; and the average price paid by passengers is 12 centimes per league,
about a fifth of the lowest rate of charge in England. The total lengtli of the
Belgian lines, now completed, is 04 leagues, about 270 miles.

Mus-sia. — The Hamburg paper.s mention, upon the faith of letters from St. Peters-
burg of tlie 12th December, that a new railroad was about to be established from the
town of Morschansk, on tlie river Zora, ti the mouth of that river, in order to faci-
litate the ciniununiciitiuns of ^ouit- of the richest provinces of the south, which send
all their warc^ and uruduc to Mi-i^cliansk, one of the fir^it commercial towns of tlie
empire, with St, 1'eter.sburg and the north.

Propuncil Ruilwaya hi America. — One of the grandest railroad schemes ever con,
ceivftd by tlie mind of man, has been submitted to tlie public by General Gains, of tJie
United States arniv- It propose.-* a sy.stem of railroads, all diverging from a conmion
focuN or centre in KentULky and Temitjicjoti — tlie midille pnint of the Union; and
tbenc^ to bri.nch in as straight directions as possible, like the radiation* of a star, to
all tlie lai'ge cities, and important frontier posts in tlie country. Thus New Orleans,
$?ortlaud in Maine, New Vork, the other Atlantic cities, and DeUxtit iu Michigan
Chicago, in Illinois, Fort Gibson, iu Arkansas, St Louis, in Missouri, th^ northern
\9Jfes, and the southern sea of Mexico, the ocean and perhaps tlie Rocky Mountains,
will all be, uuittfd in bonds of iron, ste«m, and rapid public hitcrcourse- Tlie General
siaya^ that such a, system would make the United States prosperoua in peftce and im-
pregnable iuwar. I think that before many yeers have colled away this scheme will
be commenced. The United States are the very repubUc for railroad enterprise. —
Daily Paper.

The Neiv }*hilad4ilpliia railro.a,d is at present doing an excellent business ; the month
of Decemher, one of the dullest of the year, will realise over 8,000 dollar*. January
and February are the months when the merchants fnmi the western stiites commence
their purchases for their spring business, when the amount of freight passing over our
road will be very great. I feel more and more satisfied of its being one of the very
best stocks in our state, and you can with perfect safety give the bondholders every
a.ssurance that their bonds will increase in value every year they hold them. The
Cumberland Valley have completed their bridge over the Susquehannah, and formed
their connexion with our road, which vn\\ enable our Philadelphia merchants to
forward their goods 150 miles by railroad in thirteen hours towards Pittsburg, which
is just halfway. Formerly goods were 18 to 20 days reaching I'ittsburg, and you,
■who are so familiar with the rapid increase of the popidatiou of tlie western states,
and their conaei^uent necessitie.'i, dependent entirely on our Atlantic cities ior their
iuppllea— you can readily calculate the great importance of our road, and the cer-
tainty of its immense revenue." — Morning Herald.

FOREIGN INTELXiiaBNOB.

The completion of the Co/umn, in commemoration of the Revolution of July, may at
length be expected within^ definite time. Messr?*. Soyer and Inge a few days' since
cast the capital and the tambour, by which it is to be crowned, in one mould. This
is the largest single cast of a capital that has ever been made — Paris Paper.

l\'u nrw marble statues, those of Lakain and Taliua, have just beeu stationed
right and left of the author of Zaire in the hall of the Theatre Franjais,

Iron Steam Ship. — There was launched from the building yard of Mr. (' Wood,
Dumbarton, on the 22d Jan., an irou steam-ship, 146 feet huig, and 2fi broad, intended
for South America. t)u being launched this vesi*el drew only eighteen inches w ater,
and with machinery and cargo will not exceed three feet. She is intended for pas-
sengers chiefly, of whom she can carry a thousand. This fine ve.ssel was built by
Messrs. J. and W. Napier, in Gla.sgow, and we understand that these gentlemen have
her machinery ready for putting on board, so tliat we shall soon have an oi>portunily
of seeing this splendid specimen of the improvements of the present day leaving our
river for a distant part of the world, another trophy of the success of the enterprising
engineers on the Clyde. She is now at the BriHtuiielaw , aud is worthy (»f inspection.
Tlie rarpenteruoik of the vessel was done by that eminent shipbuilder, Mr. C Wood,
of Duuibarton. — iilasyinv Paper.

Steam A'avlgarion ,to South A'nerica. — A memorial, which includes among its
signatures those of Baring, Gladstone, Rothschild, and other firms of mercantile,
bunkuig, and manufacturing eminence, has just been presented to the Treasury, pray-
ing for a monthly line of steam packets, from Falmouth Ut Madeira, the Canaries, Uie
Cape do \'erd Islands, Pernambuco, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, Monte Video, and Buenos
Ayres. The j)acket establishment now existing is so irregular, that w itli the ports of
Peruambiico and Bahia a communication can be had but six times in the year, trade-
winds and ocean-currents hindering any sailing vessel from touching at either, except
during some half-dozen months of a periodical sea-son. The passage outwards to Rio
de Janeiro averages fifty-six days, audhomewards sevenly-four, while, from computing
tlie speed of the (jreat Western steanrer across far less favourable seas, two-thirds of
that tiuie niight, iu all pmbability, be saved. An allowance of 40.001)/. per annum is
at present made fur the tardy packets apon this important line, and for the same sum
contractors could doubtless be found to deliver twelve monthly malls ontwanls and
homewards, in steam ships of the very first class. We do not surely err in antici-
pating for this memorial the most immediate and attentive consideration which Go-
vernment can give it. — Haily Paper.

The Dehats quotes letters from Havannah, announcing tliat the magnificent Go-
vernment steamer \'eloce, Capt. BL-chaiueille, which had recently entered Havannah
after its transatlantic experimental voyage, had been burned in that habour.

PROGHIES3 OP RAILWAYS.

Eastern Counties Railicay. — The rapid progress of the works on this line bespeaks
an active executive. We had no idea of the forward state of the works towards
Brentwood. It was only in October last that the contract was let, and looking to the
time of year we cousidereil nothing would have been done but prepare for the spring.
On inspecting this part of the line, we found the works in lull operation ; several
bridges and large culverts erected, and the embankments carried over them. There
are three extensive cuttings on this contract, all of which are hi full work, even
during the late and present unfavourable weather there has been excavated and carried
to the embankment near 2 UO yards per day. The cutting in the hill on this side of
Brentwood is so deep as to be carried on in four lifts, near to this excavation is
erected a handsome skew bridge, the angle of whidi is very obliipie, we should
suppose about lOdeg. At Romford great activity prevails, .several large bridges and
culverts are in the coiu'se of erection ; close by at Hare-street, a large bridge over
the railway, of three or more arches, is commenced, the founilations are about 35 feet
below the surface. Between London aud Romford there are tive locomotive engines
incessantly employed iu expediting the earthwork, besides an immense number of
horses. The long and expensive embankment over the Stratford Marsh is now
just completed ; ami as tlie distance between its termination and the commencement
of the viaduct at Bethnal Green has been formed from side cnttuig, there remains
nothing of importance between London and Romford but the viaduct, portions of
which are in a very forward state.

Bristol and E.veter Railway. — Within the last few months-cofler dams have been
driven preparatory to the erection of a bridge, 100 feet span, over the river Poret,
about tliree-fonrths of a mile higlier up »hat river than tlie town of Brldgewater. The
contractor is now employed in building the abutments, and the arch will be turned in
the latter exiA of the spring, when the work towards Taunton will be begun imme-
diately. The cutting at Pariton Hill is proceeding with much vigoiu', upwards of
500 men arc employed on it at present, and more will be shortly. I'his is the only
hill, for many miles, aud as soon as it is got through, which, if the Company go on at
the rate they have begun, ■nill be soon, nothing remains but to lay the permanent
rails. Tlie broad guage will of course be adopted. The town of Bridgewater pos-
seges facilities for being made one of the principal manufacturing towns, and one of
the first ports in the kingdom ; and when the communication with London on the one
side, and the West of Kngland on the other, is opened, we know nought more wanted,
save a few more spirited men in the midiUe. — Bristol Journal.

Birmingham and Gloucester Railway. — Mr. Norris, of Philadelphia, hasreceived an
order for ten of his locomotive engines, from the Birmingham and Gloucester Rail
roa^l Company, in England. — AVic I'ork Paper. If this be correct we are not sur-
prised that the shares of this company are at a greai discount. Do they expect English-
men will support their projects if the money subscribed is to go out oi the country?
and does the company expect that the public will have any confidence in the safety
of the engines when made abroad. — Ed. C. E. aud A. Jourmtl.

London and Brighton Railnaij. — The locomotive engine which has been named
**Tlie Brighton," lately sent down by the railway company to fa<'ilitale the works on
the Slioreham branch, was tried on a portion of the line, about a mile and a half in
extent, on which the permanent rails have already been laid. We are happy to slate
that the worlts on the Shoreham branch are progressing with great activity. The
tunnel under Lashmar's mill is proceeding night and day ; and tlie land purchased of
Mr. Kemp has been enclosed from the mill to the terminus, crossing the Montpelier
road. As great a number of excavators as the space will admit are engaged on th^
cutting at Fuller'sdnll, in the parish of Aldi-ington ; and as soon as this is completed,
which it is anticipated will be the case in a month, permanent rails ^ill be laid for
the distance of about four miles, and the engine will be used fur the purpose of
removing the earth from the cuttings and tunnels at the Brighton end of the branch.
The worka on the London part of the fine are also proceeding with great rapidity.-?
Brighton Gazettf.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

117

Havre. — The IMiuister of Coimi>eice, it i-^ repi^rtwl at Havns 1ms inluiuieil the
Cliauiber ol" Commen-t) ol" tliat place, that Govevnmeiit iTiteu.ls pnnmsing to the
Chainbeis a grant of 150,000f. , for the fonnation of two tieiiohes in the new entrance
port, in order to enable large steamers to lie there afloat iit luw water. To tiiis plan
the7o(/r;u(/ 'la Havre is opposeil, as being a puor substitute for a laige dock, espe-
cially devoted to the reception of steam vessels, nliich the town uf Havre ha.^ been
anxious to have constructed, in order to be enabled to set up a line uf steamers to
New Yurk.

Havre A few days since a considerable portion of the clitF at Cape La Heve,

near Havre, gave way, and carried with it iuto the sea upwaid,s of 140 feet by 12 feet
wide of land which was in cultivation.

A chain -Oriih/e over the Allier at Vic-le-Comte gave way for the second time a few
days Muce. Tlie first time it sank under the weight put upon it to try its strength,
but was rebuilt with greater solitlity. Tlie second broke down while a wagon
heavily laden was going over. The \elncle with its contents fell into the river, and
wa:^ lost with the horses ; but the dri^ er was fortunately saved.

La Tour J'Aiivcnfne.—A monument is about to be erected to Corret de la Tonr
d'Auvergne, known in the Vrench army as the " First Grenadier of France." The
monument to this gallant Breton is to be erected at Carhaix, his native town, which
lias voted 200/., the Cuuucil-General of tlie department having added ii)l.

Tlie French King has a|)proved of a proposition laid before him by the minister of
the marine, for comuiencing in the spring a hydrographical survey of the French
coast in the Mediterranean. The result of tliis survey, when published, will form a
supplement to the Filole Fran^-uis. The operations are to be under the direction of
M. Mounier, hydrogiaphic engineer of the (irst class.

The steam generator of M. Iriraud's sugar manufactory, at St. Saulve-lez-Valen
ciennes, burst during tliis month ; and, although it weighed 6,0UUlbs, was forceti up-
wards tlirough the ceiling and roof, and carried to a distance of 100 feet, together
with the tubes, and other apparatus attached to it. Two of the stokers, who were at
the fires, were seriously injured.

The minister of the interior has granted 2,0U0f. to be applied in the restoration of
a tine specimen of tlie statuary of the middle ages, called the Fui/s dc Moisc, in the
ancient nionaateiy of tlie Chartreu.x, at Dijon.

Frettcli t'oiistin'j Trade in 1837. — The number of vesseLs employed in that trade in
1837 was 04,900, carrying 2,209,269 tons, and manned by 2o4,lS2. and tlie whole of
their cargoes weighed 9UO,000 tons, or I7,y21,09l meti-ical (piintats. The trade of
the difterent ports, in metrical quintats, is as follows :— Rouen, 2,U0.>,509 : Marseilles,
1,734,820; Bordeaux, l,44ti.t)10 ; Havre, 1.254,777; Nantes, 023,571; Toulon,
516,084; Dunkirk, 400,4.12; La Rochelle, 344,480; Caen, 338,290; Libourne,
304.200; Cette, 217,550; Aries, 215,728. The trade of the Mediterranean ports is
only one-hftli of the whole, and the whole coasting trade is tw ice as much as the
French foreign trade, and three-quarters of the whole foreign trade.

A fine marble statue of the illustrious Goethe, executed at Milan, by Marchisi, at
the expense of three citixens of Franktbrt, hius arrived in that city, which was the
great poet's native place. I'he statue is to ornament the principal room of the publie
library.

The Milan Gazette gives the following details of the organization of the institutes
of sciences, arts, and letters, and the technical schools recently founded at Milan and
\'enice by the Kmperor of Austria: — " The institute at Milan will be composed of
three classes of members — ordinary, honorary, and corresponding. Tlie tirst w ill be
40 in number, twenty of whom will receive a stipend of l,2U0f. per annum i:ach. The
objecl of this institute is to encourage studies which may iutluence the prosperity
of the Lombardo- Venetian provinces by the cultivation of science. All that attend to
the improvement ttf agriculture, the useful arts, and commerce, as well as of letters,
will be under its care. It will have to award prizes at Milan and Venice to such
Lombardo Venetian subjects as have invented ur introduced any new branch of
industry, or fresh source of prosperity. The journal La Bibhuleca Italiuna is to bo
made the Journal of U*e I-ustilii/e, in winch reports of its proceedings are to be
regularly inserted. The Academy of the Fine Arts, founded by the Empress Maria
Theresa, is henceforth to be subjected to fixed regulations, 'liie professors are to
have specific ranks and classes, and to be associated with caunsellors, ordinary and
extraordinary, honorary members, and artists. It will be endowed wilh an ample
revenue for the distiibution of annual prize*. The technical schools are to be esta-
blished at Milan as well as at Venice. Such youths as are intended for commerce will
be taught in the writing, arithmetic up to its liighest degrees, the Italian, Frencli.
and Gejman langimges, histoiy, geography, book-keeping, and the whole system of
commerce. Those wiio are destined for the useful arts and manufactures, will be
instructed in physics, natural history, and chemistry, as appUrable to the ai'ls.
For sucb as devote themselves to the Ime arts, drawing schools are to be esta-
bli^hod."

The Sctwon governmoU are about to construct a theatre at Dresden, upon a scale of
magnificence hitherto une(|uallcd, and MM. Semper and de I-uttichaw, of Dresden,
have been sent to London, Paris, and Italy, to ascertain what improvements have
been made in this department. Mr. Stephenson's machitiery is expected to be adopted
in this theatre also, Frofessor Semper having proceeded to Paris to meet Mr. Stephen-
son, who was in attendance upon the French commission.

Swedish Navy. — Orders have been given to build an armed steam-boat of 100 or
120 horse power, after the drawings of Lieutenant Sommerfeldt, on the model of the
Medea, winch is acknowledged to be the first ai-med steam-boat in Kurope.

The Ruhsian journals announce that Prolessor Jacobi, of St. Petersburg, has suc-
ceeded in txausferring engravings on copper to other plates, formed of a certain com-
position, by means of a galvanic process, reprodueing, with exaotituue, the most
minute lines. The emperor, it is added, has grunted suliicient funds for perfecting
this discovery.

Turkish Optra — The theatre at Pera is buihling by two French architects, and is
to be liuished towards the end of next summer. In the mean time, a house has been
rented near the place of Atmeidan, where Italian operas are performed three or four
times a-week. Tliere is acoommoilatiou in this temporaiy theatre for about l,fiUO
spectators, and it is said to be (jlwf^y? full, notw ithstiuiding the dearuess <if the prices,
which vary from Klf. to SOf. The Sultan has already honoured this place of amuse-
ment with his presence. The performers, tbi- the must part, belong to an Itfthan
company who have acted at Odessa. The Prima Donna, a Milanese lady, appears to
be making a good thing of it at Constantiuople ; for, being well skilled lu the Turkish
langiuigf, she is engaged to give instrui'tions in singing in the first Mussulman fami
lies of the Turkish capital, and is stated to be carrie4l about to lier pupils' residences
in a splendid litter, covered with gilding and crimson velvet curtains, and carried by
foiu- black slaves, who are preceded or followed by eight others,— J^rt^nc/t paper.

Conntaiitinople Medical School. — On the lOtL December, the Sultan visited the
new building just terminated at Galata Serai, in Pera, for the MeiUcal School, The
establishment is intended to be very complete, as there is a dissecting. room, library ,
museum, botanical, chemical depai'tmeuLs, hospital, and everything necassary lor the
education of young doctors tliere. The students are to take up their quarters there.
shortly after the bairaro.

A line of telegraphs Ls being established at Constantinople; and a successful triul
has already been made on the liosphorus. It is intended to extend to the Dai'da-
nelles, and subsequently two more branches will convey intelligeuce to and from the
extremes of the Kuropcan provinces, whilst nlheis aie to lead far- into Asia Minor.
The best part of tlicui at jiresent is. that they tire not expensive.

A letter from Bucharest stales, that the projucl of cuttin*^ a canal from the Danube
to the Black Sea is to be carried into execution during tlie sjjring, by the common
consent of England, Austria, and Turkey; and tliat the last of these powers has
issued an order for a levy of 20,000 workmen for this purpose.

Upper Syria. — M. Eusebe de Salle has just returned to Beyrout. from a tour
through Upper Syria, us far as the Tamiiin Chain and the Desert of Palmyra. This
country is a species of Syria Petrea. The plains of Antioch of th« Turkomans, and
the valley of the Oroutes, present at every step nuns, sometimes of entire towns,
which date either from the mo.st remote antiquity or from the By/.antine period. In
the Upper Oroutes alone, Prince Pucklcr Muskau professes to have discovered up-
wards of ten cities or towns omitted on the most accurate maps. M. de Salle has
discovered at lca.st as many between Antioch and Alejtpo. The constructions wilh
which he was most struck are Iloiuun camps or redonbts, built probably between the
times of Crassus and Trajan, duriug the warn of the Purthiuns. These antique
piles, which aie still remarkable for their Jiolidity, were retouched by the Byzantines,
the Turks, the Saracens, and the crus.vders, winch has no doubt hitherto prevented
them from being recognized.

Road to the Rfd »SV</.— We learn by letters from Alexandria, that 800 £urop«aas
crossed the isthmus of Suez last year, on their passage to and from ludia ; and that a
regular coach conveyance will be soon established between tlte shores of the Levant
and the nearest points for embarkation on the borders of the Red Sea. — Bath
ii'uardia/i.

ENGINEERING WORKS-

Pure Water, — Four of the Water Companies of the metropolis, viz., the New
River, tlie East Middlesex, AVest Middlesex, and the Grand Junction intend to apply
to Parliament for power to draw their water higher up the Thames, so as to improve
its quality. — Moriioiy Advertiser.

The Portland ferry bridge has been opened with a grand procession, both of civil
and military.

River Lnne Navigation. — We find by the Lancaster Guardian that a discussion on
this important .subject is occupying the peojde there. Mr. Rooke, the author of
" Geology as a Science, applied to Engineering," in objecting to the plans adopted by
the Messrs. Stevenson, adopts their own data, that the force of the flux of spring-tides
in the River Lune exceeds that of the reflux more than two-fold ; and th^u goes on
to prove that it is the backwater which is the cause of the setting up, and that instead
of shutting out the tidal action, as ret uniuiended by Messrs. Stevenson, that it is
necessary to allow it gi-eater play. Ku^lnteriiig subjects like thisand the Morecambe-
Bav subject form the staple material of the Iniiil papers in the north-west counties;
and while the profession must benefit by tins excitement of public uiterest, so the
cause of science is promoted by directing the atteutiou of enguieers to the laws of
natural action. It is perhaps the misfortune t^i engineers that whereas in other
cases they have only to deal with inert masses, in the cnnstruction of harbours they
are drawn from their old liabits to a new competition with the active forces of nature.

A'cH) Docks at Liverpool. — A capacious <Iock, to W- called the Egerton Dock, is
benig now constructed at the south end of the town, adjoining the Herculaneum
Pottery, for the use of the immense and still increasing carrying trade of Lord F.
Egerton. The dock trustees also contemplate the enclosure of the strand to the west-
ward of Treutham-street, and the formation of two docks, running east and west, in
lieu of the present Saltliouse Dock. This central position, adjacent to the New
Custom-house, and within a few minutes' walk of the Exchange, will be of immense
advanUige to the eoumierce of the port. It appears also, that by removing the present
graving docks to the extremities of the town, a further addition of 10 or 12 acres may
be obtained to meet the increa.sing wants of the port, together with a large entrance-
basin, in lieu of the present inconvenient old dock gut. The land to the westward of
the Salthouse Dock now produce's a very trivial rent, being principally occupied by
shipbuilding yards; and by carrying out tbese bold designs, dock space will be pro-
vided feu- many years to come in the very centre of the town, and tlae necessity of any
further extension will be obviated to the noitUward, more especially where the diffi-
culty of docking vessels in bad weather is severely felt — Livtiyool Titnes.

llow Bridge On Thursday, the 14th ult, the new bridge erected over the river

Lea, at Bow. was opened with ceremony bv Mr. Alderman Thomas Wood, the sheriff
for Middlesex, and Mr. W. Colten, the sheiifl" of Essex, atteiided by a numerous train
of the magistrates and gentry of the two counties.

MISCELLANEA.

St. Saviour Sonfhwark. — The demulition of the nave of tins ancient collegiate
church is about to commence; the old materials have been sold, and directly tljey
are removed, the building of a new church ou the site, at an expense of 8,000/. , to
be connected with the present tower and the choir, in which divine service is now
perloniied, will be proceeded with.

Geology . — A few days ago a tremendous fall of chalk took place at the facing of the
rock forming the entrance of the west tunnel through Sluikspeaa-e's Cliff. By this fall
the geologists have a treat, as the vertebrK' of an immense animal has been laid bare,
and it is expected that the remaining piwts of the skeleton will be found on the re-
moval of the fallen rubbish.

A Sheet of Paper. — There was lately sent from the paper manufactory at Colinton
a single ^heet of paper weighing 55aib., and upwards, of n mjle and a b^f in length ;
the breadth was only 50 inches. Were a reani of paper composed of similar sheets
made, it would weigh 3fle,6001b., or upwards of 123 tonfi.^Scotman.

118

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[March, 1839.

We recoimueiitl to the iiutico of the pvoft'ssioii, Mr. Day's, AJvurtisement, liis
peiii'ils we liave trJeJ, ami Uiui the lead to he of a good quality, uud may he depended
upon ;iN bi-iiig of one degree of hardness througli the whole length of tlie lead.

Mr. I*. Tlionison, on Thursday, the '2\st ult., obtained leave to bring in a bill to
provide for tlie copyright of designs for articles of nianufaettire, and a bill for extend
ing the copyright of designs fur calico printing to other wovttu labrics.

Lai'e i'ltps. — A new and important inaimfacture has lately arisen in the hoaiery
tjiid^, in making lace caps from the stocking-ftanie, by llie aid of the jack tickler
nmclfiiie. This machine has been latterly applied to the making of lacun in broidtba,
and Vvilh such brilliant success as to astonish even the tddeat w orkuien. — Nutttiujham

JoiiilUll.

Iron Statue*. — A correspoudeut, M. (»., suggests that as it is of importance tliat
public statues should be executed of a cheap metal, whether the use of iron niiglit
not be contemplated to jhe preserved from rust by the preparation of tlie Anti
Oxidisation of NietaU Company.

Carvings ill Wood. — Two very curious and very elaborate carving*, in walnut-tree
wood, of the alto relief class, have just been brought t> this countiy. Tliey were
fornterly in the possession of the Emperor Napoleon, whose eagerness to possess the
rarest gems of art was much nuire than connaensurate with his respect fur mmm and
Itinm. These carvings are each about live or six feet in lengUi, and about three or
four in height or width. One of them represents ibe victory of Cunstantine over
Maxentiufl. The design is from Julio Romano, and is known to artists. It contains
upwards of two hundred figures of combatants, horse and fout, mingled and grouped
with great pictorial effect, and carved with extraordinary boldness and accuracy.
The finish of the armour, costmne, and nunute details is very delicate. The second
tablet is after a design by Kubeiis ; some of the figures are after Leonardo da \*inci.
The subject is the scriptural battle in which Joshua commanded the sun to stand
-Still. TWs can'ing is in higher relief than its companion ; it contains fewer figure's,
and most of them are equestrian. It is full of spirit, and cut with great freedom of
hand. 'I'hese carvings, which certainly surpass anything that is generally to be seen
in this country, are by an Italian artist, Simon Cognoselli, and bear dale 17t)l. lipon
the downfall of Napoleon they were returned to their original locality, the Castle of
Salms. — Untt'ii. Mag.

A GHtAT HuRRic.vNK. — A severe hurricane has deva-stated tlie north-west of
Europe. It is supposed to have come from the West Indies across the Atlantic, and
spent its chief fury in the Irish sea. Liverpool, Manchesiter, and Dublin, particularly
sufTored, and the loss of shipping is very great, besides the damages to public works,
jiarks, and trees. The loss of lite in Ireland is said to have been above *JO0 persons.
The hurricane swelled up the waters in the north sea to sueli an extent, that irregu-
lar tides were produced, the coast works of Deinnark. Germany, ami Holland, severely
injured, and tlie wavenof the VAhn forced up into Hamburgh tour feet above the level
of the Kxchange. A remarkable featiire is the deposition of sea salt eighty nnles
inland in Ireland, Lancashire, Cheshire, and Yorkshire. — Wyld'ti Monthly Index and
Mfgi»ter tu the Metropolitan Morning Papers.

Geolouicai. History of last Montu. — The principal geological events are pre-
sented by the efl'ects of the activity now prevailing in the volcanic basin of the Medi-
terranean. The eruption of Muunt I'Una has ceased, but that of Vesuvius tuntinues,
and in the early part of the month supplied u great ijuantity of cinders and lava.
Earthquakes have been felt at Ldinburgb, Leicester, Berlin, and Malta. Coal has
been discovered in Greece. — Wijld\ Monthly Index.

NEW PATENTS.

LIST OF ENGLISH PATENTS GRANTED BETWEEN THE 90th
JANUARY, AND THE :^3ku EEBRLARY, 1839.

Thomas Collktie, of Aylesbury, in the county of Buckingham, for " Iiniuove-
ments in Children s Cots." — *ilst January ; 'i months to .vpecify.

CuAiu-Ks Jamls Blasuis Williams, of Half-.Moonstreet, Riicadilly, Esip, M.D.,
for " Certain Improvements in two-wheel Carriages." — 2yih January ; 0 juunth.s.

RoBKiiT CAHt:v, of Breadgar, Kent, gentleman, for " Certain Improvements in
Paving, or Covering Streets, Roads, or other Ways." — 2yth January ; ti months.

Frank Hills, of Deptford, Manufacturing C'hemist, for " Certain Improvements
in the constrnctiuu of Steam Boilers, and of Locomotive Engines." — 2!Hh January ;
6 months.

Tjiomas Barnabas Daft, of Regent-street, gentleman, for " Certain Improve-
meuts in Ink stands, ami in Materials and Apparatus for Fastening ami Sealing
Letters, or other Documents." — 2nd February ; t> months.

MosKs I'ooLK, of Lincoln's Inn, Clentleman, for " Improvemonts in the nu-ans of
conveying and transporting Persons and Gomls from une place to another." — Ith
February ; ti months.

John Evans, of Birmingham, Paper Manufacturer, fctr " Improvements in the
Manufacture of Paper. " — Ith February; 6 months.

Thomas Kodinson, of Wilmington-square, Middlesex, Gentleman, for " Improve-
ments in tlie i»rocess of Rectifying or Preparing Spirituous Liijuors in the making of
Brandy." — 7th February; tl months.

Christopher Binks, of Newington, Edinburgh, Manufacturing Chemist, for
" Certain Improvements in Obtaining or Mauufacturing, and in ren<lering Chlorine,
the useful Chlorides of Lime and Soda, and other Compounds of Chlurine applicable
in Bleaching." — 8ili February; t( months.

Cmaki.es Gabriel Baron nt: Siuuce, ofRed Lion stjuare, Middlesex, Colonel
in the I-'rench service, und William Pontikex, of Shoe-lane, in the city of London,
Coppersmitb, fur " \ new mode of obtaining Dyes, Colours, Tannin, and Acids,
from vegetable substance*." — llih February ; 0 montlis.

Georue Henkv M\nton, of Dover street, Piccadilly, Gun Maker, for " Certain
Improvements in Fowling I'ieces, and other Fire Arms.' — 11th February ; (i nu>nths.

EuwARD Pearson Tei,, of Barn^U■y, York, Dyer, for" Improvements in Weaving
Linen, and other Fabrics." — !lth FebruHry ; six months.

John Thomas Bktts, of Smithtield Bars, Keclilier, for " Improvements in the
process of preparing Spirituous Litjuors in the making of Brandy." — 11th February ;
6 months.

Fkederick Caylev Worsley, of Holly well-street, Wostmiusler, Esq., for
" Certain Improvements io Lacomutive Engines and Carriages." — 1-lth February ;
G months.

RuuARD pHu?<sh:R, of Birmingham. Civil Engineer, for " Certain Improvements
in Apimiatus for Gtjuevating iiteatn, Con^iuiwintj Smoke, uiulHeatinp Apartments, "—
J&lh F»bniary; 0 iitwtUs,

MosKS PooLK, of Lincoln's lun.Gentleman, for " Im()rovenients in Epaulettes and
Ornamental Metallic Wire Fringe, ami other Ornamental .Articles or Fabrics of
Wire. A t'ommunication fruni a Fori-igner." — 21st Febnuiry ; (i months.

JoHANN Andreas Stumfk, of Great Portland-street, Musical Instrument Maker,
tor " Improvements in Grand and other Pianofortes.' — 21st February ; ti months.

Matthew UziELLK,of Fenchurch street, Merchant, for " Improvements in Locks
or Fastenings." — 31st February; 0 months.

Heriiert Reid Williams, of Gloucester, Surgeon, for " Improvements in Trusses
and Surgical Bandages." — Slst February ; C months.

Thomas Hall, of Leeds, Brass Founder, for " A New Combination or Arrange-
ment of Parts, forming an Improved Furnace for Consuming Smoke, and Econo-
mising Fuel, applicable to Steam-engine Boilers and other Furnaces." — 21st February ;
ti months,

William Nash, of Budgerow, Merchant, for "Certain Improvements in the Con-
structions of Bridges, Viaducts, Roofs, and other Parts of Buildings." — 23rd February;
U mimths.

John Svlvrster, of West Bromwich, Staflurd, Wliite.smith, for " Certain Im-
provements in the Arrangement and Construction of Apjiaratus for Hanging and
Closing Doors. ■ — 21st February ; 6 months.

\\'illiam Johnson, of Saint Mar3' Cray Paper Mills, Kent, Paper-maker, for " A
Certain Imi>ro^enient, or Certain Improvements, in the Mannfactiu-e of Paper " —
21st February ; 0 months.

WiLLMM Nash, of Budge-row, Merchant, for " Improvements in Machinery for
Winding. Spijiniiig, Doubling, and Throwing Silk and other Fibrous Materials." —
2:ird February ; ti months.

OBITUARY.

Diiath of Rudolph Ciihanel Esq., Architect.— On the 4lh of February Mr. Caba-
nel, after a long ami severe illness died at his house, Mount-(inrdens, at the age of 70.
He was a native of Aix-la-Chapelle, but bad lived in England since his boyhood. He
was the arciiitect of the stage of Old Drury-lane, for he blended with high talents asau
architect an ingenious and inventive turn of mind, and an extensive scientific and me-
chanical knowledge- He was the sole architect of the Cohurg Theatre, which, as he left
it finished, was acknowledged by the most competent judges at the lime to be the must
perfectly-constriu:ted theatre in London, or perhajts in P'nghuid. He was the sole
inventor of the roof known by his name, besides a inunher <if machines and other
matters of great value. He Uvi'd much respected and died nmcb regretted by a
nuuierous and highly respectable circle of iVii-uds. — Morning Adrertistr.

ERRATA-

In our last number, page 36. 1st ctdumn, line 2 of 4th paragraph, "jtollshed and
gilt '^ Now Ibe bronze capitals and bases of the columns of the Isuoc Churtb, at
St. Peter.sburg, are not gilt, neither have they ever been, or ^vill they be.

Page 37, Ist coliinni, Candidus, describing the Isaac Chunh at St. Petersburg,
says, " The height of the dome is .'l lU Rii.ssian fee), or nciu'lv 4U0 iMiglish ones."
We are not prepared to say whether the height be 310 or 100 feet ; but Candidus is
under a great mistake regarding the value of the Russian foot, which is idt-ntiral
\\ith the English IVtot. We are the more anxious to see this error corrected, as it is
as generally as erroneously imagined that the Russian and English foot are difterent
measures, whereas they are exactly one and the same.

Page 43. 2ml coliinni. lines 30 and 40, fur '" level, when," read " level with."

Page 41, 1st tolunni, line 1, for " indicates our," read " indicates the correctness of
our,"

ADDKESS-

Our readers will perceive, by the cover, that we have this month atlded another
sixpence to the price of the Journal, and they will see, by its contents, that llie
enlargement of size, and increase of wood engravings, have been proportionate to the
additional charge. This measure has been reluctantly forced upon us by the extent
of matter whicli we ha\e hitherto been obliged to reject, and wo trust that every one
will feel that this has been done less for our own profit than the public advantaj^e.
This increase of si/.e we have long resisted, but its necessity has now become so
apparent, that, however unw illingly, we have been compelled to submit to its adoptitni.
As we feel convinced, however, that cheapness is most conducive to our own interest
and the public convenience, we shall, if the press of matter should dimini.sh after the
present season, again reduce the size to its old standard.

For this increase of matter we are i)rincipally indebted to the engineers ; anil
though we liave every disposition to give eijual scope to architecture, we regret that
the extent of conuuunications we receive from that branch of our readers, is not
cturespondent to our desire to do justice to their wishes. We earnestly request from
all classes the coumumieation of anything they may deem likely to promote the
objects of our Journal ; and we are suiv ibey will feel conviiu*ed that no want of
attention on <iur i)art will ever cause them to regret their exertions in its favour. We
may, in conclusion, ..onlidently appeal to our past eli'orts, and the present nuuiber, to
show that,^\lnle we do everything in our jiower to merit the stipport of our readers,
we have not been inellicient in fulfilling this desire.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

W%' have just received, as we were going to i>ress, a satirico-poetlcal effusion hum
une who signs himself" ACandidate vanquished, but not castdown," of which we can
now spare room for uu more than the concluding couplet, which is not without som^
point.

" Hurrah! for brave Nelson, now England may buast,
Tlmt iu O^fttU, QH in lifdf lie »tiU itUck^ to ^U ^jvnt, '

1839.]

THE riYII. F,NGINEKR AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

ini

ROW BRIDGE.

ENGINEERS, MESSR.S. WALICER AND BURGES.

Elevation ol" Ihe New Bridge.

LliiiliJJ.LjJ!

^^:-h

iLLikiiJiil!

Plan of Riindwav.

^,^^^,.,jj,j,j,^,^.^^.^.^^...^',^^»^J,^*A^-^7rr'y777^^

^et'tiou of Ruadwav and Centre ol" Arch.

fe^ifcs-"

^"- *^-'-- Y '-III t ,

0 h 10

1 I \

View of th« Oltl llritlge.

30

Scale of Tept.

:ii) .10

.50 t'rO

No. 19.~V(iL. 11 — April, 1839.

120

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[April,

BOW BRIDGE, AT STRATFORD-LE-BOW, IN ESSEX.

The great and still-increasing traffic between the county of Essex
and the metropolis has of late years led to many important improve-
ments in the line of the Great Essex-road, but nothing yet done has
been so highly appreciated by the public as the new bridge across the
river Lea, at Bow, which is built upon the site of the ancient structure
and was opened for traffic last February. Before we proceed to de-
scribe the new bridge, we will give some particulars of the old bridge,
a view of which is given above, a description of it we extract from an
interesting account by Mr. Burges, in the Arcbseologia, vol. 27, pp. 77
to 95, communicated May 17, 1836.

Of the antiquity of Bow Bridge there can be little doubt, as we have
proved from the best authorities that it was erected by order of Matilda,
queen of Henry the First, which must have been between the years 1100,
when she became queen, and 1118, the year of her death.

If any portion of the present structure can be identified as part of the
original edifice, it may be considered, if not the oldest bridge extant, as
at all events possessing an age which few other bridges in the Icingdom
can so satisfactorily trace, the long period of upwards of seven hundred
years, and it must consequently be considered as a higlily interesting work
of antiquity.

In the construction of this bridge, we find all that characterises the
very early specimens of bridge architecture; the small openings for the
water, and wide piers with large angidar projections, not only to divide
and throw off the force of the current, but for foot passengers to retire into,
to avoid the danger from carriages and horsemen when passing along the
narrow roadway.

■' That the bridge was originally built of stone can need no further
confirmation ; but the number of arches it originally consisted of is a
question we have now no means of ascertaiiung, though, m all probability,
it never had fewer openings than it has had in our day. Lysons indeed
states it be a bridge of one arch, but ho does not give his authority ; neither
have I met with any other writer who has favoured that opinion, or advan-
cpd one argument to lead to such a conclusion. That it had at any time
more than the present number of arclies is tuicertain, tmless it were
furnished with small openings or archways at each end under the causeway
for the passage of the land floods; but if there were such, they could not in
fairness be considered as forming any part of the bridge. Of such arches,
however, I have not been able to discover the slightest remains, either
from the excavations made purposely to determme that point, or from any
examinations of the bridge itself.

"That the present pointed arches formed no part of the original construc-
tion of the bridge must be evident, as no other but a circular arch would
have been used at that time ; the pointed form of arch not having been
introduced into the buildings of this country till many years after. The
original arches therefore appear to have been removed, and may probably
have given place to several forms of construction, each partaking of the
fashion prevalent at the time of their erection. It may also be observed
that the form of the present arches is of that particular description which
was last of all introduced mto our architecture, and is commonly known as
the Tudor Arch, from being foimd in most of the buildings erected hi the
reigns of the two last Henries, or about the latter end of the 15th century;
and it may therefore fairly be stated, that the present arches cannot be
older than the date assigned for the introduction of that species of arch,
to which they are similar, but have in all probability been erected since
that time, as is clearly the case with regard to the arch of the centre
opening of the bridge.

" Before closhig this account of the bridge, we are led to inquire into the
origin of its name, and the circumstances which gave rise to its being
called the Bow, or Bow-bridge. Most writers ascribe the derivation to the
resemblance of the arch to the form of a bow, then called de Arcubus, or
the Bows. The description given by Stow, in his annals, goes to state
' the bridge was arched like a bowe, a rare piece of worke, for before that
tjie like had never been seen in England;' and Grose observes, it might
derive its appellation from the word beau, or handsome, an epithet very
Ukely to be given to it in those days.* » • • •

'■ The piers for the support of the arches occupy a very large proportion
of water-way of the river, and, like many other ancient stmctures of this
description, are placed at an angle with the stream, causing intcn-uption
alike to the navigation and to the passage of the tlood-waters.

" The width of the bridge was originally only thirteen feet six inches
between the parapets, but in the year 1741 it was mcrcased to twenty-
one-feet.

"A few years previous to the bridge being widened, an accommodation
had been made for foot-passengers, by projecting a wooden platform five
feet wide over the piers on the north side ; this has lately been rebuilt, at
t le expense of the two counties, after having been the subject of litigation
for two or three years.

" Very little attention appears to have been paid to uniformity in budding
this bridge, as scarcely any two corresponding points in the structure
agree. We find the springing courses upon different levels, and also the
elevation of the arches above the surface of the water, besides which the
two piers arc imlike both in width and length.

"The side arches claim particular notice, from having a centre rib of
con.siderable strength projecting below the line of the arch; a form of
construction fiequently to be met with in old buildings of this kind.

" The centre arch, which is without .iny rib, has evidently been rebuilt
upon the remains of a former one, probably to meet the demands of an
improved navigation, it being in its present state much better adapted for
the passage of vessels than if formed after the model of the side ones, as it
no doubt was before being altered, for the springing stones still remain.

" At tliis distant period it is difficult to determine with anv degree of
certainty the description of stone used in the original construction of the
bridge. As in many other ancient buddings erected in this part of the
country, Caen stone appears to have been used for arching, some of which
still remains, while Kentish rag and Purbeck stone were employed in the
inferior parts of the work. The present face of the piers consists of
Portland and Kentish stone, laid in courses of various shapes and dimen-
sions.

" Bow Bridge, unlike many of the old English bridges, has no starlings
or projections beyond the line of masonry of the piers, which may be ac-
counted for by the shallowness of the river at the spot; at low water,
during the summer mouths, the difficulty of constructing the founda-
tions could not have been great, as they are laid upon a stratum of gravel
3 to 4 feet below the present bed of tfie river.

" The filling-in of the arches between the face-courses and the centre
rib is little better than nibble masonry, the stones of which are both rough
and irregular in size, the joints wide, and in several places tdes are em-
ployed to wedge the whole together.

" The masonrj- of the centre arch is of a different character to that already
described; the outside face-courses are alsit in two thicknesses, composed
of Kentish rag stone, with a few of Caen stone, which no doubt had been
saved from a former arch, while the filling-in between is entirely built of
Kentish stone in regular courses very neatly put together, and, as .already
stated, without any rib or other projection.

" The external face of the bridge above the arches is formed of common
rubble masoniy, and the interior part over the piers and arches, no doubt
filled up nearly to the level of the roadway with chalk or stone built in
mortar, the plan generally adopted by the ancient builders in works of this
description.

" The masonry of the additional arching, &c. made to the bridge in 1741,
consists principally of Purbeck and Portland stone, built in regidar courses
in a firm and substantial manner."

After many years of unceasing endeavours on the part of the trustees
of the road, an act of Parliament was obtained in 1834 for taking down
the old structure and building a new bridge. As this was to occupy
the same site as the old one, it became necessary to provide a tem-
porary bridge for the public durini; the erection of the new one, and
this was done by the erection of a wooden bridge across the river, near
to the same spot, which was opened for traffic July 25th, 1835, and on
the same day the old bridge was closed, and in a short time after " not
one stone was left upon another" of that once celebrated structure,
which Stow relates to have been " a rare piece of worke,'' at the period
when he wrote.

The works of the foundation of the new bridge, on the Essex side,
having been sufficiently advanced, the ceremony of laying the first
stone took place on the 12th day of December, 1835. The stone was
of granite about 5i tons weight, in which was deposited, in a holkw
made for the purpn»o, a glnss bottle, containing a ^eries of new coins,
and a brass plate upon which was engraved the following inscription : —

Boh) BriDgc.

The old bridge over the River Lea, founded on this site by Matilda
Queen of Henry I., having become inadequate for the increased tliorougli-
fare by land and water, and a new bridge to replace the ancient structure
having been resolved upon, this first stone was laid on XII December,
MDCCCXXXV, by Emma, the lady of John Henry Pelly, of Upion, lu
the County ef Essex, Esquire, F.R.S., Deputy Master of the Trinity House,
and Chairman of Trustees of the Middlesex and Essex turnpike roads, assisted
by the Committee of Trustees ap|jointed to carry into effect the pro-
visions of the Act 4 & 5 William IV., chap. 89. in relation to Bow Bridge.

COMMITTEE.
John Henry Pelly, Esq., F.R.S.
Chairman.
The Venerable Achdeacon Jones James Graves, Esq.

Sir Thomas Barrett Leonard, Bart. Richard Gregory, Esq.

Robert Westley Hall Dare, Esq., M.P. Richard Hallett, Esq.
James Bridger, Esq. John George Hammatk, Esq.

Benjamin Brushfield, Esq. John Hodgson, Esq.

John Burnell, Esq. John Hubbard, jun., Esq.

John Carstairs, Esq., F.R.S. William Maiden, Esq.

Nicholas Charrington, Esq. John Milner, Esq.

WilliamCotton, Esq., F.R.S. William Pearce. Esq.

William Dav-s, Esq. Joshua Pedley, Esq,

John Drinkald, Esq. Samuel Taylor, Esq.

George Fox, Esq. John S. Thompson, Esq.

John Francis, Esq. Edward Vincent, Esq.

John Hillson Giles, Esq.

George Dacre, Clerk to the Trust.
James Walker, F.R.S., and Alfred Burges, Engineers.
Samuel Farey, Surveyor to the Trust.
Thomas Curtis, sen., and Thomas Curtis, jun., Builders.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

121

The last stone of the arch was laid Jan. 31, 1838, by the chairmaD
of the trustees, J. H. Pelly, Esq., F.R.S., &c. &c., when a bronze
medal of Queen Victoria was deposited in the bed of the stone, inscribed
upon the edge with the occasion, date, name, &c. &c.

The bridge was publicly opened nn Thursday, Feb. I4th, 1839, by
the Sheriff of Essex, William Cotton, Esq., F.R.S., &c., and a retinue
of carriages driving from the Essex side, meeting on the centre of the
bridge, the Sheriff of Middlesex, Alderman Thomas Wood, accom-
panied by the chairman of the trustees, and followed by a long retinue
of carria-es, containing the trustees, the engineers, &c. &c.

The form of the bridge, as shown in fig. 1, is a very flat segment,
the rise nut being more than three feet, and consists of an oblique arch
of an elliptical form, the wing walls extending at each end of the
bridge terminated with granite pede-tals surmounted by lamp irons.
The following are the principal dimensions of the bridge : —

ft. in.
Span of arch, measured on the face - - - - 66 0

Span of arch, measured square with the abutment line - 64 0
Rise of arch - - - - - - - -139

Thickness of abutments - - - - - -15 0

Length of bridge at wings - - - - - 146 0

Width of bridge in clear of parapet - - - - 40 0

Width of carriage way - - - - - -30 0

Width of each footpath 5 0

The arch stones are 4 feet thick at the springing, and 2 feet 6 inches
in the crown.

The contract for the new structure, with the temporary accommoda-
tion for the public during the erection of the new bridge, is s;ated to
be about 11,000/. The stone used for the external face is blue Aber-
deen granite, backed with the masonry of the old structure. The
foundations are laid upon a bed of strong gravel several feet below the
bed of the river, and a protection of sheet piling is driven in front of
the masonry several feet into the solid ground.

It was expected that in excavating the bed of the river, for the
fnundations of the new bridge, some antiquities would have been dis-
covered, but in fact few articles of any interest were found, and those
of trifling va ue. The mdst interesting were some brass tokens, two of
which are more particularly connected with the subject before us ; a
few silver coins of little value, some ancierit iron keys, with the re-
mains of an iron spear h ad, nearly comprise the catalogue of all that
was found.

We must not omit to notice thit in the demolition of the old bridge
it was found that the masonry of the arches was not originally covered
by gravel, &c., to form a roadway, as it is now usual, but that tie
carriages and iiorses went directly upon the stone-work of the arches,
and that ruts of the wheels had been worn in places to a depth of nine
inches, and holes were worn through, evidently made by the tread of
the horses.

ISOLATED HARBOURS OF REFUGE— EXAMPLES OF
NATURAL FORMATION,

BY HYDE CLARKE, ESQ., C. E.

As I have strongly advocated, and I believe introduced, tlie prin-
ciple of insulation as applied to harbours, it is not unnatural that I
should take some interest in that of isolation, which is certainly one
of the most important principles wliich has lately been elucidated.
Its author, Mr. Tait, may congratulate himself on the acknowledge-
ment of its merits which it has so generally received, and I sliall be
happy if the few remarks I now contribute should afford any addi-
tional reason for its support.

It is certainly augural of the advancement of harbour engineering,
that instead of plans being merely confined to local circumstances,
so much attention is now being devoted to the illustration of gene-
ral principles ; which, however, can only be drawn from nature.
The importance of philosophical instruction to the engineer is
powerfully inculcated when we see the manner in which objects,
apparently so remote, are brought to bear upon our immediate pur-
suits. It is true, indeed, that this is a principle of philosophy, but
it is one, the importance of which does not seem always to be recog-
nised, although it should be remembered that even the abstract
sciences are derived from the observation of natural phenomena, and
that the laws of mechanics are equally developed in the motions of
the heavenly bodies, as in the construction of tlie animal and vege-
table kingdoms. The face of nature is, in fact, the great book of
truth, written by an unerring hand ; and it is upon the precepts there
taught that equally in science, literature, and art, all excellence
depends.

Mr. Tait has, indeed, informed me that it was from the Isle of
Wight that he partially conceived the idea of his own plan, and

upon that basis Mr. Rooke has also founded his modifications. To
shew, however, that this is not an individual example, but part of a
general rule, I now present same instances of natural isolated
harbours, whicli, while they support the principle advocated by my
two philosophical friends, may throw some inductive light upon the
probable result of future operations.

Fig. 1.

K*^6

PORTO DO ILHEO.

The figure B here inserted is the representation ofan isolated har-
bour in active operation. It is called Porto do Ilheo, and is situated
in the island of St. Michael's, one of the Azores, opposite the iowit of
Villa Franca, and not above six miles from that of Poute Delgada,
one of the most important shipping places for the fruit and wine
trade. From the nature of the basin it may be readily referred to a
volcanic formation, and this is supported by its general contigurd-
tion, as much as by its situation with deep soundings around it. It
has all the appearance of an extinct crater ; consisting of a wall
of rock rising in most places 30 to 50 feet high, with a hollow centre,
and an opening on one .side. As nearly as I can recollect, it is about
a quarter or half a mile across, and at low water lias, in the centre,
from eight to ten feet water, with a slieeting of mud covering the
bottom. The mouth is to the nortli-east, of course opposite to the
prevailing winds, and it is the only place in the islands which is
sheltered against the westerly winds, but it is unprotected in the
soutli-east when a heavy swell runs in its neighbourhood. The
island is often used for careening, and it is the general place of
refuge in westerly winds for the vessels from Ponte Delgada, w hich
run here until the fury of the storm is abated, and lie without a wave
to ruffle them, except that sometimes there is a dash of spray
through a breali in the west wall. Its importance was impressed
upon me at the time I \\'as engaged with the Atlantic Steam Naviga-
tion Company, the first which was brought forward in 1836, when
my plan was to have used the Azores as a central station for com-
munication to North and Soutli America and the West Indies. The
use of this island as a depot was strongly enforced upon me by a
merchant captain well acquainted with it, and I proposed to have
had it deepened and an entrance made, accessible at all times of
tide.

All such cases, it must be remarked, are of volcanic formation,
and the entrance is almost uniformly found opposed to the prevailing
winds. No satisfactory account of the cause of this has, however,
been given, and the reasons assigned by Lyell are far from clear or
convincing. In the recess called Rowley Shoal, off the north-west
coast of Australia, however, as described by Captain King, in
Lyell's Geology,* where the east and west monsoons prevail alter-
nately, the open side of one crescent-shaped recess, the Imperieuse,
was turned to the east, and of another, the Mermaid, to the
west.

In the Yellow Sea there is a remarkable horse- shoe volcanic
harbour, mentioned in Macartney's Voyage to China, and the
Chagos Isles in the Indian Ocean, described by Horsburgh, whicli
have their openings to the north-west, are most important to naviga-
tors. These harbours are well known for their security, and ships
can enter and depart with ease.

The Coral Islands, in Polynesia, are nearly all of this horse-shoe
formation, so that of thirty-two examined by Captain Beechey (t),
twenty-nine liad lagoons in the centre, tlie land being merely a nar-
row ring. Some of these lagoons were as deep as tliirty-eight
fathoms, and the largest was thirty miles in diameter.

The follo\^'ing cuts represent a view of Whitsunday Island and a
section.

• Vol. 11 , p. 233.

C'cclwy's Voyage*, I'art 1.

I 21

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[April,

Fig. 2. — View uf Whit.suiiilay I>luiul.

_iLt.

Fig. 3. — Section of Whitsunday Island.

The channel leadhig from the sea into the lagoon is nearly always
a deep narrow passage, which is kept open by the etHiix of the sea
at low tides. Lyell observes, that it is sufficient that a reef should
rise a few feet above low water mark to cause the waters to collect
in the lagoon at high tide, and when the sea falls, to rush out
violently at one or more points. This, he remarks, is strictly
analogous to that witnessed in our estuaries, (where a body of salt
water accumulated during the flow,) issues with great velocity at
the ebb of the tide, and scours out or keeps open a deep passage.

We see from these extended examples that Mr. Tait's principle
is one that is neither unsanctioned by example nor useless iu its re-
sults, although in the present state of science we have not perhaps
the opportunity of carrying it out artificially upon the great scale
which is exhibited to us by nature. The force of volcanic action,
which can elevate reefs from the depth of the ocean, our greatest
steam power cannot imitate ; but the day may perhaps come when
we may be able to employ this agent with the same ease that we do
the strength of the ocean.

CURTIS'S RAILWAY IMPROVEMENTS.

We have before had tlie pleasure of recording several of Mr. Curtis's
railway improvements, and we now add two otliers, well deserving the
serious attentimi of all railway companies, for arresting those awful
accidents, " collisions of trains," which, we are sorry to say, we see too
often recorded in the daily papers to the injury of railways. We con-
sidcr hotli contrivances admirably well adapted for the purposes
intended by the ingenious inventor; they form part of several other
improvements for wliicli Mr. Curtis has recently received her Majesty's
letters patent. In our ne.Kt number we shall give some particulars of
his other inventions. The following descriptions we extract from tlie
specitiration of tlie patentee : —

A Break or Carriage for arrestinf) the Progress of an Enyine or
Carriage,, and which in mi nho be applied for clenrinc/ the Line of impedi-
ments placed or li/iiiq iiponit. — Tlie best form of this brake is shown in
tig. 1, 2. an! 3; tig. 1 is a side view, and tig. 2 an end view of the same,
it may be placed either in front as shown, or behind the engine or car-
riage; hui I prefer the front of the engine, because it is made then to
act as a means of clearing the line as above stated.

A shaft. V '\> placed across the framing of the engine, and upon this
shaftare Hxed llu- two legs or levers, C C, and to tlie lower ends of the
levers are attaclied the snoes, E. E., by the pins of the connecting rod,
G., but in cases where the connecting rod, G., would not clear the
timlienrig of the hriilges of the line it may be omitted and the joints
made hy pins (.mly ; the cross-bars may be either omitted or placed
higher on the parallel rods, D D, used to keep the lower surfaces
of ihe shoes parallel with the rails, and to give them a certain degree
of steadiness; ti:e shoe is formed either of wrought or cast iron, or of
timber shod wiili iron, with a flange upon its inner edge to correspond
with tlie flatiL'cs of the wheels ; the back end is formed to the curve of
the contiu'""ns wheel, so that where it is in gear it impinges against it,
and ilie Han e of the wheel enters the grooves formed in the shoe, and
thus very n aterially adds to the stability of theapparatus. The groove
is shown cl.arly in figure 3, which shows the upper plan of the
shoe, and lig. i tlie under side of the same. A rubbing piece of wrought
iron or other metal may be introduced into the under side of the shoe,

and secured by rivets or other means, which can be renewed as it
becomes worn out by the friction of the rails when in contact with them.
A crank is fastened upon one end of the cross-shaft, K, to which iscon-
nected the rod, B; the other end of this rod is connected with the lever
A, working upon a pivot, by wliitli the engineer can work the brake as
circumstances may require ; the cross-shaft is connected by the carriage
to the frame in the usual way, and the pin makes likewise the connexion
of the parallel rod, D, at its upper end, and the pin at its lower end ;
the lever may be substituted by a screw, whicli may be made to act in
a line with the connecting rod, B, for the purpose of working the
apparatus, oranyotlierfit and suitable leverage may be adopted. When
the engineer observes anything upon the line he is desirous to remove
with the brake, he depresses the shoes to within a very short distance of
the rail, whicli distance may be denoted by a stop placed upon anarched
segment, against which the lever. A, may work, or by any of the usual
means for the same purpose, and when he is desirous to stop the engine
he causes the brake to come into contact with the rails by moving ths
lever. A, further forwards, and if to stop the engine as short as possible,
the lever is thrown forward until it occupies the place shown by the
doited lines, when the apparatus assumes the position also shown by the
dotted lines in figure l,the efl'ect of which is to raise the engine a
space equal to that included between the black and dotted lines.

The force required on the part of the engineer to produce this eflTect
is very trifling, because the momentum of the engine forces the shoe
into g( ar as soon as it is brought firmly into contact with the rails ; the
springs, by their re-action, still keep the wheels upon the rails, but the
weight being transferred for the most part to the brake, the tractive
power of the driving wheels is very much reduced, at the same time
such an extensive rubbing surface is brought into action that it will be
sufficient to bring the engine to a dead stop although the steam may not
be shut ofl^. It is evident by examining the figures that aiiv degree of
retardation may be produced between that necessary to bring up the
engine and that slightly to check its velocity, as in descending inclined
planes and by moving the lever more or less forward, and the leverage
must be also sufficiently powerfiil of whatever kind it may be formed,
so that the shoes may be drawn out of gear without stopping the
engine.

An Apparatus to prevent Collisions between Trains on the same Line
of Kails. — This apparatus is shown in figures 5 and 6. Figure !'> is a
bide view of the apparatus and an engine in contact with it, attached
to the last carriage of a train, and figure 6 is a plan of the same.

The sledge or retarder, A, is formed like a wedge, with its superior
end turned up upon the inner side ; flanges are formed, so as keep it
upon the rails, the two sides are united together by the cross-bar, J,
the plate, K, and the cross pieces, G G, and the sides are set to tha
same gauge as the rails, so that an engine may run upon it without
difficulty to the cross-bar, J ; two buffers, D D, are fixed, which
correspond with other buffers, I, formed upon the fr-nt frame of tho
engine, so that when the engine comes in contact with the retarder
these buffers receive the concussion ; the plale K is used, in order to
unite the sledge as near to the point as possible, and still to allow a
free passage to the flanges of the wlieels ; to the cros* pieces G G, tha
spring ]i!eces, B B, are fixed, which form shifts for the wheels 0 C,
upon which the apparatus is carried when out nf gear ; E is a counter-
balance weight to counterpoise the weight of ihe sled^je, ?o that a man
can move it along the line, like a truck, with great taeility; the
coupling F is formed for the purpose of connecting the sledge with
the train in the usual way, by means of a jo nt and pin.

The ret irder or apparatus, when out of action, and connected with
a train, is attaclieil to the last carriage, as sli"wn at L ; then tha
sledge rides above the rails, and is suspended by the spring pieces
B B ; but should an accident happen whicli would stop the train, one
of the conductors immediately detaches the retarder, and runs hack
with it, and places it 300 or 600 yards behind tlie hroken-down train ;
then, should not the engineer of the following 'rain olisi-rve ihe train
before him, and stop his engine, the engine would run inlu the retarder,
and would become a sledge ; the driving wheels, if not slopped by the
great resistance which would now be opi'osed to them, would skid
round in Ihe retarder, and would have no power tu move forward?.
No violent concussion would take place, but the engine would slide
along a certain short distance in the retrirder when the train would be
brought to a stand-still ; a hanging frame, K, must he fir • ed from the
engine frame, and tlie buffers usually placed upon the b' ad board
transferred to the lower frames, or other buffers I, placed (here. As I do
not consider it would be the best plan to make ilie su|ieriiir end of tha
retarder. A, so high as to meet the buffers placed on the head board in
the usual manner, the flange of tlie sledge A may lie either continued
all along, as drawn, or may be made in detached (lieees at certain
intervals in the length, as may be found the best. In the ease of a swift
tr.dii overtaking a slow oae in a fog or at night, the swift engine

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

would run into the retarder, and tbe same effect upon the engine and
tram would be produced as before stated— viz., that it would be brought
to a stand, and the only effect produ, ed to the slow train, behind
which the retarder was travelling-, would be, that it would be torn
away trom Us fastenings ; for the purpose, therefore, of meeting a case

12:

of this nature, it will be advisable to make the fastenings sucii, that it
may be torn avyay without the last carriage being subjected to any
violent shock with this view the pin at F may be of oak, or hardwood
strong enough to drag the retarder, but sufficiently weak to giva way
m the case mentioned. v 5t>» n-.y

CURTIS'S PATENT RAILWAY IMPROVEMENTS.
A BREAK FOR ARRESTING THE PROGRESS OF AN ENGINE OR CARRIAGE.

Fig. l,.SidoVi.w. F.g. 3, End View.

Fig. 3, Top of Shoe

Fig. 4, Underside of Shoe.

AN APPARATUS TO PREVENT COLLISION BETWEEN TRAINS ON RAILWAYS.
Rg. 5, Side View of Apparatiu.

mim^>Mm^mm;mimjss,

Fig. 6, Plan of Apparatus.

124

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[April,

CIVIL ENGINEERING EDUCATION AND REWARDS.

In our last volume, p. 369, we were induced, under this title, to give
an ans^ver to the many fallacies which were then afloat on these
sulijects, and particularly to the misrepresentations of writers in the
TiiiHx and Alhen(Eum, by refuting the theories founded on the Poly-
technic School. Not one of our arguments has been contradicted, and
in no other periodical has any reply been attempted. The article has
created some sensation, and we should not have recurred to tlie subject,
having, in our own opinion, said enough to settle the question ; but we
have received so many letters respecting it, that out of deference to our
correspondents we cannot avoid resuming it.

We particularly objected to the notion that engineering education
conld be taught only in schools, and expressed our conviction of tlie
impolicy ofseparating it from tlie present system of practical instruction
in the offices of engineers. We have thus unwittingly knocked on the
head the favourite crotchet of some of these writers, and we have
received a volley of letters in abuse of our arguments, but not in refu-
tatisn. The following takes a higher stand, and out of respect for the
writer, we give it at length, curtailed only of an exordium giving a long
definition of criticism : —

Sir, — I cannot refrain from expressing both snrprise and regret at
finding, in more places than one of the " Civil Engineerand Architects'
.Tournal," an attempt to show that engineering instruction is either
unnecessary in this country, or tliat it is sufficiently provided for. Both
assertions are equally erroneous. I need only advert to numerous
instances of failure in engineering works, too well known and too
severely felt by the parties concerned in them, to show how absolutely
inadequate is the knowledge of our civil engineers generally, and how
necessary it is that those wlio intend following that important career
be adequately instructed ; and I need only observe that the faculties
established at Durham, and in University and King's College, are,
though eminently useful, but secondary objects in those establishments,
to show that engineering instruction is very far from being sufficiently
provided for in this country. I am not one of those who are disposed
to see everything good that is done abroad, and everything bad that is
done at home ; but equally do I deprecate that erroneous and narrow-
minded prejudice which sees perfection in all that is English, merely
because it is so, and can find nothing but sneers and ridicule for the
finest establishments of other countries, because they are not English.
The man who \vo\dd endeavour to ridicule the Polytechnic School of
France, must be the veriest — but no, as Peter Pindar has it, "at calling
names I never was a dab."

I will not make invidious comparisons; I will argue the point
of engineering education on other grounds. It has been said, that '" the
English student derives his knowledge from private study in books, and
not by oral instruction from professors." I confess I had yet to learn
that our English youth were so passionately fond of study as to require
no teaching. It is elsewhere said, " if science were only to be gained
from the dictates of professors, we should indeed be in a state of mental
degradation ;" and pray, I would ask, what are the books from the
private study of which our youths are to become such perfect adepts,
but the dictates of professors ? Has the writer of such senseless
sentences received no benefit in his lifetime from oral instruction ? If
so, he must either be very ignorant or a natural prodigy.

In the article on civil engineering education, to which I allude,
there is a flaming paragraph setting forth our superior excellence in
all things, which, as having nothing to do with the point in cpiestion,
would have been much better omitted ; to praise ourselves is fulsome
and undignified. The writer goes on to state, " To whatever depart-
ment we direct our search, it will not be very easy to find any symp-
toms of inferiority in the working of our present system." Indeed!
It is easy to see the writer has had none of his capital engaged in the
thousand and one speculations which have failed for sheer want of the
very fii'st elements of scientific knowledge. Again the writer falls into
a comparison between France and England, in which, according to
him, France has few or no great works. Were we so disposed, we
could presently show him his veiy egrcgioirs mistake. Nay, let alone
France, we coirki point out in other coitntries, corrntries we are dispo-
sed to despise as barbarous, wor-k-; equal in beauty, magnitrrde, scien-
tific combination, and pr.actical skill, to anything we can boast ; but
we repeat it, we will institrtte no comparisons.

That we have marry, very many magnificent works no one can or
will attempt to derry ; but what does this prove ? That if we have
been able to efl^ect so much withoirt the aid of special scientitic know-
ledge, we may fairly hope to achieve the greatest things if a proper
svstom of irrstruction be introduced.

Will any man be bold enough to say that the payment of a lOOOA
to some celebrated engineer or architect, and that five or seven vears
'• copying and transcribing in an office'' are sirfficient to qualify a young
man to become a civil engineer ? I appeal to the writer of a paper in

the "Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal," page 159, vol. 1.; I
appeal to every man of common sense. Is any one absurd enough to
imagine that an engineer or an architect of first rate eminence, whose
every moment is employed in his professiorral duties, can by any possi-
bility devote any portion of his time to the instruction of the pupils
placed under him ? or is any man disposed to think himself rrnfairly
treated because such instruction is not given to his son ? Is it not an
acknowledged thing, a tacit understanding between parties, that the
1000/. paid to Mr. A. or Mr. B. is solely for the privilege of saying my
son was in Mr. A.'s or Mr. B.'s office, and nothing more.

But will any one be so doggedly ridiculous as to maintain that such
a svstem is all-sufficient for the education of our civil engineers, and
that too at a moment when the amazing increase of industry calls loudly
for a whole host of fully competent engineers ?

The English mechanic, it is said, " has no Ecole Royale to frequent,
and no Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers in which to exhibit his per-
formances, but he can study in his own house, has his own periodicals,
can learn from his brother workmen, and frequent a Mechanic's Insti-
tute in every town, while he has the free-born spirit of the English race
to direct him, and the stattre of Watt to remind him how his fellow
countrymen can appreciate his laboirrs." To call this anything but
ridiculous bombast would be to misname it.

If the English mechanic has not the various advantages above stated,
so much the worse, so much the greater shame to this rich and indus-
trious country. As for the mechanic's study in his own house, it
amounts to very little at most, and instruction from periodicals to still
less. His brother workmen, with a few honourable exceptions, are
little disposed to teach him anything but the way to the gin-palace, and
nine times orrt often he understands not one word of the lectures given
at the so-called mechanics' institutes ; and as for his free-born spirit, it
directs him in too many cases, alas ! to little else than to rail at all
above him, aird at the institutions of his country. Finally, as for tlie
statire of Watt, I would like to know how many have seen it, and how
marry from the contemplation of it have risen in their career.

Brrt now come we to the point. Hitherto we have been told that
instructiorr, other than private reading of books, is useless ; that withorrt
any systematic edircation we have done wonders ; but now we have a
recommendation of the course proposed by the English colleges, and,
despite the ridicule just thr-own upon oral instrirction, we are now told
that " the practice of the students attending philosophical lectures will
prove an important help to their professional education, while we are
to deprecate any attempt wholly to educate them, whether in an English
academy, or the Ecole Polytechnique itself, wirrch might turn out a
very good surveyor's hack, but which would not be very likely to
prodrrce a Smeaton, a Brindley, or a Watt."

Now, Sir, I would ask — not to advert to the preposterous idea that
the instruction of such men as Monge, Biot, Francoeur, Hatchett, La
Place, Legendre, La Croix, Prony, Hassenfratz, Fourcroy, Bertholet,
Chaptal, Gay Lussac, Thenard, &i'. &c., can only turn out surveyors'
hacks — what, I would ask, is all this but the pulF direct of the classes
of civil engineering lately established in some of the English colleges?
— the puff exclusive — the pufl' ridiculous, inasmuch as contradictory of
what was before advanced — the putt' mischievous, as it deprecates the
only means by which solid instruction can be given in civil engineering
— viz., special .tirition in an establishment organised solely for the
pirrpose of creating efficient engineers. None ean see with greater
pleasure than ourselves, that attention is being directed to the necessity
of particular instruction in civil engineering. The establishment of
the classes alluded to, sufficiently disproves the assertion with which
the writer of the article we are commenting sets out. Too long, in-
deed, have we been guided by dear-bought experience and expensive
blind experimentalizing. It is high time that theory, which is nothing
more than the results of the best practice, methodised and reduced to
axioms, be combined with practical operations to enlighten them,
while practice, in its turn, points out the possibility of fresh improve-
ments, with this advantage, that by a knowledge of scientific truths
they are founded on certain principles, and are not derived from vague
and indefinite conceptions.

Indeed, the necessity for scientific knowledge is forcibly pointed out
in an article headed " Mining and Mines," in the " Civil iingineer and
Architect's Journal," p. 4 19, vol. 1 ; and what is essential to miners must
be still more so to the civil engineer; for raining is but a part — a section —
of the attributions of the civil engineer, whose profession extends from
the laying down of a gaspipe to the construction of a jetty ; from the
fixing of a crane to the construction of a locomotive engine; from the
paving of a court-yard ti the construction of a railway ; from the
tracing of a drain to the connexion of seas by a canal; from the build-
ing of a porter's lodge to the erection of the most extensive manufac-
tory ; from the draining of a cellar to lire draining of a country or of
a mine. His knowledge mu>t be general as his labours are multi-
farious. Of minerals, metals, and vcgctalile substances, he must

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

1-25

know both the nature and the use ; the chemical and physical pro-
perties and actions of bodies, he must be intimate with. He has to
employ forces of every kind, and must hold them under his control,
which he can only do by thoroughly understanding them. In a word,
his knowledge must not only be general, but perfect, as ignorance in
any one correlative object paralyzes or counteracts the effects of his
knowledge in the rest. Can this be denied ? and will any one, in the
face of such truths, maintain that science is unnecessary to the civil
engineer, or that it is amply |)rovided for among us V The preface of
the " Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal " contains an ennraera-
tinn of several establishments as teaching civil ingineeiing. In every
one of these, certain branches of engineering knowledge may be
taught : indeed, it is hardly possible to teach anyhing with which the
civil engineer should not be acquainted, but we have no such thing as
special schools for civil engineers. Particular classes are highly useful,
no doubt, as auxiliaries, and we arc happy to see them established ; but
to say that they are sufficient, or that more adequate knowledge is
likely to result from such nnconnecteil, and, therefore, imperfect
studies, than from a regular course in an establishment where all the
elements of a good engineering education are combined, where all tlie
efforts tend to the one main point desired, would be to say an absurdity
too palpable to be for a moment dwelt upon.

Ill conclusion, sir, I will merely observe, that engineering education
is, with us, wofully deficient; that, at no period was it ever more
loudly called for; and that, judging by what has been etfected without
it, we may fairly anticipate incalculable lienefits when proper scientific
instruction shall guide our practical skill. Let schools, then, be
established, and let us not, to favour any particular interests, dissuade
the public from a "consummation so devoutly to be wished," as the
establishment of special schools for civil engineering.

I am Sr, yours, &c. » * .

We pass over the reflections in the above letter on ourselves, for we
feel conscious of having done our duty to the profession, and the
magis amicus truth ; as to any assertions of venality, it is unnecessary
to protest against tliem nhen our venal arguments remain unanswered ;
but vie can assure the writer that we are neither shareholders in the
universities, nor interested in the professors' fees, and that, still more,
we are not on the look out for a berth in any college, to be or not
to be.

We are next assured that the man who would endeavour to ridicule
the Polytechnic School must be the veriest, {magnus hie dejiendus
hiatus,) but no ! as Peter Pindar has it, "at calling names, I never was a
dab." Now, we never ridiculed the Polytechnic School at all, although
we are not aware what sacred jirotection it should have in the eyes of
Enclishnien. Then it is asked — what are the books from the private
study of which our youths are to become such perfect adepts, but the
dictates of professors ? We never said that they were not, or that the
dictates of a professor on proper subjects were not of use, but we feel
indebted to our correspondent for this argument in favour of the use of
books. By and bye he assures us, tliat he can negative our comparison
of the inferiority of French public works, and hints something about a
Ijarbarous nation. We can only assure him that we should willingly
have received the refutation, and paid equal attention to it. We next
learn an important fact, that engineers' pupils are not expected to learn
anything, but only to pay their money. The writer then introduces
a political declamation against our English mechanics, which every man
of experience can contradict, and in reply to which we can do no better
than recommend him to study that amusing work, " Hints to Me-
chanics," by Mr. Claxton. We never said that instruction, other than
the private reading of books, was useless and consequently need not
advert to such a gratuitous assumption. We have read witli due atten-
tion the long muster-roll of names, almost equalling the enumeration of
Homer, and we give full credit for the industry in assembling all the
names of professors, living or dead, that could be found ; the names are
very good, certainly, and include many eminent chemists, mathe-
maticians, astronomers, philosophers, &c., but we should like to know
how many engineers? We can find plenty of colleges in England to
furnish a list of well-known names, but we do not see what that has to
do witli engineering. The writer then falls into a farther mistake, when
telling us that special tuition must be given in an establishment organised
solely for the purpose, he instances the Polytechnic school, believing
that it is entjrely devoted to civil engineering. By referring to our first
article he will, however, see that it is no such tiling. The concluding
definition is also rather loose; it informs us that duties of civil engineers
are to construct locomotive engines and build porters' lodges, and
manufactories. We always thought that sucli things belonged to the
practical engineer and the architect.

We shall now enter into a farther consideration of the stibject, and
shall first endeavour to ascertain how far the nature of the profession
of a civil engineer influences his education. It appears to us that the

course pursued in one profession does not necessarily involve its appli-
cation in another, but that each requires a system adapted to its pecu-
liar pursuits. If we correctly understand the question, civil engineer-
ing is essentially a profession of genius, having to deal with many new
and unforeseen cases, and that as decidedly as any branch of the fine
arts ; it is therein distinct from law and medicine, which are princi-
pally systems of the application of old processes. No one by force of
genius conld become a lawyer, and it would be very difficult in the
same way to obtain a qualification for the practice of medicine, although
the study of physiology aff'ords opportunities for the exercise of the
exercise of the higher faculties of the mind. Genius we consider to be
the ground-work of civil engineering, and the means of carrying out
designs are df rived from general philosophical studies and the use of
technical processes. All these are intimately enwoven togetner, in the
same manner as in painting. Genius must be united with the mecha-
nical handling of instruments ; as in architecture the conception
must equally be instructed to be carried out in the treatment of style
and its adaptation in construction.

For the attainment of this practical instruction we imagine no roan
of sound judgment would prefer a school to an engineer's office, while
to engraft education upon a theoretical instead of a practical basis, or
to consider practice as merely the handmaid of theory, instead of
its parent, would be undoubtedly to destroy all the advantages which
we now so eminently enjoy. It is an error among pedants to substitute
theory as superior to practice, instead of reniembering that theory is
only a classification of the results deduced fioni it, and that praiiice
in engineering holds the same rank with regard to theory as the
observation of phenomena does in philosophy. It would be a similar
error in politics to consider laws as existing before the population
from which they arofe, and it is from one of these pedantic conceit',
in supplinting language by grammar, that the study of lilerature is so
much thwarted in modern education. Theory, like practice, pro];erly
speaking, is only the representation of one faculty of the uiinil, and
does not constitute the whole; practice resembles pcrcepticn, and
theory is an extension of the power of abstraction and generalization.

As to the instruction in theory, it must be remembered that facili-
ties exist in England in the shape of private teachers and scientific
institutions, which the system of universitary police does not allow
inFrance and other parts of the continent. There, consequently, llieo-
relical instructions must be given wholly in public establishments, or
it is difficult to introduce it as an accessory to practical studies. Tlie
way in which we look upon the collegiate classes in England, is only
as they resemble and supply the place of that system of instruction
which already exists, being rendered subsidiary to the general course
of education.

To show that the views which we entertain, however erroneou=, are
not without some support from other members of the profession, wc
shall refer to the view entertained by the Institution of Civil Engineers.
In their regulation for the admission of candidates, they expressly
recognise the force of native genius, " which commenced the iirofessiuii
with a Brindley and a Smeaton, and was in our own time exemplified
by a Kennie and a Telford." They proceed upon the basis of con-
sidering practical instruction as the groundwork of the profession, and
require from candidates that they should either have served the usual
time of pupilage, and then had subsequent employment for five years,
or else that Ihey should have practised on their own account for five
years, and have acquired considerable eminence. What great names
wouldEnglish architecture be able to produce, had they excluded Wren,
Aldrich, Vaiiburgh, and so many others ? Where would the arts have
been without those names which have sprung- from the ranks of geniu^,
a higher school than all the academies which were ever founded ?
Schools are limited, and geuius is widely dispersed ; so that the more
you restrict your boundaries, the less chance you have of acquiring
great men, and the greater certainty you have of falling into that
general decay which the mannerism of schools and restricted competi-
tion produce.

The present proposals of giving a preference to theoretical instruc-
tion are peculiarly ill-timed, when it has been so strongly felt in other
cases that a greater attention to practice was the only sure guide lo
eminence. It is well known that the medical world are strongly
inclined to abolish the unnecessary distinction between physician and
surgeon ; and that they are more than ever convinced of the importance
of the preparatory instruction acquired in apprenticeship. As to the
idea of making civil engineers in colleges, it is one of the most pre-
posterous which ever entered the head of a theorist. We know what
has been the success of attempting this system in the fine arts, and we
can see what a plentiful crop of daubing mannerists it has produced.
We may thus form some idea of what would be its result among the
civil engineers ; tliere would be no lack of tlicm, certainly, but tluie
would doubtless be a terrible deficiency of talent and a gicut abundance

12«

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[April,

or mediocrity. There is one defect attendant upon collegiate educa-
tion, which lias done that to damp the energies of students which no
other exertions have been able to remedy. Collegiate instiiiction soon
becomes so expensive as to come only within the range of a certain
class ; and while the selection is tlnis limited, theefl'ecton the students
is, that often possessing a competence, tliey have no other ambition
tlian to pass through their course with as little trouble as possible. It
must be conceded, on the other hand, that collegiate instruction effects
a considerable saving in time ; but it should be remembered, that seP'-
study, like a mechanical power, makes up in strength for what is lost in
time. Even in professions where knowledge is communicated by lec-
tures, the benefit of individual instruction begins to be appreciated, and
in the opening speech, ISst session, of tlie Dean of the Medical Faculty,
at King's College, he strongly recommended this course to be adopted.
The idea of teaching civil engineering solely in colleges we cannot but
look upon as absurd, and we know no means of expressing our views
more strongly than by repeating the words we used in the preface to our
last volume.

•'The system of teaching by lectures, it has been found by ex-
perience, cannot successfully inculcate every thing ; and while it has
been abandoned at our older universities, in medical studies it is accom-
panied by demonstrations and clinical instructions, sucli as can never be
applicable to mines or engineering. We can have no dead railways to
dissect, no prepared veins and lodes to illustrate ; and although con-
struction niav be partially learned from models, yet it is in the open
field of practice that its application must be acquired."

MEMOIR RELATIVE TO THE COURSE OF THE SHIN-
GLE ON THE COASTS OF SUSSEX AND KENT, AND
THE LAWS BY WHICH IT IS GOVERNED.

By J. H. Williams, Lieut. Colonel, Royal Engineers.

1. The general bearing of the coast from Beaehy Head to the
South Foreland, is from W.S.W. ^ south, to E.N.E. i north, by
compass.

2. Shingle of a similar kind, produced by constant detrition of the
Beacliy Head Cliffs, and augmented by detritus from the Kentish
Cliffs, is found in large quantities all along the shore from Beaehy
Head to the South Foreland.

3. It is ordinarily drifted along the shore from the westward to the
eastward, though subject to occasional interruptions.

4. Wind and wave are the principal propelling powers. The
latter closely follows the course of the former, though at times de-
flected somewhat more southerly ; and a light air and undulation
are sufficient to carry the shingle in an opposite direction to a strong
tide.

5. The shingle is invariably borne along in the direction of the
acute angle, which the waves form with the shore ; and the drift is
more or less rapid, in proportion to the strength and direction of the
wind, and the height and velocity of the tide.

Fig. 1.

The Shingle borne to the Easlwanl.
A, Angle of Wave. 4.5". KB. Line of Wave.

6. The easterly and wonted course of the shingle is the effect of
the great prevalence of westerly winds in the English Cliannel. The
quantity put in motion, and the rate at which it is borne along, are
greatest on the Hastings shore, in a gale from the south-west, accom-
panied by a spring tide, when the wind and sea impinge on the
shore, at an angle of about forty-five degrees (sec fig. 1).

7. When the wind blows from the eastward of south, a motion of
the shingle to the westward is speedily perceptible, and in a gale
from the south-east considerable quantities are moved in a westerly
direction.

S. by E

Fig. 3.

.'^$^^^^^^%^^'~"^"***^'^'^'*^~*''^''"**^'^^"*^""

;2LAt_

The ShiiigV^ bui-ne lo tlic Weitwanl
liB, Line of Wave.

8. When the wind sets directly on or oflF the land, the shingle is
quickly laid in ridges parallel to the shore, and there is no indication
of any drift of .shingle along shore at such limes. The truth of this
view of the subject will scarcely be doubted by any one who will
carefully watch the action of the shingle about a groin perpendicular
to the line of shore.

9. The foregoing data clearly prove that the motion of the shingle
is strictly goveiTied by the direction of the wind and wave, and as
these prevail from the westward for nearly nine months in the year,
and storms are most frequent from that quarter, it follows that
shingle must be carried to the eastward in great excess.

10. The force-propelling beach to the eastward may be considered
to be exerted between the west-south-west and south-by-west point*:
and therefore allowing for an action of the wave somewhat more
southerly than the wind, no harbour on this part of the coast should
be open to any point of the compass west of south, nor should the
relative positions of the pier-heads be such as to receive the set of
the sea between south and west.

Fig. 3.

South.

The Shingle is moved np and down the Slope, but is neither carried to the East.
nor to the West.

11. Any projcclion of magnitude must cause a pcnnanent altera-
tion in the form of the adjacent shore. The utmost care should
therefore be taken, in earrving out a pier or breakwater, that the new-
line of beach may lav as nearly as possible at right angles to the
point of the compass from where the wind blows, that causes the
greatest drift of shingle. By such a disposition, the most effectual
counteraction will be given to the easterly passage of the shingle
that can be obtained; but if this principle cannot be fully carried
out, let the nearest approach be made to it that circumstances will
permit.

12. A chart upon a large scale will show that there are inflexions
of the coast where shingle must be heaped up. and cannot drift, at
the very times where it is borne along the general line in the greatest
quantities. The shores on each side of the Point of Dungeness are
examples. The extension of the Point to seaward, and its enlarge-
ment, may, it is presumed, be adequately accounted for by the theory
advanced in the preceding remarks ; and, assuming such to be the
fact, a very decisive corroboration of the system here propounded is
obtaiueil.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL

127

RALPH IlEDIVIVU S.— No. XV.

THE YORK COLUM>f.

The aspect of the planets hapi)ens now to be so favourable, if not
to monumental columns at least to discussion relative to them, that
perhaps I cannot possibly do better than make choice of the York
column for my pi-esent subject.

Notwithstanding the force of classical authority it seems now to
be admitted by a great many that an insulated pillar, more especially
one borrowed from any of the orders employed in the construction of
buildings, has no very great propriety to recommend it, it being
offensive, because quite unmeaning, when detached from that of
which it forms merely a portion, and apart from which it is conse-
quently no more than a fragment, while, as the support of a monu-
mental statue, it is most injudicious, because it necessarily elevates
the figure so greatly that little is to be discerned of it, except its
mass alone. Neither can this inconvenience be counteracted by in-
creasing the size of the statue, because the column itself must be
increased correspondingly, or else the other will appear out of all
proportion to it, and extravagantly large. Thus in order to be pro-
perly seen at that height from the ground the statue of the Duke
of York ought to be, at least, twice its present dimensions, more
especially as, so placed, the object requires to be viewed at a distance
exceeding its elevation from the ground, since otherwise it will be
beheld too much foreshortened.

In regard to the column itself, it is the least eligible that could
have been made use of for such purpose ; because so far from having
anything whatever to recommend it as an ornamental object it is
utterly destitute of embellishment, not very pleasing in contour, and
what few mouldings and members it has serve only to make us feel
all the more sensibly the extreme dryness, stiffness, and poverty of
the ensemble. Capital it can hardly be said to have anj-, the part
intended as such finish being little more than a clumsy-looking
square platform with an iron railing, above which the shaft of the
column is continued, forming the cippus or circular pedestal, on
which the statue is i)laced. The rails just mentioned may be termed
light, but then so far from contributing to the idea of lightness,
in the favourable sense of the term, they rather produce actual
paltriness of appearance, having no more dignity nor beauty than the
wires of a birdcage. Surely, in such cases, where an external gallery
above the column is made a sine qua non, it would be infinitely better
to deepen and hollow out the abacus itself, making its sides answer
the purpose of parapets ; or, which would be still better, there
might be a gallery within the capital, the latter having ornamental
apertures sufficiently large for a person to put out his head and look
down while standing in perfect security. Certainly an external
gallery, unless masked so as not to show itself, is a blemish, and in
itself rather adds to than at all diminishes the general solecism of
employing a column where it seems a tower is wanted. Otherwise
than as a belvedere, from which the surrounding prospect may be
beheld, a gallery upon the abacus is useless; for as to seeing the
statue itself from that situation it is perfectly out of the cjuestion,
while it requires some degree of nerve to attempt to get a glimpse of
it by leaning back against the railing.

Another great disadvantage attending the practice of surinoiniting
a monumental pillar by a railing, which thougli slight even to
paltriness in itself gives the capital a strangely encumbered look, is
that it requires the statue to be raised much higher above the
capital than there would else be occasion for; and it would, I conceive,
be greatly better in all such cases were the figtn-e raised no higher
above the capital than what would allow the w hole of it to be seen
from below, under an angle of 45 degrees, or, perhaps, somewhat
nearer. Instead of being hoisted on an excrescence built up above
the capital, the statue would then appear to stand almost imme-
diately upon the latter, which it ought to be made to do as nearly
as possible.

Although comparatively unimportant as to size, how imposing as
to character and ell'ecl are the two granite pillars on the Piazzetta at
Venice, and how greatly would their dignity be impaired were they
surmounted by anything besides the figures they respectively sup-
port. In fact, those are veritable columns ; not hollow constructions,
made to resemble them, but solid monolithic pillars, and inferior
only, perhaps, to such enormous monoliths as Pompey's Pillar and
the Alexander Column at St. Petersburgh, whose heights arc respec-
tively 80 and 84 feet, but the latter of far greater magnitude than
the other, owing to its diameter being so much stouter.

Whatever be its appearance to the eye, a tower built to resemble a
column can hardly affect the imagination so strongly as a solid shaft
of equal or even lesser dimensions ; it would, therefore, be perliaps
advisable not to let the hollow shaft proclaim itself as such, but to
omit, as far as possible, every indication of its being so, and not to let
No. 19.— Vol. II.— Aprjl, 1839.

it be seen that that it is a lofty circular tower, surmounted by a
square, overhanging platform. If there must be an abacus, or some-
thing answering to"it, surely, instead of the usual square member, it
would be better to substitute a circular one. In columns, the
square abacus has great beauty and and propriety, its office being to
afford a broad surface, on which the architrave rests ; but, with
regsird to a monumental pillar, the case is widely different, that
having no horizontal mass to sustain. I may here quote Hosking, who
speaking of the IVIonument and the lofty shot-tower by the south-
west angle of Waterloo-bridge, says — " They are both of cylindrical
form ; but the one is crowned by a square abacus, and the other by
a bold cornice which follows its own outline (i. e., of the tower) ; the
greater simplicity and consecpient beauty of the latter, is such as to
strike the most unobservant." The contrast here objected to between
the shaft and abacus, is certainly not unpleasing in itself, quite the
contrary ; yet although such combination is both agreeable and
appropriate, where the abacus is no more than a member of detail,
it becomes almost an incongruity, when the whole is so magnified that
the single square stone slab placed on the column to receive the
architrave, becomes a terrace or platform, whose angles overhang the
the circular structure on which it is raised.

The utmost that can be urged in extenuation of such enormity is,
that it is in strict adherence to classical precedent. The York
Column, however, might very well have been allowed to deviate from
precedent in that respect, since it dilTcrs most widely from its proto-
type, precisely where resemblance to it would have been a merit —
namely, its monumental character as an historic trophy. While it is,
architecturally, an imitation of the Trajan column, it is utterly
devoid of all that gives niiignificence and grandeur to this latter;
neither does it offer anything whtitever in lieu of the embellishment
thus omitted by wholesale. Instead of having anything ornamental
in its character, of displaying richness of any sort, or in any degree,
it is stamped by the most chilling blankness, the most parsimonious
plainness. Conse(iuently, it is little less than a positive absurdity ;
for surely absurdity it nmst be allowed to be, to erect what, as a
structure', is perfectly useless, and, at the same time, mean, and so
far disgraceful as a work of art. Yet ugly Brobdignagian columns
of this description are now stuck about in many parts of England and
Scotland ; and Glasgow and Kdinbtu-gh have their full share of them.
To say that we build as fine things of the kind as the funds raised
for them will permit, is no excuse, although our inability to erect
anything better than what we hitherto have done, would be a most
sensible plea for not building anything of the kind again. Nothing
is more contemptible or more ridiculous than the blundering mixture
of prodigality and parsimony we generally witness on similar occa-
sions. With just enough to" provide a statue and its pedestal upon a
scale of grandeur, our ambition is satisfied with nothing less than
hoisting np the figure, and perching it upon a gawky, unmeaning
column, as plain as a post. Supposing the shaft of such colunm to
be fluted, that docs not at all mend the matter ; because, when so
preposterously enlarged, the fluting itself becomes only an absur-
dity. Almost as well miglit we think to decorate the front of a
building by striating or fluting it with channels, as to adopt them
quite contrary to what taste or propriety would naturally dictate,
for a cylindrical shaft forming a slender tower; surely the far more sen-
sible mode would be, to form narrow, slightly projecting styicv, having
the appearance of strengthening the shaft, instead of scooping out
hollows to weaken it.

As far as the York Column is concerned, no fault of the kind can
be alleged against it, it being totus, teres, altjuc rotundus, without
channel or wrinkle, hollow or projection to break the uniformity of
its surface. It is perfectly innocent of fancies or whims, of bas-
reliefs, twisted a la corkscrew, after the fashion of both Home and
Paris ; that is, of the Trajan and its two imitations, the Colonne
Vendoine, and the Colonne de .Juillet.

So f;u- from having any decorations, it has nothing whatever to
indicate its purpose. To be sure, there is a figure on the top of it,
which may be that of the Duke of York, but then it might serve as
well for the Duke of Wellington, or for Sir Walter Scott, since there
are no symbols nor other marks by which this monument can be
recognized as that of a military m;ui. But what most of all surprises
me is that those fastidious critics who discern such outrageous absur-
dity in the fine campanile of St. George's Bloomsbury, on accoun i
of the statue which furnis so picturesque and graceful a termina-
tion to the whole mass, can so quietly put up with the infinitely
oreater absurdity of sticking what is not intended as an ornamental
accessory, on the to)) of a pillar, without any pretensions to beauty in
itself, and erected, it would seem, merely, that the effigy of the
person so honoured, may be seen to the utmost disadvantage. Where-
fore their taste should be so excessively scandali.'?l?8 by the lesser
absurdity of the two, it is for them to explain.— But stop; a young

128

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[April,

critic, only five years old, at my elbow, has solved the mystery, by
observing — " How very fanny to sec a man on the top of a church,
where yon know they always put a weathercock!"

CANDIDUS'S NOTE-BOOK.
FASCICULUS III.

" I must have liberty
M'ithal. as large a charter as the winds,
To blow on whom I please."

I. I do not know how our scrupulous copyists of Grecian architecture
can reconcile it to their consciences, or to their taste, to omit, as I may
say they are in the liabit of invariably doing, those decorations that
enter into an order, which, if not absolutely indispensable to the
building itself, are, nevertheless, quite as essential to the eflfect and
character of the ensemble, — or I might say, very far more so than
those subordinate mouldings and other niceties to which such extreme
— even superstitious — attention is paid by them. Like many other
folks they strain at a gnat, yet can swallow a camel. Therefore,
though they would deem it absolute heresy to make any alteration in
the form of a base or a capital, they allow themselves to leave out
what, not being uniformly the same in all specimens of the same
order, is not considered as inseparably belonging to and forming a
part of it. Look at any or all our modern imitations of tlie kind,
and you will lind them. almost without an exception, entirely to lack that
richness and finish which the buildingsof Greece itself e.Khibited,and
which, so far from being at all' superfluous, are indispensable to the
due effect of the style itself, since deprived of those qualities, it
becomes one chiefly marked by both disagreeable baldness and
monotony. At first, perhaps, it might be considered a sufficient
achievement to produce fac-simile copies of Greek columns ; but the
time is now past when any degree of merit can be imputed to such
feats. They have ceased to be prodigies — in fact, have begun to
pall upon us — yet we still persist in continuing the same mill-horse
round, without advancing a single step. Is not our Anglo-Grecian
architecture precisely where it was when we first took it up ? Do
our later works in it manifest greater mastery over it — such increased
knowledge of its aesthetic principles as to be able to proceed with the
the same spirit and feeling, wherever we are at a loss for actual
precedent in the models furni.shed by Greece itself? — or rather, are
we not as bungling tyros and apprentices just where we were at first ?
Circumspice : let any one compare some of our first attempts in that
style with some of the last, and prove, if he can, that the latter
exhibit great mastery over the same elements of design.

II. It is very possible for a building to be free from any thing that
can be alleged against it as a positive fault ; it may, to a certain
degree, be even pleasing, and yet so far from being particularly cre-
ditable to its author, may chiefly serve to show that he is devoid, not
only of invention, but of tlie ability to cnmmiuiicate any thing what-
ever of spirit and expression to his design. It may be correct, but
then it is also </<';«'. It resembles a lesson got by rote, or, as it is
generally termed, got by heart, although except when a man's heart
hajipens to lie where his tongue should be, the heart has no concern
in the matter ; which seemingly very inqiertinent remark is here
opro^OT enough, for I mean to say that there is no heartiness, no cor-
diality, no feeling in such lukewarm productions.

III. I met the other day with an account of St. Andrew's Hall, at
Norwich, which describes it as " a neat, grand, and elegant'" build-
ing. Neat and grand ! In the name of fire and water, oil and vinegar,
cat and dog, were ever the two epithets so tacked together before ?
In addition to which odd character given of the architecture, we arc
further enlightened by being told that the columns are all uniform,
" being covered with lead!" If that be true, no doubt they are very
extraordinary cohunns, but how they should on that acco\uit be more
uniform is not explained. Quiere : Was not the writer thinking at
the time of his own culumns, which seem to be overlaid with plenty
of that metal ?

ly. Of my contributions to the Architectural Magazine, the
"Literary Gazette" is pleased to say that I am " clever and caustic,"
than which I desire no better praise. I abominate your water-gruel
.style of writing, fit only for literary milksops and those excessively
cautious " by your leave" gentlemen, who invariablv make use of
the most .sugary expressions. Palatable or unpalatable medicine
m\ist be administered, and should the patient's case require bark it is
of no use attempting to render it agreeable by mixing it up with
flummery. Yes, but some folks cry out, your bark is sometimes
downright hnrlfUg. Assuredly : and, after all, one had need have
the three heads of Cerberus himself to bark loud enough and long
enough to produce any effect— to rouse up the sluggards and the

slumberers, the good people who sit comfortably dozing and nodding
over art, though all tlie while tolerably wide awake to— their own
interest.

V. It is greatly to be wished that some of our Greek architects
would bite some of our Gothic ones, because, in that case the latter
would no doubt alsobecome infected with that scrupulous precision and
preciseness which constitutes the rabies of the others. Yet no such
rabies discovers itself in the rage for Gothic architecture. Tout au
contraire, your modei-n Goth makes no scruple of paring down the
mullions of his windows until they are scarcely thicker than the bars
used to be in our old sash frames. But your Greek will not bate
you a hair's breadth in any one of the dimensions of a column: he
is as infiexible on that point, as Shylock himself in regard to his
bond. Perhaps I shall be told that, for such matters of detail, no
such strict rules have been laid down for the Gothic style, as for the
other ; assui'cdly not ; but then it docs not exactly follow, that,
because there are no precise rules, there are neither any laws what-
ever to be attended to. Truly, there are no precise rides to teach
people how to walk in the streets, yet should you choose therefore to
thrust your fist info a man's face as you went along, he would soon
convince you that if there be no rules, there is not only such a thing
as law, but a confoundedly plaguy deal of it too.

VI. Although not so intended, it is a far greater compliment
than they deserve, to compare some of our recently-erected
churches to barns. A barn is neither a disagreeable nor a ridiculous
object. On the contrary, it is generally a pleasing, ofttimes a pic-
turesque one, while of the other class of buildings not a few are the
most anti-picturesque things conceivable ; as architecture, vulgar,
— not simple, but paltry, pert, and mean ; without elegance, without
solemnity, without soberness, without even the negative merit of
unpretending homeliness. Dapper formality, and spruce insignifi-
cance are, for the most part, their distinguishing qualities, and
awfully bad is the distinction they confer.

VII. Somehow or other there is a most obstinate prejudice in
favour of admitting as much light as pos.sible into rooms. To be
sure, the upholsterer does his best to exclude half of it by his ample
window draperies, without which most apai-fments would have a par-
ticularly dreary, chilling appearance ; no shadow in any part of them,
and, consequently, very little architectural effect, since to that
shadow is almost indispensable. It is for this reason that vestibules,
con-idors, and such places, where the light is generally admitted far
more sparingly, and frequently confined to nearly a single spot, are
apart from anything else in their design, so much more pictorial
than apartments, splendidly fimiished perhaps, yet without any con-
trast of light or shade. To an artist's eye — and it should be so to an
architect's — the one is as requisite as the other. Light there must
be, but^ there should also be shadow : in other words, there .should
be just as much and no more light than effect demands. A few gleams
of sunshine glancing into a room, give a far more brilliant and
and delightful appearance than a blaze of it does. But then there
will be dark corners ; so much the better; there is no occasion to sit
in them if you want to read ; and as few people sit, like sentries in
their boxes, all over a room at the same time, a person may place
his chair in the light as well as out of it. A room which is not too
strongly lighted, has also a great recommendation in its favour: it is,
next to candlelight, the very best thing imaginable for a lady's looks
and complexion. If you doubt it, ask Mrs. Candidus ; and, however
much w-e may differ on every other point, she agrees with me, heart
and soul, on this.

ON THE GENERAL THEORY OF THE STEAM ENGINE.

No. 2.

BY .\RIST1DES MORN.iY, ESQ.

In resuming the investigation of tlie theory of the steam engine
we feel it necessary, in the first place, to define clearly in what we
consider that theory to consist. It is unquestionable that there are
certain fixed laws, based on the principles of natural philosophy and
mechanics, which determine and modify the development of the
power of steam, and its action when applied through the medium of
the steam engine to produce any required mechanical effect. The
ensemble of these laws constitutes, of course, the general theory of
the steam engine, and no tlieory which excludes any one of them
can claim that title. Our present knowledge of the above mentioned
sciences is sufficient to enable us to point out the various phenomena
which take place during the working of the steam engine, and on
which its action depends. These phenomena may be divided as
follows : — ■

1. The generation of steam in the boiler and the circumstances

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

129

attending it, viz., its temperature, elastic force and density, and the
caloric absorbed during the evaporating process.

2. The transmission of the steam from the boiler to the cylinder,
and the changes of state which it undergoes during its transmission.

,3. The pressure exerted l)y the steam against the surface of the
piston at every instant of its stroke.

4. The nature and intensity of the resistance, which consists in
general of the useful elfect and the various resistances arising fi-om
tlic mechanical constniction of the engine, including the resistance
of (he steam during its efflux from the cylinder.

We have already stated that M. De Pamljour, in his proposed
theory, entirely disregards the laws of the transmission of steam
through pipes, which the following quotations from his pamphlet will
prove. He says (page 44), " Let us, however, remark that, mathe-
matically speaking, the pressure P' of the steam in the cylinder can
never be quite equal to P, which is the pressure in the boiler ;
because there exist between the boiler and the cylinder conduits
through which the steam has to pass, and the passage of these con-
duits offers a certain resistance to the motion of the steam ; whence
results that there must exist on the side of the boiler a trifling sur-
plus of pressure, equivalent to the overcoming of the obstacle. But
as we have proved elsewhere, that with the usual dimensions of
engines, this difference of pressiu-e is not appreciable by I he instru-
ments used to measure the pressure in the boiler, the introduction of
it into the calculations would render the formul.-c more complicated
without making them more exact. For this reason we neglect that
difference here."

It should be observed that the above remarks are only intended to
apply to the case of the minimum velocity of an engine, or its maxi-
mum of useful effect ; in every other case the author not only neg-
lects the excess of pressure necessary to force the steam through the
conduits, but rejects altogether the supposition that any relation
whatever can exist between the pressure in the boiler and that in the
cylinder. In page 19 of his pamphlet he uses the following
argument : —

" Finally, in looking over our experiments on locomotives, it will
be seen that the same engine will sometimes draw a light load with
a very high pressure in the boiler, and sometimes a hea\'y load with
a very low pressure. It is then impossible to admit, as the ordinary
calculation supposes, that any fixed ratio whatever has existed be-
tween the two pressures. Moreover, the effect just cited is easy to
explain, for it depends simply on this, that in both cases the pressure
in the boiler was superior to the resistance on the piston; audit
needed no more, for the steam, generated at that pressure or at any
other, satisfying merely that condition, to pass into the cylinder and
assume the pressure of the resistance."

We alluded to this opinion in our first paper, wdien we also stated
our acquiescence in that part which relates to the pressure in the
cylinder, but showed at the same time, in a general manner, that the
pressure in the boiler is not perfectly indifferent, the piston acting
in some measure as a safety valve, and thus having a greater or less
influence over the pressure in the boiler, according to its velocitv.

AVith this exception, the ifluence of the above mentioned circum-
stances on the action of the steam engine is generally acknowledged.
The two first depend on the nature and properties of steam, which
should, therefore, be understood before we proceed any farther.

Steam is an invisible elastic fluid, similar in its physical proper- '*
ties to common air, or any other permanent gas.

It is well known that if water at 2)2 deg. fivhr. be exposed to a
higher temperature under a pressure of 30 inches of mercury, which
is about the ordinary pressure of the atmosphere at the level of the
sea, the caloric absorbed by the water will not raise its temperature,
but will convert it gradually into steam of the same temperature,
viz., 212 deg. The caloric thus absorbed without raising the tem-
perature of ihe water is called latent heat,;mi ils amount is estimated
at about 1000 times as much as would increase the temperature of
the same weight of water by one degree. The latent heat of steam
at 212 deg., is, therefore, said to be equal to 1000 degrees ; and from
experiments made by Watt and Southem, it appears, that a certain
quantity of water, at any given temperature, requires an addition of
the same quantity of caloric to convert it into steam, whatever may
be the temperature of the steam generated, so that the latent heat at
any temperature t will be 1000 + 212— «, and the sum of the sensible
and latent heat will be a constant quantity, viz., 1212 degrees.

When steam is generated in alimited space, that space will shortly
become saturated, provided there be a sufficiency of water present ;
and the quantity of water which a given space can contain in the
form of steam varies with the temperature. When any given space
is thus saturated with steam at a given temperature, the steam having
then attained the greatest density which it can acquire at that tem-
perature, is called saturated steam, which term originated in the idea

that steam which is not in that state, if brought in contact with
water at the same temperature as itself, will, with the assistance of
heat, dissolve a certain portion of the water ; which action will cease
as soon as the steam has attained the maximum density correspond-
ing to its temperature, whence it is then said to be saturated with
water.

From what precedes, it follows that if a certain space were filled
with saturated steam at a given temperature, and the space were
suddenly extended without the admission of steam or water, or any
gain or loss of heat by radiation, the increased space would be no
less filled with saturated steam, but, of course, of less density, for
there viould be the same quantity of water in the gaseous state and
the same quantity of cahu-ic contained in it. The temperature of the
steam would, therefore, fall to the degree corresponding to its dimi-
nished density.

The most important property of steam is its elastic force, being the
source of all the power obtained in steam engines. We have men-
tioned that steam is generated at a temperature of 21-2 deg. under a
pressure of 30 inches of merciuy : this steam, therefore, exerts a
pressure eqinvalent to the weight of 30 cubic inches of mercury, or
about 14.7 lbs. on every square inch of surface with which it is in
contact.

It would be extremely inconvenient if we only knew the elastic
force of steam at those temperatures at which it had been determined
by direct experiment, nor should we be able to judge of the accuracy
of experiments made for that purpose without reference to some law,
whether founded on reasoning, and coinciding in general wth the
best experiments, or deduced from the experiments alone, of which
they serve to correct the irregularities, and so complete the series by
inlerpolation. It is, however, very improbable (hat a formula con-
structed by the latter method should be applicable far beyond the
limits of the experiments from which it was drawn.

Mr. Southern proposed the following formula, which he derived
from the results of his own experiments : —

0-f513f'\
••' —87344000000"+" '

or by logarithms,

log. (/— •I)=:5-13 log. (<4-51-3)-10-94123,
in which yis the elastic force of the steam in inches of mercurj', and
t its temperature by Fahrenheit's thermometer. By this formula we
arrive at too low an clastic force, for all temperatures except 212 deg.
and by Tredgold's formula,

or

log./= 6 [log. [i -f 100) - 2 • 24797],
we obtain too great an elastic force for all temperatures above 212 deg.
and too little for those below it.

The following, which was adopted by M.M. Arago and Dulong, in
their report to the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris, agrees very
well with their experiments between 4 and 24 atmospheres, above
which their experiments were not carried ; but gives too high a result
from 212 to about .300 deg., and toj low from 212 deg. downwards.
This formula is

/= 30 [1 X -003974 (< — 212)]g.

Dr. Ure remarked that the elastic force of steam at 210 deg.,
being 28.9 inches, that of steam at 220 deg. would be found by
multiplying the former by 1 '23 ; that the coefficient for the next
interval of 10 degrees would be 1'22, and so on, diminishing the
coefficient by "01 for every ten degrees that the temperature is
raised. The equation would thus be

/=-28-9[.23x,.22x x(l-23_':=|«)]

This formula is in every case inconvenient, and is besides obvi-
ously inapplicable at high temperatures, for it gives the same elastic
force at 440 deg. as at 450, and would show that above the latter
temperature the elastic force diminishes with every rise of tempera-
ture, which is absurd.

From a comparison of Dr. Ure's experiments Mr. Ivory derived
the following equation : —

log. JL = -0087466 t-
° 30

- .3

-•000013178 «--f -000000024825 t

This is also rather difficult to apply, and becomes very erroneous
at high temperatures.

130

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[April,

The fonnuUe devised by MM. Arago and Dulong, and by Trcd-
gold, are simple enough; but these, as well as all others hitherto
proposed, contain some one or more constant coefficients, whose
origin cannot be pointed out, for which reason no one of them can
be regarded as representing the natui-al law. We therefore propose
in the ensuing paper, to present a formula which may possibly be
the expression of the law sought to be determined, as it contains no
coefficient of which the origin cannot be traced.

IRISH RAILWAY DEBATE.

Parliamentary measures on that pernicious invention, the Irish
railway job, commenced on the 1st of March, by Lord Morpeth moving
the appropriation of .€2,500,000 for this purpose. The subject was
very appropriately preceded by some sparring relative to the partiality
of the government. Mr. Lucas forcibly called attention to the injustice
of the proceedings to the Central Irish Railway Company, and claimed
on their part that they should be heard by counsel at the bar of the
House against the recommendations of the jobbery. He pointed out
the elastic rule by which they measured traffic, extending it in one
instance, and reducing it to the narrowest limits in others. Mr.
Hodgson Hinde called attention to the report of the committee on rail-
ways,and the proceedings of government on the Morecambe Bay and the
Scotch railways, when they refused even to appoint a commissioner to
decide on their relative merits. Mr. Hinde observed there was
certainly one species of justice toward this country, and another species
of justice to Ireland. Colonel Perceval called the attention of the
House to the notorious change of the clause with regard to joint stock
companies on the renewal of the commission. Lord John Russell and
Viscount Morpeth both replied to this charge, that the ministry were
unconscious that the change was maue, and thus afforded a glorious
proof of the system of ministerial responsibility.

The business of the evening was then commenced in earnest by Lord
Morpeth, and never did ministerial hack have a more unfortunate cause
to plead, or pronounce sophistries so palpably diaphanous. He boasted
of the unanimity with which all parties in Ireland had hailed this
measure, and called upon the House to grant money to those who
proved their worthiness of it by their readiness to receive it. Hence-
forth a gift is not to be determined by the willingness of the donor, but
by the openhandedness of the recipient .' The noble viscount gave a
fearful state of the poverty of Ireland compared to England, and
pointed out the solitary railway in one, and the si.-sty millions' worth in
the other ; that Ireland had only 400 miles of water navigation, and
England 4000 ; atid upon this he attempted to base a claim for the
deficiency being supplied at the national expense. If this system be
indeed adopted, it is one to which no limit can be assigned but the
entire destruction of the resources of the empire, and establishing
Ireland as a pet farm of the imperial government. We begin by making
all the railways, and it will be but justice to make up the deficiency oV
canals, and what will follow next heaven knows ; but there can be little
doubt that, were this system once pursued, tliere would be no falling
back in the merits of Ireland, and that we should be saddled with a
perpetual premium for their poveity. If such claims he but admitted,
it must be recollected that England herself lias milhonsofaeresof waste
land, of which the interests of a pauperised population imperatively
demand the cultivation, and that Scotland has abundance of barren
hills and glens, which would look more beautifcd with forests laised
from English gold. The next claim is, that large sums of money have
been spent on the Caledonian and Ridcau canals, and with a want of
merit surpassing that of Irish misery, the ministry dare to appeal to
measures which are the most convincing proofs of tlieir incapacity and
extravagance. Belgium was again brought forward, and the apparent
success of the government plans was triumphantly relied upon ; but it
would be a silly act to be allured by even the most attractive examples
to place in the hands of government the controul over the whole traffic
of the country. By the poor law, the administration hold the woiking
population of the country at their command, by the police they keep
them in coercion, and by monopolising the means of transport, thev I
would then obtain an ei|ual ))ouer over the whole traffic of the country,
and all the resources of the farmer and the manufacturer. Instead of a
government suspension of bank p.iymeuts, let us have another William
Pitt stop at once the whole communication of the couutrv, and we
shall then see how the industrial classes will be paralysed by the
weapons they themselves have forged. Lord Morpeth most strongly
acknowledged the resources of Ireland, and the manner in which they
repaid the exertions of pcrblic eutei-prise : and yet, with manifest incon-
sistency, he sirbsetpiently endeavoured to depreciate them ; the ancient
satyr would have felt horrilied at this blowing hot and cold. The
unfortunate lord favoured the whole House with a recitation of the
sentinieirts of the open-mouthed candidates for the ' tin,' passed at

their public meetings, and thusadopted them as his own. One of these
sets of suitors ' in forma pairperis' urges that —

" Capital would be obtained at a much lower rate of interest , and the
enormous law costs, and those conse([uent upon parliamentary investi-
gations, almost entii'ely sased ; while the professional assistance to be
obtained in the several public departments would be calculated mate-
rially to lessen the general expense."

This is, verily, Tom Thumb's making giants and then killing them ;
and our Government Glumdalca first oppresses the railway companies
by the standing orders, and then urges against them the misery pro-
duced— like as we enslaved the negroes, and then degraded them for the
results of our oppression. The noble viscount did, however', acknow-
ledge that the country was immensely indebted to the energy (!) the
skill (! !) and the enterprise (! ! !) which those companies (the English)
had displayed.

Still farther " going the whole hog" in this stream of inconsistency,
it is not wonderful if the unlucky animal should give a few digs against
its own throat. Attacking the English railways {quod et euudetn est
as the future Irish jobbery), he says: —

" It is now beginning to be ascertained, that great as are the advan-
tages which have resulted from these undertakings, thei'e are to be
foirnd among them some of those abuses and imperfections which
MONOPOLY and lunESpoNsiBiLixv seem, as it were, lay the law of
natirre, to bring about in time ! ! .'"

Taking advantage of the experience gained by the faihrres of the
early English attempts, the self-denying minister is not contented with
employing the resirlts of their labours, but he blames them for the very
imperfections which by their exertions he is enabled to avoid. We
should like to know if, as a part of the ex-Irish Secretar-y's advocacy of
Belgian principles, he is prepared to carry out their system in all its
adnrirable details, particularly that part on which he dwells, of the non-
interference of private interests, which it is well known no foreign
government ever allows to interfere with its object, as the noble lord
might learn from some of the proprietors on the Belgian lines. Most
pathetically did Lord I\Jorpeth r-ecite the expenditure to which the
English r-ailways had been subjected, and never did crocodile so bemoan
its victims : —

One of the great items of expense regarding railways was that of conducting
them through Parliament. That expense alone, even in very long lines,
exceeded 1,000?. per mile. (Hear, bear.) The parliamentary expenses of the
London and Birmingham line were 72,868/. ; of the Great Western, 88,710/. ;
of the London and Southampton, 39,000/. ; of the Midland Counties' Rail-
road, 28,000/., which (with some others mentioned by the noble lord)
amounted to 2f per cent, on the gross expenditure. Another great expense
was the enormous amount of compensation given to individuals possessing
large pailiamentary interest. The statement which had been made by the
Member for Leicester touched upon that point. He stated that cases were
known in which individuals possessing large pai'liamentary interest received
ten times the amount of compensation that did other individuals in precisely
the same circumstances. In one case, which had been made the subject of
trial in the Court of Chancery, it appeared that a nobleman had withdrawn his
opposition to the bill in consideration of receiving 100,000/. for injury done
to his estate.

And yet for all this, the jobbery advocate talks of the expense of
lines executed by private individuals, and talks as if the same resirlts
would be produced in Ireland. He can best tell how far the Irish
companies will be subjected to the Parliamentary scr-ew ; but as to the
value of land, or that of wages, there is an immense ditference iir favour
of Ireland. He speaks with great unction of i\\e yenerous gifts of land
by Irish proprietors ; but, if the noble lord be reported correctlv,
the same thing has been done in England, where in one county dona-
tions were made to the extent of 50,000/. The noble lord could not,
of corrrse, omit that beautiful argument about private companies screw-
ing the pi-ofits to the highest pitch, and the devoted conduct of Govern-
ment, which never asks more than the lowest farthing. He forgot,
however, to furnish any illusti-ations of this ; but we ar-e happy to sup-
ply this deficiency by alluding to that admirable institution, the Post
OlHce, which does not indeed take the lowest farthing, hut, by a beau-
tiful metonymy, r-ealises the words of Scriptur-e as to the lastfartliiny.
Lord Mor-peth cited one fact with regard to Belgium, which might
impress upon many of our companies the policy of a reduction itr their
fares : —

The returns from Bolgium showed that in 1837 a population of 232,000
made five trips per annum. In England there was an increase over the
travelling by the former modes of conveyance of 218 per cent. In Belgium,
previous to the formatioii of the railway, 80,000 persons passed on the old road,
paying 43. and 2^. 6J. Wiih a change to 2s. (id., and Is., these being the
railway prices, the travellers amounted in the year 1837 to 781 000, which was
an advance of 876 per cent., being an increase 9^ times greater than the former
amount of tr-avelling.

After ha^"'g made a great deal of palaver about those wicked dogs,

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

1.31

the Joint Stock Companies, choosing the best lines for themselves, in the
first instance, and leaving others only the bones to pick, and eulogising
the conduct of the government in taking fat and lean together ; lo !
we find at the last moment, that the teetotals do not like bone-picking
any more than any one else, and that their measures in the first instance
are to be restricted to the grand trunk lines ! The good-natured lord
very candidly admits that the line now proposed to be adopted is of
sufficient magnitude to test the value of the intended experiment.
Yes ! no question of that, for choosing one of the best lines, the govern-
ment will appeal to its productive results prepared to spend money,
and the non- paying lines also. With equal generosity and with all
forgetfulness of his former story, that "Jack Sprat could eat no fat," he
now very kindly expresses his intention of leaving a portion for private
enterprise. A work of true charity, stealingan ox and giving the hide
among the poor ! As an encouragement to the Englisli farmer, and
an inducement to the corn law supporters, he informs them that the
most striking benefit would be, the agricultural produce coming from
Tipperary, Cork, Limerick, Clare and Waterford. A very striking
feature truly, and one which may well prevail upon John Bull to
disburse the money for the procession, although to vidgar minds it
might appear more equitable, that if such landliolders are so fond of
giving locomotive powers to their cattle, that they might do it at tlieir
own expense. The principal inducement to commence the first line,
the ridiculous line from Dublin to Cork, is that there are neitlier canals
nor navigable rivers in tliat part of the country ! Perhaps the acumen
of another twenty-thousand- pound commission might enable the noble
lord to find a still more eligible site, one in wliioh there would not be
even any people at all ! As a bonus to the Liverpool people. Lord
Morpeth informs them, that his plan will open a communication between
the Lancashire manufacturing district, and the south of Ireland ; but
in the dregs we find that, as Cork is much resorted to by vessels trading
to America, it will be in effect facilitating the communication with
the United States. Cold comfort this for the Liverpuddlians, and it is
very doubtful whetlier this piping will have any efect in conciliating
their sweet voices. We should like to know, however, why Cork is to
be made an American port at the national expense, when no inter-
ference was exercised in the recent instance of Atlanticsteam navigation,
which by the means of private enterprise is so much promoting the
American trade of Bristol, and so competing with London and Liver-
pool. \Vc hear nothing either in these plans about any benefit which is
to accrue to the Soutli of England by these splendid plans, or what
possible inducement can be inged on them for their promotion. Surely
the Monster people might be satisfied with their agricultural trade
through Bristol, without forcing us to pay through the nose for giving
them an outlet to the north. The noble lord vaunts the disinterested-
ness of ministry, and their non-interference with the patronage of the
Irish Board of Works. We shall leave others to decide how this may
be, but it is a strong argument against the nonsense of superior
responsibility. The various ministerial arrangements would have the
effect, he trusted, of preventing a profuse expenditure of public money.
We should be very willing to believe this, but " wolf" has been cried so
often, and we have so many instances of tlieir extravagance before us,
that we regard them with the same eye that we do a prodigal son,
applying to his parents for another supply of money. It will be a very
great consolation to those companies, the merits of whicli have been
disparaged by the job-ation, that Lord Morpeth believes that the
operators have purposely underrated tlie amount of profits. A silver
plate on their coffins, or a statue to a poet dead of starvation, are just
about as gratifying as this testimony of the resources of Ireland, which
have been ruined in the eyes ofall capitalists. Tlie noble lord concluded
by developing a plan, which he had very probably received like the armour
of Achilles from his goddess mother, or perhaps froniQueonMab as a speci-
men of the manufactureof Messrs. Cobweb, Peasblossom,and Mustardseed.
England is not to advance one farthing, she is only to accept the bills,
and the security is most eligible, for if the drawers, ;. e. the railways,
do not pay, theamount is to be reimbursed by the Irish themselves. It
is needless to say, that this most fiimsy contrivance will only ensnare
people who like to be robbed with their eyes open, for there is no great
genuis required to foresee that the railway grants must go the way of
the tithe million, and so many other sums which wander like ghosts on
the Stygian shore, far from the land to which they owealh'giance. We
do not think it necessary to state the impression which this speech made
upon us, for in truth it was none at all, and we rather think that our
comments will make the greater impression of the two.

Mr. Redington acknowledged that the committee were very candid
in their report as to his part of Ireland, for in page 43 they state, that
with respect to railways west%vard they had not thought it necessary,
under existing circumstances, to make any enquiry; being doubtless
engaged in the consideration of their jobs elsewhere, and not being de-
sirous of executing the purpose for whicli they were alleged to be ap-

pointed, viz., to examine and decide upon a general system of rail-
ways.

Sir Robert Peel combated the measures of the ministry with his
natuial talent, and the aptitude he had acquired from his commercial
connections. He pointedly remarked the scramble among the approved
candidates as to who should have the first finger in the pie, and urged
tliat if begun, tlie plan could only end in an extravagant expenditure
of English money. The principle, he said, was neither more nor less
than to take the capital of individuals in different parts of the country,
for the purpose of sanctioning one particular scheme. He asked why,
if poverty were to be admitted as a claim, Wales should not put in her
demand, because her customs returns were even smaller than those of
Ireland ? The real question, said he, is

Whether or not it would be for the benefit of the country to teach it to rely
on the intervention and support of tlie government, or leave competition free,
and allow Ireland to follow the example of her neighbour, trusting for the
.same prosperity, and the same facilities of communication, to precisely the
same means which had insured them in England. He found in this report
ample proofs that if individuals in Ireland were enterprising and intelligent
tliey would succeed. What said the report with respect to a single individual
having every ditficulty to contend with V In order to convince him that it
would be proper for government to interfere in a else of this kind, a report
was produced having for its object to show how enormously profits and pros-
perity increased by opening railway communications. That was one object
of the report; and it did prove that position most conclusively. It took the
case apparently the most surrounded with difficulties, the least tempting
speculation any one could well imagine another individual to enter into ; it
took the case of a native of Milan with very little capital, who determined to
settle in the county town of Tipperary, undeterred by all the accounts of
violence, and all the prejudice which might operate against him — a foreigner,
single, unsupported, ignorant of the language, bringing intelligence and in-
dustry to individual enterprise, and acting by that love of profit which ac-
tuated all speculators ; and what was the result ? " With a capital little
exceeding the expense of the outfit, he commenced," says the report," running
a car between Clonmel and C'aliir," — then in a disturbed state. " Fortune, or
rather the due reward of industry and integrity, favoured his first efforts, and
he soon began to increase the number of his cars, and has now 94 public
carriages in constant work, and the distances traversed by them exceed 3,000
miles per day." " These results, '' said the report, " are the more striking
and instruutive, as having been accomplished in a district which has been long
represented as the focus of unreclaimed violence and barbarism, where neitlier
life nor property can be deemed secure."

As to the absurd claim of deficiency of public works, Sir Robert
justly observes, that they might as well call for the establishment of
cotton factories in Ireland, because England has a great many, and
Ireland none.

It really was a great insult to the people of Ireland to suppose that they
were not capable of appreciating the benefits of railroads, and that it was
necessary for a public department to introcuce among them all the improve-
ments whicli had taken place in that mode of communication. He knew how
plausible it appeared at first sight to advance English credit in support of
such an uuderlaking; but, although he took no objection in point of expense,
his firm belief v.-as, that the moment government interposed and supplied its
credit, it must inevitably disparage native intelligence, industry, and enter-
prise, besides being a most unfair interference with the capital already in the
field.

The introduction of government capital, he said, was an unfair com-
petition, which no private individual could sustain, although he might
be ready to abide the consequences of fair contest with individuals or
public companies. Sir Robert calls ou the landholders of Ireland
themselves to execute these linos, if they are so convinced of their ad-
vantages, and boldly urged the moral bearing of the question.

When they shall have done that, the moral improvement produced upon
the people of Ireland, from its landowners relying upon their exertions, will
exceed tenfold that which would be pioduccd by a Government Board with
enormous patronage, interposing in such a concern, and proceeding on the
old assumption, so much deprecated on the other side of the house, that the
inhabitants of Ireland are an inferior people. He called upon the govern-
ment consider well what ihey were about to do. Tlioy were reversing all the
principles on whicli they ordinarily relied. Tlicy asked the house to grant
municipal corporations to Ireland, on the ground that it would enable its in-
habitants to superintend and manage their own concerns, and yet, in the
pre.'ent instance, they called upon the members for, and indeed upon the
whole people of Ireland, to consent to their own disqualification in so impor-
tant a matter as the formation, construction, and supervision of theirrailroads,
and to abstain from doing those things for themselves, which had been done
in the poorer districts of Great Britain.

The political consequences, and the manner in which the working
of this plan might be used as a cat's-paw, are shown with equal force.

They would convince him that this measure would be for the permanent
impiovement of Ireland he would at once withdraw his opposition to it; but
if the cmplojTiicnt which it was lo give to the people of Ireland was only to
be temporary, and was merely meant as an adjunct to aid the operation of

132

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[April,

the new system of poor laws recently introduced into that country, then he
was convinced that even if it did not work immediate harm, it would not
work any permanent ^'ood. The employment, which arose from the natural
course of events, and from (he spontaneous application of capital, would con-
fer more permanent advantage upon Ireland than the application of countless
millions, which would only give employment for a time to the people of
Ireland.

Mr. Spring Rico followed in .a lame-duck speech, in which he
called upon the House to persevere in the erroneous system, which,
for the last forty years, they had adopted ; and hccause they had
hitherto spent so much money on Ireland, he called upon them to dis-
burse more. He would have done better to have shown what had
been the industrial and moral results of this system, to have jjointed
out that while Ireland had been deprived of its enerjry, and induced
to depend upon the government leaning-stock, that .she has only 400
miles of canals instead of 2,000, and that she is in arrear in all public
works. The right honourable gentleman very wisely confessed that
he did not wisli to defend the Caledonian and Rideau canals, which
his colleague had so unnecessarily conjured up before the presence of
the house, as if to call witnesses from the dead to expose the incapa-
city of the government and the inanity of their strongest promises.
With regard to temporary employment, he observed, that he be-
lieved

That temporary employment of such a character would be produc-
tive of more evil than good to Ireland. He believed that the temporary em-
ployment which the formation of the Caledonian canal created in Scotland
had not done any good to that country. He had been informed that it had
rather introduced into Scotland a number of Irish labourers, than given any
additional employment to Scottish labourers.

Mr. O'Conmll e.Kpressed his sentiments in a rambling speech, rather
at variance with his original sentiments. We can, however, in consi-
deration of his anxiety to pocket so much money for Ireland, for-
give his inconsistency, but that does not induce us to place any confi-
dence in his opinions. Mr. O'Connell is not Aristides, or he might
acknowledge that, although a measure may be very advantageous to
his country, it may be very unjust. He however enforced the import-
ance of private enterprise, by pointing out tliat, in the case of Mr.
Bianconi, he had received no support from government. Mr. O'Connell, of
course, urged the example of Belgium and other states, and proved his
knowledge of the subject by asserting that there is not a freer consti-
tulum ill existence than that of Belgium .' He forgot, liowcver, to
allude to one feature of government administration of public works ;
that in time of war governments become incapacitated, and aug-
ment, by all means, the revenues derived from these sources, while
private enterprise has been so deadened, that, like poor Smike, it can
never get out of its leading-strings.

Mr. H. Grattaa made a noble exhibition of Irish patriotism ; he
said that —

They did not wish in Ireland for English money ; all they said was," Give
us back some part of the sums drained from us by absenteeism." He could
prove, by documents which he held in his hand, that the amount spent out
of Ireland in this way was not less than 273,000?. per annum. This was
what the Irish wished for; but if they could get that, they would be content
with the assistance of government in the undertakings now under dis-
cussion.

Thus, admitting this calculation of the loss by absenteeism to be
correct, and making no allowance for its annual diminution, nor for
the difference made up in England by agricultural jiroiluce exported,
Mr. Grattan very kindly, by way of instalment, proposes to take ten
years' annuity in advance, or, instead of 273,000/. per year, 2,500,000/.
As a part of the compensation rjucstion, this gentleman consistently
concludes by saying that —

It was indispensable to have English capital. The English capitaliit would
lose nothing by the outlay ; while that outlay, at the .same time, would repay
the Irish for some part of what they had suffered.

Mr. Lucas called upon Government to come to some decision as to
the two western lines, which, however despised, were ready to carry out
their plans with their own money. This gentleman proposed that if
government %vere determined upon the general job system, that they
should require that one half of tiie outlay should be disbursed by the
landowners of the line, and the government expenditure thus reduced.
Mr. Lucas lauded the arrangements of the French government: —

France alsj was iu advance of us in this field, having found means of
obtaining security for the public against those effects of monopoly which so
many here complained of. In every act (if he might so speak) which passed
the Chambers, he wa5 told there was a provision inserted for imposing upon the
the company a maximum of faros— that was to say, they were forbidden to
exceed in their charges from 20 to 25 per cent, over and above a reniiuicraiiiig
price. Fur instance, if 7s. would barely defray the e.vpenscs of carri.ngc, they
were unable to ask more than about 9s. for their fare.

This certainly appears at first sight a useful and economical provision ;
but nothing in its operations can be more injurious, for the maximnin
adopted in France is so low that while few undertakings can keep u|) to
if, even those which do, offer no inducement for the furtlier prosecu-
tion of such designs. While in England, however the public may appear
at lirst to suffer, the large dividends obtained act as a stimulus even for
tlie formation of non-productive undertakings, and this is the true
cause of the great number of canals and other works in England, and
their paucity elsewhere. Mr. Lucas might also have told the House
that the Frencli Chambers rejected last year the principle of govern-
ment administration, and that so far from this principle having
made progress, it received a check.

Mr. VVyse wished to know why the line proposed should stop at
Clonmel and go into Waterford '?

Mr. \V. Roche inferred that the expenditure in Ireland, in the way
of improvements, had met with most abundant returns, and he relied
upon the increase of traffic which must result from the puomotion of
public works. Indeed the jobationists, in their ridiculous and variable
calculations of traffic too often forget its certain increase, but treat it
like ore raised from the mine, as if it were independent of the gold
which is to be extracted from it.

Mr. Joseph Hume delivered a quantity of his usual twaddle, in which
he appeared very much in the positionof a tame tiger, which is expected
to exhibit its ferocious propensities, and is yet kept in order by a sop in
the pan. He vibrated like a pendulum, between his old iiotieiis and
his anomalous Irish position, and a most strange harlequinade was the
result. Among other things he confessed that the house was for the
first time called upon to undertake a general work for a mercantile
speculation, and it behoved them to ascertain well to what extent the
plan was to be carried. Among the useful matter which could be
extracted from his soporification, heassured the house from his personal
experience that Belgium was ne example to this country, for instead of
government administration being admitted as a fixed principle it was
only [adopted on an emergency, and tliat most of the state .works in
America were executed with English capital, and that consequently it
was quite different in this country which supplied the money to itself.
He believed also that England had hitherts been burthened by Ireland,
and not as Mr. Grattan said, was indebted to her.

Sir Robert Inglis said : —

As one who took also into consideration the interests of England, he should
he glad to learn from the Hon. Me.iiber for Dublin, if he should succeed in
obtaining a repeal of the union between the two countries, what security would
be given for the repayment of the proposed advance. (Hear, hear, and a
laugh.) If there should be distinct legislatures, it was natural to expect that
the finance department of the two countries would be separate. In that case,
he should like to know what security this country would have for the repay-
ment of the money, when the new Parliament should be sitting in College-
green I

To this i\Ir. O'Connell replied that he would give him liis own.

Sir Edward Knatclibull observed, that he very much feared that as
to the security offered by the learned Member for Dublin, that when
the matter came to be considered in Ireland, some flaw would be found
by wliich the engagement would be considered void, and, as he had said,
not one penny of it woidd be repaid.

Mr. Slaney showed the advantages of Ireland as to the price of labour,
by stating that men were glad to get employment for 8fA, Id., and even
as low as bd. per day.

Sir George Strickland deprecated the government interference in
railways ; and said that if tliey did this in imitation of France and Bel-
guim, he did not see why they might not be called upon to imitate
tlieni in other respects, by setting up monopolies in particular trades.
All government speculations in public works had been failures; they
had proved so in roads and canals in Scotland and Canada, and
woidd equally fail in Ireland.

. Lord Sandou remarked, that while agricultur.il produce was depended
iipoa as tiatfiC in Ireland, experience had proved a contrary result in Eng-
land. There were many works of great public utility which could be carried
on in Ireland, by the aid of government, with much more advantage to the
country than railroads. Some few years ago it was proposed to grant a sum
of from 150,000/. to 300,000/. a year for opening the resources of ten counties
of Iieiaud, by improving the navigation of the Shannon, but the Chancellor
of the Tjxehequer threw every obstacle in the way of the grant, and now he
suppoifed the present very large sum without any thing like the same pros-
pect that its application would be successful. If government wished to
improve the r. sources of Ireland, let them extend its water communications —
let them give their aid in opening the navigation of the Suite, the Barrow, and
the Shannon, and he was sure that the house would not be backward in
afibrding the necessary pecuniary aid ; b:it he did not think that it ought to
support an experiment arising out of the mania for railroads. Unless the
prcsv_'Ut phui was part of a whole scheme for carrying on railroads by govern-
ment aid iu all the British islands, he thought they ought not to take this step

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

1:33

without due consideration. If they carried this, he did not see how they could
resist the claims of Scotland for aid in similar works.

A discussion afterwards ensued as to tlie conveyance of goods on rail-
ways, in -which Mr. Ashlon Yates denied the correctness of Lord
Sandon's views, but most unjustly, for it is a matter of notoriety to all
connected with railways.

After a partings address from Lord Morpeth the discussion ended by
the House dividing on tlie motion, which was carried by 144 to 100, or
by a majority of 44 ; but it is considered that the success of this experi-
ment is not such as to induce the ministers to persevere. All farther
measures are now delayed until after Easter.

We need scarcely say that nothing has occurred in this debate to
alter the views that we have maintained throughout the discussion of
this question, in which for a long while the Times and ourselves were
the only parties engaged in opposing its injurious consequences. Every
tiling has tended to confirm us in the impression tliat it is as unwise as
it is uncalled for. This is not a question of money, but of principle ;
not one of so many millions, but of the moral prosperity of the empire;
and while we may regret any support which we may give to this inno-
vation. Ireland, however apparently benefited, cannot fail to be in-
jured by that genuine deprivation of resources, the incapability of
availing herself of them. Indeed, if we wished not to treat Ireland as
an equal, but as a subsidiary province, we could not do better than to
imitate the old Roman policy of enervating those whom we wish to
keep in chains. Quern Dais vult pcrdcre priiis dementat. As regards
its financial bearings, experience has but too well impressed upon us
the frailty of the proposed security, and the much more probable con-
tingency of having to disburse the money from our own sources. Ire-
land can urge no moral claim to this participation in the general
revenues, for instead of bearing an equal degree of taxation, she is free
from many of the burdens to which England is subjected for the advan-
tage of the sister country ; and we cannot but impress both upon Irish
and English the impolicy of a measure which, both in its moral and
financial bearings, is equally unsupported by sound reasoning or com-
pensating advantages.

MODELS AND DESIGNS FOR THE NELSON
MONUMENT.

If not particularly satisfactory in itself, this competition has been
attended with one exceedingly important result, one that is likely to
prove an eft'ectual step towards a better and more trustworthy mode of
proceeding in future upon all similar occasions. The designs for the
Houses of Parliament were fxhibitcd subsequently to the final decision
on the part of the commissioners ; those for the Nelson Monument
after the premiums had been awarded by the sub-committee — but, for-
tunately, in time to admit of their judgment being reversed, when,
instead of ratifying it, the public voice protested against it. So far
there is very great room for congratulating ourselves on the precedent
thus furnished, and which we may reasonably anticipate will henceforth
be followed, with this improvement upon it, namely, that the public
will be admitted to view the models and drawings before any premiums
be awarded or any selection made. Gladly, therefore, do we hail what
has been done in regard to the present competition as a most favourable
augury. If, in the first instance, no very great judgment was shown,
there has been no unfairness, no obstinacy, no selfish determination to
abide by the choice originally made ; or if such determination existed
anywhere, it has been quashed by a counter-determination emanating
from some higher and more honourabU quarter. But for the circum-
stance of the designs being exhibited, and public opinion attended to,
tlie whole business would have been settled, as hitherto, behind the
curtain, and almost the first positive information we should have had
in regard to the matter would have been the preparations for carrying
into ert'ect the design to which the (list premium has been awarded.

In regard to the premiums which liave been bestowed, we will say
nothing, except that that part of-the business holds out a most whole-
some caution against any similar precipitancy for the time to come ;
because it is in itself hardly worth a moment's consideration in com-
parison with the most important point — the laudable resolution evinced
to obtain, if possible, such design as shall be in every respect creditable
to the arts in this country.

Sincerely do we congratulate professional men, both sculptors and
architects, on wliat has now for the first time laccurred. It is true they
have been turned back like schoolboys, and sent to get their tasks
better ; and so far it must be allowed to be somewhat mortifying to the
actual competitors. Still we congratulate the profession as a body ;
because that very circumstance aftiirds proof how much importance the
public attach to the matter, whereas the time has been when the public
would not have troubled their heads at all about it. Farther we most
heartily c-jngratulate them, because shoidd the system thus begun be —

as we devoutly hope it will — persevered in, there is now an end to all
fuvoui itism, all jobbery and jobbing. There will be fair play for talent,
because when manifested it must be recognised — at all events, it cannot
possibly be thrust into the background by any mananivring ; to say
nothing of the responsibility which those with whom selection rests,
would find attach to them. Hitherto such responsibility lias not
existed ; we may in many cases suspect that there has been either a
very great want of judgment, or else very undue partiality, unless we
choose to suppose that, unworthy as it may be, the design adopted was
nevertheless the best among those oft'ered for selection. Could we
behold all the designs sent in for various buildings, and compare them
with the buildings respectively executed, we should, no doubt, in many
instances be filled with utter astonishment. F^ir all general competi-
tions the invariable rule ought to be a public exhibition beforehand,
whence a certain degree of responsibility on the part of the judges
would follow as a matter of course ; while fer limited competitions,
that is, where a certain number of architects are applied to for designs,
each competitor should be separately examined before a committee,
and called upon to explain thoroughly all his drawings, and his ideas of
the subject, and also to answer whatever questions may be put to him.

We have spoken somewhat more at length than wo intended, upon
wh?t, alter all, does not belong to our subject as tiiat of the exhibition
itself. In considering this we shall be comparatively brief, because,
even were the whole matter not now in abeyai.ce, and weie it not
therefore likely that many of the designs will come under our notice
again in an amended form, wo are not prepared to give our_ readers
what we should consider a full and accurate review of the majority of
subjects after repeated examinations of them. We therefore profess
to do little more than record our impres^ions at one or two visits,
singling out for mention a few of the nolahilitks. Now, although we
do not mean to deny that sevend of the modi;ls_ and designs exhibit
great merit, many good ideas, and much beauty, in parts, we must be
allowed to acknowledge there is hardly a single one we should wish to
see adopted without some further modification. Among the models
there are some very beautiful, considered as modi Is, and as these con-
sist chiefly of sculpture, they would be novcltic, for at present we
have no public embellishments of the kind, except single statues, and
those for the most part on a very moderate scale. On that account we
should be inclined to give the preference to something of the kind;
more i speciallv as it would be least likely to interfere with the sur-
rounding buildings. As far, however, as regards adaptation to the
particular site, we are not furnished with any means of judging what the
eft'ect would be except in one or two instances, where a perspective view
accompanies the model, showing what would be its appearance when
executed on the proposed scale, and beheld with the actual architectural
back-ground there would be to it. Now, we think it ought to have
been made a condition that every model should be accompanied by-
such view, both because models taken by themselves, except of mere
pieces of statuary, are apt to be fallacious, and because they overpower
drawings, and render it exceedingly ddBcult to judge fairly betweoa
two designs shown by such very opposite modes of reprosentation.
It was, besides, a very" great error not to establisli one uniform scale
for the designs— perhaps one for 'the drawings and another for the
models; had which been done much inconvenience might have been
obviated. It has been suggested in some newspaper — if we mistake
not, the " Atlas"— that with regard to the models it would have been
advisable to have had them on tiie same scale, and then placed succes-
sively for examination in the centre of a model, showing the_ fronts of
the buildings around Trafalgar-square, This would certainly have
afiorded a most satisfactory test of their eflect, and their adaptation
to the site itself; while it would, we suspect, in more th.ui one in-
stance have saved the competitors considerable expense, incurred by
the models being on a considerably larger scale than would then have
been admissible. And in regard to the expense vvbieht he competitors
have been at, we will here remark that we do not see what that has at
all to do with the mutter. Some one has computed that the gross
amount cannot be much less than 7,600 guineas. Be it so— what
then ? each individual contributes toi-.ards it not one larthing luoro
either of money or time than be v.ould hive done had it been only a
tenth part of that sum. Therefore, as an individual, he has infinitely
less reason to complain than if he had fewer associates in his mis-
fortune. Every one knows bL-1'orchand that but one design can be
actually adopted, and surely it cannot be one whit more galling to be
one of the hundred and forty-nine out of a hundred and lilty, than one
of the nine out often. Talking of the aggregate amount, the " sura
TOTTLK of the whole," as Hume says, is all stufl'. Besides, there are
not a few designs which we think could have cost nothing at all,
except a shilling's worth of paper and couple of hours' of time.

Among the models, that by Mr. T. Woodington, No. 8, struek_ us
as recommending itself by its graceful siuiplicity, and the pleasing

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[April

crvnii-ast in composition ])roilucc<l by tlie four recumbent figures upon
lofty socles, projecting out diagonally from the central mass or pedestal.
Executed upon a commanding scale, tbis design would form an im-
posing objcci in the centre of the square, witbout at all_ interfering
■with the surrounding buildings. Nevertlieless we conceive it would
have been greatly better, would have been mnre appropriately char.ic-
tcristic, and possessed witlial greater novelty of form, had there been
only three figures, emblematical of the three grand vieteries of the
Nile, Copenhagen, and Trafalgar, forming the three points of a trian-
gular plan below, the principal one of which, or that allusive to the
battle of Trafalgar, should be facing towards Charing-cross ; which
disposition vvouk! accord exceedingly well with the obIir|iie line of the
bouses, right and left, forming the embouchure into Parliament-street.
To say the truth, we were not a little surprised at finding that innot
one (if the designs — not one, at lea^t, which we observed — has the idea
been adopted of indicating the three menioraKIc victories, by a corre-
sponding number of points in the composition ; althoughit might have
been accomplished various ways, and apart from its significancy, with
exceedingly good effect.

On the sul'ject of Mr. Rally's model we need not say much, as we
agree in the opinion generally cxjuessed as to its merit as a graceful
assemblage of scu'pture, save to remark tliat, though abstractedly coa-
.sidered, it is exceedingly tasteful, it seems deficient in energy of meaii-
ing. A similar remark apidies to that by Pitts, which, while it
exhibits much talent and mastery as a piece of sculpture, is too enig-
matical for the intended purpose. jVo. 38, by Wcstmacott and Nixon,
has great merit as it is, yet would be improved by being somewhat
simplified. And in No. 40, by C. II. Smitli, there is considerable
cleverness and originality; yet tliis, too, would, in our opinion, be
improved by hollowing out the blank arches on three sides of the base-
ment, so as to cinivert them into rrcesses for the figures, which are
now merely placed before ihcni. Very likely this would require some
further modification of the whole of the lower part, so as to obtain
sufficient depth for the purpose, yet very little difficulty, we conceive,
would attend such alteration. Mr. E. J. Papworth's design, No. 36,
a colunui on a perforated rock, within which are figures, would, on the
cnntraiy, have been better, had only the sides of the rocks been hol-
lowed out.

We do not profess to understand Mr. Patrick Park's model, nor
have we seen his exjdanation of it, wherein, we are informed, he speaks
at length of the " princi]dcs'" which directed him in designing. Very pos-
sibly it may be replete with meaning, or wliat is intended as siich, hut
it is certainly f.ir too recondite; and therefore, as a design, it struck
us chiefly as a strange array of figures posted about, which jumbled
appearance is further increased by a number of huge lions walking in a
circle round the whole. "Whatever ingenuity there may be in the ideas
intended to be thus expressed, the result is any thing but a hajipy one,
which remark applies to several other designs wherein parts or orna-
ments, intended to have it symbolic meaning, produce more or less
awkwardness of form. However appropriate the ideas attempted to
be conveyed may be in ihemselvcs, tbey had better in all such cases be
abandoned, if they cannot be reconciled with beauty of form— with
cither picturesque or arehitecturaf effect. It is poor satisfaction,
when we look upon incongruous whims, to be told that they are in-
tended to indicate such or such qualities and circumstances, especially
as, after all, meritof that kind, unless accompanied with refined artisti-
ca'l feeling, is of too fantastical a kind. Most unquestionably the
mind ought to be satisfied, but at the same time the eye ought to be
satisfied equally well— certainly not offended.

While considered as a model, that by Salvin and Smith, is one very
striking in point of size, and exceedingly beautiful in execution ; it is very
far from recommending itself as a design, being an ornamental structure
in an exceedingly florid but im|)ure style of architecture, and, therefore,
on that account alone would be highly exceptionable for such a situation
as the centre of Trailrlgar-square, where it would be altogether out of
keeping with the other buildings, and would cause them to appear more
naked "than they do at present, while they in turn would occasion it to
look whimsically grotesque in taste. The same observation applies
even still far more forcibly to the design, No. 44, with the motto,
" England expects every man will do his duty." In thi? drawing
extraordinary diligence has been employed in producing an assemblage
of all the most licentious caprices of the Italian school, at its most
corrupt period. It is an Italianized pagoda, bedizened out from top
to bottom with as much architectural finery— such as it is — as could be
crammed into it. It is the very q\nntessence of that gorgeously bad
taste which is now gone out of vogue, even in Italy itself; and as a
monument to Nelson, Gibbs's church in the Strand, would be about as
appropriate.

There are others who have proposed buildings, and not merely orna-
mental structures, but such as, if executed, would totally change the

character of Trafalgar-square. Among the rest is Mr. Haydon, whose
design — forming a most singular contrast to the one we have j\ist been
speaking of — is for a plain (irecian-Doric building with a portico, and
forming, within, a large hall, divided into two separate compartments by
colcunns, each of which would be lighted from above, and decorated not
with fresco paintings on the walls, but large historical pictures in frames,
commemorating ditt'ercnt events in the life of the hero. Whatever else
may bethought of such ideas, it is characteristic enough : — " Vous etes
orfevre, M. Josse, ct votre conseil sent son homme qui a envie de se
defaire de son machandise. " What may be the proposed dimensions
we are unable to state ; yet either it would be an insignificant little
edifice planted by itself in the centre of the square, or if as lofty as the
buildings around it, so large as to block up the square, and cut ofl^tlie
view of St. Martin's church, and the National Gallery, from C'ockspur-
street and Spring Gardens.

No. 89 is another whimsical piece of absurdity, the author of which,
however, has had the discretion not to reveal his name ; which'is,the only
sensible thing he has done, for the design itself is neither more nor less
than a square campanile in the Italian style, divided into several
stories ; but whether a statue of Nelson is imprisoned in any part of the
inside, we have not the means of saying.

There are not a few other extravagances — things without the slightest
mark or likelihood, and w hich are only curious as displaying poverty of
invention, sterility of imagination, and exquisitely bad taste ; things, in
short, at which the sub-committee must have stood aghast ; although
their oddness must, at the same time, have extorted from them cordial
smiles, though not of approbation. Not so No. 116, that being, at all
events, no laughing matter, for a piece of more egregious dulness than
that strange house-front design docs not present itself in the whole
exhibition.

Well, of course the authors of all these deplorable performances
will now retire; and many, wo have no doubt, will now be
able greatly to improve their designs, should not entirely fresh
ideas occur to them. One of the best of those in which a column
forms the principal, if not sole feature, is No. 102, by Marsh Nelson,
the perspective drawings accompanying which are remarkably clever.
This design proposes that the whole of Trafalgar-square should be
raised to a uniform level, forming a balustrade terrace, with a spacious
flight of steps towards Charing-cross. Still we are of opinion the
better mode would be to obtain a level by sinking the ground on the north
side, instead of raising it on the south, so as to convert the road in
front of the National Gallery into a terrace, elevated above the area of the
square, by which means that build.ng would acquire apparent loftiness,
at least of situation, while the view ofthe square would not be obstructed,
as by the ground being raised it would he, from Charing-cross. If we
mistake not, this is iirojiosed by Mr. Goldicutt's design, which is so
far worthy of being adopted ; though, as for the design itself, which
is for a huge globe, with Nelson standing on the top of it, we cannot
say that it is at all to our taste. Among the more eligible designs is No.
36 by T. H. Nixon, a bold, sepia drawing— hung rather too high —
exhibiting a statue and richly-ornamented pedestal. There is also
much to admire in No. 4-2, by T. Bellamy, fir simple elegance of taste,
although it perhaps falls as much too short of adequate decoration, as
a great majority of the other designs err in being overloaded and
crowded with it.

The subject itself is undoubtedly not a very easy one ; nor is it the
least difficulty attending it, that artists are left entirely to their own
ideas, without anything to guide them, upon an occasion where fho
oiilv existing precedents are confined to insulated monumental
columns; still we trust that, though repulsed, they will nut sit down
in despair, but that some one will yet produce a design that shall
obtain the general suffrages of the public, and of artists themselves.

SCHOOL OF THE ANTIQUE,

MARGARET STREET, CAVENDISH SQCARE.

MWc took the opportimity of attenJing some of the lectures on anatomy, hy
jj r. S. T. Fisher, now in" course of delivery at tlie School of Design, in

argaret street, and we cannot but express our unfeigned giatificaiion at the
manner iu which they are conducted.

We have never heard a lecturer on this tranch of the arts, who, possessing
even greater talents and aoipiirements, afforded such a clear view of the sub.
ject as was presented by Mr. Fisher. He seemed to give up all that deep
"research and extensive "knowledge, which he evidently possessed, to devote
himself to the inculcation of his instructions in the plainest manner, and the
youngest student could not have left the lecture-room without having under-
stood a suliject, which men of greater name can only embarrass and confuse.

These iustruc tious were illustrated hy most able drawings, casts, skeletons,
and the living model, and were condncled with a completeness worthy of an
institution, which both in system and material axlTantages has hardly its
parallel in London.

lft.39.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

1 35

ON

THE MEANS GENERALLY EMPLOYED FOR
REMOVING RUINOUS BUILDINGS.
We possess many books which contain every information regarding
the construction of buildings — from tlie laying of their foundation-stone
up to the completion of their minor details. We are, however, not so
well informed as to the method of taking these buildings down when
they become ruinous, although it is often a more ditficult operation
than their erection; and the advantageof being possessed of information
on this apparently otit-of-the-way subject is really greater than a
general observer is inclined to believe, more especially when it is con-
sidered that many of the houses lately erected have sprung up in an
incredibly short space of time, and have been constiucted of materials
not calculated to withstand the vicissitudes of our tempestuous winters,
nor to resist the effects of any sudden accident. It seems to us that
the autliorities of all large towns sliould be prepared with means for
removing the walls of such buildings when they happen to be suddenly
deprived of their usual support by fire, or the failure of any of their
parts : and yet, so far as we are aware, no attention whatever has been
devoted to this subject — and it is on these grounds that we venture to
oft'er a few remarks on the methods generally employed on such
occasions.

In situations where the erection of scaffolding is inexpedient, the
methods commonly resorted to are those of pulling down the walls
en masse by means of chains, and of blasting with gunpowder.

We have seen the first of these methods often put in practice, but
never with such signal want of success as about two or three years ago,
where a gable wall of rubble masonry, about 50 feet high, 150 feet
broad, and perhaps 2 feet tliickness, liad to be removed. Although
forty or fifty persons were engaged pulling and tugging at the end of the
chain, prefacing each effort with a nautical shout, which they seemed to
expect would mateiially contribute to the efficiency of their exertions,
they seldom pulled down considerable masses, and never succeeded in
disturbing the equilibrium of the whole mass. There was, indeed, one
cause that operated strongly against the success of the experiment,
whicli was, tlie want of heepiiit! time ivith the oscillation of the mass.
Wlienever the wall was thrown in the least degree from the perpendi-
cular, the chain should, of course, have been pulled in concert with the
vibrations, whicli, being always increased, would at last have thrown
the centre of gravity of the greater part without the base, and the
whole fabric would then have fallen to the ground. But instead of
being pulled by a band of trained men, the rope was subject to the con-
troul of the whole mob, who, by never pulling in concert, rendered
their exertions worse than useless. After much time had been lost in
these fruitless attempts, l/lasting icas tried icith perfect success. To
those who had never witnessed the effects of gunpowder employed in
such a way the plan appeared more hazardous than experience after-
wards proved it to be, fur not a stone was' thrown ten, or, at most, fif-
teen feet, from the bottom of the wall, and in no instance where it lias
been tried have we ever seen stones scattered to a greater distance.

From this account it will be seen that blasting is by far the most
efficient and safe agent that can be employed in levelling ruins. Had
the wall been thrown down by a system of pulling:, the stones, from
the impetus acquired in falling from a vertical to a horizontal position,
would have been scattered and thrown to a great distance, at the
manifest risk of those who were below, andj^of the neighbouring
houses.

In blasting, the lower courses of the masonry are shattered, and a
shock, sufficient to disintegrate, and, sometimes, even bodily to lilt
np the superincumbent mass, is propagated from top to bottom. The
dangers to be apprehended are, first, the possibility of one or more of
the stones being thrown to some distance ; and, second, the possibility
of only some part of the lower courses being blown out, while the
remainder is left ; so that the wall is apt to turn on that part as a
centre; in which case it may appear proliable it would fall in the
direction in which there was no support.

First. — The danger of one or more uf the stones being thrown to a
distance seems a probable one ; but, in so far as our observation has
gone, this has never occni red. The action in blasting a solid mass of
rock, is different, wc think, from blowing up an artificial concrete-like
masonry ; for, in the one case, the gases formed by tlie explosion have
no room to expand themselves, unless by rending the compact rock,
whose particles are cemen'ed in the closest union ; while, in the other
case, there are numerous fissures, affording much greater room for
expansion.

Second. — The second danger is little to he dreaded, as the whole of
the lower courses are alivays either completely removed, or else so
shattered as to yield to the slightest pressure But in every case
■which has come under our observation, the wall itself hiis been at least
perfectly disunited from top to bottom, by the shock resulling from
the blast.

Although we can easily conceive thi' possibilily of either or botli of
these accidents occurring, slill we think ourselves perfectly justified
in deiidedly reromuiending blasting in preference to the other methods
we have alluded to. We do so, not because we have arrived at that
conclusion by any reflection on the subject, nor yet because we have
heard it praised by those whose opinion, as practical men, is to be valued,
but because we have ourselves been witnesses of its effects.

It must, however be observed, tliat without judicious superintend-
ence, this powerful instrument (like all others) may, from incautious
api lication, prove in the highest degree destructive in its effects.
Prudence in the selection of situations for the bore, and caution in
charging and firing are indispensable requisites for safety; and even
where attention is paid to all these essentials many unloresecn circum-
stances may, no doubt, occasion what all possible care could not
prevent.

We may state, in conclusion, that although some may consider the
removal of ruinous walls as not an oper.ition in which engineers or
architects arc ever, or at least often, to be engaged, we think that
oueht in no way lo make these remarks the less important ; for any
sudden accident niaj render peremptory measures necessary, and upon
the success of these measures valuable property, and even human
life, may depend.

PANORAMAS OF ROME AND THE COLISEUM.
The two subjects now exhibiting in Leicester-square have claim
upon our notice, as being of considerable architectural interest ; tlie
one as a general representation of Rome, sliowing all the buildings
visible from the tower of the Campidoglio, on which the spectator is
supposed to stand ; the other, of that wonderful fabric, the Coliseum,
whose interior, with its arena, is shown as beheld from the top of its
walls at its southern extremity, whence the eye also looks down iipon
the nciglibouring arch of Constantino, and several other edifices.
Although the smaller of the two, and of less variety of interest in its
subiect^tliis painting is more striking and captivaling than the other,
in regard to scenic eifect and tlie illusion it produces. It conveys a
most perfect idea— at. least as perfect as can be obtained from the
single spot to which the spectator is fixed— of the structure in its
present state, of its prodigious massiveness, and of the ancient
Roman brickwork of whicli it is composed. The look of reality is
quite astonishing, and the more we contemplate the building, or
parts of it, the more docs it increase. Yet it is puzzling to account
for the extraordinary relief, there being little of positive shadow,
since even the parts'on which the sun does not fall are shown as
distinctly as in ordinary daylight, owing to the strong reflection
which renders their local colouring visible in all its hues. The other
view- is not so remarkable for this deceptive quality, for though ad-
mirably executed it has not so vivid an air of reality, being apparently
painted in a lower key. Perhaps, too, something may be owing to
the .subject itself, aj being less favourable to illusion. Still there are
parts of prodigious effect- for instance, the two side buildings or
wings of the Campidoglio, immediately beneath the spectator, seen
as he looks down upon them from the tower in the centre one.
Again, tlie dome of the small church, close by Trajan's column, is of
most forcible relief. By specifyiHg these instances, we do not mean
to say that the rest of the picture is not so well painted, but the two
buildings we have mentioned, being much nearer than most of the
others, of course sliow themselves more distinctly. St. Peter's is too
remote to be a principal architectural object; but in a view taken
from the Castle of St. Angelo, both that and the Vatican would be
very prominent objects, and occupy a considerable portion of the
scene. In our opinion, such other general view of Rome would be
—we will not say worthy of Mr. Burford's jiencil, since of that there
can be no douljt- but eminently attractive to the public: nor at all the
less so, because preceded by the one he is now exhibiting.

ISOLATED HARBOURS OF REFUGE.

In the last number of the Engineer and Architect's Journal, p. 8.5,
Mr. Rooke remarks that, as there is no tidal ecour provided for the in-
terior of Mr. Tait's isolated harbour, although shingle could be dis-
posed of along shore, " might not," he says, " silt eventually choke up
such a harbour V"

Why, the very same remark might, with nearly equal propriety, be
applied to a wet dock. Water admitted into a dock or harbour, must
be pure indeed not to deposit while there, in a state of couq)arativc
rest, a sediment of earthy or other matter in twenty or thirty years
time. This of course was to be anticipated. It is obvious, however,
that there can be no difficidty in removing such silt by dredging, or
otherwise, at no great expense, whenever it siiall be found to be incon-

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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[AnuL,

venicnt; and it is important to observe liere, that the process of
dredf,'ing can be carried on in the harbour during all lioiirs and diirini'
all times of tide, until finished, without interfering, in any shajje wliat-
cver, with the essential purposes of the harbour.* Vessels are neither
interrupted by it in coming in, nor in going out. The moutli of tlie
harbour, if properly carried out, as it ouglit to be, into deep water, is
ke])t free and open, and accessible at all times and in all weathers. It
woidd be a very different affair, however, if, instead of the scouring
jjoxyer being confnied and directed towards the nar of Ike harbour, as
designed by Mr. Tait, it were allowed to cross the mouth or entrance
of it, as at Dover, &c., and a bar of shingle or sand allowed, in conse-
fiuence, to be formed there.-j-

Mr. Tait's i)rincipal object is to prevent the shingle moving, as it
does, along shore, from getting into, or even near the moulli of his
harbonr.^ This he proposes to accomplish by facilitating the passage
of the shingle along sliore and in the rear of "his harbour, and as far as
possible from its entrance. He has, therefore, studiously avoided all
tidal or any other scoin- whatever within his harbour.

Mr. Rooke next says, " The uncertainty of the plan," (Mr, Tait's
isolated harbour,) " its obvious expensiveness, its distance from the
shore, and an e.\posed locality, however ingenious and able the scheme
may be, involves objections wliich arc more easily started than answered."
If these remarks have special reference to the formation of a harbour at
Hastings, they may perhaps be, in part, true. It is quite impossible,
however, to form any decided opinion on this point, without being
well acquainted in the first instance with the whole locale of a placel
its tides, currents, prevailing wind?, soundings, line of coast : its ex-
posed projections, or sheltered indentations, t\;c.

In order to have the mouth of an isolated harbour in a sufficient depth
of water, so as to be accessible at all times of tide, such a harbour at
Hastings, would, very possibly, require to be carried out to some
distance from tlie shore, and' consequently to an exposed locality;
attended, of course, with a certain proportionate increase of expense.
But, as to its " certainty," Mr. Kooke may be assured, that its certainty
would depend entirely on the strength and distribution of the materials,
and workmanship, &c. used in its construction ; and would be totally
independent of the principle upon which the harbour is designed. The
"certainty'' involves a mere matter of judicious calculation of the
strength and disposition of certain materials capable of resisting certain
permanent and probable forces. As to the " expensiveness" ofsucli a
haibour. IMr. Tait has never upheld his harbour on the score of its
cheapness. Quite the contrary. But at the same time, there might be
situations found, perhaps, (were that an object,) wheie an isolated
harbour could be constructed as cheaply as any other. However, it
must be allowed that in ordinary circumstances, his harbour is much
more likely to exceed, tlian to fall short of the expense, at which
harbours, at the debouchure of a stream, niiglit be constructed on the
old and exploded system of scouring by means of backwater, &c.
Cheapness is not, in fact, the object aimed at. The chief object, in
view, is to have a harbour, at a fair adequate expense, which shall not
be liable to be closed up by a bar at its entrance, and be thereby
rendered inacessible in the hour of need; but such a harbour as shall be
open to receive, and slielter, and protect vessels, in distress at all times
of tide, and during all kind of weather.

ZERO.

[The result of Mr. Tait's advocacy of the doctrine of isolation, vol. i.,
p. 337, lias certainly been to insure its general reception as a principle
of science, and we have no doubt that it will eventually be employed
both extensively and benelicially. Mr. Rooke's comra'unication lias
suggested a new feature, the construction of a harbour by a series of
experiments, and it presents many useful points. There is little doubt
that in Mr. Rooke's plan, vol. 2, p. 8.5, S. W. winds would produce
;i ground swell, or as it is called in the Channel Islands" a race ;" but that
is only one side of the question, for harbours are in this respect of two
kinds, either of general refuge, or shelter against prevailing winds. To
provide shelter against tlie S. W. winds, we should reconimend that in
the harbour F, the entrance N should be stopped, and another opened
at B, and if necessary the east groin A might be removed to G. With
regard to tlie question of the silt, we cannot take upon ourselves to
decide, as that will vary according to position ; the facts brought forv/ard
by Mr. Hyde Clarke prove the accuracy of the principle, although we
have not yet sufficient data to ascertain whether the same results would
be obtained upon the sandy coasts of England as in the depths of the
ocean. By the progress of science, the engineer may be furnished with

* This is very material to be kept in mind.

+ Every time that such a bar is i'onncd, it is obvious that tlie harboui- becomes
thereby iiseless ; ami such a bar may be fuimcd in one tide ; and uo sooner removed
than fovnied again by the very next tide. 13ut it cannot be removed at all at Dover
durmg tlic whole period of neap tides. It can only be leinoved durin" the hei'-ht of
spi-ing tides. So much iur dependuig on the eflect of culverts. The liarbouvs on the
bouth liastern coast ol this great marilime nation ought to be iudeiienacnt of any sucli
trumpery.

power greater than is conceivable at present, and we have pointed out
in our present volume, p. 38, the manner in which the success of Mit-
chell's screws may be brought to bear on this important subject. One
useful lesson we may learn from this discussion, tliat engineering is not
a mere matter of bricks and mortar, and that as there is no book from
which we cannot learn something, so there is no fact, however trivial,
which does not belong to the domain of science. — Ed. C. E. & A. J.]

NELSON MONUMENT.

Sin, — Having carefully observed the marvellous inequality of
talent manifest in the designs sent in competition for the Nelson
rannuraent; and that, with a few splendid exceptions, those men who
take anything like rank as artists or architects in general estimation,
have considered this contest of skill as beneath their notice, and left
it for those who have higher feelini; and less conceit, as well as for
mere aspirants to engage in ; I have asked myself how or why it lias
happened that a call which ought to have aroused the most torpid, has,
upon the whole, been so unproductive ? And I cannot but think, that,
giuze it how they will, a mean and sordid pride, a trembling, lest, by
some misehance, an unknown man should pluck the honour liom their
brows ; or, mayhap, a moresellish spirit still, has aclu.iled them.

As an Englishman, I deplore that talent, which is known to exist,
should thus miserably extinguish itself ; and whatever be the result of
this competition — be the design which is to have the fii'st premium
executed or not — as an Englishman, I do hope that some more ade-
quate mode of eliciting the talent of the country will be devised.

In this case, the committee began by acting with the best and
noblest feeling. They advertised for designs. Their only error — and
pardonable indeed it was — consisted in not at once definirg what
species of monument they wished. Still, they left the road open ;
and so fair an invitation would have lured many to try, confident tiiat
if tktir designs were best, they would not only have the honour, but
the profit of its execution. Some evil spirit, however, affected the
committee, and their first right step was followed by a wrong one.
They again advertised, and offered premiums. This was bad enough,
but they made it still worse, by adding, " but no further reward will
be given ;" thus distinctly and unequivocally giving the professions
occasion to infer, that, however good the design, however honourable
the successful man might be, he was not to execute his own work, but
that some other man was to be fattened on the honey which his labour
was to create.

I, sir, have not the honour of biing an artist; I may not be so
sensitive as men of genius are apt to be, but tliat was luy inter-
pretation of the words immediately that I saw them ; and I doubt
not that others felt the same, and that their emulation was palsied by
it. Had not this been done, and had ample time, in the first instance,
have been given, instead of driving artists to work upon the crude first
conceptions, that their designs might be ready in about tivo inon/hs,
and then adding six »ioiit/iv more, I quite expect that a greater
number of good designs would have been sent in. Rely upon it, sir,
the wreath of fame has more and better followers than the purse of
wealth ; and be assured that many of the competitors were more
incited by the hope that, notwithstanding the ill omen, they would be
chosen to conduct their own design, than by the expectation of so
much cash in hand. I cannot and will not doubt that the comm ttee
were actuated by ihe best motives in what they did. I only point out
what I conceive to be the evil of their so doing; and, having done so,
may I venture to propose, through you, to the public, that, in tho
event of other competitions being required, a middle course should bo
taken ; which, while it may, to a great extent, secure the efforts of
men of high rank, will not shut out others who may be equally
talented and equally honourable, although not equally known to the
world ; and thus I would say : — Let a committee select a dozen
arti.^ts or arehileels of good repute, and covenant to pay each some
certain sum, sutficient just to cover the manual labour of making their
designs, and engage to employ the successful artist to execute his
work. In addition to this, let them adverti.-e for desif;ns, offering no
definite premium, but promising that, if one of such designs be chosen,
they will reward the author; and, if he produce proof of his con-
structive skill and integrity, they will also emjiloy hint to complete
the work. It appears to me, sir, that, by so doing, a committee
would not only secure good designs from men of high standing, but
have a fair chance of eliciting unknown genius, and that, in stub a
manner, as no man of good feeling, however high his professional
rank, could object to. There is one point, however, I would
beg to impress upon committees — that, on no account should
they admit drawings finished in any other than Indian ink or
sepia. They sliould be neatly outlined, and the shades lightly washed
in, and free from any of those dabs and touches, which arc not onlv

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

137

untrue to nature, but give a meretricious effect to designs which are in
themselves vahieless. If it were not so, how do these very dabs, stain-
ings, and sharp touches make " a landscape of a post ?" 1 would next
follow tlie example of the committee on the designs for the Nelson
monument ; lirst adjudicate upon them, and then admit tlie competitors
and tlie public to view ; for I am quite assured that, let artists say
what they will, the public, as a mass, are the best judges. Individuals
may think oppositely, but a large number of conflicting opinions in
some strange way neutralise each other, so that in the result the de-
cision of public opinion is generally that which is most consonant with
propriety and justice : and even if public opinion were erroneous, such
a course wo\dd tend mucli, if not altogether, to remove those suspicions
of favouritism, and forestalled judgment, wliieh in many instances, it is
to be feared, have been but too well-founded. I am quite aware that
other practices than those of prejudgment exist, and practices against
wliicli notliing can guard but the utmost care that committees shall con-
sist of men of honour. It is quite within their power to give one public
set of instructions, and privately to give some favoured artist more
detailed information. It is quite practicable to send for an artist after
the designs have been sent in, and direct him to make certain alterations
which shall improve his drawings or his model. Tliese are dishonour-
able acts which, like other dark deeds, often betray their perpetrators ;
and they fall deeper tiian ever they rose higher in consequence of ihem.
Sucli practices must in process of time prove tlieir own correctors,
and so that artists be but true to themselves, and every individual strive
to keep his own honour immaculate, it will not be l.'mg before generous
competition sliall raise tliis portion of the repute of Britain, and rank
her as high in art as the efforts of Nelson and Wellington have placed
her in naval and military renown.

I have the honour to be, yours, &c.,

OiMEGA.

BIRMINGHAM AND GLOUCESTER RAILWAY ENGINES.

Worcester, 8th March, 1839.

Siii, — In No. 18 of the " Civil Engineer's and Arcliilect's Journal"
for March 1839, at page 116, yon volunteer an editorial paragraph,
conveying reflections upon the Birmingham and Gloucester Kaihvay
Company.

Had you referred to the reports of the last half-yearly meeting of this
company, held on the I'ith February, which reports were published in
the Birmingham and also in tlie Gloucester journals of the same week,
you would have seen a correct statement of those facts upon which
youi comments referred to have been erroneously made.

Tlie facts are, that Mr. Norris, a locouiotive engine-maker of high
reputation in America, has engaged to send upon trial to England a
locom itive engine, which shall perform a much greater amount of work,
under certain specified conditions, than engines of similar class and
expense are at present pei forming upon the railways of tliis country.

If this trial succeed, agreeably with the stipulations and to the satis-
faction of the company's engineer, the company purchase the engine.

If the trial does not succeed, Mr. Norris pays the expenses attendant
on the trial, and the company remain in the same situation in point of
expense as that whicli they held before the trial was made ; that is,
they pay for nothing.

'J'lic company engage to take ten engines in all under the above con-
ditions, which are applicable to each engine, as each arrives from
America.

Having now given you the facts, allow me to add, in reidv to your
coiiimcnts : — The Birmingham and Gloucester Com|Kiny do expect tiiat
Englishmen will support their projects so long as those projects bear
out the principle of ]jrociiring the best possible article at the least
possible cost, — no matter whether the cost be paid to an American for
engines, or to a Norwegian for timber, the latter being a process by
which (to use your own phrase) " the money subscribed goes out of the
country," under the sanction of numerous railway companies, who
appear hitlierto to have escaped your condemnation.

The Birmingham and Gloucester Company do not " expect that the
public will have any contldence in the safety" of these American
engines, until they shall have been subjected to the trial .ibove referred
to, which will fully prove this point ; but the public may jjiobably be
aware of the broad fact, that safety, so far as the results of locomotive
engines are concerned, is upon a par in both countries, and both the
public and yourself will, I have no doubt, cordially rejoice in the
advancement of practical science, which the results of tlieso trials, if
successlul, will evince.

I apologists for trespassing thus on your space, and am. Sir, your
obedient,

W. S. MOORSOM, ENoiNiEK.

•THE ROYAL EXCHANGE.

Sir, — Is it [lossible that there can be any truth or approach to truth
in the following paragraph, wliicli I quote from the " Sunday Times,"
where the " Morning Advertiser" is named as the authority for it?
" We are happy to learn that Mr. Baily's design for the New Royal
Exchange is that which is to be adopted. The Giesham committee
have at length yielded to the views of the Chancellor of the Exchequer
on the subject. Mr. Baily is the most distinguished artist of his day
in his own peculiar walk ; and the admirers of genius must be grateful
to him for asserting ils rights in the person of INlr. Baily." Whether
this be intended seriously, and merely a blunder, or whether it be
intended as a joke, it is diiiicult to guess. It certainly would be very
odd that Mr. IJaily's, or Mr. Anybody-else's, model should be chosen
before anything was known when designs were to be sent in. Tlie
writer of the paragraph, however, may know a great deal more of the
matter than any one else, for he knows, it seems, and is willing to let the
world know, that " Mr. Baily is the most clistinguished artist of hisduy,
in his own peculiar walk." Nevertheless, I must confess, I never heard
the name before as that of an architect; therelbre if distinguisiied at all,
it must be by the obscurity in which it has been shrouded. Neither
have I any idea what can be this most distinguished Mr. Baily's own
peculiar walk, unless it is meant that he has been in the habit of attend-
ing Change, and shov.'ing himself in one particular u)o//t there. Another
puzzle is to know to whom the admirers of genius — that is, of course,
all of us, have to be grateful to for asseiting its rights in the person of
Mr. Baily ; is it to the distinguished artist himself, or the Chancellor of
the Excheriuer?

Pray endeavour to unriddle the whole of this enigmatical matter, if
only that we may get out of debt at once, by paying our gratitude in the
proper quarter.

In the mean while I remain,
^ Your most undistinguished

READER.

SAVERY AND TREVITHICK.

Sir, — Several periodicals, last week, gave an analysis of an e.ssay,
that had been read by Professor Regaud, before the Ashmolean So-
ciety, on some circumstances in the history of Captain Saveiy, Ihe
inventor of a steam engine. I read the analysis in the Lilenirij
Gazette, the editor of which observed, that Savery wrote the Miner's
Friend to draw attention to his engine, and that this hook " is now a
very rare volume. It is in the British Museum, and we believe a
copy will be found in All SouL->' College Library. Surely in the
present day of science, and of scientific mining in particular, a
repuhlieationia\g\\ihc very useful: and would be infinitely more
valuable if the professor of astronomy (the only person we know who
is calculated, from his love of minute research, and the vast accumu-
lation he has made of materials, to do justice to scientific biography,)
would ju'eflx his notices of the author and his hivention."

From the recommendation in this paragraph, it is clear the editor
of the Literary Gazette has never seen Xhe. reprint oi \.\\<i Miner' n
Friend, made in 1S27, by Mr. Robert Meiklcham, from a copy of
Savery's book in his possession. The first edition, dated 1702, is in
12mo, and has one large folio engraving, showing a perspective view
of the engine. This engraving was either borrowed from Harris's
Lexicon Ledinicum, or Savery gave the plale used in the Miner's
Friend ioWRvrU. The impressions are identical. Mr. Meikleham's
edition is in I8mo, and when compared with the original, it has some
pretensions to elegance : it has three engravings, and eighteen
ornamental vignettes. A small number only were printed, which
were purchased, I think, by Mr. Reid, bookseller, Charing-cross.
Some of the copies had a portrait, designated as tliat of Savery.
This, however, is a misnomer, occasioned by the letter-engraver
affixing the name to a wrong portrait ; and the mistake was not dis-
covered till it was loo late to rectify it. Mr. Meikleliam had an
original portrait of the Captain, which he procured in I8I6 from a
Tilrs. Boughton, of Boughton, who was connected with Savery by
marriage. At that time she was very aged, and having outlived some
benevolent relations she had fallen into great poverty. Mrs.
Boughton kncvv- nolhing of Savery's history; she remembered her
father-in-law speaking of him as having had the reputation of being'
a very self-willed and passionate man; very niggardly and sellish ;
and that he had been slierill" of Devon. This, however, was a pal-
pable mistake. The portrait in her possession had been painted witli
considerable freedom, and when Savery might have been between
thirty and forty years of age. Although much mutilated, the face
w as perfect ; so was the upper part of the peruke, and a part of the
cravat. It had not been preserved from a feeling of ils value, but
for its convenience as a piece of furniture. The elligy had served as
a chimney-board. On cleaning it, there w<is found written on the

138

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Al'RIL

canvas frame : " No. 7- Mr. Savary, ingineer." It had certainly at
one time been in some inventory, perhaps in a .sheritr'.s. An cn-
gravii'g was made from this portrait for my compilation, but, the
artist not having made a passable transcript, his copy was
cancelled.

Professor Rcgaud also mentioned, that no trace of Savery having
been a partner with Ncwcomen is to be found in the Rolls Office.
Tliis may be. In a search made twelve years ago, to ascertain the
point, I could not find even Newcomen's patent. Perhaps I inquired
in the wrong quarter, in the Patent Office of Extortion. I gave, in a
note, Swebre'.s account, which he wrote twelve years after Savery 's
death. In the text I said that, " His (Savcry's) interest was con-
sulted by associating his name with that of Neweomen and Galley
in the patent." Mr. Richard Lovel Edgwortli had used the same
words in a letter to the editor of a periodical, in some discussion on
the history of the mechanism. But after all, Savery may have been
a sharer, as Switzcr says, in the profits, without his name appearing
(as I, perhaps, wrongly express it) in the patent. The date of New-
comen's death has not been ascertained. In 1/30, he is spoken of as
the " late Mr. Neweomen." Calley died two years after Savery.
The professor styles Savery a " military engineer." I know not
what that profession was in Savery's time. He assuredly was a
civilian. Sir Isaac Newton, who knew him, calls him "Mr. Saver}'."
When 1 was engaged, in 1825, in the preparation of the "Anecdotes
of Steam Engines," Mrs. Broughton became an object of great
interest. I anticipated being able, with her assistance, to get into
some channel of information respecting Savery, but all my enquiries
the7i to leai'u where she was, or if alive, were misuccessful ; every
trace was obliterated.

I was highly gratified with the memoir of Mr. Trevithick in your
Journal for March. I believe, but I speak from an uncertain recol-
lection, that the late Dr. Tilloch, editor of the " Philosophical
Magazine," had some share in the project of sending high pressure
steam-engines to Peru. He lost money by his adventure, for the
most magnificent Spanish promises would not " take up " the small-
est acceptance on the silver mine-engine account, in I;ondon. Among
Mr. Trevithick's inventions was an elegant machine for producing
a reciprocating motion by a fall of water, without losing the efl'ect of
a single drop of the fluid ! ! He exhibited a model of his machine
of which I iiave a drawing. The water acted on the piston like the
steam on the piston of his engine. It was a kind of pet project
among mechanics at this period to supersede water-wheels ! Trevi-
thick's colum.n, a llinusand feet high, would be just the thing now in
Trafalgar square. It would be a worthy monument to a truly great
man, designed by one much greater. Some account of this, 1 doubt
not, would amuse your arch.itectural readers. Your correspondent,
who, in his memoir, has done such good and acceptable service to all
mechanics, must be in possession of many anecdotes concerning his
friend, and he will indeed do great injury to liis memory if he fail to
chronicle them. The slightest incident in the life of such a man as
Trevithick is invaluable, for his name is an historical one, and liis
fame is interwoven with that of the greatness of his country.
I am, sir, vonr most obedient servant,

19//i Manli, 1839. " ROBERT STUART.

THE DYNAMOMETER.

Sir, — Having never seen an instrument of this Icind which I conceive
well calculated to prove the draught of a plough or road carriage in
a satislitctory manner, I beg leave to trouble you with a description
and sketch of one which I tliink might answer the purpose.

The common Dynamometer is deficient, as it only shows the
strain at a particular moment, and is constantly varying during the
trial, so that at the end of the experiment the arerarje strain cannot
be calculated. To ascertain this it would be necessary during a
trial to note ereri/ variation indicated by the instrument and its time
of duration, which sometimes might amount to several, in one second
of time.

Such being the case, the desideratum seems to be an instrument
that will s;;Hi j/^j ra owe the whole force exerted during the perform-
ance of a piece of work, or during a given time, at a certain rate of
speed. Suppose, for example, the plough to be tried, I would have
the instrument to show what strain was exerted in drawing a fur-
row from one to the other end of the ridge, taking care always to
note the time in which this was performed. If tried upon a carriage,
eitlier upon a rail or common road, lake, for instance, a mile or two,
at any rate of speed most convenient, llie instrument wanted is to
collect into one, and exhibit at one view the power expended during the
trial.

My plan is as follows : — To make a strong brass tube, of any conve-
nient length, bored perfectly smooth within, and of such ft diameter

as might be found to answer ; this tube to be open at the one end to
admit a tight-fitted piston with a polished rod, which would go through
a collar or small opening at the other end ; the apparatus would,
in fact, be a model of the cylinder, piston, and piston rod of a steam'
engine. The following sketch will better explain it ; the tube is
meant to be filled with water, which, by the draught at A, is to be
ejected at the small bent tube B, at a very small orifice.

^

^

This arrangement being made, the instrument is yoked to the
plough or carriage at C, and the power applied at A, "the piston D
advances slowly towards E, forcing out the water in a very small jet
at B, the discharge of which will always be in proportion to the
strain applied at A, to overcome the resistance at C. Now, at the
end of any givt7i time, or given distance, the ^\ater discharged would
be the measure of the force exerted in drawing the carriage or
plough, and which of the machines in competition that perfonned
the work in the saine time, with the least discharge of water in a
given xpace, would be that of easiest draught, in other words, the
best plough or carriage.

As there would necessarily be a considerable degree of friction in
this instrument, on account of the tightness of the piston and collar,
required to keep the water from escaping, it might be proper to
ascertain the amount of this, which could easily be done by putting
the instrument to a balance or steelyard when emptied of the water,
which would soon determine the friction in poimds.

The strain exerted in any trial of any machine might also be
determined, and an average in pounds taken, by attacliing the^instru-
ment in the same manner when full, to a steelyard or balance, and
by loading it with such a weight as would cause it to discharge the
sa7ne (piaiiliiy of uater in the sa7nc time as was done in the experi-
ment with the cart or plough. The friction, as a matter of course,
would be to take from each to determine the positive strain.

A scale might easily be attached to the instrument to determine
the exact distance the piston might move in any trial.

There may, perhaps, be some difficulty in making the instrument
perfectly water tight at the piston and collar, but in my opinion a
slight leakage would be of little consequence as this would always
be in proportion to the strain to which it might be subjected, and,
therefore, not affect the result.

I am not aware that such an instrument has ever been tried,
excepting what I have myself done, and that was upon a very small
scale; but I humbly think that were such an instrument perfected
that it would be highly useful for the proving of plough and car-
riages of every description, as then the merits of two competing
machines might be proved and determined in such a manner as to
prevent all cavil, being, in fact, brought to a mathematical demon-
stration.

Should you think this communication worth a place in your
excellent journal, I may, perhaps, trouble you again.

I am. Sir,
Your most obedient Servant,

N. n.

Roxburghshire, Scotland, Tilarch 15, 1839.

RAILWAY CURVES.

Sir, — Having made use of the plan recommended by "A Sub."
in your January number, and being convinced of its practical
utility, I make no apology for forwarding you a few remarks
upon the objections urged by your correspondent R. W. T. Your
correspondent's observation " that if the curvature is not equable
some part of it must be sharper than if the same radius were used
all thrcugli" is incorrect, the object being (if I understand correctly
the phmof " A Sub.") to begin curving'sooncr, and make the radii
of portions of the curve greater. I must also dissent from the asser-
tion that when an engine is entering upon a curve it will not be
afl'ected by the nature of the path it was previously describing; for
if this be "the case, why is the efl'ect of wear and tear of the outer
rail at the coMMENCiiiu'ENT of a sharp curve less when the previous
path is a curve in an opposite direction (forming an S) than when it
is a straight line? Again: Gravity acts upon a locomotive with
the same efifect as upon a projectile, viz., to bring it to a state of rest.
Now althought an engine cannot, like a cannon ball or other pro-
jectile, approach nearer the centre of the force acting upon it, yet,
prima J'acie, the vertical pressure upon the rails increases as the

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

139

squares of the velocities decrease. The cases, therefore, are not
so dissimilar as I was at first led to believe from your corre-
spondent's observations.

March 15, 1839. J. ELY.

RAILWAY CURVES.

Sir, — As a subscriber to your tndy valuable journal, I trust you will
not deem me too presumptuous in seeking for tlie following information
through your journal : —

Query. — The most correct mode for placing a curve of 100 chains
radius between (V to form) an iS curve, as in the following example,
a, a !—

130 chains radius.

100 chains radius. 130 chains radius.
would it not be desirable to reverse the curve towards 6?

Mr. Brurt's mode for setting out half-widths (when sidelong) for a
line of railway is ver;/ tedious. I wish he would inform us if tliere he
not a shorter mode than working, as he says,/rom every centre per/.

Query. — WliicU is the most correct mode of setting out railway
curves ?

The method adopted on many lines of railway for determining tlie
offset of curves at every chain is thus — tangent squared, divided hy
radius, will give the versed sine.*

For example — IGO cliains radius ^ 1-

(■ ~ltiu

•OOG'25, the decimal pro-

portion of a chain = versed sine at one chain. By reducing the decimal
to inches will give 4'95 inches for the versed sine.

Tliis will be, I believe, 1 foot 8 inches for 2 cliains. If I am correct,
thus, 22 X 4'95 = 19-80 inches, or nearly 1 foot 8 inches.

Hoping to see these matters explained in your next number,
I remain, your very obliged servant,
15th March, 1839. An Assistant Engineer.

[We have altered our eorrespondent's communication, so as to make
it better understood by our readers ; and we also referred his letter to
Mr. Brutf for an explanation of that part relative to setting out
" widths," and have received the following reply ; and we have also ob-
tained Mr. Weale's permission to copy from his " Scientilic Adver-
tiser" Mr. Charlton's communication on setting out railway curves,
■which we have given below. — Euitok.]

Sir, — In reply to your correspondent, "An Assistant Engineer," as
to the most correct method of carrying into effect the question he pro-
pounds, I am not sufficiently in possession of the case to answer it with
satisfaction to hnn or myself. From the hurried glance I have given at
his letter, I presume the two curves a, a, were intended to have met,
and he now proposes to effect a junction, by laying out another curve
of 100 chains radius. If this is the case, why not connect them with a
tangenti' or if this is not possible, with a shoit tangent and a cuive
reversed ; but if he is compelled to connect by a S curve, most un-
■4 doubtedly it should be reversed as your correspondent suggests. If the
S curve iiad been situated thus —

a, a, the two curves, and b the point where the junction was desired,
it could eaiily have been connected by adopting a single curve of less
radius, having a comuion tangent at the connecting points.

With respect to your correspondent's complaints of the method I
have communicated of setting out widths on sidelong ground being
tedious, and re(piiring a shorter method, " 1 have no heln for him."
On ground that is at all variable, even a distance of 100 feet is too
great for cross sections, and I often take one or two intermediate
sections in that distance when in cutting ; in embankment I consider
such nicety of little moment. I have for some time past had charge of
a railway contract of something less than live miles, the whole of which
is on sidelong ground of a. very abrupt character ; and, after trying
various plans for taking the cross sections, (which was here absolutely
necessary in determining the extent of ground to be taken,) I was fully

• Nothing can be more wroncous,— En.

satisfied that the method I have detailed in your journal was not only the
most correct, hut the quickest and most easy of execution of any that
1 am avvare of or have seen practised. I have levelled centre stakes
throughout this distance, and determined the widths as 1 have described,
and as a great portion of the works have now been carried int® execu-
tion, (the cutting in some places being as much as 50 feet,) lean speak
with increased confidence of the accuracy of the method.

The methods adopted for laying out curves are various. Your cor-
i-espondent, by referring to the " Railway Magazine" for January,
February, and March of last year, will find several excellent methods
detailed, as also in " Weale's Scientific Advertiser" for May last.
I remain, joins, very truly,

Peter Brcff.
Charlotte-street, Bloomsbury, March 21st, 1839.

The following communicalion we extract from "Weale's Scientific
Advertiser : —

The all-important subject of railways seems to engross the almost
exclusive attention of both the scientific man and the practical
mechanic. Railways at present are only in their infancy, and proba-
bly many of the methods now in use for laying down rails, setting out
curves, &e., will in a short time give way to other inventions better
adapted for practice, and of more general utility. The different
methods adopted for setting out curves seem to demand much more
attention than engineers have bestowed upon them. To have a curve
on a i-ailway, is at best a misforlune, and ought never to be resorted
to unless to avoid some greater evil. Admitiing the curve to be a true
circular aic, and correctly set out, each carriage in a train will have
a continual tendency to fly off, and that tendency will be increased or
diminished in proportion to the diameter of the circle of which the
curve is a segment. The distance between the wheels on each sids of
a carriage is a straight line, but the wheeN and carriage are forced to
move in a curvilinear dii-eetion ; the friction, therefore, between tho
wheels and the rails, especially in an arc of a small circle, must retard
the pi-ogrcss of the train, wear the materials, strain the carriages, and
greatly increase the chance of accidents, Irom the trains being thrown
off the rails. All this will necessarily take place when the curve is
correctly set out ; but what must be the consequence when the curve
is not uniform in its curvature ^ Probably some portion of it nearly a
straight line, another portion of a four-mile radius, anoiher a segment
of a quarter of a mile radius, and another of no known curve what-
ever. A train foi-ced along a line thus formed with the usual speed,
runs a great risk of being thrown oil', besides the incalculable injury
done to the carriages. It is, therefore, of the deepest importance
that engineers and surveyors should have a true method of setting out
curves, and it is worthy of remark that the methods founded on true
principles are easier than those founded on false ones, and requir-e
much less trouble in praelice. The foregoing renders a theodolite
unnecessary, nor does the surveyor require any instrument except a
chain and two or three poles. In hilly countries it is only necessary
to ascertain the elevation or depression of any place above or below
the point when- the curve commences, and that will be the side of a
triangle, the ratio of whose sides are given. To illustrate this without
a diagram, suppose the slope in a cutting rise 2 feet in 3, and that tho
elevation of a bill above the point of commencement, or the last point
found by the si.rveyor, should be 10 feet ; (hen, having ascertained a
point on the hill as if it were explained according to the foregoing
method, say as 2 : 3 : : 10 : 15 feet ; this 15 feet nmst be measured
back from the point already found in a direction perpendicular to the
line of railway, and thus a true point in the curve in its progress over
the hill will be readily ascertained.

The rule made use of in several railways is, to divide the tangent in
inches by tuice the radius of tlie circle; or, which is the same thing,
divide the sr/uure of the tanyent by the diameter of the^ circle, and the
quotient will be a perpendicular oJ)'sc! to the curve / To any person at
all conversant with geometry, this method will be seen to be mani-
festly erroneous : however short the tangent, it is not true ; but if, as
mentioned "oy Mr. Terry, in the " Railway Magazine," a few months
back, the tangent should be five chains, then this method of finding an
offset h yrussly trrontous, and, in a n:atter of such consequence, ought
at once t^i be abandoned, and a true method substituted. It was lately
decided by the Chanctllor, in a railway case for libel, that the acquire-
ments even of the seeretaiy of any public company were legally sub-
ject 10 be fairly inquii-ed in!o. If such then be law us it respects
a seci-i'taiv, surely the aecpiirements of the principal engineer of a
railway, touching his mathematical and mechanical know edge, area
sul jeet of fair and legitimate inquiry, and more especially when it is
considered that want of such knowledge on li.s part may affect the
interests and property of the parlies amuunling to millions of money,
FOSTER CHARLTON, Weybridge.

140

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[April,

A PRACTICAL METHOD OF SETTING OUT A CIRCULAR
RAILWAY CURVE,

WITHOUT THE USE OF ANY INSTRUMENT FOR TAKING ANGLES.

Let A be tlic commencement of a ciicuhir curve: perpendicular to the
radius AO measure any distanct! AT, and from ii tlie middle of AT measure
nm equal to An or »i T meeting Tm = .J T"- -^ y^ aT=~+2X0 = , then will
m be a point in the curve. Ag.iin, measure in the direction of w m' to T'
making- m T' = AT, and from T' the middle of mT measure /I'm'^ii'T', or
n'm meeting Tm' = T»i, then will )»' be another point in the curve, and tlius
any number of equidistant points may be found.

Demonstration.— Because T)H X B T — A T-, and TB= = AT2+2AO',
we have Tm = AT= -^ -j/ AT'^ +2 A 6% then will m be a point in the
curve. Again, join O HI and A 01, then since T />=:/( i.'i^n A, the point n
is the centre of a circle passing through A, m, T ; therefore Am is perpendi-
cular to T)», and nm a tangent to the curve at in.

The method of proceeding on the concave side of the curve is equally easy,
and depends on the same geome;rical principles. The foregoing supersedes
the necessity of taking any angles. The methods given for laying out curves
in the March and preceding " Railway Magazines," though founded on true
principles, require either a theodolite or a table of sines and tangents, while
this method requires neither, and appears simpler and more fitted for practice
tlian any I have seen.

HLSTORY OF PAPERHANGINGS.

E.rtracts from a paper by Mr. Cr.vce, read before the Royal Institute
of British Architects.

(Continued from page 100.)

In the former paper I endeavoured to trace the history of the art of
paperstauiing up to the present time, and it is no\v my purpose to describe
the manufacture, and give some account of the modern improvements that
have been introduced.

In that paper I showed, I trust satisfactorily, that tlie flock papers, or
rather liangings, were introduced into England in the time of Charles I.,
hikI that a person named John Lanyer obtained a patent for the invention
in 1G.34. I also cited an article from an old French dictionary of com-
merce, pro\ing that the coloured paperhangings were made at any rate in
that country in the seventeenth century, and refen-ing to statutes relating
to them even of the date 15SG.

There were formerly three modes in •which paperhangings were manu-
factured. By printing the outline with blocks and then colouring by liand;
by stenciling ; and by blocks alone.

The first of these methods is that described in my former paper, under
the head of Dominoterie.

Thi' second, stenciling, is performed by cutting out either in paper,
leather, or othi>r materials, the pattern intended to be represented, and
then, placing this on the prepared ground, bnishing it over with the proper
colour. This mode gives an imperfect outline, and is now disctmtiiuied in
paperstaining, and merely sometimes employed by plasterers to ornament
coloured walls.

The third is the mode now almost universally adopted in tliis manufac-
ture, whereby every coloiu- is applied by a separate block, according to the
tints and shadows hitended to he represented.

I have before said that Lanyer's patent did not even mention paper
among the stibstanccs on which flock could be applied, as it was at that
period of loo rotten and bad a quality to bear the weight of the woollen
material. But paper has now been brought to so high a degree of perfection
that it is the only substance employed, and has thus assisted greatly the
operations of the paperstaiaer. Till within the last twelve years the pieces

of paperhangings were formed of sheets, each about three quarters of a
yard long, pasted together till the proper length of twelve yards was com-
pleted. This method was attended with many ineonvenienecs, the joints
rising, or being imperfect, and generally showing, all which evils are now
remedied by the pieces consisting of one perfect length of paper, without
any joints whatever; tlie width, too, can be enlarged to two or three times
the ordinary size, as is now repeatedly done in France, as these examples
will show, though we have not as yet adopted this plan.

The modern coloured papers are almost all worked in distemper, or
eoloiu- mixed with size to bind it, instead of with oil or varnish, which
was more employed formerly, and is now, in fact, used in the manufiic-
ture of the wasliable paperhangings ; the effect of Ihem, however, is not
nearly so clear and brilliant as in those ■\\orked by the former method.

Distemper, or body colour, is generally thus prepared : — Whiting finely
powdered and soaked in water is first well mixed, as stiffly as it can be
worked, ami then stained with the proper colours well ground in water ;
when the desireil lint is produced, double size melted, with about an equal
proportion of water is added, till the colour is about the consistency of
cream, and when chilled it is fit for use.

Commencing with the more simple papers, the first process is that of
laying the grounds ; to do this, the paper being placed on a bench about
twelve feet long, the workman with two large brushes filled with colour,
one in each Iiaud, passes them o\'er the paper with a circular motion, antl
as each piece is completed it is supported and carried by the attending boy
on a stick, and placed on the rack to dry.

An ingenious machine has lately been invented, in which by three brushes
acting, one Avitli the other, the grounds are completely and evenly coloured,
and in a much more expeditious manner than by hand.

The grounds being prepared, we will proceed with the printing, which is
performed by means of blocks. They are carved most generally in pear
tree, mounted on white deal ; the design being first traced on the wood,
the engraver or cutter, takiag care to follow the exact oittlinc, cuts perpen-
dicularly to the depth of one-eighth of an inch, and then slopes off till he
gets to the deal. I should add that where veiy sharp lines or dots are re-
quired metal is inserted in the block.

The colour with which the printing is to be performed, being mixed to
the proper tint, is spread with a bnish on what is called the sieve — a
wooden frame covered with a blanket — the block is pressed on this and
then applied to the paper, on which it leaves the impression of the design.
There is a method of printing by a patent machine, invented by Messrs.
Archer and Taverner, whereby, by placing the blocks on the sieve and then
on the paper is performed with great exactness, with the labour of merely
turning a lever handle, which is done by a boy. It was foiuid, however,
too cumbrous to move.

In the first case the pattern is given to the paper by a single block, but
as in the second, where there are two shades of colour, two blocks are
necessary. Now in order that the second block may be placed exactly in
its proper situation, you perceive that there are pin marks in each block
corresponding with each other, and on the marks printed by the first block
the pins of the second block are placed, and the pattern is thus completed
with the required correctness.

In another ease a veiy delicate and shaded effect is given by a single
impression, wlrich is produced by what is called pin-work on a cyluuler.

The pattern is formed by small brass pins of various sizes, fixed on a wooden
cylinder at difierent spaces, according to the depth of shade required. This,
fixed m a machine, is made to revolve so as to be supplied with colour from
a blanket, and at the same time print the piece of paper very speedily
without any interruption. This process, only lately applied to paperstaining,
is derived irom one much resembling it, in use in calico printing, only that
the latter so far differs that the colour is contained inside the cylinder, and
the pattern represented by holes pierced in it instead of pins fixed on it.

In other cases the pattern is worked on what is called a blended gromid ; >
this is also a modern invention, originating, I believe, in France. The
blending is performed by a maehine piuposely constnicted. A metal
trough, the length of the breadth of paper, containing about twenty divi-
sions, has in those divisions various tints of colour, according to the blend-
ing required ; a long narrow brush is then dipped into the trough, and
being filled with colour, applies it to a roller, from which it is collected by
a large cylindrical brush the same length, which is made to revolve, and
when it is properly supplied witli colour it is then brought to bear tipon
the paper, on which it thus places the grounds, though in order to make it
suliiciently perfect it is necessary to be done twice.

A common marble paper is printed by blocks in the ordmai-y way, and
afterwards varnished with turpentine varnish, by wlrich process it is enabled
to bear wasliing, water not injtiring it.

There is an improved imitation marble paper, made by Arclier and
Taverner, in whicli, if assisted by a few veins laid in by hand, the effect is
certainly much superior to the last. The operation is considered secret,
but it is casv to be perceived that the mode of makmg it nearly resembles
that emploved by the makers of the bookbinders' marble paper in which
thickly guinmed colours are made to float on the surface of water, and
being stirred in various forms, are tlms absorbed by the paper when applied
to them.

In an imitation of wainscot the ground is combed as in the usual
painted imitations of tliis wood, and the veins are afterwards printed.

The satin ground paper is a great improvement on the common grounds,
and enables the manufacturer to produce imitations of silks and satins, which
luivo a lery elegant appearance. I have made every exertion to discover

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

141

the date of the intRuluction of this improvement, but unfortunately with-
out success. The oldest in the trade have never hearil of it as a recent
invention.

The satin ground is laid with satin wliite, a compound formed of lime
and alum, and it can be coloured to almost any tint. After being laid like
the common grounds, powdered French chalk is rubbed on it with a hard
brush till the gloss is produced, and it is then glazed with clear size.

A process has been invented in England within the last five or six years
which adds materially the beauty of the satin grounds ; this is embossing,
where imitations of watered and figiu'cd silks, stamped leather, &c., are
produced. The embossing is performed by the paper being passed between
two rollers, on one of which is the engTa;-ed pattern, and which also being
slightly heated thus stamps the required design on the paper.

A kind of paperhanging in which the English designers seem to excel is
called chintz, and has been introduced in imitation of the printed cottons
and muslins, which seem to have been copied from Indian designs. There
are in general several coloui-s in these patterns, requiring many blocks and
much delicacy in excculiou, though the number of blocks is sometimes
much lessened by printing wash colours ; such as yellow on blue making
gi'een, yellow on red orange, and lake on blue purple.

A manufacture of Archer and Taverner is one of the most creditable
attempts in modem English paperstaiuing. It is an imitation of Chinese
paper, and is composed of eighteen sets of blocks, each set containing
four, altogether seventy-two blocks. It will be perceived that the flowers
in that paper are shaded, Avhich is efTectcd by a process resembling that
employed in blending the grounds. The long narrow brash is dipped in
the trough containing the prober tints of colour and spreads these on the
sieve, The block with the flowers engraved on it is then applied to the
sieve thus arranged in shades, and afterwards prints the flowers in the
tints, which are blended. This is a modern invention, first practised about
five years ago by the Messrs. Harwood, the oldest firm at present in the
trade.

Another important mechanical contrivance was invented about twenty
years ago, whereby striped papers are executed with great exactness and
clearness by a machine in lieu of blocks, which owing to the working
always made an imperfect line. In this machine a copper trough, in which
narrow slits of the required l.n-cadth are cut at the bottom, being filled
with thin colour, is applied to the paper, which is made to pass over a re-
volving cylinder, and draws the colours through the slits in the trough, by
which the stripes arc formed.

The ground of another specimen is crimson, and is laid with a staining
colour instead of distemper. This colour, prepared principally from
cochineal, is applied to the paper in the form of a wash, and is generally
laid six times to produce a fine stain, the first coat being done with gam-
boge. In working the pattern it is printed before the stainuig is done, and
tluis acquires a miich greater richness of colour.

The next example is a flock paper, a kind of hanging, ouginally intro-
duced as an imitation of the wove tapestries and velvet damasks. It has
been employed in England more than 200 years, but about sixty years ago
the art was almost lost, and only revived forty years since. The mode of
working is very simple, although much mystery used to be observed re-
specting it. Flock is composed of the cuttings of white or bleached
woollen cloth cut up in a mill to the nocessaiy degree of fineness,
and then dyed to various tints of colours. It is applied to the paper
in the following manner : — The ground being prepared, the design is
first printed with the block in size, in order that the oil may bear out
when applied ; when this is dry it is then printed with a composition of boiled
oil and japan gold size, and while this is still wet the paper is laid on the drum
(a kind of box about five feet by three feet, with the sides of wood and the
bottom of ticking) ; the flock is then sprinkled over the paper, and the
workman, with a cane, beats the imder side of the drum, which causes the
flock to spread evenly over every part of the pattern, to which it is fixed by
means of the japan composition. Sometimes one flock is applied over
another, this is easily accomplished by merely repeating the process after
the first flock is perfectly dry.

In the next specimen a beautiful imitation of tapestiy is produced by
the introduction of flocks of various colours, and is done exactly as in the
former examples, each flock being separately printed after the former ones
are properly hardened and set.

I now take up the last of the three kinds of paperhangings, wherein
metals are employed to produce imitations of gilt leather, rich brocades, or
lightly etched ornaments. It is to these papers that our manufacturers
seem now to devote their chief attention, and they v.'ork them with great
beauty and richness, at a comparatively moderate price. I stated in my
former paper that the gilt leather was employed in England even in the
time of Henry VIII., and that the English were afterwards famed for its
manufacture. I have every reason to suppose that gold and silver and
metal leaf were introduced in the early paperhangings as an imitation of
the more expensive leaiherhanging, although I have not been able to dis-
cover the exact date of their first application. In addition to these there
is another material of much more recent introduction, called bronze or
imitation gold dust, which is now very extensively employed. This bronze
is the invention of an artist at Nuremberg, named Jolm Halitsch, who
was born in lo9.5 and died in I(i70, and his descendants have continued
the manufacture to the present time. It is prepared by sifting the filings
of difi'erent metals, washing them in a strong lye, and then placing them on
a plate of iron or copper over a strong fire, where they are continually
stirred till the colour is altered. Those of tin acqtiiru by this process

shades of gold colour, copper, red, and flame colours ; iron and steel, blue
and violet ; and tin and bismuth, shades of a bluish white. The dust
tinged in this manner is then put through a flatting mill.

A bronze paper is thus worked : — The design (as with flock) is first
stamped with size, and afterwards with boiled oil and japan gold size;
this preparation is allowed to dry, but while it still retains a tack the
bronze is bmshed over it with a hare's foot or soft brush ; it thus adheres
to the gold size, and the paper is in the state exhibited.

In another paper a much more splendid effect is produced by a metal, in
imitation of gold leaf A gold size, resembling that for bronze, is first
applied, and while it has a tack the metal leaf is laid on. This metal,
sometimes called mosaic gold or D)itch metal, is prepared in Germany,
and is an amalgam of tm and copper. The eft'ect of it on the paper is
very much improved by embossing.

When coloiu'ed flocks are imited with the metal pattern very splendid
hangings are produced. The metal, too, is sometimes^ shaded, which is
done by stains formed from berries, of which various kinds are used ; .and
metal is also applied on a bronze ground, but the process is simply that
already described. I need not add that in all cases where the metal is
employed gold leaf may be substituted, but it is rarely used on account of
the great increase in price. I have not described the washable paper-
hangings, or Delarue's patent paperhangings, because they are similar to
those of which I have already spoken, with the exception that they are
worked with japan gold size and turpentine instead of distemper, and the
latter by being embossed in horizontal lines furms, by embossing alone, a
pattern similar to that produced by printing.

I have made particular enquiries as to how the manufacture of paper-
hangings is conducted in France. I have visited the factories, and have
the pleasure of being acquainted with the most eminent manufacturer at
Paris, Monsieur Dauptain, and from all I can learn I do not find that the
French employ other means than those known to us. In those papers of
siicli large dimensions they have double sets of blocks, and in the decora-
tive papers the mode of working is the same as our ovm ; look, in fact, at
what was done by our English manufacturers, Echardt and Sherringham,
fifty years since ; their works equal those of the French at the present
day. Whence then arises our inferiority in this art ? for that we are infe-
rior all must confess. In the first place our manufacturers complain that,
supposing they go to a great expense for an ornamental designi it is liable
to be pirated with impunity; and they say that were they protected by a
patent right they should be able to bring out designs of much gi-eater ex-
tent and perfection. This act of justice, I trust, will soon be granted to
them ; but even supposing this, I much fear we should still be behind our
neighbours. In Paris the workmen have a better eye for colour than ours,
they acquii'e, as it were, an imperceptible education in taste from the
splendid works so continually before them ; yet not depending on that alone
the principal manufacturers there, constantly retain able artists, who,
besides drawuig the designs, arrange the tints and direct the working. Here,
the task of the French artist falls to the hands of a mechanic, who, however
able he may be as a workman, is still ignorant as an artist. What is the
result? — the present mortifying comparison — can we now produce papers
in which the flowers are so delicately tinted — can we arrange colours witli
the same science and harmony displayed ? I repeat that though the French
manufacturers use the same simple machinery, yet that their productions are
far beyond our own — each tint, each shade of the numerous colours exhibited
in the arabesques are stamped by a separate block. The expense of getting
up these decorations is of course considerable, but instead of every year
bringing out as we do, some fifty patterns, they are content to produce,
perhaps, only one, or two, or three, each of which will always attract by the
beauty and taste displayed. What I now write, I have often said to our
manufacturers themselves, and some of them have replied ; supposing no
other obstacle, where can we get artists of the class to draw for us the
designs you speak of ? And here indeed is the difficulty — at present an in.su-
perable difficulty, for, truly, there is not at this time in this country a class of
decorative artists available for the paper-stainers. Those of any talent are so
very few that they demand too high a price for the manufacturer. And yet of
what consequence is it, not only in this, but in other manufactures, such as
printed cottons, wools, figured silks, china, ornamental metal work, that we
keep pace with other nations in regard to the taste displayed in these produc-
tions. How did the spiritand enterprise of Wedgwood raise the manufacture
of porcelain in this country ; where before his time we imported even for our
own use— he caused his productions to be esteemed in all the countries of the
globe for the elegance of their forms and the beauty of the designs which
adorned them, and thus has enabled the miinufacture to be carried to an extent
never before anticipated. There are not many Wedgwoods. How trifling
is the encouragement extended to our decorative artists, both for the true
and proper education in their art and their employment afterwards ! In any
of the new palaces, in any of the modern grand national moiuiments, even in
the national gallery itself, is there introduced any specimen of historical,
allegorical, or decorative painting ? Look at France, the new galleries of
■\'ersailles, where every room is decorated, the Bourse of Paris, the Made-
leine. Look at Berlin— look at Munich. There the art is encouraged, the
artists numerous, and their productions esteemed. It appears presumption
in one so Inunble as myself to address thus the Institute of British
Architects, but yet with them in a certain degree must rest the remedy. It
is in yoiu' power to introduce in yoiu" designs the sister art of Painting. By
encouraging that, the evils of which I complain woidd soon disappear —
working schools, the only effective ones, would thus be formed, and besides
adorning our buildings, you would be the means of more widely difl'using

142

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[ArRiL,

as

and perfecting a doiiartment, -wliieli, I think, all will aprree is of stieh vital
consequence to the cliaracter and inipoitance of our national buildings, and
to the success and well-being of our manufactures

LUBRICATION.

(From Dr. Ure's Diciiunart/ of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines.)
The following simple and efficacious jdan of lubricatiiig the joints and
beaiings of machinery by capillary attraction, has been kindly commu-
uicatid to me by its ingenious inventor, Edward Woolsey, Esq. : —
Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Fig. 3.

laipja

c

1

f

^l

Figure 1 is a section of a tin ciip, whieli has a small tin tube a, which
passes through the bottom, as shown by tht- dotted linos. Oil is poured into
the cup, and one end of a worsted or cotton thread is dipped into the oil, and
tlie other end passed through the tube. The capillary attraction causus the
oil to ascend and pass over the orifice of the tube, whence it gradually
descends, and drops slower or quicker, according to the lengtli of the thread,
or its thickness, until every particle of oil is drawn over by this capillary
syphon. The tube is intended to be put into the bearings of shafts, &c., and
is made of any size that may be wished. If oil, or other liquids, is desired
to be dropped upon a grindstone or otlier surface, this cu]) can have a handle
to it, or be hung from the ceiling. It is frequently required to stop the ca-
pillary action when the machinery is not going; and this has been effected
by means of a tightening screw, which passes through a screw boss in the
cover of tlie cup, and presses against the internal oriGce of the tube, pre-
venting the oil from passing. As I fnid when tliese screw-cups aie used upon
beams of engines and moving bearings, that the screw is apt to be tightened
by the motion; and also, as I think the action of the screw is uncertain,
from tlie workman neglecting to screw it down sufficiently, it answers hest to
take out the capillary thread when the lubrication is not required; and to
effect this easily, I have a tin toi> to the cup, with a round pipe soldered to it ;
this pipe has a slit in it, like a pencil case, und allows a holt n to slide easily
in it. In figure 2 the bolt is down ; in ligure 3, the bolt, which is a piece of
brass wire, is drawn up, and there is no capillary action between tlie thread
and the oil. In figure 3 it will be observed, that the bolt is kept in its place
by its head c, resting in a lateral slit in the pipe, and it cannot be drawn out
on account of the pin e. One end of the thread is fastened to the eye-hole
at the bottom of the bolt, and the other end is tied to a small wire which
crosses the lower orifice of the tube at n. By this simple contrivance the
capillary action can be stopped or renewed in a second, without removing the
top of the lubricator.

The saving by this plan, instead of pouring oil into the bearings, is 2
gallons out of 3, while the bearings are better oili'il.

When you wish to see the quantity of oil remaining in the lubricator, the
bolt must be dropped as in figure 2, and you can then lift the cover a little
■way olf, wilhnnt breaking the thread, and replenish with oil. The cost of
figure 2, in tin plate is Id. The figures in the wood-cuts are one-lliird of
the full size.

CALEDONIAN CANAL.

We are hearlily g"lad to see that a committee of the House of Commons has
been appointed on a subject so important to Scotland, and to the commercial
interests of tlie kingdom, as the improvement and completion of the Cale-
donian Canal, The report of Mr. Walker, to which allusion has been made,
is an elaborate and valuable document. Mr. W. inspected the works of the
canal by order of the Treasury, in consequence of some suggestions and state-
ments made by Mr. May. the resident engineer and superintendent. After a
careful suivey, Mr. Walker was convinced that an extensive plnn of repair
and improvement was necessary, to give the uuderiaking ajhir chuuce, and lo
carry out the original design of the late Mr. Telford. That design was
worthy the genius and the fame of our d'stingulshed countryman, but he
was thwarted and confmel by what now appears to have been a nn'splaccd
economy, and by that " ignorant impatience of taxation" (as Lord London-
deny used to term it) which ma^lifL-^led itself so strongly alter the close of the
late war. The government of the day was forced to yield to the reiteratsd
oppoi-ition wiiich was exi.eriencetl in Parliament, and it was wi;h the utmost
diflitulty that means could be oblained for putting the canal in such a state as
to admit of it!5 being opened for tlie impeifect m;cominodaiion of thut small

class of vessels to which the trade has hitherto been confined. From the
same niggardly parsimony, the works were hurried over in a superficial and
perhaps careless manner, the result of which now appears in premature dilapi-
dation, and in frequent obstructions, even to the present limited trafi^c. Mr.
Walker proposes to increase the available depth of water to seventeen feet.
This is short of what was designed by Mr. Telford, but is amply sufficient for
the accommodation of all descriptions of commercial trading vessels. He also
proposes (wiiat has been often recommended in our columns) the establish-
ment of steam-tugs, on the lakes and estuaries, by which the passage would be
rendered certain and expeditious under every condition of the weather.
Vessels would thus be enabled to pass from one side ©f the kingdom to the
other in two or three days. If we consider the immense and daily-increasing
traffic which takes place between these extremities, such a facility of commu-
nication must be reckoned an important national benefit.

The leading: object of the Caledonian Canal is, briefly, to save in the com-
munication between the opposite parts of the kingdom, the present circuitous
and dangerous passage by the Pentland Frith and Land*s-end, on both of
which the most serious delays and losses are well knov\n to occur. This
range of internal navigation includes on one hand the intercourse of the
eastern ports of England and Scotland with America ; and on the other hand
it embraces the tratfic of the western ports with the Bah ic and the east of
Europe. A similar object is attempted by the Forth and Clyde Canal, on
which the trade is very extensive, but only for small vessels, and these subject
to heavy rates. Yet high as the rates are, they are not considered an obstacle
when compared with the safety and certainty of the passage, for vessels not
exceeding eighty or a hundred tons burden. Now, it is precisely to extend
the same advantages to all classes of maritime traders that we desire to see
the Caledonian Canal completed. Mr. Walker calculates that in order to
accomplish these objects effectually an expenditure of nearly 150,000/. would
be necessary. This is a large sum, but it must be remembered that the works
absolutely require repair, and the completion of the design would be attended
with great and permanent public benefits. Indeed, the money already laid
out must be considered as entirely thrown away, if the objects which the canal
was designed to secure be not realised to the public. It is like building a
house without roofing it in : however magnificent be the outline — however
excellent the original plan — the superstructure is useless, and must crumble
to decay. Another important consideration is adverted to by Mr. Walker:
from the extensive changes in the physical condition of the valley, caused by
the construction of a canal of so unprecedented a magnitude, and its connec-
tion with the extensive inland lakes, it would be attended with nearly as great
an expense to shut the canal as to complete it ! It would be necessary, in fact,
to undo almost all that has been done. ** Dams and outlets,'' says Mr.
Walker, *' would have to be made, permanent bridges to be built, the locks
filled up or fenced, other works done, and compensations to be made which it
is extremely diflficult to calculate, and which might equal in amount the
expense of a proper repair" — and all this independent of the public inconve-
nience, the cessation of intercourse and traffic in the west Highlands, and the
breach of faith which such a proceeding would involve. Mr. Walker adduces
various reasons in support of his decided opinion that the canal, if properly
finished and supplied with the requisite facilities, would realise all that its
most sanguine supporters have anticipated. One of these illustrations is to
be found in the case of the Forth and Clyde Canal, of which the expense also
fai" exceeded the original estimates, and which for thirty years remained in
that unfinished and unserviceable state in which the Caledonian Canal is at
present, until a public loan of 60,000/. was eventually obtained, by means of
which it was completed and brought into beneficial operation. This sum has
long been repaid with interest, and the undertaking- has proved one of the
most profitable concerns in the kingdom. May we not fairly hope for the
same result in the case of the Caledonian Canal? Mr. Walker expresses
himself with the utmost confidence on this head, and we agree with him in
the favourable opinion he entertains of what the canal is likely to be at a
future period. It has never been placed in a condition to insure success — it
has not had even a chance — and all its bearings and prospects are completely
altered by the introduction of steam. " The evidence given previous to its
formation, and much le:^s its workings since it was opened," says Mr. Walker,
" have but little to do with its present prospect "— an opinion so rea-
sonable in itself and baekcd by the high professional character of Mr. Walker,
that it must have considerable effect on the committee, and on the nation at
large. We shall rejoice to witness the full completion of a design so honour-
able to the country, and to the eminent engineer by whom it was planned,
and so likely to be fraught with permanent national advantage. — Jnrenitss
Cuiirier.

The Trtffry I7ur/M(7.— On Wednesday, tlie Gtli uUiiuo, the first stone was laid of
the intended viaduct, which is to cross Rucks' Mill "\'allt;y, it was pcrlurmcd by J.
T. Trefl'ry, Esq., in the presence of a large and highly respectable company. The
viaduct is for the purpose of canyiug a line of raibMiy across the valley from the
terniiimtion of the I'ar canal, (which canal is about three miles long from Par
brealiwater,) to Roche, a distance of about seveu miles ; and the whole is undertaken
at the sole expense of Mr. Trefiiy, wliuse piiblic-spiiited esertiuus in works of utility
to the county at an extraordinary outlay of private wcaUh and individual sacrifice,
are the theme of every one's praise and athniration. Tliis viaduct will extend
■ across Rocks' Mill Valley, in the parij-hes of Lixnlivcry and Luxuliau. Its length is
to he 010 feet helwoen the abutments, and it will coiisist of 10 arches, the span of
each of which v,\\\ be 40 feet. I'he height from the lumulution will be about 95
feet, and the width of tlie base of the piers will he 20 by 10 leet G inches. The top
of the viaduct will he 10 feet wide ; an. I the whole, -ft hen complete, will present a
very beautiful appearance, and be a great relief to \he otherwise rugged but ex-
ceedingly picturesque and romantic valley which it is intended to cross, — Mr. Pea&e
is the engineer, and Messrs, Uennett and Kowe arc the contracturs.

1839.]

THE CTVIT> ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

143

REVIEWS-

A Letter to Lord Viscount Melbourne on the RehiiikUng of the lioyal

Exchange. By Thomas Hopper, Architect. London : Wcale,

1839.

Professing to be upon the rebuildiHg of the Royal Exchange, this
pamphlet bears quite .as niiieh upon the Post-Otlice, or, m fact, the
latter is tlie principal subject, being tliat which isliere illustrated by five
plates, wherein the present edifice erected by Sir R. Smirke, and Mr.
Hopper's competition design for it are compared together, for the
purpose of showing how matters were managed on that occasion.

Respecting competition generally, the writer says: "No Riodern work
stands sufficiently higli in public estimation to warrant the appointment
of any architect from his previous works, and competitions have been so
unfortunately conducted as to raise a strong feeling against them ; and
yet, that seems tlie most reasonable way of proceeding, if sufficient
precaution were used to prevent intrigue and jobbing."

Now, in regard to intrigue and jobbing, we are of opinion they might
be effectually prevented, at least rendered almost next to impossible, by
adopting a properly devised system — thechief difficulty is how to enforce
such a system ; or, we may be wrong in calling that the chief difficulty,
when another most perplexing one remains, not to be got over by all
the fairness in tlie world ; for, supposing every thing to be conducted in
the most open and honourable manner, without either the slightest
wish to show favour to any one, or the possibility of doing so, still with
the very best intentions, and the determination to choose entirely accord-
ing to merit, the selection must depend upon the taste and judgment
of the umpires. So far there is a very great chance of error after all ;
nor will there beany remedy for it, until architecture itself shall become,
a branch of the fine arts, whicli is a very different thing from its
being taken up as a professional pursuit, one of the studies included in
a gentleman's education. Then, and not till then, can architecture be
properly encouraged, because, not till then, can talent manifested in it,
be appreciated by a sufficient number whose voices can be admitted as
those of a public competent to express their opinion, and to decide
between merit and mere pretension. In the mean while, and the
sooner a beginning is made the better, something maybe done towards
establishing a fairer and more effectual system of competition. Perhaps,
were the following regulations adopted, the evil now complained of
would be in a great measure removed : — First, it should be imperative
that all the design? should be drawn to one scale, and merely shaded ;
and that all perspective views accompanying them should be taken from
the same station or stations. Next, that in case ofmodels, all should like-
wise be made to one scale, andeachaccompanied with a perspective view,
showing what would be its appearance when executed, and seen in
combination with the buildings or other objects belonging to the pro-
posed site ; because in themselves models are most fallacious, and more-
over captivate and delude the eye by a certain pre/</nfSS that would not
belong to the buildings erected from them. Next, it should be made an
invariable rule that the designs should be publicly exhibited before
any one be selected, or any premiums awarded. This would save an im-
mense deal of trouble to the Selecting Committee, inasmuch as they
would be able to compare the designs more leisurely, and also have the
benefit of learning public opinion in regard to them ; not that they need,
therefore, be aosolutely dictated to by that, should they have sufficient
reasons for dissenting from it. This parliamentary ordeal being gone
through, the next step woidd be to select a certain number of designs of
the greatest mark and likelihood, and closely investigate their merits,
throwing out from time to time such as appeared less eligible, until
only two or three remained for final choice and decision, after diligent
inquiry into their respective claims. Nor ought such decision to be
reported to the public merely in its result, but the votes — Ayes and
Noes — ought to bespecifically recorded ; since each individual would then
feel himself responsible for his own opinion, while another advantage
would be that incompetent persons would be rather more shy than at
present of putting themselves upon such committees, more especially if
each member were compelled to allege his reasons for his decision, in
writing.

Like many other excellent schemes, this of ours may be too Utopian
to be adopted, neither do we recommend it with any such expectation,
but simply with the view of showing, that, were there a sincere disposi-
tion to manage such matters fairly and honourably, and not only
honourably, but without even any suspicion of intrigue, it would
not be quite so difficult to devise an effective system as is now generally
imagined. Tlie public exhibition of the designs for the Nelson Monu-
ment, by showing the utility of affording the public an opportunity of
expressing their opinion, wliile it can be ofl^ered in the shape of remon-
strance instead of unavailing reproach is a case in point. Another, and
nottlie lea,st advanUge which might fairly be anticipated from the system
No, 19.— Vol, II,— Apbil, 1839.

above recommended, is that incompetent persons would be deterred from
entering into competition, beingtolerablyaware that there would belittle
chance of success for them, were it made an inviolable rule to exhibit all
the designs publicly beforehand ; or even of any notice, except for their
decided inferiority. On the other hand, it would operate asastimulus
to men of talent, because, whether ultimately successful or not, they
might distinguish themselves with t'cto, and obtain numerous suff'rages
from the public.

But we seem almost to have forgotten Mr. Hopper ; therefore let us
now resume, by saying that he holds up as a warning the proceedings
connected with the competition fur the Post-Office, for which building
he himself sent in a design. Wherefore he should now for the first time
bring that matter thus publicly forward, is easily explained. In fact, the
secret belonging to it has been recently divulged by no other tlian Mr.
Sidney Smirke, the architect's brother, and the author of the account
of the Post-Office, in Leeds's new edition of the Illustrations of the
Public Buildings of London, where it forms one of the new subjects, and ^
the only one of them not described by the editor himself In that
account Mr. S. Smirke has very incautiously made a disclosure, that
while it shows how unfairly all the competitors were treated, reflects no
very great credit on Sir Robert himself, beca*ise, we are informed that
lie did not gain the preference by any superiority of talent he had
manifested; but, none of the designs sent in being found exactly suitable,
" to relieve themselves from this embarrassment the Lords of the Trea-
sury commissioned Sir Robert (then Mr.) Smirke, who had not himself
hitherto entered into the field, to make himself thoroughly acquainted
with the business of the Post-Office, and to make the experience so
acquired the foundation of a plan for the new building." Coming from
such source the truth of this admits of no doubt, but it is a most extra-
ordinary instance of sincerity. We certainly do not mean to insinuate
that Sir Robert himself was reprehensible on that occasion, but it is
clear enough that he was favoured to injury of others ; since, surely if
a fresh design was absolutely requisite, the proper course would have
been to have commissioned the author of the best one that had been
sent in, "to make /nmse//' thoroughly acquainted with the business of
the Post-Office ;" and then, either modifying his first plans accordingly,
or else layingthem aside, to prepare an entirely new design.

Whether accidental or not, there is certainly a strong general re-
semblance between Mr. Hopper's faoade and the one erected. The order
is the same, and the chief difference is that the former has a much greater
number of columns, the portico being octastyle, the end pavilions hexa-
style, and the intermediate parts decorated with half columns ; the
pavilions also form porticos, with an entrance in each of them. Still,
as rcards the centre portico, we prefer the one executed, because no
windows are introduced into it ; but, as to the respective plans, we think
that more might have been made of Mr. Hopper's, where a wide central
corridor runs through the centre of the building from wing to wing
transversely, to the great hall, in passing through which a fine architec-
tural vista would have presented itself on each side, provided, that
avenue (upwards of 300 feet long) had been suitably embellished and
the light thrown down from above at each extremity of it.

We presume that the other elevation by Mr. Hopper, here published
" in the style of a favourite design," is intended, whether satirically or
not, to alhide to Mr. Barry's design for the terrace-front of the new
houses of Parliament.

The London and Birmingham Bailwa'./. By Thomas Roscoe, Esq.
assisted by Peter Lecount, Esq., F.R.A.S., Civil Engineer; loith
a Map of the Line, 18 fine steel plates, and numerous wood
engravings. London : Charles Tilt. Birmingham : Wrightson
and Webb.

We have several times made extracts from this very interesting
work, which is of that sterling character that it may be read with
]ileasure cither by the professional or general reader. The descrip-
tion of the immense works carried on during the progress of the
railway shows the vast expense, great outlay, and antagonist difficul-
ties with which railway companies have had to contend from the
first projection of the company to the conclusion of the work. It
also shows with what great perseverance it was necessary to combat
the bigoted prejudices of various parties, some even interested in
the progress of railways. We have read the work with considerable
pleasure, and doubt not that it will be perused by our subscribers
wilh equal interest, while, to give a specimen of the general cha-
racter of the volume, we shall occasionally give a few more extracts.
The plates and wood engravings (we ought perhaps to have men-
tioned before) arc particularly deserving of notice, as they illustrate
the description and show some of the stupendous works on the rail-
way, the map at the commencement, reduced from Cheffin's large
official map, will be found particularly useful to the traveller. Before

144

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[April,

■we dismiss the work we must call the attention of the reader to con-
sider the vast talent and discrimination that has been bestowed on
the works of the railway by the several resident engineers on the
line ; and it would artbrd us much pleasure if we could see on the
rai-ious parts of tlie railway some tablet or inscription stating the
names of the individuals to whom the works were intrusted by the
engineer in chief, Robert Stephenson, Esq. To Ih'is engineer,
however, no inscription is necessary, for the railway alone will be a
sufficient monument to hand down to future ages the name fif

RoBFRT StEPHEXSON.

JiMiCoe'.s Booh of the Grand J unction Railway, from Birmrtigham,
Liverpool, und Manchester, uitli sixteen Engroiin-g^, and /'our
Majpx. London : Orr and Co.

During the progress of tliis work through the press, we have had
, occasion several times to speak of it, and its conclusion fully justifies
what we have before said in its praise. The various engravings are
beautifully executed, and present faithful representations of some of
the principal works on the railway, together vn\h views of the
adjacent country. The -fetter press contains much useful and inter-
esting information connected with the progress of the railw ay, and
descriptions of the to^^-nsand villages in the vicinity of the line.

Certainly, however much authors may regret the destruction of the
picturesque by railways, they must admit that these works have not
been without some benefit to the literary world, for on the Birming-
ham road alone a hundred guide books must have been written, and
some, as in this instance, ntiiting the highest resources of the sister
arts.

Popular Instructions on the Calculations of Prohahilities ; translated
from the French of M. A. Quetelel. by R. Beamish, Esq., C.E.,
P.R.S., &c. London: Weale, 1839.

The doctrine of probabilities is one which has for a long period
occupied the attention of philosophers, and the work of M. Quetelet
is the latest, and at the same time, one which assumes the merit of
a popular form. M. Quetelet has certainly not shown a very great
power in eflecting his object, and from the skill displayed by Mr.
.Beamish, we should have preferred an original work to this 1 ransla-
tion. Indeed the whole work wants a recast to adapt it to English
habits and English social progress, and in its present stale while some
parts seem redundant, others require explanation. Mr. Beamish
leaves several thing-^ to be wished for with regard to style, and there
are many points whicli he has left unelucidated, where a simple note
would have cleared up the subject. It ought to be explained that
a pack of cards on the continent, as for piquet in England, consists of
32, rejecting all cards under the seven except the ace. The questions
at the end of each chapter are a superannuated process which had
better be dismissed: the first and second chapters are too dift'use ;
in the treatise on lotteries Geneva is confounded with Genoa : and
the chapter on assurances is almost inapplicable to this countiy,
es is that on the decisions of tribunals, where we have no judges of
facts.

Mr. Beamish has in the notes exhibited an ability which we slionld
have liked to have seen better employed than as a satellite to M.
Quetelet, and indeed his labours confer on the work a value indepen-
dent of its original merits. The bearings of the law of probabilities
on hypothesis is an important department of mathematical philosophy,
and one which no one eng;iged in study or investigations should
neglect, while in this small volume may be fomid useful information
delivered in a clear and plain manner, which, while it cannot fail
to be beneficial to all classes, to most readers must be highly
Taluable.

The Year Book of Facts in Science and Art. By the Editor of the
" Arcana of Science." London: Simpkin and'Marshall, Is3;).
The Editor of this work had in the course of his labours on the
" A^reana of Science," the opportunity of acquiring an experience,
which he has happily devoted to carrying out the same plan on a
more extensive scale. In the small space of this duodecimo the on-
ward progress of science and art is chronicled, and both the practical
and theoretical student can appreciate how far the wheels of the tri-
umphant car have been driven in their successful course. The new
mventions in mechanics, and the useful and speculative arts are regis-
tered from the most authentic sources, and we feel happy to see that
We ourselves have been able to contribute in some degree to the
general store. The editor has long laboured in the school of cheap
and good literature, and he has in this instance produced a work
worthy of his former exertions, and propitious to his future career.

Theory, Practice, and Architecture of Bridc/es. The Theory by James
Hann, of King's College ; and the Practical and Architectural
Treatise bi/ William Hosking, F.S.A., &c. London: John Weale,
1839. Part 1.

From the specimen number hefore us, this promises to be an invalu-
able work, and one that was much wanting. It is surprising that
England, whioh can boast of having the grandest luidges in the world,
lias not a single treatise on their construction. We regret that we have
not space in the present inuid)er to enter into the character of the
work, but in our next will enter into it more fully, by which time we
hope to see one or two more parts published. The first part contains
an admirable engraving of Cieorge Stephenson, besides three outline
engravings of an American timber bridge ; a bridge over the C'alder
and Hebble navigation ; three plates of the Wellington Dean viaduct
bridge ; two of the Ouse-burn viaduct ; one of the Victoria bridge on
the Durham junction railway ; and a bridge on the London and
Croydon railway. We must impress on the attention of both the
editors and tlie publisher, the necessity of giving full specifications and
estimates of the bridges as far as possible, for to the profession tliey will
form the most valuable part of the woik. The unusually low price at
which each part is published, and the excellency of the engravings,
must ensure it a large sale, which there appears every endeavour on
he part of the publisher to merit and obtain.

Illustration of Mechanics. By the Eev. H. Moseley, M.A., F.R.S.,
&c. London : Longman and Co., 1 833.

We hail with pleasure the first volume of a series of " Illustrations
of Science, by Professors of King's College, London." Such works
will do more to enlighten the stiident than any works with which we
are acquainted ; they will form invaluable references and assistance to
those who may attend the lectures of the professors. In our next
Journal we shall enter into a more minute enquiry into these works,
and the system of education adopted in the class of Civil Engineering
at the college.

Observations upon the Report of the Irish Railway Commissioners.

By Georoe Lewis Smyth. London: Hooper, 1839.

This is a most able summary of all the arguments on the moral
and political bearings of tliis nefarious job. Mr. Smitli fully proves
that the government, from all past experience, is totally incompe-
tent for such a trust, and that, even if they were, that their interfer-
ence has been attended with the most fatal results to the Irish
people, inducing a blind dependence on the government, and dead-
ening all their enterprize and exertions.

The subject is treated clearly and efficiently, and there is such a
collection of documentai'y evidence as might even convince one of
the principal jobationers. We are happy to hail the co-operation of
Mr. Smyth, and cannot but express our sentiments of the senice
which this work is calculated to do in expo.-,ing that ridiculous
abortion of selfish interests and public jobbers.

LITERARY NOTICES.

We have reserved our notice of Mr. Hay's work On Cnlmn- until our next
number.

The Popular Lecturer is the title of a periodical published hy Paul, which
for tlie price of a penny weekly, gives lecture'^ delivered at the ditfercnt in-
stitutions by men of eminence. The parts before us contain lectures by
Messrs. Bowrin^, Birkbeck, Col. Thompson, Grainger, &c, and the subjects
are illustrated with numerous wood-ciUs. Like a buoy floating on the sea,
this publioation shows the state of things below the surface, and is an ex-
cellent omen of the progress of literary institutions in the metropolis, and of
tlie manner in which they are diffusing popular information.

The Sepuldirol Muiinutenls, by Carl Tottie, we noticed individually on the
appearance of the first parts, and those since received nmintiiin the same
character. The ph.tes are beautifully engraved, and the designs are infinitely
superior to anything of the same kind which has yet been presented to the
public. Their merit is simplicity, but this wu regret too often degenerates
into nakedness; the artist is evidently deficient in a correct eye for proportion,
leaving large spaces unrelieved, or when this fault is remedied, it is often by
the introduction of some extraneous feature which is an equal disparagement
to the design.

4 Letter fit the Shirehfllders in the Great Western Ratlwint, hy Edward
Ryley. is an undigested pamphlet, from such sources as the Irish Railway
Commission, and Wood and Hawkshaw's reports, brought forward a prop
to IvoUnian'.s patent railway. The writer's motto, from Virgil, is Tros
Tyriusre mihi nnlio Jiscrimine agetvr, which, translated, signifies. " I care
neither for Tiojan or Tyrian, but for egomii, — I, by myself."

1839.]

THE Cn^IL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

145

ARTESIAN WELLS.

[This subject is, once again, exciting a good deal of attention. The oUl schemes
liave been revived, for supplying considerable districts, indeed whole parishes, ot
this thirsty metropolis, with water, by sinking wells througli the London clay.
When the project was heretofore under discussion, we brought together such evidence
as appeared to as conclusive against it. But as the importunate appealers to our
breeches pockets are not easily to be got rid of, we tliought, under these circumstances,
that our readers might desire to hear the opinion of a geologist ; and as Mr. Webster,
who is at present delivering a course of lectures on Geology at the Russell Institution,
fully considered the question last week, in a lecture on the tertiary formations, we
present an abstract of so much as referred directly to this subject..)

Mr. Webster observed, that an Artesian well is pvoiUiced by boring
through strata impervious to water, down to another stratum eontaining
water, and so placed that this fluid will rise up tlu-ougli the bore by hydro-
static pressiu'e; that is, by tlie pressure of anotlior part of the water on a
higher level. He then pointed out what he considered to be the true source
from whence the water found below the London clay is derived. We must
first imagine a geat depression in the chalk stratum that co-vers the chief
part of till' south-east of England, the boundaries of mIucIi depression or
basin is marked by the Nortli Downis, Marlborough Do\ra.s, and the Chilton
Do^\-ns, wher« the chalk is on the surface. Within this depression, we
must, then, conceive a great stratum of sand, lying in the chalk, but less
extensive, — or ratlier several strata of sand alternating with several beds of
coarse pipe-clay, but in a very irregular manner. This bed is named the
sand and plastic clay; and this sand contains a large quantily of water, so
as to be. in some places, almost of the nature of quick sand. Over these
last strata lies a very thick one of dark blue clay, called the London clay,
which being less extensive still than the sand, leaves a portion of the latter
exposed in a belt or outcrop all round the basin. Now when rain falls upon
the chalk do-mis, it descends the slopes in streamlets towards the centre of
the basin ; and when it meets with the sand uncovered, it sinks info it,
passing do\rawards below the London clay. In course of time, from this
cause, the whole of the sand stratum lias become full of water, and must
continue tn be so, except the latter should be drawni out ; and it is evident
that this water si ra turn can be exhausted only by raising tnit of it a quantity
of water greater than the supply it receives from the hills all round. The
rain which fiills upon the London clay cannot add to the water beneath it,
since this clay is impervious; and, therefore, landsprings only arc found on
the top. If a boring be made anywhere through the blue or London clay,
down to the stratum of sand containing water, the latter will rise in the
bore with considerable force, to the same height or level as the outcrop of
sand between the London clay and the chalk. If this boring be made at a
spot which is on a lower level than this source, the water will spout up like
a fountain; but if the boring be made in a place where the surface of the
ground is higher than the source, then the water, though it will rise, will
not reach the surface ■ and this accoimts for the various heights to which
the water ascends in various Artesian wells. (We omit the description of
the mineralogical characters of these strata, and of the fossils they contain,
and confine ourselves to the circumstances connected with the water.)
During the last twenty years, a great many perforations have been made
through the London clay, from it,s having been found that simple boring
witJi an anger is sufficient when a small supply only is required : and
enough has been done, fully to establish the truth of the geological principle,
that the sand stratum bearing water extends all under the London clay;
and that the metropolis stands upon a chalk basin containing an immense
quantity of pure soft water, sulficient for the supply of many breweries, and
numerous private houses, &c. But now comes the question : is this pure
soft water sufficient in quantily, not merely for the consumption just men-
tioned, but for the supply of the whole metropolis, or of several parishes, or
of a single parish? With respect to the actual quantity of water in the
basin, it is impossible to calculate it with any certainty; for althongh we
can estimate the extent of the sand and water stratum from the map, yet
■n'e cannot ascertain its thickness, since this varies in ditferent places. In
by far the greater number of borings the thickness has not been taken ac-
count of, because the work generally ceases at the top of the sand, when
water ajipears : to say nothing of the impossibility of knowing the propor-
tions of water and sand. Mr. Webster went on to prove that the stratum
of sand and water is extremely in-egular, and that we cannot have a clear
idea of its actual nature, except a much more accurate account of the
borings were kept than had been the case. The sand stratum is subdivided,
in all probability, by band.s of clay: and it is incorrect to assert, as has
been done, that it is possible to predict success in sinking in one place,
because a successful boring has been made in another ; or that the supply
of water will be the same in all places. All mention has been omitted,
when speculating on this project, of the wcll-knowni failure of many -Ar-
tesian wells ; and it is certain that, in several cases, one well has taken the
water from another, proving that the supply in that locality was limited.
Mr. Webster next adverted to an experiment which had been made by the
New River Company, in endeavouring to avail themseh'es of the water
below the London clay, by sinking a large shaft or well at their reservoir
ill the Uampstead Road. At a depth of 170 feet they came to the stratum
of sand and water, which rose up together, as is usual, into tlii; well ; but find-
ing that they could not sufficiently separate "the water from the sand, which
is the chief difficulty in forming wells on a great scale in the London clay,
they passed through this rumiing or quicksand, by means of cast-iron
cylinders, at an expense of 4,0UU;., independent of the 8,UU0/. wliich the
well cost, hoping to obtain water by sinking into the chalk below. They

foiuid water in that stratum, but in quantity too inconsiderable for their
object ; and hence this well has been represented as a failure. Mr. Webster
stated, that, considering tliis experiment as an important one, he applied to
Mr. Mylne, engineer to the New River Company, for inforaiation respecting
it, and received from him all the information he required. A remarkable
discrepancy had appeared in the public statements respecting this well ; on
one side it having been termed a failure, whereas information was given to
the vestry of St. Pancras by one of the workmen who had been employed,
that water had been obtained at the rate of 6,.350,400 gallons weekly; this
Mr. Mylne explained by stating that the ievm failure had been used, not aS
implying that they had not got water, but that they had not procured it in
suiBcient quantity to answer their purpose as matter of trade : the actual
quantity being only 6.50,0(10 gallons per week, instead of 6,.350,400, less
than one-ninth part of what had been reported ! Mr. Mylne likewise stated
that, so far was the supply from being constant, they were able to work
the pump in raising the water only ono-tliird of their time; because, when
they had procured what water trickled in slowly through the chalk, they
were obliged to wait until a sufficient quantity was again collected. Mr.
Webster seemed to consider the idea of a certain supply of water in the
chalk, independently of that in the sand stratum, as a fallacy, or at least
extremely problematical; and that the water found there had proceeded
from the sand stratum resting upon it, and which had forced its way down-
wards through numerous minute lissures in the chalk. He observed that
the procuring much water at a number of points considerably distant from
each other, by no means demonstrated, as had been asserted, the certainty
of raising the same quantity by means of a single large well; and he further
observed, that since it was a manifest and great advantage which the in-
habitants of London now possessed, and which was imkno-wn formerly, that
they can have numerous supplies of fine spring water only by boring, ii Avas
well worth con.sideration whether the sinking large shafts, and employing
powerful machinery to raise water, might not disturb the sand and water
stratum to some distance, so as to destroy or injiu-e the subterranean chan-
nels by wliich water reaches those wells, which are already the property of
individuals; wliile at the same time no reliance can be placed on the con-
tinuance, without inteiTuption, of a supply on so great a scale as is con-
templated from this source. Upon the whole, Mr. Webster gave it as his
opinion, that proper and sufficient data had not yet been collected, to
establish, upon good authority, the existence of water in sufficient abundance
to afford a constant supply to the metropolis, or even a considerable district,
by raising it in a single place from below the Ijondon clay, notwithstanding
borings or Artesian wells, dispersed through London, fulfil their object in
fiu-nishing manufactories and many private houses with water.

With respect to the present supply of water to the metropolis. Mr.
Webster obseiTed, that although the subject did not come properly within
the scope of his lecture, lie would just state, that a considerable degree ot
misapprehension still existed on the subject. The Thames water is often
represented as of bad quality. There is no doubt, that in its progress through
the capital, it is rendered very impure; but it has been abundantly proved
by the accurate analysis of the most eminent chemists, that when the sup-
ply is taken sufficiently high up the river, and conducted into the to\m in a
proper manner, it is of gi'eat purity. At present the parishes of Marylebone,
St. George's, St. James's, are supplied from parts of the river much beyond
the influence of the London drainage. Possessing this, and other excellent
sources, we cannot be said to be unfavourably situated by nature respectiiif
a necessai7 of life of the first importance. — Athenaum.

PROCEEDINGS OP SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.

INSTITUTION OP CIVIL ENGINEERS.

Feb. 12, 1839.— The President in the chair.

The following gentlemen were elected : — Robert Hawthorn, Nichohss
Harvey, and William West, as Members ; J. R. M'Clean, as a Graduate ;
E. W Brayley, as an Associate ; and General Sir John F. Burgoyne, R. E.,
as an Honorary Member.

" On the Properties and Composition of the Peat and Resin Fuel." By
C. Wye Williams, A. Inst. C. E.

The nature of the fuel being of great importance in the manufacture of
iron and the arts generally, it is interesting to inquire into the value of peat
for these purposes. Peat may also be used for railroad engines, and with
peculiar advantage, being free from many of the impurities of gas cokes :
it may also be used in combination with resin, or other bituminous sub-
stances, as a fuel for long voyages. The bogs of Ireland Avere, nearly
thirty years ago, designated by a Mr. Griffiths as mines above ground ;
who remarked, also, that the iron founders in Dublin might probably, ere
long, be supplied with turf-charcoal, which is superior to every other for
their pui'pose. The attention of the author was dii'ected to the use of peat
for the steamers on the Shannon, where coal is necessarily dear, and peat
was at first used only for economy ; the impediments to its use, from its
bulk and dampness, being great. The property of holding and absorbing
moisture is also a great impediment to its luc, particularly in wet season^,
the only remedy for which is great care during the process of drying and
in its subsequent preparation, any care being amply repaid by the dimi-
nished consumption. The evils of its bulb and low specific gravity may
be obviated by compressing it when diy ; when compressed perfectly dry,

146

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[April,

and kept free from moisture, it will inescrvu its bulk. From some obser-
iiilious of Trcdguld, respecting the earthy impurities and odour of peat
■nheu buriil, it is obvious that he experimented on peats from the lower
strata; hut the author, iu opposition lo several eminent philosophers,
maintains Ihal turf coke may be made more effective than wood charcoal.
The author, iu his fast experiments, came to the same couelusiuns from using
Jlie lower though iniimror strata, simply because they were the denser, and
rejecting the lighler kinds. The lower strata sometimes contains peal of a
tolerable purily. but generally the upper and lighti'r portions are superior
in the purily of the carbon, the intensity and qualily of its heal, to those
portions which have acquired density by lime and natural pressure. Wlieu
ihe density is acquired by artilieial pressure, we have a subslanee superior
lo any other for all purposes of metallurgy.

The diflicidty in the eimversion of turf into coke has liitherto lain in
depriving il of its volatile substances so as to make a pure carbon, and in
avoiding waste by partial combustion. This is etlected by ,au union of the
distillatorv Willi the stilling pr<icess ; the vulalile substances are ex])elled
in the oven, and when suftieienlly charred the stifling process is adopted.
Turf for the forge must have a greater density than that acquired by this
process. This is efl'ecled by pulvei'ising or bruising il, so as to destroy the
librous character, and bring the eonipoucnt parts into closer and more per-
manent contact. By the union of these processes, any density may be
given 10 the fuel which will combine the purity of vegetable charcoal with
the density of iniueral coke. The specific graviti(-s of the turf hard pressed
(water being lUOU) is IKiU — of the coke from the hard pressed 1010.
Thus, the hard pressed turf is denser than the densest wood, and the turf
coke double the density of charcoal and equal to coal coke.

The lest adopted by Ihe author, after Berthicr, of the calorific power, or
relative power of absorbing oxygen, is Ihe quantity of metallic lead re-
duced from its slate of oxide by giving weights of the several fuels. Pure
carbon gives 310 grains, wood charcoal 307, turf coke 277, best coal
coke 277.

Thus we have a measure of the relative quantities of heal ; but in-
tensity of lieat is often of more consequence than quantity, and intensity
depends on the density of the fuel. Berthier remarks that the superiority
of coke to wood charcoal is ow ing lo its density. In the above com-
jiariaon, no account is taken of the impurilies uf the fuels; consequently,
turf coke, being free of sulphur, has great advantages. The author finds
that iron worked with turf coke is sooner brought to a welding heat, works
softer, and comparatively free from scales.

The author then describes Ihe resin fuel as an artificial coal produced by
imitating the process of nature, in the best combinations peculiar to coal.
Natural pit coal consists of bituminous, carbonaceous, and various foreign
ingredients, of which sulphur is in abundance, and very injurious. The
i-esin fuel consists of resin, the purest available bilumen, and turf coke, the
purest vegetable carbon. Thus, the greatest heating power exists iu the
smallest bulk, and the excess of bitumen and delieiency of carbon, as in
cannel coal, or excess of carbon and deficiency of bitumen, as in an-
thracite, may be avoided. Hesin, nolwilhslandiug its price, is used in
steam navigation, but very disadvantageously, in combination with cinders,
as il melts and passes oil' iu a state of vapour, not entering readily into
combustion with Ihe oxygen of the atmosphere. But iu the resin fuel, in
consequence of the extraordinary allraetion which subsists between carbon
and oxygen, Ihe resin has ils full combustible and calorific efl'eet. In
the furnaces of boilers, a solid cinder is requisite, v\hicli may be pro-
duced by adding some of tlie inferior bilumen, as pitch and tar. The
fuel is manufactured by adding turf coke, in a state of powder, to Ihe
bitumen in a melting stale, and in .such quantities as lo saturate each
other. The average price of the fuel is .30s. to 40s. per Ion. Its use was fully
tested in the voyages of the Hoyal William, in which 20 cwl. of coal,
with 2 cwl. of the fuel, did the work of 2G cwt. of coal. The suddenness
of the action and the great increase ol' lieat for a small increase in its con-
fciimption, render it of great value in cases of emergency. The author
concludes by expressing his conviction, afler ten years' experience, Ihat
the turf bogs of Ireland may be rendered available for many important
uses in the arts.

Feb. 10. — The President iu the chair.

The following gentlemen were elected: — J. A. Galloway, as a Member;
E. Birch, as a Graduate; G. Moore, C. Robinson, and S. Keed, as Asso-
ciates; and Captain Sir E. Parry, as an Honorary Member.

" On Railways in America." Communicated in a letter to the President.
By S. W. Roberts.

The writer describes the various melbods which had bsen adopted of
laying down Railways in America dui ing Ihe last twelve years. First, limber
vails with light flat iron bars were tried; these were found cheap, but not
durable. Next, stone rails, or sills similarly plated. Next, heavy iron rails
laid on blocks of stone; the violent vicissitudes of Ibe seasons soon deranged
the foundation of these, and caused the track to spread. The heavy iron
rails were next laid on a foundation of timber. The Alleghany Portage
Railroad was laid four years ago by the writer wiih hewn while oak timber,
10 inches square, imbedded in the ground ; upon these cross sills of locust
timber, 0 by eight inches, and 7', feet long, notched and Ireuailed. On the
topof these cross sills, and directly over the longitudinal timbers, the cast-
iron chairs which supported the rails were boiled. The track was thus
efTectually prevented from spreading. The rails are from 45 to 60 lbs. per
yard, from 3 lo 3J inches in height, and from ;i^ to 4^ inches on the base.
On roads with difficult curves " bogie" engines are used. Each locomotive
has six wheels. The hinder part is supported by a pair of driving wheels.

4 to 5 feet in diameter, and the front part rests upon a bolster on the bogie,
which has four wheels of about 33 inches diameter. Each passenger car is
30 feet long and holds fifty persons, and warmed by a stove. The long cars
are adopted as less likely to upset than those on six wheels. The average
speed, including stoppages, is \G miles per hour.

" Manchester and Leeds Railway Section." Bv Francis Wbishaw, M.
Inst. C. E.

This section, prepared under the direction of Mr. Whishaw, is designed
to aflbrd a novel and useful method of embodying a great mass of the
details required by an engineer when giving evidence before a P,arlia-
mentaiy Committee. This seclicn was constructed before the last standing
orders, and the author had here anticipated them in putting uptm this section
much of the detail now required. By sections thus prepared the engineer
can always answer any questions which may be put to him.

" Account of Boring for Water through Granite." By Frederick Holland.
Communicated by Apsley PellatI, A. Inst. C. E.

A hole, 6 feet wide and 7 feet deep, was first dug, and a wooden cylinder
lined with bricks inserted. Two pieces of cast-iron pipe, G feel in length
and 8 inches in diameter, turned smooth at both ends, and united by a
wrougbt-iron hoop ring, so that when the whole number of pipes were
driven, a continuous pipe, peifectly cylindrical, both on the inside and on
llie out, was formed. Nine lengths of pipe were connected and driven, and
then the boring commeueed, and continued through a harJ rich species of
rock or granite, having all the component parts but not the compactness of
granite. The boring was continued to a depth of 175 feet. The supply
has been regular at the rate of from 48 to 50 gallons per minute, a tem-
perature of 48" F., the external air being 52J° F.

Mr. Brunei staled, that Ihe advance of the Thames Tunnel was now at the
rale of 3 feet per week ; they were now 04 feet from low-water mark. He
presented some specimens of sand, which, when mixed with a certain quan-
tity of water, was exceedingly troublesome. They frequently push the
poling boards iiefore them : last night not less than (JO square feet was
pushed before them. They fight their way on with diflSeully, but con-
tinuou.sly.

Fell. 26. — The President in the chair.

The following gentlemen were elected: — G. Grove, .T. B.Redman, as
Graduates ; S. M. Peto, T. Grissell, .and Rev. S. King, as Associates.

" On the Economy of working expansively in Crank Engines." By John
Watt.

A letter from Mr. Watt was read on the economy produced by working
steam in large sleam engines ex'pansively, in which the author details the
result of some experiments on a high pressure engine, employed for blowing
furnaces. The steam cylinder of the engine in question was 33 inches in
diameter, the blowing cylinder 122 inches, length of stroke 9 feet, pressure
on the piston 41 lbs., and iu the boiler 4.5 lbs. per square inch, the number of
strokes about 12 per minute, and the pillar of blast 2J. A large fly-wheel
was attached, and on fitting the steam engine with an expansive apparatus
and culling oft' at half stroke, the performance was greater than at any pre-
vious time, with a saving of 25 per cent, of fuel. The author refers this to
the fact, that all the moving parts, with the exception of the fly-wheel, are
brought to a slate of rest at Ibe conclusion of each stroke, and that if the
steam be allowed to enter throughout the whole length of the stroke, Ihe pis-
ton will have lo draw from Ibe fiy-wbeel momenlum sulficieni to overcome
its own momentum, and lo alter the direction of ils reciprocating parts; but
the steam being cut otf so that the momentum be destroyed by the lime the
piston terminates its stroke, the return stroke will be commenced without
checking the unnecessary impetus which exists when the sleam is admitted
to the end of the stroke. Thus it is observed, that engines working expan-
sively pass the centres more easily than when working full pressure tlirough-
oiit the stroke. The momentum which has lo he destroyed is created at the
expenditure of more than half a cylinder full of steam ; and the checkingthis
motion is also accompanied by a still further waste of steam. Mr. Watt had
altered an engine driving rolls for rolling iron, and the result of cutting off at
half stroke was here also attended with a saving of 25 per cent, of fuel.
March 5. — The President in the chair.

The following gentlemen were elected : — Thomas Chalmers, Andrew Burn,
as Graduates ; and .lobu William Lubbock, as an Honorary Member.

" On the Comparison between the power of Locomotive Engines, and the
cft'ect produced by that power at diflferent velocities." By Professor Bailosv,
Hon. M. Inst. C.E.

In this paper Ihe author does not attempt lo explain an exact method for
compuling the power of locomolive engines, hut only one tolerably approxi-
mate. The melhod he pursues is this: — " If we know e.Nperimentally the
number of cubic feet of water evaporated in any given lime by an engine,
Ihe space passed over in that time, the length of stroke and the capacity of
the cylinder, we hence know how many cubic feet of sleam have been em-
ployed, and, consequently, the mean number of cubic feet of steam produced
from one cubic foot of water: hence, again, by experiments that have been
made by difterent writers upon the power of steam, we know the pressure
per inch on the piston, and then making due allowance for the resistance of
the atmosphere on the piston, the friction of the engine-gear, &c., we have
loft the force that ought lo be eftective. And this being reduced to the cir-
cumference of the wheel, it should be equ.il to the resistance opposed by the
load, which, on a level plane, consists of axle friction, road resistance, and
Ihe resistance of the atmosphere to the engine and carriages. But this is
assuming a perfect action to the engine without any waste, which, though

1839]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL:

147

much to be desired, is certainly seldom tlie case." The author then goes on
to select sonie experiments from those made on the North Star and Harvey
engines, as reported by Mr. Wood to the Directois oCthe Great Wcstetn Hall-
way. He also gives such columns from Mr. Wood's Tables as are requisite,
together with additional columns resulting from the computations above in-
dicated. And after treating upon these at some length, he concludes his paper
by making a few observations on the ett'ect of gradients.

" The Description of a Floating Clough." By George £lli.«, Associate
lust. C. E.

This machine was used for scouring a channel which leads from the
Winestead Drainage and Haven of Patrington into the River Humber. It
was constructed in the following manner: — The frame is made of timbeis
6 inches by 4, 1 2 feet long, 9 wide, and t! deep. This frame is covered with
planking, two inches thick, and through the middle of it a culvert is formed,
with planks 2 feet 0 inches in width, with a small lifting door at the end.
Connected with the bottom and projecting in front are two long beams
called feelers, which keep the machine in its course ; at the bottom in front
are frames of wood, shod with rough iron like the teeth of a saw, and these
are connected with racks which can be raised by a lever. At each side of the
machine there is a wing which is made to tit the slope of the banks, to dress
the mud from the sides and to keep up the water behind the machine.

At high tide the machine is moored in the middle of the channel, the wings
are e.xtended and kept so by ropes, and when the tide is at half ebb the plugs
are taken out, and the water rises about 2 feet in the machine, which causes
it to sink ; the plugs are then replaced, and thus it remains till full ebb, when
the iron shod frames are let down in front and the tide forces the whole
machine, which is like a great dara, gently down the stream, scraping with it
all the mud down to the river, where it is emptied, and Hoated back with the
return tide, the whole distance, about 3 miles, is performed in two hours.

A similar machine has appeared in the '..'nd vol. of the "' Transactions of (he
Institution of Civil Engineers," p. 181 ; only the former was used for a drain,
and the latter for navigable rivers.

March 12. — The President in the chair.

The following gentlemen were elected: — Philip Benjamin Scott, as a
Graduate ; Thomas Cubitt, Samuel Enys, and Hobcrt Mallett, as Associ-ates.

" A description of the Rhymney Ironworks,'' accompanied with a" Draw-
ing of the Paddling Forge and Mill," from Mr. Richards.

These works were erected by the author for (he Rhymney Iron Coiupany ;
and he describes the various processes necessary for converting refined metal
into finished iron. He states (hat each furnace receives IJ cwt. of refined
metal as a charge, which is worked into si.x puddled balls in about a half an
hour. These balls are then taken to a shingling hammer, weighing about
4J tons, with a fall of '20 inches, and the balls are subjected to about twenly-
five blows. Instead of this process the balls might be taken to the si[ueezcr,
but this method is not so eft'ectual in removing the impurities of the iron ; it
is then passed to the puddling rolls, where it is gradually reduced to the re-
quired size, when it becomes puddled bars. These are then, whilst hot, cut
into lengths, and subsequently piled into weights and sizes according to the
description of the iron that is about to be rolled. The piles arc then brought
to a welding heat in heating furnaces, and passed through roughing rolls, till
they are reduced sutiiciently to go through the finishing rolls, where they arc
made into bars of the description required. The same operation of shearing,
piling, and heating of these bars, and rolling through other rolls forms the
railway bars.

ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.

At an ordinary general meeting of the members, held on Monday, the 1th
of March, I8;3y, P. K. Robinson, V. P., in the chau-, the following gentle-
man was elected an associate: — George Ward, of 22, Pcnton-place, Pen-
tonvillc.

The report of the Council respecting the adjudication of the medals for the
priie essays was read.

Resolved, — That the recommendation of the Council he approved, and that
Medals of Merit be awarded to the authors of the papers with tlie mottoes
" Roma fuit, " and '■ Respice ad Palatinura montem vasta rudera. '

The letters, bearing the mottoes of the successful candidates, having been
opened, the authors appeared to be as follows : —

William Willmer Pocock, Associate of the Essay with the motto " Roma
fuit." — Edward Hall, 12, Brown-street, Manchester, of the Essay with (he
motto " Respice ad Palatinum montem vasta rudera."

The following papers were read ; — Description of various specimens of
metal sash-bars, manufactured by Mr. Clarke, of Lionel-street, Birmingham ;
forwarded by Mr. Jones.— Description of a superior quality of crown glass,
manufactured by Messrs. Stock and Co., Birmingham. — Description of
various sorts of stone used for building purposes in Belgium, by Mons. .Serrurc,
Hon.and Cor. Mem. — Description of double gateway to the city of Piestum, with
a restoration and remarks illustrative of the military architecture of the Greeks,
by T. L. Donaldson, Hon. Sec.

Mr. Donuldsun read the Jhlluivinij e.rlrail frum it leltcr he recch-cJ /rem Mr.

Charles U. Greijuri/,eiigaijeUoii (he Manehcstcr and Jjinitiiif/haiit llailivaj/.

Manchester lies nearly at the north of the red sand-stone district. In iho
immediate neighbourhood, on the north side, wo come iutu the coiil.brds and
carboniferous limestone; on the west the saird-stono is cimlinncd (lir.iuglunil
the greater part of Cheshire to Flint, where we pass through strata of lime-
stone to the clay slate; on the east side, 10 or 12 miles bring us to the
boi'ders of Yorkshire ami Derbyshire, and to that ridge ol'.moor-hills which

has been termed " The Backbone of England;" it is here that the summit-
stones are obtained, being a strong grit, and the best building stones for ordi-
nary purposes used in Manchester. The best of the summit stones for strength
aud durability comes from the lilackstoue-Edge Quarries. This stone much
resembles the Bramley Fall stone, and will bear nearly as much. The Saddle-
worth stone is another of the summit stones, but the qnarrv is not half worked,
so that it cannot be so well trusted as the Blackstoue >jdgc. The price of
the summit stone at Manchester is from 10((. to Is. per foot. Another stone,
much used here for Ashlar worl;, is a red sand stone, obtained at Runcorn, on
the Mersey, a few miles from Warrington. The Runcorn stone is rather
cheaper than the summit stone (I think it is sold at Vid. per foot at the
(|uarries) ; it works well, but there is a gi'cat deal of waste, the stone abound-
ing in clay sptits. I-'or cornices, mouldings, &.C., where much work is to be
put on the stunc, the IIuddersHeld stone is the best suited. This is a very
Kne sand stone, approaching in texture to the Y'orkshire landings — it is very
free, and good for tooling ; it costs Is. (W. per foot here.

We leave Manchester (on the Manchester aud Leeds Railway) by a
viaduct, ft)r about \\ mile in length; for a considerable part of this distance
the piers are now up aud the imposts laid, waiting for the spring weather
before the arches arc tunuHl. In the midst of this viaduct there is to be one
skew bridge of iron, of about I:?0 feet span (if I remember rightly). — The
next large work along the line is the Stockport \'iaduct, about 100 feet high
in the highest part, and rather more than oire-third of a mile long. The
fifundations are now being excavated for this work, and it will probably be
in active operation in about a month's time. — The viadixct at Congletou
will be a still larger work, and is to mc more interesting, as I have been
actively emidoyed in the preparation of it. The length will be 3,078 feet,
the greatest height to the rails 08 feet (i inches ; it consists of 42 arches of
t>0 feet span, each with piers 10 feet in thickness between them. It will
contain about 62,000 cubic yards of brickwork, and 620,000 cubic feet of
stone. I do not remember the precise amount at which it is contracted
for, but I thhik it is about Jil 1:3,000.

Monday, March I8th, IKin, P. I'. Robinson, V. P., in the Chair. The
meeting proceeded to the ballot for the removal of Sampson Kempthorue,
Associate to the class of Fellows, who was declared to be unanimously elected.

A letlcr was read from the .Signer Gactuxo Beria, of Milan, acknowledging
his election as honorary and corresponding member. Also from the S or
Atberllolli,of the same place, and from the Signer Klangabe, Secretary of the
ArchsEological Society at Athens.

It was announced by the Secretary that a copy of Professor Phillips's xiork
on Geology, published in Dr. Lardncr's Cabinet Cyclopa'dia, 2 vols., 8vo.,
would be presented by a member to the most ample and accurate abstract of
the course by any associate or student.

The first of a Course of , Sir Lectures on the Gsoluyy of tlie South East of Eng-
land, was then commenced by G. V. Richardson, Esq., of the British
Museum, whose able treatment of the subject was admirably supported by the
clegaitce of his style and the harmony of his delivery. The illustrations were
most eifeclive, and among them were a series of drawings of the caves of
Adelsberg, near Trieste, which had never before beerr seen ia England.

" Geology," said he, "is a science interesting because it is new, aud as Colum-
bus excited the strongest sensations in the old world, by discovering to them
the new, so in our days wc have, as it were, laid open to us a new creation
in the re-discovery of the old. This science has been frequently defined, but
never perhaps to suflieient extent, for it is a science which is not restricted to
a few objects, but considers the past, the i>rcsent, and tho future, (he li\iug
and the dead, the whole organic and the inorganic ivorld. It may be divided
into dynamical portions, or geology proper, which considers the operation of
forces ; and paheoutology, or the natural history of the antediluvian era."

CieoUtgy is a science, which, while too many regard it as merely s)>ecnla
live, is a science of the highest practical utility, — one equally important in
mining, agriculture, and the arts. It is by the character of the strata that
we determine their mineral deposits, as in granite we tiiul tiu, iu the transi-
tion series lead, and in the alluvial gold; so we have equally pointed out
to us the positions, iir which, as they are destitute of productions, research would
be fruitless. Inattention to these has been too often attended with vexation
and loss ; and in one instance, within his own expeiience, the lecturer stated
that the late Uuchess of Dorset was induced to expend £10,000 in the use-
less attempt to find coal at Bexhill, in Sussex, although, uoiv, any geologist
could have told that the exertion woulil be as abiutive as it is absurd. Wo
regret that, from misconception, Mr. Richardson, in endeavouring to inculcate
the utility of a Government school of mines, as on the Continent, stigmatized
our present mining operaticuis as the suggestions of avarice aud ignorance,
for the vilest purposes of jobbery, instead cjf recognising the wonderful po\vci-
of that great principle which has enabled .Joint Stock Companies to place
England in a prouder position, as a mining country, than any of her neigh-
bours, aud which, not contented with the native field, has sought a new theatre
of exertion across the great Atlantic deep. The importance of geology in deter-
mining the productiveness of soils is of paramount utility, and intervenes iu
all operations in diaining ; by attending to the fissures in the strata, if they are
of a poious nature, we may, by directing branch-channels into thcin, save more
extensive operations ; ,n bile we can ascertain if the strata be impervious, by
observing whether they abound iu land-springs. Tho sidijcct of Artesian
wells is one of great interest iu this particular districl, aud it is well deserving
of altention in many places, whenever, iu seasons of drought, numbers of
callle perish from the want of the great necessary of life. In road-making,
in the vicinity of London, we had long pursued an erroneous courso, by
employing griiNcl and round pebbles, until, tuidcr M'.Vdam's direction, tlaj

us

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Apri;.,

use of angular stones was introduced, and newroad-materials were furnished
from the trap. rocks of Leicestershire.

On the profession, before wliicli this lecture was delivered geology has a
particular claim ; for is it not from a neglect of its precepts that buildings
erected only two centuries ago are severely injured by the weather ! This
arises from using a calcareous sand-stone, which, imbibing moisture, is decom-
posed by the agency of the carbonic acid in rain water ; while the use of
granite is not free from the same defects, the felspar, one of its ingredients,
being an eq^ually perishable material : in fact, it is only such stones as siliceous
sandstone, which are capable of resisting that insinuating desti'oyer. The
legislature has indeed recognised this connexion of geology witli architecture,
by sending Mr. de la Beche on a mission through the stone-producing dis-
tricts of England, to ascertain which possesses the best stone, for the construe-
tion of the new Houses of Parliament. The sculptor is also interested in the
qualities and durability of his material, and many are both the modern and
ancient statues polluted by the iron stain, which spots some of the
finest works. The painter cannot disregard this science with impunity ; for
what can be more improper, than in the representation of some historical event
in the undulating scenery of the south of England, as the signing of Magna
Chai'ta, or the imprisonment of Charles I., to see it accompanied with the
shai'p peaks and straggling rocks of the primary or transition strata! A
literary friend, a lady of some celebrity, had committed this error; she had
described in one of her works the Isle of Sheppey, with the fanciful attributes
of chalky clift's and whitened walls; but, having occasion subsequently to
visit it, what was her astonishment to see none of the things she had represented,
but only shores bordered with mud ! Nor, in its general relations, is geology
less attractive than in its physical utility, for most truly does it show us the
omnipotence of the Creator, and teaches us to find sermons in stones, and
good in every thing. To the architect the whole world offers the contemplation
of a kindred work, one mighty temple, reared by Nature to her great Creator :
its details beautiful as they are regular ; its grandeur towering to the clouds,
and its chambers replete with all that can be useful to the favoured people
who inhabit it; in truth, a worthy monument of the Great Architect.

In giving a limited sketch of geology, it is impossible to embrace the
whole science, and indeed lectures may more truly he regarded as incentives
to study, tlian as supplying the place of study its'elf. A geologist is indeed
called upon to narrate, in the naiTow space of an hour, revolutions of centu-
ries, and the history of a million years. He is, in truth, like a traveller carried
at railway speed through a delightful country, and has only time to enumerate
the objects which he cannot describe.

In nature, as in revelation, all is regular, all is systematic, and every
apparent divergence serves only to confirm the wonderful provisions of the
whole. The dislocations which occur in strata, so far from being produced
by confusion or blind chance, are purposely placed, like magazines, to supply
us with the riches of the mineral world ; and here we have stored up resources
which othenvise would have been sunk far beneath our means of search. The
terms used in geology, however diificult they may appear in name, are per-
fectly simple in their explanation ; as, when we use the term anlidinal strata,
we only express that formation which resembles the ridge made by the roof
of a house. Many of these terms have no existence in nature, but are
employed, as in other sciences, to assist the imperfection of our mental powers ;
thus — we say primary, transitive, secoudaiy strata, as in music we use bars
to mai-k the time, without any reference to the existence of such in the execu-
tion of the piece. Geology, however, is a science in which, hke astionomy ,we
must doubt tho evidence of our senses, and perpetually expect results for
which on fij-st impressions wo are unprepared ; like as in that we are taught
that the smi, apparently ever moving, is yet a stationary globe, so here
we are fold that what was once land is now sea, and that the" firm ground on
which we stand was floated over by the monsters of the deep ; that the hard
and ponderous rock was once as soft and yielding as the quicksaud ; and that
the very stones before us in former days waUicd the wind as things of life. The
inquirer into geology finds himself like .\laddin in the care ; at first the rocks
seem to close around him and shut out all hope, hut no sooner has he gained
the talisman of science, than a fairyland of wonder breaks upon his view.
To the man of the world no science can be more practically useful, to the
philosopher nothing more agreeable, and to the Christian nothing more satis-
factory ; for here he finds tho fleeting existence of man chronicled as sm'ely
as in holy writ, and here he sees the eternity of the Great Creator, when he
witnesses the successive destruction of rocks" that almost seem to outvie lime,
and powers that seem as they could conquer it.

Monday, March 25tli — H. J. RoBiNSON, Esq., V.P., in the chair.

Mr. Richardson gave his second lecture on Geology, in which he con-
sidered the rocks with reference to their zoological relations, and their adapta-
tion to the necessities of mankind. The lecturer commenced by recapitulating
the topics of his introductory discourse, and enforcing the definition of geology
as a science which requires the investigation of every branch of organic and
inorganic nature, which in the extent of its disquisitions is occupied witli
the past, the present, and the future. He again recalled its moral tendency,
the manner in which it proves the perishability of matter, by showing the
successive decay of every substance on the surface of the earth, and the
powerful lesson which it teaches us of veferi ing everything to its first cause,
and looking to the great Creator as alone immutable, eternal, imperii^hable.

The greater portion of the crust of the earth, and the secondary and tertiary
portions in particular, Mr. Richardson showed not only to be derived from
the destruction of previous bodies, but absolutely from living beings. These
remains are not confined to the gigantic relics which strike every eye, but
they are to be traced in those minute organizations which uie scarcely icj

cognizable even by the microscope. Piles of rocks, beyond calculation and
imagination, are formed by the infusorial insects and the coral tribes, and, as
if to show the vastness of his power, it is by means of these tiny labourers
that the Almighty has called into existence his most magnificent works. The
pebble that we hold in our hands may once have lived in a thousand breath-
ing forms, and seen the history of centuries ; and, as Young says, —

'■ Where is ftie dust that was not once alive '.' '
The very rocks that now upheave their crests to heaven, once crawled in
earliest forms upon the earth, and from insects which we should crush in the
height of our fancied power, a greater Being has devoted to fabricate his
nobler monuments. Even the primary rocks themselves have not been
supposed to be exempt from the alloy of animal remains ; and the observations
of the Rev. Mr. Reade, of Clapham, have induced him to suspect their pre-
sence in mica and opal of porphyry. In mica he has perceived, by his micro-
scope, annular or ringlike impressions, which he cannot but refer to the re-
mains of infusoria, although, from the constitution of primary rocks,
crystalized by heat to their minutest molecules, this result has beeu doubted
by many. To the microscope, however, we must look for the elucidation of
this subject, and even when we are far from having availed ourselves of its
present powers, we may look forward to a period when it will have attained
a greater perfection, while only recently its powers have been augmented
50 per cent.

In the primary rocks no well-defined organic rernaiDs appear, and it is not
until we came to trilobitic schist that we obtain satisfactory testimony of their
presence. This stone derives its name from the trilobite, an animal of the
crustaceous tribe, most nearly allied to the king-crab, and which is chiefly
remarkable for the beautiful structure of its eye. This organ, which has 3
or 400 lenses, Dr. Buckland, in his " Bridgewaler Treatise," has adduced to
prove the similarity of constitution between the atmosphere and ocean of the
ancient world and that which now exists, proving that it has remained un-
altered in its properties in all the immensity of time. The secondary rocks
are indeed most important in their zoological character, and here it is that
we meet those anomalous animals, the ichthyosaur, or fish-lizard, and its ally
the plesiosaur. In the oolite, which is most important for its constructive
uses, we find the megalosaur, or great lizard, shells, ammonites and other ves-
tiges of its luarine formation. It is from this class of rocks that we obtain
Freestone, Bathstoiie, and Portlandstone. In the Wealden formation which
succeeds it we find many interesting features. The Sussex marble is formed
almost exclusively of snail shells, such as lived in the great river of which
the Weald district was once the bed. This marble afibrds some most
beautiful columns to Chichester Cathedral, and it is the material of which the
archbishop's throne at Canterbury is formed. To the same class also belongs
Purbeckstoue. We now come to the chalk which is the boundary of the
secondary formation, and is distinguished by the presence of the spirolimite,
a microscopic shell, allied to the nautilus and the argonaut, for the discovery
of which we are indebted to that eminent philosopher and amiable man the
Marquis of Northampton, President of the Royal Society, who was present at
the previous lecture. In the tertiary strata we find vestiges of the marine and
freshwater animals which formerly inhabited the site of these deposits, and no
district is more interesting than the London clay. In this and in the fresh-
water rocks of the Isle of Wight we find the uummulite, so called from its
resemblance to a Roman coin, and it is of stone formed of this shell that the
great Pyramid of Gizeh is constructed. Strabo noticed the appeaiance of
this shell, and he attributed it to the remains of the lentils on which the
workmen fed, and which he supposed, having been thrown on the spot, bad
been petrified. This nummulitic rock is one of the latest formations, and yet,
as if to stamp man a parvenu on the earth of which he boasts himself master,
the earliest of his works are but nature's last.

Having thus exhibited the manner in which the zoology of a rock demon-
strates its character, the lecturer proceeded to illustrate the application of
geology to the practice of conslruction. He truly observed, that this science,
by showing the advantages and defects of strata, became of the highest im-
portance to the architect and the engineer. It would be absurd, he said, for
him, to teach architecture to architects ; but, while on this subject, he might
perhaps be permitted to make one cursory allusion bearing on this subject.
In the i4tli chapter of Leviticus, from the middle to the end of the chapter,
there are soniecurious provisions, notgenerally observed, with regard to the
leprosy of a house, as derived from defects in its position or construction, and
showing the attention which the inspired legislator devoted even to this sub-
ject. 'With regard to the influence of strata upon foundations, be supposed
those points to be well known ; and as time did not admit a longer detail, he
must run cursorily over some few points which he should have wished to have
given at greater length. Rocks, he remarked, are divided into two great
classes from their origin — the igneous from fire, and the aqueous from water
or slate ; and the difterent kinds of useful stone range from the primary strata
upwards through every gradation— from primary limestone to slate, sand-
stone, maguesian limestone, and oolite. The main qualities for a good build-
ing stone are firmness and consistency, and one of the best empirical rules by
which an architect can judge of the .stone of a district is by observing its oldest
buildings, which, if aft'ected by the weather, are principally injured on its
north aud west sides. The best way to ensure the greatest degree of resistance in
a stone is to place it in the same way as it is in the quarry, that is, horizon-
tally ; and this is particularly necessary in laminated strata and those of the
tertiary formation, of which most of the buildings in Paris are constructed.
Argillaceous limestong also, which comes soft from the quarry, and hardens
afterwards, requites reat care and attention. Stones of tinequal colour,
spotted, or veined, areuot so strong as those of uniform colour, aud should be

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL

149

circumslaiiccs. Mr. J. W. Hunoe, honorarv secrelary, stated that the rooms
would, ill future, lie open from nine in tlie morning to seven in the evening,
for studying iVom casts , and that the library would be accessible, from seven
to nine o'clock, every Wednesday and Saturday evening. He had also great,
pleasure in adverting to a circumstance, highly gratifying to the society, and
honourable to the individual to whom he was "about to refer. A letter had
been received from Mr. Thomas L. Donaldson, honorai-y secretary of the
Royal Institute of British Architects, stating that the council of that body
had awarded their medal to a member of this society, for his successful
essay-. Mr. Hance then read the following letter, addressed to Mr. Edward
HaU (applause) : —

" 5th March, 1839.
" Sir, — I have the honour to inform you, that, the council having mada
their report upon the essays sent in for the medal of the institute, at the
ordinary meeting, held last evening, the members awarded to you the medal

of merit, for the essay bearing the motto,- — ' Scspicc ad Pulaiinam Montem

t^asta nidera.' I shall communicate to you the day appointed for the distri-
bution of the medals as soon as the council have api)ointcd the time, which

mil probably be shortly Believe me, sir, very faiibfullv yours,

""tHOS. L. DONALDSON, Honorary Secretary."
The subject and title of the essay, as ii.\ed by the British Institute, is '^ An
analytical investigation of the peculiar chai-acteiistics, in design and con-
struction, wliich distinguished Roman from Grecian architecture, with par-
ticular reference to ancient Roman examples." Mr. Hance added that Mr.
Hall, who was present, was, as they were all aware, a very young inau ; and
he (Mr. Hance) trusted that his mei-it and success w-ould stimulate others^
He hoped that this society w-ould in time be enabled to offer honorary
rewards fordruwings and essays; the council had wished to do so, but they
felt that their exertions must first be directed to settling the society iu their
new premises. The chairman briefly acknowledged the kind wishes
expressed towai'ds his son, of whose success he had only heard a few hours
before, on his own return from Ireland. Mr. Hance next expressed tha
pleasure of the society at the presence, for the first time, of resident artists.
It would be seen by the walls that the conversazione was not limited to
arcliitectm-al subjects ; and it was intended to place works of art, generally
of standard mei-it, on the walls and tables, without distinctioir or reserve.
He expressed his regret that another series of cou-\ ersazione had fallen into
disuse, and the hope that, with the aid and support of artists and
amateurs, those of this society, proposed to be held quarterly, would assume
a rank creditable to all parties. In conclusion he expressed the thanks of
the society to Mr. Andrew Hall, its president, for his kind interest in and
attention to its welfare. The greater part of the evening was agreeably spent
bv the members and visitors, in looking at the drawings and works of art
upon the walls and tables. Blr. R. Tattersall contributed several interiors of
halls, library, &c. and designs for a church, and for a club house. Mr. J-
W. Hance had drawings of the pump-room at Cheltenham, the hall of the
Manchester Royal Institution, a design for a new post-office, exchange, bank,
and other public offices (which, it was stated, w-as about to be published),
and a design for a picture gallery. Mr. J. W. Fraser contributed a number
of pleasing landscapes in oil, and drawings ; Mr. T. W. Atkinson, an inte-
rior of Sefton church, and an architectural design. Mr. Horner sent a large
oil painting decoration for a room, and there was another very fine decora-
tive x^iece iu a new style. Mr. J. C. tjrundy contributed a number of
paintings and drawings, amongst which we noticed a fine landscape by
Carmichael ; and Mr. Agnew also sent some. There was a very neat isomo-
trical view of Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire (a seat of the Duke of Devon,
shire), contributed by Mr. C. J. Tulott. Mr. E. Corbett sent an elevation
for a bank at Liverpool. There was a very good full-length portrait in oil,
small size, of Mr. C. A. Duval, artist, painted by himself; and we noticed a
pretty little oi'.-paiuting of a village inn, by Chester. Mr. Calvert and other
artists also sent water-colour drawings; and the collection generally waa a
very pleasing one. On the tables were vai'ious portfolios of engravings,
illustrated books on art, including Richardson's Illustrations of the Architec-
ture of Elizabeth and James I. ; Flaxman's designs ; Robert's Spain and
Morocco; Stansfield's sketches, &c., 5cc. Mr. J. E. Bowman placed on the
table a number of the photogenic cbawiugs of ferns, lace. Sec. and a copy-
produced by this uewdy -discovered means, from a small copper-plate engrav.
ing. In conclusion, we are happy to state, that every one present at this
very agreeable conversazione teemed to be highly gratified with the objects of
interest provided for their inspection. — ManchesUr Guardian.

"voided, as they ate dangerous ; and sometimes, as in tlie case of arches, one
stone of this description will, from its failure, ruin the whole work. Spots of
oxide of iron or of manganese are equally bad omens, as the stones on which
they exist are liable to action from the weather. .'Argillaceous stones generally
contain mica, and this is so susceptible of wet, as greatly to deteriorate from
tiieir qualities. Brown or black stones generally exfoliate in laminie. from
their re.^dy absorption of moisture, so that they should only be used in places
under cover, where they are secure fiom this dangerous a^ent. Moisture, in-
deed, from the conipactnessof its atoms when frozen, injures stones apparently
of the strongest constitutions, and this is the weak side of granites, syenite,
porphyry, and breccia, whicl-v frec|uently, from this cause, exhibit fissures.
Stones, therefore, which are to be used above the surface, sliould not be of
moist tendency, but such should he reserved for subterranean purposes. The
consequence of absorption of moisture, as before observed, is liability to
injury from frost; and, to ascertain this susceptibility, one of the simplest
methods is to allow a piece of the stone to remain in water, and then to weigh
it, to find out the quantity imbibed. Another method recently introduced is
to take a small cube of stone, dip it in a solution of some salt, and then
to hang it for a few days over the vessel containing the salt, so as to
allow the salt to crystallize on its surface; this process is to be repeated for
five days, and then, if tlie stone be good, no sand or fragments of the stone
will be discoverable in the solution ; but if it be liable to injury from frost,
then corners of the cube or sand will be deposited in the vessel over which
it hung. Wet stones, when brought from the quarry, should he dried,
because it is found that the mortar will not adhere to them, and that if the
stone be wet it will always remain so. Stones should also be left for twelve
months before they are used, in order to see in what manner they are
affected.

Granite formed of mica, felspar, and quartz, is liable, from its first consti-
tuent, to destruction by weather, although it is a material susceptible of the
highest uses. Not to speak of the many magnificent works formed from
this material in Egypt, we have noble specimens in Waterloo Bridge, and the
King's Library in the Museum, in which latter four columns of .Aberdeen
granite cost each l,500;., or 16,000^. for the set. Syenite is composed of the
same constituents as granite, with the substitution, however, of hornblende
for mica, and derives its name from the city of Syene, in Egypt, by the
people of which it was much used. Gneiss is a slaty granite, and is, from
this definition, not very useful. Quartz is principally adapted for subterra-
nean localities, and is used for foundations. Porphyry was used most exten-
sively by the Egyptians, and so was the striped stone called serpentine, of
which even cups and vases were formed. The volcanic rocks are divided
into basaltic and trachitic ; the basaltic contain a portion of iron, and are
used for fortifications, and also in the Cathedral of Cologne; the trachitic
rocks are also used most extensively on the banks of the Rhine, even for the
purpose of milestoues. Of the white marble of the lias formation — that
treasure of the British Museum — the Birth of St. John, by Albert Durer, is
executed.

It seems as if, by Divine interposition, the very arrangement of the
strata is made conducive to human convenience and advantage ; from the
primary and transition strata we derive our hardest materials, and from the
secondary and tertiary, our limes and cements. All, indeed, leads us
upwards to the Deity, through Nature to Nature's God ; and our investiga-
tion of his glorious works is one of the best acknowledgments we can make
of his power and love, and of the manner in which he has devoted the most
wonderful agencies to be blessings to us during our stay on eartii.

ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY.

The following donations were announced ; —

MUner's Treatise on Ecclesiastical Architecture iu England, by H. Roper,
Esq.

Chapman's Observations on Canal Navigation, by H. Roper, Esq.

■Voyage Pittoresque dans le Province d' Yucatan, par Frederick

de Waldcck, by William Tite, Esq., President.

Letter to Lady Duncannon, by 'Thomas Hopper, Esq.

Sir Edward Gust's Pamphlet, by Thomas Hopper, Esq.

Mr. Brayley delivered a lecture " On the Chemical History of Cements,
aud of the Artificial Substances employed as Substitutes for Stone," being the
third of a course now in piogress of delivery.

The Chairman announced '• That the next public meeting of the Society
would be held on Tuesday evening, the 9th April, when Mr. Brayley would
deliver his fourth and concluding lecture. The subject to be " On these
physical and chemical properties of Building Stones on which their use essen-
tia'ly depends. "

That the meeting to be held on the 23d April would be a public meeting
for the introduction of visitors, and that Mr. JeflVeys, the inventor of a new
grate for elTectually warming rooms, &c. would read a paper " On the Warming
and Ventilating of Rooms."

THE MANCHESTER .-VRCHITECTURAL SOOIETYS
CONVERSAZIONE.
The first conversazione of this society, in the present season, was held on
Wednesday evening, the 6th ultimo, when the new rooms of the society, No.
24, Cooper-street, were opened. Mr. .\udrew Hall, who hiul recently beeu
elected president of the society, took the chair, aud congratulated the" mem-
bei-5 ou theu- assemblius togethei m their iieiv aiiartuients, iiuder I'livournble

ROYAL SOCIETY.

fell. 28. Obscri-aUons on the Parallel Roads oj Gleii Roy and uf other parts

of Lochabar, with un attempt to prove, that they are of marine origin. By
Charles Darwin, Esq., M.A.

The author premises a brief description of the parallel roads, shelves, or
hues, as they have been indefinitely called, which are most cnnspicuo-us in
(lien Roy and the neighbouring valleys, referring for more detailed accomita
to those given by Sir Thomas Dick I,auder, in the Transactions of the Royal
Society of Edinburgh, and by Dr. M'CiiUocb, iu those of the Geological
Society of London. Both these geologists endeavour to explain the for-
mation of these shelves, on the bypiithesis of their resulting from depositions
of the margin of lakes, which had formerly existed at those levels. The
author however shows that this hypothesis is inadmissible, from the in-
superable difficulties opposed to any conceivable mode of tha constructiou
and removal, at siiCDesBivs iH-rioiis; ol' suveral harriers of imaienss dze,

150

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[April,

wlietber placeil at the mouths of the separate glens or at more distant
points. He does not, however, propose the alternative that the
beaches, if not deposited, hy lakes, must of necessity have been formed by
channels of the sea, because he deems it more satisfactory to prove, from
independent phenomena, that a sheet of water, gradually subsiding from the
height of the upper shelves to the present level of the sea, occupied for long
periods, not only the Glens of Lochabar, but the greater number, if not all,
the valleys of tliat part of Scotland, and that this water must have been that
of the sea. It is argued by the author, that the fluctuating element must
have been the land, from the ascertained fact of the land rising in one part,
and at the same time sinking in another ; and therefore, that this change of
level in Scotland, attested as it is by marine remains being found at con
siderable heights both on the eastern and western coasts, implies the elevation
of the laud, and not the subsidence of the surrounding waters. The author
nest shows that in all prolonged upward movements of this kind, it might
bo predicted, both from the analogy of volcanic action and from the occur-
rence of lines of escarpment, rising one above the other in certain regions,
that, in the action of the subterranean impulses, there would be intervals of
rest. On the hypothesis that the land was subjected to these conditions, it
appears that its surface would have been modelled in a manner exactly
similar, even in its minute details, to the existing structure of the valleys in
I/Ochabar. Considering that he has thus established his theory, the author
proceeds to remove the objections which might be urged against its truth,
derived from the non-extension of the shelves, and the absence of organic
remains at great altitudes. He then shows how various details respecting
the structure of the Glens of Lochabar, such as the extent of corrosion of
the solid rock, the quantity of shingle, the numerous levels at which water
must have remained, the forms of the heads of the valley, where the streams
divide, and especially their relation with the shelves, and the succession of
teiTaces near the mouth of Glen Spean, are all explicable on the supposition
that the valleys had become occupied by arms of a sea which had been
subject to tides, and which had gradually subsided during the rising of the
land; two conditions which could not be fulfilled in any lake. From the
attentive consideration bestowed by the author on these several and inde-
pendent steps of the argument, he regards the truth of the theory of the
marine origin of the parallel roads of Lochabar — a theory of which the
foundation-stone may be said to have been laid by the important geological
researches of Mr. I^yell, establishing the facts of continents having slowly
emerged from beneath the sea — as being sufficiently demonstrated. Tlie
author states, in the concluding part of his paper, the following as being the
chief points which receive illustration from the examination of the district
of Lochabar by Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, Dr. M't'ulloch, and himself. It
appears that nearly the whole of the water-worn materials in the valleys of
this part of Scotland were left, as they now exist, by the slowly retiring wa-
ters of the sea ; and the principal action of the rivers since that period has
been to remove such deposits; and, when this had been effected, to excavate
a wall-sided gorge in the solid rock. Throughout this entire district, every
main, and most of the lesser inequalities of surface are due, primarily, to the
elevating forces, and, secondarily, to the modelling power of successive beach-
lines. The ordinary alluvial action has been exceedingly insignificant, and
even moderately sized streams have worn much less deeply into the solid
rock than might have been anticipated, during the vast period which must
have elapsed since the sea was on a level with the upper shelves : even the
steep slopes of turf over large spaces, and the bare surface of certain rocks,
having been perfectly preserved during the same lapse of time. The ele-
vation of this part of Scotland, to the amount of at least 1,278 feet, was ex-
tremely gradual, and was interrupted by long intervals of rest. It took
place either during the so-called " erratic block period," or afterwards; and
it is probable that the erratic blocks were transported during the quiet for-
mation of the shelves. One of these was found at an altitude of 2,200 feet
above the present level of the sea. The most extraordinary fact is, that a
large tract of country was elevated to a great height, so equably, that the
ancient beach-lines retain the same curvature, or nearly so, which they had
when forming the margin of the convex surface of the ancient waters. The
inferences drawn by the author from these facts, and which he corroborates
by other evidence, are, that a large area must have been upliftid, and that
its rise was effected by a slight change in the convex form of the fluid matter
on which the crust of the earth rests : and therefore that the fluidity of the
former is sufficiently perfect to allow of the atoms moving in obedience to
the law of gravitation, and consequently of the operation of that law modi-
fied by the centrifugal force : and lastly, that even the disturbing forces do
not tend to give to the eai'th a figure widely different from that of a spheroid
in equilibrium.

March 7. — The Marquis of Northampton, President, in the chair.

George Gulliver, Esq., and George Godwin, junior, Escp, were elected
Tellows.

The following papers were read : —
1. Researches in Physical (Jeologtj, Third Series, ' On the Phciwmaiu of fje-

cession and Nutation, assinnimi 'tha interior of the earth to be a hcterogeneons
fluid,' byW.HoPKiNS, Esq. M.A.

Having, in his last memoir, completed the investigation of the amount
of precession and nutation, on the hypothesis of the earth's consisting of a
homogeneous fluid mass contained in a homogeneous solid shell, the
author here extends the inquiry to the case in which Ijoth the in-
terior fluid and external shell are considered as heterogeneous. After
givnig the details of his analytical investigation, he remarks that he
commenced tho juijuiry ju the cxpectatiou that the solution of this

problem would lead to results different from those previously obtained, on
llio hypothesis of the earth's entire solidity. This expectation was founded
on the great difference existing between the direct action of a force on a solid,
and that on a fluid mass, in its tendency to produce a rotatory motion ; for,
in fact, the disturbing forces of the sun and moon do not tend to produce
directly any motion in the interior fluid, in which the rotatory motion causing
precession and nutation is produced indirectly by the effect of the same
forces on the position of the solid shell. K modification is thus produced in
the effects of the centrifugal force, which exactly compensates for the want
of any direct effect from the aclion of the disturbing forces; a compensation
which the author considers as scarcely less curious than many others already
recognized in the solar system, and by which, amidst many conflicting
causes, its harmony and permanence are so beautifully and wonderfully
preserved. The solution of the problem obtained by the author destroys the
force of an argument, which might have been urged against the hypothesis
of central fluidity, founded lui the presumed improbability of our being able
to account for the phenomena of precession and nutation on this hypothesis, as
satisfactorily as on that of internal solidity. The object, however, of physical
researches of this kind, is not merely to determine the actual state of the globe,
but also to trace its past history, through that succession of ages in which the
matter composing it lias probably passed gradually tlirougb all the stages be-
ti\eeu a simple elementary state to that in which it has become adapted to the
habitation of man. In tliis point of view the author cimceives the problem
he i)roposes is not without value, as demonstrating an important fact in the
history of the earth, presuming its solidification to have begun at the surface
— namely, the permanence of the inclination of its axis of rotation, from the
epoch of the first formation of an exterior crust. This permanence has fre-
<iuent]y been insisted on, and is highly important as connected with the
speculations of the author on the causes of that change of temperature which
has probably taken place in the higher latitudes; all previous proofs of this
fact having rested on the assunqilion of the earth's entire solidity, an as-
sumption which, whatever may be the actual state of our planet, can never
be admitted as applicable to it at all past epochs of time, at which it may
have been the habitation of animate beings. The author concludes by ex-
pressing a hope that he may be enabled to prosecute the inquiry still further,
and to bring before the Royal Society, at a future time, the matured results
of his speculations.

2. ' On the Male Orqaiis of some of the Cartilaginous Fishes,' by John
Davy, M.D.

In this paper, which is wholly occupied with anatomical details, the author
refers to his paper on the torpedo, which was published in the Philosophical
Transactions for 1834; and also to MuUer's work, * De Glandularum Secer-
nentium Structura Penitiori,' whose descriptions and views are not in ac-
cordance witli those given in that paper. In the present memoir he adduces
evidence of the accmacy of his former statements, and offers some con-
jectures respecting the functitms of several oi'gans found in cartilaginous
fishes, but does not pretend to attach inidue importance to his speculations.
March 1 4. — J. \V. Li'Udock, Es(i., V.P. and Treas., in the chair.

<.;. W. Featberstonhaugh, Esq. was re-elected ; and Clement Tudway
Swanstou, Esq. was elected a Fellow.

The follow ing papers were read ; —

1. ' An Experimental Inqniri/ into the Fornia/ion of Alkaline and Earthj
Bodies, with reference to their Presence in Plants, the influence of Carbonic
Acid in their Generation, and the eqnilibrinniofthis Gas in the Atmosphere ^'
by Robert Rigg, Esq. Communicated by the Rev. .T. B. Reade.

The object of the author in the present memoir is to show, that the solid
materials which ci^mpose the residual matter in the analysis of vegetable sub-
stances, and which consist of alkaline and earthy bodies, are actually formed
during the process of fermentation : whetlier tliat process be excited arti-
ficially by the addition of a small quantity of yeast to fermentable mixtures,
or take place naturally in the course of vegetation, or of spontaneous de-
composition. His experiments also tend to show, that this formation of
alkaline and earthy bodies is always preceded by the absorption of carbonic
acid, whether that acid be naturally formed, or artificially sujiplied. He
finds, al«o, that different kinds of garden mould, some being calcareous,
others siliceous, and others aluminous, exposed in retorts to atmosjdieres
consisting of a mixture of carbonic acid gas and common air, absorbed large
quantities of the former, combining with it in such a manner as not to afford
any traces of this carbonic acid being disengaged by the action of other acids.
He considers the result of this combination to be the formation of an alka-
line body, and also of a colotning matter. This combination takes place
to a greater extent during the night than during the day ; and in general,
the absorption of carbonic acid by the soil is greatest in proportion as it is
more abimdantly produced by the processes of vegetation ; and conversely,
that it is least at the time when plants decompose tliis gas, appropriating its
basis to the purposes of their own .system. Hence, he conceives, that there
is established in nature, a remarkable compensating provision, which regu-
lates the quantity of carbonic acid in the atmosphere, and renders its pro-
portion constant.

2. ' Note oil the Art of Photor/raphy, or the Application of the Chemical Kays
of Light to the Purposes of Pictorial Representation,' by Sir JoiiN F. W.
Herschel, Bart.

The author states, that his attention was first called to the subject of M.
Daguerre's concealed photographic processes, by a note from Capt. Beaufort,
dated the 22nd of January last, at which time he was ignorant that it had
been considered by Mr. Talbot, or by any one in this country. As an
enigma to be solved, a variety of processes at once presented themselves,
of which the most promising are tho foUoiring :.»i'irst, the so-called de-

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

151

:e

oxidizing power of tlio chemical rays in their action on recentlyiireciiiilated
chloride of silver ; secondl}', the instant and copious precipitation of a mix-
ture of a solution of muriate of platina and lime-water, by solar light,
forming an insoluble compound, which might afterwards bo blackened by
a variety of agents : thirdly, the reduction of gold in contact with de-
oxidizing agents : and fourthly, the decomposition of an argentine compound,
soluble in water exposed to light, in an atmosphere of peroxide of chlorine,
either piu'c or diluted. Confining his attention, in tho present notice, to the
employment of chloride of silver, the author inquires into the methods by
which the blackened traces can be preserved ; which may be effected, he
observes, by the application of any liquid capable of dissolving and washing
off the unchanged chloride, but of leaving the reduced, or oxide ol silver,
untouched. These conditions are best fulfilled by the liquid hyjiosulphites.
Pure water will fix tho photograph, by washing out the nitrate of silver, but
the tint of the picture resulting is brick-red ; but the black colour may be
restored, by washing it over with a weak solution of hyposulphite of aai-
monia. The author found that paper impregnated with the chloride of
silver was only shglitly susceptible to the influence of light; but an acci-
dental observation led him to the discovery of other salts of silver, in which
the acid, being more volatile, adheres to the base by a weak affinity, and
which impart much greater sensibility to the paper on which they are ap-
plied— such as the carbonate the nitrate, and the acetate. The nitrate re-
quires to be perfectly neutral ; for the least excess of acid lowers, in a re-
markable degree, its susceptibility. In the application of iihotographic pro-
cesses to the copying of engravings or diawings, many precautions, and
minute attention to a number of apparently trivial, but really important
circumstances, are required to insure success. In the first transfers, both
light and shadow, as well as right and left, are the reverse of the oiiginal ;
and to operate a second transfer, or by a double inversion tt» reproduce the
original effect, is a matter of infinitely greater difficulty, and in which the
author has only recently ascertained the cause of former failures, and the
remedy to be applied. It was during the prosecution that these ex|ierimenls
that the author was led to notice some remarkable facts relating to the
action of tho chemical rays. He ascertained the contrary to the prevailing
opinion : the chemical action of light is by no means proportional to the
quantity of violet rays transmitted, or even to the general tendency of the
tint to the violet end of the spectrum ; and his experiments lead to the con-
clusion, that, in the same manner as media have been ascertained to have
relations 5H' tjeneris to the calorific rays, uot regulated by their relations
to the rays of illumination and of colour, they have also specific relatioes to
the chemical spectrum, diff'erent from those they bear to the other kinds of
spectra. For the successful prosecution of this curious investigation, the
firfct step must consist in the minute e.xamination of the chemical
actions of all the parts of a pure spectrum, not formed by material prisms,
and he points out, for that purpose, one formed in Fraueuhoier's method, by
the interference of the rays of light themselves in passing through gratings,
and fixed by the heliostat. He notices a curious phenomenon respecting
the action of light on nitrated paper; namely, its great increase of intensity
under a certain kind of glass strongly pressed in contact with it — an effect
which cannot be explained either by the reflection of light or the presence
of moisture, but which may possibly be dependent on the evolution of heal.
Twenty-three specimens of photographs made by Sir .lolin Herschel ac-
company this paper; one a sketch of liis telescope at Slough, fixed from
its image in a lens, and the rest copies of engravings and drawings, some
reverse, or first transfers, and others second trauefers, or re-reversed pic-
tures.

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Feb. 27. — The Rev. Dr. Blckland, President, in the Chair.

The tbUovving communications were read : —

1. " On Jmprctisiuns of Drojis of Rain un Slabs of New Red Sand'itoiie,
in the Storcton Qiinrries, Cheshire, and coeval with Hie formation of the
Strata," Itij Mr. John Cunninyham, of Liverpool. — In a paper read belore
the Society on the .3rd of December, an account was given of the impres-
sions of footsteps of several species of animals in tlie new red sandstone of
the Storcton Quarries, about three miles south-west of Liverpool. In ex-
amining some of the slabs of stone, extracted at the depth of above tliirty
feet, Mr. Cunningham observed, that their under surface was densely
covered w itli minute hemispherical projections, or casts in relief of circular
pits in tlie innnediatcly subjacent layers of clay. The origin of these
marks, he is of opinion, nnist be ascribed to sliower.s of rain, which fell
upon an argillaceous beacli exposed by Die retirmg tide, and their preserva-
tion to the filling up of the indentations by sand. On the same slabs are
impressions of feet of small reptiles, wliich appear to have passed over
the clay previously to the shower, since the foot-marks are also indented
with circular pits, but to a less degree, and the difference Mr. Cunningham
explains, 1)y the pressure of tlic animal havhig rendered those portions of
the clay less easily acted upon. That rain fell duruig remote agi's of Ihc
world, the author stated, no person acquainted with geology will dispute :
as, to the dcstructiv c and transporting agency of rain-waters many of the
sedimentary strata owe tlieir origin. The vast forests also, which grew at a
period anterior to the new red sandstone, and are now treasured up in our
coal fields, could not have flourished without abundant sniiplies of atmos-
pheric waters ; and, that the effects of drops of rain may be preserved in a
solid form, ho proved by reference to an account given by Mr. Scrope of a
shower wliicli fell upon extremely fine volcanic ashes thrown out by

YesuYUis dvy:iBS !li« emptigu pf 1822, TJi? di'^rsi ef iniu I'vxwvtl small

globules, which hardened into pellets, and accumulated in some places
at the foot of a slope, in beds a foot or more in thickness, and were
often so agglutinated that it reqiiired a sharp blow from a hammer to break
the mass.

2. Extracts from two letters addressed to Dr. Buekland : one from Mr.
John Taylor, jiui., on the occurrence of a slab of sandstone containing
impressions of Chirotherinm Hercules at the house of Mr. Potts, of
Chester ; and the other by Sir Philip Egerton, on the peculiarities of the
impressions. When tlio slab was first laid down there was no appearance
of the remains which have been gradually developed by the action of the
weather. Sir Philip Egerton is of opinion that the weight of tlie animal
compressed the yielding sand near its foot, and that the print being after-
wards filled with the same materials, the stone became nearly homogene-
ous in composition. The efl'ects of tlie wcatlicr would necessarily remove
the softer luicompressed portions, but the denser part acted upon by the
animal's weight, would resist for a time the same operations, and present
in relief the outline of the fool. The slab contains the marks of three liind
and two forc-fccf, the latter bearing the same proportion in size to the for-
mer, as in the other species.

?i. " On the Occurrence of Swallow-holes near Farnham, and on the
Drainage of the Country at the Western Extremity of the Hog's-back," by
George Lung, Esr/., eoniiniinicated by Mr. Lyell. — Immediately to the
north of Farnham, rises a chalk hill, capped by tertiary strata. No
perennial main-springs occur on the face of the hill, but the gulleys are,
for the greater part of the year, occupied by superficial land-spruigs,
wluch occasionally become formidable torrents. These rivulets pour down
the hill upon the surface of the tertiary clay, until they arrive at the chalk,
where they are entirely absorbed in swallow-holes, except during great
rains, when a portion of the water flows along channels in the chalk.
•Seven of these holes, between Clare Park and Farnham Park, were
described in detail by Mr. Long. Tlie water absorbed by two of them
is supposed to well out in great force at the Bourne mill-stream ; and,
though soft where it sinks under ground, it is hard when it re-appears. The
drainage, described in the second part of the paper, is eff"ected by a stream,
which passes throtigh a gap at Runfold, the western extremity of the
Ilog's-back hill, and flowing northward tluough the chalk, carries oft' the
surplus waters of a tract bounded on the north by the Hog's-back, and on
the south by a seini-cireular range of low hills, extending from Seal, on the
east by Crooksbury, to Moor Park, on the west. This gap in the chalk has
liitherto escaped the observation of geologists, but deserves to be recorded
among the apertures through the North Downs.

4. "-4 Letter from Copt. Charters to Mr. Lyell, dated Cape Town, Nov.
12, 18.38." — During a very extensive tour through the colony. Captain
Charters's attention was particularly drawn to the occurrence of greenstone
resting upon the horizontally stratified sandstone, which constitute so largo
a portion of the country. The localities mentioned in the letter are in tlic
neighbourhood of Fort Beaufort, on the Kaftir frontier, the small toAvn of
Cradock on tho Great Fish Hiver, the line of route from the Tarka district
behind the Winterberp range to Sliiloh, and to Colesberg, near the Orange
River, and thence by the Sclmeeberg to Graf Reinet. In some places the
trap presented thick deposits, more or less traversed by irregular cracks ;
and, in others, heaps of weathered or spheroidal masses, resembling trans-
ported boulders.

ASIATIC SOCIETY.
Feb. 16.— .Sir George Tuo.m.\s St.wnton, B.vrt., M.P., in the Chair.

Mr. Wilkinson read a paper, " On the Difference between the European
and Indian Methods of making Steel, and on the reasons which induced him
to ascribe many of the properties of iron, and much of the variety in its
quality, to the action of electricity." After adverting to the extraordinary
discoveries of Professor Ehrenberg, of Berlin, who has sliovra that the bog
iron ore, from which the beautiful Berlin castines are made, is composed of
minute animals, that Tripoli powder is of a similar nature, and that the
ditches about Berlin aboiuid in such animals, Mr. WUkinson stated that
these wonderful animals had recently been found in England also, and that
in localities so near ,-is Hampstead and Ilighgate. Mr. Wilkinson then
entered into a description of the mode of manufacturing iron, and of the
process by Avhich it is converted into steel, both in England and India,
wliich differ essentially ; the English process being cliiefly exposure of the
iron to strong heat, in close contact with charcoal ; while the natives of
India put the iron into crucibles with dried branches of a certain shrub,
and green leaves of others. Mr. Wilkinson then adduced arguments cor-
roborative of the opinion, that the different properties of iron and steel
depend on currents of electricity, which, however, he admitted were not
conclusive ; and lie expressed his intention of uistituting a set of experi-
ments, with a view to .ascertain its truth, and its applicabihty to practical
purposes. He hoped shortly to obtain some specimens of Indian steel, and
to receive replies to several queries on the subject, sent by him to India
through tho medium of the Society, which would enable him to proceed
with more certainty.

Jlr. Heath said, that a copy of Mr. Wilkinson's queries had been sent to
him by the Madras government, to whom tlie Society had transmitted them
in 1837 ; that his labours were at tliat time too great lo admit of his giving
close attention lo the .subject ; but that on his \ oyage home he had written
a paper, which he conceived embodied all that was required on tho subject,
and which he would now read. Mr. Heath's paper entered largely into tho

nalws 9i tJis Indian pit, ami lJ;i« opci-atiyus »!' tU« natiYcs in inauulac-

155

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[ArHii.'

*uring it into iron and steel. He said that the ure used was the magnetic
oxide of iron combined -with quartz, in tlie proportion of fifty-two of oxide
to forty-eight of quartz ; that it occurs in the district of Salem, the prin-
cipal seat of the niaiuifacture, in the form of low hills ; and that the quan-
tity exposed above the surface of the coiuitry is so great that it was not
likely that undergrotnid operations would ever be required. It is prepared
by stamping, and' then separating the quartz by washing or winnowing.
The furnace is built of clay alone, from three to five feet high, and pear
shaped : the bellows is formed of two goat-skins, with a bamboo nozzle,
ending in a clay pipe. The fuel is charcoal, upon which the ore is laid,
without flux ; the bellows are plied for four hoiu's, when the ore will be
found to be reduced : it is taken out, and when yet red hot, cut through
with a hatchet, and sold to tlie blacksmiths, wlio forge it into bars, and
convert it into steel. It is forged' by repeated heating and hammering,
until it forms an apparently unpromising bar of ii'on, irom which an English
manufacturer of steel would turn with contempt, but which the Hindu
converts into cast steel of the very best quality. To effect this he cuts it
mto small pieces, of which he puts a poimd, more or less, info a crucible,
with dried wood of the Cassia miriciiluta, and a few gi-cen leaves of
Asclepias ginantea. The air is then excluded by a cover of tempered clay
rammed down close into the crucible. When diy, about twenty cracibles
are built up in a small furnace, covered wi(h charcoal, and heated for two
hoiu's and a half, when the process is complete. Mr. Heath observed, that
the quality of the steel was excellent ; but that the process of smeltmg
was so imperfect, that of seventy-two per cent., of wliich the oxide is com-
posed, only fifteen per cent, of iron was obtained by the natives. The
discovery of steel by the Hindus appeared one of the most astonishing facts
in the history of the arts; it seemed too recondite to be the effect of
chance, and yet could only be explained by the lights of modern chemistry.
In Europe the case was otherwise. In the early times, repeated hammering
after refining, appears to have been the only process ; and cementation by
charcoal was not adopted until chemical investigation had shown that steel
was a compoimd of iron and carbon. Two patents had been taken out
within the present century ; one for making steel by the application of
" any substance containing the carbonaceous principle;" and another, by
exposing the iron to the action of carburetted hydrogen gas at liigh tempe-
ratures ; and it appears that the Indian process combined the principle of
both these methods. The antiquity of the Indian mode was proved by the
present of thirty pounds weight of steel, made by Porus, to Alexander the
Great ; and the ignorance of the Western world was showii as well by this
as by the fact that the arras of the warriors of ancient Europe were com-
posed of alloys of copper and tin. The tools by which the Egyptian
obelisk and temples of porphyry and syenite were cut, were tmdoubtedly
made of Indian steel. Mr. Heath concluded with observing, that he did
not think the Hindu process influenced the quality of the steel ; but it
enabled the manufacturer to accomplish with very imperfect means that
wliich it would be hopeless for him to attempt by Etirtqiean processes.

SIR CHARLES LEMON'S MINING SCHOOL IN CORNWALL.

It is hardly necessary to repeal the observation that the proposed course of
instruction is not undertaken with the view of teaching Mining, for that can
only be ac<iuired in the mine itself, and llie best o)iportunities are already
afforded in various and extensive works throughout the county. But with
respect to those arts and sciences, which, from their close connexion with
mining, are most valuable to a Cornishman, equal facilities do not abound,
nor are they generally within the reach of that large class of miniu? agents,
engineers, and others, who woitld be chielly benetited by them. It is pro-
posed experimentally to supply this deficiency ; and to afford facilities for
attaining useful scicnlific and practical knowledge iu tlie midst of the Cornish
milling district, nn the following plan : — ■

The principal course will commence early in July, and will comprise sepa-
rate series of lectures and examinations in Mulheniatics, IVIeclianics, IMetal-
lurgic Chemistry, and Mineralogy — a detailed programme of this course will
be submitted to the public in due time. At present it is only necessary to
point out by what steps the student may prepare himself to enter on these
studies with the best efiVct.

Probably two classes will be formed, according to the attainments of the
pupils. But, as the ]u*ofessors conducting this course can remain in the
county only a few months, it is of the greatest importance that, as far as
possible, the students should be prepared at once, to take their places in the
higher class.

The subjects taught *ill comprise Algebra ; the elements of Geometry,
which forms the only basis on which an accurate knowledge of planning and
drawing sections of mines or machinery can be obtained, and which is indis-
pensable in the execution of many most important works connected with
mining.

Tlic Elemenls of Lniid and Mine Surveying will be studied with reference
to general principles; and iK.? students will also be required to assist in actual
surveys, and will be instructed in the construcUon of Geoloyical plans and
sectiona.

purpose of considering the propriety of forming a society for promoting and
advancing the scientific improvement of railways throughout the kingdom,
and for protecting generally the interests of railway proprietors.

Mr. George Carr Glyn, the chaii-nian of the London and Brighton and
North Midland Railway Companies, was called to the chair, and opened
tlie proceedings by adverting to the great and manifest importance of the
proposed society, as aforduig a means of bringing the imited experience
and influence of the principal persons connected with railways to bear
upon all questions which may arise respecting them.

The honourable chairman further iilluded to the very great ignorance
which exists among many, even at this day, on the subject of rail-
ways, and the consequent prejudices, which prevail against them, and
pointed out the great advisability of having some regularly orgauized as-
sociation which would be looked up to as an authority on all subjects in
which their interests were involved.

The meeting was subsequently addressed by several other gentlemeu
present, who all concurred in the importance of the proposed association,
and dwelt on the advisability of foruiiiig, at its outset, a collection of maps,
reports, models, and other scientific and statistical details relating to rail-
ways, Mhich should be accessible to the several members of the society,
ami which would in time become a most valuable and interesting museum
of reference on matters coiuiected with railways.

Some discussion took place as to the amount of the subscriptions, and
the name to be given to the proposed association, viz. whether it should be
called the "Railway Society." or the " Railway Institute," but eventually
this, with all other matters ol' detail, was left to a committee of management
formed of some of the directors of the principal railway companies
present, who were empowered to add to their number, if they should
see fit.

Resolutions, embodying the substance of the foregoing remarks, were
unanimously passed, and the several persons present, having enrolled
their names as Ihe first members of the society, the meeting separated.

MEETINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES FOR APRIL.

Royal Society, Thursday, half-past eight, m f., 11th, 18th, and '25th.

Society of Antiquaries, Thursday, eight, p. M., Ilth, 18tli, and 23th.

Institution of Civil Engineers, 25, Great George-street, West, Tuesday,
eight, p. M., 2.3th, and 30th.

Royal Institute of British Architects, l(i, Grosvenor-strcet, Monday, eight,
p. M.," 8th, and 22th.

Architectural Society, Tuesday, eight, r. M., 9th.

Society of Arts, every Wednesday, half-past seven, r. M., 'Jth.
Ditto, Illustration, Tuesday, eight, r. m., 'Jth.

Geological, Wednesday, half-past eight, r. >r., 4th and 2Sth.

Royal Geographical, Monday, nine, r. m. 8th, and 2yth.

Graphic, Wcclnesday, eight, r. m., 25th.

RAILWAY SOCIETY.

A private meeting, very numerously attended by the deputations from
moat of the leading Railway Companies, was held on Saturday last, at the

A'fvr Lofonwtirc Engine. — Wc have rcccivril a letter IVom a IVieud in America
culling unr attention to a new locomotive engine calcid;Ued to a.',ceiHl tin incHned
jtliine, a niuilcl ot'which he has seen. The following is a brief account uf it, su far a*
the iuvcutur w ill at present .illow it to be made public : lor it appeal's he had not pro-
cured a patent for it. It is described as a locomotive engine of eight or ten tons
weight, cylinder 12 by IS inches, of the ordiuaiy construction. In ascending or
descending inclined planes, the driving wheels are raised from the ordinai'v irack. and
the locomotive is partly sustained on small wheeU (well represented by the onlinary
hubs of a carri^ige) on raised rails each side of the track two feet high. The invention
consists in a mode of guiuiug adhesion, which can be increased to any e-\tejit with
vpi'y little increase of ti-ietion The poM er being transferred from the large driving
wheels to small ones, the velocity will of course (iu ascending) depend upon the
steepness of the ascent, which will regulate the size of the small wheels. M'e calcu.
late, according to Pamboiu:, to ascend a plane of 200 feet rise in the mile, at the rate
of four miles the hour, with 100 tons burden. The apparatus to gain the adhesion
caiuiot add :JO0 dolhu-s to the cost uf the l'»L'omoli\e -. it is nevi-r in action except
when overcoming inclined planes ; ^vill last longer than the locomotive, is simple,
ea.sily managed, and not at all liable to get out of order. The e.\pense of the raised
rails will depend upon the materials used iu their construction, which may be of wood
or iron. Two hundred feet in the mile is the ma.\imum of ascent recommended ;
but by reducing the velocity and load, 400 or more may be overcome. The apparatus
is within the Incomofive, which, with the raised rails, constitute all that is necessary
to overcome the ascent. There >vili be no time lost in commencing the ascent. —
Scotsman.

Blastiiifj bjf the aid of Galvanism. — .\n experiment was made with complete -success
^^ ith one of Daniel's galvanic batterie^, under the superintendence of Colonel Pa.sley,
of the Koyal Engineers, at halt'.past two o'clock last .Saturday, off the gnn-whorf,
f 'hatham. 3.31bs. of powder were exploded in about 1 0 fathoms of wather, the length
of the wire conveying the electric flind being oOO feet : it caused a most tremendous
exiilusion. Three smaller ones were after\\ards tried, but only one succeetled. There
was a numerous assemblage of spectators. The Royal George, at Portsmouth, wo
understand, is to be blown up iu a similar manner, and this experiment was pi-eparatory
to tlie attempt. — Maidstone Journal.

Inm Houses. — The efficiency of iron to the application of steam- vessels has been so
successfully introduced, that we notice an elegant plan of a sea-coast cottage of that
description hung up in the Tontine Coffee-room, which seems so admirably adapted
that we have no doubt they will soon be in very general u.se. The plan referred to
seems til have sis rooms, Idtchen, and laundry, and other conveniences, for the small
SI nil uf '.^jO/., or if a double house of fourteen rooms, 500/. This is not half the price
iif ;l i-ommou hou.se with similar accounnodation, and can be ready to possess in two
munilis. The iron tiade of this neighbourhuod should etwhset down one by way of
iutivducuig Uisiu,— CiiasjDiv CkviMk,

1839.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

las

PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS.

House of Commons. — List of Petitions for Private Bills, ami progress therein.

1

Bill read Bill read |

Petition I Bill read

second

third

Royal

ireseuted first time.

time.

time.

Assent.

Aberbrothwick Harbour

Feb. 6.

Feb, 27,

Mai-. 12.

—

—

Aberdeen Harbour

Feb. B.

Mar, lo.

— ■

—

—

Ballochney Railway

Feb. 12.

Mar, 14,

—

—

—

Barnaley Waterworks .

Feb. 21.

—

—

—

—

Batb Cemetery . . • •

Feb. 22.

—

— — 1

—

Belfast Waterworks

Feb. 22.

—

—

—

—

Birmiu^'baiu Canal

Feb. 20.

Mar. lo.

—

—

—

Biruiiugliuni & Gloucester Railway

Feb. 21.

Mar. 15.

—

—

—

Bishop Auckland &WeardaleRhvy.

Feb. 22.

Mar. 18.

—

—

—

Blackheath Cemetery .

Feb. 22.

Mar. 18.

—

—

—

Bradford (York) W'aterworka

Feb. 21.

—

— ■

—

—

Brighton Gas ....

Feb. 21,

Mar. 18.

—

—

—

Brighton Cemetery

Feb. 21.

Mar. 18.

—

—

—

Bristol and GloucestershireRailway

Feb. 21.

Mar. 7.

Mar. 19

—

—

British Museum Buildings

Feb. 22.

—

— '

—

—

Bromptoii New Road .

Feb. 22.

Mar. 18.

—

—

—

Cheltenham Waterworks

Feb. 22.

Mar. 12.

Mar. 22.

—

—

Commercial (London and Black-

wall) Railway ....

Feb. U.

Mar. 8.

Mar. 21.

—

—

Dean Forest Railway .

Feb. 19.

—

—

—

—

Deptford Pier ....

Feb. 22.

Mar. 18.

—

—

—

Deptford Pier Jmictisn Railway .

Feb. 22,

Mai-. 20.

—

—

—

Deptford Steam Ship Docks .

Feb. 22.

—

—

—

—

Edinburgh, Leith, and Newhaven

Railway

Feb. 19,

Mar. 11.

.^

—

—

Eyemouth Harbour

Feb. 12.

—

—

—

Fraserburgh Harboui- .

Feb. 20.

—

—

—

—

General Cemetery

Feb. 20.

Mar. 11.

Mar. 21,

—

.—

Gravesend Gas ....

Feb. 21.

Mai-, 18,

—

—

—

Great North of England Railway

Feb. 18.

Mai-, 13,

—

—

—

Great Western Railway

Feb. 14.

Mar, 4.

Mar. 13.

—

—

Great Central Irish Railway .

Mar. 12.

—

—

—

Herefordshire and Gloucestershire

Canal

Feb. 20.

Mar. 13,

—

—

Heriui Gas

Feb. 22.

—

—

—

Holuifirth Gas .

Felj. 11.

—

—

—

Liverpool Docks ....

Feb. 21.

—

—

—

Liverpool Buildings

Feb. 21.

—

—

—

Liverpool and Manchester Exten-

sion Railway ....

Feb. 14.

Feb. 28.

Mar. 12.

—

London and Birmingham Railway

Feb. 8.

Feb. 22.

Mar. IJ.

—

—

London Brid;.^e Approaches, j»c. ,

Feb. 19.

—

■ —

Loudon and Croydon Railway

Feb. 10.

Mar. 18.

—

—

—

Loudon Cemetery

Feb. 1».

Mar, 18,

—

—

—

London and Greenwich Railway .

Feb. 21.

Mar, 18,

—

—

London and Southampton IGtliUl-

ford Branch) Railway

Feb. 22.

—

—

„

—

London and Southampton (Ports-

mouth Branch) Railway .

Feb. 6.

Feb. 2S.

Mar. 7.

—

—

Manchester & BirniingUamRailway

Feb. 18.

Mar. 18.

—

—

—

Manchester aud Biruiingliaui Ex-

ten.sion(Stone&: Rugby) Railway

Feb. 11.

—

—

—

—

Mancliester aud Leeds Itaihvay

Feb. 18.

Mar, 8.

Mar. 19,

—

—

Marylebone Gas& Coke Company

Fell. 22,

Mar, 18,

—

Monldand Af KirkintiUoch Railway

Feb. 12.

Mar, 14,

—

—

Necropolis (St. Pancras) Cemetery

Feb. 21.

Mar, 15,

—

—

—

Newark Gas ....

Feb. 14

Feb. 28,

Mai-, 11,

—

Newcastle-upon-Tyne and North

Shields (E.-tteuftiou) Railway

Feb. 18.

Mar, 16,

—

Northern & Eastern (No 1) Railway

Feb. 22.

Mar, 18.

—

—

Northern & Ea>s tern (No. 2) Railway

Feb. 22.

—

North MidlandRailway

Feb. 11.

Mar, 4.

Mar, 14.

—

North Union Railway

Feb. 22.

—

Nottingham Inclosure and Canal

Feb. 19.

Mar, 18.

—

Over Darwen tias

Feb. 21,

_

—

Perth Harbour and Navigation

Feb, 14.

—

Portishead Pier ....

Feb. 22

—

Preston Gas : . . .

Feb, 6,

Feb. 20,

Mar. 6.

Mai-. 19.

Preston and Wyre Railway .

Feb. 6.

Feb. 20.

Mar. 4.

Mar. 15.

—

Preston aud Wyre Railway, Hai'-

bour, and Dock

Feb. 21,

Mar, 18,

Redcar (No. 1) Harbour

Feb, 19.

.^_

ZI

Redcar (No. 2) Hai-bour

Feb. 22.

__

Rishworth Reservoirs .

Feb. 21.

Mai-, r,.

Mar. 23.

Rochdale Waterworks .

Feb. 7.

Feb. 21.

Mar. 6.

—

Rochester Cemetery

Feb 22.

Mar, 18-

Sawmill Ford Bridge and Road

Feb, 21.

Mar 18-

—

—

Slamannan Railway .

Feb. 12.

Mar. 18.

—

—

South Eastern Railw ay

Feb. 11.

__

South Eastern (Deviation) Railway

Feb. 22.

Feb. 27.

—

—

'I'eignmouth Bridge .

Feb, 14,

—

Feb, 22,

Mar. 15.

Tvne, Steam Ferry

Feb, 21,

Feb, 22,

_.

\\'eMt Durham Railway

Feb, 21.

Mar. 18.

.

Westminster Improvement .

Feb. 21.

„

Wishaw and Coltness Railway

Feb. 12.

Mar. 14.

,

AVyrley aud EssingtouandBirmiug-

f^a '

bwaCwta . , , .

m.is.

—

•5.

—

March l.~Cahduida Canu/.— Select committee appointed " with a view to
consider and report to the House, what steps it is advisable to take with
respect to the present state of the Caledonian Canal."

Makch 1 Irish Kaihvuys. — Motion made, and question proposed, "That

her Majesty be enabled to authorise Exchequer Bills to an amount not
eeceeding 2,500,000/., to be made out by direction of the Lords Commis-
sioners of the Treasury, and to be by them advanced for the construction of
a railway or railways in Ireland, the sum so advanced being secured, and the
interest and sinking fund to be secured on the profits of the works, the
deficiency, if any. being provided for by an assessment, on the several
districts through which suca railway or railways may be carried, or what
may be benefitted thereby." — Question put, Ayes 144, Noes 100.

LAW PROCEEDINGS.

PAVING ACT,

M.^RLBOHOUGH-STBEET. — A matter of some importance to paving boards
and proprietors of land -was argued on Saturday, 2d ult,, before Mr. Conant
and Mr. Dyer, the sitting magistrates.

Lady Montfort, the lessee of a mansion in Park-lane, appeared by counsel
(Mr. Clarksou) to ans-wer an information laid under Mr. -A. Taylor's act,
by the trastees of the parish of St. George, Hanover-square, for an alleged
violation of the act, in breaking up the pavement to the length of eight
inches, whereby her ladysliip had incurred a penalty not exceeding 10/,

Mr. Clarksou said the question between the parties -was one of great public
importance. Lady Montfort, in order to have a magisterial decision on the
point at issue, had caused to be taken up a portion of the pavement before
the house to which .she laid claim as private property, and as belonging to
the site of the house leased to her.

Mr. Bodkin, on the part of the trastees, said that in 1831, Lady Montfort
rebuilt the house, and at that time she applied to the paving board to open
a grating before it, but she -was refused. Since tlie refusal, in order to
raise the present question, she had broken the groimd, and the trustees in
consequence had adopted the present proceedings.

Mr. Clarksou said it was true that Lady Montfort had applied to the
pavement board for permission to open a grating, and had been refused.
But lier application was for 18 inches, an extent of ground which he admit-
ted Lady Montfort could not claim. Lady Montfort, in the present
instance, had broken the pavement to the extent of eight inches, wliich she
was prepared to prove by her lease was part of the ground belonging to the
house.

The lease wa,s tlien produced, by wldch it appeared that the extent of
(he ground in feet and inches was specified. The present mansion occupied
the entire space, with tlie exception of eight uichcs, which tlie parish au-
thorities some time back had paved over.

Mr. Bodkin said the parish proved their right by pacing the groiuid
in 18.31.

Mr. Conant asked who was the freeholder of the grotuid ?

Mr. Clarksou said Ihe freehold was vested in the Dean and Chapter of
Westminster. It was true the parish had paved over the eight inches now
claimed since 18.3), but that act did not vest the proprietorship of the soil
in the parish. What answer would it be to the Ireeliolders, because the
leaseholder had not chosen to take in the eight inches w-hen rebuilding
Ihe house, that the parish hud paved the place and taken the soil V Though
the parish had pave'd the ground, the freeholder, he contended, could resume
it when lie pleased.

Mr. Bodkin said, if it were competent for a person lo go back to old
docimients to prove that at one tune a portion of ground belonged to him,
whal, for instance, was to hinder Lord Grosvcnor from resorting to the
same course witli respect to his property, and to say lo the parisli, "I had
tills ground, aud I will break up the pavement and carry out a portico in
assertion of my rights:'"

Mr. Conant said, as lord Grosvenor had been referred to in the way of
illustration, lie would carry the argunieni further. Suppose the parish
chose to pave before his lordship's house, they might then set up a claim
lo the groimd. I'liis appeared somewhat of tlie ualuie of Lady MouUbrt's
case.

Mr. Bodldn said, the question was very important, and the parties were
anxious to have the matter reviewed in a solemn way by an appeal to the
superior courts.

Mr, Conant said, he thought the trustees were bomid to show on what
groimds they paved the portion of land in dispute.

Mr. Cunningham, the late surveyor, was called, but he could state
nothing more than that he had paved flush up to Lady Montfort's house,
in compliance with the orders of the paving board. He could not say
whether the eight inches now claimed did not form part of the groiuid
claimed by the freeholder.

Mr. Couaut said, the matter for tlic court to decide was not whether the
ground was public or private property; the question was as to the juris-
diction of the act of Parliament, and whether the present proceeding was
such an encroachment as subjected the party adjoining it to a penalty. It
would have been \ery material had the surveyor been able to show the
groiuid on which the trustees had ordered liim to pave the place, or that
the eight inches in question did not form a portion of the private freehold ; but

ili« svuyejor wuld do ng niwi llian pwvs \M l'«i abeut ei£iJt y«aw J>« b«4

154

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[April

paved the disputed piece of ground. Now, the time during wliich the
parish had pa^ed llie place was too short to give the parish a right to the
soil, or to permit them to levy a penalty on an attempt being made to
resume an alleged right; for if the parish could claim under svirli ciroim-
stances, :tlien any one might have his property paved over by the parish,
and be called upon to pay a penalty if he attempted to take up what the
parish had laid down. With this view of the case he must dismiss the
uiforniatioii.

STEAM NAVIGATION.

ERICSSONS STEAM BOAT FROPELLER.
The experimental iron steam-boat, Robert K. Stockton, consU-ucted for
testing Captain Ericsson's propeller, which we noticed some time since, being
on the eve of departure for tlio Ignited Slates, at the request of a number of
scientilic gentlemen who were desirous of witnessing her performance, the
proprietor consented to another trial being made, and on Saturday, ths 9tb
ultimo, a large party was invited for this jiurpose. Among those present
were Major-OeneralSir John Burgojue, Major Robe, of the Royal Engineers,
Mr. James Terry, of Dublin, Messrs. VignoUes, Delafield, Reid, Napier, and
Thomas; several Swedish naval oflicers; Captain Stockton, of the United
States navy ; Mr. Ogden, Consul of the United States at Liverpool ; Blr.
Young, an American civil engineer, &.C., and about thirty other gentlemen
were nresent, and the result of the trial gave universal satisfaction.

One of our correspondents having before described the construction of the
new propeller, we will now more particularly direct attention to the effect pro-
duced during the trial, which appeared quite conclusive as to the success of
this important improvement in steam-navigation. The distance from the
West India south-dock, to a point opposite Woolwich church and back, mea-
suring 37,000 feet, was passed in forty-five minutes precisely (twenty one
minutes with, and twenty-four minutes against the tide), the boat towing at the
time a heavy city barge on the one side, a large wherry on the other, and
another wherry astern. The speed of the engine being repeatedly timed by
Air. Young, it was found to average sixty-six revolutions per minute, or
2,970 during the forty-tivo minutes. The inventor demonstrated by .accurate
working drawings, that the spiral planes of the propeller are set at such an
angle, that had the resistance of tlie water been perfect, the progress of the
boat could only have been 132 feet at each revolution, or 30,201 feet dining
the time, instead of 37,000 actually performed, thus showing a loss of less
than 6 per cent. Respecting the engines for working the propeller, it was
observed, that they may be made much stronger and more compact than
ordinary marine engines, in conseiiuence of the power being applied directly
to the shaft which works very near the bottom : this for sea-going vessels
iiill bo very important, and their original cost must be considerably reduced,
as all the paraphernalia of shafts, wheels, wheel-guards, &c., will be dispensed
with. AVe were struck with the great regularity of the motion, not the slight-
est jar being perceptible. The engines consist of two cylinders sixteen inches
in diameter, with eighteen inches stroke, and arc worked by steam, of a pres-
sure varying from 3.Jlb. to S.ilb., to the square inch; their construction is
extremely simple, and evinces a knowledge of steam machinery in the inventor
which is calculated to give additional confidence in the success of his propeller
in all the varieties of its application for canal, river, or ocean navigation. —
Times.

Gnat Wf&h-rn Sham Ship. — .\ half-yearly general meeting of the proprietors was
held in rrince's-street, Bristol, last week. Air. Maze took the chair. Mr. Claxton
read the report, which stated that the company's lirst ship had disproved all im
favourable auguries, and promptly rewarded the enterprise of the projectors. It wa^
impossible to speak too highly of the (jualities of the (ireat Western steamship ;
after hanng run 35,000 nautical miles, and encountered 36 days of heavy gales, her
seams reiplired no caulking, and when she was docked she did not show a wrinkle in
her copper. The average of her passages out wan bjj days, and home 1 3 days;
the shortest passage out was 14^ days, and the shortest home 12^. About 1,00 »
passengers had gone in Ih.^ ship. Alter alluding to the grt-at expense necessary to
combiuf! speed, security, and enjuymeiit, it c\[)rcsscd a hnpc that thruugh the lil'e-
rality of the American Congress the duty of "^d. per liTishel on coals would be gi\en
up, and thus a saving of nearly 1,000/. a-year would be effected. The comi)any
have decided on constructing their next vessel of iron, for which the preparations
are far advanced. It appeared from the statement of accounts, that aiter paying
2,000/. for additions to the ship, and insurance to October next, l,/»0(»/. for goods
damagi'd in the hurricanes in Octobur last, and njiw ards of 2,000/. beijig set apart
for a reserve fund, there remained from the profits suifieient for a dividend of 5 per
rent., making, with the former one of 4 per cent., 0 per cent, for the year. The re-
port was unauiinously adopted.

Launch of the Steamer Nicholai. — The ceremony of launching a splendid
steam-vessel, named the Nicholai, took place on Saturday, the Itith ult., at Deptlbrd,
and, nothwithstauding tbe unsettled state of the weather, attrat-ted a large concourse
of spectators. Among those present were Count Lubiuski, Count AV'orouicow, several
attaches of the Russian embassy, and other foreigners of distinction, Sir J. Brand,
Captain Hayinan, Captain Rowland, and many inlhiential individuals connected
with steam navigation. The Nicholai, whicli is 800 tons burden, has been built for
the Eiuperor of Russia, after whom it has been named, and whose bust, said to be an
admirable likeness, adorns her ligure head. She is the largest steamer belonging to
Russia, and iiUcnded to ply as a packet between Lubeck and St. Petersburgh. The
Nichidai was built in fom- months aher laying her keel. The vessel has been re-
moved to Messrs. Seawards' establishment at lamehoiise, for the purpose of having
her engines put on board, which are to be of 2 10 horses power.

The !^.ta^, a new iron steam boat, intended for the passage trade between Shields
and Newcastle, is reported to be a line vessel, and draws only 23 inches water. She

is Uie tot Uon slcamw tliat has bc«n laiuiched from the \i\ak^ of coaly Tync.

A splendid little iron steain boat, of about 120 tons burthmi, was on Monday, the
ISth ultimo, launched from the iron works of Messrs. Summers, Groves, and Day, of
Wdlbrook, near Southampton. She is built for tlio Lisbon Steam Navigation
Conq)any.

SIfum Conveyance to America. — Government have entered into a conlract for con-
veying the mails by large and powerful steam-vessvis from Liverpool to Halifax, and
thence by branch steamers to Boston, and in the siuiuucr to Quebec. The mercantile
interests, not only in tbe North .\merican colonies, but also in the United States,
will be gratified to learn that, instead of a monthly conunuuication, as formerly,
steamers will now be despatched on the 1st and lath of each month. The enter-
]»rising contractor has engaged iwith those able and scientific builders, Messrs.
Wood, at Port Glasgow, to build three shipsof 1,000 tons each, in which Mr. Robert
Napier is to place engines of 400 horse poi\er. From the past success of Messrs.
Wood and Napier we doubt not, when these vessels are on their station, in April,
1840, they will be quite unrivalled ; and, moreover, that the acute observation of
" Sam Slick, " that " the route via Halifax is the shortest way to New York," will be
verified to demonstration. — tjlatgow Paper.

Royal Xaral Sfeani Service. — A splendid biulding, under the name of the " Eugiue
Factory,'* is nearly completed in Woolwich duck-yard, with a large adjacent mast
and timber pond, and a .short canal cut for its communication with the great basin,
vvitli a cas.soon and bridge to allow tlie steam-boats to be brought up alongside the
factory, instead of being sent to the private mauufactm-ers'. The boiler department
is not yet, hovvever, organised.

Mediterranean Steam Xavi'jalion. — The /Vustriau government continue to pay
assiduous atteution to this important branch, and, by a recent regulation, they have
obviated the necessitv of quaranliue, by placing a sworn government otficer of health
on board each of their steamers, — a regulation which, it is to be hoped, will be adopted
by other powers.

Brazilian Steam Navigation. — Two boats of the Brazilian Steam Navigation Com-
pany have arrived at Bahia, where they have excited the greatest sensation.

PROGRESS OP RAILWAYS.

EASTERN COUNTIES RAILWAY.

Report of the Engineer to the Directors.

GENTl.EMr,N,^In compliance with your iustrucliotiR, I beg leave to submit the
following report as to the state of the works, and the line, coH)raencing at London
and terminating at Springfield, a distance of thirty-one miles.

The wdiole of the London Viaduct, commencing at Farlhing-street, within 300 feet
of the terminus, has been let to four respectable contractors.

That portion between Devonshire-street and Dog-row, for a length of 31 chains,
the whole of Ihe foundations are laid, and the abutments and piers, are nearly all
carried springing bif^h, and sever.d of the arches ai-e turned.

The iron-w ork for the three bridges. Dog-row, Ann-street, and ,Globe-lane, is in a
V eiy forward-state.

Nearly the wiiole of the portion from Dog-row to Winchester-street, a distance of
28 chains, is fenced ort'; several of the foundations arc excavated, concrete forming,
and brickwork for the piers and abutments commenced ; large quantities of
materials are on the ground. A further distance of 1 1 chains, extending to Bethnal
tireen Workhouse, is in possession of the contractor, and the house are being
pulled down.

I'rom Devonshire-street, eastward, to Angel-lane, at Stratford, the whole of the
embankment is fjrmed, with the exception of a small portion adjoining the Aiaduct ;
also small portion at Tredegar-scpuire, in the Fair Field at Old Ford,, and east of
llie river Lea Bridge, in all anumnting to less than 30,000 cubic yards on, which is being
supplied from three lUtferent places, tendering the completion within a Ibrtnight an
easy-task.

'Ihe embankment from the River Lea Bridge to Angel-lane is ballasted, and the
permanent way laitl.

Westward of Lea Bridge, a considerable portion is ballasted, and the laying of the
permanent rails is commenced.

By means of ;a temporary stage or tippiug frame, this eudiankment'containing
upwords of 270,000 cubic ywds, has been formed in less than nine months,
nothwithstauding the winter season, and the more than ordinary diificullics pre-
sented by the yielding nature of the marsh lands over which it crosses, and which
has occasioned a serious subsidence for a distance of nearly half a mile, and which
would have rendered the foruuUion of this embankment an extremely dilUeult, tardy,
and expensive operation without the introduction of this useful, and I am happy
to add, successful expeihcut, which has not only enabled us to deposit the large
quantity of 231.000 cubic yards iput of the above quantity over one tip in so short
a space of time, but has been ^the means of completing the work much under the
estimate.

It mav bo here gratifying to remark, that .'although the present subsidence of
the embankment is within but 15 feet of one of the groat reservoirs belonging to
the East London Water Works Company, I have succeeded in preventing any in-
jurv to it.

'fhe cutting from Angcllane to tbe Ilford Valley is opened the whole ihstance, and
the ballasting and permanent wav formed, all but twenty chains. The embankment
over the Ilford vallov has been completed for more Oian six months; the
ballastuig and pernjau'cut way laid. The cutting east of the valley, with the
exception of a small portion in Cinlis's field, and the crossing of the Essex turnpike
road, at Ihe eighth mile-stone, is open to the tenth mile stone, and the pei-manent
rail laid through Ilford for a distance of half a mile from the valley. About 10
chains east of this cutting, tbe'gullet leading to the Chadwell cuttuig is open. The
cutting from Chadwell to Whalebone lane is completed, the road ballasted, and the
permanent way laid.

The embankment at Whab-bonedane, oxUiuHug towards Romford, is completed
and tbe pennanent wav hud for a distance of tiO chains.

In order to expedite" the IbriMation of this embankment, a side cutting contiguous
to the Barrack field at Romford lias been opened. I therefore anticipate that the
whole embankment up to Romford will be completed in less than six weeks.

Up to this poi«t, the m?.5oiiry comjBeuciug at the east ejid of the X<oudou Viaduct

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

ir,!

is oorapletc, ctMihisting uf the numerous bridges over tlio river;!, and over and undtir
tUe turnpiko and ufcnpation roads, amounting in all to forty-tlireo, many of them
of considerable inaguituje, involving great expense in the consti-iiction of their
foundations.

Continuing east of R»>mford, several other important works are completed.

In addition to these works, the station of Angel-lano, Stratford, with the engine-
houses, coke-sheds, and water-tanks, and Whalcbonedane and Ilford, arc nearly
complete.

The whole of the line east of Romford, extending as far as Springfield, two miles
from Chelmsford, being 31 miles from the terminus at London, is let to vespeetabh:
contractors, with tlie exception of the sunnint cutting at Brentwood and Mountnes-
sing, and the Shcntiehl and Mountnessing embankments-

The contracts bet^veen Romford and Brentwood have been let nearly six months,
and the various cuttings, enibanknieuts, and other works at Hare street, Hare-lodge,
Gubbiiigs, Brook-street, and Brentwood, are now in active progress, having been
materially retarded by the weather.

The contract drawings froin Springlield to Colchester are nearly ready for
advertising.

In order to ensure the eavly completion of the works, .six locomotive engines are
employed day and night.

Six passenger engines will be read)' within one month from the present time
when also a suHicient nnniber of first and second class carriages will completed.

A large supply of rails and chairs have been delivered, sufficient for upwards of
sixteen miles of tloubU' line.

Plans and drawings for a complete London station, constnicteJ in accordance with
the experience hitherto gained, hu^ e been prepared, ready to proceed with tlio works
when directed, fur the entire opening of the line to Shoreditch.

I am Gentlemen, yotu' obedient servant,

JOHN BKAiTHWAlTE.

BLACKWALL RAILWAV.

Thf Heporf of the Engineers to thr Dircrfors.
GENTi,F.:\rEN. — The whole of the Works on your line of Railway being now con-
tracted for, with the condition that the execution shall be completeil by the end of
the present year, it aftbrds us great satisfaction to report, that looking to the progress
which has been made by Messrs. Webb since the 1st of October when they com-
menced their contract, and to the character and resources of the gentlemen who have
contracted for the remaining portion of the line, we see not the least reason to fear
that your expectitions will be disappointed in respect of these arrangement^.

On taking into account the united amount of these contracts, and adding thereto
tlie cost of the permanent way, not included in them, we feel ourselves justilied in
stating our conviction, that the anticipated saving to be eliecteil by the alteration of
tlie width and levels of this railway will be fully borne out by the result.

The respective parties who are under engagements to furnish the engines for the
working of the line, are actively employed in their construction ; at the same time
they are also preparing the large drum and <^pur wheels for winding the rope. ^Xe
deemed it desirable to delay to the latest period (consistently with the early comple-
tion of the works) the speciticatimi necessary for the construction of this portion of
the machinery, in order that we might avail ourselves of every improvement, whit'h a
continued and careful consideration of the subject could suggest.

M'e have nnqualitied satisfaction in being able to state, after going into extensive
detail on the subject of working by stationary engines, which we have had an oppor-
tunity of doing in the course of various enr^uiries and calculations, that the annual
cost u( working by the proposed .system, will be less by some thousands per annum
than the amount assumed in our first report to you. We have now sufficient ground
to satisfy our rainds that the annual cost of working your line will not exceed jt'8,000
per annum.

The foundations for nearly one half of the proposed viatluct are now actimlly com-
pleted, and the piers are most of them finished to the springing height, many of the
arches are completed, and the centres removed, and we calculate that, from this time,
seven arches will be turned weekly in Me.ssr.s. Webb's contract, am) in the other
contracts in the same proportion.

The work, it must be borne in mind, has hitherto been done during the least favour-
able time of the year, find under one contractor oidy, but when the energies of two
other contractors, with ample resources, shall come into operation, the works will be so
accelerated as to leave no doubt of their being successfully terminated by the time
specified.

We are. Gentlemen, vour very obedient Sei*vants,

(Si^ed) G. STEPHENSON.

London, 25lh Pebruary, 18S9. GEO. P. BIDDER.

CROYDON RAILWAY,

Reporl of Hie Engineer, to the Directors, read at the Half-yearhj Meeting, held on the

5th ult.

Gt'NTLEMEN.'-Having received your instructions, that I should report to you tlie
state of the works of the Loudon and Croydon Railway at the present time, I have to
report as follows : —

The stations at Croydon and Norwood^ may be considered Vomplele, and fit for
passetiger traffic.

All the stations along the line are nearly finished, except the erection of two lodges,
which will be constructed in a temporary manner for the opening of tlie line.

With the exception of the cutting at Forest Hill and the dressing of some slopes,
all the earthwork along the line is completed ; and on the Forest Hill cutting the
east side is cut through witli the exception of the slip near (*wenVbridge, and the
west side remains to be bottomed out, and the slopes <h-essed down, for a distance of
about 10 chains; on the west side of this length the gi-eater portion of the slips oc-
curred in the winter, when wo had to encounter great difliculties, but since the
weather has become drier, and means have been resorted to to prevent any furtlier
extension of the slips, the works have proceeded mure rapidly, artd the slopes have
remained in the tiuished part in a perfectly substantial state; no slipping worth
notice has occurred on any other part of the line.

The station and workshops at New Cross are on the point of completion, and the
carriages are about to be delivered there.

The London station will be in a sufficiently forward state by the time the penua
nent rails are laid on the rest of the line

All the bridges along the line except one occupation bridge ai-e completed, and of
this the arches are turned, and a fortnight's fine weather will enable the contractor
to finish it.

The permanent road is being pushed on with all possible vigour consistent with
sound workmanship and good drainage. There are employed in this department
upwards of 300 men, with an adequate quantity of horses, drivers, locomotive
engines. Arc.

Of the ]iermanent way there are laid,

(3 miles 1 chain of single road complete ;

1 . . 'J;j . . partly complete ;

4 . . 7;i . . doulile road ballasted and laid ;
so that all required to complete tho i)ermaueut way throughout will b«,

5 miles 0* chains, or 10,"i8*2 yai'ds of single line to lay ;

2 ... I .. or H,j02 to ballast.

The quantity of earthwork remaining to be excavated in the Forest Hill contract,
including extra slopes, slip.^, removal of spoil, clearing up bottom, Arc, amounts
to about ;iU,000 yards; but the opening of the road need not be delayed until
the whole of this is removed, as more than two-thirds belong to the slopes andslips,
not affecting the bottom, and will be [moveii after the completion of the permanent
way.

I am, fientlomen, your obedient servant,

JOSEPH GIBBS.

THAMES HAVEN DOCK AND RAILWAV.

Extract of Bejiurt read at the lust Tlalf-i/eurlg Meeting.

Your Directors, at the half-yearly meeting in August last, reported that they had
enter d into a contract for the coustjuction of the Dock at Tliames Haven ; the
works have inconsequence been proceeded with, to the ^ex tent of 100.000 feet o
excavation; the contractors have built cottages to house 200 men, and the further
progi'e!"s is only delayed until more land shall be in possession of the Company by on
arrangement with the tenant, and tho present meeting shall place it in their power
to continue. The Directors would advise the shareholders to continue the opera-
tions at the Dock, ai a valuable basis, and as the surest method of attaining the
grand object of the undertaking.

The Directors have made several efl'orts to come to some definitive terms of agree-
ment i^-ith the Directors of the Eastern Counties' Company, for toll ; but as tJie
amount demanded for passengers would prevent any ti-affic on the Thames Haven
line, or any profit if carried ; and as the Directors of the Eastern Counties' line have
declined to make any immediate terms whatever for goods or heavy weights, as
coals, &c., which must form a large porti.m of the traftic of the Thames Haven line ;
and as it is absolutely essential that a fixed plan should be arranged by which such
articles can be secured for the Company ; and as it also appears upon the rejiort of
your engineer, that two lines of rails upon the Eastern Counties' luie will not
"admit of the anticipated traftic of the Thames Haven line with its own ; and would
if it could be managed at all, utterly preclude the possibility of slow speed trains,
by which means alone a profit can be made by heavy goods, but at which a larger
amount will be derived than from passengers ; and as they feel also that the incon-
venience of one line of roail for two companies, places the company in a dependent,
uncertain, and unpleasant position, at the will of persons who may be indisposed to
them, or anxious to give greater facilities toother parties, which would cause an
endless source of litigation and annoyance to the public. ( 'uder all the circumstances
of the ca-oe, your Directors have considered it better to be prepared with, and adopt
any integrarand direct line into London. To this end your engineer has surveyed
anil laid down a line of road from Thames Haven to the Minories, where one of the
best termuii in the metropolis can be made— the position for all pui-poses being much
superior to that of the Eastern (Jounlies, particularly for the traffic on your line.
The road is thereby shortened to 2r>J miles, and the gradients are so good as to be
for all working purposes almost a level. The advantage this would give for the car-
riage of gi-eat weight-s is highly beneficial, and will enable the Company to carry out
the principle they have establislied of low fares, which, wherever they have been
supported by good management, have proved so entirely successful.

MANCHESTER AND BIRMINGHAM RAILM'AY.

Beport of the Engineer to the Directors.

Gentlemen. In accordance with your instructions, I submit the following report

on the progress and state of the \\orivS 'J'hose parts of the line which are con-
tracted for and in progress extend from Fairfield street, in Manchester, to the south
side of Daw- Bank, on the Cheshire sble of the river Mersey, at Stockport. This
distance is divided into five contracts, which are separately noticed as follows, \iz. : —

Contract No. \, or Fairfield-streef Ct)/<//-ut7.— Commenced August l4th, 1838. Time
of completion, eighteen months. Tliis contract is 1.165 feet in length, and comprises
the first portion of the viaduct by which the railway leaves the depot in Mancliester.
It consists chiefly of arclies of brickwork, varving in span from 30 to 45 feet, and
of one cast-iron arch of 128 feet 9 inches span. The progi-e.ss hitherto made it
consistent with the work being completed within the specified time.

Contract No. 2, or Cluuurry.lunc Contract .—CammenceA\ August 14th, 1838.
The time lor completion is eighteen months. This contract is 2,1^0 feet in length
and consists of the second portion of the viaduct by which the railway leaves the
town of Manchester. The contractor has not yet had possession of all the land, but
is expected to have it in the course of a few days hence, and the whole will be com-
pleted with ease in the specified time.

Contract No. 3, or Hyde Road Contract, is 1,900 feet, and comprehends the third
or last portion of the viaduct issuing from the tnwn of Manchester. It is not yet
commenced, by reason of the obstacles which have hitherto prevented the compaiiy
from obtaining possession of the land ; but, as it is expected that the contractor will
have possession in the course of a few days, such arrangements will be made as
will ensure no delay arising from this unavoidable postponement of operations in this
part of your works.

Contract No. 4, or Heaion Norria Contract, extends from the Hyde Road at the
south end of No. :l contract, to near tho right bank of the river Mersey at the town
of Stockport; its length is four miles twenty mx chains. It also includes the
ballasting and laying' of the permanent way upon contracts one. two, and three. It
datei from September 11th, 1838, and the time of completion is 20 months. Tlis
heaviest work on Ibis contract is a cutting of 400 000 cubic yards, the whole of wlucbi

156

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[ApHit,

's to be canied to eiubankment ; aud 350,000 yards of this qiiantjiy arc to be eanjei/
in onp direction. About 80,000 yards have been already excavated. The contractor is
proceeding activelv and .judicionsly ; on tlie 18th of ihis month, he will commence
night work, and he is malcing such arrangements as will enable him to cali-nlate npon
completing the embankment to the end of the third contract by November next, when
he will be ready for laying three miles of llic iiermanent way: and there appears to
be little doubt of his performing his coulvacl in the specified time, namely, by
Mav, 1S40. , , ^

Vuiilmcl Xo. 5, or Slociport Viaihirl Contract, dates from November 13th, 183S.
The time for completion is two years. It consists of a viaduct of 22 arches, of (13
feet span each. The first stone of this structure has been laid to day, and tlie con-
tractors aie making arrangements for proceeding vignrotisly with their work.

Cuiilrart A"i. li, or Cuiojleton ViaiJnrl Cnilrarl.— This work has just been let, and^
is to be completed in two years and a half. It consists of forty-two arches, each of
sijttv feet span. Preparations liave commenced by throwing up clay for making
aboi'lt 1.5,000,000 bricks, during the present year.

This work is that which may be expected to require a longer lime for execution
than anv other on the line; and therelbre its being now commenced will facilitate
the making of such arrangements in the future lettings. as will tend to bring ail the
other parts of the railway to\vards completion nearly at the same period.

I am. Gentlemen, vour obedient servant,
Manchester, March 0th, 1839. " CiEORGE W. BUCK.

BRISTOL AND EXETER RAILWAY COMPANY.

KxiracI from u Report 'read ul the General Ilaljijearhi Meeting of tlik Companij, helil
on Tuesday, the Slli nil., ul Brixlol.

The Directors have the satisfaction of slating, that although the season of the year
since the autumnal half-yearly meeting has been necessarily unfavourable to the rapid
progress of the works, they are, nevertheless, so far advanced as to warrant a con-
fident hope that the great bulk of what remains \u be done, in the construction of the
line between Bristol and Bridgewatei-, will be finished in the course of the present
year, and several portions of the line so far completed as to allow of the formation of
tlie permanent way to be commenced before the end of this year, and the remainder
proceeded with early in the spring of 1840.

The principal works are comprised in the two firsl contracts, chielly at the western
extremity of the Asbton-vallcy. In these extensive progress has been made ; and
although more might undoubledly have been done by the contractor, yet it is equally
True that the state of the works is such, that as the season advances a considerable
force may be advantageou.sly employed, and a very large quantity of work executed
during the summer months.

For some distance beyond this point the work is so hght as to insure its early
completion without difficulty.

At Puriton some interruption has been caused by impediments in the purchase of
land; but these diliiculties being removed, the facilities in the execution of the work
are such, as to preclude any possibility of furthei- delay.

The numerous and urgent representations that have been received, in favour of an
immediate prosecution of the works below Bridgewater, atlbrd a gratifying proof of the
increased and increasing extent to which the value of the umlertaking is appreciated
by the inhabitants of the Western Comities. With the sincere desire, however, to
accede to the wishes of the shareholders resident in that district, with an imabated
conviction of the magnitude and certainty of the advantages to be derived from tlie
extension sought for, and with a fixed determination to adopt as speedily as possible
every step that can conduce to the early continuation of the line to Exeter, the
Directors are, nevertheless, persuaded that they will most satisfactorily dischoi-ge
their duty by faithfully adliering to the resolution expressed in former reports, to
make expenditure and receipt go hand in hand, by an early opening to Bridgewater.

The construction of the bridge now in progress over the ri\er Parret, may be justly
appealed to as the best evidence of their anxiety to reach Taunton ; a town of very
great importance, less than ten miles beyond the bridge, approached through a fertile
and populous district, by a route almost level, and itself the focus of such an exten-
sive traffic in passengers and merchandise, as must at once place the question of reve-
nue beyond the reach of doubt, and enable the Company to complete the entire line to
Exeter, without inconvenience to the shareholders.

EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW RAILWAY.

Extract from the Report read at the last Half-yearly Meeting, held at Glasgow.

Your Directors, at a very early period, turned their attention to the letting of the
Conti-act-s for the more important works on the line.

The Almond Valley Contract. which comprehends the heaviest work to be executed
and which had, at the date of the last general meeting, been just advertised, was
shortly afterwards let to Messrs. .John Gibb and Son, of .-Vberdeen, whose long stand-
ing aiidhigh character, as contractors,afford the best security for its completion within
the time prescribed by the Company's Engineer. Your Directors are happy to say,
that the expense of' this portion of the line, although it embraces the great stone
viaduct over the Almond, of 48 arches of 50 feet .span each, will, notwithstanding the
recent rise in the price of masonry, little, if at all, exceed the proportional amount of
the Parliamentary estimate. In consequence of the arrangements previously made
with Mr. Hogg, of Newliston, your Directors were able to give IMessrs. Gibb and
Son immediate access to the ground at the Almond; and these parlies have ever since
been pushing forward their works with their usual ju-omptitude and vigour. Not-
withstanding the unfavourable season of the year, the contractors have alreaily re-
moved a considerable quantity of earth, and sunk two shafts in the Winchburgh
Tunnel, and have founded one abutment and several piers of the vitjduct on the
Almond; they have also laid down a great deal of building material, so as to avail
themselves of the earliest improvement of the weather in spring.

Y'our Directors, after completing the contract for the Almond Valley, next turaed
their attention to the contracts for the tunnels, &c., in the neighbourhood of Falkirk
and of Gla.sgow. These were advertised to be let in four dilfereut lots, and although
your Directors experienced difficulty, in two instances, in procuring Contractors,
potsessiug sufficient capital and experience, they have now the satisfaction of report-
iog, that they are all let on favourable ter.^is, and to parties, of whose ability to com-
plete them, your Directors entertain no doubt.

Other contracts of smaller extent, but embracing 13 miles of the line, have been
advertised, and for these your Directors expect there will be a keen competition, as
many most respectable contractors have already intimated their desire to oGer for
them. Before the sea-son is nuich further advanced, your Directors anticipate that up-
wards of 26 miles of the line will be let, and in course of execution : and they will
proceed with as little delay as possible to have the working plans prepared, and the
contracts let for the rest of the line.

Leeds and Bradford Railwai/. — The report of Messrs. Stephenson aud Goocli
lias been presented to the Provisional Committee. From a copy which has been
lying at the Exchange News Room during the last week, we make the following
abstract. The engineers projiose to make the terminus at the Leeds end upon a piece
of vacant ground lying on the south side of Wellington-road, and between that road
and the Whitehall road. From thence the line will cross the river Aire and the
Leeds and Liverpool canal, upon an embankment, a little to the west of the Suspen-
sion Bridge, then curving round to the west, it passes to the south of Castleton
Lodge, ami again crossing the canal, passes a little to the west of ai-mly mills. It then
takes the low ground between the canal and the river, and passes under the
Kirkstall-rt)ad, by Kirkstall Bridge, and continuing between the canal aud the river
leaves Kirkstall Forge to the right. At New Laiths it crosses the river, aud leaves
New Laiths (j range to the north. It then proceeds to near Rawden Low Mills, thence
on the north side of the river to near Woodhouse Grove, which it leaves on the
south and will cross the river and canal, and pass under Birk Hill, by a tunnel of
about three quarters of a mile in length. It will then run parallel to and on the
south side ul the canal to Shipley, where crossing the branch canal it will enter the
Bradford valley, and proceedin nearly a direct line to the town. The tcruunns and
depot at Bradford w ill be in a field on the low side of the quarry of Messrs. Couseu
and Thackray, and near to the works of Messrs. Haste and Sons. The length of the
line will beaboiit thirteen miles, and no inclination on the main line will exceed
twenty feet per mile. The estimated cost of laying down the railway is 400,000/.,
exclusive of stations, depots, engines, which, figetber with all other necessary
machinerv, will require a further sum of 60,000/. Another important feature in the
report is the formation of a junction line betneon the main line and the North Mid-
land, which is intended to cross the turnpike-road neai Wellington Bridge, and
]iassing between Messrs. Marshall and Co.'s works and the village of Holbeck, and
between Mr. Russell's pottery and the Toll-bar, and thence to the North Midland
Railway, a little south of the Leeds pottery. This junction line, about one mile and
three quarters in length, will enable pa-ssengers, &C. to pass on to the latter railway
without the iuconveuience aud expense of changing conveyance. — Bradford Observer.

I'reslou and Longridye Railway "^'e understand that Mr. M'ilkie, the principal

contractor upon thisline ol' railway, hascompleted his works ; and the Directors are now
laying the permanent rails, so that, in all probability, the railway may be opened early
in the summer. It is calculated that a saving of 2d. per cubic foot upon the carriage
of ashler stone, and Is. (id. per ton npon walling stones from Longlidge to Preston,
will be effected by this moans. — Preston Chronicle.

Newcastle and North Shields Railway. — The works on the lino of the Newcastle
and Nortli Shields Railway are now rapidly drawing to a coiiclu.sion, and it is
expected that the road will be opened to the public during tlie ensuing spring. Those
stupendous erections, the great viaducts over the Onseburn and Willington Deans, are
on the point of completion, aud ai-e exciting, as uuglit be expected, the attention and
admiration of tlie neighbourhood and of all strangers. Two gi-auder and more bean-
iful erections are certainly not to be found in this kingdom. Tbe bridge over Willing-
ton Dean is now finisheil, and from its magnitude forms a most striking object in our
local scenery. It is composed of seven arches each of 120 feet span, with two massy
buttressess, and is in length 1050 feet. The height of the roadw ay of the main arcli
over the small stream which flows beneatli is seventy-eight feet. The bridge over the
Ousebnrn Dean w ill be finished in a very few weeks. It is composed of five arches of
llfi feet span, with two stone arches at each end, to throw the embankment from the
breast of the lull. The height of the roadway of this bridge from the bed of the Otise-
burn is 108 feet. It is a most magnificent structure, but its more confiued situation
causes it to be a less prominent object than tlmt over M'illington Dean. The pubhc
are daily taking more interest in this railroad, aud are eagerly anticipating the
increased acccmniiodation and comfort it will afford them. The distance, it is con-
fidently expected, will be accomplished within twenty minutes, and it is understood
to be the intention of the Cmoiiany to fix the rates for the conveyance of passengers
at as Iowa point ascii-cinostanccs will warrant. — Neivcaatk Journal.

Tork and North Midland Jloilway, — Since our last notice of the state of the
works on this line, considerable advancement has been made. The men still continue
to be employed day and ingbt, and the excavation of the rampart is now completed.
In addition" to those employed in removing the earth, workmen had been busily
employed in pulling down the wall thai enclosed Messrs. Backhouse's garden. The
foundations of the walls for the company's depots, near to the river, have been laid,
and the bricklayers arc busied in the building of those walls. — Itoncaater Chronicle.

The Loudon aud Brighton Raihcag. — "The works, both at Balcombe ar.d at
Clayton, have been stopped for several days, in consequence of the springs being out.
The"re arc fi-om 50 to fill feet of water in the Balcombe shaft, and from 20 to 80 feet in
CUayton shaft. Indeed we have heard that a very grave doubt exists wdiether the
fine must not be altogether diverted, to avoid these drojisical hills. A gentleman
was recently down from London to view and iiisiicct tbi"-c spots, who declared that
the symptoms were more formidable than those w Inch were the cause of so much
expense and delay on the Great Western line — Brighton Guardian. There is no
truth whatever in the report that the operations on tliis gi-and work are likely to bo
forniidabU impeded by the springs. It will be recollected that Mr Rastrick noticed,
iu bis ii-port, the water at Balcombe and Clayton, aud the mode of getting rid of it.
^\ lien tlic headings are run, the ivatei- at Balcombe will fall into a brook to the south
of the tunnel ; that at Clayton « ill fall into the Clayton brook. Nothing can proceed
more satisfactorily than tlie whole of the works on the line ; and it is only from parlies
who are willing to cry down Brighton and its prosperity that a single word is heard
against them. — Brighton Gazelle.

JJoucasler, North Molland, and Goole Railway. — We understand that the
project for connecting Goole, Thome, and Doncasler with the North Miiiland and
the Sheffield and Rotherham Railways, has been received with high prospects of
success. It will branch from the North Midland at Kiluluirst, and proceed through
or close to Doucaster, exteniUng inwaids to the port of Goole. The ]ireliniinQry
steps have already been taken, and the line is non being surveyed under the skilful
direction of Mr. Swanwick. — Uerby Reporter.

Railway Swamped. — By an inundation of the Senne, the Brussels and Vilvorde
Railway is covered with water six inches deep, and the travelling is interrupted.

1889.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

157

Chester ami Cretve i?rt/7(/'a//.— We leaiu that Messrs. Jacksou and Bean, who
completed a portion of the Birmingham and Derby Railway, have undertaken the
Bimbiirv and Wardle contract, in length abotit ten miles, on the Chester and Crewe
line.— CAcWrr Gu:ett>:

London anil Brighton IlaJlumij. — Great exertions have been making lately in order
to the completion of about three and a half miles of road ipn the Shureham branch of
tliisline. The late heavy rains, however, partially retarded the progi'ess of the works,
and the opening was in consequence postponed till Tuesday, I9th ultimo. The con-
tractors will then re-connueuce acti\e operations at the Hove cutting. The tunnel
there will, we underslund.be completed in the early part of July. — Br/yhtun jjuj/ei:

Bailn-ai/ Sunch/ari/. — As the constable of Milford was employed in cunveying a
man employed on the railway to gaol, on a charge of felony, he managed to slip from
the oihcer, and descended into the Claycroft tunnel, in which he could not be found.
The fellow got into a cart, covered himseli' with earth and rubbish, and was drawn out
of the tunnel witliout being perceived, and made his escape. — iJerhy Mercury.

Breaking in of the Hana-eV-Bridye of the Great U'cstern Jtaihray, and Loss of
Life. — (From a Correspondent.) — Considerable alarm prevailed on Monday, the 18th
ultimo, about 9 o'clock, on the line of the Great AVestern Railway, to the passengers
who were coming to tow n in the train drawn by tlie \'ulcan engine. On tlie arrival
of the tiain at the viailuct-bridge whicli passes ever the high road at Hanwell, they
were tlu'own into the ntmost consternation by hearing a rejiort resembling that of
a heavy cannon, which \v:xs supposed to be occasioned by tlie bridge over winch they
were in the act of crossing having given way. On making an examination, it was
found this supposition was in a gi-eat measure correct, as one of its principal sup-
porters, consisting of an iron beam of great dimensions, extending from one pillar of
the bridge to the other, had snapped in half, carrying with it in its descent a vast
quantity of the material of which the bridge was composed, leaving an open space
under a portion of the line. On tlie next train coming up great delay was occasioned,
ia consequence of the apprehension that if it passed over the rails wfpuld give way,
but ti-nm the care of the engineers and others, such a result did not take place. Im-
mediate steps were taken to repair the damage, and several of the workmen were em-
ployed to shore it up. \\'hilst so engaged, a massive piece of timber fell from the
upper part of the bridge upon one of them, and almost immediately killed him. —
Titnea.

ENGINEERING WORKS.

NEW HOUSES OK PARLIAMENT.

The works connected witli tlie embankment for the new Houses are pro-
bably the most extensive hydraulic works now in progress, and the coffer dam
is certainly unequalled ; drawings and descriptions both of the coffer-dam
and river wall were given in our first volume, and we sliall now briefly de-
scribe what has been done up to the present time.

The coffer dam and other works were contracted for by Messrs. Lee, to be
executed under the direction of Messrs. Walker .and Burges, Engineers, and
Charles Barry, Esq., Architect. The coffer-dam was commenced in the
month of October, 1837, and is constructed nearly similar to the drawings
and specification before given by us in Vol. L, page 31, with the addition of
horizontal struts of whole timber at the back of the brace pile^, B, fig. 1 and
2, and abutting against other piles driven just within the inner edge of the
foundation of the wall. Considering the great extent of the dam it stands
remarkably firm, and is tolerably free from leakage ; it was finished on the
24tli day of December last, when it was closed, and operations commenced
within. For the purpose of pumping out the water, a 10-horse power steam-
engine w,as erected, which is kept at work night and day ; at the present time,
the water is easily kept under by the aid of two 18-inch pumps, each working
14 three-feet strokes per minute; since the closing of the dam the
whole of the .silt or mud lying at the bottom of the liver within the
enclosure has been removed, leaving a fine bed of gravel over the
whole surface ; the gravel has been excavated for the foundations of the
river wall, and nearly the who'e of the foundations laid, and the sheet
piling protecting the footings completed, likewise a considerable portion
of the brickwork to the backing is commenced. The granite intended
for the curvihnear facing is in an advanced state, a very large portion of it
being already prepared and ready for setting. Too much praise cannot be
bestowed on all parties for the activity vifith which the works have been con-
ducted within the last two months; before another four months elapse, we
hope that we shall be able to announce the river w.all is completed, and the
new buildings ready to be commenced.

The first stone of the foundation was laid on the 5th ultimo, without any
ceremony.

WESTMINSTER BRIDGE.

We hefore noticed a commencement of the works for the repair of West-
minster Bridge, in a former number ; a dam has since been completed round
two of the piers on the Westminster side, and a beginning made with the
piling round them.

The great extent of the coffre dam (being no less than 500 feet in circum-
ference), as also the difficulty experienced in driving the piles through a hard
crust of gravel which overlays the clay at this place, and the care that must
have been taken in doing the work, by so efl'ectually shutting out the water,
makes it appear to us truly astonishing that so much has been done in the
short period of eight months, especially as all works of this nature depend
so very mnch upon the weather and tides.

Great credit is due to the parties in charge of the work ; and, if we may
judge from the earnest manner in which they are proceeding, the public will
have no cause again to complain of the tardy progress which hitherto maxked
everything connected with this bridge.

Neither can we omit to state, that upon our late visit, the grati-
fication we experienced in witnessing the very dry state of the work, and
although the level at which they are now proceeding is several feet below the
bed of the river, there was not the slightest leakage ; and we understand that
the same has been the case since the completion of the dam.

The plan of operation for protecting the foundation of the piers, from being
undermined by the wash of the river, is, by surrounding the caisson upon
which the pier is built with sheet-piling, driven as close as it is possible to
bring wood and wood together. The piles arc driven fourteen feet into the
solid ground below the bottom of the stonework ; they are twelve inches
thick, and the s))ace between the pier and the piles is afterwards filled in solid
with concrete, upcm which masonry of square stones of large dimensions is
laid, the top of the piles being dressed oft' to a fair and nnil'orm line, and
further secured with a strong band or waling of timber, encircling the whole
tie, which is held in its place by iron caisson bars, firmly fixed to the main
timbers of the caisson.

By this plan very little obstruction will be offered to the current, should
any further increase of depth in the river take place, and from what we saw of
the care taken to make the joints close, there will not be, in our o]>inion, the
slighest apprehension for the safety of the bridge, should the river deepen
three times as much as it has since the remoYal of Loudon Bridge — a circum- '
stance very unlikely to happen.

In comparing this method of work with endeavouring to accomplish the
same object by diving bells (which was the plan till lately followed at this
bridge), there canimt be a question which is the best ; in one all is done in the
dark, or otherwise hid from view ; while in the other it is seen as the work
progresses ; in truth, the last is the only proper cour.se.

THAMES TUNNEL.

E.rlriicl from the Report of tlie Directors at tlie laxt General Meetiiir/, held at
the London Tarern, /^th March, 1838.

Tlie plan upon which the works have been carried forward consisted of
three principal features, viz. : —

1st. — To divert the Navigation from that part of the River immediately

over the Mining operations.
2dly. — To gain the command of that p.irt of the River, without inter-
ruption, and to be thus enabled to load and cover its bed, both over
the Works in progress and in advance of them ; and to compress this
artificial bed, directly over the Shield, by grounding upon it, at every

fall of the tide, a vessel, when ballasted, of about 900 tons burthen

And,

3dly To make alterations in the auxiliary parts of the Shield, still

further to add to its security and power.
Tlie brickwork of the Tunnel has been advanced, since the last Meeting,
90 feet, and is now within 60* feet of low water mark ; and if the same rate
of progress continues, which there is every reason to expect, low water mark
will be reached in the course of the autumn.

It will be clear to those who are best acquainted with the work, that when
this is accomplished the most hazardous portion of the Tunnel will be com-
pleted ; and that however novel, and even bold, the work which then re-
mains to be dene, in order to realise the original design, yet its complation
becomes comparatively safe and easy, and calculable within a reasonable
time.

" Since this Report was read to the General Meeting, Ten feet have lieen excavate d
file distance to low water is therefore only 50 feet.

Suspension Bridijes The largest suspension bridge in this country is that across

the Menai Strait, with a span of 560 feot ; the next in point of size, is that at Mont-
rose, which is 43"i feet in span ; we have been much gratified by the inspection of a
report and plan of a third which will rival these stupendous works of art, both in
magnitude and iinpurtance ; for while they have but one span eaiii, of the above
dimensions, that to which we are alluding projected by that able engineer Mr. J. M.
Rendel, will have two of 4o0 feet each, and a whole length (with the side openings)
between the abalnionts, of 1125 I'eet. The site of tko proposed bridge, is at Newn-
haiii, on the Severn in Gloucestershire, where there is at present a ferry, which ha-j
the gi-eat inconvenieuee of being entirely navigable only half an hour before and
after high water. The great advantaget of such a work will be materially- felt in the
adjacent country, by the coal and other mines of Dean Forest, becoming easier of
access, thereby* producing a considerable reduction of price, besides the conveni-
ence it \\ ill secure ot a direct route across the Severn to the southward of Gloucester.
The various drawings by which the proposed bridge is illustrated are admirably exe-
cuted, and convey both in point of topogi-aphical, geological, and perspective detail,
as comidete an idea of this magnificent proposed work and its locality as can be ex-
pressed by the artist on paper. — Nuulical Moj^aiine.

The Wreck oj' tlir Itxyal Geori/e. — I'he experiment of blowing up the wreck of the
Royal Geor<Te, at Sjiitbead, by means of l;J-incli shells, placed as far into her in dif-
ferent parts as the divers can manage it. To prevent accident to any boat, the ex-
plosion will be eflected by the rising of the tide operating on a buoy attached to the
sliells by alogdiue.

."Attorn Doelc-tjiinl:-. — 111 bringing in the navy estimates, Mr. C. Wood stated, that
the government luul laid iu ample stores — had added one-lhird to the dock-yards — and
had made preparations at Deptford, Woolwich, Portsmouth, and Plymouth.

Oeerluiiil Indian Mails. — The contract ibr a carriage conveyance over the desert
between Suez and t'airo has been taken by Messrs. Hill and Co., and by the 17th of
.January, there was to be a car-riage for the conveyance of passengers liom Cairo to
Suez, between whicli the distance is 90 miles, aud the time is about 24 hours.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

fApRTL, 1839.

NEW PATENTS.

LIST OF ENGLISH PATENTS GRANTED BETWEEN THE 23ri>
FEBRUARY, AND THE STth MARCH, 1839.

Georor AUQifJiTiis Koi.LMAN*, of (he Fi'iary, St. James's Palace, Professor of
Music, for " Certain Improvements in tlio MechaHism, ami general Con^truetion of
Piano-fortes, being an extension of former letters patent for the tei-m of seven years."
— 23rd Febrnarv-

Charlf.s Loris Stanislas B\ron HFunTFr.nrpF, of Queen Ann-slreel. for
" Certain Improveiuenls in Fire-arms, ami in the Balls to be used therewith." — 23rd
February ; ti months lo specify.

Thomas Pbatt, of Sontli Hylton. l^nrham, Mechanic, for '* An Improved Capstan
and Winch for Purchasing or Raising Shi|i's Ancliors, without the application of a
Me.ssenger, in which there is no Fleeting or Singing, or for drawing or working
of Coala or other articles, and things out of Coal or other Mines, and also for the
drawing and working on Railroads, by drawing Pnlley.s with Flat or Round Ropes."
— 23rd February ; tj months.

James Russell, of Handsworth, in the county of Stafford, for " Certain Improve-
ments in Manufacturing Tubes fur (ias and other purposes, heing an extension for
tlie term of six years, granted to Cornelius Whitehouse." — 20th February.

MosTis PooLK, of Lincoln's Inn, G'entleman, for " Improvements in construcliug
and applying Boxes to Wheels." — 2Sth Feliruary ; tJ months.

Moses Poolk, of Lincolns Inn, Gentleman, for " Certain Improvement.s in Tan-
ning."'— 28th February ; 6 months.

John Leigh, of Manchester, Surgeon, for " An improved Mode of obtaining Car-
bonate of Lead, commonly called AVhite Lead." — 28th February; 0 months.

Rkhard M hvtock, of Ediidturgh, Manufacturer, and Geokge Chink, of the
same place, Colour Maker, for" Further Improvements in the Process and Apparatus
for the Production of Regvildr Figures or Patterns in Cai-pets andother Fabrics, in re-
lation to whicli a patent was granted to the said Richard A\'hytock, on the 8th Sep-
tember, 1832, and generally in the mode of producing Party Colours on Varns or
Threads, of Worsted. Cotton, Silk, and other fibrous Substances.'" — 1st March ;
ti mouths.

MoRiTZ Platow, of Poland-street, Oxford street, Engineer, for " Improvements
in Pumps or Engines for raising or forcing Liijuids.*" — (ith March ; G months.

John Dickson, of Brook street, Holborn. Engineer, for " Certain Improvements
In Rotatory SteamEngines.*' — tith March ; 6 months.

AUGUSTP Victor Joseph B^ron D"Asr)A, of Milhuan street. Bedford Row, for
" Improvements in producing or atibrthng Lighl» which he denominates a Solar
Light." — 0th March ; 0 months.

Walter Hancock, of Stratford, Essex, Engineer, for " Certain Improvements
in Steim-boilers and Condensers.' — 0th March ; 0 months.

George Robert D'Harcourt, of Howland-street, Fitzroy-square, gentleman, for
" Certain improved artificial Granite, Stone, Marble, or Concrete, in which said in-
vention neither Asphaltic nor Bituminous Substances are used."— 0th March ; 0
months.

Wm. Vickers, of Firshill, Sheffield, Mercliant, for " A Rfode of obtaining Tractive
Power from Carriage-wlieels under certain circumstances.'" — 6th March; G months.

John Clark, of Upper Thames-street, London, lOugineer, for " A New or Improved
Form or Construction of a Leg and Foot for propelling Carriages on Rail or Common
Riads, and a new Combination or Arrangement of Machinery for Locomotive Car-
riages, by means whereof the weight of the Load to be carried is rendered applicable
as a part of the Power for moving or propelling tlie Carriage on wliich it is sup-
ported or rests." — 0th March ; 0 mouths.

Chables Schakhault, of Cornhill, London, Gentleman, for " An improved
Method of Smelting Copper Ore.*" — 0th March ; ti months.

t)RLANDij Junes, of Rotherfield street, Islington. Accountant, for *' Improvements
in the Manufacture of Starch, and tlie converting of the Refuse arising in or from
such Manufacture to divers useful purposes.'"— 0th March ; 6 months.

George Holworthv Palmer, of Surrey-square, Old Kent-road, Ci\'il Engineer,
and George Bertif pATEEtsoN, of Hosloii, Engineer, for " Certain Improvements
in Gas Meters." — Gth Marcli; 0 months.

Thomas Horton, of Prince's End, Stafford, Boih^r-maker, and Thomas Smith, of
Horseley Heath, in the .same county. Mine Agent, for " Certain Improvements in the
making or constructing of Chains for Pits, Shafts, Mines, or other purposes "—Gth
March ; 0 montlis.

Edward Ford, of Livei-poul, Builder, f.»r " Certain Improvements in conducting
the Manufacture of Salt Cake, or Sulphate of Soda or Hyilrochloric, or other Acids
and Alkalies, or other Chemical Processes, wherein Deleterious Vapours are given
off, and in the Erection of Furnaces and "Works connected therewith." — 8th March ;
d months.

JosiAS Christopher Gamble, of St. Helen's, Lancaster, Manufacturing Chemist,
for " Improvements in Apparatus f<,r the Manufacture of Sulphate of Soda. Muriatic
Acid, Chlorine and Chlorides." — 14th March ; 4 months.

Elisha Havdon Collier, late of Boston, in America, but now of Globe Dock
Factory, Rotherhithe, Civil Engineer, for " Improved Machinery for Manufacturing
Nails.'" — 14th March; fl months.

Christopher Nukkls, of York-road, Lambeth, Manufacturer, for " Improve-
ment in the Modes of Manufacturing of Fabrics from Linen, Woollen, Silk, and other
Fibrous Materials." — 15th March; 0 months.

RiCH.vHD Lamb, of Duvid-slreet, Southwark, Gentleman, for "Improvements in
Apparatus for supplying Atmospheric Air in the [production of Light and Heat."—
15lh March; C mouths.

Alexander Francis Campbell, of Great Plumstead, Norfolk, Enquire, and
Chaelks White, of Norwich, Mechanic, for •' Certain Improvements in PlouRhs.*'—
18th March; 0 months.

Thomas Henry Rvland, of Birmingham, Screw Manufacturer, for an " Improved
Manufacture of Screws fur Wood, in Iron. Brass, Copper, or any mixed Metals, com-
monly known as Wood Screws "'—18th March ; 0 months.

John Ruthven, and Morris AVest Rptuven, of Edinburgh, Civil Engineers,
for " Improvements in Boilers for generating Steam, economizing Fuel, and pro-
pelhng A essels by Steam or other Power, and ventilating \'essels, and which may be
applifd to Mines and Buildings."— 20th March ; 0 months.

Edward Law, of Downham-road, Kingsland.' Genieman, for " Certain Improve-
ujentsiu evaporating Sea Water, and uther Fluids, and in the Manufacture of Salt." —
»Otb March; 0 months,

Joseph Amesbiirv, of Burton-cre.scent. Surgeon, for " Certain Apparatus for tlio
support of the Human Body." 20tli March ; 0 months.

Andrew Smith, of Princes-street, Leice-ster-square, Engineer, for " Certain Im-
provements in the Manufacture of Ropes for Cables, and other pni-jioses to which
Ropes are applicable." — 20th Mai'ch ; 0 months.

George Nelson, of Milverton, in the County of M'nrwick, Chemist, for a " New
or improved Method, or new or improved Methods ot preparing Gelatine, which
has the Projterties of, or resembles Glue." — 28rd March ; 6 juonths.

Fisher Salter, of Hallingsbury, Sussex, Farmer, for an " Improved Afachlne
for winnowing and ilressing Corn and other Grain." — 23rd March ; 0 raonllis.

Edmund Bi'tler Rowlev, of Manchester, Surgeon, for " An improved Steam-
engine, applicable to Locomotive, Marine, and Stationary Purposes." — 2(Jth March ;
0 months.

Richard Roberts, of Manchester, Engineer, for "An Improvement or certain
Improvements of, in, or applicable to the Mule Billy Jenny Stretching-frame, or any
Machine orMachines, however designated or named, used in spinning Cotton, Wool, or
other Fibrous Substances, and in which either the Spindles recede from, and approach
the Rollers, or other Deliverers of the said fibrous Substances, or in which 'such
Rollers or deliverers recede from, and approach the Spindles, being an extension of
former letters patent for the term of seven years. "^20th March.

Joseph I^eese, Junior, of Manchester, Calico Printer, for " Certain Improve
meuts in the Art of Printing Calicoes, Muslins, and other Woven Fabrics, and in
certain Processes connected therewith." — 20th Marcli ; 0 months.

Henry Montaiu^e Grover, of Boveney in the county of Buckingham, Clerk, for
" Improvements in Brewing, by the Use of a Material not hitherto so used." — 26th
March ; 0 months.

Ei.isha Hale, of the LV.iteJ States of America, now of Leadenhall street, in the
city of London, for " Improvements in C^mbrellas and Parasols." — 27th March ;
0 months.

AVilliam Newton, of 06, Chancen* lane, in the county of Middlesex, Civil En-
gineer, for " Certain Improved Machinery for cutting and removing Earth, which
Machinery is applicable to the digging of Canals, and the levelling of Ground for
Railroads, or ordinary Roal», and similar Earth Work-s." — 27tli March; 6 mouths.

MISCELLANEA.

Fire of Borne. — A. letter from Rome of the Sth of February, states that on thai day
the Palace occupied by Count de Lutzen, the Austrian Ambassador, wa.s almost
entirely destroyed by fu'e.

Bhliop Hrher's Statue. — The statue of Bishop Heber has arrived safely at Calcutta,
and has been deposited in the Cathedral. — ImJia (ia-clfe.

St. Germain liuilway. — This railway has declared a dividend for the year of seven
and half per cent — (ialignani's Messeiiger.

I/iilian Silver Mines. — Capt. Drummond and pn experienced miner have been
deputed to the district in the Himmalaya (the immediate range between the D'Hauli
and the Gori) where silver is said to exist, to ascertain the fact. — Asiatic Journal.

Louvre K.rliihition. — The exhibition of the works of lining artists opened on the 2nd
Marcli, with about 3000 works from LIOO artists.

Jkinuhe Canal. — An article dated Bucharest, Jan. 18, repeats that the project for
uniting by a canal the Danube and the Black Sea, will be carried into execution in
the course of next spring, in virtue of an agreement between England, Austriaj and
T u rk ey . — Times .

Kileooley Abheij. — The fine old Gothic mansion of Kilcooley was consumed to
ashes la.st month. It was insured for i' 13,000. — Kilkenny Journal.

Ei/ijptian Anfujiiitiea. — The Eg>'ptian government have appointed a hoard for the
preservation of the national antiquities.

Horticultural Society — The Horticultural Society are now erecting a gi*and con-
servatory at Chiswick on a very large scale.

London ami JJ'^entmiiiater Bank. — The cost of the buildings and fittings is about
i.'50,000.

ERRATA.

In our last number, page 92, column 1, line SO from the bottom, for "as the
etfective jpressure, and inversely as the density." read "as the square mot of the
effective jiressure, aad inversely as the square root of the density. '

Page 93, column 1, Hue 10 from the bottom, for " will be gi-eatev." &c., read "will
increase with the elastic force of the steam admitted into the cylinder in a higher
ratio than if the elastic force of steam were proportional to its density.''

Page fl.S, column 2, line 3 after engra\ings, for G ^Jl~ read CH =^^

Page 104. cohnnn 2, line 2 after the table, for " sketched, read " stretched."

Page 100, column 2, line 2 of 3rd paragraph, for "hydraulic hme." read "con-
crete."

Page HO. column 2. line I, Statue to Mr. Stephenson, for "Robert," read
" George.'"

Page 110, column 2, line 9, Eastern Counties Railway, for " 200 yards per day,"'
read " 2,00u yards per day."

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

We have been obliged to postpone some of our communications and reviews until
next month. Me shall feel obliged to correspondents who may send drawings ac-
conqianying their communications, that they forwaid them early in the month.

We must apologise to our architectural friends for a deficiency of engravings co n-
nected with architecture. "We intended to have given the drawings of the '* Arc de
lEtdilt'," but in consequence of the consideralde work in them, our wood engi-aver
could not have them ready for the piesent number. They will be given in our next.

V-'v shall feel obliged to our country correspondents if they will forward us any
account of works in progress, or any newspaper containing articles connected with
the object* of our Journal

M.VY, 1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

15!)

ARC DE L'ETOILE,

AT PARIS.

Scale of Ficiiob Mclres.

10 9 8 7 6 .5 4 3 2 1 0

I I I I I I I I I I I

10

20

Note —A FRnch Metre is equal to 3-2809 Feet, or 3 Feet 3i Inches.

No. 20 — Vol. II.— May, 1839.

M

160

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[May,

Fig. 2.— SECTION THROUGH THE CENTRE OF THE ARCHWAY.

l-HE ARC DE L'ETOILE, AT PARIS.

Between the commencement and the completion of this stupendous

monumental structure, just thirty years elapsed— in the course of

which memorable period, the Napoleon dynasty crumbled away

with a celerity equal to that of its rise. Of the many desif?ns for it

submitted to tlie then government, those of Raymond and of Chalfjrin

iibtJined the preference. That by the former of these architects,

proposed twelve coupled Corinthian columns on each of the sides,

hUfiporting a magnificent entablature, on wliich w.)uW have been as

many statues symboUical of the different cities that had been taken by

the French, and between these, bas-reliefs of the chief victories. The

interior would have been divided into four masses on its plan, by

the principal archway or vaulting being intersected by the transverse

one ; and the design further proposed that there should be seven balls

in the upper part of the structure; viz., three smaller onesone.ch

«iJe, and a larger one in the direction of the principal arch.

Chalgrin's«plan was much more simple, though it re-embled the
other in its general disposition ; namely, in having two intersecting
vaults, and consequently an arch on each of Its four faces.

Even before it was decided which of the two designs should be
ultimately adopted, preparations were made for carrying one or other
of them into execution, and the first stone was laid August 15th, 1806.
The foun.lations, which are 8 metres in depth, and 28 in breadth (or a
fraction more than 26 and 91 Englif.h feet, respectively) and are f .rmed
of blocks of Cyclopean masonry, «ere already far advanced when Ray-
mond, whose leading i'ieas it had been determined to adopt, resolved
rather to have nothing to do with the work, than consent to the altera-
tions it was pmposed to make in his designs. He accordingly gava
up his appointment as architect, in 1809 ; nor did lie long survive the
chagrin he felt on the occasion.

Chalgrin, hitherto only adjunct to the principal architect, now
proceeded with the work" according to his own ideas, and with suoU

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

IGl

Fig, 3. — The Ground Plan of one of the Piers.

Fig. 4.— Half the Plan of Upper Story.

alacrity, that they had reached the height of more than twenty feet
al)ove the ground, when, in consequence of Napoleon's union with
Maria Louisa, he was commanded to make some alterations in his designs
with regard to the subjects of some of the reliefs, &c., but without
interfering with the general idea for the monument. On Maria
Louisa's entry into Paris, it was temporarily completed by a frame-
work of timber raised upon it, covered with canvass, painted to
resemble the decorations ; and on this impromptu construction being
removed, the works were prosecuted with all possible dispatch. Chal-
grin, however, dieil in January, 1811, and was succeeeded by Goust,
who continued the edifice conformably with the designs of his prede-
€-essor, till 1814, at which lime it had been carried up as far as the
imposts of tlie arch. Then came the reverse, whose history may be
summed up in the four disastrous words — Moscow, Elba, Waterloo,
St. Helena.

After a pause of nine years, it was resolved in 1823 to proceed afresh
with the work, but to convert it into a monument of the Due d'An-
gouleme's Spanish campaign; and among the alterations inconsequence
proposed, it was considered expedient to remove the pedestals on each
side of the arch to the centre of the piers. Accordingly, both Goust
and Hnyot offered plans for that purpose ; and Huyot's was the one
accepted by the committee, consisting of Tournon, Hericourt de
Thury, Quatremere de Quincy, and Percier. This was, kowever, after-
wards set asi 'e, and Goust was ordered to proceed according to
Chalgrin's plan. But in 1823 he was superseded by Huyot, and lie
had carried up the building as far as the attic, which he intended to be
decorated uiih thirty statues on lofty pedestals, connected by an open
balustrade; when the political events of 1830 interfered, and Louis
Philippe ordtred that the monument should record all the exploits of
the French armies, from 1792 to 181.5. Huyot was dismissed, and
Blouet, his successor, completed the monument as it now exists. But
Chalgrin's idea, which he recommended should be carried into execu-
tion, and according to which the whole would have been surmounted by
a figure of Victory, in a car drawn by six horses, has not been realised.

Although the reliefs and other sculptures are in themselves the most
important features in the monument, which, independently of such deco-
ration, and its colossal vastness, has nothing particularly striking in its
design, we shall not enumerate their several subjects, which would after

all be a mere catalogue of names. In regard to them, therefore, we will
merely state tliit M. Thiery, a French architect, is engaged upon a
large descriptive monograph, in which ail the details and ornaments
will be fully exhibited together with the constructive details, and the
changes that were made from time to time in the works. We iiiu^t
not, however, omit to specify its principal dimensions; which, for tlie
sake of greater convenience, we here give in a tabular form, both in
metres and English feet : —

METRES FEET INTIIFS

Entile Height 49.483 162 4

Breadth 44.820 147

Depth or Literal Breadth . . 22.260 73

Height of Large Arch . . 29.420 96 6

Width of ditto 14.620 47 10

Heightof Small or Lateral Arches 18.630 6 I

Width of ditto 8.440 27 7

According to a return of the Minister of the Interior, made up to
December, 1836, the total disbursements from 1806 to 1836 were
10,691,098 francs 91 cent. From this sum deductions must be made
for alterations, caused by political changes 876,243 francs 83 cent,
and for the temporary canvass erection on the marriage of the Em-
peror 511,345 francs 29 cent, or 1,387,591 francs 12 cent. Thus the
arch property cost 9,303,307 francs 79 cent. (372,140/.); of which
four millions were spent umler the Emperor, three millions under tlie
Restoration, and under Louis Phillippe, three millions. The gas-
fittings cost 38,464 francs 30 cent, or 1338/.

The best way of estimating' the effect of such extraordinary dimen-
sions, is to refer to some well known object that will furnish a direct
comparison in regard to size, and we find such comparison ready
made to our purptjse. in the second volume of the " Illusirafons of the
Puhlic Buildings of London," (p. 216,) where, speaking of Temple-bar,
the Editor remarks that the whole of it, " with ani.iher liuildiiig of the
same dimensions above it might be comprised uiihiii the opening of
the lar^e arch of tie Barriere de I'Etoile!" Looking llitrefore at
Temple-bar, we may, without difficulty, form an adequate conception
of the vast scale of the French monument, particularly «litn we tale
into consideration its dimensions in regard to depth, which are sucli,

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tliat tlie Toid of the great arcli would contain eight Temple-bars, lliat
is, four placed one behind the otiier, and as many above them. How
jirodigious then must bo the entire mass ! Here again we may have
recourse to comparison, and when we state that the height of this mass
of architecture is only about twenty feet lower than that of the spire
of St. Martin's cliurcli (measured from the strtet pavement), and
that the clock of the latter would just be on a line with the arciiitr.ive
of the Arc de I'Etoil.', something like a feeling' of astonishment will be
I'xcited.

It \voidi! be inteve-ting to delineate this monument, and s.ime of our
own edifices drawn to the same scale; and were we to do so with
regard to the Strand front of Somerset-house, we should tind that even
in width, it is less tluin the edifice at Paris, and that, tl]0uj;h composed of
an oi deriin a lofty hascnient, its cornice is not quite so high as the gioups
of scidpturc placed on each side of the arch. Consequently, in this
cast, »c should have to imagine more than another mass equal to the
iStranii building- of Somerset-place, reared above the one we now
behold. If we take the Banqueting-house, Whitehall, one of the loftiest
of our buildings, f xrlnsive of such structurfs as steeples and spires,
we tind that it is not higher than the impost of the aich, which being'
the case, it is easy to judge how diminutive even the Railway terminus
in Eustoii-square would appear by the side of this colossal pde, the
lop of its pediment being about six feet lower than the Banquetin ;'-
house. It is true we have several fagades (among' others, that of the
Post-office), which, in aere length, greatly surpasses the structure we
are sjicaking of; but they are altogether difi'erenl in character — display
nothing- of the same mass, or of the same scale of magnitude, being
])roduced merely b\ co?>limmtio>t, w ithout any aiuplificiition of the parts
Iheniselves. Hi-re every thing is on the most gigantic scale, the very
bas-reliefs in the panels being equal to one entire side of a large room ;
while each of the four piers formed by the two smaller arches inter
secting- the large one transversely in the plan, is equal to a very lofty
house, w ith a frontage of 50 feet one way, and '25 the other.

RALPH REDIVIVUS.— No. XVI.

THE riMLICO LITERARY I \ STITUTti ).\, EUUBY STREET.

In making choice of this building, for my present article, it is not so
much with the intention of confining myself to it for my subject, as
with that of taking it as a theme upon which I may enlarge with
respect to one peculiarity in it. Very probably some of my readers
may have never heard of it before, and will therefore wonder not a
little that I should condescend to Waste any words upon a piece of
such utter obscureness ; and among them there may be those who will
give me credit for being wicked enough to drag it forth into notice,
for no other purpose than that of unsparingly ridicuhng some poor
abortive attempt at design which every body else would consider to be
beneath criticism.

It must be confessed, the building itself has notliing at all in it to
arrest the attention of persons in general, more than any thing else of
the saine kind and size ; nor is it at all improbable that many have
passed it without even so much as noticing the peculiarity for the
sake of which it is that I am chiefly induced to speak of it. In the
general elevation there is little remarkable, it being little more than a
pleasing composition in the Grecian Doric style;— a distyle in antis,
with a lower and narrotver lateral portii.n or wing on each side of the
loggia. Although, as far as decoration is concerned, these last-
mentioned parts contiibute little or nothing to the design, they have
considerable value in it, both by giving character to it, and by pro-
ducing an agreeable contrast of solid and void, and light and
shade. It is to the hack-ground behind the external elevation, — to
the inner part of the loggia we must look for that which confers no-
velty on this small f;i(,'ade, and distinguishes it from every thing else of
its kind ; namely, the screen or low wall carried up little higlier than
the doorway placed in it; besides which the light is partially admitted
at the sides or ends of the loggia between small square pillars, placed
on the level of the top of the screen. Few and simple as they are,
these circumstances impart to the whole a newness, a playfulness and
picturesqueness of appearance that may be pronounced almost
fascinating, when compared with the unvaried sameness that pervades
all our imitations of Grecian architecture, and allows of no other
diversity than what arises from the order employed, and its accompanying
details. It is true, the facade porticos of the Greeks themselves exhibited
so very little variety that they may be described as all of them conforming
to one common established model, withoutother distinctions than those
attending the columns and entablature, and the greater and lesser
number of the former. Vet this constant repetition of one and the
samt idea merely a little differently modified, was not, I conceive, so
much a merit as a defect in Grecian architecture; nor is it any
satisfactory argument to the contiary to say, that, considered indi-

vidually, each example was excellent. We may have too much, even
of a good thing: toujours perdrix is a most nnpalateable dish.

It is owing to this monotony that now its first novelty is worn away,
the Grecian style has of late begun to be abandoned for others. Instead
of endeavouring to infuse greater variety and freedom into it, onr
architects have practically abridged its tether still more, and reduced its
orders to mere stereotype fac-siniilies of certain examples ; whereas,
although adhering almost without exception to one uniform plan, even
the Greeks allowed themselves some little liberty in regard to matters
of detail : nay, so far are we from aimingat any fresh combinations
resulting from plan, that I cannot call to recollection any one portico,
where inner columns have been placed behind those in front, for
which at least there is sufficient precedent in Grecian buildings to
satisfy the most timid and scrupulous. So far then we may be said
rather sedulously to shun what is almost the only source of variety, or
if not the only, the chief one in Grecian architecture ; reducing every
design for a portico to a mere line of columns before a wall, with no
other difference than what is occasioned by there being windows or
not, or by there being either a single door, or a principal and lesser
ones. All that is done beyond this consists in occasionally making the
portico recede within the building, cis well as project from it ; of which
we have instances in those of the Post-office and the London Uni-
versity. At that point we stop.

One solitary example, however, of a single step further being taken,
does now occur to me, and it is that furnished by the interior of the
portico of the National Gallery, where there are two columns within
the break or recess containing the central doorway ; yet, although as
far as it goes, this circumstance alone produces considerable richness,
it hardly shows itself from without, until we begin to ascend the steps ;
because, owing to the portico being so elevated, it is almost concealed
from the spectator when he is close to it, while seen at a distance
all between the outer columns is veiled in obscurity.

With no more than these two instances before us, viz., the National
Gallery and the Pimlico Institution, it is easy to perceive what various
modifications and combinations might be obtained ; the variety at-
tending the former being that given to the horizontal lines or ground-
plan, while in the other case, it lies in the section or vertical plan,
both which species of variety might be resorted to, wherever a more
piquant effect than would be attainable oy employing only one of
them was aimed at.

In order to render this more intelligible by something like direct
exemplification of the principle recommended, — and unless I do so
people will hardly beat the pains of giving it any serious consideration —
I will here briefly point out one or two of the numerous combinations
that may be obtained as soon as we break through the dull and weari-
some fashion of placing one unifoim plain wall behind columns, whose
blankness is interrupted merely by the entrance or entrances. After
admitting the screen in its simplest form — in which it presents itself
at the Pimlico Institution ; the next step would be to bestow some
decoration on it, and to place cither a statue or large bust in the
centre over the doorway. It still remains, however, a simple screen,
dividing the lower part of the portico into an inner and an outer one.
We must not stop here, or if we do we shall lese not only that variety
which serves to distinguish one design for another, but also those con-
trasts and complex effects which may be brought into a single design.
It will be desirable therefore to admit square columns behind those in
front, between the lower part of whose shafts the screen would be in-
serted ; another mode would be to employ columns, placing them either
immediately before ®r behind the screen, and eccasionally to combine
both modes, letting columns be seen beyond it, as well as in front of it ;
other variations present themselves in regard to the screen itself, since
it does not follow that it must needs be of uniform height throughout —
for whether it be divided into inter-columns or not, it may rise up in the
centre where the entrance is placed, so that its fascia shall there coin-
cide with the 'cornice of the doorway. Neither is there occasion that
such screen should invariably be carried the width of the inner elevation
of the portico : on the contrary, it might sometimes be confined to
the centre, or vice versa ; the doorway, in the latter case, being placed in
a wall carried up to the soffit of the general architrave. Light, again,
mightoccasionally be thrown upon the part seen beyond the screen, either
from the side or from above ; which would certainly greatly enhance the
effect, and produce that kind of display of which we have as yet no
instance whatever ; and if I may be allowed the liberty of pointing
out a portico where something of this kind could have been intro-
duced without coing at all out of the way in order to obtain it, I would
refer to the portico of the Post-office, where had the compartmentin
which the great door is placed been separated from the hall merely by
a screen carried upas high as the consoles against the jambs of that
doorway, — which would have been even more economical than the
present wall, — the upper p.-.rt of the hall and its columns would have

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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. J(i

been seen over it in siicli manner as to produce a strilting arcliitectiiral
scene. In fact, so niucli novilty, so many coniliinations, miglit be tluis
produced, tliat althongli not at all difficult, it would be tiresome to
point them out more particularly.

That any one will be induced by what I have said to take th se
suggestions into deliberate consideration, is what I do not expect :
well am 1 aware that i might all this while just as well have been
"whistling jigs to the moon." Most people turnup their noses at
"advice gratis,"— arcliitccts among the rest : tlierefore they must go on
to tlie end of the chapter, witli their single row of copied columns in
front, which constitute their classical porticos. All I have to remark
is, that the sooner they come to the end of that very dull chapter, the
better.

C A N D I n U S ' S NOTEBOOK.
FASCICULUS IV.

1 must have liberly
Withal, as larffe a charter as the winds,
To blow un whom I ploasc.

I. Most persons seem to think that they have a right, wlien building,
to commit whatever vagaries they pleasf, and that it is excessively im-
pertinent in any one to impugn tlieir taste, be it ever so absurd.
Certainly the legal right cannot be disputed : legislation, which touches
every tiling else in this country, where freedom consists in the liberty
of making some new shackles for ourselves every day, has not as yet
laid its hands >ipon taste. In building, a man has a most unquestion-
able right to please himself — if he can, whether he so pleases his neigh-
bours or not ; yet so has he a right to wear either his own nightcap or
his wile's bonnet instead of a hat ; and other persons have the riglit to
laugh at him as much as they please in tlieir turn.

II. For an experiment in polychromy on such a scale as should
satisfactorily determine how far it is really valuable, how far consistent
with good taste or the contraiy, we have nothing so suitable as the York
Column. In fact, it could not have been more so had the architect ex-
pressly intended it to be so finished up, for at present it strikes quite as
much bv its bareness, and the utter absence of all decoration as by any-
thing else. There are several circumstances which recommend it — I
might say, plainly point it out as a fitting architectural subject for such
purpose : its being insulated in such manner, and its being of such form,
that the effect which might be produced could not possibly violently
interfere with any thing else ; further, its being precisely the kind uf
structure to ornRiiient which may be applied unsparingly, with the great-
est propriety, or, rather, one which absolutely demands it. Yet, although
I am of opinion that the experiment might be made with perlect safety
as to the result, by no means v.ould I advise that it should be a hap-
hazard one : on the contrary, if it was intended that it should succeed,
the utmost study should be given to it beforehand. A model, at least
ten or twelve feet high, ought to be prepared, — one capable of showing
the minutest details of every piece of ornament ; and this should not only
exhibit the precise colours, but the same pigments which are employed in
polychromy. So, then, I actually propose that the poor York Column
should not be wiiitewashed — as some have fancied Westminster Abbey
ought to be — but daubed over of as many colours as a Harlequin's
jacket displays, by way of introducing the outlandisli architectm'al
fashion termed polychromy'? To be sure I do; — though, of course,
the "daubing" and the " Harlequin's jacket," would be re-echoed from
all sides against such a scheme. It is hardly worth while to discuss
how far painting and daubing are one and the same operation ; besides
which, it might lead to some excessively odorous comparisons ; but, as
for tlie Harlequin's jacket, I enter my solemn protest against that
comparison, which, were I to fling it any where I should fling at some
of Turner's blue and brimstone pictures — daubings, 1 liad almost said.
No, I am of opinion that greys and warm ntnitral tints, with an inter
mixture of light bronze-colour, sparingly lelieved by touches here and
there of dift'erent brilliant hues, would be most suitable ; if properly
managed wotdd produce soberness without dullness, and sufficient
eneray and vivacity, without either crudencss or garrish glare. The
positive colours ought perhaps to be applied to the grounds of the orna-
ments, rather than the ornaments themselves, in such manner as that
these latter would appear a rich broidery of figures, foliage, and other
embellishments, through whose interstices differently coloured surfaces
would appear. As to tbe arrangement of the ornaments, they should
be in horizontal zones, wliethei with plain spaces between them or not ;
but certainly not in a continuous spiral from top to bottom. My pro-
ject is a very excellent and a very feasible one, and would certainly he
realised to-morrow, were I but lucky enough to pick up Fortunatus'
wishing-cap to-night.

III. If there be any truth at all in any of the representations I have
seen of Ahbotsford, it is but a sad sample of Sir Walter Scott's taste,
being a most Urummagem piece of architecture and antiquarianism,
hardly a whit superior to Strawberry Hill. In the print he gives of the
house, Dibdin makes it a complete architectural scarecrow, such a mot-
ley and beggarly jumble of odds and ends, that its look is any thing
but inspiring. It is wonderfully anti-poetical in the fancy it exhibits",
so much so, that one would imagine it to have been biiilt by some
retired cheesemonger, or other vulgarian of that grade. Had such
been the case, its ugliness would have been a by-woid to all tlic world.
Now, if the public insist upon deifying Sir Walter, well and good ; but
as for Ahbotsford, we may surely be allowed to give the taste shown
in it, if not the house itself, to the devil.

IV. The author of the " Original" has some very peculiar notions on
tlie subject of dining-rooms ; one or two to which I cordially assent,
others from which I as cordially differ. I admiie tlie perfect good
sense with which he is satirical at thcexpense of thosewould-be-thought
genteel people who make the giving a dinner an affair of fidget and
fussiness, and thereby often entertain their good-natured friends very
far more than they intend to do. From the very first you perceive the
extraordinary state of things : all is masquerade, except the whole
absurdity of the business — which stares you in the face wilhoi;t any
disguise. But this is a subject I must turn over to Boz — who. I pre-
sume, is capable of doing it justice; and who, for aught I can te'l, mav
have excercised his talent upon it already — for were I to allow myself
to run on upon it, there would be no space for any thing else in this
number of the Journal. But all this is merely a scappata.

Agreeing with Mr. Walker, that dining-rooms in London are in
general very tasteless and uninspiring, I do not enter into his notions
for rendering them otherwise ; neither do I at all approve of attempt-
ing to establish rules, which however suitable they may be in some cases —
or even the majority of them — may prove quite the reverse in others.
The only rule that ought invariably to be adhered to is to provide a
side-board alcove ; for without this, instead of appearing to have been ori-
ginally intended for its purpose, the room will appear to be merely made
use of for dining in, for want of one better adapted to the purpose.
Although preferable to none at all, a mei'e shallow recess for the side,
board is little better than an apology for one. The recess ought to be
deeper than the side-board itself, so as to have the appearatice of being
a space added to the room, capable of containing, besides the side-
board itself, whatever it may be convenient to have at hand during the
time of dinner. If this be attended to there will always be a certain
degree of character and effect independently of any thing else; be-
sides which, within a deep alcove there can be a door through which
servants can go in and out with less interruption to those at table than
otherwise ; and if the recess be wider within than towards the room,
so that such door be more or less concealed from view, all the better.
But whatever others may think of it, I certainly do not at all approve
of the worthy magistrate's whimsical idea of a ' quiet little kitchen'
immediately adjoining the dining-room, and communicating with it by
an entrance close to the side-board, closed during the process of
dinner by a curtain onlij ! I have no objection to his fixing the num-
ber of eight as the maximum for a comfortable dinner-party, if nierelv
because that regulation would eft'ectually prevent the misfortune of
there being thirteen at table ; neither do I quarrel with him for recom-
mending the least possible number of attendants, it being anything but
agreeable to have a regiment of flunkies ci'owding the room, and recon-
noitring the com^jany during the whole of their feeding-time. On the
other hand, I certainly see no reason whatever for the ai'hitraiv rule
which \^'ould restrict the width of the room to what is just sufficient to
allow the attendants to pass round the table without jostling against
each other ; in other words, the room ought, according to Mi'. Walker,
to be invariably a very narrow one.

This is absurd enough : and, in fact, all restrictions and positive rules
in regard to colour, decoration, and other matters of a similar kind,
are not only useless, but worse than useless ; because were they at-
tended to they would put every dining-room into a standard uniform,
which is anything but desirable for there is at present far more mono-
tony and sameness than one would wish to meet with. We rather
want variety ; and there is certainly ample scope for it. The only rule
which ought to be received as applicable in all cases, without exception,

is that EVERY THING OUGHT TO BE CONSISTENT THROUGHOUT, TO BE IN
EXCELLENT TASTE, AND TO PRODUCE AS MUCH EFFECT AS THE ACTUAL

DESIGN WILL ADMIT OF. Instead of fettering the artist, and putting
his ideas on a Procrustean bed, this rule leaves him at perfect liberty.
So far from being required to be invariably sober, modest, chaste, or
whatever else of the kind we style it, a dining-room may be as splendid
as any other apartment in a house ; with this difference, that its splen-
dour must differ in kind from that of the drawing-room and boudoirs.
In fact, sumptuousness, rather than the contrary, ought, in many cases,

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to be the prevailing cliaracter, especially where there is a prodigal dis-
play of plate. Nor by sumptiiousness do I mean gaiidiness: tout aii
contraire, the former may be made to exclude llie lattir. Let there be,
fjr instance, in order to give something like a positive and tangible ex-
ample.a deep alcove — semicircular perhaps in plan — lined with diaperies
of pmple velvet, to relieve tlie gold and silver plate on the sideboard.
Give this alcove a double screen of white marble or scagliola columns
ill front, between which would be placed lofty candelabra. Tlie walls
might be incrusted with scagliola of a darker tint than the L-hafts of
the columns. The window draperies would of conrse match those of
the alcove, at least in material, supposing a different colour to be
selected for them ; — ceiling of an architectural design, either simply
white and gold, or relieved by colours in its lacnnaria; — for ornamental
furnitnre against the walls, we would have marble pedestals alternately
supporting lesser candelabra, and gilt or alabaster vases tilled with a
profusion of flowers — but mind, artificial ones. Now I conceive that if
properly arranged, so as to avoid all appearance of crowding together
more than the space would allow, the kind of elfect might be produced
which would not at all be ont of character for a dining-room, namely,
the Festal. As for Mr. Walker's nice quiet little kitchen, I will take
the liberty of shoving that under the dining-table.

RAILWAY CURVES.

Sir, — Like your correspondents in the journals for January and
Match, I have been employed in making out Railway Curves ; but in a
country extremely unfavourable to the formation of railway.*, both as
respects gradients and curves, and where, consequently, inclinations of
one in 200 or 300, and curves of one quarter mile radii, are looked
on as favourable. On sharp curve", you must be aware, it is necessary
to elevate the outer or longer side, one, two, three, or even more
inches, iibove the olher, in order to us-ist the caniages in travelling
round them. In short, without such a practice, curves of -hurt radius
would be irapa-saHle. But as the one rail must be raised above the
level of the other gradually, and as grcdu illy desceiid to tlie level of
the same, the difference ut level must be the greatest in the centie of
the curve, and therefore t'le tendency of the carria.;es lo fly off the
rail.s, will, so far as it is affected by these means, be least low^fds the
centre of the curiie ; or, in other words, to make that tendenri/ uniform
t/irour/hout, the curve must be made sharpest at its centre, au'l therefore
leave tlie siraight line at a larger radius than it afterwards assumes ; as
recommended by your first corres[.ondent : but, as in curves of a mile
or two radius, this reason does not obtain, I must agree wi'h your
subsequent correspondent on the subject, that, in general, the practice
under discussion would be not only useless hut injurious.

By the raising the outer rail of a curve above the innei, I know of a
railway curve (of the ordiuary 4 feet 8J inch gauge) of only J chain*
radius, which is readily passable by locomotive and train ; rind a curve
of about I I chains radius on the same railway round which Cihniioh
certainly with considerable diffi ulty) heavy waggons are daily pulled
by horses.

I know nothing of the modes usually adopted on laying out railway

curves, therefore, for what I know, what follows may be unworthy of

notice on account of novelty ; but, for the sake of your junior readers,

may possibly be worthy of insertion in your widely extending journal.

I am, Sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 1!. ^\ . T.

1. — To mark out a curve of a certain given radius.

Let AB be the straight line of a railway, B the point where the curve
is intended to commence. BC, 1) C, &c radii of the curve to be
described, Dd the deviation from the straight line at the end of any
convenient length Bd, then C d'^ or (CD-fDrf)= = CB»+B(^
or VT) + T)d = x/C B' -\- a a-' I.e. Bd = \/C B= -|-~Erf= — C B,
produce BD to e, making De = Brf, and draw TBt a tangent
to the curve at the point D, tlien the triangle TDB will be = and
similar to the triangle DBrf, and the anjile TDB is = the angle eBl
being vertical ; also T D ^ / D and C B, C I), &c., being very great in
comparison with BD, D E, &e., the triangles BlE, Del may he con-
sidered practically equal and similar, and therefore E< = /e = Drfor
Ec ^ 2D(/, which may be found by the above formula, where CB is
the radius of the proposed curve, and Bd, any convenient length
between the several points B, D, E, &c., is to be found.

The rule iu words at length may be expressed as follows : — Add
together the square of the radius and the square of the distance apart
of the points to be found in the proposed curve ; take the square root
of their sum, and take from it t .eir radius: the result will be the
amount of deviation from the straight line in the given length — » hieh
will give the first point of the curve; after which the deviations must
be doubled, to render the curve uniform.

2 — To change from a greater to a smaller radius, or vice versa.

Suppose at the point F the curve changes its radius, having now
the shorter radius FG, it is evident the curves BDEF and FHI,
should have a common tangent at F, which tangent may be found (on
the ground) by taking E< = J Ee, and <F will be thecommon tangent,
then the direction of the tangent IV h being found, the amount of
deviation (AH) for the length F/i and radius G H may be found as
before ; then by producing F H to i, and making the deviation If double
H/i, another point 1 of the curve is found. In prartice \i &c. maybe
measured at right angles to FHf, &c., the figures of course, being
very much distorted ; thereby rendering the angle H/I, which in prac-
tice might be taken as a right angle.

3. — To desa-ibe an S curve.

Suppose I ta be the point at which the curve changes; then tlie
curves F H I and UK must have a common tangent at I, which can be
found as before; also the dev ation Jj, which being doubled, any num-
ber of points, as K, L, may be found.

SKEW ARCHES.

Sir — The usual method of obtaining the spiral courses, in drawings
of skew atches, is productive of much labour.

I liave been led to believe that the following plan is much simpler,
more expeditious, and consequently easier of comprehension ; and
although the same idea may possibly have occurred to others, it may
not be so generally known as to be entitely unacceptable.

A spiral is defined as being a line traced upon the surface of a cylin-
der, by the extremity of a revolving radius, which radius has also a
uniform motion along the axis.

Let AB, fig 1, be a cvlinder, and DE any line making an acute
angle with the axis, it is evident that tlte line DE, is the locus of a
point haviniT a uniform motion, in each of the directions DB, DF, and
if the line DE be wrapped round the cylinder, it will still possess the
same property, only tlia't the motion in the direction DF, will be trans-
formed to a motion round the cylinder, and thfe line will thus become

a spiral. ., , , ■ .

I have said this in order to show, .as clearly as possible, that a straight
line, when wrapped round a cylinder, produces a curve conforming to
the definition of a true spiral, and will now proceed to explain the
simplest method I have found of projecting this curve.

If a piece of paper, having a straight edge, represented by the line
DE, be rolled round a cylinder, it will be found that all the points II,
K, &c. will approach the cylinder, in vertical planes perpendicular to

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND AUCIIITJECT'S JOURNAL.

1839.] '

the axis, the edges of which planes aie represented by the lines LH,
MK.

Hence it will he seen, that to ascertain the position of any point H,
when the line DE is wrapped round the cylinder, we have only to
wrap round the line LH ; this may easily be done by drawings an end
view G, of the cylinder, and taking NP eijinl to LH, finding NH' the
length of the curve equal to NP,* and projecting the point H' to H",
we obtain the position that H will occupy upon the cylinder. In the
same manner all the points in the curve may be found.

We now come to the practical application.

165

Fig. 2. — Let ABCn denote the outlines of the plan of the soffit of a
skew arch, and let EFG be drawn making the proper anglef with the
face.

Then by the plan I have just described, the line EG may be wrapped
round the cylinder, and E' FG' the curve generated, will represent one
of the spiral courses. Now each of the courses of a skew arch would,
if produced, wrap itself round the cylinder, and present a curve similar
to E' FG', hence every one of the courses of the arch will be a portion
of this curve ; if, then, a mould be cut to the curve E' FG', it is evi-
dent that by setting on the proper distances, along the lines AG' E'C,
and applying the mould to the corresponding points, all the courses
may be drawn, as shown on the figure, with little trouble.

I believe the common practice is to project each of these joints on
the soffit separately ; where the arch is brick, and each course shoftn,
tliis is a work of much laliour.

The same principle, with a little modification, is applicable to the
other views of the arch, more particularly to the outline of the deve-
lopement of the soffit, only that in this case the operation is unrolling
instead of rolling the line.

In case any may not understand the preceding explanation?, I
would recommend those who feel interested in the matter to try the
experiments with the paper and wooden roller, and ihey will quickly
perceive the priuci[)le.

S. ^- G. Railtcay-office, Your's obediently,

Worcester. H. Spencer.

PLYMOUTH BREAKWATER.

A communicntion frnm Sir John Rennie to T. L. Donaldson, Esq.,
Hon. Sec., read befure the Institute uf British Architects, April
11th, 1839.

Dkab Sir, — 1 have the greatest pleasure in complying with your
request, relative to the construction of the Breakwater in Plymouth
Sound, and I shall always be extremely happy to forward the views
of the the Royal Institute of British Architects in any way which
may be considered most conducive to the welfare of that valuable
tnciety, in which you take such a laudable interest, and only regret
that your application of yesterday had not been communicated to me
earlier, in order that I might have been enabled to render the following
account more complete, and more worthy of the society ; and as I have
written this chiefly from memory as far as the shortness of the time
would allow, I trust that every allowance will be made for any
omission, as I am about publishing a work upon Harbours, in which
the subject will be more fully explained hereafter: and I entirely
agree with you, that although strictly speaking, a work like the
Breakwater may not generally come within the range of civil
architecture as now practised ; nevertheless it is to be hoped that the
study of it may be found not altogether unprofitable ; the more so, as
Vitruvius, the earliest founder of the art, includes a knowledge of these
kind of works among the necessary acquirements of the archiiects.
I shall now, therefore, proceed to tlie description of the work in
question.

* This may be done by calculation, but measurement by compasses is near enough
ior practical purposes.

T This line wuu'rl be at ri^'ht angles to the face, on the surface halfway bet\reen
She soffit anrlcrowQ. (See Mr. Fox's I'amphlet on Skew Arches.)

Plymouth Sound, from its extent, its depth of water, the numerous
creeks and rivers which discharge themselves intrf its bosom, and its
proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, had long pointed itself out as one
ol the principal stations for the British navy ; and at an early period
of our liislory, Devonport was selected as the chief port for fitting out
vessels of war for the western portion of the kingdom ; and although
on account of the exposed nature of Plymouth Sound, a certain degree
of inconvenience was more or less experienced during the infancy of
the British navy, nevertheless, it never became so apparent until the
tremendous conflict of the hist war, when it became absolutely neces-
sary for self defence to increase our fleet to that extent, that more
than ordinary accommodation became necessary ; it was then that the
danger and inconvenience of the Sound became most apparent, and
imperiously called for a remedy ; various ideas had been suggested,
and numerous plans proposed to obviate the existing evils, until at
last the Admiralty applied to tlie late Mr. Rennie, my fattier, who
proposed to erect a detached or iso'ated breakwater in the centre of
the Sound, which, after a great deal of discussion and opposition,
was finally approved of, adopted, and ordered to be carried into
effect ; and the first stone was accordingly deposited in the summer of
1812. The reasons for adopting the isolated or detached Break-
water were; first, because this part of the Sound was already obstructed,
and to a considerable extent rendered unnavigable by the Panther,
Shovel, and Tucker rocks : secondly, by placing it in the centre of
the Sound, there would be an entrance at each end available for vesseh
to take advantage of either an easterly or westerly wind, whioli
would considerably laeilitate their entrance or departure to or from
port : thirdly, by having two entrances there would he a greater
facility for the reception, and discharge of the tidal and fresh waters,
and thus maintain a more general and equal circulation of the current
throughout the estuary and its various receptacles, and prevent the
dejjosit and accumulation of sedimentary matter, with which the
waters are more or less charged ; and thus, whilst protection again<t
storms would be gained, the depth would still be raaintaipeJ, which
constitutes one, if not the most difficult problem in the construction
of haibours. The correctness of Mr. Bennie's decision has been
fully corroborated by the result, for, contrary to general anticipation,
thedepth of the Sound has not been found to decrease, but rather to
augment ; as otherwise, although the embankment of several marshes
over which the tide used formerly to flow, and thus to contribute and
augment the scour or backwater, might reasonably have been sup-
posed to have produced a different result, and should if possible have
been avoided.

Fig. 1. — Plan of Breakwater.

Scale of yards, each divison 100 yards,

t'll" I I ■ T 1 I 1 ' ' ■ ' -J

The span between A 13, or eastern arm, is about 10 feet above low water
spriiig-liHe : B to C is finished with rubble ; — C' to I> is to be finished with
masonry ; — D to E is finished with masonry.

Fig. 2. — Transverse section of the finished part of the Breakwater.

A _ y ^i_

Scale of feet, each division 10 feel,
r 1 T I 1 1 I I I ■ ' T • t I I , I t j_i

A A. Hijih water sprinytiiles ; — BB, Low water spring-tides; — CC. Orl-
j»inal bottom, varvhig from 40 to 4-5 feet below low water mark ; — D, The
Ftrestiore ; — E, Sea slope ; — F, Top 45 feel wide.

The first stone wai deposited Aiisust 12, 1819,
Quantity of stone deposited to April 3. 1S30 . 2.0(13.979 Tons.
Ditto from do. to January 22. 1833 . . 0ll,'l23

DiltQ from do. to March 31, 1838 . 68,311

Total

3,283,713

Ry referring to the plan, it will be seen that the Breakw,Tter is
composed of three arms, the centre being 1,000 yards, and the two
outer arms ,360 yards each, and inclines at an angle of "0 dcfi-i-oes to
llie main arm, and comprehending a total length of 1,700 yards at

1C6

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[May,

top, or 1,770 yards, or one mile, at the low water line. The exterior
slope or inclination, taken below the line of low water has been left for
the sea to form, and i>; fonnd to be at from three to four feet horizontal
to one foot perpendicular, and in parts rather steeper, but from low
water upwards, which lias been set artifically, it is five horizontal to
one perpendicular. The inner slope or that ne.\t to the land is nearly
two feet horizontal to one foot perpendicular from the base to the top,
which is two feet above high water of spring tides, and forty-five feet
wide, rising one foot additional towards the centre. In addition to
the sea slope above described, by referring to the drawings, it will be
seen tliat there is an exterior berne or foreshore thirly feet wide, at
the extremity of the east end, fifty feet wide in the centre, and seventy
foct wide at the extreme we.-t end. This foreshore, it will be seen,
rises from the toe or base of the outer slope to about five feet above
low water at its outer extremity, and serves to break the waves before
arriving at the main body of the work, and thus diminish their force,
and at the same time to prevent the recoil or back stroke of the wave
from undermining the toe or base of the slope, and thus rnaking a
breach in the body of the work, which at times might otherwise- occur
to a certain extent. Towards the centre of the inner slope or face of
the Breakwater (see fig. 1.), it will be seen, that there is a small jetty
with a double returned head, for the purpose of enabling boats to land
under protection. At the western extremity it will be seen that
there is a circular head 370 feet diameter, upon which there is to be
constructed hereafter a lighthouse, so designed as to throw a com-
plete light over the entrance, at the same time to point out the an-
chorage, so that vessels entering at night may coiTie to their moorings
with the greatest facility, without fear of running foul of any ships
which may already be there. The general depth where the Break-
water is placed varies from thii ty-six to sixty feet at low water of
spring, tides, which generally rise about eighteen feet, and neaps
twelve to fourteen feet. The eastern entrance is half-a-mile wide,
and varies from six to seven fathoms at low water, and the western,
which is the principal entrance, is about half-a-mile wide, and varies
from seven to nine fathoms deep at low water spring tides, and the
anchorage, where there is fine holding-ground, varies from eight to
nine fathoms at low water spring tides.

The heaviest and most frequent gales come from the southward and
westward, and the wind prevails chiefly from the latter quarter about
nine months out of the twelve ; and during gales from this quarter,
which are very severe, exposed as it is to the uninterrupted reach of
the Atlantic and Bay of Biscay, with such a range of sea and such a
depth of water, it may readily be conceived that the sea must neces-
sarily be very heavy, and require a corresponding degree of strength
to counteract its disasterous effects.

The great mass or body of the work is composed of limestone
brought from the quarries of Overton, lying at the mouth of the river
Lary, ealhd Catwater, about four miles distant. The stone is raised
ill various sized blocks, from one quarter to ten tons and upwards in
weight, which are thrown promiscuously into the sea as they are
raised from the quarry, in the line of the Breakwater, taking care that
the greatest proportion of the large blocks are thrown upon the outer
or sea s'ope, and that the whole, large and small, are so mixed to-
gether, that the mass may be rendered as solid as possible. In
addition to the smallar class of rubble abovementioned, quarry rubbish
and lime screenings are thrown down from time to time in order to
fill up the smaller cavities. You must observe, that during the pro-
gress of a work of this nature, to a certain extent, storms are ex-
tremely beneficial, for they serve to wedge and consolidate the whole
mass together, much more effectually and in much shorter time than
human ait could perform ; and indeed it is desirable not to hurry
until the work, as it proceeds, has been consolidated by the sea in the
manner above described, — for until this has been effected and sufficient
time allowed, it is in vain to attempt, successfully, the erection of any
superstructure. As I have already observed, the work commenced in
181-2, and continued with considerable activity until 18-24, during
whicli period scarcely any storms of consequence occurred, and the
great mass of the work had been completed below low-water mark,
and ab'Ut half of the superstructure from the eastern end towards the
centre had been carried to the full height above high water, and, judg-
ing from what had passed, the able and excellent superintendent, the
late Mr. Wheatley, one of the most experienced officers in the navy,
concluded, that it -was necessary to incur the expense of an outer slope
of 5 to I as originally proposed, and considered necessary by the late
Mr. Rennie. The great storm, however, of Nov., 1824, completely
established the accuracy of Mr. Rennie's calculations, for the sea in-
creased the outer slope from 3 a5 to 1, and transferred with the greatest
nicety the superfluous rubble from the outer to the inner slope ; the
area of the one was nearly equal to the area of the other, making the
requisite allowance that the former had become more consolidated by

time than the latter. In proportion as the work advanced, it was
found that the sea became much more heavy towards the western end,
and consequently rendered a more solid description of work necessary;
I therefore recommended that the surface should be cased with
masonry and a foreshore on the sra-side, encreasing in substance and
strength as it approached the west end, where the whole from low
water to the top is composed of solid masonry, dowelled, joggled, dove-
tailed and cramped together, and the foreshore to be regularly set as
far as practicable, and using the diving-bell to fuund the lower courses
below low water. I also recommended that air or vent-holes should
be made on the surface of the casing where requisite, to enable the
air compressed by the waves to escape and prevent it from blowing up
the covering ; although it was found by Mr. Stewart, the present in-
telligent and experienced resident superintendent, that where sufficient
time had been given for the rubble below to become consolidated by
the sea, and the masonry casing had been carried up solid from lnw
water, that the vent-holes were unnecessary. By refoning to the
drawings, you will observe that the stones coloured grey represent
granite, which being obtained in larger blocks than the limestone,
being more tough and not so brittle, has been found to resist the shake
of the waves much more effectually. The lower, or footing granite
courses, upon which the rest of the superficial casing abuts, are laid
horizontally on their beds, the better to resist any lateral thrust which
might otherwise result from sliding ; the same may be observed of the
middle, or bonding course, which is also of granite. The whole of the
three granite courses are dove-tailed together, as well as being lewised
and bolted to each other, so that they may resist effectually every
shock to which they are peculiarly liable.

The mortar for the masonry is composed of one part Italian pozzo-
lano, one part aberthaw, or Plymouth lime, mixed up with two parts
of fine sharp clean freshwater sand, the whole being thoroughly mixed to-
gether, triturated under a mortar mill, and worked up with as little water
as possible ; this mortar very soon sets, and in a short time becomes
as hard as stone. The exterior beds and joints for a few inches in-
wards are pointed with the best Roman cement, which has the property
of setting directly, which is encreased by using warm water, but then
it has the disadvantage of being easily broken and not uniting again,
the other being decidedly preferable as soon as it has set. I also recom-
mended that a mass of concrete, composed of similar materials as the
mortar above described, only using five parts of sand, more or less,
according to the position, should be used in the interior of the work
to bed the blocks upon, near the level of low water ; this kind of con-
crete I have been in the habit of using for many years past in various
maritime works with great success, and even below low water, where,
if protected and used in masses together so as to prevent the waves
from acting upon it until some time after it has been deposited, soon
becomes very solid and durable.

The loose rubble blocks are transported and deposited in their posi-
tion in the following manner : — after having been worked in the quar-
ries thi y are transported by railways to the quay side, they are put on
board of vessels built expres^ly for the purpose. These vessels are
ab 'Ut sixty tons burthen and upwards, and have two railways laid
parallel to each, which traverse the hold of the vessel from stem to
stern, which can be made to open entirely — as the railways approach
the stern-port they form an inclined plane, the last part of which is
made to revolve upon an axle, with a check to prevent the truck from
going ovei-boardwith thestone ; on the deck of the vessel tliere are fixed'
powerful crabs or windlasses. The blocks of stone, together with the
trucks, are put on board the vessel, ranged in parallel rows on the rail-
ways beiore described. The vessel then takes her departure for her
st.ition at tl^e Breakwater, the whole of which has been previously
marked out with a sufficient number of buoys ; and upon her arrival
at the particular spot where stone is required, she is immediately
moored to one of the buoys in question. The crew then commence
their labours of discharge by heaving up the trucks containing the
blocks of stone, by means of the windlasses on deck ; and when the
truck arrives at the termination of the inclined plane at the stern of
the vessel, its own weight tilts it over, the block of stone is discharged
into the sea in its proper place, and the truck remains ; it is tiien
placed upon the deck of the vessel, and there left; and in like man-
ner each block is successively discharged, until the whole carg.i has
been disposed of: this operation, which is extremely simple, is very
soi.n completed, seldom occupying above a quarter of an hour or
twenty minutes ; the vessel then returns to the quarry for another
cargo, and, according to the state of the wind and weather, will make
several voyages a day. At times steam-tugs are used to take them to
their stations, which saves a good deal of time; but as the wind blows
from the westward during a greater portion of the year, they generally
sail back to the quarries. In order to ascertain the state of the work
below low-water, fi-erjuent sections are taken on the line of the buoys

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

107

befoie-nientioned at abovit every ten yards, and a regular register and
jonrnal is kept of the whole proceeding-, so tliat the actual slate of
the work at any one period can be ascertained with accuracy.

The work h is now been in operation nearly twenty-six years, but
the great bulk or mass of the work, whicli renders the Sound a well
protected roadstead, was completed ten or twelve years ago. The
o|)erations are now cluetl}' confined to tlie west end, where they are
employed upon making' the solid masonry foundation for tlie light-
house, wliich is a work requiring a good deal of nicety and time to
complete, particularly the foundation courses, which are to be laid by
tlie diving-bell ; but on account of tiie swell which so frequently pre-
vails there, many days elapse when it cannot be useil, so that the
Breakwater, with the exception of this ])art, may be said to be almost
completed. The original estimate of tlie late Mr. Rennie for the rub-
ble alone, witliout the masonry, casing, or lighthouse, was, I think,
1,150,000/., and these two latter works have been estimated at from
250 to 300,000/. more, so that the whole will not exceed l,.'i0O,O00i'. ;
which I trust will be allowed as coming very near to the original cal-
culations, considering the difficulty of works of this nature, exposed as
they necessarily are to the vicissitudes of the elements, which render
them peculiarly liable to casualties.

For the above short account, I trust that I have fully com])lied
with your wishes as far as the short period of notice you have given
would allow. I believe that I have not omitted any very material
point, although you are fully aware that there is a great deal of detail
which could not be included in such a necessarily confined account —
it is of less importance now, as it will be included in my work
previously referred to. The accompanying drawings, from which the
work has been executed with some slight modifications according to
circumstances combined with the above descriptions, will, I think,
render the whole subject sufficiently intelligible.

Uelieve me very sincerely,

Luiiilon, April 6, 1839. John Rennie.

A TREATISE ON RESERVOIR LOCKS.

ISV ,1. A. ROEBLrNO, CIVIL ENGINEER.

(From the American Railroad Jonrnal.)

By the term reservoir locks, is understood locks connected with
reservoirs which receive and reserve a certain portion of the lockage
water for the purpose of floating a vessel fiom one level to another,
and which reserved portion of water is let into the lock-chamber again
when another boat is passing the lock. As the reservoirs are alter-
nately drawing and discharging a certain portion of the water, it is
obvious that tliey may be so located as to use a far less (piantity of
water for passing vessels through the lock than is commonly wanted.

These preceding remarks will be sufficient to attract the attention of
engineer's, and lead to the suggestion that this kind of lock is of the
greatest importance in a country where the summer season is generally
dry, and where the want of a sufficient supply of water for lockage often
interfcr-es with navigation ; furtliei-, that by means of these locks expense
will he saved, and that a canal may be constructed, and kept navigable,
where iir the other ca;e sufficient water could not be furnished for sup-
plying common locks of ordinary lifts. An eminent engineer in Eng-
land, where this subject is at present treated with much irrtcrest, lately
ckiimed to be the inventor of these locks, but without any right. As
far as the writer of this is informed, but one lock of the kind in ques-
tion has ever been constructed itirtil this day. This lock was built iir
France, under the reign of King Louis XIV., by an eminent engineer
at that time. M. Bclidor, in his " Architectura Hydraulica," gives a
brief account, and a crosssection of that lock, which has abontlwenty
feet lift, and stands at the point of junction of two canals. The level
of one canal lies twerrty feet above the level of tlie other, and the
lower canal is supplied with the necessary water by the upper one.
The grouird at the jiiiirtion, in the dircctioir of the lower canal, di'ops
down at once, and ottered a favourable opportunity for the construc-
tion of a high lift-lock, with reservoirs. Tlie head of that lock is con-
structed in two ofl>els, with two upper gates to divide the pressure of
the water against the gates. Tliis lock answers the purpose in every
respect, arrd draws irot quite seven feet water frour the irpper level, for
passing a boat throrr^h the clranrber. About three minutes of time
moi'e are required, when the two reservoirs are used, than when not,
far the passing of a boat, and there is rro more stamping of the boats
during the passage than in a lock of seven feet lift, as the head of the
water-pressure is never above seven feet.

The first locks of this kind, in this country, are now being con-
structed on the Sandy and Beaver Canal, under the directiorr of Mr-.
E. H. Gill, Chief Engineer on that line, who bv this improvement will
considerably add to the already well establislied credit which that work
greatly deserves, for the superior construction of its spleirdid locks and

No. 19 — Vol. II — ksmt, 1839.

dams, and, in fact, for lire solidity of all the works. Mr-. E. H. (iiU
occasioned the writer to examine into the natirr-e of this object to es
tablisir its theory, and demonstrate formula" for compirting the best
dimensions of the r-eservoirs, the location of the commurricating culverts
and valves, arrd the water saved. He afterwards experimented with a
model, to see how the theory agreeil with the reality, arrd satisfied
hinrself in every respect as to the practicability and the utility of
r'cservoir's.

As the saving of water depends on the number of leservoir-s attached
to a lock, their ai'eal extension, and on the placing of the culverts and
valves, this matter nrtrst be rightly understood, arrd all dimerrsions
nrnst be fairly calculated, which cah'ulations, however', are vei-y easily
performed. I otIi?r here a general demoirstratioir of the theory of this
object, which for its plainness will easily be understood.

The nrrmher of reservoirs attached to one lock, may be one, two,
three, four, and cveir inor-e ; a gr-eater number than four seldom will be
required, and found applicable : in nrost cases two reservoir-s will an-
swer tire purpose. But there may be locations fourrd where the grourrd
off. 'IS sufficient i-oom, and sirits well for the construction of four reser-
voirs, two on each side of the lock, and where by these means a ver-y
great saving of water will be obtained.

The annexed drawing, fig. 4, shows tire cross-section of a lock of
fourteen feet lift, with a reservoir of 5,400 superficial square feet, on
each side. The diagrams 1 , 2, and 3, are likewise to represent cross -
sections of the lock-chamber and reservoirs on each side. By the linear
shadings are represented the different stages which the water will alter-
nately occupy in the chamber, and in the reservoirs. Tlie lirres A B
and S M r-epresent the irpper level, and the lower level, in all the dia-
grams ; and by the lift of the lock, is to be understood the elevation of
iire upper level A li above tlie lower level S I\I. These two levels
are supposed to be always permanent, and not to be altered.

Fig. 1.

To make the case mor-e simple, it is supposed that each reservoir is
to be as long as the lock-chamber is in the clear, and twice as wide,
so that the ar-ea of each reservoir be equal to twice the area of the
chamber. Let the required height which the water will occupy in the
upper reservoir, be denoted by the letter x ; the height of water in tha
lower reservoir-, be denoted by y.

By examining the fiist diagr-arn, any one will admit the following
srrppositions : —

1. Ulien the valve of the upper reservoir is opened a quantity of
water A BC 1' of the chamber will enter the reservoir and will flow in
till the water surface in the chamber and reservoir, C P and P I), form
one level. Now, suppose this reservoir shut, and the valve of the
lower reservoir opened, the quantity of water marked by tJPQH will
escape and enter the lower reserv..ir, till the water surface is sunk to
an equal level (i (J H. After the lower reservoir is shut, ther.' remains
a quantify of water in the chamber, marked by the letter's 1,JI1SM,
which lies above the lower level, and of coui'se must be drawn oft' into
the lower canal, in order to clear out the boat.

2. Now, take the case reversed : when a boat is to pass from the
lower level to the upper level. After the boat has entered the chamber
and the lower gates arc shut, open the paddle of the lower-reservoir,
and di-aw the reserved water into the chamber-. All dimensions being
right, this quantity of water should exactly till out the space S iNI O K,
so that the top water line, O K, and the bottom of the reservoir, I O,
be in one level, and no water remains in tlie reservoir above that level.
The boat will now be raised to the level of O K. After the lower
reservoir has discharged itself, shut it, and open the paddle of the upper
reseivoir-, and dr-aw oH'its r-eserved content of water. This qirantity of
water should exactly occupy that space in the lock chamber marked ln-_
E N O K, so that no water remains in the reservoir above the level ot
N F, repr-esenting the bottom of the upper reservoir. To raise the
boat to the level of the upper canal, a quantity of water A B F. N is yet
reqrrired, which mirst be drawn from the upper level into the chamber,
after the valve of the upper reservoir is shut up.

In the first case, that quantity of water whidr has actually been
drawn from the upper level, is maikwl by the litres S M O K, the
quatititv of water saved is marked by A B Q H.

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[Mav,

In the secotad case, ll'.e quantity of water actually spent, is marked
A BEN; and the iinanlity saved is marked S M E N. As the area
of each reservoir is Mipposcd to be equal to twice the ar.'a of the cham-
ber, the space r.hich a certain quantity of water occupies in tlie cham-
ber will be twice as high, or detqi, as the space required for the same
quantity of water in one of the reservoirs. Hence it follows, that
BP=-2l'N = i\K = 2.i-
and CQ = 2QO = OS = 2y
The whole lift A S, or

L^AC+CQ + QO + OS
or L z= 2.r + -J ?/ + V + 2;/ ^ 'ix + 5y

and likewise is L = BP+PN + Nk+ KM

or L = •2x + -r + -■'■• + '2>/ = 53C + 2y
Hence ix + 5(/ = 5x 4- 2y

or Sr/ = 3x

consequently II =x

The quantity and stage of water ii
required to be equal.

Fis-. 2.

each reservoir are thctcfore

iJ

^^»

K

V

■><

c.

Tl

X X

„.-.-,.,.,^

K

in

X

0

s

--a— =^=

Let the ratio which indicates how many times tlie area of the lock-
chamber is contained in the area of each reservoir, be denoted by the
letter E, so that whea the area of the chamber is equal to !)0 X I'i =
13.50 square feet, let the area of each reservoir be expressed by K x
1.3.50 square feet.

By examining the diagram fig. 2, it follows now, as a matter of
course, that O.S'= R.r = Km = K« = QC= PB = AC

By adding' the diiferent altitudes, which constitute the lift, we find
L = Rx+x + R.r + Hi = 3R.r + X- (?, R + 1)£

an therefore, .r = — -:-- — -

^ K+ 1

which expression gives the stage of water in the reservoirs, provided

there are two. 'Without anv further examination we can employ the

following expressions as formula- for the other required dimensions : —

1. The elevation of the bottom of the lower reservoir H. L

above the lower canal level, or OS = Ka;= 3~Rr+~l

1. The elevation of top-water line of the lower rcsi'rvoirfR + 1) L
above the lov.er canal level, QS (R -\- \)x = 3 R 4- 1

3. The elevation of the bottom of the upper reservoir o R. L
above the lower canal level, or NRI = 2 lix = g l{ i j

2 R. L

4. The water saved, marked by the space MSEN, or
BAHQ = AQ = W N = 2 Rr = all +1

5. The water used is marked by MSQH or ABEN = SQ R+1)L

= BN = (R + l).r =

By e.camining the formula No. 4 for the water saved
2 R L

3 K + 1

2 RL

L

3 R + 1 3 o) -f 1
As the quantity 1 does not increase an infinitely great quantity,
2 X L 2 oo L _^ _2JL
3

it follows,

L

The foregoing result of the maximum of water-saving will become also
visible by mere examinatiun of the diagrams, fig. 2. We see that
when the stage of water in the reservoirs, or :r = PN = QO, becomes,
by bting spread over an infinitely treat surface, reduced to an infinitely
small height, the points P and N, and Q and O, will be brought so
near t(]gether, that they m.iy be regarded as being leduced to the sin-
gle points N and O, and therefore is

SO = OE = EA= iL

and the water saved = SE or BH = I L.

3R+r

we find that the saving increases with the ratio K, though not as
fast. When we suppose R = x , that is, the area of each reservoir to
be infinitely great, so that x, or the stage of water in each reservoir,
will be almost reduced to nothing, the formula will then bo

r, + \ 3 * 3 3

The greatest saving of water by two reservoirs is therefore equal to
two-thirds of the lift of the loci;. However, this much can never be
gained in roalily, though we can come near to it, without extending
the reservoir too much, which would imply other inconveniences, as
increase of cost, loss of time, and loss ol water by greater evaporation.

For a given lift L = 14 feet, and R = 4, or the area of each of the
two reservoirs to be equal to 5400 square feet, where the lock-chamber
is supposed to be 90 X 1 J in the clear, we find

L 14 14

13

1-077 feet

3R + 1 "" 3X 4-M

The elevation OS = R.r = 4 X 1-077 = 4-308

The elevation NM = 2R.r = 8-61C

AVater saved = 2Rj- = 8-616

Water used = ( R _)- 1 ) .;• = 5-3S.5

By means of two reservoirs of 5400 square feet area each, a boat may
therefore pass a lock of 14 feet lift, and not use more than 5-385 feet
water, drawn from the upper level, i' here formerly, without reservoirs,
a body of water of 14 feet height liad to be used.

The following tabic shows how the quantity of water saved increases
with the area of the reservoirs, supposing two reservoirs attached to the
lock : —

For R = ^ the water saved, or %?-^.= %^\ ^ = 0.285 L

3R + 1 3.i+l

0.400 L

0.461 L

0.500 L

0.545 L

„ ■ „ 0.571 L

0.600 L

„ „ 0.615 L

„ „ 0.625 L

0.644 L

„ „ 0.664 L

„ 0.6664 L

0.6666... L

the formnlrc for all

R = 2

-f*- — A it S» J»

II = li

R = 2

R=4

R — 5 „ „ „

R=io

R^^lOO

R= lono

R = ^ .. » •.

When only one reservoir is attached to the lock
the required dimensions will be found : —

1. The water stage in the reservoir, or x =

L

2R-f i

The elevation of the bottom of the reservoir above" p ^
the lower level, is expressed by Rt =

3. The height of the water saved is = Rx =

4. The height of the water saved is = (R -f 1 ) a' =:

2R -f 1

R.L
2 R + I
(R+jj-L

211+1

5. The maximum of water saved by one reservoir is fo\md

= ^L_-XL= =°^

2ao -f 1 2 00

XL =

-1 L

By means of one reservoir, therefore, nearly one-half of the lockage
water may be saved in reality.

Fig. 3.

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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

169

Wlien four reservoirs are attached to the look, as diagram fig. .1
shows, »e find the lift

and therefore

. The elevation of the hottom of the lowest
or the first reservoir above the lower level =^ R.r =:

'2. The elevation of the bottom of the se-
cond reservoir above the lower level = i Rs = t-

S. The elevation of the hottora of the

third reservoir above the lower level := 3 Ri^ =

4. The oKvation of the bottom of the
fourth reservoir above the lower level =: 4 Ra; =;

5 The water saved is =4 R,r :=

L

R + 1

R. L

-> R -f 1

•2.R.L

R + 1

3. R. L

6 R'+ 1

i. R.L
.'. 11 + 1

4 RL

.5 R + 1
(R + l)-L
.3 R + 1"

= ih

6. The water used is = (R +1)* =

7. The maximum of water saved is represented by

4R. L 4oo I 4qOj

5R-ff ~ 500+T ~ 5"ao

Tins demonstration shows that b)' means of four reservoirs attached
to one lock, nearly four-fifths of the lockage-water that is wanted by a
common lock, may be saved.

The annexed drawing, fig. 4, represents a cross-section of a lock of
fourteen feet lift, connected v/ith two reservoirs ; each reservoir to have
5,400 supeficial square feet area. It is immaterial how the bottom of the
reservoirs is formed, and it is necessary to liave it below the level of tlie
culverts, in order to prevent the dirt from being raised and carried into the
lock-cliamber. Tlie bottom of each reservoir should he at least one foot
below the mouth of the culvert, or lower, so tliat at least one foot of
water remains in each reservoir, after the reserved water is discharged.
The main object in constructing the culverts is, therefore, to have the
points N and O, or the higliest point in the bottom of the culverts so
fixed above th.e lower canal level, that their elevation answers the ex-
pressions given by the foregoing formula;.

Fiir.4.

The culverts in the lock-wall embankment are represented in the
drawing to be of wood. The culverts in the wall itself must be con-
structed either in the form of rectangular syphons, or straight linear
inclined, so that the mouth of the culvert of "the lower reservoir opens
into the lock-chamber, below the lower canal level ; and the culvert of
the upper reservoir enters the lock-chamber at an elevation equal to
'2R-.-, above tlie former culvert. The reservoirs may be formed either
by excavation or embankment, as the ground suits best. Where the
natural ground is pretty level and square to the centre line, and the
lock-walls are to be raised about one half their height above the natural
ground at th.e middle of the lock, it requires but very little excavation
aud embankment t® form the reservoirs. It often occurs that a depres-
^ion in tlie ground, or a natural basin, near the lock, can be used to
great advantage as a reservoir, requiring nothing but a little more cul-
vert. Where there are two reservoirs, tlioy must be located either,
one on each side of the lock, or both on one side, as the ground suits
best. In the latter case, the two reservoirs must be separated by a
dam, either formed by excavation or embankment. The bottom of the
reservoirs, and their side slopes sliould be covered with coarse gravel
or slaty material, if such material can be had conveniently, in order to
keep the water more fresh and clean.

The paddles are best placed in the upper parts of the culverts, as
represented in the drawing, in order to preverit a great pressure of the
water from the reservoirs towards the lock-chamber, and to keep the
water safely shut up. The paddles should fit very close, and move in
iron frames.

Whenever the supply cf water is plentiful, the boats may pass the
locks without using the reservoirs for saving a little more time. How-
ever, the excess of time which is required'by using the reservoirs, is
very trifling, and the passage can be effected vvith far less inconvenience
and injury to the boats and locks, when the reservoirs are used, than
when not. The objections which any engineer has against high lift
locks, will be entirely removed by the construction of reservoirs.
Reservoir-locks will be found very useful on slack-water navigation,
where it is a great object to reduce the number of dams. If in such a
case the river bank on the side of the lock offers no favourable oppor-
tunity, and not sufficient room, witiiout removing great obstacles, as solid
rock, S;c. for the location of the reservoirs, the required width can ahvays
be obtained by shifting tlie lock a little more into the river, and by
omitting the lock embankment. A bridge built along the lock-wall
over the reservoir, will serve for a tow-path in this case. The attend-
ance of a reservoir-lock requires no more skill tiian a common lock, as
the state of water in the reservoirs aud the chamber regulates itself,
and the lock-keeper has nothing more to observe than to open the
paddles, and to shut them as soon as the water-level gets settled.
When the upper and lower levels are raised in time of a flood, the
water will then occupy a different state in the reservoirs, and the con-
templated saving of water will not he obtained exactly. In such a
case, however, to save water is no great object, and the reservoirs will
prove just as useful in all other respects.

THE NELSON MONUMENT.

Mr. Editor, — The unexpected decision of the Committee, to re-
open the competition, unfettered by premiums, not only awakens the
hope that now men who rank highest in the scale of art will deem it
a prize worthy of their practised arms, and enter the lists with an
earnest deiire to distinguish tliemselves as artists and as Englishmen,
but gives the public and the professions bre.".thing-time, so that the
soreness of the one, and the asperity of the other may be softened
down.

I am quite old enough to recollect, that in the hey-day of exultation
after the victory of Waterloo, the House of Commons came to some-
thing like, if not exactly, a vote that a large sum of money shauld be
devoted to the erection of a public monument to commemorate it;
and I am quite certain that desings for Nelson and Wellington monu-
ments were advertised for in 1.S17. 1 know that designs were sent in,
that they were kept some weeks, that artists were then desired to take
them away, with an intimation that they might again be sent in, some
three months afterward : and I apprehend you will find, upon inquir}',
that the premiums were adjudged to Mr. Sniirke and Mr. Wilkins.
Why they were not executed your informant knoweth not, but mayhap
those gentlemen will favour the public (if what I state be fact) with a
view of them. If I mistake not, Mr. Flaxman proposed, as a fit monu-
ment, a colossal statue of Britannia, and published a pamphlet descrip-
tive of the design, and of the mode in which he would construct it.
These things are desirable to be known, and seen if it be practicable,
that the public may ascertain whether art has receded or progressed
since that day. Even did it no other service, it would caution critics
to be more sparing of their censure, when such a man as Flaxman
failed. Rut whether this can be done or not, in the absence of pro-
perly qualified persons, to undertake the task, will you allow one, who
may rank as something intermediate between an amateur and an artist,
and who has again and again, however feebly, considered the subject,
quietly to state the difliciilties wliich occur to him, that, if his opinions
be well founded, the competing artists may not be spirit-broken by
unfair and ignorant censure. I will first take the peculiarities wliich
attend this competition. The Committee have never stated what kind
of monument they think best fitted for the purpoce. Tliis alone is
sufiieient to paralyse the efforts of the most talented ; for who can
bring his mind etficiently to bear upon a subject which he is almost
absolutely certain is but a vfill-o'-wisp? Sculptor and architect, eacli
must fear that the sister art may be preferred, and consequently all
labour bestowed upon the other will be thrown away. In emphatic,
though common language, each feels that he is "working a dead
horse." I do in my heart believe that few of the Committee can tell
what they want, and am quite certain that not one of them can carry
out his own ideas, so as even to satisfy himself: how then can it be
expected that artists can remotely guess at what may perchance be
something likely to suit their fancy ? — Sooth to say, sir, I f>ar the
selection is vastly like that of a lady in a cap-shop. Another difficulty
is created by the situation which is pointed out for its erection. At
first view it seems exceedingly easy to design a monument to be set up
in Trafalgar-square; but we first have to consider what is to be done
with the ground, whicli falls from nortli to south some eleven feet at
one end, and only about four feet at the other : and next, how a space

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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[M

AY.

about lliree Imndied and ninety feet by two linndied and ten is to be
laid out, so as, along with the monument itself, to giow into an appro-
priate pictiuc; each feature bearing its part in the scene- and, sup-
posing all this satisfactorily adjusted, we arrive at the (picsiions,
•' What kind of tnonument is fitted for the siter" — " In what archi-
tectural style ought it to beV" or, if sculpture thovdd be considered
titter, '■ Should it be broad and low, or should it be narrow and highy"
The answers will be something like these — If narrow and liigli, the
National Gallery will be cut in two— illustrating, it is true, one of Nel-
son's favourite niancBuvres of breaking the enemy's line, but doing no
great service to the building; and if broad and low, it so happens that
even a height of fifteen or twenty feet would cut oH' about two-thirds
of the portico of the Gallery; for if you stand upon the southejn foot-
path, you will find that the trifling ridge of the ground shortens all
persons walking on the footway at tlie Gallery, by the length of their
legs. Then, as to architeetuial style : I have seen it suggested that it
should assimilate with the surrounding buildings. Pray with which ':
There are but three buildings which can be said to have any style : — ■
St. Martin's Church, the National Gallery, and Northumberland
House ; — the last is out of the picture, and consequently need not he
cared for. The (iallery, whatever it may be in itself, is quite unfit to
be -worked up to in a naval monument; and St. Martin's Church need
not be much heeded, for no style can injure that. Aitists may erect
whatever they please, that structure stands alone in its integrity,
calmly scorning all the egotistical attempts around it. The questions,
then, as to what style? and what kind of monument is fittest r can only
be answered by going into a very difticult enquiry, involving a con-
sideration of the distinct capabilities of architecture and sc\dpture, or
of both combined; and how far they can be made to speak a widely
understood language. There are certain simple forms prevalent
among many nations, which, whether derived from the practice of one
original stock, or inherent in the human mind, bring with them melan-
choly ideas. We, as it were, instinctively know atomb ; we feel that
denotes a place of sculpture, and we reverence it as such : — but beyond
that, it has no power of expression. To denote whether it be raised to
commemorate a male or female, architecture has no resource but to call
in the aid of sculpture.

There are certain other forms, which, although approximating to the
sepulchral, yet appear to designate, not that human remains have
there been intei red, but that they have been set up in memorial of
some event ; but the architectural form conveys no idea to the mind of
the event which is denoted, if sculpture have not, by her chisel, given to
it a tongue. And there are other forms which, by their simplicity,
solidity, and calmness, appear evidently intended" as sacred places
appropriated to the worship of tlie Deity. Architecture can erect
temples, memorial stones, and tombs, with "little risk of her meaning
being misunderstood ; the foibidding gloom of a prison, or the festive
gaiety of a banquetting-room, can be characterized by her to some
certain extent ; but how, as some seem to expect, she is so forcibly
to depict the i|ualities of the human soul, tliat all men are at once to
understand the structure commemorates a hero, is far beyond my
comprehension— it is in flict beyond her power. Fiom the stone of
Bethel set up by Jacob, from the obelisks raised by the Egyptian kings,
down to the loveliest conceptions of Grecian art, and thence onward to
the military columns of the Romans, and of the Place Vendeme, all
have required either the aid of inscription, or of sculpture, or of
tradition, to point out what they mean ; and where these have failed,
as in the case of the Egyptian obelisks, there we stand gazing in utter
ignorance. To come closer home.— Does the Monument°on Fish-
street-hill, divested of its sculpture and inscription, by a\ii;ht in its aspect
tell us that it memorializes the binning of Londoii? What does the
column in Waterloo-place tell usV W'^hat do all the columns and
monumental structures over all England, set up in commemoration of
Nelson, tell us of his chaiacter? The cohuun of skulls piled up by
the Tartar chief, unequivocally spaKe of an enormous slaughter: the
projected Russian column of cannons and mortars mi^ht be supposed
in some way to denote a victory, yet even these are not, strictly speak-
ing, architecture; they partake more of the character of sculpture
in its niost barbarous form. But by what magic genius has architecture
been m.ade " trumpet-tongued, " to tell of Nelson, the energetic, the
fearless, the affectionate, the open-heai ted, the generous, the\levotcd,
the heroic ? We inay indeed be told of breadth, and height, and strength,
and massiveness, as calculated to denote the wariior chief; but alas
for the National Gallery if any one of these demons be conjured up,
and woe to the paltry sum which is said to be available for the purpose.
Sculpture lias a more extended range, and greater power than her
sister art, for she can call in the expression of the human form, and
add explanatory embellishments in her own pictorial language; but even
her power is limited, and needs written language to tell the whole tale.
It is in her power to erect a statue, which, without being much beyond

the human size, nay, it may even be very much below it, shall impress
the beholder with the most sublime ideas of the being it represents. It
is ill her power to compose a group of statues, which shall, with the
most impassioned elocpience, spellbind the soul. It is in her power, by
a well-conceived line of relievo, to carry out tlie whole of a continuous
history; she, like Painting, can, to avast extent, realize the poet's
seraph-song and bid the dumb stonestart into life ; but, notwithstanding
all this her strength, tlieie is a limit to her resources — she has one
source of weakness, andfhat, I fear, will render all her art unavailing if
she attempt to erect an isolated monument. All her works are
necessarily and in themselves only embellishments, are only a|)-
puvtenances: however firmly cramped to a building, they form no pait
of it ; however deeply rooted in the earth, they are still nothing but
moveables; but, independent of this, they are not calculated to be
viewed from more than one, two, or three points advantageously.
Owing indeed to the absolute perfection of all the Almighty's works,
any correct imitation of the naked human figure, or of any animal,
singly and in itself, must be beautiful, view it from any point; but
when brought together in a group, so as to tell a story, the insufficiency
of art is manifest. Sculpture, in fact, can only make pictures in stone,
wood, or other material ; those pictures, when so placed, as that
the spectator can only see them in front oi a few degrees sidewise,
especially if within a building, and the quantity, colour, and direction
of the light, be skilfully adjusted, may be made to produce the most
wonderful eflect ; but, in an isolated monument, and that in the open
air, it is altogether different. However well-composed the grouping,
however grandly conceived the attitudes, and however admirably
calculated to convey the artist's meaning, all its effect is likely
to be marred, even if it be not made absolutely ridiculous, by the
spectator t.aking it in flank, or viewing it from behind. It is in vain to
say that the spectator ought not so to do. In its very nature an
isolated monument should be calculated to look well from any and from
every station ; and therefore, if I be right in my showing, a group of
sculpture only is not available for the Nelson monument.

If so, I apprehend the conclusion will be that the proposed erectiorv
must either be a statue (not a monument) more or less colossal,
standing on a pedestal or block, more or less high, and more or less
embellished, and those embellishments, made by the artist, to bear
an important part in his picture; or an architectural monument,
decorated with such sculpture as may benecessary, clearly and fully, and
yet without confusion, to tell, as far as art can make it tell, the
wherefore of it? erection.

The mere statue would, in itself, be no insuperably difficult task.
It must be colossal, or in a space of some five hundred feet in width,
from house to house it will be lost ; it ought to be calm and dignified,
and especially no violent action ought to be attempted, or it will
be ridiculous. An architectural inomiment is by no means so easily
to be composed : it will require more .ability than falls to the share of
most men,sn to unite architecture with sciilpture.that neithersliall unduly
predominate, hut both distinctly and forcibly assist in forming a fit
basis foi the hero's statue, for such, after all, I apprehend it must
be. The object will not be attained unless that be the leading or
ultimate feature, and the great art will consist in gradually leading the
eye upwards until it rest upon that main object, without being
distr.actcd in its progress by intrusive ornament, and without finding
the structure broken into steps as it were, and not formingone integral
work, but so many separate pieces piled upon each ether; or, should
the artist deem a comparatively low erection more appropriate, it must
not be so broad as to stretch beyond the field of distinct vision. If,
however, breadth be deemed desirable, then can it be little more than
a series of terrace steps, else will the National (iallery be destroyed.
If height be deemed requisite, and it be made square, polygonal, or
circular, it will either resemble a pedestal or a church-tower, or castle-
turret, and no profusion of decoration can divest it of one or other of
those characters, unless, indeed, it be made so high as to be columnar ;
and much I think that any desire to make it an architectural object
must content itself with the columnar form. As to the kind of eolumn,
I apprehend that only the Ionic isinappropriate.fortliat is not calculated
to standalone, its fronts and flanks being dissimilar. Much has been
said against Corinthian columns, hut I think with very little justice
or good taste. It is true that the substitution of the .liipiter Stator
column for the Doric of Fish-street Hill, is no design atall, any cabinet-
maker's apprentice could have done as well ; but I think it m.iy be
possible even to make a Corinthian column form a very appropriate
object, yet it must be ably treated, and made to seem what it really
will be, nothing more than a standaid to support a statue. Concluding
then that the proposed mem®rial must either be a column surmounted
by a statue, or a statue standing upon a block, or an architectural
pedestal, the fit style of decoiation is next to be considered.

A column of any order admits of but little ornament excejit upon

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAI,,

171

its pedestal, and even there it is not pecnliaily fitted to show advanta-
geously. Mayliap the spiral reliefs cii the Trajan column are tlie
fittest for a military structure ; but, independent of the cost, they could
not be made very distinctly visible at more than a liundrBd feet in
height, and in a London atmosphere not so liigh as that for any long
period. But any attempt to surround the base of a column with cither
standing or sitting figures must end in its appearing at a distance, like
an illumination candle stuck in clay. It is a ridiculous comparison I
allow, but I cannot divest myself of it. The base of a statue will, if
I think rightly, be capable of much and very appropriate decoration.
I would certainly eschew all Neptnnes, Britannias, and Victories ; all
very well in themselves, but m\ich too common-place for such a work.
Should groups of statues, or pannels, or other recipients of bassi-relicvi
be introduced, I strongly think that the great art will be, as nuich as
possible, to make them, as it were, grow out of the masonry, in snch-
wise as to appear an integral portion of the pile ; so that, although
they might indeed be removed without injury to the stability, yet still
that taking them away should detract from the completeness of the
work. There should be no flutter, no pinnacling in the outline ; all
should be in calm and dignified repose ; and the whole mass be such as
that, while at a distance its harmonious proportion should delight,
upon a nearer view its sculpture should be instructive and interesting,
and upon the closest inspection found to be wrought in the highest
style of art.

If I have rightly read the relics of ancient art, such was their prin-
ciple. The same correct principle will, upon careful consideration, be
found to prevail throughout styles, in many respects as wide asunder as
the antipodes ; but wherever it has prevailed there will grandeur and
beauty be found combined.

I feel the subject has led nie far beyond my original expectation, so
far indeed that I fear few will care to follow it ; but if they do, I think
it will be felt that of all difficult tasks the composition of an isolated
monument is incalculably the most difficult, and that it will be ex-
tremely unfair harshly to censure failure in such an attempt.

It is to be recollected that all competitions arc in tliemselves tasks ;
that in such a competition as this the mind is, as it were, overwhelmed
with the greatness of the character of Nelson, and overreaches itself
in striving to grasp at an imaginar}' vigour of expression. It is also to
be borne in mind, that if such men as Nelson and Wellington arise but
with centuries between them, artists equal to the task of commemora-
ting their deeds are of similarlj rare growth. The enrapt spirits of
Homer, or TEschylus, or Milton, might shadow forth their achievements ;
the mighty geniiis of Flaxman could almost soar a kindred flight, but
even he failed in commemorating Nelson, marvellous as were his com-
positions on other subjects. Even if, in this second competition, not
one of the designs should lie fitted for the purpose, it will ill become
critics to censure the failure so harshly and unfeelingly as has been
done. 'I'hey, as authors, must be aware that the happiest thought
does not come for the seeking, that it is often the lightning glance from
heaven, darting when least expected ; and connnon charity should
teach them forbearance from unmerited insult. I have already said
that 1 do not believe any one of the committee can carry out his own
ideas of what Nelson's monument ought to be, even if he be able to
form any idea at all. I fearlessly say the same of others, and would
advise them to think so, at least until they have fairly set to work and
wrought out such a design as shall far excel those of the men they
sneer at.

I know my own weakness, my own inability, and can tliereforc make
large allowances for failure in a task so diflicult ; still do I not despair
of the genius of English art, and shall most cordially delight in the
success of any of my countrymen.

I have the honour, Sir, to be

Your constant subscriber,

OMEGA.

THE ROYAL EXCHANGE.

Sir, — The system pursued of late years in the management of
architectural competitions, has been attended with manifold evils, and,
beyond <-U doubt, fraught with gross and palpable injustice. Hastily
and inconsiderately commenced — under the control of persons unfitted
to sit in judgment on the various designs referred to their decision,
they have in too many instances been attended by results, injurious to
the best interests of Art, — unfair and unjust to its professors — and
unfavorable to the public at large.

In making these remarks, I do not of course, intend to attack the
principles upon which competitions arc based, — properly conducted,
their tendency is unquestionably, not only to call out the talent and
genius of the experienced artist ; but to rouse a spirit of emulation in
the young prgfessor, and encourage that rising merit, \vhich without

such a stimulus would remain undeveloped, and without such a means
of exercise, unknown and unappreciated. But the thing which I wish
most anxiously to press on the attention of the profession at large,
through the medium of your columns, is mainly this, — The extreme
defectiveness of the present system ; the total want of security, which
there is under its operation, that fairness and impartiality will be
strictly observed towards all, and the urgent necessity which conse-
quently exists for a searching and efficient remedy.

It would be needless to go into any lengthened proof of this asser-
tion ; the voice uf public opinion has frequently been most unequivo-
cally expressed in denunciation of the present mode of conducting
arcliitectural competitions ; and, to mention no others, the whole
proceedings connected with the new Houses of Parliament, spc:ik with
suflScieut clearness to all, by way of warning. Upon that point, how-
ever, it is nut my intention to enlarge ; and I only make the allusion
in order that architects may gather from the recollections and expe-
rience of the past a valuable lesson for their guidance and direction
for the future.

Architects have been invited to send in plans for re-building the
Riiyal Exchange, and as a preliminary, they are compelled to pay one
pound to obtain the requisite instructions. I pass over the unreason-
ableness of this demand, which makes all the competing architects,
except the successful three, actually pay one pound, in order to have
the opportunity of embarking their time, talents, and labour, on what
must prove to them unrequited exertion. I have more important
considerations to urge, of paramount and leading interest, to all who
intend to compete for the proposed edifice.

And I ask them plainly, what guarantee have they, that the present
competition will be conducted on the principles of fair dealing,
im]);irtiality, and justice? On what grounds are they convinced (for
the act of entering the competition shows that they have that convic-
tion) that it is the intention of those upon whom devolves the duty of
adjudication, to go into a strict and searching examination of their
designs; making their decision according to merit, a7id merit alone;
and selecting only those, which while they conform to the instructions,
are distinguished alike by the beauty of the exterior faeade and the
convenience of the internal arrangement. I say, deliberately, that at
present, there exists no such guarantee, either in the wording of the
published advertisement, or the printed instructions of the Gresham
Committee : and yet, unless architects can obtain from the authorised
parties some pledge more explicit — some statement more distinct — some
promise more definite, it is really madness in any one who values his
time, station, or character, to embark in so uncertain a venture, when,
perhaps after having spent months of concentrated cflbrt, together
with a vast amount of anxiety, fatigue, and money, in getting up his
designs, he may be coolly superseded, by some favoured rival ; who,
without being able to lay claim to any extraordinary degree of talent,
yet possesses a larger amount of personal interest and local in-
fluence.

What then is the duty of architects at this juncture as professors of
a liberal art, and men of spirit and independence ? Undoubtedly it is
to bestir themselves, and act with unanimity and firmness.

Should they accept the present indefinite invitation, which eon-
tains no guarantee beyond that which the Parliament House Compe-
tition included, and which will probably — unless something be done, —
be productive of dissatisfaction to all parties concerned, and disappoint-
ment to the public ; they will have none but themselves to blame, iu
having, contrary to repeated advice, and with all the experience of
former competitions before their eyes, tamely submitted and acquiesced
in the terms proposed, when by the adoption of a more vigorous course
of conduct, they might have effected an altogether diflerent result.

In a report upon public competitions, Jatcly published by the Royal
Institute of British Architects,— every architect is recommended,
individually, to address in writing to the Secretary, or other authorised
party, the most searching inquiries upon every doubtful or indistinct
point, and not to rest satisfied with any answer which fails to place
everything necessary to be known, in the clearest point of view. This
mode, however, seems open to many serious objections, — as it would
not only give the Secretary of the Gresham Committee a great deal of
trouble to answer the innumerable queries that would be put to him
bv individuals : but also, being in all cases strictly private, no infor-
mation would thereby be afforded to the profession generally, of the
intentions of the Committee, — which information, if if could be obtained,
might be a bond fdc pledge on their part, of their determination to act
■with strict fairness and impartiality.

1 ot then the architects— as the only alternative — convene a public
mc. ling ; let the leading members of tlie profession attend : let them
del' rate a certain number of their most influential men to request of
the ijresham Committee, a fuller and more minute explanation of their
jnteytions in reference to the Exchange Coinpetitiyn ; let thcjn inquire

17-2

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[May,

who arc to be the judges ? — Whether a strict adhereneo to the
instructions is a necessary preliminary on the part of tlie architects, to
secure his ])lan, an inspection f — Whether all designs, wiiieh cannot
be executed for the sums estimated, shall be laid aside ? — 'W'liether a
public exhibition shall precede as ^vell as follow the decision of the
judges? — And, v.hethcr the autlvir of the chosen design shall be
allowed to superintend the erection of the work, provided his staniiing
in the ]>rofcssion, and experience as an architect, entitles bis so doing ?
And, till these in(|uiries are falisfaclori/j/ answered, let it be the
«na«(;HOHS resolution of the Architects of England, that thei/ trill /.-ut
enter into tlie present competition — that they n-ill not lend it their xrinc-
tion — nor c/ive it the benefit of their talents and support. And if tliey
thus act firmly and unitedly, a better system ot things will be ultimately
adopted, and the cause of truth and justice must eventually triumph.

In conclusion, 1 have only to add, tliat I feel quite assured, that
some such proceeding as this, would not only tend to raise British
art'sts in the estimation of the public — and secure, in a great measure,
a fair and free competition — but would also induce many of the leading
architects to contribute, who at ])resent — being fearful of unfair deal-
ing— have no such intention ; and would moreover be the means of
obtaining a design for the Royal Exchinge, worthy of the metropolis
it is to adorn, and an honour to the taste and genius of the age.
I remain, Sir, your oljedient servant, and constant reader,
April, 1839. An Architect.

FLOATING HARBOURS OF REFUGE.

Sir — 1 do not recollect that I have seen any observations in your
interesting work relative to the principle of floating harbours or break-
waters, and I am led to notice the subject Trom having read with great
pleasure the article by Hyde Clarke, Esq. C. E., upon Isolated Harbonrs
of Refuge, in your last number.

No question can exist upon the advantages of natural harbours as
described to be at the island of St. Michael, and I am induced to think
that observations made upon Porto do Ilheo, led Admiral Sartorius
to think of making a floating harbour at Terccira, upon which lie cor-
responded with the patentee of the floating breakwaters, but which his
expedition from the Azores most probably'prevented his attempting to
carry into execution. '1 he principle of harbonrs of refuge is advan.
tageous in proportion to the practicability of carrying the protections
they afford into deep water. 'Ihe construction' of masonry, or the
accumulation of stones, is expensive in a progressive proportion to the
depth ef water — hence the saving attending flouting substances secured
so as to form harbours in deep waters must be very great.

The successful experiments which were tried in 18-J(— though dis-
countenanced by the Admiralty on account of the apprehension that
they were favourable to smuggling — demonstrated that no objection
ought to be raised against a floating harbour, if composed of rafts
situated in a position where they could never ground. Julius Ca;sar
found out their advantage when he employed tliem, as described in
his Commentaries, as follows : —

'' Cassar sat down, on the 9th of March, before Bluudu^iluu, with six
legions, three of which were composed of veteran soldiers, and the rest
of new levies drawn together on liis march. i!e had sent Domitian's
troops directly from Corfininm towards Sicily, liot caring to bring them
near Pompey's quartc.--. The Consuls had sailed on the 4th with
thirty cohorts, and there were still twenty in the town with Pompey.
Nor was it certainly known whether he continued there for want of
shipping to transport Ids troops, or with the design to keep possession
of Brundusium, th.at he miglit be master of the whole Adiiatic Sea,
the farthest parts of Italy, and the country of Greece, in order to make
war on both sides the gulf. Csesar having lost all hopes of an acconi-
niodation, and fearing that it was his intention to keep footing in Italy,
resolved to push the war with vigour, and to deprive him of the advan-
tages be might reap from the port of Brundusium. The following
works were contrived Ijy him for this purpose. He carried on a mole
on each side of the haven where the entrance was narrowest, and the
water shallow. But as this undertaking could not be carried quite
across the port by reason of the great depth of the sea, he prepared
double floats of timber, thirty feet square, which wei-e each secured bv
four anchors, to enable them to resist the fiuy of the waves. These,
which were to extend all the way between the two moles, were covered
over with earth and fascines, that the soldiers might pass and repass
with ease, and have firm footing to defend them. The front and sides
were armed with a parapet of hurdles, and every fourth float bad a
tower of two stories, the better to keep the enemy's ships at a distance,
and to guard tiie work from lire and the shocks of vessels."

I have not the advantage of having seen the Port of Brindisi, but
the extract sufliciently explains the nature of the works. There are
numerous positions on our coast which we .well suited to »uch ftn ope-

ration, and if a harbour were constructed with stone jetties in the
sluillow water, and floating breakwater's moored seaward, there can be
little doubt of the purpose being ell'ected.

I have the honour to be, sir,

Your humble servant.

An Akchitect.

[The employment of floating harboui-s is very important, and by
means of Mitchell's screw moorings might be applied in many posi-
tions.—Ennoii.!

HARBOURS OF REFUGE.

'I'lie counter run.

Tire true run of ilio tide.

<ifi, The liorn-work. — lib. Pier-heads. — c.c, Jetties, — rf. Harbour. — ee. Bays.
— -/, Quay. — (/I/, Beach or Shingle.

Sir, — Seeing by the public papers that the Lords of the Treasury
have sanctioned the constructing of Harbours of Refuge for her
Majesty's smaller vessels of the Royal Navy, against the easterly
gales on the coast of Essex, Suftblk, and Noi'folk, in these wcu-ks of
the government, it is not intended to prevent private companies from
making inner basins or inland harbonrs.

I have sent you a Plan, which I shall feel obliged if you can find
room for in your next Joui-nal : it is entirely new, and adapted
principally for a coast whicii is composed of beach or shingle, and their
construction would be about half the cost of harbours as they are now
built. By this plan you will perceive that it is in the formation of the
Pier-heads which locks up a body of beach or shingle against their
sides, and causes the tide to be embayed by whichever pier it sets
against; this, with the run of the true tide, would propel all the sur-
plus beach or shingle which was in motion several fathoms out sea-
ward beyond the pier-heads, and prevent any bar forming at its en-
trance or around it: a large body of beach, <S:c., will be accumulated
at the foot of botli sides of the harbour, and form the best barrier in
protecting it. These harbours of refuge would be very beneficial
arouiid our coast, for the protectioir of our seamen, ships, and com-
merce ; and an encouragement to our fishei'ies, independent of the
protection it would give, or afford, to her Majesty's steam-vessels.
I am, Sir, your humble servantj

W. KrNGSI'OBD.

Buckland, near Dover,
April 10, 1839.

BRITTON'S DICTIONARY.
Sir, — There is a. homely proverb, which says, " the proof of the
pudding lies in the eating," and it applies exceedingly jvell to Britton's
Dictionary of Architecture, for whatever commendation the book may
have obtained as soon as it comes to be fairly tested it will be found
most cgregiously deficient and defective, nor least of all so where
information is most wanted, and where there was, consequently,
ample opportunity to supply what previous works of the same kind
had neglected to do. Undoubtedly it was pertectly optional on the
part of the compiler to limit its plan as he pleased, or as might best
suit liis own convenience, however he might, by so doing, lessen its
usefulness ; still, whatever he bad once adopted, he ought to have
consideredhimself bound to adhere to consistently throughout. Now
this, most assuredly, he h;is not done with regard to terms coiuiected
witli classical aichitecturG ; since, besides being very insuflicient and
unsatisfactory in themselves ; what there are, amount to no more
than a meagre sprinkling of them, and precisely of those of which a
mere explanation will hardly be sought by any one. It avails not to
say that this Dictionary is intended to elucidate chiefly the architecture
of the middle ages, such excuse being altogether nugatory, and ahuost

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

173

equivalent to saying that the other terms — at least such of them as
occur, are brought in, not because at all called for by the professed
object of the book, but merely to swell it out, and to induce persons,
upon a liasty inspection of it to imagine that it is far more copious and
complete tlian its title gives it credit for being.

Wliat, liowevcr, I most strongly protest against is the disingenous
and even trumpery artifice, for I can give it no better name, of pre-
tending to give tlie corresponding terms in otlier languages, but in-
variably omitting them in the case of strictly technical words, wliose
meanings are seldom to be ascertained from consulting French, Italian,
or otlier dictionaries ; whereas had they been uniformly introduced,
and also indexed, so that tlicir English meanings might be instantly
ascertained, the Dictionary would liave been really useful for reference ;
even in reading foreign architectural books. What is not the least
surprising is that these omissions extend even to such terms as belong
peculiarly to Gothic architecture, for instance, " corbel," " hood-
moulding," " mullion," "pendant," "spandrel," "transom," "tra-
cery," in fact to almost all the terms of that class, although more es-
pecially required, because for the foreign ones which answer to them,
it is almost useless to look in dictionaiics. I lately met with the
German terms " Dobel," " Glaspfalz," and several olliers (of which I
may at some other time, perhaps, send j'ou a list, as some of your
correspondents may possibly be able to explain them) they evidently
refer to parts of Gotiiic windows, but what may be their precise mean-
ing I cannot say, nor does Britton's Dictionary afford me the slightest
clue, for in vain have I there referred to all the English terms, with
which the ones above-mentioned are at all likely to correspond.

On the other hand, of what use is it, I ask, to give the Fiencli, Italian,
&c., of such general terms as " architect,"' " house," and a hundred
others, which the commonest dictionaries supply, and forwhich no man,
who at all understands the language in which they occur, can have
occasion to refer to a dictionary at all. The truth is all that Mr.
Britton has done in this respect amounts to more than idle, and I may
add, exceedingly silly parade, since nearly all the foreign words arc more or
less disfigured by blunders that convict Mr. Brittou ; of being utterly
ignorant of the languages themselves, some of these blunders may be
errors of the press, but then it is evident that he was unable to detect
them, because an author's attention is always more particularly directed to
such matters as foreign words or quotations, it being there that com-
positors are most likely to make mistakes. In addition to blunders of
the above kind, which are so numerous, as to be on that account alone quite
disgraceful, there are others which prove more completely that he com-
piled without the least understanding what he was copying. Should
he ever have any German or French readers how will they stare ac
finding " raum," and " chambre," given as the words respectively
answering to our English one of room. A Frenchman would, 1
conceive, more frequently than not employ the term " piece ; " cer-
tainly in speaking of a building architecturally, while if a German were
to make use of the term " raum," he would not be understood at all.
The above is far from being a solitary instance of the kind, but it will
serve to show what reliance is to be put upon a dictionary, the com-
piler of which speaks, in his preface, so ' d'haut en has' of other works,
of which he has, nevertheless, availed himself so largely, that to them
he is indebted for almost all that is of any value in it.

Aegus.

ROYAL EXCHANGE.

" The Joint Gresham Committee beg to inform Architects who arc desiroud
of submiUlng Designs for the intended Royal Exchange, that they may obtain a
J.ilhographic Plan of the intended Site, with other particulars, upon payment
of one piiunri, at the office of the Surveyor to the Committee, Mercers' Hall,
London."

A very great delay has certainly taken place asoto the progress of
the Exchang-e itself, but the several committees, in their laudable
anxiety to keep the public amused, have either by themselves or their
frie ids, appropriated the site to a temporary shrine of Pasquin.
Lately, some wag ainuscd himself with a caricature representing the
site to be let, imtil wanted, for a Royal Exchange; but now we are
in<lebted to thejoint Gresham Committee for a much better burlesque.

At the head of our article will be found the announcement on wbat
terms architects can obtain the necessary information; and tint for
the modest disbursement of a sovereign, they can have a lilhograplied
jilan of the site, and the printed particulars. The modesty of tbrse
terms cannot be sufficiently lauded, for we doubt if even any priut-
seller could have contemplatetl such profits of more than cent,
per cent. At any rate, tor 50/. a thiusand copies of the plan
might have been struck oil", and as many of the proposals ; and
supposing all these to have been applied for,' still it would have made
but 50^. The Greshara Coin mittee, however, " a poor but honest man,

my Lord" could not alf ud the expenditure of such a ."sum, ami still less
could it resist the temptation of pocketing the dilierence from the
two or three hundred competitor-.

The paltry tueaunf ss of such a shabby imposition is as conteiuptihln
as it is dishonest, and it is equally a gross di reliction of pubhc duty,
and an nifencc agaii.st the conventional laws of common courtesy. Do
not tliemcmliers of the Gresham Coriiniittee know, that instead of con-
ferring a fivour that they are certainly entailing- a heavy expense
upon ninctv-nine out of a hundred competitors? or can they consider
thetnselves as acting with common justice towardsi persons who are
already exposed to a heavy outlay? Many indivirhial architects will
lie put to a much greater expense than the Gresham Committee merely
ill preparing their drawings, inilepciidcntly of the loss of tiioi. conse-
quent upon thc-ir attention to them. There are sacrifices iii.ide it is
true lor a personal object, but still as certainly ciuiducivc to public
advantage, and alaiusr as inconteritihly productive <>l iiidiridual loss.

The commodities supplied for this nefarious bargain are ad-
inirahly in keeping witli its other details, and are as remarkable for
their in- oiiipleteiiess as they are f jr their worthless character. There
are no sections of the streets or sewers in the ncig'ihonrhood, so as
to show the d;pth necessary to go for foundations, and no inforniation
as to the cotnpariuive lieiglits of the neiglibouring buihlinns, which
niiisl esprcise an iinpm-tant influence on the design. Tn an iu-i:hitect
ill the country these must be serious ioipediments, and the very fiu-ma-
tiun of the site is besjt with sudicieiit obstacles not to require the
intervention of u ore. The Globe Insurance-ofliie, houeVer new,
ought to come down, so as to leave ihe site unrestricted to its present
hag-like appearance. It may be very doublfiii also, whether th- .site
selected for the peispective view is positively the best, and whether it
might not have been preferable to have made the elevation fronting the
Bank the principal f'ai;ade.

We regret to see that this print-shop is set up in a place where last of all
we should have expected to see it. It is inelanclioly that one of the
most respectable meinhers of the profession, also a Vice-President of
the Architectural Sucicty, should have allowed himself to he made the
medium in furihf ring sucli an insult and au imposition. It was his duty
towards the profession, so far from fostering such a job, at once to have
resisted it, and to have dcnoancid to the Coiniuittee such a barefaced
insult to his brethren.

We think that there is a laxity in the operations of the Royal
In-.titute of Briiish Architects, or, taking such an interest in competi-
tion as they assume to do, they should have been more active with
regard to this edifice. Uiiiiiiig among- themselves many of the most
eminent aichitects of the empire, they ought to take a decided part in
the regulations ot cmnpetitioiis, on uhicli, by the bye, thiir last i-eport
is by no means satisfactory. To exercise a beneficial influence on
public opinion they must he more decided ; and one of the best steps
they could take on the occasion of a competition, would be to send a
deputation to the Managing Committee to eff'jct a proper arrangeinent
of the ni.inner and terms of competition.

Below, we give a copy of the regulations of the Gresham Committee,
and at our ofTice may be seen a copy of the plan from which any mem-
ber of the proftssioii Is at liberty to take a tracing. It will always be our
endeavour to resist proceedings injurious to the profession, tVoiii what-
ever quuitcr they come ; Laud we call upon our readers to show an
equally strong opposition to an attempt at imposition so barefaced and
so ioiquitous.

Sesoluiions of the Gresham Committee, as t/islruciions to the Archlteds.

1. That architects be invited to ofFtr designs for the re-building of the
Royal Exctiange i i general competition, and that premiums be ottered for
three designs adjudged by the committee to be the best.

2. That the lithographic plan shows the site approved of by the Lords of
her Majesty's Treasurv, and that a copy of such plan, with the resolutions
and instructions, be given, on the payment of one pound, to any architects
wisliing to furnish designs, on his applying at the office of the Gresham
Trust, Mercers' Hall.

3. That the new building be of the Grecian, Roman, or Italian style of
aichitecturc having each front of stune of a hard and durable (pialily,

4. That the desij;ns ofTered by the several candidates must .ill be drawn
to the same scale, \'n., ten feet to one inch and a half, exhibiting the plans
of each story, witii an elevation of each front, and longitudinal and transverse
sections toi'ether with au interior elevation. That a copy of llio lithogra-
phic plan be also sent by each cjnJidate, draw-n in Indian ink, to the same
scale as the designs, and sliowing correctly the outline of the proposed
buildino-, the site thereof tinted red, and of all adjacent buildings. In ludian
ink ; that all the drawings sent by each candidate shall be tinted with brown
Indian ink only, ar.d that no perspective drawings of the design shall be re-
ceived, except two, which shall be taken from the situations specified on tlio
lithographic plan to be delivered to the parties.

174

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL

[May,

5. That no model, sketch, perspective, or coloured drawinjf (save two
such perspective drawings as are described in the previous resolution) shall
be received.

6. That a specification be recpiired to aL-eoinpany each design, giving a
general description of the building, and such other inloniiatioii as cannot he
clearly shown on the drawings, stating also what stnnc or other materials
are proposed for use in the different parts of the building, and specifying
particularly the estimated expense of carrying tlic designs into execution in
the most substantial and complete manner in every rcsjicct for occupation,
the expense not to exceed loO.OOO/.

7. That no seal, motto, or other distinguishing mark be .attached to any
of the drawings or specifications, and that any drawing or other paper hav-
ing such mark shall be rejected.

8. That the designs be delivered at the office of the Grestiam Trust, at
R]ercers' Hall, on or before the lit of August next ; lliat each design have a
number attached to it on delivery, and that a corresponding ticket and
number be given to the person delivering the same.

9. That a scaled letter be delivered with each design, containing the name
and address of the candidate, the same to be returned unopened to unsuc-
cessful i)arties.

10. That for the design to which the Committee shall award the first
jiremium the sum of 300/. shall be given ; that f(.r the second design the
sum of 200/. ; and for the third the sum of iOO/. The successful competitor
to whom the first premium is awarded shall not be considered as having
necessarily a claim to be entrusted with the execution of the work ; but if
not so employed, and- his designs are carried into cxpcutiou, a further sum of
.'iOO/. shall be paid to him— the Committee retaining possession of all the
drawings for which the premiums have been given.

11. That if reasonable doubts should arise in the minds of the committee
as to the practicability of carrying into execution the successful design for
the amount of the estimated expense of the building, the committee shall be
at liberty to call upon the party to give sufficient and satisfactory proof of
the accuracy of the calculations, and to withhold the premium and reject tlie
designs unless such proof be furnished.

12. That the following further instructions bo adhered to by tlie archi-
tects in preparing their design :

First— That no part of the several fronts is to be advanced before the line
shown in the lithographic plan, and coloured red, tlic same being considered
as the extreme projection of the stone- work at tho level of the pavement.

Second— That the basement of the building be appropriated to vaults,
cellars, strong rooms, &c.

Third — That (he ground-floor be appropriated to shops or offices, so far as
the same can be adapted to the design.

Fourth— That each part of the building proposed to be held as a distinct
tenement is to be completely separated by brickwork or other materials
equally fireproof from every adjoining part, on either side, or above or be-
neath it.

Fifth — That the area or space for the meeting of the merchants and others
bo about 20,000 superficial feet, of which about 7,000 be open.

13. 'J'hat thg statement annexed hereto of the proposed dimensions of llie
rooms and offices, &c., required, be adhered to in the designs; but as the
several measurements which have been given are stated with a view of
affording a general guidance to the architects in preparing their plans, not
restricting them to the precise dimensions given, the architects will be at
liberty to suggest such forms for each room, office, &c., as may appear to
them most convenient, observing that the superficial areas sliould not be
less than the xizes specified. They are also to provide in the rcmainin
portion of the building as many additional offices as possible, to be let a'
distinct tenements.

The following rooms and offices are required : —
ft. ft. 1

One room 125 by 40

One do 60 by lOJ

One do. 94 by 60

One do 38 by 32

ft.
19 by

Two room'i each

One room (io by 30

One do 40 by 20

Two rooms each 19 by Io

In addition to the above, not necessarily on the same story, one room, a
kitchen, and a bar, containing together about 2,300 superficial feet.

The above is exclusive of a staircase, or staircases, lobbies, landings, water-
closets, urinals, washing rooms, walls, and partitions; also strong rooms on
the basement.

Tne following rooms and offices are further required : —
ft. ft,

■'One room 50 by 24

■One do 10 by 10

'One do 15 by 20

' One do 21 by 20

'One do I.'j by 12

' One do 40 by 2j

One do );> by 20

One do I.'j by 20

One do 20 by 20

One do 28 bv 20

ft. ft.

One roem 30 by 20

One do 16 by 20

One do 15 by 20

Four rooms ^ each 13-6 by 13

*Onc room " 10 by 10

One do 16 hy 20

'One do 17-6 by 20

One kitchen 12 by 10

One room 15 by 12

'One do 25 by 10

Those marked • not necessarily on the same story.

Tlie above is exclusive of a staircase or staircase, lobbies, landings,
water-closets, urinals, washing-rooms, walls, and partitions; also strong
rooms on the basement.

The following rooms and offices are further required ;

ft. ft. ft. ft.

One room 60 by 30 One room 30 by 21

One ditto 21 by 20 One ditto 40 by 21

Two ditto each 30 by 21 One ditto 21 by 20

One ditto 35 by 21 One ditto 21 by 18

In addition, three waiting-rooms, water-closets, and washing-rooms.

The above is exclusive of a staircase, or staircases, lobbies, landings, urinals,
walls, and partitions; also strong rooms on the basement.

14. All designs will be excluded from the competition which arc not in
strict conformity with the preceding instructions in every respect.

N. 15. — The architect of the Gresham Trust and his partner do not intend
sending in any design.

liAI-LWAY, CANAL. AND ROAD TKAVFLLIXG IX FHANCK.

Tlic lurrcnt estimates of tlio French Board of M'lnks, -mIucIi amounted
to II),IW(1,II(H)1'.( 1,600,1100/.) in 1 Wl,xverc raised to iri,l)Ol).l)l)or. ( 1,S00,000/.
ill In37. This very considerahle sum is devnicd to tlic inaiiilcnaiicc cd' the
rnads. bridges, and canals. An engineering overseer. v\liii is attached t<i
Ihc admiiiistratiou of each department, directs and niana^'cs the works to
wliicli the money is applied. Kesidcs these current estimates, a law, passed
in 1833, gave rise to a vote of extraordinary supplies lor public works,
wliich lu-oiides for the more important repairs, the comiiletiou of under-
takings still nnliiiislied, and the construction of new lines of coinmunieation.
This additional vote, wliiili has been increased liv similar Ia^^■s, passed in
the years 18-3.5, 18-36, 1837. and 1838, lias now reached as laru'c a sum as
3,jll,b00,000f. (14,000,000/. sterling,) Out of tliis fund the Cluunhers have
granted •27,000,t)00f, lor the improvement of harbours ; 64,000,000f. for the
amelioration of the river navigation; 63,000,0001', for the completion of
canals began in 18.32; to which has been added a vote of 8o,000,0t)0f, lor a
lateral canal to (jaromie, between Toulouse and Bordeaux, and a junctiuu
canal between the Maine and the liliinc ; lastly, the high roads Inne
cblaincd a grant of 107,000,0001', The con,sc'ils-(/encraif.i- in the \ arious
departments ha\e ^'olcd for the extensinii of the departmental roads not
less than 60,000, 0(H_)f, When the x\orks nt>w undertaken, and in progress,
arc finished, there w ill be in France nearly 8,000 Icagtics of high roads of
the first class f routes rot/alcsj, 8,500 leagues of liigli roads of the sccipjul
class (mutes ili/iartmeiitalcsj, and 850 leagues of canals. .\n unbroken
line of iutcnial navigation will be opened from Havre to iMarscilles, and
from .Strasburgli \o Havre, Tin' principal deticicncy in the means of coni-
niuiiication in France is celerity. The sleain-boats have great difficulty in
ascending against the stream of the larger ri\ers. The only canal on which
the system of lly-boats has been borrowed from the Hcotcli and English
canals, or, at least, boiTOwed xvith success, is the Canal dn Midi, from
Ti lulouse to Cette. The mails, indeed, are transported at an average speed of
three leagues an hour. The use of the telegraph is i-oiiliiied tt> the business
of the (JnM'rnmciit, The railroads which have been executed, up to the
present time, are incon.siderablc. ami tlic railroads at this monient in
execution are for very short distances, their whole united length not exceeding
forty four leagues,

CALEDONIAN CANAL.

Cojiy of Jill. Walker's Heport to the Board of Treasuri/.

Tnstmiions. — In compliance with the instructions contained in your letter
of the 28tb December 1837, after the accident to the lock at Fort Augustus,
1 proceeded without delay to the Caledonian ('analeaily in .lanuaiy ; and,
after passing through the Crinan Canal in company with Mr. John Clibb,
who had met mc by desire of the Commissioners, 1 surveyed the line of
the Caledonian Canal with Mr. Gibb and Mr. May, the resident engineer
and superintendent of the canal. Wliile upon the survey 1 wrote two
letters to Mr Spearman, to inform him my opinion that no immediate danger
of magnitude was to be dreaded from the state of the works at the west end
of Loch Lochy, or from the accident at the Fort Augustus Locks, to repair
which, in a temporary way, orders were given. These repairs have since
been executed, so that the recess wall that gave way is now as secure as the
other parts of the lock for the purposes of the present limited traffic. 1
ahso requested Mr. May to take such measurements and surveys, as might
enable an estimate to be made of the works that appeared to ine necessary
for the repair or for tho completion and improvement of the canal, and to
make certain inquiries as to the extent and nature of trade by which the
canal, if completed or improved, might be used, to enable mc to report more
fully to the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury on all the points of
your let'er.

Since my return from the north, I have been in constant comniunieation
with Mr May, who has notwithstanding the extreme severity of the weather,
been most diligent and persevering in bis surveys. On these being eoin-
pleled, we met in Edinburgh, ivnd went into details of measurements and
estimates. It is now my duty to report my opinion on the various points,
with estimates, dividing the consideration, as directed by you, into two
heads ; viz.

" 1st. The repair of the lock injured by the late accident, and such further
works as may be necessary to avert inundation.

"2d. The impiovement of the canal, by rebuilding what may le »;ipie-

18:39.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL

175

bended to be defcdive in its origiiial construction, altering tbe deptb, pro-
curing tow-vessels, and otlier measures not urgent, bowevcr important."

I shall adbere to this division as closely as I can, ])rcuiising that tbe two
subjects are so connected and so blended with each other, that it will be very
difficult to draw the line between them.

On the 8tli February I also received from Mr. Spearman instructions to
report such information as I bad in my recent survey collected on the
subject of tbe navigation of the Crinan Canal ; and, in conversations with
th.it gentleman, I have been requested not to confine my report strictly to
the points above .stated, but to embrace any information respecting tbe
Caledonian or Crinan Canal which I might be in possession of, and which
1 might think likely to be useful, when the general question of the canal
should come to be considered by their Lordships.

Tbe general history of the Caledonian Canal, with its objects, difficulties
and defects, are very ably stated in .Mr. May's report of 1st November 1837,
addressed to Mr. Smith, secretary to tbe Commissioners, and in Mr. Smith's
letter to the Cbanccllor of the Exchequer, dated '22d December I8o". Tliese
are most important and useful documents, the fdcts of wlrjch I found fully
confirmed by my survey. The principal defects there referred lo are, how-
ever, chiefly in tbe original scheme and construction of the canal, which
have therefore, with the danger .ittending them, existed from tlic time of tbe
can.il being opened. I name this as a reason against any very sudden alarm ;
although 1 fully agree in tbe necessity for prompt measures of secinity, in
which tbe canal is certainly defective, probably from the great e.\cess of cost
above the estimates, tbe consequent loss of time, and tbe difficulty of obtain-
ing funds for the purpose previous to its being opened, all of which are
fully stated in Mr. May's report.

3urvi:y riRsT nivisioN.

IVesl Eud Culverts Beginning from tbe west end, the first danger arises

from the culverts made between the Bannavie Locks and Gairlocby, a reach
of si.x miles, to carry the mountain floods under (he canal into tbe river
Locliy. The masonry of these is certainly very rough, but they are alt(»gether
in a better state than I expected from Mr. May's report, the leakage
through the work being very small and partial, when, however, the serious
eftects of a failure in one of these culverts, which would empty the reach of
water, is considered, their perfect security, as the locks at present arc, is most
important.

Gairlmliij J.uck — At the head of the reach is Gairlocby Lock, which hiis
the important office of keeping up the waters of Loch Lochy. This lake
contains an area of (j,000 acres, the water of which was raised 12 feet above
its natural level for the purpose of the canal ; in its ordinary state it is ti to
7 feet, and in times of great Hoods 10 to 12 feet, above the present level of
the canal in the reach below. If at this time any of the culverts were to
give way, so as to empty the reach, an addition of Iti feet would bo added
to the pressuie upon the gates of Gaiilochy Lock, making a vertical head of
2G to 28 feet, which would, to say the least, place them in danger, and if
they should then give way, the contents of th« lake, for a depth of 27 feet,
would be discharged upon tbe valley of the Lochy, the general surface of
which is much below the level of tbe canal. The destruction of the canal
works, and of property, and perhaps life, would be very great, and there-
fore the importance of securing the culverts, particularly as the works of the
Gairlocby Lock arc by no means in the best state. But my decided opinion,
in which Mr. May agrees, is, that the renewal ofthe culverts would be but a
paitial remedy, and that complete security cannot be obtained here but by
another lock at the entrance of the lock to tbe eastward of the present lock.
By this means also the trade of the canal, which, with one lock is liable to
be entirely stopped by any accident that would prevent the working of any
one of the gates, would be secured. As things now are, a ship or steam-
vessel coming up to the lock with any w.iy upon her, and striking tbe gates,
might produce this stoppage of the canal for a considerable time, and incur
danger, as the d. pendence must then be upon one pair of gates. Con-
sidering all circumstances, 1 think it fortunate that this h,as not happened
ere this time. I was delayed some time in my passage through the Crinan
Canal by a slf;;ni-boat having, in the course of the preceding day, run
against and sei iuusly damaged one of the gates; a similar accident to one of
the Gaiilochy gates might have very serious consequences. When at Gair-
locby, I advisLd Mr. May, as a temporary precaution, to stretch a strong
chain across tbe lock at each end ; this has to be lowered to enable vessels to
pass, but, when drawn up, stops the vessel before she gets to the gates. The
estimate of this lock, with the dams and other works, is 15,9o0/. If
executed, the culverts in the reach below may, with a little repair, be left in,
as the failure of one of them would then be confined to the discbarge of the
water in the reach of six miles.

Waste Vi'cir for Lovh Okh — A better provision for letting off the flood
waters of Loch Oich is the second work required for preventing danger from
inundation. In the flood of November 1834, tbe water rose 7 feet i inches
above the 20 feet water-mark of the canal, or 15 inches above the gates of
Abeichaldcr Lock at the east end of the lake. An extension of the length of
the waste weir, and widening the passage for the waters under it, is all that
will be required; and then the present weir can be raised, so as to prevent
the waste of water through it in droughts. The expense of this will
be 1,287/.

Fo)t Auyiiiliis Locks are next in order. The masonry of the live locks
is in general very bad, but only the lower lock comes strictly under the
present consideration. To repair it, a dam will be requisite against Loch
Ness, tbe sill of tbe lower lock being 15 to 20 feet under the water of the
lake, and then (he opportunity should be taken to repair tbe second lock

also. I calculate on taking down to the bottom and rebuilding the recess
walls, renewing the segments and other works, which will amount
to 7,690/.

I think the above are all that come under the head of preventing damage
or inundation, without reference to tbe mere stoppage of the canal, which
would be the consequence of a failure at any of the Fort Augustus Locks,
and from which, owing to the defective masonry having strained and injured
tbe gates none of them are by any means secure.

Tbe collected amount of the tirst division is 24,82"/.

In tlie-abovc, and in all that follows, I have calcukited upon the avail-
able and standard depth of water being only 17 feet, which is less by 3
feet than the original design. To obtain 20 feet would be a work of enor-
mous magnitude, difficulties and expense, and would much increase danger,
without by any means a compensating advantage. A laden vessel of 38
feet beam (tbe available width of the locks) does not draw more than 18
feet, and 17 feet is sufficient depth for a ship of 400 to 500 tons,* and few,
if any ships in the Baltic or American trade exceed this siie.
SECOND nivisioN.

Finis/iinf! Cunal and remedt/iiiff Drfccls With the expenditure of

24,827/., for averting inundation, and for the repair of Fort Augustus Lock,
the canal will still be left in a very unfini.-.hed stale, liable to stoppages, incon-
venient for business, portions very leaky, and many of its works much out
of repair. All these, however, come more properly under the second head,
of " finishing tbe canal, and remedying what is defective in the original
construction," which come now to be considered. These, though not urgent
as respects security to the country, are most of them essential if tbe canal is
lo be kept open, and to prevent still greater expense, which will be the
effect if the repairs be delayed. With (be present disadvantages, imperfec-
tions and w,-int of convenience, it is raiber to be wondered that there should
have been even the ir.ade tliere bii3 been ; and the fact of there having been
even a small trade, certainly goes to prove wh.it there would be if the canal
were finished, and convenience given.

In explaining the particulars of tbe works required, it is so very difficult
to separate repairing and finishing from improvements, that (he better
way may be to state the articles in detail, as I have taken them, with the esti-
mate of each ; this will also afford information as to what is the nature and ex-
tent of the repairs, and what appear to me to be re<iuired in the way of im-
provements, to render the Caledonian Canal complete and convenient for as
great a trade as can be carried on upon it.

The repairs, improveurents and machinery as detailed.f amount to 104,490/,
.and with this expenditure I Jconsider that tbe canal will be complete and
proper for work as originally proposed, nnd combining additional safety, but
with the difference of 17 feet in lieu of 20 feet depth.

Sliam Tugs As yet I have included nothing for steam-tugs, which,

although no part of the original plan, appear to me quite indispensable for
the proper working ofthe canal, as respects either the ticcommodation to trade,
or the probable chance of a return for the great expense incurred in its
construction. present DU'FictjLTiEs.

Lakes.— One ofthe temptations to make a canal at all, and particularly of this
great size, from Loch Eil to the Beauly Frith, was the appaient facility
afl'orded by the three lakes, which lie in almost a continuous line, and arc for
the inost part of ample width and depth ; viz.. Loch Lochy, 10 miles; Loch
Oich, 4 miles; and Loch Ness, 23^ miles; together 37A miles; thus leaving
of the whole length of C0§ miles only 23 miles of canal to ni.ikc. That
the cost of making the canal has been much reduced, probably more than
half, by tbe lakes, cannot be doubted; but it is equally apparent, as fully
slated in Messrs. May and Smith's reports, that they are now great hindran-
ces to the passage of vessels. From lying in the trough or hollow between
two ranges of mountains, the wind blows always parallel to the line of the
canal, so as necessarily to be a foul wind in one direction. From the rocky
nature of the banks, and their crooked irregular shape, tracking through I he
lakes is impossible. The width of l/och Lochy and Loch Ness is sulHcicnt
for vessels of about 100 tons to work when once fairly in tbe lakes, but there
is a great difficulty in warping against a strong head wind to reach this, and
great danger also from the rocky .shores in case of a vessel missing stays.
Therefore, working or tacking through the lakes is seldom attempted, and
the consequence is, that the passage of tiO miles, which, were tracking
practicable for the whole length, might be accomplished generally in three
to four days, often takes as many weeks; even a monlli is not unusual, and
cases of five weeks have been known. The evil is increased by the Hcsterly
winds which prevail for eight or nine months of the year, and are opposed to the
direction of what ought to be the greatest trade on the canal. To prevent
passage of vessels proceeding from the east to the west end, which the is
delay, sometimes three or four mouths, of going through the Pcntland
Frith and round Cape Wrath during the westerly winds, was one ofthe piin-
cipal objects of the canal, which is thus in a great metisure defeated. When
1 was upon my survey, several vessels were waiting for a change of wind at
(he east end of Loch Oich, and another number at the east end of LoclrNesy,
none of thcnr above 13.5 tons burthen. A very few hours of a steam-tug
would have set tbe whole at liberty. The approaches to the ctiual from the
estuaries at each end are subject to the s,ame inconvenience.

The iroiit of Drjilh in the canal and portions of the locks is another great

—-■

' The late alter.ition in the measuring for register has (enUed to reduce the depth
of British ships built since the passing of the Ilegister Act.

t The report contains a detailed estimate, which we h.-ive here oniillcd, in cons-
(picnce of the great length of the {f port, ljut,« c will endeavour tu give il in the nc.-a
Joursal.— Ediioe.

170

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[May,

drawback upon the use of the canal. This arises partly from the excavation
of the canal never having been completed, partly from the weirs at the ends of
the loclis not being sufficient to support the di'pth of water, and partly from
the grc.U leakage in parts of the canal. .Mr. May states that 1 1 feet in the
navigable parts of Loch Oich, and ]2 feet in portions of the canal connected
with Loch Ness and Loch Lochy, is the depth after a continncd drought. Last
winter was an extreme case, and as the csual was shut up by the ico, there was
no practical evil from tlie above cause. Tlic water iu Loch Oich on that
occasion sunk to 5 feet, and Loch Ness to 1 1 feet, which evidently shows the
want of a weir to support the w.iter. I have already named that the reach
above Muirtown Locks requires the dischari^e of 10 sluices, which is 24,0(10
cubic fs^et per minute, to supply the leakage of th j banks : so great a leakage
is perhaps unknown in any other canal navigation ; it forms no mean river of
itself as it flows by the side of the river Ness, claiming an equality even in
ordinary times, and in short water time the leakjge much e.vceeds the river.
The sinking of Loch Ness Iksscus the supply for this leakage, and the canal
sinks in consequence. This diminution of depth is objectionable, also by
bringing the ships in contact with the rough banks, and injuring the sides,
particularly of hirye vessels, if coppered.

Notwithstanding all these dis.idvantages, l\Ir. May states that the delay in
going round the northern coast is sometimes such, that there have been cases
of vessels having come south and gone through the canal after trying for weeks
in vain to make the roundabout passage. This, however, and that there is any
trade in the canal, is proof, not of the canal being good or convenient, which
certainly it is not, but that the ether passages, the shortest of which is 200
miles longer than the canal, are from th-eir length, and the dangerous naviga-
tion, most desirable to be avoided ; and the fair inference from this alone is,
that if the canal were in a good working state, a much greater proportion of
the trade between the two sides of the island and Ireland would use it.

Trade upon Canal The average of tonn.igo passing through the canal, ex-
clusive of steam-boats and local traffic, has been about 2.j,00U tons per annum,
without much increase or diminution, during the last ten years; its increase
has been checked by various unseasonable interruptions during that period,
caused by the imperfect and unfinished condition of the works, similar to what
recently occurred at Fort Augustus.

From the accounts collected by iMr. May of the trade of several ports it
would appear that the present traffic on the canal is not probably Sj per cent,
of the whole trade going through the I'entland Frith ; and, from what has
been seen, the canal is not capable, in its present stte, of receiving vessels of
any considerable tonnage, which, indeed, never attempt it. During the last
seven years, only one vessel of 240 tons has made the passage.

Recetme. — The gross receipts of the eanil have not exceeded £2,500 since
the rates were reduced from a halfpenny to a farthing per ton per mile ; tlie
expense of repairs, working, and superintendence, have exceeded £3,000, an
amount which is considerable for the trade done ; but it is to be observed, that
the expense is increased by the bad repair and unfinished state of the works,
that the canal works are made for a trade of much larger vessels, and that the
expense of them is almost the same as if such vessels, to ten times the present
number, were to pass. If the works were finished and put into good repair
the expense would undoubtedly be lessened.

If, therefore, the canal is to be kept open at all, I think there is no doubt as
to the propriety and policy of doing the repairs and finishing, which it has been
seen amount to £i29,.317, great as this sum is; and I have as little doubt that
the effect would be very much to increase the trade, probably beyond what at
present there is an idea of.

Steam Tugs After all the finishing and repairs are done, still the heavy

disadvantage of the lakes will remain, and vessels must wait, as now, for a
perfect calm or a fair wind. Indeed, the larger the vessel, the more this ob-
jection operates, and the only complete remedy for it, .is respects either the
accommodation to trade, or the probability of a return for the great expense
incurred in the constraction of the Canal, is the using of steam-tugs ; so
much so, that did we not know of the Canal having been projected, and even
begun, before steam navigation was introduced, it would be ditKcult to suppose
that steam tracking was not iu contemplation, so defective and imperfect is
the Canal without it, owing to the lakes, which are, on the contrary, great
ad\antage3 with it. To make the establishment proper, I think three steam-
vessels should be calculated on for the Canal, vi/.., one for Loch Lochy of 40
horses power, for Loch Oich of 40 horses posver, and one for Loch Ness of
00 horses power. Two of these might be sufficient, but not so well as three ;
and in case of one of them being out of repair, the third would be useful to
take its place. The expense of these, with coal-sheds upon the Canal, may
be taken at 7,200/. ; the expense of sujjporting and working them, supposing
they are kept pretty fully at work, Mr. May estimates (from the experience of
which ho has furnished me with the details) at 1,000?. each per annum, which
would be a very large addition to the ordinary current expenditure. To do
full justice to the navigation, and add to the certainty of despatch, there
ought also to be a steamer in the Murray Frith, to bring vessels from Fort
George to the eastern entrance, and from Corran Ferry, or even the Sound of
■Mull, to the western entrance. This would require an additional capital of
i>,000/., and incur an addition of 2,000/. to the auuual outlay, but the accom-
modation would be most complete.

Gross Amount. — The amount for steam tug-boats, with 10 per cent, for
contingencies, added to the repairs and improvements before stated, make a
gross amount of 14.'3,8.37/., or in round numbers 150,000/., for putting the
Canal in complete repair, maknig it proper for all vessels of 38 feet beam and
17 feet draught, providing machinery and utensils, and also a complete estab-
lishment of steam-tugs. Probably a less number of steam-tugs might do for
a trial, and would be e»tremel^ useful} but I have thought betteri in this as in

the other items, to take what I considrr a full amount. With these improve-
ments and additions, the passage from Fort George to the Sound of Mull
might generally be depended on to be made within four days, and certainly,
even in foul weather, within a week.

Discontinuhi^ Canal Passaijr. — And now the (juestion presents itself,
what, under present circumstances, is best to be done? Ought the navig.ition
of the Canal to be discontinued? Jf so, thi> might be done either by keeping
up the works, or destroying them. The former would require nearly the
same establishment for preservation, and watching for the security of the
country, as with the trade; part of the repair I have calculated on must be
done, and an annual rep^iir afterwards would be indispensable, all without any
income. The other plan, viz., the permanently stopping up cr destroying of
the works, mould require dams and outlets to be made, petmanent bridges to
be built, the locks filled up or fenced, other works done, and compensations to
be made, which it is extremely difficult to cnlculate, and which, as Mr. INIay
states, might equal in amount the expense of a proper repair, to say nothing of
the public inconvenience and the breach of faith which such a proceeding might
involve. Might, then, the works necessary to prevent inundation and the
minor repairs be done, but the Canal left in its present unfinished and imper-
fect state, with its present inconveniences? Tiiis would, in fact, be continuing
the system which has existed since the Canal was opened, but which cuuld not
be continued much longer; and, as the works arc yearly becoming worse,
some general repair must at once be done- The want of. funds having proba-
bly obliged the Commissioners to expend as little as possible, the defects have
been allowed to increase, and, in the course of a short time, it would be found
th.at to have faced the repairs and done them properly would have been a
cheaper plan. Certainly there would be no absolute necessity as respects secu-
rity for adding to the pi'csent depth, or for other improvements ; but on refer-
ring to the detail 1 have given, I find that only about half of the whole sum
(exclusive of the steam-tugs) can be placed to the head of improvements ;
and 1 am opinion that, as re«pccts the convenience of trade, or even .'strictly as
a question of expenditure and revenue, the finishings are worth doing along
with the repairs ; and both, be it observed, can be done cheaper at one time,
when the water is out of parts of the Canal than piecemeal. Here 1 take the
opportunity to state that, to do the work effectually, or near the estimate, a
season would be necessary for preparation, making plans, entering into con-
tracts, and getting castings and materials to the ground through the Can.tl, so
as to bring the necessary period of interruption to the navigation within the
shortest practicable limits.

SUCCESS OF CANAL.

General Opinion. — The original objects for making the Canal arc well
known. Some of them, as giving employment to the Highlanders and pre-
venting their emigration, it has eft'ceted partially. In improving the value of
estates tlnough which it passed, and that district of the country generally, it
has, with the excellent roads and inns, pioved highly liencficial, particularly
since the introduction of steam-packets, which ply regularly twice a week to
and from Inverness and Glasgow, through the Canal. As a facility for trade,
in preventing the long passage through the Pentland Frith and round Cape
Wrath, it has bitherto been a failure. This is not, however, if steam is inclu-
ded in the consideration, to be ascribed to the design, which has never yet had
a fair chance, the works being incomplete and imperfect in the way I have
slated. If the Canal were completed, even to 17 feet water, and steam-tugs
stationed upon it, my decided opinion, from all I have seen and have been
able to collect, is, that the Caledonian ( anal will prove a most useful and im-
portant public work, for the general coasting trade of the Kingdom, and for
the trade between the Kaltic and the west coast, including the Clyde, Liver-
pool, Irekand, and for vessels bound to America from the eastern ports of the
Kingdom. When it is considered that, in the one case, there may be almost a
certainty of the vessel making her passage without danger, and with but little
wear or tear, from the Murray Frilh to the .Sound of Mull, within a week in
any state of the weather, unless when the Canal is frozen, iu place of the dan-
gerous passage of .300 miles by the Pentland Frith, which varies in time from
a week t» three or four months, with an insurance which, if the cargo be of
much value, would alone do much more than pay the Canal rates, and with the
expense of lights, there can, I think, be little doubt of the fact being as I
have slated. Taking the present rate of one farthing per ton per raile the
Canal charge upon a vessel of 200 tons is about 13/., which is from two to
three days of the wages, provisions, wear and tear, &c., of a vessel of that
siie ; and if the average difference of time between going round the north
coast and through the Canal be taken at ten days, as was stated in evidence
and is probably nearly correct, wages and wear would amount to throe timeg
the Canal rates, independently of the risk, the detention of the cargo, uncee-
tainty, &c. Jn some cases, as in sowing-linseed from the Baltic lor Ireland,
&c., the detention is so great, that the sowing season is entirely lost. J am
informed that the losses to the merchant, as well as to the Irish farmer
through want of good seed from this cause, are considerable, '

On the subject of insurance 1 subjoin a letter from Mr. Alderman I'irie of
London ; by this, it appears that the difference of insurance between the
Canal and the Pentland I'rith may be taken at 20s. per cent, on an average
This, upon a ship of 200 tons burthen, the value of which and cargo (whTcli
in Mr. Pirie's opinion may be taken at 6,600/.) makes the saving of insurance
alone on such a ship and cargo 6j/.

A letter from Messrs. James Miller and Son, Leith, to Mr. May, on the same
subject, is also annexed ; by this, the return of premium on going' through the
Canal is stated at about half the above only.

The liy/ita form another item of difl'erencc, but less considerable. A ship
passing through the Pentland F'rilh has to pay the following lights ; viz.
Pentland Jjkerries, Dunnct Head, Cape Wrath, Island Glassj Burra Headj

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

177

and Skenyvore; each one halfpenny per ton, if British, or Id. per ton if
foreign. By piissing tlirough the Canal there will be only two lights to pay,
viz. Tiirbot Ness and Lismore ; being a saving of 2d. per ton, if British, and
4d. Taton, if foreign.

In case of war, and the English Channel being infested by steam privateers,
the caniil will afford a passage of comparative safety for the trade between the
West Indies or America, and the east coast of Gfeat Britain.

1 have not said that the Caledonian Canal is, as a money account, ever to be
a profitable concern, but that it will be a useful public work ; that being
made, there appears to me no alternative but to tioish it; and (this granted)
that to finish it properly will be, even as a money account, the proper course to
adopt. The time, ho.vever, may come, and may not be very distant, when,
even as a money speculation, it will appear in a very different light from the
present ; this partly from the increase in the quantity of tonnage, and partly
from the rate. The act allows 'id. per ton per mile, the present charge is a
farthing ; to raise it without aftbrding increased facilities, would reduce the
trade, but with better accommodation ; the facts I have stated would justify an
addition to the rate.

The Forth and Cli/dc Canal is a parallel canal, and in some degree a parallel
case, although comparatively small, the locks being only 20 feet wide, with a
depth of eight feet ; it is therefore suited only for small craft under 100 tons.
This canal was opened in 1777, and was at work for .30 years before it paid
any interest. The toils are charged not upon the tonnage of the vessels, but at
various rates upon goods. On referring to the table of tolls, I find that by far
the greatest number of articles is charged 2d. per ton per mile, which is the
liigl:e.st rate allowed by the Caledonian Canal Act, or eight times the present
rate charged upon the latter. The trade and profits of the Forth and Clyde
Canal are now such that the shares which were originally £100, exclusive of
accumulated interest, are now .-t'GOO in the market. The accumulated interest
upon the original share of £100, taken, I suppose, at compound interest,
amounts to four times the original sura, but still shows the canal to be a pro-
fitable investment.

i\Ir. May has, at my request, prepared a table of the tonnage to and from
the eastern ports, to show the extent of trade, a portion of which he considers
would be likely to use the canal ; it is so great, that a small portion of it
would make the concern not only useful, but profitable. I dislike the appear-
ing to calculate profits, which is not my department, and ought always to be
received with caution, as a basis for any calculation. I would only remark,
that, at a halfpenny per ton, the rates upon 100 tons would amount to
£1'2 lOs.; and that 400 tons passing daily would produce a gross income of
£18,000 per annum, without any material increase of the present outgoings,
but rather the contrary, if the works be put in repair.

The limit to the number of vessels passing is caused by the eight continuous
locks at Bannavie, near the west end of the canal, through the whole of which,
owing to their being no chamber or passing-place, a vessel must pass up or
down before another can enter in the opposite direction. This is a great delay
and evil ; its effects might partly be remedied by dividing the trade, the
ascending vessels one part of the day, the descending vessels the other part.
A more effectual, but more expensive remedy, as respects money and water,
would be making a siding or passing-place in the middle of the chain of locks.
As, however, with its present imperfections, the locks can pass more than four
times the trade I have named, 400 tons per day, I have not included in the
estipiate any thing for an alteration in these locks.

Mr. Gladstone, whose long and extensive mercantile concerns and general
knowledge are well known, Iiaving applied to Mr. May to know if his vessel of
250 tons, bound for Liverpool, could be passed through the canal, was referred
to me by Mr. May. After a couferenco at his desire, I requested Mr. Glad,
stone to favour me with his opinion, wliich he has kindly done. His letter has
given me no reason to cluinge iht' f.iv.Mirahle opinion I certainly have of what
this canal is likely to be at a future period. It has never yet had a chance, and
I consider that all its bearings and prospects are completely altered by the
introduction of steam ; so that the evidence given previous to its formation, and
much less its working, since it was opened, has but little to do with the present
prospect.

[The report concludes with some remarks on the state of the Crinan Canal
which we shall give in the next Journal. — Editor.]

BLASTING BY THE AID OF GALVANISM.

INTEntStlNO EXrEIUMliiM'S ON EL.VSIINO AT CR,VIGLEITU QLiRUY.

(From the Edinburgh Advertiser.)

On Tuesday, 26th of March last, a large party of gentlemen assembled in
Craigleith Quarry, to ^vitness some experiments on blasting by means of
galvanism, \vhich were made at the request of the Directors of the High-
land and Agricultural Society of Scotland by Martyn Roberts, Esq.

It has long been known that the ignition of gimpowdcr can be very effec-
tually produced by the application of the electric fluid; but Mr. Roberts
has succeeded in producing an apparatus for this purpose, which is simple
in its structure, very portable, and wliich, above all, is easily managed, lie
has also, in the application of thi.s ajiparatus to blasting rucks, introduced
various luodificatioiis of its arrangements, and effected great improvements
in the mode of charging.

The apparatus consists of a small trough, about a foot in length, and four
inches square on the end, and a battery containing ten pairs of plates.
Along the battery runs a bar upon which a tin (Use slides freely. This disc,
when drawn to the end of the bar, touches another disc, and thus completes
the ttfiuitxioJi b6t^YeeI^ tlic opposite poles el' Uie battery. To prevent acci-

dents, the sliding disc is kept in the middle of the bar by means of a spring
of coiled wire ; and it is impossible to put the battery in action nllhough
sunk in the trough without shifting the plate along tlie bar to the opposite
end of the trough. The copper wires which convey tlie electric fluid to the
gunpowder are kept separate during their whole course by a sheath of cot-
ton thread, which is wrapped closely round them in the same nia)]ner as in
the strings of a guitar, in- as in the wm: which stiflens the rim of a lady's
bonnet. At their terminatinn these wires are bent outwards, and their ex-
tremities are connrcted by means of a line steel wircj half an inch long, so
as to form a small triangle, like the Greek capital delta. This triangular
end is inserted into a small tin cartridge, and ignition of tlic powder con-
tained in the cartridge is produced by the deflagration of the steel wire
which connects the ends of the two cu])per wires. So rapid is the progress
of the electric fluid, that it is impossible to measure the interval of time
which elapses between the action at the trough and the explosion of the car-
tridge. The cost of this app^i^atus is only about lifteen shillings; aiul the
price of the materials required for the solution is such, that a shilling will
cover the expense of keeping the trough in a working state for months.
The copper wire which, if properly shielded, may last for years, costs about
one farthing for each yard. In applying this apparatus to blasting, Mr. Ro-
berts makes the fnUowing arrangements : — In regard to the mode of charg-
ing, which is perhaps the most important peculiarity of his method, he
leaves a space of about one fool, containing atmospheric air, above and be-
low the gunpowder ; and thus obtains, over and above the effect of the giui-
powder, all the power wliich the sudden increase of its i oluine produces ;
and thus the same eli'cct is obtained from a smaller charge. He also inserts
the tin cartridge into the heart of the charge of powder, and as the cartridge
explodes at both ends, the gunpowder is much more instantaneously ig-
nited. Lastly, in lamping, no vent-hole is left, as in the connnon system,
by the withdrawing of the needle ; but the tamping is pressed closely round
the wire which conveys the electric fluid from the trough to the cartridge.
When the tamping is completed, the battery is plunged into the trough,
v^iich is at the distance of 40 feet from the bore-hole, and may of course
be removed as far as may seem desirable, by giving a small increase to
the power of the battery if required, which is easily effected by adding a
pair of plates. The spring of coiled wire still keeping the tin disc in the
middle of the bar, tlicie is no risk of an une.\pected explosion, a danger
which occasionally liap|)en3 by the too rapid ignition of a train or fuze in
the common method of blasting. Every one iiaving retired, a person
stationed at any safe distance, pulls a siring, which makes the tin disc pass
along the bar, and the instant the coimection of the opposite jioles of the
battery is established, the explosion takes place. We sliall liricfly detail
the chief advantage of this new system of blasting, which we conceive to
be as f.iUows :—

1. Freedom from tlie dangers which alwiiys attend blasting is obtained
from various causes. In the comraim system, the fuse or train must be
fixed at or very near the bore-hole, long trains being expensive and un-
certain in their actimi ; ami accidents, Ironi the too rapid burning of the
fuze, are unfortunately very common. But in Mr. Roberts' system, the
person who pulls the string which puts the battery in action, may be sta-
tioned at any convenient distance. In the ;present sysiem, perhaps the
most common source of aceiilent is the withdrawing of the needle ; and
this is completely avoided in Mr. Roberts' plan. Lastly, there is less
chance of failure, and when failure does occur, the bore-hole may be
at once, approached without risk of accident, as the moment the siring is
slackened, "the action of the battery ceases.

2. The next advantage is, the great facility which this mode gives for
blasting under water. 'J'liis is one of the most inconvenient, expensive,
and uncertain of all engineering operations, it involves much trouljle and
expense in laying hoses for the train or fuse, which are destroyed every
lime ; and after all, there are, perhaps, three failures out often trials. AH
this is avoided by Mr. Roberts' system, which is as efficient underwater as
above it and involves not one^lartliing of loss under water more than on
land.

3. The great advantage of a much more rapid ignition of the gunpowder,
which incloses the cartridge on all sides, and receives the action of the
flame over the greater part of its surface at the same instant, gives the itew
system a great superiority. This is a most important element in the eC'ect
of the charge, as its full force is thus secured. In the present method, on
the other hand, the powder is fired from the tap, and when bard rammed fre-
quently burns away in a series of smaller explosions, producing successive
shocks, separated, it is true, by imperceptible intervals of time, but yei pro-
ducin" an effect greatly less powerful than they could have done if concen-
trated in one shock, so <is to act simultaneously.

4. There is absolutely no vent-hole in the mode of tamping pursued by
]Mr. Roberts, which mode cannot be applied to the present system of blasting.
This is an important gain, the vent-hole being a decided loss of poiver,
which is well known to gunners, and to counteract which, the Turks are in the
habit of covering the touch-hole of their guns with a bag of sand the moment
the priming is fired. _ _

5. Tlie advantage of enclosing a column of atmospheric air, as practised
by Blr. Roberts, is obvious, for the force exerted during its expansion is
added to that of the gunpowder itself. What that expansion may be it is
dillicuU to tell, as we have no good means of ascertaining the increase of
temperature which accompanies the explosion of gunpowder : but as the
volume of atmospheric air is doubled for every increase of temperature of 4ftO
deg. of Fahrenheit, the force produced bv the expansion of the inclosed
column of atmospheric air must Ibrm an important addition to the effect of
the gunpowde;-.

178

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAl..

[Mav,

(i. It follows necessarily from what lias i)een said above, that the combined
efliCts of the instantaneous ignition of the gunpowder, the absence of all
vent-holes, and the expansion of the enclosed column ol atmospheric air must
cause a much greater effect than the explosion of the powder alone in the
common system can produce, and consequently that a great economy in the
article of gunpowder must result. This is a far more important item in the
( xpensc of quarrying and rock oxoavation than is generally imagined by those
who arc unacquainted with such works. In the excavation for the Philadelphia
Water Works, for example, nearly 3000^ were expended in gunpowder, and
at the rock-cutting for the new approach to Kdinburgli, !>y ihe Calton Hill,
1000/. was spent in this item alone. In granire quarries the powder for a
sin'^le shot oflcn costs 3/. If the method of IMr. Roberts produces a saving
of about two-thirds of the quantity of gunpowder required for blasting, as
would appear from the experiments which were made on Tuesday, some idea
may be formed of the great economy which would follow on the adoption of
the new system.

7. The system of Mr. Roberts makes the simultaneous firing of several
blasts easily practised : and in many situations where the removal of the [nen
to a place of s.ifcty is difficult, this is an important advantage.

The following details of the experiments made on Tuesday, by Mr. Roberts',
aie chiefly taken from the notes made ^by Mr. Iiirerarity, of the Madras
Kns:ineers.

No. I. 15oro of the hole, t*^ inches ; depth, 3 feet; powder used, 2 lbs.;
column of air left in t!ie bore, only 3 inches in lieiglit ; line of least resistance,
18 inches; the cftect was good; the rock was much splintered, and some
fragments were thrown into the air.

No. 2. Bore of hole, 2^ inches; depth ofliolc, 8 feet; half the usual
chaige of powder used ; column ofair left, 2 feet in height ; effect enormous ;
immense mass moved ; few fragments thrown into the air ; deep rents all
round, and large masses loosened.

No. 3. Bore of hole, ^l inches ; depth 6 feet ; two-tliirds of the usual
charge of powder: column of air left 13 inches in height ; few fragments
thrown into the air; but large masses loosened.

No. 4. Dimensions of hole, same as the last ; charge of powder less than
one-half the usual quantity ; column ofair left, •> feet in height; etl'ect very
good indeed ; muiii rock looscnefl ; no fragments thrown into the air.

No. 5. 15oie of Iiolc, 2^ inches ; charge of powder, two- thirds of the com-
mon charge ; column of air left, two feet in height ; effect excellent ; about
300 tons of rock supposed to be torn away ; much rock loosened, and deep
rents observable ; no fragments thrown up.

Nos. () iiud 7. No account of bore-hole taken ; powder, one quarter of
the usual charge ; etVect of both was good.

No, 8. Kxperimcnt under water. In this experiment, 5 lbs. of powder
were put into a bladder and siuik to the depth of ten feet imder the surface of
the water, in a deserted ([uarry, west of ("raiglelih. The string was drawn,
and the effect was instantaneous ; a dull red globe of light, caused by the
explosion of the powder under water, was observed, and immediately there
followed a considerable shock which was sensibly felt on tlie margin of the
pool, at the distance of about 100 yards from the explosion; a mass of water,
about 10 feet in diameter and '■J feet in height, shaped like a flat dome, rose
above the surface of the j»ool, and immediately alter it disappeared, the mud
and biu'ned powder boiled up from below like a cauldron.

The Directors of the ilighland Society in attendance, and all present
W(jic highly pleaded with the complete success of the experiments.

EXFEKIMENTAL SUBTERRANEOUS AND SUDAQUKOUS LXPLOSluNS AX CHATHAM
BY THE VOLTAIC BATTERY,

From Ihe Times of April 9, 1839.

For several months past the Royal Engineers at Chatham, under Colonel
P^s' y, have been trying experiments in firing gunpowder by the voltaic
bitie:v, chiefly under water; and, afcer many vicissitudes of partial success
a d of failure, they have at last succeeded in bringing this process to as much
perfe Don as it seems capable of — that is, to as much certainty as the former
i.icihod*! ol tiring mines in dry soil. They have repeatedly fired gunpowder
at the disTasice of oOO feet, with their conducting wires either buried under
-_r,>und or led entirely under the water, excepting a few feet connected with
Uie 0 iltery, wliich in their subaqueous cxploiiions was in a boat on the Med-
way, the powder being lodged at the bottom of that river. In their subter-
raneous explosion they blew up a field-work, and in one of their subaqueous
experiments they blew to pieces a vessel representing a wreck, the fragments
of which being of fir timber came up to the surface of the Medway imme-
diately after the column of water thrown up by the explosion. On Saturday
last they ap])lied their voltaic battery to the blasting of rock under water.
Two very large and heavy pieces of hard sandstone were each prepared with a
bole three incUts in diameter by a borer, after which a charge of three-quarters
of a pound of powder was put into eacli, and the upj>er part of the hole was
tamped by pouring in small fragments of broken stone round a cone fixed
over each charge, in a new and ingenious manner, first suggested by Mr.
Howe, clerk of the Morks of the Hoyal Engineer Establif-hment, more than
five years ago, which does not seem inferior in resistance to \.\x^ common
mode of tanqiing, but is much safer and far more expeditious. The con-
ilucting wires were led from each charge to the battery, which was placed on
Ihe gun-whari", whilst the stones thus prepared and loaded were lowered
down froiu a crane to the bottom of the river opposite, where the water was
fourteen i eel deep at the time. The iiist stone, being of a compact form.

was blown to pieces, and the rope sling by which it had been lowered, and
wliich had not been removed, was broken. The second stone, being of a
more irregular shape, and much thinner, so that tliere was not sulhcient
resistance above and below the charge, was brought up by tlie crane after the
explosion, which had only blown out the solid part of the stone below the
bottom of the hole, apparently without injuring any other part of it. Another
charge was therefore placed in the same hole, which was tamped both above
and below in the mode before described, and the stone was tlien again let
down to the bottom of the river, and after firing this second charge, on being
hauled up by the crane it was found to have been broken into three part-,
one of which did not reach the surface, whilst the other two, being still held
together by the slings, after being raised nearly to the level of the wharf,
separated from each other, and fell to the bottom. One of these charges was
contained iu a tin cylinder fitted to the size of the hole, the two others in
canvass bags of the same form covered with waterproof composition. These
last experiments, which like several of the former, were witnessed by a great
number of spectators, chiefly military, have i)roved that the volt^iic battery
may succeed for blasting rock under water, as well as for blowing wrecks to
pieces, and in the former supposition the holes in the rock would be formed
and the charges placed by means of the diving-bell.

The results of this course of experiments may be of great importance, es-
pecially for defensive military mines, because the voltaic battery affords the
only possible means of flring several such mines, not only instantaneously but
simultaneously, and at the very moment when an enemy's coluaui advancing
to the assault is over the spot where these mines have been prepared ; whereas
by the common mode of firing military mines, by a piece of portfire or slow
match connected to a powder hose, there can he no certainty of their taking
efl'ect at the precise moment required, so that the enemy's troops might either
have passed over, or not yet reached the spot, at the period of explosion ; and
the simultaneous explosions of conjunct mines by this method is out of the
(juestion, for no two pieces of portfire or powder hoses, though cut to the same
length, were ever known to bum exactly alike. For subaqueous explosions
the superiority of the voltaic battery is still more striking — so much so, that
Colonel Pasley has repeatedly declared, that if he had been possessed of the
same voltaic apparatus, and had known how to use it last year in his opera-
tions in the Thames, it would have saved a great deal of trouble and ex-
pense.

Nothing can appear easier than to fire gunpowder under water by the vol-
taic battery, as exhibited in a lecture-room or scientific institu lion, but the
mode usually adopted on such occasions, of passing the conducting w ires into
the charge through a cork coated with sealing-wax, and of insulating the re-
maining length of each wire by enclosing it in small India-rubber lubes,
is inadequate and inexpedient, for practical purposes in a rapid tideway
and in deep water. In Colonel Pasley's experiments at Chatham, corks
and sealing-wax were rtjected, the former as being too weak, the latter
ftom being liable to crack, and India-rubber or caoutchouc was also re-
jected, as being far too expensive; instead of which a composition of pitch,
softened by beeswax or tallow, was adopted, the remarkable ctliciency of
which was proved by keeping one of those experimental charges leu days
under water before it was fired, when the powder was still perfectly
dry. Each pair of conducting wires used in these experiments was always
attached to a rope or line, previously saturated with boiling tar, to prevent
it from tearing asunder the soldered joints of the wires, by its alternate
contraction and expansion when wet and dry, an eflect which on one
occasion actually took place before the rope was so saturated. The two
wires and rope were bound together by tape and served round with hemp
yarn, and in this state they had the appearance of a single roi)e c;ipab!e of
being coiled and veereil out conveniently. One of the must impoi iiini points
necessary was to prevent all strain acting upon the conducting wires from
without, and thereby breaking the very small delicate platinum wire within
the charge, which, by interrupting the circuit, would render'explosion impos-
sible. To guard against this cause of failure in the shocks to which the
conducting wires may be exposed in a rapid tideway appeared at first u very
difficult task.

The voltaic battery used was of Professor Daniell's improved construction,
which, from retaining its energy much longer than any former voltaic battery,
he has named the constant voltaic battery, and which Colonel Pasley found
to be much superior to the best of the former constructions, at least for the
peculiar purpose of firing gunpowder, either under ground or under water.
Sergeant- Major Jones, and the non-commissioned oflicers and privates who
hnve been employed in these experiments, are now as expert in the use of
this battery as can be desired, and, being artificers, they are able to make as
well as to use such batteries.

Having described these recent interesting experiments of the engineers at
Chatham, we may add a brief historical notice oi' what has been done before.
No doubt small charges of gunpowder must have been fired by the voltaic
battery, as a matter of experiment and of curiosity, almost as soon as the first
rude battery of that description was invented, but the merit of having first
applied it to practical purposes is due to Dr. Ilarc, of Philadelphia, whose
proceedings were published some years ago in Silliman's Amencan. Jourvnl
tif Stic nee (vol. xxi. page 130), and more recently in a paper communicated
to the British Association in 1836, and published in vol. v., in the transac-
tions fur the sections of that year, page 45. Dr. Hare states that he used it in
blasting rock for the purposes of building, and that he has even lircd twelve
blasts simultaneously at the distance of 1 JO feet, by a powerful voltaic battery
of a very ingenious and peculiar construction, which be calls &calorimettr.
He says that the same process might be applied fur blasting under water, but

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAT>.

179

he does not mention that lie had ever done so lilnisclf. Colonel Paslcy, after
comparing Dr. Hare's mode of tiring charges simultaneously, wilh other
modes which he also tiicd, considers the Doctor's method of soldeiiuj:; the
wires together in two parcels, one to bo led to one pole, and the other to the
other pole, of the voltaic hatlery, to he the best, and not likely to be improved
upon; but he has not adopted any of the Doctor's oilier arrangements, as they
are not applicable to snbaipieous explosions under ditliL-nlt circumstances, and
he neither uses the large nor the liiiiall iron wires, nor the fulminating pow-
der reeoniniended by Dr. Hare. His own experiments for tiring several
charges simultaneously have as yet only succeeded at very short distances,
because he had not a siithcieiit i|uantity of ihick copper wire in his posses-
sion ; and therefore was obliged to employ eonimon bell-wires, only 1-ltiih
of an inch in diameter, which are comparatively useless, the best conducting
wires being those of l-olli of an inch in diameter, which should always be
used for great exjiiosions, and none le^s than l-.Hih of an inch even for small
explosions or for blasting. Tiie otlicers who witnessed the various experi-
ments at Chatham are therefore of opinion that it would be absolutely im-
practicable to (ire gimpowder under water at the distance of ;ll)t; or 400 yards
by six of Professor Daniell's cells, with eonducting wires only about as thick
as a common bell wire, as was assoited in a paper on the subject of blasting rocks
by galvanism, published in a scientilic journal for the month of INIay, ly.'lB ;
ihst.'ad of which, they think that to produce ignition by such wires at the
last-named distance would rL((uire the operator to go to the enormous ex-
pense of providing himself witli a most unwieldy battery of far greater power
than has ever yet been used within the memory of man ; for in their own ex-
periments the) never succeeded in firing a subatiueous charge, even at the
distance of ItiO feet, by fewer than eight cells, with common bell-wires-,
whereas, in using the lariic wires, the same number of cells was found capable
o'' producing ignition at five times that distance.

We shall conclude by mentioning with due applause the extraordinary
success of Mr. William Snow Harris, of Devonport, who did wonders in firing
gunpowder by wires led through water at a great distance by the common
electrical machine in 1S2-'J. Hut t'or a detailed account of the interesting ex-
periments of this justly celebrated electrician, which astonished a iiiuTiber of
distinguished naval otlicers and otlier spectators at Devenport, at the period
alluded to, we must refer to ihe Jiiili^/t Press newspaper of the 1 7th of
INIarch of that year. Notwithstanding this brilliant success, the voltaic
baitery must be considered preferable to the electrical macliine, because the
latter requires a much longer a|iprentlcesh p to use it properly ; and one
cannot expect such skilful manipulation as Mr. Harris has displayed either
from military or from civil miners; besides which, that gentleman worked
from a warm dry cabin, which is indispensable to the success of the electrical
machine; whereas in the experiments of the engineers at Chatham the
charges were always fired from Daniell's voltaic battery in the open air,
often when exposed to heavy rains, and on one occasion during a very violent
snow storm.

EARLY GREEK SCULPTURE.

AT THE niimsil JtUSEUiM.

{Ffoin the Times )

The casts from the /Egiiia marbles, of which some time since we gave a full
description, have within these few days been placed on the pediment which has
been erected for them ; it is in that part of the gallery of antiquities called llio
Phigalian room, and is an ex'act representation of that portion of the temple
of .lupiter Panhelleniuj, in the island of ^ligina, in t!ie ruins of which the sta-
tues were discovered. The composition is of brick stuccoed. Although a
great improvement on the former shelf, as being deeper and bolder in the relief,
and also as having the ornamented figures placed on the apex, yet it is much
to be regretted that the situation has not been more happily chosen — first, be-
cause it is not erected at a sufficient height from the p^ivement to give the full
effect to the statues, and also, as the width of the apartment does not all'ord
sufficient space for the angles to be carried out, they are necessarily cut oS,
vshich gives the whole an unfinished and uncouth appearance. Neither, from
the locality, can the spectator take that distant view which is required to bring
out the beauty of the whole. Both in the Vatican and in the gallery of I'lo-
rence a great effect is given to the master-pieces of antiquity by assimilating
the edifices in which they are contained with the works exhibited, and avoiding
as much as possible the warehouse look which a number of statues of sll sorts,
sizes, conditions, qualities, placed in juxtaposition must always, in a certain
degree, give to the building, which reduces tlie eft'ect on tiie beholder, as it
prevents the merits and beauties of the sculptures being observed, creates con-
fusion in his mind, who, if he afterwards sees a cast of any single one, is sur
priced th.At he has overlooked or forgotien it. The statue of the Apollo in the
Vatican, and the \'enus de Medicis in the Ducal gallery at Florence, would
lose half their grandeur were they republicanised amidst the heterogenous
denizens of the spacious halls of the British Museum. The truth of this mav
easily be proved: let any one observe the superb statue of the Venus found in
the baths of Claudius at Ostia through the entrance of the terra-cotta room,
and he cannot fail to be struck with its beauty ; but he will find on entering
that other sculptures placed around, of diifercnt character and dimensions, ma
teiially reduce the effi?ct. We are well aware that it would not be possible so
to arrange that every sculpture of consequence should possess its distinct apart-
ment ; bnt here the contrary practice has been cai'ried to excess. It is strange
that as one of the principal defects of the National Gallery consists in the
dijiiiinulive proportions of its rooms, so that paintings which require both light

and space to bo viewed with advantae? are deprived of both, that in the statue
galleries of the British Museum uosl.ing but spacious halls are to be found,
and that there is not one chambar • - onstructed as to hear resemblance in its
proportions and its " dim religion* it* it," its "solitude of silence," to thofe
sanctuaries in which many of «h^ «* tues exhibited were originally placed.
We mention this, because there ir? • tuutions in the Museum where, at least
with regard to those .Kgina figurea, tnis object might have been effected. In
the great centre saloon it would have been easy to have made the partition
columns harmonise with the pe<liment, by which it would have been placed at a
sufficient elevation from the pavement ; or in the new building which is to cc
copy the ground the twelfth room now covers and about to be rebuilt. Ol' the
whole collection within the walls these statues are .ilone as a group j.er se per-
fect, and had they been placed to advantage would have given to the general
visitor a far better idea of the grandeur and beauty of ancient art than the
headless, armless, and legless remains contained in the Elgin saloon. We
protest, also, against the unseemly impalement of the horses, which creates a
feeling of horror in Uie mind, and which might easily have been obviated by
attaching them to the w.tlls with iron rods invisible to the spcctatoi-s ; also th !
wall within the pediment forming the back ground should have been made to
resemble -stone, and not have bad the glaring colour it now possesses. On ;V.O
opposite side of the apartment a similar building is preparing, in which arc to
be placed the nine figures that ornamented the eastern front of the same Ttm;j'e
of Jupiter whence these were taken.

Within a temporary building opening from the fifth room are the casts from
the marble metopes of the great temple of .lupiter Olympius, at .Sclinus, in
.Sicily. Valuable as they are, as belonging to a school of art prior to that of
-ligina, and probably of a date coeval with the earliest Egyptian, a short notice
of them may not be unacceptable, as no account of them is to he found in the
synopsis, and to the public in general, although subjects of ureat curiosity and
inquiry, the legend which they tell, and their appearance are altogether as
unaccount.ible as mysterious. At Selinus, in .Sicily, there are the remains
of six temples of the earliest Doric, within a short distance of each other, and
it was during the researches into the ruins of the largest, called the western,
and the one furthest from it, named the eastern, by Messrs. Harris and Angell,
in 183-2, that these ancient sculptures were found: among them there were
no single and perfect statues as in the temple at /Egina, which probably arose
from the neighbourhood being well peopled, and they had no doubt been re-
peatedly ransacked. These temples may be reckoned among the largest of
antiquity, being equal in their dimensions to those at Agrigentum, in the
fluting of whose columus there is sufficient space for a man to stand. Imme-
diately after the discovery, application was made to the Neapolitan Govern-
ment to allow them to be shipped for England, but permission was refused,
and they are now in the Royal Gallery at Palermo ; casts were allowed to be
taken, and they are these we now describe. They are probably of as early a
date as any that have reached our times, and are of different styles of art ;
those whii li belonged to the Temple called eastern, whence the sculpture of
the head of the dying warrior, and the chariot drawn by horses, were taken,
possess much of the .-Eginitan character; those of the western are of a ruder
age, in mo=t of the figures the anatomy resembles that of the earliest coins,
but different in many respects from the Greek sculptures ; and there is a short
and full character in the faces approaching the Egyptian. From the short
proportions, the fleshy part of the thigh overcharged, and the peculiar manner
in which the hair is arranged, they might be taken for specimens of .Eginit;m
art ; but on a close inspection it will be found, that they are the work of ar-
tists educated on different principles. At a much later period it is known
that the artists of /Egina were employed by the kings of Sicily, and these
therefore are not unlikely to have been the work of Carthaginian sculptors
brought to decorate a city in alliance and newly founded, which will account
for tiie Egyptian character given to the whole. The cast, which consists of
the body and head of a dying soldier, a part of a female figure behind, formed
the third metope of the eastern temple, and is a most valuable and curious
fragment, and determines the style and character of the sculpture of the temple.
It bears a marked resemblance to some of the lieaJs in the -Egina marbles,
but it has much more expression ; the artist has evidently intended to mark
the agonies of death, by the closed eyes, the mouth slightly opened, an. I the
tongue appearing between the teeth ; the hair and beard are most carelully
amfsyme-.etrically arranged and most elaborately finished, the helmet is thrown
back, and is of the kind called " yfTiaui':' part of the crest " Ao<f-os " is visible
under the left shoulder of the figure. The fragment of the female is very
spiiited, and evidently in strong action. These metopes, like those of the
Parthenon, are in high relief, and in some parts detached. 'I'liorwalsden has
pronounced them equal in execution to the .d'"gina.

The next, which consists of three figures, one of which has a horse under
the arm, is particularly interesting, from the illustration it presents of the
death of the Go.-gon Medusa. Perseus, emboldened by the presence ol
Minerva, is represented in the act of slaying i\ledusa ; his eyes are averted
from the object of his honour, while his right arm, guided by the goddes-s,
thrusts his sword into the throat of the monster. Pcg.isus, a winged loul,
springs from her blood, and Me.lusa presses him to her :,ide with apparent
solici'tude. The monstrous face of the Gorgon is finely lepresented ; the large
r(,uiid head and hideous face rise from the shoulders without the intervention ot
a neck; all the features are frightfully distorted, the nose is fl:it and spreading,
and the mouth is nearly the whole width of the face, and is armed on each
side with two immense tusks ; the hair over the forehead is ciirioiisly shown,
and almost appears to have represented the serpent's, to which it was changed.
'Ihe fi.'ure of .Minerva on the right is draped with the '' uarXov " and has
t le M.-eandcr ornament o\\ the edge. The figure of Perseus is m the centre;

180

THI<] Civil. ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Mav,

he is armed with tlie liarp of Mercury ami the helmet of Pluto, which latter
has a pendant falling' on each side; the " caTrjua TreStha," or talaria, are re.
presented as covering the feet entirely, and bear some resemblance to the
ancient g^reaves ; the front part is attached to the ancle by thongs. The form
of I bo young Pegasus is exceedingly beautiful; he seems bounding from the
earth. The metope containing the figure bearing two others on its shoulders
represents the adventure of Hercules, surnamed Melampvges, from the black
and hairy appearance of his loins; the slory is as follows : — Passalus and
Acheraon, two brothers, reviled their mother, who warned them to beware of
a man whose loins were covered with black hair ; they attempted to rob
Hercules while asleep, and from that had the name of Cercopes ; in the at-
tempt they failed and awoke him, and he bound them hand and foot to his bow,
with their hen»!s downwards, and carried them in that manner; they began
laughing on the accomplishment of their mother's prophecy ; Hercules asked
them why they laughed, and on their telling him the reason, he also laurelled
and liberated them. The figure of the god is represented as strong and mus-
cular, and the two prisoners have a very ludicrous appearance ; in the reversed
position, the hair f,dls in a curious manner ; the whole group has been
painted in various colours, and in the countenances much of Egyptian ex.
pression is to he observed. The horses which draw the chariot formed part of
the centre metope of the Eastern Temple ; it is very imperfect, and is sup-
posed to represent the celebration of the race of Pelop s and jEnomaus ; they
are drawn full of fire and courage, and are finely (ore shortened ; they have
the cropped ears and manes which are observable in those of the Parthenon.

Tliese sculptures nxa valuable as specimens of the third period of the art,
the earliest of which is probably the Hindoo ; the great resemblance both
these and the Egyptian bear to that style is remarkable, and gives warrant to
suppose that it was the original school. Of Hebrew sculpture there are no
remains; the command to form no graven image Jireventcd the art attaining
the perfection which it reached in the neighbouring country of Svria, and
would seem to account, that within the land of Judeano statue bearing marks
of great antiquity has been discovered. The Egyptian, the Etruscan, the
Selinuntine, and the .Egina schools, furnished the models for the Grecian ;
and the careful observer has it in his power within the walls of the Museum,
to trace, step by step, the progress of the art, till it attained its meridian
splendour in the production of those sculptures, wlosc dilapidated remains
arc there preserved, and which the accumulated knowledge, genius, labour,
and talent of 2,300 years has never yet been able to surpass.

On the walls of the building containing the sculptures we have described
are a splendid collection of architectural models and casts from the antique,
which were collected by Sir T. Lani-ence, and purchased at his death. In
the centre is a model of the shield of Achilles, by Flaxman, taken from the
//joi/, and justice has been done to the conception of the bard. Under glass
casi s are some very curious models of Druid quoits ; the limits of this notice
will not allow us to describe them.

ECONOMY OF FUEL.

BY FREDEIIICK S. PEPPERCOKNE, ESQ.

Perliaps tiiere is no subject of more general importance, botli in a
scientific and a national point of view, than that which forms the title
of this paper, more especially at the presL-nt time, when owing to the
vast and rapid augmentation of steam-power, whetlier as applied to
mines, maniifactures, locomotive or maritime pinposes, the consump-
tion of fuel has increased to an almost incredible extent. When to
these are added the enormous quantity constimed in the iron-works,
besides that which is annually exported to India, the Colonies, and
foreign parts, we cannot but contemplate the probability of the ex-
haustion of our coal-beds (there being no rejiroduction of coal in
tliis country, since there are no known natural causes in operation to
form other beds of it) otherwise than as a natioiml calamity, involv-
ing the destruction of a great portion of our manufacturing and com-
mercial prosperity. Nor is the period so very remote when the coal
districts, which at present supjdy the metropolis with fuel, will cease
to yield any more. The number and extent of all the |)rincipal
coal-beds in the north of England liave been asccttuined, and calcula-
tions made, by wliich it would appear that the supply w ill be probably
exhausted in a period of from 3.30 to 400 years.

Professor Buckland, in his evidence on this subject, estimates the
duration of the coal in these districts, at the present rate of consump-
tion, to be 400 years.

Professor Sedgwick, who is well acquainted witii the coal strata of
Northumberland and Durham, gave his opinion respecting the dura-
tion of the coal of these counties, as follows : —

I am myself convinced, that, with the present increased and increasing
demand for coal, 400 years will leave little _morc than the name of our best
coal seams.

And he further adds : —

Our northern coal-lield will probably be in the wane before 300 years have
elapsed.

Already'this event has occurred in the coal-lields of Staffordshire,
Warwickshire, and Leicestershire, once amongst the most important in
the kingdom, and now nearly exhausted ; owing to which cause the
manufacture of iron, for which these districts were for a Ion" time cele-

brated, has been nearly discontinued in those counties, and the chief
seat of the iron-trade is now removed to Monmouthshire and Glamor-
ganshire ; in which two counties alone there are upwards of luO blast-
furnaces for the smelting of iron at present at work, which may be
equal to the production of about 400,000 tons of iron a year. Now it
is a known fact, tliat from five to six tons of coal are required for the
production of one ton of iron, consequently '2,400,000 tons of coal
would be consumed in South Wales in the iron-works alone.

The quantity of iron made in Great Britain in the year 1830 is
stated in llie " Mining .Journal," of October 7, 1837, to be about one
million of tons, in the manufacture of which six millions of tons of
coal would be consumed.

The total consumption of coal in .Great Britain in the year 1S27
was stated to be 22 millions of tons, and the quantity exported to
India, the Colonies and foreign parts about two millions of tons. It is
probable, however, tliat even tliis amount was considerably under the
actual quantity consumed ; and if we take into consideration the im-
mense increase that has taken place since that period for the purposes of
steam-navigation and locomotive engines, we shall probably be conside-
rably under the mark in stating the whole quantity of coal consumed
iu Great Britain, exclusive of that which is exported at 30,000,000
of tons, to which must be added one-third of the whole amount, or
10,000,000 of tons, fur coal left and wasted in the mines. (See
" Holme's Treatise on the Coal Mines," who states the waste of
small coal at the jiils' mouth to be one-fointh of the whole, und that
in the mines one-third.) This enormous proportion of coal left an-J
waited in the mines seems so incredible as to require some further
ex|)lanaiion, and this cannot be better givin than in the words of an
eminent geologist, Dr. Buckland, in his " Bridgwater Treatise," who
says :— "

We have fur many years witnessed* the disgraceful and [almost iuciedible
fact that more than a million of chaldrons (1,350,000 tons) per annum, being
nearly one-third part of the best coals produced by the mines near New-
cas'le have been condemned to wanton waste, on a fiery heap, perpetually
blazing near the mouth of almost every coal-pit in that distriit. This destruc-
tion originated mainly in certain legislative enactments, providing that coal
in London should be sold, and the duty upon it rated, bi/ meusure and not Ijy
wivjld. The snraller coal is broken the greater the space it tills; it became,
therefore, the interest of every dealer in coal to luij it of as large a size and
to sell if of (IS small a size as lie was able. This compelled the proprietors
of the coal-mines to send the large coal only to market, and to consign the
small coal to destruction.

In the year 1830 the attention of Parliament was called to these evils, and
pursuant to the report of a Committee, the duty on coal was rej^ealed, and coal
directed to be sold by weight instead of by mensure. The eiFect of this
change has been that a considerable quantity of coal is now shipped for the
London market in the state in which it comes from the pit, that after land-
ing the cargo the small coal is separated by skieening from the rest, and
answers as fuel for various ordinary purposes, as well as much of the coal
which was sold in London before the alteiatiou of the law.

The destruction of coal on the fiery heaps near Newcastle, although dimi-
nished, still goes on however to a frightful extent ; that ought not to be per-
mitted, since the inevitable consequence of this practice, if allowed to con-
tinue, must be, in no long space of time, t© consume all the beds nearest the
surface, and readiest of access to the coast, and thus enhance the price of coal
in those parts of England which depend on the coal-field of Newcastle for
their supply ; and, finally, to exhaust this coal-field at a period nearer by at
least oiie-lhinl, than that to which it would last, if wisely economised.

The coirduding observations of Dr. Buckland, on this important
subject, are so much to the purpose, that it will be a sufficient apology
fcir introducing them here. He proceeds thus : —

V/e are fully aware of the impolicy of needless legislative interfeionee, but
a broad line has been drawn by nature between commodities annually or pe-
riodically reproduced by the soil on its surface, and that subterranean treasure
attd sustaining foundation of industry which is laid by nature in strata of
mineral coal, »ho.»e amount is limited, and which when once exhausted, is
gone for ever-. .\s the law most justly interferes to prevent the wanton de-
struction of life and property it should seem also to be its duty to prevent all
needless waste of mineial fuel, since the exhaustion of this fuel would irreco-
verably paralyse the industry of millions.

The tenant of the soil may neglect er cultivate his lands, and dispose of his
produce es caprice or interest may dictate ; the surface of his fields is not
consumed, but remains susceptible of tillage by his successor: had he the
physical power to annihilate the land, and thereby inflict an irremediable in-
jury upon posterity, the legislature would justly interfete to ptevent such
destruction of the future resources of the natior.

This highly favoured country has been enriched with mineral treasures iu
her strata of coal, incomparably more precious than mines of silver or of gold.
From these sustaining sources of industry and wealth, let us help ourselves
abundantly, and liberally enjoy these precious gifts of the Creator ; but let us
not abute thenr, or by wilful neglect and wanton waste, destroy the foundation
of the industry of future generations.

Might not an ejsy remedy for this evil be found in legislative enact-
ment, that all coals from the ports of Northutaberland and Durham, should
be shipped in the state iu which Ihey come from the pits, and foibid

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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

ISl

ding, by bigh penalties, the skreoning of any sea-borne coals, before they
leave the port at which they are embarked. A law of this kind would at
once terminate that luinous competition among the coal owners, which has
nr^ed them to vie with each other in tte wasteful destruction of small coal,
in order to increase the profits of the coal merchant, and gratify the prefer-
ence for large coals on the part of rich consumers ; and would also aiiord the
public a supply of coals of every price and qualily, which the skreen would
enable him to accommodate to the demands of the various classes of the
community.

A f.arther consideration of national policy should prompt us to consider how
far the duty of supporting our commercial interests, and of husbanding the
resouri'cs of posterity, should permit us to allow any extensive exportation of
coal, from a densely peopled manufacturing country like our own; a large
proportion of whoso present wealth is founded on machinery, which can be
kept in action only by the produce of our native coal-mines,' .and whose pros-
perity can never survive the period of their exhaustion.

At the last meeting of the British Association at Neweastle, Dr.
Buckland rend a paper on the appHcation of small coal to economical
purposes, in which lie referred to the well- known enormous annual
waste of coal at the moutlis of the various pits near Newcastle, and
stated that, owing to wliat lie liad said on (lie subject in his Bridge-
water Treatise, the attention of a benevolent individual had been
called strongly to the subject. Tliat individual had succeeded in agglu-
tinating the small particles of coal into a firm compact mass, by a pro-
cess at once simple and che.ip ; and he believed lie had taken out a
patent for the metliod. There would be even an economy in using
tliis coal for many purposes, as it occupied onc-lliinl or one-fourth less
space, when packed in bo.Kes, than coal in its ordinary state. Speci-
mens were exliibitcd, wliich had a lirni compact appearance, and Dr,
Buckland stated that by the direction of government, trials hud been
made under the inspection of competent persons, and tliat success had
been complete, tlie combustion .being at least as [iroductive as that of
coal in its common state.

Tiie experiments alluded to by Dr. Buckland, took place at Wool-
wich Dockyard in August last, under the superintendence of Messrs.
Kingston and Dinnen, two experienced engineers. The " prepared
fuel," as it was termed, is a composition of skreencd coal, river-mud and
tar, cast into blocks of nearly the size and sliape of common bricks.
One great advantage attending this form is that a much largei ([uantity,
weight for w-eight, may be stowed in the hold of a sea-going steam-
vessel, than of common-coal, and it is besides not liable to sliift its
position, like the latter. An Engine was worked with this prepared
fuel, and the consumption for 6 hours -tj minutes, was 7.50 lbs. The
same engine required 1165 lbs of north country coals to keep it going
for the same time, sliowing a saving of 41.3 ll)s in favour of the pre-
pared fuel.

At another experiment, Welsh coal was used, and 104(3 lbs. were
consumed, while G801bs. of the prepared fuel ea,sily performed the
same work in the same time. It was also remarked that it re<iuired
about 50 lbs. less of the prepared fuel to get the steam up, than of
common coal, and that the steam was maintained by it at a more
even temperature, with very litlle feeding.

It would seem, therefore, that there can no longer be any excuse
for a continuance of the wasteful practice of consuming the small
coal at the pit's mouth, to say nothing of that which is thrown aside
as useless in the pits themselves, and which never sees the light,
since by this invention, that which was before considered as mere
refuse, has acipiired a certain fixed value, and it is to be hoped that
this disgraceful practice is now completely put a stop to.

Of the various substances which have been used as a substitute for
coal, where that arlicle is scarce, peat stands foremost in the list.
Our peat or turf beds are of great extent, especially in Ireland, and
contain a valuable reserve of fuel, applicable, when properly pre-
pared, to all the purposes of mining or manufactures. An important
feature in this fuel is, that, unlike coal, of which we know of no
instance of reproduction, turf or peat is continually being reproduced;
in fitct, in many parts of England the growth exceeds the con-
sumption, and consequently the turf beds in (hose places are on the
increase.

Before being used, however, this fuel requires to be thoroughly
dried by exposure to the sun and air, during which process it con-
tracts considerably in its dimensions, and increases in density, so
much so as frequently to approach in hardness and appearance to
common coal. This, however, is only the case with bog peat, or
that which is saturated with water, but turf may be made so by
placing it at first in running water, and then suffering it to dry.
Artificial means have been used for compressing peat; and a machine
for this purpose, invented by a patriotic nobleman, Lord Willoughby
de Eresby, has been attended with complete success. The chief
advantage of this invention is the great saving of lime effected in
the conversion of the wet peat into a solid dry fuel.

In France peat is extensively employed, both for dontestie pur-
poses and in the different metallurgie processes, after having been
converted into a charcoal by placing the peat to be carbonised in ,a
furnace, W'here it is ignited, and smothered up in the usual manner.
The iron made with this peat cliarcoal is described to be of a superior
quality to fiwedisli iron, being more malleable, and more easily
welded, owing, as it is supposed, to its comparative freedom from
sulphur, which is known to exist in large quantities in coal, and
which is not completely driven off by its conversion into coke.

Very lately this peat-coke has been introduced into some of the
transatlantic steamboats, in combination with a certain proportion of
resin. This resin fuel is not used alone, but when about 2} cwt. of it
are mixed with 20 cwt. of coal, a much better combustion of the coal
takes place ; and the effect is described as being equal to that which
H ould be produced by '17 cwt. of coal. The mode of using it is by
throwing it in fronf of the fire with each charge of fresh coal.

For many years the attention of scientific and practical men has
been directed to a method of using a valuable description of coal,
the use of which, owing to its peculiar properties, has been, until
lately, confined within a very narrow compass.

Tliis fuel is the "anthracite," or stone-coal of South Wales. Its
chief properties consist in its freedom from sulphur or bitumen (being
composed wholly of carbon, mixed with a slight proportion of oxide
of iron, silex, and alumina), its great durability and steady heat,
burning clearly without smoke or llame. These valuable qualities
have long secured to antliraeite a very extensive use in the drying of
malt in many districts of England, where it is prefericd even to coke
or charcoal ; but it is only w ithin the last few years that it has
acquired the high rank of importance, in a national as well as a
domestic point of viev/, which it now' possesses.

Dr. Aniott, for whose stoves it is exclusively recommended by him,
has declared that it is a blot in the police regulations of London, that
all great manufacturers are not confined to the exclusive use of this
description of coal, its non-emission of smoke and noxious vapours,
tending so much to preserve the purity of the atmosphere in the
metropolis. Since, so long back as the reign of Elizabeth, the burn-
ing of coal was prohibited m London during the sitting of Parliament,
le^t the health of the knights of the shire should suffer during their
abode in London (so careful was this queen of the health of her
subjects) ; it is surely incumbent on us in the present day, when from
the immense increase of the number of manufactories of every descrii)-
tion, the atmoqihere of London is never clear from smoke, to pass
some legislative enactments to remedy the growing evil. Experi-
ments have satisfactorily proved that anthracite gives out in combustion
30 per cent, more caloric than coke or bituminous coal.

In Amerien, this valuable mineral has been long and extensively
emploxed, not only for manufacturing processes, but also in steam-
navigation, and tor locomotive engines ; also for the wanning of
apartments, and for every other domestic purpose : indeed, its cheap-
ness, the intensity and durability of the heat which it produces,
together with its perfect safely and freedom from smoke or smell,
give it a decided preference over every other species of fuel.

Mines of this coal liave for some years been extensively worked in
Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and other states ; but it is in Pensyl-
vania that it is found in the greatest abundance : there (he anthracite
coal formation covers a tract of country many miles in length and
breadth, extending across the two entire counties of Luzerne and
Scliuylkill. Throughout this region it is obtained with very little
labour, being situated in hills from 300 to GOO feet high above the
level of thesiirrnimding rivers and canals, and consequently easy of
transportation io all parts of the Union, It exists in horizontalbeds,
from 1.5 to 40 feet in thickness and covered merely by a few feet of
gravelly loam. This coal has been found in several European
countries, and exists abundantly in Ireland ; but the great supply of
anthracite for this countiy is found in that part of the great coal
formation w hieh environs Swansea and Carmarthen Bays, and which
forms a part of tlie great coal-liidd of South Wales. Here it exists
in immense quantities.

It is, however, but very recently that the attention of engineers has
been turned to the use of this fuel for locomotive engines: a short
time since, a tri'ril of it was made under the sanction of the directors
of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and the following is the
report of the talented engineer of that company : —

In the first instance, the engine ran out with a load about G miles, and
the coal was found to do very good duty without any difficulty being expe-
rienced, either with the tubes, or in the getting up of the fires. The engine
brought back a load of coal waggons from the Helton Colliery, and acquired
a speed cf 21 miles an hour, thus loaded. Another trial was made in the
evening with the .same engine for (he whole distance to Miinchester, taking
S loaded waggons ; the journey was performed in 1 hour and 29 minutes.

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[May,

The coiiMimption of aiitliracite was only .'iicnt: altlioii{rli a large portion
was wasted from the fire-bars being; too wije apart for the economical nsc
ef this fuel. The eni^ine would have used upwards of 7\ cwt. of c »ke for
the same journey, with the same load."

Tim trial «itli locomotives, tlifii, imist be con^idereil <|iiile c.incln>iive
and the next object most deserving the attention of practical men, is the
application of anthracite to llie m.irine enjjincs of sea-going steam vessels.
Wl)en it is considered that .'iO per cent, at least is saved in the stov\age
hy this description of fuel, the importance of this subject will be at once
made nianit'est, and there can be little doubt thtit with certain trifling
alterations, in the construction of the boiler and furnace, llie object may
be attained.

It is not stiprising' tliat, considering the importance which lias of
late years been attached to every means of economising fuel, the aften-
tion of scientiiic and practical men should have been directed to various
methods for accomplishing this object, and numerous alterations and
improvements liave been effected in the furnaces and boilers of steam
engines, by -whicli the heat given forth by combustion has been made
more available, but much remains yet to be done, as a very large quan-
tity of heat is logt from ; the smoke which is wasted, the licat which
liasses up the chimney, and from tlie imperfect manner in which coal
is generally consumed.

An ingenious invention for intercepting and returning to the boiler-
fire a large portion of the heat which would otlierwi»e pass up the
chimney and be dissipated, was brought into notice in England a few
years ago, by a German named SchauHelen. and was denominated
" Schaulfelen's Hot-air Furnace Feeder." 'I'lie invention consists in
tlie use of a number of metal pipes or tubes open at the bottom, but closed
at the top. These jiipes are placed in a vertical position in the chimney,
and the air in passing through them becomes he;led from the current
of hot air passing up the chimney, and in this state i.s supplied to the
tire, all ingress of cold air being carefully excluded by means of closely
fitting iron plates attached to the ash-pit.

With respect to the amount of saving in fuel effected by this appara-
tus, it is stated by the inventor as varying from 20 to 2.') per cent., when
in good working order, and its advantages are not entirely confined to
a saving of part of the heat which would otherwise escape up the
chimney, but moreover a more intense heat in tlie lire-place is
maintained, and consequently a more complete combustion of the fuel
and smoke takes place.

Another invention of great simplicity for the economy of fuel, and
the prevention of smoke, is described in the HJining Hi'i-ieii- of August
.■31, \H3S. The process consists merely in the intn-.duction into the
fmnace of steam in small quantities, through a tube taken from the
boiler, and discharged over the fuel at any convenient place. The end
of the tube should be formed with a fan-shaped termination, perforated
with minute apertures, so as to throw the steam in small jpis down upon
and over the tire. One effect produced is lln- ohxoliil,'' prrn'/i/io)i nf
xmo/,e: another, the operation of tlie fire is fully doubled, and the steam
einployed itself censumeil. The employment of steam also greatly
increases the draft of the chimney.

"It is held by competent authorities, that lib of Newcastle coal
(supposing the whole of the heat omitted by its combustion was
made available), shoidd drive off' in steaiu 14lbs o/' water. This how-
ever, is very far beyond what is actually done in practice, by oidinary
steam-engine boilers. Indeed it is foiuid by exjierience to recpiirs .as
much as lib of coal to convert into steam 4 to Olbs of water, Gib heini;
considered a high product. Hy means of Mr. Ivison's method how"-
ever, it is found that au aveiage of 13lbs. of water are evaporated by
lib. of ordinary .Scotch coal, tiius more than doubling the results here-
tofore obtained, and consequently effecting a savingof upwards of M
per cent of fuel." — Minim/ Jitiini; August. :il, 18:i8.

Our great source of loss of heat and, consequently of fuel, in most
large establishments where steam power is extei'isively employed,
arises iVoiii the radiation of heat which is constantly taking place from
the boiler, where, as is mo-.t frequently the case, no means are adopted
tor preventing it. When we consider the largo surface that is exposed by
each steam-engine boiler, and that I'loiu this there is continually going
on a powerful radiation of heat into the surrounding atmosphere, it is
evident that the loss from this source alone, must be immense. If,
therefore, this large body of heat can, by any means, be intercepted
and returned to the boiler, it is clear that there will be a saving of all
that fuel which was reipiired to raise that heat in order to disperse
it again. The method of doing this is simple, and attended with very
little expense. All that is nece.«.sary to be done is to surround the
boiler with a jacket or casing of wood or brick, leaving a space of a
fcvv inches between it and the boiler, to be tilled with some substance
which is a slow conductor of heat. The material that has been em-
ployed for this purpose, is a mixture of sawdust and ashes, rammed in
so as to lay dose to every part of the boiler; and where this system

is carried to its full extent, which is in the large puinpiiig engines,
used in the mines in Co'uwall, not only the boiler, but also the cylin-
der and the steam-pipes, are, in the Cornish engines, completely encased
uitli some non-conducting material, which renders the engine and
boiler-houses as cool .as the interior of a dwelling-house, where there
are only ordinary tires, — a sure proof that little or no heat is lost by
radiation.

Another proof of the efficacy of this system is, that even after the
engine has been standing still for 1-2 hours, very little heat is lost, and
if it is necessaiy to start it s iddenly, as in case of emergency, .scarcely
any time is lost in raising the steam, and one fourth the fuel only is
reipiired ; vvhereas in the common engines and boilers, where every
vessel containing steam is exposed to the atmos|)here, it takes from
■JO minutes to half an hour, firing hard, to ra.se the steam to the
requisite pressure.

It would occupy too much time, and swell these remarks to too incou-
viMiient a length, were I to enter into the details of all the inventions
that have been proposed for economising fuel, although many of them
are of great value, .as their general adojition sufliciently testilies; whilst
others, either from the complexity of their parts, or their general inappli-
cability, have soon fallen into disuse. It is hoped, however, that
sufficient has been said in this paper, to point out the great im-
portance of the subject, and to show, that however much may have
lieen hitherto done, iniicli yet remains to be done, before we can con-
fidently state that the whole inherent virtue residing in one pound
weight of coal or other fuel, is made available.

FREDERICK S. PEPPERCOBNE.

l.j, Buckingham-street. Adelphi.
April, 8 1839.

PUBLIC COMPETITIONS.

nOV.VI. INSTITLTIi OF URITISII AnCIIITF.CTS.

E.rtrnet from Report of the Committee appointed to consider the subject of
Public Competitions for Archite ctural Desiyns. Laid before the Special
General Meetiny, held 'lUh January, IS.'JO.

The Committee .appointed on tln'Otli October, 1838, to consider the subject
of Public I'ompetitions for Arc-Iiiteetnral Desipis. beg leave to report.

The ai'ginneuts advanced in fhvour of" competition are sufficiently forcible.
Emulation is said to be the soul of i-xcelleiice in the arts and sciences — the
recognised talents of the elder professor are supposed to tie maintained in
activity and progressive improvement, and liis employers to he prolecteil
from tile routine manner, which security in public patronage and private
praiiice are too apt to produce : — while an opportunity is atfordecl to the
\onng aspirant, to lake that place in public estimation to which his talents
may entitle liiiu.

The formation of llie programme, np-in whicli conipetilors are required to
frame their designs, becomes tlie first essential point for consideration, and a
deficiency on this point Is perhaps the most general evil in the present system.
The precise objects to be attained, the most desirable means of attaining them,
the circumstances tliat must control the plan with regard to the site .and other
localities, the sum of money to be expended, and many other particulars of
which every case of compciitiou brings its own, are seldom ascertained and
settled, so as to lay the groundwork of well-defined instructions upon which
competitors may proceed. When the decision is to be made, the judges dis-
coTcr for the first time, that they have been ignorant of their own intentions ;
their loose and ill digested instructions are abandoned altogether, and the
architect, who has acted with the greatest good faith in adhering to them, is
the first to be deprived of his reward. In .another view of the ease, an
architect, who may have suggt>sted a design not reconcileable with the crude,
undigested, and perhaps contradictory preconceptionscast into the programme,
may virtually eichide himself from the competition, and his employers from
the adoption of his ideas.

When we consider architecture as a combinatiim of science and art
requiring great experience and taste, t.^gctlicr with tlic imiiortaut essential
in its professors, ^if cliaracter and cttriduct in the execution of their works — -
when wc ci>iisidcr the variety nf attaiiimciil necessary for the production of
an architectural design, it is nipt too mucli to expect some corresponding
(|ualilii-alioiis, together with deep and patient consideration, on the part of
those, who take upon themselves to sit in judgment upon it.

Td rem/ a /)/«;; is admitted by the most practised to be the result of
great experience and knowledge. To pursue the cine through the labyrinth
of icluiography, and to follow out arrangcnient and ecoiK.niy uf space, and
tlie coinbination of convenience and beauty, require not only great intelli-
cciii c and discrimination, but a long course (pf analogous study. Even
the exiiericnccd jirofessor must go through the whole subject minutely.
How often does any scruple vx doubt of their own loniiietency embarrass
a committee ajipointed to judge of nrchitcctural designs? Do tUey con-
sider aiiv further ipialillcation necessary, when tliey hare assumed to theni-
selvis the iiiuletined and Mattering attribute of tailed

Again, it is well known to experienced architects how difficult it is to form
a correct iudgment upon designs on different scales and in different styles of
drawing — and yet committees do not hesit.ate to .select a deign, without sus-
pecting it in the slightest degree, that they may hijve been captivated by the

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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

18S

meretricious allurements of the artist, and that they may have admitted the
accessories of pictorial representation to have the weight of argument and
reason, particularly when colom-ed views and scenery, aided ;)erhaps by false
perspective, or taken from impossible points of sight, are introduced to the
destruction of any common ground of comparison. The delusion is only
eventually detected when it is past remedy.

Another evil, whicli the necessary inexperience of committees, as at
present constituted, renders it ditBcult for tliem to meet, is, that a design
may be selected for its decorative character, which it afterwards proves
inexpedient to carry into effect, on accoimt of the expense attending it.
In this case it frequently happi^ns, that, in preference to encountering the
inconveniences of retracing their proceedings, the committee sufi'er the
design to be stripped of every thing, which originally recommended it to
their notice ; thus disappointing the expectations of the public, and in-
flicting a flagrant injustice tipon the other competitors.

In proceeding to consider what remedies may be suggested for the
evils here eimmerated, they -will be found to arise naturally out of the
statement itself.

It is not to be Jotibtcd that the proposers of competitions may prescribe
any terms they think fit. VN'hether, therefore, they prefer laying down
precise instructions on every point, or leaving themselves a certain latitude
in their decision, or making it entirely open to competitors to ofl'er any
iTuggestions that may occur to them, il rests entirely with the professor to
decide for himself, whether the conditions, and the personal character of
those who propose them, are satisfactoiw.

But whatever the conditions may be, they ought to be clear and explicit,
that the competitor may know precisely and unequivocally upon what he
has to rely. Whenever it may be expedient to lay do'\ra definite instruc-
tions, they ought to be strictly adhered to, when judgment is to be founded
upon them, and every design rejected, which shall be found not to conform
to them.

In framing instructions care should be taken to distingui-sh accurately
between the objects to be attained, and the means of attaining them. The
former cannot be too accurately ascertained, or too explicitly described ;
but the latter should be left as much as possible to the architect, for other-
wise a proper scope will not be afforded for the exercise oj' a variety of
suggestions, and one great end of competition will be frustrated. If, how-
ever, there should be a jdecided bias in favour of any particular style or
mode of composition, it ought to be ascertained and stated in the in-
structions.

As the formation of definite preliminary instructions, and a decision
strictly founded upon them require more experience and knowledge of
architecture than miscellaneous committees may be generally supposed to
possess, it is suggested that in all cases competent professional advisers
should be referred to upon these and other points connected with the
duties of the Committee ; but without taking the linal decision out of the
hands of the original parties to the competition, or relieving them from its
responsibility.

Professional opinions are especially requisite in regard to practical con-
straction, also to minute arrangements, as of light, ventilation, and warm-
ing, in reference for example to prisons, hospitals, and places for public
meetings. The maximum amoiuit of the intended expenditure shotlld be
given, and when a selection is made, proper means should be employed to
ascertain thai the cost of executing the «design will not exceed the
estimate.

In order to assist the judgment by establishing an uniform comparison,
the drawings presented for competition should always be made to one
scale; and limited to one style of finishing, as in Indian ink, with no
colour, unless for such a purpose as that of distinguishing different mate-
rials in sections. Perspective dra^-ings, if correctly made, are certainly
desirable to show the proper effect of designs ; but they should be re-
stricted to specified points of view. Models should be received with
caution, as not being miexcepiionable tests of the merits of a design.

But they must ad^■ocate the principle, that as much publicity as possible
should be given to the proceedings in all cases. For although the public
at large cannot be accepted as a competent judge upon cases requiring
peculiar attcTition and information, yet the exhibition alone of the draw-
ings, accompanied by the instructions upon whicli they are founded, can-
not fail to render those, to whom judgment is confided, botli diligent and
scrupulous in the discharge of their diuy. To effect this object, however,
experience has shown, that the expression of the public opinion must pre-
cede, as well as follow, the decision of the judges. The public exhibition
of designs, previously to the final decision upon them, might render it ex-
pedient to follow generally the practice, now only partially adopted, of
concealing the names of competitors under a motto or cypher. On any
other ground the practice is scarcely \\orthy of mention', and is liable to
the objection of lieing deceptive; for your Committee have sufficient
evidence to prove, that, though apparently fair, it is absolutely futile in
effect.

Although the inquiries, which may be addressed hy professional men to
the institutors of competitions, must necessarily be dictated by the peculiar
.ircumstances of every case, yet the following, although merely proposed
as explanatory of the intentions of the committee, mav be found generally
applicable.

By whom are the designs to bo examined and selected ?
Have any designs been laid before the parties previoi'.sly to the competition
being proposed?

Have the parties any architect, or person professing to be an architect, ia
their employ ?

Will any means be adopted to ascertain that the designs can be executed for
the sums estimated ?

Will the parties undertake to lay aside all designs which cannot be executed
for the Slim estimated?

Is it the intention of the parties at once to exclude from the competition all
designs not in strict conformity with their instructions in every respect ?

Will the architect, whose design is selected, be employed to execute the
work, provided his character and .standing in the profession be such as to
render him unexceptionable ?

REVIEWS-

llhislrations of Science hy Professors of King's College, London ; Me-
chanics, ^y the Eev. H. Moselet, M. A., F. R. S., Professor of
Nat. Philosophy. London : Longman, Orme and Co., 1S39.
One of the most convincing arguments perhaps, in this comniercial
country against any single institution for engineering education in
this city, or indeed'in any other, is the listlessncss which results from
the want of competition. Competition is ono of the grand principles
evolved by the investigations of the political economists, — perhaps
the truest, and one that influences not only trade, but many other
economical pursuits. Lord Brougham, applying this to politics, has, in
his recent work on Eminent Statesmen, pointed out the mathematical
operation of this law, if we may so term it, by asserting that the result
is to produce an action neither of one side nor of another, but com-
pounded of the two, just like the movement of two physical powers.
We may leave to others to discuss that question, but perhaps some of
our philosophical friends may be able to demonstrate that thus of two
wrong courses a right one may be produced. If we consider thework-
ing of this competition in other branches of professional education we
see at once in what a different position we stand from other countries.
At Paris there is the only medical school for all Fr.ince ; and it cer-
tainly presents opportunities for ensuring the selection of the highest
talent, and concentrating everything in one magnificent establishment.
In London there are no less than fourteen complete schools: at
Dublin three ; besides nearly a score provincial establishments. The
effect of this, some would say, would most certainly be to ensure
iiiedioority, by the employment of so many individuals, while the
dispersion of talent would very much enfeeble the whole course of
medical education. The operation, on the contrary, is, hy the mainte-
nance of an energetic competition, ever to elevate the standard, and
ensure the ascendancy of men of talent ; and every schoolis obliged to
make the greatest exertions to cimmand pupils, since it is only by
securimr able professors that they can maintain their standing. It
must be remembered, that none of these schools have the privilege of
giving licenses to practice, and that the examining body is totally
distinct from the instructive. At Paris it is a principle something
like this, and tot.dly distinct from the system adopted, which maintains
the superiority of that school ; for from the turbulence of the pupils,
they as speedily put down an obnoxious profes^or as the incipient
surgeons of London ; and thus counteract the evils of a stagnant system
and government control ; although it is not an impossible occurrence
for a professor to be absent from his chair a year, or even two. The
beauties of a non-rompcting system were most admirably illustrated in
the recent proceedings at Oxford, and bear almost too much the
appearance of irony even to be quoted with senousncss. The case was
briefly this; Professor Daubeny, and other teacheis of the natural
sciences— who are the only professors who teach at all, in consequence
of the miserable paucity of their auditors, (Daubeny's chemical class
being ELEVEN ! I) broug"lit f /rward a law to render attendance on one of
the scientihc courses imperative on students proceeding to a bachelor's
degree of arts, and making in consequence some proformal alterations,
increasing the number of lectures of the professors. Upon which
proposition, the decision of the learned authorities was, thjt no com-
pulsory attendance on the courses should be enacted, but that the
proposed regulations as to more frequent lectures should be enacted; by
which solen"in farce, an import.int question was eluded, and well-deserv-
ing men were entrapped into unnecessary duties. The zeal of such
men as Daubeny, and his colleagues, cannot indeed be too highlv
commended; when, instead of profiting by the do-nothing example of
their brethren, they continue to devote their talents to audiences ot
cleren, in the First University of the World.

To come, however, to the instance presented by the volume before
us, we have every reason to congratulate ourselves upon possessing the
hou-e divided within itself, instead of that founded upon the rock, or
rather pillow. University College came first into the field pledged
to the adoption of the most enlightened principles ; and King s
Coljegg Tras bioiisht ia as its opponeat ; aadsaosi nob-ly has the ^ontesi

O

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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[May,

been carried on. University College lias been equally unfettered,
bntli as to principles, and as to men, wliile from its very constitution
the other establishment at once imposed upon itself leaden chains ; at
best placed in a g-o-cart, in tlie way of right, and certainly hainptred
by many superstitions and absurdities, it was additionally fettered by
being ol)lig:cd to select its professors from those very establishments
■o-hos'^ stifling influence was most sought to be evaded. The result,
however, even those who hoped most for its success, could never 1 .v ;
anticipated; and the conductors of King's College, supporters as th y i
are e.v-ojjicio of nepotism and patronage, deserve the highest credit i'o' i
the discrimination and disinterestedness which they have shown in tb ■ i
choice of professors, wlio by findinj- out new patlis, have emancipati :1 i
themselves from the tramuiels in wliicli they had been placed, and
secured their own fame and the )irosperity of the institntion. It is not
our desire to elevate the one institution at tlie expense of the other; aiid
if from deference to the work before us our remarks are restricted to
King's College, it must not be considertd^tliat we detract from another
cstablislmient the labours of whose members have ensured it a high
meed ot fame.

We cannot better illustrate tliejnstice of the remarks we have made
than by referring to the outlines ef the courses, which are those pro-
posed to b^ delivered before the class of Civil Engineering, and the) ;
mark a new era, when science is no longer to be conventional, but
practical ; when it is to leave off its Procrustean propensity of an
artificial standard, and to adapt itself as it ought to do to every capa-
city and every jiursuit. Pedantry of all kinds is most disgusting,
but the pedantry of science is positively injurious, for it causes a
waste of time to the practical man too often irreparable, and it is in-
deed time that we should get rid of tliis clog upon our progress. The
courses proposed for this year are of course introductory ; and all, like
those on mathematics and natural philosophy, special : we have occasion
afterwards to revert to Professor Moseley, on " Natural Philosophy;"
so that we shall at present consider some of the other subjects.

Professor Daniell has arranged his course in a manner totally different
from the general run of university lectures, and with an ability which
shows his desire of promoting the instruction of his pupils rather than
maintaining tlie dogmata of science, merely filling up the dull routine
of official duty. His tiist year's course contains a preparatory view
of the forces which concur to the production of chemical phenomena.
An endeavour, savs the Professor, will be made to systematize what
tile beginner already knows from common experience, and to lead
him on to increase this knowledge gradually by the results of experi-
ment ; to teach him the inductive method of reasoning from phe-
nomena ; and to explain to him the general views and theories of the
science. The display of these forces in the grand operations of nature
will form principal objects of illustration, and particularly in the con-
stitution of the atmosphere, the phenomena of thunder and lightning,
winds, lain, &c. In the second year it is proposed that the students
?hall attend a course of practical chemistry, in which the application of
the science to the arts will be taught, and the processes of the different
maniifactvners, of mctalhiray, and of domestic economy will be ex-
plained and illustrated. This is a method which ought long since to
have been adopted, and it is one which promises to rescue tlie physical
sciences from being a mere set of empirical processes, and placing
them in the hands of the students as they ought to be — sciences, and not
arts. Science is one, but arts are many ; and so long as the student is
only taught a series of processes, without being properly grounded in
the principles, so long will his progress in science be limited, and he
remains a journeyman where he might be a master. There are few
sciences indeed, of wliich many important principles are not sown in
the hnman mind by observation, and it wants but little instruction to
bring out these, and systematise tlie stores of knowledge. Instead of
considering the mind of the student as ground entirely to be made,
another course should be adopted, and it should be regarded as a soil
which possesses many of the elements of fertility, and to which only
the complementary addition is necessary to make it productive.
Taking, too, nature as a basis, the student is put on the road not only
to learn from the experience of the past but to ]irofit from the events
of the future ; for there is perhaps no science iji wliich the observation
of nature is not the grand foundation of all greatness and all excellence;
because, indeed, in nature, as in a storehouse, we find treasured up
the perfections of an omniscient and unerring Deity. The discovery of
the principles of specific gravity by Archimedes — musical mathematics
bv Pythagoras, the pendulum by Galileo, and terrestrial gravitation by
Newton ; all of these (and many more might be accumulated) are deri-
ved from the observation of the commonest phenomena — the bath, the
blacksmith's anvil, a swinging cord, or a flilling apple — while from them
have been derived laws from the constitution of a universe to the
arrangement of the most plodding machine. Teaching the students
Jikewiie, as Pjofessor Daniell proposes, to reason on the phenomena

presented to them, afibids tliem a perpetual and available resource in
all difficulties ; and one, than whicii nothing could be more appropriate
to the mental habits of an engineer. It is to be regretted indeed that
in too many cases it is thought sufficient to cram a youth with a quan-
tity of facts, and leave him to digest and apply them in what manner
he can, as if man were supplied with a whole stock of logic from
nature.

The other courses are also marked by the same happy desire to
"btain the most eft'ective ends by the application of the soundest
piinciples, and they caanot fail to promote the results they so zealously
iutenipt. In the program to the course on Geometrical Drawing,
\vhore, under most circumstances we should be the last to expect
to find such an admission. Professor Bradley truly obser^'es, that
considerable facility in the power of drawing by eye, with precision
uiid Treedom, is requisite to constitute a good draughtsman, and is
to be attained by constant practice in sketching objects of any kind from
nature. It seems however to be thought generally, both by architects
and engineers, that to stick a rule and compasses in a boy's hand
is quite enough to qualify him, although, independently of the arti-
lioial training which is thus effected, no attention is paid to the
fact that the hnman eye is the most delicate instrument in nature.
Professor Wheatstone takes up the subject of experimental philosophy,
and it can be believed, by those who know him, with what practicability
and good effect. Professor Tennant lays out an admirable course on
Geological Mineralogy ; and indeed the whole arrangements are ad-
mirably calculated to effect the objects proposed on the institution
of tlie class. We are happy indeed to see that there is no pretence
to teach civil engineering, but that they wisely leave to those best
qualified tn teach those parts which are susceptible of being com-
municated by practical instruction, and only take on themselves such
accessoiy portions as they can effect with credit to themselves and
without injury to the pupils.

We may now come at last to the work before us, and we shall have
no reason to regret any attention that we may pay to it, as it is quite
worthy of the ability of the well-known autlior. The professors of
King's College, it seems, have determined upon publishing a course
of works on science, for popular instruction and they have acted very
justly in confiding to Mr. Moseley the task of being their herald in the
field ; and, as his introduction may be regarded as that to the whole
course, we think that we cannot better express its objects than by
favoring our readers with some extracts from this able production : —

Tlic author lias proposed to himself the development of that system of
experimental facts anil theoretical principles on which the whole super-
structure of morhaiucal art may be considered to rest, and its introduction,
iimlcr an availalilo form, to the great business of practical education. To
ttlcit this object, and to reconcile, as far as it may be pnssiljic. the strictly
scienlilic with the popular and elementary character of the undcrl.akmg, a
new luethod has been sought, the nature of which is sufficiently indicated
by its title — Illustrations of Mechanics. The. work consists, in fact, of a
scries C'f illustrations of the scisiice of mechanics, arranged in the order in
which (he parts of that science succeed each other, and connected by such
exiilanatifnis only, as may servo to carry the mind on from one principle to
anolhcr. and cnablo it to cmbrace'and combine llie whole. Throni^'hout, an
attempt is made to give to the various illnslralions an entirely elementary
and practical character.

It is an idea which presents itself to the mind of cicry man Mho has
children to educate and provide for, which is a constant subject of comment
and discussion, and which prevails through all classes of society, that a
portion of the school life of a boy ought to be devoted to the acquisition of
those general principles of practical knowledge of which the whole business
of his suliscqiu'nt life is 1o form a special application; that there ought, in
fact, to he commenced by him at school a common apprenticeship to those
great elements of knowledge, on which hang all the questions of interest
whicli are to surround him in nature, and v\liich are destined, under the
form of practical science, to take an active share in the profession, trade,
mannfacturc, or art. whatever it may be, which is hereafter to become the
oectii)ation of liis life.

It is the r,l,ject of tins work, and of the series of which it forms part, to
promote tlii.s great business of practical education, by siqiplying to llie in-
structors of youth a system of elementaiy science, adapted to tlie ordinary
forms of uisinietion. No one can doubt that the same capabilities in the
scholar, united to the same zeal in the master, which now sulliec to cany
the elements of a cl.assical cdneation to the very refinements of pliilidogical
criticism, would be equal to the task of instruction in the nomenclatuic of
the physical sciences, tlieii fundamental experiments, llieir idenicntaiy rea-
sonings, and their chief practical results ; nor can it be questioned (hat the
ordinaiy intelligence of youth, and common diligence on the part of their
teachers, would enable them to master the secrets of the more important of
the arts, and the chief processes of the manufactures ; and would place
within their reach the elements of natural history, the general classification
of the animal and vegetable kingdoms of nature, and their various ministries
to the uses of man. These are elements of a knowledge which is of ines-
timable value in the affairs of life ; and the interests of this great commer-
twl and jnamifacturing comnnuiity claim that they should uo longer be left

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

18S

Vo find their way to tlic young mind (if, indeed, they reach it at all), ratlier
as a relaxation of the graver business of education than as a part of it.

Tlie illustrations of the meclianioal properties of matter and the laws of
force are drawn promiscuously and almost equally from art and natiu'o. It
is not by design that examples taken from these distinct sources thus inter-
mingle, but simply because they suggest themselres as readily from the one
source as the other — from nature as abundantly as from art. There is a
relation between art and nature — a relation amounting to more than a re-
semblance ; — a relation by which the eye of tlu^ practical man may bo guided
to that God who works with him in every operation of his skill, and
mechanical art elevated from a position which is sometimes luijuatly as-
.'•ignied to it among the elements of knowledge. It is from this relation
between the .Author of nature and thc^ being in whom the works of art
have their origin tliat arise those relations, inliiiitely remote, bnt distinct,
between tlie things themselves, of which llie evidence is eveiy where around
us. These are necessary relations : it is not that the works of art are
made by any pui'pose or intention in the resemblance of those of nature, or
that there is any imseen influence of nature itself upon art; the primary
relation is in the causes whence these severally proceed. Thus it is possi-
ble, that in the infinities of nature, every thing in art may find its type ; this
is not. however, necessarily the case, since the causes are infinitely re-
moved, since, moreover, in their operation, these causes are independent,
and since nature oper.ates upon materials which are not within tlie resources
of art. How full of pride is the thought, that in evei-y exercise of human
fikill, in each ingenious adaptation, and in each complicated contrivance
and combination of art. tliere is included the exercise of a faculty which is
akin to the wisdom manifested in creation ! And how full of humility is
the comparison wliicli, placing the most ingenious and the most perfect of
tlie efforts of human skill by the side of one of the simplest of the works of
nature, shows us but one or two rude steps of approach to it.

The arrangement of the work will perhaps be better understood by
leaving it in the author's own words, so that we have selected for our
readers the following detail of it :—

Matter is composed of elements, which are inappreciably and infinitely
minute ; and yet it is witliin the infinitely minute spaces wliich separate
these elements that the greater number of the forces known to us have
their only sensible action. These, including compressibility, extensibility,
elasticity, strength, capillary attraction and adhesion, receive their illustra-
tion in the first three chapters of the following work. The fourth takes up
the Science of Equilibrium, or Statics ; applies in numerous examples the
fimdamental principles of that science, the parallelogram offerees, and the
equality of moments ; then passes to ihe question of stability, and to the
conditions of the resistance of a surface ; traces the operation of each of
the mechanical powers under the influence of friction ; and embraces the
question of the stability of edifices, piers, walls, arches, and domes.

The filth chapter enters upon the Science of Dynamics. Numerous
familiar illustrations establish the permanence of the force wliich accompa-
nies motion ; show how it may be measured ; where in a moving body it
may be supposed to be collected ; exhibit the important mechanical pro-
perties of the centres of spontaneous rotation, percussion, and gyration j
the nature of centrifugal force ; and the properties of the principal axes of
a body's rotation ; the accumulation and destntction of motion in a moving
body, and the laws of gravitation.

The last chapter of the work' opens with a series of illustrations, the
object of wliich is to make intelligible, under its most general form, the
principle of virtual velocities, and to protect practical men against the
errors into which, in the application of this universal principle of me-
chanics, they are peculiarly liable to fall : it terminates with .various illus-
trations of "those general principles which govern the reception, transmis-
sion, and application of power by machinery, fhe measure of dynamical
action, and the numerical cfKciencies of different agents — principles which
receive their final application in an estimate of the dynamical action on the
moving and working points of a steam engine.

The Appendix to the work contains a detailed account of the experi-
ments of Messrs. Hodgkinson and Fairbairn upon the mechanical properties
of hot and cold blast iron : and an extensive series of tables referred to in
the body of the work, and including, 1. Tables of the strength of materials ;
'2. Tables of the weights of cubic feet of different kinds of materials •
3. Tables of the thrusts of semi-circular arches under various circum-
stances of loading, and of the positions of their points of rupture ; 4. Ta-
bles of eo-efticients of friction, and of limiting angles of resistance, com-
piled and calculated from the recent experiments of M. Morin. The results
of these admirable experiments, made at the expense of the French
government, are here, for the first time, published in this country.

A Dictionary of Arts, Manvfactures, andMines. By Andrew Uhe, M.D.
London. Longman and Co.

We have now come to a final notice of this work, and we cannot
dismiss it without presenting to our readers a few more extracts. The
following is from the article on slate, and gives a brief sketch of the
localities in which that material is found : —

Clay -slate. ^-"VU-is substance is closely connected with mica; so that
iminterrupted transitions may be found between these two rocks in many

mountain chains. It is a simple schistose mass, of a bluish-gray or grayish-
black coloiu-, of various shades, and a sliining, somewhat pearly internal
lustre on the faces, but of a dead colour in the cross fracture.

Clay-slate is extensively distributed in Great Britain. It skiit^ ,th«
Highlands of .Scotland, from Lochlomond by Callender, Comrie, and
Dunkeld; resting on, and gradually passuig into mica-slate throughout
the whole of that territoiy. Roofing-slate occurs, on the western side of
England, in the comities of Cornwall and Devon; in various parts of
North Wales and Anglesea; in the north-east parts of Yorkshire, near
Ingleton, and in Swaledale ; as also in the counties of Cumberland and
Westmoreland. It is likewise met ^vith in the county of Wicklow and.
other mountainous districts of Ireland.

All the best lieds of roolihg-sUte improve in quality as tliey lie deeper
under the surface ; near to which, indeed, they have little value.

A good roofing-slate should split readily into thin even laminoe ; it
should not be absorbent of water either on its face or endwise, a pro-
perty evinced by its not increasing perceptibly in weight after immersion
in water ; and it shoidd be sound, compact, and not apt to disintegrate in
the air. The slate raised at Eisdale, on the west coast of Argjdlshire, is
very durable.

Cteaoing and dressing of the slates. — The splitter begins by dividing tha
block, cut lengthwise, to a proper size, which he rests on end,- and steadies
between liis knees. He uses a mallet and a chisel, which he introduces
into the stone in a direction parallel to the folia. By this means hp
reduces it into several manageable pieces, and he gives to each the r-equi-
site length, by cutting cross grooves on the flat face, and then striking tlie
slab with the chisel. It is afterwards split into tliinuer sections, by finer
cliisels dexterously applied to the edges. The slate is then di'essed to the.
proper shape, by being laid on a block of wood, and having its projecting,
parts at the ends and sides cut ofl' with a species of hatchet or chopping-
knife. It deseiTes to be noticed, that blocks of slate may lose their pro-
perty of divisibility into thin lamina?. This happens ii'om long exposiu'q to
the air, after they have been quarried. The workmen say, then, that they
have lost their waters. For tliis reason, the number of splitters ought to
be always proportioned to the number of block-hewers. Frost >:endev3 the
blocks more fissile ; but a supervening thaw renders them quite refractory.
A new frost restores the faculty of splitting, though not to the same degree ;
and the workmen therefore avail themselves of it without delay. A suc-
cession of frosts and thaws renders the quarried blocks quite intractable.

This account is, however,- rather meagre, as it totally omits one of
the great districts, that of Furness, in Lancashire, wliicii supplies slate
of excellent quality, and much used in that neighbourhood. There is
no distinction made between the several varieties, and the manner in
which the locality is determined by the colouring of the slate, the
slates of Cornwall and Westmoreland differing totally in respect to
colour. The application of slate also as a paving material, and its
applicability in solemn decoration, as for tombstones, library chimnej'-
pieces, slabs, &c., are not alluded to. The ensuing account of the
manufacture of stained glass is rather more chemical than practical ; —

St.vined Gl.\ss.— When certain metallic oxides or chlorides, gi'ound up
with proper fluxes, are painted upon glass, their colours fuse into its stuv
face at a moderate heat, and malce durable pictures, which are frequently
employed in ornamenting the windows of churches as well as ot other
public and private buildings. The colours of stained glass are all trans-
parent, and are therefore to be viewed only by transmitted light. Many
metallic pigments, which afford a fine effect when applied cold on canvas
pr paper, are so changed by yitieous fusion as to be quite inapplicable to
painting in stained glass.

The glass proper for receiving these vitrifying pigments, should be
colourless, uniform, and difficult of fusion ; for which reason crown glass,
made witli little alkali, or with kelp, is preferred. When the design is
too large to be contained on a single pane, several are fitted together, and
fixed in a bed of soft cement while painting, and then taken asunder to be
separately subjected to the fire. In ananging the glass pieces, care must
be taken to distribute the joinings so that the lead fiame-work may
interfere as little as possible with the effect.

A design must be drawn upon paper, and placed beneath the plate of
glass ; though the artist cannot regulate his tints directly by his pallet,
hut by specimens of the colours producible from his pallet pigments
after they are fired. The upper side of the glass beuig sponged
over with gum-water, affords, when dry, a surface proper for receiving the
coloui-s, without the risk of theii- running irregularly, as they would be
apt to do, on the slippery glass. The artist first draws on the plate w-ith a
fine pencil, all the traces which mark the gi'eat outlines and shades of the
figures. Tills is usually done in black, or, at least, some strong colour,
such as browTi, blue, green, or red. In laying on these, the painter is
guided by the same principles as the engiavei-, when he produces the effect
of light and shade by dots, lines, or hatches ; and he employs that colour
to produce the shades, which will harmonize best with the colour which is
to be afterwards apphed ; but for the deeper shades, black is in general
used. When this is finished, the whole pictm'e will be represented in
lines or hatches similar to an engraving finished up to the highest efffCt
possible; and aftciwards, when it is dry, the vitrifying colours are laid on
by means of larger hair pencils ; their selection being regulated by the
bm'nt specimen tints. When he finds it necessary to lay two colours
adjoining, which are apt to run together in the kiln, he must apply une.of

186

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[May,

them t'l the back ol" tho glusj. But the lew principal colours to be
presently mentioned, are all labt colours, -wliicli do not run except the
yellow, Which nuist therefore be laid on the opposite side. After colouring,
tfie artist proceeds to bring out the lighter clfects by liiking off' the colcur
in the proper place, ■with a goose quill cnt like a pen v ithoiit a slit, by
working this upon the glass, he removes the colour from the parts where
the lights should be the strongest ; such as the hair, eyes, the reflection of
bright surfaces and light parts of draperies. The blank pen may be
employed cither to make the lights by lines, or hatches and dots, as is
most suitable to the subject.

By the metallic preparations now laid upon it, the glass is made ready
lor being fired, in order to lix and bring out the proper colours. The
furnace or kiln best adapted for this purpose, is similar to that used by
enamellers. — [See En.\mel, and the Glaze-kiln, under Poitery.] It con-
sists of a muffle or arch of fire-clay or pottciy, so set o^cr a fireplace, and
so surrounded by flues, as to receive a very considerable heat within, in
the most equable and regular manner ; otherwise some parts of the glass
will be melted ; while, on others, the superficial film of colours will
remain unvllrified. The mouth of the muflle, and the entry for intro-
ducing fuel to the tire, should be on opposite sides, to prevent as much as
possible the admission of dust into the muffle, whose mouth should be
closed with double folding-doors of iron, furnished with small peep-holes,
to allow the artist to watch the progress of tlie staining, and to withdraw
small trial slips of glass, painted with the principal tints used in the
picture.

The muffle must be made of very refractory fire-clay, flat at its bottom,
and only Ii or 6 inches high, with such an arched top as may make the
roof strong, and so close on all sides as to exclude entirely the smoke and
flam*. On the bottom of the muffle a smooth bed of sifted lime, freed
liom water, about half an inch thick, must be prepared for receiving the
pane of glass. Sometimes several plates of glass arc laid over each other
■with a layer of dry pulvenilent lime between each. The fiic is now
lighted, and most gradually raised, lest the glass should be broken ; and
alter it has attained to its full heat, it must be kept up for 3 or 4 hours,
more cr less, according to the indications of the trial slips ; the yello-w
colour being principally watched, as it is found to be the best criterion of
ihe state of the others. \\'hen the colours are properly burnt in, the fire
i| suffered to die a-n^ay, so as to anneal the glass.

The description of an Artesian well, at Mortlake, is interesting, but
it appears to tis that it should be received with some caution as an
example, for it seems by no means satisfactory as a geneial rule that
water would he found in the .soft chalk.

Autesun Wills. — The following account of a successful operation of
ihis kind, lately perfoi-mcd at Mortlake, in Surrey, deserves to be recorded.
The spot at which this undertaking was begun, is within 100 feet of the
Thames. In the first instance, an auger, seven inches in diameter, was
used in penetrating 20 feet of superficial detritus, and 200 fi'ct of London
clay. An iron tube, 6 inches in diameter, was then driven into the
opening, to dam out the land-springs and the percolation from the river.
A 4-inch anger was next introduced through the iron tube, and the boring
■was continued until, the London clay having been perforated to the depth
«f 240 feet, the sands of the plastic clay were reached, and water of the
softest and purest nature was obtained ; but the supply was not sufficient,
and it did not reach the surface. The work was proceeded with ac-
cordingly i and after 55 feet of alternating beds of sand and clay had
been penetrated, the chalk was touched upon. A second tube, Al inches in
diameter, was then driven into the chalk, to stop out the wa'ter of the
plastic sands ; and through this tube an anger, 3^ inches in diameter, was
introduced, and worked down through 35 feel of hard chalk, abounding
with flints. To this succeeded a bed of soft chalk, into which the instru-
ment suddenly penetrated to the depth of la feet. On the auger being
withdra-wn, water gradually rose to the surface and overflowed. The
expense of the work did not exceed 3t)0/. The general summary of the
strata penetrated is as follows : — Gravel, 20 fec\ ; London clay, 250 ;
plastic sands and clavs, 55 ; hard chalk with flints, 35 ; soft chalk, 15 ;=
375 feet.

We cannot leave this work without again expressing our opinion of
its general utility. Executed as it is under the guidance of one man, it
mtist necessarily partake of tlie defects of his limited experience ; but
in all those departments which may be considered Dr. Ure's own, the
matter possesses more than average merit. The chemical portions are
tssentiuUy good, but in many of the technical parts a want of acquaint-
ance willi the latest processes is observable. In our own branches we
have before remarked on this deliciencv, and of course the same
observation extends to many arts and manufactures beyond the limits
of ou r ciitical sphere. Thus, the article on button making is ex-
tremely erroneous, and in that on black dyes we find no mention of
the French processes, although it is notorious that there is a marked
Uiflerence between their method and oia own. Generally we think
that the Doctor might have paid more attention to the French and
German Encyclopedias of Trades, from which many interesting illus-
trations might have been obtained. As the fust work of its class in
the field, however, it possesses merits peculiarly its own, and a right of
extmption from blame, where one ha'; done so well ; and it may be
consulted usefully by all, fts containing a iobss of inforcjation nowher?

Britinh Critic and Theological Review. — No, M.

Do not let our readers be startled by this title, or imagine that we are
going to fdifu them by a theological disquisition ; no, we merely call
their attention to the last number, because it contains two architectnial
papers, which might, but for our doing so, quite escape their notice.
One of them is entitled " Interior Decorations of English Churches,"
the other is a review of " Pugin's Contrasts ;" and it is to this latter
that we shall confine our remarks, not having as yet perused the first
one, except in a very hurried manner. Whether Wclby Pngiii will
think proper to bring out a pamphlet in reply to this article, as lie did
in answer to — or, rather, by way of attempt at answering — certain
Strictures upon his book in Frasei; remains to he seen. But the re-
viewer certainly does not spare Mrs. Candour Pugin, as he has been
styled in some other publication ; the most he does is to throw him a
sop by praising his drawings, which, he says, " exhibit an exquisite
taste, and confirm us in our previous opinion, that Mr. Pugin is the first
Gothic architect of the age." It is difficult to make out whether this
be intended as ironical or not : yet, if it be actually intended as praise,
it puzzles us still more, for coarser scratches than are the plates to the
" contrasts" can hardly be imagined ; while, as every one at all acquainted
with the style must admit, no little of the character and charm of
Gothic architecture depends upon the beautiful forms and execution of
the details. It is, besides, cliiefly with respect to detail and decoiation
— in which he is said to be unsparing — that Mr. P. has much pretension
to the name of architect; — at least, we have not seen any designs, or heard
of his having ever done any thing, except in mere fittings up. We do
not say that he is capable of achieving nothing more, but merely mean
that there is no evidence to show that he is fairly entitled to the praise
of being " the first Gothic architect of the .age," since, had he executed
any thing which would sanction it, it would hardly remain a secret ;
unless Mr. Pugin's buildings are to be classed among those things
whose fate it is " to be," as some one has observed, " exceedingly famous,
yet little known." A little farther on he gets another sop, where it is
said, " Homer was blind, and Mr. Pugin cannot argue ;" — it might have
been added, nor can he spell. The reviewer lias pointed out his pecu-
liar mode of spelling Windsor on one of his plates, and in anotlier he
has converted Mr. Brayley into Mr. Bragley, wiiich howe er maypassas
one of those unaccountable intentional blunders people are apt to fall
into. The principle upon which Mr. P. planned his " Contrasts"i3 well
exposed, and shown to be one by which any person may make goodany
argument, merely by bringing forward all that makes for it and taking
no notice of the ugly facts that make against it.

" Of the remaining ' Contrasts,' " says the reviewer, " we will only ask
whether it is fair to compare acommon cast-iron pump with a handsome
stone conduit, or Sir .lohn Soane"s house with the work of any sensible
architect of any age or country r" That last remark touches us to the
very quick, for it puts iis quite out of conceit with the "house. No. i!i,
Lincoln's-inn Fields ;" which, belonging as it does, or is fancied to do,
to the public, is the house of every Englishman.

However, we will venture to prescribe the article to our readers,
who mav wash it down either with " 17?). Port," or " Ag. pura."

Penny Ci/clopadia : Article, " London."

The 7-ith part of this publication descrve.s to be pointed out by ns
to our readers, as containing, under the head of " London," an able
though brief architecUiral review of the principal buildings in the
metropolis; accompanying which there is an excellent tabic of them,
arranged chronologically in centuries, with the respective dates and
architects' names, and furtlicr remarks on them in a separate column.
Such an architectural synopsi.s is a quite novel and no less happy
idea ; and it is so exceedingly useful for reference, that we have no
doubt the same plan will be henceforth adopted in other works. Such
a table ought, in fact, iinariably to accompany the Guide Book of
any city, if merely to serve as an index, pointing out at a glance all
the buildings most worlhy of note, aiul the architects by wTiora they
were erected.

The table we are iiow speaking of does not profess to be a complete
list of all the public edifices in tlie melropolis, but merely of such as
have j)rcfension to rank as works of architecture ; whereas in tlie
other case, a great many would have been included whicli possess no
architectural interest whatever. It is, as we have said, divided into
centuiies, beginning with the seventeenth; and of the seventy-three
buildings mentioned in it, no fewer than lifty-lhrce have been erected
in the course of the last thirty years, or from ISOS to 1838 ; a tolerably
striking proof how much more than at any former period has been
done ill our own time, especially if we further lake into account
street architecture and general improvements. As a specimen, we
shall esU'^ict tlus table :—

1839.1

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL .

TABLE OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS MOST WORTHY OF NOTICE FOR THEIR ARCHITECTURE.

Seventeenth C'entcrv.

187

.

Date.

Architect.

Whitehall Chapel

York Stairs

SI. Paul's, Covcnt Garden
Temple Bar ....
The Monument . . •
St. Stephen's, Walbrook

St. Paul's Cathedral, begun .

1619

l(>2<i

1631

1670-2

1671-7

1672-9

167J

Inigo Joues

Ditto

Ditto
Sir C. Wreu

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Remarks.

Chietly admirable as the finest spccimeu of purs Italian.

Tuscan, distylc in anlis.

Fluted Doric column ; total height, lucUiJiiig pedestal, ict., ■2iri feet.
Exterior concealed by houses ; interior over.praised ; chisfly remaikabl*

I'or its dome.
Extreme length, 500 feet ; height to lop of cross, 360.

Eighteenth Centuev.

St. Paul's tinished

St. George's, HanoTer-square

St. Marlins

St. George's, BlooiUbliury

Mansion House . •

Wtjstminstcr Bridge

Ironmongors' Hall

Horse Guards

Blackfriais Bridge

Excise Office

Adelphi ....

Newgate

Somerset House .

Clerkenwell Sessions House

Bank ....

India House

f'ovent-tjarden Theatre
Drury-Lane Theatre
Opera-House, altered
Bethlehem Hospital
Waterloo Bridge
Mint ....
Custom House

London Institution

St. Pancras Church

Post-Ofhce .

Hunover Chapel, llcgont-street

British Museum (new buildings)

Buckingham Palace

College ol' Physicians and

Club-House
Board of Trade
Colosseum
London Bridge

St. Mark's, North Audley-street
St. Katherine's Hospital
Hall, Christ Church Hospital
Scotch Church, Regcnt-sipiare
St. George's Hospital
London University
New Corn E-^changc
St. Paul's Scliool .
Law Institution, Chancery-lane
Archway, Green Park
Fishmongers' Hall
Alheiucum Club .
Goldsmiths' Hall .
Exeter Hall

St. Dunstan's in the West
York Column
Lowther Arcade
Hungerfoid Market
Travellers' Club .

Charing-Cross Hospital

St. George's, Wobuni-siiuarc

Westminster Hospital .

National Gallery

State-Paper Office, St. James's Park

Pantheon Bazaar

School for Indigent Blind

St. Olave's School

l!ollege of Surgeons

United University Club

St. James's Theatre

Railway Terminus, Euston-square

London and Westminster Bank

Synagogue, Great St. Helen's

Reform Club .

1710

f. 1724

1721-6
f. 1731

1739 -W

1739 50

1718

1751

1760-70

1769

1770

1770-82

1776

1780

1789-1826

1799

1 808-9

1811-13

1818

1812-15

1811

1811

1813

1815-19
1819-22
1823-9
1823-5

1825

1825-7

18246

1824

182531

1825-8

1826

1826

1827-8

1827

1827-9

1827-8

1827

1827-9

1828

1827-34

1829

1829 35

1830-1

1830-32

1830-36

1830

1831-3

1831

1830-1

1832

1832

1832-7

1833

1834

183-J-7

1835

1835-6

1836-7

18.36

1837-8

1837-8

1837-8

183S

J. James

J. Gibbs

Ditto

Hawksmoor

Dance

Labelye

H olden

W. Kent

R. Mylne

James Gandon

Adams

Dance

Sir W. Chambers

Rogers

Sir.T. Soane

R. Jupp

Nineteenth Centlrv

Style Italo-Roman; exterior both magmtittut and pictutcsiius, thcrigh uot

faultless.
Portico hexastyle, Corinthian. •,

Portico hexastyle, Corinthian , the geueial styls bad.
Ditto, ditto i Campanile cxculkni.

Length 1066 feet.

Italian Ionic on basemenl.

Length 1000 feet.

Plain in design, but of most commanding aspect.

Admirable in design and character

Though poor in parts, a good example of Italian. Ri\er front i'JO fest.

East front handsome.

Very picturesque in parts.

Hexastyle loggia, Grecian Ionic ; sculptured frieze and pediment.

Sir R. Smirke

B. Wyatt

Nash and Rep ton

J. Lewis

J. Rennie

Sir R. Smirke

D. Laing

W. Brooks

W. and H. W. luwood

Sir R. Smirke

R. C. Cockcrell

Sir R. Smirke

Nash and Blore

Sir R. Smirke
Sir J. Soanc
D. Burton
J. Rennie
Gaudy- Deeriiig
Poynter
J. Shaw
W. Tite
W. Wilkins

Ditto
G. Smith

Ditto
L. Vulliamy
D. Burton
H. Roberts
D. Burton
P. Hardwick
Gandy-Deering
.J. Shaw

B. Wyatt
J. Turner

C. Fowler

C. Barry

D. Burton
L. Vulliamy
Inwoods
A\'. Wilkins
Sir J. Soanc
S. Smirke
J. Newman
J. Field

C. Barry

Sir R. and S. Smirke

S. Beazlcy

P. Hardwick

Cockerel! and Tile

J. Davies

C. Barrv.

Grecian Doric ; teU'astylc portico.

Portico hexastyle, Ionic. Length 569 feat.
Length 1326 feet.
Grecian Doric on a basemeut.

The Long Room and centre of the river front quite altcied after th» acci.
dent in 1826. Length 484 feci.

The finest copy of Athenian Ionic.

Hexastyle, louic portico ; extent of front 3yO feet,

Telrastyle Ionic portico.

Grecian Ionic.

Roman Corinthian.

Hexastyle, Cirecian Doric portico attached to a polygon 130 fset diemrr'?!.

Length" 920 feet.

Florid Grecian Ionic ; facade small, but of rich dciiigu.

Chapel Gothic ; the rest Old English Domeslic

Later Gothic.

G othic.

Portico totrastyle, with square pillars.

Fa<;ade not completed ; decastylo portico, and dome.

Grecian Doric, with pleasing originality of design.

Hexastyle, Tivoli Corinthian on a basement.

Grecian Ionic hexastyle.

Grecian Ionic.

Its bas-relief frieze, the only specimen in London.

Italian ; magnificent, yet somewhat heavy, and basement pool.

Greco-Corintiiian, distyle in autis.

Gothic ; handsome Louvre lower.

Total height, including statue, 137 feet 9inchc!'.

Greco-Italian, with pcndentive domes.

Choice specimen of the best Italian style, particularly the desigu of g&idea
front,

CJothic ; handsome spire.

Jlodernized Gothic.

Grecian ; total extent of front 458 t'eet.

One of his chastest productions. Style, Italian.

Stylo 'Tudor, white brick and stone ; central loner of rich de^igt\•

Style Elizabethan, red brick aud stone.

Italianized Grecian.

Style a modified Italian ; bas-rolief panels.

A Grecian Doric propykeum on an imposing j^cale.
Style modified Italian ; singular but pleasing.

Style Italian ; interior rich and lastcriil.

Ilalian.

188

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[May,

1. The Luxes of Harmunious Colouring. 33y D. R. Hay. Lon-
dun : W. S. Orr. "1839.

2. Lectures on Colour. By Hyde Clarke, Esq.

3. Transactions of the Society of Arts for 1838.

The subject of lifjlit and colour is one of the most important which
now engacres the scientific world ; and in consequence of the sensation
cre.iteii by [iliotography, hardly a day elapses withnut snme new or
startling discovery. It is only, indeed, of late, and we hardly know
if we may say unanimously, that a theory of light has been adopted
which is at all satisfactory. Hypothesis and system, like the mar-
shalling- of an army, is the first step for the advancement of a science,
and we may well wonder, after so many brilliant discoveries made by
the greatest men, to find the science of light less advanced than
chemistry and geology, which are things of yesterday. This has
arisen primarily from the adoption of a bad system, which is tanta-
mount to no system at all, or worse; for until recently, the corpus-
cular theory, or that which teaches the direct procession of 1 ght from
the sun, ruled wiih all the weight which the name of its great patron,
Newton, could give to it. Its supporters also furgot the ]irinci|jles of
their master, the man who considered himself like a loiterer, picking
up pebbles on the shores of the vast ocean of science, and blindly
maintained the justice of his opinions, without any compunction that
he too might err; and it seems, indeed, a principle derived from the
weakness of human nature — that we must ever worship men, and (lot
truth. This ridiculous calling ourselves of Paul and of Cephas was
never perhaps carri.d to a more extraordinary length than when lately
before the Ashn)olean .Society a defence of Newton's opinions was
read, and it was endeavoured to be prov. d that he was a suppoiter of
those }irincijiles which now have the predominance. A blind lesult of
our wretched ignorance, that we cannot judge fur ourselves, but must
follow a leader, whom, if we had but judgment, we should know how
to be guided liy; but one error t(pund out, rather than again be exposed
to the consequences of our neglict, we dash our once- favoured idol on
the ground. Anotherimportant cause which has doubtless contributed
to the retardment of this sc ence has been the circumstance that it has
been courted primarily :)nd almost exclusively by mathematicians;
whereas, from its being thi- dispo.-ition of naturalists to observe, and of
mathematicians to re.ison, the wholesome course of a science is to col-
lect facts, in the first instance, and to arrange them afterwards. In
jjood truth, 0|ptics has been studied as by a foreigner, wIjo trusting
to his memory rather than liis knowledge, speaks English from a voca-
bulary, instead of with the freedom of common life.

It is doubtless from this want of progress of the science, and from its
not having attained a jjopular and practical form, that we must attri-
bute that continued neglect of colour in decoration, which was first
caused by the puritanical destruction of the arts. Even the coin-
nionesr principles of contrast and hormony, which would not take an
hour's teaching in a common school, are not diffused, and it cannot be
astonishing if we sufTi'r from a universal ignorance in our houses and
our manufactures. The Egyptians, however, possessed by observa-
tion what neither science nor observation has taught us ; and although
they used only the simplest colours, yet the manner in wliieh they
■were applied in their temples and in their tombs may justly excite our
admiration. Although so restricted in the number of their colours,
the Egyptians produced many bold effects, when they had compara-
tively no media to soften down their great masses. Harmony is the
general characteristic of Greek decoration, and, by the employment of
■weak tints, they managed to attain great delicacy of expression. Blue,
from its coolness, they used very much in masses, and it greatly aided
the purity of their designs. They were very happy, too, in the
management of black and its contrasts, yellow and white, and used
them much more aptly in the decoration of objects than ws do. They
also made colour a handmaid to the sculptural aris, as may yet be seen
on some of the statues in the British Museum, and in other places ;
and they even mixed different coloured marbles for such objects, as the
leopard with black marble spots in the Museum at Naples. They
used painting also very extensively on the exterior of their
edifices, and with the most happy effict. Wiih regard to the man-
ner in which the Moors used this delightful vehicle of har-
mony, nothing can be more attractive than the specimens of their
internal decoration with which we are acquainted. We are happy to
see the increasing use of fresco, but we want more public examples,
such as may auimnte the public taste which already exists. The
painted ceilings at Greenwich and Hampton Court never fail to attract
the attention of the public, and there can be no doubt that they woi;ld
fully appreciate whatever might be done. No places can be more
appropriate for this improvement than the public museums, and how-
ever wretched may be their condition we still feel more comfortable in
the old rooms at the British Museum than in the barren walls of the
new. Tlie walls indeed should be a running commentary on the con-

tents, like the Glyplotheca and the Pinacotheca, or like in the Palace
of the Conservatori, in the Capitol at Rome, where the.Roman statuary
is accompanied by friezes illustrative of the history of the republic. It
cannot be said that this would detract from the contents of the Museum,
as we have the example of the Louvre, where no one turns away from
the immortal works to the gorgeous ceiling. By this emplovment of
painters and sculptors an impulsive force would be given to "architec-
ture, and architects would more than regain what they might expend
in the first instance. The fine arts, indeed are not to be promoted like
the livers of French geese, by an artifical plethora of one member, nor
are they like a tree where the remaining limbs profit by the pruning
down of the rest, but they must be cultivated in common, and to neg-
lect any individual branches is to stiike at the roots and destroy the
nourishment of the rest.

The operations of colour are determined by strict mathematical
laws, and colours possess, if it inay be so termed, an atomical constitu-
tion. Newton, it may be rememliered, determined by the prismatic
experiment that there were seven simple colours, because he could not
decompound any of them ; but practical artists had long rejected this
doctrine, from being able to produce the whole from three. Before the
determination of this question Mr. Hay liad performed some very
ingenious experiments, which he relates, by which he mixed the yellow
and red rays and produced orange, the yellow and blue green, and so
on through the others; thus producing by synthesis what Newton
could not effect by analysis. The subject has now been determined by
Sir David Brewster, and it is now taught that light is composed of only
three simple colours, yellow, red, and blue ; that if these be reflected
in their due proportion, which is in an active state, white is produced;
if absorbed, which is a passive state, black is the result.

'Ihe powers of tliese, as determined by Field, are yellow, three ;
red, five ; and blue, eight. Mr. Hyde Clarke has given an analysis of
the prismatic spectrum, by which much the saiue result is produced.
Arranging the simple and compound colours under the heads of yellow,
red, and blue, and dividing them by twenty, the followuig is the
result : —

Yellow.

Red.

Blue.

Simple . . . 4^

45

60

Orange .... 10

17

Green .... 16

0

44

Indigo, &c. . . 0

64

66

Divide by 20 74

116

170

These three simple colours, by their combination, form the secon-
dary, red and yellow, orange, 8; yellow and blue, green, 11 ; red and
blue, purple, 13. The simple colours are softened down by the secon-
daries which they form in combination with the other two colours,
yellow by orange and green ; red by orange and purple ; blue by green
and purple ; and they are contrasted by a combination of the two
colours, necessary to make up the triad, which forms the compliment of
the colour with IC ; as yellow 3 by green 13, Iti ; red 6 by green 11,
16; and blue 8 by orange 8, 16. The same principle prevails in
nature in many extraordinary phenomena, as, for instance, in that dis-
covered by Buffon, when if you look steadily for some time on a spot
of yellow colour, placed on a black orwhite surface, it will appear sur-
rounded by a purple tinge; and so in the phenomena of polarised light
also, if the ordinary ray be red or blue, the extraordinary ray will be
green or orange. Sir John Robison related before the French insti-
tute a remarkable instance of this contrasting power in nature : a
surgeon of his acquaintance bled a patient in a porcelain basin having
green flowers at the bottom, and some time afterwards it was observed
that on the surface of the blood were formed red flowers corresponding
to the green ; and this experiment was repeated several times to ensuj-e
its not being an accident. In music the same thing occurs, where
there are three simple notes, C E and G, and if any one of them be
.sounded it will be accompanied by the other two as the harmonics ;
this may be perceived in the sound of a bell in succession, and in an
accompaniment on the string of a violincello. From the combination
of the secondaries proceed the testiaries, orange and green form citron,
19 ; orange and purple, russet, 21 ; and green and purple, olive, 24.
These act with regard to the secondaries as the secondaries do to the
primaries, and their neutralising power is 32 : thus orange, 8, is con-
trasted by olive, 24; green, 11, by russet, 21 ; arrd prrrple, 13, by
citron, 19. Besides their perfect intensity, all the colours can be
raised towards darkness, which is called shade, and lowered towards
light, called lint ; and the compound colours have besides the variatioir
of hue, by which is meant a greater admixture of any of the compo-
sing colours — thus orange may be made from the yellowest to the red-

1839.]

*rSE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL,

18d

dest. In a composition a strict equality nuist be preserved in these
variations of shade, tint, and hue.

Light holds a most intimate connection, botli in its constitution and
operations, witli all the other sciences, and must ultimately attain a
most important rank among the sciences, and repay back to them what
it has received from them. Many of the phenomena are only to be ex.
plained by reference to hydro-dynamic principles, and it is from them
that the undulatory theory, under the fostering care of Young, attained
its present preponderance. The relation of the laws of light to
acoustics and music are most astonishing in their resemblance ; and
Field, has arranged octaves of a musical and chromatic. Tiie
phenomena called polarised light, however hcauliful, are not con-
lined in their application to an entertaining exhibition, but
present philosopliers wiiii the most delicate instnnnents for as-
certaining the constitution of bodies. It is an optical law that all
transparent bodies become coloured when they are formed info plates
attenuated beyond certain limits, and moreover, that the particular
colours, which under these circumstances they show, are depen.
dent upon the degree of attenuation. It was tluis that Newton de-
termined that the thickness of the thinnest part of the soap-bubble,
wlien colours are lirst visible, is DO more than ^j~i of an inch, and
that before it bursts it attenuates to -rrrT^}- — ; and by the same
means we know that the transparent wings of some insects are not
more than foi'j^o of an inch in thickness. For an admirable expla-
nation of tlie laws of interference, and for a beautiful apparatus for
polarising light, for which he received the silver medal, we cannot do
better than to rcl'cr to tlie paper, No. 1, of Mechanics on the "Trans-
actions of the Society of Arts," by Mr. Goddard, of the Polytechnic
Institution. In this he ably demonstrates all the paradoxes of waves
producing stillness ; sound, silence ; and light, darkness.

The chemical relations, however, present features which become of
practical interest to the architect and engineer, and their full extent is
yet unascertained. M. Mitzcherlich observed that light inHuenced
crystallisation, and produced dimorphism, and from prismatic forms
changed the crystals of sulphate ol* nickel into that of the square octa-
hedron, without any apparent change in external form or appearance.
Light appears to possess two properties, sometimes separate and some-
times conjoined ; namely, that of illumination, and that of warmth.
Herschel, WoUaston, Rittcr, and Scheele have shown that there are
ra)'s transmitted from the sun which do not illuminate, and yet produce
more heat than the visible rays, while there are other invisible rays dis-
tinguished by their chemical effects. Scheele discovered that a glass
mirror, held before the fire, reflected the rays of light, but not those of
calorie ; but that when a metal minor was placed in the same position,
both light and heat were reflected. Herschel found that the invisible
rays emitted by the sun have the greatest heating power. In an expe-
riment on the heating power of the different rays of the spectrum, he
found that when the thermometer was placed out of the range of the
colored rays, it rose still higher than in the red ra\', which he considered
the strongest ; the heating power of these invisible rays was greatest
at the distance of half an inch beyond the red ray, but it was sensible
at the distance of an inch and a-half. The relative powers of colours
itj absorbing light and heat vary very much ; and Franklin's experiment
illustrative of this is well known : — He laid on the snow four pieces of
paper, white, yellow, blue, and black, and when he went to see the
effect, he found that the black paper had sunk an inch or two deep,
the blue a good deal, the yellow very little, the white not at all. The
relative chemical power of the several colours is not however known,
very few experiments having been made, and those conflicting. Mrs.
Sonierville considered the violet ray as the strongest, and the green as
the most sluggish ; and the experiments of Mr*. Robert Mallet, related
last year before the British Association, are to the same effect. He
gives the following as the period of complete decoloration of recent
solutions of caustic potass, by the chemical action of light under differ-
ent shades : —

Violet glass exposed to air

Ditto closed

Transparent flint glass

Ditto closed .

Yellow

Blue

Orange • , >

Red

Green unchanged in

30 hours

SO

80
115
170
185
190
200
200

The recent experiments of Sir John Herschel, however, lead lis to
expect very different results, and the establishment of more satisfactory
laws. The way, in wliich his law ofcoloiir acts as an agent or reagent
in economical pursuits will perhaps however be better illustrated by
e.xtracts from the following able paper by Mr. W. Kennish, carpenter
on board H.M.S. Victory, at Portsmouth, at p. 101. of the " Transactions
of the Society of Arts ;"-^

There is noDiing that will prove this evil more than by observing the black
streaks of a ship after being in a tropical climate for any length of time. It
will be found tfiat the wood round the fastenings is in a state of decay, while
the while work is as sound as ever: the planks that arc painted black will be
found split in all directions, while the frequent necessity of caulking a ship in
that situation likewise adds to Ihc common destruction ; and I am fully per-
suaded, th.1t a piece of wood painted wliitc will be preserved from perishing
as long again, if exposed to tiie weather, as a similar piece painted black,
especially in a tiopical climate.

I have heard many men of considerable experience say, that black is gooil
for nothing on wood, as it possesscB no bodff to exclude the weather. This is,
indeed, partly the case ; but a far greater evil than this attends flie use of
blacU paint, which ought entirely to exclude its use on any work out of doors,
viz., its property of absorbing heat. A black unpolished surface is the great-
est absorber and radiator of heat known ; while a white surface, on the other
hand, is a bad absorber and radiator of tlie same ; conbequently, black pain
is more pernicious to the wood than white. * # , *

Wood, having a black surface, will imbibe considerably mo're'heat in the
same temperature of climate than if that surface was white ; from which cir-
cumstance we may easily conclude, that the pores of wood of any nature will
have a tendency to expand, and rend in all directions, when exposed under
such circumstances, — the water of course being admitted, causes a gradual
and progressive decay, which must be imperceptibly increasing from every
change of weather. Tlie remedy to so great an evil is particularly simple,
viz., by using white, instead of black paint, which not only forms a better
surface, but is a preventive to the action of heat, and is more impervious to
moisture. The saving of expense would also be immense, and I aui convinced
that men of practical experience wiU bear me out in my assertion.

Two striking circumstances, which have fallen under my own immediate
notice, deserve mention. The tirst was tlie state of H. M. Sloop Ringdove,
condemned by survey at Halifax, N.S., in the year 1828.

This brig iiad been on the West India station for many years. Uu lur
being found defective, and a survey called, the report was to the effect thai
the wood round all the fastenings was totally decayed in the wake of the
black, while that in the wake of the white was as sound as ever; a striking
proof of the dift'erent efl'ect of the two colours.

The next instance I shall mention relates to H. M. Ship Excellent, of 98
guns (formerly the Boyne).

This ship is moored east and west, l)y bow and stern moorings; con-
sequently, tire starboard side is always exposed to the effects of the sun, both
in summer and winter, hi this situation her sides were pair,ted in the usual
manner of a ship of war, viz., black and white, of which by far the greater:
part is black; this latter portion on the starboard side I found it impossible to
keep tight; for, as often as one leak was apparently stopped, another broke
out, and thus baffled the skill of all interested. In the meantime, the side not
exposed to the rays of the sun remained perfectly soimd. I then suggested to
Mr. Kenuaway (the master caulker of her Majesty's dockyard at Portsmouth')', '
whohad previously given the subject consideration, the advantage likely to be'
derived from altering the colour of the ship's side from black to white
Captain Hastings having approved of the alteration, the ship was painted a •
light drab colour where it was black before, upon which the leaks ceased, and
she has now continued perfectly tight for more than twelve months ; and,
indeed, I can confidently state that the ship will last as long again in her
present situation, as she had begun to shrink and split to an astonishing,
extent when the outside surface was black, and which has entirely ceased
since the colour was altered.

This result of black we may readily believe, when we recollect]
Saussiire's cxpciimcnts on the Alps, when he placed on a mountain a '
box, lined with black cloth, with the side next the sun, closed by three
panes of glass at a little distance apart the one from the other, and
found the thermometer rise ;jOo in two hours from the concentration of"
the sun's rays. We might give a greater number of examples, and '
particularly of the manner in which it bears upon agriculture, but it
may perhaps be sufficient if we remind our readers tliat Mr. Kcnnish's
experiinent is going on at a fearful scale on many extensive pieces of ,
woodwork, to which the attention of architects and engineers might be ^
dfrt'JtoJ. ■" '■'

Jilr; Hay's book is the fourth edition of a work decidedly esteeme'tf"-
ibr its practicability, cheapness, and the soundness of its principles, and"
'"o' it is added in this edition an excellent Treatise on House-painting. '■
li. is indeed the clieapest and best work on the subject, and one to
which our readers of all classes may refer with advantage and deliglit.

■ 'Tb'diftuse a taste for this neglected branch of art, and wc should be
indeed pleased to see the people waken up from this lethargy and call
on otir architects to revive the beauties of internal decoration. King

1 o<us' architects are alive in Bavaria, painting houses, inside and out, •
: u'lithochromy, and why should painting in England remain where ifi "

■ vife iB Sir James Thornhill's time, at the top of the dome of St. Panl'Si. ' '
nstead of being in our palaces, our piiWic buildings, and our houses.

A' Practical Treatise on Brirl^e BuiMiiK/. By E. Cresy, Esq. Arch,.
C.E., F.S.A,, &c. London 1 .John Williams. _ ■iiiw

We hail with pleasure the appearance of this work on Bridget] '
which is got up witli great care, and with numerous plates, beautifully

190

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL-

[May,

and clearly engraved. The first part now before us contains twenty
plates, which will be found of great value both by the architect and the
engineer.

The fii'St series relates to London Bridge, constructed by Sir John
Rennie ; a work with which we know no other that can stand in com-
parison, except perhaps Waterloo Bridge. It is a monument indeed
equally interesting from its grandeur, the boldness of the span of the
arch, the simplicity of its style, and the durability of its material ; one
which must command admiration in future ages to as great a degree as
it does now. It is interesting, no less from its own merits, than as a
triumph over the obstacles which it had to overcome. The drawings
consist of the plan, elevation and section, drawn toasmall scale, and of
the cofferdam, section, and centre, of one of the arches, the elevation of
the centre arch, and section and plan of an abutment, drawn to a scale
of twelve feet to an inch.

We have next the drawings of Stoneleigh Bridge in Warwickshire,
constructed by the late John Rennie, and consisting of one arch, with
two land arches in the abutments. The design of this work is beauti-
fully balanced. We have also another drawing of a bridge" by John
Rennie over the River Earn in Scotland, consisting of three elliptical
stone arches.

Of Bow Bridge, constructed by Messrs. Walker and Burgess, there
are two platrs. In our last number we gave the elevation of this
bridge ; but of course these engravings exhibit the design far better than
our wood-cuts.

There is a plate of one of the brick arches of 70 feet square, con-
structed by Mr. Braithwaite, on the Eastern Counties Radway, for a
viaduct over the River Lea. This bridge we have often admired for
its symmetry and simplicit}-. and for the excellency of the workman-
ship. As a pendant to this is a plate of the Iron Bridge, constructed
by Mr. Buck, over Fairfield-street, on the Grand Jimction Railway :
it is of 128 feet span, and 35 feet wide, and exhibits much ingenuity
and peculiarity in its consuuction. We shall not be content with this
single plate, but we expect, in the subsequent part of the week, to see
more of the details. A few wood engravings of the iron-work, drawn
on a large scale, and interspersed among the text, would exhibit it to
advantage, and render it a peculiar object of study and interest.

We then have one of Perronet's celebrated works, the bridge of
Saint-Maxence in France. This consists of three stone arches of 76
feet 9 inches span, and only 2 feet 7 inches rise. We are however by
no means favourable to this mode of construction ; for the arches are
rendered so very flat, that the stone-work may be considered little
better than a stone girder. If, loo, the abutment should give way in
the slightest degree, the disarrangement of the whole bridge w-ould
undoubtedly follow ; nor are we greater admirers of the centering,
for the fewer pieces of timber in a center is far better than having
them cut up into short lengths and distributed as they are in the
design before us.

Three plates exhibit sections of the naves of Bath Abbey church and
of AVells cathedral and of Wells Chapter-house. These exhibit very
clearly the construction of the vaulting and the advantages of the
buttresses. Mr. Cresy has bestowed considerable pains in obtaining
their correct dimensions from admeasurements taken on the spot,
and he has endeavoured to show by diagrams the peculiar method
adapted by the old architects in constructing the vaulting of our great
churches. We regret that we have not time or space to devote to the
examination of his portion of the work at present, although it is ap-
parently of some value to architects, but we shall on a future occasion
take a more extended view of it.

The present number seems rather to be intended as a sample of
the future volume, than as a defined part of the work ; the plates
being taken indiscriminately so as to show the intended mode of
procedure. As a specimen it excites high expectations, and if the
remainder of the work exhibit the same skill it cannot fail to be an
important accession to the libraries of both professions. The letter-
press we understand will form one thick volume, and we shall look
forward to it with some anxiety for the specifications and the de-
scriptions of the plates ; for until they are given it is almost impossible
for us to enter satisfactorily into a consideration of the several
bridges published in this work.

We have much pleasure in recommending the work to our profes-
sional readers, and doubt not that they will derive the same gratification
from it, which we have ourselves. We must earnestly recommend to
the Editors, as we did in noticing a similar work last montli, the great
utility of giving the specifications and full descriptions of the works,
interspersed with wood engravings, showing the details at greater
extent. Another most important feature, which cannot be neglected
•without injury, is, to give a particular description of the difficulties
which occurred in the progress of the work, the peculiarities of the

construction, the nature of the foundations, the velocity of the rivers
and the thrust of the arch. Such particulars go far to decide the in-
dividual character of each work, are of incalcidable use to the profes-
sion, and cannot fail to render the volume doubly valuable.

Appendix to Railway Practice, containiiii/ a copious Abstract of the
ichole of the Evidence given vpon the London and Birmingham and
Great Western Raihvai) Bills, when before Parliament, by S. C.
Brees, C. E. &c. London : John Williams, 1839.
The advance of engineering as a profession, of course increases the
extent of its social relations; and it has now, like many others, a body
of jurisprudence, exclusively its own. The knowledge of this pro-
fessional law is essential to the engineering student much more than
to any other class of professional men; for the engineer is necessarily
called upon to support, in their progress through parliament, bills
forjpublic works; and the manner in which evidence is given, and the effect
which it produces, must of course depend upon the witness's acquaint-
ance with previous practice. He is engaged too repeatedly in similar
pursuits, before the courts of law, at the Quarter Sessions, and the
other local tribunals; and has, in fine, much more to do with law
than the surgeon, or any profession which has its own peculiar code.

For one branch of this pursuit the work before us presents us with a
preparation, and it is executed with an ability which makes the profession
highly indoljted to Mr. Brees. He has here presented us with a condensed
abstract of the evidence given on the London and Birmingham, and
Great Western Bills, which in the original reports occupy three or four
volumes. Mr. Brees has effected this by suppressing the irrelevant
nonsense of counsel, and the repetition of the same questions, which it
is sickenina: to read, and painfnl to hear.

Appended to the work is a very useful Glossary, so as to render
it equally valuable to the non-professional reader ; and at the end are
six plates, r presenting the details of a six-wheel locomotive eiig;ine,
constructed by Messrs. Hawthorne, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. These
plates are copied from the original drawings, furnished by the inventors,
and give a very clear view of the arrangement of the machines.

Hints 'relative to the Construction of Fire-proof Buildings, and on the
Failure toproduce Sound and Estimable Architecture by the means at
present usually adopted. By Alfred Bartholomew, Architect.
London : John Williams.
This is a work written in a terse st3'le, which will doubtless prove

interesting- to the profession. It contains much valuable matter on

the present modes of construction, from which we make the following

extract relative to fire-proof buildings: —

2. Building;; both public and private as now usually constructed, with their
bond-timber, beams, rafters, joists, floorings, and other combustible materialf,
are, in fact, hke little else than so many enormous fire-grates with wood and
coals laid and prepared in them ready to be ignited by accident or desipn, to
spread loss and ruin, and often the cruelcst of deaths ; and if the shells and
other parts of buildings be of stone from Portland or from Bath, or of ordinary
marble, or from any other of llie calcareous quarries, such buildings form in
fact but lime-kilns, ready to be brought into use by the first application of
flame ; and in this respect, edifices walled with tlie most beautiful calcareous
free-stones and marbles fare the worst.

3. Sometimes in modern works, a pretence is made of rendering buildings
fire-proof, by the adoption of a breast-summer, a girder, or some other small
part of their fabrics, of cast-iron ; but these applications, amid conflagration
becoming heated by the masses of flaming timber about them, have the same
effect as the insertion of an iron in a grate of blazing coals, and indeed increase
the heat and danger, and generally by the application of water while hot snap
and increase the ruin.

4. Security in public buildings can alone be obtained by the total abolition
from them of combustible substances, except for the most immaterial parts of
them : — centuries ago our ancestors having made this discovery, by the cosily
and immense loss of most of their sacred fabrics, rebuilt them with scarcely any
wood in their composition, except in their roofs ; and to this wisdom of e.Npe-
riencc, wc almost owe (he very existence of most of our churches.

.'). The most poignant feelings of regret must take hold upon us, when ive
reflect, that our museums and other national and municipal depositories, are
but expensive pyres for the future immolation of Grecian and Italian marbles,
of Indian, Egyptian, and iWexican reliques, of Oriental and European manu-
scripts beyond price, and of scarce and Irrecoverable literature gleaned from
the whole world.

The timber doors and roofs of the Royal Library, that noble relict of the
virtuous George the Third, are fated, notwithstanding the admirable care of the
learned officers of the British Museum, pitcously to perform its Suttee, — for
fires mostly occur where they are least expected, and ravage most amid deposits
the most precious.

Some persons may fancy, that to erect buildings fire-proof, will of necessity
render them uncouth, inconvenient, and uii-architectural :■ — nothing could be
more erroneous.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENCtINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

191

Is the Pantheon at Rome either uncouth, inconvenient, or un-architectural ?
Do the same condemnations apply to the vaultings of St. Paul's, London, ,ind
to those of our other cathedrals ? or, indeed, is ihe new lath and plaster ceiling
to the minster of York architectural '?

It may rather be said, that beauty of form and structure absolutely require
them to be made lire-proof.

10. Roof-trus5cs may be made entirely of cast-iron, as are those to the new
choir of St. Saviour's Church, Southivark; and a covering of tiles, of slates,
or of metal, may be laid upon horizontal rafters of iron, ivithout the intervention
of any combustible material whatsoever.

1 1, One of the excellencies of vaulting is that in addition to affording the
means of rendering edifices iire-proof, it adds very prcat architectural beauty
to fabrics. There is scarcely any form which may not be covered in a graceful
manner with vaults and domes, so as to fit exactly the walls, and atford the
means of spanning every side of an apartment, whatever be its shape, with
correct and strong arches, without distortion either on the plan or in the ele-
vation, and combining justly with the architecture of the edifice. In fact,
when an attempt is made, with deal, lath and plaster to render a modem
apartment respectable in its decorations, it is frequently performed but by a
costly yet fragile and consumable imitation of fire-proof vaultings.

We hope to have occasion, at a subsequent period, again to refer to
it, and ehall for the present dismiss it -witli a recommendation of its
utility and conciseness.
Theoretical and Practical Essay on Bitumen ; selling forth its uses in

remote ar/cs, and revical in modem times, and demonstrating its

applicability to various purposes. London : Effingham Wilson.

This is a very useful pamphlet describing the various asphalte, their
properties, and its application. Wo shall, in some future number,
examine into the qualities of asphalte introduced in London, and see
how far that material is applicablo to engineering and arcliitcctural
purposes.

MIXTURE TO PREVENT THE INCRU.STATION OF STEAM
BOILERS.

MEMORANDUM.

.\dmiralty, 8th Jan., 18-39.

The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, in calling the particular
attention of all officers in command of steam vessels to the annexed abstract
of a report from Lieut. Kennedy, late commandinEC Her .Majesty's stcatn
vessel Spitfire, and Mr. .Tohns, the first engineer of that vessel, are pleased
to direct that the mixture tlicnMU described, which has been propo.«ed by
the latter officer to prevent incrustation on the inner surfaces of boilers, be
generally made use of for that purpose in all Her Majesty's steam vessels.
The directions as to the proportions of black lead and talloAV are to be
Btrictly followed, and the mixture is to be applied as often as circumstances
•will admit of it, every opportunity being taken as heretofore to remove
from the boilers the small deposit Avliich will still be formed.

Report of Lieut. Kennedy and Mr. Johns, enpiiieer of Her Majesty's
steam vessel Spitfire. — We beg leave to state that the proportion for a first
class steamer should be about sixteen potmds of melted tallow and two of pow.
dered black-lead, well mixed and laid on with a common tar-brush over the
inside of the tubes and fireplaces, and other inside parts of the boilers that
can be got at, every time after a passage of any length, as the more often
it is done the better. 77ic boilers arc lo be bloifu out as itsitat eixry tim
fiourf, for it is not to be supposed that, without proper attention being paid
to this necessary duty, this mixture Avill'prevent the incrustation from form-
ing ; the blowing off takes great part of it away while in solution, and what
remains, after short trips, may be swept off by" hand with a piece of oakum ;
and after long trips, should a thin incrustation remain on the plates, the
slightest blow ^^■ill cause it to fall olf in large flakes covered with black-
lead on the inner side, without the use of the chipping hammer, which
only makes tlie plates rough and more ready to receive and ri'tain the
deposit, and otherwise injures the boilers, t'ausing much labour to the
men. Ten poimds of tallow and one and a half of black lead would be
enough for the smaller steamers after each voyage; or, after a very long
voyage, that quantity used twice.

The Spitfire ran from JIalta to Corfu, from Corfu to Malta, from tlicnoe
to Gibraltar, and back to JIalta, with only one application of the inixture,
from want of time.

We consider that the Sdtiimixhn-c, i{ frcrjuoiHy and properh/ applied.
ihe same attention being paid to blon-inrj, qjf as before will cause the boilers
to last at least n/ovrtl' longer, and will be found a great saving m coals and
labour, doing away with the necessity of fresh water, (the Spitfire having
had only one supply in her boilers for eighteen months j ; and wo find that

the longer and more often it is used the cleaner the boilers look inside.

Nautical Magazine.

FAILURE OF THE HYTHE BRIDGE AT COLCHESTER;

Mr. JBraithwaite's Report tliereon to the Corporation.

This bridge was erected from the plaus of a local architect, over the river
Colne, at a place called the Hytb, adjoining the town of Colchester, ,and up to
which point the river is navigable for sailing vessels. The structure was
completed, and the road formed and open for traffic by the latter end of March
in the present year ; although up to that time the centres had not been eased.

Onthe 1st of .4pril, on their attempting to remove the centres, the arch

followed it ; and in their cutting away a bracing-piece the whole structure
iuddenly fell in — the centres being then unable to sustain the weight thrown
upon tlieni. The dimensions of the bridge were as follows ; — Span of the arch
(which was segmental,) 58 feet — the rise or versed sine being ten feet tliick-
ness of arch throughout 1 foot 6 inches ; and from face to face of ditto 23 feet.
The longitudinal depth or thickness of the abutments 10 feet; vertical
thickness of the abutments b feet— resting on planking laid transversely
insills, which were bedded in a foot and a half of concrete, below which,
was a loosibh strata of gravel. The arch was turned in four half brick
rings in cement, with about ten pieces of hoop-iron, bedded longitudinally
between each ring, and four iron tye-rods with washers placed tiansversely
through the arch ; the spandrells were filled up with loose earth, and
two small counterfeits, which were carried up in spandrell walls (with
the addition of the face walls) bad to resist the whole thrust of the arch.
Mr. Eraitliwaite, the Engineer in Chief of the Eastern Counties Railway, was
applied to by the corporation to report on the cause of the failure ; and, after
minutely examining the plans and remains of the structure, ha gave it as bis
decided opinion, that the former were so radically bad that it was impossible
for the structure to have stood ; and on the other hand, that the workmanship
was so defective, that with Ihe best and most carefully prepared plans, it must
have fallen. Mr. Braithwaite's estimate for a new bridge is £2,'200— the cost
of that just destroyed, was about £1,.^00.

The reverse quoins of the abutments have subsided about an inch and a
half; the cement in the arch, it is apparent, was quite killed by the too great
admi.^ture of saud ; at the keying-in of the arch, such a monstrous want of
care was exhibited, .as to be worthy of notice, — it appears they did not guagc
their courses, or if .so, did not work to it : as, when they arrived at the course
of key bricks, there was a space of .about 4j or 5 inches left: now instead
of taking out about half-a-do7,en or more courses of bricks — picking out the
largest, laying them dry, and then grouting them in — they keyed-in with
three-quarter ragged batts, laid longitudinally !

PUBLIC WORKS IN BELGIUM.

The public woiks projected in Belgium in the course of this year are nu-
merous and of great utility, both in Brussels and the principal cities. The
capital is to be embellished with four remarkable monuments ; the new
pakace of justice, the plans for which promise one of the finest buildings
of the kind in Europe ; the glassed gallery of the passage St. Hubert, which
will surpass in aichitectural beauty .any thing of the kind either in Paris or
London ; the new public hospital of St. John; and the house of industry in
the ciuartier Leopold. This last-named district is likely to be ornamented
with a great number of hotels and first-iate houses, especially if, as may be
expected, the P.alais de Justice is erected in it. The new streets opened
during the last year to the Faubourg of Saint Josseten Noode will be entirely
finished this year, and at their point of union the new house of industry of
the Faubourg will be built.

The construction of the station des Boyards, and that projected in front of
the rue Neuve, will give birth to two other quartiers, traced on a regular
plan, and ornamented with spacious squares and wide streets. A fourth
quartier will be formed beyond the Boulevard of Waterloo, and several new
streets are maiked out in the fauxbourgs d'lxelles, de Scharbeck, and de
Flandre. Finally, it is proposed to complete Ihe Boulevards, the abatloire,
and, generally, all the public works which the state of the finances of the
city have hitherto suspended. Twenty thousand workmen will not suffice
to execute all the plans proposed to render Brussels one of tbefinest capitals in
Europe.

At Ghent a new casino is to be built, which will not yield in beauty to that
built two years since after the plans of M. Roelaudt. The new Palace ol
Justice and the new theatre will be completed, and in fiont of the railway
station a new and large square will be constructed, in which several new
streets will terminate. It is probable also, that the foundation for a new
iio.spit,al will be laid Ibis year.

No city in Belgium, however, will profit more by the advantages of peace
than that of Liege. Vast plans are projected for the enlargement and embel-
lishment of this rich city. A great number of new streets are to run through
the old quartiers, and the works for the extension of the Mouse will ,add
a new cjuartier, and constitute one of the finest parts of Liege. Among the
public establishments which will be erected in the course of this year, are the
new botanical garden and the conservatory of music in front of the facade, of
which will be raised the statue of Grctry.

At Antwerp the quays on the Scheldt are to be finished, and a new lish-
mavket will be built, together with the interior station of the railroad, and
several streets leading to it. The colossal statue of Rubersh will be cast thi.i
year, but will not be raised on its pedestal before ISIO.

At Louvain the public hospital will be entirely rebuilt, and replaced by an
edifice as remarkable for its extent as the beauty of its architecture. The
wide extent of land at present in cultivation, which extends from the Porte du
Pare, to the Porte de Diest, is already being covered with buildings, and will
shortly become one of the most populous frontiers of INIetonia. This new
feature will be principally owing to the railroad.

At Mons a new theatre is projected, also an abattoir, covered markets, and
the opening of several new streets, which will afford the necessary communi-
cation between the different parts of the city. At Couitui also, numerous
improvements will take place, and without entering into any further enumera-
tion, we may say that the confidence produced by the approach of a settled
order of things, will sufficiently manifest the wisdom of that division, which,
leaving Belgium integrally free, leaves her at the same lime the mistress and
the architect of her future glory.— Coiirie'' Beige,

192

THE CIVIL ENGINEEB. AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[May,

proCjEedings of scientific societies.
institution of civil engineers.

March 19, 1839. The I'resident in the Chair,

Oh Mr. Smtaton*s " Estimale of Animal Power, fxlrartrd from hi.-i il/.S'. Fitpera." By
John Farey, M. Inet. t'. E.

The amount of mechanical power lias been frequently overstated, in conse-
quence of the conclusions being drawn from efforts continued for too short a
time. Desaguliers estimated the power of a man as equal to raising 5507 lbs
one foot high per minute ; this was found by Sracaton to be too high ; several
experiments are recorded, in which dififerent values are assigned to the power
of a man, and he ultimately fixed it at about two-thirds of the above, or 3672
lbs. Several experiments are recorded of the estimate of the power of a horse,
and of the quantity of water raised by various maeliines.

The communication is accompanied by a letter in Mr. Smeaton's hand-
writing, dated ^ilst Feb. 1789.

"Account of the firing of Gunpowder under Wuter, by Ihe Volttiic Balleiy at Chathaiiif
March \Ch ISS9, under the Direction vf Col. Pusley." By F. Bramah, Jun.,
A. Inst. C. E., and C. Manby, A. Inst. C. E.

Exp. I A tin canister containing 40lb3 of powder was sunk in deep water,

and the coil containing the conducting wires, one-fifth of an inch in diameter,
by which the powder was to be fired, was vered out to its whole length of
500 feet from the boat in which the voltaic battery was placed. The con-
nexion being made the explosion was instantaneous, and the concussion was
felt very sensibly on the shore.

Exp. '2. — Three canisters, each containing a charge of 5 lbs., were sunk at
a distance of 50 or 60 feet from each other, and a pair of connecting wires, 100
feet long, were attached to each ; the ends of tliese wires were soldered togC"
thcr by threes, and on the connexion being made only one of the canisters
was fired. The wires in this experiment were of common copper bell wire,
about one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter. The voltaic battery used was one
of Professor Daniell's improved construction. The preparation of the con-
ducting wires, and the manner of discharging the battery, appeared the tame
as described in Mr. Bethell's communication of last Session. »

M<(rrh 2(i, 18o9. Tlic President in the Chair.

The following were ballotted for and elected ; G. A. Oldham, as a Gra-
duate ; Sir John Scott Lillie, Captain Vetch, and J. C. Shaw, as Associates.

** Description of a Sawing Maciune for cutting of)' Ratlway Bars.*' By JoSErH
Glynn, M. lost. C. E.

The advantage of having the ends of the railway bars cut as nearly square
as possible, that they may truly abut against eacli other, is so great, that many
attempts have been made to effect it. The author in this communication de-
scribes the method which is adopted at the Butterley Works in the manufacture
of the rails for the Alidland Counties Hallway. In general the ends, rough
and ragged as they come from the rolls, are separately reheated and cut off by
the circular saw; but the accuracy in this case depends on the workmen pre-
senting the bar at right angles to the plane of the saw. As this cannot be
insured, the difficulty may be obviated as follows : — The axis of the saws and
the bed of the machine, which is exactly like that of a slide lathe, arc placed at
right angles with the line of the rolls in which the rails arc made ; the saws
are fixed inhcadstocks and slide upon the bed, so as to adjust them for cutting
the rails to tlie exact lenji:th, and aro three feet in diameter and one-
eighth of an inch tliick, with teelh of the usual size, in circular saws for
wood, and make lOUO revolutions per minute ; the teeth are in contact with
the hot iron too short a period to receive any damage, but to prevent all
risk the lower edge of the saw dips in a cup of water. The saw plate is secured
between two discs of cast iron faced with copper and exposed only at the
part necessary for cutting through the rail. The rail on leaving the rolls
is hastily straightened with wooden mallets on a cast-iron plate, on which it
lies right for sawing and sufficiently hot; thus a considerable saving of time,
labour, and heat, is effected. The rail is brought into contact at the same
time with the two saws, and both ends are cut off by one operation. If
the saws be sharp and the iron hot, the 78 lb. rails are cut through in twelve
seconds. The rail, on leaving the saws, is placed in a groove planed in a
thick cast-iron plate ; thus all warping is prevented. The author then de-
scribes certain mechanical ariangemcBts', which are exhibited in detail in the
drawing accompanying the communication.

"A Description of I lie Turnhridges on the Herefordshire and GMctSUrsHire Canal,"
By Stephen Ballarb, A. Inst. C. E.

In taking to pieces the old turnhridges on the Herefordshire and Glouces-
tershire Canal, the author observed that the spikes used to fix the planks down
to the carriers had caused the decay of the timber ; that the balance weights of
stone confined in a box under the planks kept the limber very, moist ; that the
timbers near the ground where there was not a free circulation of air, and
the wood wherever it was pierced with iron, were decayed.

In the bridges now described, no spikes are used to iix down the planks, but
the planks are held in their places by two fiat ro.ls extending the whole length
of the planking. The author then describes in detail, by reference to the
drawing accompanying the communication, the peculiar method ef construc-

•« See "WinuteB," April Si, 1838.

tion which he Ijas adopted. The planks are three-eighths of an inch apart, so
thai dirt and wet may not lodge in the joints. The bridge is balanced by two
stones hung at tlic ends of the swing poles of about six cwt. each. The four
principal carriers are supported by tlirce cast-iron bearers fixed to a grooved
circle, which rests on cast-iron balls running in another grooved circle. By
this construction no planks are pierced with spikes ; the box of stones is got
rid of, and a free access of air is obtained ; and the peculiar causes of destruc-
tion to which turnhridges are exposed, are, it is conceived, in a great measure
obviated.

" Description of an Instrument for setting out the T^idth of Ctiftinffs and Emhanhni^nti
of Raitways^ Canals, or Eaods, as particularly appUeahk to falling or side-lying
ground." By Henry Carr, Grad. Inst. C. E.

The object of this instrument is to facilitate the operation of determining the
distance of the outer lockspit from the centre line of a cutting or embankment,
by avoiding all calculation, and reducing the usual threefold operation into one.
The principle of its construction is the formation of a half cross section,
which may be easily altered to suit all cases witli regard to base, side
slope, and inclination of surface. The construction of the instrument is
described in great detail by refercnoo to the drawing accompanying this
communication. The author states that he set out a portion of the South
Eastern Railway with this instrument, and found it answer exceedingly well.
The experience of the first instrument has suggested some improvement in its
construction, which is represented in another drawing,

Observalions on the present Mode of executing RaUways : with Siiggestiaas
for It more ecottomicat, ijet equally efficient System of both e.recuting and

ivorhini/ them. By Francis Whishaw, M. Inst. C. E.

The author, at tbc commencement of this paper, alludes to the principal
causes of the great differences between the original estimate and cost of
railways. Among these he enumerates the imperfect knowledge of the
strata, which occasions the cuttings and embankments to be formed with
slopes, which arc dangerous, and add to their cost; the imperloct forma-
tion of the embankments, especially in clayey soils, which, in the opinion
of tlic author, ought to be carried up in layers or courses of from one and
a half to two yards in thickness, sufficient time being allowed for subsidence
before the next layer is added ; tlie cost of stalions, which, in somo of the
great lines, forms a considerable proportion of the whole cost.

The author then proceeds to suggest means for effecting a considurable
saving in the original cost of railways ; a certain method of preventing ac-
cidents by collision; a saving in the annual expenditure; and a better adap-
tation of the locomotive engine to its work.

\\'itli these views he proposes a single line of rails ; that the line should
be divided with intermediate engine stations (three on the Loudon and
Birmingham, for instance), the engines at each being suited to the prevail-
ing gradient of each. Thus a line of railway may be more easily laid out,
as one or two unfavourable inclines will not affect the working of the
whole. At each station there must be a small portion of an additional
line of rails, and also at other convenient intervals. The mode of work-
ing such a line is as follows : — Engines start simultaneously in each direc-
tion for the terminal and intermediate stations. These engines will pass
each other at one of thf portions of the double line, and the engine being
turned, and taking the other train, will return to the station whence it
started, when anotlicr exchange of trains takes place. Thus there is a
regular interchange of loads throughout the day, and each engine is con-
fined to its own portion of the line, and then it is impossible that a colli-
sion can take place. Equal accommodation would be afforded to the pub
lie, and tlic engine-man, from being always confined to the same small
portion of the line, would be perfectly conversant with every part of it.
The saving which would on this system be effected on tho original cost, is
estimated at more than 500/. per mile.

ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.

At an ordinary meeting, held on Monday, Sth April, 1839, H. E. Kendall,
fellow, in the chair. Monsieur Zocher, of Haerlcm, member of the Institute
and Royal Academy of Fine .'Vrts at Amsterdam, pursuant to the recommen-
dation of the Council, founded on the application of Jlonsieur Rcijers, of the
Hague, was elected honorary and con'esponding member.

The following donations were announced ; — From Cavalier Pictro Biancbi,
honorary and corresponding member, a drawing of the plan and section, and
engraved view of the great church of S. Francesco de Paolo, at Naples,
erected by him. From Signer Nicolini, of Naples, specimens of Nictoli
Litofagi. By II. Gaily Knight, Esq., JI.P., a copy of his illustrations to
the Normans in Sicily, entitled Siracenic and Norman Remains, folio, &c.

Mr. Donaldson read a description of the Breakwater at Plymouth, by Sir
John Rennie, accompanied by drawings at large, illustrative of the subject,
whicli we have inserted in another part of the Journal.

Mr. Smith, of '25, Great Charles-street, Birmingham, attended, and ex-
plained several samples of locks and other furniture.

Mr. Richardson continued his series of lectures on Geology— subject, the
tertiary formation, geographical extent and distribution of the tertiary depo-
sits; classification of Mr. Lyell ; Eocene; Miocene; Pliocene; basins of
London, Paris, and the Isle of Wight; organic remains of the English and
Paris basins ; Cuvierian Pachydermata ; Palaeotheria Anoplothenia ; deposits
of Aix yEnin^en, Monte Bolca ; extinct volcanoes of Auvergne ; of the
Rhine ; tertiary deposits of North and South America, &c. &c.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

19S

As in my last discourse I enteredl (On a consideration of the Zoological rela-
tions of the strata and the conneiiion which they bear to animated nature, I
purpose, in the discussion of this cisning, to consider the rocks as so much
inert matter, adapted, however, foi* the purposes of mankind, in particular as
regards that art of which you are professors. We commence then with a
view of these substances which a-i comprised under the convenient name
of rocks, and which, in fact, chiesiy consist of indurated sands, clays, and
limes — which, as I have already stated, once existed in the state either of
sand, or mud, or fluid ; and I will cGiimence by pointing out the nature of these
substances and the principles by which they are combined together. All
bodies are divided by the chemist i:ito simple and compound ; simple sub-
stance5 being those out of which r.othing' different from themselves can be
obtained; the compound, those whith contain two or more clemeals. The
number of elementary bodies" at piisent recognised is 53, the amount was
formerly greater, but has been matirially reduced by the investigations and
experiments of modern science, bouiss, which sometime since were considered
simple, being proved, by recent analysis, to bo compound. Although the
number of elements amounts to 53, yet that of minerals, which they form, does
not reach 4(J0 ; a fact which affords I beautilul nnalogy,with similar restrictions
imposed on the animal kingdom. We know that certain limits are assigned
on the production of animals so as to prevent the intermixture of species and
the consequent confusion of races. In like manner the multiplication of
minerals is governed by strict laws, with the obviously similar design of pre-
venting the confusion which would arise from their combination being left
wholly unchecked. The chiof ingredients of the rocks are the nine earths,
silex, alumina, lime, glucine, zircon, yttriti, barytes, strontia, and magnesia,
which, with the non-metallic substances, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon,
sulphur, chlorine, fluorine, and phosphorus, with potassium and sodmm, consti-
tute the principal part of the generally prevailing minerals and rocks. The
common sedimentary rocks are usually composed of the three first of the
above named materials ; flint, clay, ot lime ; and they each possess a peculiar
cleavage or fracture, which is invariable in each class of substances.
Thus, if a flint be broken, it has a glassy or conchoidal fracture, and a
cutting edge ; but if chalk or marl be fractured, they have a dull or earthy
edge, while on fracturing a chrystal of carbonate of lime every fragment
preserves more or less distinctly a rhomboidal form ; a fact which shows
the poweilessness of man over nature, and his subjection to the laws which
regulate matter ; since it has justly been observed we cannot break a stone
but in one of nature's joinings. The lecturer then proceeded to the
subject of stratification. IJc observed, that a stratified rock is one whose
bounding surfaces are parallel, or nearly so, for great distances, thus com-
posing a larger or tabular nia^s, which is called a stratum or bed ; and a
number of these strata, possessing a con\mon character, and having a
common origin, are called a formation — as the chalk formation, lias forma-
tion, &c. The beds, as already mentioned, must have been deposited in a
horizontal position, but they have since been subjected to so many changes
and revolutions, to so many liftings, sinkings, and movements, by a force
acting from below, that they may either be horizontal, inclined, vertical,
curved, t-ontortud, or even as IVIr. iVIurchison has lately shown, reversed, and
completely overturned. Stratified rocks are usually large, and sometimes
especially lacustrine deposits, thinly laminated. The iinstratified rocks pre-
sent none of this parallelibni of bounding surface, they exhibit in general the
appearance of shapeless lumps, and though tliey are sometimes divided into
blocks — granite in particular, which assume the appearance of beds — this
structure may be distinguished both by the character of the rock itself and the
comparatively small extent to which these extend. When the height of these
blocks very much exceeds their breadth the structure is called columnar, as
is fretiueutly the case with basalt, porphyry, and greenstone. Veins and
fissures in modern rocks are filled with bones ; in ancient with minerals, as
silver, lead, tin, &c. If the fissure be such as to cause a displacement of
strata, it is called a fault; these have their disadvantages and advantages;
they counteract the tendency of beds to plunge to depths inaccessible to
human power and skill : they divide a bed of coal into several stages, and
render it accessible; and when filled with clay, act as a dam to keep out
water, and prevent the mines from being flooded.

Geographical distribution is most widely developed ou the continent of
Europe — France, Italy, Germany, Hungary ; on the continents of Asia and
America, and in Australia. They present, aiuong other phenomena, the fact
that from the prevalence of lacustrine deposits the beds of vast bodies of
fresh water, this part of the world appears to have been for a vast period
the site of lakes as vast as those which exist in the North American continent
at the present day ; and from tlie remains of extinct volcanoes, volcanic
power seems to have been called forth to an immense scale. In this country
w^jhave only pliocene represented by the crag of Norfolk and Suftblk, a vast
aocumulation of sand and gravel deposits lying in chalk. The miocene is
altogether wanting in any well-defined bed. Eocene exists in the London
basin. This vast gulph of an ancient sea of chalk is bounded on the south
by the North Downs, the hills of Keigate, Sutton, and Godstone, and extends
on the west beyond High Elm Hill, Berkshire, and on the north-west is
flanked by the chalk hills of Wiltshire, Berkshire, O.xfordshire, Buckingham-
shire, and Hertfordshire; it spreads over Essex, a considerable partof Sufl'olk.
Epping, and Hainault forests, the whole of Middlesex, and a portion of
Buckinghamshire. On the east it is open to the sea, the Isle of Sheppy
being an outwork of the same deposit. It is conceived to have been ah
estuary, from the vast number of fossil fruits and other spoils of the land.
The stitf blue or black clay, called London clay, contains marine exuvia,
shells, sharks, teeth, fish, &c. The heaths in the neighbourhood of London
are marine sands, hs Bagshot, Friraly, Purbiight, and Hampstead, I

In alluding to the geology of Auvergne, Mr. Richardson observed that, in
addition to the other attractions of Auvergne, he was indebted to Mr. Dela-
behce for information that the architect will there find samples of the earliest
style of Byzantine architecture. Mr. D. adds, that as an architect is compelled
to travel, in order to complete his education, an attention to geology will
enable him to understand the nature of the stone employed in architecture,
and the reasons why employed. And allow me to add, that these advantages
will not be confined to mere profit; but will tend to invigorate our faculties,
and extend the horizon of our mind. If, as who can doubt, the aphorism of
Lord Bacon be true, that all study is valuable, what study so instructive, so
fitted to improve us, as that which teaches us the comparative insignificance
of ourselves, and the wisdom and power of our great Creator ?
2'2d April, 1839 — Earl de Grey in the chair.
The secretary announced that the Council had admitted Alfred I3atsoii as
student. Robert William Wylnc, Esq., of New River-head, and Samuel
Lapidge, of Derby-street, Westminster, were elected associate.?.

The following donations, &c., were announced: — By the Institute of Civil
Engineers, Transactions of the Institution, Part I of vol. 3. By M. Carl
Tottie, Elevation of Uoyal Palace at Stockholm (drawing) ; copy of 1st voll
of Sepulchral Monuments. By B. Wyon, Esq., engraving of the great sea.
of England. By H. E. Kendall, fellow; select views of Roman antiquities,
by George Wightwick : Palazzi di Genova, Jacobi ; Lauri Antiquoe urbis
splendor. By Sir Jetfry Wyatville, hon. fellow; Terra cotta figure of Inigo
Jones. By Ruysbeck ; original bust of James Wyatt, architect. By Rossi ;
architectural allegory, by Angelica Kaulfman ; and the Transactions of the
Society of Arts, 35 vols. By T. L. Donaldson, hon. secretary, Vitruvius
BIpontine edition, 1807. By J. B. Papworth, fellow, Vitruvius Delact
edition.

Mr. Godwin look occasion to mention the establishment at Oxford of a
society for promoting the study of gothic architecture among the clergy, and
commented on the probable good results. Mr. Fowler and Mr. Donaldson
spoke on the same subject.

His Lordship, the President, then proceeded to distribute the medals awarded
as follows: — In delivering the medal to Mr. Robinson, V. P., the repre-
sentative of the first candidate, absent in the country, his lordship observed
that he felt happy in conferring another tribute of respect on the same
individual who had again deserved it. As it was the desire of the Institute that
a candidate wiio received two medals should consider the second as an
advance upon the first, they had granted the augmentation of a gold rim,
which he felt happy in saying that Mr. Sharpe highly deserved. — To Mr.
Pocock, the Earl remarked, that it was .also for the second time that a distinc-
tion was conferred on him, and that in order not to relax competition, the
Institute had determined in all cases of candidates previously distinguished,
gaining a prize, to confer a similar one also on the candidate next in merit. If,
said the noble Earl, addressing Mr. Hall, we feel a pleasure in rewarding our
own members we feel one equally sincere in conferring our prizes on those
from a distance, as thus we are assured of the extension of our influence, and
particularly in a case where your father holds the high position of president
of a similar institution at Manchester.

We felt great pleasure at seeing the numerous attendance, and among tlie
company we recognised the Marquis of Northampton, Sir Henry Ellis, and
Sir JeftVey WyatviUe.

To Samuel Sharpe, associate, for the restoration of the baronial castle of
Sherifi' Hutton, the Soanc medallion with a gold rim.

To ^^'illiam Willmen Pocock, associate, and Edward Hall, of Manchester,
for their essays on the peculiar characteristics which distinguish Roinan from
Grecian architecture, with particular reference to the works of the ancient
Romtms — the medals of merit.

A paper was read by Ambrose Poynter, fellow, on the parallel styles and
periods of Gothic architecture in France and England.

The lecturer commenced by apologising for intruding upon the attention of
his audience on a subject so backnied as the progress of the Gothic style in
England, but observed that this progress was most efficiently illustrated by
referring to the course of architecture in France. It is then seen that through
a great portion of the architectural histories of the two countries that there is a
great coincidence in each in the durations of epochs of style ; and, in fact, in
many instances wo can only explain the phenomena of architecture here by
its cognate works in the Norman provinces of France. This relation the ac-
companying tabic will serve to illustrate, of which the French portion is de-
rived from M. Comon of the Antiquarian Society of Caen, and the English is
modified from the works of Mr. Rickman.

CO.MrARATiVE CHRONOLOGY OF FRENCH AND ENGLISH JlEUtiiVAI,

KiiijUsli,

Norman • ^

Early English ,
Decorated English

Perpendicular

French,

ARCHITECTURE.
Tears,

950,

1000 f Romanesque.

IOjO'
I 1 100 [• Transition.
1 1150*

S 1-200 \ Primordial Gothic
) l^oO \

1300 '''*' epoch. ( Secondary or Gothiquc
I 13j0 ^ 2d epoch. ( Rayonnant.
'1400 J
I 1450 ^ 1st epoch.

•}^00|2d epoch.

I Tertiary or Gothique
■> Flamboyant,

19i

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Uj

iY,

la the middle and South of France there still exist many remains of Ro-
manosque of a very early date. In Auvergnc, Baron Taylor remarked a
curious church of that era, of which tlie arch was decorated with the chevron
mouldin". At Pontoise, the cathedral, altViough altered in the sixteenth
century, still show marks of great antiquity, and to the tower in jiavticular it is
irspossible to assign a date.

We then come to the Transition period corre^iionding to our Norman, and
we sec its progress from the Romanesque. We can perceive as it were, the
principles of Gothic architecture developing themselves in an infant existence.
These arc after all inseparable from the Transition styles, and although they
may, like colour, in some cases be unimportant, yet they are stdl an essential of
the design. The identity of the Norman and the Anglo- Norman is perfect,
although in the latter less advanced. At the same time, the English style is
free from that meanness which too oflt-n degrades the original Norman, and is
extremely perceptible in St. Etienne, at Caen, and St. .lulien ; the elaborate
doorways also, which we possess in England, arc rare in France. The differ-
ence in the execution of the ornamental details it is diSficult to account for, un-
less on those principles of the subdivision of labour, which we know to have pre-
vailed in Gothic architecture. Thus these details being left to native artists,
there is a conbiderable diversity between them. In France, the Byzantine
style long exercised an influence peculiar to that country, and we see, in the
Anflo-Sa.von missals, that the English possessed a_mode of decoration having
its distinct peculiarities.

The period of the transition, from the circular to the pointed arch, is the
same in the two countries, although undoubtedly earlier in France, yet not to
the extent which the zeal of the Norman antic[uaries would endeavour to make
us believe. No sound proofs have ever been brought forward by them of the
authenticity of the dates they assign to the origin of the pointed siyle, and we
i;annot therefore, in the absence of such evidence, recognise these extraordi-
nary claims. In the middle of the twelfth century, ive tind the lancet arch
coming into use, although the round arch was retained in both countries for
occasional use. Tljc Cathedral of Lisieux is one of the earliest specimens
of this style, and the porch lias some remarkable dovetail mouldings. The
Cathedral of Coutances, in Brittany, be it said, without oll'ence to Salisbury,
is one of the best examples of lancet arcbitecture, and it also has the rare cir-
cumstance of aisles in the transept, greatly conducing to the beauty of the
eifect. Perhaps not six JEnglish travellers have seen this building, and it is
one which is as interesting as it is rare.

We now come to the rayonnant corresponding to the decorated English
style, one of the earliest and best specimens of which we see at Amiens.
These styles we find appearing together both in France and England,
and gradually developing their beauties. This period the F'reneh authorities
divide into two epochs, of the first of which the Sainte Chapel at Paris,
is an example. This building also is remarkable for containing some
of the earliest and most extensive specimens of painted glass, well
worthy of the attention of the visitant. In the second epoch we find the
finest cathedrals in France constructed, but in attempting to mark its
limits we must not suppose that these are to be defined by any strict line,
nor that these eras practically exist, but like the epochs of geology are
conventional arrangemetns for general convenience. In the gradual
development of this period, it is remarkable that its influence was not
Cierted upon those members which are usually aftectcd, but that it was
removed to others. Thus the windows of the choir, which are a general
criterion, sutr.;red little change in this time, as we may see for instance in
Exeter. This period in France derives its name of Rayonnant from the
ornaments of the windows being formed by the evolution of circles so as
to give the appearance of rays, as the F'iamboyant docs from its forms
resembling fianics. The churcli of St. Ouen at Rouen is one of the noblest
examples of this period, and the eastern portion is particularly worthy of
aUention.

In the fourteenth century we find the connection between English
and French architectiu-e to cease, and that each tbilows an independent
course. The claims of the English perpendicular style have perhaps been
ovcratcd, if indeed it possess sufficient distinction of character to claim
for it the title of a style. It seems indeed as if it were conceived, but
miscarried, and is .everywhere full of the grossest anomalies. Even its
proudest examples, the cathedrals oi Dorchester and Gloucester, and
IMerton College, Oxford, are open to the severest criticism. The Flambo-
vant has adopted the depressed arch like the perpendicular style, but is
principally characterised by dividing the_windows from three centers, four
being rare. It has the appearance of being composed only of windows and
buttresses and hence its imposing eft'ect ; its fault, however, is an exuberance
of decoration. It must be observed that although during its career it
mainlained a superiority over the English Perpendicular, yet that it fell
into a degeneracy, to which the latter was never subjected. The tower of
the church of Verneuil is well worthy of attention, and is even a greater
rarity to English travellers than that of Coutances.

IVlr. Poynter concluded by pointing out the pecidiarities in the composition
of the Flamboyant style. Five aisles, are common in France, although
in England we have no such instance except at Chichester, otherwise
they affixed a range of external chapels, and both of these processes greatly
tend to destroy the outline. The F'rench raised the doorway in the
west front, while the English lowered it, and the former made their portals
occupy the centre compartment. The spires in Normandy, of whatever it
period, seem to be east in one mould, and possess a general uniformity which
is very remarkable. Thus those of St. Etienne at Caen, and St. Leu at
Coutances, and many others, although of ditt'erent epochs, have much the

same appearance. In vaulting the English have a groat superiority, and
their fine ceilings are without rivals in France, allhougit the deliciency of
the French did not proceed from ignorance. The Fr«nch cliurclics also are
remarkable for being without battlements. In conclusion, Jlr. I'oynter
remarked that he presented these notes as the results of his own observations,
and expressed his gratification if he should have contiibutcd to the stores
of knowledge, which must increase frcur such contributions like the accu-
mulation of geological masses.

ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY.

Moiilhl;j Mettiny uf the Sxicl;/, hclil on Tuesday Eveiiimj, the Oih of April.
Wm. Tjxe, Es«., President, in the Chair.

E. W. Brayley, jun., Esq. P". G.S., F. L.S., delivered his fourth and con-
cluding lecture of his present course; the subject of which was. " On those
Physical and Chemical properties of Building-stones, on wliich their use
essentially depends." — This lecture, like the former ones, entered very fully
into the matter under consideration, and was very clearly exemplified by
tables of experiments, by drawings of various kinds, and by specimens of the
stones themselves.

After the lecture, the President called the attention of the meeting to the
sketches produced by the student members for the subjects iumounced at the
last meeting : he then announced the subject for the next sketch as fol-
lows : — viz., A Design for an Ornamental Inidgc in a Park — to be in one
Arch of 50 feet span, and the style to be either Gothic or Italian.

Some very beautiful specimens of locks and other fastenings of a superior
nature were lying upon the table, and were furnished by Messrs. C. Smith and
Son, of Birmingham. Many of the hinges and fastenings were exceedingly
clever, arid obtained general approbation.

There were also several other specimens of art, besides dravpings arranged
about the rooms. Among the latter was one by Mr. A. \V. Hakewill, showing
the manner proposed for laying out the grounds of the Royal Horticultural
gardens at Chiswick.

At the conclusion of the meeting the President gave notice that a special
mcetingofthe members would beheld on Monday evening the 1 jth April, to take
into consideration the printed resolutions of the Greshani Connnittee, issued as
instructions to architects furnishing designs for the New Royal Exchange.

ROYAL SOCIETY.

March 21. — The Marquis of NoiiriiAMrxoN, President, in the chair.

Thomas William Fletcher, Esq., and the Rev. Thomas Gaskin, were elected
Fellows.

The following papers were read: —

1. Dvscnpliun uf a Compcnsuliiv] Hiimmetcr, udapled lu McleorokyUal
Purposes, and ref/iiiring 110 Corrections cither for Zero or Jbr Temperature:
by Sajiui:!, B. Howlett, Esq.

In the instrument here described, there is |)rovidcd, in addition to the
ordinary barometric lube inverted, in the usual way, in a cistern of mercury, a
second tube of the same dimensions, placed by the side of the former, and
likewise filled with mercury, but only to the height of twenty. eight inches
above the level of the mercury of the cistern. This tube is closed at its lower
end, and fixed to a float supported by the mercury in the cistern ; and it bearg
at its upper end, an ivory scale three inches in length. The elevation of the
mercury in the barometric tube is estimated by the dilfercnce between its level
and that of the mercury in the closed tube, and is measured on the ivory scale
by the aid of a horizontal index, embracing both the tubes, and sliding vertically
along them. As the float which bears the closed tube to which the scale is
attached rests freely on the mercury in the cistern, and consequently always
adjusts itself to the level of that fluid, no correction for the zero point is
needed ; and, as every change of temperature must similarly afi'ect the columns
of mercury in both the tubes, after the scale has been adjusted so as to read
correctly at any given temperature, such as 3-2°, which may be effected by
comparison with a standard barometer, every other reading will correspond to
the same temperature, and will require no correction. The author considers
the error arising from the difference of expansion corresponding to the different
lengths of the two columns of mercury, and which will rarely amount to ore
four-hundredth of an inch, as too small to deserve attention in practice, being-
in tact, far within the limits of error in ordinary observations. Subjoined to
the above paper is a letter from the author to Sir .lolm Herschel, containing a
statement of comparative observations made with a mountain barometer, and
with the compensation barometer, from which it appears that the use of the
latter is attended with the saving of a great quantity of troublesome calcula-
tion. The comparative observations are given in a table, exhibiting a range of
differences from +.012 to — .016 of an inch.

-. An Account of the Fall of a Meteoric Stone in the Cold Bohheveld, Cope
of Good Hope i by T. Maclear, Esq., in u letter to Sir J. F. W. Herschel.

The appearance attending the fall of this aerolite, which happened at half,
past nine o'clock in the morning of the i:!th of October, 18.j8, was that of a
meteor of a silvery hue, traversing the atmosphere for a distance of about sixty
miles, and then exploding with a loud noise, like that from artUlery, which was
heard over an area of more than seventy miles in diameter — the air at the time

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

196

beiiift calm and sultry. The fragments were widely dispersed, and were at 6rsl
so soft as to admit of being cut with a knife, but they afterwards spontaneously
hardened. The entire mass of the aerolite is estimated at about five cubic feet.

3. Cliemiral Accnunl iif llie (aiU Bnhkevehl Meteoric Stmie : by MicilAF.L
FAniiAD.VY, ICsq., D.C.L., in a /cller to Sir John F. 'iV. Hcrschrl.

The stone is stated as being soft, porous, and hygrometric ; having, when
dry, the specific gravity of 2.94, and possessing a very small degree of magnotiu
power, irregularly dispersed through it. One hundred parts of the stone in its
natural state, was found to consist of the following constituents : namely—

Water C..5

Sulphur 4.24

.Silica 28.9

Protoxide of Iron .-ia.a-J

Magnesia 19.2

Aluinina 5.22

Jjime 1.64

Oxide of Nickel 82

Oxide of Chromium .7
Cobalt and Soda, a trace.

4. NolesrcspecUiig anew Hull nf SpmilivePHpr.r : by IIfnrv Fox Tai.eot,
Esq.

The method of preparing the paper here referred to, consi'^ts in washing it
over with nitrate of silver, then witli bromide of potasium, and afterwards ag.iin
with nitrate of silver ; drying it at the fire after each operation. This paper is
very sensitive to the liglit of the clouds, and even to the feeblest daylight. The
author supplies an omission in hi.s former memoir on photogenic drawing, by
mentioning a method ho had invented and practised nearly five years ago, of
imitating etcliings on copperplate, by smearing over a slieet of glass with a
solution of resin in turpentine, and blackening it by the smoke of a candle.
Oil this blackened surface a design is made with the point of a needle, the lines
of which win of course be tt.insparenf, and will be represented by dark lines on
the prepared paper to which it is applied, when exposed to sunshine. The
same principle may be applied to make numerous copies of any writing.

r.EOLOGICAL .SOCIETY.

March 13. — Rev. Dr. Bit kiand, Prfsitient, in the chair,
A paper was read : —

On the Geolor/ii of the Norlli western part of Jsij Minor, from the Peninsula
Cj/zicus, on the Coast of Hie Sea nf Marmora to Kooh , with a ikscrip-
tion of Katahikanmene,' by W. .1. Ha.milton, Esq., Sec. G.S.

The line of route taken by Mr. Hamilton from Cyzicus (bit. 40 deg.
22 mill.) ascends the valley of the river Macetus to its sources, near Siniaul,
then crosses the Dcmirgi chain (lat. 39 deg. 5 niin.l, and afterward.s passes by
Karslieui and Selendi to Koola,ou the eastern confines of the Katakekaumene ;
the wbole of the distance being about 170 miles. The principal piivsical
feature of the district is the Demirpi range, which extends from Pergammon
on the west to the lofty mountain of Ak Djigh or Shapkan Dagh on the east,
but the country is intersected by various ranges of bills, sometimes exceeding
1200 feet in lieight. The geological structure of BIr. Hamilton's line of
route is simple, being composed of only schistose rocks, with saccharine
marble, a compact limestone, resembling the scaglia of Italy and Greece,
tertiary sandstones and limestones, granite, peperitc, trachyte, basalt, and
other igneous rocks. Between Kespit and the foot of the Dcmirgi bills,
are also remains of an ancient lacustrine deposit, and in the valleys are
extensive alluvial accumulations. Tlie schists consist of mica-slate, gneiss,
and clay-slate, and they occur chiefly near Cyzicus, The strata dip at high
angles from the granite, to the i)rotrusion of which the inclination is
apparently due. The marble was formerly worked to a very great extent,
and C'yzicuswas indebted to it for being ranked among the most splendid
cities of antiquity. The compart limestone, resembling scaglia, was observed
only at the foot of the hills north of Alaniyas. It is associated with beds of
shale, and is apparently destitute of organic remains. The micaceous
sandstone is extensively distributed south of Maniyas, also towards the
eastern extremity of the Dcmirgi mountains at the point crossed by i\!r.
Hamilton, and between it and Koola. The stone is fissile^ and alternates
sometimes with shale; and the beds are, occasionally, much dislocated by the
protrusion of igeneous rocks. About half-way between the pass oyer the
Demirgi range and Koola, the upppi;)ieds of the sandstone alternate with the
lower layers of an overlying deiftltit; W pcperite. JVfr. Hamilton has no
doubt that this formation belong.sAftlie one which himself and Mr. Strick-
land examined between Ghiediz fiSd IT shall. The white tertiary limestone,
Mr. Hamilton consider.s to be a part of the great lacustrine formation, which
occupies so largsCa portion of Asia Minor; but within the range of country
described in this memoir, it appears to be totally devoid of organic remains.
It is sometimes soft, resembling chalk, but, at its contact with the igneous
VJcks, it becomes hard, and at gne line of junction, a layer of serpentine was
interposed between the two formations. Thin beds of white opaque Hints,
resem.bling those of the lacustrine limestone of .4avergne, were noticed by
Ih? author a little south (tf Kefsut. The strata have been, in many places,
very much dislocated by the pu'otrusion of trachyte. The granite was
obscrvcil only near Cyzicus and in the Demirgi chain. It ii composed of
quartz, felspar, and mica, but it contains lai-ge masses of hornblende, and is
traversed by veins of felspar. The schistose rocks are thrown off by it near
Cyzicus at higli angles, and with a qu&quaveisal inclination. The perperite,
or volcanic ttrff, appears to be of intermediate age between the micaceous
i-aadstone, and the white limestone, as it rests upon the former, and is overlaid
?y the lattei;. It is distJuctly stratified, »ud vftricE mucU it?. Qijar&ctei^ teuig

sometimes earthy, occasionally conglomeratic, and not unfre(iuently herd or
semicrystalline. It is chiclly developed south of the Demirgi range. The
beds are generally horizontal, i.r slightly inclined, but they are disturbed
where igneous rocks have been protruded through them. Trachyte and
basalt rise to the surface at many places between the Demirgi hills and
Koola, dislocating the stratified deposits, and producing changes both in
their structure and hardness. On the banks of Hermus, basalt overlies tha
white limestone. Mr. Hamilton also described the hot springs, siti a ed about
seven miles to the east of Singerli at the northern foot of tjio Dcmirgi chain.
Their temperature, he conceives to be equal to that of boiling water, and
they are discernible, at a considerable distance, by the great volumes of steam
which they throw olT. Extensive accumulations, several feet thick, of a white
fibrous sediment, occur arcnind the mouth of the springs. A strong aul-
phurous smell accompanies the emission of the water; but, at ii point where
the stream had lost enough of its temperature to be tasted, no peculiar llavour
was perceived. After tuniiiig several mills, and at the distance of a mile
and a half from the spring head, the water is collected and used by the Tui'ks
as a warm bath. Copious hot springs are lil:ewise thrown out near the
Katakekaumene : the water is tasteless, and the temperature 123 deg. of
Fharenheit, but no sediment is deposited around the mouths. IMr. Hamilton
then proceeded to describe the Katakekaumene, — a district singularly interest-
ing oil account of its extinct volcanoes, and its grt'at resemblance to
Auvergne. He first visited it in comjiany with Mr. Strickland, who laid an
account of some portions of it before the Geological Society, in IS:!fi. The
district extends from Koola, westward, about nineloen miles, and for about
eight miles from north to south. The formations included within this area,
are tlio schistose rocks, and crystalline limestone, which occur near Cyzicus,
the white lacustrine limestone, basalt, and lavas of two perfectly distinct
ages. The leading physical features of the district aro ridges of schistose
rocks, with intervening allmial plains. On the former are seated all the
ancient volcanic cones, or craters, and in the latter the modern. This
important distinction, Mr. Hamilton is of opinion, may be explained, on
the supposition that the elevation of the schistose ridges produced fissures,
through which, as lines of least resistance, the first ernplions of lava found
vent. That these openings becoming, afterwards, plugged up, by the cooling
of injected molten matter, the .schistose ridges were rendered so compact, that,
wheii the volcanic forces again became active, the line of least resistance was
transferred to the valleys. Of the relative periods when the eruptions took
place, no opinion can be formed : the more modem must have been long
anterior to tradition, though the streams of lava present all the ruggedness of
the most recent coulees of Etna and Vesuvius; and the craters presene, to a
great extent, their form and internal cavities. The more ancient lava-
currents are covered Ipy sedimentary matter, and oj-e, therefore, considered
by Mr. Hamilton to have been, at one period, covered with water : the cones
have also lost, in part, their form, the craters being nearly obliterated. The
paper concluded with a comparison between this part of Asia Minor and
Auvergne, as described by Mr. Scrope. 1. Tha great ancient volcanic group
of Mont Dore, the Cantal and Mont Mezeu, Mr. Hamilton conceives, is
represented by Ak Dagh .Morad D^igh, the trachytic hills east of Takmak,
Hassan Dagh, and Mont Aj'g^us. 2. That the more modem volcanic period
of Central France may be compared with the Katakekaumene, both as respects
the composition of the lavas, their arrangement at dilTcrent levels, and th»
cones being scattered, and not collected in great mountain m.^sses. 3. With
respect to the disposition of compar.itively recent volcanos being coincident
with the strike of the granitic axes, from the interior of which they have burst
forth, Mr. Hamilton stated, that the Katakekaumene affords additional illus-
tration. 4. In central France, as well as the district described in this paper,
there are deposits of lacustrine limestone, which have been separated, by the.
action of bodies of water, into table lands surmounted by bods of basalt and
lava ; and, in both countries, currents of lava, of more modem date, have tlowed
into the intervening valleys. In two points, however, there are differences
between the volcanic phenomena of .\sia Jlinor and central France. In the
latter, stream.s of igneous products may be traced from the most ancient
system of cones, or that of Mont Dore ; but, in the former, none have yet
been discoyered which issued from Ak D4gh, or the other contemporaneous
volcauic mountains. In France, also, trachitic eruptions took place during
the deposition of the lacustrine limestone ; but, in the Katakekaumene, they
appear to have preceded the deposition of the white limestone, or ars
associated with only its lowest beds.

MEETINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIE.^ FOR MAY.
Royal Society, Thursday, half-past eight, m. p., 2nd, 9th, 23rd, and 30tli.
Society of Antiquaries, Thursday, eight, p. m., 2nd, 9ih, 23rd, and 30th.
Institution of Civil Engineers, 2:>, Groat George-street, Westminster, every

Tuesday, eight, p. m. . ' '

Royal Institute of British Arcliiterts, 10, Grosvenor-street, Monday, eight,

p. M., 6th and 20ih.
Society of Arts, every Wednesday, half-past seyen.p. u

I.UBRICATOK.

In our last number we gave an extract from Dr. Ure's Dictionary, describ-
ing a lubricator, which the Doctor states was kindly communicated to him by
Edward Woolsey, Esq. We understand that Mr. Barton was the original
inventor, and that \\3 tod.: out a patcpt for it 20 years ago, andwhioh has beeii,
lately reu^wsd.

196

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOITRNAL.

[May,

PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS.

House ijf Commons. — List of Petitions for Privafe Bills, ami progress therein.

Petition
presented

Aberbrotliwick Harbonr
Aberdeen Harbnnr
Balloclmey Railway
Bnnisley Waterworlis .
Bath Cemetery ....
Belfn.'it AVaterworlcs
Birniini^liam Canal
Bimunpliam & Obaieester Railway
Bishop.^ueHand & WearJaleRlw^-.
Blaekbeath Cemetery .
Bradford (Vork) Waterworks
Brighton Gas ....
Brighton Cemetery
Bristol and GloueestershireRaiUvay
Brlti.sli Mnsenni Buildings
Brompton New Road .
Clieltenlmm \\'aterwork9
Connnereial {London and Black-
wall) Railway ....
Dean Forest Railway .
Deptford Pier ....
Deptford Pier .InncUsu Railway .
Deptford Sleam Ship Docks .
Ediubnrgh, Leith. and Newhaven
Railway .....
Kyemonth Harbour
Fraserburgh Harbom- .
treneral Cemetery
tiravepend Gas ....
Great North of b;ngland Railway
Great Western Railway
txreat Central Irish Railway .
Hereford-shire and Gloucestershire

Canal

Heme Gas

Liverpool Docks ....
Liverpool Buildings
Liverpool and Manchester Exten-
sion Railway ....
London and Birmingham Railway
London Bridge Approaches, Arc, ,
London and Croydon Railway
London Cemetery
T^ondon and Greenwich Railway .
London and Southampton (Guild-
ford Branch) Railway
London and Southampton (Ports-
month Branch) Railway .
AlanchesterArBirminghamRailway
Manchester and Birmingham Kx-
tension (Stone fc Rugby) Railway
Manchester and Leeds Railway
Marylebone Gas & Coke Company
Monkland & Kirkintilloch Railway
Necropolis (St. Paucras) Cemetery
Newark Gas

Newcastle-upon-Tyne and North
Shields (Extension) Railway

NortheruA: Eastern(No l)Railway

Northern .Sc Eastern (No. 2) Railway

North Midland Railway

North I'nion Railway

Nottingham Inclosure and Canal

Over Darwen (Jas

Pertli Harbour and Navigation

Port'.shead Pier , . . .

Preston Gas : . . .

Preston and Wyre Railway .

Preston and M'yre Railway, Har-
bour, and Dock

Redcar (No. ]) Harbour

Redcar (No. 2) Harbour

Rishworth Reservoirs .

Rochdale Waterworks .

Rochester Cemetery

Sawmill Ford Bridge and Road .

Slamannan Railway

SouthEastern Railway

South Eastern (Deviation) Railway

Teignmouth Bridge

Tyne Dock .....

Tyne Steam Ferry

Walsall .function Canal

West Durham Railway

"N^'estminster Improvement .

Wishaw and Coltness Railway

Wyrley and Essington and Birmiiig.
bam Canal

Bill read
lirst tinn'.

Bill read Bill read
secontl third Roi'al
time. lime. Assent.

Feb. 0.
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Mar. 15.

STEAM NAVIGATION.

S^-<"/' Coiiitiwnu-ation h> Aiiifriat hy Ilcr Mnjcsii/n MuiJa. — The ships, as finally
determined on, are to be upwards of 1,200 tons register, propelled by engines of
430-hor8e power, all of the most substantial and approved construction, com-
bining speed, safety, and easy sea-going qualities. Tlie work is already com-
menced, and there is now no doubt of their being ready to st.^rt for Boston and
Halifax on the 1st of -\pril, 1840. There will b3 splendid accommodations for
about seventy cabin passengers, with room for carrying a limited quantity of
goods. Passengers to Canada and New Brunswick, immediately on the arrival
of the steamship at Halifax, will be conveyed by coaches to Pictou and Wind-
sor ; from Pictou other steamvessels will be ready to start for Miramichi,
tjuebec, and from Windsor to St. John's, St. Andrew's, &c., thus affording
passengers to our American colonies an opportunity of arriving at their respec-
tive destinations in the shortest possible time, while those for the States, on their
arrival at Boston, will be able to reach any place In the Union by the various
railways, canals, kc. from that city f'nitvtl .ScrriiT ija:<ilf.

Iron Sleanur I'nion — This splendid steam vessel has left the EroomieUw on
her voyage to Santa Martha, in New Grenada, commanded by an experienced
captain, with a full complement of engineers, and other mech-inics. She iva.s
built by Messrs. James and William Napier, engineers of known celebrity in
this city, expressly for the navigation of the river Magdalina ; under the direc-
tions of Messrs. Plock and Logan, of London, who are the agents ©f the Anglo-
Grenadian Steam Navigation Company; and her construction is so peculiar,
that the proprietors are sanguine she will reach at least 800 miles up that mag-
niticent river : where it raay not be improper to inform the public, the trade has
been hitherto carried on in a most laborious manner, by heavy fl it boats, con-
structed in the country, whose average passages In a^cen<iing the river was
from three to four months; but is now calculated that the Union, with her
powerful machinery, will perform the voyage in less than seven days. We,
therefore, wish this interesting expedition the success it merits, for we under-
stand that nopains nor expense has been spared in fitting out this Teasel.—
Glasgow ChionicJf.

PROGRESS OP RAILWAYS.

Hill! mid Sellni Ralhcaij Of this important undertaking we are enabled to

give some particulars from a correspondent who lately went over the whole of
the line. Considerable activity pervades every department, and as the whole of
the land required is now in the company's possession, there is nothing to prevent
the contractors proceeding with their respective contracts as rapidly as the
weather will admit. With regard to the principal station at Hull, the buildings
connected witth it are commenced, as are also the workshops and other erections
requireu for the future accommodation of the traffic. On the embankment of the
Foreshore, next the river Humber, near Hull, a great number of men are em-
ployed, a large portion of the stone facing is carried up to its full height, and
the embankment is nearly ready for the rails. For the next three miles to Hessle,
the earth-work lias been ready for ballasting for some time, and is now to be im-
mediately finished. The cuttings through Hessle-cliff and Ferriby-hill are also
well advanced, and the stone from the former is used in the works of the Foreshore,
and for ballasting the line, and the excavation from the latter for making up the
low ground. Two bridges in this district are completed, and a third in a very
advanced state. The railway for the next six miles is in course of being formed,
and a part is ballasted, ready to receive the rails; a small portion however, of the
embankment near the Market Weighton Canal remains to be finished. The
bridge over llie canal is completed — it consists of brick abutments with an arch
of cast iron, 70 feet span, and has a very light and pleasing efi'ect. After passing
this embankment, the line is nearly level for seven miles, which is now being
ballasted, while the bridges for passing the several roads over the railway are
either finished or nearly so. This firings us to the river Derwent, which the
raihvay is to be carried over by a cast iron bridge of 70 feet span, raised suffi-
ciently high to allow the navigation to pass under. Of thU tirldge one abut-
ment is built, and a coffer-dam is being constructed on the eastern side for the
other. The foundations of the piers for the flood arches are also commenced :
and the forward state of this work ensures the entire completion of this briilge
in the course of the summer. The railway between the Derwent and the river
Ouse (a distance of about five miles) is in course of being formed, and an ex-
tensive deviation of the York turnpike ruad is commenced. Over the river
Ouse a bridge of considerable magnitude is being constructed of four arches ; one
45 feet span, is to open, for the passing of vessels going up to York. The
abutments and piers have been ready for the iron work of the superstructure
some time, but^owing to the land waters in the river, a beginning was only
made during the last month in fixing the iron work. This portion of the work
will speedily be completed, as the whole of the castings for the piers are upon
the ground, and the iron work of the arches is in a very advanced state at the
Butterly Iron Works, where the whole will be put together before being brought
to the spot. This work is also expected to be finished during the summer.
The company have made contracts for the greater part of the iron work of
the rails, a large proportion of which are now on the ground. The timber for
the longitudinal sills and sleepers is also contracted for, and deliveries will be
made in the course of a month, so that there is every probability of the railway
being opened for passengers in the early part of next spring. The locomotive
engines and carriages are all in a very forward state; tlie former are from the
factory of Messrs. Fenton & Co. of Leeds, where several of them .-ire to be seen
complete.

Croijilon lioHway. — It is stated that this railway will be opened on the 14th
instant.

Orcai Wcsd'i-n Hailwaij. — That part of the railway between Maidenhead and
Reading is expected to be finished in the course of the month, and ready to be
opened to the public.

Morecambe Bay Embanfiment. — We are enabled to state, on nndoubtetl autho-
rity, that Sir John Rennie has expressed a very decided opinion with respect to
the practicability of crossing Morecambe Bay, on the plan and principles laid
down by Mr. Hague Tfliilehaven HeraM.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

197

Great If'estern Railway The greatest activity continues to prevail upon that

portion of the line between Reading and Didcot; and the railway is progressing
so rapidly towards completion, that we should not be surpriired if that part of
the road is ready for traffic before the opening of the line from Maidenhead to
this town, Reading. We think that the public have great reason to complain of
the narrowness of the bridges which the company have built in those places
where the railway crosses the turnpike road ; and if this principle is generally
adopted, many accidents may be expected to occur. Messrs. Grissell and Peto
are the contractors for that portion of the work between *' Litttlejohns," near
Reading and Streatley ; from which jilace a bridge is erecting ; and the railroad
then traverses to the Oxfordshire side of the river to Sonthstoke ; this part is
contracted for by Mr. Cuhtans. From thence to Didcot, Messrs. Bedborough,
of Wiudsor, have the formation of the, road, nearly the whole of which, is, we
understand, in a very forward state, and will in all probability be completed
before the expiration of the time originally agreed on. The extensile nature of
the cuttings at Shooter's-hill, and the embankments at Pangbourn have been
executed by Messrs. GrisselUV Peto with s;iich extraordinary rapidity, as to excite
universal surprise, strongly contrasting with the numberless hindrances and
impediments existing elsewhere. The catlings at Simning-hill, un4er thw di-
rection of Mr. Brotherhood, the contractor, are proceeding as vigorously as the
nature of that great undertaking will admit, and the most energetic eftbrts ore
put forth to speedily complete it, and thus open a direct line of communication
between this town and the metropolis. — lievhshire Ckrimicle. — Nothwithstanding
the temporary obstruction to the traffic, caused by the accident at the Hanwell-
rortd bridjfe(not the Viaduct, as reported in the papers), the number of pas-
sengers on tins line during the last week, amounted to nearly S,000, and the
receipts were larger than in any week since October. No impediment to the
regular passing of the trains will take place from the removal of the defi'ctive iron
girder, the cost of replacing which falls wholly upon the contractor. The laying
of the permanent way to Twyford is now proceeding steadily, the rails being
already laid from the Maidenhead station to the bridge over the Thames. The
eastern arch of this bridge has been reconstructed with improved materials, and
now stands perfectly sound, the centerings having been completely eased for
some weeks. The Directors have just taken contracts for the construction of
about 14 miles of the line extending from Didcot, near Oxford, to Ilftington, the
boundary of the London division of the line, on which the contract works are
so light as not to average more than O.ono^ per mile. The Bristol Directors
have also advertised for tenders for four miles of the line between Bath and the
Box-tunnel, and it is expected that contracts for the wliole of the remainder of
this division of the line beyond Chippenham, will soon be entered inco. We are
glad to hear that the bill for which tlie company are applying, for the purpose of
completing the required capital, has passed the committee of the House of
Commons without any opposition, and will be read a third time immediately
after the Easter recess Bristol O'azetfe,

Eastern ('oiudies Raihvui/ The deepest part of the cutting for our railway

in the vicinity of this town, we understand, will be near Widford-mill, where
the rails will be laid at a depth of about sixty feet below the present surface.
The London coach road at the crossing will pass over the cutting by a bridge,
and there will also be bridges across Crozier's and Cherry Garden lanes. At
the termination of the cutting the low land and river will be crossed by a via-
duct about five hundred feet in length, and the rnilway will be continued upon
an embankment until within a short distance of King-street, Chelmsford, where
there will bo another viaduct, upon which it will again cross the high road to
the town or Fair Field, where the station will be formed. Soil for the embank-
ments will be brought from a cutting through the village of Springfield, upon
temporary rails, which, we understand, will be laid early in the summer. —
Essex Herald,

Newcastle and North Shields Railway. — This undertaking is now advancing
rapidly towards completion, and the line to North Shields will, it is fully ex-
pected, be opened to the public in the early part of the month of June. The
company contemplate extending the line to Tyneuiouth ; and a bill for that
purpose is now before Parliament. Extensive preparations are being made by
the company in order to afford the public every accommodation; and for that
purpose they have entered into contracts for the supply of several first-rate
engines, embracing all the latest improvements and discoveries in mechanical
science. A splendid engine, called the " Hotspur," from the manufactory of
Messrs, R. and W. Hawthorne, civil engineers, of this town, was placed on the
line near Heaton on Monday; and a similar engine will shortly be delivered
from the manuf;ictory of Messrs. Stci>henson and Co. Several other powerful
engines are in the course of erection. The carriages for the conveyance of
passengers are being manufactured in first-rate style, and will combine every
improvement which can add security, or contribute to the convenience and com-
fort of those who may travel in ihiim. — Nvwcastle Journal.

London and Brifjhtuu Railway fShortham Branch).— It is expected that the
Shoreham Branch of the London and Brighton Railroad will be completed by
August. The engine performs from fifteen to eighteen journeys in the day,
taking on each occasion about twenty waggons laden with earth. The con-
tractors are making rapid progress with the work, and the operations attract
crowds of people to the spot.— A' «ssc.f .-Wi-cr/isfr.— The works on the railway
are proceeding with increased activity. Now England farm has been so altered
in appearance, by the progress of the catting commenced on Easter Monday to
connect the Shoreham branch with the terminus, as to be scarcely recognised.
The tunnel is rapidly lengthening, and the cutting in Mr. Chatfield's firm is
fast approaching Lashraar's mill. A si'cond engine, called the " Shoreham,"
arrived in Brighton the 17th ultimo, and will commence running in a few days.

Sheffidd and Rotherham Jiuilw'fi/. — We hear that the directors of the Sheffield
and Rotherham Railway, ever wishful to give satisfaction and safe accommoda-
tion to the public as far as possible, are about to place three or four additional
engines on their line ; and, in order to ensure the greatest possible degree of
safety to the passengers, have ordered them to have thinges on all the six wheels,
the driup.g wheels as well as the others, thereby diminishing the risk of an
engine getting off the rails in the proportion of cent, per cent. Even if any of
the end wheels or axles should break, the remaining wheels will keep it upon
the raits— an excellent arrangement as compared with the old plan of onlv four
flanged wheels out of the six,— Slu-Jield Mercury,

Birkenhead and Chester Railway Company — The Bebbington contract em-
braces a distance of two miles and 32 chains; the earth work amounted to
253,000 cubic yards, of which 82,000 cubic yards have been already executed,
leaving 171,000 yet to be done. The Brombrough and Eastham contract ex-
tended to Plumyard Brook, a distance of 3 miles and 37 chains. The earth-
work comprised in this contract amounts to 288,000 cubic yards, of which
,ll(J,000 cubic yards have been executed, leaving 172,000 yet to finish. Post and
rail fences are erected throughout nearly the whole of this contract; 220 men
and 41 horses are employed on this portion of the line. The Sutton contract, a
distance of 3 miles and 17 chains, is also proceeding satisfactorily, although
some delay has arisen in opening new quarries, and waiting for bricks; but
with due diligence on the part of the contractors, the whole may bo finished
during the summer; 150 men and 1$ horses are employed in this district. The
Mo.styn and Chester contract extentts 5 miles and 39 chains, and contains the
greatest quantity of unexecuted work. It was let in August last to contractors
who did not prosecute the work in a satisfactory manner, and, after remaining
in their hands for upwards of six months, the company commenced working it
themselves, i>roviding waggons, rails, and suitable materials. In the event of
the summer proving favouralde, little doubt existed that this part of the line
would be ready by May, 1840. There are 447 men and 22 horses employed on
this division. The total number of men employed throughout are 1,117;
horses 93. — Extract from the Eiiyincer's Rritoii.

London and Southamptou Railway. — We feel great pleasure in being able to
announce, on competent authority, that it has been positively determined to
open that portion of the railway extending from this place (Southampton) as
far as Winchester during the coming summer. We may therefore expect to be
shortly in full possession of the advantages of railway communication. The
erection of the terminus on the Marsh is proceeding with extraordinary
rapidity. — Hampshire Indfpcndent, — The buildings and works for the railway
station here (at Basingstoke) are proceeding with great rnpidiiy ; a number of
hands are employed, and the scene at present is one of the utmost bustle and
activity. The site selected is on a gentle eminence, within a stone's throw of
the old chapel ruins and of Brook-street, commanding a fine view of the town
and the highly picturesque scenr-ry adjacent. It is already a conspicuous object
from a distance, and will speedily form an important feature of the landscape
from the neighbouring hills. A spacious carriage-way is forming to connect
the station in a direct line from Oak-street, which will be the leading thorough-
fare ; other roads and footwaj s are in progress, to render it of convenient accesa
from various parts of the town. — .Salisbury Joiirnat.

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

Paris. — A preliminary inquiry has been commenced by order of the Municipal
Council of Paris on proposals for establishing two railroads from the capita),
one to St. Maur, and the other to Sceaux. The first is intended to commence
at the Rue Traversiere St. Antoine, passing through Bercy, St. Maude, Choren-
ton, and Vincennes; and the second at the Place de I'Observatoire, running
through Gentilly, Arcueil, Bagnieux, and Bourg la Reine.

Most of the great Morks commenced in Paris are at present suspended. —
f'omvierce,

Havre Radrond Cornpanij At a late meeting it was decided, at the pressiug

instance of M. Aguaudo, that, iu case it became impossible to give entire execu-
tion to the undertaking, it should be carried into effect as far as Rouen, and
that the road should terminate, not at St. Sevres, as originally intended, but on
the heights of Beauvoiein. passing by Blainville. and the branch lines on Lou-
viers and Elbeuf being suppressed. This decision was definitely adopted, and
no consideration, it is said, will induce the company to modify it.

Railiraii bctivvmi. Ihe iMinuhe ami Uic Black 5(a.— The establishment of a railroad
between Tschernowoda and Kostendsche, which was to open a direct and
speedy communication between the Danube and the Black Sea, will not be con-
tinued this year, or even for some time, and in fact will not be completed till
the Porte gives its assent to the project. The marshy ground unfavourable to
canalisation has been inspected, and the operation compared with the measure-
ment already made by some Prussian officers in the Sultan's strvice, but the
project of opening a canal appears to be abandoned. The railroad in question
is not to go from Tschernowoda, but from Hirsowa, which is at no great distance,
to Kostensche, where the rampart or wall of Trajan formerly commenced, a
spot famous in ancient history as the place of Ovid's exile. Meantime the rail-
road in its present state is to be made use of for the transport of goods and pro-
visions. Were the railroad once executed, a distance off more than two days
would be gained, and the undertaking would also be of great importance for the
trade and navigation of the Lower Danube.

7'he Young Egyptians. — Of the twenty Egyptians sent to this country by their
government about nine years ago, to learn our arts and sciences, tlie last
of them, Seid Achmet, left this on Monday, 1st ultimo, for Liverpool*
to return to his native country. He had been five years learning millwright
work tinder Mr. Graham at l*artick, and civil engineering for about three years,
under Mr. Macquisten. The climate disagreed with some of them, and they
remained but a short time in this country. We understand two of them died ;
four paid their attention principally to plumber-work, two to ship-building, and
the others chiefly to machinery-making and cotton-spinning. The Pacha
wisely left them to choose trades or professions to suit their own tastes, and he
paid for their education liberally. It is rather surprising that only one of them
had the idea of studying civil engineering, being a profession so much required
in that country, and where it is generally believed to have had its origin, but
has long since been extinct; and it is rather an odd circumstance that this
young gentleman should have been taught in Glasgow, and that when he
returns to Egypt he will be the first native civil engineer who has appeared
thi-re for many generations. He is a very interesting young man, and was
much esteemed here by people of all ranks. A number of respectable and
scientific persons took leave of him at the steamer, and his former fellow-work-
men fired a farewell salute from a number of guns as the steamer passed the
Kelvin,— .(j/as^ow Herald,

198

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[May,

MISCELLANIA.

Nehon's Monument at Caslle Tovnuentl. " Sometimes," says I<ady Chatterton,

in her liunihlc.-i hi (hr Sovl/i of Irehm,!, "we caught pUmpscs of the distant rocky
headlands which render this part of the coast so magnificent. At the summit of
one J3 a lofty arch, ertcted to the memory of Nelson by a party of offlctrs. It is
formed of large stones without cement, and I was told was entirely constructed
after church one Sunday. If this account be true, it reminds me of the mar-
vellous tale related in Ireland of every colossjil structure, that It was the work
of a night! This wonderful arch, however, forms a fine object in most of the
views'about Castle Townsend, and as I ih-st s.iw it towering above the mist
which concealed the base of the mountain height on which it stood, its appear-
ance was supernatural llvfni.nj /mfir. { We have reason to know that this

was the first monument erected to the memory of Nelson ; it wns sketched and
planned by Captain Joshua Rowley M'atson, R.N., who at that time commanded
the Sea Fenclhles on that part of the Irish co^st, and built by them, as above
stated, ia one day, after great preparations, under his superintendence. —
'I'ime.'!. 1

Drui'Vu-al R f /Willi s.^^-Jn the mountains of Ardes, some very curious remains
of Druidical worship have been found. The spot is very wild, and is supposed
to have been the site of a forest now destroyed. On digging below the grass,
a layer of charcoil. mixed with a pounded vitrified substance, presented itself,
in the midst of which was buried an urn. containing a second, also vitrified, and
of a square form, in which were placed those fragments of bones which were not
consumed by fire. Jlound this vase, at equal distances, are three lamps.
Within the excavation are frngments of vases of different forms, resembling the
most beautiful Roman Pottery.

Alexandria, S/f' March. — MehemetAli has ordered the construction of barracks.
Sec, for the reception of troops at Fazouglou, which he intends lo stiition there
for the protection of the engineers who are to be sent thither for working the
gold mines which either have been discovered in that part of Africa, or may be
so hereafter.

The Bfi/ of Tihiis is constructing a magnificent palace at Tunis, at the cost
of upwards of 2,000 (RfOf. Almost all the materials are Elated to have been
brought from Karope, as well as the furniture, which has been made in great
part at Paris, Thousands of workmen are daily employed on the edifice, the
inhabitants being forced to contribute their personal labours, or else to find sub-
stitutes for this purpose.

Sirashiirgh — The statue in bronze to be erected at Strasburgh in honour of
Guttemburg, the inventor of printing, is fast profjressing. The operation of
the moulding is already terminated, and in a few days that of the casting will
commence.

Enrroachwijnt of the Sea. — It ha3 been proved by recent surveys that the
coasts of Upper Normandy lose on an average a foot every year by the action of
the sea on their entire devtlopment, and th^r it is under the truth to estimate at
400,000 cubic metres the soil washed annually by the sea into the little road-
stead of Havre, at the entrance to the port, and on the banks of the Seine, close
to that town.

i;cot(ish Mtirtijrs.-~A monument is proposed to be erected at Edinburgh to
the memory of the martyrs who suffered at that place before the Reformation.

Keic Liyht f«r IJpht/ionses. — A letter of the 10th March from Trieste, states
that a new system of producing light for lighthouses has been invented by a
serjeant-major in the Austrian artillery, named Silckonsky. The apparatus
consists of a parabolic mirror, G2 inches by 30, with a twelve-inch focus, and
the light U produced by a new kind of wax candle, invented by M. Selcfconsky.
It has been tried under the inspection of the Austrian l.loyd's Company in the
port of Trieste, by being erected en the mast of a vessel. The light is saiJ to
have illuminated the whole of the port and the surrounding parts of the town
equal to the moon at full, and at the distance of six hundred yards the finest
writing could be read. A second trial hm been made in bad weather, and the
result was proportionably favourable.

LIST OF ENGLISH PATENTS GRANTED BETWEEN THE 3ed
APRIL, AND THE 25tii OF APRIL

"William Oveuton. of Shovel Alloy, St. GeorgeVIn-the-East, for " Certain
Improvements in Machinery or Apparatus for making Ship's Bread or Biscuits.'* —
i-itlent dated 3rd April ; G months to specify.

Thomas Edw.vktjs, nf King-street, Hulborn, wTitlng and dressing-case manufac-
turer, for " Improvements in the manufacture of Hinges." — 3rd April ; 6 months.

Hugh Let Pattinson, of Benshnm, near Gatesheud, Durham, gent., and Wil-
liam Sr.PTiMi"; J.o.sH, of Walker, Northmuberland. gent,, for " Improvements in
reducing Metallic Ores." — 3rd April ; 0 months.

JosiAH Marshall Heath, of Allen Terrace, Keuisington, gent., for "Certain
Iiuprovements in the manufacture of Iron and Steel.' — 5th April ; G months.

Joke Francisco Carlos n'ARTf.NN, of the Haymarket, gent., for "Improve,
loents in Machinery for transmitting Power, wherebv the eftect of such Power is in-
creased without loss of Speed." — 5th April ; 0 months.

James Nasmvth, of Patricroft, near JNIanchester, engineer, for "Improvements
applicable to the bearings or Journals of Locomotive and other Steam-engines,
\7hich Improvements are also applicable to the bearings or journals of Machinery in
general. — Uth April; 0 mouths.

Georgk Stockkr and Josei'ii Bkntlev, both of Birmingham, gunmakers, for
"Certain Improvements in Guns, Pistols, and other denomination of Fire Arms."—
9th April ; C months.

_ Charles Adolphe Hokderer, uf Strasburgh, but at present residing iu Wel-
lington-street, City, for '■ An Improved metlu.d\%r proce.si of manufacturing or pre-
paring the Chemical Salts, called Aretates."— Hth April ; 0 months.

Thomas Pahk, of 22, New Bridgp-slreet, Blackfrlars, engineer, for " Improve-
ments in Railroad and other Carriages, in Wheels for such Carriages, and in Uoads
and Ways on which they are to travel."— 9tli April ; <i months^

Improvemenl.s in the manufar-
" Improvements in Presses."—

Tiro>L\s BoNSoa Crompton, of Tamworth, Bolton, Lancaster, for "Improve
ments iu the manufacture of Paper."^9th April; )i months.

Lemuel Wellman Whicht, of Manchester, engineer, of an px.tension for the
term of Seven Years of Letters Patent granted to him for " Certain Improvement*
on Machinery or Apparatus for Mashing, Cleansing, or Bleaching of lanens, Cottons,
and other fabrics, Goods, or fibrous substances." — Ktb April.

J.\MK>i Clemkn't, of Liverjjool, carver and gildir, for " Improvements in prepar-
ing Mouldings, and in producing the eflerts of Chasing or iCnibossing various Devices,
or Patterns and Vnmies, and other work." — 10th April ; G months.

JosLPH Gii.LuTT, of Birmingham, steel pen-maker, and Thomas Walker, of the
same place, machinist, for '" Improvements in Engines, and in Carriages to be worked
by Steam or other motive Power." — 13th April ; 0 months.

Lot Failkkeh, of Cheadlo, ('lipster, calico-printer, for " Certain Improvements In
tlip mode iif working Piimjis or \ alves, and wliich Improvements are also applicable
to I'ire-eiigiue.s and other similar apparatus." — Ilth April; G monlh*i.

Henrv Croslev, of Hooper-s'^uare, Lomlon, C.E., for ''A new manufacture of
Paper." — L5th April ; U months.

LaerexiE Howe, of Brentford, soap-maker, for
tine of Sulphate of Soda." — IGth April ; G months.

Henrv Clezon, of Kidderminster, machinist, tot
KUh April ; C months

Henrv DtiNxiNr.Tox, of Nottingham, lace manufacturer, for " Improvements on
Machinery employed in making Frame-work Knitting, or Stocking Fabrics." — 16th
April ; G months.

John Swindells, of Manchester, manufacturing chemist, for " Certain Improve-
ments in the manufacture of Prussian Blue, I^nssiate of Potash, and Prussiate of
Soda." — IGth April ; 0 months.

James Feugi sson Svi:ndp.p.s, of New Bond. street, gent., for " Improvements in
the manufacture of certain descriptions of Paper, Mill-board, Papier Mache, and other
matters of that kind, capable of being produced from such description of Paper
PuliJ."~20ih April; G months.

Willi\m Crofts, of Radford, lace manufacturer, for " Improvements in Ma-
chinery used in making Bobbin-net Lace, for the purpose of making Figured or Orna-
meulai Bobbin-net Lace, and Lace or Net of various textures.' — 20th April; 6
mouths.

John Putter, of Ancoats, Manchester, spinner, aud William Hoesfall, of
?.Ianchester, card-maker, for "An Improvement or Improvements in Cards for card-
ing fibrous substance:*, part of wliich Improvement^, may be used as a substitute for
Leather." — 20th April ; G months.

James Davu, of Walcot-place, Lambeth, Esq., for " Improvements in the manu
frtctureof Soap." — 20th .\}.rU ; 0 months.

David Stead, of Grj^at Winehe3ter-.=treet, London, merchant, for "An Improved
mode or method o( Making or Paving public Streets and Highways, and public and
private Roads, Paths, Courts, and Bridges, with Timber or Wooden Blocks."— 2Srd
April; 4 months.

Alered Snu^.ek, of Vnuxhall, potter, and Henev Pether, of Wandsworth Road,
Artist, for " Certain Improvements in tlie preparation and combination of EarLhen-
ware or Porcelain, for the purpo.se of Mosaic or Tesselated Work." — 23rd April ; 6
months.

John Millee, of Bolton, machine-maker, for "An Improved Drilling Ma
chine." — 23rd April ; C months.

David Napier, of Mill-wall, engineer, for " Improvements in Iron Steamboats.*'
— 23rd April ; G months.

Elliah Galloway, of Water-lane, Tower-street, engineer, for " Improvements in
Steam-engines." — 23rd April ; 0 months.

Anto:v'io Momllow, of Dorset-place, Dorset-square, gent., for " Improvements in
Machinery for propelUng Slups' Boats, and olher \'essels, on water, designed to super-
sede the use of Paddle-wheels." — 23rd April ; G montlis.

George Holworthv Palmer, of Snrrey-sqnare, Old Kent Road. C.E., for " Im
provements in Paddle-\\liee!s, for propelling Ships' Boats, and other Vessels na\i'
gated by Steam or other motive Power. — 23rd April ; G months,

William KDMUNDsoxaud James Epmundsun, both of Manchester, engineers,
for "Certain Improvements in the Machinery or Apparatus for the manufacrure of
Wood-screws and Screw-bolts. '' — 23rd April ; C month.s.

Job Ci tler, oi" I,-,uly I'ool-lane, Birmingham, gentleman, for an " Improved
Method or Methods of Constructing chains for Suspension Bridges, Cables, Miniug,
and other pui-poses, ami for an *' Improved Method or Metliods of making the Bars,
Links, and Bolts thereof. ' — 2Srd April ; 6 months.

James Barlow, of Birmingham, brass founder, lor " Certain Improvements in the
Construction of Candlesticks. ' — 25th April : 0 months.

John JoN-Fs, of Westtield place, Shetheld, for "A New Frying-pan and Grilling-
pau for the Cooking of Steaka, Chops, and other Jlcnf-j,"— 2-^th April ; 6 months.

John Browne, Esu., of Castle street, Regeut-itreet, for " Improvement** iu Sad-
dles and Stirrups for Horses and other Animals, parts of which Improvements are
ajiidicable to Apparatus for Carrying Packs by Men.— 25th April : 6 months.

ERRATA.

In our last number, iu the article headed " Savary and Trevitbick," p. 157, line 2,
for " RegQud" read " Rigufid."

Line 21, for" Lexicon Ledieinum," read " Lexicon Tochnicum.'
Line 2G, for *' M'Reid, Charing Cross,' read " M'Norlh, Bookaeller."
Line 32, for " of Bonghton," read " or Broughton."'
Puge 138, line 1, for" 7," read " 17."
line li, for " Swebre's" read " Switzers.'

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Tlio communication iti a '* Surveyor" was received too late for insertion in this
month's Journal ; it shall appear in the next number.

We shall feel obliged to our country correspondents if they will forward lis any
account of works ia progress, or any newspaper containing ar'.icle.H connected witli
Jhe objects of our JovxnoJ-

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

J 99

BUNNETT AND CORPES CONCENTRIC STEAM-ENGINE.

Fif! 1. Elcvnlioii iifa Hii,'li-pres»iii'e Engine

Fig. 2. A Longitnilinal Section
talten tliroiigh the centre of llie Engine.

Fig. 3. Transverse Ssction
takeo tlirougU tlie ceutro of the Ens;ine.

'^- ,!-.i^»1

The letters of reference are the same in both sections.
A — Is thefi.Ned slialt in tlie centre of the engine, on which llie connecting

arms supporting" tlie piston rod, and carrying a cro.ss liead oi piu for tlie

connecting rod to oscillate freely upon.
B — Sleani chamber in which the piston reciproe.ites.
C — Piston.
D — Circular piston rod, which is made of stquare steel, admitting of metallic

packing to the stutling bo.xes.
E — Blockings against which the outside covers of the cylinder are bolted,

and also carrying the metallic .slutting boxes.
FF — The slide valves shewn at one-third of the stroke.
G — The Exhaust.

HH — The pipes conveying the steam to the slide valves.
II — The connecting arms oscillating on the fixed centre shaft, and carrying

the weight of the piston, piston rod, Sec.
KK — Are the steam ports.

BUNNETT AND CORPE'S NEW PATENT CONCENTRIC
STEAM-ENGINE.

Messrs. Bunnett and Corpe, of Deptford, tlie patentees and inventors
of the im[)roved iron sat'ety-slmtter, now In such liigli estimation and
extensive use, have lately taken out letters patent for a concentric
steam-engine, drawings of which we have given above. We shall tiist
state the action of the engine, as we saw it at work in the paten-
tees' manufactory, and then proceed to point out its advantages. It will
be seen, tliat in appearance it is similar to a rotatory engine, but its-
action is of a decidedly diH'eieiit character. The circular case, as shown
in lignres I and 2, forms in the lower part the steam-chamber, in
which is accurately (itted a sipiare piston, with Barton's patent
metallic packing. Through the centre of the piston, and attached to it,
is a concentric or ring-liUe piston-rod, which at a point opposite to
it (the piston) is lirinly embraced and supported abovi; by two con-
necting arms, liaving a double bearing upon a fixed shaft in the
centre of the engine ; on which they oscillate sufficient to allow the
piston to reciprocate freely. The piston-rod is made of square steel,
and works through two metallic-stuffing boxes in the top of the steam-
chamber ; and from the side ol'one of the arms above mentioned projects a
pin, to which is attached the coiuiecting-rod transferring the power of the
engine to the crank of tlie fly-wheel and gear. On each side of the steani-
chamber are two distinct slide-valves, worthy of particular notice: they take
their motion from an eccentric on the crank shaft, and have two slide-
boxes or covers, by which means no steain is lost by exhaustion in tlie
passages, as in the single slide, the exhaust is also fully open at the
No. 21 — Vol. 11.— June, 1839.'

commencement of the stroke, and remains so to any subsequent part of
it that may he desired. By this arrangement of the valves, the steam
can he worked expansively or not without cams, tappet, or gear of any
kind, the slides of themselves cutting oH" the steam at any part of the
stroke. Having thus explained the structure of the engine, we will now
proceed to show its mode of operation. The steam-valve being opened,
and the exhaust-valve closed on one side, and the contrary on the
opposite side, tiie steam is admitted, and propels the pistoii forward to
the opposite side, when the steam-valves ch.ange their position, and the
steam is admitted on the opposite side, which again propels the piston
back to its original position,— and thus, by the backward arid forward
motion of the piston, it passes through two arcs of a circle, similar to a
pendulum, and carries with it the annular piston-rod and the arms at-
tached to it, thereby sets in motion the connecting-rod ; the piston being
entirely carried or suspended by the arms attached to the fixed centre
shaft, is relieved from all tendency to wear irregulaily, there being in
fact, no pressure upon it beyond that of the springs necessary to keep
the segments in their places.

By the simple arrangement and working of the engine the connect-
ing rod has a direct action, without the intervention of guide rods or
parallel motion of any kind, and during the time that the greatest
force is required upon the crank, it never forms an angle of more than
live to ten degrees ; its reciprocating motion describing an arc of
a circle, which so nearly assimilates to the rotatory action of the crank,
the changes of motion are effected with surprising ease and rapidity;
and whether it be from the direct application of the force upon the crank
alone, or the absence of parallel motion, or from tlie power bi'ing- com-
municated as it were, upon an inclined plane, direct to the connecting-
rod, or by a combination of all these, very great power is most cer-
tainly gained.

The patentees have made several experiments, some of which we
witnessed, proving the advantai;es of the position of their connecting
rod and crank motion over the methods now in use in locomotive
and other engines, we have annexed a table of these experiments. By
these it will be seen that in some positions of the crank, it having just
pas.sed its centre, nearly double the power is obtained, and taking- the
average of a whole revolution of the crank an advantage of more than
one-third is gained ; the experimental engine was set in motion in our
presenee, and with a piston of 24 inches snperlices and a pressure ot
'JDlbs. only on the square inch, it exhibited great power, driving
several lathes, drilling machines, &c., while without any load
crank performed upwards of iJliO revolutions in a minute. It is

the
the

200

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[June,

intention of the patentees to carry out these experiments to a prac-
tical result in a locomotive engine they are about to build, and tliey
are also now engaged in executing orders for fixed engines, whicli will
afford an opportunity of fully testing their power.

We strongly recommend the engine to the notice of engineers, and
advise them to avail themselves of the opportunity of forming their
own judgment of its merits, by examining the engine at work at the
premises of the patentees, who will be happy to explain its action.

The following is the Table of experiments above alluded to.

Amount of Force required to move

a crank, having a nine inch throw.

through one-fourth of its revolu-
tion, commencing at an angle of
.5 degrees from its dead centre,

The same experiment witli-
out any weight suspended.

with a 1-llbs. weight suspended at

the end of the throw.

Degrees,

Old Prin.

New Priu.

DilTerence.

Old Pim.

New Prin.

Difference.

5

179

98

81

50

27-5

22^5

10

96

54

42

29

17-5

11 ^5

15

66

39-5

26-5

1 8^5

13^5

5

20

53-5

34

19-5

14-5

10^75

3^75

25

40-75

29

11-75

12

9-75

2^25

80

33

26-5

6-5

10-5

8^5

o

35

29-5

23

C-5

0-25

7^75

P5

40

24-75

21

3-75

8-25

7

1^25

45

21

18-25

2-75

7

6-5

•5

50

18-5

J6

2-5

6^5

55

1

55

16

14

2

5^75

4^75

1

60

14

12

o

4^75

4^25

•5

65

11-5

10

1-5

4-25

3^5

•75

70

9-5

8-5

1

4^125

2-75

1^37

75

8

7-25

•75

3^5

2^25

1-25

80

6-25

6-75

•5

3^25

1-75

1-5

85

4-75

4

•75

3-125

1

2-125

632

4-20-75

211-25
3

202-25

134^5

67-75
3

633-75

203-25

ON THE THEORY OF THE STEAM ENGINE.

BY ARISTIDES MORNAY, ESQ.

In our April number we promised to lay before our readers a new
formula for calculating the force of steam at different temperatures,
which it seemed possible might represent the true law, since it con-
tains but one arbitrary constant, and that a very simple one, and
agrees pretty well with those experiments which appear most worthy
of confidence, between temperatures very far distant from each other.
It presents likewise, as we shall show in the ensuing number,
facilities in calculation not to be met willi in any other formula
which has as yet been proijosed ; not in calculating simply the force
of steam at different temperatures, (TredgoUVs rule being simpler for
that purpose,) but in calculating the force corresponding to different
densities, or rather the variations of elastic force occasioned by
changes in the density of the steam. This is principally useful in
estimating the effect of expansive steam engines, for which the for-
mula was specially sought, and if it does not give the actual density
with perfect accuracy, the error, which cannot be very great in any
practical case, may be almost entirely eliminated in its application
to that object.

Our formula is founded in part on the two physical laws discovered
by Gay Lussac and Mariotte; the former, that elastic Ihiids receive,
under a given pressure, for every additional degree (Fahr.), an acces-
sion to their bulk equal to one 480th of the volume they would
occupy, under the same pressure, at the freezing point of water ; (he
latter, lliat the elastic force of gases is directly proportional to their
density, or inversely as their vohune. If, therefore, we divide the
volume of a given quantity of any elastic fluid at 32 deg. into 480
equal parts, its volume at 0 deg. will be equal to 448 of those parts,
and at any temperature /, i+448. Thus, if a given quantity of Iluiil
occupies at the temperature t' and luider the pressure p', the volume
v', it will, at any liigher temperature t, and under the same pressure

p', occupy a space equal to*' 7, ■ ; but if confined to its original

volume, it will support a pressure equal to f' JIZtL. If now we

^'+448

suppose it compressed into a still smaller space, so that its density
shall be increased from d' to d, its temperature being still /, its elastic
force p will be

= , rf(<+448)
^~^ rf'(«'-t-448) '

and if we take the density of steam generated under a pressure of 30
inches of mercury for unity, and make in the above equation />— 30,
f/'=l, and i— 21'i, the elastic force of steam at any temperature t will
be

_.,ntf(<+448) ri(<-h448)
^^-^°— 660- =— ^2-' • • - 1

the density d to be hereafter determined.

Having by this formula calculated a series of densities from the
experiments of Dulong and Ai-ago, the density seemed to increase
in a geometrical ratio, while the temperature increased in an arith-
metical ratio ; but a formula constnicted on this principle gave by
far too high results at high temperatiu-es, in consequence of wliich
we introduced the divisor <-l-448, wliich in a great measure corrected
that fault of the formula. It then became

5(t— 212)
«+448 • • • •
Combining the equations I and II, we obtain finally

log.d — ''-

II

log.iJ = log. («-H48)-l-

5(<— 212)

■1.3424227.

Ill

The following table has been constructed for the purpose of com-
paring the results of experiment with those calculated by Tredgold's
rule and by the above equation, affording a comprehensive view of
their variations and discrepancies up to an elastic force of 24
atmospheres : —

Tempe-
ratvire.

Elastic force by
Experiment,

32-00
64-OU
9G-0U
132-011
173-00
212-OU
2'2U-0U

230-00

234-32

240-00

212

•2.')ll-l)U

'250-3U

250-79

•>r)4-GG

2(19-87

27U-(Xl

271-94

■272(1(1

275-(IU

2siO-(.l(.t

2SU-91

292-91

293- 11)

3(17

307-9 1

320-00

.320-30

.331-70

33G-S7

33G-91

310-OU

311

311-83

3r.0-78

3r,l-32

.3r)S-SN
.•ryj-Gi)

371-()(l

3!)H-4N

JlH--l(

435-.'')6

Elasti
force by
Tred-
gold's
ride.

1

0-25

0-75

1-95

rrU7

13-ls

3U-0U

34-20

34-95

41-51

4.'i-00

.OU-OO

.')2-r)(i
rj9-i2

GO-UO
60-UO
C4-20
82-50
82-5(1
«G-12

90-0(1
97-75
100-21
120-UU
1 20-00
15(l-(.10
150-00
179-40
1SO-0(I
180-00;
210-OU;
2'25-00'
225-011'
•231 -OU
2 10-11(1
210-0(1
270-00
270-00
300-0o!
300-0(l!
3G0-00

iso-oo

GOO-00
7'20-00

D.

T.

C.

T.

C.

'1'.

8.

C.
U.A

C.

T.
U.A

D.

C.

T.
D.A

0.

8.
U.A

C.

T.

C.
U.A

C.

U.
U.A.

C.
U.A.

C.
U.A.

O.
U.A

Differ-
ences.

o-i

0-G3
1-S4
.5-07
13-4G
30-00
34-9'i

42-00

45-41

50-21

52

59-79

GO-00

GO-GO

G4-72

83-2G

s3-ir

><f;-|(l

.x(;-20

90-41
97-92
99-38
119-Gi
1 20-50
1 49-0(1
M9-8S
178-50

179-43
210-50
•22G-09
22G-,30
23G-00
241-77
241-93
272-8G
'274-83
3(.I3-G4
306-51
.368-83
498-91
631-61
767-38

0-08 —
0-12 —
0-11 —
0-00
0-28 -f
0-00
0-72 -k-
0-03
0-49 -i-
0-11 +
0-21 -j-
0-25 +
0-G7 +
0-00
0-GO -f
0-52 +
(J-7G-4-
0-95 +
0-02
'2-70
0-41 +
0-17 +
0-83 —
0-35
0-50 +
1-00 —
(1-12
0-90
1-50
0-57 —
0-50 +
1-09 +
l-.3(l +
5-00 +
1-77 +
1-93 +
•2-86 +
4-83 -f
.3-64 +
6 51 +
8-83 +
18-94 +
31-61 +
47.38 +

Mean
Differences.

Elastic
force by
Formu-
la III.

0-.330
0-075 +
0-5G0 -

0-990-

1-195 +

1-850 +
3-845 +
5-075 +

0-29

0-83

'2-12

5-39

13-69

30-00

34-85

41-84

45-'20

49 96

.52-45

59-38

59-69

60-19

G4-'21

82-65

8'2-72

85-3 1

8i5-42

89-62

9G-99

98-43

118-41

I19-'29

1 17-29

118-13

176.'22

177-13

207-54
■2-2'2-77
222-99
•232-43

238-08
238-21
'268-.36
270-27
'298-23
301-00
3G1-30
486-08
611-9(
739-48

Differ-
ences.

0-04 +
0-08 +
0-17 +
0-32 +
0-51 +
0-00
0-65 +
0-10 —
0-33 +
0-20-1-
0-04
0-05
0-'26 +
0.3)
0-19 +
0-05 -f
0-15 +
0-'22 +
0-78
3-48
0-.38
0-76 —
1-78
1-59
0-71
'2-71 —
1-87 —
.3-18 —
3-78 —
•2-87 —
2-4G —
•2-23 —
2-01 —
1-43 +
1-92 —
1-76-
1-64 —
0-27 +
1-77 —
1-00 +
1-30 +
6-08 -h
11-9G +
19-48 +

Mean
Difl'erences.

0-275 +

V 0-2G5 +
\ 0-045

0-047 +

0137-

\ 1-270-

[ 1-150 —

I 2-290 —

i 3-277

I 2120 —

I 1-840-

I 0-665-

I 0-385 —

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

201

The letters placed on the right of the second colinnn indicate the
authors of the experiments, viz : — D, Dalton, T, I'hilip Taylor, S,
Southern, D. A., Dulong and Arrago ; and the numbers in the second
column which are followed by a 0 are taken from a table published
by CK'mcnt-Desormes, and arc probably calculated, but we have
placed them among the experiments fur the sake of comparison.

On examining this table it will be manifest in the first place that
Dalton's experiments above 212 deg. cannot be very accui-ate ; for
at 220 deg. both Trcdgold's and our formula give higher numbers,
at 272 deg. both give much lower, and at 340 deg. again both give
higher numbers, showing a want of regularity in Dalton's results;
besides which, the latter difl'er more from other experiments at the
above, named temperatures than citlier of the formula, but on the
other hand it hardly seems likely that Dalton should have made an
error of five inches in 2.31 at 340 deg. of temi)erature, which renders
it probable that Tredgold's rule is in excess about that temperature,
particularly as it also exceeds Dulong and Arrago's experiments at
that and all higher temperatures, the diflerence increasing very
ra\)idly with the temperature, as shown in the table, amounting at
435.5G deg. to 47'38 inches of mercury, or nearly one atmosphere and
seven-twelfths of an elastic force of 24 atmospheres. It appears to us
on the whole that Tredgold's rule gives an clastic force which increases
too rapidly with the temperature, and consequently that, being exact at
212 deg., it gives too low a result below, and too high a result above
that temperature, as most of the differences in the table seem to
prove, the few exceptions between the temperatures of 2/1.94 deg.,
and 320..36deg., as well as those at 132 deg., 1 73 deg., and 220 deg.,
being attributable to inaccuracy in (he observations. The results of
our rule, on the other hand, surpass those of experiment below
212 deg., and fall short of them, in general, from that temperature to
about 360 deg., above which they again exceed the experiments, the
differences increasing in an almost unifonn pi'ogression, until at
435.56 deg. our formula exceeds the experiments by 19.48 inches, or
nearly two-thirds of an atmosphere, which corresponds to a difference
of about 2.45 deg. of temperature, while the excess by Tredgold's
rule corresponds to a difference of 5.66 deg.

It is obvious that, our formula being founded on the law of the
dilatation of elastic fluids, the results must bear reference to the
degrees of the air thermometer.

MACRAE'S PATENT HYDRAULIC GAS-HOLDER
COUNTKRBALANCE.

Some discussion has lately arisen respecting Macrae's Patent Hy-
draulic Gas-holder Counterbalance, assimilating its action to that
of the domestic bellows, "regulating the ascending and descending
motions of a gas-holder, by means of an hydraulic counterbalance," or
" hydraulic tank" as he calls it.

"The object ef the patent is doubtless a most desirable one. It has
long been a desideratum in gas establishments to relieve the gas-holder
of a great proportion of its intrinsic weight, while the gas from the
retorts is flowing into it ; and, on the other hand, to restore its weight,
or as much of its intrinsic weight as may be requisite, while it is sending
fortli its contents of gas into the street mains.

Tlie advantages of these two conditions of the gas-holder are, if
attainable, abundantly manifest to the gas manufacturer. It is quite
notorious that by the present system the weight and consequent resist-
ance of the gas-holder, while it is admitting gas from the retorts,
several parts of the machinery arc materially injured ; time is lost in
charging tlie gas-holder, a very unnecessary (piantity of fuel is con-
sumed in the furnaces, and the gas is not only wasted, but, by not
being allowed to escape from the retorts with sufficient rapidity, it is
deteriorated, in its illuminating properties, by being exposed too lon'^
to the intense heat of the retorts. Frequent and dangerous reactions
are also produced from the same cause.

Many attempts have been made, at various times, to obviate these
defects, and, with that view, patents have been taken out by Messi-s.
Malam, Outhot, Parks, and Broadmeadow. They have all been fail-
ures, audwe very mftch apprehend that the contrivance ol' Mr. Macrae
will not turn out to be a bit more successful than the schemes of his
predecessors.

The chief ^objections to it are, 1. That, if there be no natural head
of water existing above the utmost height to which his " hi/draitlic
tank" will rise, there will necessarily be imposed the labour of pump-
ing up water every twenty-four hours to this height, in order to fill
the " hydraulic tank" every time the gas-holder has to be charged with
gas. '2. That this " hydraulic tank'' must necessarily discharge its
contents of water, so far below the surface of the water in the ^aso-
meter lank, as to require another process of pumping in order to get
rid of it.

Under ordinary circumstances, therefore, here are two operations of

pum[)ing every twenty-four hours ; the one in charging, the other in
discharging the gasometer. After this, it would appear to be entirely
out of the question to add to the labour (as Mr. Macrae suggests) by
" supplying the required weight of liipiid to liis hydraulic tank, every
time the retorts are drawn."

It will hardly be credited that for a single gasometer of 50 feet in
diameter, by '22 feet deep, and working at an inch pressure, an hy-
draulic tank, on Mr. Macrae's jilan, if of a cylindrical shape, would
require to be about 4t) feet below the surface of the water in the gaso-
meter tank ! — or if it were a cube of two feet by six feet, still its depth
below the surface of the water in the gasometer tank, would require
to be 17 feet— either of these depths being considerably below the
surface of the ground, consequently requiring the water to be pumped
out every time the hydraulic tank empties its contents into these shafts,
or wells.

To show that there is no exaggeration in this, it is well known that
the ordinary balance-weights for a gasometer of the dimensions we
have supposed, working at an inch pressure, would require about 13
cubic feet of cast iron, independently of the chain, or a cube of 2 feet
X 2 feet X 3.3 feet. If this balance weight, however, were to be made
after Mr. Macrae's plan, and instead of being composed of a solid
cube of cast-iron, it consisted of a box, fdled with water, its dimensions
would be 2 feet by 4 feet, and 1 1 feet deep : for if we take 5943 lbs. as
the weight of the 13 cubic feet of iron, and allow 468 Uis. for the
weight of the box to contain the water, and divide the diflerence by
62'5 lbs., the weight of a cubic foot of water, it will give 87 cubic
feet as tlie dimensions of the box,
5943—461

63-5

=87 cubic feet

or 528 gallons. This is the weight only of the balance weights at
2>rcscnt in use. But it is to be supposed, that Mr. Macrae proposes to
use a much greater weight as a counter-balance than this : perhaps
J or i of the weight of the gasometer. In cast iron, then, t would be
equal to 28 cubic feet, and 'J08 cubic feet, or 1 ,248 gallons, if tilled
with water, including its containing box, or hydraulic lank. Now it
has been already stated, that a cylinder adequate to hold the necessary
(piantity of water, according to Mr. Macrae's plan, would require to
be 40 feet below the surface of the water, in the gasometer tank.
But if the cyliader were only 2i feet in diameter, it would require to
be ?nore than 40 feet in depth .-' for 2.5 X 2.5 X 11 = 4.91 X 40 =

14
I9G.40 cubic feet only, instead of 208 cubic feet.

It will be quite obvious, that if the water discharged into this well,
of upwards of 40 feet in depth, be not pumped out of it before the
gasometer begins to fall, the gasometer will be able to descend only a
few inches, until it become stationary : for the still undischarged load
of the counter-balance (being i of the whole weight of the gasometer),
will prevent it from descending further.

Mr. Macrae's scheme, though crude and unsuitable, is not without
a considerable portion of ingenuity. The object aimed at is decidedly
one of great importance to the gas manufacturer. A.

The OxJ'ord-sirccl Expcrimentat Paving. — On Saturday, the 18tli ullimo, in ac-
cordance witli the arrangements made by the Marylebone Vestry, limiting the period
ul' the trial of the respective experimeutJll pavements laid down in Oxford-slreet nn-
tit thenioutli ot* May, Mr. Kensett, as i-liaimian of the Paving Committee, laid before
tlie board the state in which each of the experiments was. The following is the
resnlt : — On examining the bitumen laid down by the Bastenne and Gaujac Bitumen
Company, they found it had stood the test of the severe wear and ttiar of llie vehi-
cles passing that road during the whole winter, without any material alteration,
'i'laat portion laid down by tlie Val dc Travers Company, whicli bad been studded
with stone, had stood, but that portion in which the broken granite had been set in
tlieir liquid had totally failed, and must be removed immediately Tlie Aberdeen
granite cubes laid down by tlie parisli Iiad proved to be in most excellent condition ;
that more particularly wliich had been set in Claridge's .\spbalte was in a state of
superior order, and the stones appeared immoveable. Robinsons l>itumen had been
taken up some months since in consequence of liaving proved a decided failure. Tlie
ScotcJi asplialtimi had been repaired once, and had again becoJue so ililapidated as to
render tlie portion of the road wliich it occupies dangerous. The wooden block
pavement, wliicli had !>een laid down live mouths since by the projector, Mr. Stead
liad excited the minute attention and admii-ation of the committee. It appeared, on
examination, that tlie blocks formed a road of a most even surface, and carriages
passed over without tlie slightest noise, and of tlie 12 inches, the length of the
lilocks, it Wiis found they had not been dimini-shed one rpiai'ter of an inch. Tlieir at-
tention, however, was particularly dirccteil to the bottom of the blocks, whicli, to
liio extent of about three-fourths of an inch, appeared discoloured by a blue stain,
intimating (?) that the lirst approach of decay was making its appearance. .*V con-
siderable.division of opinion c.visted among tlie coimnittee upon the above appear-
.ince being that of decay ; they were, however, of an unanimous ojdnlori that a fur-
ther trial was necessary, in order to enable the vestry fairly to be satisticd as to the
durability of the pavement which might ullirdately \)c decideil upon, and that any
decisioiwiught to be deferred till the autunin. It was ultimately rieciiled in the

\c.>try that the application of a ]\Ir. ticary to lay down a w ten pa\ement. upon an

improved principle, should he reitjrred to the coumiiltee, and that the Uual decision
upou the experiments should be deferred to the first Saturday in September.

202

THK CIVIL KNGINEER AND AltCllITECT'S JOURNAL.

f.It'NK,

RAILWAY CURVES.

Sir — Being myself one of those who are wilhiig to profit (through
your columns), by the experience of others, I take the liberty of for-
warding a system for setting out curves by ordinates, which, being per-
fect in theory, only requires great exactness in tiic execution, and
depends but little upon instruments ; it is, I believe, in frequent use,
but which I have recently adopted from my own deductions ; these re-
marks may be found usehil by some of your younger readers, and may
lead to something better from ciders in the profession.

Let AB and CD be two straight lines, whicli are required to be
united by a curve ; say for convenience of a mile and a quarter ra-
dius, or 100 chains ; by producing the two lines the angle AFD must
be ascertained with great exactness ; (tlic angle of its supplement being
much less, may be taken with less liability to error). With EC for the
radius, the angle CEF may be ascertained, for supposing AFD is 148'
■20', EFC is 74° 10', and therefore CEF is lo° JO'. By this means CF
& BF will be found '28 ;J6 links, B & C being the commencement of
the curve. These points having been measured oH' from F, com-
mencing with the odd links, viz. ;3(i, and leaving pegs at every chain,
the ordinates may be set off at i ight-anglcs according to a table to be
calculated in the following manner, and which will do for any curve
of a similar radhis.

In the accompanying diagram, EG is the radius.

GH is the sine.
EH is the co-sine, and
HB the versed sine, of the arc BG.
Now HB = GF and BF -= GH, therefore the ordinates will be
versed lines, where tlie length on the tangent is equal to the sine.

Again, HB = EB — HE, and HE=v/EG^— GH-, therefore FG^

EB— v^^G' GH^ ; or, with o for ordinate, /• for radius, *■ for sine,

and V for versed sine ; o= r—v'r-s-, the table is then calculated thus
at every chain.

The ordinate at 100 links = 100-00-— »/ 100.00^ — L00= and witii
the assistance of " Barlow's Tables of Factors' Roots, &c," a table may be
made to any usehd length in a few hours, thus —

again 100 00- —
—■2 00^ =

100 00' — 10000 0000
_ 1 00" = 1 0000

10000 0000
4 0000

0!)9() 0000

999'J 0000

sq. root of which = 999n-490>S sq. root of wliich = 9997-9998

deducted from 100-=: -oOO'iof a hnk. deductedfroml00-= '2-000-2

To obtain the square root of the above immbers it is convenient to
drop the last four figures of o, and alter the decimal point in the root
two tigures.

The result of these calculations will be —

hnks

links

links

•JO

at 1 1 c

lains 60-68

at 21 chains

222.98

•2-00

12

72-26

22

24500

4-50

13

85-80

23

268-09

8-00

14

98-48

24

292-27

1-2-JO

15

113-13

25

317-54

18-01

16

1 '28-82

•26

343-91

'24-63

17

1 45-55

27

371-39

32-05

18

163-33

28

400-00

40-58

19

182-15

2!)

429-74

50-12

20

202-04

30

460-61

at 1 chain

2

3
1

5
6
7
8
9
10

Tliese ordinates may be made available on the curve of any radius,
by multiplying the lengtli on the tangent, and its respective ordinate by
the BUiltiplicr of tiie radius ; thus for 80 chains the multiplier is -8 —
so at 80 links the ordinate is -40

at 160 1-00 &c.

But it would he better to use a table calculated at every chain, and
it might be vforth while for some party with a little spare time to pub-
lish a set of ordinates at every useful radius, say from 10 chains to 500.
The greatest accuracy is required in taking the angle, as otherwise
the starting of the curve will be incorrect, and the curves in the centre
will shoot past each other.

Where the angle of the two tangents approaches a right angle, it
may be advisable to work the ordinates as far as they can be correctly
done, and then, by reversing them, to lay oil' another tangent.

I am your obedient servant,
— -— — Surveyor.

A SUBSTITUTE FOR A RAILWAY TURN TABLE.
(From the American Railroad Journal.)

Having been led, by the objections attending the running of loco-
motives backwards, or with their driving wheels in front, to consider
some method of turning them and their trains morecfficienlly than the
common turning-table, which only admits of one or two cars being
turned at a time, and having devised a plan which would, I think,
effect this desirable end, I take the liberty to solicit for it your kind
attention.

That locomotives do not run as well backwards as forwards, will I
think be readily conceded. That the liability to run off the rails, and
that the wear of the driving wheels is much increased, have been proved
upon a road which has coiue under my observation, beyond the shadow
of a doubt.

Tin; plan would, I think, be found simple and effective. The saving
of time and man ut I labour would, 1 doubt not, be found to be con-
siderably over the common turning-table, and at the same time it
would be found to answer very well the purpose of turn-outs at water
stations. The preceding diagram will explain the plan in question.

Let us now suppo^e the track laid, and provided with switches at
the intersections, and a locomotive, with a train of cars behind it, at A.
It moves over the first half of the turning track, B (which is the
([uarter of a circle), and stops at C, where the track is made straight
for 150 or 200 feet, or for the purpose of receiving or discharging
freight quite out of the way, the straight line may be extended to any
convenient length. The switch is then changed at D, and the loco-
motive, with lis train moves backwards, over the other half of the
turning-tr.ick, K, into the main trunk at F, thus having been turned
completely around.

That additional room would be required is true. By adopting,
however, a radius of curvature for the turning track of 400 feet, which
would be quite sufficient, and making 150 feel at B, .straight, the
whole distance out of the main trunk would be but 550 feet.

Washington Co. Geo. January 5, 1839. Y. B. HOLCOMB.

1839.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOHRNAl,.

203

WESTMINSTER BRIDGE REPAIRS.

noN ot'l'iLn, showiug tlir new Slieet-piling and Si

High water.

Trinity
Standard.

Low water.
1739.

Low water.
1839.

Bed of River.

Griivel.

Sub-stratum of — —
clay.

Fig. i. ri..i.\ ot riKi:, bliowiiig the Sheet ijiliiiy and
Stone-cai»piiig.

Scale of feet.

10

10

20

10

Scale of feet.
0 10

20

WESTMINSTER BRIDGE.

Before noticing the' improvements which are at present being made
on this structure, it m;iy not be uninteresting to give a brief account of
its censtriiction, taken from a work published by Mr. Labelye, tlie
engineer, in the year 1751.

In the year 1735 a petition was presented to Parliament, the pur-
port of which was to have a bridge erected at the Horse Ferry, or at
such other place as the House should think fit.

On the 'iOth of May, 17.36, an act for this purpose received the
royal assent, the commissioners appointed under it were nearly '200,
and tliere was granted the sum of 100,000/. to be raised by a lottery.
This lottery having proved unsuccessful, a new lottery was granted by a
second act in 1737.

In August, 1737, tiie commissioners received plans from dilt'ereiit
persons for the proposed bridge, and Mr. Labelye was ordered to ex-
plain his method of laying the foundations of the stone piers of a
bridge below the surface of tlie bed of the river, which he did in the
following September, by means of a model, when it was resolved,
" That this board do approve of Mr. Labclye's design, and are of
opinion that he is a proper person to be employed in case the commis-
sioners proceed to the laying the foundations of stone piers."

A third act was obtained in February, 1738, by which the position of
the bridge was fixed at or near tlie Woolstaple, a little lower than Now
Palace Yard. In the same month Mr. Labelye again explained his
method to the commissioners, which was as follows : " That the founda-
tion of every pier should be laid on a strong grating of timber planked
underneath ; that this grating of timber sliould be made the bottom of
a vessel, sucli as is called caisson by the French ; that the sides of this
caisson should be so contrived as to be taken away after the pier should

be finished ; tliat the bed of the river should be dug to a sufficient
depth (none of tlie caissons to be laid at a less depth than five feet
below the surface of the bed of the river), and made level, in order to
lay thereon the bottom of the caisson."

Shortly after this the commissioners resolved that the bridge .should
stand upon stone piers, and fixed the number and dimensions accord-
ing to Mr. Labelye's design for a stone bridge ; tliey also appointed
him engineer, but the superstructure was to be of oak wood, according to
a design of Mr. James King, with whom, and his partner, they con-
tracted for such superstructure for the sum of 'J8,000/.

On the 29th of January, 1730, the first stone of the bridge was laid
by the Right Hon. the Earl of Pembroke, and on the iSrd of April
the first pier was finished. In December of the same year a severe
frost put a total stop to the work till the following February. The ice
carried off 140 piles, and broke above one-half of them. The com-
missioners, after this accident, determined to drop the design of a
wooden, and resolved upon an entire stone bridge.

Mr. Labelye furnished the designs from which the present bridge was
Iniilt, and the work proceeded without interruption till its completion
in 1740.

On the -Jotli of October in that year the last stone was laid by the
Earl of Pembroke, and on the 14th of November, 1747, the biidgc,
roads, and streets on both sides were finished ; the whole was pertbrnied
in seven years, nine months, and sixteen days from tlic laying of the
first stone.

The Commissioners intended soon alter this to have opened the
bridge for the service of the public, but were prevented by tlie failure
of one of the piers, which occupied a considerable time in being re-
stored.

Mr. Labelye, after giving a highly interesting account of the work

204

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[June

during its progress, proceeds, at tlio rcipiest of the Commissioners, to
answer tlie difl'erent objections tliat had been urged against liis mode of
construction. He puts tliem in the form of " Objection" and " An-
swer." Tlie experience of 100 years has now tested tlie accuracy of
his replies, and in only two instances luis it proved liim in error. We
will give these here, as tliey are intimately connected with the present
works.

3rd Objection. — "Why could not the foundations of the piers liave
been laid by the help of coU'er dams, suc^l as are called by tlie French
Battardaux ?"

Answer. — After explaining tlie construction of coffer dams, he
states — " Tho first inconveniency attending this manner is, that if the
enclosure be not strong enough, or not sufficiently propped or braced
in the inside, it will not be able to support the pressure of the external
water (especially if the water be agitated by stormy winds), which, by
breaking and bursting in, often destroys many lives, and entirely de-
feats the intentions of tlie [irojectois that have not taken the necessary
precautions, of which I could give a great many instances, some of
which I liave been an eye-witness to. But if this metliod had no other
inconveniency, it could easily liave been remedied in the execution of
the intended bridge, — England, and London especially, abounding with
excellent artificers of all kinds. But what would have rendered it
entirely useless or ineffectual, is tlic nature of the bed under the river
Thames, wliich at the place where the bridge is, is everywhere a gravel,
covered over on the Surrey side with a soft loomy sand, all which
woidd suffer the water to ooze up (notwithstanding the sides of the
battardeau, or coffer dam, should be perfectly tight) so fast, especially
the gravel, as to put it out of the power of any engine or engines to
drain tlie battardeau or coffer dam. Indeed, where the ground under
the foundation is a stiif clay, or an earth of a suflicieiit consistency to
hold water, battardeau x or cotter dams have been used w itli success, though
attended with an immense expense and trouble, and what I would have
used if I had not foreseen that in tliis place it would have been in vain
to attempt to come at the bottom, and raucli more so to reach several
feet under the bed of the liver by any sucli means. Those that have
seen (or have been concerned in) buildiiics erected in water when
the ground is a gravel, or a loose clay, or a sand, well know the insepara-
ble difficulties that would have arisen if such coffer dams had been
attempted on the Thames over against the Woolstaple, where, besides
the agitation of the water, occasioned by the winds, the height of the
water is perpetually increasing or decreasing from six feet to about
twenty-three feet perpendicular height above the surface of the bed,
which two circumstances alone would make it difficult and very ex-
pensive to provide proper materials, and construct a coffer dam suffi-
ciently strong to resist such unequal pressures so as to kceji out the
ambient water."

" As to the oozing in of the water through the pores and interstices
of the gravel, loose clay, or sand, it may easily be shown, that if all the
interstices in the bottom of the foundation of one of the piers taken to-
gether amount only to a hole of six inches square (which is a supposi-
tion much under the truth) ; and, supposing the tide or head of water
above the foundations, as it is at a mean or an average between the
highest and lowest, about 15 feet perpendicular, it would give 770
tons per hour, which is more than 70 men could pump out, even sup-
posing them to act always with the same strength as they do at first,
and to work day and night without ceasing, and more than 150 men
or 30 horses could do working as tlicy commonly do."

7th Objection. — " Notwithstanding all the precautions that have
been taken to render the foiuidations of the piers as firm and solid as
if they were built upon dry ground, they will always be in danger of
the water gulling underneath and carrying away the ground from under
the planked gratings on which the piers stand."

Answer. — He enters into an explanation of the elTect of running
water on the beds of rivers, and into calculations respecting the con-
sequences in case London Bridge siiould be removed, and con-
cludes with, " I rather suspect (with regard to the river Thames and
Westminster Bridge) the reverse of the objection will happen ; viz.,
that the piers will in time be more and more buried in the ground by
the silting of the river which must accumulate in a long course of years,
for in all tide rivere (at least in those that have no extraordinary
declivity towards the sea), we find their beds continually rising, and
in the Thames in particular, it is well known that the bed of the river
(especially above London Bridge) is several inches higher than it was
one hundred years ago, which 1 conceive to be occasioned by the tide
of ebb having so long a time to deposit its settlement, and every tide
of flood preventing in a great measure part of that settlement from
being carried down to the sea."

It is needless to ofFer any remarks on these opinions of Mr.
Labelye. He appears to have acted with the greatest consideration
while engaged in this arduous undertaking, and if we bear in mind that

an engineer at that time had very little from the experience of
others to guide him, and that this was unquestionably the greatest and
most difficult work that had ever been attempted in this country, we
must feel more inclined to admit the genius of its author and to give
him praise for the amazing skill and ingenuity displayed in its construc-
tion, than to cavil at any errors he may have committed.

We now pass over a period of seventy years, during which there is
nothing worthy of notice. The proposed removal of one of the piers of
old London Bridge appears to have been the first thing to call the at-
tention of the Commissioners of Westminster Bridge to the security
of its foundations, for we find that in May, 18'23, tlie late Mr.
Telford was called on by them for his opinion as to the probable
effect which might be occasioned by such removal. In his report, he
mentions that the platforms upon wliich the piers rest, which were de-
scribed by Mr. Labelye to have been placed none less than five feet nor
more than fourteen below the bed of the river,are now found torange be-
tween thieeand seven ; and if LoudonBridgebe wholly removed, the con-
sequences will most likely be fatal toWestminster Bridge ; he then recom-
mends certain works to be done for its safety. These works proceeded
under his direction during the remainder of his life ; they consisted of
piling round some of the piers and protecting them with masonry by
means of a diving-bell, rebuilding some of tlie cutwaters and octagons,
&c.

In August, 1835, notwithstanding wliat had been done by Mr.
Telford, we find, when Mr. Cubitt was called on to report how far
the proposed embankment for the New Houses of Parliament would
aflect the stability of the foundations of the bridge, he states that the
foundations were still far from being in a secure state — and in June,
183G, he reports " on the present state and best manner of rendering
secure the foundations of this bridge."

He points out three modes of securing them : —
1st. Depositing heavy rubble stone round them.
'2d. Surrounding each of the piers with sheet piling of oak or cast-
iron, coming up above low water, securing them to the piers and filling
the space with stones and cement.

3d. Paving the whole space under the arches, anddrivingsheet piling
on each side of the bridge the whole way across the river.

This last plan he estimates at not less than 1'20,00()/. and not more
thau 150,000/., and to completely restore the superstructure besides,
in all from 160,000/. to 200,000/.

In February, 1837, Mr. Walker reported on the same subject. His
instructions with reference to the present bridge, he states, were —

" That I survey Westminster Bridge, and report my opinion on the
state of its foundations, and what I deem necessary to be done to put
the existing bridge in a state of permanent security, with an estimate
of such repair."
His opinion is —

1st. That the best mode of securing the piers of Westminster Bridge
is by coffer-dams, then pumping out the water, and piling roimd the
piers.

'2d. That the expense of this for all the piere will be . . £70,000
3d. That renewing the ends and spandrils of all the piers

in the way already begun, will cost 21,000

4th. That the present parapet ought to be taken oft',
and a lower one substituted, and that the inclination of tlie
road may and ought to be improved ; the cost of these will be 1 2,000

Total cost .... £103,000

Shortly after tliis Messrs. Walker and Barges prepared plans and a
specification for the repairs of the bridge, and the Commissioners ac-
cepted Mr. William Ciibitt's tender in May, 1838.

The specification is formed into two divisions : —

The first contains the coffer dams and securing the foundations of
eleven piers, deepening the bod of the river, at the bridge, after the piers
are secured ; putting in a new coinice and a new parapet for its whole
extent, lowering the carriage road and footpath upon the bridge, raising
the approaches at each end, and repairing the footpaths witli new stone.

The second embraces the repairs to the masonry of the superstruc-
ture ; such as restoring the injured faces of the stones of tlie arches and
piers, rebuilding such of the cutwaters and octagon piers sis may be
ordered, and also repairing and rebuilding the spandril walls of the
arches.

Mr. Cubitt immediately commenced operations, and in eight months
completed the cotter dam round the 13 and 14 feet piers on the West-
minster side ; and notwithstanding all that had been said about the
impossibility of keeping the water out, and that it would require 150
men to pump constantly in a dam round one pier only, it appears that
one man, working two or three liouis during the day, is sufficient in this
dam round two piers.

When the mud wliich had accumulated during the execution of the

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

205

dam, and the coverings of gravel were Removed, the caissons were found
in a perfect state, the wood (lir) even retaining its resinous siYiell :
their construction agrees very nearly with the description given by Mr.
Labelye. The sill is formed of whole timbers extending longitudinally
under the pier, and framed at each end, so as to run parallel witl\ tlie
cutwaters. Upon this the grating is placed ; it is composed of timbers
lOin. X lUin. ; its outer frame is of the same shape as the sill, but seven
inches less in width all round, thus forming an oft'set or footing ; the
transverse timbers upon which tlie pier rests are one foot apart, and
firmly morticed and trenailed into tlie frame, and trenailed into the sill.
Round the pier a curb of planking Gin. thick and 2 feet 8 broad, was
fastened to the grating- — this has since been removed, to make way
for the stone-work.

The accompanying plan and section to an enlarged scale will explain
the metiiod pursued in securing the foundations (the dotted line on tlie
section shows the fiiU of low water since tlie removal of old London
Bridge). The sheet piling which surrounds the caisson is, beecli l'2in.
thick and 15 feet long; the waling is Sin. thick by I-2in. ; every tliird
pile is bolted to the wale with a l^ incli screw-bolt, the head counter-
sunk into a cast-iron waslier ; the wale is bolted to the caisson
by 1| incli tiebolts, 0 feet long, let into tlie timber ; the inner end
has a cast-iron carriage, bedded as shown in the section ; the an-
gles of the waling are secured with wrought-iron straps. The space
between the sheet-piling and the caisson, and also between the
timbers of the grating is filled in with brickwork, thus forminc a
solid bed for the pavement, which is of roche Portland stone, six
feet in depth of bed, and 18 inches height next the pier, bevelled otf
to 12 inches next the piles.

We intend to continue our notice of tlie works as they proceed.

CANDIDUS'S NOTE-BOOK.

FASCICULUS V.

" T must have liberf^-

Withal, as lai-|:;e a charter as tlie wiiuls,
To blow on whom I please.*'

I. It is perfectly inexplicable to me, that notwithstanding the exces-
sive admiration professed for Palladio, no views are ever taken of his
buildings — models, we are assured, of refined taste, and every kind of
architectural elegance and grace, and replete with, that captivating ho;? .so
the which defies both definition and description. I am not acquainted
with a single instance in which any building by him has been given in
such works as those of Clochar, Schuelt, Ruhl, which profess to select
what is most worthy of study in Italian architecture. We have of late
had a tolerably smart shower of Italian views of one sort or another,
both in Annuals and elsewliere, yet none of tliem liave cared to show
us the glories of Vicenza ; while the Piazzetta at Venice has been
represented over and over again, till it has become aljsolutely stale. Yet,
if poor Vicenza is very scurvily treated, Sienna does not fare much bet-
ter being qu'iteyshi/ed at by all our travelling and view-taking folks.
Even Woods bestows only a couple of pages upon it, in which he con-
fines himself almost entirely to the cathedral, bating what he says of
the pronunciation of the people, which we could very well spare for
something more akin to the information the title of his book promises.
Poor Woods! not only did he someliow or other "miss seeing" one
of the greatest lions of its kind at Genoa, the Saloon of the Serra
Palace, but, horresco referens ! neither did he see even the fa9ade of the
Piccolomini Palace at Sienna, a most majestic piece of architecture —
one incomparably finer than anything Palladio ever designed. This
fa<7ade and tlie picturesque cortile would alone suffice for the fame of
any architect ; yet the name of Francesco di Georgio, to whom it is at-
tributed, though Rumolir claims it for Bernardo Rossellini, is scarcely
ever heard of among us ; yet whether by Di Giorgio or Rossellini, the
design is one of first-rate excellence.

II. Whatever study an architect may bestow upon the design of a
mansion, a very gnat deal is, after all, left to be done entirely <i. dis-
cretion, as the French say, that is, to the risk of the most flagrant
indiscretion. Beyond cornices round the ceilings, doors and chimney
pieces, and perhaps a few columns, an architect considers that he h.is
nothing further to do with the interior, after the building is once
erected. The chief thing to be said in excuse of this disregard of
character and effect on his part, is, that at least it is attended with no
danger of any kind of effect being put out, or character destroyed, for
the simple reason, that his uniformly plain four-sided rooms have
nothing whatever of the kind ; indeed, it is but reasonable that all
matters of mere taste should be left entirely to thosi' who have to pay
for it, and who, it may be presumed, know far better than any one else
their_ own particular likings and dislikings, and who can at all events

■ buy fashion— a most delightful thing, although not exactly an article
that " will wear well for ever, and afterivards'be better than at first."
Wliercfore should a man, because you have employed him as your archi-
tect for the walls of your house, be allowed impertinently to dictate to
your taste, and tell you there must be this and there must not be that ; to
tell you that such or such a thing will quite cut up and kill some-
thing else? Officious jackanapes! — he deserves to be killed himself and
cut up afterwards, in terrorem, to the whole profession. It is some
consolation to know that in* this country the profession are generally
persons of far more discretion than to behave themselves after such
very unseemly manner. They leave you to have it all your own
way ; you may paint, paper, carpet, and do every thing else a discretion,
without giving themselves any concern about it. Perhaps they are rather
too pococuranti, hut ihcw thej' save themselves a vast deal of trouble,
and other persons an infinity of vexation and annoyance. In fact, it is
little short of a downright insult to tell people, even by implication, that
you consider your taste greatly better than theirs, or ratlier that they have
no taste at all ; almost would it be a lesser affront to tell them they
liave not common sense, nor common undeistanding. Ne sutor ultra
crepidam : let the architect stick to his concrete, his brick and mortar,
his columns and proportions, and all the cabalistic words of his voca-
bulary ; perfect ignorance of all such vulgar matters may he confessed
not only without shame but with perfect self-complacencj', and with a
glow of conscious superiorit}'. But to sutler yourself to be dictated to
or even guided in matters of taste, is a thing not to be thought of.
What, are you such an absolute Goth in your ideas, such a vulgar
plebeian in your notions, as not to know, without being told, what is
(juite comme ilfaut, and tasty or not ?

III. It is very extraordinary — I mean it appears unaccountable, for the
thing itself is a matter of course — that notwithstanding the vast number
of designs for buildings, or of views of them, scarcely one in five hun-
dred shows any part of tiie interior of a building ; so that, did we not
know to the contrary, we might suppose that the mansions of our
nobility, and all our other edifices both public and (u-ivate, were merely ,
outside show, whereas many a one which is as plain and uninteresting
as can possibly be externally, contains some apartment or other within
it worthy of being made known. I question whether there is any ugly
house of any size, or one that has acquired a vulgar sentimental noto-
riety as that in which some poetical luminarj' was first fed on pap,
that has not had its likeness taken, to edify and delight the fanciers of
such mawkish rubbish? Besides being a very preposterous superstition,

I am afraid that it is one which leads to a very great deal of mystifica-
tion on the part of those who provide the public with such highly in-
teresting mementos, and who not being always so scrupulous as their
customers are curious, manufacture a view of the " House in
which the celebrated So-and-so was born," or "died," and pass it off" as
genuine. Perhaps the house that .Tack built, could any one but find
out where it stood, would be a greater curiosity of the kind than all
the others put together.

IV. Whether it be the intention or not of tlie Gresham Committee
to act with perfect fairness in the competition for the new Royal
Exchange, certain it is that they hold out very little encouragement
for any one to engage in it. There is not the slightest manifestation of
any anxiety to obtain a design of si.perior merit — no pledge given that
the decision will be according to unbiassed judgment, that that judg-
ement will be not only impartial but most deliberate, and committed to,
at least assisted bj', those whose opinion will have weight with the
public, and who are willing to be responsible for the selection they
shall make. Further, instead of anything like readiness being sliown
in furnishing as explicit instructions as possible — notwithstanding that
a positive charge is made for a plan of the site, the information sup-
plied is so vague as to leave entirely out of view nearly all the most
important points that require to be clearly understood ; at the same
time, there is a most extraordinary precision indeed as to others,
although they must be entirely dependent on circumstances of plan,
lor some of the rooms are limited to the exact diineiisions of 13 feet by
1:3 and G inches ! Does not this look very much as if a plan had been
made by some one, and that the sizes of the rooms wliicli happen to be
in it, are expected to he adiiored to most punctually, no matter whether
any other design can be so adjusted as to bring lliom in without taking
away or adding a single inch? To be sure, tolerable latitude is allowed
the competitors in another respect, because the |uincipal area may be
about -JOiOOO sipiare feet, wliicli about seems to imply that one or two
thousand more or less will not be regarded.

V. Sufficient distinction is not made between the aesthetic value of
a particular style, and the historical interest wliicli may be uttttched to
it ; and yet there may be much of the latter where there is very little of
any of the former. Such is the case with F.lizahetlican architecture ;
fur though the extant examples of it desetve notice, and are not
altogether witliout attraction in themselves, very seldom indeed do they

206

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[JuNE'

ofi'er anytliint; woitliy to serve as a model; while modern imitations ol
them merely "give iis the nncontlmess of taste they display, without any
of the rounterhalancing reconmiendation they possess. By no pos-
sibility can any reminiscences of other days he made to attach to a
"spick-and-span " new edifice, any more than a lineage from the con-
quest can be bestowed upon a new-made city knight, who perhaps
does not know, or does not care to know, who was his grandfather.

What may be venerable in an old country church either for the his-
torical evidence it att'ords, or as belonging to the most ancient part of
tlie structure, may possibly become barbarously mean when copied in
a modern one. Few things are more disgusting in architecture than
the atl'ectution of simplicity, — than a spruce, pert-looking ediKce, imper-
tinently aping the unassuming modesty and humility of a primitive
place of devotion.

ON CHALK EXCAVATIONS.

BY SAMUEL HUGHES, C.E.

Fig. 1. Elevation nf BriJi^e — Seetinn of Rriilge.

Fig. 2 Finn of Abiitnienf

Fig 3 Section of Abutment tlirough A to B.

Fig. 4. Section of Cutting.

Fig .5 Enlarged Section of Coping Top ol tlie Benches.

aiV'

r[The interior lines sbow the 83'Stem proposed by Mr. Rastrlck, and tlie exterii
shows the system of cutting and bencliini? proposed by Mr Gibbs.]

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

207

ON CHALK EXCAVATIONS.

BY SAMUEL HUGHES, C. E.

On Chalk E .icavations, and the means adopted tinder different circum-
stances of intersecting the Great Chalk Ridyes of England, for the

purposes of Railway and Canal communication.

The extent :incl position of the chalk formation in this country are
so well known as scarcely to require description. The ridge of
chalk surrounding the London clay, and forming the basin in wtiich
this latter has been deposited, extends through the counties of Nor-
folk, Suffolk, Cambridge, Hertford, Bedford, Buckingham, Oxford,
Wiltshire, Hampshire, Surrey, and Kent. The entire length of the
outer boundary of this ridge from Himstanton, in Norfolk, to Folk-
stone, in Kent, is about 350 miles.

At Salisbury two branches diverge from the main formation, the
one extending in a south-easterly direction by Winchester, Chiches-
ter, Brighton, and Newhaven, as far as Beachy-head, a length of
about 92 miles ; and the other extending in a south westerly direc-
tion to a short distance beyond Dorchester, a length of about 50
miles.

The chalk of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire Commences on the
north side of the Wash, opposite to Himstanton, and extends by
Scamblesby and Caistor across the Humber, by Market Weighton
and Nortli Grimston, to the sea at Hamboro' Head, a length of
about 100 miles.

Around the outer side of the London Basin, the chalk, except
where broken through by the passage of water, is elevated with a
bold precipitous escarpment, whilst from the summit of the range
towards the centre of the basin the dip is more gradual. In tlie
county of Norfolk, however, the range is s* much depressed that no
escarjimcnt is observable.

Without entering into any geological theory to explain the ori-
ginal deposit and formation of the calcareous substance so univer-
sally known under the name of chalk, it can hardly fail to attract
the observation of the most superficial, that the escarpment of the
whole chalk range has formed at some time the margin of an im-
mense lake. It would seem that the water thus bounded has over-
llowed its banks, carrying witii it vast quantities of the material
composing the upper part of the range. Thus we find the flint
gravel which has been washed from the top of tlie chalk hills dis-
tributed entirely over the London Clay Basin, and along the southern
side of the Soutli Downs throughout their whole extent.

The chalk formation is divided by geologists into two groups, the
upper chalk with flints, and the lower or grey chalk, which contains
no flints. The firestone, although appearing from its position imme-
diately under the lower chalk, to form a part of the same group, is
ranked by geologists as the upper bed of the green sand formation, and
the propriety of this arrangement will be evident o:i examining the
structure of the firestone : it is evidently composed of an arena-
ceous grit, and appears not unlike some varieties of the Oolite or
Bath stone.

The principal railways which intersect the chalk range of the Lon-
don Basin, are the Northern and Eastern, the London and Birmingham,
the Great Western, the London and Southampton, the London and
Brighton, and the South Eastern. Amongst these various lines, my
attention has been more particularly directed to those laid out into
the south of England, on which a greater extent of chalk country is
passed through than on any of the lines in the direction of north
or west. The lines to the south enter the chalk at the distance of
about 10 miles from London, and continue in this stratification as
far as the escarpment of the Surrey Chalk Downs. The line of tnis
escarpment may be accurately traced by the towns of Eainham,
Guildford, Dorking, Reigate, Westerham, &c., the lowest passes in
the range between these points being at Dorking, the Valley of the
Mole, otherwise known as the Vale of Mickleham ; at Mersiham, in
the line of one of the present coach roads to Brighton ; and at
Oxted, where the road from London to Lewes crosses the chalk.

In addition to parsing over from eight to ten miles of the chalk
district, composing the Surrey clialk range, each of the lines of
r.iilway proposed between London and Brighton, intersected the
South Down range, in which the lowest passes near Brighton, are at
Shoreham, through the Valley of the Adur ; at Saddlescombe, a
little east of the Devil's Dyke ; and at Clayton, where the present
mail road from London crosses the chalk. The lines of Brighton
railway intersecting in their course of about 50 miles the two most
important chalk districts in the country, and passing over not less
than IS or 20 miles of this stratification, will naturally furnish some
important information as to tlie facilities of overcoming, for the
purposes of internal communication, the great natural barrier pre-
sented by the chalk ridges of Surrey and Sussex.

Commencing at the northern end of these lines, it has been

already stated that the principal passes in Surrey are at Dorking,
Merstham and Oxted. These three passes, with the particular com-
parative merits of each, have been very prominently brought before
the notice of Parliament in the Session of 1837.

The Dorking pass was the one adopted for Mr. Stephenson's
Brighton line, in its course from the Southampton Railway by Epsom
and Leathcrhcad to the Holnnvood Common, beyond Dorking.

The Merstham pass was fixed on by three engineers, each engaged
for a separate line, as the most eligible for the required objects.
Thus the several lines proposed by Mr. Vignoles, by Sir John
Rennie, and Mr. Rastrick, and by Mi'. Gibbs, all passed Ihrough
Merstham, with very trifling deviation from each other in any part
of their course, through the chalk district.

The Oxted pass was adopted lor the South Eastern Railway, but
this part of their line has been abandoned, and this railway is now
to commence by a junclion with the London and Brighton at a point
between Merstham and Redhill.

It may now be advisable to view separately each of these passes,
the first in order being the Dorking. At this place the river Mole
forms a complete outlet ihrough the chalk ; and as the river rises
on the south side of Dorking, and flows over the chalk as far as
Leatherhead in a northerly direction, it would seem natural that a
line adopting the valley of this stream through the chalk range
should encounter no considerable summit in its passage through the
chalk. Accordingly we find that Mr. Stephenson's line passed over
the London clay as far as the south side of Epsom Common, and
then entirely over the chalk to Dorking, without rising more than
1 GO feet above high-water* mark; this summit occurs at about 15^
miles from the commencement at Vauxhall-bridge. The works
through the chalk are very inconsiderable, with the exception of the
cutting on Leatherhead Common ; the chalk passed through by this
line is remarkably dry, and the firestone and gault brickearth are
entirely wanting as they have been broken through by the river
Mole, or rather by those waters which on bursting through the chalk
originally formed the Vale of Mickleliam. The greatest height to
which the chalk rises on this line is 230 feet above high water;
namely, in the cutting through Norbury park, where the surface of
the ground rises from the river Mole to'the height of about 120 feet
above the same, with a slope of not less than 2 to 1.

Of the three lines proposed through the Merstham pass, Mr.
Vignoles" rises to a summit of ,304 feet above high-water; the
summit on Sir John Rennie's was 324 feet, and on Mr. Gibbs' 2>^1
feet. The highest summit of chalk on Mr. Vignoles' line was 4()4
feet, on Sir John Rennie's 435 feet, and on Mr. Gibbs' 522 feet.
The greater height of the summit on Mr. Gibbs' line was
occasioned by the direction taken in order to preserve a straight line
through the tunnel. The line of Sir John Rennie and Mr. Rastrick,
commonly called the direct line, and which, as well known, is now
in course of execution under the direction of Mr. Rastrick, Nvas laid
out through the lowest ground that could be followed consistently
with the nature of the curves, which were limited to a radius of not
less than one mile, the intention at the time the bill was before Par-
liament being to open cut entirely through the chalk district. On
Mr. Gibbs' line, however, a tunnel three-quarters of a mile long was
proposed, and it being obviously of little consequence how high the
summit might be above the tunnel, it happened that the ground
through which this was carried rose to a height of nearly ninety feet
above the highest point on the direct line.

The Merstham pass has been very minutely investigated, in order
to discover the nature of the chalk," and the subordinate beds of fire-
stone and gault. The ereatest height to which the gault rises m the
neighbourhood of MersTtham is 290 feet above high water mark, and
the firestone which rests upon it is about seventy feet higher.

The following are selected from a variety of borings and shafts
which have been sunk immediately upon the chalk :— -

Shafts sunk close to the Turnpike-road at the Jolifl'e Arms Inn,
Merstham, commenced at surface 3f;4 feet above high water
mark —

ft. in.

7 0 Chalkwash and loam.
2 G Stifi" chalkmarl.
5 6 Stifl'er do.

9 0 Chalk marl, a little shattered.
16 G Very fine firm rock chalk.

40 G

The rock chalk continues —

• Tlie expression "high-water," wherever used in thi^ imiicr, refers to the Trinity
hi''h-water mark in London.

Q

208

THE CTVIT. ENGINEER AND ARCFITTECT'S JOURNAL.

[Junk,

Shiift .sunk by tlie side of an old chalk pil, in a field opposite
the Star Inn, Merstham, ;i74 feet, above lii!,'li M'alcr.
ft. in.

15 0 Stronof hmipy chalk much sliakcn
vertical lissnres.
4 0 Fine stronjj chalk.
0 2 Layer of plate Hint.
7 0 Firm rock chalk.

'>•

26 2

Rock chalk continnes —

Shaft sunk at the end of a plantation in the parish of Chipstead

on the road from London to Brighton, :V20 feet above hii^li

water.

ft.
8
(■)
3

23

in.
0
0
0
0

liOam and flint gravel.
Clean clayey loam.
Loam and Hints.
Solid chalk.

40 0

Rock chalk eontimies : —
Boring at Dean's Farm commenced
higli water : —

ft. in.

10 0

21 0

nf snrfiee 402 feet above

Loan and gravel.
Chalk much shaken.

31 0

Solid chalk below this depth.

Boring in Coulsdon Parisli commenced 292 feet above liigh
water: — °

ft.

6

20

m.
0
6

Chalk marl.

Chalk much shaken.

20 6

Solid chalk below this.

Boring in a field belonging to Sir William .Toliffe in the parish of
Merstham, commenced at S^S feet above liigli water ■ —
ft. in.

11 0 Flint and grave!,
2 0 Loose sanil.
15 0 Chalk, with flints.
47 0 Hard chalk.

0

Boring at a spot 400 feet above liiMi-waler mark '
ft. in.

IG 0 Flints and gravel.
42 0 Hard chalk.

58 0

From the above it will be seen that the chalk of IMei'st ham con-
sists mainly of the inferior beds of rock chalk. One of the borings
mdicates a layer of flint, and this is, probably, the lowest of those
layers which are exposed in the quarries of S'niitham Bottom, near
Croydon. It is true that flints are abundant in the upper part of the
chalk, even al Merstham, but they are in a loose, nnstratified state,
and have evidently been washed from th.eir natur.al position, which
is considerably higher than where found at present. Below the chalk
marl in which the' loose Mints are imbedded, the rock chalk is at first
considerably shattered, but at a greater depth is extremely firm, and
might be used for building where it can be protected from the action
of air and water.

Numerous quarries are worked in theneighbom'hood of Merstham,
and the excellent ipiality of the lime burnt from this chalk is well
known. In the quarries south of Merstham tlie chalk is much shat-
tered by vertical fissures, which appear to separate the whole face
into rectangles of about six inches wide. Considerable quantities of
debris have fallen from the face of the chalk which rarely stands up-
right for any length of time. In one quarry which 1 'h.ave visited
the depth of chrlk i.s about ,50 feet, and the slope nearly one-tliird to
one, and in nnothrr. --thpvn.^arer (oATerstham, but .stiU on the .south

side, the chalk face which here also is about M feet in heiglit, stands
upright from the bottom to within 20 feet of the top. The fire-stone
is obtained at Merstham from galleries worked under the chalk, and
extending a considerable distance under ground. A large shaft has
also been sunk down to the fircstone, and considerable quantities have
been brought to the surface, and used for the ornamental work of
Lord Monson's house at Gatton, from ^^hich estate the fircstone is
Iirincii<ally obf.ained.

A great deal of discussion arose during the struggle between the
various Brighton lines in the session of l!^37, as to the best method of
forming the chalk excavalion.s. It was argued by one parly that a slojie
of from -, to 1, to 1 to 1 should be adopted for the cuttings, while
another ]iroposed to make the sides nearly vertical, contending that
aslope of one-sixth to 1 was s\ifficient, A third party proposed a
system of benching at about every 1,'j feet in height, tlie successive
steps to be vertical, and to be faced with rock-chalk. The accom-
panying drawing (fig. 4) exhibits the two designs proposed respec-
tively by Mr. Hastrick and by Mr. Gibbs.

Of the Oxted Pass, which was selected for the south-eastern line,
I am not able to say much. The Oxted chalk, on the soutli side of
the summit, is of a brittle, friable nature, and does not appear to
stand well in the quarries at a less slope than about 1 to 1. This
may be obsi?rved in the great Oxted cpiarrics, and in a small pit
.about 40 yards from the line. Thegault lies up very high beyond the
chalk at this place, and several springs maybe observed at the junc-
tion of the gault and the fircstone. Close to the road leading over
the chalk hills at Oxted is the celebrated Riddlesdown quarry, the
properly of Mr. Atkins. The deepest face of chalk in this quarry is,
standing at a slope, something steeper than i to 1. The chalk here
is in very large blocks, and contains no flints. The frost occasion-
ally brings down masses of this chalk, the face of which, after a fall,
presents a rugged ii'regnlar appearance, in consequence of the fall-
ing out of occasional loose blocks, while others have been too firmly
wedged in to be thrown down. In addition to the preceding princi-
pal passes, a number of others have been tried, mainly with the
object of discovering a spot where the chalk, although rising to a
considci'able altitude, should yet be narrow in the direction of the
line intersecting it. Thus, admitting that a tunnel were necessary,
il will obviously be possible that the very highest summit of the
chalk may be found most eligible, because the ridge at this summit
may be narrower and more compressed, thereby occasioning, at the
ends of the tunnel, less work than on a line which penetrates a much
more dejiressed part of the range. Although certainly not justified
in saying that tliis condition was answered by any of the trial-lines
through the more elevated parts of the Surrey hills, it may neverthe-
less lie useful to record the result of these trials, one of which — the
Oxted — has been already mentioned, the others being at Betchworth,
and at Bletchingly. The Betchworth line was intended to cross over
a corner of Epsom race-course, touching the park of Baron de
Tessier, and thence passing between the villages of Betchworth and
Buckland, The suumiit of the railway in the chalk was ."JUO feet
above liigh water. The chalk of Betchworth is remarkably dry, and
ajipears to be firmer, and not so much shalicn as that of Mer.stluuu.
AVitli respect to the line by Bletchingly, I am unable to give any-
thing more than the height of the summit which was tried, and
which, in connexion with the approach on each side, was found so
comparatively ineligible, that all idea of carrying a line in that direc-
tion was immediately abandoned. This smnmil is at the south-east
corner of Piatt Green, on the road leading thence to Tupwood Com-
mon ; height above high water mark, / 30 feet.

The first ]i.i-:s in the South Down range which I propose tonotice, is
that thrnughwTiich 1 lie River Adur flows to its f);i/)OHc/(HrcatShi>reham.
The lines through the Adin- valley entered the chalk at Beeding,
about .') miles from Shoreham, and, as the tide flows in the Adrcr as far
as Bine's Bridge, which is seven miles higher th.an Beeding, it may
readily be supposed that the chalk in this valley is depressed to a
very unconnnon extent. Accordingly we find that the foin- lines
severally laid out by Mr. Vignoics, Mr. Stephenson, Mr, Gibbs, and
Mr. Cmidy, nowhere rose morethan'JS feet abovehigh water mark in
their course through this valley. The general feat lu-es of a section
through this pass, taken in a straight line or a line whose curves are
not incompatible with railway travelling, consist of low ground
forming the marshes on the sides of the river, alternating with steep
Ijanks of clialk which flank the marshes, and which, it may be pre-
sumed, presented a greater resistance to the original force of water
than the adjoining parts of the chalk which have been swept away
towards the sea.

The valley of the Adur affords the engineer many instructive op-
portunities of observing the conditions imdcr which slopes of chalk
may be expected to stand, and it may not here be out of place to

1S:',0.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

•200

record the result of some observations made to ascertain the practi-
cability of inducing vegetation on steep slopes of this material. In
favour of the practice of constructing chalk excavations with slopes
approaching to vertical, it has been urged that the danger of slips
would be very much lessened, if not entirely removed, were it pos-
sible to cover them with any kind of grass, which would have the
cll'ect of holding and tying "together the minute fractured parts occu-
pying the face of the slope. This notion is plausible, but would
scarcely seem to be supported by the state of natural slopes now ex-
isting, luid which, therefore, present an unexceptionable ground work
for JLulging on the subject. The following are the observations
before alluded to. : —

The old Shoreham windmill stands on a suunnit abont 180 feet
above the road to Brighton. The face of the chalk at this place is
very steep and the vegetation is partial ; grass, however, was grow-
ing undisturbed at an inclination of l^lj horizontal to 1 perpendicular.
On a slope of It to 1, vegetation is partial, and in many places the
soil has I)cen carried down by the rain, which has fonned small
gulleys or ravines down the slope. The summit at this part of the
chalk district is not more than 1.50 yards from the base of the hill,
conseijuently neither the removal of tlie soil from the face of the
slope, the formation of the small gulleys, nor the con.seqnent barren-
ness exhibited at this place, can be allributed to an extraordinary
extent of surface drainage washing over the slope. On an inclina-
tion of l-fb to 1, slight patches of vegetation appear, but the grass is
very stunted and thinly scattered; while on 'a slope of I to 1, no
trace of vegelable growth could be found. The soil covering the
chalk is of a light clayey nature, and varies from 5 to 8 inches in
depth.

Higher np the Valley of the Adnr, and nearer to Becding, the
face of the liills rising from the valley at a slope of three to one is
extensively covered with timber. Ash and elms thrive well here, and
the underwood is sti'oug and healthy, consisting chiefly of white and
black thorn, brambles, elder, and ivy, accompanied by nettles,
thistles, and sti'ong coarse grass. The chalk in this district is of a
rubbly description, full of veins, cracks, and tissures; it is, however,
strong and heavy, stands well in an upright face.and contains numer-
ous Hints.

As an example of the natural slope of loose chalk in embankments
I may mention thai, at a considerable excavation near Beeding the
rubljish or refuse clialk wheeled into spoil, and teamed over head lo
a depth of fifteen or eighteen feet assumes an inclination of \-{\,
hoi'izonlal lo 1 perpendicular. On this slope, which has no covering
of soil, and contains no mixture of mould, there are sliglit traces of
vegetation ; it is, however, very coarse and unhealthy in its growth,
consisting of a dry brown coloured description of grass, very short
and mixed with moss. The chalk of the excavation, from which
this spoil bank was made, has been worked lo a great extent for the
purpose of being burnt into lime, the rpialily of which is excellent.
The greatest depth of this excavation is not less tnan ICO feet, with
a face which is nearly upright, and which stands well, allhough the
chalk is l)y no mcaus so lirm ami compact as in some oilier parts of
the range. The fissures are numerous in this pit, and parallel veins
of Hint traverse it nearly horizonlally at unequal distances from each
other, varying from .'! to / feet. The upper |iart of the (jnarry, con-
sisting of clialk marl and chalk nmch broken and very tender, stands
well at (> inches horizontal to 1 foot perpendicular.

The Saddlescondje gap is the next in order [U'oceediug eastward ;
and in this place, following the lowest ground in the valley, the chalk
summit does not exceed 3S0 feet above high watermark. It was
found, however, from levels taken through this gap, that a line enler-
ing the chalk range boldly at one of the highest pcjints of the range,
namely, at ihe Devil's Dyke, a lillle v,est of Saddli-scombe, encouu-
lered less of diflicidly :md heavy work than a line Ihrough the gap.
This result became evident on discovering that in cither case a
tunnel would be necessary, and that the ground beyond Saddlcscombe
gap is not so much diqiressed as two valleys or bolloms leading from
the south side of the Dyke. It was therefore decided bv Mr. (iibbs,
who surveyed Ihe country in this direction, to adopt Ihe Dyke line
passing on lo Brighton, to the east of Hangh-ton, through fioldstoue
i;,,;;o;ii. The summil of the chalk range at the Dyke is (140 feet
above high water, and Ihe summit at the railway was lo be 141 feet,
at a point about a mile beyond, or south of, Ihe highest ground inter-
.socted by the line. The gaudt brick earth at this jilace extends as
'far south as the village of Volking, rising to a height of 190 feet
above high water mark, and the fire-stone reeling on Ihe gault is
'21(1 feel above the same level.

The next pass in the chalk range, namrly llie (!Iaylon, is of con-
siderable imporlance, as the line of Brighton railway sanctioned by
Parliament intersects the South Downs at Ibis place. The summit
of Clayton Hill, under which the line passes, is -KO feet above high

water mark, and the smnrait of the railway itself m the chalk district
is 212 feet above the same level. The fire-stone is either very incon-
siderable in depth or is entirely absent at Clayton, and the junction
of the gault with the chalk takes place at a point opposite Clayton
church, abont 24.5 feet above high-water mark. A boring made in
the parish of Piecombe, on the north side of the chalk summil, en-
tered the chalk at two feet below the surface, and passed through
solid chalk for 55 feet when it was discontinued. Also a boring on
the south side and in the same parish, entered the chalk after jiass-
ino- through 9 feet of chalk wash, and was continued through 20
feet of clialk, the same stratification existing for a con,^iderable
depth below. In the chalk qunrry at Clayton Hill, there is a con-
siderable quantity of debris at the bottom, and the average slope of
the face is l to 1, although it presents surfaces varying from the
perpendicular to a slope of 1 lo 1. The chalk cutting on the turn-
pike-road over Clayton Hill is 45 feet deep, with slopes of I to I.
A chalk nit close to'the road, an<l opposite Pangdean farm, is from
.•?5 to 40" feet deep, and the chalk here, although it does not stand
well, preserves a steeper slope than the Clayton quarry already
mentioned. ■,■ , ^

The chalk of Clayton and the neighbourhood is exceedingly dry •
and hard, but much shattered. The lissures seem to have rent the
face of the chalk into a series of long-shaped pyramids, with Ihe
apex uppermost, and would appear lo have been caused by Ihe same
upheaving force which has so extensively operated on the whole
chalk stratification of this country.

As connected with the subject of the South Down chalk range,
I may briefly notice the pass of the proposed south-eastern Brighton
Railway, this line was inlcnded to enter the chalk range at a
iioint called Mount Harry, and to proceed by Falmer to Brighton,
with a summit of K12 feet"above high water. Not having seen this
part of the range, I am unable to say anything from personal olwei'-
vation as to the nature of the chalk. It appears, however, from the
evidence of Ihe witnesses called in support of the line, to be not
unlike that of Clayton. -^^

Having now exhausted my stdck of information relative to the
South Downs, I purpose to'mtike a few remarks on the chalk of
Kent, which may be said lo comprise the south-eastern arm of the
London chalk formation. An extensive chalk cliff is exposed along
the coast from Folkstone away to Dover and the south Foreland, m
the course of which arc many interesting and well-known ponits
The celebrated Shakspere's cliff, from which a very extensive fall
has lately taken place, was a very bold projection with a face nearly
vertical to a height of about (It) feet above the beach. While beyond
this heifhl, the slope was nearly ^ to 1. The flints are almost en-
tirely wanting in the chalk of Shakspere's cliff, the upper mass of
the clifTappearingtobccomposedof hard nodules of chalk, imbedded
in a matrix of liner and whiter chalk, which serves to cement
them tor'-ether, thus forming a very close and compact substance.
In the npper part of this i-halk there is little or no stratification
visible, there bring no partings, as in the grey chalk. The lower
stratum of the clilf consists of grey rock chalk. Where fissures
appear on Ihe face of the cliff, they are almost invariably m the
jiyramidal form, already mentioned in describing the chalk of
Clayton.

It is well known that the South Eastern Railway passes along
the edge of Ihe cliff^i, from Folkstonc to Dover, by means of gal-
leries and archways ; a mode of execution wdiich seems to be
unrivalled for cheapness and fticilily of execution. The works on
this part of th- line have been so well descrilicd in some periodicals
of the day, that it will be unnecessary for me to do more than allude
to them.

Numerous excavations in the chalk may bo seen around Dover,
a few of which it may be inleresling to notice. A liltle above
ArchclifF Fort there are 5 caves dug into the chalk, the roofs and
sides of wdiich appear to stand well wilhout steining, except that the
roofs have slightly scaled away up to Ihe first course of flints.
These caves arc about 18 feet high by 20 feet wide. An open cul-
ling in this place, about 45 fe<'t in dejitli, stands nearly vertical and
pri'sents numerous layers or bands of Hint running parallel io ciich
other about 4 feet apart, lender the castle chtls on the east side
of Ihe town is a well, sunk by a builder, where it was necessary to
stein Ihe sides, as the chalk was loo faulty to stand without this
protection; and I believe I am right in saying that the chalk is
nowhere standing in any of the mililary works around the town,
without a facing of brickwork or of turf strongly picketed. Some
very large falls of chalk, probably not less f'han a 100,000 Ions,
have at various times come down on Ihe east side of Dover.

The Soiilh Foreland is a very remarkable face of challc, wliicli
apjieavs at a distance to be nearly verlical, but on approaching more
closely is found to slope about .^ "to t, Tlie heighl.is about -'WO IVi-i,

210

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[June,

and a considerable quantity of debris has fallen to the base of the
cliff.

In the neighbourhood of Chatham are several chalk excavations,
but none so extensive as those at Dover. East of the town on the
road to IMaidstone, a cutting of about 30 feet in depth stands nearly
vertical. In the fortifications of Chatham, most of the chalk, as .-it
Dover, is faced with brickwork. One excavation, however, forming
a gorge from tlie i-iver to the crest of the works, has been cut foT-
some distance without facing, with a slope of i to 1, in depth about
40 feel ; another part of this gorge is faced ^^ ith brick, the same
slope being preserved.

The princiiKil canal witli which I am acquainted passing to any
extent in the chalk formation, is the Thames and Medway, which is
formed from the village of Highara, to its termination at the Med-
way, a distance of 2i miles, by means of a tuiniel almost entirely
through chalk. In the open passing place on this canal, an excel-
lent example is seen of a chalk cutting, executed with a steep slope.
A goorl deal of peeling off has taken place here, and as this assertion
^has been disputed, I beg to stale a fact coroborating its accuracy.
A small piece of brickwork, perhaps about 10 feet square, has been
built on one part of the face, and wdien I visited the place on two
occasions about two years ago, the brickwork projected at least 6
inches from, the face of the cut'ting, although when first built it had no
doubt been flush with this fece. Hence a very clear proof was obtained
that the chalk here had scaled off at least to the width of 6 inches.
I may add, that I have been informed by a gentleman wdio has seen the
place within the last four months that"the brickwork had then fallen
down, and that the chalk had very visibly wasted since onr iirst ex-
amination two years ago. Extensive ch.alk-eutlings are exposed at
each end of the tunnel, namely, at the Friendsbury entrance, where
the cutting is nearly upright," and at Higham, wliere the cutting is
al-o nearly vertical, but more detritus is seen at the base here than
at Frindsbury. All these cuttings are in the upper chalk, in wln'eh
plates of flint occur at short intervals.

The flrmous quarries of Norlhfleet and Greenhithe are well known ;
in the former of these I witnessed the only instance that ever came
under my observation, of chalk standing perfectly upright without
anv appearance of scaling on the face, or of detritus at the base.
This, however, may certainly be seen on each side of a short road
leading from the London road into the Norlhfleet quarry, which
stretches down to the river. The depth is 30 feet, and the 'sides are
quite upright, with a greenish timcworn appearance. One place in
the quarry is 90 feet in depth ; the chalk has scaled and formed
debns at the base. This chalk has few fissures, and contains many
flints in the upper part, the lower being verv hard and fine. The
average depth of the Northfleet quarry is about 70 feet, standing
nearly upright, and upon the whole with little debris at the base, con"-
sidering its great depth.

The Eastern quarry at Greenhithe is 8/ feet deep, nearly upright,
with rather more debris than at Northfleet. In some places round
the sides of this quarry, where ancient fissures have been filled in
with gravel, considerable fVills have been brought down, probably
by the well-known action of frost behind the mass.

The Western quarry has a face of 80 feet, standing upright, but
much debris occasionally falls. It is diflneult in these quarries to
estimate the annual wasting of chalk by sealing or peeling off, be-
cause in many ca-cs it is frequently removed, and it becomes quite
uncerlam whether the observer is witnessing the accumulation of
only a few weeks or that of as many months. The top of this quarry
at Greenhithe is covered with a bed of loamy gravel, which has
filled up occasional cylindrical wells in the chalk of small bore to
the depth sometimes of 40 feet.

The nature of the deconiposilion which operates so extensively on
many kinds of chalk, has been the subject of great variety
of opinion, and, as bearing on this question, I take the liberty of
pausing here to draw an important inference from the observations
above described on the chalk of this district. Excavations partly
composed of I lie upper chalk willi flints, and, towards their base, of
the lower or gray chalk, will best illustrate the position I am about
to advance, namely, that the decomposition almo^ entirely takes
jilace in the lower chalk, and not in the upper chalk, with flints. It
will be remembered that the only instance I have described of an
upright cutting, without detritus at the base, was at Northfleet,
where the depth was only .30 feel, while at other spots close by,
wnere the depth was SO or 00 feet ; considerable quantities of debris
have fallen down all along the face. From almost every instance I
have been able to observe, I think it clear that the ui)ner chalk with
tlints, where not much shaken, really will stand upright without
scaling. At the same time, it is no less certain lliat, below a particu-
lar c epth, the chalk undergoes a very apparent and extensive decom
posilion, and, in many cases, presents a base visibly hollowed out.

It may be difficult to fix, in every chalk excavation, the line be-
neath which the decomposition is so evident; but, in the Northfleet
quarries, the line appears well defined by a curious and remarkably
regular plate of flint, which extends all round the faces of the
quarry, and which is considered identical with a similar plate or
layer, seen at both ends of the Thames and Medway Canal Tunnel,
and in the open cutting for the passing place.

It is hardly in accordance with hitherto received opinions on the
subject of chalk cuttings, to say that these will stand better in their
upper than their lower beds, and yet the result of every observation
made on the chalk of Kent, leads positively to the conclusion that
the superior beds of chalk are less subject to decomposition than the
low'er. Instances in proof of this may be seen at Dover, jiarlieu-
larly on the eastern side of the town ; at Chatham, in the military
works ; at Rochester, and the other entrance of the Thames and Med-
way Tunnel ; and at the quarries of Norlhfleet and Greenhithe.

In considering the nature of chalk dceomposition, it is necessary
to distinguish this from the falling of chalk which is shattered by
vertical fissures. In the latter ease, large masses fall down, when
loosened by high winds, or slightly burst by frost ; but the regular
decay of solid chalk arises from the peeling off or scaling wdiich
takes place on the face. This is almost invariably observed below
the flints, and is evident when very white spots are seen on the face :
from these spots large flakes or cakes of chalk have fallen down to the
base, and although these are inconsiderable in thickness, sometimes not
more than an inch, yet the frequency with which they fall renders
this a source of very extensive decay.

Having mentioned the various railways intersecting the chalk in
other directions, as well as those in the south of England, I must
now explain that, with the former, my acquaintance is very limited ;
and I consider il more respectful at once to confess my inability to
say anything useful of them, than to attempt any review from such
iniperfeet means as those in my power. A few remarks, however,
on the chalk-cuttings of the London and Birmingham Railway, the
only other line of which I can speak from personal observation, may
not be entirely uninteresting.

The Chalk of Watford Tunnel is very soft and white, with nume-
rous layers of flint, and much saturated with water, in which respect
it differs from all the fcirmer kinds of chalk I have described — these
being all remarkably dry, at least as deep as they have hitherto
been explored. At the northern end of Watford Tunnel is the same
soft, white chalk with flints. The sloi)e from the base is j to 1, until
within 1.5 feet of the surface, when the slope is increased to
Utol.

The cutting near Cow Roost consists also of very white chalk,
much saturated, and the slopes are H to 1, in 25 feet cutting.
Further on the line, in a cutting near the road from Tring, the lower
gray chalk occurs in moderately sized blocks. The cutting at the
north end of the short Tring tunnel, consists of chalk, chalk marl,
and a little gravel. The slope, which is J to 1 in 33 feet cutting,
stands well, and tlie chalk appears drier than in .some of the cuttings
nearer London.

The saturation of the chalk on this line is occasioned by the alti-
tude of the gault brick earth, which lies up very high in the neigh-
bourhood of Ivinghoe, and dams back the water, which cannot
eecapc from the chalk at a lower level than the top of the gault.
The Birmingham Railway, it is well known, passes through the
chalk in the same valley as the Grand .1 unction Canal.

Having already submitted an opinion relative to the position of
the chalk which is most calculated to stand with au upright face,
I would, however, in this respect, make a great distinction between
the chalk of different places. The inferior beds of chalk are much
more shaken in some districts than in others, and even in composi-
tion the gray chalk comprises several varieties, as will readily be
seen on comparing the chalk of Shakespere's Cliff, at Dover, with
the chalk (of corresponding depth in the group) at Mersthani, and
elsewhere. When the lower chalk is much shattered, the face is
only prevented from giving way by the system of mutual dovetailing,
occasioned by the pyramidal form of the fractured blocks. The
angles of one block abut upon the angles of another, and, provided
the base be flrm, the whole w ill stand for some time. But it will be
evident that this support must fail when the angles become worn
down, as they constantly do become, by the process of real decomposi-
tion. Large falls may now be expected, and I believe that these are
the circumstances under which the lower chalk, when much shalfen,
invariably gives way.

It seems very reasonable, therefore, that the system of facing the
chalk with a thin wall of brick, or of any kind of building or rubble
stone, should aftbrd protection against this danger. At present, 1
believe there are no examples of chalk-cutting with the sides upright
and faced in this way, but it will be highly useful, at some future

1880.]

THE Civil, ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

211

period, to know the result of some trials of (his kind, which will
certainly he made on the chalk of ISIerstham and other places.
With respect to tlie lower chalk which is not .shattered, there can he
no douht that the form of decay here presented, and which consists
of the scaling oft' on the face, would be prevented by the facing
already alluded to.

In concluding this pajicr, I trust it will not be considered that I
am departing from the object I commenced with, in submitting the
accompanying design (fig. 1), for a bridge across a chalk-cutting, in
which is shown the method of facing the sides of the excavation, and
forming a succession of retreating benches as proposed for one of
the Brighton lines of railway.

• I would submit, (hat the arch of this bridge may be turned with-
out centreing, and the bridge entirely built, before the ground below
is excavated. The foundations must of course be first cut out, and
the abutments carried up to springing height ; the ground must then
be cut, levelled, and made smooth to the required curvature deter-
miiied on for the arch, and deal battens laid ttown as on an ordinaiy
centre. On these the arch may be turned ; and it is evident that
much expense would be avoided, both in (he saving of centres and
scaffolding, and in the superior facilities of carrying up (he whole
building on solid ground.

London, ISIarch, 1839. SAMUEL HUGHES.

PUBLIC COMPETITION.

As public competitions for architectiual designs are now becoming
more noticed than they have hitherto been, and tlie public appears to
have awoke from the slumber so lon.2 quietly enjoyed, 1 send you
some observations on the manner usually resorted to by the committees,
who have the management of these suijjects. First, we will premise
that in some town, no matter where, a few individuals, frequently a
solicitor or proprietor of land, (for almost all great projects originate in
the fiist instance from interested motives in the projectors,) con-
ceive the idea of erecting a magnificent building, a Town-hall, a
Theatre, an Exchange, a Cluircli or otlier edifice. Over a glass of wine,
or in this Teetotal age perhaps a cup of tea, the first formation of the
project is concocted; each individual present canvasses his friends, to
form a committee, and not tbe least importaiU, to elect certain officers
for the management of the establishment; this done, a spirit of disinte-
restedness immediately pervades the whole assemblv, and it is unani-
mously resolved that after certain fmids are cnllected, the committee
shall advertise for plans for the intended building. So far it is well
enough, and no blame can be attached to any of the members iis far
as this commendable self-interest goes ; up to this time no deep science,
except that of arithmetic, is called into operation — but here terminates
generally the power to do justly, even upon the principle of self in-
terest. Well, a large sum is proposed to be laid out, the time is
sti|iulated for sending iii the designs, and, as a bait to the unwary, pre-
miums are offered forsomeyifr, very few, of the best productions — that
is the best productions, in the eyes of the committee : this appears fair
enough so far. But when we ask, who the committee are composed of,
we obtain such an answer as I received from Liverpool when I put
that query to the committee for St. George's Hall ; a few words fiom
that letter will serve as a general precedent to committees in answer
to too inipiisitive architects ; — but before I give this extract I will just
state , the manner of proceeding of the St. George's Hall connnittee ;
at the same time let me be distinctly understood, that I do not mean
in the least to imply that that committee mean to act unjustly, or that
they are not qualified for their ofiice, I merely take it as an example of
thedoubtfulappearance they voluntarily throw over their own proceedings,
arising from the want of openness and candour in not publishing the
names of the committee, so that architects may have an opportunity
of forming an opinion how far — not from their situation in life or
respectability alone, but from their education and information — such
individuals arc didy qualified to set in judgment on an art which
requires the closest application and deepest study for years on the
part of its professors.

The first intimation which I had of the proposed erection of St.
George's Hall w;rs a plan (with printed resolutions and instructions to
architects) from a committee, whish was sent to me by post, but
without any name to it, except that of the printer. The printed
plan and instructions are very well as far as they go, except as to
the time specified for sending in the designs, which is so very limited
that, unless competitors neglect a certain business for ait uncertain
one, the drawings cannot be prepared with that attention which a
building of this extent demands. lunnediately after the receipt
of the printed instructions, I wrote to the Chairman of the
committee — for I did not then, nor do I now know his name— to
request he would give me further information on the subject. In this

letter I referred him to the report of the Royal Institute of British
Architects, and quoted the queries therein named, together with some
others 1 thought necessary. The queries are as follows : —

L By whom are the designs to be examined ami selected ?

•2 Have any 'lesigns been laid before the panics previously to the
competition being proposed?

3. Have the parties any architect, or person professing to be an
architect, in their employ ?

4. Will any means be adopted to ascertain that the designs can be
executed for the sums estimated ?

5. Will the parties undertake to lay aside all designs, which cannot
be executed for the sum estimated ?

6. Is it the intention of the parties at once to exchirle from the
competition all designs not in strict conformity with (heir instructions
in every respect ? . ,

7. Will the architect whose design is selected be employed to ex-
ecute the work, provided his character and standing in the profession is
such as to render him unexceptionable ?

To which letter I received the following reply :— -

Liverpool, 14th March, 1839.
Sir,— Our answers to the queries of your letter are as follow :—

1. By the committee; a body of gentlemen of the first respectability in
Liverpool.

2. No.

3. No.

4. See ninth paragraph of the printed particular.

5. See ditto ditto.

6. It is.

7. Most probably.

8. First part — No. Sc^cond part — Yes.

9. Two premiums— -2oO guineas and 130 guineas. (See advertisement m

London papers. )
10. Good; no unusual expenditure.

I am, Sir, your very obedient servant,

E. G. De,ine. > c
Thos. Harvey, J ^'^''■
E. B. Lamb, Esq., Architect, 25, Henrietta-street, Brunswick-square, London.

It is evident enough how very unsatisfactory the first answer is.
Hespectaliility is certainly an important prrt of the qualificitions "f a
committee-man, but that'll implies intuitive knowledge in architectui-e
I think may be doubted. It would be a novel mode of proceeding if a
lawyer were applied to to sit in judgment in a surgical case, and it
would be equally novel for a surgeon to usurp the powdered wig and
gown of an advocate ; yet in neither case is it necessary to havea
knowledge of the principles of taste as well as practice. Yet in archi-
tecture a committee is formed of re-peetable persons, without any
previous acquaintance— the subject to sit in judgment upon probably
80 or 100 dirt'erent designs, comprising peihai^s nearly 1,4U0 draw-
ings. If they are not in the first instance bewiidered by lue confu^ioa
of subjects before them, and at once get out of their difficulty by
applying to a well-known archit'Ct for a design, in-tances of which
have more than once occurred, they perhaps form th.ir opiniens from
a showy des'gn, without taking- into consideration the correctness or
incorrectness of the architecture, the praclicability of itsexecutiiUi,
the convenience of accommodation, or the likelihood of its being erected
for the sum specified.

I will now onlv call your attention to the 7th query, and answer.
The query is sufficiently explicit to expect an unqualified reply, yet
we have one, considering the want of candour ajip-irent in the com-
mittee, of a very suspicious nature. I do not frr a moment .lonbt the
respectability of the committee ; but they appear determined that no
influence of any kind shall bias them, not even that of an inquiry i
they are acquainted, as amateurs, with architecture.

The remaining answers relate merely to unimportant question
may just state that the advertisements did not appear in the papers
until some days after I had received the printed instrixetions ; at least
I did not see them.

After a lapse of some time I found that other busmess prevented me
from time to time giving that consideration to the subject, which its
importance required, and upon calculating tin- time it would take to
prepare the necessary drawings to my own satisfaction, and without
great inconvenience and loss to myself, I determined to write aL'ain to
tlie committee fur an extension of time, and also to recommend a
public exhibition of the designs previously to any decision being formed
by the committee ; a copy of this letter is subjoined : —

9th April, 1839.
fiENTi E.MFN, -I hcg to thauk you for your reply to my letter of in-
quiries relative to the St. George's H,dl, Liverpool, and I trust you will
accept my apology for again troubling you ; but I am now about to ask a
greater favour, and one that, if granted, will be a boon to the profession,
who are about entering this competition— namely, lor an extension ol time

I

n-2

TilK CIVIL ENGINEER AND AltCIIl TECT'S .lOURNAl,.

[.Tl-.NK,

for sending in the designs. And wlien 1 point out to you this necessity
fur doing so, to;^cther with tlie benefit wliicli must be the result to the com-
mittee, I bopc it will not be considered an idle request.

From the printed particulars furnished to architects by the coinmittec, it
is evident that the designs cannot bo completed ivitli fewer than from twelve
to Bfteen drawings, nearly all of which will require 1o be drawn on double
elephant paper (;! ft. -1 X -•-.), since the requisite subjects will probably be as
follows: — Ground plan, one pair plan, two pair plan, at least three or four
clcvalious, tliree or four sections, and one or Iwo perspective views. This
is the smallest number of drawings which will be necessary, in order fully
to explain each design. Now the actual lime for the mere labour of making
aich a scries would bo nt least from thirty to forty days ; while to picpaic
an estimate and descrijition would occupy at least five or si.\ days more —
so that from five to si.x whole days would be required for this purpose alone. The
most important part of the task, which I have not yet mentioned, is that
uf preparing the design itself, preparatory to making fair transcripts of the
several parts of it, the time requisite for which it is utterly impossible to
state, since it must depend entirely upon the study bestowed by each indi-
vidual in maturing his first ideas. In some eases, therefore, this prepara-
tory labour may bo very considerable — in others, exceedingly little : almost
ilie very first ideas that liappcn to present themselves being adopted and
proceeded upon at once, however stale and common-place they may be in
themselves. Consequently, if inadequate time be allowed for duly consider-
ing- the subject, little more pcrliaps than could, without inconvenience, bo
spared for merely making out fair copies of the original sketches, many
architects will, on that account alone, be deterred from entering into the
competition, feeling that unless tliey should happen to succeed entirely to
their own satisfaction in the very 'first instance, they would have no time
for reconsidering or correcting any of their sketches — probably be compelled
to let pass many imperfections they would afterwards detect. It is hardly
to be supposed that any member of the profession, who has any practice at
all, can devote the whole of his time to works where the chances are a liundrcd
to one against his success ; therefore, if the committee require designs from
men of experience as well as from the juniors, they v\ill at once sea the
necessity of an extension of time.

I am aware that a single ajiplication of this nature will have but little
>veight ; but Irom the; conversations I have had with several members of thi>
profession, 1 am induced to think that the majority, if not all, would leel
benefited by being i.|lowed more tunc for preparing their designs. Vet if
none applied, there would be but little ho|)e of obtaining this boon. I
need hardly slate, that the committee would also be gainers in the like pro-
portion ; as a work of such magnitude requires the greatest deliberation,
not only on the part of the architect who produces the design, but al.so on
lliat of the judges who have to determine upon its inerils.

1 therefore beg to suggest, and I do so with the greatest deference, that
immediately upon the receiiit of all the drawings by the committee, they
should bo thrown open to the public for exhibition, for at least one month
previously to any decision being formed by the eoiniuitteo. This is a re-
quest (and I put it most respectfully) the profession have some right to
expect would be acceded to, as they could then look with the greatest con-
fidence to the ultimate decision of tlio committee, and it would be an
evidence to the public of their disinterested motives ; it would be also an
honourable precedent for all future competitions in the kingdom : and, by
the confidence which it would be sure to establish, be the means of calling
together a greater number of the profession than any public competition
hitherto known. What has lately taken place with regard to the Nelson
Monument, is an examp:e that ought not to be thrown away ; and indeed the
eyes of the public are now beginning to be so opened by it, that, sooner or
later, I am convinced, not only a public exhibition of all the designs, but one
previous to any premiums being adjudged or selection made, will be established
as a matter of course in all arehiteclmal competitions of any importance. The
opportunity iiow presents itself to you of letting the town of Liverpool be the
first to originate so exceedingly salutary a system, — one fraught with numerous
benefits to all parties concerned, but to none more so than those whose interest
it may be presumed it is to obtain a design which shall have stood the test of
such public ordeal, and obtained the greater number of suffrages from persons
of experience and taste, and uninlluenced by other bias than the desire of
obtaining such a structure as shall reflect credit on their townsmen. Among
the minor advantages which would in this case attend such exhibition, would be,
that it would attract numerous members of the profession, both from the metro-
polis and from other parts of the kingdom.

May 1 beg the favour of your laying this letter before the committee as
early as possible, and trusting' they willgivc some consideration to the obser-
vations which it contains, and waiting their decision,

, . I am, Gentlemen, ic.

Messrs. Deanc and Harvey.

I agaiii wrp^e, the following :—

. ,; ' . May 3, 1839.

GjiNTJ.KMEN,— A short time back I wrote to you respecting the public com-
petiiion for the erection of St. George's Hall, Liverpool, and not having re-
ceived any reply to that letter, I am again obliged to trouble you with a request
that you will be kind enough to state whether the committee have deemed it of
sufficient importance to take into consideration the subjects therein contained.
1 shall feel obliged by your reply within next week, as I am about publishing
some observations of public competitions, and wish to name this amongst others
ill the course of those observations. I feel that it is necessary to apologize for
giving you so much trouble, but on a subject of so much interest to the pro.

fession, and to the public at large, I am sure you will readily grant me an
excuse. I am, gentlemen, &:c.

Messrs. Deane and Harvey.

Ami, uftcr waiting witliout any reply, received tlie following : —

Liverpool, May 4, 1839.
.SiK, — In rejily to yours of the 3d, we beg to state that we ausweied yours of
the !tth of March on the I4lh of the same mo.ith, and have not received any
cnmiiiunication from you since, excepting your letter of yesterday.

If yiiu will refer to our letter to you, dated I itb March, we think you will
find that we there answered all your inquiries; but if you wish any other
inforniutiou which it is in our power to give, we shall be most happy to afford
it you.

We remain. Sir, your very obedient servant,

K. G. Dkane, I

Sec.

Tiios. Harvev, J
E. B. Lamb, Esq., Henrietta-street, Brunswick-square.

I insert this letter as a link in the chain, and to show the remark-
able circumstance of mine not reaching its destination. The little
hopes I had entertained of having my request acceded to, were now
fled ; but as 1 still felt interested in the subject, 1 dctermiiieil to write
again, and send a copy of my letter of the Otii April. The letter ac-
conipanying that, is as follows : —

7th May, 1839.

Gi;nti.i'..mi:n, — I received your letter of the 4lh inst., and am greatly sur-
prised to find that you have not received mine of the loth of April. As this
appears to be caused by the neglect of the postman, or other person concerned
in the delivery of letters, I purpose making imiuiries at the General Post-
Ortlce on the subject, particularly as the letter has not been returned to me —
the course usually adopted when letters have not been delivered as directed. I
send you a copy of the letter,

And am. Gentlemen, &c.

Messrs. Deane and Harvey.

This letter produced the following reply : —

Liverpool, 8ih May, 1839.

Sir, — In reply to }0ur letter of yesteiday, we beg to inform you that, upon
further search, we find your letter of the ftth of April was duly received, and
laid before the committee, who came to a resolution, after much deliberation,
tliat it was inexpedient to grant any extension of time. The other subject
mentioned in your hater (the public exhibition of plans) is a matter for the
future consideration of the cuinmittec.

We beg that you will accept our apology for the unintentional neglect of
which we were guilty in not answering your letter of the 9tli April, and also
for the equally unintentional error which we committed in stating that it had
not been received. It reached us by the same post as one upon the same sub-
ject from Mr. Donaldson, the Secretary to the Royal Institute of British Archi-
tects, and they were both laid before the commiltcc without delay. Their
determination was communicated by us to Mr. Donaldson, and we were under
the impression that it had been communicated to you also ; but it seems wo
were in error.

We trust you have had no further trouble about it ; and remain. Sir, respect-
fully, your most obedient servants,

Edw. G. Deane, ) c
Tiios. Harvey, I ^'^'

E. 13. Lamb, Esq., '25, Henrietta-street, Brunswick-square.

It is certainly a singular coincidence that a letter which conld scarcely
be forgotten on an occasion of this nature, should happen to be so mis-
placed as to prevent its being answered, but I beg most distinctly to
state that I perfectly agree with the writers, that the neglect is uninten-
tional ; at the same time, I may with justice add, that this sort of ne-
glect is not an niifrciiiient occurrence with committees and their officers.
Otlier instances might be named where plans have been laid aside and
entirely _/()J'//o/<en by the committee.

I have now laid before you tlie usual kind of corres|)ondence which
takes place between architects and committees, and I think, upon the
slightest consideration, it w ill appear who are the most benefited par-
ties. I do not mean to impugn the Liverpool committee, I merely
take them as a sample of the ajiparent openness and disinterestedness
of such bodies. Can persons so constituted reasonably e.xpect aiclii-
tects to enter into a competition, when they withhold that evidence of
their fair intention, which ought to appear, by not iniblisliing tlieir
names to their papers, so that architects should be as able to form
an u|iiniou of their being fully qualified for their duties, as it .should be
evident to them that architects are ({ualified for theirs. In the present
state of competition committees, it is of small importance whether the
architect wastes his time in bestowing deep study on his design, or
merely commits to paper the most coimnonplace ideas ; for the little
knowledge ol the subject usually shown by l\iti jikIl/cs, is insufficient to
discriminate between genius and mediocrity. If any one will take the
trouble to inquire, he will find this opinion fully borne out, with-
out depreciating the talents of the committee. An instance of
this nature occurred some time ago in tlie parish of Holloway : two
churches were to be built, and were duly advertised in the usual

18.')9.]

THE CIVIL EN(;iNi']KR AND AUCIHTF.CT'S JOURNAL.

■21 S

way for competitions ; mottoes, not names, were to appear, and
every a|>peaiance of fairness was sliown by the committee. At
tliat time 1 lKi[ipenocl to be transacting business with one of tlie com- j
n)ittee, a clergyman of perfectly nnimijcacbable character, and in the
conrse of one of our business meetings, I asked him who the com-
mitlee for the erecting the churches were ; he mentioned several
names of the highest respectability in the palish, but when I asked him
by what iinalilieation they acted, he admitted that not one of them was
acquainted with the snbject ; and tlie result of their deliberations is the
j)rodiiction of the two new chnrches, one near King's Cross, called
Giithic, and the other near the Nor!h-road, c.illed Grecian. I admit
that the limiied funds would not allow of nuich display ; but although a
niau may wear a shabby coat, it would be in l)ctter taste lo put it on
the right way. This is only a trilling one, among iinmnicrable inslauces
of this nature.

I will now turn from this subject to another of more importame,
but with less promise, namely, the Royal Exchangee. A copy of the
advertisement of the .loint Gre.^ham Connnittee I see is pliceil ii\ your
last number, witli some observations, to which I beg to add some
others.

It will be needless to comment upon the shabby commeneement of
this committee, by refpiiring- a fee for the necessary inslrnclioiis, as
every architect who enters this competition must lay out a sum of
money tb?l one pound would be but a triile to complain o!'. I pass
over the rcsohilions, till I come lo No. 10, which awards three pre-
miums ;—;iOOif. for the best design, -JdO/. for the second, and IfM)/. for
the third. Then comes a siy kick at tlie competitois. " The suecissful
compelitor to whom the lirst premium is awarded, shall not be con-
sidered as having necessarily a claim to be entrusted v/ith the execu-
tion ol the work; but if not so employed, and his liejigns are carried
into execution, a further sum of oOO/. shall be paid to him, the com-
mittee ref.-iining- jiossossiou of all tho drawings for which Ihcpveminms
have been given." So if lliey, in their mature judginc'iit, fail in dis-
covering a single design with merit enough for Execution, they con-
sign tlio three successful designs to some successful operator, to be
compiuiuded according to receipt — at least, this is the inference any
iin|iartial person would put upon this clause At the end of the KJlh
el luse comes a list of rooms with their dimensions, but what ihcse
rooms (41 in number) are tor, the arehitects are to guess; three, I
ha\c understood, are for three companies, but what companies we are
not informed; and as the other rooms are without names, tliey may
be fitted up as barns or drawing-rooms, at the discretion of the archi-
tects, for the Gresham Committee appear to have very little discretion
upon the subject. Who are the Joint Gresham Committee? Kcho
answers " Who':"' At the head of a ]iub!ic charity or city feast, men
do not appear to be ashamed of their names; because, in the latter
instance at leas!, they are fully (pialilied to discuss the merits of the
subjects before them. But where architects only are to be dished up,
and where the mind is to form a judgment of a liberal profession, they
shrink from publicity, (jan it be that they are aware of Iheir own
inability ? Can any man in his senses be induced to joiu a committee,
and vote for what he is totally unacquainted v/itli ? AVho are the Joint
Gresham Committie :' 1 ask again. If they are acquainted with the
subject, surely they ought to be thi^ first to show that eonlidenee can
br placed in their judgment ; for who biit those engaged in the study,
though only as a recreation, can have the least idea of the intricacy
and dillicidties of forming a just decision ? If men of this standing
were some of the judges, and the profession were avvareof it, immediate
coolldence would be placed in them ; for what hjuest man would
decide against his own character ?

1 make uo comment on the last paragraph of the instructions — it is
sulheient in itself to av,'aken suspicion in the breast of the least
sceptical.

What is to be done in this case ? asks almost every arcliiteet.
Agitate, agitate, agitate, say the reformers of a system notoriously
bad — so bad, indeed, that the committees themselves would be glad to
get out of the dilemma. But how ? First, you acknowledge yourselves
jiiconipetent, being unac(piaintcd with architecture.

"But we know no amateurs to h Ip us." Then apply to known
professional men who are not competitors, and wdio have no more
interest in the matter tlun the lees which you give them for an o[)ioion,-
a report, in fact, in writing. But this rejrort should not be entered
into until a prrblic exhibition ol' all the designs had taken phn-e, and
sutHcient time allowed for the public to form au opinion ; and if, during
that e.xhibition, a time was set apart for the judges to frame their
report and have it published, the exhibition still being oiieu, the com-
petitors would have an opiiortuoiiy of i-eluling the opinions of the
judges, if uccesjary ; the public would be called to the subject, and
would get bettir initiated into the art; the profession would be great

gainers, but the result woidd be most in favour of the public. Kveiy
other iirofession is judged by a professor, or at least by one ac(iuaintcd
with the subject : i'ew men buy pictures without the advice of a con-
noisseur ; few, indeeil, go to law without a lawyer ; some, but very
fev/, take medicine without a doctor's opinion ; bnt as to architectural
knowledge, it is innate with every one, and thousands upon thousands
are sipiandered away, more to the satisfaction of the builder tlian the
eniplo_\er.

Another thing I would strongly urge, and for which a competent
committee would see the necessity, is, that ample time should be
allowed for jireparing the designs." We might almost suppose that
architects, like outfitters, kept a stock of designs on hand, ready for
any emcr-gcncy, if we may judge liy the time in which they ar.- expected to
be done. Sonic good i-egrilations"have lately crept into the instructions
given to architects; for instance, the scale has been determined, the
style of architecture in some instances, the manner of finishing, and
the number of perspective views have been limited. These are
good regulations, Init of little avail if the judges are nnacriuainteJ
with the subject. There are a few things in addition to full instiuctions
required to constitute a fair competition salisfactoi-y to all parties.

I. Competent judges.

■2. Amide time for preparing the design.

o. An exhibition, previously to any examination, by the judges.

■1. A published report, with time for refutation, if necessary.

These it is within the power of every committee to grant, and they can-
not be considered unreasonable for architects to demanri ; and when it is
considered that ever-y architect devotes gr.at time and study to the
subject, and has spent the greate-t and best portion of his lite in
aecpiiring the knowledge he possesses, if he feels a little irritated by
the way in which his labours are sometimes treated, it may more fre-
quently bo laid to injustice (nnintentinnal pei'haps) than disappointment.

It isKvanted that no measure of cttieicrit reform rn the [rrcseot system of
couujet'iiiorr— asvatem which Icavcsoperr thedoor to all kind of unfairness
aird intrigue, car'i be dcN ised that will not at lirst be attended with sonre
diHicn!tv%iid require =ome energy; yet that is no reason wherefore
no remedy should be attempted to be applied ; orr the contrary, the
strongest rea.sorr for oirr setting aliout doing it at oirce, instead of pr'ocras-
tiuating. and thereby sulfeiing the evil to become more and more in-
veterate, lir fact, if the opportuirity which irow presents itself for
brinxing about such very rrecessary reform be snfi'ered to pass by when
so nuich has bet^n said upon the subject, and after some little beginning
towards it has been made, as far as regards the public exhibitioir ol the
designs for the Houses of Parliament ;rnd the Nelson Monument
(tbo'iigh not iir that stage of the proceedings where such prrbhcity
woirkf have been most serviceable), tlie chance of any reform at all
will become hopeless, and matters will be allowed to fall back into
their old course ; for it is rrot very likely that cither in the present or
the next generation, will the profession be called upon to crimpete for
a work ol' similar magnitude and importance to that of the Royal
Exchange.

It is hoped, therefore, that the Gresham Committee will pay some
attention to the remonstrances which have already been made by in-
dividuals, and that the profession may receive satisfactory pledges that
the strictest impartiality shall be accompanied by the most deliberate
judgement. Of course a public rriE-ExniBiTitiN should be granted as
a sfiic qua noil : siircc that withheld, the main security for the rest is
taken away ; while that granted, it will almost of itself insure impar-
tiality and mature consideration. Another and trot the least advantage
would be, that while an additional stimnhis to exertion worrld be af-
forded lo the competitors many would be deterred from enterrng rnto
the lists well aware that whatever chance there might be for them,
where secrecy in the proceedings gives a vantage gioimd to personal
interest aird intrigue, their pretensions would not endure the scrutiny
ofapiddic gaze.

That compctitiou in architecture is beneficial to the public at large,,
and ccrlaiidv to the profession, there can be little doubt; and, when,
conducted iqron just principles, it is the only means of setting aside-
nronopolv and stimulating the rising members of the protcssion to exer-
tion ■ indeed, this opinicm is so general, that I feel the greater surprise
that Mr-. Bartholomew, in his recently published " lliirts," could assci-t
one of a conlrar-y nature, nnsupporteil as it is by any argnment by which
I can coincide with iiim. Bnt I have already trespassed too tiiuch
irpon yoirr colvunris, and shall therefore now dismiss the subject ;.

and am. Sir,

Yours most obediently,

•J.J, lIciirieHaslrccI, Bmnswkk-sqvare, ^- B- LAMB.

\OLh May, 1839.

•214

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[June,

ON SCULPTURE AND ARCHITECTURE.

He would confci a large benefit on art, nlio, in a pliilosopliical spirit,
should betake himself to the detecting of its great principles ; and,
shaking from his mind the load of professional clogs, pr^' freely and
boldly into the beautiful trcausure of nature, to draw thence tlie secret
of her workmanship for the guidance of her imitators ; and if the book
that recorded liis labours should do little itself towards its object, yet it
might give birth to another, or a scries of labours and books which
should effect a thorough investigation, ending in the satisfactory ascer-
taining and fixing of the universal and inevitable in art. If liis labuurs
should not produce, and his book publish, a code, yet so might a foun-
dation be laid for tlie erecting of a code ; and if not even thai, yet
it might stir up some sleeping philosopher or philosophers to do the
work he has failed to do, — at least, to miike a solid basement on which
(now or at any time) the perlect building could be raised, story by
story, to its completest form. The importance of a system, imme-
diately or gradually, perfected ; an undisputed, indisputable code of
laws, universally applicable — to which the artist might go for guidance,
and the critic for authority, and the importance of even a single caput
in the code— sliould make the smallest attempt welcome, and entitle it
to tender usage. But attempts are more to be desired than hoped for ;
the labourer's reward is of fame only, whose wreaths are not golden
wreaths, and who coquettishly distributes them such as they are.

In a lower degree, still, attempts towards the detection of some one
or two principles, in limited portions of art. claim a diminished con-
sideration. They may be of advantage; truths (of less value, indeed,
because limited in application, yet of some value) may be, though not
perhaps discovered, at least promulgated ; and, at the worst, if the
attempts be full of error — yet if of sufficient importance lo excite atten-
tion—they lead to their own refutation, ai-.d to the clearing away of just
so much rubbish tliat might, perhaps, at some time or otlier impede the
workman. And in the course of the investigation trainsof thought may
be suggested, pursuing wliich (Ibr of a spark comes the fire) the artist
may escape out of the labyrinth of tangled technicalities and perplexity
of indifferent details which now smotiier many a large genius in infancy,
that, but for them, had betaken itself to the great sclioolmaster in arl[
Nature, and had educated and unfolded itselfto the strength of a full
man. It is impossible to avoid acknowledging that neither in the works
of modern artists nor the opinions of modern critics generally, is there
any evidence that much thought has been expended on their labours, or
that any considerable knowledge has been acquired by either of the
great foundations of their craft. They are practical wailings over the
absence of the philosophical dnector, and even no acquaintance can be
discovered in tliem with .these generalities, which belong to their own
particular province.

Thus much, for warding off the strokes of censure from the following
comparison of the two arts, sculpture and architecture, as they are con-
cerned in the embodying of the beautiful. It must be observed that the
useful is set aside as not concerned with tlie work (the Nelson memo-
rial) which suggests tliese remarks ; and tliat by bcaiKv isalwaysintended
the abstract, most exalted, and purest : it is not used in that unlimited
manner by which, in common speech, it represents every quality, from
deformity upwards.

Beauty, tlien, in art cannot e.xist, independently of imitation. The
object of nniration is Nature— 1st, in order animate ; 2nd, Inanimate :
considering art as merely imitative ; the most excellent imitation of the
highest class constitutes the most perfect work. Thus the perfect
imitation of a man is a superior work to the peifect imitation of a tree.

Sculpture imitates the fiist and most excellent class, and is therefore
superior to that which imitates tlie second— viz., inanimate nature ; but
where is this last to be found ? Has any artist copied atree, or a moun-
tain (unless the pyramids be feeble copies), or the sea ( unless the molten
sea of Solomon, which we may imagine was no very wonderful work) V
Imitation, then, would seem to be confined to sculpture ; and if beauty
cannot exist independent of imitation, beauty must be allowed to be
confined to sculpture. Architecture, then, is not an imitative art, but
ranks lower ; and, adhering to the first concession, beauty is wanting
to aichitcctuie. And so long as the beautiful is regarded a's the end of
art, architecture is a much inferier art to sculpture. Buildings are
chiefly for habitation, either of gods or men ; they are temples or
houses. The Druidical gods inhabited— that is, their temples were
sometimes— trees ; and could man roost on branches, as fowl do, his
wrought house might be the imitation of a tree, if real trees should fail,
or be inconvenient. Tlien architecture would be lifted up into the
ranks of the imitative arts, and would be inferior to sculpture only as
Its model would be of a lower class. As it is, man's house is a pro-
tection from weather and assault ; and these are the prior objects in
Its construction. The best adapted form to secure tliese objects being
determined, it remains to bring into the work as much beauty as can be

admitted, without prejudice to the objects. Here, then, the architect
flies to nature for a model ; and in proportion to the amount of perfect
imitation brought into his work, would be the amount of beauty. But
again nature fails him ; as lie finds no model for his whole work, so
neither can he for its parts. Unless we allow that columns are imita-
tions of human form, and certain parts of Gothic architecture imitations
of groves of trees — which, the resemblance being so slight, it would be
hard to do. Not allowing tliese, and setting aside those ornaments, bor-
rowed from sculpture, which are inartificial additions to the architectural
design, do not assist, even feignedly, in the carrying out of the design,
and which, therefore, do not belong properly to architecture, there
is, neither in thewhole work of the architect, nor in its parts, imitation ;
and therefore the beautiful does not at all enter into it, either as a whole
or in detail ; and the workman would seem to have nothing for it but
to fall back upon utility and perfect his work to tiiat end. Something,
however, may be attempted beyond ; acompromise may be niadebetween
utility and beauty — beauty conceding a great deal, and utility a little. A
ccriain sort of imitation tliere may be, not of actual models, but of the
principles discoverable in them. The ingredierrtsand sources of beauty
in nature's models may be searched for, and if any can be found that aie
independent of adaptation, these may be brought into aichiteeture, and
the artist mav endeavour to develop them in his work. Tliiis the pro-
portions of height to breadth, found in the most perfect models furnished
by nature to the imitative aits, might be, and most probably were,
applied by the earlier architects to those parts of their work which
admitted of it. Thus they may have applied to the Doric column the
general proportions found in men, animals, or tree trunks remarkable
for strength, hs that order is intended to express strength. The thin-
ness of thedoric may have been founded on the slighter form of woman,
that order expressing grace ; sublimity is connected with size, chiefly
height; breadth adds more to strength. With these faint conceptions
and imperfectly settled principles the architect goes to his work, without
a model, and therefore without a test — the uncertain workman of his
own uncertain speculations. Hence the variety of opinions among the
best instructed and mo<t capable artists, the changing nature of tlie
standard; viz., the succeeding oiders.

So much for sculpture and archilecture; art being regarded as merely
imitative. But there is yet something beyond, which raises art to a
higher rank than imitation alone ever could ; that is, to the creative ; to
the proper regions of poetry : for true poetry, whether it has its ex-
pression in language ur form, nr whatsoever, is the conceiving, and
making of a work superior to its model, and is not the creating of a
work after no model. Imitation is the basis, and is never in the most
exalted works of poetry dispensed with. Genius is of an higher order,
as it carries out its model nearer to a perfect ideal excellence. Thus,
in men, maybe detected the initiative of moral perfection : the imita-
tion that expresses this, is an inferior work of art — poetry will conceive
and express moral qualities of an higher order than those that are
found in any model ; and will be more exalted as it climbs higher
towards their perfection. Sculpture and architecture de.-il with form,
and form is either the subject or the means ; it is cither final or medial.
When final — when form is regarded for itself ahiiie — the question
arises. Can there be any thing beyond imitation ? Can forms be created
like those to which the sense has been accustomed, yet 3ielding a
superior satisfaction to the sense 'i If tlie sense be thus capable, we
see not why new forms without model should not also satisfy it, and
then arcliitecture would stand orr the same level with sculptirre. The
examination of this question would lead to others ; such as, whether
there be in the organs of man an inherent adaptivcness to beauty, or
only an acquired y whether beauty is self-existent or ilependent':' and
so forth : to which, perhaps, tliere never could be certain satisfactory
answers. It will be more safe to assume that form cannot be created
nor amended, but imitated, when it is regarded as an end ; but when as
a means, when it is the expression of faculties, as the instinctive and
the reasoning, then art uses it, and, using it, thereby enables itself to
advance beyond imitation, and becomes creative ; for all faculties are
imperfect, in the best models. These can be conceived the perfection of
the faculties — and it is possible to express, by form, that perfection,
which, yet not being expressed in any known form, the aitist cannot
express by imitating, but may by creating. Here then sculpture
surpasses itself and architecture. Granting to the latter every tliin<' ;
that, up to this point it has gone hand in handwith sculpture, that there
is in it an equal capaciiy to satisfy the sense; yet, at least, now, it
halts and drops behind. Sculpture is at work with the highest possible
subjects; form is no longer presented to the eye, but the soul to the
soul ; arrd now also it becomes important as an instrument in the hands
of the state, with which the state may work powerfully ; for the whole
mass of sympathies, good and bad, are within its influence. Mental and
moral excellence or deiiravity are ever-present models or beacons for
good, or for ill.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

215

The conclusion to which we liave come then, is — That sculptnre makes
its highest effort when it strives to express moral or mental perfection ;
and tlien is in the higheit regions of poetry : that therefrom it falls
gradnally, and through many stages, down to mere imitation ; and thence
still continues to fall from excellent to the most worthless objects.
That probably in its lowest, certainly in its highest, exertion, it is
superior to architecture; and both as a poetical and political servant
much more vvortliy.

But utility backs architecture. Now utility is imperial, and must first
be consulted : however, there is a limit toiler territory ; stepping beyond
wliicli, she becomes an aggressor, and should be strenuously driven
back. In no matter whatsoever connected with art, should utility be
allowed to interfere, if she have no just claim to concern herself with
it. Slie sliould never be permitted to approacli beauty, for she is the
natural enemy of beauty, and has such spite against her, as that, whenever
she can get near enough she scratches, and pinches, and bruises her, till
she is next to death ; and if thenceforth beauty live at all, she is so
distorted and deformed as that one can scarcely recognise her. A limb
here gone, and a feature there, or the back entirely broken. Wlien
architecture, therefore, who is tlie servant of utility, can make good
her claim to meddle, there is no help for it, but to let her meddle, and
to curse her for a busy-body ; but if she can support no claim, she
should be carefully put out of the way.

The application of these remarks to the Nelson memorial is easy.
The tirst thing to be desired, is peifect imitation ; after that, excellence
of model ; and if the poetical step can be taken beyond, so much the
better. Then follows the question — What claim can architecture put
into meddler Can it be useful in anyway? It will deform the
work much : can it do any great service in compensation? The only
one that suggests itself, is this — that it will protect the delicate ma-
terial, tlie only material tit for sculpture to make its highest attempts
upon, from the liard usage of our climate. If that service be allowed as
necessary, architecture may be permitted to render it ; but then in the
least officious, and most unpretending manner. A plain, though as
fair-proportioned as possible, temple may cover the marble piece of
sculpture ; sucli as shall not draw attention from, but ratlier lead it to,
the ligure or group within, and as may harmonise with its meaning. But
if the acceptnig of this service at the hands of architecture be reluctant,
how shall its interference be endured, when it is in no way useful ; a
building answering no useful purpose, is a sort of deformity witho\it
deformity's excuse And can such be a tit work for a testimonial to
Nelson ? And if not a whole building, how inlinitely less a part ? —
a column for instance. What can be more absurd, if there be any
truth in what has been herein before said, than the selecting of a frag-
ment. One, well in its place, laimeaning and absurd out of it ; which
is shaped to fit to its place, and is therein perhaps ornamental, but is
unshapelv anywhere else ; which moreover, either really or feignedly,
answers a purpose in its place, none out of its place. A colimin apart
from its pediment is like a leg apart from its body; and is as ridiculous
standing alone as a leg would appear, which should run about by
itself.

As an excuse for appending the column to a building, the pedi-
ment is thrown out ; which overhanging seems to require support.
For the purpose of support it is vvell, and the proportions of the column
may be as perfect, in the different orders, as it is possible for them to
be ; but they have been fixed with a reference to the building the
column is attached to, the pediment it supports, and perhaps to the
grouping of several. But is it not absurd to take it away from its pedi •
ment, and set it up solitary, naked, its proportions undeveloped by any
attendant thing : an imitation of notliing, therefore not beautiful in its-
self; connected with nothing, therefore contributing nothing to the
ornament ofanytliing ; — properly a support, yet bearing nothing, except,
in some instances, a piece of sculpture— that is, the imitation of man's
form ; an imitation addressing itself to the eye, yet perched far beyond
the eye's reach, where a chimney-pot would almost serve as well. As
an apparent remedy for the inappropriateness of a single column, some
have carved bas-reliefs, winding their weary way gradually up to it
top, as if in contemplation of that advance of science, which should
furnish man with wings, and enable him to flutter in air and whirl
about the sculpture for examining it. Till that shall happen, all the
bas-reliefs are effectually thrown away, tliat are placed beyond the first
row or two. Who but a crow can see them ? Why not just chip the stone,
in the way the street pavement is chipped ? That would answer quite as
well as the bas-reliefs, and the spectator would not be vexed with the
never-to-be-gratified desire of seeing what all the carving is about up in
the air. There has been one step further in absurdity — the casting of
the column and reliefs in bronze, making that, which in stone is obscure
enough, ten times more obscure; as in that wretched thing in the Place
Vendome. Why, when form (sculptured form) is at any distance
from the eye, it loses distinctiou (i. e. in the case of bas-rejiefs) ; the

forms are confounded with the hack-ground ; therefore the figures
in the metopes of the Parthenon were distinguished by painting the back-
ground blue : and the Athenians in that, sliowed that they knew what
they were about. They never placed the forms they had sculptured
out of sight, or even so placed them that they should be in
the least indistinct. The worst instructed among them would have
cracked his sides with laughter to have seen the Duke of York perched
up in the clouds. Had the Duke been a bird, his position there would
not have been ridiculous, but only useless — useless because we should
desire to examine him, his shape, feathers, and so forth ; but up there,
tail, claws, beak, would have been all alike, and no one would be able
to say, if he was looking at a bird or a tortoise. Perhaps the artist was
enamoured of the Duke's title of Highness, and would in his work sym-
bolise it ; or that he desired to panegyrise the Duke, and signify the
mounting of his so\d to Heaven : so that, with the contrary purpose,
with a wish to satirise and condemn, he would have set his sculpture at
the bottom of a hole as deep as the present column is high, whereby
the descent of the soul should be designed.

The column, and the piece of sculpture together, as a work, is ridi-
culous— it is contended. The column, as the principal (having the
sculpture as a mere appendage), is equally ridiculous; and its selection
betrays ignorance of the great purposes of art. The sculpture, as the
principal, were well ; the column, as an appendage to it, ornamental or
useful, still more ridiculoi's than when a principal. And the sculpture
being raised by it far beyond the reach of examination, the whole wsrk

is both beneath and beyond observation.

W.

OF THE ANCIENTS.
Tait.

ON THE PUBLIC BUILDINGS
Br J. Fleming

The use of immense blocks of stone for the formation of public
buildings, temples, and monuments, has Irom the times of remote an-
tiquity been ever considered as an honourable testimonial of the per-
severance and labour of those who erected them, and as a proof that
they not only built for the purposes of present use, and ornament,
but also for the benefit and instruction of posterity. Had the
Ej;yptians, the Greeks, or the Romans even, constructed their great
public works with blocks of stone of no larger size than those which
we are in the habit of employing for ours, it would inevitably have
followed, that in the many irruptions of barbarian nations, which
desolated those countries in their decline, and whose principal object,
next to the all-predominant one of plunder, was to destroy and efface
to the utermost of their power every work of art, and evidence that a
people -wiser and more celebrated than themselves had existed,
those splendid remains, which defied their utmost eftbrts, and are still
the glory of their respective places, and the admiration of all who
behold them, would have been swept away from the face of the earth
and their very names have perished with their existence — and the
traveller and scholar of the present day would have found as much
classic pleasure in wandering over the steppes of Tarlary, or tlie vast
wilds of Siberia, as he would in visiting the spots where Athens,
Thebes, and Palmyra stood— besides a host of other names equally
celebrated in history, and have gazed upon the place where the Eternal
City stood, with nogreater degree of interest than he now does upon
the site of Babylon,

And yet that vast mis-shapen heap was once the mightiest and proud-
est city the world ever saw, and the boast of all antiquity. Her walls,
which were three days' journey in circumference, and whereon six
chariots could drive abreast ! So colossal are her temples and palaces
stated to have been by the ancient liistorians, that they are considered
by many as utterly unworthy of belief; and thus likewise would the
accounts of the great temples of Cariiac and Luxor have been
received, did they not remain to this day in an almost perfect state,
to attest their own magnificent and gigantic proportions. These edi-
fices are coeval with Babylon ; so are the Pyramids of Cairo and the
walls of Balbec ; on the summit of the former of which are stones
eighteen feet square, and in the latter of sixty feet in length ; upon
which, as the wild and simple Arab pauses in his rapid career to look
on these enormous masses, he exclaims with wonder, that he beholds
the works of the giants of old times !

Anil why have these buildings survived a city whose structures
excelled theirs ? Because she, like a selfish spendthrift, thought only
of present show, and constructed her edifices of materials which would
not stand the wrecks of time and barbarians wrath — while they, built
of materials which needed not the aid of cement, which scorned even
fire itself; they built for posterity — and it has done them justice. The
efforts of the Saracens to destroy one of the Pyramids were tremen-
dous, and incessant, until their engineers were forced to give up the
attempt as impracticable, and retire in disgrace from the unworthy
attempt to mar what they could not make.

•iHi

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[JuNli,

The Greeks, who stand umivalled for grace aiid beaut)' of design,
did not let tliis important principle of the diuability of tlieir structures
escape then), as may lie seen liy tlie size of the stones used in all tlieir
public buildings, auil ]iarticularly at the Acropolis and at I'lestuni,
alllioui;h they lidl far short of (hose used by their predeee.>.sors the
Kttyptians ; while the Kouians, who followed np the principle, but
(unlike their usual custom) in a lesser de^'ree, are still very far our
siiperiois ; and we tiud by examininj; the remains which these nations
and others have left us, that according as the component stones are
lari;e or small so are the buildings in a greater or a lesser state of pre-
servatioii.

The Romans, however, showed the hi^li estimation in which tliey
held the principle, by the transportation to their own capital, of some
of the gigantic Egyptian Obelisks and .S|)hynxes ; a work of itself of
great labour, and almost equalling that of the original erections.

Hut the transporting and using of innnense masses is not confined
solely to the ancients, for we lind that most of the modern European
nations have to boast of at least one jiroof of their endeavours in
iliis respect. The small Italian states aic, perhaps, the most fertile in
these; in many instances, however, they have trenched a little on the
property of their forefathers. The statue of the Apt)st!es, on St.
Peter's, arc, it is well known, eighteen feet high. The Russians have
the famous rock for the equestrian statue of the Czar, Peter the Great,
brought there witli enormous labour by command of the Empress
Catherine, and which was very injudiciously curtailed of its dimensions
after its removal by the sculptor, much to her annoyance. The French
have been inqiroving in this respect lately, and have also transported
one of the celebrated obelisks, presented to them by the Pacha,
and which at present adorns the Place de la Concorde, at Paris. That
which is said to have been given to us at the same tune, lies neglected.
Even the little Corsican town of Ajaccio can now boast of one of its
own erection, whose weight exceed^ I, -200,000 lbs., or j3j tons, in
honour of Na[)olcon, who was burn there.

I'ut we : 111 two thousand years tJie question may be iioratcd.
" The (Jreeks wi' know, and the Egyptians we know — but ivho are ye 'f
Where are your nionnmeuts r'' It will avail our descendants but
little to point at the \uihewn stones on Salisbury Plain, and cry,
•• these are our fathers' works!" Let us redeem our cliaiacter. Some
great national buildings and monuments are now about to be com-
menced, and it will be strange if, with (he veiy superior mechanical
advantages we [losscss in the powers of steam and facilities of trans-
portation, we do not at least rival, or a|iproael), some of the great works
which other nations have to point as the labour of themselves or their
ancestors. The principal expense of conve3ing blocks of stone from
tlie north of England to the capital would be that of removing them
from the quarry to the nearest railway station. Why, for instance,
miglit not the pedestal for the equestrian statue of the Uuke of
Wellington in the city be composed of one block, and brought in
this way ?

There are three other great works about to be eonnneuced, and it is
earnestly to be hoped that the nature, size, and durability of the mate-
rial to be used in their construction will not be unworthy of buildings
to decorate the capital city of so great an empire as this. Of the evil
of not paying proper attention to this, suHicient evidence may be had
by witnessing the great and expensive repairs which have been called
for of late years at Oxford, on their colleges, where, in many instances,
they had been almost on the verge of ruins ; and this may be mainly
attribntalile to tlie smalhicss of the stones \iscd in their construction,
inasmuch as they leave the weather to act on so many interstices, and
thereby increasing the decomposition in a tenfold degree. Few are
hardy enough to imagine that the monument at London-bridge will
last half the time the Tr.ajaii column has — and yet it is the work of
perhaps a greater architect — but must perish for want of this im|iorlaut
point not having been attended to. And thus it is with all our build-
ings— they are for the present ornament, and the future is left un-
heeded. Almost the only attempt at durability appears to be that
nondescript alfair which has been erected on the Calton-hill, at Edin-
burgh, and which is called the National Monument.

r.efore leaving the subject 1 may remark as an extraordinary circum-
stance, that in no case do the Egyptian dehneations represent their
monuments or the erection of them ; — we have theur in war, in tri-
umph, at feasts, at their trades, at their agricultural pursuits, and at
their burial processions, but no where in this branch; thereby leaving
us quite uninformed as to the manner in which a people, apparently
with so itiw mechanical powers, li:ive ) et been able to surpass all who
have succeeded them.

ARCHITECTURE, ROYAL ACADEMY.

The contents of the architectural room this year certainly docs
not indicate much enterprise with respect to new buildings, nor
much diligence on the part of the profession ; so far from it, that,
taking the exhibition as a sorl of Ihermometer, activity and energy
scarcely rise to lukewarm. The absence of many who have been in
the habit of exhibiting, may in .some degree be accounted for by the
competition for the Nelson monunienl, and the ajjproaehing one for
the Royal Exchange; yel, .althongh that eireumslauce may be so
explaiueil, we are still at a loss to understand wherefore so large a
proportion of the drawings that have been sent should be so very
mediocre in quality — some so di.srepulable to our archilcctm-al lasle,
supposing that the annual exliibitions aflbrd any standard by
which to judge it — as they certainly ought to do. When we look
at some of the things here hung up, we cannot but feel curious (o
ascertain, were it possible, what degree of demerit, we might say of
actual vileness, is requisite iu order to exclude a design. On no
account ought there to be such facility of admission ; for although it
may look, at the hr.st glance, very much likeextreme libei'ality and good
natiu-e, it ai'gues not only indifference but almost contempt for architec-
ture, on the part of the Academy. It seems (provided it can but keep
up the averagerespectabilily ill the department ofpaintiug, and secure
one or two stars among the pictures,) the Academy care not one straw
how bad the architectural part of their exhibition may be. It
would be infinitely more generous in them, were the R.A.s to ex-
clude architectural drawings altogether. It does not, however,
e xactly follow that the architects are much to be pitied, seeing that
they tamely suffer matters to take such course, without doing any-
thing to support the credit of their own body. Is it to be supjiosed
that people can be blind to the " damning fact," that, so far from the
exhibitions having displayed any advancement in architectural taste,
since the profession has acquired for itself a certain position and
aulhority by the establidiment of the Royal Inslilute, it reiJ-ogrades
rapidly, if we are to judge by what we are allowed to behold at the
.\eadeniy. It is [lossiblc that its exhilulions may be no criterion at
all ; yet, unless some other be atVorded them, the public can hardly
help taking Iheni to be such. Why, we ask, do not the profession
bodily set their shoulders to tVie wheel at once, and extricate them-
selves from '• the slough of despond," in which they are now stick-
ing, on the north side of Trafalgar-square ? They may be assured
that the painters will not oppose their withdrawing from their
premises, and establishing an annual exhibition of their own ; which,
it is scarcely necessary to observe, ought to be very differently
managed. Instead of glaringly, not to say preposterously, coloured
drawings — frequently, too, of subjects quite insignificant or worse than
insignilieaut in point of design — we might then hope to behold ex-
hibitions in which every branch of architectural design would be
brouglit forward in such manner as would tend to promote it. If
architecls cannot see all this, they are greatly to be pitied ; but if
seeing it they do not care to make any exertion to vindicate them-
selves in the eyes of the public, we may spare our pity, for it woidd
be only thrown away upon them.

These are confoundedly splenetic remarks ! — Vei'y true ; we there fore
regret that circumstances should ju.slify them. At the same time,
the great inferiority of the present exhibition of architecture as a
whole, does not at all affect the merit of those drawings which form
an exception. It is possible, too, that several which we should
have placed among these latter, have escaped our notice ; because,
as every one well knows, a great many are so hung, that they can-
not be perceived at all, unless diligently sought out for by the
catalogue, and when found out may scarcely be discernible. In fact,
if worth looking at at all, architectural drawings require to be sub-
mitted to close inspection, for without that, little more than the
general foi'ms and character can be understood : and if good designs
are jiut where they cannot be seen \\ilhout a ladder or pair of steps
to get up to them, so much the worse, for there are plenty which can
be seen that might possibly be fancied to be interesting had we not
seen them at all. And it may be observed, that there is a ditVerence
between merely hanging up and exhibiting, although, in the voca-
bulary of the Royal Academy, ihcy have jireeisely the same meaning.

}iul commeiicons ; and we will therefore turn at once to No. 1238,
'■ The Staircase of Goldsmiths' Hall," P. Hardwick, an ably-
executed drawing, and architectural subject of considerable merit,
yet rather inditfereully hung, being too low, tliough not a small
drawing, to be viewed properly. This is one of the very few interiors
exhibited this year, and on any other occasion would probably have
been the first both as a jiieture and a design, although now reduced
to a secondary rank by Owen .lones' " View of the Alcove at the
upper end of the Hall of the Two Sisters in the Alhambra." Well
does tliis peiibnnaucc deseive the epithet splendid, lor archilecture

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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

S>17

lias scarcely ever aeliieved iiiiythiiiLf more elaborate and gorgeous
than the interior ol' the cdilice of wliicli we are here ]irescntcd with
a specimen. Yet, gorgeous as are the elements ol" this style of
decoration, it is so far frunr being dclieient in harmony that even its
multiple variety resolves itself into a unity of expression. Pro-
digious must; have been the labour of such performance —scarcely
less prodigious must be tlic enthusiasm which prompted its author
to engage in it. Still, thougli thus far disposed to award him un-
qualified commendation for his exertions, we nmst remark that we
should have been belter pleased with his work upon the whole, luuUhe
general effect been less hard. Besides which, the merit of the draw-
ing as a work of art, is greatly impaired by gold itself being made
use of instead of the ell'ect of gilding being produced by colour.
Hence, altbongh there can be no nii-.take as to what is intended for
gilding, the brilliancy and sparkle of it are quite lost, the metallic
lustre showing itself only as tlie eye happens to catch the surface in
a particular direction. Actual gilding is allowable enough in mere
patterns of detail, because there it cannot possibly be expressed by
colouralone; for iustaiu-c, such asidijeet asNo. 1131 (the "Northside
of the Gilt Kooni Holland House," by J. C. Richardson), which is a
mere elevation ; but when ajiplied to what pretend to be pictures, it
becomes qnile contradictory to artist-like treatment. That all the
effect of gilding is attainable even in water-colour drawings, would
lie sufficiently proved by Zanth's interior of the Chapel lioyal at
Palermo, the Cathedral of Monreale, &-c., exhibited last year at
the institute; and which, though possessing greater breadth of effect,
were still more highly finished than this drawing by Mr. Jones.

There are one or two other interiors, yet so utterly^ insignificant
and devoid of merit as drawings, as to be rather injiu'ious tliau not
to the exhibition, since the titles of them in the catalogue serve only
to excite expectations that are miserably disappointed by the things
themselves. Wretched as is the taste shown in the " Library at
Strawberry Hill," which forms the subject of No. I15ti, still an
artist miglit havi.' conferred on it sosne pictorial value ; instead of
which its want of beauty is here rendered positive ugliness. Auain.
when we look at No. lI9o, " Inlerno della Easilica di S. Pietro,"
we are almost bewildered, an<l ask ourselve,-. hoiv it is possible that
such trumpery and paltriness, such utter insigniticance as arc there
manifested, can be received as a representation of the Roman
Basilica, whicli w ith all its gross vices and defects, is at least magni-
ficent. This drawing has, moreover, not the slightest pretension to
novelty of subject, the only thing that could have excused its utter
want of merit in all other respects. Such excuse, however, does
exist for No. 1211, " Perspective of the Interior of the Church of the
Madeleine at Paris, from actual measurement," by C. J. Pierce.
We cannot contradict this drawing's being made from actual
measurement ; but we may be allowed to question the utility of
actual measurement, if it is to give us sucli persjiective as here
makes the skylight of the central dome in a plane inclined to that of
the picture ? Either measurement or perspective, perhaps both,
are notoriously at fault here. In other respects, too, the drawing
evidently does not do justice to the subject; therefore the most that
can be said in its favour, is that it serves to convey some idea of the
design and style of decoration of the building itself, which is not
witliout rielmess in its genera! character.

Other interiors there are none ; not a single original design of the
kind — for that from Goldsmiths' Hall hardly answers to such
character, being a view of an executed design, not an idea that
remains to be embodied. How it happens that there are invari.ably
so exceedingly few subjects of this class, either designs or views, we
are so far from being able to explain that we cannot even conjecture ;
for when we ccmsider the vast scope they afford, the variety and
novelty of which they admit, the abstincncemanifested with regard to
them becomes only all the more unaccountable. We may, indeed,
guess at one or two reasons — one of which is that they rcijuire some-
thing more than that kind of jiutting parts together by which an
elevation may be concocted out of architectural points. Some may
perhaps think that if subjects of this class are so rare, it is because
there are very few opportunities for interior display, cither on a
superior scale, or demanding superior quality. It may be so; but
then how are we to account for the exceeding strange, out-of-the-
way, and impracticable designs, of which there are not a few in
almost eveiy exhibition — senate houses, palaces, mausoleums, and
other things of that sort ; and which are besides seldom better than
architectural bombast — the most common-place ideas wrapped up in
extravagant pretension ?

No. uro, " Elevaticm of the principal Front of a design for a
College," by W. Nicld, is ,an affair of the sort; and No. 1205, termed
(n'e di) not understand why), "A //on'co/ifa/ Section of a design for
a Museum," is another; — a museum with the dome of St. Paul's
raised upon it ! The more lavish exaggeration lliuu real grantknu-

and richness manifested in designs of this class, becomes quite pre-
posterous when compared with the [larsiinony which marks those
intended for actual execution Hardly can they be sai<l to have any
value even as mere studies, because they evidently set at dtliance all
idea of practicability; whereas the object of studies ought lobe to
show how charater and cll'cct may be infused into the simplest ele-
ments. The juxtaposition of the draw ings, No. 1 IG'J and 1 170, is no
doubt entirely acciilental, but it serves to convince us of the prodi-
gious difference between the romance iind the redliti) of architecture ;
for while Mr. Nield's is one mass of carving and sculpture, Mr.
Raillon's "Residence now erecting at Ripon'for the Bishop of the
Diocese,'' is so very homely ;ind unpretending a building, that,
unless informed by the catalogue, no one would suspect it to be in-
tended for an episcopal palace. Yet, though its extreme plainness
might be exacted by rigorous economy, it was not economy that
prevented the architect from imparting to it more nobleness and
more character — it excluded neither variety of outline nor piquancy
of expression; whereas there is nothing whatever either in the con-
ception or treatment that indicates any ability on the part of the
architect. On the contrary, even as a mere house— one that might
have served well enough in the days of Gothic Wyattism, it looks as
if merely set down in a held.

Angels and ministers of grace defend us ! Oh Royal Academy !
Oh poor architecture ! to w'hat pass must you both become, wdien we
are permitted to behold such an enormity as No. UTd. " The Ship,
Torbay Tavern,'' (situate at the corner of the new street, and the
Greenwich I'ier, as erected from the design of Mr. Thomas Finden,
by G.Mayhcw! Besides Mr. G. Mayhew, no one would have set
down to make the likeness of such a design.

After that drawing it is absolutely refreshing to look at No. I2I;3
" Eagle Tavern, City-road," by P. S. Paunet ; which independently
of such comparison, is really not without considerable merit ; in fact
in much beflertaste than many thmgs, onlhe side of which the supe-
riority ought to lie: but if w'e mistake not, there are one or two
minor dillercnces beiwecu this drawing and the buildhig itself.
Well, ;u length we are come to a turning, and have lighted upon
something we arc disposed to commend. We cannot bestow any
compliment on No. 108'J, ■• Design the Entrance Front to the St.
Elhelburga Society Cliarity Schools," by W. Grellier, but willingly
admit that he has shown' some ability in No. lOJl, "The Norili
M'ing of the Tilers' and I5ricklayers' Company's Almhouses, Ball',-,
Pond," which as hero vepresented, although very plain and humble
as to style, possesses much propriety of character, and pictiiresque-
ness of'etVcct ; at the same time we question whether the building
itself will produce anything like the effect given to it in this richly
coloured drawing ; it being not at all unlikely that what i.s here
rendered attractive, may in reality have a poor appearance in the
building itself. Nos. 1106 and 7, " The West of London and West
ininstcr Cenictry, Earl's Court," by B. Baud, is more striking at the
first view than it is satisfactory when it conies to be inspected. The
general arrangement and plan, which bear some similarity to an
ancient hippodrome, are well calculated for architectural effect, but
the style itself, and the design of the elevation, are poor. We may
here notice Allom's model of a design for the same purpose in the
Italian style, consisting of three chapels placed u.pou a terrace, and
connected by open arcades, enclosing three sides of a court, at the
inner angles of which,' are towers rising above the other buildings.
The whole is well combined, and forms a rich architectural group,
the picturesipieness of which is considerably enhanced by the por-
ticoes of the two lesser chapels Iieing turned towards the court, so as
to face each other, and show thems'clves in flank, while the larger
one of the central chapel is seen in front. This design we should
conceive, would be more economic than the one w^hich it seems has
been adopted ; because although the buildings themselves are more
rich, they do not extend over so much space. >Ve perceive by the
catalogue there is a third design for the same purpose. No. 1134, by
H. Case ; but having overlooked it can say nothing at present as to
itsmeribs. Another subject of the same kind, and very similar in
style, though different in composition, is No, I 'iti I, '"Intended Chapels
at the Rochester and Chatham General Cemetery," H. E. Kendall.
This has a lofty Italian tower in the centre, with an arcade extending
on either hand from it to one of the chapels. No. 1 186, ■• Pcasmorsh,
Sussex, now erecting for Dr. Buckland," W. S. Douthorn, is one of
the best designs of its class in the room. The next No. 1187,
'• Design for the facade of a Chapel in the style practised liy the
scholars of Giotto, in Upper Italy ; intended to illustrate the poly-
chromatic, decoration of the end of the 14th century," W. Dyce,
is carefully executed, and owing to the singularity of its subject, a
rather striking drawing, but being merely an elevation without back-
ground, it Aoea not enable us to judge of the actual effect attending
such juotk of decoration.

218

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Junk,

No. 1210, " Design for a public building fit Rugby," T.L. Donald-
son, is clever both as a drawing, and as a specimen of the style
adopted, namely tlie Tudor. No. ll!50, " The office of the Monmouth-
shire Merlin, now erecting at Kewport, Monmouthshire," E. 13. Lamb,
is a design of more than ordiutiry merit — a veiy happv and tasteful
application of the better Italian style ; and although sober in point
of decoration, picjuant and rich in cft'ect, the style being treated
willi great ability and feeling. It is indeed very much superior to
any thing of the kind, or we may say to any thing on the same scale
in the metropolis. Nearly the same may be said of No. 1122,
"Design for a Chapel proposed to be erected at Buxton," by the
same architect, which although very dilTerent in style, the facade
consisting of a Grecian Ionic portico, is stamped by considerable
originality, and by a freedom and spirit both in the general ideas
and details, which our builders of porticoes would do well to en-
deavour to emulate, instead of hashing up the prints of Stuart's
Athens till we absolutely nauseate them. Instead of the usual
string of columns before a wall, we have here depth of portico and
inner columns, which occasion a variety in the perspective appear-
ance of the most delightful kind. This and the other design are
two of the redeeming points in the exhibition; nor is it the least
of their merit that tliey prove how much may be accomplished within
a very moderate compass.

Donaldson, Lamb, Fowler, and Kendall, are the only members of
the Institute, we believe, who have contributed towards the present
exhibition. The Professor of Architecture himself has not sent a
single drawing. Of the other two architect-academicians, Sir R.
Smirke takes care to keep safe out of the way of criticism by never
sending any thing, and had Sir J. Wyatville (his year followed his
example, neither he nor any one else would have" been very great
losers, for his three drawings of parts of Windsor Castle, do not
excite any great expectations with regard to the publication, for
which we are informed they are intended. By Gandy there is not
even a single di-awing, though he has almost invariably exhibited
one or more every season \mtil now. We hope that 1840 will, if it
should not prove more prolific than poor I83'J has done, for in regard
to number there are enough or more than enough of things hung
upon the walls— produce more that is of higher qualitv. AVe
hope to see the same proportion of good and bad, only quite reversed,
the bad bearing the same ratio to the good, that the good now does
to the bad ; and with this wish for its better success, we take our
leave of the exliibition.

THE ROYAL EXCHANGE.

Sir, — As there is no reason to suppose that the dispute between the
Government and the Gresham Committee arose from a desire in
either party to secure the patronage for anotlicr job, it is fair to con-
clude tliat both parties were desirous that the New Royal Exchange
should be built in a style worthy of the olijcct, particularly as the
Gresham Committee are merely trustees, and tlie public are to be taxed
to the amount of ±'150,000 for' the approaches.

It seems that the committee of the House of Commons either
omitted to make their intentions clear, or the Act of Parliament was
not quite so iirtelligible as an Act ot Parliament ought to be. But ther-e
is an end to the dispute, and the Gresham Committee have invited
architects who wish to compete for the design to pay them one pound
for their instructions. The sum is paltr-y, and no reasonable excuse
can be made for the exaction. It has bcerr the practice vvitli
auctioneers, when aboirt to sell property which has excited pirblic
crrriosity, to sell their catalogues, as a tax on the cruiosity of those who
Irad rro intention of purchasing. But no such restriction could be
reipiired in this case, because they might have reqrrired the name and
addre-:s of the parties applying for the instructions ; aird it would be
but an act of justice to return the pound to the unsuccessful competitors.
As I have borne my share in competitions, and do not mean to compete
again, I trust I shall be excirsed for inviting those who mav, to take the
proper precautions, before it is too late, to secure them a fair and com-
petent tribirnal. Conditions were sold by the Government, and broke,
which I have proved in my letter to Lord Duncarrnon ; designs for the
Post-office have been selected for premiums, arrd afterwards rejected,
and another design adopted, bearing a strong resemblarrce to one of the
designs to which no premium was awarded, which I have made known
in my letter to Lord Melbourne; and the tr-ansactions relative to the
Nelson Testimonial have placed tlrree talerrted artists in the disagreeable
position of receiving premirrms out of a sirbscription for designs which
have been pronounced useless.

Of what use, then, would the most explicit instructions be, or the
most peremptory conditions as to modes of drawing — points of per-
spective and uniformity of scale, if they should be disregarded by the
judges. To i)revent this evil, I would respectfully suggestthnt the com-

petitors appoint by ballot one judge, the Gresham Committee another',
and the city of London a third. The designs should all be exhibited
to public view ; the three jirdges should afterwards select tlirce designs,
to be referred to a person appoirrted by the Crown, whose opinion
should be fiiral.

A more pirblic exhibition would not protect the competitors against
favouritism and partiality. As it is possible that the public pre-s might
be misled by the opinions of those to whom their ar-cbilectural department
may be cimfidcd, of whose names we should be ignorant, and conse-
quently incapable of knowing the degree 'if credit to which their opiirions
are entitled.

Dr. Johnson, in exposing the Blackfriars Bridge job, which had,
under the pretence of a prefer'ence to an elliptic arch, Uecn made the
means of irrtroducing a favourite, makes the following observations : —

" Those who are acquainted with the mathematical ]irirrciplos of
architecture are not many, and yet fewer ai'e they who will upon an)'
single occasion eridui'e any laborious stretch of thought, or harrass their
minds with •nacciistomed investigations. * ' If in opposition to
the ar'gnments, and fn defiance at once of right reason arrd general
authority, a design should at last be chosen, what will the wor'ld be-
lieve tirarr that some other motive than reason influenced the determi-
nation. *" • He that in the list of the committee chosen reads many
of the most illustiions names of this great city, will hope that the
greater number will have more reverence for the opinion of postei'ity
than to disgrace themselves and the metropolis of the kiirgdom in com-
pliance with any man, who aspires to dictate, perhaps without any
claim to such sirperiority, either by greatness of birth, dignity of em-
ployment, extent of knowledge, or largeness of fortune. In questions of
general concern there is no law of govei-nment or rule of decency that
forbids open examination and public discussion."

This was Johnson's opinion, drawn from facts ; may not the Gres-
ham Committee fall into the error which he exposed ?

THOMAS HOPPER,

40, Conuaught Terrace.

PUBLIC STATUES IN THE METROPOLIS.

Nothing perhaps can be a greater ornament to a city, or a higher
pr'oof of the glory of a country, than to see in its streets testimonials
of the great men who have immortalised their own geirius and shed a
lustre on their native land. Like benevolence, the performance of
this noble duty brings its own pleasure along with it, and we can
never regret the expense of what is an object of beauty in our eyes
and a source of gi'atification to our minds. The weak may feel a
consolation for their inactivity when they see that Sparta has so
many better men than they, and those of exalted genius, although
they want not this excitement, may see that they will not fail in
their reward. The placing of these nremorials in localities with
which the living heroes have been connected gives a greater interest
to the work, and invests the scene with a visible classicalily. No'
place than London has been more negligent of this, and there
are none which has possessed more men kno« n to fame, more time-
hallowed sites, or more native genius.

Just to give an idea of what might be done in this way, I will
imagine the grand liire of road from London to Westminster Br'idges,
the viii sacra of London, laid out in this way. On approaching the
foot of London Bi-idge, llie foreigner, entering London by that grand
entrance, should be reminded that he stood on sacred ground. Near
the Dover-r-oad should be a group of Beaumont and Fletcher-, with
their arms inteidaced. and arr iusci-iption '' To the Twins of Eliza-
bethan Dramatic Literature, which flourished near this site. Francis
Beaumont, born — , died I6I5, and buried in Westminster Abbey, and
John Fletcher, bor-n in London, loiTf), died 11325, and buried in St.
Saviour's." Passing near the site of the Globe and Bankside Theatres,
and of St. Saviour's, where Gowei', Massingei-, and Fletcher lie
interred, the spectator would be on the spot where (according to tra-
dition) the bard held horses, a statue of Shakspere near the scene
of his greatest triumphs, with the inscriptioir " To William Shaks-
pere, the Prince of Dramatic Poets, born at Stratfor-d-on-Avon, died
lliKi." On crossing thcbridge, at the junction of Gr'accchur-ch-street
with King William-street (although it should have been whcr-e the
pr-oposed statue of the Duke of V\ ellinglon is to stand), near' Lombard-
slr'cet, the phu'c of Iris birth. Pope, with the inscription, "To Alex-
ander Pope, the Prince of Translators ; born in London, 1088, and died
there, 17-14. '' At St. Martin's-le-Grand, near Bread- street, the place
of his birth, and leading to Bartholomew-close and Cripplcgate,
where imich of his life was passed, Milton: " To John Milton, the
Prince of the Modern Epic Poets ; born 1 608, in London, and died lliere
Iii7-1, and buried in St. Giles, Cripplegate." At the Ludgate-hill
end of St. Paul's, "To Sir Christopher Wren ; he found London in
ashes, and raised it to immortal fame. Spectator, look about and see

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

219

his glory and his tomb : bom lfi32, died 1 723." At the bottom of Lud-
gate-hill, '• To John Drydcn; he gave Virgil a new conntry ; born at
Alduincle, lH'M, died 1/00, and bnried in Westminster Abbey." At
Chatham-plaee, " To Edmund Spenser, Prinee of tlie English Pastoral
Poets ; born 1553, in London, and died there, 1593, bnried in West-
minster Abbey." At HolI)orn-hill, on the other side, "To Abraham
Cowley, the chief of the JNletiiphysical Poets ; born in l()18,in London,
and died IGli", bm-ied in Westminster Abbey." At ,St. Clement's
Church, .Strand, near the Temple, of which he was member, "To
Geoffrey Chaucer, Father of the Poets and Friend of Petrarch ; born
132S, in London, and died there, 1400, bnried in Westminster Abbey."
On tlie other side of St. Clement's, •' To .lohn Locke, Prince of Mental
Philosophers ; born at Wringlon, l(i.'32, died 1704. ' Know thyself.' "
At St. Mary-le-Strand, near which he was born, '• To Francis Bacon,
Prince of the Modern Philosophers ; he found the sciences infants,
and madethem men ; born in 15()1, in London, he died and was buried
at St. Albans, 1(5213." At West Strand, with Chandos-street, leading
to Covent Garden, where he was born, "To Thomas Augustine Arne ;
he taught the English muse to sing; born in London, 17'0, died
1778." In Trafalgar-place, looking towards Leicester-square, where
he lived, " To William Hogarth, Painter of Morals and Man; born
in London 1698, anddiedat Chiswiek, 1762." also in Trafalgar-place,
looking towards his residence in St. Martin's-street, " To Isaac
Newton; he spanned the heavens and weighed the earth; born at
Woolstrop, 1642, died 1726, and bnried in Westminster Abbey." At
Westminster-bridge, in the neighbourhood where he was born, " O
rare Ben Johnson; born in Westminster, 1574, and buiied in the
Abbey, 1637-" On the other side of the bridge, " To Thomas Banks ;
he maintained the glory of English Art in Russia; born at Lambeth,
1738, died 1805."

These are not solitary examples, but numbers more might be
adduced. In the City-road, at the end of Fore-sti'eet, near his birth-
place and his tomb, "To Daniel De Foe, known in all climes as the
Author of Robinson Crusoe; born in Cripplegale, and buried there in
St. Giles' Church." At the ends of the Hammersmith and Battcrsea-
bridges, the natives of the southern suburbs, " To Henry St. John,
Viscount Bolingljroke, unfortunate as he was talented ; born and died
at Battersea." " To Edward (lil)ljon, who in illustrating the glory of
Rome ensured his own ; born at Putney." Ne;ir Gracechurch-street
the scene of many events of his life, " To William Penn, the Founder
of Pennsylvania and Teacher of Benevolence to tlie Human Race ;
born in Loudon." On the Hackney Road, " To John Howard, the
Friend of the Captive ; born at Hackney, died at Chertson in Russia."
Also to Hampden, the great patriot ; Camden, the antiipiary ;
Byron, the poet ; natives of London.

Appropriate localities might be found for all the great men, and
to some, memorials already exist, Pitt, Fox, Canning, Nelson, and
Wellington. Among those to be commemorated, it may be sufficient
to mention, Cabot, who gave to us North America, and thus secured
the perpetual glory of the Engli.s)i race ; Drake, the circnmnavigator
and founder of our naval power; Blake, one of our greatest seamen;
Cook, who gave us a new world and another empire in Australia ;
Marlborough, our greatest general and the ablest of his day ; Clive,
the founder of our power in India ; Halley, the great discoverer of
comets ; Roger Bacon, the greatest philosopher of the middle ages ;
Br.idley, who discovered the rotation of the earth's axis and the
aberration of light ; Harvey, the discoverer of the circulation of the
blood; Hunter, the best of our anatomists ; Jenner, who stayed the
arm of death; Ray, the greatest naturalist of his day ; Napier, the
author of logaritlims ; Dalton, who numbered atoms, and gave in-
visible objects laws ; Davy, who united electricity to chemistry ;
Young, who proved that light moved as water; Savery, wlio
made steam the slave of man ; Brindley, who made roads upon the
waters ; Hargreaves, who taught senseless powers to weave garments
for the human race ; Smealon, the author of the Eddystone; Watt,
who gave arms to the steam engine ; Trcvithick, the master of the
steam engine, who taught it to fly upon the roads, resist the current
of the waters, and drain the bowels of the Andean mauntains; Rey-
nolds, the prince of English artists ; Flaxman, who gave our sculpture
a European reputation. To these might be added some of our
writers wdio possess an European reputation : Addison and Steele, the
twin essayists; Young, the writer of the Night Thoughts; Sterne,
the sentimentalist; Fielding, the prince of novelists ; Smollett, the
novelist; Johnson, the custodiem of our language ; Goldsmith, the
most harmonious of our writers; Hume, the first of our historians;
Garrick, the prince of our actors; and two distinguished Irishmen,
Burke and Sheridan ; but out of compliment to the many eminent
foreigners who have dwelt among us, we might commemorate Erasmus,
the restorer of letters: Holbien, who died here ; Rubens and Vandyke,
who have left with us many of the finest of their works ; Handel,
who united his own glory with ours; Voltaire, who here first brought

his Henriade to light ; Franklin, the man who snatched lightning
from heaven and the sceptre from tyrants; and Herschel, who for us
extended the bounds of the planetary system.

That executing such a design would prove highly ornamental to
the metropolis it is cpiite unnecessary to demonstrate; .and it is
equally evident that it would tend to the promotion of the arts and
tlie diffusion of taste. Considerable variety might be introduced into
the form of the monuments, as Gothic crosses, Greek votive temples,
fountains, and the employment of bas-reliefs and accessory emblems.
The expense of fifty such statues might very easily be defrayed for
100,000/., and it is unnecessary to say that larger sums have been
lavished on jobs pernicious in their results, and futile as to their
expected benefits. Were such a grant made, considerable sums might
be raised by public subscription, and the Corporation of London and
public companies would make donations, the theatres might give
benefits for the dramatic heroes, and the concerts for the muNicians ;
and we are sure that the object is such as not to be of mere local
importance, but to have a claim on (he revenue of the empire. The
government liliewise, by making the grant in annual portions, would
prevent it from making any great figure in the budgets of timorous
Chancellors of the Exchequer, while its execution would give an
impulse to art, and stamp at once a character on the Victorian era.

A. R.

PAMBOUR ON THE STEAM ENGINE.

Sir, — As you have often, at difl'erent times, noticed M. Panibour's
works on the steam engine, allow me to direct your attention to his
table referred to in page 02, vol. 2, of your journal. In most cases
therein the practical results differ very widely from the theoretical.
Now may not this be explained partly by taking into account the gra-
dient immediately before the place of trial, or, in other words,tlie accele-
rating or retarding force with which it enters it i* For insiance, in the
case of the Fury, August 4, 18:34, (page 229 of Pambour,) it drew 50
tons at 24 miles per hour. Now tlic theory gives 29 miles ; but imme-
diately before the trial plane comes a descending one of . This is
omitted in the table.

In example, page 228, the Fury drew 244 tons at six miles per hour.
By tlie tlieory it could not have moved the load. May this result be
attributed to the accelerating force of the plane it had just left, or
altogether to the incorrectness of the theory ?

I am Sir,

A constant reader,

London, April 12, 1839. H.

IMPROVEMENT OF THE RIVER DEE AND PORT AND
HARBOUR OF CHESTER.

We have read with some attention Sir John Rennie's interestinir
report upon the river Dee, and did uur space allow should examine it
at some length. After minutely entering into the views detailed both
for and against the improvement of the river by dredging. Sir John
recommends the construction of a ship canal, with docks, from
Chester to Heswell. At this latter place ho proposes to make an
entrance harlioiir in fifteen feet at low Wiiter spring tides, being five
miles shorter than the present couise of the river, and enabling vessels
drawing twenty feet water to come up to Chester at neap tides.
His estimate for this plan is .£ jGO,000, a sum, considering the magni-
tude of the undertaking, extremely moderate. There is never less, it
must he remembered, than twelve feet at low water spring tides
over the bar of the Die, while the Mersey is not only very defective,
but ditBcult of access ; Chester, also, is sixteen miles nearer tu London
than Liverpool, and would only lequire an extension of about twelve
miles to Preston Brook to open the communication with Manchester
;ind the inland towns; while it would be backed by the extensive
mineral and manufacturing districts of Wales and Cheshire. Con-
siderable discussion has been maintjined in the Chester papers, whe-
ther the c.inal plan should be odopted, or whether it is preferable that
the river should be improved ; hut when it is stated that in order to
obtain the same depth by the liver as by the canal, that fioin sixteen
to eighteen feet mu>t be dredged out at Chester, and an aver.ige of
ten feet for a distance of fiftien miles below in the open tideway, that
the present river-bottom is composed of loose sand, which would run
in as fast as taken out, having a fall of only seven inches per mile, we
confess that we should have considerable doubts as to the propriety of
pursuing such a questionable course. We have lie;ird the Clyde
quoted as a successful example, but if, as is stated, above .£800,000
has been expended there in obtaining twelve feet water, for a distance
of twelve miles, that it has required above half a century to effect this,

220

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[June,

and that the bed of the Clyde was better adapted for such iin operation,
it docs not appear to us to strcngtlien tlie arguments in favour of dredg-
ing the Bee, in comparison with the more certain and less expensive
plan of the canal.

The subject of dredging the old channel of a river, or substituting a
canal, is replete with interest, and demands the gnatcst sKill and dis-
crimination of the enyineers ; we shall take an early opjiortunity of
again referring to the report and papers connected with the contio-
versy between the parties.

POLYCHROMV OF THK ANCIRNT GREEKS.

Traces may hv found on tlic mavliles of Canipide and of the Brhisli
Museum. Tlic I'avllicnun, tlie Projiyliia, (he Tliesoium, (he Erechlhcium,
and Pinacotheca, have all rrin.iins of paint 2,I1U0 years old. Many writers
in tlie German periodicals haie treated on this subject, but somewhat in a
vague and cursory manner. The Insliinte of llritish Archilccfs has f^iveu
some detailed colk'clions of notes and illustrations. A French arcliitccl of
eminence has published some elaborate restorations of pnlvcliromy. Col.
Leake has these words (in his "Athens," p. :MI9), to the exaet truth of
which every accurate observer can bear witness: "All the seidpturcs of
tlie Thescium, willi those of the metopes and those of the friezes of the
vestibules, preserve the remains of colours witli which they were painted.
Vestiges of bronze .and .gold-coloured arms, of a blue sky. of blue, green,
and red drapery, are still very apparent. A painted foliage and meander
is seen in the interior coiuice of the peristyle, .and a painted star in the
lacun.aria." To this I may add, a bright red,' blue, and yellow pattern, in
the newly cleared part of the Pinacotlu^'a, the egg shape moulding on frag-
ments of cornices lying beneath the Pro]iyleia. the same near the Ereeli-
theium, a yellow coloured pattern in parallel lines in the roof of the
Caryatid portico of the same, besides an i) la Crcrqnc pattern .and star in
fragments of the same building, and evident traces in the upper part of
flutings and the capitals; the outlines of these and most oilier patterns are
scralclicil on the marble willi some sharp tool. In the Museum of the
Acropolis are fragments supposed to belong to the Hecaluinpedon, which
retain very bright colours, red and blue, particularly some Iriglyphs; a head
of v\hich the hair appears to have been gilt, yome of these fragments,
ri'lainiug bright colours, are now in London; and the colours themselves,
fnnn analysis, a]>pear to have been mixed with honey .and wax. In short,
the buildings nf the age of Pericles were painted. " M'hrlher the custom
was deri\ed from Egypt or not, it would be absurd to say thai the (ireeks
showed exquisite skill in architecture, and a b.arbarons taste in paiiiting.
Those who cry out most loudly, forget that time has now rc-painted the
Parthenon, &c. for them, with a great variety of the richest browns and
grey tints, otherwise it could not have been seen when the snu shone on
the fresh cut m.arble. This is illustrated by the poor ellcct of the columns
of the re-erected Temple of Victory, which are white from having been
buried for two or three centuries in the earth. The secret of taste seems
to have been, that the backgrounds, and plafonds, and the Iriglyphs (as re-
presenting the stone cut thrnugh), were painted deep blue, to as.similato
v\ ilh the sky they represented, and which appeared abo\ e lliem ; that the
dulings of columns and olher large members were colouri'd Milli neutral
tints, while the nunuli- oniameuls v.ere marked by the brightest red.s,
yellows, greens, and blues, — highly coutr.asted iiuleed, but each so small in
breadth, lliat lliey produced no gaudy eft'ect at the height to which they
were elevated, being chiefly on cornices, friezes, capit.als, &c. When the
eye was directed to any one spot of the building, the coutrasled luies pro-
duced a high n-lief and variety ; but when it was removed, so as lo take
in a view of a largi' jiart of the slructure, the colours by no means
deslroyed its unity, since Ihcy then became mingled like the vanishing
rainbow. Such an cfl'cct any one may sec from approaching or willulraw-
iug from a card coloured with prismatic colours. Von Klenze has given
a prelly, but not entirely happy illustration of this in his circular temple
al Munich. An interesting discovery in polychromy li.as just been made in
a shilue in allo-rclievo, discovered bi-tv.een the south-eastern ]u-umoulory
of Mount tlyiucllus and Sunium ; it is six feet high, and gent rally (exccjit
in one arm ) of good projiorlious. The subject is a warrior, ai'inccl with
helm, breastplate, greaves, and spear, standing erect, in profile. The heard
and conutenani'e rcniind one much of the Egina marbles, but the style is
MH.crior ; beneath the breaslplale a leather jerkin seems to have been
Worn, and the fuslinclla descends below this halfway down the thighs, like
a liigbhmder's larlan. The backgrouud has been coloured venuillion ; the
tints <iu file Mesh are nearly gone, but the elabipratc paltems on the arniour
are clearly visihle; among these are borders in a variety of firms in bright
colours, besides stars, and sonic other tigurcs not easily deciphered. Blue,
red, and yellow, are the recurring colours ; ;uid the whole effect is exceed-
ingly good, and indeed imposing, for the counteu.ance (the heard being
trimmed and pointed) is earnest and intelligent. The pedeslal bears the
words epyoi' KpinroKiuvi, a sculptor, who, it appears, was one of the ibniidcrs
of Ihi^ sclicl of Si. you, long before the rise of Ihat of Athens. Here, then,
is a painted statue still in existeuci', as deciiledly painted as was that of
.Shakspcre ui Stratford Church; it was the prod'iicl ion of a famous school,
the taste of which seems to have been followed by Phidias himself, in the
great cryselcphantine statue of the guddc.s.s in the Parthenon, since this
latter had coloured garments, for the golden peplos dcscendeil lo ihe feet.
If Phidias then eoudenined not Arisloi'lcs. what may we dare lo say in
this degenerate age of art f

While I am writing, some beauliful reliefs have been discovered near Ihe
temple of Victory similar to the two admirable specimens already found
there ; a scries of winged Victories seem to have formed a prolonged
decoration, of a uniriue kind, roiuid the front of the base, fu- they could
not have belonged to the lemple itself Wr. Pitlaidii has also discovered
some vases on the spot where the work of the smilplor of Sieyon was found ;
and could this active olliccr be supplied with means, no doubt many rich
renmins v\ould reward his labours, but the government can only allow him
a very small annual sum fur the excavations of the Acropolis, and, unfor-
tunalely, a jealous and ill-judged law has the cfl'cct of blopjung all enter-
prise on Ihe part of foreigners. — AHiciiiriim.

ST. BRIDE'S, FLEET-STREET.
(From the Churches of London. By G. Godwin, .Inn., F.S.A.)

The present edifice was not constructed until 1080. Sir Christopher
Wren was the architect ; Mr. William Dickenson the superintenduig sur-
veyor. The cost was £11,130. The steeple was not commenced unlil
some time afterwards; for, according to an entry in the parish books, the
first stcme was laid October 4th, 1/OL It w.as completed in 1711.'?.

The steeple, as left by Wren, was 'I'il feet in height from the ground, in
consequeuce of which great elevation, and from the want of pifqier precau-
tions, it was twice seriously injured by lightning. On the first of these
occurrences, namely in June 1704, so much damage was done, that it
was found requisite to taki^ dov\-n 85 feet of the spire. The metal
vane, the cramps wilh ^^llich the masonry was si'curcd, and the other
iron work employed in the constrnctiou, led Ihe electric fluid down the
steeple, ill the aiisoncc of any continued or heller conductor; and as at
each point where the connection was broken off, a violent disruption neces»
sarily ensued, the stone-work was rent in all parts, and pr.jccled from its
situation. One stone, weighing nearly 80 pounds, was thrown over the east
end of the church, and fell on the roof of a house in Bride Lane, while
anolher was forced from the boltom of the spire through the roof of the
(diurcli into the north gallery. Mr. aflcnv.ards Sir William .Staines, was
ein]doy(d to ri]iair the damage; and in doing so he lowered the .spire,
eight feet, either by direction of the parish authorities, or on his own
resp(uisibilily, vxithout, as it would appear, any suflicieut reason for this
mulilalion. The whole cost of the injury caused by the lighlniug at this
time, was estimated at £3000. On the recurrence of this accident, which
took place in 180.3, the damage Avas much less considerable.

Si. Briile's steeple is, unquestionably, a most sncccssfnl .and beautiful
design, as wcdl as a fine specimen of Wren's skill in construction. Each of
the four octagon stories pierced with openings, and which compose the
lower part of the spire, is beautifiUly proportioned, .and together, in their
mutual relations, they are most harmonious. The parts are simple, almost
severe; the elfect of Ihe v\liolc agrc'cable and good. Every sncci>ediiig
writer who has described this church, has lauded the steeple without re-
serve, pri.inouncing it second in bcaiily (udy to Ihat id" Bow (liurch, Wren's
masterpiece ill this chass of design. On the first cousideratiou of it, an
examiner may not be disposed iniplieilly to a.ssent to this ojiinion, feeling
that the mere repetition of the same forms, although in the end productive
of good eft'ect, as it docs not call for the exercise of much iuvcnlive power,
is not entitled to the highest degree of admiration ; and that as this siccple
disjdays less variety than many others by the same master, il has less claim
to praise. Further consideration, we think, m.ay lead to a dilferent opinion
in this case. 'J'o pile story upon stors without good rcsnil, is not ditlicult
and requires little genius. To do so and produce; the effect here altaiiual,
is quite the reverse, and needs the soundest judgment, and much tasU? ;
and we are disposed therefore to believe, that SI. Bride'.s steeple may be
confidently ajipcalcd to by 'Wren's admirers, as one of the best of liis nu-
merous works. In Iici^bl it approaches nearer to the exquisile spiles
which belong to, and characterize Ihe pointed style of architecture, than
any other example, as it does lo, in lightness of ctVect, and in gr.acefidness.
II is still very far from possessing tlii^ sauu' degree of beauty which belongs
to some of those matchless product irms of human skill ; but then, on the
oilier hand, it has a clianu in coinmou v\'ilh olhi'r sidres designed by Wren,
peculiarly its own ; namely, as a record of a dillieully overcoiuc. A spire
does not behuig lo Italian archilecturc, it may in fact be regarded as a
violation of a gri>at prhieiple of Ihe style, which is horizoutalily ; and il
thercfoie required no ordinary cU'orl of genius solo introduce and fashion
It, .as to render it honiogeneous with a builduig so designed. This effort
W'reii successfully made, and it has been jn.stly said lo be nearly ctpial
in degree to what woulil be necessary to invent an enlirely new sjieeies of
buililing.

'file fwo lower slorii'S of the spire arc Tuscan, the third Is Ionic, and Ihe
fiairth Composile. At the angles cd' Ihe parapet crowiung Ihe lower, from
v\hlch Ihe steeple rises, vases are introdneed, as they are also at Ihe base (d'
the obelisk which tcrniinales th(^ spire, by wh.ich means all harsh transitions
of form are a^'oided, and the outline ed' the whole, front Ihe tt)wcr to the
fane, is rendered pyramidal.

'file upper story of the tower, n Ilh its circular-headed ]iediments, pre-
sents the solnc\^■llat singular feature of au attached Corinthian Cfdnmii at
each angle, which hi this case is not altogether productive of good cll'ecl.
The riitusifi of the coliunn being strongly marked, gives to the outline u
cripjilcd appearance, inducing at first sight the idea, that the superincnm-
beiit weight has caused the walls lo bulge at the centre of the story.

The exterior of the cast end of the building is neat, and Ihe dresslues of
IIm; great window are boldly desiencd.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

221

CALEDONIAN CANAL.

(Coiiy of Mr. Walker's Report, continued from page 177.)
Detailed Estimate referred to in Report.

Beginning at the West end — £.

Five or .six porniiuu'nt guide buoys, with ancliors, nve required
between Fort William and the cnlr.ance at Curiiaeh, lor whieh say :'.Oi.l

For Corpach Entrance Lock, which i.s in good repair generally, but

allow for stoppage of small leaks and soinu pointing . . . lOll

.\ great part of the masonry of the two Corpach Locks is bad,
and in bad repair; this requires to be taken down and rebuilt,
which, with other w'orks, w ill amount to 0.(11X1

The reach between Cnrpachand Hannnvie, one mile and a quarter
long, requires only the repairing and gravelling of the road, which
forms part of the general head of roads taken afterwards

The eight Banuavie Locks require repairs of the masonry, gates,

iSrc, amounting to ........ . d'tW

Strengthening banks at a few places above Bannavie, on south
side, amounts to ........ ■ L''0

In the five culverts before referred to in Bannavie Reach, pointing

and partial repairs with puddling are required, say . . . l,tKXl

For the Strom oll'-lct Sluices in this reach, stopping leakage,

pointing, &c. take 100

A weir in Moy Burn is wanted to stop the gravel before entering
Canal ; this, and removing present accumulation of mud brought
down the biu'n and lodged in the Canal, will amount to . . 300

Gairlochy Hegtilating lock, hi masonry, platforms, sluices, &c.,
requires an outlay of 2, (Mill

A dam above Gairlochy Lock to shut off water of Liich Lochy

while the lock, &c. are under repair, will be ... . .330

For deepening the channel [from the lock into Loch Lochy, and

warping buoy near the entrance, say . . . . . 7(10

Deepening the entrance to Laggon Lock, east end of Loch Ijochy
and forming- causeways to facilitate the approach of vessi?ls, is 900

The two Laggon Locks between Loch Lochy and the summit, or
Loch Oicli Le\ el, arc in good repair.

To give 17 feet depth for navigation, the Canal between the Lag-
gon Locks and Loch Oich must be excavated, by drcdghig
through the deep cutting; this amounts to .... 0,000

A track-path to be formed upon the slope of the deep cutting at
Laggon, the present banks being high and veiy inconvenient,
amounts to ......... OOO

For planting spoil banks along Laggon, cutting with larches or

firs, allow ' 200

Loch Oich ; for shallow portions to be dccjiened by dredging,
amounts tu ' . . . 1 .200

Guide-posts in Loch Oich, &c., and deepening the cut between

Loch Oich and .\l)erchalder Lock will cost .... .550

Facing with stones the slopes of the Canal banks in the western
district, not yet stoned, and gravelling and repairing track-
paths, are 3,700

The works proposed for increasing the quantity of water in the

Loch Oich, or sunmiit, for the supply of the Canal in dry seasons 2,000

A new course for Aberchalder Burn, to prevent gravel rumiing
into and impeding the navigation, is ..... \fiW>

Aberchalder Lock ; repairs of masonry, lock-gates and machinery,

estimated at . . COO

Dam above lock, to support tlie waters of Loeli Oich, is . . 210

Aberchalder to Kytra, reach of two miles and a quarter, deepen-
ing Canal to 17 feet (the top level here to be .as originally pro-
posed), amounts to ........ . 1,7.")0

Kvtra Lock, for repairs of masonry, lock-gates and machinery, say C0(.)

Deeping for some distance below Kytra Lock, and removing sand
from north shipe, is ........ . 200

llcach between Kytra and Fort Augustus Locks, Iavo miles and a
half, new ofl'-sct sluices to empty Canal when require<l, similar
to the stone sluices, will cost 2,000

The puddle linings required in this reach, to stop present leakage
through the bunks, are ...... . . 8,000

.Stoning slopes and gravelling track-path from Loch Oich to Fort

Augustus, &c, . . ■ '. 1,800

Fort Augusttis Locks, taking do\vn and rebuilding m.asonry, repairs
of gates, machinery, &c., extra of 0,900/. already taken under
first division, and buoy at entrance into Loch Ness, amount to . 10,rj00

Widening entrance, Iiy rounding off angle from I^och Ness at Bona

Ferry, say ■ 800

Forming traek-patlrs across swash-ways in Loch Doehfour, is . 1,150

Widening entrance at lower cud of Loch Doehfour, is . . . 250

A waste weir at the outlet of Lnch Uoclifour, which di.seharges

the waters of Loch Ness : . 3,450

For guide-posts in Loch Doehfour, say ..... 20

Doehfour Burn, forming a new course to prevent gravel from being

carried into and impeding the navigation ..... 8.30

Doch-garrock Kegulating Lock is in good repair.

Reach from Doch-garroik toMuirtown, five miles excavating soil,
replacing with puddle, part of the line being so very leaky as to
require the constant feed of ten sluices at the Doch-garrock

Lock, e.acli sluice six superficial feet, with an average head of

one foot, to supply the waste through the banks, come to .
Torvcan Hill, removing gravel and supporting slope with rough

wall

Ofl-let sluices for emptying the reach when required, same as for

reach abo\e Fort .\ugiistus . . ....

Strengthening south bank of Canal .above Muirtown Locks .
Mnirtown Locks generally iii good order; for pointing and re-
pairing gates. tSrc. say ........

The bridge over the Laggon liOeks being stronger, with littli^

trade, than tlic bridge upon the turnpike road at Muirtown, say

for changing the sitiuitii>n of the two bridges . . . .
Fur lengthening wharf wall at Muirtown fur trade nf Inverness and

surrounding countiy, say

Gravelling track-pallis and stoning slopes of eastern district of

Canal, amount to . . . . . . . _ ■

Suudrv repairs of lock-gates, machinerj', foot-bridges, &e. in east

district (inclusive of Fort Augustus)

The Clachnaharry Locks at east end of Canal are both in good

repair, although the entrance lock has sunk down 1 8 inches from

time of finishing.
.Jetty at Clachnaharry Sea Lock, for repairing it, and three new

dolphin piles, allow ........

I'our liur.ys betwein Kessock Fciry aiul Entrance Lock
Twenty-five milestones .....■•..

Substituting some stone in place of wood mooring-posts or bollards

upon banks ..... ....

Small lighthouses, one at each entr.ancc, one at each eml of Loch

Lochy and one at each end of Loch Ness, say six .

11,000

270

2.0110
1.50

200

100
1,500
0,200

150

Add 10 per cent, for contingencies

In addition to the above, some machinery and utensils will be
requsite for the execution of the works and for the proper
establishment of the Canal, which are estimated as under ;

A new steam-dredger

b'our mud barges with false bottoms

Three common barges .....••••

Ten houses for lock .and bridge keepers

A diving-bell and vessel, &c.

.•V diving helmet .....■••••

A crane at the Corpach B.asin

A crane at Muirtown Wharf

A small crane and slied, warehouse and steam-boal wharf .above
Muirt(:)\\n Locks .....■••■

Add sundry smaller utensils, i&c.

£97,690

2,500
1,2(10
GOO
6(J0
7.50
100
100
250

200
500

£101,490

CRINAN CANAL.

It was not, as I have already stated, imtil my ret\u-n from the survey,
that I received .any instnu'tions respecting the Crinan Canal, My atten-
tion to it was therefore mcjre general tlian otherwise it would have Ijccn ;
but, consideiing it was a feeder to the Caledonian Canal, and liaving Mr,
(Jihb .alomr with me. having remained for a night at Ardrisshaig, and
passed the nioining of the 4lh in the examination of the works at
that place, and at the east end of the canal generally, and having,
through the accident already referred to, been delayed the whole
of the d.ay upon the line, I noticed the general state of the works, and
made some iuquiric^s. Mr. Gibb has also since kindly sujiplied nu' \\ith
details .and information, whieh his long .and intimate acquaintance with the
subject enabled him to do, .anil 1 have been furnished hy Mr. Smith with
a copy of the reports on the Caledonian Canal, which contain tin- par-
ticulars of all the expenditure and proceedings since the Crinan Canal
came imdcr the management of tin; Caledonian Canal commissioners, and
also a statement from Mr. Gibb, relating to the riq.airs and works done
since the Crinan Canal was opened. Lord Brcadalb.ane, Mr. Caldwell a
shareholder, and Mr. J.aracs q'homson. have alsr) waited up..u m.', and
given me their opinions.

The object of the Crinan Canal is, as you are no doubt aware, by a cut
of nine miles in -length from Loch Fnie, or r.athcr Loch Gdp, to Loch
(Vinan which conuuuuicatcs with Loch Eil, to save the more exposed
passage round the Mull, of Cautire, and a circuit of seventy mdes, a savmg
which is still important, though rendered less so by the introdnction of

i'he first act for making the Crinan Canal, was passed in the ,33 Geo, III.,
and I am infuaned that the sums raised by subscription amounted t^j about
£100,0(10; this being insufficient to complete the work and execute certain
repairs tkj.tJOO was advanced by the barons of the exchequer of S( otiand
from tlie forfeited estates fimd, and £30,000 by the lords of the treasury to
ell'cct the above (dijects. Both these sums were to be repaid, with intiMrst,
from the canal revenues. The canal was then opened, but the works were
impertcci, adfled to whi(di, abroach in one of the embankments obliged
the navigation to be stopped, and a further advance of £19,100 was
audiorized to be made in 1817, bv the barons of the excheqiu.'r, to the
conuuissioners of the Caledonian Canal, luider whose management the
canal was then placed, and still remains.

222

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[■Tr^NE,

The repairs above rc>ferred to were executed by Mr. Gibb, under Mr.
Telford, in 1817, and from that time the eanal reniaiiied open, the enrrent
repairs beinp done by the eompany's workmen nntil IKif), when .some of
the gates were renewed, other important repairs done, and an addition of
liic feet made to the depth of the reservoir, by Messrs. Gibb and Son as
contractors, the amount of which was about £'2,81)0. In \SM also a
landing-place or pier, convenient for the passengers by steam-packets, and
for tlie herring fishery, was built by the same contractors at Ardrisshaig.

TlH're are upon the canal eiglit locks ascending from Loch (iilp or
Ardrisshaig", at the west cud. and se\en locks dcsi'ending to Crinan at the
east end ; these locks are 'JO feet long by 2-t feet wide, and 12 feet deep,
except the two at Crinan end, which are 108 feet long by 27 feet wide ;
the e.inal is therefore filled for merchant vessels of 2IJI) tons burthen, and
the steamers which ply between (ilasgow and Inverness are made incon-
veniently narrow to pass through it. To avoid this, a larger steamer
started last year, which makes the passage round the Mull ofC'anlire,
occupying from six to eight hours additional time, although the loss is
probably more than compi'usatcd by the greater width of the vessel in the
other part of the journey, independently of the general convenience and
securitv against stoppages upon the Crinan Canal, which are not iin-
frequent, and \ipon which there is at present no passage during the night.

The importance of the Crinan Canal to the Caledonian Canal is greatest
in reference to the trade of the Clyde; and, for the reason I have stated,
its importance for steam communication is much less than lor sailing
vessels, unless the locks and canal were enlarged to the size of the Cale-
donian Canal, or, which has been proposed and woidd probably be a
better plan, by cutting down the summit by which eight locks vvoidd be
saved. The expense of either would be very great, and certainly in my
opinion much beyond what it would be prudent to undertake imder present
circumstances, and mitil the superiority of the Canal to the mor circuitous
route is more fully established.

Without, however, contemplating such an outlay, much good might bo
done, and at a comparatively small expense, to add to the efficient work-
ing ,and managing of the canal.

The breakwater which shelters the entrance at Ardrisshaig should be
carried out (Mr. Gi^b and Mr. Thomson, senior, thought 80 feet would be
sutficient) to cover a projecting rock, which is partlv dry at low water, and
is dangerous for vessels approaching, partirnlarly at night, with rough
weather, and more so since tlie beaemi which marked it was carried away,
and had not been replaced. Upon this proposed extension the entrance
light miglit be conveniently placed, the present light, from having been
allowed lo get out of repair, being now a very imperfect guide. From the
import ance to life and property, lights and beacons when once established
slio\dd never be neglected.

£asl Enlmnce. — The entrance to the canal at the east end requires to be
deepened at least five feet, to allow vessels to enter the lock, the sill of
which is laid eight feet under low water. The expense of this, compared
with the advantage, would be but small. Mr. James Thomson informs me
that a good deal has been done towards the removal of this shoal, which
was at one time seven feet and a lialf, but is now only four feet above the
sill. If completely removed, tlie steamers could enter al all times of tide,
which would be a most important improvement, particularly at night ; the
accommodation at Ardrisshaig does not seem the best, and as there is
nothing interesting iii the line of the canal, to get through it in place of
being obliged to search for nights' lodgings would generally be preferred
by passengers, even those on pleasure. At present there is no night
passage for any vessel, ■whether with goods or passengers, through the
canal.

Lucks. — The masonry of the locks, from the eastern entrance to Caim-
bean, a distance of four miles, appeared good, and the canal of propor-
tionate width.

From Cairnbean to the summit, and thence to the Crinan Lock, No. 14,
the lock w.alls are built of the whinslone found in tlie district, and are
generally rough. The quoins, copings and aprons are of better stone.
Some repairs in the gates are required, only part of these having been
renewed in 1817 ; and I was informed that some of the lower platforms are
defective from the puddle having wasted.

The shortness of the summit is an original defect in the eanal, which
would be effectually remedied by cutting down and taking out a lock at
each end of the .summit, by which considerable time and future expense of
repair would be saved; but even this would. I fear, be attended with too
large an outlay to be undertaken at present.

Between Dimaiidry Lower Tower and Belanoch Bay, and thence to the
Upper Crinan Lock, 'part of the canal is through rock, and is in places so
narrow, that two vessels cannot pass. This is inconvenient, and the wear
and ttar to steam-packets, which require some speed for steering, is stated
to be considerable, through their coming in contact with the sharp, rocky
sides. The expense of making the canal the full width through this rock
would be considerable, but the worst parts might be remedied.

Crinan End — It was night before 1 reached the Crinan end. Mr. Gibb
informed me that the sea lock here is good freestone, but that the lower or
sea gates are attacked by the worm, and are at present very defective. This
should have immediate attention ; to .sheath them with copper below low
water would probably be the best preventive, and in the end the cheapest,
as they are stated to want frequent repairs from the above cause.

-\t the Crinan as at the Ardrisshaig end, there is a bank between the
entrance lock and the lake, which is considerably higher than the lock sill ;
it was described to me as of clay and mud, and that the length was small ;
surely this ought to be removed.

The revenue nfihiscannl during the last year is stated in a letter from Mr.
Thomson, (hi> engineer and superintendent, to have been I,;)!!.'!/., the ex-
expenditure 1.G7I'., leaving a surplus of232/. , as respects balance, this isa
favourable slalement compared with former years, in which, on an average,
the expenditure and receipts were nearly equal. The (rade during the last
fifteen years has increased, but not above 2(11)/. or 300/. on an average of
several years, so that in a financial view the Crinan and Caledonian Canal
are much upon a par.

Mr. Thoms(m's attention was so much taken up by the repair of the
damaged gati', and of a leak in tlie bank, that I had but little opportunity
of conversation w ith him ; but it appeared to me that the machinery of the
locks and bridges was not suflicicntly attended to, and that more attention
to cleaning, oiling and preserving, w.as wanted generally; this might arise
from a desire to save every expense, but it is surely bad economy, and
perhaps the same desiie extending to the commissioners, prevents their
having an out-door superintendent or clerk who can afford to give his
undiviiled altenlion to the stale and interests of the canal. Upon a work
of (his niaguilude, and now depending for its success upon despatch, such
a person would appear to me indispensable, even if I had not had the
opportunity (though certahily short) of witnessing it. I should likewise
recommend regular returns to be made, not only of tJie number and descrip-
tion of vessels that pass the canal, but of the time taken from their
approaching the entrance to entering the lake at the other end. and if any
delay, the cause of it; also of all accidents, and the cause of them.

Tile acciiunts of receipts and disbursements appear to have been returned
more regularly within the last three years. If there is any regular audi! of
accounts, I have not been informed of it; altogether the Crinan Canal does
appear to have been treated as if it were a favourite concern.

Although regularity and despatch will do great things. I have a worse
opinion of the Crinan Canal, taken by itself, than of the Caledonian
Canal, as an ultimate measure ; but, if kept in an efficient slate, it must be
beneficial as a public navigation, and an important arm of the Caledonian
Canal.

As I did not expect to be called upon for any opinion respecting it, this
meagre account must be excused, and I have no documents to enable me
to estimate the expense of the works which I have recommended.

The idea of a railway by the side of the canal has been suggested; by
this (even if worked by horses) passengers might be conveyed in an hour
with greater certainty than they now are in four. A steamer of proper
dimensions for passengers would work from Glasgow, &c., to Ardrisshaig,
and from Crinan to Inverness. For cheap passengers and lieavy goods, the
present steam-boats going less frequently than at jiresent would sullice.
That this would increase the despatch and character, and therefore the
extent of communication, cannot be doubled; but the increase must be
great to warrant such an establishment of steam-packets, winch would of
course be a private concern. I do not think the cost of laying a railway
upon the banks would be heavy. My opinion on the whole is, that the
necessary repairs to the Crinan C.anal, the deepening of the entrances, and
other things I have recommended, should be done forthwith, and a vigilant
superintendence established ; but I do not see my way in this so clearly as
to advise more to be done at present.

BIRMINGHAM RAIIAV.W SIGNALS.

Everv station is Inrnishcd with an alarum, to give notice of the approach
of each' train, and to summon the whole of the men to their appointed
places. These alarums are so constructed, that a weight is wound up after
thev have performed their office which prepares them to perform it again.
On seeing the forlbcoming train has reached the proper spot, the policeman
stationed at tliem pulls a trigger, and the weight begins to descend, ringing a
loud gong shaped bell by means of intenial machineiy. Bells are also bung
so as,"in a few seconds, to collect together the whole of the men belonging to
the station for any required purpose. , » . ,

The police are placed along the line at distances varying from one to three
miles, according as local circumstances rendered it necessary. Each man
has his beat and duties defined, and is provided with two signal flags, one of
which is red and the other white : tfie white flag is held out when no
obstruction exists; and, on the contrary, the red flag indicates that there
is danger, and that the train must not pass the signal till it is ascertained
that the cause of danger is removed.

Each policeman, also, is furnished with a revolving signal lamp, to be used
after dark ; which shows, at the will of the holder, a white light when the
line is clear; a ureen one when it is necessary to use caution, and the speed
of the tr.ain be diminished; and a red light, to intimate the necessity of ira-
medialcly stopping. — Roscoe's Londtm and Birminr/liam Railway.

The Lii.ror Obtlisk— The faces of the pedestal of tlie nbelisk in the Tlace de k
Concorde, which look tiiwards the Chamber of Deputies .in.l Ihe Church of the Ma-
deleiie. arc to be engraved nith representations of the apparatus used in Inking it
down nt Luxor, and in raising it where it new stands. Tlie desigii.s are taken from a
work published hy M. I.ebas, the engineer, who brought the mouumeut from Egypt
and erected it. The other two fiices are to beai- the Inllowiug inscriptions : — " Ludo-
vietis Pliilipims I., FiaucurLun Kex, ut aotiquissinumi art s Egyptiactc opus, irlemque
recentis gloriic aJ Nihiin arrais parta' insigne monutnentum, Francis nb ipsa .Egypto
doiiatum, posteiitati prorogarel, obeliscum die XXV .\ug. a. MDC'CCXXXII. The-
tis Hoeatoinpylis avecluni naviq. ad id. constriicta, intra menses XIII in Gallium
perductum, er'igcndum riiravit d. XXV Octob. a. JIDCCCX.XX\'I, anno regni Sep-
timo." *' Kn presence du Roi Louis-Philippe ser, cet obcliscpie, tiausportc de Loug-
sur en France, a etc dredst sur ce picdestal par M. I^ebas. iugenieur, aux applaiidis.
semens dun peupic immense, le XXV Octobre, MDC'CCXXXVl."

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

223

OPENING or THE EXHIBITION OF THE PRODUCTIONS OF
INDUSTRY AND THE ARTS AT PARIS.

The exliibilioii of productions of industry was opened on Wednesday,
the 1st ult., to the public.

The buildings constnicted in the Champs Elysecs have a front of 185
metres in length and 82 metres in depth ; the facade is composed of a
gallery parallel with the gi-and avenues of the Champs Elysees. Five
rooms detach themselves perpendicularly from tlii.s s'a'lery ; these are con-
tiguous, and separated from the others by courts. The rooms and galleries
are 10 metres higli, and covered with zinc. Notwithstanding the extent
of these buildings, they were far from being sufficient for tlie numerous
productions which were admitted.

The number of exhibitors is incessantly increasing. In 18.34 it amounted
to one-third more than in 1827 — namely, 2,4-37. The present number is
3,348, and will probably increase in the coui-se of a few days. In 1827,
20 departments sent nothing to the exliibition ; in 1834 this negative num-
ber was reduced to 1 1 ; and in 1839, to 6. Those six departments are
those of the Lower Alps, Cantal, Cher, tiers. Lot, and Lozerc. The
department wliich reckons the greatest numbers of exhibitors is that of
the Seme ; out of 3,348 exposers, 2,047 belong to that one, or nearly two-
thirds of the whole. That is a large number indeed, even admitting that
encouragement should be shown to those manufactures based upon the
application of the line arts. The following departments furnish the greatest
number of exhibitors after that of the Seine : — The Seine Infcrieure, 96 ;
the Rhone, 73 ; the Gard, 58 ; the Nord, 56 ; the Upper Rhine, 55 ; the
Loire, 43, &c.

Among the small quantity of tissues which we were able to see, we must
mention some rich silks, worked with gold, from Lyons. Some satins and
woollen damasks, some tine muslins of Tarare and .St. Quentin, lace of
Mirecour, and blondes from Caen. The exhibition of IMulhausen sent
some prints and mousselines de laines as remarkable for their taste as for
the brilliancy of the colours. Muslin is a fashionable stuff, and should
occupy a distinguished place in the exhibition. The shawl manufacturers
Dencirouse, Gaussen, &c., have also sent their contributions.

Amongst the other objects, the most striking are the bronze statues of
Quesnel, the gilt bronzes of Thomire and Deni^re, which are placed in
front of each other, the plated goods of Balaine and Veyrat, the lustres
and coloured crystals of St. Louis and Baccarat, and the colossal glasses of
St. Gobin and .St. Quirin. There were numerous excellent specimens of
porcelain, partlcitlarly tkosf copied froin the English^ with tlowers in relief.

The department of the Alier exhibited some models which rival those
of Paris. The Parisian jewellery had .some splendid specimens, among
which was a panel of silver cloth, by a new proceeding, for which M.
Moreau Christoplile has taken out a patent. There are as yet only a few
billiard-tables, which are not all in very good taste, but one deserves men-
tion ; it is made of ebony inlaid with coloured wood. Musical instruments
were abundant ; several organs v\'ere placed at the bottom of the room.

Comfortable, and even luxurious arts, seem to prevail over what M. C
Dupin styles domestic arts. Magnificent carpets of the Pompadour school
showed the flexibility of the manufactories of Aubusson, but we should
prefer to see the common carpets descend to so low a price as to render
them more general in France. The walls were ornamented with stained
paper, the predominating patterns of which consisted of panels or arabes-
ques, with vases of flowers or Gothic medallions in the centre.

The blinds suspended at different windows showed tlie progress of this
branch of manufacture. The glass manufactory of Choisy exposed some
bouquets of glass and paintings of the same materials, which appeared to
us perfect as regards the brilliancy of the coloiu's. — Le Commerce.

The articles of Parisian manufacture occupy a conspicuous place in the
exhibition. They consist principally of ornamental objects, upholstery,
furniture, mirrors, stained paper-hangings, carpets, &c. Among the latter
we noticed in particular those embroidered with the needle, which passed
almost imperceived at the exposition of 1834, but have since that period
made a truly astonishing progress. Eight or ten Parisian houses exposed
their work this year, the most remarkable of which for their good taste and
execution are those proceeding from the establishment of Charles Hautrive
and Sisters, of No. 24, Rue du Caire, who have exposed an arm-chair en-
tirely embroidered aupetit point, and two magnificent screens. One of these,
embroidered en chenille, on silk canvass, exhibits a choice of the most beautiful
flowers, which rival nature in freshness and colouring. The second of
these screens contains an exact copy of an exquisite painting, much
admired at one of the last- expositions of the Louvre, and, from the finish
of the execution of the tapestry, it would be difficult to decide which, the
embroiderer or painter, displayed most talent. It is done in imitation of
the last works of the Gobelins. The picture is enclosed in a rich and
elegant frame, and, as a piece of ornament, it would not be misplaced in
the very first snlons of London or PimH.-^Times.

Age of the Globe. — In a convei-sation with Dr. Larduer, stating tiow nuK-h we
were indebted to the discoveries in geology, demonstrating' the antiquity of the eartli,
he replied, that we need not resort to geology to prove the tact ; for, as it regards
the creation of the heavenly bodies, it eonld be proved that the fixed stars are at such
an immense distance, that, notwitlistanding light moves at the rate of a hundred
thousand miles per second, it would lake tliree hundred tlioiisand years for a r.ty of
it to travel through space ere it reached the earth ; so that the stars we now see
must have been created more than three hundred thousand years ago. — From a netr
wark, " Pleasanl Kecolleetjom of a DileUanle, by Wilham iiarJiner."

LIGHTING OF THE HOUSE OF CO.MMONS.

The experiments of the Bude lights for lighting the House of Commons
were repeated last night, chiefly with the view of ascertaining the effect of
the new plan upon the reporters' gallery. As far as that part of the house
was concerned, we can say tlie trial was altogether successful. Though the
apparatus for conveying the light to that as well as to other [larts of the
house is not yet complete, yet enough of its operation was seen to show that
when complete its superiority over the wax lights will be past all ^piestion.
\\'e were not preseut at the first trial of the Bode light, but we understand
that on that occasion the complaint was general that the glare tlirovvn into
the body of the house was greatly offensive to the eye, while the seats under
the gallery were in eomparaiive obscurity. This was explained last night
by the fact that the order to light up the house on the new ]>lan came before
the preparations were in a sufficiently forward state. He that as it may, the
grounds of objection have been wholly removed. The liglit is now made to
descend from the roof through ground gla':s plates, over which, the apparatus
is so contrived that the light can with ease be varied from the colour of a
pale moonlight to a bright sunlight, or be mellowed down into a rich
autumnal glow; still giving sufficient light, withoHt any unpleasant glare,
to every part of the bouse. The glass through which the light is sent down
is fitted air-tight into the bottom of the chandelier, so that no heat can be
generated by it in the bouse, save the slight radiation from the surface of
the chandelier itself, but compared with the heat and the consumption of
atmospheric air by the combustion (or rather the very imperfect comliustion)
of 240 wax candles, the heat and atmospheric combustion of the new plan
are not (as far as the body of the house is concerned) as 1 to 100. What-
ever heat may be generated by the new process will be carried oft" through the
roof, and never aflisct the body of the house. To those of our readers who
may not be acquainted with the nature of what is called the " Bude" light,
it will suffice to say that in Mr. Gurney's plan it consists in a number of
burners (in each chandelier) supplied with wick and oil, somewhat like the
Argand lamp, with the improvement that in this there is only one circle
or cylinder, while in the common Argand lamp there are two. Lighted in
this stale, the lamp would send off a very large and offensive mass of
unconsumed carbon; but to prevent this, a stream of oxygen gas is made to
pass through the centre of each burner, by which the total combustion of
the carbon of the oil and wick takes place, and the light is consequently
raised to a beautifully brilliant flame, the intensity of which may be in-
creased according to the volume of the stream of oxygen passed through it,
and, as we have already said, the light may be mellowed as taste, fancy, or
convenience may suggest. From what we saw last night we think the very
clever plan of Mr. Gurney a vast improvement on the present system, and, as
Joe Hume would say, " it is a great deal cheaper." — Times, May 24.

LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY.
We have selected the following extracts from Roscoe and Lecount's
interesting description of this Railway, which we have before more
than once favourably noticed : —

CONTRACTS, EXTENT, COST, &c.

Contract.

a

3

Contractor.

Contract
Pi-ice.

Revised
Estimate

Mdes

f

it.

Euston Extension .

1

W. and L. Cubilt

76,860

91,528

Primrose Hill

H

The Company

119,987

280,014

Harrow.

n

Joseph Nowell and Sons

1 10,2-27

144,574

Watford

5

Copeland and Harding

117,000

138,219

King's Langley

2i

W. and L. Cubitt

38,900

57,386

Berkhampstead

4*

W. and L. Cubitt

51,660

65,002

Aldbury

2*

W. and L. Cubitt

10,694

25,134

Tring " .

3

Assignees of Townshend

104,490

144,057

Leightou Buzzard .

7i

James Nowell

38,00u

43,162

Stoke Hammond .

3J

E. W. Morris

39,303

42,345

Bletcbly

sl

John Burge

54,50(1

01,071

Wolverton

5

The Company

67,730

107,765

Wolvertou ^'iaduct

^

James Nowell

25,226

28,964

Castlethorpe

4^

Craven and Sons

49,735

71,873

Blisworth

5

The Company

112,950

144,301

Bugbrook

5

John Chapman

53,400

1)5,013

Stovve Hill .

H

John Chapman

23,050

31,536

Weedon

ij

W. and J. Simmons

26,1.00

31,4-12

Brocldiall

3|

J. and G. Thornton

34,150

50,583

[,ong Buckby

l|

J. and (i. Thornton

42,587

48,256

Kilsbv . . . .

The Company

98,982

291,030

Rugby . . . .

5ft

The Company

59,283

93,384

Long Lawford

3}

\V. and J. Simmons

20,330

25,893

Brandon

H

The Company

40,000

55,090

.•\von Viaduct

l-l6

S. Hemming

7,979

8,621

Coventry

n

Co. & W. & J. Simmons

101,700

150,496

Berkswell

44

Daniel Pritchard

53.248

62,738

Yardlev

n

Joseph Thornton »

68,032

78,131

Saltley

James Diggle

32,878

38,707

Rea Viaduct .

James Nowell

' 13,644

15,505

224

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[.Tune,

THE KILSBY TUNNEL.

Tlio Kilsliv Tuiiuel is about 2,423 yards long, and was intended at fust (o
be formed eighteen inrlies thick in the bricliworlc ; but it was found neces-
sary to increase tliis, in nio^t cases, to twenty-seven inclies. The whole lias
been built in either Roman or metallic cement.

Tiie worlis were commenced in .hme, 183.5, by the contractors; but such
serious difhculties were met with, at an early stage of the proceedings, that
they gave up tlie contract in March, 183f>, and nearly the whole work lias
been performed by the company. Previous to the commencement of the
works, trial-shafts were sunk in several parts of the line of the tunnel, in
order that the nature of tlie groinid through whicli it would have to pass
might be ascertained j and it was found to be generally lias shale, with a few
beds of rock — in some places dry, in others containing a considerable quan-
tity of water.*

In sinking the second working-shaft, it was found that a bed of sand and
gravel, containing a great quantity of water, lay over part of the tunnel ; and
this was such a perfect quicksand, that it was impossible to sink through it in
the ordinary way. By repealed borings, in various directions near this jiart
of the tunnel, the sand was discovered to be very extensive, and to be in
shape like a llat-bottomed basin, cropping out on one side of the hill. The
trial shafts had accidentally been sunk on each side of this basin, so that it
had entirely escaped notice until the sinking of tlie working shaft.

Mr. Stephenson was led to suppose tiiat the water might be pumped out,
and that under the water thus drained the tunnel might be formed wiih com-
parative facility; this proved to be the case. Engines for pumping were
erected, and shafts sunk a little distance out of the line of the tunnel. The
pumping was continued nearly nine months before the sand was sntficiently
dry to admit of tunnelling, and during a considerable portion of that time
the water pumped out was 2,t100 gallons per minute. The quicksand extended
over about 4-JO yards of the length of the tunnel, and its bottom dipped to
about six feet below the arch.

In May, 1836, one of the large ventilating shafts was commenced, and
completed in about twelve months. This shaft is sixty feet in diameter, and
132 feet deep ; the walls are perpendicular and three i'eet thick throughout,
the bricks Ijeing laid in Roman cement. The second.ventilating shaft is not
so deep by tliirty feet. These immense shafts were all built from the lop
downwards, by excavating for small portions of the wall at a time, from six to
twelve feet in length and ten feet deep.

In November, I83f), a large quantity of water burst suddenly into the
tunnel, in a part where there were no pumps; it rose very rapidlv, and in
order to prevent the ground being loosened by it at the far end, where il was
excavated, a rather novel mode of building the brickwork was resorted to.
This was by forming a large raft, and on this the men and their materials
were floated into the tunnel, and with considerable difficulty and danger per-
formed their task.

All the difficulties were at last conquered, and the tunnel finished in
October, 1838 ; but, of course, the expenses were increased to a very great
extent. The directors fell it to be their duty not to restrict the proper outlav
of capital, when satisfied it would secure the convenience of the ])ublic, the
stability of the works, and the efficient management of the traffic ; and thev
felt persuaded Ihat a perseverance in this course, to the completion of the
undertaking, would be found most economical in the end, and best calculated
to ensure the permanency of that successful result which is now happilv
placed beyond the reach of doubt. The contract fen- making the Kilsby
Tunnel was 99,000/., and it has cost more than 300,000/., or upwards of 130/.
per j-ard.

To give some idea of the magnitude of this work : — There were thirty
millions of bricks used in it, which, at ten hours for a working day, if a man
counted fifty in a minute, would take one thousand days to get through them
all. Tliere were above a million of bricks employed in the deepest venti-
lating shaft, and its weight is 4,034 tons. The weight of the whol« tunnel is
118,620 tons; or it would freiglit four hundred ordinary merchant ships, of
about three hundred tons each ; and if these bricks were laid end to end, they
would reach 4,260 miles. The quantity of soil taken from the tunnel was
177,452 cubic yards.

The great ventilating shafts are perfect masterpieces of brickwork, and are
found fully to answer the pui-pose for which they were intended, leaving the
tunnel entirely free from any offensive vapour iunnediately after the transit of
each train, and their magnitude can only be estimated by standing in the
tunnel and looking upwards.

The passage through this mighty work of engineering skill and ingenuity
leaves on the mind, even of tliose unacquainted with the ordinary difhculties
of such an undertaking, a vivid impression of the rare talents of those who
designed the work, and superintended its execution. These talents, however,
will be more especially appreciated by those who are aware of the many and
unforeseen obstacles which arose during its progress. To Mr. Charles Lean,
the assistant engineer under whose direction it was completed, great credit is
due for his skill and unremitting exertions, and for the great care he bestowed
upon the men in the ai'duous and dangerous duties in which thev were con-
stantly engaged. * * . « ' »

The history of the great railway between London and Birmingham is now

• Orgcinu- remams at Kitsby are very numerous. In some parts of the excavation
there is hardly a cubic inch without shells and other remains nvesentint; tliemselves to
the eye, and as the eanh taken out has been princiiiallv laid into spoil, there will be
ample opnortunitics, for some tune yet, for further exammation. which would well
repay either the scientific inquirer or the cabinet collector.

finished. A wonderful work it is to look ujton, whether it be contemplated
in its magnitude and difficulties, its science and capital, or its utility and
results. It stands as much the monument of this age as any of the great
works of antiquity that have been the subjects of the world's history. There
is, however, this diflerence in its favour, that while they have been raised in
tlie cruel exercise of despotic power, and have mainly subserved the purpose
of personal vanity, this has been accomplished by the jirofitable euiplovnient
of the redundant capital of a single district, to meet the wants of a vaslly-
iinproved people, and is the triumphant invention of science, trained and
disciplined under severe study, imd gathering accelerated strength from the
successful experiments of each succeeding year. The flexible power of steam
was, indeed, known to the philosophers of former times ; but they used this
knowledge only for the fantastic puqioses of caprice and amusement.
-Anthemius, in the age of .Tustinian, employed his actinainfance with this
principle to annoy a troublesome neighbour, and by imitating an earthquake
frightened /.eno out of his house ; and, at an after-period, Pope Silvester
invented an organ, which was set in motion and worked by it. It is the
glory of the present era, that science and utility go hand in hand to advance
the improvement and happiness of the nation.

Every age of the world has furnislied its own peculiar inventions, and these
Iiave generally been well adapted to the wants that suggested them, and to
the condition in which society was at that time placed. Il is a subject more
tlian commonly interesting to contemplate genius toiling amidst so many
difficulties, and by patient perseverance overcoming all perplexity and
opposition. It is, perhaps, still more interesting to observe it under the trials
of its first experiments, amidst the doubts, imbolief, and sometimes jeers, of tho
multitude, self-possessed in the truth of its principle, yet tremulously fearful
while lying at the mercy of the thousand contingencies that might thwart or
destroy its hopes and expectations. Such was the case with Telford, on the
final erection of the famous hanging bridge over the Menai Straits. It is said
that his heart sunk as every successive bolt was struck, till overcome with the
agony of his feelings, he retired to his cottage hard by, and awaited on his
knees the result. The shouts of the admiring populace, when the wonderful
fabric settled into its place across the turbulent waters, and his own almost
inarticulate thanksgiving in his secret chamber, aro.se together in the triumph
of that hour.

When poor Henry Bell, after years of thought, labour, and experiment,
first pushed his steam vessel on the Clyde, it was done amidst the scofls and
evil surmises of those who assembled to witness the scene. The inventor
died in poverty ; but an obelisk that rears itself on the banks of that fine
river, near Dunglass, attests the tardy, and to him almost useless, gratitude
of his countrymen. Fulton embarked on the Hudson with the same con-
temptuous greetings and prognostications, from the very people who
assembled in thousands to hail the arrival of the Groat VVestei-n and Sirius
steamers, across the vast Atlantic, to their omi .shores. He lived to see, and
in some degree to share, the complete success of his genius and mechanical
skill.* How deeply we are indebted to these children of science who carried
forward their discoveries, — in the benefits of which we so largely participate, —
almost broken-hearted, amidst the chilling indifference or the withering
contempt of a selfish world !

The work of which we have been treating has involved nearly, if not allo-
gefher, a capital fif six millions of money in its completion. This enormous
amount will require three hundred thousand pound per annum, merely to pay
its interest, at five per cent., besides a very considerable sum in addition, to
defray the wear and tear, and other expenses of its yearly operations ; and
yet with all this immense outlay, il is certain, from tlie host of travellers it
will allure into a state of locomotion from pleasure or profit, and the various
lines that will eventually flow into it, that it will be one of the most pro-
ductive railways in the kingdom. We cannot, indeed, clearly foresee the end
of such an invention, of which this is one of the greatest experiments, or the
condition of society it may ullimately produce ; but we arc warranted in
believing that this onward state of improvement, by facilitating and enlarging
the sphere of social communication, will tend greatly to increase the amount
of social happiness; and in its combining and assimilating influences over tho
great human family, will assist in bringing about the benevolent purposes of
Him, " who hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the
face of the earth."

EXCAVATIONS ON THE LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM RAIL-
WAY BETWEEN SHELDON BROOK AND YARDLEY.

A novel and ingenious method of excavating was first tried, f under the
skilful direction of the assistant engineer, Mr. R. B. Dockray, a gentleman
who now holds the appointment of resident engineer for one half the line,
having before superintended the division from Birmingham to Hampton,
which is executed in such a superior manner as fully to justify the high
opinion formed in every quarter of his eiigineering abilities. To estimate the

plan properly, it will be necessary to desciibe the old system of operations :

On commencing the work a deep trench or gullet was cut, ten or twelve feet
deep, and as many wide, at a suitable inclination for removing the excavated
materials. When this gullet was carried quite through the liill, the sides
were cut away to the edge of the slopes by " falling" — thai is, by undermining
at the bottom and driving wedges from the top and a few feet f^rom the face,

* The engine used by Fulton, in Ills first steam-boat on the Hudson river, was made
bv Messrs. lioultun and Watt, of .Soho.
'+ By Mr, Xhoiutun, wntractor f»t the work»

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

2-25

which brought down the partU in liifge masses ; it was tlii'U loiUiceil into
smaller pieces, and carried away in waggons. In this way the wliole of the
upper part of the excavation was removed, to the depth of the gullet, by which
time a similar gullet was brought up from the commencement of the work,
which lowered the excavation twelve feet more; and so on, until the whole
was removed ; and each of these steps is called a " lift."

The new process is the result of necessity, the parent of many useful in-
ventions. This excavation was the key to the whole contract, and had to be
pushed on with the utmost despatch j and as wages were high and the men
intractable, it occurred to the conti'aetor that a plough might be effectually
used. The material was a hard, dry marl ; and after a few trials, and by
increasing the strength and altering the form of the plough, the plan was
crowned with a success far beyond what was originally contemplated ; for in
was found that, in addition to dispensing with a number of men, employed it
undermining, wedging, and breaking up, it reduced the material to such small
pieces, that the labour of several men, who used to break it up at the foot of
the embankment, was saved ; and many excavations are now entirely worked
with the plough.

PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.

INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.
April 'is, 1839. President in the Chair.

The following were balloted for and elected : — T. J. Maude, W. Pearce,
S. B. Worthington, as Graduates; J. C. Prior, Lieut. R. C. Moody, R. E.,
as Associates.

On Steam Sailers and Steam Engines. By Josiah PabivEs, M.
Ikst. C. E.*

In a preceding communication-t- the author had treated of the amount of
evaporation in different kinds of boilers in common use; in the present, he
treats of their peculiar and relative merits as evaporative vessels ; tlie laws
which regulate the amount of evaporation for assigned heated surfaces ; and
the practical rules whereby the performance of boileis may be tested. The
water evaporated and fuel cousumeJ, had been tabuhiled in the previous
communication ; the author now gives the dimensions of the several boilers —
the area of the grates — the area of heat absorbing surfaces, and the rates of
combustion and evaporation. The connexion of the boiler with the
engine as regards the proportion of boiler to engine power, is reserved for
consideration in a subsequent communication ; the attention is now confined
to the influerice of the proportions of the parts on the performance c.f boilers
for a given weight of coal. Evaporation may be considered as the measure
of the useful effect obtained from any weight of fuel, or, together with the
duty done by an engine, the measure of the useful effect of a given weight of
water, in the shape of steam. The author insists on the importance of ascer-
taining with accuracy the weiglit of the water, which in the shape of steam
has passed through the cylinder of an engine. The weight of water, or
quantity of steam, requisite for producing a given effect or duty, was the subject
of continual research by Smeaton ; and the basis of Watt's discoveries.

The author being led to make observations on evaporation twenty years
ago, soon perceived that the completeness and rate of combustion, tlie pro-
portion of the grates to the combustion effected upon them and to the whole
heat-absorbing surface, were important elements in evaporative economy.
These elements, in ttie author's own experiments at Warwick, where slow
combustion was pushed to nearly its furthest limits — in those of Smeaton at
Long Benton — of Rcnnie and Watt at the Albion Mills — of M. de Pambour
on the Locomotive Engine, in which intensity of combustion and evaporative
power are at their highest limits — of Nicholas Wood on the Killingworth
Engine — and of Mr. Henwood, and others, on the Cornish boiler — are the
data for the analysis of tiie evaporative effects; the true causes of which in
the several experiments, the author now attempts to develop. J The
authentic facts here recorded of the working of boilers and engines of
established credit and notoriety, will enable the employer of any boiler or
engine to compare his practice with specimens of acknowledged and well-
attested merit.

The results derived from the above data are arranged in a tabular form, so
as to exhibit at once the relation which any one property and the several
parts of the boiler bear to any other, and to the effects produced, the amount
and activity of the combustion (to which the author assigns the term calori-
Jic forces), and the modifications it experiences by the structure and disposi-
tion of tlie several parts.

There are also certain quantities and relations which exert a peculiar
influence over the results, which, being rightly ascertained, are exponential
or indicative of the practice of each partioular boiler ; these Mr. Parkes
ci"' *'!= exponents of that boiler, and are as follow : —

The quantity of coal burnt under a boiler in a given time, — the quantity
burnt on each square foot of gnafe per hour, — the quantity of water evapo-
rated per square foot of heated surface, — and the number of pounds of water
evaporated by a given quantity of coal. Besides this, the influence of lime,
that is, the time of duration of any given portion of heat about a boiler, and
about equal areas of surface, demands our most attentive consideration, and

» This paper was commenced February 26th, and was continued during four meetings
before the Easter recess.
+ See Transactions, Vol. 9.
t The author has beeu unable to obtain any similar data for the Marine Boiler.

is specially treated of at the close of flic paper. It appears most distinctly,
that the boilers tested as to their merit by their respective evaporative
economy, arrange themselves in the inverse order of the rate of combustion
— the Cornish boiler being greatly superior to all the others when tested in
this manner, as well also as in respect if time is selected as the standard of
comparison, whereby to mark the scale of descent from the highest point of
excellence yet attained in evaporative economy. For this purpose, then, the
Cornish results are considered as unity.

The value of the exponents for the Cornish, Wagon and Locomotive
Boiler respectively, are collected together in the following table, will serve to
show at one glance the respective values of the boilers on this comparison : —

Boiler.

lbs.

of Coal burnt under one boiler in 44-08. seconds,
of ditto ditto ia 1657. ditto
of Coko ditto in 6-45. ditto.

Cornish

Wagon'

Locomotive ....

1-0
10
1-0

Cornisfi

Wagon

Locomotive

3-4.

10-7.
79-3.

of Coal burnt on each square foot of grate per hour.

ditto ditto
of Coka ditto

Cornish'

10.

of water evaporated by 1 square foot of Iteated surface
per hour from 213".

71.
120.

ditto ditto
ditto lUtlo

Locomotive

Cornish

11'8.
8-8.

5-L

of Water evaporated by 1 lb. of coal from 212''.
ditto ditto
ditto 1 lb. of Coke, ditto
ditto 1 lb. of Coal, ditto.

Locomotive ....
Locomotive ....

The Cornish boiler possesses some peculiar advantages, both as regards
structure and the practice of slow combination, shice, by the former, great
strength is attained, and, by the latter, time is given for the complete com-
bination of air with the heated fuel, for the transmission of heat through the
metal, and for the escape of the steam through the water. The plates of the
Cornish boiler are usually i an inch thick ; whereas those of a low pressure
boiler are usually l-4th to .5-16ths of ,an inch thick; thus a much larger
extent of surface is necessary to transmit a given quantity of heat in a given
time in the former than in the latter case. The Cornish engineers allow
seven times as much surface as in the general wagon boiler practice, for the
evaporation of equal weights of water in equal times, and twelve times as
much as in the locomotive; from wliich there is a gain of fiom 30 to 40 per
cent, in the former, and of 64 with coke and 100 with coal in the latter
case.

The Wagon boiler has great disadvantages of structure, being ill adapted to
resist interna! pressure, liable to collapse, and greatly affected by incrustation.
According to the above table, which exhibits the mean of eight experiments,
the combustion is 2h times more rapid per boiler, and 3 times more rap-d per
square foot of grate per hour, and the rate of evaporation is 7 times greater
than in the Cornish. The loss of heat, the Cornish being unity, is 24^ per
cent.

The construction of the locomotive boiler is so very different from that of
every other species of evaporative vessel, that no strict analogy can be
drawn betwixt it and any other. From the above practical results, it appears
that the rate of combustion per boiler is nearly 7 times, and per square foot of
grate per hour 23 times more rapid — that the rate of evaporation from equal
surfaces 12 times more rapid than the Cornish boiler — the loss of heat, the
Cornish being unity, 51 per cent.

The author discusses at length the varying circumstance! connected with
different boilers, and the corresponding influence on the above results, and
particularly the system of management by which he was enabled with a
Wagon boiler to approach the Cornish results. The table accompanying this
paper will frequently enable the intelligent employer of a bsiler to ascertain
the best proportion of parts, and the best practice. For, having decided on
the quantity of steam required, he knows the quantity of fuel which will
generate it if he adopts the measures of surface and proportions of parts,
which have given relative effects ; or he can ascertain whether his present
practice be good or defective. Notwithstanding the great stride which has
been made in the economy of fuel by the Cornish engineers, the sources of
waste are still great, and we may hope for great advances in evaporative
economy, when combustion as a science and practical art has received the
attention which it merits.

The effect of a different practice as regards rapidity of combustion and
arrangement of parts, entirely disturbs the relation betwixt boilers of equal
surfaces ; the table shows an almost perfect identity in the total, the radiant,
and the commimicative areas, between the mean of eight experiments on the
wagon and eleven on the locomotive boiler, and the locomotive boiler would
present between 3 and 4 times greater surface to absorb the heat generated
on the grate than the wagon, if the rate of combustion were the same
in both, but the rate of combustion is seven times more rapid in tlie
locomotive, and consequently the locomotive does not offer one-half

■ The results for the Wnfion Boiler are ths mean for eight bgilefp;

226

THE C:iVII> ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[JtjyK,'

the surface of the wagon boiler for the absorption of the heat pro-
duced from equal weights of fuel in the samo time. The result of this dis-
cordant practice is a loss by the locomotive of l-3rd of the heat which is
realized in tlie Wagon boiler ; that the rate of evaporation from equal surfaces
is augmented by the locomotive by G') per cent., so that the increase of evapo-
rative power is attended by a sacrifice of 3.3 per cent, of fuel.

The locomotive possesses peculiar advantages in the thinness of the metal
composing the tubes, and the subdivision of the heat, but these are more than
neutralized by the exceedingly short period of duration of the heat, from any
given quantity of fuel about the boiler. This most important subject of time
is discussed in a series of propositions based on the following principles : —
The structure of the boiler and its mode of setting occasion the heat to travel
greater or less distances, and over very unequal extents of surface in equal
times, and the value of time will be appreciated by referring it to the rate of
combustion, to the distance passed over by the products of combustion before
they quit the boiler, the time in which the heat traverses the boiler, and to the
period of the duration of the beat about equal areas of surface. These remark-
able elements give rise to eleven propositions, which are fully discussed and
illustrated by tabulated results. The peculiar action which takes place on the
metal of the boilers is indicated by the phrase intcnsili/ of the calonfic action,
since there are involved many actions which are entirely independent of the
temperature of the fire. The relations furnished by some of these proposi-
tions are facts as regards the relative action of the fires, and furnish appropriate
measures of the effects of different systems of practice on the durability of the
boiler.

The preceding abstract having been read, Mr. Parkes remarked there were
so many elements to be taken into consideration — the evaporation was affected
by so many circumstances — there were so many things left untold — that he
hoped some of the many who were capable of experiments would give their
assistance. Every day's work was an experiment which ought to be carefully
registered. He had great difficulties on many points, particularly with respect
to the locomotive boiler and the thinness of the heat-absorbing surface. It
had been stated on a preceding evening that Dr. Ure had proved, if two
vessels of equal size, the one of thin and the other thick metal, be placed in a sand
bath, there will be more water evaporated in a given time by the thicker than by
the thinner vessel. This was very extraordinary, since he thought that "25 per
cent, would be lost in the locomotive boiler if the tubes were of double the thick-
ness. The effect of thicknessof the material was evident in the experiments which
every boy has made with the paper boilers over a candle. The real cause of
the destruction of boilers is the application of heat to thick surfaces. Another
subject of peculiar importance is the temperature at which the heat leaves the
boiler and enters the chimney. lie had made experiments on this at War-
wick, and proved that he could not boil the water in a vessel at the top
of a chimney 60 feet high; the temperature never exceeded 180° Kahrt. It
was argued that more of this heat could not be used, but the Cornish en-
gineers had shown that to be an error, having surpassed his results.

Another subject is the constant loss of heat by radiation ; he had attempted
to ascertain this with Mr. Wicksteed ; the boilers at Old Ford were covered
with cinders, so that but little radiation would take pi ce but from the
front or bed ; still the quantity of heat which goes off is considerable, and one
great source of waste. They had observed with great care the quantity of coal
requisite to keep the boiler hot ; this would furnish some measure of the loss
due to radiation.

lilochs for Jialhcdija.
The attention of the meeting having been called to M. D'Harcourt's arti-
ficial granite for railways, blocks, and other purposes, Mr. Kastrick remarked
that he had about a month ago laid down blocks of the .Scotch Asphaltc, two
feet square, on a portion of the Southampton Radway. The sleeper was put
in while the block was formed. It was usual to bore holes and to fix the
chairs by bolts ; he had wished to ascertain how far the blocks would stand
the driving in of the bolts, without any boring ; they bore this without any
apparent injury, and he thought these blocks, weighing about 3J cwt. would
answer the purpose better than blocks of other materials.

ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECT.S.

licport of the Council, presented at the Ajmnnl General Meetinij, held the
Ml of May, 1839.

At the expiration of another year of active exertion, and they trust of use-
fulness, the Council appear before their professional brethren to render an
account of the manner in which they liave endeavoured to fulfil the many and
important duties which have devolved upon them ; and to take a review of
those occurrences connected with the Institute and the art, which have marked
the past twelve months. They have the satisfaction of stating, that tlie
Institute has proceeded quietly but firmly in their course, drawing the atten-
tion of the members to new sources of information ; arousing a spirit of
investigation ; extending the foreign correspondence ; and drawing more
closely the bonds of mutual intelligence and good-will with their foreign
brethren on the cor.tinent. Thus, it is to be hoped, entitling themselves to
fresh confidence in the public estimation.

Most satisfactory proofs have been received from distant parts of the useful
tenden&y of these exertions and of the propriety of these principles, which
have guided the members in their proceedings. The architects in Dublin are
now engaged in forming an Institute for the sister kingdom, and have applied
to the Council for their advice and co-opcralion. Upon the suggestion of
the Royal Institute of Fine Arts at Naples, the Neapolitan Government have
caused to be printed the rules and regulations of this Institute, as well as the

proceedings of the opening meeting in I83J, together with the series of
questions issued for the guidance of correspondents. These questions have
also been printed in the annals of the American Institute of New York, and
two editions have appeared in German, published at Hamburgh and in Vienna
— those connected with architecture in both hemispheres, will therefore be
pursuing their in()uiries upon the same uniform system of investigation. In
America an attempt was made to emulate the purposes of our society by hold-
ing annual meetings of the architects, alternately in the leading cities of the
United States. But the remote distances at which the architects live, and
their comparatively small number, scattered over that immense territory,
presented difficulties, which, in spite of their enthusi.ism for the cause, obliged
them after two meetings to defer carrying out theirjobject to a more favourable
period.

The Council have observed, with considerable interest, that a society has
been established at Oxford for promoting the study of Gothic architecture, so
as to provide for the euliivationof correct architectural taste, particularly among
the clergy, whose influence is naturally and justly so great in the selection of
designs for erecting new churches, or in the preservation of old ones. The
Council cannot but hope that the time is not far distant v\-hen general archi-
tecture may form one of the courses in the University education, and be con-
sidered as necessary an attainment and accomplishment to the gentleman and
scholar, as those branches of literature and abstract science which now occupy
the hours of the studious in tltese seats of classic learning.

Amidst the political diflieulties naturally incident to an infant state emerg-
ing from the slavery of centuries, and with discordant principles of different
habits and distinct interests, it is gratifying to remark that an Archeological
.Society has been established at Athens under the auspices of the Government.
Their purpose is to promote excavations, to preserve the ancient edifices from
further degradation, and to pursue those fresh enquiries, to which recent dis-
coveries of monuments, or renewed observations upon those alre.idy known,
may give rise. That society has forwarded to this Institute a series of their
Ephemeris, containing their investigations, copies of the inscriptions, and re-
presentations of sculptured fragments recently brought to light. It is satisfac-
tory to observe the accuracy with which these subjects are rendered, and the
sound spirit of criticism and investigation with which these erudite researches
are pursued. Through the medium of the secretary of the Institute a class of
subscribers to that society has been commenced in England ; and it is hoped
that all who feel an interest in Greek antiquities, will promote by their con-
tributions the investigation of subjccis, which Englishmen have already so
materially advanced by their learned researches, and rendered familiar by their
accurate and superb illustrations.

Shortly after the last annual meeting a proposition was made by the Archi-
tectural Society, to consider the expediency and practicability of a union of
the two societies. Committees were mutually appointed, who agreed unani-
mously upon a scheme for the incorporation of the two bodies. This was
approved at a general meeting of the Institute, but negatived by the other
society — a result much regretted by the Council, as they feel that the interests
of the art and of the profession would have been most effectually promoted by
amalgamating the whole body of the profession, and concentrating those
exertions for the benefit of architecture, which are less efficient when divided.
The Council instance with satisfaction a remarkable testimony borne to the
soundness of these views taken by the Institute, in the fact, that in consequence
of the rejection of the scheme by the Architectural Society, eighteen members
of that body withdrew, of whom thirteen have been elected members of the
Institute.

The foundation of a students' class formed part of this scheme, and although
the proposition for the union proved ineffectual, yet this portion seemed of so
valuable a nature, that the Institute resolved to carry it into operation, and
eight students have been already admitted.

Within the last twelve months several important competitions for edifices of
the highest consequence have been thrown open to the profession. The mode
generally adopted of conducting competitions, not seeming to produce the
results to be desired, either by the public or the profession, a committee of
members was appointed " to consider the practicability of adopting means to
secure more satisfactory decisions." These gentlemen, without entering upon
the subject of the policy of competitions in general, or the comparative advan-
tages of open or select competitions, or the question whether the standard of
the national architecture is likely to be raised or lowered by this mode of
procuring designs for public buildings, took a general view of the subject,
stating some of the objections to which the manner in which they are carried
into effect is liable, and suggesting some remedies. This report was printed,
and has been extensively circulated.

The three subjects still open to the enterprise of the architect arc, the
Nelson Monument, the St. George's Hall at Liverpool, and the Royal Ex-
change of London. In the first of these a preliminary decision has been
pronounced, and the council are gratified in recording, that the two prizes
awarded to architectural subjects have been gained by fellows of this Institute,
Mr. Railton, and Mr. Fowler, the honorary secretary. The two other
subjects are still open. It is necessary, upon occssions of such magnitude and
importance, that adequate time should be allowed to the competitors, to
deliberate upon subjects requiring so much experience and consideration, both
as to arrangement and decoration ; — occupied as the architect is in his pro-
fessional engagements, it is highly necessary that he should be allowed ample
time for digesting the conception of monuments, which are to endure for ages,
involving his reputation as an artist, and perhaps the character of the periods
in which they are erected in point of taste.

The prize drawings for the present year, namely, the restoration of the

1839.]

THE CtVlL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

227

Baronial Castle of Sheriff Mutton, in Yorkshire, affurds tlie opportunity of
again bearing testimony to the research and skill evidenced in tbe drawings
and description, to which the Soane Medallion has been awarded. The general
meeting felt that Mr. Samuel Sharp, the associate, the aiithorof this restoration
and of the one which was successful last year, had not only displayed great
merit in this production, but had also deserved well of the Institute for the
zeal with which he had again offered himself to the approbation of his pro-
fessional brethren. It was accordingly decided that his medallion .«hould
have a furtlier distinction of a gold rim. In order, however, to avoid discou-
raging in future the exertions of competitors, who might in such cases be
deterred from undertaking the labour and expense of such subjects, from the
fear of being deprived of their reward by the superior merits of a candidate,
whose already acknowledged talent might bar the hope of success, the Institute
have reserved the power of awarding the Soane Medallion to the second in
merit, and of adjudging to the first such other reward as they may think fit
and adequate.

The Council entertain the hope that the fellows may hereafter deem it
expedient to publish the best of the restorations, on which premiums have been
bestowed. They consider that such a work would reflect credit upon the
Institute, as containing a body of novel, useful, and interesting information.
It would also afford a stronger inducement for future competitors to make the
sacrifioe of their time and talents, in the hope of obtaining such a distinction.

ISIcdals of merit have been adjudged to two essays upon the subject of an
analytical investigation of Greek and Roman architecture, as indicating consi-
siderable research and care.

The services of able men of science have continued to be rendered available,
by means of lectures, for the purpose of developing the general principles of
the sciences connected with architecture, offering to the professor sources of
information and instruction, and means of practic.il application to the purposes
of construction. The adaptation of such sciences to the peculiar purposes of
architecture has not hitherto engaged the immediate attention of those occu-
pied in the investigation of these branches of knowledge. Although the
manner in which the subjects have been treated hitherto in this room, has been
necessarily elementary and general, yet the Council feci convinced that much
good has resulted, and that by a steady perseverance in the same course those
subjects will come to be studied by professors in each department with more
special reference of the sciences to construction. The present session will
be marked by courses on geology and acoustics, and probably during the
ne.\t, the attention of the members may be drawn to mechanics, optics, and
the principles of colour. Without a knowledge of the laws which control the
harmonious decoration of buildings by colour, the architect may destroy the
effect of the most graceful combinations of mass and form, and the grandest
arrangement of lines. Colour is capable of producing the most important
effects upon the mind. It gives character to the hall, the staircase, and the
chamber — effectually calls the imagination into play — requires no previous
study to render its effects to be deeply felt by the uneducated and the refined
mind. It acts upon the feelings by sensations, either sublime, cheerful, or
gloomy. It is a principle by which the artists of all nations and of all periods
have sought to appeal to feelings. Egypt, in all her sublimity ; Attica, in
all her purity aud grace ; Asia, in all her wild luxuriance ; Europe, in the
middle ages, and the architects of the "Revival," have derived powers of ex-
pression and emotion from this source, which was subsequently neglected,
but which it is the interest of the architect of the present day to revive and
render his own.

It is with great pleasure that the Council have observed, that at length the
constructions connected with the new Houses of Parliament are commenced.
This important work has given rise to an investigation of the utmost conse-
quence to the profession. Upon the suggestion of Mr. Barry, the architect
of the building, government has directed a commission to investigate the
qualities of stone in various parts of the kingdom; with the view to adopting
that which should best ensure perpetuity to this grand national fabric. This
commission, consisting of Messrs. Barry, Dclabeche, Dr. Smith, and Mr.
C. H. Smith, have visited 103 quarries, and examined 1 7a edifice", and col-
lected specimens from various parts, which have been submitted to tests both
mechanical and chemical by Professors Wheatstone and Daniel. The publi-
cation of the results of these valuable trials will be of incalculable importance
to the public and to the profession, as the subject, pursued in this complete
manner, will render the professor better acquainted with resources for
building stone, of which he may avail himself — improve property, by per-
haps bringing into use quarries hitherto neglected or unknown, — and may
possibly ensure to our public edifices a quality of material better adapted to
resist the changes of temperature of this variable climate, and to withstand the
peculiar atmospheric influences of this metropolis. Ic may lead perhaps to
the adoption of a stone more brilliant in hue than those at present in
general use, so as to shed somewhat of the glow of an Attic or a Roman
tint upon the architectural features of the public edifices of London. The
enquiry, thus pursued, fully confirms the important connection of chemistry
and geology with architecture, and proves the importance and advantage of
the course adopted by the council of callihg the attention of the members to
those subjects by lectures.

Since the last annual meeting six new fellows have been elected, one
Honorary Fellow, one Honorary Member, Mr. Wilkinson, distinguished by
his valuable researches in Egypt, seven Honorary and Corresponding Mem-
bers, 16 Associates — making SI new members, and forming with those pre-
viously elected an aggregate of 1 j'2 contributing and H'l Honorary members,
besides eight Students. The Institute and the art have lost a distinguislicd
member by the death of Monsieur Percier : a short memoir was read of th'S

esteemed artist at one of the ordinary mee;ings, collected from various brief
notices of him published at the time in France. It is to be expected that a
fuller account of his brilliant talenis, his valuable productions, his estimable
personal character, and of his inlluence upon the French school, of which
he was the leading master during a very long period, will be published and
do justice to the reputation which he so justly acquired throughout Europe.
The council are led to hope that Monsieur Vilain, his nephew and heir, will
accede to the request, which has been made to him for one of the drawings
of Monsieur Percicr. This application arose from the conviction of its being
extremely important that the Institute should, if possible, possess some
autograph specimen of the talents of every distinguished architect, as they
may hereafter enable those, wl o mny write on the history of the arts or the
biography of architects, to refer to authentic records. The Institute owe to
the libeiality of their Fellow, Mr. Mylnc, autographs of Piranesi, Robert
Mylne, Bononii, and I>ewis. It is hoped that this collection may receive
ample additions from those who may have similar documents in their pos-
session, which derive value fiom forming part of a series, although when
separate they are of comparatively little importance. To Mr. Myhie the
Institute is also indebted for a copy of the " Editio Princeps" of Vitruviu , a
rare and valuable volume, and of peculiar importance in the library of an
institution like this. The council, conceiving it desirable that the Institute
should possess a complete series of the editions of our Latin classic, have
purchased three other editions, and four more have been presented by other
Fellows. The donations of drawings have been more than usually numerous
and interesting, and consist principally of delineations of buildings in foreign
parts. Among these must be particularly noticed the valuable series illus-
trating Indian buddings, forwarded to the President by the Rajah of Tanjore,
which were prepared by order of his highness for the express purpose of
being sent to the Institute. The council have to record with deep regret
the loss which the Institute has experienced in the death of their liberal
benefactor, Sir John Drummond Stewart, who within a few days of his decease
had transmitted further additions to the collection of drawings which he had
already presented. The foreign members h^vc as usual been liberal in their
contributions to the library, and Messrs. Albcvtolli, Hittorft", Blouet, Vandoyer,
Roelandt, Laves, Suys, Serrure, and the Chevaliers Gasse and Bianchi have
added many valuable volumes and drawings to the collection. These foreign
architects who have visited this country have been cordially received by our
members. Two striking instances have occurred of the influence which
architecture has exercised upon the minds of gentlemen, distinguished by their
rank and fortune, and who are engaged in works the fruits of their travels
in foreign lands, and more especially connected with the art. Gaily Knight,
Esq., M.P., was already advantageously known for his previous investiga-
tions in the architecture of Normandy. His work, now in the course of pub-
hcalion, entitled " Norman and Saracenic Remains," four numbers of which
have already appeared, and have been presented by him to our library, is of
great value, beauty, and research. It is impossible to omit noticing the
exquisite illustrations of many striking edifices, hitherto unknown, contained
in Mr. Vivian's work entitled " Views in Spain and Portugal."

It will be perceived by the balance-sheet, that the considerable accession of
new members has of course produced a corresponding increase to the income
of the Institute — by the contributions of four honorary fellows 100 guineas
have been invested in the consolidated annuities — the travelling fund, originally
founded by J. Newman, Fellow, has received a considerable addition by the
donations of Messrs. Rhodes and Chawner. It is proposed that the dividends
and subscriptions for this fund should be allowed to accumulate, until the
amount of stock should be sufificienlly productive to enable the Institute to
assist effectually some meritorious student to pursue his studies on the classic
soils of ancient art. It is to be hoped that the liberality of members by-
special subscription may effectually promote this object.

The council would ill discharge their duty, if they retired from office
without claiming for their successors a generous confidence in their discretion
and judgment ; an unreserved reliance, which may encourage them in the
difficult path of duty. Taught by their own experience and judging from
their own impressions, they are convinced that without this confidence no
men of independence and feeling — none, who rank high in the profession, and
who have no ultimate motive but a disinterested desire for the prosperity of
the Institute, can be induced to undertake this responsible and arduous task.

They would also urgently call upon the members for their more active
co-operation in furtherance of the exertions of future councils. With the
council should rest merely the ministerial and executive functions of the
Institute. The fellows and associates must consider it a more positive duty
to furnish their officers with communications, which should give interest to
the ordinary meetings, and eventually constitute materials for the volumes of
transactions. It was said of a distinguished philanthropist, that be could
contract into the smallest dimensions or expand into the largest for benevolent
purposes. So let no member consider any exertion too insignificant, or any
effort too great, which may advance the interests of the Institute, the pro-
fession, and the art.

Gentlemen, — Have we not seen the g-rtttifying and encouraging anticipation
with which our first formation was hailed on all sides — the generous sympa-
thies which our first efforts excited — the liberality by which our narrowed
means were increased into ample funds? Have we not witnessed the patron-
age of the nobility— the support of the profession— and the cordial concur-
rence of our invaluable foreign brethren in artV Has not success attended
our first essay ,it publicition ? Have not competitors pressed forward for our
prizes ? Have we not by one sovereign been incorporated under a charter,
and has not our Queen graciously honoured us by her patronage ? When we

THE CIVIL ENGINEER vlND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

reflect on this career of success, and the activity, perseverance, and disinte-
rested efforts of successive councils, — when we see our President using every
exertion and losing no opportunity for promoting the efficiency and prosperity
of our society by his judicious counsels, by bis animating example and by his
munificent hospitality, — may we not with confidence call on our members to
press forward and carry out the purposes, for which we are associated, in a
manner commensurate with the expectations of the public, consistent with the
character of the profession, and corresponding with tlie rank which the
Institute holds among the scientific bodies of Europe?
COUNCIL, 1839-40.
President. — Earl De Grey.
Vice-Presidents.— ^Messrs. Basevi, Blorc, and Burton.
Hon. Secretaries. — Messrs. Fowler and Poynler.
Ordinary Mejibers. — Messrs. Bellamy, Cundy, Cuawner, Ferrey, Mocatta,
Salvin, and Sliaw.
Hon. Sec. of Foreign Correspondence. — Mr. T. L. Donaldson.

ROYAL SOCIETY.

April II. — The Marquis of Norfliainpton, President, in the chair.
The following paper was read : —

On a new Equi -atomic comjwund of Bicyanide with Btnoxide of Merciiri/,
l)y James V. W. Johnston, Esq. — lu this paper an account is given of
the pruperlies of a salt, obtained by agitating with red oxide of mercury
a small portion of hydrocyanic acid, and Tvliicli the author finds to be dis-
tinguished from the bycianide of mercury by its sparing solubility in cold
water, by the strong alkaline reaction exhibited by its solution (a property
wliich indicates an excess of mercui'y), and by its susceptibility of detona-
tion by heat, depending on tliis excess being in tlie state of an oxide, and
on the action of tlie oxygen on a portion of the carbon of the cyanogen it
contains, and the presence of which is showii by tlie disengagement of
hydrocyanic acid gas when acted on by liydrosulpliurie and hydrochloric
acids. The analysis of this salt, given by the author, shows it to consist of

Carbon " 0.203

Nitrogen 6.U'25

Oxygen 3.098

Mcrciuy 85.674

100.
The formula of wliich composition is as follows : —
Kg. Cy., + Hg. 0.,

April 18.— -J. W. Lubbock, Esq., V.P., in the chair.

J. T. Graves, Esq., of the Inner Temple, and the Rev. S. R. Waitlaiul,
were elected fellows.

The following paper was read : —

On the Constitution of the Resins ; Part I., by J. F. W. Johnston, Esq.
The object of the general investigation, of which the commencement is
given in this paper, is to determine the relative composition of the various
resins which occur- in nature, and to trace the analogies they exhibit in their
constitution ; and also to ascertain how far they may be regarded as being
derived from one common principle, and whether they admit of being all
represented by one or more general formula'. The chemical investigation
of the resin of mastic shows that this substance consists of two resins ; the
one soluble, and acid ; the other insoluble, and having no acid properties.
The formula expressing the analysis of each of these are given by the
author. He also shows that a series of analyses may be obtained which
do not indicate the ti-ue constitution of a resin. The soluble resin, wlicn
exposed to the prolonged action of a heat exceeding 300° Fahr., is partly
converted into a resin containing three, aiul partly into one containing live
equivalent parts of oxygen, the proportion of carbon remaining constant.
The same resin combines with bases, so as to form foiu' series of salts;
which in the case of oxide of lead, consist of equivalents of resin and of
oxide in the proportions, respectively, of two to one ; three to two ; one
to one ; and one to two. This soluble resin, in combining with bases, does
not part with any of its oxygen ; but if any change takes place in its con-
stitution, it consists in the hydrogen being replaced by an equivalent pro-
portion of a metal; and formula? are given representmg the salts of lead
on this theoretical view. By boiling the resin in contact with ammonia and
nitrate of silver, or perhaps with nitrate of ammonia, it is converted into a
resin which fonns a bisalt with oxide of silver, in which there is also an
apparent replacement of hydrogen by silver. The resin next examined is
that of dragon's blood ; and the conclusions deduced from its analysis are
the following : — first, that tlic lump dragon's blood is the natural and pure
icsin, while the strained and red varieties, being nianufaclured articles,
are more or less decomposed ; secondly, that this resin retains alcohol and
ether, as most other resins do, with considerable tenacity ; but that these
solvents may be entirely expelled by a long-continued exposiue to a
temperature not higher than '200o Fahr. ; and lastly, the formula; repre-
senting its chemical composition is given.

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

April 10— Rev. Dr. Buckland, President, in the chair.

A paper was read. On us much of the " Transition or Grauwacic Si/stcm' as
is e.iposed in the counties of Somerset, Devon, and Comical/," by the Rev. D.
Williams, F.G.S.
The author commenced by stating, that his views respecting the structure

[.lUNE,

of the country had been derived from independent observations; but that
while be claimed originality for bim:elf, he did not in the remotest sense im-
pugn the originality of the views of other geologists who have examined the
same districts. The sedimentary deposits older than the new red system,
and constituting the whole of Cornwall, and the greater part of Devon, and
the south-west of Somersetshire, are arranged by Mr. Williams, in the transi-
tion class, and under the following formation:., commencing with the youngest,
9, Floriferous slates and sandstone; 8, Coddon llill grits; 7. Tribolite
slates ; 6, WoUacombe sandstone : 5, Morte slates ; 4, Trentishoe slates ; .3,
Calcareous slates of Linton ; 2, Foreland and Dunkerry sandstone ; 1 . Can-
nington Park limestone. Of these formations, only 9, 8, and 7, were descri-
bed in the paper, the other six not occurring in Cornwall or in Devonshire,
except in the north-west corner of the county, and are reserved by the author
for future consideration. The floriferous slates and sandstone (b), arranged
in the true coal measures by Professor Sedgwick and Mr. Murchison,
en memoirs read before the British Association in 1836, and the Geological
moiety in 1837, Mr. Williams considers to be a grauwacke formation, because
he has traced passages into the subjacent deposit (8) ; and he employs the
term " floriferous," to avoid the ambiguity which he conceives would arise
from using the word carbonaceous; and be objects to the expression culmife-
rous, as anthracite constitutes but a very small part of the formation. The
deposit occupies a large portion of Devonshire, and detached minor districts
of Cornwall. The sandstones, he says, are quite distinct, but that the slates
are occasionally undistinguishable from those employed for roofing. The
ModdoH Hill grits (8) constitute, on the north, a narrow band from Freming-
tou, near Barnstable, to Holcoir.b Rogus ; and in the south a broader districts
flanking the floriferous sandstones, from Forrabury, by Launceston, to the
granite of Dartmoor. The deposit passes gradually upwards into No. 9, and
downwards into No. 7, the intermediate strata being termed by the author
neutral beds. The grits winch compose the greater part of the formation are
perfectly distinct from any other in the district, and afford most valuable
assistance in tracing the range of the deposit: they contain also the wavellite,
for which the north of Devonshire has been long distinguished. In the
middle of the series are lenticular masses of limestone, associated with beds of
black shale — the former containing Goniantites and Posidonia, and the latter
plants with flakes of anthracite. The trilobite slates (7) constitute, in the
north of Devon, a band ranging from Braunton on the west, nearly to Mil-
verton on the east, and on the south, extensive districts around the granite
of Dartmoor. He believes that the whole of the slate series of Cornwall
belongs to them. In the north and south, they gradually pass upwards into
the Coddon grits, and in the north downwards into the Wollacomb sandstones
(6), the expression neutral being a'so applied to these passage beds. In some
parts, the slates abound with trilobites; and the limestones of Plymouth,
Newton Bushell, and Torbay, which belong to the formation, in corals and
shells.

The remainder of the series, from 6 to 1, will be described in a future
memoir.

April '2i Rev. Dr. Buckland, President, in the chair Communications

were read : —

1. On llie Climate of the Newer Pliocene Period, by Mr. Smith, o*^
Jordan Hill.

An examination of the shells contained in the newest tertiary deposits on the
shores of the Clyde, has convinced Mr. Smith, that the climate of this part of
the globe, during their accumulation, was colder than it is at present. His
attention was first called to the subject, by observing that the shells found at
Uddevalla, and described by Mr. LycU in bis memoir on the change of level
in the Baltic, agreed with some of those most common in the raised shelly beds
of the Clyde; and his views respecting the northern aspect of the peculiar or
most abundant of the Scottish fossils have been conSrmed by Mr. Gray, Mr.
G. Sowerby, and M. Deshayes.

2. Remarks on some Fossil and recent Shells collected by Capt. Bayfield,
R.N., in Canada, by Mr. LvEI.L.

Several eminent conchologists having observed that in the English crag there
are certain shells which indicate a somewhat colder climate than that which
now prevails in our latitudes, and it having been supposed that a similar infer-
ence may be deduced, but with greater certainty, from shells found in the
Newer Pliocene strata of .Scotland and Ireland, Mr. Lyell has been induced
to examine, with great care, a collection of shells sent to him by Capt. Bay-
field, consisting partly of fossils procured from the most modern tertiary de-
posits bordering the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and partly of recent testacea
from the Gulf itself. The shells were found principally at Buauport, about
two miles below Quebec, in a deposit similar to that now forming in the bed of
the St. Lawrence ; and the uppermost stratum, nearly 100 feet above the level
of the river, is almost exclusively composed of bivalves. Similar shells occur
at a still higher elevation, in the valley of the St. Charles, three miles from
Beauport ; and at Port Neuf, forty miles above Quebec, at heights varying
from 60 to '200 feet. Numerous boulders of primary rocks are imbedded in
the strata at difl'erent levels, and appear as if they bad been dropped there
from drifted masses of ice, at widely distant intervals of lime. Though some
of the shells are broken, yet many are perfect ; and it is impossible to imagine
that the clay, sand, and gravel, composing the strata, could have been forced,
together with the boulders and testacea, into their present position by a vio-
lent current, as the fragile Terebralula psitl<uea is found with both valves
united, and its long, brittle, interior appendages entire. The shells bear
a strong resemblance to those found in the newest tertiary deposits at Udde-
valla, in Sweden; and some of the most abundant ftt each Iflcality are com-

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

229

mon to both. The Canada fossils, howevef, S9 far as tliej' have liithcrto been
examined, do not agree as a whole, with the testacea now inhabiting the Gulf
of St. Lawrence : many of the species ranging, in a living state, from the Gulf
to the border of the North I'olar Circle, or are now only known in high
northern latitudes, as in the seas of Greenland, Iceland, and Norway, or agree
with shells found in the newer Pliocene of Scotland and Sweden. On the
contrary, many of the shells most conspicuous in the Gulf of St. Lawrence,
have not been found in a fossil state. As the climate of Canada is now exces-
si?e, it is natural that many northern and arctic shells should exist in the Gulf
of .St. Lawrence, without any mixture of tropical forms; it is very probable,
also, that in the period immediately antecedent to the present, the climate of
Canada was even more excessive than it is now, and that the shells n'sembled
still more closely that small assemblage existing in high nortliern latitudes. It
is likewise evident, from the manner in which the large fragments of rock are
interspersed through the shelly stiata near Quebec, ihat while these deposits
were forming, blocks of ice were annually transported as at present. Among
the fossil shells near Quebec, not one has yet been foimd which can be affirmed
to be extinct. They relate, therefore, to an extremely modern [rcriod, and,
though the climate may then have been more excessive than at present, a more
equable one may have preceded, and the alterations may have been connected
with the geographical ch.tnges which upheaved the shelly deposits of Canada
200 feet above their former level.

3. -In Eximvt of a Letter from Herr F. A. Ro':mci- to Dr. Fitton, dated
Hildrsham, March 20.

The Wealden formation, including the Purbeck stone, is very extensively
developed in the North of Germany, and is overlaid by a great argillaceous
deposit, containing marine shells, similar both to the oolitic and the creta-
ceous systems. Of the fossils found in the Wealden of England, almost every
species occurs in Germany, including even the minute Ci/pris tHhcriuUitu,
C. granulosa, and C. Valdciisis. Last autumn, Hcrr Roemcr discovered the
Wealden, with its characteristic shells, near Botlingen, in the High Alps. He
possesses also the Li-pidotus Mujitelli, of the English Wealden, from Saxony.
The Portland sand occurs in the North of Germany, but the Portland stone
and the Kimmeridge clay are so intimately connected by their fossils, that the
intermediate sandy beds cannot be considered as a separate deposit. The
chalk with flints occurs possibly in the Hartz. The green-sand series is exten-
sively developed, the Flammenmergel of Hausmann being the upper green-sand
of England, and the quader-sandstoin the lower. Hcrr Roemer believes that
the gault also exists in Northern Germany.

4. Clasnijicativn of ttir Older Rochs of DcLonshire and Cornwall, by Prof.
Sedgwick and Mr. Mubciiison.

In a former communication to the Society the authors explained
their general views respecting the older rocks of Devonshire and
Cornwall, but having recently been induced, on zoological evidence, not
then obtained, to make a change in the lower part of their classification, they
give in this paper their reasons for doing so. With respect, however, to the
geological age of the culmiferous strata occupying the greater portion of
Devonshire, they adhere to their first opinion, and consider them the equiva-
lents of the true coal measures of other parts of England. In the grouping,
succession and lithological characters of the great series of beds underlying
the culmiferous strata, they likewise make no alteration, and used, in reading
the paper, the same section which they exhibited to the British Association,
at Bristol, in 1835, when they first explained the true position of the culm
deposit. On their first examination of Devonshire and Cornwall, they were
induced to consider the great slaty and sandstone districts forming Exmoor
and tiiG Quantocks on the north, and a large portion of southern Devon and
the whole of Cornwall, as the lower part of the .Silurian system and the upper
part of the Camljrian, having been misled by the slaty character of the rocks,
and its supposed proof of geological antiquity. A recent examination, how-
ever, of the fossils collected by the authors, or kindly sent to them for the pur-
pose by the Rev. R. Hcnnah and the Rev. D. Williams, has proved that the
strata immediately subjacent to the culm series (shown on a former occasion to
contain true coal-measure plants). enclose fossils resembling those in the lower
carboniferous strata of the north of England ; that the great mass of iiiterme-
diate beds aie characleriied by peculiar fossils ; and that the lowest strata
contain some which partake of the same type, and others which belong to the
upper Silurian formations- On these grounds, therefore, the authors have
been induced to remove the slates and older sandstones of Devon and Corn-
wall from the position they first assigned to them, and to place them on the
parallel of the old red sandstone, the intermediate series of strata between the
carboniferous and Silurian systems. Had, however, the whole of the evidence
derived from organic remains been before the authors in I8.'i(), the geological
age of the strata could not then have been determined, as the fossils of the
Silurian system, one of the terms of comparison, had not been fully ascer-
tained. In the gradual passage of the strata from one group to another, and
in the recurrence of the same groups north and south of the great culmiferous
or carboniferous series of central Devon, there is the most decided siratigra
phical evidence of the whole of the country; belonging to one geological epoch.
The marked difference between tlie slates of Devonshire and Cornwall, and
the sandstones of Herefordshire with the adjacent counties, hitherto considered
types of the old red system, the authors showed can he no valid objection to
the proposed dassilication, as lithological characters have been long proved to
be of little or no importance in connecting deposits, at even very limiled
distances. The absence of the true carboniferous limestone was also shown to
be no argument against the arrangement of the authors, as on the western ex-
trenrily of Pembrokeshir-c, that formation is entirely wanting, and the
culnr or coal-mcasuies rest immediately otr older rocks. Lastly, the
authors proposed, in consequence of the strata in Devonshire yielding the belt

zoological type, to substitute the term Devonian system for old red, and they
expi-essed a hope that the determination of these fossils would assist in filliirg
up the sequence of geological formations, and enable observers to discover, in
other parts of the world, a series of deposits hitherto supposed almost peculiar
to the British isles. The authors acknowledged the assistance they have
received from Mr. James De Carlo, Sowerby ; and that Mr. Lonsdale first
suggested that the limestones of .South Devon would prove to be of the age of
the old red sarrdstonc. The paper was illustrated by the large index map of
the Ordnance Survey, coloured by the authors, and it exhibited the r-angc of
the scver-al systems through North and South Wales, the border counties of
England — Devonshire and Cornwall.

5. A Notice OH tlic ijciicral relation o/ the variOKS Bands of Slate, Limt-
stone, and Sanihtone in South Vcpon, by Mr. li. A. C. Aisten.

Commencing with the oldest deposits east of the Teign. there appear — 1,
Slates ; -2, A barrd of black limestone containing corals and shells, and some-
times thin seams of anthracite — it ranges from Staple Hill through Bicking-
ton, Ashburton, Buckfastleigh, and Dean; 3, Fine-grained schistose shale
and slates; 4, The limestones of Plymouth, Dunwell, Shilstone, Ugborough,
North Huish, Little Hempston, txc, — they are associated with scistose r-ocks;
5, A great arenaceous deposit, often coarse and resembling old red sandstone :
Eome'.irncs conglomeritic, when it resembles the new red ; it ranges from
Plymouth Sound and Uigbury Bay, across the central part of South Devon,
by Modhury and Blaekdown, cutting the Dart below Totness, and ranging
thence through Marldon, Cockington, and Bartorr ; in some places it contains
thin bands of limestone ; 6, The limestones of Torbay. Mr. Austen says the
carbonaceous rocks of central Devon form no part of this series, but rest upon
it unconformably.

Lastly. A Notice, by Mr. Miller, of Cromarty, On the exact p'lsiliun in
the old red sa/idstone, of the bed containing fosad Jishes and exposed in the cliffs
of the Moray Fritli. It is overlaid by a yellow sandstoirc and rests upon a
deposit of a red sandstone, chocolate coloured conglomerate, and impure linre-
stonc. The base of the whole is stated to be granatic gneiss.

May 8. — Tlie Rev. Dr. Buckhmd, I'rcsident, in the chair. Three com-
nnuiications were read :—

1. On Casts or Impressions of Vermiform Bodies on thin Flaystones,
helunc/iiK/ to tiic Carboniferous series near Ilallwliistle, in Nurthumberhind, by
Mr. G. C. Ati^inson. ' The bed of sandstone is about eighteen feel thick,
aird the .surface of the layers of wliich it is composed, present, in almost
every instance, tortuous iirrpre.ssion.s, or casts marked by a longitudinal
furrow, and occasional transverse closely set lines.

2. On the London and Flaslie Clays of the Isle of Wight, by Mr.
Bo^vERB.v^'K. The object of this comniunication was, to show that there
is no zoological distinction between the two clays, the author haviirg found
that many of the same species of testacea range through the wliolc series of
beds in White Clifl' and Alum Bays.

3. On the rclatire Ayes of l/ic Tertiary Deposits commonly called Crag, in
Norfolk and SnJj'oll<,by Mr. Lvicll. Three poiirts of great importance
relative to the Crag of Norfolk and Suflblk arc discussed in this luemoir.
1st. The direct superposition of the red to the coralline crag, as pointed out
by Mr. Charlesworth in 18.3.5. '2ndl3'. Whether mammalia are really im-
bedded in midisturbed marine strata of the crag of Norfolk. 3dly.
Whether the proportion of recerrt shells, as compared to the extinct, is
decidedly larger in the crag of Norfolk, so as to indicate a posteriority iu
age relatively to the Suffolk crag. With regard to the first poiirt, Mr.
LycU states, that the red crag is clearly superimposed on the coralline at
Kamsholt, Tattingstone, and Sudburn, resting at the two former localities
on denuded beds of the lower deposit. He ascertained, also, by the assist-
ance of Mr. W. Colchester, that at Sutton, near Woodbridgc. the red crag
abuts against a vertical face or clifl' of the coralline, and likewise overlies
it. In this instance, the sand which composes the older bed, or coralline
crag, had evidently acquired a certain consistency at the bottom of the
sea before the rr'd crag was deposited, for it has been perforated by nume-
rous pholadcs, the tortuous holes of which descend six or eight feet below
the top of the bed, and still contain the shells of the pholas, while the
remamder of the cylindrical hollows has been filled with the sand of the
superiircumbent stratum. With regard to the second point, the occurrence
of mammalia in undistuvlicd beds of marine crag in Norfolk, Mr. Lyell
slates, that he had ascertained, by air examination of tins crag near South-
wold and Norwich, that it is not purely marine, but contains everywhere
an intermixture of land, freshwater, and seashells, with bones of mammalia
and fishes. In this deposit near Southwold, Captain Alexander, who
accompanied the author, found, some time since, the tooth of a horse,
within a large specimen of Ft(sus striatus, and he uiforined Mr. LycU that
bones of miunmalia are frequently associated in the same beds with those
of fishes, marine shells, and Crustacea. In the neighbourhood of Norwich,
this deposit forms )iatches of variable thickness, resting on chalk and
rovcredby gravel. It is well exposed at Bramcrton, WhilUughain, Thorpe,
and Postwick, and presents beds of sand, loam, and gravel, containirrg a
mixture of marine, terrestrial, and fluviatilc testacea, ichthyolitcs, and
bones of rnainmalia. The chalk on which it rests was shown, by the late
ISlr. Woodward, {» have been drilled by marhic animals; and (he Kcv. Mr.
Clowes, I'f Yarnrouth, prcscirlcd .Mr. Lyell with a specimen of chalk con-
fainiiip a I'liolas erispatus in n pcrforatiini several inches deep. TJial this
pcirtioir of the crag was slowly accumulated, is evident from Captain
Alexander liaviirg fouird, at Branicrloir, the tusk of an elephant, with marry
supcrUe ou its siui'iice; and, from this fact, JMr. Lyell infers that tire bones

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[June,

of quadnipcds \vfro really washed down into the sea ov estuary of (lie
Norfolk crag', and -were not subsequently introduced into the deposit by
dihnial action. The fresh-water shells are rare in the neighbourhood of
Norwicli in comparison with the marine, and the terrestrial species are
still more scarce. Mr. J. B. Wigham, however, has ascertained that the
freshwater testacea predominate in a bed at Thoiiic. The same gentleman
found at I'ostwick, in a stratum containing marine shells and fishes, a por-
tion of the left side of an upper jaw of a Mastodon, containing the second
true molar, and the indications in the socket of the tirst. This specimen
Mr. Owen lias been enabled to refer to the Mastoduii Imigiroslris, discovered
at Eppclsheim. In the same bed were found the teeth and jaw of a mouse,
larger than the common licld species ; also bones of birds, and of several
species of fishes. The horns of stags, bones and teeth of the horse, pig,
elephant, and other quadnipeds, have been likewise detected at Postwick,
Thorpe, Brainerton, &c. ; and this association of the Mastodon and horse
near Norwich, as well as in many other places in Europe and in America,
Blr. Owen considers to be a subject of interest. Tlie tliird point, respect-
ing the relative antiquity of the Norfolk and Snftblk crag, was discussed at
considerable length, and the author acknowledged the great assistance
afforded him by Mr. Wigham, who has nearly doubled the number of species
obtained from the former deposit near Norwich ; also the aid which he has
received from Mr. Searles Wood, who submitted to Mr. LycU's examina-
tion the whole of his magnificent collection of crag shells ; and from Mr.
George Sowcrby, to whose extensive knowledge of recent testacea the
author stated that he is indebted for a rigid determination of the existing
shells found in the crag. The number of well-defined species in the Nor-
folk crag is 112, out of which eighteen are land and fresh-water; compared
with the Suflblk crag this number is small, but Mr. Lyell showed from the
Fauna of the Baltic, that species are much less numerous in brackish than
salt water, the latitude, climate, and other conditions bemg the same ; he
also showed that, in analogous deposits in the valley of the lUiine, the
amount of species is small. Of the ninety-four marine shells, seventy occur
in the red crag, and therefore it might be inferred, that the two deposits
arc nearly of the same age ; but in the Norfolk beds the recent species,
both of fresh water and marine testacea, amount to between fifty and sixty
per cent., and are nearly all Biitish shells; whereas in the red crag, there
arc only thirty per cent., and in the coralline but twenty. This compara-
tively recent origin of the Norfolk deposit, had been previously inferred by
Mr. Charlesworth, from the general character of the fossils. In the exami-
nation of the coUectious which led to the above results, the greatest care
was taken to reject those shells which might have been washed out of the
red crag into the Norfolk beds, or those species which apparently did not
live in the waters, which deposited this division of the crag. From the
numerical proportion of recent testacea, Mr. LycU infers, that the coralline
and red crag belong to his Miocene division of the tertiaiy series, and the
Norfolk strata to his older Pliocene ; he also show-ed, that the lacustrine
beds at Grays, in Essex, and many other places, constitute another link in
the geological sequence of formations, as they contain ninety per cent, of
recent testacea, and must consequently be referred to the newer Pliocene
epoch. Lastly, a comparison of the crag with the tertiary strata of the
faluns of Touraine, has convinced Mr. Lyell that M. Desnoyers was right
in considering the Suftblk and Touraine dejjosits to be of the same age,
although he formerly dissented from that conclusion.

AMERICAN INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.

We feel great pleasure in giving the following address to our Transatlan-
tic brethren, agreed to at pieliminary meetings at Augusta in Georgia, at
Boston, and at Philadelphia.

Public works are now so extended in our country, and the mass of experi-
mental knowledge to be gained from those in use is so great and so peculiarly
applicable to our circumstances, that it is even more valuable to the American
engineer than what he can learn in Europe, where larger means liave per-
mitted greaier expenditures. In this country it is of paramount importance
to obiain tlie greatest amount of useful effect at the smallest cost ; and of
attempts to attain this end, the Union now contains a multitude of instructive
e.iamples. Some have been eminently successful, and others less so ; but of
either kind, the student, or the more advanced engineer, too often seeks in
vain for any satisfactory written or printed description, and is unable to
obtain any thing more than vague, doubtful, and incorrect information. This
evil can only be removed by the exertions of the engineers themselves.

They are now established as a distinct class, and have long felt the want of
such an association as that proposed, but it has hitherto been supposed that
the proper time for its organization bad not yet arrived.

^ The success that has attended the labours of the London Institution of Civil
Engineers, its high standing and great usefulness, prove that such societies
may be of great public utility, when properly conducted, and are incentives
to induce us to imitate so excellent an e.\ample. It is admitted, however, that
a society in this coimtry must differ somewhat in its plan of operations from
the British Institution, which can readily give utterance to its opinions
elicited after frequent and full discussion, since a large portion of its members
during the winter have their residences within the limits of London. Here,
however, owing to the vast extent of territory over which are scattered the
members of our profession, the usefulness of the society must (for the present
at least) depend more upon the facts and experience of its members, made
known in written communications, than upon their opinions orally expressed
in public discussions.

The very fact that our improvements are so widely spread, that few, if any
members are able to give even the most important of them a personal exami-
nation, affords, perhaps, the strongest argument in favour of a society that
shall, by a concert of action, bring the experience of the whole country within
the reach of each member.

The difficulty of meeting at any one point, caused by the time and expense
required in travelling from distant portions of so extensive a country as the
United States, is a serious obstacle, but it has been much diminhshed by the
facilities affoided by the railroads already in use, which are among the valuable
results of the labours of our civil engineers. Tliough our society may be less
favourably situated than the one in London for frequent and public discussion,
we nevertheless anticipate many important advantages to be derived from a
personal intercourse and interchange of information among its members, and
from the establishment of a permanent repository of the results of experience,
obtained from the most authentic sources. The standing of the profession in
our country is, fortunately, such, that its importance need not be dilated upon ;
it is, therefore, the more necessary that every thing in the power of the mem-
bers should be done to add to its respectability and increase its usefulness. We
look forvvard to the formation of the society as a valuable means of advancing
these desirable ends.

We trust, also, that each may appreciate the importance of attending at
the time and place appointed for forming the society, and will be willing to
make some sacrifice for efl'ecting that object; or if prevented from attend-
ing by uncontrollable circumstances, that lie will express his views in writ-
ing upon the subject of a suitable constitution.

MEETINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.

Institution of Civil Engineers, 25, Great George-street, Westminster, every
Tuesday at 8, P. M.

Royal Institute of British Architects, 16, Grosvenor- street, Monday at 8,
P. M. June 10 and 24.

Architectural Society, Lincoln's Inn Fields Converzationt on Tuesday,

June -1, at 8, P. M.

AMERICAN PATENTS ISSUED IN APRIL, 1838.

WITH IlEMAKKS AND tXEMPLIFIC.lTIONS BY THE EDITOn Or THE JOURNAL
OF THE EB.VNKLIN INSTITUTE.

For a spring Lock for Coach and Railroad Car Doors ; Peter Alverson,
New Haven, Comiccticut, .\pril 2-

We are told by the patentee, tliat " the object of his invention is a spring
lock easily managed, and of sulKcient strength to secure the door firmly,
and yet hi size and form so compact as not to injure the pillar of the door,
nor interfere v\'ith the run of the lights, and which may be opened and
shut from within as well as from without." The lock is then described,
but its construction, although not specially recondite, caimot be made
clearly knovvm without the drawings.

For a Rotary Steam Engine ; Oliver Wright and A. A. Wilder, Warsaw,
Genesee comity. New York, April 2.

This engine consists of a thin, revolving wheel, or drum, to the periphery
of which steam is conducted through hollow arms within the drum, extend-
ing from its centre to its periphery, where it issues tangentially ; the im-
provement claimed is to " the application of springs and set screws to the
apertures of rotary steam engines; and also the placing a door to the case,
so that the apertures may be closed or opened without taking the case
apart."

It is not to minor an'angements of this character that the rotary engine
will owe its utility, should such a debt e^r be contracted by it : they may
servo to render one rotary engine better than another ; but to enable it to
compete with the reciprocating engine requires a radical change, a mode of
construction which shall be absolutely new ; possibly this maybe eventu-
ally discovered.

For an improvement in Wardrobe Bedsteads ; Z. C. Favor, Boston, Mas-
sachusetts, April 2.

For an improvement in the Manufacture of Gunpowwdcr ; Richard J. L.
Witty, Lowell, Massachusetts, April 2.

For an improved mode of forming raised Surfaces for Printing on Paper,
Calico, &c. ; Godfrey Woone, city of London, April 2.

For an improved Machine for breaking Hemp and Flax ; Ahin Kyes,
Crittenden, Grant county, Kentucky, April 2.

An endless chain of slats, or bars, is made to revolve round two rollers,
the bars, or slats, forming the bed of the break. Above tliis is a platform
extending the length and breadth of the break, and having on its rmder
sides projecting slats which are to pass in between those of the revolving
apron, but so far apart as to span over two of them. This platform is
raisi'd \crtically by cams, .and falls upon the hemp, which is placed upon
the bed above described ; the claim is to '• the so placing of the slats upon
the breaker, at such distance apart as that they shall span over two bars of
endless chain, v\liilst the feeding is to the distance of one bar only ; the
slats thus striking allcniatcly. between cacli bar, as tlie endless chain is
nuulc to advance."

1839.]

THE CIVIL ElVGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOUIINAL.

231

It does not apiicar to lis likely that this simple device will obviate the
difficulties which have been encountered, to a preater or less degree, in all
the numerous machines for breaking hemp, &c., tliat have been con-
trived and patented ; not one of whicli lias fully answered the purpose
designed.

For an improvement in the Plaiting Machine for covering Whips; Sey-
mour Halliday, Westlield, Hampden county, Massachusetts, April 4.

Koran improved Draft Box for Steam Engines; Andrew M. Eastwick,
city of Philadelphia, April 5.

For a mode of forming a Spiral Flue for Steam Boilers ; Benjamin J.
Miller, city of New York, April 5.

This tlue is intended for cylindrical, low pressure boilers, and consists of
a flat tube running spirally round from end to end of the boiler, between the
exterior case and an interior cylinder. The claim is to " the application of
one or more spiral flues to steam boilers, as described."

For an improved Construction of Canal Boats, for conveying the Horses by
which they are towed; John H. Long, Lewistown, Miflin county, Pennsyl-
vania, April 5.

" The nature of this invention consists in partitioning off a space about the
middle of the boat, on either side, and thus forming a siall, or crib, of suitable
length and brealtb to receive the horses; and extending from the deck of the
cabin to the bottom of the boat, in which is suspended, from the upper deck,
a platform by blocks and tackles, for sustaining the horses, and for lowering
them to the bottom of the boat when taken on board, and raised to the gunwale
when they are to be removed."

" What I claim as my invention consists in the before-described construc-
tion of the stall, in combination with the suspended platform, in canal boats,
for conveying the horses by which they are towed, so as to have one or more
of them at rest whilst the others are towing.''

For an improvement in Repeating, or Many-chambered, Fire-arms; Henry
and Charles Daniels, Chester, Middlesex county, Connecticut, April 5.

For an improvement in the mode of Printing certain Colours upon Calico
or other Fabrics; Bennet Woodcroft, Great Britain, April 5.

After describing the mode of procedure adopted by the patentee, he says:
" Now whereas I do not claim, as my invention, either the printing machine,
or the particular construction or material of the dress to be used by the said
operatives. But whereas I do claim as my invention the enclosing calico or
other fabric intended to be printed, along with the printing apparatus, what-
ever it may be, and the material to be printed upon them, in a cham-
ber, case, or compartment, filled with an artificial atmosphere, de-
prived of, or devoid of free oxygen, such as atmospheric air deprived of its
oxygen, as hereinbefore desciibed, or any other suitable artificial atmo-
sphere, and there printing the said calico or other fabrics, with a solution of
deoxydized indigo when required to produce a blue colour, or with a solution
of deo.xydized indigo and other suitable materials as are usually used in com-
bination with indigo, when required to produce other colours, and subsequently
exposing the said calico and other fabrics, so printed as aforesaid, to the action
of the atmospheric air, in order to imbibe the necessary quantity of oxygen
therefrom to produce and fix the colours required.'*

An air-tight room is to be made of sheet-iron, and this is to be furnished
with an atmosphere of nitrogen ; this is accomplished by means of a large air-
pump, which pumps the water out of the room, passes it through tubes into
purifiers filled with a solution of sulpburet of lime, which deprives it of its
oxygen, when it passes again into the room through tubes leading from the
purifiers; and this operation is continued until no sensible quantity of oxygen
remains in it. The entrance into the room is through a tank filled with water,
which forms a water lute, by a partition dipping a little way below the surface
of the fluid. This serves also to allow fresh air to be forced in by atmospheric
pressure, as the volume is decreased by the absorption of the oxygen. The
workmen have dresses of India rubber cloth, similar to diving dresses, and
air is supplied to them by bellows and tubes, as in diving apparatus.

For an improvement in the Safety Life Preserver; John J. White, city of
Philadelphia, state of Pennsylvania, April 7.

This life-preserver is to pass round the body in the ordinary manner, but
instead of being one continued inflated bag, it is formed into a number of
separate bags, connected, by mouth-pieces and valves, with one common
tube, by which they are all to be inflated. One of these bags is made so as
to constitute a bellows, by means of which the whole may be filled. The
claims are to " the above method of forming isolated air chambers, rendered
independent of each other by the interposition of valves, so that the loss of
air in one will not aft'ect the others, and yet capable of inflation from the same
source. Also the mode of inflation by the bellows, as a constituent part of
the machine, whether applied to life-preservers or other manufactured articles
requiring inflation."

For an improvement in the Scythe Snath ; Samuel Puffer, Sunderland,
Frankhn county, Massachusetts, April 7.

The claims are to " a revolving bush, or circular plate, for changing the
angle of the scythe, for cutting various kinds of grass, or grain, on various
kinds of ground; also the detaching one end of the book of the nib from the
other, to cause it to embrace the snath more firmly," &c.

For a Machine for Shearing Cloth ; Reuben Daniels, Woodstock, Windsor
county, Vermont, April 7.

For an Improvement in Carriage Springs ; William Sharp, Buidett, Tomp-
kins county, New York, April 7.

For an Improvement in Coach Lamps ; William Lawrence, Wallingford,
New Haven county, Connecticut, April 7.

For a Mortising Machine ; Francis and Thomas Burdick, city of Brooklyn,
New York, April 7.

The general plan of this mortising machine is that of the larger number of
similar instruments ; the particular difference is in the manner of working
the slides up and down, which carry the chisels. There are two slides,
each of which carries a chisel, and these slides are carried up and down
alternately by means of a pinion placed between racks on the inner edges of
these slides, which are guided between vertical cheeks. A pendulous lever,
or handle, hangs from the shaft of the pinion, and by swinging this back-
ward and forward, the motion of the slides and chisels is obtained. A feed
hand is also made to operate in notches on the sliding bed piece which
supports the timber to be mortised. The claim is to " the double rack or
slides, to which the chisels are attached, worked by one pinion in the maimer
described." Tlie granting of the patent is prima/'acic evidence that there is
novelty in the thing claimed ; we do not perceive, however, in what consists
the superiority of this new arrangement of parts, over those of some former
mortising machines.

For a Mortising Machine ; Ira M'Lauglilin, Sunderland, Bennington county,
Vermont, April 7.

The claim under this patent is to "the method of securing the chisel, by
which means it can be readily reversed ; and the method of moving the chisel
backward and forward." The remark on the foregoing patent may, we think,
apply generally to this.

For a Machine for Paring, Coring, and Dividing Apples; Robert W.
Mitchell, Martin's Mill, Richland county, Ohio, April 1 3.

This, we believe, is the fourth patent obtained for the same purpose ; in
that before us the apple is to bo placed on » fork at the end of a shaft, or
mandrel, turned by a crank, whilst the paring knife, furnished with a guard, is
held in the right hand, and passed from end to end over the apple : this is
then pushed towards the shaft, which is furnished with knives that cut it into
quarters ; a centre tubular knife removing the core.

For an improvement in Canal Lock-gates ; Franklin Livingston, Waterford,
Saratoga county. New Y'ork, April 13.

The improvements claimed consist in a particular mode of constructing, or
forming, the bearings of the gudgeons of valve, or wicket gates; and the
application of a screw, working horizontally, for opening and shutting such
gates ; the arrangements of which require, for their illustration, an examination
of the drawings.

For an Apparatus for Extinguishing Sparks in Locomotive Engines; Wm.
T. James, city of New York, April 13.

There are several things in the construction of this apparatus analogous to
some others intended for the same purpose. The smoke pipe is surrounded
by a second pipe sloping outwards from it, and having a wide, or trumpet
mouth, extending somewhat above that of the smoke pipe ; the smoke and
sparks from this latter are to escape through lateral, curvilinear openings, by
which it is intended to give to the sparks a rotatory motion between the two
pipes, and allow them to fall, by their gravity, into the receptacle formed by
the junction of the said pipes. There is a cover to the smoke pipe in the form
of an inverted cone, which is designed to co-operate with the other parts of the
apparatus in producing the desired effect ; likewise a flanch within the upper
edge of the outer tube sloping downwards with the same view.

The claim is to "the combination of the outer tube, the flanch, the conical
cover, the openings and spiral flues, in their combination with a smoke pipe, or
chimney.''

We have not heard the result of the experiments with this apparatus, but are
convinced that if it is so constructed as to arrest the sparks, it will, like its
predecessors, impede the draught.

For a M.iehine for Plating Dough, and Cutting Crackers, Cakes, &c.; John
M. Neagle, New Haven, Connecticut, April 13.

For an Apparatus for obtaining a high degree of Velocity on Rail-roads ;
Jacob NoUner, city of Washington, April 13.

This is one of those strange conceits which sometimes insinuate themselves
into the minds of intelligent men, although it would be difficult for a looker-on
to find the avenue by which it could obtain an entrance ; indeed, it might well
be supposed that every avenue leading into such minds would be so well
guarded by the watchful sentinel, good common sense, as efi"eclually to repel
such interlopers. The plan proposed is neither practical or practicable, nor
did the inventor himself really think it so, hut determined to place it upon
record, under an impression that it might suggest, or had to, something useful ;
" so mote it be."'

Let a rail-road be made perfectly level and straight, and solid as the ever-
lasting bills ; let a car twenty miles long be placed on this, and be drawn by
any adequate power ; let another car, say of ten miles in lenj-th, be placed on
this first car, at its rear end, and let this also have an adequate independent
motive power applied to it. Now let the two cars set off together at the rate
of twenty miles an hour; the upper car will, in this case, travel over the
ground at the rate of forty miles an hour, twenty being due to the motion of
the lower car, and twenty to its own motion. In the model at the patent office
there are f mr or five such cars, or move.ihle rail-roads, stratum superstructum.
The following is the claim : —

" What 1 claim is the placing of two or more moveable railways, platforms,
or articles capable of progressive motion, one above the other, so that each may
bo drawn along by an independent power applied to it, and, like itself, sustdined

232

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[June,

upon Ihe rail-road, |iIatform, mounted rail-way, or other article upon wliicli it
is to move ; and tliis 1 claim, whatever fonn or arrangement the same may be
made to assume, whilst the principle of action is the same with that herein
cxemplilicd. "

For an Improved Fire Engine Pump ; Joseph Newman, city of Baltimore,
April J 4.

This is a device for converting the common street pump into a lire-engine,
by adding a forcing apparatus at its top, furnished with an air vessel, and other
appendages. When thus used, the ordin»ry spout is to be stopped, and a hose
or branch applied to the forcing ajiparalus. The claim is to '• the combina-
tion of the common pump prepared as described, with the cylinder, piston,
valves, or air. chamber of the ordinary hydraulic or fire-engine, which combi-
nation produces a two-fold instrument, viz., a self-supplying fire-engine, and a
culinary, or common pump."

There is no novelty in the foregoing idea. The late Mr. Dearborn, of
Boston, proposed a similar thing more than forty years ago, of which engravings
are to be found in our own and in foreign journals. The thing, however,
cannot possibly answer a good purpose when appended to the ordinary pump,
as the power requisite to raise the water from a well, and to force it to the
rctjuired height, cannot be applied to such a pump, and if it could, but few
such pumps would bear it. Whatever of ingenuity there mny be in such a
combination, will not be accompanied by a corresponding degree of utility.

For a machine for Mowing, and Cutting, Grass and Grain; David Lewis
Bern, Albany county. New York, April 14.

For a machine for Making Bricks ; Samuel B. Brustar, Kensington, Phila-
delphia county, Pennsylvania, April 14.

In this machine, as in many others, the clay is to bo tempered in a circular
trough, by means of revolving wheels which roll over it. Outside of the
tempering trough there is a moulding trough, within which the moulds are to
be laid ; and the clay transferred to this trough is to be pressed into the
moulds by rollers passing over them. The whole machine is a structure of
considerable complexity, not well described or represented in the first instance,
and not capable of being clearly presented in words. The claims are to a
number of particular things referred to in the specification, and, if given,
would not convey any definite idea. The machine may be a good one ; but
as presented, it iloes not, to us, wear a promising aspect.

For a machine for Moulding and Pressing Bricks ; Stephen Waterman
and Charles Learned, Charleston, South Carolina, April 14.

In this machine the clay is mixed in a vessel or chamber in the centre of
the machine, in which a shaft revolves that is furnished with knives, iii a man-
ner well known for preparing clay at potteries, and in brick making ; by them
it is forced into moulding boxes at the sides of the machine, under which the
moulds are to be placed on a suitable platform. The claim refers principally
to the manner of forcing down the vertical pistons within the moulding boxes ;
this is done by pieces in the form of inclined planes, and carried round by
the sweep attached to the centre shaft ; which inclined planes pass ai^ainst
friction rollers at the upper ends of the shafts of the pistons, and force'them
down ; after whicli they act upon vertical shafts connected with levers that
raise the pistons, allowing the filled moulds to be removed, and empty ones
substituted for them.

Claiji — "We claim the application of inclined planes to the forcing down
the pistons for pressing brick, in the manner described. We do not claim the
mixing, or press boxes, or the oblique knives ; these and other parts having
been previously known and used ; all that we claim as our invention being the
inclined planes for forcing down the pistons and slides ; the particular combi-
nation of the two vertical slides, with their connecting parts for lifting the
pistons andcauiing the moulds to traverse on the ways."

For an improved Water Wheel ; John R. Wheeler, Seneca Falls, Seneca
county. New York, April 14.

The water is to be made to strike upon the buckets of this wheel by passing
through issues in a circular rim surrounding the wheel. Particular directions
are given respecting the curved form of the bucket.s, but there is not anything
in this wheel to distinguish it from otiiers that have been previously used, ex-
cepting these peculiarities of form which do not seem calculated to alter the
action in any appreciable degree.

For an improvement in the Steam Engine ; William L. Lightall, city of
Albany, New York, April 14.

The object in view in this engine is so to arrange the levers and other work-
ing parts, as that the cylinders may be placed horizontally at the bottom of
the vessel. This mode of arrangement is described and represented with much
clearness and distinctness, and the inventor, after describing it, observes that,
" It will appear that the cylinder may, in all cases, be laid horizontally on the
keelson, or keelsons, placing it and all the other machinery so low that its
weight, instead of its being as it now is, a necessary and unavoidable incum-
brance, will act in a great measure as judiciously stowed ballast. That in
vessels of war, or armed steamers, all the essential and vital parts of the ma-
chinery will be completely protected from an enemy's fire, and that the acting
engineer can perform his duty not only with safety, but with that self possession
which personal security could alone insure.' The claims refer to the parti,
cular description of the resjiective parts as arranged, but would not, alone,
afi'ord any distinct information respecting them.

For an improved mode of Working the Pistons of Pumps; David Whittier,
Belfast, Waldo county, Maine, April 1 4.

" The nature of my invention consists in the application of inclined planes
inserted upon the outer circumference of a wheel, or cylinder, (which is made

to revolve like the capstan of a vessel,) to the spear, or piston rod of a pump, so
as to force it up and down."

In the drawing, force pumps are represented as placed near the periphery
of a low, vertical cylinder, or drum, on the deck of a vessel, there being levers,
or handspikes, to carry the cylinder round. Projecting inclined ledges come
in contact with friction rollers on the piston rods of the pumps, and alternately
raise and depress them. The claim is to this mode of working pumps, and we
believe that the patentee might have enjoyed tlie exclusive right thereto with-
out having had it secured to him by law.

For an improvement in Many Chambered Cylinder Fire Arms ; Theodore
F. Story, Northampton, Hampden county, Massachusetts, April 21.

For improvements in the Machine for making Axes ; Demmon C. Stone,
Napouock village, Ulster county. New York ; assigned to Joseph Wright, of
Poughkeepsie, New York, April 21.

For a Saw Mill without Saw Gates ; John C. Yates, Columbia, Maury
county, Tennessee, April 21.

For an improvement in the Steam Engine; Seth Graham, Roxbury, Nor*
folk county, Massachusetts, April 21.

For an improved process of Dyeing Wool ; Felix Fossard, city of Phila-
delphia, April 21.

For an improvement in the Art of Dyeing ; Patrick Magennis, Faterson,
Passaic county, New Jersey, April 21.

For an improved Drill Machine for Sowing or Planting Grain ; George A.
Hoyt, city of Albany, New York, April 21.

For an improvement in the Working of Bellows by Steam ; Martin Bell,
Antis, Huntingdon coanty, Pennsylvania, April 24.

For an improvement in Rail-road Cars, Carriages, or Trucks, &c. ; Joseph
Harrison, Jr., city of Philadelphia, April 24.

The main object of this improvement is to obtain a more equal bearing upon
the rails cf the wheels of rail-road carriages than has been hitherto attained.
The opposite ends of a spring are to bear upon two sliding boxes, in two
plummer blocks, whicli boxes receive the ends of the two axles of the carriage
wheels. The spring is of the usual construction, but mounted so as to vibrate
on its centre, allowing the two wheels on each side to adapt themselves to the
inequalities of the road, without altering the relationship of the action of the
spring. Several variations in the mode of arrangement for carrying out the
same principle, are described and represented by the patentee.

" In truck frames vi'hich turn on a centre, for the purpose of adapting the
wheels to the curvature of a road, the patentee has, in order to render the
system of the equalization of the pressure of the wheels upon the rails perfect,
so constructed the frames of such trucks as that their sides shall not necessarily
continue in the same plane, but be allowed to vibrate vertically to such extent
as may be requisite to enable them to adapt themselves, and the wheels which
they sustain, to any horizontal inequality in the rails upon which they arc to
run, as this cannot be effected by the limited action of springs.''

In this latter arrangement tiie wooden siles of the truck frame are connected
by transverse and diagonal bars of iron, which, work on pins, allowing of the
requisite vertical motion in the sides, whilst they are braced perfectly so as to
prevent their racking laterally. The claims are as follows : —

" What I claim as my invention in the within described modes of construct-
ing Cdis, carriages, or trucks, to run upon rail-roads, is the constructing of the
springs and their appendages, so that said springs may vibrate upon their cen-
tres, for the purpose, and substantially in the manner, set forth. I also claim
the carrying out of the same principle, by means of a vibrating beam, or any
analogous contrivance, connected and arranged so as to jiroduce the same
otfect. I also claim the use of a truck frame which may tie employed with
cars and locomotive carriages of all kinds, to run upon railroads when trucks
arc required ; said truck frame being constructed in such a way as that two
parallel sides thereof may be allowed to play, in the manner and for the pur-
pose set forth, whether the same be put together in the method herein made
known, or in any other by which the same end is attained, on the same
principle.''

For improvements in Many Chambered Cylinder Fire Arms ; Rufus Nichols
and Edward Childs, Conway, Franklin county, Massachusetts, April 24.

For a Horizontal Straw Cutter ; K. A. B. Beach, Franklin, Williamson
county, Tennessee, April 24.

For an improved Gate for Flumes of Mills : William Buckminster, Fra-
mingham, INliddlesex county, Massachusetts, April 26.

For a Domestic Spinner, for Spinning Wool, ..^c. ; lliram F. Wheeler
Springvillc, Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, April 25.

For a Jlachinc for Pressing Bricks ; Gaylord V. Harder, Batavia, Genessee
county. New York, April 25.

A horse is to turn a vertical shaft, by means of a lever, or sweep, and this,
in its revolution is to operate four or more pistons which press upon the clay,
previously tempered, and placed in the moulds for that purpose. The de-
scription and drawing dj not clearly exhibit the structure, and the claim is
merely to " the mode of pressing and discharging bricks, as described."

For an improved Mode of applying the Syphon for the uniform Drawing of
Oil and other Liquids ; James Gray, Fredericksburg, Spottsylvania eouuly,
Virginia, April 25.

1839.1

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

2:33

For improvements in the Many-charabered cylinder Fire Arms; Mighill
Nutting, Portland, Maine, April 25.

For a Horse Power for propelling machinery ; James Secor, city of New
York, April 23.

For an improvement in Water wheels ; John Munmia, West Alexandria"
Preble county, Ohio, April 28.

Tlie variation in this wheel from some others is not of a character to render
particular description necessary ; the claim is to " the combination of one,
two, or more, tub wheels, with the wheel placed next the sehute, and the mode
of regulating the outlet of water, as described."

For a machine for Mortising and Tenoning Timber; Henry Barnes, Mun-
son, Geauga county, Ohio, April 28.

The subjoined claims, although they do not lead to a knowledge of the
particular structure of the parts, serve to show that the improvements are in
mere matters of arrangement, leaving the rest of the structure the same with
that of other mortising machines.

" I claim the construction of the carriages with the rests, bar clamps, and
clamp bolts, as described. The arrangement of the lever and wedge for
throwing the pinion out of gear, with the racks, as described. The method
of connecting the pulley with the piston shaft by the spring, for allowing the
pulley to turn on the shaft as the cutting tool enters the wood."

For an improvement in the Saw Mill ; James Secor, city of New York,
April 2S.

The claims are to a mode of feeding the carriage, and to a connecting lever
for giving motion to the saw gate. The arrangements in this mill are such as
to render it portable, and to adapt it to its being driven by horse, or other
power, applicable to such mills. The saw frame is to be worked up and down
by means of a lever beam, operated by a crank on the fly wheel, and there is,
as the claim indicates, some novelty in the mode of feeding.

For improvc-nicnis in the Machinery for making Brooms, Brushes, Mops,
&c.; John M. Spooner, Belchertown, Hampshire county, Massachusetts,
April 28.

For a Churn ; Joshua G. Pike, Lisbon, St. Lawrence county, New York,
April 28.

For an improved mode of forming Kilns for making Charcoal ; Michael
Carroll, Tellico Plains, Monroe county, Tennessee, April 28.

For a Hinge for Doors, denominated the helical spring joint hinge ; D.
A. Hoyt, and P. W. Bulkley, Danbury, Fairfield county, Connecticut,
April 28.

This hinge is to operate as a door spring, and for this purpose it is so con-
structed that instead of the middle knuckles of the hinge, a helical spring
surrounds the joint pin, the two ends being so attached as to cause the hinge
to close by the elastic force of the spring. Two portions of tlic hinge may,
if desired, be so provided with helical springs ; these may be made of brass
wire, and they have a very neat appearance. The claim is to " the coiling of
a spring' around the joint pin of door, or other hinges, in the manner set
forth, such tension being given to said springs as shall cause them to close a
door or other hinged article to which they may be applied ; said hinge being
constructed substantially in the manner set forth."

MISCELLANEA.

Tlie Uimii Plale-Glass Cumpamj's Wurks. — On Thursday, the lOlh idliiuo, llic
du-ectors of the Union Plate-Glass Company gave a general iuviUition to shiu-cholders
to inspect tho company's works, at Pocket Nook, near St. Helen's , und, accordingly,
about thirty gentlemen went from this town by the 10 o'clock train, and were re-
ceived by Mr. LiiL-y. chairman of the board of directors, by other grntlcmen of the
directory, and by Mr. West, miinaper of the works, by whom they were conducted
round the various departments of the works, witnessing almost every process in the
art of of manufacturing plate glass, from the making and pariticatiou of the idkali,
and the preparation of the sand, to the last processes of polishing the glass, and
silvering it for the purposes of looking-glasses, &c. The works are very extensive
and spacious, covering an area of nine statute acres, surrounded by high walls, with a
handsome substantiul entrance gate of stone, at the principal entrance to the works
on the St. Helen's Railway. The situation could not have been better selected
whether tho facilities of supply of materials, or of transit of the umnufactiu'cd
article be considered, or the position of the works be regarded in reference to the two
large and opxdent towns of Manchester and Liverpool, with the gi'cat export trade of
that port, and the centrality of the works in the midst of so many railw.ays, which
for their carriages require a large supply of plate glass ; indeed, in all respects, there
are few finer sites in the kiugdom. Within a quarter of a mile of St. Helen's, and
still nearer to coal-pits; the railway running close by the worlvs on their eastern
side; the Satdiey navigation flowing close past the western side; and an abundant
supply of water obtained from a subterranean river or stream, supposed to take its
rise to the northttard, and locally known by the name of " Roaring Meg ;" all these
advantages are rarely found in such complete cd\)ibination. The water is raised from
" Roaring Meg " by a small steam-engine, of eight or ten horses' power, and con-
veyed in pipes of eigbt-incli and six-inch bore, to the ditl'erent parts of the works

Ma n chrste r G unrdia n .

British Association. — The Model Committee, appointed to superintend the exbibi-
tion of models at the meeting of the Jlritish Association for the -Vdvancement of
Science, to be held in this town on the 26di of August next, arc desirous ot receiving
specimens of manufacture ami works of art by the loth of that moiUh, in order that
they may be properly arranged and classified. — Birmimjliotn Aitrcrtibt'i:

Tfie Dowtuis Iron C"iitpau;i have just laid the fonudatiuu stones of two new fur-
naces ; and intend commeuciug two others very shortly. — Cambrian.

Conflagration of the Clicltenliam Theatre. — On Friday morning, the 3d ultimo, tho
Cheltenham theatre was totally destroyed by fire, together with two or three small
houses adjoining it. The theatre was built in 180.5, by Mr. J. Watson, a coadjutor
of John Kemble and Mrs. Siddous, both of whom in the early part of their career had
ajjpeared on the Cheltenham boards. The bouse was preparing for tiie appearance
of Rlr. and Mrs. Yates, and Mrs. Wood, at the lime of the accident. The property,
w Inch is insured for 2,000/. in the I'lucnix Fire-olhce, was of the value of about 5,000/.
It was in the bauds of trustees f(H- the benefit of the proprietor's creditors. To such :i
degfec has the taste for theatricals I'allen ofl" since Lord Segi-ave and his brothers were
in the habit of actini;, that it is doubted if another theatre will be built at Cheltenham.
Photogenic Drawing.-^. — Mr. Robert Mallet has connuunicatcd to the Royal Irish
Academy a notice of the discovery of the property of the light enulted by incan-
descent coke to blacken photogenic paper ; and proposed it as a substitute for S(dar
light, or that from the oxy -hydrogen blowpipe with lime. One of the most injportanl
ajiidicatious of the pliotogenic process, as yet suggested, is its adaptation to the self-
ic'isteriug of long-continued insti'umental observations. Unless, however, an artifi-
cial light, of a simple and inexpeusive character, can be found to supply the place
of solar light at night, the utility of this application will be much limited. Few ar-
tificial lights enut enough of the ehenucal rays to act with certainty on the prepared
paper; while those which are known to act well, as the oxj'-bydrogcn lime light, are
expensive, and diliicidt to manage. A considerable time since, the author discovered
that the light enutted by incandescent coke, at the " Twyer " (or aperture by which
the blast is admitted) of a cupola or furnace for 'melting cast iron, eonti\iued the che-
mical rays in abundance ; and on lately trying the efl'ect of this lighten the prepared
paper, he found it was intensely blackened in about forty-five seconds. In the single
experiment made, the heat, which was considerable, was not sepai'ated from the light ;
hut the author purposed to make further experiments, in which this precaution will
be attended to. 'J'here is no diflicvdty to be apprehended in contriving an apparatus
tfi burn a small quantity of coke at a high temperature. A diagram of au apparatus
for this purpose was shown.

EndJa's Patent Metliod of Consuming Smoke. — .A.mongst the numerous patents
which have lately been obtained lor plans for consuming smoke, there are noue
which can vie in simplicity with that invented by a Mr. Rodda ; and its eflieiency. as
far as it has been tried, has been uuequivocally attested by tho engineer and others
who have superintended the operation of the plan at Truman, Hanbury and C'o.'s
brewery. The method adopted is to partition of a portion of the back of a furnace
with tu'e-brick, so that when the coal has been coked in the fore part, it is thrust into
the binder division, aud the .smoke from the freshly supplied coal being compelled to
pass over the incandescent coked fuel, is consumed. The principal merit of this
invention is in its simplicity, consisting merely of a few fire-brir].s, which may be
placed in any furnace without expensive alteration. We shall bercafur publish a
full description and engravings of the plan. — Mechanics' Magazine.

Pontypool Iron Trade. — On Tuesday, the 14tb idtimo, was started for the first
time, the new forge erected at Pontnewyuedd (near this town), by the Pentwyn and
Golynos Iron Company. The powerful engine, with all its complication of machinery,
tr-ains of rolls and hammers, were set in motion in the presence of a large assemblage
of spectators, who cheered heartily as the first bar was rolled out ; and went oil' in a
manner that reflected the highest credit on the engine mauuliicturers who erected it
(Messrs. Otway and Winnington, of Staflbrdshire) and nuicb to the satisfaction aud
pleasure of those proprietors who were present on the occasion. This large work
being so near to the town, promises greatadvantages to the tradesmen of Pontypool. —
Monmouthshire Merlin.

Sir James Anderson's Steam Carriages The indefatigable exertions and untiring

energj' of this scientific gentleman, have at length been crowned with couqdete suc-
cess. The first of these carriages, built for the English Steam Coach Company, lias
been despatched to London via Dublin. Previous to its starling, it underwent re-
pe.ateil experimental trials of its power and capabilities. Too much praise cannot be
awarded to Sir James Anderson for his perseverance, despite of every obstacle, uni-
versally believed by his fiiends that " he was hoping against all hope." The ultimate
satisfactory accomplishment of his object must, independently of the great pecuniary
gaius which will certainly result from it, prove a rich reward for all Ids labours ami
disappointments, aud ought to bold out encouragement to our scientific countrymen,
not to be deterred by tho most apparently stupendous tUlficulties, which, as in this
case, may be overcome by zeal aud industry — Cork Standard.

The Atmospheric Railroad. — A second series of experiments, with models, upon a
modelled railroad, of Clegg's atmospheric principle of propelling carriages by meansof
exhausting a tube laid downinthe line of road to be traversed, oftbe air contained in it,
aud creating a vacuiun, was made on Tuesday forenoon at the iron works of Messrs.
Samuda, Southwark. The tube being exhausted by means of an air pump, the models,
the leading one having a piston whicli forced open the valve of the tube, proceeded at
a rate of extreme velocity along the line, a distance of thirty or forty yards, the
ascent being one foot in thirty. The models were heavily laden, each carryiug a
couple of persons, and upwards of 1.5 cwt. of balhist being disposed over the whole.
There were present several members of Parliament, and railway directors, enguieers,
&c. The machinery performed to perfection, and gave general satisfaction. The
advantages that this system proposes, both for the public and the railroad proprietors,
are very obvious — cheapness, security, speed, and no danger of explosion : it is, iu
fact, free from those disadvantages which the present system iu operation abounds in.
— Daily Paper.

LAW PROCEEDINGS.

CLARIDGE'S PATENT ASPHALTE.

VICE-CHANCELLOK'S COURT, WEDNESDAY, MAY 8.

Claridf/c V. Loitis Latrade.
Mr. Wigrani, IMr, Richards, and Mr. Chichester, moved to dissolve au
injunction obtained upon notice on the 13th of February, whereby the
defendant was restrained from forming a mastic cement or composition by
means of heat, of asphultc or asphaltic rock from Val de Travcrs, or any
other natural couiposition consisting principally of lime aud bitumen, with
a small portion ot aqueous or other matter, by whatever name such compound
might be called or known, with bitumen, or mineral, or other pilch, and
from laying down in Oxford-street or elsewhere any blocks formed of such
mastic, cement, or composition, and granite or other stone, or with any

•234

THE CtVIL ENGINJ]ER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[June,

mixture of grit and sand, and from cementing such blocks, or from selling or
putting in practice the plaintilV's invention. The plaintiff was the patentee
of the well-known invention cmpliiyed in paving some parts of the metropo-
lis, which he described in his specification to consist of a natural compound
extracicd in masses from mines at Pyrmont, near Scyssel, in the department
of I'Ain, and other parts in the Jura Mountains, which contained, in addition
to a small portiojiof a(|ueous matter, about 90 parts of carbonate of lime,
and lU of bitumen, and winch was reduced by means of heat to a mastic
cement or composition, and united with bitumen or mineral, or other pitch.
This, combined with sand or gravel, formed a substance applicable to paving
and road making, and was an invention the plaintift' claimed under his patent
granted in November, 1837. Tlie defendant had oblaiucd a similar natural
compound or asphalte from Val de Travers, and had produced a mastic
composition resembling the plaintiff's, using only tar instead of pitch, which
he also applied to the purposes of making roads and pavement. A portion
of it had been laid down with the other experimental pavement in Oxford-
street, but, as it was merely intended for experiment, had been compounded
with pilch, and not with tar. It was now contended the defendant's
invention was no infringement of the plaintiff's patent, tar being a substance
that contained many component ])arts, of which the pilch or bitumen used by
the plaintiff was only the residuum. It was alio shown from several scientific
and philosophical dictionaries that asphaltum had been used in various parts
of the globe for making walls and pavements many years before the jilaintiff
obtained hisp.itcnt, and that therefore the invention iiad nota sufficient claim
to novelty to support it. The defendant also alleged that before the bill was
filed Mr. Claridge bad assigned his patent to a company who were not made
parties to the suit. On these grounds it was contended the injunction ought
to be dissolved.

Mr. K. Bruce, Mr. Jacob, and Mr. Ellis supported the injunction. The
only question was whether the tar admitted by the defendant to have been
used by him in forming tlie composition was not in effect precisely the same as
the bitumen which constituted the only disputed ingredient of the patent.
Whether the asphalte came from Seyssel or from Val de Travers its properties
were the same, and both were embraced by the specifications : so that it only
remained to be shown from an affidavit the defendants had not thought proper
to read, and which had received no answer, that the tar in fact became in the
process ofheating converted into pitch, and ihat every portion of the defendant's
composition was identical with that included in the plaintiff's patent. The
learned counsel then read the affidavit of Mr. Woolrich, a professor of
chemistry at Birmingham, which stated that tar consisted of volatile
and aqueous matter and pitch, and that in order to combine tar with asphalte
to make a mastic cemenl, heat must necessarily be used, which caused an
evaporation of the volatile properties, and that the only portion of the tar
which entered into the combination was asphalte and the pitch which the tar
contained.

The Vice-chancellor said it was the simplest case in the world. It came
to no more than this, that the plaintiff took out a patent for a combination
by heat of asphalte with bitumen or mineral, or other pitch, so as to produce
a composition applicable to the pnrposeof paving and so on ; and then it was
said the defendant had not infringed the patent because he had used a
combination, by means of heal, of asphalte iviih tar. The defendant admitted
that a portion of the pavement laid down in Oxford-street was made with
asphalte and pilch, but that occurred before the discussion arose. Then the
question was, whether it was an infringement of Ihe patent to substitute tar
for pitch. If the effect of combining asphalte wilh tar by means of heat was
to leave the tar in a slate of combination in respect to itself, in its own original
state, and possessed of all its qualities, so that the composition should contain
asphalte as such, and lar as such, ihere might have been no iiifringement of
the patent; but if the necessary process of attempting to combine them by
means of heat was, that those circumstances and things which constituted the
distinction between tar and pilch were taken away, and the residue of the
tar only formed a combination of asphalte and pitch, ho thought, for the
purpose of considering whetlier IlKrehad been an infringement of the patent,
tar and pitch must be considered the same. So that he was of opinion, upon
the evidence before him, the defendant ought not to be at liberty to go on thus
violating the patent, and the injunction must be continued, the plaintiff
bringing forthwith such action as he should he advised to try the validity
of the patent, and whether what the defendant had done amounted to
an infringement.

EASTERN COUNTIES EAILW.VV.

The Qttccii V. Ihe TUn'ctors rif the Eask-rt} Cmtnties llttlliva'j Comjmuij. — In the
Court of Queen's Bench, May ti, 1839, before Mr. Juslice M'illiams. — The Allorney-
General said that he was instructed to make an application to the coru-t, the success
of which would, he hoped, produce the most salutary consequences to Ihe public in
respect of the company against which he applied, as «ell as all others of a similar
description. The object of the application was to compel the del'endunts to perform
the whole of the contract which they had entered into with the public, anil to jne.
vent them from picking out some particular parts of it, and executing only those
parts, as being the oidy parts likely to be beneficial to themselves. It appeared that
the company had been established in 1838, by the tidi and 7lh Wilham IV., chap.
IOC, and that the act of rarliament was for laying down a railway from London to
Norwich and 'i'armoulh. through C'cilchcster, Ipswich, and sever.ilother inlerniediale
towns. Tlie undertaking, upon the sup]iosilinn that it would ho cariied on througli-
ont the w hole of the line described in the act, had met « ilh great encouragement and
support from the landowners of Norfolk and Sufl'olk, and upon Ihe same ground the
landowners of Essex made no objection to its p;issing through their properties. It
now appeared, however, that tlie directors wanted only to make the road from Loudou

to Colchester, and no further. If an apjdication for that part of the original lino had
been mode to rarliament in the first instance, it never could have succeeded. But
the company having proposed to make a road from London to Yaruiouth, now
intended to slop at Colchester, which, as the learned counsel contended, was a mani-
fest breach of faith wilh the landowners of Norfolk and Suffolk, and with the general
body of the shareholders. The manner in which the company proposed to elleet
their object was by placing themselves in such a situation that Uiey could not by \i\\\
continue the line beyond Colchester. It appeared that some deviations from the
original line between that point and the more northern parts were pro\ ided for by
another act procured by the company, the 1st and 2ud Victoria, c. SI, in the *2ud sec-
lion of which act it was ilirecled, thai unless such deviations should be laid out
bel'oie the i/th of July, 1831), it should not be lawful for the company to proceed
with lliat part of the line at all. The company therefore, by merely ounlling to lay
out the line of the deviation, would place themselves in the position «hicli they
desired, and would have no ],ower in law to proceed beyond Colchester. They had
been called upon several limes by parties interested in the undertaking to mark out
the deviation, but bad refused to do so, for reasons which were sutfieienlly obvious
from the statemeuls wdiich he (the Attorney-General) had addressed to the court. The
learned gentleman then referred to the ease of " The King against the Severn antl
\\'ye Kaih^ay Companj-,'' 2 B. and A., in which the defendants were counnanded by
this court to make a road for the public aciomnindatinn. A iiuh\ ay "ivas not a pri-
vate way, but a common highway, and any tUbir prison as well as the enmpany may
travel upon it with his o^^'u engines, upon ol'ser\iiig the necessary regulations. In
the case referred to, it had been admitted by die court that the defendants Avere liable
to an indictment i'or not laying down the railroad ; but, as such a proceeding, how-
ever it may afford the means of punishing the defendants, could not procure any
aeeommodation to the public, the court granted a mamlamiis commanding the com-
pany to do what was desired. The circumstances of the present case were exactly
the same. The comjiany had, by their act of Parliament, entered into a contract
with the public, who could not have the advantage which the legi.slalure intended
they should derive from the propo.sed undertaking, unless it were completed allo-
gctiier. It was (piile clear that the company cuuld not legally stop at the end of
half a mile, as the road would, by that means, become a public niusance. They were,
therefore, bound to proceed, stage by stage, until they arrived at the termiuus
appoiuted by the act. The ailidavit was from a great number of landowners in tlie
neighbourhood of that part of the line which ran from Colchester to Yaruiouth, a
distance of about 70 miles. The other deponents were .sbai'eholders in the concern,
and all swore that they, as well as the public, would be very seriously prejudiced
unless die company should be compelled to complete their line according to the
original plan. In these circumstances, his application was for a ride calling upon
the defendants to show cause why a iiiarnfuHius shoidd not issue, commanding them
to proceed to point out the deviations referred to, so that the whole of that duty
might be performed before the 27th day of next July.

Mr. Justice ^\'illiams inquired why, in a ease of so much novelty and importance,
the Attorney-General had not applied" to the full court'.'

The .Attorney-General answered, that in the state of business in that court, he had
not been able to obtain an opportunity to make the applicadon there.

Mr. .lustice ^^■illiams observ ed, that the case w as certainly one of great importance,
and granted the rule.

HARBOURS ON THE SOUTH-EASTERN COAST.

We arc glad to .see that Government are awakening to this important
subject, and that there is a prospect of sometliing being done. We
only hope that it is not a job. We give below an extract from the
debate on the 'Jnd ultimo, in the House of Commons : —

HARllOUES ON THE SOUTII-EASTEKN COAST.

May 2.

Mr. E. Rice moved, pursuant to the notice he had given, for an address to
inquire into the state of the harbours on the south-eastern coast. The question
was one which had met the approbation of all the distinguished naval officers
in and out of that house with whom he had conversed. It was the more ne-
cessary that our south-eastern harbours should be placed in a fit and safe state
for the reception of vessels, as we were about to have a greatly increased
intercourse with the continent. A line of railroad from London to Dover had
received the sanction of the legislature, and was now in a state of considerable
forwardness ; and a line of railroad from Calais and Boulogne to Paris had"
received the sanction of the French Chambers. When these were completed,
it was natural to expect a vast increase of intercourse between London and
Paris, and other parts of the continent. Under these circumstances, the con-
dition of the south-eastern harbours was a matter of considerable importance.
He did not wish by his motion to pledge the Government to any outlay of
money ; all he wanted at present was, an examination of the condition of those
harbours by scientific men. He had brought forward this motion as the repre-
sentative of a port where the necessity of such improvement was greatly felt.

Mr. S. Rice stated that he did not 'wish to throw any difficulty in Ihe way of
the honourable member's proposition. It was highly important that both
Government and Parliament should have the best information that skill and
science could give on this subject ; hut he wished it to be distinctly understood
to what extent he was willing to go, because, if undue expectations were ex-
cited respecting this inquiry, and if it were thought that Government would
expend large sums of money in obtaining information respecting these har-
bours, the result would be to paralyse all private and local efforts for effecting
the object in contemplation. In consenting, therefore, to this inquiry, he
wished it to be clearly understood that it was only so far that he would go, and
no further. The first was to consider the present state of the harbours, and
the next would be to consider the best mode of improving them ; the latter,
however, would depend upon local questions ; and the greatest good that could
be done was to give the persons locally connected with them the best informa-
tion that could be obtained.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

235

PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS.

Hunsc olCuinmoiiN. — List of Petitions lor I'rivatu liilLs, and prugi*e.ss» the

Aberbrolliwick Harbour

Aberdeen Harbour

Balloclmey Railway

Barnsli'y Waterworks .

Bath Cemetery . . . .

Belfast Waterworks

Birminftham Canal

Birmingham & Gloucester Railway

Bishop Auckland & WearilaleRlwy .

Blackheatli Cemetery .
Brndforil (York) Waterworks

Bri^'hton Gas . . . .

Brighton Cemetery

Bristol and GloucesLershireRail way

British Museum Buildings .

Brompton New Road

Cheltenham Waterworks

Commercial (London and Black-
wall) Railway ....

Dean Forest Railway .

Deptford Rier ....

Deptfiird Pier Junclirtn Railway .

Deptford Steam Ship Docks .

Edinburgli, Leith, and Newhaven
Railway .....

Eyemouth Harbotir

Fraserburgh Harbour .

(xeaeral Cemetery

Gravo,«end Gas ....

Great Nortli of England Railway

Great Western Railway

Great Central Irish Railway .

Herefordshire and Gloucestershire
Canal ....

Heme Gas .....

Liverpool Docks ....

Liverpool Buildings

Livei-pool and Manchester Exten-
sion Railway ....

London and Birmingham Railway

Ijundnn Bridge Approaches, kc. .

London and Croydun Railway

Ijondon Cemetery

London and Greenwich Railway .

London and Southampton (Guild-
ford Branch) Railway

London and Southampton (Ports-
mouth Branch) Railway .

Manche-ster A: Birmingham Rail way

Manchester and Birmingham Ex-
tension (Stone A: Rugby ) Railway

Manchester and Leeds Railway .

Marvlebone Gas-fc Coke Company

Monkland .fe Kirkhitilloch Railway

Necropolis (St. Pancras) Cemetery

Newark Gas ....

Newcastle-upon-Tyne aud North
Shields (Extension) Railway

NortheriK*c Kastinn{Xo l)Rnilway

Northern \' i:ast.Tu(\o.2) Railway

North .Mi.Uaud Railway

North Union Railway

Nottingham Iiiclosure aud Canal

Over DarwenGas

Perth Harbour aud Navigation

Portishead Pier ....

Preston Gas ....

Preston and Wyre Railway .

Preston and Wyre Railway, Har-
bour, and Dock

Redcar (No. 1) Harbour

Redcar (No 2) Harboin-

Rishworth Re.servoirs .

Rochdale Waterworks .

Rochester Cemetery

Sawmill Ford Bridge and Road .

Slamannan Railway

SouthEasteru Railway

South Eastern (Deviation) Railway

Teignmouth Bridge

Tyne Dock .....

Tyne Steam Ferry ,

Walsall Junction Canal

West Din-ham Railway . . I

WestiuiustiT Improvement . . i

Wishaw and Coltness Railway

Wyrley andEssington and Birming-'
ham Canal . I

1

1

Bill read

Bill read

1

Petition 1 Bill read

.seeuiid

tbird

Royal

presented lirst time

time.

time.

Assent.

l-eb. 0.

Feb. 27. ' Mar. 12

April 15

Feb. a

Mar. 15. '..^pril 1.5

—

Feb. 13.

Mar. 14. , Aprils.

May 3.

Feb. 21

—

—

—

Feb. ii

. —

.

—

Feb. 2-2

—

Feb. 20

Mar. 1.5

April 12

Feb. 21

Mar. 1.5

April 8.

—

Feb. 22.

Mar. 18

.April 15

—

Feb. 22.

Mar, 18.1 " —

—

Feb. 21

—

. —

Feb. 21.

Mar. 18.

—

Feb. 21

.Alar. 18.

—

—

Feb. 21.

Mar. 7.

Mar. 19.

May 13.

Feb. 22.

—

April 12

May 2.

Feb. 22.

Mar. 18.

April ,10

—

Feb. 22.

Mar. 12

Mar. 22.

—

—

Feb. 14.

Mar. 8. .Mar. 21.

Feb. IIJ.

— 1 —

—

Feb. 22.

Mar. 18.

—

Feb. 22.

Mar. 20.

—

Feb. 22.

—

—

—

—

Feb. 19.

Mar. 11.

.Mar. 27.

Feb. 12.

—

Apiil 8.

Feb. 20.

April 8.

April 10.

_

Feb. 20.

Mar. 1 1 .

Mar. 21.

Feb. 21.

Mar. 18.

—

—

. .

Feb. 18.

Mar. 1;).

Mar. 25.

May 3.

Feb. U.

Mar. 4.

Mar. 13.

May 1.

Mar. 12.

—

—

—

—

Feb. 20.

Mar. 13.

Feb. 22.

—

Feb. 21.

—

—

Feb. 21.

—

—

—

—

Feb. 14.

Feb. 28.

Mar. 12.

Jlav 13,

Feb. 8.

Feb. 22.

Mar. (i.

—

Feb. 19.

April U.

April 20.

—

._

Feb. in.

Mar. 18.

April 8.

May 3.

Feb. 19.

Mar 18.

—

Feb. 21.

Mar. 18.

April 8.

May 3.

—

Feb. 22.

—

—

—

—

Feb. fl.

Feb. 2.5.

Mar. 7.

May 3.

Feb. 18.

Mar. 18.

April 2;!

—

—

Feb. 11.

May 1.

May 11.

~

Feb. 18.

Mar. 8.

Mar. 19,

—

Feb. 22.

Mar. 18.

—

.

Feb. 12.

Mar. 14.

April 8.

May 3.

Feb. 21

Mar. 1.5

Feb. 14

Feb. 28.

Mar. 11.

April 18.

—

Feb. 18.

War. 15.

Feb. 22.

Mar. 18.

—

Feb. 22.

Mar. 27.

April 16.

Feb. 11.

Mar. 4.

Mar. 14.

May 1 .

Feb. 22.

_^

.

Feb. 19.

Mar. 18.

Feb. 21.

—

Vpril 12.

—

Feb. 14.

—

May 2.

Feb. 22

Feb. 6.

Feb. 20.

Mar. fi.

Mar. ]9.

Feb. 6.

Feb. 20.

Mar. 4.

Mar. 15. 1

—

Feb. 21.

Mar. 18.

April 12.

Feb. 19.

—

,

Feb. 22.

Mar. 27.

Feb. 21.

Mar. 0.

Mar. 26.

_

Feb. 7.

Feb. 21.

Mar. 6.

May 6.

Feb 22.

Mar. 18.

Feb. 21.

Mar. 18.

Feb."l2.

Mar. 18.

Mai-. 27.

Feb. 11.-

—

Mar. 25.

May 15.

Feb. 22.

May 6.

>_

Feb. 21.

Feb. 22.

Mai-. 15.

May 7.

—

Feb. 21.

Feb. 22.

. ,

,

Feb. 21.

Mar. 18.

April 8.

May 14.

Feb. 21.

Feb. 12.

Mar. 14.

April 8.

May 3.

—

Feb. IS.

_

z

STEAm NAVIGATIOItr,

^ iliamrrs jram th,' Chjilr i„ A>„. J-<„-7.-._A joint-stock company is now forming
in Glasgow, for carrying passengers and merchandise between the Clyde and
New lork, by means of an iron steam-ship of great power and capacity, to sail
at the rate of at least sixteen miles an hour, thereby making a passage in about
ten days, and enabling this vessel to make nearly a monthly voyage to America.
The capital to be .-t'.io.OOii,— W.7,'i,/o«i Cltn.ui,-/,-.

Iran Sliij.s.— Tbe InmsiJcs, the first sailing vessel constructed of iron, which
has ever crossed the Atlantic, has just returned to Liverpool with a cargo of
cotton from Brazil, after a passage of forty days, though during the whole trip
light winds prevailed. This has completely established the practicability of
navigating the ocean in ships of iron. The compasses, whose action it was
predicted would inevirably be deranged, worked very correctly ; and the supe-
riority of the material of which the vessel is built, is proved by the fact, that in
the course of the whole voyage it was never once necessary to use the pumps.
In fact her hull is absolutely water-tight. The success of this experiment is
highly important, occurring, as it does at a time when timber is scarce and dear.
So little has the Ii-fnxi.les suffered from exposure to wind and weather, that her
appearance would induce the belief that she had but lately been launched. Her
tonnage is 2(34 ; draft of water aft, Sft. 7 in, and forward 8ft. .3 in. — [This is a
very important notice, and we commend it to the consideration of our commercial
readers. In the adoption of iron ships several points are to be considered.
Economy and durabiliiy, we suppose, are in their favour. Their sailing qualities
seem by this experiment to be at least equal to those of wooden ships ; but these
depend less upon the material of which a vessel is built than upon her model.
The thing that strikes us most, however, is the extreme buoyancy of the iron
ship. She is said to be 204 tons— we presume by the new mode of admeasure-
ment : if so, she carries probably 400 tons, and yet she draws only about eight
and a half feet of water, or perhaps, with a heavier cargo, nine and a half feet or
ten feet at the utmost ! Now, the great drawback upon the profit of the coasting
trade, at least in this part of England, is the impossibility of constructing a vessel
that will carry a large cargo with a draft of water suitable to our tide-harbours.
A vessel of one hundred tons will draw as much water as this ship ; and if the
burden he curried up to ]M or 200 tons, the draft of water becomes a serious
impediment, and what is gained in freight is lost in frequent and vexatious
delays, and in injuries sustained from grounding on bars and sandbanks. Butn
vessel of 100 tons cannot be sailed in winter, and ought not to be sailed at any
time, with fewer than four men and a boy ; making lor four such vessels twenty
bands ; while such a ship as the Inoiiti, les might be sailed vvith twelve or fourteen
bands at all seasons. But will an iron ship take the ground with a heavy cargo?
That seems to us the principal question ; and if it be found that she will — if it
be found that a ship of large burden can be so constructed as to be fit for all the
purposes of the coasting trade, and capable of enduring the severe trials to which
the best and strongest ships are exposed in it, and jet so buoyant as to enter all
the Welsh and Cornish ports, at neap tides — if this be ascertained, we may
expect in a month or two, to see half the smiths of Hayle and Neath turned into
shipbuilders. — Ei>. Citrmcall (ia^<ili-.~\

JCiiglish and Ainiriian Sltaiiwrs, — The Hon. S. Cunard has contracted to convey
the mails from England to Halifax twice a-nionth, in steamers of not less than 300-
horse power; the fiist vessel to leave Liverpool on the 1st of May, 1840. The
contractor to forward the mails to Boston in small steamers, and to run a steam-boat
between Pictou and Quebec. Contract for seven years at SofiOOl. sterling per
aunniil. — Mnnclit,^ftr (liumlian.

Sleaiii-hoal K.vplnsion. — A steam towing-ves.sel, the A'enns, met with .nn accident
at Havre. While it was towing out a brig into the roadstead one of the boilers blew
lip. A boy was .seen to be thrown up into the air, along with broken planks, 4:c. ,
but bis body has not since been foutid, awd the stoker and engineer were both severely
injured. — ijalhjnanre Messenger.

PROGRESS OF RAILWAYS-

Sottlh Eas/ern Dorcr liuthvaij. — Between Dover and Folkestone the works are
progre.ssing rapidly, the tunnel for tunnels, for there are two parallel to each other)
throtigh Shakspere's cliff, has been for a length of time opened from end to end, and
the eidargement of them has progressed considerably, these funnels are each twelve
feet wide and tliirty feet high formed with a pointed arched roof; the pier or space
between the tunnels is ten feet in thickness, and where the shafts have been sunk
from the surface, there is a lateral opening connecting the two tunnels, these
openings being formed of the same height as the tunnels, and its roof being similarly
excavated forms a groined roof, which has a remarkably good effect, there are seven
shal'ts and consequently seven of these openings in the length of three quarters of
a mile. The eastern face of the tunnel is formed by excavating the chalk to the
depth of 110 feetwhich is now being finally trimmed down. At the western face of
the tunnel a splendid piece of side cutting presents itself, upwards of 160 feet high.
Westward of this tunnel, the sea wall of concrete to protect the railwiiy embank-
ment has been commenced ; it is contracted for by Mr. Lambert, the contractor, who
executed the concrete sea wall at Brighton ; the wall at Dover will aver.age 50 feet
in height and about three quarters of a mile in length : the railway along this
portion of the line is to bo formed partly of side cutting from the cli^s and partly
of embank-ment whieh the concrete wall is intended to protect, groins will hereafter
be carried out into the sea to collect the beach for the further security of the works.
Between the sea wall and Folkestone two other tunnels are to be eoTistrm-ti-d, the
sllaftsofv^ Inch are sunk nearly to the required depth, and wliirli, tngi-iher with ntlier
preliminary works, are nearly completed ; it is expected, thereibre, (bat the excava.
tion of these two tunnels will bo proceeded with forthwith ; preparations are also
making for the erection of an oblique bridge of two arches over the jrinctiou of
the Dover and Canterbury roads near Folkstone.

L'jiidfjn and Birmintjliam Raihrinj On the 20tb instant, the speed of the mail

trains on the London and Birmingham Railway will be accelerated. The day mail
Hill leave the Euston-grove station at half-past 9 in the morning, and will arrive in

236

THE CIVIT. ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Jttnk,

Birmingham in 5 liours. A stoppage ol' 8 minultis will be allnwed at Triiig. 10
minutes at Wulverton, '•i minutes nt Wceilun, und 9 minutes at Coventry; malting a
total of 25 minutosoccupiclby the sluppagfs, and only 4 hours and 35 minutes in
performing the jonrney of 110 miles 0 furlongs. The' day mail train from Birming-
hiun will accomplish the journey in the same time, allowing the same stoppages at tlic
diftVrent places above-menlioned. The nigat mail train will leave Eustou-grove
station at half-past 8, and comi>lete the distance in 5 lionrs and a half; the stoppa^ii's
to be for tlio same periods and at the same places as lliuse named for the day-mail
trains.

Norih MhUand Hailway. — The YorLshire directors of this important public under-
taking have, during the present week, been examinuig intn the progress of the wliole
work in their comity. They commenced at the Trecton contract, near Derbyshire,
and walked nearly the whole distance to Woodlesfurd, a tract of about thirtv-seven
miles. The works in es-ery part of the line \\cre found to be proceeding mos't satis-
factorily, so as to afibrd the best ground for expecting that the whole line will be
completed by tlie time specified in the contracts — namtdy, the close of the present
year; and we hope that eai-ly in the spring of 1810 the travelling and canning
business of the line will be in lull operation. Owing to the obstacles in the way of
the company until very recently, that portion of the line between \^'oodlesford and
Tliwaite Gate has not yet been commenced; these diliiculties are, however, now
removed, and the contracts for the few miles will be let during the present juouth,
witk a view to the entire line up to Thwaite Gate being opened at the close of the
year. 'J'he railway is in a still more advanced state in Derbyshire than in Yorksliire.

Clay Crofs Tunnel. — It is expected that this Herculean department of the North
Midland Railway will present a clear passage from one end of it to the other in July
next. 1.500 yards are completed. Tlie portion contracted for by Messrs. Harding
and Cropper is limshed ; and ihc excavation remaining to be completed extends
somewliere between two and three hundred yards. — IaciU Intdligenver.

As the Di-rhy and Bii-minijliam Railway is expected to be open in July, as soon as
the North Midland is completed, there will be an unbroken railway conveyance all
the way from Leeds to London, except one mile at this end, which we hope "will soon
be supplied. No fewer than 8,yOU men arc directly employed on the line, to say
nothing of the very great number indirectly employcd.as brickmakers, *;c. in order to

complete this great undertaking. — LirJs Meroi ry. The open cutting through tlie

town of Belper is expected to be completed in about fiuir months. The bridges over
the_ several streets and laTies are commenced, as are also the retaining walls, for
which avast quantity of stone is prepared. The bridge for the new turnpike road,
north of Belper, is completed, and will soon be ready for use. The passage under
the bed of the Gromfnrd canal at Bull Bridge, has been open some time, and tlie
works are proceeding there with gi-eat activity. The last of the foundations of the
large bridge over the Derwent, near Amber Gate, w as put in this week , considerable
difficulty has been experienced here, as the workmen have been many mouths, night
and day, at work, assisted by a powerful steam-engine. — Derby lltportcr.

Olasyow and Ayrshire iJrn'hru;/.— We have stated, from time to time, the progress
of the works on this line of railway between Ayr and Kilwinning; and we are now-
gratified in being able to communicate that the operations thence towards Glasgow-
are also proceeding with great spirit, so that no doubt is entertained tliat the entire line
will be open to the public by May, 1840. But we believe it is stiil the intention of
the directors to open that part of the line between Ayr and Irvine some lime during
the present summer. There have been of late, at the ports of Ayr and Troon, nume-
rous arrivals of cargoes of rails, from Newport in Wales, which are being laid down
permanently. The freights on these we hear have fallen from 1.5s. to 10s. per ton.
We understand that while the harbour dues exacted at Ayr for these rails are only
at the rate of id. per ton, those at Troon are 18d. The erections at the depots, both
here and at Irvine, are proceeding expeditiously- — Ayr Adcertiser.

Cheltenham and Greai Western Union Eaihray Company. — Extracts from the
Report of the Directors. May 1 , 1839.— Since the last general meeting contracts liave
been made for the formation of the line from the Bariiwood-road to the Gloucester
depot, and also for sinking the permanent shafts in the Sapperton tunnel.

All these contracts have been satisfactorily let to responsible parties.

By tlie amended Act of last session it was provided, that all the land lequired for
the railway, between the depots at Cheltenham and Gloucester, should be purchased
and paid for on or before the 25th of March last; which enactment has been fully
carried into eflett.

The contracts for the execution uf this part of the line expire in March 1840 ; and
from the progress made diu'ing the winter, and the very nnfavouralde season during
which the works have hitherto been carried on, there can be no doubt of the ability oT"
the contractors to complete their works within the prescribed period.

About 160,000 yards of earth have been excavated during the past winter, and
there remain about 4t)0,000 to complete. The masonry and brickwork are in an
advanced slate. The ballasting for the permanent way is also prepm-ing ; and your
Directors have taken measures for securing an ample and early supply of such of the
other materials as require time to prepare, so that no delay may hereafter occur in
completing this important part of the work.

^ Every preparation is making for proceeding with the consti-uclion of the depots at
Chellenhaiii and Gloucester, in the arrangements uf which your Directors propose to
study every possible economy consistent with the accommodation of the publif, on a
])art of tlie line where so very large a traffic must ultimately be provided tor.

Of the 17.i miles fi-om Cirencester to Swindon, the land on 15^ miles has been
conti-acted for, and a large proportion ha.s been taken possession of and paid for.
The works on this portion, which had been let just before your last meeting, have
been commenced at difi'erent points as rapidly as the land required could be procured,
and arc now proceeding satisfactorily, and your Engineer has no reason to doubt that
they will be completed by the periods fixed" in the contracts, which all expire in the
latter end of 1840. These periods are calculated so as to allow of the w hole distance
from Swindon to Cirencester being opened simultaneuusly, or as nearly so as possible
wall tlie opeunig of the line of the Great Western Railway from London to Swindon.
Lpow this district, as upon tliat between Cheltenham and Gloucester, although com-
menced later, and consequently not proporlionably advanced, it is satisfactory to be
able to state that as much lias been done as the season and other circumslances could
allow ot, and tliat the works are in that state which admits of the full advantage being
taken of the more fa\ourable period of the year wldch we have now entered upon.
l<ive nl the permanent shafts of the Sapperton tunnel arc proceeiiing very satisfactorily.
Ihree of them have alre;idy reached rather more llian half the required depth, and
the other two about one third— no difliculties have been experienced, and at present
there is every appearance of the materials through wliich the tunnel itself will be ex

cavated. being as favourable for this work as was originally anticipated. The sixth
sliafi will not be so deep as the others ; some dillicuUy has occurred in procuring the
land, but there is now every prospect of this cause of delay being speedily reniuved,
and that all the shafts will be ready by the autumn of this year, so that the tunnel
may be commenced as soon after as may be desired. The prejiaratory steps necessary
for setting out the works and determining the lands required in the Stroud Valley,
have been jmt in hand and are nearly completed. Ihe Directors have agreed with
the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway Couipany for the p;irchase of about four
acres of land ot Gloucester near the Cattle TNIarket for their depot at Gloucester. It
was provided by the Act of Parliament that there should be one principal depot at
Cheltenham for the joint use of the Companies, to be formed at the expense of this
Company, and a similar de]iot at Gloucester to be formed at the expense of the Bir-
mingliam and Gloucester Company ; but it has been a]qneliended that, under the
particular circumstances, much confusion and inconvenience might result in practice
from that arrangement, and the Du-ectors of the two Companies have therefore come
to an agi'eemcnt to have distinct depots at both places, to be formed separately by
each Comjiany — an arrangement which will contribute greatly to the facility and
regularity of management in the traffic of both lines.

Glasgow, PaJslei/, and Greenock liaihuay. — On Saturday, the 11th ultimo, the
Directors made their periodical visit to the road. After inspecting the new carriages
at Glasgow, wliich are of the most elegant and comfortable description, they proceeded
along the line to Greenock, examining every part of the works with much attention.
Between Glasgow and I'aisley the progi'ess is rapid, and a great ]»art of the perma-
nent I'oad is in course of being laid. The drift-way through the Arkleton tunnel is
almost completed, and the tunnel is widened out for a consideraltle piut of its leugth.
In Pai-sley the bridge and walls are very forward, and the hir;^)' bridirr over the (_'art
has its centre ready for turning the arch. Proceeding westward bc^ und Paisley, the
walls and embankments are creeping up, and the railway is already carried over the
moss. The consolidation is becoming daily more apparent, and there is no doubt that
an excellent bit of road will be the result of the precautions adopted. At Bishopton
all is bustle and activity, and nowhere is there greater evidence of the late delightful
weather. Between West Ferry and Port Glasgow the work is comparatively light,
and has made gi-eat progress since the last inspection. — Greenock Advtrtiser*

Great Western. Railway. — The travelling on the line to Maidenhead has greatly
increased with the favoiu'able change in the weather, and appears likely, as the sum-
mer comes on, greatly to exceed that in the corresponding period of last year. During
the week ending the 5th inst. upwai'ds of 12,000 passengers were conveyed, and the
receipts, we believe, exceeded 2,000/. The Directors have concluded contracts for
some miles of the road between Bath and the village of Box, and the contracts lately
advertised will complete the entire line between Bristol and London, with the excep-
tion of a .sinuU portion near Bath, and one or two bridges, for which the plans will
soon be ready. We understand that, generally speaking, the worts along tlie line
are pushed forward with gi-eat eiierg}', and though muth remains to be done before
the bridg.s and tunnels in this vicinity can be completed, there seems no doubt that
thf line to Balh will be rcaily for traffic in the course of the next nine months. About
half a mile of tlie great tunnel at Box is now completed, and not the slightest ditficulty
exists in keeping the works free of water. Where the excavation is carried through
the oolite, or freestone, the work proceeds with a rapidity greater than that required
by the contract; and as this may be considered the key to the whole line, we have'no
doubt the Directors will take care that no unneces.sary delay takes place in its com-
pletion.—5r/s(o/ Mercury.

Sheffield and Rotherhani Railivay. — A slendid locomotive engine from the manu-
factoiy of Messrs. Fenton, Murray, and Jackson, of Leeds, called the Ayilis, has ar-
rived at the Sheffield station of the Sheffield and Rotherhain Railway, and is now in
active operation upon the line. We understand thiit some of its excellencies consist
in being proA ided with flanges on each side of the six wheels, thereby affording addi-
tional safety from being run off' the rails, compared with those engines whose driving
wheels are \vithout that very material part. Another advanliige which it posses-ses,
is that if either one or all the excen tries wliich move the valves, were broken, dis-
arranged, or even lost olf or taken away, it is still under the control and management
of the engineer, who can safely conduct it along the railway nearly as well as if those
parts had remained entire. — Sheffiehl Mercury.

Eastern Counties' Railway. — The company have commenced laying the foiindaliuii
and building their i\"arehouses and offices, at the station adjoining tlie Red Lion, at
Ilford, for llic purpose of receiving and wai-ehousing goods, and landing passengers.
They will bo very extensive and convenient The buildings at the Shorechtch ter-
miuus will sliortly be commenced. The Northern and Eastern Railway, which is to
join the Eastern at Strattbrd, will of course bear a part of the expense ; the Bill to
so far unite them being in Parliament, and is expected to pass without opposition
The terminus will command tlie trade and tralfic from the north and west part of the
metropulis, and of ]*;uglaiid, and is not more than half a mile from the centre of the
city of London. At Ilford the permanent rails ar^ laid down nearly as far as Mr.
Curtis's brick-field, and the works are proceeding very rapidly. The railway from
Mary-le-point as far as is conqdeted, to the east of Ilfurd, is said by competent judges,
to be the best piece ol" railway in the kingdoio. The state of the bridge over the turn-
pike road between Ilford and Chadwell, still continues in a very nn^atisiaciory con-
dition, and nearly all the magistrates of the county have, been and examined it during
the last ^\-eek, and insist on liaving the walls of the bridge carried higher, in case
horses should take fright and junqt over them ; and also walls on the sides of tlie jqi-
proaches. The company appear to have got into a labyrinlh respecting this bridge,
which will require all their wisdom and talents to extricate them from. — Essex
Sta/idard. AVe understand that it is now fixed to open the line from Londuii to Rom-
inrd, the first week in June, and shortly after from Romford to Brentford, a distance
of ly miles; there are about 7,000 per^ns employed on this groat luidertaking
besides several locomotive engines and horses. — Suffolk Ilerahl.

Briatol and E.eeter Railway. — The directors are pledged to open the lino to Bridge-
water, before they proceed with the works to Taunton, in order to make the outlay
as small as possible before an income can be secured; but if a single lino to
Taunton can be constructed for a few thousands more than a double one to Bridge-
water, and if the additional income, when it is open to Taunton, will be at least
'.20,000/. a year, I think it is the duty of the directors to adopt for the present a

single line. — Bristol Gazette The works on this line are proceeding with great

spirit and effect as far i.s Bridgewater, to which town the line is expected to hn opened
from Bristol next spring. The works are also proceeding steadily westward, and no
doubt exists of the inteniion of the Board to cairy the line on toils final destination
without making a temporary halt at Taunton.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

237

Bolton and Pirsfon Eaihvay. — The workmen are proceeding raiii.lly \\itli the
works on this Une of railway- The rails are now hiij iluwn as I'ar as the footpath
leading up to Dean Cliurch. Further up the vallev, Lady liridj^o has been taken
down, a temporary wooden bridge lias been ereuti^d in its stead at a short distance,
and the workmen are now engaged at a inagniiicent stone bridge on the site of the
former one. The line from Bolton to Preston will be one of the most picturesipie in
the north of England. — Preston Ohscn-er.

The Mauchcsttr ntnl Lceih Railwaij. — The directors of the Manchester and Leeds
Railway, accompanied by their engineer, Mr. Gooch, inspected the works of the line
between Manchester and Todmorden, on Friday, the 17th nit., proceeding by the
Stanley engine, nunle by Robeil Stephen.son and Co., from Rochdale to the summit
tunnel; this part of the line being already complete, although the time conti-acted
for has not yet expired.

Newcasfk and Carlisle Railway. — The works of the Newcastle and Carlisle Rail-
way, on the north side of the'river Tyne, are rapidly progressing towaa'ds cumjiletion.
— Netvcaslle Journal,

SNGINSEUING WORKS.

River C'lifuet We are glad to lind that some enterprising pai'ties have obtained

an Act of Parliament, and are about to carry into effect considerable improvements
at the month of the River Coquet, about twenty miles northward tif the Rivrr Tyno,
for the purpose of shipping coals and corn to the London marlcets, and importing the
various other necessai-y commodities for whicli the extensive surrounding districts
stand much in need. Tlie works are dt signed by Sir John Rennie, and we hear
that they are calculated to render the port as effective as the Tyne or the Wear.
These works necessarily prove of considerable public benefit, combined as they are
with the Coquet Island, which is situated about a mile fiom the shore and imme-
diately in front of the River Coquet, forming as it were a natural breakwater, with a
spacious well-protected Asyhnn Harbour within, capable of receiving the largest
class of vessels at low water. This valuable roadstead has, until lately, been almost
imknown, or at least but little made use of, but the Trinity Board, with that laudable
energy which cliaracterises their efforts, have tulcen the matter up and are going to
ctinstruct a light house upon the Island, and the entrances to the madstead will be
properly buoyed out, so that it will be ea.sy of access night ami day. We liO}io by tlie.'^e
improvements that tlie numerous wrecks, attended with mcdauchidy loss of life, « liich
have so frequently taken place heretofore on this dangerous coast will be hence-
forward avoided.

Muunt's-hay Breakwater. — On Saturday, the 18th ultimo. Lord Eliot, M.P., Sir
H. Vivian, AI. P., Sir C. Lemon, M. P., Mr. Pendarves, M.P., Major Vivian, M.P.,
and Mr. C. J. W. I'lUis, had an interview with Lord Melbourne and the C-hancellor
of the Exchequer, on the presentation of a memorial to the Government ^oy the con-
truction of a breakwater and harbour of refuge in Mount's-bay.

IffEVT CHURCHBS, Soc.

New District Church at Sibford, near Banhnry. — On Monday, the 6th ultimo, the
ceremony of laying the first stone of a new ohurch about to be erected at Sibford
took place.

West Bromwich. — The Earl of Dartmouth has most liberally offered a piece of
land near Hill Top, in the parish of West Bromwich, for the site of a new chiu'ch,
and also tlie sum cd" 1,200/. towards the erection of the edilice, and 300/. to be in-
vested as a fund for keeping it in repair. His lordship's offer has been accepted,
and a subscription has been entered into to carry this desirable object^ into effect. —
IVolvfrhamptun Chronicle.

New Unitarian Chapel and Sunday Schools. — On the 1st ultimo the ceremony of
laying the first stone of a new Unitarian chapel and Sunday schools, about to be
erected on Newhall Hill, took place. Estimated cost of the building, 3,000/. Mr.
D. B. Hill, architect ; Mr. R. Turner, builder.

Lord Dynevor is erecting at his sole cost a chapel of ease to the parish of Llandilo
Fawr. The ceremony of laying the first stone of the edifice was, withiu the last few
days, performed by his lordship's eldest daughter, the Hon. Fainiy Rice. — Hereford
Jiiurnal.

The Sahsbuiy Diocesan Church Building Association have appointed T. H.
Wyatt, Esq.. their architect.

Staffordshire. — On Sunday, March 24, the collegiate church of Wolverliamptou
was opened for divine service. The interior of this church has been repaired with
oak framings, new oak screens, new galleries, new carved gallery fronts in oak, and
the whole of the interior has been restored to correspond in character with the style
of this beautiful old fabric, together with a new and splendid west entrance win-
dow. The cost has been nearly 3,000/., chiefly by votnntary subscriptions, a grant
of 350/. by the Lichlield Diocesan Society, and 250/. by grant from the Incorporated
Society. A most liberal collection of 335/. 10s. was made at the opening, after the
sermons preached on the occasion by the Venerable Archdeacon Bather (Archdeaoo7i
of Salop). The restoration has been done under the du'ectiun of Robert P'.bbels,
Esq., Architect, of Trysull, Wolveiliampton, and under his direction the exterior is
now about to be repaired and restored.

Staffordshire. — On the 14th nit. the new church at Tipton, near Dudley, was
opened by license. (The consecration does not take place until August.) This
church is a Gothic building, with a tower, crocketed pinnacles, &c., and is built en-
tirely of brick, v,\[\i moulded brick copings, cornices, reveals, &c. The interior lias
a very fine effect with the handsome moulded bracketed beams, on corbels, with
pierced quartre-foil spandrils, and moulded binders, to form cmiipartments in ceiling.
The lengtli from the west door to altar tables, 106 feet 6 inches ; width in clear of
body, 48 feet 6 inches ; height to ceiling, 2y feet 0 inches : it contains 54S sittings in
pews, and 774 free seats, including children's; — total, 1,322 sittings; cost, about
3,700/., including vaults underneath. Her Majesty's commissioners granted 2,000/.,
the Incorporated Society, 3o0/., and the Lichlield Diocesan Society, 7oO/. ; the re-
mainder was raised by subscription. The chiuxli has been erected for her Majesty's
Commissioners for building Churches, from designs, and under the direction of
Robert Ebbels, Esq., architect.

Warnicksliire. — A new church is going to be erected in the parish nf the Holy
Trinity, Coventry. Robert Ebbels, Esq., is appointed the architect.

BerksJiire. — A new church is going to be erected in tlie parish of Old Windsor,
Smiiiing-ldll. Robert Ebbels, Esq. is appointed the arclutect.

Sir Charles Wolsely, Bart, is reported to be about to erect a Roman Catholic
church at Colwich, near Rugeley JKorcestcr Journal.

Clydesdale Bank. — On Wednesday, 15th ultimo, the ceremony of laying the
foundation stone of the handsome edifice, now erecting in Queen-street, Glasgow ,
took place. I'nder the stone was deposited a plate, un which were engraved the
names of the directors, manager, architect, and builders; and also a bottle hermeti-
cally sealed, contahiing a cojiy of all the Glasgow new.spapers, coins of the present
reign, deed of co-partnery, one of each description of the notes issued by^the Clydes-
dale Bnnlc, almanacs, &c,, &c. — Edinburgh Chronicle.

FOREIGN INTELLiaENCE.

The Font which is to serve for the christening of the Count de Paris has already
been taken to the Cathedral church of Notre Dame : it is carved out of a solid block
of stone, and is a very beautiful specimen of tlie llaraboyant Gothic, richly orna-
mented with a great number of Uttlo figures, and the most exejuisite foliage in the
mouldings. — The NonvelUsfe.

The MonuTiu-nt of SrhiUer, at Stullyard. — Tlie inauguration took place on the fith
ullimo, with great pomp. In the morning a procession of 5,000 persons entered the
square. The great ofiirers of State, the members of the two Chambers, the Foreign
Ministers, and other liigh personages, were stationed in a gallery erected for the pur-
pose, with Charles and Ernest Schiller, the sons of the poet, and M. de Gleichen,
his son-in-law, in front. A deputation from the school in which Schiller received his
education attended, and with it some of his old schoolfellows, and even one of his
tutors. Colonel Rosch, now 96 years of age. The statue was uncovered amidst the
enthusiastic acclamations of all the spectators. The house in which Schiller lived
when surgeon of a regiment was decorated with an appropriate inscription, and all
the principal buildings of the town were adorned with flags.

The Ti'inh of the Emperors of Anstria, and other members of the house of Haps-
burgli, in the convent of the Capuchin Friars, at Vienna, is about to be enlarged
to such an extent, that it will receive their descendants for 200 years to come.

French Harbours. — It appears from a statement drawn up by the Administration of
Bridges and Roails, that there are in France no less than 400 harbours and landing-
places. According to the same docmnent, a sum of 16.5,000,000 francs would be
required for the improvement of the most important hai'bonrs alone, of which sum the
Ministry has demanded of the Chamber an advance of 41,000,000 francs, to be divided
among IS of them, as follows:— Calais. 2,700,000f. ; Boulogue-sur-Mer, l,200.000f.;
Dieppe, 2,')00,00l>f. ; Havre, li,O00,000f. ; Rouen. 1,500,0001'.; Brest, SOO.OOOf;
Redon, 4,000.000f.; Croisie, l,400,000f.; Nantes, l,000,000f.; La Rochelle.S.OOO.OOOf.;
Rochefort, GOO.OOOf. ; Chateau, in the Island of Oleron, 300,((00f.; Verdon,
2,50O,000f; Cette, 7,000,0001'.; Marseilles, S,000,000f. ; St. Nazaire, GOO.OOOf. ;
Ajaccio, in Corsica, OOO.OOOf. ; Tle-Rousse, in Corsica, SOO.OOOf.

Mr. R. Stephenson, the able engineer of the London and Birmingham Railway, who
left London for Italy a few weeks ago, to superintend the preliminary arraugeuients
for the construction of the Florence and Leghorn railway, arrived in Florence on the
22nd of April. — Railway Times.

We niulerst and from a correspondent at Muuich that the greater part of the railway
between that town and Augsburg, thirteen leagues in length, will be finished in .Tiily,
and the remainder before the end of autumn. The diligences, waggons, and loco-
motive engines are already at Miuiich. The last have all been made in England,
costing one with another, about 72,000f. a piece. — Railway Times.

Bntnswieh, April 8. — The railway from Brunswick to Wolfenbuttel is far more
frequented than was expected. There are days on which the number of passengers
is above 1,000. The tmdertaking has, therefore, fully succeeded, and does great
honour to the projector.

GEOLOGY.

Singular Fossil Production. — There is now in tlie possession of Mr. B. Froggatt,
miner, of Matlock Bath, a fossil specimen of a most extraordinary form. The gene-
ral contour of the stone, or rather shmes (for there appear to be two) although inse-
parably united, is that of a battle-axe or Indian tomahawk. The greatest peculiarity
of the fossil is, that the part resembling the head of the weapon, comprised appa-
rently of a dark-coloured limestone, absolutely passes throiigh a cavity in the sliaft
part "(which is a light-coloured magnesian hmestone), and is much larger on each
side the orifice than the aperture itself. It would seem, from this circumstance, that
the head was originally the root of sonio plant, and that during its growth it ha<l
accidentally inserted itself in the orifice of the stone, and afterwards became petrified.
It was found near the old Ecton mine, about two feet from the surface. — Staffordshire
Adrertiser.

Elephant.— Tho Journal de la Haute Lairc states, that some labourers at Epsley,
near Puy, who were extracthig some blocks of basalt from a field, met with an entire
skeleton of a fossil elephant; which, however, they, broke to pieces in their careless-
nesa ; and it is supposed that it dates a period posterior to tlie last volcanic formation
France.

Paleontology. — The indefatigable M. Lartet, of whose labours we have so often
spoken, announces the discovery of two fossil Ciu-nivora, one of which appears t.i
constitute a subgenus, intermediate between the badger and the otter, and the second
approaching to the dog, difl'ering but little from that gigantic fossil whirli he baa
de»;cribed under tlie name of Ampbicyon. Ho is of opinion that the latter is the
same animal as that of which some remains were found at Epelslieim, and which
constitutes the geni:s Agnotherium of M. Kaup. "There arc," says M. I-artet, " a
considerable number of fossil mammiferte found on the borders of llie Rhine, which
appear to me to be identical with those which ai-e daily brought to light at the foot of
the I'vrennees. These aftinities are the more interesting, because the intermediate
couutjies, Anvergne, for instance, possessed very difl'orent traces of animals. —
AUwmuuM.

Intere$ti7ig DiicW€ry.^>An interesting discovery was lately made of numerous fos il

238

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[June,

remains of one ol' the larger pacliaderniatous (or thick-hkiniieil) animals, mo.st jiro-
bably of an extinct species orplepliunts. Tliey were accidentally tnrned up by some
labourers at work in a gravel pit. not fur Irom tlie Grand Junction Railway .statiun at
Coppenhall. As far as our information extends they are apparently remains of one
animal, and amongst the most remarkable is a line molar tootli, weighing more than
seven pounds. — Chester Courant.

ANTIQUITIES.

VUcovcry of Roman Rema'uis ut J'or/.-. — The railroads are about the best friends
which antiquarians have in this world. Since the commencement of the York and
North ]\Ii<iland Railway, many valuable discoveries have been made, and many noble
relics added to the nniscum of the Yorkshire Plnlosophical Society. Lately, the
workmen of the railway discovered in the garden lately in the possession of Mr.
Blaekhouse, some relics, and among them a Roman altar, of which the following is
the inscription : Deae Fortvnae Sosia I\7icina tj. Antonu Isavricit Leg. Avo. To the
Cioddoss Fortune, Sosia luiuina (daughter) of Ciuintus Antouius Isauriaa of the
Augustan Legion. — MuinuuuDisliin- Meilin.

Dmcortn/ofan Ancimt Chnpel at Cliesler— Some years ago Messrs. Powell and
Edwards, cutlers of this city, discovered at the back of their premises some
traces of Gothic architecture, and to a certain extent they remGved the rubbish
which had hitherto concealed the archwork. However, conceiving it was merely
a cellar which had in course of time got tilled with rubbish, they did not proceed
in clearing it until a few weeks back. To their credit they have carried upwards
of 100 loads of rubbish out of the place, and now is exposed to view to the lovers
of antiquity a chapel upwards of 15 yards long', 153 broad, and 14 feet in height.
The arches are gothic, beautifully groined, resting on pilasters, about halfway
down the wall, very much resembling those at the entrance into the cloisters of
our cathedral near Little Abbey-square ; the whole is in an admirable state of
preservation. At the west end are two niches, in which the b.^ptismai or sprinkling
founts (for holy water) have been kept, one of which was found in the
rubbish, and is now placed in the situation it originally occupied ; the other was
broken by the workmen. At the east end of the chapel are steps which have
led up to the altar; and on the south side of the chapel are a flight of steps lead-
ing into a subterraneous passage, now choked up. It is plain that this was
anciently a place of worship for the monks belonging to the monastery of Gray
Friars, which was situated near where the St. Bride's new church, opposite the
Castle, now stands. Many conjectures have arisen as to the date of the founda-
tion of this place of worship, but all is mere conjecture, as nothing has been dis-
covered which could lead to fixing the point of time. Antiquaries will enjoy a
rich treat in surveying this relic of the ancient devotional scenes of our fore-
f.ithers; and we have no doubt vast numbers will avail themselves of the kind-
ness and civility of Messrs. Powell and Edwards, and visit it. -Chester Gazette

Queen EUzaheth'a Stutm: — On Friday morning, lOtb ult., the recently discovered
statue of Queen Elizabeth was erected in St. Dunstan's f'hurch avenue. The
pedestal is hxed over a Gothic portico on the eastern side of the church, which has
been erected for the purpose. Underneath is u block of black stone, on whieli is
engraved the following inscription : — ■" This statue of Queen Elizabeth formerly
stood on the west side of Ludgate, and M-as presented by the city to Sir Francis
Gosling, knight, ahlerman of the ward, who caused it to be placed here."

NEW PATENTS.

LIST OF ENGLISH PATENTS GRANTED BETWEEN THE
25th APRIL AND THE 25th MAY, 1839.

John BovD, of College-street, South, and Hiniii Francis Rknnik, of Glengall-
street, both in the town ©f Belfast, and eounty of Antrim, Flax-spinners, for " Certain
Improvements upon the Spinning Frame used for spinning Flax, Hemp, and Tow
upon the wet principle." — April .^0 ; G months to enrol the specification thereof.

Ji'LiAX Skkine, of Cambridge, Esquire, for "Improvements in Manufacturing
Forks and Spoons, Coins and Medals." — April 30; tj months.

James Smith, of Deauston Works, in the parish of Kilmardock, county of Perth,
Cotton-spinner, for " Certain Improvements in the Machinery for Spinning and
Twisting of Wool and oilier similar Fibrous SiibHtances." — April* 30 ; C months.

.ToHN RosraoN, of Edenfield, in the comity of Lancaster, Manufacturer, for " Cer-
tain Improvements in the Construction of Looms for "Weaving." — April 30 ; 6 montlis.

Joseph Hunt, of Dalston-terrace, Middlesex, Gentleman, fur " Improvements in
the Manufacture of Soda and other valuable products from Common Salt."— May 7 ;
tt months.

David Navlor, of Copley-mill, Halifax, in the county of Vurk, Manufacturer, and
John Crighton, Junior, of Manchester, Machine maker, for " C'ertain Improvements in
Macliinery for weaving Single, Double, and Triple Cloths by Hand or Power."— May
7 ; G months.

George England, of Gloucester-terrace, Vauxhall-bridge-road, Engineer, for ** An
Improved Screw Jack for Raising or Moving Heavy Bodies, both vertically and late-
rally."— May 7 ; t* months.

William Davis, of Leeds, Machine-maker, and George Kinder, of Aldmansbury,
Cloth-dresser, both in the county of York, for " Certain Improvements in Machinery
for Dressing and Cleansing Woollen Cloths."— May 7 ; 0 montlis.

Joseph Maudslav and Joshua Field, of Lambeth, Kngineers, for" Improve-
ments in the construction of Marine Steam-engines which are particularly applicable
to Steam-engines of the largest class."~7th May ; G months.

James Whitelaw, of Glasgow, Engineer, for " An Imi)roved Rotary Machine to
be worked by the pressure and reaction of a column of water, which Machine may
be used as a Steam-engine ; also an Improved Water Meter, and a Machine for
Raismg Water or other liquid by its centrifugal force."— 7th May ; 6 months.

Edward Oliver Manby, of Swansea. Glamorgan, Ciril Engineer, for " A New

Method of Manufacturing Gas for the general purposes of Illumination." — Sth May;
6 months.

Germain le Normand de L'Osier, of the Tavistock-hotel, Covent-gardeu,
Merchant, for " Improvements in Machinery for Raising Water." — 8th May ; G
months.

Richard Pkosser, of Birmingham, Civil Engineer, for " Certain Improvements
in Machinery for making Nails and Screws." — 8th May; 2 nmnths.

William Harper, of Cooper's-court, Cornhill, Patent Stove Manufacturer, and
Thomas W^alker, of Birmingham, Machinist, for "Improvements in Stoves and
Grates." — 10th May ; 6 months.

George Stocker, of Birmingham, Brass-founder, for '* Certain Improvements in
Cocks or Apparatus for drawing ofl' Liquids." — 13th May; ti months.

MosES Poole, of Lincoln's-inn, Gentleman, for " Improvements in reducing the
friction of Axletrees and Asletree Boxes, and other such moving parts of machinery." —
1 3lh May ; 0 months.

John Henry Rodgers, of Birmingham, Merchant, for " Improvements in
Clasps or Fastenings' principally ajiplicable to certain articles of Dress." — 13th May ;
ti months.

John Williamson AVhittaker, of Bolton. Lancaster, Joiner, and Rowland
HallHeaton, of the same place, Cotton-spinuer, for " Certain Improvements in
the means of connecting or uniting Straps or Bands for driving Machinery, and
other similar purposes, and in the Apparatus for etiecting the same." — 20th May ; 0
months.

Jr>HN George Bodmer, of Manchester, Engineer, for " Certain Improvements
in Machinery, Tools, or Apparatus, for cutting, planing, turning, and rolling Metals
and other Substances."— 20th May ; fi months.

John W'alker, of Allen street, Surrey, Oven-builder, for " Certain Improvements
in Coke Ovens." — 22nd May ; ti months-

Williasi Jefeeries, of Hulme-street, Mile-end, Metal Refiner, for " Certain Im-
provements iu the process of smelting or extracting Metal from Copper and other
Ores." — 22nd May ; 6 months.

Thomas Harper, of tlie Grange, near Newnham, Gloucester, Merchant, for
' Certain Improvements in Railways or Tram Roads." — 22nd May ; 6 months.

James Vardv, of Wolverhampton, Stafford, Gentleman, for " Improvements in
rolling Iron." — 22nd IMay ; 6 months.

Nicholas Troughton, of Leicester-street, Regent-street, Gentleman, for " Im-
provements iu obtaining Copper from Ores." — 22nd May ; 6 months.

Nicholas Troughton, of Swansea, Glamorgan, for " Improvements iu the Man-
ufacture of Zinc." — 22nd May ; 6 months.

LiEt'TENANT WiLLiAM Olumixon, of Her Majesty's Navy, for " Means of
SaWng Human Life iu cases of disasters at sea, by certain arrangements of Vessels,
Decks or parts thereof, which he terms Safety Decks or Deck." — 22nd May ; 6
months.

Henrv Griffiths, of Acton-place, Camden-town, Artist, for " Improvements in
the Process of Producing I'rints or Impressions from Steel, Copper and other
Plates."— 25th May ; 6 months.

Martial Aiigustin Joseph de Herrypon, of Leicester-street, St. Martin in
the Fields, Mining Engineer, for an " Improved Machine or Apparatus, for washing
and bleaching Wool, Cotton, Silk, Linen, and other Fibrous Materials, either in a
manufactured or unmanufactured state," — 2oth May; 6 months.

Thomas Clark and Charles Clark of Wolverhampton, Ironfoimders and
Copartners, for an " Invention for glazing and enamelling Cast Iron Hollow Ware,
and other Metallic Substances." — 2,')th May ; 6 months,

Benjamin Hick, of Bolton, in the county of Lancaster, Engineer, for " Certain
Improvements in Machinery or Apparatus for driying Cotton, Woollen and other
fabrics, and other Fibrous Substances or Materials." — 25th Mav ; 6 months.

ERRATA.

In the Table of Public Buildings, page 187, the lines In the fourth column
of " Remarks," do not range [properly— the line opposite " Adelphi,*' and the
four lines below should each be a line lower.

Page 192 in the last line of the Procedings of the "Institution of the Civil
Engineers," for 500 read 5000

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

The communication of M., on Railway Curves, will be inserted next month, if it
be found upon examination essentially different from what we have already pub-
lished.

B's Parody is not admissable.

We have been obliged to postpone our reviews until next month in consequence
of a press of matter and arrears ^^'hich we were desirous of clearing oif.

The continuation of Mr. Curtis's Railway Improvements will appear in our next
Journal.

We shall feel obliged to our country correspondents if they will forward us any
account of works in progress, or any newspaper containing articles connected with
the objects of our Journal.

Communications are requested to be addressed "To the Editor op the Civil
Engineer and Architect's Journal," 57, King street, Westminster : or to Mr.
(iRoQ.MBRiDGE, Pauyer-alley, Paternoster-row — if by post to be directed to the
former place.

*,* The first volume may be had bound in cloth and lettered in gold, price, 17s.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

239

CURTIS'S PATENT RAILWAY IMPROVEMENTS.

ANIMAL LOCOMOTIVE, OR MACHINE FOR MULTIPLYING THE VELOCITY OF BEASTS OF BURDEN.

Fig. 1. — Front view of the Machine.

Fig. 2. — Side view of tlic Machine.

Fig. 5. — Side view of tlic Third Modification.

No. 22.— Vol. II.— Jit.v, 1839.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[JULT,

Kg. 6.

Fig. 7.

B.8.

Kg. 9.

Fig. 11.

Kg. 12.

i I / lU.

\!

G J

Kg. 14.

'. i /

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

241

Fig. 3.— Side view of the Second Modification.

Fig. 4. — Plan of the above.

1 _. ._'lltHWWil

I

CURTIS'S PATENT RAILWAY IMPROVEMENTS.
( Continued from page 123.^

ANIMAL LOCOMOTIVE; OR, MACHINE FOR MULTIPLYING THE VELOCITY
OF BEASTS OF BURDEN.

The macliineiy or apparatas is described by the inventor under
tliree moditications, as sliown in the annexed engravings. Figure 1 is
a front view, and Figure 2 is a side view of a machine, in which an
animal produces a motion in the machine by his weight, and the mus-
cular force of his fore legs alone ; this is effected thus : upon the shaft
of the driving wheels B, cranks D, are formed in the same mamier as
for a locomotive, excepting that tire cranks are opposite, and not at
right angles to each other, as in a locomotive ; to the cranks are at-
tached the connecting links, GG, and to these are likewise connected
the treadles EE ; the horse, or other animal, H, then alternately de-
presses the treadles EE by his fore legs, and thus the wheels BB are
turned round in the same way as in a steam-engine, or in a grinder's
barrow ; the ert'ective force of the animal is increased by using the
strap or band I, which passes over his back, thus enabling him to exert
the muscular force of his fore legs, as in the act of lifting, or getting
up ; the powerful and broad belly-band, K, is secured to the framing,
and is placed to catch the animal, in the case of his faUing on the
treadles, and breaking them ; the partition-board L is placed between
the legs, to prevent the animal by any chance placing his foot upon
the wrong treadle ; A is the framing of the machine, G the passive
■K'lieels, F the joints upon which the treadles move, and are fixed to
tlie cross-framing of the machine as shown; the same letters apply to
both figures, and the description, so far as the parts are shown in each,
applies likewise.

Another modification of this machine is shown in figures 3 and 4, in
tfliich the animal exerts the force due to his muscular power alone,

as in the act of drawing a load. Figiue 3 is a side view, and figure
4 a plan of the machine ; cranks DD, are formed upon the shaft of
the driving-wheels BB, as in the last described machine, and con-
necting rods G'G', are comiected with the cranks as before ; but the
rods are now placed in a horizontal position, and are connected with
the vertical links G'G'; to the lower ends of the vertical links G'G',
are attached the front ends of the treadle bars EE, and the after ends
of the bars EE are attached to the vertical links MM ; thus the treadles;
are suspended by the vertical links G' and M : upon the bars EE
boards are fixed, upon which the animal stands, and exerts his force,
as in the act of walking and drawing. Another method to support the
ends of the treadles will be to use friction-wheels instead of the
hanging links MM, but I prefer the method dravra ; a board may be
placed to separate the legs of the animal, as shown in L, in figure 2,
the animal is yoked in a collar, and the drag-chains I, are fastened to
the framing, so that the horse, as drawn, is in the same position as if
placed in a cart ; a platform P is placed forward for the animal to rest
his fore legs upon, and a shutter or partition upon hinges L, so that
the animal in the act of working shall always step upon the treadles ;
this partition shuts down when the animal is placed in the machine,
or withdrawn from it ; the treadle bars EE pass imder the platform P,
as shown by the dotted lines, and pass to the hanging links G'G', as
shown; the dark footmarks HHHH, in figure 4, denote the position of
the feet of the animal upon the treadles, and platform A is the framing>
CC the passive wheels, and the rails throughout the plate are denoted
bv tlie dotted shading.

The next improved apparatus is shown in figure 5 ; in this instance
the horse is represented as in the act of drawing upon the common
road, and is yoked, as in a cart, between the shafts or springs B ; the
shafts or springs B are raised or depressed by means of the screw F,
and handle E; a cross piece G connects the two shafts or springs to-

242

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[July,

gether, ami n nut is fixed into the cross piece, in which the screw F
works ; the toe of the screw works in the fixed cross piece K ; and
thus, by turning the screw, the rise or fall in the springs B is produced.
A powerful girth passes round the animal as far forwaril as possible,
and is fastened to the shafts, as shown, so that when the animal has
started the machine by his weight and force, as in starting a load in
a cart, the springs or shafts are gradually screwed up, as the \elocity
of the animal increases, so as to carry a certain proportion of the
horse's or animal's weight, which becomes then transferred to the ma-
chine, and the horse w ill take longer steps, and longer springs or leajjs,
as in galloping, in the same way as a man upon a velocipede. An}-
other suitable method may be adopted to fix or sling the animal than
that drawn either by a spring like a coach-spring, fixed to suitable
framing, placed over the horse's back with any screw or lever-method
to produce the object of relieving the horse of his weight as his ve-
locity increases, which is the particular object of this combination.
The machine may be made as drawn, or the horse or other animal
may be placed in front of the carriage, which is the better method.

Figure 6 and 7 is a substitution for the crank-motion shown and
described in figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, in which figures it is necessary that
the animal should time the movement of his feet conformably with the
position of the cranks, but substituting the ratchet-motion shown — it
will be innnaterial whether a long or short step is taken or both feet
applied at once, the requisite movement of the driving wheels
will be produced; the action is as follows: B is the shaft of the
driving wheels, C a ratchet wheel fixed upon it, D the crank or sheave
of the ratchet working loose upon the shaft, E the paul taking into the
ratchets united by a pin in the usual way to the sheave or crank D, F
is the tail of the sheave upon which the comiterbalance A is fixed ;
the distance of the weight from the centre of the shaft B, is regulated
by the weight of the connecting rod G, and the treadles connected
with the fore end of the sheave, and this is kept in its place by the
set screws ; the weight of the counterbalance and its leverage must be
such as to bring back the treadle the moment the animal has lifted his
foot, when the sheave goes back an<l the paul falls into another ratchet,
the animal again applies his feet and force to the treadle, and a new
impulse is given to the wlieels. Figure 6 is a section, and figure 7 a
plan of this contrivance, figures 8, 9, and 10, are three views of a
compound variation of the above-described method to produce a
rotary motion from a reciprocating one, by which a forward or back-
ward motion may be produced by merely changing the pauls from the
forward or backward ratchets ; the general construction of the ratchets
and sheaves is the same as in the last-described figures, but here two
ratchets and sheaves, one right hand and the other left hand, are
placed side by side upon the shaft, and the connecting links GG upon
opposite sides of the shaft B are coimected with the same treadle, so
that by throwing into gear with the ratchets either the left hand or
right hand pauls, a forward or backward movement is produced upon
the machine, the pauls are coimected by the lever I I, and the jointed
rods m m, so that by a simple movement of the lever k the one ratchet
is withdrawn and the other thrown into gear, or when the lever k is
vertical both pauls are disengaged.

The apparatus, as shown in the drawing, is ada])ted for the par-
ticiUar machine shown in figures 1 and 2, where the action of the
animal is a vertical action, to apply it for the modification shown in
figures 3 and 4 ; when the action of the animal is horizontal, either
the crank or sheave D must be made at right angles to the tail F, so
as to allow the counterbalance weight A to act by its gravity, and the
horizontal treadles must be coimected at once with the crank or sheave
D, or the crank or sheave D must be still vertical as above described,
and the connecting rods G connected with the vertical links G'G', as
shown in figures 3 and 4, the comiteraction of the treadles may be pro-
duced by a spring or other suitable method ; liivewise a change from a
forward to a backward motion, and vice versa, may be effected by
making both ratchets and sheaves or cranks loose upon the shaft, and
placing on each side clutches sliding upon the shaft in the usual way,
and throwing the one or the other clutch into gear with the right or
left hand ratchet and sheave or crank, as it may be desirable ; the
same letters refer to the same parts of the various figures, as each is
respectively shown in the drawing. Figure S is a side view and sec-
tion ; figure 9 an end view ; and figure 10 a plan of the same. Figures
11 and 12 is a modification by which an increased or diminished lever-
age may be produced upon the crank or wheels when the machine
is either at rest or in motion, so that a longer lever may be anplied
when most force is required ; viz. at starting the machine, aua a re-
duced leverage and more rapid movement of the wheels when the
carriage is in motion. The general form of the ratchets and counter-
balance is the same as that before described ; but the crank end is
made longer, so that the end of the connecting link G, which is fixed
to the crank D in the former cases by a pin-joint, slides along the

crank, and approaches to or recedes from the centre of the shaft by
means of the screw I, and sliding nut K, so that by turning the handle
H, the nut K is brought by means of the screw I to the extreme end
of the lever D, and the link G then occupies the position shown by
the dotted line ; then as the velocity increases, the nut is advanced by
the same means towards the centre, the leverage is diminished, and
consecjuently the velocity of the wheels is increased by the same move-
ment of the animal's feet. Figure 12 is an end view of the lever D,
link G, nut K, and screw I. Figure 13 is a modification of the same
invention, the only variation being in the form of the lever D, and the
sliding nut or apparatus K ; here the lever is a solid lever, and the
nut K a hollow socket, sliding along the lever; this is moved forwards
or backwards by the handle H: the spring I is formed at its lower end
into a bell-crank, and fixed to the stem of the handle by a pin-joint,
which, wlien the spring is compressed and brought close to the handle,
as it will be when a man grasps the handle and spring in his hand, lifts
the latch in the lower end, which latch fits into the notches ;(, »;, h, and
the socket and connecting-link may then be advanced or drawn back
along the lever; when the spring and handle is let go, the latch falls
into the notch when the nut or socket K is held seciurely upon the
lever, the variation is thus evidently produced as in the last figure,
and the link G made to occupy any position with respect to the lever
as may be desired. Figme 14 is an end view of the same figure —
le% er D — handle H — spring I — latch M.

PAPER READ BY W. TITE, ESQ., PRESIDENT OF THE
ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY, AT THE LAST SOIREE OF
THE SEASON 1S39.

The Report just read will have comi.aunicated to you the general
results of our labours during the present session ; in the interval since
November, when I had the honour of accepting the chair of this society,
as president, I hope that the suggestions I ventured to make on that
occasion have been followed out, and that something has been done in
extending its usefulness, and in promoting and advancing the studies
of our younger members.* We do not propose to ourselves the mak-
ing a display- among the literary societies of Europe, nor the assuming
a rank which neither om- numbers nor our influence would justify us in
seeking; but we would desire to advance our art by extending informa-
tion amongst its individual members, and by liberally including
within oiu' naturally limited circle all who have a claim upon us by
honourable character and scientific pursuits. Usefulness was always the
aim and object of this society. Usefulness will, I hope, be its motto as
lone as I have the honour of presiding over it. With this impression,
ontiie present occasion, I am rather disposed to consider generally two
or three topics of interest to architects, which have arisen during the
past year, than to confine my remarks to one subject, or to give to any
thing that I may have to communicate the formal character of an
essay.

The first subject I shall refer to, and the one of the greatest impor-
tance to architects at the present period, is that of the public compe-
titions which have been lately proposed for several large buildings,
such as .St. George's Hall at Liverpool, and the Royal Exchange of
London. Opportunities such as these are of the greatest value, even
nationally ; for placed as England is in the scale of nations, the eyes of
the world are upon us, and if we do not avail ourselves of these oppor-
tunities to remove the reproaches which have been cast (and often
but too truly) upon our national taste, we shall be accused of having
retrograded, when our manufacturers, our commerce, and all the other
arts of life have advanced, and of being behind our continental neigh-
bours in the science and in the practice of architecture.

Open competitions, such as have been proposed for the Houses of
Parliament and the Nelson Monument, and those now proposed for
the Royal Exchange and the Hall at Liverpool, otter splendid oppor-
tunities, which if fairly ofi'eredto the profession, would, I doubt not, be
generally and eagerly embraced. The coiuse taken with the first
was on the whole satisfactory : the appointment of the commissioners
was a judicious measiu-e, and the world seems generally agreed that
the result, (the choice of Mr. Barry's design, and his appointment as
architect,) have been fair as reg-ards the competitors, and successful in
a national point of view. In the Nelson memorial the course has
been manly and straightforward ; and I think public opinion seems to
support the committee in their determination that, though the designs
chosen to receive the premium had considerable merit, yet it was wise
and judicious to give another opportunity to architects and artists,
because neither of them seemed to realize the wishes and expectations
of the public upon the subject.

• At the last election of students at the Royal Academy, all the student
members of the society (five in mimbcrj who were candidates, were elected.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

243

The Royal Excliange, however, is an object which in a national
point of view may never occur again ; its purpose brings us in distinct
competition with the other nations of Europe, but particularly with
France ; the situation is as striking as could well be cliosen in London,
the means are ample, and, with a fair opportunity, I cannot but believe
that most of the architectural talent of England would have been en-
listed in the competition. I am sorry, however, to say that in this
matter the expectation of the public, with respect to public competition,
will probably be disappointed. So far as I am able to judge, this feel-
ing prevails tln-oiighoiit the profession generally, and from connnuni-
cations we have received from the histitute, they appear to have not
only felt but acted as we have done. The course we have thought it
right to take has been shortly this ; a special committee was summoned
on the 15th of A]iril to consider the subject, at which the follow-
ing resolutions were agreed to : —

At a special meeting of the Architect lual Society held on Monday evening
the 15th April, 1830, for the purpose of considering tlie resolutions of the
Gresham Committee, issued as instructions to architects furnishing designs for
the new Royal Exchange ; it was

Resolved, — That this society beg respectfully to represent to the Gresham
Committee the difficulty under «liicli it appears to thcni that architects nuist
lahoiu in preparing designs for the new Royal Exchange, from the indistinct-
ness of the instructions contained in resolntion No. 13.

That the arrangement of a well considered plan is of the greatest impor-
tance to the value of a design ; and that it is not possible to meet the oIj-
vious necessities of the case, unless the olijects proposed in the general
distribution of the apartments be specified, together with the individual
application of each of those apartments.

That it is a matter of notoriety that, under the roof of the Old Exchange,
accommodation was provi<led for the Lord Mayor's Court office, the Mer-
chant Seaman's Asylum, Lloyd's Coffee House, and the Royal Exchange Fire
Office ; it is presumed, however, that one or other of these establishments
must now be omitted, because three only arc spoken of.

That it ap))ears to this society that there could be no objection to the
explanation now sought, similar information having been universally given
in competitions for other l)uildings, without which, indeed, they cannot con-
ceive that a design of any value could be sidjmitted.

That the Idock plan required in resolution No. 4, would he inconveniently
large at the scale deternuned upon.

That a question has arisen as to the exact meaning of resolution No. j, in
which the words " coloured drawings" occm', in conjunction with the " two
perspective drawings" required to be made, this society having been led to
understand that all drawings, whether views or othei-wise, are to he tinted in
Indian ink only.

And lastly, 'That it appears exceedingly deshable for the uniforuufy of tlie
arrangement of the facades, that the levels of the ground shoidd he fmnished.
(Signed) William Tith, President.

35, Lincoln' s-inn Fields, 15th April, 1839.

These were sent by the secretar)- to the clerk of the Gresham Com-
mittee ; on the 27th April, following, this answer was received.

Mercers Hall, 25th .tpril, 1839.
Sir, — I am duected by the Joint Gresham Committee to acknowledge the
receipt of your letter of the 1 8th instant, enclosing copy of the resohitions
passed at a meeting of the Ai-chitectural Society of the 15th, in reference to
the printed instructions to architects who may wish to send in designs for the
new Koyal Exchange, and to state in reply, for the information of the Archi-
tectural Society, that the committee having sent out their instnictions to
architects, cannot now, without great inconvenience to all parties, alter what
they have done, except to say that the rooms required are for three distinct
compaaies. I have tlie honom- to be, Sh, your most obedient humble
servant, Jamks Babnks,

Clerk of tlie Gresham Committee.
William Grellier, Esq.,

Hon. Secret art/, ij-c. ^-e. S(c.

The Institute of Architects, it appears, by a letter obligingly com-
mimicated by that body, also addressed the committee on the same sub-
ject ; the answer to them was as follows : —

Jlercer's Hall, 25th April, 1839.

Sib, — I am dkected by the Joint Gresham Committee to acknowledge the
receipt of yoiu- letter of the 17th instant, respecting the printed instructions
to architects who may wish to send designs for the new Royal Exchange, and
to state in reply, for the information of the Royal Institute of British Archi-
tects, that the conunittee regret they caonot accede to their request for an
extension of the time already detennined upon.

That with respect to the questions whether the committee require a tower
with a chime of bells .' and whether there will be any objection to the prin-
cipal entrance floor being raised upon a flight of steps i the committee leave
those subjects entirely to the taste and judgment of the architects. And tliat
the three series of rooms as described in the printed particulars arc intended
for three distinct companies.

The committee are perfectly satisfied that the anonymous advertisement

mentioned in your letter, had not the sanction of the Royal Institute of
British Architects. I have the honour to be. Sir, your most obedient luuuble
servant,

(Signed) James Barnes,

Clerk of the Gresham Committee.
Thos. L. Donaldson, Esq., Hon. Sec, I. B. A.

Now surely any thing more unsatisfactory than these answers, par-
ticularly the former, can scarcely be conceived ; liow easy would it
have been to have issued explanations, as was dune in the case of the
Houses of Parliament, and a short advertisement would have announced
them — but every thing is refused, and a competitor can only grope in
the daik imless assisted by private information unfairly obtained. The
labour of such a design must be excessive, the drawings enormously
and uselessly large at the prescribed scale, the premium almost paltry,
and as it appears the successful competitor is not to be employed
as architect, the whole affair may be considered in the words of
Shakspeare, as an attempt " to keep the w'ord of promise to the ear,
but break it to the hope."

Leaving now this unsatisfactory topic, I pass on to notice one or
two matters of interest which it appears to me desirable to mention.
There are first, as a nuitter of great usefulness, the experiments of Mr.
Hodgkinson and Mr. Fairbairn, in the seventh report of the British
Association of Science, on the mechanical properties of cast-iron.

The results of these experiments are shortly given in the Ajjpendix
to Professor Moseley's Illustrations of Mechanics, and some of the
most important to us are comprised in the following extracts: —

The experiments of Mr. Hodgkinson and Mr. Fairbairn have been published,
in the Seventh Report of the British Association of Science, since our chapter
on the strength of materials went to press. Their great practical importance
will sufficiently account for their introduction here, as an appendix to that
chapter. They have reference —

1st. To the resistance of cast iron to rupture by extension.

2d. To the resistance of cast iron to ruptm-e by compression.

3d. To the resistance of cast iron to rupture by transverse strain.

4th. To the destruction of the elastic properties of the material as the body
advances to rupture.

5th. To the influence of time upon the conditions of r\ipture.

6th. To certain relations of the internal structm-e of metals to therr condi-
tions of rupture.

7th. To the relative properties in all these respects of hot and cold

BLAST IRON.

The experiments of Mr. Hodgkinson on transverse strain present less of
novelty and importance : they fully, however, confirm the views previously
taken on this subject by him, and detailed in articles GO, 68, &c. A series of
them, directed to the verification of the conunonly assumed principle, " that
the strengths of rectangular beams of the same width, to resist rupture by
transverse strain, are as the squares of their depths," fiiUy estabUshed that
law.

With regard to the destruction of the elastic properties of the material, as
it approaches to rnptme, the experiments of Mr. Hodgkinson possess great
interest and importance.

It has been asserted by Mr. Tredgold, and commoidy assumed, that this
destruction of elastic power, or (hsplacement beyond the elastic limit, does
not manifest itself mitil the load exceeds one third the ireakini/ iceight.

Mr. Hodgkinson found that, in some instances, this eft'ect was produced,
and manifested in a permanent set of the material, when the load did not
exceed one si,rteenth of the breaking weight. Thus, a bar one inch square,
sujiported between props 4 J feet apart, which broke when loaded with 496
ft,., showed :ii permanent defection, or set, wiien loaded with 16 Iti. In other
cases, permanent sets were given by loads of 7 Iti. aiul 14 lb., tlie breaking
weights being respectively 364 lb. and 1120 ft. These sets were therefore
given by one-fifty-second and one-eighteth the breaking weights rc5])ectively.
Thus, then, there would seem to he no such linuts, iu respect to transverse
iYrai;), as those known by the name of elastic Umits; and it follows from
these experiments that the principle of loading a beam within the elastic
limit has no foundation in practice.

It was ascertained by a very ingenious experiment, that a bar, subjected,
under precisely the same circumstances, to extension and coiojiression by
transverse strain gave, for eqiial loads, equal defections, in the two cases.

The most remarkable results on the subject of transverse strain were, how-
ever, those of Mr. Fairhahn, baring reference to the influence of time upon
the deflection produced by a given load.

A bar one inch square, supported between jirops 4^ feet apart, and loaded
with 280 tt)S., being about |tlis its breaking weight, had its deflection accu-
rately meastu-ed, from nmnth to month, for fifteen months, ami it was found
that, throughout that jieriod, the deflection was continually increasing;
the whole increase in that period amounting to the fraction '043 of an inch.
A bar of the same dimensions, similarly supported, and loaded w itli 336 Its.,
being about }ths of its breaking weight, increased its deflection similarly, an(l
in the same period, by tlie fraction -077 of an inch. Another similar bar,
loaded with about |ths the breaking weiglit, similarly increased its deflection
by the -OSSth of au inch. The deflection of these bars still daily .idvances
imder the same loatls, and, a sufficient period having elapsed, will no doubt

244

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[July,

jH'Oceed to mp/ure. k fourth bar of the same size was loaded with 448 tbs.,
being very nearly its breaking load. It l)ore it for tliutyrseven days, increas-
ing its de'tlection dnring the fi.ist few days hy the fractioTi -282 of an inch ;
thence retaining the some deflection until it broke.

The fact thus established, that a beam loaded beyond a certain linut con-
tinualh' yields to the load, but with an exceeilingly slow iirogix'ssion, unless
the load very nearly approach the breaking load, is one of vast practical im-
portance; it ojjeits an entirely new fleld of speculation and inquiry. The
questions, what are the limits of loading (if any) beyond whicli this continual
progression to rupture beyins .' what are the various rates of progi'ession cor-
responding to (/i^l?re«Moads beyond that limit? and what are the elfeets of
temperature on these circumstances ? remain, as yet, almost unanswered.

A series of experiments was directed by Mr. llodgkinson to the verification
cf this law, usually assumed in resjiect to the transverse strength of rect-
angular licams, that, when their lengths ami brcadtiis are the same, their
strengths are as the squares of their dejiths.

His experiments fully established this law. Thus he placed lietween props,

4 feet 6 inches apart, castings of Carron iron No. 2., which were all 1 inch
broad, and respectively 1, 3, and 5 inches deep; these broke respectively
vith weights of 452 ttjs., i$,843 lbs., and 10,050 tbs. ; which arc very nearly
as the numbers 1, 9, 25; that is, as the squares of the depths."

In the original report at page 355, is the result of certain exjierij
laents on Carron iron, and the two last in the table are of the greates
value, as shewing the importance of tliose in(|uiries to an archi-
tect, and the necessity for his obtaining scientific knowledge upon tliis
subject in order to a successful and economical application of materials.
In tliese tables then it appears that a cast ircjn bar of the T form
usually adapted, but with table upwards, thus, T, broke with 2S0 lbs.,
whilst another bar of the same size and, ccsleris jjaribiis, but with the
table downwards, thus, _l, broke with a weight of 980 lbs.

Another subject, as it appears to me, of great interest, though not
exactly in an architectural, but in an arcliaological point of view, is that
of the researches lately made on the pyramids of Ghizeh, for Colonel
Vyse, by Mr. Perring the engineer, and Mi-. Andrews.

These wonders of the old world are situated near Cairo, N. w. of the
site of the ancient Memphis; and the principal ones are three inmnn-
ber. The largest (supposed to have been built by Cheops or Suphis,
2100 years before Christ), lias been the main object of these researches.
They inform us that the principal part of the stone composing the
pyramid has been taken from the rock on which it w as built ; the blocks
are roughly scpiared, but built in regular courses, varying from 4 feet 10
inches to 2 feet 2 inches in height, in which the breaking of the joints
is carefully preserved wherever tliese courses are exposed to sight,
as in the platform at the top of the building in the Queen's chamber ;
and in the passage leading thereto, and likewise in some other places
at the exterior, circular holes are to be observed, about S inclies in
diameter and 4 deep, apparently intended to support the macliinery
mentioned by Herodotus to have been used for raising the stones from
one coiuse to another, and which seem to have been similar to the
Polyspaston descrilied by Vitruvius.

The stone for the revetement, or casing of the exterior, and for the
lining of the chambers and passages, is a compact limestone, known to
geologists by the name of swinestone or stiukstone, from emitting,
when struck, a fetid odour. It was brought from the Gebel Mokattam,
on the opposite or Arabian side of the valley of tlie Nile, and the an-
cient quarries seem to Ivave been in the neighbourhood of the present
village of Tourah. It is of a very compact formation, with but few
fossil remains ; the rocks on tlie Lybian side, where tlie pyramids are
placed, are, on the contrary, of a loose and granulated texture, abound-
ing in marine fossils, and consequently luifit for fine work, and liable to
decay.

The blocks appear to have been finally prepared on tlie level rock
in front of the northern face of the pyramid, where several rows 4 or

5 feet asimder, of 3 or 4 circular holes, about 12 inches diameter, and
8 or 10 deep, have been cut, apparently for the purpose of inserting
sliears, or for forming a scatfolding for turning or moving the blocks.

The stone cuttings and rubbish were thrown over the front of the
lock in prodigious quantities, where they still remain.

The mortar used for the casing and lining of the passages was com-
posed entirely of lime, but in the body of Uie pyramid it was formed
of ground red brick, gravel, Nile earth and crushed granite, or of
calcareous stone and lime ; and in some parts, a grout of liquid mortar
and desert sand and gravel only has teen used.

The joints of the casing stones which were discovered at the base
of the northern front, those in the king's and queen's chambers, and
also in the passages, are so fine as to be scarcely perceptible.

There has been considerable discussion among the learned respect-
ing the term in Herodotus translated by Larcher " revetir et perfeo-
tionner:" if the latter word expresses the whole meaning, all diCBculty
ceases. Part of the revetement of the central pyramid of the three to

the eastward of the great j)j-ramid, which remains unfiuislieil, shews
the maimer in which this was accomplished. The casing, composed
of stones roughly cut to the required angle, was built in horizontal
layers corresponding with the courses of the top, till the whole was
reduced to one uniform surface. (Beloe.) The ancients always 1^'ft
the face of their work to be finished oil' after the building was in other
respects com|)leted.

In pre])aring tlie base of the pyramid, proper care was talcen to
ensure the stability of the superstructure, by leveling the rock to a flat
bed : and where atlvaiitage was taken of it, to form jiart of the body
of the pyramid, it was stepped up in horizontal beds, according to the
thickness of the layers of stone used in the building. The general
result of these enquiries appears to be the discovery of several cham-
bers immediately over the central or king's chamber, the paved
platform and the remains of the ancient revetement still existing at the
foot of the pyramid, and, contrary to general ijelief, the discovery of
the fact that the main passage is so constructed as to allow of the
sarcophagus having lieen carried in subsequently to the completion of
the pyramid. The upper chambers thus discovered are called by Mr.
Perring chambers of construction; they are four in number, of no great
height, and appear to have been principally intended to diminish tlie
weight of the ceiling of the king's chamber ; they have never been
opened before, and on the walls and ceilings are the chalk marks of
the workmen, and ruile hieroglyphics coeval with their construction;
one of these hieroglyphics in a cartouche appears to read as the name
of Suphis. The revetement appears to have been lieautifully wrought,
and the mortar so good that the stones have Ijroken when violencelias
been used, whilst tlie joint has held soundly.

The third and last matter I would notice, is the very curious subject
of painted arcliitecture and sculpture. It is but few years since the
polychromy of the ancient Greeks has forced itself on the attention of
the admirers of classic remains ; the dandy amateur puts the subject
aside by a sign of horror at tlie idea of painting white marble, and the
learned " find it not in their philosophy." Nevertheless, that Greek
architecture and statuary were painted, rests on the simple fact that
Uiei/ remain so still.

()ar own ancestors, it is well known, painted the interior of their
buildings, as well as their statues, with great and brilliant effect ; and it
is now clear that the Greeks did the same.

The account in a leading periodical seems to sum up our present
information on the subject, and to give a sensible reason for this
practice. [Given by us at page 220 of the last Journal.]

To this curious account may be added the still more curious cir-
cumstance that even the great pyramids themselves were painted.
H. C. Agnew, Esq., who has published very lately a very curious work,
makes tlie following statement in " a letter from Alexandria on the
evidence of the practical application of the quadration of the circle
in the configuration of the second pyramid at Gizeli." In examining
the surface I have not been able to detect any coating like that pro-
duced by common paint, much less any ilistinct layer of plaster; but
the stone seems to have been saturated with some fluid, as oil or var-
nish, which has rendered the surface harder as far as it penetrated.
Whole acres of this lubricated surface still remain upon the upper
part, or casing, as it is called, of the second pyramid."

In speaking of the great pyramid, Pliny says, "est autem saxo na-
turali elaborata et lubricata." The present colour of this outer siu'face
is of a brownish yellow, or yellowish brown. It has become darker by
time and exposure, like the marble of many antique statues, &c.

I have thus completed the reference to the subjects I have considered
it desirable to notice ; it has been very imperfectly done, bvit it may
serve to attract your attention to some matters that are useful and
essential, and to give you an interest in othej-s of the most ciuious
character. We may not be called upon to build pyramids, nor would
our climate permit us to indulge in the gay decorations of the archi-
tecture of the Athenians ; but tlie care and thought, and science exhi-
bited in the construction of the pyramids ought to be useful to us as
examples, and the principles which guided the Greeks in their com-
binations of colour, if discovered, miglit lead us to results which would
not only justify what appears to us to be a barbarism, but teach us that
in this, as in literature, architecture and sculptiue, the Greeks may
give lessons to the world.

A new general chart of the banks of Newfoundland, formed by Captain
Davaud and the officers attached to his siurveying expedition in 1837, 1838,
and 1839, m which numerous important errors of former charts are rectified,
has ju.st been published by order of the Minister of the Marine.— Par/s paper.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

245

RUNNING GUAGE,

FOR measuri:-:g the width of the rails of a railwat.

This apparatus is, as it were, a skeleton hand truck, consisting of
a pair of small wheels and axles, and a handle to drive them.

The wheels A B are grooved after the manner of pulleys, so that
they rest on a narrow or wide rail without shaking; they are fixed ou
the axles C D, and are therefore without shake ; the axles turn in
bearings; one of the axles D has a shoulder and pin at its end E, and
a washer between the pin and the bearing allows the axle to revolve
freely, and yet have no shake endwise. The other axle C moves
freely on its bearings endwise ; it has a long shoulder at its end, on
which is fitted a brass tube F, and a pin and a washer keep it in its
place ; the tube has a projecting pin, which passes tlirough a long hole
in a piece of iron or brass G, fixed to the framework of the instrument ;
the pin projects far enough to enter the short end of a light wooden
lever or index H, the long end of which points to a graduated arc I.
As the instrument is pusliod along, the free axle C slips in and out as
the wheel A follows the irregularity of the rail, and by the connexion
of the axle with the index, the index points out the width of the rail
on the graduated aix.

Where a rapid examination of the rails is required, the guage may
be hooked to the tender, and the man who watches the motion of the
index, may throw on the road any distinctive material, such as oyster
shells, broken green glass, red brick or tile, broken earth-ware, chalk,
or wooden cubes ; so that the workmen will find the places marked
which they are to repair. A. C.

CURVES ON RAILWAYS.

Sir — In the last number of your journal, a correspondent ("Sur-
veyor") has given a method of setting out circular arcs for railway
purposes by means of ordinates measured from and at right angles to
the tangent lines, and as from his communication it does not appear
clear that he recommends it from his own personal experience in its
application, it may not be unacceptable to you to be assured by one
who has practised it with success, that the method is good and suit-
able for almost every variety of surface, occasionally modifying it as
any peculiar circumstances arise ; it is best suited for setting out
curves upon the surface jirior to any practical operations being com-
menced, for in deep cuttings or on high embankments considerable
difficulties present themselves to this method, and therefore recourse
should be had to other means. One great recommendation to the
method of ordinates is, that any error committed in one ordinate is
extended no further, and such error may be instantly detected and
corrected by the eye, by setting up (perpendicularly) a boring rod
about 10 feet long at the extremity of each measured ordinate ; when
eight or ten of these rods are set up, the observer, upon looking along
them, will perceive any irregularity in the curve, even to one cpiarter of
an inch.

I have long since computed a set of tables of ordinates to a variety

of radii, and about two years ago was preparing them, together with
other methods of setting out curves, and also some useful tables in my
possession, for publication, for which purpose I then had the necessary
eno^ravings made ; business, however, has caused me to defer it from
time to time, but I am now making such arrangements for that purpose
that I hope shortly to be able to accomplish it.

I am. Sir,
2, West Square, Your obedient servant,

June 15/A, 1839. F. W. Sim.ms, C.E.

WELL SINKING.

The accompanying drawing is a section of a well sunk at the foot of
the reservoir in "the Hampstead Road for the New River Company.
It also exhibits the strata of the ground passed through. The follow-
ing account is an abstract of a paper " On the supply of water from
Artesian Wells," by R. W. Mylne, Esq., read liefore tlie Institution of
Civil Engineers, April 30, 1839, fully describing the nature of the
works.

Artesian wells, so called from their having been originally adopted
in the province of Artois, by the Romans called Artesium, are usually
made by boring vertically through a deep stratum of clay into one of
sand, which generally contains water. The water will rise to a con-
siderable height, depending on the elevation of the point at which the
sand stratum drops oui from under the bed of clay. Tlie London basin
is peculiarly adapted tor these wells, as on the large bo« 1 of chalk is
a thick lining of sand, supporting a deep bed of clay, known as the
London blue clay. On boring into this sand, or into the chalk, the
water rises to various heights, and it has been thought that an abun-
dant supply for the metropolis might thus be obtained. With the
view of ascertaining what dependance can be placed on this source,
the New River Company sunk a well, the details of which form the
subject of this commimication. Before entering on these the author
mentions several instances of wells supplied from the sand spn'iigis in
various parts of the metropolis, and other parts of the country. In
most of these the supply has been so att'ected by neighbouring wells,
or the upper ground and buildings have been so endangered by the
large cavities produced in consequence of the fine sand being pumped
away, that the wells have been abandoned. Several remarkable in-
stances of the ertects of this subsidence are detailed in this communi-
cation. Experience thus appearing to shew that little dejjendance
can be placed on the sand springs, it has been suggested to sink
through into the chalk ; but the supply from this source also is atfected
in a remarkable manner in various cases.

The author then proceeds to give the particulars of the sinking of
the well in the Hampstead Road. In March, 1835, an excavation, 20
feet in diameter, and 23 feet deep, was made : the sides were sup-
' ported bv wooden curbs with puddle at the back, so as to shut out the
land springs. At the bottom of the curbs, just in the blue clay, a cast-
iron footing was adiled, and a brick shaft of 12 feet G inches diameter
carried up to the surface of the ground. The excavation was con-
tinued for 59 feet through the clay, steined with 9 inch brickwork in
cement, iron rings were placed at every 8 feet of the brickwork, and
of a greater diameter than the shaft, and projecting into the clay a few
inches so as to support the shaft in its progress; the brickwork was
continued through 57 feet only, leaving 2 feet of clay for a foimdatioii.
The excavation w>is now reduced t(j 10 feet 9 inches, for the purpose
of introducing cast-iron cylinders formed of six segments, (i feet in
length, united by bolts through fianches on the inside, and leaving 9
feet 9 inches clear diameter. These being joined together were forced
down by hand screws, as the sinking continued tln-ough the 2 feet of
blue clay and through 10 feet of soft mottled clay, at the bottom of
which water appeared.

The well was kept dry by an engine and two 8 inch pumps in two
lifts, and the sinking continued for 8 feet, through a bed of fine brown
sand. Cavities were now discovered behind the cylinders, w hich were
forced out of the perpendicular by the unequal pressure, and became
completed jambed. A second set of cylinders was now prepared, and
the sinking continued for 26 feet through the remainder of the dark
brown sand, soft mottled clay, a thin layer of pebbles and lilack sand
closely embedded, and 4 feet tj inches of dark brown sand. Cavities
were again formed at the back, and the cylinders again became jandjed.
A third set of cylinders was now prepared of 7 feet 4 inches diame-
ter, and the sinking continued through 7 feet of dark brown sand, and
5 feet of dark quick sand, when they again became jambed. During
the latter portion of the work great difficulty was experienced from
the blowing of the sand often to the height of 6 feet ; tliis occasioned
great cavities behind the cylinders and the brickwork ; several seg-
ments of the former were broken at their vertical flanches, and the
lower part of the latter was much cracked. A large cavity also was

246

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[July,

formed at the buck of the brick shaft about tiO feet from tlie surface.
The settlement of the ground at the surface was so extensive that tlie
pumping the works was discontinued until the phxn suggested by Mr.
Simpson, of continuing the sinking with the water in tlie well, was
adopted.

For this purpose, in August, 1836, a wrought iron cylinder of boiler
plates, 62 feet long, and 5 feet 10 inches diameter, was lowered to the
surface of the sand, which was hard under the ))ressure of the water,
and removed by an instrument called a miser, and which holds about
two bushels. The cylinder was forced down by hand screws on its
upper edge, through tlie remainder of the (juick sand stratum, through
a bed of sand with flints and pebbles, and through a bed of chalk and
flints, into the chalk to a depth of 12 inches. The water and sand
being now shut out, the well was dried, and in March, 1837, the sink-
ing continued in the usual manner to a total depth of 183 feet, the
chalk being sufficiently indurated to require no lining. The water now
increasetl considerably, and the chalk was excavated to an enlarged
diameter below the bottom of the wrought-iron cylinder, for the pur-
pose of forming a brick footing. On the top of this is a broad cast-
iron ring, upon which rest cast-iron cylinders of a clear diameter of 4
feet 7 inches, which were introduced within the wrought-iron tube,
for the purpose of strengthening and guarding against the admission
of sand in case of its failure from corrosion.

In February, 1838, the works being complete, the pumps of 12 inch
diameter were introduced in two lifts; and in August, 1S38, when the
springs were short, and in March, 1839, when the springs are at their
best, an experiment of two weeks was made ; the result of the former
was 14,898, and of the latter, 30,499 cubic feet per day of 24 hours.
The total expense of the well was 12,4 12/. 14s. \d.

The paper is accompanied by a copy of the report of James Simp-
son, Escj., in which the plan adoj)ted for tlie completion of the works
is recommended. Mr. Simpson details the difficulties which had been
met with, and particidarly the extensive subsidence of earth caused
by the removal of the sand. This far exceeded the quantity due to
the contents of the well at the lower sand stratum, and the subsidence
proceeded most rapidly when the water was pumped out of the well.
The experience of wells near the metropolis shews that the springs in
the chalk are much more abundant than in the sand, but in order pro-
perly to avail ourselves of these there nmst be adits driven to unite
the water from the fissures in the cavernous structure of the chalk.
The report proceeds to speak of certain methods of securing the pre-
sent works, and of prosecuting them by either driving an iron pile curb
or sinking iron cylinders cast in entire circles. The former cannot be
recommended, as a considerable further subsidence would be the con-
sequence, and the shaking of the ram would endanger the works. The
latter is performed with common boring rods and tools, the shells or
buckets are fitted with valves opening upwards, and the material is
raised by them with the greatest ease. When the cylinders be-
come set, or when they do not sink in proportion to the material
removed, they are slightly jarred by a heavy sledge hammer. The
advantage of keeping the "water in equilibrium inside and outside the
cylinders is very great, and the method has Ijeen found in many cases
most efficacious.

The paper is accompanied by a section of the works and the strata,
and by drawings of the various tools employed.

Mr. Brunei stated, that the succession of the strata here described
was nearly the same as they had met with at the Tumiel.

Mr. Simpson remarked, that the greatest caution was requisite in
drawing conclusions respecting the strata in one part of the metropolis
from wTiat was known of it in another part. At Lambeth, for instance,
in the same shaft, there might be gravel on one side and sand on the
other, and the London clay here is about 32 feet below Trinity high-
water mark : near Chelsea College the London clay is met at the depth
of 38 feet, after passing through sand and gravel, and a little farther
on, in the King's Road, the clay is reached without passing through
any sand, and in this locality the chalk is touched at 245 feet below
Trinity high-water mark. It was a remarkable fact that they sliould
have reached chalk at so small a depth in the Tottenham Court Road
well. The alterations in the strata are so great, tliat no one who has
had any experience of wells will venture to infer from one place what
will occur at another. The engine employed at this well w as a twenty
horse, and worked at an expense of about 21. 7s. per 24 hours. This,
however, is a very small part of the expense of supplying water to
houses, as the water has to be raised to the liouses, and tlie cost of
pipes must be included. It was not very intelligible liow water is to
be raised from so many feet from below high-water mark, and supplied
at the same cost as water taken from the Thames at the level of high
water.

SECTION OF THE WELL AT THE HAMPSTEAD ROAD.

Blue Clay.

Coloured Clay.

Sand.

r^*^-xx^r^"::^^'',-^ Le\'el of Water.
-^^.-Jo -Y ,v"<j>,-\.i Coloured Clay.

-•^ !r.:s» - ..^^e^Cj'- Sand with Pebbles,
lard Sand.
Sand with Flints.

— ■ I ^

k^-,^..^-^t>L Runnin

unnmy fcanu.

■^,^^Aa FlinlB.

183f).]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

247

CANDIDUS'S NOTE-BOOK.
FASCICULUS VI.

1 must Invc liljiTfy
Viilial, <is large a charter as tlic winds,
To LilciH' un »liom 1 please.

I. Had Lord Kiiigsborough written " I'd be a Initterfly," or some siult
piece of inawkislmess, he niiglit liave been as cikhratcd as Haynes
Bayley, or otlier eelebrify of tlie same calibre. But the author of flie
Mexican Aiiti(iiiities niis^'ht have put tlie whole of his public, that is,
all the public who know or care any thing about bis seven stupendous
folios, if not into a nutshell, into a moderate sized room. Truly the
F. S.A. author of a recent Architectural Dictionary has been much
wiser in his generation than was the noble Viscount; for at all events
he knows how f(j nianufactiu-e ware for the market, and to speculate
ujion the ignorance of the public.

II. Who Madame Flora de Tristan maybe I know not, nor am I sure
that her "Letters a un Architecte Anglais" are bon;1 tide letters really
addressed to -any one, or merely criticisms and comments on the archi-
tecture of London, put into an epistolary form. In all probability the
latter is the real fact, because it is not very likely that the lady would
have undertaken to enlighten an English architect upon such a subject,
more particularlv as the general tendency of her remarks are by no
means flattering to our national vanity. .She is of opinion that since
St. Paul's we have produced nothing really noble in church architec.
ture. All our modern buildings of that class are censured by her as
being totally deficient in character, mere auditories or lecture roonis,
witliinit any thing whatever to impress the mind (n- excite devotional
feeling. Then again she taunts us with the egregious absurdity of the
'Achilles' as it is called, in Hyde Park, with the York column, and
the new palace, which lattershejitstly enough pronounces to be in every
respect maqiiin. " Toutes gigantesqiies," she says, " que soient vo's
entreprises de ponts, de chemins de fer, elles ne sont jamais que des
speculations faites sur une cchelle jjkis ou moins vasle jKiur satisfaire
ii des besoins materiels. Parmi los edifices construits depuis la puix
dans votre capitale, j'en cherche vainement un qui approche t'n splen-
dour de Greenwich, &c." To be sure we are not obliged tu pav any
regard to the opinions of an impertinent French woman, nevertheless
it is rather mortifying to find that such injurious notious siiread
abroad, and that we cannot compel foreigners to admire the build-
ings upon which we compliment ourselves. Madame Flora is
besides most horribly heterodox, for she pretends that all modern
architectui'e is nothing but copying, without the slightest attempt at
invention, as if all possible modes of beauty had been luno- ago ex-
havisted. Poor creature! poor woman! does she then imao-ine that
architecture is like millinery and bomiet-making? However, the com-
fort is we are not likely, for some time to come at least, to have archi-
tects in petticoats, or else,^ — but the idea is too awful. After all, to
give her her due, the woman has some noM, for in speaking of the
Koyal Exchange that was, she says that statues of celebrated dis-
coverers and inventors who have advanced our commerce, manufac-
tures, and our commercial relations, would be far more atiproiiriate in
such a building than those of kings and queens; and that the natural
products of our colonies ought, as far as they are capable of beino- so, to
be introduced as symbolical ornaments. Notwithstanding the quarter
it comes from, this is a very good hint, which there is now an oppor-
tunity for our architects availing themselves of, in their designs for
the new structure.

III. What does Bartholomew mean by calling the new front of the
Surgeons' College "a barbarous heap of'ill-favoured sand," and sayiu"
that "it is a creaking mass of fracture ?" The original design was
barbarous enough, so much so that one might almos? have imao-ined
its taste alluded pimningly to the company of barber surgeons.^ But
as to any fractures the present front exhibits, I fancy Bartholomew
would find more cracks in his owm head. Pray heaven! he may not
be St. Bartholomew'd by being flayed alive by his brother architects
for the very scurvy remarks he has cast upon" the whole profession ;
nor lias he scrupled to atlirm that "urchitecture sinks in quality,'
science, curious finish and duration."

IV. St. George's, Hanover-square, which, by the bye, is mentioned
in the newspapers very much oftener than by architectural critics, is
censured by Pennant for reason which no one, unless previously in-
formed, would be able ever to guess. According to him, it is "too
Brobdiguagian!" Well, we have many other buildings that may be
censured as too Lilliputian, so that between the tov stools we fairly
come to the ground. Lilliput and Brobdignag remind me that "a
French translation of Gulliver's Travels h;vs just appeared, decorated
with a profusion of wood engravings, which are just now all tiie rage;

This, I suppose, will help to bring Swift's satire again into vogue, for
it may be questioned whether it has had a score of readers in this coun-
try during the present geuc-ration. Why does not somebody set about
illuslrating Holberg? Enough: if I go' on upon this crotchet I shall
need illustration myself.

V. Schlegel has, somewhat fantastically, it must be confessed, com-
pared architecture to frozen music; and the analogy so far holds good,
inasmuch as it may be predicated of some of our biiildings, that, if not
very hannonknis \.\\PY are at any \-A.ie. frozen, having a most chilling and
even frost-bitten look. They are not merely "as cool as cucumbers,"
but actually as cold as icicles, — naj', one or two that might be named,
are positively eye-tsukks — things that cut the eye confoundedly, and
which /should like to see cut down.

VI. Rare news for architects! — Yes, let them prick up their ears
at it, for according to Victor Considerant, the disciple of Fourier, the
whole human race is to be not only comfortably but magnificently
lodged in palaces, each capable of affording accomiuodation to three
or four hundred families. "The palaces of Versailles, Mannheim, the
Louvre and Tuileries, are mere baby-houses in comparison w itli what
such colossal edifices will be." Again we are tolcl: "all those who
are now obliged to dwell in miserable hovels and garrets, and sleep ou
straw beds, will then occupy SOU.UUO palaces surpassing all those of
Rome and Paris!!!" Eight hundred thousand palaces! there is work,
for architects! plenty of scope for design! Even should there be some
Icelle mistake in the computation — a couple, or for the matter of that,
three or four cyphers too many, still there would be a good many very
capital jobs and of competitions likewise for a century to come. Pray
heaven! it may not be a mistake altogether, that Victor Considerant
is a more considerate person than to Tuunbug us with mere dreams,
with the fumes of his own imaginaticm. But then if there be truth in
the pro])becy of the disciple, may there not also be as much, or even
more in that of the master? And what did Fourier himself predict
on liis deathbed ? truly noithing more nor less strange than that " in the
course of two hundred' years men will have tails thirty-two feet long" ! !
a pretty kind of entailed jiroperty that for a gentleman to have to
carry about with him, dragging it at his heels wherever he goes.
Perhaps it may be merely figurative, and the dying philosopher meant
nothing more than that in the time si)ecified by him, the whole human
race will have become Dan O'Connells. At all events, it is some
comf(3rt to reflect that none of us are likely to live till that tailed
generation shall arise ; therefore if none of the eight hundred thousand
palaces are to be begun until then, the architects of the present day
will not be greatly benefitted by the scheme. Besides which, it is
possible that there is either some very odd jumble in Victor Con-
siderant's ideas, or some juggling in his language, and his real mean-
ing may be that society will in course of time be lodged entirely in
prisons and union workhouses, which for the sake of euphony, he is
pleased to designate by the milder appellation of palaces.

APPLICATION AND INTENT OF THE VARIOUS STY'LES
OF ARCHITECTURE.

[We have made the following extracts from an article of consider-
able merit which appeared in the 27th volume of the Quarterly Re-
view. The remarks made by its author strike at principles and not
at details, and may perha]is be useful in calling the attention of our
readers to some important truths.]

When employed by its authors and inventors, the architecture of
Attica and Ionia is faultless. The separate members of the building
ha\'e a definite relation to the whole. They are aggregated by affinity
and connected by apposition. Each one is in its destined place ; no
one is extraneous or superfluous ; all are characterized by fitness and
propriety. Grecian architecture is a composition of columns, which
are intended to assemble themselves only in the form of a Grecian
temple. They seek to enter into no other combination. Bpauty and
elegance result from their union. The long unvaried horizontal line
of the entablature rests in stable trLuiquility upon the even ranging
capitals below, and the conical shafts are repeated in unbroken symme-
try. The edifice is perfect in itself. Therefore it admits of no "change
in its plan, of no arldition to its elevation. It must stand in virgin
magnificence, unmated and alone. The Grecian temple may be com-
pared to a single crystal, and the laws by which it is constructed are
analogous to the process of crystallization. Disturb the arrangement
of the primitive molecules of the crystal, and they will se/ into a mis-
shapen fragment, bicrease the nun'iber of these" crystals, allow them
to fix themsehes uj)oii each other, and their individual regularity will
be lost in the amorphous mass. Thus, in the Grecian temple, the
cowponeht parts have settled themselves into a sliape of perfect liar-

•24S

THE CIVIL p:ngineer and architects journal.

JULV.

monv, siuli iis is lefiiiircd liy thoir infegml figiiie, but it is a shape
wlliili I'aiiiKil lu' varied in its nulliiic, ikji' can it lie iliangod in its pro-
portions. Neitlu'r docs il suljnut to be aiin;'xcd to any otlif r. Every
attempt vvliicli is made to l)lend tlie temple with any other design,
prod\ices a lame and discordant erteet. We must reject tlie arch, tlie
noblest invention of architectural science. Porticos cannot be dupli-
cated. Doric columns caimot be raised in stories. No window can
open into the cell. No wing can be added to the right or to tlie left
which does not at once convince the obser\ er that it has no real rela-
tionship to the centre which it obscures.

How could any other result be anticipated ? The sacred architee-
tm'e of Greece admits of no habitable interior. A cell of narrow
dimensions, lighted by an aperture in the roof, and intended to contain
a single statue, is the only chamber which can be placed within the
walls of the temple. We are not required to enter into the fane. It
is a monument which we are to contemplate from without, and which
appears in its pride when considered as a portion of the surrounding
landscape. The chaste columns and pure sculptures whicli are now
mellowed by the hand of time to a sad and sober grey, originally shone
with all the splendour of the east. Every moulding wlis distinguished
by strongly contrasted colours ; and the snowy whiteness of the Parian
marble was concealed beneath tlie glowing layers of gold, a/.ure, and
vermilion, hi the opinion of the Grecian architect, his building was
seldom more than the frame-work of his sculpture. He never intended
it for social worship. A temple was a shrine upon which decorations
were to be displayed. The altar flamed before the portico. The votary
was to offer up his sacrifice in the hypaethrum, looking around to the
woods, the purpled hills, and the circling liorizon.

From the science of its mechanical execution, aided by tlie tran-
scendent skill of the sculptor, the beauties of the design of the Gre-
cian architect are doubly enlianced. As masons, the Greeks carried
the art of building to the highest excellence. The Grecian architect
possessed the means which his mind required. His elements were
few. Scarcely any variety of structure was required from his art. He
placed a larger number of columns around the more sumptuous edifice,
and a smaller number around the more humble structure : he raised the
temple and the tomb. His career was definite ; he saw the end of it.
He w as required to perfect, rather than to invent. Grecian architec-
ture submits itself to the judgment, and the judgment is satisfied. A
problem has been jiroposed to which a perfect solution has been given.
The Grecian architect performed all that he had promised to himself;
all that he wislied to have, was given to him : and so soon did the
Grecian style attain its wonderful perfection, that, from the earliest to
the latest period, a few elegant improvements, scarcely to be discerned
even by the practised eye — a few tasteful variations, rather to be
described by the learned than felt by the specttator — are the only
tokens which denote the progress of Grecian art from infancy to
maturity.

Such were not the labours of the Gothic Freemason ; he stops frus-
trated, but not in disapjiointment. Neither the quarries of Pentelicus
nor the chisel of Phidias could assist him. Rude materials and still
ruder hands were all that he could command. His architecture must
depend upon its innate character and significance. The cathedral is
to be considered rather as a forethought than as a finished specimen.
It exhibits the effort that has been made to eiuliody those abstract ideas
of solemnity and grandeur which could not be fully realized or accom-
plished by human power. Still the effect has not failed ; Gothic
architecture appeals to the imagination, and fancy half supplies the
deficiencies of the material scene. A Gothic building has always the
charms of mystery, it always appears to be larger than its actual
dimensions. The mouldings, the ])illars, the arches, always create re-
ceding shadows ; and to the mind, tlie idea of space arises from a suc-
cession of shadows, just as the conception of time results from the suc-
cession of ideas. In the earlier Gothic styles, the management of the
atrial tints was studied with remarkable skill. The mouldings are all
undercut, and the curves are almost invariably of the higher order ;
and the limbs of the apertures are marked by carrying the mouldings
above the level of the wall. A small fillet also often runs down the
front of the lesser columns. By these artifices all the forms of the
building are brought out, painted, as it were, in chiaro scuro; for the
minute linear projections catch the light and heighten it, and the un-
dercutting deepens and mellows the shade. In the more luxuriant
styles, however, this attention to the tints was neglected, and the
mouldings occasionally became shallow and trivial. Daylight is courted
by the Gothic architect. The lines and masses of the roofs, and but-
tresses, and transepts, the ascending pinnacles and towers, are marked
and defined by the full blaze of noon, which falls upon them and con-
trasts itself with the freshness of the apertures, and the darkness of
the walls which are behind the sunshine. Gothic architecture seeks to
exclude the siHit of middle earth. Its genius delights in quadrangles

cloisters, porches; in piles wliiidi expand and close round the specta-
tor, leaving him nought to (Contemplate but themselves and the sky
and clouds.

The gothic style always fills the eye, and conveys the notion of com-
|}reliension and capacity. Habitation and converse, and congregational
worship beneath its roof, are seen to be its intent. We are invited to
enter into the cathedral. The ])ortals expand, and in the long ])er-
spective which appears between the pillars of the porch, and ends in
the distant choir, the light darts downwards through the lofty unseen
windows, each marked by its slanting beam of luminous haze, che-
quering the jjillars and the pavement, and forming a translucent gloom.
Gothic architecture is an organic whole, bearing within it a living
vegetating germ. Its parts and lines are linked and united, they
spring and grow out of each other. Its essence is the curve, w liich, in
the physical world, is the token of life or organized matter, just as the
straight line indicates death or inorganized matter. It is a combina-
tion of arches whose circles may be infinitely folded, multiplied, and
embraced. Hence the parts of a gothic building may be expanded
indefinitely without destroying its unity. However multiplied and
combined, they still retain their relative bearing; however repeated,
they never encumber each other. All the arched openings, the tall
muilioned windows, the recessed doors, are essential parts ; they do
not pierce the walls of the structure, on the contrary, they bind them
together. The spire may rise aloft, the large and massy walls may-
lengthen along the soil, but still the building preserves its consistency.
Richness of decoration, colour and gold may increase the effect of the
gothic style, but the inventor chiefly relies upon his art and science.
Gravitation, which could bring the stone to the ground, is the power
which fixes it in the archivolt, and every pinnacle bears witness to the
mastery which the architect has gained. Frequently the details are
bad. Parts considered by themselves are often destitute of beauty,
but they are always relevant, and all minor faults are lost in the merits
of the entirety. The history of the style accounts for its propriety, its
chiefest merit. Gothic architecture, whatever its primitive elements
may have been, was created in the northern parts of Europe ; it was
there adapted to the wants of a more inclement sky. Its structures
were destined for the religious worship of tlie people amongst whom
it was matured. In a gothic church no idea can possibly arise, save
that of Christianity and of the rites of Christianity. We cannot dese-
crate it even in thought. From its mode of construction no convenience
which we neeil, ever becomes a blemish, and its character assimilates
itself to every emblem or ornament which its use requires.

Many of our contemporaries, whose genius no one can respect or
f rize more highly than we do, are desirous of introducing the pure
Grecian style for the purposes both of ecclesiastical and of civil archi-
tectm'c. But even their talents cannot naturalize the architecture of
ancient Greece in modern England. Tlie Grecian temple will not
submit to be tr;uisported into our atmosphere. No adaptation can be
given which will reconcile it to utility. Plate-glass windows glaring
through the intercolumniations, chimnies, and chimney-pots arranged
above the pediment, are just as appropriate as English nouns and
verbs in a Greek hexameter. When the portfolio is opened and the
drawing is shown, these incongruities escape observation in the neat
lines and colouring of a geometrical elevation, which can be made to
look just as the aitist pleases.* But when the scaffold is struck from
the real building standing in the o])en air, then they strike us most
forcibly ; anil we are coinpelleil to acknowledge that its principles are
too stubborn and unmanageable. View the Grecian temple as a dwell-
ing and with relation to its inhabitants, and then every part and por-
tion which contributes to comfort or convenience, is a grievous sin
against architectural fitness ; they are rejected by the very essence of
the building into which they obtrude themselves. Is it considered
with regard to its destination, is the architect retiring into his study
to plan the justice-hall, or the palace, the college, or the church ? Why
then, every sign which tells the intention of the structure, which con-
nects it with the policy, the learning, or the religion of our age, be-
comes a monstrous and perpetual solecism. If the aid of the chisel is
called in for the purpose of decorating any pure Grecian building, we
are compelled to abandon every shape and form which bespeak a
modern origin. For instance, in the public buildings of all nations,
the architect feels, or ought to feel, the necessity of introducing the

'■ It solid mcjdels were metre in use, the ellect of (air buiklings would Ije
lictter unilcrstoud both by the architect and by his employer. For moilels on
a sm;dl scale, a very ingenious appllcatiiai has been made ai elder pith, a suli-
stance bitlierto unemployed for this purpose. It is capable of being stamped
into (lie most delicate architectural ornaments, and the fineness of its texture
and the mellowness of its colour, add greatly to the beauty of the mimic
liiiikhngs. This discovery, for it deserves the name, is as yet very little
known.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

249

distinguishing symbols of the people in whose land the pile was raised.
From them the structure obtains its national character. Heraldic or-
naments may therefore be considered, not as ornaments, but as the
significant stamp of our edifices; yet an artist would never venture to
place the arched crown or barred helmet in the pediment, or to bring
the lion and the unicorn in conjunction with the stately Doric portico.*
Would a Roman architect have been afraid of the eagle ? These ob-
servations may appear trifling, but if they are considei'ed, it will be
soon understood how such scruples and difficulties estrange the archi-
tect from the intellectual cultivation of his art, and reduce hira to a
mere mechanical draftsman.

The objections which present themselves against the pure Grecian
style, do not operate with equal force against that modification of the
Roman orders which was invented by the great Italian architects who
flourished after the revival of the arts. This style has been called an
adulterated style. It may be admitted that a new compound has been
formed, but the alloy possesses a ductility which is denied to the purer
metal. And we do not scruple to acknowledge, that, if we were prac-
tical architects, we would gladly err like Bramente and Palladio, and
Michael Angelo. This style has been so judiciously matured and na-
turalized as to acquire great propriety and a great degree of pictur-
esque beauty. Perhaps it was perfected in England. Wren, the
Ariosto of architecture, brought it to the highest degree of excellence.
It is a bad omen for the progress of architecture, that so many attempts
should now be made to depreciate the productions of this great man,
the pride and honour of English art. The exterior of St. Paul's cathe-
dral resulted from the earnest reflection and labour of a most compre-
hensive mind. From the pavement of the area up to the cross-crowned
globe, there is not a portion which can be removed without destroying
the integrity of the composition. It was all present and visible to the
mind's eye of the architect before a line was drawn upon the paper.
It tells a complete story, neither weakened by after-thoughts nor dis-
figured by redundances. If snail-like we crawl about the surface, we
may grope and stumble upon some l)etty deformities, an unclassical
vase or an inelegant scroll, but no one who has the heart to appreciate
this master-piece can be patient when he hears such cavilling criti-
cism.

Wren had the conception of a painter. Architects often fail from
the poverty and meagreness of the masses and returns. They com-
pose their buildings out of screens and facades. They seem to forget
that a building is to be viewed from more than one point of view, and
in various lights. One of the pleasures which we derive from the
contemplation of architecture, arises from the manner in which the ob-
jects unfolds and varies as we approach it, or recede from it, or walk
around it. We study the play of the perspective and the changes of
the shadowing. The spectator wishes to have a spectacle of which
the merits are not to be made out at once. A building destitute of
these powers of stimulus and jjrovocation, is like a fair woman's coun-
tenance without intelligence or passion, a second look begets indiffer-
ence, a third, satiety. Wren fully understood the method of giving
architectural expression. His lines and masses are always working
upon each other. The small low door at the side of each belfry of St.
Paul's marks the loftiness of the pile. By coupling the pillars of the
double portico he obtained further breadths of shadow as well as
greater altitude than he could have done by adhering to the plan of
tlie Grecian portico. And the pyramidical belfreys \mite in a symme-
trical group with the towering dome, based upon the colonnade which
circles and retreats below.

The claims of any particular style, and the merit of any building
may be estimated according to a very simple and intelligible principle.
The real architect ought not to work by line and rule ; he should re-
collect that he is composinga work which ought to have a given intent.
Whenever he determines to adopt any system which prevents him
from yielding to the meaning of his structure, he ought to apprehend

* It is lamentable to note the treatment which these respectable animals
receive from modem sculptors when tliey seek to classicize them. Tliey are
usually compelled to turn their rumps against the shield which they ought to
support, and that in the most awkward manner. Artists in general are com-
pletely ignorant of the decencies of tlie science of heraldry. One blunder,
which they perpetually commit, and which shocks the eyes and tbe judgment
of the herald, is the practice of bundling up the royal bearioKs in a circle
within the garter, instead of representing tliem on the shield. Tlie prescrip-
tive forms of heraldic animals snonUI never be varied under the mistaken idea
that they are improved by bringing them to a nearer resemblance to nature.
They are not intended to represent natural animals, they are symbols like the
Kgyptian hieruglyphics. Brooke, the herald, once went to the Tower for the
purpose of seeing the lions. When the worthy King-at-arms was introduced
into the presence chamber of the royal beasts, he SHure that the warder was
cheating him ; he had tricked lions any time these forty years, passant, ram-
pant, couchant, regardant, and he ouglit to know what a lion was. As a
herald, Brooke had a right to be incredulous.

that he is in the wrong. Whene\or he feels himself cramped by his
pattern, he may be assured that the precedent, however good in itself,
is bad for the purpose to which he makes it a slave. Lines of equal
length, duly rhymed and well disposed in pages of equal dimensions,
do not constitute a poem unless they have sense within them. Columns
however prettily arranged, pediments though classical, architraves,
friezes, stylobates, do not make an architectural work unless they are
so disposed as to conform to the end and object of the edifice vvhich
they adorn. Should they not perform this duty, the builder is no
architect. The fabric may be sumptuous, comfortable and convenient,
but as a production of the art it has no more merit than a barn — not
even so much, — because the barn-door, and the thatched roof, and the
weather-boarded sides, are all in keeping with the threshing floor
within; — and this is not the case with such an unmeaning structure.
It is the business of the architect to unite splendour when a display
of wealth is desired, comfort and convenience in all cases, with thai
intelligence wdiich alone entitles him to an artist's name. As the poet
seeks that every phrase antl word which he employs should be poeti-
cal and airalogons to the style and character of his poem, so should the
architect try to keep every member and portion of his building con-
cordant to its intent. It would be a grievous sin against good taste,
that is to say against common sense, if in a Christian hymn we were
to introduce the mythology of Ovid or Virgil. This will be readily
acknowledged, and the fault could not be committed by any one of the
present day. But is it less incongruous to adorn the walls of a Chris-
tian church with the scull of the slaughtered bull and the sacrificial
patera ? Architects are perpetually introducing clasaicnl emblems, as
they call them ; but if they are employed as things without meaning,
they are nonsense. And if we consider them as bearing a meaning,
then their signification is so out of place that it becomes an absurdity.

An architect should recollect that he is not a pupil whose merits
consist in repeating a lesson by rote, but a man who deserves no praise
unless he makes an intelligent use of the lesson. If he would take the
liberty of thinking for himself, he woidd certainly remedy such gross
and palpable errors. It would not be difficidt to preserve some degree
of consistency even in a church built according to the Grecian or
Roman orders. Instead of the lotus, or the honeysuckle, or the acan-
thus, there might be introduced the vine, the palm, the olive ; wdiich
in a certain degree have the character of scriptural frees. Many of
the emblems of Hope, Faith, and Redemption, found on the tomljs of
the early Christians, might be advantageously emploj-ed ; and without
the slightest approximaticni to the rank adornments of popery, the
artist could adopt such a system of Christian iconology as should be
neither ungraceful nor unappropriate.

Texts or inscriptions may be so managed as to become very orna-
mental and impressive. But the letters should be large and deep, and
cut in the hard stone, as a part of the original conception of the build-
ing, and not painted on, as a subsequent addition. The architect
shoidd also avoid the most vidgar error, so often committed in printed
books, of adding chapter and verse at the end of the line. Whenever
a quotation is addressed to the imagination of the reader, we must
assinne that we are merely bringing to his recollection the words of an
author whose works are already known to him. We should not ap-
pear to teach something new. The beauty of an illustrative quotation
consists in its being apt, in its being familiar to our minds. It must
seem to present itself without labour, not as if we had sought it out.
The total want of inscriptions upon our modern buildings is a further
proof of the vagueness of modern architecture. It was not thus among
the ancients. They built for the people, who saw their chronicles
upon the marble. The lines were read by the fathers, the children,
the grandchildren, and after the lapse of ages, the moss-grown charac-
ters add the most powerful charms to the majestic ruin. These means
of giving interest to architecture are now always neglected. The
M'aterloo Bridge, unquestionably the finest in the world, might for any
thing which appears upon the granite, have been erected by a people
ignorant of the art of writing. It does not even bear a date.

A church should never vary from the established plans adopted of
old ; nor should it be wanting in any one of the parts which we have
been accustomed to see in sacred buildings. Durandus,* in his de-

T The solemn dulness of the allegories of Durandus is .almost amusing : —
' Tiures ecclesiae, predicatorcs stmt et prselati ecclesiie qui sunt muninien et
defensio ejus. iJnde sponsus ad sponsam in canticis .amoris sic loquitur:
C'ollam tuum sicut turris David edificata cum propugnacalis. Pinaruluui
luiris, vitam vel mentem prslati, quae ad alta tcndit, rcpricsentat. Galhis
super ecclesiam positus, pr>-edicatores designat. Gallus eniai piolinida; noctis
pervigil horas suo cantu dividit: dormientes e.\citat ; diem appropmquanteni
praecinit, sed prius seipsum .alarum verbere ad c.antandum excitat. Haec sui-

gula niyaterio non carent

Virga terrea in qua Gallus sedet, rectum repnesentat pricdicantis sermonem,
ut non loquatur ex spiiitu hominis sed Dei. Fenestra; ecclesiK Yitre<e, sunt

2o0

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

July.

scriiJlioii of 11 clmrfli, finds ;\llc}ifories thvouglnml. The four \\;ills ar«
the foui' cimlinal virtues. By the windows the Scriptures are repre-
sented. The oohimns figure the Doctors; the steeples are Prelates :
and he ascends unto tlie weathercock, which lie turns into a tali> of
my^^teiy. It is not necessary to endue porches and steeples with this
Icind of reverence ; but still it is not proper to innovate by nuitilafiiig
the building of its accustomed members. The influence of visible ob-
jects over the mind cannot be resisted, and the absence of architec-
tural costume, if we may so express ourselves, completely destroys the
dignity of the building.

In the disposition of the interior, modeni architects vary from the
proper ecclesiastical arrangements, in a very unjustifiable manner. It
is scarcely possible to create a more palpable blemish than that which
is occasioned by placing the (lulpit in the centre of the nave. In a
dissenting meeting-house, it may be proper to assign this station to
the preacher, but it is quite inconsistent with the intent of our liturgy,
and should never be tolerated. The situation of the reading-desk
below the pulpit, like tire desk of an auctioneer's clerk, is equally uu-
appropriate. An organ and an organist over the altar must also be
considered as an inexiaisable violation of the decency of the building.
By considering the plans of the earlier Christian churches, many use-
ful hints may be obtained, particularly respecting the situations to lie
assigned to (he ministers and the congregation. Much information on
this subject is collected in the "Origines Ecclesiasticce" of Bingham,
a writer vvlio does equal honour to the English clergy and to the
English nation, and wdiose learning is only to be equalled by his mode-
ration and impartiaUty.

Ornaments may be soberly and discreetly introduced. When an
altar-piece is admitted, it should never be mounted in a fine guilt frame
and considered as a piclure. In every public building, and, perhaps,
in most private habitations, jiaintings or statues should never bear the
appearance of pieces of furnilure. They should never look like things
mIucIi can be put up and taken down at pleasure. The effect produced
by such works of art is materially diminished if they seem to be
sti'angers and brought in merely for show. They then are redundant
epithets in the ii'or/i; which it would be better to expunge. On the
otlier liand, their value is greatly increased when they have the dis-
tinctive character of being required by the predetermined plans of the
architect ; and indeed they should never be treated otherwise tlian as
ancillary to the architecture. Even the clock, which is usually produc-
tive of so much unpicturescjue deformity in our steeples, might, if the
architect considered it, bear the appearance of belonging to him, instead
of being supplied "as per order of vestry" by the manufacturer. In
the Flemish churches, instead of the solid shining black face and smart
gilt numerals, the architects employ large rings or circles of bronze,
between w Inch the figures, cut out of plates of the same metal, are
fixed. This open-worked metallic tracery agrees completely with the
stone tracerv, and does not obscure any part of the architecture. A
figure of the sun, the measurer of time, is sometimes placed in the
centre of the inner circle, which it supports by its rays, and when
colouring was required, the architects used azure, the tint of the celes-
ial sphere.

Most of our modeni churches have a mean appearance in consequence
of their want of elevation ; they seldom range higher than the adjoin-
ing houses. As long as the custom of depositing the dead in vaults
shall continue to prevail, we may add to the grandeur of the building
without increasing the expense. The body of the church might be
made to stand upon an undercroft, the pavement whereof should not be
more than one or two feet below the level of the adjoining ground.
This crvpt might be divided into sepulchral clia])els, and the monies to
be raised by the sale of the right of interment to families would go in
aid of the building funds. No church should be without a lofty steeple.
The "beaven-direcled spire" has a sacred dignity which should never
be sacrificed exeept under the pressure of the most imperious neces-
sitty.

There is considerable diffioulty in combining a steeple with the
orders of Grecian or Roman architecture. Wren mastered the difll-
culty, and produced combinations scarcely inferior to the Gothic. The
Grecian or Roman steeple appears worst and ugliest, when, as at St
Martin's in the Fields, it is seen riding athwart a Corinthian portico, t
o

lipluras divin2e, qurr vcntum ct pluviam rcpc-llunt : id est, nociva prohiljcnl'
pt, (lum claritatem vcri solis. id est, Dei, in peclesiam, id est in rorda fidclium
transmitlunt, inhabitantes ilkiminant. Hw intus latiorcs sunt quia niyslicus

sensus amplior est, et pnrcedit literalem Per eancellns vero. qui

sunt ante fenestras, prophetas vel alios doctores obscures intelligimus ecclesUT
mditau es, in quibiis ob duo charitatis pi\pcepfa, quandoque (hive columnie
duplicantur, secundum quod Apostoh bini ,id pra'picandum niittuutur '

Haiimiale Dlvhiorum OfflciorvM, 1. i. c. 1. The mention of the Heatlldrcock
contradicts a common notion, that it replaced ths cro^s Sfter the Beformfttion ;
and proves the antiqriity of the custom,

which it does not bear the slightest affinity; — and best, when, accord-
ing to the favourite practice of Palladio, it stands by the side of the
edifice as a campanile or bell tower. When so managed, it is grouped
with the lines of the building into a pleasing mass, without being based
upon a discordant featiu'e. In London we have only one example of
this arrangement. It is exhibited in a building which has been scolTed
at and scorned, but which, in truth, is one of the most picturesque in
the metropolis — the clmrch of St. George, Blooinslniry. Let any un-
]irejudiced observer view the front of this building, divesting himself
of traditionary prejudice, and lie will acknowledge the truth of this
observation. We will not even censure the statue, which, placed on
the summit of llic pyramid, appears to look down like a tutelary saint.

All things fairly considered, the Gothic style apjiears to be the most
reasonable order for an English church. It is consecrated by its asso-
ciations, and tlie most ordinary architect may easily leani to avoid any
marked impropriety. It should be managed freely, and although we
would not admit of any fantastic or capricious alterations of the style
as existing in the great master-pieces, with which this island abounds,
still the architect sliould not be inhibited from such a discreet power
of adaptation as the circumstances of the case may require. Such
variations, however, will be very rarely needed, and then only in the
disposition of the subordinate parts of the edifice. Our modern work-
men are capable of executing the finest ornaments of the Gothic style.
Mr. Gayfere's restorations of the front of Westminster Hall, ancl of
Henry the Seventh's Chapel, might excite the envy of the most cunning
freemason of the elder day. And the science wdiich raised the Water-
loo-bridge would enable the architect to groin the loftiest quire. In
such of our English Gothic buildings as were erected after the age of
Edward I. the drawing of the sculptures is often rude and clumsy : but
it is a strange mistake to suppose that when the architect copies the
Gothic style, it is also necessary to copy the imperfections resulting
from want of skill in a peculiar branch of art. He is under no obliga-
tions to reproduce ugliness. Let him take all forms which are beau-
tiful, and reject all such as are unpleasing. In the Gothic of France
the human figure is often treated wdth remarkable purity of design ;
and there is no reason whatever why the statue in a Gothic tabernacle
should not have as much elegance as if it were placed in a Roman
niche. The costume of the middle ages may be treated with the ut-
most elegance. The monumental statues now erecting by Mr. West-
macott, for Lord Grosvenor, point out the method in wTiich real classi-
cal taste — that is to say, the taste which seeks propriety — may be
ap])lied to the Gothic style. If a costume, not being that (if real life,
is to be borrowed for our heroic statues, the ancient English state
robes have at least as good claims as the Roman mantle, to which they
bear a near affinity: and the open crown of Edward the Confessor,
encircled by the mystic fleur-de-lis, of which the prototype appears
on the monuments of the Pharaohs, would deck the brows of the
monarch with full as much grace as the laurel wreaths of the Cssars.
With regard to the subordinate tlecorations, it may be remarked tliat
painted glass is usually executed upon an erroneous principle. When
large plates are used, as by the artists of the Eginton school, they
destroy the effect wliicli it is intended they should produce. This art
partakes as much of the nature of mosaic as of painting, and it never
succeeds except when, as in the excellent productions of the sixteenth
century, the figures are formed of pieces adapted to the outline, the
lead being lost in the shadows.

A few words must be said respecting sculpture. We will not call
sculpture a cognate art, because it is really ihseparable from architec-
ture. We may lament that in the jn'esent age, the professors of the
twc) arts are so com]jlefely divt)rced in practice. They were not dis-
joined in the good days of Italy, and we have sufficient genius in Eng-
land to tempt us to wish for their re-union. In historical and monu-
mental scupture a very questionable taste has been fostered by an
ill-directed study of the remains of antiquity. Symbolical represenl.i-
tions were employed by the ancients, who always understood their
work, with a thorough propriety of invention and of conception.
Symbolical figures form as definite a mode of conveying ideas as the
letters of the alphabet: when combined they form a word and imparl
a notion. But the symbols of the classical age are grounded upon a
creed wholly foreign to us, and which has reached ns only in disjointed
fragments. ' The alphabet has gone out of use, and the language is a
dead language; and in its place we mock the ancients by substituting
allegorical representations, that is to say, by hewing metaphors in
stone, vague, strained, and bombastical, allbrding no satisfaction to the
vulgar.

Artists imagine that they ennoble their work by borrowing ancient
costume and attributes; much in the same way as a country school-
master keeps up his dignity by making a speech in Latin to the young
squire on his birth-day. By these anaclu-onisras, however, they emu-
late the absitrdities of the barbarous ages. In the productions, as well

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL,

251

literary as graphical, of the Ciolliic era, there is a constant and ludicrous
confusion of costume, both ])livsical and moral. Joshua stalks in plate
armour; the daughter of Herodias dances and tumbles on her head ;
the temple of Jerusalem is built with the belfry of a cathedral. No
inconsistency was perceived. Guillaume de Lorris describes the
church of St. Venus ; Parson Cupid mounts the pulpit ami preaches a
sermon, and the choristers and canons chaunt anthems and psahns.
Absurdities like these, arose from ignorance and bad taste ; they can-
not be condemned too strongly. But let us be impartial, if we can.
Perhaps information and classical taslc, as it is called in connnon par-
lance, produce equivalent absurdities. Onr artists often violate pro-
priety with as much boldness as the much reviled Gothic artists. They
disguise their contemporaries in the costume of Greece and Rome.
They people the aisles of the church with the lifeless mythology of
Olympus. An incessant war is thus waged against reason and pro-
priety — Do they not forget the great object of their art ?— The object
of art is to satisfy the reason. Skill may be displayed in the carving
of the statue ; the limbs may be moulded .with faidtless accuracy ;
they may emulate Grecian symmetry : but more, much more than such
qualities, is wanting. Unless the sculptor labours to meet (he ideas of
those who range at the opposite extremes of mental cultixation, he is
not imbued with the true spirit of his art, he is a mere workman still.
He must satisfy those men wdio are his friends and companions, the
lovers of his art, by the spirit of poetiy which he infuses into the re-
presentation of nature. He mast idealize the countenance, the attitude,
tlic garb, so as to breathe into the figure a spirit of gracefulness beyond
the triteness of common life. This is no easy task, and the statue
must prove tliat the artist has overcome the difiiculty without destroy-
ing the illusion which it is essentially necessary that the art should
produce. If we may so express ourselves, he should sculpture in a
style analogous to blank verse, avoiding the prose of conversation, and
the rhyme of French tragedy. But having effected this end, he nuist,
nevertheless continue perfectly significant to the unirapassioned, unin-
structed spectator, who asks for nothing but the representation of the
common form; to him who is merely seeking for the memorial of the
King, the Matron, the Commander, whose memory he loves, or w hose
fame he admires. Works of art are peculiarly addressed to such
spectators. A puljlic monument is a book opened for the perusal of
the multitude ; unless it declares its meaning fully, plainly, and sensi-
bly, the main use is lost. This principle is so self-evident that it is
almost uraiecessarj' to discuss it. And yet how many grand statues,
groups and cenotaphs have been cast, chiselled, modelled, and manu-
factured, in which this plain and first intention is wholly lost !

We may here be allowed to relate a true story, which in itself, as
well as in its consequences, atfords a volume of instruction. Some
years ago a sculptor, wiiose genius may justly be a subject of national
exultation, happened to be present at Guildhall when Nelson's monu-
ment was first exposed to view. A child who stood before him, was
exceedingly attentive from the moment when the canvass began to
fall before the marble. The boy looked anxiously at the statues as
they appeared. When they were completely unveiled, he could not
jiossibly conceive that the obscure medallion on the lap of Britannia
c(mtained the likeness of the naval hero : so he cried out in a tone of
mixed inquiry and of disappointment, whilst he pointed at Oceaims, —
"Father, is Ma< Lord Nelson?" — The sea god, the most prominent
figure of the group, naturally seemed to be the personage in whose
honour it was erected ; but how could the bearded naked giant be the
British admiral ? The Guildhall cenotaph is of miserable workman-
ship, but the just censure conveyed by the exclamation of the child,
was not lost upon Chauntrey, wdto was then at the beginning of the
career in which he has since bounded forward. And his productions,
wliich will hereafter form an sera in the history of English art, prove
how successfully real genius can discard conventional aids.

Moderate artists resort to graphic allegory for the same reason that
jioetical allegory has been fa\'oured by poetasters. It is protected by
the harmless graces of mediocrity. AHbrding a convenient help to
poverty of invention, it insjiires a decorous kind of traditionary respect.
We are accustomed to it, and, without much inquiry, its use seems to
be sanctioned by the example of a few greflt men who have employed
such representations with success in particular instances, not reducible
to general rules. Michael Angelo may be allowed to place Day and
Night on the sepulchre. War and Peace, as they are engrafted Ijy
Westmacott on the Wellington vase, add to the s'ignificancy of the
trophy. Sin and Death are embodied by Milton. Yet precedents like
these forbid imitation, except by the equals of the mighty masters.
We have partly confessed this truth by abandoning all heathen mytho-
logy and allegory in lit erature. Neitlier Mars nor Belloira are invoked
in rhyme to aid the slaughter; and Hymen and his aitar, and Cupid
and his bow, are never seen in colours except upon the Valentine.

Allegory lias ken wiivUj' j-eimdirttecl by tUe pget m\ tlie piuoter, m\

in process of time the sculptor will follow their example. Bui, unfor-
tunately, in all branches of the fine arts, bad taste and pedantry retain
an inveterate hold. Books which are not worth reading soon cease to
be read ; but works of art which are not worth seeing do not easily
cease to be seen. Versifiers outlive their trash ; wdiilst the produc-
tions born in the Grub-street of art, continue, in spite of their recog-
nized worthlessness, to exercise some gentle intluence over some
docile imitator. As long as they continue to be a part of our common
stock of visible objects, they pervert the taste of the artist as well as
of the crowd. The eye easily acquires Irad habits : bad examples
haunt the imagination of the artist, and intluence him when he thinks
he is a free agent. Every glaring ]ncture, or ranting statue, is sure to
become the fruitful prototype of an hundred affiliated deformities.

We have hitherto spoken only of ecclesiastical buildings. Public
monuments of another (.lescripfion must now be considered. At the
conclusion of the war the legislatiu'e considered the propriety of erect-
ing some memorial which might perpetuate the memory of the events*
of the mighty c-ontiict. Various plans for naval and military monu-
ments were designed, but no one has yet been adopted, because the
money voted by parliament has never been raised. * * *

As similar causes in the physical world always produce similar
effects, it may appear reasonable to suppose that the form of a
beautiful specimen of architectiue, which has afforded a very plea-
surable sensation to the spectator, will always retain that power. An
exact copy of a pleasing original, when repeated or created anew,
may be anticipated to produce the same degree of gratification as it
did in its original place. However, when the architect acts upon these-
premises he is usually disappointed. There are cases, unquestionably,
when satisfactory results will follow from such imitations ; but a slight
consideration of the nature of architecture will convince us that they
are of rare occurrence, and that any close or servile imitation of ii
supposed "perfect model" must usually prove a complete failm'e.

Architecture produces its eft'ect upon the mind q\ute as much as
upon the eye. Its forms are understood by the intellect, not merely
painted upon the retina. The pleasures which it excites arise from
complicated sources ; they spring from the thoughts which we bestow
upon the object, and not merely from the contemplation of the form.
This assertion may be easily exemplified. A building which we, /iiw/o
to be constracted of Canada deals and cast iron pipes, daubed with
"lithic paint" or "patent mastick," wdll never 2)lease us as much as if
it were raised of freestone. The lines may have the same elegance,
but we camiot disjoin the ideas of grandeur and of durability ; and the
notion of the instability and slightness of the flimsey edifice derogates
from its consequence. Besides w hich, when we look at a building, we
are gratified by considering the labour and skill of its construction.
We like to see the firm and regular courses of vvell-sqimred stone, the
shaft compacted with the caiiital, the wedge stones balancing eacli
other in the arcli ; but when the nraterials pretend to perform a part;
which does not belong to their nature, then we are offended by the de-
ception, at least we receive but a very small proportion of the jdeasure
which their forms would have given if executed in the genuine sub-
stance. From the centre of the pit the actress looks as tine as the
lady in the boxes ; but we do not think that she is equally well dressed,
because we are aware that instead of diamonds, gold, and silk, she is
tricked out with glass, tinsel, and gauze, with things that assume to be
that which they are not, with trompiric. Every deception in architec-
ture becomes a blemish which the mind does not pardon. Windows,
which exclude the light; doors wdiich caimot be opened; twisted
colunms which could not stand beneath their superstructure ; columns
bearing nothing ; passages leading to nothing ; are imperfections whicli
are obvious to the most inattentive or uneducated obser\er. They arc
deformities, because they are of no use ; otherwise the idle imposts or
columns, wdiich please when properly applied, would have as nuich
inherent Ijeauty — so far as beauty depends upon form — in one situation
as in another. But if we cease to derive satisfaction from the parts
of a building on account of their false bearing to the whole, can we
be better satisfied wdien the entire building, the " perfect model," is a
falsehood ? Every structiu'e raised by the hand of man, derixes its
entire value from the feelings of the human heart- The hearth
gives sanctity to the dwelling; the throne, to the palace ; the altar to
the temple. But if w'e erect dwellings, palaces, or temples, whicli
never can be used by human kind, the walls will rise in cheerless and
ilesolate mockery. A perfect modern model of the most perfect
Doric temple, if not applied to some purpose beyond mere ornament,
would excite no other feelings than those of laboiu' in vain. No per-
son of common sense ever was satisfied with a temple in a garden ; we
know it is built merely for a show, and as a show we undervalue and
despise it.

It may be asked in wliat manner we are to commemorate national
vittoiitsi Certrtiji'y uvt by wlwt ars called " iiivjuinitiits," uvt by

252

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

July.

pillais, arches, temples, luiving no assignable use, and built merely as
"examples." All these are what are vulgarly called "follies," and
deserve no more respect than the tower on Shooter's Hill. The
ancients never raised monuments; they never "realized examples,"
they never built for display alone ; and it was from its connection with
actual life that every ancient work of art acquired its vitality.

In copying any Grecian tem])le, however beautiful, and calling it a
Christian church, we depart still more widely from the practice of the
ancients. The}- never imagined that a restoration of a building which
did not belong to them was productive of " perfect beauty." lu fact,
such an epithet, as applied to any building, must be erroneous. Ar-
chitecture is not an imitation of nature. All the forms of architecture
are conventional; it is therefore an art of which the objects do not
■admit of abstract perfection. Buildings are capable of as many va-
rieties of perfection as of destination; each may be perfect in its kind,
if it is perfectly suited to its end. But therefore it follows as a neces-
sary consequence, that it is impossible to transfer its merit to an " ex-
ample," erected for another purpose, amongst other people, and in
another climate : the more the imitation is " correct," the more is its
application falsified by its original character.

Any system of encouragement for the arts which inculcates, that
perfection is to be attained by compelling the artist to "faithful imi-
tations," is the bane of all talent. The ancient architects never
"copied" or "restored" the structures of the stranger. They knew
better. Let us attend to the lessons given by those who have attained
the highest station in the art. It was from the banks of the Nine
that the gifted Greeks recei\'ed their art and knowledge ; but they in-
stantly surpassed the jjreceptors who taught them the basis of the art,
to which their taste and talent, adapting it to their own purposes, gave
a beauty, unknown before. Grecian genius refused to reconstruct
exact imitations of the majestic temjdes of Egypt in honour of the
Hellenic deities. They did not place their gods in the adyts of Isis
and Osiris. — The acanthus twined around the capita! which had been
shaded by the branches of the date tree ; new elegance was given to
the spirals of the volute ; beams of olive crossed the cell instead of
the transverse blocks of massy granite. Relieved from the superin-
cumbent weight, the entire frame of the structure sprang up more
lightly. The columns diminished in diameter; the architrave ceased
to retain a useless solidity; acroteria ranged upon the roof, unknown
in the land where the rain of hea\en does not fall. The scnlptured
pediments terminated the retpiired covering and decked the front : and
the hea^■y magnificence of Thebes was lost in the graceful splendour
of the Athenian Parthenon.

Whether inherited from their Tuscan ancestors or discovered bv
their own science, the Romans possessed the art of turning the arch.
They had a full perception of the beauties of Grecian architectuie then
existing in unimpaired perfection. They justly appreciated its excel-
lence, but they never built copies or " examples" of Grecian buildings.
Following the faith of Greece, they bore away the statues of her gods;
but they did not enshrine their Jupiter within the Doric columns of
Athens; they did not enter the Forum beneath the Propylea, nor did
they copy the Parthenon upon the proiul Capitoline. I'lie art which
they had learnt, they put in practice with good sense and ju'udence.
Possessed of a new power, of which their teachers were ignorant, they
applied it with boldness. The huge dome of the Pantheon swelled
behind the Corinthian portico ; fretted vaults took their span over the
triumphal train; arch rose upon arch in the eternal amphitheatre;
and though the relationshij) was not disowned, still every feature of
Grecian architectin-e received a new character in imperial Rome.

Amidst the ruins of Rome the great Italian architects formed their
taste. They studied the relics of ancient grandeur with all the dili-
gence of enthusiasm ; they measured the proportions, and drew the
details, and modelled the members. But when their artists were em-
ployed by the piety or nuignificence of the age, they never "restored"
the " examples" by which they were surrounded, and which were the
subjects of their habitual study — No! they turned them to abetter
Tise. Crude imitation was disdained by this energetic and intelligent
race. They felt aud understood the beauties of the ancient style ;
and causing the elements to enter into another combination, a new
style was created, which, considered in relation to its intention and
employment, possesses transcendent excellence. Retaining the same
aliinity to the Roman style which the latter bears to the Grecian, it
lias all the merit of inventiun, and all the bea\ity of propriety ; and
the Pantheon, high in mid air, was expanded into a cathedral worthy
of the supremacy assumed by the pontiH; who claimed to be the
primate of the world.

It was thus that the greatest impulse was given to national genius
in those countries where architecture became an inventive, intellectual
art. The architects did not linger in contemplation of their prede-
cessors ; former generations had advanced, and they proceedecl, ^'o

style or structure was held up as a perfect model, or propounded as
a test. It was their desire to excel by the mixed exercise of judg-
ment and invent ion. Selecting from the skill of past ages the ideas
best suited to the present, they felt that it was their calling to adapt
their art to the wants and feelings of society. It was thus that their
structures accjuired the charm that we would vainly attem])t to impart
to cold and corpse-like restorations. Original design will never be
fostered if artists are taught to defend themsehes by |)recedents.
Those who seek to distinguisli themselves by the practice of this, the
finest of the fine arts, should not lose the benefit derived from ex-
perience. The noble writer who is at once the warmest and most
learned admirer of Grecian architecture, will best instruct them how
to profit by the contemplation of its excellence. "These models
should be imitated not with the timid and servile hand of a copyist;
but their beauties should be transferred to our soil, preserving at the
same time a due regard to the changes of customs and manners, to
the difference of our climate, and to the condition of modern society.
Li this case it would not be so much the details of the edifice itself,
however perfect, which ought to engross the attention of the artist,
but he should strive rather to possess himself of the spirit and genius
by which it was originally jilanned aud directed, and to acquire those
just principles of tasle which are capable of general application."
The British architects of the present day are equally distinguished by
their genius and their industry ; no climate, however remote, has
escaped their researclies; no toils or dangers are shunned when in-
formation and knowledge are to be obtained. The progress of all the
mechanical arts has given unexampled means of execution; and the
roused spirit of the country will soon furnish them with sufficient em-
ployment. Thinking as the ancients would have done, they will not
copy antiquity, but they will emulate and share its lasting glorj'.

We might have terminated this article by making some remarks
upon the churches and other buildings which are now constructing in
our modern Babylon. It is hardly necessaiy to observe that the
greater jiart of these edifices do not please us, and that we consider
them as liable to censures and objections. But upon consideration we
found that we could not dare to criticise. "Taste" — we dislike the
word, but we can find no other- — -proceeds upon principles which are
so uncertain that mere theorists like ourselves must not be allowed to
trifle with the reputation of professional men, whose bread depends
U])on their exertions. We are therefore silent where a loose or hasty
observation of ours might inflict a lasting injury ; and whatever aft'ec-
tion we may feel towards the "pointed style," we will never allow
our love for lancet arches to become the means of wounding the feel-
ings of the architect who has the misfortune to be equally enamoured
«ith entablatures.

When the fine arts really exert a profitable influence, they act by
increasing those sources of reasonable pleasure by wdiich the mind is
neither degraded, nor enfeebled, nor depraved. That the love of the
fine arts may be made to produce a most beneficial effect, camiot be
doubted ; for there can be no greater source of good, both to the indi-
vidual and to the species, than the multiplication of such gratifications
as are attainable without diminishing the hajtpiness of ovu' fellow-
creatures. But when the fine arts are allowed in any manner to be-
come the subjects of rancour or detraction, then the honour which
they possess is lost. The jiroductions of Phidias or of Raphael be-
come despicable if they tend to increase the causes of contention.
Unfortunately we are furnished with too many reasons for nmtual
hostility arising out of important matters. Whether this warfare
might not be easily diminished it is not our business to inquire ; Init at
all events let us avoid imitating children — let us not quarrel and fight
about our gaudes and toys.

EXCAVATIONS ON THE LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM
RAILWAY.

Sir, — In the last number of your Journal I observed an extract from
Roscoe's history of the London and Birmingham Railway, gi^ ing an
account of a new method of working excavaticms, the invention of Mr.
Joseph Thornton, one of the contractors, which is mentioned as having
been first tried under my direction. I shall be obliged by your stating
in your next number, that the engineer of the works at that time was
Mr. Edward Dinn, and that when I succeeded him, I found the jn-ocess
in full operation, Y'our obedient servant,

ROBEET B. DOCKBAY.

JBiimhtgham, June 21| 1839,

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

2^2

BUNNETT AND CORPE'S PATENT CONCENTRIC STEAM ENGINE.

The following tables, deduced from iiccurate Experiments, made with a view of ascertaining the relative advantages of the application of
power, by "Bunnett and Corpe's" Patent Concentric Steam Engine, in comparison with the present Locomotive and other Engines, shows the
amount of force necessary to move a crank (having a nine-inch throw) through one complete revolution :—

Fig. 1. shores the position of flie
coniiecting-riid, as applied di-
rect from the ciicular piston-
rod in Bunnett and Corpe's
Patent Concentric Knyine. ii.h,
are points between tthicli the
end of connecting-rod recipro-
cates.

c, d, are points between w hieli the
piston reciprocates.

e, is tlie position of the end of
connecting-rod. w lien the crank
is :it an angle of 4.5 degrees.

/, is the position of the piston.

k-C

Fig. 2, shows the position of the

connecting-rod, as applied from

the present horizontal cylinders.
(I, II, are guides through hIiIcIi

the piston-rod is worked freely;

forming its jjarallel motion.
b, represents the connecting-rod,

when the crank is at an angle

of 45 degrees,
f , end uf ctiunectiiig-rod attached

to the piston-rod by a joint,

working freely.

a

I

a

Fig. 2.

No. 1.— From A to B.

No. 2.— From B to C.

In this Experiment, the V eight

No. 3.— From C to D.

No. 4.-

-From D to A. |

In this E.Kperiment, a 10 Ib.s. Weight
was suspended at the end of the
throw ot the Crank, commencing

was passed over a Pulley, and at-

tached to the throw of the Crank ;

III

his E.^ncriment, the W

eight was

In

this Experiment, tlu

W eight

the Pulley was shifted continually.

also passed over a PuUe

V, which

was suspendei

from tlie

throw, as

at 5 degrees above its dead centre

so as to render the acting force uni-

Mas shifted frequently, as in No.

m

No. I b,xpe

■iment.

at A, and continued to B.

form in the vai'ious positions of the
Crank.

2b

xpcriment.

De-

Concentric

Horizontal

Difference.

Dc- Concentric

Horizontal

Difference.

De-

Concentric

Horizontal

Difference.

De-

Concentric

Horizontal

Difference-

grees

Engine

Cylinder.

grees Engine.

1

Cylinder.

grees

Engine.

Cylinder.

grees

Engine.

C'ylinder.

lbs.

lbs.

lbs.

1 lbs.

lbs.

lbs.

lbs.

lbs.

lbs.

lbs.

lbs.

lbs.

5

69.

146.

77.

95

10.62

15.25

4.63

5

70.

160.

90.

95

2.

3.5

1.5

10

43.

77.

34.

100

9.62

13.5

3.87

10

32.

76.5

44.5

100

3.

4.5

1.5

l.'j

33.25

50.

17.75

103

9.12

14.5

5.37

15

21.25

39.

18.75

105

4.

6.25

2.25

20

25.25

39.5

14.25

110

8.5

14.75

6.25

20

18.

29.'

11.

110

4.73

7.5

2.75

2,')

21.5

30.25

8.73

115

8.

14.75

6.75

25

14.5

24.

9.5

115

5,5

9.12

3.62

m

18.5

25.75

7.25

120

7.

15.

8.

30

13.

20.75

7.73

120

6,37

11.

4.62

y^

15.25

21.

5.75

125

6.25

15.12

8.87

35

11.5

18.75

7.25

125

6.62

12.75

6.12

40

14.5

18.

3.5

1,30

5.25

14,5

9.23

40

11.5

17.75

6,25

130

7.

15.

8.

4,5

12.5

15.75

3.25

1,33

4.75

13.25

8.5

43

11.

16.25

5.25

135

7.25

18.

10.75

."iO

11.25

13.5

2.25

140

3.5

13.5

10.

50

12.5

16.

3.5

140

8.

20.

12.

,5.5

9.5

12.

2.5

145

2.87

14.

11.12

55

13.

14.75

1.75

145

8.75

24.

15.25

fiO

8.25

10.

1.75

1.50

3.

17.87

14.87

60

13.25

14.75

1.5

150

10.

28.73

18.75

65

6.5

8.75

2.23

1,55

4.5

24.75

20.25

65

13.

15.75

2.75

153

11.

35.25

24.23

70

4.75

7.5

2.75

160

6.25

32.

25.75

70

13.

14.5

1.5

160

14.

49.5

35.5

75

3.

5.87

2.87

1 63

8.

38.

30.

75

12.5

14.5

2.

163

19.

70.

51.

80

1.25

4.25

3.

170

13.25

58.

44.75

80

13.

14.

1.

170

28.75

105.

76.25

85

.73

3.5

2.75

175

30.

114.

84.

85

12.75

13.75

1.

173

63.

160.

97.

90

.25

1.87

1.62

,180

dead centre.

90

12.25

13.

.75

180

dead

centre.

298.25

490.5

192.25

140.3 442.75

302.25

318.

533.

215.

209.

380.12

371.12

Ccinceulric
I'jigiue.

1 bii-iz<(utal
t'yiuider.

niH'erence.

The gross amount of weights on the"l
whole revolution of the Crank . ./

lbs.
965.75

lbs.
2046.37

lbs.
1080.62

254

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[July.

CURVES ON RAILWAYS.

>^m — Observing in your jonrnal sovenil papers on the subject of
setting out curves, I beg to eouimunicate to you a method dill'ering in
some respects from any there described. It has been adopted ^vith
Creat success on ground of the most ditlicult nature, both on account of
the irregularities of the surface, and the buildings and other obstacles
to surveying operations with which it was encumbered.

I am, your's respectfully,

AJay m, 1839.

M.

Fiff. 1.

B|

The principle of the above method is, that the curve is ranged by
means of continual tangents; it would occupy too much space to de-
scribe in detail the various methods of making the necessary calcu-
lations, ;uid facilitating operations in the tield work, as well as the
mode of finding the intermediate points, when it is required to put in
a stake at the end of every chain, or half chain; these and many other
points w ill readily suggest themselves to any person ;
with niatheniatical subjects.

* '- c-o

at all conversant

The method which has been usually adoptetl for setting out curves
is as follows. (See Figiu'e 1.) Let AB be the straight line, a tangent
to the curve, B its termination, and C, U, E, &c., ecpiidistant points in
the curve of given radius BO, O being its centre; produce AB to c,
and draw Cc at right angles to Be; produce BC to (/, making Cd=
CD=BC:, and join dV. Join OB, OC, OD. The angle rfCO=the
angles BOG and CBO, (Euclid I. 3-2,) and the angle OCD=CBO .".
the anfde dCD=the angle BOC=the angle COD, for BC=CD, by
hyp. tlfen, by similar triangles COD, dCV; OC : CD : : CD ; dD=

__. In order to obtain C the first point in the curve, calciJate BC

the sine and cC, at right angles (by construction) to BC, the \'ersed
sine of the ano-le BOC. If the chord BC is small in comjjarison w ith
the radius Btf, Cc may be considered, at least for all practical pur-
CD'
poses, = half dD—i -^,^- , and Bc=BC. The above is a simple, and

with proper care an accurate, method of ranging a curve where the
groimd is clear from obstructions ; it has beeu usual to take BC=one
chain, but it is nuich better to take 2, 3 or 1 chains wdiere the nature
of the ground will permit, as the errors arising from the diiHculty of
setting up ranging rods and measuring offsets witli precision will be
thereby nuuh diminished.

Where the ground to be ranged over is nuich encumbered by trees,
fences, buildings, &:c., the above method is liable to objections, as it is
necessary that''the chords BC, CD, DE, &c., should be equal ; ha- no
very simple formula can be obtained for the value of dD when Crf or
CD is not ecjual to BC. The following method is free from this
defect, and in other respects have found it answer the required pur-
pose in a most satisfactory manner.

Produce the straight fine AB (Figure 2) to c any convenient dis-
tance, for instance, 2,~22, 3, 4, &c., chains, and making BC the sine of the
angle BOC to radius BO, calculate Cc the versed sine. This gives
the first point C in the curve. Set otf B6' = cC, in a direction as
nearly as can be guessed at right angles to b'C, then b'C will be a
tangent to the curve at C; ]n-oduce 6'C to d, any convenient distance
as before, and making Crf the sine, calculate dV the versed sine, which
gives another point U ; set olV Cc' :=. dD at right angles, or as nearly
"as may be to c'D, and c'D will be a tangent to the curve at D, and so
on. Of course the length of the tangents Be, c'D, d'E, &c., will be
uiade the same until some peculiarity in the nature of the ground
renders it necessary to alter them, and after the obstruction has been
passed it will be \Yfell to recur to the same length of tiuigenl. In
practice I have foimd two chains the nuist advantageous length for
curves varyiug from .5U to 100 chains in radius ; for curves of larger
liidius ami on favowable gruiuul, prvbablj- i i-hiiins wuukl be bettei't

This melliod affords advantages in terminating or changing the
radius of the curve at any required place, or reversing the curve (com-
monly called making an S cur\'e) much greater than any jilan I have
hitherto seen described.

With regard to reverse or S curves, I consider it of great im-
portance to insert a straight line at their junction, on account of the
necessity of elevating the outer rail of a curve above the iiuier one.
This may be easily effected by interposing a short piece of straight
line, and wherever it is possible to do so, it should by no means be
neglected.

THE MARQUIS OF TWEEDDALE'S DRAIN TILE MACHINE.

This machine will make 10,000 drain-tiles a-day, one man and two
boys to attend it, and 20,000 of flat tiles for the drain-tile to lie upon;
liu't if the tiles are broad for roofing, it will make 12,000 a-day. These
draining tiles are 15 inches long, so that three machines would make
in one season (of thirty weeks) as many tiles as would lay a drain from
London to York. Now a man and tw^o assistants will only raali,e 1,000
drain-tiles in a day, and these only one foot long, which is 1,000 feet
per day. While the machine with the same number of persons will
make 12,500 feet per day; so that if the drain be laid at the distance
oftwentv-five feet, it will make in one day sufficient tiles for six acres.
The ailvantages are — 1st, the tile is much stronger from being com-
pressed, and less pervious to water — it is not only couqiressed, but it
is smoothed over, which gives it a surface as though it were glazed.
Thev are capable of being made from a much stiffer clay than usual,

the

and in nine cases (jut of ten

dug, if jjassed through the crushers, being niucl

bricks and tiles by the common method

The expense of draining will be paid in three yea

qucntly in one. — Funiiti'a jVIagazinc.

\x may be used directly on being

drier. Clay unfit for

ivailable by the machinery.

.irs, but not uiifre-

LOWTIIEH ARCADE.

In nn article by om" corrcspoiulent Ralph Redivivuson tlicLowtlicr Arcade,
wc (iuil llial lie lias iiip.dvcitciilly fallen into an error in attributing the de-
signs to a Mr. Turner. Wc received a contradiction of this from a gentleman
of that name in .March last, but as wc were desirous of asccrtiiiiiing ^vhclllcr
we liud attiiliulcd tliis to the wrong person, we were induced to di^lay llie
contradiction ; we have now much pleasiue in aimouuciiig that Jlr. A't'itlierdeii
Young is llie architect. A letter from liiiii uufortuiiatcly miscarried, ss the
reason tliiit a longer delay lias occurred tliaii wc should have wished in doing
iustico to a gentleman who so highly merits the esteem of the profession.
Wc licg to assure Mr. Young of onr sincere rcgiet tluat any mismulerstancling
should have occmred, and of OW >Yi«h OU all OCCasigilS tQ thj justice to

liiuisclf ami the in-ofessiou.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

255

MOMENTUM OF FALLING BODIES.

Sir, — As the following remarks on the momentmn of falline; bodies
are I believe of iiuporlance, and connected with the communications
of C. E. C. and B. on the subject, you will oblige me by giving them
a place in your journal.

The questions for consideration are, the effect of a moving power
on the resistance offered to a pile while driving, and the comparative
effects of a weight acting simply as such on a pile, and when striking
it with velocity. These ellects are best measured by the depths
penetrated mider the same circumstances.

It is demonstrated by writers on dynamics, tliat the effect of a
moving power in overcoming an uniform resistance is as the sipiare of
the velocity, and Sineaton in his "Experimental examination of the
quantity and proportion of mechanic power," has shown " that tlie
quantities of mechanic power to be expended are as the squares of
the velocities to be generated, aud vice versa. If, therefore, the re-
sistance to be overcome was uniform, the force of a ram or monkey
would be as the square of the velocity into the weight, or as v'b. But
the resistance offered by a pile when driving, is made up of the resis-
tance to penetration and the resistance of friction ; the tirst of which,
in homogenous substances, is nearly uniform, and the second increases
as the pile is driven, and in a ratio nearly to the depth penetrated.
Put a = the velocity that would be destroyed in one second by the
resistance to penetration, x =: the depth penetrated, and ;«.r =: the
velocity that would be destroyed in one second by the friction at the
depth X: we then have (Sinq)son's Fluxions, art. 218, vol. 1,) {a-\-mx)
dx-:^vdv, and by integrating and solving the resulting quadratic, we

get.t:

\/ 1 — 5 — -for the depth penetrated with the velocity v,

and therefore the resistance imder the assumed circumstances will be
as this quantity in which a and m are known quantities, to be deter-
mined by experiment from the substance penetrated and the nature of
the pile. If we sujipose a to be very small compared with lux, as
would be the case with a rough pile in a bog when it had penetrated

to some depth, we get.rrz-v/ — or, the effect of a sirolie is proportional

to the velocity what the resistance increases as the depth.

Without entering farther into the nature of the resistances to be
overcome in pile-driving, it appears that the force of the stroke will
be as the velocity when the resistiuice increirses as the dei)th; as the
squai-e of the velocity when the resistance is uniform ; and lus some
other function of the velocity when the resistance does not follow

these laws. It also appears from the equation .r :

that tlie effect increases in a gi'eater ratio than the velocity, but as in
all practical cases, the velocity of the ram will be greater than that
the superstructure can ever be supposed to have, the advantage will
be in favour of practice, and therefore practically we may suppose the
force to be as the velocity. The nature and mass of tlic pile will
have considerable influence on the force of the stroke. If the pile is
of straight-grained fir, it will be driven farther by the stroke than one
of beech or oak, and if shod and capped with iron, the effect will be
considerably increased from a greater degree of elasticity, as the effect
would be decreased if shod anil capped with cork or any other yield-
ing substance. Also, if bv represents the quantity of motion in the

bv
ram, and;; the mass of the pile, will be the joint velocity after

the stroke, which, as I have before remarked, being less than r, \\ ill
make the effect less.

With respect to the effects of a body in the state of rest upon a pile,
and when striking it, I am of opinion that in most cases there is a dis-
parity in the forces, for as the weight produces no effect, how are we to
compare them ? A weight is compared to a weiglit by its own stand-
ard ; and a moving force to a moving force by a different standard ;
but when we connnence comparing both, we find the consideration
attended with no small difficully. in the spring balance used by B,
(Journal, vol. II, no. Ui, p. iti,) a weight on the spring keeps it steadily

0 a point that the same weight, moving with a velocity of jj foot per-
second, would attain when its motion was destroyed ; but in the case
of a weight pressing on a pile, if it is not such as to cjusc penetrafion,

1 do not see bow it can be conqiared with a moving force that does,
and if it does penetrate, the forces are best measured by the depth;
but after a few^ strokes of a monkey, (U- after tlie first, the effect of the
weight resting on the pile bec(,ines nothing.

The object in bridge liuilding is to give firmness to the super-
structure by strengthening the foundations. For this purpose it w ill

be best to sfii'pose the iucuubent ^yeigUt »wv»'s witli v. veluvjt/ «i'

one or two feet per second, and to compare this force with (he entire
force used in driving the piles. Example: — Suppose an abulinent
measuring 30x20x 1*', each foot weighing li cwt., supported on 150
piles, each pile being driven with a monkey weighing G cwt., falling
from a height of IG feet. Here the force of the piles = 32 x l-'iOX 0:=
28,800. The weight of the abutment = 30x20x lOx U='0OUO cwt

„ ' ,„ =: 3- , which shews the foundations are able to bear the force
y,ooo 0

of the abutment moving with a velocity of more than three feet pei-

second. The equation m^^b-\-Obr, given by your correspondent B,

appears to me not to hold good for falling bodies, and certainly cannot

appl)' to the example taken from " Hufton's Course," for, evidently

b iS not similar to 9bv, and therefore the equation b-\-ebv cannot obtain.

The fact of the matter is this, that in falling bodies, after the force

ebp is expemled, b then acts by its weight, and very little consideration

will shew that both cannot be added together. The ingenious method

invented by Sir Christopher Wren for determining the effects of col-

lision by suspending the bodies with threads of ecjual lengths, show

the truth of Hutton's formulae ~— - and ■ „ | , , and the exiieriments

U-fb B-]-b '■

of Smeaton for finding the mechanical power lost after the strokei

prove the same tiling.

The experiments made by B prove the effects of a moving power

on his spring balance to be ——nearly, but until the case is shewn to

be analogous to pile-driving, it would be incorrect fo use the result,
t-ralileo and Merseunus found the squares of the weights started from
the ground in ;i balance to be as the heights fallen; and Gra\esaiide,
in his Natural Philosophy, liy altering the apparatus, found results as
the square of the velocity ; therefore, in applying experiments of this
kind, it is cjuite necessary that the resistance in both cases be equal
and similar.

B changes the equation Hiz::i-| — — into m=::b-\—^■^/s^^ it should

be m^b-\-^\/Qis, for t^riy'Gls. The results, therefore, of tlie

GOO

examples he has given should be 2004--— ^G4x 25= 12,200, not

8,685, and 100,0004-^ — '^— ^G4)001=220,000,iiot 181,000. By dis-
carding the factor 6, the results w ould be 12,000 and 120,000, which
are nearer the truth.

Liimric/c,
•lith May, 1830.

I am, sir,

Yoin''s obediently,
John Nevillk.

"ASPECTS AND PROSPECTS."

Sir — Instead of the epithet "judicious," I think that of " ingenious "
might very well have been applied to Repton's remarks gi\en in your
February number ; since they certainly are of that ingeniously per-
plexing kind wliicli tend to make people fancy objections and incon-
veniences where none were before thought of. I at least am so far
from agreeing with him that aspect is of more importance than almost
any tiling else, that I consider it to be a matter of comparatively little
or no moment. In fact every aspect has something to recommend it,
and also something that may be alleged against it as a defect.

According to Repton's theory, "an aspect due north is apt to be
gloomy, because no sunshine ever clieers a room so placed." No^v as
regards the exterior, such an aspect is certainly not at all to be reconi-
inended for that of the principal architecturiil front, because it will
never catch the sun, except its evening rays in summer time, conse-
quently will not show itself to the same advantage as when set off by
strong light and shade. But so far from the rooms themsehes being
necessarily gloomy, they w ill in siunmer time be far more agreeable
than those more exposed to the snn. A room facing the north and
looking out upon a pleasure ground or landscape liglited up by a
brilliant sun, enjoys a most cheering and animated picture, so placed,
be it observed, as to be viewed with the greatest effect. '\\'liethcr
such room be in itself gloomy or not, will depend upon the iucbitect,
iqion its design, (it ting up, and furniture. It inavbe of more iliaii ordi-
narily cheerful character, while another fu-iiig the south, shall lie (piite
the reverse. I am of opinion therefore that liepton either has nut
sufficiently explained himself, or else does not liimself uildcj.sti'U'.l whrtt

2o<i

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[July.

He objei-ts to ;in aspect due east, "because there the sun only shines
(lie means sliines only) when we are a-bed ;" which, however, depends
upon the time people choose to rise, whether before ten o'clock in
the forenoon, or after. A no better due west as])ect is aduiireil by
him, for that we are assured " is intolerable from the excess of sun
dazzling the eye during the greater part of the day." Rooms so
situated, must of course be habitable only in the depth of winter or in
cloudy \\ eather. It seldom happens that the sun is complained of as
being an exceedingly unwelcome guest ; but whenever he is so, we
can very easily prevent his intrusion into our rot)ms, by means of blinds
and muslin curtains, which, if intended for any purpose at all, are in-
tended to shut him out. Tlie objection alleged against an aspect full
west is deserving of consideration, because it would follow that in
front so turned tiie windows ought to be fewer, that is, the piers
much wider between them than if the aspect were east or north, a
circumstance I believe wholly disregarded by architects, certainly not
attended to in street building.

The very worst as|)ect of all, we are assured, is a south-west, be-
cause more exi)osed than any other to driving rains. In corroboration
of this we are told of a heavy storm of wind and rain which pelted
against the windows at Organ Hall, while from those on the other side
of the house, the view appeared perfectly clear. This driving of rain
against the windows, Mr. R. considers highly disagreeable ; yet if
most otlier persons agree with him in such dislike, my own taste must
be singularly ])erverse or capricious, for I know of nothing that con-
veys so intense an idea of indoor comfort and security, than the rattling
of wind and rain against the glass which defies their attacks. It is
one of those enjoyments for w'hich a Sybarite might be allowed to sigh.

I will not pursue Repton's remarks any further, except to sav tliat
after all they amount to very little if any thing, to nothing more than
that, of the four aspects of a house having r(joms facing all of them,
three will \>c bad, unless the south-east, instead of due soiith, be chosen
for one of them, in which case however, one of the aspects must be
the very worst, namely, the so much reprobated south-west. I should
therefore say that the safest and best rule is, whenever there is any
particular prospect afforded by the situation, to be determined chietly
by that, and to take care that it shall be connnanded by the principal
sitting rooms, let the aspect thus given to them be what it may ;
shoukl that not Ije the most advantageous, there would still be other
aspects for other rooms, where prospect might be dispensed with.

C.

ON BLASTING ROCKS.

Sir, — Having seen in your Journal of May last two very interesting
accounts of blasting rocks by the aid of galvanism, on plans lately in-
troducc^d by Colonel Pasley and Mr. Roberts, grounded on the pv'm-
ciple of bringing to an intense red heat a fine iron, steel, or platinum
wire, as originally proposed by Dr. Hare, of Philadelphia, I am
tempted to trouble you with a few remarks on the advantages stated l.iy
Mr. Roberts to be derived by lea\ing a column of atmospheric air
above and below the charge of powder, as also the increase of power
which is ol5tained by doing away with the necessity of a vent hole.

If then, in accordance with Mr. Robin's experiments, we suppose
that the flame of gunpowder has a temperatute not exceeding that of
iron heated to its most extreme degree of red heart, it will ex-
pand the air which it penetrates, in the ratio to its former bulk of 4 to
1, or induce an increase of pressure of nearly GOlbs on the scpuire inch ;
this on the hypothesis of this rate of temperature must be a maximum
for the coolness of the surface on'which it acts, as also the inferior
temperature of the air must reduce that of the flame somewhat below
that of the above standard. Mr. Robins likewise determines that his
experiments for the force of gunpowder when inclosed on all sides, as
exerting a pressure of 14,7501bs. on the square inch. If we suppose
that this is expanded in the ratio of 3 to 1, by leaving a volume of air,
equal to the cubic content of the powder, above and below the charge,
also that the square surface acted on is increased in the same ratio, we
will have in accordance with tlie law of the elasticity, being inversely
as the volume, a pressure of 4,9171bs. on the square inch, one-third
less than if the jiowder had been inclosed on all sides, b\it acting over
three times the surface, and hence, as deduced from the statical l.iw
of virtual velocities producing the same virtual effect ; to which, then,
if we add the increase of ISOlbs., by the expansion of the air, we pro-
cure an addition of power of 1-82'nd ])art of that which we had if no
air at all had been employod. From this it may be deduced that (he
larger the proportion of air, the greater will be the addition of power,
but this, I am of opinion, will be in a great degree counterbalanced by
the greater extent of cooling surface, and consequent smaller degree of
elasticity of the atmospheric column, With regard to the loss of

])Ower by vent holes, it is obvious that it will be proportional to the
([uantity of fluid which escapes by such a]iertures, and this will be
equal to the velocity of the fluid multiplied by the area of the aper-
ture. In order to deternnne this velocity, the best method is, perhaps,
to find the height of a homogeneous column, of the same fluid capable
of producing the same ]iressure as that to which the fluid is subjected,
for then the fluid would rush into a vacuum with the velocity a heavy
body would acquire by falling through the height of the homogeneous
cohnnn. If, however, the fluid rushes into atmospheric air, instead of
a \acuum, the velocity will be that which a heavy body will accjuire, by
falling through the diiference between the heights of homogeneous
columns of the fluids of greatest elastic force equivalent to the pressures.
Thus, if as Mr. Robins states, the elasticity of fired gunpowder is
ecpial to a pressure of 14,750 on the square inch, and the height of a
column of the same fluid capable of ]iroducing this pressure is /i,
putting //' equal to the height of a colunni of the same fluid capable of
exerting a pressure the same as that of atmosplieric air, viz.. 151bs.
nearly on the square inch, the velocity per second,through the vent hole
into air will be determined by the formula v ^ 8 ^/ h — h'. These
heights may be procured as follows : — Gunpowder has very much the
same density as water, and is supposed to occupy a volume of 1,000
less than its generated gas, when this latter exerts a pressure of
14,7501bs. on tlie square inch. Now, the height of a column of water
at GO" temperature, capable of producing a pressure of lib. on the
square inch, is'2-31 feet, but the gas of gunpowder having one thousand
times the volume of its generating matter, and consequently equally
more voluminous than water, must, in order to produce the same
pressure, have a height of 2-31 X 1,000, or 2,310 feet to produce
14,7501bs. on the square inch, the requisite height will be 2,310 X
14,750, or 31,072,500 feet= // ; to exert 151bs. on the square inch the
height will be 34,550 feet =: //. Hence from the formula c :== 8
^li—h' — 8 v'34,072,500 — 34,G50 = in round numbers to 4G,7ot»
feet per second. Now, if we suppose the vent hole to be 1-lGth of

an inch square, its area will be-— r--of a square inch, or „ . , ..of a

zDO 30,Bb4

square foot, hence the quantity of the fluid escaping per second will

be 4G,700 -rjT— or li cubic feet nearly. Thus then we see the great

loss of power which vent holes cause, unless the action of the pow-
der is inconceivably rapid, and accovmt for the whole force at times
escaping by these apertures, when the power is over matched by the
resistance, a fact which frequently happens. It is to the entire obvi-
ation of this loss, as well as the more rapid ignition of the charge, that
I am disposed to allow the increase of power, and consecjuent saving
of gunpowder which will be caused by the use of the galvanic battery
in all mining and blasting operations, which athantages, coupled with
the perfect immunity from all danger wliich the apparatus causes, are,
I believe, sufficient to bring it into speedy and universal use.

The addition of power by using a column of air is so small as hardly
to be taken into account, and there is no case in which I can conceive
it to be with any great ad\ antage employed.

Very faithfully yours,

June 21, 1839. J. J,

BRITISH MUSEUM.

(From the Times,)

In the temporary building attached to the fifth room of the British IMuseum,
which contains the casts from the metopes of the Temple of Jupiter Selinus
in Sicily, and of which an account was given in this paper some time since,
one was omitted ; viz., the fifth, the execution and design of which are equal,
if not superior, to the others. It represents a combat between a warrior and
an Amazon or a divinity not known. The warrior is represented in a kneeling
posture, yielding to superior force ; the body, wliicli is bent, is entirely
covered with the leatiiern armour called ** s/x'/^/s," Two guards to represent
metal are adapted to protect the shoulders, and a lielt of peculiar shape
crosses over the left shoulder-guard, and passes down the right thigh.
Straps, called " ;»;7r((," are joined to the ** sjiotas" at tlie waist, and under-
neath is seen the tunic drawn tight by tiie position of the leg ; the scabbard of
the sword is suspended by the thong, *' telenum," crossing the breast. The
large round shield is placed behind the warrior for a relief to the figure, and
]iart of the helmet is seen. The female figure has the stiff tunic and pepliim
in parallel folds, the earliest representation of drapery ; slie resembles in some
degree Minerva, whose exploits are sculptured on part of the metopes. "
V\ idiin tlie same apartment, placed under glass cases, in proportions of half
an inch to a foot, are four models of what are vulgarly called Trevetby
stones. As the monuments of which these are the exact representations are
by antiquaries supposed to be among the most ancient remains of human
labour uqw existing in our island, a brief account of them may not be unag-

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

257

ceptable to the o'eneral visitor of the Museum, as there is none to be found
in the publislied synopsis.

These structures are in general found at the tops of hills, or if on the plain
at the Iiighest part, probably because they should be visible at a distance;
stones placed upright, and standing at regular distances, are sometimes placed
around them. The cromlech (the name by which tliey have been for ages
known) consists of one large stone placed on three sujiporters ; this is done
probably because it is easier to place a superincumbent weight on three than
on four or five, because in the latter case all the sup])orters of tlie weight
must be brought to bear eijually on all, and this is not requisite when there
are but three; accordingly, the covering stones are never found horizontal,
the weight subsiding wliere the lowest support is found. These monuments
are also frequently called quoits, from the ui)per stone resembling the ancient
discus. What nation or religion they belonged to it is difficult to say ; they
are met with in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, France, and the islands of the
JVIediterranean, but more especially in the Celtic kingdoms of the North of
Europe, If they can be attributed to the Druidical priests, they must have
been among the earliest of their works, as the simplicity both of the plan and
form declare them to have been the work of men far less advanced in know-
ledge of architectiu'e than the founders of the gigantic structures of Stone-
henge. The Irish historians say, that Jeguinas, King of Ireland, the author
of idolatry in that country, died in the year of the world 3034, in the plain of
Magh SteadciiM, while sacrificing there to " (.'rom Creaich." It is not likely
tiiat they could have been used as altars, for sacrifice, as it is difficult to get
atop of them, and more difficult to make a fire large enough to burn a victim
without scorching the oihciating priest ; Cruni Quoit Cromlech is so shaped
that no one could stand on it to tend the fire or oversee the victim. As,
therefore, they 'are not likely to have been designed for altars, they were pro-
bably erected for sej)ulchral monuments, as the sarcopliagus of tlie Greeks,
and tlie altar-tombs of the present day, are but a more|regular cromlech. In
general they are situated in llie neighbourhood of barrows, and some of them,
by the way in wliich the stones are placed, closing in the sides, are called
'* Kist-va-en," and would serve, as was the first and common usage of man-
kind, to defend the body therein deposited from exposure to the weather or
the attacks of beasts of prey. Rowland derives the name from the Hebrew
*' Corem Cruaich," a devoted or consecrated stone. According to Wormius
they were sometimes called " ara'," or altars. He supposes they were first
altars and afterwards tombs; and there Is on account of one in Denmark, in
which King Harold was interred. The great similarity which prevails in the
manner of their erection, seems to prove that the use to which they were
devoted must have been the same both in Britain and in Denmark. In
Wales they are known by the name of " Calne Arthin," Arthur's Quoits ; and
by some antiquaries, the name is supposed to be derived from the Arraoric
" crum," crooked, or having a top stone.

Chun quoit, or cromlech, one of tlie models in this room, stands about
500 yards to the south-west of Chun Castle, in the parish of I\Iovah, Corn-
wall ; the covering stone is l^^ feet long, and 11 wide ; it is supported on
three stones pitciied on an edge, which, with the fourth one, form a pretty
regular kist-en-vaen ; the top of the ([uoit is convex, and the monument is
suiTounded with a low barrow, or heap of funeral stones. Layon Quoit,
another of which the perfect representation is here shown, is near Penzance ;
the area described by the supporters of this is 70 feet, but it does not stand,
as is generally the case, east and west, but north and south, as does also a si-
milar monument in Denmark, mentioned as the tomb of Ileraldus by Wor-
mius ; to this of Layon there is no kist-va-en, nor any area marked out by
side stones ; the quoit which is more than 47 feet in girth, is 19 long, and its
thickness in the middle of the eastern edge is Hi inches, and at each end not
quite so much, but at the western edge it is two feet ; the chief supporters
do not stand at right angels, with the front line, as in the others, having been
forced from its position by the weight of the superincumbent quoit ; its
height is such tliat a man on horseback can stand under it, Some years since
It was dug under to t!ie depth of eight feet, and a cavity was found in the ori-
ginal earth in the shape of a grave, which had been rifled of its contents ; it
stands on a bank not more than two feet higher than the soil. At the soulli
end are many upright siones, among which human bones, and those of
horses and deer liave been found, and a rod made of clay baked red ; those
stones might have been the Kibla, the sacred place of assembly for sacrificing^-
to the manes of the dead.

The means b}' which these immense masses have been placed on the sup-
porting stones it is difficult to conjecture; a people, the perfection of whose
architecture is shown in such rude structures as those, cannot be supposed to
have been acquainted with mechanical power sufficient to have effected it ;
the plan which Mr. Rowland, in his Mima Antiqna, conjectures to have been
made use of to place the transverse stones at Stonehenge was probably the
way in which it was done. The powers of the lever and the plane beinc
some of the first things understood by ijiankind, it is easy to conceive that
they were made use of to erect these prodigious monuments ; where a small
mound was found it was shaped into an inclined plane, or a small agger or
mount of solid earth was found, flatted and levelled at the top, up the sloping
sides of wliich the stone intended to be placed as the covering of th** crom-
lech was moved by the help of levers and rollers, and when adjusted on the
upright stones previously erected, the earth of the mount or artificial agger
being cut away, the fabric was complete. It must Iiave been by this means
that the rocking .stones poised so nicely that the smallest touch puts them in
motion, which are found in Cornwall and in Anglesea, were in all probability
adjusted. The other two models in this room are one of a cromlech at Duf-
fuin, in South Wales, and one which haa a very perfect ami double kist-va-en
iu Angleseu; near Flas Newydd.

In the courtyard of the iNIuseum is an object which excites much attention
from the visitors, and of whicli no further account is to be obtained than that
it was presented by the late Lord Egrcinont. It is an ancient vessel or
canoe, which was discovered near Petworth, in Sussex, at the village of
North Stoke, on the left bank of the river Aran, three miles from Arundel,
near Soutli Downs, in a meadow where the river takes a turn towards a
creek that runs into it. This vessel was found embedded in the mud ; one
part was completely buried, the other part was visiblt; about two feet under
water ; from time immemorial it was considered as part of the stump of an old
tree, and allowed to remain there ; it was used as a support for one end of a
flat wooden bridge, connecting two meadows, such as are commonly em-
ployed in those situations ; tlius situated it afforded no impediment to the flow
of water which passed in front ; about 'JO years ago a farmer who rented the
land cut away part of it to give an easier flow to the water, and a bridge
having been built higher up, it was ihougJit proper to remove this piece of
old tree, as it was supposed to be: the labourers employed finding it much
larger than they had reckoned on, attached eleven horses to it, b}' an iron
chain, and with great difficulty drew it to land. Its real form and character
were then discoverable, viz., one half of the stem of a large oak cut into the
shape of a boat. The toughness of its substance is shown ; that, although
but 4j inches in thickness at tlie bottom of the vessel, when its
stem, to which the chain was fixed, was drawn up the sloping bank,
and elevated four feet, while the opposite end was in the water,
with its load of mud, it was drawn entire to the flat surface, —
The length of tliis vessel is 35 feet 4 inches ; the depth 1 foot 10 inches ;
the width in tiie middle is 4 feet 6 inches; the thickness in the bottom, 4-2
inches ; the sides 5 inches to I7 ; of tlie stem, 1 foot ii inches ; of the stern,
'J feet "2 inches. There are three bars left at the bottom, at different distances,
which served to strengthen tlie whole, and gave a firm footing to those who
worked it ; there is no appearance of its having had a rudder, but tliere is a
notch which might have been for an oar to guide it. The extreme simplicity ,
of its construction indicates its having been the j)roduct of an early and rude
condition of man ; it is undoubtedly of much greater antiquity than the vessel
found some few years ago in the bed of the Hother, as it has the appearance
of having been hollowed out by fire. The ancient forest of Anderida, within
whose precincts it was discovered, was famed for the luxuriant growth of its
oaks. From a combination of circumstances, it may safely be regarded as a
relic of the aboriginal Britons, wrought before, or soon after, the arrival of
the B.omans. We are told by Ca-sar and Tacitus that the vessels with which
the ancient inhabitants of our island passed into Gaul were formed of wicker,
and covered witli skins, or fabricated by a single tree hollowed out by fire.
This vessel probably lay on the bank of the creek ready for use, and being-
swamped by a sudden flood of the river, might have been accidentally lost to
view, for it was found turned in the direction such a flow of water wouhl
have given it: remaining thus unseen for montlis, it might have been for-
gotten by the owner, and nothing but accident would have revived the know-
ledge of it. Several vessels resembling this have been found m morasses in
Scotland — one at Loch Kernos in 1736, seven feet long, with a seat at one
end and a paddle in it; another at Kilblain, eight feet three inches long; and
in 1720, several of the same kind were dug up in the marshes of the Med-
way ; and one so well preserved as to be used as a boat some time after-
wards ; at Moreton Lake, iu Lancashire, eight were found, each made of a
single tree, and shaped like the American canoes, but this we have described
by far exceeds all the others in its dimensions. Although with regard to its
antiquity, there are perhaps no certain means of judging, yet its blackened
condition and fibrous texture, resembling that of wood found buried in bogs,
prove that it must have for many years been immersed in water.

I'pon the walls of the room which contain these antiquities there are three
paintings which have been lately jdaced — views of Stonehenge, and the
cromlech at Dnfluin, Soutli Wales. They are exceedingly well executed, and
give, as far as pictures can, a true representation of that gigantic Druidical,
pile, but to those who may not have an opportunity of seeing the originals,
nothing brings to the mind so clear a notion of their real appearance, and
what tiiey are, as the models we have described.

The Elgin marbles, broken and scattered as they appear, render to the
public in general but a faint idea of the beauty and magnificence of the fabric
of which they formed a part, and consequently they are stared on with won-
dering admiration, that such vast sums have been expended, and such spo-
liation should have been made, for wliat appears as only so many defaced and
broken stones. To the antiquary and the artist and the connoisseur they are
invaluable ; but it may be doubted if the taste of the public has been much
improved by their inspection. If a model of the Parthenon, upon such a
scale as that in the I'niversity library at Oxford, or larger, were placed in
the saloon, the beauty and magnificence of that celebrated temple would
strike tlie most unlearned ; the shattered fragments and headless statues
would no longer be objects of false enthusiasm or ignorant contempt, and tiie
eye having the exact representation of the original before it, the imagination,
by speedily restoring the whule of the now mutilated parts, would fully ap-
preciate their value.

AVERY'S ROTATOKV STEAM-ENGINE.

The wonderful simplicity of this engine led us to feel an interest in itfrom
the first; and those made upon its plan, with various improvements, by ^Ir.
Iluthven of this city, have been noticed more than once in our columns.
Our last notice was about a year ago, Rlr. Ruthven had one then working
•aud hiiij it Still) iu hisj workshop, turuiug severul lathes, moving a tilt-haui-

258

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[July,

mer, ami plaining machine, (hiving- a g;rind-stone, &c. On Saturday, IStli
Mav, we liad the pleasure of seeing one of tiiose engines at work in this neigh-
burliood, ou the farm of Jlr. Allan, at Pilton, and in a manner fnlly calcu-
lated to test its powers.

The engine is one of sir-hone power, according to the usual method of
computation. The radius of the revolving arm is two feet ; tiie lengtli of the
two arms, of course, four feet; ami thev make fiillv .SOOO revolutions in a
minute. The cast iron-box in wliicli tliev revolve is rive feet in diameter,
and about six inches wide externally ; and this box, witli tlie two revolving
arms within it, actually constitutes the wliole macliine, except the boiler and
the pump which supplies the boiler with water. The engine has neither
beam, piston, parallel-motion, apparatus, crank, nor valve. It could be put
witb ease into a parlour book-case ! The boiler is a cylinder two feet in
diameter and ten feet long. There are two small cylinders of twelve inches
diameter connected with it, filled witli water, but no steam is formed in them.
Their use is to economise fuel. Tiiey may be considered as etilnr'^ed yor-
tioiiii of the pijie whicii conveys water to the boiler, passed through tiie lower
and horizontal part of the flue, that the waste beat of the fire maybe profitably
emjdoyed in warming the water before it gets into the boiler. A polished
iron cylinder, i* inches long and .S in diameter, is attached to the axis of the
revolving arms ; and a broad leather belt passing from it to a wheel, -i feet
in di:vnieter, conveys the motion to the thrasliing-mill. The motion of the
arois, which constitutes the moving power, is produced by the re-action of
sleom, rushing from two apertures, about a quarter of an inch wide, in the
opposite sides of the arms, and at their outer extremities. The engine is
worked with a pressure of four or five atmospheres. Its ]>rice, including boiler
and pumj), witli the belt and wlieel for communicating motion to the thrash-
ing-mill, is about £rJO. AVe are thus jtarticular, because many will have
forgot, and some will not have seen, the details we formerly gave.

We saw the fire lighted, the motion commence, and the operation of
thrashing and winnowing proceed for a considera!)le time. The engine has
been two months in Mr. Allan's possession. He has been using it every
week, and has already tlirashed upwards of 200 bolls of grain with it. It has
given him complete satisfaction; and tlie following is his account of its per-
formance : —

" Mr. Kuthven's engine thrashes from eight to ten bolls (four to five qrs.)
of grain per hour, with a consumption of less tliaii a hundred-weight of coals.
It is, besides, easily kept and managed, and there is a great saving of grease.
In addition to the thrashing-mill, it drives two .sets of extra fanners, a
bumbling-machine, and two sets of elevators.'*

Mr.vVUau informed us that it required five horses to work the same thrash-
ing-machine, before lie procured i\Ir. Ruthven's engine ; and neither the extra
fanners, elevators, nor bumbling-machine, were tlien attached to it. Witb
this addition, be reckons that the engine (of six computed horse-power) does
the work of seven or eight horses. With the apparatus in its present state,
he is able, not only to thrash, but to winnow, clean, and send off to market,
fifty bolls of grain in six liours, with a great saving in manual labour. We
may add, for the information of persons] at a distance, that Mr. Allan is one
of the most extensive and intelligent farmers in the county. — Abridged from
the Scotsman, Mail 29.

CORXlSIi HIGH-PRESSURE, EXPANSIVE, CONDENSING
STEAM-ENGINE AT C.VBLISLE.

On Satiu-day, the 25tli May, the engine maiutfactiu'ed in Cormvall by
Messrs. Harvey and Co., of Hayle, from tlic specifications and plans of that
ciniueiit Cornish engineer, •WilU.am West, for the Carlisle Canal Company,
commenced working. The directors liaving asseniblcd at twelve, in a few
minutes after, the engine was started liy Mr. liaison, the chairman, and Mr.
West, who had arrived from Cornwall for that purpose. The volume of
water sent forth excited luiiversal sm-prise amongst the numerous gentlemen
and artizans whom curiosity bad drawn to the sjiot, and was gratifying iu
the highest degree to the directors and projirietors of the company.

The engine (named the " Eden") is set up for tlie piirjioseof supplying the
Carlisle Canal with water from the river Eden. The height the water has to
be lifted is about fifty-six feet ; the steam cyhndcr is sixty inches diameter ;
that of the pumj) forty-five (tlie largest of the kind in the kingdom) ; length
of stroke ten feet. In less than two minutes, the huzzas of those assembled
announced the water was lifted to the pmnp-bead, whence it was poured
forth in a soUd, coutiuuous, and rapid str-cam, at the rate of 6,624 gallons
per minute ; consequently, working at twelve strokes, the quantity delivered
ill twelve houis into the camd is 4,/69,280 imperial gallons of water — equal
to 765,288 cubic feet — at an expense of fuel under j«.

The canal from Carlisle to tlic Sohvay Frith is about twelve miles in length.
There are sl\ locks, each .about sixty-seven feet long, twenty-two feet wide,
and eight feet six inches deep ; and when required, such is the jiower of this
simple, yet eft'ective machine, that the quantity of water contained in each
lock can be replaced in less than ten minutes — ;'. e., as quick nearly as a
vessel can be passed through. In the course of a month, when Harvey and
West's new patent \alves shall he suhstitiiled for Ihnse now in use, the work
will be done better, .and witb considerably less fi-iction, and the licaxy blow,
and consequent vibration coinmoii to all pumpiiig-engimjs WiH (it is Sftit'j Ve

fiatu.-eiy ^y^x'i<)Si.%,'^diriii<i?d/nm thi (,'ar lisle ^a^)(i;

AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES.

It will be recollected that a contract had been entered into between tlie
Birmingham and Gloucester Railway Company and Mr. Norris, of I'hiladel-
pliia, L .S., for the supply of locomotive for the Gloucester Railway. The
contract was conditionally made, on the first engine manufactured by Mr. N.
performing certain work agreed upon. As much interest has been felt in tlris
country with reference to the contract, and as some doubts were entertained
as to tlie correctness of the representations made respecting these engines,
we have pleasure in giving the following particuliirs as to the engine sent
over to this couiitiT liy .Mr. Norris, and the work it has actually performed
on the Grand Junction liailway, in conformity with the agreement to which
we have alluded. " The England" weighs about eight tons, without water
or ftiel ; she is built much lower and smaller than the engines coiniiionly iu
use here, and has six wheels, the driving pair being foiu' feet in diameter.
The cylinders ai'e ten and a half inches in diameter, and are enclosed in cop-
per cases to prevent radiation — stroke eighteen inches. The niachiiicry is of
the simplest construction, and consists of a much smaller nmiilicr of parts
than we have been accustomed to see. The cyhnders are placed on the out-
side of the framework, which allows the advantage of a straight axle; and
the general appearance of the engine more nearly resembles that of the old
" Rocket" engine thau of any other with which we are acquainted. The
engine is got up in a most superior style, iind is finishod, even to the minutest
particular, in a very beautiful and workmanhke manner ; every part having
been executed with perfect accuracy, by means of self-acting machinery. As
a proof, indeed, of the mathematical coiTectness of the work, we may mention
that the steam-tight joints are formed simply by the bringing into contact of
metallic surfaces ; the workmanship of whicli is so tme, as entirely to super-
sede the necessity of packing of any kind. The boiler is similar to those used
in engines inaiiufactiued in this couiitiy, but it contains only seventy-eight
tubes, instead of from 10(1 to 1 10, the number commonly used in those on our
railways ; and the consmnption of fuel, compared with the work ]ieiformed,
is, we imderstanil, very small. The task undertaken to be perfonned by
" The England" was to run from Birmingham to AA'anington, fourteen jour-
neys each way. earning 100 tons in the gross, and pcrfonnhig tlie distance,
eighty miles, at the rate of twenty miles per hour, which tlie engine has ac-
coinplibhed considerably within the specified time of four hours; the average
time having been about 3 hours 30 miii., or the actual running time, without
stoppages, from 3 h. 9 niiu. to 3 h. 19 inin. On one occasion, it is stated
that the engine brought into Bh-muigbam the enormous load of 120 tons,
th'awing it up the inchncd planes without any assistance ; and on no occasion
has it failed to peiform the required duty, nor has even the least derangement
of any part of the machincrv- taken place. It shoiUd also be mentioned, that
the various parts were never put together until its amval in t.his country,
when they were first fitted at Liverjiool, the day previous to making a trip ;
nor has a tool been applieil to the engine since she was first set up. We
understand the comhtional order to Mr. Norris for ten enguics, of similar
capability, has been confirmed. — Midland Counties Herald.

REVIEWS,

The Suburban Gardener and Pllla Companion ; comprising the choice

of a .Suburban or nila Rtsidtiice, 4x. Sfc. By J. C. Loitjo.n', F.L.S.

H. ,S., &c. Illustrated by numerous engravings. Svo. London,

Longman, Ornie, & Co., 1S38.

By no means does its title — we do not mean the title-page, but the
mere name — do justice to this vvorli, it being so partial a.s to exclude
the idea of there being any thing, except, perhaps, quite incidentally,
connected with architecture ; whereas the hist mentioned subject
forms no inconsiderable portion of the volume. Indeed we hartlly
know of any single work wliich contains so much relative to domestic
architecture, taking the term in its widest sense, comprehending
every thing that relates to private residences, iittings-up and furnitme
not excluded, besides a vast variety of other matters, respecting which
books by architects themselves do not atl'ord any instruction or infor-
mation whatever. So far from being made up out of other books, the
volume — and it extends to 75(J closely printed octavo pages — contains
a great deal of matter that has hardly ever been touched upon before,
notwithstanding that it is in itself highly important ; besides which,
it is communicated in a very agreeable style, familiar ;uid intelligent,
without the slightest tinge of pedantry on "the one Iiand, and etjually
free from all twaddle on the other. It may very fairly be described
as a book for the many, at least for all who are in easy circumstances,
and who can afl'ord to study the comforts and the luxuries of home in
the true English meaning of the terra. To descant upon the moral
influence of home, would be here rather out of its place, yet we may
be allowed just to remark en pasHanI, that those who ha\'e a taste, or
cultivate oiie, for order and elegance in the objects whicli surroimd
tliem, are, aetirie paribus, if not actually more moral and intellectual,
more in tlie way of becoming so than those who attach no importance

to what does iwt iiiiw'tl iiJiy 3irci.-t gratification either to geiisuiJity or
to YiiiJit;-,

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

259

To iiiuoeed, however, to give some specimen'; of tlio work — for
hardly could we attemjit any analysis, except by coj)ying the list of
contents, which alone would occupy a great deal of room — we will
quote the following, if only on account of the ingenious and pleasing
suggestion at its commencement : —

For houses that have a garret, a sort of green-house may ho established
there, hy forming glass windows in tlie roof. An enthusiast amatem' might,
indeed, have the roof of his house entirely of glass, and train vines or creepers
under it; wliicli might he planted in llic grouuil, and their stems broiight up
against tlie outside wall, and covered with a wooden case. In such roofs,
the panes of glass slioidd not he more than 2i in. or 3 in. wide, or plate glass
should be used, in order to ju'event breakage from hail. The most fitting
suburban residences for having gi-ecu-honses are such as arc either quite
detached, or in pau's ; which last-mentioned jiouscs, in the neighbourhood of
London, are called double detached houses. In cases of this kind, whether
the houses are of the fonrtli rate or the first rale, they may always have a
l)lant-house of some kind attached to them. One of the most ordinary modes
of coimecting a gi'een-hoiisc with a small house is by placing it against the
gable end; it being understood that this gable end fronts the south, the
south-east, or the south-west : though, even if it fronts the direct west or
direct cast, such a green-house will answer for many kinds of green-house
])lants; and for all kinds whatever, with an exlra-allowance of fire heat
iluring muter. For doulile cottages or houses, where the gable ends front
the south-cast and north-west, a green-house may be placed against each ;
but where the one gable fronts the south and the other the north, then the
one green-house should be placed on the east side of the house, and the
other on the west side. In single houses, the green-house may be placed in
a great variety of ways, ami uiay be of many forms, as will be seen hereafter,
aceor:Ung to the arrangement of the ground plan, and the style of elevation,
of the house. In whatever manner a green-house, or plant-house of any
descrii)tion, is attached to a house, means ought always to be i)rovided for
warming, ventilating, and watering the plant-house, altogether independently
of the dvicUing-house ; for few things are more disagreeable and unwhole-
some to human beings, as well as injurious to fnrniture and the walls of the
room, than the close damp effluvia from the earth, water, ami plants of a
conservatory. For this reason, the plants grown in conservatories inmie-
diately attached to drav\iug-rooms should be such as are natives of very dry
climates, (for example, the Cape of Good IIoi>e, Australia, &c.) and, conse-
(luently, recpiire very little water ; and the gardener should contrive to give
his waterings either late in the evenings, or very early in the mornings, when
there is no chance of the conservatory being in use by the family. Previously
to the hour when it is expected the family will walk in the conser\atory, it
ought to be thoroughly ventilated, so as to carry otf the damp ; and the
surface of the ground ought never to be kept very moist, in order to produce
as little evaporation from it as possible.

We do not exactly agree with the predilection expressed by Mr.
Loudon for the square or cube as the best form for a house. Allowing
it may deserve all tliat is said in its favour, it does not exactly follow
that it ought invariably to be adopted to the exclusion of every other,
particularly where other considerations ought to be attended to, besides
those of mere economy. Far more do we approve of what is said on
the subject of views : —

Variety in the views obtained from the house, and from flie different walks
conducted through the grounds, is one of the grand desiderata in every place
laid out in the modern style, whether its extent may be large or small. With
respect to the \iews from the house, the first thing to be attended to is, the
disposition of the rooms, so that their windows may look in ihfferent direc-
tions. Unless this has been studied by the architect, it will be impossible,
even in the finest situation, to produce much variety in the views. Suppose
a house placed on a slope, commanthug an extensive prospect ; if all the
rooms looked towards that prospect, all of them woidd have good \iews, but
these \iews would not be varied ; whereas if, from one side of the house, the
windows of one room (say the drawing-room) lookeil out on a level flower-
garden ; and if, on another side, those of the dining-room looked up the
slope ; while, on a third side, those of the hbrary, or breakfast-room, com-
mamled the distant prosjiect ; there woidd be three distinct characters of
view. Now, in very small places (say of a quarter of an acre, or even le<s,
in extent), this varied disposition of the rooms, or, rather, of the manner of
lighting them, ought never to be lost sight of; because, altogether indepen-
dently of distance, or of any object beyond the boundary fence, the views
may be reiulered of (hffcrent characters by the dirt'erent kinds of trees and
shrubs planted, by their ditfereut disposition, by a lUfference of fonn in the
ground, and by a difference in the architectural ornaments, or by the absence
of architectural ornaments altogether. Even a difference in the form and size
of the window, or tlie absence or presence of a balcony or veranda, will
altogether alter the character of the scenery. Wherever, therefore, a house
stands isolated, and ha% a clear space of a few yards on each side of it, it
may always have at least four ilifferent characters of view, independently of
the effect jirodnced liy lialconies, verandas, or other changes in the windows
or foreground. Hence, also, in hniited plots of gromul, whatever is their
shape, gieater variety of view will be produced hy placing the house nearer
one end, or nearer one side, than in the centre. Jn the latter case, it is im-
possible to get depth of view from any side, and ihw a great source of beauty

is lost. A deep view includes n grealcr number of objects, and, cojisequcnfly,
admits of a greater variety of cllcct of light and shade ; it increases our ideas
of extent, and, Ijy concealing more from the eye than can he done in a con-
fined view, it gives a greater exercise to the inmgination. Add to this, that,
in a small place, depth of view is not exjiected ; arid, consequently, when it
does occm-, its effect is the more striking, by the surprise it occasions, as well
as by its contrast with the other views, which must necessarily he very
limited.

We could wish to continue this extract by quoting also the de-
scription and remarks introduced in illustration of it, but unless we
could likewise give the plan of the house and garden, the rest would
not be very well understood. We must, however, hasten to conclude
our article, which perhaps we cannot better do than by extracting the
following general observations : —

It has often struck us with smprise, that the proprietors of the finest resi-
dences in England, imblemen and gentlemen of liigh education and refined
taste in other things, possessing collections of the finest jiictures, and whose
eyes must consequently be familiar with all that is noble and lieautiful in
landscape, should yet conunit the laying out of their grounds to their garden-
ers ; or, at all events, ])ernut them to make alterations and additions in w hat-
ever relates to flower-beds, flowering shrubs, aud rockwork ; forgetting that
the life of the gardener has been devoted to the study of the culture of plants,
and not to that of tlie composition of forms, and their effect in landscape
scenery. Hence it is that many of the most beautiful places in England are
at this moment fhstigured by flower-beds, either jdaced where there ought to
be none, or put down of such shapes, and in such a manner, as neither to
form a whole among themselves, nor with the other objects near them. How
rarely do we find pieces of rockwork, or rocky cascades, in England, which
a man who had profited by the study of pictures could take pleasure in
looking at? It is clear to us, that the possessors of pictures in general de-
rive very httle benefit from them, as regards the ini])rovement of their ta.ste
in landscape. How few landed proprietors can, like the late Sir Uvedale
Price, and the present William M'cUs, Esq., of Reilleaf, transfuse the spirit of
the finest landscajie into the artificial scenery which they create in their
grounds? Many oouulry gentlemen are in the habit of having artists at
their houses, to take portraits, views, &c. ; and these beuig, in many instances,
the guests of the family for weeks together, we often wonder how it happens
that they do not point out the gi-osser errors of want of connexion and unity
of expression, with which they must so frequently he shocked in passing
througli flower-beds and pleasure-grounds; but we suppose that gentlemen
do not think of asking the opinion of a liiii<lscape-paiiiter on any point con-
nected with gardening; forgetting that the composition of fiu-ms is flie
business of the landscape-painter, and that his eye has been educated by a
long coiu'se of study and observation, so that he can detect what is right or
wtong at a single glance. There are some proprietors who have studied the
suliject themselves, or who fortunately knowing their own ignorance of it,
have had the wisdom to consult such artists as Gilpin, Nesfield, &c. ; and we
only wish that those wlio do without such a'd could ses their places as they
are seen hy men of real taste.

We are aware that what we have said ourselves, and what we have
quoted, goes a very little way indeed towards affording much idea of
a volume consisting of between 7uO and bUU closely printed pages,
and illustrated with from 3U0 to 4U0 w oodcuts ; but we can recommend
it in general terms as one exceedingly interesting and useful to those
who liave either suburban or country residences ; and also to those
who arc concerned either in architecture or in gardening.

FOREIGN MONTHLY REVIEW.

The second number of this new periodical contains an article en-
titled "Modern French Architectural Decoration," at the head of
which is placed Thiolletand Roux's " Nnimau Recueil de Mfiiiiiserie
(t Decorations Interieuns." Perhaps the best way of recommending this
paper to the attention of our readers will be to give some extracts
from it, by way of sample.

Granting that it may, in some respects, be a suhorcUnate part of their prac-
tice, we must be allowed to assert that decoration is a very important one of
their art, and that the study of it, internal as well as external, ought to enter
into every arcliitect's education. Many may, perhaps, be of opinion, that it
is one of those tilings which may very jiroperly be deferred, until after the
usual elementary course of training has been gone through ; we, nevertheless,
are disposed to hold that it is the safer course to cultivate a refined taste as
early as possible, lest, in flic interim, a bad taste, never afterwards, perhaps,
to be era(hcated, should spring up of its own accord. For want of duly cul-
tivating ail acquaintance with interior decoration, in all its manifold .ind
complex ramifications, it seldom happens that, if accidentally called upon to
furnish ideas for any thing of the Idnd, our architects have any better re-
sources than what they find in some analogous exterior parts. L'ndoubtedly
it is not every one who, in the course of his professional employment, may
Jiave occasion to exercise his talent this way ; hut eveu then it would not be
a whit mori useless to liiin than many tilings to wMeh lie directs Ui aften-

260

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[July,

tion ; ami certainly tlie suljiect we are speaking of conies far more within
the provinte cif an architect, than some of the studies so fantastically insisted
upon by Vitruvius as indispensahle to the education of one.

How far a knowledge of it may be useful or not must, in a great degree,
depend upon the peculiar walk in his profession, which an architect takes up ;
a man whose practice lies chiefly in building bridges, or prisons and poor-
liouses, can, of course, shift very well without it ; wliile it is, on the con-
trary, of almost paramount iiui>ortaiice to those who are called upon to erect
or alter residences for the opulent and luxurious ; at all events, if they, in-
stead of applying to it themselves, cboose to commit that department of de-
sign to decorators and others of that class, it is ven- \mreasonable, on the
liart of the profession, to att'ect to liold a coutem))tuous opinion of such per-
sons and their taste, when they miglit rescue their art from the baleful in-
fluence of sucli taste, by taking that department of it, as far as design is
concerned, into their own hands. There is room, however, for suspecting
that few of their own body would do very much better, for the simple reason
that such branch of design forms no part either of their professional education
or their after-studies : of colours, as applicable to their art, on which so much
depends in this comparatively trifling branch of it, if so they choose to con-
sider it, they know scarcely any thing.

In tlip.se remark.*! there is but too much truth ; and among those
whicli we afterwards meet with there is also much that merits to be
considered.

How much depends upon colour alone is obvious enough from the fact, tha*
the same design will appear altogether ditferent, according as it happens to be
differently coloured. Nevertheless, the choice of colours, and the aiTange-
ment of them, are generally left to the chapter of accidents. The architect's
eye is not trained to colouring, as connected with embellishment ; on the
contrary, his attention is exclusively confined to moilels that afford scarcely
any thing that is immediately ajiidicable to interior emhellisluncnt, unless it
be in a few particular cases. His books furnish him with no ideas on the
subject ; since what they oft'er, connected with it, rarely amounts to more
than an occasional section, exhibiting only one wall of each apartment, while
even that little is exhibited without colour, and without any of those acces-
sories which there must be in the rooms themselves. As mere sections, we
do not blame driiwiiigs of that class ; all that we mean to obsene is, that
their deficiencies ought to be su])plied by others. Yet even works, which are
professedly intended to be studies of decoration, generally leave us quite in
the dark as to one very material point, for very seldom, indeed, does it
happen that they are illuminated ; in regard to colour, therefore, they afford
no information.

We must not be too liberal of our extracts, for were we to copy
from it as much as we could wish, we might as well transfer the whole
article entire to our own pages, which would be being more liberal to-
wards our readers, than just towards the publisher of the Foreign
Monthly. We must tlierefore pass over some other descriptions of,
and remarks on, several of the modern Parisian shops, and confine our-
selves to what is said of the mode in which the interior of many of
them are decorated.

If less striking on the score of mere novelty, the specimens of interior de-
corations in shops are more successful : in fact, they exhiliit more of taste
than of decided novelty, except as regards the actual application, all par-
taking, more or less, of the style of painting in vogue at Pompeii. Milletot's,
the confectioner's shop, plates 4!) and .'JO, is an exceedingly pleasing example
of this mode of embellishment ; tasteful in design and rich in eflfect, although
the colours employed are little more than lirowns and greys upon a white
ground. Plate 66, a linendraper's shop, No. 29, Place de la Bourse, is, al-
though very different from the jirecediug, another agreeable subject. The
Cafe Gaulois, Rue Poissonnicre, is a more ambitious disjjlay of the Pompeian
style ; but, as that plate is uncoloured, it is impossible to form any idea of
that upon which the effect mainly depends. For purposes where mere general
effect is required, this mode of decoration may very eligibly be adopted ; but
it is not very favourable to other species of art, because it excludes framed
pictures, with which it would very ill agree, even were spaces for their re-
ception provided for before-hand in the design ; while it is hardly to be
wished that suliject pictures should be made to combine with it, by being
similarly painted on tlie walls themselves, because it is our opinion that, were
such practice to be brought into vogue, it would tend to deteriorate art by
giving cun-ency to a flimsy, meretricious style — a sjiccious, sliewy mannerism
—and nothing more. We are now taking into view the consequences, sup-
posing it were to become the fashion among those who occujiy not family
mansions but rented houses, to encourage such jiictorial embellishment on the
walls of their rooms. As such paintings coulil not be removed, and could
scarcely have value as available property, it is hardly to be supposed that real
talent would ever he employed in jirodiicing them, liesides, a superior col-
lection of i>ictures may be formed by degrees ; but, in this case, an entire
series would have to be paid for at once, and, if not of first-rate quality, of
such quality, at least, as to stand the test of critical examination as works of
art, and would be no better, perhai)S some degrees worse, than the same sur-
face decorated with simply ornamental figures ; if merely for the reason that
it would lune more pretension, yet be unable to support it.

Of purely decorative painting, applied to the w»lls and ceilings of rooms;

examples are here furnished from a ball and billiard-room, executed, at Paris,
for Baron Rothschild, in 1820, by Picot and Gosse. The ceiling of the
second-mentioned apartment, in the style of the baths of Titus, is ricli, yet
chaste and harmonious, and many of the other parts, taken by themselves,
show much taste, yet how far the tout-ensemble may be satisfactory, can only
be guessed at ; even allowing it to lie so, it is questionable whether it is one
that can safely be recommended for general purposes. It is certainly one that
calls for much previous consideration and foresight as to its results. It is one
(hat may be canied too far, and which is liable to great abuse, unless it be
jiut under the check of correct artistical juilgment and feeling. Still we
could wish to see it encouraged to a certain degree in this countiT, were it
only because our ai-cliitects would then, almost of necessity, be led to bestow
more attention than they at present do on what tiiey ought to understand;
and, if jiroperly taken up, it would tend greatly to widen the scojie afforded
to design.

Theory, Practice, and Architecture of Bridges. Tlie Theory by James
H.\NN of King's College, and the Practiceil and jlrchitectural Trea-
tises by William Hosking, F.S.A., &c. Part 1, 2, 3. London, John
Weale, 1839.

The three parts before us are devoted to a miscellaneous collection
of well engraved plates of several bridges of importance, which have
been erected in this country, in addition to what we have before no-
ticed, there are eight plates of the Hutcheson Bridge at Glasgow,
which exhibit not only the construction, but also the progress of the
work, the setting of the centres, building the foundations, and the im-
plements employed. There are several good examples of Iron Bridges,
constructed by the Butterley Company, and various bridges of stone
and timber.

In the letter-press we have a translation of Gautliey's Treatise on
Bridges; but notwithstanding that this treatise has been held in higli
repute by many scientific men, we cannot for our part concede to it
such a prominent position. We consider the formulae to be generally
complicated, and not at all calculated to benefit the practical bridge
builder. The translator has fallen into a few errors in the translation;
the word pile has been introduced in several places for the word pier,
and there are some others which the scrutinizing eye of the profession
will discover.

The two papers on the theory of Bridges, by Professor Hami,
and on the theory of the arch, by Professor Moseley, are well written
and of deep research ; it would have been better if the two papers
had been blended and intrusted to one author, for they in some
measure interfere with each other, and are likely to confuse the
student; notwithstanding, they are well deserving of an attentive peru-
sal, and we shall give an extract from the paper by Professor Moseley,
to enable our readers to form an opinion of the work for themselves.

* * As the simplest case of a section of variable inclination, let its plane
be supposed always to pass through the same horizontal axis. This case includes
that of the circular arch under its most general form, and to this case my
further researches have been Umited.

1 have snjiposed certain forces to be applied to one extremity of a structure
thus intersected, and resting by its other extremity upon an immoveable base.
As for instance a semi-arch, fig. 2, resting by its extremity B upon its abut-
ments, and supiiorted by a given force P, ajiplied to the key-stone AD, instead
of the pressure of an opposite semi-arch. On this hypothesis the equation to
the line of resistance may be completely determined in respect to an arch of
equal voussoirs subjected to any variety of loading. Mitli a view to this
general determination I have first supposed the loading to be collected over
a single point X of the semi-arch ; and on this hypothesis I have found the
equation to the line of pressure in terms, of the inclination of the joint .\D
of the key-stone (that is, of the line CD) to the vertical, the angle .\CB of
the segment of the arch, the common depth AD of voussoirs the point of
application, and the magnitude of the force P and the weight X. This deter-
mination eviilently includes the cases of the loaded Gothic and segmental
arches; and were the magnitude and point of application of the force P
known, it would constitute a complete determination of the equihbrium of
the structure.

But unfortunately, in the actual case of the arch, this pressure upon the
key is an unknown tiling. We neither know its point of ajiplication nor its
amount.

It is the pressure of the opposite semi-arch, or rather it is the resultant of
an infinity of pressures exerted by the opposite semi-arch upon an infinity of
points, by wliicli that semi-arch is in contact with the face AD of the key;
and the amount of this resultant, and whether it pass through the middle of
the key-stone or its extremities, are necessary, but, up to this period of the
investigation, unknou'n elements of the theory. Some other principle of me-
chanical action manifestly enters into the conditions of the equilibrium, and
claims a place at this period of the discussion.

That other principle is this, that of all the pressures which can be applied
to the key, different in their points of appUcation and amount, but all con-
sistent with the equilibriimi of the semi-arch, that which it actually sustains

]S39.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

261

by the jn-essure of the opposite semi-arch is tlie lemt. This condition of
niiniuunii pressure at the key supplies niatheniatically all that is renuii'ed for
the complete deterniiiiation of that ]n-essure, and [icrfects tlie theory.

The demonstration of it is easy. The pressure which an opposite scnu-
arch would produce ui>o-n the side AC of the key-stone, tig. 2, is ecpual to the
tendency of that semi-arch to revolve forwards upon the inferior edges of
one or more of its voussoirs. Now this tendency to motion is evidently equal
to the least force which would support this opposite semi-arch ; supposing
the semi-arehes, therefore, to be equal in every respect, and equally loaded,
it is equal to the least force which would support the serai-arch .\BDC.

Fiy.\.

Suppose the mass ABDC, tig. 1, to be acted upon liy ajiy number of force
among which is the force Q being the resultant of certain resistances, suj)-
plied by different points in a surface BU, connuou to the intersected mass
aiul to an immoveable obstacle BE.

Now it is clear that under these circumstances we may vai'y the force P,
Ijoth as to its amount, direction, and point of apiiHeatiou, without disturbing
the equilibrium, provided only the form and direction of the line of resistance
continue to satisfy the conditions imjiosed by the equilibrium of the system.

These have been sliown to be tlie following, — tliat it no where cut the
surface of the mass, except at P, anrl within the sjiace BD, and that it no
where cut any section MN of the mass, or the common surface BD of the
mass and obstacle, at an angle with the perpendicular to that surface, greater
than the limiting angle of resistance.

Thus, varying the force P, we may destroy the equiUbriuni, either, first, by
causing the line of resistance to take a direction without the limits prescribed
by the resistance of any section MN through which it passes, that is, witliout
the cone of resistance at the jjoiut w here it intersects that sm-face ; or,
secondly, by causing the point Q to fall irithoiit the surface BD, in which
case no resintatice can be o\)posed to the resultant force acting in that point ;
or, thirdly, the point Q lying within the surface BD, we may destroy the
equilibrium by causing the line of resistance to cut the surface of the mass
somewhere between that point and P.

Let us suppose the linnts of tlie variation of P within which the first two
conditions are satisfied, to be known ; and varying it, within tlujse limits, let
us consider what may be its least and greatest values so as to satisfy the third
condition.

Let P act at a given point in AC and in a given direction. It is evident
that by diminishing it under these circumstances, the line of resistance will
be made continualh to assmne more nearly that direction which it would
have, if P were entirely removed.

Provided then, that if P ivere thus removed, the line of resistance would
cut the surface, that is, provided the force P be necessary to the equilibrium ;
it follows that Ijy diminishing it, we may vary the direction and ciuvatnre of
the line of resistance until we at length make it touch some point or other in
the surface of the mass.

And this is the limit ; for if the diminution be carried further, it will cut
the surface, and tlie equilibrium will be destroyed. It appears then that
under the circumstances supposed, when P, acting at a given point and in a
given direction, is the least possible, the line of resistance touches the interior
surface or intrados of the mass.

In the same manner it may be showii, that when it is the greatest possible,
the line of pressure touches the exterior surface or extrados of the mass.

I have here supposed the direction and point of application of P in AC to
be given; but by varying this direction and point of application, the contact
of the line of resistance with the intrados of the arch may be made to take
place in an infinite variety of different points, and each such variety supplies
a new value of P. Among these, therefo're, it remains to seek the at/solute
maximum and minimum values of that force.

In respect to the direction of the force P, or its incUnation to AC, it is at
once apparent that the least value of that force is obtained, whatever be its
point of appUcation, when it is perpendicular to AC.

There remain then two conditions to which P is to be subjected, and which
involve its condition of a mininunn. The first is, that its amount shall he
such as will give to the line of resistance a (loint of contact with the intrados.
The second, that its point of application in the key-stone AC shall be such as
to give it the least value which it can receive, subject to the first condition.
I have determined the value of P subject to these conditions in a paper

read licfore the Candjridge Philosophical Society in May 1837, and published
iu the Olli volume of their Transactions. The equations involving that value
admit of a comiilcte solution, and determine it for every form and dimension
of the Inokeu or Gothic arch, and the complete segment, and for every cir-
cumstance of its loading.

The condition however that the resultant jiressure upon the key-stone is
subject in respect to the position of its point of application on the key-stone
to the condition of a nnuimnm, is dejieudent upon hypothetical qualities of
the masonry. It supposes an unyielding material for the arcli-stones, and a
mathematical adjustment of their surfaces. These have no existence in prac-
tice. On the striking of the centres the arch invariably sinks at the crown,
its voussoirs there slightly opening at their lower edges, and pressing upon
one another cxelusixely by their upper edges. Practically the line of re-
sistance then, in an arch of unceynented stones, touches the extrados at the
crown ; so that only the first of the two conditions of the minimmn stated
above actually contains : that: namely, which gives to the line of resistance a
contact with the intrados of the arch. This condition being assumed, all
consideration of the yielding quality of the material of the arch and its abut-
ments is eliminated. It will thus be discussed in what remains of this paper.

To simplify the analytical discussion of the question, I have hitherto as-
sumed the load upon the semi-arch to be placed over a single point of it X,
fig. 2. I now imagine it to be distributed in any way over the extrados, but
symmetrically iu respect to the two opposite semi-arehes. The centre of
gravity of this load on each senn-arch being determined, it is evident that
the horizontal thrust P on the key-stone of the arch will be the same if the
whole load upon it be imagined to be collecte<l in these two centres of
gravity. I determine then the horizontal thrust P on this hypothesis of a
concentrated loading : this determination being made, the data necessary to
the analvtical discussion of the question are complete, all the forces acting
upon a mass .\STD of the arch and its loading intercepted between the
crown and any inclined position CT of the radius are given, and the ciination
to the true line of resistance under any given circumstances of loading is de-
terminable in terms of the radius vector CK and the angle ACS. The equa-
tion deterndningthe value of P is unfortunately one of a lugh order, involving
circidar functions of complicated forms ; and the solution of it otherwise
than by approximation is perhaps to be despaired of. The small value of the
ratio of the depth AD of the voussoirs, in the majority of practical cases, to
the radius CA of the arch iu terms of w Inch ratio the value of P is expressed,
suggests a developement of the value of P in a scries of terms ascending by
l)owers of this ratio. To cfi'ect this developement 1 have called to my aid
the theorem of Lagrange, using two terms only of that theorem, and not
therefore extending the approximation beyond the first power of the ratio.
It nnght perhaps be expedient iu some cases to extend it to the second ; be-
vond this limit no inactical enquiry need however lie carrieil.

The line of resistance being fully determined, the point Q, fig. 1 , where the
resultant jircssure of tire whole semi-arch intersects, the supporting surface
BD of the abutment becomes know n, and also the direction of this resultant
pressure. Now all the circumstances which determine the equilibrium of an

262

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[July,

ahutment, suliject at a given po'uxl to a ijivoii insiblciit iirossim', I liavc Iicforp
iliscusscil, ami I liave detcnuiued ils line ii!' roi^laiico under these cu'eiiin-
stanees : that line of resistance evidently unites vith iliat of the :utU at tliii
point — this line of pressure is therefore completely Known, and the condi-
tions of the ecpiilibrium of the piers or other ahutnienls of the arch, and of
the arch itself, are detenuined. * *

The theory of the equilibrium of the groin and that of the dome are ]nc-
clsely analogo-us to the theory of the areh.

In the former a mass springs fi'om a small abutment, si)reading itself out
symmetrically with regard to a vertical jilanc passing through the centre of
its aliutment. The groin is in fact nothing more Ihan an arcli, whose vous-
soirs vary as well in breadth as in depth. The centres of gravity of the
ditferent elementary voussoirs of this mass lie all in its ]ilane of symmetry.
Its line of resistance is therefore in that plane, and its theory is ciubraeed in
that which has been ah'eady laid down.

Four groins commonly sjning from one abutment; each opposife\mir being
addorsed, and each adjacent ])air uniting their margins. They thus lend one
another mutual support, partake in the pi-oireriies of a dome, and form a con-
tinned covering.

The groined areh is of all arches the most stable ; and eoidd materials be
found of sufficient strength to form its abutments and tlie parts abo\it its
springing, I am inclined to think that it might be safely built of any required
degree of flatness, and that spaces of enormous dimensions migiit readily
Ije covered by it.

It is remarkable that modern builders, whilst they have erected the com-
mon areh on a scale of magnitude nearly approaching perhaps the limits to
which it can be safely carried, have been remarkably timid in the use of the
groin.

In part 3 is the commencement of a paper on the Construction of
Bridges, by Mr. Hughes, of a more practical nature, and it is evidently
written by one who is completely master of the subject. This paper
commences by describing the variotis methods of forming foundations
for bridges, piers, &c. ; but we shall defer making any extracts or
furtlier comments, mitil after the appearance of another part.

Upon tlie whole the work is undoubtedly the cheapest publication
of the day, when we consider its valuable contents ; but it would havi^
t een far better had the work been published in such a form as to avoid
bbe necessity of folding the plates; probably this might have enhanced
tlie cost of the work, notwithstanding, it is our opinion that the work
woidd liave given greater satisfaction to the profession even at an in-
creased price. We undertand that it is tlie intention of Mr. Weale to
publish another edition so as to avoid this inconvenience ; if so, we feel
assured that the work will meet with that support which it so richly
deserves.

Studies and Examples of the Modern School of English Architecture.
The l^ravetler's Club. By Churles Barrij, Architect : Illustrated
with Drawings by Mr. Hewitt, and Engraved by Mr. J. H. Le
Keux. Accompanied by an Essay on the present stale of Archi-
tectural Study, and the Bevival of the Italian Style. By W. H.
Leeds. London: Weale. 1839.

English Architecture has been treated by many pseudo-critic^
with a contempt which a due consideration of its works would have
prevented from being applied to it. This neglect has arisen, per-
haps, more from the apathy of its professors in asserting their own
rank, than from any inferiority of theirs in the production of works
of merit. Abroad, every cafe, cassino, town-pump, and police-
station is fully registered, and receives due honour ; but here " Land-
scape Annuals," or similar ad captandum publications, are too often
the records of our most ingenious monuments.

We need not feel astonished at the reproach of being a nation of
shopkeepers, when it seems to be our national habit to obscure what
even ourselves recognise as the highest source of glory. Domes-
ticity we may pride ourselves upon — it may be a virtue to seek no
enjoyment beyond our own fire-sides — but why, in the name of com-
mon sense, are we to keep our churches as closely confined at home
as our daughters, or hedge in our palaces with the same care as our
fruit trees. A spirit of hoarding seems to have possessed us, and
content with possessing trea.snrcs, we have felt no wish to communi-
cate them to our neighbours, or to allow them a participation, which
is an increase instead of a diminution of our own honour. Where
are our finest buildings ? Not in the most frequented streets, or
suspicious strangets might run away with them ; not exposed to the
public gaze, or they might become as dishonoured as a prostitute;
but in some dirty unknown nook there is concealed a monument,
which foreign nations would make pilgrimages to visit. The same
feeling .seems to prevent us from publishing them, as if to give a
detailed architectural drawing would be as dangerous a communica-
tion to our enemies, as the secret of a new rocket or the plan of a
fortification.

Let us rouse ourselves from this lethargy ; let not inferior nations
usurp our glory ; but let us force Paris and her comonopolists to
admit us to the same circle of honour. We have already done much
towards bringing out the old buildings, but as much and more re-
mains to be done, and that at once. The opening of tlie Monu-
ment, St. Bride's, and St Martin's, are worthy acts, and
would be esteemed exertions of a healthy disposition, did not other
acts point out the lingering of the old leaven. What could be more
disgusting than sacrificing St. Paul's to a toy-shop, hiding St. Paul's
School in a corner, and demolishing St. Saviour's ? while the half-
penny farthing policy in not pulling down the corner of Lombard-
street, wdll leave the Royal Exchange as a monument of our stu-
pidity to all posterity. Why is not St i'aid's in some degree cleared ;
St. Michael's, Cornhill, thrown open; and St. Giles's, the tomb of
Milton, new fronted ?

It is not that we do not possess architectural riches, but that we
neglect them, and allow others to arrogate over us a superiority
which our own feelings of dignity should induce us to repel. Did
we take as much pains as our neighbours in talking of what we have,
many of their idle boasts would be repressed, and instead of being
treated as a nation of barbarians, we should threaten their
supremacy.

If we look cither to the past or the present, we see nothing
abroad which is to prevent us from claiming a high position in the
scale of architectural merit. Our great works in the perpendicular
style can compete with the flamboyant, the Moorish, or any other
continental medieval style ; and in the works of Wren we have some
counterpoise for the later periods. P^-ance, like ourselves, has been
going through a course of the cast-off styles of Europe, and, amid
little that is great, she has learned from us what is pure. In Italy
the medieval styles have been defaced, the simple supplanted by the
corrupt, and architecture degenerated from Francis di Giorgio and
BaldassarePeruzzihas been consigned to the merefriciousjdesigns of
Palladio and his successors ; the Dome of Milan has been disfigured
and St. Peter's stands a childless giant. Spain, deserted by the
energy of the Goths, and the refined taste of the Moors, relies for
its modern fame upon buildings which have all the tawdry arro-
gance of the Castihan, and all his want of soul, which, where they
exhibit nature, seek it in the beggar or the monk. Germany, as
great in her claims as in the sprawling extent of her edifices, as
wide- spreading as Berlin, and as empty, mistakes nakedness for
simplicity, and adaptation for originality. She does in architecture
what she does in other branches of the art— seeks the simple in the
rude, and looks for elegance in uncouthness. To deny the merits
of our rivals would be absurd ; but to be blind to faults so glaring,
would indeed leave us without a motive for exertion.

Our deficiency arises from architecture being treated as an effort
of the hand, and not of the mind, the prey of the draftsman and the
stone-mason, and its qualification a barber's-shop apprenticeship,
instead of being considered as an elevated and inspired branch of
art. To restore it, it must be treated like the other arts— it must be
cultivated not in details, but in principles ; not by a private soldier
in (he melue, but by a general, who inspects the mass. AVe have
made Greek architecture an afl^air of columns and friezes — we have
forgotten its adaptation to climate, and we have stripped it of its
ornaments and its colours — and need we be astonished if we have a
skeleton instead of a living being, or that we have starved a style
which we have disclimated and uneladi' The principles of Gothic
composition stare us in the face, and we cannot see them, while we
waste, in the research of detail, the power of creating tliat very de-
tail. Architecture must be made popular and artistical — it must
have a band of admirers as cultivated as its professors, and we rnay
then hope, that originality may be encouraged, instead of compila-
tion bearing sway. Of o"ld, it was considered a matter of pride to
call in to the assistance of the architect the most distinguished pro-
fessors of other arts; and to INIichael Angelo, Raphael, and Rubens,
we owe many ingenious works. The principles of art are general,
but their application special, for it is the same law of proportion
which determines the grouping and massing of a building as of a
picture; the same law which regulates the light and shade ; the same
laws of contour; and it is the appreciation of these general laws
which makes the artist, and not a mere knowledge of the handling.
The versification of Mickle, Hode, Broome, or Rowe, equalled per-
haps that of Pope or Dryden ; yet, although all are translators, the
latter only have fame as poets. The grouping of the Laocoon or of
Canova's tomb of the Pope, in St. Peter's, is guided by the very
same rules which mark out the majestic front of York Minster, or
the minor facjade of King's College Chapel. The same objections
to breaking up a picture into isolated figures refer with equal force
to the distribution of the members of a palace, or th? detail! of a

1839.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

263

club-house. If, too, Greek architecture be carried out here as at
Jilunich, or the Moorish or early Italian styles be introduced, the
architect must study with the painter the same principles of combi-
nation, and possess the genius of colour as well as form. The pub-
lic are the parties to be pleased, they are those who command, aud
those who applaud, and unless they be instructed, the architect must
be contented with the invidious honours of a clique, or find his best
meant efforts received with the contempt of ignorance. It lies upon
the arcliitect to give this impulse— it is from him that must come the
instruction, and then we may see the same progress in his branch as
in the other styles of art. It is by the activity of the painters that
the public have become qualified judges of their productions— tha.
art has advanced, and pictorial exhibitions are crowded, while the
architectural room is left to the solitary cavillings of the profession,
and the contemptible productions of unapplauded exertion. Public
competitions will do much, and they are the more necessary, as even
the judges, according to the observation of Mr. Leeds, must see the
works exhibited, before they are able to compare thera and select.
The architects must, however, shake off their lethargy, read " Stuart's
Athens" less, think more, write and speak more, and, above all, act
with greater energy and more effect. No time is more propitious
than tlie present — the public is alive to art ; they have claimed it
as their inheritance, and sources of instruction now exist, which, to
the previous generation, were unknown. The purest models of
Greece have been disclosed, their polychromy illustrated, tlie
Gothic and Moorish styles described, the Renaissance is in vogue,
and a number of works have rendered the Italian styles accessible
to us in all their beauties.

Much of the mischief has doubtless arisen from the absurd restric-
tions imposed by the professors of the art, from their want of a liberal
construction of their studies, and by their confining the artist within
bounds, which to the ancients were unknown. Nothing is worse
than this cramping down to conventional rules, which gives, like a
University education, the prize not to genius, but to memory. To
animate the student, and direct his future progress, proper works
sliould exist, not of ancient or modern edifices merely, but of our
own productions, so that foreigners might learn that we could rival
them, and Englishmen that we had not been neglectful of our duty.
The proper body to have executed this task would have been the
Institute of British Architects, but they want either the confidence
or the means to give this plan effect. To Mr. Wcale, therefore, are
the English public indebted for attempting to form a work worthy of
the subject ; and to his public spirit will they owe what has too long
been left neglected. That the attempt is hazardous, experience has
too often proved; and we therefore call upon the profession, as they
are capable of appreciating such a work, to set the example to the
public in its support.

To Mr. Leeds has been confided the task of superintending this
work, and we know no man who, in the merit of his previous works,
the soundness and liberality of his judgment, or extent of learning
and information, is better qualified for conducting such an arduous
work. In the last edition of " The Public Buildings of London,"
Mr. Leeds has earned his qualification ; and equally in translations
from foreign languages, and in commentaries on other works, he has
proved himself, without pretension, to be one of the best avchilectural
critics of the day. Did liis success depend on his ability, or on the
spirited exertions of Mr. Weale, we should not hesitate to pronounce
it as certain, b\it it is on the profession that we must again call to
show that they merit the efforts which are made on their behalf.

Before we read Mr. Leeds' Essay, we thought that a better choice
might be made for the commencement of such a work ; but by him we
have been convinced, that both from novelty and purity of style, and
individual merit, no work could have been better selected to interest
the public than the " Traveller's Club." The author briefly enume-
rates the causes which now impede architecture, aud tlien, after a
survey of the Greek and Gothic styles, enters into an able disqui-
sition on the various styles of Italian, and particularly as they relate
to the subject now before us ; and it is but truth to say, tiiat the
" Traveller's Club" comes out of his hand witli new beauties added,
and all its perfections enhanced. From the works of an able and
attractive writer like Mr. liCeds, it is difficult to select any thing
without an embarrassment of choice, but we have culled for our
readers the following extract : —

To attain even sucli degree of familiarity with tlie subject, — which is after
all hut very limited and superficial in comparison with the drier practical
knowledge indispensable to the professional man, — to attain even this, will
be thought no inconsiderable labour, — a task little short of irksome. On the
contrary, it is one which would be found to be replete with great interest and
amusement, provided, indeed, a person has any capacity for it at all, and
wouldjtake it up talionally, as be would any otjiet pursuit to which his taste

miglit incline him. The chief obstacle in the way of its being done is that
no system of study accommodated to such purpose has hitherto been laid
down ; so far froin it that an livsleron-proteron is committed at the very outset ;
tliat is, according to vulgar phrase, the cart is put before the horse, and the
beginning made at the wrong end ; for instead of commencing with generali-
ties and proceeding onwards to specialities and minutiae, the latter are brought
forward before the student has any clear notion whatever of the subject in its
leading bearhigs ; which is not very much unlike finishing up a single figure
or object in a picture before any other part of it has begun to be put in : a
method suitable enough for a youth put into an architect's office, where he
must learn his elements piece-meal, but as unfit for persons in general, — ■
as tedious and as repulsive as it would be to drudge through all the minutiie
of a grammar in studying a foreign language, before any insight had been ob-
tained into its general structure and character.

It is true, the mass even of the educated are at present totally ignorant of
architecture ; yet, barring tlie prejudice wliich deters people from making the
attempt, there is nothing which would prevent those who have a turn for
studies from becoming as proficient in all that relates to the astlietic part of
architecture as the most accomplished architect himself. Or if this view of
the matter be denied, — if no diligence, no study, no enthusiasm of feeling
«an ever place the amateur on the level of the professional man with regard
to taste, — the disastrous alternative is that it matters not how soon we abandon
all idea of advancing architecture as a fine art, seeing that it would be all to
no purpose, no advantage whatever — no accession of enjoyment resulting from
it to the public.

Wliatever views to the contrary may be held by some among the profession,
certain we are that no real friend, either to the profession or to the art, will
advocate the principle of mystifying that brancli of architecture with which
all ought, if possible, to be conversant. No doubt shallow smatterers, super-
ficial dabblers, half-educated pretenders, ought to be exterminated ; not, how-
ever, bv interdicting them from meddling with wliat they do not understand,
but by encouraging them to proceed, and not to rest content with stopping
short at the threshold, where, as they are well aware, they are at least one
step in advance of the rest of the public, and therefore give themselves air g
accordingly.

It is not the least evil attendant upon the present insulated condition of
architectural study and knowledge, in consequence oftheir being confined almost
exclusively to the profession, that architects themselves do not take that
enlis>hteued view oftheir art which they ought. As far, indeed, as the claim-
ing" for it almost paramount importance goes, they cannot be charged with
undervaluing it in the slightest degree ; but that sort of overrating it is alto-
gether a diiferent matter from endeavouring tu ennoble it, and from exerting*
themselves to make it manifest tlie powers ascribed to it. In their attention
to the means, — laudable enough in itself, — professional men overlook, or if
they do not overlook, apparently disregard, or are indifferent to the end, —
that is, to what ought to be the end proposed, — admitting that the work puts
forth any pretensions on the score of art. They are urged on by little or no
stimulus from without their own pale ; and it might sometimes be imagined
that Ihey presume rather too much on the ignorance of all the rest of the
world.

Another disadvantage is, that for their judges they can look scarcely to any
e.icept their professional brethren, perhaps rivals, whose praises will hardly
ever be very enthusiastic, and who will seldom be disposed to approve indi-
vidually of what is either contrary to their own practice, or calculated to
render manifest their own inferiority. Certain it is that the most promising
talent in a young aspirant is seldom cordially hailed, or in any way assisted
onwards by those around him in the profession ; neither does that of the
more advanced architect receive their applause until he has terminated or is
about to terminate his career ; his contemporaries punctiliously waiting till
he shall first have said his vukte. All this need excite no wonder: it would
be more wonderful, every tiling considered, were it otherwise. Still it would
be better were there some counterpoise to it ; which can be obtained only by
there being, out of tlie pale of the profession, a sufficiently numerous body
competent to judge of merit and talent, and to discriminate between those and
the opposite (|ualities. Then, and hardly till then, will talent have generally
a chance of developing itself and making its way, without being dependent,
as it now is, almost entirely upon those fortunate casualties which enable it
to surmount the obstacles that else might have impeded its course for ever.

That the work is brought out with skill and taste, the name of Mr.
Weale is a sufficient guarantee, and we can thus relieve ourselves
from a task of eulogy, which we hope our readers will perform
instead of ourselves. It is sufficient that INIessrs. Hewitt and Le
Keux liave performed their task ; and we leave to the profession to
give it their good wishes as strongly as we do ourselves.

On Steam-Boilers and Steam-Engines. By Josiah Parkks,
M. Inst. C. E. Part /., Vol. 3. Transactions of the Institution
of Civil Engineers. London: Weale. 18.39.
It lias long been a desideratum, that some person or persons, well
qualified for the task, should undertake an investigation of the
tlifferent systems of generating steam, and of the various circum-
stances by which its production is accelerated or retarded, with the
view of ascertaining tlie form of steam generator and treatment of
fuel best adapted to promote durabilik/ in the former, and economy in

C

264

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[July,

the latter. On the first appearance of the work iinJer review, we
entertaineil great hopes that it woukl supply this deficiency, hut were
much disappointed ; for on perusing it carefully, we found it so full
of theoretical errors and fallacious arguments, as to render it unfit to
serve as a guide, either in the construction of boilers, or in the
management of the fires under them, except in a general way, which
is now little needed, as the principles advocated by Mr. Parkes are
already e.\tensively acknowledged and put in practice, especially by
the Cornish engineers.

Tire author proposes, in this paper, " to investigate and compare the
peculiar properties of various kinds of steam-boilers, as exemplified
in their practice; to show their points of agreement and disagree-
ment ; to exhibit their respective merits and demerits as evaporative
.vessels; to point out some general laws which may contribute to give
greater uniformity to the results of evaporation from any assigned
heated surface of boiler, and enable the employer of a boiler not only
to ascertain if he is using his fuel economically or wastefully, but to
apply a remedy, should he find his practice imperfect."

In our opinion, the proposed end has not been attained in the work
before us ; nevertheless, the table of experiments, which we presume
to be correct, cannot but be very instructive, and may, with the
addition of other experiments, form a basis from which a more suc-
cessful analyst may deduce the general laws which Mr. Parkes endea-
voured to discover. We have now to show the grounds on which
we base the opinion we have just expressed ; for which purpose we
shall follow the reasoning contained in the paper as concisely as pos-
sible, and, therefore, confine ourselves principally to the leading
points of the argument, supporting our remarks by quotations from
the work itself.

Part I.
" On the qualities of steam boilers, and on the influence exercised over
evaporation, by their piopoitions and practical management."

This part commences with a kind of introduction, in which the
author enumerates the subjects treated in the sequel, and mentions,
among others, the influence of time in producing the relative degrees
of economy, which he reserves for a separate examination at the end
of the paper, giving the following vague definition of time, as he in-
tends it to be here understood : —

" By time, I mean the relative ]ieriods of the duration of a given amount of
heat about the boilers, and about equal areas of their surface."

The rate of combustion, one of the elements of time, as defined by
our author, is considered by him as one of the circumstances which
have the greatest influence on the evaporative economy of a boiler;
hut, if we perfectly comprehend, as we believe we do, the meaning
attached by the author to that expression, viz , the quantity of fuel
burned under one boiler in a given time, this is not a matter of choice,
but must depend on the required rate of evaporation ; and slow com-
bustion, in the same sense, must be, not s cause, but a sign of
economy effected by some other means. It should be distinctly
understood that we have made use of the term slow combustion, in the
sense in \vhich we conceive it to be employed by the author, namely,
as signifying a comparatively small quantity of fuel burned under one
boiler in a given time : but we would rather have that expression
convey the idea, that the quantity of fuel burned in a given time is
small in proportion to the quantity contained in the furnace. The
rapidity of combustion, in this sense, must obviously be regulated, in
some measure, by the nature of the fuel ; for the more bituminous
varieties of coal, if submitted to a comparatively moderate heat, suffer
distillation, and a great proportion passes unburned through the
boiler in the form of smoke. In one instance, in Lancashire, Mr.
Parkes tells us, the coal he attempted to burn, on his plan of thick
fires, on extensive grates, with slow combustion, contained so much
tar as to run in streams through the bars, and catch fire in the ash-pit.
Thus the limit of alow combustion, properly so called, or rather, the
most advantageous rate of combustion, is determined by the nature of
the fuel used.

At the head of the observations on each class of boilers are placed
certain quantities, considered by the author as forming the principal
points of contrast and comparison between them. These are :— the
tinae in which one pound of coal is burned under one boder ; the
weight of coal burned on each square foot of grate per hour ; the
weight of water evaporated by one square foot of heated surface per
hour from 212° ; and the weight of water evaporated by lib of coal
from 212°. These quantities are called by the author exponents, as
he considers them to be "indicative or e^fpoHew^ia^of thequahtyof the
boder, and of the effects of the practice upon it." Mr. Parkes is pro-
bably not aware that these terms are already appropriated in mathe-
matics to a very dift'erent signification.

The first of thtffje circumstances can evidently have no influence on

the economy of a boiler ; for, supposing two boilers to be equally
economical, the weight of coal burned imder each in a given time is
necessarily proportional to the quantity of water evaporated in that
time.

The second circumstance affects the results in two wnys.—Firstli/, a
larger grate is generally accompanied by a larger surface to receive
the radiated heat, which moderates the action of the latter on the sur-
face, and thus adds to its durability. — Secondly, the thickness of the
stratum of fuel, and the weight burned in a given time, being the
same, the combustion must proceed more slowly in that furnace which
has a larger area of grate, and therefore, contains a greater quantity
of fuel at one time. The economy effected by this means may be
explained thus : —

It is a matter of every-day experience in common life that, below
a certain limit, the more atmosjiheric air is admitted in a given time
to a given quantity of fuel in a state of incandescence, the more
rapidly the latter will be consumed ; there is also, no doubt, that the
air which has passed through the fuel into the flue of a boiler, of the
ordinary construction, contains still a large proportion of uncombined
o.\ygen, some part of which might still be employed in effecting the
combustion of an additional quantity of fuel, if properly apphed.
Suppose, for example, a square foot of grate covered with a stratum
of coal 6 inches in thickness, and supplied with such a quantity of
atmospheric air, that 5lbs of coal shall be burned in an hour ; it is
clear, that if a second stratum of coal of the same thickness as the
first be added, it will in a short time be heated to incandescence, and
as all the air which has passed through the lower stratum comes in
contact with the upper one, a portion of the latter will burn by com-
bining with some of the free oxygen remaining in it, and thus a
greater quantity of fuel will be burned per hour on the square foot of
grate, when the stratum is 12 inches, than when it is only 6 inches
thick, the supply of air being the same. To reduce the consumption
of coal, in the second case to tlie same as in the first, it will therefore
be necessary to diminish the supply of air, the consequence of which
will be that a smaller quantity of heated air will pass up the chimney;
and since the principal loss of eftect is to be attributed to the abstrac-
tion of heat by the air which passes up the chimney, the gain, or
rather saving of heat effected by means of thick fires will be propor-
tional to the diminution of draught, the air being supposed to arrive
at the foot of the chimney, at the same temperature, under all circum-
stances, which is probably the case, when the heated or evaporating
surface is the same.

The experiments made by Mr. Parkes on the summit of the chimney,
and mentioned by him in a former paper (Trans. Inst. C. E., Vol. II.,
page 167), are in accordance with these views as far as we are
more acquainted with the particulars ; but, unfortunately, we are
neither informed of the temperature of the air in the chimney, nor of
the volume of air passing through the furnace, nor of the temperature
of the flues, these points having probably not been ascertained. We
only know that the air arrived at the top of the chimney on the old
plan at such a temperature, that the water in an open copper vessel
exposed to the current was constantly in ebullition, while on the new
plan its temperature rarely exceeded 180°. Whatever the actual
difference of temperature of the hot air may have been, it must be
referred to two distinct causes ; Jirst, to the difference in the rate of
combustion, less air being required to burn the same quantity of
coal ; so that if all other circumstances had been the same, and the
air had therefore arrived at the foot of the chimney at the same tem-
perature as on the old plan, nevertheless, the quantity of heated air
impinging against the vessel of water being diminished, the same
effect could not be produced upon the water, as when a greater quan-
tity of hot air impinged against the vessel. Besides which, the air
ascending the chimney with less velocity, had more time to cool, and
therefore, lost more of its temperature before arriving at the top of
the chimney, where the vessel of water was placed. Secondly, to the
addition of another boiler ; for the evaporating surface was thus so
much augmented as to abstract a much greater amount of heat from
the air during its passage over it, which therefore arrived at the foot
of the chimney with a lower temperature. In the last mentioned
work, page l6g, Mr. Parkes states that he found that 75lbs of coke,
l)roduced from lOOlbs of coal, evaporated as much water as lOOlbs of
the self-same coal. This observation, if correct, corroborates our views
explained above ; for the combustion of the gases contained in the
coal could not have taken place without evolving some heat, the
whole of which must consequently have been employed in raising the
temperature of an extra quantity of air over and above that which
was necessary to burn the gases distilled from the coal.

The third circumstance is certainly an important cause, and the
fourth is the evidence and measure of the evaporative economy.
The observations on the three kinds of boiler, the Cornish, the

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

265

waggon and the locomotive, tend to show that they rank, according to
their respective merits, in the order in which they stand, the Cornish
beinpf greatly superior to the two others.

With respect to the actual economy of the Cornish boiler, we cannot
but concur in Mr. Parkes' opinion, though we should explain it dif-
ferently. Instead of saying that the slow rate of combustion " invoices
the necessity of employing a very e.xtensive surface, or proportion of
boiler to evaporation," we should say, that a more extensive evapo-
rating surface absorbs more caloric from the gases and vapours before
they arrive at the chimney, and thus admits of a slower rate of com-
bustion. We are not informed of the thickness of coal on the grate
in any of the experiments referred to ; but if we suppose it to have
been the same in all, the rate of combustion will be inversely as the
area of the grate, and directly as the quantity of fuel burned per hour ;
or directly as the quantity burned per hour on each square foot of
grate. But if the thickness of the layer of coal is not the same, the
rate of combustion is directly as the quantity of coal burned per hour
on each square foot of grate, and inversely as the thickness of the
stratum of coal on the grate. Mr. Parkes states in the note at the
foot of page 22, that he found thickness of fuel far more economical
than an excessive extent of grate surface, thus pointing out the eco-
nomical effect of a circumstance, which he has nevertheless not
included in what he calls the exponents.

In that part of his paper in which he treats of the waggon boiler, the
author professes, on his own behalf and that of the profession generally,
absolute ignorance of the rate at which heat is transmissible through
metal of varying thickness, as well as the rate at which it is absorb,
able by water at different temperatures (see page 13). If this admis-
sion is well founded, it is much to be regretted that so important a
part of the investigation should have been omitted in his experiments,
and that he should not have delayed the publication of his paper until
he could have resolved the difficulty. We are inclined to think that
he will find, should he be disposed to pursue the inquiry, that the
rate at which heat is transmissible is very nearly directly as the differ-
ence between the temperatures of the gases in the flue, and of the
water in the boiler, and inversely as the thickness of the plate. Un.
fortunately Mr. Parkes has left us entirely in the dark as to the tem-
perature of the gases in the flues, so that we cannot with any degree
of certainty institute a comparison of the evaporative results with
regard to that circumstance ; but if we suppose the mean temperature
in the flues to be 800'~', while that of the water is in the one case 300*^,
and in the other only 220", the thickness of the plate in the former
case being double that in the latter, we shall find the transmission of
heat through equal areas of plate to be in the ratio — - to 580, or as
25 is to 58 ; or, the transmission would be equal if the surfaces were
as 58 to 25. Now it appears that the Cornish engineers allow 7 times
as much surface as the general waggon boiler practice for the vapori-
zation of equal weights of water in equal times, or in the proportion
of 175 to 25, which is 3 times as much as would be necessary, under
the conditions assumed above, to evaporate the same quantity of
water. The mean difference of temperature should therefore be
reduced to one-third, or 467°. The consequence must be, that the
heated air will reach the chimney, with an excess of temperature over
that of the water in the boiler less by at least two-thirds than in the
waggon boiler ; and, the same quantity of heated air having thus a
greater effect, less fuel will be burned to produce only the same effect,
as we have already explained. It must be remembered that the eva-
poration will not be increased in the ratio of the heated surface when
an equal quantity of coal is burned, the increasing evaporation dimi-
nishing the temperature of the hot air, for which reason the plate with
which it comes afterwards in contact will not be heated to so high a
temperature, and will therefore not evaporate so much water as an
equal area of the other parts of the plate, whose temperature is more
elevated.

Compared to the Warwick boiler, the Cornish has only 275 times as
much heated surface as would evaporate the same quantity of water,
the temperature of the plate being the same; and if we take into con-
sideration that its temperature in the Cornish must have been on an
average nmch lower than in the Warwick, in consequence of the
greater extent of surface in proportion to the fuel burned, the saving
will not appear so disproportioned to the increased area as Mr.
Parkes seems to think by the following expression in page 13 : " We
must not conclude that it requires 7 times as great a surface exposed
to heat U7ider Hie circumstances, to realise an additional product of
only 22 per cent, from fuel." It should also be remembered that the
surface is here considered with reference to the fuel consumed instead
of the water evaporated, which would have been the fairest comparison.
But we certainly cannot, under any circumstances, expect the saving

of fuel to be proportional, or nearly so, to the increased surface for
transmitting the heat.

We cannot agree with the author, that the gain of 41i percent, in
the effect of fuel is " miserably small, compared with the strides made
in the economy of steam," nor is it at all necessary to conclude, from
this inconsiderable economy, " that our methods of generating heat
and steam, and of constructing evaporative vessels, have attained the
utmost perfection which the strict laws of nature and the limited
ingenuity of man forbid us from passing."

We now come to the most important part of the paper, where the
author discusses the various circumstances which affect the results
obtained in the different boilers, and compares them numerically.
It is intituled

** An investigation of the relative time during; which the products of com-
bustion, from equal weights of fuel, continue in operation on equal areas
of the surface of the boilers j with an estimato of the quantity and intensity
of heat applied to thera."

We shall discuss the several propositions of this investigation
seriatim, and endeavour to show whether they are based on sound
principles or not. The chapter commences with the following
words : —

" The structure of the parts, and the mode of setting a boiler, occasion the
heat applied to it to travel greater or less distances, and to pass over very
unequal extents of surface, in equal or unequal* times. The distances tra-
velled I shall consider as determined by the length of the circuit which the
heat is compelled to traverse from the grate till it quits tlie boiler. The time
in which it performs the circuit is tlie period of the duration of a particle
of heat about the boiler, and is the first question to be considered.

" The rate of combustion, or the time in which a pound of fuel is burned,
seems to me to be the best practical measure of the velocity of the products of
that combustion about a boiler. The mind readily apprehends, that if a
pound of coal be consumed under one boiler, in half the time that it is con-
sumed under another, the velocity of the current must be twice as rapid in
the one case as in the other ; but if the velocity be expressed in feet per
minute, or miles per hour, no information is conveyed of an appreciable or
practical nature ; nor does that expression reach the source or origin of tlie
current, viz , the rate of combustion.''

We must protest against this mode of estimating the velocity of the
products of combustion, as affording no measure whatever of that
velocity in boilers of various dimensions, or in which different systems
of firing are followed. Suppose, for example, two boilers, with grates
in the ratio of 1 : 2, the section of the flue, in the same ratio, but its
length the same in both, and let all the arrangements bo such that the
same quantity of air shall pass through, and the same weight of fuel
be burned on one square foot of grate in each; then, according to the
above rule, the velocity of the current of the products of combustion
should be as 1 : 2, while, in reality, it would evidently be equal in
both boilers. As another illustration, let equal weights of fuel be
burned in the same time, under two boilers, similar in every respect;
but let the stratum of fuel be twice as thick on one grate as on the
other ; we have already shown that, with the same draught, more fuel
would be burned in a given time on the former than on the latter, and
that therefore the draught must be checked by means of the damper,
in order to confine the consumption to an equality with the other ; it
is then clear that in this case the velocity of the current in the boiler
where the thick fire is used must be considerably less than in the
other. But by the above rule it would be found to be equal in both ;
therefore, the rate of combustion, or time in which a pound of fuel is
burnt, cannot be adopted as the measure even of the relative " velocity
of the products of combustion about a boiler."

The author considers the value of time, as an element influencing
evaporative results, to be referable to, —

" 1st. To the rate of combustion.

" 2nd. To the distance passed over by the products of combustion before
they quit the boiler.

" 3rd. To the time in which the heat traverses the boilers.

" 4th. To the period of the duration of the heat about equal areas of
surface, .

" It is necessrry to state that the rate of combustion now spoken of, is not
the rate reckoned on the square foot of grate, but the consumption of fuel in
an unit of time under one boiler of each class."

We have already proved that this rate of combustion has not the
remotest relation to evaporative economy.

" Proposition 1 . The velocities of the current of heated matter through
each boiler, will be to one another directly as the rates of combustion, an
inversely as the time in which equal weights of fuel are burned."

This propositition, being in substance the same as what precedes,
calls for no further notice,

» The words or unequal must have crept in ttirough isadveitence, for they cauno
possibly have any sigaiflcalloa In the way ihey are used.

C 2

26«

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

July-

" Proposition 2. The distances passed over by the lieat before it iiuita the
boiler, are to eacli otlier directly as the circuits of the boilers : thus the

•■ " Locomotive is to the Cornish as 7 to laJ-OO, or ) to 22-142, &c.

"Propositions. The tines in which the surface of the several boilers is
ti-nversed by the heat, ivill be to each other, as the products of the ratios
of the velocities of the current, or rates of combustion, multiplied into the
ratios of the lengths or circuits travelled : thus the

" Locomotive is to the Cornish as G-8;)5 X 22-l.l2=r IJl-Si to 1, &c."
Before commenting on this proposition, it is necessary to correc'
two errors in it which render it rather ilifHciiU to understand. It
should he expressed thus : — The times in which the surface of the
several boilers is traversed hy the heat, will be to each other im^ersely
as the velocities of tlie current, and direct/// as tlie lengths or circuits
travelled: thus the

1 . 22'14^ ^j. J . 151.34 g,(,,
6-835 1

Locomotive is to the Cornish as .

Having brought the proposition and its example to what Mr.
Parkes intended to convey, we have only to refer to what has already
been said on tlie subject of the velocity of the current, to prove that
the numbers thus found in nowise represent the difference in the
periods occupied by " the passage of a particle of heat from the grate,
lilt it (juits the boilers," as Mr. Parkes expresses himself.

The next question which he considers is, " the relative time occu-
pied by the heat from equal weights of fuel in giving out its caloric
to equal partialis of surface ;" and he solves it in Propositions 4
and ."J, by means of the velocity of the current, incorrectly found by
Proposition 1, which therefore vitiates the solution of tlie present
question. Thus, then, the numbers found by this method cannot
" be properly termed the relative periods of caloric action, arising out
of the structure and practice of each classof boiler." But since the
truth of the results is attempted to be confirmed by another process, it
is necessary to examine what that process is, and whether it can be
admitted as a demonstration or not. The proof runs thus : —

" It is the same thing to burn, as in the Cornish boiler, one pound of coa^
in 4.1-08 seconds, and apply the heat to 961-66 square feet of boiler, us to burn
44-081bs in one second of time, and apply tlie heat to 44-08 times as great a
surface. 'We should thus find that 42389 scjuare feet would be the area cor-
responding with that increased rate of combustion for the Cornish boiler. In
Jike manner, 2157' square feet would be the equivalent surface for a rate of
combustion in the locomotive increased by C-45 times. The quotient of
423S9 -r 2157 is 19-64 as above."

Before we can discuss the strictness of this proof, it is necessary to
correct an error (probably in the printing), which will be obvious to
every reader, on considering a moment. Instead of 44-0SH)s, it
should be lib in one second of time.

The number 19-64 had been previously found by multiplying
6'835 by 2-S74 ; but the former of these was found by dividing 44'OS
by 6-45;, and the latter by dividing 961 '66 by 334-50 ; thus :—

4^;08 ^ screo ^ jg.g^

e-45 334-56

In the proof it was found by multiplying 96I-G6 by 44-08, and
"dividing the product by that of 334-56 by 6-45 ; thus :—
961-66 X 44-08 _ g^
334-56 X C-45

These two equations, being identical, cannot serve to corroborate
each other, but would necessarily furnish the same result, however
absurd the grounds from whicli they w-ere deduced.

We have now come to the conclusion of the investigation of the
influence of'time on the economi/ of heat, from which it appears that
the word time may as well be eliminated, as neither the absolute nor
relative periods of the " duration of the heat about the boilers," nor
" about eijuat areas of the entire surface," has been ascertained, the
only point arrived at being the ratio of the evaporating surface to the
fuel burned, which may be taken at once from Table 1., column 21.

The remaining part of the paper is taken up with an investigation
of the relative quantiti/, and the relative intensili/ of heat gi\'en off to
those portions of the boilers which are exposed to the direct action,
or radiating caloric of the fire, as having an especial liearing on the
durabilit// of the boilers.

Propositions 6, 7, and 8 are used to ascertain the relative quantities
of heat supplied (by radiation) to equal areas of those portions of the
various boilers which are exposed to radiating heat. In the latter
there is an error similar to those already mentioned, which does not,
however, affect the numbers, as it only exists in the statement of the
proposition, and is not followed in the application.

By the following paragraph, wliich we cjuote from page 41, it wotdd
seem that Mr. Parkes has quite original ideas of heat, since he makes
R distinctipn-^between the qua(ntity of lieat radiated upon a giv«a are«

of surface in a given time and its intensity, as if the latter were not
determined by, and projiortional to the former.

" The quantitti of heat sup)died to any boiler would not affect the material of
which it is composed any tlie more, whether that quantity or volume were
greater or less, provided its teiiiperainre or intensity remained the same. This in-
tensity varies greatly in the dilTerent boilers. We have seen that on the loco-
motive ()-835 times more heat is generated in equal jieriods than on tlie Cornish
grate ; but the grate of the locomotive has onlv 7 feet area, whilst tliat of the
Cornish lias 23-6(1 feet ; and weknow-tliat nearlvT times as much fuel cannot be
burned in equlil times ufl'a grate less by two-thirds than anotlier grate, willi-
out the acceler-ated combustion being accompanied by a very considerable
elevation of temperature in the products of combustion. Tlie iiiteiisitii of that
combustion must, therefore, be found, before its intensity of action on the
surfajes exposed to it can be ascertained."

Here the quantity of fuel burned has been improperly compared
with the area of the grate, instead of the area of the surface exposed
to the radiated heat ; for, the greater the surface whicli receives a
given quantity of radiated heat, the less is the intensity of the action
of the latter on the surface. For this reason proposition 10 will be of
no value, and proposition 1 1 false as a general theorem, though possi-
bly true in some few particular instances ; namely, where the areas of
the grates are equal. These two propositions require the same cor-
rections as most of the others. The last should be :

Prop. 1 1 . The relative intensity of calorific action on the surfaces
exposed to radiated heat, will be directly as the ratios of the intensity
of combustion on the several grates, and inversely as the ratios of the
areas of those surfaces. Both these propositions are supported by
similar proofs to that of prop. 5, quoted above, which have therefore
no value.

From the 11th we learn that the author considered the heat as
radiating, not from the whole surface of the fire, but from some ])or-
tion of it, of equal area in all boilers, which we cannot possibly admit.

In conclusion we observe, that it is only the theoretical portion of
Mr. Parkes' paper to which we object, not calling in question the
authenticity of the facts therein stated ; and we repeat, that we ap-
prove highly of large evaporating surfaces, and a slow rate of combus-
tion, the mode of firing being suited to the variety of fuel used. But
we firmly believe, that if any one should deviate from the proportions
and practice experimented on, and determine tliose which would suit
his purpose by Mr. Parkes' rules, he would find himself very much
mistaken on submitting his boiler to the test of experience.

The Encyclopcpdia of Ornament.
Parts i to 13.

By H. Sh.\w, P.S.A. Imp. 4to.

CoNFORMAiiLY with the title it bears, this publication is intended
to furnish specimens and decorative detail in various architectural
styles, and will tlicrefure be far more comprehensive, and contain a
greater variety of studies than any English work of a similar kind,
which we are acquainted with. Indeed we hardly know of any simi-
lar collection that has been published in this country ; the best sub-
jects of this class being to be met witli only in plates of details in
larger architectural works ; while what are professed by Books of
Ornaments liave been, for the most part, productions of a very infe-
rior grade — bad as patterns, and altogether worthless as studies.
We will not, however, term these plates unrivalled, simply because
those in Mr. Shaw's " Specimens of Ancient Furniture," and other
publications, would render such epithet incorrect, except as applied
to his works collectively, and not to this individual one singly. So
far the author's name is a sufficient guarantee for the superior exe-
cution of the plates; nor docs this " Encyclopa;dia" need much
recommendation from us to those who are acquainted with the same
artist's former publications. Neither is it necessary to insist, at
much length, on the extreme importance of characteristic and well-
linislied, if not particularly rich, detail in every style of arcliitecture.
It would be idle to inquire whether it be of greater importance than
the l-irger masses and featiu-es of a building, it being enough to say
that it is equally indispensable. Mere embellishment, or correctness
and beauty in subordinate parts, will not excuse defects in the gene-
ral design, any more than beauty of finish or careful execution of
the accessories in a jiieture will atone for bad drawing or bad ccnipo-
sition in a picture ; but then, on the other hand, whatever be its
merits as to general outline and proportions, a building will always
cause more or less disappointment, unless the true sjiirit of the style
adopted be attended to, and kept up in all the component parts. It
will do well enough to look at by moonlight, or through a mist, but
nothing more. Most desirable is it, therefore, that the student slioidd
train liiraself by tidies to dstaili l»y atiquii'lHg, fenuliitvity with vavtP-
f ties of it, not only in different style, but in one and the same style.

1830.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

i^

It is in consequence of the neglect of this apparently very subordi-
nate, not to say trilling, branch of design, that there is so much
poverty — or, if not absolute poverty, common-place mannerism, and
obvious want of study with regard to finish, in the majority of our
buildings. The greater the stock of ideas any one has laid in by
accumulating studies, from which he may learn the diversities of any
one or more styles, all the greater will his resources be; and instead
of merely following certain copies or patterns, he will be able to
imitate his models freely, selecting their beauties and rejecting their
blemishes, adapting and recombining as the particular purpose may
best suggest. xXmong the subjects here represented, some consist of
strictly architectural details, such as capitals, corbels, &c., but the
greater number are entirely pieces of ornament from various build-
ings ; carvings in stone or wood, enriched panels of doors, or similar
compartments on walls, stained glass, painted tiles, inlaid metal
work, drapery and hangings, jewellery and goldsmiths' work, and
even patterns of lace-work ; which last-mentioned, being composed of
geometrical figures and devices, will, with more or less alteration, be
found exceedingly applicable to floors, whether adapted for pave-
ments or carpets. The same may be observed wi th respect to some
of tlie patterns of stained glass ; and even the specimen of drapery
from a picture by Cima da Conegliano, which, with very little, if
any alteration, will be found to supply both patterns and colours for
carpeting, paper-hangings, floor-cloths, and similar purposes of
decoration ; while those for buhl and inlaid work may be derived
from the plate of ornaments by Hans Holbein. Hardly can too high
praise be bestowed on tliis work of Mr. Shaw's, which ought to find
numerous purchasers, as it recommends itself not only for the library
of the antiquary and the studio of the artist, but likewise for the
table of the drawing-room and the boudoir.

Report on the Improvement of the River Dee, and Port and Harbou^'
of Chester. By Sir John Rennie, Chester. Evans : 1837-
liepli/ to Mr. John Scott Russell's Letter. By Mercator.
Chester: 1839.

In* our last we gave a general outline of the plan proposed by Sir
John Rennie, for the improvement of the Dee ; and although we
consider it susceptible of some alterations, we feel bound to declare
its unequivocal superiority over the dredging plan suggested by Mr.
Russell. On the relative merits of these two propositions, a long
paper-war has been going on at Cliester ; and the two pamphlets, the
titles of which are at the liead of this article, form but a small j)ortion
of the mass of pajiers devoted to the subject.

One prominent feature strikes the most unobservant spectator of
the position of Chester, and that is the large area now occupied by the
tidal waters of the Dee. That this area is the cause of the mis-
chief, and that its proportions are too large, it needs but a small por-
tion of the faculties of reasoning and comparison to assure us ; and
it does strike us as extraordinary, thatboth Sir John Rennie and Mr.
Russell should entertain such erroneous views as to its necessity.
Sir John, instead of recommending the reduction of this waste, on the
contrary, says, that " as the preservation of the sectional area of all
channels depends on the quality of the water passing through them, it
may reasonably be inferred that the chamiels below Flint and Park-
gate have suffered, to a certain extent, in consequence of the abstrac-
tion of the large quantity of tidal water by the embankment of 4000
acres above-mentioned from the estuary, and over which the tide
used formerly to flow, although the new channel between Flint
and Chester may be said to have been improved." Now the
cause of this deficiency of depth does not arise so much from the
previous embankment, as it does from the embankment not having
been carried out.

Mr. Russell, however, who has exhibited so much research on
tidal action, mistakes the position still more wrongly; for, with all
his knowledge of the operations of the sea, he actually proposes
dredging. The plain explanation of dredging is this, that, like
paying oil" an aecunuilatcd and annual debt, you must first get rid of
all the arrears, and then maintain such a force as will counteract the
annual operation. The same cause which produced the silt is ever
in activity, and unless a constant force be maintained to resist its
invasions, it necessarily follows that it will again accumulate. It is
very true that this can be done, and so can tunnels be run through
(piicksands, or a breakwater be erected from Dover to Calais. Every
thing is practicable when the means exist; but it is certainly a serious
question, whether a merely palliative measure should be adopted, or
whether the difliculty should not be at once removed. Temporising
on Mr. Russell's plan is out of the question, as for all useful pur.

poses it is a practical impossibility. The dredging on the Clyde,

his strongest case, has occupied eighty-three years, and cost
£S00,000. The position of the Dee, however, is "totally dilfcrent;
and even ;idniitting that the works be executed in a much shorter
time, it must still be remembered that there is an accumulation of
interest, so as practically to increase the cost ; and that every year
that Chester waits, she is insuring the superiority of her rivals over
her. Two measures only remain, one of which is to alter the course
of the river, and the other is to make an independent channel. The
former of these two is the cheaper, and the more profitable, from the
quantity of land recovered ; but it is an operation little understood,
and which involves an expenditure of time — the most valuable consi-
deration to the inhabitants of Chester. Under these circumstances,
one only method remains — that of Sir John Rennie to form a ship-
canal, the expenses of which can be calculated, and the ])eriod of its
formation ascertained, and which will have the additional advantagi;
of leaving the river free, as the scene of future operations. If, as
suggested in the " Chester Courant," a railway be placed on the
banks for towing vessels, Chester will have advantages such as are
possessed by no port on the coast, and enjoy at once the benefits of
an inland position, and a ready access to the sea. AVe should fur-
ther recommend, that in case of a junction with the River Dee Com-
pany, that the plan of recovering the estuary from the sea should be
kept in sight, and on the completion of the canal, looked on as a
means of reimbursing the expenses.

Sir John thus describes the River Dee Company's operations : —

At length the plan was brought to a considerable degree of utility, and a
fine canal formed and guarded by vast banks, in which the river is confined
fertile space of ten miles, along which ships of 350 tons burthen may be
safely brought up to the quays.

The last work of any importance was the extension of tiie Rubble Em-
bankment from near Connah's Quay to about half a mile lower down, whicli
took place about fifteen years ago. Since then, I understand, little has
been done, except placing a few jetties here and there between Chester and
Flint, in order to confine the current and increase the scour. 'I'he Dee
Companv, I believe, originally agreed or rather engaged to maintain 16 feel
always at high water of ordinary spring tides, at Wilcox Point, Chester. It
appears, however, that tliey have not been able to maintain above 14 feet or
It feet 6 inches. The total quantify of land embanked from the estnary ia
upwards of 4000 acres (besides a large tract of unenclosed salt grass), which
is now under tillage, and is very valuable.

The etJect of the works above mentioned, has, I am informed, been to
increase the depth of water between Flint and Chester, and to enable larg'er
vessels to come to Chester than previously. From thence, however, down-
wards towards the Point of Ayr, it does not appear that any particular im-
provement has taken place ; on the contrary, the great Hats oil' Bagillt and
Parkgate have materially increased, and tlie low-water channels at these
places have sufl'ered in proportion, particularly at the latter place ; for where
there used to bo 18 feet at low water, there is now an extensive shoal, ex-
tending almost across the estuary at low water, so that it is unfit for vessels
or boats of the smallest class, whereas formerly it used to he one of the prin-
cipal stations for the packets between England and Ireland. One of the
chief causes of this was, no doubt, the diversion of the channel from its
natural course on the Cheshire to the Flint shore. Had the channel been
continued there, and proper means been taken, the depth at I'arkgate would
have been increased rather than have diminished. It is ipiite clear, however,
that as far as the river is concerned, the measure wasnot ijuite so complete as it
mi"ht have been ; for not only is the course lengthened nearly five miles, but
four most inconvenient angles or bends are produced, which added materially
to the friction and consequent impediment of tin; scour of the waters, both
tidal and fresh. But, inasmuch as the main set of the flood tide coming from
the Irish Channel naturallv sets on the Cheshire shore, and on the ebl) takes
the same channel, although in an opposite fdirection, and under present
circumstances each of them must bend back again almost at right angles be-
fore it can enter or leave the new channel, which is on the opposite or Welsh
shore : thus, a further most serious obstruction to the tidal and fresh waters
is created.

From the above descrii>fion of the river it is evident that the navigation is in
a very defective state, and, \\ itii the exception of a very short period at the
lieight of spring tides, vessels drawing above six or seven feet of water
cannot reach Chester.

But as the tide only rises from three to four feet during neaps as far as
Chester, and there is only four feet at low water in the channel, the naviga-
tion is not practicable for vessels drawing above seven feet ; and, with tlm
exception of four or tivo vessels of 2o0 tons burthen, belonging to iho
cheese company, who have a steam-boat to tow lliein u]) and down the river
during spring tides, all the trade of Chester is transported iii small crafts of
about'70 tons burthen, so thai in fact it has dwindled away to conqiaratively
of little importance.

As to dredging, it is only applicable in confined positions, where
it is of imperative importance to preserve a certain depth of water
against the inroads of the sea, and where a largo expense can be
afforded for such an object. But as to applying it as a means of
engineering construction, we might juijt as well sop up the sea, ov

268

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

July

carry out the Dutch plan of draining works below the level of the
sea by scoops. 1 f the revenues derived from the improvement should
fail to be commensurate to the expense, which, however, we do not
fear, at least the canal will remain in something like a working
state; but in a few years the dredging must disappear, and " leave
not a wreck behind." On the one side is a great expenditure of
time, and a pr-otracted and uncertain operation ; and on the other, a
certain result at an established and certain cost, with incomparably
less waste of capital or time. In the time that Mr. Russell is dredg-
ing out the Dee, a leash of Liverpools may arise ; and the manufac-
tures have already passed far from Chester on their pilgrimage to
the north, where they are invited by the cheapness of water and of
labour.

CotJiie Omammts draxm and lithoc/raphed. By J. Thomas, Sculiitor and
Carver. Loudon: Williams, 1839. 1st Number.
The execution of this work is exceedingly promising, but its matter is not
selected mtli equal taste. A linial in plate 3 is vei7 good, as also a corbel
in the eighth ])late, and generally the designs from the perpendicular style,
are better chosen than those from the earUer styles. The specimens are ge-
nerally selected from cathedrals in the West Midland district, and will prove
an accession to the works on architectural detail.

The Ascot Grand Stand. Designed by AV. Mcllingab, Architect.
This is a drawing of the grand stand recently erected at Ascot, and is ne-
cessarily removed from the sphere of our criticism. AVe think the architect
is, however, entitled to praise in fullilling a public duty in the publication of
his work, too often neglected in buildings of greater pretension.

Design for the Exchange Buildinys proposed to be erected at Manchester
By Thomas Taylor, jVrehitect.
This design exhibits a basement on which is raised a storj' of the Corin-
thian order, surmounted by a peristyle and dome. The principal front is
broken into a portico and two wings. The portico is octastyle, the outer
columns being double, a\ul the wings consisting each of four colunms placed
double. The other fronts consist of a hexastyle portico and wings, on tlie
same principle as the main front. There is a frieze, sculptiu-ed pediment, and
statues on the porticos. The double cohnnns seem to be arrange<l so as to
be free from the objections generally entertained against that disposition.
The proportions and massing of the building are good, and produce a pic-
tm'esque efl'ect.

The London, Southampton, and Portsmouth Railway Guide. Wyld, 1839.
Mr. Wyld is, as usual, first in the field, and has produced a guide at once
comprehensive and cheap. It includes all the necessary information, nume-
rous maps and wood-cuts, illustrative of the progress of a railway.

The Lectttrer.
We are much pleased with the appearance of this publication, which is
what it purports to be, cheap and usefid. In the monthly part, for the
small sum of sixpence, we have above thirty wood-cuts, and seven lectures
by popular men on practical science.

Hand-book for Travellers along the London and BirmingJmm Raihcay.
London : R. Groombridge.
This little work is an abridgment of Eoscoe and Lecount's HistoiT of the
Eailway, which we have frequently noticed, and from which we have made
several extracts. The traveller will, by a perusal of this guide during his
flight along the line, be amused with the description of the various works as
they pass by him.

The Chevalier de Pambour's new work on the theory of the steam-engine
will be noticed in our next number.

Mr. Buck's work on Oblique or Skew Arches, is just published.

PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.

INSTITUTION OK CIVIL ENGINEERS.
THE president's conversatione.
On SatMday evening, the Ist ult., Mr. Walker, President of the Institution
of Civil Engineers, held a conversatione at his house. No. 23, Great George
Street, which was crowded irith individuals eminent in their profession.
Throughout the apartments there were several novel inventions or ingenious
illustrations, some beautiful models of works in jirogress on the giand scale.
The rooms were chiefly illuminated by the brilliant lamps recently invented
hy Parker, and which, from their condiined power and economy, promise to
supersede all others for the combustion of oil. They supply the world with
desiderata hitherto deemed unattainable, viz., the means of procuring from the
by Salter iu paper) was much admired. Much attention was excited by a

most cheap and common oUs a clear and intense light, hitherto only obtained
from the best ! Some of those in use at Mr. Walker's last night were filled
with the best sperm oil, and some with the ordinary whale oil, yet nobody
could tell by the light from which it proceeded. Several beautiful plans and
models of the labours of the distinguished president on railways, bridges,
piers, and other pubUe works, were visible. A model of the bridge which he
is now building over the river Ouse for the Hull and Selby Railway (modelled
series of drawings, upon a large scale, rcjjreseuting Arnold's marine chrono-
meter, and several working models upon an equally large scale, explanatory
of the details of the work and the action of the difl'erent ])arts. Mr. jVrnold's
labours, and tlie success mth which they have been attended, are so generally
known aiul acknowledged, that any particular notice of them is unnecessary.
Another valuable work of art, in the same important department of mecha-
nism, was produced by Mr. VuUiamy. A regulator movement, with Graham's
dead-beat escapement, executed as described in Nos. 28 and 31 of the Journal
of Science. The advantage of tliis construction consists in the whole of the
work connected with the escapement being executed by turning instead of
fihug, and thus insiu'ing greater precision and accuracy. There were also ex-
hibited some ingenious contrivances and models by Air. Cow|)er ; one in par-
ticular we noticed for its simplicity, it being an apparatus to ascertain if the
lines of a railway are in guage, in another part of the jomnial we have given
a drawing of it. \\e must leave undeseribed the ingenious mechanical inven-
tions of Bramah and others, and devote a few words to the fine arts, with
specimens of which the tables were covered. The most interesting was a
foho volume of the original drawings of Wel)ber, wlio accompanied Captain
Cook in his voyage round the world, which has lately been ])urehased by the
President, and now displayed, we may say for the first time, to the admiration
of the pubUc. The picturesque fidelity of these sketches (the principal part
of which were taken in Otaheite) cannot l)e sufficiently adnured. Owen
Jones's rough ^iews in Egyiit,and Ids splendid restorations and illustrations of
the Alhambra formed an instructive contrast, each faithfully accm-ate to the
character of the scene, yet apjiarently the production of pencils the most dif-
ferent. The latter volume is, perhajjs, the most gorgeous specimen of illu-
minated printing in existence, and bears the impress of years of patient re-
search and devotion to art, as well as of unique talent in aehie%ing such a
work. It certainly raises our ideas of the Saracenic style of architecture for
magnificence of decoration] as well as elegance of proportion, and the
coml>ination of graceful forais with brillian and harmonious coloiu's. A bronze
vase, the work of B. Cellini (the property of Mr. Denlle), was justly admired
for its exquisite workmanship and the delicacy of its relief. A series of
academy figures from the life, iu oil, by Mr. .lohn Woods, were attractive, and
the sketches of J. B. Pyne were also highly praised. Nine faithful jjortraits
of the late Charles Matthews, in the most fanciful characters of his " Comic
Annual," for which he sat to Mr. R. R. Scanlan pre\ious to his trip to Ame-
rica, were recognised with pleasm-e hy his old adndrers. Some sketches of
Cornish miners, "taken under ground," by the same artist, presented features
of a very curious character.

The honours of the house and supper-table were done in person by the
president, assisted by the secretaries, ilessrs. Webster and Manby, and every
l)ody seemed to feel highly gratified by the judicious combination of social
and scientific arrangements ; and the select, yet abmulant materials for intel-
lectual, as well as hospitable entertainment provided by the president for his
guests.

Among the numerous distingiushed individuals present we recognised —
Su' John Ilerschel, the Earl of Shaftesbmy, Sir H. Painell, Sir John Bar-
row, Su- Thomas Dyke Acland, M.I'., Colonel Fox, Mr. Ilandley, M.P., Lord
Blaney, Mr. Emerson Tennant, M.P., Mr. Bramston, Jlr. Dunbar, Mr. Fox
Talbot, Mr. Pollock, Professor Barlow, Mr. Ewart, M.P., Captain Brandreth,
Sir Stavely Clark, Mr. Milne, Mr. Chawner, Mr. Burney, Sir Charles Price,
Gen. Sir Duncan Macdougall, Mr. Angerstein, JI.P., Mr. Mylne, Mr. Ilard-
wick, Mr. Philpots, Dr. Ure, Professor Wallace, Mr. Adolphus, Mr. John
Wood, Mr. Jerdan, Mr. Blexie, Mr. Henderson Macdougall, Mr. Ameyet, Pro-
fessor ChiiUis, Colonel Wells, Mr. C. Fowler, Professor WUlis, Colonel Pasley,
Sir William Symons, Dr. Todd, Colonel Churchill, Jlr. BaiTV, Mr. Povnter,
Mr. T. Wyatt", Mr. Chartes Wood, Mr. ILinis, Count Lubinsky, Mr. W.
Cotton, Mr. Tooke, Mr' Arnold, several Prussian noblemen, with Mr. Ilebeler,
the Consul-General, Sir D. Wilkie, Mr. F. Hodgson, M.P., Professor Wheat-
stone, Professor Kiemian, Mr. Wrangham, Mr. Joy, Captain Locke, Sir Chaiies
Price, Mr. Baxendale, Dr. Bowring, Mr. Scanlan, Mr. Wood, Mr. Stone, Mr.
Briekwood, the Presidents and Councils of the principal scientific societies,
the Council, and about three hundred members of the Institution of Civil
Engineers.

ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.
May 2". — Edward Blore, V.P., in the Chair.
Samuel M'are, Esq., was elected an Honorary Fellow ; Richard MoiTisou,
of Dubhn, was elected a Fellow ; WilUam Clerihew and Addington Artis
were elected Associates.

Among the donations announced was a copy of the first part of a work on
the Pyranuds of (iizeh, presented by Colonel Howard Vyse ; also a copy of
the second part of the Architektonisches Album, presented by the Arcliitec-
tm'al Association of Berlin.

A commimication iiom Messrs. Smith, of Daruick, was read on a failure in

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

2m

the Falsbope Bridge. Mr. Richardson delivered his fourth lect\ire on
Geology — suhject, the chalk formation.

Jrx'E 10. — George Basevi, Jun., V.P., in the Chair.

Various donations of hooks and casts were laid upon the tahle. A paper
hy Mr. Donaldson was read on the chiu-ch of Notre Dame du Tort, at Cler-
mont Auvergne.

Mr. Richardson deUvered his fifth Geological lecture, the subject being on
the Wealden formation.

June 24. — David Mocatta, Fellow, in the Chair.

A letter was read from Mr. Donaldson, acknowledging his election as fellow
for life, without further contribution ; also a letter from the Chevalier Gasse,
of Naples, Honorary and Corresponding Member.

Amongst the donations laid upon the table was a copy of the fifth part of
the " Illustrations to the Normans in Sicily," presented by H. Gaily Knight,
Esq., M.P.

A paper was read by the Rev. Richard Burgess on the Form and Parts of
Ancient Christian Temples, commonly called Basilicas.

Mr. Richardson delivered his sixth and concluding lectitfe on Geology.

ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY.

Report of the Committee, read at tlie Annual General Meeting held the ith
of June, 1839, at the Society's Room, No. 35, Lincoln's Inn Fields.

Gentlemen, — In making this their annual report, the committee have the
pleasure of appearing before the society under circumstances which they
venture to think fully justify them in congratulating the members on the
very satisfactory condition of the society generally. During the past year
many important sulijeets have been brought under consideration. In the
early part of it, a proposition was made for the junction of this society with
the Institute of British Architects. The proposition itself originated with
this society, which is the liest evidence of their inclination to make a com-
mon cause for common objects. The negotiation, however, the committee
regret to say, failed, in consequence of its lieing ascertained that tlie Insti-
tute had hound themselves by bye-laws of so exclusive a natiu'e, rendered
imperative by the cliarter, that, in the opinion of counsel, they could not be
relaxed ; these bye-laws prevented this society from seciu-ing any control
over the disposition of the funds and property which they were called upon
to give uj), and were otherwise objectionable. Upon a full and careful
consideration of the whole matter, this society therefore negatived the propo-
sitions ; they are not aware, however, that they have been losers by this
determiuation, for though some of their members left them and joined the
Institute, the number is not so great as has been stated, and the secession
has been more than filled up by the accession of other members, amongst
whom they are happy to reckon some of the most respectable senior members
of the profession. This discussion, however, they are happy to state, has
been most useful in its results, because the Institute has been thereby led to
create a class of student members in connexion with their society. This class
they had previously entirely overlooked, though it is obvious that one of the
best and most certain means of raising the profession of architecture to its
fair place amongst the fine arts of this country, is by encouraging and edu-
cating the junior members.

The next subject to wliich they think it necessary to refer, is one of entu'e
congratulation in the acceptance of the office of jiresident by Mr. Tite : to
tliis gentleman the committee feel bound to tender their best thanks for the
devotion of a considerable portion of his valuable tune, for a liberal donation,
and for the present of some valuable and costly books.

The committee have also to state that the donations to the society have
been on the increase dming the present session ; not merely has the library
and museum been extended, but the funds of the society have also been mucli
benefitted, and the committee are happy to state, that although they have
this session had to meet many extra heavy expenccs, the funds are at the
present time in a very satisfactoiy state. It is not necessary to introduce
a balance sheet of the accounts in the present report, but any of the members
who may wish to inquire more particularly into this subject, may receive any
information they require on application to the treasurer, Mr. George Mair.

The introduction of lectures at the evening meetings forms a new featiu'e
in the proceedings of the society, and the committee feel that it is a measure
wliich has met with the approbation of the members generally ; with this
conviction the connnittee have it in contemplation to make similar arrange-
ments for the ensuing season, and by so doing they hope gi'eatly to extend
the advantages the society previously otTered.

The prizes for this year have been adjudged by the society as follows : viz.

To Mr. George Adam Bmn, of George Place, Hammersmith, student
member, for the best essay on the Ionic order.

To Mr. George B. Wilhams, Penny Fields, Poplar, for the best measured
drawing of St. Mark's Chapel, South Audley Street.

The only remaining subject that the committee tliink it necessary to advert
to, is with reference to the student mendiers, ami they have to regret that
they have not availed themselves of all the advantages this society offers.
In consequence of this circumstance they have been obliged to withhold two
of the prizes usually given ; viz. that for original design, and that given by
the treasurer fgr sketching from subjects proposed at each meeting.

One of the main oljjeels for whicli the Architectural Society was founded,
was for the purpose of aftbrding facilities of study, as well for its student
members, as for nuitual intercourse among themselves ; and in giving the
students those facilities, the society has emleavoured to offer every induce-
ment in its power, not merely to excite study, but to create emulation, and
to call forth latent talent amongst its j\niior members.

Tlie committee feel it their duly to call attention to these circumstances,
knowing of themselves the benefits that are to he derived ft'om a proper
participation in the opportunities of study thus offered.

It now only remains for the committee to express the thanks of the society
to the visitors who have honoiu-ed thorn with their company at their several
meetings, and also to the gentlemen connected with the press, to whom they
feel indebted for the kind manner in which they have been pleased to notice
their proceedings.

In conclusion, gentlemen, the committee tnist that the ensuing session
may be as generally successful as tlie past, and that they may be able to pro-
cure, with increased satisfaction to themselves, increased motives for your
attendance at theii- meetings.

They beg to assure you it will he their study to cany out the objects for
which the society was formed, and they hope in so doing not only to deserve,
but to receive, yoiu- approbation and support.

William Tite,

President.

ROYAL SOCIETY.

.\pRiL 25. — The Marquis of Northampton, President, in the chair.

Robert Rigg, Esq., and Professor Sylvester, of University College, were
eeeted Fellows.

The following papers were read : —

" On tlie motion of the Blood," by J. Carson, JI.D. After referring to his
paper contained in the Philosophical Transactions for 1820, relative to the
influence of the elasticity of the lungs as a power contributing to the eff'ectual
expansion of the heart, and promoting the motion of the blood in the veins,
the author states that his object in tliis paper is to explain more fully the
mode ill which these effects are produced, and to corroborate by additional
facts and olisen-ations the arguments adduced in its support. He endeavours,
from a review of the circumstances under which the veins are placed, to show
the inconclusively of the olijections which have been inged by various phy-
siologists against his and the late Sir David Barry's tlieoiy of suction : namely,
that the sides of a phant vessel, when a force of suction is applied, will col-
lapse and an-est the further transmission of fluid through that channel. The
considerations which he deems adequate to give efficacy to the power of suc-
tion in the veins of a living animal are, first, the position of the veins by
which, though pliant vessels, they acqiure in some degree the properties of
rigid tubes ; secondly, the immersion of the venous blood in a medium of a
specific gravity at least equal to its own ; third, the constant introduction of
recreinentitious matter iuto the venous system at its capillary extremities, by
wliich the volume of venous blood is increased, audits motion urged onwards,
to the heart in distended vessels ; and lastly, the gravity of the fluid itself,
creating an outward pressm-e at all paits of the veins below the highest level
of the venous system. The author illustrates bis positions by the different
quantities of blood which are found to flow from the divided vessels of an ox,
according to the different modes in which the animal is slaughtered.

2. Account of Experiments on Iron-built Ships, instituted for the purpose
of discovering a Correction for the Deviation of the Compass produced by the
Iron of the Ships, by G. Biddell, Esq., A.M.

In this paper the problem of the deviation of a sliip's compass, arising from
the influence of the iron in the sliip, more particularly in iron-built ships, is
fully investigated ; and the ]irinciiiles on which the correction for this de-
pends having been determined, practical methods for neutrahzing the deviating
forces are deduced and illustrated liy experimental application. The author
states that, for the purpose of ascertaining the laws of the deviation of the
compass in the iron-built steam-ship the Rainbow, four stations were selected
in that vessel, about foitr feet above the deck, and at these the deviations of
the horizontal compasses were determined in the various positions of the
ship's head. All these stations were in the vertical plane, passing through
the ship's keel, three being in the after part of the slii|) and one near the
bow. Olisenatious were also made for determining the horizontal intensify
at each of these stations. The deviations of dipping needles at three of these
stations were also determined, wlien the plane of vibration coincided with
that of the ship's keel, and also when at right angles to it. .\fter describing
tlie particular method of observing I'cudered necessary by the nature of the
vessel and the circumstances of her position, the author gives the disturbance
of the horizontal compass at the four stations deduced from the observations.
The most striking feature in these results, is the very great apparent change
in the direction of the ship's head, as indicated by the compass nearest the
stern, coiTCsponding to a small real change in one particular position, the
foriiior change being 97", whereas the latter was only 'ly, and the small amount
of disturbance iuchcated by the comiiass near the bow. After giving the obser-
vations for the determiuation of the influence of the ship on the horizontal
intensity of a needle suspended at each of the stations, in four different jiosi-
fions of the ship's head, and the disturbances of the dipping needle at three of

270

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[July,

these stations, tlic author enters upon the theoretical invest igation. Tlie
fundamental sni>position of the theory of induced magnctisiii, on which Mr.
Aiiy states liis calculation to rest, is, that, hy the action of terrestrial magne-
tism, every particle of iion is converted into a luagnet, whose directioti is
parallel to that of the dijiping ueedlc, and whose intensity is proportional to
that of teiTCstrial magnetism, the upper end liaving the property of attracting
the north end of the needle, and the lower end that of repelUng it. The
attractive and repulsive forces of a particle ou the north eiul of the needle,
in the directions of rect-angular axes towards north, towards east, and verti-
cally downwards, and of which the compass is t.iken as the origin, are first
determined on this su])position in terms of the co-ordinates; and thence the
true disturliitig forces of the particle in these dii'ections. The disturliiug
forces produced hy the whole of the iron of the ship are the sums of the ex-
pressions for every particle. Expressing tliis simnuation hy the letter S. and
transforming the rectangular into polar co-ordinates, Mr. Airy gives to the
expressions for the disturhing forces the simplifications which tliey admit of,
oh the supposition that the compass is in the vertical jilane passing through
the ship's keel, and that the iron is systemnietrieally disposed on both sides
of that plane. lie thus deduces for the distui'biuing forces acting on the
north or marked end of the needle,

— I cos 5 i\I + I cos 5 P cos 2 A + I sin S N cos A, toward the magne-
tic north ;

I cos B P sin 2 .\ + I sin B N sin A, towards magnetic east ;

— I sin B Q + I cos S N cos A, .vertically downwards :

Where I represents the intensity of terrestrial magnetism ; 5 the dip; .\ llie
azimuth of the ship's head; and M, N, P, Q, constants depending solely on
the construction of the ship, and not changing with any variations of terres-
trial localities of magnetic dip or intensity.

From the consideration of these expressions for the disturbing forces is
deduced the following simple rule for the coneetion of a compass disturljed
by the induced magnetism only of the iron in a ship.

1. Determine the ])osition of Barlow's plate with reg.ird to the compass,
Trhich will produce the same effect as the iron in the ship.

2. Fix Barlow's jdate at the distance and depression detennined by the
last experiment, but in the opposite azinmth.

3. Mount another mass of iron at the same level as the compass, but on
the starboard or larboard side, and determine its position so that the compass
points con'cctly when the shijj's head is N.E., S.E., S.W. or N.W. ; then the
compass will be coiTcct iu all positions of the ship's head and in all magnetic
latitudes.

When the disturhing iron of the ship is at the same level as the compass,
the correction is stated to be much more simple, it being then oidy necessary
to introduce a single mass of iron at the starboard or larboard side, and at
the same level as the compass. It is farther remarked, that if one mass of
ii'on is placed exactly opposite another equal mass, Ijotli iu azimuth and in
elevation, it doubles its distm'bing etfeet : if one mass be placed opposite the
other in azinuith, but with elevation instead of depression, or vice versi, it
destroys that term of the distm'bance which depends on sin .\, and doidiles tliat
which depends on sin. 2 A. And if one mass be placed at tlie same level as
the compass, its effects may be destroyed by placing another mass at the
same level, in an azinuith ihffering 90'' ou either side. If a disturbance, from
whatever cause arising, follow the law of + sin. 2 A, (changing sign in the
successive quadrants, and positive when the ship's head is between N. and E.),
it may be destroyed Ity placing a mass of ii'on on the starboai'd or larboard
side at the same level as the compass ; if it follow the law of + sin. 2 A, tlie
mass of iron umst lie on the fore or aft side. From the consideration of tlie
expression of the distmbing forces produced liy the ship, it is farther iirferred
that both in the construction of the ship and iu the fixing of coiTeciors, no
large mass of iron should be placed below the compass.

■The expressions for the disturbing forces towards north and east, being
transformed into forces towards the ship's head and towards the starboard
side give

I cos. 5 ( — M + P) cos. A + I sin. B N, for the former,
and

I COS. i (M + P), for the latter.

The autliol' next proceeds to investigate the effects which result I'roin the
combination of induced magnetism with permanent magnetism. C'aUing H,
S, and V the new forces arising from the latter, and directed towards the
ship's head, its stai'board side, and vertically downwards, the whole distiu-bing
force towards the ship's head becomes

H + I cos. S (_ M + P) COS. A + I sin. S N ;
and the whole disturbing force towards the starboard side,
S4-I cos. S (.M + P) sin. A.

The manner in which the mmierical values of these quantities may be found
from experiment is tlicu pointed out, and being determined from the obser-
vations on board the Rainbow, at Station I., a comparison is made between
the observed disturbances of the needles, and those which wouhl result fiom
the action of the ship as a permanent magnet. From this comparison it ap-
pears that almost the whole disturbance is accounted for by the permanent
magnetism, and that the residual part follows with sufficient approximation
the law of changing signs at the successive quadrants. For the complete
verification of the theory it remained only to effect an actual correction of the
compass. This was done by placing Ijelow the compass, in a position deter-
mined by the previously-ascertained numerical values, a large bar magnet to
neutralize the effects of the permanent magnetism gf the ship, and a xq\X of

soft iron on one side of the compass to counteract the distiu'hance arising
from induced magnetism. That this correction was effective appears from
the very small amount of uncorrected disturbance then observed in tlie com-
pass. The observations of the compasses at Stations II., III., IV., are simi-
larly discussed : the disturbing force arising from the pcrniauent magnetism
of the ship being in like manner determined, a comparison is instituted be-
tween the observed and computed disturbance of the compass ; and the
results of this comparison, with the exception of the observations at Station
IV., are found to be in perfect accordance with the theory, .\ttempts are
made to correct the compasses at these stations in the same manner as at
Station I., but owing to the imperfection of the compasses they did not suc-
ceed so perfectly. The observations made with the dipping needle are next
discussed, and the values of the constants .are deduced from them. The
general agreement of those determined from the observations when the needle
vihr.ated in the direction of the sliip's keel, w ith those deduced from t he obsen'a-
tions when the needle vibrated transversely, is pointed out, and is considered
an additional proof of the general correctness of the theory. Oliservations
on the ihstmbance of the compass in the iron-built sailing-ship Ironsides are
next described. These are similar to those in the Rainbow, but not so exten-
sive ; and they are discussed on the same principles. From this discussion it
is considered that the tlieoiT is in perfect accordance with the facts obsened
iu tlie deviations and intensities observed. The coiTcction of one compass
was effected by a tentative process, which the author considers likely to be
of the highest value in the correction of the compasses of u'on-ships in gene-
ral. The sliip's head being placed exactly north, as ascertained by a shore
compass, a magnet was placed upon the beam from which the compass was
suspended, vsitli the direction of its length exactly transverse to the sliip's
keel : it was moved upon the beam to various ilistances till the compass
pointed eori'ectly, and then it was fixed. Then the ship's head was placed
equally east, and another magnet with its length parallel to the ship's keel,
was jilaccd upon the same beam, and moved to different distances till the
compass pointed correctly, and then it was fixed. The correction for induced
magnetism was ncglectecl, but there would have been no difficulty in adjusting
it by the same process, jilacing the vessel's head in azimuth 45^' or 135° or
225° or 315°. In conclusion, Mr. .\iry makes the following remarks : — The
deviations of the compass at four stations in the Rainbow, and at two stations
in the Ironsides, are caused by two modifications of magnetic power; the
one being the independent magnetism of the ship, whicli retains, in all posi-
tions of the ship, the same magnitude and the same direction relatively to the
ship ; the other being the induced magnetism, of wiiich the force varies in
magnitude and direction when the sliip's position is changed. In the in-
stances mentioned, the effect of the former force was found greatly to exceed
that of the latter. It appears that experiments and obsenations similar to
tliose applied in the above cases arc sufficient to obtain with accuracy the
constants on which at any one place the ship's action on the horizontal needle
depends, namelv —

H S

;^ + tan S N, r, M, and P ;

I cos S I cos 5

and that by placing a magnet so that its action shall take place in a dii'ection
opposite to that which the investigations show to be the direction of the
ship's independent magnetic action, and at such a distance that its ert'ecti
C(|iial to that of the shiji's independent magnetism, and by counteracting the
effect of the induced magnetism by means of the induced magnetism of
another mass, according to rules which are given, the compass may be made
to point exactly as if it were free from distiuiiance. It appears also, that by
an easy tentative method, the compass may now be corrccfeil witliout the
lahoiur of any numerical investigations or any experiments exceiit those of
merely making the f rials. Although the uniformity of the induced magne -
f ism under similar circnnistances is to be presumecl, yet the iuvarialiility o
the independent magnetism during the course of many years is by no means
certain. These statements suggest the following as rules which it is desu'able
to obsen'e in the present infancy of iron-ship buihUng. It ajipeai's desirable
that — 1. Evei7 iron sea-going ship should be examined by a competent per-
son for the accurate determination of the four constants above mentioned for
each of the compasses of fhe ship, and a careful record of these determina-
tions slioidd be jircserved as a magnetic register of fhe ship. 2. The same
person should be cmjiloyed to cxamiiie the vessel at different times, with the
view of ascertaining whether cither of the constants changes in fhe course of
time. 3. In the case of vessels going to different magnetic latitudes, the
same person should make arrangements for the examination of the compasses
in other places with a view to the determination of the constant N. 1. The
same person should examine and register the general construction of the ship,
the jiosifion and cireunistaiices of her building, ivc, with a view to ascertain
how far fhe values of the magnetic constants depend on these circnnistances,
and iu particular to ascertain their connexion with the value of flic preju-
dicial constant M. 5. The same person should sec to the prupcr a|iplication
of the corrections and fhe proper measures for preserving the permauency of
their magnetism. The most remarkable result in a scientific view from the
experiments detailed in the present pa])er is, the gre.it intensity of the per-
mauciil magnetism of the uialleable ii'on of which the ship is composed,

183D.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

271

THE NELSON TESTBtONIAL.

The conmiittee appointed to superintend and to cany out tliis object, as-
sembled on Satnrday, 22nd idtinio, at tlie Tliatdied-bouse Tavern, St.
James's-street. Amongst the members of that body who were present we
observed the Duke of Wellington, the Marquis of liansdowne, the Earl of
Cadogan, the Eai'l of Minto, "\'iscount Melville, Lord linrghersh, Lord Brid-
port, Lord Colborne, Lord Ingestrie, Lord C. Fitzroy, Sir G. Cockbnrn, Sir
T. Cochrane, Sir G. Seymour, Sir W. Beatty, Sir J. Shaw, Sir G. Murray, Sir
J. Barrow, Sii- \V. Parker, Sir P. Lamie, Admiral Dighy, Colonel Fox, Licu-
teuant-General Sir J. Maedonald, Sir G. A. M'estplial, Captain Beaufort,
Captain Badcock, Mr. S. Rice, Mr. J. \V. Croker, &c.

The Duke of Wellington was appointed chairman of the day. His Grace
having taken his seat, —

The noble Chairma.v said, as there appeared not to be any other business
to transact, tbcy would go at once to the ballot for the decision with regard
to the choice of design. He would, however, take that opportunity of in-
qiiiring what amovmt of subscriptions had been received.

Sir G. CocKBURN said that at present they amounted to about X18,000.

Mr. CtioKER, on the motion " That the conunittce do now proceed to the
liallot," said he could not help thinking that prior to the corameneement of
that act it would be most desirable for the connnittee to come to some defi-
nife and distinct understanding in regard to the question of whether they
were to consider themselves to be bound to carry out eveiy detail of the
design which might that day be determined on as being the best calculated
to meet the views of the majority of the siibscril)ers. (Hear, hear.) It
might so happen that the design chosen was one which was impracticalile in
its accomplislunent, either in respect to its details or on account of the want
of sufficient funds. (Hear, bear.) He could not help thiiiking, tlierefore,
that it would be better for the committee to pass a resolution by \\bich they
wovdd have the power, should such a coiu'se be deemed necessary, to ui.iIm^
any alterations or variations in the details which might be considiiril,re(jui-
sitc. With that view, then, be begged to move, " That the vote of ^% day'
shall decide wliich design is adopted, subject, however, to such variations in
the details, and such inquiries, and conditions, and securities, as to the con-
struction and cost, as to the committer (or any sub-committee appointed to
consider of, or conduct the practical execution of the monmnent) may subse-
quently repuire."

Sir G. CocKBURN seconded the motion: which having been put, was carried
unanimously.

It was asked whether the pow ers vested in the superintending committee
were understood to go so far as to enable them to take oft" one of Nelson's
anus ? He had put the question, because the committee would recollect that
in several of the designs the artists bad drawn the hero with two arms, when,
as everybody well knew, one of them had been shot otf.

There was a general reply in the aftirmative to this query.

Sir G. Cockburnn and Sir P. Lam'ic having been appointed to act as scru-
tineers, the ballot was connnenced.

Shortly after the close of the ballot, at fovn o'clock, the scrutineers made
the following official notitication : —

" In obedience to the resolution of the committee, we, the undersigned,
have examined the votes given for the model or design to be selected for the
Nelson memorial, and we declare that .\Ir. Railton has the majority of votes.

" G. COCKBURN, 1 „ ,.
" P. LAURIE, jScrutmeers

"Thatched House Tavcni, St. James's Street, June 22."
Mr. W. Railton's design was No. 63 on the list.

RAILWAY SOCIETV.

T'liE first General ftleeting of the Private Members of the Railway Society'
was held on Thursday the 20th ultimo, at their rooms, No. 25, Great George-
street, for the purpose of electing the members of the council, and of submit
ting to the consideration of the meeting the proposed rules of the Society,
drawn up by the Members of the Committee of Management and of the
House Committee. Those gentlemen who are deputed as the representatives
of tlie dift'erent Railway Companies subscribing to tlie Society, were also re-
quested to attend the meeting, in order that their opinions' respecting the
construction of the former rules of the Society mightmeet with every conside-
ration. Several of these gentlemen were present, and rendered very etlicient
service in assisting to frame those regulations whicli were afterwards sanctioned
bv the members present,

George Carr Gly'n, Esq., having been called to the chair, proceeded to
state, in a neat and concise speech, the objects.of the Society, which are prin-
cipally directed towards the protection of the connnon interests and rights of
Railway Proprietors, and the establishment of a focus wherein may centre the
united experience and talent of those connected with these national undertak-
ings, whether as Directors or Engineers. Mr. Glyn concluded by statbig
the purpose for which tlie private members and delegates were that day as-
sembled,'and informed tlie meeting that he had great hopes of prevailing on
one of the most influential personages in the kingdom, and one most deeply
interested in the prosperity ofrailw.ays, to become the President of the Council.

The Secretary then read a report of the proceedings of the committee of
management since the fonnation of tlie society, clearly showing that a careful

watch bad b«en kept upon all proceedings ia Pailiameut at all likely tg effect

railway interests, and stated that the Right Honourable the President of the
Board of Trade had recognised the society as the organ through wliich he
should in future seek for any information required on the subject of J?aihvays.
Tlie proceedings of the House Committee were afterwards laid before the
meeting, together with a very satisfactory account of the expenditure and
receipts of the society; after which the^proposed rules of the society were
read and considered seriutim.

Much attention was bestowed upon this very important subject, and several
alterations were made, before the final assent of the members present was given
to the rules, the principal feature in which is the election of the council from
among the private members of the Society for the management of overythino*
relating strictly to the private affairs of the Society — as the electioji of
members, the house expenditure, &c., and the formation of a committee,
composed of the members of the council and the delegates from Railway
Companies subscribing to the Society, for the purpose of watching over
and protecting the interests of Railway Proprietors, of adopting such mea-
sures for their benefit as may^ appear to them expedient, and of receiving
and replying to all communications, whether scientific or otherwise, which
mav tend to promote the advantages of Railwaygcommunication.

The private members afterwards nominated from their own body those
gentlemen who were deemed most eligible as members of the council, and
the meeting" broke up, after having, on the proposition of Henry Bosanqnet,
Esq., Chairman of the Eastern Counties* Railway, passed a vote of thanks
to IMr. Glyn for the very eilicient manner in wliich he had hitherto filled
the place of Chairman of the Committee of Management, and for the in-
terest he had al: all times manifested for the welfare of the "Railway
Society."

ON GEOLOGY, APPLIED TO ARCHITECTURE,

Being part if a Course of Six Lectures, by G. F. llicH.\nDSON, Esc].,

of the British Museum.

Lecture the Fourth. Delivered at the Royal Insiitnie of British ArcliUects,
Monday, May 2Tth, 1839. Subjects: Igneous Rocks; Volcanic; Eiinnieration
of Building-Stones ; Choice of Stone.

On this occasion, the Lecturer proposed to show the composition of rocks,
and their application to architectural purposes. England is particularly
favoured in the number and varieties of rocks adapted to architecture, although
not in all of those which are most valuable. This of course arises from the
great variety of formations wliich are here compressed into the narrow boun-
daries of our island, r,mging from the tertiary formations of Hampshire and
the great iMetropolis, up to the primary of Cornwall, Wales, and the Nortli of
England.

Proceeding upon the division of rocks into aqueous and igneous, we find
that theigneousmay be divided into two great bodies, themodern and the ancient,
and these again each into three classes, all possessed by tlie modern, and which
a e also in a greatdegree to be found in the ancient. The first class of modern
volcanic rocks is of alight white, like felsjiar, and is called tracbite, from trachos,
a Greek word, signifying rough. The second is of an iron or ferruginous red,
and is called basaltic. The third class partakes of both these qualities, as grey-
stone. Tile ancient volcanic rocks are some basaltic or trachitic, and are sometimes
resinous or glassy. The productions of volcanoes are often called lavas, from
a Swedish word signifying to run. Tufa is formed of ashes aggludinated
together; pipeline is supposed to be produced by the action of .showers
of rain upon ashes ; and pumice appears to be trachite reduced to a
fibrous state. No experiments are of greater interest than those imitating
nature, for in them we acquire a certain standard to which to refer the results
of our operations. Mr. Gregory Scott, of Edinburgh, has, as is well known,
melted basalt, and produced diii'erent bodies, according to the degree of slow-
ness with which it was allowed to cool. AV'hen cooled sloivly, it became
'i-lassy; more slowly, earthy ; and when most slowly of all, amorphous or
shapeless. As the former rocks are called subarean, from their being jn-oduced
by volcanoes in the open air, so the trappean rocks are called siib.ique.ous,
because they have been projected by volcanoes underwater. G'ranite has
been produced by intense heat under pressure, and is not, as supposed, con-
lined to the primary series, but is to be found of much later date. Darwin
hasfound it piercing the tertiary strata, and it may even be believed that at
the base of mountains, and in the bowels of the earth, granite is being formed
even at the present period. Primary rocks are supposed to be formfd of the
same elementary parts, but deriving their distinct character from the different
decrees of heat to which they have been subjected. Thus the schistose rocks
have been slightly warmed, gneiss baked, granite melted, and uthors, like
obsidian, reduced to glass. Obsidian, I may remark, derives its mime froiu
Obsidius, who was its discoverer. The class of schistose or slaty rocks, is
supposed to be muddy or sedimentary matter, which hns been altered by the
operation of the burning masses underneath, so as to lose its original hori-
zontal lines of stratification, and to acquire others. All rocks above tha
primary, it will be observed, are deposited by water.

I'rocpeding to the separate enumeration of* aicbilectural rocks, lli.' lirst or
foundation stone is granite. [The Lecturer here referred bis auditors to the
map constructed by the veteran jj-eologist Webster, prelixed to liiickland's
Geology, to whom also, not only the original plan, but most of the subsequent
additions are owing, and he said, so great is the labour displayed in it, that

the student whg shguW commit only that seclwn to memory, would at apy

272

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[July.

rate learn one of the most important branches of the science, viz., physica'
geology.] Granite is the basis upon which tlie whole system of rocks seems
to be founded, and where it retires from tlie human obserration, it is still
supposed to bed under the otiier rocks. Granite has been originally a fused
mass, and crystallised from a state of fusion: it is composed of mica, felspar,
and quartz, and is of a granular or grainy structure, from which it derives
its name, and these particles do not seem to be united by any intermediate
substance. The proportions in which its integral parts unite is of every
variety, as also its colour, which may be grey, red, yellow, green, or even
brownish-black, which colours proceed from the mixture of schorl and liorn-
blende. Granite is found in mountain chains, and genei'ally presents rugged
surfaces ; sometimes, however, it is columnar or pillar-like, and in the
PjTenees it abounds in masses of piles on piles. It is to be found all over
Europe. In England, in the North, in Cornwall, Devon, and Wales ; in
Scotland, in Caithness and in Aberdeen ; and in Ireland, in the mountains of
Armagh and Wicklow. In Gemiany it forms the Brocken and the Ilartz,
and it is the grand material in Switzerland and tlie Savoy. It is admirably
adapted for all purposes of architecture, even for paving and for statuary.
From ijts capability of receiving a tine polish, it was much used by the
ancients, and most of the monolithic monuments of Egypt, or those formed
of a single stone are made of this material, some of enormous dimensions,
particularly one 'at Thebes, and another at Rome, 100 feet high. In the
church of the Casan, at St. Petersburgh, are fifty of these columns, each
thirty feet high.

In the same city (St. Petersburgh) also is an enormous mass of granite,
used for the pedestal of the celebrated statue of Peter the Great. Granite is
exceedingly liable to decomposition, from its being a compound substance ;
and, therefore, liable to injury, from its particles coming in contact with any-
thing dissimilar to their particular habits. So strongly is this tendency to
decay sometimes, that I recollect in the case of some granite statues brought
from Egyjjt to the British Museum, and laid in the court-yard for a short
time during the winter, that they became so affected by frost, as literally, in
some cases, to split to pieces, and almost fall into powder.

Syenite derives its name from Syene, a city of Egyjit, in the manner that
many other rocks do ; thus chalcedony, from Chalcedon, tripoli, from Tripoli,
in Asia Minor, and chalk, or creta, from the island of Crete. It is composed
of felspar, hornblende, quartz, and mica, and resembles granite, but is of purer
grain, and contains hornblende. It is found in Scotland, in Aberdeen, and
in the isle of Arran, and is valuable, because it does not suffer from moisture
or from the atmosphere. It was much used by the ancients, but not so much
by the moderns. Some of the finest specimens are in the castle of Heidelberg,
on the Rhine, supposed to have been brought from the ancient palace of
Charlemagne.

Gneiss is composed of mica, quartz, and felspar. It cleaves and works
more easily than granite, but is liable to injury from the weather.

Basalt is of columnar form, generally of four or five sides, and is found
abundantly in natural structures. Although of volcanic formation, it is re-
markable that It is rare at A'esuvius, while it is in plenty at Etna. The
Giants' Causeway, in Ireland, is one of the finest specimens, containing thirtv
thousand pillars of this material. R is little used by the moderns, because
itis the hardest and least practicable of the rocks. ' Winckelman, however,
observes that the choicest of the ancient statues are of this material, as if the
sculptors loved to effect their triumph on that which was insuperable to
other hands.

Porphyry is so named from a Greek word explaining its purple colour. It
IS of great variety, and is a general name for rocks containing a mineral mix-
ture. It was used abundantly by (he ancients, and at Rome are manv
buildings decorated with pillars supposed to have been brought from Con-
stantinople, buch are those in tbe Palace of the Conservatori on the Capitol,
in the Giustiniam i alace, in the Basilica of the Lateran, and in the church of
Santa Blana JMaggiore.

Serpentine is also neglected by the moderns, but was used by the ancients
for tombs, vases, and small objects.

Lava, peperino and pumice, are confined in their uses to volcanic districts,
atHerculaneum and Pompeii, which are principally built of such material.
Some of the early Etruscan tombs are composed of a coarse tr.achite, which is
supposed by some to point out the existence of an early state of society dur-
ing the geological periods. Pumice is occasionally preferred, on account of
the lightness of its texture.

Having thus gone through the primary, we will now proceed to the secon-
dary rocks, in which we find .slate. The quality of a good slate is, that it
should cleave easily^ (],,,t (j,g lamina should be stra'ight, and unmixed
•with foreign substances, and the more finely laminated it is, tlie larger plates
will be obtainej. sjatg f^^ ^^^f^ should be dense and not porous, and itis
best judged, like other stones, by the sharpness of the sound. Porous slates
are bad, because they swallow water. Sulphur is a dangerous ingredient, and
sometimes exists in particles so minute, as to be imperceplible. 'J'his mineral
when mixed with water, produces vitriolic acid, and so promotes decomposi-
tion. 'Jo detect its presence, heat the slate with wood embers, and if it exists
it will give forth a sulphureous smell. Oxide of iron mixed with slate has a
sympathy for ^{^ and water, and so increases the quantity of oxide or rust.
Calcareous matter is equally injurious, and'may be tested by observing whether
it puffs up when exposed to muriatic acid. Carbonaceous, or coaly matter may
be detected by burning. With regard to its colour, yellow or black spots in-
dicate the presence of oxide, and black that of carbonaceous matter. The
best work on the qualities of slates is that of Pr. Watson, Bishop of Llan-

daff, called " Chemical Essays," which has a whole chapter devoted to the
subject.

Limestones are of various qualities ; those are be.st which are highly crys-
talised, but they are little used in modern times, on account of the cost of
making. These marbles, however, afford tbe best materials for building.
Those less crystalised are most commonly used by architects.

While upon this subject it may be well to mention the manner in which
stones are arranged by the continental architects. They divide them into two
classes bard and soft, pierre dure and jtierre tenjre. Pierre dure is applied to
those which can only be worked by water and the plane-edged saw ; and
pierre teiidre to those which can be worked by the peg-toothed saw.
Tbe qualities which are required in a stone by the French and German
architects are, that it should be of a fine grain, and compact. Few stones,
however, possess all the qualities required, and then it is that the architect
must use his judgment in selecting the best. Thinly laminated (or leafed)
limestone, like lears of leaves in a book, possesses different degrees of
strength, according to its position. If placed so | on edge, it has, of course,

less resistance and strength than when placed thus . Dark stones are

generally the strongest; those which suck up water are bad; but those with
brilliant points and hard are good. A very good criterion is the sound of the
stone when struck with a metal instrument, when a full sound is a proof of a
good stone. Those mixed with sulphur are generally hard and good, but
require care in tbe selection. Heavy stones asdenoting compactness of struc-
ture. Another serious question is the evil arising from an imperfect character
of stone, from inattention to which many of our finest buildings in London are
injured. The Marquis of Northampton was observing to me, that to such
an extent does this devastation prevail at Oxford, that the number of col-
leges obliged to be refaced is extraordinary.

\\'e are not, however, the only sufferers, our younger brethren in America mak-
ing the same complaint. A friend of mine, writing to me, says, " Our Capitol,
one of the finest senate-bouses in the world, scarce twenty years old, is so com-
pletely spoiled, tliat we are obliged to keep it always fresh painted, to pre-
serve it even from the wet. This mischief doubtless arises from mistaken
motives of economy , so that the builder is tied down by his contract to purchase
an inferior stone. We should not however look to cheapness but to quality,
for that is always the cheapest which is the best."

Resuming our examination, we find next to slate old red sandstone, so
oalled from its being coloured with iron and nearly approaching grauwacke.
There are few of these stones good for building.

The Carbonate of Limestone is very hard, and from its weight is difficult of
transport. Its hardness arises from the manv grains of quartz in it, and
practical men say that it cuts the saw, instead of the saw cutting the stone.
Craigleith stone is of this class, and it conies from a quarry of that name, two
miles from Edinburgh, where a great part of the New Town is built of
it. Bramlev fall stone also belongs to this division, and it is used in the
Temiinus of the Birmingham Railway at Euston Square.

Passing over the coal formations, we come to Magnesian Limestone, which
unites rare qualities, being crystalline and hard, like the Carboniferous Lime-
stone, and easy to be worked, like Oolite. From the magnesia in it, itis a
very unproductive soil, and is so injurious to vegetation, that the lichens and
other small plants which disfigure stone will not grow on it. There is some
of excellent quality in Robin Hood quarry, near Gloucester, and there is
reason to believe that this class of stone will come into more general use.

The New Red Sandstone extends over tlie island from Exeter to York,
and has many quarries, but it is not very appropriate for building purposes,
although formerly much used. The old builders, however, itmust be remem-
bered, took the stone nearest to hand, the bad roads being a great impediment
to the removal of such a bulky material. Worcester and Chester Cathedrals
are built of this stone, and have worn so badly that even in the interior the
faces of the statues are undistinguishable. These defects arise from beinc
much impregnated with oxide of iron, and also with saline particles, which
it derives from its neiglibourhood to the Cheshire salt-beds. The church of
St. Andrew, at Livei7)Ool, is quite black, the moisture imbibed by the salt
catching tbe soot and dirt floating in the air.

The oolite formations are the great source of building materials, and derive
their name from the Greek, 00$, an egg, their structure being that of small
eggs. The Germans call it bluntly roestone. Roach Portland-stone, it should
be observed, is liable to cracks and fissures; Bath-stone is soft, but not du-
rable : Whitby sandstone is a good specimen of oolite.

The Wealden formation affords Purbeck stone, formerly much used, some
of the pavements in the old streets of London being made of it. The Purbeck
marble was much used for ornamenting cathedrals. The Wealden sandstone
is very crumbling, but was used in Knowle Castle, and the other castles in
Kent.

Chalk firestone is composed of marl and green sand, and is much used fox
ovens. The cloisters of Westminster Abbey are built of it. Chalk limestone
is rarely used, and is not much to be seen, except in St. Alban's Abbey. The
tertiary formations are not productive in England, while in France they
supply abundant materials, and are extensively employed at Paris.

The Lias formations I have passed over, but it is not durable on account of
its containing pyrites. It is, however, well adapted for cements, and blue
lias lime isnow much used.

The French Government has decided on proposing to the Chamber of De-
puties, to undertake tlie railroad from the capital to the Belgian frontier.

1839.J

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

273

I.A'W PROCEEDINGS.

EXPLOSION ON BOARD THE ARCHIMEDES STEAM-BOAT.

All inquest was held on the 1st ultimo at the Unicorn at Greenwich, hefore
Mr. Cavttar, the coroner for Kent, on the hoily of James M'Millan, an engi-
neer on lioaril the Archimedes steam-vessel. The deceased was employed on
hoard this vessel on Thm-sday, iMay 30, and it was just ahout to leave the
East India Docks for an experimental trip, when the hoiler hiu'st, and so
dreadfidly scalded the deceased Ijy the heated steam which escaped, that he
died in a few minutes after his arrival at^the Dreadnought hospital-ship. From
tlie evidence adduced, it appeared that the accident w as to be attriljuted to an
undue pressure of steam, and to a faulty condition of the safety valves, which
did not act properly. After examining a nmuber of witnesses, the coroner
adjourned the inquiry tdl Wednesday, the oth ultimo, to give an opportunity
for the attendance of scientific gentlemen, and to examine two other men who
have been severely scalded, and who are now on board the Dreadnought.

At the adjourned inquest Mr. Field, the engineer, attended and gave the
following evidence : —

He stated that he resided at Lambeth, and was an engineer. Was not con-
nected with the company to which the Arcliimedes belonged, but had been
requested to make an inspection of the boiler of that vessel. He found the
boiler was of tlie ordinaiy low pressure kind, generally used by steam-vessels
upon the river. Its power and strength of plate were quite sufficient. The
boiler was rather large. The gi'cat olijection to it was, that it was less tied
together than smaller boilers would be, and therefore subject to be sooner
damaged. If he had had to make a similar boiler, he should have put more
stays in it. The top of the hoiler had been lifted l)y the pressiu-e of the
steam, the crown of it had Ijeen distorted, and by that means the safety-valve
had been stopped from acting, and tlie spindle jammed, which prevented them
from acting, to which cause he attriljuted the accident. He did not see any
steam-gauges when he made the inspection ; unless, therefore, the safetv-
valves acted, the pressure of the steam could not be known. A good engi-
neer might have kuowu from the opening of the cocks, hut every man could
not. The top of the boiler had been lifted, but the chimney had not been
moved from the place where it stood, in consequence of being attached to the
ilues. The engineers, in consequence of the jamming, were not able to know
the strength of the steam, and that was the reason of tlie accident. When
he'made the examination be tested the valves, .and found one of tlicm loaded
to the extent of jj, and the other to OJ ; that was rather higher than he
should load them, but many would load them in that way. The pressure
ought not to be increased, as it would ho attended with danger to the safety
of the boiler. There was nothing but the ordinary weight on the valves at
the time he saw them. The tightest of the valves could be got at from the
deck, and the other from below. A preventive to this occurrence would
have been stronger staying or less pressure, but that would not have pre-
vented it if the safety valve had been jammed, which could not have taken
place unless the boiler had been thrown out of shape. The boiler, if it had
been sufficiently tied so as to prevent its altering its shape, would have been
of sufficient strength to work up to SJ. The thickness of the plates was
quite sufficient. There were a great number of fires for so small a hoiler,
hut they did not increase the danger at all. He should not have chosen to
work a steam-vessel from London to Portsmouth without a steam gauge. If
there had been a steam gauge in the present instance, it would have indicated
danger — that there was something more than the ordinary pressure : the dif-
ference from an extra weight of 4111). on one valve would increase the
pressure Ij or lilb. upon the square inch. He would have been extremely
timid in loading the boiler to that extent. He thought the boilers were not
sufficiently strong to bear the pressure he found upon them. If the boiler
had been well tied and bound, however, it would have been of sufficient
strength.

After hearing the evidence of Mr. Rennie and some other mtnesses, the
jmy returned a verdict of " Accidental Death," with a deodand of f250 on
the boilers.

The Foreman said the jury did not attribute the accident to any wTong
construction of the boiler,* and that, if it had not been improperly interfered
with, the accident would not have occurred.

The Coroner concurred in the view of the jm'y. If the valves had not
been improperly interfered with by some person or other, the unfortunate
residt might not have ensued.

THE LATE ACCIDENT ON THE EASTERN COUNTIES RAILW.VY.

An iu(piest was held at Stratford, on Satm"day, the 22d ultimo, before Mr.
C. C. Lewis, the coroner for Essex, on theJjodies of John Meadows, the en-
gineer, and Charles Leitch, the stoker to the engine which met with the ac-
cident mentioned in the daily pajiers. It appeared by the evidence that the
accident took place about a quarter before five o'clock on Friday afternoon.
The train had left Mile End, and was about half a-niile from Stratford, when,
on taking a course near Stent's Mill Bridge, the engineer allowed the engine
to acquire such an immense velocity, that it rocked violently from side to
side for some ilistance, and at last run off the rails. Neither the passengers
nor the guards were at all injured. The jury, having heard the e\idencc de-
clared their opinion that the accident had been occasioned entirely by over-
speed, and by the engine man having in tliis respect disobeyed the express

orders of the engineer in eliief and officers of the company ; and a verdict of
" Accidental Death" was accordingly returned. The engine man was a very
steady and experienced person, but he had been previously warned against
driving at such gi-eat speed. Either from too great confidence in his own
power, or from some other cause, he did not at the time of the unfortunate
accident either shut off the steam or reverse the engine, nor did it appear
that the break had been applied. The engine is but little damaged, the boiler
not ha\ing burst as erroneously stated in the daily papers. Nor had there
been any subsidence whatever in the rails or the embankments, that portion
of the embankments where the accident occurred having been made many
months, and it was in the soundest possible condition. There were from
thirty to forty passengers in the train, and their entire exemption from injury
is mainly attributable to the judicious plan of fastening the carriage doors,
which prevented tlie passengers from attempting to jump out. The slight
damage done to the rails was immediately repaired, and the trains continued
to run in the regular succession as usual.

[From inquiries which we have made, we understand that the cause of the
accident was entirely owing to the centrifugal force consequent on the
amazing speed at which the engine was going. It was at the commencement
of a eiure on a declivity of 16 feet per mile, where the engine quitted the
rails. The deaths of the unfortunate men was occasioned by their attempting
to leap from the engine, one being crushed by the tender, and the other by
the train of caniages.] — Editor.

'■• If this were the opinion of the jury, we do not consider they were justi-
fiable in levying so large a deodand. — Editor.

]y[ISCEI.XiANEA.

Dhcoreni of Vahiahh Miirhle. — AYc understand that a large field of fossil
marljlo has latelv been discovered on the common belonging to the manor of
Great Asby, in this countv, the property of John Hill, Esq., of Bankfoot,
some of the most beautiful'w liich England has hitherto produced. T;vo speci-
mens of this splendid marble have aptly been named by the owner, " forloise-
shell and chintz marbles." The fu-st has a French « hitc ground, interspersed
H ith blood-red spots, and bears a strong resemblance to turtuise-shell, that at
a short distance it is difficult to discriminate between the t«o. The second
presents a light brown ground marked with a curious representation of gold
filigree work, mixed with a dusky green, bright purple, and red, and has the*
exact appearance of the rich chintz gowns worn a century ago. There are
numerous other patterns in this limestone range, extending over more than
3,000 acres, both curious .and handsome. The great value of this marble con-
sists not in variety of colours alone, but also in the fineness of its grain, •« Inch
is equal to the Italian marble, and also in its great soundness ; the shaken
condition of variegated English marbles having in general rendered them ot
comparative little value. We hear that blocks of large dimensions are easily
won. and when manufactured, take the most brilliant polish imaginable. \\ e
have no doubt this valuable marble, unique in its kind, will soon Ijecome a
general favourite with the public, and be an important acquisition to the
marble works of this couniry. Vie hear, also, with mudi pleasure, that a few
specimens will be presented to the museum at Kemal.—- jyestmorelaiid
Giizi'lte.

Mill Bay Harbour and FInaliiig Uocl.s.—Wc are informed that the promoters
of the Exeter and Plymouth Railway intend making Mill Bay the terminus
of their line, for which purpose it is admirably situated between Plymouth
and Devonport. The lloating dock will hold 200 sail, exclusive of the toreign
jiackels ; and the outer harboitr, which will be formed by a breakwater, from
the point of Mr. Gill's quarry, will have from three to lour fathoms of water
at low tide, and w ill aflbrd aljundance of room for steamers to lay alloat, and
go out of harbour at anv time of tide. The great abundance of stone on tlie
spot will render the cost of this work comparatively trifling, as the limestone
excavated to form the outer harbour will go a great way in completing the
breakwater.

Laanch of the Lord Mayor's Barge.— On Tnesiay, the Utii tdiimo, the Lord
Mayor and the Lady Mayoress went by water from Southwark Bridge, at-
tended by the water-bailiff and others of the officers attached to the conser-
vancy, to the premises of Mr. .Seiie, tlie city bargemaster, to witness^ the
launch of the state barge, which has been for some tune, by order ot the
Court of Aldermen, undergoing repair and modern decoration. In tlie tront
of the house which is raised in the boat are four Corinthian columns, close to
each of which i, a very skilfully carved gTiffin. The gilding all round, and
particularly at the head of the vessel, which is also finely carved, has bcMi
applied wii'h a most liberal hand, and the effect is grand in the extreme. It
^vas admitted by those who had seen the barge launched immediately after
she was built, that her appearance yesterday was far more attractive.

Tlie Lords of the Admiralty have sent a ship of war to the south-western
corner of Asia Minor, for the purpose of transporting from thence to this
country a large collection of most valuable ancient sculptures and bas-relicts,
wliich'have liecn described by Mr, I'ellowes in his account of Asia Minor,
where many towns and cities, and a remarkable and nearly perfect ancient
theatre, hitherto quite unknown, have likew ise been found.

Keasiin'toii.— At the beginning of the month a new Infant School-house, at
Kensington, erected under the direction of Mr. G. Godwin, was opened to
the children. It is designed in the Tudor style of architecture, and is built
wilh red bricks and coinpo facings. The roof, a very light one, has the pe-
culiarity of a large lantern for ventilation, and which serves, at the same
time, to assist the external appearance of the building. The length ol the
school room is 42 feel, and the width 22 feet. The cust is said toliaye been
under jt'300. There is a ctimmiltee-room attached.

2i4

tHE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

JULY

PROCEEDINGS OF PARI.IA»IENT.

Hous ■ of t'ommons. — List of Petitions for Private Bills, and progress therein.

Aborljruthwick Harbour . .
Aljerdcen Harbour
BallochiK-y Railway .
Banisley \\'ater\vorks .
Batli Cemetery .
Belfast Waterworks .
Birmingham Canal
Rirmingham & Glos. Ulway.
Up. A urkland & WearilalcRa.
Blackbealli Cemetery .
Tiradford ( York) Waterworks
Brigbtun Gas . .
Brighton Cemetery
Bristol 8^ Gloiieestershire Ra.
British Museum Buildings .
Bruniplon Ke» Road .
Cheltenham Waterworks .
Commercial (London and

BlaekM all) Railway .
Dean Forest Railway .
Deptfnrd Pier

Deptford Pier Junction Rlwy.
Deptford Steam Ship Docks
Edniburs4i> Leith,and Kew-

hav en Railway .
]'".vemouth Harbour
Fraserburgh Harbour .
General Cemetery
Gravescnd Gas .
Great North of England Ra.
(ireat Western Railway
Great Central h-ish Railway
Herefordshire and Glouces-
tershire Canal .
Heme Gas ....
'Liverpool Docks .
Liverpool Buildings
Liverpool and Sianchester

Extension Railway .
London and Birmingham Ra.
JjondonBridgeApproachcs.&c.
fiondon & Crojdon Railway
London Cemetery
London & Greenwich Rlway
London and Southampton

(Guildford Branch) Rlwy.
London and Southampton

(Portsmouth Branch) Ra.
Manchester S^BirminghamRa.
Manchester and Birmingham

Extension(Stone&Rugl)yRa
IManchester S^ Leeds Rlwa)'.
MaryleboncGasif^CulieCijiup.
Monkland Sc Kirkintilloch Ra.
Necropolis (St.Panc.)Cemetry
Newark Gas
Newcastle-upoii-Tyne & N.

Shields (Extension) Rlwy.
Northern fc Eastern ( 1 )R1 wy.
Northern Si Eastern (2JRUvy.
North Midland Railway
Norlh Union Railway .
Nottinghamlnclosure & Canal
Over Darwen Gas
Perth flarbour & Navigation
Portishead Pier .
Preston Gas

I'reston and Wyre Railway
Preston and Wyre Railway,

Harbour, and Dock .
Redear (No. 1) Harbour
Redear (No. 2) Harbour
Rishworlh Reservoirs .
Rochdale Waterworks
Rochester Cemetery
Sawmill Ford Bridget Road
Slamannan Railway .
South Eastern Railway
S. Eastern (Deviation) Ra. .
'J'eignmoulh Bridge
Tytic Dock ....
'fync Steam Ferry
Avalsaitl .lunetion Canal
West Durham Railway
Westminster Improvement .
Wisliaw & Coltness Railway
Wyrley and Essington and

BiiiuipgUam C'wal . .

Petition
pre-
sented.

Bill read; Bill read; Bill read

Feb. 6,
Feb. 8.
Feb. 12.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 20.
Fch. 21.
l.'eb. 22.
Fell. 22.
Feb. 21,
Feb. 21.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 22.

Feb. 14.
Feb. 19.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 22.

Feb. 19.
Feb. 12.
Feb. 2f).
Feb. 20.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 18.
Feb. 14.
Mar. 12.

Feb. 20.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 21.

Feb. 14.
Feb. 8.
Feb. 19.
PVb. 19.
Feb. 19.
Feb. 21.

Feb. 22.

Feb. fi.
Fell. 18.

Feb. n.
Feb. 18.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 12.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 14.

Feb. 18.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 11.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 19.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 14.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 6.
Feb. 6.

Feb. 21.
Feb. la:
Feb. 22.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 7.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 12.
Feb. 11.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 12.

first

time.

Feb:27r

Mar. 1.1.

Mar. 14.

second
tinie._
MarT2T
Apr. l.'J.
Apr. 8.

Mar. 1.5. Apr. 12

Mar. I,-).
Mar. 18.
Mar. 18.

Wai'.'l8.
Mar. 18.
Mar. 7.

Mar.' 18.
Mar. 12.

Mar, 8.

Mar.' 18.
Mar. 20.

Mar. 11.

Mar. 1 1 .
Mar. 18.
Mar. 13.
Mar. 4.

Mar. 13.

Feb. 28.
Feb. 22.
Apr. II.
Mar. 18.
Mar. 18.
Mar. 18.

Feb. 2r>.
Mar. 18.

May. 1.

Mar. 8.
Mar. 18.
Mar. 14.
Mar. 1,5.
Feb. 28.

Mar. 1,5.
Mar. 18.
Mar. 27.
Mar. 4.

Mar.' 18.

Feb. 20.
Feb. 20.

Mar. 18.

Mar
Mar.
Feb.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.

May

Mar.

Felj, 18.

15.

Mar. 18.
Mar."l4.

Apr. 1.
Apr. 1.5.

May 28.
Mar. 19.
Apr. 12.
Apr. .30.
Mar. 22.

Mar. 21.

May 28.
May 28.

Mar. 27.
Apr. 8.
Ajir. 8.
Jar. 21.

Mar. 2.5.
Mar. 13.

May 28.

Mar. 12.
Mar. H.
Apr. 26.
Apr. 8.

Apr'.' 8.

Mar. 7.
Apr. 23.

May 14.
iMar, 19.

•\pr.' 8.

Mar.'ll.

Apr. Ifi.
Apr. IB.
Mar. 14.

Apr. 12.

Mar. 6.
Mar. 4.

Apr. 12.

Mar. 30.
Mar. 2fi.
Mar. 6.

M;ir. 27.
Mar. 2,5.
May 30.

May 7.

Apr. 8.
Apr.' 8.

third

time.

A~pr7r57

May' 3.
June 13.

May'31.

iMay'l3.
May 3.

June 20.
Jmie'21.

May 30.
May 28.
Apr. 16.
June 7.

May
May

May 13.
May 30.

May 3.

May' 3.

May 3.

May '30.
May' 3.
Apr'.'lS.

lune 4.
June 4.
May 1.

June 3.
May 2.

Mar.'lO.
Mar. 15.

May 30.
May 6.

June 10.
May 28.
May 1.5.
June 19.

June 13.

May 14.
May" 3.

Royal
Assent.

June 1 4.
June 4.

June 4.

June 14.
June 14.

June 4.

June 4.

June

June 14.

STEAN NAVIGATION.

THE lUUTISH QUEEN STEAM-SHIP.

\Vr. fully expected that we should have been able to have given our
own report on this vessel, but as she had not arrived in the river
Thames at the time of our going to press, we are prevented doing so j
however, we give a very full account of her whidi appeared in the
Painleij Advertiser, at the commencement of last month. Iter dimen-
sions do not differ from what we before reported in om' Journtd last
year :^

This splendid and powerful vessel was built, as our readers are aware, by
Blessrs. Curling and Young, London, for the British and American Steam
iSlavigation Company. She was launched at Limebouse at the close of May,
183iS, and arrived at Port Glasgow about the 7th of July in that year, to get
in her engines, made by Mr. Robert Napier, engineer, Gla.sgow. Bv llie
jioliteness of Blr, Johnstone, resident engineer, we had an opportunity of
giving this ocean queen a general overhaul on Blouday last, and we shall now-
suhjoin a few particulars regarding her. Her engineering- and other iitting.s
are in a very forward state. On the day named her heavy machiiierv was all
on board, with tlie exception of the main shaft, which was expected down
from Glasgow on Thursday. W'e gave a number of the dimensions of this
vessel when she was launched, but [it may not be uninteresting to repeat a
few of them alongf with some other details.

Feet. Inch es.

Length from figure-head to taffrail 275 0

Length of upper deck 245 0

Breadth within tlie paddle-boxes 40 (>

Breadth over all .... . 61 0

Depth of hold 27 0

Estimated weight of engines, boiler, and water 600 Tons.

Twenty days' consumption of coals (>0 do.

She has two splendid engines aboard, of 250 horse power each, the frame
work of which is in a massy Gothic style, while the working parts, for
strength, beauty, and excellence of fitting, are admirable. Each eng-ine stands
on a single plate of metal, weigdiing 35 cwt. ; four jiieces of the framework
weigh each \G tons ; the cylinders weigh each 12 tons ; the diameter of the
bore is 77^ inches ; diameter of the axle in the bushes is 16^ inches, ami
the stroke of the engine is 7 feet. She has in all four boilers, any number of
which can be used at one time without the others. The diameter of the pad-
dle wheels is 31ft. 6in. The float boards, which are 9ft. Gin. long, are ar-
ranged in three distinct parts, presenting a resistance of three feet in breadth.
According to her depth in tlie water, the revolutions of her paddle-wheels
will vary from fifteen to sixteen in a minute. She is supplied with Hall's
patent condensers, and thus the same water with which she tills her boilers in
the Clyde will, with a little addition, serve until her arrival at New \ork.
She has iron tanks between the timbers in the hold capable of holding 2011
tons of water, all of which is accessible to the pumps, and can be thereby
drawn out, and conveyed by pipes to the different berths. But over and
above this she has a patent still with her, aud can convert salt water into
fresh for her boilers, and for the use of lier passengers as may be recpiired.
The main saloon is about .50 feet long, aud in the narrowest part between the
side berths is nearly 20 feet in breadth ; a flood of light is thrown into it
from above, and the floor is covered with oil cloth, above which is laid ricli
soft carpeting of a beautiful description, while the sides are ornamented with
historical paintings, executed on a peculiar kind of canvass, which gives ihem
the appearance of needlework in worsted. The ladies' saloon is also fitted up
with great taste, beauty aud splendour, while the second cabin is scarcely
inferior in accommodation, and but little in beauty to the first. The saloon
furniture is furnished by Mr. Bovd, and the upholstery work by Blrs.JIuiray,
both of Glasgow. Mr. Kerr, of Greenock, has the work of the second cabin ;
aud all seem to be vying with each other in the production of excellent aud
beautiful workmanship. The berths are fitted up with every attention to '
convenience. The lamps are of a patent kind, which can either be used with
oil or with wax candles, and move on an universal joint, which keejis the
light erect, however much the vessel might pitch or roll. There are Kit beds
fitted up aft, and lt)8 forward, with room for sixty or seventy more if required.
The steward's room is fitted up w ith almost every conceivable convenience, and
affords a passage for conveving the dinner from the gallery to the dining saloon
without incommoding or being seen by the crew or passengers. The delf ware,
which appears of a very excellent kind, has been made specially for the vessel,
and is ornamented with a steam- ship, surrounded by the designation of the com-
]pany. The silver plate is superb. She will carry thirty-two hands
immediately connected with the superintendence and management of the
engines, and her crew in whole, including oflicers, seamen, engineers, cooks,
steward, &c., will amount to 85. In respect to stores and general fitting out
she is admirably found, and everything is on the most improved construction.
Her windlass, for example, is of Tyzick and Dobinson's patent ; her stop-
pers of JMoll'att's patent, and so on of many other patented articles. Her
chain cables are of 1^ iron, and are of the same kind as are used for 74-guu
shi])s. Her small bower, best bower, and sheet anchor weigh respec-
tively 32cwt. 2qrs. liilb., -k'icwt., and -17cwt. Iqr. 211bs. No pains, no
time, no expense, have been spared in obtaining perfection, and taking her all
in all, we may safely say she is unequalled by any vessel afloat. Among
other conveniencies for passengers we had almost forgotten one. On the

desk there will be a neatetevtiw, in tvbJsh cold, Tyai-w, ei; stowei batbswa/

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

27.'

be obtaiiifd by the iiasseugers. ]5ut the attention of the owners goes stir
fai'tiier than this. Even tJie smokers are not forgotten. Near the baths tliere
will be (sliiftable to leeward, we hope) a cigar-room, where smokers may
congregate, and offer up clouds of incense to each other, till tliey become as
smoke-dried as red herrings. The cabins of the captain, chief mate, and sur-
geon, are on the after part of the quarter deck, and the roof forms a shelter to
the steersman. She is steered with a double wheel, similar to those nsed by
the London East lndiamen,orline-of-battle-ships. The petty officers descend
to their cabin immediately before the windlass, and the seamen get down to
their bertlis choke below the forecastle. The rigging of the vessel is low and
and snug rather than taunt ; but her yards are pretty square, and, as she has
studding-sail booms fitted on them she will be able, when necessary, to
display a good breadtii of canvass to the breeze. Slie will have about oOO
passengers on her first trip, berths for whom are already secured. The berths
on her return passage from New York were all taken up two months ago.
When starting from London she will have about 1000 tons of goods. She is
coppered up to 17 feet, and is expected, when loaded, to draw 18 feet aft, and
17j feet forward. Notwithstanding tlie great capacity of this magnificent
vessel, she does not look so large as many would e.xpect. Probablv the
benuly of her mould tends to detract a little from her ajiparent bulk. When
down to the depth aforementioned, we do not think she wiW much exceed in
appearance a first-class frigate. Start when she will, and go where she
may, she will, we tiiink, carry with her abundant proof of that high state of
perfection in the construction of nautical steam machinery to which the Clyde
engineers have arrived.

Iron Ship. — The largest iron sailing ship in the world is now building in
Messrs. J. Ronald and Co. 's yard, Footdee, Aberdeen. This stupendous vessel
is of the following dimensions : — Length of keel, l.'iO feet ; breadth of frame,
30 feet ; depth of hold, 20 feet ; length over all, 137 feet ; tons register, 537.
Judging from her appearance, she is a beautifiil model, and will carry an im-
mense cargo on a small draught of water. She is intended for a company in
Liverpool. — Jberdeen Herald.

PROGRESS OF RAII.WAYS.

OPENING OF THE EASTERN COUNTIES RAILWAY.

This railway was opened on Tuesday, the 18th ultimo. A large concourse
of persons assembled at the temporary station, Deviinsliire-slrcet, Mile-end.
to witness the departure of the first train on tjiis line of railroad. The line
commences at Slioreditch, on a viaduct ahont twenty'-,Oi(e feet above the level
of the groimd, up to which extensive and commodious carrriage approaches
will be made. At the commencement of the viaduct it is provxtsoq to erect
the London station, which will be of commensurate extent witli the existing
traflic. in it are several bridges, the arches of whiih are faced with stone,
which gives them a handsome and nnposing character, especially the bridge
over Devonshire-street, the arch of which rises less, ifor the span, than we
have observed on any other line of railway, the rise being less than one-
tenth of the span. The wdiole of the arching has been effectually protected
from the eflects of damp by a thick coating of asphaltum. The line then
passes over (lie Regent's Canal by an iron bridge, the general appearance of
which has been much admired ; two main ribs of iron of fifty-four feet span,
partly on the bow suspension principle, are thrown over the canal, to which
transverse girders are fixed, supporting the roadway, on which are laid longi-
tudinal sleepers of timber receiving the rails, an ornamental railing gives a
finish to the whole. Passing successively over the river Lea, Grove Road,
C'ohorn Road, Fairfield Place, and Old Ford Lane Bridges, besides numerous
other smaller archways, the railway passes over the Stratford marshes within
n few feet of one of the extensive reservoirs of the East London Waterv\orks,
crossing the river Lea by an arch of 70 ft. span, rising one-fourth only ; the arch
is turned in 10 half brick rings ; the appearance of this bridge (as we expressed
in oLic review id'C'rcsy's work on bridges in which drawings of it appear), is at
once Tight and elegant, although sufficiently massive to prevent any idea of
w eakness. 'I he embankment beyond the river Lea is 25 feet in height, in the
formation of which considerable difhculty occurred owing to the very unstable
nature of the ground on which it was raisi^d. itlieing, hi foct, amass of spungy
vegetalde matter to a very consiilerable depth. Much assistance was derived
in tlie execution of this part of the w ork by the formation of a staging on
roiigli piles in advance of the embankment, and onwhicli the wagons were run

iiiii tipped with great rapidity; of course by this means the earth wasde-
osited over the suljsoil to any required height, and the tendency of Ihe
round '■ to spew up" preventetf On this part (d' the line there are numerous

1)0SI

bridges over the various streams and rivers which the railway intersects,
some of which are (jf considerable magnitude, such as the Stratford viaduct
of five arches, each thirty-six feet span, Etnt"s Mill 13ridgc. of four arches,
and Ihe Abbey River Bridge, all of which are over tidal curren!s, hi'sides
numerous other .small archv\ays. Tlie Stratford station is erected after the
style of a plain Italian villa, fitted up with waiting-rooms, carriage-shedding,
engine-house, and rep.airing workshops for the engines. The depth of the
cutting whieli immediately follows this station varies from ten to twenty feet.
Tlie llford station, wliicdi is only now being erected, is obviously incomplete.
The tunnel or bridge at the crossing of the gi'eat Essex road evinces great
jiiilgment. it is 130 feet long, witli iron girders resting on the abutment walls.
fVum flanges im their lower parts small arches in cement are turned, carrying
the turnpike road above ; ti little beyond this are spine well cxccvited culverts
lorijicd \^ith ir9n pipes 3 fse). dtaBipttrr. .The portion of the raihwiy now open
to ihe public iMiniunU-s at Banack Lane, immediately adjateut to llj'; liiwH

of Romford : the total dislaiicc is aljoiit ten miles and a-half. which the trains
will Hccomplisli in less than lialf an hour. 'Ihe whole of the gradients are
favourable. It may not be generally known that this line is laid down to a
5 feet guage, wliicli without greatly increasing the weight of the engines, gives
them great mechanical advantages which tlii>y have not failed to turn to
account.

The engineer to tlie line is Mr. Brailhwaite, to whom ijnich praise is dilc
for the generally efficient manner in which the works and engineering diffi-
culties (not a few'J have been exccuteil.

The Diimlee and Ahroath Raihray. — This railway is ahont fourteen miles
in length, vitli a capital of .fl 00,000. The greater part of the line is
carried along the sea shore, through jirojierty presented by Lord Panmure to
the company. This railway is remarkable for the limited works required
in its construction, and they of scarcely any magnitude except at the end
next Dundee, where there is a cutting about half a mile in length tluough
different stata, composed of gravel, sand, and rock. The greatest difilculty in
this place is the disintegration of the rock, or rather its slipjiing dowii upon
the line, in consequence of tlie oliliqnity of its bed. Numerous instances of
this sort have occurred. The greatest depth of cutting is about twenty feet.
The mateiials prodvced by this excavation are made use of to form an em-
bankment across the sea next the Dundee terminus. This embankment is
about tliree -quarters of a mile long, having a slope of 1 to 1 next the sea, and
2 to 1 next the shore. The sea side is protected by a wall of rubble masonry,
laid dry, carried up with a straight batter, and lia\ing a parapet upon the top.
There will be altogether a quantity of about 800,000 cubic yards in this em-
bankment, but much more is requisite to secure it against the turbulence of
the sea, and to ])rotect the weakest parts from being washed away. During
its construction considerable difficulty has been experienced fi-om the influence
which the sea has had o\cr the retaining wall, not sinndtaneously furnished
with the embaiiKinent, but when these have been carried up together no
damage has occmred. The terminus next Dunilee is carried along the north
quay of the new dock, from whence it is the intention to lay rails round the
other side of the quays. The other termiiuis is near the harbour of Ahroath
and light station. The rails weigh 48lbs. to the yard parallel, and are secured
to east iron chairs by a small wooden wedge. The chairs rest upon stone
blocks, fom- cubic feet each in the cutting, but upon the embankment timber
sleepers are employed. The greatest inclination is 1 in 1,000. The rails are
5 feet six inches apait, with a space of six feet between the two lines. The
locomotives weigh ten tons each, having 13-inch cyhnders, IC-inch stroke,
and upon six wheels, the driving wheels being six feet diameter. The
cylinders are placed outside the fire-box, and the boilers are furnished with
105 brass tubes. The carnages are divided into 1st and 2d class, and are of
peculiar construction. The former are enclosed and in the centre, the others
are open and are placed on each side, and hold together thirty-four passengers.

London and Croydon llailwiiy.—Oa SatuiiUu'. the 1st ultimo, this line was
opened by the directors, together with deputations from the London and
Brighton and the Grcenw ich Railway Companies. At a little after one o'clock
the trains, two in number, started. The journey down was accomplished in
twenty miimtes. The station at New Cross is fitted up with every conve-
nience for passengers. &e. ; at the back there is a most spacious engine-house,
of an octagonal shape, and is calculated to hold, exclusive of tenders, six-
teen engines. The building is very bjfty, and supported by massive stone
pillars. The light is refiected not only from the side, but from a cupcda also,
the advantages of which must be ajiparent to all who understand the naturi'
of these works. Alter leaving this station there is an incline nearly tiu)
miles in extent, the gradients of w liicli are aljout 1 in 100 feet. Of the bridges
(which are peculiarly constructed), and of the cuttings also, we can but speifk
generally, and we must add. favourably.

Brandling Junction RnUwiiy.— An experimental trip was performed on
the Brandling Junction Railwiiy on Thursday, May 30. with three beaulitiil
locomotive engines and waggons attached, which ran with a numljer of pas-
sengers from the Monk Wearniouth station to Boldon, where they took in
water and then returned. The experiment was in ail respects most satisfac-
tory ; the railway stood the test to admiration, and the engines performed
their work as steailily and smoolhly as if they had been used to it. Tlie
grand opening of this promising and useful undertaking will take place on the
18th, being the anniyerspry of the glorious battle of yis.l<:x\oo.— Newcastle
Jounial.

Birmingham and Derbi/ Junction Railwrnj.— On Wednesday, the 29tli May,
Ihe directors of Ihe above railway ins|)ected Ihe line between Derby and ihe
junction with the London and Birmingham R-iilway at Hampton-in-Arden, a
distance of about thirty -eight miles. The proceeded from Ihe bridge over the
river Dove, a distance of seventeen miles, towards Tamworth. with a train of
passenger carriages, drawn by an engine built by Messrs. diaries Tayleure
and Co.. of Warrington. The line is generally and on many portions remark-
aljly straight. The gradients are so extremely favourable that it may almost
be said to be a level, and the motion, we are assured by a gentlem.an who ac-
companied Ihe directors, was easy and smoolh to a degree which Ihcj' liad
seldom experienced on any other niilway. By Ihe simplicity of construction
and stability of the bridge over the Tame and Tri'Ut, at their junction near
Alrewas. over which the train passed at speed. Ihe directors were strongly
impressed, it is near this point that Ihe intemled junction with the branch of
the Manchester and Birmingham Extension Line is to be effected, by which
tlie traffic from Lancashire to Derby, Nottingham, and the eastern parts of
the kingdom, will eventually be brought along the line of this railway.
Though some portions of the line were not in so complete a state as to render
the further passage of the tr.ain advisable, the greater portion of the perma-
nent way was laid, and in a few weeks the engines will lie able to [ass along
the wholfi distance. Cgnsideritld.e progress is n)a(u«g in the stMion aj:com-
nwdatigns fw the cwnpany's tia.ffii; at Derby and Byrlcn-vH'on-TKnt ; tlw

276

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[July,

building of the station at the junction with the London and Birmingham line
at HanVpton-in-Arden «ill soon be completed, and no doubt exists that the
line may be opened to the pul)lie, for the whole distance from Derby to the
jimction with the London and Birmingham Railway, in the course of the en-
suing month. — MliUaiiil Counties Herald.

(Irand Junction Raitwaij. The rates for the carriage of merchandise on this
railway were reduced on tlie 1st inst. The principal reductions are on goods
whicli were formerly charged \s. 6i/. and \s. 'id. per cw't. ; the former charge
having been reduced to Is. Srf. and the latter to Is. \hl. per cwt. The com-
pany are now carrying throughout between Liverpool, Manchester, and
London.

Manchester and Leeds Railwai/. — An experimental trip on this line of rail-
way was made on Friday, 31st May, by the directors and a party of their
friends, consisting altogether of about sixty gentlemen, who proceeded in a
train from the station in Manchester to the entrance of the summit tunnel,
about three tjuarters of a mile beyond Littleborough. a distance of sixteen
miles from Manchester. The directors promised, in one of their earlier reports,
that this portion of the line would be completed in May, 1839; and, notwith-
standing many unexpected difliculties in the progress of the works, they were
enabled in some measure to ledeem their pledge by the above trip, made on
the last day of the month, although the extent of "hue travelled over will not
be ready for the conveyance of passengers before the beginning of July. 'I'hc
rails on the line are about 60 lbs. to the yard. They are laid to such a width,
that, in the event of the extension lines uniting, the Leeds and Liverpool and
Manchester Railways, at the Hunt's Bank Station, the same engines, car-
riages, or waggons may proceed forward ; there w ill be a space of six feet be-
tween the douljle line of rails. There are to be three classes of carriages,
which will be distingiiished by numbers instead of names. Both the first and
second class carriages have a wooden stage along each side the whole length
of the carriage, which, besides conducing to the convenience of ladies and
infirm passengers, will facilitate the collecting of tickets, and is likely also to
act as an additional security against acciilents arising from persons coming
in contact witli the steps ot a starting train. It is calculated that theexpence
of travelling in the tliird class carriages, which are open and unprovided with
seats, \\\]\ not exceed one penny per mile. There are several heavy works on
the line between Manrbes'.er and Littlebnrougli, amongst which we ma)' men-
tion those at Mills Hill, as an example of the difficulties which had to be
overcome in the construction of this portion of the line. At this point the
railway is carried upon its loftiest embankment, and across the river Irk, by
a double culvert, at a height (the rails above the surface of the water) of 65
feet. Tliough the length of this embankment is probably not more than a
quarterofamile.it is about the highest railway embankment in England,
Being an average of 40 feet, with a.ma.rimum height of 74 feet; yet so care-
fully has it been made, that we are assured it has not sunk five inches since
it was completed. It consists of 319.202 cubic yards of earth, of which not
less than 40,000 cubic yards were shifted in one mouth. We believe it exhibits
an example of the moving in a given time, just double the quantity of earth
in cubic yards, which, in parliamentary evidence, had belbre been deemed
barely possible. Shortly after one o'clock the train reached the entrance of
the summit tunnel, the present extent of the line, w here the company had an
opportunity of examining the stupendous works which are here being carried
on, and with which they expressed themselves highly gratified. After re-
maining nearly two hours, the party returned to Manchester, where they ar-
rived soon after five o'clock, much pleased « ith tlie day's excursion.— y/6nV/^crf
from the Manchester Guardian.

The York and North Midland Railwai/.— On Wedncsdav, the 29th ultimo, a
portion of this important national and commercial undeVtaking was opened,
from the terminus at this city to the junction with the Leeds and .Selby Rail-
way, near South Milford, which forms an uninlerrupted railway communi-
cation between York and Leeds, and York and Selby, and the several inter-
mediate places. The whole line is intended to be complete(l by the time the
North Midland, the Leeds and Manchester, and the Great North of England
Railways (of which it will form the connecting link) can be opened. The
Fairburn and Altofis contracts, which comprise the heaviest works on the
■whole line, are let to be completed in the spring of 1840; and the directors
state, " there is no doubt, from the well-known talents and experience of the
contractors (Messrs Craven and Sons, and Mr. Stephenson), that they will
carry on the works with all possible energy and skill, and complete their re-
spective undertakings in the time stipulated by the contracts." Many of our
readers will be aware that a tunnel has Ijcen formed into the city through the
walls and ramparts. It appears that the directors of the York and North
Midland Railway first determined to have their station for passengers outside
the walls. It appearing, however, to them, as well as to the directors of the
Great Norlh of England Railway, very desirable that the two companies
should have a joitit passengers' station, which was considered to be imprac-
ticable, except within the walls, a negotiation was entered into between the
parties, .and satisfactorily concluded. The station w ill be in the garden lately
occupied by Messrs. T. and J. Backhouse. By means of this railway, and the
others now in progress, a direct communication will be opened next ye r from
Newcastle to London ; and from a highly intluenti.al meeting lately held in
the former town, it is probable that very speedily the line will be carried
through to Edinburgh— thus forming a complete chain of railway connnu-
nication from the metropolis of England to the metropolis of Scotland. On
Monday, the rails being laid throughout to the junelion with the Leeds and
Selby Railway, an experimental trip was taken on the afternoon of that day,
when the " Y(jrk and Leeds" steamer took down a train of carriages in fine
style. The Lord Mayor, Sir John Simpson, Alderman Meek, and several
other of the directors, were of the arty in the first-class carriages ; a second
and two third-class carriages were filled with respeciable persons who hap-
pened to be on the line w hen the train started. The opening took place yes-
terday, for which the preparations were on the most liberal scale. A large
party of ladies and gentlemen were invited to breakfast in the Guildhall, at
eleven o'clock, and at half-past twelve a procession was formed to the station,

preceded by a band of music. The (rain started at one o'clock, and jirocecded
to the junction, and on its return, the procession re-fonned, and walked, at-
tended by the music, to the Guildhall. At four o'clock a grand dinner w as
served up at the Guiklhall. The city presented an .animated appearance
throughout the whole day. a great number of visitors from the country
having arrived to witness ihis interesting scene. Not the slightest accident
occurred on the trip. — York Courant.

Opening of the Ai/lesburi) Railway. — On Jfonday. June 10. the towii of Ayles-
bury was a scene of bustle and vivacity scarcely to be credited. Before six
o'clock in the morning musicians accompanied Ijv persons bearing flags, on
which suitable devices were injcribed. paraded the streets, after which they
proceeded in procession w ith the directors and their friends to the station. A
little after seven o'clock a train started for the temiinus at the juncdon be-
tween Aylesbury and the London and Birmingham line. The company having
expressed themselves highly pleased with the arrangements made by the di-
rectors for the convenience of passengers. &c., returned to Aylesbury. K>;pe-
rimental trips were made during the entire day, and persons residing in the
town and its immediate neighbourhood were conveyed gratuitously up and
dow n the line. The railroad itself is about seven miles and a-half in length,
and with the exception of the curves at either terminus it is perfectly
straight. At half-past four o'clock the deputation from the London .and
Birmingham Railway Company arrived, and proceeded down the line in com-
pany vvilh the Aylesbury directors. The usual formal business having
been gone through, the company adjourned to dinner at the White Hart Inn.

London and Southampton Roiheaif. — A distance of twenty miles additional
of this railway was on Mond.ay, tiie 12tli ultimo, opened to the puldic, viz.,
twelve miles from Southampion to Winchester at the one end, and eight
miles from the Wincbtield and Hartley -row station to Basingstoke at the other.
A party of the directors and their friends left the terminus at Nine Elms,
Vauxhall, at half past eleven, and arrived at the Winclifield station at about
five minutes to one, where a great crowd of the countr}' people awaited their

coming, and greeted them with several rounds of hearty cheers. After a
short delay the train proceeded over the new ground to Basingstoke, while
upon every height, ancl at every place where a view could be obtained, groups
of anxious and admiring spectators were stationed to watch and applaud the
progress of the engine and its bulky train upon its maiden excursion. The
distance was completed in about twenty minutes. The station at Basingstoke
is very prettily situated upon a long line of embankment, and commands on
the left a fine view of that ancient town, with its venerable gothic churcit
peering uii in modest grandeur from amid surrounding houses ; and, on the
right, of the picturesque iiiins of the Holy Ghost Chapel, built in the reign of
Henry VIll. The town itself presented the appearance of a holiday. 'I'he
parly, including many ladies, spent an hour very agreeably in looking about
them. At about haK-past two the train sbarted on its return to Winchlield,
accomplishing the distance without the slightest accident or annoyance to
mar the pleasures of the day. An e\eg3.nt dejeuner a la fourchette was Jiro-
vided at a cottage in the immediate vicinity of the station, to which about
sixty ladies and gentlemen sat down. At seven o'clock the jiarty broke up,
and the train finally reached Vauxhall at ten minutes past eight. The rail-
way, as we have already mentioned, was also opened from Southampton to
AV"inchester at the s.amc time, leaving only eighteen miles, viz., the ilistance
from Winchester to Basingstoke, to complete the whole undertaking. These
remaining eighteen miles are performed by coaches in about two hours, so
that passengers from London to Southampton can complete the whole
journey within five hours. — Times.

Gosport Junction Railway. — Already the surveyors of the Gosport Junction
Railroad, have commenced marking oft' the ground required for the under-
taking, from Bishop's Stoke to the terminus at Sjiring Gardens, near Gosport,
preparatory to giving notice for tendiTS to be sent in by the 1st July, for tlie
performance of the w orks which will be required ; thus evidencing, that the
company as they have promised, intend in right earnest to commence ;uid
finish tile above line in less than two years. — Hampshire Telegraph.

Great Western Railway. — 'Ihe company are making rapid advances in the
purchase of lanil in the neighljourhood of Chippenham, and will shortly have
bompleted their line in that direction. The whole of the purchases in that
vicinity are likely to be completed wiihout the intervention of juries, the com-
jjany oflcring an ample compensation for injuries by severance. Sic. — Bath
Chronicle. It is now arranged that the opening of the line as far as Twyfbrd
shall take pbace in the tirst week in July, near which place a temporary sta-
tion-house IS in progress ; the nimiber of passengers is on the increase at pre-
sent, both to and from the metropolis. — Bristol Mirror.

Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock, and Ayr Railway. --The directors have deter-
mined to open the southern end of this line, from Ayr to Irvine, in the month
of July next, the permanent w ay being already laid for the gi eater part of this
distance, and the progress of the work on the remaining portion being such as
to ensure its completion within little more than a month from the present
time. Messrs. St,ark and Fulton, of Glasgow have two locomotive engines
ready to deliver on the rails in the course ot June, and two more are in pro-
gress of completion by Mr. Edward Bury, of Liverpool. We understand
the first-class passenger carriages for the present traffic are furnished
from an experienced maker at Lancaster, iind may be sluirtly expected at
Troon, and for the future supply a pattern carriage has been furnished liy a
first-rate London maker, and now stands at Messrs Bucb.anan and .Sons'
coach-work in Union Street, to which all persons who intend to compete for
the work will be required to adhere. The progress of the works on the dif-
ferent contracts along the whole line is highly satisfactory, .and no doubt is
entertained of the railway being in full operaticm by Midsummer. 1840. The
circumstances of this great undertaking being completed in so short a time
from the commencement of the works last summer, and being finislied lor the
estimated capital, is highly creditable to the engineer ; for we believe there is
not an example of the kind in any railway hitherto made. The Tradeston
contract, being the last portion of the whole, w hich terminates the line at the
Broomielaw, at Glasgow, has been also let, and from the nature of the w ork

]839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

•27?

to I}e (lone, tliere is no doubt of its being finislieil dunng tlie present summer'
We understand Mr. Lyon (wlio has built the large stone bridge over the river
Cart, at Paisley, in such a creditable manner) is the successful competitor for
tills lot. We Lelieve the directors have it in contemplation to commemorate
the opening by a grand enterlainment to be given at Ayr. to which all Ihe
beauty and fashion of tlie M'ost of Scotlanil will be invited. The beauty of
the scenery in that part of A\'rshire, and the present appearances of a favour-
able season Mill. «e trust, contribute, with the excellent arrangements of the
authorities connected with the railway, to ni.ake this ceremonial a truly mag-
nificent example of national taste and enterprise. " Well begun," if has been
well said, "is half ended," and this has been verified in the present instance ;
for, from the first commencement, when the foundation stones of the two mag-
nificent bridges over the Garnock and Irvine rivers were laid with masonic
Jionours, on the Queen's coronation day last summer, up to tlie present
moment, not a single circumstance of any importance has occurred to delay
the works; and the shareholders may soon enjoy the agreeable sight which
their patriotic exertions have so speedily combined to produce, in tlie comple-
tion of this gi'eat undertaking. — Glasgow Courier.

London and Brighton Raiiwai/. — The dillerences between flie London and
Brighton Railway Company and the owner of some property at .Southwick.
which had caused a temporary suspension of the works on the Shoreham
branch of the railway have been settled satisfactorily ; and on Monday, the
3d ultimo, the Brighton locomotive engine recommenced its labours in re-
moving tlie excavated earth from the cutting westward of the tunnel under
Lashmar's mill. .Steady progress is made in Ihe last -mentioned work, h hich,
judging from the quantity of chalk brought up the shaft, and deposited on
the ground above the tunnel, must be approaching to completion. The cut-
tings on each side of the New England Road are proceeding with rapidity.
the greatest number of hands being employed that the space will admit. A
liridge to connect the upper and lower portions of the road leading from Wick
to the Old Shoreham road has been commenced -. and a similar bridge to
carry the New England Road over the railway is in course of constiiiction.
Lower down the hill, tow .ards the Dairy, the foundations of the viaduct are
already completed, as are also those of the concrete walls, which will teniii-
nate the embankments abutting on the viaduct. — Briglilou Gazette.

North Midland Railteay. — We understand that the .Swinton contract on the
North Midland Railway is nearly completeil, and that a bridge has been con-
structed over the river Dearne navigation near Rotherham, which is consi-
dered a superior structure of architecture, as far as elegant workmanship and
substantiality of building are concerned, and reflects the greatest credit upon
Messrs. John Wilks and Co., the contractors. The whole of the line is in a
state of forwardness, and will be completed by the end of October. — Yorkshire
Gazette.

Bolton and Preston Railumi/. — We understand that five or six miles of hi
line of railway are nearly completed at the Bolton end, and that a vast num-
ber of men are thereon employed, hands being unusually plentiful. In about
three weeks the remaining portion to the meeting with the North Junction
will be let. Surveyors and others have been passing over and measuring the
line daily for several weeks past, particularly near Chorley. where there will
be seen some cutting and tunnelling. — Preston Observer.

Preston and Longridge Iiiiilwai/.---Thi' workmen engaged on this line o^
railway are progressing actively with the work at the east end. They are
cutting within about forty yards of the stone (|uarries of Tootle Height, and
preparations are making for laying the line with gravel previously to placing
the rails. As the weather continues so very favourable, ihe line will, in all
probability, be opened towards the enil of this summer. The viaduct near the
commencement, and the bridge at the Alst n Four-lane-eiuls. exhibit superior
style of design and beauty, combined with strength and firmness, « hich [)roves
to what perfection this kind of work is now brought.— -P)rs(o« Observer.

Manchester and Birmingham Railway. — Congleton Viaduct. — A few days
since, Mr. Buck, the head engineer to'the Manchester and Birmingham Rail-
way Company, was engaged for some time in superintending Ihe progress of
the works at Congleton, and in directing Ihe preparatory arrangement for the
foundation of the piers of the great viaduct, &c. From w hat passed at the
meeting in Manchester last week, it appears, that Ihe height of this glorious
structure is to be rednced twenty feet, which, with Ihe addition of thirteen
feet to the viaduct at Stockport, will so far alter the line as to effect a saving
to the company of about SO.OOOl. - --.'itaffordshire Gazette.

Newcastle and North Shields /fn(7u'ni/.---Tlie Directors and a number of their
friends, on Wednesday, May 22, made an experimental trip on a portion of
the permanent line, with one of the splendid new engines, furnished from the
manufactoiT of Messrs. Hawthorn of this tow n, called Ihe Hotspur. The rails,
which are laid on continuous bearings, were found perfectly substantial and
satisfactory, and it was observed that the motion of the carriages on Ihe line
was exceedingly smooth and agreeable. We have before stated that the 18tli
of June is fixed for the general opening; by which time several railway
carriages from the manufactory of Mr. Atkinson, coach-builder, will be
brought into requisition in the conveyance of passengers, to whose safety and
comfort every attention will be paid by the servants of the Company. We
have not space this week for more than a mere statement of the dimensions
of this wonderful structure. The large arthes are each llGfeet span, and
they consist of three ribs, each formed of deals springing from stone abut-
ments, with timber framing above. The stone arches are 4.5 feet span each.
The number of arches is nine, five of w ood and four of stone. The total
length is 920 feet, and the height up to Ihe railway is 108 feet. The whole,
as finished, has a light and exceedingly beautiful Rppiwianci:. ---Newcastle
Journal, May 25.

I'ersailles Railway.— Ihe first trial of the whole extent of railway by St.
Cloud to Versailles was made on Thursday week. A locomotive engine ran
the whole distance from the station in Paris to the Rue St. Symphorien, at
Versailles. At all the points near Ville-d'Avray, Sevres, Chaville. Virofiay,
at-.d M«atr«uil, the inhstbitants came eut in crowds tu witness the spectacle.

Railways in France. — A trifling improvement took place in the French
funds on Monday, but a vast fall took place in the shares of the company for
cimslructing a railroad between Paris and Versailles by the left bank of the
Seine, under the impression that the loan to that company proposed by go-
vernment would be refused by the Chambers. It was considered all but cer-
tain that the Chamber of Deputies would reject the propo.sed bill of Ministers
to authorise a loan of 5,000.000f. to the company which luad undertaken to
construct a railroad frcnn Paris to Versailles by the left bank of the Seine,
an impression which on Tuesday produced another and serious fall in the
shares of that company.

CHURCHES, PUBLIC BUILDINGS, aic.

Trentham Hall. — The stonemasons who have been so long employeil in the
improvements now making at the mansion of the Duke of Sutherland, under
the directions of Mr, Barry, the architect for the new House of Commons,
struck a fortnight ago for an advance of wages, although receiving twenty-
four slullings a-week, and this, after having been kept on during the whole
of the winter montlis at that rate of wages, Ihe liberality of the noble duke
not permitting the customary reductions to be made for short days at that
season of the year. The whole of the masonry is consequently at a stand, and
no new hands are permitted by the trades' union to be taken on, unless at
the new rate whicii the society has fixed, viz., 26s. a-week. Most of the
workmen, it is staled, are willing to work at the old rate of 24s. a-weck. but
dare not. — Shrewsbury Chronicle.

New Scotch Church at Liverpool. — The f undation stone of a new church and
school, in connection with the Church of Scotland, was laid at Woodside, on
the opposite side of the Mersey to Liverpool, on Friday, May 31, by the Rev.
Dr. Cooke, of Belfast.

St. Mary's. Islington.— The third of the new churches erected in this parish,
by the voluntary contributions of the inhabitants, liberally aideil by the Me-
tropolis Churches Fund, wa.s consecrated on Tuesday, 18th ultimo, by the
Lord Bishop of London, in the presence of the Lord Mayor, a numerous as-
semblage of the neighbouring clergy, and a crowded congregation of the pa-
rishioners. The church is situateil in the New North Road ; the principal
front, facing the east, is a pure and elegant specimen of Gothic architecture;
the arches of the w indow s and other details ot the body of thechurch resemble
those of Merton College, Oxford, a classic example of the 14th century, of the
time of Heriry IV. ; upon it has been introduced a spire rising 100 feet from
the pavement, upon the model of St. Mary's Church, Oxford, of the same
century. The whole exhibits considerable taste and elegance, and reflects
great credit upon the architects, Messrs. Inwood and Clifton. The chiu'ch is
capable of accommodating 1,100 persons, and the cost of the building will not
exceed 3,5001.— Time's.

Wetherby New Church. --The first stone of a new church, to be built at
Wetherby, in the West Riding of the county of York, was laid on the 1st of
April last by Quinlin Rhodes, Esq., in the presence of a large assemblage.
The church will be built in the Lancet style, and entirely of stone, and is in-
tended to accommodate seven hundred and thirty persons, a large portion of
the seats being free. The pew framing, pulpits, &c., is chiefly of wainscot.
The body of the eluucli is 7.5 feet by 44 within, besides which there is a
chancel 25 feet by 12 deep. There is an ornamental porch at the south side,
and a tower at the west end eleven feet and a-lialf square within and seventy-
five feet high, exclusive of the pinnacles, which a e fifteen feet more. The
east window consists of five narrow lights, with cylinders, S;c., and occupies
the entire width of the chancel. There is a west gallery only. The vestries
are placed at the east end, on each side the chancel. Over the south porch
is n ornamental marygold window. The cost of the church was estimated
at £2,500, but the contracts are considerably within that sum. The works ■
are proceeding rapidly, and it is expected to be ready for consecration in the
ensuing spring. The whole of the building is vaulted underneath for inter-
ments. The expense will be defrayed chiefly by voluntary subscriptions, with
some assistance from the Church Building Society. It is designed by and is
building under the superintendence of Messrs. J. B. and William Atkinson,
architects, York.

Cathedral of Chartres.— The immense framework of iron, which replaces
that (jf wood, for Ihe roof of the Cathedral, is completely finished and raised,
and nothing remains to be done but to put on the copper sheathing. Work-
men are employed in restoring all the internal parts of the Cathedral that
have suffered injury ; and some finely sculptured woodwork is to be placed
before the statue of the Vierge Noire. This figiurc is held in profound venera-
tion throughout that part of the country.

LIST OF NE'Wr PATENTS.

GRANTED IN ENGL.VND FROM 30tH M.VY TO 27tH JUNE, 1839.

Alexander Gordon, of Fludyer-street, Westminster, engineer, for " an
Improved Machine or Apparatus for employing Steam, or other elastic fluid,
as a motive power."— Sealed May 30 ; G months allowed to speciiS'.

William .\rmstrong, of Hawes, near Ampthill, Bedford , farmer for " Im-
provements in Harrows." — May 30; 6 months.

William Palmer, of Sufton-street, Clerkenwell, manufacturer, for " Im-
proveinents iu Lamps and in the Manufacture of Candles." — June 1 ; C
months.

Stephen Geary, of Hamilton-place, King's-cross, architect, for " certain
Improvements in Pacing or covering of Streets, Roads, and other ways," —
June 1 ; 6 months.

JosErHiNE Julie Besnier de Bligney, of the Commercial Hotel, Lei-
cester-street, for " Improvements in Umbrellas and Parasob." — June 3 ;
G inontha.

278

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

July

"" John Ukadkoku Fuknival, of Street Aslitoii Wanvitk, farmer, for " Ini-
provenieiils in Apparatus or Material to prevent persons sinking when in
water." — June 4 ; 6 months.

Moses Poole, of Lincoln's-inn, Gent, for " Improvements in the Manu-
faetiu-e of Soap Ijy tlie application of materials not liitlierto used for that
purpose." — June 4 ; G montlis.

William Bates, of Leicester, manufacturer, for " Improvements in the
process of finishing Hosiery and other looped falirics. — June 4 ; 6 months.

Christopher Wickles, of Guildford-strcet, Cent, and JoHX Danforth
Greenwood, of the Belvidere-road, mauufauturer, liotli in Laniljeth, for
" Improvements in producing plain and ornamental articles and surfaces
from Cements or Earths, separately or combined with other materials." —
June 4 ; G months.

Joshua Proctor 'Westhead, of Manchester, for an " Improvement or
Improvements in the mamifactnre or construction of Stays or Corsets. —
June 4 ; G months.

William Prior, of Rhoyd-street, in the borough of Lambeth, Gent, for
certain " Improvements in the CaiTiages and Axle-trees of Wlieel-carriages.
— June G ; G montlis.

Arthur Parsey, of the Quadrant, Regent-street, artist, for " Improve-
ments in obtaining Jlotive Power." — June G ; G months.

Harrison Grey Dyar, of Regent-street, Gent, and John Chisholm, of
Pomevoy-street, Old Kent-roail, mamifactm'ing chemist, for " Improvements
in oljtaing sulphur from pyrites, or certain native sulpliurets. — June 6 ; G
months.

Baron Henry de Bonde, of Great Portland-street, Cavendish-square,
for " Improvements in the means of rendering Magnetic Needles less preju-
dicially influenced by Local Attraction, which improvements ai-e applicable
to other magnetic objects for the same piu-pose." — June 8 ; 6 months.

Francois Bouillion, of Princes-street, Hanover-square, for " Improve-
ments iu the Manufactme of ornamental woven Fabrics." — June 8 ; G
months.

CtOLDSwoRTHY GuRNEV, of Budc, ill tlic couiitv of Comwall, Esq. and
Frederick Rixton, of Cockspur-street, Pall Mall, for " Improvements in
the Ap])aratus for producing and (hstriliuling Light." — June 8 ; G months.
* Charles Andrew Caldwell, of Audley-square, Esq. for " Improve-
ments in Fumaees and Apparatus for appplying heat of fuel. — June 8 ; G
months.

I" Moses Poole, of Lincoln's-inn, Gent, for " Improvements in Printing
Calicoes and other Faljrics." — June 1 1 ; 6 mouths.

Charles Chubb, of St. Paul's- Churchyard, London, and Jeremiah
Chubb, of Red liou-stjeet, Clerkenwell, mechanist, for " Improvements in
Apparatus and Machineiy for preserving Books, and other Papers, Docu-
ments, and articles from Fii'e." — June 1 1 ; G months.

AViLLiAM Hawes, of Old Barge House, Christ Cluircli, soap manufactm'cr,
for " Improvements in the Manufacture of Soap, part of which Improve-
ments are applicable to preparing Tallow for the Manufacture of Candles." —
June 12 ; six months.

William Graunsell, of South Lincoln, machine-maker, for " Improve-
ments in Apparatus for Drilhng Corn, Grain, Pulse, and Manure." — June 12;
6 months.

Nicholas Hartey, of Hayle, Cornwall, and William West, of St.
Blazey in the same county, mechanist, for an " Improved Valve for Ma-
chines for Raising Water and otlier Liquids." — June 12 ; 2 months.
;■ William Watson, of Temple-street, Dublin, Gent., for an " Improve-
ment in the construction of Ships, and which improvement is also ai)pllcal)le
to all kinds sf sea-going vessels, and also certain improvements in the con-
struction of boats and other vessels intended to be used on cauals and inland
navigation." — June 12; G months.

William Newton, of Chanccry-laue, Civil Engineer, for an " Improved
Medicinal Compound or Ferruginous preparation, to give tone and vigor to
the liuman system, particularly ap))licable in cases of weak digestion, and in
the diseases called ' chlorosis. ' " — June 12 ; G months.

Joseph Sanders, of B«rton-on-Trent, in the county of Stafford, Gent.,
for an " Improved Lock and Key." — June 12 ; 2 mouths.

Edward Loos, of Au'-street, Piccadilly, Cliyinist, for " Improvements in
Extracting the Saccharine Matters from Sugar-canes and other substances of
a saccharine nature, whicli improvements are also aiiplicable in extracting
colouring matters from wood and other matters used in dyeing." — 17 June;
6 months.

Alexander Francis Campbell, of Great Plumstead, Norfolk, Esq. and
Charles. White, of Nonvich, Mechanic, for " Improvements in Ploughs,
Harrows, Scaritiers, Cultivators, and Horse-hoes." — 17tli June ; G months.

Richard Beard, of EgTemont-placc, New Road, Gent., for " Improve-
ments iu Printing Calicoes and other fabrics." — June 17tli ; 6 months.

Bryan T'Anson Bromwich, of Clifton-on-Tone, Worcester, Gent., for
" Improvements in Machiuery, to be worked by the ajiplieation of the ex-
pansive force of air or other elastic fluids to obtain motive power," — 1 7 June ;
6 months.

Heurik Zander, of North-street, Sloan-street, Gent., for " Improve-
ments iu Steam-engines, Steam-boilers, and Condensers."— June 17; G
montl)s,

I Henry Le Messurier, of St. Peter Port, Guernsey, Master Plumber, for
" Improvements in Pumps." — June 17 ; G months,
John Lee Bbnham, of Wigmore-street , Ironmonger, for " an Instni-

mcnt or A|)paratus for correctly ascertaining the number of passengers con-
veyed in omnibuses and other public carriages." — June 18 ; six months.

John Wright, of Park-)ilacc, Glasgow, for " Improvements in mixing oj
alloying iron with other metals, for the purpose of increasing its strengtii,
tenacity, or cohesion, which alloys among many other uses are particularly
a))])licable to the construction or manufacture of Unks for chains and rings,
and certain macliineiT, for effecting such manufacture." — June 18 ; G
months.

Ambrose Bowden Johns, of Plymouth, Artist, for " Improvements in
Colouring or Painting Walls and other surfaces, and preparing materials
used for that purpose."-^ June 19 ; 6 months.

Peter Lomax, of Bolton-le-Moors, Weaver, for " Certain Improvements
in Looms, for Weaving" — June 19; 6 months.

John Wertheimer, of West-street, Finsbury Circus, for " Certain Im-
provements in Preserving Animal and Vegetable Substances and Liquids." —
June, 20 ; G months.

Charles Wye Williams, of Liverpool, Gent., for " Certain Improve-
ments in Boilers and Franaces designed to economise Fuel and Heat." — June
22 ; 6 mouths.

Henry Wilkinson, of PaU Mall, Gun Maker, for an " Improvement in
Fire Anns." — June 22 ; G months.

Joseph Pons, of Union Cresent, New Kent Road, Gent., for an " Im-
]n'oved process of Hardening Wood and Iron, and rendering Wood Repulsive
of A'ermin, and proof against Dry Rot." — June 22 ; G months.

Matthew Punshon, of Norfolk -street, Blackwall, Engineer, for an " Im-
proved Steam-engine, certain parts of which improved steam-engine are
appUcable to steam-engines on the ordinary construction." — June 22 ; G
months.

George Calder, of Fen-court, Fenchmcb-street, for " Cei-tain Improve-
ments in Stoves or Apparatus for Roasting, Baking, or Cooking, wliich he
intends to denominate a Plantanmu Roaster." — June 22 ; 6 months.

Frederick Parker, of New Gravel-lane, Shadwell, for, " Improvements
in Revivifying or Reburuing Animal Charcoal." — June 22 ; G months.

Wilton George Turner, of Park Village, Regent's Park, and Herbert
MiNTON, of Stoke-upon-Trent, Staflford, for an " Improved Porcelain." —
June 22 ; G mouths.

Luke Herbert, of Birmingham, Civil Engineer, for " an Apparatus for
producing and communicating Artificial Light." — 22nd June ; six months.

John Alexander Philip de Val Marnto, of Margaret-street, Caven-
dish-square, for " Certain Improvements iu the Manufacture of Gas, and in
the Appai-atus employed for consimiing CJas for the purpose of producing
Light." — 22 June ; six months.

Edward Brown, of Whiterock, Glamorgan, Copper Smelter, for " a new
principle to be applied in the Roasting and Refining of Copper, whereby the
oxidation of the metal is reduced, and the same is rendered more pure and
ductUe." — 22nd June ; six months.

Joseph Jennings, of Bessow Bridge, Comwall, Assay Master, " For a
Process for obtaining Metal from Pyrites or Mudic." — 22nd June ; G months.

William Vickers, of Firs Hill, Sheflield-street, Manufacturer, '■ for au
Improvement in the Manufacture of Cast-steel." — 25th June ; G months.

John Arrowsmith, of Bilston, Staftbrd, Civil Engineer, " For Certain
Improvements in Steam-engines."— 25tb June ; C mcinths.

James Bingham, of Shcflield, Manufacturer, and John Amory Boden,
of the same place. Manufacturer, " For Certain Imju-oved Compositions
which are made to resemble Ivory, Bone, Horn, Mother-o-Pearl, and other
Sul)stances apjilicable to the Manufactiu-e of Handles of Knives, Forks, and
Razors, Piano-forte Keys, Suuif Boxes, and various other articles." — 26tli
Jjine ; G months.

Claude Schroth, of Leicester-square, Gent. " For certain Improvements
in the process, manner, or method of embossing or producing raised Figures,
Designs, or Patterns, on Leather, or such like materials, and in the manner
or means used for eft'ecting the same; also in the making or forming of
certain tools or .apparatus used therein." — 26th June ; 6 montlis.

Pierre Auguste Ducote, of Saint Martin's Lane, " For certain Improve-
ments in the Art of Printing on Paper, Calicoes, Silks, and other Fabrics." —
2Gth June; G mouths.

William Newton, of Chancery Lane, Civil Engineer, " For certain Im-
]iroveinents in tlie Construction of Sun-dials designed to shew mean time." —
27th June G months.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

G. J. F.'s communication on Railway Curves ;> received, and probably'will ap-
pear ill Ihc next JoiirnaK

III aiiswn- Iu oiirlurchiteeliiral correspondent at York, we have much pleasure in
iiifvrmiiii' him that we shall commence with the next Journal a series of architec-
titritl engroi'ings.

The paper on " Siihaqueous Explosions," will appear in our next number. We
ferl ohliaed to our cm-respondent for his conwiuiiication, and shall at all times be
hiinpif to hear from him.

Ni'lsuii Meniorial. — In our next journal we intend to give all the printed de-
srrijitions of the designs and 7nodels which were to he had at the rooms in St.
James's Street. Such candidates its did not give it printed description, are parti-
cularly requested to forward vs a brief' account of their designs or models on or
before the lOWi instant. -

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

279

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No. 23.— Vol. II.— August, 1839.

280

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT S JOURNAL.

[August,

THE NELSON MONUMENT.

That the choice of Mr. Railton's design for execution has occasioned
much discontent can be neither denied nor concealed, after it has been
so generally expressed in different public journals ; nur has such dis-
satisfaction been at all lessened by the circumstance that the committee
appeared willing to retract tlieir first judgment, tlieir consenting to a
second competition being, in fact, equivalent to an engagement on
their part to pay greater deference to public opinion. As far as the
committee are concerned, we think that tliey acted unguardedly in nut
distinctly stating, on the second occasion, that they wished for a column
or something of that kind. This, it will perhaps be said, might easily
have been inferred ; still it would have been better had it been de-
cidedly expressed, particularly as the adjudication of the two other
premiums rendered it a matter of some doubt. At all events when
they found themselves in precisely the same situation as at first — or
rather in a dill'erent and more awkward one, being under the necessity
of retracing their steps, and repeating the very choice which they ap-
peared to have cancelled ; they ought — if only on Mr. Railton's ac-
count, to have vindicated that choice by alleging, in the most explicit
maraier, their reasons for it. If they have not so, nor said anything to
convince the j)ublic that the design finally determined upon was really
more eligible than any other, the fault is theirs, and not Mr. Railton's.

With respect to ourselves, we do not feel that we are called upon
here to say any thing in the way of criticism ; and shall therefore
confine ourselves to description. As far as precedents go, there are
certainly more of them in favour of an insolated column as a monu-
mental or triumphal record. The Parisians are now actually erecting
a second monument of the kind, the Coloime de JuiUet on the Place de
Bastihe. In our own metropolis we have already two, but the one
now proposed to be erected will be of far richer character in itself,
and will difti?r from them materially in the lower portion of the design;
for in addition to the widely spreading basement or platform upon
which the whole will be seated, the pedestal will be raised upon a
graduated scale that will give it the appearance of greater security.
Each side of the pedestal will be decorated with an lustorical bas-re-
lief (probably to be executed in bronze), representing one of the four
naval victories of .St. Vincent, Copenhagen, Nile, and Trafalgar. The
capital, which is after that of Mars Ultor at Rome, will be farther de-
corated by a figure of Victory on each face of it. According to this
second design, there will be neither abacus nor railing above the capi-
tal (in which respect as well as others it will differ from those of the
Monument and York column), and we therefore suppose it is intended
the upper mouldings should be hollowed behind so as to form a
parapet to a gallery on its summit, as the shaft will contain a staircase
leading to it. This second design is loftier than the first one by about
six feet; and its principal dimensions are as follows : —

Height. Diameter.

Base 10 0

Pedestal 39 20 6

iJase of column 9 0

Shaft 90 12

Capital 11 0

Ci])iius or pedestal of statue 14 0

Statue 17 0

193

To this we annex a comparative list of some of the principal monu-
ments of the kind, ancient and modern.

Entire height.

Ponipey's Pillar 90

Trajan's Pillar 115

Antouine Column 123

Mouument 202

York Column 137 9

Napoleon Ditto (Paris) 132

July Ditto (Paris) 156 10

Alexaudcr Ditto (St. Petersburg) 175 6

Melville Ditto (Edinburgh) 152 7

Nelson Ditto (Dublin) 134 3

Ditto (Yarmouth) 140

Among the above there is only one instance of a Corinthian or
foliaged capital, namely Pompey's Pillar, the shaft of which is a
monolith or single stone. The shaft of the Alexander column is also a
monolith of considerably greater dimensions, its diameter being Hi
feet English, and its height S4. Tins enormous mass of granite was
transported from Filmland, where it had been worked out rough in
the quarry.

For a description of the other designs as furnished bv the authors
themselves, see page 290.

THE NELSON MEMORIAL.

.Sir — ^Whether the resvdt itself be satisfactory or not, as far as Mr.
Railton's design is concerned, I conceive that the proceedings of the
Committee were unsatisfactory in the highest degree ; if merely on
account of the very great, and I may say, indecent precipitation with
which they at length settled the business, hurrying over in about a
couple of hours a question that circumstances had rendered it incum-
bent on them to deliberate upon carefully, and to canvass in all its
bearings. Instead of which, both deliberation and discussion were
completely set aside, and the afiair was determined by Ballot! By
Ballot! it' is so perfectly MONSTROUS, as to be scarcely credible.
Not even a single expression of opinion either one way or the other
appears to have been produced ; but as if anxious to extricate them-
selves as speedily as possible from a very awkward situation in which
they were not at all likely to cut the very best figure in the eyes of
the public, the Committee had recourse to a mode well calculated to
screen themselves individually from reproach, and also to prevent
futile and absurd arguments, by stifling argument altogether. It has
also relieved them from the necessity of explaining to the public on
what grounds they have after all awarded the preference to that very
design wdiich, greatly to the astonishment and dissatisfaction of almost
every one else, had previously obtained the first premium ; for they
have so managed it that the only reply they or any others can now
give is, that such was the result of the ballot. After what had pre-
viously taken place, such a course argued excessive timidity and a
consciousness of not being able to justity their selection to the world :
if it does not actually convict them of shuffling and duplicity. But
as matters have turned out, there certainly is some ground for suspect-
ing that the second competition was little better than a mere feint or
ruse — a show of liberality and compliance with popular feeling, wdiile
they were predetermined to carry their point by resorting to the sin-
gular but highly convenient mode ultimately adopted. Such may
have been the case, without supposing that every individual in the
Committee either lent himself to, or was privy to such scheme. Pos-
sibly the suspicion may be altogether vmjust, and totally groundless,
except as far as actual circumstances give it tbe colouring of strong
probability. Undoubtedly such scheme would have been a verv strange
one — to call it by no harslier epithet, liut then perhaps, it is still more
strange that matters should have turned out as they have done, and
that no pains whatever should have been taken to guard against such
very awkward construction or misconstruction as that here put upon
the proceedings. Why should there be any room whatever for any
such suspicion? Why, after such ajjparent concession and defer-
ence to public opinion as to rescind the first decision, allow a second
competition to take place, and the whole to commence de nnro, was
the very choice that had before occasioned so much discontent, con-
firmed and ratified, without the slightest attempt being made to show
that Mr. Railton's column was — if not positively in itself, at least, all
circumstances taken into account, more eligible than any other design.
Can it be affirmed that the second exhibition at all tended to recon-
cile the public to the drawing which had been before generally scouted
as being of the most common place character, and without the slightest
aim at invention of any kind ? Hardly ! If it was for the very quality
just alluded to, for its being neither more nor less than a mere copy,
without fanciful addition of any kind, that that design was approved, it
might have been so stated, as artists would, perhaps, have been guided
accordingly in the second competition. Or if, after the first one, and
the designs it produced, the Committee were of opinion that some
kind of column would be preferable to any other sort of monument,
such opinion might as well have been made known, and then a great
many who came forward on the second occasion, would either not have
done so at aU, or else would have adopted the idea of a column; had
which been done, something more satisfactory and appropriate than
any of the actual designs of that class might have been produced.

I am of opinion, however, for one, that there were several designs
for columns superior to that by Mr. Railton; or admitting that they
were not so decidedly superior as to leave no room for doubt, they
ceitainly possessed such degree of merit as to render Mr. Railton's
superioiity doubtful in the extreme. Such being the case the most
sensible and fairest mode of proceeding would have been, to have made
in the first instance a selection of about half a dozen of the best class,
and (dismissing all the rest) to have compared them together closely,
scrutinized them and canvassed their respective merits at separate
meetings, held at intervals for that purpose, and at which it would
not liave been amiss, had the Committee taken in evidence the ojjimons
of one or two artists and competent judges, who, having no personal
interest in the afiair, nor any private bias in favour of any of the can-
didates, would have exju'essed their impartial judgment as to the
respective merits of the designs. Had some such course been adopted,
the pretensions of those designs would have been duly canvassed and

IS39.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

281

sifted; and something like a verdict founded upon deliberate reason-
ing and examination would have been arrived at. Therefore had the
ultimate result been precisely the same as at present, at all events
some pledge would have been given to the public that every precau-
tion had been taken to secure the best design of its kind, and that its
rivals had not been rejected until after the most scrupulous examina-
tion.

Instead of this, has there not been a most singular and suspicious-
looking precipitancy '. — and after all what plea or excuse is there lor
it? It cannot be said that the urgency of the case was so great as
to allow no time for the least delay : certainly not. A few weeks — a
few months would have made no difference. The column will not be
begun this year, that is pretty certain ; that it will be set about next
year, is not quite so certain ; for I fancv it is now exceedingly proble-
matical whether it be ever erected at all. In all probability the whole
affair will now be suffered to die awav quietly, especially as the funds
in hand amount to barely half — if half the sum required. The Com-
mittee have got out of the scrape adroitly, if not handsomely, nor will
they be very anxious to revive any mention of their proceedings.

It must be owned that, as matters have turned out, competition has
received a sad shock on the present occasion. But are artists therefore
to sit down despondingly, and say that it is now quite hopeless to look
forward to any more satisfactory system of competition ? No ; rather
let them be more strenuous and urgent than ever in demanding such
pledges beforehand as shall guarantee to them a fair and deliberate
judgment. Let them insist upon there being an exhibition of all the
designs before any premiums are awarded, or any kind of choice
made ; — let them insist that the votes of the committee and the rea-
sons for the choice ultimately made be formally given to the public,
it will be said that some of these suggestions have already been made ;
true, but we find that they require to be dinned into the ears of the
profession again and again. Let them be forced upon them until they
are shamed out of their apathy. What are the Institute about all this
while ! if they do not exert themselves manfully in regard to so mo-
mentous a point as that of public competitions, what is there they will
consider of sufficient importance to call for their co-operation as a
body? It will be answered that they have already taken it into con-
sideration, and published a report upon the subject. Let them then
consider it again and far more to the purpose, instead of now letting
it go to sleep. But there are difficulties attending it: undoubtedly,
and that is the very reason why it calls for all their energy, and for
unwearied perseverance, until they shall have accomplished the so
much needed reform.

Argus.

LORD WILLOUGHBY DE ERESBY'S PATENT MACHINERY
FOR THE COMPRESSION OF PEAT.

During a constant residence in the mountainous districts of Scot-
land and Wales, where the inhabitants depend chiefly upon peat for
their fuel, Lord Willoughby had given much attention to the manner
of preparing it for use. From observing the impossibility of rendering
it available in a wet season (together with its comparatively smatl
value, even in the most favourable,) for domestic or manufacturing
purposes, he was induced to enter upon a series of experiments for its
compression by machinery. The first of these took place in the sum-
mer of 1834. The machine consisted of a powerful screw press,
which is represented by Fig. 1. The cliamber which contained the

Fife'- L

peat was three feet in diameter, and 11 inches deep. The interior
was turned perfectly true, and had a moveable bottom, and piston
fitted to it with the greatest accuracy. The piston was moved by a
screw 4.5 inches in diameter; and the screw was turned by two levers
of lU feet radius. When put in motion by four men, it was capable
of producing an effective pressure equal to lOU tons. The water con-
tained in the peat was allowed to esca])e through small holes closely
drilled in the bottom of the machine, and also round the cylindrical
part of it forming the peat chamber. When iinished, the machine
was charged with about seven cubical feet of wet peat, and the piston
descended upon it by tm-ning the lever in the ordinary way. This
forced the water through the apertures in great abundance ; but long
befo re the machine had attained its greatest power, the peat also be-
gan, to exude; and although tlie holes were only three-sixteenths of
an 'nch in diameter, but "little of the original cpiantity would have
remained in the machine, had the pressure been continued.

A second machine was constructed ; and on a smaller scale than the
first, in order to avoid expence. It was calculated to press but a single
peat at a time. Fig. 3, is a front view of this machine, and fig. 4, a
side view. The power is produced by racks and pinions in combina-
ion with two side-levers, as shown in the tlrawing. Instead of round
holes in the peat chamber, for the escape of the water, it was formed
of vertical bars of iron about half an inch wide, and fixed to strong
cast-iron plates, one on each side of the machine, and so close together,
that a piece of thin paper could scarcely be inserted between them.
The peat however, when nnder high pressure, issued through the
bars, as it had done through the small circular holes of the screw-press
in the former experiment. It was therefore obviously necessary to
employ some filtering substance to retain it, and at the same time per-
mit the escape of the water. To effect this it was folded in linen
cloth, before being placed in the peat chamber. In this manner its
escape was completely prevented; but the process of compression
became both expensive and slow.

A third machine was made upon the principle of the second ; but
the chamber for containing the peat was somewhat less, and the ma-
chine much more powerful. Figs. 5 and G, represent this machine;
it has the piston moved by a crank, in combination with levers, marked
A, A, in the drawings. B, in figs. 4 and 5, is a short lever for remov-
ing the compressed peat from the machines. In fig. 4, the bottom is
withdrawn, and the peat taken out from below : and in fig. 6, the
bottom is made to rise, and the peat is discharged at the top. This
machine worked infinitely better than the one w ith racks and pinions.
The peat, however, continued to be folded in cloth.

The original screw-press was subsequently tried on a jirinciple very
different from its original construction. Fig. 2, is an end view of fig.
1, after this alteration. The perforated bottom was raised to the top

Fi;,'. 2.

of the cylinder, and there secured with a strong cast-iron frame fixed
to it, to support a sliding drawer about two feet square, and 4 inches
deep. The peat was placed in this drawer, which was made of iron
planed perfectly true, and the piston of the press, which was formerly
round, was cut 'into a square, and by the aid of a leather washer made
accurately to fit the sliding drawer. The bottom of the drawer con-
sisted of a layer of ordinary linen cloth, beneath which was a second
of hair-cloth; it contained fifteen peats of ordinary size. The ma-
chine being ready for an experiment, the sliding drawer, which is
represented in fig. 2, was moved into its place, and there secured by
two moveable bolts in front; this being done, four men turned the
levers of the screw. No portion of the peat escaped ; and the water
it contained passed freely away through the filtering bottom. The
success of this experiment left little to be desired, except some ready

282

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[August.

that not a drop of water returned upon the compressed peat, or re-
entered the machine upon the pressure being removed. It was still
evident that greater rapidity in compression was wanted than could
be effected by sliding drawers, which required to be removed and re-
placed each time they were filled and emptied.

For this purpose Lord Willoughby proposed that his next machine
should have two drawers, so comiected, that w hen the one was removed
the other would replace it, and the operation of the machine be unin-
terrupted. In order that they might be emptied with the utmost faci-
lity, after the peat had been compressed, they were hinged together,
so as to admit of being readily reversed. For the machine, thus im-
proved, a patent has been obtained by Lord Willoughby, extending to
England only; but he wishes it to be understood that any individual
is at liberty, upon a proper application, to avail himself of the inven-
tion gratuitously.

It may be useful to add a few general remarks to the foregoing
description. In the selection of peat for compression, care must be
taken to obtain a black peat, free from fibre. Peat of the proper de-
scription has very much the appearance of blackened butter, and is
the only sort which will repay the expense of preparation. The peat
should be dug of the usual size, namely 8 inches by 3, and 3 deep, and
of a uniform shape, which is easily effected by a spade of a peculiar
construction. All attempts which have been made to compress peat
in large masses of various dimensions have invariably failed. In every
instance the water has been retained in the centre of the mass, and
expelled only from its surfaces. Even had the result of these trials
been different, the peat so prepared would be useless for general pur-
poses until cut into small pieces. Before compression, the peats must
lie placed to dry for five or six days under sheds, in the same manner
as bricks and tiles, and after compression must remain under cover
until perfectly free from moisture, when they will be fit for use. At
the recommendation of several friends, Lord Willoughby has attempted
to dry them in various ways by artificial heat, but without any satis-
factory resu't. The peat, when properly compressed, is reduced about
one-third in size, hard and compact, and nearly black in colour; it
varies slightly in density, sometimes floating, at others sinking in
water. As to its uses, it will be found an excellent substitute for coal.
It may be used in grates for domestic purposes, and has been tried
successfully in calcining lime. In an experiment with the steam engine
at St. Jolm's foundry, Perth, where one of the machines already de-
scribed was made, the ])eat was fomid to outlast an equal weight of
coal, in the proportion of 16 per cent., the engine being worked at its
ordinary rate. There is every reason to believe that it might be em-
ployed in the manufacture of gas, which it gives oft' in abundance,
burning with a clear white light. It may also be prepared by charring,
in the same manner as ordinary charcoal, by which its size is reduced
about one-half. When charred in this way, the slowiiess and difficulty
with which it burns renders it an extremely valuable fuel in many pro-
cesses of the arts : this value is increased by its freedom from sulphur,
and the comparatively small quantity of ashes which it leaves after
burning. For the working of steel in particular, its freedom from sul-
phur makes it greatly superior to charcoal. It has been applied to
this purpose by Messrs. Philp and Whicker, (late Savigny and Co.)
St. James's-street, who have used it with remarkable success in forging
razors and surgical instruments. The articles bear the stamp "forgtd
with peat" as well as the names of these gentlemen, by whom they are
highly recommended. The charred peat has also been employed in
the working of other metals, particularly in the soldering of thin brass,
with a most encouraging result. In conclusion, it may be mentioned,
that it is as serviceable in the kitchen as common charcoal, and occa-
sions no unp'.e;isant taste or smell.

With the view of carrying Lord Willoughby's principle into opera-
tion, on a scale of greater magnitude than could be effected by manual
labour, he engaged Mr. James White, of Lambeth, to assist him in
adapting steam-engine power to his machine. Mr. White, foreseeing
some difficulties in the application of any of the former modes of
moving the piston, or the plate which compresses the peat, on a large
scale, advised the use of hydrostatic pressure. The following is Mr.
White's description of Lord Willoughby's machine, with the proposed
adaptation of hydrostatic pressure and steam power.

" Fig. 7, is a general plan of this machine ; and fig. 8, an elevation.
In fig. 7, A is the steam engine boiler ; B, steam engine ; C, main shaft
of engine ; D, compressing pump ; E, exhausting pump ; F, hand gear
for reversing the motion of the sliding frames which contain the peats ;
G, air vessel ; and H, two cocks that open and shut alternately, the
use of which will be explained hereafter. I and I, are pipes attaching
the pumps, D and E, with the vessel J, from which four branch pipes,
K, K, K, K, convey the water to the four cylinders, L, L, L, L, and by

the high compressure of the pump D, the pistons will be forced out of
them ; and the compressing plate, to which they are all secured, low-
mode of getting clear of the water at the top, and preventing its re-
turn upon the compressed peat, or into the machine when the pressure
was removed. To effect this, large conical holes in the piston were
filled with pieces of beechwood, through the pores of which the water
was expelled in an upward direction, and conveyed beyond the edges
of the drawer, through channels contrived for that purpose in the pis-
ton. The lower surface of the piston was covered with cloth in the
same maimer as the bottom of the sliding drawer. The result was
ered upon the top of the peat with a power equal to 500 tons, or more
if necessary.

"The peat is to be placed in a sliding frame M, of which there are
two to the machine ; one of them being under compression, while the
other is being filled. This frame M contains 90 square pieces of peat,
as represented in the drawing. They are shown compressed ; for the
rollers, upon which the frame M runs, have been withdrawn, and left
it supported by centres at the ends only. It is now to be turned over
upon these centres, and the compressed peats will be emptied into a
railway carriage below, which is there to receive them, as shewn in
the elevation, fig. 8. The sliding frame is to be re-adjusted, and the
handle N to be pushed in, as represented at the other end of the ma-
chine ; this having been done, the small rollers that are fixed, and
centred to the parallel guides O, O, will be below it, and support it.
It may then be refilled with as much expedition as possible.

" We shall now proceed to describe the mode of raising the pistons
and compressing plate, which have been forced down by the introduc-
tion of water into the cylinders L, L, L, L, by the compressing pump D.

" The cocks H, are now to be reversed, and the exhausting pump E,
will withdraw the compressed water from the cylinders L, L, L, L,
and return it to the supply well, seen on the right of the elevation, fig.
8. This will cause a vacuum above the pistons. Hitherto it has on'.y
been pumping air to waste. At the same time the compressing pump
D will continue storing up its power into the air vessel G, by pumping
back the withdrawn water, and be ready for a second operation. If
we suppose the four pistons in the cylinders L, L, L, L, are each 10
inches diameter, and the water thus withdrawn, and the atmosphere
at liberty to act upon the under surface of the compressing plate, to
which the pistons are attached, there would be sufficient power to
raise the whole mass, were it not for the adhesion which takes place
between the under side of the compressing plate, and the upper sur-
face of the peat. A power equal to 20 tons is requisite to separate
them. To effect this object, the compressing plate has 8 regulating
screws, which come in contact with 8 steel bars when do^vn. There
are 4 on each side of the machine, marked P, P, P, P, in the elevation
fig. 8. The elasticity of these bars is calculated to overcome the re-
sistance of the atmospheric pressure, which causes the cohesion be-
tween the compressing plate and the peat, and the exhausting pumj)
E, to return the pistons and compressing plate to their original posi-
tion, on the admission of air through a valve in the compressing plate.
The handle F, of the hand-gear, is now to be reversed, which will
bring out the sliding frame, containing the peats that are under com-
pression, and the other sliding frame M, already described, being re-
filled, will replace it. This naving been done, the cocks H, will be
returned, and the highly compressed air, in the air vessel G, will force
the water, that has been pumped into it by the compressing pump D,
to the cylinders L, L, L, L, as presumed to have been the case in the
former instance. The second sliding frame M, being now out, the
handle N, is to be withdrawn; the frame will then swing upon its
centres, the railway carriage being in the position to receive the com-
pressed peats, and the sliding frame will be emptied as before.

" The quantity of peats which may be thus compressed in one day,
may be estimated at 27,000, or 45 per minute, under a pressure of 400
pounds on the square inch, with a high pressure steam engine of six
horse power. When a greater or less degree of compression is wanted,
it can easily be erttjcted bv the weight W, on the lever of the safety
valve of the air vessel G ; but it ought to be mentioned, that loading
the valve beyond what the machine is calculated to bear, may cause a
fracture in some of its parts, or an explosion of the air vessel."

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

2s:;

LORD WILLOUGHBY DE ERESBY'S

MACHINERY FOR COMPRESSING PEAT.

Fig. 3.

Kg. 5.

Fig. 6.

Fig. 7.

1 2 3 4 5 C 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 li) 20

[II I I I I I ' '

i ■ i i

284

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[August,

DESIGN FOR RAISING SUNKEN VESSELS.

BY JAMES WHITE, C. E.

Ix the year 1832 I proposed a design for raising the Royal George,
off Spithead, or other sunlven vessels, a drawing and description of
which was published in the GLntltman's Magazine for December,
1S32 ; and suljraitted to the Board of Admiralty shortly afterwards.
From the discouraging treatment which was experienced on present-
ing the invention to that Board, I might not have sought an oppor-
tunity to republish it; but observing, in the Rtpertory of Pakiil
InveiitioHS for last May, that a patent has recently been granted for
the use of air vessels of the above description, for the purpose of
raising sunken ships ; I consider it a duty to myself, to establish the

priority of any claim to the invention, by recording it in a work more
generally read by scientific men, than the magazine in which it first
appeared.

" Since the melancholy loss of this ill-fated ship, many ingenious designs
have doubtless been suggested, and various plans submitted to the Board of
Admiralty, for the jjurpose of effecting her removal. Wliatever might have
been the merits of such inventions, it is certain that very few trials have
been made, and those few have entirely failed. The proi)osed plan, however,
which brings all the powers of pneumatics and h>drost.itics into operation,
if acteil njion, jiresents every probability of being successful ; and thus re-
moving a dangerous obstruction from one of the most important roadsteads
in the kingdom.

as dcscrilicd (to be made at Foitsmouth or the nearest station where they
are to be used, and towed to Spithead roads) were lowered above the Royal
George, and strongly secured thereto by grappling irons, on the chains
marked «, through her guns ports, or otherwise, as migh.t be de\ised. The
depth to wliich the cylinders should be lowereil, in the tirst instance, must
not be more, fi-om the surface of the water, than the depth which the ship
has s\ink in the sand. By having the cylinders as near the surface of the
water as possible, they will be exposed to perpetaal agitation, and this will
loosen tlie ship in her bed.

The cylinders being secured, the flexible tuljcs c arc connected with pumps
worked by tlie engines of mo steam-hoats, as shown in the draning. A
powerful injection of air is forced into the air-chambers of the cylinders, and
the water which they contain exjielled tlu-ough the opening at the bottom.
Tlie darl; place in the section C, at the toji, shows the water partly ex]ielled.
M'licn the entire expulsion of tlte water has been effected, the cylinders will
olitaiu a l)uoyancy equal to the dift'ercncc of the weight of the compressed
air and the water displaced — a difference that wdl rather exceed than be
under three thousand tons.

" Although the Uoyal George may still for some time remain immovable,
if the fastenings can be made sufhciently strong to bear tlic strain, such will
be the immense power of the cylinders, when agitated by the incessant
rolling of the waves, that the ship nmst eventually break uj), or be loosened
in Iter bed, and recovered entire — the su]ierincumbeut pressure, which is
most to he dreaded, being thus etfectually overcome.

" In the event of a portion of the sliip rising from her bed entire, the
cylinders will probably ascend to some height above the surface of the waves.
The cylinders are then to be towed by steam-hoats into siiallower water, and
tlie ship lowered on chains prepared fur that jmrpose ; after wliich the cy-
linders are to be secured to the chains, one on eacli side of the ship, as low

" The figures AB represent the elevations of
two air-tight cylindrical vessels, eighty feet long
and thirty feet in diameter, made of iron jilate
about one-eighth part of an inch thick, and
strengthened by deep fianchcs inside. The ends
are of a spherical form, as shown in the elevations.
The projection from the section C, marked (/, re-
presents an air-chamber, shown in the elevations
to extend the whole length of the cylinders. Dia-
metrically opposite the air chamber of each cy-
linder, there is an opening of an inch wide the
whole length of the cylinder, represented by the
dark place in the section C at e. The little pro-
jections 4 li in the elevations, denote the situations
of valves or cocks, to allow the air, which the cy-
linders contain, to escape, as they fill at the open-
ing e when sinking.

" The air-chambers d are calculated to equalize
the difference of weight between the iron and
the water displaced by the cylinders when tliey
are fairly emerged with the chains a, and
grappling irons attached thereto. The cylinders
will therefore sink with the cylindrical part full of
water, and the chambers full of air. When the
water is to be expelled from the cylinders, as will
be afterwards explained, the pressure from the
air-chamlicrs on the water will be equal the whole
length of the cylinders.

" To make a survey of the situation of the ship,
and to ascertain the best method to be adopted
for secLiring the cylinders, would be essentially
necessary as a pveUminary step. If the results of
such inquiry were favourable, the work might go
on ; but tiic whole of the operations un(icr water
I propose effecting on a new jilan — a method
whereby the depth does not materially aff'jct the
workmen. Had I not contemplated something of
this sort, I might not have presumed on the possi-
bility of effecting a v.ork of such unparalleled dif-
ficulty.

" Supppose two such cyhndrical air-tight vessels

in the water and as close to her sides as possilde. The water may then be
expelled from the cyhnders, as in the former instance ; when it is presumed,
with the cylinders so situated, the ship will be raised aliove water."

The following year after the above description was published, a
working model of the invention was completed. It consisted of a
small ship, with two copper air vessels about 18 inches long, and 0
inches in diameter. Each air vessel had a flexible tube communicat-
ing with an air chamber, into whicii air was compressed by an air
pump, and the flexible tubes had regulating brass cocks on them, and
the air chamber of the pump had an air cock.

The apparatus being complete, it was placed in a cistern full of
water, tlie air vessels having been previously secured, one on each
side of the ship, which was loaded with abotit 30 lbs. of iron, as ballast.
In this situation the ship was kept floating from the buoyant power
of the air vessels. But the instant the air cock of the air chamber
was opened, it began to sink ; there being a hole in the bottom of the
ship, the preponderating weight of the ballast caused the air vessels to
fill, by apertures below, and "ex])elled the air from them through the
flexible tubes, and finally by the air cock, until the ship and air vessels
went to the bottom of the cistern.

The air vessels being now full of water, and the flexible tubes also
to the extent they were immerged, the object of the invention was to
restore them to a buoyant state, and thereby bring up the sunken slup.

I have mentioned that regulating cocks were on the fiexible tubes,
which afterwards were found to be indispensible. When the air
pump was put into operation, both of tlie regulating cocks were open,
and the compressed air went on!y down one of the flexible tube: i

J 839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT S JOURNAL.

2S.>

displacing all the water from the air vessel to which it belonged; and
then escaping, without displacing any water from the other air vessel.
It was then necessary to shut the regulating cock of the buoyant air
vessel, and expel the water from the other ; but before much of it was
displaced, the ship came up in a deranged state, having turned over
in the ascent. It then occurred to me that the liability of turning over
in the ascent would be avoided, if the ship was first raised on her
stem, and afterwards in a slanting direction. To effect this the air
vessels were altered, in place of having the apertures, for tire exit of
the water, open the whole length of the air vessels, as described in
the original plan, to which this description is an appendix, they were
placed at the ends only, transversely on the under surface, and the
flexible tubes for conveying the compressed air to them, were brought
nearer the opposite ends on the top of the air vessels. With this new
arrangement the apparatus was sunk as before, but instead of pumping
the compressed air to the air vessels, as in the former instance, with
both regulating cocks open; G strokes of the air pump were first ap-
plied to one of them, then as many to the other ; the regulating cocks
being open and shut for that purpose. When this quantity of com-
pressed air had been forced into the air vessels, the head of the ship
began to move, and with every additional stroke of the air pump, it
kept rising, until the whole ponderosity was overcome, and the ship
then came up head foremost. The ])row only coming a little above
water in the first instance, and then stopping, owing to a quantity of
water still remaining in the lower ends of the air vessels ; but on this
being expelled from them, the ship and the air vessels righted them-
selves into a horizontal jjosition as they came above water.

By the application of the above principle to raising sunken vessels,
several important advantages are obtained. First, the air vessels
being made of iron, are sutiiciently durable to last for a great length
of time. Secondly, from the nature of their construction, they may be
towed by steam-boats from one point of the coast to another. Thirdly,
the principle operating independently of the tides, the work of re-
covering the wreck may be proceeded with at all times, when the
weather will admit of it. And fourthly, by the plan of gradually
raising the head of the vessel iirst, the immense superincumbent pres-
sure of the water is greatly avoided. It will readily be understood
how much easier a plank of wood can be raised from an adhesive bed,
when one end of it is raised by degrees, than would be the case if the
same power were applied at once to overcome its whole weight and
adhesion.

When the ship has been raised upon her stern, it will still be ne-
cessary to overcome the remaining adhesion of this portion of the
vessel, and to effect so much by the same buoyant power that raised
the head, supposing it to be sufficient for that purpose, the velocity
of the ascent would be so great, that there would be danger in dis-
turbing the fastenings which secure the ship to the air vessels. It
will therefore be necessary to fix an air vessel by the stern, and no
deeper in the water than might be suthcient to clear the ship from all
adhesion. When this has been effected, the further expulsion of the
water from the former air vessels may be proceeded with, and it is
presumed, the ship would be recovered as described with respect to
the model.

Lambeth, July, 1S39.

James White.

IMPROVEMENT OF THE OUTFALLS OF THE RIVERS OUZE,

NENE, WELL.\ND, AND WITIIAM.
Sir John Rennie, who was for some time employed by a general meeting of
parties interested iu the drainage of the Rivers Ouze and Lynn, and Boston
Deeps, has just finished and presented his reports. We understand that Sir
John states that an additional fall of nearly six feet may be gained in the
low-water mark of the river Onze, and that by uniting the Ouze, the Nene,
the Wellaud, and the Witliani, and earning them by one improved outfall
into the centre of the great -wash, not only will the drainage and navigation
of the whole of that immense, fertile, and valuable district of land-draining
by those rivers, called the Bedford Level, South Holland, and other districts,
amounting to about a niilhon of acres, he greatly improved, and conse-
quently increased in value, but also there would, in all ])robabihty, in the comse
of a few years, he gained 130,000 acres of new and valuable land ; this alone,
taken at the value of .-t'40 per acre, although a great deal of the land which
has already been acquired from the sea in that neighlronrliood is now worth
considerably more, would amount to .-€0,000.000, and when it is considered
that the whole county of Rutland only contains Orj.OOO acres, and the Isle of
Wight about 100,000 acres, the great niagnituile and importance of the un-
dertaking, which is estimated at a:1,«00,000, may be readily conceived. Sir
John Rennie's rei>ort has not yet been published, which we understand, how-
ever, wdl shortly lie the case, when we shall not fail to recur to it again, and
make such remarks as chcumstances may require.

RAMBLES BY PHILOMUS.EUS, No. I.

THE VASE ROOM IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM,,

The arrangement of this valuable collection adjoining the Egyptian
de]5artment, seems after several abortive attemjits to have connnenced
in reality. The endeavour to arrange them according to fonn and
colour is very meritorious, but the plan is far from systematic.

For a long time this collection was left in a state of barbarous con- •
fusion, and then it was arranged somewhat in the chimney ornament
style, by a fanciful groiqdng of tall vases alternating with those which
were shorter. No attention seemed to have been paid to anything
like a useful classification, and the whole disposition was so chaotic
as to leave little hope of amendment.

The classification should be either antiquarian or artistical, and
wonld resolve itself into the several modes of origin, age, form,
colour and design. The more useful method is certainly that which
can be available to artists, and the disposition adopted seems to unite
several of the features of what would have been distinct classification.
The vases are arranged according to form, and the subdivisions of
these according to colour, so that this double purpose is answered,
and it happens in most cases that the same classes of design are also
thrown together.

A case with one elliptical form is however interposed between
those which are spherical, and no regular gradation is preserved in the
general disposition of the several classes of forms. The proper coursi;
would be to commence with the cylindrical form, then proceed to the
spherical, thence to the upright ellipse, the flat ellipse, the egg and
the egg reversed. The various modifications of these again should be
further distinguished according to the several parts of the vase. The
essential parts of the vase are the neck or capital, the shaft, and th'^
base, and the accessaries are the handles, &c.

Many of these vases are exceedingly beautiful both in form antl
colour, and one series with black designs exf[uisitely rich. The de-
signs are frecpiently interesting, and consist of allegorical representa-
tions, the exploits of Hercules, warlike exercises, domestic occupa-
tions, and caricatures. Some of the horses are drawn with a quaint
freedom which is very striking, and the ease of the flying genii cannot
sometimes be too much admired. The illustrations of domestic man-
ners are very numerous, and include ladies reading, women drawing
water at a fountain, sacrifices, musical performances, &c. A vase in
the form of the head of a negro is an accurate representation of the
existing members of that race, and an excellent proof of the preserva-
tion of the type, as also of the non-negroism of the Egyptians.

In the Egyptian department are many very elegiuit vases, and in
the lower room is a tazza, which is well deserving of attention from
the purity and severity of its outline. In the vestibule of the Elgin
collection is a fine tazza recently presented by Lord Western, and iu
the Townley rooms are two or three well known marble vases.

MR. grace's STUDIO.

That a new era for the extension of the arts has commenced is ap-
parent; its progress indeed strikes us at every step. One of the
most interesting features of this march of taste is the studio recently
fitted up by Mr. Grace, at his establishment in Wigmore-street. It is
such a work as in Paris would excite the admiration of the profes-
sional press, and be hailed as an accession to the architectm-al riches
of the age.

We enter a small shop of a plain and subdued character, with a few
decorative patterns lying about, and then proceed tfirough a ]>assage
into the studio. This consists of three compartments thrown into one
suite, and is fitted up with all the richness of a nobleman's library.
The first portion is in the style ofjamesl. or later Elizabethan, the
central in the Gothic, and the last in that of the R,enaissance. The
accessaries are equally in character ; tables and chairs, imitative armour
of carton de pierre, papier mache ornaments, and patterns for decora-
tion being distributed about. The windows are filled with painted
glass, and the whole has an air of tasteful richness, which would do
as much honour to a nobleman to possess, as it does to the artist to
have executed. Although it is only a collection of specimens, yet
they are so united, and the character of the whole so well preserved,
that they communicate the idea rather of a private apartment than a
pattern room. With these attractions spread out before them, noble-
men will be as little able to restrain their purse-strings, as their ladies
are at the mercer's or the milliner's.

286

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[August,

COLOSSUS OF SESOSTRIS.

During the period of their dominion in Egypt, the French erected
a bridge across the Nile, uniting Old Cairo with the Isle of Rhoda
Of that structure no other vestige now remains than a fragment of the
first arch attached to the old stonework of the Nilometer. On the
other bank of the river stands the citv of Gizeh, about two leagues
from the pyramids, and which formed the northern boundary of ancient
Memphis, whose southern limit and necropolis were what is now
Sakara. The road along the course of the river leads to Bedrechein,
beyond which village the former site of some large city is attested by
the massive blocks of granite and fragments of columns that strew the
plain. Pieces of shattered stone project every where through the
sands that have already b\n-ied up the principal monuments of that im-
mense city, and which ere long will completely obliterate all remaining
traces of it. Between Bedrechein and the village of Mit Rahineh rise
two long hills parallel to each other, which are probably formed by
the remains of a vast enclosure of unburnt bricks, similar to those that
have been found in many other ruins. These bricks, which are thirty
three centemetres (about thirteen inches) long, by eighteen wide and
ten deep, are for the most part stamped with a hieroglyphic cartouch.
Within this enclosure is the magnificent colossus exhumated by
Captain Caviglia, to whom the world is indebted for several other
discoveries no less important.

This gigantic statue is one of the finest pieces of Egyptian art ; it
is of a very fine limestone, and although incrusted in parts, still retains
that polish which is met with only in sculptures of the same epoch.
Notwithstanding that the lower parts of the legs are broken off, the
present length of the figure is not less than eleven and a-half metres,
or thirty-nine feet nine inches, English, and is remarkable for its pro-
portions, at once elegant and severe. The face, which has been pre-
served in its fall by the head-dress, is uninjured, and is of the most
exquisite workmanship. It is that of Sesostris, so often represented
in the pr ncipal temples of Egypt, who reigned, according to the chro-
nological table of Abydos, 151)5 years before the Christian era. It is,
therefore, but on a nmch larger scale, a faithful resemblance of the
Sesostris in the museum at Turin. Upon the arm, and un the front of
tlie breast and the girdle, is a cartouch indicating his name.

M. Caviglia took the precaution of having the fare of the statue
turned downwards, in order to preserve it from the mutilations the
Arabs are in the habit of inflicting upon all repr'-sentations of the
human figure. He has also caused it to be propped up by masonry at
each end and in the middle.

According to all appearance this colossus, near which are massive
foundations of limestone, was placed against one of the jambs of a
large doorway, and had a companion figure against the other one.

At a short distance from the spot where it remains, is the small hut
or cabin near some palm trees, which served Caviglia as his residence
during the years he employed in investigating these ruins. It is now
occupied by an Arab, who acts as the keeper and cicerone of this mo-
nolithic statue. In a line with the latter, but at some distance from
it, are some small colunms of rose-coloured granite, in a very ruinous
state.

To the north of the colossus was once a temple of white limestone,
dedicated to Venus Athor, by Rhamses the Great, and without the
enclos\n-e on the east side of it, are the remains of another temple or-
namented with coupled pilasters, also of rose granite, which was dedi-
cated to Phta and Athor (Vulcan and Venus), tlie two great divinities
of Memphis.

MOMENTUM OF FALLING BODIES.

Sir — It was in consequence of the difficulty which attends the cotic
parison of the effects of pressure and moving force, that I entered upon
the discussion in the IGth Number of the Journal, Vol. II. page 18^
not that I hoped to clear it away, but because the subject is mghly'
interesting and useful, and I hoped to elicit information through the
medium of your Journal. It was with great pleasure, therefore, that I
saw the letter, page 255 in No. 22 — and I hope that the discussion
will now fall into abler hands than mine. I will, however, beg space
in your next number to enable me to make a few observations on Mr^
Neville's letter. — The words in italics will point out wliere I think he
has misconceived my remarks on the subject.

1. The inference that I draw fromtheexperimentdetailedinVol.il.
page IS, is that a weight on the spring keeps it steadily to a point,
that one-half o{ the same weight falling with a velocity of 2-3rn foot
per second would have attained when its motion was destroyed. — 2»
In comparing the effect of the falling weight on the pile with that of
the weight it is to sustain, it is presupposed that that pressure would
cause the pile to peneirute ; otherwise why drive the pile at all ? — 3.
To suppose the incumbent weight to move with a velocity oi one, two
or mure than three feet per second is to suppose what is not likely to
take place ; and to found a calculation upon such vague data could
not lead to any accuracy of result. In short, one might as well g\iess
the result at once and save the trouble of all calculation. — 4. Mr^
Neville says that " in falling bodies, after the force ehv is expended,
b then acts by its weight, and very little consideration will shew that
they cannot be added together." But there is but one collision; the
effects of the weight and the acquired momentum are simidlaneous
and of the same nature, whether b and ebv are so or not. Indeed b
and flii' represent the effects of the forces, and it is not very easy to
point out in what the ditference in the nature of these forces consists :
since, should the motion be infinitely slow, the effect would evidently
be the same as though the body remained at rest. 5. I believe that I

may have been wrong in applying the formula m=Lb-\--bv to the cases

taken from " Mutton's Course," where the motions are not occasioned
by gravity, but in all cases oi falling bodies, I still think I am right in

adding 6 to -bv. For if the true formula be -bv nearly, and b be dis^

carded; taking for example 6= 10,000 lbs. and v=.———r- foot then
" ^ ' 10,000'

•lifi force 7n=^

300,000

Xi/64x ^24,000 lbs.; or in other words,

the consequence of its fall through that small space would be the los*
of three-fourths of the force it exerted when in absolute rest : but if

the factor 6 be not discarded and m be =:6-J- 6»;i: 124^00 lbs.

B.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

287.

ON STEAM POWER.

Sir — Enclosed is the co|)y of a letter addressed to tlie President of
the Institution of Civil Engineers, which, should you consider worthy
a place in your interesting and vahr.ible Journal, I beg you will
make use of it ; my only object in sending it to you, is, that it might
direct the attention of those who employ steam-power, to a more
economical mode of obtaining that power, at the same time consider-
ing that it is the duty of those who have the opportunity of making
experiments, to publish any result which would tend to husband one
of the greatest resources of our national prosperity.

I must liowever observe, in justice to myself, that the original letter
was forwarded to the President, some days before I rivad, or was even
aware, that the Institution had published the first part of their 3rd
volume of Transactions, containing Mr. Josiah Parkes' paper on a
similar subject, and which you criticised in your last number.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

F. Ham, Civil Engineer.

Rose Lane, Norwicli, %th July, 1839.

To the President of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
Sir — I am induced to address the Institution in reply to Mr. G. H
Palmer's paper, since it appears, from your having considered it of
sufficient importance for insertion in the 2nd volume of your "Trans-
actions," that the recorded duty of the Cornish engines, is still a matter
of surprise, in fact, Mr. Palmer seems more inclined to doubt the
accuracy of the accounts, than that of his data.

That it is possible to raise 120,000,000 lbs. one foot high, with one
bushel, or 94 lbs. of coal, I do not for a moment doubt ; anil moreover
ventuie to say, that even that duty, enormous as it appears, as con-
trasted with the ordinary duty of a Boulton and Watt engine, is not
the maximum the Cornish engines might be made to perform ; this
assertion but ill accords with Mr. Palmer's calculations, which are
correct, from the data he assumes, viz. that 7 lbs. of coal are required
to convert 1 cubic foot of water at 40" into atmospheric steam, in the
boiler of a Boulton and Watt engine, as at present constructed, but
which is very wide of the mark, as regards the effect of the com-
bustion of 7 lbs. of coal under different circumstances, for instance, I
have proved by several experiments made some years since, that
7 lbs. of coal will convert into atmospheric steam, at least three cubic
feet of water at 40° under peculiar management, which sim])ly consists
in exposing a much more extended surface to its action than is usual,
and in diminishing the rate of combustion as an example, the same
quantity of fuel maintained in combustion for 12 hours, will evaporate
at least three times the quantity of water than it would if consumed in
2 hours, other circumstances being the same ; this is an effect I have
for some years daily produced in an ordinary steam boiler, and have
not the slightest doubt, but that with more complete apparatus, and a
still slower combustion, nearly double that amount might be obtained ;
here then is a solution to the problem, the Cornish engines very seldoni
if ever work up to their speed, frequently to not more than a third,
the fires are then damped up, slower combustion ensues, and hence the
result, with the most complete Boulton and Watt ; on high pressure
engines the case is different, rapid combustion is required, in the ab-
sence of an extensive boiler surface, to supply the requisite quantity
of steam, and promoted to a most wasteful extent, by tremendous
chimneys, fans, &c. Intensity and consequently radiation are certainly
increased by these means, but neither iron nor copper conducts it in
any thing like the same ratio ; in fact, I believe, that when the boiler
is highly heated, the water is actually repelled from the surface of the
plates, by an atmosphere of caloric, from its not being able to absorb
it with sufficient rapidity ; I am moreover confident, that were slower
combustion practised, fewer explosions, and a mere tithe of the present
destruction of boilers would result, independently of its effecting a
considerable saving in fuel, which would most amply repay for the
capital invested in extra boiler room.

Mr. Palmer's paper has certainly been beneficial in exciting inquiry,
and has induced me, as I dare say it will others, to institute a set of
experiments, on the relative effect of fuel in evaporating, under dif-
ferent rates of combustion, and I therefore purpose, as opportunities
occur, to investigate the matter in as .philosophical a maimer as my
experience will enable me.

I find also inserted in the same volume, a paper fromMr. Wicksteed,
on the effective power of one of the Coniish engines, -.iscertained by
weighing and measuring the quantity of water delivered from a depth
of 6354 feet. I should liave been much better satisfied with that re-
port, had the experiment been continued for a longer period than
2i hours, as it is, it can only be regarded as an approximation to the
real duty performed by an expenditiu-e of a certain ipiantity of coals ;
in the first place, he does not state whether the boilers were feeding
No. 23.— Vol. II.— Adoust, 1839.

or not at the time of the experiment, or that they contained prt"cisely
the same quantify of water and pressure of steam after, as before the
experiment; secondly, the eye alone is but a very poor judge of the
quantity of fuel contained in the furnaces at any period, and a few
poimds consumed, either more or less than the assigned quantity
would make a very sensible difference in the result ; in fact, I would
defy any one, in conducting a similar experiment, and judging from
the eye alone, to say witliin 10 or 15 per cent, uuu-e or less, what
quantity, not of coal alone, but of combustible matter, had been ex-
pended. I do not exactly understand what Mr. Wicksteed means, by
saying, that " at the end of 21 hours the fire was lowering and th(! sjjee'ci
of the engine decreasing ;" does he mean by the " speeil reducing," that,
the engine was a longer time in making the stroke, or, that a longer
interval elapsed between each stroke ? for if I mistake not, the interval
between each stroke of most, if not all, the Cornish engines, is quite
independent of the engine, and governed by a water or air regulator,
which is completely imder the control of the engineer, consecpiently
the interval between each stroke does not afford any, or the length of
time in making tlie stroke sufficiently precise, notice of the 94 lbs. of
coal having been expended or otherwise. It appears that during the
experiment the engine was not making quite five strokes per minute,
had it been working at its maximum speed, he would have found his
103 millions of pounds actually raised one foot high reduced to about
50, or perhaps even so low as 20 millions ; considering the state of
the boilers and Hues, which he states "had not been cleaned for eleven
months," arising from an increased rate of combustion being recjuired
to maintain the ilensity, and supply the increased rate of expenditure
of the steam, otherwise how can the great discrepancy between Capt.
Lean's reports of tlie maximum and average duty of the Cornish
engines, and Mr. Wicksteed's experiments be accounted for, and if
the latter gentleman expects the engine he is erecting at Old Ford, to
raise 120 millions of pounds one foot high, with 94 lbs. of coal, at its
proper speed, without consideralily increasing the boiler surface, so as
to admit of slow combustion, he will be most grievously disappointed.

These remarks are made with the highest respect for Mr. Wick-
steed, and as our joint object is to elicft truth, I trust they will be
received in good part, and serve as an introduction to my better ac-
quaintance with him, and allow me to say that an experimenter cannot
be too precise in stating the particulars of the precautions he adopts
to ensure accuracy, for they not only serve as a record of his ability,
wdiich may ilo him honour, but render the report itself the more
valuable, inasmuch as science advances, truth or error can be more
easily deduced from it.

I am, Sir, your's very respectfully,

Frederick Ham.

Rose Lane, Xorwicli, May 2, 1839.

SUBAQUEOUS EXPLOSIONS.

We are very glad to see that Mr. Bethell's interesting paper on
blasting rocks, &c. under water by the aid of galvauisni, read before
the Institution of Civil Engineers, accompanied by experiments, and
first reporteil in our Journal in May last year, (p. 19s, Vol. I.) is likely
to lead to the greatest practical use and benefit. Colonel Pasley, we
are happy to find, has entered upon this investigation, and his well
known perseverance and accuracy in experiments will, we trust, lead
to the general adoption of voltaic electricity for the purpose of sub-
aqueous and subterraneous explosions. On this subject a very in-
teresting paper, entering minutely into details, appeared in the last
June number of the Uuittd Service Journal, from which we gi\-e the
following extract: —

" We shall now proceed to state, as far as has come to our knowledge,
what has been done in this country respecting the applicati<m of vol-
taic electricity to practical purposes — that is, if supported by detailed
and well-authenticated evidence as to when and where, without re-
garding the mere assertions of any individual, inyespect to his having
blown off the decks of sunken vessels by the voltaic battery, such as to
the best of our recollection we have read in a scientific journal of re-
putation ; but in which neither the names of those wrecks, nor the
time or place of any of his operations, were specified; and therefore
our noticing tliem could give no positive knowledge or satisfactory
information. It is well known that small charges of gunpowder have
often been fired by this means in lecture-rooms, or in scientific insti-
tutions, in this country, both in air and in a buiket of water; and
nothing is easier than to do so in a room, where failure can scarcely take
place without extreme neglect, as no accidents are to be apprehended
from the elements. But to secure a charge of gunpowder that is to
be fireil by voltaic electricity, at a great depth of water and in a rapid

2SS

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[AuffirsT,

1i(le-\\ay, is no oiisy task, as Colonel Pasloy afterwards found on un-
dertakiiia; this operation. When he first received the order to atteni|]t
to demolish the brig William, in the Thames, he was of opinion that
volLiie electrieity would afford the best means of effecting that object;
but at that lime he was not provided with a proper battery, and though
Jie might have procured one in time, yet lie jneferred inferior methods,
whieli lie and his corps thoroughly understood, to an untried though
more promising method, which lie did not tliink that they would be
able to reduce to any certainty, without a vast number of experiments
and a considerable loss of time ; because those distinguished chemists
and electricians, both in this and in other countries, who have recently
brought the important science of electro-magnetism to such perfection,
liaving nothing to draw their attention particularly either to subter-
laneous or subaqueous explosions, had never investigated the best
mode of applying the voltaic battery to large explosions, under ditficult
circumstances. As soon, therefore, as Colonel Fasley, by application
to tlie Master-General and Board of Ordnance, had received a voltaic
battery of ten large cylinders, &c., made by Mr. Newman, of Regent-
streeti on Professor Daniell's improved ))rinci]ile, he commenced a
series of experiments for reducing the application of voltaic electricity
to the jnirposes of military mining, as well as of great subaqueous ex-
plosions, to a system, in which he was assisted by Captain Sandham
and Mr. Howe, under whom Serjeant-Major Jones, and as many non-
commissioned officers and juivates as were found necessary, were
continually employed for more than four months. And it is a remark-
able fact, that, though neither Colonel Fasley himself, nor any officer
or man under his command, had ever used such a Ijattery before, yet,
jn consequence of the very clear directions received from Mr. Faraday
and Professor Daniell, they succeeded, on the very first trial of their
hattery, in firing small charges, both in air and in a bucket of water,
3n the niamier usual in a lecture-room. But when they took those
precautions, which appeared absolutely necessary to insure the suc-
cess of similar explosions at the bottom of the Medway, at the distance
of .500 feet, which they eonsitlered sufficient for the safety of the
operators, in firing the largest possible charge or charges in deep
water, so many failures took place, that atone time idtimate success
■appeared a matter of doubt: for it often happened that the arrange-
ments which never failed in air or under ground failed in water; and
those which succeeded in a pond near their barracks failed in the
Medway. At last, after trying more than a hundre<l different experi-
ments, they succeeded in reducing the operation of igniting guiipow der
liy the voltaic battery, both under ground anil under water, to as much
certainty as their former mode of tiring mines in dry soil. They did
not a<lopt any of Dr. Have's arrangements, because it did not appear
that he had ever used them under water.

" To record their various experiments, which commenced on the 23rd
of November, 1S3S, would be tedious and useless: suffice it to say,
that they first succeeded in firing an exjierimental charge of 1 lb. of
powder only, at the bottom of the Medway, at the distance of 500 feet,
on the 7th "of February, ISSO; that they fired their first mine, at the
same distance, witli a charge of 30 lbs. of powder, which, having a
very small line of least resistance, blew up a field-work in presence of
Colonel Warre, the Commandant, and most of the officers of the garri-
son of Chatham, and numerous other spectators, on the 11th of
February ; that they fired a charge of 45 lbs. of powder at the bottom
of the Medway on the 16th of March; and that they fired a eliarge of
40 lbs. of powder at the bottom of the Medway on the iSrd of March,
by which they knocked to pieces a sham wreck. These two last ex-
plosions, each of which was also at the distance of 500 feet, took
place in the presence of numerous sjiectators, chiefiy officers of the
garrison, whom Colonel Pasley invited to attend, not only from being
of opinion that the voltaic battery may become extensively usefid for
militar^- purposes, but also from a desire to fix the time when each
peculiar process was first publicly carried into effect. In reference to
this point, it was rather mortifying to him, that after he thought every-
thing was right, the first mine which he invited the officers of the
garrison of Chatliam to attend entirely failed, owing to a very small
and delicate piece of platinum w ire, which is always placed inside of
p;u'h charge, having been broken liy some accident, so that the voltaic
circuit was incomplete. This failure, which never occurred before
nor since, in any of his numerous experiments, led to the precaution of
always testing each charge, by ascertaining, with two or, at the most,
three cylinders or cells of the voltaic battery, whether the connexion
between the two copper conducting w ires and the platinum wire within
the charge is perfect, which is known by the battery decomposing
water, a process recjniring much less power than is necessaiy for
igniting gunpowder, and which is done in a small glass tnbe to contain
tlie water, prepared and used as directed in article Olll (d' Faraday's
Chemical ManipuUition, (page 453.) If no decomposition take place.

which is, of course, known by the wires not producing any effect when
brought near to each other within the water, but without actual con-
tact, as directed by the author, the platinum wire in the charge must
necessarily be broken, and the case containing the powder must there-
fore be opened again, to make the connexion good ; but if air-bubbles,
forming anil ascending in the water, should sliow that decomposition
is taking place, the connexion of the conducting w ires and of the piece
of platinum wire must be perfect. There is another reason for not
bringing the wires in the proof tube into contact, not stated by Mr.
Faraday, who was writing without reference to the presence of gun-
powder in any part of tlie circuit, namely, that such contact might
ignite the charge, if the battery were strong enough ; in order to avoid
all risk of wliit'li, two cells should always be tried first, this number
never having been known to ignite gunpowder in any of the experi-
ments now alluded to; antl if two should not act upon the water, let
three be tried with caution, which number, though it may ignite gun-
powder near to the battery, that is through a very short circuit, will
not ignite it wdien the proof tube for decomposing water forms ;dso a
part of the circuit, because the action on the piece of platinum wire,
which passes through a cork coated with wax at the bottom of the
tube, diminishes the force of the voltaic electricity upon the other
piece of platinum wire within the charge. In testing their experi-
mental charges, therefore, by tlie decomposition of water, great caution
was always used by the engineers at Chatham, after the accident above
alluded to, which caused them to have recourse to this expedient.
This failure t;iking place on Saturday afternoon, the 9th of February,
caused the experiment to be put off till the Monday following, the 11th
of February, when the mine was fired successfully as before mentioned,
the charge being placed under the field work that was to be blown up,
and the conducting wires being led from thence, entirely underground,
in a trench cut for the purpose about a foot deep, to the battery, at
the above-mentioned distance of 500 feet.

"It is rather curious, that the first inteniled explosion at the bottom
of the Medway, to wliich Colonel Pasley invited the garrison, should
also have failed, which was caused by an unforeseen circumstance. —
One of the officers under his command, who had fitted up the charge
and made all the arrangements for the experiment, having been unex-
pectedly required to attend an inciuiry, by.an order from the Inspector-
General of Fortifications in London, and having forgotten to mention
to another officer, who was therefore suddenly appointed to execute
if, one of the precautions necessary, and which had been provided for,
namely, to secure the conducting wires leading into the charge against
any strain tending to separate them from the canister containing it.
From the omission of this precaution, the head of the canister was
pulled open by the strain alluded to in a strong tide, and all the pow-
der spoiled.

" Several officers residing in or near the metropolis, some of whom
were Members of Parliament, as well as several men of science, and
members of the institution of civil engineers, having expressed their
desire to be present at the great explosion, by which it was proposed
to blow up a sham wreck, Colonel Pasley appointed Saturday, at lialf-
past two o'clock, at which hour he knew 'that they might arrive without
inconvenience, and return to London after the experiment, if necessary.
The plan of operation, of which he circulated iirogrammes, announced
that the whole jiroceeiling necessary should be done in presence of the
spectators. His first experiment, announced for the 9th of March,
which would have been executed at high water, having failed, he ap-
pointed Saturday next, the Kith of March, for repeating it, on which
occasion the ebli of a spring tide flowed with so much violence at the
hour apjiointed for commencing, that the charge, when let down to the
bottom of the river to grapple with the supposed wreck, could not be
brought in contact with it; and though the voltaic battery succeeded
in producing the desired explosion, the wreck remained uninjured.
On this account, therefore. Colonel Pasley appoiuteil a repetition of
the same experiment on the Saturday next following, which being
conqiletely successful shall now be described.

" The b'atterv used was on Professor Daniell's improved construction,
as before stated, which from its admiralile property, in which it sur-
passes all former voltaic batteries, of retaining its power iindiminished
for several hours, he has named the cons/aiit hatltnj. The copper
cylinders, or cells, were of the largest size that has been used, namely,
21 inches high by 3i inches in diameter, with zinc rods, i^c, of pro-
liortional dimensions. Colonel Pasley had ordered it to be fitted up
with iiorcelain cylinders inside to contain the zinc rods, in preference
to membranes; but on trial he found that the former were continually
breaking in spite of every precaution, and therefore he adopted the
latter, which are ox gullets, and which only cost as mmiy pence as the
former do shillings. The cimducting wires, rather more than 500 feet
long, were of copper, one-fiftli of an inch in diameter, which were

1.S39.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

289

both attaflieil to tlu' s;ime 2-ini-h rope, being previously covered with
t;ipe anil coated with waterproof composition, and the rope itself being
previously saturated with boiling tar, after which they were all bound
round together with broad tape, coated whh the same waterproof
composition, and served round with hemp yarns. Thus the whole had
the appiMrance of a single rope, oval in section, capable of being coiled
up, which was done upon a drum of 4 feet in diameter. This pre-
caution was found absolutely necessary to prevent kinks in the wires,
and the arranginnent of saturating the rope wilh tar was also found
necessary, to prevenl its contractions and expansions between wet and
dry from breaking the joints of the copper wire. At the far end,
where the wires were to be introduced into the charge, they were
separated for a few feet in length into a fork. The case containing
the jiowder was a tin cylinder made for the purpose, and just capable
of holding the proposed charge of 10 lbs. ; but to prevent the loss of
the whole charge in ctase of accidents, a small canister capable of con-
taining about i lb. was introduced into one end of this cylinder, with a
perfectly sound and strong metallic partition between the two. This
small canister was called the priming-box, and two short copper wires,
called the priming wires, were led into it, the ends of which were
connected inside by a piece of platin\nn wire about an inch long. These
wires nnist only be in contact with wood, ta]ie, or canvass, and there-
fore the priming-box had a wooden lid, through which these wires
passed, but the rest of it was usually made of tin. In immediate con-
tact witli the platinum wire, mealed powder was used, but the rest of
the powder in the priming-box was common large-grained powder.
Colonel I'asley rejected on trial two sorts of fulminating or detlagrating
powder, tliat had been used, one by Mr. \Vm. Snow Harris, of Uevon-
port, and the other by Dr. Hare, of fhiladel)ihia, because he found no
superiority in either of these over mealed powder. He also rejected
iron wire on trial, because the platinvnii wire tired gunpowder with
three cells of Daniell's battery, whereas the iron wire reijuired four to
etfect the same object. To secure the entrance of the copper wires
into the prinung-box, by a water-proof composition, elastic enough
neither to be cracked nor deranged by those strains or pressures, which
cannot be entirely got rid of under diHicult circumstances, ami at the
same time to pre\ent a pull upon the copper wires from without
breaking the very delicate platinum wire fixed to their ends inside,
were objects, the attainment of which gave infinite trouble. The ex-
pedients usually reconmiended, of corks coated with sealing-wax, for
the copper wires to pass through into the charge, and hidia-rubber
tubes, or varnish, to insulate tlie remaining length of eacli copper con-
ducting-wire, were rejected ; the former as being fit only for a lecture-
room, and the latter as being too expensive : instead of which pitch,
softened by liees-wax and tallow, was used at the suggestion of .Ser-
jeant-Major Jones, who had tried a great number of experiments for
ascertaining the best sort of water-jiroof compositions for bags of gun-
jiowder in lb32, when Bickford's fuses were first used by the corps at
Chatham, antl who also, at the same period, discovered tlie means of
imitating those fuses in an efficient mamier.

" Such being the preparations, the sham wreck, which was a small
rough fir-vessel, 5 feet long, 34 feet wide, and 24 feet deep, was simk
at low water, opposite to Chatham gun-wharf, on the 23rd of March,
the day appointed for this final experiment, having a ring and lines
attacheil to it, which were supposed to have been fixed by a diver,
the ends of which were kept in a six-oared cutter, ha\ing on board
the voltaic battery, the coil of conducting wires on their drum, and
the charge of powder, which was attached to them by fixing their ex-
treme ends to the priming-wires before described, and covering the
joints with tape and water-proof composition. As soon as the sup-
posed wreck was sunk, the charge was lowered and hauled into its
place in perfect contact with one side of the wreck, by means of those
lines, and the end of the downhaul was then made fast in the boat to
the couducting-rope and wires, so much of the latter having been
veered out and sunk, as- was necessary to allow the charge to reach
the bottom. All this having been done at slack-water, and conse-
quently withoid, any obstruction from the current, the boat was moored
nearly over the spot, and reiuained there for several hours, mitil the
period appointed for the explosion, when the flood-tide was running
strong, and the depth of water over the' charge about 30 feet. At the
hour a|)poiiited, a great imnd)er of spectators being assembled on the
wharf opposite, the cutter warped upon her cables against the tide,
until the full extent of SOU feet of tlie conducting wires was veered
out, after which Captain Sundham, the executive officer in the boat,
made the signal by bugle that all was ready, one of tlie cimducting
wires was now comiected with one pole of the battery, on which
Colonel I'asley, who was amongst the spectators on the wharf, gave
the order also by sound of bugle to fire; and ;ls soon as llu? last note
of this sound was heard, the second conducting wire was brought in

contract with the second pole of the battery, and immediate explosion
took place. A brisk shock was instantaneously felt and a dull sound
heard c'l the wharf ; in a few seconds after which a small column of
water was thrown up, followed immediately by all the fragments of
the sham wreck, which, being separated by the explosion, lioated up
to the surface. On the same occasion, some small charges were also
fired at the bottom of the Medway, one of which having been kept ten
days in a bucket of water, before it was sent down to the river, proved
the efficiency of the Serjeant-Major's composition. The successful
result of this experiment, not so interesting to the spectators, was felt
to be of equal importance with the former, and had been looked for-
ward to with still greater anxiety.

"On the (Jth of April, Colonel Pasley blew two large hard sandstones
to pieces at the bottom of the Medway, one by one charge, the other
by two successive explosions, each charge consisting of J lb. of powder.
The holes were 3 inches in diameter, and the charges were contained,
one in a tin cylinder of a diameter to fit the hole, the two others in
cylindrical canvass bags of the same size. Over each charge was
placed a wooden cone, and the up]jer part of each hole was tamped
by small broken stones, on Mr. Howe's principle before described.
One stone being of a compact form was split into five pieces by the
explosion; the other being much thinner, and consequently having
little resistance eitln-r above or below the hole, the first charge only
blew out the bottom of the hole below and the tamping above. This
stone was therefore got out of the water, and the second charge put
into the centre of the hole, having its own wooden cone over it, whilst
one of the two cones previously used, which had floated up to the
surface, was introduced under it, and then the hole was tamped both
above and below this second charge, which, on the stone being again
lowered to the bottom of the river, was fired by the voltaic battery,
and the stone was thereby broken into three pieces. In this experi-
ment all the prejiarations were made on the wharf-wall of the Gun
Wharf, from whence the stones, when loaded, were let down to the
bottom of the pier near it from a crane, and the slings used in this
operation were not disengaged before either of the explosions, which
enabled the men employed to get up the second stone, after the ex-
plosion of the first charge loifged in it, which had not broken the
slings. These blasts were fired from the wharf, where the voltaic
battery was placed, with conducting wires 60 feet long in two of the
experiments, and 100 feet long in the third, which being of common
bell-wire, only about one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter, required no
less than eight cells of Uaniell's constant voltaic battery to produce
ignition, although the same number (jf cells will fire powder under
water at five times that distance with the larger wires before described.
These experiments in blasting rock under water were tried in reference
to the important object of removing obstructions in rivers or in har-
bours, by blasting with the voltaic battery, in which case the holes in
the rock would require to be previously prepared, and the charges in-
troduced into them, by means of the diving-bell. Numerous experi-
ments were also tried for firing several charges simultaneously by the
vcjltaic battery, but the results were not satisfactory, as the engineers
at Chatham were never able to fire more than two or three charges
simultaneously, at any respectable distance; but they have not seen
reason as yet to ascribe their disappointment to the fault of the bat-
tery, but to the circumstance, that having no more than 500 feet of
the large conducting wires, they were obliged, in all their attempts at
simultaneous explosions, to make use of the small common beU-wires,
which they found by direct comparison not to be capable of conduct-
ing the same intensity of voltaic electricity to more than about one-
fifth of the distance to which it could be conveyed by the larger wires
of about three times their diameter. Accordingly, the ofticers present
at these experiments think that it would be perfectly impracticable to
fire a charge of gunpowder under water by a voltaic battery composed
of six of Daniell's large cells only, at the distance of 300 or 400 yards
by using common copper bell wires as the conducting wires, according
to an opinion given in a paper published in the "Civil Engineer and
Architect's Journal," for the month id' May, 1S3S. From their own
experience, they consider that gunpowder could not be fired at the.
last-named distance, by such conducting wires, with any battery com-
posed of fewer than 90 of Professor Daniell's largest cells, whiili
would probably be a more powerful voltaic battery tlian has ever yet
been used by man.

" On the 17th of April, Colonel Pasley repeated one of Mr. Wm. Snow
Harris's experiments before alluded to, by causing the wires from his
voltaic battery to pass through two barrels full id' gunpowder, and two
small charges of 5 lbs. each, the latter being jnovided with small pla-
tinum wires for explosion, whilst the cojipiu- wires passed straight
through the former in tlieir bright state, but the holes, which hail pre.,
viously been bored in opposite staves of the barrel, for admitting those

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[August,

wires, were seoiired by waterproof composition. The coiuluoting
wire from one pole of tlie battery passed first throna;li apowiler-barrcl
on dry ground; secondly, throngh one of those small charges smik in
tlic pond near Bronii)toii Barracks; thii'dly, through the other powder-
barrel on dry groimd ; and, fourthly, through the other small charge,
which was also sunk in the same pond ; after which it was leil back
to the other pole of the battery, the whole circuit being 1130 feet, but
the distance from the battery to the most distant barrel of powder
being, of course, rather less than half the abo\e. On the signal being
given to fire, each end of the conducting wire was lirought in contact
with a pole of the battery, so as to complete a circuit passing through
all those four masses of powder ; but only one of the small charges
was fired, instead of both, as was intended", which the officers present
at this experiment ascribed to the use of small bell-wires, as there
was not a suflScieney of the larger sort of wire to complete the whole
circuit without thein. After this explosion, some merriment was oc-
casioned by one of the powder-barrels being dragged into the pond
by accident; but being got out and opened immediately, the powder
vvas found uninjured, tlianks to the waterproof composition. The re-
maining charge was then coraiected with the other powder-barrel, and
the circuit which passed through both was completed, npon which an
immediate explosion of the second small charge took place. A great
nnmber of military and other spectators were assembled to witness
tliese explosions, each of which threw up the water to a much greater
height than any of the larger experimental charges had done in the
deep water of'the Medway. The circumstance of the powder in the
barrels being uninjured in these two experiments, though the voltaic
electricity passed through both of them in the first, and through one of
them in the second — for if it liad not done so, the circuit could not
have been perfect, and no explosion would have taken place — afibrds
by a parallel experiment a confirmation of Mr. Snow Harris's proceed-
ings at Plymouth in 1S23, to repeat which was all that Colonel Pasley
had in view at the time. He was on this occasion, as before, disap-
pointed in his simultaneous explosions, but he considers it of no use
to try any more experiments on this subject, till he shall be provided
with a greater quantity of large wire; and even for the common pur-
poses of lilasting rock, either on shore or mider water, with a length
of conducting wire not exceeding 80 or 100 feet, he would never use
copper wires of smaller diameter than one-eighth of an inch. It is to
be remarked, that in using the voltaic battery for practical purposes,
the principle conducting wires may serve for several Inuidred succes-
sive explosions, because in all those experiments the priming wires
wliich led into the charge were always short pieces, afterwards con-
nected with the former, and these priming wires, or a part of them
only, were destroyed, whilst the principal conducting wires were not
injured. Though the experiments at Chatham confirm tbe opinion of
the scientific inventor of this improved voltaic battery, that the same
number of cells possess greater power in a high than in a low tem-
perature, yet one great advantage of voltaic over common electricity
for practical purposes, is the superior Irardiness, if one may use the
expression, of the former. Whilst the connnon electrical machine can
do nothing, excepting in warm dry air, the voltaic battery may be said
to brave tlie elements, all Colonel Pasley's experiments having taken
place in the open air, and several of them when the battery was ex-
posed to violent rains, and, on one occasion, to a severe snow-storm.
In these experiments, it being necessary to carry the battery about,
which was done by a couple of bearers like those of a sedan-chair,
and to convey it on the river in boats, sometimes subject to motion,
the connecting screws, as originally fitted, proved liable to derange-
ment in those movements, wliich led Mr. Howe, with his usual in-
genuitv, to suggest an improvement on the mechanical fitments of the
battery, which renders the parts much more easily coimected for
action, but which, requiring a part of those fitments to be made of a
sort of brass instead of copper, Colonel Pasley would not adopt, until
he had made a reference to, and obtained an opinion from, Professor
Daniell, that this mixed metal, which was made of fifteen parts by
weight of copper and one of zinc, w ould not be objectionable ; and on
trial, having had a second batteiy of ten cylinders, also of the same
dimensions as the first, constructed at Chatham by the artificers of the
corps nntler his command, and fitted up in this manner, it was fomid
qidte equal in power to the first, which he received from London.

" As every engineer officer who is acquainted with the common mode
of firing military mines by a piece of portfire or slow match, comiected
with a powder-hose, leading to one or more charges, knows that some
delay, \isually of at least one minute, always occurs between the lighting
of the portfire and the explosion; and, further, that it is quite out of
the question to expect several mines to go olf simultaneously by this
system, for no two equal lengths of portfire, or equal lengtlis of pow-
der-hose, were ever known to burn exactly alike, — it is evident that

the voltaic battery, which communicates ignition to one or more
changes instantaneously, offers the only possible means of firing de-
fensive mines at the moment of time when they are required; that is,
when the enemy's troops, in advancing to the assault of works thus
protected, are seen to be upon the very spot of ground under the sur-
face of which those mines have been prepared. At that critical mo-
ment, the tap of one piece of copper wire npon another opens the
earth under their feet, and launches them into tlie air; and though
mines are perhaps more terrible in imagination, than destructive in
reality, yet the instantaneous action of the voltaic battery, which gives
no warning and brooks no delay, may, on such an occasion, be the
means of repelling an attack, against which the same number of mines,
fired by the connnon mode, might prove unavailing; because an
enemy's colunni, marching to the assault, might either have jjassed
beyond, or not yet have reached, the position of such mines at the
period of explosion. For large subaqueous explosions, to be directed
against wrecks sunk in deep water, and in a rapid tideway, the supe-
riority of the voltaic battery over all former expedients is no less
striking; so nuich so, that Colonel Pasley has always declared, since
his late successful experiments with it, that if he had been possessed of
such a battery, and known how to use it, last sinnmer in the Thames,
a gjeat deal of trouble, time, and expense would have been saved."

NELSON MEMORDU..
We have been induced at the request of several architects and artists
to publish the descripticms of the various models and designs exhibited
at the St. James's Bazaar, there being no document in which they are
collectively described. Wehavenotbeenable to obtain the whole of them,
but if those architects or artists whose descriptions we have omitted,
will furnish us with them, they shall appear in the next journal.

MoDKi. No. 2, Thomas Hopper.— ^The custom of mankind has Iiecu to ele-
vate those characters who have distingnishcd themselves, Ijy investing llicm
with power and titles, and to transmit those names to posterity who have
been ])re-eminently exalted, hy erecting temples to their memory. — Such was
the practice of the great nations, whose example other nations have endea-
voured to imitate. The Jews had a divine command to erect a temple for
the Ark of the Covenant, and Christian nations have dedicated churches to
honour the memory of men of eminent piety. Even Trajan's pillar was part
of a temple.

Believing that the highest honoiu- which can be bestowed in commemora-
tion of great actions by a nation, is the dedication of a temple to immortalize
the character of the hero : and as no difference of opinion exists, as to the
inunense sui)eriority of Lord Nelson, over the nudtitude of naval lieroes
whose names adorn the Uritish history, he, al)Ove all men, has desened the
noblest tribute that a nation can bestow. — Such lieing the conviction of my
mind, I have endeavoured to design a naval temple, commemorative of Nelson ,
and founded on the princijiles of ancient art. I have adopted a circular open
temple for many consi<ler.itions, Ijut above all, because I tliink it Ijcst a<laptetl
to the site, and calculated to improve the grouping of the other Ijuildings in
Trafalgar-square.

The upper part of the temple and the steps only are cxhibiteil : the crypt
and bJisso relievos want of time compelled me lo omit, as w efl as the painting
of the dome. — The crypt I propose to surround the granite pedestal « Ijich
supports tlie statue, on which Nelson's motto should beinscrd)ed : thecohiimis
111 llic crypt lo lui\e the names of the ships and the commanders deliTieated
on tliem, anil the niches to contain the statues of the ci mmanclcrs who feff
in tfie battles ; and also paintings of Nelson's ariuiis personal encounters. —
The pedestals \\bich divide the steps are intended to contain the entrances to
the crypt, anil tlic statues of the three seconds in command. — The divisions
on the frieze to contain, in sculpture, the history of a naval fight : the arclii-
trave withm to contain a procession of naval triumph, and also a lamentation
for the loss of the hero in tlic moment of victory. The dome to be painted
with three stars as an allegory, descriptive of ihe three great flatties, in all
of whicli Nelson had Iriumphed. The centre to be lighted from the crown,
in imitation of a star, with Nelson's last glorious command, tlie light from
wliicli Mould descend f\dl upon the statue. — The capitals of the columns are
ci mposed of oak, thistle, and shamrock : and all the niolibngs and architec-
tural ornaments are taken from parts of naval architecture, as the ornaments
of the Ercctheium were taken from Ihe nautilus. — The design is formed to ad-
mit of a great fountain to play on the anniversaries of Nelson's birth, — and
the three battles : and at night the tthole building could be Illuminated.

This is all that would be required in the dedication of the temple of Nelson.

P. S. Tlie flag ships of the naval crown aie intended to represent the navy ;
the coiiimanders to represent the officers of the service ; the sailors who sup-
port Nelson's statue, to rejiresent the foremost men ; and the naval crown,
which surmoiuits the building, is intended as the emblem of power and
authority, and of the immortality of Nelson.

Model, No. 3, T. Butler. — In the model which I oflfer to the consideration
of the coimiiittee, 1 have laboured to embody those jioints of character upon
which is founded the naval greatness of England, and which in my luniible
opinion, (in wliatever way they may be expressed) ought not to be forgotten,
in association with a monument consecrated to the memory of a hero, whose

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291

achievements are among tlie most renowned of the only nation upon eartli
that has claimed and maintaincil the wide dominion of the seas.

The extreme elevation of the monument « oiild he 8t t'cct, and. as materials,
I propose granite and bronze, as being best ailaptod to withstand the de-
teriorating en'ects of this climate. The stattie of Nelson, and the graduated
shaft upon which it is placed, together with the subordinate ligures, and the
rest of the effective part of the monimient in which tlie story is told, would
consist of metal ; and the massive base I propose to construct of granite.

The projected height of the statue of Nelson is 19 feet, that of the figure
of Britaimla 20 feet, and that of the Sailor of the like dimensions. Britannia
is represented as resting with her left hand on the anchor, her hope, glory,
and strength, and with her right hand she points at once to Nelson, and the
first word of his ever -memorable signal, " Kngland twpccts [every man to do
his duty," which appears inscribed round tlie column.

Behinil Britannia and above her head waves triumphantly the British Flag,
grasped by the sailor, in the rear of the monument. This figure of a seaman
stripped for action, represents the unshrinking front and unquailing heart,
with which England has ever met her enemies. The top of the column is
enriched by a chaplet of laurel, and on the pannels of the base are inscribed
Nelson's three grand victories, — Nile — Coi^nhagen — Trafalgar. The four
lions would be of granite, the same material as the base, and the whole en-
circled by a chain cable supported by globes of granite.

Tlie estimate of the monument is calculated according to the proposed sum,
30,000/.

In this design, it has been as mucli as possible my wish to avoid remote
allegorical allusion, by adhering to an alphabet of symbols, so familiar as to
be legible to the plainest understanding, and to impart to the whole a naval
and a British character. It lias also been my study to observe someH bat of
a pyramidal form, as best calculated to lead tlie eye upwards to the hero of
the story.

Model No. G2, James Hakexrill. — Before attempting to design a Nelson
memorial adapted to the locahty of Trafalgar-square, 1 have asked myself,
and others upon whose judgment I placed reliance, the following questions,
which, \vith the raphes, I subjoin.

Must it not be desirable that the National Gallery be as little inaskcd as
possible? — Undoubtedly.

What form of monument would best enstire that object P — A column.

As there are several points of view from which the monument would be
seen, what form will give, on so many angles, the best outline? — A column :
its contour being always the same from whatever point it is viewed.

Is it correct in principle or feeling that the statue of a subject be placed
looking down upon royally, as the statue of Nelson would be, if placed on
tlie summit of the column immediately over that of Charles the First ? — Cer-
tainly not.

M'ould it not be better, then, to place the statue of the hero on the base of
(he column, following out the example of Sir Christopher Wren ? — I think
so ; for that altitude would allow the interesting contemplation of the features
an person of the hero, and retufer a .seroiittari/ .^latae uitiwcessary. The height
would preserve it from accidental injury, and the projection of the cornice
protect it from the weather.

Of what material would you recommend its construction? — Of stone; for
of the tens of thousands of bronze statues which embellished ancient Greece
and Italy, AccinExi alone has preserved to our time scarcely half a dozen.
The statues which adorned the summits of the columns of Antonine and Tra-
jan, axe probably now circulating among the populace of Home, under the
degrading lorm of Roman baiocchi ; we know that that of Henry the Fourth
from the Pont Neuf, transformed into pieces of two sous and stamped with
the emblems of revolution.iry France, forms the common medium of traffic
of the Parisian vulgar. No memnrial intended to convey information to pos-
terity, should be formed of a valuable and convertible material; — and, with
such examples before him, who will be bold enough to say the Pitts and the
Foxes, the Wellingtons and Nelsons, of our time, will arrest what seems to
be the course of nature.

Upon this basis 1 have formed my design.

" Si quseris descriptioneni, aspice."

Model No. 7, and Designs Nos. 73 & 74, John Go/tUcn/t, F. R. I. B. A. —
Addison, in Ids work upon medals, produces one of Britannia seated on a
winged globe, holding in her right hand a Roman standard, (s. p. a. r.) This
medal was struck in lionoiu- of Antoninus Pius, who exteudeil the boundaries
of the Roman province in Britain.

There is also in Addison's work a medal of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus,
successor to A. Pius, representing Italia seated on a celestial globe ; for it
exhibits a section of the zotUac, and is studded with stars, probably struck in
honour of the Quadi, Parthians, &c.

Allegorical figiu-es standing on spheres, or holding a ball in the palm of
the hand, are of the most ancient date ; perhaps the medal Eternitas stnick
by Ant. Pius, is one of the finest : it represents a matron holding in her right
hand a globe snrmounted by a bird having a radiating crest.

From the Romans having placed Britannia and ItaUa reposing on spheres,
there is classical authority for choosing Such a basis for a statue of Nelson,
the hero of an hundred battles.

The sphere, w hicli is posited so as to bring Bnfain on its zenith, is 30 feet
diameter; the statue of Nelson 13 feet high ; the entire base 25 feet. From
the base line to the crown uf Nelson's head the whole is about 70 feet. This
altitude will be in accordance with the ;aijaccnt buildings, and espoci.ally the
National Gallery, which measures 50 feet from the base line to the apex of
the pediment, i'he diameter of the monument across the bastions which
support the allegorical ligures measures 40 feet.

An elevation such as this possesses the advantage of bringing the colossal
figures fully into view to the public eye, and every feature can be traced.

Moreover, upon a sphere the figure is thrown nut in a manner not Oi Ic
achievi-d w ere it placed upon a column, in which, from the continuity of tbe
shalt. and the figure terminating that continuity, there is less of atlraciicn
and imposing grandeur than in a massive globe, a geometrical figure charac-
teristic of stability and strength; and therefore, in every respect, if we may
be governed by the taste of the Anionini. indicative of victory and peace,
and ol the power of that country whose '• Hag for a thousand years lias
braved the battle find the breeze." From the National Gallery to the statue
of King Charles, the ground slopes about IG fi'ct. It is proposed to lowir
this ground from the National Gallery, to such a level as would give per-
spective elevation to that building, the Church of St. Martin, and the Colle"'o
of Physicians. This w ould be accomplished by a terrace on tlie south side" f
the roail skirting the front of the National Gallery, ami which woulil be
carried partially along the east and west Hanks of the scjuare soutlin ards.
The (juadrangle thus levelled would confer perspective elevation also on lie
monument, and be better adapted to its adjuncts and accessories. The liate
on w hich the sphere rests is sumiounted by allegorical figures. F'ame, Nep-
tune, Victory, and Britannia, occupy the east, north, west, and south points
of the base ; on the lower section of which tablets appear in these cardinal
points inscribed with the words Nile, Copenhagen, Trafalgar, and " F.nglamJ
expects every man to do his duty." Thus, beneath Fame, to the east, thu
Nile ; beneath Neptune, to the north. Copenhagen ; under Victory, to the
west, Trafalgar ; and Britannia, after the medal or national coin, sits over
the last words of the hero. Beneath these entablatures the masonry of the
base indicatesstability. ami allows the eye to rise gradually, first to the alle-
gorical figures, in the midst of Hhicli the sphere rests in its own simple
grandeur, leaving the colossal figure of the hero disengaged and entire. A
circular area extends 60 feet from the ba,se, which, being paved and sur-
rounded by a ballustrade, may serve the purpose of private promenade (a
view the monument, or be made a permanent sheet of water which the ad-
jacent mains may supply. This water would be in character with the pro-
fession of Nelson and of his country, giving besides to Trafalgar Square, a
great degi'ee of municipal comfort ; for whether we view this water as nn
ornament, or physical agent conferring salubrity on the atmosphere of a city,
there can be but one opinion respecting its adaptation to the design it sur-
rounds It is proposed to construct the sphere of polished granite or bronze,
and the whole to be polished to resist the effects of smoke and atmosphere;
and that access be had to the interior of the monument, where a chamber
and other depositories should be constructed, to contain the busts of illus-
trious persons distinguished by acts of valour, and w here thousands w lu)
visit this great metropolis may be atlmitted to inspect the same, — drawn to
the object by the display of a building of massive grandeur, unique in charac-
ter, and interesting in etfect.

Model No. 13, M. L. Watson. — The design is an oblong pedestal support-
ing a statue of Nelson, and siu-rounded at the base by allegorical groups i f
figures. The first group represents a nymph rising from the ocean at the
command of Neptune, with a wreath of laiu'cl, whilst Britannia directs the
attention to theiiero for whom it is destined. On either side are the victories
of the Nile and Copenhagen. The fourth gi'oup is desigiictl for the victoiy
of Trafalgar, with peace and power. The whole subject is raised on a plat-
form, on the foiu' angles of which are placeil the cUtferent oceans in which
Nelson distinguished himself. Throughout the composition I have endea-
voured to convey boldness, energy and grandeur, anil to impress on the mind
the stirring character of the British navy. My original sketch for tliis design,
will be found among the water-colour drawings, unaltered since the first
competition.

The architectural parts of the design are proposed to be executed ia granite,
the scidpture in bronze. Height 120 feet; width 64 feet.

Model No. 17, Frederick Claudius J. Parkinson. — The height of the obe-
lisk, with pedestal and substructure to the surface of the ground, to be 145
feet. — The extreme length of the monument, 120 feet. The height of Nel-
son to be 12 feet, and the other figures in proiiortion, as shewn in the model.
On one side of Nelson stands Britannia ; on the other, Victoiy. In the senii-
circidar recesses are deposited the arms of the subdued nations, in comme-
moration of the victoiies achieved ; the captives being guarded by the British
hon. — On the opposite front of the monmuent, is placed a sarcophagus, with
angels protecting the tomb of Nelson ; above the sarcophagus are aflrxed the
arms and mantle of the hero. — The sides rejn-esent the prows of sliiiis, with
various other nautical emblems. — The ohehsk is surmounted by the shield of
Britannia and the British ensigns. — Various other emblematical figures and
trophies are shown in the model.
The sculpture executed in bronze, will amount to the sum of 1(1,000 0 0
Tlic monument, composed of the best granite, will cost . 12,600 0 0

£28,600 0 0

Model No. 19, William Groves. — In the nulely embodied idea, bearing my
name, I have endeavoured to place before the noblemen and gentlemen of the
committee, a composition which should appear at once triumphal and iiioiiu-
mcntal, and therefore presenting the chai'acter which an Eiiglibhman attri-
butes to a sacred edifice — while, from its simplicity of outline it should not
clash with the surrounding biuldings.

The monument is surmounted by a group representing Strength rearing,
and Wisdom and Justice supporting the Admiral's (lag. Immediately benealli
at the angles are the four winds, Zephyius, Notus, Apeliotcs and Boreas,
Willi their rcsiieclivc attributes, publishing lo ihe four ijuarlers of ihc globe,
tbe ulory of the hero, who stands on an elevati'd pedestal benealli, in front.
On his right is Britannia, who has just embossed the name of her favourite
on her shield, thus converting it into a /F.gis for future war. On his left is

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[AUGVST,

llip winpli'ss vli'lury ot llu^ Ailioiiiaii . \iliicli I liave seleck'il as llii' nidsl
applicable lu the luTd, « liuin she never i|uitlc<l. — At the hack in the centre.
IS coiunierce seatcil, her rij^hl hmd resting un a trident, lier left iin asiiliere,
(indicative nf her iiilliicnce (p\er sea anil land.) and her loutmi a rudder. On
one side of her is the genius (if tlie Tcirriil Zune. and un tlie i.tlur llie geiiins
of the Temperate Zone, snrruuniled hy ilie emhlems of coninieree, and lie-
positing the piodiiee of tlieir repeetive climes at her feet. On tlio pedestals
at the sides, 1 propose putting the hero's arms, and above them inscribing the
names of the oftieers, his I'ompanions in victory. In the front and tH o side
panels in the base, are reliefs commemorative of his great victories. Copen-
hagen.— Nepture ordering the British Klag to be reared in triumph on the
ocean. 77(e A'lVc— On the left the Nile; behind, the genius of Alexandria
advancing with extended arms to welcome Biitannia, who, .accompanied by
the lion, is standing on the broken and prostrate eagle of France. Triifalgar.
— A ssrcophagus bearing the hero's name ; the genius of death about to de-
posit thereon a wreath of laurels ; a weeping warrior is seated at the base of
the sarcophagus, and at the sides are llie (lags of i''rance and .Spain. In the
back panel v\ oidd be particulars of the eri'clion of the moniunent. On (he
four projecting portions of the base, four lions. The figures to be 13 feet
liigh, and executed in bronze ; the building m gi-anitc, and the total height
of the monument from the ground line to the top of the Hag staff to be VJi)
feet. The whole cost would be 30,000/.

Model No. 21, Charlen Fowler, Ardiilert, and R. IV. Sievier, Sculptor. —
The composition presented hy the accompaiiiiig model is intended to combine
arclntccttire with sculpture; in order to obtain a more striking elf'ect from
their union, than either is calculated to produce separately : the one by its
form and mass beiug calculated to arrest the attention anil make a general
unpressioii, which may be heightened and jicrfected by the more refined and
interesting details of the other. With respect to the first it may be observed,
as the result of existing instances, that a mere stntcture cannot properly
convey the fcehng, or produce the effect required in the erection of a monii'-
nient to commemorate any celebrated character or event ; whilst, ou the
other hand, a statue or group of sculptiu'e is ineffective for want of mass,
and distinctness of form and oiitUne : the former is ajipreciated only as a (Hs-
taiit object, and the latter on close inspection. The object therefore has
been to combine the advantages peciUiar to each art, so that the many who
pass along may be struck with the general aspect of the monument ; and the
few who may pause to examine its details, may find their first imjiressions
carried forward and perfected by the beauty and significance of its historical
illustrations.

With respect to the design now submitted, the endeavotir has been to ren-
der it characteristic and ajipropriate ; avoiding plagiarism, liut without affect-
ing novelty. The rostrated angles of the iiedestals and the accompanying
decorations determine its character as a naval trophy ; whilst the basso re-
hevo and other parts of the scidptiuc plainly tell of the hero and his achieve-
ments.

lu regard to the structure it will be seen that the basement is distinguished
by plainness and soliihty ; and it is ]iro|)oscd to lie formed entirely of granite
in very bold masses. The couchant lions on the angidar pedestals are to be
of the same material, hut of a dilferent colour.

The colossal figiues seaterl against the four fronts of the pedestal rejiresent
Britannia, Caledonia, Hihcrnia, and Neptune ; Britannia accompanied by
couchant lions, and Ne|)tuiic reclining on a sea-horse, 2'.i feet in length ;
under which is the entrance to a winding stau'case, by which iiailies can have
access to the galleiy.

The die of the pedestal contains on its south front an insciiption, briefly
recording the fame and achievements of Nelson; and on the north front a
few simple historical facts relating to him, and the erection of the monii-
juent.

On one side is a medalUon containing the head of Nelson ; in order that
the lineaments of his countenance might be brought more distinctly within
view, the statue being so much elevated : and ou the other side arc his ar-
morial bearings.

The central compartmeul of the elevation has the dado or lower part in-
scribed with the names and dates of bis four piincipal actions ; and in the
jianel over each is a representation in basso reUevo of some striking incident
in each battle :

First. — Cape St. Vincent. When " on the quarter-deck of an enemy's
first-rate he received tlie swords of the officers, giving them inie by one to
William Fearney, one of his old Agamemnon's, w ho, with the utmost coolness,
ixit them under his aim."

.Second. — At the Nile. "After his wound was dressed he was now left
alone, when suddenly a cry was heard on the deck that the Orient was on fire.
In the confusion he found his way up. unassisted and unnoticed ; and. to the
astonishment of every one. appeared on the quarter-deck, where be iminedi-
alily gave orders that boats should be sent to the relief of the enemy."

Third. — Copenhagen. " A wafer vva.s given to him ; but he ordered a can-
dle to be brought lium the cockpit, and sealed the letter with wax, affixing a
larger seal tlian he ordinarily used. ' This,' said he, ' is no time to be hurried
and informal.' "

Fourtli. — Trafalgar, '-liardy. who was a few steps frum him. turning
round, saw three men raising him up. — 'They have done Iin- me at last.
Hardy !' said he.—' I hope not !' crietl Hardy. — • Yes,' he replied ; ' my back-
bone is shot through.' "

The latter occupies the front, and displays at once the clima.x of his
achi vcments, and the termination of his brilliant career.

The galleiy above is stqqiortcd on caniioiis, in lieu of the usual architectural
consoles, and the intervals iu the sgllitii arc ciu'ivheil with bumbs auil greuailes

instead of rosettes. The railing of the gallery is composed of decorations and
emblems having reference to the object of the nionmiient, thus combining
ornament with charaiteristic expression.

The upjicr compart iiiciit changes into the circulai' form, and is more fully
charged with decoration illustrative of the honours which Nelson achieved.
The four large wreaths encircUng the pedestal contain respectively the naxal
ami mural crowns, the viscount's and ducal coronets ; beneath which are sus-
pended the decorations of the four orders confeiTed upon him by their
respective sovereigns.

The frieze of this pedestal is entirely occupied by the heraldic motto, which
is peculiarly ex]iressive and apjiropriate. The ornaments surmoiiiitiug the
cornice, w Inch are analogous to the Grecian antefixa;, are composed of escallop
shells ; and the cupola is to be of copper gilt.

The statue of Nelson crowns the whole, and is to be executed in bronze,
aliout 16 feet in height. The entire height of the monument, including the
statue, will be 128 feet from the area of the square, being 19 feet more than
the York column.

The stnicture, with all its decorations and accessories, to be completed in
the most perfect style for the sum of 25,000/. ; and ample security will be
given for the due accompUshment of the undertaking for that amount.

Model No. 2'J, Patric Park. — Allegory, and p.'uticularly the old allegory
of Neptune, Tritons, njmiphs and sea-horses, can only be used in comme-
morating a man, whose virtues are unknown, or iiroblem.atical. In a monu-
ment to a man like Nelson, such cauiint be tolerated. — The character of man,
is .ffaufjieil ou bis t'outitenance, and jirovcd by his form. — On this just princi-
ple, which is the vitality of true scul])ture. 1 have based this design. 1 illus-
trate, by form and expression, in single statues and groups, the ch.iractcristics
of Nelson, as thus : — his ardent youth — his hopeful contest in the West
Indies — his daring mauliood under Sir John Jervis — his heroic struggle at
the Nile — his ]iiety after that glorious victory — the ajiplaiise of the world —
his resolved character at Copenhagen — his death at Trafalgar — the sorrow of
his country. — These characteristics claim our veneration, and sculpture hails
with enthusiasm a character so congenial to her imre and subhme genius. —
The obeUsk is used as a sign post to attract attention to the sculpture.

The height is 9j feet ; the statue of Nelson is Iti feet: the illuslrafive
statues are 11 feet; and the groups of the proportion of 7 feet. All the
sculpture to be executed in Ravaccione marble ; the obelisk, &c. in freestone ;
for 30,000/.

Models No. 32 and 168, S. Manning, Sculptor. — A column representing
the British state, founded on a rock ; on one side of the base Nelson is re-
ceiving the trident from Neptune, accompanied liy other sea divinities; on
the other, he is dying in the lap of victory. The column is siu'mounted by a
figure of peace.

Statue of Nelson 12 feet, monutnent 100 feet high. To be executed in
bronze, marble, and gi-anite, fiic. Probable estimate under 30,000/.

Model No. 37, JJ'illiam Pitts. — Grandeur and simplicity have been the
objects of atlainineut in this model. As a colossal statue be is raised over-
looking the city which his judgment and valour have preserve*.!, and his
immortal memory is a glory to its prosperity.

The statue of Nelson is proposed to be 30 feet, the pedestal and steps about
60 feet, the entire height of statue, pedestal, and steps, 90 feet. 'I'he statue,
lions, and subjects, in Ibe panels, to be executed in bronze, the pedestal and
steps in solid blocks of granite : to be completed in the best style of art, for
the sum of 30,000/.

Model No. 38, J. G.Lomjh. — In the model I now have the honour of sub-
mitting to your inspection, my great aim has been to render it perfectly simple,
and at the same tune purely Nelsonic; with this view the four subordinate
figiues I have kept four feet smaller than the statue of Nelson, and liave so
interwoven them with Ibe form of the pedestal, that is to say, adapted them
to the curve of the jicdcstal, that the eye is earned to Nelson at once. I
trust you will find that in this design architecture and scidptm'c are cotn-
jilctely blended, an ert'cct which could never be iirodiieed by a nnmlier of -
scattered figures ; and in the mouinuents we have liauded down to us of the
best ages of the Kgyptians and Greeks, we universally find this point has
been strictly attended to.

I propose th.at the monument should stand 40 feet lugli. the pedestal to
the base on which Nelson stands being '24 feel, and Nelson 16feet, whom
1 have represented in a boat cloak, holding a lelescojie, as emblematic of his
constant vigilance. I have chosen the above-mentioned height as one at
which the features of Nelson may be clearly recognized, and .also as being
pecidiarly adapted to the intended site. The four lower giircs are intended
to be 12 feet in length, raised 6' feet from the ground ; they are meant to
represent sailors — and 1 have ado[ited Ibe costume at the moment of action,
it being more sculptural. My idea of a monument being to make it n.'itional
and intelligible to all classes. 1 have studiously avoided allegory; 1 have
introduced such attributes as 1 thought would not interfere with tlic general
outline. The twd sailors in iViml are holding Hags, siipimsed to have been
taken in baltle; the pensive one to the right holding that of Trafalgar, and
Ibe one on ihe left that of the Nile, 'f he bassi reliev i on (be pedestal are
intended to be cut in intaglio in the granite in the Kgyptian manner, as my
great object has been to produce a great who'c and to preserve the general
outline. The whole to be built of granite, except the five figures, which, with
tlieir attnbutes, w ould be ih bronze — materials which would last as long as
time; and with a view to its duration I Iiave carefully avoided all paltry
oniaiueut and trilling mouldings ; 1 have alsoabstained from the inlrodiicliou

uf Jliiiil— a tiling alW'ij's giiaitleil agaiiist by llic augicuts, as a Yiulaliun vl' tlis

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINERR AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

2J«

fit sciilpuiii'. As It ri'g.mls the cost, I have confined myself within the
limits miiiica l»y llie cttmniiUee.

Model No. 39, E. If. Bail//, R. A. — An obelisk raised to the memory of
Nelson by his grateliil country. At the h.ise, our great naval cotnmauder is
reiireseuted supporting the imperial standard ; on liis left stands the genius
of Britain, hailing with attection the hero of Trafalgar ; his attendant. Vic-
tory, lieing seated on his riglit. At the hack of the obelisk rests the Nile —
Neptune with the subordinate deities of the ocean, form a triumphal proces-
sion round the rock on which the monument is placed, thereby indicating
that the victories of Nelson were as extensive as the element on which he
fought.

The he ght of the monument is intended to be 80 feet ; the diameter of tlie
steps t)ic same extent, and the height of Nelson to be 9 feet ; the other
(igures in projiortion as in Ihc sketch. To execute the whole monument in
Kavacciuni marble, (Ihc same as (he arch before Buckingham Palace isnuilt
of,) 22,000;. If executed in bronze, 30,000/.

Model No. 40, E. II. Baihj, II. A. — On four projecting parts of the base
are four sea-horses, indicative of the element on which the hero's battles
were fought. On three sides of the base are tlu-ee colossal emblematical
figures of the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, the Baltic; and on the fourth,
that of the genius of Britain. Above these figures are four projecting anti-
cpie prows, anil still higher, four figiures of victory hnked hand-in-hand and
facing the four cpiarters of the globe. On the summit stands the statue of
the immortal hero.

The cost of erecting this monument would be from 25,000?. to 30,000/., ac-
cording to (he magnitude of (he figures.

Model No. 41, Patric Park. — In tliis design, I devote one group of a
victorious hero, 20 feet high, in honour of Nelson's deeds. The statue is 30
feet high ; on one side of which, Manhood moiuns the death of Nelson ; on
the other. Honour is consoled by the glory and triumphs of Nelson. Executed
in Kavaccione marble ; pedestal, &ic., freestone ; 30,000/.

Model No. 4.5, /. Harrison, of Chester. — In designing a memorial to
Nelson, 1 have at the same time endeavoured to arrange a temple to the
navy, suitable in its style to the general architecture of Trafalgar-scpiare ;
and from its mass, or elevation, not apjiearing to take from the importance of
the Gallery, or attempting to rival St. .Martin's spire.

In the centre of the interior is erected a colossal statue of Nelson, around
which are receptacles for the statues of future naval heroes as they arise.
The 16 statues under the porticos are of the admirals of England, with the
panel above each of them filled with bas-relief, illustrating the principal fea-
ture of their professional career. The sculptures in the tynipauums of the
pediments, and in the compartments of the base of the obelisk, are intended
to carry out a biography of Nelson. And (if the funds pennitted) to com-
])lete the design, the metopes in the fi-ieze should be filled with sculpture,
conveving a history of the navy (.after the manner of the Parthenon). The
whole surmounted by the obelisk, bearing in letters of gold on its imperish-
able sides to the four winds, the future watch-word to naval greatness. The
fom- colossal tigm'cs, at the angles of the middle terrace, are symbolical of the
Nile, Copenhagen, and Trafalgar subdued, and Thames triumphant. The
crocodiles and lions arc to be fitted up as fountains, to play on the anniver-
saries of naval victories, having the name of the victory hung in the panel
over the four doorways. The s|iace under tlietcnaces are intended as vaults
for any usefid pm|iose, to be approached by doorways in the breast walls at
the lower side of the sipiare, wliich wHA ailmit of another flight of steps to
make up for the dip of the ground.

The height to the apex of the obelisk is 100 feet; and. consdlucntly, about
20 feet higher than (he centre dome of tlio National G.illery. The hcif;li( of
the pediments is about 17 I'eet lower (ban that of the gallery; and (be
extreme width, from outside of ccdumns, is about 17 feet wider than (he ceni re
portico of the gallery, 'lite building, with its relievi's and statues of (he
admirals, it is proposed should be executed in one of the approved freestones
of the country ; the statue of Nelson in marble, and the symbolical figures,
with the crocodiles and lions, in iron. The cost of the whole will be 30,000/.
The model is worked to a-four(h of an inch scale.

Model No. 46, Henry Case. — In composing such a momunent, to be
placed in Trafalgar-square, there are many difficulties to he surmounted, in
adthtion to that, of doing justice to the achievements of so great a man.

The large space to be filled, demands considerable extent and importance,
in the design itself, while the general ert'ect equally reipihes, that tins shall
be obtained, with as httle obstruction as may be possible, to the view of the
sunouiiding buildings. These objects combined, seem more easy of attain-
ment, by adopting, as the characteristic of the design, the graceful and
towering, rather than the massive and severe, taking care that the soliihty
and repose, so indisjiensable to greatness, be not lost.

The character of the place, (one of the >gayest thoroughfares in London),
also suggests a similar design. Art will be more effective when it avails itself
of feehngs already half formed, and strives to direct them to noble ends, than
when it attempts to force them into other channels: — and in the temple, on
the mountain, or the sca-shorc, a hero's monumeut, should induce reflection,
and impress by solenmity, but in the more busy and crowded parts of a city,
where a thousand hurry past, for one who stops to think, it should address
itself to emulation, at once, wilhout the intervention of thought, possessing
Jiowever, that which shall satisfy the mind of the more attentive beholder,

Agaiu,— ivliatsYcv the msutai vUariivtur yf thg man, gaity (jaiiuyt stud)' be

misplaced, in a "Memorial of the Achievements" of one whose life was ,a
succession of victories. If these ideas be correct, that design will be best
adapted to the circumstances, which is most calculated, to excite, at a glance,
in the thoughtless idler, or hurrying man of business, the desire, by a life
like Nelson's, active and honourable, to win honours like his, from a grateful
country ; — which by its sculptures and inscriptions, shall tell, to the obser-
vant, more striking features of his life and character; — which shall leave on
the minds of all the impression of a monument apjiropriate to a naval hero,
and worthy of a Nelson ; — and shall combine with these qualities, the indis-
pensable conditions, that it shall assist the effect, of the surrounding build-
ings, and be in its dimensions of sufficient importance to occupy the most
magnificent site in the metropoMs.

This is the arduous task which has been attempted in the design now sub-
mitted to the committee, and for the aeeomplishmcut of whielia Corintliiau
column appeared to me to olfer the gi-eatest facilities.

The column, with its pedestal, stands on a platform of an elevation of 11
feet 6 inches, at the angles of which are triumphal stela% 5 feet 6 incites in
diameter, and rising 16 feet from the plalform : they support the naval and mural
crowns, the ducal and viscounts' coronets, proposed to be in metal gilded.

This is placed on a terrace 140 feet square, 6 inches higher than the ground
immedialely opposite the centre portico of flic National fiallery. At each
angle of the terrace is a troiihy of sea-horses and fl.ags, (proposed to be
executed in bronzed metal, or black marble.) on a eippus surrounded willi
wreaths, inscribed with the dates of the numerous minor engagements in
which Nelson was concerned ; the pedestal of the coliunn Ijeing reserved for
the great actions. In each front are two lions, flanking a flight of steps CO
feet wide. Tlie cippi are 12 feet 6 inches in diameter, and the lions are 7 feet
high, from the blocks on which they are placed. . , , .

The pedestal of the column is rectangular on plan, its sides slightly in-
clined and panelled for the reception of relievi ; over which are inscribed the
names of the victories celebrated and Nelson's Hag-shiiis : St. Vincent, Cap-
tain ;— Nile, Vanguard ;— Copenhagen. Elephant ;— Trafalgar, Victory : these
and the other inscriptions, are shown in the perspective vieiv.

The podium of the platform bears on one side,—" England expects every
man to do his duty ;"— on another,— "Westminster Abbey or Victory ;"— on

(1,(, third. •■ 1 luive done my duty, I thank CJod for it;" — and the fourth is

reserved for an historical inscription. or.-,-,.

The column rises over four prows, issuing trom a triezCr-i teet in height,
(emblematic of the sea,) and a plynth bearing the motto, " Palinam Qui
Meruit Ferat." The base of the column is cablol. The capital was com-
posed after a minute study of four of the most beautiful capitals Greek and
Roman art has left us ; I nave endeavoured to collect their beauties and pro-
duce a whole more adapted to an isolated position than the ordinary Corin-
thian capitah and .at the same time more easily executed on a large scale.

Over the column four Tritons support a fholtis.on which stands the statue
of the hero, )7 feet (i inches in height; in construction the support of the
(1-^'ure is independent of the Tritons. This part forms a lantern of observa-
lifin, and from it (he surrounding scenery may be viewed in every direction.
The'fi'nirc does not stand on a point, but on a circle wdiosc diameter is more
than one-third the height of the stitue.

It is proposed that on the south, east, and west of the moiiument, the site
shoulil lie rcdiii-ed to a level, (hree feet higher than (he ground at its lowest
iiart. to form an extended base to the whole mnnument. This would make
the levels, w-liich at first appeared a disadvanlage. a means of obtaining a
considerable edcct : on the south there would Ije two steps, each 1 foot fJ
inches in height, broken at proper distances with blocks for candelabra, and
with a (light of sfeps in the centre ; on the north, a retaining anil low para-
pet wall would place the Ntifional Gallery on a terrace; while on flie east
and west of the monument from an area 180 feet by 80. a flight of steps 30
feet wide, would give access to the upper level immediately opposite (o each
of the wing porlicoes of that building ; producing unity and the idea of pur-
pose ; and lite ri<pose on either side would heighten the eflect of the monu-
ment. This is illustrated, and its effect shown in the general plan and per-
spective view. , , . , .

If it shoidd be thought desirable, a gallery, (a plan and section of which is
shown,) for the reception of paintings, models and sculpture, (with a room
for a keeper), may be obtained under llie platform of the column. The gallery
would be 12 feet high, and 16 wide, and have a (otal extent of 120 feet ; larger
dimensions might be obtained, but the keeping the plaffurin within the
smallest possible hmits, seems of paramount importance ; it would be liglited
by skylights unseen from wilhout. Tlie entrance to the monument is alsa
entirely screened from sight.

I'RliNClPAL DIMENSIO.NS. Ft. lU,

Height to the upper platform 11 S

ba,se of column 5" 6

Height of column including base and capital 118 0

Entire height 207 0

Entire height of the Lcmdon Monument 202 0

Euiiie height of the Duke of York's Monument .... 137 9

Diameter of the proposed column 13 0

Extent of terrace MO 0

The entire cost of the monument, (he masonry of granite, and ol the be.-rt
workmanship, would be 30,000/. It is proposed to introduce gilding in parts,
as shown in the perspective view. In the drawing I have omitted the vic-
tories on the prows, as they appeared somewhat to detract from simplicity in
the design; they are however retained in the model.

'I'hc time and labour I have bestowed on this design, fo obviate the objec-
tions urged against a column as a monumeut, w ill I hope, offer sufficient
apology for the length at which I have found it necessary to describe it.

Model No. 50, Samuel Ni.von. — In monuments, it appears to be extremely
desirable that the individual in honour of whom it is erected should be con-

spivuviisly iiyuUtd out ; that Itis lisjius should in fact be the moniuucut, ami

20-1

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Al'GUT,S

tlial all else sliDiilil be merely accessory to that main object. The artist has
therefore so comiiosed this design, as that the eye shall almost involuntarily
fix itself at once u|ion the statue ; auil he has enilcavmu'cd to rcjiresent the
hero in that calm and dignilied attitude, which appears to be best fitted for
a nionunient.ll structure.

Tu denote his country, a group of statues representing Britamiia exultingly
rising from the waves, supported by Freedom and Order, is pljiced in front ;
to mark the scenes of his triumphs, (he Allantic with the Tagus and the GnU
of TBolhnia, and the Mediterranean with the Nile ami the Tiber, enrich eitlier
side; and, especially to point out that deep sense which lie enlerlained. of
having been raised by Providence to scourge and to subdue the enemies of
his country and of social order, the Fates are represented as weaving tlie
tissued thread of his career. 'JTie plintli course is proposed to be decorated
with bassi-relievi of his achievements,

MonF.L No. 51, Fic/iard Kelsei/ mid Samuel AV,ron. — It appearing to be
very desirable that the mommient, and its accessories, should be made to
ajipear a eoniponcnt part of the original design for the National Gallery ; in
tlie general an-angement of the whole area, this olijcct is kept in view, and it
is proposed that the gi'oiind should be excavated to the jioint of lowest level,
that the retaining wall on the north siile should form one terrace line, and
the centre he occupied by a wide ascent, or scala regia to the National
Gallery.

It is suggested that the stejis should be bonndeil ou either side, by a tier
of colossal lions only, or of monuments to distinguished nava! commanders,
in which colossal lions should bear a prominent jiart ; and it is anticipated
that such ail avenue would not only, in itself, be magnificent, but lead the
eye gradually forward to rest upon the portico of the Gallery, and liring it
into the picture. It is proposed that in the centre of this avenue, an enlarged,
hilt exact model of Ponipey's Pillfir at Alexandria, should be erected; that
the statue of Nelson should be placed in front of it, so as to be distinctly
visible; tliat his achievements and those of his brother officers should be
sculptured in l)asso relievo upon the sub-plinths which support the column ;
that the pillar should be surmounted cither by a Victoi'y or a Britannia ; and
that the whole .should be made to form one majestic trophy, in that style of
simple grandeur which best accords vritli the character of all great men.

It is conceiveil that not only do the sinipUcity of its composition, the
gi'accfulness of its jiroportion, and the artist-like breadth of its foliage, render
it peculiarly applicable for such a purjiose ; but that the circuiustances of his
first great victory having been achieved almost at its very foot, of his title
heing inchssolubly united with Egypt, of the familiar acquaintance which
mariners of all European nations have with it, and of the facility with which
they miglit recognize and hail it as an old friend ; appear to jioint it out as
more appropriate for a memorial of " Nelson of the Nile," (ban any other
example of ancient art, or any column composed liy a modern architect coidd
possibly be.

Designs Nos. 57 and CO, Walter L. li. Grntirillc. — The triumphal cohinni
1 propose as a memorial to Nelson is of the Corinthian order, after the an-
cient remains of the Temple of Jujyiler Stator at Konie, w Inch I'alladio con-
sidered to be superior to any work he had ever seen, and anterior to the
temple of Mars Vllor. It rises on a sub-basement to tlie height of 218 feet,
including the statue.^

The entire .shaft is of cast-iron, cumposed of 26 courses of a proper thick-
ness, and 111 fl, 3 in, high. It rests on a square pidtstal, the die of whicli
is 23 feet wide and Ifl feet high; and this again upon an ocl.igonal sub-base-
ment, lU feet above the ground, covering an area of nearly 32.000 square feet.
The base of the shaft and the capita] are cast in brass. The former is 6 it 0 in.
high, the latter, M ft, 9 in. From the lop of the capital, a round pedestal
15 feet high, made of cast-iron, and ornamented ivith brass festoons, supports
the statue of Britannia Tonnns standing on a gluije, hurling the thunder-ljults
as emblems of naval power w ilh her right hand, and holding in her left hand
the sceptre of the sea. This figure, typical of ihe pre-eminence of Great
Britain on the ocean, has been deemeil a more appropriate termination to a
lofty column raised to the glory of the first naval commander ihat ever li\ed,
than the statue of the hero himself, whose lineaments could not be perceived
at such an elevation. It was consequently sulistituted for the litter. It will
be 25 feet high, and it is proposed to make it of cast-iron gilt, or of yellow
bronze, like some of the most recent monuments eructei! on the continent.

The pedestal of the column, 36 feet in height, is of masonry and solid stone,
cased in by statuary marble; of the latter material are the four sides of the
die, at the angles of w hicli four colossal cariatids, in marble, stand to support
the massive cornice ami ornaments of the pedestal. They represent, liy
appropriate emlilems, the figiu'es of Spain and Denmark weeiiing over the
defeat of their navies, and of the genius of Cape .St, Vincent and of the N i le,
as witnesses of the two great naval fights bearing tIio,se names. Resting on
each angle of the cornice of the pedestal is an ancient rostrum, to gi\e
character to this great naval column, and rich hanging festoims link the (cnir
rostra together ; all which ornaments are to 1 e of lirass. On the south t;ice
ct the die the hero himself, seated in the triumphal chair of slate, holding
the Iruncheon of command, and having just receiveil from his country the
imperishable laurel. oceu])ies the centre. He is clad in classical cosuune.aiul
by the well-known lineaments of bis countenance, caretullv preserved tjy the
scidptor, and placed vvithin roach of the eye, will remind tlie belmlder of the
cherished ol)ject of ibis monument, (Ju ihe broad plinth of Ihe pedestal,
hov^'ever, and within a wie;iili supported liy Vtctories, llie name of Nelson is
inscribed. The east and wesi faces of ihe die will represent, in alto relievo,
the Ijaltles of ihe Nile and Copenhagen; while on Ihat of the north side, over
the entrance door, the closing scene of Nekson's immorlal career, will present
its naked and impressive trulli to the multitude Ihat daily passes in trout of
the National Gallery. The sub-basement, of an oclagunal form, is emichcd

ttilh 2t projected blocks close to the ground, intended to serve as plinths, to
receive, hereafter, the statues of those naval commanders who most distin-
guished themselves during the last protracted war ; or short pedestals, with
Ihe colossal ImsIs only of such commanders, might be substituted for the
statues on the blocks in question, A space is left between each statue on the
faces of the octagon, whereon to inscrilie the name, and a short epitome of tlie
deeds of those commanders. In its interior, this octagonal sub-liasement
oilers four .spacious rooms 41 by 25 feet each, ;uid 19 feet high (besides smaller
aparlments for the accommodation of keepers), which being well lighted from
the top ]iresent an excellent oppmtnnity for forming a naval library, and
gallery ot pictures. The .sh.afl of cast-ircm is 13 feet 6 inches in iliameler
close to its liase, and under the astragal 1 1 feet i inches, A band 4 feet wide,
beginning at the base of Ihe shall, rises spirally to the height of 62 feet, de-
veloping a superficial length of 721- feet of cast-iron bas-reliefs, representing
the Fasti of Nelson, and those of the naval history of Great Britain connected
w ith his career. The figures will be 3 feet high. The llutings of tlie shaft
descend from below the astragal to where the spiral terminates. A light
geometrical staircase of wrought iron, 3 feet wide, runs all the way from the
ground up to a door in the round iK'destal which supports the statue. The
door opens into the upper part of the capital, so arranged as to form a gallery
for the visiter, — thus avoiding the usual unsightly appendage to insulated
columns of a top railing which disfigures the abacus in most of those monu-
ments. The staircase will consist of 365 steps of very light construelion, and
be lighted by lot'p-holes, or sotiphaUs.vA^neiX in ditlerent parts of the spiral
band as well as among the llutings. The great entrance door, at the north
side of the octagonal sub-basement, v\ill be seven feet high by three ieet and
a half wide; and will afford immediate access to the staircase, through a
.spacious waiting-room.

To this description I have only to add that I have selected iron as the ma-
terial for my column, because it is the emblem of strength — because it may
be supposed to proceed from the iron cannon captured by the hero to whom
the column is erected— because it is not only the most abundant metal found
in Great Britain, but also that in the working of which the English has out-
stripped every other nation — lastly, because the use of iron for so gigantic a
structure, otters (be character of originality, and the more important quality
of economy. The Prussian and the French governments have felt the truth
of this, and wliile the former raises pyramids and obelisks in cast iron, the
latter is now occupied in erecting colossal fountains in the Place de lu Con-
corde, with the figures made of cast iron.

Since my first proposition of a cast u'on column, objections have been started
against the employment of that material, on the grounds, first, of its heing of
an easily oxydizable nature ; second, of its being likely to be struck and
damaged by lightning. Tlie latter gi-oimd, I am happy to state, is considered
by some of the first philosophers in this oounlry, who have been considted
on the subject, to be purely imaginary. On the contrary, as the iron shaft
from its apex will be continuous down to the ground, — should the electrical
fluid be at all attracted by the colunui, the fluid will be transmitted, as in the
case of the ordinary protecting rod on the top of houses, to the earth, and
there dispersed in silence. As to the first ground of objection, that of the
easily oxydizable nature of iron, it is happily done away with Iiy the most
recent discoveries of chemistry. Many are the processes now in use for pro-
tecting the surface of iron in the most ett'eetual manner ; and without enter-
ing into the most scientific of these manipulations, it may lie stated that the
preparation employed by the Prussians in all their public monuments of cast
iion, has hitherto preserved them most completely.

RECAl'lTULATIO.N OF THE SEVF.KAL MEASUKliMENTS OF THE NELSON COLUMN.

Feet. In.

Sub-basement 19 0

Pedestal 36 0

Base « 9

Shaft Ill 3

Capital li 9

Meta 15 0

Statue with the globe 25 0

Total 217 9

F.STIMATF.

I was proposed to erect the foinier column for the .sum of 25,000^ ; but in
e(mscqueoce of Ihe increasetl (juantity of sculptured marble in the pedestal,
and the adililion of the .sub-basement in the present column, the sum n quired
will be 29,500/,

CUMI'ARATIVF ALTITUDE OF TEN TRlUnil'U.-VL COLUMNS IN EUROPE,
INCLUDING THE INTENDED ONE TO NELSON,

Feet, In.

1. Duke of York (London) 123 6

2. K.nrl Grey's Cidumn (Newcastle) 134 0

3. Place Vendome (Paris) I3fi 0

4. Alexander Column (St, Petersburg) .. 141 0

5. Trajan Column (Rome) 145 0

6. Col'unnede Juillet(Paris) 148 6

7. Anionine Column (K(nne)' 150 0

8. Melville Column (Kdiuburgh) 150 5

9. City Monument (London) 202 0

10. Nelson Memorial (London) 217 9

Design No. 64, Thomas BeHamy. — The erection of a memorial to the
hero of Trafalgar being at length determined upon, the country will doubtless
ere long lie enabled to look upon a monument worthy ahke of Nelson and of
the arts ; and honourable to that national feeling which, after the lapse of 33
years, is now awakened to record imperishably liis brilliant exploitis.

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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

205

The columnar form from the lime of UiiiUius (the first naval hero to whom
the Romans decrceil a monnmcnt), through those of Trajan and Antonine
down to our own day, has generally hecn adoi)tcd whenever a monument has
been required of colossal dimensions, and is consequently most favourably
associated in the jnibUc mind; hut, notwilbstanding this association, and the
intrinsic beauty of the column when of good proportion, its fituess is ques-
tionable when applied as the isolated pedestal of a statue.

The proximity of Trafalgar-square to the York cohmin renders it liighly
important tliat any momnnent to be erected there, should be essentially ilis-
tinctivc in design from that monument. That monotony may be avoided,
and something new in art produced.

Much has been said on the injmious etlect which any object erected near
the National Gallery would have upon that edifice, if the parts of which that
object might he composed were to be larger than those of the Galler)' itself,
but this could only ajiply if the ])arts of tlie Gallery possessed magnitude, or
approximated to that quality, which is clearly not the case. Its facade would
in truth be benefitted by any monmnental object that should present a marked
contrast to it in scale and character.

The simjjle form of the obelisk when magnitude is taken into account,
renders it, next to the pyramid, perhaps the most imposing of all forms ; and
it would be difficult to point out a situation better suited for its adoption
than Trafalgar-square, where contrast with existing forms, masses and ma-
terials is most necessary.

The obelisk of the accompanying design is 06 feet high, and 12 feet square
at its base, being larger than that before the Latcran i-biircb at Rome. The
author had conceived the idea of procuring it of one block from the granite
quarries of Haytcr, but the funds announced as available for the memorial
are too limiteil to allow of more than mention being made of the idea. The
memory of Nelson u ould perhap.s not be unfitly recordetl by a form which
had its origin on the banks of that far-famed river, at the month of w Inch he
won one of the brightest of his laurels The tridents, ships, and victories on
the bases of the obelisk, and on the obelisk itself, are sunk lielou- the surface
of the granite, as are also the words — Nile,— Copenhagen, — Trafalgar, — and,
the signal to the fleet on the day of the last quoted battle, " England expects
every man to do his duty ;" with which each face of the uppermost base of
tlie obelisk is respectively charged. This design might be executed for 28,000/.

Design No. 67, George Foyijo. — Round the mainmast of a man-of-war are
piled trophies of Nelson's valour — mute ponderous cannon, silent musketiy,
&e. In front the hero receives additional tokens of success — the swords and
banners of humbled France and Spain ; but beneath, in the base of the monn-
mcnt, a bas-relief, in form of a ship's hull, represents the Conqueror of Tra-
falgar death-struck — passing to immortality. The word " Victory" inscribed
over the scene of triumph, and against that of death " We.stmbisler Abbey,"
remind us of Ixis vigorous — almost prophetic — eloquence and enthusiasm.
At the mast-head (decorated with three crowns of sea-weed) a British Tar
proclaims the glorious victory. On either side is seen a figure in action,
intended to represent some renowned companion of Nelson's prowess ; and
reliefs of the Nile and Copenhagen w ill complete the exterior.

The ornaments consist entirely of obiects obtainable at sea, and character-
istic of our navy and its illustrious leaner, who dared beyond the rules ol art.
Obiects that savour of preparation, and partake not ot enthusiastic impulse,
and likewise the mystic visions of antiquity, have been discarded for the more
terrible features of modern warfare.

The interior of the basement will afford well-lighted space for fifteen or
twenty ba^-reliefs or pictures, commemorative of our navy's gallantry.

The height proposed is about KJiO feet, w'hicli from its prominent position,
and the etlect of perspective, will appear lofiy among surrounding objects;
the principal figures aoout 12 feet. At that proportion the monument can be
well executed in stone far more durable than Italian marble, under 25.000/.
A real mast of a line-of-battle ship w ould be roost suitable for the upper shaft,
and bronze may with propriety be applied to various decorations.

Design No. 08, Carl Toltie. — The colossal statue of the hero (27 feet 9
inches), is placed on the apex of the column, which signifies Britain, and is
supported by England, Scotland and Ireland, represented by the three coun-
terforts, each carrying then' respective genius (with appropriate emblems, the
Rose, Thistle and Shamrock) in inclined position, eontemidating the great
services of Lord Nelson. The divided composition is redeemed or brought
to unity below the basement by the three steps or gradius. The platform
with the three second counterforts, supporting the lions as symbols of
strength and power, conies next ; below these the steps are spreading to an
amazing circular extent, according to the immensity of British connexion and
influence, as likewise the great firmness of the united kingdoms. Underneath
one of the lions is the entrance to a circular gallery, decorated with naval
trophies, connected with the spiral staircase, which by 320 steps brings the
visitor on the balcony to enjoy a magnirteent prospect. The whole height
from the pavement to the top of the statue is 217 feet 3 inches. W\ the
sculptures of Scotch granite. Erected of granite and Portland stone, esti-
mate, 28,000/. ; and entuely of Aberdeen granite, 40,000/.

Design No. 72, Thomns Hcllnmy.— the design consists of a platform 150
feet square, charged at the angles with marine and navnl emblems; the base
of the pedestal is sculptured with colossal models of first rates and victories,
and bears the following inscription ranging round its four faces : —

TO ADMlIiAI. HOUATIO VISCOUNT XEI.SON, DUKF. OF BRONTF,

This meitioriiil is ercrleil hy pnlific suhscriptioti,

A. D. MPCTCXXXIX.

Thlrtij-f(jiir years after his death, to evmmimoralc his unparalkted achievements.

The plinth bears the names of Nelson's three great victories, Nile — Copen-
hagen— Trafalgar — and the memorable signal to the fleet, " England expects
every man to do bis duty.'" — The circular portions of the pedestal are sculp-
tured with a dance of'l'ritons and dolphins, oaken bands, ]irows of ships,
shells of the nautilus, and « ith the palm.— This design might be executed for
27,000/.

Design No. 89, Frederick Claudins J. Parlcinson. — A triumphal archway
100 feet square, enclosing acirctdar temple formed of 12 Corinlbian eolumus
supporting a richly panelled dome ; under the centre of which is placed the
statue of Nelson, with various emblematical figures.

The height of the building to be 70 feet. The length of each front in-
cluding the steps and landings, 140 feet.

The cost of the building would be 18.300/. The statue and emblematical
figures would not exceed the amount of 8,000/.

Designs Nos. 90 and 91, Richard Kelney. — Agreeing with Mr. Nixon that,
if a column be deemed an inappropriate memorial of Nelson, there is but one
other kind of monument which, under the circumstances of the proposed site
and the money to be expended upon it, can well be considered applicable to the
purpose ; the artist has, in both his seidptural designs, made the statue the
most conspicuous feature. In one composition it has been his object to place
before posterity all the distinguishing characteristics of the man and the
hero ; and to render it fitted to illustrate the poet's idea, " This story shall
the good man teach his son."

It is pi^ipo.'ed that each face of the basis shall significantly teach one
great lesson. In this elevation, his mercy is chielly shewn. The inscribed
quotations of his own words, " May humanity, after victory, lie the predii-
minant char.acteristic of the British lleet," and '_' The moment an enemy sub-
mits, from that moment I become his protector," breathe that angelic feeling.
The sculptured group of a beautiful female pleading for a fallen warrior,
reiterates the charge : and it is impressed mure deeply by the basso-relievo of
the wounded Nelson rushing from a bed of anguish to save his drowning
enemies.

On the remaining sides it is proposed, in like inanner, to depict his courage,
his perseverance, and his integrity.

In the other design, the proportions of the masonry are altered, and the
groups at the fool of the centre block are intended to point out the immediate
results of his exertions ; as, theprotection of the East and M'est Indies, the
saving of Eg; pt and the Turkish empire, the general assistance of Europe,
the dissolution of tbi' Northern Confederacy, the exaltation of the British
empire, and the humiliation of our enemies.

The bassi-rclievi in ibis front include the incidents of his death, his funeral,
and the general regret; which is ;dso further shown by the mourning figures
in the centre.

The drawing of Pompey's pillar is merely intended to show the effect of
|)lacing the statue of Nelson on the summit. The substructure is also altered,
and the revolutionary dragon WTithing under its deadly wounds is intended
to point out the attainment of the great object of his life.

In the three sculptural designs, the statue being considered as distinctly
the chief feature, all else, how ever colossal it may be in it.self, is kept sub-
ordinate and unobtrusive. It is anticipated that, from a distant point of
view, the mere mass of each would be perfectly expressive of that strength
and simplicity of character which marked the man ; that, on a nearer ap-
proach, the groups and statues would detach themselves and attract atten-
tion ; and that, upon closer inspection of bassi-relie\i, composed in the quiet
but expressive style of Grecian art. the interest wuiild be fully kept up. and
all the beautiful lessons of his life form a pictorial history, at once adapleJ
to impress the uneducated and to gratify the most refined. The artists who
submit them beg very respectfully to remark, that ihcy are only sent in as
sketclies; they feel them to be cap;ib!e of many and great improvements,
and regret that time has nut admitted of more than one being modelled ; but
should the leading idea of the cuin|iosition point out either of them as adapted
for the monument in memorial of Nelson, it would give them the greatest
pleasure so to improve it. as to be creditable to themselves and to their coun-
try.— With respect to the scale upon which they should be erected, that must
much depend upon the money which will be really applicable to the purpose,
but they conceive that the statues should be aljuut 30 feet in height.

Samuel Nixon proposes that as to liis design the statue of Nelson should
be in lironze, the masonry in granite, and the accessory scidptnrc in the best
of our native stone.

Richard Kelsey proposes that no portion of his designs shoiUd be in bronze,
but that the finest grained granite should he used in all the colossal work and
the reliefs, but thinks it may be necessary to adopt other material for the
main groups of statues.

Ricliar<l Kelsey would wish the model of Pompey's pillar to lie ten feet in
(Uameter, and has no doubt of being able to give the shaft the appearance of
being hewn out of one stone, and thus to obtain all that imposing efl'ect
which appertains to monolithal monuments.

Design No. 97, James Henry Nixon. — This design is a monnmcnt of
colossal dimensions calculated for duration, in which the form is simple, the
material imperishable. The statue of Nelson in a calm and dignified attitude,
is intended to he 30 feet in height ; and being phaced on an elevatcil pedestal
and basement, would ])rove a eonimaiuhng object from Parliament-street,
shewing the figure distinct from the surrounding buildings ; and not so high,
but from its colossal size, the features would be plainly distinguishable when
viewed from below : the total height of the monument to the top of the
figure, woiUd be 90 feet. On the basement is intended to be sculptured in
bas-relief, a representation of the most remarkable actions j showing the

296

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[August,

Tlif teni|>k' is ilividi'cl liy (irnainontnl (lilasliTS into f(i\ir ciimpai-lments : llic
one towards the sonlh beiiii; left o(ipn, aflortls an ample view (if the statue,
which is iilaeed on a iwilestal ni llie miiklle (if tlie hiiilihnf;, anil receives a
direct light from the centre of tlie dome — for tliis purpose covered with stout
glass; the other three compartments are closed op with lias-reliefs of his
jirineipal victories. — A faithful resemblance of the lieroic victor v\oiild thus
be handed down unimpaired to posterity, enshrined within those glorious
achievements, w hich shed lustre on the annals of our country, and immortalize
his name.

The heifiht of the inonument is 60 feet, that of the statue 1.5 feet.

The entire work can be executed m the most perfect and elaborate manner
for the sum specificil, in the follow iiig materials. — the base of grey granite,
the temple of Aiiglesea marble, the statue and bas-reliefs of statuary marble,
the lions of red granite, and the trophies of bronze.

Design No. 134, Thomas II. Letois. — The design consists of an enriched
octaugidar obelisk 150 feet high, surmoimted by a figiue of Liritanuia, and
having a statue of Nelson 12 feet high, on a jiedestal about 30 feet from the
grouud. lias-reliefs of his victories adom the faces of the obelisk, wlrich
rises from a doiilile platform occupyiug the cetitre of the given space.

Design No. 114,7. Taylor, jun. — A triumphal pillar 172 feet high, siir-
inonated with a statne of Nelson, 18 feet high, ascended by a spiral staircase
inside, having a gallerj' on the top sunk out of the capital of the column, and
a short railing almost imperceptible.

On the front of the pedestal the hero is represented as falling, while defend-
ing Britain, who is .seated on the column above ; victory descends and sustains
him in death, wliile he grasps to the last moment the standard of h s country,
A British vessel is seen in the back-ground, ami on that side the column a
weeping willow is introduced, referring to the universal feeling which de-
plored the loss of this greatest of all naval commanders.

The figures in the fore-ground are entire, the back-ground in bold relief.

Oil the other three sides of the pedestal may be represented the three prin-
cipal naval actions in which he nas engaged.

N. B. It is submitted, that a sculptural group, commemorating Nelson,
should represent his dying moments, as he expux'd in action, and in the midst
of the greatest of all liis victorious naval engagements.

W ith a WelUngtoii, and other heroes who have s«r\'ived the conflicts in
which they were engaged, an animated statue alone is appropriate ; not equally
so with those who fell in action, which event it is considered should stanil
recorded as well as their bravery and prowess.

Design No. 148, G. B. Moore. — In designing the memorial, attention
ought to bo (Urected to the period at which it is proposed to erect it. In the
excitement of \iclorj', trojihies are allowable ; but after twenty-four years of
peace, to revive the exultation of triunipb, would be unworthy the generosity
of a great civili/.cd Christian nation. The ancients never restored their tro-
phies, when destroyed by time or accident, considering that old enmities
ought not to he jierpetuated. The present memorial should be rather a testi-
monial of gratitude, to one who tUed to obtain an lionotirahle peace, than a
record of national glory ; and all allusions to victories should be introduced
as illustrations of the actions of the hero, and not as triumphant emblems.
Under this train of feeling, this design has been composed.

The subjects of the bassi ivlicvi have been selected to illustrate the various
virtues of Nelson.— No. I, Duty : Nelson proceechng to his vessel during a
storm near the Goodwin Sands.— 2, Intrepidity: Cape St. Vincent ; Nelson
hoarding the San Joseph.— 3, Mercy: the Nile: Nelson saving the enemy
from drow ning.— 4, Piety : the Nile: Nelson and his sailors returning thanks
to the Deity after the battle.—,'). Justice : Nelson in the Senate claiming at-
tention to the services of his compatriots.— G, Magnanimity : Copenhagen :
Nelson rendering justice to the brave defence of the Danes.— 7, .Solicitude :
Nelson, on his arrival in England, visiting his wounded scamen.—8. Heroism :
Tr:ifalgar: the death of Nelson.

Above the bassi rclicvi are medallions of George III., George IV., and
William IV., the sovereigns he was 'honoured by; ,ind Victoria I., marking
the reign in which the memorial is erected. At the angles are lions and boys
denoting conragc combined with gentleness. The statue of Nelson is in front
of a pillar, supporting the heraldic banners of Kngland, Scotland, Ireland, and
Wales: and terminated by an angel bearing the olive-branch of peace, em-
blematicitl of the end for wliich he struggled and fell ; for if any man could
say with truth he fought for peace, — it w;is Nelson.

Design No. 150, TAomas Moulc. — This design, presenting a union of
architecture and sculpture, sufficiently announces its destination by its leading
forms. The statue of Lord Nelson is re])rescnted on an enriched pedestal ;
which, with the basement and its graduated foundation, makes the total
height of the monument ()5 feet. Its greatest diameter is 1 10 feet.

Nelson, the principal object, is intended to bo represented at the moment
of perceiving a decided advantage obtained over the enemy. The admiral is
attended by a captain, and near him is a boatswain, ready to communicate
orders. Withovtt diminishing the importance of the principal figure, this
group wotdd show the dift'ercnt grades of the navy, and form a just tribute to
their successful co-oiieratioii.

The figure of Lord Nelson, 15 feet in height, might easily be discerned
from the extremities of the large square in which the mouuiuent is required
to form the centre object. To place a lofty column in such a situation is ob-
jectionable in point of table, as its height would overpower the facade of the
building erected as a National Gallen, in front of which the moninuent of
Nelson is intended to be placed. That building presenting a lengthened ele-
vation of Greek arclutectiu-p, tbis ilesJgu is Mtnle with eoues])(jamugrefesuv6
to its piescnljctl site.

The pedestal bears, on its principal front, a bas-relief of King George III.
receiving the Admiral as Viscount Nelson— a title granted to the brave sea-
man, in 1801, for his services in the Baltic; together with the appro])riate
motto — " Palmam rjui meruit fernt." On the reverse of the jiedestal is in-
tended a bas-relief representation of the pulilic funeral decreed to Nelson ;
the car bearing his body, approaching St. I'aul's ; and with the inscription of
his last words — " England expects every man to do his duty."

Between these bas-reliefs, on one side, is intended to be placed the arms of
Nelson of Bnrnhanithorp, with the crest of his family ; on the other side, the
heraldic angmentations, as Lord Viscount Nelson, K.B., Duke of Bronte in
Sicily, Knight of Saint Ferdinand, &c. Ac. &c., badges of military honour.

The basement of the pedestal is square, having upon its angles massive
naval trophies of victor)' over the French, the Dutch, the Spaniards, and the
Danes. To give breadth and quantity to the design, con'espondent with the
very large space for which the monument is required, the basement is ex-
tended on its western and eastern sides by an architectural elevation, ter-
minated by rostral columns, each of which is surmounted by a classical figure
of victory, making a height of 45 feet : the lower part of the shafts of these
columns is environed by boarding-pikes used in the navy. The whole base-
ment, divided into three compartments, is enriched with sculpture in bas-re-
lief, representing the consequences of the battles of the Nile, Copenhagen, ami
Trafalgar : dismantled ships of war, prizes from the enemy, are shown on
their way to British ports.

The raonnment is intended to be placed within an enriched enclosure,
elliptical on its ground plan, and 140 feet in length, rising to the height of
about 9 feet. A part only of this inclosure is shown in the architectural ele-
vation, as it was (leemed necessary to exhibit the graduated and broad founda-
tion of the basement, w liich coidd not .actually be seen in a general view.
The pedestals on the enclosure are surmounted by female figures, bearing
alternately palra branches, naval crowns, laurel wreaths, and the funereal
forth. The fronts of the pedestals to lie charged with emblems of the sea,
and the trophies between them to record separately the successive victories
in which the gallant Nelson was engaged.

Including the ornamental decoration, the author of this design feels con-
vinced that, under careful management, the whole may he canied into exe-
cution (in Portland stone) \\ith tlie means proposed, viz. 30,000/.

Design No. 160, Thomas Bellamt/. — It is proposed by this design to form
a semi-circular platfonn in the centre of Trafalgar-square, elevated one step
above the paving of the road next the National Gallery, and continued of the
same level to the line of paving connecting the Strand with Coekspiu'-street,
along which line it acquires a height which is ascended to by stejis. This
platform is enclosed by a metal railing, except at the steps and opposite the
National Gallery, which aie reserved as approaches to the platform and
monument.

Tlie base of the monument is circular, 100 feet in diameter, having six
radial blocks sustaining colossal couchant and donnaiit lions, significant of
the result to which the achievements of Nelson mainly contributed. The
pedestal which rises from this base is also circular, having three radial ma.sses
sustaining colossal seated figures, personifications of the Nile, Copenhagen,
and Trafalgar, his three great victories, over which are characteristic trophies
in bronze. The three intermediate faces of the peileslal are each charged
with an allo-ielievo illustration of some striking incident in eacli of the said
battles. The three minor pedestals bearing sea-horses are charged with the
names of the most important of Nelson's lesser victories. The columnar jior-
tion of the pedestal is 12 feet in (.iameter. and has a wide gallery supported
by eorbals dix'orated with Tritons, underneath which in relief is the motto,
■■ Palmam qui meruit ferat." The temiinating portion of the pedestal is
encircled by an arrangement of tridents and tcstoon.s of laurel, and has a pal-
mated tapping. A naval crown receives the statue oi the hero 16 lect high.
The whole height of the structure from tlie paving to the top of the statue is
153 feet. The material of the substructure is proposed to be of granite ; that
of the superstructure free-stone, well selecteil as to durability and colour.
The parts jiroposed to be of bronze are distinguished by its colour.

REPORT ON STEAM VESSEL ACCIDENTS.

This report is one of the most laborious compilalioiis which has yet
been submitted to the ]niblic, and its luitliors have exliibited great
research in (he extent and objects of liieir inquiries. Governnient
commissions have fro([uently been complained of as uncalled-for jobs ;
but the parties to this present affair seem to have exerted themselves
to show, that theirs was not a subject with wliich you might go from
Dan to Beersheba and find all barren. It appears lo be a kind of
encyclojiedia, pointing out not only wliat ought to be done, but also
wliat ought not to be dtme, what has not been done, and what never
will be dune. We had thought, in fact, and exjiressed ourselves to
that effect at page 91 of our present volume, that tliis very in(pilry
was totally uncalled for, and although we have read this inarvelliius
report with great attention, we cannot but remain of the same opinion
still. In the absence of statistical data, we might have expressed
ourselves with some diffidence, but with the documents now before us

we feel jierfectly assuted of tlie justice of tlw opijiivns we tlien enter'"

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

207

g.allant conduct wliicli ever marked the daring career of the illustrious hero.
On the four projecting blocl^s of tiic J)asemcut are represented emblematical
figures of those virtues which Nelson is acknowledged to have possessed in
an iniineut degree, — Courage and Mercy, Fortitude and Justice. The whole
of this design, carefully executed in red aiul white gianite, can he erected for
the sum proposed hy the honourable conuuittee.

Design No. 110, ff. E. Gaveij. — A partially enclose<l column, siu-mounted
by a statue, with a mausoleum interior; altogether forming a sculptural
architectivc monumental pile, commemorative of the hero. Height 170 feet.

BencHlh the azure vault of nature's v.TSt archilrative dome, of coUossean
form, (visilile to myriads of lesser breathing mortals, scatlered around o'er
hill and dale.) stands the sculptured representative to unborn ages of the

iierson, — the most (glorious of the grealest maritime nation's naval heroes,
prison, 'riie statue. «itli naval trophies, surmounts a column, around Hhich
twirl antagonist dolphins, emlilemHtic of sea war.

Beneath a gallery are embodied a series of four allegoric bas-relievoes.
hypothetical of the hero's attributes, enterprise, valour, victory, and im-
ninrtality.

Knter[iri.se. a youth of tiery mien, with heart swollen with enthusiasm,
over-canopied by the perils of stormy danger; he sees, throuyli the vista of
breaking thunder -clouds, starry rays encircling the hero's wreath of laurell'd
glory ; emulations incentive : with eager haste to win the prize he throws od'
the habiliments of inglorious inactivity, and. with heroism armed, dashes to
llie immortal goal, in vain withheld by the syrens, Luxury, Effeminacy, and
l''ear.

Valour, with destructive weapon, rushes to the pinnacle of danger's rock,
followed by his brave compeers with victory's pennon streaming ; there, with
energy heroic, they engage with invasion's monster and its usurping legion,
— scattering with ifestruction the foe to oblivious death and darkness.

Victory. — The conquering victor, lion-skin habilimented sits on the throne
of conquest, crowned with laurel by radiant glory and the sire renown, in
whose historic tome the hero's achievenient stands recorded : amid captured
|irizes. that lay scattered at the hero's feet, the captive leaders of the foe
U|ion bended knee, deliver to the conqueror their inglorious arms; whilst,
with so;iring lliglit aloft, on wings of swiftness, Fame with trimipet blast to
till' World the victor's triumph proclaims.

Immortahty. — The hero's bust, laurel wreathed, rests on fame's pedestal in
glory's altar, en.shrined : lighted by the censor light of imperishable immor-
tality ; thus, through the darkness ot obscurity, and through all time, his
resplendent fame is rendered manifest to man, woman, anrl infancy; who
approach the altar with their choicest gifts as otierings, dedicative to the
hero's memcu-y ; the man with iniiilements laborial ; the woman «ith sweet
fruits; and infancy with lovely flowers and gentle innocence; whilst, witli
united voice, Europe, Asia, Africa and America, acknowledge the hero's
greainess.

Descending from the allegorically idenl to the typically real, is presented
a second series of bas-relievoes. illustrative of the memorable events tliat
occurred during the hero's victorious achievements ; the battles of St. Vin-
cent, the Nile, Copenhagen, and Trafalgar.

^ietv^•eell the lower bas-relievoes are placet! personifications of Genius,
Fame, Victory, nd the Sea.

The structure at various parts is graced with n.aval trophies and emblema-
tic devices of the sea and war.

I'roni four double (lights of steps a circular collonade is ajiproached. in
which arc arches; thus, tlirough Ihcir gates is viewed the interior, a mauso-
leum.

Beneath fame's monumental pile, as by a nation's joint acclaim enshrined,
on pedestal the sculptured sea hero lies in sepulchral rest ; though mantled in
death's pall, he is w reathed with fame's laurel glory ; laved in the gorgeous
golden rays of day's eflulgent orb. or bathed in the silvery gleam of the gen-
tle, calm, sepulchral beams of the silent queen of night.

Over the front .trch is placed the Nelson heraldic arms.

.Surmounting pedestals (at the summit of four semi-flights of steps) are
[ilaced sculptural groups of na\al characters, engage<l in the various occupa-
tions on board a British ship of war ; thus, steering the ship, taking the ob-
servation, weighing the alienor, and firing the gun.

Ardimd the structure are placed 8 British hons on pedestals. — The object
ot the erection of the galleries is to affonl a ne.ir inspection of the .sculptures.
— The entrance to the galleries staircase is by a door in the side of one of the
archways. — The monument to be encircled by an ornamental slone pronie-
iiacle ; and the whole enclosed willi an iron palisade and gas lamps of a naval
design.

Design* No. 117, Jamps Thriipp. — Britannia's great naval hero, and the
upholder of her maritime supremacy, receiving from his country the laurel
crown, and from the nations, whose fleets were subdued by his genius and
daring, tokens of then' submission, is the idea intended to be e.xpresscd in
this design.

A few words in explanation, and more particidarly of the emblematical
representations of I''raiice, Spain and Denmark, may not perhaps be deemed
irrelevant.

The subject seems to require that they sKould be represented as warriors.
The act of lowering their banners has been chosen, as being the actual mode
of expressing sulmiissioii adojited in na\al warfare; and also because it
neither implies arrogance ou the one part, nor abjectiiess ou the other ; for
it might be that of the bravest warrior when unable longer to contend against
bib foe.

The eagle Fi-ance has long appropriated to herself as an emblem, as may
be seen ou the monumental records of her own victories. Ancient coins have
been the authority for that iiuUcative of Spain ; and to Denmark has been

givcu tli« i'av«u 9t' tlis ttvitli. litis kssu' kiPg4otti to al^g k«u Ji'ci,>i:s^«ut«d

under a more youthful form than the others. The medallions of the rcsiiective
reigning sovereigns on the sliields mark the era.

In pourtraying the Iiero it has been the aim to avoid ;uiy expression of
ostentation ; for Nelson s illustrious deeds were ever accompanied by a simple
dignity of character. The principal basso relievo lells his fate : the colours
ot the hostile fleets are struck— the hour-glass is broken— Nel.son has fallen—
and the flag of his country enshrouds him. The rays of a setting sun betoken
that he terminated his career in glory. The other b.assi rehevi are to repre-
sent some ot the noble trails of the hero's character ; such, for example, as
th.it which he exhibited when wounded at the battle of the Nile.

M'hile desirous to retain the proportions and the general features of those
examples in art tli t have been sanctioned bv ages, the architect 'has at-
tempted to engraft upon them the characteristics of a triumphal pill.ar. The
shaft is enriched with laurel leaves, and the names of the principal battles ;
and the capital is formed of four figures of victories, bearing wreaths entwined
Willi Nelson's herahlic motto :—Palmam— Qui— Meruit — Feral : — words w hicli
seem alike appropriate to the act of llritannia and to the hero himself

The letters it is proposed to cut through the stone :— thus formed, they
will not readily be obliterated, nor aflect the outline of the shaft, whilst they
will serve to light the staircase within.

The inner side of the abacus may be sunk sufficiently low to render a gal-
lery-railing unnecessary as a protection.

Nelson's last immortal signal encircles the pedestal.

The wliole height of the design, with tlie crowning figm-e, is 168 feet ; and
its cost, provided the figures of Nelson and Britannia only are e.Kecuted in
bronze, will nut exceed 30,000^. The present inequality of surface in the in-
tended site it is proposed to alter by lowering the upper portion.

De.sign No. 128, An Architect o/ilZ/rfrf/Mcf.- A monument to the honour
of the greatest hero that cveradorued the annals of a maratime nation, worthy
of the genius, valour, and ambition of his country, is an undertaking very
dilficult to effect successfully. Nevertheless the author flatters himself that
he has solved this important problem in a fitting, clear, and distuict manner.
The author's first point is to represent the Iristory of the hero in a language
at once technical, expressive, and comjirehensive, to all classes of the nation.
— His second point is, to express this technical language in a dear and ele-
gant style, united to historical truth.— His third point (which, until now,
has been neglected by every one,) is to build the inoiuiment to b.annonizc
with the buildings which surround it, especially St. Martm's Church, and the
National Gallery. — The author has endeavoured to effect tlus object as com-
pletely as possible, and thinks the monument, when finished, wUI gi\c the
National Gallery a more elegant, imposing, and materially improved ajipear-
ance, as a public edifice. — This epico-technico poem is to be thus realized :

•• AftiT the victory of Trafalgar, sanctified bv the hero's own blood, the
spoils and trophies are brought on the Admiral's ship to the capital of the
British empire, to be exposed to the admiration of the nation.''

Trafalgar-square having been selected for such an exhibition, will be made
to represent a port at the entrance of a canal in the metropolis. This port is
protected by four moles. The two moles towards the south will be surrauunted
hy two rostral towers, on which are represented the capture of the enemy's
vessels: the other two moles towards the north, will be surmounted by tro-
phies gained in his varimis battles.

The four principal victories of the hero, viz. St. Vincent, the Nile, Copen-
liagen, and Trafalgar, will be represented by four great bas-reliefs jdaccd
round the moles, and explained by inscription in Mosaic asphalle on the
pavement. Above the towers and trophies are pkiccd four great globes, indi-
cating the tropical parts of the world over which K.nglaml iviuns, viz. A.sia,
Africa. America, and Australia; and over each globe is set the British crown!
In the midst of the port is seen the ship Victory, that has brought home the
spoils and trophies gained by Nelson, lu the centre of the deck, on a pedes-
tal raised upon a large die, is placed a colossal statue of Nelson, in the dress
of an Admiral, leaning on his sword. On the four sides of the die are placed
an iuscriiition and 3 bas-reliefs, viz.. towards the south, or t;r,and entrance, is
inscribed a summary of the history of the hero, with the dedication. On the
east side is a bas-relief descriptive of his nativity. On the north, his inaugura-
tion ; and on the west, his apotheosis. Two lateral basins .supply the port
with water. The port is surrounded by a balustrade, and the four moles by
a railing. The die is protected by four huge, and eight .'-mall bar stones,
with chains hung in festoons. At each entrance are two pillars, on which
are placed two lions. The pavement and deck will be inlaid with in.scriptions
and ornaments of Mosaic asphalte. In the interior of thcshipare apartments
for one or two porters, who will have the care of the keys of the toners, arul
whose duty will he to keep the moniunent perfectly clean, and likewise to
preserve it from wanton injury.

It is alinost impossible to give an exact cslimulc of the e.rpen.ies of a monu-
ment which may be constructed so d flcrcntly with regiird to the artists, and
materials employed, and of which the cost of the .statue and bas-reliefs may
ditler so considerably. Nevertheless, the .author believes that it would not
exceed the sum of 3U,000/. The expense would be easily diminished by build-
ing the two towers lower and without rost, rendering the south mob .s similar
to the north, viz. surmounted by trophies only, and sacrificing the two lateral
b;isins.

The author hopes that the committee will condesceml to observe thai bis
plan can undergo such modifications as thev may deem lit. uuiiei any circuin-
staiiccs. If tlie original idea is preserved, t'lie author iloes not doubt bin that.
it might be made tlie most classical and important monuineut of the .age, and
worthy of tlie national honour.

Design No. 132, Raphael Brmuton. — I h.avc adopted the form of a circular
t«niple to commemorate the deeds of the illustrious hero, as it at once olfcrs
a coniplele protection for his statue, however lK;aiitifully evecutcd, and forius

298

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[August,

In some <if the print.slio|) windows is to be found a very imporlant
engraving of the philosopher endeavouring to find out the wind in the
kitchen l)ellows, an example from which Her Majesty's government
appear to have derived a lesson on this occasion. Having been foiled
in a previous attempt in 1831, they rediscovered, mirabile dicta, tliat
accidents really did occur to steam vessels, when it struck their en-
lightened minds that a commission must be the very machine to find
out the caiu>es of the said phenomena, and accordingly appointed
Captain Pringle, of the Royal Engineers, and Mr. Josiah Parkes,
Civil Engineer, as fit and projjer persons to conduct this momentous
inquiry. The instructions to these gentlemen were to find out, 1st. the
number and nature of the accidents which have happened in steam-
vessels within the last ten years, as far as they can be ascertained, and
2nd!y, the practical means of preventing the recurrence of such acci-
dents. They accordingly sent round a circular, calculated to enlist
the prejudices of particular parties, and entrap them to commit them-
selves and neighbours. Of some they asked, "What accidents have
occurred in Ijoilers not of your construction?" of those who might
think steam-vessel ])ro])rietors too chary in repairs, tliey incjuired,
" Are the engines and boilers of steamers in your opinion overhauled
and repaired as frequently as is requisite to maintain them in a safe
working state, both as regards the boilers and effective working powers
of the engines ? Not contented with this, they raked up all the old
newspapers and penny-a-line paragraphs they could find, and applied
to the Thames waterman for the favour of their sentiments on the
subject.

The result of all this labour is a large blue book, which is printed
at the public exjiense, and prefaced with a letter from the commis-
sioners, stating what they had and had not done, and also the important
facts that "they had received, in answer to their queries, much infor-
mation from gentlemen residing at places which their time did not
admit of their visiting, and that they had also inspected vessels fmild-
ing, and macliinery in progress of construction;" and this is but a
sample of the miserable twaddle whicli was the natural result of such
a preposterous job. The deaths of pigs, boats' oars being cut in two
pieces, and similar valuable matter, are in fact the staple of the report.
The commissioners, naturally feeling diffident of the possibility of
manufacturing a report with such materials, extended, in their public
zeal, the sphere of their labours, and not only reported accidents wliicli
occurred above twenty years ago, but in every part of the world, and
of all cliisses and descriptions. We are luiwilling to attribute motives
fiu'ther than the natural anxiety to earn a guinea, or it would cer-
tainly have appeared to lis that this looks something like a crusade
for the purpose of annoying an important interest, and concocting a
govennneut job. Their zeal, however, has overstepped their dis-
cretion, and they have themselves furnished the materials for refuting
their own absurdities. Having with great labour mustered up 92
accidents, they thus classify them ; wrecks 40, explosions 23, fires
from other causes 17, and collisions 12 ; and then proceed to dilate
upon tlie several subdivisions of tliese various classes. The enume-
ration of the several causes of accidents establishes, indeed, nearly a
separate cause for each individual accident.

The schedule of accidents in the Black Book, on which the super-
structure of jobbery is to rest, has not been analysed by the com-
missioners, so that we must ourselves save tliem the troiible. This
list begins in 1817, twelve years before the period defined for the
inquiry, and extends down to the jieriod of going to press, enume-
rating more than one case of the same vessel, including all the varieties
of accidents to which vessels of all kinds are exposed, and having
about as much to do with the specific object of inquiry as the com-
missioners liad to be employed at all. It includes cases in North
America, the Mediterranean, Portugal, Germany, France, and Heaven
knows where, and displays an extent and variety of research not
equalled since Dr. Jolmson's Essay on Broomsticks. The sources of
information, of whicli even the commissioners tliemselves do not
attenijjt to uphold the credit, are country papers, jiemij'-a-liners, hear-
say reports, anonymous accusations (p. 2,) imaginary suggestions, and
no testimony at all ; (case of the Frolic, p. 4,) and would form but poor
evidence in a court either of law or of conscience, the sole object being
to make o\it as glaring and flagrant a case of mismanagement against
the steam-boat interest, as the ingenuity of the operators could suggest.
Where the liorror could be touched up in the Greenacre murder style
it has been attempted, and even animals pressed into the service to
supply the deficiency. Of the 02 cases and no-cases detailed, above
sixty are not even attempted to be attributed to machinery, and the
whole amount attributable to such causes, including flues getting
heated, exjilosions without injury, &c. only amounts to 2ti, of vvliich
above one-tliird occurred before the period assigned for the com-
mencement of tlie commissioners' labours, and making, in twenty-two
years, an average of little more than one per annum. With 800

vessels annually employed, the mmiber of special accidents was se\en-
teen in ten years, or aliout one-fifth per cent, per annum. K)i these
cases only 15 were fatal to human life, or not one per cent, per annum.
The number of lives lost attributed to defective machinery amounts
to 78 !! ! or about 3-G per year, which, reckoning only two millions of
persons carried in a year, makes a loss of life of l-555th, or '000177
])er cent, or not one in half a million. The number of pigs we leave
to the commissioners to calculate. The causes of the various accidents
detailed, it is impossible for us to enumerate, but it is quite sufficient
for us to say that most of them ha\e nothing at all to do with the
construction or economy of a steam-vessel ; they include causes no
longer in existence, (case of the Ncmvich, p. 9,) fires from soldiers
smoking on deck and inflaming straw, sailors getting drunk, carrying
too lieavy a deck load of pigs, &c. &c. Reference of the cases to
their correct causes it is imnecessary to say is not aflforded Ijy the
commissioners, altliough we might naturally have expected it, as most
of them have nothing to do with steam at all. We find that above
one-third of tliem occurred in the Irish sea, and a great many on the
east coast of England, and they are more rationally to be attributed to
the want of harbours of refuge upon tliose notoriously dangerous
coasts. We certainly find, as the commissioners acknowledge, that
more accidents occur with the Scotch and northern stf'amers, than
with any others; but we do not see why, on that accomit, the whole
empire is to be subjected to the stringent rule of empirical inspectors.

Schedule B is a list of accidents furnished by the Watermen's
Company, and is so ridiculous as to cease to be mischievous. Of the
thousands of craft navigating the Thames, they are only able to manu-
facture 59 accidents in three years and a half, or seventeen a year.
These, as far as thej' can be understood from the nonsensical state-
ments, appear not to arise from the steamers, but from the parties
themselves, drunken watermen. Trinity Mews sailors, amateurs and
tailors' apprentices, and vessels unwieldy and overloaded. In order
to show the injury to the watermen's craft, every species of vessel is
crammed into the service, from steamers and colliers down to fishing
smacks and ship's boats ; cases are related as having occurred in the
docks, and embellishments of every kind are introduced : " one of the
boat's oars was cut in two pieces ; " " a young man (the son of the
owner of the smack, who is a widow), was drowned;" a long story
about a Mr. Joseph Crannis, of Union Street, Southwark, and his wife
Mary Aime, how they went to see his brother off to Hull ; " the pas-
sengers were dreadfully alarmed;" "a seaman who had just arrived
from the West Indies was drowned." The number of lives said to be
lost from these causes is 43, or 12 per amium ; but in order that an
idea may be formed of the means used by the commissioners to manu-
facture accidents, we will just take the account of 1838. 24 accidents
are put down, S of which are barges swamped, some with 84 tons ol
coals on board, several are by steamers working against the tide or in
the ice, one is a case of a steam-vessel from Hull to London, about
a passenger named Stamford going into the engine-room, getting
entangled in the machinery, and being crushed to atoms ; his remains
were put into a small box and landed at the Custom House Wharf ! ! !
The whole number of boats lost in that year was 8, the number of
people upset 19, anil liies lost, 3.

As to the animus which influences the report, it might appear un-
necessary still further to allude to it, but we camiot refrain from calling
attention to the maimer in which sUunlers are cast upon the gentlemen
interested in promoting steam navigation.

Mr. Gibson says, " The steam-packet owner looks only to the splendour of
the saloon and tlie velocity of the vessel ; it is upon these alone that he de-
jicnds for success, tlie safety of the passengers is altogether lost sight of; to
ensure speed, the fabric of the vessel is made as light and Himsy as possible to
hold together."

This needs no comment, and we abandon it to the indignation of
our readers.

That the commissioners have failed in making out a case, them-
selves and their employers seem to be tolerably persuaded, and were
it not for the jiertinacity with which this rotten plank has been clung
to, we should have left it to its courted oblivion. We cannot, how-
ever, forget that this is not the first attempt of the kind, and that it is
not likely to be the last, nor that, by pretending to strike at a single
interest, can they blind us to the fact, that they are attacking the
whole industrial" interests of the empire. That the measures recom-
mended are as mischievous as the evidence on which they are at-
tempted to be based is fallacious, is a natural result of the employment
of persons who have proved themselves nwrally ineomjietent. That
the system is vexatious and in<iuisittn-ial it needs no argument to
(iruve", and that it must be injurious anil inefficient is equally certain.
What men can be found so little attached to their own ideas, or so
unprejudiced against those of others, as to be safely intrusted with
the control of the enterprise and genius of the nation 5 We have not

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

299

found it in the highest ranks, and shall wc seek it in mediocrity ?
Steam navin;ation itself sUnnliered for a cent\ny, the screw principle
has lingered initil the present day, and both the motive power, and
the means by wliich it is conveyed, are evidently in tlieir infancy.
Watt was prejudiced against high pressure, the Rev. Dionysius Lard-
ner, LL.D., proved to the sages at the Bristol association that Atlantic
steam navigation was impossible, iron steam-vessels have been con-
sidered incapable of being guided by the compass, and dangerous as
electrical conductors, and in fine no improvement has been proposed
wdiich has not in all ranks met many opposers and few friends.
By the report of accidents a conclusion might be drawn that
cylindrical boilers are safer than rectangular, and open at once
a cause of litigation with some of the first men in the engineer-
ing profession. What, indeed, will Messrs. Maudslay \: Field
say to this dictum of these persons ? In one part of England water
corrodes tlie tops of the boilers, in others it ilestroys the bottoms, and
in many places local circumstances nuist influence the form and mate-
rial of construction. The commissioners, however, overleap all obsta-
cles, strong in their own ignorance, they ofl'er themselves as Coryph<ei
to all the inventors of the nation, and call ujion manufacturers to sub-
mit themselves to their Procrustean bed. What will a survey do
once in six months ? will it ensure a due supply of water, or make
engineers more attentive? Why, to be effectual, the excisemen must
visit before every voyage, and maintain a surveillance as constant as
that of a custom-house officer. To collect facts which are not wantetl,
and to find none which support their own measures, seem to be the
distinguishing characteristics of these commissioners, and we need
not be astonished that, without a single case of accident ailduced, they
should at once propose to arrogate to themselves the ])ower of limit-
ing the number of deck passengers to be conveyed, and exercising a
still further interference with the commerce of the empire.

To bolster uj) their plans they refer to foreign coinitries, and on the
presumption that the ignorance of the public is as great as their own,
they presume to rely upon such authorities for support. The case of
the United States has about as much relation to the state of affairs in
England, as the number of assassinations in Lisbon or Rome have to
do with the laws of crime here. Each country having about SOO ves-
sels, the number of accidents in America have been about 230 in the
space that 92 have occurred here, or 2i to 1, and what basis of com-
parison that affords for the support of stringent measures, we think
that our readers w ill best determine. Of the way in wliich the jobbers
of different nations bolster up each other's views, there is not perhaps
■i. stronger instance than in the report made to Congress, in which the
example of English interference is referred to as strongly as the
American authority is relied u|ion here. Baron Dupin and other
French statists will be able to afford the worthy conunissioners suffi-
cient evidence as to the working of the French steam code. This has
been in operation many years, and the result, according to the Baron,
is, that France is most miserably behind this country in the extent of
its mercantile steam marine, notwithstanding the protecting /Egis of
safety valve laws, and regulations which even the English operators
think unnecessary. Holland stands in precisely the same position,
and as to the King of Belgium with his one or two steamers, his anti-
quated code is about of as much authority as those of the two kings
of Brentford.

It appears, from the statements of the commissioners, that the mer-
cantile steam marine of England is about 800 in number, and it forms,
we should think, an interest which, instead of being selected for an-
noyance, merits some support. It is pretty clear that there are few-
branches of trade, manufactures, or mines, which are less destructive
to human life, and we cannot therefore see the grounds for the selec-
tion of this. If any measure be adopted, let the whole shipping of
the empire be subjected to it, and not one particular portion be singled
out. The Admiralty courts are full of the cases of collisions of other
vessels, the insufficiency of crews and stores is notorious, and the inu-
tility of government inspection is flagrant ; not a month passes without
complaints against the emigrant ships, and as to the convict ships,
their deplorable ecjuipment is rendered a bye-word throughout Europe.
Sailors get drunk elsewhere as well as on board steamers, and other
defects are quite as crying as anything that the commissioners can
assert against the persons connected with steam-boats. If, indeed,
this ridiculous farce be kept uj), it will be followed, we suppose, by
legislative measures, and we shall see " An Act for preventing Acci-
dents to Pigs and Steam-vessels, for creating a Jobation, instituting
Branch Ebenezers, and making Drunken Skippers walk the Plank !"

With all their puffing of particular inventions, giving descriptions
of this and copperplates of that, and with the enrolment of all the
amateur gabblers, the commissioners are lamentably unsiqiported by
parties interested. Of the hundreds engaged in the proprietorship of
steam-vessels, they can only muster the sui)port of live owners, and

every thing else is on the same lamentable scale of desertion. The
ministers seem to be heartily ashamed of the whole affair, and have
intimated their disinclination to rlo anything with it this session, and
if those mainly interested do their duty, we have no doubt will be
obliged to abandon the job. Another att'air of this kind, the Irish
railway abomination, we have had some hand in sujipressing, and we
call upon our readers to co-operate with us in deeding a death-blow
against one equally pernicious.

For the benefit of our readers, we give a copious abstract of the
report, in order that all who may be interested shall be pre|)ared to
defend themselves, in case there should be an attempt to smuggle a
bill into the House of Commons at the commencement of next session.

The report first details the manner the commissioners proceeded to
obey the instructions of Government for obtaining the necessary infor-
mation to form their report; it then gives particular instances of
accidents arising from wrecks, founderings, explosions, fires, and de-
fective boilers, from which we select the following extracts : —

Explosions. — We find, on analysing the exjilosions contained in the list,
that liy far the greatest nund)er have taken place in steamers belonging to
ports, where the practice of engine-makers is to apply eaposed and acccssitile
valves. Explosions have been most lunnerous iu the Clyde, or in Scotch
built vessels, l)otli river and sea-going. The " Corsair," " Fingal," and " An-
telope," are of the latter class ; the " Earl Grey," " James Ewiug," " James
Gallocher," " Hercules," and " Dumbarton Castle," of the fonner.

The next greatest number have occurred in the Hural)er and Tync steamers,
where the safety-valves are similarly coiistucted ; being five instances in
river-steamers, and the " Victoria's," a sea-going vessel, on two occasions ; at
Liverpool, two, among the river-steamers, which had ejjiosed valves. We
did not hear of, or (hscover any Livcqiool built and engineered sea-going
vessel baring e.iposed or accessible valves ; nor does it appear that any acci-
dent of an explosive natme has happened to them ; and we liave not to
record a single case of explosion of any Thames-built boiler, in passenger-
vessels of any kind, nor in any other, excepthig in a small experimental one,
mentioned l)y Messrs. J. Seaward & Co. This freedom from explosion in
the Tliames is attributed by Messrs. Maudslay & Field principally, to the
practice of using inaccessible and sufficiently large safety-valves.

Safety-valves are often tampered with, and weighted by the working
engineers, much beyond the pressure originally assigned by the makers of
the engines, in order to gain jjower and speed. Proof of this is given in the
instance of the " J.ames Gallocher;" and Mr. Fawcett, the eminent Engineer
of Liverpool, states that " he has known valves — originally loaded at four
pounds per square inch — to have been afterwards altered by some black-
smith, so as to give the engine-man power to load them as he pleased ;
and he believes them to have done so even to 20 pounds to the inch. The
safety-valves of the " Dnkc of Bridgwater " — a Liverpool river-boat — were
originally made inaccessible ; they were altered so as to be fastened down,
like the " Earl Grey's," at the ])leasurc of the engine-man, and the boiler
consequently exploded, kilUng two persons, and seriously injuring many
more.

Water and Steam Gauges. — There is a very general deficiency both in
river and sea-going steamers — particularly in North Britain — of glass water-
guages, and steam-pressure gauges ; instruments absolutely essential to the
safety of boilers, and used in all well-appointed vessels. Captain Uain ob-
serves that " the lioilers of many vessels are without these simple instru-
ments, and the engineers and firemen, when doubtful of the accuracy of the
cocks, try to ascertain the height of the water, by hitting the boiler with
a stick or a hammer, &c."

Effects of Eiptosions. — Cylindric lioilers. — The boiler of the "Norwich"
(cast-iron) was broken into many fragments by the explosion, and the vessel
destroyed ; the end was blown ont of the " Freedom's," and the vessel sunk ;
those of the " Vivi<l " and " Morning Star " Inirst inwards on the under part
of tlie fire-tube, where both were worn very thin. The " Herald's " opened
on the top, also corroded very thin. The "Victoria's" twice nii)tured in-
wards, on the under part of tlie fire-tube ; the iron apparently good, but the
cylinder too large for the strength of material and pressure upon it.

Effects of E.rplosion. — Rectangular Boilers. — Of these, the outer shells of
the " Graham," " Earl Grey," " Union," and " Uiike of Bridgwater," were
more or less ruptured, and projected forcing up the decks, &c. The vessels
were much shattered in several of the other explosions, which occasioned
fissures in the boilers, cither above or lielow the water-level ; the greater
nimiher, so fai' as ascertained, occurring below the water-level; in some
cases opening the shell, and bursting into the cabins; in others, rupturing
the flues, and doing mischief cliietly amongst the engine-men and firemen,
according to the respective strength of the shells of the boilers and flues.

The "Earl Grey's" boiler had no stays; the "Union's," "Graham's,"
" Magdalene's " an<l others, had stays, hut neither their number nor an'ange-
nient can now be ascertained.

Safety Valves. — In two instances — the "James Gallocher" and "Morning
Star" — it is proved, tliat the steam was blowing ofiT tlu-ough the safety-
valves at the time of the explosion, showing tlie valves to have had an insuf-
ficient area. In the cases of the " Ciraham," " Earl Grey," and others, it is
|irnveil tliat the valves were either fastened down, or too heavily loaded to
rise at (he jiressure which burst the boilers.

The destructive effects of an exploaon often render it impossible to dc-

300

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[August^

termine, witli sufficient aceiiiacy, either the area of tlie safety-valves, eom-
|)ared with the power of the Ijoiler, or tlie pressure at which tiip explosion
took place. In the event of a coroner's inquest, these important facts are
rarely iiupiireil into ; it is nu one's business to asecrtain them ; jurors unilcr-
stand nothing about the matter, and are mystified by eonti'adictory state-
ments. In several of the cited cases, the sjjindlcs of the valves bad been
bent, or otherwise set fast ; in that of the " Morning Star," though tlie valve
rose, and allowed some of the steam to escape, we are informed by Mr.
Greener, who examined the boiler minutely, ami gave evidence on the inquest,
*' that it was .w runted, it appeared not to linee acted for years.'^ Its area
was also Tei*y inadequate, having only about one square inch of ai)erture to
four-horse power ; the engineers of tlie Thames steamers usually give an area
to their safety-valves of one square inch for each horse power— a safe ajul
excellent practice ; but we found the dimensions of safety-valves so restricterl
in the vessels of some ports, that only one-fifth of a sqviare inch was allowed
to each horse power, an area so insuthcient, that though the valves might be
well made, and act freely, tlie pressure of steam would continue to increase
when the engine stojiped, ami attain an elasticity exceeding the resistance of
the boiler, though steam were continually escaping. Au explosion is the
necessary consequence.

Height of IJ'ater in the Boilers. — It is also difficult to obtain, after these
accidents, crediltle information as to the sutBciency of water in the boilers, at
the moment of explosion. It is probable — from the general absence of glass
water-gauges, in the class of steamers whose boilers have chiefly exploded — •
that testimony on this point is not to be relied upon. The " Union's " in
a clear ease of deficiency of water, combined with overheated flues, and an
oscillatoiy movement of the vessel. A simple contrivance to assist in ascer-
taining the true level of the water in a boiler, is descrilied by Mr. Golightly.

Qiiulity of tlie Metal of Boilers. — Some veiy intelligent remarks will be
found in Mr. Greener's replies to our (|ueries, on the important subject of the
quality of iron used for boilers ; a subject whicli is far from occujiying the
attention it merits either by hoiler-niakers, engineers, or steam-vessel owners.
A piece of the " Morning Star's " boiler, in our possession, taken from the
ruptured part, shows it to have been corroded to two-tenths of an inch in
thickness, its original strength having been half an inch, and the iron very
bad. The fire-tube ruptured at a pressure of about 231bs. per square inch ;
its form was elliptic, three feet, by two feet six inches ; the external shell,
cyliudric, 6 feet diameter.

Fires. — The chaning of timbers iii the wake, or proximity, of the boilers,
is alluded to by the ship-builders, and many other correspondents, as a fre-
quent cause of fire and injury to the vessel.

We here beg to draw jiarticular attention to the excellent arrangements
and practice adopted by the City of IJublin Steam Packet Company of Liver-
pool, and in well-appointed vessels of other comiianies, to obviate the evils
arising from these fertile sources of danger to the vessel, and of expense to
the omiers. \Ve refer to their use of iron beams and deck jilates over the
boilers, and about the funnel ; of the complete se]iaration of tlie boilers from
each other, and from the sides of the ship ; of lining the ship's sides with
lead, covered again with iron, in the proximity of the boilers ; of protecting
the boilers from spray, rain, and the contact of coals, by a shell of iron ; and
the practice of sweeping down all the remaining coal into the bunkers, or
iron coal-boxes, on the termination of each voyage.

The suggestions also of Messrs. Maudsley and Field, and others, that pipes
from the boilers should be so arranged as to convey steam into the coal re-
ceptacles, and other parts of the vessels, in the event of fire, would give great
additional security.

Collisions. — Collisions between steam-vessels, and between them and other
craft, occur so frequently in crowded waters, they are often so fatal to life,
and so generally attended mtli litigation, and expense in repairing damage,
that the want of a law to diminish the evil, is tlie subject of complaint by
nearly all our correspondents. Collisions occur both by day and by night,
at sea as well as in rivers. They commonly arise from the absence of an
universal understanding as to the "rule of the road" to be observed by ves-
sels, in meeting and passing each other, and from the absence of an universal
system of niijht-tifjhls or signals.

The practice is at present regulated only by custom, or by the bye-laws of
different ports, which custom, being various, is productive of serious collisions
even on the high seas.

The same causes which produced the first collision remain still in full
activity, and it is fearful to eontemplate the loss of human life which the
absence of a law on these subjects may produce at any moment.

There is yet another important point to be considered, as bearing on the
means of preventing collisions.

A distirxjiiislmii/ sound should be provided on board steam-vessels, as an
alarm, to notify their proximity to other vessels at night, on occasion, but
more particularly during fogs or thick weather, when lights can only be seen
on a very near approach. The want of such regulation is alluded to by
several of our correspondents, and a means is also suggested for accomplishing
the end. Sailing-vessels are generally provided with some instrument for
making a noise, to which resort is bad when circumstances require it ; viz.
bells, horns, gongs, &e. A steam-vessel carries with it an agent more jiower-
ful than any of these contrivances, and one which could not fail in notifying
its approacli, distinctively from every class of vessel, and from a much greater
distance than bells, &c. ; a circumstanee of no slight eonsequence, when the
greater velocity of a steamer is considered. Tlie sleam-vliislle in common

use, attached to locomotive engines, if apjilied to the boiler of a steam-vessel,
would completely fulfil the desired end. All that is required is a small pijie
opening into the steam-chest, and brought up on deck, with the wbistle on
the top of it, in a convenient position to be used when the commander inav
order it. lly simjily turning the hanille of a cock, a iirolonged sound is |iio-
duced, or a succession of sounds, on opiMiing and shutting the cock at short
intervals. The sound from the whistle of a locomotive engine has frequently
been beard more than two miles. We have made particular inquiries as to
the degree of sound producible mtli low-iiressnre, compared with high-pres-
sure steam, and learn that this wliistle may be constructed so as to be e(|iially
as effective with the one as witli the other.

BOILERS AND ENGINES.

Boilers. — That boilers are very frequently continued in use till they become
dangerously thin, and that they are frequently deficient in safety a|iparatns,
is a fact not only evidenced by the Table of Explosions, and instanees given,
but attested by a large majority of our correspondents. We were sliown
several in the yards of engine and biiiler-makers, which (to use their own
expression) " might be walked tbrougli ; " indeed, the liaml might be pushed
tbrougli some boilers which we examined, but recently taken out of steam-
boats. Mr. Shaw states th.at " the boilers of the ' Fingal,' in 183.^, were so
weak that they had to be shored between the deck and tlie tojis of them,
which exjiauded and contracted like a pair of bellows." Captain iiaiu «Tites
that " he has frequently bad occasion — sometimes under very trying circum-
stances— to stop rents in boilers by temporary expedients; that he has wit-
nessed it in other vessels, and has seen boilers worked till they were as thin
as paper, &c." Some boilers, in actual use, are only kept tight by the ile-
posit of niml, concretions of salt and sand, Ac. between the flues ; these
obstructions to the passage of heat are not removed, as the metal of the
boilers would give way, and they must then necessarily umlergo repair, w Inch
is delayed till they will no longer hold togelher, or till nqitures occur, and
have produced misebief. The Appendix contains, in the rejilies to our .'>tli
query, aliundant testimony to negligence, and ill-judged economy of this
nature.

The explosion of deteriorated boilers, is not the greatest disaster to be
dreaded from steamers so ill provided ; under the head of Wrecks and Foun-
derings, the ealaniitous consequences of boilers failing at sea, are still more
fearfully exemplified.

Nearly the whole of the passenger, and no inconsiderable portiini of the
merchandize, coasting traffic of the British Isles, is carried on by steam-vessels,
the rapidly increasing number of which will presently be shown. It is iiii-
])OSsible to determine, in the absence of official record, whether the nnmlier
of accidents has increased in a greater ratio than that of the steamers; but
our schedule exhibits an annual increase of disasters, and shows tli.at nearly
the half of them has occuiTed within the last three years ; and that from the
beginning of 183S to the present time — a period of 15 months only — no
fewer than 22 accidents have happened. They consist of —

11 WTCcks, founderings, or imminent peril ; 117 lives lost.
8 explosions . ... - 20 ditto, and many persons

injured.
2 collisions ..... —
1 fire —

22 137

In addition to the amount of human life sacrificed, 038 animals were
thrown overboard, or scalded to death.

Seven of the vessels were totally lost, four of which are traced to have
had defective boilers, or engines ; and others had to undergo costly repairs.

It results from the opinions expressed by the engineering class of our cor-
respondents, that great additional safety is obtained by employing several
boilers, distinct from each other, rather than one only, or two boilers con-
nected together ; many dangers are avoided by this method. Independently
of the obvious security arising from the means, thus afforded, of shattiiif/ off
a disabled boiler, and even of repairing it, whilst the motion of the engines is
continued by the others, this arrangement jiossesscs many other advantages,
and cannot be too strongly recommended for general adoption. Mr. Shaw
gives a forcible illustration of the value of distinct boilers, in his account of
the salvation of the "Thames," after her perilous collision with the " Shan-
non."

Engines. — The machinery by which a steam-vessel is projielled appears,
notwithstanding its comparative complexity, to be maintained, generally, in
better condition than the boilers. The foundering of the "Venus" in 1829
is an instance of a disaster occasioned by the breaking of the connecting rod ;
the more common derangements are fractures of cross-heads, beams, cranks,
crank-pins, lie, of which we both saw and heard many examples ; but the
practice of using a pair of engines, iiarticularly in sea-going steamers, is a
great guarantee against shipwreck, as, in the event of one engine being dis-
abled, the other can safely work the vessel. IJuplieatcs of the parts most
Uable to fracture, should always he found amongst the stores of a steamer.

Several wrecks have been referred to liy our corrcsiiondents which might
have been averted, had the paddle-wheels been furnished with dismyar/inr/
opparalns, which is eflfected too slowly, and clumsily, by removing the floats —
an operation, also, difficult of .accomplishment in tempestuous weather. Ilri-
fish engineers are not likely to leave so great a desideratum long unsupplied;
several jilans for its accomplishment are already in partial use.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

301

The report gives some particulars regarding the number of steam-
vessels pm])loyed in tlie mercantile steam marine of the United King-
dom ; in obtaining this information, the commissioners state that they
had considerable difficulty in obtaining the ])rocise number, as the law
does not oblige those steamers to be registered wliicii ply only within
the limits of a port : —

AMOUNT OF THE MERCANTILE STEAM-MARINE.

Before iiresciiting, in a sulistantivc shape, all the provisions we have to re-
connnend for the protection of the public against the evils which arise from

defects shown to have existed, and to he still existing, as respects tlie condi-
tion and manageiueiil of numerous steam-vessels, it is expedient to state the
amount and importance of the actual mercantile steam-marine of the British
Empije. These data we sliall proceed to determine as accurately as our
means permit.

The following Table gives, approrimalety, the numerical tonnage and
power of steam-vessels afloat: it will materially assist in forming a correct
opinion of the deficiencies of the jiresent, ami of the great importance of au
improved system of registration and regulations.

A Statement of the approximate Number, Tonnage and Power of Vessels belonging to the Mercantile Steam-marine of the

United Kingdom and its Dependencies.

End of Year 1838.

Number of

Tonnage of

Vessels per

Size of Vessels

Engine-

Computid

Computed

Total

Custom-
house

lier
Custom-house

Registered
Tonnage.

Room, &c..
nut rt'gislercd

Total
computed

Amuunt
of

Pouer
lier

computed

Tonnage

Return,

Return.

al the

Tonnage.

Hnrse-

Vessel.

per

1838.

Custom-
bouse.

povver.

Vessel.

Ilorse-

Horse-

No.

Tuns.

Tom.

Tom.

Tom.

power.

power.

Tmis.

256

below 50

6,106

10,816

16,922

6,400

25

66

145

50tol00

10,207

7,458

17,725

0,806

47

122

84

100tol50

10,034

7,761

17,795

7,483

90

211

63

l,')0to200

10,982

7.147

18,129

7,560

120

287

76

200 to 300

16,654

10,839

27,493

11,188

147

361

41

300 to 400

14,247

7,580

21,827

10,914

260

532

10

400 to 000

4,488

3,506

7,994

3,000

300

769

1

679

679

661

1,340

450

450

1,340

1

1,053

1,053

810

1,855

500

500

1,855

No. of Vessels registered in 1838 -

*677

_

74,510

56,578

131,080

54,361

Not registered

83

-

4,154

5,484

9,038

2,129

50

116

Total number in Great Britain and Ireland, 1838

760

-

78,664

62,062

140,718

50,490

—

—

Isles of Guernsey, Jersey and Man, 1837

t 0

.

832

018

1,450

600

100

241

British Plantations, 1837 ....

t44

-

8,411

7,253

15,604

6,100

140

356

Grand Total

810

-

87,907

69,933

157,840

63,250

—

—

* The Custom-house Return enumerates 678 steam-vessels ; but the tonnage of one — burnt-
t These are extracted from Mr. Porter's Returns, as we have not received them for 1838.

-is omitted.

The total number of British and Irish steam-vessels, including those regis-
tered in Guernsey, Jersey, and Man, amounts to 760; of these 484 may be
considered as river steamers, and small coasters ; and 282 as large coasters,
and sea-going ships.

The increase in 1837 over 1836, was 78; and that of 1838 over 1837, 59
registered vessels.

The report gives several extracts from the opinions of correspon-
dents more fully detailed in the appendix: —

From manufacturers of engines and boilers, civil engineers and others
versed in these sidyects, we have received numerous communications, to some
of which reference has already been made in our review of various accidents.
It is difficult to classify the opinions of these gentlemen. One of two only of
them thinU that any system of inspection would be intolerable, or practically
useless ; some ascrilte all accidents to the sheer carelessness of those in charge,
ami detail special instances ; most refer to the want of frequency in the re-
pairs of boilers, and to the danger resulting from owuers or agents working
them too long ; nearly all testify to the frequent incapacity of engine-men,
and several to the necessity of examiiung them as to their knowledge and
moral conduct, and allowing them to act only under license ; some suggest
that it woulil he sufficient, or of advantage, to emjdoy a competent person to
investigate the causes of an accident after it has occurred. The subject, as a
w hole, is elaborately and scientifically treated by several of this class of cor-
respondents, particularly by Messrs. Maudslay and Field, N. Harvey, J. C.
Enys, J. S. Russell, J. Oldham, E. Gilbert, jQhn Seaward and Co. and others.
These eonnnunieations will he perused with interest, emanating as they do
from a body of practical men engaged in the advancement of engineering
science, a large ])roportiou of whom suggest the employment of surveyors
both of hidl and machinery, as likely to obviate or diminish the occurrence
of accidents. Messrs. Maudslay and Field conclude their observations as
f<]|lows : —

" An occasional inspection, conducted by authorized and well-qualified
persons, on liheral prinoiples, so as not to he inquisitorial, or impede improve-
ment, would have the effect of keejiing up the attention of companies and
owners, as well as of engineers, to the consideration of safety in the con-

structing, managing, and working of steamers ; a subject which, from want
of consideration, ignorance, or cupidity, is often overlooked or disregarded.

Many desiderata to perfect the equipment and saiUng qualities of steamers
are pointed out Ijy these gentlemen, particularly a convenient and rapid means
oi dtsengaginrj the paddle-wheels from the engines, which, wiien i)ermanently
attached to them, offer so great an obstruction to the progress of a ship, as
to render sails comparatively useless. It has been ascertained that wiicii
paddle-wheels are disengaged, steamers under sail have been able to cope in
speed, and in facility of mauocuvering, with other ships.

The importance of fitting the condenser with a pipe to draw water fiom the
bilge, in the event of a serious leakage, or shipping a sea, &c., is strongly
advised, as a powerful means of preventing a common cause of WTCck and
foundering. Engines require a greater supply of water to condense the stcatu
at each stroke, than could be removed by all the pumps which it is convenient
to attach to them ; the condenser, therefore, is the nmst rapid evaeuator of
water, in case of need. This simple apparatus is now fixed in the best en-
gineered steamers, and cannot he too strongly recommended as an appliance
to all.

Heavier and more efficient ground tackling, a better equipment of sails, a
larger number and better quality o iboats (particidarly of life-boats, life-pre-
serving apparatus, signal rockets, &c.) are alluded to by f liese and many other
correspondents as desirable in steamers. An ingenious plan for the stowage
of boats forming the cover of paddle-boxes has lately been invented by Cap-
tain George Smith, R. N., with the view of enabling a vessel to carry a larger
number of boats without inconvenience.

The necessity of a complete and universally obeyed code of night-signals'
and of one fixed " rule of the road," forms also a special subject of their
remarks.

Our inqiuries have convinced us that great public advantage vroidd result
fi*om the adoption of a system of reyislry, periodical survey, and liceivte of
steam-vessels. A national registration would he the statistical record of all
details of construction both of hull and m.ichinery ; the subsequent ami
periodical surveys would ascertain the actual comlition of every vessel at staled
jieriods ; aufl access to these documents would furnish accurate knowiedge, of
au invaluable nature, to all parties interested in navigation by steam. Shoidd

302

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[August,

the Covcriiineiit have occasion to hire or to purchase steam-vessels for naval,
military or other jiurposes, these recorils would cnahle their otlicers to select
vessels, whose strength, efticiency, capacity, power, &c., would he known ;
together with all the minor, yet imi)ortant details necessary to determine the
fitness of a vessel for any special scmcc. These records, and their acccssi-
liility would stinndate the owners of steam-vessels to construct, and fasten
tliem on the most approved models ; to supply them with the best machinei-y ;
and to maintain them in the most efficient state of repair and sea-worthiness.
That the science on which Na\igation by Steam depends for its economy,
safety, its present success, and future advauccment, would he promoted liy
these measures, cannot, we think, admit of a douht. I'crsons commercially
interested in this hraueh of our national power and prosperity, whether ships
liuilders, engineers, owners or commanders, ardently desire and seek for re-
sults, and correct information, which at present are procured with dirtieulty,
or are still oftencr, unattainable. When it is considered that a large and
increasing capital is expended on the hull, machinery ami equipments of a
single ocean-going, or large coasting steam-ship (a transatlantic steamer,
costing above 50,0(10/.) ; that every deviation from already adopted dinu'u-
sions, proportions of parts and power, or methods of constructing the bull
and machinery, is an experiment in which not only mercantile success, but
the security of life and property to a vast amount are involved, we think the
vahie of a national, and accessible record of facts, cannot he too highly ap-
preciated.

The importance of keeping a steam-log, on board ocean-going steam-ships
especially, is alluded to by se\ eral of our nautical, and other correspondents,
who also suggest that the contemiilated Registration system should include a
record of such logs.

We have reason to believe that the deposit of these useful documents would
not be objected to by steam-ship com|iaiiics ; the log of the " Great Western"
has been printed, and the owners of tlie " Livci'pool" have adopted the same
excellent means of registering all engineering facts and occurrences during
the transatlantic voyages of that vessel.

The foJlowing Table has been supplied by Mr. Shaw, with additions by
Messrs. Curling and Young, and Messrs. Maudslay and I'icld, and we believe
it to be nearly correct. It contains some of the dimensions of the hull and
machiuery of the five largest steam-ships yet built or building, which jiriuci-
pally influence theii' steaming and other requisite qualities. With an exact
knowledge of these dimensions, and power, combined with a knowledge of
the effect produced, which the logs would supjily, the ship-builder and en-
gineer wcndd ])roceed on surer data; and proprietors could count, with
greater certainty, on a new vessel answering its intended puqiose. To the
degree in which all these i)arties h.ive been occasionally disappointed in their
expectations, and bow costly have been the alterations rendered necessary by
mistakes, eveiy large steam-vessel company could bear' ample testimony.

GREAT

BRITISH

UNITED

DIMENSIONS.

WESTERN.

LIVERPOOL.

QUEEN.

PRESIDENT.

KINGDOM.

Extreme length

feel

23G

223

275

265

Ditto - - under deck ......

212

210

245

238

206

Ditto - - keel

>,

205

209 5 in.

225

220

198

Breadth within the paddle-boxes .....

,»

35 4 in.

30 10 in.

40

41

36 6 in.

Ditto including - ditto ......

59 8 in.

56 3 in.

64

64

—

Depth of hold at midships ......*

„

23 2 in.

19 8 in.

27 6 in.

23 6 in.

22

Tons of space

„

679 i

559 i

1,053

—

—

Tonnage of engine-room

»i

04 1 i

581

963

—

—

Total Tonnage

torn

1,321

1,140 A

2,010

1,840

1,400

Power of engines -

- /lorses

450

468

500

540

450

Diameter of cyUnders .......

- inches

73

75

77 4

80

73

Length of stroke .-

- feet

7

7

7

7 i

7

Diameter of paddle-wheels ......

28 9 in.

28 5 in.

30 G in.

31

28

Total weight of engines, boilers and water ....

tons

480

450

500

500

450

Total weight of coals, 20 days' consumption ...

tt

GOO

000

750

750

—

Total weight of cargo - - . . - -

n

250

200

500

750

—

Draught of water with the above weight of stores]

- feet

16 8 in.

16 6 in.

16 7 in.

17

The practicability of executing two of the three principal measures recom-
mended, viz. registration, and periodical surveijs, is proved on a large scale
by similar operations, conducted under the (Urection of the Committee of
Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping.

The effects of the system pursued by this eminent establishment, on the
security to property and life, on board sailing-vessels, have been highly ad-
vantageous to mercantile interests, and to the safety of ships. It ajipears,
however, that as regards steam-vessels, the praiseworthy eflforts of the com-
mittee are powerless and inoperative. It is stated by various correspondents,
ship-builders, steam-vessel owners, and also by the intelligent surveyors of
Lloyd's, that the mass of the projirietary of steamers do not register their
vessels ; or, do so, chiefly with the view of advertising a new vessel in the
widely circulating volume annually pubUshed by that body. It appears, also,
that of the steamers registered, many discoutinue those periodical surveys
required by the rules of the society, as necessary to determine their character
in the list. That such is the fact, is shown by the (circular issued to owners
of steam-vessels by the committee, dated Otii December, 1838, and by the
blanks in the surveys of steam-vessels registered in Lloyd's hooks, a list of
which is communicated by Charles Graham, Esq., Secretary. The numerous
derangements to wluch steam-vessels are liable are, clearly, far beyond the
reach of a commercial body, unassisted with the authority of the law, and not
l)0ssessing that mechanical knowledge, which can alone enable it to decide
on the merits of a mechanical question submitted to them. Self-interest de-
mands of the owner of saiUng-vessels that he should register in Lloyd's hooks,
and conform to their rules. The same principle actuates the steam-vessel
owner to register a new vessel, but when that vessel is no longer worthy of a
character, and when the owner knows he can no longer obtain a good repu-
tation for his vessel at Lloyd's, he discontinues his surveys ; which is precisely
the time when a compulsory survey is required for the safety of the pul)lic.

Human life cannot be secured by under-writers, and passengers form the
principal source of revenue to steam-vessel ow ners — to the greater proportion,
the only source. Lloyd's Register holds out no inducement to this class to
adopt its regulations ; it appears, also, that on steam-vessel cargoes, in gene-
ral, there is no difficulty in etfecting insurance at lower rates than by sailing-
vessels J and the large steam-vessel companies are very commouly their own

under-writers, insuring only the value of the vessel, and, sometimes, that of
the engines.

A trustworthy smTey, and report on the state of the boilers, and machinery
of steam-vessels, upon which so im])ortant an act as the granting a certificate,
affirming them to be " in good order, and safe working condition," should be
made, — not by the makers of the engines, or by fellow engineers, or by parties
who have repaired, or who may be called upon to repair them, — but by com-
pctent persons independent of all interest in their construction, and of all
connection with steam-vessel owners. Nor do rival engineers like to survey,
aud report upon each other's work. Obsenations on this subject, and much
to the point, will be found in various letters in the Appendix, particularly by
Mr. WilUams, Mr. North ; and full information on the system of Lloyd's Re-
gistry, as regards steam-vessels, will be found iu Mr. Graham's communica-
tions.

The report concludes by giving an outline of Proposed Legislative
Regulations, which we give in full :-^

OUTLINE OF PROPOSED LEGISLATIVE REGULATIONS.

Having thus noticed those heads of the subject which appeared to require
particular consideration, we now proceed to submit the outline of legislative
regulations, which we recommend for adoption.

1. That a Board lie ap|iointed, in connection with and under the president
of the board of trade, whose business it shall be to register, and classify all
vessels navigated by steam, built, orbiulding; the register to record detailed
specifications of hull, ami machinery — periodical surveys to be made upon
them — and particulars of all disasters and accidents, which happen to, or
may be occasioned by steam-vessels.

"That the Board he authorized to appoint local or district surveyors, to in-
spect and report upon the condition of steamers ; that, on such report being
satisfactory, the Hoard shall grant licenses to the owners of steam-vessels to
))ly ; that, if unsatisfactory, they shall w ithhohl such license, as far as relates
to the conveyance of passengers. I'enalty for phing without lincense.

That the Board be em])nwercd to investigate, personally, or otherwise, the
nature and causes of accidents ; to examine vritnesses on oath ; and call for
the production of papers.

1 839. J

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND

ARC II ITECTS J O U RN AL.

303

That the Doanl lie required to make an animal report to Parlianicnl of its
liroeeedings ; of the state anil progress of tlie niereaiitile steam murine ; and
(if the disasters whicli may liave been sustained.

That the records be pnlilic, on the payment of a reasonalile fee.

Tliat tlie Board lie empowered to frame and issue general instructions for
the guidance of the local or district surveyors ; also to publish an abstract of
tlic law and regulations, with authority to require sncli abstract to lie placed
in a conspienous part of the vessel ; under penalties on neglect,

2. That the surveyors of hull and machiiiciy be paid for their surveys by
the owners of the vessels, according to a tixed scale, as is the practice for
Lloyd's Register ; that they shall forward their reports to the I'oard, which,
in the event of the owner or owners objecting to the repairs required, in
order to entitle the vessel to a passenger license, shall (if the objection regard
the hull) call in one or two of the principal ship-builders of tlic port or dis-
trict, luiconneeted with the work of such repairs, to survey the vessel, in
eonjiuictioii with the otfieial surveyor, and rcjiort specially thereon.

Sluiidd tlic decision of the Boanl be objected to, on the report of tlie sur-
veyor (if the objection regard the machinery), it sliall call in the aid of one
or more engineers to sm'vey and report in conjunction with such official
sui'veyor.

Special surveys to be paid for by the owner or owners of the vessel, accord-
ing to a fixed scale.

The first survey of the hull of a new vessel, to be made during its con-
struction ; and a specification of it transmitted to the Board, as is now done
by the surveyors of Lloyd's to the committee.

A survey of the hull to be made during each of the first two years, and a
survey every six months subsequently. All steamers to be docked, beached,
or laid on tlie gridiron (as cu'cmnstances permit, and surveyed, after sustain-
ing an injury by taking the ground, or otlurwise, uiuler penalty.

The first suney of the boilers, engines, and machinery to be made whilst
they are being fixed in the vessel, and the requisite details of them to be re-
ported to the Board.

Boilers, engines, anil inacliinery to be sm-veyed every six months after the
first year ; and all serious accidents to be reported.

The surveyors to report on the fitness of a vessel, whether as a nea-yohxj,
or riOCT'-steamer.

3. License to express whetlier it he granted for cargo only ; for towing-
vessels ; for the conveyance of passengers ; or for these piu'poses combined ;
also, whether the vessel he intended to ply as a river, or sea-going steamer.

License to ph' with passengers to be granted, or witiiheld, as aforesaid ; a
duplicate of which, or certificate to the same etfect, signed liy the Board, to
be exhibited in the cabin or other conspicuous part of tlie vessel. All public
advertisements of steamers to state whether licensed to carry passengers or
not.

An annual charge for each license to be made on all steam-vessels, vaiying
according to a scale of size and capacity ; such charge to be in no case less
than 1/., nor exceeding 5/.

4. That the surveyor shall ascertain that the safety-valves he sufficient to
pass all the steam wliich the boilers can generate in their ordinary state of
work, at the pressure determined by the weight on the valves ; the maximnm
of which pressure shall he fixed by the maker of the engines, or boilers, and
the valves be loaded accordingly.

5. That, after an assigned period, no passenger license be granted to any
vessel having safety-valves whose spindles or levers are exjiosed on deck, or
capable of being loaded externally, unless satisfactorily protected. Penalty
on engineers, masters, or others, for loading vaUes beyond the weight ascer-
tained by the surveyor, and regulated as above.

0. That, in all new steamers ; and, after an assigned jieriod, in all steamers,
now afloat, glass water-gauges, and mercurial pressm'e-gauges shall he required
to be fitted to the boilers, to entitle the vessels to a license to ply witli pas-
sengers.

No perfect mechanical substitute can be found for care, in the management
of the steam-engine at sea, or on laud ; nor do we think that the use of the
fusible discs enforced by the Fi'eueh laws, v^-ould be ])roductive of additional
security ; nor, indeed, that any complexity of apparatus, attached to boilers,
would contribute to the attainment of that object.

Apparatus, however, for indicating the level of water, and pressure of steam
in boilers, is essential to their safe and economical management, and is of far
greater inqiort to the boilers of marine, than of land engines ; accidents to
the former, or failure in their supply of steam, being attended with peculiar
dangers and disasters at sea, from which land boilers are exempt. Yet, it is
a fact, accounted for, perhaps, by the circumstance of steam-vessels being
owned and managed, generally, by persons unacquainted with the nature of
the steam-engine, that these simple instrmiient^ are much more rarely to be
found attached to marine, than to land boilers, which latter are usually under
the direction of pai'ties of mechanical education or knowledge.

7. That, in the event of the siu-veyor having information that any boiler he
deteriorated in strength, or unsafe at its working pressure, in the interval of
his periodical surveys, he shall be empowered by the Board, on his representa-
tion, to examine it ; and in the event of the boiler proving faulty, the Board
shall suspend the passenger license, until satisfied of the safety of such lioiler.

8. That no steam-vessel he permitted to ply which is not furnished with a
binnacle and compass, in good order.

9. That, after an assigned period, no sea-going steam-vessel, wliich carries
coals on the tops, or about the sides of the boilers, shall be entitled to a pas-

senger license; unless the boilers be protected by a shell of metal, or other
sufiiciciit security.

10. All river steamers to carry one ett'ecMve boat — coasting and channel
steamers two, or three boats, according to their size — and ocean steam-ships,
four boats — as a minimum.

The surveyors to ascertain that these boats he kept in seniceable condi-
tion, and ready for use on emergency.

11. All steamers to be provided with sutficient hoses to convey water to
any part of the vessel, with a serviceable outfit of water-buckets; and a
moveable fire-engine to be carried in all coasting, channel and ocean-going
steamers.

The proposed system of registration should include a classification of
steamers; and as the character, to which each vessel wonhl be entitled in its
class, w ould depend on its general state of efficiency, we are disposed to think
that many other important requisites for attaining the utmost practicable de-
gree of security, would gradually be adopted liy owners without compulsion ;
such as water-tight bulkheads in new vessels ; powerful extinguishing pumps,
worked by the engines; connection of the condensers with the bilge-water;
disengaging apparatus for the paddle-wheels ; heavier and more eft'cctive
ground-tackling, ivc. The imhlication of accidents, and of their causes,
would also warn steam-vessel owners, commanders, and engineers, and in-
struct them how to guard against disasters.

In framing these recommendations, our object has been to suggest practical
means for further securing public safety, without inflicting vexatioifs rules on
steam-vessel owners ; we believe that their adoption would tend materially to
promote, and, in no respect, to crijiple the progi-ess of Navigation by Steam.
We are confirmed in these views by finding them so much in accordance with
the majority of opinions expressed in the .\ppendix, and they correspond with
several of the regulations enacted by foreign states. They are, however, much
less stringent in their nature than those proposed by many of om- correspon-
dents ; and we consider them much less onerous, and more suitable to the
pecuUar chai-acter of the British steam-marine, than the laws of other coun-
tries. An abstract of these laws is annexed, and the whole are given in the
Appendix.

There is one additional measure strongly advocated, but we feel great
doubts of its practicability ; viz. that of compelling the engineers employed
on board steam-vessels to undergo preparatory exainination, and to find surety
for their good behaviom-. There is no existing Board at the dift'erent ports
competent to determine the fitness of this class of men for their occupations;
and we think it would be dilficiilt fur any local surveyor to decide on indivi-
dual quaUfications. Important as we think it is to raise the grade of engine-
men — who have, in fact, in their hands, the lives of all on board, — we are of
opinion their means of doing injury to life or propwty would be so much
abridged by the foregoing regulations, that it would suffice to impose a penalty
upon themj for any wilful abandonment of duty, gross negligence, or drunken-
ness.

We, also, feel considerable hesitation in offering any suggestions as to
limiting the number of passengers in steam-vessels, a measure which has been
strongly urged upon our attention. Cuhin passengers take care of themselves,
and wiil not go on board, unless there be adecjuate accommodation ; not so,
however, deck passengers ; from the increased number of whom alone, danger
is to be apprehended.

Legislation, with respect to the nuniher of passengers, must have reference
to the tonnage, either by builder's measurement, or by register ; but the sta-
bility of the vessel in carrying a load of passengers on deck, or in carrying a
due "proportion of sails, is materially affected by the weight and condition of
the cargo under deck. Our difficulty on this subject is, therefore, much in-
creased by the circumstance that a vessel carrying cargo, under deck, is, for
that very reason, better qualified to iiikc a. deck-load of passengers with safety,
than vessels, although exclusively appropriated to passengers ; in consequence
of the greater stability which vcsscbi acquire, in a sea-way, by reason of the
weight of cargo carried below.

That the ohligafion to carry some powerful uteam-whistle, hell, or gong,
be part of the proposed law, as regards steam-vessels ; also that their rata
through the water lie defined, during fog, and thick weather, in crowded
waters, whether plying by day or night.

THOMAS TREDGOLD.

To architects, engineers, and persons concerned in any department of
huilding,tlienameof Tredgoldmust notonly be famiUar, but likewise respected
and valued ; and it is presumed not less so by many individuals in the higher
walks of life. To all such it must be a matter of painful interest to he in-
formed, that the family of such a highly-gifted man and martyr to science,
consisting of an aged mother, two daugliters in extremely delicate health,
and a son of about thirteen years of age, are in very dependent circumstances.
His friends ha\e long cherished the hope that before this time — for it is now
ten years since his death — their situation might have attracted the favourable
notice of government ; hut as this has not been the case, Mr. Habershou,
one of his early friends and his biogiaplier, with .lohn Doiikin. Esq,, his
joint executor, have commenced a subscription in furtherance of this laudable
object.

304

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[August ^

RALPH REDIVIVUS.
No. XVII.

OUR HOUSE IN Lincoln's inn helds.
Acoovding to an article in the "Conversations Lexicon der Qegen-
%vart," wliii-li professes to uffonl some information as to the present
stale of areliitecture in England, " Sir ,lolm Soane's buildings generally
dis|)lay superior taste, but are not always well-disposed in plan" ! So
far from which being the ease, the very reverse to it is the truth, for
while his ])lans were generally excellent, and displayed considerable
invention, the taste manifested in his designs was apt to be very ini-
ecjiial, seldom good throughout, and occasionally most hitroqiie, mean
withal, and unmeaning. This front of his own, or we may now" call it,
of Our Own house in Lincoln's Inn Fields, although not his very -svorst
production, is one which none w ill envy him the re])utation of, since
it manifests far more of wbimsicality than of originality. Even sup-
posing for a moment that nothing can be alleged against the taste
shown in any of the sejiarate parts, it is decidedly faulty and defective
ns a whole, not Ijecansc it is in a style perfectly iiii gciitr/a, but be-
cause il is a <aiide jundile, amounting to no style at all. Tlie lionse
itself, wluch shows itself plainly enough, is one thing, while the fanciful
addition or excrescence by which it has been attem])ted to disguise it,
though only partially, is sometliing alldgether ditterent. The former
is as plain and homely as either of the bouses adjoining it: what
has lieen struck up against it is, on the contrary, not only exceedingly
fantastic, but not a little mean-looking into the bargain; wdiich mean-
ness of character, it should be observed, is altogether different from
homeliness, it being neither more nor less than that which almost inva-
riably attends paltry pretension and trumpery affectation.

Besiiles being remarkably poor and insipid in itself, this odd ap-
jiendage to the front of ttie house is decidedly contrary to all just
architectural jninciple, inasuuich as though really of stone, it has the
appearance of being constructed merely of boards, the thickness of
the stone-work being only a few inches, a species of delusion as dis-
agreeable in itself, as it is at variance with that usually practised ;
for if most of our biuldings are, according to some very veracious
critics, mere "lath and plaster," they have, at all events, the merit! of
looking substantial, whereas in this case stone hvis been emploved to
form a llimsy-looking fabric, whose front is scarcely thicker than a
wall of stout idanks, which ajipearance is in some degree increased
rather than diiidnished, by the arches of wdiat was oiiginally an 0])en
viranda, haxing been filled in with windows, since this adscititious
structure has been thereby rendered the external front of the house,
and the window sashes hardly recede at all within its surface. The
njiper story of it, on the other hand, which remains as before, looks as
it always did, like a child's fabric of cards — thin slabs of stone set np
on edge, but how held together it is impossible to guess. That there
is any want of real security or suflicieut solidity is not to be supposed,
but there most certainly is a great want of the expression of the latter,
if not altogether of the former; at the same time that there is nothing
whatever of that lightness and slenderness combined with delicate
richness, which jirochice such a charm in some styles of architecture —
for instance, in many Gothic and Oriental exam])les, wliere tenuity in
Jjarts of the construction is made to ctmduce to beauty and to orna-
nieut. Here the architecture professes to the eye to aim at the usual
character of solidity, there being no indication of a dilferent princijile
having been adopted and suitably carried out. The unfortunate con-
seipiciiee is, that this capricious essay is not at all satisfactory aceordino-
to any one principal of art.

Anotlier very fatal oversight appears to have been committed, vvliich
is, that the elevation ajijiears to have been considered merely vvith re-
spect to its appearance upon ]va]ier, detached from everything else,
without the slightest attention to the actual silivation, for owing to its
being rendered ^■ery conspicuous by being made to pi'oject beyond tlie
line of the other houses, this building looks little better than a narrow
upright slij), and far more insignificant than it would do if it did
not thrust itself more forward than its ueighl)ours. l^nless it could
have been made to endure exannnati(m better, it would have been
more prudent not to allow it to court observation after the manner it
<loes. .Since it has been (Miclosed l)y the apert'u'es being glazed, this
viranda, if so it may be called, gives the whole liouse the appearance
(if projecting very awkwardly beyond anv of the others, for tlie effect
produced by it is altogether diflerent from that attending any similar
advancing part of a larger architectural mass.

No doubt as fiir as the house itself is concerned, this anomalous ex-
crescence in front of it is consiileiably in its favour, ina-sinuch as it
gives not only greater extent, but variety and iiovelt)- of character to
the rooms wiiicli are eiilargi.-d by the sjiace thus added to tliem. 13nt
then it is no more than reasonable to expect that this should be i|p-
coniplished with greater attention to external appearance, so as rather •

to enhance it, than detract at all from it. It is conii),uati\ely easy to
obtain either internal convenience or external beauty sejiarately ; the
jnoblem is to combine them in such manner that what contributes to
the one shall also contribute to the other, and by way of referring to a
somewhat analogous instance, though only a single one, it will be sufli-
cieut to mention the Bay and Oriel in Gothic architecture, as beautiful
and characteristic features externally as they are within.

Had it been the production of a mere botcher and bungler,r such a
front as this in Lincoln's bin Fields would have excited no pasticular
surprise, whatever other mental emotion it might have occaeioned.
\'ery ditlf"rent, lifiwever, does the case become when we considhr that
it was designed by the late Professor of Architecture, who, w ether
deservedly or not, has been complimented almost unsparingly for his
aliility and talents. Nor can it be alleged as a mitigating excuse for
his de)dorable failure in this instance, that he was at all thwarted or
checked in his ideas, and obliged to com])ly with the preposterous
whims of a stupid, obstinate employer, (piite contrary to his own
better judgment and taste. Here he was under no control, but was at
liberty to Libandon himself freely to the insjjiration of his own poetical
fancy, and to realise one of those visions of tirchitectural grace an i\
beauty by which he was wont to imagine himself to be visited. Wha
has been the result? Nothing better than a poor flimsy meagre box-
looking erection, very litt'e, if at all superior in its puny taste, to
many of our London gin ])alaces. How far Sir John was safistied with
it himself, I cannot undertake to say, but if lie was satisfied with it at,
all, he must have been satisfied very easily indeed.

Notwithstanding that he was checked by no scruples as to imio-
vatiiig \-ery freely, Soane after all accomiilished nothing approaching
to a style, or even laying the foundations of one. He acquired a
manner of bis own, and nothing more. Instead of gradually advancing
in the |)ath he ventured into, he seems to have quite bewildered him-
self, to have keiit groping about and fumbling at novelty, without
being able to seize hold of originalitv. What liis principles were, his
architectural principles I mean, it is impossible to decide. In fact, he
seems to have had no ])ositive ones, but to have shifted and veered
about just according to the whim of tlie moment.

With respect to taste, the whole of his own house convicts him of
haxing been exceedingly unequal, and aildicted to the trivial and the
trifling. There are many exceeding clever and pleasing ideas thrown
out in many parts of tile interior, but hardly any one of them has been
properly worked up. There are many ingenious contrivances exem-
plified in it, which as lessons and hints are valuable enough, yet be-
yond that may almost be pronounced failures. The whole is little
better than a number of odds and ends of the kind jumbled together —
an architectural ctiito of rags and patches, of little shreds and bits to
serve as a sort of professional pattern card. So far, therefore, from
treating it at all unjustly by so styling it, it is only by considering it
merely as such that we reconcile ourselves to it, and overlook its in-
congruities as a w hole. In the little court between the house and the
miiseiun at the rear of it, just enough has been done to show what
might have been accomplished within that confined space, and hovy
pleasing a bit of scenic architecture might, have been produced, were
it at all more than a mere beginning. At present it produces nearly
the same impression as a )iicture would ilo that should be framed and
hung 11]), though many parts of its canvas should not have been touched
at all by the pencil. The museum itself is no better; it has no pre-
tensions wdiatever to architectural design or elfect, even in its plan,
being an irregular, crowded, buddled-u]), cut-up, mere make-shift
of a place, where the casts, X:c., are stowed away without half so much
aim at arrangement as may be seen in the "show-rooms" of many
trailesmen. The only room (excepting the small parlour next the
court; that is at all satisfictory, properly studied, and consistently
finished, is the jiicture cabinet, which js certainly a delightful little
architectural bijou, a model for a small room of the kiml, especially for
one similarly situated.

Though it is no particular defect in the house itself that it is most
ill-adapted for a museum open to the public, since it was not built nor
afterwards altered for any such purpose, it is not on that account the
less absurd that it should have been so appro))riateil, unless it had been
freely devoted to jmblic use, and rendereil accessible every day and
all clay long, without other restriction than what would be indispensably
necessary to )irotect it from injury. In that case about a hundred-fold
llu- present number of person-i might have visited it in the course of a
jear, all of whom would doubtless have brought away with them
uolhiug but their admiration. As it is now managi'd, however, the
whole affair is a piece of veritable humbug — one that tells people
plainly enough what sort cjf meaning Sir Jplni attached to the word
" donation."

1830.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

305

CANDIDUS'S NOTE-BOOK.
FASCICULUS VII.

I must have lilji'r(y
M'ithal, as !ai-j,'c a chaiiiT as the « imls,
'J'u IjldW on whom I pU-aso.

I. I was infuniied the other day that I had been severely reproached
by one whose name was told to me, for expressing a very mean
o()inion of Nash's abilities as an arcliitect, whenever I )iave men-
tioned him. In so doing I am so far from being at all singidar, that I
only seem to adopt the general opinion entertained of liiin", and there-
fore shunld have been very glad to have discovered, if possible, merits
which the rest of the world had cnther carelessly overhjoked, or been
too obtnse to discover. My reprover is pleased to aftiian that he
possessed vm-y snperior talent ; yet that bare assertion without some-
thing like proof to snpport it, may very well be set aside as amonnling
to nothing, or rather as a proof in itself that it would not be at all dis-
creet to attempt to confirm the praise by pointing to any one of his
works as a testimony in his favonr. It is possible that he may have
succeeded better in some of the tilings he did, but in those b)- which
he is most known, — or at any rate with which I am acquainted, he
exhibited, if not always the very worse taste — a most insuHtjrably
mediocre one, — vulgar commonplace stuH", and most deplorable insi-
pidity. Look at the building which forms the east side of Carlton
Place ; look at the Regent's t'ark terraces, which Barlholomew terms
" mortar skimmings by the mile": they are stamped by littleness and
feebleness, which in some of the designs are rendered uiost Hagitiously
oHTensive by the coarse and vulgar tawdriness with which the fronts
are bedizzened out. Uglier things there may be, but excepting our
iiKjdern gin palaces, nothing so flagrantly mcn/nciom in character.
Whenever I look at the slatternly finery with which they are (ricked
out, I feel that I am standing in the presence of the "Harlotrv'of
art." Yet to Nash it wxs that Gecjrge the Fourth intrusted the i.ask
of erecting a palace; which, notwithstanding the sinus so extravagantly
squandered away ujion it, is little less tlian" actnally disgraceful to the
character of art in this coui'liy. Independent of mere size, the build-
ing in St. James' Far'^ has nothing wliatever to recommend it. It is not
at all distinguished by greatness of manner, — quite the contrary, for
there is not a single portion of it that is not stamped by littleness and
insignificance. What a singular, and to ourselves, deplorable contrast
does it present to the new palace of the Duke of Brunswicdv by Ottmer,
engravings of which have reached this country. Thcmgh not free
from faults, the Brunswick palace has at least a grand and im|)i)sing
air. It looks like the residence of a sovereign, whicdi is unich more
than our own does. Asa pahice for the sovereign of Little Britain

the one in St. James' Park would be reasonably' handsome and stylish

a smart piece of architectiu-e enough ; but for that of Great Britain it
is not so well. However there may be excuse for Nash, poor man :
John Bidl is both very poor and very stingy ; whereas, it may be pre-
sumed the Brunswickers have pleiity of jwo^Ksses, and can'alfijrdto
bnild palaces that look like palaces after they are built.

II. Greatly will Bartholomew,— who must not be confounded with
St. Bartholomew the Great, exult at a damper having been thrown
upon competition by the result of that for the Nelson monument.
Poor competition, a most woful figure do you now cut! Well may
you hang your head; — bettc-r would it be were you to go and han'o-
yourself. As for the profession, thev will very quietly go to sleep
\qion the matter. No wonder that committees laugh at them to their
very faces, when they show that thev may be kicked at and beaten
witli impunity, like spaniels. Never were there such pluckless creatures
as they show themselves to be-, when, without making the slightest
protest against such treatment, they alhnv themselves to be bamboozled
iu the mt)st bungling, barefaced manner. The Royal Exchange com-
petition is already openly spoken of by many as" being little bettcu-
than an arrant hoax. The plans of the committee are it seems all
settled, before a single plan lias been sent in by those invited to com-
pete for the building. Butler must have been 'thinking of architects
when he penned his hackneyed distich,

Surely tlic pleasure is as gi'eat
In bciu^ cheated as to cheat.

III. Baron Von Klenze has just got a severe thrashing : I do not
mean that he has literally been'beaten black and blue, but has been so
cut up that he is likely to look veiy blank and blue for some time to
come. Has he then, it will be asked, been attacked by some impudent
shallow-pated journalist? No: his theory and opiiiirms have been
deliberately ridiculed as false and extravagant by Professor Wiegmami
of Dusseldorli; who is himself an architect. The Professor's tone is
not particularly courteous, nor does he omit the opportunity of giving

the Baron a hard hit wherever he can. Among other things he ridi-
cules his art'ected language, and the solemn obscurity in which he wraps
up his meanings or no-meanings in such manner that it requires an
CEdipus to luiriddle them. "Architecture," says the Baron, "in the
ethic (?) meaning of the term, is the art o( shaping and putting toge-
ther natural materials in order to accoimnodate them to the purposes
and wants of society, so that the method of applying them according
to the laws of strength, durability, and consistency, may secure the
greatest possible firmness and lastingness with the least possible cost
of labour and material!" Commenting upon which very oracular de-
finition, the Professor, — no doubt very rudely — remarks that if such
be the case, a boot-jack is upon a par with a work of architecture, and
that a tailor or shoemaker can fulfil all the conditions laid down by
the Ritltr, just as well as Ritter Von Klenze himscdf, or any other
architect. — Kh^nze, it is well known, is the Don Quixote of Grecian
architecture, and not a little Quixotic in his notions of it. According
to him it is the only positive architecture; the meaning of which (Ex-
pression I must confess, I positively do not understand. There is, in
my opinion, infinitely more good sense and valuable truth in the fol-
lowing remark by Wiegmann himself: " As studious disciples of an-
cient art the most important lesson we can derive from it is, to endea-
voiu- to work out for ourselves a style that shall be to us what their
own was to the tireeks. It is only by being so understood and so
applied that the beautifvd art of classical antiquity can exercise a
worthy and beneficial infiuence on ourtiuu-s; which it cannot do so
long as it shall ccmtinue to be a lifeless model, for slavish — and he
might have added, indolent — ^' imitation.' "

IV. It is possible, nay very probable, or I may as well say, once for
all, very certain, that nobody in this country is acquainted with the
writings of Gogol, notwithstanding that he is one of the living literary
celebrities of St. Petersburg. Beyond that, and that he has the repu-
tation of being one of the cleverest authors of his day, Imvselfknow
very little more of him than any one else ; having only a few hours
ago opened his two volumes entitled " ^Irahcski," when my attention
was instantly arrested by an article headed " On Archikcture." That
was suflBcient to determine me where to commence an acquaintance
with Gogol: yet I must confess that it was not without very great
misgivings that 1 did so; for it was not at all likelv, 1 thought, tliat I
should meet witli any thing particularly new, or rather, not particularly
stale, on siich a subject, in such a, (juarter. To mv asti^juishment, how-
ever, I have found that it does contain much original thinking on the
subject, much sound criticism, and many ingenious and clever remarks.
I shall confine myself, however, at least for the present, to that passage
where he expresses his discontent at the utter want of originality
manifested in all modern works of architecture. In every other class
of ornamental productions, he observes, inventicm is permitted to have
free scope, the consequence of which is that fcnius and condjinations,
as tasteful as they are novel, are obtained, which but for such liberty
would never have been thought of. It is thus that the artisan, the
mere mechanic frequently surpasses his models, although they may
be veiy good in themselves, and seem to require no further improve-
ment: but the architect — the artist as he is pleased to style himself,
durst not, for the veiy hfe of him, attempt any thing of the kind. Such
privilege is denied to him. Innovation! heterodoxy t heresy! All
his ccunrades would at once be up in arms against him who should
attempt to alter, not the proportions of an order, but any of its (I'ecorative
details, however true he might keep to its general character. I am
afraid Gogol himself will be considered outrageously heterodox. What
business has he to have an ojjinion at all upon the matter ? Nobody
ought to presume to understand architectm-e, but architects them-
selves; and (hem things would goon smoothly and quietly. It is all
very well for other people to have just brains enough to admire and
wonder, and nothing more.

Nkw Projectile. — Veiy early on Tliursilay innrning, the 1th ultimo, an
e\iicriiiient was made at Kiiigstiju mth a now and (ormiclalile projectile,
meant to supersede, not only cannon, Init also the iiiucli more questionably
vamitecl liollow-slicdl, now a favourite in the French and Russian navies. The
wliulc apparatus did not exceed twelve or thirteen ]ioumls weight, and was
enclosed iu a very small conqiass. The projectile was lannelic'd by hand,
fmni a distance, at a pleasiu-e-hoat. It proceeded noiselessly till it reaclic<t
the aim, and the etl'cct was then terrific. Catcliing the vesscla-midships, the
force of the explosion fairly raised it aliove the stream and broke cvei-y single
plank into splinters and small fragments, so that no idea of (lie vessel's form
or use was left for the spectator. The splinters were carried in evciy di.
rcction, and many thrown into the neighbouring fields. The explosive power
was only about two iioimds, lint exceeded the destructive energy of at least
forty limes that weight of gunpowder, as now used, in any shape. The per-
cussicm was trenicndous and shook (he houses fur aconsidcralile distance. It
was attrilnitecl ,at Kingston to the explosion of a powder iiiill at Hounslow,
and caused great excitement. — Times.

306

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[AuGirST,

BURSTALl.'S FATEN'l' PNEUMATIC CAUUIAGE SPKING
RAILWAY BUFFER, AND ELASTIC DRAG.

— — — - — ^f\— p

re used in the like purts in all the

The principal feature of this invention fas shown in the iliagrams)
consists in applying the elastic properties of the air for the springs
and buffers of railway carriages, and is best performed by inclosing in
a metal cylinder an air-tight vessel eonstrueted of caoutchouc or caout-
chouc and silk or cotton, such as the well known prejraration of Mr.
Mackintosh, or of some of the animal tissues, or any other flexible
substance which can be made air-tight.

Fig. 1 in the plan shows a double cylinder, its pistons, buffers, &c.,
the cylinder being in section,) to indicate the situation of the air
vessels.

Fig. 2, 3, 4, and 5 are plans and sections of part of a locomotive
steam carriage frame, with four of the springs; the buffer, cylinder,
and part of tiie frame, being in section as in tig. 1.

Fig. G is a plan of an elastic drag, and an improved method of con-
necting a train of carriages together.

The same letters of reference are
plans.

In fig. 1, AA are those parts of a cylin<ler (w liich is constructed with
a partition in the centre to make it into two) in which the air
vessels are to be placed; LL are two ])istons for compressing the air
vessels ; C C the piston rods on which llie cross heads B B are to be
securely fixed ; the outer ends of the piston rods CC being extended
to the full length of the carriage for the purjuise of fixing the buffers
EE; the bars across the buffers with the holes I^FPl^ are for the pur-
])0se of fixing drag chains to connect one carriage to tlie next in the
train; the cylinder (as only one will gener.dly be required) must be
liulted by the fVjur lugs D D D D to the centre of the carriage ; the two
cross lu'ads B B are connected together liy the side rods >i N to cause
the two pistons to act together, or as one is compressed against the
one air vessel, the other will be relaxed according as the carriage is
UKJVed forward or backward, anil as the bufl'ers are fixed to the ends
of the piston rods, the concussion will be received through them on
the corresponding air vessel.

In fig. 2 and 5, F F, is part of the side frame of a railway steam
carriage; fig. 5 being the plan, and fig. 2 the elevation, with part in
section; HHHH are four cvlinders, and may be seven to ten inches
lung, and five to seven inclies diameter, two being shown in section
an(l two in elevation ; together they form a powerful carriage spring
on the same principle as the above described buffer, with air vessels,
pistons, and piston rods: the cylinders may be made of cast iron, cast
in one piece, and nuist be bolted upon the top of the carriage frame;
K is the axle of the carriage, with ifs brass bearing guided by the iron
frame in the usu'al way, on this brass a strong iriJU bar II is fixed, and
on which the four piston rods of the springs stand so that the coni-

jiression of the air vessels in the cylinders A A may produce the re
quired elastic action.

In fig. 3 and 4, G G, is the end fiaming of a steam carriage, fig. 3
being a section of that, and a buBer to be placed at the end of the
carriage, while fig. 4 is a plan; this buffer is constructed and acts on
1 he principle before described, and is for the protection of the carriage,
w hen either jiushing a train before the steam carriage or when one
carriage is propelled against another.

Fig. G is a plan of an elastic drag, on the same principle and con-
struction as fig. 1, except, instead of the two buffi'rs tlie elongated [lis-
ton rods are ]n'Ovided with a socket joint and key to comiect the train
together, as at M 3 and 4, and two horizontal joints as at M 1 and 2 ;
these joints being for the purpose of allowing the train of carriages,
however long, to conform without stress or strain to any curve of the
railway. By this ]ilan the whole train will be locked together by wdiat
will be, in effect, a complete bar from end to end; while each carriage
being only acted on through the medium of the elastic air vessels, will
be freely at liberty to take its natural place on the railway bars, and
any oscillatory motion wdiich any individual carriage may receive, will
end w ith itself, instead of as at present being propagated backwards
and forwar<ls from one end of the train to the other, while any sudden
shock will be received on the air vessels the same as if provided with
buffers.

As in this method of supporting carriages and forming railway
buffers, advantage is taken of two of the most elastic substances in
nature, it principally remains to show there are no practical difficul-
ties in the way ; this will be clear from the fact, that the air vessel is
so completely supported by the cylinder, that a vessel made by ex-
panding with a syringe one of the common caoutchouc bottles, sold by
the stationers, weighing only one ounce, and enlarged till it was less
than l-4Uth of an inch thick, bore, without symptoms of failure, a
gross weight of upwards cd' 3U0 pounds, equal to 50 poimds to the
inch; which was hkewise the case when a sheep's bladder of less
than one quarter that weight was jiut into the cylinder.

In constructing the single buffer, as in fig. 3 and 4, it is recommended
that they be made 7 or 8 inches diameter, or containing 50 to GO cir-
cular inches section ; tliis, if jiressed by concussion to half its length,
will give a resistance of about 700 pounds ; if into l-4tli 2,000 pounds ;
or if into 1-Sth, 5 to G,000 pounds; but so long as the cylinder is strong
enough, it can never be brought home.

In the elastic drag, fig. G, cylinders of five inches diameter will be
fidly sufficient, as the utmost drauglit of each carriage may not exceed
100 pounds; and as each carriage will have its own independent
spring, this will give a power of compression of four pounds only to
each circular inch; while in case of any sudden stopping, as the air
vessel may bear 100 pounds to the inch, a resistance of about 2,000
pounds may be received without any jirejudice to the spring.

WILLIAMS' PATENT WROUGHT IRON BOILER.

1 ',fm

A A the fknv pipes. B man-liole. C C apertures of three inch square
pijic, nine inch Ion),' with cocks D D fixed on to the front with a niove-
alile rtanye, lo clear out (he dirt, Uc. from the inside. K the fire-place
F Ihe out.side of the Ijoiler forming tlie siifc Hues, where the fire passes
round. (1 tlie top of tlie builer. H the return-pipe.

The annexed engraving is a perspective view of a very compact
and economic boiler; every advantage has been taken for economizing
the heat, as well as taking every precaution for cleaning ont the in-

1830.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

:m

terior, for want <if wliich most boiler; on a small scale fail, in conse-
quence of the seiliment and impurities of the water forming a crust
upon the internal surface, preventing the caloric passing speedily
from the fuel through the metal to t\w. water, and causing also the
boiler to be quickly burned out. The boiler is made of wruught-iron,
and is funiished with a man-hole at the top for the purpose of cleansing
the interior, and there are also two apertures in front communicating
with the bottom for the same purpose ; these two apertures are closeil
with iron plates, fixed to flanges with nuts and screws and which are
easily removed when required. The fuel is placed in tlie centre of
the boiler, and the flame is made to divide at the back and pass round
both sides, ami again miite in front and pass over the top, to the
chimney, by this means no part of the boiler is exposed to the cold
atmospliere, but all is subject to the direct action of the fire, histead
of dividing the upper and side flues by a brick partition, as is usually
the case in setting boilers, they are divided by a flange of the boiler
filled with water, by this construction no part of the Ijoiler contains
more than 3i inches in thickness of water, consec[uently the circu-
lation through the hot water pipes is very rajiid.

Some of these boilers were fixed last winter for
heating conservatories, and gave perfect satisfaction;
boiler may be seen at the office of this Journal.

the pur|)ose of
a model of the

THE WELLINGTON MEMORIAL.

Sir — In the authenticated account of the proceedings at a meeting
of the General Committee on the Wellington Military Memorial, some
assertions were made that are calculated to create a prejudice which
might not have been intended, and as Dr. Johnson observed, in ques-
tions of general concern, there is no law of government or rule of
decency tliat forbids open examination and public discussion. The
subscribers, who in the list of the committee read so many illustrious
names, had a security that nothing would be done in opposition to the
argument, and in defiance of right reason, yet it appears by the state-
ment of Lord Hill, that two or three days after the meeting of the
general committee he expressed an opinion against tlicir proceedings,
but he was told that it was too late, and a few days afterwards a
written statement was made by several iniluencial members of the
committee, not against the choice of the artist, but that due care had
not been taken to obtain the best design; now as it seems by Mr.
Croker's letter to Mr. Rice, " that he in common with others, entertained
an opinion that some undue favour was intended for Mr. Wyatt, it was
reasonable to su|ipose that the committee would have courted investi-
gation instead of clinging to form for protection from discussion ; and
as a general meeting of the subscribers could not have inqjeded the
work, it might have been useful as a proof that the committee had, in
common with the subscribers, no object of private patronage in getting
up the second memorial, but were actuated solely by an anxious and
earnest desire to express their love and admiration of the immortal
Wellington, by erecting the best military memorial that art could pro-
duce, and to obtain that object public opinion was in favour of com-
petition; but in opposition to that feeling the Right Homuu'able J.
Wilson Croker thought it requisite to taunt Lord dilborne with the
failure of the Nelson competition, and said that it woidd have cured
any body of the principle of competition. " That not one person of note
offered, one single R. A., and one only, not one artist, sculptor, designer,
or painter, whose names any one of us had heard before ; and the re-
sult was that after all that competition, we selected a mere architec-
tural disigntr, which we could ec[ually well have done before the com-
petition began, in short, that as producing any thing gaud or valuable
in the way of art, I take upon myself to say that it was an utter
failure." As the models and designs are exhibiting for the benefit of
a charitable institution, to provide a home for the destitute sailor, this
assertion was illtimed, and it was drawing largely iqion the credulity
of the members of the committee, to try to make them supimse that
they had never heard the names of Bailey, R.A., Wilkins, R.A.,
Smirke, Campbell, Pistrucci, Beknas, Donaldson, Shaw, Fowler, Hay-
don, Britton, Salwin, Lough, Westmacott, Carew, Robinson, and many
others who were conqjetitors ; Penrhyn Castle, the Conservatory at
Carlton House, Diuikeld Margam, the Atlas Fire-ollice, and many
other buildings have given some notoriety even to my humble name;
l)ut the models have been seen by many persons capable of a])preciat-
ing works of art, whose opinions otter a triumphant refutation of Mr.
Croker's aspersions. Marochettin, whose name has obtained such high
distinction for his matchless equestrian statue, that it must have met
the eyes or ears of Mr. Croker, withdrew his model after he had com-
pared it with the works of the British artists, who have been so un-
justly and unnecessarily repudiated and calumniated by Mr. Croker;
although it might puzzle him to produce any work of art superior to

Bailey's. Competitions carried out properly are the only channel to
bring talented young men forwaril who have no ]iatrons; but if accord-
ing to Mr. Croker's doctrine, the name only is to be looked at, it is
better to continue thi> parliamentary practice of a strong parly struggh".
The manly independent speeches of the Duke of Richmond, Lord s
Hill and Colborn<', must gain honour and respect froni all jjersons who
feel any interest in the success of the arts, and their judicious conduct
in avoiding a division cannot be too highly commended ; in a matter
of such importance there ought to be no bickering or division, and it
was evident from the first that the ruling party were resolved to carry
their object with a high hand (Coutts c. Coutts). Mr. Croker stated
that when he entered tlie connnittec, he found that a string of resolu-
tions had been passed, ending with the appointment of Mr. Wyatt as
the artist, but upon hia objecting, the appointment was postponed, and
that he afterwards agreed that Mr. Wyatt should be em[)loyed, pro-
vided the equestrian statue was ])lacod on King George the 4th gate-
way arch to the Green Park ; and he produced a drawing made by his
direction to shew the proportion, and said that he understood from
the architect that the arch was strong enough to support the weight
of the statue, but it seems he was mistaken, as it now appears it will
require to be strengthened and filled up, to be as firm as a single stone.
Now as the use of the arch was made the condition of Mr. Croker's
adhesion, the government of course thought it requisite to defer to
public opinion, and they took the proper course to arrive at it, viz.,
by placing a model of the eqiiestrian statue according to Mr. Croker's
scale upon the arch, (the shouts of laughter and the derision with
which it was treated was conclusive), and yet the committee persist,
nor would they have called a meeting in all probability if Lord Mel-
bourne had not had that respect for public opinion when properly ex-
pressed, that is becoming his exalted station, and required a prool
that the majority of the subscribers were satisfied that with the large
sum already paid in, and the sum that may be expected to be sub-
scribed, nothing better could be produced in art than the completion
of a gateway. The citizens of London may erect their equestrian
statue on the top of the Mansion House, to show that their respect
was greater for the warrior than for the minister ; for if their statue
is intended as a memorial of the illustrious Duke's services as
minister, nothing can be more absurd than an equestrian statue, as it;
ought to be erected in his ollicial robes, which are not certainly cal-
culated for horseback. It is unfortunate that both in the Nelson and
Wellington memorial such an utter disregard has been shown to public
opinion. In the former, artists were invited to deliver designs and
models, a sub-committee was appointed, seven of w horn it is said met
and resolved, it appears by Mr. Croker's account, to appoint a new
architectural designer, which they could, as he says, have done just as
well without any competition; the designs were afterwards exhibiteil
and the general opinion was so strong against the selection of the
column, that the general connnittec thought it right to pay the pre-
miums, and allow the artists to alter their designs, and they or any-
other artists to send new designs, it was supposed for the purpose ot
obtaining the opinion of the public to guide the committee in their
choice; yet by a mistaken restriction, but a small number of persons
obtained a sight of the designs, the competitors felt the inconvenience
so strongly, and were so desirous that the greatest possible publicity
should be given to the designs, that they petitioned the committee tu
suspend their final adjudication until tlie design had been seen, and
they ottered to pay the cost of the room ; their request was treated
with silent contempt; a ballot-box was opened at the Thatched House
Tavern, no discussion took place as to the merits of the designs, a
resolution was passed that the sub-committee might alter the details
of the chosen design, and as it was natural to suppose it would,
the farce ended in there being more votes in favo\u- of the column
than of any one of the others ; and it is possible the question vvas de-
cided by a minority of the niembeis of the committee. Mr. Croker,
from his talents, acquirements and confidence, is of so much weight
that it is to be regretteil that he is not more careful in his assertions,
witness his declaration in support of his opinion that he believed that
in inonarchial countries there is no instance of an esquestrian statue
erected to a subject; when, in his way to Harley-street, if he passed
thiough Cavendish-square, he nuist have seen the equestrian statue
erected to the Duke of Cumberland, who was a subject to King George
the ■2nd. It is a melancholy consideration to reflect on, that two such
glorious opportvmities for the exercise of the highest qualities of the
arts may be thrown away, merely because modern statesmen and
warriors are not the best judges of art, and are too prouil to consult
those who are. The report states that the sum subscribed is 'Zifi'ML,
and the sum paid is about 17,920/. I thought that to subscribe was
to pay, surely there are none who have not paid, but we ought io
know if there be any names on paper alone.

Cuiiiii.iii"/it Tirra'cc Tuom.vs Huupei;.

308

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[AuCJUST,

WOODEN PAVEMENT.

Sir — Oliscrviiig a iimnber of blocks of wood lying iiidu' Old Haili-y,
cvidiMitIv projiiirod for forming a woodiMi pavcincnl for tin; carri;ige
way opposite the Session House, and noticing the blocks to vary
^■reatly in dimensions, I measnred several of them, and found some
only eight in(dies and a half long, while others were nine inches and
three eighths. They generally approximate to tlie figure of regular
liexagonal prisms; some of them, however, are a little conical, but the
diameters varv so much that it will be impracticable to tit them toge-
ther without leaving interstices between tlieni so great as to render
the outer parts of the blocks liable to be chipped otfljy the feet of the
horses, and the wheels of the carriages passing over them.

The surfaces too of the ends of the blocks, each of which ought to
be cut otf exactly at right angles to the axis of the prism, form, in
many cases, oblique angles with that ;ixis, and consequently when the
blocks are placed Avith the grain upright, one side will be higher than
llie other, and thus the pavement will necessarily have an uneven sur-
face, and nuich of the value of the wooden pavement be lost.

Having altentively watched, for about four years, from 1827 to 1831
■the etiect of much tra\elling over a piece of wooden block pavement,
vvell executed in the principal gateway of Vienna, and observed that
it appeared to wear away much less than any other kind of pavement.
1 freipiently on my return to England in 1831 mentioned to our en-
s;inecrs the superiority of a roadway thus formed, luid took every op-
portunity to recommend the universal adoption of this excellent ma-
terial.

But the goodness and durability of such a road will depend on the
workmanship ; the blocks ought all to be cut exactly to one gauge, and
laid down on an even bed; I should consider a difference of a tenth of
an inch in either length or breadth sufficient to digrace any engineer
•who would permit such blocks to be laid down contiguously. How
j;-reat then must be my disgust at observing near an inch difference in
the lengths, and more than an inch in the breadths of those blocks
about to be used in the Old Bailey.

Being thoroughly satisfied that neither comfort nor durability can
possibly result from such excessively bad workmanship, and appre-
hensive that the numerous benefits and great economy of wooden
pavements will for a length of time be lost to the comnumity, if such a
wretched specimen be allowed to influence public opinion, I deem it
3uy duty to warn all those concerned ;igainst a proceeding w hich caji
only produce disappointment and public injury.

I an), Sir, your obedient servant,

John Isaac Hawkins,
Ci\ il Engineer and Patent Agent.
Qiialily Cuuii, Clumctry Lain.
July 24, lS3y.

RUNNING GAUGE.

Suj. — In your last number you aflixed the initials A. C- to the
description of my Rumiing Gauge for a Kailway ; as 1 should not like
to appear a plagiarist on A. C, or A. C. to appear a plagiarist on nie,
w ill y<ni be kind enough to state that the initials ought to be E. C.

It'is natural for the men wdio lay down the rails to lay them too wide
rather than too narrow ; it is for this reason, that the carriages /i'/W run
on rails that are a little too wide, but will nut run on rails that are too
narrow. In the latter case the inconvenience falls on the workmen,
who are obliged to take up the rails and relay them, but in the former
case tlie inconvenience is felt by the passengers in the side motiouof
the carriages; but the running guage affords a ready means of exanun-
ing them. — Bramah and Fox are manufacturing these gauges.

Your's sincerely,

Edwaud Cowper.

Paintkd Class Window.— A very splendid painted glass window, de-
signed to be jilaccd in one of the new cburcbes in Cambridgeshire, is now
being exbiliiled al Ibe rooms of ilr. Dciicw, No. 30, (.'barlcs Street, 13crkeley
Square. It is pauitcd by Messrs. Iloadlcy and Oldficlil, who arc well known
in this tirancb of art, nndcr the ilircctiuJi of Messrs. Hancock, Rixon, and
i)nnt. Tbc crayon dramngs for tbc designs arc Iiy Mr. \Aood, and the archi-
tectural pojiioii'of tlic window is by Messrs. Buckler. The wijjdovv contains
Ibrco compartments, besides the canopies. The centre compartment is a
coiiy from Spagnoletti's celcbiated pictm-e, " Tlic Uesccnt from the Cross."
The comiiartmcnt to the left band of tbc spectator is from the altar piece liy
Morales, in tlie chapel of Magdalene College, Oxford, a picture of extraor-
dinary merit, and known to nmst jicrsons IVimi tbc rci)catcd engraving of the
original. The right band compart nieni is a copy of tbc altar-Jiiccc by
itaijhael Mcngs, in the chapel of .VU Souls, Oxlnrd, \\hich is also well known.
These pictiucs, with some allowances fur the coniprcssioii of the side com-

])artmen1s, are \cry faithful copies in all respects of the oiigiuals. 'flicse arc
bcaulifnily coloured; there is very extraordinarj' vividness and briliiancy both
in the llcsb tints and in the draperies; the bines ar<" jicenliarly fuie. The
canopies are taken from originals in I'^iiford Chnrcb, (>l(nu'cst(;i*sliirc. The
falling of the manna, tbc tlowing rock, the commandments, and tbc cloven
tongues, are from tbc rcjiresentation in King's College, Cambridge. The
crowns of inunortality, and other devices, are original. These paiidings are
reflective of mndi credit on all persons connected in producing tbcni. The
artists h.avc increased their .ilre.aJy cstabbsbed reputation, anil mnch [n-aise is
due to Messrs Ham nek. for their liberal direction of tbc talent tbcy have cm-
ployed. Tbcy arc painted on large pieces of crown glass, not |)latc glass,
crown glass Ijcing considered to imbibe colour better than jilatc glass, and to
be nan'c brilliant in effect of tone. The pieces arc kept together by nntal
liands, groo\cd like the fromes of a casement window. It has canscil no
little tronlile to put these pieces together, and will not be the wm-k of less
than several weeks to separate them previous to their being sent lo their nlli-
matc destination, and to put them again together. In a word, this is a very
noble window. — Times.

Discovery in the Ahts. — One of the most important discoveries is the
one applicable to the reprinting of books, or reproduction of engravings. M.
I)n]innt, a very industrious printer, was seeking the means (if saving the ex-
pense of stereotyping. \\'ith tlie assistance of a particular ink he was already
enabled lo avoid tlic jireservation of the cliches, which reipiire many materials,
and inncli place and mtnicy, by the means of the prcscr\atioii of a mere
jiriiitcd sheet, which litbography afterwards reproduced \\bi'uc\er it was
wanted; but ilonbting whctber tlie ink used upon that shed would retain in
the course of lime the same properties, be consulted bis brother, a veiy intel-
ligent hthographcr, and tlic latter found what neitlier ventiucd to expect.
This new ])roccss is applicable not only to fresh printed sheets, but likewise
to the oldest engravings, to the oldest books, and, what is of far more inte-
rest, to Creek, Chinese, and Hebrew books. It consists in two o)icrations.
Over the page or engravings of which you want a copy you lay a ]iarticnlar
einn|)ositinu. It is placed n]ion the litbogra]ibic stone anil pressed, and tbc
sdmc ic|iioiluccs, with scrupulous precision, the original engraving or book.
Tliis impression could not, however, serve such as it is. It is itself covered
with the same incparation, and it may then print thousands of copies, by
the ordinary process of every sort of lithography. five niiimtcs siitHce for
Ijfith oper.itious. The original engraving may lie restored to tlu^ jiortfolio
which lias supplied it, for it has not been injm-ed ; the book, thus wholly re-
lirinled, may uudcrgo auotbcr binding, and then honourably resume its place
in your library. Tliis new process admits of a reduction of scvciity-tivc per
cent, upon the expense of printing; and as for engraving, that wbicb on
copper would cost one hnndred francs, will now cost but twenty francs !
What conscipicncc -nil! not this discovery yield. It threatens the graphic
arts, engraving and printing, with a complete revolution. \ man of the
gi-eatest talent in the art lays claim to priority in this discovery, as is always
the case — «hen success has been obtained claimants come in. The wisdom
of the central jury and patent laws must decide the question. In the mean-
time MM. Duponts arc manufacturing, wluch is always a great point, (tn
.Monday the King, ({iiecn, Mad.ame Adelaide, and I'rinccss Clementine \isitcd
again the exposition, and examined the lythotypogra\iliic lu'oduce of the
brothers. His Majesty observing an engi'aved head of Albert IJurer, of 1527,
which was wanting in bis collection of the Palais Royalc, ordered a copy of
it, and congratnlalcd M.M. Duponts upon a discovery whereby there would
be no longer any scarce engravings or books. — Paris rrriuiVuulfnr Jiuie.

Cloth Makino wituoot .Scinning or Weaving. — Among tbc many ex-
traordinary and truly wonderful inventions of the present times is a machine
for the luakiug of broad and narrow woollen cloths without spinning or
weaving ; and from our acquaintance w itli the staple manufacture of this
district, after an inspection of patterns of this cloth, we should say there is
every probabiUty of this fabric superseding the usual mode of making clolb
by spinning and weaving. The machines are patented in this and every other
mamifaetuiing nation. The inventor is an .\merican, and appears to have a
certain iirospeet of realising an ample fortune by the sale of his patent right.
We mulcrstand patterns of this doth, as well as drawings of the maeliincry,
have been shewn to many of oiu principal merchants and manufacturers,
none of whom ba\c expressed a doubt but that the maeliincry appears
caii.Tblc of making low cloths wliich requu-e a good substance. Should it
succeed to anything like the expectations of the patentees, its abridgment of
labour, as well manual as by machinery, will be very great. We find that
means are already taken to introduce this machinery among our continental
rivals ; a company of eleven gentlemen in London have deposited the
thousand pounds with the patentees, who Imve ordered a machine for them;
when finished they .are to try it one month, and if at the end of that month
they think it will succeed, they are to pay twenty thousand |iounds for the
lialcnt right in the kingdom of Belgium, and it will, of course, tic worked
there. We are therefore bound in duty to our"conntry and her mannfactnring
interests to adopt such facilities as will prevent ns falling into a position
below our n\nU i,i oiliei- countries. M'e are informed the nccc'ssary niaclii-
neiT for the production of this patent woollen felted cloth will be tried here
ill a week or two, under the superintendence of the inventor, by a cloth
merchant who has an exclusive license, but is about to associ.atc with him
twenty other respectable business men, for the purpose of shaiing the cxiienscs
of giving the invcniion a fiUr trial. It is calculated one set of machinery,
not egstuiij' mgrv thaa sL\ liuutlr«il pountls, mli Ijs tapiihls ff j)r(jUH?h>S

1S3!).]

THE CIVIL ENCINICEU AND AUCHITI]CT.S JOUKNAL.

30!)

six hundreil yards of woollen cloth, thirty-six inches in width, per day of
twelve hours. — Leeds Mercury.

TusTiMONiAL TO RoBKHT SxEPHENsoN, Esa. — Thc subscrihcrs to the tes-
tinioiiinl to Ik; iiresented to Rohert Stephenson, Esq., civil engineer, having
<ie(ennined Ihat it shall consist of a handsome dinner service of plate, with a
cainlejal)runi, or other centre-])iecc, of api)ro])riatc and charaetciistic design,
a committee of taste was appointed to select thc design, representing every
class of the s\iliseribers, viz., Sir John (iuest, M.l'., and .\lr. Crawshay, the
iron trade: Mr. IJramah and Mr. Maudslcy, thc engine mannfaelnrcrs ; Mr.
AV. Freeman, Mr. Uagley, and Jlr. White, the stone and cement trade; Mr.
Dowsan and Jlr. Holland, the timlier trade; i\lr. Uavid M'lntosh and Mr.
Thomas .laekson, the operative railway contractors. The committcu; met on
Tuesday at Riilcr's hotel, Salisbury Square, and, from several designs submitted
for their consideration, all possessing niofc or less of merit, they uuaniuiously
decided in favour of the one furnished by Mr. Benjandn Smith, of Duke
Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields. It consists of a superb candelabrum, with a
triangidar base, surmounted by three figures, one at each angle, descriptive of
Wisdom exhibiting to Genius and Plulosopliy the application of steam to the
]turposes of locomotion. At the coiTesponding points of t lie base are tbn^c groups
of boys ; one is occupied with the origin of the steam-engine, another w ith thc
ordinary stationary engine, and the thinl holding up a shield bearing upon it
the perfect locomotive engine, shown in pcrsjiectivc, travelling iq)ou a rail-
way, and modelled after Mr. Stephenson's latest improvements. To this ob-
ject Minerva is directing the attention of the group, as thc triumjib of science
ami the mechanical arts in the application of this mighty power. One of the
comj)artinents of thc pedestal will be appropriated to the inserii)tion, anotlicr
to Air. Stephenson's arms, richly embossed, and the third to a hnii relief Ae-
scriptive of the progress of a railway in its several stages of construction. Thc
stem is composed of three vine brandies, gracefully intertwined as they ascend,
carrying nine brandies for lights, and snrmonnted by a basket composed of
the leaves and fruit of the vine. The branches have moveable tops, for the
occasional substitution of cut glass for fnut or flowers, when lights arc not re-
ipiired. The height will be about twenty-eight or thirty inches, the weight
between seven hundred and eight hundred ounces, and cost .')50/. About
bOOl. remains to be applied to the dinner service, the details of which have
not yet been decided upon. It is understood that the testimonial will be ]u-e
seiitcd at a public dinner, to which Mr. Stephenson will be invited, about the
first week in October. — Railway Times.

The Nel.son Memorial. — On Monday, the Sth nit., the nnmbers of the
Nelsoii memorial assembled at the Thatched House Tavern, St. James's
Street. Mr. Railtoii, the architect, was also in attendance. The following
is a correct list of the noblemen and gentlemen ap|)ointed to form the suli-
committee to superintend the erection of the nionunieut : — The Duke of
Wellington, tlie Duke of Northumberland, thc .Manpiis of liansdownc, Lord
Colborne, Mr. S. Rice, Mr. llerries, Mr. Croker, Sir U. Inglis, Sir J. Harrow,
Mr. Wood, the Duke of liucclcugb, and Sir G. Cockburnr. On the following
morning the sub-committee were occupieil in consulting Mr. Railton on his
design, wliieh the general committee h,ad determined should be adopted.

Notice or Ai.akm Gong. — A very ingenious instrument has been in-
vented by Captain George Smith, R.N., intended to give warning of the
approach and to aimounce the course a steamer is sailing on in a fog. It
consists of a gon.i;, on wliieh a hammer is made to strike, every ten seconds
a certain number of blows, by a very simple machinery, according to the
course the vessel is saibng on. For example, if she be sailing north, the
gong is struck once; if east, twice; if south, thrice; and if west, four
times every ten seconds. By this systematic method, the i;osition, course
and pro.ximity of a steamer will be clearly announced to any other vessel. In,
rivers Ga|itaiu Smith projioscs the vessel to emit single sounds every ten
seconds, wlueli woidd be sutticient to give warning.

REVIE^VS.

E.rperiiiieiilal Essays on the Principles of Conslrucliun in Arclies, Piers
ISnllrtssts, S^c, by William Bland, Esq., with wood-cuts. London
Wcule, IS'3'J.

These essays originally appeared in the Architectural Magazine.,
and are now republished in a collected form. The experimeiits ex-
liiliit much iiigemiity, but t1ie means of correcting them and eiisuriiu'
llu'ir ajuilicaliilily lias not been given.

The distinelioii between the properties of Roman and G-iothic arches
is well marked, and shows the principles which led to the development
of Gothic architeettU'e. The latter part of the work is devoted to ;ui
'examination of several churches and chapter-houses, principally in the
south of England, and contains much matter worthy of perusal.

The work is got U]) in a portable and convenient form, with many
illustratiiuis, uiul maybe advantageously referred to ;is throwing iiiueli
new hglit on the theory of this important subject.

,/i Practical and Theoretical Essay on Oblique Rridges, by George
Watso.n Buck, M. I. C. E. London, John Wealc.

This wurk lnw Ijctn iong lyyktid for by the profession ; but the autlioi-

very properly deferred its publication, " in consequence," he observes
"of tinding'that his knowledge of the subject was daily increased by
the experience aft'orded in the construction of a variety of bridges."
This delay has given jMr. Buck a better opportunity of laying before
the profession complete inslructiims on tliis important branch of en-
gineering. " During his engagement on thc Lmidon and Birininghain
railway, and his subsef|uent occujiation on tin" Manchester and Bir-
ininghain railway, he had charge of several bridges of this description
contided to his care. These being of In'ick, stone and iron, have
oil'ered liim excellent opportunities to see liow far his theoretical cal-
culations w'ere verilied by practice, of which he was so far satisfied as
to feel conlidenee in jiublisliing liis ex))erienee for the benefit of his
brother engineers ; he lias reduced tlie suli|eet to forinuliE as simple as
it would allow, and from the inslrnctions and drawings given, an en-
gineer of common practice will be able to construct an oblique or
skew arch witliout any difficulty.

,/i Practical Treatise on Railways, by Lieut. PetEr Lecount, R.N.,
F. R. A. S., C. E. Edinburgh, Adam and Charles Black.

This treatise originally appeared in the seventh edition of the
Encyclopifidia Rritannica, and is now published ina distinct vohnne, with
very considerable additions. Lieut. Lecount is well known as being
one of the resident engineers of the London and Birmingham railway,
and from his connection with that work during its progress from the
eommencement to thc conclusion, is peculiarly fitted for such ;i
task. He has collected a v;ist mass of valuable information, both prac-
tical and theoretical, rendering the volume well deserving of the
attention of the engineering student.

We have not time to enter more fully into this treatise, but will
take an early opportunity of again referring to it.

Hosmer's Tables. London, John Weale.

We are by no means favourable to the use of tables for simply find-
ing superficial or cubical quantities, as we feel convinced from our
own experience, that they are to be found equally as quick by mental
operation, if the mind be kept in constant and wholesome practice.
To tliose, however, who are not of the same opinion, we recommend
these tables as deserving of their attention. The author has given
two tallies, one for the land surveyor, and the other for the engineer
or surveyor, they are each concentrated in a circle lU inches diameter,
and composed of a series of circles ami an index. By the first table
any quantity of land may be found in acres, roods and perches, and by
the other table any superficial quantities in feet or yards.

The Principles and Practice of Leixlling. By Edward Joxes, Archi-
tect and Civil Engineer. London : Williams, 1S39.

This work is a useful compilation, but by being too condensed is
rendered difficult to the learner. It is open also to the objections
which we had occasion to make in noticing another work on this sub-
ject on a previous occasion.

LITERARY NOTICES.
We have been favoured with the Introductory Lecture for IS.ig of Mr.
Baltard, Professor of the Theory of Architecture in the Royal Academy of
Fine Arts at Paris. The professor is a vebcment classic, and inveighs sorely
against the Gothic and the present rage for thc medieval stjles. He shews
very strong symptoms of the old regime, and bis lecture, if not a sermon,
seems dii'ccted to very little boys. It is quite Freiicb, and little more. The
professor gives some licence to the Italian, but makes a just distinction
between its best specimens and its dccbue. His oliscrvatioiis on the progress
of architecture in France since the Gothic era, art'ord, however, some just and
interesting criticisms on the modern buildings of Paris.

.Vmong the additions to the professional jiress may rank the new periodical
which is on the point of ap|iearing in Paris, under llie title of lieviie (ienerale
dc r.Vrcliitceture ct des Tra\aux Publics (t/eiicral Review of Arehitectm-e
and Pidjlie Works). It is to appear moiitbly with engi-avings and btliographs,
and reckons among its promised coutrilmtors Chevalier Leon Dehiborde*
Labrouste, Lemoyne, Albert Lenoir, Pidoiiccaii, Raoul Roehctte, Texjer and
many other French and Fnglisb avebitects, engineers, and anti(ma'rians
The chief ethtor is M. Cesar Daly.

THE DESIGN ACT, Cac. .Wll. 2 VICTORIA.
jVn AiiSvaACT OF an Jet to secure to Pmpriclorn of Desiqm for articles
c/mmmfactiire the cojii/riyfU iif such Desiijnsfur a limited lime. ' Ulh Jane
1839.

1. Enacts, that every proprietor of a new and original design made for any
hetvUgwiiig purposes, nuU not pnl/lislied before the ht day oiJulij, 1831),

a 10

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[August

W.WmUM.WfciJi'lWJI. ■U^MJH

bliiill have the sole right to use the same for any sucli inirposc ihiriiig tlie
term of /ire/rc caleiular moiifh.i, to he couiimted from the time of the same
being registered according to tliis Act ; and the following arc the pm-poscs
rcfcn'cd to :

First. — For the pattern or print, to lie either worked into or worked on,
or printed on or painted on, any article of mamifactnre, beiny a tissue or te.v-
litc fabric, e.rccp/ lace, and also c.icept linens, cottons, calicoes, initslins, and
any other article within the meaniny of the Acts mentioned in the Schedule
hereto anneaed :

Second. — For the modelliny, or the casliny, or the embossment, or the
chasiny, or the enyrariny, or for any other kind of iinpres.iion or ornament,
on any article of mannfaclure, not beiny a tissue or teatile fabric ,■

Third. — For the s/iajie or cmifiguration of any article ofmannfueture, cr-
eep! lace, and also except linens, cuitonn, calicoes, muslins, and any other arti-
cle within the meaniny of the acts mentioned in the schedule hereto anne.red :

Provided always, that even- [jroprietor of a new and original design made
for the modelling, or tlic casting, or the cnd)0ssment, or the chasing, or the
engraving, or for any other kind of impression or ornament on any article of
mamifactnre, being of any metal or mixed metals, shall have the sole right to
use the same dnring the term of three years, to be computed from the time
of the same being registered according to this act ; but no person shall be
entitled to the benefit of this act unless the design have before pubUcation
Deen registered according to this act, and unless such person he registered ac-
cording to this act as the proprietor of the design, and unless after publica-
tion of the design every article of manufacture pubhshed by him, on which
such design is used, have thereon the name of the first registered pioprietor,
and the number of the design in the register, and the date of the registration
thereof: and the author of every such new and original design shall be con-
sidered the proprietor, unless he have cxectded tlie work on behalf of another
person for a vahtable consideration, in which case such person shall lie con-
sidered the jiroprietor, ami shall be entitled to be registered in the place of
tlie author ; aaid every person purchasing for a valuable consideration a new
and original design, or the exclusive or the partial right to use the same for
any or more of the above-mentioned pui-poscs, in relation to any one or more
articles of manufacture, shall be considered as the proprietor of the design
for all or any one or more of such purposes, as the case happens to be.

2. Enacts, every person piurchasing a new and original design may enter
his title in the register hereby provided; and any writing luuporting to be a
transfer of such design, and signed liy the luoprielor tiiercof, shall operate as
an eft'eetual transfer; and the registrar shall, on request, and the production
of such writing, insert the name of the new proprietor in the register; and
tlie folhmiiig may be the form of such transfer, and of such request to the
registrar :

Form of Transfer and Authority to register.

' I A. B., author \or proprietor] of design munber having

' transfeiTed my right thereto [or if such transfer be imrtial] so far as re-
' gards the making of [describe the articles of mannfaclure

' with resjyect to which the riyht is lransferred~\ to B. C. of do

' hereby authorize you to insert liis name on the register of designs ae-
' cordingly.'

Form of Request to reyisler.
' I B. C, the person mentioned in the above transfer, do request you to
' register my name and property in the said design, according to the terms
of such transfer.'

III. During the existence of such exclusive or partial right no person
shall citlicr do or cause to he done any of the following acts in regard to a
registered design, without the Ueence or consent in writing of the registered
proprietor thereof ; (that is to say,)

No person shall use for the purposes aforesaid, or any of them, or print
or work or copy, such rryislered de.tiyn, or any original part tiiercof, on
any article of manufacture, for sale:
No person shall publish, or sell or e.rpose to sale or barter, or in any other
manner dispose of for profit, any article whereon such registered design
or any original part thereof has been med, knowing that the proprietor
of such design has not given his coment to tlte use thereof upon such
article :
No jierson shall adopt any such reyistcred desiyn on any article of jnanu-
facturcfor sale, either vttolly or partially, by making any addition lo
anyoyriinal part thereof, or bynmking any subtraction from any original
part thereof:
And if any person commit any such act he shall for cveiy oficnce forfeit a
Slim not less than fi've pounds and not exceechng thirty poimds, to the pro-
prietor of the design in respect of which such otfence has been com-
mitted.

IV. Enacts that the party iiijmcd by any such act, may recovir such
penalty, which is done by summoning the offender before two justices of the
peace in England or Scotland, and if convicted, the penalty to be recovered
liy distress and sale of the goods of the odcuder.*

In Ireland, such penalty to be recovered either by action in a superior
court of law at Dublin, or by civil bill in the Civd IMU Court of the
county or jilace where the offence was committed :

* How is the penalty to be recovered fiom a man of straw ! If he have
no g(M)ds, he will escape ptmisluncnt, as the act docs not authorize im-
pri:o, m;nt.

No action or other proceeding for any oft'enec under this act shall be
In'ought after the expiration of six calendar months from the coiumission of
the offence ; and in sncli action or other proceeding every plaintifi" or ])ro-
scciitor shall recover his full costs of suit, or of such other proceeding.

V. Enacts that the lords of the committee of privy council for the con-
sideration of all matters of trade and plantations may appoint a person to
be a registrar of designs for articles of manufacture, and if they lords of the
said committee see fit, a deputy registrar, clerks, and other necessary
officers and servants ; who shall hold their otKces dnring the pleasure of the
lords of tlie said committee; and the Commissioners of the Treasury to
fix the salarv" or remuneration of such registrar, deputy registrar, clerks,
oflicers, and servants ; and to make rules for regulating the execution of the
duties of the office of the said registrar; and such registrar shall have a
seal of office.

VI. Enacts that the said registrar shall not register any design unless he
be fiiniished v\ith three copies or drawinys of such design, aceompaiiied
with the name and place nf abode of the proprietor thereof; and the re-
gistrar shall register all such copies from time to time successively as they
are received liy him for that purpose, and on every such copy he shall aflix
a number eorres]ionding to such succession, and he shall retain two copies,
one of whicli he shall file in his office, and the other he shall hold at the
disposition of tb.e lords of the said committee, and the remaining copy he
shall return to the person Iiy whom the same has been forwarded to him ;
and in order to give ready access to the copies of designs so registered, he
shall keep a classified index of sneh copies of designs.

VII. Enacts that upon auy original design so legistered, and ujion every
copy thereof received for the purpose of being registered, or for the pur-
pose of such registration being certified thereon, the registrar shall certify
under his hand that the design has been so registered, the date of such regis-
tration, and the name of the registered projirietor ; and such certificate made on
every such original design, or on such copy thereof, and purporting to be
signed by the registrar or deputy registrar, and purjiorting to liave the seal
of office of such registrar affixed thereto, shall, in the absence of evidence
to the contrary, be sufficient proof, as follows :

Of tlie design, and of the name of the proprietor therein mentioned,
having been duly registered ; and

Of the commencement of the period of registry ; and

Of the person named ttierein as proprietor beiny the proprietor ; atul

Of the originality of the desiyn, and

Of the provisions of this act, and of any rule under which the certificate
ajtpears to be made, having been comjdied with :
And any such writing purporting to be such certificate shall (in the absence
of evidence to the contrary,) be received in evidence without proof of the
handvmting of the signature tiiereto, or of the seal of office affixed thereto,
or of the person signing the same being the registrar or deiuity registrar.

VIII. En.icts that the Commissioners of the Treasiuy shall lix the fees to
be paid to the registi-ar.

IX. Enacts that if the registrar or any person employed under him de-
mand or receive any gratuity or reward, except salary or remuneration au-
thorized, he sliall forfeit for every ofienee fifty pounds to any person suing
for the same, in the C'oiut of Exchequer, and he shall also be liable to be
either suspended or dismissed from his office, and rendered incapable of
liohUng any situation in the said office, as the Lords of the Treasury see fit.

X. Enacts that aU letters and packets transmitted by jiost, either too or
from the office of registrar of designs, relating solely to the business of such
olfiec, shall be exempt from postage.

SCHEDULE.

DATE OF ACTS. TITLE.

27 Geo. 3. c. 38.. An act for the encouragement of the arts of designing
(1787.) and printing linens, cottons, caUcoes, and ninshns, by

vesting the projierties thereof in the designers, printers,
and proprietors for a hmited time.
29 Ceo. 3. c. 10.. .\n act for continuing an act for the encouragement of
(1789.) the arts of designing and printing huens, cottons,

calicoes, and muslins, by vesting the properties thereof
in the designers, printers, and proprietors for a limited
time,
o J Geo. 3. c. 23. . An act for ameuduig and making perpetual an act for
(1794.) the encouragement of the arts of designing and print-

ing linens, cottons, caUcoes, and ninshns, by vesting
the properties thereof in the designers, printers, and
proprietors for a limited time.

2 Vict Any act passed during tlie present session of parliament,

(1839.) " for extending the cojiyright of designs for calico print-

ing to designs for jn'inting other woven fabrics."

Till' .hi Vnimi of London. — A general meeting of the members of this society
was held at Mr. Rainy's gallery, Kcgenl -street, on Tuesday, the 4th ullimo.
the Ri^bt Hon. Lord Frudboe iii the chair. In the alitrnce of the honorary
secretary, Mr Goodwin, jun.. !•' R,S.. reail the third repori of the comniittc-c,
111. ill which it appeared that the number of MibseriLers has this year iiiciea.'ed
from 368 to l,t'58. The total amount of subscriiiiions received is £l,2tt5.
The committee then proceeded to distribute the several prizes, varying ni
:inioout hcim £10 to X150 ; and John Ivatt Ihiscoe, Esij., iM.i'. ; H. T. Hope,
lOsij.. Ai.l'. ; U. l«jiid Cabbell, Esq., I'MIS.; W. Jones, Esq., and others,
having addressed the chair, the meeting was dissolved.

]830.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

.311

PROCBSDINGS OF SCIBNTIFIC SOCIBTIES.

INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.
April 30. The President in the Cliair.

E. Cottam was elected a Graduate, J. Dodds and E. Crcssy were elected
Associates.

A paper was read " On Ihe Supply of Water from Artesiau Wells in the
London Basin, with an account of the sinking of the Well at the Reservoir of
the Neir River Compani/ in f/ie Hampstead Road," by R. W. Myln'e, which
was given iu the last Journal.

lu March, 1835, an excavation, twenty feet in diameter, and twenty-three
feet deep, was made ; tlie sides were supported by wooden curbs, with puddle
at the back, so as to shut out the land-springs. A brick shaft was then
carried uji to the surface of the ground, and the excavation was continued for
fifty-nine feet tlirougli clay. The brick shaft was suiiported at every ciglit
feet by rings of greater exterior diameter than the shaft, so as to project a
few inches into tlie clay. Three sets of iron cylinders, eacli of less diameter
than the preceding, were introduced, as the unequal settlement of the ground
rendered it impossible to sink the preceding set any fm-ther. By means of
these, the well was simk to the total depth of one lumdrcd and eighty-three
feet. The canties formed at the liaok of the cylinders by tlie pumping out
of the sand, caused such extensive settlements, that the works were stopped,
until the jilan of continuing the sinking with the water in tlie well was
adopted. To this eomnumication was appended a report from Mr. Simpson,
in which he details the ditlienltics winch had been met witli, and particularly
the extensive sul)sidenee of earth causc<l by tlie removal of the saud. Tliis
far exceeded tlie quantity due to the contents of the well at the lower sand
stratum, and the subsidence proceeded most rapidly when the water was
pumped out of the well. The experience of wells near the metropolis shews
that tlie springs in the chalk are much more alnuidaut th»n in the saud, l)ut
in order properly to avail ourselves of these, there must be adits driven to
unite the water from tlie fissures in the cavernous structure of tlie chalk.
Tlie report proceeds to speak of certain methods of securing the present
works, and of prosecuting them, by either driving an iron pile curb, or sink-
ing iron cylinders east in entire circles. The former cannot lie reeommended,
as a considerable further subsidence would lie the consequence, and the
shaking of the ram would endanger the works. The latter is jierformed with
common boring rods and tools, the shells or Inickets are fitted with valves
opening upwards, and the material is raised by tlieui witli the greatest ease.
\\nien the cylinders become set, or when they do not sink in lu'oportion to
the material removed, they are sliglitly jarred by a heavy sledge hammer.
The advantages of keeping the water in equilibrium inside and outside the
cylinders is very great, and the method has been in many cases most sueeess-
fnl. The paper was accompanied liy a section of the works and the strata,
a nd by drawings of the various tools employed,

May 7. The Puesident in the Chair.

J S. Russell was elected a Graduate, and II. C. Bingliain an Associate.

" The Sewage of the City of Westminster described and delineated," by
J. E . Jones.

In tlie earlier statutes and wTitings on this snlijeet tlie word sewage, or
sewerage, is identical with drainage, as appears particularly from the act of
Henry the Eighth, which is the general Sewage .\ct by which the Commis-
sioners of Sewers are now guided, being for the most part applicable to fen
land drainage. The nietropoUs and ailjaceiit districts, comprehended witliin
a distance of ten miles from the Post Office, are divided into seven distinct
and independent trusts, whereof five are administered by local acts, tlie other
two liy the general Sewage Act first alluded to. The sewers falling into the
Thames within two miles of London, are, by the 3rd of James tlie First,
]ilaced under the Commissioners of Sewers, and the 4rtli of George the Third
defines and declares tlie powers given by tlie act of James. Tliis statute,
passed in 1807, was not acted on to any extent fill 1813, tlie interval being
employed liy tlic commissioners in requisite arrangements. The priiieijiles of
drainage, or conducting the superfluous waters to their proper outlets, are
few and simple ; but in the drainage of a town, tlie masses of liuildings of all
ages and all kinds of various levels, tlie coneeiitrated mass of tilth and the
numerous conflicting interests, conspire to make the establishment of an effi-
cient system of sewage one of the most difficult, as it is one of the most jm-
lO'tant, obje.ti to which the skill of man can be directed. One great
difficulty has a'iscn fromthc eommissioners not being invested wiih powers
enabling them to originate new lines of sewers, but being confined to im-
proving those that exist, and eontroUiiig the eonstriiction of new ones. A
large portion of Westminster is below the level of high water, and the drain-
age of buildings being optional on the part of the builder, there consequently
exist insulated houses and (Ustricts of Kiatlisome filth for want of sufficient
compulsory powers on the part of the 'eouiniissioners. The obvious rcniedv
for these evils is, to give powers to the Conimissiouers of Sewers within their
districts to compel every person to drain bis pro|icrty in an etfeelive manner
under their appro, al, and to form such new main lines as ch-cumstances may
render necessary, and to imiiose general rates for their maintenance. A large
plan or map was exhibited of the city of Westminster, compiled from original
iiurveys in the possession of the Cummissioners of Sewers, and laid down" to a
iCa'e of one inch to two hundred feet ; the boundaries of the city and of the
several parishes, of the main lines of sewers, and of the collateral sewers.

were marked with dillcrcnt coloured lines ; .also a Hook of Sections, consisting
of more than one hundred sheets of tables and drawings, showing the dis-
tricts drained by the main sewers, plans and sections on an enlarged scale of
all the main sewers, with the elevations of their several outlets or falls into
the Thames.

Professor A\'allace exhibited a pentograph of a novel construction, by which
drawings may be copied or reduced and etched with great facility. Mr. Mae-
neill bore testimony to the .advantages of this coustriirtion over every other
which he had seen, and stated that he had been enabled to finish a plan in
three hours and a-lialf, which could not have been done by an ordinary pen-
tograph in less than twelve hours.

May 14. The Pbe.sident in the Cliair.

The Right Hon. the Earl of Orkney, and E. Lomax, were elected .Vssociates '■
anil W. Tookc, as an Honorary Member.

" .-/ Des ri/ition. of the Cnffre Dam round the thirteen and fourteen feet
piers of Wes/ininnlcr Bridge," by Lieut. V. Pollock.

It was the inteutiou of Labelyc, the builder of Westminster Bridge, that
none of the foundations of the piers sliouhl be at a less dc]it!i than five feet
below tlie surface of the bed of the river, but the etl'eet of the removal of
old London ]5ridge, and of the increase of the average ditl'crenco between high
and low-water, had in 1836 lowered the bed near the pier, on the eastern side
to within eighteen inches of the platform, being three feet lower than in
1829 ! and but for the works done under Jlr. TeUbrd's direction by Mr.
Swinburne, and those which are now going on under the direction (if Mr.
M'alkcr and Mr. Burges, the piers would have soon become undermined.
Labelye is supposed to have been deterred from attempting to lay the foun-
dations by a eoftre dam, from the difficulty of keeping it dry and of reaching
the bottom ; this is, how"ever, now shown to be a groundless alarm, as one
has been constructed which is so tight that two men can keep it perfectly dry.
The cofi're dam, the construction of which forms the subject of this eomiiiu-
nication, is formed round the thirteen and fourteen feet piers at the west end
of the bridge, for the purpose of securing the foundations and repairing the
damaged arch stones. Previous to the commencement of the work fender
piles were driven ten feet into the bed of the river, and are five or six feet
liigher than Trinity high-water mark ; a trench was then dredged in the in-
tended line of the eoftre dam to the level of the highest caisson ; the first
guage pile was driven on the 14th of July, and the first sheeting pile on the
24th, and the water stopped out, or the eoftre dam completed, in the short
space of seven months. The author details the dimensions of the timbers
and the construction of the various parts of the dam, as represented in the
drawing accompanying the communication. There arc about 40,000 cubic
feet of timber in the dam. The mean depth of the mud in the dam, the
water being let out, was from four to five feet; underneath the mud, at
about three or four feet above the caisson, is a stratum of red gr.avcl of an
average depth of fifteen feet, and below this is clay. The weight of the piers
has bent down the caisson (as shewn in a drawing), but the timbers are still
sound and good. The pressure against the dam, .at an average high tide, is
l,77o tons.

The President rennarked that there was frequently consideralile ambiguity
iu the use of the term ?■;>? of tlie tide, and miseoiiceptiou as to the effect of
the removal of old London Bridge upon the rise and fall of the tides. The
water falls lower by three or four feet, that is, by the height ol the sill which
was removed, but the difference of level of high-water is very small, no* more
than a few inches. The old London Bridge caused a sort of weir, varying
from eight to eighteen inches, as the water ran up, but depending in a great
measure on the quantity of upland water which was coming down, ami some-
times there was scarce any difference of level on the two sides of the bridge.

The following premiums have been awarded by the council of the Insti-
tution of Civil Engineers during the present session : —

-V Telford Medal in silver and 20 guineas to John Edward Jones, for his
pajicr and drawings on the se•^^■age of Westminster. A Telford Medal in
silver to Charles Hood, for his paper on w,arniing and ventilating buildings.
.\. Telford Medal in silver to Charles Wye Williams, for bis iia|icr on the pro-
perties and applidation of turf and turf coke. .V Telford Medal in silver to
Edward Woods, for bis paper on the forms of locomotive engines. A Tel-
ford medal in bronze and books suitably bound and inscribed, to the valtie
of three guineas, to Lieutenant Frederick Pollock, Bengal Engineerst for his
descri))tion and drawings on the cofl're dam at Westminster Bridge. A Tel-
ford Medal in bronze and books suitable bound and inscribed, to the value of
three guineas, to It. W. Jlylne, for his coinmimicatioii on the well sunk by
the New River Company, at their reservoir in the Hampstead Road. .\ Tel-
ford Medal in bronze, and books suitably bound and inscribed, to the value
of three guineas, to John Biilih-y Redman, for his description and drawings of
Bow Bridge.

The following are the subjects announced for Telford premiums for the
ensuing year': —

1. The nature and projierties of steam, especially with refercuce to the
quantity of water in a given bulk of steam in free eomnumication with
water at difierent temperatures, as deduced from actual experiment. 2. .\n
aecoinit and drawings of the original eonstrnefion and present state of the
Plymouth lireakwater. 3. The ratio, from actual experiineiit, of the velocity,
load, and |)ower, of locomotive engines oii railways: 1st. Upon levels; 2nd.
Upon inclined planes. 4. Drawings and description of the outfall of the
King's Scholar's Poud Sewer, and of other principal outfaU:i flf the AVcstmii),

312

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[August,

iter sewage ; also, the iiieliiiatiun, dimensions, ami forms of the sewers, and
the observed velocities of water in them. 5. Drawings and descriptions of
the sewage under the commission for Kegent street, especially of the out-
fall at Scotland Yard. G. Drawings and description of the liest niaeliine for
descrihing the jjrotile of a road, and also for measuring the traction of dif-
ferent roails. 7. The alterations and improvements in Blackfriars Uridge.
S. The cxijlosion of steam boilers — es]iecially a record of faeis connected
with any explosions which have taken place ; also, a description, drawings,
and details of the boiler, both before and after the explosion. 9. Diavvings,
sections, and descriptions of iron steam vessels. 10. The comparative ad-
vantages of iron and wood as employed in tlie coustniclion of sicam vessels.
11. The advant.igcs and disadvantages of the hot and cold blast hi the ma-
nufacture of iron, with statements of the quahty and cpiantity of materials
employed, and produce thereof. 12. The causes of and means of prevent-
ing the changes in texture and composition which east iron occasionally
undergoes when in continued contact with sea water. 13. Tlie properties
and chemical constitution of the various kinds of coal. 1 1. .V memoir of
Sir Hugh Middlcton, with an account of Ins works. 15. A memoir of
Arthur WooU', witli an account of his works. 16. An account of the various
methods lately employed for ju'eserving timber from dry rot and other
som-ces of decay. 17. On the best guage for the width of railways, with
the residt of the experience furnished by existing railways.

// is no/ I he icix/i of the council to coiifive the Telford premiums to commu-
nications on the iiljore .tii/fjecls ; other communication,'! of distinguished merit
and jjeculiar/i/ desercinij some mark of distinction, will be rcicarded.

ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.
Monday, Jali/ 8. Decimus Btrton, V.P., in the Chair.

The Rev. Richard Burgess, B.D., author of various works on the Anti-
quitics of Rome, was elected an Honorary .Member; Mr. J. 11. Browne, of
Camden Road \'illas, was elected an Associate.

A paper was read descriptive of a bridge of wood erected over the river
Aln, in .\lnvvick Park, Northundierland, by .Mr. WiUiara Barnfalher, acconi-
)iauicd by a model, and comnumieated by his (irace the Duke of Northum-
berland, Honorary Fellow. Robert Addams, Esip, delivered the lirst of a
series of three lectures on Acoustics — subject, on the (Uvergcnce and propa-
gation of sound, reflexion of sound, opinions as to the forms of looms for
1 honic and acoustic puqioses..

Juli/ 22. Earl de Grey, President, in the Chair.

Mr. John Green, of Xewcastle-uiion-Tyne, was elected a Fellow.

\'arious donations were laid upon the table, amongst wliich the following
were annoimced :— The Duke of Serradifalco, " Del duomo lU Monreale, Ac."
jiresentcd by the author ; Mons. ThioUet, various works published by him in
Paris; Dr. MoUer, Honorary and CoiTesponding Member, "Memorials of
German Architecture," by the donor.

A letter was read from .Mr. Ilarcom-t, descriptive of his artificial granite.
Also a letter from the Civ. Caniua, Honorary and Corrcspondhig Jlcmber.

Mr. Clcrichew, .M..V., .\ssociate, was announced as tlicauthor of a series of
Mr. Richardson's lectures on (ieology, and entitled to the prize ottered for
the same, consisting of " Phillips's Lectures on Geology," 2 vols. The prize
was presented to Mr. Clcrichew liy his lordsliiji the President.

Mr. Addams delivered his concluding lecture on ."Veoustics — subject, on the
cause of reverberation, and the means to be used to lessen or prevent it ;
interference of sound waves; cft'ects of recesses, doorways, iS:c. ; wainseotted
^jiartments, wood panels for ceilings, drapery, and other adjunctive orna-
ments, when and where allowable.

Tins evening concluded the session.

The meeting of this evening was one of the best attended of the season,
and certainly the most interesting. Being the last meeting, it was selected
as an appropriate occasion to express to the late Honorary Sccrctaiy, Thomas
Leverlon Donaldson, Esq., the feelings of gratitude vvliich the members of
the institute entertained for the indefatible and al)ly-directed exertions of
that gentleman during five years. A candelabruui, suliscribcd for by the
memlicrs indiviilually, was chosen as the best testimonial of the personal
feelings of the subscribers, and its jircsentation in a public manner invested it
at once with all the eclat of a mark of public approbation and private
esteem.

Earl de Grey, the President, .ittested his interest in the i)roccedings of the
evening by his attendance, and aikbesscd Mr. Donaldson in an eloquent
speech, which we regret to he unable to re]ior-. He reniimled the mendjers
present that the institute, which although 0)dy of recent date has assumed a
liigh rank both at liome and aliroad, whicli was supported by the talents of
tlie highest members of tlie lll•ofeJ^ioll here, and recognised as an equal by
the most distingiiislied foreign academies. His lordship then presented the
testimonial amidst the enthusiastic applause of the members and visitors.

Jlr. Donaldson, with deep emotion, acknowledged the present in an ap-
propriate speech, which was responded to by the warm greetings of the
audience.

The testimonial was mamifactnrcd by :\Ir. Benjamin Smith, of Duke Street,
Lincoln's Inn Fields. It consists of a superb candelabrum in frosted silver,
standing on a triangiUar base, with feet cmiched with tlic honevsiicklc or-

MUisut i tivg of tlis (;(?un):\rtni««ts Qi tlie psaeijtia vyutiuu tli« iii-ws »f ths

institute and Mr. Donaldson, the other compartment contains the following
appropriate inscription : —

INSCRIPTION.

From his professional Bretlucii,

.Members of the

Royal Institute

of British .Vrchilecls,

to

Thomas Lkverton Donai.oso.n,

on bis retirement from the

otlice of Honorary Secretary;

a tribute of personal esteem,

and an acknowledgment

of his cfHcient and constant services

towards establishiug the Institute and

in promoting its welfare.

July, MDCCCXXXIX.

On the top of tlie basin is an ornament representing the fabulous origin of
the Corinthian capital, from which rise a stem snrmonntcd with a richly cut
glass dish for Hovvers or fruit, and branching from the top of the stem arc
also four richly entwined foliage brackets, each carrying a light or a cut
gla^s dish, so that the testimonial may be used either as a candelabrum or
epergne.

MANCHESTER ARCllITKCTURAL SOCIETY'.

FIRST CONVEaSATlONB OF THE SEASON.

The first eonvcrsatione of this society, during tlie present season, was hehl
on Wednesday evening, the 3d nit., in their rooms, li^ooper Street, the walls
of which were bung, on this occasion, with a nunilier of oil-paintings, water-
colour drawings, engravings, cVc., not only exhibiting architectural designs
and fine cihfices, but also landscapes, marine views, &c. On the table was a
clioice collection of books and engravings.

The chair was taken by .\ndrevv Hall, Esq., president of the society, who,
after expressing a hope to see these eonve.rsationi still more numerously at-
tended in the longer evenings of the coming autumn and winter, stated that
since the last season several iniprovements had been etfected in the society.
,\ miiseum had been determined on, which was to consist chicfiyof specimens
of building materials, such as various kinds of stone and wood, bricks of dif-
ferent forms, qualities, and make, sections of iron beams, &e.. and indeed any
thing interesting as a material entering into the construction of buildings, as
well as casts of ornamental architecture. He trusteil that each member would
do bis best to obtain contributions, and in every way to improve the advan-
tages offered to students by this society. After the members had balloted for
and unanimously elected Mr. Robert M'AU, son of the late Dr. M'.VU, as a
member, two or three subjects were discussed as having an indirect bearing
on the importance and utility of the profession generally. It a]ipeared that
the society had through its secretary, Mr. J. \\. Hance, suggested to the
building committee for the St. George's Hall, Liverpool, the desirableness of
a public exhibition of the competing designs for that edifice, previously to
the announcing of their reward. To the letter conveying the resolution of
the society, no reply had been received. It was also stated that the reason
assigned by the St. George's Hall committee for not extending the time for
furnishing designs, in compliance with the request of various architects, was,
that it was necessarv- to have the drawings before them, and to decide on the
one to be adopted within two months, so as to commence the work v\ithout
delay, .\fter some conversation, the secretaiy was requested again to write
to the secretaries of the St. George's Hall committee, requesting an answdr
to his former letter.

The Presiilent next drew the attention of the society to the late strange
conduct of the Gresbam eommittet, in reference to the printed instructions
to architects, issued by tliem, as to plans for the new Royal Exchange of
London. It appeared that the comniiltee bad merely given the dimensions
of the various rooms, without having at all indicated the purposes for which
they were required ; though surely the object and use of an apartment ought
to have something to do with the design for its interior, its embellishment
and style of finish. It was at first supjiosed that this had been an accidental
omission, and the Royal Institute of British .\rchitects and the London .\rehi-
tectural Society accordingly applied for this information, aiidthe reply was to
the effect, that the Gresham committee, having sent out their instructions to
architects, could not alter what had been done, except to say that the rooms
were required for three distinct companies. To the application of the British
Institute, they also riqilied tliat they could not grant an extension of the tone
for furnishing plans. After some discussion, it was resolved, with one or two
disenticnts, " "That this meetingfeels bound to protest against such conduct as
that recently exhibited by the Gresham committee for the erection of the
Royal Exchange, in reference to the inquiry made of tliein by the Royal In-
stitute of British .Vrchitects, and the London .Vrchitectnral Society, a^ lending
at once to degrade the profession, to deteriorate tlie imbhe taste, and to in-
jure the utility and object of the edifice in question. " Thanks were voted to
the editor of the Civil Engineer and Jreldtects' , Journal for having left a
plan of the Roy.al Exchange, and the committee's instructions (for wliich the
committee charged \l. to architeets) for free inspection in his offlce. and thus

sfiritsdly rsa^tuib' tli« iiufe attempt tg jwi>»!}is s) ta.\ miQu «r«mt«(;t6, «« tits

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

313

piico of permission to compete for plans for the erection of a pulilic cdilice.
Tlie council recommended to the society (^for consideration and adoption at
its next meeting) the establishment of a class of younger meniliers, to he
called associates, at a lower rate of admission — to have the use of the lilirary
and casts and the museum, lint to he ineli(!;ihle to the council, and to have no
vote. — J/jridged from the Manchester Guardian.

BIUTISII ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE.

Tliis association has issued the usual circidar for tlie ninth meeting at Bir-
mingham, and fixed for the week commencing on Moiul.ay, the 'JGtli of
August, on the cvciung (if which day the Rev. Vernon llarcourt, the in-esideiit
elect will take the ch.air. It is rciiucstcil that mendiers who nuiy have re-
jiorts, original memoirs, apparatus, models, or other connnunications to lay
before the association, will forward the same before the 10th of August, and
state their general nature and pmhable extent, in letters, addressed Uy the
Assistant General Secretary of the British Association, I'hiloso]ibical Insti-
tution, Uirmingham. A room has been provided for the exhibition of philo-
sophical apparatus, niodcds, machinery, specimens of natural and artificial
products, niannfactured articles, &c. ; and it is especially requested that those
who <lesirc to take advantage of this arrangement wilt be careful to send,
with the objects which they exhibit, an exact description of then- fabrication
and use. Information for mendjcrs, on their airival, is to be given at the
Free (Iranimar School, New Street, at which place there will be an .attendance
of jn'oper persons for that jiurpose daring the week of the meeting and the
preceding week. Every accommodation which this coiiimoilious and magni-
ficent edifice art'ords will he given to the jihilosophers. Thomas Knott, Esq.,
one of the most valuable jiublic men in Birmingham, is bailitf of the school
this year.

STSAM RTAVIGATIOW.

Sli'um Ships. — AVe learn from the yfrmi/ and Nari/ Clironirlr that the tw
sle:un-ships which have been ordered to'be built (one here, and the other a
Philadelphia), are to be cimstnielcd upcni the same model, and are intended
to be as near alike as possible, with the exception of the engines. To test the
comparative advantages of the livo descriptions of engines ado|ilerl. one ol
tlie steamers is to be titled wilh inclined engines, of ten-feet stroke ; the
uiher vessel to have two vertical engines of the .same jiower of seven-feet
stroke. The dimensions of the hull are reported at

Feel. Inelie.i.

Length between perpendiculars 220 0

Mmihled lieam 3U 0

Depth of hold 23 li

Tonnage by Custom House measurement, 1,650 tons. — New Yorli paper.
Steam Nartgation between Boston and England. — The arrangements have been
coinplete.l for establishing three steamers on thi.s line, of 1,000 tons each, and
the hrilish Ciovernment have contracted lor eight years to pay the proprie-
tnis 270,000 dollars every year, for the transportation of the mails in these
ships. They will ply once a fortnight, after the first of May. 18-10, calling
at Halifax and NovaSeotia. — Boslun Trinvlter.

Steam Commnnieationwitli. Ameriea. — We learn from Paris that M. C'onle.
direclorof the post-olhee, has presented to the government a project for the
eslablisbinent of steam-packets between Bordeaux and New Yorli. Accord-
ing to this .>:cheme twelve packets, of 450 horse-power, are to be employed
upon Ibis service. The packets might promptly he transformed into ships
of war. A wet dock is to he opened at Pacillac in order to receive them.
A steamer of 150 horse-power will be employed to tow up to Bordeaux
such of the packets as may come and take their cargoes there, .so as to
prevent accidents to ihcir machinery. This line scheme will require an
outlay of 22,0QO.OOOf It appears to have been received by government
with great favour. M. C'onle has been ordered to present his plan on the
opening of the next session. — Conrrler de Bordeau.i-.

Tlie Iron Steam-Bnnt. Bridegroom, was launched on the 13lh of .lune, and on
the Itilh was running wilh passengers on her station, two days and a-lialf
only being occupied in lixing and completing ihc boiler and engines. On
the'l7tli she ran with the Naiad (a boat built on the diagonal board plan,
and hitherto said to he the lightest possible mode of building), and beat
her in the distance from Blackwall to Woolwich half ihe length of the
dockjard, although the Naiad »as one-third her superior in power, and
allowed to be the fastest boat upon the Woolwich station.

The Iron Steam Vessel, Orwell, of .■i26Jtons, and SO horse-power, built for
tne Ipsw Ich .Steam Navigaiion Company, was launched from Messrs. Ditch-
burn and Mare's ship-building yard, Blackwall, on Thursday, June 27.

LauiiSi. of an Iron Steamer. — On .Saturday, 1st July, there was launched,
from the hiiilding-yard of Mr. John Laird. North Birkenhead, an iron steain
vessel, called the Dnehess if Laiiensler. She is about 220 tons, and tlO horse
power, and is intendeil to ply betueen L;\erpool .ind L neasier, uiili ^'oods
and |),u>sengers. She uiU be of light tiralt of water widi a lull cargo.— ^/a,,v-
eliester Adierllser.

PROGRESS OF RAIL'WAVS.

Manehester and Leeds Railway. — The first portion ofthe line fiMin Manches-
ter to Littleborough, was opened on Thursday. Srdult.. and a gieat num-
ber of persons travelled between those towns. The journey from Halifax to

^Ianckst?r, iilijtli wsc'il ts w^m, gn .the aYetiige; tliree Jwws will tbres-

quarters, is now iierformed in little more than two hours. "When the mail
bags are sent by the railway to Litllcborough. an arrangement which will,
we hope. Iw .son'n adopled b\ the post-olliee authorilies. the Halifax letters
will arrive an hour earlier than at preseni. — Ilalifa.t E.rpress.

Birmingham and Drrhij Railwaij. — This railway, it is stated, will be openeil
to the public on Monday the 12th inst.

North Midland Ilailwa:/. — Mr. Jackson, of London, cuntraclor for the works
on the line of the North Midland Railway, from Bull Bridge to Bel|)er. has
taken the contract for the station at Derby. The estimate is about 711,000^. ;
the works to be completed in six months.

Eilinltnrgh and Gta.-igmv Railwnif. — 'file works on this important railway
are making very great progress, and when complete 1 will eompele with any
similar iinderlaking in the liingdom, both in executii n and extent of profits.
The three e\tensi\e viaducts over the IJoou. ihe Redbiune. and the Almond
valleys, consisting of 20, 15, and 3li arches, of from 50 to 60 feet span each,
have been contracted for by men of skill and great experience, considerably
under the parliamentary estimates. This will make the average per mile,
including lor land and rails, not exceeding 20,000/. M'hen these works are
compared with olhers of a similar nature executed in this country, the direc-
tors arc justly entitled to a very considerable degree of credit, for the atten-
tion they have devoted to the interest of the shareholders, for the result of
their Labours will be without a parallel in the history of railways. The
whole line will be completed in 1841. We imdorsland that the south end of
the tllasgow. Paisley, Kilmarnock, and Ayr Railway will be opened in July.
From the nature of the country, and the price of labour and materials hripg
so inurh cheaper in .Scotland than ill I'Ingland. this work will be completed
for 11.000/. per mile. The Kdinhurgh, Leith. and New haven Railway
Amcniled Bill has passed the House of Lords, and is now only waiting tlie
royal assent. 'The establishment of this line of communications, by means
ol a tunnel under the n'w town of I'ldinbuigh. with the sea coast, is of the
utmost importance to all the Scotch railways; for thus, as their termini
Ibey liave seaports in the Frith id" Forth, the Clyde, and the Ayrshire coast
and connecting the whole manufacturing district of Scotland, with the faci-
lity of steam-boat eomnumication. will, in a very short period, improve the
commercial prosperity of this valuable portion of the British empire, and
amply repay the shareholders for their cnterpiising spirit inpromoiing works
of So important a character.' — Glasgow paper.

Glasgon- and Pai.sley Joint Railway. — The key-stone of the railway bridge
over tile river Cart, in Paisley, was set by Mr. I'.rrington, the engineer, on
Saturday, amid the cheering of the workmen. The bridge was ilesigned by
Joseph Locke, F.sij., and we extract the following description of its dimen-
sions from the Paisley Adrertiser : — "As tins ;s the largest arch on the
whole line, we may state two nr tluve particulars regar.ling it. 'flie span is
85 feet. The top o'f the abutments, from which the arch appears to spring, is
25 feet 4 inches above the bed of the river. The additional height to the
lower part of the arch, or, as it is called, the rise, is 18 feet. The total
height from the beil of the river to the top of the parapet w ill be 54 feet 2
inches. The breadth over the parapets will be 28 feet. We have s dd that
the arch appears to spring from the abutments, liut the truth is it .springs
from the foundation, eight feet below the bed ofthe river, and is earned up
with the same radius all the way. A line, stretching from the foundation on
the one side, over the arch, to the foundation on the other side, mea.sures
182 feet. The depth ofthe springers, which weigh from two and a half to
three tons each, is six and a lialf feet. 'I'he ilepth of the other stones de-
crease as they approach the top. by the^ following gra lations : — 5 feet, 4 feet
8 inches, 3 feet 8 inches, and 3 feet. Exclusive ofthe springers, tliere arc
63 stones forming the arch, each measuring in breadth nineteen and a-half
inches. The smallest stones used in the arch contain 18 cubic feet, and
weigh from 27 to 28 cwt. The stones in the two abutments weigh about
2,2(J0 tons, and those in the arch itself weigh about 900 tons. TiuMvayui
which this bridge has been erected, has drawn expressimis of approbation
from almost every hi ludder, scientific, practical, and ordinary. The supports
ill the river were put up with great strength, and on the most improved prin-
ciple, so as to remove every sensation of fear, citherfroin workmen or specla-
tor.s. The stones w ere all conveyed to the crow n of the arch on a temporary
railway, and in witnessing, from the Old Bridge, the trucks moving upuard-s,
they looked like a huge land turtle creeping up a hill with a sheep on its
back Kvery thing was done in a quiet, calm way, which would have led one
to suppose the operation one of the most ordinary description. The arch
will be a standing monument to Mr. Lyon's ere Jit, and we congratulate him
on the safe placing of its last key-stone." — Greenork Advertiser.

Ra/lwayfrom Fhreiwe to Leghorn. — We leani from an esteemed correspon-
dent, that the promoters id' this railway have submitted to the imperial go-
vernment, for its sanction, a report upon the project which lliey have
received from Robert .Stephenson. Ksq., the eminent engineer, who h.as lately
returned to this country after a personal inspection of that part of Italy.
The fine determined upon by Mr. .Stephenson will eommence at Leghorn,
near the new dock, pass near the city of Pisa, and thence proceed towards
Pontedera, almost parallel to. and in the immediate vicinity of, the royal
posting road. It w ill then keep to the left of the Aino, passing near F'.m-
poli and Montehipo, and, crossing the river, proceed along its right bank
.as far as Florence, where it w dl lerminite wi hin a short distance of the
Porta al I'rato. Mr. Stephenson stales ihat the proposed line can be coii-
struc'e:l at small cost, as it traverses a district almost perfectly level, there
being only two points at which works of any magnitude will' occur. Mr.
Stephenson is of opinion that the sum required for the completion ofthe rail-
way, including land, compensation, and the necessary establishment of en-
gines and carriages, will be about fifteen millions of 'i'uscan livres. and that
the whole may be finished in four years from the commencement of the
works. He rcciniimciids that the line be undertaken in four distinct sections,
the first being that from Leghorn to Pisa, w Inch he thinks might he finished
in fifteen mouths, and which w oulj give the contractors and other partiss

sniiJloyed i»pi;avti«al insigUt mtvtUs );«^^«Jsite details.— ifnifn'cy Tmi\

314

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[August.

Rdihi'dJi J'loiii J'l'iiifc fo jMittni. — One (tf the most stupL'nduus ^\*urks ornnidfrn
times is ii iiriijecle.l railruad from Venice to Milan, connecling tlie seven
rieliest anil must pupiilous cities of Italy with each other. Venice, Pailiia,
\'iceiiz , Vcrtma, Menttia, IJrcscia, tiiul Milan ; the most j;i^antie portion
will lie the liriilge over the Tjagoons, connecting Venice with the mainland.
The length of the raihuad will be 1GB Italian (about the .same in Knglish),
miles, passing through a population of three and a half millions, the seven,
cities having alone a population of half a million, viz... Venice. 120,000,
Padua 44,000. Viccnza .^)0,000. Verona 4B,000. Mantua .S4.000, Briscia 42,000,
and Milan 180,000 inhabitants, to w liieli may be added 20,000 foreigners in
Venice and Milan. — Forrign Qnartci-Iij Itevkw.

liriiihton Raihraij. — A half yearly meeting of the pro])rietors was held on
the 18tli tilt, at the London Tavern, when a very satisfaetoiy report of the
Directors and of the Engineer, Mr. Rastriek, was read ; the report of the latter
contained a full account of the progress of the railway on the whole Icngtii of
the line, which is divided into 18 contracts; we regret that we have not space
to give this report, but must confine ourselves to the following extract.

The foUowitu/ is a summanj of the corlhwork removed ami to be removed on
the line, and of the men and horses emjiloyed on the works :

Quantity of earth-

Quantity of

Number

Number

No. of

work

earthwork to

of

of

contract.

removed.

he reiuovcd.

Men.

Horses.

1

115,000

94,425

277

39

2

328,000

138,494

228

34

3

297,000

290,203

290

18

•i

Tunnel just liegiin.

....

290

25

5

398,000

441,381

080

65

6

147,000

245,873

280

50

7

148,523

354,870

177

12

8

Tunnel just begun.

204

20

9

125,143

310,982

294

34

10

The Viaduct.

208

54

11

100,410

448,999

420

57

12

27.000

526,710

120

12

13

320,000

400,000

440

60

14

Tunnel just hegnu.

178

11

15

50,000

062,000

300

21

It;

Not begun.

341,121

1?

230,000

60,000

203

31

18

130,000

112,000

180

27

2,416,076

4,427,064

4,769

570

The Directors will perceive from the foregoing summary that one-third o
the whole of the earthwork lias been excavated, and this has been done in a
period of eight months ; from which it might appear that sixteen months
more would be recpiired to remove the remainder ; l)iit as at the commence-
ment of the works upon every contract it re(|uircs a considerable time to stock
it with materials, wagons, horses, Ixc, the above jieriod is no criterion of time
necessaiT to comi)letc the remainder. 1 trust, therefore, you arc satisfied
with the progress of the works ; and I have only to add, that the whole of
the railway can be opened to the public within eighteen months.

GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY— THE BOX TUNNEL.

One of the greatest obstacles to the aecompUshment of this stupendous
luiderfaking was found to exist in Box Hill, a large extent of elevated ground
lying directly between, and about eipii-distant from, Chippenham ami Bath.
This hill, the highest part of which is about four hundretl feet above the ]no-
poscd level of the rail-road, could not be avoided ; to make «ii open cutting
through it was imi)Ossiblc, and to perforate it was thought by many equally
so. Jsevcrtheless .Mr. Brunei, with that boldness for which he is so celebratd,
adopted the latter plan, and accordingly it was determined that a tunnel, one
mile and three quarters in length, forty feet in height, and thirty feet in
width, should be made through the hill. The extraordinary attempt of
boring through tliis immense mass, consisting in great part of soUd beds of
free-stone, was commenced in the summer of 1836, and will, it is hoped, be
completed in 1841. The difficidties that have stood in the way of tlie per-
fonnanee of this great work, particularly that part of it on the east, or Chip-
penham side, have been appalling ; but hitherto they have l)een siumounted
liy the enterprise, skill, and perseverance of Mr. Brewer, of Riidloe, and Mr.
JiCwis, of Bath, the gentlemen who contracted with the directors for the com-
pletion of that portion of the work. Their contract extends from shaft No.
8, whicli is stuik at the jiroposed mouth of the tunnel on the east side, to a
point three hundred yards towards Shaft No. 6, and altogether 2,418 feet
from the entrance at the Chipiienliam end, this portion Messrs. Brewer and
Lewis confidently expect to he able to finish in January next.

Independent of the diflieulties arising from the laborious nature of the un-
dertaking, the constant flow of the water into the works from the numerous
fissures in the rock has been constantly most annoying, and in the rainy
season so formidable as almost to destroy all hope of being able to contend
wth it, lu N«Yeniber, 1837, tlie steaia-pvusp tlisn employed being iiiite iu-

adcquate to the task of making head against it, the water increased so fear-
fully, having filled the tunnel and risen to the height of fifty-six feet in the
shaft, as to cause the total suspension of the work till the July following.
This would liave caused may persons to have abandoned the work in despair,
but Messrs. Brewer and Lewis determined to fulfil their contract if possible,
erected a second pumii, worked by a steam-engine of fifty-horse i)ower, and
had the satisfaction of vanquishing their enemy and resuming their work. A
few months afterwards (in Nov. 1838) the works were again stopped by an
iiiflux of water, which, liowever, was got under in ten days, the engine dis-
charging 32,000 hogsheads of water a day.

The tunnel between Shafts No 7 and 8 (1,520 feet in length) is entirely
finished at the roof, and for six feet below it, where tlie base is fomteen feet
wide ; but half-way between the two shafts there still remain about three
hundred and fifty feet of cutting to be done, which is ex|)cctcd to be cleared
away some time next month. In this portion of the work Messrs. Brewer
and Lewis commenced their operations at each end, working towards the
centre; and when the two cuttings closely aiiproxim.ated, much anxiety
was felt lest a straight line should not have been kept, and the luiion of the
two portions of the work should not have been true ; but on breaking
through the last intervening portion of the rock the accuracy of tlie headings
was proved, and to the joy of the workmen, who took a lively interest in the
result, and to the triumph of Messrs. Brewer and Lewis's scientific working,
it was fomid that the jmiction was jierfeet to a hair as to the level, the two
roofs forming an unvarying line, while at the sides, the utmost deviation from
a straight line was only one inch and a quarter. This, in a cutting of 1,520
feet in length, begun, at opposite ends, and worked towards a common centre
is, perhaps, unexampled in the annals of tunnelling.

The cutting on the Chippenham side has hitherto been, and it has already
extended two thousand feet, through one solid bed of freestone or sui>crior
oolite, in many places one hundred and thirty feet thick, and lying ujion a
bed of fuller's earth, or clay, one hundred and twenty feet in thickness ;
under which bine marl, resting upon lias clay, is found. So uniuterrnpted
and compact is the rock through which tliis end of the tunnel passes, that no
masonry is reqiiircil in any jiart of it, the stone itself forming sides and roof,
and nothing being required at the bottom but the rails on which the carriages
will run' — Abridged /rom (he Wiltshire Independent.

.7 /(ir^r .i^;(«c of a female figure representing France, clothed in floHing
drapery, ami bearing a crown of stars, is now in process of icnninalion in
one of the ateliers of the Institute, it is to bo placeil in the centre of llie
Place du Palais Bourhon. in front of the Chamber of Deputies, tuid this square
w ill henceforth bear the name of the Place de France.

The President, &c.. of Columbia College, New York, have agreed to [ilace
the gilded crown, uhich formerly adorned the cupola of the college previous
to the revolution, upon the figure-head of the Briiish Queen steamer, expectcil
at New York during the summer. This superbly made crown has remained
in their library since 1777.

Orsnnic Remains. — In excavating for the Great ^Vestern Railway, a few
days since, a remarkable fine tusk of the Mammoth was discovered lying on
a beil of new red sandstone, about seven I'eet below tlie surface, between the
Bristol Cotton Works and .St. Philip's Bridge. Themsk, logotlier with some
very beautiful specimens of iron and lead ore. found near the same spot, have
been kindly brought to tlie Philosophic Institution by Dr. Fairbrother for
the inspection of the members aud their friends. — Ctintbriuii.

Riissin. — At a general meeting of the shareholders in the Zarskojeselo rail-
road, held at .St. Petcrsburgh at the end of last month, it appeared by the re-
port of Ihc directors, that the cost of the fomiation of the road and its mnliiirl
had amounted to 5,281, 667 roubles. The original calculations Here fiiiiniled
upon the anticipation of 300,000 passengers within the year, but, during the
preceding twelve months, the nuiniicr oftra\ellers between the capital and
/ irskojeselo had amounted to 500.000. and the number which passed along
the whole line to and from Paulowsk was 707.091. The rccei[its amounted to
920 237 roubles. At the end of Ihc first nine months the receipts exceeded
Ihr cNprniliturc by 316,976 roubles. Of this balance 90.000 roubles were ap-
plied m paying the interest and reimbursing the loan from the crown; and
140.000 roubles fo the payment of interest on shares ; 15.848 roubles were di-
vided, according to the statutes, among the directors ; 1,555 I'oublcs were Jiaid
to the chief engineer ; and 69,572 rouljles were carried to the reserved furid.

Tlie f.vperimenlal paving nf Oxford-street. — Another of the specimens of
asphalte paving — viz., that laid duw n by the Scotch Asphaltum Company,
has given wa\ (although repaired since it was first laid) under the exiraor-
dinaiy traflic of Oxford-street. The specimen was .'lO feet by the width of
ihe road, containing 210 sipiare yards, and when laid down, with what was
considered liy thi' asphalte and biliuncn companies most extraordinary and
unparalleled expedition, the work occupied 1 1 days. T'he road was stripped on
Thursday night, 4lli ult., by the parish workmen, under the direction of Mr,
Seaice, the surveyor of Marylebone, of the Scotch ;isphallum contained in
the above-mentioned si'acc. and nearly the whcle rep.ived wiih A!ierdeen
granite, grouted, and completed during the follnwing day, the ruad Ijeing
open to the public to the extent of about two-thirds of its width early in the
afternoon ot Friday. The only specimens of the experimental paving now
remaining in lliis great thoroughfare are those laid down by the Val dc
TiMVeis Company, the Bastcnne and Gaujae Bitumen Company, a portion of
granite paving Idled up and cemented togelher by Claridge's asphalte. and
the wooden blocks. Ainopg thcse spefimciis no material alteration lias
takvu plage,— jT/wto.-,

183!>.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL,

Sir,

PROCEEDINGS OF PARIiIAMENT.

Hous of Commons.— List of Petitions for Private Bills, and progi'ess therein.

Alcrl.rotln\ii-k il;\rbour . .

Al.iTiloen IhirlioLir

Ballochnev R:iil«ay .

Barnsley Waterworks .

Balli Cemelcry .

Rolfa.st Walcr«orks .

Birminsham Canal .

Birmingham & Glos. Ul«ay.

B|). Aiieklanil & AVeardalcRa.

BlaekhcnthCemelery . .

Bradford (York) Waterworks

Brighton Gas

Brighton Cemetery ■ •

Bristol & (^loueestersliirc Ha.

Briiish Museum Biiildmgs .

Brompton New Road .

Clieltenham ^\•aler^^orks .

Commereial (London and
Blackwall) Railway .

Dean ForesI Railway .

Dejilford Pier . • •

Dentfbrd Pier Junetion Rlw y.

Deptford Steam Ship Doeks

Edinborgh. Leitli.and New-
haven Railway .

Eyemouth narl)our

Fraserburgh Harbour .

fieneral Cemetery

(iravesend Gas . ■ , •

Great North of England Ra.

Great Western Railway

Great Central Irish R;iil« ay

Herefordshire and Glouces-
tershire Canal .

Heme Gas . . . •

Liverpool Docks .

Liverpool Buildings .

Liverpool and Manchester
F,.\lension Railway .

T>onilon and Birmingham Ra

T,ondonBridgeAj)proaches,&c
Croydon Railway
London Cemetery

Ijondon & Croyd

London & Greenwicli Rlway
London and Southampton

(Guildford Branch) Rluy.
I^)ndon and Soulliampton

(Portsmouth Brancli) Ra.
Mancliester SiBirminghamlla
M.anchesler and Birmingham

E.\tension(St(]ne&RugljyRa
Manchester U Leeds Rlway.
Marvlcb,,neGas&CokeCiiiiip.
Mon1<laud:^ Kirkinlilloch Ita.
Necropolis (St.Panc.jCemetry

Newark Gas . ■ •

Newcastle-upon-Tyne 81 N.

Shields (Extension) Rh\y.
Northern Si Eastcm(l)Rlwy.
Norlheru&iEastern(2)Rlwy.
North Midland Railway
Norili Union Railway .
Not tingliamlnclosure & Canal
Over Darwen Gas
Perth Harl)our&. Navigation
Portishead Pier .
Preston Gas

Preston and Wyre Railway
Preston and Wyre Railway,

Harbour, and Dock .
Redcar (No. 1) Harbour .
Redcar (No. 2) H.arljour
Rishworth Reservoirs .
Rochdale Waterworks
Rochester Cemetery
Sawmill Ford Bridget Road
Slamannan Railway
South Eastern Railway
.S. Kastern (Deviation) R:i. .
Teignmouth Bridge
Tyne Dock ....
Tyne .Steam Ferry
Walsall Junction Canal
West Durham Railway
Westminster hnprovement .
\\ ishaw & Coltness Railway
Wy rley and Essington and

Birmingham Canal .

Petition
pre-
sented.

Bill read
first
time.

Feb. 6,:
Feb. 8.
Feb. 12.
Fell. 21.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 20.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 22.
Fel). 22.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 21.-
Feb, 2L
Feb. 22.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 22.

Feb. 14.
Fell. 19.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 22.

Feb. 19.
Feb. 12.
Feb. 20.
Feb. 20.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 18.
Feb. 14.
Mar. 12.

Feb. 20.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 21.

Feb. 14.

Feb. 28.

Feb. 8.

Feb. 22.

Feb. 19.

Apr. n.

Fel). 19.

Mar. 18.

Feb. 19.

Mar. 18

Feb. 21.

Mar. 18

Feb. 22.

Feb. 6.
Feb. 18.

Feb. 11.
Feb. 18.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 12.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 14.

Feb. 18.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 22.
Feb. II.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 19.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 14.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 6.
Feb. G.

Feb. 21.
Feb. 19.
Feb. 22.
I'Vb. 21.
Feb. 7.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 21.

Feb.
F,b. II
Feb. 22,
Feb. 21,
I'Vb. 22
Feb. 21,
Feb. 22.
Feb. 21
Feij. 2).
Feb. 12

Feb. 18.

Feb. 27.
M,ar. 15.
Mar. 14.

Mar. hi.
M.ar. I,').
Mar. 18.
Mar. 18.

Mar.'lS.
Mar. 18.
Mar. 7.

Mai-.'l8.
Mar. 12.

Mar, 8.

Mar.'lS.
Mar. 20.

Mar. 11.

Mar. 11.
Mar. 18.
.Mar. 13.
Mar. 4.

Mar. 13.

Feb. 2.5.
Mar. 18.

iMay. I,
Mar. 8.
M.ir. IS.
.Mar. 14.
Mar. 15.
Feb. 28.

Mar. 15.
Mar. 18.
Mar. 27.
Mar. 4.

Mar.'lS.

Feb. 20.
Feb. 20.

Mar. 18.

Mar. 27.
Mar. G.
Feb. 21,
Mar. 18.
Mar. 18.
Ma>. 18.

May' G.

Mar.'lS.

Mar. 18.
Mar.' 14.

Bill read
second
time.

Mar. 12.
Apr. 1').
Apr. 8.

Apr. 12.
Apr. 1.
Apr. 15.

May 28.
Mar. 19.
Apr. 12.
A pr. 30.
Mar. 22.

Mar. 21.

M.ay 2S.
May 28.

Mar. 27.
Apr. 8.
Apr. 8.
Mar. 21.

Mar.25.
Mar. 13.

May 28.

Mar. 12.
Mar. C.
Apr.2G.
Apr. 8.

Apr. 8.

Mnr. 7.
Apr. 23.

May 14.
Mar. 19.

Apr. 8.

Mar.'ll.

Apr. 1 fi.
Apr. 10.
Mar. 14.

Apr. 12.

Mar. G.
Mar. 4.

Apr. 12.

Mar. 30.
Mar. 2G.
Mar. G.

Mar. 27.
Mar. 25.
May 30.

May 7.

Apr. 8.
Apr.' S.

Bill read
third
time.

Apr. 15.
May' 3.

June 13.

May 31.

May'l3.
May 3.

June 20.
June 21.

May 30.
May 28.
Apr. 16.
June 7.

May' 3.
May 1.

May 1.3.
May 30.

May" 3.

May' 3.

May 3.

Jfay'sO.
May 3.
Apr'.'lS.

June 4.
June 4.
May 1.

June 3.
May 2.

Mar. lil.
Mar. 15.

Mar, 15.

May 30.
May C.

June 10.
May 28.
May 1 5.
June 19.

lune 13.

May H.
May' 3.

Royal
Assent.

July 1.

July 1.

July 1.

July 19.
July 19.

July 1.

June 14.
June 4.

June 4.

June 14.
June 14.

June 4.

June 4.

July 4.

July'l.
July '4.

July 19.
July 19.
July 1.

June 4.

July'l.
luly 1.

July 1.
June 14.
July 19.

July'l.

July 4.
Julv'l,

ENGINEERING WORKS.

The Patent Rotative Disc Engine. — Mr. Wliishavv having been requested to
examine mid report on the principle of coiistruetioii of the Rotative Disc
Engine, and to institute a comparison between it and those of the recipro-
cating kind, devoted a week to the purpose, and examined si.x difTereut en-
gines, the whole of vvliieh were represented by the parties at whose works
they are in use, to ha\e performed their duties most satisfactorily. One of
these engines (-\Ir. Wbishaw observes) has been working for fifteen months,
and has only required dining tins period the expenditure of three shillings
for rejiairs. Mr. Whishaw continues : — " The advantages to be derived from
a rotative engine of simple construction, yet producing a mechanical eft'ect
equal to one on the reciprocating principle, at much less original cost, aud
with less expenditure of fuel, must be obvious to every one. Such a ma-
chine has long been a desideratum amongst engineers. The attempts which
have hitherto been made to accomplish this desirable object, so far as my
knowledge extends, have failed, either from the motion of the various parts
of the machine being such as to produce so great an amount of friction,
and, consequently, of rapid destruction ; or from the engines requiring a
greater supply of steam to efi'ect a given amount of work. In my examina-
tion, therefore, of this invention, I have particularly directed :ny attention
to these two important points. As regards the first, I find the moving parts
of this engine are so few in mmiber, and their motion so uniform and regu-
lar, that the amount of friction must be very materially reduced ; the wear,
therefore, of these moving parts, and their liability to derangement, will be
reduced in a proportionate degree. This opinion is fully borne out by the
examination I have made of several engines, which have been in operation
for a considerable time ; some of these were taken to pieces in my presence,
for the piu'pose of ascertaimug the wear of the moving parts, the amount of
which appeared so small as to be ina])]ireciable. With respect to the
second, viz., the quantity of steam reqmred to perform a certain amount of
work — I have made several trials with an engine of this construction at the
works of the British Alkali Company, near Bromsgrove, which is appUed to
a gi'cat variety of v\-ork, but as a considerable portion of the duty performed
consists of pumping, I was thus enabled to make such a comparison between
the ditterent portions of the work, as to obtain an accurate indication of the
whole duty performed. The result of these trials is, that the work done by
this twenty-four inch Disc Engine, working with steam at 29 lbs. pressure, is
equal to twenty horses' power, after making ample allowance for friction ;
and the consmnption of fuel (common Staffordshire coal) is equal to two
hundred weight per hoiu", or rather more than efejiafji^of/H/f*' per horse per
hour. This engine is worked by high-pressure steam, which, after perform-
ing its duty, passes into the atmosphere ; and, during the experimental trials,
I found, by the mercurial steam guage, that the average pressm'C was equal
to 29 lbs. on the inch ; but in order to work this engine to the greatest ad-
vantage, the pressine should be considerably increased. I am informed, that
this engine was fixed upwards of twelve months ago, at which time the
patentees had not acquired the experience in its construction which they
now possess. Taking all these circumstances into consideration, viz., the
want of experience, the disadvantageous pressure at which the engine is
working, the inferior quality of coal used, and the amount recpiired per
horse power, and, nmreover, that this amount does not exceed the quantity
consumed for a high-pressure reciprocating engine of equal power, I am of
opinion, that Rotative Disc Engines, constructed with all the advantages
necessarily to be obtained by experience, will be found to be decidedly
economical rs regards the consumption of fuel. Tnis engine, which I find
to be equal to twenty-horse power, with steam at 29 lbs. would, with steam
at 43. \ lbs., be equal to thirty-horse work. It occupies a space equal to four
feet square by seven feet high, and its whole weight, including the frame, is
41 cwt. 3 qrs. 16 lbs., but as the frame of this engine is too light, an addi-
tional weight will he necessary for giving steadiness to the machine, which
would probably increase the weight to 21 tons; whilst, I am informed, that
the weiglit of a high-pressure reciprocating engine of equal power would
not be less than twenty tons. The foundation of this engine consists of
brick-work nccnpyiug four feet siinarc by five feet deep." — Abriilijcd from
the Mid. Count. Herald.

Demnsliire.— An iron briJge of three arches, each 30 feet span, is to Ije
erected over the river Ottir, near Newton Popplefcnd, under the directions of
Messrs. Green and Son, of I'ixeter.

Roclifste.r.—\Vc arc infcnmed that the foundation stone of the new bridge
over the river Uo\e, will be laid on Thursday, the 8th day of August next,
at 12 o'clock at noon ; and that the commissioners and their friends dine to-
gether at lour o'clock (jn the s.amc day, at the Black Swan Inn, Uttoxetcr.
The stone will be laid with masonic honours.

Worcester and Binniniiliam Canal.— Ai the last half-yearly meeting of pro-
prietors, held at Wincester, it w.as stated that the company had engaged a
dredging machine, for the purpose of t;iking out the shoals in the Severn
below Worcester, with a view to remove those impediments to trade wdiich
now exist. The operation is expected to be commenced in about two
tnunths.

Ribhlc Navigation Improvemnit. — We ai'e enabled to state, from the best
sources of inform.ation, that the operations of the Ribbic Improvement un-
dertaking are proceeding most sntisl'actorily. The constructiun of the cofier-
ilam is completed, and everything is in readiness fur commencing the dis-
lodgement of the water on Monday ne.xt; the engine and all the pumi)ing

316

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[AUGUST

rvpparafiis licin^ ijuito in rcadiiK'SS fi'r u'ui'k. As sonti as tli(- walcr is
inmipcil ciiit. a niiinlier <■(' mascms. as many as tlicre will lie idoin lur. will
(■(imnionci' ilic excavatiun, so as tu cU'ar out tin* ruck in the slinrlest possiljlc
lime Evci) tiling has hithcrlu Kt"ie mi most fiivonrably ; anil shonlil tin/
tiutnmn turn out to be a dry season, the directors have very confident ex-
pectations of tinishinf? this year the removal ol all the rock required for the
accomplishment of that department of the projected deepening. The exca-
vation uil! he elTecfed in three separate ptn'tions, that compr sed in the pre-
sent coffer-dam being the most dillicidt length. It is most gratifying to add,
that, unlike most of the great undertakings \iliich mark the enterprise of
the day, it is computed that, as regards the excavation of the ruck, con-
sidered, originally, the most formid.ible part of the Kibble Improvement, the
actual cost will be considerably below the estimates. ^Simultaneously with
the excavation, the dredging process Hill lie actively carried forward, as the
steam dredging vessel will be perfectly ready for commencing operations on
Tuesday ne.vt. — Prvstun Chronicle.

Glasgow. — On Friday, 12th ult.. a section of about 200 feet m length of
tile breastHoik of Port Glasgow Wet-dock gave way, and smik about 1(1
feet. — Srotthlt Guardhtn.

llnr/oiil Hint Gloucester Cmial. — M'e imderstand that the company of pro-
prietors of the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal Navigation will
shortly call a meeting, for the purpose of lixing the mode of raising the
money for the completion of the canal frcjm Ledbury to this city. Oiu-
readers will recidlecl that the company, previous to obtaining their act of
the present session ot parli.iment, olle'red to the new shareholders a priority
ill the receij.t of the dividends to the amount of five per cent. ; but so con-
vinced are many of the proprietors of old shares, that seven per cent.
priority «ill be, on reaching llie supply of water, practically tht' same tiling
as five per cent, priority, that we doubt not a proposition guaranteeing a
jiriority of .seven per cent, per annum to the ne» shareholders will be ac-
ceded to at the intended meeting. We learn th t materials are in prepara-
tion tor the purpose of commencing the work immediately alter the meet-
ing above mentioned, and that other measures are being taken to eflcct the
speedy complelion of the canal. As this underlaking cannot but be of
Ine nimost interest to all our readers connected witli the cily and counly of
Hereford, we trust they will be glad to be infonned occasionally how 'the
works are going on. and we shall endeavour to obtain such intelligence on
the .subject as will from time to time give a general idea of the company's
progress.— //(')■(/«)■,/ Jomiuit.

NEW CHURCHES, &,

St. Saviour x Church.— The cereinony of laying the first stone for the new
edifice about (o be erected as an enlargement of St. Saviour's Church, in the
Borough ol South»ark. took place on 2Clh June. The new portion of the
church will be nniled to the present choir In whiidi the service is iierforined
tlie new biiilclmg » il I. « hen compleled. be used for the performance of divine
service on .Sundays, but the pari ot (he building in which the service is now
perlormed will be relained for the burial, christening, and marriage services
the new building will conti;in sittin'.;s for 2.000 (lersons. one-third of «|jich
sittings will be free. It will be 103 feet in length, bv G5 in width. The de-
sign IS Gothic, and, as far as an opinion may be formed from the drawings
and elevations in the vestry, it will be a very elegant and commodious build-
ing.

Chrht Church, New North-road, Hoxton.— This church, built and endowed
ly le Aletropohs Churches Fund, was on Saturday, the22d ult., consecrated
11} the Uishop of London. It is a plain but spacious edillcc. designed by Mr.
I5lore, m the Norman style, and ttill contain nenly 1.200 pi'rsons. almost
nne-halt oithe seals being free for the use of the poor.

Jlolheihi/hc.—'nw first stone of the tliird church, to be called "lAU Saints,"
«as laid on Monday. July l,-,. by Major-General Sir U'. (iomm. K.Ci;.. who
gives the site, which is on the Loner neptford-ro.id, about two miles from
l^onaon-bridge Tlu^ mscriplion on the loondalioai stone is as follows :—
r. .. ■ "Tlie first stone of this Church was laid
Ky M.ijor-General Sir Willi.am Gomm. K.C.B.. July 15. 1839.
The site was given bv Sir William Gomm.
Ilev.Kilward Blick. M.Ai. Rector of Rotherhithe.
Thomas Simpson, Esq.,
John Beatson, Esq., Chr.rchwardens.
S. Kempthome, Esq., Architecl.
„., , , . M^'Ssrs l'i]ier anil Son, Builders."

the church is calculated to hold 1000 sittings, of which one-third are free,
one-ihird secondary seats, to be let at a low rate, and the remainder pew
sittings. Hie design is Gothic of the early English style, with a tower 15!) feet
iigli, and spire .W loet addilion.al. The builihng is to be faced with white
Wicks, and to have diessings of Bath stone; the internal dimensions ale C3
'eel m length. 43 feet in breadth, and 37 feet in Inight. the contract 15 3,412/,
Wllliout the .sjiire. an.l 300/. extra if the spire be executed.

New Imlcpciident Chapel, West Bromwich.—Ou A\'edn sday. the ."ilh ultimo,
tins (iiapel was opened for divine woriihip. It is considered a very chaste
and elegant specimen of arehitecliire, in Ihe Doric style, .and contains about
1,000 sittings ; of this number 410 are free, namely, ICO for children, and
jM lor adiills. Mr. Rogers, late of Birmingh.irn. is the architect, and Mr.
I'lsher ot Wi'St Bromwich. the builder of the chapel, the.whole cost of which
"111 exceed 2.200/.

An elegant new chapel, calleil ■■ Weslev Chapel." was opened in Notting-
h.am, (Ui Thursday, the 20th June. It wifl hold 2,000 persons, and has been
''reeled at an ex|iense of 9,000/.

I'ck/ield Church
direction of Mr. Moseley

This elinrch is about to be partially relmill under the
old church, and p.'ilt

the tower of tin

of Ihi

Cfianeel bring in a good slate, are to reiu.iiii : the nave is to be relmill of the
eounlry sloiie, in the same style as the old church, that of the period of tin'
14th centurv, the internal dimensions of the part rebuilt being HO feet by 48
feet () in. The timbers of the roof are exposed, as there is no ceiling, and the
bight to the tie-beam is 28 feet 6 inches,— the old Tower is to be raised and
surmounted by a timber spire. There are two side galleries, and accommo-
dation for 91.5 sitting, of w hich 479 w ill be free. Messrs Cheal and Markwich
of Unkfield are the builders, amount of contract 2,49G/.

llursham. — A Chapel of Ease is to be erected in this town under the direc-
tion of Mr. Moseley, for which a plot of land has been given, and a grant of
300/. has been made towards the erection by the Incorporated Society, and
200/. by the Diocesan Church Building Society. The style of the building is
the early English. It is to be built of the country slone. and will afford
accoinmoilalion for 980 sittings."one-half of which w'lll be free. The dimen-
sions of the inferior are 70 feet by 45 feet, and (lie height to the tie-beam,
the timber of the roof being open as in the preceding church, is 2,') feel.
There is a gallery on each side of the chapel. Estimate 2.500/.

Kingston. — A new church is to he erected under the direction of Messrs
Scott and Moffat.

M'arwkkshire . — The .Society for pr.Jinoting church accommodation williin
the Archdeaconry of Coventry have made a gi-ant of (500/. towards the erec-
tion of a new church at Harn'all. Ararwickshive.

Metropolis Churches Fund Snciety. — The annual general meeting of Ihe
subscribers to this fund took place on friday. 21st June, at the Chrislian
Knowledge .Society's oHice, No. 07. Lincoln's Inn Fields. His Grace the
Archbishop of Canterbury in the chair. The following report was read : —
'■ The committee reported that the whole of the sum placed at their disposal,
after the instalments payable on the fourth year shad have been received, is
either expended or pledged ; but ihey feel c(mvineed that w hen the subscribers
to the fund are acquainted with the method in which it has been applied,
they will find both a cause of gratitude for the past, and a stimulus to in-
creased exertion for the future. The Bishoji of London, in 183(). contem-
plated the erection of at least fiftv new churches, and for the aecompli.sh-
ment of this purpose i( was estimated that a sum noi less llian 300.000/. must
Ije raised. The sum hitherto subscribed did not amount to half that sum.
yet they are cnableil to hold out the prospect of forty-one new churches
being built, either wholly or in part, from the funds of this society. In the
above number of forty-, ne churches there .are included ten which it is pro-
posed to build in the parish of Bethnal Green. The sum already subscribed
specially for the parish of Reiltnal Green, ineluling the grant from this
society, ^amounts to 22.991/. I7.«. The sum subscribed for endowments
amounts^lo no more than 730/.

••The total number of churches now completed, or in progress, amounts

to 20

" Churches to which the fund was before pledged G

" Churches to which the fund has been pledged during the
past year 15

Total 41

The amount of subscription up to ihe 1st of June last, is 132.728/. 13s. fi'/.,
.showing an increase during the last ye ir of 5,C04/. Os, 'id.' The report was
favourtible received and adopted.

Fnlham.—On Saturday, I3lh ult., a meeting was held of the inhabitants of
Ihe districts of All .Saints, in this parish, in' order to consider of the expe-
di( ncy of enlarging the church, .an object w Inch for .some time has been
greatly wanted. The Bishop of London w as in the chair. It appeared, how-
ever, that the estimates prepared for (he work were so expensive in propor-
tion t the increased accommodation that would be gaiiied, and the difticiilly
was so great of removing many of the inconveniences of the present building,
that the gener.al opinion of the meeling was , adver.se to (he measure: and it
was agreed, mi (be ] Proposal of (be Bishop (who headed (he subscription wilb
a liberal oiler of .'JOO/.j, loallempl (o raise a fund adequate (o the ereelion.
on the same site, of a new. .and larger, and more commodious church. The
old and justly admired tower will remain. Before the meeting was adjourned,
1.030/. h.ad been subscribed, and there is good reason to hope that within a
slnn-t time the whole sum required will be obtained without having recourse
to any rate.

New Churches in the Potteries.— The District Committee for the Newcastle
and PoKeries, appointed by (he Diocesan Society of Lichfield, since tlieir
appointment, have already reeeiveil, in donations .and subscriptions, 700/.
'Ihe District Committee have submitted to the Lmd Bishop, and wilh his
permission to the inhabitants of the Potteries generally, the follow ing outline
of a plan for ex'ending church .accommodation within its limits; — 1. That
measures be taken for erecting, in the rst instance, not fewer than five addi-
tional churches, within the parishes of Stoke-upou-Trent, Burslem, Wolstan-
ton, or the Liberty of Normaeott, in the parish of Stone. 2. That each
church contain from 200 to 1,000 sittings, according to the present or pro-
spective wants of the locality for which it sh.all be provided. 3. That a dis-
trict, w i(h cure of souls, be attached to each church, wilh the requisite con-
tents. 4. That an endowment of 1,000/.. together witli a parsonage house,
be provided for each, in addition to the fund required by I .and 2 Wm. IV..
cap. 38. for repairs. 5. That the patronage of each church so built and
endowed be. with the bishop's consent, vested in the person or persons lo
whom it may be assigned, by 1 and 2 Wm. IV.. cap. 38. sec. 2.— The sub-
committee, appoinlecf to obtain statistical information rcs]iecting the sites,
Sic, of the five proposed churches, have adopted ihe following resolutions :
—1. That in consequence of an application made to R. K. Heathcote. Esi(.,
for a site at Green Dock, Longlon. and acceded (o by hnn, the sub-eommiltee
recommend Green Dock as an eligible silualiou lor an additional church.
2. That the sub-cimimittee. being encou aged to expect liber.al assistance
from Messrs. Minton. in the erectton of a cliuieh between Penkiill and Han's
Hill, recommend this situation also. 3. That Jolin Smith. Esq.. having con-

1839.]

.THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

317

sonted to supply a silo for a i-liurcli at Nuithwodd. in llaiiitn', tliissiuialioii
.also be reconimomled. 4. It. having liocn stated that some of the principal
ii, habitants of Buisleni, have formed a wish and intention to erect a new
parish eluncli. and it havnij; also been sugfjested that it would be advisable
to retain the present church as a district chapel i the sid)-committee are of
opinion that siieh arrangement would be the most eligible incthod of accom-
|ilishin{» the views of the Diocesan Society in that part of the Potteries, and
as sucii recommend them tu encourage and assist it to the utmost of iheii-
power, a. That the suh-committee are of opinion that an additional church
is much needed in the southern part of Tiinstall. but liave not yet obtained
any facilities to obtain them precisely in tlie choice of a site.— Xtajfurdshirf
Mnrurt/. '[ * ' ■ ■ ■ ■ - _'

J Catliolic Clinrcli was oi]eiie<l at Kveringliam in'a style of splendour
uneqnalled in England. The building cost .30,000/. ; and the procession of
bishops and clergy, ttith the Pope's banners anil the host elevated. ttiUi more
splendid than ever witnesseil liefore in modern days in this country. — Slicf-
field Iris.

fVohirrhamptoii. — The Duke of .Sutherland, with the lilierality which rha-
r.acterises all his proceedings, has. we understand, determined upon restoring
the Levcsoii Chancel, in the Collegiate Church of \Volverhainpton. Tlie
plans, which are already drawn, include the restoration of the fine table
monument which was concealed in the old vestry, beneath a rude desk : and
also the removal of the fine statue of Athniral Leveson from the Dean's
Chancel into his o» n. The deeor.ative railing which » ill surround these iS of
the most clia.ste design, ami m evcellent taste. (Jur readers are. perhaps,
aware that the Duke also gave 105/. to the general interior alteration. John
Newton Lane, Ksq., has, likewise, given the authorities 25/. to expend in
cleaning the interesting monuments in Lane's Chancel. — Woloirhumplun
Chronicle.

Iiirorporafcii Chitrrli Biiihlini; Sorirhj.—On Thursday, 18th ult., a very full
meeting of tlie committee was held, at which several applications for grant,^
were registered. The Bishop of London was in the chair. Amongst other
business transacted, grants were voted and confirmed towards

Building a chapel atTamworlh, Warwickshire.

Building a chapel at .Scarborough. Yorkshire.

iioilJing a chapel at C'oales, Whittlesey. Cambridgeshire.

liiiilding a church at Kiln Down, Koud'hurst, Kent.

Building a church in the Ville of Dunl<irk, Kent.

Building a chapel at Lanne's (iwennap. Cornwall.

Rebuilding the church at Llansantfr.iid, Cardiganshire.

Enlarging Ijy rebuilding the church at Grini-iiill. Salop.

Rebuilding the church at LlancUy. Carmarthen.

Kebnilding the body of the church ut Llannon. Carmarthen.

Enlarging and repairing the chape] at Farlow, Herefordshire.

Enlarging by extending the west end of the chapel at Cornhill. North
Durham.

Kepewing the church at Winterborne Stoke. M'ilts.

Repewing the church at l.l.'indegwning. in Carnarvonshire.

Building a gallery in the church i„ Cholesbury. Bucks.

Enlarging by extending the east end of the chapel at Finthwaite, L.anca-
sliire.

Repairing thech.apcl at West Mitton, Powerstock, Dorset.

Increasing the accommodation in the cburi'h at Nuttall, Nottinghamshire,

Repairing the church at Toxlelh Park, Lancashire.

Enlaiging the church at Womborne. Stafiordshire.

Enlarging the church at Butley, (doucester.

li^or reljiiilding the old, and the erection of
Tornhill, Yorkshire.

Repewing the church at t'cderne. M'iltshire. ■ ' •.

Re-arranging the pews and buililiiig a g.allcry in the church at Chipping
Nor on, 0.\un.

Repairing the church at Weston. Herelbrdshire.

Enlarging the church of St. Marv's. Gateshead.

Building a chapel at D.aveiitry, Northampton.

Building a chapel at Timperly, pari.sh of Bnwden, Chester.

Building a church in the parisli of St. Mary, Taunton, Somerset.

Building a chapel at Emsnorth. Warblington. Southampton.

Building a chapel at Wreelsham, Farnham, Surrey.

Building a chapel at Bradford. Wiltshire.

Building a church at Barton's Village, Whippingham, Southampton.

Kebuililingtlie nave of the church at Uekfielil, Sussex.

Enlarging by rebuilding the churih .at Lbingdynin, Carnarvon.

Rebuilding ih.. church at Egremunt. Carmarihen.

Building an additional aisU' to the church of Lleehryd. Cardigan.

For creeling a gallery in the church of I'^aidisland, Hereford.

Kepewing the cliurch at Llanvylhid, Glamorganshire.

Enlarging the church at L'antrythid. Glamorganshire.

I'inlarging the church of St, .James's. Islington.

Being 43 grants, several of which are for building o ■ rebuilding entire
churches.

/('urui/cisAire.— On Friday. 19th ult., lire -first stime of a new church at the
Quinlon. in the parish of Italesowcn, near the fifth mile stone from Birming-
ham, was laid by the Right Hon. r.,ord Littleton, accompanied by the Rev,
Ii" B. Hone, the vicar, and other genlleuien. The day was extremely incle-
ment.

S/affonlsiiire. — A general meeting of the subscribers to the testimonial to
Earl'Talbot was held im the 2iid insfani, at the Swan Hotel, Staflbrd,
Eduard Monkton, Esq.. in the chair. The sulj-eommitlee appointed for the
puri«ise of preparing plans having reported lliat they hid ascertained it was
ills lordship's intention previously to the subscription Ijeing opi'iied, to erect
a church U|)on some part of his estate, and the meeting being desirous of co-
operating with his lordship without interfering with liis plans, it was re-
solved that the subscription should l)e closed on the 31.st of December. 1839 ;

a new gallery m the cluircli at

and that ihc amount of sul«eri|itions at that lime received be placed at liis
lordship's disposal, either for the erection of a church, or the endowment of
the same, as his lordship may determine. — It is stated that the subscription
already amounts to 1,313/.

PUBLIC BVILDIMGS, flte.

The Rni/ril Slr/hle.<: at Wiiiriwr. — The grant of £70.000 for the erection of
stables aiid a riiliug-seliool at Windsor Castle having been agreed to, they
will be commenced under the superintendence of Sir Jellery Wyattvil.'e
forthwith, 'fhe Queen's arrival at Windsor Castle is not expected to take
place until the end of August next, at which time, short though it may
l)e, it is conlem|ilated that the riding-school will h ive so far progressed as
to enable her Majesty to take equestrian exercise there, should the state
of the weather require the riding-school to be resorted to for that purpose.

Harrow School. — The governors have adoptel the plan of Mr. Decimus
Burton for vc-btiilding in a handsome manner tlie head master's house,
desiroyed by fire October 22. 1838, in the same style as the school building
and the new chapel, now nearly completed, lor the use of the school.

Momiment to tlie Memory of the late Sir Piilteiiei/ Mutcohii. — On the 20th
June last, a meeting of the subscribers to the fund for erecting a monu-
ment to the memory of the late Admiral Sir Pulleney Malcolm, was lield
at the Thatched House Tavern, in St. James's Street, to receive the report
of the committee appointed a) the last general meeting of the subscribers.
Earl Powis in the chair. The secretary read the repjrt. which stated that
the list of subscriptions already received amounted to £73U, including £103
remitted from India, but e-xckisive of the subscriptiims to the local memo-
rial in Eskdale, amounting to nearly £200, which will be sullieient to erect
a handsoiue tablet in the parish church of the llaleolm family at Wester-
kirk ; and that on a reference to Mr. Bailey the sculptor, the committee
had ascertained that a handsome marble monument might be erected to the
memory of tlie late Ailminil Sir P. Malcolm in the metropolitan Cathedral
of .St. Paul's for the sum of £1,000. The committee therefore recommended
that as soon as the subscriptions should amount to that sum. Mr. Bailey lie
requested to submit designs for the intended monument for the approijation
of the committee, and that he be authorised to execute a monument according
to such of the designs as should be approved of by the committee.

The Projeeteil CnUetfe iit /?a//(.— The ')ilan for the erection id' the new Pro-
testant College at Batli, to be called Queen's College, has been decided on.
It is a very beautiful specimen of the Elizabethan style of architecture, with
an elegant square tower.in the centre. Lord Powerscourt has given another
donation of £50 towards'lhe erection.— 7i«//i Gaxette.

Imprnvement in tlie Old flni/c;/.— On Monday, the 15th ult., w.ukmcn eom-
meuci' I the alleral

wooden roadway ^ . „. i ■ , ■ ,„ , ,,--i

alteration, much noise from the carriages passing through the Old Bailey,

ation agreed to by the Common Council, id' laying down a
in lieu of the stone pitching hitherto cmjiloyed. By the

.„,,^^^„„., noise from the carriages passing through the Old Bailey,

during the silting of the Central Criminal Court, will be prevented, without
the nuisance and exiK-nse of straw, which has lillherlo been laid down on the
above occasions.

The Sutherliwil A/o»«m™/.— During the storm of Tuesday the loth June,
the monument erecte.l to the late Duke of Sutherland, on Lillesh.ill Hill,
Salop was struck by the electric fluid, and sustained considerable iii,|ury. A
chimney belonging to a steam engine at Aston, was knocked riowii by the
lightning.

Finsbunj.—K spacious building is about to be erected for the Finsbuiy
Savings Bank, under the direction of Mr. Bartholomew.

nistriet Sureeiiors.— At a meeting of the Magistrates for the county of
Middlesex on tlie 10th ultimo, Mr. Edmund Woodtlinrpc was elected sur-
veyor to the Limehouse and Ratclille District, and Mr. Davies lor the district
of Mile-end. Olil Tow n.

WeWmoton Memorial.-At the last gener.il meeting of the committee, it was'
resolved.'on the motion of the Duke of Cambridge, that the resolutions of
June 9. 1838. appointing Mr. Wyatt as the artist should be eonhrmed. Here,
therefore, the matter ends.

Nelso,, Memnrlal.-h minute was on Saturday, 13th ult.. signed by the
Lords of the Treasury giving their assent to the design for lire monument ot
Lord Nelson, selecte.i by the committee, 'Hie committee cannot, l,nv•^•er,
nroceed to the erection of the monument until the Commissioners ol Woods
and Forests shall have determined upon the necessary arrangements .as to its
„ite or rather as to the alterations which the erection oi the monument may
render necessary in Trafalgar -square.— O/wow;-.

.SV Ceorc-e-^ Ihll.-On the 18th and lOtli ult.. the exhibition-rooms in Posl-
oflice-pbu^ were opencl to the subscribers to St, Georges Hal and their
fVieiid.s. for the purpose of inspecting the numerous designs sent in by the
dillei cut .archilects competing for the erection of that building. Jhe eleva-
tiiuis and interiorviews were hung around the walls, and i.roduced a very
slrikiiig effect. The successful desig^i is, we believe, by Mr J'.lmes, of Lon-
don 11 is of very pure (ireek arcbilectun-, the princi|iVl front being a
ixirt'ieo of grand proportions, ami enriched with bas-r.' lefs, on the e.^ecution
of which, however, much depenils. Periiaps wilhu, the limits ot iheir re-
sources (30.000/.) the committee could not have made ,a more judicious .selec-
'lion, Ibe insuperable ob|eclion to many designs, from iheir e.xleul and elabo-
rate detail mueh more captivating to the eye, being that he expense of
cxeciuing them would far exceed llie funds at the disposal ol the committee.
— Liverpool Standard.

138

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Arcus T

LIST OF NEW PATENTS.

GRANTED TX ENGLAND I'ROM 27tII JUNE TO 25Tn Jui.Y, 1839.

Richard Hodgson, of Salisbiiry-street, Strand, Gentleman, for " fmjinvc-
nieit/s in the forms or shnpes of malcriiih and siihx/ances used for buihliuc/
mid pavinri, and their combinnlion for such pnrposen." Comnumicatfil by a
foreigner residing abroad, — .Innc 27 ; six niontlis.

Moses Pooi.e, of Lincolns Iiin, (lent., for " for imjtrovemen/s ajip/ion/jle
to vdieeled carriages and in s/irini/s." Ooniniunicated by a foreigner residing
.iliroad. — Jnne 29 ; six niontlis.

Henry Pape, of Little Newport-street, Leieestcr-srinare, nmsieal instrn-
meut maker, for " certain iinproocrnents on stringed nmsicat inatrunifnts.'*
Jnly 2 ; six niontlis.

IIenrik Zander, of Nortli-sireet, Sloan-street, Gent,, for " improre-
ments in tlie manufacture of paper,^^ — Jnly 2 ; six niontlis.

Chari.es Osborne, of Hinningliam, cork-screw mannfaeturer, for " a
certain improvement, or certain improvements, in the construction of cork-
sereu's. — July 2 ; six months.

Alexander Cochrane, of Arnndel-strcet, Strand, Gent., for " an im-
jrrmed tocl-."—3\\\y 3 ; six months.

Alexander Cruckshanks, of Liverpool-street, New Road, for " certain
improved methods of jiroducint/ or mamfactnrinf/ certain infammabte sntj-
:itances, and of apptyiny ttte heat and VujtU otjtained from certain infammadte
substances to various useful purposes. — Jnly 3 ; six months.

James Yates, of the Etliiigliani AVorks, Rotlierhain, iron fonnder, for
" certain improvements in makimj, forming, or producing raised or projecting
tetters, mouldings, figures, or ot/ter ornamentat work for external decoratiuns
of buildings and other purposes, — July 3 ; six months.

Thomas French Berney, of Jlorton Hall, Norfolk, Esq., for " certain
improvements in cartridges. — July 6; six months.

Edward John Jones, of I'anlstone House, Hereford, Gent., and John
Ham of the City of Bristol engineer, for " an improved process of manufac-
turing cider and perry." — Jnly G ; six months.

George Philcox, of Soiithwark-square, watch maker, for " certain im-
provements in chronometers, watcttes, and other time keepers. — Jnly 6 ; six
months.

John Ericsson of Cambridge Terrace, civil engineer, for " an improved
.steam-engine, particularly applicable to locomotive purposes and steam navi-
gation. Jnly G; six months.

John Farrie, of Chiircli-lane WliiteiOiajiel, sugar refiner, for " improve-
ments in making and refining sugar. — July G ; six months.

Peter Uothwell Jackson, of Great Bolton, Lancaster, engineer, for " a
new and improved method of mangling, calendering, glazing, and finisliing
cotton, linen, wotlen, and other goods and manufactures, and certain machi-
nery to effect tlie same." — July 8 ; six months.

Edward Francois Josei'ii Duclos, of Clyiie Wood Works, Swansea,
Gent., for " improvemeats in the manufactnre of sulphnr, sulphuric-acid,
and sulphate of soda." — July 11 ; six niontlis.

William Woodley, of Obsen'atoiy House, Stoke Newington, Captain in
the navy, for " improvements in propelling vessels and carriages, and other
machinery." — July 13 ; six niontlis.

Thomas Bell, of St. Anstel Cornwall, hotel keeper, for " improvements
in olitaining cojiperfrom copper slag." — July 13 ; six mouths.

James Yates of the Effigbam Works, Rotherham, iron founder, for
" certain improvements in the conatruction of cupola furnaces, fur melting
metals." — July 13; six months.

Daniel Kamee, of Charlotte-street Bloomsbury, for " improvements in
paving roads, and such like ways." Conimunicated by a foreigner residing
abroad.— July 15; six months.

John Hidmming, of Edward-street, Cavendisli-sqnare, Gent., for " itn-
provemente in gas meters." — July 16 ; six months.

John Revnold.s, of Bridge-street, Blackfriars, Esq., for " certain improve-
ments in the manufacture of salt." — July IC ; six months.

John George Shuttleworth, of the Monnt, near Slieffield, soap boiler,
for " a new mode of obtaining a rotatory motion, from the rectilinear motion
of the piston-rod of a steam or other the like engine.'. — July 18; six
niontlis.

Edward Browne of Lyme Regis, Dorsetshire, ironmonger, for " im-
provements in apparatus in cooking," — July 20 ; sLx mouths.

Thomas Nicholas Raper, of Bridge-street, Blackfriars, Gent., for " itn-
provements in rendering fabrics and leat/ier waterproof." — Jnly 20 ; six
months.

Moses Poole, of Lincoln's Inn Fields, Gent., fo»' " improvements in cast-
ing for printing purposes." Comninnicated by a foreigner residing abroad. —
July 20 ; six months.

Peter Robert Drummond Lord Willoiighby de Eresby, for " im-
provements in compressing peat." — July 20 ; six months.

David Johnston, of Glasgow, manufacturer, for " certitu improvements

in the manufacture of hinges" Communicated by a foreigner residiu"-
abroad. — July 20 ; six months.

Alexander Soijthwood Stocker, of the Union Rolling Mills, Bir-
niingbain, and Thomas Johnsun of Ridgacree Irom M'orks, Staft'ord, for
" certain improvements in machinery for manufacturing shoe-heels, and toe-
tips." — July 20 ; six months.

John Charles Schwieso, of Albany-street, Regent's Park, harp maker,
for " certain improvements in the construction of locks." — July 20 ; tax
months.

Charles Flude, of Liverpool, chemist, for " certain improvements in the
the manufacture of w/rite lead." — July 20; six months.

John Frederick Myers, of .Vlbeniarle-street, Piccadilly, musical instru-
ment make, and Joseph Storer, of Bidborougb-street, New Road, musical
instrument maker, for ** certain improvements in tlie construction of certain
musical instruments, part of the said improvements being applicuhle to those
of the kind commonly called piano fortes, and part of tliose of tlie kind cotn-
monly called serajjhines, and to certain descriptions of organ.s." Par/ly com-
municated by a foreigner residing aliroad. — July 20 ; six months.

Joshua Crockkord, of Litebfield-strect, Solio, Gent., for " an improved
mode of applying cotton ayid oilier wicks to tallow, and otiier the like sub-
stances used for candles, in order to consume the same." — July, 20 ; six
months.

John Hanson, of Rashcliffe, York, patent lead pipe manufacturer, for
" certain improved apparatus for measuring and registering the rpiantity of
gas, water, or other fluid passed through tlie same." — July 24 ; six months.

James Kay-, of Pendleton, near Manchester, cotton spinner, of an ex-
tension for the term of three years from the 2Gth July, 1839, of an inven-
tion for " a new and improved mactiinery for preparing and spinning fla:f,
hemp, and other fibrous substances bg power."— hi\y 24 ; six mouths.

James Templeton, manufacturer in Paisley, and also William Quiglay,
weaver in Paisley, for machinery for " a new and improved mode of manu-
facturing silk, cotton, woollen, and linen fabrics. — Jidy 25 ; six mouths.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

(t. W. R. — IVe arc fearful' of <i^(iiu trespassing- an our pages on the subjcc
of railway curves, having already devoted considerable space and discussion to
iiiat purpose, Wf'niust test for a short time, and if hereafter we slioutd be deficieyit
of mutter, we will again find room for some more cummunieatinns we have received
nil till' siihjfi'l. Iti-sperliiig the other portion of (i. W . R."s letter, we must
recommend him, as well as other engineers, to study algebra, at least the rudi-
ments ; lie will then find the advantages of it, and see tlie impossibility of ris,
or any oilier svientifie work being able to abandon the use of it, and in answer
to the taller part of his letter, " which is the best and most simple treatise on the
loeomotivr engine,'' we reeumiiiend Mr. Robert Stephenson s scientific treatise and
Pambour's work, more purtivuhiily the first,

Lieut. -Col. T.'s conimmiieation on briek ovens will appear in oar ne.fct number.

Mr. G.'s drawings of boilers were received too lute for this month ; they will
appear in the ue.fl Journal.

The British Association. — li'e shall feel obliged for copies of any papers that
may lie read before the ne.rt meeting at Birminghnin.

JVe shall feel obliged if our correspondent at Bristol will favour us with his
communications early in the month.

Norris's Loconmtive Knyioe. — Can any of our subscribers favour us with
some facts connected with Ike performances of these engines since they have been
inhodiiecd in England, stating the distance ran in a given time, the quantity of
fuel consumed, and llir gradients of the railway. Also inform us what are the
dimensions of the enniues and their peculiar construction, or where they dijfer
from our own engines": we do not wish the perfonnances of the engine to be con-
fined to one trip, but to s^neral trips,

The notices of several books ''sent for review are unavoidably postponed until
ne,rt month.

The Editor will feel obliged to country subscribers if they^ will forward any
account of works in progress, or any new.ipapers containing articles or paragraphs
connected with the objecis of the Journal ; it will also be doing a great service if
engineeers and iirrliileels will cause all advertisements connected with contracts
to be inserted in the Juurnul,

Communicatiuns are requested to be addressed to ''The Editor of the Civil
Engineer and Architect's Journal." No, 11, Parliament Street, Westminster,
or to Mr Groumbridge, Paui/rr /llley. Paternoster Bow ; if by post, to be di-
rected to the former "place ; if by panel , please lo direct it to tlw nearest oj the
two places wfiere the eoarh arrives ill in London, us we are Jreqiicully put to the
r.ipence of one or two sliillings for tlie porterage only, of a very small parcel.

Books for review must be sent early in the month , cummmiieations on or before
the 2(ilh (if with wood-cuts earlier), and advertisements on or before the 25th
instant.

The First Volume mav be hap, bound in cloth and lettered in gold.
Price 17s.

ERRATUM.

Bq accident pages 2%and 2»T of the pie.mit number have been transposed; it
was'nol di.mnirred iinlil the sheet had beeen printed off. The contents i^ page
297 should be page 2W, and the contents of page 296 should be page '297.

18.39.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

319

CLUB CHA3IBERS.-REGENT STREET.

ARCHITECT— DECIMUS BURTON, Esq.

Scale of Feet.
10 5 0 10 20

30

In consequence of the great scarcity of chambers for residence in !
the immediate vicinity of the Club Houses, several gentlemen, princi- '
pally subscribers to the Clubs, formed themselves into an Association
for the purpose of supplying the want. Fortunately, at this time,
the mansion occupied by the late Mr. Blicke, in Regent Street, be-
tween Pall Mall and Piccadilly, was to be sold ; abetter situation than
which for the purpose, in the whole metropolis could not have been
selected. The Association immediately entered into an agreement
for the purchase of the property, together with the freehold ground
in the rear, and upon obtaining possession, they decided upon pulling
down the premises, and engaged Mr. Decimus Burton, the eminent
architect, to make designs for a new building, which were submitted
to the committee and approved ; a contract was then entered into
with Mr. Hicks, the builder, for erecting the present miuision for the
sum of "2(','J0i,'/. The contractor comn'ienced operations for erecting
the new building in August last year, and agreed to have it finished
in the present month.

By reference to the annexed engraving, it will be seen that the
elevation of the present edifice is of the Italian style of architecture ;
it occupies a frontage next Regent Street of 76 feet, and consists of a
ground story, rusticated and terminated by an enriched lace band or
string course, enriched with the Vitruvian scroll; this story forms a
No. 24.— Vol. II.— September, 1839,

basement to the upper part, containing the principal story, and a se-
cond and third story, surmounted by a bold and enriched cornice, the
main characteristic feature of the Italian style. Between the prin-
cipal story and the ground floor an entre-sol is introduced, the .win-
dows of which are placed between the panelled pilasters, supporting
the consoles of the bold projecting balconies to the windows above.

A plan of the ground floor is given in the amiexed engraving, which
is fully explained by the reference; it is approached in the centre by
a portico, projecting forward with coupled Doric columns on each
side, and recessed back to give depth ; it opens into a grand entrance
hall, the height of the ground story and entre-sol. The four upper
stories are similarly divided as the ground floor, except as to the
room C, and adjoining room, over which there is no story, and with the
exception that on all the stories above the entre-sol there will be an
apartment over the entrance-hall.

The building will contain 77 chambers; 27 are provided with al-
coves or recesses for the bed, and 50 without; some of the rooms are
so planned that two or three may be formed into one suite instead of
being engaged separately. The basement story is occupied by the
kitchen and domestic oftices of the establishment, likewise rooms for
gentlemen's servants. This story is arched over with flat brick
arches, supported by iron girders, rendering it perfectly fire-proof,

2 A

320

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Septkmbkr,

The two st;iircases are of stone, and all the corridors have stone floors.
and enclosed within brick walls, which is a great security against the
extension of fire in any part of the building.

In the interior the architect has displayed considerable ingenuity in
])roviding for what is so very essential to a building possessing so
many inmates, that is, warmth and ventilation, the means of effecting
which we shall next proceed to describe.

The ventilation is provided for in the following manner: — on each
side of the principal staircase, on the basement story, is a furnace
with an iron pipe or flue 12 inches diameter, fixed in the centre of a
vertical brick chamber, rising through the several stories and roof,
where it is terminated by a cowl. These vertical chambers commu-
nicate on each story with horizontal chambers, formed between the
ceiling and floor of the corridors, as \ve shall presently describe. Each
room is or can be furnished witli a ventilator near the ceiling, opening
into the horizontal chamber just described; when the fire is lighted in
the furnaces, it heats the iron pipe or flue, and rarifies the circum-
jacent air within the vertical chambers, and causes the air to rise and
pass oft', through the cowl at top, with considerable rapidity. To
supply the partial vacuum which would be created by the escape of
the rarified air, the air within the rooms flows through the ventilators,
and passes by the horizontal to the vertical chambers, thereby keeping
up a constant circulation.

The horizontal chambers are thus made, over the corridors on each
story, an inch rubbed slate slab set with a close joint forms the ceiling,
and a 4 inch Portland stone landing forms the floor of the corridors
above, leaving a vacancy fur the chamber of 18 inches in height,
between the slate slab and stone landing.

The warming of the building is efiected by the patent hot water
apparatus of Mr. H. C. Price, of Bristol, erected under the superin-

tendance of Mr. Manby, a drawing and description of which is given
in the first volume of the Journal, p. 237, the apparatus for the present
building is erected on the basement story, on the north side of the
principal staircase, the hot air chamber or vault is immediately be-
hind, the top of which is nearly on a level with the ground floor, as
shown in the annexed plan ; a supply of cold air flows through a
trunk, the mouth of which is furnished with gauze wire to filter the
air, into the vault where it passes upwards between the vertical iron
chambers filled with hot water and becomes heated, the warm air then
escapes through apertures in the top of the va\dt, and is distributed
throughout the principal staircase and corridors. Before we have
done with the apparatus for warmth and ventilation, we must not omit
to notice, that the corridors and water closets are lighted with gas,
and the light enclosed in glazed lanthorns, furnished with tubes lead-
ing from the top to the external part of the building, thus preventing
the possibility of any heat or effluvia escaping within the building.

On the basement story, a well has been sunk to the depth of 150
feet, and afterwards bored lOU feet more down to the chalk stratum,
for supplying the premises with pure spring water, which is lifted to
the top of the building by means of a steam engine of 3 horse power,
which is also employed for raising coals, furniture, &c., up the well-
hole of the back staircase.

Every alcove, or recess for the bed, is furnished Vfith hot and cold
water, and pipes trapped and communicating with the drains for a
water-closet, if the tenant should wish to have one.

From this brief description, it will be seen, that the architect has not
forgotten the essential comforts of the numerous occupants of these
extensive premises, and that no exertion has been omitted to insure
for this valuable association, the support of the subscribers to the club
houses in the vicinity.

GROUND PLAN.

REFERENCE.

a. open area ; b. water closet ; c. dining room ; d. gas burner and cases for pipes ; e, ventilators ; /, corridors ; g. entrance for cold air to warm water
apparatus ; h, lead flat part of which is removed to show the apparatus i : k, ventilating chamber ; /, grand staircase, the arrows show the current of warm
air passing through the horizontal chamljer, and distributed into the staircase ; m, cutiee and readiug room ; n, entrance hall ; o, alcoves or bed recesses ;
p. house maids closet.

c

1S39.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

321

THE DAGUERROTYPE.

The secret process of this important discovery for producing Pho-
tographic plates, was revealed to the French public at the setting of
the " Academie des Sciences," on Monday, 19th ultimo ; the attendance
at the meeting was very numerous, so much so, that upwards of 2(J0
persons were unable to obtain admittance. M. Arago commenced his
observations by referring to the process of M. Niepce, the first dis-
coverer of the art, and the subsequent improvements made by M.
Daguerre. He then proceeded to explain the great discovery, of
which the following is an extract from a report in the Journal dts
Dibals.

M. Arago stated that, according to M. Daguerre's process, copper
plated with silver is washed witli a solution of nitric acid, for the
purpose of cleansing its surface, and especially to remove the minute
traces of copper, which the layer of silver may contain. This wash-
ing must be done with the greatest care, attention, and minuteness.
M. Daguerre has observed, that better results are obtained from cojiper
plated with silver, than from pure silver; whence it may be surmised,
Arago observes, that voltaic action is coimected with this pheno-
menon.

After this first, preparation, the metallic plate is exposed, in a well-
closed box, to the action of the vapour of iodine, with certain precau-
tions. A small quantity of iodine is placed at the bottom of the box,
with a thin gauze between it and the plate, as it were, to sift the
vapour, and to diHuse it equally. It is also necessary to surround the
plate with a small metallic frame, to prevent the vapour of iodine from
condensing in larger quantities round the margin than in the centre;
the whole success of the operation depending on the perfect uniformity
of the layer of ioduret of silver thus formed. The exact time to with-
draw the sheet of plated copper from the vapour, is indicated by the
plate assuming a yellow colour. M. Dumas, who has endeavoured to
ascertain the thickness of this deposit, states that it cannot be more
than the millionth part of a millimetrt. The plate thus prepared, is
placed in the dark chamber of the camera obscura, and preserved with
great care from the faintest action of light. It is, in fact, so sensitive,
that ex]josure for a tenth of a second is more than sufficient to make
an impression on it.

At the bottom of the dark chamber, which M. Daguerre has reduced
to small dimensions, is a piate of ground glass, which advances or re-
cedes until the image of the object to be represented is perfectly clear
and distinct. When this is gained, the prepared plate is substituted
for the ground glass, and receives the impression of the object. The
effect is produced in a very short time. When the metallic plate is
withdrawn, the impression is hardly to be seen, the action of a second
vapour being necessary to bring it out distinctly: the vapour of mer-
cury is employed for this purpose. It is remarkable, that the metallic
plate, to be properly acted upon by the mercurial vapour, must be
placed at a certain angle. To this end, it is enclosed in a third box,
at the bottom of which is placed a small dish filled with mercury. If
the picture is to be viewed in a vertical position, as is usually the case
with engravings, it must receive the vapour of mercury at an angle of
about 45°. If, on the contrary, it is to be viewed at that angle, the
plate must be arranged in the box in a horizontal position. The vola-
tilization of the mercury must be assisted by a temperature of 6U° of
Reaumur = 11J7" F.

After these three operations, for the completion of the process, the
plate must be plunged into a solution of hypo-sulphite of soda. This
solution acts most strongly on the parts which have been uninfluenced
by light; the reverse of the mercurial vapour, which attacks exclu-
sively that portion which has been acted on by the rays of light.
From this it might perhaps be imagined, that the lights are formed by
the amalgamation of tlie silver with mercury, and the shadows Ijy the
sulphuret of silver formed by the hypo-sulphite. M. Arago, however,
formally declared the positive inability of the combined wisdom of
physical, chemical, and optical science, to offer any theory of these
delicate and complicated operations, which might be even tolerably
rational and satisfactory.

The picture now produced is washed in distilled water, to give it
that stability which is necessary to its bearing exposure to hght with-
out undergoing any further change.

After his st.itement of the details of M. Daguerre's discovery, M.
Arago proceeded to speculate upon the improvements of which this
beautiful a]iplication of optics was capable. He adverted to M.
Daguerre's hopes of discovering some further method of fixing not
merely the images of things, but also of their colours : a hope based
upon the fact, that, in the experiments which have been made with
the solar spectrum, blue colour has been seen to result from blue rays,
orange colour from orange, and so on with the others. Sir John Her-
schel is sure that the red ray alone is without action. The question

arose, too, %vhether it will be possible to take portraits by this method ?
M. Arago was disposed to answer in the affirmative. A serious diffi-
culty, however, presented itself: — entire absence of motion on the
part of the object is essential to the success of the operation, and this
is impossible to be obtained from any face exposed to the influence of
so intense a light. M. Daguerre, however, believes that the interposi-
tion of a blue glass would in no way interfere with the action of the
light on the prepared plate, while it would protect the sitter suffi-
ciently from the action of the light. The head could be easily fixed
by means of supporting apparatus. Another more important desitler-
atum is, the means of rendering the picture unalterable by friction.
The substance of the pictures executed by the Daguerrotype is, in
fact, so little solid — is so slightly deposited on the surface of the me-
tallic plate, that the least friction destroys it, like a drawing in chalk :
at present, it is necessary to cover it with glass.

From his numerous experiments on the action of light on different
substances, M. Daguerre has drawn the conclusion that the sun is not
equally powerfully at all times of the day, even at those instants when
his height is the same above the horizon. Thus, more satisfactory
results are obtained at ten in the morning than at two in the afternoon.
From this, too, it is evident, that the Daguerrotype is an instrument
of exquisite sensibility for measuring the diiferent insensities of light,
a subject which has hitherto been one of the most difficult problems
in Natural Philosophy. It is e;isy enough to measure the difference
in intensity between two lights viewed simultaneously, but when it is
desired to compare daylight with a light produced in the night — that
of the sun with that of the moon, for example — the results obtained
have had no precision. Tlie preparation of M. Daguerre is influenced
even by the light of the moon, to which all the preparations hitherto
tried were insensible, even when the rays were concentrated by a
powerful lens.

In physics, M. Arago indicated some of the more immediate appli-
cations of the Daguerrotype, independently of those which lie had
already mentioned in Photometry. He instanced some of the most
complex phenomena exhibited by the solar spectrum. We know, for
example, that the difl'erent coloured rays are separated by black tran-
versal lines, indicating the absence of these rays at certain parts ; ami
the question arises whether there are also similar interruptions in the
continuity of the chemical rays ? M. Arago proposes as a simple
solution of this question, to expose one of M. Daguerre's prepared
plates to the action of a spectrum ; an experiment which would prove
whether the action of these rays is continuous or interrupted by blank
spaces.

The description of the process appeared to excite great interest in
the auditory, amongst whom we observed many distinguished persons
connected with science and the fine arts. Unfortunately the locality
was not adjudged suitable for the ]jerformance of M. Daguerre's ex-
periments, but we understand that arrangements will be made for a
public exhibition of them. Three highly curious drawings obtained
in this manner were exhibited ; one of the Pont Marie ; another of
the M. Daguerre's atelier ; and a third of a room containing some rich
carpeting, all the minutest threads of which were represented with
the most mathematical accuracy, and with wonderful richness of eftect.

MORE GOVERNMENT JOBBING.

The tocsin of alarm has been sounded by an influential Whig mar-
quis for another Government enquiry into the causes of accidents on
railways; and doubtless an attempt will be made to issue a commis-
sion similar to that on "Steam Vessel Accidents," which we noticed
very fully in our last number. No doubt the Commission will be issued
with the sinister understanding that a similar report is to be recom-
mended, for the appointment of Government Inspectors, to superintend
the working and coi struction of railways, and that no locomotive en-
o-ine shall be allowed to run without a license from these Obstructors.

It behoves all manufacturers to unite and act firmly in resisting these
encroachments on British enterprise, for if Government once can obtain
an act for such a purpose, it will be carried to other branches of our
Manufactures and commerce.

The Railway Companies have already united themselves into an
Association, and thereby resisted very serious encroachments attempted
to be made on their rights; a similar association we again advise
ought at once to be formed by the Steam Boat proprietors and builders,
fur if they leave it till next Session of Parliament, they may depend
upon it, that attempts will be made to levy such arbitrary laws and
restrictions on their proceedings and profits, that they will not be able,
without considerable difficulty, to get them again repealed or altered.

2 A

322

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. [September,

DESCRIPTION OF VICTORIA BOILERS.

Fig. 1, EHevation of Boiler.

Fig.

4y O©

:tioi

lal Plan.

1

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1

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1

a

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Fig. 3, A Longitudinal Section.

Scale of Feet
30 26 20 15

10 5 0

__, ■ I [ . 1 I Hi

1839.]

THE Cn IL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

323

Fig. 4, Transverse Section.

Fig. 5, Transverse Section.

■L_r

^_j-

DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW BOILERS OF THE VICTORIA
HULL STEAM SHIP.

Manufactured by the Butterley Company from the Plans of
Joseph Glynn, F.R.S., M.Inrt.C.E., &c. &c.

The Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal presented to its readers
a complete description, illustrated by engravings of the former boilers
of this vessel, which, it vpill be remembered, exploded twice. The
loss of life occasioned by these accidents gave rise to a lengthened
inquiry, during which several engineers of reputation furnished most
interesting professional evidence, that was fully reported in the Journal ;
more especially that of Mr. Ewart, from whose drawings those engrav-
ings were taken. After this inquiry had been concluded, the Victoria
was removed from London to Hull, and the boilers were taken out and
condemned. Application was then made to the Butterley Company,
who had been mentioned during these proceedings as having for many
years manufactured marine engines and boilers, both for the navy and
for private service, without an instance of the slightest accident on
board any of the vessels propelled by their machinery. The owners
of the Victoria were therefore induced to order the new boilers to
be made at their establishment near Derby, and Mr. Glynn, whose
works have been noticed in the former volume of this Journal, was
requested to examine the vessel, and to determine what was best to
be done imder all the circumstances.

The engines were not at all injured, neither were the cabins ; and it
was desirable to avoid moving the engines, which, from their peculiar
construction, are connected with the deck and sides, as well as the
floor, of the vessel, and also as far as possible to save the cabins, and
to preserve the trim of the ship, by keeping the centre of gravity in
its proper position.

The former boilers were long and cylindrical, they projected aft
imdemeath a range of bed-cabins; these dangerous sleeping-berths
were without hesitation condemned and taken down, and the main
mast, which passed through those cabins, was shifted nearer the stern
of the ship. The " fire-hole," which might well be called so, was only
four feet in length from the front of the boilers to the engines ; although
the grates to be stoked were nine feet long, and the chimney was
placed in the middle of this contracted space. Such it may be re-
membered was the situation of the boilers in the first instance ; the
reader is referred to the former engravings (Vol. I. p. 285,) for other
particulars. The engravings now given show Mr. Glynn's arrange-
ment of the new boilers, in which there is considerable novelty. The
vessel is very narrow for her toimage, being a long sharp-built ship,
so that there is not room to put fires of (convenient length, even in the
whole width of the hold. In order to make the grates of moderate
length, and yet of sufficient area to raise steam for these powerful en-
gines, two heights of furnaces have been constructed, with two ranges
of flues, so that it may be said that there are two sets of boilers, the
one above the other ; the lower set of boilers having no top, and the
upper set having no bottom.

The lower set of boilers is seven feet longer than the upper set,
giving that space for the stokers to manage their fires ; there is the

same distance between the lower boilers and the engines ; the men
who work the fires of the lower set stand in the hold of the vessel.
The platform on which the higher tier of stokers stand is made hollow,
like a venison dish, but the space below the men's feet is constantly
supplied with cold water from the sea, and they are protected by a
rail or balustrade from falling from the platform when the ship rolls
or pitches. There are three safety-valves, each ten inches in dia-
meter, loaded to five pounds on the square inch, by a weight equal to
the whole pressure resting upon each valve, so that there are no
levers which can be tampered with, and all three safety-valves are
inaccessible to the men; but by a very sim])Ie apparatus the whole of
the steam, the boilers contain, may be iinniedi.itely discharged into the
air. The pressure of steam is indicated by a mercurial gauge, on
which it acts like a barometer, placed in front of the boilers, unci gra-
duated ill inches of mercury, so that any person may know the force
of the steam at a single glance. Each boiler has three gauge cocks,
showing the height of water above the flues, so contrived as not to be
affected by ebullition in the boilers ; the lowest gauge cock shows
nine inches of water on the flues, the highest eighteen inches, the
water level in regular work being midway between them. There are
also glass tubes to show the height of w ater in each boiler, and there
are three reversed valves to prevent the possibility of collapse by
atmospheric pressure.

The water for feeding the boilers is supplied to them through
sluices of brass placed in front, and raised or lowered by a screw, with
an index to each showing whether the slide be open or shut.

The cylinders of the Victoria's engines are 64i inches in diameter,
having a stroke of G feet 4 inches ; her wheels are 26 feet in diameter,
making from 16 to 18 revolutions per mimqe.

The steam pipes are fitted with stop valves, so that any one of the
boilers may be disused, and the engines worked for a time in case of
need by the other two. Each boiler has a damper moved by a wheel
and pinion, to regulate or stop the draft through the fires, and to
check them when the engines are stopped. There are channels or
watercourses 18 inches square below the flues, for the purpose of
cleaning out the boilers, and also for bringing a current of water from
the after part to supply the rapid evaporation from the furnaces in
front.

Figure 1 shows a front view or elevation of the boilers and steam
receivers, which are immediately below the deck, with a section of
the ship and the coal boxes at the sides.

Figure 2 is a sectional plan, the middle compartment showing the
upper central boiler, the side compartments showing the lower wing
boilers.

Figure 3. A longitudinal section thro\igh the furnaces, flues, chim-
ney, and steam receivers, showing a portion of the deck, the kelson
and the sleepers on which the boilers rest. The backs or bridges of
the furnaces are built of fire-bricks, with a plate of iron in the middle
to prevent air from passing through the joints of the brickwork. It
also shows a section of the platform on which the firemen stand, with
the space for cold water below their feet.

Figure 4 is a cross section through the chimney and steam receivers,
showing tlie position, form, and action of the dampers. The water

324

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[September,

spaces, it will be observed, are narrow flat chambers six inches wide,
and their sides are held together in every direction by numerous
pillar-bolts and screws ; so that the boiler plates, it may be said, are
stitched together like a mattrass.

Figure 5 shows cross sections at the three points marked AB, CD,
and EF on the plan, with the grates in some of the furivaces.

The arrangement and the details of these boilers will be interesting
to professional and practical engineers, who will find Captain Bell
willing to afford them all the information he can give, and to permit
them to inspect the boilers and engines, which are now fitted with
machinery designed by Mr. Glynn for starting, stopping, and reversing
their motion, so that one man can now manage each engine, and obey
the orders of the captain or pilot with all the promptitude and cer-
tainty that can be wished ; whereas it required to do this with much
labour, confusion, and delay, often causing mischief to the shipping in
a crowded river.

There are various other alterations of less importance, all contribu-
ting in some degree to the economy of labom- and fuel, and the general
security of the machinery.

The Victoria took her station in the begimiing of July, and is
now running between London and Hull.

THE CHURCHES OF LONDON.

The Churches of London, by George Godwin, Architect, F.R.S..
and F.S.A., assistt'd by John Britton, Esq., F.ri.A. London, C. Tilt,
lb39.

The churches of London afford a subject, upon which hitherto no
perfect work has appeared, although as an important feature of the
giant metropolis they are deserving of the highest attention. Wlio
can stand on one of the city bridges and look behind him, and not
think of the many tales which the clustering spires call to his me-
mory ? The crowd of masts below the bridge do not bear the flags of
more nations than the mute towers of the city record traditions of
former ages. The dome of rit. Paul's reigning in majesty over the
subject turrets, calls back to our imaginations the Roman temple, the
Italian's missionary, the aspiring tower of the structure of the middle
ages, the conquest of nations, tlie destruction of cities, the fleeting
joys and sorrows of many days. The Celt, Roman, Saxon, Catholic
and Protestant have worshipped there, revolutions of mind, of man,
and of matter stand before ua in all the dread terror of human muta-
bility and weakness. This is a scene unequalled in Europe, the
breadth of the river, the circling amphitheatre, the forest of masts,
the hum of steam boats, mock the Tiber and the Seine, richer in archi-
tectural pomp or palatial grandeur.

It is a sickly unnatural sentimentality which can induce us to view
emotions of enthusiasm similar scenes abroad, and remain dull to all
their influence here ; it is the true nature of ignorance to neglect what
is around us, and to be struck with wonder by the productions of dis-
tant climes. It is this which causes us to be dead to beauty and to
foster vice, to treat genius with neglect, and to shower our honours on
impudence, presumption and conceit, which purchases Vasari, and
leaves England without a single work, in fine wdiich elevates the glory
of other countries and obscures our own. The architect reserves his
admiration for (ireece and Rome, and feels astounded that the public
do the same ; justly punished as he is, that his own works should be
neglected from the spurious feeling which he himself has fostered and
produced. If, however, he wish the public taste to be pure, if he wish
native art to be protected, and England to hold a high rank both
abroad and at home, he must show his fellow countrymen by his own
example, that they have works worthy of attention, and edifices of
which any nation might be proud. He must uphold the reputation of
London, as foreigners do that of Paris or of Rome, and make every
one feel interested in encouraging, and protecting th^it of which all
participate in the glory. In the same manner as no one will allow an
injury to a public museum in which he considers himself as having a
property, so all will be ready to promote that in which they are con-
sidered as having an interest at stake. At Paris it is the public voice
which has conqjleted the Madeleine and the Pantheon, which has
raised the Arc de I'Etoile from its ruins, and placed a monument at
the Place de la Bastille. It was this which saved the Column from
destruction, and replaced the statue of its founder, which has given
Paris all its beauty, and daily urges such improvement. It would
avail a minister less to strike ofl'a tax from his budget, than to pro-
duce some new monument which might be an incentive to national
pride, and gratify the popular demand for art. In England on the
contrary, if St. Paul's were destroyed to-morrow, it is doubtful if the
public would demand its restoration; it is certain that St. Saviour's
has been mutilated, that competition for public edifices is a nullity,

that the Parliament Honse and the Exchange iiave scarce vet a site
on which to be built, that the British Museum is incompleted, and
Trafalgar Square defaced. Here it is that churches are deformed
with spikes, heroic statues adorned with pigtails, columns raised with-
out an ornament, or to bear an incongruous one, national galleries built
which are neither national nor a gallery, domes made which cannot be
seen, and the monstrosities which elsewhere disfigure five hundred
years here crowded into ten.

The way to remedy this is to cultivate the public taste, to give
them an interest in the creation and maintenance of great works, to
give architecture that strong hold on the public mind, which it can
derive from history alone. A rough hewn stone is one of the best
known monuments of London, it lives in the pages of the historian and
in the traditions of the people, and is invested with a protection which
ensures it from destruction and confers on it respect. Who passes
London stone, and does not seem to hear Shakspeare whispering in
his ear, "Now is Mortimer, lord of this city?" To take only the
city and briefly enumerate the leading incidents which attach to its
churches would take up more space than even respect for such a sub-
ject would allow us to attbrd, but we cannot refrain from reminding
our readers of something of the interest which must be excited by the
study of this subject. There is St. Paul's on the ruins of a Roman
temple, in the great nave of which once was the resort of all the fashion
of the city; there was the trader's mart and the fop's promenade, the
tall steeple of which was used as a warehouse, and where an oven
was bui!t in a buttress; which is the noblest monument of our archi-
tecture, and one of the greatest stains on our national character,
where the nation erects a pantheon to heroes — to give the church a
two-penny show. To what does the fame of heroes fall when it is
only commemorated to maintain a public imposition and a verger's
fee. .St. Bartholomew's, Smithfield, again, with its Saxon or Norman
arches, looks down on the jousting field of lords, and the offering place
of ma tyrs, vmregarded in its obscurity as one of the few mouldering
relics of our ancient styles. Its neighbour, St. Sepulchre's, has also its
tale of interest. St. Peter's, in the Tower, hides the murdered corse
of many a royal and noble victim. Queen Anne Boleyn and Catherine
Howard, Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell. The Temple, with
its round church, the monuments of the crusaders, and the tomb of
Heraclius. All Hallow's, Barking, wliich has tales of the dreams of
kings and the worship of angels, which had a special commission of
defacement issued against it, and which records the names of the
Earl of Surrey and Archbishop Laud. St. Andrew's, Undershaft,
where apprentices led their may-day brawl, and poor John Star came
with his licence to beg ; where is the earliest instance of pews and
book-cages, some of the latest relics of the age, which the innovation
has supplanted. St. Bartholomew's, by the Exchange, (soon to give
up its ancient tower,) heard the words of Miles Coverdale, the great
translator of the bible. Allhallow's, Bread-street, in the parish wheie
Milton was born. St. Olave's, Hart-street, near the palace of VVhit-
tington. St. Dunstan's, in tlie East, with its buttress spire, and St.
Michael's, another gothic work of Wren's. St. Mary's, Alderman-
bury, held the cursed bones of Jeffereys. St. Alban's, where the
preacher told the progress of his sermon by the shifting hour-glass.
St. Michael's, Wood-street, the tomb of the Scotch King, James IV.
St. Giles', Cripplegate, near the birth-place of De Foe, with its walls
covered with tombs and names, Milton and his father. Fox, the Mar-
tyrologist, Speed, and many more. St. Benet's, Paul's Wharf, where
Inigo Jones reposed after all his glory. St. Catherine's, Cree Church,
the tomb of Holbein, and the scene of Land's consecration service,
where he prepared the scaffold for himself and his prince, and de-
solation for his country. Christ Church, Newgate-street, holds the
ashes of four queens. St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, a vestige of the
middle ages, wliere the nun's grating is yet to be seen, and where
Gresham and many other noble citizens repose. St. Andrew's, Hol-
born, where Sacheveral preached the kingdom into a flame, and where
poor Chatterton lies undistinguished from the general mass. St.
Mary's Le Bow, with its beautiful spire, and with the warlike tjles of
its old one, where the Norman crypt stands upon a dried up fen. St.
Olave's, Jewry, the tomb of the distinguished Boydell, the promoter
of the arts. St. Swithin's, sheltering in its walls the Londcm-stone.
The old church of Ethelbnrga. The pleasing spire of St. Bride's,
and the tomb of Samuel Richardson. St. Mary's, Aldermary, w'ith its
gothic tower, and the tomb of the famous surgeon Pott. St. Stephen's,
Walbrook, one of Wren's greatest glories.

These are but trifling among the points of interest which may be
elicited, and they will merit extensive illustration. We are happy,
therefore, to recognize the service which has been rendered to this
cause by the publication of Mr. Godwin's work in a popular form, and
we trust that he will be able to carry out his design of extending it
n the other sections of the metropolis. We have too often praised

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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

325

this work during its progress to allow any remarks in its favour on
this occasion, we can only say that the public and the profession owe
to Mr. Godwin a large debt of gratitude for the production of a work
so cheap, so excellent, so useful, and so interesting.

We now give some extracts, accompanied by a few of the wood
engravings : —

ST. GEORGE'S, BOTOLPH LANE.

The annexed wood-cut represents the exterior of the church, which
is plain and unpretending. It possesses, however, two characteris-
tics of Wren's churches, — a tower rising at once from the ground,
and a solid unbroken basement-story conferring stability in appearance
on the whole edifice. The top of the tower is finished with a cornice
and para])et ; and has urns at the angles.

-^z-^

In the interior, the church is divided by Corinthian columns, (two
on each side,) into a nave and aisles. The columns are very far apart,
— so greatly so, indeed, as to produce an unpleasing effect : insomuch
as the entablature and camerated ceiling above them appear to have
no support. The church is lighted from windows in the ceiling, in the
aisles, and at the east end. There is a gallery at the west end con-
taining an organ.

ST. martin's, ludgate.

The following engraving affords a representation of the south fron *
of the church as it was erected by Sir Christopher Wren, after th^
destruction of the old building by the fire of IGGG. In order to wide"
the street, the church was set farther back, and all projections from
the face of the building avoided. The elevation is not in any way
remarkable for beauty.

The tower rising from the ground in the centre of the design is
rendered pyramidical in its upper part, by the introduction of two
large scrolls connecting with it the two side walls. A small cupola
surmounts the tower with a gallery around the top of it, and from
this rises a light spire supported upon arches.

Between Ludgate-street, and the body of the church, is an ambula-
tory, or lobby, the whole depth of the tower, and which has the
effect of lessening within the church, tile sound of passing coaches.
The church itself is a cube of nearly equal sides. The length is
,57 feet, the breadth 66 feet, and height 5S) feet. The steeple is 168
feet high. The cost of the church was £5378 ISs. 8d. Four composite
columns within the area, standing on high plinths, and supporting en-
tablatures which proceed from pilasters against the walls, form it into
a Greek cross, — that is to say, a cross, of which the arms are nearly
equal. The organ is in a small balcony at the west end ; the altar-
piece is plain, and consists of pilasters, entablature, and pediment, of
oak.

ST. Matthew's, Friday street.

With the exception of the east end, which is represented in the
following engraving, the building is entirely devoid of expression ;
indeed, this may almost be said of the part excepted, which, if it
has any, certainly has no ecclesiastical, character. Next to fitness,
we hold expression of purpose to be the most essential quality in
arch itectural design; tried by which canon, little can be said in
praise of the edifice under notice.

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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[September,

The east end, as may be seen, presents a series of circular-headed
windows on a lofty stylobate ; and is surmounted by a bold cornice and
balustrade. The material of this end of the edifice is of stone ; the
other walls, with the tower, &c. are of brick.

A plain room, of most uneven shape, about GO feet long and 33 feet
broad within the walls, with a plain flat ceiling, slight'y coved at the
sides, forms the church.

A gallery at the west end contains a small organ; the altar-piece at
the east end displays some good specimens of carving. This latter,
together with the table and rails, was the gift of James Smyth, Esq.
in 1G85 ; at which time, the church was rebuilt by Sir Christopher
Wren.

ST. MARY MAGD.4.LEN'S.

The church built by Wren is a substantial fabric, with a bell-
tower ut the north-west corner; the latter, however, as well as
the north side and west end of the church, is shrouded by houses.
The south side and east end of the edifice, display a series of
circular-headed windows, at a considerable height from the ground,
with trusses at the sides of each of them, sui)portiiig a continued
cornice above. A stone balustrade of meait and insignificant cha-
rater, terminates the design.

attempted to be show n, has boards in front, three feet long by six inches
in breadth, and three and a half to four inches in thickness (known by
the technical name of poling boards"), supported and kept in position
by means of screws, which are lodged against the front iron frame ;
these boards, to the number of forty-four in each frame, are in succes-
sion taken down while the earth in front of each is excavated, the first
board being always replaced before a second is removed, and thus
forming a constant firm buttress. The several parts will be better un-
derstood by reference to the following numbers : —

1. Poling boards.

2" Poling screws.

3. The " top staves" covering the upper part of the excavation till
the shield is succeeded by brick-work.

4. Screws to raise or depress the top staves.

5. " The legs," being jackscrews fixed by ball joints to the shoes G,
upon which the whole frame stands.

7 and 8. The sockets, where the top and bottom abutting screws are
fixed to force the division or frames forward.

The design and organisation of this machine cannot be too much
admire 1, and we only regret our inability to do it full justice.

The tower has a bold cornice around the upper part of it, and is
surmomited by five steps, forming a pyramid which supports a small
stone belfry : the whole plain and simple, and productive of a better
effect in the original than in a drawing.

Withinside uie church, the ceiling is flat, fexcepting immediately
against the four sides, where it is coved,) and has a modillion cornici'
■..round it, and a large flower within a circular panel, in the centre.
There are groined openings in the coved part of the ceiling, to admil
the semicircular heads of the windows which light the church.
Against the north wall is a gallery of oak, supported on iron columns ;
and at the we.>t end is a similar gallery containing an organ which was
erected by subscription in 17S-i. The pulpit, a good piece of work-
manship, is aflixed to the south wall.

THE THAMES TUNNEL SHIELD.

We are indebted to our highly respected contemporary, "The
Mining Journal" for the following engraving and description of the
Shiekl used in the construction of the Thames Tunnel, by Mr. Brunei.

The shield consists of twelve great frames, which, being indepen-
dent of each other, may be advanced separately, by me;ms which will
be better understood on referring to the plate ; each division, as is

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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

:«7

CANDIDUS'S NOTE-BOOK.
FASCICULUS vin.

I must have lihnrty
AVithal, as larp;e a charter as the winds,
To bh)\v on whom I please.

I. If any reliance may be placed upon what is said in an article in
the Otli No. of the Art Union, on the " State of the Arts in New South
Wales," arcliitectiu-e is looking up in that remote region of the globe.
The Roman Catholic Cathedral at Sydney is there spoken of as being
a building nuich superior to "most of the places of public worship in
this metropolis," (London, we presume;) which it certainly may be
without taxing admiration too largely. After all, however, the infor-
mation positively aftbrded amounts to no more than that tlie laiilding
is of freestone, the interior "graced by splendid Gothic cohunns," and
that it is capable of containing at least 30U0 persons. Hence it may
be supposed that it is in the Gothic style, but of what period or class
we are not informed. As to that, we "are left entirely to conjecture,
and can tlierefore only guess that at any rate the interior is of an un-
usually rich character; for how else can we account for the splendour
of the columns, which in themselves are hardly ever tlie most striking
or decorated features in Gothic architecture. Again, the capacity of
containing three thousand persons is but a very vague and unsatis-
factory criterion as to dimensions ; since it very much depends upon
whether the congregation are packed together and piled up in galleries
or not. I do not question the fact itself, but I certainly do question
very strongly whether its being made to contain that number of per-
sons, is not altogether fatal to the architectural effect. If not, they
manage things \ery much better among the antipodes than they do
here at home. The only other building expressly spoken of is Mr.
M'Arthur's residence at Cambden, an "extensive and elegant villa,
built in the best and chaaest Italian style, with a large and graceful
colomiade." Could we but know what are the writer's ideas as to
elegance and gracefulness, and what he considers the best and chastest
Italian style, we might be able to form some opinion as to the value of
his commendation. At present we are wholly in the dark, his account
being not a whit more lumino\is than the definition I have seen some-
where given of a horse, namely, that it is a creature with four legs
and tail behind it, with a thing upon its back, called a saddle, for
people to sit upon. "There are other fine buildings," the writer adds,
"in the colon}-, but this certainly reflects the greatest credit on the
architect." Why, then, I ask, is his name kept a profound secret ; —
almost as if it were one quite unmentionable — not fit to be even whis-
pered to ears jjolite ? Surely architects do not swarm already to that
extent in New South Wales as to render it matter of great difficulty
to ferret out the author of such a building.

II. There is one thing in respect to which almost all arcliitectural
works are more or less defective, some most deplorably so, and scarce-
ly any perfectly satisfactory, namely, sections. Very few are to be
met with of any of the buildings in the volumes of the Vitruvius Bri-
tannicus and most other works of that class; while in publications
consisting of mere designs, it seems to be made a rule never to show
anything whate\-er of the kind. One might therefore imagine that
the interior of a building is of comparatively little, if any, importance,
that it offers nothing for study with regard to design, decoration, con-
struction, or contrivance ; whereas the fact is, that without complete
explanation by means of sections, there will be a great many particu-
lars, as to which we must remain in doubt — perhaps be entirely at a
loss. One of the most complete series of illustrations of any English
building, is the second edition of Brettingham's work on Holkliam
House, the seat of the Earl of Leicester, and one of the most princely
residences in this country. Yet although tliat monograph contains an
unusual number of sections, several others are still required in order
to explain various parts of it; among the rest, another transverse sec-
tion on a line through the centre of the statue gallery and the two
iimer courts, and another through the state dining-room from north to
south, to describe the alcove. Neither \vould it have been andss had
there been two more plans, one to show tlie mezzanine floor on the
east side of the house, and over some of the rooms in the north front;
another of the attic floor in the centre of each of the wings ; besides
which, a section through at least one of these latter would not have
been superfluous. Again, though there is a plan of the attic in the roof
of the body of the house, none of those rooms are shown in any of the
sections, except one immediately above the tribune at the rnd of the
hall, and which must be on a much lower level than the others, in fact,
on that of the mezzanine floor. Owing to this omission, it is inqjos-
sible to tell how those rooms are lighted — whether by dormer windows

or not, since nothing of the kind appears in the external elevations.
What renders the omissions of this kind the more provoking is, that
they might have been supplied without at all increasing the number
of the plates, because several of those of ceilings and chimney-pieces
might have been very well retrenched, as might also some of those of
the lodges, &c., which have scarcely any merit or interest whatever,
certainly none in comparison with the particulars here mentioned, the
latter being indispensable to a full explanation of the House itself.
One extraordinary — indeed quite unaccountable — circumstance is,
that the second edition of the work gives a totally different design of
the interior of the chapel from that contained in the first one, and not
only different but decidedly inferior also, and in qvute another style
from any other part of the interior, notwithstanding which, no notice
is taken in the letter-press to that edition of this most singidar dis-
crepancy !

III. As to books of " Designs for Villas," et hoc genus omiie, they
invariably make it a point to s/itr/c sections altogether. A mere ele-
vation with a ground plan, generally of the most common-place de-
scription, is considered quite sufficient for a design, and indeed what
is so shown is oftener than not of such quality as to extinguish all
regret that no more of it is exhibited. One is puzzled to guess wliat
class of persons tliey are who purchase the rubbish that has been pub-
lished under the title of "Villas and Cottages in various styles," — cas-
tellated included; things that absolutely make one sicken at the name
of architecture, and almost ready to forswear it for ever. Look, again,
at the samples of dowdiness and ugliness that have had their portraits
taken because they happen to answer to the name of gentlemen's seats!
Not one in fifty of things so shown are worth representation; yet, had
the sums that have from time to time been stpiandered away upon many
of them, been employed with economy and real taste combined, (hey
might have been as beautiful as they are now the reverse. It is won-
derful that people who are as anxious about the make and cut of a coat,
as if it was intended to last them their whole lives, bestow no more
study and foresight in selecting a design for a house, than if it was a
thing that would be worn out in a fortnight.

IV. Or rather is not strange at all, but perfectly natural that such
should be the case, seeing that people in general, even of that class,
are perfectly ignorant of arcliitecture as of fine art, and have never
had the slightest taste for it instilled into them during their education.
"Good heavens 1" methinks I hear some fine lady mamma exclaim,
" surely the fellow does not imagine that the children of people of
fortune are to be educated as if they were to be house-builders V
Certainlv not : I recommend no such thing. I do not desire to see
people of fortune study building, yet I do wish to see them study
architecture ; nor even that as professional men, but as the gentleman,
the man of education, and the man of taste ought to do. Such, how-
e\ er, are the odd misconceptions and the obstinate prejudices most
persons labour under, that it is impossible to bring them to view the
matter in such light. You may attempt to convince them and correct
their misapprehensions, and after having reasoned with them two
hours, find that their first notions are iuunovably fixed. The conse-
quence is that out of a becoming horror lest their sons should be sus-
pected of having ever talked with a carpenter or mason, they suffer
them to associate with grooms and jockeys, who may initiate them
into all the mysteries of the turf, and from the turf they proceed to
the green of the gambling-table.

V. As part of liberal education, the study of architecture is not
only beneficial as far as it tends to form the taste generally, but highly
advantageous inasmuch as it furnishes a pursuit that is a never-failing
resource. But it will be said that persons may employ their time
quite as innocently and far more profitably both to themselves and to
others than in any such pursuit, let the gratification be as great as it
may. I am silenced : heaven forbid that with a view of recommending
a pursuit as harndess as it is elegant, I should divest any one from
enq)loying his time, his fortune, his talents in any way that would
inunediately benefit society. All that I ask is why do not those who
have both leisure and fortune, so employ them, instead of squandering
away both, as too frequently happens, in pursuits disgraceful to them-
selves, and injurious both to themselves and to others ? Why are
there so many idle time-killers in that class of society — votaries to ex-
citement, and victims to ennui ? The man who has a sincere taste for
architecture may at least defy the fiend Ennui.

RAMBLES BY PHILOMUSyEUS.— No. 2.

PARIS.

One of the first things which strikes the visitor to Paris is tlie
rapid change in style which has taken [ilace within the last two years.
The Louis Quatorze and Louis (^ninze have gone to the tombs of

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their fathers, and left scarcely a trace behiiid, and the restoration
reigns in paramunnt splendour. The principal cafes and shops shine
with gothic ornaments and arabesques, to the exclusion of the Louis
Quatorze, and with only occasional instances of Ponipeian. This
latter style in some degree divides the empire willi that of the re-
storation, and it is to to be hoped will maintain its ground, us it pos-
sesses greater jiurity, and makes greater use of tlie human figure.
Scarcely one or two instances of old cstablislied cafi s does the bastard
French Greek remain at all undisturbed. The splendour of some of
the restoration buildings is s\ich as to be without parallel in London,
and shows eciually a more exteniled love of art among the Parisians,
and readier means of availing themselves of it. The number of first
rate decorators, which tlie quality of the work shows to have been
employed, is such as to mock all the resources of our London artists,
and forcibly to point o\it the advantage w'liich the Parisians possess
from the extension of artificial instruction. For practical purposes
decoration in London is so dear and so difficult to be obtained, that it
is out of the power of tradesmen to avail themselves of it. We are
particularly deficient in artists who can draw well, and still worse ofi'
for such as can colour even decently. There is however a class of
workmen from whom perhaps the decorators could draw recruits ;
the papier mache manufacture being now so much cultivated, tluit
tolerable men fur flowers and arabesque painting could be obtained for
thirty shillings a week.

In Paris the taste for the restoration, like that for all other styles
arises from political causes, and is the manifestation of the mo;ul cir-
cumstances wduch affect the whole frame of society. Luxury and
degeneracy of taste produced the styles of Louis (Quatorze and his
successor, and the wants of a predominant monied aristocracy led to
its revival ; the reign of Louis Sixteenth, the precursor of immense
revolutions, first imitated the sober manners of the English, and then
in its farther li.cense fell back upon the Greek and Roman stvles. The
prevalence of the Egy[)tian style under the considate is referable to
the same elements, and in every instance we see the mind of the na-
tion chronicling its successive phases in the remains of the several
styles which are the outward figures and physical manifestation of the
moral agitation within. We have nothing of that kind here, the in-
fluence of a style or a fashion is confined to a particular class, produces
no eflfect on the nation at large, and leaves few monuments of its ex-
istence. Li France the vvliole nation is agitated, every department of
literature and art is called into active participation, and the style of
the day is that of the whole nation. The novellist calls into life the
personages and events of the middle ages; the dramatist exhibits
them on the theatre, the periodical press swarm with illustrative pub-
lications, the painter and the sculptor seek no other source of inspira-
tions, the engraver distributes their images among the people, the
decorator gotliicises the mansion, the architect repairs the old build-
ings, and even the cook and the barber participate in the general con-
flict. Thus in a few years the whole nation is physically and nationally
metamorphurized. One general tone pervades society, and whether
he will or no the artist must conform to it. With his hair and beard
a la Raphael, he dines in a Gothic restaurant, finishes the evening at
the Theatre de la Renaissance with a medieval drama, seals his billet
with a seal like that of an old abbot, and warned by the notes of the
cathedral like clock on his chimney piece, retires to sleep under
a canopy carved in quatrefoil. Go into the Bibliotbeque Royale, the
print-room is filled with students of castles and cathedrals, the library
with romaunt readers, and the musevun with copyists of furniture antl
costume. It is evident that we can never compete w ith such a con-
centrated force of application, but at any rate by a better instruction
of our workmen, we may become more efficient copyists, and avail
ourselves to a greater extent of what is already done to our hands.

The most pleasing feature to an Englishman of this rage for the
restoration, is the respect which is paid to gotliic monuments, and the
efforts which are making for their repair and preservation. The
Archbishop's Palace vt'hicli was demolished, being now converted into
a Place, and the adjacent houses cleared away, Notre Dame towers
over the lie dc la Cite with a nuijesty which has few rivals. The
church of .St. Germain I'Auxerrois, and other gothic buildings are also
undergoing restoration and completion, and freed from the barbarisms
of the pseudo classic artists they will possess a greater interest than
ever.

THE THAMES TUNNEL.

This work now approaches completion, and people naturally ask
what is to be its future destinw That it w ill pay no one ever con-
ceives, and that it is of any great utility is equally problematical. To
climb down one pair of stairs antl up at another, and to promenade in
a catacomb is little inviting as a matter of pleasure, and rather too
tediou* for business, so that it will probably remain what it has hitherto

been, more a kind of show, than productive of public advantage. It
may however be well worth the consideration of its managers, wliether
by the use of a stationary engine, it could not be made a relatively
convenient mode of passage, so that by a low rate of toll carriages
nught be induced to pass over. If too foot passengers could also be
conveyed across in a car for a little higher toll than they could pro-
ceed alone, it would perhaps become a favourite source of amuse-
ment.

One of the most interesting propositions hitherto made respecting
this great work, emanates from a destinguished foreign nobleman, the
Count Hawks Le Grice, a member of several of the academies abroad,
and eminent at Rome for his taste and his cultivation of the arts. He
proposes that the tunnel should form a repository for busts of illus-
trious men, and that the entrances on the Middlesex and .Surrey shores
should be efi'ected by two triumjdial arches, one recording the achieve-
ments of the navy, and the other the heroic deeds of the army. That
the public maybe enabled to judge of the feasibility of this arrange-
ment, and of the efi'ect which it is calculated to produce, the Count
has kindly ottered to fit it up temporaril)' with a number of busts for
this purpose, so that soon an op])ortunity may be attbrded for bringing
it into full operation. Alter alluding to the interesting features of
this project as a national work, the Count observes, that "if we con-
sider the grandiose style of the architecture, the massive and broad
ert'ect of the whole, and the form of the semi-elliptical arch which
allows the eye to embrace the whole stupendous str\icture without
being distracted by any details, we nuist say that it all goes to prove
that the viaduct of the tunnel is singularly adapted fur the exhibition
of sculpture. To those -who have had the high intellectual treat of
seeing those chefs d'ouvre of art, the Apollo, the Laocoon, the Olym-
pian Jupiter, the Minerva Medici, and the Ariadne in the Vatican by
torchlight will at once acknowledge that the circumstance of the
Tunnel being lighted with gas would greatly contribute to the effect
of sculptural art. It is moreover known that artificial light is superior
to daylight, as the contrast of light and shade is greater, and the
effect of chiar'oscuro enhances the value and the beauty." The Count
reconmiends that the busts should be semi-colossal, executed with
more than usual spirit and boldness, the hair should be well massed,
and in their execution should be that simple majesty of form, that
solemn quietude and sedate expression, that dignity of gesture freed
from ostentation, vvhicii is the distinguishing character of Greek art.

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCHES UPON THE RELATIVE
ILLUMINATING POWERS OF DIFFERENT LAMPS AND
CANDLES, AND THE COST OF THE LIGHT AFFORDED
BY THEM.

By Andrew Ure, M.D., F.R.S., &c. &c. &c.

Read before the Institution of Civil Engineers, Wth June, 1839.

The production, diffusion, and economy of light are subjects of the
highest interest both to men of science and men of the world ; leading
the former to contenqjlate many of the most beautiful phenomena of
physics and chemistry, while they provide the latter with the artificial
illumination so indispensable to the business and pleasures of modern
society. The great cost of light from wax, spermaceti, and even
stearine candles, as also the nuisance of the light from tallow ones,
have led to the invention of an endless variety of lamps, of which the
best hitherto known is undoubtedly the mechanical or Carcel lamp, so
generally used by the opulent families in Paris. In this lam]i, the oil
is raised through tubes by clock-work, so as continually to overfow at
the bottom of the burning wick ; thus keeping it thoroughly soaked,
while the excess of the oil drops back into the cistern below. I have
possessed for several years an excellent lamp of this description,
which performs most satisfactorily, but it can hardly be trusted in the
hands of a servant ; and when it gets at all derangeil, it nuist be sent
to its constructor in Paris to be repaired. The light of this lamp
when furnished with an appropriate tall glass chinmcy is very brilliant,
though not perfectly uniform ; since it fluctuates a little, but always
perceptibly to a nice observer, with the alternating action of the pump-
work ; becoming dimmer after every successive j et of oil, and brighter
just before its return. The flame, moreover, always flickers more or
less, owing to the powerful draught, and rectangular reverberatory
shoulder of the chimney. The mecluuiical lamp is, however, remark-
able for continuing to burn, not only with unabated but with increasing
splenduvu- for seven or eight hours, the vivacity of the combustion in-
creasing evidently w ith tne increased temperature and fluency of the
oil, which, by its ceaseless circulation through the ignited wick, gets
eventually pretty warm. In the comparative experiments made upon
dilfcrent lights by the Parisiiiji philosophers, the metlwiiicul lamp is

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commonly taken us the standard. I do not think it entitled to this
pre-eminence : for it may be made to emit very different qnantities of
light, according to differences in the natnre and supply of the oil, as
well as variations in the form and position of the chimney. Besides,
such lamps are too rare in this country to be selected as standards of
illumination.

After comparing lights of many kinds, I find every reason to con-
clude, tliat a large wax candle of three to the pound, either long or
short, that is, either 12 or 15 inches in length, as manufactured by one
of the great wax-chandlers of London, and furnished with a wick con-
taining 27 or 2S threads of the best Turkey cotton, is capable of fur-
nishing a most uniform, or nearly invariable standard of illumination.
It affords one-tenth of the light emitted by one of (he Argand lamps
of the Trinity House, and one-eleventh of the light of my mechanical
lamp, when each lamp is made to burn with its maxiuunn Hauie, short
of smoking.

The great obstacle to the combustion of lamps, lies in the viscidity,
and consequent sluggish supply, of oil, to the wicks ; an obstacle nearly
insuperable with lamps of the common construction during the winter
months. The relative viscidity, or relative fluency of different liquids
at the same temperature, and of the same liquid at different tempera-
tures, has not, I believe, been hitherto made the subject of accurate
researches. I was, therefore, induced to make the following experi-
ments with this view.

Into a hemispherical cup of platinum, resting on the ring of a che-
mical stand, I introduced 2000 water-grain measures of the liquid
whose viscidity was to be measured, and ran it off through a glass
syphon, i of an inch in the bore, having the outer leg 3i inches, and
tlie inner leg 3 inches long. The time of efflux became the measure
of the viscidity ; and of two liquids, if the specific gravity, and con-
sequent pressure upon the syphon, were the same, that time would
indicate exactly the relative viscidity of the two liquids. Thus oil
of turpentine and sperm oil have each very nearly the same density ;
the former being, as sold in the shops, = 0.S7G, and the latter from
0.87G to 0.880, when jiure and genuine. Now I found that 2000 grain-
measures of oil of turpentine ran off through the small syphon in 95
seconds, while that quantity of sperm oil took 2700 seconds, being in
the ratio of 1 to 2Si ; so that the fluency of oil of turpentine is 28^
times greater than that of sperm oil. Pyroxilic spirit, commonly called
naphtha, and alcohol, each of specific gravity 0.825, were found to run
off respectively in SO and 120 seconds; showing that the former was
50 per cent, more fluent than the latter. Sperm oil, when heated to
205"^ Fahr., runs off in 300 seconds, or one-ninth of the time it took
when at the temperature of 64^. Southern whale oil, having a some-
what greater density than the sperm oil, would therefore flow off faster,
were it not somewhat more viscid. Its specific gravity is 0.92G, and it
takes just the same time to flow off as sperm oil, either in its cold
state or heated to 2G5^.

2000 grain-measures of water at 60° run off through the said syphon
in 75 seconds, but when heated to 180° they run of! in 61.

In llie adjoining figare, A, A, B. B, is a seclion
of the cylinder, which constiUilcs llio ciytoni ;
the oil teing contained between iKo inner and
outer cylindeis. anil receiving heat from llu' flame
olilie lamp, «!iich passes up ihiougli the inner
cylinrler, li, B, and is reveiberatod more (jr less
against its sides by the lop of the iron cliiiimey
C, be ng notched and bent back. D is a slop
cock which is opened to allow the oil to descend
to the wick, and is .shut when the cistecrt is lo l;e
separated from the pipe of supply, K, lor the
puipo,5e of re-charg'ng it with oii. Ihellanicis
111 Hiilied, not by i-iusing or lowering llie wick, as
ill couinion lamps, Uii Ijy raising or loweing the
bell-mouthed glass chimney, uhicli rests at iis
boltiim on three points, and is moved by means
of the r.'.ck-work' meclianijNm F. The concentric
cyiindiic sp.ice. A, A, & B. B. contains a [lint iiii-

fjcrial, and sliould be made entirely lud before
ighiiiig the lamp; so as to leave no air in the
cistern, wfilcli by its expansion with the heat,
would inevitably cause an overllow of the lil.

Concentrated sulphuric acid, though possessing the great density of
1.S40, yet flows off" very slowly at Gl', on account of its viscidity ;
whence its name of oil of vitriol. 2000 grain-measures of it took 660
seconds to discharge.

Mr. Samuel Parker, long advantageously known to the ]jublic for his
sinumbral, and pneumatic fountain lam])s, as well as other inventions
subservient to domestic comfort, having recently obtained a patent for
a new lamp, in which the oil is heated, by a very simple contrivance,
in the cistern, to any desired degree, before arriving at the wick, I
instituted an extensive series of experiments to determine its value in
the production of light, and consumption of oil, compared to the value
of other lamps, as well as candles in these respects.

The following arrangement was adopted in these experiments for
determining the relative illumination of the different lights. Having
trimmed, with every precaution, my French mechanical lamp, and
charged it with pure sperm oil, I placed it upon an oblong table, at a
distance of 10 feet from a wall on which a sheet of white paper was
stuck. One of Mr. Parker's hot-oil lamps, charged with a quantity
of the same oil, was placed upon the same table ; and each being made
to burn with its maximum brilliancv, short of smoking, the relative
illumination of the two lamps was determined by the well-knowix
method of (he comparison of shadows ; a wire a few inches long, and
of the thickness of a crow-quill, being found suitable for enabling the
eye to estimate very nicely the shade of the intercepted light. It was
observed in numerous trials, both by my own eyes and those of others,
that when one of the lamps was shifted half an inch, nearer to or
further from the paper screen, it caused a perceptible difference in
the tint of the shadow — Professor Wheatstone kindly enabled me to
verify the precision of the above method of shadows, by employing, in
some of the ex|)eriments, a photometer of his own invention, in wdiicll
the relative brightness of the two lights was determined by the rela-
tive brightness of the opposite sides of a revolving silvei'ed ball,
illuminated by them.

1. The mechanical lamp was furnished with a glass chimney 1.5
inches in diameter at the base, and 1.2 at top; the wide bottom part
was 1.8 inches long, and the narrow upper part 8 inches. Wlien
placed at a distance of 10 feet from the wall its light there may be
estimated as the square of this number, or 100. In the first series of
experiments, when burning with its maximum flame, with occasional
flickerings of smoke, it emitted alight equal to that of 11 wax candles,
and consumed 912 grains of oil per hour. The sperm oil was quite
pure, having a specific gravity of 0.874 compared to water at 1000.
In a subsequent series of experiments, when its light was less flicker-
ing, and ecjual only to that of 10 wax candles, it consumed only 815
grains, or 0.1 164 of a hb. per hour. If we multiply this number into
the price of the oil (Ss. per gallon) per lib. Ik/., the product 1.2804(/.
will represent the relative cost of this illumination, estimated at 100.

2. The hot-oil lamp burns with a much steadier flame than the me-
chanical, which must be ascribed in no small degree to the rounded
slope of the bell-mouthed glass chimney, wdiereby the air is brought
progressively closer and closer into contact with the outer surface of
the flame, without being furiously dashed against it, as it is by the
rectangular shoulder of the common contracted chimney. When
charged with sperm oil, and made to burn with its maximum flame,
this lamp recjuired to be placed one foot further from the screen than
the mechanical lamp, in order that its shadow should have the same
depth of tint. Hence, its relative illumination was, in that case, as
the square of 11 to the square of 10 ; or as 121 to 100. Yet its con-
sumption of oil was only G96 grains, or somewhat less than 0.1 of a lib.
per hour. Had its light been reduced to 100, it would have consumed
only 576 grains per hour, or 0.82 of a lib. If we midtiplythis number
by lid. the product O.'Mid. will represent the relative cost of 100 of
this ilhiiniuation.

3. The hot-oil lamp being charged with the southern whale oil, of
specific gravity 0.92G, at 2s. Grf. per gallon, or 3id. per lib,, when
burning with its maximum flame, required to be placed 9 feet and 1
inch from the screen to drop the same tint of shadow upon it as the
flames of the other two lamps did at 10 and 11 feet with the sperm
oil. The square of 9 feet 1 inch=;82 is the relative illumination of
the hot-oil lamp with the southern whale oil. It consumed 7S0 grains,
or 0.111 of a pound per hour; but had it given 100 of light it would
have consumed 911 grains, or 0.130 of a pound, which number being
multiplied by its price 3'iU., the product 0.4875rf. will represent the
relative cost of 100 of this light.

4. A hot-oil lamp charged with olive-oil of specific gravity 0.914,
at 5s. 6(/. per gallon, or 7id. per lib., when bnniing with its maximum
flame, reipiired (o be placed at 9 feet 6 inches to obtain the standard
t lilt of shadow upon the screen. I( consumed 7()0 grains per hour.
The square of 9A feet is 90i, which is the relative intensity of the
light of this lamp. Had it emitted u light = 100, it would have coH'

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siiniod 810 sjiMins, or 0.12 of a pound per lionr — which mimber multi-
plied by the price per pound, gives the product O.Orf. us the relative
cost of'lOO of this light.

5. A liot-uil hi nip charged with Price and Co.'s cocoa-nut oil (oleine),
of specific gravity 0.92.5, at 4s. Gd. per gallon, or 5|rf. per lib., had to
be placed 9 feet from the screen, and consumed 103 grains per hour.
Had its light been 100 instead of 81 (9'), the consunijjtion would have
been 1277 grains, or 0.182 of a pound per liour ; whicli number multi-
plied by its price per povmd, the product 1.031rf. will represent the
cost of 100 of this illumination.

0. In comparing the common French annular lamp in general use,
witli the mechanical lamp, it was found to give about one-half the
light, and to consume two-thirds of the oil of the mechanical lamp.

7. Wax candles from some of the most eminent wax-chandlers of
of the metropolis were next subjected to experiment; and it is very
remarkable that, whether they were threes, fours, or sixes in the
pound, each allbrded very nearly the same quantity of light, for each
required to be placetl at a distance of 3 feet from the screen to afford
a shadow of the same tint as that dro|)|ied from the mechanical lamp,
estimated at 100. The consumption of a genuine wax candle, in still
air, is, \ipnn an average of many experiments, 12.5 grains per hour, but
•as it affords only 1-1 1th of the light of the mechanical lamp, 11 times
]2r):=1375 grains, or 0.10ri4 of a pound is the quantity that would
need to be consumed to produce a light equal to that of the said lamp.
If we multiply that number by the price of the candles per lib.=30f/.
the product^5.S92f/. is the cost of 100 of illumination by wax. A
wax candle, three in the pound (short), is 1 inch in diameter, 12 inches
in length, and contains 27 or 28 threads, each about l-90th of an inch
in diameter. But the quality of the wick depends upon the capillarity
of the cotton fibrils, which is said to be greatest in the Turkey cotton,
and hence the wicks for the best wax candles are always made witli
cotton yarn imported from the Levant. A wax candle, three in the
pound (long), is g of an inch in diameter, 15 inches long, and has 2G
threads in its wick. A wax candle, six to the pound, is 9 inches long,
4-5ths of an inch in diameter, and has 22 threads in its wick. The
light of this caudle may be reckoned to be at most, about 1-llth less
than that of the threes in the ]K)und. A well-made short three burns
with surprising regularity in si ill air, being at the rate of an inch in an
liour an<l a liaff, so that the whole candle will last IS hours. A long
three will last as long, and a six about 9^ hours. Specific gravity of
wax=0.960.

8. .Spermaceti candle, three in the poiuid, is 9-lOths of an inch in
diameter, 15 inches long, and hasaplaiteil wick, instead of the parallel
threads of a wax candle. The same candles, four in the pound, are
8- 10th of an inch in diameter, and 13i inches long. Each gives very
nearly the same quantity of light as the corresponding wax candles :
viz., 1-llth of the light of the above-mentioned mechanical lamp,
and consumes 142 grains per hour. Multiplying this number by
1 1, the product, 1562 grains ;= 0.223 of a pound, would be the con-
s\nnption of spermaceti requisite to give 100 of illumination. Multi-
])lying the last nimiber by 24(/., the price of the candles per pound, the
product 5.352rf. is the relative cost of 100 of this illumination.

9. S/iciric Acid candles, commonly called German wax, consume
1G8.5 grains, or 0.024 of a pound, per hour, when emitting the same
light as the standard wax candle. Multiplying the latter number bv
11, and by Itirf. (the price of the caudles per lib.), the product 4.224rf.
will represent the relative cost of 100 of this illumination.

10. Tallow candles; moulds, short threes, 1 inch in diameter, and
12A in length; ditto, long threes, 9-lOths of an inch in diameter, and
15 in length ; ditto, long fours, 8-lOths of an inch in diameter, and 135
in length. Each of these candles bums with a most uncertain light,
which varies from l-12th to l-llith of the light of the mechanical
lamp — the average may be taken at l-14th. The threes consume
each 144 grains, or 0.2 of a pound, per hour; whicli number, multi-
plied by 14, and by 9rf. (the price per pound,) gives the product 2.52rf.
for the relative cost of 100 of this illumination.

11. i-'a/wiu's spreading wick candles. Distance from the screen 3
feet 4 inches, with a shadow eipial to the standard. Consumption of
tallow per ho\u- 232.5 grains, or 0.U332 (jf a pound. The square of 3
feet 4 inches = 11.9 is the relative illumination of this candle —
11.9 : 0.3332 : : 100 : 0.28; and U.28 X lOrf. = 2.8 the relative cost
of this ilhmiination.

12. Cocoa-nut stearine candles consumed each IGS grains per hour,
and emitted a light equal to l-16th of the standard flame. Multiply-
ing IGs by Hi, the product 3088 grains, or 0.44 1 of a lib., is the quan-
tity which would be consumed per hour to afford a light equal to 100.
And 0.441 multi])lied by lOrf., the price per lib., gives the ])roduct
4.4 Irf. as the cost of 100 of this ilhuuiuation per hour.

13. A Gas Argand London Lamp, of 12 holes in a circle of 'i of an
inch in diameter, with a Hame 3 inches long, aHbrded a light = 7Si

compared to the mechanical lamp; and estimating the liglit of the
said mechanical lamp as before, at 100, that of the hot-oil lamp is 120,
and that of the aliove gas flame 78.57, or in round numbers 80, and the
cominun Fniicli lump m gtiiiral use 50.

Collecting the preceding results, we shall have the following tabular
view of the cost per hour of an illumination equal to that of the me-
chanical lamp, reckoned 100, or that of 1 1 wax candles, three to the
j)Ound.

TABLE OF COST PER HOUR OF OXE HUNDRED OF ILLU.MINATION.

Pence.

1. Parker's Hot-Oil Lamp, with southern whale oil .... 0.4875

2. Mechanical or Cared Lamji, with sperm oil 1.2804

3. Parker's Hot-Oil Lairip, with siierm oil 0.!I02

4. Ditto ditto common olive oil O.ilOO

5. Ditjo ditto cocoa-nut oleine or oil .. 1.031

6. French Lamp iu general use, with sperm oil 1.7072

7. Wax Candles 5.892

8. Spermaceti Cindles 5.352

9. German Wax (Stearic Acid) ditto 4.224

10. Palmer's Spreading Wick Candles 2.800

11. Tallow (Mould) Candles 2.520

12. Cocoa-nut Stcariiie, of Price & Co 4.41

Since the hot-oil lamp cijfurch siij^cient liglit for reading, writing,

sewing, Sfc, irilh one-Jiflh vj its maxtmnm fame, it mill burn at that rate
for 10 hours at the cost nf about One Penni/, and is, hence, well entitled to
its inventor's designation, " The Economic."

Sir D. BreW'Ster, in his examination lately before the Committee of
the House of Commons on lighting the House, stated, that the French
light-house lamp of Fresnel emitted a light equal to that of 40 Argand
flames : whereas, according to other accounts, it gave much less light.
With the view of settling this point, before being examined by the
said Committee, I repaired to the Trinity-house, and tried one of the
two original Fresnel lamps, wdiich had been deposited there by that
eminent French engineer himself. This lamp consists of four con-
centric circular wicks, placed in one horizontal plane ; the innermost
wick being I of an inch in diameter, and the outermost 3i inches.
Being carefully trimmed, supplied w ith the best sperm oil, surmounted
with its great glass chimney, burning with its maximum flame, and
placed at a distance of 13 feet 3 inches from the screen, it let fall a
shadow of the same tint as that let fall by the flame of my mechanical
lamp, placed at a distance of 4 feet 0 inches from the screen. The
scpiares of these two numbers are very nearly as 8J to 1 (175.5625 to
20.25); showing that the Fresnel lamp gives less than 9 times the
light of my mechanical lamp, and about 9.6 times the light of one of
the Trinity-house Argand lamps. The Fresnel lam]) is exceedingly
troublesome to manage, from the great intensity of its heat, and the
frequent fractures of its chimneys — two liaiing been broken in the
course of my experiments ;\t the Trinity-house.

Mr. Goldsworthy Gurncy, the ingenious inventor of the new light-
house lanq), in which a stream ot oxygen gtis is sent up through a
small tube within the burning circular wick of a small Argand lamp,
having politely sent two of his lamps to my house, along with a bag of
oxvgen gas, I made the following experiments, to ascertain their
illuminating powers, compared to those of tire mechanical lamp and
wax candles.

His larger lamp has a wick J of an inch in diameter, but emits an
oxygen flame of only i of an inch. The flame is so much whiter than
that of the best lamp or candle, that it becomes difiicult to determine,
with ultimate precision, the comparative depths of the shadows let
fall by them. The mean of several trials showed that the above Bude-
light (as Mr. Gurney calls it, from thi> name of his residence in Corn-
wall,) lias an illuminating power of from 28 to 30 wax candles. His
smaller lamp has a flame i of an inch in diameter, and a wick 4 of an
inch. Its light is equal to that of from 18 to 20 wax candles. He
propose to mount GO such lights, distributed into 8 compartments, in
the ceiling, for lighting the House of Commons, the light being re-
flected downwards by concave mirrors.

The Committee of the House of Commons, on lighting it, having
asked me what was tlie relative vitiation of air by the breathing of
men, and the burning of CLUidles, I gave the following answer : —

Wax contains 81.75 paits of carbon in 100, which generate by com-
bustion 300 parts of carbonic acid gas. Now, since 125 grains of wax
constitute the average consumption of a candle per hour, these will
generate 375 grains of carbonic acid; equivalent in volume to 800
cubic inches of gas. According to the most exact experiments on
respiration, a man of ordinary size discharges from his lungs 1G32
cubic inches of carbonic acid gas per hour, which is very nearly the
double of the quantity jjroduced from the wax camlle. Hence tiie
combustion of two such candles vitiates the air much the same as the
breathing of one man. A tallow candle, 3 or 4 in the pound, generates

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

331

nearly the qiiaiility uf carbonic acid as the wax camlle ; for thougli
tallow contains only 79 per cent, of carbon, instead of 81.75, yet it
consumes so much faster, as thereby to compensate fully for this dif-
ference.

13, Charlotte Slncf, Bedford Square.

STONE FOR THE NEW HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.

Report (addrtssid to the Commissioners of Hir .Majisti/'s JVoods,
Forests, Land Revenues, Works, and Ihiildings), as the Result of
an Inqiiir;/, undertaken under the authority of the Lords Commissioners
of Hir Majesty's Treasury, by Chahi.es Barry, Esq., H. T. De La
Beche, Esq., F.R.S. and F.G..S., William Smith, Esq., D.C.L. and
F.G.S., and Mr. Chari.es H. S.mith, with reference to the Selection of
Stone for Building the JVew Houses of Parliament.

My Lord .and Gentlemen. — In conformity with your instructions
we have the honoin- to report, that in the months of August, Septem-
ber, and October last we made a tour of inspection to various stone
cpiarries in the kingdom, and visited numerous public buildings, with
a view to the selection of a proper stone to be employed in the erec-
tion of the new Houses of Parliament. We have also, in further
compliance with your instructions, procured a fair average specimen
of the workable stone from each of the quarries which we have
visited, and have deposite<l cubes, prepared from such specimens, as
well as from others which have been fin-vvarded to us, in the Museum
of Econondc Geology.

From the number of quarries which w'e have visited, we consider
that we have been enabled to obtain a competent knowledge of the
varied character of each of the several classes of building stone in the
Kingdom which are likely to be suited to the object in view, although
we are well aware that there are many other freestone quarries in
various parts of the country which we have not examined, where
stone of different varieties, in some cases, perhaps, not inferior to
those which have been Ijrought under our immediate inspection, may
be obtained. From many of such last-mentioned quarries we have
received specimen blocks, and the requisite information concerning
them, since the completion of our tour. We have not considered it
necessary to extend our incjuiry to granites, porphyries, and other
stone of similar character, on account of the enormous exjiense of
converting it to building purposes in decorative edifices, and from a
conviction that an ecpially durable and more eligible material could
be obtained for the object in view from among the limestones or sand-
stones of the Kingdom. We have, nevertheless, to acknowledge the
receipt of several specimens of granite, among which are some from
the estates of the Marquis of Breadalbane, near Oban, in the west of
Scotland, accompanied by a munificent otfer on the part of bis Lord-
ship that, should the granite from that locality be considered tit and
available for the jiroposed new Houses of Parliament, he would be
w illing to make a free gift to the nation of his interest in any quantity
that might be required for the purpose.

In order to render more complete the inquiry upon which we have
been engaged, we liave availed ourselves of the valuable assistance of
Professors Daniell and Wheatstone, of King's College, London, in
determining the physical properties of a large proportion of the
specimens which we have obtained.

The details of the information collected in the course of our inquiry
will be found at the end of this report, arranged in a series of tables,
(A), (B), (C), and (D), for the purpose of more easy reference and
comparison.

Table (A) exhibits an alphabetical enumeration of all the quarries
which have been brought under our consideration; tlie names and
residences of the parties interested in them; the mineral character
and component parts of the stone, its colour, structure, and ordinary
weight; a description of the workable and other beds ; the- price of
stone at the quarry ; the cost of its carriage to the pool of London ;
tlie cost of labour upon it, witli reference to that upon Portland stone,
in London ; an enumerati(jn of the public works wherein the stone is
either known, or reported to have been, employed; and such general
remarks as are applicable to the peculiar circumstances of each
quarry.

With respect to the cost prices enumerated in this table, it should
be stated that they have been fnrnisheil by the several parties inte-
rested, without reference to b large su|iply, which if reipiired would
no doubt occasion new and more economical arrangements to be made,
so that the stone would probably be supplied upon more reasonable
terms.

Table (B) exliibits a list of the public buildings that we have
visited, detailing the time of their erection, the stone of whicli they

are constructed, and their present condition ; arranged alphabetically,
according to the class of stones employed in them.

Tables (C) and (D) contain the results of the analyses and experi-
ments of Professors Daniel and Wheatstone, a description of the mode
in which they have been conducted, and their observations upon the
subject.

In proof of the necessity and importance of the inquiry upon which
we have been engaged, the lamentable effects of decomposition ob-
servable in the greater part of tlie limestone employed at Oxford, in
the magnesian limestone of the minster, churches, and other public
buildings at York, and in the sandstones of which the churches and
other public buildings in Derby and Newcastle are constructed, atlbrd,
among numerous other examples, incontestible and striking evidence.
The unequal state of preservation of many buildings, often produced
by the varied quality of the stone from the same quarry employed in
their construction, shows the propriety of a minute exanunation of
the quarries themselves, in order to acquire a proper knowledge of
the particular beds from wdien<-e the different varieties have been ob-
tained. An inspection of cjuarries is also desirable for the purpose of
ascertaining their power of supply, the probable extent of any given
bed, and many other matters of practical im))ortance.

It frecjuently happens that the best stone in quarries is often ne-
glected, or only in part worked, from the cost of bareing and removing
tliose beds with which it may be associated ; and, in consequence, the
inferior material is in such cases supplied, especially when a great
order is required to be fulfilled in a short space of time, and at lui
insufficient price, which is often the case with respect to works under-
taken by contract.

As the supply of stone in particular localities would often appear
to be due to accidental circumstances, such as the cost of quarr}'ing,
the degree of facility in transport, and the prejudice that generally
exists in favour of a material wdiich has been long in use ; and as the
means of transport have of late years been greatly increased, it be-
comes essential to ascertain whether better materials than those which
have been employed in any given place may not be obtained from
other although more distant localities, upon equally advantageous
terms. The decomposition of stones employed for building purposes
appears to be elt'ected by chemical and mechanical causes, according
to the conditions under which such stones were placed. With refe-
rence to sandstones, such as are usually employetl for building pur-
poses, and which are generally composed of either quartz or siliceous
grains cemented by siliceous, argillaceous, calcareous, or other matter,
their decomposition is effected according to the nature of the cemented
substance, the grains being comparatively indestructible. With re-
spect to limestones composed of carbonate of lime, or the carbonates
of lime and magnesia, either nearly pure or mixed with variable pro-
portions of foreign matter, their decomposition depends, other things
being equal, upon the mode in which their component parts are ag-
gregated, those which are must crystalline being found to be the most
durable, while those which partake least of that character suffer most
from exposure to atmospheric influences.

The varieties of limestones termed oolites, being composed of ovi-
form bodies cemented by calcareous matter of a varied character, will,
of necessity, suffer unequal decomposition, unless such oviform bodies
and the cement be equally coherent. Tliose limestones which are
usually termed "slielly," from being chiefly formed of either broken
or perfect fossil shells cemented by calcareous matter, suffer decom-
position in an unequal manner in consequence of the shells, which,
being for the most part crystalline, offer the greatest amount of resis-
tance to the decomposing effects of the atmosphere.

Sandstones, from the mode of their formation, are very frequently
laminated, more especially when micaceous, the plates of mica being
generally deposited in planes parallel to their beds. Hence, if such
stone be placed in liuildings at a right angle to its natural bed, it will
decompose in flakes according to the thickness of the laminae ;
whereas, if it be placed upon its natural bed, the amount of decom-
position will be comparatively immaterial.

Limestones, from the general mode of their formation, are not liable
to the kind of lamination observable in sandstones; nevertheless,
varieties exist, especially those usually termed shelly, which have a
coarse laminated structure, generally parallel to the planes of their
beds, and therefore the same precaution in placing such stone in build-
ings upon its natural bed, is as necessary as with the sandstones above
noticed.

The effects of the chemical and mechanical causes of the decom-
position of stone in buildings, are greatly modified according as such
buildings may be situated in town or country. The state of the at-
mosphere in populous smoky tovyiis produces a greater amount of de-
composition in buildings so situated, all other conditions being equal,
than in those placed in an open country, where many of the aeriform

332

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[September,

products which arise from such towns, ami are injurious to buildings,
are not to be found.

The chemical action of the atmosphere produces a change iu the
entire matter of the limestones, and in the cementing substance of the
sandstones, according to the amount of surface exposed to it. The
mechanical action due to atmosplieric causes, occasions either a re-
moval or a disrui)tion of the exposed particles ; the former bv means
of powerful winds and driving rains, and the latter by the congelation
of water forced into or absorbed by the external portions of the stone.
These effects are reciprocal, chemical action rendering the stone liable
to be more easily affected by mechanical action, which latter, by con-
stantly presenting new surfaces, accelerates the disintegrating effects
of the former.

Buildings in this climate are generally fomul to suffer the greatest
amount of decomposition on their southern, south-western, and western
fronts, arising, doubtless, from the prevalence of winds and rains from
those quarterns ; hence it is desirable that stones of great durability
should at least be employed in fronts with such aspects.

Buildings situated in the country appear to possess a great advan-
tage over those iu pop\ilous and smoky towns, owing to lichens, with
which they almost invariably become covered in sucli situations, and
wdiich, when firmly established over their entire surface, seem to
exercise a protective influence against the ordinary causes of the
decomposition of the stone upon which they grow.

As an instance of the difference in degree of durability in the same
material, subject to the effects of the atmosphere in town or country,
we may notice tlie several frustra of coluuuis and other blocks of stone
which were qirarried at the time of the erection of St. Paul's Cathe-
ilral in Loudon, and are now lying in the Island of Portland, near the
quarries from whence they were obtained. These blocks are inva-
riably found to be covered with lichens, and although they have been
exposed to all the vicissitudes of a marine atmosphere for more than
150 years, they still exhibit, beneath the lichens, their original form,
even to the marks of the chisel employed upon them, whilst the stone
which was taken from the same quarries (selected no doubt with equal
if not greater care than the blocks alluded to), and placed in the Ca-
thedral itself, is, in those parts which are exposed to the south and
south-west winds, found in many instances to be fast mouldering
away.

Colour is of more importance in the selection of a stone for a build-
ing to be situated in a populous and smoky town than for one to be
placed in an open country, where all edifices usually become covered,
as above stated, with lichens ; for although in such towns those fronts
which are not exposed to the prevailing winds and rains will soon
become blackened, the remainder of the building will constantly
exhibit a tint depending upon the natural colour of the material em-
ployed.

Before we proceed to adduce a few examples of the present con-
dition of the various buildings that we have examined, we would wish
to observe, that tliose wdiich are highjy decorated, such as the churches
of the Norman and pointed styles of architecture, afford a more severe
test of the durability of any given stone, all other circumstances being
equal, than the more simple and less decorated buildings, such as the
castles of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, inasmuch as the ma-
terial employed in the former class of buildings is worked into more
disadvantageous forms than in the latter, as regards exposure to the
effects of the weather ; and we would further observe, that buildings
in a state of ruin, from being deprived of their ordinary protection of
roofing, glazing of windows, &c., constitute an equally severe test of
the durability of the stone employed in them.

As examples of the degree of durability of various building stones
in particular localities, the following may be enumerated. Of the
sandstone buildings wliich we examined we may notice the remains of
Ecclestone Abbey, of the thirteenth century, near Barnard Castle,
constructed of a stone closely resembling that of the Stenton Quarry,
in the vicinity, as exhibiting the mouldings and other decorations,
even to the dug's tooth ornament, in excellent condition. The circular
keep of Barnard Castle, apparently also built of the same material, is
in fine presei-yation. Tintern Abbey may also be noticed as a sand-
stone edifice that has to a considerable extent resisted decomposition ;
for, although it is decayed in some parts, it is nearly |ierfect in others.
Some portions of Whitby Abbey are likewise in a perfect state, whilst
others are fast yielding to the effects of the atmosphere. The older
portions of Ripon Cathedral, constnxcted of sandstone, are in a fair
state of preservation. Rivaulx Abbey is another good example of an
ancient sandstone building iu a fair condition. The Norman keep of
Richmond Castle, in Yorkshire, affords an instance of a moderately
hard sandstone, which has well resisted decouq)osition.

As examples of sandstone buildings of more recent date, in a good
state of preservation, we may mention Hardwicke Hall, Haddon Hall,

and all the buildings of Cragleith stone in Edinburgh and its \icinity.
Of sandstone edifices in an advanced state of decomjiosition we may
enumerate Durham Cathedral, the churches at Newcastle-u])on-Tyne,
Carlisle Cathedral, Kirstall Abbey, and Fountains Abbey. The sand-
stone churches of Derby are also extremely decomposed ; and the
church of .St. Peter's at Shaftesbury is in sucli a state of decay, that
some portions of the building are only prevented from falling by means
of iron tie-:.

As an example of an edifice constructed of a calciferous variety of
sandstone, we may notice Tisbiny Church, whicli is in unequal con-
dition, the mouldings and other enrichnients being in a perfect state,
whilst the ashler, apparently selected with less care, is fast moulder-
ing away.

The choir of Southwell Church, of the twelfth century, may be
mentioned as affording an instance of a magnesio-calciferous sand-
stone, resembling that of Mansfield, generally in good condition, after
long exposiu'c to the iiifiuences of the atmosjihere.

Of buildings constructed of magnesian linu'stone we may mention
the Norman portions of Southwell Church, built of stone similar to
that of Bolsover, and which are throughout in a perfect state, the
mouldings and carved enrichments being as sharp as when first exe-
cuted. The Keep of Konmgsburgh Castle, built of a magnesian lime-
stone from the vicinity, is also in a perfect state, though the joints of
the masonry are open in consequence of the decomposition and disap-
pearance of the mortar formerly within them. The Church at Hem-
mingborough, of the fifteenth century, constructed of a material resem-
bling the stone from Huddlestone, does not exhibit any appearance of
decay. Tickhill Church, of the fifteenth century, built of a similar
material, is in a fair state of preservation. Huddlestone Hall, of the
sixteenth century, constructed of the stone of the immediate vicinity,
is also in good condition. Roche Abbey, of the thirteenth century, in
which stone from the immediate neighbourhood has been employed,
exhibits generally a fair state of preservation, although some portions
have yielded to the effects of the atmosphere.

As examples of magnesian limestone buildings in a more advanced
state of decay, we may notice the churches at York, and a large por-
tion of the Minster ; Howden Church, Doncaster old Church, and others
in that part of the country, many of which are so much decomposed
that the mouldings, carvings, and other architectural decorations, are
often entirely effaced.

We may here remark that, as far as our observations extend, in
proportion as the stone employed in magnesian limestone buildings is
crystalline, so does it appear to have resisted the decomposing effects
of the atmosjihere ; a conclusion in accordance with the opinion of
Professor Daniell, who has stated to us that from the results of expe-
riments he is of opinion that " the nearer the magnesian limestones
approach to equivalent proportions of carbonate of lime and carbonate
of magnesia, the more crystalline and better they are in every respect."

Of buildings constructed of oolitic and other limestones we may no-
tice the Church of Byland Abbey, of the twelfth century, especially
the west front, built of stone from the immediate vicinity, as being in
an almost perfect state of preservation. Sandysfoot Castle, near Wey-
mouth, constructed of Portland oolite in the time of Henry the Eighth,
is an example of that material in excellent condition; a few decom-
])Osed stones used in the interior, and which are exceptions to this
fact, being from another oolite in the innnediate vicinity of the castle.
Bow and Arrow Castle, and the neighbouring ruins of a church of the
fourteenth century, in the island of Portland, also afford instances of
the Portland oolite in perfect condition. The new Church in the
island, built in 170G of a variety of the Portland stone termed roach,
is in an excellent state throughout, even to the preservaition of the
marks of the chisel.

Many buildings constructed of a material similar to the oolite of
Ancaster, such as Newark and Grantham Churches, and other editices
in various parts of Lincolnshire, have scarcely yielded to the effects of
atmospheric influences. Windrush Church, built of an oolite from the
neighbouring quarry, is in excellent condition; whilst the Abbey
Church of Bath, constructed of the oolite in the vicinity of that city,
has suffered nmch from decomposition ; as is also the case with the
Cathedral, St. Nicholas and St. Michael's Churches, in Gloucester,
erected of a stone from the oolitic rocks of the neighbourhood.

The churches of Stamford, Ketton, Colley Weston, Kettering, and
other places in that part of the country, attest the durability of the
shelly oolite termed Barnack Rag, with' the exception of those i>or-
tions' of some of them for which the stone has been ill selected. The
excellent cundition of those parts which remain of Glastonbury Abbey
show the value of a shelly limestone similar to that of Doulting; whilst
the stone employed in Wells Cathedral, api)arently of the same kind,
and not selected with equal care, is iu parts decomposed. The Man-
sion, the Church, and the remains of the Abbey at Montacote, as also

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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

333

many other buildings in that vicinity, constructed of the limestone of
Ham Hill, are in excellent condition. In Salisbury Cathedral, built
of stone from Chilmark, we have evidence of the general durability
of siliciferous limestone ; for, although the west front has somewhat
yielded to the effects of the atmosphere, the excellent condition of the
building generally is most striking.

In the public buildings of Oxford we have a marked instance both
of decomposition and durability in the materials employed ; for whilst
a shelly oolite similar to that of Taynton, whicli is employed in the
more ancient parts of the Cathedral, in Merton College, Chapel, &c.,
and commonly for the plinths, string courses, and exposed portions of
tlic other edifices in that city, is generally in a good state of preserva-
tion, a calcareous stone from Heddington, employed in nearly the whole
of the colleges, churches, and oth.er public buildings, is in sucli a de-
plorable state of decay, that in many instances all traces of architec-
tural decoration have disajjpeared, and the ashler itself is in many
places deeply disintegrated.

In Spofforth Castle we have a striking example of the unequal de-
composition of two materials, a magnesian limestone and a sandstone ;
the former employed in the decorative parts, and the latter for the
ashler or plain facing of the walls. Although the magnesian limestone
has been equally exposed with the sandstone to the decomposing
elt'ects of the atmosphere, it has remained as perfect in form as when
first employed, while the sandstone has sutfered considerably from the
effects of decomposition.

In Chepstow Castle may be observed a magnesian limestone in fine
preservation, and a red sandstone in an advanced state of decomposi-
tion, both having been exposed to the same conditions as parts of the
same archways ; and in Bristol Cathedral we have a curious instance
of the effects arising from the intermixture of very different materials,
a yellow limestone and a red sandstone, which have been indiscrimi-
nately employed both for the plain and decorative parts of the build-
ing. Not only is the appearance in this case unsightly, but the archi-
tectiu'al effect of the edifice is also much impaired bj' the unequal
decomposition of the two materials, the limestone having suffered
much less from decay than the sandstones.

Judging, therefore, from the evidence afforded by buildings of various
dates, there are many varieties of sandstone and limestone employed
for building piu^jjoses which successfully resist the destructive effects
of atmospheric influences; among these, the sandstones of Stenton,
Whitby, Tintern, Rivaulx, and Craigleith, the magnesio-calciferous
sandstones of Mansfield, tlie calciferous sandstone of Tisbury, the cry-
stalline magnesian limestones, or Dolomites, of Bolsover, Huddlestone,
and Roche Abbey, the oolites of Byland, Portland, and Ancaster, the
shelly oolites and limestone of Baruack and Ham Hill, and siliciferous
limestone of Chilmark, appear to be amongst the most durable. To
these, which may be all considered as desirable building materials, we
are inclined to add, though they may not always have the e\idence of
ancient buildings in their favour, the sandstones of Darley Dale, Hum-
ble, Longannet, and Crowbank, the magnesian limestones of Robin
Hood's Well, and the oolite of Ketton.

If, however, we were called upon to select a class of stone fur the
more immediate object of o\u- inquiry, we should give the ])reference
to the limestones, on account of their more general uniformity of tint,
their comparatively homogeneous structure, and the facility and
economy of their conversion to building purposes ; and of this class
we should prefer those which are most crystalline.

In conclusion, having weighed to the best of our judgment the evi-
dence in favour of the various building stones which have been brought
under our consideration, and freely admitting that many sandstones as
well as limestones possess very great advantages as building materials,
we feel bound to state that for durability, as instanced in Southwell
Church, &c., and the results of experiments, as detailed in the accom-
panying tables ; for crystalline character, combined with a close ap-
proach to the equivalent proportions of carbonate of lime and carbonate
of magnesia ; for uniformity in structure ; facility and economy in
conversion ; and for advantage of colour, the magnesian limestone, or
dolomite, of Bolsover Moor and its neighbourhood, is in our ojiinion
the most fit and proper material to be employed in the proposed new
Houses of Parliament.

We iiave the honour to be, my Lord and Gentlemen,

Your very humble and obedient servants,
(Signed) Charlks Barry.

H. T. Dii Da Becue.
Wii.r.iAM Smith.
Charles H. Smith.
Loudon, March llj, 1839.

\ye shall give the tables referred to in the rei)ort iu «w »e.\t Joianal, —
Spitor.

ON THE OBSTRUCTION OF STREAMS BY DAMS.

(From the .American Railroad Journal.)

Mil Essaij on the Obstrnclion of Sireants by Dams ; with Formula for
asurlaining the rise of water caused by their construction. By S. A.
Roebling, Cieil Engineer.

When a stream is to be obstructed by a dam, for the purpose of
creating a water-power, making a slack-water navigation, or feeding
a canal, it is a matter of importance to know how high the water will
rise above its former level in time of freshets.

Owing to the want of proper investigation, notions contradictory to
common sense, have been entertained by professional men on this sub-
ject, and the consequence has been, that their works have not idealized
their expectations. With a view of throwing some light upon this
very important subject, the following illustrations and deductions,
based upon the theory of Da Buat and Eyielivein, are offered to the
public.

To compute formula; fur the rise of water by dams, it is necessary
to know the amount of water discharged by a freshet, the average
width of the stream, its average depth and area of cross section.

But the gauging of a large stream in high water is a difficult.matter,
and at the period when the construction of a dam is to be commenced,
there is generally no time to wait for a freshet, for the purjiose of
making the desired measurements. I would therefore propose, fur
ascertaining the greatest discharge of water, to guage the river when
at its medium height. For this pur|iose, let a cross section of the
stream be taken, and the velocities of the surface measured at each
sounding. It has been ascertained by exjieriments, that the velocity
of water, in streams, ckcreasta towards the bottom for every foot
depth :

0.008 0
wdiere v signifies the velocity at the surface. If we now put the depth,
for which the average velocity is to be asc-ertained, equal to /;, and
denote the required average velocity by v', then we have the velocity
at the bottom equal to

r— 0.008 V h
From the surface velocity and bottom velocity we find the average
velocity :

t'-t-ii— 0-008 y. A _,^., ,

V' :^—^ =v — 0'004 V. h

or, V' z=v (I — 0-004 h)

When the average velocity, for each sounding, has been thus cal-
culated, we can find the discharge per second, in cubic feet.

For ascertaining the discharge of a river, in time of a high freshet,
let its width equal to /. By dividing / into ^le area of the cross sec-
tion which has been measured, we get the average depth of the water,
which may be represented by //. The area of the profile, divided into
the discharge, gives us the average velocity of the whole section,
which may be represented by v. The average velocity of a stream in
different stages of the water, are, according to Buat and Eytelwein, as
the square root of the different average depths.

Now, let us represent the average velocity of a cross section of a
high flood by v' and the average depth of that section by h' ;

Then is v : v' : : |//i : ■^/h' -.

therefore, «' = I'^rr = » * / ,-

'\/h '\/ h

The average velocity of a high freshet, thus fuund, multiplied into
the area of its cross section, gives us the required discharge.

The above method should be applied, if the necessary measure-
ments can be taken, when the stream is at or near its medium height.
Without those data, however, an approximate result can be obtained
by the formula:

where v is the average velocity in feet per second, a the area of the
profile in superficial feet, h the fall of the river for a certain length
I in feet; ;j signifies the perimeter of the profile, not including the line
of surface.

The product of the area into the velocity, thus found, will give the
required discharge. This formula, however, caimot be relied on when
tlie stream is irregular; it applies with accuracy only to smootli and
regular channels and to canals.

The velocities with which water is discharged through a horizontal
opening in the side of a vessel, are according to the laws of gravity,
in proportion to the square roots of the respective heights of the

cyluuiiis of water above the orifices, The pressvu:e, wliich toe partieles

334

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Skptkmber,

of water support at a certain ileptli, is prnportionate to the velocity
with which they tend to escape. Tliis velocity is hypothetically
equal to that acquired by bodies falling through the same space. The
velocity of a body, acquired at the end of (ho first second of its fall is
= 2 X It'.l = 32'2 feet, and if we denote the diHerent velocities by
(' and V, and the respective heights liy k and H, then according to the
laws of gravity

is « : V : : v/' : VH

and V —

Vv' H
IT

IG-l, we have
/32-2= H

If we take v = 32*2, and h =z lG-1, we have
I.

and

II.

H =

V-

; 0-0155 V2

8-0242"

The quantity S.024 is called the hypothetical co-efficient for falling
bodies, and this co-efficient will be here generally denoted by the letter
ex. In applving the above rule lo the motion of water, the case is
somewhat different under different circumstances. Du Buat and
Eytelwein have made a number of satisfactory experiments to fix co-
efficients for the velocity of water in different circumstances.

According to these experiments, for instance, the value of the co-
efficient for the discharge of water over a waste-weir, of common con-
struction, is found to be- - - - - - ::= 5.7

For large and well constructed dams, where all circum-
stances are favourable to the discharge, - - := 7.5

Before we can proceed to demonstrate the discharge of water over
dams, we have to examine the laws under which water generally will
be discharged, when under a certain head.

• >l

=■

^mf

!^

w

^ — — -

p'

_,

Ji'

y

^^

n

^

The annexed diagr;^i represents a vessel, Q R, filled with water
up to A. Suppose that sufficient water is flowing in to keep the sur-
face at the same level, and that there are several small openings, P, E,
B, above each otlier in the vertical line A B, in one side of the vessel.

The jets of water streaming througli the opening F, E, B, are repre-
sented by the horizontal dotted lines, P M, E H, B G.

Let us put A P = .r ; the velocity with which the water rushes
through the opening P, be = t/ ; and tlie co-efficient of tliis velocity
be = c( .

So is, by fornnda 1.

y = a \/ X.

The same is applicable to every other opening B, with a head of
pressure = A B ; and if we denote A B by /(, and the corresponding
velocity by v, we have

V> =

= ct f^h

Now let

PM =

= a. \/x

= y

and

BG =

= a VA

= V

Then is

AP :

AB :

: .V

and

PM :

BG :

: V.r

or

PM-- :

BG^ :

: X :

Therefore

AP :

AB :

: PM

BG^

The same is true for every other absciss and ordinate, as A P, and
P M, and from this it follows, that the curved line A M H G, which is
formed by the extreme points M, G, &c. of the dotted lines, repre-
senting the velocities of the water-jets, forms a parabola. If we now
imagine the vertical line A B consists of a great number of such small
openings, than the amount of water, or the sum of all the water-jets,
may be represented by the area of the parabola. The superficial
content of the parabola A B G is

= 3 A B. B G = i » A
If we denote the width of the perpendicular narrow opening or slit
A B, by I', the awount of water discharged through this slit will be

Now, suppose the great rectangular opening, A B C D, consists of
a large number of sutdi vertical openings, and let be

AC = BD =/
and the discharge through that rectangle = Q, then we have

and by substituting for v, its value = j. ^Ji, we have the discharge
per second, or

Q =§a Ih^h

III.

and

IV

In investigating the state of water, when obstructed by dams, three
ditl'erent cases present themselves.

1.

When a dam serves only on a waste-weir, and the pool above it
forms an extensive sheet of water, the surface of which is kept at the
same level, without any perceptible current.

In the annexed diagram, B D represents the dam or weir; the line
K A, the level of the upper pool ; and C F, the bed of the river or
reservoir, corresponding to the average depth of the water.

The body of water, discharging over a dam, will sink considerably
below the level of the surface of the pool, before it reaches the breast
of the dam, forming a curve tangential to the surface of the jiool.

The formulsE 111 and IV apply to this case exactly. The height h,
or the head of the fall, is in the diagram represented by the lines
K L := A B, the elevation of the surface above the top of the dam.

If we, therefore, know the quantity of discharge per second, we
find by the formula I V the height corresponding to it ; and if the
height is known, we find the discharge by formula III.

The height of the water above the edge of the dam, or B E, and
the contraction of it below, is here not taken in consideration, as it is
of no practical use.

2.

When, as in the first case, the comb, or top of the dam is above the
surface of the lower pool, and the water in the upper pool arrives at
the head of the fall with a certain velocity.

With reference to the above diagram, let us term the point K in
the surface of the upper pool, where the water is horizontal, or nearly
so, or has yet about the same inclination as the pool farther up, the
head of tliefall.

The elevation of this point B above the top of the dam, or
A B, may be denoted by the letter - - - - h

The height of the dam, or B D, by K

The average width of the pool, by - - - - - B

The length of the dam, by ...... I

The quantity of discharge over the dam per second, in cubic
feet, by ...... ...Q

The line C F represents the bed of the river, (corresponding to the
average depth) as well as the base of the dam, and all the heights are
calculated from it.

If we now supjiose the upper pool forms a still water w itliout any
current, then we have the former case, and if we represent the fall, or
A B, by the letter Ti', we find according to formula IV

._3Q_):
\2ai I )

But in the present case the water arrives at the head of the jiool,
with a certain velocity due to the current in the river above the pool,
and this velocity comes to the aid of the velocity of discharge, caused
by the height of the fall.

The velocity of the discharge is therefore equal to the velocity, due
to the height of the fall, plus the velocity, due to the current of the
pool. But the quantity of discharge remaining the same, and the
velocity being increased, the height of a discharging body of water
will be reduced in a proportion corresponding to the increased velo-
city. The water in the pool| is in consequence of the current in mo-

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND AUCMITECT.S JOURNAL.

.335

tion through its whole depth, though the velocity near the bottom is
but very small.

We find the area of the cross section equal to
(/J+K) B
and if u represents the average velocity of the current in the pool, we
have

Q_

" - (h+k) B
Now, let us represent the height which corresponds to this velocity
by the letter H, then we have, according to formula I,

H = 0.0155 V-
and by substituting for v its value, we get

For finding the true height of the surface of the pool above the top
of the dam, or the height A B = A, we have therefore to deduct the
value of H from the value of /i', and we arrive at the formula

3Q \S_nn,../_Q_

AB.

= {-

,0155

■r

And

V

2« I I I (i+A-)B

if we put the co-efficient a = 7.5 and B = l,we have

This formula contains in the substractive member the value of h it-
self. As this term of the equation, however, is comparatively small,
it will be sufficiently correct in practice, to find the value of /i by ap-
proximation, without making the formula more intricate by further
reduction.

Example I.

Suppose a dam of 500 feet long and 1 1 feet high, has been con-
structed across a river of the same width, the average depth of which
in time of a high freshet is ten feet, and its discharge at the same
time 25,000 cubic feet, per second. How much will the water rise
above the top of the dam, if all circumstances are favourable to the
discharge, and the co-efhcieut d is put =: 7.5 ?

The above formula for //, is here

|3x25000,a_o,^s5/ 25000
\ 15x500 /

;500
Now, let us assume h = 4.5

then is h — yiOO

, I

((A-f-lI)X500i

0.0155
— O.lGl

/ 25000 ■» '
\15.5x50o)

25000
i500
or, !i =: 4.G41

therefore, h = 4.48 feet.

This result is near enough to the assumed value, and therefore suffi-
ciently correct.

3.
When the top of tlie dam is lower than the surface of the lower
pool, and the water in the upper pool arrives at the head of the fall
with a certain velocity.

Ki

"""'''^^

A

'

1

E

"~^

~~-^-^H

G

M

B

lW'\

c

m

F

The annexed diagram may represent the case in question,
and we will represent the depth of the river below the

dam, or E D, by the letter A

The height of the fall from the upper level to the lower

level, or A E, by - - . - H

The height of the dam, or B D, by K

The length of the dam, or width of the river, by - - I

The quantity of water discharged per second, by - - Q

The line C F may represent the bed o'f the river corresponding to
the average height h of the water.

To simplify the demonstration of this case, let us suppose the water
in the upper pool form a perfect level without current, and not con-
sider the effect which the whirl below the dam, caused by the fall of
the water, has upon the discharge.

The quantity of water discharged through the height A E, will then
be found by formula III.

= §a mi/H

The body of this water above the level L E presses upon the body

of water below, included between the dotted lines L E and AI B, which,
therefore, will be forced to pass off through the height E B.

Let us now imagine a pipe E H (i I B, of the width of the river, and
the height E B resting on top of the dam, with one vertical opening
E B at the dam, and another horizontal opening H G at the surface of
the lower level, below the f dl. The body of water included between
the lines L E and M B, w'ould then pass through this pipe, and be dis-
charged at the surface of the lower level with a velocity corresponding
to the pressure of the water above, or due to the height A E. The
velocity of the water flowing through the height E B is therefore
found, according to formula I

= av/H

and the discharge

=:EB./. av/H= al(h—k) i/H
The discharge through the height A B is equal to the sum of dis-
charges througii A E and E B, and therefore

Q = !S a /Hv/H+ a /(//— A) t/H or

VI q,-CXl(^l\ + h—k) ^n

and from this we find

Q

VII

H=-

The value of H must be found here by approximation, as in for-
mula V.

With respect to the velocity of the current in the upper pool, Mr.
Eytelwein offers a formula for the value of H, the application of which
is very difficult on account of its perplexitj'. The following demon-
stration, however, will biing us near enough to truth, and furnish a
formula which will he found sufficient to all practical purposes.

When H has been found by formula VII, we have then an approxi-
mate value for the average depth of the upper pool, or
A D = H -f //

The area of the profile of the upper pool is therefore
= / (H -t- h)

From this we find the average velocity of the current in the pool

^ Q

I (H + h)

which velocity is owing to the current of the river above, independent
of the fall of the water over the dam.

According to formula II, we find the height, corresponding to this
velocity

1, "

; 0.0155 .

VIII

H:

AE =

I (H + h)

which ought to be deducted from the value H in formula VII, as we
have done in case No. 2, in order to arrive at the true height of the
fall.

We therefore arrive at the formula.

a ■'/■' (i H-f /i— K)' —0.0155 \ Z(H-t-A) (

The objection can be made against this formula, that the current of
the upper pool may be reduced by the resistance of the water below,
and that then the value of H is found too small.

To examine this question, we must distinguish several cases. The
first case is, when a dam forms a breast-dam, with no lower slope. The
falling water will here produce a whirl, the effect of which will not
extend far below the dam, and will have little influence on the current
of the tail-water. The second case, when the dam has a long slope
forming an inclined plane, or better, an inverted parabola, on which
the water glides down. The lower body of water, after having moved
down the slope, shoots off in a more horizontal direction, not affecting
the bed of the river immediately below the dam, but pushing ahead
the tail-water, the current of which consequently will be increased.
Without reference to the form of dams, other considerations present
themselves with respect to the depth of the water. When the river
is not deep, and the lower level but little above the top of the dam,
the escape of the tail-water will be increased by the mechanical mo-
mentum, produced by the luight of tk/ull of the water, rolling downi
the slope, and the resistance offered to the current of the upper level,
will be therefore decreased. On the other hand, when the dam is
very low and the water very high, the momentum of the falling water
will be increased proportionably by the gemral iiicnasi of the velucily
of the river, and will therefore also increase the velocity of the tail-
water below the fall, so as not to resist the current above.

It appears, therefore, that we may apply the above formula, without
any deduction, in all nises fiivoarahk to the escape of the tail-water.
When the construction of the dam, and the features of the river, how-
ever, are uti/avutirabte to the discharge of the tail-water, then we must
reduce the value of the substractive member of the formula.

2 C

3.36

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[September,

The value of the co-efficient a should be fixed with reference to
the construction of the dum, and to the nature of the pool above the
dam.

When a dam serves as a waste-weir, and the pool above the dam,
forms proportionally an extensive sheet of water with no current,
then the value of a is found, according to Du Buat and Eytel-
wein, to be - - - - . - . . ;= 5.70

For a dam in a small stream, with no wing-walls and em-
bankments confining the current, we may put CX - :

For a dam in a large river, with wing-walls and high em-
bankments, leading the current fairly to the fall, we may
put a ;

EX.\MPLE 2.

A river is 500 feet wide, its average depth in time of a freshet is
ten feet, and its discharge at the same time 25000 cubic feet per
second. A dam of 500 feet long, and 7 feet high, has been constructed
across the river. How much will llie water be raised above its former
level, or how much is the height of the fall from the upper level to
the lower level ?

The co-ethcient Ct be here =r 7.5.

By applying the fornmla VIII, and substituting the above data, we
have

25000' C 25000 \«

7.00

7.50

TT

~ 7.5- X 500^
Let us assume H =

H =

(SH + IO— 7|^

; 2.00 ; then we get

0.0155

0.0155

44.44

(iX2-f3)

18.775

((H + iO)x5O0J
25000 1 «

t 250

iTsx

H = .

500 i
0.0155x17.361

44.44

ov H = 2.3G7 — 0.2G9 = 2.098 feet.

which result is near enough to the assumed value of If, and therefore
sufficiently correct.

Example 3
A dam of 800 feet long, and 0 feet high, is to be constructed across
a river of about the same width, and which in time of a high freshet
discharges 00,000 cubic feet per second, and has an average depth of
16 feet. What will be the height of the fall, or the value of H if we
put a = 7.5 ?

Let us assume the value of H ;= 0.8, then we have

6000' _ _ r 60000 1 »

lie.sxsooJ

60000 ) ''

oc =^

7.5»x 800' (Sx 0.8-)- 16— 6) '
100

•0.0155

or H == .

•0.0155

(.

\ 13400
-0.0155x19.927

(0.533-I-10)'

— ^QO

~ 110.944 ~
or H = 0.901 — 0.30S8 = 0.593 feet.
This result does not agree with the value assumed for H, and is too
small. From the nature of the formula it follows, that we must as-
sume a smaller quantity for H. Let us therefore put H "" 0.6, and

60000-

we have

H:

0.0155

" 7.5'x800" (8x0.6-1- 10)''
100

100

■0.0155x4.158-'

I 60000 \'
\ 6 8 00)

60000 \ g

13280")

orH:

108.16

ov H = 0.924 — 0.316 = 0.608 feet.
This result agrees well with the assumed value of H, and is there-
fore sufficiently correct.

ON GEOLOGY, APPLIED TO ARCHITECTURE.

Being part of a Course of Six Lectures, by G. F. Richardson, Esq.,
of the British Museum. Ddicered at the' Royal Institute of British
Architects. Lecture the Fifth.

In my last discourse I alluded to the fact that as stones are selected
for proximity rather tlian for value, because they are nearest rather
than because they are the best, it followed that those countries would
naturally exhibit the best specimens of architecture whose geological
formations were best adapted for this object, wliose limestones were
finest and most abundant, whose marbles were purest and most fre-
quently to be found. I reminded yovi that the lovely land of Greece
was most favoured in this particular, and that her mountains of lime-

stone and of marble offered the most picturesque sites for the display
of the builder's art, while they contained within their caves and
quarries materials of the most valuable and most enduring quality,
while the dryness and serenity of the climate of those regions allowed
such materials to be placed in situations which our less genial atmos-
phere forbids us to expose in the same manner. Yet the geological
features of our island are so striking and important, that the geologists
of the continent are always anxious to investigate our strata, and tlieir
singular organic remains, our Wealden and lias with their colossal
ilragon forms, our coal and our primary rocks in the north of England
and in Wales ; wliile I have the authority of our friend Mr. Donaldson
for the fact that foreign architects who visit this coimtry are alike
impressed with the variety and value of the stones which our strata
present. The fact is, that our island (-ontains in a limited space, an
epitome of, with one or two comparatively unimportant exceptions
(the Muschel Kalk is one, the Calcaire Grossiere a second, and the
Miocene deposits of the Tertiary series a third), with these relatively
insignifi.cant deficiencies our island contains a miniature resemblance
of the whole earth. Professor Whewell, the late president of the
Geological Society, in his farewell address on quitting the chair, em-
ployed in allusion to this fact, and more particularly with reference
to the labours and discoveries of my distinguished friend Mr. Murchi-
son, an image which is so rare, so ingenious, and so natural, that I can
discover no illustration more fitted to convey a correct idea of this
interesting fact. AUudirjg to the number and variety of the rocks
contained in the limited area of om' own island, and refering in parti-
cular to those which had been investigated by the labours of Mr. Mur-
chison, he observed that nature in this respect seems to have conde-
scended to imitate our own process, and as in the construction of our
geological maps we place in the corner minute delineations to serve as
types of the strata, so she had placed in our island, our corner of the
globe, types of strata whose representatives were to be found elsewhere,
diffused only over vast areas, in short, over the map of our planet. Our
island exhibits in fact, with the few exceptions I have named, a com-
plete ascending or descending scale of the chronology of the earth, and
the geological map before you, extending in a direction from south-west
to north-east exhibits the regular succession of the strata, either com-
mencing with the primary and oldest formations in the north and west
of our island, and proceeding down to the tertiary or most modern in
the south, or on the contrary, ascending from the modern tertiary in
the south, to the older or primary in the north and west. The three
grand divisions imder which the strata of our island may be classed
are, first, the primary and mountainous or mining districts, whose in-
habitants of course are miners and mountaineers ; secondly, the mid-
land regions exhibiting a succession of fertile hills and valleys over-
spread with towns and cities, and crowded with a dense population,
whose industry is supplied by the coal with which the strata of these
districts are abundantly interspersed. The third class is formed by
the chalk and oolitic limestones which extend from the western to the
northern coasts of our island. To pursue these routes along tlie map,
the traveller who would wish to investigate the first of those geolo-
gical series which we have described, would be required to start from
the extremity of England, the Land's End, to traverse the whole of
Cornwall and the north of Devon, and thence passing through Cumber-
land by the Isle of Man, to the south-western shores of Scotland,
should proceed either through the. hilly districts of the border coun-
ties, or along the Grampians to the German Ocean. Such a traveller
would meet in all his journey little else than mountains and mines,
and would consider the countiy he had traversed barren, and cold, and
thinly peopled, its scanty population being composed of miners and
mountaineers. To take the second route a traveller would start nearer,
from the coast of Devon, and crossing the Midland Counties from the
mouth of the Exe to that of the Tyne, would find a succession of fertile
and highly cultivated scenes, interspersed with numerous towns and
cities, and in many parts crowded with a manufacturing population,
who derive the chief supply and incentive to their industry from the
vast mines of coal with which these districts are abundantly supplied,
they being located in the new red sandstone. The largest, most con-
siderable, and most infiuential towns in England are placed in this
peculiar stratum the new red sandstone, as the following list will
evince: Exeter, Bristol, Worcester, Warwick, Birmingham, Lichfield,
Coventry, Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Stafford, Shrewsbury, Ches-
ter, Liverpool, Warrington, Manchester, Preston, York and Carlisle.

The third route would extend nearer from the coast of Dorset to that
of Yorkshire, from Weymouth to Scarbro', and the traveller through
such a district would pass only over elevated plains of oolite limestone
and chalk, without a single mountain, or mine, or coalpit, or a manu-
factory of any importance, and woukl meet with a population almost
exclusively agricultural. These different appearances being deducible
from stratification.

1830.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

337

The first of our travellers will have seen only these north-western
portions of our country which are composed of rocks belonging to the
prima y and transition series; the second will have traversed those
fossil portions of the new red sandstone formation, which are made up
of the detritus of more ancient rocks, and have beneath and near them,
inestimable treasures of mineral coal, while the third will have con-
fined his route to wolds of limestone and downs of chalk, which are
best adapted for sheep walks and the growth of corn.

We will now, with your permission, take the various counties be-
ginning with the southern coasts, and proceeding in a northerly
direction, will describe the chief formations which present themselves.
Beginning with the I^and's End, we have in the co\inty of Cornwall
the primary formations, the granite and the sienite, with schistose
rocks, and similarly ancient formations ; in the adjoining county of
Devonshire we find rocks of the grcywaeke and transition series ; and
passing into Wales, and thence to the border comities of Scotland, will
meet with rocks of similarly ancient origin ; in Dorsetshire we liave
the lias and the oclite, in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight we have
the tertiary formations, which also extend into Sussex ; at Brighton
we meet the chalk which extends to Beachy liead, beyond which
the Wealden strata terminates at the coast ; the chalk again appear-
'ing on the coast of Kent. At the Isle of Sheppey we meet with the
tertiary beds, which foim a part of the London basin. In the county of
Sussex we have the remarkable and peculiar Wealden deposits, which
have been ascertained by my distinguished friend Dr. Mantell, to be
the bed of an ancient and mighty river, which overflowed through the
vallies of Kent and Sussex, constituting the drainage of an extensive
tract of country.

The road from Bath to Oxford, and thence by Stamford to Lincoln,
affords an instance of similarity in the character and cultivation of the
soil and the occupations of the people, which attends the line in which
the oolite traverses England from Weymouth to Scarborough. The
road from Dorchester, through Salisbury to Basingstoke, or from Dun-
stable to Royston, Cambridge and Newmarket, and thence into Nor-
folk, aflTords a like imiformity which characterise the line of chalk
from near Bridport in Dorsetshire, to Flamborough Head on the coast
of Yorkshire. In the same line of direction or line of bearing of the
strata across England, a journey might be made from Lyme Regis to
Whitby, almost entirely upon the lias formation ; and from Weymouth
to the Humber without once leaving the Oxford clay of the oolite for-
mation. Indeed almost any route taking a north-east and south-west
direction across England, will for the most part pass continuously
along the same formation, while a line from north-east to south-west
at right angles to the former line, will nowhere continue on the same
stratum beyond a few miles. Such a line which displays the greatest
variety in the strata, will give the best information of the order of super-
position, and various condition of the very numerous strata that traverse
our islandin a succession of narrow belts, the main direction of which is
nearly north-east and south-west. This line has uflbrded to Mr. Coney-
beare the instructive section from Newhaven and Brighton to White-
haven, published in his Geology of England and Wales, along which
nearly seventy changes of strata t;ike place.

We have described the south-eastern portion of our island. The
tract extending from London to the sea in a south and south-easterly
direction, is occupied by the various deposits of the tertiary, the
chalk, and the Wealden. Of these the tertiary beds, deposits analo-
gous in date and character to those of London occur in the craig form-
ation, so called of Norfolk and Suffolk ; the chalk appears again in
Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and
Yorkshire ; the Wealden formation is confined to Kent and Sussex,
with some few indications in Wiltshire, and with regard to the last
of the secondary strata, they are disposed in the manner I have
described in narrow belts, traversing the island from south-west to
north-east, but developed of course in a mamier so varied as to render
them extremely irregular in their relative situation and character, one
particular formation being contracted in its course through one county,
expanded in another, lost in a third, and reappearing in a fourth. Tlie
best general idea, I repeat, which w^e can best convey to a popular
audience, being that the older rocks are developed on the west, and
in proportion as we proceed north till we reach the great coal fields of
Northumberland and Durham, and the transition beds of Cumberland,
and the primary rocks of the borders and of Scotland, and the whole
of the strata of our island, as I have before described, forming a de-
scending scale, which commencing with the tertiary series, the upper
or latest deposits in the south proceeds onward to the deeper rocks in
the northern districts of our island, and comprising, as before stated, a
variety of geological deposits to be found elsewhere, only diffused
over areas of far wider extent. This variety of deposits of course
wdiile it provides generally the recpiisite supplies for the chief wants
i\nd necessities of mankind, yields aUmditut sopplies for the purposes

of the architect, and when to the materials already known and em-
ployed, shall be added those which have been discovered and brought
into notice by the labours of the commission to wdiich I have before
had occasion to allude, you will perceive gentlemen, that the geolo-
gical deposits of our native land, are such as will supply ample ma-
terials for the exercise of your taste and skill. That in this as in
every other respect your beautiful and highly valuable art may be
cultivated to the honour of our native land, and the embellishment of
its splendid capital, is the sincere wish of the humble individual who
now presumes to address you.

A brief but luminous and interesting description of the chalk forma-
tion which the lecturer described as the bed of an ancient sea abounding
in the usual marine exuviae, weeds, corals, shells, and fish, formed the
conclusion of the discourse of this evening.

RAILWAY CURVES.

Siu — I would have trespassed on \'our columns before this, to
answer the remarks in your April number signed J. Ely, but that,
having been on leave of absence for some time, it, as well as your
May number, lay most innocently by, neither cut nor read, until my
return on the twenty-first of the latter month, when it was too late to
send anything even for your June number.

Mr. lily asserts the incorrectness of a statement of mine, and founds
his assertion on the supposition that the object of " A Sub." was, "to
begin curving sooner, and make the radii of portions of his curve
greater." On referring, however, to "A Sub." 's letter, I can see
nothing about beginning sooner, and surely there can be no reason why
a constant curvature might not be commenced jtisl as soon as "A
Sub." 's or Mr. Ely's plan of a gradually increasing curvature ; and if
the two kinds were to conunence together, (which is the real case to
be considered,) my observation " that if the curvature is not equable,
some part of it must be sharper than if the same radius were used all
through," is perfectly correct. A figure wouUI make it quite clear,
but I don't like to encumber you with one.

Mr. E. also dissents from another assertion of mine, viz. " that wdien
an engine is entering upon a curve, if will nut be affected by the nature
of the path it was previously describing;" and brings forward a fact
to disprove it; still, however, I must maintain my assertion, but I only
supposed the case of an engine travelling alone. I don't nor never did
mean to sav, that the action of a /rain upon the engine dragsino- it,
does not depend upon the relative positions; oi the paths they are both
describing; it certainly does-; and in the case he mentions, it will
easily be seen, that the drag of the train upon the engine, it being on
the commencement of a curve, is more oblique wdieii the former is on a
straight line, than when it is on a curve of opposite curvature (forming
an SJ. In fict, in an S curve, the commencing rail of the one is in
direction with the concluding rail of the other. This obliquity of
strain at once accounts for the difference of wear and tear he mentions,-
it being only at the comnitnctnient of a curve.

In the latter part of his comiiumicalion, in endeavouring to carrv
out the similarity which "A Sub." took lor granted that there existed
between an engine upon a railway and a iirojecfile, Mr. Ely seems to
have mistaken_/;7c//o« iurgravi/y, for he slales'that "gravity acts upon a
locomotive with the same effect as upon a projectile, viz. to bring it
io a litate of rest. Now gravity, on the contrary, tends to keep every

2 C a

•SSH

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[ 8 K P T K M B K I

body in a stato of motiun, until that motion is put a stop to, oillicr
suddenly, liy tli>^ inertia of .some greater body it meets, or gradually,
by the retarding forci; of friction; which latter force is what really
tends to bring ail bodies to a state of rest.

As to his prime! fack case, that " the vertical pressure upon the rails
incTeases as the squares of the velocities decrease," or in other words,
that the vertical pressure (vr might) varies inversely as the square of
the velocity. I shall not at present enter upon it, further than asking
him for </ proof, as it would indeed be a <liscovery ; for we know that
the friction of a train varies as the weight or vertical priesiire. If,
therefore, the vertical pressiue can be diminished by increasing the
velocity, tiie /riftwii can also!

As I don't think "An Assistant Engineer" 's query has been yet
answered, I take the liberty of advising him not to connect the two
curves by another of a less radius, but to commence one of them a
little farther up on the tangent, (from which I take it for granted it
springs,) as in tlie figure 1 subjoin. And to enable him to do so, I
think he will find the following approximation to the distance he
should go upon the tangent, a useful one.

Let AD=zd be the distance whicli it is necessary to go upon the
tangent, CB:=c the least distance between the curves, (which I suppose
to be already described upon the ground,) then c = (nearly) to EF : d

]•

: : sin. Z AFB : rad. and .". d^ -. r^rrr. This of course is but

sni. Z AFB

an approximation, but it will be found suflficiently correct for all practical
purposes, where the distance to be gone on the tangent, or that be-
tween the curves, is not very great. The Z AFB may be got from
its tangent, which is known, as I svqipose the curve AGB to be laid out
by offsets perpendicular to it. The same formula will answer when
the curves cut, only then, e should be taken equal to the distance CL;
and of course the distance gone upon the tangent should be taken in
an opposite direction. It will also apply when it is desired merely to
pass through a given point i.

I am, Sir,

Your most obedient servant,

JiiM 18, 1839. R. W. T.

[This communication not being received until the 8th August, is the
reason that it did not appear earlier.] — Editor.

IMPROVED RUNNING GAUGE,

FOR ASCEKTAIXING IF THE WIDTH BETWEEN THE RAILS OF A RAILWAY
BE IN GUAUE.

Sir— Observing the notice in your Journal for this month that
Messrs. Bramah and Fox are manufacturing the railway gauges in-
vented by Mr. Cowper, I take the liberty of suggesting,' through the
same medium, what 1 consider will be an impro\ ement, viz. instead of
having a man to watch the inilcx, and throw oyster-shells, t*cc. upon
the road where it is out of gauge, I would make the machine self-

acting in this respect by the addition of a lever (A in the annexed
sketi'h) having its fulcrum at f ; the sliding axle C should run through
the lever at d, and have collars fitting exactly to the sides of the lever,
so that while the axle could turn freely on its axis, the least motion
in the direction of the axis should be communicated to the lever. To
the endy' of the lever should be attached a moveable slide B, having
two slits a a in it, and moving close under the bottom of a box or hop-
per indicated by the dotted lines ; this box should be filled with Calais
sand or powdere<l chalk, and have an o]3ening in the bottom exactly
corresponding with the solid part (ft) of the slide B. When the ma-
chine is running upon rails of true gauge, the solid part (ft) of the
slide will be \mder the opening in the bottom of the box, and prevent
the escape of the material within; but on coming to a difi'erent width
of rails, one or other of the openings in the slide will be brought under
the opening in the bottom of the box, and allow a greater or less
quantity of the material in the box to escape, as the width of the rails
is greater or less than the true gauge.

I am. Sir,
Barndey, Your obedient servant,

2nd Jkiig. 1839. W. J. Hindle, Civil Engineer.

ON PEAT FUEL.

Sir — Having long known that peat is underrated as a fuel for steam
boilers by Tredgold and others, and believing that in various parts of
the country, especially in Scotland and Ireland, there is immense store
of excellent fuel, which by simple and inexpensive machinery might
be so improved as to be of great use not only to thoee living near it
but likewise to distant parts. It was with much interest that I
read the article in your last number, on Lord Willoughby De Eresby's
patent pressing machinery, as constructed by Mr. James White, but
however ingenious and effective this plan may be, I fear the first
cost and the difficulty of getting repairs done, in the out of the way
situation in which the machinery must necessarily be worked, will
prevent it from coming into any thing like general use. Another
consideration, which I regret to see, is the observation, that the black
peat free from fibre is the only kind of any service. Thinking these
views have a strong tendency to limit the use of peat, which I believe
is directly contrary to his Lordship's wishes, I beg to trouble you with
a few observations which are the result of a little experience, and re-
gret that circumstances at the time put an end to the operation I was
engaged in rather prematurely, and at a time when perseverance only
was requisite to produce results useful to the individuals and to the
country. Four years ago three gentlemen erected, about 14 miles from
Edinburgh, a steam engine of 4 horse power, with edge rollers and
hydraulic presses, with the intention of manufacturing an improved
fuel from peat, this they did to small extent, but gave up before it
was well tried, for reasons that had nothing to do with the business
either as to the improvement of the peat as a fuel, or to loss or gain
as a commercial transaction ; soon after this was abandoned, the late
Michael Linning, Esq., of Edinburgh, one of the parties, erected near
Glasgow, alongside of the Gainkirk railway, a manufactory with horse
power, which was likewise prematurely stopped by his sudden death,
but not before he had shown in some respects the value of his labours,
whether this is now carried on or not I do not know, but it was at
these works that any knowledge I have was obtained. Like Lord
Willoughby, we found that the finer parts of the peat made its escape
with the water through the linen cloths with which the boxes were
lined, and that the pressing was tedious and slow, and thinking that I
saw enough to prove that pressing is both troublesome and needless ;
I will state as shortly and clearly as I can, how I should proceed to
improve peat, and render it so compact that it would bear a consider-
able carriage, and for certain juirposes, such as locomotive machinery,
be very valuable.

As is well known, all common peat when merely weather dried is of
a spongy texture, and occupies much room ; this I have seen is entirely
owing to the fibres — break them down, as is easy to do, either with
edge stones or in a clay mill, and then the peat shrinks upon itself liVe
clay, instead of shrinking within and consequently hollow. I have
seen a piece of peat, merely molded with the hand till it was well
mixed, after a few days drying, so compact and hard that when struck
against coal it broke it, and the piece of peat would bear cutting, and
take a polish as fine as Cannel coal. All, therefore, which I think re-
quisite to make peat an excellent, and for many purposes a better fuel
than coal, is to pass it under edge stones or a clay mill, when well
broken down, lay it to drain for a short time on a rough boarded or
stone floor, with a small slope, and after it has drained, mould it and
dry it under low sheds like bricks or tiles, this would be only children
or women's work.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

339

As to its use as a fuel to raise steam, prepared peat might be burnt
in the same fire-place as coal, but common peat will answer well on
the spot for that purpose, only a larger fire-place would be required,
with the bars rather closer and less draft. I have carefully weighed
peat, and found a steam engine, with an S inch cylinder, 16 inches
stroke, and making 70 strokes per minute, the steam at 3U lbs. pres-
sure, kept in full work for an hour and a half with one cwt. of peat,
the evaporation of water during that period was from 50 to (30 gallons,
and this with what was called bad peit and otherwise unsaleable.

Mr. Linning made two or three experiments with the locomotive en-
gine on the Gainkirk railway, which carried very heavy loads of coal.
1 have seen certificates of the engineer and others, that the steam was
well kept up, but that, as might be suspected, more peat was burnt
than coal ; this most likely was partly owing to the steam draft being
too strong for the peat, it being the same as when coal was burnt.

If the common road steam carriages which we hear are about start-
ing, would procure a supply of peat, I believe one of their greatest
difficulties would be surmounted, at least there would be no clinkers
to armoy them.

Considering the immense stores of peat in Scotland and Ireland, as
well as in some parts of England, often far from coal, and the general
want of capital and skill in these districts, which are mostly inhabited
by poor people. I trust these rough observations, which are simply to
recommend methods of improving peat, which are within their reach,
will be considered worthy of insertion.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

Tl.MOTHY BURSTALL.
Saint Phillips, Bristol, August 12, 1839.

ARTICLES FROM THE FRENCH JOURN.\LS.

TRANSLATED FOR THE JOURNAL OF THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE,
BY J. GRISCOM.

The Artesini) fl'ells at the Abattoirs of Grcnelle, Paris.
This well lias now a (ieptli of 418 metres, (= 1371 feet.) The sound, or
horer, weighs 20 thousand ; its height is treble that of tlie dome of the In-
valides, and it requires two machines of immense power to put it in motion.
The instrument is still in the chalk bed, the hanliiess of which is comparable
to flint. M. Mulot, the director, states that the sound advances a foot per
day.— A'fC. Soc. Polyt., July, 1838.

Analysis of Several Bituminous Minerals. By M. P. Berthier.

As bituminous substances have of late years claimed an increased share of
pnlilic attention, tliis celebrated analytical chemist has examined the consti-
tution of a ninnber of those which have gained the most notice on account of
their practical applications.

Bitumen of Seyssel. — There are at Seyssel, (in the department of I/Ain)
three kinds of minerals. 1. The sandy mineral. 2. The very fusible cal-
careous mineral. 3. The calcareous mineral of difficult fusion.

The first of these melts in Ijoiling water, and becomes detached from the
stony matters to which it was adherent. It rises to the smface, or sticks to
the sides of the vessel in brown lumps, or forms a transparent coating of a
brownish red colour. A rich specimen of it gave

Bituminous oil ... -086 >

Carbon -020/

Quartzy grains . . . -(i'JO

Calcareous grains . . . -204

bitumen '106

1.000

In the mass it is much less rich. When purified by hot water, this bitu-
men is called la graisse, grease.

The second variety is called at Seyssel asphaltum. It may be pulverized
and sifted, but tlie jiowder spontaneously forms into balls. The specimen
analysed contained -11 of bitumen, 5-89 of carbonate of Ume, without clay,
and quite pure.

The mastic of Seyssel is prepared by mixing nine parts of asjihaltum with
one of the pure grease extracted from the sand.

The third variety is a compact hmestone, in extremely thin, parallel beds.

It consists of

Bituminous matter . . . . -100

Argil -020

Sulphate of Lime .... -012

Carbonate of lime .... -868

1-nni)

The bit\uninous mineral of Bellcy is very similar to the preceding. It is
found in several communes in very considerable quantities, near the surface
of the ground. It is of variable quaUty. A variable specuncn yielded

Carbonate of Ihue
Carbonate of magnesia
Sulphate of Ume
Argil
Bitumen .

■824
•020
•013
•023
■120

1000

■070)
■036)

105

Bitumen of Bastenne. — This bitinncn flows out from several openings or
springs, mixed with water. Analysis of the solid gave

Oilv matter . '. . . ■200 1,.,
Carbon .(,3;! bitumen

Fine quartzy sand, mixed with argil -/GS

1^000

Bitumen of Cul/a. — This is transported to Europe under the name of Mex-
ican aspiialt, or cliapopote. It is a solid bitumen, which exists in abundance
near Havana. It may be used with great advantage in paving. It consists,
like the greater number of natural bitumens, of at least two different sub-
stances, the one soluble and the other insoluble in ether and spirits of tur-
pentine. It is the relative proportion of these two substances which imparts
to each bitumen its peculiar properties.

Bitumen of Monastier. (Haute-Loire.)— This does not soften in the least
in boiling water, and hence cannot he extracted by simple means in the large
way. It conttiins

Bituminous oil

Carbon

Water 015

Gas and vapours . . . ^040

Quart?, and nnca . . . ■GOO

Fenuginous argil . . . ^210

1000

This bitumen of the Ilaute-Loire difters essentially from those of Seyssel
and Bastennes by its infusibility in boihng water, and its fusibility in alcohol.
— Annates des Mines, torn 13, liv. Hi,

New Mode of Preparing Carburet led Hydrogen Gas for the purpose of Illu-
mination. By M. Selligue, Engineer.

This new invention has gained for M. Selligue the premium of 2000 francs
proposed by the Soeiete d' Encouragejnent . It consists in obtaining pure
hydrogen by decomposing water by means of incandescent charcoal, and then
carburizing it by mixture during the simultaneous decomposition of another
liquid substance rich in carbon and hydrogen. Among all known substances,
that which appears to answer best is the oil of schist (I'huile de schiste).

The furnace is composed, first, of three vertical retorts, communicating
with each other, so as to form, in a manner, only one. In a double furnace
there will be six retorts. These are all open at both ends, but closed below
by sliding stoppers {counercles rode's), so that simple contact and the least
pressure is sufticient to shut them firmly. The top of each retort is closed
by a head fixed by keyed gudgeons and iron cement. Each head bears itself
a stopper, or cover, like those below.

The first retort, into which steam is introduced through a tube, communi-
cates below, by a tube twice bent, with the second, which connects at top
with the third by a similar tube, and this third retort has, below, a vertical
tube with branches, by which the gas is conducted to a refrigerator, and
thence to the gasometer. This tube dips into a trough of water, to serve as
a hydraulic closure. The third retort hears at top a funnel syphon, through
wbich the carburizing substances are introduced. 2nd. Two horizontal tubes,
placed in the sides of the vault, serve as boilers to vapourize the water ; each
communicates at one end with the first retort by an arched tube, and to the
other end is attached a funnel syphon, by which the boiler is supplied with
water. 3rd. Two furnaces. 4th. A chimney in four parts, milting at first
into two, and then into one, in order to regulate the fire with greater ease.

Operation. — Having filled with charcoal the first two retorts in each of the
(double) furnaces, and suspended chains in the two last, in order to increase
the surface, the fire is lighted, and when the retorts have attained a cherry
red heat, a gentle flow of water and oil is made through the sjiihons. The
water falling into the boilers is instantly evaporated, passes into the first
retort, then into the second, where it is deprived of its oxygen, and reaching
the third, the hydrogen alone mingles with and carries along the carbonated
hydrogen simultaneously formed from the oil in the last retorts. The united
gases then issue from the lower cud of the third retort, and press off tlirongli
the branches, while the more volatile matters arc deposited in the reservoir
of water. — Annates des Mines, Oct. 1838.

Foui'ielle's Filtering Apparatus.

A trial has been had in the courts at Paris, relative to the vaUdity of tlio
claims of the " French Filtering Company," who are now the possessors of
Fouviellc's patent, to an exclusive riglit, fouiulcd on the merits of this inven-
tion. It was luged by the opposing party, that this right, being dependent
on the application of high pressm-e, is iuvaliilated by the fact of a prior use
of the same principle to the process of filtration, as was shown by brevets

340

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Skptembkr,

(patents) of an anterior date. This plea was answered on liehalf of tlie Com-
pany, by the proof that Fonvielle's mode of applyhig high pressure was en-
tirely (Urterent from those of his predecessors. These were to force the water
through tissues of felt, wool, or flax, or t/ironyh skills, while Fonvielle's con-
sists in filtering througli snnd, poundeil stones, ffrni'el, and oilier inert animal
srtbstatices, which is so different, that previous to this date it had been found
impracticable to apply high pressure to such filters, the efl'eet being inevitably
to overturn the filtering bed and confound the materials with the hquidtobe
filtered; — that this being the dirticulty, in tliis consisted the merits of the
invention. >1. Fonviclle had discovered the means of so retaining and com-
pressing the materials, as to be able to npply liigli jiressiu'C, the sole agent
which can operate on great masses of watci'. In a word, filtration on a great
scale is the j)rincipal object of Fonvielle's patent. It was shown that the
greatest ctfcct of preceding methods was to filter five heclolitres ( = 132 gal-
lons) per day, whereas it was proved that filters of the " French Company,"
of the same capacity, would give in the same time fifteen hundred and two
thousand r/allons, or even more. Hence the evidence of a new idea — a great
and real invention.

But the patent of the Company jiroves its value by two other new and
happy applications ; the first is the facility of cleaning the filter, without
unpacking it, by a simple play of opening stop cocks, continued for 5 or 6
minutes only. This alone is enougli to condemn every other filter which
cannot, like those of the Company, clean tliemsehes. The second is the hap-
py use of the laws of hydraulic level, in raising the filtered water to a height
nearly equal to that of the fountain head, a principle of the highest utihty in
the domestic and other arts, while all other filters leave the water simply at
their feet.

The honomable testimony of the Academy of Sciences, evidenced by the
report of Arago, was brought into view, and the advocate for the Company,
at the conclusion, read another communication, addressed to the President
from the same academician, containing some new developments of the scien-
tific question, and treating this delicate and interesting subject in the enUght-
ened manner, and with the energetic precision, which distinguish his pen.
We cannot withhold the following extract from it : —

" I will add a few- words on the merits of the question. This will only be
pursuing the task I have long imposed on myself, of defending the rights of
inventors, dead or li^^ng, against imitators, copyists, and plagiaries — a task
in which, to the great displeasure of the EngUsh, I have been allowed to
restore to our cmnitrymian, Papin, the honovu' of the discovery of the steam
engine, and of steam boats.

" When the law declai'es in general terms (en these generale) that a patent
shall never be granted for a simple idea, it goes perhaps beyond its own
object J but it thereby shows the complete separation which society ought to
make between a theoretical and a practical machine. To transform au appa-
ratus whith works with ditiicnlty, or scarcely works at all, into a powerful,
common, economical machine, which, occasionally, changes completely the
uii'i.iufactm'ing aspect of a whole nation^nothing more is sometimes requisite
than an apparently insignificant alteration, vvliich, in the shops, might be
designated liy the simple term, ' a turn of the hand.'

" The machine w hich we owe to the genius of Watt, includes no principle
which is not seen in the much older macliine of Neucomen, only the steam
was no lo!iger condensed in the body of the pump, but in a separate cylinder.
What did Bramah add to the princijiles of Stevin and Pascal in the liydraidic
press ? Nothing, absolutely nothing ! He only modified the shape of the
large piston, so as to render it completely tight and staunch. Watt and Bra-
mah arc none the less regarded as the principal and most skilful promoters of
British industry. M. Fonvielle may have added to the results of his prede-
cessors only his demonstration of the jiossibiUty of filtering under strong
pressm'e through filters par eucellevce. composed of sand and povuided sand-
stone ; he may have only proved that the two materials in question can be so
disposed as to maintain their situation under the action of rapid currents, and
not to mingle with and be carried away with the fluid mass, — he is stUl an
inventor : but he has dono more ; he has found the means of cleaning the
filter without dismomitiug it, without haniUing it. The two inventions united
form a process whose efficiency is not contested, and winch provide the means
of filtering vast masses of water with very small macliines. Nothing like this
existed before. Never, for example, had the city of Paris suspected the pos-
sibility of filtering, on the spot, the water of the puldic fountains. Now, om
citizens are certain of soon seeing this valuable improvement reaUzed. The
only water not subjected to filtration will be that for washing the streets.
Well ! this might have been possiljle without any one having recently inveuted
any thing ! The able engineers of Paris, the hydraulic engineers of London,
wlicre the subject of filtering was not long since an object of parliamentary
investigation, might have had in their eye all the elements of a simple, elegant,
economical solution of the problem, and yet no one has seized hold of it !
Vain supposition ! Such pretensions cannot be supported, without opposing
the most usefid thing in the world — common sense itself.

" The name of the engineer Thom of Greenock, has been cited in the me-
moir of our adversaries. This name, which was parenthetically introduced
into my report, did not prevent the celebrated Myliie, engineer of the New
River, the chief hydraulic establishment in Lon<loM, from considering Fon-
vielle's apparatus as a good and useful invention. Wlicn lately Mr. Mylne
came to Paris with Mr. Cm-tis, President of the Bank of England, for the
purpose of inquiring relative to a project for tlie distribution of water at each
house, and oa wlucU occasion the Municipal Council charged me with the

preparation of the account of charges, Mr. Mylne declared to me t u . -
(ended to apply to the ' French Company,' and purchase from thembat e in
jO their process of filtering.— iJec. Soc. Polylech., Juillet, 1838. the right

CHELSEA WATER-WORKS.

W.^TEB may with truth be called the blood of cities ; the first introduction
of it into London was by leaden pipes in 123(j, in the reign of Henry UL ; it
was brought from Tyliovu-ne. In 1285 was erected, in Westchcap, a great
stone castellated cistern of lead called the Great Conduit. The 'Tun upon
Cornhill was constructed in 1401. Perilous-pool, Muswell-hill, Hackuey,
St. Marylebone, and Hampstead-hcath, were the sources fi'om whence the
supplies were derived ; and new conduits were in tlie year 1510 erected iu
Lothbury and Coleman-street. " The brook of Tybourne (according to Pen-
nant) furnished nine conduits for supplying the city with water. Here the
Lord Mayor had a banqueting-honse, to which he and the Aldermen were
accustomed to repair on horseback, attended by their ladies in wagons, and
after viewing the conduit (query, if they tasted the water), retm-ned to the
city, where they were magnificently entertained." Thames water was first
supplied to the houses of the citizens in 1582, by engines at London Bridge,
made liy Peter Maurice; the water was carried over the steeple of St. Mag-
nus, and tlience into the houses in Thames-street, New Fish-street, and Grace-
church-street, up to Cornhill, by the north corner of Lcadenhall, then the
highest ground iu the city. Here the water from the principal pipe rose into
a standard, rushed out through foirr spouts, one running each way at every
side. Tlie chief condiuts were at Leadenhall, Cripplegale, Paul's-gate, Old
Fish-street, Crippleg.ate, Oldbourue, Fleet-bridge, and Aldgate. Stowe de-
scribes that at Fleet-bridge as having the image of St. Christopher at the top,
and lower down surrounded with angels, with sweet-sounding bells before
them, whereupon, by means of an engine within the tower, they " dyvers
hours of the day and night, chymed suclie a hymme as was appointed." In
West Sniithfield was a pool, which, according to Bmton, was called Horse-
pool, and another in St. Giles's, and divers fair wells and springs, by which
the city was served with sweet water. These conduits continued till they
were destroyed liy the fire of 1606.

The vast improvement, by means of pipes conveying water to every house,
is but of comparatively modem date : to the ancients it was not in use, at
least only in the more splendid habitations of the rich. The larger kind of
iron pipes called mains tliey had not discovered the means to fabricate.
Water was conveyed [to their cities by means of those gigantic aqueducts,
whose ruins are the admiration of posterity. That at Rome called Nuo Auio,
according to Frontibus and Strabo, was six miles and a-half in length, was
formed of 1,000 arches. That called Aqua Martia was taken from the "Tiber,
and was 38 miles in length, and brought the water in a wandering course
43 miles, pait of it having a subterranean channel. The nine earlier aque-
ducts distributed into Rome 14,018 quinaria, whicli is equal to 28,000,000
cubic feet, and when all the aqueducts were in operation the supplv must
have exceeded 50,000,000, which, putting the population at 4,000,000, 13
cubic feet would give above a hogshead and a-half of water to each uiliabi-
tant.

The first foundation of the Chelsea waterworks was by act of Parliament
passed in tlie year 1724. Two years afterwards tlie basin in the Green-park
was constructed to supjily Whitehall and part of Westminster. They also
formed the reservoir in Hyde-park. At that time they possessed the means
of supplying 10,000 houses, at a cheaper rate than the New River Company.
In the year 1742 tlie extraordinary severity of tlie winter destroyed the works,
and a new act was passed to increase their capital. In 1767 the dady supply
raised by tlieir works amounted to 1,740 tuns ; it was shortly after increased
to 3,500; in 1809 it exceeded 6,500! and it nowmayaniount to 20,000 tuns.
The more easily attainable any article of general necessity and consump-
tion, the more fastidious in his choice Ijccomcs the consumer. The supply of
water to the metropolis iu the past century was not only more scanty, but of
a quality very much inferior even to what it was some years since ; the in-
habitants of third and fourth rate houses were then content to receive a mode-
rate supply. The great convenience of which, and the small item it made in
the yearly expenditure, tlie saving of labour and of time it aft'orded, were
found so beneficial, that its quality was hardly considered, or if it was, to find
a remedy was supposed almost hopeless. In lai'ger houses, quantity was the
object considered, that for draught being otherwise procured, and in the
smaller tenements the convenience was unknown ; but as enterprise and com-
petition became extended, it was nccessan- that not only the quantity, but
the quality should be considered. To effect this object, many difterent plans
have, therefore, been tried ; many have failed, after enormous sums expended.
The means by which the Chelsea company have endeavoured to succeed has
been by applying the princijile of the filter on a scale of greater magnitude
than has hitherto been attempted.

It had always been the opinion of foreign chemists, that although water,
in certain and moderate quantities, might by this means be brought to a great
degree of purity, yet it would be found, if attemiited to any great extent, that
the earthy, limeous, and vegetable particles would be only held in solution,
and the water would still continue to deposit whatever impurities it jiossessed,
acquired from the source from whence derived ; also, that even if it gained a
greater degiee of piuity from the process, yet that a surface of water exposed

in a ijuic»eent state in « tank, shallow in comparison to its extent, would

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

341

imbibe from the depositions of the atmosphere, eartliy particles sufficient to
counterbalance whatever gooil the filter might have ett'ecterl. It had also
been thought that the nature of the Thames water is such, from the variety
of the deposits it receives in its course through tlie metropolis and its pre-
cincts, that no process woidd prove sufficiently effective to give it that degree
of purity spring water possesses ; and that although the water of the Thames
lias the property of piirifjnng itself, and will afterwards remain in that state
longer than almost any other, and for that reason is always preferred by sea-
going slups, also for many fitlier purposes, among which may he mentioneil
that none other is found to lie of equal value in porter breweries ; yet, that as
the process wliich goes on by the chemistrj' of natme in the closed tank, or
in the cask in the hold of the sliip, requires time for its operations, and the
constant and speedy supply nccessaiT for daily use not allowing this, so jiecu-
liar a property could not be brought into action. It was the constant com-
plaint that the water received into the reservoir of houses was both nauseous
to the taste, unwholesome to the constitution, and hardly fit for domestic
pvu'poses ; the fact was, that being in a state of chemical action dm'iug its
state of transition, it could not, by possibility, be otherwise. It may be
thought that, submit river water to whatever process you may, you can never
render it as pure as that procured immediately from the spring. This to a
certain extent may be true ; yet, as all springs must partake of the nature of
the soils through which they pass, they will all more or less be found to pos-
sess different quantities, and they will all, without exception, acquire that
ju'operty called " hardness." In such a state the element loses some of its
most wholesome and nutritive properties, and plants and flowers watered im-
mediately from a spring, especially if that spring is covered, are seldom found
to thrive, and are frequently destroyed ; you will often find gardeners filling
a rcsen'oir for future use, thus giving themselves double labour, the beneficial
effects of which they find in the improved state of their plants, although not
always aware of the canse. Nothing but exposure to the light and air will
elTectually deprive water of that pernicious quality. The Thames, flowing
through a tract of country destitute of minerals, can only receive into its
composition those bodies which form the nature of the soii through which it
passes ; and although there are other rivers, such as the Neva and the Volga
which are more translucent, and are found to make less deposit, thev are not
more wholesome nor do they possess its peculiar properties, ^\^len it enters
the bounds of the metropolis, the adulteration which it receives unfits it for
domestic use, but as that adulteration is immediate, the deleterious particles
it receives have not sufficient time afforded effectually to amalgamate them-
selves with its other comjionent parts, and by immediately sulimitting it to
the process of a mechanical filter, its purity liecomcs restored without its
parting from those beneficial properties which as a running stream it has
acquired. The attempt, therefore, of obtaining water for the capital of greater
purity than the Thames, by seeking the source of supply from any spring or
rivrdet a few miles distant, is a work of supererogation, and will liot and has
not, been found to answer; the before-mentioned causes will continue to
operate. That water will be found the best whose exposiu'e to the air has
been longest, and whose state of motion has been greatest. We do not mean
to say that there are not limits to this ; but it always has been found, without
there are natural and local causes to prevent it, that such is the case, provided
always the impurities it contracts in the immediate vicinity of its consump-
tion are removed. We proceed to show how that object lias been attempted
to be attained, and we think effected. There is also another cause, which,
to a much greater extent than is commonly supposed, must render harmless
whatever bad effects the immense drains and sewers which open into the
Thames from the metropolis would otherwise create — that is, the action of
the tide ; the river in its fall to the sea, from its declination carries down with

it all the impurities it has collected in its cotuse ; it leaves none behind that

it does not is clear; its depth for ages has neither increased nor decreased,
and did not artificial and local causes operate, it would be as pure near its
mouth as at its source ; for in the same proportion as its stream woidd become
turiiiil from all it .had received in its way, so the width it acquires as it ap-
proaches its embouchere counteracts and mdlifies the effect. Now the tide,
acting against the cun-ent, carries back lint a small ])ortion of the deposit it
has brought into the sea, the saline particles of which, mixing with the waters
of the river, in a great measure neutraUzes the eft'ect of whatever impurities
it may have received.

In the beginning of the year 1810 the Chelsea Waterworks were removed
from the original site, at the east end of the cut made from the river, which
now forms the Belgrave-basin, to the bank of the Thames, nearly opposite
the Red-house, Battersca. The ground which they occupy is about six acres
and a-half. The supply of water from the river was, till' the late improve-
ments, received into the mains from a building called a Polphin, which stood
about 50 feet from the bank. This was fabricated of brick, till mthin about
eight feet of the siu^ace of the stream at low-water mark ; above it was a
structure of iron, pierced in holes in every direction, through which the ele-
ment flowed, and which, by preventing any large or foreign body from pass-
ing, to a certain extent supplied the purpose of a filter. A little higher, near
the Itanelagh-hasin, was the mouth of a large sewer ; and thus this contrivance
coidd not by any possibility have been of much use in purifying the supply.
This building has been removed, and the main pipes are now laid across the
bottom of the bed of the river to the Stirrey side, from whence they receive
their supply, and which, from having nothing but a few land-drains' opening
into it for some miles, is in a great degiee free from those objections which
Uie densely populated state of the northern side was the occasion. The wnter

then being received from the mains into the first reservou-, which is 100 feet
in length by 70 in breadth, .-ind ten feet deep, then enters a basin lined with
stone and brick, from which it is forced up into the southern reservoir, 300
feet in length, by 160 in breadth, and the northern one, 540 by 1)0 feet.
Both these reservoirs are lined throughout with what is called brick-on-edge
paving, and being located at a considerable elevation aliove the fiftering beds,
the water flows from them into the filters, of which there are two — the
southern one 2t0 feet by 180, and the northern 351 in length liy 180 in
breadth, the latter being placed at a greater elevation than the other. Having
passed through both of these, it is slowly received into an open culvert imme-
diately from them, of about 15 feet in depth, and from thence being taken
into the mains, some of which pass under, and are affixed to the bridge over
the Belgrave canal, then supplies the district. The formation of these filter-
ing beds, and the g.ieat scale on which they are constructed, is curious. The
sides are elevated about 12 feet above the level of the ground, strongly em-
banked, and covered with turf; the bottom is formed of clay, which is 18
inches in depth. Ujion this are placed, upon the northern 9, and in the
southern 11, brick tunnels, which extend from one end of the bed to the
other, each three feet in diameter, and two Ijricks in thickness, and so con-
structed that every other brick is left out, and the water has a free passage
through them. They are then surrounded on all sides, and covered to the
height of 24 inches with gravel stones ; above this is a layer of six inches of
a shelly concrete, and upon that a bed of coarse sand, upon which is another
of fine sand. These two beds may be about five feet in ilejith. Between the
tunnels placed on the sand are wooden troughs, three feet in length by six
inches in width, and three deep, at about ten feet distance from each other.
The use of these — and it is most ingenious — is to ])rcvent the water from
washing the sand into holes when it is admitted into the filter. The deposit
which the water makes on the surface of the sand is easily removed, and re-
quires the sand, with which it becomes mixed to the de|ith of two or three
inches, to be raked off once in three weeks or a month, which is doue in a
few hours, the intervals of removal depending, to a certain extent, on the
action of the wind and tide. A steam-engine of 120 horse power raises the
water, to the anuuint of 3,500 gallons a minute, or upwards of 5,000,000
gallons in the couise of the day. The expense, we understand, has exceeded
the sum of 60,000/.— Times

Draining of Land by Steam Power. — The drainage of land by steam
power has been extensively adopted in the feus of Lincolnshire, Cambridge-
shire, and Bedfordshire, and with immense advantage. A steam-engine of
10 horse power has been found sufficient to drain a district comprising 1,000
acres of land, and the water can always be kept down to any given distance
below the plants. If rain fall in excess, the water is thrown off by the en-
gine ; if the weather is drj', the sliuces can be opened, and water let in from
the river. The engines are requu-ed to work foiu- mouths out of the twelve,
at intervals varying with the season, where the districts are large ; the expense
of drainage by steam power is about 2s. Gd. per acre. The first cost of the
work varies with the different nature of the substrata, but generally it amounts
to 20s. per acre for the macliineiT and btiildings. An engine of 40 horse
power, and scool-wiieel for draining, and requisite buildings, costs about
4,000A and is capable of draining 4,000 acres of land. In many places in the
fens, land has been i)Hrchascd at from 10/. to 20/. per acre, which has been
so much improved by dr.iinage as to be worth GO/, to /O/. per acre. The fol-
lowing list shews the number of steam-engines employed for this purpose in
England : — Deeping Fen, near Spalding, Lincolnshire, containing 25,000
acres, is drained by two engines of 80 aud CO horse power. March West Fen,
in Cambridgeshire, contaiuing 3, GOO acres, by one engine of 40 horse power.
Misserton Moss, with Everton aud Graingley Carrs, containing about 6,000
acres, eftectually drained by one engine of 40 horse power. Littlejiort Fen,
near Ely, about 28,000 acres, drained by two steam-engines of 30 or 40 horse
power each. Before steam was used there were 75 wind engines in this dis-
trict, a few of which are still retained. Middle Fen, near Soham, Cambridge-
shire, about 7,000 acres, draineil by an engine of GO horse power. Water-
beach Level, between Ely and Cambridgeshire, containing 5,000 acres, by a
steam-engine of CO horse power. Magdalen Fen, near Lynn, in Norfolk,
contains upwards of 4,000 acres, and is comiiletely drained by a steam-engine
of 40 horse-power. March Fen (Ustrict, Candmdge, of 2,700 acres, is kept
in the finest possible state of drainage by a 30 horse-power engine. Feltwell
Fen, near Brandon, 2,400 acres, by an engine of 20 horse power. Soham
More, Cambridgeshire, formerly (as its name implies) a lake of 1,600 acres,
drained by a 40 horse-power engine, the lift at this place being very great. —
Lincoln paper.

In the first volume of our Journal, p. 98, will be found a vei7 interesting
jiaper on the above subject, accompanied by drawings of the water-wheel. —
Ed. C. E. & A. JoUR.NAL.

THE IRON TRADE.

The following paper, " On the stale and prospects of the iron trade in
Scotland and South Wales, in May, 1839," was read before the Liverpool
Polytechnic Society, on the I'ilh June, by Joseph Johnson, Esq., iron mer-
chant, Liverpool.

The vast and increasing importance of the iron trade to this country must
be 30 apparent to the most indifferent observer, that 1 feel fidly persuaded I

342

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[September,

need otfer no apology to you for iiitriuling upon your notice tlie consideration
of a sulyect tliat appears, at first sight, so completely without the legitimate
sphere of the ohjects for the promotion of which this society was established.
The daily increasing magnitude of this branch of British industry is surpris-
ingly great ; but to enable you to obtain a clear view of its rapid extension, 1
have extracted from Ur. Ure's valuable " Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures,
and Mines," tlie following slietch of its progi'ession from 1740 to 182G. The
Doctor observes, p. G87, that, "Till 1740, the smelting of iron ore in Eng-
land was executed entirely with wood charcoal, and ores employed were
principally brown and red liematites. Earthy iron ores were also smelted ;
but it does not appear that the clay ironstones of the coal basins were then
used, though they constitute almost the sole smelting material of the present
day. At that era there were fifty-nine blast furnaces, whose annual product
was 17,350 tons of cast-iron — that is for each furnace, 294 tons per annum,
and 5 J tons per week. By the year 1788 several attempts had been made to
reduce iron ore witli coked coal ; and there remained only twenty-four char-
coal blast furnaces, which produced altoget!ier 13,000 tons of cast-iron in the
year, being at tlie rate of 546 tons for each per annum, or nearly 11 tons per
week. This remarkable increase of 1 1 tons for 5 J was due chiefly to tlie
substitution of cylinder blowing machines, worked with pistons, for the com-
mon wooden bellows.

" Already fifty-three blast-furnaces, fired with coke, were in activity, which
furnished in loto 48,800 tons of iron in a year, and which raises the annual
product of each furnace to 907 tons, and the weekly product to about 175
tons. The quantity of cast-iron produced that year (1788) by means of coal
was 48,800 tons, and that bv wood charcoal was 13,100, constituting a total
quantity of 61,900.

" In 1796, the wood charcoal process was almost entirely given up, when
the returns of the iron-trade, made by desii'e of Mr. Pitt, for establishing
taxes on the manufacture, afforded the following results : — 121 blast-fiu'iiaces,
furnishing in the whole per annum 124,879 tons, giving an average amount
of each furnace of 1032 tons.

" In 1802 Great Britain possessed 168 blast-furnaces, yielding a product
of about 170,000 tons, and this product amounted, in 1806, to 250,000 tons,
derived from 227 coke fmnaces, of which only 159 were in activity at once.

" In 1820 the make of iron had risen to 400,000 tons, and in 1826 to about
600,000 tons.

" From 1823 to 1839 the iron-trade saw many fluctuations. The price of
forge pig-iron varying from 21. 10s. to 10/. per ton at the works. But the
make of this country was still increasing, and, in 1838, I believe it reached
to upwards of 1,000,000 tons."

For many interesting particulars connected with the iron-trade of the
United Kingdom, and particularly for a detailed account of the introduction
of the heated air-blast, by Mr. Neilson, of Glasgow, I must refer you to the
excellent work from which I have made the foiegoing extracts.

The introduction of the hot-blast formed quite a new era in the iron trade,
and the consequent increase of produce of iron, particularly in Scotland,
where this invention was first appUcd, has been incredibly great, and is still
progressing. I have been very kindly furnished by a friend, who is intimately
connected witli the Scotch iron trade, with a list of all the furnaces now in
operation in Scotland, the numljer out of blast, the number erecting, and
about to be erected ; I have every confiilence in the accuracy of my friend's
information, and have no doubt but that the correctness of the list may be
relied upon. This list shows that there are in Scotland fifty furnaces in blast,
five out, seven building, and twenty-six contemplated. With the permission
of the meeting, I vrill read over the names of the works, and their respective
owners.

Names of

In

Out of

Build-

Contem

Works.

Owners.

Blast.

Blast.

ing.

plated.

Clyde

James Dunlop. . ..

. 4 ..

... 1 .. ..

.... 4

Calder

W. Dixon and Co.

. 6 ...

. . . — .. . .

. . — . .

. . . .

Carron ....

CaiTon Companv

. 4 ..

... 1 ....

. . . .

. , . .

Muirkirk . .

Muirkirk Iron Co.

. 2 ...

. . . — . . . .

Devon ....

Devon Iron Co. . .

2 ..

... 1 ....

Shotts

Shott's Iron Co.. .

. 2 ...

... —

.. 1 ..

Monkland . .

Monkland Iron Co

. 5 .. .

. .. — . . ..

.. .,

Gartsherrie .

. W. Baird and Co.

7 . . .

. . . — . . . .

.. 1 ..

.... 6

Dundyvan . .

Dunlop and Co. . .

. 5 ...

. . . — . . . .

.. 1 ..

.. .. 4

Summerlee . .

Wilsons and Co . .

. 4 ..

... — . . . .

. . ..

.. .. 2

Castle-hill . .

. Shott's Iron Co...

. 2 ..

...

. .

Bona

Bona Iron Co. . .

. 1 ..

... — . . ..

.. — . .

. . . . —

Govan

W. Dixon, Esq. . .

. 2 ..

...

— . .

.. .. 4

Wllsontown.

. AV. Dixon, Esq. . .

. 1 ..

Coltness . . .

. Mr. Holdsworth

. 2 ..

Omoa

. W. Young

. 1 ..

™

Carnbroe .

. Alison and Co. . .

.. 2 ..

4

Galston . . .

. M'Callam and Co.

... 1 ...

Blair

Mr. J. M'Donald

.. 2 ..

Housle . . .

Mr. Galloway. . . .

.. — ..

... 1 ...

.. — ..

.... 2

26

50 5 7

Supposing the whole of these furnaces to be in full activity by the end of

the year 1842, and giving the average produce of eighty tons per week to

each furnace, we shall have Scotland alone producing upwards of 360,000

tons of cast-iron per year, nearly equalling the make of the United Kingdom
twenty years ago. Sixty-five out of eighty-seven furnaces I have enumerated,
are situated in or about the Monklands, to the south and south-east of Glas-
gow, and distant from that city seven to ten miles. The works in that dis-
trict have the command of the blackband ironstone, the possession of which
my informant states to be so great an advantage, that without it, the trade
would not l)e worth following. The furnaces in the Monklands, by using
this combustible blankband ironstone, may average 100 tons in seven days
each, but those which have not this material, do not yield nearly so large a
quantity. Therefore, bearing in mind that the I'lesbyterians stop their fur-
naces one shift, or nearly twelve hours on each Sunday, we may safely put
down the average yield of the furnaces in Scotland at eighty tons per week each.

Three of tlie largest makers of iron in Scotland are directing their attention
to the manufacture of bar-iron, and with every prospect of most complete
success. The Monkland Iron Company are erecting mills and forges capable
of making 230 tons malleable iron per week. Dunlop, Wilson, and Co., of
Dundyvan, are making pre])arations to enable them, when in full operation,
to make 300 tons of Ijars, &c., weekly, and they will be partially at work in
two months. William Dixon, Esq., of Govan Iron Works, has now ready for
immediate working, capabilities for producing 200 tons of malleable iron per
week. His mills and forges are on the outskirts of Glasgow, and are known
as the Glasgov\' Iron Works, at the Town Head.

The Muirkirk Iron Company have five puddling furnaces, rolling mill, &c.,
but they are not making more than about twenty tons of bars weekly.

This statement comprises the jiresent, and so far as is known, the prospec-
tive operations in the malleable iron trade in Scotland, with the exception
of two small forges, the Lancefield and the Gartness, where they puddle a
little from white iron.

It Was for a long time considered doulitful whether the Scotch cast-iron,
made as it is with raw bituminous coal and heated air, would answer for mal-
leable iron, and several experiments have lately been made with a view to
ascertain more nearly than had hitherto been done its applicability for this
purpose. So far as I have been aide to learn, these experiments have been
attended with most satisfacto.y results. I was informed a few days ago by
Edmund Buckley, Esq., of Manchester, who has for a long time past taken
a verv livelv interest in these matters, that in some trials recently made by
Messrs. Beecroft, Butler, and Co., at their works, at Kirkstall, near Leeds,
they found 4 cwt. 2 qrs. of Scotch pig-iron to yield, by the process of boiling
instead of jiuddling, blooms of 4 cwt. 1 qr. 8 lbs. each, showing only the
comparatively trifling waste of 20 lbs. in a charge of 4 cwt. 2 qrs., and the
quality of the iron was found to lie at least equal to any made with cold air.
Indeed, many thousand tons of Scotch cast-iron have been purchased from
time to time bv the iron masters of South Wales to mix with their own
country metal in their puddling furnaces, thus affording unquestionable proof
of its fitness for conversion into malleable u'on. I have no doubt that we
may speedily receive extensive supplies of bar-iron from Scotland, such as we
have hitherto received principally from South Wales and Staffordshire.

I must now ask your indulgent attention for a little while longer, and re-
quest the favour of vour company on a very interesting tour through the
mineral districts of the counties of Gloucester, Monmouth, and Glamorgan.
I class the iron works of the Forest of Dean with those of South Wales, as
well from their proximity to the latter, as from the circumstances of their
being worked by those eminent South Wales iron masters, Messrs. Guest,
Lewis, and Co., and W. Crawshay and Sons. At the " Cinderford " works
there are four furnaces, three in blast, and one out, pioducing on an average
from 100 to 120 tons each of excellent forge pig-iron weekly. At the
" Sewdley " works there are two furnaces, one in and one out of blast, pro-
ducing about ninety tons of iron per week ; and at the Park-end works there
are two furnaces, one in blast, and the other out, making about eighty tons
per week.

The difl'erences in the produce of furnaces may be accounted for in a variety
of wavs ; some are larger than others, some have superior blowing engines,
and others mav be under better management. The furnaces I have named
are all that are' on the Forest of Dean ; but large quantities of iron ore are
raised here, and are sent, as well as the iron, to different works in South
Wales and StaflTordshire. The shipments are made at a wharf a little below
Newnbam.

Leaving the forest, we will proceed to Newport. Here you will find a
most excellent river navigation— the Usk, and at all seasons of the year may
be seen large numbers of vessel!, of various tonnage, waiting to receive the
mineral produce of Monmouthshire, in the shapes of coal and iron. Having
viewed the port, and noted all its facilities for shipment, and especially the
magnificent dock now constructing for affording to the shipjiing increased
conveniences, we will, if you please, proceed to the interior of the county,
and notice the various works in the order in which we reach them.

The first works we arrive at are those of Capel Hanbury Leigh, Esq., near
Pontypool, and Jire called the Pontypool Iron Works. Here you will find
three fmnaces in blast, and one out ; two blown with cold air, and one with
hot. There are not any furnaces erecting, or about to be erected here. The
make of these three furnaces is about 300 tons per week. The hot-air pigs
are sold chiefly for foundry purposes, and the cold-air iron is used by Mr.
Leigh, for tin-plates, of which he has been for a long time past a very eminent
maker. The yield of the ironstone at these works is about 30 per cent. ; but
Mr. Leigh imports large quantities of the richer ores from Lancashire and
Cornwall, for the improvement of the quality of his iron.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

34.3

A little further up the valley we reach the works of the Peiitwyn and
Golynos Iron Company, where you will find five furnaces all in hlast, and one
aljout to be erected ; tliree are blown with hot-air, and two with cold. The
produce of the five furnaces is about 450 tons per week. They have just
completed first-rate forges and rolling mills, calculated to make .'550 tons of
bar and other mallealde iron per week. About a mile above these works,
you find those of the British Iron Comjiany, at .Vbersychan. Here are four
furnaces in blast, all blown with cold air, and two ont of Ijlast. The four
make about 380 tons of pig-iron per week, from wliich they make al)ont 270
tons of mallealile iron, and the remainder is made into castings, iS;c.

We next arrive at the \'arteg Iron Company's works, where you will fiiul
five furnaces all in blast, fom' blown with hot, and one with cold air. They
l)roduce aliout 350 tons of pig-h*on jier week, from whicli they make al)0ut
160 tons of liars and rails, about twenty tons of castings for engine uses, &c.,
and the remainder is sold for foundry inuposes.

Pursuing our course for two miles further up this valley, we arrive at the
works of tlie Blaenavon Iron Company, where we find five fiu'naces all in
blast, Idown with cold air, and six others erecting. Tliis mineral projierty, I
am told, is one of the best and most vahialjle in the county of Monmouth,
and these works have been long distini^'uished for the sujierior strength, and
general excellence of their iron. These five furnaces produce about 400 tons
of cast-iron per week, about one-half of whicli is refined, and part of it made
into caljle iron, and the remainder is sold for tin-])latcs and foundry work.
Tliis company are erecting extensive forges and rolling mills, a4nl will, in a
few years, contribvite largely to the supply of bar-iron and rails.

We have now arrived at at the extremity of tlie first valley, and, crossing
the mountain, we will descend to .Vliergavenny. The rolling-mills on the
left-hand side are those of the Garndyrris Iron Company, and have been
worked for many years Ijy the late firm of Messrs. Ilills and Wheely. They
are now united to the Blaenavon Iron Works, and are carried on by the same
company.

By the time we have reached .\bergavenny, I strongly suspect that yon will
feel disposed to enjoy the comforts of a good dinner, an evening walk in that
most delightful country, and a refreshing sleep, for all of which gratifications
you will here find the most ample provision.

Next morning, after the usual and very necessary iirelirainaries, we resume
our tour, and in aliout five miles we reach the works of the Clydaeli Iron
Company, at Llanelly. Here are four furnaces at work, and all blown with
cold air. They produce aljont 320 tons of pig-iron jier week, from wliich
they make about 230 tons of bars, &c., and the remainder is run into castings
and liallast iron.

Tlie Nant-y-glo Works are the next we arrive at, situated, as their name
imports, in the Valley of Coal. Here, some years ago, was expended upwards
of 50,000/. in attempts to estabUsh a profitable iron work, but without suc-
cess ; and not until the property was purchased by the present talented and
enteriirising proprietors, Messrs. Joseph and Crawshay Bailey, was any re-
mnncriition reaUsed. These works now rank amongst tlie very first class,
ilessrs. Bailey have, within the last few years, purcliased the Beaufort Iron
Works. At the two cstabhsbraeuts they have fourteen furnaces in blast, ten
blown with cold and four with hot-air, and I am informed that they intend
erecting four others very soon. Their make of pig-iron is from 1200 to 1300
tons per week, from which they make about 750 tons bars, rails, and rods,
and the remainder is sold for foundry purposes.

Near the Nant-y-glo works, and situated in the same valley, are the Coal-
brook Vale Company's works, consisting of tliree furnaces, all blown with
cold air, and another is about to be erected. The make of the three furnaces
is 160 to 180 tons of cast-iron per week, all of which they make into castings,
or dispose of for that jmrpose.

A mile lower down this valley you reach the Blaina and Cwm Celyn Iron
Company's iron works. These two properties have recently been piu-chased
by a joint-stock company, and promise well for their proprietors. Messrs.
Russell and Browns, the former proprietors, are tlie managing directors. At
Blaina tliey have two furnaces in blast, and one about to be erected, all blown
with cold air. They yield about 120 tons of pig-iron per week, wliich is
nearly all made into castings on the spot. At Cwm Celyn they are building
four furnaces, the aitire produce of whicli is to be made into mallealile iron.
We have now finished om- inspection of the works in the second valley, and
will proceed to the third, which is called Ebbw Vale, from the river Ebbw
flowing through it.

The first wprks we reach are the Beaufort, which I have already informed
you, belong to Messrs. Bailey, and theii' produce I have included in the return
for Nant-y-glo.

Proceeding onwards, we airive at the Ebbw Vale works, the property of
Messrs. Ilarfords, Davies, and Co., who are afso the owners of the Su-howey
iron works, situated in tlie next valley. At Ebbw Vale they have three fur-
naces in operation, and are biuhhng a fourth. They lilow one furnace with
hot, and two with cold air. These furnaces are vciy productive, yielding 100
tons per week each. At Sirhowey, they have four furnaces in Ijlast, and one
undergoing repairs ; two are blown with hot, and two with cold-air. These
furnaces also make about 100 tons per week each, so that at the two works
they make about 700 tons of cast-iron weekly ; the whole of which is con-
verted into bars, rails and rods. Their make of malleable iron is from 600
to 630 tons per week.

One mile lower downi the Ebbw Vale, you will find the Victoria Iron
Works, recently established under the able suiierintendence of Roger Hop-

kins, Esq. These works belong to tlie Monmontlishire Iron and Coal Com-
pany. Only one furnace is yet at work. Init anotlicr is ready to lie blown in,
and tliey are erecting two others. Tliey have just commenced the manufac-
ture of liar-iron. I have lieen informed that they intend building ten addi-
tional furnaces lower down the valley, near to Abercarne. When in fidl
operation, they calculate on making 1000 tons of wrought or malleable iron
per week ; but this expectation will jirobaldy require a few years for its ac-
com})lisliment.

Having seen all the works in the third valley, we proceed to the fourth,
and we here find, first, the Sirhowey works, to which I have already alluded,
.and next to these, tlie works of the Tredegar Iron Company. At Tredegar,
they have five furnaces in operation, all blown with cold air ; they are biuld-
iiig two others, and contemplate the erection of two more, making nine alto-
gether. They now produce 400 to 450 tons cast-iron weekly, which is nearly
all made into bars, rails, and rods ; of these they make about 330 tons per
week.

We must now travel on to the fifth valley, in which we find only the Rhym-
ney and Bute Iron Works, belonging to the joint-stock company of that
name. Tliis is a very extensive and most valualile mineral property, and
these works bid fair very soon to rival the largest estalilishment in South
Wales. They liave now six furnaces in blast, two lilown with hot, and foiu-
with cold-air ; and they are Iniilding four others. Tlicy make about 550 tons
pig-iron per week, from which they produce 450 to ISO tons malleable iron
in the same period of time.

The whole of tlie works we have visited since we left Xe^\-[)ort, send their
iron to that port for shipment, and it is conveyed chiefly down tramroads by
locomotive-engines, and by canals.

We must now take a stretch or five or six miles to the westward, and this
will liring us to the hitherto unrivalled estalilishmeiit of Sir John Guest,
Lewis, and Co., at Dowlais. Here you will find fifteen fiu'naces in full acti-
vity, and four others liuilding. I find tliat I liave omitted to note liow many
were blown with hot, and how many with cold air, Init if ray memory serves
me correctly, I tliiiik five with the former, and ten witli the latter. These
fifteen furnaces make on an average 1350 tons of pig-iron per week, nearly
the whole of which is converted into malleable iron, say about 1000 tons
bars, r.ails, and rods per week. At this establishment they employ upwards
of 4000 hands.

The next works we reach are tliose of tlie Pcn-y-darran Iron Company.
They have six furnaces in blast, and one out, making about 400 to 500 tons
cast-u'on per week, and they convert nearly the wliole of it into malleable
iron, of which they produce about 400 tons per week. I liclicve the whole
of tliese furnaces .are lilown with cold air.

We have now, gentlemen, performed a very good day's work, and I am
sure you will heartily join nie in a proposal to take up our quarters for the
night at the Castle Hotel, at Merthyr Tydvil, where I give you my word that
you may make yourselves comfortalilc, if you choose. You must take care
to muster for breakfast at eight o'clock to-morrow morning, and at nine we
will go to see Mr. Crawshay, who is a veiT early man of business.

The preparations of the morning over, and our arrival having been an-
nounced at the Cyfarthfa office, we will now on our way to Cjfarhtfa see the
Iron Works, belonging to Messrs. Crawshay and Sons, and shall no doubt be
willingly accompanied by Mr. \\'illiams, then- talented engineer. These
works are in my opinion the neatest and best arranged in all South Wales,
and Mr. Williams I am sure will have pleasure in showing you the whole of
the machinery. Amongst other interesting objects for your attention, you
may here see the largest pump I ever heard of. The diameter of the working
barrel is six feet, and the length of the lift in the barrel is four feet. It
pumps up the whole of the river Tatf, and the water, after turning all the
wheels about the works, is discharged into the bed of the river. Tliis may
appear, at first view, an expensive way of olitaining power ; but experience
shows that it is cheaper than erecting a number of small engines, or trans-
mitting power through complicated machineiy. Besides the Crfarthfa,
Messrs. Crawshay have the Hirwain works, which are situated about some
six miles from Merthyr. At the two establishments there are in the whole
fourteen blast furnaces, twelve at work, all blown with cold air, and two in-
operative. They make about 900 tons of cast-uou per week, and the greatest
part of it is made into mallealile iron, of which they produce 600 to 650 tons
per week.

We next visit the Plymouth Iron Works, belonging to Messrs. Richard
and Anthony Hill. Here are seven furnaces, all in blast, and all blown with
cold air, making 700 tons of cast-iron per week on an average, and from
which they make about 600 tons into bars, &c. weekly.

About six miles from Merthyr, over a mountain, are situated the works of
the Aberdare Iron Company. Tliey have six furnaces in blast, two blown
with hot, and four with cold air, producing 350 to 400 tons cast-iron per
week. They make about 220 tons bar-iron per week, and the remainder of
their produce is disjioscd of for foundry jiurposcs.

At the Pentyrch Iron Works, near Cardiff, there are two furnaces in blast,
blown with cold air, and making about 150 tons cast-iron weekly.

The whole of the iron made at the seven last-named works is shipped at
Cardirt', where a very commodious dock has recently Iicen constructed by the
Marquis of Bute, under the superintendence of William Cubitt, Esq., F.R.S.,
C.E., for the better accommodatiou of vessels entering that port.

The statistical information I promised to obtain, 1 found I should have
great difficulty in procm-ing * * * i am compelled to offer

2D

344

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[September,

you on lliese subjects tlie o])iiiion of an excellent friend of mine, who has
ample means of fonning a tolerably correct estimate. His rcmarlvs are very
general, and as such I ofter them. He says, " To make 1000 tons of bar-
iron weekly, requires about 4000 persons of every description, but I cannot
give you the proportionate numbers to each process. The rates of wages for
men range from 12s. to 60s,, for women Gs. to lO.v., and for boys 7s. to Us.
per week." * *

There is another branch of statistics of the iron trade on which I felt
desirons of afibrding you some information, and in obtaining this 1 have been
somewhat more snceessful, though it was not procnred without very great
difficulty — I mean the proportions of the materials used in each process, and
the waste of the iron. I am glad to say that I can inform you on these most
important points with the utmost exactness. Fifteen furnaces, averaging
ninety tons each per week, wiU produce 1350 tons of cast-iron with a con-
sumption of 50 cwt. of coal per ton of iron, inclusive of calcining — say 3375
tons of coal to furnaces and calcining, and to the blowing engines 10 cwt. of
coal per ton of iron, or 675 tons. If the furnaces make 1350 tons of east-
iron, 100 tons may be deducted for ballast iron. Then refining 1250 tons, at
22cwt. 1 qr. of pig to the ton of refined iron, will produce 1110 tons refined
metal with a consumption of 9 cwt. per ton, or about 500 tons of coal weekly
for the refineries. 1110 tons refined metal will yield of puddled iron, at 21
c\rt. per ton of the metal, and 18 cwt. of coal per ton of iron, 1045 tons
with 940 tons of coal; <ind then the rolling-mills, at 22 J cwt. of puddled
iron and 20 cwt. of coal per ton, will produce 915 tons of merchant bars,
or wliat is called No. 2 iron, with a '■onsumption of 915 tons of coal. * *

\Yithin the last three years, Mr. George Crane, of the Yniscedvvyn iron
works, has (Uscovered, that by using heated air, he can melt iron ores with
the anthracite coal. M'hen I was last in South Wales, I visited Jlr. Crane,
at his works, near Swansea, in order that I might see and judge for myself
of the merits of this thscovcrj-. To enable you to form some idea of its
value and national importance, I need only inform you that it has added to
the available resources of this kingdom, for the purposes of its iron trade, a
district sixty to seventy miles long, by six to eight miles broad, al)0unding
with the anthracite or carbon coal, lime, and ironstone ; and, further, that
it has already trebled the value of this extensive mineral property. * * *

Mr. Crane has yet only one small c\ipola furnace, in which he uses an-
thracite exclusively ; for firing the other two, he uses, as I have before
remarked, three-fourths bituminous, and one-fom-tb anthracit<i coal ; and by
using anthr.tcite in this comparatively small proportion, be effects a saving
of 12s. to 13s. per ton in the cost of making iron, and verv materiallv im-
proves its quality. His furnaces also yield abetter produce, in proportions of
35 to 50 ])cr cent. His small cupola furnace No. 2, from which, when using
cold air and coke, he could obtain only twenty to twenty -two tons of east-
iron per week, liy being fired with anthracite coal alone, and blown with
hot air, lias in-oiluced, on an average of many months, tliirty-five tons per
week, and the larger furnaces, in which he uses the jn-oportions I have before
stated, have increased, the No. 1, from thirty -finir to thirty-five tons up
to forty-five to forty-nine tons ; and the No. 3, from fifty to fifty-five tip to
sixty-five to eighty tons per week. All his fiu-naces arc veiT small, and his
blowing machinei7 not so good as it ought to he, hence his very limited
produce.

The quality of this iron is very highly spoken — Mr. Crane has received
assurances from several parties who had used it for various purposes, that,
" for bars it had given great satisfaction ;" " for foundn' work it was admi-
rable ;" that. " in re-melting, it was found very fluid, and at the same time
very strong" — a union of quaUties most desirable, but rarely to be met
%vith.

With respect to the economy of this new process, Mr. Crane has, on the
average of several months, produced the Ion of cast-iron with the before-
imheard-of small quantity of 27 cwt. of coal, and he entertains the greatest
confidence tliat he will be able to reduce the quantity still fm-ther, say to 22
cwt. His main bed of anthracite coal is eighteen feet thick. I produce a
sample of it as obtained from the mine.

The maturing of tliis most important plan has cost Mr. Crane much time,
and money, and anxiety, and it is to hoped that he will be most amply re-
paid for his valuable services.

This new feature in the iron trade soon attracted the attention of capi-
■talists, both here and in London ; and the comities of Pembroke, Carmar-
then, and the western part of Glamorgan, give fair promise soon, at least
to rival Moumouthsliire and the eastern part of Glamorgan, in the manufac-
ture of iron. 1 will first enumerate the works already in operation in the
Swansea and Neatli districts, and then inform yon of the extent to which
new establishments are being erected and others contemplated.

The Maesteg iron works are worked by Messrs. Robert Smith and Co.,
with bituminous coal and hot air ; they h.ive two furnaces at work, i)ro-
ducing from 180 to 200 tons per week of cast-iron. A part of this they
make into malleable iron, but I am not aware of the exact quantity — per-
liajis, about sixty to seventy tons per week.

The make of Mr. Crane, at the Yniscedwyn iron works, I have already
acquainted you with.

The Neath Alibey Iron Company have tw'o furnaces in blast, blown with
heated air, and fired with three-fourths Intiiminous, and one-fourth anthra-
cite coal. They make about 160 tons of cast-iron per week, the chief part
of which is made into castings on the spot, for their very extensive engineer-
ing establishment.

The Millbrook Iron Company have two furnaces in blast, producing alrout
forty tons ))er week, blown with cold air.

The works erecting in the anthracite district are the Venallt, in the vale
of Neath, and belonging to our enterprising townsmen, Messrs. Jevons and
the Messrs. Arthur, of Neath. They are carried on under the firm of Je-
vons, Arthur, Wood, and Co. They are building two furnaces, and hope to
be in blast by tlie end of the year. They have a very abundant supply of
both kinds of coal and ironstone.

The Ystal-y-fera works, near Swansea, are also being erected by a Liver-
])Ool company, at the head of which stands our spirited and excellent fellow-
townsman. Sir Thomas Braneker. This company is building four furnaces,
and 1 am told that they intend building four more. Their fuel is aU of the
anthracite kind.

The Cambrian Iron Company are erecting four furnaces near Pile, on bi-
tuminous coal, anil I have been informed, intend building four fiu'naces in
tlie anthracite district.

Messrs. Mellins and Co. have one furnace near Pile.

The Gwcudrath is a new work about to be established by a London com-
pany near Swansea, but 1 could not ascertain the extent to which they intend
going. Mr. Crane informed me that he knew of twelve to fourteen new
iron works, of from two to eight furnaces each, erecting, and about to be
erected, in the anthracite district, the existence of which will be solely at-
trilmtalde to his invaluable discovery.

The aggregate number of furnaces in blast in South Wales we have found
to be 122 ; out of blast, 7 ; building, 31 ; and contemplated, 91 ; and, al-
lowing for the twelve works that Mr- Crane alludes to, as being likely to be
erected soon, only five furnaces each, or sixty in all, we thus find that pro-
bably within the next five years the number of furnaces in South Wales will
be doubled, and number 214. Allowing an average produce of eighty tons
per week for each furnace, we have the astonntUng quantity of 1,015,040,
or, in round numbers, 1,000,000 tons of cast-iron produced in this district
alone — a quantity equal to that produced last year in the whole of Great
Britain.

MOTTO FOR A LOCOMOTIVE ENGINE.

Mr. Editor. — Allow me to subscribe nmolfo for a Locomotive, the effusion
of an ingenious friend, if you have a corner of your Journal to fill up, per-
haps, for the novelty and " naivete," of the idea yon will insert it in your
next : —

■• Upon the four elements I feed,
M'liicb life and power sujqily.
To run my race of loundtess speed,
By loss of one I die."

J. H.

Important Invention in the Maufacture of Paper IIangincs. —
We were favoured a few days since with an opportunity of visiting the
extensive papei' works of Messrs. J. Evans and Co., at the Alder Mills, near
Tamworth, where we had the jdeasure of witnessing the appUcation of an
ingenious and very beautiful jiiece of mechanism, the invention of the
Messrs. Evans, to the printing of paper hangings, which cannot fail to pro-
duce a complete change in this deiiartment of our manufactures, from its
superiority over the ordinary method of block printing. The Messrs. Evans
would have brought their invention into ])ractical operation many years ago,
had if not been for the heavy duties imposed on the manufacture of stained
papcfs, which, by hniiting the consumption, rendered their invention com-
paratively useless, a fact which supplies another argument against the impo-
sition of heavy duties upon the manufacturing skill and industiy of the
country. In connection wi'h the present invention, we may here state that
the Messrs. Evans took out a patent in February last, for an important im-
provement in the manufacture of paper, by the appUcation of a pneumatic
pump in the compression of the moisture from the pulp, by wliicli means
the substance is almost instantaneously converted into paper. By this in-
vention they are, we understand, enabled to manufacture a continuous sheet
of paper six feet in width, and nearly 2,000 yards in length every hour.
This jiaper, as it is taken off the reel, is in every respect fit for immediate
use, and is conveyed on rollers to another part of the mill, in which the
printing machinery is erected, through which it is passed with great rapidity,
and receives the impression of the pattern intended to be produced, with all
the precision and beauty of finish which macliinerj- can alone effect. In
order to connect the operations of the paper making and printing machines,
the Messrs. Evans are at present engaged enlarging their premises, and when
this alteration is completed they will lie enabled to print, glaze, and emboss,
the most complicated and delicate patterns in paper hangings, in every
variety of shade or colour, as rapidly as the paper can be manufactured.
Some idea may be formed of the power of the machinery, and the im-
portance of the invention, when we state that during our visit to the mill,
the machinery was working at a rate which would produce 1,(580 yards
of jiaper per hour, consisting of two very beautiful patterns, the only hand
labour employed being that of one man, who superintended the machinery,
and four girls, employed in rolUng up the paper in pieces of the required
length. The whole process of manufacturing the paper from the pulp and

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

.343

impressing it with the most compheateil patterns, is carried on within a
comparatively small space, and with a precision and rajjidity which att'ords
another instance of the progress and triumph of science and meclianical
skill, in supi)lying the necessaries and comforts of civilised life. We under-
stand it is tlie intention of Messrs. Evans to exhibit some specimens of their
beautiful manufacture at the forthcoming meeting of the British Associa-
tion, and we feel confident that amongst the many objects of interest which
the mechanical skill ami industry of Birmingham aft'ord. tlie present will
excite not the least interest or gratification. M'c may, perhaps, here observe,
that the Messrs. Evans have also executed a vei-y ingenious design of an
envelope, which seems admirably adapted for meeting the views of govern-
ment in the contemplated change about to be made by the adojjtion of Mr.
Rowland Hill's iilan of a uniform penny postage. Specimens of this design
have been forwarded to the Chancellor of the E.xchequer for examination,
and from the security which it affords against any successful attcni])t at
forgery there appears great \irobability that it will be in part, if not wholly
adopted. — ilidlaiid Counties Herald.

Ceroguaphv. — An account has appeared in the American papers of a new
method of engraving, the nature of which appears to be unknown, though
specimens have been puWishcd. The editor of the Boston Dicity .Jdivr/iser
says he has endeavoured, but without success, to form some conjecture as to
the manner in which the work is executed,—" Being i)rinted," he oljserves,
" on a large sheet in common with the letter-press of a large newsjjaper, the
plate nuist be of the character of a wood engi-aving, yet it possesses almost
the delicacy of a copper-plate engraving, and abounds in lines which are
evdently impracticable in wood engraving- The uniformity of the lettering,
although varied by the diversity of characters afforded by the use of different
fonts of type, shows that this part of the work is of the nature of stereotype
casting, but in what manner the shading, roads, and other arbitrary lines are
inserted, it is diflicidt, from an inspection of the imin-ession, to imagine,
mdess it be by some process of etching. From what is stated by the inventor
of the rapidity and cheapness of the execution, the size to which the plate
may be extended, its adaptation to the rapid and cheap mode of jninting, by
which the ordinary book and newspaper j)rinting is executed, we cannot but
regard it as a very important and useful invention, particularly appUcalile to
the printing of majis and drawings, in connexion with lettcr-ju'ess, for the
illustration of works of almost every description." The New York Otiseri'er
further states — "The advantages of Ccrograpby are, 1. The engraving of
many subjects can be executed with a rapidity approaching veay near to that
of drawing upon stone ; and the whole expense of a plate prepared for the
press will ordinarily be less than that of a plate in copper or woo<l. 2. The
plate is durable under the press. A milUon good copies may be struck from
it ; and as it can be stereotyped, the number of plates may be multiplied in-
definitely at a trifling expense, and each plate will give a million copies.
3. Lines of all engravings, except, perhaps, the very finest class, can be made
with nearly or quite the same pertection as in copper or steal, and with less
labour. 4. We know of no limit to the size of cerograjduc plates. We sup-
pose they may be made as large as the bed of the largest Najiier press.
5. The printing is executed with the common printing press, and of course as
rapidly as wood-cut or letter-press printing. With this statement, our
readers can judge, as well as ourselves, of the effects wliieh Cerograi)hy, in
the hands of accomplished artists will probably produce on the otlier arts of
engraving. We su])posc that, with an improvement of which it is evidently
susccptiljle, it will also have an important effect on the art of printing, espe-
cially on printing in the characters of tlie Chinese, Hindoo, and otlier Oriental
languages. Even in its present state, it will, no doubt, be used as a substi-
tute for type-setting in some cases ; but of this we will say more hereafter.

Artificial Ivory. — Certain parties in Sheflield have just obtained a patent
for the making of a substance so nearly resembling ivory, and so applicalile
to all the purposes of that valuable material, that it is almost imiiossible to
detect the difference. We understand, also, that an imitation of tortoiseshell
is prepared and in use, which for some purposes is little inferior to some
varieties of the real article.

Mowing Machine. — An ingenious carpenter at Ingatestone, named Groom,
is engaged in the construction of a machine for mowing meadows, &c. to v. hicli
he has lung directed his attention ; and our informant, who has seen ihe mndel,
states that hopes may be entertained of a successful applicatiun of Ihe princi-
ple. It is to be driven by hand, in the same way as Budding's macliine tor
mowing lawns, but will work as well through valleys as on level grounil ; and
he calculates that it will cut as wide a breadth in a day as seven or eight ordi-
nary labourers. The work is iicrformed by two or three sets of revolving
scythes or knives, put in motion, our correspondent adds, by a sonicrthat
cumplicafeil machinery. — Esse.i: Herald.

Consumption of Kngine Smoke. — We have been requested, by a correspon-
dent at Bradford, to notice a plan, which he has successfully adoiited, lor the
consumption of engine smoke, and which we have great pleasure in submitting
to our readers, convinced that few subjects of greater impoilance can attract
public attention in this manufacturhig district. Messrs. Wood and Walker,
of Bradford, have applied this apparatus to four large boders, sup|)lying
steam to two 80 horse engines, and to two small boilers, supplying a 30 horse
engine ; and, this » eek, Mr. Thompson has completed a like apparatus f . tH o
boilers, supplying a 30 horse engine. As this is a patent matter, we have not
the power lo enter into particulars. It is the property of a Mr. Cheetham.
'Hie saving in fuel is sucli as to fully remunerate the adoption of this plan ;
and how much the pubic health and comfort must be benefitted, we med not
say. We are authorised by Mr. Thompson to state, that be will I c bap|iy lo
allow an inspection of ins works to any gentleman desirous of adopting tins
plan,— -itfds InleUigaiecr,

REVICWS.

Description of Ihe Warmiug and Ventilating Apparatus at tlie Resi-
dence of Charles Babbage, Esq., Dorset Street, Manchester Square.
By Charles James Richurdson, F.R.I.B.A.

This pamphlet is a succinct description of one of Mr. Perkins' ap-
paratus fitted for wanning Mr. Babbage's residence, and forms an
addendum to a work by Mr. Richardson on Warming and Ventilating,
noticed by us some time back.

In this pamphlet, the author has given drawings, of Mr. Babhage'.s
house, shewing what way the pipes are distributed throughout the
rooms and staircase. He has also given some additional drawings
upon an enlarged scale, explaining tlie apparatus.

Upon examining the drawings, it a|ipears to us, that it would be far
better, if instead of the pipes branching oft' from a multiple cock at
right angles, thev were made to start with a curve, and the mouth
formed with a large orifice, gradually diminishing off' like a trumpet,
to the size of the pilie. From the want of some such arrange-
ment, probably it is, that the dining room and bed room circulations of
Mr. Babbage's residence are not effective ; we imagine, that according
to the construction of the multiple cock, the hot water rushes up to
the end or top of the cock, and tlistributes itself rapidly through the
two upper branches, and passes by the two lower ones, where the
water circulating through the pipes creates an eddy, and prevents a
free egress into the low er pipes ; thereby obstructing the free circula-
tion to the bed rooms and dining room : we should very much like to
see this suggestion tried, which might very easily be done, without
much disturbance of tlie pipes. We feel convinced that warming
apparatuses are often condemned for the want of a little attention in
ascertaining the causes of their failure or defect, as it is often found
that in some situations, an ajiparatus is effective, while in others, a
similar apparatus proves a total failure.

The quantity of fuel stated to be sufficient for warming Mr. Babbage's
residence is very small, and if it does its duty effectively, must prove
the apparatus to be very economic.

The Theory of Ihe Steam-Engine.
J. Weale. 1839.

By Comte de Pambour. London :

The author has in this work entered upon a hitherto almost unex-
plored field of reseirch; for the authors who had previously written
on the steam-engine had scarcely touched upon the general theory.
He has endeavoured to analyze the phenomena which take place in
steam-engines, to point out the laws which govern their effects, and to
reduce them to a perfect system. This was an arduous enterprise,
and has not been altogether without success : the author has esta-
blished two fundamental laws, which he considers as forming the basis
of the whole theory, but he has neglected others which cannot with
propriety be omitted. However, when we consider the magnitude
and novelty of the undertaking, we cannot be surprised at finding some
defects and omissions, which it would require a long and laborious in-
vestigation to remove ; we ought, therefore, to give M. de Pambour
credit for the service which he hns rendered to science, hoping that
his work, which every one who takes an interest in the subject ought
to possess, will, by opening a new channel for discussion, stimulate
others to join their enileavours in a work of so much general utility
and interest. We wish it then to be distinctly understood that, in the
observations we are about to make, we are far from having any inten-
tion of depreciating the labours of the talented author, whose chief
fault seems to have been a deficiency of practical experience : our sole
aim is to elicit truth, and aid, as far as lies in our power, in the ad-
vancement of mechanical science.

The work is divided into twelve chapters. Chap. I. is intended to
prove the inaccuracy of the ordinary methods of calculation, and the
accuracy of the proposed theory.

Chap. JI. treats of the laws which regulate the mechanical action of
steam.

In Chap. in. the general theory of the steam-engine is developed,
and in each of the following chapters it is applied to a particular sys-
tem of engine.

In tlie first section of Chap. I., where the ordinary mode of calcida-
tion is explained, there is a little confusion respecting the term theo-
retic effect. The author tells us, page 5, that by this mode

The force applied to the piston was computed, in supposing the pressure
of the steam in the cylinder equal to that of the steam in the boiler : that is
to say, the area of the piston was multiplied by the pressure of the steam in
the iioiler, which gave the force exerted b\' tlie engine ; this result was then
ninltipUed by the velocity of the piston, and thus was obtained the theoretic
effect of the engine. Put the result of this calculation hawg been competed

2 jD a

.340

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Skptembkr,

uitli tliat of some c\])oriiiionts maile on engines of tlie same kind, tlie ratio
Ijptwoon the two lesnlts lia<l furnished a fraetional coetiieient, wliich was re-
garded as the constant ratio between tlic tlieorctieal and jiractical etfects of
all engines of the same system ; therefore, in multiplying the nnndier ex-
pressing the theoretic ettect by this fractional coefficient, a dclinitive product
was obtained, which was the ^rae^jca/ effect that could be expected from the
engine.

Now, the Ikoretic effect cannot be obtained without first deditcting
froni the pressure in the boiler that on the opposite side of the piston;
and tlie co-efficient was applied, not to the effective pressure so found,
hut to the total pressure in the boiler, the pressure on the opposite
side of the piston being regarded as part of the direct resistance over-
come, and therefore added to the useful effect.

In the next paragraph to that just quoted, the same rule is ex-
])ressed algebraically, a constant coefficient being used to pass from
the thfontic to the practical effect ; thus, the former is expressed by
iiTT, and the latter by kan, a representing the area of the jiistun,
7r the pressure in the boiler, and k the constant coefficient. M. de
Pambour here gives a table of the coefficients indicated by Tredgold,
and in the next follow ing paragraph corrects the above rule, by de-
ihictiug afterwards the pressure on the opposite side of the piston.
He then says that the coefficient ought to be applied to the tfftctivc,
and not to the /oliil pressure of the steam, in which case the coefficient
must necessarily be smaller ; but he states that " the calculation comes
to the same either wav, provided a suitable coefficient be used." One
example will prove, that the calculation eamiot come to the same
either way, when the same coefficient is used in two cases in wdiich
the /o/al pressure is different, but the pressure on the opposite side of
the piston the same.

Taking the author's example of a high pressure engine working at
the /otal pressure of G5 lbs. per square inch, and apjdying the coeffi-
cient -o, and deducting 15 from tlie product, we find 24 lbs, for the
practical effort applied by the engine, the effective pressure or the-
oretic effort being :'>(! lbs., so that if we had to pass from the latter to
the former, we ought to make use of the coefficient -48. (M. de Pam-
bour calls it -5.) If now we take another case, in which the total pres-
sure is only 45 lbs., we shall find the. practical effort by Tredgold's rule
to be 12 lbs., the theoretic effort being 30 lbs., so that 'the coefficient in
this case would be only -4 to make the calculation come to the same
as by Tredgold's rule. Thus, no suitable coefficient can be found,
which may be applied to the effective pressure, when the total pres-
sure varies, without essentially changing the rule.

We think the author must be in error with regard to the following
rule, which he states (page 9J to have been used to calculate the eva-
poration necessary to produce a given eft'ect.

The rule consiste'd in calculating the volume described by the piston, and
ill supposing that volume to have been filled with steam at the same pressure
as in the boiler, and then applying to it a constant coefficient. That deter-
mined in the iireeeding problem was usually employed, lint it was applied as
a divisor, Avith a view to augment the evaporation in i)roportio!i to the losses
represented by that coefficient.

This rule' is doul)tless entirely destitute of foundation, nor have
we found it laid down by any author who has written on the steam-
engine. Tredgold very" pro]ierly omitted the co-efficient in the
divisor, which has in reality nothing at all to do w ith the question,
and Farey has erred liy using too high a constant divisor in the ex-
pression of the quantity of water evajiorated, which thus diU'ers, still
more widely than Tredgold's, from that condemned by M. de Pambour.
Sect. II. — Objections ageiiiisl that Mode of Ceilcidation.
These objections are in substance as follows : — The ordinary calcu-
lation supposes that the steam, generated in the boiler under any
given pressure, loses a certain constant proportion of th.it pressure
during its passage through the steam pipes and valves.

That the steam having arrived in the cylinder as a pressure rather
less than that in the boiler, a certain fixed proportion of its power is
expended in friction and other resistances in the engine itself ; the
remainder, besides producing the useful effect, being supposed to
overcome the resistance on the ojiposite side of the piston; except-
ing, in the case of high pressure engines, the force, over and above
tlie pressure of the atmosphero, required to expel the steam from
the cylinder after having accomplished the stroke.
To this is objected : —

1st. That the friction and other losses, to which tlie diminution of
effect is attributed, cannot absorb so great a portion of the force ot
the steam as is supposed. To prove this, the author shows, by ap-
jilying his own co-efficient -5 to the theoretic ettect of a high pressure
engine having an useful effect of KJU horses power, that I'redgold
allows a power of 12 horses to move the machinery, and of 4t) to
draw the piston. But, if he luul applied Tredgold's own rule, he
would have foiuid 1(3-79 and 54-17 instead of the above numbers,
which shew the absurdity of the rule in a still stronger light.

It is however well known that there is not actually so great a loss
of effect in engines as the above rule attempts to account for, so that
it is unnecessary to make such exaggerated allowances for friction ;
otherwise another strong objection might be urged against the rule,
namely, that it gives 25lhs. total, or lOlbs. effective pressure as a limit
below which steam cannot be used in high pressure engines, even
without doing any work ; wdiich is contrary to experience.

The second and third objections are, that the co-efficient used to
pass from the theoretical to the practical effect of an engine, is some-
times too high and sometimes too low to make the calculated results
harmonize w ith practice, the ratio of the effect jiroduced to the theo-
retical ert'ect falling in some cases as low as -25, and rising in others
to -8. However, until more conclusive experiments have been made,
we must continue to doubt the accuracy of the facts themselves.
As the author here instances five experiments from Wood's Trea-
tise on Railroads, it is necessary to say a few words respecting
them. The jiovver of the engines, which were stationary, was calcu-
lated by multiplying the area of the pistons, by the pressure of steam
in the boiler, and by the velocity of the pistons ; and the work done
was estimated by adding together all the various resistances calculated
by certain rules, previously determined by ex[)eriment, and multiply-
ing the sum by the velocity of tlie load. The ratio of the work done
to the power developed by the engines, calculated as above, was
found in the several eases :

•256, -288, -309, -27 and -3.

The two first experiments were made with condensing, and the
three latter with high pressure engines, all stationary. To account
for the loss of ert'ect in the former, we have the loss of pressure ex-
perienced by the steam during its passage from the boiler to the
cylinder, the pressure in the condenser and the friction of the
engines.

The first experiment was made with an engine constructed by
Boulton and Watt, with two thirty inch cylinders, length of stroke 5
feet. The steam is stated to have been generated under a pressure of
451bs. per square inch above the atmospheric pressure, for want of
knowing which we must content ourselves with assuming it at 14'71bs.,
and the (iressure in the condenser, for the same reason, at lib. per
square inch.

A train of seven loaded carriages, each weighing 940Slbs., was
drawn up an inclined plane 2046 feet in length, and rising 154 feet 6
inches, in 520 seconds, the engine making 374 single strokes.

Mr. Wood calculates the resistance of the load to have been equal
to 49911bs., which would require a pressure of 7t)G2-131bs. on the pis-
ton, or 5-020lbs. per square inch. "To this we have to add the friction
and losses in the engine.

Calculating the friction of the engine by Pambour's rule, page 172
of the work under review, and ;iddiiig lib. for the pressure in the con-
denser, we find.

Pressure corresponding to the useful clfect 5 0201bs'

Pressure in the condenser I'OOO

I'riclion of the engine without load ... . 1000

Friction ow ing to the load of 3 020lbs. .... 0717

. 2-717

Total friction and resistance in the engine ....

Total pressure per sc|uare inch of the piston necessary to
overcome all the friction, and resistance of the engine and
its load 7-737

But the pressure in the boiler was 19-21bs.| therefore it would in
this case be necessary to adnut that the steam had lost ll-363lbs. in
its passage from the boiler to the cylinder, wdiich we think inadmissi-
ble, when the velocity of the piston was no more than 181 feet per
minute. We are of opinion, that the fraction -ItJSlb. would be suffi-
cient allowance for loss in the steam pipes and passages, in which
case there would still remain 1 libs, to be accounted for. This cannot
aU be attributed to friction and losses in the engine; but, if we add
seven eighths of it to the load, and the remaining eighth to the friction
of the engine, due to that additional load by Pambour's rule, we shall
have
Pressure corresponding to the useful effect .... 14'6451hs.

Pressure in tlie condenser I'OOO

Friction of th;' engine without load .... I'OOO
Friction due to the load 14-6451bs 2-092

Total friction and resistance in the engine .... 4092

I'otal pressure on each square inch of the pistons necessary to
overcome all the resistance and friction of the engine and its
load IS-TS?

Loss of pressure in the pipes and passages • • • . 0 4b3

Total pressure in the boiler ....... 19-200

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

347

The (luaiitity of water evaporated on the former supposition would
liave been no more than 0'G32 cubic feet per minute, hardly half as
much as would have been allowed Ijy Watt, namely, 1'341 culiic feet.
On the latter supposition the expenditure must have been 1-43U cubic
feet., or very nearly the same as Watt's allowance. It is, therefore,
nnich more likely that the pressure in the cylinder was lS'7371bs. per
square inch, than 7-7171bs., and if so, the resistances are necessarily
estimated too low, or the pressure in the boiler too high, or, what is
more probable, both these errors have been committed at once. It is
also more than possible that PamboiU''s rule gives too low a result for
the friction of the engine in this case. However it may be, we cannot
]iut any confidence in such experiments, nor admit them as arguments
against the ordinary mode of calculation. We are mnch more ready
to admit that the useful ettects may sometimes amount to -6 of the
whole effort of the engine ; for we believe, as we have already stated,
that the allowance made for friction is generally much too high.

We quote the fourth objection, as it embraces an important part of
the theory of the steam engine, and we have some observations to
make upon it, which materially affect the views explained by the
author. He expresses himself thus :

4th. The measure of the theoretic effect of the engine results from tlirce
elements, to wit : the surface of the piston, the pressm'e of the steam, and
the velocity of tlie motion. Tlie canses wliich are said to explain the reduc-
tion to which this theoretic effect is liable, are : first, the friction of tlie
engine, then the contraction of the passages, their changes of direction, the
friction of the steam, its waste and its condensation. Now of the last five
causes, the condensation is the only one that can diminish the pressure of
the steam iluring its passage, and that condensation is almost entirely oh-
■ viatcd Ijy the precautions used in practice : all the remaining causes of ve-
(hiction act merely on the velocity. If then these causes produce definitively
a reduction in the theoretic effect, it can only he by reason of their action on
the velocity.

What is here objected to is, therefore, that the pressure of the
steam in the cylinder is supposed to be diminished by the contraction
of the passages, their changes of direction, the friction of the steam,
and its waste, which M. de Pambour asserts to act merely on the ve-
locity ; but this objection, as regards the contraction of the passages,
is cancelled in Section VII., where he states that the degree of open-
ing of the regulator acts upon the pressure in the boiler, but can have
no inflnence on the pressure in the cylinder. Now this is admitting
that the area of the passages influences the ratio of the two pres-
sures ; so that, if we suppose either of them known, the other must
be determined by the area of the passages. It is most natural to as-
sume as knswn that pressure which may be immediately measured,
namely, that in the boiler, and conclude from that on the pressure in
cylinder, which is the method usually followed. If, with the same
load, and consecjuently the same pressure in the cylinder, a contrac-
tion of the passages causes the pressure in the boiler to rise (which
must necessarily be the effect, if the velocity remains the same,) it is
very clear that, with the same pressure in the boiler, a contraction of
the passages will necessitate a diminution of the load, which must be
accompanied by a diminution of the pressure in the cylinder. Thus,
the contraction of the passages, and every other cause which tends to
retard the motion of the steam from the boiler to the cylinder, may
be said to diminish the pressure in the cylinder, and they cannot be
said to act upon the velocity, since that is known. This last objec-
tion, therefore, falls to the ground.

The formulEe objected to in Section III. are based on a law, (that of
the velocity of falling bodies, which as there applied, have no re-
ference wdiatever to the velocity of the piston of an engine, which
they were intended to determine. We shall therefore merely re-
mark that the velocity sought was that corresponding to the maximum
mefal (ffect of an engine, and not to a given load, as M. de Pambour
seems to kave supposed.

Sect. IV. — View of Ihe Theory proposed.

This section contains only the basis of this theory, consisting of the
two following laws : — -Ist. That there is necessarily equilibrium be-
tween the pressure of the steam in the cylinder and the resistance
against the piston; and 2d. That there is also a necessary equality
between the production of steam and its expenditure. These laws
are undoubtedly true, and we believe the author of the work before
us to have been the first to point them out ; but, as it is of importance
that no inaccuracy, however slight, should be found in the exposition
of a principle, which is supposed of itself to explain the whole
theory of the steam engine, we shall quote the paragraph from page
2t1, in order to point out an error, which, though perhaps too trifling
to be of any consequence in practice, should nevertheless be avoided
in the expression of a general law.

Now in every machine wldcli has attained a uniform motion, tlie power is
strictly in equililirio witli tlie resistance ; for were it greater or less, there
would he acceleration or retardation of motion, which is not the case. In a
steam-engine, tlie force applied hy the mover is no other than the pressure
of the steam against the piston or in ihe cylinder. This pressure then, iu
the cyUuder, is strictly equal to the resistance opposed hy the load against
the piston.

Consequently, the steam in passing from the boiler into the cylinder
changes its pressure, assuming that which represents the resistance to the
piston. This principle, of itself, explains all the theory of the steam-engine,
and in a manner lays its play open.

The error alluded to is, that " the pressure in the cylinder is strictly
equal to the resistance opposed by the load against the piston."
Now the mean resistance opposed by tlie load can never exceed the
pressure which the steam exerts against the piston, which, wdule the
piston is in motion, can never be strictly equal to its wdiole pressure
m the cylinder, though in most, or even in all cases which occur in
practice, the difference may be inappreciable. It would, however,
have been preferable under these circumstances, if the word practi-
cally had been used instead of strictly.

The method of calculating the eflbrt applied on the pison, consists
in ascertaining the quantity of water evaporated and transmitted in
the form of steam to the cylinder in a given time, which, compared
with the distance travelled by the piston in that time, gives the den-
sity of the steam in the cylinder, whence its elastic force may be
deduced. By the ordinary method, the elastic force of the steam
is assumed to be reduced in a constant proportion during its passage
from the boiler to the cylinder, the loss of elasticity being supposed
to be very trifling w ith steam |)ipes, &c. of suitafile dimensions, and a
moderate velocity of the piston ; while M. de Pambour asserts that
that loss may be very great, even as much as one half of the total
pressure in the boiler. This is however in opposition to the law of
the flowing of elastic fluids, which must obtain in a steam engine as
well as under any other circumstances. Now it must be extremely
diflicult to ascertain with any degree of accuracy the quantity of
water which passes in the form of steam through the cylinder, parti-
cularly in locomotive engines, from experiments on which M. de
Pambour deduced his theory ; for the rise of the safety valve can by
no means be atlinitted as an accurate measure of the quantity of steam
escaiiing through it, until all the phenomena connected with it have
been more satisfactorily elucidated ; and no experiment can be satis-
factory, imless the engine be compelled to work for a considerable
length of time under precisely the same circumstances.

.Sect. V. — J\'ew proofs of the accuracy of the theory proposed, and of
the inaccuracy of the ordinary theory.

The tendency of these proofs, is to establish " that the pressure of
the steam in the cylinder is strictly regulated by the resistance on the
piston, and by nothing else," and implicitly, that the ratio of the
pressure in the cylinder to that in the boiler is independent of the area
of the steam passages and the velocity of the piston. It is assumed
throughout that the pressure in the boiler is, or may be, the same with
all loads. All this is, however, distinctly contradicted in the last
paragraph of the section. The following extracts will prove the truth
of our assertions.

Ill fact, were it actually true that the steam he expended in the cylinder,
cither at the pressure of the boiler, or at any other pressure that were in
any fixed ratio whatever to that of the boiler, then, since the quantity of
steam raised per minute in the boiler would he expended Iiy the cylinder at
one and the same pressure in all cases, and would consequently fill the cylin-
der a fixed number of times in a minute, it would follow that the engine, so
long as it should work with the same pressure in the boiler and the same
apertm-es or steam passages, would assume the same velocity with .-ill loads.
Now, we see that the very contrary fakes place ; for, the lighter the load, the
greater becomes the velocity of the engine.

The .Itlas engine, for instance, evajiorated 132 cubic feet of water in
drawing 19.i-5 tons, and 95 cubic feet only in drawing 127-0 tons. Since the
same number of eylinilers-fuU of steam was expended in each case, tlie steam
of the first must have been of a density different from that of the second ;
and here again it is manifest that, notwithstanding the equality of the pres-
sure in the boiler, and of the opening of the regulator in the two cases, the
density of the expendeil steam followed the intensity of the resistance, that
is to say, the pressure of steam in the cyhnder was regulated hy the
resistance.

Othly. It is clear, moreover, that if the pressure in the cylinder were, as it
is thought, constant for a given pressure in the boiler, then after an engine
has lieeu found capable of drawing a certain load with a certain jiressure,
and of coiuniunicating to it a uniform motion, it would follow that the same
engine could never draw a less load with the same pressure in tlie boiler,
without commimicating to it a velocity indefinitely accelerated ; since the

8^

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[September,

])0\vcr having lieen foiinrl equal to the resistance in tlie first case, would he
necessarily sujjerior to the resistance in the second.

7tlily anil lastly. On looking over our experiments on locomotives, the
same engine will he seen sometimes drawing a \ery light load with a high
pressure in the hoiler, and sometimes, on the contrary, a very heavy load with
a low pressure. It is then impossihle to admit, as the ordinary theory woidd
liave us, that there is any fixed ratio whatever hetween the two pressures.
This ettect, moreover, is most easy to explain ; for it depends simply on this,
that in liotli cases the pressure in the hoiler was superior to the resistance
against the piston, and no more was needful in order that the steam,
generated at that pressure, or at any other fulfilling merely that comlition,
might, on passing into the cylinder, assume the pressm'e of the resistance.

Here the author evidently assumes that a decrease of the load of
an engine would not be foUow-ed by a corresponding diminution of
pressure in the boiler. But it is clear that this eft'ect can only be
prevented by partially closing the regulator.

All that precedes is, as we liave already stated, contradicted in the
following paragraph, which is the last of the section.

It is, however, essential to observe, that we wish to establish by these
reasonings, that, since the pressm'C in the cylinder is fixed a priori, it cannot
depend on the pressure of the hoiler; hut we believe, on the contraiy, as
will be seen. Sect. VII., that the pressure in the cylinder being once regulated
by tlie resistance on the piston, that of the boiler afterwards de))Pnds on it,
in jn-oportion to the size of the passages, the volume of steam produced, and
the weiglit of the safety-valves. It would only be for want of making this
needful distinction, that we could be thought to admit an entire independence
between the two pressm-es.

Sect. VI. — Comparison of the tmo theories in their application to
particular examphs.

The facts here stated require a corroboration before we can admit
tliem as evidence of the correctness or incorrectness of any theory.
The examples cited are two experiments which are given, pages 233
and 234 of Pamhour's Treatise on Locumotivts.

1. The locomotive engine Leeds, which has two cylinders of 11 inches
diameter; stroke of the piston, 10 inches; wheels, 5 feet; weight, 7'07

tons; drew a load of 81'34 tons, ascending a plane inclined at the

velocity of 20-34 miles per hour ; the effective pressure in the boiler being
54 lbs. per square inch, or the total pressure 68'71 lbs. per square inch.

2. The same day the same engine drew a load of 38'J2 tons, descending
1

a plane inclined

1094

at the velocity of 29-09 miles per hour ; the pres-

sm-e in the boiler being precisely the same as in the preceding experiment,
anil the regulator opened to the same degree.

We do not believe it possible that, under such circumstances, the
pressure in the boiler could be so high in the second Ciise as in the first.
But if the pressure were really GS-71 lbs. on the square inch in tlie
Hrstcase, we are led to the conclusion that it could not have been more
than 41J-44 in the second, to satisfy all the conditions supposed. On
this hypothesis we should find, using the coetticient 0-625, in both
cases:

1st Case. Useful effect, by the ordinary calculation,
(68-71 X n-625 — 14-71) x 190-08 .
Useful ertect produced, from M. de Pam-
hour's calculation, page 35 ...

Difference
2nd Case. Useful eft'ect by the ordinary calculation,
(46.44 X 0-625 — 14-71.) x 190.08 .
Useful effect produced, from M. de Pam-
bour's calculation

Difference .
Mean difference

5367 lbs.

5404

37

2721

2708

13
12

Thus, supposing the amount of resistances, as calculated by M. de
Pambour to be correct, as well as the pressure in the boiler in the
first case, but reducing the pressure in the second ease in conformity
witli the law of the flowing of elastic fluids, and making use of the
coefficient -625, we commit an error by the ordinary mode of calcu-
lation of 37 lbs. in the first case, and 13 lbs, in the second, one plus and
the other minus, so that the mean error is 12 lbs. By M. de Pam-
bour's method, the error is 404 lbs. in the first case, and 131 lbs. in the
second, one plus and the other minus, making the mean error 13GA
lbs. But we have no doubt one of the resistances has been estimated
too high in the second case, namely, the resistance caused by the
blast-pipe. In the first case, tliis was assumed to be equal to 3-4 lbs.
on each square inch of the pistons, which we believe to be very near
the truth; but in the second case, where the cylinder is filled with
steam of less elastic force, the resistance it opposes to its expulsion
is taken at 5'1 lbs. per square inch, we calculate it to be about 2'lj lbs.

per square inch, which makes the sum of resistances in the second
case (supposing all tlie rest correct) less by 475 lbs. than in the
author's calculation. 'We should thus have in this case,

KlTort e.xerled by the engine by M. de Pambour's calculation . 7215 lbs.
Effect produced, including friction, &c 6871

Difference .... 344
This dilTerence, being on the same side as that in the first case,
makes the mean error 374 lbs.

However, ignorant as we are as to the actual pressure in the boiler,
and the exact quantity of steam which passed through the engine in
the two experiments, we can oft'er nothing but surmises and hvpotheses
on the subject, hoping that all doubt and uncertaintv may shortly be
cleared away by more circumstantial and conclusive experiments.

We would not be understood to approve altogether of the ordinary
mode of calculating the power of a steam-engine : we believe the fric-
tion of the engine to be generally much exaggerated, and we do not
look upon the system ;is perfectly accurate ; yet we cannot admit the
proofs brought forward by M. de Pambour as conclusive of the inaccu-
racy of this, or the accuracy of his own theory.

Sect. 'VII. — Of the area of the steam passages.

We have already mentioned that the author asserts in this section
" that the degree of o))ening of the regulator can have no influence on
the pressure in the cylinder, but that its reaction, on the contrary, is
upon the pressure in the boiler." This he endeavours to demonstrate
in the 4Sth and following pages , but we think we can shew from the
following quotation that he has miscomprehended the meaning of the
expression, that the degree of opening of tlie regulator injlmnces the pres-
sure in the cylinder, and that his arguments fully prove that this pres-
sure is really influenced by that circumstance.

It should be borne in mind that, when it is stated that a contraction
of the steam passages is accompanied by a diminution of pressure in
the cylinder, the velocity of the piston is supposed to be constant ;
the author admits that that contraction may change the quantity of
steam which passes through it, therefore, a smaller quantity having to
fill the same space, its density, and with it its pressure must neces-
sarily be diminished. But M. de Pambour objects to this, that the
pressure in the cylinder is always strictly determined, a priori, by the
resistance on the piston. This is true ; but if the resistance on the
piston is not known, neither is the elastic force of the steam, and it is
evident that with a given pressure in the boiler, area of steam passages
and load, the piston of an engine can only travel at a certain velocity ;
so that, if the pressure in the boiler remain the same, bu{ the area of
the passages be contracted, the same velocity can only be kept up by
diminishing the load or resistance on the piston, in which case the
])ressui-e in the cylinder must also be diminished, according to M. de
Pambour's own theory.

hi concluding our remarks on the first chapter, we will observe that,
in our opinion the theory ]iroposed does not differ in any great degree
from the ordinary theorv, but in consequence of the opinion enter-
tained by the author, that there can exist any difference whatever
between the pressure in the boiler and that in the cylinder, the results
furnished by the two theories appear to be totally at variance. M. de
Pambour's "chief objection to the ordinary theory is to the use of a
constant co-elficient ; but if the co-efficient were applied to the eff'ec-
tive pressure, instead of the total pressure in the boiler, it would be
little more a method of co-efficitnts than that proposed by the author ;
for it would become

r = k{R—p),
r being the pressure on each square inch of the piston due to the load
or useful effect, R the total pressme in the cylinder (which we may
assume to be known, since we suppose that pressure to differ but in-
considerably from that in the boiler, and, therefore, consider it a suffi-
ciently near approximation to take off a constant proportion of the
latter), p is the pressure on the opposite side of the piston, and k the
constant co-efficient. By M. de Pambour's theory we find

in which/ is the friction of the engine without any load. M. de Pain-

-1 7

hour estimates the fraction — — - **— -> and/= lib.; and if we as-
1 + S 8

sume R — ;; = 16, for a condensing engine, we shall have, for that
particular case,/ = ttj (fl — ;;), and

r~J i.(R-

l {(«-i^)-li(«-i')}

1839.]

THE CIVIL'ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

349

105

128
If now we assume R — p

(R—p) = -R-aOS (R—p).
141bs., we shall have

n<-

■P)'

14

(R-

■P)]

or r = — (R—p) = -8125 {R—p).

Thus if we made use of the co-efficient -8203 instead of '8125, we
should commit an error of -0078 (R — p) = •10921b. per square inch.
In the same manner it may be shewn thiit if we applied the same co-
efficient, -8203, when the effective pressure i? — p was ISlbs., the error
would be •UOGl (R — p) = 'lOOSlbs. per square inch. It is thus de-
monstrated, for condensing engines, that, supposing M. de Pambour's
constant co-efficients to be correct, no error worthy of notice would be
committed by applying a constant co-efficient to the effective pressure
in the cylinder.

For high pressure engines, the same values are attributed toy and 5
as for low pressure condensing engines. Thus, taking R z= 601bs. and
p = 151bs. for simplicity, we find

r=i{(R-p)-^,(R-I»}>

or r = "SS-jG (R — p)
Assuming now r ^= 95, whence r — p

80, we have
r = ^ [(R-p)-l(R-p)},

orr= -8041 (R—p).

Tlie error committed by making use of the co-efficient -8.556 instead
of the latter would be -0085 (R — p) = •G8lbs. per square inch, = '01
r nearly. In the same manner, by taking R — P ^ 10, it may be
shewn that the co-efficient ought to be ■787.1, in which case the error
committed by using the first co-efficient would be -OGSl (R — p) =
•68 libs. ^ -687 r nearly. This error is too great, even for practical
purposes; but it would be easy to determine another co-efficient for
the lower pressures, which should be sufficiently accurate, and the
method of eo-efficknts would be as correct, and nuich more easy of ap-
plication than that proposed in this work.

An Essay on Jlrithnetical Perspiclire ; in which the representation is

obtained by computation from the hwwn dimensions and position of

the object. By C. E. Bernard, C. E. 1839, J. Williams, London.

Mr. Barnard in this essay has attempted, what we believe has not

been before done, to make Perspective a Science, and a branch of

Mathematics. Instead of drawing the lines to vanishing points, he

)u-oposes to ascertain the relative positions, heights and lengths by

arithmetical calculation, although the artist may be averse to this

mode of proceeding, calculation being foreign to his profession, it will

be found by the engineer and the scientific, a most interesting and

valuable acquisition. We cannot do better than by letting the author

explain for himself, for which purpose we shall give some extracts

from the introduction.

By the term Arithmetical Perspective, I mean the application of arithmetic
to the piu-pose of obtaining the (Umensions and position of the representation
of an original object, which application of aritlnnetic amounts to this : when
certain geometrical relations are found to exist Ijetween Unes, we substitute
the numerical values of those Unes for the lines themselves. Now, as hy far
the greater part of the lines necessarj' to the consideration of perspective are
imaginary ones, by making use of their values we are thus enabled to desig-
nate them, and to draw only sucli as are aiisolutely essential to a complete
representation of the original. The oliject, however, of the present treatise
is to show liow we may indicate the original lines of an object, as well as the
imaginarj' ones, by means of their numerical values ; thus obviating the
necessity of drawing a plan and elevation of the object to be represented per-
spectively.

In the description of objects whose forms are geometrical, such as build-
ings, hy means of perspectve, it will often l)e the easier mode to ascertain
the dimensions and position of the representation, liy computation than l)y
construction, according to the usual methods. If, for instance, a draughts-
man were asked of what size should a tower, one hundred feet in height, and
distant a mile, he shown upon his drawing, he would be obliged to perform
sevcr.al operations before the required answer could he given ; the tnith of
which would depend altogctlier upon his accuracy in drawing.

Aritlnnetically, however, tlie result may he obtained witli far greater cor-
rectness and dispatch, thus : if the pictvn'e l)e viewed at the distance of a foot,

100
then 5280 ; 100 ; : 1 ; x, or x=t:;^=Q.22 in., the required height of

tlie representation. But, before detailing the means tiy which we arrived at
this answer, some preliminary considerations recpiire om" attention.

Proposition I. — The size of the image in the eye varies as the size of the
object directly, Imt as the distance of the oljject inversely.

Let the distance vb he constant, then in the triangles avd and qvr, we
have by the preceding, oS ; av = qr ; vr. Likewise in the triangles avc
and j)vr we have ; av '. ac = vr ; pr; therefore a// ; ac = qr \ /;>•, and
alternately ab '. qr = ac '. pr. That is to say, tlic size of the image is in
proportion to the size of the object, when the distance remains the same.

Let the size of the oljject be constant ; then in the triangles avc and pvr

we liave ac '. cv^pr '. pv, or — = ^. But »» is constant, for it is the
pv cv

radial from v, the pupil, to p at the back of the eye ; therefore p r, the

nc

image, varies as — : that is, as ac, the object directly, and as cv, its distance

CO

reciprocally.

We now perceive that olijects vaiy in apparent size according to their dis-
tances, because the images of those olyects in the eye actually become larger
as the otijects approach, or they decrease in size as the originals recede.

I have here considered the object to be of but one dimension, as a line.
If, however, the oliject be of two dimensions, as a plane, then tlic plane of
the image will evidently vary as the plane of the original object directly, and
reciprocally as the square of the distance.

Mr. Barnard commences his instructions by giving some definitions
of perspective, he then proceeds to lay down preliminary propositions,
for the study of his system of perspective.

PRELIMINARY PROPOSITIONS.

Proposition 1. — The size of the image in the eye is proportional to the size
of the picture, divided by the distance of the pictine.

It has already been proved that the size of the image pr is proportional to
the size of the object ac divided by the distance cv. Let xz, representing
the plane of the picture, be drawn parallel to ac, then the triangles avc and
.!■ V : are similar, and therefore the sides about the equal angles proportional.

But ym is constant, therefore the image j!;r varies, as ocz, the picture di-
rectly, but as ,rv, the distance of the picture inversely, which relation is the
same as that abeady sliown to exist between the image and the original ob-
ject ; therefore, if the representation he drawn, as here supposed, hearing the
same proportion to its distance as the ohject does to its distance, we may
then dismiss altogether the consideration of the image formed mthin the eye,
and confine our .attention exclusively to the ohject and its representation.

Proposition 2, Case 1. — The representation is- equal to the product of the
original ohject into the chstance of the picture, divided by the distance of the
oliject.

In the triangle avc let ac he periicnilicular to vc, and draw;.rfrom z parallel

to ca. Then we have, by preceding projiositions, ?ie : ac = cz: xz

ac X vz

or .rr=

vc

Example: — Let ac, equal to 1000 feet, be a vertical line whose perspective
representation is required; vc, equal to .'iOOO feet, the distance of the ohject
from the point of sight v. Let also the plane .r-, upon «hich the represen-
tation of a c is required to he drawn at the distance of 500 feet from v, he
parallel to ac; then, to find the height ,rz of the representation, we have

•*'*= ■ — = 100 feet., the rcquiied height.

350

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL,

[Skptembbr,

Case 2.

In the triangle arc, ac and xz are drawn parallel, being l)oth perpendicu-
lar to 4i'. By the previous proposition we have r A : a// = r!/ : t/.v

and

adding these

but

and

therefore

dividing each side of the equation by 2

we get . ?'i

therefore . .rj

v/j '. bc = vy \ yx

2vb '. a6 + 6c = 2vy '. yx + yz

ab + be is equal to flc

x + yz is equal to xz

2 vb

''!/

. ac=vy

ac X vy

vb

Example:— Let no, equal to 1100 feet, be a vertical line, whose repre-
sentation is required ; vb, equal to 5000 feet, the distance of the object, and
xz, the plane of the jiicture parallel to ac, at the distance of 500 feet from v.

The for the height of the representation we have xz =

1100 X SOD
5000

= 110 feet.

Case 3.

In the triangle arb let ab and xy be both perpendicular to J'A ; then by

the previous propositions

we have . vb '. ab=vy '. xy

also in the triangles cvb and xvy

we have . vb '. bc^=vy * yz

multiplying the first equation by 2, and then subtracting the second,

weget . vb '. ab — bc = vy : xy — yz

but . a 4 — 4 c is equal to o e

and . .ry — y^ is equal to XI

ac y^ V \i

therefore . bv : ac = vy '. xz or xx ^=i

' bv

Example: — Let ac, equal to 900 feet, be a vertical line, whose represen-
tation is required ; !'i the horizontal distance, or distance of the object, equal
to 5000 feet, and xy, the plane of the pictiu'e, parallel to a 4 at the distance

of 500 feet from v. Then xz— — — — ^r — = 90 feet, the required height of

the representation.

In each of the foregoing three cases, we observe that the same rule holds
gooil ; namely, the beiglit of the rejjrcsentation is always equal to the height
of the original, uiultiidied into the distance of the picture, and the product
divided by the distance of the object, whether the base of the oliject be level
with the point of sight, below it or above it. It is evident that tlie same
rule applies to liorizontal lines (lines drawn upon the horizontal plane), for
the i)iir))ose of olitaining the widths, liy merely substituting in the above pro-
portion the word width instead of height, thus : — the width of tlie repre-
sentation is always equal to the width of the original object, multiplied into
the distance of the picture, and the product thvided by the distance of the
object. Observe, that this proportion for the widths holds good only when
the plane of picture and the original plane are parallel.

If the distance of the picture be taken = o, we have vc '. ac^o '. xz, or
ac X fi
XX = =0. If the distance of the picture be taken equal to the dis-

fZ C ^ V o

tance of the object, we have vc '. ac=^ve '. xx, therefore xx =

ve
= ac, the size of the original; hence the picture xx may have any value
whatever between o and the original, acconUng to the distance of the picture.

Proposition 3.- -If we consider the surfaces of objects, we shall find that,
the distance of the picture being constant, the representation varies as the
object directly, but as the square of the distance inversely.

Let the original plane, abed, and the plane of the picture, mvoji, be pa-
rallel. \A'c have, upon the vertical plane, — v( : ad=ps I mp
and upon the horizontal plane vl ', ab = vs '. »»« multiplying (i!^)2 ; ad x
oi = (»»)! ; mpxmn

butarfxflAis equal to the surface of the plane abed; also mpxmn is
equal to the surface of the representation, or (»<)2 : aicrf = (»;«)'-' ; mnop

, abed X ()i.s-)^

and mnop = ;— —

{vt)'

that is, the surface of the rejiresentation is equal to the original surface mul-
tijiUcd into the square of the distance of the i)icture, and the product (Uvided
liy the square of the distance of the object. Now, if (««)- be constant, then
mtiop varies as abed directly, but as (»/)^ inversely.

Having, I hope, ah'eady, by aid of the very few propositions just given,
successfully demonstrated the leading principle, I shall now endeavour to
apply the foregoing rules to some of the most obvious and general examples
in perspective.

The author has given full instructions and rules for the application
of the system to Parallel perspective, followed by similar directions
for Angular perspective. From which we select the following practi-
cal example: —

"Required the perspective representation of a square building, of
which the accompanying sketch is a plan.

"Let the length of a side be 30 feet, and the height 38 feet. Let
the length of the radial vg be 40 in., and that of the radial r h 30 in. ;
then the distance between gA will be equal to 50 in.

" Upon the plane of the picture draw gk, and make it equal to 50 in.
(See engraving bdow.)

"Let the radial distance of gbe 120 feet; then the radial distance
of h will be 'JO feet.

"Suppose the distance a a, or tlie distance from a to the radial
plane of g, to be bO feet ; then for the distance from a to the radial
plane of h we have 70 feet.

" The height of the eye is 5 feet. To find its representation we

15
have 00 : 5 = 30 : a, or a = — in. = 1-G6 in. below gh For the

distance of a from h we have 90 : 70 =: 30 : a, or a

•210
'IT

23-33 in. from h Set off this last distance from h upon gh, and at the
distance so set off draw a perpendicular to g h, and make the part
below It equal to I-Gtj in. for the point a ; next draw ag and ah.
" For the distance of 6 from A we have 120 ; 70 = 30 : b, or b=z

210

— — =: 17*5 in. Set off that distance accordingly, to intersect ft A in 6

and from b draw bg.

" To find the distance of rf from g we have 150 : 80 = 40 : rf, or=(i
320

-nr= 21'33 in. from g. This distance set off in like manner, from g
15

to meet ag in d, and from d draw dh.

1830.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

351

114
"For the height am we have 90 : 38 = 30 ; am, or am^—:=

12-06 hi. Miike fi m equal to li-filj in., and from m draw mg and
mil, to meet the ])eri)endiculars from rf and c in p and ?(. Now from
p and II draw ph and itg.

" Let the thickness of each of the piers be G feet ; tlien for the point

2100
1 we have 00 : 70 = 30 : 1, or 1 = -^- = 2 1-87 in. from //. The

90

2100
point 2, in the centre, is= --— = 20 in. from h ; the point 3 is ^

2100

18'42 in. from /(.

SOX -to

" In a similar manner we find that the point 4 is =; vwr-^ '"• f'™" g '

the point 5

80X40
135

80x40 .

in., and 0 ^ — -- — in. from g,

"At those distances, when set off, draw perpendiculars to gh.

"Let the lieight of the springingsof the arches be 24 feet; then we

72 1

have 90 ; 24^30 : 8, or 8 = — = 8 in. above a. Make as ecpva

to 8 in., and from s draw sg and sA.

" Let the arches be semi-circular ; tlien the height i to the crown

99
will he 33 feet. Hence we get 90 : 33= 30 : /, or < = - = 11 in.

above a. Set it up, and draw tg and tli. The intersection of Ig, with
the perpendicular from 5, gives the representation of tlie crown of the
one arch ; and the intersection of //j, with the perpendicular frtjm 2,
gives the representation of the other arch."

The conchtdmg sections contain practical examj)les, and shows the
applicability of the system to Laitdacape Painting.

Although we have extracted very freely from the volume before us,
we must refer the scientific reader to the essay itself, if he wishes to
obtain a knowledge of the author's system, from which we are sure he
will tlerive much pleasure, by contemplating its novelty and ingenuity

The Jlncient Ha!/-Timbered Houses uf England. By. M. Habershon
Architect. Large 4to. 30 Plates. Weale. 183G.
We know not how to account for the date upon the title-page
otherwise than as an error of the press: the introductory essay bearing
the date of March, 1839. It is possible, therefore, as it is so recently
published, that that portion of the work may still draw forth some
reply from Mr. Pugin, unless he should consider Mr. Habershon an
antagonist less worthy of his notice than was the anonymous writer in
Fraztr's JMagazinc, or else deem it more prudent to be silent. Indeed
silence appears to be almost his only course for safety, since it will be
exceedingly difficult for him, we imagine, even to make a show
of disproving his egregious unfairness with respect to estimating
the architure of tlie present day, and further his attack on Pro-
testantism, In fact, Mr. Habershon has decidedly the best of the
argument; and his remarks must convince every one, that in order to
make out anything like a case in favour of his own views, and his own
church, Mr. Pugin was obliged to have recourse to the most trumpery
expedients and clumsy shifts, foisting upon us the house of the com-
mandery of the Knight's Templars at Grantham, as a specimen of an
ancient inn, because it is now converted into one ; and dragging for-
ward the wretched structure at Battle Bridge, as an instance of a mo-
dern cross, because it happens to bear the name of King's Cross. Had
Mr. Pugin contented himself with showing that the Roman Catholic
religion is greatly more favourable to the display of magnificence in
sacred buildings than Protestantism either is or affects to be ; and that
with here and there an exception, our modern churches are greatly in-
ferior in arihitectural character and style, he would have said no more
than the truth, and no more than what the public, architects included,
are ready to admit. But when he would make it appear tliat not only
our buildings belonging to that particular class — and in which pouiji
and splendour are rather shunned than ;U all aimed at — are inferior to
those of Catholic times, but that architecture itself has progressively
declined among us since the Reformation, and continues to decline still
more and more every day ; he quite oversiioots his mark, and lays
himself open to the charge of either wilful blindnesss, or very great
ignorance. No one can deny him zeal, even to furiousness, in support
of the cause in which he has put himself forth as a vohmteer advocate ;
yet it may be cjuestioned whether even his own party will not consider
him rather an officious bunglar. No one but a complete bunglar would
have gone out of his way as he has done, in order to call atteutiiju most
pointedly to one very important difference in the condition of Catliolic

and Protestant clmrcli ; namely, that the clergy of the latter may
marry, while those of the former are interdicted from doing so ; which
prohibition has been the source of the most enormous scandals to the
see of Rome, not only among its monks and inferior clergy, but its
dignitaries; nay, more, in the )ierson of its supreme pontiffs, the popes
themselves, many of whom have been men of the most notorious pro-
fligacy, surrounded by mistresses and bastards, and who, could they see
Mr. Pugin's satirical etching, displaying the " Nursery windows" of
the present Ely house, in Dover-street, would hold it to be a most
bitter antl stinging liliel upon themselves.

Now, had Mr. Pugin been forced to bring forward, or even in any
way to allude to this very unfortunate point of co;i/r(/s/, we might have
pitied and compassionated the awkward perpelxily he must have
found himself in: but when we find him actually lugging it in for the
nonce, all we can say is, that he shows himself a most blundering Mala-
prop of an advocate, and a very great blockhead.

We have expressed ourselves with far greater vivacity than Mr.
Habershon does, for he does not apply rerhis ipssisshnis, the epithets
we have made use, yet what he says clearly enough proves tliey are
richly merited ; therefore the only difference between us is, that he has
more of the snavittr in modo, than we caj-e to display towards anoftt'uder
like Welby Pugin, — one who speaks of all his professional brethren of
the present day with contempt, stigmatizing them in a lump, without
a single exception in favour of any one architect or any one build-
ing, but cautiously abstaining from mentioning or alluding, in any way,
to what he caimot hold up to ridicule. Criticism he does not even
once attempt; for, in all that he says, there is nothing that amounts to
more than a brief and decisive enunciation of censure, without any
attempt to specify or even explain the grounds for it. Adopting a
very different course, Mr. Habershon distinctly answers all his alle-
gations ; completely anatomizes his contrasts, and examines his plates
one by one, in doing which he convicts our amiable " Mrs. Candour" of
the most Jesuitical sophistry and cunning, and of a direct — most
laboured effort to represent modern architecture in a very degraded
state by making the most far-fetched and strained comparisons. Ac-
cording to Mr. P.'s rule, we should be justified in contrasting a village
alms-house of the fourteentli centurv with Greenwich Hospital, the oUl
gateway leading into Bartholomew Close with the archway at the
corner of the Graen Park, and Oxford Cathedral with St. Paul's, by
way of showing the great progress since the time of the Reformation.

Nay, we very much question whether Mr. P. is quite sincere, be-
cause his zeal looks quite over-acted, and very miudi like that of a
barrister who feels that he has undertaken to defend an exceedingly
bad cause. As the triumph would have been infinitely greater, we
naturally suppose that could he possibly have done so, he woiild have
brought forward some of the rtnj best specimens of modern gothic
and confronted them with only second-rate ones of the earlier period
he selects from, in order to show the prodigious superiority of the ori-
ginal style ; whereas by resorting to a directly opposite mode of com-
parison, he has acted highly indiscreetly, and incautiously, anil thrown
a slur upon the cause he professes to defend. When he compares
together Bishop Skirlaw's chapel ami the one at Somer's-town;
the compliment to the former is of a strangely equivocal kind, some-
what akin to that of telling a well-dressed woman she looks far
more like a beauty and a fine lady than a slatternly dowdy dogs.

Setting aside, however, all unfairness of this kind, there is one
circumstance which, in his " candour," the author of the contrasts
ought most assuredly to have noticed and borne honest testimony to,
namely, that so far from our being at all insensible to the beauties of
gothic architect, the study of it has been greatly encoura^'ed among us
during the last half century, and that an acquaintance with it is now
considered almost indispensable to every professional man. He miglit
further have admitted that, considering the style was har<lly begun to
to be lirought again into practice until the commencement of the pre-
sent century, a greater proficiency has been attained to in tlian could
reasonably be expected ; and of this he might have foimd very satis-
factory proofs had he, instead of going to the worst and most paltry
modern s])ecimens he could ]uck up, reierred us to the buildings and
designs of such men as Barrv, Buckler, Rickman, Salvin, which have
not merely a knowledge of, but a true feeling for tlie style. Nay,
were all the reproaches heaped by him on Protestants and no mo-
dern architects greatly more merited than they are, from him do they
not come with the best possible grace, and might therefore, at all
events, be less acrimonious in tone — or has lie altogether forgotten the
Hattering, yet certainly well-merited reception which the publications
of the late Augustus Pugin met with from the very class id' persons he
reviles. If, alter seriously coi,sidering all this, and what has been
urged against him, both by Mr. Habershon and many others, Mr. Welby
Pugin should still persist' in the opinions he has put forth, without in
any degree qualifying them, in consequence of not having duly

■1 v.

a5-2

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Septemb er,

attended, in the first instnnce, to all the mitigating circumstances ; then
we say he owes it to himself — to his character, to say so in the most
direct and explicit manner, and so as to leave no room for its being
imagined, — to afford no op|)ortunity for its being said that he has nei-
ther the courage or else the ability to defend his assertions, nor the
generosity to confess his errors and exaggerations. If he was at all
sincere in professing to have been " actuvited by no otlier feeling than
that of advancing tlie cause of truth over thai of error," it certainly
behoves him now to admit lliat he had l)een somewhat too hasty
in forming his estimate of modern English talent from (he speci-
mens which somehow or other obtruded themselves upon his notice,
and caused him quite to overlook others of a far superior quality.
Neither would it be altogether amiss were he to alFord us the means
of judging of his own taste and ability in design, by letting us see
something that he himself has executed.

We have been led on to say so mucli more concerning Mr. Pugin
than W'e at first intended to do, that we must now defer our remarks
on Mr. Habershon's work, till our next number. All, therefore, that
we have to add is, that we consider him to have greatly the better of
tlie argument over the author of the contrasts, in every respect, and
shows himself to be well informed in otlier matters, besides those con-
nected with his profession. He makes a terrilily hard hit at the
vaunted unity of the Roman Catholic chnrcli, whichonce presented to
Euroi)e the singular S|ieetacle of rival anti-popes, both of course equally
infallible, uniting in cordially anathematizing each other. As to
schism among the people, that is ett'ectually prevented by the repres-
sion of all private opinion on matters of religion ; and Mr. Habershon
has expressed this so pointedly an<l convincingly, that wc will give his
own words :

"Order reigns at Warsaw," was the cruel irony of a minister in
the Chamber of Deputies, after the extermination of the capital of
Poland by the Russians. The Church of Rome in her extermination
of the Albigenses, in her St. Bartholomew massacre, iu lier dragonades
wider Louis XIV., in the still darker acts of her inquisition, has en-
deavoured to destroy all mho have (land Iu lliiiik — and then, drawing
tighter her gags, and closing firmer her dungeons, lest a soiuid shoulil
escape, she repeats courageously : " See the divisions of the Protest-
ants and the unity of the Catholics.' "

Specimens in Eccentric Circular Turning, with practical instructions
for producing corresponding pieces in the art. Illustrated by Copptr

Plate Engravings and Cuts. By John Holt Ibbetson, Esq.' T/iird

Edition. London : Longman and Co.

Mr. IiiBETSON is an amateur mechanic and turner, and from the ap-
pearance of the work before us, he has paid \'ery considerable atten-
tion to his favorite art of turning. The engraving at the commence-
ment of the volume, and explanation of a compound eccentric chuck
invented and made by himself for the purpose of turning, displays
considerable ingenuity in its construction, and the various engravings
tlu'oughout the work, show its endless application.

We are sure all turners, whether they be amateurs or other-
wise, will derive considerable pleasure and instruction from a perusal
of this work, which will suggest to them, many new applications of
thier art.

Boileau's Traverse Tables.

We have examined these tables, which appear to be in every
respect worthy of the confidence of those who employ the metliod of
surveying, to which they are applicable.

The author has appended several useful tables to the w'ork, among
which, are tables for converting cliains into yards and feet, and m-e
versa, and he also shows how his traverse tables may be applied in
setting out railway curves ; but from our own experience in these
matters, we are of opinion, that the practical application of the authors
method is by no means easy, on account of the natural obstacles which
every where present themselves to the proceedings of the engineer.

»4 Beries of Litlographed Draicings of the London and nirmingham
Railway 67/ John C. Bourne, with Topographical and Discriplire
Accounts, by John Britton, F.S.A. Parts III. & IV. containing 18
Drawings.

This is a splendid specimen of railway art, and is a work which
does credit to the artist, and communicates an interest to the railway.
The two parts now before us complete the work, and are given with
the letter-press to the wdiole ; the lithograph drawings are beautifully

executed, and are faithful representations. It is in fact a work which
to the engineer is a splendid memorial of cotemporaneous skill, while
by the nobleman and the admirer of the fine arts, it deserves preserva-
tion as a uni<ine specimen of art, and illustrative of one of the must
striking enterprises of this wonder-working age.

An Essay on the Boilers of Steam Engines, by R. Armstrong, C. E.

London, John Weale.

We feel much pleasure to see the re-appearance of this very use-
ful, excellent, and practical work, we shall not fail to notice it fully next
month.

Mr. Richardson's work on Elizabethan Architecture will be noticed
in the next Journal.

A second part of the Practical Treatise on Bridge Building, by
Edward Cresv, Architect, &c., is just published.

PROGEEDIWGS OP SCIEWTinC SOCIETIES.

ROYAL SOCIETY.

Afay IG. — J. G. Children, Esq. V.P., in the chair.

A pajier was read, entitled

* Oil. the i'i:>ibiliti/ of certain rnyn beyond Hip ordniary red rays of the
Solar Spi-c/rnm.* By J. S. Coopeu, Esq., in a tetter to M. Faraday, Esq.

The author states his having observed au extension of tlie red iiortioii of
the solar specinim, obtained in the ordinary way, licyoiiil llic space it occu-
pies when seen by the naked eye, by viewing it tliroiigh a piece of deej) blue
coball glass. He finds that the part of the sjieclnnii thus rendered percepti-
ble to the right is crossed by two or more very broad lines or hands ; and ob-
serves that the space occnjiied by the most pow'crful calorific rays, coincides
with the situation of the red ra}S thus rendered ^^sihle by transmission
through a ijlnc medium. The author expresses a regret that he lias not had
sufticient leisure to piusne the investigation of these pheiionieiia.

May 30. — The Maninis of Northampton, I'.R.S. in the chair.

Profs. C. Hansteen, JI. Melloiii, L. A. J. Quetelet, and F. Savart, were
elected Foreign Members; Edward I). Davenport, Esq., James O. Ilalliwell,
Esq., G. W. Mackniurdo, Esq., and the Venerable Charles Thorp, D.I)., were
elected Fellows.

The papers read were : —

' Fifth letter on Voltaic Combinations ; with some account of the effects of
a large Constant Buttery ;' addressed to M. Faraday, Esq. By J. F. Daniell,
Esq.

The author, ])iirsning the train of reasoning detailed in his preceding letters,
enters into the fiirtlier investigation of the variable conditions in a voltaic
coinbiiiatioii on v.hich its efticieney depends : and the determination of the
proper proportions of its elements for the economical ajiplication of its power
to useful puiijoses. lie finds that the action of the liattery is by no nieans
proportioned to the surfaces of the conducting liemisplieres, hut approximates
to the simple ratio of their diameters ; and hence concludes that the circu-
lating force of both simple and comjiound voltaic circuits increases with the
surface of the conducting jilates surroiuuiing the active centres. On tliese
lirinciples he constructed a constant batteiy consisting of seventy cells in a
single series, which gave, lietwecn cliarcoal |ioiiits, separated to a ibstance of
three-quarters of an inch, a fiaine of consideralile volume, forming a con-
tiiinous arch, and emitting radiant heat and light of the greatest intensity.
The latter, indeed, )a-oved highly injurious to the eyes of the spectators, in
which, although they were protected by grey glasses of double thickness, a
state of very active iiifiammation was induced. The whole of the face of the
author became scorched and infianicd, as if it had been exjioscd for many
hours to a bright inidsnniiner's sun. The rays, \\'heu reflected from an im-
perfect parabolic metallic mirror in a lantern, and collected into a focus by a
glass lens, readily burned a hole iu a pajier at a distance of many feet from
their source. The heat was quite intolerable to the hand held near the lan-
tern. Paper steeped in nitrate of silver, and afterwards dried, was speedily
turned hrowii by this light : and when a piece of fine wirc-ganze was held
licfore it, the jiattern of the hitter ajipeared in white lines, corresponding to
the ]iarts which it protected. The jihenoinenon of the transfer of the char-
coal from one elcitrode to the other, first oliscned by Dr. Hare, was abim-
dandy apparent ; taking ]>lace from the zincode (or positive pole) to the
idnlinnde (or negative pole). The arch of flame between the electrodes was
attracted or repelled by the poles of a magnet, according as the one or the
other pole was held above or below it ; and the repulsion was at times so
great as to extinguish the flame. When the flame was drawn from the pole
of the magnet itself, included in the circuit, it rotated in a beautiful manner.
The heating power of this baltcry was so great as to fuse, with the utmost
readiness, a bar of jdatiniim, one-eighth of an inch square: and the most iii-
fiisii)le metals, such as jinre rhodium, iridiimi, titanium, the native alloy of
iriilinm and osminni, and the n.itive ore of platinum, placed in a cavity scooped
out of hard carbon, freely melted in considerable quantities. In conclusion,
the author briefly describes the results of some experiments on the evolution

1S3P.]

THE CIVIL ENCINEEU AND AUC'lHTECrS JOURNAL.

353

of the mixed gases from water in a confined space, and consetjucntly under
liigli ]ircssiire ; witli a view to ascertain, first, in wliat manner conduction
would he can'icd on, siiiiposing tliat the tid)e in wliicli the electrodes were
iutrodnced was qnite fiUcil with the electrolyte, and there were no space for
the accnnnilation of the gases ; secondly, whether, decomposition having heen
effected, rccomhination would take place at any given pressure ; ami lastly,
whether any ro-action on the ciu'rent-force of the hattery woulil arise from
the additional mechanical force which it would have to overcome. These
experiments the aiithor purposes pm'suing at some future time.

' An CKjierimental hquinj 'into the Iiitliienci' of Nitroyen in promoting
Ver/etadte Decomposition^ and tlie connexion of tliis proccufi with t/ie groivtli
of Plants,' Iiy K. Kigg, lisq.

The author considers it as a general fact, to which there arc very few if
any CNL'cptions, that vcgelahle hodics in the state in which they ai'e iiroduced
in nature, undergo spontaneous decomposition when ke))t under circumstances
favouring such an action ; and that, from the decomposition of each compound
products pecuUar to that suhstanee result.

June 6. — F. Baily, Esq., V.P. in the chair.

George Barker, Esq., was elected a Fellow. Tlie pajierread :

' E.rperiin'iits on tlie Chemical Con.itil)ition of sepernl hodics n'Mch undergo
tJie Vinous Fennentation, and. on certain results of the Cttemical Jctiou,' hy
11. Kigg, Esq.

The special ohject of this ]iaper is (o show, first, tliat sugar is not consti-
tuted of carhon and water only; secondly, that during the vinous fermenta-
tion water is decomposed ; thirdly, that neither pm^e carbonic acid nor alcohol,
in the common acceptation of tlie term, is the product of this chemical action;
and fomihly, that fermented liquors owe some of their valuable qualities to
peculiar products formed during fermentation.

June 13. — J. W. Lubbock, Esq., Treasurer, in the chair.

The following pajiers were read : —

' Researches on the Tides. Tenth Series. On the Laws of Low Water at
the Port of Plymonth, and on the Permanency of Mean Il'aler,' by the Rev.
W. Whewell.

In this memoir, the author investigates the question, how far the mean
irater, that is, the height of the tide midway between high and low water, is
permanent during the changes which high and low water undergo. That it
is so ap])roximately at Plymoidh, having been already ascertained by short
series of observations, it was desii'able to determine the real amount of this
permanency by induction from longer series of observations. A period of six
years was chosen for that purpose ; and the method of discussing these ob-
servations was the same, vntb shght modifications, as in former researches.
The height of low water, cleared from the elt'eets of lunar parallax, and very
nearly so from those of lunar declination, and compared with the height of
high water, similarly cleared, enabled the author to ascertain whether the
mean water also was alfected by the semi-menstrual inequality. The results
of the calculation show, that the height of mean water is, within two or three
inches, constant from year to year; and that, for each fortingbt, it has a
semi-menslrnal inc(|ualily amounting to six or seven inclies ; — tlic height
being greatest when the transit is at 6 h., and least when at 11 h., — the im-
mediate cause of this inequality being, that the semi-menstrual inequality of
low water is greater than that of high water : this inequality, however, is
probablymodiliedby local circumstances. These researches have also verified
the theoretical deduction, that the height both of low and of high water being
alfected liy the moon's declination, their mean height partakes of the varia-
tions in this latter element, in successive years, consequent on the change of
position of the moon's orbit. At Phnnouth, the increase in mean low water
amounts to about two inches for each degree of increase in the declination.
Ill the high water, this change is less marked. The parallax correction of
tlie height of low water is olitaincd from all years alike, by taking the residue
of each observation, which remains when the semi-menstrual iite((uality is
taken away, and arranging these residues for each hour of transit, according
to the parallax. Tlie declination correction is obtaineil in a manner analogous
to the parallax correction, from each year's observations, with some correc-
tion for the variation in the mean declination of the moon in each year.

2. ' Researches on t/tc Tides. ElcventJi Series, On certain Tide Obserra-
tions 7nade in the Indian Seas,' liy the Uev. \V. \^'he\vell.

This paper contains the results of the examination hy the author of certain
series of tide observations made at several places in the Indian Seas, which
were forwarded to the Admh'alty by the Hon. East India Company. These
localities were Cochin, Corringa River, Siirat roads in the Gulf of Cambay,
Gogah, on the opposite side of the same Gulf, and Bassadore, in the Island of
Kissmis, in the Persian Gulf.

3. * On ttie Electrolysis of Secondary Compnunds' by J. F. I^aniell, Es(|.
The discovery of definite electro-chemical action naturally suggests the in-

ipiiiy into the relative proportion of that jiart of a voltaic current which, in
the case of its decomposing a saline solution, is carried by tlie elements of
the water, and that part which is carried b\' the elements of the saline com-
]iound, and into the definite relations, if any such there be, subsisting between
the two electrolytes so dccom))oscd. This question was the origin of the in-
vestigation which formed the subject of the present communication.

' Erperi mental Researches on the mode of oj)eration of Poisons.' By J.
Slake, £s^,

In this paper the author examines more particularly the action of those
poisons which appear to produce death hy art'eeting the nervous system.

June 20. — John William Lubbock, Esq., V.P. and Treasurer in the chair.
Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, Bart., M.P., Edwin Guest, Esq., luid John Hogg,
Esq., M.A., were elected Fellows.

* On the conditions of Equilibrium of an Incompressible Fluid, the particles
of v'hif'h are acted upon hy Accelerating Forces' by James Ivory, Esq.,
k.II., M.A., F.R.S., 8:c.

The intention of this paper is to examine the principles and methods that
have been jiroposcd for solving the problem of wliieh it treats, with the view
of obviating what is obscure and exceptionable in the investigation usually
given of it. The iiriiicijilc first advanced by lluyghens is clearly demonstrated
and is attended with no ditficulty. This principle requires that the resultant
of the forces in action at the surface of the finid in equilibrium and at liberty,
shall be perpendicular to that surface : and it is grounded on this, that the
forces must have no teuilency to move a particle in any direction upon the
surface, that is, in a plane touching the surface. In the Princijiia, Sir Isaac
Newton assumes that the earth, supposed a homogeneous mass of fluid in
equilibrium, has the figure of an oblate elliptical spheroid of revolution which
turns upon the less axis : and, in order to deduce the oblateness of the sphe-
roid from the relation between the attractive force of the jiarticles, and their
centrifugal force caused by the rotatoiy velocity, he lays down this principle
of equiUliriiim, that the weights or efl'orts of all the small columns extending
from the centre to the surface, balance one another round the centre. The
exactness of this principle is evident in the ease of the elliptical spheroid,
from the symmetry of its figure : and it is not difficult to infer that the same
principle is equally true in every mass of fluid at liberty and in eiiuilihrium
liy the action of accelerating forces on its jiarticles. In every such mass of
fluid, the pressure, which is zero at the surface, increases in descending below
the surface on all sides : from which it follows that there must be a jioint in
the interior at which the pressm-e is a maximum. Now this point of maxi-
iiiuni presbirre, or centre, is impelled equally in all directions by all the small
columns standing upon it and reaching to the surface ; and as the pressure in
everv one of these columns increases continually from the surface to the
centre, it follows that the central point sustains the total effect of all the
forces which urge the whole body of fluid. It follows also, fi'oin the jiro-
pcrty of a maximum, that the central point may be moved a little from its
place without any variation of the pressure upon it : which proves that the
forces at that point are zero. Thus the point of maximum pressm-e is in
stable equilibrium relatively to the action of* the whole mass of fluid : which
establishes Newton's principle of the e([uiponderance of the central columns
in every instance of a fluid in equihbrium and at liberty. The two principles
of lluyghens and Newton being estabUshcd on sure grounds, the next inqiury
is, whether they are alone suflicient for determining the figure of equilibrium.
Of this point there is no direct and satisfactory investigation: and in aiiply-
iiig the two principles to particular cases, it has been found that an equili-
brium determined by one, is not in all cases verified hy the other ; and even
in some instances, that there is no equilibrium when both principles concur
in assigning the same figure to the fluid. Further researches are therefore
necessary to dispel the obscurity still inherent in this subject. In a mass of
fluid in equilibrium, if we suppose that small canals arc extended from a
liarticle to the surface of the mass, the |iarticle will be impelled with ecpial
intensity by all the canals : for, otlierwise, it would not remain immovable,
as an equilibrium requires. It has been inferred that the equal pressm'es of
the sm-rounding fliud upon a jiarticle, are sufficient to reduce it to a state of
rest. Hence has arisen the principle of equaUty of pressure, which is gene-
rally admitted in this theory. Now, if the matter be considered accurately,
it will be found that the only point within a mass of fluid in eipiilibritnu
which is at rest hy the sole action of the sun'ounding fluid, is the central
point of Newton, or the point of maximum pressure. The reason is that, on
account of the maximum, the pressure of all the canals terminating in the
centi-al point, increases continnally as the depth increases; so that, liesides
the pressures of the canals, there is no other cause tending to move the par-
ticle. With respect to any other particle, the pressure caused by the action
of the forces in some of the canals standing upon the particle, will necessarily
increase at first in descending below the surface, and afterwards decrease ; so
that the clfcctive pressure transmitted to the particle, is produced hy the
action of the forces upon a part only of the fluid contained in such canals.
If a level surface be drawn through any jiarticlc, it is proved in the paper,
that the equal pressures of the surroimdiiig fluid on the iiarticle, arc caused
solely by the forces which urge the portion of the fluid on the outside of the
level" suif ace, the fluid within the surface contributing nothing to the same
eft'eet. Thus a particle in a level surface is immoveable by the direct and
tiansniillcd action of the fluid on the outside of the level suiface ; hut it wdl
still be liable to be moved from its place unless the body of fluid within the
level surface have no tendency to change its form or position nyall the forces
that act on its own particles. Wli.at has been said not only demonstrates the
insufficiency of the ])riiiciple of eqn.ality of pressure for determining the figure
of equilibrium of a fluid at liberty, but it points out the conditions which are
necessary and sufficient for solving the' problem in all eases. The pressure
must lie a niaximum .'it a central point within the mass : it must be zero at the
surface of the fluid : and, these two conditions being fulfilled, there will neces-
sarily exist a series of interior level surfaces, the pressure being the same ,at
all the i)oints of every siu-facc, and varying graduallj- from the maximiuu

2 £ %

354

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[September,

(|iiaiitity to aero. Now all llic jjaititles iu the same level surface have no
tomlency to move ujioii that surface, because the jiressure is the saTuc in all
(Urectious: wherefore if we add the couditiou tli.it every level surface shall
have a dtterminale ligure when one of ils points is given, it is evident, both
that the fignre of the mass will be ascertained, and that the immobility of the
particles will be established. Maclaurin's demonstration of the equilibrium
of the elliptical spheroid will always be admired, and must be instructive
from the accuracy and elegance of the investigation. That geometer was the
first who discovered the law of the forces in action at exery point of the
spheroid ; and it only rtniaiucrl to deduce from the known forces the pro-
perties oil \\hich the equilibrium depends. These properties he states as
three in number : and of these the two, which relate to the action of the
forces at the surface and the centre of the spheroid, afe the same with the
principles of Huyghens and Newton, and coincide with two of the conditions
laid down above. The third jnoijerty of equililirinm, according to ilaclaurin,
consists in this, that eveiy particle is impelled equally by all the rectilineal
cauals standing upon it and extending to the surface of the spheroid. Now
it does not follow from this ]iroi)erty that a ](article is reduced to a state of
rest within the spheroid, by the equal pressures u]ion it of the surrounding
fluid; because these pressures may not be the effect of all the forces that
urge the mass of the spheroid, but may be caused by the action of a part only
of the mass. Maclanrin demonstrates that the pressure impelling a particle
in any direction is equivalent to the effort of the fluid in a canal, the length
of which is the ditt'erence of the polar semi-axis of the surface of the spheroid
and a similar and concentric surface drawn through the particle, whieb evi-
dently implies both that the jn-cssures upon the ]iarticlc are caused by the
action of the fluid befwccn the two siu'faces, and likewise that the pressures
are invariably the same upon all the particles in any interior surface, similar
and concentric to the surface of the spheroid. Such surfaces are therefore
the level surfaces of the spheroid ; and e\ en- ])articlc of the fluid is at rest,
not because it is pressed equally in all directions, but because it is jjlaced on
a deterniiiKite curve surface, and has no tendency to move on that surface on
account of the equal pressures of all the particles in contact with it on the
same surface, ilaclanrin seems ultimately to lia\e taken the s.ime view of
the matter, when he says that " the surfaces similar and concentric to the
surface of the spheroid, are the level surfaces at all depths. (Fl. §. CtO.) It
thus appears that the conditions laid down above as necessary and sufhcient
for au equilibrium, agree exactly with the demonstration of Maclanrin, when
the true im])ort of what is jn'oved by that geometer is correctly understood.
The general coiulitions for the equiHbriuni of a fluid at liberty being explained,
the attention is next directed to another jiropcrty, which is important, as it
furnishes an equation that must be verified by every level surface. If we take
any two points in a fluid at rest, and open a commiinicafion between them by
a narrow canal, it is obvious that, whatever be the ligure of the canal, the
cftbrtofthc fluid contained in it will be invariably the same, and equal to
the dift'erence of the pressures at the two orifices. As the pressure in a fluid
in equilibrium by the action of accelerating forces, varies from one point to
anotlier, it can be represented mathematically only by a function of three co-
ordinates, that determine the position of a point: but this function must be
such as is consistent with the iirojierty that obtains in every fluid at rest. If
rt, li, c, and a', h\ c', denote the co-ordinates of the two orifices of a canal ;
and ip (n, h, c) and <fi («', V , c') reju-esent the pressures at the s.ame points;
the function <p («, //, c) must have such a form as will be changed into </> (a',
I)', c'), through whatever variations the figure of a canal requires that a, h, c
nmst |iass to be finally equal to a', b<, c'. From this it is easy to prove that
the co-ordinates in the expression of theln-essure must be unrelated and in-
dependent quantities. The forces in action are deducible from the jircssure ;
. for the forces produce the variations of the pressure. As the function that
stands for the pressure is restricted, so the expressions of the forces must be
functions that fulfil the conditions of integraliility, without which limitation
an equilibrium of the fluid is impossible. Tluit,, when the forces are given,
the ju'cssurc may be found by au integration, which is always possiljle when
an equilibrium is possible : and as the pressure is constant at all the points
of the same level surface, au equation is hence obtained that must be verified
by every level surface, the upper surface of the mass being included. But
although one equation ajqilicahle to all the level surfaces may be found in
eveiy case in which an equilibrium is jiossible, yet that equation alone is not
suflicient to give a determinate form to these surfaces, except in one very
simple su])position respecting the forces in action. "NVhen the forces that urge
the particles of the fluid, are derived from iudepcndent sources, the figure of
the level surfaces requires for its determination as many independent equations
as there are different forces. In the latter jiai't of the i)aiier the principles
that have been laid down are illustrated by some ]H'ol»lems. In the first
problem, which is the simplest case that can be jiroposed, the forces arc sup-
posed to be such functions as are indepemlent of the figure of the fluid, and
are completely ascertained when three co-ordinates of a jioint are given. On
these suppositions all the level surfaces arc determined, and the luoblem is
solved, by the equation which expresses the equality of ju'cssure at all the
points of the same level surface. .Vs a particular example of the first problem,
the figure of equilibrium of a homogeneous fluid is determined on the supjjosi-
tion that it revolves about an axis, and that its particles attract one another pro-
portionally to their distance. This exanijde is deserving of .attention on its
own account; but it is chiefly remarkal;lc because it would seem at first,
fiom the mutual attiaction of the particles, that peculiar artifices of investi-
gation were required to sol\e it. Hut in the proposed law of afh'action, the

mutual action of the particles niion one another is reducible to an attractive
force tending to the centre of gravity of the mass of fluid, and proportional
to the distance from that centre ; which brings the forces under the condi-
tions of the first problem. The second problem investigates the equilibrium
of a homogeneous jjlanet in a fluid state, the mass revolving about au axis,
and the particles attracting in the inverse proportion of the square of the
distance. The equations for the figure of equilibrium are two ; one deduced
from the equal pressure at all the points of the same level surface ; and the
other expressing that the stratum of matter between a level surface and the
up]ier surface of the mass, attracts every paitiele in the level surface in a
direction perpendicular to that surface. No point can be proved in a more
satisfactory manner than that the second equation is contained in the hypo-
thesis of the problem, and that it is an indispensable condition of the equili-
brium. Yet, in all the analytical investigations of this problem, the second
equation is neglected, or disappears in the processes used for sim])lifying the
calculation, and making it more manageable ; which is a remarkable instance
of attempting to solve a problem, one of the necessary conditions being
omitted. The equations found in the second problem, are solved in the third
problem, proving that the figure of equilibrium is an ellipsoid.

The Society adjourned over the long vacation, to meet again on the 2Ist
of November.

COLLEGE FOR CIVIL ENGINEERS.
We direct the attention of our readers to the prospectus of the
above institution, which is appended to our Journal ; we have not
time or space to devote to it so largely as we should wish tliis month,
but we shall not omit to make our remarks in the next. We shall
merely mention now, that before the promoters can expect to have
tlie support of the profession, there must be some alteration made
in the mode of instruction, and an addition to tlie council; besides,
we do not like the wholesale way of manufacturing engineers from
the cradle, as it would appear by the tables in the prospectus is the
intention of the promoters.

llir Roi/al Jmili'my of Sciniccs of Berlin api~reciating the ntility of the
works published by the t'ouut De Pambour, and particulary of his theory of
the steam-engine which hasjust appeared in this countev, has, in its sitting of
the 6th of June, elecied him, by unanimity of vofes, member of the academy.

STEAJM NAVIGATION.

T!ic British Queen. — In the notice of this splendid vessel in our .luly num-
ber. A\e omitted to state that the decorations of the salotm and passengers
a'jiartincnls were entrnslcd to Mr. Simpson, of the West .Sliund, Lon-
don, who has displayed considcralile taste in the finishing;,' M'e «ill here
give a short description of the aparlnients. Immediately leading from the
principal staircase and the state-room are two saloons, the one adapted for
a dining, and the other as a draii ing or ladies' room, either of which are espe-
( iallv' spacious and agreeable. The dining-room. 6(1 feet long and about .^0
feet wide, is most elaborately fitted up and decorated in the l'",lizabellian style,
Willi devices and historical subjects painted in a very superior manner on a
new material wlilcli gives to the painting the apjearance of being worked in
fapi'sfry or w orslcd work : it is further enriched by additional carvings of
flowers, ornaments, gilding. Sec., and is.™ mnssr. exceedingly chaste and uni-
que. The staircase is of a novel description in a ship, having a double thght
of stairs descending on cilber side, and is very rich')' carved in Knglish oak.
The drawing or ladies' rcJom is much smaller than tlie preceding, init deco-
rated very neatly in white with gold mouldings and arabesque li-ngings in
corresponding colours, .so that for extent, as they form a vista or nearly 100
Jeet in length, for variety and e'egancc. it can be safely said that this suite
of rooms has nc\ er yet been surpassed.

Gnrcrnmeiii Steamers. — It is not gencrall)' known that a sfeamci* of very
large tonnage is about to be lannebcdfrom C'hath m Dockyard. It will have
1 ciMi I oi^wu and finished in the iiicre.libly short sjiace of eight weeks. M'e are
informcfl that this extreme cxpeditinn Is an experiment uiifler direciion of the
GM\crninent. in orcler lo ascertain the shortest pnssib'e limi" in which such a
vessel can l,e completed. The numtcr of hands has Keen utilimi'.ed ; In tart,
the men are working on her at the present moment as thick as bees in a hive,
and they are allowed to make as many working hours per day as they can.
The sum apportioned 'or the labour, we understand. Is 4.000/. ; and .should it
not cost that, the overplus is to be divided among the men. The experiment
has excited the greatest possible Interest in the neighbourhood. — Greeiiwieh
Gazette.

The Ci/rln/is Steam Friffate. — 'fills magnifiecnt vessel, the largest steam man-
of-war in the world, was lately launched from Penibr(>ke Dockyard. Her
dimensions are as follows ;— Leng:h. 22.') feet, beam letween paddles 38 feet,
depth of bold 21 feet. Her tonnage is about 1.300. belngSOO tons larger than
the Gorgon, launched from the sarne slip about eighteen nionlhs since. Her
ec|uipmenf, as a man-of-war, will be the same in all respects as a frigate,
liaxing a complete gnu or main deck as well as an upper or quarterdeck. On
the main deck she will carry eighteen long 3(J-pouiidcr3, and on I he upper
deck f( iir '18-ponndeis and two Oti-pouuders on swivels, carrying a ball often
inches di.inicter, and sw ee]iing riiuud the horizon 'i'lO degrees. — I'hc Cyclops,
hie file \essel already referred to, will le commanded by a post captain,
these two being the only steamers taking a frigate's rank. Her crew will
consist of 210 men, 20 engineers and stokers, and a lieutenapfs party of

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

marines, w ho \\ ill have charge of Ihe guns, all of which move upon sliiles
and fixed pivoLs, Ihereby taking a much wider range than the ordinary car-
riage can give. .Slie will be schooner rigged, but licr foremast will be of the
same scantling and height as that of a 3l)-gun frigate. Her draught of water,
Willi all on board, inclu<ling six months' provisions, completely armed, and
wilh twenty days' fuel, will be fifteen feet. This quantity of fuel (100 tons^
will be carried in the engine room, but there is space in the fore and after
holds for ten days' more coal, making in all SLifiicient fuel for a thirty days'
run. .She has an orlop deck below the gun deck, of dimensions so magnificent
lliat there is room to stou* with comfort eight hundred troops and their
olhcers. so that, taking her all in all, the Cyclops may be considered the most
powerful vessel in her Majesty's service.

Strum in Jnifid. — The Vcnwii, a splendid frigate-built East Indiaman, was
Uuinched on ."^tilurday, Aug. 3, Irom the building yard of the Messrs.
Green, at Blackball ; she has a powerful steam engine to propel her in culms,
at the rate of five knots an hour, so as to accomplish tne voyage from the
Lizard to Calcutta in seventy -five days.

Launch of an Iron Stctnner.^On Friday. 9th ult.. ime of the most handsome
steam vessels of her size ever built w as launclietl from Mr. llorrie's slip ad-
joining his foundry. Considering that this is the first vessel of the kind con-
structed by Mr. 15orrie, Iier mould and appearance hear unetjuallcd testimony
to his scientific skill. She glided into the water amid the cheers of a large
concourse of spectators. The following are the dimensions of this ve-.sel : —
Lengih of keel, 116 feet; length on deck, 130 feet ; breadth within the pad-
dle-ho.\es, 21 feet ; breadth over all, 37 feet ; depth of hold, 9 feet ; measure-
niiMit. 300 tons; draught of water when kiunched, l.J inches. Her calcukited
draught, when her engines, boilers, compliment of passengers, ^c.. are on
board, is 30 inches ; but it is expected that it will nut exceed 28 inches. This
is, we believe. Ihe lightest draught of w ater ever attained by any vessel of her
size in Great Britain. .She will be propelled by two engines of thirty-five
hor.se power each. The engines have exliansion valves attached, for diminish-
ing the consumption of steam in the cylinders; and the boilers combine two
arrangements in their constriuiion, the one calculated to consume the smoke,
and Ihe oilier to ensure a more rapid generation of steam than any marine
boilers hitherto in use. The symmetry of this vessel is greatly admired, and
seems to be as near perfection as can be attained, .She must be a very fast
smooth-water sailer, for which alone she is adapted. Altogether the vessel
is a new laurel to Mr. Borrie s increasing reputation as an engineer. — Dunilee
Chronicle.

The iron stctnn-hoiit, Rolicrl F. Sioch/on, will not answer ffir service in the
Delaware and Rantan canal, for which she was built, on account of her
draught of water, which is upwards of seven feet. Her cost was more than
20,000 dollars. — New York paper.

Latntclt of an Iron Sloop. — On Monday, r2th ult , a handsome iron slorip,
built by Jlessrs. James and Charles Carmichael, was launched 'from their
Iniilding-yard in Ihe Iron Works. Sea Braes. .She is name I the Tinker, and
measures sixty Ions. She appear.^ to be an e->ccellent vess.d ; and all present
at the launch admired her buoyant appear.ance in the w ater. This is the first
iron sailing vessel which has been built at ibis port; but it is probable that
the trade of building iron vessels lo be propelled Ijy sails, as well as by
steam, will speedily increase, and be carried on lo a great extent very soon.
In Ihe yard Irom which the Tinker was launched there is the frame-work ot
an iron sleamer of 200 tons, which, we und.'istand, is to be employed ou the
Mid-Lolhian and Fife Ferries. — Dundee Chronicle.

PROGRESS OF RAIL'WAVS.

Great Western Hnilwaij. — The works between Bath anil Bristol are proceed-
ing most satisfactory, two out of the three tunnels are all lait complete. The
arch of the bridge over the Avon 100 feet span is turned, and the piers of
two other bridges are formed, large quantities of timlier for the permanent
way are ready, and every thing indicates that this portion of the railway
will be opened in the ensuing spring.

Manchester and Birmingham Raihcaij. — The viaduct across the vallc}' at
.Stockjiort, one of the heaviest contracts on the line, is now ra[i:dly progress-
ing. This work consists, in part, of 23 arches of 03 feet span. These arches,
or rather the centres on which the arches are lo be turned, re(|Uire 3, .500
cubic feet of timber for the construction of each, and there arc to be eight
arches completely finished before the centre of the first is struck. It will,
therefore, rciiiiire 30.000 feet of timber in the construction of this p.u't of the
work. The brick work is iheee feet in ihiekncss. The higlie.st arch will
overtop Mr, Ferneley's seven-story mill aljout 12 i<iel.— Staffordshire Adeer-
li.ier.

Midland Connties liailu-aif. — The contract for the erection of the station at
Leicester has been undertaken by Messrs. M'aterfield and Smith, in cniijune-
lion with the building company, and it is expected to be covered in by Xo-
vcmbcr next. ThJ amount of the contract is under £1.5,000. The tunnelling
under the freemen's common is now extended to nearly hventy yards, but
woulil have been much more ere this, had it not been for the falling m of the
shaft some weeks ago. Tlie soil is hard clay.

Lirerpool and Manchester liailwat/. — The fifteenth half-yearly meeting of the
sluuebolders was held on M'cdnesday, the 2'lih .July. By the lialance sheet
it appeiirs that Ihe total receipts for the half-year ending ihe 30ih of June,
1839, were £123,814. (is-. 8r/.; the expenses £75,002, 7i-. lil ; giving a net jiro-
lit fur the half-year of £48.211. 19.s. Id. ; to which is added, £;).089. l;5.v. 8d.,
balance from Ihe last accoiinl, leaving a disposable sim ol £.53,o01. lo.y. ^d.
From which sum the directors recommeniled a di\idind of £1. lO.v. jier share,
amouiiliig to £49,023. is. Or/., leaving a babuice ur£f,278. 10s. 'Jd. lo be
carried to the credil of Ihe re.\t half-year's account, which proposition wivs
imaiiiraoiisely agreed to by the proprietors.

Glasgow, Paislei/, and yfi/r Railivai/. — We have much pleasure in staling that
eleven miles of this line (from Ayr to Irvine) were yesterday week pissed
over by an engine and train, wilh a party of the directors and their friends.
The engine was one of iho.sc furnished Iiy .Stark an 1 Fulton, of Glasgow, and
performed remarkably well. The road was uncommonly smooth and firm for
one so recently laid, part of it having only been finished the previous even-
ing. This part of the line will be opened to the public on 'Thursday next.
The whole line from Ayr to (ilasgow, including the Arklestone tunnel and
other works constructed by the Glasgow and Ayr, and Glasgow and Greenock
Companies jointly, will, it is believeibbe completed very early in Ihe summer
of next year. — Hailway Times, Jiilif 27.

Lancaster and Preston liailwai/. — The operations of this Ine of railway
arc in a very active slate of progress. At this end of the line the works arc
already beginning lo assume a very interesting and railway like appearance.
The viaduct across Water-lane promises to be a very li;in Isome structure, the
arches being exactly at riglit angles with the road. The skew bridge in
Marsh-lane is an excellent and substantial erection, and is in a forward state
of progress. On Messrs. Mullins and M'Mahon's contract the operations are
jirocceding most satisfactorily, and with all possible alacrity. — Preston
Chronicle.

York and North Midland Railwai/. — The laying of the second line of rails is
proceeding with rapidity, and will be completed from this city (York) to the
junction in about four months. The other works from Milford to Altofls are
progressing very favourably, and no doubt exists that the contractors will
liave completed their respeciive contr.acts in March next. — Yorkshire
Goxelte.

London, Southampton, and Portsmouth Rifilieai/. — Mr. T. Brassey has taken
the contract for the formation of the railway from Bishop Waltham to Fare-
ham, and has engaged to complete that portion by May next,

Bristol and Exeter Railwai/. — On Tuesday, 30th July, the first stone of the
Bristol and Exeter railway bridge, over the river Parrett, at Bridgewater, was
laid in the presence of some of tlie directors, and of a numerous body of
workmen employe 1 by Ihe contractor Mr. Bromhead. The ijridge is to be
of stone, a single arch of 100 feet span, and is to bear the name of the
" .Somerset Bridge," — Bristol Journal.

Opening of the Versailles Rriilwai/. — This railway branches from the St. Ger-
main railway, and was undertaken in 1838 by the Paris Rothschilds. It has
been two years anil a half in iirogress, ;md passes through a diffleult country.
It was opened on Sunday the 4lh instant, and carried 12 or 15 thousand per-
sons, giving a return of 2000/.

Railroads in Belgium. — Wo are assured that Ihe negocialions between the
government and the assignees of Mr. John CockeriU are terminated, and that
the Minister of Public M'orks intends to make .Seraing the general and sole
manufactory for every thing necessary for Ihe continuation, &e., of the iron
railroads. The compact, it is said, is drawn up in such a manner as not to
require he approbation of the Chambers, the two ministers who have drawn
it up having confined themsilves to Ihe limits of the votes of credit, which
they suppose will be annually given for the iron railroads. This cannot be
admitteil ; for if such an eslabhshinent is purchased by the state, the minister
cannot apply the sums voted for the iron railroads to the payment of real
property, the purchase of which has not been legally sanctioned In such a
case the Treasury w ould incur risks which conuot be recovered by the re-
sponsibility of the ministers. A file or an inundation might destroy Seraing
and all it contains. Who then would insure for Ihe loss, if the acts of minis-
ters had not been ratilied by a law? — Brussels paper.

Rniheaijs in Gernaini/, — That part of the Taunus Railway which lies between
Frankfort and Hiichst w as opened on the 7th inst. The first train started at
five in Ihe morning. The two places, formerly two hours asunder, have been
brought within a distance of eight minutes of each other. On the same day
(the 7tb) the Emperor l'"erdinand's Railway, from Vienna to Brunn, a distance
of about nineteen German (eighty-five English) miles, w.as opened wilh great
solemnity. The first tr in performed the distance m a few minutes over four
hours. The day appears Is have been celebrated, particularly at Brunn, as a
civic feast, and the ticke s which had been sold were disposed of by Ihe first
purchasers of them at a considerable adv;mcc. to those who were anxious to
be able to boast that they had been among Ihe first travellers by the new
railway. We regret to find that ihe day did not pass over wi:hout an acci-
dent. In the evening, as one of the returning trains had stopped at a station
to take in water, the locomotive engine of tlie train next in succession r;m
into the hindermost carriage, by which means several persons were seriously
hurt, though none dangerously. The engineer to whose carelessness the
accident w as altributed. was immediately pbiced under arrest.

ENGINEERING 'WORKS.

NEW HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.

We are happy in being able to state that the works connected mth Ihe
embankment for the new Houses of I'arliaiiient are now rapidly drawing to
a conclusion. The twelfth and last comse of the granite facing of the river
w:dl has been coimueiiced, and \vc hope ere long to announce that the entire
of this great hydraulic work has been completed. .\s there has not been
any material alteration in the coiistructioii from the cb'awings and sjjecifica-
tioii given in our first vol. pajic 31, we refer to them for a full description of
this solid and beautiful structure.

The coffer dam, whieli is one of the largest ever executed, has remained
perfectly entire, and, we may say, almost free from leakage since it was
closed in Uecembcr last ; the greatest ((iiantity of water collected in it, iii-
cbidiug land springs and drainage, has not exceeded, we understand, twenty
cubic feet per minute, which frpni a mass of work upwards of twenty thou-

356

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Skptf.mbkr,

sand feet in area, ai)i)pars almost incrcilible. Now that its "occupations
gone," wc \visl\ to sec it removed, for instead of a protection it seems merely
a ding)' screen to the massive fabric behind.

Tliis undertaking, aUliongh great in extent, is we liope merely the com-
raencement of the magnificent scheme for the embankment of the river
Thames from Yauxhall to Loiulon Bridge, and from the active measures now
in iirogress, we are not likely to be disappointed.

The foundation walls of the new Houses are risuig I'apidly, and keeping
pace with the river wall, they are all now out of danger of the watery ele-
ment, at prcseut, altliungli tlicy seem merely an intricate maze of lirickwork,
yet shortly we shall find order and l)eauty springing out of this apparent
chaos of confusion.

Itcpairs nf Frcnrh Ports. — The French Chambers have passed the law autho-
rising the government to expend 43 millions more (1,700,000/.) en the repairs
of 17 of the principal ports.

Gigantic Tiimiel. — Zanino Viilta. an Italian cn^ncer. has brought for«ard
a plan for a railway from the Lake of Zurich to t'omo. to join tne Lombardo-
Venotian railway. He propfjses to pass the Grison Alps by a lot, g tunnel,
which, from his survey, he hopes to be able easily to carry through the gra-
nite rocks. M. Volta proposes to form the rails of the granite, which is of a
good quality. Two cr.ntons have alrcaly given their approbation to the plan,
and the engineer liopes to obtain snfTicient support to be able to carry it into
pxecution.

Opining of lite Willinplon and Rfploii New Bridge. — This admirable and use-
fid undertaking, which was cummcnccd about tlirei; years ago, has at length
been completed, to llic praise of the architect who designed and constructed
it, to the honour of the spirited gentlemen by whom it was originated, and
to the inlinitc satisfaction and deliglit of the inhabitants of the neighbouring
localities, who set no bounds to their admiration on this occasion. The
bridge is universally allowed to be a fine specimen of architecture; it lias
been constructed under the superintendence of J. Trubshaw, Esq., civil engi-
neer. It consists of five arelies. It has been erected at a cost of 6,210/. —
this sum incUiding the toll-house. — Tlic Slaffordsiiirc Adrcrtiscr.

Ipswicli H'rl Duel:. — The ceremony of laying the foundation stone of the lock
connected with this great and imporlani undertaking, took place on Wed-
nesday, 2f)th June. The stone consisted of a fine block from llic Yorkshire
i)narries, weighing about four tons; on the upper side the follov\iiig inscrip-
tion, on a plate of east iron, was let into the stone ; —
IP,S\V1CH DOCK.
The first stone of tins Lock w as laid on the
2 th day of June, A. D. 1839,

BY

fJKORfiK GREEN SAMPSON, ESQUIRE, MAYOR.

DjktS Alexander, Esquire, Treasurer of the Commissioners,

Peter Bartholomew Ixing, I",s(|uire, Clerk.

Engineer of the 'Works— Ifenry Robinson Palmer, Esquire, F. R. S.,

Vice-President of the Institute of Civil Engineers.

Contractor for theAVorks — David Thornbory, Esquire.

NOSTROS IN COMMODA PUBLICA
CONATL'S, TU DOMINE SECUNDA.
On the proposed site of the Docks a vast excavation had been made, in
which work much dilliculty arose from the influx of spring water; but, by
Die erection of a sleam-engine, the inconvenience was in a great measure
overcome. The brick-work ivas then commenced, partly upon piling, and
partly upon a concrete fonned of gravel and liiue. The lower surface of the
lock is tormed by an inverted elliptic arch, having a span of 45 feet, and
depth of 12 feet. This arch extends in length 230 feet, the spaces being ex-
cepted in which the lock gates are to swing ; of this distance, 4.") feet in front
of^tlie lock, the space for the gates, and about 50 feet within the lock, are in
the cour.se of building. The extreme depth to which the toundation reaches
is 1(> feet Ijclow the level of low water, and will be .33 feet below the top of the
eo]iing. The nnmber of bricks reciuircd will exceed two millions, and the
quantity of stone 600 tons. It is calculated that the weight of all the mate-
rials of w liich the lock is to be composed, viz., briek-work, masonry, and con-
crete, will be nearly 12,000 Ions.

SiL^pension Bridge aeross tlie Dannhe. — The patent for the construction of Ibis
bridge is granted to the Baron Signa, and will be proceeded wilh immediately.
It will cro-s the Danube between Pesth and Ofen, and will connect Hungary
with Austria. Mr. Tierney Clark, who built the Hammersmith Suspension
bridge, is to be the engineer. — Railieaij Mag.

Chard Canal. — It is Willi pleasure we notice the rapid progress of this work.
Upwards of fifty men arc now employed indifferent parts of the line, and it is
confidently expected that the whole will be completed by the time specified.
— Bristol Mirror,

Rocesler Bridge.— On Thursday tlie 8th ult., the foundatl n stone of the
bridge about to be erected over the River Dove, was laid witli masonie
honors by the Earl of .Shrewsbury. The bridge will have one aicb of (iO feet
span and tlireo land arches, and is to be erected under the superintendance of
Mr. Fradgley, engineer,

Opening of the IVilUnglon and Replon New Bridge. — This admirable and use-
ful undertaking, which was commcmced about tln-ee years ago. has at length
been compleleil. to the praise of the archiicct who designed and eonslrueted
it. to the honour of ihe spirited gentlemen by whom it was originaicd, ami to
the infinite satisfaction ami delight of tbe'inhabit:ints of Ihe neighbouring
localities, who Bet no bounds to their admiration on Ibis occasion. The
bridge is universally allowed to be a fine specimen of architecture. It has
been constructed under the superintendence of J, Trubshaw , Esq.. civil en-
gineer ; and consists of five arches. It has been erected at a cost of £6,210. ;
tliis Stun including the toll-house. The road from Bcptoii to the bridge is

I'Stimateil to cost £1.000.. i700. of w hi( h has already been snbsiril)ed by Ihe
public ; and it is eonfidentlv hoped that the remainder will soon be procured.
— Staffordsttirc Advertiser.

Granton Pier. — His Grace the Duke of Bucelench, who has just returned
from the Continent, visited Granton Pier on Thursday, 8th ult., to inspect the
progress of the works since his departure. Upon examination, his Grace was
much satisfied to find that the Pier is now 1,500 feet in length, and we be-
lieve is to extend about 270 feet furdier; and that other three jellies, exclu-
sive of the three already finished, each ninety feet long, with sheds for the
receiving and housing oi goods, and for the accommodation of passengers,
together with two low-water slips, liad been begun. His grace afterwards
visited the fjuarry, where 100 workmen are cin[iloyed, and gave directions
to Mr. Hawkins, reside nt engineer for ihe works, for certain alterations and
imitrovemonts on it, so as to ]ir>'serve the communication with Ihe new road
adjoining that of the Glasgow Railway, contract for water, supply of gis,
and other improvements connected witli the Pier. — Dundee Chronicle.

Port of Liverpool. — A new and commodious dock is about to be conslructeil
by the Ellesmere and Chester Canal Carrying Company, on the site of Ihe
lierculaneum Pottery. It is lo be to the southward of Ihe spacious dock now
being formed by Lord Francis Egerton, and which will be completed in about
three months. Instead of railways operating injuriously on canals, as was at
first supposed. It seems that they have really benefited them, as Ihe carrying
trade both of his Lordship's and the Ellesmere Company have increased so
much as to render more accommodation al.isolutely necessary. At the south
end of file town a few private and wealthy individuals have bouglit all the
.shore, from the Earl of Lefton and others, from the Brunswick Dock to
w ilhin a few yards of the Dingle. — Liverpool Mail.

tSEW CHURCHES, flee.

Consecration of Keileij CIntreh ■ — This ceremony was performed by the Lord
Bishop of Herelord, on the 27th July. The church is a remarkably neat edi-
fice in the gothic style, beautifully si'uated on an eminence commanding a
nn}sl exiens ve view It is built and endowed at the entire expense of His
Grace the Duke of Sutherland.

inits. — The foundation stone of Christ Church, at Derryliill. in the parish
of Calne. Wills, was laid on Monday. July 20, by the Marquis of Lansdowne

Isle of Portland. — Subscriptions are raising for the purpose of erecting a
new chiirch in the Isle of Portland. Her Majesty has kindly given 300/. to-
wards the fund, and an endowment of l,.iOO/. has been also contributed. The
sum required for building tbc church is 2.000/.

Abergavenny. — Miss Herbert is building an extra church and a row of alms-
houses for the poor at her sole cost.

Wolverhampton. — A meeting VN'as held at Wolverhampton on Tuesday, 29ih
July, to take the necessary steps tin- erecting three new churches in tliat
place.

Neiv Chvrehes in Ihe Potteries. — The district committee for Newcastle and
the Potteries, appointed by the Diocesan Society of Lichfield, since their ap-
pointment, have already rceeiveil in donations and subscriptions 700/.

New Chapel at Iliirl.'ihill. — On Ihe 23nl July, the foundation-stone was laid
of a new cdiapcl for the congregation of Independent Dissenters at Clia[iel
Find, near Hartshill, M'arwickshire.

Leamington. — The new chapel of St. Mary, was consecrated by the Lord
Bishop of Worcester, on Saturday 27th July last. The chapel is a golliie
edifice, and will seat about 1,200 persons.

Damage to Ripon Minster hy Lightning. — On Monday afternoon, 12tli uf(.
betw een three and four o'clock, a heavy shower of rain fell at Kipon. attended
with thunder and lightning, which appears to have done much damage lo
Ihe Cathedral.

Elgin, Jnhj 25. — The monument on the Lady Hill, to the memory of the
lale Duke of Gonlon. is now ahnost eompleteil. It is ninety feet'high, and
has a very line appearance from the town and country round about", A |ier-
snn from ihe top can have a c'car and distinct view of Lussiemoulh and the
shipping, besides a long range on both sides of the Frith. The whole does
great credit to the contractors, Messrs. Shand and Brander. — Edinburgh
Coitrant.

Monument to the memory of Whitfield. — A meeting of the committee who
superintend the service cm Stinchcombe Hill took place on the evening of the
ce'ebration, when the erection of a monument on .Stinchcombe Hill, in me-
mory of Whitfield's labours, was suggested. The proposition was cordially
received. The monument, if erected, will be visible from twelve counties, and
from almost any place within a radius of twelve miles. — Gloucester Chronicle.

Paddingtnn. — An additional church is to be built in this parish, for which
archiieets are invited to send in designs.

Rouen Cathedral. — The works of the central tour, intended lo replace that
destroyed by lightning in 1822. are continued. The pl.an is an open spire of
iron work, lo reach to 400 feet from tlie ground, with spires at the angles
h ilf way up the great one.

Jlie Aueicnt Pilgrims'' Chapel at Maidstone. — This interesting little relic of
early English arcbilecture, after a lapse of 580 years, is again used as a place
of public worship. It was consecrated (or rather reconsecrated) by the Arch-
liistinp of Canterbury on the 18th inst. [lie ancient chapel which was .'lO
feet 6 inches long from Cast to west, by 2'y feet wide, has been carelully
restored and enlarged at Ihe west 'ud. from the designs and uniler the super-
intendence of J. "Whichcord. Esq. It is now eidcniated to hold 600 persons.
The cost of its restoration and enlargement lias been defrayed by public sub-
scription, and amounted to between two and three thousand pounds.

Twil New CImrcli, near Maidstone, ~1)a^ ceremony of laying the first Stone

1830.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

357

of thischurcli was performed on the 18th ult, by the Archliishop of Canter-
bury, in the presence of a Vu-ge Ijody of tlie clergy and several thousand
spectators. The church is in the early English style of architecture, and is to
be Ijuilt of Kentish rag stone. Its interior dimensions are 92 feet by 31 feet
6 inches in the clear, with a gallery at the west end, for the singers and
clnldren, and contains 600 sittings. It has a lower at the west end, sur-
rounded with an octagonal spire, being together 110 feet in height. The plan
of the church at the ca.st end is in the Ibrm of half a decagon, siinilar to
many of the cluirches on the Continent. The contracts amount to rather more
than 2000/. — -■/ Parsim/iae Ilinise is also in the course of erection, situate close
to the church. Tlie band on which Ijoth the church and parsonage are build-
ing, was the gift of the lliglit Hon. the Earl of llomney. The funds for the
erection of the church and parsonage have been raised by public suljscription,
aided by a grant from the Church Building Society.

Uadley Church. —The Dean of Hereford, whose taste for ecclesiastical archi-
tecture is well known, lias alVected a gre it improvement in the tine old
church. He lias had all the rubbish removed that had collected from time to
time about the building to that extent that not one portion of its lj:ise was
visible. He has converted useless materials into matters of utility and orna-
ment ; he designed a communion table, a pair of magniticeiU chairs, kneeling
stools, reading stands, and eomiuunion rail, and repaired the stalls, all of
wliichhehashadmost beautilully executed by his parish oner Mr. Davies. lie
has had all the painted glass arranged that was scattered about in the dif-
ferent windows, and placed the whole in the windows of the chancel, making
a most agreeable point in harmony of colour, as well as having C(dlected the
Scriptural subjects into that order that they were originally designed for.
The good taste displayed by the Dean in the arrangement of these matters,
gives an interesting appearance to the chancel ; and in addition to these im-
provemels, the Dean lias made further designs in the hojie that he .shall, with
the help of his parishioners, see them executed. — Felix Furh'i/s Brisliil
Jottriial.

Diiiikinfield. a Presbyterian chapel on an extensive scale, is now in course of
erection under the direction of Mr. Tattersall. of Manchester. We shall,
next monlli, give a lull description of its architectural character.

PUBLIC BUIIiUINGS, Stc

Brecon. — A new Shire Hall is about to be erected at this place, for wdiicli
fenders are requested.

Hilcheti. — A new Town Hidl is about to be erected, for »hich tenders are
requested.

The Union Banic of London. — A spacious building is about to be erected fur
this Bank, in ArCTle-place, Regent-street, under the direction of Messrs.
Newnham and Webb, architects.

Chutswortli. — The conservatory which has been erected for his Grace the
Duke of Devonshire is 375 feet bing. 125 feet wide, and 75 fi'ct high in the
centre. We believe it is by far the largest in the world.

The Surrey County Lunatic Asylum. — The works of this building erecting
from the designs, and under the general superintendence of Mr. Moseley.the
county surveyor for Middlesex, are proceeding rapidly. The building pre-
sents a principal frontage of 525 feet to the south-west; the two extreme
ends for a length of 112 feet, projecting 117 feet forward; tlie centre forms
three sides of a quarangle. the [irinci pal elevation of which is completed by
the superintendent's house, which, by advancing 68 feet, and having an in-
creased elevation, sustains the con.sequence of the centre. The general line
to the sky is broken by six towers at the angles, having an additional sfxjry,
and being surmounted by Ijattlements. The building will contain 350 patients,
is fire-proof throughout, being entirely surmounted by an iron-ruo:. The
stile Elizabilhen, — the principal front is faced with red kiln-burnt bricks,
with bath-stone rustics to the quoins, plinths, cappings. muUions. reveals,
strings, copings, and caps, and bases to the chimnies, and it may be said gene-
rally, that (small as the estimate may appear) no expense has been spared
in making the building worlhy of the rank which its dimensions entitle it
to hold, either as to its picturesque or substantial construction. Tlie con-
tract with Messr.-! Baker and Sou. the builders, inclusive of the olTices, and
airing court, walls, &c., is under 45.000/., subsequent contracts have been
entered into for warming and heating the baths with Messrs Barlow and Co.,
and for the apparatus for making and laying on oil-gas througliout, with Mr.
DeviUe of the Strand.

ANTIQUITIES.

Roman Pavement. — Lately in excavating the ground for rebuilding the Hall
of the Worshipping Company of Dyers, in t'idlege-street, Dow'gate-hill, at
13 ft. 8 in. below the level of the street, and just above the gravel, the work-
men came to the remains of a Roman pavement, formed of small pieces of
tiles about an inch square, bedded apparently on line c<jncrete ; two thin
earthen jars or bottles were also found near the s.ame spot, one of w Inch is in
a perfect state, and two coins nearly obliterated. The lower part of the
ground in which the above were found, for i ft. 6 in. in thickness appeared
to be Ihc sediment or earthy matter from water, probably of the ancient
U'allbrook, and in it, scattered over the surface, was a large quantity,
20 CH t., of animal bones.

Newark Castle. — The interior of this venerable pile of feudal grandeur,
Hliicli has resisted the storms of war and the fury of the tempest for more
tlian 700 years, is now cleared away, and the site of the ground where the
deatn-stricken and licentious John, the pedantic James, the equivocal Hen-

rietta. ;ind the irresolute and vacillating Charles, bore so conspicuous a part,
is shortly to be opened as a cattle market for the borough. The ground is
the property of W. !■'. Handley, Esq. who purchased it at the late sale of the
crou n lands. — Nottingham Review.

Ancient Trundle Wheel. — A part of an ancient trundle wheel was found a
few days ago in Chalmerstoii Kloss, on the surface of the clay, and about 15
feet of moss above it; from which circumstance it is .supposed th.it It must
have bain there for nearly 2.000 years. The construction is remarkiibly sim-
ple. The various parts are held together without nails, but in a strong and
efficient way. — Stirling Observer.

Roman Causewaij. — Some works for improving the channel of the Scheldt
have necessitated several extensive cuttings across the old Roman causeway,
called La Chausee de Bruuehaul, which connects, in a straight line, the tow iis
of Bavay and Tournay. These cuttings took place on the spot described in
the itinerary of Antoninus as the Pons Scaldis. In the course of the work
there have been discovered, on various points, remains of constructions and
large quantities of materials, wliicli indicate the site of a town or large vil-
lage, and it appears that m this locality several bridges h.ad been thrown
over the Scheldt. This discovery shows that the point given by antiquaries
as Pons Scalilis. was not merely a bridge over tlie Scheldt, but a Roman
station, which was probably fortified.

Roman Pavement. — A very interesting discovery was made a few days hick
in digging a cellar near the High Bridge. The workmen uncovered a large
portion of Roman pavement composed of rude material. A layer of stones
had first been placed down, and over these, obli((uely and about half an inch
apart, small flat \\]e&. the whole being converted into a solid mass by filling
up the crevices with a red cement. 'I'he pavement was a foot lielow the pre-
sent surface, and was evidently the floor of a Roman dwelling-lionse. It was
broken up, and removed ; the fragments now lie on Mr. W. Rudgard's w harf.
— Stamford Mercury.

Hull. — Modern improvement has just destroyed the most ancient building
in Hull, except the chance! of Trinity Church, the oldest relic in the towii.
The space required for the erection of a new watch-house, leased by the cor-
poration of the town to ihe Comniissioners of Her Majesty's Customs, has
led to the pulling down of ihe old Chain House, at the south end of High-
street. — Hull Advertiser.

Ancient Coin. — In one of the cuttings of the railway near Croydon, a few
days since, a workman found a gold noble of Edward 111. in excellent preser-
vation. On the obverse side is the king in a ship, crowned and in iirmour,
with sword and shield, Ihe latter bearing the arms of England and France"

!VIISC£:i.IiANE:A.

Alloy of Metals. — A curious and valuable discovery has just been made in
tlie alloy of metals. A manufacturer of Paris has invented a comptisition
much less oxidable than silver, and which will not melt at less th:in a heat
treble that which silver will bear; the cost of it is less th:in 4r/. an ounce.
Another improvement is in steel ; an Englishman at Brussels has discovered
a mode of casting iron so that it flows from the furnace pure steel, better
than the be t cast steel in England, and almost equal to that which has
undergone the process of beating. The cost of fliis steel is only a farthing
per pound greater than that of cast iron.

Engraiung on Marble. — Mr. Rayner. of Derby, has made a discoverv in art
— a new method of engraving on marble. .S.jme of bis pictorial efforts have
elicited great admiration. Her Majesty is in possession of a variety of speci-
mens, and the nobdity in England and France have introduced them into
their draw ing-rooms.

L.ccture on Architecture. — On "Wednesday evening, the 7tli uU., the 1 st of a
course of six lectures, an ICcclesiastical and Domestic Architecture, w;ls de-
livered by Mr. Hadfield. of Derby, to the members and friends of the Me-
chanics'Institution, of Ilkeston. We understand that Mr. Hadfield intends
lecturing in every town and large village in tlie county of Deiby, as be is de-
voting his time to an Architectural survey of its Churches; an accurate de-
scription of which he is about to publish in a small work, to be entitleil, ''An
Architectural Gazetteer of the county Derby."

Falling Stars. — During the niglit of Friday and Saturday the 9tli and lOlh
of August, the heavens were bestrewed with little falling stars of extraordi-
nary brightness. Mr. Forster counted above 600 of them. It is not a liitle
singular that the peasants of France and .Saxony have believed for ages past
that .Saint Lawrence weeps tears of fire, which fall from the sky every year
on his fete, the lOtli of August. This ancient German tradition, on observa-
tion, has led within these few years to the discovery of a fact, wh ch now en-
gages the attention of astronomers. The inhabitants of Brussels can hear
witness that in the night of Ihe lOtli of August this year Saint Lawrence shed
abuud.ance of tears.

A new method of preserving iron-work froin rust has been communicated by
M. Paymento the French Inslitule. It consists in plunging Ihe pieces to be
preserved in a mixture of one part concentrated solution of impure soda, (soda
of commerce,) and three parts water. Pieces of iron left for three months in
this bqui I had lost neither weight nor pcjlish : whilst similar pieces immersed
for five days in simple water were covered with rust.'

Simple Remedy to Purify Water. — It is n;.t generally known as it ought to
be, that pounded alum possesses ihe property of purifying water. A large
table-spoonful of pulverized alum, sprinkled into a hogshead of water (the
water stirred round ;ii the time), will, after the lapse of a few hours, by pre-
cipitating to the botlciui the impure piirlicles, so purify it that it will l.c found
to possess nearly ;dl the freshness and cle:irncss ol the finest spring wJiter,
A iiailful containing four gallons, may bu [.urified by a single tea -spoonful. —
Doucaster Chronicle,

358

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. [September,

LIST or NE^W PATENTS.

GRANTED IX ENGLAND FROM 29tU JULY TO 2CtH AuGUST, 1839.

William Colchester, of Ipswich, merchant, for " nn improved sonj>
frame." — Sealed, July 20 ; six months allowed for eiirolhneiit.

Christopher Nickels, of York Koad, Laiidretli, Gentleman, for " iin-
jirorements in cuttiny India-rubber." — August 1 ; six months.

Louis Francois Fenillet, of George Yard, Lomhard-street, Gentleman-
for " improrements in casting type Jhr printiny." — August 1 ; six mouths.

Samuel Sidney Smith, of Suftblk-idace, llackney-road, for " certain im-
provements in machinery for raisiny water." — .Vugust 1 ; six months.

Joseph Webb, of Iluddersfiehl, for '' imjrrove7nenls in machinery fur
raisiny tite pile of woollen and other cloths." — August 1 ; six months.

Alphonse Rene Le Mire De Normandy, of Cheapside, Doctor in
Medicine, for '• certain improvements in the manufacture of inks and dyes. —
August 1 ; six months.

William Abbott, jun., of Wyudham-place, Middlesex, Gentleman, for
" improvements in the manufacture of felt." — August 1 ; six months.

Thomas Knowles, of Manchester, cotton spinner, for " certain improve-
ments in machinery or apparatus used in the preparation of cotton and other
Jibrorm substances. — .Vugust 1 ; six months.

William Miller, of Clithero, Lancaster, engineer, for " certain improve-
ments in yrafes used in steam-enyincs or other furnaces or fre places." —
.\ugust 1 ; six months.

I'lERRE Jac«ues Ferier, of No. 5, Paul's-chain, Saint Paul's Cluu'ch-
varil, jeweller, for '•certain improvements in the construction of vapour and
hot-air baths." — iVugnst 1 ; six months.

Samuel Guppv, of the City of Bristol, merchant, for," improvements in a
certain process and apparatus used in the manufacture of soap." — August I ;
six months.

William Morrett Williams, of Bedford-place, Commercial-road, for
'* an im])roved lock and key." — .-Vugust 1 ; four months.

John Humphries, of Kidderniinster, carpet munufacturcr, for "certain
improvements in the manufacture of carpets and ruys." — August 1 ; six
months.

John Mercer, of Oakenshaw, in the county of Lancaster, calico printer,
John Dynkley Prince, the younger, of Manchester, calico i)rinter, and Wil-
liam Blythe, of Church, in the said county, manufacturing chemist, for
" certain improved processes to be used in the printiny, dyeiny, or colouriuy
of cotton, woollen, silk, or other cloths and yarns." — August 1 ; six months.

Sir John Scott Lillie, of Kensington, Knight, for " certain imprrwe-
menls in the application of elastic Jluids to the workiny of machinery." —
August 1 ; six months.

Joh.v Moore, of Broad Weir, Bristol, Gentleman, for " an improvement or
impi-ovements in the steam-engine or steam-engine apparatus." — August 5 ;
six mouths.

Jonathan Fell, of Workington, Cumherland, for " improvements in
building ships and other vessels." — August 5 ; six months.

Robert William Jearr.^rd, of Oxford-street, architect, for " certain
improved means of retarding wheeled carriayes." — August G ; six months.

Joseph Whitworth, of JIanchester, engineer, for " certain improvetnents
in machinery, tools, or apparatus, for planiny, boring and cuttiny metals or
other substances." — .Vugust 7 ; six months.

Thomas Burr, of Shrewshury, lead merchant, for " improvements in roll-
lead and other soft metals." — .4ugust 8 ; six months.

John Fitzpatrick, of Stanhope-street, Clare-maiket, Gentleman, for " a
new and improved method of makiny and manufacturing thread and linen, by
means of a material not hitherto used for that purpo.se." Comumnicated hy
a foreigner residing ahroad. — .Vugust 10 ; six months.

Robert Varicas, of Burton-crescent, Middlesex, surgeon, for " improve-
ments in rendering fabrics and leather water-prooof." — iVugust 10 ; six
months.

Nelson John IIolloway, of Pentonville, Gentleman, for " an improved
head for carriayes. Communicated hy a foreigner residing ahroad. —
.Vugust 13; six mouths.

Hen-ry Brow.v, of Mde-end, for " a netv coveriny or platiny for house-
hold furniture, picture frames, cabinet and fancy work, and other articles of
domestic and personal n.se, and the mode of making such covering or plating."
— August 13 ; six months.

Miles Berry, of Chancery-lane, .Middlesex, Patent .'Vgent, for " a new or
improved method of obtaining the spontaneous reproduction of all the images
received in the focus of the camera obscura." Communicated l)y a foreigner
residing abroad. — August H; six months.

James Capple Miller, of Manchester, Gentleman, for ■' certain improve-
ments in printing calicoes, muslins, and other fabrics." — August 15 ; six
months.

John Mason, of Rochdale, machine maker, for " certain improvements in

machinery or apparatus for boriny and turning metals and other substances.'
— .Vugust 15; six months.

William Bridges Adams, of Porcliester-terraee, Bayswater, Gentleman,
and John Buchannan, of Glasgow, coach hnilder, for " certain improre-
menfs in the construction of wheel carriages, parts of which improvements are
also applicable to maciiinery for propeUiny, and also for the pmpose of secur-
ing ships and other vessels, and for communicating motion between different
portions of machiuerg." — August 10; six months.

Joseph Scholefield, of Littlehorough, Lancaster, cotton spinner, and
Edmu.nd Leach, of Littlehorough, .iforesaid, manager, for " certain improee-
nients in looms for weaving various kinds of cloth." — .Vugust 17 ; six months.
M.\tthew Uzielli, of King WiUiam-strect, London merchant, for " im-
provements in the modes of impregnating vood or timber with chemical mate-
rials." Communicated by a foreigner residing abroad. — August 17; six
months.

George .\ugustus Kollman, organist of Her Majesty's German Chapel,
Saint James, for " improvements in railwags, and in locomotive and other car-
riages."— August 1 7 ; six months.

James Vardy, of Wolverhampton, Gentleman, and Moritz Platow, of
Poland-street, Oxford-street, engineer, for " improvements in making decoc-
tions of coffee and other matters." — August 17; six months.

Stephen Joyce, of Croydon, Surrey, artist, for "certain improvements in
stoves for warming the air in buildings, which improvements are also applica-
ble for cooking or for communicating heat for other useful purposes." —
August 21 ; six mouths.

Moses Poole, of Lincoln's Inn, Gentleman, for " improvements in intro-
ducing elastic materials into fabrics, to render them elastic or partly elastic."
Communicated hy a foreigner residing abroad. — .\Hgust 23 ; six months.

William Coles, of Charing-eross, Middlesex, Esquire, for " improvements
in reducing friction of machinery used in propelling vessels, lathes, and other
machines." — August 23 ; six months.

Charles Barweld Coles, of .VUsop-terrace, New-road, Gentleman, for
" improvements in the method offi.ring and carryiny fire-arms on horseback."
— .Vugust 23 ; six months.

John Augustus Tulk, of Seaton and Lower Iron Works, Cumberland,
Iron Master, for " improvements in the manufacture of iron." — August 2G ;
si-X mouths.

Henry- Puikus, of Old Slaughters Coffee House, Saint Martiu's-lane,
Gentleman, for ** improvements in the methods of applyiny motive power to
the impelliny of machinery, which improvements are applicable to several use-
ful purposes." — .Vugust 20; six mouths.

J.\MEs Bog.\rdus, of Trinity-scpiare, Tower-hill, Gentleman, for " improved
means of applyiny labels, stamps, or marks to letters, and such other docu-
munts." — August 20 ; six months.

Thomas Mac Gauran, of Golden-terrace, Pentonville, for " improve-
ments in the manufacture of paper from a material not hitherto so employed."
— August 20 ; six months.

John Muir, jun., merchant, of Glasgow, for " certain improvements in tlie
apparatus connected with the discharging-press, for conductiny, distributiuy,
and applyiny the discharyiny liquors, and the dyeiny litjuors." — August 20 ;
six months.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

.'/ Suhscriher's quvrivs shall be answered in the next Journal.

The coiiiiiiuiilrittiau relative to liuuiwt and Corjit'\i Coui-i-utric Engine, we have
been uUii^ed tii posljiouc for waul <>J spuve iiiitii iit .li luouth. U'f uiii.sl plvuil the
same e.xeu.'ie fur Lii'Ut.-C'ul. T. s eoiiuuuiiicutiou. (dthoii^^tt his article is in type,
and the drawings engraved.

Nelson Memorial — Ti; have received .wnu- uilditiouul partieuhtrs of designs
exhibited at the St. Janws's liay.iutr, Jor which we cannot Jind space in the present
uuuiber. They shall appear vat uumth.

The Journal for ue.rt mouth will eoutain B \tagcs extra, and eontain .sonre im-
portant papers connected with the profession, we will tlien endeavour to bring up ait
arrears.

We feel obliged to Mr. Casey of America, for his rammumention wfiieh orrived
as our work was goiui^ to press. Ji'e shall be glad tit bear f nun him again.

The Editor will Jeel obliged to country siibseriliers if they will Jnrieurd inuj
account of works in progress, or any uew.ipapers containing articles or paragraphs
eounicteil with the objects of the Journal ; it will also be doing a great service if
engineers and architects will cause all advertisements connected with contracts
to be inserted in the Journal.

Conimuiiieations are requested to be addressed to " The Editor of the Civil
haigineer and Architect's Juurnal," No. 11, Parliament Street, Westminster,
or to Mr. Groomhridgc, Panqer Alley, Paternoster Row i if hy post, to be di-
rected to the former place ; if by parcel, please to direct it to the nearest of the
two places where the coach arriees at in Loudon, as we are frequently put to the
e.ipence of one or two shillings for the purter.Tge only, of a very small parcel.

Books for review must be sent early in the month, eoinmunieations on or before
the 20th (if with wood-cuts, earlier), and advertisements on or before the 25lh
instant.

The PiRST Volume may be had, bound in cloth and lettered in oor.n,
Price 17.t.

]S30.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

359

mtKna^v^^txm

PLANS, SECTIONS, AND ELEVATION OF A ROASTING AND BAKING OVEN.

Fig. 1. — Klevation of Front of Oven.

Fig. 2.— Transverse Section through Centre of Oven.

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Fig. 4. — Plan showing the Floor of the Oven, Smoke and A r Flues, Sec

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A. hot air flues. S, smoke ditto. P. stoppers of ditto. W", welsh lumps. B, boiler. C, supply cistern. D, damper.

.Scale of Feet.
5 4 3 2 1

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0 1

No. 2.5.— Vol. II. — October, 1S39.

2 E*

360

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[October,

Fig. T). — Plan showing the Ash-pit and Hot Air-flue.

Fig. 6. — Longitudinal Section through Centre uf Oven.

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A ROASTING OR BAKING OVEN.

Sir — In answer to your call for communications, I feel as a con-
stant reader that it is my duty to contribute occasionally my mite, I
will therefore now address you on the subject of Kitchen Fire-places.

Roasted meat is a favourite mode of cookery in England, although
not quite so much in vogue as it was previous to 1815. Kitchen fire-
places are constructed chiefly for this purpose— but the consumption
of fuel is far greater tlian is required to effect the object in view, con-
sequently there is a waste of material, and an unnecessary incon-
venience from excessive heat. Tlie latter is more particularly felt in
town-built houses, in which the kitchen is generally on the basement
floor. Here the heated air ascends and fills the house with offensive
effluvia. Another inconvenience arising from open kitchen fire-places
is, that the boiling process cannot be regulated with any certainty. It
is a well known fact that violent ebulition is not only not necessary,
but is even injurious, and that simmering is the extent required espe-
cially ni soup-making. Now this medium can never be attained on
open fire-places. I would pro]50se to put an end to this waste of fuel,
and annoyance to all parties, from the cook upwards, by doing away
witli open kitchen fire-places entirely, and substituting a mode of
roasting which would be more effectual, and under a perfect controul.

The difference between meat roasted before an open fire-place, and
baken in an oven, consists in this, that in the one case it has been ex-
posed to a change of air, and in the other case the meat has been
dressed in the same air, and in a confined space. Now if we can
construct an oven which shall have a constant current of lieated air
passing fhrougli it, I conceive that meat can be more etfectually roasted
in it than it could be before an open fii-e-place, and that such an oven
will be more convenient in all respects, more economical, and not liable
to the objections which I have hinted at as consequent on open fire-
places.

Annexed are six drawings of a roasting or baking oven which I de-
signed in 1833, and I will now proceed to explain its mode of action.

Tlie boiler B to be made of cast-iron 2' 0" x 1' 9" X 1' 0" having
an opening into it on the top of 6" diameter, for the purpose of clean-
ing it out, and for receiving a steaming vessel for cooking vegetables,
&c., a cock to draw off boiling water, and a pipe to supply cold water
from a small cistern C, having a ball cock or other contrivance, so that
the supply may Ije self-acting. The upper surface of this boiler forms
the plate under the oven door.

The furnace is placed under the boiler. The smoke flues S pro-
ceed horizontiilly by two openings, eacli 0" x fj" on the level of the
7th and 8th courses of brickwork, (from the floor line), inclining to the
right and left until they clear the hot-air flue A ; here they rise per-
]iendicularly to the level of the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth courses,
passing on each side of the oven, and separated from it by 4 inches of
brickwork, until they reach the cast-iron frame of the oven door, which
is placed on the boiler; here they again rise, and they ultimately join

in one flue 9" X 9" over the centre of the door, and under the damper
S. The opening into the furnace 6" X ^" is by a cast-iron door in
which is an opening of 2" x 1" having a sliding shutter, by which it
may be partially, or wholly closed.

The hot-air flue A 6" X 6" enters from the ashpit, immediately
under the bearing bar, and proceeds horizontally on the level of the
third and fourth courses, until it clears the back of the oven. Here it
rises perpendicularly until it reaches the fourteenth course tand a
part of the thirteenth), where it branches to the right and left imme-
diately over the smoke flues, and separated from them by a tile. The
joint between the tile to be protected by a piece of slate or thin iron,
to prevent any smoke from rising into the hot-air flues. These flues
proceed horizontally until they reach the side of the oven near the
door, where they are admitted into the oven by two openings 0" X 4"
each, the upper part of the openings being on the level of the spring-
ing.

The hot-air makes its exit at the back of the oven, close under the
soffit of the arch. From thence it may be carried up into a drying
closet, or the hot-air may be made available for any other useful pur-
pose.

The entrance into the ashpit may be closed partly or wholly, by
means of the cast-iron door having an opening in it of 2" X 1", and a
sliding shutter, similar to that of the furnace door.

According to this mode of construction the smoke never enters the
internal part of the oven; but when the gross particles of the coals
have been carried off through the smoke flues, and the fire burns bright
and clear, the action of the furnace may be reversed by pushing in
damper of the smoke flue S, opening the damper of the hot-air flue A,
closing wholly the ashpit door, and opening the shutter of the fumace
door. By these means nearly the whole of the heat produced by the
combustion of the fuel will be carried into the internal part of the
oven, through the hot-air flues.

The hot-air should come in contact with every
part of the surface of the meat, both upper and
lower, and therefore the meat ought to be sup-
ported on the points of iron crows feet of this .^^^

shape. By these the whole apparatus of spits, r^ •

smoke-jacks, &c., would be superseded.

Should other additional contrivances be wanted in large establish-
ments for stewing, simmering, or boiling operations, hot plates and
confectioners furnaces may be advantageously introduced ; but in all
these cases the means of ventilation immediately over them should be
provided, so that the miwholesome fumes may escape through flues
into the open air.

I am. Sir, your humble servant,

Robert Thomson, Lieut.-Col., R.E.

Dover, Uth July, 1839.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

361

IMPROVEMENTS IN BUILDING.

Our indefatigable friend and fellow labourer, Mr. Loudon, during
the last summer made a tour in the Midland Counties and collected
much valuable information, which he has published in the Gardener's
Jiiagazine. That part which more immediately relates to the objects
of our Journal, Mr. Loudon has kindly given us permission to publish,
accompanied by the mood engravings.

Milford and Belper, a few miles from Derby, are two of the scenes
of the' extensive manufacturing operations of the Messrs. Strutt ; and
here we saw some contrivances, which we think, if more known,
would be extensively used. Among these the most important is, the
system of warming and ventilating invented by the late Mr. William
Strutt, and first used in these works, and described in Sylvester's
Philosop/iij 0/ Domestic Economy, 4to, Lond. 1821, and now in general
nse tliroughout Britain for large buildings ; but there are various
others, some of which we shall attempt to describe.

Cottage Windom Staybar. — ^One of the most universally useful of
these is a window fastening, or staybar, as it is technically called, for
cottage windows, or the windows of manufactories, or, indeed, build-
ings of any kind where the windows are fixed, and do not slide in
grooves, or are not suspended by lines and weights. This contrivance
has the merit of being perfectly simple, very economical in its first
cost, and not liable to go out of order. The same principle is appli-
cable to the opening and shutting of doors and gates of almost every
kind, as well as to windows. To give an idea of the value of this
contrivance, it is necessary to observe that, in the latticed windows of
cottiges, there is very frequently either one entire frame, or a portion
in the centre of one, which opens, and is kept open, by an iron staybar
witli an eye at one end, which moves on a staple attached to the fixed
part of the sash, and a hook at the other which drops into an eye in
die part of the sash which is to be opened. Now, the objection to
tills hooked fastener is, that as there is only one eye for the hook to
drop into, the window can only be opened to the same width, whether
the ventilation required be little or much ; and, when the staybar is
not in use, it hangs down, and is
blown about, and very frequently
bleaks the glass. The new stay-
bar, on the other hand, opens the
window or door to which it may be
applied to various widths at plea-
sure, from an inch to the whole
width of the window or door, and
the staybar can never hang down,
or run the slightest risk of breaking
glass. The general appearance of
the new staybar, supposing the
window to be open to its full ex-
tent, is shown in Fig. 9.5, in which
a is the staybar, which turns on
the pivot b at one end, and slides
along a horizontal groove under
the guide bar c at the other.

Fig. 96 is a view of the staybar apart from the window, showing
the eye d, the handle e, and the stud f, which drops into holes in the
horizontal groove, so as to keep the window open at any desired angle.

d

96

Fig. 97 is a view of the groove and the guide-bar. g is the guide-
bar or small rod which is for the purpose of keeping the staybar in its
place in the grooved; 2 2 are two plates with holes, by which the
groove and guide-bar are riveted to the window ; k, vertical profile of
the groove, tlie guide-bar being removed, so as to show the holes into
which the stud of the staybar drops The groove is of cast-iron, and
the guiding iron is of wrought iron let, into it and riveted, and both
are bolted to the bar of the window by means of the plates i i, which
are of cast iron.

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=51 1 '

Fig. 98 is a section across the groove, the guiding
rod /, and the bar of the window m, to which the
groove is bolted ; n is the handle of the guide-bar.

The window is cast in two pieces ; the larger (Fig. 99,) being 2 ft.
10 in. high, by 2 ft. 1 in. broad, and the smaller (Fig. 100,) being 1 ft.
4 in. high, by 1 ft. broad, exclusive of the lead along the bottom and
sides, which forms the rebate, and covers the joint. In casting the
smaller window, it is essentially necessary that it be somewhat less in
dimensions than the space into which it is to shut, in order that it may
always move freely. The air is kept out from the room within, not
by the tight fitting of the sides of the small window to the sides of the
frame, but by the contact of the edges of the sides of the small window
with the beads forming the rebates attached to the inside of the
frame ; and also by means of the contact of the beads, or rebates, of
the small window with the edge of the sides of the large one, or frame
into which it shuts. In consequence of the sides never touching, the
window moves with the greatest ease, whether expanded by heat in
summer, or contracted by cold in winter, and weather-painted and
and smooth, or unpainted and rusty.

100

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Fig 101 is a horizontal section across the small window and the two
side bars, showing the outside beads ^tgg, and the inside beads at h It.

101

S

Fig. 102 is a vertical section through the small window,
and the top and bottom bars of the fixed frame, showing
a weather fillet, or weather table, which projects half
an inch from the general face of the window at h, and
the staybar in the situation in which it rests when the
window is shut, and also the groove and guiding rod at /.

The total weight of this window before being glazed
is about Gli lbs., and the prime cost in Derby is 12s. Aid.
thus : —

02

2 castings, GO lbs. at \hd.

Ironwork, li lb. at Is. \d.

Fitting up, 6 hours at 24s. per week

Scurfing castings, 4 hours at 12s. per week

Priming window .....

Paint , •

8.

d.

7

6

1

4i

2

0

1

0

0

3

0

3

p

Prime Cost 12 44

We consider this by far the cheapest and best cottage
window that has been hitherto invented ; it has been
used in a great variety of buildings for 10 years, and
when it is known, it can hardly fail to come into general
nse in cottage dwellings and manufactories. In London
it may be obtained of Messrs. Cottam and Hallen, Wins-
ley Street, Oxford Street, for 13s. M. for a single win-
dow, or where there are more than half a dozen, for
12s. Grf. each; at Messrs. Cubitt's, Gray's Inn Road;
and at Mr. Roe's in the Strand, manufacturer of zinc and of tinne<l
iron.

2 E*

3C2

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

^October,

Door Staybar. — To understand how this stayhar may be applied to
opening doors fully, or, as in the case of liot-house doors, to any degree
of width, and to retain them fast at whatever angle it may be desir-
able to set them open, or to keep them fast when shut, it is only ne-
cessary to suppose the groove fixed to the wall horizontally behind
the door.

Fig. 103 represents a hori-
zontal section through a door
(a), the wall of the hanging
style to which it is hinged (b),
and the wall against which it
shuts (c). The door is supposed
to be shut, and it is held in its
place by the staybar d, which
moves on a stud at e, and along
a groove from / to g. All the
rest requires no explanation to
any one who has understood the
description of the window.

Fig. 104 shows a staybar for a door or a gate, in which the wall is

on the same plane with the door. In this adaptation of the staybar,

rte groove in which it slides is made cun-ilinear, merely to facilitate

^he operation of sliding, because it would slide if the groove were

straight. The curve a h, therefore, may have any radius" that may be

convenient, provided that it commences at b and teraiinates at a. The
points c c c represent projections from the groove, having holes for
screwing on a wooden guide-bar, to prevent the staybar from rising
out of the groove.

Fig. 105 is a section of the
groove of half the proper size, in
which d is the gaide,-bar of wood
screwed on to the groove at c;
f is the 0])ening in the bottom of
the groove into which the stayliar
drops. These openings may either
be made at each end of the groove;^
only, for the purpose of o|)ening^
the door to the full width, or they
may be made also at the inter-
mediate points c c, so as to open
the door to different angles, which
may be convenient in hot-houses
for ventilation.

Fig. 106 show's a vertical pro-
file of Fig. 107, i being the guide-
bar, and k the door.

Fig. 107, of half the proper
size, shows the manner in which
the guide-bar g is attached to tlie
door //, the fitting nut being tight.

It is to be observed that both
the straight and curved grooves
require a sort of cover or guide-
bar all the length of the groove,
placed so as to allow the hook of
the stay or projjping bar to be
lifted out of the hole, but not out
of the groove. In the straight
groove (Fig. 103, (/), a piece of
wood lA bv -4 in. does very well
for the cover ; but in the curved groove a wrought or cast iron cover
has been used, and the little tubes or projections marked c c in Fig.
104, are cast on the groove to fasten the wooden covers to securely.

Gates and doors for back sheds, and for various departments con-
nected with the kitchen-garden and offices of an establishment, may
be most advantageously formed with staybars, instead of locks, bolts,
or hooked or other fastenings. In rural architecture, the use of these
stavbars is calculated to be still more extensively useful than in gar-
dening.

103

1S30.]

THE Cn IL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

303

^n Iron Nosing for the Slips of Slairs, or to serve as a kerb for
foot pavement in streets, is the next article that occurs to us. The
object is to change steps of wood or brick into steps of greater dura-
bility than if they were of stone or iron, and at a small expense. For
this purpose a nosing, or rebated piece of iron, is made fast to the step
of wood by iron studs, or by being let into the walls at the ends of the
steps, and this retains in their place flat tiles of terro-raetallic earth,
which are much longer before they wear out than any description of
stone ; which produce a step much lighter than if the whole were of
stone or iron ; and which can be renewed at pleasure. Such steps are
well adapted for granaries and other agricultural buildings, and, in
some cases, for the stairs of offices to mansions and cottages. The
most economical apjilication of this contrivance is, of course, in cases
where the steps are made of wood.

Cast Iron Gu/ttrs to Roofs, as a substitute for leaden ones, are found
economical and effective. Fig. IIG is a section of a gutter between
two roofs, in which ii a is the gutter, with a flange 6 b for joining the

different pieces together; c e are the slates; d d the nifters; and e
the gutter beam. The fall requisite to carry off the water is found
to be from a half to tliree quarters of an inch in the yard, and
this necessarily occasions the plane of the roof to rise towards the
centre of the building, as shown in tlie section Fig. 117, in which the
rise is indicated by the dotted lines ////. All the care that this

requires in slating or tiling is, to bring the upper edge of the lower
course of tiles to a level, as indicated in the longitudinal section
tlirough the gutter, Fig. 118; in which g is the gutter, A the lower
course of tiles, i the gutter beam, and k hollow posts for supporiing
the gutter beam, and ser\ing as pipes for conducting awav the water
from the gutter. Cast-iron gutters of this sort will be found peculiarly
adapted for ridge and furrow hot-house roofs : and we shall hereafter
show that, for all large hot-houses, this kind of roof is better adapted
than any otlier.

THE PIETA.

Jl collossal group designed for the Catliolic Church in Francis-street,
Dublin, by Hogan,* communicated by the Count Hawks le Guk e,
Member erf the Academy of Si. Luki, and if various Academies of Art
and Science.

This group of the Descent from the Cross is, as is usually the case,
composed of two figures, the principal of which is the Virgin seen
seated on a large stone, The entire figure is drajjed, the under tunic
falls to her feet ; and the mantle over it is confined to the body by a band
round the waist ; and the sleeves of the mantle are confined by armlets,
and reach down to the wrist ; a veil covers the head, falling over the
shoulders and on the left arm ; it is collected in a large mass on tlie
ground. The veil shades the left part of the face, and falls partly
over the extended arm, the hand is open, and the fingers are slightly
bent ; the left arm rests on her knee, and with one hand she holds tlie
arm of her son. The figure is in an upright seated posture ; the feet
separated and the limbs incline slightly to the right side; the hair is
parted on the forehead, and the face looks down on the figure of Christ,
which appears at her feet, with its back leaning against a mass of
stone ; the body reclines towards the left side of the Virgin, whilst
the head falls on the left shoulder; the right arm falls perpendi-
cularly and the liand is bent at the wrist, with the fingers resting on
the ground. The left leg is out-stretched, and the right slightly bent ;
passing under the left leg a little below the knee ; the drapery is
spread out under the body. «

1 he figure of the Virgin is very imposing — seated lonely in her
grief, she seems to submit with pious resignation to the will of heaven,
yet still hangs, with all the anguish of a fond mother, over the body
of her beloved son, extended in death at her feet. No arrangement
could be better calculated to strike aw'e into the mind of the specta-
tor— to arouse the Christian to feelings of piety and veneration. The
group does not produce a momentary surprise ; but on long contem-
plation we find a quiet solemnity about it which awakens the mind, by
degrees, to all ithe better emotions of the heart, we are moved with
pity, devotion, and respect— we seem lost, for a time, in meditation ;
and know not which most to admire — the sentiment or the execution
of the whole.

Beautiful as it confessedly is, in the present state, yet few can form
an idea how much superior the ett'ect of the group will appear wliea
executed in marble. A plaster model always seems hard in its p;;rts,
and the outlines cutting, nor can those delicacies be given, or spiriird
touches be executed by the modelling tool — the light and shadow" idso
furnish too great a contrast, and want the subdued warmth of the
marble. The group should be executed in a slightly transparent mar-
ble, and the light coming from the top of the building, through an
amber coloured glass window. This might produce a charming effect,
by softening the shadows into half tints, and then making the figure
appear to start forth into roundness, glowing under a glory of light.
The grand effect of this group will be apparent to the most ordinary
mind, but the means by which that grandeur is effected can only be
appreciated and understood by a few.

It becomes therefore the province of the critic to examine the whole
in detail, and to endeavour to show the parts which contribute to its
value, as well as to point out where changes would have enhanced its
beauty. The boUl and masterly character of the naked portions, the
spirited touches of the dra))ery, and its ample folds, are all judicious,
especially when we consider that the group is to be raised to some
considerable height above the spectator, where all parts, but particu-
larly the extremities, will appear more delicate, and the drapery
richer in the folds, and finer in effect of c/iiuro-curo.

The detaching of the body of Christ from the principal figure is
admirably conceived, for when the group is viewed from its proper
situation, the whole will appear more compact, as the broad shadow
from the figure will fill up the void between tlie two statues. Few
sculptors would have foreseen that this architectonic arrangement was
necessary to produce a good distant effect. It however shows tha.t
Hogan is learned in his art, and has paid attention to the optical
science, which was commonly observed by the ancients in adapting
their bassi-relievi or statues to any situation, and had Tliorwaldseii
thought of this, he might have much improved the figure of the Pope
in his monument of Pius V^II. in St. Peter's, at Rome.

The naked proportions of the figure of Christ are beautiful — the
marking of the muscles, and the insertions of the bones are anatomi-

* This Irish artist has obtained great eminence in Rome, so as to hold the
next rank to Gilison, among those of our countrymen there. The Irish have
extended to him a patronage which tlity are not remarkable for giving gene-
rally to their well deserving citizens, and have given him many important
commissieus. He is the modern Barry, and well iustaius oui' name at Rome.

364

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[October,

(•Lilly correct — the whole is moulded with more than ordinary care.
The integuments and the muscles have the soft and relaxed ap])ear-
ance belonging to a dead body, but the pecloralis, the dd/oides and the
Ixcejjs arc a little too rounded, and appear like muscles developed by
manual labour; however the thighs and legs are sufficiently delicate —
yet the appearance of the body strike one as too plethoric. The
contour of the face, and the high forehead have the usual traditional
diaracter, such is employed in pourtraying the Saviour. The coun-
tejiance is certainly divine, and its expression seems relaxed into the
cold but placid sleep of death.

The head drooping on the left shoulder gives a lifeless appearance
to the body, and materially assists the compositions. The right arm
hangs nerveless from the trunk, and the bended fingers on which it
rests have the stitRiess of death itself. The graceful sway of the
body, and the right leg bent under the left, is well conceived, breaking
as it does the uniformity of the lines of the composition. The shelving
rock on which the body reclines is calculated to display its form to
tlie best possible advantage ; the dark shadows detach the contour
from the ground, and a broad light shows the figure off with the greatest
effect. I'he drapery on which the body reposes is admirable.

The drapery also of the figure of the Virgin is disposed with judg-
ment, the style is grand, and the execution shows great talent, — the
action of the body and limbs is consistent, but the figure has more
dignity than grace. The expression of the face is perhaps a little
forced for the grave character of sculpture ; it however is significant,
alii reminds us of the Niobe.

In the composition we remark that all the lines are skilfully con-
trasted, there is nothing angular or obtuse, each figure forming a
pyramidal outline, and the whole group falling within the limits of an
equilateral triangle. In short the composition generally considered is
both grand and novel, a masterpiece of art, and reflects the greatest
honour on its designer.

CANDIDUS'S NOTE-BOOK.
FASCICULUS IX.

I must have liberty
Withal, as large a charter as the winds,
To blow on whom 1 please.

J. What the Eglintoun mummery may have cost I have not heard,
nor do I pretend to guess ; but if newspapers are of unimpeachable
veracity 1200/. were expended on the temporary pavilion alone, for
the late Dover festival. Well what is that to me? Nothing, still it
is a very great deal indeed to m, since such prodigal expenditure for
the hurried, feverish festivity of a few hours, contrasts most strikingly
with not the economy, but the downright shabbiness and penuriousness
oil occasions where even extravagance would be meritorious. If a
public edifice that ought to be an ornament and honour to the country is
to be erected, it must be pared down, denuded, impoverished in order
to make a beggarly saving that would be swallowed up in a single
public dinner. Did not the matchless Lawrence collection of drawings
absolutely go a beggmg, though offered at little more than half of what
Messrs Woodburn are now likely to make by the dispersion of them,
not because there are no persons in this country who could afford to
make such an acquisition, but because they are destitute of spirit or
taste, if not both! Was it our poverty or our apathy that prevented
us from being now in possession of the Egina marbles ? If we really
caraiot afford to be liberal towards art, at all events we might be con-
sistently frugal and parsimonious, — which however is what we are not,
but rather totally the reverse, — alternately spend thrifty, and penurious,
with no other sort of consistency than that of being egregiously absurd,
let us be what we may. For some fete or /cat of tomfoolery — the
second term is as applicab'e as the first — tens of thousands are con-
sidered a mere bagatelle ; no cost is grudged, no estimate required on
such occasions ; but if it is for any thing more lasting, John Bull be-
comes wonderfully prudent, begins bargaining and cheapening, and cal-
cidates how many odd sixpences he has in his pocket to go towards
t\\ejob.

II. Bargains in art generally turn out like most other bargains to be
confoundedly dear in the end. John Bull, however, or those who have
the laying out of John's cash, do not think so ; as would plainly appear
were any one to write the secret history of some of our buildings ; —
Buckingham Palace, to wit, which with most transparent kind of make-
believe, it was pretended was to be nothing more than an alteration of
Buckinham House. Wliat is the consequence i why all that has be'en
expended upon it, — which is something more than a bagatelle, has, as

far as art is concerned, been utterly flung away. Instead of having
any thing to be proud of, we have a good deal to be ashamed of.
Theodore Hook says no, but in spite of ten Theodore Hooks, I main-
tain yes. Then there was — most blessed past time ! there ivas, Kew
Palace : wdiat was expended on that mass of cockneyism in stone and
mortar, I know not: — that whatever it was was all thrown away, is what
we all know. Then there was Carlton House, of which the only re-
deeming part, outside or in was, the portico : all the inside especially
was costly paltriness, or if to paltriness there might be here and there
an exception, it was only where there was some prettiness ; for every-
where there was the stamp of littleness. The Hall was any thing but
princely in its taste or style, therefore it was rather a Lilleputhian
compliment — quite a minikin one when on entering the hall at Holk-
ham, the Prince assured the present Earl of Leicester, that what he
beheld quite eclipsed Carlton House. And yet it may fairly be ques-
tioned whether the sums expended from time to time in altering, re-
furnishing, &c. would not have built and furnished two such palaces
as Holkham is. It has been said that George IV. was a liberal patron
of the arts ; it is impossible to add that he was an intelligent one also.
To say the truth it jjuzzles me to understand how he ever got the re-
putation of a patron of art at all, since every one of whom 1 have at
times inquired have been puzzled to explain, or even to bring forward a
single instance to show that he really was one. Hardly can his proteclion
towards such a piece of coxcomb mediocrity as Cosway be cited in proof
of it ; — indeed if all stories be true, lie liked Cosway as a mere con-
venience. Or hardly can his putting imjilicit confidence in such a
person as Nash — but hold .' I must beware of T/ie Hook.
— Yet hold again, I cannot forbear hooking on to this section an epi-
gram which I have somewhere met with, and must now trust to me-
mory for repeating as correctly as I can.

'Twixt Florence and London the difference is this.

Nor think that I speak it iu malice :
The first has tlie palace that Pitti is call'd,

The second — the Pitiful palace.

Theodore likes a joke : so there is one for him.

III. Festina leute seems to be the motto of the architect of the Bri-
tish Museum, at least of his employers, since it is now more than
twenty years that that building has been in progress, and it threatens
to linger on full another twenty years before it is completed ; whereas
within the last ten or twelve, about as many buildings have been begun
and completed at Munich, almost any one of which would throw all
ours into the shade. In comparison with the apartments of the Gly-
ptotheca the sculpture rooms at the British Museum, may be said to
be only whitewashed walls. In comparison with the Pinacotheca our
National Gallery is a mere cheese-paring affair, — and even the facade
little better than a moonshine imitation of Greek architecture, bare
and unfinished in all but the columns ; while as to the interior- — why !
the loggie alone of the Munich gallery, with its five and twenty domes
and lunettes, presenting a display of fresco painting, about four hundred
feet in extent, — though in itself only an accessory portion of the building,
causes ours to look nobetter than a set of auctioneers' show-rooms in com-
parison. Not to be tedious, but passing over the Kiinigsbau, the Festbau ,
the arcades and frescos of the Hof-garten, the Ludwigs-kirche, the Public
Library, &c. &c. to come to the Allerheiligan Kapelle — an edifice be-
gun antl completed within ten years — years, too, during which so many
other important buildings were in progress, not to include among them,
the Walhalla, or the restorations and embellishments of the Regens-
burg Minster, — yet that one is constellation of art. What magnifi-
cence ! — above, below, around — no matter where you look or wdiere
you tread, the whole is gorgeous, but its gorgeousness is majestic and
solemn, — solemn is perhaps too weak a term, for there is a sort of
severe and awe inspiring pomp, approaching to sublimity, both in the
architectecture and the painting. Perhaps Jits character may be best

expressed in the words of my friend , who calls it a transfiguration

of a building. What a blaze of gold is the entire siu'face which serves
as a ground to the figures painted in fresco on the domes, the large
arches, vaults, and all along the upper part of the walls. Unnatural !
it will be said : true ; and it is precisely this unnaturalness that gives
propriety and architectonic fitness to the painting as decoration, just
as it is precisely the splendour of the gold ground that imparts not
gaiety but dignity and solemn richness to this unparalleled interior.
Infinitely more unnatural and contradictory, would any more positive
and imitative mode of painting be, however ably it might be executed.
This doctrine is, it must be owned, far more suited to the meridian of
Munich than of London. It would be very foolish for the lovers of
matter-of-fact painting to make a pilgrimage to the capital of Bavaria
to behold what has there been done in fresco-painting. It is rumoured
that Leo von Klenze, the celebrated Munich architect, — at whom, by
the bye, Joseph Gwilt turns up his nose, is commissioned to prepare

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

.3(5.5

designs for a new Museum at St. Fetersburgh ; and the rear of the Her-
mitage is spoken as the proposed site, which, however, seems contra-
dictory with the idea of any particular magnificence externally.

IV. The prevailing vice of our modern Greek or Pseudo-Grecian
school is that notwithstauding its professed accuracy — not to call it ser-
vilityof imitation, its correctness extends tolittle more thancolumns alone.
Even as far as the mere order is concerned, all above the capitals of the
columns is quite neglected — left offensively bare and unfinished, — the
frieze a mere blank, pediment ditto. It avails not to say that the
sculptm-es of the friezes and pediments of the examples professed to
be followed, are not to be considered as belonging to the architecture
itself, but merely extraneous decoration, that may be applied or
omitted as most convenient. A very little stretching of that principle
might be made to serve as an excuse for dispensing with the foliage
of Corinthian capitals, for what else is it but mere useless decoration?
Indeed it would be only consonant with both reason and good taste,
where we cannot aft'ord to keep up consistency of style by making the
cornice and other parts of the entablature of the same degree of rich-
ness as the columns, to adopt as the only legitimate alternative that of
making the columns consistent with the plainness of all the rest. In-
stead of which, while the entablature is suffered to present little more
to the eye than a few naked mouldings and shelf-like cornice, the
columns themselves have fluted shafts, and highly enriched capitals.
That I do not speak merely at random, is easily proved by referring to
the portico of the National Gallery and that of St. Pancras, — certainly
not the worst specimens of the kind. Indeed the difficulty is not to
find examples in confirmation of the defect alleged, but of exceptions
to it. At present I can recollect only one, either in London or else-
where, namely, St. Mark's chapel in North Audley^ street. As for the
greater part of our modern Grecian buildings, what they chiefly show
is the utter want of all relish for the style on the part of those who
profess to follow it. To say nothing of the omission of sculpture, —
when did the Greeks ever terminate a cornice not beneath a pediment
witli a mere corona. If the enriched cymatium added to the raking
cornices of the pediment were not always continued along the hori-
zontal ones on the sides of the building, decoration was invariably
supplied by the antefixae, and the ridges of the marble tiling behind
tliem. Yet our modern Greeks make no scruple of leaving a plain
corona cornice as a termination to the building, should there happen
to be no pediment. I do not say that we need precisely copy antique
examples in all their particulars ; but if we pretend to imitate them at
all, the very least we can do is to do so consistently, and to take care
that — no matter how — the same degree of effect be kept up through-
out. If that cannot be done — that is, is not allowed to be done, but
niggardliness calling itself economy steps in and say it can't be afforded :
the next best thing to be done, is to dismiss columns altogether, — and in
nine cases out of ten they are quite as useless in themselves, as owing to
the ti'eatment of it, the order is i-endered valueless as decoration. But,
tlie cry will be, if we give up our columns we surrender up every
thing. Take away our columns and how shall we be able to astonish
people by our classical taste ? True, very true : — O MY Public of
what gullible stuff are ye made!

ON CHARACTER AND STYLE IN ARCHITECTURE.

MiXDS incapable of perfection, yet aiming at it, must be constantly
in the situation of students. But since tlie obligations of society pre-
vent the greater part of mankind from continuing in the schools during
the whole of their lives, casual information must be the chief source
of improvement. The meaness therefore of an instructor should deter
none from accepting instruction. With this apology for offering any
remarks to ray betters, I have satisfied myself and hope to propitiate
others, especially as I demand nothing for my trouble but the pleasure
of seeing an error corrected.

Since competition has become a prevalent method of selecting an
architect, it is desirable that persons who wish to have designs offered
them, should be able to express their wishes so as to be completely
understood by those gentlemen to whom they address themselves.
From the frequency of such competitions, the formulary of particulars
has become familiar to most. Yet many incorrect expressions are
made use of in some of the best instructions.

An error which I should be glad to point out occurs in the instruc-
tions given by the Council for the New Assize Courts at Liverpool.
These are the words made use of, "the character of the building is to
be Grecian or Roman architecture."

Suppose I were standing with the author of this sentence on a pre-
cipice of the Alps, overhanging a dark and dreadful chasm, each side
of him arising lofty mountains piled one on another, the uppermost
peaks lost in the clouds. While his heart beat audibly, and his hand

grasped fearfully the projecting tree, were I to ask him what was the
character of this scenery, he would answer, dreadfully grand ! He
would hardly, I think, say that its character was that of toe Peak, or
of the Andes. Or again presenting him to a warrior hoary with age
and toil, and crowned with victory, would ho tell me that the character
of face was that of a Wellington, and not rather that it was noble ami
venerable. In both cases rightly discriminating between the container
and the thing contained. The term character when applied to a build-
ing has a precisely similar signification as when applied to scenery or
to a countenance.

A style is a method of conveying a character, and is as distinct from
that character as the human form, the soul of which it is the external
representative ; it is the means of explaining to the senses some (in-
sensib!e) idea ; in short is the matter, some moral quality being its
analogous mind.

An author desirous of explaining to the world his speculations on
any subject, makes use either of prose or of poetry, as one or the
other is best capable of conveying his thoughts. If prose be chosen,
he considers whether his subject cfemands to be expressed in didactic,
argumentative, or collociuial phraseology. If poetry be selected — does
he desire to reform morality by a display of virtue, herioc measure
will best forward his intention. Does he sing of love, a tender ode
is a happy metre in which to tell of Cupid's deeds — or does he lift his
soul in adoration, the sacred hymn is now the vehicle of his praise.

Painters too, have their styles varying with almost every artist. The
happiest efforts of Turner's "Sunny style" would ill represent tlie
lively energy so admired in Landseer's animals, or the domestic repose
of Wilkie's firesides.

The Greeks and Romans had each a method (style) of building pe-
culiar to themselves. With the Greeks the Doric order was expres-
sive of extreme grandeur or suhliimty ; the Corinthian of perfect
richhess or beauty. Among the Romans the Tuscan order represented
the former quality; the Composite the latter. The same qualities
are represented by the same forms among us, with the addition of a
quality drawn from our feelings with regard to the people from whom
we received these forms. What this quality is, persons of greater
taste than myself should determine ; but I should say that the Greek'
style suggests the idea of mental power, and cultivated genius; tlie
Roman of physical strength and commanding weight. Ecclesiastical
Gothic architecture suggests feelings of religious reverence. Domes-
tic Gothic suggests the liveliest ideas of pleasure that an Englishman
can receive, in connection with the word home.

The aim then of an architect is to make such an arrangement of the
parts and detail of a building as shall produce certain sentiments in
the minds of beholders. The cpiality connected with these sentiments
is the character of the edifice. Thus the sentiments desired to be
called forth on beholding a palace are those allied to splendour and
majesty; the character tlien of the building should be splendid and
majestic.

Accordingly as one feature predominates in one style, or method of
building, is that stvle selected to illustrate that feature. As the author
selects poetry or prose, or any subdivisiou of cither, for expressing
his thoughts, so the architect uses Grecian, Roman or Gothic, and any
subdivision of either to express his.

The author too combines narrative with conversation, and the poet
song with epic verse. The architect composes a design of Ionic and
Cofinthian, or of the Doric and Ionic. The true taste of both consists
in maintaining one character through the whole, and so combining as
to produce harmony without monotony, and so contrasting as to pro-
duce variety without confusion.

The failure in our modern edifices is not so ranch, that our con-
struction is bad or our detail faulty, as that our architects have either
not greatness of soul to imagine, or completeness of education to ex-
press, an appropriate character in our buildings. Thus we have a
palace of royalty degraded into a residence better adapted for Venus ;
and om- private houses elevated into temples. Churches now fit for
houses and now for stage-plays. Sometimes to spend his patrons
money and display his own taste, an architect! relieves our mono-
tonous streets by a house adorned w ith cluu'ch windows, iu the richest
style of tracery. A rich feast for connoisseurs, b>it that, alas ! the
mullions and tracery are executed in cast iron of a quarter of an inch
thick. Cast iron indeed reigns triumphantly every where, adorned
with the garments of its cast down rivals, stone, wood, and brick.
One would think from the cold and starved appearance of many build-
ings that the artists hearts were cast iron too.

But to conclude, if I have explained to one person ignorant of the
fact, that there is a ditterence between character and style 1 am satis-
fied. * *.

3<><)

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Ot'TOrSER,

THE DAGUERIIOTYPE.

The love of the marvellous is so very apt to induce persons to ex-
aggi-nite — to stretch a kctk, in their account of new discoveries, while
tlie helief of those who listen to them is in its turn so very stretching
and elastic that very seldom indeed does any invention turn out to be
the magnificent prodigy it was at first described. Yet although they
have been deceived times innumerable after tliis fashion, the public
are ever ready to give credit to the cry of Wolf I Wolf I or, to borrow
another allusion, believe that the mountain is aliout to be delivered of
some portentous gigantic monster, though it afterwards proves to be
a mere mouse. Hence I myself am rather sceptical and slow of belief,
being of opinion that it is all in good time to exult when we are quite
certain that we have got something worth exulting at. It is surely
better to find one's-self in error on the safe side and that the object of
our anticipations greatly exceeds rather than at all falls short of them.
Who is there who has not some time or other in the course of his life
been grievously disappointed in a person officiously described to him as
prodigiously handsome, or clever, or engaging, and whom but I'or such
description, he might have discovered to be so, but whom, when his ex-
pectations are thus excited, he finds does not at all answer to the idea
lie had preconceived, and in consecpience sometimes falls into the con-
trary mistake, and sets down the ram mis — the phoenix iu human
shape, as no more than a very so-so-ish creature after all ?

But what has this to do with the Daguerrotvpe ? nothing — that is,
something; — perhaps much: for what is relate'd of it, certainly does
stagger belief. To come to the most material point at once, is it
merely that sort of hyperbole which is to be taken cum grano salts,
or rather with a peck of salt ?— or is it a fact that in the pictures so
produced the minutest details are expressed, although not visible to
the naked eye, yet capable of being rendered so by the assistance of a
powerful lens or microscope. Supposing, for instance, a view to be
taken of Henry Vli's chapel by the Daguerrotvpe, besides the utmost
fidelity as to all that would be discernible in the building itself, seen
at the same distance, would it be possible by means of a magnifving
^glass of sufficient power, to make out everv moulding, every carving,
'every lineament in short, no matter how miiiute, existing in the edifice
itself? If such really be the case the discovery is of incomparably
greater importance than it has been described. A drawing or series
of drawings of the kind, would place any building, or anv other work
of art under our immediate inspection, at any time, and all its details
might be examined far more closely than in' the building itself, and
the carvings of a cornice or ceiling might be seen quite as distinct'y
as the parts just on a level w ith the eve— the figure on the top of the
York column as distinctly as the pedestal, .'^uch buildings as the
Alhambra — wdiich it has cost years of patient industry on tlie jjart of
artists to give us any adequate idea of, even with regard to only its
more important parts, may now, it would seem, be revealed to us in the
most vivid reality, w ith the sole exception of colour.

I am afraid that al this is by far too good to be true :— that a very
serious deduction indeed must be made from it to bring it to the truth.
Leaving to others to endeavour to explain or comprehend /auv it can be
accoinplished,I should be very well satisfied with having evidence that
it is accomplished, and that whether the causes can be explained or not,
such is the/cic/. If it be— and Sir J. Robison's account (in the Edin-
burgh New Philosophical Journal) of drawings made by the Daguerro-
type, which he had himself examined, goes to assert quite as much, —
so far from being at all overated, the discovery is rather underrated,
and the very extraordinary results thus to be "obtained from it, have
been noticed far more briefly and cursorily than they deserve. We
are told that "a crack in plaster, a withered leaf lying on a projecting
cornice, or an accumulation of dust in a hollow moutding of a distant
building, though not perceivable to the naked eye in the original ob-
jects," may be detected in the drawing wlien examined through a
magnifier! Yet beyond the mere mention of it, that by far the most
wonderful and important circumstance of all, is hardly dwelt upon. Is
it not probable after all that such minutiiB ha\e been beheld only
through the magnifying lens of imagination ?— in short, have not
people fancied they have seen a good deal more than they really did?

Allowing, however, such to be the fact, we are not 'distinctly in-
formed, whether it is limited to the original drawing or not;— and vet,
we must suppose that it is, since hardly could, what is not visible to'the
naked eye, but requires to be examined through a microscope or lens,
be expressed by any graver. This therefore materially restricts the
application of such mode of drawing, owing to the inconvenience of
keeping any considerable number of such plates, more especially,
should it be requisite that each should have a glass before it to pro-
tect it from injury — as seems to lie the case, for I understand that a
mere touch of the finger wiU obliterate any part it comes in contact
with. Another circumstance that, I must own, is rather puzzling to

myself, is that the extraordinary powers ascribed to the Daguerrotype
should not have been exemplified ere now by some more worthy sub-
ject of interior architecture than one where the "threads of a car|iet"
seem chiefly to excite admiration. Why not at once have taken a
view of some gallery or museum filled with works of art, eiich of
which — the most remote, it seems, as well as the nearest — would be
transcribed with all its details, no matter how intricate, or however
minute. No less strange is it that opportunity should not have been
afforded to the public of this country, of gratifying their curiosity and
removing their doubts by the evidence of their own eyes, as might
have been, had a few successful and well selected specimens been
procured for the Polytechnic Institute and .Adelaide Gallery of Science.
Why has not such a subject as the Barriere de I'Etoile been taken, if
it really be true that all its sculptures, all the details of its workman-
ship, can be so rei)resented with a fidelity which the hand of the ablest
draftsman cannot even aim at? Still it must be admitted that the cir-
cumstance of its not having been done is no direct proof of the impos-
sibility of its being accomplished ; but merely proves the very great
considerateness of those who wish to apprize us by degrees of what
the Daguerrotype is capable of performing, instead of startling us too
suddenly by all at once manifesting it.

However, stiiggering and incredible as may be wdiat has been as-
serted with respect to this discovery, I must presume it is a most
extraordinary one in itself, because unless it in some degree answers
to what has been reported of it, aU that has been said with the view
of prepossessing us in its favour, would be not only useless but perfectly
ridiculous. Therefore, although I must be allowed to hold back my
own belief, until ocular demonstration be afforded me, I am willing
here to suppose that the Daguerrotype can achieve the miracles at-
tributed to it. This granted, fet us now look at the consequences, and
as far as one department at least of architectural drawing is con-
cerned— namely, that w hich consists in the portraiture of actual build-
ings— a total revolution must take place, the labour and skill of the
draftsman being entirely superseded Ijy a natural operation, whereby
the view itself — the image produced by the camera is fixed and per-
petuated. In comparison with such pictures, the most correct and
most elaborate hand-drawings, would be unsatisfactory ; how much
more so, those of which the authors are content to give us a mere
general resemblance of a building, or what is frequently no re-
semblance at all, lor affords any information as to details. How fre-
quently architecture is now slurred over in wdiat some profess to be
architectural views, — how grossly incorrect they often are as to very
important ])articulars, and tiow grateful we have hitherto been for
tolerable accuracy where inaccuracy seems to have been the general
rule, need not be told. But from this time, those evils will be alto-
gether corrected ; not only every detail, but every degree of shadow,
every tone of light will be shown us as in the real object; truth will be
substituted for specious falsification, mathematical precision for
blundering of the eye and hand. Instead of a greater or less degree
of perfection — a greater or less approximation to truth, we shall
have perfection — truth itself. No longer shall we be at the mercy of
the draftsmen. They may now cry out " Othello's occupation's
gone." Hardly will people be content with loose though even
spirited indications of what they may behold in exact images of the
objects themselves. The further consequence of which will be, that
when their eyes are accustomed to such accuracy of delineation, per-
sons will not overlook as they now do defects of perspective, ami
drawing in pictures, and such works of art where the Daguerrotype
will be of no avail. But — and in truth it is a most tremendous bat,
it yet remains to be seen whether this vaunted discovery can fairly
and honestly accomplish all that it is said to do. At present vi-e have
only hearsay — except indeed that some like myself may have a very
great deal of doubt besides. For my own part, I have very strong
doubts indeed, not because I wish the invention may not be found
to answer, but because I am greatly afraid expectations have been
raised that can never be gratified.

Candidus.

SruRN Tr.LF.GRAPn. — Tlic apparatus is now fixed, and the telegraph will
be in operation in a short time. The benefits dei'iv.ible from this institution
will, we doubt not, be d>ily appreciated. The Hull Shipping Company, and
others, have already ordered signals. — Hull paper.

BANacET IX THE THAMES TirxNEL. — On Saturday afternoon, the Di-
rectors of the Thames Tunnel Company gave an elega!it dinner in the l\in-
nel to the persons employed in that undertaking, to celcltrate their having
reached low water mark. -Mr. Hawes, MP. was in the chair, and 280 per-
sons sat down to table. On a raised platform, a'oout 500 visitors, tiic ma-
jority of wlioai were ladies — were provided with places to view the gr^.tifviag
scene.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

367

THE ROYAL ACADEMY.

\Vitliout touching upon the general question whiclihas lately heen
agitated in several |)olitical and other journals, " How is the Royal
Academy to be dealt with?" and which has been settled, for tlie
present at least, by a inajurity of only five against Mr. Hume's motion,
— 'Without asking what are the merits or demerits of that body as
regards the other two fine arts, it must be allowed, I conceive, by
every one, that as far as architecture is concerned, the assistance it
affords it is the smallest possible, indeed barelv nomivial. A corner
allotted rather grudgingly to architectural drawings, at the Academv's
exhibitions, and a series of half a dozen lectures annually, constitute
almost the ^vhole of all it has ever done, or att'ected to do, for archi-
tecture ; and even this little has been considerably abridged, since for
several years the annual lectures have been suspended, owing to the
infirmities of the late and present *Professor of architecture, and the
office itself has been allowed to become a nominal one. Most assu-
redly neither of the individuals alluded to ought for a moment to be
reproached for his heavy personal afflictions ; yet it is justlv matter
of reproach to the Academy, that no one else is appointed to discharge
those duties for which continued ill health incapacitates him who, by
virtue of his office, ought to do so. We meet with nothing parallel
under similar circumstances any where else ; if a master is disabled
from attending to his school, he must either depute some one else to
do so for him, or his school must break up. Rut in the Royal Academv
they manage matters ditferently ; |irovided there be nominally a Pro-
fessor of architecture, it is all-sufficient. If he can give lectures, he
does so ; if not, the students must dispense with them. Yet what is
this but saying that it is a matter of perfect indift'erence whether
lectures of the kinil are delivered or not ? whether the duties of that
professorship are punctually discharged or remain altogether in abey-
ance ? Granting for a moment that such really is the case, the ques-
tion then suggested by connnon sense is, wherefore should there be
any such professorship, or any such lectures at all. If they are use-
less, let them be abolished; if not useless, why does the Academy
presume to treat them as if tliey were so ? That is the question, and
one which, I suspect, it would puzzle them greatly to answer, even
should they summon all the nous they have among them.

As painters, the ujajority of the Academicians may not care one jot
about architecture and its interests; yet although they may indi-
vidually be perfectly indifit'rent to it, as a body it is as much their
duty that they should attend to it as to any other ])art of their insti-
tution. Here, therefore, another questicju starts up, namely, how
happens it that architecture is so inadequately represented in the
Academy as to be looked njjon as a mere cypher? Is it because,
although a partner in the firm with painting and sculpture, architecture
has only a very small share indeed in the concern, perhaps not more
than one fiftieth part of the whole ? Is it not worthy to be [nit upon
the same footing with its co-partners ? is there anything in the Academy
charter to such effect ? is it there expressly stipulated that the painters
are to have the lion's share, and architecture be content ^vith being
admitted to the honour of ])articipating by looking on ?

I do not accuse painters, it is the Academy I accuse, for defrauding
architecture of its just rights, to which they are bound as nnich to
attend and to see supported, as those of painting itself. If architec-
ture is to be treated merely as "a poor relation," taken in out of
charily, to be subjected to continual insult, to be banished to a side
table in a corner, or even sent down to the second table, when there
are visitors at dinner, tlie sooner it shows its independence, and gets
out of the clutches of such charity, the better. Better for it to be
independent, and alone, than to be treated as the fag-end, the rag-tag
and bobtail of the Royal Academy. •

I shall, no doubt, be reminded that architecture has now a home
;uid establishment of its own in the Royal Institute of British Archi-
tects. To which I reply, all the more discreditable to if, it is, then,
that it should s\ibuut to the indignities put upon it by the Academv.
Neither does the circumstance just alluded to, WLU-rant tlie latter at all in
treating it ;fe it plainly does. So long as architecture continues to
belong to the Academy, it ought to insist upon justice from it. If,
on the one hand, the Academy are very, willing to get rid of archi-
tecture, and architectm-e can afford to be independent of the Aca-
demy, why ilo they not part by mutual consent ? or why does not
architecture fairly sue for a divorce ?

Let the painters have the Academy and its exhibitions to them-
selves. If the architects care for having an exhibition at all, let them
have a proper one; if not, let them go without one. If they remain
with the Academy, and the latter can afford them no better accommo-
dation than it now does on the upper floor, let other and sufficient

* At the time tliis article was written Mr. Wilkins was living.

rooms be apjiropriated for the exhibition of architectural drawings on
the lower floor of the building. By being kept quite apart from the
pictures, and none suffered to intrude among thejn, the architectural
drawings would be benefitted. Yet this is not all; additionid and
adequate space is not the only improvement wdiich is required : some
of the present regulations ought to be altered Instead of its being
insisted upon that architectural designs should have backgrounds and
be coloured, to nrake pretensions as pictures, tlie contrary rule ought
to be established, and no other colouring than shadowing with sepia
or neutral tint should be allowed in designs, except in cases where
colour is essentially part of the design, as in interiors, and perhaps in
perspective views of buildings already executed ; drawings of which
class should be in a separate room from the otliers. In many instances
colouring becomes really the leiiociiiiinn iirtis, particularly when those
extravagantly unnatural hues are resorted to, and those captivating,
but deceitful, and exaggerated pictorial efl'ects put into geometrical
designs, which every exhibition at the Academy witnesses, and which
only serve to draw the attention from architectural merits and defects,
and fix it upon circumstances that have nothing to do with either.
To be what it ought to be, an architectural exhibition would be upon
a very diflferent footing, from what that portion of theirs is at the
Royal Academy; it would be greatly more comprehensive as regards
design, as it would embrace every thing connected with the decorative
part of architecture; wdiile it would also be more select, no drawing
being admitted but what had some kind of value or interest. That
any improvement will ever take place at the Academy in this respect
is altogether hopeless. But then, it will be asked, am I so conceited
and so silly as to imagine that what I have said will stir up architects
to do for themselves wdiat the Academy and the painters will not do
for them. By no means; I no more expect it than I do to hear that
St. Paul's has made a trip across the Atlantic in a steamer. Then
why do I toui-li (he suliject at all ? liecanse I am anxious that, at all
events, people slio\ild understand the disgraceful position in which
architecture stands at the Royal Academy, and that no one should be
able to say that, lie it ever so bad, there is no remedy for it. Archi-
tecture can shift witliout any favour and pii/ronnge from the Academy;
if not, it must be in a trulf pitiable plight, seeing what kind of sup-
port and patronage it now receives from it. Whether in other re-
spects the Academy be more than a mere club of artists, as some
have affirmed, I leave to the consideration of others ; and only add
that, whatever may have been the case formerly, there is, now that
the Institute has been established, not the slightest re.ason wherefore
architecture should continue to submit to the contumelious treatment
it receives at the hands of the Royal Academy.

ViNDEX.

ANCIENT STATUES.

On the differenl Ulaltriah employed by the ^ncienlnfur Slatiia^, and on
IliL J'drielim of Hit ir Marbles. Translated from the French of the
Count de Clarac, Knight of rarious Orders, Keeper of the First Di-
vision of the Royal Museum of Antiquities in. the Louvre.

There are few substances capable of being subjected to the chisel
and of receiving a form, which the ancients did not employ in the
sculptural art.* Clay and wood, on account of the ease with which
they are wrought, were doubtless the first materials enqjloyed in the
infancy of sculpture, which only employed itself upon stones and
metals when its processes were more advanced and matured. These
first and rude essays were probably clothed with real stufl's, in order
to give them a greater appearance of truth, until the period arrived
when the chisel could attain the representation of drapery. As it is
nitural, also, in the infancy of art, to consider that the natural cohmr
of objects adds greatly to the fidelity of their representation, it ni;iy
easily be conjectured that when metals and stones were used, those
colours were sought which presented the nearest approach to the
objects wished to be imitated. Thence originatedjiolychromii; sculp-

* For authorities on this suliject see Pliny, HM. Nat. 1. 36; Junius, ile Pic-
turd (V^crHw, p. 270-296 ; Blasius Caryoiiliihis, de Marmoril/nn Jntir/uis ;
I'V'rlier, Lettro-s Miiicratof/ii/ue s-ur I' Italic; To/zeti, Voyage clc Toscaiie ;
(Juatrcniere de Quiiic}', Juiiiicr Olijinpim, [i. 24 et seq. 132-10."^; Jlrard,
Traife ila Picrrca PrccU'ii.-<cs, vol. 2; Lcvrault, Xoureau Victiuniia/rc (I'/Jifit.
.\'al : Diction. f7ff,v.sv(/«c f/V/w/. .V«^., articles Alabaster, lU'cccia, I'lnicatclle,
(Iranite, Luuiacellc, .\Iuible, PorphjTV, Serpentine, &c. ; Winckelman's llis-
ton' of Art, B. 1, c. n, and B. 7, c. i ; LcDiclionnnire de I'Jntirpiite de I'En-
cijclnpcdie ; Facius's Collection of all that Plntarcli has said upon .Ai't, Leipsic
and Colmrg, 180') ; Ilcync, AntiiiHarische Aiifsaetze ; Bottiger, Amattho'a ;
and the Essay on the Technical Part of Ancient Sculpture, prefixed to my
Museum of Ancient and Modern Sculpture.

2 F

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tiire, or thiit which united substances of difteront colours, and puly-
lithic statues, or tliosc composed of several stones.* These kinds of
sculpture, which are rejected by modern artists, had a great sway
amonff those of antiquity, even in the brightest periods of tlie art, and
v.ere held in greater estimation than monochromic sculptvue, or that
which made use of only one colour. As the periods in whicii the
greater port of the sculptmal substances have been used are unknown,
a chronological arrangement becomes impossible, and we have there-
fore arranged tlieni alphabetically in their several classes.

C'l.AY. — This iiiictuons and binding earth was used in the tirst essays
in modelling, as in tlie case of Dilmtudes, 1)00 years before Christ. In
Greece there still existed, in the time of Pausanias, many very ancient
statues and bas-reliefs in terra-cotta.

WOOBS MENTrONED IN THE ANCIEN'T AUTHOTiS.

Box. — Statues were made of this, and the living tree also was cut
into the iignres of men an<l animals. We see instances of this appro-
priation of the box and the yew in the ancient paintings of the ilu-
seinn of Portici, now at Naples, where these trees are represented cut
and disposed in i ompartments, ser\ing as ornaments in the Roman
gardens, in the same way as they are used in modern times. Tablets
of box, and also those covered with wax, were useiA for drawing in
the time of Apelles.+ CEnAB, was regarded as incorru]itible. A resin
■was also extraeteil from this tree, which was applied to wood and
ether objects wished to be |ireserved. It was often used as u kernel
or core of statues of gohl and ivory — according to some authors the
Diana of Ephesns was of this wood. CiTHOX. — This was a kind of
cedar, and was used in making vabiable tables of large dimensions.
Mr. Monges read at the Inslitnte, some years agi,, an interesting paper
on this wood and on the taljles. CoUK. — The bark of this tree was
one of the first substances used for small figures. Cypress. Euoxy
■was much esteemed. Dipoenes and Sc.yllis of Egina made many sta-
tues of it, and as a religious idea was attached to' the colonr (jf certain
objects, it was probably used as a substitute for black marble. Fio-
TBEE, being white and easily worked, was also used for certain divini-
ties. Fir. was used for the wood-work of the horse of Troy. Lime-
tree. LoTi-s. Mapi.e. Myrtle. — At Lemnos, there was, according
to Pausanias, a statue of Venus erected by Pelops in female mvrtle.
This was probably a kind of log or rude idol, covered with' real
drapery. Oak. Oi.ive. Palm replaced the cork, although, fnjm its
fibres and knots, it could not have been favourable to sculpture. Wild
Pear-tree. — Of this wood there was a Juno at Samos. Peach. Pine.
Poplar. Yix'e. — The wild vine, and that of Cyprus, were particularly
used. The Diana of Ephesns was, according to some authors, of this
■ivood. Although there are vine stocks of large dimensions, it is not
easily to be conceived how statues could be made of them, on account
of the number of knots; the wood also is stringy, and not easily
worked. Yew. Willow. Osier, and Sallow. — An Esculapius ofSparta,
•and a Juno of Samos, are mentioned as being made of wicker, but they
nuist have been as rude as scarecrows. The colossal figures called
Arg-a, thrown yearly into the Tiber, were made of these trees ; as also
the immense Colossus in which the Germans burned their prisoners
in honour of Teutates.

metals and other materials.
Adamant. — A statue of Venus is spoken of as composed of ada-
inanl, and attracting a mass of iron. Ai-richalcum or Oiuchalcum,
■was an alloy of copper and gold, esteemed for its brilliancy and hard-
ness. To prevent bronze from changing, ami to give it a gootl colom-,
it was rubbed with the amurca of olive, or with bitumen. Bronze, or

* This prevailed even down to the jieriod of the decline of Roman art, and
the examples are so many that it is ahnost visplcss to refer to any indindnal
instances. Among others is the well known pantlier in tiie Museum at
Naples, of wlilte marlile with lilack marble spots, a I'lautilla in the Mnscmn
of the Camiiidoglio .it Home, also in white marble, but witl'. a movcahlo wig
of black raailile. The hair of tlic Venns de Mcdicis was gilt. In tlie Innvr'c
is a pol\;lu-i)niic statue of Home, of •svhich the hodv is in porplivrv, and the
head and arms in gilt In-onze. In the frieze of tl'ie rarthenoniii tlie Klgin
collection, are the lioles by which ornaments and instruments in gilt bronze
were affixed. Tlie ground-work also of the has-reliefs -ivas iialnted skv I>lne,
in order to throw out the tignres. At I'oniiieii, in the temide of Is'is, was
also found a mnrlile Venus witli gilt li,\ir, and most of the cornices of tlie
rooms are of a red or hhie ground. Tlic same is oljservahlc in most of tlic
ancient tem])lcs of Sicily. The li.air of tlie statues of the daughters of Ballms
at Herculaneum is painted red. The Minerva in ttie British 'Museum, with a
black behnet, is a nmdern restoration. — [Note of Translator.]

t Box is used by the wood engravers ; pear-tree was used by Albert IJurer ;
and bamboo is used by the Cbiuete in tbeir plates for urintine. — FNote of

Ttaii5iatw.j ■ f I b L

Copper. — -The manner in whicli we employ this metal, gildino- it, or
covering it w itb a colour which it should derive only from time, pre-
\ents us from investigating those mixtures wliicb \vould give it greater
brilliancy or beauty. At present, however, at Paris, nnich more care
is used in the proportions of the alloys. Bronze or brass, more soliil
than copper, is only this latter metal united to tin or zinc in certain
[U'oporfiuns; the ancients wlio executed an innnense (piantify of
statues and works in bronze, made a great variety in tbeir alloys. The
brass, bron/e or copper most celebrated, were those o{ Ci/jjrun (Ku-
pros), from w liieh is derived the name of copper — of Curnilli, the
alloy of wdiich is attributed to chance, to the melting and mixturi> of
several metals during the Ijurning of that city; but it appears that
this is hardly possible, and that the bronze is nuu'e ancient. In tlie
time of Pliny it was imitated with an alloy of copper, gold, and silver.
■ — of Delos and of Egina was much esteemed, as well as that of Tar-
tessns in Betica ; Polycletes preferred the bronze of Delos, and Alyro
tliat of Egiira. The difteront kinds of copper, of Crirduia or of Aiai/iiis,
of Salliisf, found in the Alps, and of Lift/, mined in tiaul, were nnicli
scnight after, and derived their names from the proprietors of the
nunes who worked them in the time of Casar. There was also a
black bronze, and also that which, being of a liver colour, was called
liepatizun, from liepar, a liver. It was believed for a long while that
the ancients dipped bronze in water to harden the arms wdiicli were
made of it; but M. d'Arcet has jnoved that tempering softens bronze,
;nid that it is only by alloying eop|ier with tin in cert:un proportions,
and by forging it, that it acquires hardness and elasticity, and becomes
sonorous. Electku.vi, which is mentioned in Homer, was either
natural or artificial. It was made by mixing a lif'tb of silver with four
littbs of gold. 'I'bis alloy was niucli esteemed, because it was found
to shine more with lights than either gold or silver. Pliny says tliat
vases made of it assumed the colour of the iris or rainbow. The name
of electrnm was also given to yelhjw amber. Gold. Iro.\. — Several
st-atues of this material ari> mentioned, both wrouglit and cast.* Lead,
— The statue of Mannnnrius, who made the ancilhE or sacred bucklers
iu the time of Numa, was of this metal. Obrizuji was the purest
gold, which, after having passed several times through the fire, ac-
quired a brighter colour. Some statues were made of massive gold,
but in general they were embossed (called Sphurelaloii) from a thin
plate. Gold was thus used in statues where it was joined to ivory ;
and often statues in metal or wood were only plated or gilt. Gold of
several colours were used, and sometimes also painted ornaments or
precious stones were used in conjunction with it. Silver is frequently
mentioned by authors as a material for statues; it is, however, less
adapted for sculpture, and was less used than gold, of which several
preparations were known. Tix is emnnerated by Homer among the
metals in the shield of Achilles; but it is more than doubtful whether
this description and others relating to the arts were written by the
great poet.

Ivory was used in great quantities and at a very early date for
statues, both bv itself, and in conjunction with gold. It seems, -.ic-
cording to some authors, that the ancients found out tlie means of
mouhling it, or at least of softening it. By sawing in the length, and
by cutting out hollow'ing cylinders in the ivory, they obtained plates
large and thick enough to be used even for colossal statues, of wliiidi
the core or interior framing was of wood. The humidity of these
statues was kept u]) by the application of oil, either externally or
internally. The tooth of tlie liippopotamus w;rs also used for small
statues, probably in the ]dace of ivory. Bone, and among others that
of the camel, were approjiriated to the same use. The Palladium was
reputed to be made of the bones of Pelops.'t'

Wax was employed as w<dl as pUisler for models and moulds.
Statues or ligures were also made of it; and the Homans used it for
the busts of their ancestors (thence called ctroi), wliich on days of
ceremony w ere decorated with clothes and ornaments.

Pitch. — A statue of Hercules of pitch is cited -.is having been made
by Dedalus.

Yellow Amber, Succindm, or Electrum. — Of this a statue of
Augustus was made. Incense and Spices. — A statue of Sylla was
made of such eom|ionnds, and burned at his funeral, Empedodes,
I lie Pythagorean, and Olympic victiu-, distributed to the people a bull
made of myrrh. Mention is even made in the ancient authors of great

* It is iiiucli to be regietted that iron is not used as a material for statuary
in England, seeing dial it lias been so niucli used at Berlin and I'aris. — [.Note
of 'I'raiislator.]

■f Our aullior makes no mention of the use of mot!ier-of-iiearl. The pearl
itself iu diri't'ienl forms was used e\tt*iisi\c!y hy the jewellers, and lialf jiearls,
under the name iif tympana, were used for ear-rings. At l^inipcii ear-rings
have been found of the form of scales, the scales being represented bv pearls.
—[Note of Translator.]

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

369

figures matte oi four paste, of /(((//, and uf icood. Tliese kind of oHigies
were used also for .-orrery ; those ealleil iKuwjmstts and vscHIk, were
moved by means of tlircatl, like our puppets ; and some were also
moved by quicksilver.

(7'o be conihmed.J

FRENCH FURNITURE, MANUFACTURES, &c.

Upon a former occasion we called adendon to an article in the
second number of the Foreign iVIonthlj Review, and we now do so to
the fourth number of the same journal ; not for the purpose of bestow-
ijig any notice upon (he capital, the witty, and humorous |)aper on
EsskunsI, or the Philimiphj uf Ealiiiii, which has generally been
poiuted to as the most atlractive of all the artic^les ; but in order to
lay before our readers some extracts from that entitled "French Manu-
facturi's."

" These works (L'Exposition, Journal de L'ludustrie, and L'Allium
de L'ludustrie,) are directed to accurate rejjresentations and descrip-
tions of ail the best modern works of art (painting and statuary, pro-
perly so called, excluded), as well as of manufactured products that
eitiier exist in France, or are on the point of appearing. Does a new
moulding for a marble chinniey-piece appear — does a new bronze boss
for a iloor-liandle, &c., come out — is a house erected in more than
ordinary good taste — is a new lamp sold anywhere — has a splendid
carriage been seen in the Bois de Boulogne— in a few week's time it
is laid before the manufacturing public, in full detail, by these useful
publications, engraved with the uluiost care on steel, and coloured
ail nalurel. For example, one of the numbers contains a very elabo-
rate plate of the interior of Musard's cafe, a beautiful specimen ol'
Gothic work of every kind ; another has Marslial Soult's corouaticju
carriage; a third has the front of a mudis/t's shop in the Rue de
Richelieu; a fourth presents us with some curiiais pumps and other
liydraulic instruments; and all of them are embellished with repre-
sentations of various articles that have ligiu'ed in the great exhibition
of arts and manufactures in (he Champs Elysces."

To go even no further than this, we have here a very striking proof
of the much greater taste for art generally in France, and for works
expressly intended to represent its productions; whereas such publi-
cations would not Ihid suflicient market in this country. Unless the^-
belong mors or less to the class of antiquarian specimens, subjects of
the kind would meet w itli no purchasers among ourselves. Indeed,
there is reason for suspecting that even works having architecture
professedly for their object meet with very inadequate encourage-
ment, or rather with discouragement, with chilling coldness aiidin-
diflference. To be at all a saleable commodity, architecture nuist be
served up in picture books, where the interest of the plates is made
to lie not in the buildings so much as in the figures and costumes in-
troduced, and in that s])arkling effect of light and shade which maj' be
made to set otl" the ugliest just as well as, perhaps better, than the
most tasteful piece of architecture.

However let us drop these reproachful cununents, antl proceed w iih
our extracts. "The new stulf woven of silk and glass, or glass alone,
attracted much attention in these galleries. According as the glass
tlu'eads are coloured, jellow or white, they imitate gold or silver
brocade with the greatest nicety,and they have the advantage of never
tarnishing. Their effect fur /nmilure is most splendid. The price is
from 25 to 40 francs the ell."- — Here then, is a perfect novelty, wiiicli
will probably lead to some changes in decoration. If, as we presume,
tissues woven entirely of glass are not likely to be at all injured by
heat or Hame, they might be applied to draperies and canopies, over
chandeliers and lustres in a ball room, where, if tastefuUy designed
and arranged, they woidd produce a striking and appropriate etl'ec-j.

" hi furniture, the prevailing taste of the Jiniaissaiice had it all its own
way — at least for all cabinets, tables, bookcases, &c. No other furni-
ture in the world can be compared to that of France — we do not s.\y
in solidity, but in taste and appearance. To these two qualities the
Parisian manufacturers have recently addetl those of good worknian-
shiii, of artistical design and execution, and of moderation of price.
In many articles, ingenuity has been grtfatly on the rack, and some of
the beds which turned into sofas or tents, and might aci-onnnodate
half-a-dozen sleepers or one as the case might be, with others that
shut up in a common portmanteau, were highly creditable to their
inventors. The carpets that come in for so important a share in Eng-
lish house-keeping expenses, were here in wonderful abundance,
and at comparatively moderate prices; the Aubusson carpets were
neady as sumptuous things as what the Gobelins or Beauvais could turn
out. The cabinets, the commodc;;, the tables, whether in oak, in
ebony, or in rose-woo<l, (mahogany is entirely gone out of fashion, I
were all eiu\ ed iu the most suinptuoua and expensive style, richly

ornamented with gilt bronze, and incrustcd with plates of various
coloured nuubles, or mother-of-pearl."

Though we ought to desist from quoting further, we cannot refrain
froni extracting what is said relative to an invention l)y M. Cola.-,.
"This process admits of very speedy and clieap appliiation to all
works of art, anil as an instance of its usi-, we may mention that a.
great quantity of wooden gothic panel-work being wanted at a low
rate for the restoration of the church of SI. (jcrmain, L'Auxernois,
the inventor has contracted to furnish many thousand feet, sculptured
in the most exquisite manner, after the original model taken from tlie
old church, at lillle mure llian the value if tlie malerial " ! ! After this
we need not say that the article deserves to be perused by all our
readers; and we should be glad if any could confirm what is stated as
to (he new process for copying gothic panel-work, since, unless vetr
greatly exaggerated, it nnist be a most important invention, and one
likely to improve our modern church architecture in that style.

.SPEED ON RAILWAYS.

A CO.MJIUMCATION BY THJJ COPTK DE PAMI30UR TO W. ARAGO.

The resistance of the air to bodies v^ hich (ravel through the atmos-
phere with a rapid motion, having given room to some persons to
imagine that locomotive engines coukl never attain a very great ve-
locity on railways, I think it will be interesting to you to know, that
in an experiment I have just made (on the Ijrd August,) upon the
Great Western Railway between London and Maidenhead, ue attained
a speed of 55-1 English miles per hour. Tin- experiment was per-
hirmed by (he "Evening Star" locomotive, manufactured by Mr.
Robert Stephens(jn, of Newcastle: it has wheels cf 7 feet diameter,
and ilrew only the tender loaded with 8 persons. It maintained easily,
during 7 or 8 miles, a speed of 'la miles per hour, afterwards, for a
distance uf 3 or 4 miles, a speed equal to 48 miles per hour, and at
last, two miles were travelled over, each in one minute and live se-
conds, wdiich gives a velocity equal to 5.5-1 miles per hour. Although
this \ery lapid motion gives one the idea that we are left to the
mercy of chance, by the difficulty there would be to stop the engine in
time, iu consequence (d' (he almost conqilete instanlaneousness with
which obstacles present themselves, to overcome this difficulty it
would be necessary to increase the inspection of (he state of the rail-
way, and to euqiloy rapid means of transmitdng to a distance, by sig-
nals, (he state of the road.

With the engine employed for the experiment we were not able to
go beyond the speed stated above, because the pump was not suf-
liciently large to feed the boiler, consequently we were obliged to
suspend the vaporisation, and to decrease the speed, until (he lioiler
was again replenished with water; but there is no doubt that in only
enlarging the diameter of the jiump and feeding pi])es, we might be.
able to nmintain the greatest speed for a long distance — and even to
go beyond il. .Speed equal to what 1 have reported has alreaily been
mentioned in some journals, but as these statements are often made
upon hearsay evitlence only, I have thought (hat it would be useful tu
you to be hiformed of it by the experimentalist himself. I have no(;
given here the ditierent dimensions of the engine, because my only
object now is to make known the facility that there is in attaining
considerable speed. I shall only add that the Great Western Railway
is sensibly a level.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE RESTORATION OF RUINS.

Many who imagine themselves anticpiarians consider it as a. perfect
desecration to remove the verdigris anil dirt from a coin, so as to
render (he device plain and distinct, or to clean the jiages or renovate
the binding of a Ciei-lim.

Now this opinion, no inalter how common, is generally admitted by
those wdiose authority in such matters is unquestioned, to be a most
mistaken and absurd one. In what possible way can it be defended ?
If a coin jiossesses any value from its antiquity, it is because we have
ill it a specimen of ancient workinanshi|) and device, and also because
it is the same object which was fanuliar to those who have long since
ceased to exist. Therefore the more that coin resembles in its ap-
pearance what it was when in circulation, the more distinctly shall wc
see in it the workiuanshi|), the devii-e, -and the image, that were fa-
miliar to those who lived when it was in circulation. And not only
is the value thus highly increased bv the greater distinctness (d' the
image, but a new and not ideal value in some instances originates. By
the study of these devices we are able to ciieck the accuracy of the.
historians of the age in which they were made, aii<l Capl. Smyth, R. X.
has lately written a book on coins t^which from such a title might

2 f 2

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Till] CIVIL ENGINEER AND \UC1I1TE(JTS JOURNAL.

[October,

have been expected to be a. treatise interesting only to a very few),
whereas it may be considered as a historical woi'Ii, and one too of a
novel and most interesting description.

In the same way the most inveterate boki ifunns, although they
iustlv give the preference to an original binding, never hesitate if a
book is dirtv, " soiled or sullied," or has an irreparably "frail" or
tashed binding, to get it cleaned and reinstated in a vellum, Russia,
or such other binding as most befits the date and nature of the work.

Although the best authorities therefore are clear as to coins and
books, I do not think the same feeling exists with regard to the repair
of ruins, although I cannot bid, think that all the three cases are
parallel.

To dcstrov the picturesq\ic eliect of an old .d)bey or church, seems
generallv to be considered as a sort of murder of antiquity, the atrocity
of which no inducement can palliate. Altliough it is impossible to
deny that a disnumlled tower may have a more pictiu'esquc ett'ect at
a distance than if it were entire, and a'so that shattered masonry does
frequently assume a romantic outline which is no where else to be
found, still a complete building may have in some degree a picturesque
as well as architectural outline, and these advantages, when combined
with that of ])erpetuating the perfection of the design to future ages,
and its restored utility, are, I think, quite enough to warrant judicious
restitution.

I need hardly say that I do not apjirove of such Vandalism as to
complete an imperfect building in a diti'erent style of architecture from
the original, as may be found in LlandaH' cathedral, where the alte-
rations, as lar as I recollect, are in the Grecian order, which contrasts
wretchedly with the original.

The most interesting spot in the three kingdoms I take to be West-
minster ^Vbbe}-, imd I am sure all will agree that were that building
allowed to fall into a ruinous state. — to lose its roof and so forth, it
would not in any way possess the same interest. When we enter a
reritablt riin, destitute of all the minor details wdiich it once possessed,
we have to cause with ourselves in order to awaken a suitable interest,
and after all, that interest cannot but fall short in intensity of that
which we at once and irresistibly feel on entering an ohl richly deco-
rated cathedrd, with its curiously carved oaken stalls, its lofty roof,
and all the other adjuncts of an ancient "building, which the storms of
troublous times ha\ e not yet swept away from our view. And this is
what makes the cathedrals and religious houses of England triumph
so much in interest over similar buildings in Scotland, where the tire
of intenqierate zeal has, in too many instances, left its records in shat-
tered pillars and broken walls, the wrecks of glorious sjiecimens of
architecture. How tenfold interesting, if entire, woulil have been the
cathedrids of Melrose, Dryburgh, t-t. Andrews, Aberbrothwick, Elgin,
lona, and many more, where now enough only is left to show us hum
much we have lost. And if no new interest and opinion is formed on
this subject, we shall, I fear, find such relics grow gradually less inte-
resting. Every blast adds to the rubbish, and every winter curtails
their extent.

The object I h.ive in view in these remarks is to waken, if possible,
such an interest in ruinous churches, as shall deterndne those >eho have
an inHiance in the erection of new churches, rather, wlicn possible, even
although at a much greater cost, to kkstoisk old o:\es than build nkw.
What gave rise more immediately to the preceding remarks was a
visit to the island of lona, vvhere the Duke of Argyll, with his charac-
teristic benevolence, has recently erected, and i believe endowed, a
church, which, howevei-, cannot be said to possess the slightest claims
to architectural eliect. In such a case, then, how much more suitable
would it have been to have restored (with proper advice) part, if not the
whole, that remains of the ancient cathedral, which St. Coluraba
erected soon after his arrival at the island in A.D. 5(33, and which was
so miserably ransacked at the time of the Reformation, whereby .Scot-
land lost her " ancient annals and MSS." (vi'hich were kept at lona,
" in hidden presses of the church,") and "large parchments signed by
the king's own hanils, and sealed either with seals of gold or wax."*

I trust that these remarks wdll at least get a little consideration
from those to whtan they are more especially addressed ; and should
it happen, as in many instances it may, that no drawings are in exis-
tence to shew the original plan of a building now much dilapidated,
the best course is to take the advice of some architect who is tho-
roughly acquainted (as every one should be) with the styles of archi-
tecture which distinguished dillerent ages, and with this advice to
complete the building in keeping with those parts which still remain.
In conclusion I may be pernntted to observe, that although 1 have
no doubts as to the orthodoxy of the general principles herein advo-
cated, I am nevertheless willing to admit that many specio\is and even

* Sir George Mackenzie, Def. of Roy. Line of Scotland. Lend. 1685, p. 30.
Traii^l. of I'aiilus Jovius.

reasonable objections may, in particular cases, be brought forward —
nay more, I allow that even in the case of lona, I may have formed an
erroneous o|iinion, as I had not time, during my visit, to examine
either the old cathedral, or new church with that degree of care
which, had my time permitted, I should have done.

^ipt. 10, 1S39. L.

BUNNETT AND CORPE'S CONCENTRIC STEAM ENGINE.

SiK. — Referring to the June and July numbers of your valuable
Journal, I beg to dissent from the conclusions you have draw u, rcsjiect-
ing the merits of Messrs. Buunett and Corpe's Concentric steam
engine.

I am not disposed to deny the accuracv of the fables you have
given; the results noted therein, might naturally be expected from the
manner in which the relative powers of the new, and old modes of
application were decided; my object is to show that one main feature
in the case has been overlooked, which, when taken into account, will
considerably diminish, if not altogether do away with, the advantages
which at first sight appear in favour of the Concentric engine ; for
whatever additional jjower is exerted by it, a corresjiouding expense
of steam will be the necessary consequence, which is tantamount to no
advantage at all.

If this can be shown to be true, I am humbly of opinion that it can-
not be claimed for this machine, that any power is gained by its adop-
tion, as we are only entitled to consider tliat we have gained power
by new combinations, when these enable us, at the same expense, to
produce greater elf'ects than v\'ith the old.

In the Concentric engine there is nothing new in |ninciple ; the
arrangement of its parts diiiers little, and that only meclianically, from
those at present in use. Desirable as it may be, and often is, to
modify the mechanical powers, to suit the various purposes of ma-
chinery; all the changes we can ring upon them will never help us to
an increase of power, beyond the lessening of friction through sim-
plicity of construction.

In order to illustrate what is meant by these remarks, let me call
your attention to the annexed diagrams, which are nearly similar to
those in the last number of the Journal already referred to : —

Fig. 1.
Representing the new mode of applying the power.

A the annular piston roil, B the ci imnctuig rod, C' the crank, V the pislon

Fie. 2.

Mg.

Representing the old mode of applying the power

I) the piston rod. K llic cunneciing ri.d, F the crank, cnual to the crank C.

It is evident, from the construction of these diagrams, that the
annular piston-rod A, will move through a greater space than the i)is-
ton-rod D requires to do, in producing re^ olutions of their respective
cranks, C and F. The stroke of the "piston D will be as the length of
the straight line I I, or as the lines K K and L L, these three lines
being equal to one another. On the other hand, the stroke of the
annular piston-rod A will be as the curved line K <j K, which is nuich
greater than the straight line K K.

Now assuming that the impulsive force is a constant quantity, and
alike at each instant on both pistons, it follows from the above, that
the effects on the cranks will be respectively as the length of the
curve K G K is to the straight line K K ; in other words, the length

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

371

of the stroke of the pistons wiU be as the length of these lines indi-
vidually, thus involving an expense of steam in the Concentric engine,
equal to the advantage which would seem to arise from the use of it.

Another view of the case may be taken, somewhat simpler than the
foregoing, by which it may be shown that the mode of couni\unicating
power by the Concentric engine is a matter of every day occurrence.

Let the lever M represent one lialf of the beam of an ordinary beam
steam engine, B its connecting rod working the crank C ; these toge-
ther delineate movements almost inseparable from the use of the
crank, and nearly coeval with the steam engine itself, as it came from
the hands of its great improver ; the parallel motion alone is wanting
to till up the picture : and if it is to this circumstance, that the supe-
riority of the Concentric engine is to be attributed, I fear its days are
numbered as an engine "by which great power is gained;" that it
may take its place with many of the best locomotive engines now in
use, is not to be denied : but I beg respectfully to protest against the
possibility of its exerting more force than others from the same
quantity of steam.

It is under these impressions, that I have ventured to address you,
and in the belief that these imperfect observations will account for the
different results, obtained from the experiments made on the two
engines; I am also inclined to believe that their appearance in the
Journal, would be useful in counteracting whatever erroneous views
may have been formed by the perusal of the tables.

1 am, Sir, with great resjiect,
Vour obedient servant,

Canon, Augitsl IGM, 1S3P. Ji.>hx Mac Do.\.\ld.

CURVES ON RAILWAYS.

Sir — I lieg to forward to you the following remarks on a jjoint
wliich has not been noticed in any of the numeroiis essays on this sub-
ject which have appeared in your Journal.

It is one of considerable importance, and is not (that I am aware of)
to be found in print, except in Fambour's work on locomotive engines;
the formula there given produces the same practical result as that
which I have deduced, but is, I think, somewhat less simple in its
application.

Your's respectfully,
M.

How much must the outer rail of a curve be raised abo\ e the inner,
in order to coimteract the centrifugal force of a carriage?

Let A be the centre of gravity of the carriage ; draw a vertical line
A B, and a horizontal line A C, representing the weight and centri-
fugal force respectively ; then A D, the diagonal of the rectangle, will
be the resultant force of the tvvo.

~:::;:i».l"

Now If a line (E F) be drawn at right ungles to A D ; and D E, D F,
be taken upon it each equal to half the distance between the rails, the
force A D, being perpendicular to the line of support, has no tendency
to press the Hange of the w heel against either of the rails E or F'.
This position of the rails, therefore, will answer the conditions of the
problenii

Draw F H horizontal, and E H vcrticd.
Let W = w eight of the carriage.
W / := the centrifugal force.
R = radius of curve in chains.
V = velocity in miles per hour.
r :^ radius of curve in feet.

V = velocity in feet per second.

g = It5-ri7-
E F ^= « in feet.
E H = .1- in feet.

W !>'-'
Then the centrifugal force = - — - (see any work on Mechanics,)

■ -^ 2 gr •■>

XlO^X6(3R=?X-'^"^'^'=^-^-

By the similar triangles A B D, F H E,

A B : B D : : F H : E H

or w : W/ : : Va' — .r* : x

■'. 1 : /■■ : : a- — .v- : .v-.
•■• 1 +/' :/=::«=: x-^
.■.x = -^tL^

Kxampje. — What must the elevation be for a curve of GU chains,
(39GU fee't), radius and velocity of 30 miles an hoar, (44 feet per
second,) the distance between the rails being 4-75 feet?

M«-/=2^riGSWo = -"'^-' ^"■^' Vr+7^=1-"0011;

4*7.5 X *01.52

.'. .r = — '- — ^ = ■0722 =; •SGG4 of an inch.

The above formula is extremely simple, as the value of j/ 1 +_/'-
will be very nearly 1 in almost all practical cases.

ON WARMING OF BUILDINGS.

Siii — Upon reading your remarks upon the warming apparatus at
Mr. Babbage's house, described in my pamphlet, I find you consider
that the part which is not effective is owing to the malformation of
those pipes which branch from the multiple cock ; ;\s this is not by
any means the case, you will perhaps have the kindness to notice the
following few remarks in explanation. Mr. Babbage confined his ex-
periments to a certain small amount of fuel, working his apparatus at
the low heat of 250" Fahr., this was not sufficient to cause a quick
circulation through the whole extent of pipe, the four difftrent courses
containing 890 feet.

The furnace being placed in one of the servants' sleeping rooms, it
was more important to keep this room cool than to w'arm the rooms
in the upper part of the house.

Mr. Babbage succeeded in his two principal objects, 1st, the making
use of every particle of heat that was practicable, sufficiently with
creating a draft in the chimney. 2nd, The perfect self action or re-
gulation of the aj)paratus. It is his intention to extend his experi-
ments next year, in order to obtain (withuiit producing any additional
hat in the furnact room) with a greater amount of fuel, increased
effect in the bedroom circulations.

I remain, Sir, your most obedient servant,

C. J. Richardson.

24, Manchester Street, Sept. 10, 1839.

*** Notwithstanding Mr. Richardson's remarks, we are still of the
same opinion, that " it would be far better if the connection of the
branches were made with curves instead of at right angles;" if Mr. R.
will consult any hydraulic engineer, we have no doubt but what he will
have the same feeling on the subject. — Editor.

Mechanical Brick Making. — At the meeting of tlie British Associatiou
at liirniingham, Mr. Cotlani exhibited a model of a brick and tilc-inaking
inaclii)ic invented liy tlic Mari|nis of Tweeddale, by which it was stated oO
liiicks a niinntc, or nearly .'!0,(l(in liricks a day, might he made, wliilst a good
inonldcr could only mould tVoin ,')((1)() to 8000 a day. The clay was put into
the niacliinc at one end, and i).issing hctwcen two I'ollcrs was rolfcd into a
long l)ar, wliich was cnl intii the rccjnircd length of tlic liricks fiy a cutter
ANorkcd by the same \\hccl-^\ork. The l)ricks, on coming out at the opposite
side of the machine, were carried h) it to a distance of 2t)0 yards, thereby
saving a great amount of time and money in earning, an operation usually
])Crfornic<l by l)oys and women. .Vs a proof of flic superiority of the macliinc-
nuule lirick, it weighed 8] Itis., \vhilc a common brick weighed oidy Gij lbs.,
and the machine-made brick cairied eight times the weight which the com-
mon brick woidd sustain.

372

THE CIVIL ENCINEER AND AR( rilTECTvS JOURNAL.

[October,

STONE FOR THE NEW HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.

Koferved lo in report in Inst monik's Jonrnal, poije 331.

Table A.

W K liave arranged tliis table diftercntly to what it a]>|)cars in the original
report, anil we liave classified tlie (|uarries in districts and counties; wldeli
will enalile nnr readers lo sec more readily tliosc ])arts of the kingdom wliicli
have been examined.

The Talde contains The Naivik ok THt; Quarrv — its sitnation and
comdy — The Mineral fJe.sit/iuitiou of the Stone; its component parts — find
colour. Weigld of a cid)ic foot of stone in its ordinary slate — tlie entire
deptli of workable stone in the (piarry ; (h'scription of tlie beds, and size of
blocks that can be procured. — ^^'bcr(' Known or rritorled to have Iieen em-
ployed and general remarks — Trices of block slonc at the quarry ; dcscri])tion
and cost of carriage (cj to the jiool of IjOiidon ; cost of stone delivered in
London jier cubic foot ; anfl cost of plain rubbed work as compared w itli that
upon Portland stone in London per foot sniierlicial, Portland being taken at
10.

DISTRICTS IN ENGL.VND.

(North.}

Dtirhdin.

PKN'SHKK. — Pensher Colliery, Durham; anndslanr ; coarse quajlz grains,
with an arjrillo-.siliccous cement, plalcs of mica ; pole wliitish brown ; 134 llts.
5 oz. ; depth 40 to 50 feel ; thickest bed. 20 feet ; bhjcks any practicable size —
Pcnsher chapel. Scotch church. .Sunderland. St..lohrrs (dr^p^■I. l)isho]i Wear-
mo\uh, Wynyavd Mansion-house. Siuiderland |iicr. Seaham harbour. Victoria
bridge on the Wear, See. ; ?i(d per ft. a( i|u irry ; r. by railway. 1 nii'e and a
half to river, thence (o Sunderland. :unl Iheiu-c by sea lo London, total cost
13s 2d per ton, or Is 7d per foot in London ; plain ttork I'O.

RKDtJATK. — Redgate, Durham ; sundslone : tine (piarlz grains Hilli a eal-
careo-argillo-silieeous cement, mica in jilanes of beds : /i^sht/erruginou.s brown ;
139 lbs, D oz. ; depth 20 f.-et ; the beds vary from 1 to 8 tVet thick ; thequarry
is neglected and badly worked. It is said to have been set out sometime
since nnder an inclosure act for the use of the ])arishioners for ever, uho get
all the stone from it which they retniirc free oi' charge forrtiyalty. The head
or cover of the ijuarry is G feet thick ; plain work O'i).

STENTON. — Stenton Village, Durham ; sanihlonr ; fuie ipiarlz grains and
decomposed felspar, v\itli an argilUi-silieeous cement, fenuginous specks, and
some plates of mica ; fcrrni:inons li^hi hnnrn ; 142 lbs. 8 o/,. ; deptli 3.^ feet of
rock quarried ; irregular beds I'roni 2 to 8 feel in thickness ; blocks 1,5 to 20
feet lung — Round keep of Bern rd castle, joint-slock bank and market-house,
Bernard caslle ; sinks are worked out of this stone (i feet by 3 feet (i inches by
1 foot 6 inches, akso gTindslonej. Another qn iriy of stone, in all respects
similar to the south-e.ist of this quari'y, from ^ir. ('coige "White, farmer to
Robert BroHnless. Deplli of vinkable stone 2.) feet. Kloeks of 8 or 9 feet
cube. id. at the quarry, fine-tooled face, incluiiing joints and beds at id., if
rubbed 2d. extra. Quairy joints 2 to 8 feet aparl.' Dip of beds 4° or u°. The
quarry was opened about 60 years since : ^ilAper ft. in small blocks at quarry ;
f. by land to railroad east of Ri.shop Auck'and. § miles, at 4.-. per ton. tlien'ce
to Stockton, by the railway, 2s fid, thence to London. 8s per ton, in all 14s
fed per ton, or Is 51 per fciOt in London ; plain work 0 9.

Northumberland.

HKDDON. — Meddon on the Walt. Northumberland ; snudalmie ; coarse
quartz grains and decompo.sed fel-par. with anargillo-siliceous cement, ferru-
ginous .spots : Vj;ht-hron'n nelire ; 130 llis. 11 oz. ; depth 49 leet ; beds vary
from 4 to 12 feet Ihiek ; blocks any pr.ieticable size— C hnrcli at I kddoii, stCi-plc
17H4, Norman chancel, cnhimns of portico lo theatre, and (.'rev monument
at Newcastle, and nearly all the buildings, ancient and modern, in and about
Newti. ■' ■ clay balls arc occasionally met with in this stone as well as
laminalii'iis ot carbonaceous matter, (.Juarry joints II lo30 feet apart. Quarry
opened above 200 years .since. Quarry cover 10 t'cet thick ; (id to 10.1 perfl.
according to size at.t|uarry; e. Iiy la'iid to the Tyiic at Ncuburne, 2 miles,
ihencc to Neueastle, and by sea to London, or Is 8d to 2s per foot for blocks
under 4 tons, in London ; plain work LI.

KLNTON. — Kenton. Northumberland ; sandslmic ; fine quartz grains with
an argillo-siliceous and ferruginous cement, mica in planes of beds ; lifflil
ferriif^iiwus brvu'u ; 145 lbs. 1 oz. ; depth 25 to 30 feet ; beds vary from a few*
inches to 5 feet in thickness : 10 ton blocks if rc({iurcd ; nearly all the new
buildings at Newcastle erected by Mr Grainger; this stone is selected parti-
cularly for line work, carving, !s.e.. mill stones are made of it. The upper beds
are similar to the York llagging usually brouglil lo the London market. — The
bulk ot the stone used for ordinary purposes in Newcastle is from the Felling
near Gateshead, and the chunli (|uarry, Gateshead Fell, Joints in quarry 2
lo 20 feel apart. Dip of beds 11°. Quarry cover 15 feet. Quarry opened 20
years since ; Bd per ft. blocks under 7 feel. 9d blocks under 14 feet. Is blocks
under 20 feet. Is 4d blocks under 50 feet. ;U quarry ; c. by kind lo Newcastle,
the small blocks 2s (id per Ion. large blocks 3s (id ]icr Ion, llience bysealo
London, 8s per ton for blocks under 2 tons, or 2s per foot average size blocks
in London ; ]ilain work 1'3.

Liiiculiishin.

ANCASTF.R. — Ancaster, Lincolnshire; oolite ; fine oolitic grains cemented
hy compact and often crystalline carbonate of lime; ereiini ; 139 lbs. 4 oz.;
depth 13 feet; numerous 'beds, ruiiiiing into ca( b oilier, Irom a few inches
to 18 inches, the lowest beds are llic most crystalline ; blocks 3 lo 5 tons—

■\Vulli4tw;) liall, Belvwir Castle, Beltuu lluiise, iiuJ muncrvus raansiyns anil

churches in Lincolnshire; Ibis slone is worked with the .same lords as Rath
stone, joints in i|uarry from 4 lo 20 leet apart, beds with a mi'derate dip,
ipiarry cover 7 feel of clay ; numerous and extensive i|uarriesof similar slime
in the iminediali' locality, opened several cenluries since, now out of wiu'K —
'.)d perfl. in random blocks at quarry ; c. by lanil lo Grantbaui, 7 miles, Ibenec
to Boston by canal Is M jier foot, thence by sea to London 9d per fool, in
all Is lOd, or 2s 7d perfl. in London ; j/lain work 05.

(ilLl'.S (.SAINT).— Near Lineidn. Lincolnshire ; depth S feet ;75Uaiglit and
Ibin bedded, thickest bed 15 intdics, two blue heds below bottom of quarry,
upper part of quarry alternatitms of clay or marl or limestones, beus vary
much in te.vlure. best bed contains an abundance of shells — Lincoln Cathedral
in part; i|uarry cover 5 feet thick.

IIAVnOK. — llaydor, Linco'iidiirc ; liniesliine {utdilie) ; carboiialc of lime
wilb tiolitic grains, often crystalline; brotrnish eremn ; 133 lbs. 7 oz. : deiith
131 feel; thickest bed ISinclies; blocks 14 fi'ct, 3 leet by 4 feel— Lincoln
c.ilhedial, Boston chiircli. (ilran'.hara eliurcb, Newark church, and mo.sl ol '
the churclir'S in ilic neiglibourhood, and in the low er part of Jjincolnshire.
Cidverthorpc lioiise. Belvoir castle. &c. ; it is es,senlial that this stone should
alw.iys be scl upon its natural bed. This qu;irry and those immediately .id-
joiuiiig. wliich are numerous and extensive, are of great antiquity. Quarry
cover (d'clay 14feel thick; Sd perfl. at quarry ; e. by land to Sleaford (id per
fool, thence Ihrongli ]5oston to the Pool of London, Irom Is 5d lo Is 8d per
fool according to season, or 2s 4d per foot in London ; plain w ork Oo,

Yorkshire.

BOLTON'S QUARRY. — Aislaby, Yorkshire; OTnrf.s/one; moderately fine
siliceous grains w illi :irgillo-silicious cement, plates of mica and spots of carbon
disseminated ; lenrin lis^bt hrmen ; 12() ll>s. II oz. ; depth4()fl.. (op beds 26 feet
deep for h(mse building, bottom beds 20 feet for docks, !>;e.. be<ls generally from
to 8 feel thick ; blocks 100 feel- V.'liitl'y Abbi-y, New University Library al
Caininidge, ,Scarl.'oriiugh and Briddluiglon Piers. Sheerness and SLKalherine's
n<ieks. )ve.; blocks of 100 leet cube have been obtained from this quarry ;
stone usually sent In two-horse earls lo Whitby, carrying 3^ lo 4 tons, each
carl will make three journeys per diem ; joinis in quarry 10 fo 25 feel apart ;
beds with a moderate dip; quarry openeil 23 years since; lOil lo \aperfl.
according to size ;it quarry ; land carriage to Whitby 3d per fool, freight
varying from 8d lo 10^ per foot lo London, Is 9d to 2s Ulperfl. in London ;
plain work 0'75.

BlvAMLI'iY i''ALL(Oi.n (JuAr.Rv).— Leeds (near to) Yorkshire : .somlslone :
quartz grains (often coarse) and decomposed felspar, A\ilh argillo-siliceous
cemeul, niiea rare, small ferruginous .spots disseminated; brown; 142 His.ooz. ;
depth 45 fei't ; six beds, the thickest of which is 16 feet ; blocks up to 18 tons —
In numerous bridges, w;iler»orks, &c. ; this quarry is nearly exhausted. The
slone is now dilhcull and expensi.e to ohtain in c<msefpience oi' Ihe great
thickness of betid. Blocks of 18 tons have been obtained ; plain work [.■2.

RRODSM'ORTIL — Bro-lswdrlh, Yorkshire; 7nagne.sion limestone ; chiefly
carboiKtte of lime and c:irljor.ate of magnesia, with sub-oolitic grains, friable ;
lii^hl brown linl ; 133 lbs. 10 oz. ; depth uncertain, but very great ; regularly
beddeil, central beds llie best, hard beds from 1 lo 3S feet, softer beds 6 to 18
inches, thickest beds 3 feet 6 inches — l^oneasler old Church and Mansion
House. Brocklesby Hall. &e.; blocks of groat size e;m be procured. Joiiils in
quarrv irregular, some 20 feet ajiart. Beds dip sliglitly ; r. liy land lo Don-
easier, ami thence by water to London, price of stone at Donuasler 1^ Id,
or 2s Id ill London ; plain work 0 8.5.

CADFd>Y. — C'jrdeby. Yorkshire ; wagneslnn limestone; chiefly carbonate of
lime and carbonate of magnesia, with sub-oolilie and irregularly formed ooli-
tic grains, friable ; errant ; 126 lbs. 9 oz. ; beds from 8 inches to 3 feet 3 inches
thick. reguUirly and straight bedded, central beds apparently lire l)esl slone,
4 feet thick — I'Jay and Martin's, High Ilolbom. Almshouses at I'jdgeware;
joints in (|Uirry 5 lo 14 feel apart, lie !s nearly level; e. by Ian I to Dun
Navigation 1 mile, iheiice lo Tliorne 14or Ijmiles, thence by sea to London,
or Is'lOd ;)!■/•/<. in London; i)l,ain work 08.

lOLLAND KDGFi. — Yorkshire: sandstone; line quartz grains w iili an ar-
gillo-siliceous cement, micaceous in planes oi' beds ; light grei/ broien ; 153 lis.
i oz.

GATIIFdlLKY MOOR. — (iailierley Moor. Yorkshire; souilstimt : quartz
grains of moderate size and an argillo-siliceous cement, ferruginous spots,
;nid plates of mica; ereom ; 135 lbs. 13 oz. ; deptli 30 feet ; irregularly bedded,
from a few inches to 12 feet thick, some with diagonal cleavage — 18 feet of
the top rock fit (ally for backing, 12 feet freeslonc, fit for ashlar and (ither
works; blocks 1 lo 3 Ions — A.ste Hall, near Richmond. Rielmiond and Cate-
rick Bridges o\er the Swale, Pur.se Bridge over the Tees. Skellon Castle. Dar-
lington Town Hall, .Sockburn Hall, and inimerous modern buildings; quarry
prieesfor labour and stone — jioinlcd work 7d.. chiselled work Sd., :iiid rubbi'cl
work 9(/. per superficial fool ; 8<l per ft. for the 12 feet bed at (|uarry ; c. by
land to Darlington 6s )ier ton, thenee by rtdlway to .Slockbm 5s, thence by
sea to London 12s, in all 23s per ton, or 2s Id in liondon ; phtin work 0 93.

lllLDF.Nfd'',Y. — New Mallon. Y'orkshire ; limestone; caleareous. resem-
bling iiidur;it(il chalk ; n-hiiish ereom ; 137 H s. 10 oz. ; deplh 15 feel ; in lliln
ijcds. much shallercd on the face, the thickest bed about 22 inches; ipiery —
Kirkluim jirior)'. for pavings and also for columns in elcipel al Caslle How ;ifil ;
if this stone is .sent lo Jjondon a railway should be laid from the ipiarry lo
the Derwcns, about one m le and a half, and thence in small craft lo Lonilon.
1 1 may be w orked freely in all directions. Dip of beds in this quarry 4° to 5" ;
plain work 0 8.

llOOKSTONb;. — Harrow gate, Yorkshire; sandstone; quartz gr.-iins of mo-
dertite size willi siliceous cement; n-itite and dork brown; 142 lbs. 10 oz. :
irregular, from 2 lo it feet ; sloue expensive lo get on account of the dip of
the beds. Occasionally stained witli oxide of iron. Quarry joints a few
ukIk's to 5 feet apart. Dip of hgds 28° ; plain work L25.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

373

llUDDfiKSTOXK. — ITuiUUestone, Yorkshire; magncsiim limvstvnf ; cliielly
t:irlKin;ili' iif'limr and caibonalc iif mat;Tiesi:i,scmi-er)Sl;illiiu' : wlii/ish iniim ;
137 lljs. 13 uz. ; (li<iitli not ascorlaineJ ; 3U feet in ileiitli of rock iiuanieil. ir-
reg\\larly bedd'il. IVom a fe'.i iiiehes to 2 feet G iiictics thick, but beds have
|j<Tn met wiili 4 feet thick ; blocks from 50 to 250 ciiljic feet— York Minster.
Selliv ratliedral, lltiddlestone hall. Sherb\irne chiircli, Westminster hiill.Gale-
f.irlli hall. &c. ; i|viarry joinls free .ind irregular, 3 or 4main ioinis only. Dip
of beds \ery sliglit. Blocks lately sent to G'amljriilj.,e from (lie (|\iarry from 8
(o 10 tons ttciglit and 16 feet long, one block sent to Galeforlh hall \\ Ions.
The bodoni of the ([iiarry has been bored, 40 feet dee)), into a good freestone
lied. Ibu'd or glass veins in \arioiis dii'ections occur in this slont' as well as
nodules of imlinated matter: li.perft. at quarry ; r. by kind to the Leeds
and ,^elby railway 1 mile, thence to Sell.y, and thence Oy sea to Lomlon,
total cost IGs \)cr ton, or ,3s per foot in London ; pi, on work 0 flo.

JACKDAW CRAIG. — Thiefdale, Yorkshire; magnesimi I'mipslrmp ; chiefly
carbonate of lime and carbon.ate of magnesia; dark cremn ; irregular Ix'ds,
from a few inches to 3 feet — York Minster and probably most of the churclies
in York. ;ikso for the late resloralions of York Minster; this ipiarry, which is
of great anticpiity. is at tlie top of an arched slratilication of the rock, ex-
bd'.iling only a small portion of the lowest bed. wliich is the best stone. It is
probable ihiit the upper beds Here quarried indiscriminately for York Minster
and the churches of York.

KIUK SMKATON. — Kirk Smeatnn. Yorkshire; miigiiesinH limeslone; chiefly
carbonate o lime and earljonate of magnesia, slightly crystalline : warm cream ;
rregular up to 18 inches, thick and much dislocated; the quarries are on
the north side of. and immediately ;uijoining the Went River, many (|uarried
blocks remain in the quarry, and .are covered with lichens (black), some of 2
tons weight — 'Hie quarries are now out of work, and were probably forsaken
owing to the trouble .and cost of getting blocks of good size free from vents ;
r. by land to liie Ayr and Calif'r can:il .5 miles, thence by railH:iy. now ilis-
used. to Goole, 18 or 20 miles, and thence by se;i to London.

LKKDS (New). — Near Leeds, Yoi-kshire: saiuhloiif ; coarse quartz grains
:mil rlecomposed felspar, with an argillo-siliceous cement, oi'casional ]ilales of
mica : light lirowii ; 147 lbs. 8 oz. ;' tiie beds vary in thickness from 2 to 3
feel G inches ; blocks of large size; calcareous matter met with in the joints
in this quarry. These joints are from 3 to 14 feet aparl. and there are some
cr I s joints ; lOd /ifrft. blocks of4or5 tons, at quarry ; r.in working weather
and under favourable cireumst.ances. to London, will cost about Is Id or Is 2d
per foot cube, or 2s per foot in London; plain Mork 1'2.

LONGWOOD-KDtiK. — Longwood-edge, Yorkshire; sandslone ; quartz
grains id'moderatesize with an argillo-siliceous cement, mica chiefly in pbmes
of ijeds ; warm light brown greij : 153 lbs. 7 (K. : depth about 18 feet; I e Is
v.iry from G inches to 4 feet in thickness, a yellow bed 4 leet l> inches thick ;
blocks 3 tons ; 9d I'cr fl . for 2 ;ind 3 ton blocl.s. .at quarry ; r. by laiul to I liid-
dersfield. at 3d per foot ; plain work 1-25.

MEAN WOOD. — Meanwood, Yorkshire ; sandsfnne ; fine and coarse (|uarlz
grains and decomposed felspar, with an argillo-siliceous cement, micaceous,
and with a few ferruginous specks ; light Itrmvn ; 139 lbs. 14 oz. : from 2 (o 10
feet thick ; blocks of great size ; two blocks in the quarry, each weighing 9
tuns, price 2.v. Gd. per fool. Itetween this quarry and M'hcatwoorl quarry is
a quarry, called Addle .Smithy, of similar stone, very coarse, where blocks of
10 lons'may be procured; lOil per ft. for blocks of 1 and \\ tons, at quarry ;
c. by band to Leeds, 2d per foot; plain work 11,

OSMOTIIKRLRY. — Osmotherley, Yorkshire; sandstone; qn-.rtz gr.ains of
moderate size, with an argillo-siliceous cement ; dark brown ; depth of exca-
vation 25 feet — best bed from 5 to 0 feet, average thickness — The whole of the
village of Osmotherley ; quarry opened about ,30 years since, now in wmk fen-
railroad chair blocks, the stone encourages the growth of black lichen. Jn
the vicinity is iuiother quarry, of the Siame but rather snoerico- stone, h orkeil
Jjy (ieorge Duck, from wliich the stone was ob'ained for the piers of the chain
bridge at Stockton : 4d per ft. at quarry ; c. by laiul to Thirsk, ,at Ss or 9s
per tun, thence to Yarin, 12 miles, 8s per ton, thence to .Stockton, at Gs per
tun, thence by sea to London, loading, unloading, cranage, &c. Is per tim.

Park quarry. — Castle Hoi\ard. Yorkshire; .sandstone; fine siliceous
grains. Hitli an argillo-siliceous cement ; v'hitish brown ; depth 10 feet ; beds
trom IG to 20 inches deep ; blocks 27 feet cube — At Castle Howard ; the pilas-
ters of the soutli front of Castle Howard and the stabling are of Appleton
stone.

PARK SPRING. — Leeds, Yorkshire; sandstone; fine quartz grains and
decomposed felspar, with an argillo-siliceous cement, mica chielly in planes
of beds ; light ferrnginons brown ; I'l lbs. 1 oz. ; depth 10 feet ; beds very ir-
regular, thickest bed will work i feet ; bared face of rock shaky ; blocks any
]irac'ieable size. 3 feet thick — t^ommerci.al buildings at J^eds from the old
qu;rrv. which is of exactly similar stone to th;it of this i|Uariy ; the old
quarry, wliich is now worke.l out. was opened .about 14 years since. Quarry
co\er'l8 leet thick. This quarry was opened 2 years since ; 9d per ft. for U
and 2 ton blocks. ,at quarry ; c. by land to Kirkstall, thence by canal to Leeds",
and thence by sea to London, total cost Is 7d per foot, or 2s 4<l per foot in
Loniioii ; plain work 125, '

PARK NOOK, — Robin Mood's Well, Yorkshire ; tnagtiesian limeslouc ;
chielly carbonate of lime and carbonate of magnesia, in |)art crystalline ;
cream ; 137 lbs. 3 oz. ; depth 15 leet; straight bedded, from G inches to 2 feet
thick ; 8 feet of the workable stone ni.ay be considered free from " ;illum '" or
" put boles" containing calcareous spar, to which this stone is suliject ;
thickest bed, 2 feet 4 inches; blocks any practicable size. 10 and 12 teet long —
Robin Mooil's Well, by roadsi.le (1740). in good condition, Poutefr.act old
diurcli, in a large window Ciimjisall-lodge, Askern -Sjiarr, t*.c. ; s nks and
tanks are m:ide of ibis stone, but ilie water wastes in them. On the ojiuosile
side of the roail ale luo (piarne.; of similar stone in (be or'cupation of George
Stevenson of Canipsall, and Charles Saul ot Askern ; 7d per ft. at quarry ; c.
by land to Dpncaster, including carnage, &c, 10s, thence to the Poul of Lon-

don Ifis. in all 2Gs per tun, or ■2s llA to '23 5d per fool in London ; plain
work 0'75.

UOCME ABBKY. — Roche Abbey, Yorkshire ; magnesian limestone ; chiefly
carbtmale of lime and carbonate of magnesia, with occasional dendritic spots
of iron or manganese, semi-crj'stalline : whitish cream ; 139 llis. 2 oz. ; depth
15 to 20 yards ; irregularly bedded, thickest will work 2 feet Cinclies ; blocks
8 orlO tons — Roche Abbey chorcli, Tii khill-casllo and church, BIy the church
and bridge, S.-uidbeck-ball, .Sclby-hall, twci churches at Retfiird, Bawtry
cliurcdi, and mimerous churcdi.'S in ^'orkshire and ijincolnshirc ; no certainty
as to large blocks. 'I'lie stcme we;itliers blacks .and in lines according to the
bed. Inmodein buildings it has been employed in Fiirbeck-church and Pur-
beck-hall, Chrislchurch. Doncaster, Osberlon and Milton churches, Notting-
hamshire, residentiary deanery and cemetery, York, the external sculpture at
Buckingham-pabice. the screen at Bawtry. tuci churches at Hull, &C. Quarry
joints from 9 to 23 feet aparl ; 8d per ft. 'blocks of IJ tons, of the best quality,
from Is to Is Gd, at quarry ; c. by land to Koningsburgh, 4ld per fool, thence
to the Pool of Lnnrlon, Is Id per foot, or from 2s IJd to 2s llld per foot in
London ; plain work TO. ;

SCOTGATK IIKAD. — liuddersfield, Yorkshire; sandslone; quartz grains
of moderate siz'witli an argillo-silicons cement, mica in planes of be.ls, and
occasional specks of carbon; light greenish grei/ : 158 lbs. ; depth 12 yards ;
several beds, some much coarser in gr.iin than the rest, thickest bed 3 feet G
inches— York csstle, Bath hotel, IJuildersfield; quarry cover 12 feel thick;
8d /lerft. at quarry ; r. by Land to lludilerstield. at 4(1 per foot, or Is 2d per
fool in London ; plain work 12.

.SMAW.SK. — Biamham Moor, Yorkshire ; magnesian limestone : chiefly car-
bonate of lime and carbon;ite of magnesia, slighily crystalline ; light i/ellowish
brown ; 127 lbs. 8 oz. ; (Uptli 21 lei't ; irregular beds, from a few inches to 30
inches— the thickest bed, which is the liuvest, will work in 20-inch courses;
blocks largest got. 8.0 -< 3.0 < 3,0 — I bill cdil c liiircb, Ripon minster, church at
Bishop Burton. St. Mary's cliunli and the m nsler. Be\erley. the minster and
several churches, &c. at York, and ti newcburch a! Appleby in Lincolnshire ;
this stone is not considered fit for knidings, steps, S-c. Depth of freestone
below bottom of quariy uncertain, but probably better than iiny yet got.
Stone Works ciis|i and brittle, .and requires care in the working. The joints
in Ibis quarry are irregular and numerous, the beds are working nearly level.
The quariy vias o|iencd aboul 100 years since: ~t\perft. blocks of all sizes,
at qu.arry ; c. from quarry to Selhy, lis per ton, thence to London. I4s 4d
(ler ton.'in all 2.js 4d per ton, or 2s IJd per foot in London ; plain work LO.

VICTORIA. — Slanningiey, Yorkshire; .mndslone ; fine quartz grains and
decoinpo.sed felspar, witli ;in argillo-siliceous cement, ferruginous specks;
li(/hl brown ; 145 lbs. 3 oz. ; deiHb 48 feet ; eiilire ihickucss of workable beds
48 feel, thickest bed Gleet; blocks I '20 feel cube; Catholic church. Leeds;
siiioe Will calculated lor steps, Inniings. amlfine work, sticb as pinnacles. S;c.
Qiuirry joints G to 12 led apart ; Is per fl. at i)uarry ; c. by canals, '2>8s per
ton, or 2s 9d per fool. In London ; plain work 1-25.

WASS. — Ryland, Yorkshire ; oolite ; comp.aci carbonate of lime with oolitic
grains and an argillo-calcareous cemen:, carbon disseminated; brown: soft
141 lbs. 11 oz.. Iiar.l 1G2 lbs. 8 oz. ; numcriHis and variable in thickness, two
beds only of freestone, about IG inches thick ; west front and a large propor-
tion of Gykand abbey ; ninv working for railway chair blocks. Main joints
of qoarry from 3 to G feet ap;irt. a few cross joints. Beds nearly level. Quarrj-
cover 10 feel thick. Quarry of great antiquity, long out of work, but recently
re-opened; c. by land lo Oldwork, 14 miles, 8s Gd per ton, thence to York,
by can il. 12 miles, thence lo Hud. and bv sea to London ; plain work soft,
I-O. haol 1-45.

Vi'ARWICK. — South Crossland, Yorkshire; sandslone: quartz grains of
moderate size wi h an argillo-siliceous cement, occasion. il plates of mica;
warm light brown ; 14S lbs. 10 oz. : depth 12 to 15 feet ; thickest b.'.l 3 lo 5
feet ; blocks 12 lo 90 feet long. 5 lo 7 feet wide— V:u-ious public buildin;;s in
Manchester, and numerous residences, warehouses in ;ind near that place,
and in the vicinity of the quarry ; this ipiarry was opened 15 years since;
8}d per ft. at quarry ; c. by land to lluddersficdd. thence to Goole, and thence
to L indon, '23s lo '2.5s per ton, cu' '2s 7id per toot in London ; pl.ain work PI.

WllEATWOOD. — Addinglev, Yorkshire; sandstone; quartz grains of mo-
derate size and decomposed felspar, with :in argillo-silicecais cement, ferrugi-
nous spots, and occasion:illy [ilales of uiic:i ; light brown; 143 lbs. ; very ii re-
gular ; of any practicable size, some of 12 tuns have been obtained— New
Calhoiic chapel Leeds, p.arisK cliurcb Leeds, grand junction c;uial, and
London and Croydon rdlroal; anollur quarry of similar stone, belonging
to the same quarfymen. half a mile r.iirih-east of the Whealwood ; 9d per ft.
for U to 3 ton blocks. Is Gd bir 12 Ions. ;it cpiarry ; e. by land lu Leeds 2d
per :oof. thence by can.vl to (ioule. and thence by sea to London ; plain
work 1-1.

WHITBY COMPANY'S AlSLABV'. — Aislaby, Yorkshire; sandstone;
siliceous grains of inoder.i.e size with an argillo-siliceous cement, some plales
of mica and spots of i-arljon disseminated ; light brown ; 12G lbs. 1 1 oz. ; deplli
SO feet ; 30 feet in depth, of a vi-ry fine grii, one half being white and the
other half a warm tint, 50 feel, of a strong coarse grit — thickest bed 15 feel ;
blocks 40 feet by '25 feei. 40 let by 15 feet— Some parts of Whitby abbey,
.Sleights bridge, new library at Cambridge, baths and town-hall at Whitby,
cemetery Highgate. llungerford market market-bouse, Kxeter; 10.1 peril.
random bl.icks, from GO to 200 feel, at quarry ; c. by land to Whitby. 3 miles
and a half. .3d per foot, thence liy sea to tlie Pool of London, 9s lo 10s Gd
per loll, or Is 8d per foot random blocks, from GO to 200 feet, in Loudon :
plain work 0'75.

Wlll'fCY COMPANY'S KGTON QUARRIE'-:, comprising Au.nc-i.ii.te,
Jri.iAN I'.iRi^, Pkcuioams. and Lkasi: Riooi;. — l''.glon Manor. Yorkshire ;/rw«
/lale to dark brown ; de|.lli Arnclille 40 bet, Proiklams 50 feet ; a slrooa gut
can be selected id' an uniform culour. Thickesl beds as follow — Aincfitie 9
fct. Iidiaii Park 8 leet, Proddams 8 feet. Lease Rigge 5 feet ; blocks Arnclirte

374

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[October,

15 X 10 x ft, I'riiilduiiis 10x8x8. Lf.ise Riggc 10 x (i n 5— (irosmont abbey
and bridgo, Kgloii \mi]{K<!. Lomlon and Hirminf>ham railnav, M'liitby an'il
Vickcring railway ; llJd/)i')y>. i-andiini blocks, from 40 to 150 foot cube, al
(jiiany ; .■. by railway to M'liitl]y. 7 to 9 miles, 3d per loot, thence by sea lo
ilie Pool of Umdoii, !ls to 10s (id |,er ton, or Is 9Jd per foot random blocks,
from -10 to 1 50 Icet cidje.

M'lHTBV fOMPAXY'S SNKATOX.— .Sneaton. Yorksbire; depdi 12 feet ;
a strong g;rl. thickest bed 3i feet : blocks 24 x 2 x SJ— Parts id' Whilljy abbey,
small piirticin of the parapet of Blackliiars bridge, London : llie Percy' family:
who endowed Whitby abbey, possessed this pro|crlv, and it is conjectured
that great part of the abbey has been built of the stone from this quarrv. no
other in the vicinity being so mueli like that which appears in the building.
Tlie stone becomes thicker in descending the vallev ; l.-i Id /vr /<. random
blocks, from 40 to 200 feel cube, al ijuai rv"; c. Iiv railway to Whi'lby. 7 lo 0
miles. .Sd per foot, thence by fca to the P'ocd of Lindon, fts to 10s 6d per ton.
or Is lid per foot random blocks, from 40 to 200 feet, in London.

WllITP.Y fOMPAW.S NKWTOX DALE.— Newton D.ale, Yorkshire;
depth (i feet ; a firm and strong girt, thickest bed 18 inches; blocks U * 4
Ox 18 inches; Lcavisham cinirch j lOd /'«•./>. random blocks, frc m 4 tu 30
feet cube, at quarry ; r. by railway Ifi miles, '3d per foot, thence by sea to the
Pool of London, from 9s'to 10s ti'd per t(m, or Is 8d random lilo'cks. from 4
to 30 fcf-t, per foot in London.

(Midland Countiks.)

Bedfords/iire.

TOTTERNHOF,.— Totternhoe. Redfordshire ; limestone (argillaecims) : cal-
careous and argillaceous matter, in about equal jiortiois, structure fine;
greenisli lehile ; 110 lbs. 8 07.. ; depth 7 feet ; thickest bed 4 feet ; blocks 40
cubic feet or upwards. 5 to 6 feet long ; Dunstable Priory church, Luton, and
m:iny othcrehurcbos in Bedfordshire. Hertfordshire, M'oburn abbey, Fonthill
house, Ashridge. Organ-screen at Peterborough minster, &c. ; this stone is
now almost out cd use for e.vternal work, since the Introduction of Bath stone,
it having failed even where used as Ashlar onlv. protected bv PortlamI
ilressings ; Is .3d perj'l. at quarry ; e. by land to Leighlon. 5 miles 'and a hall,
thence by tJrand Junction canal, total cost Is .3d per foot, or 2s .5d per loot.
in London ; pkiin work 0-45.

Dfrhyshire.

Ball CROSS. — Hakewell Edge, Deibyshire ; naiidslone ; siliceous grains
with argillo-silieeous cement, occasionally micaceous, ferruginous ; feiri(giiiniis
hrowii. stripeil. and zmied in deeped tints ; 5 or G principal alternations of sand-
stone and shale, sandstone beds from 3 to 18 feet thick— At Chatsworlli and
at Bakewell ; appearance similar to ornamental wood.

EOLSOVER. — Bolsover Moor. Derbyshire; niiij:nesi(in linieslone : chielly
carbonate of lime and carbonate of magnesia, semi-crystalline ; light iielluirisli
brown: 151 lbs. 11 oz. ; depth 12 feet; in numerous beds from 8 inches to 2
feet thick; blocks 5G feet cube — Southwell church, and numerous buildings in
the vicinity ; this stone is very generally sawn into slabsfor paving, &c. ; lOd
per ft. at quarry : c. by land to Chesterfield canal al Worksop 8 miles, ai Os
per ton. thence by canal and the 'J'rent to Stockwitli, and thence by sea to
L<mdon about 10s. in all lOs per ton. or 2s per ft. in London ; pl.ain work 10.

DDFFIELD BANK. — Dufliekl. Deibyshire; sandstone; quartz grains of
moderate size and decomposed felspar, with an argillo-siliccous cement, ferru-
ginous spots, and occasionally plates of mica; light brown, tvith dark brown
and purplish tints; 132 lbs. 14 oz. ; depth 70 feet:" one half of the deiith is
brown stone, the other half white— the thickest bed is about 4 feet ; blocks
150 feet— St. Mary's Bridge. Reporter Office. Mechanics' Lecture Hall, and
Bishop Ryder's Church now building, Derby, also Duflield Bridge, \c., —
Chimney shafts, Crammar School. Birmingham ; this stone has not yet been
sent to the London market. Quarry joints 3 to 30 feet apart, beds with a
slight dip. Quarry opened about 40 yeai's since; from 1 to 3 tons Is ld;jcr
ft. of white stone, 9d of broH n and w hitc in equal quantities at quarry ; plain
work I'l.

DUKES Ql'ARRlES.- Holt, Stanwell Bridge. Derbyshire; .mndstnne ;
quartz grains, generally coarse, with decomposed fel.«par, and an argillo-sili-
cement. feiTuginous spots ; red, varied with green, brown, and grey ; 144 lbs. 8
oz.: depth not ascertained, at least 40 fect—Penitenliary, Millbank, and in-
ternal parts of Waterloo Bridge, J.fmdon ; i|narry opened about 30 years since.
More than 100,000 chair stones for the ]5irmingham an I London Railway have
been sunplied from these quarries. Quarry joints from 2 to 20 feet apart.
Dip; of beds 5^ or G°. Quarry cover 6 to 12 feet thick ; 7d per ft. at quarry ;
c. by canal to J^eicester, and thence by (irand Junction to London, or 2s 8d
in .London ; plain wiu'k 1'2.

HOPTOX M'OOD.— Middleton, near Wirksworth, Derbyshire; limestone:
compact carbonate of lime with enerinal fragments abundant ; warm li^ht
grei/ ; 158 lbs. 7 oz. ; depth 40 feet ; in several beds, varying from 3 to 10 feet
thick; blocks 100 feet cube— At Chatsworth. Belvoir Castle. 'I'rentham Hall,
Drayton Manor. Birmingham Grammar School, !tc. ; 3s to 4s per ft. accord-
ing to size, at ijuarry ; c. by land to Cromford >vharf. 3 miles, thence by ean;il
to London, block stones 30s per ton, .slabs 40s per ton— by sea blocks.' 22s Bd
per ton, slabs 30s per ton. or 4s lOd to 5s llJd per foot in London ; pla n
work 1'4.

VIUNGERHILL. — Belper. Derbyshire ; saHrf,s/oHf ; line ijuartz grains and
ileeomposed felsp;ir, with an argillo-silieeous cement, ferruginous spots, ami
cjcc:ibionally plates of mica ; warm light brown ; 135 lbs. 15 oz. ; deptli not as-
certained— Belper new church and all the chief build ngs in Belper : parts of
the new church at Belper are beginning to decompose. Di p of beds in quarry
v:iriab!e. Quarry cover 6 feet thick. Quarry opened about 10 years since';
Is per ft. for blocks of 6 cubic feet, at quarry ; r. by land to canal, and thence
by water to London ; plain v\ork LI.

LIXDROP. — Lindrop Hill, Derbyshire; quartz grains of moderate size
with a calcarco-siliceous cement, "micaceous : light yellowish broirn ; level
bedded, but irregidar. the thickest bed may work 3 feet G inches or 4 feet — In
p;irts of Chatsworth house ; quarry cover of .shale and thick-bedded stone i5
leet thick ; c. by land to Cromford canal. 8 miles, thence by canal to London.

MORLEY MOOR.— Morley Moor. Derbyshire ; sandstone : fine quartz
grains with siliceous cement. afew plates of mica disseminateil : a'arm brownish
grey, often greenish ; 130 lbs. 8 oz. ; depth not ascertained — Bnik at Derbv.
Mr. H;»ckers's ami .Mr. Holmes's houses at D.'rliy, Berniston house ; lOd per
ft. best stone, at quarry ; c. by land, 2 miles to Little Eaton, thence by canal
to London ; plain work P05.

SH.'\W LANE. — Hunger Hill, Derbyshire; sandstone: quartz grains, of
moderate size, with ,an argillo-silieeous cement, slightly micaceous ; icnrm
light blown ; 135 lbs. 15 oz. ; depth 50 feet : one half of Ihe workable is brown
111 colour, the other half white, the thickest bed 5 feet ; blocks 150 feet cube —
Leicester church ; Is Id per ft. if all while, Od if half while and half brow n,
at quarry; plain work 11.

STANCLH-'F OR BARLEY DALE— Darley Dale, Derbyshire : sandstone:
quartz grains of moderate size and decomposed felspar, with an argillo-sili-
eeous cement, ferruginous spots, and plates of mica ; light ferruginous brown :

148 lbs. 3 oz. ; depth 200 feet; irregular masses, without regular joints or
beds ; blocks of very large size — Abbey in Darlcy Dale, Stanclilf-hall, Bir-
mingham grammar school. Birmingham and Nottingham railway station-
houses ; quarry cover, 5 or 6 feet thick. The (juarry was opened 5 years
since; \s. M per ft. up to 5 tons, at i|uarry ; r. by land to Cromford. 4d
thence to the Pool of Londcni. Is Gil. en- .3s .3d per foot in London; plain
work 1"3.

Noltinghamshire.

LINDLEY'S RED QUARRY.— M nsfield. Nottinghamshire: sandstone:
fine siliceous grains with magncsio-c ilcareous cement ; roseate broum ; 148
lbs. 10 oz.; depth 30 feet; irregularly bedded, average thickness about 3 feet,
remarkably sound ami homogeneous: blocks up to 10 tons; Belton-house
(Lord Brow nlow ) ; cisterns and sinks are maile of this stone, but are not quite
impervious to moisture. Quarry joints 30 to 10 feet apart. Quarry cover of
red laminated sandstone. 15 feet thick. Quarry opened SO or 100 years since :
Hd per ft. blocks of all sizes, at quarry ; r. by land lo railway wharf at Mans-
fiekl. 1 mile. Is 8d per ton, thimce to Pinxton. by railway, 2s lOd per ton.
(hence o Gainsborough, bv the Trent and Irwasb, 7s Gd. and thence by sea
to Jjimdon. 18s. or 2s Gd pei foot in London : p ain work PI.

LINDLEY'S WIllTF. QUARRY.— Mansfield, Notlinghanwhire : sand-
stone : fine siliceous grains w ilh magnesio-calcareous cement ; whitish brown :

149 lbs. 9 oz. : denlli 30 feet now in work, further deptii not ascertained ; re-
gularly and nearly horizontallv bedded, from G inches to 4 feet G inches ;
blocks 10 tons — The Town-ball.'Nfansfield. Clumber -lodge, at Wollerton. and
Belton; some of tliis stone contains cryst;ils of strontian. Quarry joints
about 20 feet apart. Quarry cover of marl 15 feet thick; Sd /U'r ft. random
blocks, e.xtra price fiu" specified blocks or selected bed. at quarry ; c. by land
to railway wharf at Mansfield. 1 mile. Is 8il per t n. thence to Pinxton, 8
miles, by railroad, at 2s lOd per ton, thence to Gainsborough, by the Trent
anil Irwash. at 7s Gd per totr. and thence by sea to London, about lis per
ton, total cost 23s. or 2s 2d per foot in London ; plain work PL

Northamptonshire.

BARNACK MILL.— Barnack. Northamptonshire; oolite (Shelli/); car-
bonate ef lime. comp.act <and oolitic, with shells, often in fragments, coarsely
laminated in planes of beds : light whitish brown ; Via lbs. 12 oz. ; depth 4
feet freestone, G feet common wall stone: in beds from 9 inches to 18 inches;
blocks up to 30 feet— Burleigh House. Peterborough Cathedral, Croyland
Abbey, Boston. .Spalding, Holbeacb, and Moulton cbiirehes, and the greater
proportion of churches in Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire ; the old quarries
in till' vicinity are in a continuation of this bed. and are very extensive, the
stone is used for troughs and cisterns, which are jierfectly impervious.
Quarry opened 4 years since ; la per ft. at quarry ; c. by land to Wansford 4
miles Is, thence to .Sutton Bridge by canal, and thence by sea to London 18s
per ton, in all 19s per ton. or 2s 3d per ft. in London ; plain work 09.

Qjfordshire.

HKDDINGTON. — Heddington, Oxfordshire; limestone : carbonate of lime,
friable ; the worst or softest beds of this stone appear to have been employed
in most of the colleges and other public buildings of Oxford ; plain work 11.

TAYNTON or TEYNTON.— Taynton. Oxfordshire; oolite (shelly): car-
bonate of lime, partly oolitic and friable, with very small fragments of shells,
irregularly laminated ; streaky brown : 135 lbs. 15 oz. ; depth about 20 feet ;
beds vary in thickness from 3 to 20 feet, irregular and dislocated in all direc-
tions— thickest bed about 7 feet ; blocks of any pracdcable size — In most of
tlie ancient churches and mansions of the neighbourhood. Blenheim, Corn-
berry park, Itarringlon park. In the interior of St. Paul's, and many other
churches in London and Oxford, in various bridges. Mitney. Cutham. Buck-
lan<l. and most of the ancient and modern mills in vicinity ; cisterns, troughs,
sinks, copings, jvnd ridges made out of this stone. The oolitic grains are un-
usuallv soft :ind chalky, and easily absorb water; la per ft., in large quanti-
ties l(id, at quarry ; c. by land to L'assington wharf, and thence by water to
London. Is Gd per foot, or 2s 4d per foot, in Jjondon ; plain work 09.

Rutlatidshirc.

KKTTON.—Ketton, Rutlandshire : oolile ; oolitic grains of moderate size,
sligblly cemented by carbonate of lime; dark cream colour: 1'28 lbs. 5 o .
deptli 4 feet ; sometimes in one bed. sometimes in two beils— a h ird bed above,
called rag. 3 feet G inches thick, covered by crash, 5 feet, covered with cl.ay
from 15 to 20 feet thick, level and irregularly bedded ; blocks up to 100 feet—

1839.1

THE CIVIL l^NGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

375

C'aniln'ulgu. 15imUViiv1. Bury Saint K/Iniunds. Slaiiitbrd. Lcincliiii. i<^(.'., nnny uf
the ancient and mudern buililings at f'ambridgc. also in tlu' mudern worl<s of
Pcterborougli and Kly catliedrals. also St. Dunstpn's churcli, Fleet-street,
London ; the rag beds are of a white tint, and the grains are cemented «ith
highly crystallized carbonate of lime, the crash is of a dark brown colour,
very coarse, fnll of shells, distinct ova. and very ferraginous. The ova in the
freestone b.-ds are slightly attached or cemented t^igether. consei|iientIy tlie
stone is very absorbent. Ketton rag weighs l.'io lbs. 10 oz. per cubic foot.
Th s and the neiglibonring ijiiarries. many of Hhich are out of work, are of
great antiquity. Moints 2 to 7 feet apart. Beils dip slightly ; Is 9d I'tr ft. at
tiuarry ; c. by land to Stamford, ,Sd per foot, thence to London, about '2()s tier
ton, ()"r if dehvered at M'ansfonl the carriage and freight would be about the
same cost, or 3s 4d per foot in London ; plain work 065.

Shropsliire.

STANLKV. — Higley, Shropshire ; saudslnnc ; siliceous grains, of moderate
size, with a e^i^lcareo-ferruginous cement : grinding red, 146 ll»s. biiildiu<;
grrij. Ill lbs. 7oz.; depth 6J feet ; ashlar or building stone 1 to .3 feet, grind-
ing or gun-barrel stone, upper bed 3 to 4 feet. lower bed 3i feet ; blocks 10
feet to 60 or 70 feet— Stourport bridge (1776), AVorcester and Bewdley bridges.
Gloucester bridge. Sic. ; in the neighbourhood is another quarry of sandstone.
Grains, moderate in size, of various siliceous substances, micaceous, cement,
argillo-siliceous, cidour greenish brown ; Is per ft. building stone, delivered
at Gloucester, — 2s 3d grinding stone, upper stratum, — 2s ditto lower stratimi,
at quarry ; c. by the Severn to (Jlouccster. 20s per ton. and thence by sea to
London, 13s. canal dues, isic. Is 2d. or Is 9d per foot building stone, under 3
tons, 3s lid grindhig stone, per foot in London ; plain work grinding 12,
building 0 85.

SlaffbrdsAire.

HOLLINGTOX.— HoUington. Stairordshire: .miidstmie ; cjuartz grauis of
moderate size with an argillo-siliceous cement, plates of mica; lig/if-broumish
grei/ ; 133 lbs. 1 oz. : depth 20 to 25 feet ; on ■ vein of inferior stone 4 to 6 feet
thick in the middle of the quarrv, thickest bed of good stone 8 feet ; blocks
30 to 40 feet scpiare and 8 feet thick— Trenth m Hall, Drayton Manor
Heathhouse, and various public and private buildings in .StatVordshire, 'Town
Hall Derby, Meer Hall Cheshire. (s;c. ; 7d /'erft. blocks 1 to 2 tons. Oil blocks
2 to 4 tons, Is 4 tons and upwards, at quarry ; c. by canal in boats 20 terns
burthen, by the Grand Juucticm and Trent and Mersey, total cost per foot 2s
6d ; jdain work 0-9.

PARK QUARRY. — Ti.\all, Stadbrdsliire ; sandstone ; fine quartzose grains
with a calcarea-argillo-siliceous cement, plates of mica ; light grey ; 124 lbs.
9 oz. ; depth 10 to 15 feet ; thickest bed. fi to 8 feet ; bloclcs 15 feet or more
in length by 3 to 6 feet — Ruins id' a mmsion belonging to the late Lord Anson
Ti.xall, Triumphal arch, Ivud of Lilcblield. Ti.-iall-ball, &c.. .Saint (icorge's-
church Birmingham. SandwcU-hall near Birmingham. &,c. ; 8d />ir//. selected
stone at quarry ; c. by canal, 180 miles ; plain work 0.85.

(South.)

Devonshire.

BEbjR. — Beer. Devonshire ; liinestone ; chieflv carbonate of lime, friable,
and with partial induratiim ; light tint nf thrown; 131 lbs. 12 oz. ; depth 10
feet 6 inches ; in 8 beds ; the uppermost 4 beds are the best, and are about 17
or 18 inches thick, the thickest bed 2 feet, or 2 feet 2 inches ; blocks 6 to 7
feet long, 3 feet wide, and 2 fei't thick — In the churches of the vicinity, Saint
Peter's church Exeter, in e-xposed parts, Colyfon church, Charmouth, parish
church in Dorsetshire, rebuilt 4 years since, and at Honiton within the last
2 years; c. from the miarrv to the beach, one mile and a (juarter, and thence
by sea to the Pool of LonJon in 50 or 60 ton vessels ; plain work 0'55.

DorseMire.

PORTLAND (TRADE QUARRY).— Island of Portland. Dorsetshire;
indite; oolitic carbonate of lime, with a few fragments of shells; whitish
hrnwn : depth about 9 feet of freestone ; level bedded as follows : rubbish
head, dirt bed 1 foot thick, top cap, 3J to 5J feet, skull cap, 2 to 3 feet, roach
4 feet, tup bed 7 feet, flint bed 6 inches, lower or bottom bed 2 feet ; blocks
of any practicable size — Various public buildings in London ; Is 4Jd per ft. at
quarry ; e.by sea to the Pool of London, including lighterage to M'estmiii.ster.
14s per ton, or 2s 3d per foot in London ; plain work 10.

PORTLAND (Ki.sG B.vrrow E.^st E.\n Quarry, adjoining Waycrokt). —
Island of Portland, Dorsetshire ; ooUte : oolitic carbonate of lime, villi a fe»
Jragments of shells ; wliitisli hrnnni ; deplli 7 feet of freestone ; the beds are
as follow — heail of quarry 15 leet. dirt bed 1 loot, skull cap 1 to 2 feet (i imlies,
roach 2 feet 6 inches, freestone and good weather bed 7 feet ; rubbish at bot-
tom of quarry ; blocks 'Of any practicable size — Various public buildings in
London ; Is 4id perj't. [at quarry ; by sea to the Pool of London, including
lighterage to Westminster, 14s per ton, or 2s .3d per foot in London ; plain
work 10.

PORTLAND (V^KRx Street QeARRv).-wlsland nf Portland, Dorselshire ;
oolite ; oolitic carbonate of lime, with a few fragments of shells ; whitish brown;
top bed 134 lbs. 10 oz. ; depth 8| feet of freestone ; the beds are as follow —
loose head 15 feet, dirt bed 1 foot, top cap 6 feet, skull cap 11 to 2^ feet,
roach 2 feet 6 inches, top bed 8 feet 6 inches, called Birdseye stone ; rubbish
at bottom of quarry ; blocks of ;uiy practicable size — Various public Ijuildings
in London ; Is 41d perfl. at quarry ; by sea to the Pool of London, including
lighterage to Westminster, 14s per ton, or 2s 3d per foot in London ; plain
work 1 U.

PORTLAND (C'asti.es Quarrvj.— Island of Portland, Dorset.shirc ; oolite;
oolitic carbonate of lime, with a few fragments of sliells ; whitish brown ;
depth 'JJ feet of freestone ; the beds arc as follow— 17 feet of head, 12 inches

|iirt bed, 6 feet cap, U feet skull cap. 18 feet v, orkable freestone, containing
4 feet of roach. 3 feet of good oolite, free from she'ls, 3 feet of roach and
flint, and Hi feet of inferior oolite, fine grained, «ith cementing matter in a
state of powder ; blocks of any (iracticahle size ; various public buildings in
London; Is 41d per ft. -.it quarry; by sea to the Pool of Loudon, including
lighterage to M'eslminster, 14s per ton, or 2s 3d per foot, in Ltjndon ; plain
work UO.

PORTLAND (Waycroft Quarrii:s).— Island of Portland, Dorsetshire;
ooWe; oolitic carbonate of hme, with disseminated fragments of shells;
whitish brown ; top bed 135 lbs. 8 oz. ; depth about 13 feet of freestone; level
bedded as follows — rubbish head 8 feet, dirt bed 1 toot, top cap 31 to 5^ leet,
skull cap 2 to 3 feet, roach 2i to 4 feet, top bed 7 to 8 feet, rubbish beds 6 lu
7 feet, roach 1 to 3 feet, and bottom bed 5J to (ii feet ; blocks of any practi-
cable size — Goldsniith's-hall, Reform Club-house, and other public buildings
in London ; Is 4J<1 per ft. ;it quarry ; by sea to the Pool of London. i2s per
ton. heaving out of the .ships Is per ton, lighterage to Westminster, Is per
ton, or 2s 3d per foot in London ; plain work 10.

PORTLAND (MAfiGorr Quarry) )— Island of Portland, Dorsetshire ; oolite ;
oolitic carbonate of lime, with fragments of shells ; whitish brown ; depth l.")^
feet of freestone ; quarry head of rubbish 8 feet, dirt bed 1 foot, cap 6 feet or
7 feet 6 inches, skull cap U to 2J feet, roach 2 feet 6 inches, top bed 8 feet
G inches, loose hmestone and flint 7 feet, bottom bed supposed to be 7 feet
thick; blocks of any pr.iclicable size — Several public buildings in London;
Is 4Jd per ft. at quarry ; by sea to the Pool of London, and including lighter-
age to M'estminster, 'l4s per ton, or 2s 3d per foot, in London ; i)laiu work
10.

PORTLAND (Gosi.i.N'os Qiarry) — Island of Porland, Dorsetshire ; oolite;
oolitic carbonate of lime, with fragments of shells ; whitish brown ; roach 126
lbs. 13 oz. ; depth 8 feet of freestone ; quarry head of rubbish 8 feet, dirt bed
1 foot, top cap 6 feet, skull cap 1 foot 6 inches to 2 feet 3 inches, roach 4
feet, top bed 8 feet, rubbish bed with layers of flints, bottom bed very soil,
not worked ; blocks of any practicable size — Several public buildings in Lon-
don ; Is 4^d per ft. at quarry ; by sea to the Pool of London, and including
lighterage to Westminster, 14s per ton, or 2s 3d per foot in London ; plain
work 10.

PORTLAND (Grove Quarry, Bowers).— Island of Portland, Dorsetshire ;
oolite : oolitic carbonate of lime, with numerous fragmcnis of shells ; whitish
brown : best or lower Ijed 147 lbs. 10 oz.. ciirf 145 lbs. 9 oz. ; depth 6 feet of
freestone ; top or workable bed very close and compact, 9 feet thick, having
a bed of roach on the top of it 3 feet thick, 25 feet of head to this quarry,
containing the same beds as in the other quarries, the cap and skull cap
being 10 feet thick ; blocks of any pricticable size — St. Paul's cathedral ana
several churches in London, built during the reign of queen Anne ; Is 4iil per
ft. at quarry ; by sea to the Pool of London, and including lighterage to
M'estminster, 14s per ton, or 2s 3d per foot in London ; plain work PI.

PORTLAND (Grove Quarry, Red-Croft). — Island of Portland, Dorsel-
shire ; oolite ; oolitic carbonate of lime, with a few fragments of shells ; whitish
brown ; depth 16^ feet of freestone ; the l)eds are as follow — rubbish forming
head 7 or 8 feet, dirt bed 1 foot, roach 1 foot 6 inches, top bed 4 feet, middle
or curf bed, 5 feet 6 inches, bottom bed 7 feet ; blocks of any practicable size —
St. Paul's cathedral and many churches in London, built during the reign of
queen Anne ; Is 4id per ft. at quarry ; by sea to the Pool of London, and in-
cluding lighterage to Westminster, 14s per ton, or 2s 3d per foot in London ;
plain work TO.

The following remarks refer to the nine last quarries : — The dirt bed is full
of fossil roots, trunks, ami branches of trees ; often in the position of their
former growth. The top cap is a white, hard, and closely compacted lime-
stone. The skull cap is irregular in texture ; it is a well-compacted lime-
stone, containing eherty nodules. The roach beds are always incorporated
» ith the freest ne beds that invariably lie below them ; they are full of cavi-
ties formed by the moulds of shells, and occasionally contain oyster shells
and bells of llint near the top. The top bed is the best stone ; it is a fine-
grained oolite, free from shells and hard veins. The bottom bed is similar in
appeamnce to the top bed. and of the same component parts ; but the stone
ill cemented, and will not stand the weather. A middle or curf bed occurs
only in the southernmost of the quarries, on the east cliff; it is soft to the
north and hard to the south. Messrs. .Stewards have several oiher ipiarries,
both on the east as well as the west cliff, where the stratification is similar to
that of the M'ay-croft quarry, but with variations in the thickness of the
beds and slight deviations in the quality of the stone. Messrs. Weston have
also several other quarries, both on the North-east and West C'litts, where
the .slratifleation is similar and th stone more or less like that of the trade
quarry. There arc also numerous other qu;iiTies on the iskmd, worked by
various persons, where the stratification and stone accord generally with those
of Messrs. Stewards' and Messi's. Weston's. The good workable stone in the
East Clirt' quarries is generally less in depth than it is met with in the same
bed in the West Clill quarries ; but the East Cliff stone is harder, more espe-
cially to the south of tlie island. The bottom part of the top bed in the West
Clifl quarries becomes less hard and durable towards the south. The stone in
most of the quarries, and sometimes in the same quiirrj-, varies considerably in
quality. Such stone as contains flints, or is met with below layers of Hints,
is inferior, and w ill not stand the weather. The bottom beil on the West tlifl'
is not a durable stone, but has been worked to a considerable extent and sold
as a good stone in the jAiiulon market. In every freestone bed the upper
part of the bed is the hardest and most durable stone. The best stone is in
the north-eastern part of the island, the worst in the south-western part.
The most durable stone has its cementing matter in a solid and halt crystal-
line state ; in the leiist durable stone it is in an earthy and po'.vderj' state.
The annual consumption of the whole of the quarries in ihe island is ei|ual to
an area of one acre of the good workable stone, or about 24,000 t us ; the en-
tire area imworked is about 2,000 acres. There are 56 quarries in the island,

2 G

376

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[October,

anil abmit 2Kl r|u:iiryincii cioiliiiiially ciiipluycd ; of uhitli numl.er Messrs.
Stewards usually cmjilny abcmt 138.

The ciirf I'l'd in tlie Rod-C'nift ((iiarry, is a shelly (lolitc. divided bi a bamr
oy.sU'r shells, 1.5 inehes frimi the Ion, and by a scennd bar of the same
shells 2i feet below the npper bar. 'i'he boltcmi heel in this -|uarvy is a « ell-
eompacted oolite, with very few shells, having a bed of roach 12 inches (hicK
at the top ; its characteristic distinctions are streaks of yellow occasionally.
It is the hardest bed in the island, but will nevertheless work and saw better
than the middle bed. owing to its beinK more homogeneous. Tlie roach is
throuc;hout the island oolitic, with a cement of carbonate of lime, shelly, and
full of cavities from casts of shells •, colour, whitish brown.

SKACOMBK. — Isle of Purbeck, Donsetshire ; Umcslone ; semi -com pact car-
bonate of lime with frap^ncntsof shells ; light brown ; l.illbs.: depth 14feet;
the workable stone of this quarry, which is called " Purbeck Portland,' is
met with amongst oilier strata in thecliHIs of the .south part of Purbeck, about
midway from the summit, the thickest bed is 6'. feet ; blocks the larjj;cst. li to
R leet,by 2 to ,3 feel. In .3 to 4 feet— Lighthouse at Margate, the clock-hoii;,e,
l)over-pier, prison at Winchester, at the West India-docks, 40 years since,
lighthouse now building on the Isle of Wight, obelisk, Kncombe-park. and
numerous churches, bridges. &c. in the county; much used for steps, land-
ings. &c. ; Is 2id per ft. at quarry ; c. by sea to the Pool of London, at 8s
per ton, boatage Is 6d, in all 9s 6 J, or !s9Jd per foot in London ; plain
work ri5.

JViUsliire.

BKVIS'.S QUAP.PvY.— East Tisbury, Vi'lshire; saiirtsloiic (cnkifirous) ;
fine siliceous grains with calcareous cement ; pn-ciiish hroivii ; 111 lbs, 2 oz. ;
quarry head 5 feet, top bed 1 foot H inches, inuler bed I foot 5 inches, under
bed 4 feet, under Ijed 4 feet, under bed W feet, under bed .3 feet, under {ir bot-
tom bed 1 fool 6 inches, hard bed 3 feel, full of shell. The thickest bed will
work from 2 feel B inches to 3 feet ; blocks large, (ior 7 feet king — ,Salisbury.
Plindon, aud other places, Kingston. i-.ary. numerous bridges-, churclres. &c..
in the county ; this quarry was opened ,3U years .'ince ; Is (id pcrft. blocks of
all ."^izes at quarry ; land and w ater carria;;e to the Pool of London 2s 6d to
2s 9d per foot, or 4s to 4s 3d in London ■, )ilain work 0'7.

CUILJIARK. — t'hilmark. Wiltshire; limrslmie silirifrroiii: ; carbonate of
hme, with a moderate proportion of silica, and occasional grains of silicate of
iron; liglii gmnhh Itrown ; 153 lbs. 7 oz. : depth 20 feet freestone; quarry
head, loose limestone and rubbish Hi feet. 2 l.-eds of rag or roach tilled up with
carbonate of lime 2 leet,2 white beds (hard) 2 to 3 feet. Ircairdi bed 2 feet thick,

freen bed 5 feel, slant bed 1 foot, 2 pinuey beds each 2 feet thick, cleaving
ed 1 foot, and fritting beds 3 feet 3 inches — the thickesi lied about 3 feet ;
blocks froiTi lOcwt. to 3 ton.s — some of ,5 Ions — .Salisbury Cathedral, Wilton
Abbey, and many other andent and modern buililiugs in the vicinity ; llie
white beds are fine grained with crystallized carbonate of lime, the uppermost
is the hardest. The trough bed is of the same compound, is \ery hard, and
considered the best bed for standing w ealher. 'I he green bed is varied in te.x-
lure, containing shells uner|ually cemented. The slant bed is very frialile.
The pinney beds are crys'alline. the bottom bed is the hardesi — tliey are most
in repute, are free in working, obtainable in large and sound blocks, and stand
the weather. The trough and h;ird white beds are unabs<irbent. The whole
of the beds can be ■ aw n. Some are intersected » ilh small veins of calcareous
spar, others abound in shells, the cavities of which are filled with spar — but
neither the veins nor shells are harder than the stone in which they are im-
bedded ; 2-i per fl. trough bed. Is 9d bottom pinney bed. 2s hard white bed.
]s (id other useful stone al (piarry ; r. by land to Wing w barf, and thence by
water to London 53s (id per ton. or .5s 4 d trough bed. "is Id bottom piuuey
ted, 5s 4d hard white bed. 4s lOd other useful stone in London ; plain work
0 9.

CRANMORK.— Duulting. Wilt.shire; slulbi imlile i carbonate of lime, with
a few oolitic grains, and an abundance of sm;illshellscomm''nly in fragments,
(jften cry.stafline; I'iglil hrmeii : 134 lbs. 4 oz. ; depth 10 feel ; in 4 or 5 beds,
tlie tbiikest will work 20 inches; blocks of kuge size — Cathedral of M'ells.
(ilastonbury Abbey, ike; there are 3 or 4 quarries of great anlii(uity in the
neighbourhood oi' this quarry, where a greater depth of stone is foimd. aud
where beds c.\ist that will work in 5 feet courses ; 7d pirj'l. at (piarry ; plain
work 0'8.

(South west.)

Cjlouciitershire.

KNOC'KLKY, &c.— Forest of Dean. Cilouccster.shire; mnilstime : siliceous
jn-ains of moderate size with calcareo-argillu-siliceuus cement, plates of mica
in planes of beds; grrij : l.iO lbs. 5 oz. ; deoth 20 feet ; 15 to 20 feet in four
or five beds— the thicl^est beds from fi to 10 feet; blocks up to 50 feel; Ciudid'
new pier. &c.; troughs and grindstones are made of this stone. There are
several quarries in the neighbourhood, such as Nag's Head quarry. Point
quarry, &c., in some of which the beds are 6 feet thick. Quarrymen restricted
by act of parliament from carrying on railroad blocks above 2 t(Uis. Joints
in this quarry 2 to 3 feet apart! in others 3 to 0 feet apart, (^luury cover 25
feet. Quarry opened not long since; Is to Is 4d jier f I. ihr ton blocks at
quarry ; c. by laml to Lidncy, (i miles, 4s per ton. thence to the Pool of Lou-
tlon. IGs or 17s per ton, or 2s fid per foot in London ; plain work P3.

VlNl'^Y HIIjL.— Forest of Dean, (ilouo'-tershire ; swiihlmic ; tine siliceous
grains with an argiUo-siliceoiis cement, micaceous m iilaues of beds : ligli/
jiiirjiUsh y cij with ocrasioncil liiji'l ffrmiish spots ; 155 lbs. 1 1 oz. ; depth 40 feet
I'f rock excavated; regular beds, con.sist of red rock and a silvery grey rock
12 feet in depth, the lat'er is very hard aud divided into several beds, the
thickest is4 feet— the red beds arc rather shaky, thickest 3 feet — Cardiff new-
pier, fvc. ; the silver grey bed is finely laminated, and fit only for lairdings,
pavings, ^c. ; lid i>er ft. for red rock, all sizes, al quarry ; r. by land to tiat-
eumb un Ihc .Severn, 2 miles, 2d per foot, thence to LunUuu ; plain v ork LS.

MTNOUUSU, — M'indrush, (iloiicestersbire ; ontitr ; tine oolitic grains with
calcareous ccrnent, and - few (i-agments of shells; rri'nni ; soft 118 lbs. 2 oz.,
hard 135 lbs. 15 oz. ; depth 10 to 12 feet ; (i feet shelly rock in 3 or 4 beils,
4 feel freestone in 2 or 3 beds, 1 foot shelly bed — thickest bed 2 feet S inches ;
blocks .5 to 40 feet ; M'indrush church, liarrington house, ami all the old
buildings within many miles of the quarry; this (piarry is subterranean —
greatest distance from the eittrance 170 yards. There is anothei subterranean
quarry below it. with 10 or 11 feet of workable stone.— Tombstoius in Wind-
rush churchyard. 150 years old. of this stone, and in very good condition ; 8d
per ft. at rpiarry ; c. by land to Carrington. 8d per foot, and thence by sea
to i,ondon, 25s per ton, or 2s 7d per foot in Loudon; plain work soft, 0 7,
hard 0-85.

JMonmouthshife.

ABHRCARNK and NKWRRIDGE.— Monylhersloyne, Monmotithshire,
sniidstone, quartz and siliceous grains, moderately fine, with argillo-siliceous
cement, micaceous, and v\ith remaiirs of fossil plants; tl^rh itluish grei/ ; 167
lbs. 15. .z.; (.■•pill 25 feet ;. thickest bed, 5 feet ; blocks 1 (o 10 tons— Old
cburehiis aud nmileru buildings in vicinity, new docks at New port and Car-
dill ; i\d per ft. or 5j per ton at the quarry ; r. 12 miles to Newport by canal
or railtt ay 2,v firf per ton, freight to London 12s per ton, in all 14s (irf, or !.5
5d pcrft. in T.ondon ; plain work 1'45.

BARRADOKS. — Tintern, Momnouflrshire ; .miidstoiie : fine and coarse
qu.-irtz and other siliceous grains, with argillo-siliceous cement, ferruginous
spots and plates of mica; lisht greijish brown ; 146 lbs. 12 oz. ; de].lh 25 to 30
feet ; thickest bed, 10 to 12'feet ; blocks 1 to 10 tons— Tintern Abbey ; lOd to
Is ;)cr/i!. at quarry ; c. by water to \A'estminster 17s Od per ton ; plain work
1'25.

Somerselshire.

BATH (lionor, Ihi.i..) — Coombc Down, .'^i.mer.selshir- ; nclite ; chicHy car-
bftnate of lime in oolitic grains; eream ; 116 lbs. ; deptli 7 feet; Ri.ldingtop,
7 feet thick, top bed 3^ feet, second bed 4 feet, third bed 4J feet, bottom bed
2 IVet. the top. second, and third beds are weather beds: blocks bom 12 to
Of) feet cube — On the Kennet and Avon and the Somerset Coal Can.d "Works,
!vc.. Restoration of Henry the Seventh's Chapel. 20 years since ; ridges and
troughs arc made of this stone. .Six quarries now at w..rk on Coombe Down ;
Cd per ft. at quarry ; c. by land to Dundas A.|ucduct 2d, thence by Kennet
and Avon canal, J^c. to London; plain work 0'7.

BATH (R.vViSToN Qr.VBP.v.) — Bon, Wiltshire; oolite; chielly <arbonate of
lime in moderately line oolitic grains, with fragments of shells (w eather beds) ;
eranii ; 123 lbs. ; depth 45 feet ; rubble stone 16 feet, scallet 12 to 15i feet,
black and while rag 5 to 10 feet, corngrit 15 to 20 feet, ground stone Hi to 22
feet, thickest bed 5 feet ; blocks up to 10 tons— Laycock Abbey. Longleat.
Bowcol. South Front of Wilton House. Windsor Castle. i\c. ; the weather
stone is generally used for plinths, strings, cornices, Ike., the corn grit for
dressings, the scallet. which is the finest in grain, is used for ashlar. Eight
quarries on the boxescarpment, many of great antiquity ; 7d /)ci//.at (piarry ;
e. by kind lo Laycock. 7 miles. 4d per foot, thence by canal. Kennet and
Avoir, and thence to Pimlico 16s per ton, or Is 1 Id per ft. in London ; plain
work 0-7.

BATH (Drkwks Qoarkv.)— Monckton Farleigh, Wiltshire ; oolite ; chiefly
carbonate of lime in oolitic grains of moderate size ; eream : 122 lbs. 10 oz. ;
depth 20 feet ; liruckley stone 8 feel, hard rag 4 feet, white rag 12 feet, hard
white rag 2 feet, capping 20 inches (fine grained), grey bed 3feet, white beds,
10 feel, hard weather bed 3 feet, red weather bedSfcet, the deepest bed about
4 feet 2 inches thick ; bkieks 120 to 125 feet— Buckingham New Palace. Saint
.lames's .Square, Bath ; the capping and wliite beds are usually employed for
carving; six quarries of this stone on the Down, ;dl of which are subter-
ranean. Quarry opened 30 years since ; 6d perfl. at quarry ; by land and
water carriage, 'or Is I0<\perft. in London ; plain work 0 7.

11 AMlllLL. — llamhill,. Somersetshire; limrstnne (shelli/); com|'acl carbonate
of lime w ith shells, chielly in fragments, coarsely laminated in planes ; beds of
ilcep ferruginous tirawii ; 141 lbs. 12 oz. ; depth about 30 b'et ; in numerous
beds, the thickest 2 feet, the upper beds are the softest, tli.' bottom beds are
very shelly an.l firm ; used very extensively ui nearly all the buildings in the
vicinity 1(1 or 15 miles from the quarry, all in excellent condition ; the shells
in this stone are generally broken and pulverized, but are w ell cemented with
a durable compound, probably of decomposed shells — the lower beds are met
with on Norton Hill ; ls4d per//. at quarry; e. by land to load 7 miles, 6s
8d per ton, thence to Langport,' Biidgewater, &c. ; plain work 0 85.

(South East.)

Kenl.

CALVERLEY.— Tunbridge Wells, Kent; sandsidiie ; fine siliceous grains
with a slightly calcareous cement; variegated broieiis : 118 lbs. 1 oz. ; depth 5
feet to li ieet 6 inches ; three beds— upper 2 feet, middle 3 lo 3i feet, lower 9
to 14 inches— u]i|ier be.l the softest; blocks 70 or 80 feet and upwards to 500—
l.'ppi'i part of new Cluireh at Tunbridge Wells. Catholic Chapel. Ihe C.ilverlev
Hotel, new jMarket House, and Victoria National School, and about 100
houses. S.C. at Tunbridge Wells and its vicinity ; the largest block lifted con-
tained 500 feet ; (id per fl.'ti limited, 4d if extensive at quarry ; c. by land to
Tunbridge, 0 miles 3§d'per foot, thence by the Medway and Thames to Lon-
don about 6d, and other charges amounting in all to Is 2d per foot cube, or
Is 2d to is 4d perfl. in London ; plain work 07.

Surrey.

(iATTON.—(iatton, Surrey ; sandstone; fine siliceous grains withacalca-
reo-siliceous cement, containing green silicate of iron aud plates of mica ;
gmaiisk light bruwii ; 103 lbs. 1 oz. i in 2 beds— the toj) bed is from Vi to 15

J839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

37r

inches, and contains flints, and is a hard and strcinG; stonn, the Ijottnm hed is
free from flints, and tit for aslilar, dressings, &c., llie thickest bed is 2 feet 2
inelies; blocks S.'j to GO feet ciil.e. from -t to 10 feet long-l lampion f'oin-t and
Windsor Castle, fiC many cluirches in S\irrey.Town Hall and Almshouse
Kslablishment at C'roydoii, and several modern IniiKlinss in the parish of
(iatton; this, and numerous old quarries in the vicinitv. now out of use, were
formerly the properly of llie crown — it is very essential I hat this stone should
be laid in buildings upon its be.l ; ls4d to \s lid prr ft. at London ; c. by
lanil 19 miles, and thence to the Pool of London ; plain work 0 7.

WALES.

Glamorganshire.

SUTTON. — Sutton, Glamorg.anshire; /ime.ilone: comp.iet carbonate of lime,
highly crystalline : peri/ I'lglil crenm : IS(! His. ; depth 20 feet, probable ilepth
to feet ■■ thickest beil 12 feet ; blocks R tons and upwards — Dimraven castle.
Og'mond abbey, St. Donals Corty, Neath alibey, .and very ancient buildin;;s,
both castle ami church, in the adjoining counties ; depending upon quantity
required ; c. by land to the river Ogmon, 1 mile, thence to London. LOs per
ton ; plain work OS.v.

DISTRICTS IN SCOTL.Wt).

Diimbar/onshire.

PRKSIDKNT. — Oarscube, Dumbarlonshire : mmhtone ; tine siliceous grains
with an argillo-silieeous cement, micaceous ; pale brownish grei/ : ilepth G6 to
100 feet ; irregular beds, with occasional masses of liver rock of great size,
from 6 inches to 12 feet thick ; blocks of any uraelicable size — Bank of Sc ot
land and houses ,adjoining in Ingram-street, Glasgow, Baron 's-court. County
of Tyrone, &c. ; in the bank and houses in Gla.sgow this stone assumes a foxy
colour, is uneven in tint. « ilh occasional stains of oxide of iron, its siu-faee is
porous, consequently dingy from smoke and dirl. The east side of this quarry
is cut oft by a fault which lowers the rock ,00 feet. Plain work upon ibis
stone in Oiasgow is 4rf. per foot, wages 21s-. per week. Qnarrv joints G to l.'i
feet apart. Dip of beds from 8° to 10°. Quarry cover 17 or 18 leel thick.
Quarry opened 30 or 40 years since; Is M perfl. from IG lo 20 feet cube,
other blocks more or less in price in proportion lo size, al quarry ; c. by land
to the Forth and Clyde canal, a quarter of a mile, thence direct to the Pool
of London, at a cost probably of lOs to 1 2s per ton. or 2s Ud per foot for blocks
containing IG lo 20 feet cube, in London.

Edinhurghs/iire.

CRAIGLEITH.— Craigleilh-hill, Kdinburghshire; sandstone; fine quartz
grains with a siliceims cement, slightly calcareous, occasional plates of mica ;
luhilish grey ; 14.5 lbs. 14 oz. : vary from .S inches to 3 feet of the bed rock,
wliicli contains occasional layers of liver rock, wiiich line oft' in all directions
and overlap each other, they vary in ileplli from G inches to 12 feet, the »liole
depth of rock now quarried is about 250 feet, and consists of about 200 beds;
a t;irther depth has been discovered by boring of CO feet, the thickest bed is
10 feet ; Ijlocks any practicable length and bre;ullli, and from G inches lo 10
feet thick— Used extensively in public bu Idings at Kdinburgh, the College
(l.^SO), Registry (1774), C iirls of Law, Custom House, Roy;il Exchange.
National Monument, and numerous Cluu'chcs. t^c. :is \\ell as in priv;ile
residences, also for bandings, sleps and pavings in several public buildings in
London, and is now beinj used in the repair of Blaekfriars Bridge ; quarry
opened about 70 years since, 15 acres of stone are at present bared, and s
much more yet to bal'e. The stone has been expcuied, and partially used in
Hamburgh, Altona, Gollcnburgh, and other places on the conlinent. The
proportion of liver rock which is found in lenlicukir masses is Miiall as cnm-
p;ired with bed rock, anil its occurrence uncertain. The stone is frequently
inlevstratifled with shales cm the south side of the quarry. For blocks, if in
random sizes, ofbeil rock an abatement is made in price of 71 per cent, .and
if liver rock 15 per cent ; Od to 2s per ft. for red rock in blocks from 5 to 30
cubic feet, lid to 2s 6d for liver rock in blocks from 5 lo 30 feet cube at
quarry ; c. by land to lirunton harbour, 2 miles, to Leith and thence by sea.
total cost from Is to Is 3d [ler cubic foot, or Is lOJd to 3s U for beil rock in
blocks from 5 to 30 feet cube, 2s Old to 3s 7Jd for liver r, c"k in blocks from
5 to 30 feet cube in London ; plain work I'l.

Flinhhire.

TALACRE ,and GW'ESLVR.— Llanaga, Flintshire; samhlone ; fine sili-
ceous grains with ,an argillo-silieeous cement, mica in planes of beds ; hiownisii
olive; 150 ;lbs, 4 oz. ; deplh 30 to 45 feet ; the upper bed is a scythe-stone
gi-it, then shale, &e., ami below a freestone bed, thickest about G feet; 15 ton
blocks, ordinary blocks from 1 to 8 tons — Many old buildings in the vicinity,
qiloins of Denbigh and Rhilddlan castles, modern ttuinsion of T.alacre ; Is per
Jt. under 10 feet. Is 3d above 10 feet, at quarry ; c. by land to Mostyn Dock,
3 miles, thence by sea to London, 18s per Ion, or 2s 4d per loot under 10 feet,
2s 7d per foot above 10 feet, in London ; plain work I'l.

Forfarshire.

AUCHRAY. — Strallunartine, Forfarshire; samhlone; siliceous grains,
moder.ately fine, with calcarco-argiUo-siliceous cement, micaceous, chiefly in
planes of beds ; pnrplish grei/ ; 158 lbs. 14 oz. ; deplh 40 feet; thickest bed. 4
to 5 feet ; Itlocks 4 to 5 tons — In ihe tovMi luiil vicinity; tpiarry opened in
1832 ; «d perft. under 2 tons, I Id 2 to 3 tons. Is 3 to 4 Ions, Is 2il 4 to 5 Ions,
Is 5d 5 lo 6 tons at quarry ; c. by r.ailw,ay lo Dundee 5 miles, thence by sea
to London 17s Od per ton ; plain work 1 3.

GLAMMLSS.— Glammiss. Forfarshire: smulslaiie ; siliceous grains of mo-
derate size, cement, slightly calcareous, mica abundant in planes tif beds ;
purple grey ; 161 IbS, 2 oz, ; depth 50 to 100 feet ; thickest bed 8 feet ; blocks

any practicable size— Glammiss Castle and lnver(|uharity Castle, supposed of
the tenth century, Cort;«liy Castle, and in modern bnildings, Lenderlis house,
&c. ; 'dper fi. blocks under 2 tons, 8d ditto 2 to 3 ditio, !)U ditto i lo 5 ditto,
Is ditto 5 to G ditto, and upwards in iiroportioii to size at quarry ; r. by rail-
way to Dundee luirbour, thence by sea lo Ihe Pool of London, total cost
about 10s per ton ; plain work 1'2.

LIOCIT. — Auchlerhouse, Forfarshire ; smitlslone : siliceous grains with cal-
careo-argillo-siliceous cement, micaceous in planes of beds ; lighl purplhlt,
grey ; 159 lbs. 3 oz. ; depth 50 to 100 feet ; thickest bed 4 to 4i feel deep ;
blocks 2 to G toiiS — Used in all Ihe public buildings of Ihe vicinity; quarry
opened in 1832 ; fid per ft. under 2 Ions, 1 Id 2 to 3 tons. Is 3 to 4 ions. Is 2J
4 to 5 tons. Is 5d 5 to G tons, at quarry ; c. by raihvay to Dundee, 5 miles,
thence by sea to the Pool of London, total cost 17s 6d ; plain work \S.

LOl'MEF.. — Loeliee, Forfarshire; scmihloiie : siliceous grains of moderate
size with an argillo-silieeous cement, slightly e;ilcil'erous, micaceous ; hhiish
grei/; 158 llis. 1 1 oz. ; de|ilh 90 feet nowasccrtained ; thickest bed, 5 feet ; blocks
;iny size under 5 tons — In Ihe principal buildings of the neighbourhood ; this
quarry was opened in 1793 ; 9d perft. under 2 Ions, 1 Id from2 to 3 tons, and
in ))rnportion :iccording to size, at quarry ; r. by land to Dimilee harbour. 3
miles, thence to the Pool of London, about 17s lid per ton, or Is lOd per oott'
under 2 Ions, 2s from 2 to 3 tons, in London ; plain work 1-2.

PYOTDIKES.— Near Dundee. Forfarshire ; similsloiie ; siliceous grains of
moderate size with a calcareo-argillo-siliceous cement, imcneoows ; purplish
grei/ ; 1G2 lbs. 8 oz. ; depth 40 to 50 feet ; Ihe workable stone is covered by 8
feet of rock in thin layers, thickest bed of freestone 3 to 4 feet ; a block of 7
Ions has been got — E.xtensively for the Dundee harbour works; lOd lo Is 2(i
perft. ,at quarry ; c, by land to Dundee, Is 9d per ton, thence to the Pool of
London, 17s Gd, in all I9s 3il, or 2s Id to 2s 5d per foot, in London ; plaia
work U4.

Lanarkshire.

GIFFNEUCH. — Gilfneuch Ftirm, Lanarkshire; siimhlone ; fine quartz
grains with a c;ilc;ireo-siliceous cement, mica in planes ot* beds; pale gretj ;
113 lbs. 14 oz.; 20 feet of top rock, yellow and inferior, 22 feet of lower rock,
well compacted and of a grey colour, irregularly bedded from 12 inches to 3
feet ; W'oodside terrace and crescent, .St. Paul's church in part, and numerous
piivate houses in Glasgow", also the Bank al (ireenock, and in the Highlands,
Irel.and, &c. ; price charged in Glasgow for plain rubbed work 4J. per foot
superficial — masons receive 2li-. per week. Quarry joints 4 lo .30 feet apart,
qu;u-ry covev o feet thick. Quarry opened 30 years since ; 7d. perft. for blocks
of 10 to 12 feet, and more or less in proportion to size at quarry ; e. by land
to Port Dundas or Bromielaw quay, 3 miles. 2s 4il per ton, thence by sea to
London; plain work 11.

Linlithgoimhire.

PdNNIF.. — Upliall. Linlithgowshire; sandstone; fine quartz grains witli
argillo-silieeous cement. mic:iceous. chiefly in phtnes of beds ; brownish grey r
110 lbs. 1 oz. ; depth .W feet; three bands of sandstone alternating witli
shale ; upper band, average 14 feet, middle band IS feet, lower band from 18
feet, lands of sh.ale 14 feet thick — New Club-house, Princes-street, Kdin-
burgh, New Bank, Greenock, and numerous private houses in Glasgow and
Eiliiiburgh ; joints in quarry from 2 to 9 feet apart, beds dii' 10° to the west;
quarry head of shale and gravel, 20 to 30 feet thick. Quarry opened 45 years
since ; Is Id per ft. ordinary blocks. Is lOd lo 2s for blocks from 12 lo 14 feet
at quarry ; c. by land to Union canal 2 miles Is [ler Ion, thence to Hdinbuigh
by canal Is, thence by sea to London 18s, in all 20s per Ion, or 2s 9d lo 3s 8d.
perft. in London ; plain work I'O,

CAT CRAIG. — Garridon, Linlithgowshire ; sandstone: fine quartz grains
wilh siliceous cement; whitish grey ; 141 lbs. II oz. ; deplh 21 feet freestone;
freestone 3 feet thick, blare 2 feet, freestone in several beds 9 feet, blare 2 feet,
freestone in several beds, bottom not ascertained, the beds lie regularly ;
blocks of large size ; in sea dykes; quarry cover of earth and blare 13 feet
lliick — ([uarry opened recently :uid worked to a trifling e.ftent ; c, by water
the qu:irry being upon the be;ich, 10s per ton ; pbiin work I'l 5.

CRA\rBANK. — Borrowstoness. Linlithgowshire ; .sandstone ; fine quartzose
grains with an argillo-silieeous cement, somewhat ferruginous, disseminated
mica; light ferruginous brown ; 129 lbs. 2 oz.: depth 50 lo 60 feet ; the thickest
bed about IS feet of straw-coloured stone ; largest blocks 4 to 5 feet thick. 5
lo Gfeet broad. 8 to 10 feet long— Roman Bridge. A.I). 140, old Church oC
Kinneil, twelfth century ; quarry joints from 9 to 10 feet apart. In the neigh-
bourhood, about half a'mile distant, are other (|uarries. belonging lo the Duke
of H.amillon; one called Mdns quarry, containing an economical stone foe
foundations, another called Cr.aigenbeck quarry, from whence stone is shipped
extensively to St. Petersburgh for funiaces, ovens, and other similar purposes,
it is also used for bridges, harbours, &c. Borrowstoness Harbour is free of
dues ; Is per cubic fiiot for blocks not exceeding 5 cubic feet at quarry ; c. by
r.iiUvay to Borrowstoness harbour and shipped at 2d per foot, thence by se.x
to Loiidon ai Is per cubic foot, in all Is 2d per cubic foot, or 2s 2d for blocks
not exceeding 5 cubic feet in London ; plain work 0'95.

HUMBIE.— Ilumbie. Linlithgowshire; .mndslone ; fine qiuartz grains with
.siliceous cement, slightly calcareous, mica chiefly in planes of beds : pale grey
and light brown ; (white) 140 lbs. 3 oz., (grey) 135 lbs. 13 oz. ; depth 88 t'eet ;
irregular masses, part bedded — 20 feet of the lop a dark stone, 43 feet below it
a w bile stone, ,and 25 feet at the bottom a grey stone ; thickest bed 8 feel;
blocks 90 cubic feet, and npw.irds it required — Newliston house Kirkliston,
Dundiis castle, .additions to the Royal institution, front of Surgeon's Hall,
s|iire of Ticin Church, and various other public buildings in Edinburgh, Royal
Exchange and l!;mk, iSiC. at Glasgow. S;c. ; this stone will work more freely
lb 111 Craigleiihand is not liable to spalt. Plain rubbed work upon this stons
4./. per foot at Glasgow, or Id. per foot over the entire lace of a building.
Quarry joints from 2 to 12 feet apart. Dip of beds 10° to 20°. Quarry coyet

20 a

37S

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[October,

9 feet lliiuk. Qiinrry opeiicd alxml 11 or 12 years : from 5 to -W feet Is lOd.
or from 8 to IG feet Is 2d \iliile rook, iinil Is grey roc-k. at quarry ; e. Iiy land
to Queensferry. 2s Cd |ier Ion, iiicludinK loading, tlience Ijy sea to London,
13s or I'ts per ton, or.Ss 2d per foot for large scantling, 2s 6d for blocks under
16 feet, in London ; plain \Kjrk TO.

Perthshire.

LOXGANNKT.— Tidleall.an Estate, Perthshire; mnJslmie : fine quartz
grains with siliceous cement, containing oxide of iron, a few plale.s of mica ;
light ferriiginoiis brown : 131 lb. 11 07..: depth .30 feel c|uarried. and upwards
qt 156,feet below bottom of quarry ; thickest beds. .'5 feet : blocks 4 to 5 tons—
.Slaadt-house Amsterdam, Kxch.ange Kdinburgh, Tulle Marr Castle Perlh-
shire, and part ol a street in Perth ; a lease maybe had for working Ihis
cjuari-y upon moderate terms ; 8d to 2s 6d perfl. a't quarry ; c. by railway to
the shipping pier, and from thence to the Pool of London, probable cost' 1 6s
per ton, or Is 8d to ,3s Gd per foot in London; plain nork 11,'}.

MYLNKFIKLD, or RINGOODIK.— Longforgan. Perthshire ; sninhi,,,,,' ,■
fiiie siliceous grains with a calcareo-argillo-siliceoiis cement, micaceous in
pb.nes of beds ; pnnilisli griy : IGOIbs. ; depth 60 feet— Old steeple of IJundc,..
twelfth century, well i)reserved, docks of Dundee, royal asylum of Dundee,
and all theprincipal buildings in Dundee, Bell Rock lighthouse. Royal asylum
of Penh, Kinfauns easlle. Castle Huntley. Pitfour castle. Rossic priory, and
all principal buildings in vicinity ; Hd tier fl. blocks under 2 Ions, lid blocks
2 to 3 Ions. Is blocks 3 to 4 tons, Is 2d blocks 4 to 5 tons. Is 5d blocks ;; lo 6
tons, at ijuarry ; r. by «ater to Dundee. 5 miles, and thence by sea to the Pool
of London. 17s Gd per ton ; plain work PS.

Ross-sliire.

MUNLOCMY.— Benuetsfield .Shore, Ross-shire; sandstone; fine siliceous
grains with an argillo-siliceous cement, rmcaceims ; red and variegated : 160
lbs. 9 oz. ; depth 60 or 80 feet ; thickness of beds, from 2J to G feet'; blocks of
large size— Cathedral church of Ross at Fortress, A. D" 1124, Inverness old
bridge, C'rcmwell-court, and also for canals, locks, and basins : 5d to .5kl per
ft. at quai-ry ; plain work P15.

StirlingMre.

DUNMORE-AVENUE.— Dunmore Park. .Stirlingshire; sandstone : fine
quartz gi-ains, with an argillo-siliceous cement, containing oxide of iron. m\-
ca.ceous; ferruginous light brown: depth 25 feet : thickest bed 7 feet ; blocks
20 feet ; this stone has not been used for a consideiable period, and lias never
been wrought for sale ; c. by sea, at Us per ton

DUNMORE-'WOOD. — Dunmore Park. Stirlingshire; sandstone ; fine quartz
grains with an argillo-siliceous cement ; whitish grey ; depth 16 feet ; beds
varying from 6 to 16 inches ; on the estate of Dunmore ; this stone has never
been worked fin- sale ; c. by sea to London, lis per ton.

DUNMORE CRAIGHEAD.— Dunmore Park, Stirlingshire ; sandstone ;
fine quartz grains with an argillo-siliceous cement : whitish grei/ ; depth 12
feet ; thickest lied of liver rock 4 lo 7 feet ; blocks 20 feet long— A tower on
tlie estate 600 years old of this stone in good condition ; c. by sea to London,
lis per ton.

DUNMORE STABLE.— Dunmore Park. Stirlingshire; sandstone: fine
quartz grains with an argillo-siliceous cement; whitish grey ; 132 lbs. 2 oz. ;
depth 14 feet ; in regular beds, thickest bed 7 feet ; blocks'2.5 feet— Extensively
on the estate, a set of oflices built in 1826 ; c. bv sea to London, 1 Is per ton ;
plain Work PL

T.\BLE (15.)
S.\NDSTONE BUILDINGS.

Baimvell, Derbyshire. — The houses generally are of sandstone, and in fair
condition. A new bank now erecting of sandstone from Bakewell Edge.

Baiewell Church. — (14tli century.) Of a sandstone of the vieinitv, very
much decomposed.

Barnard Castle, Durham. — (14tli centuiy.) Circular keep, apparently of
Stanton stone, in excellent couditiou. In modem works, the joint stock
bank and market-house, of Stenton stone, in good condition.

Belper New Church, Derbyshire. — Built 10 years since, of sandstone from
Hungerhill, in an incijiient state (in parts) of decomposition.

Blamlford parL^h church, Dorsetshire. — (1769.) Of a green siliceous fine-
grained sandstone, the dressings being of a stone similar to the Portland
oolite; the former much decomposed; the latter in very good coiiditiou.

Town-hall, about 80 years old, of stone similar to the Portland oolite, in good
condition.

Blancepeth castle, Durham. — Of ancient date, of sandstone of the vicinity ;
recently restored extensively ; older parts in various states of decomposition.

BriaveVs, St., castle, Gloucestershire. — In ruins (13tli or 14th century).
Entrance gateway (the chief remains of the castle), built of red sandstone ;
decomposed.

Bristol cathedral.— {0{ the 13th and 14tli centuries.) Built of red sand-
stone, and a yellow limestone (magnesian ?), strangely intermixed ; tlie reil
sandstone in all cases decomposed ; the limestone more rarely decayed ; the
tracery, lic. of the windows, which are of the limestone, are in good condi-
tion, but the pinnacles and other dressings, which are of the same material,
are much decomposed. The east end of the cathedral is a remarkable in-
stance of the decay and preservation of the two stones employed. Norman

gateway, west of the cathedral (the upper part of the 15th century) ; the
Norin,an archway and its enrichments, which are of a very florid character,
built of yellow limestone (magnesian.'), in excellent condition.

liyland abbey. — (12tli century.) In part of a siliceous grit (]irincipally in
the interior), and in part (chiefly on the exterior) of a compact oolite, from
the Wass quarries in the vicinity. The west front, wliich is of the oolite, is
in perfect condition, even in tlie dogs-teeth and other florid decorations of
doorways, &c. This building is covered generally with lichens.

Carli.<ile. — Ancient buildings; — Cathedral (13tli century), of red sandstone,
in various states of decomposition. Modern buihhugs : — many of red sand-
stone, more or less in a state of decomposition.

Castle Howard, Yorkshire. — Generally built of a siliceous fine-grained
sandstone, from the park ; generally in good condition, hut in some parts,
such as the parajiets, cupolas, and chimney shafts, much decomposed. The
))ilasters of the north front, from a quarry at Appletou ; iri good condition,
except wdiere subjected to alternations of wet and dry, as in the plinths, where
there are signs of decomposition. The stables are of Ajipleton stone, and in
good condition.

Cha/.worlh house, Derbyshire. — Original house, built of Ball Cross sand-
stone, from Bakewell Edge ; not in very good condition, particularly in the
lower parts of the building. In the recent additions the same stone is em- -
ployed, together with that of Bailey Moor and Liudrop Hill.

Chepstmr castle, Monmouthshire. — (11th and 12th centuries, with addi-
tions of the 14th century.) Of mountain limestone and old red sandstone;
the former in good condition ; the latter decomposed. Dressings of doors,
windows, arcliw ays, and quoins are for the most part of magnesian limestone,
in perfect condition ; the remainder is of red sandstone, and is generally much
decomposed. Chapel (of the Pith century) ; mouldings and carvings of win-
dows, &c., wddch are of magnesian Umestone, are in perfect coiuUtion.

Co.rtvokl church, Yorkshire. — (IStli century.) Generally of fine siliceous
grit of the vicinity, aud in part of a calcareous nature. Tower in good con-
(Ution. Porch decomposed. Lichens abundant on the north side.

Derby. — St. Peter's chiu'ch (13tli century), of the variegated coarse sand-
stone of the vicinity, similar to that of Little Eaton. The whole in bad con-
dition ; but the red stones less so than the grey or white. — St. Alkmuiid's
church (of the 14tli century), of a coarse sandstone of the vicinity, in a very
decomposed state, to the obliteration of the mouldings and other details ; it
has hitely been scraped and painted, to preserve it from further destruction.
— .Vll Saint's church (tower of 15th century), of sandstone, similar to that of
Duflield bank, partly in fair conthtion, and partly much decomposed, particu-
larly the great western entrance. The body of the church, built 110 years
since, of sandstone, in part decomposing. Modern buildings ; — Town-hall,
of sandstone of the vicinity, in fair condition.

The bank, of sandstone from Morley Moor, built a few years since, in very
good condition.

Durham, cathedral. — (11th and 12tli century.) Of a sandstone of the
vicinity ; selected iucUscriminately, and in all states of decomposition ; few
stones are quite perfect. Castle — (of 11th century.) Of similar stone, and
in a similar state.

Easby abbey, Yorkshire. — (13th and 14tli centuries.) Of sandstone of the
vicinity ; mouldings and carvings decomposed, and in jiart obliterated. Walls
built ven' rudely, aud in various states of decomposition ; some parts how-
ever maintain theu' original surface.

Eccleslon abbey, Yorkshire. — (13th century.) Of stone similar to that of
the Stenton quarry. The mouldings and other decorations, such even as the
dog's-teeth enriclnuents, are in perfect condition.

Edinburi/h. — Ancient buildings: — Holyrood chapel (12th century), of
sandstone from the vicinity, in part much decomposed ; in other parts, such as
the west door, almost perfect. — The palace (built in the IGlli and 17th cen-
turies), of simikr stone ; generally in good condition, tlie older jiarts being
slightly decomposed. The oldest part of the Tron church (1641), of sand-
stone, much decomposed. A house on the Castle-hill (1591), of sandstone,
only slightly decomposed.

Modern buildings, wholly erected of sandstones from the Craigleith, Red
Hall, Humbie, and Binnie quarries : for the most part from the first-men-
tioned quarrj'. None of them exhibit any ajipearance of decomposition, with
the exception of ferruginous stains, which are produced upon some stones.

Among the oldest is the Registry-oflice, w hicli is of Craigleith stone, and built
above 60 years since ; it is in a perfect state.

Fountain's abbey, Yorkshire. — (lltli and 12th centuries, with additions of
the 16th century.) Of coarse sandstone of the vicinity, generally in had
condition, jiarticulaiiy the west front, which is much decomposed. The nave
and transept, w liicli are the earliest portions of the building, are the best pre-
served.

Fountain's hall, Yorkshire. — (1677.) Of sandstone of the vicinity, and
magnesian limestone in the dressing. The whole in fair condition.

Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. — Park End new church (built 15 years
since, of sandstone, sinular to that of Colford. No appearance of decomposi-
tion.

Olasyow. — Ancient buildings : — High church (12th centttry), sandstone of

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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

379

the vicinity ; generally very inucli decomposed, particularly on the south side.
Old quadrangle of the college (temp. James 2.), of sandstone, decomposed.

Modern buildings: — Ilunterian museum (1804) ; superstructure said to be
of stone from the President quarry ; slight traces of decomposition on the
so\ith-\vest front. The basement, of another sandstone, in a more advanced
slate of decomiinsitinn ; other parts of the building are almost in a perfect
state. The iitlii'r liuildings are generally erecteil of stone from the (iiffueuch
and other quarries in the immediate neigbljonrhood, except the New Exchange
buildings, which are of stone from the Ilumliie quarry, .'SO miles from Glas-
gow, recently erected, in which there are not any apparent symptoms of de-
composition.

Gloucester, cntliedral. — (>.'orm.in for the greater part, altered and cased in
the 15th century.) Built of a fme-grained and ill-cemented oobte, a shelly
oolite, and a red sandstone (north side) interuiixe<l, of which the former cou-
stit\iles the greater portion. The tower (15tb century), of shelly oolite, in
perfect condition. The early turrets of the south transept are also in good
condition. Tlie body of the building is much decomposed. The great clois-
ter is built of the same materials as the catheilral. The moulded and de-
corated worU is in good conilition ; tlie other parts are more or less decom-
posed. The small cloister is built of a fine oolite, with a compact cement,
and is in good condition.

- The new ln-kli/e. Of Wiitchurch sandstone, jiarapets of Ruordcan fine-
grained saudstniie ; in good condition.

Iladdmi hnll, Derbyshire. — (15tb and IGtb centuries.) Of a fine-grained
sandstone, sindlar to that of Lindrop-bill. The dressings, parapets, cliininey
shafts, quoins. tVc, are wTOught and rubbed; the remainder of the walls is
of rough walling. Tlic whole in fair condition.

Harrowyate. — Cbeltenham pnmi)-room. Of sandstone from Woodbouse,
near Leeds. Built recently; in good conditio]]. Swan hotel, and otlier
modern buildings, of a coarse sa]idstone of the vicinity ; generally in good
condition.

Ilardiricke hall, Derbyahire. — (1597.) Of a fi]ie-grai]ied sandstone, chiefly
from a quany i]i the bill on which the liouse is btiilt, intermixed with a cal-
ciferous grit, similar to that of Mansfield ; genei'ally i]i good condition. The
ashlar is in parts decomposed, especially where it is set on edge.

Howden church, Yorkshire. — (15th century.) Partly of magnesian b]ue-
stone, of a deep yellow colour, and partly of a coa]'se siliceous grit, of a fer-
ruginous colour. Dressings and enrichments and the central tower a]'e of
the former stone ; generally decomposed, paiticularly at the top of the tower.
The other parts of the building, which are of the grit, are very much decom-
posed.

Kirkstall abbey, Yorkshire. — (llth centiuT.) Of coarse sandstone of the
vicinity, in various stages of decotuposition, according to the aspect. The
east side is in fair condition ; some of the zig-zag eiiricbmeuts a]id early
capitals, and other C]irichmentb of mouldings, are i]i perfect eouditio]i. The
windows of the chancel and tower (inserted i]i the ICtb century), of a yellow
sandstone, are for the most part go]ie, and what remains is much decom-
posed.

Mansfield foiim-hall, Nottimihamsliire. — B]iilt ?> years since, of niagnesio-
caleiferous sandstone from Mansfield. No ap])earance of deco]nposition.

Newcaslle-uj)on-Tyne. — -Vncient buildings: — St. Nicholas's cbui-cb (14th
century), of sandst(jne of the vicinity, simdar to that of tlie Ileddou quarry;
verv much decomposed. Parts restored withiii the last century with the
sanie stone now decomposing. The upper part of the tower and spire re-
stored within the last five years, and painted to preserve the stoiie from decay.
Other ancient buildings of the saiuc stone more or less in a state of decom-
position, according to the date of their erection.

Modern buildings, built witliin the last 25 years, of sandstone from the
FelUng and Church quaiTies at Gateshead, and the Kenton quarry ; parts
ab'cady show symptoms of decomposition.

Pontefract castle, Yorkshire. — (14tli century.) Built generally of a coarse
grit, of a dark brown colour, occasionally mixed with an inferior tuagnesian
limestone. The whole in a very decomposed state, more particularly the
sandstone, in which all traces of the original surface are eflfaced. Fragments
of magnesian limestone are embedded in several parts of the walls with
mouldings of the r2tb century, i]i perfect condition.

Raby castle, 0KrAam.^(14tb centuiy.) Of sandstone of the vicinity. Paris
in a perfect state ; others slightly decomposed.

Richmond castle, Yorkshire, — (11th century.) The Keep of sandstone,
similar to that of Gatherly Moor ; generally in good condition. Mouldings
and carvi]igs in columns of wiiidow i]i a perfect state.

Bipon, Yorkshire. — An obelisk in the market phice (1781), of coarse satid-
stone, mneh decomposed, i]i laminations parallel to (he exposed faces.

Ri2ioti cathedral. — Lower part, east end, S. K. angle, (.Norman,) of coarse
sandstone of the vicinity, in gooil condition. The west front, the transepts
and tower, (of the r2th and 13tb centuries,) of coarse sandstone of the vicinity,
i]i fair condition. The mouldi]]gs, although generally decomposed, are ]iot
effaced. The dog's-teeth ornament in most parts nearly pei-fect. The aisles
of the naves, the cleristory, and the choir, (of the 14tli and 15th centuries,)
of coarse sandstone and magnesian Uniestone intcrinLxed ; not in good con-
dition ; the latter stone, on the south side, often in fair condition. The lower

parts of the builditig generally, but ))a]-ticularly the west fronts, which are of
coarse sandstoiic, are very much decomposed,

Rioanlr abbey, Yorkshire. — (r2tb ceiitury.) Of a sanilstone at Hollands,
one mile from the rui]is ; generally in excellent conditio]). West fi'ont slightly
decomjiosed ; soutli froiit remarkably peifect, even to the preservation of the
oi"igi]ial tool marks.

Sliaflesbury, Dorsetsliire. — St. Peter's church. (15th centuiT.) Of a green
siliceous sandsto]ie, from quarries lialf a mile south of the church. The whole
building mucli decomposed. The tower is hound together by iron, and is
U]isafe, owing to the inferior qiiality of the stone.

Sjmfforth castle, Yorkshire. — (14th century.) Of coarse red sandstone,
more or less, but geneially much decoiiiposed. The dressings of the windows
and <loors of a semi-crystalline magnesiaii limestone, are in a ])erfeet state,
the mouldings and enrichments being exquisitely sharp ami beautifiil.

Tiiiteru abbey. — (\?A\i century.) Consiilerable re]]iai]is, of red and grey
sandstones of the vicinity ; in part laminated. In unequal condition, but for
the most part in pei'fect condition ; covered with grey and grecii licheiis.

Tisbiiry church, U'iltshire. — (13th and 14th centuries ; the lower ]iart of
the tower of the 12th century.) Of ealciferous sandstone froin Tisbury. The
dressings are thronghoiit in perfect condition. The ashlar variable ; i]i part
much decomposed ; the undeeomposed portions are covered with lichens.
Tombstones i]i the cbiu'cbyard geiierally in good coinlition, some being more
than a century old. The iiouses of the village built generally of the Tisbui-y
stone, a]ul are in very good coiidition. The whole covered with lichens.

JVakefieUl parish church, Yorkshire. — (Tower and spire of the ICth ce]r-
tury.) Of sandstO]ie, mtich decomposed. The body of the church, of recent
date, of sandstone, sti'ongly laininatcd, and generally decomposed between
the lainina?.

Whitby abbey. — (13th century.) Of stoiie simUar to that of Arslaby Brow
in the vicinity ; generally i]i good condition, with the exception of the west
front, which is very much decomposeil. The stone ttsed is of two colours,
brow]i and white ; the former in all cases more deco]i]posed than tlie latter.
The dog's-teeth and other enrichments in the east front are in good condi-
tion.

LIMESTONE BUILDINGS.

Bath. — .4bbey church (1576), built in an oolite of the vicinity. The tower
is in fair condition. The body of the church, in the upper part of the south
and west sides, much decomposed. Tlie lower parts, formerly in contact
with buildings, are in a more perfect state ; the reliefs in the west front of
Jacob's ladder, are in parts nearly effaced. — Queen's-square, north side, and
the obehsk in the centre, built above 100 years since, of an oolite with shells,
in fair condition. — Circus (built about 1750), of an oolite in the vicinity,
generally in fair condition, except those portions which have a west and
southern aspect, where the most exjioscd parts are decomposeil. — Cresceut,
built .about 50 years since, of an oolite of the vicinity ; generally in fair con-
dition, except in a few places, where the stone appears to be of inferior
quality.

liristol, cathedral. — (Of the 13th and 14th centuries.) Built of red sand-
stone and apparently a yellow limestoue (magnesian ?) strangely intermixed.
The red sandstone in ail cases decomposed ; the limestone more rarely de-
cayed. The tracery, &c. of the windows, which ai-e of the limestone, are in
good condition ; but the pinnacles and other dressings, which are of the
same material, arc much decomposed. The east end of the catbedrid is a
remarkable instance of the decay and preservation of the two stones employ-
ed. Norman gateway, west of the cathedral, (the upper part of the 15th
century,) the Norman archway and its enrichments, whicli are of a very florid
character, built of yellow limestone (magnesian.'), in excellent condition.

St. Mary, Redcliffe. — (Tower of the 12th century; body of the church of
the lath century). Of oolitic limestone, from Dundry ; very much decom-
posed.

Burleiyh-house.—{\hi\\ century.) Of a shelly oolite (Barnack rag), in ex-
cellent condition throughout. The late additions are of Kctton stone.

Byland abbey, Yorkshire.— {\2i\^ centm-y.) In part of the siliceous grit
(princijially in the interior), and in part (chiefly on the exterior) of a compact
oolite, from the Wass quarries in the vicinity. The west front, whicli is of
the oolite, is in perfect condition, even in the dog's-teeth and other florid de-
corations of the doorways, &c. This building is covered generally with
lichens.

Colley IVeslon church, Northamptomhire.—{\it\\ century.) Of a shelly
oolite (Barnack rag), in perfect condition throughout.

Dorchester. — St. Peter's church. (15tli century.) Of laminated oolite,
somewhat similar to that of Portland, and of a shelly limestone, somewhat
resembliug that of Ilamhill. The latter used in pinnacles, parapets, and
dressings. The whole in a decomposed state.

Glastonbury. — Abbey. — Joseph of .Vrimathea's chapel : — Considerable ruins,
Norman; of shelly limestone, sinular to that of Doulting; generally in good
condition ; the zig-zag and other Norman euriclimeuts perfect ; the capitals
of columns, corbels, &c., are of blue lias, much ilcconiposed, and in some
cases have disappeared. The church : — considerable remains of the choir,
and a small portion of the nave (Uth centiuy) ; of shelly limestone, similar

380

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[October,

to tliat of Doiilting, in good condition. .S7. BeiiPfJicf's, porhh church (Uth
century). — Of limestone similar to tliat of Donlting; in good condition. Xt.
John Ihc Baptist's, parish church (ITitli centnry). — Of stone similar to that
of Donlting ; generally in fair condition.

Gluuci'sler. — Cnlheclral. — (Norman, for (lie greater part altered and cased
ill the l."ith centnry.) lUiill of a fine-grained and ill-cemented oolite, a Oielly
oolite, and a rod s.andstone (north side) intermixed, the former constitnting
the greatest portion of the edifice. The tower (loth centnry) of shelly oolite
in perfect condition. The early turrets of tlie south transept are also in good
oonilltiun. The hody of the hiiilding is much decomposed. The great clois-
ter is Iniilt of the same materials as the catlLCdral. The moulded and de-
corated work is in good condition ; the other parts are more or less decom-
posed. The small cloister is huilt of a fine oolite, with a compact cement ,
and is in good condition.

St. Nicholas's church. — (Body, Norman ; tower and spire, 15th century.)
Of a shelly and inferior kind of oolite intermixed, and in unequal condition.

St. Michopl's chvrch. — (15th centnry.) linilt of the same stone as St.
Nicholas's, and in the same condition.

Graulham church. — (l.lth centnry.) Lofty tower and spire at the west
end. Built of an oolite similar to tliat of .Vncaster ; in good condition, more
especially the tower, except as to some portions of the hase mouldings.

Kelton church, Kntlaiutshire. — (West entrance door, Norman ; tower of
the 12th or 13th century; nave, aisles, and chancel of the 14th century.)
Of a shelly oolite (Barnack rag), in good condition. Dog's-teeth, carved
corliels, anil other enrichments in a perfect state.

Kettering church. — (14th and 15th centuries.) Of a shelly oolite, fine-
grained, the greater portion resemhling Barnack rag. The tower and s])ire
in perfect condition. The body of the church in parts slightly deeomposed.

Kirhhum priory, Yorkshire — (l."^th centin'V.) Inconsiderable remains. The
western front and great entrance slighth- decomposed throughout ; the por-
tions which remain of the body of the church very perfect ; but many of the
stones are much decomposed. The stone is very similar (o that of the Ilil-
denley quariT. The whole is much covered with lichens.

Lincoln. — Cathedral. — (The minster generally of the 12th and 13th cen-
turies.) Of oolitic and caleareo\is stone of the vicinity; generally in fair
condition, more especially the early portions of the west frunl. The ashlar
and plain dressings of the south fi'ont are however much decomj)osed. The
mouldings and caiTings of the east front arc in a jierfect state. Roman yate,
of a ferruginous oolite, in fair condition. The castle yatewai/ (13th century),
of an oolitic limestone ; ashlar much decomposed ; dressings perfect.

Mutlun foldj church, Yorkshire. — -(12111 century.) Light semi-compact
limestone, simdar to that of the Hildenley quarry; generally in good condi-
tion, particularly the great west door (of the 11th centnry), where the zig-
zag anil other emichmeuts are perfect ; some stones are much decomposed.

Monlaeute, Somersetshire. — Parish church (15th centnry): — Of Ilamhill
stone, in perfect condition, covered with lichens. The abbey (15th century) ;
supposed .ibliot's house and gateway, of llaTuliiU stone, in good condition.
Monlacute-house : — (17th century.) Of Uandiill stone, in excellent condi-
tion.

Martock church, Somersetshire. — (15th century.) Of a shelly ferruginous
brown limestone from Handnll, in good condition, except the plinth and base
mouldings, which are much decomposed. Covered with lichens.

Neirark. — Church. — (15th century ; the tower in part of the 1 2th century.)
Of an oolite similar to that of Ancaster ; generally in fair condition, with the
exception of parts of the base monldiiigs. The building is covered with a
grey lichen.

The caslle. — (Norman, with additions in the 15th century): — chiefly 0*"
sandstone of the vicinity; in unequal condition. A large portion of the
dressings of the windows, &c., are of an oolite, |irobably from Ancaster.

Town-hall (50 or CO years old) : — built of the Ancaster oolite ; in good
condition ; in some blocks however there is an appearance of lamination,
w here decomj)Osition has to a slight extent taken place.

O.rfortl. — Cathedral: — Norman. (12th centnry.) Chiefly of a shelly oolite,
similar to that of Taynton ; Norman work in good condition ; the latter work
much decomposed. Merlon collef/e chapel {\Zt\\ centnry) : — of a shelly oolite
resembling Taynton stone ; in good condition generally. New college clois-
ters {\ it\\ century) : — of a shelly oolite (Taynton) ; in good condition. The
whole of the colleges, churches, and other public buildings of Oxford, erected
within the last three centuries, are of an oolitic limestone from Ileddington,
about one mile and a half from the University, and are all more or less in a
deploralde state of decomposition. The plinths, siring courses, and such
portions of the buildings as are much exposed to tlie action of the atmos-
phere, are mostly of a shelly oolite from Tiiynton, fifteen miles from the Uni-
versity, and are universally in good condition.

Paul's, St., cathedral, London. — (Fini,sbed about 1700.) Built of Portland
oolite, from the Grove quarries on the East Cliff. The building generally in
good condition, especially the north and east fionts. The carvings of flowei's,
fniit, ami ntlier ornaments are thro\ighont nearly as perfect as when first ex-
ecuted, although mncb blackened ; on the south and west fronts, larger por-
tions of the stone may be observed of their natural colour than on the north

Rud east frvuts, Q<,'<,-s?ieii?d hy « vei7 >>H^^^ ikwa']>QHtiQn vi the surface.

The stone in the dram of the dome and in the cupola above it appears not to
have been so well selected as the rest, nevertheless scarcely any ai)preciable
decay has taken i>lace in those parts.

Pickering church, Yorkshire. — (13th and 14th centuries.) Oolitic rock of
the neighbombood ; \ery much decomposed ; the windows, mullions, and
buttress angles, oliliterated.

Pickering castle. — (14th centniT.) The walls of the oolite of the neigh-
bonrhood, and the qvioins of a sibceous grit. The whole in fair condition.

Portland, r>or.ietshire. — New church (built 1760) : — Portland oolite; fine
roach. In a |ierfeet state, still exliiliiting the original tool marks. Wakeham
village, Tudor house, of Portland oolite, in excellent condition. Old church,
in ruins, near Bow ami .\rrow castle, (15th centnry), of Portl.and oolite, re-
sembling top bed ; in very good condition ; original chisel marks still appear
on the north front. Bow and Arrow castle: — considerable remains of the
keep, many centuries old, of Portland oolite; the ashlar resendjles the top
bed, and is in perfect condition ; the quoins and corbels of the maehicolated
parapet a|)pear to be of the cap bed of Portland oolite, anil are in good con-
dition.

Salislmry cathedral. — (13th century.) Of siliciferons limestone from Chil-
mark quarry. The entire building is in excellent condition, except the west
front, which in parts is slightly decomposed. The building generally covered.
with lichens.

Sandysfont caslle, near Weymouth. — (Temp. Henry VIII.) Considerable
remains of keep ; chiefly of Portland oolite, partly of the top bed and partly
of the fine voaeh ; generally in excellent condition, with the exception of a
few and a]i|)arently inf«nor stones. The inside ashlar of the walls is of large-
grained oolite, apparently from the immediate vicinity of the castle, much
decomposed.

Somerton church, Somersetshire. — (14th century.) Huilt chiefly of blue
lias; the quoins, buttresses, parapets, and other dres.sings of a coarse ferrugi-
nous shelly limestone ; in various stages of decay. The parapet of the cleris-
tory of a ligliter coloured stone, in good condition.

Stamford. — St. Mary's church (13th century) : — of a shelly oolite (Bar-
nack rag), in fair conilition. St. John's church (14th century) : — of similar
stone, ill selected, and consequently decomposed in parts, and in laminations,
according to the direction of the beds or shells. St. Martin's church (14th
century) : — of similar stone, in good condition. All Saints : — (lower part of
the body of the church 13th century; tlie remainder of the 15th centnry.)
Tower and spire in fine condition. Body of church decomposed. Standwell's
hotel : — built 24 years since, of an oohte, similar to that of Ketton ; in per-
fect condition. St. Michael's new church : — built four years since. No ap-
pearance of decomposition.

IVetls.^The Cat/iedral : — west front (13th century), ujiper jiart of tower
(14th century); of shelly limestone, similar to that of Donlting, generally
decomposed, but not to any great extent. North flank (porch and transept,
13th century; the remainder of the 14th century), of simdar stone, in good
condition, except lower part of flank and west tower. The central tower (of
the 14th century) in very good condition. South side of the cathedral gene-
rally in good cwidifion. Chapter-house (I3th centuiT, with additions of the
l.'jtii cciitmy) : — the whole in good condition, excepting the west front of
the gateway, which is decomposcil. Close gates ( 15tli century) nincli decom-
posed, but especially on the south and south-west. The gjoisters (15th cen-
tury) generally decomposed, particularly the mullions and traceiy.

Westminster ahiey.' — (13th century.) Built of several varieties of stone,
similar to Gatton or Ryegate, which is much decomposfcd, and also of Caen
stone, which is generally in had condition ; a considerable portion of the ex-
terior, especially on the north side, has been restored at various periods ;
nevertheless abundant symptoms of decay are apiiaient. The cloisters, built
of several kimls of stone, arc in a very mouhlering condition, except where
they have been i»eently restored with Bath and Portland stones. The west
towers, erected in the beginning of the 18th centnry, with a shelly variety of
Portland oolite, exhibit scarcely any appearance of decay. Henry the 7tli's
chapel, restored about 20 years since with Combe Down Bath stone, is
already in a state of decomposition.

U'iudrush church. — (15th century.) Of an oolite from the immediate
vicinity; in excellent condition. A Norman door on the north side, enriched
with tiie birds-beak and other characteristic ornaments, is in jierfect condi-
tion. Tomlistones in the churchyard very highly enriched, and bearing the
dates of 1081 and 1090, apparently of Windrush stone, are in perfect condi-
tion.

Jfyke-cliurch, Dorsetshire. — (15th century.) Of oolite similarto Portland;
tlio whole in good coNdition, except the mullions, tracery, and dressings of
doors and windows, wliich are constructed of a soft material, and are all de-
comjiosed. On the south side, the ashlar is in part covcrcil with rough cast.
The entire building is thickly covered with lichens.,

MAGNESIAN LIMESTONE BUILDINGS.

Beverley, Yorks/iire. — The Minster (12th, 13th, and 14th centuries), of
magnesian limestone from Bramham Moor, and an oolite from Newliold ; the
former, wbicb is used in the west lower, central tower, and more ancient
parts the minster, generally in good condition, hut in other parts of the
btliUliiig the same luaterw! i% decgjnposed, "The NewboW jt^ne, chiefly em-

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THE CiyiL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

381

ployed on the east side, is altngetlief iu a bad condition. Sonic of (lie pin-
nacles are of Onlton sandstone, and are in had condition. Tlie hnilding is
partly covered with lichens. St. Mary's chnrch (Hth century), now in course
of restoration, of niagncsian limestone and oolite, supposed to he from Brani-
hani Moor and Newholil respectively. The ancient parts are in a very
crnnihling state, even to llic obliteration of many of tlie mouldings and en-
richments.

Bolsover caslle, Derliysliiie. — (Temp. 1629.) Mostly in ruins; of niagnc-
sian limestone of several varieties, and of a calcareous line-grained sandstone.
The dressings, wdiich are generally of sandstone, are uuich decomposed ; in
some instances to the entire obliteration of the mouldings and other decora-
tions, and to the destruction of the form of the columns, rustications, ivc.
Most of the string courses, a jjortion of the window dressings, and the ashlar,
which are of magnesian limestone, arc generally in excellent condition.

liolsnver ckurcfi, Der/ti/.s/iire. — (lotli century.) Of a magncsio-calciferous
sandstone, more or less in a decomjjosed state throughout.

C/ippxlow castle, Monmouthshire. — (11th and 12th centuries, with additions
of the 14th century.) Of numntain limestone and old red sandstone. The
former in good condition ; tlic latter decomposed. Dressings of door, win-
dow, archway, and (pioins arc for the most part of magnesiaji limestone, antl
in perfect condition. The rcmaimlcr is of red sandstone, and is generally
much decomposed. Chapel (of the 12th century); — mouldings and carvings
of window)!, t!vc., which are of magnesian limestone, in perfect condition.

Doucastrr (old) church. — (Ijth century.) Of an inferior m.agncsian lime-
stone, generally much decomposed, more especially in the tower and on the
south and west sides ; now under general and extensive repair.

llemiiujbonnttjh church, Yor/tsti/re. — ( 1 5th century. ) Of a \\ hite crystalline
magnesian limestone. The entire building is in a perfect state, cvcei the spire,
where no traces of decay are apparent.

Jlowdcn church, Yorkshire. — (15th century.) Partly of magnesian lime-
stone, of a deep yellow colour, and partly of a coarse siliceous grit, of a fer-
ruginous colour. Dressing-; and enrichments, and the central tower, are of
tlie former stone, generally decomposed ; particularly a*j the to[) of the tower.
The other parts of the edifice built of the grit are very much decomposed.

HmMlcstoue-hull, Yurkshirc. — (15th century.) — Of senii-crystalline magne-
sian limestone from the neighbouring quarry. In excellent condition, even to
the entire preservation of the mouldings of the chapel window in the south-
west front. The outer gate jiicrs in the fence wall, also of magnesian lime-
stone, very uiiich decomposed.

KnaresljoroHijh castle, Yurkshirc. — (12tli century.) Jlagncsian limestone,
carious in part ; generally in very good condition, except on the south and
sonth-west portions of the circular turrets, where the surface is much decom-
posed. The mouldings generally are in a perfect state. The joints of the
masonry, which is executed v ith the greatest care, are remarkably close. Tlic
stone of the keep, which is of a deep brown colour, and mucli resembles
sandstone, is in good condition, especially on the south-west side.

Konim/sborovgh castle, Yorkshire. — (Norman.) Coarse-grained and semi-
crystalline magnesian limestone from the hill eastward of the castle ; in per-
fect condition. The masonry is executed with great care, the joints very
close, but the mortar within them has disappeared.

Ripoii. — Cathedral. — Lower part, east end, S. E. angle, (Norman), of coarse
sandstone from the vicinity ; in gooil condition. The west front, the transepts,
and tower, (of the 12th and 13th centuries,) of coarse sandstone of the vici-
nity, in fair condition. The mouldings, although generally decomposed, are
not etVaceri. The dogs-teeth ornament in most parts nearly perfect. The
aisles of the iia\"e, the cleristory, and the choir, (of the 11th and 15th cen-
turies,) of coarse sandstone and magnesian limestone intermixed, not in good
condition. The latter stone on the south side often in fair condition. The
lower pai'ts of the liuilding generally, particidarly the west fronts, which are
of coaise sandstone, are much decomposed. An oticlisk in the iiiarket-ptacc
(1781 ), of coarse sandstone, is much decomposed, and in laminations parallel
to the exposed faces.

Eobin Hood's teell, Yorkshire. — (ITIO.) A rusticated building, of magne-
sian limestone, in perfect condition.

Roche abbey, Yorkshire. — (12th centm-y.) Inconsiderable remains; of
senii-crystallinc magnesian limestone from the neighbouring quarry, generally
in fair condition ; the mouldings and decorated portions are perfect. Gate
house (of 12th centiuT), generally decomposed, with the exception of the
dressings and mouldings, which are perfect.

Selby church, Yorkshire. — (Nave and lower part of the tower of the lltli
centnry; the west front and aisles of the 12tji century ; and the clnjir, with
its aisles, of the Ulh century.) The Norman portion of the iHiililing, which
is of grey magnesian limestone, is in excellent condition, particularly the lower
jiart. The early English portions of tlie building are also of magnesian lime-
stone, and in a partially decomposed state. The later portions of the IjuiliUug,
which arc too of magnesian Umestone, are much dcomposeil aud lilackcncd.

Southwell church, Xotlimjhamshire. — (Of the 10th century.) Of magnc-
fi;iii limestone similar to t at of liolsover Moor, in perfect condition. The
mouldings and cnrichnieuls of the dooTway ap|icar as perfect as if just com-
pleted. The choir, which is of the 12th century, and bttilt of a Stone siiuilar

to that of MautiiielU, iii generally iu good condition,

Sjjofforth castle, Yorkshire, — (I-ltli century.) Of coarse red sandstone,
generally much decomposed. The dressings of the windows and doors, of a
semi-erystalUne magnesian limestone, are in a perfect state, the mouldingi
and enrichments lieing exciuisitcly sharp and beautiful.

Studley park, Yorkshire. — Uainiueting house, about 100 years old, of yel-
lowish magnesian limestone, in perfect condition.

Thorpe .irch Villaije. — The houses generally of this village arc built of
magnesian limestone from the vicinity ; they are iu excellent condition, and
of a very pleasing colour.

Thorpe Salrin, vcar JVorksop. — ^lanor-house (15ili century), in ruins ; of a
siliciferous magnesian limestone and a sandstone ; in unequal condition ; the
quoins and dressings are generally in a perfect state. Parish church )15th
century), also of siliciferous variety of magnesian limestone and a sandstone ;
in unequal Ijut generally fair condition. A Norman doorway under the porch
is well preserved.

Tickhall church, Yorkshire.- — (15th century.) Of magnesian limestone, in
excellent condition. The lower part of the tower (of the 12th century) also
in fair conihtion.

York. — Ancient builrhugs. — Cathedral (transepts 13th centnry ; tower,
nave, &e., 14th century); — of magnesian limestone from Jackdaw Craig.
West end and towers restored 30 years since ; they are in fair condition gene-
r.iUy, but some of the enriched gables and other decorations are obliterated.
The transepts are iu many places much decomposed, especially in the mould-
ings and enrichments. The central tower is generally iu good condition, but
several of the enriched parts are decomposed. St. Mary's abbey (12th cen-
tury) : — of magnesian limestone. West front of the church generally much
decomposed ; the north flank in better condition, but in parts much decom-
posed. The gateway, which is of Norman origin, is iu fair condition. Ronia:i
Mullamjular tou'cr : — built of small stones; such as are of m.ignesian lime-
stone arc in good condition. St. Denis's church : — Norman doorway, of
magnesian limestone ; south aspect highly enriched with zig-zag and oilier
ornaments ; the columns are gone ; the parts which remain are in good con-
dition. St. Margaret's church (15th century); — of magnesian limestone;
east front much exposed, and in good condition. The porch is of Norman
date, and has been reconstructed ; four bands of enrichment in the head in
tolcralily fair condition, but many stones, particularly those of a deep yellow
brown colour, are much decomposed. The other churches of York {which
are of the 14tli and 15tli centuries) are built of magnesian limestone, am! ,ire
generally in an extremely decomposed state, in many instances all architec-
tural detail is obliterated.

Modern huililings. — The museum : — of Ilackness sandstone, built nine years
since, much decomposed wherever it is subject to the alternation of wet and
dry, as at the bottom of the colunins of the portico, plinth, &c. The castle
(recently erected) : — the plinth of the boundary wall (which is of Bramley
Fall sandstone) alrca^ly exhibits traces of decomposition. York Saviuys J^ank :
— llnddersfield stone (?), in good condition.

JJ'orksop church. — (Principally of the 13th century.) Of a siliciferous
variety of magnesian hmestoiie, and of a sandstone ; in very unequal condi-
tion ; some parts are very much decomposed while others are in a perfect
state.

(Signed) Ch.vrles Barry.

U. T. Db la Bechh.
M'lLLiAM Smith.
Charles H. Smith.

Description of the galvanic Telegraph at the Great Western
Railway. — The space occupied by the case containing the machinery (which
simply stands upon a table, and can he removed at pleasure to any part of
the room), is little more than that required for a gentleman's hat-Iiov. The
telegraph is worked by merely pressing small brass keys (similar to tliose on
a keyed bugle), which, acting, by means of galvanic power, upon various
hands placed upon a dial-pkite at the other end of the telegraphic line, as
far as now opened, point not only to each letter of the alphabet, as each key
maybe struck or pressed, but the miuicricals arc indicated by the same
means, as well as the various points, from a comma to a colon, with notes of
admiration and interjection. There is likewise a cross (X) upon the dial,
which indicates tluit when tliis key is slruck, a mistake has been made in
some part of the sentence telegraphed, auiV that an " erasure " is intended.
.\ question — such, for instance, as the following, " IIow many passengers
started from Djayton by the 10 o'clock train ? " — and the answer, could be
transmitted from tlie (ermintis to Drayton and back in less tliau two minutes.
This was proved on Saturday. This mode of comnumication is only com-
pleted as far as the West Drayton station, which is about 13.V miles from
I'addinglon. There ate wires (as may be iningiiicd) connnuuicating with each
end, thus far coiujilcled, passing through a hollow iron tube, not more than
an inch and a half in iliameter, which is fixed about six inches above the
ground, running parallel with the railway, and about two or three feet distant
from it. It is the intention of the Great Western K.iilway Company to carry
the tube along the line as fast as completion of the r;iils tidies [ilace, and ul-
timately throughout the whole distance to Bristol. The machinery and the
mode of working it are so exceedingly simple that a child w ho couhl read
would, after an hour or two's instruction, be enabled efficiently to transmit
and receive information,— Cisc/'fcr.

382

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[October,

THE RIVER CLYDE.
Extracts from a General Report on a part of the River Clyde, between Ja-

mnica-fitreet Bridge and tfie Glasrjoni JVater-works. Bv AVii.liam Bald,

F.R.S.E., M.R.I..\., &c. Civil Engineer.

* * The first great step to improve and extend tlie trade

of (ilasgow, is to increase the width and de])tli of the river Clyde, and to
render it safe in even' part of its navigation ; secondly, to give sntiicient room
and fnll protection to all ships frequenting the harljour or port of the city.
But, to attain tlie first of these important objects, it is necessary to observe,
that to preserve depth in river channels l)y artificial means, is attended with
a constant and a considerable expense ; but, if natural means can be called
into action to secure depth, and also width, or even partly to assist in doing
so, it would be extremely desiral)le, and is tlie first tiling wliich shoidd occupy
the attention of the engineer in the improvement of a tidal river channel. If
increased width be contemplated for any river, lieyond the Uniits which
nature has assigned to it, for the discharge of its land-flood waters, it will
decrease in depth what has been given to it in width ; and, on the other
hand, if the uatural lireadtli of a river be narrowed, it will acquire in depth,
what has been taken from it in width ; taking into account the nature of the
soil at the bottom, and on the sides of the river, and the velocity of the water
current.

Reflecting on these fundamental principles, and looking at the river Clyde,
and the great necessity there exists of giving it increased breadth for the
purposes of navigation, the first consideration should lie, to preserve the
dcptli where increased width is proposed to be given to it, by the immediate
removal of every kind of obstacle wliich in any manner inteifcres witli the
free tidal flow of the sea-water upwards, liy deepening and widening the
channel of entrance, clearing away all banks, shoals, and obstructions, so that
the sea-tide flood may ascend freely upwards, to the greatest extent that it
can possibly reach.

It is manifest, that any plan that shall increase the volume of water into
tlic upper reaches of the Clyde above the city of Glasgow, will be attended
with the most beneficial results. The tide water in the Harbour v^ill be in-
creased ; the time of high water will be more early, thereby enalding ships
outward and inward bound to reach the port sooner, and depart from it
earlier. .The velocity of the tide of flood and eblj would be increased, not
only through the Ilarljonr, but also through the wliole navigable channel of
the Clyde ; and even for some distance tliis scouring power would lie felt
aljove Ilutcheson's Bridge, by which tlie whole impurities of the sewerage of
the city would lie washed away downwards by the cbl)ing tidal current, and
which woidd render Cilasgow more healthy, and tlie water in the Harbour
more inire.

By the removal of the weir at the New Bridge, the Clyde could be deep-
ened upwards in such a manner as to allow a volume of water each tide to
ascend the Clyde towards Dalniarnock Ford, of aliout 13,200,000 cubic feet,
equal to 367,242 tons.

(6,232 X 13,200,000 = 82,262,400 gaUons, or
13,200,000 X 02.5 „„ „„„
—^'240 = 368,303 tons.)

The removal of the weir would give a volume of water each tide, into the
upiier reaches of the Clyde, to the end of the tidal flow aliovc tlie Glasgow
works, of 20,400,000 cubic feet of water, equal to JG7,Jo7 tons.
(6,232 X 20,400,000 = 127,132,800 gallons, or
20,400,000x62-5 „„ .„„

2^240 = 569,196 tons.)

This is nearly equal to a river line of four miles long, four feet deep, and
two hundred and forty-two feet wide. Tliis immense volume of water as-
cending and descending each tide, would eminently tend to cany away all
impurities which are discharged into the Clyde at Glasgow; indeed, the
eft'ects of this scouring jiower would be felt towards the lower extremities of
the river Clyde, as far as the banks opposite Port-Glasgow and Greenock.

The removal of the weir would at once open an extent of river, between
the New Bridge and Ilutcheson's Bridge, of nearly twenty-three acres, equal
in extent to tlie whole of the lower Harbour; and a deepening of tlirec or
four feet would enaljle all the smaller craft in tlie lower Harbour to ascend
into the very centre of the city, which would be a great relief to tlie lower
Port, where the large ships lie. But this upjier Harbour of twenty-three
acres is quite cajiable of being so improved, that shijis of the largest class
might lie in it, and Cdasgow would then indeed have the aspect of a gi-eat
maritime port. To those who liave visited some of the continental harbours
and cities — such, for example, as .\msterdam and Rotterdam — nothing can
apjiear more natural, and simple than to convert the whole of the Clyde,
between the New Bridge and Ilutcheson's Bridge, into a large floating liar-
bour. Its position in the very middle of the city, would confer many advan-
tages on the merchant and trader.

In the first instance, the weir miglit be lowered about three feet; the bed
of the river between the New and the Old Bridge deepened three feet, and
between that liridge and the City Wharf deepened only two feet. I am of
opinion, that this extent of deepening will not endanger the Old Bridge at
Stockwell-street, if proper precaution be taken; and this first step would
aff'ord immediate relief to tlie lower Harliour, by art'ording ample room to all
the smaller craft to bertli themselves between tlie bridges.
I am quite aware that uoue of the Acts of Parliament permit the river

trustees to deepen any part of the Clyde aliove Stockwell-street Jiridgc ; yet,
notwithstanding, if the river were deepened even so far up as that bridge, it
would be a most important advantage. The space lictween the New Bridge
and the Old is about fifteen hundred feet long, by nearly four liiindred feet
wide, being an area of more than thirteen acres; it would therefore afford
immense accommodation to the smaller vessels frequenting the Port of
Glasgow.

It is really to Ijc regretted that so magnificent a harbour im[irovement
should be sealed up, and prevented from being earned into execution, on
account of tlie existence of the weir at the New Bridge. I am aware that it
has lieen, and continues to be, a source of very deep regret to that active and
commercial intelligence, which so pre-eminently distinguishes the inliabitants
of this great city, to have seen, for so long a period, a space so large lying
wholly unoccupied, and wliich might be so easily and so cheajily converted
into a most useful harliour ; while, on the other hand, the lower Port is so
crowded with vessels, that hardly a lierth can Ijc procured, nor even the neces-
sary repairs made to parts of the quay walls without seriously inconvenienc-
ing the shipping : and all this has arisen about the lowering of the weir,
whicli the Glasgow Water Company object to, as being injurious to their
interest. On this important point I shall now proceed to otter a few obser-
vations.

Tlie princijial objection oflfered to the removal of the weir at the Glasgow
New Bridge, has been made by the Glasgow Water Company. They state
that it would lower the level of their present supply. Now, looking at the
Glasgow Water-works, anil the numerous public interests connected \ritli
them, both imlustrial and maniifacturing, looking at the immense steam-
jiower emiiloyed in the ^^'ater-^\orks, amounting to no less, when completed,
than 682 horse power ; and again, at the vast capital which has been invested
in those works, it really, on public groimds, becomes a question of the gieat-
est importance, in deepening the river Clyde, and improving and enlarging
the ])ort of the city of Cilasgow, to preserve tliese M'ater-works from sustain-
ing any injury, either in lowering the existing level of the water in the Clyde,
or deteriorating the quality of tlie water which affords the supply. On this
most important subject, we fortunately have on record the evidence of the
late Mr. Thomas Telford, and we have also the very clear and very able evi-
dence of Mr. James Jardine, engineer to the Edinlinrgh Water-works; both
of these gentlemen mention distinctly, that if the bottom of the ford at Dal-
marnock Bridge be seemed, so that its present level remain undisturbed, the
weir may then be taken away at the Cdasgow Bridge, and the Clyde decjiened
between Dalniarnock I'ord and that bridge for about six feet, without, in
their opinion, doing any injury to the Glasgow Water-works. But be it
understood, that the work nliicli they recommended, was not to rise above
the level of the present bed of the Clyde at Dalmaruock Ford; for Mr. Tel-
ford says in his evidence, that when the bed of the river would be seem'ed,
" a stranger would be unconscious of any such operation having been per-
formed there," because no weir would be seen tiaversing the Clyde. Nume-
rous interests would, I fear, otter many serious objections to the erection of
a weir rising even a few inches above the bed of the Clvde at Dalmaruock
Ford.

Attentively reflecting on the evidence of Mr. Telford and Mr. Jardine,
regarding the Glasgow Water-works, and considering that the Ford of Dal-
niarnock is at present nearly eighteen inches above the level of the Clyde,
where tlic present supjily is taken for the Cranstonbill M"ater-works, I tliink
it possilile to obtain a supply of water from the level of the river at Dalmar-
uock, without raising its level by the constrnction of any weirs rising above
the present bed of the Clyde at that ])oiiit, by simply securing the existing
level of the river waters at the Ford. For I frankly avow, that I am decidedly
opjiosed to the erection of any weirs across the bed of the Clyde. It would
perhaps even be much better to carry a sutficient quantity of water from a
still higher level of the Clyde, to supiily the Water-works, than in any manner
to interfere with the river channel, by the erection of engineering works
which would obstruct the free passage of the land and tide waters, and pre-
vent the navigation from being improved hereafter in the higher reaches ;
and also to enlarge and extend those uatural tidal flows or scouring powers,
which would act so beneficially, not only in cleansing all dcjiosition caused
by the city sewers, but would also be of great benefit to the Harbour in
keeping it clear, as well as the whole channel bcil of the river downwards.
I am unable to find language to exjiress all my thoughts on the great value
which I attach to this upper scouring power, and on the necessity which
exists that no jiart of the bed of the river shall ever be encumbered cither
with weirs, dykes, or locks, where it may be possible for the tidal rise to
reach, or to which it at present extends.

Looking at the triumphant success with wliich the open tidal estuaries of
rivers have been navigated since the application of steam power to maritime
juirposes. looking at the improvements which are being made in so many
rivers, not only in Great Britain and Ireland, but also on the New and the
Old Continents, to facilitate and extend the jirogress of this power into the
most remote corners where the tide flows, and the extension of tliis jiowcr,
which so peculiarly characterises and adonis the Clyde — the cradle of steam
navigation — its further extension into the highest tidal reaches of the Clyde,
at once claims and demands the deepest attention of those intrusted with the
direction and improvement of the river and the poit of this great city. Re-
flecting on the events of the last twenty-five years, in the iniprovemeut of the
lower Clyde, who can tell to what an extent the improvement of the upper
reaches of the river may not be carried .'

1839.

THE CIVIL KNCilNKKK AND A U( I IITI-XTS JOURNAL.

.383

111 offering llicse few aiul liuiitei observations on a small part of tlie uiiper
Clyde, I regret exceedingly that it lias not been in iny power at jireseiit to
bring luuler review the iiuprovemeut of tbe lower water-basin of tbe Clyde,
from the Jamaica-street Bridge to Port-Cilasgow ; the natnre of the wide
expanse of the tidal estuary, as well as the narrow parts ; the eanse of the
formation of the sandbanks and shoals opposite Port-Glasgow and Greenock;
the basin of the Leven, the Cart, and the Kelvin, and their influence on the
slii|) channel. And as regards the upper Clyde, I more particularly regret
not Ijeing able to give the souudiugs, levels, nature of the bottom of the river,
and the form of its bed, according to the various strata ; the limit of tbe high
floods, and those of low water, during summer and winter ; the mode of se-
curing the sides of tlie river when deepened ; the area of the dry basin of
the Clyde; the quantity of water falling within it in a year; the average
daily (piantity passing through it at the city of (ilasgow ; the quantity of
alluvium held in suspension by its waters ; the limit to wiiicli the sea-water
reaches, and ceases to be sensible to the taste ; the mean liych'aulie depth at
numerous places. These are subjects highly instructive to the engineer in
devising pUins for the improvement of estuaries, rivers, and harbours situated
witliin them. I hope I shall be able, at no distant period, to submit to the
trustees a detailed report upon the dry and water basins of the Clyde. Those
basins will be found the most interesting in Scotland, whether as regards
their physical structure, the immense and almost inexhaustible mineral
wealth which they contain, or their capability of improvement in the tidal
navigation, combined with the probable connecting ramifications of railways.
All those matters are intimately connected and blended with the rising com-
luercial prosperity of the city of Glasgow, its port, and its river.

I am obliged to bring under your consideration, tlie great and pressing
necessity which exists of affording immediate accommodation to a large class
of steamers, built or now building, and which may require to be furnished
with engines. My feeUng on this subject is so great, that I cannot refrain
from hoping, that this branch of mechanical industry will receive at the
hands of the river trustees, all that protection to which it is so justly entitled,
forming, as it docs, a branch of national industry, not only highly creditable
to Scotland and to the genius of her people, but whicli employs thousands of
her mechanics — diffusing wealth among numerous classes, and calling into
full activity that peeuUar mechanical and inventive power, which has ex-
tended the fame of this land and its iuhal)itants through the most remote
and distant regions of the earth.

This accommodation for steamers of tbe largest class ought, as soon as
possible, to be afforded, although it should only consist of a simple exca-
vation on the side of the earthen bank of the Clyde, bordered with a small
cheap wharf, constructed of home-grown timljer ; and this might be done
below the present quay walls, without interfering with the present shipping
accommodation, situated at the lower reaches at tbe entrance to the Harbour.

William B.yld.
Glaxffow, 30M Jul;/, 1839.

ON RAILWAY CONSTANTS.
By Dr. L.\rdxer, L L.D.
Jbntracf of a Paper " On Railway Cotistantx, and Resutance of Air to
Railway Trai)iA-,*' read at the last Sessioius of the Britiafi .hsociatioii held
at Birmin/jliam, for w/iich tee are indebted to the utile reports of tlie
" Atltenteum.^'

At the Liverpool meeting of the Association, in the autumn of 1837, an
inquiry was undertaken by Dr. Lardner, in connexion with some other mem-
bers of the Association, with a view to determine the mean numerical value
of what were called Railway Constants by analogy to similar numerical
quantities in other branches of science and art. Constants is a technical
name given to certain quantities, more especially in astronomical and phy-
sical science, which enter largely into general calculations. As an example
of these, may be mentioned, the height through wliich a body falls in a
second of time ; tbe length of a seconds pendulum ; the ratio of the eireum-
ference of a circle to its diameter, and so on. A project of a magnificent
kind was formerly suggested by Mr. Babbage, for the determination of the
mean numerical values of the " Constants of NatMe and .4rt." Among
these quantities w-hich enter railway calculations, that which is of the greatest
practical importance is, the number by which is ex])ressed the proportion
which the tractive power, necessary to move loads on a railway, bears to
the weight of the loads it moves. The great importance of this will he
readily perceived, if it be considered that such is in fact in a great degi'ee
the ratio of the cost to the work done. Accordingly, the first point to
which this inquiry was du-ected was, the solution of that problem.

The resistance opposed by a raUway train, to tbe power which draws it,
arises from several causes; 1st, the friction or attrition of tbe axles of the
wheels in their bearings ; 2nd, the rolling friction of the tires of tbe wheels
upon the rails ; 3rd, the resistance of the air to the train moving through
it. These are all the causes which produce resistance in the train moved.
But independently of these, there are resistances peculiar to the engine,
arising from the friction, or attrition of the various parts of tbe machinery
which are in motion, and which suffer a pressure or .strain, depending on
the resistance of the load drawn ; also tlie re-action of the steam, escaping
from the blast pipe on the other side of the piston, and other similar causes.
But to simplify the inquiry in the (irst instance, the resistance of the engine

was put aside, and the investigation was directed exclusively to tbe resist-
ance of the train. Various methods presented themselves for testing this.
Tbe most direct method was the application of an instrument called a dyna-c
moineter in front of the train, by which the train could be drawn, and which
would afford a direct measure of the force with which it was so drawn.
This method, however, was subject to several objections. It was found
that tbe surface of rails, commonly regarded as level, were really subject to
variations of inclination through small distances, which produced upon the
dynainometer suihlen jerks, which caused its index to play between such
extreme limits as to render it imjiossible to arrive at any useful mean of
its indications. Besides this, if such an instrument were used to estimate
the resistance of a train, moving with any considerable speed, it must neces-
sarily be placed between the engine and the train, and would therefore show
only a modified eft'ect of tlie atmospheric resistance ; inasmuch as the engine
would have already encountered and removed a portion of that resistance
before the instrument could be atfected by it. Numerous experiments were
nevertheless made with siicli instruments, and it was not abandoned luitil
its failure was rendered practically manifest. Another method occurred to
Dr. Lardner for determining that portion of the resistance which is due to
friction, by attaching to an engine such a load as the engine is capable of
moving, at a slow uniform velocity, up a given inclined plane, ami then
taking the same load to a more steep ineUned plane, and detaching from it
as many waggons as would en.ible it to move up the steeper inclined plane
at the same slow speed as that at which it moved up the less steep inclined
plane. Under these circumstances it might be safely assumed, that the
absolute resistance to the engine would be in both cases the same, and the
difference of the gravity of the two inclined planes would, in such a case,
by the aid of mathematical principles, and by formula?, which Dr. Lardner
eonstiiicted, give the resistance due to the waggons detached in passing from
the less to the more steep inclined plane. This method would be attended
with the advantage of giving a result, in a great degree, free from the atmo-
spheric resistance, and therefore would furnish a near approximation to the
value of the friction, properly so called. As the motion would be slow, and
a part of the train would be in front of the waggons detached, the atmo-
spheric resistance would necessarily have but a very slight effect. As no
opportunity, however, presented itself of executing experiments upon this
principle, lie did not occupy the time of the Section in enlarging upon it.

After much consideration, he arrived at the eouelusion, that the method
of investigation which was calculated to give the most satisfactory results
as to the resistance of railway trains was, by observing their motion down
steep inclined planes. This method bad been already practised, and its
principles wdl he easily rendered intelligible. If a body be placed on a
steep iueliiied plane and allowed to descend it by the force of its gravity, its
motion down the inclined plane would be accelerated. If the causes of
resistance aflfecting the body were uniform in their effect,- and independent
of the velocity, then the motion of the body dowm the inclined plane would
be uniformly accelerated, just as a body falhng freely and perpendieiUarly
by gravity would, apart from the atmospheric resistance. By being uniformly
accelerated, is meant this, that the increase of velocity which takes place
every second of time is the same. Thus, whatever velocity is acquired by
the body at the end of the 1st second, having descended from a state of
rest, twice that velocity will be acquired at tlie end of the 2nd second, and
thrice that velocity at the end of the 3rd second, and so on. It is evident,
therefore, that a body, subject to such acceleration, would go on increasing
its speed without any limitation. .\s the intensity of the force of gravity
is exactly known, and as tlie effect produced in diminishing that intensity by
a plane of given inclination is a matter of easy and exact calculation, nothing
can be more certain than the computation of the motion which a body woidd
have down an inclined plane if that body were subject to no resistance.
Now, if it be subject to resistance, the comparison of its actual and observed
motion, with the motion which it would have, being subject to no resistance,
computed, as just explained, ought to supply means of determining the
amount of the resistance ; but to do so it is necessary to know, to a certain
extent, the law of the resistance which is in ojieration.

The resistance arising from attrition or friction, whether it be of sm-faccs
rubbing one on another in the manner of a sledge, or rolling one on another
as the tire of a wiieel rolls upon a rail, or subject to the kind of attrition
which takes place between the axle of a wheel and its bearings, have been
all submitted to most elaborate and careful experimental inquiry ; and the
laws of the resistances, arising from these, have l)een fully and clearly de-
veloped. The question of friction was foniieiiy investigated by Coulomb,
Ximenes, Viiice, and others ; but recently a more extensive and valuable
series of experiments on the subject, than was ever before executed, ha•^ been
made, under the order of the French government, by M. Morin, and their
details made public. The results of these fully corroborate the laws which
had ah-eady resulted from the inquiries of the philosophers who before ex-
amined the subject, which laws are as follows : — 1st, the resistance arising
from friction, whether of rubbing or rolling, or that between the axle of a
wheel and its bearings, are, wiieu other tilings are the same, independent of
the velocity; 2nd, other things being tlie same, tlicse resistances are directly
proportional to tbe amount of pressure on the I'ubbiug surfaces, and inde-
pendent of the magnitude of these surfaces. To tlicse laws, taken within
practical limits, there can scarcely he said to be an exception. The extreme
cases which become exceptional, having no aiiplication whatever to the
present inquiry, it will not be necessary to regard tlicni.

2 I

384

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[October,

The inimciliate consequence, from the friction l)eing the same at all velo-
cities, is, tliat it is a uniformly relanUng force, that is to say, that it destroys
in the moving body on w liieh it acts equal velocities in equal tunes. This,
if it destroy a certain amount of sjiced at the cud of one second, it \\U]
destroy twice that at the end of two seconds, three times at the end of three
seconds, and so on. Now if a railway train, moving down a steep inclined
plane, were suljject to no other resistances than those arising from friction,
it is evident that it would move down the plane with a uniformly accelerated
motion, although that motion would he less accelerated than if it were sub-
ject to no resistance. In other words, the kind of motion affei ting it would
be the same as if tliere was no resistance, the rlri/rce of motion alone beitig
altered. It has been stated that, subject to no resistance, certain speeds
would be gained by the train in one, two, three seconds. These speeds
would be those due to the gravity of the plane. These speeds would, how-
ever, now be diminished by the amount of velocity destroyed 1)y the fiiction ;
and as this latter would lie increased in the same proportion as the sjiecil
imparted by gravity, the descending body woulil be accelerated by a uuifoim
force, equal to the ditference Ijctween the acceleration of gravity and tlie
retardation of friction. In a word, both of these being uniform and inde-
pendent of the velocity, then' difference, that is, the eticctive accelej'ating
force, down the plane will be uniform and independent of the velocity.

Such was the reasoiring on which was based all former investigations of
the resistance of railway trains, by observing their motions dowir inclined
planes. The acceleration due to gravity was calculated ; the actual accele-
ration moving down the plane was observed, and the rUtferencc was supposed
to give the retarding force due to the resistance. It is evident that by such
a mode of proceeding, tlie effect of tlic atmosphere, or of any other cause
vvlrich produced a retardation increasing with the speed, was either neglected,
or was considered to be of such trifling amount, eoiupared with tlie resistance
due to fiiction, that it might be regarded as involved in the estimate of
resistance thus obtained with suflicient accuracy for jn-actical purposes. Such,
indeed, was the impression on Dr. Lardner's own mind when he coniraenced
this investigation, and he accordingly proceeded on the same principles as
those adopted by other inquirers, except that in the formida; he included the
effect of tlic gyration of the wheels, which was neglected in the calculations
of JI. de Pandiour, and which omission entailed an error upon hisresults.

With a view to determine the actual acceleration of a train down an
inclined plane, the Winston and Sutton inclined plains on the Liverjiool and
Manchester Railway, and a series of inclines on the (hand Junction Railway,
extending from Madeley for several miles towards Crew e, were selected. This
figure represents the incUned planes on the Liverpool and Jlauchester Rail-
Level.

IJ miles. 2 miles. U miles,

way. The siuiuuit level which lies between them is about two miles in
length ; the Whiston inchned plane ilescends towards Liverpool, falling at
the rate of 1 in 96 for about a mdc and a half, and is succeeded by an in-
clination which rises at the rate of 1 in 936 for a considerable distance.

The Sutton i\iclined plane falls, towards Manchester at the rate of 1 in 89
for about a mile and a half, imd is succeeded by a portion of the line nearly
level, for a considerable distance towards Manchester.

The lirst plane on the Urand Junction line descended from the Madeley
summit towards Crewe, falling at tlie rate of 1 in 177 for a distance of three
miles and a (piartcr ; this is succeeded by another which falls at the rate of 1
in 265 for a distance of rather more than tlu'ee miles, which is succeeded by
another falhng 1 in 330 for a chstance of nearly a mile and a half. This last
is succeeded by a level, wliicli continues for several miles. These planes aie
represented in the following thagram.

Level.

T7T 563 3^5

3m. 20clins.no links. 3m. Schns. 721inks. Im. 31c. 311.
The 'Wliiston and Sutton inchned planes on the Liverpool and Jlauchester
line, are straiglit throughout nearly their whole length. The Madeley iii-
fUnes, represented in the diagram, are, in some places, curved with a radius
of a mile, tm-ning alternately to the right and to the left; but considerable
portions of them are straight. A stake, marked 0, was placed at the summit
of each inclined plane, and the length of the )daue descending was divided
cut by stakes marked successively, 1, 2, 3, &e., into spaces of one hundred
yards. Watches, by wiiich a second could be without difficulty bisected,
were provided, and the moment of passing the successive stakes was ob-
served to within, at the most, half a second of the truth. Every eare was
taken to confer the last degree of accuracy upon these observations ; one

person w as employed to call out the moment of passing each stake ; another,
sui>|ihed with a watch, declared the time, and the third took it down; and
in m.iny cases these were checked by having two sets of observers.

A few cNpeiiments conducted in this manner soon made it manifest that
the motion down an inclined plane was not, as has been hitherto supposeil,
uniformly accelerated. It was found, for example, that the increase of
speed in each successive interval of time was not the same, but was con-
tinually less as the motion increased. In other words, the degree of ac-
celeration wns t/radualhj dhiimkhed. Now this was an effect evidently indi-
cating an increase of the resistance with the increase of speed, and naturally
suggested the idea that the atmosphere must have had a more considerable
effect than had been supposed. The mathematical formula', comiuoidy used
for the determination of resistance, are founded, as has been already stated,
on the supposition that the resistance is independent of the speed. These
formula" were now applied to the motion of the train down the inclined
phuies for short distances, measured from the points at which the trains
were respectively started, so that within the range of their apphcation the
train might acquire but very little speed, and therefore that the result might
lie only slightly affected by the atmosphere. The results of such calculations,
applied to the motion of the train for 100, 200, or 300 yards, were found
to give a resistance, amounting to from the 400th to the l.jOth of the load.
This was not half the amount of the common estimate of the resistance to
railway trains, which was about the 250th part of the load, that resistance
having been assumed to be the same at all speeds. It occurred to Dr. Lard-
ner now to attempt an ajiproximation at the resistance by another process,
as follows : — tiains were brought to a level and straight line of raihvay, and,
being driven by an engine until they attained a s]ieed of 30 to 35 miles an
hour, they were (hsmissed, and allowed to run untU, being gradually re-
tarded they were brought to rest. The line being staked out as before the
moments of passing, the successive stakes were observed, and the rate at
which the train was retarded by the resisting forces was observed, for each
100 yards over which it moved; a calculation was made of the amount of
resistance by the usual formuhe, founded on the supposition that the resist-
ance is independent of the speed; liut these calculations being confined to
the first 100, 200, or 300 yards, might be considered as giving a fair ap-
proximation, since the change of velocity throughout that distance was not
very considerable. The result of such observations indicated a resistance
amounting to from a ninetieth to a hundredth of the load. It will be
observed that in these last cases the velocity of the train, at wiiich the re-
sistance was computed, was very considerable, while, in the former cases,
taling the initial motion down an inclined plane, it was very small. The
inference, of course, which followed, supposing such calcidations to give
correct results, was, that the actual resistance at high speeds was many
times more than when the motion is slow. Since, however, these methods
of calculation could be regarded as only approximative, and were, in fact,
based on principles which were only true on the supposition that the re-
sistance was independent of the velocity, which supposition was contracUcted
by the residts of the calculations themselves, it was considered necessary to
resort to some other and more correct method of determining the resistance.

If it be admitted that the atmosphere produces any considerable resist-
ance, since that resistance must increase in a very high ratio with the speed,
it would follow, that if an inclined jilane of sufficient length could be ob-
tained, the motion of a train woidd continue to be accelerated until it would
olitain a velocity which would produce a resistance from the air, such as.
combined with friction, would be equal to the yrovitation down the plaue.
Miien sucli a velocity should be attained, the moving force down the plane,
being equal to the resisting force, no further acceleration would take ]>lace.
As it was thought, however, that the inclined planes, which were accessible,
might not be of sufficient length to i)roduce this effect with such trains as
it was possible at that time to obtain for experiments, it occiuTed to Dr.
Lardner that (he end would be equally attained by staiting the train from
the top of the inclined jdane at a considerable speed ; that thus, the ac-
celeration it would receive while descending being added to its initial speed,
might be expected to give that velocity, at some point of the descent which
would be attended by a resistance equal to the gravitation of the train down
the plane ; at which point, therefore, acceleration might be expected to
cease, and a uniform motion to be maintained to the bottom of the plane.

The first experiments tried with this view were completely successful, and
the result obtained was in exact accordance with what had been anticipated.
On the simimit level of the Liverpool and ilanchester Raihvay, marked in
the diagram No. 1, a train of foiu' carriages was placed, and was tkawn by
an engine to the top of the Wiiston plane {-^), from wiience it was started
at a considerable speed. Its motion was accelerated for a short distance,
but soon became perfectly unifonii ; and it descended through the greater
p.-irt of the plane at the uniform velocity of 31.2 miles an hour. Tins ex-
periment was again repeated with the same coaches, increasing the load.
.\s was expected from the gravitation of the increased load, a greater velocity
was now obtained ; but still a uniform velocity resulted, and the train de-
scended the plane with the most perfectly uniform motion, at 33.72 miles
an hour. These experiments were tried repeatedly on the same day with
the same results. A moderate wind blew down the plane, so that the in-
ference was, that this train, in a calm atmosphere, would have suffered a
resistance gi-eater than a ninety-sixth part of its weight, at the velocities
above mentioncil. This experiment, with a train of four coaches, was re-
peated ou the Suttou iilanc, and on the iaeliues new Madeley, represented

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

385

in the diagram ; and in every case a uniform velocity was obtained, — tliis
\elocity diminishing witli tlie sleeiniess of the phice.

Wiieii these first exjierimeiits hecame kno\\'ii, one of the olijcctions lirought
against them was., tliat a train of four coaclies was so light, tliat a moderate
atmosplieric resistance ^i'oiild retard it; and that as, in tlie practical worli-
ing of railways, such trains were never used, the results obtained liad no
practical utility ; and tliat with hca\T trains, such as tliose actually used on
railways, no such results wmdd ensue. This olijeclion, among others, was
ailvanced in a Report piililislied hy Mr. lirmiel, the engineer of the Great
Western Railway. In order lo meet this ohjeetion, trains of greater magni-
tude were subsequently tried, and the same results ensued — a uniform
M-locily being attained in every case in which the train could be started
from tlie top of the iilaiic with a sufficiently high sjieed. In the following
T.able I, is exhibited tlie ine.an results of a vast number of experiments tried
with trains of four, six, and eight coaches. In the third column, the letter
expresses generally the state of the wind — F fair, A adverse, C moderately
calm, and CO a dead calm ; the fourth column gives the gradient down
which the motion took place' ; and in the last column is expressed, in miles
jier hour, the uniform velocities which the train attained, and which it pre-
served through a lengtli of the plane sufficiently considerable to show that
it would not have received any further increase.

Table I.

Number

Uniform

of

AVeiglit.

Wind.

Gradient.

velocity

Coaches.

attained.

Tons.

One in

miles per hour.

4

15.G

F

9G

31.2

4

18.

F

9G

33.72

4

18.

F

177

21.25

4

20.5

F

177

22.9

4

20.5

F

89

38.25

4

20.2

F

2G5

19.13

6

27.5

A

89

32.3

G

27.5

F

89

37.5

C

27.5

F

90

34.G

G

27.5

A

9G

27.8

G

31.5

C

89

35.3

8

3G.5

F

89

>36.5

8

40.75

F

177

2G.15

8

40.75

S

177

<-17.7

8

40.75

cc

89

31.4

The last experiment with a train of eiglit coaches, weighing nearly forty
tons, shows that, in a dead calm, the resistance of that train at Z\\ miles
on liour amounted to the eif/hti/-iiinlli part of its weii/til ; w/iereas the com-
mon estimate of tlie resistance of snch a train at tliat s^jei'd has been hitherto
ahaxit the 2a0th part of its weiyht .' This fact alone, were it unconnected
with any others, would sufficiently illustrate the enormous extent of eiTor
which has prevailed hitherto in such estimations in railway practice. The
tbiril experiment with eight carriages was made with a side wind, the effect
of which is abundantly innnifested by the speed expressed in the last column.
While the same train, moving with a fair mud down the Madeley plane,
had a resistance equal to the 177tli of its weight, at 26 miles an hour, its
resistance with a side wind was of greater amount at 17.7 miles an hour.
The relative effects of a fair and adverse wind, are likew ise exhibited in the
third and fourth experiments with six coaches, down the Whiston plane.
The velocity, which gives a resistance equal to the 9Gth part of the load,
was 34 J miles an hour with a fair wind, and only 27J with an adverse
wind.

WHien the first ex|)erimenfs indicating these results became puliUc, various
objections were urged against them by Mr. Brunei ; and altliough it was
not considered by Ur. Lardner, or by any of the other persons engaged in
this inquiry, that such objections were entitled to any serious attention, yet
it was thought ailvisablo to make experiments which would show whether
or not they had any foundation in truth. One of these objections was
the following: that the circnmslances under which such experiments were
performed, were not really, though they were aiiparcntly, similar to those
of an ordinary train in motion; that the carriages were here sent with the
square end foremost, to meet and receive the full resistance due to their
snrface, which is totally different from the case in which the engine pre-
cedes them. The engine in front, it was stated, would act as a sort of
rut-air or bow, and thus destroy or diminish the resistance produced by the
flat front of the carriages moving foremost. In oriler to ascertain the full
value of this objection. Dr. Lardner took an engine, ' The Fury,' with her
tender, and obtained two coaches, weighted so as to be nearly equal in
weight to the engine and tender. The connecting rods and working-gear
of the engine were detached from the driviiu; wheels, so that the engine
should be subject to no other friction save that which a coach is subject to.
The Fury and its tender, and these two coaches, thus prepared, were placed
successively at the summit of the Sutton plane, falling ^j'g towards IManches-
ter, and the Liverpool and .Manchester Railway: and they were allowed to

descend by gravity. The circumstances of their descent were found to be,
in all respects, alike, jiassing corresponding stakes at very nearly the same
time, and very nearly the same speed. The full particulars of this, and other
exiieriments, wdl be published: but, in the meanwhile, the principal results
of this experiment are exhibited in Table 41 : —

Table II.

Fury and Tender . .
Two Coaches ....

1 Difference

i

Weight.

1 Time of
Total ' running
distance total ilis-
run. tance.

Greatest
speed.

Time of
descending
the Sutton
plane 1-89.

Tons.
11-39

11-33

Yards. m. s.
4,710 11 37

4,577 1 1! 40

m. per li.
29-

28-12

m. s.
4 29

4 24

•06

133

0 3

0 5

It ajipears, therefore, that the difference in the whole distance run by the
coaches, and by the engine and tender, amounted lo only 133 yards, in a
distance little short of three miles ; and that there was only three seconds
difference in the time. The maximum speed attained was nearly the same ;
•and the time of descending the inclined plane only differed by five seconds.
This difference, such as it was, was in favour of the coaches with their flat
front. In fact, the ditrcrences of the numbers in the successive columns of
the above table, are only such as would take place in the same experiment
tried twice successively with the same coaches.

As a second test, the engine and tender was now placed in front of four
coaches, so as to form a regular train, and it was allowed to descend the
jilane in the same manner. The engine and tender was then removed, and
replaced by two coaches of equal weight, and the train of six coaches was
then allowed to descend the plane in the same way. The residt of the ex-
periment is exhibited in Table III.

Table III.

Fury, Tender and "1
four coaches J

Six coaches

Difference

Weight.

Total
distance.

Time of
running
total dis-
tance.

Greatest
velocity.

Time of
descending

Sutton
plane 1-89.

Tons.
27-45

27-45

Yards.

5,068

4,850

m. s.
12 9

10 48

m. per h.
30-5

31-

ra. s.
4 33

4 28

218

1 21

0 5

It is needless to enlarge upon these results. The plain and inevitable in-
ference is, and that inference would be further corroborated by what he had
still to explain, — that the form of the front, whether flat or sharp, has no
observalde effect on the resistance ; and that whether the engine and tender
be in front, or two carriages of the same weight as the engine and tender, the
motion of the train, and the resistance to its motion, will be exactly the same.

The form of a boat, or lieak, having been given to some of the engines
on the Great Western Railway, apparently with a view to diminish the effect
of the atmospheric resistance. Dr. Lardner determined to ascertain how far
such a form would produce any practical efl'ect. He accordingly constructed
a head or beak, to place before the first carriage of a train. Two boards
were constructed equal in height to the body of the caniage, and being
attached to each corner, were united in fixnit at an angle, the vertex of the
angle being five feet six inclies before the flat front of the carnage, and the
base of the angle being six feet six inches, corresponding with the width of
the carriage. This apparatus would have the efi'cct of a cut -air. It was
first tried with a single coach, which, having it attached in front, was moved
as before down the Sutton plane, and the circumstances of the motion
having been onserved and recorded, the beak was removed, and the coach
again moved do\\n with the flat end exposed to the air. The result was as
follows : —

Table IV.

Coach with point- ]
cd front /

Coach with flat 1
front 1

Dift'erence

Weight.

Total

distance

run.

Time of
running
total dis-
tance.

Greatest
velocity.

Time of
descending

Sutton
plane 1-89.

Tons.
5-35

5-35*

Yards.
3,975

3,905

m. s.
11 0

11 0

m.per h.
24-3

23-7

m. s.
5 35

4 45

70

0 50

2 I 2

asG

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[October,

It is evident tluit no effcot whatever was ])rodiiced Ijy the Ijeali, and, con-
seqnenliv, tlie flat cud of tlic coacli produced none of tliat resistance which
Mr. lirnnel aserilicd to it. Tlic same experiment was now rei)eated nilli a
train of eight coaciies, down tlie series of inclined jdanes at Madeley. Tlic
heali lieiiig jilaced ujion tlie first eoacli, tlie train was started from the sum-
mit of the Madeley plane, falling yt^' ^"'1 't ^^"'' dismissed down the series
of planes already described, the circumstances of its motion being carefully
observed. It was then brought back to the top of the Madeley plane, and
the licak removed, and was once more dismissed, the circumstances being
again observed. The particulars of this experiment is exbiliilcd in T.ible V[.

It appears, therefore, that the distance run witliout the sharp end ditlVrcd
only eighty yards in a distance of ,ibout eight miles; and the other dif-
fereticcs exhibited in the table, are evidently such only as would take place
with the same ex])eriment twice re])eated with the same carriages.

With a view to ascertain how far mere magnitude of frontage, independent
of the general magnitude of the train, is jiroductive of resistance, the front
of a coach was enlarged by side boards, extending on either side about 20
inches, adding about 24 square feet to the front surface, forming a sort of
wings in front of the carriage, but no corresponding width being given to
any other part of the carriage. The coach, thus prepared, was ])laced at the
snniinit of the Sutton plane, and allowed to descend from a state of rest. It
was then brought once more to the summit, and the sides removed, and it
was allowed to descend with its proper front. The result of these two ex-
]>erimeiits is exhibited in Talde V.

Table \.

Coach with en- T
l.irged front . . J

Coach with ordi-
nary front ....

Difference

AVeight.

Time of
Total running
distance ' tluit dis-
run. 1 tance.

Greatest
speed.

Time of
moving down
Sutton j
plane 1-89.

Tons.

5-35

5-35

Yards. m. s.
3,139 9 10

3,289 9 2

I

m. per h.
19-15

21-45

m. s.
5 31

4 15 i

150 1 0 8

2 30

1 10

From which it was inferred, that mere width of frontage, apart from the
general increase of magnitude, was not productive of any considerable prac-
tical eft'cit in increasing the resistance.

A strong imjiression existed in the minds of some engineers and scientific
men, to whom Dr. Lardner comnninicated the results of these experiments
while they were in progress, tliat the shape of the hinder part of the train
might have an etfeet upon the resistance. It was supposed that in very
rapid motion a tendency to a vacuum would be produced behind the train,
and that a corresponding atmospheric resistance, due to this partial vacuum,
would be produced in front ; that, consequently, if the sipiare sliajie was
removed from the hinder part, less resistance would be found. Although Dr.
Lardner did not attach any weight to this objection, he was willing, never-
theless, to submit it to trial, and with tliat view he prepared a train of three
cai-riages, which he first placed at the summit of the Sutton i)lane, falling
.g\j, and allowed them to descend by gravity in tlieir ordinaiT state. He
next allowed them to descend, having the pointed end behind ; they next
descended with the pointed enil before, ; and, lastly, they were once more
allowed to descend without the pointed end. The residt of these four ex-
periments is given ill Table VII.

In the third column is expressed the entire distance run, in yards; in the
fourth cohimu is the time of going that distance; in the fiftli column is the
speed acquired in descending the Sutton plane ; in the sixth colnnin tlie
time of descending that plane; in the seventh column the time of moving a
di-staiicc of 2^ miles from the time of starting; and, in the last column, the
time of moving from the twelfth to the twenty-eighth stake, throughout
which, the motion being tolerably rapid, the effect of the air might be ex-
pected to be greatest. It will be evident, from this table, that the jiointed
eml. whether before or behind, was not attended v\ith any apjireciable effect,
the discrepancies being only siu-b as woidd occur in the same ex])eriinent
twice rejieated.

It had been suggested tliat the resistance ojiposed by the air might be
more or less produced by the sjiaccs between the successive carriages of the
train, the end of each successive carriage being more or less exposed to
pressure against the air. In order to ascertain what weight this suggestion
was entitled to, a train of eight carriages was ])reparcd, having tenter hooks
attached round the corners of their ends. Canvass was prepared, which,
being hooked on these, might be stretched from carriage to cari'iage, so as
entirely to enclose the space between the successive carriages, and to convert
tlie whole train into one unbroken )irisin. The train being thus prepared
^^itll the canvass, was brought to the summit of the Madeley plane, and al-
lowed to descend towards Crewe, the circumstances of the motion being
obsened as in the former exiieriments. It was then ag.iin removed to the
summit, and, the canvass being taken off, thefrain was allowed to descend
in its ordinal) state, the spaces between the carriages being left open. The
reiult of these two experiments is exhibited in table VIII; and it will be

seen that the differences are nothing more than what would arise from
casual causes affecting the same experiment twice repeated.

Being impressed with the idea that the amount of resistance might be
more or less de])endcnt on the general volume of air dis]>laced by the train
as it moves, rather than by the mere magnitude of frontage, an exiietiment
was made which was attended with a result sufficiently remarkable. A train
of five VA'aggons was prepared, weighing exactly 30 tons, and loaded with
iron rails : sides and ends were constructed, which, being put ii|i, these
waggons received the form of coaches, but which, being moveable, could be
]mt up or laid flat upon the ^vaggons at pleasure, This train of waggons was
brought to the summit of the Madeley plane, and allowed to descend, by
gravity, towards Crewe, the circmnstances of its motion being obser\ed, as
before. It was then brought back to the summit of the same plane, and the
sides were taken down and laid flat upon the waggons, and it was then
moved down the ]dane. The particulars of these two experiments are ex-
hibited in Table IX.

The eft'ect of the form of the waggons upon the resistance is here snfl!i-
ciently manifest, and the concuiTent circumstances upon the several gra-
dients plainly show the increased resistance produced by the increased mag-
nitude of the train. From this and the former experiments, if may therefore
be inferred that the mere form, whether of the front or hinder part, or the
mere magnitude of frontage, produces no practical effects upon resistance ;
but that, by increasing not the frontage only, but the ir/iole rahinie of the
train, a material effect is produced.

It had been found, contrary to what was at first expected, that by in-
creasing the number of carriages in the train, that portion of the resistance
which must be ascribed to the afmosiiherc was increased. It ajipeared, at
first view, that the chief, if not the only source of atmospheric resistance
was to be found in the frontage or maxiinum transverse section. The expe-
riments, however, are entirely inconipatible vrith any such supposition. Had
such been the case, the trains of six and eight carriages ought to have ac-
quired a considerably greater velocity in descending the inclined planes, than
the trains of four carriages, which was not the case. This is in some degree
accounted for by the result of the last experiment indicating the connexion
between the volume of air displaced and the resistance, and not between the
mere frontage and the resistance. But, in addition to this, there is another
circumstance, which was pointed out by Dr. I.ardncr long since. The wheels
of the several carriages produce a v ortex of air around them, and play in
some measure the ])art of fanners or blowers. .\ considerable force must he
absorbed by so great a number of these wheels moving at such a velocity.
In a train of eight carriages we have thirty-two three-feet wheels, playing
these parts of blowers, and revolving from four to five times in a second.
How much force must be expended in maintaining such a motion, it is need-
less to say. But, besides this, another circumstance v*as observed. In these
experiments, as well as in general railway practice, it is found that an ex-
tensive current of air moves beside a train, flic current diminishing in ve-
locity as the distance from the train increases. Immediately coufiguons to
the side of the coaches, the air moves with little less velocity than the
coaches themselves. Outside that is another current, moving at a less rate,
and beyond that another at a fm-fher diminished rate. There is, thus, a
succession of currents, one outside another, extending to a considerable dis-
tance at each side of the train. .\11 the resistance produced by the motion
of this mass of air through the atmosphere, forms part of the resistance op-
posed to the moving power.

In all the exiieriments which were made on the series of planes between
Madeley and Crewe, it was found that in moving over those jiarts of the
line which were curved, the uniform velocity was precisely the same as on
those parts which were straight. There was no discoverable dift'erence in
the rate of motion, from whence it follows tliaf curves like these, having a
radius of a mile, inoduce no observable effect upon the resistance. The ex-
periments were so numerous, and performed under such a variety of circum-
stances, that, unexpected as these results were, there can be no doubt of
their truth.

It has been stated confidently in print and at public meetings, by men re-
puted to possess information in jiracfical science, that the atmospheric
resistance has been long kiio\^ii, not ]ierlia]is with perfect accuracy, but that
fables, giving a near a[)proxiiiiation, have been published by different em-
inent men, and arc to be found in most elementary works ; that calcula-
tions founded on these fables, of the resistance of the atmosphere may be
made, and that such calculations would give more correct results than such
experiments as have now been described. As such .statements are calcu-
lated to mislead. Dr. Lardner had no hesitation in declaring that they are
utterly unfounded. No details exist, nor have any experiments ever been
made by which the resistance of the air to a train of railway carriages could
be obtained by any calculation whatever ; nor was the aiiiounf of such re-
sistance ever sus])ccted, even by the persons who have ventured to utter
such statements, as have been here proved to exist.

Having been s.ifisfied of the large amount of the resistance of railway
trains at the usual speed of passenger trains, the next inquiry was one of a
still more difficult kind, namely, to obtain, by reducing the results of the
experiments to mathematical analysis, an estimate of the quantity of this
resistance which was due to friction and to the atmosphere respectively.
Fart of the details of this investigation may be seen by reference to the
vohiiue of the Transactions of the British Association, lateh imblished,
and the remainder will appear in Dr. Larilner's second Report. In the

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

387

Table V.

Eight coaches, with jiolnf ed ]
end foremost J

Same train, with flat end . .
Diltereiicc

AA'eight.

Total

distance

rnn.

Time of
rnnning

total
distance.

Initial
speed.

Uniform

speed on

1-177.

Speed at
foot of
1-265.

Speed at
foot of
1-330.

Time of

moving

down

1-177.

Time of

moving

down

1-205.

Time of

moving

down

1-330.

Tons. i Yards.
40-75 ; 14,411

40-75 ' 14..331

m. s.
20 48

25 39

m. per h.
23-70

2.3-37

m. per h.
24-

2618

m. per h.
19-25

19-25

m. per h.

14-87

14-35

m. s.
8 41

7 53

m. s.

8 50

9 32

m. s.
4 50

4 57

«n

1 <.l

-33

2-18 1

•52

0 48

0 42

0 7

Table VII.

Fonr coaches, with flat 1
front and end J

Same, with pointed end ....
Same, with pointed front. . . .
Same, with flat front and end

Weight.

Total

distance

rnn.

Time of
rnnning

total
distance.

Greatest
sjieed.

Time of

moving down

Sullon plane

1-89.

Time of
moving
2i miles.

Time from
stake 12

to
stake 28.

Tons.
14-8

14-8
14-8

14-8

Yards.
5,209

5,3.50

5,576
5,518

m. s.
13 50

13 45
13 1
13 25

ni. jier h.
32-14

3103
3214
32-14

m. s.
4 28

4 25
4 23

4 22

m. s.
7 54

7 50
7 30

7 32

m. s.
2 9

2 9
2 5
2 G

Table VIII.

Eight coaches, witli canvas. .

Same withont cai.vas

Difference

Weight.

Total

distance

rnn.

Time of
rnnning

total
distance.

Initial
speed.

Uniform

S])eed on

1-177.

Speed at
foot of
1-265.

Speed at
foot of
1-330.

Time of

moving

down

1-177.

Time of

moving

down

1-265.

Time of

moving

down

1-330.

Tons.
40-75

40-75

Y'ards.
14,307

14,731

m. s.
25 39

25 39

m. per h.
26-39

23-37

m. per h.
25-57

•26-18

m. per h.
18-

19.25

m. per h.
12-4

14 -.35

m. s.
8 2

7 53

m. s.

8 47

8 32

m. s.
5 31

4 57

364

3-2

1-25

2-31,

0 9

0 15

0 34

Table IX.

Five wagons, with high sides

Same, withont high sides . .

Difference

Weight.

Frontage.

Total

distance

run.

Time of
rnnning

total
distance.

Uniform

velocity on

1-177.

Velocity

at foot of

1-265.

Time of

moving

down

1-177.

Time of ^
moving

do^\^^

1-265.

Tons.
30

30

Square feet.
24-

47-8

Y'ards.
14,058

10,019

m. s.
34 55

32 4

22-75
17-

19-50
8-50

m. s.
18 51

15 44

m. s.
6 55

9 47

23-8

4,039

2 51 1 5-"5

11.

3 7

2 52

meanwhile we may state the results, from which it would appear, that
as considerable an error has been conunitted in overrating the amount
of resistance dne to friction, as in underrating the whole resistance. The
formula-, established by Dr. Lardner, have been ajiplied to a limited nnmljcr
of experiments performed under diflTerent circumstances, and the results
agree in giving the friction a value amounting to from five to six pounds a
ton of the gross weight. How widely this differs from the common estimate
may be perceived when it is stated, that that estimate is from nine to eleven
pounds i)er ton. Mr. Woods, the engineer of the Liverpool and Manches-
ter railway, has ajijjUed a method of calculation to one of M. de Pamhonr's
experiments, by which the resistance from friction is obtained very nearly
free from the effect of atniosi)heric resistance, but it is not the method used
by Dr. Lardner. The result obtained by Mr. Woods is the same as that
olitained by Dr. Lardner.

Dr. Lardner read at the meeting a comnumication from M. de Pamboiu-,
stating, that that gentleman bad been engageil in similai- inquii-ies, as to the
amount of the friction and the atmosiiheric resistance, with a view to cor-
rect, in the forthcoming edition of bis work on Locomotive Engines, any
errors which might have existed in the former edition, and the results which
M. de Pambour stated, that be obtained for the friction, were the same as
those obtained by Dr. Lardner and Mr. Woods.

Dr. Lardner proceeded to say, that the results of this extensive course of

experiments coiTohorated and fully established a doctrine which he had ven-
tured to advance before a committee of the House of Lords in tlie year
1835, but which was then and subsequently pronounced to be paradoxical,
absurd, and one which could have no jnactical truth. That iloctrine was,
that a railway laid down with giadicnts, from sixteen to twenty feet a mile,
would be for all practical purposes nearly, if not altogether, as good as a
railway laid down, from terminus to terminus, upon a dead level. The
grounds on wliich be advanced this doctrine were, that a compensating effect
would be produced in descending and ascending the gradients, and that a
variation of speed in tlie train would be the whole amount of inconvenience
wbicli wouhl ensue ; that the time of performing the journey, and the ex-
penditure of power required for it, the expense of maintaining the line of
way, and supplying locomotive power, would he the same in both cases ;
that, therefore, he thought that no considerable capital ought to be expended
in obtaining gradients lower than those just mentioned. He stated that he
was assailed with the most unsparing ridicule when he advanced this doctrine,
and that up lo the present hour, so far as he knew, it had never been
adopted or assented to by any practical man in tlie country. He saw, how-
was ever, its comjjlete verification and establishnient in tlie residts of these ex-
periments, and determined on making an pxpr-rimpii/nm critcis, which should
put its truth beyond all question. The variety of gradients on the railway
extending lietween Liverpool and Biiniinghani, offered a favourable theatre

388

TTTE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[OCTOBKR,

for Mich till cxiicrinicnt, aiul a<'coiclingly a train of twelve eoaclici was ]ii'e-
pai'ed, each coach being loaiioil to tlic gross weight of live tons. An engine,
tallcil tlip Ilecta, was iiroviileil, weigliing twelve tons, witli her tci;(ler
weighing ten tons, making a gross loatl of eiglity-two tons. It was deter-
niiiieil to rnn this train from Liverpool to Uirmiiigliam and liael;, oliserving
wilh tlie nt most precision, tlie nnnnent of passing each <|n,'rlcr-niiie post,
ami ohiaining tliereliy the actual speed with which evci'y gradient, from one
end to tlie other of the line, was ascended and descended, and the velocity
on the hovels. By taking a mean of the speed in ascending and descending
tlie gradients, it would he necessary, if the doctrine held liy him had any
trntli in it, that tliis mean shonhl he exactly, or very nearly, equal to the
.speed on a level. The jourm^y was accordingly pcrl'ormed, and the results
of it will he pnljlished in detail in Dr. Gardner's second rcjiorl. l!nt, in the
nieanwliile, the speed, in ascending and descending the several gradients ami
the mean between them, is exhibited in Table X.

Taldc X.

(iradient.

Speed.
Ascending. Descending.

One in
177

2cri

330
•100
532
:,90
650

nnles per h.
22-25
24-87
25-20
26-87
27-35
27-27
29-03

miles per
-11-32
39-13
37-07
36-75
34 -.30
33-16
32-58

h.

Level .

Mean.

31-78
32-110
31-10
31-81
30-S2
30-21
30-80

30-93

lie said, that on this table it is scarcely needful to make a single observa-
tion. It is quite evident, that the gradients do possess the compensating
power which he ascribed to them. The discrepancy existing among the
mean values of the speed, is notliing more tlian what may he ascribed to
casual variations in the moving power. This experiment also was made
nnder very favom-able eircumstanees, tlie day being quite calm. M'ithont
going into the details of the principle on wliich these remarliable results
depend, it may be stated generally, tliat since the chief part of the re-
sistance of a railway train depends on the atmosphere, and is proportional
to the square of the velocity, a very small diminution in the velocity itself
produces a considerable dirainntion in its square. A train, in ascending a
gradient, may therefore relieve itself from as much- atmospheric resistance
as is equal to the gravitation of the ]dane by slackening of its sjieed. If its
speed lie slackened so as to render the resistance equal to tliat which it
would have upon a level, then the engine would have to worlc witii a less
ev3{)orating power than on a level, inasmuch as the motion would be slower.
In jiractice, therefore, it can never he needfid to slacken the speed so much
as to e(|nali/.e the resistance with that upon the level. Supposing the
evaporating power to remain the same, the speed need only lie slackened, so
that with the same evaporation an increased resistance can be overcome at a
speed less than the level, bnt not so much less as would render the re-
sistance equal to the level. This, in fact, is what takes place in practice, as
is apparent from the results above given.

Dr. Lardner eorichided by stating in detail a number of conclusions which
lie considered to be warranted by the experiments ; l)\it he reserved to him-
self the power, when the experiments should be all reduced, of modifj-ing
these conclusions, if it should appear necessary to do so. lie stated, that
many of the experiments had been only recently made, and had conse-
quently not been s\djmitted to mathematical analysis. Meanwhile he had
taken care to l.iy nothing before the Section, except wlial had been fully
borne out by the experiments themselves, lie regarded the following con-
clusion as established hy his experiments.

1. That the resistance to a railway train, other things being the same, de-
pends on the speed.

2. That at tlie same speed, the resistance will be in the ratio of the load,
if the c-irriagcs remain unaltered.

3. That if the number of carriages be increased, the resistance is in-
creased, but not in so great a ratio as the load.

4. Tliat, tlieiefore, the resistance does not. as has been hitlierto supposed,
hear an invariable ratio to the load, and otii//tt no/ to be cvjirexscil at so mvcti
)ier ton.

5. That the amount of the resistance of ordinary loails carried on rail-
ways at the ordinary sjieeds, more especially of ])assenger trains, is very
much greater than engineers have hitherto supposed.

6. That a considerable, but not exactly ascertained iiroportion of this re-
sistance is due to the air.

7. That the shape of the front or bind part of tiie train has no observa-
ble etfect on (he resistance.

8. That the spaces between the carriages of the train liave no observable
etfect on the resistance.

9. That the train, with the same width of front, suffers increased re-
sistance witli the increased hulk or volume of the coaclies.

10. That mathematical formnhc, deduced i'l-om the sujiposition that the
resistance of railway trains consists of two ]mrts, one proportioned to the
load, but independent of the s)ieed, and the other |iiO)iortional to (he square
of the speed, have been ap]jlied to a limited nnnilicr of experiinenis, and
have given results in very near accordance, Init that the experiment must be
further multiplied and varied before safe, exact, and general conclusions can
be drawn.

11. Tliat the amount of resistance being so much greater than has been
hitherto supposed, and the resistance produceil by curves of a mile
radius lieing inappreciable, railways laid down with gradients of from six-
teen to twenty feet a mile have practically but little disadvantage compared
with a dead level ; and that curves may be safely made with radii less than
a mile ; bnt that further exiierinicnts must be made to determine a safe
minor limit for the radii of such curves, this prineijde being understood to
be limited in its application to railways intended chiefly for raind traflic.

In the course of his address, Dr. I.ardner took occasion to acknowledge
the very valuable assistance which he had received from Mr. Edward
Woods, tli£ engineer of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, who assisted
Dr. Lardner in almost all the experiments, and coudueled some of them
himself ill Dr. Larducr's absence. To the skill and intelligence of that
gentleman, as well as to his general m.ithematical acquirements, be felt
himself much indebted. Mr. II. Earle was aiso associated in these experi-
ments, and took part in the direction of many of them.

FINE ARTS IN ITALY.

We give insertion to the following well authenticated anecdotes to show
that many of our wealthy coimtrynien are moat cgregiously imposed upon in
their quest of old pictures and ancient statues ; this mania has become so
general that many artists of talent are compelled to fabricate old pictures re-
puted to have been painted by the ancient masters ; statues, busts, and frag-
ments of sculpture arc chiselled out of Greek or Parian marble, and to favour
tlic ileceptiou they are defaced and stained hy iron rust and tobaeco-juiee, to
give the fragments the appearance of having been decomposed and stained
by the hand of time. Coins anil engraved gems are also commonly made and
sold as antique. It is but justice to declare that we have seen works in
sculpture in imitation of ancient art so well executed, and their style and
character in such strict unison with the purity of Greek art, that they have
baflle<l the most experienced eye to discover the fraud. The celebrated
Giroma^tti of Rome, by command of the late Pius 8th, made a copy of a gem
engraved by Discorides, both the original and copy of which were deposited
in the museum. One however was stolen and sold by the purloiner to a
nobleman for a large sum of money, but most fortunately the stolen cameo

]n-oved on examinatiou not to be the original. A Mr. an EugUslinian

of some considerable attainments and taste for the fine arts, was commis-
sioned hy the English Government to visit Rome for the jinrpose of pur-
chasing works of art for the British Museum ; on his arrival in this city, he
fuund his way to the sanctum sanctorum of Vescovalle, in Piazza di Spagna,
a dealer in antiquities, when that man of art exiiatiated with all the subtile
eloquence of an Italian, on the merits of his wares. Our countryman felt
flattered at the compliments so unsparingly paid to Ids taste and discernment
in having selected some of the most soul-breathing creations of the chisel.

Mr. elated with his good fortune, called on our distinguished fellow-

couiitiynien Gibson, the eminent sculptor, to invite him to a high intellectual
treat, and on (he road to the shop Mr. M. spoke of Phidias and Praxitiles,
and dwelt with the eloquence of a Pliilostratus on the beauties of the works
which he bad selected, giving quotations from Pliny, M'inkleman, and Viseonti,
in proof of their authenticity. Our artist felt humbled in his own estimation
after such Demostheniau eloquence, and tilled with veneration as a lover of
Greek art, they entered the studio where our man of letters pointed with
conscious pride to the objects he had selected ; our sculptor was tbnnder-
struck, not .at the beauties of the works, hut at the statues, as they were
indeed nondescripts, monstrosities, composed of odd fragments, the works of
sculptors of the time of Coustantine, consequently of the worst era of Roman
art.

WILLIAM WILKINS, A.M., F.R.S., &c.

It is our painful duty to annonnee the demise of Mr. Wilkins, Professor
of Architecture to the Royal Academy, who died at his residence at Cam-
bridge, on Saturday, August 31 last, in the 61st year of his age : his remains
\\('ic iiilened in the chaiiel of the College of Corjins Christi.

.Mr. Wilkins entered the Cambridge University as a schokar of Cains and
Gonvillc College, in 1796, .and graduated in 1800, as sixth wrangler of his
year. In 1801 he succeeded to the University Travelling Bachelorship, and
passed four years in Greece and Italy in the prosecution of his studies, amongst
the rem.ains of ancient art, prejiaratory to commencing his profession of
architect, and during which time he was elected a Fellow of his College.

.\moiig .Mr. Wilkins' earlier works are Donningtou Castle and Osbertou,
(of both of which, elevations, &e., may be found in "The New Vitruvius
Eritannieus,,) but neillier liave much architectural merit. At Cambridge he

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND AIICHITECTS JOURNAL.

389

\\a.s eiii))Io)e(l on many l)uiI(Uiigs lliiil alVuitlcd, more or Ictis, opportunities for
tlie display of talent, yet tlial wliicli ought most to liavc distinguislicd him,
it being entirely his own, namely HoNvning College, is by no means so crc<Ii-
table to his taste as the new screen at King's College. Besides these works
he made some additions at Corpus Christi and Trinity Colleges, and exeented,
we believe, some rejjairs at St. Mary's Cluireh, in that university, .\nolher
large pubhe building creeted by him is the East India College at llailejhury,
which, ho>\cver, does not say much for his invention, being not only in pre-
cisely the same style, bnt little more tlian a repetition or variation of his de-
sign for Downing, as was strikingly manifested by the two drawings at the
Exhibition in 1S38. I See our iirst volume, p. 221.) In the Nelson column at
Great Yarmouth he showed infinitely more originality, and he also designed
another memorial to the same hero, namely that in Sackville Street, Dublin.
Ill London he built the University Club House, the London University, St.
George's Hospital, and the National Gallery, all of ^\hieh are delineated and
described in the new editiim of the " Public iiuildings," by Mr. Leeds.
Though unlinished, and now perhaps never likely to he completed according
to the original design, the LTiiiversity is one of the happiest of his works, far
more so than tlie National Gallery, which seems hardly to he the production
of the same architect, the dome of the latter being as unsightly a feature in
composition, as in the other it is graceful. Perhaps Mr. 'Wilkins would have
earned nuich higher fame for himself, had not his study of, and unquestioning
reverence for antiquity, and the classical works of the Greeks, in some degree
fettered his ideas anrl lowered his ambition, preventing him from aspu'ing to
higher merit than that of merely applying correct imitations of Grecian orders
and porticoes to his own buildings, sometimes witlioiit even attempting any
thing fm'ther, as in the liouse at Osherton and Downing College. Ilis literary
productions, too, were quite as much archieologieal as architectural : they
consist of the following puhhcations : — .Vutiquities of Magna Gr.tcia, im]). fol.
Cambridge, 1807 ; Kemarks on the Tojiography and Ihiildings of Atliens,
roy. 8vo. 1810; The Civil Architecture of Vitruvius, 2 vols., imp. 4to. 1817 ;
I'rolusiones Architeetonica;, 4to. 1837.

In his private character, Mr. Wilkins was a most amiable ami honoural)Ie
man, warm in temper, hut kind-hearted, affable, generous and liberal, without
the slightest tinge of that ostentation which sometimes renders pecuniary
liberaUty little better than pride and self-worship. Unlike his iiredeeessor
in office at the Academy, he was not given to make any parade of pidilie
donations, but his Uherallty was prompted by sincere hcnevolenee, and placed
beyond the suspicion of any unwortfiy motive. \Ve have heard anecdotes of
his kindness and generosity that reflect the highest honour ujion his memory,
and prove him to have been, what is infinitely superior to his highest title as
a scholai- or an artist, a tndy noble-minded and worthy man.

Marine Railway Slip. — The Courrier de Bordeaia; contains a de-
scription of the marine railway, an apparatus introduced into France from the
United States, ami by means of which vessels of any size can he hauled ashore
in an upright position for the purposes of careening, &e. It will he remem-
bered that by means of this railway a vessel was hauled up and lowered agaui
the other day in presence of tlic Duke and Duchess of Orleans. It consists
of a railway, wliieh may he prolonged indefinitely muler the water to suit the
rise or fall of the tide, and also on shore, according to the size of tlie ship-
yard. Upon this an immense kind of wooden can'iage, proportioned to the
size of the vessel, is made to traverse by means of strong capstans. This
carriage is of such a nature that it can be got under the keel of the ship, or
rather the ship may be made to float on to it, and, by means of a system of
■wedges and ropes, can thus he so adapted to the hull as to lit and embrace it
tightly all around. The sliip is kept in the jieiTiendiculai', either with or
without her cargo and crew on lioard, and the capstans being set to work,
the carriage and its biuden arc hauled up the railway at the rate of from two
to three feet per minute. The advantages of this system over that of dry
docks, or of laying a vessel on its side, are stated to he very great ; and a
great saving of time and money is also effected. It was brought into France
by M. I'lantevigne, of BordeaiLX, who has taken out a patent for if.

*** Is not tliis marine railway, the same as Morton's jiatent slip, which
has travelled from England to America, and thence to France .' — [Editor C. E.
& A. Journal.]

AN ARITHMETICAL BALANCE, OR NEW CALCULATING
MACHINE.

By M. Leon Lalanne, engineer, "cles Fonts et C/mmres." Com-
municated to ine " Acadcmie des Scien<:e." at the silting on the '2nd
ultimo.

In milking on estimate for the construction of an ordinary road, a
canal, or a railway, it is not sufficient to calculate the quantity of
ground work to be removed: but it is imporlant also to ascertain the
mean distance to which the cuttings have to be removed. For this
purpose it is requisite to employ a person will versed in calculation,
and particular care is required to avoid errors.

The ordinary mode of proceeding is to divide the section into
lengths, and then to ascertain the cubical quantity of earth in each
division, aucl multiply it by the distance to wiiich it has to be le-

11 Ihe products so found, ilividcd by the total
removed, gives for quotient the mean distance,

ino\ ed ; the sum of

quantity of earth to bi

or lead. This operation, the author observes, is always excessively

tedious. For example, a road i'oiu- kilometres ( ioT'l yards) in length,

would be divided into about 100 spaces, of about 40 metres each, and

each division would require two multiplications of numbers of between

3 and 5 figures by numbers of 2 or 3 figures.

Now if we compare the algebraic formula which represents tbe
method by which the average distance is determined with the relation
whicli exists between a system of parallel forces acting in the same
direction at diH'erent points of a lever, when they are in eciuilibrio, we
shall observe a striking analogy; for, calling j', p', p" — Ihe distances
from the fulcrum at wliich the forces P, P', P", are applied cm one of
tlie arms of the lever, and 5 the distance from the fulcrum to the point
where the force P-(-F"-|-P"+, equal to tlie sum of tlie former forces,
acting un the other arm, should be concentrated, we shall have

,_PP+P'P'+P"P"+--
P+P'-f P"-f- . .

Now this distance is precisely that which serves to determine the
mean distance of transport S of the volumes P, P', P". .removed re-
spectively to the distances p, p', p".. .

So thai, to determine the mean distance of transport, without calcu-
lation, it suffices to suspend on one of the arms of a lever, W'hich
balances one its jioint of suspension, weights proportional to the
volumes to be transported, at distances from the point of suspension
proportional to the respective distances of transport; and to seek at
what distance on the other arm of the lever a weight equal to the sum
of Ihe former should be suspended, that the whole system may be in
cqiiilibrio.

The machine presented to the Academy by the author is founded
on this principle ; it was constructed from his own designs, at the ex-
pense of the "administration des Ponts et Chaussees," by the cele-
brated optician, M. Ernst. It is in the form of an ordinary balance
without scales, of which the beam has a breadth of several centimetres.
The two arms of the beam are divided into equal parts on each side
of the axis of suspension, and one of them is divided into equal inter-
vals by small transverse ridges, between which are placed the weights,
which are in the form of flat plates. This simple arrangement over-
comes the diHiculty which it seemed would be met with in practice,
in cousecpience of having to fix a great number of ditlerent weights at
vai'ialjle distances and sometimes very near to each other. The total
weight suspended on the other arm is contained in a small moveable
scale. This instrument has 150 divisions on each side of the axis, in
a length of about 30 centimetres (12 inches); each division corres-
ponds to a distance of four metres (4-4 yards), so that the instrument
is capable of indicating distances of transport as far as GOO metres
(650 yards), which is never exceeded m the construction of an ordi-
nary road. The scale of weights is at the rate of one demi-centi-
grainme to a cubic metre. As the tiuantity of cutting is on an average
not more than 5, and never exceeds 20 cubic metres per metre run,
each arm of the balance will not, for a road four kilometres (4374
yards) in length, be charged on an average with more than 100, and
in extreme cases with 400 grammes at most.

Since the apparatus gives the value of 5 in the general formula,

S := PP+PV+P"P"+--

Q+Q'+Q"+--

in which the quantities P, P', P". .p, p', p". .Q, Q', Q". .may have
any finite value whatever, positive or negative, it may be employed
not only for the determiuatiou of means, and the solution of the rules
of alloys, but also for all the operations comprised implicitly in the
formula, as the rule of three, common multiplication and division, in-
volution, &c. It is even applicable to the calculation of terraces,
and may furnish the results very oxp^'ditiously. From trials which
have been already made, it is calculatuti that the mean distance may
be found by means of the machine in at most one-fourth of the time
required by the ordinary method.

A very simple modification would render the arithmetical balance
available for calculations of a much higher orilcr. Thus, to obtain the
value of .1' in the formula.

■ = A-

b'^c^

it is sutficient, besides the graduation in equal parts, to add logarithmic
divisions analogous to those of Gunter's rules ; for the preceding ecpia-
tion gives

a log A-|-6 log B+c log C-f- . .

log a '

wliich indicates the equilibritim of a lever charged on one of its arraa

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THI<: CIVIL I5NGINEKR AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[October,

with the weights a, b, c, . .at the respective ilislance log A, log B, log
C, . .fioni the point of suspension.

Involution, evolution, compound rule of three, and many other c;d-
culations of that kind, are but very particular cases of the preceding
fonnula.

REVIE^VS.

An Esaay uii the Bvikrs of Skam Engines. By R. Armstrong, Civil

Engineer. London, Jolm Weale, 1839.

A new edition of this excellent work has appeared with additions,
making it more complete, and consequently more deserving tlie atten-
tion of the public, tlie various rules and practical data which abound
in it, entitle it to be considered a text-book for boiler makers, as well
as boiler users. Having largely quoted from its contents in our former
notices, nothing of a very material character presents itself, which we
can transfer into our pages, but perhaps the following may be inte-
resting to some of our readers : —

General Rules for proporiionhig Hip leiu/th of Boilers.

Rule I. A plain boiler mthout any inside flno, to he hung upon what is
called the " oven plan,"* ought not to exceed in length six times the square
root of the horse power in feet, or in ordinaiy circumstances, six times tlie
square root of the area of the fire-grate in feet.

Rule II. A boiler without any inside flue, to he set up in the common
way with a wheel draught, ought not to exceed in leagth four times the
square root of the horse power ; or four times the square root of the area
of the fire-grate in feet.

Rule III. If a fined boiler, or boiler containing one or Inore inside flues,
(and the latter pass quite through,) is to be set up with a sjilit draught, it
ought not to exceed in length three and a half times the square root of the
horse power, and if ^^'ith a wheel draught, three and a quarter times the
same, or three and a quarter times the square root of the area of the fire-
grate in feet.

Riile IV. If a fined boiler with an inside uptake, like a Boulton and Watt
boiler, (Art. 82,) is to be set up with a split draught, it need not exceed iu
length from three to three and a quarter times the square root of the horse
power ; or if it is to he set up with a wheel draught, then the length of the
boiler ought not to exceed three times the square root of the horse power,
or of tlie area of the fire-grate in feet.

The author, after detailing some experiments on the rate of com-
bustion and evaporation, proceeds to describe the boiler by which
those experiments were made : —

This boiler was pm-posely chosen of this simjile and eleineutary form, and
set up ill the cheapest and simplest manner ; that is, upon the " oven ])lan,"
so that all alterations or improvements that it might have been found expe-
ij)ent to make, either in the setting or the construction of the boiler itself,
might he in the shape of additions merely, and therefore capalile of being
separately proved, both as to first cost and profit ; and also that obsenations
might be made upon it, for a sufficient length of time, ^^ itbout the liabUity
to error arising from complication of construction, or iiiternqition from the
necessi'y of cleaning out flues or othenvise. It was thus made to answer
the purpose of a trial boiler in order to guide the firm to which it belonged

K«- 1-

ill their choice of what kind of boiler to adopt in the erection of new
works then contemplated by them.

The following figure re]ircscnts a longitudinal section through the centre
of the boiler, furnace and cbiiuney, in all respects proportional exrept as to
length, wliicli is to a scale of on"-lialf of that for the depth and width, and
fig. 2 represents a plan, or bird's-eye view, of tlie furnace, flame lied,
chimney, &c., supposing the boiler to be removed : and the same letters
refer to the same parts in both figures. The boiler is bung upon east-iron
brackets, rivetted to its sides a little above the centre, and with broad
flanges resting upon the top of the side walls, as is shown in the cross sec-
tions, figures ?> and 4. It is fixed in an inclined position, or with a fall
of about S inches to the front, so that by far the greatest proportion of the
water is brought immediately over the furnace, as is shewn in fig. 1. A is
the fire-grate with the ordinary furnace bridge at the end of it, only that
the latter is provided with a longitudinal aperture, about 2 inches wide,
communioating by a channel at its bottom, with the external air at E, and
]irovided with a valve, so that the smoke could be consumed upon Parkes's
princijile, if necessary. lint in ad'Ution to this, there is also another bridge
1!, at about half the length of the boiler, which divides the flame bed into
two chambers C C. The damper jilate D, is hung by side rods in tlie short
passage leading to the chimney, which is the only part that can be pro-
perly called a flue. The damper is inverted, or made to open downwards,
so that the current of smoke or hot air is made to pass over instead of under
it. The octagonal chimney is 30 yards high and 3 feet wide inside at the

Kig. 2.

top, and intended to be large enough for two such boilers, which it evi-
dently is. The following cut (fig. 3) is a cross section of the boiler taken

* That is, without any return flue, but with the flame and smoke to pass
from the fire place directly under the bottom of the boiler to the vent or
chinmey. When the draught is arranged in this wanner, it is by some called
" a thorough draught."

through the furnace at A, just iu front of the fire bridge. This bridge is
an inverted arch of the same radius as the boiler, and placed 8 or 9 inches
below the bottom of the latter. The second or flame bridge B, is princi-
pally for the purjiose of spreading the flame and heated air around the con-
vex Iieating surface of the boiler in a stratum of comparatively equal thick-
ness, and is considered an absolutely essential requisite when a lioUer is set
up upon the oven plan, and two or three such bridges are still more econo-
mical. They are usually called check bridges, from theu- tendency to check
or impede the rapid current of hot air in its passage to the chimney, and
consequently retain the heated gases longer luider the boiler, which they
certainly do', quite as cftectually as causing tlie smoke to pass through long
winding flues ; but this is perhaps the least important piu-pose they sul)-
serve.

The flame bridge is shown in elevation in fig. 4, which is a cross section
of the boiler and flame bed at the middle of the length of the boiler.
This bridge is an inverted arch about five inches from the boiler, aud equally
distant all round. We may state here, that proper attention to the con-
struction of these bridges is a matter of considerable importance; some-
times people have done away v,iX\\ them altogether, aud theu an enormous

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

<)31

waste of fuel csues, the flame being tlien apt to divide itself into two cur-
rents, one on cacti side of the hoiler, and tlius rnn ott' to tlie cliinincy witli-
out taliing much effect upon the boiler bottom ; others again have gone into
the other extreme, and built a continued inverted arch from the tire bridge
to the end of the boiler, which we need hardly observe, hurries the heated
gases too rapidly off to the chimney.

Fig. 4.

Dimetisions of Boiler : —
Diameto ^5 ^!1* al'l"!!!'} outside. One-half of the convex surface
was w'holly exposed to the dii'^ct action of the flame and hot air, except
about 4 inches in depth all round along each side and across the ends,
amounting to abo>it 1 square yard. The quantity of water worked with was
15 cubic yards, which was kept uniformly supplied by means of the ordinary
feed pipe and float ; the temperatm'c of the feed water being the same as
that of the atmosphere.

Dirnetmioiin of Fire Grate : —

Brefdft 5 -^ 6 '— } '^''="'' ^''""" *'"= '^'=='""S '«^^. '-""l ^"W" t'>^
side walls of the furnace. Fire bars in one length. If inch thick, -f^ inch
between each, and set sloping, or declining towards the bridge, so as to be 2
feet 8 inches from the boiler bottom at the back and 1 foot 11 inches at the
front end of the grate.

The boiler was made by Mr. Falibairn, of Manchester, with the best Low
Moor iron -,% thick. It supphed steam to a IC-horse engine, loaded so as to
require never l;ss than 24 cubic feet of water evaporated per hour, also
steam for heating drjing cyUuders, hoiling water, and a variety of other
purposes, amounting at times to nearly as much as the engine required
itself.

The chapters upon the " Deposit of Sediment Incrustations," and
"Causes of Explosions," deserve particular attention, more particular
since the report of the commissioners appointed by parliament to
investigate this subject. We fully concur in the opinion expressed
in note 1, page "200, respecting Mr. Josiali Parkes's system of
slow combustion, as applied any where, but particularly to a stearn
boat, where another objection besides that stated by the author, viz.
increased immersion arising from the increased size and weight of
boilers and water, would have a very heavy dravvback to the passage
of the vessel through the water, but as regards the application of the
system of wiredrawing tlie steam, this method has been in use in
America for years, the steamers on tlte Nortli River and other places
answer perfectly, and are of higher power than have been employed
in any other part of the world.

In conchision, we lieartily recommend the book to all persons em-
ploying, or taking interest in steam engines.

Architectural Remains of the Reigns of Elizabeth and James I., from
accurate draieings and measurements, taken from existing specimens.
By C. J. Richardson, M. R. I. B. A. Folio, Lond. 1839.

Even those who regard the architectiu'e of the Elizabethan period as
an anomalous fashion of the art, rather than a distinct and well-matured
.style, must allow it to be interesting in an historical point of view,
and so far to deserve attention. Neither can it be denied that al-
though in the best examples of it there is always a very considerable
mixture of alloy — much that is poor, mean, and fantastical mixeil up
witli what is stately and picturesque, there is also generally some-
thing worth notice even in the worst. Yet while we freely admit
this, by no means are we of opinion that it is to be recommended for
imitation at the present day, because anything approaching to a
direct copy of it, must retain all the defects of the originals, at the
same time that it must fall sliort of them in many circumstances to
which they are mainly indebted for the interest they excite as re-
cords of the period to which they belong, and its architectural taste -,

the satisfaction arising from which is totally distinct from that pi'O"
duced by intrinsic beauty, although those who never inquire mto
causes, nor analyze qualities, are apt to fall into egregious mistakes
in siich matters. What, u])on the whole, excites pleasure in the
mind, notwithstanding its faults, because we know it to be a genuine
and bona fide relic of former days, becomes offensive when known to
be a modern erection, in which, with the most reprehensible fidelity,
all the defects of a half-formed, quaint, uncouth style have been ad-
hered to ; we then behold little more than the defects alone, the
quaint, grotesc[ue trappings of the style itself, without any of that
venerableness or whatever else may happen to lend an adscititious
charm to the buildings which liave served as models.

We trust, therefore, that it is but a passing vagary of taste' wliich
is just now turning attention to the stately deformity, bedizzened
lumpislmess of what we conceive to be almost the very worst school in
which an architect can study, unless he has previously formed himself
upon purer models, and looks at those which it otfers him, merely for
certain elTects and qualities, good in themselves, but requiring to be ex-
tracted out of the dross in which they are buried. That any should
now think of reverting to sucli a school for models of any kind, — that
the possession of the Elgin marbles should as it were have inspired
us with a sudden affection for the hideous carvings and patterns
which constitute Elizabethan decoration, seems at first siglit rather
puzzling, and yet we ourselves are inclined to attribute this capricious
revolution to the architectural puritans ; certainly, nor at all de-
signedly on their part, quite the reverse, but because their spiritless
and monotonous transcripts of Greek porticos, or rather rows of
Doric or Ionic columns, have at length satiated the public, and led
them to welcome any change from the chilling insipidity of that so-
called classical style, as one decidedly for the better. And if change
was to take place, to what could we revert with greater propriety than
one which has a claim upon us as being strictly national and coeval
with a brilliant period in our annals and our literature. Unfortunately
though such reason sounds plausible enough, it is when fairly ex-
amined, b\it a very silly one. It would be just as wise to extinguish
our gas lights and break up our rail-roads, as now after the lapse ot
two centuries or more, to fall back upon what is at best the exceed-
ingly imperfect and half-wrought style of an age, which presents a
sad declension in architectural taste, compared with its predecessors,
and one moreover as much at variance with all our habits and feel-
ings, as the farthingales and ruffs of those days are with our modern
notions of elegance in dress.

Yet, although whim and the love of singularity, together with
a confusion of ideas as to picturesqueness and beauty, (w-liereby they
are supjjosed to be identical,) may lead some to adopt the style in
question, just as they find it, without any attempt to purify or emioble
it, we have very little apprehension of its becoming at all general.
In fact, it is by far too expensive for such purpose ; if buildings in it
are not upon such a scale, both as to magnitude and decoration as to
be stately, they appear only heavv and uncouth, fantastically old-
fashioned withal. Hardly does it admit of being simplified without
requiring to be also greatly purified ; since the mere omission of or-
nament tends only to take away all the character derived from it, and
to render its intrinsic deformity all the more apparent and repulsive.
Unless richness or even a prodigal magnificence can be indulged in,
this style supplies nothing for interiors; since if it be divested of its
carpet- patterned ceilings, its cumbrous fire-places, its elaborately
carved wainscotting, nothing remains but rude and heavy forms, and
proportions absolutely revolting to the eye of taste. In order to ac-
commodate it, therefore, in any degree to general purposes, it would
be necessary to do a very great deal more than merely compose from
extant examples; nothing less, in fact, than to puiif'y it of all its
defects, and supply all its deficiencies, retaining only just so much of
it as would furnish the leading ideas for something similar, yet greatly
improved in character. We are of opinion that here would be a
good field for any one to exercise his talent in, and assuredly a series
of studies showing what is and what is not now available in Elizabe-
than, would be likely just at the present to find favom- with the public.

It is time for us, however, to break off from our general remarks,
and to speak more immediately of Mr. Richardson's work. After
what we have already said, it would be quite idle in us to profess any
particular admiration of the subjects it contains, further than as
curious documents, not without their historical value as such, but in
no wise tending to contradict what we have just been urging. Among
them are one or two designs and plans by John Thorpe, copied from
the originals in the Soanean Museum; and that which l\n-ms the
frontispiece, strongly confirms what we have said as to buildings in
this style when divested of the fantastic ornament peculiar to it,
since scarcely anything can be more mean and quaint than that design,
intended to have been executed by Thorpe for his own residence. To

2 K

302

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[October,

"^ sure, it is not at all liattered, for being a facsimile of the original
drawing, which is a sort of bird's-eye view ; it is shown as no building
is ever seen, and is moreover delineated in the drycst and stiftest style.
How greatly the designs are disfigured by that 'exceedingly ])rp]'ios-
terous mode of representation is rendered evident l5y the one form-
ing No. 2, in plate 7, where it is quite distorted in 'i'hurpe's bird's-
eye perspective of it, for when put into proper perspective as has
been done by Mr. Richardson in the following plate, it becomes so
superior as hardly to appear to be the same thing. Yet, although as
so shown, it is one of the best subjects in the book, by no means
would it be diffiiailt to render it a far belter one, equally picturesque
in composition, but more elegant, and more consistently rich through-
out in its details.

The work is very handsomely got up, and the coloured elevidiou of
one of the sides of the gilt room at Holland House, makes a splendid
appearance, though gorgeous as it is, the effect is hardly equal to
the expensiveness of such mode of decoration. Among tlie subjects
to be given in the course of the work are Burleigh, Wollaton,' and
Blickling, which if suitably illustrated will be welcome enough.

A Practical Treatise on Bridge Buidtiiig. By E. Crest, Esq., Arch.,
C.E. F.S.A., &c. Part II. London : John Williams.

The appearance of the Second Part fully maintains the liigli cha-
racter promised by the first. The work exhibits many valuable
(Samples of bridge building; among which are 7 ))lates of the Strand
Bridge constructed by ( jeorge Rennie. Four plates of Skew bridges,
on the Jlidland Counties Railway, which will be accompanied, wlien
the work is conqdeted, by a Treatise on Skew arches, by Mr. Wood-
house, the Engineer of the Railway. Three plates of bridges over
the Ouse, near York, on the Great North of England Railway^ Messrs.
J. & B. Green, Engineers, besides several other well executed en-
gravings.

A Practical Treatise on the Construction arid Formation of Railways.
By Jas. Day. London : John Weale, 1839.

This small volume contains a great deal of useful matter condensed
in a narrow compass, and will be found very servicable to the stu-
dent; throughout the work are distributed some serviceable tables,
which will be of assistance to the engineer or contractor.

A Practical Treatise on the constritction of Oblique Arches. By John
Hart, Mason. Second Edition, with Additions. London: John
Weale, 1839.

We gave our commendations to this work on its first appearance,
and we now with pleasure direct the attention of the Profession,
Masons, and Bricklayers, to the equally practical contents of the pre-
sent Edition.

Theory, Practice, and .Architecture of Bridges. Part III & IV. Lon-
don : Jolin Weale, 1839.

In our former notices of the two first parts of this excellent work,
we spoke in most favourable terms of the manner in which it was
got up, and of the utility of its contents ; we also promised in our
last review to notice the practical papers; but we regret that an
overpress of matter precludes us at present from fulfilling our pro-
mise,— we will, however, endeavour to do so in the next Journal, by
which time we hope to see another Part out. In the mean time, we
recommend to a/l, to possess themselves of the work while the pub-
lisher is in the humour to sell it at the present low price.

Sir John Rennie is about to publish a work on Harbours.

Repton's Landscape Gardening and Landscape .^rcltilcclim: A new
Edition. By J. C. Loudon, F.L.S., &c. No. I. II. HI. Loudon,
Longman & Co.

Repton's works are so well known to the Architect, and to every
lover of landscape sceneiT, that it renders it quite unnecessary for
US to give, at ))resent, aiiy lengthened notice of the appearance of
a new edition, which is now being republished \mder the able auspices
of Mr. Loudon, who stands very justly pre-eminent in his profession
as a Landscape Architect. The high price of the former edition of
Repton's works, prev«nted them being largely distributed, — but we
hope, now that Mr. Loudon has undertaken to issue the work at about
a sixteenth the price of the former edition, it will liave a far more
extended sale. We shall not allow many more numbers to be pub-
Jished, without giving an extended notice of their contents.

LETTER FROM MR. GODWIN JUN. ON NECESSITY OF
INVESTIGATIONS IN ACOUSTICS.
Sir — The report recently made to the Commissioners of Her
Majesty's Treasury by Messrs. Barry, De La Beche, W. Smith, and
Charles Henry Smith, on the sandstones, limestones, and oolites of
Britain, (and to which you drew attention in the last number of the
Journal,) forms with the numerous tables and results of experiments
by Messrs. Dauiell and Wheatsfone appended to it, one of the most
valuable contributions to architectural science that lias been made in
modern limes. One hundred and three quarries are described,
ninety-six Ijuildings in England referred to, many chemical analyses
of the stones given, and a great number of experiments related,
shewing among other points, the cohesive power of each stone, and
the amount of disintegration apparent when subjected to Brard's
process. It offers in consequence materials for deductions of great
practical importance beyond those maile or required to be made, in
the body of the rejiort, and will lead, I hope, to the publication of a
comprehensive treatise on the subject by competent hands.

This being the case then, it must I think, seem desirable to all, that
goveinment should continue the good work they have so well begun,
and that this report shoulil be but the commencement of a valuable
series; and I would venture to suggest touching the next step to be
taken, the importance of appointing a committee to incpiire into the
most desirable forms of buildings and the best mode of construction,
in a phonocamptic point of view, to investigate the science of sound
and to deduce principles to be hereafter applied in the erection of
buildings. On this subject, which is of the most vital importance to
the excellence of the new houses of parliament, we are confessedly
entirely ignorant, (and I speak not of architects alone,} we do not
know so much as would enable one to say with certainty before a
building be finished, whether or not it will be well adajited for orato-
ric;d purposes. Even in churches and other edifices where the voice
is to issue imariably from one spot, many circumstances at present
beyond our reach because not fully understood, may have the effect,
and every day do have the effect of preventing persons in certain po-
sitions from hearing; but in an apartment where, as in the House of
Commons, individuals will arise from all parts indifferently to ad-
dress the meeting, the difficulties become much more numerous, the
probability of failure in some one respect or another, is necessarily
much greater. .Sincerely therefore do I hope that a commission will
be immediately appointed to collect information on the subject, and
conduct a series of experiments on a large scale, without which,
nothing effectual can be looked for. Independently too, of the im-
mediate occasion for this inquiry, the mass of facts that would be
collected and the truths obtained, would be a great boon to the pro-
fession at large, and could not fail to produce most advantageous
results.

I ough.t perhaps to apologize for troubling you with this communi-
cation ; but must offer in extenuation, that having bestowed some
little attention myself upon the subject, and gained a knowledge of
difficulties which at present meet the inquirer at every step, I am
strongly desirous that some sufficient proceedings should be taken to
procure more satisfactory data for reasoning than do now exist.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,

George Goodwin, Jun.
Bromptoii, Sept. 18, 1839.

BLOWING UP THE WRECK OF THE ROYAL GEORGE AT
SPITHEAD.

Colonel Pasley commenced his submarine explosive operation
against this immense wreck, on the 29th August, when he fired no
fewer than five charges of gunpowder against her water-logged tim-
bers— we believe with great effect. One of these charges consisted
of ISO lb., the other four of 451b. of powder each. 'I'lie effect of
these discharges at the bottom of the water, the depth being 14
fathoms, was very remarkable, resembling the smart shock of an earth-
quake. To those who stood on the deck of the lighters anchored
near the point of explosion, the sensation was not unlike that of a
galvanic shock, ami these huge vessels were violently shaken. No
column nor dome of water was, hovvever, thrown up, as had been
expected by those who had witnessed Colonel Pasley's experiments
in the Thames and Medway. The water over the explosion remained
quite tranquil for several seconds after the shock had been felt, and
the sound heard, when it suddenly burst forth in a circle of bubbles
and whirlpools, gradually extending on all sides, till it became about
4U or 50 fe.^l in diameter. This circle of agitation was at first whitfe
u ith foam ; but ended by becoming of a deep blue, or almost black
colour, probably IVom the mud at the bottom being stirred upt Several

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTVS JOURNAL.

393

fisb were killed by the first explosion, but none Ijv those which fol-
lowed, and it is natural to suppose that the noise and shock would
drive those fish to a distance which it did not kill outright.

On the 22nd ult. Colonel Pasley veneweil his operations, and with
the usual success which attends well-directed perseverance, at length
succeeded in tiring off one of the enormous sub-marine mines of gun-
powder against the wreck. A cylinder, containing 2,32iilb. of powder,
was carefully lowered to the bottom, where it was placed alongside
the most compact portion of the wreck which has yet been disco-
vered by the divers. This operation was eHijcted by means of haul-
ing lines rove through blocks attached to the bottom of the ship In'
the divers. Wlien everything was ready, the vessel in which the
voltaic battery was placed was drawn uli' the distance of 5W) feet,
which i.s the length of the connecting wires, and instantaneously on
the circuit being couii)leted the explosion took place, and the elfects
were very remarkable. At first the surface of the sea, which had
before been perfectly smooth and cahn, was violently agitated by a
sort of tremulous motion, which threw it into small irregular waves,
a few inches only in height. Tliis lasted for three or four seconds,
when a huge dome of water made its appearance, of a conical or
rather beehive shape. At first it appeared to rise slowly, but rapidly
increased in height and size till it reached the altitude of 28 or aU
feel, in a tolerably compact mass. It then fell down and produced
a series of rings, which spread in all directions. The first, or outer
one of these, having the aspect of a w'ave several feet in heiglit,
curled and broke, as if it had been driven towards the shore. Neither
the shock nor the sound was so great as had been expected by those
who had witnessed the former explosions by Colonel Pasley, where
the quantity of powder was only 451b. ; but the effect produced on
the water at the surface, considering tliat the depth was 90 feet, was
truly astonishing. What the eli'ect has been upon the wreck will not
be fully ascertained by the divers till the present spring tides are
over, and the long periods of slack water at the neaps enable the
divers to remain for upwards of half an hour under water. In the
mean time, it is highly satisfactory to know that Colone\ Pasley has
completely established his command over the application of the
voltaic batteiy to siib-marine purposes, and that he can now with
certainty explode his charges at any depth of water. This w ill give
him the power of placing his cylimlers against the most refractory
parts of the wreck, and by blowing these to pieces, and dislocating
the knees, timbers, and beams, enable him to draw the wdiole u[>, bit
by bit, to the surface. Any person who has seen the operation of
breaking up a ship on land, knows that this is the only way <jf going
to work with a mass so firmly bound together as a line-of-battle ship,
that even the action of 57 years of decay under water goes but a
small way to disintegrate the parts. The manly perseverance of
Colonel Pasley, therefore, we are well convinced, will, in the end,
effectually clear the noble ancliorage of Spithead of tills extremely
troublesome obstruction. — Times.

LOCOMOTIVE POWER APPLIED TO CANAL TRANSIT.

On the 21st and 22nd of August an experiment was conducted on
the Forth and Clyde Canal, of a novel and highly interesting nature,
by John Macueil, C.E., and consulting engineer to the Canal Com-
pany. It is well known that the haulage of boats on this canal has
hitherto been performed by horses, the rates of speed being for the
heavy sloops, brigs, ice, in the London, Dundee, and other trades,
about li to 2 miles per hour, when drawn by two or five horses, ac-
cording to the state of the weather, and for the swift or passenger
boats between S and 9 miles per hour, on an average, when drawn by
two horses. The object of the experiment was to ascertain the pos-
sibility of using locomotive steam power to draw the boats instead of
horses : accordingly, a single line of rails, upon blocks, like an or-
dinary railway, was laid down for a considerable space along the canal
banks, near lock IG ; and a locomotive engine and tender, built by Mr.
William Dodds, having been brought down the canal and set on the
rails, on the morning of the 2 1st, Mr. Macneil, Mr. Johnston, the
canal director, and several engineers anjl gentlemen, being present,
the experiment commenced by attaching to the engine the towing-
line of the first passenger boat that made its appearance, and which
contained upwards of 90 passengers, with their luggage. There w as
a trifling delay in disengaging the horses and tying the line to the
engine, but this was amply compensated when the "Victoria" briskly
set otf, and almost immediately gained a speed of i7i miles per hour,
which she kept up round two curves, and until the termination of the
rails made it necessary to stop, amid the cheers of the delighted pas-
sengers. This experiment was repeated, during the course of the
day, with each passenger bout as it came tQ the railed space, and

with equal success each time. On one occasion a towing-rope, which
was nuicli decayed, got foul with a curb-stone and broke, but without
causing the slightest inconvenience, except about one minute's delay.
Tl'.e engine employed being intended only for a slow trade, was not
calculated to go at a greater speed than eighteen miles per hour; but
it was the opinion of all present, that with proper p;issengcr locomo-
tives, a speed might be obtained equal to that upon the best railways,
few of the latter possessing the advantage secured by the canal bank
of a pei/L d level throughout.

The nature of the motion was liighly gratifying to all tlie [lassen-
gers, being more uniform, steady, and smooth than when the boats
were d.awn by horses.

.Several of the heavy (masted) vessels were also taken in two
during the two days of trial, at the rates of 3, 3i, 4, ;uid 5 miles per
lionr ; and, on one occasion, two loaded sloops, and a large waggon
boat, were together attached to the engine, and hauled with ease at
the rate of 2i miles per hour, wdiilst only one-fourth of the steam was
allowed to pass the throttle -valve.

The foregoing statements render palpably apparent the immense
advant.iges which might be gained by this new adaptation of steam
power — a great economy in haulage expenses, as one engine might
draw at least (i sloops, which now would require from eighteen to
twenty-four horses, and, if necessary, at double the present speed ;
and a proportional increase of the important traffic on the canal,
which might be reasonably expected.

Passengers would increase in a great proportion, when attracted by
economy and speed of trans[iort. The Union Canal might be tra-
versed in two hours, and the Forth and Clyde Canal in one and a
half, instead of fovir hours and three and a half, as at present, and
this by only assuming IG miles per hour, though more niiglit easily
be performed, as the experiments have shown. — Glagojo Coiirtir.

THE EXPERIMENTAL PAVING OF OXFORD STREET.

The extended time allowed by the Marylebone vestry for testing
the durability of the various specimens of experimental paving laid
down in Oxford-street having expired on the the 3rd ult. a large body
of the members of the Experimental Paving Committee proceeded
to Oxford-street, for the purpose of entering into a minute examina-
tion of the specimens, prior to completing their final report and re-
commendation to the vestry as to the plan which it would be most
advisable to adopt. The blocks of granite laid down, and the inter-
stices of which are tilled up with Claridge's Asphalte, was found to
be in excellent condition, as was also the granite laid down by the
parish and grouted together. The Bastemie Gaujac bitumen had
stood the test of the wear occasioned by the number of vehicles
passing through this extensive thoroughfare in a surprising manner,
but at parts where the trattic is most severe here and tliere, slight
ruts are perceptible. On arriving at the wooden blocks, the surface
was found to be as smooth and even as when first laid down. Five of
the blocks were taken up and minutely examined by the committee,
and one of them split into pieces for the purpose of discovering if
any symptoms of decay liad made its appearance, but the wood was
found to be perfectly sound, and the diminution of the length of the
blocks (12 inches), notwithstanding the immense weight of the ve-
hicles continually passing over them, was scarcely perceptible. Having
completed their survey of the road, the conunittee adjourned to the
Court-house for the purpose of deliberating as to the best mode to
be adopted, when a long discvission ensued upon the subject. Mr.
Kensett supported the adoption of the wood, and Jlr. Harbutt and
several others opposed it upon the gromid that the material was of
too slippery a nature for horses. After a variety of arguments, in
the course of which three or four amendments were put and nega-
tived, the following resolution was put and carried — viz. "That it
appears to the conunittee that the wooden block paving has proved
itself equal to the traffic and paving of the whole of Oxford-street,
and it is, therefore, resolved to recommend to the vestry to adopt the
wooden block paving for that thoroughfare, subject to certain condi-
tions and regulations." The greatest interest is manifest on this sub-
ject in Marylebone.

Engraving on M arbi.k. — A discovery of some importance to the statiiai y
lias receutly been made by Mr. C. Page, of Pimlieo, Ijy means of vvliich en-
graving ou marble is greatly iiiiprovert. lu cutting letters in niari)le in the
or(Uiiary method, the edges chip otl', and tlie defects are covered by paiuting
them over ; but Mr. Page obviates this difficulty by covering the surface of
the polished marble with a coat of cement lieforc the chisel is used. The
cement effectually prevents the marble from chipping ; and when the cuatijii;
is removed, the letters remain as iierfcct as if cut in copi'sr.

2 K 2

394

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[October,

PROCEEDINGS OF PARLIAMENT.-.SKSSlOiNS 183!).
Hous ijf Commons. — List of Petilions and Private Bills, anil profjrcss there

AljerUroUiH ick Harbour . .

Aberdeen Harbour

Ballochney Railway

Barnsley M'alerworks .

Bath Cemetery

Belfast Waterworks

Birmingham Canal

Birmingham Si Glos. Rlwav.

Bp. Auckland & A\'eardaleRa.

Blackheath Comelery .

Bradford ( York) 'Wa'tcrworks

Brighton Gas

Brighton Cemetery

Bristol & Cloueestershire Ra.

BritLsh Museum Building;s .

Brompion New Koad .

Cheltenham M'alerworks

Commereial ( London and
Blaekwall) Railway .

Dean Forest Railway .

Beptford Pier

Beptford Pier Junction Rlwy.

Deptford Steam Ship Docks

Edmburgli. Leitli, and New-
haven Railway .

Eyemouth Harijour

Fraserbuigh Harbour .

General Cemetery

Gravesend Gas

Great North of England Ra.

Great M'estern Railway

Great Central Irish Railw ay

Herefordshire and Glouces-
tershire Canal .

Heme Ga.s ....

Liverpool Docks .

Liverpool Buildings

Liverpool and Manchester
Extansion Railway .

London and Birmingham Ra,

LondonBridgeApproaches.fic.

Tjondon & Croydon Railway

London Cemetery

London & Greenwich Rlway

London and Soinhamplon
(Guildford Branch) Rlwy.

London and Southamjiton
(Portsmouth Branch) Ra.

Manchester SiBirminghamRa.

Manchester and Birmingham
Extension(>Stone&RugbyRa

Manchester & Leeds Rlway.

MaryleboncGas & CokeComp.

Monklandi^ Kii-kintillochRa.

Necropolis (.St. Pane. )Cemetry

Newark Gas

Newcastle-upon-Tyne & N.
Shields (ICxtension) Rlwv.

Nortlierni^ l'".aslem(l)Rlwv.

Nort]iern!>v l';astcrn(2)Rlwy.

Nortli Midland Railway ' .

North Union Railway .

Nottinghamlnclosure & Canal

Over Darwen Gas

Perth Harbour & Navigation

Portishead Pier .

Preston Gas

Preston and W'yre Railway

Preston and Wyre Railway,
Harbour, and Dock .

Redcar (No. 1) Harliour

Redcar (No. 2) Harbour

Rithworlh Reservoirs .

Rochdale Waterworks

Rochester Cemetery

Sawmill Ford Bridget Road

Slamannan Railway

South Eastern Railway

S. Eastern (Deviation) Ra. .

Teignmoulh Bridge

Tyne Dock ....

Tyne .Steam Ferry

Walsall .lunction C'anal

W^est Durh.am Railway

AVestuiinsier Improvement .

Wishaw S^ Collness Railway

Wyrlcy and Ivssington and
Birminglitim Canal .

L^eiitio.

pre-
sented.

Feb. e.
Feb. 8.
Feb. 12.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 20.
Feb. 21.
Fel). 22.
Feb. 22.
Fell. 21 .
Feb. 21.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 22.

Feb. 14.
Feb. 19.
Fel). 22.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 22.

Feb. m.

Mar

n.

Feb. 12.

Mar

14.

Feb. 20.

Mar

1.'").

Feb. 20.

Mar

11.

Feb. 21.

Alar.

18.

Feb. 18.

•Mar

13.

Feb. 14.

Alar.

4.

Mar. 3.

Feb. 20.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 21.

Feb. 14.
Feb. 8.
Feb. 19.
Feb. 19.
Feb. 19.
Feb. 2L

Feb. 22.

Feb. 6.
Feb. 18.

Feb. 11.
Feb. 18.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 12.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 14.

Feb. 18.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 11.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 18.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 14.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 6.
Feb. 6.

Feb. 21.
Feb. 19.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 7.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 12.
Feb. 11.
May 3.
Feb. 14.
Fob. 22.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 22.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 12.

Feb. 18.

Bill read
iirst
time

Feb. 27.
Mar. l.'j.
Mar. 14.

June 17.
Mar. 1.5.
Mar. 15.
.Mar. 18.
Mar. 18.

Mar.' 18.
Mar. 18.
Mai-. 7.
i\lar. 18.
Mar. 18.
Mar. 12.

Mar, 8.

Mar.' 18.
Mar. 20.

Mar. 13.

Mar. 18.

Feb. 28.
Feb. 22.
Apr. 11.
Mar. IS.
Mar. 18.
Mar. 18.

Feb. 25.
Mar. 18.

May. 1.
Mar. 7.
Mar. 18.
Mar. 14.
Mar. 15.
Feb. 28.

Bill reao
second
time.

Mar. 12.
Apr. 1 5.
Apr. 8.

June 27.
Apr. 12.
Apr. 9.
Apr. 15.

Apr. 22.
May 28.
Mai. 19.
Apr. 12.
May 30.
Mar. 22.

Mar. 21.

May 28.

May 28.

Mar. 27.
Apr. 8.
Apr. b.
Mar. 21.

Mar."25.
Mar. 13.

Apr. 22.

May 28.

Mar. 12.
Mar. 6.
Apr. 26.
Apr. 8.

Apr. 8.

Mar. 7.
Apr. 23.

May 14.
Mar. 19.

Apr. 8.

Mar.'ll.

Bill read
third
time.

.Mar. ];
Mar. 18. |Apr.22.
Mar. 27. Apr. 16.
Mar. 4. Mar. 14.

Apr. U.
Mar. 18.
Mar. 13.

Feb. '20.
Feb. 20.

Mar. 18.

Mar,
Mar.
Feb.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Feb.
May

Apr. 23.
Apr. 12.
Apr. 8.

Mar. 6.
Mar. 4.

Apr. 12.

Mar. 22.
Mar. 6.

Apr. '22.
Mar. 27.
Mar. 25.
May 30.

; Mar. 15.

Mar.' 18.
Mar.' 14.

Mil

y "•

Apr. 8.
Apr. 8.

Apr. 15.
May' 3.

June 13.

May 31.
July 30.
May 13.
.May 2.

Ari'.'30.

.June 20.

June 21.
June 27.

May 30.
Ma 28.
June 7.
Apr. 16.

May 3.
May 1.

May 15.

June 27.

May 13.
May 30.
June 6.
May 3.

May' 3,

May 3.
June 13.

May 30.
May' 3.
Apr.'lS.

June 4.
June 4.
May I.

June 6.
June 3.
May 2.

Mar.' 19.
Mar. 15.

June 13.

May 30.
May 6.

June 10.
May 28.
May 15.
June 19.

,lune 13.

May 14.
May' 3.

Royal
Assent.

May 14.
July'l.

Julv'l.

June 14.
Aug. 17.
July 1.
June 4.

June 4.

Aug. 17.

July '19.
July 19.

July 1.
June 14.
.luly 1.
May M,

June 14,
June 4.

June 4,

July 29.

June 14.
June 14.
Aug. 26.
June 4.

June 4.

June 4.
July 4,

July" 1.
July '4.
May 14.

July 19.
July 19.
July 1.

July" 1.
July 19.
June 4.

Apr. 19.
July 1.

July 1.

Juric 4.

Ju'r' 1.
July 1.
[June 14.
July 19.

Julv'l.

July 4,
July"].

PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.

INSTITUTION or THE ARCHITECTS OF IRELAND.

The first annual meeting of tliis excellent institution was held on Wednes-
day, Aug. 28, at No. 10, Gloucester-street, for the purposes of electing a
council and other officers for tlie ensuing year, and of transacting other busi-
ness of importance.

Richard Morbison, Esa., the Vice-President, iu the Chair.

An animated conversation ensued between the respected Chairman and
other gentlemen present, on the great advantages which the Institution must
confer on the country. It was stated, that while the professional architects
of Ireland were inferior to no other class of men in Europe, in the several
liranches of their profession, and were competent to raise the architectural
taste of the country to the pre-eminence which we should hold in eiilighteneil
society, they were thwarted in all their eftbrts by a body of men who laid
claim to the title of architects, though they were, iu reality, merely mechanics,
without any of the knowledge, taste, and learning, which are indis])ensable
to the profession. The many tasteless and deformed buildings which every-
where meet the eye while going through the country, bear undeniable proof
of the truth of this allegation, while the chaste designs which are occasionally
met with afford evidence that real talent, if encoiu'aged, is not \\antiug
among us. The Institute is founded on the principles of the Royal Insti-
tute of British Architects, and it is intended to include among its members
and associates all the qualified members of the profession in the country, as
well as all the resident nobihty, gentry, and other encouragers of the tine arts,
and also, as honorary or corresponding members, the principal learned men
of other countries. The objects of the society are the advancement of civil
architecture, and of all the other arts and sciences connected with it ; the
formation of a library and museum ; the earning on of a correspondence witli
learned men in all parts of the world ; and, in fact, the raising of the pro-
fession to its legitimate state in the country, and the improving of the national
taste for architecture.

The Secretary read a very flattering letter from Lord Fitzgerald and Vesci,
consenting to become the President of their society, and also from the Mar-
quis of Normanby and other noblemen and gentlemen, stating their warm
feelings of co-operation vidth the objects of the Institute.

The following arc the officers ajijiointed for the ensuing year : —

President, Lord Fitzgerald and Vesci ; Vice-President, Richard Morrison,
Esq. ; Council, William MiuTay, Fi'cderick Darley, Wilham Dean Butler,
William Farrcll, James Shell, George Papworth, and John T. Papworth,
Esqrs. ; Treasurer, Wilham Murray, Esq. ; Secretaiy, John T. Papworth, Esq. ;
Bankers, Messrs. Latouche and Co.

The Milling Journal. — We feel ourselves called upon to direct the attention
of those of our readers engaged in mining ]Airsuils, to the subscriplion now-
going on among the members of that interest, to express their sense of Mr.
English's conduct, in the late action fur libel brought against him by a Mr.
William Millie Thomas. The jury expressed the sense of all well-tliinking
members of society bv awarding a farthing damages, while the judge awarded
a farthing only for tlie costs, and his friends have taken tliis opportunity to
present him with a permanent testimony of his victory, and of their esteem.

STEAM NAVIGATION.

T/if^ St'sostris. — The launch of this beautiful vessel took place the beginning
of last month, from the dockyard of Mr. Pitcher, at NorthHeet. The Se-
sostris is one of a class built by order of the East India Company, for the
express purpose of protecting their trade in the Indian seas. .She is a mag-
nificent vessel, of the highest order of naval architecture, and is altogether
« urthy of the important post assigned to her. She is now in the East India
Docks receiving her engines.

Tlie Boston mid Lircrpooi Steam Ships. — Mr. Cunard, the enterprising pro-
prietor of the line of steam ships to run between Boston and Liverpool, via
Halifax, has arrived in town. He came passenger to New York in the
British Queen.

He has determined, as we are informed, that the large boats of his line
shall run, between Liverpool and Boston, merely .stopping at Halifax some
hours, to discharge freight and passengers. Of these boats he has four now
building at (ilasgow. each 1.260 tons, with engines of 460 horse power.
They are upwards of 200 feet long, and 34 feet wide. He has two smaller
boats building, for the purpose of keeping up a communication between Pic-
ton and Quebec.

What Mr. Cunard asks of the Bostonians is, that they should provide him
with a wharf, without charge, at which his vessels may be safely moored
while in this city. .Such a wharf, it is supposed, will cost from 40.000 dollars
to 50.000 dollars. The committee appointed some time since for that puri>ose,
are taking measures, we believe, to collect the necessary amount. We cannot
have a doubt of thiir speedy success. It is not to be supposed that our
merchants will hesitate a moment about securing to themselves the great
advantage of a semi-monthly steam-packet communication with England.
It was the establishment of regular linos of packets between New York and
Liverpool that first led to the great concentration of the foreign trade in
that city. We ought to improve the present opportunity of regaining our
fair share of that trade.

Mr. Cunard 's line is to commence its trips on the 1st of May ne.\t, In

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

395

|ioiiit of sleam ships we sliiill then stand on a par with Ne«" York. We
shall have four, and for some time to come she is not likely to have a greater
number. — Boston AUna.

SInimboli. — This fine steamer was launched at Portsmouth on Tuesday,
27th of August, and immediately after warpeil under tlie sheers and masted.
When that was done she »as taken into dock, and is there a( present to he
coppered and fitted for engines, boilers, machinery, anil paddles. The fol-
lowing are her dimensions : — Length, 180 feet 1 5-8 inch , ditto of keel for
tonnage, 1.57 feet 2 .3-8 inches ; extreme breadth, 34 feet 4 inches ; ditto for
liinnage, 34 feet; depth of hold, 21 feet: tonnage, 966.

Primie/heus, steam-vessel, built in Sheerness dock-yard, was launched the
23rd of .September ; her dimensions are : — Length betw een the pei'pendiculars.
164 feet ; keel for tonnage, 141 feet 6 inches; e.Ktreme lireadtli, 32 feet 8
inches ; breadth for tonnage, 32 feet 6 inches ; moulded, 31 feet 10 inches ;
depth in hold, 18 feet 7 inches ; burden in tons, 79.5 ; her engines are to be
of 200 horse power. This vessel was built in the short space of 3 months.

Len^thenhig of a Steamer. — A curioits operation lately took place in Chat-
haiTi Dockyard, that ot lengthening the Gleaner steam-vessel, which had
been taken into dock for that purpose. She was sawn in two a little more
than one-third of her length from her stern, and ways were laid from the
fore part of her to tread on. the purchase falls were rove, and brought to
two capstans, and the order being given by the master shipwright, the men
hove avcay, and in five minutes the fore section was separated from the after
part a distance of 18 feet. The space between will now be filled up by new
timber. There is no record ot any ship or vessel having been lengthened
in this dock -yard before the Gleaner.

A splendid steam-ship, of eight hundred tons burthen, built for the Rus-
sian Government, was launched at Gravesend on Monday, the 9th idt.

The Vernon steamer sailed on Saturday, the 7th ult., from Blackwall, for
the Cape of Good Hope, being the tirst attempt to send an ocean steamer
round that point to India.

i'ana! Steam Navigation. — Messrs. Robins and Co. seem determined to in-
troduce steam power on canals. On .Saturday last we went, by invitation, to
their warehouse in Camp-field, to witness the e.'iperimental trip of another
l)oat. The vessel IS the same as the one in which the propellers were used,
about a year ago, and its name is Norelty. It is a rotatory engine of about
ten horses' power, the invention of Mr. Rowley, surgeon, of this town. The
boiler worked in Lord's mill, in Garrat-road, about .six months ago, and is
therefore too heavy ibr the purjinse ; but if the experuuent succeeds, ma-
chinery will be maile c.NpressIy for it. the action of the propellers was so
violent as to shake the boat very nuich, ami cause great leakage, thereby
rendering it unfit for use. To avoid tins, Mr. Rowdey has adopted the rota-
torv form, and the motion is verv pleasant. At a few minutes before two
o'clock, the boat set off along the l^ridgewaler Canal, as far as a place calleil
the M^aters, distant about foiu' mdes and a half, performing the distance in
56 minutes, and the return thence in 4:5 minutes, being at the rate of nearly
five miles an hour. The depth of water in the duke's canal is only four feet,
and therefore the boat could not go at any speed. .Subsequently, hoHever,
she was taken on the river Irwell, and proceeded up the river as far tis the
New Bailey Bridge, and she went there, from the junction locks, in ten
minutes. .She then went down as far .as Throstle Nest weir, and performed
the distance from the bridge to the locks in eight minutes, and to the weir
in eleven minutes ; thus going in less than twenty minutes; she then re-
turned from Throstle Nest weir to the locks in twelve minutes. Several
gentlemen were on board, and expressed their perfect satisfaction at her
speed and motion. She started for London on Monday morning, tugging
another boat with her, it being the cdijeet of Messrs. Robins, not so much to
gain speed, as to economise the labour of horses, &c. The distance by canal
to London is 264 miles, and were a direct line made instead of the round-
about "junctions,'' it might be lessened 100 miles, and then canal passenger
traffic would be a very profitable undertaking.

Her Majestr/s vew Steamer Medusa, intended for the morning line of
packets between Liverpool and Dublin, prueeeded on an experimental trip to
Kingstown, under the conimand of Lieutenant Philipps, accompanied by
Captain Bevis, her Majesty's agent in Liverpool. She accomplished her re-
turn passage in the unparalled short time of nine hours and thirty-eight
minutes, from pier to pier, and this under many disadvantageous circuin-
stances, having to contend with a very heavy beam sea. and her engines
being new and stiff, and tailing sIku-I by nearly a revolution per minute of
their speed. We understand she was liei|uently going thirteen kni.ts per
log, and had she been favoured by a spring tide, her ])assage would scarcely
have exceeded nine hours. She. and her sister ship, the Merlin, were mo-
delled by Sir W. Symonds, and their machinery, which has proved to be of
the very first order, was constructed at the celebrated foundry of our towns-
men, Fawcett, Preston, and Co. Tliey are of about 900 tons burden, and
320 horse power, and, owing to their great beam, have admirable accommo-
dations. The size and the strength of these vessels, their power whether
under canvass or steam, and the circumstance of their pas.sing the perilous
navigation at the entrance of our river by daylight, a matter of great eon-
sideratioti at all seasons, but particularly in the winter, have left the public
nothing to desire. — Liverpool Standard.

Eleetro-Magnctie NaviL'attoii. — Mr. Faraday recently received a letter from
M. H..Iaeobi, dateil St. Petersburgh, on the application of electro-magnetism
to navigation, and Mr. Faraday has causeil it to be inserted in the London
and Edinimryk Pliilosop/iieal Magazine fur the current month. The fulloHiiig
is a short extract from this very curious paper: — "In the application of
electro-magne ism to the movement of machines, the must important obsta-
cle always has been the embarrassment and didieult manipulation of the
battery. This obstacle no longer exists. During the autumn of 1838, and
at a season (in IS39) already too advanced. 1 made, as you will have learne<l
by the Gazettes, the first experiments in navigation on the Neva, with a
ten-oared shallop, furni.ihed with paddle-wheels, which were put in motion
by an electro-magnetic machine. Although we voyaged during entire days,
and usually with 10 or 12 persons on board, I was nut well satislied with

this first trial, for there were so many faults of construction and want of
insulations in the machines and battery, which could not be repairetl on tlie
spot, that 1 was terribly annoyed. All these repairs and important changes
being accomplished, the experiments w ill shortly be recommenceil. The ex-
perience of tlie past year, combined with the recent improvements of the
battery, give as the result, that to produce the force of one horse (steam-
engine estimation,) it will reipiire a battery of 20 square feet of platina dis-
tributed in a convenient manner, but I hope that eight to ten square feet
\\ill produce the effect, li' heaven preserve my health, ivhich is a little
afi'ected by continual labour. T hope that by next Midsummer 1 shall have
equipped an eleclro-magnelic vessel of from 40 to 50 horse power."

ENGINEERING 'WORKS.

lUtiing-bell at tlie Brealiwaler. — We understand that preparations have been
for some time past in progress, under the direction ot W. Stuart. I'.sq., the
Superintendant of the Breakwater in Plymouth Sound, for the purpose of put-
ting a diving-bell at work upnn a part of this grand national underlaking.
On Thursday last the bell was lcn\ered down at the western end of the work,
with the view of facilitating the formation of the foundation at that end, from
3 to 4 feet below the lowest ebb tide ; and the extension of the slope lower
down, round the head, with large blocks of granite dovetailed horizontally
and vertically. This is the first occasion on which the bell has been used
upon the breakwater, though it has been frequently used in carrying on other
public works in this port. — Phpnoiiih Herald.

Portishead Pier. — With a view to the port of Bristol becoming the packet
station for Irish anil foreign mails, a prospectus for a pier at Portishead has
been published, in order to secure, at all times of the tide, a safe and commo-
dious station for vessels, — Bath and Clieltenham Gazette.

Thomas Rhodes, Esq., Commissioner for the Improvement of the Shannon,
is already on his tour of inspection. — Waterford Mail,

Pembroke Docki/ard is to be considerably enlarged westward, and a new-
dock formed, agreeably to the insimctions of Government.

The Boston Harbour Committee, acting on the suggestion of Mr. Valentine,
have resolved to sink ,•' vessel, to e.ct as a breakwater, at the end of the new
work in the haven, and i'or t'iat purpose have purchased the old Witham
steamer ; this and some othc, precautionary measures are expected to preserve
the remainder of the work, of w liich a very considerable portion was recently
w ashed away.

Lineoln.shire. — The plan for deepening and widening the Till between Had-
dow and Till-bridge. is not to be relinquished. The fall from Till-bridge to
the Fossdyke being only 2 feet, it is proposed to cut a half seeti n canal,
thereby opening a water communication from Till-bridge to the l''oss. Were
this desirable object accomplished, the dyke would be rendered available for
the purposes of navigation ; and to the agricultural district ti w ould prove a
valuable acquisition, as the corn, coals, manure, &c., now transmitted by
land-carriage might be sent by vessels at a much cheaper rate. — Lincoln
Mereurij.

River Mersey. — A meeting was lield at Liverpool, for the purpose of form-
ing a company to undertake to make -a tunnel under the Mersey, to connect
Liverpool witli the C'heshire side of the river. Mr. Stevenson, Mr. Vignoles,
and other eminent engineers, declared the undertaking practicable. — Chester
Chronicle.

Tlie Newcastle Subscription IVater Company's large reservoir, at the West-
gate, has just been completed under the superintendence of W. D Anderson,
Ksq.. the engineer of the corporation. It will hold more, we believe, than
four times as much water as the old reservoir, and the town has been par-
tially supplied from it since Tuesday last. — Newcastle Chronicle.

Galway Docks.— We stop the press to announce the elfect of an extraordi-
nary spring tide, accomptinied with a south-west gale, to be compared only
with the hurricane of tlie 7th of January last. T'he gale burst in a large
eolferdam of our new docks, within about an hour of high water, and filled
the basin, in an incredibly short perioil, to within 10 inches of the coping.
The devastation wrought by the angry and raging element was majestically
terrific. The immense pieces of balk, used as piles, w tre shattered io pieces,
and nothing could withstand ihe force with which the tide rushed in. The
g.ates fortunately escaped injury. The men employed by Mr. .Tames .Stephens
were happily removed from the works before the trememluus (we may say)
catastrophe. The works must be retarded for about a foitiiigbt. .Stones of
a ton weight were rolled fcndh as pebbles by this Jestniidive tide, and should
the wind continue in the same point, the coping of the dock must be covered
by the succeeding tides. No lives were lost. — Galway Advertiser.

Survey of the Coast be/ween the Tliames and Portsmouth. — ^Ve have recently
observed notices in the local journals of inspections, by commissioners of
known respect;ibilily, of harbours on this coast ; and, on making the neces-
sary inquiries, we are exceedingly glad to learn the very important nature of
ihe investigation in wdiicb they are engaged. They have been appointed by
the Board of Admiralty to inspect the harbours ml the coast between the
Thames and Portsmouth, in order to enalile them to frame a general rejiort
founded on satisfactory data ,as to the means of improving the communication
between this country ami France by steam packets, and of allbrding shelter
to ships in distress during contrary winds or storms. There is not a single
harbour along the coast in question which a vessel of any considerable size,
or wdiich steatn packets can enter, near the period of low water. The com-
missioners are Admiral (iordoii, Cidonel Tnompson (a military engineer),
Messrs. .lames Walker and t^ubitt (civil engineers), Captain Drewe (a member
of Ihe Trinity House), and Captain Vidall (a post captain in the navy).

Improvement of tlie Port and Harbour of Chester. — At a numerous and influ-
ential meeting of the inhabitants ofC'hester and its neighbourhood, held in
llie Exchange, for the purpose of hearing the report of the jirogress made by

396

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[October,

V«^B?'3nX9WBro?>S5B

till' River Dl'i' Navigaliun Innnuvcmcnl C'oiiiniiUcc, to inspect Messrs. Ste-
vensiin's pUuis, :in<l also to hear the remarks of Mr. Scoti Russell on the
sobjeet. tlie Mayor, John UniaeUe, l'',si|., who presided, explained tlie slops
which had lieen'taken liy the eoniinittee apponitcd by the meeting: held in
December last, whose report, with that prepared by Mes.srs. Stevenson, civil
engineers. ofKdiiibnyh, woulil be snbmittej to the meeliiiy. The citizens of
Chester, lie observed, entertained no hostile feeling to tlie River Dee Com-
iiaiiy, but lie thought the latter were boond to fulfil the engagements they
Iiad'entered into when they obtained lh;ir bill, a century ago, to keep six-
teen feci of watir in tlie river at moderate .spring tides, or forfeit iho tenure
of their oecupancy. If the citizens of Chester (■':iM not get the redress they
sought, their only course would be to demand it at the hands of parliament.

The rejiorts in ipicstion were then read, by which it appeareil, altera care-
ful survey, that the estimated e.Npeuse of improving the navigatioia of the
River Dee. from Chester to Flint, and of obtaining sixteen feet at high water,
of ordinary spring tides up to Ciiester, was as follows : —

£ X. (f.

For improving the turn at tlie Cheese House. . . . 350 0 0

For forming rubble laccw alls at tlie first and second turns

below the Cheese House 1,527 15 0

For extending the stone causeway from the Lower Barrel
Perch to the Pentre Rock, including perches or beacons 11,301 15 0

For a steam dredge, with apparatus and jumts, and for
dredging the bed of the river, .so as to obtain sixteen
feet at high water of ordinary spring tides . . 0,458 IS 0

Incidents on 22,641/. 85., at 10 per cent .... 2,264 2 9

Total

i24,905 10 9

Mr. J. iS. Russell, of Glasgow, afterwards addressed the meeting, contending
that a simple practical pi n of improvement wss now proposed to the inhabi-
tants of Chester, which would repay tliem in a few years, by the increase of
dues, for the money they had expended, v hen they might proceed still fuither
with tlicii' improvements, and deepen the river from sixteen to twenty feet.
On the motion of Dr. Thackeray, seconded by 1'',. .S. Walker, Esq., the report
of the Messrs. .Stevenson v\as aclopled. W. 11. Brown, Esi|., said he had been
authorized to state to the meeting, that the River Dee Company woidd give
their fullest consideration and aid to any delinite \\'ell-considered plan for the
improvement of the river; they had consuiie,^ .pnie of the most eminent
engineers on the subject, many of whom eonsideij . the di'cdging scheme as
quite problematical ; but still the company were quite willing to aid the
committee in making a trial of it, and for that purpose tliey had agreed to
give 200/. towards furnishing a dredging machine and v. orking it near the
bends of the river. Mr. Stephenson ana Mr. Russel remarked that no per-
manent good cflect could be produced at the bends of the river by dredging,
until the walls named in the report were made. W. Wardell, Esc^., after-
w arils addressed the meeting, e.\pressing a hope that the River Dee Company
would go liand in hand with the meeting in carrying out the improvements
suggested.

PROGRESS OF RAIIi-WAVS.

Lancaster and Preston linitioaif. and U'ljre RnVwatj. — The operations on both
these lines of railway are now proceeding with all possible activity. On the
Lancaster line, the viaducts, IvC. required for carrying the line to a ter-
minus, in this town, are in a state of considerable forwardness. The works
on the Wyre line are also beginning to assume a business-like appearance at
this end of the line, and a large skew bridge crossing Ashton-lane, promises
to be a very elegtmt structure. We are informed by a gentleman much in-
terc'ited in the railway operations of this neighbourliood, that the lines will
probably open simultaneously; but it is fully expected that the Lancaster
line will be ready for opening in June next. Al Fleetwood, the buildings
are going on with great spirit. An hotel, on a very exti nsive and splendid
scale, is on the eve of being erected. Greater enterprise has been lately
exhibited in the progress of the Wyre railway, and other erections connected
with it, than has been the case at any previous period. — Preston Chronicle.

Chester and Crewe and Bsrhenhead Ittttlwai/s. — "We think our friends wlio
liave not lately visited the two railways in course of construction in the
vicinity of this city, woidd be much gratilied by an inspection of the works,
which are progressing with great rapidity. M'e won d especially recom-
mend to their notice the railway at L'pton, and tlie aqueduct under the
canal at Christleton, through which the Chesicr and Crewe railway is to
pass. The inverted arch, w hicli is to bear the weight of one-half, is now
finished, ^^'e understand the canal ivill be turned from its present tem-
porary course, and How over the acqueduct in two or three months. The
foundation of the Tarvin Road bridge is being laid, and the double line of
jiermanent rails between that place and Chester give a very finished appear-
ance to that portion of the line. — Chester Gazette.

Tlie Midland Counties Raihmij Companii have very wisely instituted a
third-class train of carriages, by which ptissengers are conveyed, morning
' and evening, between Derby and Nottingham, fer a shilling each. We hear
also tliat last week an arrangement commenced, by which passengers from
Birmingham and Derby can reach Nottingham in time for the coaches to
Lincoln and Hull.

(ihrsgoiv. Paislei/. and Oreenoe/c liailuHii/. — Last month the directors of this
railway made their quarterly inspection of the works; — In Glasgow, on
what is called the Joint Line, the piers of the arches are springing up in
every direction ; and although so lately commenced, the works are Hell for-
ward. Most of the masonry between Glasgow and Paisley is completed,
and the line is almost entire. Several miles of the jiermanent rails are now
laying, and in a month or two the cutting at Arkleston will be the only part
ualiiiished. The tunnel there is being bricked, and will be ready, we unJler-

.stand, in January. In I'aislry, the masonry, h liieh is of the most iinpiwing
kind, is likely to be finished this year. From Paisley to the river Gryfe
the railway is in a very advanced state; and thence, over the entire Bishop -
ton contract, the rapid advance made during the last three months appears
wonderful, when the nature of tlie material is taken into account. The
tunnels especially are pushed forward with great energy and detirmination,
and their position is in pleasing contrast with tiie popular predictions of
.six months luick. The West Ferry cutting is llnished, and presents a splen-
did vista of jierpendicular rocks. About 45,000 yards of whin rock have
belli excavated here, at Uie expence of nearly lli0,000 lbs. of gunpowder.
— Greenock Adicrtiscr.

York and North Midland Itailwaii. — 'llie laying of the second line of rails is
proceeding with rapidity, and will be completed from this city (York) to
the junction in about four months. The other works from Millbrd to Altofts
are progressing very favourably, and no doubt exists that the contractors
will have completed their respective contracts in March next. — Vorks/iire
Gazette.

Stockport Viadiirl. — M'e mentioned a month ago that "six :irclies of this
stupendous undertaking had been turned and completed ; since then another
of the large arches (63ft. .span) has lieen turned, and the piers lor three
others are nearly ready to receive the framing of the centres, so that seven
arches, two of the small and live of the large, are so far completed as now
to assume a feature from which the public may gather some idea of the ex-
traordinary magnitude of tlie undertaking. Ilie greatest praise is due to
the contractors for the alacrity with which the work has proceeded; and
judging from present appearances, we might venture to predict that all the
ten arches on the Lancashire side of the river w ill be completed in the
couise of the present year. This is a most extraordinary instance of de-
spatch even equal to railw;iy speed, when it is told that lliey were com-
menced in March last, tluit eight of them are C3 ft. spin, mid five of them
73 ft. above the surface of the earth to the under .side of the arch, and that
each will consume 140.000 bricks and 3,500 feet of timber.

South Eastern Unilieai/. (Godstmie, Surrei/). — The line of the South Eastern
Railway is now being set out through this parish and neighbourhood, and
active operations are expected to commence in a few weeks. — Sitsscd- E.i-2iresSj
Septemln'r 2\st.

Birmingham and Dcrhij Junction Sailiva?/. — Engineer's report at the las
half-yeaii-ly Meeting liel'd on the 29lli ot' August. Dkau riiu. — Agreeably
with your instructions, I have to submit to you the following brief remarks
on the present state of the works.

The doulile line of the permanent way is laid and ballasted the whole
distance, with the e.\cepiion of about a mile near Derby, which, I expect,
will be completed in the month of October. Tiie recent unusually heavy
rains, which delayed the opening of the line for several weeks, caused a
general subsidence in the newly-formed embankments, and have required
great exertions on the part of the contractors to maintain the permanent
way in good order. No interniption to the traffic has. however, occurred
from this source, and 1 anticipate, in consequence of the rapid consolidation
of the embankments, some reductiun in the repairs during the coming winter.

Excepting on the part of the line near Derijy before mentioned, little re-
mains to be done by the contractors in completing the line besides soiling
the slopes and similar works, and the progress making, will, I expect, enable
me to bring nearly the wliole , f their accounts to a close in the course of a
few weeks. The necessary arrangements for commencing the conveyance of
goods between Birmingham and Derby will be made by the cud of Sep-
tember.

The stations at Burton and Hampton will be completed in the course of
the ensuing month ; and, in the mean time, the nature of the tratlic at the
intermediate temporary stations will best point out the extent of accoinmo-
dation to be there permanently provided. Eight locomotive engines have
now been receive-l. and four are in the course of delivery.

A considerable number of coaches liave been placed upon the line, and in
a few weeks more, a stock of carriages will be ready sufficient for the re-
quirements of every kind of traltie at present contemplated. From a careful
revisal of the state of the works, with a view to a final .settlement of the
contractors" accounts, i have every reason to believe that the total expense,
under that head, will not exceed the amount of my last estimate.

1 am. dear sir.

Yours, respectfully,

JOH.N C. BlUKIXSUAW,

Henry .Smith, Esq. Resident Engineer.

MANCHESTER AND BIRMINGHAiM RAILWAY.

ExGINIiER's Re- PORT to thc Board of Directors read at the last Half-yearly
JMeeting, held on 5th of September.

Gentlemen. — I beg to present thc following Report on the rate of progress of
the works under contract during thc last half-year :

No. 1, or Fairjield Street Contract. — The heaviest work on this contract is tlio
cast iron oblique bridge (of 128 feet 9 inches span) over Fairfield Street. The
masonry of one abutment is in a forward state, and thc rate of progress is such
as to insure both being ready for the erection of thc arch by the middle of
next month, when the castings are expected to be ready, and thc founder has un-
dertaken to have thc iron work erected at the end of this year. The other part
of this contract consists of arches of brickwork of 45 feet span, of which only
live remain to be turned, and the piers and centres are ready. 1 entertain no
doubt of this contract being completed within the specified time.

No. 2, or Chancer 1/ Lane Contract y — Docs not comprehend any work ilcnianding
extraordinary exertions. All the piers and abutments are built, and the imposts
ready for tlie arches. The arches are of 30 feet span, and sixteen only remain
to be turned, which will bo accomplished in six weeks, A portion of the parapet
is built, and the rate of progress in each department is consistent with the con-
tract being completed within thc specified period.

No. 3, or High Road Contract, — Chiefly consists of lifty-two arches of 36 feet
span, sixtccngf which arc turned. Of the remainder, four have tlie centres

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

397

lixed ready for turning ■, twenty-t'onr are ready for the imposts, which arc in the
ground ; the piers for the remaining six are commenced, and are about half
Iiuilt. The number of centres in use, and of hands employed, enable the con-
tractors to turn one arch daily; the whole, therefore, will require hut six.
weeks, unless delayed by unfavourable weather. The south end of this contract
is terminated liy a cast iron oblique bridge over the Hyde Road. The piers and
abutment-^ of this bridge are in progress, and the whole of the iron work is cast,
and now Otled together. The contractors had not possession of the land for this
contract until Aprillast, hut have nevertheless undertaken to complete it simul-
taneously with theirother contract. No. 2. The state of the works as now reported,
and the arrangements made, are sufficient to justify a confident expectation of
tlie completion of the %vork accordingly.

N(j. 4, or Henton Nurris Contr.ict.-^The excavation of Heaton Norris, and its
corresponding embankment, are the only heavy work, and they are in a forward
state. On the 13th of last month, the embankment from Heaton Norris to the
Hyde Road required but 50,000 cubic yards to complete it. This work, therefore,
has advanced consistently with its completion by the beginning of November
next, as stated in my Report of last half-year. At the same date there remained
in tlie Heaton Norris cutting 112,820 cubic yards. It will be observed that this
quantity exceeds that which is required to finish the embankment •, the surplus
("being all sand) will he required for ballasting the permanent way. The em-
hnnkment at the south end of this contract extends to the north abutment of the
.Stockport Viaduct, and requires only 12,700 yards to complete it. The bridges
under the line are nearly all completed, except that wliich crosses the Stockport
Road, This is an oblique cast ix'on bridge, each from the patterns made for the
Hyde Road bridge. The iron work of both is in the same state of forwardness.
The erection of the bridges over the line has just commen.ed, and will, I have
no doubt, proceed with the energy necessary to bring the work to completion in
the specified time. It may be proper to observe, that three bridges could not
have been begun earlier, because the foundations are in sand full of water, which
could nol be eflectually drained until the culling was nearly linished. I have no
reason to appreliend any disappointment in the completion of this Contract iu
the proper time.

No. 5, or Stockport Viaduct Contract. — The nortli abutment is built to the
level of the cornice. Three arches are tunied and backed ; the fourth is nearly
so ; the centering for the fifth is being fixed ; the sixtli and seventh piers are built
and the imposts are upon them ready for the centering j the base of the eighth
pier is complete, and that of the ninth is just begun. TJie cofferdam for the
north pier in the Mersey is finished, and that for the south is in progress. This
Contract is proceeding satisfactorily, and I think consistently with the comple-
tion in proper time.

NOf 6, or Congh^ton Viaduct Contract. — Eight millions of bricks have been
made. The quantity will be sufficient to carry on the work until the return of
the brick-making season. The contractor is erecting his machinery, and the
first stone is expected to be laid in about a fortnight.

I am, Gentlemen, your most obedient Servant,
Manchester, Sept. 5th, 1839. ' Geo.W. Buck.

NE^V CHUnCHSS, &' .

NurthnmherUtnd. — On the 9th ult. the foundation stone was laid of a new
church to be erected at Tynemouth. The architects, Messrs. John and Benja-
min Green, have selected for the style of architecture, the gothic of the 15th
century, having the perpendicular character in the subdivision of the muUions of
the windows, &c., which was prevalent in this country about the time of Henry
tlie 7th, and other features which mark the style. The building will be highly
ornamental to Tynemouth, being placed at the west end of the village, where the
Preston and Shields roads divide. The plan of the church is in the form of a
cross, with a transept at the north and south sides, and a chancel at the east
end, beyond which is a robing room. There will be a tower or turret, and sur-
mounted by a spire 95 feet high from the ground. The length of the church
inside is 83 feet, including the chancel, and the breadth 41 feet, exclusive of the
transepts, which project 9 feet on each side. The number of sittings provided
for at present is 500 (on the ground floor), of which 250 are free ; but the interior
is arranged so that galleries may hereafter be erected, whenever it is found ne-
cessary to increase the accommodation. The site on which the church is built
has been presented by his Grace the Duke of Northumberland, together with a
donation of 200/. towards the evection.-— Newcastle Chronicle.

Staffordshire. — Tlie first stone of a new church in the parish of Walsall, was
laid l)y the Right Hon. the Countess of Bradford, on Monday, 14th ult. The
intended church will be a gothic structure, supported by buttresses, with em-
battled turrets and a tower, capable of accommodating 1,150 persons. About
700 sittings will be free. — Mr. Highway is the Architect,

Jiye Church. — This ancient and spacious building is undergoing certain im-
provements, which, when completed, will add materially to its beauty and con-
venience. The gallery is to be considerably enlarged, chiefly for the accommo-
dation of the school children, and for the reception of the organ -, and a doorway
underneath, which is said to have been closed for at least 100 years, has also
just been opened. But the most material alteration will be made in the two im-
mense gothic windows, at the east and west of the edifice. A large portion of
the window at the chancel end, which is now 'bricked up, will be opened ; and
tlie plain glass will be replaced by either painted or stained glass. The same
alteration is to be made in the western window, which will greatly enhance the
beauty of the cIiuitIi, This is done at the suggestion of Jolin Haddock Jjardner,
Esq., who lias liberally oft'ered to defray the whole of the expense. — Brighton
Gazette.

Dorsetshire,— It has been decided to build a new church at Marshwood, and
tenders have been advertised for, for carrying the work into execution. — Dorset
Countif Chronicle.

Cheltenham. — The two new churches now building in our immediate vicinity
are fast approaching completion. That on the border-line of Leckhampfon
parish, the works of which had for a long time been suspended from want of
funds, is again in active prugreas, and the tow^r appears already rising consider-

ably above the budv of the church, the interior of which is also in a very forward
slate; masons and plasterers being alike busily employed therein. Christ
Church, whose noble and cathedral-looking tower forms quite the crowning orna-
ment of the town's architecture, has been for some time in the possession of the
carpenters and painters, who are still actively engaged on the pews and general
fittings. The pulpit and reading-desks, which are of white stone, sculptured and
carved in harmony with the gothic style of the exterior style of the building, are
neai'ly linished, and judging from the present appearances, the church seems
likely to be quite ready for the perfonnance of divine service in the course of a
month, or six weeks at farthest. The second week in October has been named
as the probable time of consecration, but we believe nothing has yet been posi-
tively fixed on the subject. — Cheltenham Looker on,

Chnrrh BnHdinff Commission. — The 19th annual report of the Commissioners
for Buihling New Churches has been just issued. At the time of printing their
last report the Commissioners state that 225 churches and chapels had been com-
pleted, in which accommodation had been provided for 297,912 persons, including
164,495 free seats appropriated to the use of the poor. Since that time they
report that 18 churches have been completed, atVording accommodation for 16,000
persons, including 9773 free seats for the poor ; making in the whole 243 churches
and chapels ; affording accommodation for 314,412 persons, including 174,270
free seats for the poor. In addition to these, 18 other now churches are now
building, and in a very forward state : the number to be accommodated in pews
is 7207, and in free seats 9949 ; toial 17,156. Plans for eight other churches
have been approved of, and it is in contemplation to build eight others, at vari-
ous places. Conditional grants of money have been made to 38 parishes, town-
ships, or places, in aid of building churches and chapels ; as also for providing
sites for churches and chapels in 46 other different places, interspersedly through-
out England. Applications for further church accommodation have been made
bv the inhabitants of 47 districts, situate respectively either in England ov
Wales.

Manchesfex. — The new Unitarian Chapel was opened for divine service at the
beginning of the last month, it is situate nearly opposite Clifford -street. Upper
Brook-street. The chapel (the corner stone of which was laid on the 8th Sept.,
1837, the walls being at that time level with the floor) is a handsome stone edi-
fice, from an original design by Mr. Charles Barry (who was present during the
services), the architect of the new houses of parliament, of the free grammar
school of King Edward IV. Birmingham,9and of the Royal Institution and the
Athenaeum in this town. The style of architecture of this chapel, is what is de-
signated the mixed or English. The west, or entrance end, has a cathedral-like
appearance, chiefly the result of a bold arch, f nclosing gothic folding-doors, and
a double arched window above, between light elegant pillars. The corners, as
well as both sixles of the building, arc flanked by massive stone buttresses, sur-
mounted by crocketted pinnacles, and a high pointed roof, covered with green
slates. The sides of the chapel are respectively divided, but eight buttresses,
into seven beys, each containing a high arched window. The east or vestry end,
has a circular window, below which is an atiached, projected building, compri-
sing a convenient vestry and a committee-room, each about fourteen feet square.
The entrance to the chapel h:is two porches ; stairs on each side of the outer arch
communicate with the organ gallery and small galleries which form its wings, all
being over the porches, and not projecting at all into the body of the chapel. The
inner porch opens into lobbies, through which are entrances to the floor of the
chapel. The position and form of the west-end galleries, placed as it were iu
arched recesses, and there being no other gallery, contribute to a pleasing and
novel effect, which is produced in the interior by the lofty space terminating in an
arched roof, approaching to the pointed of or lancet form. The dimensions of
the chapel are 73 by 37 feet, inside measure. The chapel contains, on the floor,
88 pews, and four in the small galleries, and will furnish accommodation alto-
gether for 450 persons. There are two side isles, as in the late Mosley-street
chapel, dividing the pews into three tir^rs, all on the level; and the building can
be warmed by means of hot water passing under the flooring, and the ^^ arm air
from which ascends through gratings bordering the aisles. The cost of the land
around (which is hereafter to be surrounded with an iron palisading, in harmony
with the style that pervades the building,) and of the edifice itself, which was
erected by Messrs. Bowden and Edwards, is between 8,000/. and 9,000/.— ,1/aH-
chestet Advertiser*

PUBIiIC EITIIjaJI^GS, &c.

Plymoiith. — A meeting was held on the 18th ult. to take into consideration
the erection of a Public Hall of very spacious dimensions in this town. Mr.
AVightwick, the architect, submitted designs, and an estimate for the building,
which met with the general approval of the meeting. The design for the build-
ing exhibits a grand Corinthian Portico towards Lockyer-street ; and a neat front
towards the east, harmonising with the architecture of Princess-square. To
give an idea of the size of the great hall, it may be premised, that the ball-room
of the Royal Hotel is about 77 feet by 40 feet, while the ceiling of the room pro-
posed, measures 100 feet by 60. This will be surrounded with a gallery 10 feet
wide, along the sides and one end, and 20 feet wide at the otlier end. In the
eastern portion of the building are tv/o handsome rooms, 50 by 25 eacli ; and
below these are the entrance from Princess-square, with rooms for a resident
house-keeper. A great extent of basement is necessarily provided, to be appor-
tioned oft' for store cellarage as required. The great hall woulil be lighted by
tw® vast lantern ranges, extending from end to end, immediately under the cor-
nice of the ceiling ; and supported by opposite rows of lofty columns, or tintce,
standing forwards the width of the galleries from the outer walls ; so ihat the
interior, (divided, as it were, into a spacious lofty nave, and lower side aisles,
and having also galleries on smaller columns across botli ends,) will exhibit an
unusually rich and varied perspective. This design was, however, merely sub-
mitted by Mr. Wigbtwick, as a sketch, to be niodilied as occasion may require j
and as made out cliiefly with the view of obtaining definite information as to the
cost of such a h\\\\<\'\w^. -Plymouth Herald.

Royal Euchanyc. -The joint conimiltee of the Gresham trust, and the Mercers'
company^ have applied to Sir Robert Smirkc, Mr. Hardwick^ and Mr, Barry, to

3P8

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[October,

examine the desiiins sent in for the new Royal Kxchani^e, anil select six for the
choice of the committee. It is said that the last-named gentleman has declined,
and we suppose that the others must be placed in an awkward predicament, as
their immediate relatives are understood to be competitors in the contest. It is
to be hoped, at all events, that the design chosen may reflect credit on the city of
London, and that no paltry considerations of mere rental, will lead to the selec-
tion of a project, whose only merit may he its producinu; " shent per shcnt" upon
the outlay. If such sliould be the case, the ex-Chancellor of the Kxchequer had
better have kept his 150,000/. laid out in the purchase of valuable buildings for a
site to receive such an excrcsence, and the committee had better pause ere they
pull down the wedgelike masses in front of the Bank, which may serve to con-
ceal this evidence of the taste of our citizens. The eyes of all Europe may be
said to be upon the choice of the committee, which is either to reflect credit or
disgrace upon our national architecture. — Times,

niISCEI.I.ANEA.

Thnrwahhen, who has recently completed some mythological bas-reliefs, is at
present occupied with a bust of Holberg, and, when ih.at is finished, will under-
take, for the Baroness Stampe, a statue of himself in marble. The sculptor is
now residing at the beautiful estate of that lady, where she has built an atelier for
his use. He baa lately visited Hamburgh, and made many short excursions in the
neighbourhood, which have resembled a continued triumph. Wherever he went
he was received with processions, speeches, and all tho usual manifestations of
respect and pleasure : peasants, it is said, came many miles to see him, and land-
lords refused to accept payment for the refreshments furnished on these occa-
sions— a proof how far his popularity has extended among the people, however
imperfectly the grounds on which it rests may be tinderstood. — Athetieeum.

A River Scythe. — A method has been resorted to for the purpose of
cutting the weeds on the upper Witham of sewers, which has proved of
great utility, and is desening of being extensively adopted. It is this :
several scythe blades are rivetted together in one length, so as to reach
across the river, and also to curve doflni towards the bed of it. The elasti-
city of the scrthes, and their united length, natiu-ally cause the ciu-vatiu-e
to take the proper adaptation, and fit the 1)C<1 ; but there are also some
weights added, to assist iu keeping the implement at a proper depth : be-
sides which it is requisite to let the edge be always horizontal : a broad
piece of iron is therefore rivetted at each extremity, at right angles, and to
these ends ropes are attached. Three men on each side of the river draw
the apparatus upwards, thus meeting the weeds as they are bent downwards
by the ciurent : by ])roceeding thus the weeds are cut close to the roots.
Foiu- miles a day can be cut and cleared, but it is necessary to have four
men on each side the river to haid and relieve each other, ami eight men to
follow with rakes. — Stamford Mercury.

Wrought Iron Wheels.— Hmnne, Bartley & C'o's. Patent ^\'rought Iron
AVheels for locomotive engines, railway carriages, &C. The M'lieel is made
of wrought iron; the spokes of which are flat, and placed «ith their edges
towards the running cotirse of the wlieel. The Patentees prefer making tlie
naves of wrought irun. but they may be east on, though the wheel would
then be inferior to one with wrought iron naves.

Copying Oil I'ainthigs. — The German papers slate that M. Loipmann, of
Berlin, has invented a machine for obtaining copies of oil-coloured paintings.
It is further said, that the inventor produced with his machine, in one of the
rooms of the Royal Museum, at Berlin, 110 copies of Rembrandt's portrait,
painted by himself. M. Leipmann oflers these copies for sale at a louis-d'or
each.

T. H. Wyatt. Esti. has been appointed architect and surveyor to the Mid-
dlesex Hospital in lieu of Mr. Basevi, who resigned that appointment.

I.IST OF VfEMV PATENTS.

GRANTED IN ENGLAND FROM 5tH SEPTEMBER TO 26tH SEPTEMBER, 1839.

Charles Greenway. of Douglas, in the Isle of Man. for " eerlain im-
provements in S7inffer.i." — Sealed, beptember 5 ; six umntlis.

Bryan Donkin, of Blue Anchor Road, Bermondsey, Engineer, for "an
improvement or improvements to be used in the process of viaking paper by hand
or hy machinery." C'omnumicated by a foreigner residing abroad. — .Septem-
ber 5 ; six months.

Paul Robin, of St. Paul's Chain, London, Gent,, for "improvements in
spinning.'' Communicated by a foreigner resi<ling abroad. — September 5 ; six
months.

John Rapson, of Emmett Street, Poplar, millright and engineer, for " im-
provements in steering ships and vessels." — September 5 ; six months.

Frederick Brown, of Luton, in the county of Bedford, ironmonger, for
" improvements in .■itoves or J!re-places."—Scinem'\)er 9 ; six mon'lis.

Samuel .Stockf.r, of HighHolborn, pump maker, for "improvements in
beer, cyder, and .•spirit engines." — September 11; six months.

Moses Poole, of Lincoln's Inn, Gent., for " improvements in apparatus ap-
plicable to steam-boilers iu order to render them more .sy//i'.'' Communicated by
a foreigner residing abroad.— Seplember 11 ; six moiitiis.

Stephen Rooees, of the city of Bristol, merchant, for " certain improve-

ments in building llie walls oj houses and otiier edifices." — .September 1 G ; si.v
monllis.

Isaac Ddods, of Miisbro, and A\'ili.iAiM Owen, of Rotherham, both in the
county of York, civil engineers, for " certain improvements applicable to rail-
ways, and in the construction and manufacture of wheels, engines, and machinery ,
to he used tbereim, part or parts of which are applicable io other engines, and
which wheels without a flange are also applicable for nse on turnpike roads." —
.September lb ; six months.

Jon Taylor, of Pendleton, near Manclioster. joiner and builder, for "cer-
tain improvements iu machinery or apparatus for cutting or forming ornamental
mouldings or devices in wood and other materials." — September 19; six
months.

William Nkwton, of Chancery Lane, for " an improved machine or appa-
ratus for weighing t'arious kinds of articles and goods." Communicated by a
foreigner residing abroad. — September 19 ; six months.

John Wertheimer, of M'est .Street, Finsbury Circus, printer, for " im-
provements in producing ornamental raised surfaces on paper," Communicatetl
by a foreigner residing abroad, — .September 19 ; six months.

Thomas Topd. of Kingstoii-upon-Hidl, Gent., for " improvemeyits iu pro'
pelling vessel.'i" — September 19 ; six months.

Henry Nef.dh m .Scrope Shkai'nkll, of Gosport. Gent., for "improve-
ments in corhscrews." — September 26; six months.

Samubl WiLKS, of Catherine Cross, Darleston, Stafford, iron founder, for
" improvements in bo,xes and pins, or screws for vices and presses." — September
26 ; six months.

William Henry Hornby, and William Kenworthy, both of Blackburn,
manutacturers, for "certain improi'emeuts in the machinery or apparatus for
sizeint/. and othenvise preparing cotton, wool, flax, and other warps for weaviny."
— September 26 ; six montlis.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

We have received several more communications on railway curves : we are
afraid of tiriuy the patience of many of our readers by the continuance of
the discussion, but hiou'ing the great interest of the subject to the junior
members of the profession, we have been induced to extend more space to it
than we otherwise should have done. We shall select a few of the communi-
cations which remain on our table, and publish them next month, when loe
hope the discussion will terminate, unless there be any additional communica-
tion es.'ientially different to what has already appeared.

Xelson Memorial. We have to apologize to those parties who have for-
warded us additional description.^ of designs, for not making room for their
papers, we will fry what we can do ne.vt montti.

Letters from Mr, Habershon and " // Catholic," relative to our review on.
half-timbered houses, are postponed until ne.rt month, when zee shall conclude
the review.

Thanks to Mr, Lewis Cubitt for his parcel.

In consequence of the very great length of some of the papers in the pre-
sent Journal, which we considered best to publish in full, rather than divide
them, we are obliged to postpone several communications, reviews of new
books, and the principal wood engravings, intended for this month.

The 7'eport on the stone for the new Houses of Parliament will he con-
cluded next month, we have only one more table to publish, which is on the
chemical analyses of stone, by Professors Daniel and Wheatstone,

The Life of Watt, by Arago, will also be concluded next month, if will be
seen that we have apparently placed the paper out of its proper place, by
inserting if after our usual notice to correspondents, which is generally the con-
cluding article of the Journal, we have so placed if in order that the " Eiiloge"
might appear unbroken when the volume is bound up ; the continuance will
form the first article next month.

The third volume of the professional papers of the Royal Engineers was
received as we were going to press ; each additional volume, we are happy to
say, increases in interest.

We shall be obliged, if correspondents who favour us with engravings and
lithographs of designs of buildings, will favour us with a few particulars re-
lative to their construction, cost, dimensions, ^'C.

The Editor will feel obliged to country subscribers if they will forward any
account of works in progress, or any newspapers containing articles or paragraphs
eonut rted with the objects of the Journal ; it will also be doing a great service if
engineers and architects will cause all advertisements connected with contracts
to be insertiul in the Journal.

Communications are requested to he addressed to " The Editor of the Civil
Engineer and Architect's Journal," A'o. 11, Parliament Street, Westminster,
or to Mr. Oroomhridge, Panyer Alley, Paternoster Row; if by post, to he di-
rected tii the former place ; if by parcel, please to direct it to the nearest of the
two places where the coach arrives at in London, as we are fretjuently put to the
e.tpenee of one or two .shillings for the porterage only, of a very small parcel.

Books for revieiv must he sent early in the month, communications on or before
the 'ZOth (if with wood-cuts, earlier), and advertisements on or before the 2fith
instant .

The First Volume may be had, bound in cloth .ynd letpered in oold,
Price 17s.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

399

THE LIFE OF JAMES WATT.

The interest attached to a life of Watt, and the additional attraction
of its emanating from the pen of Arago, has naturally excited in the
public, a desire to possess a work, apparently possessing such a valuable
character. The controversies which have been raised by those who
have read it in its original form, have excited a curiosity, which the
well selected extracts in the Athenteum were calculated to provoke.
Under such circumstances, this work necessarily demanded our atten-
tion, and we thought it therefore, better to give a complete translation
accompanied by notes, rather than by referring to specific points, to
appear in the position of treating M. Arago unfairly, or of availing our-
selves of materials, which were not at the public's disposal.

In determining upon this task at that short notice, which the nature
of a periodical work allows, it happened unfortunately that the illness
of the gentleman, to whom it was originally confided, still further dimi-
nished the brief period, which was necessary for the discussion of a
subject so extensive. It rarely happens that a translator can be placed
in a position more embarrassing than that imposed by the work of M.
Arago ; coming, as it does, with all the weight of a great name, its
pretensions are contradicted by a mannerism and poverty of style, which
on the one hand, compels the translator to slur over these defects, or else
to allow the points of detraction full play. Confused by this dilemma,
we have generally felt it our duty at every sacrifice, to adhere strictly to
the terms of the author. To render his text more clear, we have intro-'
dueed engraved illustrations of which he was not able to avail himself,
and we have stiH furtlier elucidated it, by occasional notes of our own,
and from the able columns of the Athena'um. To Tredgold and to Mr.
Robert Stuart, it is needless to say, that no one engaged in the discussion
of such a subject, could fail to be under obligations.

We have felt it our duty to express in our remarks, a difference from
the views of M. Arago, at which the worshippers of names may feel
astonished, but of which the lovers of truth will appreciate the necessity.
With the most lavish promises, the work presents most insignificant
performance, nothing true of what is new, and nothing new of what is
true. It is needless to say, that England comes out from this chamber
of torture, pure as she went into it, unaccused by her own confessions,
and triumphant over the imputations of her adversaries.

HISTORICAL EUl.OGIUM ON JAMES WATT.

Read before the Acarletmj of Sciences, al Paris, on the 8th of December, 1833,
b;/ M. Arago.

After running through a long list of battles, murders, plagues, famines,
and catastrophes of all kinds with which the chronicles of some country
were filled, of which I do not remember the name, a philosopher ex-
claimed " How happy is that nation, the history of which is barren "
Why must we say, in a literary point of view, "111 luck to whoever is
obliged to relate the history of a happy people." If the exclamation of
the philosopher loses nothing of its truth when applied to individuals,
the converse, unfortunately, characterises with equal truth too many bio-
graphies.

Such were the reflections which struck me whilst I traced the life of
Watt — whilst I collected together the kind communications of the rela-
tions, friends, and companions of that illustrious mechanic. His life
trulypatriarchal, was devoted to labour, study, and meditation, and affords
nolle of those striking events, the relation of which, used skilCully,
serves to relieve the dryness of scientific subjects. 1 will relate it, how-
ever, were it only to shew in what an humble position were prepared
those projects destined to raise the English nation to an unexampled
degree of power. I shall particularly endeavour to point out minutely
the numerous inventions which indissolubly connect the name of Watt
with the history of the steam engine. I know the dangers of this plan
I feel the objections which may be raised against it, I know it may lie said'
that we came to hear an historical sketch, and have been obliged to listen
to a dry and barren lecture, a rcpioach, by the bye, which "would be of

little weight with me, could I but give a lecture on the subject. I will
endeavour, therefore, not to trespass too far on your attention, but to re-
collect that clearness of expression is a matter of courtesy on the part
of those who address a public audience

Childhood and Youth of Watt — His employjient as Philoso-
phical Instrument Maker to the Univeusitv of Glasgow.
James Watt, one of the eight foreign members of the Academy of
Sciences, was born at Gieenock, in Scotland, on the )9th of January,
1736. Our neighbours on the other side of the Channel, are wise enough
to think that the genealogy of an honest and industiious family is just
as worthy of preservation, as the musty deeds of titled houses, often cele-
brated only for the enormity ot their crimes, or the greatness of their
vices. I may, therefore, state, that the great gi-andfather of James Watt,
was a farmer in the county of Aberdeen, and that he was killed in one
of the battles of Montrose. The victorious party, as was the custom in
j;ivil wars, and, I was going to add, is now, did not think his death a
sufficient expiation for the opinions which he had embraced, but still
farther punished him in the person of his son, by confiscating his little
property This unfortunate child, Thomas Watt, was brought up by
some distant relation; and in the isolated position to which he was re-
duced, gave himself up to serious and assiduous study. On the esta-
blishment of tranquility he removed to Greenock, where he taught
mathematics and navigation ; and afterwards lived at Crawford's Dyke,
of which he was one of the magistrates. He died in 1734, aged 92 years.
This Thomas Watt, had two sons, the eldest of whom, John, followed
the profession of his father, at Glasgow, and died in 1737, aged 50,
leaving a chart of the River Clyde, which was published by his brother
James. This latter, the father of the celebrated engineer, was for a long
time treasurer, member of the council, and baillie of the burgh, and
distinguished himself in those offices by his ardent zeal, and enlightened
spirit of reform. He phtralised, do not be afraid, (these threa syllables,
which are now almost excommunicated in l-'rance, shall do no injury to
the memory of Watt;) he pluraHsed 'thicc kinds of employment, he
supplied shipping, he was a ship owner, and a merchant, although these,
unfortunately, did not prevent him from losing in business, towards the
end of his life, part of the fortune which he had so honorably gained. He
died at the age of 84, in 1782.

James Watt, the subject of this Eulogium, was born with a very deli-
cate constitution. His mother, whose maiden name was Muirhead, gave
him his first lessons in reading. He learned writing and accounts from
his father. He also attended the public school at Greenock. Thus the
humble Scotch parochial schools* may be as justly proud of inscribing
the name of this celebrated engineer among the pupils, whom they have
formed, as the college of La Fleche, formerly boasted of Descartes, and
as the University of Cambridge, still boast of Newton.

To be precise, I must relate that frequent illnesses prevented young
Watt from constantly attending the public school of Greenock ; that a
great part of the year he was confined to his room, and that there he de-
voted himself to study, without any out-of-door assistance. As usually
happens, the high intellectual faculties, destined to produce such precious
fruits, began to be developed in retreat. Being too sickly to allow his
parents to think of imposing upon him a laborious occupation ; they
even left him the free choice of his amusements, and we shall see whe-
ther he abused it. A friend of Mr. Watt one day perceived young James
stretched upon the floor, and tracing with chalk all sorts of intricate
lines. " Why," cried he, " do you allow this child to waste his time thus ?
send him to school." Mr. Watt replied: " Perhaps, sir, you may have
pronounced a hasty judgment. Before condemning us, examine atten-
tively what the boy is about." The reparation was not delayed; the
child, only six years of age, was engaged in the solution of a geometrical
problem.

Guided by an enlightened tendeiness, the elder James Watt, placed a
certain number of tools at the disposal of the young student, at an early
age ; the latter used them with the greatest skill ; he took to pieces and
put together again the childish toys which passed through his hands, and
was always making new ones. At a later period he used them in the con-
struction of a small electrical machine, the brilliant sparks ot which
became a great source of amusement and surprise to all the companions
of the poor invalid.

Perhaps Watt, with an excellent memory, would not have figured
among the little piodigies of the ordinary schools. He would certainly
have refused to leain lessons like a parrot ; he who perceived from his
early years the necessity of carefully cultivating the intellectual elements
which were presented to his mind. Nature, besides, had created him for
meditatiun. James Watt, also augured very favourably of the rising
faculties of his son ; relations, however, more distant, and less clear-
sighted, did not pai take of the same hopes.

' Mr, Arago says grammar schools.— Note of translator.

2 K

400

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[October

" James," said Mrs. Muirhead to her nephew one day, " I never saw a
more idle lad than yourself; take a book and employ yourself use-
fully. It is more than an hour since you have spoken a single word.
Do you know what you have been doing all this while? You have
been taking off and putting on the lid of the tea-pot; you have put the
steam which goes from it, sometimes in a saucer and sometimes in a
silver spoon ; you have amused yourself with examining, uniting toge-
ther, and laying hold of the drops, which the condensation of the steam
formed on the surface of the porcelain or polished metal ; is it not a
shame to employ your time thus ?"

In 1750, perhaps, each of us, like Mrs. Muirhead, would have used the
same language ; but the world has progres.«ed, and our knowledge has
increased. Thus, when, as I shall presently explain, the principal disco-
very of our colleague consisted of a particular means of converting steam
into water, the object of the reproaches of Mrs. Muirhead will present
himself before us under a different aspect, and little James before the tea-
pot, will be the great engineer preluding the discoveries which were to
immortalise him ; whilst every one will, undoubtedly, remark that the
words, condensation of steam, should so naturally be found in the history
of the childhood of Watt. Besides, although I may be wrong as to the
singularity of the anecdote, it may not be less worthy of preservation.
When the occasion presents itself, let us prove to youth, that Newton
was barely modest, when, to satisfy the curiosity of a great personage,
who desired to know how attraction had been discovered, he replied— By
thinking of it always ! Let us shew to all, in the simple words of the
immortal author of natural philosophy, the principal secret of men of^
genius.

The taste for anecdote, which our colleague, for more than half a cen-
tury, diffused with so much grace amongtbose by whom he was surrounded,
shewed itself at an early age. The proof of it will be found in some lines
which I extract as a translation, from an unpublished note, written in
1798, by Mrs. Marion Campbell, a cousin, and a companion from child-
hood, of the celebrated engineer.*

" In a journey to Glasgow, Mrs. Watt gave her young son, James, in
charge to one of her friends. A few weeks after she came back to see
him, but certainly without thinking of the singular reception which
awaited her. Madam, said this friend to her as soon as she perceived
her, you must send James back tjuickly to Greenock. I can no longer
bear this state of excitement in which he puts me. I am harrassed tor
want of sleep. Eveiy night, when the usual hour of bed time for ray
family is at hand. your son contrives, skilfully, to raise some discussion,
in which he ah\-ays finds means to introduce a tale which necessarily
beget others. Tliese tales, either pathetic or comic, are so charming
and interesting, and my whole family listens to them so intently, that you
might hear a fly buzz. Thus hour follows hour without our perceiving
it, but on the moiTow I am almost dying with fatigue ; do. Madam, take
back your child with you."

James Watt had a younger brother, John,+ who, by determining to
follow the career of his father, left bini, after the Scotch custom, the
choice of his avocation ; but this avocation was difficult to find out, for
the young student occupied himself in all with equal success. The
banks of Loch Lomond, already so celebrated by its connexion with
the historian Buchanan, and with the illustrious inventor of loga-
rithms, developed his taste for botany. His rambles upon different Scotch
mountains, caused him to perceive that the inert crust of the globe is
not less worthy of attention, and he became a mineralogist. James, in
his frequent encounters with the poor inhabitants of these picturesque
countries, deciphered their local traditions, their popular ballads, and
their wild prejudices. When his ill-health detained him at home, che-
mistry became the principal object of his experiments. The Elements of
Natural Philosophy, by 's Gravesande, also initiated him into the thou-
sand wonders of general physic. Indeed, like all sick persons, he devoured
all the medical and surgical works he could procure. These latter
sciences had so excited the curiosity of the scholar, that he was one day
discovered carry-ing off to his chamber for dissection, the head of a child
which had fallen the victim of some unknown malady.

But Watt did not design himself either for botany or mineralogy, for
letters, poetry, or chemistry, neither for physics, medicine, or surgery,
although he was so well versed in each of these classes of study. In
1755 he went to London, and placed himself under Mr. John Morgan,
mathematical and marine instrument maker, in Finch-lane, Cornliill.
The man who was to cover England with machines, by the side of which,
as to their powers, the ancient and colossal machine of Marly would be
but a pigmy, entered on his industrious career, by making, with his own
hands, subtle, delicate, and frail instruments; those small, but admirable
reflecting sextants, to which the nautica an is so much indebted for its
progress.

Watt only remained a year with Mr. Morgan, and returned to Glasgow,
where rather serious difficulties awaited him. Relying upon their ancient

• I am indebted f. r this curious dociimeDt to my friend, Mr. James Walt, of Solio.
TlianliS to Uie profound veneration wliieli he lias preserved for Uie memory ol liis
illustrious father; thanks to the inexhaustible complaisance with which he has re-
ceived all my demands, 1 have been able to avoid several inaccuracies which
glided into the most esteemed biographies, and from which even I, deceived by verbal
communications, too lightly received, did not, at lirst, know how to guard myselt. —
Note by At. Araffo.

+ He died in 1762, onboard one of his father's ships, ou the passage from Greenock
to America, at the age of 23 years.

privileges, the incorporated trades looked upon the young artist from
London as an intruder, and obstinately denied him the right of opening
any kind of workshop. Every means of reconciliation having failed, the
University of Glasgow interposed, granted to young Watt a small place
within their own precincts, allowed him to establish a shop, and honoured
him with the title of their mathematical instrument maker. Some small
instruments, of this date, of exquisite workmanship, made entirely by the
hand of Watt, are still existing. I will add, that his son recently shewed
me the first sketches of the steam engine, which are truly remarkable for
their fineness, their strength, and precision of stroke. It was not, there-
fore, without reason, whatever people may say, that Watt spoke with
complacency of his manual skill. Perhaps you will think that I am over
scrupulous in claiming a merit for our colleague, which can add so little
to his glory. But, I will admit, that I never hear the pedantic enumera-
tion of qualities of w'hich superior men have been despoiled, without
remembering that bad General of the age of Louis XVI., who always
carried his right shoulder very high, because Prince Eugene, of Savoy,
was a little hump-backed, and who did not think himself bound to en-
deavour to carry the likeness farther.

Watt had hardly attained his twenty-first year, when the University of
Glasgow attached him to the University. He had for his patrons, Adam
Smith, the author of the famous work on the Wealth of Nations ;
Black, whose discoveries concerning latent heat and carbonate of lime,
gave him a distinguished rank among the first chemists of the eighteenth
century; and Robert Simson, the celebrated lestorer of the most impor-
tant treatises of the ancient geometricians. These eminent persons at
first, thought they had only saved from the trickeries of cot potations,
a skilful and zealous workman of mild disposition ; but they were not
slow in discovering the man of genius, nor in shewing him the strongest
friendship. The students of the university considered it an honour to be
admitted to the intimacy of Watt. Indeed, his shop ! yes ! a shop !
became a sort of academy, where all the illustrious men of Glasgow
attended, to discuss the most delicate questions of art, science, and
literature. In truth, I should not dare to tell you what part the young
woikman, only 21 years of age, took in these learned meetings, if I could
not rely upon an anonymous article of one of the most celebrated com-
pilers of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

" Although still a student, said Professor Robison, " I had the vanity
to think myself sufficiently advanced in my favourite studies of mecha-
nics and physics, when I was presented to Watt. So that I was not a
little mortified to see to what an extent the young workman was my
superior. In the University, when any difficulty stopped us of whatever
kind, we ran to our workman. Once excited, every subject became for
him a matter of laborious study and new discoveries. He never gave up
till he had quite solved the proposed question, whether he reduced it to
nothing, or whether he drew from it some clear and substantial result.
Once the solution seemed to require the reading of Leupold's work, the
Theatrum Machinarum : Watt immediately learned German. Under
other circumstances, and for a similar purpose, he acquired Italian. The
artless simplicity of the young mechanic immediately gained the good
will of all who .addressed him, and, although I have lived some time in
the world, 1 am obliged to declare, that I could not cite a second example
of an attachment so sincere, and so general shown towards any person of
incontestible superiority. It is true, that this superiority was veiled by
the most amiable candour, and that it was united with a firm desire to
acknowledge liberally the merit of every one. Watt, even delighted in
endowing the inventive disposition of his friends with things which fre-
quently were but bis own ideas, jiresented under another form. I have."
says Robison, " the greater right to insist upon this rare mental disposi-
tion, as I have personally experienced its effects.''

You will have to decide, if it were not as honourable to pronounce
these last words, as to have caused them to be pronounced.

Studies so serious, and so various, to which the young Glasgow artisan
was continually compelled, by the circumstances of his singular position,
did not hinder the routine of the shop. The latter he executed by day ;
while night was sacred to theoretical reseat ch. Watt, tiusting in the
resources of his imagination, seemed to delight in the most difficult un,
dertakings, and in those for which it might have been supposed that he
was least calculated. Will it be believed that he undertook to build an
organ, he, who was so totally insensible to the charms of music, that he
could never even contrive to distinguish one note from another ; for
example, ut from fa? Nevertheless he succeded in the attempt. It
cannot either be denied that the new instrument exhibited some cajiital
improvements in the mechanical part, in the regulators, in the manner of
appreciating the strength of the wind ; but yott will be surprised when I
inform you that its harmonical qualities were not less remarkable, iind
that they charmed even professetl musicians. Watt solved an important
part of the problem : he found out the medium assigned by an artist, in
explanations of the phenomenon of pulsations; at that time little appre-
ciated, and of which he could get no intormation but in the profound, but
very obscure work, of Doctor Robert Smith, of Cambr.dge.

HisTonY OF THE Steam Engine.

1 have now come to the most brilliant period of the life of Watt, and

also. I fear, to the most difficult part of my task. The immense im-

))ortancc of the inventions I am about to describe to you does not admit

of a doubt. Unfortunately, perhaps, I shall not be able to make them

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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

401

thoroughly appreciated, without having recourse to tedious numerical
comparisons. In order that these comparisons, if rendered indispensable,
rray be easily understood, I will allude as biietly as possible to the beau-
tiful physical laws upon which it will be necessary to base them.

By means of simple changes of temperature, water may exist in three
perfectly distinct states ; in the solid state, the liquid state, and the
«rial or gaseous state. Below zero, of the centigrade thermometer,
(:32°F) water becomes ice; at 100° (-il'l"?) it is rapidly converted into
gas; in all the intermediate degrees it is liquid.

A scrupulous observation of the points of transition from one of these
states to another, leads to first-rate discoveries, which are the keys to
the economical doctrines of the steam-engine.

Water is not necessarily botter than any kind of ice, for it may be kept
at the temperature of zero (3"2°F) without freezing; while ice may re-
main at zero (3-.i°F) without melting; but it seems difficult to believe
that water and ice, both of the same degree of temperature, both being
at zero, only differ in their physical propeities; that any element foreign
to water, properly so called, cannot make a distinction between solid
water and liquid water. A very simple experiment will, however, clear
up the mystery.

Mix a pound of water at zero (3'2°F), with a pound of water at 75°
centigrade, (I67°F); the two pounds of the mixture will be at 37^°
{99^°F), that is to say, at the medium temperature of the two component
liquids. You thus perceive that the warm water has retained 372° of its
former temperature, whilst it has yielded the other 37.^° to the cold
water ; all that is natural, and what might easily be forseen.

But let us now repeat the experiment with a single modification ;
instead of the pound of water at zero (32° F), let us take a pound of ice
at the like temperature of zero, (32° F). From the mixture of this pound
of ice with the pound of water at 75" ( 167°F), will result two pounds of
liquid water, since the ice steeped in the warm water cannot fail to be
melted, and it will keep its former weight. But do not h stily attribute
to the mixture, as before, a temperature of 37^°, (d9\" F. ) tor this will
lead to an error: the temperature will be that of zero only. No trace
will remain of the 7J° (167"^ F. ) of heat that the pound of water pos-
essed. These 73° (IG?" F.) will have disunited the particles of ice, and
have combined with them, but without warming them in any way,

I do not hesitate to pronounce this experiment of Black one of the
most remarkable in modern natural philosophy. Look, indeed, at its
consequences :

Water at zero, and ice at zero, (32" F. ) differ in their intimate com-
position. The liquid comprises 75° (167" F.) of an imponderable sub-
stance, called heat, more than the solid. These 75° ( 167" F. ) are so well
concealed iii/'the composition, I had almost said in the aqueous alliance,
that the finest thermometer does not discover its existence. Heat, im-
perceptible to our senses, impercei)tible to even the most delicate instru-
ments ; in short, latent heat, for that is the name given to it, is one of
the principal constituents of bodies.

The comparison of bulling water, of water at 100° (212°F), with the
steam which dies off, and also of a temperature of 100° (212" F, ), leads to
like results, but on a grander scale. At the time of being converted to a
state of vapour at 100" (212" F), water becomes impregnated under a
latent form, under a form not perceptible to the thermometer, with
an enormous quantity of heat. When steam resumes the liquid state,
this heat is disengaged, and goes to warm every thing, on its way,
susceptible of absorbing it. If, for example, you cause a single pound of
steam at 100" (212" F) to pass through 5u 35 pounds of water at zero, the
steam will become quite liquified. The 6" 35 pounds resulting from the
mixture are at a temperature of lOCo (212" F). There enters then into the
intima'e composition of a ]>ound of steam, a quantity of latent heat
which would raise a pound of water, if prevented from evaporating, from
0 to 535" centigrade., (964" F.) This result will certainly appear
enormous, but it admits of no doubt. Steam only exists on these con-
ditions: wherever a pound of water at zero (32" F) is converted into
steam, either naturally or artificially, it should take, to effect ihe change,
and it does in fact take Irom the surrounding bodies, 535" (904" F)
of beat. It cannot be too often repeated, that steam, in fact, restores
these degrees upon whatever surfaces its ultimate liquifaclion is atfected.
This is, indeed, the whole artifice from the fuel to the steam. They but
badly comprehend this ingenious process, who imagine that aqueous gas
oidy conveys to the pipes^ in which it circulates, perceptible or thermome-
trical heat; the principal effects are duo to component heat, to hidden
heat, to latent heat, which is disengaged at the moment, when the steam,
by coming in contact with cold surfaces, is converted from a gaseous to a
liquid state.

Henceforth, we must rank heat among the principal constituents of
steam. We can only obtain heat by burning wood or coal. Steam,
therefore, bears a market price higher than water, by the cost of the fuel
employed in the act of vaporization/ If the diHerence of the two values
is very great, you must principally attribute it to latent heat, for ther-
mometrical or sensible heat only bears a very small proportion to it.

Perhaps, at a later period, I shall have to dwell on some of the other
properties of steam, so that if I do not mention them now, you must not
imagine that I attribute to this assembly the disposition of certain stu-
dents, who once said to their professor of geometry : " Why do you take
" so much trouble to demonstrate these theorems ? We have the fullest
" confidence in you ; give us your word of honor that they are true, and

2 K2

" that will be enough I " But I must not abuse your indu'gence ; I must
bear in mind, that by referring to special treatises, you can easily fill the
gaps which I have been obliged to leave.

Let us now endeavour to determine the position of those nations
which appear deserving of notice in the history of the steam-engine ;
let us trace the chronological series of improvements which this machine
has undergone from its first glimmerings, now almost forgotten, down
to the brilliant discoveries of V\'att. I take up this subject with the fixed
determination of being impartial; with a strong desire of rendering to
every inventor that justice which is due to him ; and with the certainty
of remaining independent of every consideration whicti should or may
originate in national jirejudice, alike unworthy of the mission intrusted to
me, alike unworthy of the majesty of science. I admit, on the other
hand, that I shall pay but little attention to the numerous decisions
passed under the dictation of similar prejudices ; and, if possible, I shall
beed still less, the severe criticisms which undoubtedly await me, for it
is seldom in things of this nature that the future does not resemble the
past.

A question well put is half resolved. If this sensible maxim had been
borne in mind, certainly, the discussion on the invention of the steam-
engine would not have assumed that acrimonious and violent character,
withwhichuntil now it has been so strongly impressed. But, in endeavour-
ing to single out one inventor, where, of necessity, several should have been
distinguished, people rashly cast themselves into a defile, without an out-
let ; a watchmaker, well acquainted with the history of his art, would
be obliged to hold his tongue before any one who asked him, in general
terms, who invented watches ; on the other hand, he would be but
little embarrassed by the question, if it related separately to the motion,
to different forms of the escapement, or to the balance— so thus it is
with the steam-engine -. it presents, at this day, the realization of several
original, but very distinct ideas, «hich could not have emanated from the
same source, but out of which, it is still our duty carefully to search the
origin and date.

If, having made any use whatever of steam would give, as has bern
pretended, a right to figure in the history of this invention, we should bo
obliged to assign the first place to the Arabians, since, fiom time imme-
morial, their principal food, which they call couscoiissou, has been cooked
by the action of steam on strainers, placed over rude kettles. A result like
this is quite sufficient to t1u-ow back all the ridicule upon the source from
which it was derived. Did Gerbert, our fellow countryman, who wore
the triple crown under the name of Sylvester II., acquire a greater,
when, towards the middle of the ninth century, he made the pipes of the
oigan of the cathedral of Rheims sound by the aid of steam? I do not
think so : in the instrument, fashioned by the future pope, I can only
discover a current of steam substituted for a current of ordinary air,
the production of the musical phenomenon in the pipes of the organ,
but in no wise a mechanical effect, properly so called. 1 find the first
example of motion, engendered by steam, in a toy* still more ancient
than the oigan of Gerbert ; in an eolipile of Hero of Alexandria, the
date of which goes back to 120 years before our era. Perhaps it would
be difficult, without the aid of a figure, to give a clear idea of the mode
of action of this little instrument; but I shall try.

When the gas escapes, in a cert.iin way, from the vessel which con-
tains it, this vessel, by means of rc-action, tends to move in a diame-
trically opposite direction. The recoil of a gun, loaded with powder, is
on the same principle ; the gas, engendered by the inflammation of the
saltpetre, charcoal, and sulphur, flies off in the air, according to the direc-
tion of the barrel ; the direction of the gun, lengthened backwards,
abuts on the shoulder of the person who fired ; it is, then, upon the
shoulder that the butt end should re-act with force. To change the direc-
tion of the recoil, it is sufficient to cause the stream of gas to fiOW out;
in another direction. If the barrel were stopped at its mouth, and vveie
only pierced with a lateral opening, perpendicular to its direction, and
horizontal, the gas of the powder would escape laterally and horizontally ;
and the recoil would act perpendicularly to the barrel ; it would be felt
on the arm and not on the shoulder. In the first case, the recoil would
push the peison who fired, backwards, as if to overturn him ; but in the

* Hero's Sleam Tui/.—A motion round an axis is elegantly given;
globe, by means of the re-action of steam upon the
air. Two pipes, a, c, each having their upper extre-
mity bent towards each other, rise from the cover of
a vase, o ; one of the^e, c, acts merely as a pivot,
the other, a, conducts steam, raised in the boiler,
into the ball or globe, i. This is suspended between
them by having the steam-pipe, a, inserted into it,
and is kept in its position by the pivot formed at the
end of the opposite pipe, c. Two pipes, in, n, also
bent at right angles at tliei* extremities, are inserted
into the circumference of the globe, and form a com-
munication between the cauldron and the atmosphere.

Heat being applied to the cauldron, tlie steam, fiow-
ing from it through the vertical pipe o, into the little
globe, !, thence linds its way through the pipes or
arms, m, n, into the atmosphere ; at this instant the
re-action of the vapour on the air makes the globe
revolve with a magical celerity, '* as if it were ani-
mated from within by a living spirit," — Stuart,
i

to a small

402

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[October

second, it would tend to make him turn round on himself. If, then, you
were inviuiably to iittaeh the barrel in a horizontal position, to a moveable
vertical axis, at the moment of the explosion it would change its direc-
tion, more or less, and would cause this axis to turn.

Preserving the same disposition, let us suppose, that the vertical
rotary axis be hollow, but closed at its upper part; that it abut below,
like a chimney upon a cauldron, in which steam is generated ; that, more-
over, there exist a free lateral communication between the interior of
this axis and the interior of the gun barrel, so that, after having filled
the axis, the steam penetrates into the barrel, and goes out through its
side, by a horizontal opening. Except in intensity, this steam, in its
escape, will act in the same manner as the gas disengaged from the
powder would act in a gunbarrel, stopped at its mouth, and pierced
laterally, but, here, we shall not have a simple shock, as happened in the
case of the sharp and instantaneous explosion of the gun ; on the con-
trary, the rotary motion will be uniform and constant, like ihe cause by
which it is generated.

If we take, instead of a single gun, or rather a single horizontal tube,
a vertical rotary tube, we shall have, with some slight differences, the
ingenious work of Hero, of Ale.xandria. This is, without any fear of
contradiction, a macliine in which the steam of water engenders mo-
tion, and might produce mechanical effects of some importance— in fact,
a genuine steam engine. Let us, however, not fail to remember that
neither by form, nor by the mode of action of motive power, has it any
resemblance to the machines of that kind now in use. If ever the re-
action of a current of steam should be rendered useful in practice,
we must incontestably award the originality of the suggestion to Hero;*
but at the present day the rotatory eolipile can only be cited here in the
same manner as engraving on wood is referred to in the history of
printing, t

In the machines used in our factories, in steam packets, and on rail-
ways, motion is the immediate result of the elasticity of steam ; it is,
therefore, worth while to inquire liow and where the idea of this power
originated. The Greeks and Romans were certainly not unaware that the
steam of water could acquire a prodigious mechanical power, and they
explained, eveii at that time, by the sudden vaporization of a large mass
of this liquid, the fearful earthquakes which, in a few seconds drove the
Ocean from beyond its natural limits ; scourges which, at one fell blow,
sweep from their foundations the strongest monuments of human indus-
try, which raise dangerous shoals in the soundless depths ol the ocean,
and raise up lofty mountains even in the middle of continents. What-
ever may be said, this theory of earthquakes does not necessarily suppose
that its authors had gone into investigations, expcrinienis, and precise
calcutations. No one is now ignorant that at the time when heated metal
is admitted into the earthen or plaster moulds of the founder, that a few
drops of moisture, concealed in these moulds, are sufficient to cause a dan-
gerous explosion. Notwithstanding the progres_s of science, our modern
founders have not been always successful in pre'venting these accidents;
how then could the ancients have provided against them ? While they
cast the moulds of statues, the splendid ornaments of their temples,
public places and gardens, and of the private habitations of Athens, and
ot Home, some accident must necessarily have happened ; the men of art
found out the immediate cause ; the philosophers, on the other hand,
carrying out the spirit of generalization, which was the characteristic tiait
ot their schools, saw in these instances, genuine types of the eruptions
of Etna.

All this may be very true, without having much relation to the subject
with which we are engaged, and 1 have not, I own, dwelt so much as I
might have done upon such slight lineaments of the ancient science re-
lative to the power of steam, desirous, if I could, of remaining in peace
with the Daciers of both sexes, with the Du:ens ot the age.{

Natural or artificial powers before they become truly useful to man, have
nearly always been pressed into the service of superstition, and steam
forms no exception to the general rule. The chionicles inform us, that
on the banks of the VVeser, the god of the ancient Teutons sometimes
e.vpres.-ed his displeasure, by a sort of thunderclap, which was immedi-

• It 13 a remarkable fict, of which M. Arago appears nol to be aware, tljat Hero's
simple engine of emission is at this moment in use, bolli in this connu j and in
America. Wc know of one sleara-cngine of Hero's of IwenCy-one horses' power, and
us only fault is tlie consuming too much steam and fuel. It is, oUierwise, a simple,
cheap, and efleclive steam-engine. -Note of the Atheuxuni.

f These remarks also apply to a plan publijlied at Rome, in 1029, by Branca, an
Italian architect, in a work entitled. La Macchiiia, and which was to engender a ro-
tatory moveineut, by directing llie steam issuing from an eolipile, under the form of
• bel owsora blasi of wind, upon the floats of a wheel. If, coiurary to piob.ihilily, steam
should one day be employed, usefully, as a direct blast, Branca, or the unknown
author, Iruin whom he might have borrowed Oiis idea, will take a fiistiate position
in the history ot Uus new kind of machine; but, with regard to the present machine,
Branca s claims are absolutely null,— A^o^e n/M. Arayo.

J For the same reason, I cannot refrain from relating here an anecdote, which,
with a spice 01 romance and par.idox comparison, as lo what we now know of the
action ot steam, gives us a g unpse of the importance which the ancients attached to
Ihe power ot this mechanical aput. It is iel;,ted ih.it Anthemius, the architect, em-
ployed by Justinian in the buiMiug of St. Sophia, had a bouse near that of Zeno,
an.l that to annoy this orator, his open enem,, l,e placed on the ground Hoor of bis
own house seveial cauldrons full ot water. From h^les cut in ibe lids of each of
hese cauldrons, he ea.ried a flexible tube, which was applied to the p..rty-wall
under the beams which supported the flooring of Zeno's house; and that, as soon as
the hie was lighted under the cauldrons, he made the doors daucc as if they bad
been atlected by an cartliquake.— .\'ofe by JI. Jmja.

ately succeeded by a cloud, filling the whtde edifice. The image of the
god, Busterich. found it is said, in antiquarian researches, fully reveals
the manner in which the pretended miracle was worked. The god was,
metal, and the hollow head enclosed an amphora of water ; wooden
stoppers shut up the month and another hole situated above the fore-
head. Coals were adroitly introduced into a cavity of the skull and gra-
dually heated the liquid; the steam engendered, soon drove out the
stoppers, with a loud noise, and then rushed out, in two jets, forming a
dense cloud between the god and his stujiid worshippers. It seems, also,
that during the middle ages the monks made the invention tell, and that
the head of BustL-rich did not perforin only before heathen assemblies.*

The next step, by which we reach any useful ideas on the properties
of steam, after the first glimpses of the Greek philosophers, is by an in-
terval of twenty centuries. It is true, however, that then experiment.s
exact, conclusive, and irresistible succeed conjectures, unsupported by
any tangible proof. In 16U3, Flurence Rivault, gentleman of the
chamber to Henry 1st., and tutor to Louis XII!., discovered, for instance,
that a bomb of thick metal, and containing water, explodes sooner or
later, on being placed on the fire, after being stoppered ; that is to say,
when the steam is prevented from freely expanding in the air, in propor-
tion as it is formed. The power of steam is here characterised by a
proof, clear, and susceptible to a certain point of numerical appreciation,!
but it presents itself still farther to us as a terrible instrument of de-
struction.

Able minds did not stop at this miserable conclusion, they perceived
that mechanical powers must become, like human passions, useful or in-
jurious, precisely as they are well or ill directed. In the case of steam
only, the commonest skill was really necessary to apply lo productive
labour, the terrible elastic power, which, according to all appearances ,
shakes the earth to its touiitlations, surtouiids the art ot the statuary with
imminent dangers, and bursts into a thousand pieces the thick metal of
the bomb. In what state is this projectile found before its explosion ?
The bottom contains very hot water, iut still liquid; the rest of its
interior is full of steam ; this, for it is the characteristic mark of gaseous
bodies, exercises its power equally on ail sides, and presses with Ihe
same intensity on the water, and on the metal walls which relain it.
Let us place a cock at the lowest part of the metal ; when it is opened,
the water, pressed by the steam, will spout out with extreme velocity.
If the cock ends in the pipe, which, after having been bent outside around
the bomb, is tiu-ned vertically from the bottom ujiwards, the water
driven back will ascend it so much the more, as the steam has more elas-
ticity; or rather, for it is the same thing in other words, the water will
raise itself so much the more, as its temperature becomes higher ; this
ascending movement will only be limited by the resistance of the walls
of the machine. For our bomb, let us substitute a thick metallic boiler,
of large capacity, and nothing will prevent us Irom carrying great masses
of the liquid to indefinite heights, by the simple action ot steam; and
we shall have created, in every meaning of the word, a steam-engine for
draining.

You now know the invention which France and England have dis-
puted, like formerly, seven cities of Greece contended, in turn, for the
honor of giving birth to the immortal Homer. On the other side of the
channel, the .Marquis of Worcester, of the illustrious house ot .Somerset,
is universally recognized ; this side of the strait, however, we contend
that it belongs lo an humble mechanic, almost totally forgotten by bio-
graphers, Solomon de Cans, who was born at Dieppe, or in its iieigh-
bourhootl. Let us examine impartially the claims of the two competitors.

* Hero, of Alexandria, atti ibuled the soauds, proceeding from the statue of Meinnon,
when the rays of the sun fell on it. and which excited so much contioversj, to the
passage by certain openings of a current of steam, which the solar heat produced, at
the expense of the luiuid.wilh whicli the Egyptian priests are said to have furnished
the interior of the pedestal of the colossus. Solomon de Caus, Kircher, and others,
have endeavoured to liiid out the particular means by which the llieociatic fraud was
thus made to operate upon credulous iinaginatiuiis, but every thing induces us to
believe that they have not hit upon the right cause, if on this subject any thing were
to be guessed at all.— A'ofe by M. .'Jiayo.

t If any learned personage should discover that I have not gone far enough back, by
begiuning with Flurence Rivault; if he should point out tome a quotation from
Albeili, who wrote in 1411 ; and if, Irom this author, he atbrined that in the com-
raenceiiient of thefifteeiilh, century the lime-burneis feared extremely for ihemselves
and llieir ovens, the explosions of lime-stones, in whi^b there might chance lo be some
cavity, 1 should replv,tliat Alberti was iiot himself aware of the true cause of these
explosions, but attributed them to the transformation into steam of the air contaiueti
in the cavity, acted upon by the Hames; and I should observe, that a bit of lime-
stone, accidently hollow, would not have given any of those means of numerical,
appieciatious whicli seem to be pieseiited by RivauU's experiments. — JSote by M,
Arayo.

In the first era, many of the experiments of steam were known and tlioioughly un-
derstood. Steam was included, as it is by modern writers, under the head of the airs
or gases, and was said to consist of water turned into air by heat. This has misled
M. Arago, for, being apparently acquainted with the \\orks of the Greek philoso-
phers only through the ineflium of translations, he seems to imagine that when they
speak of air producing a given elfect, they mean only atmosplnric air, whereas they
fully explain themselves to mean waler turned into air, using the word generically,
not specifically, just as we should say water converted by heat into the gas or
vapour, commonly called, steam. Therefore, he infers, that the> were ignorant of the
principle of generating steam from waler for their peculiar purposes, and asserts that
the ettects mentioned a're attributable only to the gaseous mailer of our atmosphere —
whereas. Hero, of Alexandria, more than a century before the Christian era, under-
stood the subject of the generation of steim from water by heat, and its application to
true machinery, philosophical toys, or worse, engines devoted to the service of aujies.
slitiun and. idolatry .—A'o(e of the Athenxum.

1839,]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

403

Worcester, seriously implicated in the latter years of the reigii of the
Stuarts, was coniined in the Tower of London ; one day, according to
tradition, the lid of the pot in which his diinier was being cooked, sud-
denly tlcw off- " What is to be done in such a melancholy den, unless
we have the liberty of thought?" The Marquis set himself to work,
then, to think of the stranj^e phenomenon which he had just witnessed.
Then it o- cured to him, that the same power which raised the pot-lid
would, under other circumstances, become a useful and convenient motive
power. Oil recoveriug his liberty, he published, in 1661^, ih a b.ook en-
titled the Gntun/ i>f Inve.ulions^ the means by which he proposed to carry
out his idea.* This method, as to its essential cbaia(*er. seems, as far as
it can be understood, to be the bomb half tilled with the liquid and the
ascending tube, which we have just described.

This bomb, this same tube, are described in the " Raison des forces
raouvantes," t a work of Solomon de Chus. There the idea is presented
cJearly, simply, and without any exaggeration. Its origin has nothing
romantic; it tells no story of civil war, nor of celebrated duugeons, not
even of the lifting of the pot-lid of a prisoner's kettle. J But, what is
worth much more, in a question of imoritv, it is, by its publication,
forty-eight years older than the Centunj of InuentionSy and forty-one
years antecedent to the imprisonment of Worcester

Thus brought back to a comparison of dates, the dispute would seem
to be closed ; for who could maintain that 1618 did not happen before
1663? But those wliose principal object seems to have been to remove
eveiy French name from this important chapter in the history of the
sciences, § suddenly shifted their ground, when La Raison des forces

* lMARQUIS of WORCESTER'S ENGINE.

B is the boiler ; C, one of the vessels with a pipe to deliver the water to
an elevated cistern D.

>iow suppose tlie vessel C to be supplied from a cistern of cold water A by a
pipe, so that it would be lilled on opening the cock E, and attei-wards closing
h\ if, when the steam in the boiler is of sufficient strength, the cock F be
opened, the pressure of the steam on thi; water in C would cause it to ascend
from C, through the pipe a into the cistern D. The vessel C being emptied,
and the cock F being shut, it woidd refill with water ou again opening the
cock E. Another vessel C, and it5 cot k.s and pipes, are necessary to com-
plete the species of water en.ine indicated by the description, and these may
be on the other side of the boiler. — Tredyold,

i .The Reason of moviug Forces.

{ M. Arago, with the* same bnd tasie which influences the stile and malti-r of iliis
memoir in too many placfs, heie cudtMVuiirs to i!iio\v unnecessary ridicule ii|Hm a
legend, wliich, by its veiy ainiplicity, lie is wcM aware gives a strung Hiiaraniee of its
truth. The flimsy story ui Suloi'ii>n dc Cans, wanted all the support of sndi wteichi-d
cavils; l>Ht we should have liopud that M . Ar;igo, wliilu endeavoiniug to maintain his cha-
racter, as a man of impartidUly and freidfun from prejudice, by the choice of such a
subject as Watt, wouhi have found it useful to snpi'juri "in the details, what lie will not
otherwise gain credit for a^ a whole. This iaiim old a game of the etif my, however,
t.> deceive the world; Ilie French are too fund of realizing: Svvift's sarcasm of knockiDi^
down the other's mound instead of raisins^ their own. It was thus that Voltaire, to
acquire a reputation for his Henriade, alteinpted to reduce, in liis Essai siir la Pocsie
Epiijm, Shakspeare and Millon to his own level. M. Arasjo, however, with all his
talk about roinance, has set afloat a more romantic F-ench sentimental story, abont the
interview between the Marquis of Worcester and Sohmion de Cans in a mad house.
Why did not M. Arago, a' the same time, lau^h at tlie traditions of Archimedes and
ihe bath, Galileo and the lamp, ami Newion and (he apple i why not conjure up for
these a similar ribaldry of style, aud an equal lowiie-s^ of tliougbti — J\'ote of the
translator.

§ If M. Arago can tell what good French names have done in the history of the
steam-engine, he is welcome to leave tlieie as many as he likes, and to disinter .\%
many volumes as lie pleases fmm ihe pondeTOUS libraries. lie cannot deprive our
race of a Savcry, a Watt, and a Trevithick, of applying the steanwngine to draining,
to mining, to every br;inrh of manufactures, to the pathless ocean, and the iron road,
the inventions of the hi^U and low pressure piintiples, and their convtriion in this'
continent and the other to many arts of peace and war. To all the real Ihe French
are welcome— tlie mane nnmen of crainmioL; into such company the innunurahle men
who have talked, and who have done no more. France is too rich in great names
has too many realms of science exclusively her own, to humble herself to tlie indul-
gence of such petty jealousies, winch do wrong to a noble country, and to a memory
which every man of science must honour jnd respect. There are nobler pUces ibr
M. Arago than the tribune, either of tlie academy, or of the senate hou^e. This
memoir is but one of the many instances of the mischevious system of which it is a
part, invented by Louis XIV; this deplorable system has praised every tjaitor and
villain down to the present time. — Note of (he translator.

Mouvantes was brought out of the crowded libiaries in which it had
been buried. They broke, without hesitation, their ancient idol- The
Marquis of Worcester was sacrificed to the desire of annulling the claims
of Solomon de Cans ; the bomb placed on the blazing furnace and
its ascending tube ceased, in fact, to be the true germs of the present
steam-engine.*

As to myself, I cannot concede that he has done nothing useful,
who, reflecting on the enormous expansion of steam greatly heated,
first saw that it could be used to raise great masses of liquid to any
imaginable height. I cannot admit that some remembrance is not due
to the mechanic, who, the first also, described a machine fit for realising
such results. We must not forget that we cannot judge properly of the
merit of an invention, except by transporting one's self in thought to
the period at which it was conceived, and divesting the mind for the mo-
ment of all the information which ages, subsequent to the period of this
invention, have contributed. Let us imagine an ancient mechanic,
Archimedes for instance, consulted on the means of raising to a great
height, the water contained in a vast closed metallic recipient. He
would certainly have spoken of great levers, pulleys, simple or combined,
perhaps of his ingenious screw; but what would be his surprise if,
to resolve the problem, some one proposed merely a bundle of sticks
and a match? Will, 1 ask, would any one dare to refuse the title of
an invention to a process with which the inunortul author of the first and
true principles of statistics and hydrostatics would have been astonished? t
The apparatus of ^olomou de Caus, this inetaljie envelope, within which
was created an almost indefinite motive power, by means of a faggot and
a match, will always figure nobly in the histoiy of the steam-engine.

It is very dotibtlul whether tioiomon de Caus and Worcester ever had
their apparatus constructed : J this honour belongs to an Englishman.
Captain Savcry. I assimilate the niaahine of this engineer to that of

• It has bekO primed that J. B. Porta gave, in 1606, in his SpiritaH, nine or ten
years before ihe publication of llie work ol Solomon de Caus, Uie description of «
roncliine iniended to raise water by means ol the elastic power of steam. 1 have
Bhown elsewhere that ihe leariied Neapolilau bpoke neither directly nor indirectly, of
any machine m the passage alluded to ; but that bis purpsse, his only purpose, was
10 determine, experinienlally , tlie relative volumes of water and steam ; that in the
little experiuieulal appaialus employed for this put pose, ateam could only raise the
liquid, according to the very words of the author, a few inches ; that in every descrip-
tion of this experiment, there is not a single word implying that Porta was acquainted
wiih the pow«r of this agent, and the possibility of applying it in the production of au
ellective maclitue.

Can It be supposed that I am obliged to quote Porta, if it be only on account of his
researches on the traiistormalii.n of water iulo sleam ( But I should then reply, that
ihis phenomenon had alre.tdy been studied with attention by Professor Besson, ol"
Orieaus, toward.", the middle of the sixleeolh cenlmy, and that one of ihe ireatises of
Ihis mechaJiic, dated ISCy, especially cunlams au ere^y ou the determination of the
relative volumes ol water and steam. — Nute of M. Arago.

The Candour of M. Arago seems to fail him more and more ; but we leave this
portion lu the able casligation of the Athenaeum, hertafter quoted.— i\'o(e of the
translator,

t Piitliug out of the question the illogicaliiy of this pseado argument, we mav sim-
ply obseive that it is but a pari of the false system by which M. Arago tiuds it
necessary to boUler up iheir shallow cl.iinis. Here we have a reason for secluding
the anecdote ol Authemius {p 4U'/) ui the obscurity of a note, and ihe reason for slurring
it over aa of suspicious auiheiiticiiy ; for adniiiiing what M. Arago says concerning
the propcities ol Ilie apparatus of Solomon de Cans, was it not anticipated by the
operation of Anthcmiua ■ He ce- tainly knew that steam was a nmlivc power, or why
did he attempt such a po^verful experiment in the house of Zeuo ? Anihemius cei-
aliily knew of the bundie of aticks a/id a match.— Note of the translator.

X i'liere is no doubi as lo the case ot Solomon de Caus— he never constructed a
macliine; ami there is none as to the Marquis of Worcester, for he certainty did.
We have done suincient to shew tlie groundlessness ol M. Arago's pielensioiis.oo that
we cannot do belter than sum up ihe questiuu wilh the following able remai'ks of the
Athencetim. .

*' VV hen the revival of learning, towards the conclusion of the dark ages, exhumed
once more the knowledge uf the (JreeliS, Hero's work was one of ihe first productions
of the piess. It gave an excitement to the mechanical talent of the age— many ingeni-
ous men imitated and extended tlie ci>ntrivances of Hero, and produced ingenious
mechanical toys; and Geibert, Cardan, Mathesias, Bapiisla Porta, Solomon de Caus,
Giovanni Branca, Cornelius Drebel, Kircher, and others, imitated the machines uf
Hero, and made some modifications of their structure, and extcuded their applicaiions.

" Out of this group, M. Arago selectsioue of the least di^tinguisbtd — bolomon de
Caus— and endeavouis to exalt him to the pedestal of fame, as the inventor of the
steam-eueine, because, forsooth, he look np the iu\entions of Hero, and slightly modi-
fied them The following are the facts of the case :— I, It is not known of what country
De Caus was a native; -2, U is well known that he was engineer and architect to
Charles the First, and was employed in designing bydiaulic oinam- nts for hi^ Palace
of Richmond ■ 3, That he dedicates the second part ot his work to Charles s sister, the
Electie^s Palestine; 4. That he resided, fo. a time, at Heidelberg; 5, That a French
edition of his work was dedicated to ihe king ot France, in whose service he appears,
at one time, to have been engaged ; ti. That, among;^! other things in bis b..ok, he
describes a machine for throwing up a jet of water, in a mann. r similar to Hero's
steam iet • an invention which he does not even claim as his own, but describes
amongst a'mimber of others ; " dont il w ptut faire divtrses machines, j en donnejai
ici la demonstration d'une." ., , l ^ n • .i ■. rvi t» «

On this slender ground, M- Arago builds the following theory :— 1, That De Caus
was certainly a Frenchman 1 2, Thai this machine, dvsciibed by De Caus, to make a
small iet of water olay ornamentally in theair, was ceitainly his own inveniion,.anil
was literally a steam-engine, suitable to the purpose oi diammg mines of water! I
3 That Solomon de Caus is thejnventorof the sleam-engme^! ! !

" To this we reply —1, That De Caus may liave been a German, a Frenchman, ao
n^Iishman or a Jcw; -2. That De Caus is, in all probability, only describing the in-
vention of another, and that he puts foith no claim to orii;mality ; and 3, That ihe
invention, if his own, is a inert- machine for projecting au oi nameutal jet ol water for
a ganlen, infirior to many of Hero's toys. ..... ,. ,, , ...

'' But we canmd b»t believe that M. Arago himself is aware <d the weakness of his
cause ■ for in explaining the machine of De Caus— whicli he cidL-* a veritable machine
de vaieur'.propred opirerdeatpuisemem-h^hA&xiOX mserted De Caiis's o«n drawing
of the machine, whhh would have at once shown its nature as a Iri.ial and useiea*
toy ■ but he givea a figure aud description of his own mvcntion, so altered as to kwd

404

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[October

his two predecessors,* although he introduced some essentiiil modifications ;
that, among: others, of generating the steam in a separate vesseh t If it
is of little difference as to principle, whether the motive sieam be en-
gendered at the expense of the water to be raised, and in the very heart
of the boiler in which it is to act, or whether it originates in a separate
vessel, to act at pleasure, by means of a communicating tube, having
a cock above the liquid, which is to be raised, it is certainly not the same
in a practical point of view. Another change still more important, well

his reader to suppose an eflFect produced of a different and important character
Herein we cannot but think tliat M. Arago*3 candour appears for a moment to have
yielded to liis desire to Halter the vanity of his countrymen, ami render himself popular
" In the second era, the era of successful application of the power of steam to useful
purposes, we find, first of all, the Marquis of Worcester. There is no doubt whatever
urged by M. Arago, against the auihcnticity of the Marquis's written and published
descriptions of the steam-engine, but he contents himself with asserting that the
Marquis never made his machine ! nor applied it to use, and that therefore he stands
on no bftter ground than De Caus. It is to be regretted, that M. Arago did not make
himself better acquainted with the published history of the ateam-engine, for he would
then have known that the Marquis of Worcester not only made a steam-engine, but
that it was applied to the purpose of raising water for the use of the inhabitants of
Vauxhall ; that it was of more than two-horse power, and that it was seen in operation,
amongst others, by Cosmo dt' Medici, on the 28th day of May, 1653, who gives
testimony thus — '* it raises water more than forty geometrical feet, by the power of
one man only; and in a very short space of lime will draw up four vessels of water
through a tube or channel not more than a span in width, on wliich account it is con-
sidered to be of greater service to the public, than the other machine near Somerset
House ; "—the machine at Somerset House being one driven by two horses.

"Ill brief, let M. Arago say what he may, Worcester, Savery. Newcomcn, and
Snieaton, are the great names of this era; and Dr. Papin, though he made many
clever attempts at tlie contrivance of machines, on the principles suggested by his pre-
decessor, the Marquis of Worcester, and his conten.poraries, Savery and Newcnmen,
■was never known to make a single successful attempt with steam, excepting applying
it to the extr.iction of nutriment from bones, an invention which bears his name, ami
for which alone it is that futurity v?ill ever mention it." — Note of ike translator.

* Bonuani says, however, that aftt-r the death of Kirrher, there was found in his
museum the mod^l of a machine which ih.tt enthusiastic author had described in 1650,
and which (littered from that of Solomon de Cans, by the mere fact, that the motive
steam was engendered in a vessel totally distinct from that which contained the water
to be raised. — Note of M. Arago.

It is thus that M. Arago gradually distributes in his notes the slain corses of Solomon
de Cans' competitors; but we leave to our readers to make their comments ou this
extraordinary line of conduct. — Note of the trartslator.

t SAVERY'S ENGINE.

It consisted of a furnace and boiler B ■, from tJie latter two pipes, provided
with cocks C, proceeded to two steam vessels S, whicli had branch pipes from
a descending main D, and also to a rising main pipe A; each pair of branch
pipes had valves a, h, to prevent the descent of the water raised by the con-
densation or by the force of steam. Only one vessel S, is shown^ the other
being immediately behind it. One of the steam vessels being tilled with
steam, condensation was produced by projecting cold water, from a small cis-
tern E, against the vessel; and into the partial vacinim made by that means,
the water, by the pressure of the atmosphere, was forced up the descending
main D, from a depth of about twenty feet ; and, on the steam being let into
the vessels again, the valve 6 closed, and prevented the descent of the water,
while the steam having acquired force in the boiler, its pressure caused the
■water to raise the valve «, and ascend to a height proportional to the excess
of the elastic force of the st( am above the i)ressure of the air.

Captain Savery afterwards simplified this engine considerably, by using
only one steam vessel. To prevent the risk of bursting the boiler, he applied
the steelyard safety valve V, invented by Papin for his digester. The cocks
were managed by hand ; and, to supply the boiler with water, he had a small
boiler adjoining "to heat water for the use of the large one, and thus prevent
the loss of time which must have occurred on refilling it with cold water. —
^Tredyoid.

worthy of special attention, and equally originating with Savery, will be
alluded to in the space we shall devote to the htbouis of Papin and
Newcomen.

Savery had entitled his work. The Mhter's Friend, but the miners
showed themselves little obliped to him for his complidsance, for, with
only one exception, none of them give any orders for his engines. They
were only employi d in conveying water to different parts of palaces,
country-houses, parks, and gardens ; and were never used but in altering
the level from 1'2 to 16 yards. We must acknowledge, moreover, that
the danger of explosion would have been considerable, if there had been
applied to the ^paratus that immense power which their inventor as-
serted they could attain.

Although the practical success of Savery was rather imperfect, yet the
name of this engineer merits a very distinguished place in the history of
the steam-engine. Persons whose whole life has been devoted to specu-
lative subjects, are unaware what a difficulty there is in bringing the most
apparently well digested plan into execution. I do not, like a cele-
brated German savant, pretend that nature ahi-ntjs cries out no.' no.'
when we wish to raise a comer of the veil which covers her, but by
following the same metaphor, we are at least allowed to affirm that the
attempt becomes so much the more delicate and difficult, and the success
80 much the more doubtful, as it requires the combination of a greater
degree of mechanical skill, and the employment of a large number of
material elements ; under every one of which considerations, and taking
the period into calculation, no one was ever placed in a more unfavourable
position than Savery.

1 have spoken until now only of those steam-engines, the resemblance
of which, to those now bearing that name, is, more or less, indisputable.
Now I shall consider the modern utecim-engine, that which is employed in
our manufactories, upon vessels, and in tlie shafts of nearly all our mines.
We shall see it arise, increase, and develope itself sometimes on the in-
spiration of some chosen individual, some on the spur of necessity, for
necessity is the mother of genius.

The first name which we find in this new epoch, is Denis Papin. It
is to Papin that France owes the honourable rank which she claims in
the history of the steam-engine. However, the really legitimate pride
with wliich we are inspired by his success, will not be withoiit alloy.
The claims of our fellow countiyman are only to be found in foreign col-
lections, his principal works were published beyond the Rhine; his
liberty was threatened bv the edict of Nantes, and it was m mournful
exile that he enjoyed for'a moment that ot which men of research are
the most desirous— tranquillity of mind. Let us quickly throw a veil
over these unfortunate results of our civil discords ; let us forget that
fanatici.sin attacked the religious opinions of the philosopher of Blois,
and get back to our machinery, with regard to which, however, the ortho-
doxy of Papin has never been contested.

In every machine there are two things to be considered— on the one
hand, the movement, and on the other, the disposition, more or less
comp'lex, with fixed or moveable parts, by means of which the motive
power communicates its action to resistance. In the height to winch
mechanical knowledge has now-a-day been carried, the success of a
machine, intended to produce great effects, depends principally upon the
nature of the motive power, and on the means of applying and con-
ducting its power. And it was to the production of an economical
moor capable of communicating incessant oscillations, and with gieat
power to the piston of a large cylinder that Papin devoted his lite. To
borrow afterwards, from the oscillation, of the piston, a sufficient power
to turn the stones of a corn-mill, or the cylinders of a Hatting engine,
the paddle wheels of a steam-boat, or the bobbins of a cotton spinning
machine-to lift the clumsy hammer, which beats with frequent strokes
tbe colossal lumps of glowing iron, fresh from the reverberating fi.niace,
to cut like a riband in a lady's hand, thick bars of metal with tbe
sheering blade of gigantic scissars ; these are, I assert, so many pro-
blems of a very secondary rank, and which would not troidde the most
common-place mechanic. We can therefore employ ourselves in consi-
dering exclusively the means by which Papin proposed to engender his
oscillatory motion.

Let us suppose a large vertical cylinder, open at lop, and resting at
the base, on a metal table, having a hole in it, closed or opened at plea-
sure by a cock. Into this cylinder let us introduce a piston, that is to
say, a circular plate full and moveable, which will close it entirely ; the
portion of tbe atmosphere which occupies the lower part of the cylinder
will then tend by its re-action to produce an inverse motion. This
second force will be equal to tbe first, if the cock be open, since a gas
press-s equally on all sides. The piston will then be acted upon by two
opposite forces, which will keep it in equilibrium ; although it will des-
cend, but only by its own gravity. A counterpoise in a small degree
heavier than the piston, will on the contrary be sufficient to litt it to the
topofthecvlinder, and to keep it there. Let us suppose the piston
arrived at this extreme position, and let lis endeavour to point out the
means of causing it to descend loith qreat force and to bring it back
again Iman-ine, that after having closed the lower cock, we succeed in
suddenhi auiiTbilating all the air contained in the cylinder, in a word to
empty "it. This vacuum having once been made, the piston only re-
ceiving its aclion from the external atmosphere which presses from
above, will raiwll,/ descend. This movement effected, the cock is opened,
the air immediately returns from below, and coimterbalances the action

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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

405

of the atmosjilieie above; as in the bpginninf;, the counterpoise brings
up the piston to the top of the cylinder, and all parts of the apparatus
ai'e restored to their original condition. A second evacuation, or rather
if you prefer it, a second annihilation of the interior air will again briirg
down the piston, and so on as before.*

The true motor of the system would in this case be the weight of the
atmosphere, and let us undeceive those who might imagine, that because
they can walk and everr run through the air with ease, that it possesses
neither power, or weight. With a cylinder, two metres (78 inches) in
diameter, the effort which the pistoir of the engine woirld make in des-
cending, the weight which it could lift the whole height of the cylinder
would be 31,000 kilogr-ammes (G9,-2S1 lbs.) This enormous power, fre-
quently renewed, would be obtained by means of a very simple machine,
if we discover a prompt and economical method of engendering and de-
stroying at pleasirre arr atmospheric prcss\tre in a metal cylinder.

This problem Papin solved — his line, his great solution, consisted of
the substitutioir of an atmosphere of steam, for an atmospher'e of com-
mon air, if replacing this by a gas which at 100>' centigrade t2I2uF) has
precisely the same elastic power, but \\ith an important advantage which
the ordinary almospher-ic does not possess, that of the power of the
aqueous gas weakening itself very quickly when the temperature is
lowered, so that iir the end it disappears almost entirely, if the refrigera-
tion be sufficient. I should characterize the discovery of Papin, as well,
and in fewer words, if 1 should say, that he proposed to make use of steam
to create a vacuum in large spaces, and that this method is prompt
and economic, t

The machine in which our illustrious fellow countryman was the first
to combine iir this manner the elastic power of steam, with the property
which steam possesses of beirrg anrrihilated by refrigeiation, he rrever
executed on a large scale ; his experiments were confined to mere
models. The water intended to engender the steam, did not everr occupy
a separate boiler, but inclosed in the cylinder, it rested on a metallic
plate, which closed it at boltom. It was this jilate which Paprrr Ireated
directly to convert the water iirto steam, and it was frorrr this same plate
that he removed the fire when he wished lo effect the condensation. A
similar process,' har'dly endurable in arr experiment intended to verify the
correctness of a priirciple, would evidently be irradmissible if it were re-
quisite to make the piston move with rapidity. Papin, while he said
" that this could be effected by differerrt constructions easily to be ima-
gined," did not point out any of thee modes of operation He left to
iris sirccessors both the nrerit of the application of this fruitful idea, arrd
that of the inventions in detail, which alone can secure the success of a
machine.

In the first part of our investigation on the employment of steam, we
quoted the ancient philosophers of Greece and Rome ; one of the most
celebrated mechanics of the school of Alexarrdria; a pope ; a gerrtlerrrarr
of the court of Herrry the Fourth ; an hydraulist, born in Normarrdy,
that fertile birth-place of great nrerr, which has contributed tojthe national
pleiad, Malherbe, Corneilie, Prussin, Fontenelle, La Place, and Fresnel;
a member of the Huuse of LorJs, arr Errglish mechanic; and lastly a

* PAPIN'S MACHINE.
Consisted of a boiler B, provided with a safety valve V ; and a cylinder
G H, connected to the boiler by a steam pipe S. The cvliuder was closed at
the toi>, and contained a floating piston P ; and the base of the cyliniler ter-
minated in a curved tube T, -which ascended into a cylinder M • the bent
tube had a pipe Y, from a reser-voir of water communicating with it and it
was provided with a valve at r. Now suppose the cylinder G H, to be tilled
with cold water by the pipe Y, from the reservoir, and the boiler to con-
tain sti-ong steam ; by opening the cock E, the steam would be admitted
and, pressing on the Boating piston P, cause the water to ascend into tlie'
cylinder M ; its return is prevented by the valve K, and the steam cock E
being shut, and the cock R opened, to let the condensed steam escape at the
pipe R, the water from the reservoir refills the steam cylinder through the
pipe Y, and it is ready for repeating the operation. The water raised to be
directed to any useful object by the pipe D. — Tredgold,

t An English nieclianist, doiibllf?«ly deceived by an imraithrnl translation, asserted
some lime ago, lliat llie idea of emplojing steam in tlie same macliine as an elastic
power, and as a rapid means of engendering a vacuitm, bejonged to Hero On mv
side I have proved incnntestably tliat the mechani»t of Alexandria never thonght of
steam; that in his apparatns Ilie alternate movement was only lo be prodnced by llie
dilatation and condensation of the air, arising from Ihe inlenniiling action of the
tilsr TASK— Note of U. Arago.

French physician of the Royal Society of London, for we are obliged to
confess, that Papin almost always exiled, was only a corresponding
Member of our Academy. Now is the time for simple mechanics and
workmen to enter on the scene, in which it will be found that all classes
of society have united for the formation of a machine, of which the whole
world is to errjoy the benefit.

In 1705, fifteen yeais after the publication of the first memoir of
Papin, at Leipsic, Newcomen and Cawley, the first, a hardwareman ; the
other a glazier, at Dartmouth, in Devonshire, constructed, (recollect that
I do not say projected, for the distinction is important)* a machine
intended for diaining, and in which there was a separate boiler in which
the steam or-iginated. This machine, as well as Papin's little model,
consists of a vertical metal cylinder, closed at the bottom and open at
top, and a piston, well fitted, intended to traverse it in its whole length in
ascerrding and descendiirg. In both, wherr the steam arrives fi'eely at
the bottom of the cylinder, fills it, and thus counterbalances the pressure
of the external atmosphere, the ascending movement of the piston is
effected by means of a counterpoise, t Iir the English nrachine, indeed,
in imitation of that of Papin, as soon as the piston has arrived at the
termirration of its ascerrding course, the steam which had contributed to
raise it, is refrigerated. A vacuum is thus made in the whole capacity

• M. Arago. still acting upon the old system, :igain commences a system of trickery,
which is fortunately too ci>bwebby for any audience but one, to the prejudices of which
it was addres-ed. 'I'o any other it would have needed an explanation how his country
glazier found means to benefit by Papiu's projection at Leipsic— A'o/e of the trans-
lator.

t NEWCOMEN'S STEAM ENGINE.

The following is a description of the engine, as far as it was improved by
Newcomen. B represents the boiler with its furnace for producing steam ■
and at a small height above the boiler is a steam cylinder, C, of metal, bored
to a regular diameter, and closed at the bottom, the top remaining open. A
communication is formed between the boiler and the bottom of the cylinder,
by means of a short steam pipe, S. The lower aperture of this pipe is shut
by the plate ;j, which is ground flat, so as to apply very accurately to the
whole circumference of the orifice. This plate is called the regulator, or
steam cock, and it turns horizontally on an axis «, which passes through the
top of the boiler, and is fitted steam-tight ; and has a handle to open and
shut it,

A piston P is fitted to the cylinder, and rendered air-tight by a packing,
round its edge, of soft rope, well tilled with tallow to reduce the friction, and
its upper surface is kept covered with water to render it steam-tight. The
piston is connected to a rod, P A, which is suspended by a drain from the
upper extremity D of the arched head of the lever, or working beam, which
turns on the gudgeon G. This beam has a similar arched head E F, at its
other end, for the pump rod H, which receives the water from the mine. The
end of the beam to which the pump rod is attached, is made to exceed the
weight and friction of the piston in the steam cylinder; and when the water
is drawn from each a depth, that the steam piston is too heavy for this pur-
pose, counterpoise weights must he added at I, till the piston will rise in
the steam cylinder at the proper speed. At some height above the top of
the cylinder is a cistern L, called the injection cistern, supplied with water
from the forcing pump R. From this descends the injection pipe M, which
enters the cylinder through its bottom, and terminates in one or more small
holes at N. This pipe has at O a cock, called the injection cock, fitted with
a handle. At the opposite side of the cylinder, a little above its bottom,
there is a lateral pipe, turning upwards at the extremity, and provided with
a valve at V, called the snifting valve, which has a little dish round it to
hold water for keeping it air-tight.

406

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL

[October

which it traversed, and the external atmosphere forces it to descend. To
effect the necessary refrigeration, Papiii, as we know, was satisfied
with removing the pan of fuel which heated the l)ottoni of his metal
cylinder. Newromen and Cawley eni])loyed a process much better in
every respect , they caused a considerable quantity of cold water to flow
into the ring:-like space contained between the external surface of the
cylinder of their enfiine and a second cylinder, a little larger, in which it
was enclosed. Cold thus was communicated gradually to the whole
. thickness of (he metal, and ultimately reached the steam itself*

Papin's machine, thus perfectedt as to the manner of refrigerating the
steam, or of cundensing it. excited the greatest interest in the mine pro-
prietors—it extended rapidly into several counties of England and ren-
dered important service ; the little energy of its movements, a necessary
consequence of the slo«Tiess with which the steam was refrigerated and
lost its ebisticity, was however a deep source of regret. Chance luckily
pointed out a very simple means of remedying this inconvenience.

In the commcncemetit of the eighteenth century, the art of stuffing
large metal cylinders and closing them hermetically by means of metal
pistons was still in its infancy ; therefore, in the first engines of New-
comen the piston was covered with a layer of water for the purpose of
filling up the vacancies between the circular centre of this moveable
piece, and the surface of the cylinder. To the great surprise of its con-
structors, one of their engines seemed to oscillate much more rapidly
one day than it did generally. After examining it carefully, they saw
clearly that on that day the piston had a hole in it, and that the cold
water fell in driplets, which in passing through the steam were rapidly
dissipated. From this fortuitous observation is to be dated the com-
plete suppression of external refrigeration and the adoption of the rose
spout which carries a nlwirer of cold water through the whole extent of
the cylinder, at the time pointed out by the descent of the piston. The
action thus acquires the desired rapidity.

Let us see also, if chance has not a share in another improvement
equally important. The first engine of Newcomen requires the closest
attendance on the part of the person, who was constantly employed in
opening, and shutting the cocks, either to introduce aqueous steam into
the cylinder, or to throw into it a jet of cold water for the purpose of
condensation. It happened one day that this pers'm was a youth named
Henry Potter, who was very anxious of joining in the joyous games of his
playfellows. He is burning with the desire of joining them, but the task
which is confided to him, does not allow half a minute's absence. His
head is excited, passion gives him genius, he discovers relations of which,
until that moment he had never had any idea.t " Of two cocks, one was
to be opened at the moment when the beam, which Newcomen first
introduced into his engines with such effect, had terminated its descend-
ing oscillation, and it was obliged to be closed exactly at the end of the
opposite oscillation. The management of the second was precisely con-
trary. Thus the positions of the beam and those of the cocks was
necessarily dependent on each other. Potter took advantage of this re-
mark, he observed that the beam could be used to communicate to the
other parts, all those movements which the action of the engine re-
quired, and immediately carried his conception into execution. The
ends of several strings were attached to the handles of the cocks, and
the other ends Potter fastened to convenient points of the beam, so that

• S.tvery liar! already had recourse to a ciineiit of colli water, wliicli he turned
upon the exterior gurface of a metal vessel, to condense the steam which this vessel
contained. Such was the origin of his association with Newcomen and Cawley, bat
it mnst not be forgotten that the patent of Savery, his machines, and the work in
which lie describes them, are many years later than the memoir of I'apin. — Note of
M.Arayo.

t A recent carricattire represents some one inviting an Irishman to a dinner of
roast beef and potatoes. "Oh!" says tlie li-ishinan, " I have just had a dinner of
that same, barrin the meat.'' Tliis seems to be the case with M. Aratjo and his friends,
De Oanj and Papin, they contribnted every thing except what was most essential. —
Note of the translator.

1 This is one of those overflown descriptions in which M. Arago delights to in-
dulge. A mischievous boy, wanting to plav trnaut, iinmediately becomes a subject
of divine inspiration. It is onr dnty to perform our task strictly, so that we feel
bonnd to make this ap.doey to our readers for not veiling this phrase in more sobeJ
terms. — Note of th^ translator.

There proceeds also from the bottom of the cylinder a pipe Q, of which the
lower end is turned upwards, and is covered with a valve v; this part is im-
mersed in a cistern of water called the hot well, and the pipe itself is called
the eduction pipe. To regulate the strength of the steam in the boiler, it is
furnished with a safety valve, constructed and used in the same manner as
that of .Savery's engine, but not loaded with more than one or two pounds on
the square inch.

The mode of operation remains to he described. Let the piston be pulled
down to the bottom of the steam cylinder, and shut the regulator or steam
valve p. Then the piston will be kept at the bottom bv the pressure of the
atmosphere. Apply the fire to the boiler till the steam escapes from the
safety valve, and then, on opening the steam regulator, the piston will rise
by the joint effect of the strength of the steam, and action of the excess of
■weight on the other end of the beam. When it arrives at the top of the
cylinder, close the reijulatorp, and, by turning the injection cock O, admit a
jet of cold water, which condenses the steam in the cylinder, forming a par-
tial vacuum, and the piston descends by the pressure of the atmosphere,
raising water by the pump rod H from the mine. The air which the steam
and the injection water contain, is impelled out of the sniffing valve V, by
the force of descent, and the injection water flows out at the eduction pipe
Q; and by repetition of the operations of alternately admitting steam and
injecting water, the work of raising water is effected. — Tredt/old,

the oscillations of the beam acting on the strings by ascending and de.s-
cending, opened and shut the cocks and supplied the place of manual
labour ; and for the first time the steam engine acts of itself, for the first
time it has no other attendant near it than the stoker, who, from time
to time comes to renew and keep up the fuel under the boiler. For the
strings of the boy Potter, manufacturers soon substituted rigid vertical
rods, fixed to the beam and armed with levers, which press upwaids and
downwards the heads of the difl'erent cocks. Th.se rods have now been
supplanted by other combinations, but however humiliating the confession
may be, all these inventions are simply modifications of the mechanism
which was suggested by a boy who wanted to join his playfellows.

In collections of apparatus there are agood many machines, of the utility
of which to manufacturers great hopes have been formed, but which the
dearness of their construction, or their maintenance, has reduced to mere
curiosities. Such would have been the final lot of Newcumcu's machine,
at least in localities deficient in fuel, if the labours of Watt, of which I
must now give you an analysis, had not introduced an unexjfected per-
fection. "This perfection, however, mu.st not be considered as the result
of any casual observation, or of a single ingenious inspiration, for its
author arrived at it by assiduous study, and by experiments of extract,
dinary beauty and delicacy. 1 1 might be said, that Watt had adopted
Bacon's celebrated maxim, " To write, speak, meditate, or act, when we
are not well provided with /ac(s to excite our thoughts, is to navigate
without a pilot along a coast bristling with dangers ; it is to launch out in
the immense ocean without compass or helm."

There was in the collection of the Tniversity of Glasgow, a small
model of Ne^vcomen's steam engine, which had never worked properly.
Anderson, the Professor of Natural Philosophy, gave it to Watt to repair.
Under the skilful hand of the workman, the faults in its construction dis-
appeared, and from that time the model v. orked every year in the lecture
room before the wonder-struck students. An ordinary man would have
been contented with this success, but Watt, according to custom, unly
saw the opportunity for deeper studies. Ills researches were successively
directed to every point which seemed to clear up the theory of this ma-
chine. He determined the quantity of expansion of the water when it
passes from a liquid state to that of steam ; the quantity of water which
a given weight of coal can vaporize ; the quantity of steam in weight
which one of Newcomen's engines, of known dimensions, consumes at
each oscillation ; the quantity of cold water which is necessaiy to be in-
jected into the cylinder to give the descending oscillation of the piston
a ceitain power; and, finally, the elasticity of steam at different tem-
peratures.

Here was enough to have occupied the life of a laborious mechanic;
Wiitt, however, found out the means of succeeding in many and most
difliciilt pursuits, without interrupting the labours of the workshop. Dr.
Clehmd wished to take me to the house to which our colleague used to
retire to make experiments on leaving his shop, but unfoitunately we
f'und it pulled down. Our sorrow was great, but of short duration;
on the site of the foundation, still existing, ten or twelve hardy
labourers, seemed as if sanctifying the birth-place of the modern
steam-engine. They were hammering different parts of a boiler, larger
certainly than the humble dwelling which formerly adorned the spot.
On this site, and in similar circumstances, the most elegant mansion, the
finest statue, the most sumptuous monument, would have been less
fitting to the genius loci than the gigantic boiler.

If the properties of steam are still present in your minds, you will per-
ceive at once that the economic action of Newcomen's machine requires
two irie.'oneilable conditions. When the piston descends, the cylinder
must be cold, or it would meet steam still very elastic, which would
greatly retard its action and diminish the effect of the external atmos-
phere. When, therefore, steam at KKJo C (iil2o F. ) rushes into the
same cylinder, if the surfaces are cold this steam warms them by a par-
tial liquefaction, and until they acquire a temperature of 100" C. (2I'2o F. )
the elasticity is considerably diminished. The consequence is, a slow-
ness in the movements, for the counterpoise does not lift up the pistou
l)efore there exists in the cylinder a springiness sufficient to counter-
balance the action of the atmosphere. Thence also an increased ex-
pense, since, as I have explained, steam is very dear. We shall see
directly the immense importance of this economic consideration, when I
inform you that the Glasgow model used at each oscillation a volume of
steam several times greater than that of the cylinder. Ihe expense of
the steam, or, what comes to the same, of the fuel, or, rather, if you
prefer it, the indispensable pecuniary expense of maintaining the move-
ment of the machine, would be several limes less if we could get rid of
those successive coolings and healings, the inconveniences of which I
have pointed out.

This problem, apparently insolvable. Watt resolved by the simplest
means. He found it sufficient to add to the former disposition of the
machinery a vessel distinct from the cylinder, and only communicating
with it by means of a narrow tube provided with a cock. This vessel,
which is now called a co/if/t'H.wr, is Watt's principal invention, and not-
withstanding my desiie to shorten the subject, I cannot avoid explaining
its action.

( To be continued. )

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

407

THE LIFE OF JAMES WATT fconcludetU)

If a free eommuiUL'ation exist between a cylinder full of steam and
a vessel exhausted of steatn and air, part of the steam in the cylinder will
pass with great rapidity into the vessel, and the motion will continue
until the elasticity is uniform throughout. Supposing, then, that by
means of an abundant and continual injection of water, the vessel could
be kept constantly cold throughout its extent, the steam would be con-
densed on its arrival, all the steam with which the cylinder was originally
filled would be successively brought in, and the cylinder would thus be
relieved from the steam, without its surfaces being in the least refrige-
rated, and the new steam with which it might be necessary to refill it
would lose none of its elasticity.

The co»A'H,v(T attracts to itself the steam of the cylinder, on the one hand,
because it contains cold water, and on the other, because the remainder
of its capacity does not contain any elastic fluid. But the moment that
a first condensation of steam has been effected, these two successful
conditions disappear ; the condensing water becomes warmed by absorb-
ing the latent caloric of the steam ; a considerable quantity of steam is
formed at the expence of this warm water, and the cold water contained
atmospheric air, which has been liberated during the elevating of the
temperature. If after each operation, this hot water were nut taken
away, together with the steam and air which the condenser contains, it
would in the end produce no result. Watt, effected this triple evacuation
by means of an ordinary air pump, of which the piston is carrried by a rod
attached lo the beam and sel in motion by the engine. The power employed
in keeping the air pump in motion diminishes by so much, the power of the
machine, but this is nothing in comparison with the loss which ensued
in the i Id process, by the condensation of the steam on the cold surfaces of
the body uf the cylinder — scefg. 9.

One word more, and the advantages of another invention of Watt's will
be apparent to every body. When the piston descends in Newcomen's
engine, it is the atmosphere which impels it ; this atmosphere is cold,

LEUPOLD'S ENGINE.

M. Arago has omitted to notice the contrivance of Leupold, which we shall
tere g>ve, ,n order that this ingenious inventormay not be passed over unnoticed.

Leupold was a native of Saxony ; in 1723 he commenced publishing a large
oollec ion of machines, which extended to several folio volumes ; amon..- other
inventions, he suggested the high presmre engine, a,id fuur-way cock, a view is
ulTnT,^- ^- 0^"/,>'"'" B' ^' Pl--d two cylinder's C C, iftted ^ith stelm!
cvuSerT!:,^'''; l?""™fT ^'^f™-™':'^' », is placed between the boiler and
cylinders, so as to alternately admit steam into one cylinder, and let it out

brw1;'i°st"-d'^'^aS"'°°' '^*^ admission of strong steam'from the' boile
a nluno'.r nf ' '^''P'^'ff^ "'<' »'hcr end of a lever connected to the rod of
.!,„ .u^ . a I"""?' ^y;^'":^ "pauses the water to rise through the pipe, and bv
water r;ateT'°Th"' 'X" f 'f " i" "'^- '"° ^>"°''"^ => continulf st'rcam o"^
nressu P ZfJ^' 2 . " '"'^^- ""'"^^ "^ '^^ principle of employing high

pressuie steam under a piston was given. f j b "^b"

Fig. 7 and 8.

Fig. 7 and 8, show an enlarged view of the four.
"•".V^ock. T is a passage to the top of the cylinder
and B that to the bottom S the passage for the^steam;
ana L the passage to the condenser. Fig. 7, shows
the passage rom S to T, open for the stelm o pT^
from the boiler to. the top of the cylinder, and the
passase from B to C open to allow the escape of he
steam Irom below the piston to the condenier, when
the diagonal ,s turned across to the opposite dii^ction,
he passages are then reversed, the steam from the
boiler will then pass to the bottom of the cvlinder bv
the passage from S to B, and the steam above the
piston will escape through the passage T and C to the
condenser. The other figure shows^in what manner
the steam may be shut off at any period of the stroke.

and must consequently cool down the surfaces of the metallic cylinder,
o])en at the top, which the cold air successively covers throughout.* This
cooling down is only overcome dming the ascending course of the piston,
at the expense of a certain quantity of steam. No loss of this kind, how-
ever, exists in the iin])roved engines of Watt; the atmospheric action
IS totally shut out in the following way. The cylinder is closed at top
by a metal covering, perforated only in its centre by an opening pro-
vided with close stuffing, through which the piston rod moves freely,
without allowing a passage either for the air or the steam. The piston
thus divides the cylinder into two distinct and closed portions ; when it
descends, the steam of the boiler passes freely in the upper portion by a
pipe properly placed, and forces it down in the same way as was done
by the steam in Newcomen's engine. This motion is executed with-
out any hinderance, the bottom of the cylinder only being in communi-
cation with the condenser, in which all the inferior steam is turned into
water. From the moment that the jiiston has gone down, it is only re-
quired to turn a cock to open a communication between the two parts
of the cylinder situated above and below the piston ; when both parts
are filled with steam of the same degree of elasticity, the piston is
then in a state of equilibrium, and is raised to the top of the cylinder, as
in the atmospheric engine of Newcoraen, by the mere action of a slight
counterpoise — see fig. 10.

While following up his search into the means of saving steam. Watt
reduced still fiirther, almost indeed to nothing, the waste, which occurred
from the cooling down of the outer surface of the cylinder in which the
piston works. To effect this, he enclosed the metal cylinder in a larger
wooden cylinder, and filled with steam, the ring-like interval which
divided them.

Thus was the steam-engine completed— the perfection which it de-
rived from the hand of Watt is evident, its immense utility admits
not of a doubt. You would expect therefore, that it would immediately
re-place, as a means of draining, the comparatively ruinous engines of New-
conien. Do not deceive yourselves ; the author of a discovery has
always to contend with those whose interests it may affect, with the
obstinate partisans of all that is old, with the jealous and the envious.
These classes combined, form, we are obliged to confess, the greater
part of the public, and yet in my calculation, 1 omit double cases to
avoid a paradoxical result. This compact mass of opponents, time alone
can separate and destroy ; but time is not enough, they must be attacked
boldly, they must be attacked without ceasing ; the means of action
must be varied, imitating the chemist, who, is taught by experience that
the entire dissolution of certain alloys requires the successive employ,
nient of several acids. That strength of character and persistance of
will, which in the long run defeat the cunningest intrigues, may not, some.

Fig. 9.

ATMOSPHERIC ENGINE, WITH CONDENSER.

P ft,'!' ^' *<"'%,t° ''"^'"'' "^ ""'^ ''''"^' "'"''■'' <^ ■= a cylinder, open at the top;
r VA ^B "■ V"^ ',"'^™ P'""'"' ^™"" ""• '"'"" through the pipe S, and bv
J^l , '"°/''' '■^■■''°''." =" ^' ""'' "'^« "^-^ piston. A is a pump with a
solid piston, to receive the condensed steam, air, and water, .nd expel it : the
injection ,s made into the pipe E; and I is the injection c^ck : F is a cock to
To hUr ^'' ""^^ ™' "' '''°^' ""' P'^'™ p, when the engine is at rest.

ton in b„ I ,f! rV\ ""^ '''r" """ "'■*'= ^'^^ Q ; the pistons being at the
»?H nJT^l ■ ^X'"»ler and pump : then shut off the steam by the slide B.
thp ,Vi ,1^ ?■" r • a"',','" ""sequence of the condensation produced by
nmlii, ;i,^^''.tf^°?>"' "■'" J""''' °" ""= 'op °f the piston and press it down,
,W tZJ' t. " ''"'™,'' ""= '°'^ •■' ^•^O"''' be open, but afterwards closed ■
rnnZ "^ ^'°'^^''.^' ■™'^ ""' '''"^'^ » moved to close the passage to the

the airY^n"" ?""""/ "'=',' ^"^ ""= ^"'■™' "'' Pi^'^^ -"' "="'" «'«"d. ""d
nl.Prn » w^ter of Condensation will be expelled at the' valve Q. Th«

to continue the action. The engine may be regulated by closing the valve B
at any period of the ascent, and the cock I at any period 'of the descent.

2L

408

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL

[November,

times, be united with an inventive genius, and Watt himself in case of
need, would fiu'nish the strongest evidence of this. His admirable in-
vention, his happy idea of the possibility of condensing; steam in a
vessel entirely separated from the cylinder in which the mechanical
action takes place, dates from 1765. Two years elapse, and yet he
has hardly taken any steps to apply it on a large scale. His friends
at last obtained an introduction for him to Doctor Roebuck, who
established the Carron foundry, still enjoying a high celebrity. The
manufacturer and the inventor united ; Watt gave up to him two-thirds
of his patent, an engine is made on the new principles and confirms all
his theoretical provisions. His success was complete, but at this period
the fortune of Doctor Roebuck received a severe check ; Watt's inven-
tion would have doubtless restored it, all that was wanting was a
sleeping partner to supply funds, but Watt thought it was better to give
up his discovery and change his trade.

In 1 7G7, whilst Smeaton was surveying between the rivers Firth and
Clyde, for one of those gigantic works of which this part of Scotland after-
wards became the scene, we find that Watt employed himself in similar
operations for a rival line by Loch Lomond. Some time after, he drew
up a plan for a canal to carry coal from Monkland to Glasgow, of which
he superintended the execution. Several plans of the same kind, and,
among others, of a navigable canal across the isthmus of Crinan, since
finished by Rennie ; extensive plans for the improvement of the ports of
Ayr, Glasgow, and Grenoek ; the construction of bridges at Hamilton
and Rutherglen ; and an investigation of the ground across which the
famous Caledonian canal was to pass, then occupied our colleague until
the end of 1773. Without detracting from the merit of these labours, I
must be permitted to consider their importance as merely local, and to
assert that their conception, direction, or execution woiild never have
given a name like that of James Watt.

If forgetting my duties to the academy, I endeavoured to make you
smile instead of relating what is useful and true, I could find here matter
enough for a striking contrast. I could remind you of such and such an
author, who, in our weekly meetings, demands loudly to communicate
this little remark, that trifling reflexion, the few notes drawn up only the
evening before ; I would paint him to you cursing his fate, when the

Fig. 10.

ruin

St, m

U=J

BOULTON AND WATT'S SINGLE ACTING STEAM
ENGINE.

Fig. 10, shows a section of the cylinder C, condenser B, and air pump A, of
a single engine, arranged as is most convenient for exhibiting the parts. The
steam enters from the boiler to the cylinder by the pipe S, through the valve
c; and presses down the piston P, which is supposed to be taken at the
time of its descent : the steam below it goes into the condenser, and is con-
densed by the jet wliich plays into it, Tlie air pump bucket p is descending
in the air and vapour which the pump had received from the condenser
during the previous ascent, Wlien the piston is at the bottom of the cylin-
der, a motion is given to the rod O, which shuts the valves a and c, and
opens the valve 6; there is tliea a communication open by the pipe E, be-
tween the top and bottom of the cylinder, and the pressure of the counter
■weight must be suilicient to overcome the friction of the piston, and expel
the steam from the upper to the lower side of the piston : tlie action of the
counter weight has also to expel the air and water of condensation through
the valvt Q by means of the air pump.

strict letter of the regulations, when the earlier order of inscription *
of some other member puts ofl' the reading of it for another week, leaving
to him, however, as a guarantee dming this wretched week, its being in
safe custody in our archives as a sealed packet. On the other hand, we
should see the creator t of a machine destined to form an e])0ch in the
amials of the world, submit without murmur to the stupid cajirices of
capitalists, and bend down his superior genius during eight years to the
compilation of plans, to minute surveys, to tedious details of estimates, of
repairs, and of square yards of masonry. Let us confine ourselves to re-
marking, that this conduct of Watt arose from a serenity of character, a
moderation of wishes, and genuine modesty. So much indifference,
however noble might have been the reasons for it, is still open to blame :
society is in the right to reprobate in the strongest terms those of its
members who by hoarding prevent the circulation of the specie of the
country ; is it, however, less blameable to deprive one's native land antl
fellow countrymen, one's fellow men, of those treasures a thousand
times more valuable, which spring from the mind, hoarding u]) for one's
self those immortal conceptions, sources of the noblest and piu'est mental
enjoyments, and in depriving of them, the mamifacturers of mechanical
combinations, who would multijily to infinity the produce of national in-
dustry ; which would to break down for the benefit of civilization and
of the human race, the effects of an iniequal position in society, which one
day would allow us to go through the rudest workshops, without witnessing
the melancholy sight of fathers of families, and unfortunate children of
both sexes reduced to the state of brutes, and moving rapidly towards
the tomb.

In the beginning of 1774, after having overcome the indifference of
Watt, he was placed in communication uith Mr. Boulton, of Soho,
near Birmingham, a man of enterprise, activity, and varied talents. J The
two partners applied to parliament for a prolongation of Watt's patent,
which was taken out in 1709, and had only a few years to run. The
bill gave rise to a shaq) debate. " This business," says the celebrated
engineer in a letter to his aged father, " could only be carried on witli
considerable trouble and expense. Without the help of some warm
hearted friends we should not have succeeded, for many most influ-
ential members of the House of Commons were opposed to us." It
seemed to me worthy of enquiry, to ascertain what class of society
belonged these influential members of whom Watt speaks, who refused
to a man of genius, a small part of the riches which he was going
to create. Judge of my surpiise, when 1 found at their head, the
celebrated Burke ! Can it be true, that a man can distinguish himself
by the most arduous studies, be a man of learning and probity, possess
in an eminent degree those oratorical qualities which lead and carry
away political assemblies, and yet be diflicient in simple common
sense ?$ However, since the wise and important amendments which
Lord Brougham has introduced into the patent laws, inventors will no
longer be subjected to those protracted annoyances to which Watt was
exposed.

As soon as parliament had granted an extension of Watt's patent for
twenty-five years, this mechanic and Boulton, in conjunction, commenced
at Soho, those establishments which have proved the most useful schools
in England of practical mechanics. Steam-engines for draining were
erected on a very large scale ; and repeated experiments showed that
with equal eflfect, they saved three-quarters of the fuel previously used

* In French assemblies all speakers put down their names in a list, from which they
are called in rotation to deliver Ihei* discourses, this prevails even in the Cliambcrs,
it leads to a dull monotony, and is destructive of the oratorical character.— A'oie of
the translator.

t We recollect an old friend of ours, one of the philosophical circle of the last
century, who used to tell an appropriate anecdote on the snbject of M. Arago'a
favoniite prlmse, the creative power of a mechanic. He himself, in a trial on the
validity of a patent, had used the same remark, when the judge anxious to have a
quiet fling at a witness, who was on all such occasions quite imbrotcbeatable, ex-
claimed, Creative power of a mechanic! why pray Mr. R. wiiat do you mean by that?
Wliy, my Lord, 1 mean, that power which enables a man to convert a goat's tail into
a judge's wig.— iVote of the traivtlator.

t In the notes of the last edition of Professor Robison's work on the steam engine.
Watt speaks in these terms of Mr. Boulton. "The friendship with which he favuurwl
me, ended only with his life, that which I felt towards hiui obliges nie to take advantage
of this opportunity, the last perhaps which may be allowed me, of acknowledging How
much 1 am indebletl to him. It is to Mr. Bonlton's ready encouragement, his taste for
scientific pursuits, and the skill with which lie knew how to make Uiem contribute to tl»€
progress of the arts ; it is also to his intimate acquaintance with manufacturing and
commercial atlairs, that I attribute in a great degree the success with which my elfurls
have been crowned."

Mr. Boulton's manufactory, at Soho, had already been established for some years,
when the partnership was formed which is mentioned in the text. This establishment,
the first on such a great scale wtiich has been formed in England, is still further remark-
able in the present day, for the elegance of its architecture. Boulton manufactured
there all kinds of first-rate works, in sleel, plated ware, silver, aud or-iuolu, even
astronomical clocks and paintings on glass. Dining the last twenty years of his life,
Boulton was employed in improvements in minting money. By the combination of
some processes originally French (?; with new presses, and an ingenious appiicaUon of
the steam engine, he succeeded in uniting great rapidity of execution, witli extrenie
perfection in detail. It was Boulton, who elfected for the English Government,
the re-coinage of all the copper money of tlie epipire. The economy and neatness of
this great work rendered false imitations almost impossible. The numerous executions
with which, until then, the Cities of London aud Birmingham had been afflicted, entirely
ceased, and on tliis occasion Darwin in his Botanic Garden demands, wliy if at Rom«
a civic crown was ^iven to him who saved the life of a single citizen, is not BoultOD
worthy of bein" covered by us witli garlands of oak.

Mr.'BouUou died in 1809, aged il.—Note of it. Arago.

§ It is not only very possible, but very certain, and perhaps is the reason why in Eng-
land political aud scientihc distinctions are considered as didcreul — Aoie of tlie Trans
lator.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

409

by Ne\rconien's engines. From this time, the use of the new engine
extended in the mining districts, particularly in Cornwall ; Boulton and
Watt receiving as payment the value of a third of the quantity of coal
which each of their engines saved. The commercial importance of this
invention may be conceived by one autlientic fact : in the single mine of
Chacewater, where three engines were at work, the ])roprietors found it
worth while to purchase up the rights of the inventors for an annual sum
of 2,400/. Thus, in one single instance, the substitution of the condenser
with internal injection had effected a saving of 7,200/. per annum, in the
produce of fuel.

People agree, without difficulty, to pay the rent of a house or a farm ;
but tlus feeling ceases when it att'eets an idea, whatever ])rofit or advan-
tage it may have procured. Ideas, why they are conceived without
laboiu- aiul without trouble ! Besides, who knows but in time, every
one would have thought of them! In this way, no days, months, or
years can give validity to a privilege. To these opinions, \vhich it is not
certainly necessary for me to criticise here, custom has almost given the
sanction of a fixed decision. Men of genius and manufacturers of ideas,
seem condemned to remain deprived of all material enjoyments ; and, it is
very natural,- that their history should continue to resemble a legend of
martyrs. Whatever we may think of these remarks, it is certain that
the Cornish miners paid from year to year with more repugnance the rent
which they owed to the Soho establishment. They took advantage of the
first objections started by the plagiarists, to assume that they were dis-
charged from all obligation. The question was a serious one : it might
have greatly injured the fortune of our colleague, he gave up to it therefore
his whole attention and became a legist*. The incidents occurring in the
long and expensive suits which Boulton and Watt had to carry on, and
which at last they gained, are not now worthy of revival, but as 1 just now
quoted Burke an.ong the opponents of the great mechanic, it is but just to
remember that on the other hand, the rights of persecuted genius were
maintained before the seat of justice by the testimony of Roy, Milne, Her-
schel, Ueluc, Ramsden, Robinson, Murdoch, Rennie, Gumming, More, and
Southern. Perhaps also we ought to add as a curious trait in the history of
the human mind, that the counsel (I shall have the prudence to remark
that I am oidy speaking of the counsel of a neighbouring country) to whom
malignity imputes a superabundant luxiny of words, reproached Watt,
against whom they were employed in great numbers, with having invented
only ideas ; this, we may remark, led to the following apostrophe in Court
of Mr. Rous, " Do as you like gentlemen, with these untangible combina-
tions, as you call Watt's engines, they'll crush you like flies, and blow ^-ou
up out ot sight."

The persecutions sustained by a man of mind, where he has a right to
expect, with justice, unanimous expressions of gratitude, seldom fail to dis-
courage him, and to give a tone of asperity to his character. AVatt's natu-
rally good disposition could not resist such rough attacks ; seven long years
of law excited in him a feeling which led hira sometimes to expi'ess himself
with bitterness. " W\\at I feai' most," wrote he to a friend, " is piracy. I
have ah'eady been cruelly attacked by plagiarists, and if I had not a tolerable
memory, theh' impudent assertions would almost have persuaded me that I
had never made any improvement in the steam-engine. You would scarcely
credit, that the ill-feeling of those whom I have most served, goes to that
lenjjth that they maintain that these improvements, far from being worthy of
encouragement, are injurious in the extreme to the uation.il wealth."

AVatt, although greatly UTitated, was not cast down ; his engines, wliich,
at fiist, like those of Newcomen, were only mere pumps for draining, in a
few years he converted into universal movers, and gave them an indeliuite
power. His first attempt was the application of the double-act Inr/ evgine.

To understand the principle of this, we must refer to the Improved mgine,
of which we have abeady spoken at page 407. The cylinder is closed;
the access of the external air is cut otf; tlie piston is forced do^^^l by the
pressure of the steam, and not by that of the atmosphere ; the rising move-
ment is eft'ected by a mere counterpoise, for at the moment, when this action
takes place, the steam, circulating freely above and below the cylinder, presses
equally on the piston two opposite ways. So that, as every one may see,
in the improved engine, as in Newcomen's, there is no real power, except
during the descending stroke of the piston. A veiy trifling alteration
remedied this serious defect, and gave us the double-acting engine. In the
eng;ine known under this name, as in that which we have called the improved
engine, the steam of the boiler passes freely to the top of the cyhnder, and
forces down the piston without any difficulty, for at the same time, the infe-
rior capacity of the cylinder is in conminnication with the condenser. This
movement once effected, the steam is cut off from entering above, and is
now, by opening a certain cock or valve, admitted to the under side of the
piston, and raises it up simidtaneonsly, the communication from the bot-
tom of the cylinder with the condenser is closed, and a similar passage is
opened from the top of the cylinder to the condenser, and allows the steam
to be drawn off from above tlie piston to the condenser, where it becomes
liquefied ; when this is done, and the piston anives at the top, all the cocks
and valves again change their movements, and are replaced in their original

• How different is tliis from tlnf pl:iin narration of Stnart, and ttie actual facts. Poor
Boitllon ulio liaci the wliole cuniniercial management, for wliich Watt was totally uiitit,
is here left entirely out of the qnestiou, in order that M. Araeo may make a point, and
add aiiuiher to the long string of miracnioijs qnalilications with which he has endowed'
his onhappy confrere. The medicine and surt;ery misht have pased, but what will the
gentlemen of Westminster Hall say to this sudden acquirement of a subject for which
they lind no l\mv iatiicivnu^ Note uf the Tramlator.

position. In this way the same effects are reproduced indefinitely. The
motor, as has been seen, is here steam exclusively, and the engine, making
aUowauce for an inequality depending on the weight of the piston, has the
same power whether in ascending or descentUng. On tliat account it was
justly called on its first appearance the double impulse engine, or double acting
engine. — see Jig. ] I and V2.

To make his new motor of easy and commodious application. Watt had to
conquer other ditficultics. He was obliged to find out the means of establish-
ing a rigid communication between the inflexible rod of the piston oscillating
in a straight line, and a beam oscillating circularly. The solution which he
produced of this important problem, is, perhaps, his most ingenious invention.
Among the constituent parts of the steam-engine, you have, no doubt, ob-
served an articulated parallelogram, which, at each doidjle stroke, stretches
out its sides and coUapses them with the ease, I had almost said the grace,
■nith which the gestures of a perfect actor charm you. Follow the progress
of its various transformations progressively with the eye, and you see that
they are under sulijection to most curious geometrical laws. You will per-
ceive three angles of the parallelogram describing, in space, arcs of a circle ;
while theyoMr//(, the angle which raises and lowers the piston rod, moves
abnost in a straight line. The immense utihty of the result astonishes me-
chanics still less than the simplicity of the means by which Watt effected
it.* — see fig. VA and M.

Power is not the only element of success in manufacturing processes, regu-
larity of action is equally essential ; but how can we exjiect regularity from a
motor which is engendered from fire by shovelfids of coals, and even from
coal of dift'erent qualities, under the superintendence of a single workman,
often unintelligent, and almost always inattentive. The disposable steam
will be so much the more abundant, and will flow into the cyhnder with
greater rapidity, and move the piston so much the faster, as the fire has
more intensity. Great inequahties of action seem almost inevitable, and the
genius of Watt had to proride for tliis palpable defect. The valves by which
steam is discharged from the boiler into the cylinder are not alw.iys open to
the same extent ; when the engine is working fast, these valves partially
close. A certain quantity of steam must tiierefore require more time to pass
through them, and the rapidity is iliminishcd. The openings of the valves, on

Fig. 12.

f~^

^"^^"^^^^v

BOULTON AND WATT'S DOUBLE ACTING ENGINE.
The parts arc shown in Fig.ll, where C. is the cylinder ; the steam enters
at S, and passes into the upper part of the cylinder at F, or into the lower
part at 1), as in Fig. 12, showing the piston in the state of ascending, and
Fig. 11, as descending. From the lower part of the cylinder in Fig. 11, the
steam escapes through D into the condenser B, (see Fig. 10) where it is
condensed by a jet of cold water, whicli plays into it constantly \ and the
uncondensed gases and water pass through the valve G during the ascending
stroke, and expelled at the valve Q into the hot well. When the steam pis-
ton P, Fig. 12, ascends, the steam from the upper part of the cylinder passes
through F down the pipe E to the condenser. The steam passages D and F
arc opened and closed by a D-slide, so called from its plan resembling the letter
D ; it is moved by the rod O, by tappets or other methods.

• These are Watt's terms in giving an account of his articiibited parellelogram :
** I have myself boen surprised by the reyularity of its action ; when I saw it move,
for the first tune, I was as much pleased with the novelty, as if it had buen tlie im^entiim
of another person'"

Snieatun, wlio was a fjifat afiniirer of Watt's invention, did not believe that in prac.
tice, it coiihl become an economical and general UK'de of communicatini; directly rota-
tory nioveraent to an axle. He maintained tliat steam-enLjines conkl always be em-
ployed in raising water, wliich, when raist-d to a convenient lieigth, could bt uscfl in its
tall, to give motion to the buckets or floats of ordinary water wheels. In this respect,
however. Smeaton's ideas have not been carried out, aUhnugh I saw, in 1834, wliile on a
visit to Mr. Boulton's works, at Soho, an old steam-eriijine, which is stiU used to raise
water from a I:irii:c pond, and to pour it into the buckets of a large water wheel, ^\hen
the season is so dry as not to supply snfhcient w;iter from the stream generally used. —
IVoteof M. Arago. Leiipold sii>;gested llie idea of giving rotatoiy motion by means of
first raising the water into an elevated cistern, and then allowing it to fall on an over-
shot wheel, a drawing and desciipilun is given at page '1U3, vol. iii. Theatrum Afacki-
narum, — Note of Translator,

2 L 2

410

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[November,

the contrar)-, extend when the action flags. The jiarts necessary to eftect
these different changes connect tlie valves with axes moved by the engine, by
means of a contrivance of which Watt conceived the idea from the regulator
employed in some of the flour mills. He called it the governor, it is also
termed the centrifugal power regulator. Its efficiency is such that some
years ago there was, in the cotton-mill of Mr. Lee, a mechanic of great
talent, a clock set in motion by the steam-engine of the factory, and wliich
acted almost as well as the ordinary spring clock by its side.— .see fiq. 15.

M'att's governor is the secret, the principal secret, of the astonishing per-
fection of the manufacturing products of the age ; it is that which gives the
steam-engine an action free from any vibration, and which enables it with
equal success to embroider muslin and to forge anchors ; to weave the most
delicate fabrics, and to communicate rapid motion to the massive stones
of the flour mill. This explains why Watt said, without being liable to the

Fig. 13 & 14.

tkj^

PARALLEL MOTION.

The apparatus adopted for carrying this motion into effect, is represented in
fig. 13, wliich is an elevation, or side view of one half of the engine beam ;
and fig. 14, a plan of same ; similarletters, in both figures, refer to similar parts;
the beam moving on its axis A, every point in its arm moves in the arc af a
circle, of which A is the centre. Let B be the point which divides the arm,
A F into equal parts A B, and B F, and let D C be a straight rod, equal in length
to A B, and playing on the fixed centre or pivot C. The end D of this rod, is
connected by a straight bar D B, with the point B, by pivot at B and D, on
which the rod B D plays freely. If the beam be supposed to move alter-
nately on its axis A, the point B will move up and down in a circular arc, of
which A is the centre, and at the same time, the point E will move in an
equal circular arc round the point C as a centre, therefore, the middle point
K of the rod B D will move up and down in a straight line.

Also let a rod P G equal in length to B D, be attached to the end/ of the
beam by a pivot, on which it moves freely, and let its extremity G be con-
nected with L, by a rod G D, equal in length to B F, and playing on pivots,
G and D.

By this arrangement, the joint F G being always parallel to B D. the three
points A F G wdl be, in circumstances, precisely similar to the points, ABE,
except that the system A F G will be on a scale of double the magnitude of,
ABC; A F being twice A B, and E G twice B E, it is clear, then.'^that what-
ever course the point E may follow, the point G must follow a smiilar line, but
will move twice as fast. But, since the point E has been already shown to
move up and down in a straight line, the point G must also move up and down
in a straight line, but of double the length.

By this arrangement, the pistons of both the steam cylinder and air pump
are worked ; the rod of ihe latter being attached to the point E, and that of
the former, to the point G.

Fig. 15.

THE GOVERNOR.

Different modes of combining the parts are used
by different engineers; one of these is shown in figure
15, where g is the revolving axis, /the point of sus-
pension, j j the balls, e e the rods by which the
balls are suspended. These rods are connected to the
rods i I, and by that means raise or depress the
sliding piece A, and with it the lever I, which acts on
the throttle valve, by the line C. The parts marked
k k are two rests to receive the balls when the engine
is cot in motion.

imputation of exaggeration, that to avoid the runnings in and out of senants,
in case of illness, he would have his medicine given to him by arms from his
steam-engine. I know very well, that with the common run of the world,
this ease of action is supposed to be obtained at the expense of the power
employed, but it is a vulgar error; the saying "great noise and little work,"
is not only true in the moral world, but is a mechanical axiom.

A few words more, and we shall get to the end of the technical details.
Some years ago great benefit was found from not leaving a free communi-
cation between the boiler and the cylinder, during the whole duration of each
stroke of the engine. This communication was shut off when the piston, for
instance, had made one third of its stroke ; the two remaining thirds of the
length of the cylinder were then gone through, in consequence of the speed
acquired, and particularly on account of the expansion of the steam. Watt
had already pointed out this process,* and very good judges place this im-
provement, on account of its practical application, on a par with the con-
denser. It is very certain, that since its adoption, the Cornish engines have
produced unexpected effects, and that, with one bushel of coals, they do the
work of twenty men working for ten hours. We must recollect that, in the
coal districts, a bushel of coals costs only nine pence, and then we sliall see
clearly that Watt reduced, in the greater part of England, the price of a
man's days' labour of ten hours to less than a halfpenny! f

Numerical calculations show so clearly the value of the inventions of our
colleague, that I cannot refrain from showing two other comparisons, wliich
I have borrowed from one of the most celebrated correspondents of the
Academy, Sir John Herschel.

The ascent of Mont Blanc, from the valley of Chamouni, is justly con-
sidered as one of the most laborious tasks which a man can get through in
two days. Thus the maximum of mechanical exertion of which we are ca-
pable in twice twenty-four hours, is measured by raising the weight of our
body to the height of Mont Blanc. This labour, or the equivalent of it, a
steam-engine will effect by burning two pounds of coal. Watt has therefore
shown, that the daily strength of a man does not exceed that which is con-
tained in a pound of coal.

Herodotus relates that the construction of the gi'eat pvTamid of Egypt oc-
cupied a hundred thousand men twenty years. The pjTamid is of limestone;
its volume can be easily calculated, and is ascertained to be about tlurteen
millions of pounds. To raise this weight 125 feet, the height of the centre
of gravity of the pyramid, it would be necessary to burn, under the boiler of
a steam-engine, 630 chaldrons of coal. There is, among our neighbours, a
foundry which could be mentioned, which burns a greater quantity of fue
eveiy week.

Copying Machine — Heating by Steam — Composition or Water —
Bleaching by Chlorine — Experiments on the Physiological
Effects of breathing Different Gases.

Birmingham, when Watt took up his residence there, reckoned, among
the inhabitants of its neighbourhood, Priestley, whose mere name speaks
everything, Darwin, author of the Zoonomia, and of a celebrated poem on
" The loves of the plants," Withering, a distingiushed physician and botanist,
Keir, a chemist well known by his notes on the translation of Macquer, and
an interesting memoir on the crystallization of glass, Galton, who wrote an
elementary treatise on Ornitholog)', Edgeworth, author of several works justly
appreciated, and father of the so celebrated Miss Maria, &c. These savanst
soon became intimate with the celebrated mechanic, and most of them fonned,
in conjunction with him and Boulton, a club, under the name of The Lunar
Society. Such a singular title gave rise to many strange mistakes, although
it only meant that they met on the evening of the fuU moon, a time of the
month chosen in order that the members might see their way home on
lea%ing.

Every meeting of the Lunar Society fuinished Watt with a fresh oppor-
tunity of showing the incomparable fertility of imagination with wliich nature

* The principle of cutting otf the steam. Watt had already clearly shown in a letter
to Dr. Small, (lateii I7G9, and it was put in practice at Suho in 1776, and in 1778 at
the Sliadwell Water Works on economic grounds. The mvenlion and the advantaj;es to
be derived from it are fully described in the patent of 1782.— iVofe of M. Arago.

t At a time when so many persons are employed iu planning rotatory engines, 1
should be unpardonably forgetful if 1 did not mention that Watt not only turned his at-
tention to this subject, as we see in his patents, but that he carried it into execution.
These engines Watt gave up, not because they would not act, but because they seemed
to him in a working point of view very much inferior to the double impulse and recti-
linear action engines.

There are few inventions great or small, among those which have been contributed to
the modern steam engine, which were not first developed by Watt. Follow liis labours,
and we shall find that besides the principal points enumerated minutely in the test, that
he pioposed tliat in places where there was a deficient supply of cold water, engines
without condensation, that is to say, engines in wliich the steam after having acted is
discharged into the atmosphere. Expansive steam for engines with several cylirrlers,
was also among Watt's plans, and he suggested the idea of pistons perfectly closed, al-
though composed of pieces of metal. It was also Watt who suggested the use of the
niercurial guage to show the elasticity of the steam in the boiler and in the cund' n-er ;
who pointed out a simple and permanent guage,* by means of which the quaiiiity of
water in the boiler always can be told at once ; who to prevent the quantity of water
being diminished to a dangerous extent, combined the movements of the feeding pump
to those of a float ; who attached to au opening on the covering of the principal cylinder
of the engine an indicator, combined in such a way as to shew exactly the law of eva-
cuation of the steam in relation with the positions of the piston, &c., &c. If 1 had time
I would shew that Watt was not less skilful and successful in his attempts to improve

the boiler, to diminish the loss of heat, and to burn completely the quantity of s ke

which issued from the ordinary chimneys, how high soever tUey may be. — Aofe of M.
Araifo.

• Stuart attributes this to Smeaton.— J\'o(e of Translator.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

411

had eiiilowerl liim. Darwin one day said to the members, " I have been
thinking of a kind of pen witli two nil)s, by which any tiling may be written
twice, so as to give at once tlie original and cojiy of a letter." *' I hope,"
replied Watt almost directly, " that I shall find out a better way of doing it ;
I will think of it to-night, and let you know to-morrow." The next day the
copybui-maeliine was invented, and even a slight model sufficiently advanced
to show its effects. This machine, which is of such utihty, and so generally
used in English offices, has lately received several improvements, which have
been claimed by different persons ; but I can affirm with certainty, that the
present form was actually described and drawn in 1780 in the patent of our
colleague.

The apparatus for heating by steam is of three years' later date ; Watt
made use of it in his own house in 1783. It must be observed that this in-
genious process was already pointed out by Colonel Cooke in the PhUosophi-
cal Transactions for the year 1745 ;* but the suggestion was quite unattended
to. Watt, at all events, has not the merit of reviving it ; it was he who first
applied it, and it was from his calculations of the extent of surfaces necessary
for heating rooms of different sizes, which at first served to regulate the
application of this process.

If Watt, in the course of his long career, had only produced the engine with
a separate condenser, working steam expansively, and the jiarallel motion, he
would hold a first-rate rank among the small nundjer of those whose lives

Fig. 16.

BtleKous.

DOUBLE ACTING ENGINE, FOR SUPPLYING WATER.

Fig. 16, represents an engine, with the several parts before explained, com-
bined in one view.

The steam, from the boiler, passes by the pipe S, thronsh the valve a, and
forces down the piston p to the bottom of the cylinder C ; juu before the piston
arrives at the bottom, the pin on the rod of the air pump corn's in contact with
the lever and reverses the valves, by shutting the valves a.b, and opening c, d,
which were shut ; the steam will now pass down the vertical pipe S, through
the valve (/, and force up the piston p to the top of the cylinder, at 'the same
time the steam, wliich forced it down, will escape through the valve b, to the
condenser B, by a pipe, which conveys the steam from the valves to the con-
denser. Thus one double stroke of the engine is performed, and the valves
again restored to their original position;—! is the handle to the injection cock
for supplying a jet of water into the condenser B, which liquifies the steam • the
condensed water, together with the air, is removed by the aid of the air pum'p A,
worked by the rod R, attached to the beam of the engme, and discharged
through the valve at the top, into the hot well, where part is forced back to the
boiler, by the force pump L, and the remainder is allowed to run to waste • N is
the cold water pump, also worked by a rod attached to the beam, for sunnlying
the condensing well ;--Y is the governor, before explained, which is connected
with the crank R by the horizontal rod, and regulates the throttle valve in the
honzontal steam pipe S;— O is a connecting rod, attached to the end of the beam
and, at the lower part, to the crank that turns the fly wheel P, which equalizes
the power of the engme ;— M is a rod for the purpose of working the pumn d'
to raise water— when the piston descends, the water contained in the pump'
Vill be forced through the lower valve, up the pipe G, into the upper air vessel
J2, thence it passes, in a continued stream, t« an elevated reservoir- as the piston
of the pump is descending, a fresh supply passes up the pine F, through the
upper valve, into the superior portion of the pump, and which, when the piston
rises again, is forced through the opposite valve, into the air vessel E as before
and also, as the piston is being raised, a fresh supply of water passes throu-h
the lower valve, Irom the pipe F, and refills the pump, as at first.

* I have read in a wi>rk by Mr. Robert Smart, Ihat Sir Hugh Plalle had foreseen
before Colone Cook, l he applica.i.m of sieam fur heating apartments. In the a.uhor"
Garden o. Eden pnblished in ItiCO, he suggests somelhing analagous for tl rpre 'erv ,-
lion of plants m bol-hnases. Sir Hug), Platte proposed to place coverin,, o( t"^ ,! " f
othe metaUverthevesselsm whuh meat is eoukert, and then to send throndi < pen inu

make an epoch in the annals of the world. Well ! his name seems to me to
be attached with credit also to the greatest and most prohfic discovery of
modern chemistry — the discovery of the composition of water. My asser-
tion may appear rash, for numerous works, in which this important part of
scientific history is treated authoritatively, make no mention of the name of
Watt. I trust, however, that you will follow up tliis discussion without pre-
judice, that you will not allow yourselves to be diverted fi'om the investi-
gation by authorities, which are less weighty than is generally supposed ;
and above all, that you will not forget to remember how few authors, in these
days, trace up a subject to its original source ; how troublesome it seems to
them to expose themselves to the dust of a library-, and, on the contrary, how
convenient it ajipears to be to reduce the whole labour of a work to the mere
effort of compilation. The task which your confidence has entrusted to me,
seemed to impose more serious obligations. I have hunted up numerous
printed documents, and all the papers of a voluminous correspondence still
in manuscript, and if fifty years after the event, I appear to claim, in favour
of James Watt, an honour too carelessly gi-anted to one of his most illustrious
countrymen, it is because it seems to me useful to show that in the bosomi
of academies truth makes way sooner or later, and that, with regard to in-
ventions, there is no prescription which can be claimed, or act of limitation
imposed.*

The four fictitious elements, fire, air, water and earth, the various combina-
tions of which are to give birth to all known bodies, are one of the numerous
legacies of that brilliant philosophy wdiich for ages dazzled the noblest in-
tellects in the world, anil led them astray. Van Helmont, first shook, al-
though slightly, the principles of this ancient theoi-y, by calling the attention
of chemists to several permanently elastic fluids, several airs in fact, which
he termed yases, and the properties of which differed from those of common
air, the supposed element. The experiments of Boyle and Hooke raised diffi-
culties still more serious, they proved that coinmon air, wliich is indispensable
for respiration and combustion, exliibited in these two phenomena notable
changes in their properties, necessarily implying the idea of composition.
The numerous obsei-vations of Hales ; the successive discoveries of carbonic
acid by Black ; of hydrogen by Cavendish ; of nitrous acid, oxygen, muriatic
acid, sulphurous acid and ammonia by Priestley, definitively disposed of the
ancient idea of a simple and elementary air among those chance conceptions,
almost always false, which are the offspring of those who have the audacity
to believe themselves called not to discover, but to guess the mysteries of
nature.

In the midst of so many remarkable circumstances, water still preservec!
its elementary character. The year 1776 was at last signahsed by an obser-
vation which was to bring about the subversion of tliis general belief. It
must be acknowledged that from the same year, also are to be dated those
singular efforts which were a long time made by chemists to disbelieve in the
•natural consequences of their own experiments. The observation to which
I am going to refer was made by Macquer.

This judicious chemist baring placed a white porcelain saucer over the
flame of some hydrogen gas which was burning quietly from the neck of a
bottle, observed that this flame was without any smoke properly so called,
and that it deposited no soot. That part of the saucer which was touched
by the flame was covered -Hith driplets evident enough of a fluid similar to
water, and which on examination proved to be pure water. That was most
certainly a singtdar result. You must notice that it was in the middle of the
flame, in the part of the saucer touched, that the driplets of water were de-
posited. This chemist however did not pay attention to this fact, he was not
surprised at what was really surprising ; he merely mentions it without any
remarks, he did not perceive that he had a great discovery at his finger's ends.

Does then genius in sciences of observation consist of the faculty of saying
at the right moment, whi/ ?f

The physical world reckons volcanoes which have never made but one
eruption, and in the intellectual world similariy there are men, who after one

• M. Arago now comes to another of fhe wonderful discoveries which are to confer
honor on liis memoir, and exhibit the novelty of his views, and he does well to blow tlie
trumpet before the Shiloh which he promises. The 'parturient monies' is a result but
too customary with M. Arago lo call tor reni:irfc ; it is sullicient to repeat the trite saying,
that he has nothing which is new thai is tine, and iiltfe Ihal is true which is new. He
certainly has the merit of stepping first in a career, which none of Walt's admirers hart
ever yet the hardihood to imai^iiie that it wonlil be wt.rth Ihe while of him or his idol
to pursue, and he may claim all the merit of research in a subject which admits of little,
and in which Ihe great deal be assumes has been thrown away upon error. — IVote of
the Tratmlator.

t M. Ara^o, led away by the quibbling iynusfatnus of his own imaginatioD, stops to
give a new definiliou of genius, soinelhing bke that which defines man to be a cooking
aninial, or an unfledged fowl. M. Arago, politician and philosopher, academician and
deputy, Li considered, by some, to be the Lord Brougham of France, and, led away by
the vanity of figuring as an orator in tlie chamber, and as a rhetorician in the academy,
he deserts those studies in w-hich alone he succeeded, and from which alone he can de-
rive a solid reputation. If he resemble Lord Brougham, lie resembles that great man
in bis defects, rather than iu his talents, and has the same point of contact as the lower
members of the animal kingdom have witli their exalted fellow man. M. Arago ileserts
tlie care of science to exhibit as an orator; Lord Brougham, like Cicero, possessing an
eloquence, which tlie fears evcl> of his enemies do not allow them to dispute, dedicates
his leisure to severer studies. M. Arago may have the superficiality of Lord Brougham,
but he wants his elegance of style, and clearness of reasoning, the variety of his studies,
and the skill with wduch it is brought to bear on Ihe subject of his research. If Brougham
be exposed to this charge, he amply makes up in breadth what he loses in depth, while
M. Arago without elotpience in matters of science, mistakes declamation for an easy
rio.v of language, and Ihinks to supply the logic of the advocate with the c&ncPiti of llic
middle ages. M. Arago might be the ' niagisler morum' in Ihe schools of science, bua
in the world at large he is only a D-drrow-uiiuded and conceited pedagogue. — Ao.'e of tlm
Translator,

412

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[November,

liright fit of genius, disapjiear eutirely from the liistory of science. Such was
Mai-liirc, of whom tlie chronological order of dates leads me to relate a ti'uly
reraarkalile exiieriment. In the heginning of the vear 1 781, this iihilosoplie'r
conceived that an electric spark could not traverse certain gaseous combina-
tions \vitliout subjecting them to certain changes. An idea so novel, nns\i"--
gestcd by any existing analogy, and of which so many important applications
have since been made, would I should have thought have earned for its author,
that aU men of science should not forget to attrilnite to him the honour of
It. W arltire was deceived with regard to the precise natiu-e of the changes
winch electricity might engender; fortunatelv for him he foresaw that they
would be accompanied with an explosion, and for this reason he first made
the experiment in a metal vessel, in which he inclosed air and hydrogen.
Cavendish soon after repeated the expciiment of Warltire. The cer/ain date
of his lal)om-s (I designate in this manner any date resulting from an authentic
document, oran academical or a printed ii'aper) is anterior to the mouth of
April 1 783, since Priestley quotes Cavendish's experiments in a paper on t!ie
21st of the same month. The cpiotation moreover informs lis only of one
thing, that Cavendish had obtained water by the detonation of a mixture of
oxygen and hydrogen, a fact already demonstrated by Waritirc, In his paper
of the month of April, Priestley added an important cu'cumstance to tliose
which resulted from the experiments of his predecessors. He proved that the
weight of the water which is deposited on the surfaces of the vessel at the
moment of the detonation of the oxygen and the hvdi'ogen is the sura- of the
weight of the two gases.

Watt, to whom Priestley communicated this important result, saw imme-
diately in it with the penetration of a superior man, a proof that water was
not a simple body. " What are the products of your experiment ?" wTote he
to his illustrious frienil, " water, lujkt and heat, kxe^ we not from that war-
ranted in concluding that water is composed of two gases, oxygen and hydro-
gen, deprived of a portion of their latent or elementary heat, and that oxygen
IS water deprived of its hydrogen, but united to latent" heat or light. If light
he only a modification of heat, or a mere circumstance of its manifestation,
or a component part of hydrogen, oxygen gas must be water deprived of its
hydrogen hut united to latent heat."

This clear, plain and methodic passage is extracted from a letter of
A\ att s of the 2Gth April, 1 783. The letter was communicated bv Priestley to
several savants in London, and afterwards delivered to Sir Josei.h Banks,
President of the Royal Society, to l,e read at one of the meetings of that
learned body. Circumstances wliich I suppress because thcv are of no im-
portance m the present discussion, caused the reading of this letter to he
deferred for a year, but the letter was preserj'ed in the records of the society,
and IS pulihshed in the 7-lth volume of the Philosophical Transactions, with
Its true date of the 26th of April, 1 783. It was embodied by the SccretaiT of
tlie Royal Society himsetf, at the time of going to press, with a letter from
Matt to De Luc, dated the 26th November, 1783.

, I do not ask any indulgence for this profusion of details ; it must be oh-
served tliat a minute comparison of dates can alone show tlie truth fully, and
that it is a question of one of those discoveries which confer the most honour
on the human mind. Among the claimants to this prolific discovery, we shall
find two of tlie greatest chemists of which France and England can boast—
every one will name Lavoisier and Cavendish. The date of the public read-
ing of the paper in which Lavoisier gave an account of his experiments, and
in which he developed his views on the production of water by the combus-
tion of oxygen and hytkogen is two months later than the date of the de-
position of the ah-eady analyzed letter of Watt in the records of the Roval
Society of London. The celeljrated paper of Cavendish, entitled E.rperimmts
upon Air, is later still, it was read on the 1.5th Januai-y, 1784. We ought cer-
tainly to feel surprised that facts so well authenticated, could become the
subject of a sharp controversy, hut I must call your attention to a circum-
stance to which I have not yet alluded. Lavoisier declared in positive terms
that Blagden, the Secretary of the Royal Society of London, was present at
his first expenments on the 24th of June, 1783, and that " he informed him
that Cavendish had already tried in London to burn hydrogen gas in closed
vessels, but without having obtained any veiT considerable quantity of water."
Cavendish also relates in his paper the communication made to Lavoisier by
Blagdon, and according to him it was much more extensive than the French
chemist acknowledged. He said that the communication related to the con-
clusions to which his experiments lead, namely, the theory of the composition
of water. Blagden made a party liimself in' the dispute, wrote in Crell's
Journal, in 1786, confirming Cavendish's assertion. According to him the
experiments of the academician of Paris were only a mere verification of
those of tlie English chemist. He maintained that he had informed Lavoisier
that the water produced at London had a weight precisely equal to the sum
of the weight of the two gases consumed. Lavoisier, adds Blagden in con-
clusion, has told the truth, hut not the whole truth.

Such a reproach is severe— were it true, should I not much diminish the
weight of it, if I show that. Watt excepted, all those whose names figure in
this history, are more or less exposed to it. Priestley relates in detail, and
as Ins, expenments fi-om which it ajipears that the water engendered by the
detonation of a mi.xture of oxygen and hydrogen has a weight exactly equal
to that ot the two gases consumed. Cavendish some time afterwards claimed
this result as his own, .and insinuated th.it he had communicated it verbally
to the Birmingham chemist.

Cavendish deduces as a consequence from tliis etpiality of weight that
water is not a simple body. In the first place he makes no mention of the

paper jdaced in the arcluves of llie Royal Society, in which Watt developed
the same idea. It is true that when it came to be printed, AVatt's name is
not forgotten ; but it wiis not among the records that the idea of the cele-
brated engineer was seen; but he declares that he knew of it, by its having
been read lately at one of the meetings. Now, however, it has been clearly
proved, that it was not read till some months after that in which Cavendish
speaks of it.

On entering upon this important discussion Blagden announces his in-
tention to clear up every thing, and to put it upon a firm basis. He does
not flee in fact, from any accusation, from the citation of any date, so long as
it is a question of securing to his friend and protector Cavendish, the priority
over the French chemists ; as soon however as it relates to his two fellow-
countrymen, his explanations become vague and uncertain. " In the spring
of 1783," said he, " Mr. Cavendish showed us that he drew as a consequence
from his experiments, that oxygen is notliing more than water deprived of its
idilogiston, (that is to say, deprived of its hydrogen). At/out the same time,
news arrivecl in London, that Mr. M'att of Birmingham had been led by some
observ.ations to a similar opinion." This expression, about the same time, to
speak in Blagden's way, cannot be the whole truth. About the same time,
settles nothing ; questions of priority may depend on weeks, days, hours and
minutes. To be clear and precise as he had promised, he should have said
whether the verbal communication made by Cavendish to several members of
the Royiil Society, preceded or followed the arriv.al in London of the news
respecting the labours of Watt. Can it lie supposed that Blagden would not
have explained a fact of this importance, if he could have quoted an authentic
date in favour of his friend ?

To render the imbrorjUo complete, the compositors and printers of the
Philowpliical Transactions also took a hand in it. Several dates are incor-
rectly related, and in a separate copy of his paper ihstrilnited by Cavendish
to several scientific men, 1 perceive an eiTor of a whole ve.ir. By an unfor-
tunate fatality, for it is a real misfortune to give way involuntarily to vinfor-
tunate and unmerited susiiicions none of these printed errors are favourable
to \Vatt. God forbid that I should endeavour to inculpate by these remarks
the literary probity of the illustrious savants whose names I have quoted.
They only prove that in matters of lUscovery, the strictest justice is all that
can be expected from a rival or a competitor, however eminent his reputa-
tion may already be. Cavendish hardly hstened to his steward when he
consulted him about the investment of his millions ; you can tell now whether
he was equally indifferent as to his experiments. We shall not he therefore
too fastidious in requiring in imitation of judges of civil causes, that the his-
torians of science should only collect written documents as available proofs ;
perhaps too 1 ought to add, published docnments. Then, but only then, would
a stop be put to those disputes perpetually breaking out .it the expense of
national vanity ; and thus the name of Watt would resume in the history of
chemistry the exalted position which belongs to him. The solution of a
question of priority when it is based, like this in which I have just been en-
gaged, upon an attentive examination of juinted pajiers, and on a minute
comparison of dates, assumes the character of a trae demonstration.* How-
ever 1 do not consider myself bound to dispense with running rapidly over
the various ilifficuUies to which well judging minds seem to me to have at-
tached some importance.

How can we, say they, admit that in the midst of an immense wiiirhrind
of commercial affairs, that busily engaged witli a multitude of Lawsuits, that
obhgcd to ]iroyide every day by inventions for the (hfticulties of an infant
factory, Watt could have found time to follow step by step the progress of
chemistry, make new discoveries, and propose explanations of which masters
of the science would never have thought .'t

I shall give a sliort but conclusive answer to this objection : I hare now in
my possession copies of an active correspondence, jirincipfilly relating to che-
mical subjects, wiiich Watt carried on during 1782, 3 ii 4, with Priestley,
Black, De Luc, Smeaton, Gilbert Hamilton of Glasgow, and Fiy of Bristol.

Here, however, is an objection which seems to me more specious, as it is
jirompted by a deej) knowledge of the human heart. The discovery of the
composition of water proceeding at the same time as the admirable inventions
combined in the steam-engine, can it he supposed that Watt would have
consented with goodwill, or at least without testifying his displeasure, to see
himself stripped of the honour, which it ought eternally to confer upon his
name ?

This reasoning fails in its very premises; Watt never renounced the share
wiiich legitimately accrued to him in the tliscovery of the composition of
water. lie scrupulously caused his paper to be published in the Philosophical
Transactions. A detailed note states authentically the date of presentation
of each paragraph of this document. What could a philosojihcr of M'att's
character do more, or what ouglit he to do, but await patiently the day of
ustico. Besides, it wanted but very little that an unfortunate blunder did

• When Don Quixote attacked the sheep, he asked Sancho whether lie did not see the
haniK-rrt of tile opposint; armies fiying in the air, and llie trumpets calling to combat ; and
M. Ara^o, with equal contidence, talks of an attentive examination of printed papers,
and a minute comparison of dntes, wiih all the coolness of a German professor, who has
just smoked out a laborious mass of absurdity upon a question of Greek history, from the
accumulated dust of a thousand volumes. M. Arayo has a very small whistle to shew
for his money. — Note of the Translator,

+ M. Arago, like Walter Scott in his History of Napoleon, havinc raised fictitious oh.
jections, linds no ditfieulty in answering Iheiii by a similar inaenions process; of tliie
nature are the men of straw now hefore us, wliicli it is niiKli more easy to demolish than
Uie more serious objections which have really been made. As 'I'om Thumb says, " be
made the giants first, and then he killed them.— .'Vyic of tli£ Translator.

1839.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

413

uot de]irive onr colleague of his natural forbearance. The Genevese pliiloso-
plier after having informed the illustrious engineer of the unaccouutable ab-
sence of his name in the first pubUcation of Cavendish's paper, and after
having quahfied this omission in terms which a regard for reputation so ex-
alted does not permit me to relate, thus writes to his friend, " I should almost
recommend you, considering your position, to draw from these discoveries
practical consequences for your fortune. You must avoid exciting jealousy."
These expressions wotuided tlie delicate mind of Watt. " If I do not
daini my rights instanter," replied he, " do not impute it to an indolence of
chai'acter, which renders it more easy for me to submit to injustice, than to
contest to olitain redress. As to pecuniary considerations they have no value
with nie ; besides my prospects depeuil not on the patronage of Mr. Caven-
dish and his friends, but on that of the public at large."

Cau I have any fear of having attached too much importance to the theory,
wlucli \\"att conceived for exjilaining Priestley's experiments ? I think not.
Those who would refuse to this theoiy its just tribute because it now seems
an inevitable deduction from facts, forget that the finest discoveries of the
human mind have been particularly remai-kable for their simplicity. What
did Newton himself, when by repeating an experiment known tifteeu cen-
turies before, he discovered the composition of white light .' He gave such
a natural interpretation of this experiment, that it now ajipears impossible to
find another. " Even' thing," said he, " which is attained liy whatever process
from a pencil of white light, was contained in it in a state of combination,
for the glass prism has no creative power. If the parallel, and infinitely
divided pencil of solar light which falls on its first face, goes out from the
second by divergence and with a sensible breadth, it is because the glass sepa-
rates what in the white pencil was naturally unequally refrangible." Such
terms are nothing more than the literal translation of the well known experi-
ment of the prismatic solar prism. This interpretation, however, escaped
Aristotle, Descartes, and Robert Hooke.

Let ns, how'cver, without leaving the subject, come to arguments, which
bear upon it more directly stUl. Watt's theory of the composition of water
arrives in London. If, according to the ideas of that day, it is so evident,
and so simple as it now appears, the council of the Royal Society will of course
adopt it. No such thing ; its strangeness throws a doulrt even over the ex-
periments of Priestley ; they even go so far as to laurih at it, said De Luc,
like the story of the golden tooth. A theorv', the conception of which pre-
sented no difficulty, would certainly have Ijeen despised by Cavendish ; re-
member, with what energy, Blagden under the dictation of this man of genius
daimed the priority over Lavoisier. Priestley on whom was to be reflected
a great part of the honoiu- attached to Watt's discovery ; Priestley, whose
sentiments of affection for the great engineer cannot be denied, WTote to him
on the 29th of April, 1783. " Look with surprise, and indignation on the
figure of a machine by means of which I have irrelTievably undermined your
beautiful hypothesis." In conclusion, an hypothesis, of which the Royal
Society made game, which brought out Cavendisli from his habitual reserve,
and, which Priestley, putting all self-love out of the question, endeavoiued
to refute, deserves to be recorded in the history of the sciences, as a great
discovery, whatever idea knowledge, now become vulgar, may give us of it in
these days.*

Bleaching by chlorine, that beautiful invention of Berthollet, was intro-
duced into England by James Watt, after the journey to Paris, which he
made towards the end of 1786. He constructed all the necessary apparatus,
directed their arrangement, was present at the first trials, and then gave over
to his father-in-law, Mr. MacGregor, the management of this new process.
Notwithstanding all the solicitations of the illustrious engineer, our celebrated
countrv'man obstinately refmedf to be associated with an undertaking, which
exluljited no chance of faUure, and of wliich the profits seemed sure to be
Ten' great.

IlariUy had the discover)' been effected of the numerous gaseous substances,
which now perform such a great part in the explanation of chemical pheuo-.
mena, than the idea was suggested of using them for methcal purposes
Doctor Beddoes carried out this thought with sagacity and perseverance ;
and he was enabled by means of private subscriptions to set up an establish-
ment at CUffon, near Bristol, called the Pneumatic Institution, in which the
therapeutic properties of all the gases were proposed to be carefully studied.
Tlie Pneumatic Institution was fortunate enough to have for some time at its
head, the young Humphrey Davy, who was then entering on the career of
sdence ; and it could also boast of reckoning among its founders James Watt.
The celebrated engineer did still more ; he conceived, described and executed
in his workshop at Soho, apparatus for engendering gases and administering
them to patients, and I find several editions of his papers in 179-t, 1795, and
1796.

The ideas of our colleague were du-ectcd to this subject, when several of
his relations and friends bad been unfortunately carried off by pulmonary
diseases. It was particidarly to affections of the respu-atory organs that Watt

• Lord Brougliam was present at the public meeting in which in the name of tlie
Academy of Sciences, I rendered this tribute of gratitude and admiration to tlie memory
of Watt ; on his return to England, he collected some valuable documents, and studied
over aaain the historical question to wliicli I have given so much attention, devoting to
it unscrupuliiiisly, that kind of judicial examination which might be expected from one
wlio was once Lord Hiiib Chancellor of England. I owe it to a kindness of which I
feel all the value, that i am able to lay before llie public tlie results still unpublished of
the labours of my illustrious colleague ; Ihcy will be found in the appendix to this eulo-
giuiii.— jVo/e of M. Aragci.

+ This phrase is quite correct, however fabulous it may appear in the age we live iu.
(It is almost needless to say that this is a note of il. Arayo )

conceived the application of the specific properties of the new gases could lie
directed. He expected also some advantage from the action of iron or zinc
precipitated by hydrogen in impalpaljle molecules, and prepared in a certain
manner. I should add, moreover, that among the numerous medical certifi-
cates pubhslied by Doctor Beddoes, and announcing results more or less
effective, there is one signed John Carmichael, relative to the ratUcal cure of
ha;moptysy of Richard Newberry, a servant, whom Jlr. Watt himself caused
to respire from time to time a mixture of steam and carbonic acid. Although
I must acknowledge my complete incompetency on such a' subject, I may
certaiidy be permitted to regret that a method, which reckoned among its
adherents M'att and Jenner, should be now abandoned without our being
able to quote consecutive experiments in opposition to those of the Clifton
Pneumatic Institution.*

Watt in Retirement — Pakticdlars respecting his Life and Cha-
racter— His Death — Numerous Statues erected to his Memory.

Watt had manied in 1704 his cousin. Miss Miller. She was an accom-
plished lady, whose cultivated mind, unchangeal)le mildness, and cheerful
disposition soon rescued the celebrated engineer from that indolence, depres-
sion, and misanthropy, wiiicli nervous morbidity, and the injustice of the
world threatened to render permanent. Without the irrestible influence of
Miss Miller, Watt would not perhaps Have given to the world his admirable
inventions. Four children, two boys and two girls, were the offspring of tliis
union. Mrs. Watt died iu childbirth of a third boy who did not survive.
Her husband was then employed in the north of Scotland with the plans for
the Caledonian Canal. Why am I not pennitted to transcribe here in all
their simplicity, a few Unes from the journal, to which he consigned every
day his secret thoughts, his hopes, his fears ; why can I uot show him to you
lingeiing after his misfortune on the threshold of the house where his iitul
welcome no longer awaited him ; wanting the strength to enter the rooms iu
wiiich he was no longer to be delighted by the comfort of his life .' Perhaps
the true picture of such profound grief, might shame to silence those system-
atic theorists, who without being stopped by thousands and thousands of irre-
futable denials, refuse the viitues of the heart to every man whose mind has
been trained by the fertile, subUme, and imperishable truths of the exact
sciences.

After a few years of widowhood, Watt had "again the happiness to find in
Miss MacGregor a helpmate worthy of him from the variety of her talents,
the soundness of her judgment, anil the firmness of her character.t

Ou the termination of the privileges which parliament had granted to him.
Watt (in the beginning of 1800) retired entirely from business, in which he
was succeeded by his two sons. Under the enbghtened management of the
younger Mr. Boidton and the two Watts, the Soho factoiy continued to
prosper, and even to acquire a new and important developement, and it still
holds first rate standing among Englisli manufactm'es of large machinery.
Giegoiy Watt, the second son of our colleague, had already begun to distin-
guish himself in the world in a most brilliant manner by Ids hterary talents,
and his geological labours, wiicn he was cut off at the age of 27 years, by a
pulnionaiy affection. This unhappy circumstance greatly agitated the illus-
trious engineer, so that the affectionate attention of Ids family and friends
were scarcely able to maintain tranqmbty to a heart halfljroken. Tliis grief
too natural would seem to explain the almost absolute silence which Watt
manifested in the latter years of his life. I am far from denying that it may
have had some influence ; but why should we have recourse to extraordinary
causes, when we read as far back as 1783, in a letter from Watt to his friend
Doctor Black, " Remember that I have no wish to entertain the world with
the experiments I have made," when we find elsewhere these words so very
singidar in the mouth of a man who has filled the wide world with bis name,
" I only know two pleasures, indolence and sleep." This sleep, however, was
very light, and we may say, moreover, that the most trifling excitement was
sufficient to arouse Watt from his favoiu-ite indolence. Every object whicii
came before him received gradually in liis imagination, changes of form, con-
struction and nature, which would have rendered them susceptilde of im-
portant applications. These conceptions, for want of au opportunity of
bringing them out were lost to the world. The following is an anecdote
wliich will illustrate my idea.

A company had erected on the right hank of the Clyde at Glasgow, exten-
sive building's, and powerful machinery, for the [iiu-pose of supphiug water to
every house in the city. When the works were completed, it was found out
that "on the left bank there was a spring or kind of natural filter which communi-
cated to the water qualities evidently sujierior. To remove the esfabUshment
was out of the question, and therefore they thought of passing right across
the river at the bottom a rigid iron jiipe, of wliich the mouth was to come
out in the drinkable water. The constniction of the timber work for caiTy-
ing such a jiipe on a muddy and shifting bottom, very rough ami always
covered with several feet of water, ap]ieared to require a considerable ex-
pense. AVatt was consulted, his answer was already made ; havingj- seen
a lobster on the tabic some days previously, he bad investigated, and found
out how the mechanism of it could in iron produce a jointed conduit which

* Twenty years before the establishment of the Bristol Pneumatic Institution, Watt
hail already applied his chemical and inilieralogical acquirements lo perfect the produce
of a pottery which he had established Willi stniie frituds at Glasgow, and in which he
was a shareholder to the end of his life — Sole of M. Arago.

t Mrs. Watt (Mac Gregor) died in 1832, at a veiy advanced age. She had the mis-
fortune to survive the two children, who were the oll'spiiiig of her marriage with Watt.
— .Vo(e of M. Arugo.

4U

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[ VoVEMBER,

would have all the flexibility of tlie tail of this Crustacea. It was therefore a
complete jointed pipe that he suggested, capable of bending in all preseut, and
future windings of the bed of the river ; in fact an iron lobster's tail two
feet in diameter and a thousand feet long was what acconUng to M'att's plans
and drawings, the Glasgow company carried into execution with complete
success.*

Those who were fortunate enough to he personallv acquainted with our
colleague, do not hesitate to assert that his social quahfications suqjassed
even those of his mind. Candour almost cliildish, the greatest simpUcity of
manners, a love of justice carried even to a scrupulous extreme, and an iiiex-
liaustihle kinchiess of disposition, are virtues which have left in England and
in Scotland incflaceable remembrances. \\'att habitually moderate and mild,
hecame strongly excited when an invention was attributed to any other Iiut
its right author, when particularly some low flatterer endeavoured to enrich
himself at another's expense. In his opinion scientific discoveries were the
first of treasures, and whole hours of discussion never seemed to him too
much in the attempt to render justice to modest inventors, dispossessed by
plagiaries, or merely forgotten by public ingratitude.

The memory of Matt may he cited as prodigious, even in comparison with
what has been related of this facidty of privileged persons. The extent of
it was however his least merit, it assimilated to itself whatevei was of the
least value, and rejected the superfluity almost instinctivelv and at once. The
variety of oiu- colleague's acquirements would be truly incredible, w ere they
not attested by most eminent men. Lord Jefi"rev, "iu an eloquent notice
happily characterised the bold and subtile intelligence of his friend, when he
compared it to the wonderfully organized trunk, by which with equal ease the
elephant picks up a straw or uproots an oak. Tliese are the terms in which
Sir Walter Scott speaks of his fellow-countrs'man in the preface to The
Monasiertj.

" It was only once my fortune to meet Watt, when there were assembled
about half a score of our northern lights. Amidst this company stood Mr.
Watt, the man whose genius discovered the means of multiplying our national
resources to a degi'ee, perhaps, even beyond liis own stupendous powers of
calculation and combination ; bringing the treasures of the ahvss to the sum-
mit of the earth,— giving to the feeble arm of man the momentum of an
Afnte,— commanding manufactures to arise,— aftbrding means of dispensing
with that time and tide which wait for no man,— and of sailing without that
wind which defied the commands and threats of Xerxes himself. This potent
commander of the elements,— this abridger of time and space,— this magician,
whose cloudy machineo' has produced a change in the world, the effects of
which, extraordinary as they are, are perhaps only beginning to be felt,—
was not only the most profound man of science, the most successful combiner
of powers, and calculator of numbers, as adapted to practical purposes, — was
not only one of the most generally well-informed, but one of the bsst and
kindest of human beings. There he stood, surrounded by the little band of
northern hterati. Mcthinks I yet see and hear what I shall never see or hear
again. In Ms eighty-first year, the alert, kind, benevolent old man, had his
attention at every one's question, his information at every one's command.
His talents and fancy overflowed on every subject. One gentleman was a
deep philologist,— he talked with liim on the origin of the alphabet, as if he
had been coeval with Cadmus ; another a celebrated critic. — you would have
said that the old man had studied political economy and belles-lettres all his
life ;— of science it is unnecessary to speak, it was his own distinguished
walk. And yet when he spoke with your countn-man, von would have sup-
posed he Bad been coeval with Clavers and Buriey,— with the persecutors
and persecuted ; and could number every shot that the dragoons had fired at
the fugitive Covenanters."

If our colleague had had any wish, he might easUy have raised a name
among novehsts. In the privacy of his usual society, he seldom faUed to
enrich the terrible, pathetic, or comic anecdotes wliich he was in the habit
of relating. The minute details of his narrations, the names which he intro-
duced, the technical descriptions of castles, country houses, forests, and caves,
to winch the scene was successively transferred, gave to his improvisations
such an air of truth, as not to allow of the shghtest mistrust. One day,
however, Watt exliibited some embarrassment in drawing his characters out
of the labjninth in which he had imprudently involved them. One of his
friends, perceiving the unusual number of pinches of snuflT with which the
narrator was trjiug to create legitimate pauses, and thus eke out the time for
reflection, addressed to hun the following indiscreet question ; " Are you for
once telling us something of your own invention ? " " This question surprises
me;" replied the old man ; " for the last twentv years that we have spent
our evenings together, I have always done so. Co'uld you reaUy beheve that
I wished to be considered as a Hume or a Robertson, when mv attempts were
confined to imitating, at an humble distance, the labours of the Princess
Scheherazade in " The Arabian nights."

Every year, in a short journey to London, or to some town not so far from
Birmingham, Watt made a nunute examination of whatever was new since
his last nsit. I do not even make an exception of the wonderful fleas or
Punch and Judy, for our illustrious colleague looked on such things with the
delight and disposition of a school-boy. \\\u\e following, at present, the
Itinerary of his annual courses, we find, in more than one instance, luminous
traces of his progress. At Manchester, for example, we might see the

ir^ ^)-' iJ"l' S.'"^, ""■ ''.'■^"■'"S' and description of lliia apparatus in onr next Journal.-
(Ld. t. i.. Hi. A. Juurnat.)

hydraulic ram on the suggestion of our colleague, useil to raise the water for
condensing in a ste m-engine, to the feed-cistern of the boiler.

Watt generally resided at an estate near Soho, called Heathfield, which he
bought in 1790. The religious veneration of my friend Mr. James Watt, for
cvei-ything belonging to his father, enabled me, in 1834, to find the Ubrary
and furniture of Heathfield in the state in which the illustrious engineer left
them. Another property, on the picturesque banks of the river Wye, in
V\'ales, affords the traveller numerous proofs of the enlightened taste of Watt
and his son, in the improvements on the roads, in the plantations, and in
their agricultural labours of all kinds.

Watt's health hecaipe stronger with his age, and his intellectual faculties
were preserved to the last moment. Our colleague once thought that they
were declining, and, faitliful to the motto on the seal he had chosen, (an eye
under the word obsernare,) he determined on clearing up his doubts by mak-
ing observations on himself ; and there he was, at seventy years of age,
searching for some kind of study on which to make the experiment, and
lamenting that he could not find any, on which he had not already exercised
lus mind. lie recollected, at last, that the Anglo-Saxon language was re-
puted to be very difficult, and it therefore became the experimental medinm
desired, when the facility with which he acquired it, soon showed him the
slight foundation of his apprehensions.

Watt consecrated the last moments of liis life to the construction of a ma-
chine for copying rapidly, and with mathematical fidelity, works of statuary
and sculpture of aU kinds. This machine, of which, it is to be hoped, that
the arts will not be deprived, was already much advanced, and several of its
productions, of a very satisfactory nature, are to be seen in the collections of
amateurs, both in England and Scotland. The illustrious engineer made
presents of them gaUy, as the first attempts of a young artist entering his
eighty-third year.

Of this eighty-third year, our colleague was not destined to see the end.
In the beginning of the summer of 1819, alarming symptoms already defied
all the efforts of meiUcine. Watt did not delude himself as to his position.
" I feel," said he to the numerous friends who visited him, " I feel the attach.
ment which you have shown ; I thank you for it now, for I am in my last
Uliiess." His son did not appear to him to show sufficient resignation, and
every day he sought a new pretext to point out to him, with mildness, good-
ness, and tenderness, *' all the reasons of consolation which the circumstances
under which an inevitable event must occur, should infuse into him." This
mournful event occurred on the 2oth of August, 1819.

Matt was interred in the parish church of Heathfield, near Birmingham,
In the county of StafTord. Mr. James M'att, whose distinguished talents and
noble sentiments endeared, during twenty-five years, the life of his father,
erected to him a splendid Gothic monument, for which the church of Hands-
worth is now remarkable. In the centre stands an admirable statue in marble
by Chantrey, a faithful hkeness of the old man.

A second marble statue from the chisel of the same scidptor, has also been
placed, by filial piety, in one of the halls of that brilliant university in which,
during youth, the then unknown artisan, persecuted by the corporation,
received flattering and weU deserved encouragement. Greenock has not for-
gotten that Watt was born there ; its inhabitants have raised, at their own
expense, a marble statue to the illustrious mechanic. It is placed in a hand-
some library, buUt on ground presented gratuitously hy Sir Michael Shaw
Stewart, and in which are collected the books belonging to the town, and
the collection of scientific works which M"att gave to it in his life-time. This
building has cost 3500/., to the expense of which Mr. M'att, jun., liberally
contributed. A large colossal statue in bronze, on a fine granite base, which
reigns over George Square in Glasgow, shows to every one how proud this
capital of Scotch commerce feels of having been the cradle of M'att's discoveries.
The gates of M'estminster Abbey have at last been opened, on the demand
of an important meeting of subscribers. A colossal statue of Carrara marble,
a master-piece of Chantrey, and on the pedestal of w liich is an inscription by
Lord Brougham,* has become, during the last four years, one of the principal
ornaments of the EngUsh Pantheon. No doubt there is some coquetry in
uniting, on the same monument, the illustrious names of Watt, Chantrey, and

" IN.SCRIPTION ON MONUMENT.

NOT TO PERPETr.\TE A .NAME

WHICH MUST ENDCRE WHILE THE PEACEFUL ARTS FLOt;RISH,

BUT TO SHEW

THAT MANKIND HAVE LEARNT TO HONOUR THOSB

WHO BEST DESERVE THEIR GRATITUDE,

THE KING,

HIS MINISTERS, ANT) MANV OF THE NOBLES

AND COMMONERS OF THE REALM,

RAISED THIS MONUMENT TO

JAMES WAIT.

WHO, DIRECTING THE FORCE OF AiN ORIGINAL GENHUS,

EARLV EXERCISED IN PHILOSOPHICAL RESEARCH,

TO THE IMPROVEMENT OF

THE STEAM -E.NGINE,

ENLARGED THE RESOURCES OF HIS CODNTRT,

INCREASED THE POWER OF MAN,

AND ROSE TO AN EMINENT PLACE

AMONG THE ILLUSTRIOUS FOLLOWERS OF SCIENCE,

AND THE REAL EENEFAfTORS OF THE WORLD.

BORN AT GREENOCK. MDCCXXXVl,

DIED AT HE.VTllFiELD IN STAFFORDSHIRE, JIDCCCXIX.

18.39.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

415

Uroiighani ; but 1 cannot blame it. Gloi'v to tliose people who thus take
every opportunity of hononring their great men.

Thns we sec five statnes have been, in a short time, raised to the memory
of Watt. .Mnst we confess it ? These testimonies of filial piety and public
gratitude have excited the ill-luimonr of some of those narrow-minded indi-
viduals who think, by standing still, to stop the progress of centuries? If
we were to believe tietn, warriors, judges, and ministers, (I must confess
they have not dared to say all minist'.rs,) have alone a right to statues, and
I do not know whether either Homer or .Vristotle, Descartes or Newton,
a|)pear to the modern .\ristarchus worthy of a mere linst. Most certainly
they would refuse the commonest medallion to I'apin, Vaucansoii, Watt. .\.rk-
wright, or any other raeclianic, unknown, perhaps, in a certain world, but
whose fame must go on increasing from age to age with the progress of en-
lightenment. When such heresies dare to parade themselves in the full glare
of day, we must not be ashamed of comljating them. It is not without rea-
son tliat the public has l)een called a sponge for prejudices, and as prejudices
are hurtful |ilauts, tlie slightest trial is enough to root them out, if they are
laid liold of in the birtli, while, on the other hand, tlicy cling firmly when
they have had time enough to grow, and to catch in their numerous folds,
whatever is within theii* reach.

If this discussion wound the self-love of some, I must remind them that it
has been provoked. Have not the men of learning of our day made their
complaints, because they do not see, among the long rows of colossal statues
raised by the authorities, so sumptuously on our bridges and public places,
any of those great authors whose inheritance they claim ? Do they not know-
how perishable are these monuments, which the hurricane can shake and
overturn, which even frost can nibble away, and bring down to shapeless
blocks.

Their statuary, theu- limner, is the printing-press, thanks to the admirable
invention of which, works emanating from science or imagination, when pos-
sessing real merit, can set time and political revolutions at defiance. The
exactions of the tax-gatherer, the mistrust and terrors of the tyrant, can
never prevent these productions from getting over tlie most strongly guarded
barrier ; in every shape a thousand vessels bear them from hemisiiheve to
hemisphere ; they are pored over in Iceland and the Isle of ^'an Diemen ;
they are read by the cottager's fireside and in the dazzling halls of princes.
The writer, the artist, and the mechanic, are known by the whole world, by
all which is most noble and exalted in man, by the soul, the thought, and
intelligence. How mart would he be, who placed on such a stage, should
wish his features sculptured in marljle or in bronze, by the chisel of a David,
to be exposed to the gaze of idle loungers. Snch honours, I say again, a
savant, a litterator, or an artist, may not envy, but at any rate he shoidd not
allow himself to be declared unworthy of them. Snch is, at least, the opinion
I have formed from the discussion to which I am about to call your attention.

Is it not a circumstance truly strange, that such pompous pretensions,
against which I contend, shoidrt have lieen brought fonvard just on tlie occa-
sion of five statues being erected, which cost not a farthing to the pidjlic
treasury. Far he it from me, however, to profit by this mismanagement ; I
like better to take the question in its general bearings, such as it has been
put, the pretended superiority of arms over letters, sciences, and art ; for do
not deceive yourselves, judges and ministers have only been put in company
with men of war to give them a spurious passport.

The httle time which is allowed me for this (Uscnssion, compels mc to be
methodical, and in order that my sentiments may not be misunderstood, I
declare at once, that independence and national freedom are to mc the first
of blessings ; tliat to defend them against the foreigner, or against home
enemies, is the first of duties ; and that to have defended them at the price
of one's blood, is the first of titles to the ptddic gratituile. Raise ! raise
your splendid memorials to tlie sohUers who fell on the glorious walls of
Meutz, on tlie immortal battle fields of Zmich and Marengo ! my offering is
ready ; but why call upon me to act in defiance of ray reason, in contra-
(Uction to those feehng!, w liich nature has implanted in the heart of man ?
whv ask me to place all miUtary service on the same footing ?

What Frenchman, who had but feeling, would, even in the time of Louis
XIV, have pointed out, as an act of bravery in our troops, the cruel scenes of
the Dragonnades, or the wreaths of flame which destroyed the towns, vil-
lages, and rich country, of the unfortunate Palatines ? Some time ago, our
brave soldiery, after a thousand miracles of patience, skill, and valoiu', rush-
ing into Saragossa half overthrown, reached the door of a church, in which
the preacher shou'ed, in the ears of his resigned congregation, these pompous
words ; '' Spaniards, 1 am going to read your burial service." How do I
know but that, in this moment, the true friends of our national glory, ba-
lancing the relative merits of the conqueror and the conquered, might have
willingly changed the parts ? ^

Put liiorality on one side altogether, I give it up to you ; place in the cru-
cible of conscientious criticism the personal claims of some winners of battles,
and be sure that, after giving a fair share to chance, an ally who is generally
put out of the way because he cannot speak for himself, many supposed heroes
will seem to you but little worthy of this pompous title. If it were thought
necessary, I should not shrink from an examination into detail; I, however,
who, in a career purely academic, have found few opportunities for gathering
precise documents on such a subject. I coiUd, for instance, quote to you,
from oiu- own annals, a modern battle, a Ijattle gained, of which the official
dispatch gives an account as of an event foreseen, prepared for with delibe-
ration and consummate skill, and wliieh, in tnith, was a spontaneous move-
No. 26.— YoL. U.— November, 1839.

ment of the soldieiT, without any order from the general in command, on
whom the honoiu- has been bestowed, without his having been there, without
his knowing where.

To escape the fatal reproach of incompetency, I will appeal to military
men themselves for the support of the philosophical thesis which I maintain,
and it will be seen with what enlightened enthusiasm they welcome works of
mind ; it will he seen that in their jirivate opinion work's of mind did not
hold a second rank. Obliged to restrain myself, I will try by fame to make
up for number ; I will quote .Mexandcr, I'ompey, Cssar, and Napoleon.

The admiration of the Macedonian conqueror for Homer is historic ; .Vris-
totle, at his request, revised the text of the Iliad. This corrected copy be-
came his favourite book, and when, in the midst of .\sia, among the spoils of
Darius, a magnificent casket decked with gold, with jewels, and with jiearls,
seemed to arouse the greediness of his lieutenants, theconqueror of .Vrbela ex-
claimed, " Save it for me, I will keep my Homer in it. He is the best and most
faithful councillor in military matters I ever had. It is but right, moreover,
that the richest effort of the arts should ser\-e to keep the most precious
triumph of the Imman mind." The sack of Thebes had already shown more
clearly still the unboiuided respect and admiration of .Vlexander for literature.
One only family of this crowded city escaped death and slavery, and that
was the family of Pindar ; one only house remained standing amid the ruins
of the temples ; the house, not of Epaminondas, but that where Pindar was
born.

Wlien on the conclusion of the war with Mithridates, Pompey went to pay
a visit to the celebrated iibilosopher Posidonius, he forbade his Uctors to
knock at the doors, according to custom, with their rods ; and thus says
Pliny, for the first time were lowered in the humble abode of a savant, those
emblems which had seen the East and West prostrated at their feet.

Ca:sar, whom literature may also claim, shows in twenty places of his im-
mortal Commentaries, what rank the different faculties with which nature
had so liberally endowed him, held in his esteem. How short, how quick be
is, when he tells his battles and his feats of war! See on tlie other band, if
he finds any detail too much in rlescriliing the bridge he had made fur his
army to cross the Rhine. Here it was that success depended only on cou-
ccptiou, and that conception belonged to him alone. It has also been already
remarked, that the part which Caesar assumed in preference in the events of
war, that of wliicli he was jirondest was amoral influence. Ccvmr karmir/iied
/lis arimj is almost always the first phrase of his description of battles gained.
Ctesnr did not arrive soon enouf^h to nj/cak to fiis soldiers, to ertiort tlicm to
act veil, is the habitual accompaniment of the account of a surprise or of a
momentary defeat. The general constantly takes care to lower himself to
the writer, and in good triitti, as the judicious Montaigne says, ttis tonijue did
tiiin ill many places notable service.

Now without any digression, without even recalling that exclamation of
Frederick, " I would rather have written Voltaire's .\ge of Louis XIV. than
have won a thousand battles," I come to Napoleon. .Vs we are in haste,
I will neither remind you of his celebrated proclamations \\Titten in the shade
of the Egyjitian pyramids, by the Member of the Instilvte, General in Chief
of the -Vnuies of the East ; nor of those treaties of peace in w hich works of
art and (science were the ransom jirice of conquered people ; neither of the
profound esteem which the General when Emperor never ceased to manifest
towards I.agiange, La))lace, .Mouge and BerthoUet ; neither will I speak of
the riches which he showered on them. An anecdote little known will more
directly fulfil my object.

Every one recollects the ten year prizes. The four classes of the Institute
had drawn up short accounts of the progress of science, literature and art.
The President and Secretaries were to read them successively before Napo-
leon, the great dignitaries of the empire, and the council of state. On the
27th of FebruaiT, 1808, it came to the turn of the French .\cademy — as may
he supposed on that day, there was a more umnerous attendance than in general,
for who does not think himself a judge in matters of taste ? Chenier addressed
the assembly. He is listened to in solemn silence, when suddenly the Em-
peror stops him, and bending forward, his hand upon his heart, and in a voice
affected by evident emotion, he cried, " It is too much, gentlemen, you bear
me down ; I want words to express my gratitude." I leave you to guess the
siu-prise of the assembled courtiers who were witness to this scene, they who
from adidation to adulation, had gone so far as to say to their master, without
his seeming surprised by it, "When God creittcd Napoleon, he was forced to
rest from his laboiu'."

But what were the words which went so straight, so directly to the heart
of the Emperor ? These were they, " In those camps, where far from the
misfortunes of home, our national glory was maintained untarnished, arose au
eloquence unknowu tiU then to the people of modern days. We must even
confess that when we read in ancient authors the harangues of the most re-
nowned cajitains, we are often tempted to admire only the genius of the his-
torian ; but here doubt is impossible ; the records exist ; and history has
but to gather them together. They came from the army of Italy, those noble
proclamations, in which the conqueror of Lodi and .Vrcola, while he created
a new art of war, founded a military eloquence, of which he alone is the best
model."

On the 28th of February, the day after the celebrated meeting, which I
have just related, the Moniteiir, with its ivell knon-n fidelity, pubUshed a reply
of the Emperor to the discourse of Cbrnicr. It was cold, cramped, and in-
significant, it possessed all the characters, some woidd say all the qualifica-
tions of an official docmneut. .Vs to the incident wliich I have related, uo

2 JI

416

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[NOVKMBER,

mention is made of it, a niiscraWc concession to tlic ruling o|iinion, to tlie
thin sldnucd suscoiitibility of tlie general statt'l The master of llie worlil, to
use tlie cxi)ression ofl'liny, giring^i'ay for one moment to the emotions of his
heart, did not the less bend liis staves before the literaiy title granted to him
by an academy.

These reflections on the comparative merit of men of stvidy and men of the
sword, although they have mainly been s\iggestcd to me by what is said, by
what is jiassing luulcr our very eyes, is not without its ajiplication to the
country of Watt. I was travelling lately in England and Scotland. Tlie
kindness with which 1 was treated, authorised on my side those dry, cutting
and tUi-ect questions which under any other circumstances a judge only on
the bench could demand. Already seriously engaged with the duty which I
liad undertaken, of delivering on my return judgment on the illustrious me-
chanic ; already feeling uneasy as to the solemn assembly before which 1 was
to speak, I had prepared tliis question, " Wiat do you think of the influence
exercised liy Watt, on the j-iches, jiower and prosperity of England ?" I do
not exaggerate when I say that I have addressed this question to more than a
hundred persons belonging to all classes of society, and to every shade of
pohtics, from the highest radical to the most prejudiced conservative. The
reply has constantly been the same ; every one placed the services of our
colleague above all comparison ; every one, moreover, quoted to me the
speeches made at the meeting when the statue at Westminster was voted as
tlie fiiitlifid and unanimous expression of the feeUngs of the English nation.
AVhat do these speeches say ?

Lord Liverpool, Prime Minister, calls Watt " one of the most extraordinary
men to whom England has given birth, one of the greatest benefactors of the
human race." He declares that " his inventions have increased in aii incal-
culable manner the resoiu'ces of his country and even those of the w hole
world." Taking the political side of the question, " I have lived," added be,
"in an age when the success of a campaign, or of a war, depended on the
possibility of getting mtliout delay our fleets out of port. Contrary winds
prevail for whole months, and upset from top to bottom aU the views of go-
vernment. Thaidis to the steam-engine such dilliculties are for ever at an
end." " Look," said Sir Humphrey Davy, " at the metropolis of tliis power-
ful empire, at our cities, om: villages, our arsenals and our manufactures ;
examine the subterranean raverns and the works executed on the surface of
the globe ; look at oiu- rivers, our canals, the seas which bathe our shores ;
and everywhere you will find marks of the eternal benefits of this great man."
"The genius which Watt lias displayed in his admirable inventions," says
still farther the illustrious President of the Royal Society, " has contrilnited
more to show the practical utility of science, to increase the power of man
on the material world, and to multiply and dilfuse the necessaries of life, than
the labours of any ])erson in modern times." Davy does not hesitate at all at
placing Watt above Archimedes. Uuskisson, President of the Board of Trade,
resigning for a moment bis claims as an Englishman, asserts that considered
in relation with the happiness of the human race, Watt's inventions ajqiear
to liim to merit the highest admiraticm. He explains in what manner the
saving in labour, the indefinite multiphcation and the cheapness of manufac-
tured goods, contribute to excite and extend civilization. " The steam-engine,"
said he, " is therefore not only the most powerful instrument in the hands of
men for changing the face of the iihysical world, but it acts as an iiresistaljle
moral lever in urging fonvard the great cause of ci\ilization."

In this point of view, Watt appeared to him to hold a dislinguished rank
among the iirst benefactors of the human race. As an Eiiglisliman, he did
not hesitate to say that without the works of Watt, the English nation
could never have supported the expenses of their last wars with Trance.
The same idea is to be found in the speech of another member of Parlia-
ment, in that of Sir .James Mackintosh ; see whether it be expressed in terms
Jess positive. " The discoveries of Watt have been the means of enabling
England to sustain the most arduous and most dangerous conflict in which
she has ever been engaged." Everything taken into consideration. Mackintosh
declares, " that no person has more evident claims than Watt to the homage
of his country and the veneration and respect of luture ages."

Here are some numerical calculations, figures more eloquent still than the
several passages which I have just done reading. The younger Mr.
Boulton announces that in the year 1819, the manufactory ol .Soho alone
had already manufactured engines of Watt, of which the regular labour
would require one hundred thousand horses, and that the saving resulting
from the substitution of machinery for aniinal power, amounted to tliree
millions yearly. In England and Scotland at the same date, the number of
engines was more than lO.OCiO ; they did tlie work of 500,(100 horses, or of
three or four millions of men, with an annual saving of 10 or Li mdlions
sterling. These results must in the present day be more than doubled.

This is, in short, what was thought and said of Watt by ministers,
statesmen, savants, and manufacturers, best qualified to appreciate him.
Gentlemen, this creator of six or eight millions of labourers, of indefatigable
and assiduous labourers, among whom no combination is to be repressed,
no mutiny leared — labourers at a half-penny per day ; this man, who by
l)iilliant inventions gave to I'higUind the means of sustaining a terri6e
struggle, in which even her nationality was never put in danger*— this new
Archimedes — this benefactor of all inankiiid, of whom future generations
will bless the memory — what was done to honour him in his lifetime ?

"* M. Arago secnrs to have sUmii ely j..Ulakfn the woids of lliespcalvcrs.if lie ilnagnics
that they aUritmlc-tl to Walt, the power ot" contending whh Fiance, \\hiii Ihey only
asstrtcl that it w.is owing to liiiii tnat wr are enabled to sustain the expense, atitl have
llic means of iivoiUing many tliflicuUies in tuliire.— A'yfe cf the tramlutor.

The peerage is in JOngland the highest dignity and the highest reward.
You w ill nattiraliy imagine that Watt was made a peer — it was never even
thtnight of.

If we must speak plainly, so much the worse for the peerage that it was
never honoured with the name ot Watt. Such an omission in a nation so
justly proud of their great men, iiatuially astonished me. When I enquired
the cause, what do you think they i eplicd to me ? Those dignities of which
you speak, are reserved for naval and military officers, for influential orators
in the House of Commons, for members of the nobility. /* is not tin;
fcislikiii (\ do not invent, I quote exactly) — it is not the fashion to grant
them to savants, authors, artists, and engineers. I knew well enough that
it was not the ftishion in Queen Anne's time, since Newton was not a peer
of England, but after a progress in science and philosophy of a century and
a half, when every one of us in the short course of liis life has seen so
many kings wandering, abandoned, and proscribed, their ]ila<-cs on the
throne supplied by soldiers without a pedigree, sons of their swortls, had 1
nut a right to believe that the practice of giving peojile a destiny was aban-
doned—that no one would longer dare, at any rate to tell them to their
faces like the inflexible law of the Pharoahs, whatever may have been your
services, yoiu virtues, or your knowledge, none of you shall pass the bounds
of his caste— that an insane fashion (since fashion it is) should no longer
disgrace the institutions of a noble people*.

Let us depend upon the future. A. time will come when the science of
destruction will bend before the arts of peace — when the genius which
multiplies our strength, creates new products, and brings comfort to the
mass, will occupy in the esteem of men that place which reason and good
sense claim for it in the picsent day; then Watt will appear before the
gland jury of the population of the two worlds; every one will see him,
aided by iiis steam engine, penetrate in a few weeks into the bowels of the
earth, wliere before him none arrived but after the most painful labour ; he
will e.xeavate there sp.aeious galleries, and will clear them almost instantly
of imtnense volumes of water which daily inundate them ; he will snatch
from a virgin soil the ine.xhausfibie riches which nature has deposited in it.
Joining delicacy with strength. Watt will twist with equal success the im-
mense links of the colossal cable, around which the shi]> of the line floats
in safety, and the microscoiiic threads of those nets and aerial laces which
always occupy such a cniiMtlerable place in the varied habiliments of fashion.
A few oscillations of the same engine will give up to cultivation vast
marshes; fertile countries will thus be relieved from the periodical and
mortal action of the miasma developed by the burning summer sun. The
great mechanical power which used to be sought in mountain regions at the
foot of swift cascades, will then, thanks to Watt's inventions, spring up at
will without trouble and without embanastnent, in the midst of cities — in
every floor of a house. The intensity of the power will vary at the will of
the mechanic ; it will not depend as before on the inconstancy of natural
causes, the meteors of the atmosphere, the dilTerent branches of each manu-
facture may be brought into one common establishment, under one roof.
Manufactured productions by their perfectioti will diminish in jirice ; the
people well fed, well clothed, and well warmed, will increase rapidly; they
will cover with elegant habitations every p.art of the territory, even those
which may be justly called the steppes of Europe, which centimes
of barrenness seem to have condemned to remain the exclusive realm of
savage brutes. In a few years hamlets will become important cities. In a
few years, towns Uke Buuiinghain, in which hardly thirty streets were to be
counted, will take their place among the greatest, richest and handsomest
cities of a powerful kingdom. Placed upon sliips, the steam-engine will re-
jilace a hundred fold, triple, qnadiuple banks of rowers, from whom oiu' fore-
fathers deinamlcd eflbrls which were justly ranked as the heaviest punishment
of the gieatest criminals. By means of a few pounils of coal, man will cou-

* M. Arago might liave reserved )iis declamation to have made a better hit. Ignorant

of tlie Elate of society in Eni^land, he coiii|)lains tliat political distinctions are reserved
f'lr political services; and passing over t!ic hononis tliat aredevotcii to men of mind, tie
lorgels to teli Ills readers, tiiat a man is not obliged to be a peer to liold tirst-rate ranlc in
society, and that many men, even merchants, or the sons of merchants, enjoy more
consideration witliout any title at all, tlian most of liis envied peers. He can tell us wliat
li.iilly did in the Convention, and what heliimscif hasdone in the chamber; howB'il\v«i,
Ward, D'Israeli, and Davies Gilbert have distinguished themselves in the lower honsc,
or Byron among the peers; lie can tell ns how to avail ourselves of the gaiichery of
Oliver Goldsmith, or Ihe abstractedness of Newton, and then we may be prepared to
follow the course which he, in his wisdom, points out. We do not finil tliat onr bi'ethien,
the .\nicvicans, have made ministers of either Bowditcli or Hare, of Washington Irving,
or Fenimore Cooper, and we should like to have otiier experience before we set an
evaniple. That we have been angraleiul to eminent men in every career we must con-
less, but the tributes we have granted have been counted as the noblest reward for which
liliiglishmen could contend. Few reap fame in their life-time; a public funeral, and a
sepulchre in the temples of glory, are all that heroes receive in tlie llesh ; yet, who can
<Icuy the honours paid to Sh.ikspeare, to Bacon, to Milton, or to New ton ; who can deny
that Watt has received tributes such as no Englishmen ever before obtained. His con-
Iiiiiporaries may complain, the shade of Trevithick may mourn its neglect, but AVatI,
of all names, is the last to be singled out as one to which we have been deticient
ill our tribute. We have many great names living now ; Moore, Dickens, Herschel,
Southcy, Kno-wles, Bnlwer, Chantrey, Wilkie, Faraday, Babbage, Charles Bell, Marshall
Hall, and scores of others, yet which of these will clanioiir for a peerage, when he enjoys
honors which a peer would envy. The tribute of popular esteem paid to Charles Dickens,
the greatest novelist since Fielding, are worth all the tiiiiiipcry tides of kings, or the ex-
torted statues of Governments. The Greeks contended not for a title or a pension, but
lor a perishable crown of leaves, and kings could i^uil ibeii lliioiies to earn this greater
honour fur their brows. Let M. Arago learn, that Englantl nserves for her great men a
higlicr reward th.in Ihe gewgaws of her mighty empire — to live for ever in the hearts of
her people, and to look for that inheritance in future ages from lialf of the world.
France mav erect statues, and may make peers, but it is for us to give a name, which
shall be claimed by the new world and by tlic old, by the Negro, Ihe Indian and the
Cadre, the native of the Southern Ocean, and Australia's latest Colonist,— AoJe of tht

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

417

(juer the elenicnts, aiul set at defiance calius, contrary winds, and even tem-
pests tlicniselves. Passages will become ([uirkcr, the time of arrival of
packets may lie calculated like that of a land {lispatcli. No more shall we
await upon the shore for weeks, for months togethei', oiu- hearts torn liy
anxiety, to seek witli a distrustful eye in the limits of the horizon for the un-
certain outlines of the ship, which bears to you a father, mother, brother, or
a friend. The steam-engine in fine, dragging in its train thousands of travel-
lers, will run upon the iron road with greater speed than the swift horse
can'ying only the unweighted jockey.

This is, gendenicn, h\it a very brief sketch of the benefits conferred upon
the world by the machine of wbicli Papin laid the germ in his works, and
which Watt carried to admirable perfection. Posterity certainly will not
weigh them in the balance with labours much more vaunted, and the real
influence of which, before the tribunal of reason, will always remain circum-
scribed to the circle of a few individuals, or a trifling lunnbcr of years.

Formerly the age of Augustus was spoken of, the age of liOuis XIV.,
eminent minds have already maintained that it would lie right to say the age
of Voltaire, Rousseau and Montesquieu. For my jiart, I do not hesitate to
assert that when to the inuuense services already rendered by the steam-en-
gine, shall be added all the wonders which it promises to \is still, grateful
nations will speak also of the ages of Papin and \Vatt.

APPENDIX.

A biography of Watt intended to make a part of our collection of memoirs
would be certainly incomplete if it did not contain a list of the academic
titles, which the illustrious engineer had received. Tliis list besides only re-
quires a few lines.
Watt was elected

Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1784.
Fellow of the Royal Society of London in irS.*).
Mend)er of the Batavian Society in 17S7.
CoiTcsponding Member of the Fi'ench Institute in 1908.
In 1811 the Academy of Sciences of the Institute conferred on Walt the
highest honour in its power, that of nominating him one of itx pu/ht Foreign
Members.

By a spontaneous and unanimous vote of the Senate of the University of
Glasgow, granted to Walt, iu 18015, the honorary degree of Doctor of Law.

ON THE COMPOSITION OF WATER.

An HisTonicwL Note, by the Right Hon. Lokd Brougham, F.R.S,
AND Member of the National Institute of Francf.

There is no doubt that in England, at least, researches into the discovery
of the compositions of water have had for their origin the experiments of
Warltirc, related in the .'")th volume of Priestley.* Cavendish quotes them
expressly, as having suggested to him the idea of his labour.f The ex-
periments of Warltire consisted in the firing, by means of an electric
spark, and in closed vessels, a mixture of oxygen and hydrogen ; two
things, it was .said, resulted from it, 1st, a sensible loss of weight, and
2ndly, the precipitation of moisture on the sides of the vessels.

Watt says by inadvertence in the note at ])age .SSS of his paperj, that the
aqueous precipitation \vas observed for the first time by Caveinlish, but
Cavendish himself declares p. 127, that Warltire had perceived tlie slight
watery deposits, and quotes on this subject the .5th volunu^ of Priestley.
Cavendish could not determine any loss of weight ; he observes that the
attempts of Priestley had led him to the same result^, and adds, that the
moisture deposited did not contain any impurity (literally u»// sooty matter).

* WinUiie*s leUer, dMted from Birmingham, the ISIh of April, 1781, was publislu;il by
Dr. Priesrlcy in ilie 2ncl volume of liis Experiments and Ottsi^rvationsrclatint/ litvariMitt
brunettes of Aatural Philosophy, toith a contiuttation of tlte Obseycnliuns (in Air,
forming in fiict tlie 5lli volume of Experiments and Observations on different Itimls of
Air, priotfcl .it ninninylmm iu 1781.— f'TVo/e by Mr. Watt, Junior.)

t Pliilosophical Trans'ictions, 1784, p. 1'16.

1 Philosopliical Transactions, 1784.

§ The note of Cavendisli at pai;e 1-27, appears to imply that Priestley had not pri-
ceived any loss of weight, but I do not find this assertion in any of the woiks of the
Birminghatu eliemist.

The first experiments of Wailfire on the conflagration of the gases, were made in a
copper globe, the weigiit of which was 14 ounces, and the volume three pints. The
author wished " to determine whether heat was or was nol ponderable."

Wailtire nt first describes the methods of mixing the g ts and ailjusting the scales, and
then says, " 1 always balanced exactly the vessel, full of ctmimon air, in i>r(ler that the
ditference of weight by tile iutroductiou of iullammalile air might allow me to judge
whether the mixture had been etfected in the wished for proportl(ms. Tlie passage of
the electric spark made the globe hot ; after it had cooled again by exposure to the air
of the room, I hung it np again on the balance; 1 always iouml a lo-s ol weiiiht, but
there were dilferences between one experiment and another. The me.in loss was two
grains-"

Warltire eonlinues thus, " I have exploded my gases in glass vessels since! have seen
you fPriestley) do it htcly, and I tiave observeil as you Din, that although the vessel was
clean and dry before the explosion, it was afterwards covered with dew and a sooty
substance."

On balancing the claims, does not the merit of having perceived Ihe dew seem to rest
with Priestley ?

In some remarks which Priestley adds to his correspondent's letter, he confirms the
loss of weight, and adds, " 1 do not think, however, that the hold opinion that the latent

After a great number of trials, Cavendish found out that if a light be put
to a mixture of common and inflammable air, composed of 10(10 parts of
the first and 4'2:3 of the second, " about a fifth of the common air, anil
almost all the inflammable air, lose their elasticity, -.mi form, hi/ condcnsntion.
the dew which covers the glass." On examining the dew. Cavendish
found that this dew was pure water, and he concludetl from it, that all the
inflammable air and about a sixth of the common air, returned into pure
water."

Cavendish burned in the same mannei a mixture of inflammable air ;ind
dephlogisticated air (hydrogen and oxygen), The liquid precipitated was
always more or less acid, according as the gas burned with the iuttammablt!
air contained more or less phlogiston ; this acid so engendered was nitric
acid.

Mr. Cavendish decided that " almost all the inflammable depblogisticatett
air (.5 turned into pure iimtcr," and further, that if those airs eouhl be ob-
tained in a complete state of jjiirity, all of it would be condensed." If
comiTion air and inflammable air do not give out acid when they are burned,
it is, according to this author, because tlien the beat is not intense enough.

Cavendish declares that his experiments, with the exception of those re-
lating to acid, were made in the summer of ITi^I, and that Priestley was
acquainted with them ; he adds, " one of my friends gave soitie account to
Lavoisier, last spring (178,'J), as also of the conclusion which I had drawn
that dephlogisticated air is water deprived of phlogiston. But at that time,
Lavoisier was so far froin thinking such an opinion legitimate, that up to
the time that be made u[i his mind to try the experiments for himself, he
found some difliculty in believing that almost the whole of two airs could
be converted into w.ater."

The friend mentioned in the preceding passage was Doctor, afterwards
Sir Charles Blagden. It is a remarkable circumstance that this passage of
Cavendish's work seems not to have made part of the original paper pre-
sented to the Royal Society ; the paper seems to have been written by the
hand of the author himself, but the paragraphs 134 and 1.35 were not in it
originally; they are added, with a mark of the place to whicli they belong ;
the writing also is not that of Cavendish, the additions .are in Blagden's
hand-wTiting. It was lie who must have given the details relative to La-
voisier, with whom it is not said that Cavendish kept up a direct corres,
pondence.

The date on which Cavendish's paper was read is the 15th January, 1784.
The volume of the Philosophical Transactions of which this paper forms ,1
part, did not ajipear for six months after.

The paper of Lavoisier (Volume of the Academy of Sciences for 1781),
had been read in November and December, 17s3. Several additions were
afterwards made to it ; it was published in 1784. This paper giv(.'S an ac-
count of experiments In the month of June, 1783, at which Lavoisier lui-
nouuces that Blagden was present ; Lavoisier adds, that this English phi-
loso])her had informed him " that already C,a\endish having burned
inflammable air in closed vessels, had obtahied a very sensible quantity of
water;" but he says nowhere that Blagden mentions the conclusions drawn
by Cavendish from these experiments.

Lavoisier declares expressly that the weight of the water was equal to
that of the two gases consumed, unless, contrary to his own opinions, sen.
sible weight was attributed to the heat and light disengaged in the experi-
ment.

This account is in discordance with that of Blagden, which according to
all ]irobability, was written as a refutation to that of Lavoisier, after the
paper of Cavendish was read, and when the volume of the Academy of
Sciences had not yet arrived in England. This volume came out in 1784,
and certainly it could not have arrived in London, neither when Cavendish
read his paper before the Royal Society, nor for still stronger reasons, when
he com]nled it. It must be besides reinarkcd, that in the passage in the
manuscript paper of Blagden, only one communication of experiments is
mentioned, a communication to Priestley. The experiments, it is there
said, were made in 1781, but the date of the communication is nowhere
mentioned, neitlier are we better informed whether the conclusions drawn
from these experiments, and which ;iccording to Blagden, were commnni-
eated by him to Lavoisier in the summer of 1783 were equally included in
the communication made to Piiestley. The Birmingham chemist in his
jiaper dravvn up before the month of April, 178.3, read in Jiuie of the same
j-ear, and .[uoted by Cavendish, says nothing of the theory of this latter,
although he quotes his experiments.

Several propositions result from the foregoing :

l.st. Cavendish in the paper read before the Royal Society on the 1.5th
January, 1784, describes the principal experiment of the inflammation of
oxygen and h)'drogeu in closed vessels, tind quotes the water as the product
of this coinbustiou.

•2nd. In the same paper, Cavendish draws from his experiments the con.,
elusion that the two gases mentioned transform themselves into water.

3rd. In an addition of Blagden made with the consent of Cavendish, the

reater scale. If tliat is confirmed, it will he a remarkable fact, and one which wil

the greatest honour to VVarltire's sagacity.

it of bodies is a sen-ible part of their weight, can be admitted without experiments oa

■ It must be l.irthcr observed," continues Priestley, " that at Ihe lime that lie ( Warl-

■) saw Ihe deiv on the insiilc of the closed vessel of glass, he said that it conlirmed an

ni.m which he had long had— the opinion that eominon air gives np its humidity

en it is phlo'jislicatetl."

1 is Iherebue evident that Warltire explained the dew by the simple mechanical prc-

iiation of the liygroinetrical water contained in eominon air.— ( Note of Mr, fVattf

nior.J

2 M a

cq,
1 .Iu

-as

THE CIVIL ENGINEER vVNJ) AKCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[November,

exporiiiu'iits of the liittcr :iri- dated Iroiii tlic sninnuT of 1781. A coniiiui-
nifiitiou of I'liestley is (|Uotfd witlioiit dftoniiiiiiiif;- tlif date, willioiit
spcaUing of tlic coiii-Iiisioii.s and without rvcii sayiiii,' wlieii tljrsc coiiclii-
sioiis occiined to C'avoiidisli. Tliis nuist lii' consideivd as a most mateijal
omission.

4tli. Ill nnc of liln,u:iU'n's additions to the paper, Cavendish's conclusion
is ivlalcd ill tlicse leinis, oxygen gas is water deprived of its phlogiston;
this addition is ]iostcrior to the arrival in England of Lavoisier's jiaper.

It may be farther observed that in another addition to Caveiidislis paper,
written by the hand of tliis chemist, and wliicli is certainly later tliaii t)ie
arrival in England of Lavoisier's paper. Cavendish establishes distinctly for
the first time, and as the hypothesis of Lavoisier, that water is comjiosed
of oxygen ;md liydrogen. J'erhaps no essential difTercnce can be found
between tliis conclusion and tliat at which Cavendish had at first arrived,
that oxygen gas is water devoid of its phlogiston, for it is sufficient to make
ibem identical to consider phlogiston as liydrogen, but to say that water is
coni))osed of oxygen and hydrogen, is certainly to come to a clearer and less
eqiiivoeal conclusion. I may add that in the original part of his pa]ier, in
that which was read before the Kojal Society before the arrival of Lavoi-
sier's jiaper in England, Cavendish thouglit it juster to consider inflammable

air as " as water plilogisticated, ratlier than as pure ))lilogistoii." p. I-JO.

Let us now see what was Watt's |)art, in \vliich dates will play a very
important cliaracter. It ajipears that Watt wrote to Dr. Priestley on the
a;tli April, 1783, a letter in which be discaiited on the experiment of iii-
Jianiing two gases in close vessels, and that tlien he came to the conclusion
that " water is composed of dephbigisticated air, and of phlogiston, both
dejirived of a part of their latent heat*.

Priestley deposited the letter in the bands of Sir Joseph Banks, re-
questing him to have it lead at one of the next meetings of the Royal So-
ciety. \\'att then desired that this reading should be jiut off, in order that
lie might have time to see how far his theory agreed with the recent expe-
riments of Priestley: at last this letter was not read until A]iiil, 17S4.t
This letter Watt alludes to in a paper addressed to Deluc, dated the -Jlith
November, 17831; many new observations and new reasonings appeared
in tliis paper, but almost all of the original letter was preserved, and in
printing, it was distinguished by the addition of reversed commas ; in tlie
]>art thus marked, is to be found the important conelnsioii and notes above.
We read further, tliat the letter was communicated to several members of
the Iioyal Society when it was received by Dr. Priestley in April, 1783.

In Cavendish's paper§ as it was at first read, there is no allusion to
Watt's tlieory; an addition posterior to tlie reading of the letters of this
latter, and written entirely in Cavendisli's hand, mentions this theory.
Cavendish, in tliis addition, shows the reasons, which lie thought he had not,
to complicate liis conclusions, as Watt had done, witli considerations rela-
tive to latent heat. It leaves in doubt the (juestion, whether the author
were acquainted with Priestley's letter, of April, 1783, or whether he only
sawtheletterdated the 'JGth of November, 1783, and read the '29th of Ajiril,
1784 ; upon wbieh it is important to observe, that the two letters appeared
ill tlie Philosophical Traiisaetions, thrown into one. The letter to Priestley,
of the 2(jtli of April, 1783, remained sometime (two months after the jiajier
of Watt) in the hands of Sir Joseph Banks, and other Members of the
Koyal Society, during the spring of 1783. This is what appears from the
circumstances mentioned in the note at page 330. It seems difficult to
suppose that Blagden, Secretary to the Royal Society, did not see the
)iaper. Sir Joseph Banks must have given it to him, since it was intended
to be read at the meeting. i| We may add, that since the letter was ]iie-
served in the records of the Royal Society, it was under the caie of Blagden,
the Sei retary. Could it be possible to suppose that the jierson wliose'haud
wrote the reniaikable passage, already quoted, relative to a coinimiiiication
made to Lavoisiei, in June, 1783, of Cavendish's conclusions, would not, at
least, have informed Cavendish that Watt had arrived at the .same coni'lu-
.sions, at farthest, in Ajiril 1783. Tliese conclusions are ide:itieal, with
the single difference, that Cavendish calls ile|ilogisticated air, water deprived
of its phlogiston, and that Watt says that w ater is composed of dephlogis-
ticaled air and plilogiston.

We must rem.irk that in Watt's theory, there is the .same uncertainty and
vagueness, that wc have already found in those of ( avendish, and that
all this occurs from the use of the term, not exactly defined, of jihlogiston.U

_' Wc c.'in, with ItiU ciiiiliflcnce, (It-dufe froiii Iliu unpiiblislii:il ronospuiultiu-c ot
Walt, Ihal lie luul already loniiL-d liis llietny ut' llie coinposiliuli of walor, in December,
1780, and in-obably J-ooncr. Besides, PriesUey declares, in ids paper, ol" tile 2SlIi April,
178a, llial, before liis own experiments, Walt was atlaelied to Uic idea llial t!ie sleaiii of
Avaler coidd be Iransforined into permanent gases, fp. 410.)

\VaU liiinself, in liis p.ipei-, (p. 33.*),) declares dial, for some years, lie Iiad bci n ol
opinion lliat air is only a inodificalion of water; luid he gives a detailed .ii-coiint ot llie
txpelilneiits, and le.nsoningson «liich tliis opinion is founded. - J\'t,te of Mr. M'att, juri.

+ Priesllcj 's letter was read on llie anih of April, 178-1.

i Williout any dunbt the Ccnevesp philosopher, then in London, received it ill Ibal
time. It lemaineil in his bands unlil the time llial Walt heard of Caveiiilish's paper
linving been le.iri before llie Koyal Society. From that lime mv father took insianl
measures to have his paper addressed to Deinc, and his teller 'to Dr. Priestley, of
the 201h of April, 1783, imiiiediaiely read before the Royal Society. Tliis reailiiiL',
loqniied by Walt, of the paper addressed lo Deliic, took place on the 29lh of April,
nti\.—Aole of Mr. JIatl.jim.

ti Philosophical ti ansaclioiis, 1784, p. 140.

II I'hilo-opliical tniiisactioiis, p. 300.

II In a note of bis paper, of the 211111 November. 1783, (p. 331,) is lo be read lliis note
of Wall: " Anteriorly to llie expelilnenls of Dr. Priestley, Kirwan hail pioved, by in-
jenious dednclions, borrowed lioni oilier faels, Ihat inllanimable air is in all probability
true pblowisloii iiiiiler an aeiial form. Kirvvan's ari;iiments do not seem, l.i mr. peiliclly
conviniiinu, but it appears nincli belter to ■ellle the point of the ijiiesli.iii lb) direct ex-
perinienl." Note of Mr. lf'utt,jiw,'fiii:^Ji

With Cavendish, it cannot be di'termiiieil. wlietber |dilogiston means simply
inllaiiiinalile air, or whether thai chemist was not rather iniliiied lo consider
as inllaininalile air, a combinatiun of water and ])hlogiston. Watt .says ex-
jircssly, even in his jiaper of the "itJtli November, 1783, and in a passage
wliieh is not a part of his letter of April, 1783, that iuHammable air, in his
opinion, contains a small quantity of water, and much elementary heat.

These expressions on the jiart of two men so eminent, must be considered
as the mark of a certain hesitation touching the compositidii of water. If
Watt and Cavendish held the jirecise idea tliat waler lesulted Ironi the
re-union of two gases deprived of their latent lieat, ftom the re-union of the
bases of iuHammable and dephlogistieatcd air; if this conception was as
clear in their mind as it was in that of Lavoisier, they would certainly have
avoided the uncertainty and obscurity which I ha^•e iiointed out.*

As to what relates to Watt, these are the new facts which we have just
established :

1st. There is no jiroof that any one gave, before Watt, and in a written
document, the actual theory of the composition of water.

■Jnd. Watt established tliis tlieory during the year 1783, in terms more
distinct than Cavendish did in his paper of 1784. By iutroduciiig the dis-
engagement of latent heat as a part of the process. Watt added to the clear-
ness of his couceiition.

3rd. There is no proof; there is not even any assertion that the results of
Cavendish's theory ( Blagden calls it bis conclusion ) were coininunicated to
Piiestley before the ]ieriod, at which Walt informed him of his opinions in
bis letter of 2()th .-Xiuil, 1783. For a still stronger reason, nothing can
make us sujipose, particularly after reading Watt's letter, that this engineer
ever learned anjtliing relative to the composition of water, either from
Priestley, or from any one else.

4th. Watt's theory was known to the Fellows of the Royal Society,
of several months before Cavendish's conclusions were ]iut upon paiier, ioid
eight months before the presentation of this chemist's paper to the Royal
Society. We can e\'en go farther and deduce from the facts and dates
before our eyes, that Watt first spoke of the composition of water, and that
if any one preceded hiin, we have no proof of it.

5tli. In tine, a repugnaiiee at abandoning the doctrine of phlogiston, a sort
timidity at separating from an opinion so long established and so deeply
rooted, prevented Watt and Cavendish from doing complete justice lo ilieir
own theory ;t whilst Lavoisier, who had bioken these fetters first, present
the new doctrine in its full perfection.

It might be very possible that, without knowing anything of each other's
labours. Watt, Cavendish, and L;ivoisier had, about the same time, taken the
great step of concluding from experiment, that water is the iiroduce of the
combination of the two giises .so often quoted, which is, in fact, with more
or less jiieciseness, the conclusion to which the three philosophers have
come. There now remains the declaration of Blagden, according to which
Lavoisier had received a coinmunication of Osivendisb's tlieoiy, even before
having made his chief experiment. This declaitition Bhigden inserted in
the very ]iaper of Cavendish ; I it appeared in the Philosophical Transac-
tions, and it does not seem that Lavoisier ever contradicted it, however ii-re-
concilable it might iqipear with his own account.

On the other hand, notwithstanding all Blagden "s siisceiitibility abouc
Cavendish's pi iority, there is no \\"hete. on his Jiait, the slightest allusion
that may lead us to conclude that, before publishing his paper. Watt had
heard of that ot his competitor.

We cannot affirm too strongly, relative to the question, whether Caven-
dish had any knowledge of SVatt's labours before drawing up the conclu-
sions of his own paper. To maintain that Cavendish i\as unacquainted
with Watt's conclusions, it must be remarked how inqirobable it is that
Blagden and others, to whom his conclusions were known, never spoke to
him about it. It might he farther said that Blagden, even in those parts of
the paper written with his own hand, and inlended to claim the priority tor
Watt, no where asserts lhat Cavendish's theory was conceived before the
month of April, 1783, although, in another addition to bis friend's oiiginal
paper, there is a quotation relative to Watt's theory.

Since the question of knowing at what epoch Cavendish came to bis con-
clusions, is envelope d in great obscurity — it will not be useless to investigate
what was the practice of this chemist when he coinmunieated his discove-
ries to the Royal Society.

• 'I'be nbscuiily in the iheorelieal conceptions of Watt and Cavendish, complained of
by Lord Brougbam, do not seem, to mc, lo be well founded. In 17S4 llicy knew how
lo prepare two jiennancnt gases, very dissimilar Ironi e;u li oilier. These iwo gases,
some called bxed and inllanimable air; and others, depblogistieated air and phlogiston;
others, in tine, o\\geii and hylrugen. By the coinbinalion of depblogislicated air and
pbiogislon, w.is produced water"^ having a weight equal lo Ihit oi the two gases.
Waler, from llial lime, was no longer considered a simple body ; bnl was composed ot
(iephlogislicatcrl air and phlogiston. The chemist who drew this consequence may
h.ive liad lalse ideas as 10 Ihe inlimalc naUiie of plilogiston, wiilioiil, Ihal in the least
degree, throwing any nncertailily on the nieiil of his brsl riiscovei^u in tlie pieseli-
day, it has been iiiathematically demoiistratetl lhat liydrogen or phlogiston is an element
lary body; that ilisnot .is Watt and Cavendish believed, for a time, the coinbinalion of
a radical and a liille water— jVo*e of M. Arago.

1 No one ciiiild expect llial Walt, writing and publishing for the first lime, engagcil
in Ibe c;ires of an imnitiise establisliinenl, and commercial atlairs equally extensive,
coiihl contend against the eloquent and practised pen of Lavoisier; but the sketch ol
his theory (see page 331 of bis paper) appears lo me, who, I iiuisl confess, am not an
miparlial judge, as Inininoiis and as expressive, as llu- cunclnsions of the illusnioiis
French chemist. — Ao/e of Mr. fl'tilf. juu.

i A letter lo I'lOfessor'Ciell, in winch Blagden gives a delailed descriplion of ihe
discoveij, ap]>eais in llie ..tniio/cM for l7.Sli. Il Is reiiiai kabl.-, lhat in Iliis bller lila'deii
says be ciininiiiiiicalcd lo I.ivoisiir llie opinions ol Civendisb and II all. anil lliat'tliis
laller ii.inie appear-, for the brsl lime, in llic re. ilal ol ihe veibal conlidences of the
becretaiy of llie Ro)aI Sociely.— A'o/c of Mr. II al/,Jiin.

1S39.J

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

419

A eommittee of tlie Society, of which Giliiiii was u aiember, made a
series ot experiments on the formation of nitric acid This committee, of
which Cavendish was chairman, proposed to convince tliosc who donlited
ol the existence of tlie acid in rpiestion, indicated incidi'ntally in tlie jiaper
of January, 1784, and then, at greater length, in a pajicr ol June, 1785.
These e\i)eiiments were execnted from the Cth of December, 1787, to the
lOth of March, 1788. The date of tlie reading of Cavendish's paper, is
the 17th of April, 1788. The reading and publication of this memoir fol-
lowed, then, at less than a month's interval, the conclusion of the e,xpe-
rinients.

Kirwan made some objections against Cavendish's paper on the composi-
tion of water, on the 5th of February, 1784. The date of which Caven-
dish's answer was read, was the 4th of March, 1784.

The experiments on the density of the earth, were carried on from the
5tb of August, 1797, to the ■J7th of May, 1798. The dale of reading the
pajicr is the ■27th of June, 1798.

In the papers on tlie Eudiometer, the experiments quoted are of the
latter part of 1781, and the paper was only read in January, 1783. Here
the interval is greater than in the jircceding communications. But, from
the nature of the subject, it is jirobable that the author made fresh trials in
178-2.

Every thing makes it probable that Watt conceived liis theory during the

few moTitl

he

analog

w uioiiuis or weeks preceding the month of April, 178.'!. It is certain that
! considered his theory as his own property, for he makes no allusion to any
...lalogons and anterior communication ; for he does not say that he had
heard that Cavendish liad arrived at the same conclusions.

It cannot be believed that ISlagden would not have heard of the theory of
Cavendish, before the date of Watt's letter, if that theory had, in fact, i)re-
ceded the letter, and that he would not have hastened to point out ibis cir-
cumstance in the additions he made to his friend's ]iaper.

In' conclusion, it is well to remark, that Watt dc]icjided entirely on Blagden
for correcting the proofs, and every thing relati\e to the publication oi his
paper. That apjiears from a letter of Blagden's still in existence. Watt
only saw his paper after it was printed. •

• It is easy to perceive tliat tlieve i.s simie (litteiclice between llie case presented l>y
Brougliani and that by j\I. Ara'^o. The furmer is tlie pimlneliun ol a ^killnl ailvoeate,
engai;eii in a had cause, or one whieli.al an> late, he eimsideis doiihtlul ; « lio elidea-
vonrs, by a sopliislic aiipeal, to blind llie Jint^es by Ihe pailialcase lie lays beloie them.
M. Arago, on the other liainl, led awa>" by the i^iiis latiiiis of inainlainini; a paradox,
spares no asset lion, however basel_\ , and conlidently appeals to a witness, who is tar
Iroiii provin;; Ills cause. M.Arayo bohlly asseils, that lo Walt alone is tlie merit ot Ihe
inveiilion due. IJroitgliam endeavours to prove Uiat AVatt is equal to Cavendish, and
leaves it to others to imply that lo liitn tiloiie Wits all the el-edit due. — /\iitp of lh<-
translator.

STONE FOR Tllli NEW HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.

Talks reftrrcd lo in Riporl in the Scjiltmbcr Journal, No. 24, page 331.
TABLE (D.)

Results of Expei-iments upon Cubes of Two

-inch Sides in Duplicate.

Results of Experiments
of Une-inch Sit

upon Cubes
es.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

0.

7.

Cohesive

Powers.

10.

11.

12.

8.

9.

Bulk of

Bulk of

Name of

Weight

Weight

Weight

Weight of

Water ab-

M'cight

Weight

Crushing

Specific

Specific.

A\'atcr ab-

Quarries from

in ordinary '

when well

when

Water

sorbed ; Two

of Particles

producing

Gravity

GraAity

sorlicd ; total

whence Speci-

State,

dried.

saturateil

absorbed,

Cube Inches

disinte-

First

Weight.

of the

of the

Bulk con-

mens are

in

in

with Water,

in

considered

grated, in

Fracture.

dry

solid

sidered as

procured.

Grains.

Grains.

in Grains.

Grains.

as Unity.

Grains.

1 = 2,5

3 Cwt.

Specimens.

Particles.

Unity.

Aiicaster ....

4585-4

4584-0

4920-3

336-3

0-166

7-1

24

33

2-182

2-687

0-180

Barnack

4443-9

4442-3

4729-4

287-1

0-141

16-6

16

25

2-090

2-623

0-204

Binnie

4613-3

4609-0

4859-0

250-0

0 123

1-4

38

71

2-194

2-660

0-174

Bolsover

4890-8

4881-4

504'2-0

160-6

0-079

1-5

70

117

2-316

2-833

0-182

Box

3767-8

3766-8

4109-0

342-4

0-169

10-0

18

21

1-839

2-675

0-312

Braniham Moor

4149-5

4144-7

4329-5

184-8

0-091

0-7

32

87

2-008

2-659

0-211

Brodsworth . .

4223-1

4218-0

4655-0

437-0

0-215

2-2

26

65

2-093

2-842

0-267

Cadeby

4044-3

4039-2

4559-0

519-8

0-256

6-4

20

23

1-951

2-846

0-310

Craigleith ....

4G98-7

4695-6

4859-0

163-4

0-080

0-6

60

111

2-266

2-646

0-143

Chilmark(A)..

4907-1

4897-0

5072-4

175-4

0-086

5-6

36

90

2-366

2-658

0-109

Chilmark (B)..

4932-5

4916-1

5073-6

57-5

0-028

9-6

38

9S

2-383

2-650

0-085

Cbilmark (C)..

4872-9

4808-7

5007-0

138-3

0-068

9-8

42

101

2-481

2-621

0-053

Darlcy Dale \
(StancHffe)/

4685-2

4678-3

4826-5

148-2

88

100

2-628

2-993

0-121

Gitfiicuk

4565-5

4564-5

4761-3

196-8

0-097

0-9

48

68

2-2.30

2-666

0-163

Cimibarrel "1
Stanley . . J

4061-1

4654-5

4841-0

186-5

0-092

5-2

34

58

2-260

2-667

0-152

Ilani-hill" ....

4700-3

4695-5

4930-0

234-5

0-115

9-5

22

57

2-260

2-695

0-117

Haydor

4305-4

4301-5

4722-2

420-7

0-207

10-9

16

25

2-040

2-691

0-24 1

Heddon

45.'5"-l

4553-8

4765-0

211-2

(I-IOI

10-1

26

56

2-229

2-565

0-156

llildenly

4266-2

4254-5

4601-0

206-5

0-101

5-5

62

68

2098

2-621

0-201

flookstone. . . .

4703-9

4700-0

48430

143-0

0-070

3-7

62

S2

2-253

2-640

0-M6

Huddlestone . .

4493-5

4491-4

4735-0

243-6

0-1 -20

1-9

34

61

-2-14 7

2-867

0-239

Kenton

4658-4

4647-9

4848-5

200-6

0-099

7-9

48

711

2-21 7

2-625

0-143

Ketton

4412-8

4409-7

4715-6

305-9

0-151

3-3

22

36

2015

2-706

0-244

Ketton Rag . .

5157-0

5201-8

5346-6

144-8

0-071

4-84

50

127

2-190

2-692

0-075

Mansfiehl or

C. Lindlcv's •

47001

4695-3

4906-0

210-7

0-104

7-1

28

-■)

2-338

2-756

0-151

Red ....'...

Mansfield or

C. Lindley's ■

4697-8

4692-2

4880-2

188-0

0-092

3-0

36

7)

2-277

2-758

0-171

White .....

Morley Moor. .

4130-6

41330

4406-4

273-4

0-134

0-9

22

4;i

2-053

2-687

0-221

Park Nook. . . .

4356-6

4336-3

4784-7

448-4

0-221

1-8

26

61

2-138

2-847

0-249 ■

Park Spring . .

4676-0

4647-4

4819-8

162-4

0-080

5-0

56

107

2-321

2-615

0-112

Portland "1

(Waycroft I

4302-9

4300-4

4575-1

275-1

0-135

2-7

30

r>r»

2-115

2-702

0-206

Quarry) .. J

Redgate

4674-5

4623-7

4835-4

211-7

0-104

60

55

80

2-239

2-509

0-107

Roach Abbey . .

4408-3

4100-0

4754-7

348-7

0-172

0-6

24

5 5

2-131

2-814

0-248

Stanley

4354-1

4328-0

4579-0

251-0

0-123

25-0

36

49

2-227

-2-668

0-165

Taynton

4363-1

4351-7

4632-6

280-9

0-138

8-5

38

40

2-103

2-666

0-211

Tottprnhoe. . . .

3736-7

3591-0

4027-3

436-3

0-215

22-3

U

27

1-891

2-509

0-143

Jackdaw Craig

3994-6

3988-3

4200-2

211-9

0-104

3-1

32

67

2-070

2-634

0-209

420

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[NOVKMBKR

TAULE (C.) OK CHEMICAL ANALYSES.

Sandstones.

Silica

Car1)onate of Lime

Carbonate of Magnesia ....

Iron Alumina

Water and Loss

Bitumen

^jwclfic Gravities

Of drv Masses

Of Pa'rtieles

:\lisorI)ent Powers \vlien sa
turatod under tlic exliaust
ed Receiver of an Air
Pump.

Disinteffrntion.

Quantity of Matter disin-
tegrated

Cohesive Powers.

Craig-
leitli.

98-3
11
00
0-6
00
00

Darlev

Dale'

(Stan-

'cUffe).

90-40
0-30
00
1-30
1-94
0-0

Hed-
don.

Kento

901
0'8
0-0
2-3
1-8
0-0

2-232 2-628 2-22!)
2-64G 2-993 2-CI3

0-143

Grs.
0-6
111

Grs.

0-121

100

0-1.56

Crs.

101

56

93-1
2-0
0-0
4-4

O-.")
0-0

2-247
2-62,')

0-143

Grs.
7-9
70

(U C <Li

<^ o ^-

49-4

28-5

16-1

3-2

4-8

0-0

2-33S
2-756

0-151

Grs.
7-1

Maqne.iian Limestones.

Bnls-
ovcr.

3-6
511
40-2
1-8
3-3
0-0

2-316
2-833

0-182

Grs.
1-5

117

Huddle
stone.

2-53
54-19
41-3/
0-30
1-61
00

2147
2-867

0-239

Grs.
1-9
61

Roach
Abbev.

0-8
57-5
39-4
0-7
1-6
0-0

2-134
2-840

0-248

Grs.
0-0
55

Park
Nook.

0-0
55-7
41-C
0-4
2-3
0-0

2138
2-84 7

0-249

Grs.

1-8
61

Oolites.

Limestones.

Ancas-
ter.

0-0
93-59
2-90
0-80
2-71
\ Trace

2-182
2-687

0-180

Grs.
7-1
33

Bath
Box.

U-0
94-52
2-50
1-20
1-78
A Trace

1-839
2-675

0-312

Grs.

10-0

21

Port
land.

Ketton

1-20
95-16
1-20
0-50
1-94
A Trace

2-145
2-702

0-206

Grs.
2-7
30

0-0
92-17
410
0-90
2-83
A Trace

2-045
2-700

0-244

Grs.
3-3
36

Bar-
nack.

0-0
93-4

3-8

1-3

1-5
A Trace

2-090
2-627

0-204

Grs.
16-6

Chil-
mark.

10-4
79-0

3-7

2-0

4-2
A Trace

2-481
2-621

0-053

Grs.
9-8
101

Ham-
hill.

4-7

79-3

5-2

8-3

2-5

A Trace

2-260
2-695

0-147

Grs.
9-5
57

Explanation. — This Table gives the Results of the Chemical Analyses of Sixteen Specimens of Stone, arranged according to their respective Classes. The
Names of the Quarries from whence the Stones are obtained are given in the First Line, and the Specimens are considered to be fair average Samples of the
■n-orkable Stone in such Quarries. Some Results of Experiments upon the same Stones, extracted from Table D., are added for the Purpose of att'ording a
Comparison of their several Physical Qualities.

EXPLANATION OF TABLE P.

The first column exhibits the names of the quarries -whence the several
specimens have been procured, such specimens being considered a fair
average sample of the stone wliich tliose quarries respectively produce.

The second column indicates the weights of t)ic specimens in the state in
which the stones arc usually employed for building jjin-poses. having been
subjected to none but tlie atmosjiberic iufluenccb since they were taken from
their respective quarries and worked.

The third column cnntains the weights of the same specimens after hriviug
been perfectly dried by exposure in heated air for several days. Their rela-
tive specific gravities are indicated by these numbers, subject to the errors
, arising from ibft'crences in the sizes of tlie culies, which, 0}i account of the
accuracy of the measurements, varied but little from each other; tlie specific
gravities, however, taken by the most certain nietliod, will be found in columns
ten and eleven. The average diflference of weight between two specimens of
the same stone is in the dry state 56-7 grains; "the greatest difference being
208-8 grains, as observable in that from Box ; and the least 0-2 grains, as
ill that from Bramham Moor. This difference is to he attributed partly to a
small inequality in the sizes of tlic duplicate cubes, and partly to variations
of density in pieces of the same material. The greatest difference of weight
between two specimens of ditfercnt stones is 1618-3 grains; the heaviest
being that of (he Kefton Rag, weighing 5201-8 grains, and the lightest tliat
from Totteruboe, weighing 3583-5 giains : the proportion, therefore, of the
weight of the lightest to that of the heaviest is as 1 ; 1-452.

The fom-th column exhibits the weights of one set of the above-mentioned
cubes after haxiiig been immersed in water for several days, so as to become
completely saturated, such weights having been ascertained immediately after
the cubes were taken out of the water ami wiped.

The fifth column shows the rliffercuee of weight between the same speci-
men in its dried and in its saturated state, and indicates therefore the quan-
tity (by weight) of water absorbed by each stone. The greatest quantity of
water any stone absorlied was 519-8 grains, and the least 57-5 grains; the
former from Cadeliy, the latter from Chilmark, (B.)

The sixth column shows the relative bulk of water absorbed, eight cubic
inches, or the bulk of the cube experimented upon, being taken as unity.
From these numbers it ajipcars that the specimen from Cadeby absorbs one
(|uai-ter of its bulk of water, while the specimen (B.), fi-om Chilmark, does
not absorb one thirty-sixth of its bulk ; the fonner absorbs, therefore, about
nine times more than the latter.

The seventh cohinin gives the quantity of disintegration, in grains, of the
several stones, after ha\ing been simultaneously subjected to Brard's process
for eight successive days. A description of the details of this process here is
considered unnecessary, as they are fully described in the thirty-eighth volume
of the " .'\nnales de Cliimie et dc Physique;" where is also to lie found an
account of tlic experiments made by members of the jnihlie commissions ap-
pointed to ascertain its efficacy, from which it appears that tlie measures thus
obtained may be considered very closely to rejn-esent the action of the
atmosjihere during successive winters on the various stones submitted to ex-
amination.

The eighth and ninth columns contain the results relating to the cohesive
strength of the stones, or their resistance to pressure, These experiments

were made at the manufactory of Messrs. Bramah and Robinson, with a six-
inch hydrostatic jiress, the pump of w hich was one inch in diameter. Ac-
cording to trials previously made by Messrs. Bramah and Robinson, one
pound weight at the end of the pump lever produced a pressure on the face
of the culie equal to 2-53 ewt., or to 71-00 lbs. on the square inch. The
experiments with the stones were cautiously made ; the weight on the lever
was successively increased by a single pound ; and, in order to ensure greater
accuracy, a minute was allowed to elapse previous to the application of each
additional weight. The eighth column shows the prcssm-e at which the
stone commenced to crack, and the ninth column the pressure at which it
was crushed. The unit assnmed is the one pound weight placed at the end
of the lever. The cm]iloymcnt of this unity in the table is preferred to stat-
ing the calculated weights, because it is not wished to give a greater appear-
ance of accuracy than can strictly be adjudged to the experiments; but if
absolute measures be required, the pressure, either upon the face of the cubes
em]doyed or on one square inch of suiface, may lie estimated, as nearly as
the means employed enalile it to be ascertained, by multiplying the figures in
the table by either of tlie v.ilucs of the unit above stated. The results having
been obtained with the same press, and under the same circumstances, it is
presumed that no objection can be made to them as comparative experi-
menls.

The tenth coltimn indicates the s]ieeific gravities of the stones, accurately
taken by the means usually employed.

The eleventh column contains the specific gravities of the solid materials
of which each stone is composed, on the supposition that the water absorbed
when the atmospheric pressure is removed completely replaces the air which
before occupied the pores.

The twelfth column shows the bulk of water absorbed by the stones when
satmated under the exhausted receiver of an air pump, their entire bulk being
taken as unity. The quantity of water absorbed in this process may be con-
sidered to represent the space occupied by the pores or interstices in the
substance, unless we sujipose that in some cases the adhesion between air and
the solid particles is so great that the entire removal of the atmospheric
pressure is not sufficient to counteract the force. It is certain, when this
pressure is not removed, long immersion in water will not occasion the dis-
placement of all the air contained within the pores.

OBSERVATIONS.

The Mansfield red sandstone seems to form a connecting link between the
sandstones and the magnesian limestones. The Chihnark limestone is re-
markable for having a large quantity of silica in its composition. The Bols-
over magnesian limestone is remarkable for its peculiarly beautiful crystalline
structure. All the Umestones. (includiug the oolites) except the magnesian,
contain small portions of bitumen.

If the stones be divided into classes, according to their chemical composi-
tion, it will be found that in all stones of the same class their exists generally
a close relation between their various physical qualities. Thus it will be ob-
served that the specimen which has the greatest specific gravity possesses the
greatest cohesive strength, absorbs the least quantity of water, and disinte-
grates the least by the process which imitates the effects of weather. A com-
parison of all the experiments shows tlus to be the general rule, though it is
liable to individual exceptions.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

421

But this will not enable iis to compare stones of dilt'erent classes togctlier.
The sandstones al)sorb the least water, but they disintegrate more than the
niagnesian limestones, which, considering their compactness, absorb a great
quantity.

Tlie heaviest and most cohesive of the sandstones are the Craigleith and
the Tark Sjiring; the lightest and least cohesive is the Moi-ley Moor.

Among the niagnesian limestones that from Bolsover is the lieaviest,
strongest, and absorbs the least water ; whilst that from Cadeby is the lightest,
weakest, and most ahsorbeiit. The aiagnesian limestones from Jackdaw
Craig and Bramham Moor, which closely resemlile each other, are i-emarkable
for considerable cohesive strength, united with h)W specific gravity ; they
disintegrate but little, an<l absorb less water than stones of the same class of
higher specific gravity.

Among the oolites the Ketton Kag is greatly distinguished from all the
rest by its great cohesive strength and high specific gravity ; whilst the stone
from i5ox, in the neighbourhood of Batli, is the least cohesive, and has the
lowest specific gravity.

(Signed) J. F. Daniell.

C. Wheatstone.

13UIT1.S11 ASSOCIATION FOR THK ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE.
(From tlic Reports of the AHiencciim and Lilernri/ Gazette.)

Oil the most Eeoiiomieal Proportion of Power to Tonnage in Steam-vessck. By
Mr. Scott Kussell.

The rule by which most proprietors of steam-vesseLs have been Kuided is
the .-ipplicMtion of power in small proportiun to tonna^;e ; but where veloeily
«,is the chief object, higher proportional power has been employed, with a
great expenditure of fuel, ami not with the ratio of increase to the velocity ;
or hiscli powers and large consumption of fuel have been attended with only
a slli-ht increase of velocity ; and. iherelore. the emplovment of low powers,
with low velocities, would api'car to be most economical. But thi.s conclusion
h.'S not been borne out ; and, by an e.Kaniination of the books of expenditure
of fuel, belonuing to several companies, he had found th.it experience htid
proved the use of high steam powers and hi^h velocities more economical
than low ones. This had been attributed to Mr. Russell's wave principle, and
he h;ul, therefore, carefully investigated the subject. The result at which he
liad arrived, appeared to him quite new and very remarkable. The general
principle was :— that in a vovage by a steam-vessel in the open sea. exposed,
ol course, to adverse winds, there is a certain high velocity and high iiortion
oi power which maybe accomplished with less expenditure of fuel and of
room than at a lower speed with less power. This was proved arithmetically
and by a formula, in relation to the same vessel, with dirt'erent powers of
engine, whereby any other ease may be determined.

Fair IVeather.—VlOO tons, 1-00 hoise-power. 9 miles an hour, 216 miles
a day. 1 ton of coal an hour ; 2160 miles in 10 days. 240 tons of coal.

l;:()0 tons, 500 horse po«er. 10 miles an hour, 2-10 miles a day, 1} ton of
coal an hour ; 2160 miles in 9 days, 270 tons of coal.

./ilverse ll'enlher.— \2i)0 tons. 4tlO horse power, 5 miles an hour, 120 miles
a day. 1 ton ot coal an hour; 2160 miles in 18 days, 436 tons of coal.

1200 tons, .500 hor-e power, 6i{ miles an hour, 162 miles a day, IJ tons of
( (Kil an hour ; 2160 miles in 13 and one iiflh days, 3'J5 tons of coal.

General Formula. — Let r repre.'-ent the velocity of a given steam-vessel in
a lair weather voyage ; «', the same vessel in an adverse weather voyage;
1)" a vessel of higher power in the fair one ; v'", the same in the adverse one ;
p. the power of the former vessel ; /)', Jatter vessel —

Vo"'—{tt — v')^

V^

p

-("-"')

in the ease of equal expense, when the highest proportion of power that will
be economical in fuel may lie ;it once obtained.

IJr. Lardner observed, that it was a new theory ; but, from Mr. Russell's
exposition, he was satisfied with its accuracy.

Mr. Rus.scll stated, in answer to a question, that the principle was only
true in reference to long voyages, because where vessels were not exposed to
continued adverse weather, a great additional power would only be an addi-
tional expense.

New Fuel ; for Steam Naviiration. ^-e.

The learned President (Rev. W. Vernon Hareourl ) described to the Section
a plan of cementing together small coal and coal-dust for fuel, for wliich
a patent had been obtained by Mr. Oram. [See last vol. of the " TV.™ s ac-
tions," Notices and Abstracls. p. 85.] For more than twenty years it had
atllicted him more than aught short of a moial evil, to .see the wicked waste
nnule ill this suljstanee. the most precious gift which Providence had boun-
teou.sly bestowed on mankind. To this country in particular it was of ines-
timable value ; and yet, until now, when be might consider the means of
saving and economising it devised, one million of tons out of three millions
.nmu.-illy hail been burnt and destroyed at the mouths of the pits. Mr. Oram
had bei-n attracted to this subject from pursuits of a ditVerent kind. In pre-
paring picture-frames, it had occurred to him that to nn.nld this wa.sted
brescia into the lorm of bricks, cau.se it to cohere, and lit it for all the uses
of mil. Would be a must desirable altainment. At Olasgou it was allowed
to remain at the bottom of the pits ; ai Newcastle it was in no way brought
to market by those whose competition led them to supply only superior coals.
The nuitcrial rescued from this •• wicked waste' by Mr. Oramniisht consist

of pieces of about the size of walnuts and all the rest of the sl.ick (and it
should be observed, that tlie best coal was most liable to break in this man-
ner) ; and these he composed together in a form so much less in bulk, and
occupying so much less room in stowage, that the quantity requisite for a
steam voyage of three months would not be mori' than of coals which w-ould
only last for two. How important was this at an era when coal was conver-
tible into coach-horses; when our chariots were of iron, and drawn by steeds
of fire ! It should be remembered too, that coal could never more be formed ;
that Nature had already deposited her work for our use in this formation,
and w hen once exhausted it could not be renewed. It was therelin-e the more
necrssary, in our i.sland blessed with so abundant a supply, to. apply economy
to its expenditure. Revenue, manufactures, comforts, all depended on (his
precious treasure ; and therefore it was that he considered this result to be
of such inestimable worth. It had been said that people had a right to do
what they liked with their own ; and in a restricted sense this was very truer
but in doing w hat we liked ivith our own, we had no right to destroy what
belonged to posterity ; and this had been done to a most injurious "extent
with the coal-fields of F.ngland. Me would now read Mr. Or;i'm's eommuni-
calum, only observing th.il trying and confirming his experiments ,at Wool-
wich, under the inspection of Mr. P. Kuart, a year ago, he had obtained a
jiatent, and had since been travelling ini the Continent to make arrangement.f
accordingly. Mr. Oram stated that his experiments were made on Pontop
coals of the best quality, which were compared with his rubbish in the brick
forin, and compounded of two thirds of coal-dust and one third of anthracite ;
which mixture possessed the greatest power, greater than if entirely of coal.
By one pound of this fuel, thirteen pounds of water were evaporated, and by
one pound of Pontop coal alone only sfrven pounds and a quarter. Nearly
double ! The process was a simple one, and had, indeed, been rudely prac-
tised in Wales, about Liege, and elsewhere, where the peasantry were in (he
habit of making uji the coal rubbish into balls with clay, and thus supplying
themselves with an indifii'rently burning fuel. Mr. Oram took (he dry mud
(it must be !//■//) of the Thames or any other large river, or any vegetable
earth ^vuuld do, and the mixture was — oO or 10 gallons of walci', 40 pounds
of coal tar, 30 poui ds of lime, powdered, and 100 or 200 pounds of dry mud,
to every ton of coal-dust. The compound was then pressed and dessicaied,
and an excellent fuel was produced. The oxygen contained in (he pores and
iiUersdees supplied combusdon in abundance, and (he muddy ingredients,
forming a skin, jirotected (he bricks from (he waste which exposure (o (he
atmosphere caused in coal. For (hey were all aware (ha( if ilie cook wanted
(o liglK a fire quickly, insiead of (aking small pieces of coal ready (o her
hand, she would take (he (rouble (o break a lump into fragments for (hat
purpose. Experience had taught her that (he adnosphere had de[)rived (he
former in some degree of (heir igneous property, and as every one «;is prone
(o iierform what they had (o do with (he least possible labour, she had tuiind
out (hat breaking up (he fresli lumps was the least (rouble after all. 'Ihe
shape of these bricks was another recommemlition. They were convenient
for packing; and yet another quality belonged to them of considerable im-
portance. It was necessary in steam-vessels to have the fuel near the boilers,
where the heat was intense ; and the bricks, sbiel led by their pellicle, re-
sisted this high (empera(ure, which would gready deteriorate coal in the samcj
situation. ])r. Buckland (hen nodred that Mr. (Jrani, of Portsiuouth, (he
invenior of the admiiab'e plan of biscuit baking, had also employed a com-
IHisidon of this sort. His cement was gas tar ; ami be had laid his method
open for the public benefit, without availing liimself of a iiatent right. It
was lighter than coal ; but Mr. Oram (and i( was only on his audiority he
made (he remark) had poinied out advantages which his mixture enjoyed
over (hat of Mr. (irant.

A gentleman s(a(e 1 (he coal of this country (about Birmingham) would
not run (oge(her. in (his way, like (lie Newcastle coal. He had for years
been trying esperimcids with it ; ard had tried all those of Mr. Oram, e.yeept
the lime. He had employed tar, oil, bituminous clay ; and though he bad
succeeded (o a certain extent, so as (o serve hot-houses, SiC, he had never
been able to obtain ,1 fuel quite apjilicable to domestic u.ses. Could such be
obttiincd for their fires and nianuiactories, it would be an inmicnse s.LVing.

On the Chaiiaes ami Improveiiients in the Embouehiire of the Mersey. — By Mr
J. B. Yates.

He referred to the new channel in the harbour of Liverpool, which h.ad
been brought before the notice of tlie Association by Capt. Deiiham. The
intricacy ol access to this harbour arises from the accumulation outside of
numerous beds of .sand, which are frequently and suddenly changing their
position and elevation. It can scarcely be doubted, that at some remote
j/eriod the estuary of the Mersey did not exist at all, or. at most, in a very
limited form; a forest and moi'ass may have occupied the land Ijetween
Forniby Point and Helbre. Numerous trunks aiul roots of large forest trees
are, to this day, found along the theshire ;md Ijancashire shores, while ex-
tcnsvie tracts of peat are oljserved in many places starting up among (he
sands. A violcn( disrupdon must h ive taken place at the mouth of ilu' es-
tuary, by which enormous masses of sand and inarle have been thrown out,
|ierlia]is proved by the homogeneous s(rue(ure of (he banks on either side,
in 18^8. a numi er of human skeletons were disinterred opposite the Leasow
Lighthouse, afionling strong evidence that a bnrying-ground had formerly
existed there; and a similar cemetery is discernible at Fwiniby. This liglu-
house stands in |ilaee of another, which was neaier to the sea by more ihati
half a mile— a sue whieli. at the time of its erection, seemed to have been
(inn. dry land, but was rendered useless by the encroachments of tlie water,
w hicli continued to incretisc. It was not until the tea liad broken down tlie
ridge of .sand which li.td formed its boun iiry, that a strong embankment
was made, extending a mile and a quarter in Ironl of the present lighibousc.
The .sand banks in this estuary are tossed to and tro by the force ol the winds
and tides, and are constandy changing their shapes and elevations, and,
having no escape, they remain pent up' in the bay. In 1687, an e.xeellent
channel existed op;;osi(e (o Formby Poin(. iis tlejitb from three to ten fathoms ;
but, not being marked by buoys, the Ruck (.h.innel was a( that time the
entrance in common use, though dry at low water. It has since become

ileepej-, and thus a I'haiist; Las taken place virni (lie ilyle Sand BauJs, A

■J22

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[NOVKMUKR,

ii'Iki.'. luiininj,' ;ili;iig llic niidcllu of tliis bank, has been cut tlirousli by a
iliannel li:iviiig forced ilsclf in a norlhorly direction, from Hclhre island 1<]-
wards flic UK'it Sliip. The cliannd ilcscribcd by Cipt. Dcnhani at tlie Dub-
lin Mcctinn IS now useless. allhouHli used for some (imc \iitli advantage ; l)Ut
it runs uer|iendicular to the course of the tide, \ihicb accoiuits for its present
slate. Fears liave also Ijceii entertained, that (lie other channel, called the
1 [or.se Channel, was filling up. Lately, a diagonal channel has been forined,
liy aidnig the ebb current of the tide in its natural diagonal course, between
l/jficashire and Cheshire. This was ilone by dredging, by means of a double-
lo.ithed harm»-. twelve feet across, dragged backw arris and forwards by a
sicamer ol lUO hor.-.e-power over tin- intruding banks, the inner part of which
was stated to rise lorty-three feet higher than the outer or seaH ard iiart. An
enormous w ooden scraper is also used. The m ilter taken up aiipears to con-
t.iin a small portion ol peat, and weighs somewhat liglitcr than the sand
hiuud \\ ithin tlie estuary. This new channel has been jiroved to answer the
purposes of navigation beyond original expectation, and the apiiroach to
Liverpool is even better than before.

Dcsniption of a new Raitwaij Jl'lin/. by Mr. Cottam.

The \\ heels suggested are made on tlie follow ing principles :— 1st. They are
wholly of wrought iron, so weldeil togellier, that, independent of screws,
rivets, or any other kind of fastening, they form one piece wilh the spokes
2nd. The spokes of the wheels are placed diagonally, and act as trusses,
thereby giving the greatest possible support to the rim. or tire, and, at the
same time, being m the best position for resisting lateral pressure. 3rd Iron
m a state ol tension or compression, as is usually the case with the tires of
wheels. IS easily broken by sudden shocks, or by vibratorv action. The
« heels in (jucstion are so constructed, (hat the fibres of the'iron employed
are neither compressed nor stretched, but remained in their natural condition
4th. The strength oi iron being as the square of its depth, then the flanged
tires ot these wheels, which oiler sections twice as deep. are. consequciitly
tour times as strong as those of any wheels at present in use. This increase
of strength is attributable solely to the peculiarity of their construction, nud
not to any increase in the weight of the material. 5th. The siwkes strike
tlie air edgcHise. and thus ofler the least possible res stance. Wheels where
the spokes present a flat surface maybe said to act as blowing machines
and, as such, require a greater prooelling power. 6th. These wheels, by
simp y v.irying the curve of their sp kes. become either rigid .ir flexible, or
in other words, they may be made to any degree of elasticity. 7ih M'hen
worn by h-ietion. the rims or tires may be turned donn. anil have hoops of
rai way lire shrunk on them. Thus repaired, these wheels are very stion-
and durable, and more advantageous than those of other eonstructi iis °

Mr. Koferts.spoke to the successful use of cast iron wheels, which, pro-
perly manulacture.l, he had never found to fail. The most imporlant con-
sideration to be attended to was the absence of oxide of iron, anil if any was
on the metal it miist be removed by a file. If this precaution n ere att'eiided
to. there would be htlle fear for the .stability of cast iron wheels —Mr
Moodsst.ited. that on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway cast ironwheels
were much used. 'I hey h:id employed wheels with wooden tires at the open-
ing of that line, some ot which were .still in use; and so satisfied were the
Directors, that it was their intention to have some newwooden wheels made
and to submit them to the test of experiment. '

On Experiments In ascertain the Power of tliffWent Species of n'oml to resist a
Forec lending to crush tliem. By Mr. Eaton Hoilgkinson.

All the specimens were formed into short cylinders, about one inch diame-
ter and usually two inches long, the ends being perfectly flat and at right
angles to the .sides. The appaiatus used to crush the specimens was that
described by tlie writer in his experiments on cast-iron (" Sevenlh Report of
tlie Uritish Association. }. The cru.sliing surfaces were perfectly parallel
and the body to be crushed had its end bedded fimily against them The
lorco was applied in tlie direction of the fibres. These experiments were
made like many others acknowledged before, at the expense of Mr H's
hbeial friend. W . tairbairn. Ksq. They are the commenceineiU ol a research
in which lie writer has otlier objects in view. The accompanying calculations
will .show how tar Mr. Ilodgkinson has. as yet, carried llis experiments, and
the results he has oljtained. Ihe great interest attached to tlie subieci in-
duces us to append this table, though we are somewhat learful it is not alto-
t;elhcr without inaccuracies ; —

Dimensions of

Cylin

ler.

I'orce which

Crushing

IJescription of Wood.

crushed the

Diameter.

Height.

.Specimen.

Square Inch.

inches.

inches.

lbs. mean.

lbs.

438n

icllow I'inc

101

2 00

4381 1 4306
41,57/
4829 \

5375

Cedar ....

100

200

4381 V 4456
4157J

5674

Ditto ....

1-00

1-00

. . 4605
3709)

5863

Another specimen, quite dry

I- 00

3933 y 3856
39331
4381)
4381 !- 4605
5053J

4912

Ked Deal

101

200

5748

Other specimens, 2 months

turned

roi

100

5277} ^277
2365 J

6586

I'uplar. — (Not (imte dry) .
Ditto, turned and dried 2

100

2-00

2589 5-2440

3107

2365J

months

■96

1-00

. . 3709
2589)
2589}- 2514

5124

Larch (green.J-Fallcn 2 months

100

3201

23651 .

Description of Wood.

Larch (green.) — Afler ng

and drying one month.

Plum -Tree (Dry)

Ditto ....
Ditto (Wei) fallen 2 years

Beech ....

Ditto, afler ilryingaiid hav-
ing been turned 2 months

Ash

Do. after 2 months as before
Quebec Oak

Do. after 2 months as before

English Oak

Ditto, 2 months after being
turned and dried

American Pine. — Full of tur-
pentine

Ditio, after being turned and
dried 2 months .

Ditto ....
Bay 'Wood

Spanish Mahogany .

Teak ^\■ood

American Birch

English Birch .

Do. after 2 months as betore

Elm

Alder ....

After 2 mouihs' drying

Box

Ditto ....

Other specimens give

King Wood. — Dry ornainental
Avood ....

Pear-Tree. (Dry)

Crab-Tree

Ditto, after 2 months
Sycamore

M'alnut ....

Another specimen

Elder.— About a month after
the specimens were turned

Ditto ....
Ditto ....

Hornbeam

Dimensions of
Cylinder.

Diameter
i hes.

•975
■98

•98
•99

•99

■99

■98

■99

100

■99

•98

•97

•97

•99

■96
•99

1 00

1-00

] 00

1 00

100

1 00

101
1.0!
100
1 00

100

■99

■99
■99

■99
■99
•99
•99

•92
100

Height,
inches-

After two months' drying 100

2 00

1 00

2 00

200

1.00
2^00
100

200

•80

2 00

200

1 00
200

2 00

2 00

200

2 00

100

200

2.00
100
200
LOO

2.00
200

200

200
2-00

LOO
200

2^00

•2^00
2^00

216

Force which
cnished the
Specimen.

lbs. mean.

.- 41.57
6347)
5955 . 6S
6347)
7131) __,,
8699/ '^^''
2813
5.563)

5899 V 5953
Ii397j

. ■ 5725
6907)

6571 J- 6.550
6173 )

5725

i?J}3323

. . 4005
4891)
4891 WS91
4891 j
6621 ) _„,,-
74.33; '^-'
4.5,55 k
3883 Ul 07
3883)

3933) onoo

3933; ■'''^■^

3905
5563 \
5899 y 5787
5899J
0949)
6173 y 6439
6I73J
8923)

9595 y 9504
9995J
9,309)

8861-9160
9309J
3709)

3485 y a

3560

4829

3485)
4829)
505,3 y
4605)
8413)

7965 V 81 14
7965)
550n

5721 J-5576
5501 )
56(i9) -,-.,
j2ii i
7579)
7243 y 7355
7243 )

8307} «™
(7579
■• \8251
9931) ,,,j3,
9931) "'■"
5899)
5,563!-
5899 )
5227)

4891^5005
489 ij
5501
5227)
5227 V 5451
5899J
55631
13;

-5787

556

5563

4.555)
4891 ^4667,
4.5,-)5)
5171) .,_,
517ir^"l
. . 7009

.5302

5.563)
5171 1-5
5171J
3709 )
3485 V 3560
3485J
, . 5725

C^rusliing

Force per

Square Inch.

lbs.

5568

8-241 ^

10193/

3657

7733

9363

8683

9368
4231
5982

0484
9509
5145

9367

i^t}s«^

7518
8198
12101
11663
4533
6402
10331

I960i

6831
9365
9265

10613

9650
10299

12645
7518

6499
7082

7-2-27»
6063 )

745 L

9973 V

7976-'

4523
7289

r6895

6615

8J67

<• After 2 months' ilrvinc .5507.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

423

ON THE THEORY OF THE STEAM-ENGINE.

By Aeistides Mornay, Esq.

No. IV.

In our last paper, published in June, we proposed the following
ibrimila for calculating the elastic force of steam at dillcrent tempe-
ratures : —

log. ^=: log. (^/+41S) -f

5(1 — 212)

1.3124227.

ail).

t+U8

This equation coincides, as we have shown, more geni'rally tliiui
any other which has been proposed witji the results of exi)erimenl ;
besides whicli i( possesses the advantage, that ue can obtain froni it
the elastic force of steam in fernis of its density. The ecpialion (IIj

^■. d =

can be put imder the form

log. rf=5 —
whence we find

< + 448 =

5 (< — 212)
^+448 ~

3300

I + 4 IS
3300

5 — log. d'

Substituting this value in the equation (I), wliich is

il (/+44S)

we obtain

P =

p —

22
150^

(IV).

■ log. d

Thus we can, at any time, deduce the elastic force of steam from
its density by a very simple method. Or it may be more convenient
to use the volume occupied by a given volume of water, when con-
verted into steam, instead of its density. For this purpose we must
substitute for (/ some function of (lie volume V, occupied by one cubic
foot of water converted into steam. Now, when the density of steam
is 1, it occupies a volume =:; 1700 cubic feel, so that the value of d

would be (/ ;= —,,--, and the above equation would become

V
P =

255,000

V (5 — log. 1700-1- log. V.)
235,000

(V).

'' V(log. V-f 1-7G95511)
If P be any other elastic force, and V the corresponding volume,
we shall have

p _ V'(log. V + 1-7(595511)
P "~ V {logTv + l-70y5511)

(VI).

This equation will furnish us with tlie means of calculating the
mean pressure of the steam on the ])iston of an engine, in wliich the
steam is used expansively ; but we shall return to this subject when
we treat of the action of the steam in that variety of engine.

Uii the Action of the Steam in the Cytiiukr of a Sttam-tngine.

The whole resistance overcome by the steam acting on tlie piston
of an engine, may be divided into the use/id effect and the mcidtiitai
7-esistaiicts, the latter comprising the friction of the various parts of
the engine, and the resistance of the steam on the opposite side of the
piston. When we mention the resistance simply, it signifies the tutal
nsisla)ice.

It is self-evident that the pressure of the steam againist the pi«lon
must be precisely e((ual to the resistance on the opposite side. In a
critical notice of the Coimt do Pambour's theory of the steam-engine,
inserted in the September number of this Journal, it was stated tliat
the resistance ove*pome by the force exerted by the steam against the
piston of an engine in motion is not, as ivsserted by Pambour, strictly
ei|ual to its whole elastic force. We shall show that the dilf'erence
is too small to be regarded in calculating the eHV-cts of steam-engines.

Let jLi be the clastic force of the steam in the cylinder, or the pres-
sure in tts. which it exerts on each square inch of the interior surface
of the cylindei-, and » the velocity of the piston in feet per minute.

We must, in tlie first place, determine the height of a column of
steam of the given clastic force, whose weight is equivalent to its
pressure, in order to deduce from it the velocity with which it would
flow into a vacuum, or tree from any resistance. Now we know that
the height of a column of atmospheric steam, (steam generated under

the ordinary pressure of the atmosphere, or 14-7 His. per square inch,)
whose weight is equivalent to its pressure, is about 58,000 feet, and
that the height of the column increases uniformly with the tempe-
rature, when the steam is in the saturated state. Thus, if t is the
temperature of ste.uii whose elastic force
[Kuiding height of the column wiU be

tiUO

H r= 58,000

or, putting Ibr <-l-41S its value fomid above,

290,000

is equal to p, the corres-
t+U8

II —

log. V -i- 1-70955 1 r
Now the pressure exerted by the steam against the piston is equal
to its whole elastic force, or (he weight of the column II, nanus the
weight of the column whose height, which we will call //, is equal to
that due to the velocity w of the piston ; for it would require the
pressure of that column to give the steam the velocity c, which it
must assume in order to follow the piston. Thus, if we call r the re-
sistance referred to a square inch of the piston, we shall have

h
r—P—p^

But we have also,

or, substituting for 2 ^

3000 X 2 g*
its value 04-38,

231,708
Substituting this value, as well as that of H, in the expression of the
loss of pressure, which is

h

X =z p

H

it becomes

-P

"' (log. V-}- 1-7(3955 11)

(VII).

07,212,720,000 '
To ascertain the mean loss through the whole stroke of the piston,
let /J be the length of the crank, V the velocity of the crank-pin, and
L the mean loss of pressure ; \ the loss at any given instant, c the
velocity of the jiiston, and a the angle described by the crank from its
deail centre at (hat instant.

If we suppose, to simplify llie calculation, that the length of the
connecting- rod is infinitely long in comparison with that of the crank,
and that tlie latter moves with an uniform velocity, we shall have

0 := V sin. a.
Substituting this value in the equation (VII), it becomes
V- sin, g' (log. V 4- 1-7095511)
07,212,720";00()

The distance travelled by the piston iluring an infinitely short
period of time is p sin a iio, and the amount of power consumed in
producing the motion of the steam during that element of time is,

, • , p V (log. V-f 1-7G95511)

A p sin. ada-^z p '- ^--s. — J i „:„ ,, j „

' ^ 07,21-2,720,000 "■" '^'^-

The whole loss during one single stroke is therefore equal to

9 T - . /' V^ (log- V+ 1-7095511) /'TT .

df,L — p -^—- ^-^~—~ J sm.crda.

II)

:p-

— p

07,212,720,000

4 p V= (log. V-1- 1-70955

201,038,160,000
whence we deduce

L _ V- (log. V-t- 1-7695511)
p ~ roO,8 19,080,000

If V were used to represent the mean velocity of the piston, w;

(VIII),

should have to muUi|)ly V- by - by which the last equation would
become

L_ _ V^(log. V+l-7(i95511)
p ~ 40,860,400,0110 ■ *^'*^'^

It is evident that, the greater the velocity of the piston, and the

• It will be oliscrvcil that we cmiiloy Liic letter r/ to represent the uniform
aocclciatiou \iei seaond, wludi a body receives when soUcited by the force of
gravity tree from the uitlueuce of any distiubiiig forces.

2N

424

Till'] CIML ENGINIilEll AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[November,

luwi'r (he |l^e^sslll■o of llic sliMiii used, Uk Efiealer will be the propur-
tioiwte loss; Iherelure we shall t;ike an exlreine case if we assiitne
V = UOO and;; = 11-71, when V will be 1700, and

hig. V+1-7G05511 = 5.
Substituting these values in the equation (IX), wc obtain
L _ l,S(.)0,l,ioo

•000044.

40,s(;u,4O0,O00

Thus we see that, although (he pressure exerteil by (lie steaui
against the piston, and lonsccpiently the resistanv-e whicli it can over-
eouie, is not alricflij e<pial to its whole elastic force, we are perfectly
justilied in assuming it to be prac/ifa/li/ so, and disregard the ditliv
rcnce, which is in reality nuich too small to be ai)pretiable.

CANDIDUS'S NOTE-BOOK.
FASCICULUS X.

1 must liave liberty
M itlia). as lar,Lic a charter as the U' nt's,
To blow uu \i liuni 1 I'lcasc.

I. The attractive title of "Church Architecture of the Middle Ages,"
induced me to turn to the last number of the Dublin Review, for the
topic itself has been so hackneyed of late years, that 1 fancied no
editor woidd now receive any paper ujion it, unless some freshness or
peculiar interest were im]iarteil to it. Hut, alack.' the said arlide
turned out to be only three pages of the most wisby-wasliy stuli'iiua-
ginable. The whole )Hn-p(Mt and sum of it are nun'ely to assure us
that it is cpiite impossible for any but a Catholic architect to enter at
all into the true feeling of our ancient religions edifices. It may be
so, but then if what the writer says proves any thing it jiroves rather
too much; the ergo resulting from it being that Gothic architecture
and Protestantism are things utterly o])posed to, and irreconcileable
with each other, consequently the only course left us, is to say Good-
bye to Gothic architecture, for ever.

II. The newspapers mention Sir II. Smirke as the architect to be
employed in rebuilding Bridgewater House ; but tliis, it is to be hoped,
will turn out a mere newspaper vii-dil ; for Sir Robert has by this
time done (piite (^nough to convince every one how little it is that he
can do, and that what style In- lias, consists only in the absence of all
that constitutes style, and the most frigid mannerism in the ap])lica-
tion of a few forms derived from Grecian architecture; without one
spark of geuiality or even invention. Beyond what is borrowed —
literally transcribed from auti(|ue examples, there is nothing whatever
in any one of his designs |irofessing to be classical, except indeed it
lie much that detracts very nuiterially from the prototvpes attectedlv
;ulhered to in other respects.

III. Who is Mr. William Collier? — undoubtedlv a gentleman who
thinks he has no reason to be at ;dl ashamed of his name, having
allixed it at full length to a paper on "Ancient Architecture," in the
Polytechnic Journal. And if he has not thrown any new light on that
hackneyed subject, he has at at least treated it most originally, having
condensed it into the compass of less (ban four very moderate pagesi!
— after which fact no one will question that, as lias been asserted by
some philaso|diers, the matter of the whole universe is capable of
being compressed into the space of a walnut. At first I ap])reheud(Hl
that William Collier was alxmt to be dreadfully ])rolix, and (hat his
paper would be c<ai(luued (hrougli a( least five liuudred numbers of the
Polytechnic, — that is, to about (lie year IbbO, for he sets out by telling
us that "The first foundations of history may be looked upon, &c.,"
and "We think there can be no doubt, that .AiiCliiTECTURK, when in its
infantine state, must have been not only rude or [ilain, but what may
be termed irregular." This is certainly beginning at the beginning,
and seems to threaten a |iro(ligiously long journey ; how ever, Mr.
William travels at more (ban railroad speed, for in the course of (wo
or three lines he gets from Noah to the Tower of Babel, and traversing
through (ireece and Rome sets us down — before he has finished his
third page, at the National (iallery in Trafalgar Square!!! After
which be shoots off again, and in less (lian eight lines runs (lirough
eight centuries, " during which scarcely anything was erected but in
the RuDK Gothic Style"!!!! Droll 'WiUiaiu Collier ! It must not
be supposed, however, that his flying velocity leaves him no time for
criticizing; for he stops at the National Gallery to call it "a mass of
rubbish which stands in all its uieanness on the spot once occupied by
the Royal Mews; and which it appropriated (o its proper use might
well be turned into a Royal Rabbit Hutch." Perluips he means for

such nibhi/ ur rubid geulry as himself. Most uuquestionablv the Na-
tional Gallery is — thanks perhaps to our penny-wise goverument — •
greatly inferior to what it ought to have been, and to w hat the archi-
tect would have reiidere(l it, but to term it a "Mass of Rubbish," is, in
my o]iinion, nothing but the merest rubbish of words, most assuredly
not criticism. In (he name of common sense what are we to luider-
s(and by it? I believe it would puzzle Mr. William Collier, himself,
quite as much as any body else to explain. Grant that it is in every
respect decidedly inferior as a |iiece of architecture to what might
have been anlicipated, that as a building it is unworthy of its destina-
tion, still with all its sins, it is certainly by no means the poorest of
our [lublic edifices, (herafore if it at all answers to William Collier's
character of it, we may ransack our language in vain for terms appli-
cable to many things greatly inferior — for instance, to the Ti'rraces in
the Regent's Park, wiiich Bartholomew calls " niortar-skimmings by
the mile." If the National Gallery be a mere " Rabliit.liutcli," per-
luqis neither St. Paul's nor Westminster Abbey, can rank very much
higher than a good-sized dog-keimel. What our Sweet-William's
notions of magnificence may be, I can hardly guess, farther than that
they arc undoubtedly enormous. Yet stay! — he has given us some
clue, for just before pouncing upon the unfortunate mass of rubbish in
Tr.ifalgar S()uare, lie says : "The triumphal arches of Rome give us a
vast idea of the perfection to which architecture had been brought
during the flourishing times of her consuls and emperors" ! Thus
(hen alter all, the trium|)lial arches of Rome, in some respects, speci-
mens of the most corrupt taste in arcliitecture, are extolled as models
of perfection by a gentleman so exquisitely fastidious as to behold
nothing better than "a mass of rubbish," in the National (iallery!

IV. 1 should very much like to see Madame Vestris perform the
part of Jane Shore, not exactly on the stage, but by being made to
|)erforiu |ienance, and stand in a white sheet on the vile excrescence
she has built — that is, caused or allowed to be built, by the side of the
pordco of Coven( Garden Theatre; and which looks as if il had been
slolen from the entrance of a suburban tea-garden. If that is a sample
of her management, and of the kind of reform she intends to introduce
in(o the inside of her house, it is a very ominous sign indeed, and not
a particularly inviting one. It is time there was some punishment or
fine for so disfiguring a public building in so horrible a manner.

V. As my Lord Eglintoun seems to be suffering from such a plethora
of cash that he is puzzled to contrive how to s|iend it, some friend
should ad> ise him to give a new coat to his castle. At present it
looks like any thing but what its name would lead us to expect; it
being only a spruce and dapper sash-windowed house, with a few
lialtlements, which so far from 'frowning' are jiarticularly sheepish-
looking. Its character altogether is very far more olf'ensive than de-
fensive, for it wonkl not stand out lialf an hour's seige, before it could
be stormed by half a dozen old women.

VL There was no occasion for the new Custom House at Liverpoo',
to convince us that an enormous expense may be incurred for a number
of large cohuuus without its producing any adequate elfect or exhibit-
ing any thing (hat can fairly be called design. The building in ques-
tion has three octastyle porticos agidust as many of its sides; but
with the exception of those rows of columns nothing to su])port the
pretensions it so makes. When one beliolds such a huge mass of
mawkish insipidity, he is templed to regret, with Charles Purser, that
Grecian arcliilcc(ure has not been utterly annihilated, or that we have
not been kept in utter ignorance of it.

ARCHITECTURE AT MUNICH.

P^\TniOTis.M is no doubt a very excellent virtue in its way, but it is
one (hat reipiires to be reined in a little, for it is sometimes rather an
unruly beas(, and a|)t to serve us as his steed did John Gilpin, and to
make us cut an equally ridiculous figure in the eyes of all the rest of
(he world. Thus the title of "Modern Athens!" as applied to Edin-
burgh and its buildings, is absolutely burlesque, of which the very
luiuter seems to have been conscious, for why else did he stick the
mark of admiration after it on the title of the volume for which John
Britton, with his usual good tas(e, thought fit to select such a clap-trap
designation as a delicate and delicious ioin|ilimeiit (o " Auld Reekie."
After this we are almost ashamed to say that the epithet of the German
Athens, has been bestowed upon Munich. Its .Mi »/((«/«;//, however,
is of a totally ditiereiit sort from that north of Tweed ; for in regard to
ar(, the Scotch and (he German A(hens stand in (he same relationship
to each other, that the icebergs of the Frozen .Sea do to the luxuriant
vegetation of (he trojiical regions. But why, it will be said, should
we make such very disagreeable comparisons ? to which question we

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

425

reply by anotlier, \\/.., why are iieoplo so silly and oflieious us by thoii-
blunderinn' Marplot couiiiliiiients to thrust sucli comparisons upon us?
Some, again, may be of opinion that however splendid Munich may
be, there is no occasion for either us or any one to descant upon what
has been there achieved, when it seems likely only to put ns out of
conceit with ourselves and with our doings here at home. Now,
could we impose on all the rest of the world as well as ovu'selves, that
argument might be listened to ; yet, whether we choose to make
comparisons ourselves or not, we cannot prevent others from making
them, and all the more to our discredit, when they find out not only
how exceedingly backward we are in art, but that, instead of at all
suspecting such to be the ease, we fancy we are at all events in ad-
vance of the rest of the world. With the Italy of other ages we do
not pretend to compete ; of its former glories in art we have always
been accustomed to hear, and we fiu-ther know, that were it not for
its lono' accumulated stores, Italy would not, at the present day, acquire
reputation by the talent of its living artists ; we may endure, without
any very great vexation, to hear Frenchmen boast of their Louvre and
Versailles, for, like eels, we are now got used to it; but to be told
that the little capital of Bavaria, (whose population is hardly more
than that of one of our larger metropolitan parishes,) should have so
far got a-head of us, that in the brief space of twenty years, edifices
of almost unjiaralleled splendour, such as would formerly have
been almost the work of centm-ies, have been nobly conceived and
as worthily executed, is, it must be owned, somewhat mortifying.
When we look at what has, within the sanu^ space of time, been doni^
here at home, at the works of our Nashes and our Soanes — -at the
blundering fragment at the corner of Downing Street — at the feeble
and minikin taste displayed in the new palace — at such large masses
of frigidity and insipidity as the Custom Hoirse and Post Office — ^at
the bare rooms of the British Museum, where Art is provided for like
a state pau|)er — at our poverty-stricken pseudo-Grecian buildings —
and at most of our beggarly new churches — we Irave to be ashamed,
nay shocked, at the contrast. Well would it be could we be made
ashamed to some p\n'pose. In what lay the genius of Nash and some
others, exceiit in m.iking money and either s|)ending it or hoarding
it, it is for their par.isites and flatterers to explain ; but we may assert
that the praises bestowed upon them were certainly calculated to lower
our ideas of art most prodigiously. If Nash was the genius that was
pretended, the inference was that a man might be some degrees infe-
rior, and yet a remarkably talenteil fellow after all — a tolerably brilliant
star, though not the big full moon itself.

In almost every thing we have done of late years, even where a
building has been u|)on the whole very good as to design, there is
something or other left as a blemish in it, sometliing tliat too plainly
declares its having been done upon the do-well-enough system, the
consequence of which is, that, as a work of art, it is generally " done
for." Sometimes we set out as if we really had plucked up courage
enough to attempt something grand, yet owing to an untowaril fatality,
our courage of that sort has almost invariably oozed away before the
work has been completed. Neither is it the least provoking part of
the matter, that we go on committing failure after failure without
profiting at all by our dearly-bought experience. Of course it is
entirely the fault of that eternal mischief-maker — Nouody. Oh, no !
it is nobody's fault; nobody, of course, is answerable for it, nobody in
the slightest degree to blame. If, therefore, things happen dirt'erently
at Munich, we suppose it is entirely owing to the stars ; for as the
facetious editor of the Literary Gazette, or the Athenaeum's pet, Tom
Hooil, would say, the stars are of course very obliging and accommo-
dating towards Bavaria, because it has Moon-ie\\ for its capital, which,
whether a capital pun or not, is here merely borrowed from Jerdan.
However, to be more serious — and it really is a serious matter, what-
ever else may be plain, it is almost incomprehensible how the present
King of Bavaria has lieen able to erect, out of his privy purse, so
many of the splendid edifices which now adorn his capital, and which,
though they have not, it seems, beggared him, and are likely to enrich
his subjects, almost beggar description. Such, at least, is the case
with the lately completed Allerheiligen Kapelle, and with the new
basilica of St. Bonifacius, by Ziebland, both of which are in the most
gorgeous Byzantine style, the latter diyided into a nave with two
aisles on each side of it, by sixty-four columns, and an open timber-
work roof richly adorned with carving, gilding, and colours, to accord
with the embellishment of all the rest, when the walls, like those
of tlie Allerheiligen, shall come to be covered with frescos upon a
gold ground. How, not these two edifices alone, but so many others
of such elaborate pomp and richness, so truly " miirchenhaft schiin,"
should succeed each other as they have done, is trulv astonishing.
It is so mysterious, that we might be excused for fancying the Kiitml-
Itehtnd sovereign has discovered either Solomon's ring (jr Aladdin's
lamp. Yet, perhaps the secret, after all, may be explained by the

proverb, " where there's a will there's a way." Had George IV.
really possessed the taste and love of art so liberally ascribed to
him by his flatterers, his privy purse would surelv have been a
match for that of Ludwig; but he, poor man, had other and more
expensive tastes, and his chief title to fame is that bestowed upon
him by Carcme, who assures us that among the \ery few real
proficients in gastronomy in his time were the Emperor Alexander,
George IV, and the Marquis de Cussy. How Ludwig ilines, or whe-
ther he has to provide a cuiirerl every day for his Lord Melbourne, we
have not heard, and still less do we care.

All this may not be flattering to our national pride ; still it ought to
open our eyes a little, and make us ask ourselves the question where-
fore it sliould be so, and more especially whether it is always to con-
tinue so. The opportunities we have already, from time to time,
flung away, cannot now be recalled ; yet that is no reason why we
should despair, on the contrary, a very great reason indeed wherefore
we should begin to exert ourselves, and put forth all our energies in
art. If not, we must be content with admiring ourselves, and be
laughed at by the rest of Europe — at all events, sneered at by little
Bavaria.

An unusually full account of the public buildings at Munich, has
just appeared in the Penny Cyclopaedia, illustrated with a niluatwii's
pliin of the palace and surrounding edifices, as also with a plan of the
up])er floor of the Pinacotheca. By way of specimen of that article,
which we need hardly recommend further than by so quoting, to our
readers, we extract what is said (jf one work now in progress, and also
copy the architectural table at the end.

"The new basilica of St. Bonifacius, now in progress, promises,
when completed — which it is expected to be in 1842 — to surpass every
other religious edifice in the city, hardly excepting the Allerheiligen
Kapelle itself. Like that building, it is in the Byzantine or Lombard
taste, both as to architecture and decoration, but is upon a much more
extensive scale, being 25a feet long and 12ll feet wide ; and is divided
within into a nave and two aisles on each side of it, by sixty-four
marble cohunns of a greenish tint, disposed in four rows. Of the
middle aisle, or nave, the width is 51 feet and the height 7(i ; of the
four others, the width 15 feet and the heightli 40 feet. The pave-
ment is of marble mosaic, and the roof of open timber work, the beams
of which are not only carved, but richly decorated with painting and
gilding, and the ceiling between them azure, with gold stars. The
walls of the outer side aisles are stuccoed with scagliola, in imitation
of ilirterent coloured nrarbles, but those of the otlier parts of the liuild-
ing will be painted in fresco by Hess, with subjects from the history
of St. Bonifacius. In the rear of this magnificent church (the front of
which, towards the Karls-strasse, has a portico of eight Corinthian
colunms with three bronze doors) will be another building attached to
it, intended as a theological seminary, directly facing the Glyptotheca,
to which it will form a corresponding piece of architecture, on the
south side of the Kiinigs Platz."

"On comparing a map of London with that of Munich, the latter,
though so very nuich smaller a city, strikes the eye by the number of
public buildings and the great space which they occupy. The plan
of Munich, ]iublished in the series of maps liy the Society for the Dif-
fusion of L'seful Knowledge, will be useful to those who take any in-
terest in the present article. This plan does not however show the
situation of all the buildings here mentioned, not any of those beyond
the Kriegs Ministerium in tin; Ludwigs Strasse, nor the Basilica of St.
Bonifacius, being then erected. But two very conspicuous features
in it suggest the propriety of mentioning the spacious new Friedliuf,
or public cemetery, and the beautiful park near the north-east angle
of the Hofgarten and Picture Gallery, called the English Garden. The
latter is laid out with plantations, intersected by strearjis of water, and
embellished with statues and various ornamental buildings, the most
remarkable of which is the circular monopteros of twelve Ionic
colunms, erected in 1833, as a monumental temple in honour of the
elector Karl Theodore, the founder of the garden; nor is it so re-
markable on account of its design, as for exuiliiting the first modern
application of Greek architectural polychromy, tlie capitals of the
colunms and the mouldings of the entablature being enriched with
various colours painted in encaustic. The other spot, the Pcre la
Chaise of Munich, has, at its southern extrenuty, an extensive range
of building consisting of a chapel and range of arcades, disposed in
the form of a crescent about 550 feet in diameter."

"The following architectural synopsis, on the ))lan of that accom-
panying the article London, will serve as a general recapitulation, and
facilitate reference with respect to the architects and the dates of the
buililiugs, as far as it has been possible to ascertain the latter correctly-"

N.L). The measurements are reduced to English feet.

a N 2

426

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[November,

Frauenkirclie ....
St. Michiiel's ....
St. Caietim . . • .
Trinity Church
(ioiicval Hospital
Glyptotheca ....
Reitbahn, Ridiiig-hoiise
Isar Biiilge ....
Theatre .....
Kriegs Ministerinm, or War Office
Oileon .....
Pinacotheca ....
Synagogue ....

Allerlieiligen Kapelle

Bazaar

Hof Arcaden ....

Protestant Church

Kiinigsbau ....

Festbau

Prince Maximilian's Palace
Leuchtenljerg Palace

Obelisk

Ludwig's Kirche

Pfarr-kirche, St. Maria Hilf

New Pul)lic Library and Archive

The Reichenbacher Bridge

Blind Institute

Isar Thor or Gate

Polychrome Temple

St. Bonit'acius ....

Post Office ....

Georgiamun ....

Equestrian Statue of Maximilian I.

Damenstiftsgebande

Monument of Maximilian-Joseph I.

Date. Architect.

1468-94

1583-95

1G7U

1701-14

18 1:5

lSlG-30

1822

1823-28

1824-5

1824

182G

182G

1826

1S2G-37

1827-33

1827

182S '

1828-33

1829

1831

1S32

1832

1832

1833

1833

1833

1831

ls3.>

1835

Jorg Gankoffen

Wolfgang Miiller
Agost. Barella

Fischer
Klenze

Probst & Klenze

Fischer

Klenze

Kleuze

Do.

Metivier

Klenze

Do.

Do.

Pertch

Klenze

Do.

Do.

Do.

Do.

(.Tiirtner

OhlmuUer

Gartner

Gartner
Do.
Klenze
/.iebland
Klenze
Gartner
Thorwaldscn
Gartner
Klenze & Ranch

Remarks.

Gothic, two west towers 336 feet high— -336 by 115 feet.

Facade, erected 1767, by Couvilliers; Doric and Ionic.
Rotunda, dome on 18 Corinthian columns.

Grecian, Octastyle, Ionic portico.

Italian, 300 by 80 feet.

Five arches, length 28G feet.

Hexastyle, Corinthian portico.

Florentine style.

Italian style.

Italian, north and south facades 494 feet.

Romanesque or Byzantine style, 145 by 103 feet and 84 high
Italian, round-arcli style.

Oval plan, 143 by 57 feet.

Florentine style, facade 406 feet.

Facade nearly 800 feet long, in the Palladian stj'le.

Florentine style.

Italian style.

Bronze, 95 feet high.

Byzantine style, towers 209 feet high.

Gothic, nave and side aisles.

Fayade 494 feet, Florentine style.

Timber bridge, G75 feet long.

Florentine style, fafade 214 feet.

Gothic or Old German style, three towers.

Circular monopteros, Grecian Ionic.

Byzantine, nave and two aisles on each side.

Florentine style, facade 290 feet long, GG feet high.

Florentine style, facade 430 feet.

Colossal sitting figure ; entire height of the monument,
which is of bronze, 3G feet.

ARCHITECTURAL PROCEEDINGS IN THE PROVINCES.
By Mr. G. Godwin, Jun., F.R.S., &c.
Sir — I gladly comply with your request to be furnished v ith
some slight outline of the works in progress, or recently completed,
■which have passed under my notice during a late tour of some of our
provincial towns; iirslly, because I believe it will tend to show that a
taste for architectural |iroductions is increasing, although perhaps
slowly, a fact w Inch cannot be uninteresting to 3'our readcM's generally ;
and secondly, because I think all such notices are likely to be ser-
viceable in a wide degree, by leading attention to our art, and stimu-
lating to activity its professors. The remarks are necessarily short —
the towns spoken of are few, nevertheless, if from the foot we may
judge the statue, they will serve as tolerably satisfactory data.

I may premise that a very excellent spirit seems every where ap-
parent. Ranges of straight brick boxes with holes cut out of them for
light and air, and dignified with the name of houses, no longer prevail.
If a farm labourer's residence be erec.'ted, the gables are adorned with
ornamental barge-boards, and the cliimnies are carried uji in such a
form as to give to the building something like architectural character.
The inhabitants of the larger towns are beginning to migrate to the
suburbs, leaving the former wholly as places of connnerce, and for them,
in consequence, small villa residences are arising in all directions.
These in many cases are excellent in design, — indeed it is said they
will not let if they be not at all events more ornamental than the houses
of business within the towns, a circumstance easily understood, and
which will uci'essarily iniluce the bestowal of thought 011 the subject,
anil an ultimate improvement.

In the neighbourhood of Manchester for example, at Broughton
Hill, and at Cheetham, there are several very elegant residences liuilt
from the designs of Messrs. Young and Westall, Mr. Aley, and Mr.
Atkinson: these are ciiietly in the Italian style, and show much taste
and skill. Mr. Atkinson has nearly conqilcted a very pleasing church
at Cheetham, named St. Luke's. It is in the style of the ])erpendicular
period of pointed architecture, and presents some details of more than
ordinary excellence. The tower and spire, wholly of stone as is the
rest of the exterior, are particularly worthy of notice, although they
would have been better if the richly crocketted spire had been more
lofty, — that it was not so, however, proceeded jirobably less from the
architect's will Ihaa from circumstances l^eyoml his cojitroul. A range

of detached, or rather perforated buttresses on each side of the building
produces a good eH'ect of light and shade. The interior is evidently
the result of careful study and has many points of novelty, so far as
regards modern churches. The east end is tastefully adorned with
canopied niches and panelled work in plaster ; and the centre of each
compartment of the gallery-front has a small canopied niche and figure
also in plaster. Perhaps the least elfective part of the church is the
roof, the tindjers and ribs of which are somewhat too small. The
reading desk consists siuqjly of a carved eagle on a stand, in the old
cathedral fashion, with a large Gothic chair for the nunister; while
the pulpit has around its |)edestal sculptured figures and is otherwise
decorated, shewing that Mr. Atkinson had a power of expenditure not
often permitted to architects in these days of mistaken economy. The
whole cost nevertheless is said to have been hardly 10,01)1)/.

In the town several works are in progress. The Athena"um built
under the directiini of Mr. Barry is nearly completed, and an Unitarian
chapel by the same architect, in Upper Brook -street, is quite so. This
latter edifice I did not see: according to an informant however, it is
in the early pointeil style of architecture, and quite worthy of Mr.
Barry's reputation.* In Mosely-street a large and lofty pile of buildings
is going on which pronuses to present a striking elevation. It is in
two stories, and although intended only for warehousing goods, ex-
hibits ranges of three-quarter columns at both extrenuties, and pilasters
in the intermediati- space, bearing continued entablatures. These
buildings have a peculiarity which I have not elsewhere observed.
The walls of the basement story are cased extei-nally with cast-iron
plates, with what particular intention however, did not appear to me
cpute ck'ar on a hasty inspection.

Vou will be glad to learn that the Architectural Society at Man-
chester are pursuing steadily their useful course. Whethnthe great
iuqji'ovement in matters of taste apparent in Manchester, is actually
the result of their operations or not, one may not venture to say, but
certain it is, they cannot fail to do much good by awakening public
attention to the importance and agreeableness of architecture as a fine
art, and assisting to develope the talents of the younger members of
the profession. That they are assisting in tliis latter purpose is per-
haps apparent in the fact that Mr. Edward Hall, to whom a medal of

* A notice of this Church is given in the October Number of our Journal.

— EniTOK,

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

427

the Royal Institute of Architects was justly awarded during the last
session, is one of their body. The promptitude and boldness with
which the Society came forward on the subject of public competitions
both in the case of St. George's Hall, Liverpool, and the Royal Ex-
change in London, seem to me to reflect upon them very great credit,
and to entitle them to the good will of the profession at large. One
bar to their advancement, il may be noticed, is the cost of house-rent,
which swallows up nearly the whole of their annual income, — a bar
unfortunately not confined to this Society alone, but which acts almost
as powerfully to lessen the usefulness of the histitute, and of the
Architectural Society of London, indeed of every literary and scientific
body not aided in this respect by government. Surely something
might be done to diminish this evil in the metropolis? If government
cannot, or will not assist in the object, several societies might by coali-
tion erect one suitable building of sufficient size for their purposes,
using allernakly such portions of it, as are not generally required by
each society oftener than once in the week. With regard to the In-
stitute and the Architectvnal Society, it is to be hoped that a long
time will not elapse before they merge into one powerfully elfective
body, as the whole cost of one establishment, or nearly so, woi\ld then
be available for the advancement of architecture, — either liy the pro-
secution of experiments, the publication of designs and proceedings,
or the foundation of a maintenance for a travelling student. This
however is slightly beyond oiu' present purpose.

At BiUMiNUHAM many projects are in agitation; several additional
churches are to be built, (but mostly of very small cost,) as well as
new Assize Coints, and otiier edifices for public business. Bishop
Ryder's church, built by i\Iessrs. Rickinan and Hussey, was conse-
craled in December last. It is constructed of red brick, (the dominant
material in Birmingham,) and stone', and the architects have cleverlv
adapted these materials to their purpose, by employing the late Tudor
style, or that which immediately preceded the entire abasement of
pointed architecture by Italian intermixture. The tower has at the
sides of it four turrets surnunnited by small cupolas similar to some at
Hampton Court Falace, which liuilding is an example of the style
adopted. Adjoining to the church is a " King Edward's Free-scliool,"
built by the same architects. There is a small Gothic church without
ranch pretension, recently built at Edgebaston ; and near it Horticul-
tural Gardens with greenhouses anil lodges have been formed. On
the opposite side of the town is Trinity church, a small stone etlitice
of the perpendicular period, erected several years ago, but of which I
do not remember to have seen any account. The interior is bare, but
the exterior is pleasing. Its principal feature is a lofty recessed porch
at the west end, and its chief defect the smallness of the mullions in
the openings for light, which being besides of wood, painted, give a
mean appearance to the whole of tlie windows. This over-slightness
in the details (as all nnist have observed), is no uncommon fault in
modern Gothic buildings. We do not pay the same attention to the
geometrical proportions and relationships of the parts in a building, as
was jiaid by the architects of the middle ages, — in fact we know' no-
thing about them, being contented to (opy examples and apply them
according to our own fancy without inquiring on what principles they
were originally produced. A close investigation of some of the best
specimens of middle-age architecture seems to lead to the belief that
a system of arrangement was ])ursne<l in the apportionment of the
various ])arts, of which we have at present no certain knowledge.
Wonderful fellows were those free-masons of old ! Inscrutable, un-
tiring. Even yet not fully nnderstood.

The pulpit and reading-desk ni the church above mentioned, are
])laced close against the east wall of the building, the comnuniion table
standing between them.

Several chinniies for engine houses have been erected latelv in the
suburbs of extraordinary height, in order to prevent an ill etiect which
otherwise is caused to the adjoining land by the fumes of certain ma-
terials. Some of them are fine pieces of construction. Near Dudley
many were observed to lie injvired by recent violent storms. Those
of square form had apparently suliered much more than those which
are circular on plan. I cannot leave Birmingham and Manchester
without remarking on the great improvement in design apparent there
in various pieces of ordinary iron-work and common fittings; the most
recently constructed street lamp-irons for example display foliage of
elegant form, and in many cases the frame-work of machinery is seen
to b(! treated in a very architectural and beautiful manner. In the
Town Hall at Birmingham some branches for lights, which have been
lately fixed to the side walls, are exceedingly elegant in design. Every
fine form disseminated in this way may be regarded as a goo<l seed
sown, and tends however slightly, to aid in the general improvement
of the public taste now beginning to be observable.

At WOKCESTER little seems to be doing at this moment. The

County Courts (with an Ionic hexastyle portico) by Mr. Day; a build-
ing for the Natural History Society, executed friun the designs of
Messrs. Phidian and Newy, at a cost of about 5000/., and a New
Meclvanics' Institution by Mr. Harvey Eginton, are among the most
recent erections.

The Cathedral built, if I noted rightly, of a red sandstone, (leasj
trustworthy of stones,) is fast decaying, and workmen are constantly
engaged in the task of restoration under the guidance of Mr. Eginton.
The stone at this moment employed in the restoration, comes it is
said, from Lord Mount Morris's estate of Arley, in Wales. For this
nobleman, I may mention en passant, Messrs. Varden, architects of
Worcester, are about to rebuild Arley Castle. It is intended to make
it a castellated edifice with moat and barbican, forming an important
pile of building. Part of it is to be begun immediately.

A great many new buildings for Banking Companies have been re-
cently constructetl in various parts of the country, and have afforded
opportunities for the exhibition of the skill of local architects. Two
have been erected at Gr.oncESTER ; one in Westgate-street by Mr.
Fulljames, and the other in Eastgate-street by Mr. Dank; the former
presents columns and (Mitablature on a basement, and is somewhat
ornate ; the other is an unpretending but pleasing Italian building with
large projecting cornice and consoles. In the neighbourhood of the
Spa, and Pump-room at Gloucester, many new private residences have
lately arisen with pretensions to architectural character, as well as a
small church by Mr. Rickman, and a free-school by Mr. Dauk. This
latter gentleman has also recently built some bonding warehouses on
Baker's Quay, whicli exhibit under rather difficult circumstances much
skill in construction. Their cost was about 6000/. The exterior of
the Cathedral lierc, with the exception of the centre tower, (which
with its perforated turrets at the angles, is one of the most elegant in
England,) is fast decaying. Active steps are unquestionably needed
in the organization of some comprehensive scheme for the repair and
maintenance of our ancient buildings. Why should we be behind
hand in this matter ? Are our neighbours the French always to take
the lead ?

At Bristol and Clifton, where there are many talentetl local pro-
fessors, architecture is making very satisfactory strides forwards. Two
of the most considerable and excellent of the new erections are, the
Red-Maids' School by Mr. Dyer, and the Asylum for the Blind by Mr.
Rickman. These buildings adjoin each other, are designed in the
pointed style of architecture, (one is a little later than the other), and
form a beautiful termination to Park-street. They are wholly of stone
externally, partly from Bath and partly from Hanham, a place about
five miles distant. The Red Maids' School, I was informed, cost about
13,0110/., the Asylum about 20,000/., including a chapel, the interior
of which is very charming. Tlie high pitched roofs of the Red Maids'
School are constructed of two queen-posts and collar-beam, ami are
rendered available as dormitories from one end of the building to the
other, — the collar-beam, ti feet 3 inches from the top of the tie-lieam,
which latter is the level of the floor, appearing in the iq)ar(m('uts and
dividing them, as if it were, into bays.

Near to these last-mentioned buildings a very large Roman Catholic
Chapel, wholly of stone, is in progress, beautifully siUiated on elevated
ground. The front or west-end tlisplays an hexastyle portico of large
proportions, and the sides, a i-ange of three-ciuarter columns, with at
the east-end two projections, north and south. Mr. Gootlridge of Bath
is tlie architect, 1 believe. In this same neighbourhood Mr. Dyer has
commenced a building, with large Corinthian portico, lor the Conser-
vative Club, and which promises to be of good ap])earance. At
Grenville Place a Wesleyan Chapel in the early pointed style hasjust
now been comjiletcd, from the able designs of Mr. Foster. It is con-
structed of the dark Hanham stone with Bath stone for the dressings ;
will accommodate 900 persons, and has schools beneath. The cost of
the whole was 3000'. The same architect is about to erect a church
on the Marquis of Bute's estate at CardilT, under her Majesty's C(un-
missioners. It will be built (of stone dug on the spot,) in the Anglo-
Norman style, to seat 2000 jiersons. The cost is not to exceed UOOO/.,
of which 3000/. is to be given by the Marquis himself. It appears that
37 designs were submitted in competition for this church, and that,
although Mr. Foster's drawings were selected for execution, they did
not in some one circumstance accord with the printed directions given
to architects. Tlie chief ju'emium was in consequence awarded to
Mr. Wyatt, for a design sent by him, and in proper accordance with
the instructions.

In the Cathedral at Bristol, which it may be stated, has been sadly
injured by party-colo\irings and barbarous interpolations, is a (-lever
Gothic monument, erected to Bishop Butler in lS3t by subscription.
Mr. S. F. Fri|qi, architect, was the designer of it; and he or one of
his name, has also superintended u very pleasing monument in the

428

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[November,

clmivli <i('S(. Mary RLHlcliffe, to Dr. Nutliaiiiel Bridges. This hitter
was put u|i by subscription in 1S35.

Chatterton's nionunient for whicli a ch'sign was obtained by comjie-
tition some time ago, is not yet (>rected. It will stand outside St.
Mary's Chnrch, near the north porch, the scene of the extraordinary,
lint, mis-spent labours of that child of song and sorrow. The church
of St. Mary Redclitfe, that

Maystrie of a human hand,

The pride of 13rystowe and the A^'esterne lande ;"

ft most excellent specimen of the architecture of the 15th century, — is
sadly marred as was formerly the case with most of our old buildings,
by the introduction of an organ screen of pseudo-classic design, con-
structed at a period when pointed architecture was not understood,
and therefore not properly appreciated. The present excellent
churcliwarden Mr. William Ringer, who has fortunately a correct
taste in these matters, has projiosed a plan for casing this eye-sore in
strict accordance with the style of the church; and 1 mention it here,
altho\igh jjerhaps not exactly connected with the object of the present
letter, with the hope that by drawing attention to the circumstance on
the ])art of other of the influential iidiabitants of Bristol, it may assist
liis praiseworthy purpose.

Among various matters in progress at Bristol, is a large Chapel for
the followers of Irving. It presents a well jjroportioned portico of
six colunnis, (from the Choragic monmnent of Lysicrates,) on a lofty
stylobate. It is constructed of stone from the designs of Mr. Pope,
but offers nothing beyond the portico calling for remark, the flank
walls and the interior being perfectly plain. An enormous hotel,
called the Great Western, has been lately built by the same architect:
liaving among other embellishments a range of 12 lofty Ionic columns.

The proposed Suspension Bridge over the Avon at Clifton is in a
state of ])rogress, the pier to receive the suspending chains on the
Clifton side, is nearly completed, and of that on the opposite rock
where much more preparation was necessary, the foundation is brought
up nearly to the level of the intended roadway. If happily completed,
and there is no reason to apprehend otherwise, it will form one of the
most noble moiuunents in England of modern skill, and will add leaves
even to the laurels of Brunei.

At the risk of telling an oft-told tale, I cannot avoid referring to the
charming little cottages at Bristol, known as Blaise Hamlet, Henbnry,
intended for charitable purposes. They were built as long ago as 1811,
by the late Mr. Nash, and are so remarkalile for picturesque beauty
that no architect should visit Bristol without seeing them. They are
ten in number, constructed of stone with tiled and thatched roofs, and
are enclosed so as to be cpiite cut oft' from the neighbourhood except-
ing through a lodge. If one wished to play at Arcadia, this is certainly
a spot that might be selected as the scene.

At Bath, where several important edifices are in progress, such as
"Queen's College," by Mr. Wilson, and a Scientific Ins'titution, I ob-
served nothing more (through want of time) than that the works on the
Great Western Railway are proceeding with rapidity. The pointed
style of architecture seems to have been adopted at this portion of the
line in designing the bridges and buildings.

The Church of St. Nicholas at Bath, built a few years ago by Mr.
Manners, is certainly a very successful modern (jothic building. The
spire is especially admirable, and all the details are liold and gooil.
The style is the early pointed, the Temple Church, London, being the
model in respect of the parts. Mr. Manners in his restorations
at the Abbey Church, where he was engaged two or three years ago,
used with success a colouring matter to render the new parts similar
in appearance to the old,— an example which in many cases might be
advantageously followed.

There is a new Market-house at Wells, built as I was told, about
two years since by Mr. Carver of Taunton. At tlu; Cathedral, repairs
are being made to the wood and lead work of the roof over the choir,
under the direction of Mr. Wainwright of Shepton Mallet. The stone
work of the exterior greatly requires attention.

Salisbury Cathedral is under repair in ])art. The magnificent
spire, known to be considerably out of ni>right, was plombcd a few
weeks ago, and found to be remaining stationary. Within-side the
Cathedral is a clever canopied altar-tomb, recently designed and ex-
ecuted in memory of the Rev. Thomas Burgess, U.D., Lord Bishop of
the diocese, by Mr. Osmond, a sculjjtor of Salisbury, who has paid
much attention successfully to Gothic architecture.

In concluding these surface remarks it may be well to observe,
although perhaps almost supererogatory, that it is not to be imagined
because nolhiug is here said of bad taste, lack of invention, or errors
in construction, and no real objections are taken to any of the various
buildings mentioned, that none of these things are to be observed, or

if observable, were quite out of the sight (d' the writer. Brieflv to
tell the truth, he went ont not to look for defects, but for appearances
of progress, and has been content succinctly to notice wdiat appeared
to iiim to be such, — welcoming the much, witliout complaining at the
moment that it was not more.

I am, .Sir, yonr's,

George Godwin, Jun.
Bromplon, Oclohcr 2, 1839.

BRITISH MUSEUM.— No. III.— ETRUSCAN SCULPTURES.
(From The Times.)

Among the votes of Parliament relating to the British Museum in
the present year, is one for 6,570/., part of which has been expended
in the purchase of a collection of Etruscan monumental sculptiu'es
i'ounil by Siguor U'Anastaci, in Tuscany, the ancient Etnu'ia. They
are at present placed in the grand central and in the Phigalian saloon,
and are well worthy of attention, as they enable us more distinctly to
trace, by being placed in conjunction with others within that ediKce,
step by step, the im]n-ovements in the art of sculpture, which perhaps
having had its origin in China, appears gradually, in proceeding
towards the west, to have been improving in its march, till it attained
the zenith of its perfection in the classic climes of Greece and Italy.
The origin of the jieople to whom these early works of humanity are
ascribed, has been matter of question among both the ancients and
moderns ; it is doubtful whether they were Pelasgians from Greece,
or Lydians from Asia, or a race indigenous to Italy. Herodotus says
they came from Lvdia, oppressed by an exuberance of popidation, and
were called Tyrennians, from Atys, their leader; Cicero, Strabo, and
Plutarch assert the same ; Count de Caylus gives them an Egyptian
origin, and Dempster and Bochart suppose tliat the original nucleus
was increased in numbers by emigrations of Pelasgic ccjionies from
Thessaly and Arcadia ; Maffai and Monboddo liold the same opinion ;
Humboldt thinks they were a connecting link between the Iberian and
Celtic race, and later authors have attributed their origin entirely to
the latter. The language which they spoke, it is certain, was dift'e-
rent from that of any of the nations mentioned. It has been attempted
to explain the inscriptions on these tombs by the aid of the Greek,
the Latin, and the Hebrew, but it has failed ; and lately by the Celtic ;
how far that has succeeded is doubtful. Niebur asserts that their
language had no aflinity with any known form of speech, and that this
is true is proved by its continuing to be spoken for many centuries
after their subjection by the Romans ; and it may be gathered from
Lucretius that books continued to be read and written in it, and Aulus
Gellius says it was familiar in the Augustan age. Their literature
presents tlie singular phenomenon of an alphabet almost entirely de-
ciphered, and a language unintelligible ; we think that whatever
attempt may be made to understand it, will fail without the discovery
of bilingual inscriptions, as are on the Rosetta stone; the attempts
that have been made without such help to read the inscriptions of
Persepolis and the arrow-headed language of the bricks of Babylon,
have been entirely unsuccessful.

The Etruscans, in their most prosperous period, inhabited Etruvia
Proper and the countries aliout the Po ; the Rluetian and other Aljiine
tribes were of the same origin as those who occupied the territory of
Venetia before the building of Petavivum. Niebur, in his history of
Rome, savs, the name "'I'uscan" and "Etruscan" was foreign to
them, as also that of Tyrennian, and that they called themselves
Rosillani. Till the introduction of Christianity they continued to
instruct the Roman youth in the science of divination, and haruspices
of Rome were of their race. The works of their hands still remain
the astonishment of posterity ; the waUs of their cities were formed
of Cyclopean masonry, and jierhaps the largest stone ever hewn by
human labour is the lintel of the Theatre of Fiesule.

The artists of antiquity availed themselves of everything capable
of modelling, carving, or casting, and accordingly several of the Etrus-
can monuments now placed in tlie Museum are made of clay liaked ;
sometimes different materials were intermixed in the composition for
the drapery or ornaments, which was called polychromic sculpture,
and those com])osed of a variety of marbles, polytUica. In the Nea-
politan Museum are some statues of the same material as those found
in the tombs, the size of life. Whence the Etruscans derived the
origin of their sculpture, (and tliat they had all sorts, Dempster, Gori,
an(r the Academy of Cortona have proved, Pliny also mentioning a
statue at Bolsena of 5U feet in height), is dillicnlt to determine ; the
greater part have but little allusion to Grecian st<n-y, and their style
is entirely ilifferent. Strabo has a passage in which he notices the
resemblaiice between the works of the Egyptians and the Etruscaus or

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429

Tyrrlienians ; luit tliiit, is iii) roason to suppose timt. tlic-re was any
communication of first principles between the two people. Lan/.i says
a distinction must be made between the Etruscan style and the work
of Etruscan artists ; the style was peculiar, and in use till a late period ;
it was called "Tuscanicus" by the Latins, and all works in the manner
of that school "Opera Tuscanica;" many of the subjects in the
Etruscan sculpture seem to have been executed when there was no
art in Greece, although the above author has endeavoured to prove
that they were copied from Grecian models, and there is a celebrated
gem in existence in the imperial collection at Vienna, which repre-
sents the seven (diiefs who conducted the expedition against Thebes,
a remarkable circumstance in Grecian story, a representation of which
equally early is not found among the Greeks themselves. The signs
of Etruscan art are, in some of the specimens, the forms undefined —
the hair and drapery arranged with studied regularity and stirtness,
and an attempt at effect in the execution. It may be remarked in the
figures of these tombs, that there is an overcharged and forward ac-
tion of part-s; the fingers are uplifted, the legs and arms arc placed in
affected positions ; there is nothing of that repose so visible in the
Egy(itian figures, nor the boldness of the jEgina marbles, but in all
the class an absence of expression, grace, and character. It is singular,
that when the art improved in Greece, they still kept the same de-
fects ; Winckleman is of o|)inion, that the hierarchy, who were gover-
nors as well as priests, were against improvement and innovation, and
followed only the ancient models, as was the custom of the Egyptians,
whose school remained the same from the days of Pharaoh to the
Roman era. That the Etruscans had practice to improve them, is
evident from t.Iie quantity of their works that have reached our times.
Pliny says, that on its final reduction as a Roman province, SSU years
before the Christian era, as many as 2,001) statues were taken from
Volsinium alone. There is one observation, liowever, to be made on
the style of the Etruscan scul]itures — that, however deficient they niay
be in beauty, in their proportions they are just; they neitlier offend
the eye by their extraordinary leanness, nor, as in the Chinese, by
their excessive obesity ; the same exactness is found in the propor-
tions of the small, as in the larger figures, which is not the case in
those of Selemmtum or jEgina, or always of Greece and Italy ; that
they possessed a decided taste for the arts, it is only necessary to
observe the differences that are made in the improvement of their
designs, and the means they found in that early age of rendering the
most stubborn materials subservient to their use.

Amour propre is born with man. In regariling the scul]itures of the
different nations of antiquity, the philosoplier may amuse himself in
contemplating its effects. The (Exclusive conceit of China conceives
that the origin of sculpture is the finality of its jierfeetion, and boasts
that within the bounds of the celestial em])ire it has neither retro-
graded nor advanced in a period of 3,00U years ; the faithful disciple
of Branudi regards with eipml admiration the hideous ])roportions of
his seven-armed statue, and thinks it cannot be surpassed ; tile Egyp-
tian, confident in the excellence of his original concejitions, and in the
immensity of tlieir execution, copied no one, and sought not to im-
prove; he thought his works would last to eternity ; the subtle Greek
flattered himself he could with impunity rol) the Egyptian ; he counted
on his contempt, or his indolence, and he supposed his robbery of
imitation would not be discovered, notwithstanding the coarseness of
the veil he threw over it, and he destroyed his earlier works to con-
ceal his ignorance, which accounts why so few of the earlier Grecian
statues have been found, Pausanias only mentioning a few, supersti-
tiously preserved as early gods. The Romans were equally ungrate-
ful, but they dared not act the same with the Greeks, whose wit would
have exposed the theft. The Etruscans, if they imitated the Egyp-
tians, as was the opinion of M. IJnonarotti, made no attempt to conceal
it, yet much of the style of their painting and sculpture is original; it
is true it never reached perfection, nor can the date of any p;irticular
monument be given, because no history of the nation remains. The
tomb of Porsenna, as is saitl by Strabo, may have owed its origin to
Egyptian commerce, but the variety displayed in all their earlier
monuments, is a proof of genius in the people which, liad not conquest
and the sacerdotal nature of their government prevented, might have
been found, in its ultimate development, to have equalled that of any
nation of antiquity.

The tombs whence these figures and monuments were brought were
in general excavated in the rock, and in a line of road immediately
leading to a city, as was the custom of all the ancients, and the out-
side, where it would admit being adorned, adorned with sculptured
ornaments; they were of that kind called Tnp/ios, and not like the
Celtic tumulus or mound ; in some of them it was the custom for the
priests to practise the art of dixination. Tlie interior of the (diam-
bers were so formed, that the ceilings were made to represent beams
of wood, and the walls of those belonging to fiVJnilies or individuals of

distinction were entirely covered with paintings ; these were divided
into compartments, and the subjects represented were rarely of a
sombre or funereal description; In many of them groups of figures
are represented as dancing with female musicians playing on flutes.
The dress of the men is commonly a cloak, thrown over the arms and
shoulders, without sandals or any other covering; the women have
light tunics and mantles floating in the air, both of which are bordered;
all the figures are crowned witli myrtle ; the men wear a necklace ot
b'ue beads, and in the back-gromid of the picture is generally seen a
table covered with painted vases, which contain the wine destined
for these votaries of Bacchus ; in others there are representations of
chariot races ; a number of cars, with three horses to each, ajjiiear
ready to start, and only wait because the steeds of all are not prepared.
In some wrestling matches are depicted, over which a figure on horse-
back presides armed with a lance. It is evident that the subjects on
the walls of these tombs are a true representation of the funereal
ceremonies of the Etruscans, and that they contemplated ileath but as
a gate through which mortalitv must pass to obtain a perpetual en-
joyment. The chests when opened were frequently found to contain,
beside the bones of the deceased, many favourite articles appertaining
to their lives, such as female ornaments of gold, parts of the armour
of a warrior, besides mirrors, cestusis, dice, table utensils, and pieces
of money of ancient fabric, as also vases of glass and terra cotta, some
beautifully painted, with many other articles possessed in life. The
chest on the rio-ht hand from the entrance of the grand Siiloon of the
Museum, was found in a chamber excavated in the rock on the road
from Tuscanella to Corneto, the ancient Tarquinia. The bas-relief in
front represents the head of Medusa, having on each side a dolphin.
A figure of a bov, probably the son of the deceased, stands beside ; he
is naked, excepting a sash aroimd the loins ; the cover is the recum-
bent effigy of ail aged matron. On the cover of the adjoining one is
sculptured the statue of a priest of Bacchus, which is shown by the
prefericulum he holds in his hand, and the ivy chaplet round his tem-
ples, as also by the sacred utensils hanging from (he wall on his side ;
the chest belonging to it presents in front a comliat of three warriors,
scarcely blocked out ; w ithin it were the remains of the botly and
some other articles. The next chest has a male figure on the top, and
an inscription, probablv bearing the name of the departed, engraved
on the upper cornice of the principal side ; the bas-relief on tins re-
presents two marine monsters opposite each other, and between them
is a disc intended for a Gorgon ; the marine figures are finished, but
the other is only sketched out. This is strange, but probably can be
accounted for, that it was the custom to prepare the receptacle tluring
life, and, not being completed, it was thought sacrilegious to touch it
after death : round the neck of this figure is a circular ornament, sur-
rounded with a riband in spirals which it is difficult more accurately
to define : it has also a ring in the hand, which it was also the custom
for women to hold. There is an inscription, which, according to the
theory of Lanzi, may be translated, " Vibius Sithicus or Sextus Vel-
thuriiis. Medosia; natus Tanaquilis filia-, vixit annos quinquaginta."
The next co\'er represents a warrior, as may be judged from the bas-
relief of a military car, guided by himself ; behind is a genius with
expanded wings, followed by three figures bearing palms in procession,
and a fourth who has in his arms an instrument resembling the crooked
Etruscan trumpet; there is a long inscription upon this coffin, the
whole of wdiich, according to the above antiquary, is unintelligible,
excepting the name " Arsio Velio," and the age. The adjoining
chest to this has a bas-relief of a bearded head, covered with the
Phrygian bonnet, the point of which falls over the forehead ; beside
are two marine monsters mounted by boys, symbolical of the passage
of the soul over the ocean to the Elysian fields. The statue on the
cover is that of a young female, which has evidently been painted
red, as also the tn-naments of a golden colour, a practice which seems
to have been general among tJie ancients ; on the head is a diadein,
and there can be no doubt "but the countenance is a portrait of the
deceased, who must have been handsome ; the dress is in an unfinished
state, as is the case with almost all the others. In the Phigalian saloon
is a chest by far the most magnificent of the whole collection; it is of
laro-er dimensions than any of the others, and is sculptured on all the
sides, which is unusual, and would seem to prove that it was intended
for some superior personage. At the head is represented a combat
of gladiators in honour of the deceased ; the bas-reliefs on the other
sides of the monument display the barbarous sacrifice of Iminmi vic-
tims, men, women, and children, who are liacked to death before the
altar, amidst the despair of their relatives and friends ; the whole is
masterly executed, the grouping of the figures is excellent ; the at-
tempt at flight of some, and the useless resistance of others, are boldly
delineated, and but that the finish is not equal, we (liiiik that this
sculpture is not surpassed by any of the splendid specimens of Gri'cian
art around ; this beautiful work has unfortunately been much injured,

430

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[NOVEMBKE,

and only a tew K'Kois iviiiaiii of an insrriptiun which probably con-
tainoil tliL" name of the deceiiseiL The next sarcophagus lias no bas-
relief of any kind, the cover is a figure of a priestess of Bacchus lying
supinelv on the chest ; she is dressed in the pomp of her sacred call-
ing, and ornaments of gokl decorate her i)erson. A fawn, sacred to
tills god, is lying beside her ; in her right hand is a vase with handles,
ami a thyrsus in the left. The style of this figure varies from that of
all (ho otliers.

The next chest is of terra cotta ; the statue which forms the lid of
it represents a young female dressed as the old matron before de-
scribed, but it is to be remarked of this figure the singular position of
the legs; the left is bent under the other, and is seen at the back of
the statue ; the whole is coarsely finished, except the face, which is
more carefully formed. The adjoining one is also a sarcophagus of
terracotta, and has on it two figures of dolphins in relief; the cover
is a young woman, whose head is encircled by a garland, reposing
witli the right hand under the neck, while the other is extended, on
the little finger of which is a ring; the leg is in the same awkward
position as the one before iiientioned.

The last we have to describe is a magnificent tomb, which bears in
front two winged genii, sculptured ; in the hand of one is a torch ;
the other bears military trappings, and in the centre are ornainenfs of
leaves ; at the sides are heads of animals, in various forms, and at the
back are other genii and ornaments. The co\ er is of a cubical form,
terminating at the cornice with tiles and artificial iflasks, surrounded
with festoons ; in the middle of the ridge of Ihe roof are two serpents
tied in ii knot. At the extremities are sphynxes with expanded
wings. The whole is sculptured in peperino stone, which is carefully
covered over with a coating of lime stucco, and coloured in red, black,
white, and green; on the front is an inscription, and the same is de-
lineated in colours on the lid.

ST. KATHARINE'S DOCKS.
EiVGiNEEK, Thomas Telfohd, C. E.

SPECmCATION OF ENTRANCE LOCK AND CoiTER DAM.

The lock which is to be enclosed from Ihe river by a coffer dam during
/he execution of the work, is to be placed on the situaUon shewn on the
plan, and its dimensions are to be as follows, (there are to be three
pairs of gaits.)

The upper sides of the pointing cills for the lower or river and
middle gates are to be 10 feet below low water mark of a spring tide,
and the pointing cills for tlie upper gates vire to be laid (> feet below" low
water-mark of a spring tide, the level of w hich is to be reckoned from
Trinity datum, which tides is calculated to rise IS feet from low to
high water ; the coping of the lock is to be G feet (i inches above the
level of high water, so that from the cills of the lower or middle gates
to the top of the coping the dej)tli will be 3-1 feet 0 inches, and the
upper gates 30 feet 6 inches. The length between the lower and
upper gates is to be 175 feet; the width of the lock is to be 45 feet
at top, the platforms for the gates one foot lower than the tops of the
jiointing cills, and inverts for a caisson at each end of the gates are to
be on the same level.

The earth is to be excavated down to the surface of the clay of a
suflicient length and breadth to afford space for constructing the lock
and its appendages, and for walls for an iron sw ivcl bridge, and also
for 5 feet in thickness of puddle at the back of all the walls, and the
earth that is excavated to be removed by the contractor to some place
to be found by him, excepting such portions as the resident engineer
shall direct to be selected and preserved for puddle. All the space
between the before mentioned clay and the bottom of the lock, inverts,
platforms, chamber walls, counterforts, capstan funnels, bridge walls,
and every part of the brickwork and masonry to be carefully filled up
with proper puddle or good clay, as shall be directed by the resident
engineer.

The platforms for the gates' recesses and river wings, are to have
bearing jdlcs of beech or elm timber, and driven as shewn on the plan
to be in lengths of 12 feet, and to average \) inches diameter in the
middle, each pile is to be shod with a wrought iron shoe of not less
than iU lbs. weight, — they are also to have a wrought iron circular
hoop 3 inches broad and 1 inch thick fitted to their heads, to prevent
them from splitting while driving. A row of sheeting piles grooved
and tongued must be driven under the pointing cills to each platform,
the timber for which is to be beech or elm in lengths of 12 feet and 9
inches thick, they are to be shod with strong plate-iron shoes, and
driven close to each other so as to be impervious to water. Similar
rows of sheeting piles are to be driven under each groove for a caisson,
and also at the toe of each wing wall at each end of tbe look, the latter

are to be driven in a slanting direction to corrcsjiund with the batter
of the walls as represented in the drawing, and are to be '.) inches
thick by about 12 feet in length; the heads are to be cut off straight
and at a proper level, and at the top of each row luider the pointing
cills and grooves for the caisson a waling of fir timber is to be placed
on each side 12 inches broad by G inches thick, these walings are to
be secured to the piles by screwed bolts with nuts and plates, the iron
for the liolls to be 1 inch diameter, and those for the slanting piles to
be li inch, and the distance between each bolt is not to exceed 2 feet,
the heads of the bearing piles, under each platform and pier are to be
cut ofl' at a level agreeably to the drawing, and u|)on them cills of fir
timber 12 inches square are to be placed and securely sjiiked down to
the piles with one spike to each bearing pile, the s|)aces between
these pile heads, and cills are to be solidly filled and well rammed with
good tough clay and gravel, mixed in ;i proportion of .ird gravel to Jrds
clay. Fir planking G inches thick laid close is to be spiked down to these
cills with one spike in each plank upon each sleeper, the spikes for
which are to be 12 inches long, those for the cills to be from 20 to 24
inches, of J square iron, the latter to have jagged points ; upon these
Hoors of timber are to be constructed the platforms or aprons for the
gates, the recess walls, and the piers for the swivel bridge. The
ground upon which the inverted arches for the chamber and wings is
to be placed must be prepared to a proper form agreeably to the
drawing. The idatforins cu- aprons of the gates are to be of Bramley
stone in Yorkshire, or Stoiiadge stone in Derbyshire, or Dundee, Mill-
field, or Loker stone Scotland (all of the l.est quality, the contractor
is to be at liberty to jn'opose any other f[uarries for the consideration
of the directors) and laid in regular courses, and radiated so as to
form an inverted flat arch on the lower side of the cills ; these stones
are to be 3 feet '.t inches in depth from the top of the outer platform,
and those innler the sectors for the gates are to be 2 feet 'J inches as
shewn by the longitudinal section; these platforms are to extend under
the recess walls. The masonry is to be solidly bedded in Pozalano
mortar mixed in the following proportions, viz. : two parts Dcu'king
or Merstham liine powiler, one part of Pozalana and two parts clean
sharp river sand, the lime and Pozalana to be ground together in a dry
state. None of the courses are to be less than 15 inches thick on the
face, and no stone to be less than 3 feet long, the beds to be correctly
dressed to the radius, and the end joints made truly scpiare froui the
face, the face of the stone to be neatly droved romid the edges and
face with a chisel 2 inches in breadth, and the same on the beds and
end joints, and neatly punched between the said chisel drafts. The
inverted arch of the lock is to be elliptical, and of brickwork 2 feet 3
inches thick at the bottom, and increasing upwards as shewn by the
transverse section, with stone quoins at every termination. The bricks
to be well burnt, hard sound grey stocks laiil flush in mortar, mixed in
the pro|iortions — I part Dorking or ilerstham lime pow-iler, and 2 parts
clean sharp river sand. The chamber and recess walls, and also the
wing walls are to be of brickwork, built of similar bricks exceiit the
facing for 9 inches inwards, w hich is to be of well burnt sound niarhn
liaviers, the courses of bricks to be laid at riglit angles from the face
of the walls, miless where otherwise shewn in the section, they are all
to be laid flush in mortar as above described. Two courses of bond
stone 1 foot 3 inches thick on the face is to be built in the chamber
walls of the lock, as shewn in the transverse section; the beds to be
radiated and laid at right angles from the face of the walls ; the front
is to be of the before-mentioned stone, laid header and stretcher alter-
nately, the headers not le^■s than 3 feet long on the face, by at least 4
feet on the bed, the stretchers not to be less than 44 feet long on the
face, by 2^ feet on the bed ; the stones to be well dressed as formerly
described, and laid flush in mortar ; these stones to cover the wdiole
breadth of the walls and comiterforts. The stones for the counterforts
to bond at least 15 inches into the main wall. The hollow^ quoins for
the round posts of the gates are to be of the before-mentioned stone.
No stone to be less than lb inches thick, or to answer six courses of
bricks, and not less than G feet long by 44 feet on the bed, an average
from the whole length of each stone, they are to be laid flush ami
solidly bedded in Pozalana mortar; the face for the round posts to
rest against is to be very correctly and very neatly dressed w itli a
chisel, so as to make a water-tight joint betwixt the wood and the
stone, the face of the other part to be dressed similar to that of the
apron, the beds and end joints are to be truly workeil throughout, so
that the masonry maybe perfectly solid and impervious to water. The
quoins at the recesses for the gates are to be of stone of a similar
(piality to that for the hollow quoins ; no stone to be less than 15 inches
thick on the face, and 4 feet long by not less than 2 feet G inches on
the bed, ami to be as well dressed as the hollow quoins.

A groove for the caisson is to be formed across the bottom, and up
the side walls at each end of the lock as represented in the draw iug.
On the outiside of these grooves, between the wing walls at each es^

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

431

PLAN OF COFFER DAM.

Figure 1, shewing the third tier of Braces and part of the Locl<.

IIS/^

z.ar

tremity of the lock, there is to be a pUitforra of well squared stone 2
feet ti inches in depth, also the aforesaid grooves and the lock
chambers with quoin stones 3 feet long by 2 feet in breadth. Two
courses of bond stone are to be built in tlie wing walls and counter-
forts, 15 inches thick agreeably to the drawing, the beds to be at right
angles from the face of the wall, the curved part of the river wings,
and also of the wings into the entrance basin, are to be faced with
stone for 20 feet in height, 10 feet in length, and 'A feet in breadth on
the bed, laid header and stretcher alternately, the heads not to be less
than 2i feet long on the face, by at least 4 feet on the bed, the
stretcliers not to be less than 4-J feet long on the face, by at least 2 feet
on the bed, the face to be well dressed, and the beds and joints cor-
rectly worked, and laid flush in mortar; the backing to be of the same
sort of stone, laid flush in mortar, to be in lengths from 3 to 5 feet, and
iu breadths suitab e to the thickness of the walls, and of the height of the
front courses ; the stones fur the counterforts are to bond into the wall
at least 15 inches, and one stune only is to be used in each counter-
fort.

Above the top of the inverted arches, the chamber walls are to be
built concave, or of a curvilinear form in its vertical direction in the
iront — they are to be 5 feet 3 inches at the level of the lower side of
the coping, and the back of the walls being perpendicular, will deter-

i

mine the thickness downwards ; there are to be counterforts as shown
in the plan and section, tliey are to be founded at li feet above the
lowest part of the underside of the inverted arch, and to be carried to
within 4 feet 6 inches of the top of the coping, and from the said 4
feet t) inches to diminish to nothing at tlie lower side of the coping,
all agreeably to the plans and sections.

The chambers, recesses, and wing walls of the lock are to be coped
with the before-mentioned stone 18 inches thick and 4 feet on the bed,
and no stone to be less than 4 feet long on the face, but as much larger
as can be got, the face of the stones to be well and neatly dresseil, and
the upper front edge to be rounded 3 inches, and the back is to be
regularly jointed to 4 feet in breadth, the end joints to be made square
throughout, and the bottom beds to be solidly laid on the brickwork in
good mortar; there iire to be two cast iron dowels 0 inches long and
i: inches square in each joint, run in with Farker's cement.

A puddle of clay and gravel mixed is to be formed at the back of
the walls and counterforts 5 feet thick, to be brought up during the
progress of building the walls from the ground to 3 feet above high
water-mark of a s|)ring tide, this puddle is to be backed up with
earth, and laid in layers as before mentioned, to make firm and solid
at the back of the walls and on the excavated ground.

2 0

432

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[November,

Figure 2, shewing the lower tier of Braces and part of Lock.

Speci^cation of the coffer dam for (he entrance loch; to he 1^1 feet long,
and its form as reprtstnttd in the drawings.

The principal dam to be made of two rows of piles at a distance of
6 feet apart, of Memel or Dantzic timber 12 inches square, also an
outer row of piles of the same timber 12 inches square at 8i feet from
the main dam. An inner row to be driven to strengthen the foot of the
main dam at 5 feet from it, of tir timber 12 inches square, the piles to
be driven 8 feet below the lowest part of the lock. All the piles to
be perfectly straight and parallel on two sides, and shod with wrought
iron shoes not less than 15 lbs. each, strong iron hoops also to the
heads, the iron 4 inches broad by 1 inch; the guage piles to be driven
opposite each other, at the distance of 10 feet apart, and their heads
when driven to be 4 feet above high water-mark of an 18 feet tide ;
when they are driven to the proper depth, two rows of temporary
double walings 12 inches by 6 inches to be bolted to them, the upper
one to be one foot above high water-mark, and the other as low as the
tide will admit, allowing a space of not less than 12 inches wide be-
tween the wale piece?, for the piles to till up the bays between the
guage piles, the bolts to be H inch square iron, 3 feet long in the
clear, and to pass tlirough the walings and the piles, and also two
pieces of timber (J inches thick to be placed under the head and nut
of each bolt ; the remainder of the piles to fill up the bays are to be

driven, and each bay keyed in with wedge piles to make the dam water
tight. When all the piles are driven, the temporary walings to be
taken oft, the jonits between the piles of the outer row of the main
dam to be caulked where necessary with tarred oakum, 3 rows of
permanent single walings are then to be put on, as shewn on the draw-
ings, ol timber 12 inches by 6 inches, and in lengths not less than 20
feet, the two rows of piles to be tied together with screwed bolts and
nuts with plates, to pass through the walings and piles, and also the two
pieces of timber, the bolts to be of the best scrap iron 2 inches dia-
meter and proper lengths, the distance between each bolt at the
bottom tier is not to exceed 5 feet, and the middle tier 7 feet, and
the top 10 feet. The dam is then to be tilled with good clay to the
level of 3 feet above the bottom tier of the bolts, and from thence to
3 feet above high water of a spring tide, with bricks laid in sand.*
The guage piles lor the outer rows to be driven 10 feet apart, and the
heads when driven to be G feet above low water-mark of spring tide,
two rows of temporary w alings 12 by 6 to be bolted to the guage piles

(here appears licre to be some discrepancy botween the specification and
tlio drauings, tlie latter shuw the dam to be filled in widi claj up to the
level ol high water-mark, vhich we imagine was the way it waseiecuted,
then the bricks were laid in sand to the height of 3 feet above the clay. —
Editor.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

433

Figure 3, Transverse Section of Coffer Dam and part of ihc Lock.

! '' '■''./<;s •v,>-^-ii-:vVMi^/:h

r^;i/;^;W-/^>^*y///^vJ^'i{/i)*'

^^^ iii'-'ir^^i3'^iii-'r^'*^ii'^^^^

^0 S 0

M I I n I I I I '

10

20

30

40 SOy.. ^

Referevee to Engravings, similar letters refer to similar parts of Coffer Dam. — P, piles. W, wales. T, iron ties. — B, braces. C, clay puddle R, the river.
H, Trinity high «'ater-mark. L, ditto, low water-mark 18 feet below. .S, surface of river hank, dredged 12 feet below low water-mark. bl. cl., substratum
of blue clay. The inner row of piles to coffer dam are cut oil' level with t.pl, the timber platlorm and form sh^'et piling to the latter. J, jetty projected 70
feet into the river for loailing the bargs with the excavation of the locks and dock.

Lode. — pi, platform of masonry, gr, groove lor caisoon. M. masimry. S, pointed sill of gates. Q, quoin to inner post of lock gates. P. R, rows of
piles 12 feet long and Si inches in diameter, upon the top are spiked heads or cross sills 12 by 12 inches, upon which is laid 6 inch planking. Between the
he ds and cross sills is filled in with rubble. S.p, sheet piling at the toe of the wing walls. i,ar, and B, invert to lock chamber oi brickwork, b.st, bond
stones 15 inches thick. C, stone coping 18 inches thick.

c, I, centre line of lock and coffer dam.

FORM OF SHOES.
Figure 4, for Giiage Piles, Figures 5 and 6, for Bay Piles.

TIE BOLT FOR COFFER DAM.

Fig. 7, Plan of Head.

Fig. 8, Bolt.

Fig. 9, Plan of Nut.

Scale one inch to the foot.

_.7.._.-.5.

— 1

/\

1

_

Scale one inch to the foot,
the same as to the main dam, leaving sufficient space between the
piles to fill up the bays the same as above, the temporary waliiigs
are then to be removed, and one of 12 inches square to be put on, as
shewn by the drawing, and bolted, as above, so as to secure the piles to
the main dam, the bolts not to exceed the distance of 5 feet apart,
and every second bolt to pass through the two rows of main dam piles
and waiings, this dam is then to be tilled in with clay as above ; the
inner row of piles, at the dist;ince of .5 feet from the main dam to
have a double waling 12 by G inches bolted within one foot of the top,
and to be firmly braced from the inside, and the top part of the dam
must be tied to the shore with chains to prevent it going outwards at
low vi-ater.

Along the western side of the present lock or gut which passes
along the eastern side of the entrance lock, there is to be a coffer dam
14U feet in length, with returns at each extremity, to consist of the
same materials as the middle row of the main coffer dam to the en-
trance lock as directed by the engineer. The timber, iron, clay, bricks,
and all other materials for the dams to be found by the contractor, who
is also to find all pile-engines, steam-engines, stages, &c., and to the
satisfaction of the engineer. A circular trunk 3 feet diameter with
sluices, for letting the tide flow in ;ind out, are to be placed through the
dam. The mud, gravel, and other matter, now upon the space where
the coffre dam is to be constructed, is to be removed by the contractor
to the level of 12 feet below low water-mark of a spring tide, and in
an uniform inclination to the lowest part of the bed of the river, oppo-
site the said cotfre dam.

( To he coiilinued.)

2 0 2

434

THE Cn IL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[November,

ANCIENT STATUES.

On the difftrent JMaleriah employed by the ^indents for Slaliies, avd on
Hie J'aruhes of Iheir Marbles. Translated from the French of Itie
Count de Clatrac, Knight of various Orders, Kttper of tlie First Di-
vision of the Royal Museum of Antiquities in the Louvre

MARBLES OR STONES MENTIONED IN ANCIENT AUTHORS.

(Continued from page 369.^

The ancients included under the name of Marmor, marble, derived
from the Greek marmaron, signifying splendour and brilliance, all
stones, more or less hard, susceptible of a fine polish, and fit for sculp-
ture or architectural decoration, such as marble, alabaster, porphyry,
granite and other stones, which are however of very different natures.
As it is not within our province to enumerate all the mineralogical
characters, we shall be contented with pointing out to amateurs how
they may by mere inspection distinguish the kinds of these stones.

P01.PHYKY, the name of which shows that the stones to which this
name was first given were of a purple or deep red amaranth tinge, is
very hard and cannot be scratched with iron; it is cold to the touch
like marble, which again is more so than stone or plaster. It is not
affected by nitric acid, gives fire to steel, and is interspersed with
clear angular specks, in a paste or cement, generally of a uniform
deep colour, and which, serving as a ground to them, determines that
of the porphyry.

Gkamtii, almost as hard as porphyry, and resisting acids, is com-
posed of larger or smaller grains, of irregular forms often rounded,
of different natures, and frequently agg omerated one with another
without any intermediate, and of which a portion presents a crystalline
laminated appearance, different from the specks in porphyry.

Makble which effervesces with acids, is scratcheil by iron, and
rare y gives out s;iarks to steel; its texture, not so close as that of
porphyry or granite, is unmixed with stone of other kinds. It is only
translucent in very thin leaves, and is often distinguished by the variety
of its shades, and by their irregularity. Its fracture is brilliant, and
often in white marble it is sacc/uirme, or like loaf sugar.

Alabaster has often a great resemblance to marble, for which it
may be mistaken; however true oriental or calcareous alabaster, from
whatever country it may come, is harder than white marble ; the
scratch is translucent even in great masses, its fracture is crystalline.
Whether white or coloured, it shows undulations, festoons and clouds
more connected and regular than those of marble. — Gypseous ala-
baster, like that of Volterra, is very soft and may be scratched with
the nail; is of a milk white colour, transparent, and does not effer-
vesce with nitric acids.

Breccia is composed of smaller or larger angular fragments of
marl)Ies or hard stones, united together by a cement forming veins.
Brocateli.e are breccias, the spots of whch resemble the stutls called
brocades, they cften contain shells. — Pudding stones differ from
breccias, by being composed of rounded fragments, either of marble
or hard stones. They are often silicious pebbles of different kinds
united by a cement of the same kind. — The Lumacelle are formed of
masses of shells. — Shelly Marbles, such as the brocatelle, only show
them scattered about. — Madrepore Marbles contain the remains of
madrepores — .Onion Marbles are of a dirty white with veins and
waves of greenish chalk. These bands depend much on the way in
which the marbles are sawed or split ; they are said to be sawed
in grain, when they are sawed the way of the bands or layers, and in
counter gram, when sawed perpendicularly or obliquely to these un-
dulations. In marbles with rays or large flakes, the grain is so diffe-
rent from the counter-grain, that they seem quite a different species.

The want of precision with which ancient authors describe marbles
and stones, prevents me from distinguishing them often in works of
art. For easier reference we shall arrange them according to the
colours supposed to belong to them, but we must confess that this
method is liable to many mistakes.

white marbles.

' — Ivory White, doubtless very compact. — Bosphorus, greyish white.
— Megak A CoNCHiTE, from near the Amp hialian promontory, white, soft,
and mixed with shells. Statues it seems were made of it.- — Coralitic,
fouud perhaps in Phrygia, near the river Coralius, dead ivory white ;
the pieces of it worked did not exceed two cubits (about three feetj,
it seems that it was called also Hangarius lapis, Sangarian stone, from
a river in Phrygia. — Ephesian, very white, used by Pyxodorus, 012
years before Christ. — Mount Hymettus, near Athens, a greyish
white ; it was celebrated in the time of Xenophon ; the orator Lucius
Crassus was the first Roman, who, in the year of Rome 6Ii'2 (92 years
before Christ), decorated his house on the Palatine Mount with six

columns of this marble, twelve feet high, which caused it to be named
the Palatine Venus, by M. Brutus. — Lesbian, of a yellowish white ;
there was also black. Pliny B. 30, ch. 5, believes that from the
quarries of Lesbos were extracted the first variegated marbles ; he
says that Menander, who treated with great care on every thing re-
lating to the different marbles, is the first author who speaks of
variegated marbles, and that he says little about them. — LuNi, of a
white approaching blue, and of a very fine grain ; the quarries near
Carrara were discovered about the time of Julius Caesar, and com-
peted with those of Paros and Mount Penteles.* — Mylassa, in Caria,
a very fine white. — Onyx, or Onychite, found in Cappadocia, in the
time of Mark Antony, appears to have been a species of oriental ala-
baster, nearly resembling phengite. — Parian, from the Cyclades, a
white marble, most celebrated among the ancients. Herodotus men-
tions it, and appears to be the Lygdinos of Anacreon; it was called
lychnile, because the quarries were worked by lamp light ; it is per-
haps also the stone of Marpessus, celebrated by Virgil. — Pentelican,
extracted from Mount Penteles, near Athens (used by Byzes 600 years
before Christ), white, much esteemed ; however it is formed of layers
and striae, sometimes earthy, and injured by exposure to the air. Pliny
does not mention it. It seems that the marble of Mount Phelleus, in
Attica, was of the same kind. — Phengite, found in Cappadocia in the
time of Nero. It seems to have been a white alabaster, veined with
yellow, and almost as transparent as specular stone. From a passage
in Suetonius in the life of Nero, we are led to believe that phengite
was placed on the walls and used as a kind of looking glass. Temples
were made of this stone, into which light entered through the walls. —
PoROS, so named from its lightness and porosity, it resembled Parian
marble. The temple of Delphi and that of Jui)iter at Olympius were
of this marble. Paros and Poros are the only Greek marbles men-
tioned by Herodotus. — Synnadic, from Synnas or Docimium, in Phry-
gia ; it was named also Phrygian or Mygdonian marble ; the white
resembled alabaster or alabastrite ; it was much esteemed. There
was also white and purple ; perhaps it was purple breccia. — Thasian,
white, of a yellow tinge, like that of Lesbos ; it was used in sculpture.
— Tyrian, or Libanian, very white.

yellow marbles.

Alabastrite, a city in Egypt between Antinopolis and Cynopolis,
took its name from the great quantity of this marble found there. It
was yellowish white, veined, and of a honey colour. It was at first,
says Pliny, named Onyx ; it was our calcareous oriental alabaster. It
was used for statues, columns and vases for perfumes,t named alabas-
tra, from their being without handles flabe), and whence the name was
given to the stone. Vases of this fine material are often found in
tombs, but there are also very small vases of true onyx or sardony. —
Corinthian, yellow. — Jerusalem. Near this city, in the time of
Justinian, was found a marble said to be of a flame colour, no doubt
bright yellow red, a kind of rosso antico, or antique red. — Mace-
donian. It seems to be our gialloantico or antique yellow. — -Melos or
Acythos, yellow. — Numidian, of a bright red and yellow. It seems
that in the time of Seneca and Pliny, it was endeavoured to imitate
this nuirble by incrustations, or by painting other marbles. — Schistos,
yellow Spanish marble, and which probably like schist, separated into
leaves.

black marbles.

Alabanda or Miletos, in Caria, black of a purple hue. — of LucUL-
Lus, a very fine black, brought to Rome by L. Lucullus Scaurus de-
corated the atrium of his house with 3.>3 columns of this marble, 38
feet high. — Lydian. Touchstone was called Lydian marble or stone ;
it was also called Basanile, from a Greek vs^ord signifying to touch ;
this stone is not a marble but a basalt.^

red marbles.

Rosso antico or antique red, is not easily recognised among the
descriptions of marbles given by ancient authors, it was perhaps that
of Lydia. — A Lybian marble was red and white.jj

green marbles.

Augustus, wavy and spotted green, perhaps the sea or Egyptian
green. — Cauystus, extracted from Mount Ocha, near the city of Euboea.
It was green or mixed with that colour, and probably green cipoUno.

* V. also under the head of antique marbles. — [Note of Translator.]

t Some are to be seen in the Egyptian department of the British Museum.
— [Note of Translator.]

J Lesbian marlile, accoriling to Pliny, was also black, Tenarian marble
was a greenish black. — [Note of Translator.]

§ Red mai-ble was found at Jerusalem. — [Note of Translator.]

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

435

Mamurra was the first Roman, who, in the time of Julius Cfesar, used
cohimns of this marble. — Emerald. It seems tliat the emeralds or
tmaragdcs, of which the ancients made statues and columns were only
green fluor spar, just as the yellow fluor spar passed for topaz, it
might even have been only coloured glass. It is known that the an-
cients were very skilful in the art of making glass, and that they even
employed it in large columns, such as those with which Scaurus de
corated his theatre. — Taygetes, a mountain of Laconia ; it was called
also Lacedemonian marble. It was green, according to what authors
says of it, it has more relation to pear coloured green* than to verde
antique; it was perhaps the prasinum. It was worked in the time of
Strabo. — Tenakik, in Laconia. According to the same author it was
used later than that of Taygetes, and seems to have been a dark green
nearly black. — Tiberius, discovered in the reign of that emperor. It
was green, with dispersed and mixed streaks, resembling the marble
of Augustus. — ThessalonicaN seems to have been green, and is ap-
parently our verde antique.t

variegated marbles.
Mount Atrax, on the Peneus, in Thessaly. It appears to have
been of several colours, among others white and black ; of a pear
coloured green. It was used in the church of Santa Sophia. — Celtic,
white, veined with black. — Chiax, Theophrastes is the first author
who speaks of it ; it was black, shaded with several coluurs. — Jassos,
a. Carian island, veined with red and white, tending to yellow ; it was
iramed also Car/cm marb'e. — Proconessus, one of the Sporades islands
in the sea of Marmara, which derives its name from the great quantity
of marbles (Marmora) found in its islands. This marble was also
named Cycican marble, because it was much used there. A fine
white, veined with black, and must have been of the kind called grand
antique. It was much esteemed. The palace of Ma\isolus, at Hali-
carnassus, built of bricks, was covered with this marble. — Rhodian,
with golden or pyritic spots. It was perhaps a kind o{ portor. — Of
Lysimachus seems to have resembled the preceding.^

— Alba NO.

marbles of unknown colour.
Of Mount Cybele, in Phrygia. — Egina. — Gabi.e.-

* Green marble of this kind was also found at Mount Atrax. — [Note of
Translator.]

t Purple Marble. — The marble of Alabanda was a purple black. Grey
Marble. — Marble of tliis colour was found at Lesbos. — [Note of Translator.]

X There was Synnadic marble of white and purple. — [Note of Translator.]

Heraclea in Caria. — IIieroi'OLis. This was perhaps a porphyry or
granite as well as the Memphis stone. — Miletus.- — MoLOSSi, in Epinis,
veined with different colours. — Scyros. The same. — Syracusan.
It was wrought from the lalomia, which were quarries before Diony-
sius converted them.into prisons. It seems that this stone contained
casts of fishes. — Tauromenian', in Sicily, of several colours. — Of Tiber
or Tivoli. — Traguriu.m or Salone in Dalmatia.

BASALTS, granites, PORPHYRIES, &C.

Basalt.^ — According to some authors, the name of this sfjone ought
to be barsalt, from a Hebrew word, signifying iron, of which it has
the colour and the hardness. It has very small and often microscopic
grains, and sometimes has the appearance of a fine green bronze.
According to Pliny, this stone was brought from Arabia and Ethiopia;
Pausanias says that the statues of the Nile were made of basalt, be-
cause this river comes from Ethiophia. There was also a porphyry
which the ancients might have mistaken for basalt.* LeucostiCTOs
or Leptosephos, porphyry in which white prevailed. It was brought
from Arabia and the Thebaid. Ophite or Serpentine. The first
name was given by the ancients to green porphyries, on account of
their colour and their spots, which are like the skin of some serpents
(nphis). It was only used in vases and columns. The ophite of
Eltphantina was called Tepliria, because its colour was ashy (tephra,
ashesj. There was some almost black, others with white spot.s.
Small columns only were made of it. Much ophite is found in the
paved road from Rome to Ostia. Psaron, Lycian porphyry, was so
named on account of its spots resembling those of the sturgeon (psarj.
Sye.nite, rose porphyry, named Pyrrliopceale, on account of its colour
(pyr, fire , poihlos, varied). It was named also Psaronwn. Theban
Porphyry was black with yellow spots. Obsidian, volcanic glass or
stone, was so named because in the time of Augustus, it was found by
a certain Obsidius, who made of it a statue of that emperor. Obsidian
is very hard aud black, and is translucent in small pieces or in sheets;
it is then of a brown black. It was used, according to Pliny, to
imitate precious stones, and to work the harder ones. No monuments
made of this volcanic stone remain.

(The next section will contain an alphabetical list of all the antique
stones, as rosso, iiero, rerd, giallo antico, &c., with explanations of all
the Italian terms.)

* They also called touchstone a marble. — [Note of Translator.]

CURTISS PATENT RAILWAY IMPROVEMENTS.

Hydrostatic Jack.
Figure I. — Elevation and .Section.

Figure 3.— End View.

Figure 2. — Ground Pian and Section.

436

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[November,

CURTIS'S PATENT RAILWAY IMPROVEMENTS.

Hydrostatic Jack.

The machinery or apparatus consists of a machine to place or re-
place an engine or carriage upon the rail ; this nAchine is an adap-
tation of the hyilraulic press for the purpose of a lifting jack.

Figure 1 is a side view, one half is shown in section. Figure 2 a
plan partly shown in section, and Figure 3 an end view partly sho%vn
in section ; similar letters refer to similar parts of the machine in
each figure, and the description refers to each figure so far as the
parts are shown in each. A, is the end rail of the framing of an
engine or carriage which may be required to be placed upon the rails.
B, two cylinders or tubes of. wrought iron or other metal, furnished
with stuffing boxes and leathers in the manner usually employed in
hydraulic presses ; rams or ijistons C, C, work in these tubes in the
usual way, and the upper ends of the rams are provided with notched
ends or otherwise as may be found convenient. E is a force pump
fixed horizontally upon the plank L, e is a metal block in which the
channels are formed for the channels valves, and adjusting screws,
the general arrangement of wdiich valves and screws is the same as in
the hydraulic press, but I form it in this manner, in order to avoid the
use of connecting pipes and the usual fittings, which would be very
liable to be broken or deranged. F is the plunger of the force pump
E, worked by the bell-cranked lever G. H, a cistern to hold water to
supply the pump, which is introduced into the pump thro\igh the
lying valve, which is kept in its place by a spring in the usual manner;
when the pump is set to work, the water lifts the vertical valves d, d,
and passing through channels clearly shown in Figures 1 and 2 in sec-
tion, enters the cylinders or tubes B, B, and thus raises the rams or
pistons C, C ; the water may be prevented entering either of the
cylinders, as may be desired, by screwing down the screws s, s, over
either of the vertical valves, when the entire force of the pump will
then pass by the free valve and enter the cylinder to which it belongs.
This adjustment may be necessary to keep the engine or cJirriage
level, and the same adjustment may be made by stopping the pump,
and letting out the water from the waste-holes p, p, by screwing back
either of tile adjusting screws 0, 0 ; the two barrels B, B, are fixed
upon a strong plank, about four feet asunder, and the basement plate
coimecting them together is formed of a wTought iron plate rolled with
a rib down the middle ; this rib is bored to the requisite distance
from each end, and thus the channel is formed for the water from the
pump to the cylinders ; the cylinders are formed with flanch ends, and
the joints made with the basement plate in the usual wav, either with
a rust joint, or lead, or other jointing ; the upper plank L slides upon
the long plank M, which is laid across the rails, and the projecting
end supported with blocks of timber, or in any other ready and con-
venient manner ; the plank M, has fixed down the centre, the notched
plate 71, the centre of which sinks about an inch and half below the
surface, thus forming a longitudinal groove, within which slides a bar
of iron fixed to the under side of the plank L ; thus the upper plank
L is steadied and cannot get out of position. When the engine or
carriage is lifted, the bar K is hooked into the link ;, and the toe of
the bar inserted into one of the notches of the plate n ; then a man,
bearing down the end of the bar, drags the apparatus and engine or
carriage towards him, the whole sliding upon the plank M. When
tlie engine or carriage is adjusted over the rails, the adjusting screws
are screwed back, and the water escapes through the waste \\o\es p, p,
when the rams descending, the engine or carriage is placed upon the
rails ; this object being effected, the water is thrown out of the cistern
H, and the apparatus placed in ihe tender or other ))lace provided for
it ; in some cases, a single cylinder and ram may be employed with a
vertical pump, and for other purposes besides that described, likewise
the cylinders may be substituted by screws, the other general arrange-
ments being the same ; also pipes or fittings for the water channels in
any other suitable way than that shown.

One of the machines may be seen at work. Cat the Manufactory,
John's Place, Holland Street, Blackfriars Bridge,) loaded with a
weight of 8 tons, which is lifted one foot high by the force of one
man in 5 minutes ; thus the worst accident may be set to rights in half
an hour by 1 men, although the engine may be buried in the soil up
to the axles.

Ancif.nt Bfxl.— The tower of Leak church, near Northallerton, contains
three bells, one of which is supposed to have been brouglit from the adjnin-
ing Oissolved niotias'ery ot KievauL\. from the name " Aelred Grendale ''
being upon it. the said Aelred lieing the third abliot of Kievaulx. He was
the noted cbronicle of that age, and was the author uf " Historia de belkt
Standard!." the history of the battle of the Standard, near Northallerton, in
the year 1138. He die"d in the year 1167, so that this bell must be 700 years
old.

RAILWAY CURVES.
Sir. — ^Your correspondent R. W. S. in your September number sup-
poses that Mr. Ely had formed an incorrect notion of the plan I sub-
mitted to the readers of your Journal, for setting out Railway Curves,
under the signature of " A Sub." Such however is not the case; the
plan is easily understood, try a simple diagram.

\%

10«

Let the line a, b, be the direction of the railway previous to curving
C, the point required to be arrived at, I propose, if local circumstances
admit, to use, first, a curve of two and a half mile radius, and then for
a short distance only a curve of one mile radius, instead of curving
from the point d to C, with one mile radius, the advantages gained
are these ;

In the former instance, the engine has to travel for only about half
the distance orer the ubjtctionahle working curve, and the engine driver,
instead of maintaining his velocity till he nearly reaches the curve,
and then suddenly shutting off his steam, much to the detriment of
the working-gear, (which he would do in the latter case) would gra-
dually close his valve and be able to run with a good velocity much
nearer to his destination, with less wear to the rails, and less danger
to the train.

I leave the discussion of other subjects that have arisen from my
former communication, to R. W. S. and W. Ely.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

E. Murray.

THE ROYAL EXCHANGE.— REPORT OF THE ARCHITECTS

The following is the report of the architects. Sir Robert Smirke,
Mr. Joseph Gwilt, and Mr. Philip Hardwick, to whom the designs for
rebuilding the Royal Exchange were submitted :—

" London, Oct. 2, 1839.
" We beg to report to the joint committee for the management of
the estates of Sir Thomas Gresham, that, in compliance with their
request, we have inspected the plans, designs, and specifications re-
ceived for rebuilding the Royal Exchange, with the view of selecting
the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth best, in reference to, and in
conformity witli, the printed instructions issued for that purpose.

" Om- examination, we trust we need liardly state, has been con-
ducted with every attention to the object in view, and with the utmost
care to discharge in a satisfactory maimer the duty with which tha
committee have honoured us, not less on the ground of the national
importance of the subject, than that of doing strict justice to the
artists who have been engaged in the competition.

" [n proceeding to perform the duty in question, we considered it
advisable that we should each in the first instance separately make a
particular examination of the several designs, taking our individual
views on their respective merits, according to the best of our judgments,
with reference to the general character of the design, the convenience
of the arrangements as exhibited by the plans, the estimated expense
of the building, and the practicability of carrying the works into exe-
cution, in conformity with the printed instructions to which in all
respects the candidates were required to adhere ; and, lastly, with the
object of ascertaining wdiich, with respect to the instructions of the
committee to us, was ' practicable, advisable, and capable of being
made a durable edifice.'

" In reference to the convenient arrangement of the apartments, we
think it proper to observe, that the committee did not in their instruc-
tions specify the object or use to which they were to be appropriated ;
and ne have tlierefore considered, that if offices and rooms of the re-
quired number and size were provided, if they were well lighted, and
having the means of being warmed, capable of being made fireproof.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

437

and with a convenient access to thera, the instructions of the commit-
tee in that respect would be sufficiently observed.

" After our separate examination abovementioned, we conferred to-
gether, and on comparing our observations, it was a great satisfaction
to us to find, that in selecting a limited number for further considera-
tion, no difference of opinion arose between us in any respect, each of
us on such comparison of our lists having selected the same designs.

" We regret, however, to say that we cannot submit for the choice
of the committee five designs out of the number subjected to our no-
tice, which we can, without many changes in them, report as practi-
cable, advisable, and capable of being made durable edifices; and,
tliat the committee may be fully aware of our meaning in this respect,
we will shortly state in respect of practicability, that in the best de-
signs of the collection, as regards external architectural merit, whole
suites of apartments are placed in upper stories without adequate sup-
port being brought up through those below to carry them ; that pass-
ages are sluiwn without the necessiiry light; that chimnies are placed
in situations from which flues could not be carried up ; and that many
rooms are without chimnies at all ; and that in most, if not in all, the
designs otherwise meritorious, what are called 'false bearings' appear
to such an extent, that they are not practicable in their existing state,
and hence it cannot be said that they would be durable edifices.

" How far, having thus disposed of the question of practicability
and durability, some of those we shall hereafter name may be advisable
is a matter of some weight. We will take one which is an extreme
case, and occurring in a design of great external architectural magni-
ficence, in which a wall lOU feet in height surrounds the area appro-
priated to the meeting of the merchants. In this latitude, except
about the summer solstice, and then only for a few days, the sun's rays
would never fall on the pavement of this" area, and in the winter solstice
they would scarcely reach the top of the arcades. In another of great
merit, the merchants' area is reached by a flight of many steps, which
may be considered unadvisable, both for the combination of shops with
tlie designs, and for the convenience of those who are to use the
edifice.

" There is, moreover, another point connected with our examina-
tion which demands our utmost caution in otfering this report to the
notice of the committee, and that is, attention to the cost, which ap-
pears to have been altogether lost sight of in the best class of designs.
From the second instructions of the committee (upon our request),
dated the 27th of September ult., we have felt it necessary to place
out of consideration those three which we have named in the second
dass, though possessing, for magnificence and beauty, great claims as
works of art. We could not, w'ithout very elaborate calculation, in-
form the committee of the probable excess of expense beyond £150,0UO.;
but we have no hesitation in stating that the excess in all of them
would be very much indeed beyond the limit assigned, and in this
observation w^e consider we sufficientlv for the purpose comply with
the request made to us on that point. We would, before leaving these,
mention that the sculptures with which they are decorated are so ne-
cessary for their effect, that they cannot be' considered foreign to the
buildings, but must be considered as essential parts of them.

" Under these rather embarrassing circumstances, we have endea-
voured to meet the views of the committee by a selection of eight
designs for their consideration, rather, however, as works of art than
as designs which we can certify in tlieir present state to be practicable
and capable of being made durable edifices. The first five of them,
we apprehend, may be considered as designs which fall within the
predicament of being erected for the sum comtemplated. Under the
consideration of impracticability, it may perhaps be said, the selection
should not have been made at all, and that we should have descended
lower in our selection. Had we taken this course, other difficulties
would have presented themselves, for we must have submitted to the
committee works not worthy of the age or country, and which, even if
strictly practicable, would, in their selection, have dune great injustice
to the authors of the designs, with all their faults about to be named.
The placing these latter, therefore, in the order of merit, is referable
to them as works of external art. In either respects their faults of
construction and inconvenience may be taken as nearly equal in magni-
tude. - °

" In the first class, tho-e that we think may be executed for 150,000 '
we beg to report as follows :— '

"f'''"**t No. 38

" becond 40

:: Third 37

" Fourth qq

"Fifth t^

" In the second class, or that in which we consider the cost would
vastly exceed the sum of 150,000/., equal impracticabilities of execu-
tion with those of the first class are to be fomid ; and, notwithstanding

the very great talent they exhibit, there are circumstances of incon-
venience and unsuitableness which would bring them, as we conceive,
into the predicament of being unadvisable for adoption. We wish it,
therefore, to be understood, that we report on them respectively as
the works of very clever artists, who have produced pieces of com-
position in which, besides the circumstances abovementioned, stability,
arising from solid bearings for upper apartments, and other essential
matters, have been sacrificed to grand architectural features.

" The designs of the second class, in our estimation of their order
of merit, are as follows: —

" First No. 50

" Second 46

" Third 27

" We again venture to state to the committee the difficulties which
have attended the making of the report herewith submitted, and
which, but for the unanimous decision at which we have arrived, we
confess, might have left doubts in our minds, if our view had not been
confined by the committee to the expenditure of a given sum.

" Robert Smirkb^
" Joseph Gwilt.
" Philip Hardwick.
" To the Joint Committee for the Management
of the Estates of Sir Thomas Gresham."

PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE SUBJECT.

The joint committee met at Mercers' Hall on Friday, the ISth ul-
timo, to consider the report, and again inspect the designs, and came
to the following resolutions: —

" Resolved, — That the premiums be awarded to the architects, who
have produced the plans numbered as under- — ■

" No. 3li, the first premium - . . . £ 300
43, the second ditto .... 2OO

37, the third ditto .... loO

being those reported by the architects as the three best designs.

" And it was resolved, that Sir R. Smirke, and J. Gwllt and P.
Hardwick, Esqrs. having stated in tlieir report upon the respective
merits of the plans selected by them, that tliey cannot recommend any
one to be carried into execution, this committee doth request them to
take the 1st, 2d, and 3d plans, as selected by them, into consideration,
and prepare a plan and specification for a new Royal Exchange, such
as in their judgment should be carried into execution, having reference
at the same time to the printed instructions issued by this committee to
the architects."

TJie architects to whom the premiums hare been adjudged.

No. 36, 300/. to Mr. William Grellier, district surveyor, 20, Worm-
wood-street.

No. 43, 200/. to M.Alexis De Chateauneuff, of Hamburgh; and
Mr. Arthur Mee, of Carlton-chambers.

No. 37, 100/. to Mr. Sydney Smirke, of Carlton Chambers.

The architects 0/ the remaining designs of the first class.
No. 33, Messrs. Wyatt and Brandon.
57, Mr. Pennythorne

The architects of the second class designs, which ivere considered too
expenst re.

50, Mr. T. L. Donaldson.
46, Mr. Richardson.
27, Mr. David Moscatta.

RSVIEWS.

A Treatise on a Box of Instruments and the Slide Rule, by T. Ken-
tish. London: Rolfe and Fletcher, lS3i).

This work seems very useful for the purposes for which it is in-
tended as an elementary work for engineers, and for schools, and gives
in a short compass the greater part of practical mathematics. As to
the mnenotechnic rules appended to it, we have no high opinion of
their utility to the student, they are something like SmoUet's cabbage
cutting machine, which destroyed more than it saved.

History and Process of P/iotogenic Drawing. London: Strange,

This is a translation of the French pamphlet by Daguerre and Arago
on photographic drawing, and contains an elaborate account of tlie
processes. This art in its present state however is too troublesome
and too expensive to admit of general application.

438

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[November,

Papers on suhjicts convec/td icith the Ditlks of the Corps of the Royal
Engtmers, Vol. '3. — London, Weale, 1S39.

Thk volume before us keeps up the reputation of its predecssors,
and indeed with very little zeal on the ])art of the Members of the
Corps, it cannot fail to be otherwise, as they have such excellent op-
portunities of observing works executed or in progress, and for making
experiments, hi this latter career their services towards professional
literature might well be much greater, and we confidently anticipate
important results from the spirit of inquiry which these volumes in-
dicate.

This volume may very easily be divided into two portions, the first
purely military, and the other immediately coimected with civil en-
gineering.

The first two papers are on the lines of Torres Vedras, Cadiz, both
bjf officers of the name of Jones. Both are valuable, and the first par-
ticularly well drawn up.

The paper on the model-towers approved by Napoleon, has been
already given in Muller's and other military works, but never hitherto
so completely.

The fourth enters into minute details of the demolition of some of
the old works at Sheerness.

Lieut.-Col. R. Thompson contributes a paper on furnaces for heat-
ing shot, with some remarks on their application to steam navigation.

The sixth paper is on the fortification of Fosen.

The report on Beaufort Bridge by Lieut. Nelson is a well arranged
plan for a bridge over the torrent river Kat, at Graham's Town. It
consists of a timber bridge of 3 arches, tiO feet span from centre to
centre of each pier, with a rise of 5 feet. The author states that he
took his idea of the construction from a sketch he made "of a prettily
contrived adaptation of the Prussian beams to a light foot-bridge of
nearly 100 feet span, with a central rise of about 6 ieet," when he was
in the Rhenish provinces in 1S34. The construction appears exceed-
ingly economic, and at the same time possessing ample strength; the
design also shows how architectural effect of a pleasing character may
be introduced even into a timber bridge, hi the design before us, we
have the piers in the bold Egyptian style which look remarkably well,
their height being upwards of 40 feet.

The eighth paper contains a rough sketch by Lieut. Nelson, of an
admired suspension bridge over the Lahn at Nassau.

Lieut. Denison's description of some of the works on the Rideau
Canal afibrds but too strong a proof of the manner in wdiich the public
money has been vvasted in ignorance and absurdity, and a striking ex-
ample of the inefficiency of government education and controul. With
timber at hand, the platform and wing walls at the entrance to the
lock, instead of being protected with sheet piling, are formed of large
stones, so as to ensure the destruction of the works. A great deal of
time and money seems also to have been wasted on ridiculous plans
for opening the lock gates.

Another paper by Lieut. Nelson is also a foreign contribution, and
gives a description of the mode of bending timber in Prussia, to wliich
we shall hereafter have occasion to refer.

The eleventh paper is of American origin, and describes the coffer
dam used in the construction of the piers of the Alexandria aqueduct.

The twelfth is a description of a one-arch wooden bridge of i05
feet span at Paradenia, in Ceylon, thrown over the river Mahavillanga,
in which an interesting account is given of the difficulties contended
with. It shows too one of the causes of failure in government works,
for here it seems the Engineer's department constructed the abut-
ments, and the Quartcr-ma>ter general's the arch.

The thirteenth paper describes a series of bridges erected across
the river Ottawa, in Canada. An account is given of a wooden bridge
of 21- feet span, which would have been very extraordinary and very
useful, had it not required a number of chains and ropes to keep it
from falling to pieces. It is singular that most of the descriptions of
works executed under military superintendence contained in this
volume are such as to be far from giving a satisfactory opinion of this
mode of conducting public works.

The fourteenth paper is a new barometer invented by Mr. S. B.
Hewlett. — The next paper is on ascertaining the height of mountains.
Lieut.-Col. Reid's communication " Vn t/ie Optraliou if -'Salt Water
o» Iivn" we give below.

" Considerable attention has been given of late to the effect which
saltwater produces in corroding iron; in consequence of that metal
being now used for facing wharfs, and other works exposed to the sea.
Some (lapers have been published on the subject, but their object has
been, 1 believe, only to ascertain the durability of iron as a material
when in contact with salt water.

" 1 am not aware that public attention has ever been directed to
the curious change which takes place when iron, in contact with sili-
cious pebbles and other stones, is immersed in salt water.

" My attention was first drawn to this subject from a desire of ac-
quiring a better knowledge of those laws of Nature which regulate
the cohesion of solid particles ; and from a conviction that the studv
of these laws would afford the best means of improving our knowledge
for practical purposes.

" Almost every one has observed pebbles adhering to old anchors
which have long lain under the sea. Engineers who liave had to re-
move piles from sea walls or harbours have also noticed similar effects,
for the iron shoes at the points of the piles have generally a mass of
pebbles strongly incrusted around them. Even in wdiat we call fresh
water, (but which on analysis always is found to contain salts in solu-
tion,) this effect in a smaller degree is observed.

" Having had occasion to reset part of what are called breakwaters
at Portsmouth, which are covered every tide by the sea, I was there
enabled in many instances to notice the effects here alluded to. Some
of file examples afforded beautiful specimens, and of several varieties,
of the carbonates of iron of perfect forms. When examined with a
powerful lens very delicate needle crystals were often distinctly visi-
ble ; these last which I observed were white. Those resembling car-
bonates of iron varied from black to brown, and to bright yellow : some
of the browns were of a very rich colour. These specimens were not
found at Portsmouth only ; at Hurst Castle planks of considerable
dimensions, wdiich the gales had broken from the groins, were found
firmly incrusted with silicious pebbles. It was not at first easy to dis-
cover from what cause the pebbles adhered to the wooil, but on sawing
a plank longitudinally it was found to have heen driven full of iron
scupper-nails. The flat heads of these nails were almost touching
each other; the heads had nearly disappeared, and in their place a
black shiny crystalline matter had been formed, which firmly united a
layer of pebbles to the plank. The opinion I formed on this was that
voltaic action takes place betvi'een the metallic iron and silicious
pebbles when inunersed in sea water. If this be the case, we can
scarcely doubt but that something of the same nature will occur be-
tween iron and other stones, when similarly placed. Part of the
breakwaters at Portsmouth were set with very thin sheet iron, between
blocks of Swanage stone, as an experiment : in a month afterwards,
sanil and small pebbles were found firmly fixed between the iron and
the stone ; and black crystalline matter, such as had been found at
Hurst Castle, appeared forming, and the experiment, as far as it has
been observed, seemed satisfactory.

" After thus setting the breakwater with stones, alternating with
plates of sheet iron, I observed that Mr Cross had previous y pursued
studies somewhat similar, and that he was satisfied that iron, when in
contact with silex in a fluid medium, exhibits electric phenomena. An
observation to this etTect will be found in Mr. Leithsad's work on
electricity.

" The subject of the formation of crystals by voltaic electricity,
which is one of great interest, is now making considerable progress,
and the object of this paper is to endeavour to show that the pursuit
of the study may be practically useful when applied to hydraulic
works; and that it well deserves to be ascertained whether plates of
thin iron, alternating with stones, and placed under the sea, will not
be found to form solid rock, with crystalline veins. Mixtures of iron
filings, s.uid and gravel, let down to the bottom of the sea through
tubes, might perliaps consolidate and form a stable foundation for
light-houses, and other works for which it is very difficult to form a
base.

" Those parts of the Portsmouth breakwaters set with the thin sheet
iron will be found between the saluting battery and the spur redoubt,
and are visible on close inspection. The experiment has been varied,
somewhat in the manner above alluded to, by authority of the Ad-
miralty. Unserviceable iron water tanks from ships of war have been
filled with gravel, mixed with iron turj ings and a small quantity of
lime, in the construction of a groin opposite to Haslar Hospital. The
greater part of this groin will be covered by the tides; and thus a
good opportunity will there be afforded of observing the effects of
iron in contact with pebbles when immersed in salt water."

We must defer Colonal Fanshawe's Report on the effects of tropical
climates upon Yorkshire paving.

The following Report by Captain Streatfield " On the Wood Pave-
mmt in the Stab.es at Brighton" is so interesting at the present moment,
that although at some inconvenience, we feel obliged to call the attention
ol our readers to it.

" Sir — In rej)ly to your letter, dated 17th u't., respecting the ex-
perimental pavement tried in the cavalry stables at this place, I now
send an extract from the officer's diary, written by Captain Alderson,
descriptive of the wooden block paving proposed anil executed by
him in January, is38. The alterations suggisted by Captain Aider-
son of making the f.iU 2 inches instead of -1, and the grooves | of an

183P.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

439

inch in depth and width' instead of i an inch, have been tried, and are
certainlv improvements on the original plan.

" The stall first done has been constantly in use for upwards of a
year, and does not appear to stand tlie wear and tear quite so well as
was anticipated, the lower part of the stall inunediately under the
horse's hind feet being already worn down at least i of an inch. More
time, however, will be required to judge of its durability. The ex-
pense of tliis mode of paving amounts to :2s. 3d. per foot superficial.

" The pebble pavement laid in concrete, with Purbeck horse pitch-
ing paving placed immediately under the horse's feet, which was put
down in August, 1837, appears to answer tolerably well, and is doubt-
less a decided improvement upon the common pebble paving. The
expense of this amounts to Grf. per foot superficial ; the common peb-
ble pavement to 3id. per foot superficial.

" I am disposed to think that a stall paved two-thirds of its length
from the bottom with Purbeck horse pitching, and the remaining one-
third at the top with common pebble paving laid in concrete, would
be the most durable, and on the whole the least expensive. The cost
would be llrf. per foot superficial."

Want of space compels us to pass over hastily for the present seve-
ral papers of mucli interest to our readers. — Among these are the
papers and comments on Earthern Ware Pipes, and on the Package of
goods.

The twenty-first paper is a description of the Weedon Drawbridge
on the London and Birmingham Railway, well deserving of notice on
account of the ingenious construction of the bridge.

Habersioii's Half- Timhered Homes.

(SECOND NOTICE.)

Although we have fully expressed our opinion as to the ability
with which Mr. Habershon has exercised his pen, in animadverting
upon the very unfair and calunmious representations of Mi'. Welby
Pugin, we must }et be allowed to make a remark bearing upon the
question of our modern Protestant church architecture, which is, that
so far from the numerous structures of that class, erected of late years,
having been allowed to aftbrd opportunities for the display of talent,
the restrictions of the Church Commissioners, and the conditions im-
posed by them, have tended greatly to degrade our architectural
taste, as far as such buildings are concerned. Not only has economy
been, in many instances, pushed to downright parsimony, but the
desire of obtaining the maximum of showiuess at the minimum of
cost, has led to the adoption of some of the very worst vices a build-
ing can have — ostentatious paltriness, and flaunting shabbiness. Grant-
ing there may be necessity for the most rigid economy, that very
necessity ought to dictate something quite the reverse of what has
hitherto been aimed at, — decent homeliness, cpiiet yet dignified sim-
plicity, sobriety not negligence of detail ; and not least of all, such
moderation in the general composition of the design as befits a mode-
rate sized. There is no reason why, because it is small, either a
church or other building, should be made to have an air of liltlentss, —
which, it unfortunately seems necessary for us to remark, is quite a
different thing from smallness : the difti?rence between the two being
that of a dwarf and a child. Such unfortunate and oftentimes quite
ridiculous and offensive littleness is all the less excusable, because
instead of being at all called for, it is allowed to destroy the character
that would be appropriate. Yet, so far from having laid down any
instructions or cautious as to such points. The Church Commisioners
appear to have had no suspicion that any were needed ; while archi-
tects, aware of the kintl of judges whose taste — or rather tasteless-
ness they have had to please, have not studied to produce merits which
they were aware beforehand would never be examined into or appre-
ciated. Any thing above the most ordinary routine and commonplace
in design, ]Hits such people quite out, and they accordingly generally
select something that has been " rendered easy to the plainest capa-
city." Instead, therefore, of being charged with want of talent on
account of the poorness and littleness of taste manifested in the ma-
jority of our new churches, the profession are rather to be pitied for
being obliged to accommodate themselves to the ideas and apprehen-
sion of such patrons of art as the Chur«h Commissioners have proved
themselves to be.

Begging pardon of Mr. Habershon fur h;iving brought forward so
prominently and dwelt so Ion" upon a topic which although fmniished
by himself, he may not consider of so nmch importance as the rest of
his book, we now proceed to consider the subjects of his plates. They
are drawn, some on stone, others on zinc, and consist either of mere
pictorial views, or specimens of detail, such as doors, windows, gables,
chimneys, &c. Some of the former, that of Hadzor Village, for in-
stance, partake quite as much of landscape as of architecture in their
subjects. Only the generalities of form and composition are expressed

in the buildings themselves, whether their accompaniments be rural
or street scenery : consequently, however interesting they may be as
topographical memorials, the illustrations of this class, do not furnish
that precise information required by the architect. It is true his
mode of treatment is for the most part justified by the nature of the
subjects themselves, which are certainly not at all calculated for direct
imitation in hardly any respect, although they may serve to furnish
useful ideas and hints, — not, however, to every one, but merely to
such as are capable of discriminating between what is and what is not
suitable for actual application, — between what pleases merely, because
it is quaint, unusual, odd, fantastical, and curious as a relic of former
times; and what is intrinsically pleasing and agi-eeable in itself, apart
from the novelty of rarity on the one hand, and the accidental charm
of anticpiity on the other. Very few persons take this into accomit,
or make the distinction they ought to do : hence repeated blunders
and disappointments, and people have foimd out that instead of the
pict\u'esqueness they have aimed at, and by which they have been
smitten in what they have taken for their models, they have got onl}"
a prim, spruce, smirking, pert looking building — as little picturesque
as may be, though evidently intended to |)ass for such. We wish
therefore Jlr. Habershon had said something as to the application
which may be made of this style at the present day. Very few of the
subjects in his volume are calculated for imitation however serviceable
they may be in the way of affording hints : some of them, indeed,
seem hardly capable of doing that, — for instance the old house in the
market-place at Preston, which though curious, is still more ugly than
curious, and, putting taste entirely out of the cjuestion, seems to com-
bine every inconvenience and disadvantage that a dwelling-house can
possibly possess. Bramhall Hall in Cheshire, on the contrary seems
deserving of more particular description ; for although two views are
given of it, they go but little way towards making us acquainted with
the peculiarities of style and detail. A ground plan of that house
would have been exceedingly welcome, as would also geometrical
drawings of some of the compartments of its exterior. Somblebury
Old Hall is another striking subject, in which there is much of a very
peculiar and good character. In general, however, the buildings here
represented do not rise at all above the usual grade of design to be
met with in many old farm houses and buildings of that class ; here
and there some little bit in them may be found worth borrowing from,
but it is only in such mere fragments that anything deserving the name
of style discovers itself, the ensemble being for the most part mean
and liad, both which it is possible for a building to be, though at the
same time it may be eminently picturesc[ue. The picturesqueness,
therefore, of which the architect ought to aim, is that which is com-
bined WMth other ec[ually desirable qualities, — with beauty, not rude-
ness, of form, and elegance, not coarseness, of execution. We camiot
therefore so conscientiously recommend Mr. Habershon's work to the
architectural student, as we can to the lovers of English antiquity and
topography, who will find much in it to interest them.

We have received the two following letters relative to ovu- first
review of Mr. Habershon's work : —

Sir — In your review of Habershon's " Ancient half-timbered houses
of England," you say, " He makes a terrible hard hit at the vaunted,
unity of the Roman Catholic Church, which once presented to Europa
the singular spectacle of rival anti-popes, both of course equally m^i-
FALLIBLE." Now, my dear Sir, your Journal is not a proper vehicl*'
for religious controversy, but I rely ujion your sense of justice, induc-
ing you to inform your readers in your next number, that the imputing,-
to Catholics the belief of "infallibility" appertaining to any man, is ^
gross calumny. -.u

A CATHOLIC, ij

7lh Seplcmhci; 1839. «i

Sir — Your review of my work on Ancient Half-timbered Houso^
having just been put into my hands, I beg to inform you in reply w
your leading observation, that it was brought out in six parts, aifii.
commenced according to the original date in 1S3(3. In consequencfe'
however of my time having been otherwise occupied, as w ell as from
other causes, Ihave not been able to bring out the last part until withiff
the last two or three months — and tliis is the reason why the dates?
varv. I thought it best, as far as concerns Mr. Pugin, to aftix the trUai
date to the essay, as that portion of it which concerns him has only
lately been written. j^;

I have the honour to remain. Sir,

Your very obedient servant,

Matthew HABERSHONi'-
Bonmr's Hall, near Hackney, ['^

Sept. 3, 1839. ■ ai rj

2 P

4-10

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. [November,

Del Dtiomo di Monrtak id aUre CJiiese Skiilo-Nvrmanm, Ragionia-
meii/i Tie. Per Do.mekico lo Faso Pietra Saxta, Duca di Serra-
(lifalco. Palermo, 1838.

The Duke of Serradifalco, who actually studieil architCL'ture for a
time, under Cagnola, is of those eutliusiasts in tl'.e cause of art, who
like the illustrious Cicogiiara devote themselves to the stud}- of it
gratuitously, and out of mere affection, with an earnestness and appli-
cation very seldom indeed found among those who follow it as a pro-
fession. Wliether such noble amateurs w ould in this country be secure
from the sneers levelled here against intermeddling, superficial ama-
teurs, we will not stop to inquire ; therefore merely observe that per-
haps they might, because a Duke is somebody, and because it would
sound capitally to be able to say, "I entirely agree with — or dissent
from my Lord Duke's opinion as to so and so." For our own part we
are sorry that we cannot at present brag of any particular acquaintance
with the Duca di Serradifalco, — that is, with his book, not having as yet
even seen it, although by this time, one wovdd imagine, a copy of such
a work would have found its way into the British Museum, whose
library, however, we are still more sorry to sav, is prodigiously defi-
cient in foreign pviblications of art, for even our own verj- limited and
humble library, contains several tliat will there be sought for in vain.
AH that we at present know of the work whose title is above given, is
derived from an article in the last number of the Dublin Review, from
which we here quote :

" Prince Serradifalco has already acquired a great literary reputa-
tion by his large work upon the monuments of antiquity in his country,
oi which three volumes are published. In the present work he has
begun the examination of the principal monuments of the Norman
epoch, as being the most illustrious period of the middle ages. He
does not propose [purpose] to give merely sketches and general no-
tions on the subject ; but, on the contrary," to treat of it in its fullest
extent, and to give to the world a standard work, of which the getting
up should not be unworthy of the magnificent objects it undertakes to
describe. The work contains, besides vignettes, twenty-seven folio
engravings, and one lithographed design ; of w hicli fourteen are dedi-
cated to the Church of Monreale, three to the Capella Palatina Cor
Chapel Royal at Palermo), five to the Cathedral of Cefahi, four to the
other Norman churches at Palermo, and two which contain small plans
of all the old churches in Sicily, and of the principal churches of the
Christian world, by which Sicilian [not Me Sicilian] architecture can
be illustrated.

"These engravings are accompanied and explained by two disser-
tations, with learned notes, in which are collected from ancient
authors, maps and inscriptions, whatever can throw light upon the
objects in question." — "The drawings are in general well done, though
occasionally, as in the drawing of the Gate of Monreale, or of the
sectional plan (table IV. 7) we think the style might have been more
faithfully expressed. The drawings should have been coloured to give
any idea of the magnificence and splendour of the Mosaics ; for the
brdliancy of the colours ;uid gold with w hich the walls are resplendent,
is lost in the black engravings."

Undoubtedly : nothing short of such a view of the interior as the
exquisite coloured drawing or rather picture of it by Professor Zanth,
exhibited last year at the Institute B. A.; can convey any idea of
Monreale, or of that modem Monreale the AUerheiligen Kapelle at
Munich, where to equal splendour of painting on gold, the pencil of
Hess has superadded all the more refined beauties of art.

Happy Munich! thou paradise of art, wliere under the auspices of
its Kunst-liebend Ludwig, it accomplishes what we poor islanders dare
not even attempt ! Happy Sicily, where Dukes can find both time and
disposition to turn their attention to studies of antiquity and art, —
free from the curse of politics that sits as an incubus on this unhappy
land, amidst the incessant din and jingling of which all that is intelli-
gible is that every party deserves to be exterminated, since according
to their report of each other they are equally base, unprincipled, sel-
fish, tyrannical, malevolent, perfidious, or however else they may be
branded by the awful fulminations of our newspaper gentry.

Literary World. This justly popuhir work has completed its first
volume ; the wood engravings, particularly those of an architectural
character, are beautifully executed, and the literary contents are both
interesting and useful.

We have been favoured with the Medical Miscellani/, a new periodical,
containing much useful information for the medical student.

New York Canals. — Total amount of tolls receiveil on all the state canals
of Nc« York, from the 14ih to the 22nd of July, 1831). 36.571 dollars 97
cents. 'Iherc was received fcr liic corresponding period in 1838, 38,882 dol-
lars 40 cents. i o i > .

DESIGNS FOR THE ROYAL EXCHANGE.

With every facility possible, it would be a task of some time, to
examine singly, and afterwards compare together, the set.s of nume-
rous drawings which cover not only the walls of two large rooms in
Mercer's Hall, but also two sides of a screen placed in one of them.
Therefore, writing as we now do, not only w ithout the possibility Of
making a second visit, before our journal goes to press, but almost at
the latest moment to which its being made up can be deferred, we
have hardly time to collect our ideas properly, after a first, and con-
sequently rather hurried view of the designs. Besides this, there is
neither catalogue of any kind, not even a mere list, no printed de-
scriptions of any of the designs, and no order observed as to arranging
them according to the numbers, by which they are distinguished : — in
fact, we do not imderstand upon what principle they are so numbered,
for there seem to be not a single one figured w ith a number lower
than twenty. Yet, as if it were not enough that as little as possible
had been done for the convenience of visitors, it was also determined
that no one should be allowed to assist himself, either by taking down
the numbers or conmiitting his remarks to paper. We were doing
the latter, when some olhcial came up to us, and said that no one was
permitted to make sketches of any of the tlrawings, when we told him
that we w'ere not copying any part of the drawings, but merely taking
memoranda ; and on his walking off, resumed our occupation. Shortly
after he came up again, and repeated his command more authorita-
tively, saying, that strict orders had been given not to suffer any per-
son even to take notes, and should we persist, he should be mider the
necessity of making us withdraw. As further expostulation seemed
to be tpiite useless, nothing else was left us but to comply with the
mandate.

Hardly can we suppose the man took that strange authority upon
himself; no doubt he acted according to the instructions given him:
but then it argues anything but liberality on the part of the Committee
to issue such very arbitrary, annoying, and very unusual restrictions.
Never was such a regidation ever thought of being enforced before,
certainly not either at the exhibition of the designs for the Houses of
Parliament, or that of the models and drawings for the Nelson Memo-
rial ; in fact, at no exhibition whatever. Was it that the Committee,
fancying they had been imprudently liberal in suftering the public to
see the designs at all, determined to prevent persons from describing
or commenting upon any of them, by jirohibiting the use of pencil and
paper in the rooms ? It certainly looks as if such were the case, and
that they were now alarmed for the consequences of their good natured
indiscretion. However, we are not going now to comment upon the
conduct and proceedings of the Committee, since they call for fuller
animadversion than we. can at present bestow upon them. All that
we can here say lelative to them is, that not satisfied w ith setting
aside the competition, as far as the interests of the architects who
entered into it are concerned, the sole advantage, the successful have
derived from it, consisting in the distinction they have so acquired,
even the highest premium being but a very moderate pecuniary com-
pensation ; not satisfied with this, the Committee have now entrusted
the formation of an entirely fresh design to the very three persons
who cannot, with any honour or decency, accept that office, after act-
ing as judges in the matter, who have represented as ineligible, every
one of the designs sent in. For does not this look very much as if the
competition has been no more titan a strategem, to enable the Com-
mittee to obtain ideas for the guidance and assistance of those whom
they now, it seems, have determined to employ i What, we ask,
have the three gentlemen who are now spoken of as the architects
actually to be employed, done, to merit that implicit confidence in
their abilities, which is now to be reposed in them? If they are en-
titled to it now, they were surely equally so at the very first, when
they could have accepted the commission tendered to them with in-
finitely bettergrace.^or we say, without incurring the ugly suspicion and
disgrace which must now attach to them, should they ever do so : as
we think they will not, — unless they have such exceedingly strong
nerves as to be able to brazen out public opinion.

Our own conscience gives us a twitch, for we just now promised to
abstain from animadversion on this point, and to confine ourselves to
speaking of the designs we have seen. That we have seen them we can-
not deny, but we certainly have not been able to examine tliem in such
way as would enable us to speak of their particular merits or faults,
or to enter into any detailed notices of them. All that time would
permit, was for us to reconnoitre them generally, which having done,
we were commencing to study some of them more closely, and take
down our notes upon them, when our labour was cut short in the way
that has been mentioned. With the exception, therefore, of the few
particulars we had poached, before we were warned off, we have now
no better than our memory, fatigued and confused by looking at so

1830.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

441

many ciiflerent drawings, at one time. Thus we are not only deprived
of the means of refreshing it, by onr notes, but, with a few exceptions
unable to identify the nnmbers affixed to them, such designs as we
can indistinctly call to mind. Had we been informed beforelrand —
and there might have been a written notice to that effect p>it up at
the door of the room — that paper and pencil were rigorously inter-
dicted, we should liave proceeded differently, and endeavoured to get
one or two of the leading designs by heart; but taken by surprize, and
disgusted, we were in no humour to prosecute our examination very
diligently. The utmost we can do, therefore, is to make such remarks
as now occur to us. Upon the whole we were disappointed; few of
the designs came up to what we expected to find, for a building which
from all that had been previously said on the sanject, seems to be
looked forward to as a work that ought to be honourable to the archi-
tectural reputtition of the country, — a monument of improved taste.
On the other hand, tliere were many designs so greatly inferior to
what we expected, as almost to stagger us. One of them, No. 55, is
a most wretched, insipid affair, a bald and poverty-stricken Grecian
edifice : nor is either No. 24, or No. 2i>, much better ; while No. 40.
looks very much like the west front of St. Paul's without the towers,
There are several designs with Corinthian porticos, hexastyle, octa-
style, or decastyle ; forming a prominent feature in their composition,
being made to occupy the whole of the west end. One of them, how-
ever, (No. 27, if we mistake not,) can hardly be so termed, for although
an octastyle, crowned by a pediment, which is filled with sculpture,
the columns are merely insulated before the front, yet we will not be
sure that considering the rest of the design, and the character of the
style, which partakes more of Italian than Greek or Roman, it
would be the worse on that account. No. 50 has a Corinthian ileca-
style portico, and likewise a sculptured pediment. If our memory
will serve us, and we do not confound this with something else of the
same kind, there are also several columns withhi the portico, with a
vista through three open inter-columns behind, into the interior of the
Exchange, or the quadrangle, but as to other particulars, or the rest of
the design we are now utterly unable to speak. If we have been rightly
informed this design is by Mr. Donaldson, and according te the
" Spectator" it is the very best, so excellent in itself, that even now it
ought to be adopted if its author can satisfy the Committee that it can
be executed for the sum specified. Not having paid sufficient attention
to it, we can now neither confirm nor contradict the opinion so strongly
in its favour. Mr. Grellier's drawings, too. No 3'i, which obtained tlie
first premium, did not atti-Tvet our notice much, for at all events it has
not impressed itself upon our recollections, and to recollection alone,
unfortunately, we are now obliged to trust entirely ; on the contrary,
Mr. Chateauneuf 's (No. 43), which obtained the second premium, en-
gaged our attention very much, and we had begun to note down some
memoranda respecting it, when the surly jakanapes in office insisted
upon our putting up paper and pencil. We suppose we mav call it
Mr. Chateauneuf 's, ft)r we suspect that as far as design is concerned
his associate Mr. Mee had little to do with it. Though the style is
Italian, the expression is decidedly German. It aims not so much at
grandeur, as at elegance, and a certain piquancy of taste. The east
front is considerably loftier than the rest; owing to which, the eleva-
tions of the north and south fronts are not of uniform heiglit through-
out, but have an additional story at that end. The west elevation is
exceedingly tasteful, and would, we apprehend, be so far preferable
to a large portico of a single order, as it would not so greatly over-
power the centre of the Bank. Here we must break oiV, nor do we
know whether we shall be able to collect further information against
next month ; for the exhibition will have closed before our publica-
tion appears, only seven days having been granted for the public to
visit what ought to be kept open for inspection at least six months .'
What a public-spirited liberal Committee!

NEW PLAN FOR PROCURING SPRING WATER FOR
LONDON.

We were somewhat surjirised by the appearance of an advertise-
ment, about ten days ago, stating that"' a plentiful supply of whole-
some water, so ardently desired," &c., " is now on the eve of attain-
ment." The plan was said to be original, though the place from
vfhence the supply would be taken had been pointed out by the late
Mr. Telford. As there was no engineer's name to the advertisement,
it appeared a little mysterious, and we doubted whether it had any
proper foundation, without meaning disrespect to the gentleman
whose name appeared as parliamentary agent.

We have shice discovered that this "original plan" is to take the
water from a place pointed out by the late iMr. I'elford in liis report
in the year 1^31, situated near the town of Watford, and the "origi-

nality " consists in uniting the ujiper and lower springs. We find
that borings have been quietly going on for some weeks, and the
result of the experiments has been eminently successful. The place is
singularly felicitous for a bed of water, being nearly surrounded by
higti hills, and of a size calculated for the largest reservoir the world
ever saw. It is about liiO feet above the Trinity datum of the tide
of the Thames, aufl can consequently descend to any part of the metro-
polis by its own gravity, and without the aid of steam power. Sjirings
have been discovered at every three feet to the depth of about fifty
feet ; beneath them a stratum of limestone two feet deep, and beneath
that a vast body of water, which rises to the level of the water of the
upper springs, and of all the other springs. These are valuable indi-
cations, added to which the water is particularly soft, and conse-
quently fit for all domestic uses, which spring water generally is not.

We hear that Mr. Ciiles is the chief engineer, and that he is assisted
by other gentlemen of scientific eminence. We shall endeavour to
obtain for our readers all the details of the experiments that Irave
been made, in our next number.

BUNNETT AND CORPE'S CONCENTRIC STEAM ENGINE.

Sir — In the letter of your correspondent (Mr. Macdonald), relative
to our Patent Concentric Steam Engine which appeared in your last
number, the conclusions he has drawn are so erroneous, that we shall feel
obliged by your inseition of this in the following number. Whilst he
admits that the result of the trials of the modes of applying the power
by the tables published in your former numbers, which shows a gain
of more than two to one, are correct, and might naturally have been
expected, he asserts that one main feature in the case has been over-
looked, viz., that the consumption of steam is equal to the power
gained ; tliis is quite at variance with the fact, as we shall endeavour
to show. We have now just completed a high pressure engine on the
concentric principle, the piston of which is 12 inches broad and 8
inches deep, containing 95 square inches, the crank throw is '.) inches,
the stroke consequently IS inches, the outer curve of steam chamber,
an arc of a circle, 2 feet 4 inches in diameter, the inner curve 1 foot
diameter. Now supposing this chamber to be completely filled with
steam at each stroke, allowing for the concentric form, it would con-
tain 1S72 cubic inches. A cylinder on the vertical or horizontal prin-
ciple of the same area of piston would require 1728 cubic inches to
fill it, (which is the extent of the difference, as any increase of the
radius of curve tends to reduce it,) just one-twelfth less than the con-
centric engine, wdiose gain of power by its direct application, as shewn
by the tables, he does not dispute. This is supposing that all the
steam it is possible to admit, is thrown into the cylinder at each stroke
of the piston, but it is admitted by most engineers that all the steam
thrown into the cylinder after the piston has completed two-thirds of
its stroke is useless and detrimental, by the arrangement of our slide
valves, we eHectually cut off the steam at two-thirds of the stroke,
which cannot be effected by the present locomotive engines with the
single slide, therefore taking one-third from ls72, the quantity of
steam we should actually use in the concentric engine at each stroke
of the piston would be 12 IS cubic inches, considerably more than uiie-
fourth lens than the present engines, to say nothing of waste by ex-
hausting the steam in the passages, which we entirely avoid. It is,
w'e conceive, no fault in our concentric engine, that it does not differ
in principle from the best engines of the day. We have only sought
by new forms and combinations to get a more direct application and
consequent increase of power; how far we have succeeded, we shall
shortly be enabled to show by an engine of about 10 horses power that
we are erecting on our premises at Deptford, for the purpose of test-
ing its power, consumption of fuel, ire. Pending that trial it was not
our intention of troubling you or your readers with any communication
on the subject, but (adopting your correspondent's words), we are in-
clined to believe that the appearance of this letter may be useful (at
least to us) in counteracting whatever erroneous views may have been
formed by the perusal of your correspondent's communication. We
remain, Sir, your obedient servants,

BUNNETT AND CoRPE.

Upper Road, Depf/ord, October 29, 1S39.

Mr. Hanroch's sti'nm-earriage aicomplislied its first trip from London to
Cambridge on Monday, SOdi September. The carriage lelt the Four Swans,
Hishopcgate-streel, at ten o'chck in the muniing : the time in act ally rim-
ning tile fifty-two miles was four hours and a half, and the first ihirty nii'es,
ineUidin,^' Wade's Mill Hill, was performed in t«o lioiirs and a half (the first
twii miles being through the streets cf London), wlvch is at the riite cf 12
miles an hour. During the whole ol' Tvicsday. hundreds ot" nrrjoiis wen' to
view the carriage, which was standing in the yard of the University Arms
Hotel, Cambridge ; ■■>nd at about three o'clock the " ste;<m was got up,'' and
the carriage, crowded with gentlemen, took an experimental trip round Par-
ker's Piece, and other parts cf the town.

2 P

-142

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[No

VEMBER,

BRICK DUTIES.

2nd and 3rd Victoria, Cap. XXIV.

This Act repeals the dniies and drawiacks of e.rcixc on hrirks, and r/raji/s
oilier du/ies and drairiacH- in lien thenaf, and cnnsolidates and amends the
laws fur voUecting and pai/inq the said duties and drnirl/arks, aiui enacts that
in lieu of tlie saiil duties and drawliacks, there sliall be paid the duties and
drawl)acks following ; (fliat is to say.)

For and upon every thousand hricks, of a size not exceeding 150 cubic
inches each lirick, which shall be made in Great Britain, or which shall be
brought from Ireland into Great Britain, a duty of 5s. Kid.

For and upon every tliousand of bricks, exceeding the foregoing size, which
shall he made in (ireat Britain, or which shall he brougiit from Ireland into
Great Britain, a duty of 10s.

For all bricks made in Great Britain on which the (hities iniposed in respect
thereof shall have been charged, and which shall be duly removed to Ireland
or exported to foreign parts as merchandize, a drawback of the duties paid.

Section .i enacts, that the said duties atul drawbacks shall be under the
management of the commissioners of excise.

Section 4 enacts, that brickniakers to make entry with the excise of their
brick tiehls, &c.

Section 5 empowers oflieers of excise to enter brick fields and take an ac-
count of bricks.

Section 6 enacts, all bricks shall be charged with duty whilst such In-icks
shall he in the operation of drjing or hardening in the field, &c.

Section 7 in charging the duty on bricks ten per cent, to be allowed for
waste.

Section 8 enacts, that bricks shall be placcil in such fonu that the officer
may readily and securely take an account of them ; and penalty for placing
them iiTegnlarly.

Section 9, bricks may be made of such a shape that it may he difficult
to as -enain with accuracy the true cubical contents thereof, whereby doubts
or disputes may arise whether such hricks ai'e subject to the higher or to the
lower rate of rluty impose<l by this act; be it therefore enacted, that every
maker of bricks shall provide, to the satisfaction of the supervisor of excise,
a mould adapted and ju'opcr, and similar to the moidds in ordinary use by
such maker, for fomung and turning out a brick ten inches long, three inches
thick, and five inches wide ; which moidd, when ap|)rovcd of by the super-
visor of excise, shall be stamped or branded by him with the word "excise,''
and shall be delivered into the custody of such maker, to be by him kept for
the use of the officer surveying such maker of bricks ; and if any thspute shall
arise as to whether any hricks, the cubical contents of which may be difficult
to ascertain, are of a greater size than 150 cul>ic inches, ami so subject to the
higher rate of duty, the officer of excise shall take iuditfereiitly from the
quantity of bricks the size whereof shall be disputed tliree Ijricks, and shall
press the clay composing each of such three bricks into the said mould ami
turn the same out as a brick ; and if upon such three trials any two of such
bricks, or the clay composing the same respectively, shall not be more than
sufficient to fill such moulil, and form a brick of the dimensions of ten inches
long, three Indies thick, and five inches wide, the whole of such bricks shall
be deemed and taken to he bricks not exceeding 1."jO cubic inches, and subject
to the lower rate of duty ; but if any two of such Inicks, or the clay compos-
ing the same respectively, shall be more than sufficient to fill such mould, so
that a larger brick than of the dimensions aforesaid would be ]iroduced if the
whole of such brick or the clay comjiosing the same were pressed into a
mould of sufficient capacity to receive the whole of such brick or clay, then
the whole quantity of the bricks in dispute shall be deemed and taken to be
bricks exceeding 150 cubic inches, and subject to the higher rate of duty, and
shall be charged with duty accordingly.

Section 17, in order to prevent the duties hereby imposed from being
evaded by bricks being denominated tiles, be it enacted, that nothing shall be
deemed or taken to be a tUe which shall not, when turned out of the mould
(except tiles for covering houses or buildings or draining lands,) be a perfect
square, or which shall when so turned out be of greater thickness in any one
part than one inch and seven tenths of an inch if under eight inches square,
or of greater thickness in any one jKUt than two inches and a half if more
than eight indies square, or which shall have any incisions made tlierehi so
as to allow of being easily separated or divided after being Inu'ned : provided
always, that it shall he lawful for the commissioners of excise to determine
that tdes made otherwise than square shall not be considered as bricks
chargeable with duty, on being satisfied that the same are intended to be
used solely as tiles.

Section 18, whereas it is expedient to cxcmjit from the duties by this act
imposed bricks made for the sole purpose of draining w et ami marshy laml ; be
it therefore enacted, that it shall he lavvfid.for any jicrson to make bricks for
tlie sole purpose of draining wet and marshy lamls without being charged or
chargeable with any duty for or in resjicct of such bricks, all such bricks
being in the making thereof stamped or moulded with the word " drain" in
or near the centre of the surface of such bricks, in so plain and distinct a
manner that the same may be easily and clearly legible to any officer of ex-
cise or other person ex.imining the same both before and after such hricks
shall have gone through tlie ])rocess of burning and become fit for use: pro-
vided always, that it shall not be lawful for any person to employ or make
use of any such bricks for any other purjiose than in draining wet and marshy
anils, and in constructing the necessary drains, gouts, cvdverts, arches, and

walls of the brickwork proper and necessaiily required for effecting and main-
taining the drainage of such lands ; and every maker of such bricks or other
jierson who shall sell or deliver or use or employ any brick with the word
" drain " so stamped or moulded thereon for any other [lurpose than as aforesaid
shall forfeit fifty pounds.

Section 25, this act shall commence on the 22d day of .Vugust, 18.39.

THE XEW HOUSES OF PARLI.VMENT.

On Friday, 27th September, pursuant to notice, the tender for the tliird
contract for the new Houses of Parliament, comprising the carcase of the
principal building occup\ing the river front, and returns or w ings projecting
forward at each end to the river wall — were opened before the Commis-
sioners of Her Majesty's Board of Works, when after a spirited competition
as will be seen from the subjoined list of tenders put in by some of the prin-
cipal builders in the metropoUs. The contract was decided in favor of
Messrs. Grissel and Peto, the well-known builders of the York Road, Lam-
beth.

Messrs. Grissel and Peto . . . .£159,718

Mr. Baker ..... 167,746

Mr. Cubitt ..... 174,452

Mr. Winsland .... 177,489

.Messrs. Lee .... 1 79,-363

Mr. Grimsdell .... 181.588

Mr. Piper ..... 183,106

Mr. Hicks ..... 183,899

Mr. Bennett .... 184,639

It is expected that three years will expire before the above contract will

lie finished, and that it wiU be ten years ere the structure will be entirely

completed.

IXSTITUTE OF THE ARCHITECTS OF IRELAND.

.\. special meeting of the members of the Institute was held in Dublin ou
the 8th ult. to install the Viscount Fitzgerald and Vesey into office as Presi-
dent. Addresses were made both by his Lordship and Mr. Morrison, the
Vice-President, which in a tone of eloquence called on the members to per-
severe in the useful course which they had undertaken. It gives us much
pleasure to see the interest taken in such an important institution.

STEAM NAVIGATION.

THE ARCHIMEDES STEAM VESSEL.
Our readers will probably recollect that the Archimedes, a remarkably
fine-formed vessel, of 230 (?) tons buideii, fitted with a pair of engines,
of 45-liorse power each, niaiiufactiired by Alessrs, Renoie, and the
screw puipeiler, as applied by Jlr. Smiili, was liist tiled early last
summer, and that the experiments were suspeniled, in consequence of
the unfortunate bursting of one of tlic^ boilers. At that time llie screw
consisted of one whole turn of a single thread, 7 feet in diamefer, and
S feet pitch. The boilers have, now been repUiced by two new ones,
niaiinfartured by Jlcssrs. IMiller and Kavenliill; and at the same time
a modification has been introduced in the torni of the propeller. It
consists now of two half-turns of a thread, .5 feet 9 inches in diameter,
and 10 feet pitch, placed diametiically opposite to each other on the
propeller shaft, so as to occupy a space of only 5 feet in the length of
the vessel.

These alterations being completed, an experimental trip was made
down Iho river to Gravesend, on Monday, tlie •ilh ult, and the result
was considered highly satisfactory. We regret that we were unable to
be present, as we can, therefore, only speak from information we have
collected since.

Vvc understand that she run from Gravesend to London Hridge,
a distance of 28 to 30 miles, \\hich was acromplished in two hours, both
wiiul and tide being favourable. Xo conclusion can, however, be drawn
from this result, respecting the comparative pertorniauce, on account of
the co-operation of the wind and tide ; but the mean speed of the vessel
through the water was ascertained during the trip, by noting the time
in \%liicli she ran a mile, lirst with, and afterwards against the tide.
The results of the experiment were the following: —

Time ot'running the mile with the tide ^ 32

Number of revolutions of the engine shaft per min. 22

The speed over the ground was, therefore, ^er hour, 13.2 miles.

Time of running the mile against the tide !>'o'

Number of revolutions of the engine shaft 23

Speed over the ground CO miles.

Tlie mean speed through the water was thus 9.9 „

'Ihe mean number of revolutions of the engine shaft was 22| per
minute, which, niiiltiplied by a^ (which Mr. Smith Informs us is the
multiplying power of the wheel-work, which communicates the motion
from tlie engine shaft to the propeller), gives 120 for the number of
revolutions ot the screw per minute. If the screw were moving through

issn.j

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

443

a solid body, it would adviinre the length of its pitch in each levoliition,
or 1200 feet per minute, which is the same as IS (i miles an hour; hnt,
since the vessel, and consequently also the screw only advanced at the
rate of 0.9 miles an hour, (here must have been a recession of the screw
through the water, in the direction of the shaft, equal to 3.7 miles an
hour. The proportion of the available power of the en^'ines effectively
employed in propellinp; tiie vessel was, therefore, 72.7 per cent,, the
remaining 27.3 per cent, being expended in obtaining the necessary
resistance to the propeller.

iMr. Herapatli, in his report in the Railway Magazine for the 19th
October, has counnitted an error of 1.1 mile an hour to the disadvantage
of the perfoimauce, in consequence of taking ihe mean tiuie of running
a mile, and findin;; tlie corresponding speed, instead of taking the mean
of the speeds with and against the tide. We believe the latter to be the
nuuhod usually followed ; but, in case there may be any doubt as to its
correctness, it is easily demonstrated thus.

The speed with the tide is equal to the velocity of the vessel through
the water (which is required to be determined), added to the velocity
of the tide, which is an indeterminate quantity. Also llie specil a:;ainst
the tide is equal to the velocity through the water, diminished by the
velocity of the tide. If, therefore, we call the former ( and the latter
r, we shall have

Speed with the tide = V + v

.Speed against the tide = F — v

By adding these two quantities together, t; is eliminated, and we find

that the speed with the tide, added to the speed against the tide, is

€qual to twice the speed through the water.

THE HONOURABLE EAST INDIA COMPANY'S STEAM SHIl',
THE " QUEEN."
The tine vessel, which is of the same class as the government steamers,
Medea, I'hcenlx, Salamander, and Rhadamanthus, was built at Lime-
liouse by Messrs. Curling and Young, the celebrated builders of the
British Queen and President, and fitted with a pair of engines of 110-
horse power each, by Messrs. Seaward & Co., of the Canal Iron Works.
She is furnished with Hall's patent condensers, with appaiatns for
supplying the boilers with distilled water to make good the waste. The
slides are ofjlessrs. Seaward's patent. The armament consists of four
32-pounders, besides two long guns of 8-inch calibre, one forward and
the other aft, inteniled to carry hollow shot ; they move upon slides and
tixed pivots, which enables them to take :>. much wider range than the
ordinary carriage can give.

The following are the principal dimensions of her hull and machinery :

Length between the perpendiculars 173 feet

Breadth within the paddle boxes 31 „

Breadth over all 19 „

Depth of hold 19 ft. 6 in.

Buildei's Tonnage.

ibl) - tons

114

Weight of the hnll .511

Diameter of the cylinders 5(; inches

stroke ot the pistons .5 feet

Diameter of the air pump 28 inches

Length of Stroke 2 ft. G in.

Area of the steam passages into the cylinders CO square inches

Area of the eduction passages 95 „

Number of tubes, 0 It long and J inch diameter in

the two condensers 2.500 „

Diameter of paddle wheels 22 feet

Length of the floats 8 „

Depth of the outer boaid 10 inches

Depth of the inner 12 „

Advance of the outer board before Ihe inner one 8 „

Number of pairs of floats on each wheel 20

Number of boilers 2

Number of furnaces 0

Lenglli of boilers 14 fVet

Breadth of the tsvo boilers 21 ft. ti in.

Weight of the engines 220 tons

Weight of the boilers 42 „

Weight of the water they contain when filled 30 „

Weight of the coal carried 240 ,,

Which at 10 tons per diem is sufficient for 1.5 days

On Thursday the 2tth ult. the "Queen," with a parly of naval and
scientific gentlemen on board, made an experimental trip from Black-
wall down the river as far as Greenhithe. When she was got under weigh,
we perceived that the Archimedes, which was lying a little farther down
the river, had her steam up, and was ready lor a run. Accordingly, as
soon as we were nearly on her quarter, she started, and the two vessels
maintained nearly the same relative positions for some lime, until we
stopped to take a party on board, when the Archimeiles shot a-head, and
as she drew about .5 feet less water than the Qiucn, she was enabled to
keep nearer in shore, so as not to feel the full influence of the tide.
Notwithstanding this advantage the Arcliimedei did not seem to gain
up"n ns, by which we judge her speed ihiuugU the icater to have been
rather less, or at least not more than ours. The Archinuda returned

without having proceeded so far as Erith, or having ascertained her rate
through the water; but, by conipaiison with the s|)eed of the Queen, as
I'ound at the measured mile in Long reach, we should su|)pose it to have
been about 9^ statule miles an hour. As she passed ns on her return
she filed a salute of two guns, we suppose in token of victory. We then
proceeded to Long leach, wlipre we noled the time of riinniug a mile,
first against both wind and tide, then with both in favour. The results
were as follows :

Time of lunning the mile against the tide . 9'3"
Time of running the mile with the tide . 4'44"

whence we deduce llo' speed of Ihe vessel over ihe ground.

Against the lide G.32 miles.

With the tide 12.08 „

iMean speed, independent of the tide 9.5 „

The nnird)er of revolutions of the wheels per minute, vvith wind and
tide in favour, was 19j — -against wind and tide, ISJ, which shews that
the dift'ereuce of speed through the water must have been more than half
a mile an hour.

The mean draught of water was about 14 fiet C inches, and the dip of
the f!o;;ts 3 feet 9 inches ; but, as the ship had a " a list to starboard,"
the (lip of the hu board wheel was a little less, and that of the starboard
wheel a little mure Ihaii the above : which accounts for the fact, that
the back-waler from the latter was rather consiileiable while there was
nothing but a slii;ht fall of spray from the former, through which the
wheel was distinclly seen.

The piessure in the boiler before the experiment, was 5lbs. on the
square inch, but just before we arrived at the measured mile, it had
fallen to 4 jibs. The gauge on the starboard condenser marked
29 -fif inches of mercury, and that on the larboard condenser 29 [i ; the
oscillations were seldom grea-er than y^ of an inch, sometimes even
less. The motion of the engines was during the whole trip remarkably
smooth and n giilar.

Having finislied the above experiments, we were siimmoued to an
elegant and substaiiti.il cold collation, which had b en prepared by our
hospitable entert, liners, the Messis. .Seawaid, and the day passed very
ai:retal)ly, in spite of the weather, which was by no means such as to
enhance the pleasure of an excursion by water.

Government Steamer. — Orders have been received .at AVoolwich dockyai'd
from the Lords of the Admiralty, to build a steam-ship of 200 horses power,
to he named the Lizard. She is to lie constructed with all possible expe-
ilition.

Vernmi Steamer anil Sailiiuj Sliij). — The Vernon is 170 feet long, 30 feet
beam, and 22 feet deep, drawing about 15 feet 0 inches water, and of 1000
tons measurement. She is fitted with a steam engine of 32 horses power,
manufactured by Messrs. Seaward, and calculated to make, in calm weather,
30 revolutions in a minute ; the boilers consume about 2^ cwt. of coals per
hour. She lately left Blackwall, on a trial against a strong flood tide, with
jib and driver set in the wind's eye, blowing very bard from the S.S.W., the
engine propelling her at the rate of about 3.V knots the hour, and performing
18 revolutions per uiiuute. It apjiears from accounts tliat have been received
of the performances of this vessel since her departure, that the propelling
apparatus is of considerable service to her as a sailing ship. She is expected
to maketlie voyage to India in about 70 days.

Tin- '■ Allciitlc " SU'im-Sliip. — This fine vessel may no'.v be seen, in all her
proporiiuns, in (he Ijuilding-yaril of the Messrs. Wilson, north side of the
Clarence l)«ck, Liverpool. She is building for the Transatlantic Steam Com-
pany, and intended as a companion to the Liverpool in the Now York trade.
Her tonnage exceeds that of the Liverjiool by nearly 500 tons, and slie Hill
be ready for launching in the course of six weeks or two months.

T/ic IVitJiam Commissioners having, from repeated observations satisfied
themselves that the great speed and racing of ihe steam-packets on the river
are causing much injury to the banks and foreshores, are aljout restraining
them to a lesser speed l,i/ lime.~an allernativc to nhich they have bad_re-
conrse before. Tlie present packets lieing propelled by engines of from 25 to
30 horses power, and being high-pressure, are « orked generally at from 40 to
50 lbs. on the square inch ; su'ch vessels mav work with perfect .safety in the
large tidal rivers or estuaries of the sea, but are altogether unfit for naviga-
tions like the M'itham ; "nd unless some new mode of propelling steamer.s
can be adopted which will abate the great agitation of the waters from the
old paddle-whiel. the sooner the jwrties liable to uphold the river stop the
injury now going on, the better.— .SVnw/on/ Mercnrij.

Messrs. .Irraman. of nrislol.—'l'bc spirited bouse of the Messrs. Acraman
are about to enlarge llic engineering branch ot ibcir trade, already very ex-
tensive and of high repule. They liave taken into partnership Thomas Hol-
rovd, Esq., late of the lirm of Ferguson, Brothers, and Co., of Calcutta, and
William Morgan, Esq.. of London, Engineer ; and the designation of tins imr-
ticular department will, in future, be " Acramans, Morgan, and Co." Mr.
Morgan is a {lentlemaii of known experience, and under bis able direction the
energies of the concern are, we underslanil, about lo be directed to the ma-
nufacture, with oilier machinery, of the most powerful engines, as well as for
marine as fur rail-road purposes. They have also, we have heard, taken the
ground beyond Clift-bouse. directly facing the course of the river, whieli they
intend as a yard for the building of iron steam-ships. Emiiloymenl will thus
be created fin- a great number of bands. We cordially wish the concern all
success. — Bristol Journal.

444

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND AKCIUTiCCT-S JOURNAL.

[November,

ENGIWEEHING -WORKS.

OPENING OF THE BUTE DOCKS, AT CARDIFF.

On Wednesday, tlie Otli ult., the day ai)]iointed for 0]icning tlic sjilciidid
docks and sliij) canal at CarditT, so nmniticently undertaken and eonipleled
at the cost of the Mariniis of Bute, the town of Carihtf presented a most ani-
mated appearance, tliere being a vast intlux of people from all the neigh-
bouring towns — from MerthjT and from the hills — all an\ious to unite in
one general tribute of respect to their common benefactor, and we were de-
lighted to witness the enthusiasm with which the name of the noble Lord
was receiverl by all classes ami persons of every shade of opinion.

Tlie importance of this undertaking can only be duly estimated by con-
sidering the vast imi)rovements which have been made and are now daily
making in Bristol and throughout South Wales, new harbours being esta-
blished, villages rising into towns of importance, and fishing stations becom-
ing busy seajiorts. The improvements of machinery also will, by means of
these docks and the Bristol and Exeter railway, open a direct and sjieedy
comnnmication between Cardiff and London througli Bristol, as the iMstance
from Cardiff to Bristol, 12 miles by sea to U))hill, and thence 22 by railway,
mav be performed in something less than two hours, in addition to its being
always a certain passage practicable at all states of ti<le.

Tlie construction of the docks was entrusted to Mr. Cubitt, of London, as
engineer in chief, and to Mr. Turnliull, as the resident engineer.

We will endeavom- to give a few particulars of the construction of the
docks in our next number.

]l'i/re Hnrhotir.— At the mouth of the harbour, nearly 800 men are em-
ployed, under the superintcivlenc- of Captain Dcnham, in cutting away a
small triangular point of sand, which at present narrows materially the im-
mediate chvanncl. a kind of strait, betwoen the sea and the main Ijody of the
water cnnstitufing the harlx.ur. In connectimi with tliis work, worlimen are
also employe;l in euttini;' off a connecting stream between a lower part of the
harbour and the sea — tjuis forcing the whole body of the water, and a por-
tion of the tidal water, to flow in one cinTent, which, if accomplished, will
answer the double purpose of scouring the channel from the mouth of the
harbiiur to the sea. and of acquiring an increased supply of water, constantly
available for vessels entering or going out of the harbour. If tliis point be
gained, it will add importantly to the utility and value uf tlie haven. The
directors have commenced tlie erection of a dredging vessel, for the purpose
of scouring the harbour when necessary, and of removing the small shoals of
sand which intercept, here and there, the free navigation. A number of
excellent punts are already made, and a steam tug is in conslant readiness
for towing vessels entering the harbour, when a tug is required, and also fur
assisting in the various improvements carrying forward for extending the
capabilities of the bay, as a port for large vcsse's. Sir Hcsketh Fleetwood
is giving indefatigable attention to the construction of the diti'erent works
comprised in the undertaking, and is sparing neither pains, labour, nor ex-
pense, in order to the successful accomplishment of the entire project. M'e
had the opportunity of visiting VIceiwood the other day. and were much
struck with the beauty and excellence of the plans laid down for the erection
of the intended town. If completed according to the present designs, it will,
beyond all doubt, be one of the most uniform, well built, and elegant towns
in the kingdom. .So far, however, as the existing plans extend.it will be, by
no means, an imporlant town as to size. M'lien we were down, there was a
vessel of between seven and eight Immlrcd (ons bnrlben floating in the har-
bour at low water. We had not the means of ascertaining whether the
harbour is capable of accommodating simultaneously several such vessels. —
Prpston Chrouich'.

Improvcvienis in U'oofivirh Burlnjard. — It has been found expedient to con-
struct an immense new dry dock tor steam and other vessels of war in this
Government )ard. the Admiralty having resolved upon filling np the former
intended new dry dock, which, from strong springs, it was found impossiljle
to make available, after an expenditure uf upw ards of 70,000?. Coflerdams
have been formed on the sunthern side of the magnificent basin, and an ex-
cavation commenced, wliich is proceeding very favourably, under the super-
intendence of an officer of the Royal .Sappers and Miners (Lieut. Dennison),
who is attached to the dockyard for the purpose of inspecting the new works.
The site of the new dry dock has already been excavated 20 feet, and as yet
there has not been any spring met with to arrest the progress of the under-
taking, which, when completed, will render the basin and docks of Woolwich
yard among the most commodious in the country. — Times.

Tlie Mfnai Bridge is undergoing a complete repair, having suffered consi-
derable damage iii the storm last winter. Government has granted 8.000/.,
but tliis is by no means sufficient.

The waierx of tlie Fossriilte have been drained oil', and Mr. Ellison, in com-
pany with Mr. Stevenson the well-known civil-engineer, is understood to be
surveying the river preparatory to effecting such improvements as are needed
to adapt it to the existing demands of trade. We congratulate Mr. K. on his
taking this step, without pressing the extra toll of Gil. per ton ; to that mer-
. chants. &c., would never submit, and ISlr. E. must perceive that increase of
trade on the nsvigalion. when put into a Ihorougbly navigable state, would
quickly rejiay an outlay of a few thousand pounds. — Stam/nrd Mereiirij.

Rihble Nnvigatimi [wpritveiiient. — The dredging li.as proceeded most auspi-
ciously. No machine ever answ ered the purpose of dredging more effectually
or more satisfactorily.. At Peg Hill the bar has been, to a considerable ex-
tent removed, and the channel through it will, at the end of this week, be
sufficient to admit the largest vessels w Inch comes into Ly tliam. The dredge
has cleared from its Ijed, lor this last three weeks, the average quantity of
tieo hundred mid si.rtif tojis per day . The merchants of Preston, in high spirits

respecting the prospect of improved n.-ivigatiun. have already dclcrniinc-d to
bring their largest vessels up to Preston forth. vith; those vessels which
hitherto have been compelled to discharge their cargoes at liVtham. It was
deemed advisable to procure a steam-vessel, to be ajuilied, when occasion re-
quires, as a steam-tug. An inm vessel, called the " Lily." will, in all pro-
bability, proudly and graeefnlly make its bow to the shores of proud Preston,
next week. This vessel will be iised throughout the year for the conveyance
of gooils and \)assengers. The " Lily " is nearly a new vessel ; contains two
engines, each twelve horse-power, and only draws three feet six inches of
wa'cr. — a draft admirably suited for the present state of the river. M'hen
the large vessels begin to make Preston their port, the dues arising from the
river will be advanced to threefold their present proceeds, as they will have
to be paid for crossing three lines, flu se of Lytham, Freckleton, and
Heskelh Bank, instead of one only, as was formerly the case. — Maneliester
Chro/iiele.

PROGRESS OF RAIIj^VAVS.

Gliisr/ow and Paislcij Kuilieni/.—Thi-i railway is getting on very rapidly :
alreadv a great part of the line is in a forward s'ate. A number of houses
in Tradcston are at present taking down to make way for the depot, and
there are likewise several bridges'building across the streets. Tradeston is
in a complete stir, and w hen this line of railway is finished, it will materially
enhance the value of property both in Glasgow and Paisley. — Glasgow Chro-
nicle.

Midland Connlie.-t Railieni/. — The fine w eather during the last fortnight has
enabled the work people employed in the various departments of this im-
portant undertaking to ni:ike censiderable progress along different parts of
the line. The embankment on the left of the'llumberstone Road appears to
have been proceedeil with more slowly than any other portion of the line,
but, according to present appearances, may be expected to unite with the
Thurmaston section earlv in the ensuing year. The tunnel under the Free-
men's common is getting on expeditiously. Half the distance has already
been accomplishecl, and as workmen are enga,ge[| night and daj- in the task,
the whole must be concluded by Christmas. Tlie two stations near the Lon-
don Road are also proceeding with activity, as is the bri Ige loading over the
railway to the union workhouse. The bridge leading from Regent Street to
the Occupation Koad is nearly finished, and preparations for another, in Gaol
Lane, have been made w itiiiii the last few days. — Leieester Chronicle.

Manchester and Birmingham Railieni/. — Congletoii Viudnct. — The first stone
of tlie celebrated viaduct at Congleton, on "the line of the Manchester and
Birmingham Raihvav. was laid with much ceremony on M'ednesday the 26lh
Septenilier. Those of our readers w bo are interested in railway undertakings,
know the magnitude of this work; but bv those who do not, the following
particulars will be read with interest. The viaduct is intended to run in a
direction nearly north and south, and will cross the river Dane at a point
about three chains belo'.v the extensive silk mill of Mr. Samuel Pearson. It
will cross the Nencaslle-road at a point about a chain to the west of the
corner of Dane-street. In length, the viaduct will be 3078 feet, or nearly a
mile, 31 feet in width, and 27 feet between the parapets ; the span will be 60
feet, w ith 20 feet rise. There will be 42 arches, which are segments of circles.
The greatest height from the river to the rails will be 98 feet G inches. The
bases of the piers are intended to be of stone for about twelve feet in height
above the ground ; the imposts and parapets will also be of stone, and the
rest of the structure of brick. The viaduct will contain about 61.000 cubic
yards of brickwork, and about 586,000 cubic feet of stone work, and is ex-
pected to be completed in two years and a half The cntraelors are, Messrs.
John and Samuel Elakeley, of Manchester. The engineers in chief of the
railway are Robert Stephenson and George Watson Buck, Esqrs., and W.
Baker, Esq., a young gentleman of promising abilities, is the assistant en-
gineer of the Congletim length —Mr. Buck stated that the viaduct would be
the most gigantic .structure ever attempted in this country— in ibis kingdom
—or indeed In Europe, in modern times. It would be a thousand feet larger
than tlie largest bridge uf masonry in Europe, which was llie Pont da Saiiil
E.^prit, m'cr the Rhone. It would be more than three times the height uf
that bridge, and it would occupy six times its volume.

Hull and Xelbi/ Railway. — The rapid progi-ess of the works at the Hull ter-
minus during the last month or six weeks cannot fail lo have arrested the
attention of the most casual observer. At the principal Inmt of llie Hull
station, on the West .side of the Humber Dock, the lofty warehouses of the
company, which are 270 feet in length by 4.5 feet in width, have received the
frame work of the roof, and are now being covered in. The stone front of
the company's offices has also attained the full height of the first story ;
H hen finished they w ill present an imposing appearance. The entire frontage
towards the duck, including the entrances to the lines of tram-road, which
will be placed on etieli side of the warehouses .and the offices, w ill be about
210 feet. The tram-roads will cross the street on a level with the pavement,
and extend (|uile up to the quay, where the waggons may be loaded, and the
goods conveyed by this and other connecting railways to Leeds, Manchester,
Liverpool, Birmingham, London, Stc. The works at the Kingston-street en-
trance, coachbuiklers', smiths', engineers', and turners' shops, offices of
works, (tc, tire akvo rapidlv assuming the appearance they are finally to
bear; the engine-house and 'lofty chimney of the stationary engine are com-
pleted, the boilers are set. and the engine is nearly ready for work ; it will
be first employed in sawing the immense piles of Baltic timber, landed by
Messrs. W. Beadle, Sykes, and Co., the agents to the contractors, an exten-
sive house at Riga ; of which nearly four thousand loads have already been
delivered. This timber is intended for the basisof a portion of tlie permanent
rails. The tanks for Kyaiiising the timber are upon the hydraulic principle
and ansii er the purpose extremely well, the wood being completely saturated

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

445

by this process. ^Mr. Walkor. ihu engineer, has stated that it is done in a
more cftecuial manner than any he has yet wilnesscih Some idea of the ex-
tent of premises required fur tlie station of a railway company may he formed
by those wlio have never seen such buildings, uhen they arc informed that
the ground purchased by the company for this and other purposes adjoining
Kingston-street, the Hiimber Dock siile. Sic. exceeds five acres, a considerable
portion of whicli is now being covered v. ith various needful edifices. The
arrangements of these buildings, not\» ilhstanding the large extent of ground
■which they will cover, are admirable for compactness and facilities of inter-
communication, Tlie ease with which passengers may enter and leave the
carriages, and goods be Ioadc(l and unloaded from the carriage ways, being a
couple of feet below the pavement immediately adjoining on each side, both
in the w archouse and passengers shed, w ill also be a great convenience. At
the .Selby temiinus. two sloop loads of castings were delivered last week for
the iron bridge, wliich w ill be a splendid structure, and one of the largest, if
not the largest, of the kind in the kingdom. It is expected to be put up in a
few weeks. The castings have also been shipped lor the Dcrwent bridge,
which will be erected in about a month. Tlie whole of the rails and chairs
are contracted for, and the laying of the permanent way. which has been
commenced between Ilessle and Hull, will shortly be in progi-ess throughout
the line, which the contractors engage to complete by the 1st May, 1840.
Fifty waggons, for goods, are contracted for. and the carriages of the first
and second classes arc nearly completed. The locomotive engines, which are
being manufactured by Messrs. Fcnion. Murray, and M'tod, of Leeds, are in
an advanced state of forwardness. A\"c observe that the large culvert at the
Xiime-kiln-creck (about w hich so much has been said) is nearly completed.
In fact, to whatever part of the w orks tlie eye is directed, activity and rapid
progress are manifest, so that no doubt remains of the opening'uf the line
next summer — we hope in the early part of it. A se\enlh call of 5/. per
share has just been made ; and it is gratifying to learn the readiness with
which the previous calls have been met : of the sum required on loan, and
for which the company have not advertised, we understand that only a \ery
small portion, about 21,000/. remains to be taken up. — Hull Ailfert'iscr.

New Locomotive Engine. — Messrs. Peel, Williams, and Peel, of the .Soho
Iron Works, Ancoats, have recently turned their attention to the manufac-
ture of locomotive engines for railroads; and on Wednesday trial was made
of their first engine, on the Liverpool and Manchester line. The general form
and disposition of the pans of this engine resemble those of the Liverpool
and Manchester and Grand Junction Lines; the only dlHijrence being in the
mode of working the valves. There are no eccentrics, but, in jdace of them,
two spur wheels staked on to the crank axle, driving two other wlieels of
equal diameter placed immediately over them, and running in a frame sup-
ported by the crank axle, so as to preserve the distance between the centres
constantly the same, and unafl'ected by the motion of the engine on its springs.
The wheels last mentioned are attached to a short axle or shaft, carrying at
each end a small crank arm, which drives a connecting rod attached to the
valve spindle. There is likewise a very important and creditable improve-
ment in the construction of the .striking lever for reversing the motion, which
we are unable to describe intelligibly without the aid of a drawing. The re-
sults of the experiments on Wednesday, during a trip from Manchester to
Liverpool, with the nine .^.m. first-class train, consisting of seven carriages,
each weighing five tons, as reported by Mr. Edward Woods, the superin-
tendent engineer, were most satisfactory. On the same day, tli? engine per-
formed anolher experimental trip, from Liverpool to Manchester, with 25
loaded waggons, weighing in the gross, 133 tons 18 cwt. 2 qrs. Previous to
this experiment, the " Soho '' had been running a fortnight with passengers
on the Liverpool and Manchester Line, and during that time, Mr. AVoods
informs us, " no failure has taken place, and the trains have usually been
brought in biforc their time." — ilamlu-ster Courier.

NE'W CHURCHES, «ic

Staffordshire. — A new church is to be erected immediately, at Hill Top, in
the parish of Westbromvvich, Robert Kbl)els, Architect.

Staffordxhiri . — The parish church of Wilbenhall is about to be very much
enlarged, under the directions of Robert Ebbels, Architect. ;.

Staffordshire. — The parish church of Womboume is going to be repaired,
restored, and greatly enlarged, from designs by Robert Kbbels. Architect.

Sonthwarh. — A new church has been completed in Park-st It is a large and
commodious structure, with a handsome bell tower 100 feet in height. The
style of architecture is Gothic, and it is capable of accommodating 1,000
persons. One half the sittings are free. Adjoining the church is a range of
lofty buildings intended for the new grammar school of St. .Saviour's, cor-
responding w ith the architecture of the church. The old schocd-house oppo-
site the ancient church of St. Saviour is to be rased to the ground ; ihe site
will be devoted to the enlargement of the Borough market, and will con-
siderably improve the appearance of that locality. The benefits of a moral
and religious education ace rding to the tenets of the established church will
be extended to a larger number of scholar^ than the old school-house could
accommodate. The new church will be consecrated in a few days by the
Bishop of Winchester. The site was presented by Messrs. Potts, the vinegar
merchants. The church has been erected by the trustees of the late Mrs.
Hyndman's bounty, at an expense of about 6,000/. The new school-house
will cost about as much more, and will form an ornament to the district. —
Times.

Yorkshire. — It gives us great pleasure to state, that Mr. J. Walker, the
respected owner of the Sand-Hutton estate, near York, is now erecting a very
neat and commodious chapel-of-ease at tliat place, which is in the parish of
Bossall, and at a considerable distance from the parish church. The works are
progressing rapidly, and under the direction of Mr. .Salvin. of London, the
architect, will soon approach to completion. — Doncaster Chronicle.

Bin.iiiigham. — The cer..>mony of laying the foundation stone of the first of
the ten churches proposed to be erected in Birmingham took place on Satur-
day the 5th ult., at the silo granted bv the Messrs. Kobins, near Great Lister-
street. The situation is admirably ad'aptcd for eliecting the object intended
by the originator and subscribers to the fund, being in the centre of a very
large and increasing population. The committee have adopted the plan of
Mr. Thomas, of Leamington, and the church will be of the carlv decorated
gothic style of architecture, having a tower and spire of 125 feet in height ;
with lancet windows to the side walls, the windows to the tower and com-
munion being finished with niullions and tracery heads. Th" roof w ill be of
one span, with open framed principals, and pierced spandrils and corbels to
the side walls. The structure is to be built of brick, the spire and moulded
work being of \Vheoley Castle stone ; and the ground floor, w hen completed,
is intended to contain six hundred sittings in news of the first and second
class, and two hundred free seats. The end gallery will likewise supply two
hundred free sittings, making a total of one thousand sittings; and the con-
tract stipulates that the whole shall be completed by the first of September
ISiO.— Midland Counties Herald.

Stafford.diire. — At a vestry lately held at Leek it was agreed to elevate the
front of the west gallery, so as to give a lighter appearance to the church
generally, and to facilitate the labours of the preaclier by ailbrding a free
circulation to the sound. The other alterations are rapidly advancing to-
wards completion. Tlu'ee handsome arches have been erected on each side
of the body of the cliuich. The gallery on the north side is finished, with
the exception of painting; and the one on the south side is in a state of con-
siderable forwarcincss. Altogether the work is of a very satisfactory kind,
and when comploleii will aflurd to Leek a very elegant and convenient parish
church. An increase of about three hundred sittings will be obtained, the
whole expense of which will be sustained by the voluntary contributions of
the inhabitants. In addition to the ancient free accommodation lor the poor,
which was very considerable, 137 more will be appropriated to their use in
the new north gallery.

Old Windsor. — Tlie corner-stone of a new district church for the parish of
Old Windsor, Berks, was laid on Friday 27th ult., by her Uoyal Highness the
Princess Augusta, in the presence of a highly respectable and numerous as-
semblage. After the usual ceremonies, the inscription was read by the archi-
tect. Mr. Kbbi^Is, of Trysull. near Wolverhampton ; it was as follows : — '■ The
corner-stone of this church was laid by Her Royal Highness the Princess
Augusta, on the 27th day of September, in the year of our Lord, 1839, and in
the third year of the reign of ller Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria.
Robert Ebbels, architect."

.tshbourne Chnrch, in Derbyshire. — This fine old church is at present under-
going a very extensive internal beautifying and repairing. A public sub-
scri])tion has been raised, and the sum already obtained amounts to upwards
<jf 2 000/. Ashbourne Church is one of the finest, oldest, and largest churches
in Derbyshire, and it is well worth the repair which it is receiving.

Welch Chnrch. — It is in contemplation to erect a Welch church in London
for tlie especial use of the natives of the principality, to worship their Maker
in their own language. M'e cordially concur in the object of the promoters
of this excellent undertaking, and trust it will meet w ith the support of the
M'elch nobility and gentry throughout the kingdom. — Cambrian.

Nea' Catholic Church at Stall/bridge, — 0;i M'edncsday 2(3th .Steptember. the
Catholic church, liedicatcd to St. Peter, was consecrated. Tlie edifice is built
of stone, in the Gothic style, and cost upwards of 4,000/. in its erection.

PUBLIC BUIIaDINGS, «(c.

Queen's CvlTcge, Bath~T\i\s eitensive structure, designed liy .1. M'ilson, Esq.,
of Bath, is now in the course of erection on Claverton Down, a lofty and com-
manding eminence, from which it will overlook the city of Bath, and be .seen
in everv dinclion. The Grand Terrace in front of the building is 800 feet in
length 'by 60 feet in width, is intended for the carriage approach, there is
also a smaller terrace '20 feet wide, on which the building will be elevated,
this is to serve as a promenade for the use of the students and subscribers. The
extent of Ihe building is 600 feet long, and varying in width from 40 to 43
feet. It is of a uniform design in the .Saxon style, having a grand principal
entrance in the centre, consisting of a noble archway richly ornamentod .and
surmounted by the appropriate aims of the college, and leading under ihe
l.dty tower which is 130 leet high, to Ihe chapel extending to 80 teet beaind
tlic front. The wings on each side are terminated by embaitleil lowers at the
angles. The inferior arrangements consist of a lecture theatre oO by 60 feet,
capable of holding 600 p.-rsons ; a museum 100 feet by 40 teet, and a library
of the same dimensions. The students apartments are arranged on each side
of the long corridors, there are also apartments for the use ot the prolc.sors,
warden, and others connected with the establishment. 'Ihe rooms are so
arranged on the ground floor, that a view may be obtained from the principal
lecture-room through the great hall, saloons, vestibule and corridors to the
extent of upwards of 500 feet, to be illuminated bv a rich staincd-glass window
at the teriniiiaiion. The height of the budding varies from 3o to M feet,
some portions of which are Ihree stories high, the floors being concealed by
the tran.5vcrse mullions of the windows. It is estimated that the budding
will cost 30.000/., wh ch sum is to be raised by shares ol 100/. each, .and cal-
culated to accommodate 215 students, with capabilities of extending the num-
ber should it be found requisite.

Mechanics' Institution, Bath, is now erecting at the corner of Charlotte-
street and Queen-street, with a front elevation 70 feet in width by 40 teet in
height, and 44 feet in dcp'li, apuroaehcd by a flight of steps leading into a
large entrance vestibule with niches for four statues. The building will co:n-
pr.se a sou/fri»/H containing dwelling rooms for the librarian, a cuniiniltee
roim, and five ether rocms for the use of the various classes ; the ground

446

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[November,

fltior contains a library, reailinf; room and a mu^t'uni. together with the prin-
cipal staircase ; tlie upper floor is arranged to contain a large lectiu'c room,
rapablc of aecommoilating GOO persons, a pietiu-e gallery 65 feet in length,
also t«(i other rooms for philosophical apparatus, &c. The armorial bearings
over the doorway, are those of the city of Bath, the fayade is surmounted by
a statue of Minerva. 'Ihe front elevation and side Iront will Ije of Balh stone.
The estimate cost of the huiUling is 2400/., which the contractors h.ave en-
gaged to linisli for that sum. Mr. James AVilson, of Bath, is the aixhitcct.

Stotitgaif. — Herr Zanth, architect of .Stontgarl. Honorary and C'orrespond-
ing Member of the Rojal Institute of British Architects, 1ms recently com-
menced the erection oi a very elegant, althougli small, theatre for the King
cf Vurtemlierg at Cannstatt, near .Stutgart. The constructions arc already
far advanced, and if the winter should be sufllciently mild to permit the con-
tinuation of the works, it is expected that the first piece will be played in the
summer of next year. He has also nearly completed for the King a small
conservatory for tropical plants, upon the system of the English buildings
of that class.

BifiU/in!:^.s at Mintirh. — The author of an article in No. 27 of the Foreign
Quarterly predicted " that after a visit to Athens and Argigenlum, Paslnim
and Pompeii, the student in architecture will tinish his studies hereafter on
Ihe Glyplothek and Pinacothek of Klenze at Munich, and the Wachtgebaude
and Museum at Berlin." Such is the opinicin of an amateur (?) critic ; let us
now turn to the judgment of an intelligent foreign architect upon the very
same subject: — " I remained nearly two weeks in the capital of Bavaria, and
my opinion is very decidedly made up. Kdifices, as vast as tliey are nume-
rous, have been erected and are erecting in that city ; but among the three
arts which contribute to these variou; and important creations, architecture
is far frcm holding the first rank. To painting must the first palm be ceded.
then comes sculpture, and last of all. archilecturc. I cannot now develop all
the reasons, nor examine in detail all the monuments w liich cover the surface
of Munich, in support of my opinion ; but 1 shall take up (he task as soon
as my professional occupations, which have accumidaled during my month's
absense, allow me the leisure to do so," B. A.

raiSCELLANEA.

Wares of tlie Sea. — M. Aime has presented a memoir to the French Aca-
demy of Sciences, in which he gives the results of his experiments on the
depth to which the motion of waves extends, made in the Bay of Algiers, from
December, 18.38, to July. 1839, during the continuance of the lieavy north
and iiorlh-cast winds which caused such a gi-eat swell in the bay. He con-
cludes—1st, That the motion of the sea produced by the agitation of the
waves may be sensible 40 yards in depth ; 2dly, That the motion at the
bottom is oscillatory ; ami Sdly, That the extent of this oscillation varies
slowdy from ihe bottom to the surface.

Northern Li;^lits. — The northern lights were obsencd at Paris on Ihe 3rd
of September, at 10 o'clock in the evening. Also at Asli, in Piedmont, on
the 4th of September, at one in the morning, and at Alexandria, in Italy,
at ten o'clock in the evening.

LIST OP NCW PATENTS.

GR.^XTIiD IN IiNGL.\N-D FROM 27tH SEPTEMBER TU 2 ItH OCTOBER, 1839.

Joseph Clinton Robertson, of Peterborough Court, Fleet-street, Patent
Agent, for " an mijrroeed method of manufaciiiriiic/ artificial marble."
Communicated h)' a foreigner residing abroad. — Sealed, September 27 ; six
montlis,

JIenry J.vme* Pidding, of Osnahmgh-street, Middlesex, artist, for " im-
]irovements in collarn for horses and other animals." Commumcated bv a
foreigner residing abroad. — Sei)tember 27 ; six months.

Fr.vncis M.vceroni, of Saint James's-square, Middlesex, gent., for " im.
jn-ovements in steam boilers or r/enerators." — September 27 ; six months.

Thomas Robinson Williams, of Chcapsidc, gent., for "certain improve-
iiicnts in the manvfactiire of flerible fibrous substances, or conqmsitions, ap-
plicable to eoverimj biiitilinr/s, and other useful purjjoses, and also the ma-
chinery used therein." — FebruaiT 28 ; six months.

M iLLiAM Henry Burke, of Shoreditch, for " improvements in the mode
t)f const riictin;/ vessels for containing air, applicable to the purpose of raisinij
sunken, or Uftinij floating bodies under or in tenter ; and of fastening such
vessels to chains or other machinery, or apparatus to be used for raising or
i[ft">!l *■'«■/' bodies." — October 3 ; six mouths.

Job Cutler, of Lady-poole-lane, Sparbrook Wanvick, for " certain im-
jiroeed combinations of metals to be used for various purposes." — October 3 ;
six months.

Samuej. Hall, of Basford, Xottinghani, engineer, for " improvements in
machinery for propelling."— October 7; six months.

Francis Gvbbon, Spillsbmy, of M'alsall, Stafi'ordshire, chemist : JIarie
Francois Catherine Doetzer Corbaux, of Upper Norton-street, Middle-
sex, and Alexander Samuel Byrne, of Montague-square, gent., for " im-
provements in paints or pigments, and vehicles, and in modes of applying
2mints, pigments and vehicles." — October 7 ; six months.

John Lothian of Edinburgh, geograjilier, for " imjirovenmits in appa-
ratus for measuring, or ascertaining weiglits, strains or pressure." — October
10; six months.

John Barnett Humphreys, of Sontliampton, C. E., for '• certain im-
provements in shipping generally, and in steam vessels in particular, of some
of these improvements being individually novel, and some the result of novel
npplication, or combination of parts already inou-n."— October 10; sL\
months.

Jambs Smith of J)eaustou Works, Killmadock, Perth, cotton-spinner, for

" a self-acting temple, applicable to looms for wording fabrics, whether
ynoved by hand or power." — October 10 ; six months.

James Smith, of Deanston Works, Killniadoek, Perth, cotton spinner, for
^^ certain improvements applicable to canal navigation. — October 10; six
mouths.

John Swain Worth, of Manchester, merchant, for " improvements in
rotatory engines to be worked by steam, and ottier fluids, such etigines being
also applicable for pumping water and other liquids." — October 10 ; sLv
mouths.

David Harcourt of Bmuingham, brass founder, for " certain improve-
ments in castors for furniture and other purposes." — October 10; six
months.

Robert Edmu.vd Morrice, of King William-street, London, gentleman,
for *' improvements in the manufacture of boots and sttoes and coverings for
the legs." Communicated by a foreigner residing abroad. — October 17; six
montlis.

John Dickinson, of Bedford-row, ITolborn, Estp, for " certain improve-
ments in the manufacture of paper." — October 17; six months.

John Coope Haddi.ng, of Bazing-place, Waterloo-road, civil engineer,
and George Hawkes, of Gateshead, iron works, Durham, for " certain im-
provements in the construction of irheels for carriages to be used on rail'
ivays." — October 17; six months.

James Yatks, of the Effingham works, Rotherham, iron founder, for
*' certain improvements in the eonstitiction of furnaces." — October 19 ; six
months.

Charles Rober, of Leadenhall-street, cloth mannfactmer, for " improve-
ments infixing colour in cloth." — October 19 ; two months.

William Newton, of Chancery-lane, civil engineer, for ■' certain im-
provements in machinery or apparatus for working or manufacturing
screws." Communicated by a foreigner resiiUng abroad. — October 24 ; six
months.

James Sutcliffe, of Henry-street, Limerick, builder, for " certain im-
provements in mactiinery or apparatus for raisi/.g and forcing water, or
other fluids, and increasing tlie power of water upon water-ivlieels and other
machinery." — October 24 ; six months.

George Graydon, of Sloane-street, Chelsea, for " certain improvements
in instruments, for which letters patent were formerly granted to him, and
which were called therein, ' A new Compass for Navigation and other Pur-
poses, ^ parts of vhicti improvements are applicable to instruments for mea-
suring angles at sea or on shore, by aid of reflection or refraction, or of
reflection combined with refraction, and part are applicable to mngnetic
compasses for ascertainin// true bearings from celestial observations, and for
comparing the same with the bearing of the magnetic needle contained in
sucit compasses, whereby to determine and be enabled to allow for the devia-
tion of such needle from the true meridian, whetlier by variation, local
attraction, or oilier cause of error." — October 24 ; six mouths.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

ll'c are obliged to Major Turnbidl, of America, for tlie additional engravings
of the Putouute (tei/ueduet.

Mr. .Sheppartl has fueoured us with an extensive table of gradients, which we
shall puhli.sh ue.rt month. JVe are also obliged to him for injormation relative to
the progress of works in Susse.r, tvhich we are necessitated to postpone until next
month, which we liope he will cvcuse.

Agreeahlu to the wish of several correspondents, we are having an extensive table
calculated for setting out railway curves, which we expect to lie able to give next
month.

The next month^s Journal ivill conclude the second volume, we have to request
subscribers to complete their sets immediately.

We omitted to notice last month the receipt nf D. C.*.s- (a young mechanic) com-
niuuication relative to Buunett and Corpe s Coucentrir Engine, he will perceive
that a similar eonimunieatiou was published, which had been previously received,
which is the reason that we omitted his notice ; however we shall be glad to hear
front him respecting the latter pait of his eonimunieatiou.

As it is quite impossible for us to apply for information in regard to buildings
we have either not heard if at all, or else do not know who are any of tlie parties
employed upon them, we most earnestly request that professional gentlemen wilt
have the kindness to apprize us of the buddings they are executing, even should
they not care to favour us with any thing like a description of thain. A ,Joiirnal
like ours ought to be a record of all that is going on in architecture throughout the
kingdom ; yet it is hopeless to expect that the utmost exertions on our part can
render it such, if the only parties who are capable of .supplying us with the iiitelli-
geitee requisite for that purpose, will not do so of their own accord. We cannot
eontpltiiit of having met with any backwardness in furnishing the iiifarmation we
have solicited, on the part of those to whom we have applied for it directly : still,
for the reason Jirst assigned, it is only in a very few cases that we know where and
to whom we ought to address ourselves.

Communications are requested to be addressed to " The Kditor of the Civil
Kugiueer and Architect s Journal," No. II, Parliament Street, Westminster,
or to Mr. Groombridge, Panyer Alley, Paternoster lioiv ; if by post, to be di-
rected to the former place ; if by parcel, please to direct it to the nearest of the
two places u'here the coach arrives at in London, as we are frequently put to the
expcnrr of one or two shillings for the porterage only, of a very smalt parcel.

Books for review must be sent early in the month, communications on or before
the 20th (if with wood-cuts, earlier), and advertisements on or before the 25th
instant.

The First Volume may be had, bound in cloth and lettered in cold,
Pr CE 17s.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

447

CURTISS PATENT RAILWAY IMPROVEMENTS.

GROUND-ROPE APPARATUS.

Fig. 1

Ground-rope Apparatus.

A machine or apparatus for connecting or disconnecting a train
with a ground-rope whilst the rope is in motion. Figure 1 is a side
view, and Figure 2 a front view. C is the cable or rope. A, the
forewheels of the leading carriage, B, the framing of the carriage. A
stage is fixed to the front of the carriage, upon which is erected the
standard or frame//, a vertical bar of iron D is connected with the
train by the link g, and suspended to the frame by the chain g', which
coils round the barrel / ; the lower part of the bar is formed into a
kind of broad hook, the under side being formed like a latch, and the
face rounded longitudinally, and hollowed to receive the rope ; when
the rope is detached, it occupies the position shown by the dotted
lines, and the bar D, when about to hook up the rope, occupies the
position shown by the dotted lines in Figure 1 ; then by turning the
handle /;, the bar is lifted up, and brings the rope with it, which is
then tightly held or jammed, as in clams, between the broad hook of
the bar, and the pieces e fixed to the framing; at first the rope slides
through the clams and prevents concussion, but as the train gets into
motion, the sliding is less and less, until the train attains the full
velocity of the rope ; a ratchet is placed upon the axle of the windlass,
so as to hold up the bar, but in order instantaneously to disengage the
rope, a bar K is provided, which works on a joint /, so that at any
inoment the bar D may be thrown on on^. side, as shown by the dotted
lines in Figure 2, when the rope drops down, and the velocity of the
train is checked by the drags or brake in the usual way ; the fingers
p,p, are placed in order that Uhe rope may be prevented following
the hook of the bar D, when the rope is required to be thrown down ;
the upper part of the standard F is formed rounding in such way as to
allow full play to the upper end of the bar D.

Fig. 2.

No. 27.— Vol. U.— DiiCEMUEa, 1S3J

448

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[December,

Apfaratus to take up a Cauriage or Carriages whilst the

TRAIN IS at full SPEED.
Fig 3, SiJu View.

Fig. 4, Front View.

A maoliine or apparatus by which a carriage may be taken up and
attached to a train, without stopping the train. Figure 3 is a side
view and section, and figure 4 a front view. A, is the fore wheel of
the carriage to be taken up, and .r the axle ; upon the axle is placed
the sheave F, within which coils the rope C, the sheave runs loo.«e
upon the axle, and is thrown in and out of gear with it by the clutch D,
worked by the lever e, the end of the rope is made fast to the sheave,
and the rope coils over itself, the ro])e may be of any convenient
length, about lOU yards I consider sufiicient. B, B, are two supports
depending from the framing of the carriage to support the axle more
steadily. L, is tlie framing of the last carriage of the train, to the
side of the framing is fixed the hook K, a post h, is placed at a proper
distance, upon which is fixed the hook or bolt /, the ring g, fastened
to the end of the rope c', is then hooked upon the bolt /; the hook k,
of the passing carriage hooks into the ring and carries away the rope,
which then drags the carriage to which the pulley is attached along
with it; but the carriage is dragged after the train by a velocity so
much slower than the train, as is due to the quantity of rope uncoiled
for every revolution of the wheel A, for example, if the train passed
over five yards, and the rope uncoiled four yards, the space passed
over by the carriage at starting would be one yard or one-fifth the
velocity of the train, but the velocity of the carriage is increasing as
the coil of rope becomes less, and it moves slower than the train until
all the rope is unwound, then afterwards the rope winds upon the
axle, when the carriage then moves at a greater velocity than the train,
and in the same proportion as the rope coils up wlien it at last over-
takes the train, then when it has arrived close u]i to the last carriage,
a bolt is fixed into the drag link, and the clutch is thrown out of gear,
and the carriage is then united to the triiiu the same as the rest, hi
this instance the sheave and apparatus is applied to the carriage, but
it may likewise be applied to the engine or tender, and the best place
to fix it would be outside the wheels, lengthening the shaft, and hang-
ing the sheave upon it ; and as regards the operation of taking on the
coach, the link or ring t, of the rope will liook into the hook K, in-
stead of the ring into the liook as before described ; and the rope C
will coil round the reverse way to that shown in the drawing, the
carriage is of course placed in a siding, and it enters the line by a
switch in the usual way.

An improvehd Machinery or Apparatus for making Signals.

Figure 5

Tlie peculiarity of which consists
in conveying the signal a mile or
any convenient distance from the
station, the object being that the
engineer may pass the signal post,
and have distance and time suffi-
cient to stop the train before reach-
ing the station or place for stop-
ping ; the machine for a light is
shown in figure 5. A, is a lamp
post. C, a lantern of any peculiar
shape, with biU's-eyes on three
sides, or it may be formed of glass
like a street-lamii, or in any other
manner. C, is the lamp with re-
flectors behind the light in the usual
way. B, is a shade supported upon
the" vertical rod e, passing through
the post and united by a joint at
its lower end, with the bell-crank
F, to which is likewise suspended
the ball or weight M, to the other
end of the crank F, a joint is at-
tached, with which is connected a
strong wire g, which is led like a
bell-wire, by proper connections to
the crab h, placed in a room of, or
near, the station-house ; the wire,
or a chain or ro]ie united to its end
is fastened to the barrel (', of the
crab /;, which coils round the

barrel — then when a man turns round the handle k, by means of the
pinion fixed on the handle shaft, and the barrel wheel denoted by the
circle n ; the barrel / is turned round, and the chain, or rope, or wire
is coiled round the barrel, the wire drawn in, and the crank F made to
occupy the place shown by the dotted line, when the vertical rod e,
and shade B are raised, and the light concealed, the counterbalance M
is employed to keep the connecting wire g always stretched ; in places
where gas is employed, a large gas burner may be substituted for the
lamp, and the rod (, made to communicate with a stop cock, so that
by raising or depressing the rod the gas may be turned on or off, then
a small concealed jet of gas may be always burning so as to inflame
the larger jet when the rod is raised by the apparatus, thus a powerful
light may be used when needed, and when not required the gas mny
not l)e wasted. The apparatus as drawn is a night signal, or to be
used when the weather is so dark that other signals cannot be seen ;
but for a day signal it is merely necessary to employ a post, so as to
raise a vane or vanes like a telegraph, a spar for example fixed at the
top of the lantern; when it is required to use the telegraph, a man
may make the necessary 'and self-evident connexion between the rod
f, and the limb of the telegraph, which limb being made with a bell-
crank, when the rod e is raised may cause the telegraph limb to lie

1830.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

449

horizontally, and when the rod e is depressed to stand vertically, or
the apparatus may he formed double so as to work both telegraph and
the lamp at once, whether by day or night.

Hydrostatic Chair.

Fig. 6, Section.

Fig. 7, Front View.

This apparatus consists of a seat to destroy tlie vibration of the
railway carriages shown in figures 6 and 7, this consists of the outer
case C, formed with a double bottom, dividing it into two parts, the
upper in which the seat floats, and the under forming a receptacle for
the superfluous water, the inner case or box. B, has a space all round
it of about an inch clear, and the top of the outer case, and the bottom
of the inner floating b(jx is bound round with a loose hemp gasket or
other suitable packing to prevent the sides of the cases from touching
and to act as guides for the seat, the seat is raised by a person pump-
ing up the water from the lower or waste box D, by means of the syringe
D, the seat is lowered by the cocky', being opened by the wire or string
g, and allowing the water to flow out into the waste box ; the waste
pipe 1, is placed as high as it is proper the water should rise in the
upper box witliout overflowing, so that the water returns by it to tlie
waste box. The cases or boxes may be made of any suitable materials,
hut I consider sheet-iron the best. Figure G is a section and side
view, and figure 7 a front view. A, is the seat formed in the same
way as a chair or other seat ; A, is the suction-pipe of the syringe, and
the line n denotes the floor of the carriage.

Wheel adapted for the Common Road or Railway.

Fig. ?, Side Vie v. Fig. 9, Cross Section.

My next improved machinery and apparatus is a wheel adapted to
run upon the common road or upon the rails of a railway.

Figure 8 is a side view, and figure 9 a cross section of the wheel,
the wheel is formed as shown, as if the conical railway wheel were
placed outside of the common wheel ; if the wheel be formed of wood
the felloes should be broad enough to take both tires, the outside tire
may be the same as that used for a railway wheel, and tlie road tire
the same as usual. I consider H inch sufficient ditfijrence in the radius
of the two wheels ; the best mode to fijj. the spokes will be as shown,
alternately to cross them; the n.ive would be best of cast iron in the
usual way. The only part of the wheel which I claim as my invention
being the form of the rmg, any usual method may be used, and any
material employed ; the best mode to form the ring will be to make
the wheel in the usual way and then shrink the railway tire b, b, upon
it, then when this is turned in the lathe and the edge likewise, tlie
road tire c, c', may be shrunk on afterwards in the usual way ; or the
tire iron may l)e rolled to the entire shape, and the wheel put to-
gether upon the usual railway system. D is the nave, t the axle, and
y the spokes.

TILGHMAN'S RAILWAY BAR.

The nature of the improvement consists in so forming the bar that
there shall be a reducticm of the height usually given to the f r.iil
between its head and the base on which it rests ; thereby diminishing
the leverage of the rail, while its strength and capability of being
firmly secured to the cross-tie, are provided for by the addition of a
rib directly under the centre of the base, which rib may be made
plain, trapezoidal, or with a lower web.

To fasten the rail, the lower rib is inserted in the cross-ties, and
wedged securely to its place, wliere it is supported conjointly upon
the ordinary base, and the under part of the lower web. A chair, or
flat plate of iron, is inserted" immediately under the upper base or
support, to receive which, notches are made in the ends of the bars, so
that when two of them are put together, these notches form a mortice
through which the chair is to be inserted. The chair is affixed to
the cross ties by spikes or screws.

The Committee having tested the strength of the improved trape-
zoidal rail, weight 48 fbs. per yard, by the rules laid down liy Pro-
fessor Barlow in his account of " Experiments on the transverse
strength and other properties of malleable iron, with reference to its
uses fur railway bars," feel satisfied it will sustain a weight of from
six to seven tons without injury, (the supports being 33 inches apart,)
or about 7o ])er cent, more than the most approved rail of similar
weight now in use.

With reference to leverage, the improved rail is decidedly prefe-
rable to the J rail, the distance between the upper surface and sup-
port being consideraljly less, and as its entire depth is greater than
that of any other rail known to the Committee, (and may be increased
at a slight expense, without changing the position of the main support
or increasing the leverage,) it consequently follows, as the depth
governs the deflexion, that the improved rail is much the most stiff
and rigid.

In point of economy, the Committee are of opinion that the improved
trapezoidal rail will be found less expensive than the x rail. The
plan suggested for connecting the bars, and attaching them to the sills,
they conceive permanent and simple. — JoarnoA of the Fraiiklm In-
istiiute.

POINTING THE STONE WORK OF A CHURCH STEEPLE.

Sir — When 1 was building the Parsonage House at Waltham,
Leicestershire, I had an opportunity of obtaining from the Register
the following account for pointing, in 165i!, the steeple or spire of the
parish church, and which I have much pleasure in sending to your
widely circulating journal, because it gives so minutely the materials
formerly used, as well as the ex])ence incurred, in that important but
much neglected branch of work, " pointing."

" Paid the steeple pointer for jiointing the steeple
Item for two days' work more ....

Item for smithy dust ......

Item for eggs .......

Item for nine strikes of lime .....

Item for two strikes of malt .....

Item spent when we paid the poiater

Item ])aid for a mare hired for the pointer

Item for the steeple pointer's man ....

Item for fetcliing the lime .....

The Church, which is built of stone, stands on a very elevated situ-
ation, and is exposed to every wind that blows.

I am, .Sir,
36, Guildford Street, Your obedient servant,

Nov. loth, 1839. Charles Over.

10

0

0

2

fi

6

4

6

6

1

0

6

Railway Points. — We have during the past week been shown the models
of railway points or switches which appear to possess important advantages
over any at present in use. The ingenious inventor is a mechanic now re-
siding in this town, and who was for soaie time employed on the London and
ISirmingliam KaUway, where his attention was directed to the suliject. As
far as we are eiiahlcd to judge from the models, the invention will effect all
that is desired ; as, were the plan adopted, it appears that by no possibility
could an accident occur in cousciiuence of the negligence of tlie party to
whose care tiie points were entrusted. We allude to the invention in the
liope of drawing to it tlie attention of engineers and otiiers engaged in the
formation of railways ; and we shall have pleasure in giving tlie address of
the party suggesting the improvement to any gentleman who may apply to
us for that purpose. It is to he lioped that the inventor, should his plan he
found to possess the advantages he claims for it, will be rewarded for his in-
genuity and perseverance. — Midlmul Ojunties Herald.

2 Q 2

450

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Dkckmber,

SEA BANK AT HOLBEACH.

Sir — I herewith enclose a description of a Sea Bank constructed in
1838 for the Messrs. Joliiison and Sturton, of Holbeach, for the purpose
of enclosing a quantity of sea marsh land.

The bank measureil about two and a quarter miles long, and varied
from 10 to 14 feet high above the surface of the marsh. There were
various difliculties comiected with the construction of this bank, on ac-
eount of a bank having previously been made on the marsh ; the principal
part of which was unfortunately washed away in February 1835. In
executing the new bank the material had to be carried over the old
floor pits, and large creeks had formed themselves both at the back and
front of the seat of the new bank in several places, varying from 8 to
12 feet deep below the surface of the marsh, and from 2 to 3 chains
wide. The new bank in front of the most exposed situations, has
slopes on the sea side from 5 to 7 feet horizontal to 1 foot perpendi-
i-ular, and on the land side 2 feet horizontal to 1 foot perpendicular,
with a top 3 feet above the height of the highest tide, from 2 to 4 feet
wide at the junction angles of the slopes.

Section ol Enibaukmcnt.

H, Height of highest tide.

F. Foreland or cess,

P, Puddle.

E. Embankment, 13 feet high.

The counter bank has slopes of 4 feet hoiizontal to 1 foot perpen-
dicular, and a top 2 feet wide, with land slopes of li foot horizontal
to 1 foot perpendicular.

In executing the work, it was let to the workmen in reaches, at per
chain of Gij linear feet, measured along the top, including all labour
in forming, puddling, scooping water from floor pits, breaking and
spreading crocks, shifting materials, and securing the same from the
tide's way ; the men finding all shovels, plank liooks, tools, horses,
carts, &c., required for excavating, and fi ling, and spreading, and
puddling, the proprietors finding all planks, barrows, box horses,
tressels, ropes, staples, &c., necessary for the same.

The whole of the earth deposited in the different parts of the bank,
was well chopped, worked, and trodden together, and the best of the
material was carefully reserved and laid on the front or sea slope of
the bank, and well puddled or punned in the most workminlike man-
ner, and joined to the surface below ; the face of the sea slope was
sodded with the best green grass sods or flagging, varying from 3 to
4 inches thick, properly cut and joined together ; and the land slope
in some parts sodded, and the other parts sown with seed ; in crossing
the Creeks, facings of fascine work were applied according to circum-
stances, and some old vessels were sunk in the deepest parts, filled in
with the best of the soil, and well puddled between ; and in conducting
the work, it was found necessary to encourage the warping up of the
old floor pits, by introducing fascine jetty work, which greatly accel-
erated the deposit of the sea warp. The whole of the material used
in the bank, was dug from the sea side, except where the men were
filling up, and shutting out the sea at Creek openings, left for the
draining of the marsh, where they were obliged to dig the earth from
the parts that lay nearest to the work, whether at the back or front of
the bank, so as to expedite the work, as this part of the operation re-
quired the greatest attention, or otherwise considerable damage would
have arisen to the bank.

Since the bank has been completed, lines of fascines have been
planted at the most exposed parts, having half their length let into
the soil, and have been found very beneficial in breaking tlie force of
the waves, protecting the surface of bank, and encouraging the deposit
of the sea warp.

Stephen Lewin.

Witham Office, Boston, Lincolnshire.

NEW SYSTEM OF INLAND TRANSPORT.

An experiment has just been made on the Forth and Clyde Canal,
in Scotland, which seems likely to be followed by very important con-
sequences, in a scientific as well as commercial view, and to affect
seriously the relative value of property in canals and railways. It is
well known, that there is a system of canal navigation practised on
some canals in Scotland, in which light iron vessels, capable of carry-
ing from GO to 100 passengers, are towed along by a couple of horses,
at a rate of ten miles an hour; and this is effected by what is called
riding on the wave. This new system of wave navigation has hitherto
been limited in its use by the speed of horses, and been thrown back
into comparative obscurity by the brilliant feats of the locomotive en-
gine, whirling its ponderous burden along the iron railway with the
speed of the winds. The experiment, however, to which we now
allude, shows that the same mighty machine is capable of performing
feats equally astonishing in water as land-carriage. A locomotive en-
gine, running along the banks of the canal, drew a boat, loaded nith sixty
or seventy passengers, at the rate of more than nineteen miles an hour !
and this speed was not exceeded, only because the engine is an old-
fashioned coal-engine, whose maximum speed, without any load, does
not exceed twenty miles an hour ; so that there is every reason to infer
that, with an engine of the usual construction employed on railways,
thirty, forty, or fifty miles an hour will become as practicable on a
canal as on a railway. Thus, the wave theory, which was formerly a
beautiful specidation of science, becomes the basis of a new system of
inland water transport, and abstract science receives new illustrations
from the practical application of its principles. The experiments to
which we refer, were performed in the presence of a number of men
of science, and gentlemen interested in the improvement of canals and
navigation, under the direction of Mr. Macneil.

The wave of the Forth and Clyde canal,
from its great depth, travels at the rate of about eleven or twelve
miles an hour, and that, consequently, in order to "ride on the wave,"
it would be necessary to draw the boat at fourteen or fifteen miles an
hour — a speed hitherto impracticable, because above the available
speed of horses ; b\it it had been confidently predicted, that at these
high velocities, the violent surges usual at velocities of eight or nine
miles an hour would wholly disappear, and the vessel ride on a smooth
undulating wave, exciting comparatively little commotion in the
waters of the canal. Two of the experiments performed set this truth
in a remarkable light — experiment No. 3 being performed with an ill-
shaped passage-boat, which the engine had not power to drag " over
the wave," and experiment No. 1, with a boat suited to higher velo-
cities. Now, it happened ;is predicted, that the boat moved at a less
velocity than that of the wave, raised a high and powerful wave at the
bow, which overspread the banks of the canal, and threw up behind
it a foaming and most injurious surge ; while, on the other hand, the
vessel which moved at the higher velocity rode smooth and even or;
the top of the placid and gentle wave, leaving behind it no commotion
but the sudden collapse of the parted water. These experiments are
as follow : —

Experiment 1. — A passage boat filled with passengers, drawn by
the locomotive engine, passed over

Yards. Seconds.

110
220
330
440
550

12.4-1
24.5 I
3o.8 I.
49.2 I
Gl.Sj

Being a velocity of above nineteen miles an hour,
riding the wau, with very slight commotion of
the water.

Experiment 3. — A passage boat, containing passengers and baggage,
but unsuited to high velocities, drawn by the locomotive engine, passed
over

Yards.
110
220
330
440
530
GGO
770

Seconds,
in 34.2
. G5.0
. 9J.2
. 127.8
. 158.8
. 190.8
. 221.8

Being a velocity of about seven miles an hour
only, with a large wave raised up at the bow
and rolling over the bank, and an after surge
tearing along the side, the boat being behind
the wave.

Besides these experiments, there were others highly interesting in
a practical view. A large fleet consisting of three schooners, three
sloops, two canal traders, and one small boat, forming a gross weight
of about 800 tons, were dragged along the canal simultaneously, with
no other force than the simple adhesion of the wheel of the carriage
to the surface of the rail. In another experiment, a train of five boats,
capable of carrying 400 to 500 passengers, was taken along at the rate
of fifteen miles an liour. — Athenoium.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

451

THE FLEXIBLE WATER MAIN.

Fig. 1.
Section of the River Clyde.

^\•ell. Fun-
nel.

_^^,.^^:jr!|^^^

''^*S^---»=iar

Fig. 2

Fig. 3.

Fig. 4.

Fig. 5.

Fisr. 6.

A, iron pipe.

B, limber frame. C, canvass. D, joint. E. iron hinge.
F, iron straps. G, bearers.

THE FLEXIBLE WATER MAIN,

Contrived by the late Mr. Watt, for the Glasgow Water-work Com-
pany. By John Robison, Esq, F.R.S.E.

(From the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, I'ol. III.)
The Glasgow Water-work Company derive their supply of water
from a well and tunnel formed in a stratum of sand on the left bank of
the Clyde, which affords a natural filter for the water of the river.
As the city lies on the right bank, the conveyance of the filtered water
across the stream was a problem of some difficulty. The fertile genius
of Jir. Watt, however, enabled him to solve it.

He suggested that a flexible iron main should be drawn across the
bed of the river, through which pumping engines on the north side
should raise the water from the well on the south side. In executing
this plan, the well and tunnel were dug in the sand near the water's
edge. Tlie well is 10 feet in diameter, and its bottom is 12 feet under
the ordinary surface of the river ; the feeding tunnel is 3 feet wide,
iuid G feet high, and extends for a considerable distance into tlie sand-
bank; the well has a wooden platform bottom: its sides, and those of
the tunnel are built of granite, put together without mortar, and backed
with gravel, to prevent the influx of sand. The south end of the
suction pipe (or main) is turned down into the well to a sufficient
depth. That part of it which lies in the bed of the river, is formed of
pieces 9 feet long, (exclusive of joints,) and 15 inches interior di-
ameter. Fart of the joints are formed in the usual way, but others
are something like what is called "ball and socket," or "universal
joints." The whole is laid on strong frames made of parallel logs ;
these frames are joined by strong iron hinges, having their pivots in

horizontal lines at right angles to the axes of the pipes, and passing
through the centres of spheres, of which the zones of the sockets are
portions. The flexible joints are at the extremities of the frames.
This will be easily understood from the figures.

The frames and pipes were put together in succession on the south
side of the river, and (the open or north end being plugged,) were
hauled into and across the bed, in a trench prepared for tliem. The
machinery for hauling them was of course on the north side ; the ope-
ration was aided and directed by pontoons, &c. The moveable joints
of the pipes, and hinges of the frames, allowed them to assume the
form of the bed.

Upon the plugged end emerging from the water on the north side,
it was immediately opened and connected with the main leading to
the pumps, to secure it against accidents from floods. There is a con-
trivance for removing any sand which may accumulate in the pipe.
That part which is under water is covered over with stones and gravel,
to protect it from injury from passing vessels.

Fig. 1 is a section giving a general view of the relative situations
of the well, and the main through the river leading to the pumps.

Fig- 2, a vertical section through the pipe at one of the flexible
joints.

Fig. 3, a corresponding outside view.

Fig. 4, ditto plan.

Fig. 5, a cross section of stock-joint and hinge.

Fig. 6, ditto of the pipe and frame.

The demand for water having increased beyond expectation since
1810, (when this work was completed,) a second main of 18 inches
diameter, similar in all other respects to the first, has been since
added.

452

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[December,

ANCIENT STATUES.— No. 3.

Dictionary of Terms.

Translated and rearranged from the French of the Count de Clairac,
Knight of various Orders, Keeper of the First Division of the Royal
Museum of Antiquities in the Louvre.

• ( Concluded from page i^i.)

Those stones are called antique of which the quarries are exhausted,
and which are how only to be fo\nid in ancient monuments. Among
this great number of marbles and of other stones, there are very few
wdiich can be determined with certainty from the descriptions given
by ancient authors. Most of these stones being only to be obtained
from the monuments of Italy, we are often obliged to leave them their
Italian names, the number of which, however, the dealers in antique
stones have very much increased, by selling as stones of different
kinds, specimens which are often only varieties presented by the same
block of marble: The Italian edifices which are richest in marbles
and other antique stones are, the churches and palaces of Rome, the
cathedral of Pisa, St. Mark and some other churches at Venice, the
cathedral of Ravenna, that at Florence, as well as the churches of
Santa Croce and St. Lawrence in the same city. The palace of Ca-
serta, the Royal Museum of Naples, and La Favorita, are decorated
with a great variety of ancient marbles obtained from the excavations
at Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Capri. The Royal Museum of the
Louvre contains a great number of columns of the rarest and most
beautiful ancient marbles, and which are not surpassed by any other
collection.* Louis XI\^. obtained from Barca, in Cyrenaica, a great
quantity of beautiful antique marbles, which he used at Versaides
and Trianon.

[We have inserted, among the following, the modern marbles men-
tioned by M. de Clairac; those are marked as modern, all the others
are antique, Al. Alabaster. Bas. Basalt. Br. Breccia. Gr. Granite.
M. Marble.']

African Breccia. Black ground with spots of deep violet, or
bright red and white veined with black. Very beautiful and very
rare.

African Marble. Purple, white and black. — Flowery. White,
and purple and yellow.

Alabaster, Oriental. (JIabastro, Ital., Jllbdtre, Fr.) Brotvn
T^ei»ed,\vd\y, half transparent ; called in Italy, pittra perruchina, and
alabastro tarturacato. — Milk White, not transjjarent. — Transparent
White. Striped with milky and wavy bands. — Torloiseshell, tartura-
cota, or brown veined. Weight of a foot cube, ISl fts.

Alabaster, Cotognino. Yellow.

Alabaster, Floweiiy. White and reddish brown, ribbony or fes-
toony.

Aleppo Breccia. Yellowish green ground, with spots of violet,
green, white, yellow mixed with red, veined with pale white. Very rare.

Alet Breccia, sometimes called Aleppo. Modern. Yellow brown,
red with gray spots. Found near Aix, in Provence.

Antique, Grand. Breccia, black and white very pure, with great
spots broken up by zigzag lines. Extremely rare. — -Little. With
smaller spots, and the black a])proaching to gray. The quarries of
these two breccias, which were supposed to be lost, have oeen found
by M. Layerle Capel, at Aubert, in the department of the Arriege,
France.

Arlecchino, Br. Resembles .Seme Santo, but is of deeper colour.

AzuRRO. Italian, the same as Turchmo, a sky blue.

Barbazan Breccia. Modern. Formed of black, brown, and
white fragments. Very good ; much used at Toulouse. There are
some fine columns of it in the Louvre. Found near Barbazan, Upper
Garonne.

Basalt. Black, with large white crystals in the shape of porae-
g anates. It resembles a lava from Mount Albano. Black, with red
granitic bauds. — B/ack grey, mixed with small pomegranate crystals
and little black spots. — Blackish Grey, with small white veins and
scales. — Deep Black, with small shining black spots. — Ftoicery Black,
marbled with white, and irregularly wavv- Green of very close grain.
Another green with small white crystals, very rare. Occidental and
Oriental of a dark gray with small white points. The Occidental is
softer than the other. Weight of a foot cube, 21U lbs.

Beaudean Breccia. Modern. A magnificent breccia quarried at
Beaudean, in the Upper Garonne in France, in close yellow, brown and

* Enumeration of some of the articles : — Statues in porphyry, universal
breccia andcoloiireii marble, G; columns 103, viz., porphyry 17, rose granite
24, grey granite 12, imiversal breccia 4, verd aiiticpie 10, Egyptian green 10,
marbles, breccias, and oriental alabaster 26. — Note of Trandator.

red fragments. According to M. de Clairac, this is the same as tlie
Caroline Breccia.

Beirede Marble is a fine marble, with large flakes of dark red,
clear red and yellow, sometimes resembling fine Sicily. It comes from
the Pyrenees, and was worked by Louis XIV.

BiGio, Italian for Gray, vide Gray.

Black (nero, Ital.) Antique (Ntro Antico). M. A most beautiful blacK,
without any admixture, probably the marble of LuculUis. It appears
that it is still found at Bergama, Carrara, Prato in Tuscany, and near
.Spa. The Italians call it improperly paragone. Weight of a foot
cube, 182 Itis. — Antique Serpentlne Black {Serpentmo nero anticoi.
f-lde Porphyry and Serpentine. — Modern Black. Very fine is
obtained from Bergama, Spa, and the Pyrenees at Mount Majou, in
the Upper Garonne.

Blue (Turchino, Ital.). — Antique {Turchino Antico). Mar. Slatey
grey, with fine and shiny grains. Another with white stripes and
waved with slatey blue. Piccolo Turchino Antico has very fine grains,
and narrower stripes. Weight of a foot cube, ISS fts. — Modern.
Bright bluish grey, with bands of white or dark grey. Found at Genoa.

Breccia. African, Alet, Barbazan, Beaudtan, see under their
respective titles. Antique, Yelloie, or Gilt, red ground, clear and deep
yellow spots, veined with red and white. Grand Antique, Partridge
Eye, Peacock's Eye, Penne S. Martin, Persecchino, Potzererra, Porta
Santa, Porp/hyry, Red, Rose, Seme Santo, Tracagnina, Verde Antiqnt,
see under their respective titles. — Memphis. Modern. A violet red,
in little grey or white fragments. Quarried in Provence. — Pall Lu-
mactlte, a beautiful pure black, irregularly strewed with white shells
an inch and more in length, very rare. — Verde de Paglioco, or straw
green, with greenish and yellow spots. Verde Sanguino Antico.
Greenish grey, wdiite, red and black spots. — Violet. Tliere are several
kinds, 1st, a dark violet ground, with large lilac and white spots. Of
this superb kind is a beautiful table in the gallery of the Louvre.
2nd, the same colours with small spots. 3rd, with rose spots. Veiy
rare. The persecchino may perhaps be taken as another variety.
plde also Silicious Breccia.

Brocatelle. a shelly marble ; some are breccias, having the
appearance of brocade. — Gilt. Yellow spots, veined with red, and
mixed with white shells. There is a kind of antique yellow, with red
veins interspersed with white, which is like the brocatelle. — Spanish.
Modern. Beautiful yellow spots, well marked, bordered with red and
violet, veined with white, and containing a few shells. Weight of a
foot cube, 189 lbs.

Campan Marble. Modern. Found in the valley of Campan, in
the Pyrenees. Very beautiful, but not so fine now as when wrought
by Louis XIV., some of the blocks of which time are still in the
royal stores. — Isabella. A rose ground with some red stripes,
covered with netty green veins, much crossed, and some white. — Red.

A bright red ground, veined with green and white. Green Clear

ground, veined with network of a dark green, some white veins cutting
the others. Campan marble proper unites all these three varieties
by very large stripes. These marbles are easily atfected by exposure
to the air. Weight of a foot cube, 190 lbs.

Carnation. M. A kind of antique yellow approaching a rose
colour.

Caroline. A modern breccia, exhibited at the Louvre in 1827,
supposed by M. de Clairac to be Beaudean breccia, which see.

Carrara Marble. These quarries were wrought about the time
of Julius Cffisar, and in them have been found remains of unfinished
bas reliefs. The white statwary marble is of a white inclining to blue,
of fine and close grain, resembling loaf sugar; but crystals are often
found in it which prevent the use of the chisel. The stripes and spots
are greyish or greenish; when so striped it is named Cipolinaccio,
that which is of coarser and harder grain, like salt, is called Saligno.
Carrara does not take so fine a polish as Parian. It is of this marble
that most statues are now made, although there are, in Italy and
France, white marbles which approach it in beauty, and might be used
in sculpture. Besides white marble, tliere are others at Carrara of
different colours, and which form tlie upper part of the quarries.
Those of Polvaccio almost exhausted, and of .Serravezza, are the most
celebrated. Weight of a foot cube, 18' l lbs.

Castracane. a Lumacelle, dark brown, rose, and with small cir-
cular shells of a bright yellow colour. Very rare.

Cervellata. M. Saveloy marble, red ground, white and green,
with very fine interlaced wdiite veins.

Cinnamon Marble. Yellow, something of an antique yellow.

CiPOLAZZO. Striated with white and violet.

Cipolinacio. a kind of Carrara marble, wdiite with greyish or
greenish spots and bands.

Ciponxo. Onion marble. Dirty white, striated with large wary
bands, of green more or less dark, arising from talc. It is easily

1839.]

TUE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

453

affected by air. It appears to be the same as the Carystian marble of
tlie ancients. Statuary Cipolino, like the Pentelican, has narrow veins
slightly tinted with green. Weight of a foot cube, 189 lbs.

CoRALiTic Marble. Supposed to be Grechetto and Palombino,
which see. Some of the marble so called is like fine ivory.

CoTOGNiNO Alabaster. Yellow.

CoTONELLO. M. White and bright minium red.

DiNAN Marble. Modern. Black, used for pavements. Weight of
a foot cube, IS!) lbs.

Flanders Marbles. Modern. Such as those of St. Ann, gray and
white, madreporic. Weight of a foot cube, 105 lbs.

Flowery Marble. White and red, with twisting spots.

GiALLO. The Italian for yellow, which see.

Grand Antique, fide Antique.

Granite (granilo, Ital.). Oriental. Black spots and white streaks.
— Black and while. Transparent while ground, with a few opaque
white spots ; probably the psaronion of the ancients.- — Gray, with
black and white transpareut spots, others milky and opaque. Weight
of a foot cube, IS'.t lbs. — 6^rai/, with little black spots. — Gref?!, trans-
parent white ground coloured with green, large oblong black spots.
— Red. Red or rose, black or white spots, smaller or larger. Of this
gi'anite Pompey's pillar is made. Weight of a loot cube, 189 lbs. —
Hose. With small rose, black and white spots. It seems to be the
Syenite of the ancients, or perhaps their Pyrrhopwcile, and their
Thebaic maibk. — Granite of the Vosges. Modern. A mixture of
rose, gray, and black, resembling Egyptian rose granite. The green
has grains of dark green, greenish white and black, very fine. — Nan-
kin Granite. Modern. A kind of Nankin marble, with small len-
ticular grains.

Granitelle, or fine grained granite. It seems that many of the
granites which passed for oriental, were obtained from the Isle of
Elba, the quarries of which have been worked from a very ancient
period.

Grechetto. Greek marble. A fine white, very close grain, harder
than other white marbles. Corallitic marble is supposed to have been
like it.

Green (f'erde antico). Br. A beautiful dark green, with spots of
brighter green, pure white and fine black. The colours must be well
marked. If the green be of a grayish cast, the stone is not so valuable,
Sometimes the edges of the spots are tinged with green. This superb
breccia came from Laconia and Thessalonica There is a marble
which has a dark green ground, shaded with little bright green and
black veins. It has a silky look, and is perhaps the prasinam of the
aecients. — Suza Gbeen. fide Polzevehra. — Straw Green, fide
Straw. — ferde Sanguino Anlico. Br. Greenish grey, white, red and
black spots. — Egyptian Greex. Modern. Red ground, veined with
a dark and clear green, and white net work. Comes from the Genoese
coast. — Sea Green from Poize verra, which see.

Gray Antique (Bigio Antico). M. A beautiful gray of a bluish
pearl tinge. It seems that there were quarries of this at Lesbos.

Gbiotte. Mar. Modern. Deep red ground, nnxed with black and
white spirals arising from shells. Worked at Caune, in the depart-
ment of the Aude in France. — -Italian. So named, although it does
not come from that country, la of a uniform blood red almost without
veins. There are parts which resemble Antique Red, but which are
better as they show no white spots. Another Griotte is veined with
green. Weight of a foot cube, 189 lbs.

Hymettus Marble. Greyish white, striated, very hard, vide page
434 of this volume.

Languedoc Marble, or of Sainte Baume. Modern. Fiery red,
streaked with with white and grey, madreporic, with regular bands,
turning together. Worked at Alais, in the department of the Gard,
and at Portes, in that of the Herault, in France. The columns of the
arch of the Carrousel and those of the Trianon are made of this mar-
ble. It is very much admired even at Carrara, where it is shown as a
curiosity, as well as some columns of griotte of Canne, in a small
church built during the last few years. Weight of a foot cube, 185
pounds.

LuMACELLE. These are formed of masses of shells, greyish brown,
veins of a transparent white. Another with rose veins. Another of a
beautiful yellow, with small black shells very close. Fall Lumacelle.
Vide Breccia, vide also Castracane.

LuNi M.\KBLE. Very fine, a milky white, very fine grains, more
compact cement than that of ordinary Carrara ; takes a fine polish.

Malpeaquet Marble. Modern. A vinous pale red, waved with
grey. These very common marbles are most used at Paris.

Nankin Marble. Modern. A shelly marble, ground a rosy or yellow-
ish nankin, with white and bluish spots. Found in 1808 at Mansions,
Upper Garonne, France. When in good condition, they are good and
do not spot. One kind is called Nankin Granite, which see.

Nero Antico. Italian for Antique Black, which see.

Pagliocco. Italian for Straw colour, which see.

Palombino. Dove marble. A milk white, very fine cement, re-
sembling creamy milk or ivory, without transparency. Supposed to
be the Coralitic marble of the ancients.

Paragone. A name sometimes given to Antique Black or Nero
Antico. Paragone is properly the touchstone basalt.

Parian Marble. A milk white, sometimes greyish, opaque, its
tissue is of grains smaller or larger, which determines two or three
varieties; it takes a fine polish; its contexture makes it harder to
work than fine Carrara. Weight of a foot cube, 196 lbs.

Partridge Eye. Br. Black and red, spotted with white.

Pavonazzo. Italian for Violet, which see.

Peacock's Eye. Br. Red, white and yellow.

Pecorello. Red and white spots, mixed with white circles.

Penne St. Martin. Br. Modern. Yellow, white and grey, very
fine. Quarried at St. Beat, Upper Garonne in the Pyrenees, worked
by the Romans, and also at present. From this quarry columns 40 or
50 feet high may be obtained.

Pentelican Marble. A yellowish white, close grained, having
other strise or greenish layers which cause it to peel off in the air.
Much used by the ancients.

Persecchino. Peach blossom Breccia. Very fine with large white,
red and rose spots. There is a variety with small spots.

PiETRA Fructiculosa. A siUcious breccia or pudding stone, com-
posed of round yellow and red pebbles, mixed with black dendrites.

Pietra Santa. M. Whitish and rosy yellow, with very small
white veins and very compact.

PoLZEVERRA. Br. Suza Green. Resembles Antique Green or
Verde Antique, but is not so fine nor so much esteemed. There is a
modern Sea Green Polzeverra, with a deep dark green ground, with
wavy bands and network of a clear green, mixed with white fila-
ments.

Porphyry. Jllahanda, deep brownish red, liver colour, oblong
green spots. — Black. There is also a black marble of this name.
Black ground with white spots. — Serpenlino nero anlico, ride Serpen-
tine.— Breccia Porphyry. This porphyry is very fine, and imites
in itself almost all the kinds scattered over a brownish red ground.
— Brownish Black Ground. Greenish spots. — Green. Greenish
ground, mixed with white and black. — Deep Green Ground. Oblong
clear green spots. — Deep Green. White spots. — Deep Green Ground.
Black spots. — Clear Green Ground. Yellowish with black spots. —
Green, properly so called, deep blackish green ground, sometimes quite
clear, white, oblong, irregular spots. The ancients called ophites some
of these porphyries with a green or black ground.— /^'en/ Deep Greev.
Like jasper, oblong white spots larger than those of black porphyry,
and smaller than those of black serpentine. — Deep Green Ground. A
kind of jasper, with round oblong white spots. — J'ery deep Green
Ground. Large white irregular spots. — Flowery Green. Deep green
with small irregular white spots, interlaced like worms. — Red Ground.
Small and oblong, covered with black and white spots. Perhaps the
leplonephes of the ancients. — Thebaid, red ground, with yellow spots.
Weight of a foot cube of green porphyry, 230 itis. Red porphyry,
19G Its.

PoRPORiNO. Italian for purple.

Porta Santa. A marble breccia, so named, because used for a
gate of St. Peter's at Rome. — Flowered Porta .Santa is white or
grey, bluish, with purplish spots. — Porta Santa not flowered is a
Ireca red and white.

Porto Venere, or Antique Portor. M. Black, veined with yellow.
The colours should be well marked.— Modern. M. Black, veined
with yellow and a little white. From Carrara in Italy, and from St.
Maximin, near Toulon, in France.

PuRiCHiELLO. Red and white.

Purple. — Porponno, Italian.

Red. Ro&so Anlico. M. That of a fine quality should be of a deep
red bullock's blood colour, uniform, without black or white veins; the
grain is verv fine and very close, and takes a tine polish. In the
cement can be seen extremely small white points ; \\ hen they are
larger and like sand they injure the Antique Red, and render it dif-
ticu.t to work. It is not very hard, but uses the tools like a whetstone
for which purpose the ancients used it ; it is very rarely found in
large pieces, and is supposed to have been brought from Egypt.
Anxelato, red spotted with white. — Breccia Antique Red. Deep
red with clear spots.

Rezziato. a kind of yellow marble with white net work.

Rose, Antique Rose Breccia. Clear red ground with little spots
of rose and black, others white. Very rare.

Rosso Antico, vide Red.

Sainte Beaume, vide Languedoc.

454

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[December,

Saugno. a kind of white Carrara marble, so called because it is
of a coarse hard grain, like salt.
Savel(jy Marble, I'tde Cervellata.

Seme Santo, or Virgin Breccia. Very small red, chocolate,
brown, bluish, white and yellowish angulous fragments. It is very
rare, and is found in small fragments at Pompeii. — Seme Santo de
Sette Basi formed of fragments of seven colours.

Serpentine. A Porphyry. This stone is sometimes called Ophite.
Green ground, with small yellow or yellowish spots in long squares
and in crosses. Tliere is some with a brown black ground and white
spots. — Sehpkntino nero antico. Black ground, large oblong black
spots.

Serpentello, Serpetrello and Serparello. M. White, with
little tortuous red rays or streaks.

Serrancolin. M. Modern. Straight bands and in great fragments,
bluish grey, rosy, deep red and yellowish. Extracted from the Pyrenees,
the same block of this fine marble often presents great varieties.

Sette basi. M. White veined with red, and mixed with several
other colours. — Seme Santo de Sette Basi. Br. formed of frag-
ments of seven colours.

SiLicions Breccia. Universal or Egyptian Breccia. A mixture
of pebbles, porphyry and granite of all colours, particularly green,
yellow and reddish. This fine breccia extremely hard, is very rare.
Pietra Fnicticulosa, which see.

Statuary Marble. JVfarinore Slaluario jlntico of the Italians re-
sembles Parian, but it is translucent, and has some relation to the
phengite of the ancients. — White Statuary. Modern. An immense
quantity in very large blocks, and of very good quality is found in the
mountains of Rapp, at the gate of St. Beat, on the Garonne, some
leagues from St. Gaudens, in the Upper Garonne. It has large grains
like some kinds of Parian. The first quality of a mild white may be
easily worked any way. In tlie exhibition at the Louvre in 1827,
were some statues of it very well executed. That of Henry IV. when
a child, by M. Bosio, is of second rate St. Beat marble. This beauti-
ful marble used by some of the French sculptors, was discovered by
M. Layerle Capel, one of the principal proprietors of marble quarries
in the Pyrenees, and who has found out most of the new quaries. The
statuary marble of Sost, five leagues from St. Beat, in the valley of
Barrousse, is a very fine white, and very fine grain, but it is subject to
a number of threads, which prevents its being wrought in large blocks.
Much harder than that of St. Beat, it is dry, brittle, scales off, and
often contains rock crystals, which make it hard to work, There are
other statuary marbles in the south of France, even in the department
of the Loire, but they are not worked. The white marble of Loubie
Soubiran in the department of the Lower Pyrenees, near Gave, is of a
greyish white, and fine grain, works well, but is in layers, and peels
off.

Straw Green Breccia. I'erde de Pagliocco. Br. Straw green
with greenish and yellow spots. — Straw Yellow. Mar. A very clear
antique yellow.

Syenite. Rose Oriental Granite seems to be the Syenite of the
ancients. It has little spots of rose, white and black.

Tartarucato. a kind of brown veined, undulated half transparent
alabaster, so called because it is like tortoiseshell.

Tracagnina. Br. The same as Arlecchino, a kind of Seme Sauto
but of darker colours.

TuRCHixo. Italian for Blue, which see.
Universal Breccia. Vide Breccia Egyptian.
Venturino. M. Red and white.
Verde Antico. Italian for Green, which see.
Violet. (Paronazzo, Italian.) Mar. White with violet spots and
veins. Perhaps the Symiadic marble of the ancients.
Virgin Breccia. T'ide Seme Santo.

Volterra Marble. Gypseous. Milk white colour, transparent,
very soft, may be scratched with the nail, and does not effervesce with
nitric acid. Specific weight of a pound cube, 151 Itjs.

VoLTRi Green Marble. Modern. Like Egyptian Green, but
shells off in the open air.

Weights. M: Brard, in his Traile des Pierres Precieuses, gives the
following as the specific weight of a cubic foot of various stones.

lt)S.

Volcanic Basalt - - 210

Verde Antico Porphyiy - 2U3
Breccia marble of the Ta-

rentuise ... 200
Rosso Antico, Egyptian

Porphyiy - ' - - 190

White Parian marble - 19o

lbs.

St. Anne's marble - - 105

Giallo Antico marble - 191

Campan marble - - 190
Red Egyptian Granite, or

Pompey's column - 189

Ancient Grev Granite - 169

Black Dinan Marble - 189

lbs.

189 St. Baume Marble -

ISO Nero Antico Marble

189 Calcareous Alabaster

189 Gypseous Alabasters

18S

lbs.
185
182
181
154

Spanish Brelloet ca -
White Carrara Marble
Griotte Marble
Cipolino Antico
Turquino Marble

These weights give 197-4 as the mean weight of a cubic foot of
porphyry, granite and basalt, and ]S0'33 for that of marbles.

Yellow. Giallo jlnltco. Antique Yellow. Mar. A fine yellow,
of uniform colour, with a few slight violet veins. There is some quite
clear. That called Carnation has a rosy hue. Antique Yellow is one
of the rarest marbles, and is supposed to have come from Macedonia,
there are several varieties of it, and it was nrach used by the Emperor
Adrian in his magnificent villa. — Breccia Yellow, of clear colour,
spotted with deep yellow. — Straw Yellow (Pagliocco). Very clear.
— Ringed Yellow (Annellato). Yellow and black circles. — Yellow
and Black, with large spots. — Yellow, with net work (rezziato). — ■
Yellow with red veins, interspersed with black, a sort of brocatelle.
Weight of a foot cube, 191 lbs.

COMPETITION DESIGNS.

Sir — Towards the close of last year, an advertisement was published
in several country papers, addressed "To Architects," for a new Athe-
naeum at Sunderland, and the plans directed to be sent to the chairman
on the 20th February last, a young architect, who Wiis a candidate,
applied for information, composed and completed a design and esti-
mate, and transmitted them to the party : in the May following, not
having any tidings of his design, he wrote to the party, on hearing
that a builder was the successful candidate, who was proceeding with
the working plans and specification ; after waiting a few days he
received an answer, of which the following is a copy : —

" To J.B.C., Architect.

In consequence of the committee of the Sunderland
Athenaeum requiring the architect whose plan vias selected, to satisfy
them that it could be effected for 3000/., they have thought it best to
retain thy plan along with two others, until they know the result.

I am, respectfully.

For Edward Backhouse,
E. Backhouse, Jun."
Leeds.

Now it appears by notice in the papers, that the first stone is to be
laid immediately, and yet, for some purpose or other, the plans are
retained, and very possibly the two others — yes, retained nine months
to satisfy a committte; some years ago I was a candirlate for a public
buildiaig in the same neighbourhood, and had my plans returned within
three months, and during the last month I had an opportunity for the
first time of inspecting the building erected after the design, therefore
selected, and could scarcely imagine, that it was the institution com-
peted for; if, as in the opinion of tlie publisher of a Guide to Modem
jithe7ts, London street architecture is very inferior, I wonder at what
rate of discount this building would stand ; in another case I had my
plans soiled and torn after four months' retention, which so disgusted
me, that I have never since ventured on a public competition, altliough
I had been successful in several former instances. For a public building
in Leeds some years back, five architects were applied to, and paid for
their plans, though the result in that case was not satisfactory, as none
of the competitors were employed, but canvassing and jobbing were
resorted to, and a worse design than any of the five was taken, furnished
by a stranger, by way of easing party spirit : the committee measured
all the rooms, passages, holes and corners, entresols, &c., added all
the lengths together, and all the breadths, and thereby give some acres
of floorboardiug ! It was a most irregular, filled an irregular piece of
gromid, and was supposed to give quantity rather than quality. In
this Sunderland case, for which the young architect competed, there
appears something so very indecorous, tliat it ought to be recorded
among the many instances of modern deference, paid to architects, of
these days of the march of intellect. Apologising for this trespass on
your time, I beg to subscribe myself.

Your very faithful servant,

DiONYSlUS.

i83!).]

THE CIVIL ENGINEKll AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

455

■»ai ii ■ I iifrnfTTf'-"^

CANDIDUS'S NOT E-BOOK.
FASCICULUS XI.

I nmst have liberty
"Witliiil, as l:\rge a charter as the h irals,
Tu blow ou whoai I jilcase.

I. And I may surely blow upon one of the newspaper gentry, even
at the risk of being blown up by some of them in return. " Covent
(iarilen Theatre," says the oracle of the Sunday Times, "is a much
finer edifice than Drury Lane, having been designed after the ' Temple
of Diana at Athens ' " ! btill, it is ])0ssible that he meant the Parthe-
non all the while, Diana having the reputation of being as good a
Parthene as Pallas Athen(^ herself, notwithstanding the bit of poetical
scandal about "chaste Dian" and Master Endymion. But if the
erudite newspaper critic imagines, that Covent Ganlen Theatre bears
any resemblance in its design, either to the Parthenon at Athens, or
the temple of Diana at Ephesus, or Diana anywhere else, he is gifted
with a very powerful imagination indeed. After all, the chief wonder
is, not that a newspaper writer should blunder after that egregious
fashion, even in this niarch-of-intellect age, but that the enlightened
public should be so mu(di in the dark as to swallow blunders which
a school-boy could correct. It is greatly to be feared that, without
libelling that very respectable personage the "Public," we may give
it credit for a vast amount of ignorance on ahnost every tiling con-
nected with architecture, for on scarcely any other subject do we hear
so nuich nonsense and absurdity uttered so fearlessly and with such
impunity.

H. If our designers of shop-fronts do not display so much invention
as they might do, they certainly have not that excuse for not indulging
in it, which their belkrs avail themselves of; because they nray expe-
rimentalize without risk of incurring reproach on the score of licen-
tiousness. Hardly worth while is it to be correct, where correctness
is attended with no merit of any kind ; and most assuredly a miniature
facsimile of some ancient example from Stuart, applied as an order
to the frontispiece of a shop, can produce no effect in itself, whereas
an original composition for the same )nn'pose would at all events be
less stale ; and if clever and tasteful into the bargain, would have
value as a specimen, and might, should it be found worthy of such
distinction, become a model for something of the kind upon a larger
and more satisfactory scale. Whatever else we choose to impute it
to, our excessive shyness of any attempt at originality, cannot be at-
tributed to our aversion to novelty, Ijecause, in our eagerness for it,
we take a sudden juni]i from one favoiu'ite style to another diametri-
cally opposite to it, and make no scruple of adopting without hesi-
tation, the most ])re])osterous architectural fashions, provided only we
have due authority for them. While to innovate upon either Grecian
or Gothic, no matter in what way or with what intention, would be
reprobated as little less than sacrilegious, we may, without the least
offence, abandon both for the Elizabt'thau, or any other tasteless and
mongrel fashion, provided that we then also adhere strictly to prece-
dent, and not sacrifice one iota of its bad taste and deformity. Should
any one, instead of closely following some one of the various examples
of Grecian Ionic capitals, venture to compose something different, yet
with kindred feeling and spirit, he would greatly discompose all his
brethren, to v.hose astonishment at his presumption and rashness there
would be no end. Yet should it so please him, he might copy the
poorest — or, we might say the best, for almost the best are poor
enough, in all conscience — of the Roman and Italian specimens of the
same kind, without incurring censure. His taste, indeed, might not
be applauded by every one ; but his orthodoxy could be questioned
by no one. And truly, let the taste so shown be as bad as it mav, he
is not chargeable with it — it is none of his invention; he has taken it
just as he found it, which is, surely, a very fair and reasonable excuse,
and therefore I wonder that it should never be made use of.

III. Of what use, I should like to know, have been such works as
Piranesi's llagnificenza di Roma, since, for any ideas they appear to
have furnished, they might as well have been flung into the sea, or
committed to the tlames. Though we there meet with much to con-
vince us that there was infinitely more variety in ancient Roman
architecture than existing monuments of it show, we have not cared
to turn it to any account, but have continued to plod on with the old
and limited stock of ideas, endeavouring to reduce all that appertains
to detail, to as few forms and as mechanical a system as possible, in-
stead of studying to enrich the langiuige of the art, by adding to its
synonymous expressions, in order to avoid the perpetttal and weari-
some repetition of tire same forms on every occasion.

IV. That the design for the Royal Exchange which obtained the
first premium is not to be executed, is the most satisfactory circum-
stance in all the proceedings of the competition ; nevertheless, it is
l)y no means very satisfactory and intelligible in itself, how such very
marked distinction came to be made in favour of that particular design.
Neither the report of the tin-ee architects appointed by the committee,
nor that of the committee itself, affords us the slightest information,
nor helps us even to a conjecture. Surely the reasons for such prefe-
rence ought to have been most explicitly stated by the tirst-mentioned,
if merely in justice to themselves, because at present they seem to
have been guided only by caprice— certainly not by taste, for in that
respect. No. 3G was far from pre-eminent It might possibly fulfil the
conditions — such as they were — imposed by the committee, more
exactly than any other design did. As to that, I cannot speak, for,
thanks to the manner in v.hich the exhibition was managed, and the.
hurry with which it was closed, it was impossible to study either thai;
or any other design sufficiently to judge of it in all its bearings, unless
attention had been confined to a single set of drawings. But it seems
to me that, wanting one great ]ire-requisite, namely, originality and
grandeur, it wanted what was most of all essential. ^Hnor defects as
to arrangement and accommodation might be overcome, got rid ol by
after study; but where the original idea is poor, the general taste
defective, the case is without remedy. Where there exists want of
conception at first, it can be supplied by no revision or correction, by
nothing short of abandoning the iirst scheme and beginning entirely
afresh. It does not appear to me the wisest way, either in this or any
other competition, to attach any merit to a mere literal compliance
^^ ith the terms of the instructions issued. The great point is to obtain
an idea worthy of being adopted, a satisfactory ground-work and basis
of a design, leaving the author of it to correct those particulars in
which it may be considered defective or objectionable. If uudeistood
beforehand, there would not be the slightest unfairness in this, because
the successful competitor would have earned for himself a privilege
that would else have fallen to the lot of another. By this means we
should have a chance of obtaining very s\iperior buildings to what we
now do ; because opportunity woidil then be afibrded for thoroughly
revising and correcting the whole, and perfecting it in every respect.
Not toTdlow this to be done, is not to allow an architect to bestow all the
study upon his design that he may be capable and willing to do ; but
to conline lum to what, though shown in finished drawings, may be
little more than a first sketch of his ideas for the subject, which he
would be able very greatly to improve upon, were he allowed to make
such alterations us a mature re-consideration of it might suggest.

ON THE PRIMING OF LOCOMOTIVE BOILERS.

Experiments on the quantity of water in the liquid state, mechanically
carried over with the steam during the working of locomotives ; by M. de
Pambour.

There exists in locomotives, and perhaps more or less in all olhet'
steam engines, a loss which has not hitherto been measured, and which
is nevertheless very important. It consists in a very considerable
quantity of water in the liquid state mechanically mixed with the
steam, and carried over with it into the cylinders. To account for
the production of this effect it is sufficient to observe the enormous
volumes of water which are continually carried away by the wind, and
held in suspension in the air in the form of clouds. Since also the
steam formed in the boiler of a high pressure engine has a mucli
greater density than the air, and instead of touching only the surface
of the licjuid, it is evolved in the very midst of tlie water, it is not sur-
prising that it should be ab!e to draw along with it in its motion a
considerable mass of water, and this effect must be produced during
the whole time the engine is in action.

This loss must be much greater in locomotives than in other steam
engines, on account of the continual shocks which they receive in their
motion, and of the slight elevation of the orifice of the steam pipe
above the level of the water, of the small capacity of the steam chest,
and lastly on account of the enormous rapidity with whicli the steam
is evolved from the water in the boiler. In order to obtain an evalua-
tion of the quantity of water thus carried over with the steam, we
placed the engines submitted to experiment on inclined planes, uuder
such circumstances that the pressure of the steam in the cidinder was
sensibly equal to that in the boiler, and we thencompared their actual
speed with that which they would have atl.uued, if the whole of the
water expended by the engine had been really transformed into steam,

Tliis calculation is very easy ; as wc Lnow by observation the velo^

2 R

450

THE CIVIL I']Ng:ini:i]r and archhect'S journal.

[Dkckmbf.r,

city of flic i'iir;iiK', we h:\\c the number uf reviiUitions of tlie wlieel,
and eoi)sei|neMtly tlie number of times file cylinders are tilled witli
sic.iin in an hour; and as we als(j Know tlie elastic force of lliis steam,
we can deduce from it the correspondiiif; cjnanlily of water. Com-
])ariiij;- then this quantity of water which is etl'ective with the total
([nantity expended by the boiler, we find the quantity which has passed
over with the steam in the liquid f(nin. In this calculation we take
account of the quantity of steam recjuircd to till the waste space at
each end of the cylinder, called the cUarann, and also of the reduc-
tion of vaporization caused by the slowness of the motion in ascending-
inclined planes, and of the loss by the safety valves. For this purpose
we make use of the results furnished by special experiments, whence
we deduce that, by reason of the action of the blast pipe, the vapori-
zation of locomotives varies as the fourth rout of tlieir velocity, and

that the loss through the safety valves in ascending planes amounts
on an average to *l"l- of the total vaporization.

The results of our experiments are contained in the following table.
It should be remarked that if, in auy one of these experiments we have
erred in adiniltiug the jiressure in the cyliniler to have been the same
as in the boiler, it will follow that the quantity of water which passed
over in the liquid state with the steam in that experiment was more
considerable than our determination makes it. We are therefore sure
that our results are not exaggerated.

It should also be remarkeil tliat the loss liere observed cannot be
attributed to a ])artial condensation of the steam in the steam pipes
and cylinders, since these are placed in the boiler itself and in the
smoke-box, where they are constantly in contact with the flame, which
renders this supposition inadmissible.

TABLE.
Experimculs ml the ijUiintiti/ <if ti-akr carried over icilh the si cam in I he liquid ntnlc inio Ihc cijimders of Incumolivex.

Name !
of tlie
engine. '

Diameter

of tlie
cylimlcr.

Stroke
of the
piston.

Diameter
of the
wheel.

Tot 111 Speed of the
pressure in the engine in miles
boiler. per hour.

Total vaporization per liour
in the boiler.

Ell'ective
vaporization.

Ratio of the

effective to tlic'

total vapori- |

/alion after i

deducting the

loss tUrongh

the valves.

Mean
(luring the
experiment.

Dining the
ascent, after
deducting the
loss through

the valves.

Star

Vesta

li-iirv

inches.
14

11-125
11

12

inches.
12

10

feet.

5

Its. per sq. in.
04-3
05-3
09-7
80-2
03-2
72-2
09-7
65-7

miles.

8-57

0-26

14-11
6-31

10-00

' 11-42

8-00

7-50

cubic feet.
68-79
08-79
05 -(»0
54-45
08-82
(ill-00
43-81
48-21

cubic feet.
53-12
49-11
48-53
30-00
49-73
44-77
37-44
j 35-30

cubic feet.
29-5a
21-87
44-05
21-90
27-92
35-91
29-06
25-78
1

0-50
0-45
0-91
001
0-50
0-80
0-78
0-73

Leeds

Ynlcan

Atlas

0-08

From these expei-iments we learn that the quantity of water in the
liquid state carried over with the steam into the cylinders of locomo-
tives amounts on an average to I vi'J of the total vaiiurization of the
boiler, reckoned after deducting the loss through the safety valves.

This determination suits the mean of the engines we submitted to
experiment, but we shall observe that the quantity of water which
passes over without being vaporized must necessarily vary in ditterent
engines, since it depends en the ]iarlicular construction of the boiler,
anci especially on the capacity of the steam chest. If this is very
small, no more, for example, than )l) times the capacity of the cylin-
der, a tenth part of the steam already formed will pass into the cylin-
der at each stroke of the jiislon, and thus the density of the remaining
stcain will be suddenly reduced to nine-tenths of what it was pre-
viously. This great change of density will immediately draw from
the liquid .i new' quantity of sleam to supply the (h'Hciency ; but it is
evident that this new quantity of steam will be evolved from the licpiid
with so much the greater violence, and will consequently carry with
it so much the more of the li(|uid, ;'s the medium into which it is pre-
cipitated is more rarefied. 11 then the steam chest were made to con-
tain lUU cylinders full, instead of KS as the difterence of density pro-
duced at each stroke would be only 0-Jl, the quantity of water carried
over w ith the steam would be so much less. Also, if the end of the
steam pipe is very little elevated above the level of the water in the
boiler, or if it is very large, the water will he more easily carried as
far as the entrance of the ))ine, and w ill be admitted into it in greater
abundance.

The quantity of water carried along with the sleam must therefore
vary according to the construction of the boilers. But it is also in-
fluenced by circumstances independent of it, such as the intensity of
the tire and the dirtiness of the water: the inti-nsity of the lire, be-
cause it produces in the boiler a more or less violent current of steam
in the boiler for the (piaiitity of water which it contains, and the dirti-
ness of the water, in consequence of the scum which it forms on the
surface.

The carrying over of water with the steam is produced, as we see,
without Ihe appearance of any external sign, because the water mixed
with the steam is dissipated in the air with it. Unt there are mo-
juentfi when this eft'ect is so violent, that it manifests itself externally

in the form of an abundant fall of rain from the top of the funnel.
The engine is then said to prime ; and this takes place especially when
tlie boiler is too full, because then the steam chest is by so much re-
duced in ca|)acity, and the level of the water at the same time ap-
proaches nearer to the entrance of the steam pipe.

The extent of the loss which was the subject of the preceding ex-
periments, explains how it is that some boilers expend water so rajiiilly
that it is impossible to keep them full, even at a very moderate speed,
and how it sometimes happens that, by merely changing the steam
dome, a reduction of near'y i5 per cent, of the expense of fuel has
been produced.

(We regret to find that we cannot put much confidence in the re-
sults of the preceding ex|)eriments for several reasons : in the Hrst
place, M. de rainbour aiqiears to have made no allowance for leakages
arising from defects in the pipes anil joints, so common in locomotive
boilers; secondly, it seems highly prob.ible that the loss through the
safetv valves was very dirt'ercnt in the various e, glues submitted to
experiment, inv\hich case a considerable error might be committed
by eslimating it in all the experiments at O-l'J of the total amount of
steam generated. In the same manner the mean, U-G'-i, of the results
in the table can have no value whatever, being the average of ratios
varying from U-15 to C-iU ; which shows that the difterence of cir-
cumstances in the various experiments was such as to occasion an
essential dilVerence in the resu'ts. — Edi!ur C. E. and ,1. Joiinial.)

Effe'ls nf Liulilniiii; nil Sliiji\s Miisl!:. — M. Scllicr has rcporlt"! to iIil' Aca-
di-my t)f Sc; cncrs in ta\iiur of Captain Arrowtniiili's jilan, as snitcrior lo llie
ap|il'calion of cmiduclors. Captain Arrowsmiih's sjsti'in is lo paint ihe
masis, vanis, anij trucks of the top niasls and Hagstalls \vi:h black, and on
the approach of a stonu to strike ilie small \\hi c fails. M. Arago dissented
Irum ihcse conclusions. ■• ■

Aiititiii'.l'i's. — In tligi^mt; under the foundation of an old liuiisc in Calherine-
street. l-',M'lcr. last Keek. I«el\e olil Hat loltU-s or llaf;ons. evidently of ihc
['Ciiod ot the I5:h ccntiir) , several small vessels of earlhen\varc, a curiiais
cu[) or t'lnkard. and ihe re-i] of llie Court nay iamily were tliscoveLCil. This
seal is of verv larpc dimensions, hearing the arms oV ('oiirlcnay and Tall ot
eiuiilaznncd lo^ethcr. anil the IvCgend. June Ciini-teiinij Cnmi'tinstr linrniiite
Si;;illiii:i. the Lulv wlio uwneil it Ijeing the wife of the 4th Karl of Devon, and
died al.ont \iW.— Bristol .Macurij.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT\S JOURNAL.

457

ON THE ELASTIC FORCE OF STEAM.

Obscrralioiiif of M. Arago on a Memoir by Mr. Fakey, uii Ik ilaiitic
force o/Sl('am,p/ibli!iked in the /rsl rohtme of /he " Tran^aclions of Ik
iMtitiilkm of Civil Engineers."

(From the correspondence oftk Acadeiuie des Sieiices, at Paris.)

In presenting to the Aciideiiiy the first volume of tlie Tninsar/ions
of a society wliose hil)ours miiy be expected to exercise ;i beneficial
iiiHnence on the progress of the art of the engineer, M. Arago ex-
jjresses his regret at having foiind therein a memoir by Mr. Farey,
which certainly does not deserve a place in so useful a collection.
This memoir is a bitter and unfounded criticism on a work of M.M
Dniong and Arago, midertaken by order of the Academy, and honoured
with its approbation. M. Duiong had knowledge of Mr. Farcy's
memoir a short time befiu'e his death ; he was very m\ich grieved, and
proposed to refute it. What my illustrious frienil was luiable to do,
said M. Arago, I shall now attempt. The task will, however, not be
ditlicult; it will suffice to compare the following quotations from the
two works : —

"The principal object of the present commimication," says Mr.
Farev, "is to show the coincidence between Mr. Southern's scale (for
llie elastic force of skum corresponding to different dc grits nf Ik tkr-
»iOHit/f/-,j anil that of a new series of experiments made in Paris in
JS29, by a Committee of the Academy of Sciences."

"Another object of the communication is to put on record, in the
papers of tlie Institution, a memorial of the fair claim of our country-
man, Mr. Southern, to the merit of priority in accurate determination
of this law, in opposition to tlie unfoiindtd asserlion of the Frencli
author (M. Duiong) who has just published the new experiments,
according to which //(e prtrious dtttrminations in England inreirru-
VfOiis. Mr. Southern's determination is not mentioned in this sweeping
condenniation. * * *

" f. * At four atmospheres Mr. .Southern found

the temperature 29;3-ll degrees, and the acadendcians 'IW.iu. This
last is not an accidental coincidence, but an adoption of Mr. Southern's
scale, through Mr. Tredgold, t/iuugh not acknon^lcdgid as xncli."

"in adopting this fornuda from Mr. Tredgold, (who quotes Jlr.
Southern's experiments, and takes them as his basis,) the French aca-
demicians could not have been ignorant of Mr. Southern's deternd-
nations, nor of their accuracy * » *

" Under tkse circumstances, it was not candid that all mtntion of
Mr. Soulhern's deterniinatiuns should hare been suppressed. *

" * It is to be remarked that the elasticities

were measured bv the French academicians by the conqjression of
air included in a manometer, and not by a direct measure of a culunm
of mercury, or a loaded safety valve ; whereas Mr. Southern used both
those means, and employed very correct thermometers, and therefore
his scale is of as nuich authenticity as that of the French. * *

" * * As there is no certainty in thi! exactitude

of either temperatures or elasticities when so great as i'iH degrees
and 24 atmospheres, it is not advisable to adopt a new law of pro-
gression for the sake of reconciling differences of 2A degrees from
uncertain observations."

The imputations of Mr. Farey, said M. Arago after having made
the above quotations, are categorical and numerous. In order to
refute them, I shall content myself with quoting several passages from
the memoir criticized.

The author makes M. Duiong assert that the English determinations,
previous to the experiments which he made with M. Arago, were
inexact. The following is the passage in the Report to the Academy
to which Mr. Farey alludes: —

" La science ne possedait que des mesures assez discordantes au-
densous de huit atmosphi'res, et pour des pressions plus fortes, absolu-
ment aucun resultat d'experiences directes."*

Now in this passage there is no mention either of English, French,
or German. It is merely stated that the results of the known experi-
ments were discordant, and that it was ditlicult to choose ; and this is
an incontestable truth.

The great crime of the French Acadefmicians, in the eyes of Mr.
Farey, is to have suppressed all mention of Mr. Southern's determi-
nations. It is in this that they have been wanting in candour.

To show how we have suppressed all mention, and how we have
been wanting in candour; the following is a passage of the Memoir.
The reader will hardly believe his eyes: —

" Les determinations seules de Southern et de Taylor offrent avec

'■ Science possessed but discordant measures below eight atmo.yiheres, and
for greater elasticities ab.solutely no result of direct experiment,

celles-ci (les determinations Fraucaises), une conformitc d'aulant plus
Irappante ((u'elles out etc fonrnies par un mode d'observation totlile-
ment different. A I'epoipu* ou nous avons calcule la table inserce an
rapport provisoire cite plus liant, nous les considerions dejii comme
les plus vraisemblables ; aussi ne tronvera-t-on entre cette table et celle
que nous alloiis donner, que des differences presqu'insignificantes, dans
la partie de I't'chelle qui leur est counuune." — ( Mi'iu. de I', /lead, de
Sciences, t. X, p, 222.)>'

This is not all. Mr. Southern has been quoted, not only for his
experiments, but also for a simph; fornuda of interpolation, which the
following extract will prove : — •

M. Young parait ctre le premier qui ait employe le mode d'inter-
polation, qui consiste a reprcsenter les forces elasticpies de la vapeur,
par une certaine puissance de la temperature augmentee d'un nombre
constant. M. Young avait trouve ([ue I'exposant 7 satisfaisait aux
experiences connues a I'epoipie de la publication de son ouvrage. M.
Creighton prif I'exposant ti, ((ui lui parut mieux s'accorder avec les
rc'sultats du Dr. Ure. Mr. Southern adopta le nombre rrl3, qu'il de-
termina sans doute par tctonnement. jVIr. Tredgold retablit I'exposant
de Creighton, en changeant le coefficient, &c.. — -(JMi'm. de V Acad. t. x,
p. 230.) -i-

It is unpleasant to have always to answer by formal denials; but is
it my fault '. Mr. Farey says that for four atmospheres we took Mr.
Southern's deterndnation, without aeknoii'ledging it. This is not the
fact : our observations embrace the interval between one and 24 at-
mospheres, it was therefore unnecessary for us to borrow anything
from any other authcu' ; but, as our observations did not correspond to
round numbers of atmos]iheres, we could not do otherwise, in con-
structing the table, than make the interpolation by means of the for-
nuda which gave the nearest approximation to our results. This
fornuda was Mr. Tredgold's. M. Duiong stated thns nuich, and he
had nothing more to aeknowlidge.

Once in the vein of detraction, Mr. Farey has not confined himself
to the historical part of the Report. The experiments of the Com-
mission, examined in their details, appear to him defective. And is
it not true that MM. Duiong and Arago did indeed make use of a
manometer?

But wdrat would have become of this pretended difficulty, if Mr.
F;irey had added that the manometer was graduated directly, by mer-
curial columns wdiich attained a height of 20 metres (nearly t)(j feet) ?
Can the English critic have mistaken the object of the Academicians?
The reader may judge by the following extract from page I9j of the
Memoir :

"(La Commission) s'est dctermince a recourir au moyen le plus
pciuble, raais aussi le plus exact, la niesure directe de la colonne de
mercure capable de faire eqnilibre a I'clasticite de la vapeur! " %

Mr. Farey ))refers the determinations of Mr. .Southern to those of
M.M. Duiong and Arago, which he is certainly entitled to do as far as
regards the numbers comprised between 0 and 8 atmospheres ; but
beyond this he must, nolens rolinf, refer to the French measures, since
our critic's compatriots have not determined any elastic force above
eight atmospheres. M. Arago remarked that the difficulties and
extreme danger of the experiments commence at 10 atmospheres, and
that the Commission carried theirs as far as 24.

Mr. Farey prefers the English deterudnations, because Mr. .Southern
enqjioyed Very exact tkrmomiters. What then ? Can it be supposed
that a Commission, prosecuting its researches under the auspices of
the Academy, a Commission which counted among its members, which
had for reporter one of the two authors of the excellent memoir, now
become classic, On the cuniniunieatiou of Heat, can it be supposed that
such a Commission shoukl not have used nry exact thermometers ?
Such doubts, when they are gratuitous, when they are not founded on

* Tliedeteniiiiiutioiis nf Sinahcrn aiitl Tinjhir alone shew a conformity with
these (the Fri-nch determinations) l)v so much die more striking, ns they
Here furnished by a lotallv ililiVrenl'mmlc of observation. At the time when
we ra/c«/(7/c</ thc'lable nliuli was inserloil in the provisional report quoted
above, «"e alre.idy considered them as the most iirobal.le ; anil the iliflbronecs
between that lal/le and tlie one we are abnut to give, will be fbund to be \ery
incuiisiilenible in the pari of the scale «liicli is lommon to both.

r Mr. Vuuiig appears to have been the (irst «ho made use of the method
of interpolation. «hich consists in n-preseiuing the elastic fiaxc uf s:eain liy
a certain puuer of the IpiiquTiliire augmenleil by a cimstant nnmlvr. Mr.
Vnung had fuund that tlu> index 7 made ibc results cuiniide ttitb the experi-
ments »hieh »eie knuwn at the time his work «as piiidished. Mr. Creighton
took the index 0, wbicli seemed to liim to iigne betler with Dr. Ure's results.
Mr, Suuthern :ido|ited llie number .')'i:!, wliR-lihe no dnnbt determined by
liltoiiHciiinit. Mr, IVedguld resumed C'reiyliton's index, and changed the
ciielheient, S<'C.

; ('the Commission) resolved to have recourse to the most laborious, hut
at ihe same time the most exact method ; llie direct measure of the column
of mercury capable of supporting the pressure of the steam !

2 R 3

45«

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[December,

L.ny discussion of the experiments of the Commission of the Academy,
could not be designated here ;is tliey deserve. We shall therefore
content ourselves with confidently submitting the preceding facts and
reHections to every impartial man, and especially to the chief jiart of
the members of the honourable Inatitutiun of Ctvil £iiginurs of Great
Britain,

COUNTER REMARKS.

Sir — It appears to me that the "Catholic" whose letter you have
inserted at page 439, is a bit of a Jesuit, since, if he is really of opinion
that nothing at all approaching to religious controversy ought to be
mixed up with architectural topics, he should have reprimanded his
brother Catholic, wdio first set the example, and thereby rendered
counter remarks almost unavoidable on the part of others. Yet though
there was nothing improper in Mr. Welby Pugin's sneering at and
calumniating th.e Protestant cliurch, it is now highly so, forsootli, in
Mr. Habei'shon, or any one else, to make any remarks to the disad-
vantage of the Romish church ! The plain meaning of which is, that
it was all very fair for Protestants to be bullied by Mr. Pugin, but if
they presume to open their moutlis in return, then an architectural
publication "is not a fit vehicle for religious controversy." How par-
ticularly modest and consistent 1

Pray, has either Mr. Pugin or the "Catholic," seen a publication by
Dr. Gruneisen that has recently been published in Germany, under the
title of " De Protestantisrao Artibus hand Infesto " ? It would be worth
their attention, and also that of the Protestants themselves of this
country, more especially our cliurch commissioners, for the writer
proves very satisfactori y that the early Reformers were by no means
hostile to the admission of painting and other decoration in churches;
in proof of which he quotes some very strong passages from the writ-
ings of Zuinglius and Calvin. And, indeed, if we tolerate illustrated
and pictorial bibles, it does seem rather absurd to affect to be scan-
dalized at similar subjects being represented on the walls of churches,
or to consider painting almost as an alliance with Popery, as if pic-
tures and no pictures constituted the essential difference between tlie
church of Rome and that of England.

So much for the "Catholic," and "religious controversy." Let me
now comment upon the paragraph signed B.A. page 44t5, the w"riter
of which seems to be of opinion that the recent buildings at Munich
have been praised far beyond their due, and who is therefore not
likely to approve of the article headed " Architecture of Munich."
However much in the right he may be in the estimate he has formed
of the bui-dings themselves, he is very much in the wrong if lie sup-
poses that the reviewer in the Foreign Quarterly is the person who
has chiefly extolled them beyond their merits. To be convinced of
this, he has only to look into the second volume of Count Raczynski's
splendid work, "Histoirede I'ArtModerne en AUemagne," to discover
that other persons besides reviewers have the temerity to admire
what such men as Klenze, as Gartner, and OhlmiiHer have done at
Munich. Of the Gothic church by the last-mentioned the Count
speaks in terms of unqualified admiration, and he professes to be
charmed by the singular yet captivating style of Gartner ; — and to
judge from some specimens of detail given in the work, the last
justly merits all the commendation bestowed upon him. I very much
question whether any of our architects have the ability to compose,
or the courage afterwards to execute, such an original composition as
a capital there shown, from the new Library at Mvm'ch. hi regard
to Klenze, the Count is somewhat more measured in his praise, for
he objects to his taste in many instances, but he brings forwards
Schinckel's testimony in favour of the Pinacotheca ; and that testimony
certainly says a very great deal indeed, because there is no class of
men who are less addicted to the foible of exaggerating the merits of
each other's works, than architects ; at any rate, in this country they
cannot be accused of evincing much cordial admiration of their rivals.

Nemo.

Terrestrial Magnetism.— M. E. Capurci, Director of the Oliservatory at
Naples, has reported that he has determined, by observations with Gaml)py's
instruments, that after the eruption of Vesuvius on the 1st of January last,
that the (lip of the needle suddenly diminished half a degree at least.

Fossil liemains. — M. Duval has presented to the Academy of Sciences some
fossil remains of mammilers fount in an < sseous breccia in a nii.untain c-d'ed
the Marbriere. near Grasse, in the department of the Var. This breccia is
i'ound five miles from the sea-shore, and about .'iOO yards above its level, m
calcareous marbles forming the upper layer of the chaik of that district.

BRITISH MUSEUM.— No. IV.

{From the Timts.)

The ^Egina Marbles.

Ix the Pliigalian room of the British Museum, against the southern
wall, a pediment has recently been erected, corresponding with that
opposite, which contains 11 of the casts from the jEgina statues, an
account of wdiioh some time since appeared in this Journal.* On this
we are about to describe are placed five more, which were brought
from the ruins of the same temple of Jupiter Panhelleneus, in the
island of jEgina. These five statues were all that were found belong-
ing to the eastern front sufficiently in a state of preservation to assure
of their original destination and design ; and it is the more to be
lamented, as that was the principal facade of the edifice, and con-
tained the great entrance into the soros of the temple. This front
was by far the most magnificent in its decorations, the esplanade
before it extending 100, while that of the western was but oO feet ;
the statues also on this tympanum were more numerous, there being
originallv on this 14 figures, and but II on the other; they are also
both in style and sculpture far superior, and appear as the work of
the master, the others in comparison as those of tlie scholars; the
superiority of conception and manner is apparent, the forms are more
muscular and robust, the veins and muscles more displayed, an imi-
tation of a maturer nature. It is remarkable that they occupy less
space than those of the western pediment. At the first opening of
the ruins £ J statues were discovered, besides the four female figures
belonging to th.e Acroteria. To the artist the canon of proportion and
the system of anatomical expression observable throughout the whole
may he regarded as the models whence was derived that stid bolder
style of conception which afterwards distinguisl.ed the sculptors and
made the perfection of the Athenian school ; what the works of Ghu-
landia were to Raphael these were to Phidias. The surprise of the
common observer inay be eix.itsd when lie contemplates the%e figures,
however disadvantageous tlie circumstances under wdjich lie views
them. Perhaps lie cannot call to mind, in the capital of his country,
however civilization and the arts may have advanced, any sculptures
of the IGth century which appear equ .'.iy imposing; the more so,
when he reflects that the history of their origin is buried in the dark-
ness of 2,400 years. Long after this period Lysippus held as a prin-
ciple of the ideal, which has in later times been too general.y followed,
to'make men as they seem to be, not as they real.y are. In this group
there is not, as seen in the opposite one, any figure immediately under
the centre of tlie tympan, that of Minerva, which was found, and
which, no doubt, had occupied it, being thotight too much broken to
be placed. The one nearest is the figure of a warrior, who appears
iis havii'g fa'len wounded to the ground. He is supporting himself on
the rigi.t arm, endeavouring to rise. The hand no doubt held a sword,
as the rivets of brimas sti'l rsmainiog indicate. On the left arm is
a shield held close to the body, the "hand enclasping the It amon, or
holder. The countenance, contrary to the one in a similar position
on the opposite pediment, seems calmly to regard, and to mark the
moment to resist, with any chance of success, an advancing enemy
who is rushing forward to seize his spoils. Whether this statue is
rightly placed, we think wi;l admit of doubt. The figure rushing for-
ward could not have iufiictsd the wound by which he has been dis-
abled, and it seems more' probable that an arrow, wdiich an archer at
the extreme of the pediment has just discharged, has been the cause
of his wound, and that it should, instead of bsing on the ground, have
been placed as if in the act of falling. In the attitude of the attacking
warrior a desire is shown to give the greatest interest to the action ;
the position of the riglit leg seems calculated to give movement to
the figure as seen from below : behind the fallen an unarmed figure is
stooping forward, apparently to raise him ; but this statue would seem
rather to belong to the other pediment, where a hollow is found in
the pedestal on wdiich the goddess Minerva stands, which appears to
have been made to allow room for its advance. Among the statues
found, but broken, was one which stood netirly over the body of the
wounded hero to defend him against the advancing enemy before
mentioned. Near the archer is another combatant on the ground ;
the countenance of this figure is aged, the beard most minutely sculp-
tured ; it is of a square form and descends to the breast; on the lip
are long mustachios. It is by far the most aged of either group, and
appears to be a chief of consequence ; he is raising himself on his
shield ; the expression ol the face is very fine, it has a smile on it,
though evidently in pain. The archer is a Phrygian, and his body is
protected by leathern armour; as he has no siiield allowed, he is
holding the "bow, which is small and of the Indian shape, in the left
hand with the arm outstretched; the bow-string has been dr.iwn to
the ear, the arrow seems just to have sped, and the exultation of the
coimtenance shows it has taken etfect. Three of these figures have

1830.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

459

that sort of helmet which defends the face by a guard descending over
the nose, and the back by the length of the lupous or crest, or horse-
hair, cr/s 'a; the shields are massy and large, they are the Argive
as^pis, enkukhi, circular shields, and the handles are nicely framed.
The inside of all of them were painted in red colour, and within a
circle of the exterior a blue colour was seen, oh which w'as depicted,
without doubt, the symbol adopted by the hero, for on a fragment of
one of those belonging to this front was in relief a part of a female
figure. The remaining figures belonging to this tympanum, the frag-
ments of which were found, were principally archers.

These statues offer the only illusiration now extant of the armour of
the heroic ages. The bodies of all the figures of this pediment, with
the exception of the archer who is encased in leather armour, are
uncovered. The great minuteness of execution in the details corres-
ponds with the exactness with Viihicli iEschylus, Homer, and the
earlier writers of the heroic age have preserved in their descriptions ;
in the whole of these statues this is observable in every tie and fasten-
ing ; it would appear that the whole had undergone the strictest scru-
tiny, as in each those parts which, from their position on the building,
could not have been seen, ai'e found equally exact; in every particular
they are tlie same as those which are traced on the vases of the most
Archaic style, wliere they are delineated in black on a rod ground, as
is seen in the Museum coi'iection. Tiie two female figures on the
apex of the pediment are clothed : the drapery falls in thick folds
around tiie figure : in their hands they hold the pomegranate flower;
the feet are on a small p;inth; they are the Eipus of the Greeks, the
goddess of hope, so well known in museums and on coins, and their
situation here is peculiarly appropriate, as presiding over an unde-
cided combat. It does not appear that any of the figures on either
pediment had any support to fix them in position but the cornice
where they came in contact with it; they must al! have been easily
removable ; and perhaps it may not be unreasonable to suppose, that
on particular festivals they were so disposed as to represent the actions
then in celebration, to recall to the imagination of the votaries the
reason for those sacrifices then offered to the god who presided over
the temple ; this would account why almost all the celebrated groups
of antiquity which have decorated the fajades of their sacred edifices,
among which may be reckoned those of the Parthenon, the Sicilian
Adrimetum, and the Mgvia, are so completely finished, and shows
how, what viould otherwise seem a waste both of talent and labour,
was brought to account.

It is mucli to be regretted that the pediments which have been
erected to receive these statues have been, from want of space, not
completed fo t'le extremity of the angles; in consequence, the statues
contained on both lose much of their e.tect ; the idea of a shelf cannot
be got rid of, neither is there sufficient depth allowed for the figures,
which ought to be seen in shadov.'. A considerable exijense ajjpears
to have been incurred in the erection of this abortion; had it been
placed in a situation wdiere there was sufficient space, which, if this
room dues not afford, is to be found in the vestibule at the end of the
Egyptian gallery, the object might have been attained ; the columns
belonging to the pediment should have been added, and they wou'd
much have improved the bare walls of that portion of the building ;
and this creation being entirely unconnected with the hails which con-
tain the remnants of the E'gin marbles, such a situation could not have
been deemed heterodox to their remains. Had an exact representation
of the fayade of the temple to which these sculptures belonged been
erected, which might easily have been dons, as all tlie parts we.e
known and measured, and the additional expense would have been but
trifiing, it would have given to those who have no opportunity to view
the remains of antiquity abroad, a far more comprehensive idea of
their grandeur and beauty than either dilapidated statues or engraved
plates can oiTei". The inherent good taste of the public, who see with
sorrow the architectural monstrosities which are dignified with the
name of public buildings, would have regarded with pleasure the
repose of a Grecian edifice adorned with its sculptures, the greater
part in an entire state of preservation, and those which time had di-
lapidated, as restored by the hands of Thorwaldsen, a/uc simile of
antiquity; the lions' heads which adorned the ends of the marble tiles
might then have been replaced, the gfitfons or chimeras which were
found, restored to their positions, and the whole of the figures and
architraves coloured exactly as their remains point out; the eye of
the spectator, wearied with tlie sight of nameless monsters, on passing
the doors at the end of the Egyptian hall, would have viewed witli
admiration the reality of an edifice, seen in the same perfection as if
an interval of three and twenty centuries had been recalled.

The Phigai.ian Makbles.
In this saloon are the celebrated bas reliefs found at Mount Cobylus,

near the ancient city of Phigalia, in Arcadia. They represent the
battles of the Greeks and Amazons, and those of Theseus and the
LapithcE against the Centaurs. According to Pausanias, they were
the w'ork of Ictinus, contemporary of Phidias. The grandeur of con-
ception displayed in their composition, the variety of attitude and
action shown, is not surpassed by those in the Elgin saloon, though
their execution may be inferior. A more particular notice of them
than is found in the synopsis of the Museum may not be unacceptaljle.
The combat of the Greeks and Amazons occupies 12 slabs of marble,
and that of the Centaurs II. Both the history of the Amazons and
the battle here represented are obscure. The origin of the name is
derived from two words, " Jlma" or " Ma" which in all old languages
signifies " mother," — its ubiquity is proof of its antiquity — and the
ancient name of the sun, as found in the Temple of Heliopolis, in
Egypt, is " On" " Ton" or " Zoan " ; but that any nation of Amazons,
in the vulgar acceptation of the word, ever existed, is more than pro-
blematical. Fc'.her says that those nations who worshipped the female
principle of the world, such as the loevians, the Cimmerians, the
Moot;E, the AtalanlicUis of Mauritania, and the loniaiis, were Amazons,
and a celebrateil invasion of Attica by them is mentioned. We are
told that Eumolphus, an Egyptian, was the leader; and Pausanias
mentions an Attic victory or trophy, caUed an Amazonium, erected to
their manes ; according to Arri.ai, the Queen of the Amazons, on the
borders of the Ci'.spian Sea, sent ambassadors with defiance to Alex-
ander. In the time of Pompey they were still supposed to exist, and
Dion Cassius says, that in the Mithiddatic war buskins and boots were
found by the Roman soldiers, undoubtedly Amazonian. The worship
of the male aud female deities in Greece caused peace between the
sects, and the origin of their quarrel and their name was forgotten in
Europe. In Asia, the j'orsians and the Jews seem still to have formed
an exception ; Cainbyses in his invasion destroyed in Egypt every
thing connected with' the female worship, he overturned the sphinxes,
but he left the obelisks untouched.

The scene of the combat depicted on these tab'ets is drawn with
great force and spirit; some of the Amazons have long tunics, others
short vestments, only reaching to the knee; one on horseback has
tru\isors and loose sleeves reaching to the wrist; en the head of some
is the Archaic helmet, and those without have the hair fastened in a
knot on the top ; they all but one wear boots which reach to the knees,
their robes are fastened with a zone, some have two belts crossed
between the breasts ; their arms are swords, and the double-headed
Scythian battle-;ixe, as also spears, bows and arrows ; none of these
last are preserved, they being probably of bronze, as the holes remain,
and added afterwards, as was the custom with ancient sculpture ; the
shields are small, aud of the lunar form, opening at top. The Athe-
nian warriors have cloaks or tunics fastened round the neck, and
tightened about the waist by a belt; it reaches no lower than the
knee ; the right arm is lave, in one group a fierce warrior has seized
a mounted Amazon by the hair; he is dr.:gging lier from the horse,
wdiich is rearing ; the action of the female figure is very foie; she
firmly maintains her seat, till relieved by another, who, with uplifted
axe, and shield to protect her from the flying arrows, shall have brained
her antagonist. The 18th slab has five figures and two horses; in one
the horse has fallen, and an Athenian warrior has his right hand fixed
on the throat of the Amazon, while, with the other hand, he has
grasped her foot, and drags her, who seems to have lost all recol-
lection, from the horse's back. The position of the centre figure is
very fine, lie is within the guard of the shield of the Amazon, and is
striking a deadly blow with his hand, in which has been a sword. In
anoth-er group an Athenian has fallen; he rests on his left hand, and
extends his right in supplication to the female warriors who surround
him, and is in the act of surrendering, while behind hiin an Amazon
is striking him with her batt'e axe. in. the sculptures of the La;iithffi
and Centaurs ail the warriors, with the exception of Theseus, are
armed with swords, v/ho, as an imitator of Kercules, has a club. The
shields are large and circular; they have a broad border round the
circumference, and resemble those of the Ephibi of Athens. Of the
helmets there are four kinds— one which fits the head closely without
either crest or vizor, another with a crest, and one with guards for the
ears, and a fourth with a pointed vizor. In one of the sculptures
Theseus is seen attacidng a Centaur; he has the head of the monster
under his left arm, and with the right, which probably held a club of
bronze, as the hole remains, he is'destroying him. He appears to
have arrived just in time to save Iiippod'omania, whom the Centaur
has disrobed, 'and wdio is clinging to the statue of Diana. From the
tiara behind, and the lion's skin,' this figure is supposed to be Theseus ;
the Centaur is Eurvtion; a female figiu-e is also seen pleading on her
behalf, and in the 'ilistauc(! a goddess is hastening in a car, drawn by
stags, to the rescue ; this probably is Diana, as the temple was dedi-
cated to Apollo.

460

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Deckmbkr,

TABLK OF <JRADIENTS, BY HOBliRT SHEPPARD.

reet.

Inclination.

Inehes.

Feet

Peet

Iiicli nation.

Inclies

Feet

Feet

Inclination

Inches

Feet

Per Mile.

1 in.

Per cliiiin.

Per chain.

Per Mile.

1 in.

Per chain.

Per chain-

Per Mile.

1 in.

Per eliain.

Per chain.

1-

5280-

-15

-0125

59^

89-492

8-85

•7375

97-

54-433

14-55

1-2125

2"

2640-

-30

•025

59-326

89-

8-899

•7416

97-778

54-

14007

1-2222

;v

1760-

■45

-0375

60-

88-

9-

•75

98-

53-877

1470

1 -225

4-

1320-

-00

-05

(;i)-69

87-

9-103

■7586

99-

53-333

14-85

1-2375

5*

1056-

-75

•0625

61-

86-557

9-15

■7025

99-623

53-

14-944

1-2453

G-

880-

-90

-075

61-395

80-

9-209

•7074

100-

52-8

IS-

1-25

7'

754-280

1-05

■0875

62-

85-101

9-30

■775

101-5.38

52^

IS -23

1-2692

s-

600-

1-20

•1

62-118

85-

9 3176

■7765

103-529

51^

15-5'29

1-2941

!)•

586-667

1-35

-1125

62-857

84-

9-428

■7857

105-0

50^

15-84

1-32

lo-

528-

1-50

-125

63-

83-81

9-45

■7875

107-755

49-

10-163

1-3409

ll-

480-

1-05

■1375

63-014

83-

9-542

•7952

no-

48-

10-5

1-375

12-

410-

1 -80

■15

64-

82^5

9-60

•8

il 2.34

4 7-

10-851

1-4043

13-

406-154

1-95

-1625

64-39

82^

9-659

•8049

114-783

46-

17-217

1-4348

14-

377-143

2-10

-175

65-

81-231

9-75

•8125

117-333

45-

1700

1-4067

15-

352-

2-25

■1875

65-185

81-

9-778

•8148

120-

44-

18-

1-5

16-

330-

2-40

■2

66-

80-

9-90

•825

122-791

43-

18-419

1-5349

17-

310-588

2-55

■2125

66-835

79^

10-025

•8354

125-714

42-

18-857

1-5714

is-

293-333

2-70

■225

67^

78-800

10-05

■8375

128-78

41-

19-317

1-0098

1!)-

277-895

2-85

■2375

67^092

78-

10-154

■8402

132-

40-

19-80

1-65

20-

264-

3-

■25

08^

77-047

10-20

•85

135-385

39-

20-308

1-0923

21-

251-429

3-15

•2625

08-571

77-

10-285

•8571

138-947

38-

20-842

1-7368

22-

240-

3-30

■275

69-

70-522

10-35

•8625

142-703

37-

21-400

1-7838

23-

229-565

3-45

■2875

69-471

76-

10-421

•8684

146-607

30-

22-

1-8333

2-4-

220-

3-60

■3

70-

75-429

10-50

•875

150-857

35-

22-0286

1-8857

2.-)-

211-2

3-75

■3125

70-4

75-

10-50

•88

155-294

34^

23-294

1-9412

20-

203-077

3-90

■325

71-

74-306

10-65

•8875

100-

33^

24-

2-

27-

195-556

4-05

■3375

71-351

74-

10-703

•8919

165-

32^

24-75

2-0625

28-

188-571

4-20

■35

72-

73-333

10-80

■9

170-323

3V

25-548

2-129

29-

182-069

4-35

■3625

72-329

73-

10-849

•9041

176-

30^

26-40

2-2

30-

176-

4-50

•375

73-

72-329

10-95

■9125

182-009

29-

27-31

2-2759

31-

170-323

4-65

■3875

73-333

72-

11-

■9167

188-571

28^

28-285

2-3571

32-

105-

4-80

■4

74-

71-351

11-10

■925

195-556

27-

29-333

2-4444

33-

160-

4-95

■4125

74-360

71-

11-155

■9296

203-077

26^

30-462

2-5385

34-

155-294

5-10

■425

75-

70-4

11-25

■9375

211-200

25^

31-68

2-64

3.V

150-857

5-25

■4375

75-429

70^

11-3143

■9429

220-

24^

33-

2-75

36-

146-667

5-40

■45

70-

69^474

11-40

■95

229-505

23^

34-435

2-8696

37-

142-703

5-55

■4025

70-522

69^

11-478

■9565

240-

22-

36-

3-

?,s-

138-94 7

5-70

•4 75

77-

68^571

11-55

•9625

251-429

21^

37-714

3-1429

39-

135-335

5'85

■4875

77^647

68-

11-047

■9706

204^

20^

39-60

3-3

40-

132-

6-

■5

78-

67-692

11-70

■975

277-895

19^

41-6842

3-4737

41-

128-78

6-15

■5125

78-800

67-

11-821

■9851

293-333

18^

44-

3-0667

42-

125-714

6-30

■525

79-

66^835

11-85

■9875

510-588

17^

46-589

3-8824

43-

122-791

6-45

■5375

80-

66^

12-

r

330-

10^

49-50

4-125

44-

120-

6-60

■55

81-

65-185

12-15

1-0125

352-

15^

52-8

4-4

4:)-

117-3.33

0-75

■5625

81-231

05^

12-1840

j-0154

377-143

14^

56-571

4-7143

40-

114-783

6-90

■575

82-

04^39

12-30

1-025

400-154

13^

00-923

5-0769

4 7-

112-34

7-05

■5875

82-5

04^

12-375

1-0313

440-

12-

06-

5-5

48-

110-

7-20

•6

83-

63-614

12-45

1-0375

480-

11-

72-

6-

49-

107-755

7-35

■6125

83-81

63-

12-571

1-0476

528-

10^

79-20

6-6

.00-

105-6

7-50

•625

84-

62-857

12-00

1-05

586-607

9^

88-

7-3333

.'il-

103-529

7-65

■6375

85-

62-118

12-75

1-0625

060-

8^

99-

8-25

52-

101-538

7-80

■65

85-101

62-

12-774

1-0645

754-286

7'

11.3^1429

9-4286

52-8

100-

7-92

•66

86-

61-395

12-90

1-075

880^

G-

132^

11-

:^5■

99-623

7-95

■6625

86-557

61-

12-984

1-082

l050^

b'

158^40

13-2

.'>3-333

99-

8-

■6667

87-

60^69

13-05

1-0875

13'20-

4-

198-

16-5

.53-877

98-

8-S82

■6735

88-

60-

1.3-20

1-1

l760^

3^

204^

22-

54-

27-778

810

•6750

89-

59-326

1.3-35

1-1125

2640^

2-

390^

33^

r,4-433

97-

8-105

•6804

89-492

59-

13-424

1-1187

301 7^143

1-75

4525714

377143

bb'

96-

8-25

■6875

'.10-

58-667

13-50

1-125

■^520^

1-5

5'28^

44-

55-579

95-

8-3368

■694 7

91-

58-022

13-05

1-1375

4224^

1-25

633^6

52-8

56-

94-286

8-40

■7

91-034

58-

13-655

1-1379

5280-

1-

722-

00-

5617

94-

8-425

■7021

92-

57^391

13-80

1-15

7040-

•75

1056-

88-

56-774

93-

8-51G

•7097

92-032

57-

13-895

1-1579

7920^

•667

ll88^

99-

57-

92-632

8-55

•7125

93-

5G^774

13-95

1-1625

10560^

-5

2584^

132-

57-391

92-

8-609

•7174

94-

50-17

14-10

1-175

15840^

-333

,376^
•;i68^
*752-

198-

58-

91-034

8-70

■725

94^286

50-

14-143

1-1786

'>1120^

•25

204-

58-022

91-

8-703

■7253

95^

55-579

14-25

1-1875

3lG80^

•107

396-

58-667

90-

8-80

•7333

96-

55-

14-40

1-2

A slight inspection of the talile will
decimal points.

Feet per Mile.

55-

550-

-i-o

remler any explanation of it unnecessary. Tlie tahlc may he considerahly extended, hy merely shifting the

EXAMPLE.

Inclination 1 in.

90-

9-0

. 960-

Inches per chain.

8-25

.. 82-5

■825 ....

Feet per chain

■6875
. 6^875

■06875

1S31).]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

461

THE FINE ARTS OF GUEECE, DURING THE AGE OF
PERICLES. BY FREDERICK J. FRANCIS.

[It affords us mucli pleasure to draw the attention of our Architec-
tural readers to a well written essay on the Fine Arts of Greece, during
the Age of Pericles, liy Jlr. Francis, a yo\nig ami aspiring archi-
tect; who, if we may judge by his writings, promises to be an orna-
ment to his profossiun. We have given below a lengthened extract
from the essay, which was read before several Literary Institutions,
and gave great satisfaction.]

In ARCillTECTrRE, the Acropolis was, unduubli'dly, the proudest
triumph of (irecian skill. It (.onsisted of a lofty rock, standing in its
uua]ipr(iachabU> majeslv above surrounding buildings, and adorned
profusely with every variety of temple and sacred edifice, both votive
and monumental, rich in the hues of the most brilliant ])olychromy,
and glittering in all the brightness of Penlelican and Parian marijles.

So splendid, indeed, was its architectural adornment, that it was
termed the " City of the Gods,'' and appeared as though it were one
vast offering to the divinity. "It was the peerless gem of (ireece —
the glory and pride of art — the wonder and envy of the world ;" en-
riched with temples incomparably more beautiful than those the Per-
sians had demolished, and decorated with those spoils and trophies,
which had marked the progress of the Girecian arms.

We pass by, without particu'ar observation, solely for the sake of
brevity, and in no degree from their being unworthy of notice, the
various public edifices erected without the Cecropian citadel ; such,
for instance, as the hexastyle temple of Theseus — the famed Dionysiac
theatre — the Stoa — the Gymnasium — the Choragic monument of Lysi-
crates — and that magnificent decastyle, peripteral, and perhaps, hy-
pccthral temide, dedicated to the worship of the Olympian Jove at
Elis; and wish you to look more particularly at the unecpralled gran-
deur of the Acropolis itself, whii-h, towering above the homes and
habitations of private citizens, raised far above svn-rounding buildings,
defended on all sides by deep and precipitous rocks, and inaccessible
only through the goi-geous Propylsa, which formed its western en-
trance, was the one sacred spot which all the resources of art had lieen
exhausted to beautify, and in whose decoration the most costly trea-
sures were lavished and expended.

It would, of coarse, be im]iossible in this necessarily limited detail,
to describe with any minuteness all the many temples and sacred
monumental endjlems with which the summit of the Acropolis was
covered ; or the stately and majestic sculptures, which adorned their
pediments, decorated their friezes, or in the form of colossij statues,
were placed in their interiors as objects of worship and adoration.

Still, from the beauteo\is, though shattered and crumliling remains
of the Propylcca, and the Parthenon — the first, beyond all il(nibt, the
greatest production in civil architecture of which ancient Greece
could boast, the latter, equally unrivalled as a sacred edifice, dedi-
cated to the goddess Minerva, as the tutelary goddess of Athens, and
standing in the centre of the citadel an object of supreme and com-
manding beauty — i'roiu these two buildings, which mark distinctly the
architecture of the Perideau age, may be inferred an accurate idea of
the perfection which this branch of the Fine Arts had then attained.

The Propylaea, so called from its forming the vestibule to the grand
entrances which led to the citadel, was erected on the western, anil,
indeed, the only accessible approach. The entire building occupied
the whole space, which formed the natural entrance to the summit of
the rock, nearly 170 feet, (iO feet being occupied by the centre, the
rest taken up by the wings, which belonged to the building: and was
thus at once, a s(iurce of strength, a means of defence, and a vast orna-
mental lortificaliiai.

The Propylcfuui, or great vestibule, presented a front of six ele-
gantlv |U'o|iortioned, and massive tluted Doric columns, leading to
another beautiful vestibule, nearly 50 feet in depth, the roof of which
being sustained by six Ionic columns in a double row, divided the
inner vestibule into three aisles or compartments; while the ceiling
was laid upon marble beams, and adonied with some of the noblest
monuments of art. The wings of the building projected oO feet in
advance (Ui eitlier side, showing a front, elevation of a plain wall with
hieriigly|ihics in the frieze; and by their simple and undecorated
finish, must have given to the whole edifice the etiect and proportion
of --imiile, unpretending, and yet pure and classic beauty. This incom-
parable structure was erected entirely of Pentelican marble, and the
effect whic'h it had in the days of its unnuitilated grandeur must have
been majestic and impressive in the extreme.

Not laily did it glitter in all the whiteness of the marble of Mcaint
Pentelicum, but its interior glowed with all the varied hues and shades
of colouring, and all the minuteness of scul[}tural detail. The cloud-
i ess skies of Attica, and the unruffled serenity of her climate, per-

mitted a species of adornment, which, in a murky district like our
own, would soon be disfigured and destroyed : and it gave to the
works of the Grecian artists that pec\diar charm which we, at any
rate, can never hope to emulate or etpial.

Within the spacious courts of these proud and commanding vesti-
bules, were enshrined many noble examples of the perfection which
the sister arts of painting and siailpturc liad then reached. The left
wing was decorated witli paintings by Polygnotus, whereon were repre-
sented, with all the [lowers of artistic genius, the ever memorable and
stirring events connected with the Trojan war; and, at intervals,
throughout the whole edifice, were placed, in striking and apjiropriate
localities, groups of equestrian statues, designed with all the originality,
and executed with all the perfection, which especially belonged to
that age and people.

The'Propyiffia, in short, was the glory and pride of the Athenians —
famed throughout all the surrounding states of Greece; nay, it became
so celebrated, that even the national enemies of Greece paid homage
to its magnificence ; for, when in the assembly of the Thebans, Epa-
minondas'desired to convey to his audience the importance of trans-
ferring the glory of Athens to Thebes, he made reference to the Pro-
pyltea alone, as' if in that structure there were concentrated all that
was glorious and magnificent in art, and said, "Oh! men of Thebes,
you must uproot the Propylsa of the Acropolis, and plant them in
front of the Cadmean capital ! "

Passing this splendid structure, entering the citadel, and ascending
several steps, we i-oine to the sacred and revered temple of the Par-
thenon, dedicated to the virgin goddess, and, undoubtedly, the noblest
monument of architectural genius the world has ever seen.

It stands upon the summit, and in the centre of the Acropolis, ele-
vated considerably above the Propylsa and the adjacent buildings, and
executed in the purest marble the country could produce. You are
all, doubtless, well acquainted with its simple, yet expressive form,
its classic harmony of proportion, its unbroken outlines, its massive
and majestic grandeur.

It is termed a peripteral and hypat.hval temple, that is to say, it is
perfectly surrounded with colunuis, anil contains an interior cella,
exposed to the external air.

As far as it is possible for this branch of art to embody the true
sublime, and we know that it is capable of doing so in no mean degree,
has been accomplished by the peripteral parallelogrammafic temple
of the Greeks. Such was the sacred Parthenon. In length it measured
more than 200, in breadth about 100 feet; containing, at each end,
a loftv and commanding portico of tight fluted Doric columns in a
iloul)le row, 3"i feet in height; and having, likewise, a colonnade of
similar proportions along each side, to preserve the harmony and unity
of the design. Even now, in the ruineil and mutilated condition to
which it has been, by the wreck of time and the ruthless hand of in-
vasion, reduced, it is peculiarly calculated to rouse in the mind of the
beholder, feelings of sublimity and awe.

What, then, inustit have been in the palmy days of its original and
pristine grandeur ? perfect and unspoiled, and decorated both within
and without, by some of the most splendid productions of art, sculp-
ture and painting lending their aid to heighten that undefined and yet
irresistible cliariu which belongs to the majestic unity of its form, and
the classic simplicity of its unbroken outline?

The Parthenon was, in short, the chf a'uurre of Grecian art, un-
equalled, as a monument of architectural skill, either in ancient or
modern time. "Its dimensions," remarks ;ni anonymous writer, "were
sufficiently large to produce an impression of grandeur and sublimity,
which was not disturbed by any obtrusive division of [larts ; and,
whether viewed at a small or a great distance, there was nothing to
divert the mind of the spectator from conteuiplatiiig the unity, as well
;is the majesty, of mass and outline, circumstances which form the first
and most reinarkable characteristic of every Greek temple erected
during the purer ages of Grecian taste and genius."

Scarcelv inferior to these, though less pretending, were the Ionic,
temples of Erectheus, and Minerva Polias, the renowned Odeon, the
little temple of Victory without wings, and others ; all remarkable for
that characteristic simplicity, that proper relation of parts to a whole,
that harmonious proportion and unadorned beauty, which form the
distinguishing features of Grecian architecture.

Never was there a peo]ile who understood so completely, and re-
tained with such exactitude, the elements of simple beauty in this
department of the Fine Arts, as the ancient inhabitants of (ireece. In
the mouldering relics of their immortal productiuns, their sacred tem-
ples, fanes, monuments, and theatres, there is nothing of that ornate
and finished elegance so peculiar to the Koiiiau style ; nothing of the
tasteful splendours of Moorish architecture, as developed in the fas-
cinating outlines and gorgeous decorations of the ancient palace of the
Alhambra ; nothing of that glittering grace and oxcpusiteness of detail

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[December,

exhibited l)ofli in Ijritish and con(inenl;d c;itliodnds : still less, imy ai
those fantastic and superabundant adornments whieh distinguish the
Palladian, the Elizabethan, and the Tndorian styles ; and yet, devoid
of all these adventitious embellishments, destitute of all or any of these
factitious aids, the sacred Arcliitectuve of Greece stands forth in all
tlie consummate perfection of its harmoniuus beauty, compelling the
respect and atlniiration of all succeeding ages.

Yes I — to this day, their magniticent temples still remain unrivalled,
though in ruins — unequalled, though in desolation — standing alone, in
the unapproachable majesty of simple and classic dignity, the ac-
knowledged models of all tliat is perfect and expressive in Art.

Nor was Sculpture backward in the rapid strides made by the Fine
Arts at this period. The Acropolis, with its hundred temples dedi-
cateil to the gods — with its multitude of sanctuaries and monumental
structures — contained also hundreds of statues, representing, for the
most part, those persons to whom the tem|)les were inscribed.

The range of Grecian Polytheism was most wide and extensive.
Every temple had its tit and appropriate deity — every niche — every
recess. — everv cell, its proper occupant: and whether, it were the
lofty Propyl<ca — the revered temple of the Parthenon — the Erectlieium
. — the cell of Panilrosus — the magnificent temple dedicated to the
Olympian Jove at Elis — or that sacred edifice at Elcusis, within whose
walls were performed those celebrated religious mysteries and sacrifi-
cial rites, regarded by the Athenian people with the utmost solemnity
and veneration ; whether we look at each, or all of these, we shall find
that they united to the beauty of external form and architectural grace,
all that additional charm which creations of sculpture could convey,
wrajiped as they were, in the expressive elegance of exalted art, and
the consummate perfection of ideal beauty.

Among the celebrated sculptors of the Periclean Age, Phidias,
without doubt, must be reckoned the greatest and the most illustrious.
During the administration of Pericles, he had the imcontrolled com-
mand and supervision of all the pidjlic works of Athens ; and by the
exercise of superior genius — profound and varied knowledge — and
peculiar stedftistuess of purpose, was a great instrument iu carrying
the arts to the perfection they then attained.

Progressing far beyond the rude and homely style of Dffidalus and
his successors, in him, it w'as first seen, how wondious are the powers
of sculjjture, under the hand of commanding genius, in the personifica-
tion of the creations of poetry. To him first belonged the power of
prod.ucing deep and lasting emotions of sublimity and beauty by the
expressive and the finely moulded marble ; and, in f ict, in the almost
breathing forms of his inimitable creations—

" Are exprest
All that ideal beauty ever bless'd
The miiul with, iu its most uuearthly mood ;
When each conceirtiou was a heavenly guest,
A ray of immortality : and stood,
Star-like, around, until they gatiiered to a God."
"The superior genius of Phidias," says Mr. Flaxman, the late
lamented Professor of Sculpture, in the Royal Academy, "in addition
to his knowledge of jjainting, w hich he practised previous to sculp-
ture, gave a grandeur to his compositions — a grace to his groups — a
softness to ttcsh, and fiow to draperies unknown to his predecessors :
the character of whose figures was stitF, rather than dignified : their
forms turgid- — the folds of their drapery, parallel, poor, and resem-
bling geometrical lines, rather thiui the simple but ever-varying ap-
pearances of nature. The discoveries of cotemporary philosophers
on mental and personal perfection, assisted him in selecting and com-
bining ideas, which stami)ed his works with the sublime and beautiful
of Homer's verse."*

Among the many works which sprung from the hand of this extra-
ordinary man, there are two, which, to this day remain unrivalled.
Had they been the only two lie had ever executed ; — had the extent,
the capacity, the calibn of his genius, depen<led solely upon them, —
still, they are so magnificent in themselves : so absolutely perfect as a
work of art as alone to warrant ovu' ranking him far above all ancient
or modern sculptors.

I allude to the colossal statue of Jupiter Olympius at Elis, and that
of the goddess Minerva, in the sacred temple of the Parthenon : the
former, upwards of sixty, and the latter, forty feet in height : both of
which are regarded (the former especially) as among the wonders of
the world, and will never fail to excite the praise and astonishment of
future ages till all appreciation of the beautiful, the expressive, and
the sublime — shall have departed from amongst mankind.

It is in the representation of the Attic divinities — more particularly
the deities of Homer's verse, that we mark, in an especial manner,

* riaxman's Lectures on Sculpture.

the commanding genius of the Grecian artists. The religion of
Greece, not indigenous but exotic; springing orignally from Egypt,
but at the same time purified, idealijed, and essentially changed by its
transmission, was iu all respects, a sensuous worship : sources of the
sublime were sought for in objects of sense and sight, and through the
material and the visible, were the mass of the people led to perceive,
and taught to adore, the unseen and the spiritual. The Egyptian
theology was cmhkmaUc : the sublime was attempted by the personi-
fication of monsters in external form ; and in proportion as there was
reached, what was falsely deemed, the height of sublimity, was there
an equally proportionate recession made from the attainment and tlie
embodying of the expressively beautiful.

But as civilization advanced, and the Ionian character became fully
developed ; it was justl}' considered that the really beautiful and sul;-
lime was most easily attained by that department and species of
sculpture, which delineated the human form in all the perfection of its
ideal beauty, and physical excellence. In the personification, there-
fore, of their Homeric divinities (for, as you are aware, they existed
in the metres of the poet, long before they were embodied in the ma-
terial excellence of sculpture.) this rule is foUow'ed, and in the general,
strictly adhered to : and consequently the statues of Phidias, Praxi-
teles, and their contemporaries, possess this jieculiar charm, that they
stand out the most expressive personification of the essential charac-
teristics of humanity : the most perfect exponents of the very passions
which agitate — the thoughts which controul — and the will that go-
verns the minds of men. They are not forms wdnch convey to us no
mental im])ression, which rouse no hidden emotions, or which call
into action none of the sympathies of our nature ; but they are forms
which speak to us in all the silent eloquence of expressive beauty, — ■
linked intimately in their outward proportions with the peculiarities of
our own physical, moral, ani.1 intellectual structures, and conveying to
us most clear and tangible ideas of all the varied evolutions of intelli-
gence, of mind, and will.

Thus, in the Jupiter Olympius of Phidias, to which I have already
referred, there was developed in all the expressiveness which material
forms could bestow, the power of absolute will, subjected to no con-
troul, and accustomed to wield the sceptre of undivided command.

Conscious however, as he is of being in the possession of this un-
disputed authority, " The father of the gods and men," is here repre-
sented by the unrivalled hand of Phidias, as relaxing m some measure
the sternness of his character, and from his regal throne awarding
with one hand the ehaplet of victory to the Olympian conquerors,
while, with his other, he grasps the royal sceptre, and round his ample
brows there circles the sacred olive wreath.

luimediately before the throne, forming indeed one magnificent
group, were various emblematic representations of the fabulous ad-
ventures of the heroic age : containing among others, the destruction
of Niobe's children, the labours of Hercules, and the garden of Hes-
perides : while, on the base, might be seen the battles of Theseus with
the Amazons : and, on the pedestal, an assembly of the gods — the sun
and moon in their cars, and the birth of Venus.

Such was this master piece of Phidian genius and skill. And it
would be impossible for imagination to conceive a more splendid per-
sonification of that —

" Olympian Jove,
Who rolls his tlnmders o'er the vaulted skies."

Sitting, as he might be supposed to do, upon that hill of dread Olym-
pus, which—

" Shrouds
Its hundred heads in heaven, and props the cloud."

and giving to the august assembly —

" The nod that ratifies the will divine
The faillifid, fixed, iirevocable sign."

The artist has happily combined the benignant expression of bene-
volence with the awful majesty of the Honreric god, as delineated in
the following passage : —

" Me spoke ; and awful bends his sable brows
Shakes his ambrosial curls, and gives the nod
The stamp of fate, and sanction of the god :
High heaven, with trembling, the dread signal took
And all Olympus to the centre shook."

But it is not only in this magnificent conception of the genius of
Phidias, that we mark the pervading expressiveness and consummate
beauty of form to whiidi I have alluded. In all the statues and groups
executed in that age. from those of Phidias, which emanated in the
Periclean, to those of Praxiteles, which were produced near the
Alexandrian era,^ we perceive the shades iind the varieties of the

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463

humiui cluimcter ami piissiims slvidowed out in ;iU the reiilizatiim of
ideul beauty ; the idealism of poetry, transposed into tlie niateiiaUsm
of sculpture.

Thus, in the colossal statue of the goddess Minerva, situate witliin
the sacred inclosnre of the Parthenon, we recrgnize " the martial,
blue-eyed maid" depicted in Homer. Pre-eminent wisdom, high
martial energy, and the celestial beauty of a virgin goddess, accom-
jianied and guanled by tlie sternest and severest virtue, are the chief
characteristics of this noble production, — executed in ivory and gold,
by the masterly hand of Phidias, and inferior only to the Jupiter Olym-
pins, as ;i work of art.

Then again, in the Apollo Belvidere, there is embodied the indwell-
ing energy of an indignant god. The "Lord of the unerring bow" is
represented sliooting with his arrows the great serpent Python. You
all know the attitude of this exquisite statue.

" The shaft hatli just beau shot ; the arrow Ijright
With an imiuortars vengeance, in his eye
And nostril, beautiful disdain ; and might
And majesty, flash their full lightnings by;
Develoinng in tiiat one glance, the Deity."

In the Juno, we see that imperial dignity and matronly grace, which
belong to her station as Queen of Heaven, and wife of Jove : in the
Bacchus, all the self-sufficiency of the most luxurious ease : in the
Venus, the Cnidian Venus especially, all the softened and tender
graces of the most attractive loveliness: and in fact, the whole range
of the Grecian divinities stand out the emblems and exponents of the
several attributes ef humanity, heightened and perfected by that ex-
traordinary appreciation of simple and expressive beauty in which
the Greeks so eminently excelled.

But such being the acknowledged characteristics of the sculpture of
this period, it may be asked how it was thit the Grecian artists ob-
tained so thorough and intimate an accjuaintance with the human
form, in all the varieties of its full developement, and physical ex-
cellence.

It may be asked, how it was that they, above all other nations,
maintained that harmony, fitness and proportion, which endowed their
creations with all the force of expression, and made tliem the almost
breathing symbols of intelligence and will.

To this we answer, that the Greek sculptors possessed advantages
altogether peculiar to the nation (jf which they formed a p;irt : — as it
has been well observed, "they not only derived the highest advantages
from a religion which disposed men to embody all the charms of na-
ture in dehnite forms, and from a cast of mind requiring for eujov-
meut the distinctness of beauty rather than the visionary and the dim ;
but ha<l all the benefit of studying the human frame, in its niost perfect
freeness, elegance and grace. Not only were the Greeks beautiful by
nature, but the course of their lives, even from earliest infancy, was
calculated to improve the form. The public exercises gave, in addi-
tion to the polished manner, and elevated attitude of a citizen of the
most g'orious state on earth, something of the wild and airy grace of
an Indian bounding in the chase, or of a stag delicately pacing tlirough
his native forests."t These public games,. indeed, gave a siugidarand
decided impulse to the progress of Grecian sculpture. The Gvnniasia,
or schools in which the candidates for distinction at the (jlynquan
games were trained, was the constant resort of men of rank and talent :
at these places, and in the Olympian contests themselves, the com-
batants, for the sake of greater ease and elasticity, exhibited without
the usual accompaniments of dress.

By these means, the Grecian artists would become accustomed to
the contemplation of the human form, in all its changing attitudes and
expressions: and intimately conversant with the varying evolutions of
the muscles, joints, and sinews of the frame, whether in "the stillness of
repose, or the vigour of action.

By dwelling for instance on the athletic proportions of a brawny
wrestler, — his firm compactness of frame — his well-knit joints— his
largely developed muscular masses : there would be afforded to the
observant sculptor the model from which he might create a Theseus
or a Hercules, or any other of the fabled demi-gods of the heroic age :
in which his aim would be to make physical strength and power the
leading and distinguishing characteristics.

Or again, by nnising on the light and agile forms of the unrobed
victors of the race, their supple and elastic limbs, their roumled joints,
and general elegance of shape, the artist might obtain his original,
for the swift-footed Mercury, or the more matured and majestic
Apollo.

Or once more: by gazing on the forms of the (irecian maidens,
when — according to their national customs, they danced perfectly un-

veiled before assembled thousands at their celebrated festivals —
Praxiteles might have caught that rav of inspiration wdiich subse-
quently expanded itself into the finished graces of the Cnidian Venus:
and wlio can doubt that Phryne in rising from the bath, exposed to
the eyes of all Greece, at the celebration of tlie Eleusinian games first
suggested to the artist the beauteous form of the Venus Anadyomene.
In short, in almost every solemnily and religious rite — in every public
game and ath'etie combat, in the Olympian — the Panathenaic festivals
and others — in all these various ways full op])ortunity was aflbrded to
the Grecian artists, to become thoroughly acquainted with the diversi-
fied characteristics and varj'ing expressions of the human figure : and
hence, in a great measure, the secret of that unrivalled perfection to
which sculpture attained in Greece. To this we may add, that they
possessed so exquisite a sense of the beautiful — so just and profound
an appreciation of what was really the perfection of shape and figure, —
tliat they were not contented with copying exactly, even from ttic ad-
mirable models continually presented to their minds — they never
represented Nature as they found her embodied in any one form — but
they sought after an ideal perfection mure complete than is to be
found in any one — even the fairest and the noblest of Nature's works:
— they derived potions from the many — adopting every recognized
and admitted excellence — and rejecting every acknowledged and pal-
pable defect ; and grouping and combining those features alone in
each, which reached the standard of that perfect Ideal to which it
was their proudest ambition to attain,

EncyclopseiUa Metropolitana, vqI, 1, p, 305,

ON THE EFFECT OF CLIMATE ON YORKSHIRE PAVING.

Report communicated by Colonel Fenshawe, Royal Engineers.
(From the Papers oj the Corps of Royal Engineers.)

A report having been received from the Mauritius that the York-
shire stone coping which had been supplied for that station was cither
of a bad descri]ition, or not calculated to withstand the great power
of the sun in that climate, a considerable portion of it liaving blistered
and peeled, references were consequently made to other trojiical sta-
tions and to Bermuda, where stone of this nature had been used.

From Barbadoes the reply was that the experience of that command
liad in no case shown that S(jlar heat has had the ertl>ct of blistering or
peeling Yorkshire paving, and that the defect complained of was more
attributable to the quality of the stone than to the climate.

The Jamaica Report stated tliat on examination of the Yorkshire
flag-stone measuring 11 inches wide and 3 inches thick, used in coping
the wall that surroinids the barracks at Up-Port camp, being about
2,000 yards in length, and having been laid ten years, some few stones
were found partially honey-combed to the depth of i to I of an inch,
which is attributed to the bad quality of the stones rather than to the
etleet of the climate, — the deteriorated Hags having been in all proba-
bility obtained from the upper beds of the quarry, the greater part
being to all appearance perfectly sound and showing no indication of
blistering or peeling.

The Bahama Report stated that upon a careful examination of the
Yorkshire stone used for flooring and pavement in situations exposed
to the heat of the sun, it was not perceived to have blistered or peeled,
or to have been otherwise affected beyond what might be expected
from common wear and tear.

The Bermuda Report stated that in many instances Yorkshire stone
exposed to the weather has not suHered sensibly from such exposure,
whilst in others it has been blistered and peeled off in laminae from ^
to y'^ of an inch in thickness.

A quantity not set, and so exposed from four to five years, has un-
dergone no sensible change, which is likewise the case with that on
the top of the tower in the main ditch, laid about eight years since.

Exposed to the alternate action of the sea and sun at the landing
places in the dock-yard at Ireland Island, the Yorkshire flagging had
failed.

Yorkshire flagging is of very different qnaiities. The best is found
in the lower [}art of the quarry ; that from the upper part is usually
composed of several lamiuE, disposed to spilt, and will in all proba-
bility fail. But there seems no reason to doubt, from the above ex-
[lerience, that by a proper selection of ipiarrv, or of stone at tlie
quarries, the Yorkshire flagging will be found to withstand the effects
of a tropical climate.

404

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

Decemkkr,

ENCKOACil.MENTS AND HKCES.siONS OF THE SEA.
(From tlie Civqiic Ports' Chrviiich.)

A cor.RESPONDENT liaviiig, a considerable time past, mooted the
liitherto, we believe, unanswered question as to the causes which
produce encroachments and recessions of the sea, upon a line of coast
having nearly the same geographical bearing, and especially as regards
the sontli-eastern coast of England : we have delayed attempling the
solution (if the problem on oiu- own part, in the hope that sonip of our
correspondents would anticipate our labours by directing their atten-
tion to the subject.

The correspondent to whom w^e have alluded, very justly observes
that the traveller along om- shores is somewliat puzzled t(j find a town
or village once washeVl by the sea, now standing two or three miles
inland ; and other localities, within the space of a few miles, which
were once at a remove from the ocean, now diminishing, by the daily
encroaclmients of the billows.

Commencing with Beachy Head, we have at once an instance of the
latter, as formerly, springing fmni the base of the clitt' were seven per-
pendicular rocks, denominated the Seven Charles' ; these, in

" The incessant war of wave and rock."

have, for the most part, been undermined and washed away by their
indefatigable adversaries — the winds and the waves. Continuing our
progress eastward, we finil not only considerable tracts of land or
sward, formed upon a sub-stratum of beach, extending from the head-
land towards St. Leonards, a distance of about eighteen nnles; b\it
about midway between these towns, we have undeniable evidence of
the extent of the recession of the sea, in the fact, that the hill or clitf
upon which Pevensey Castle stands, is said to liave been washed by
the sea, while its perpendicular distance from the present high water
mark is about two miles. Bexh.ill, further eastward, may also be
pointed out as having been subject to a similar, though less extensive,
alteration of locality. The rpiestion hence arises — can a physical
cause be assigned for the remarkable changes under consideration?
We are aware of the risk we run of incurring the charge of presump-
tion in attempting to solve that which, as far as our reading has ex-
tended, we Ijelieve, has never been attempted by geographers or
geologists ; but years of attentive consideration to this subject has so
thoronghlv convinced us of tlie simplicity of the law which produces
the alterations in the aspect of our coasts generally, and especially of
the south-eastern, with which we are most familiar, that, as none of
our philosophical readers have come forward to explain a subject of
considerable interest to residents and frequenters of our shores, we
shall proceed with all deference to lay our opinions before the public ;
being at the same time open to convictioe, and perfectly willing to
insert in our coluums any observations either against or in corrobo-
ration of the view we take of the subject.

The simple law, then, which we regard as the origin of the changes
in the aspect of our coast, is (lie ttnchncij of the sea to preserve its pa-
niliil under the infioence of the prevailing wind and current. The
tendency of water to find its level is universally known, and that of
keeping its parallel is as unquestionable, tliough less obvious to com-
mon observers. Were the coasts and shores washed by the ocean
comjiosed of the same geological substances, as, for instance, sand or
clay, the phenomena of the geographical changes muler consideration
would not occur; but it is otherwise : our coasts being diversified with
ridges of rocks, and with plains level with or below high water mark.
In the former case, the action of the waters of the channel would be
similar to the uniform waste of sand raised as embankments on each
siilc of a sloping trough, along the centre of which water was made
gradually to flow ; but in the latter case, which actually obtains, the
comparison is only maintained by supposing a number of stones or hard
masses were irregularly thrown into the trough, which would occasion
an interruption to the equable ilow of water, and have the efi'ect of
throwing the waters, diverted from their parallelism, into serpentine
courses, causing inroads upon the sand or yielding substance at the
sides, in jiroportion to the obstructions which they met with from the
hard projecting masses. Such, then, we believe to have been the ease,
when the shores we inhabit were separated by the effects of earth-
quake, or otherwise, from the opposite coast of France. The waters
of the channel, impelled by the prevailing currents from the Atlantic
and the south-westerly winds, found their parallelism obstructed by
the rugged inequalities of the channel, occasioned by the intervention
of moiuitainous ridges. Tins had the etfect of throwing the waters
iqjon the lowlands and coast composed of sand or vegetable earth, in
the same proportion as the waters were obstructed in their onward
flow by the causes alluded to ; and which inroads will always be found
to have occurred on the side of the obstructing mass opposed to the
prevailing momentum. F'^'om this consideration we sliould naturally

infer that, in the early years of creation, or of the formation of new
marine channels, the coast scenery nnist have been even more diversi-
fied and romantic than it now is. hi speaking of the equal ratio be-
tween the obstruction of water in its current, and the incursion which
it makes in consecpience of that interruption, we need not merely in
corroboration refer to the shu|de fict that, wherever there is a head-
land, there is a bay, on the side o])posed to the prevailing power of
water ; but it is worthy of note, that luider ordinary circumstances of
a geological character, the proportions between the perpendicular
extents of promontories and their bays are distinctly and unequivocally
marked. By way of illustrating our subject, we will return to Beachy-
head in confirmation of our theory, that changes in the face of the
coast are occasioned by the eflbrts of the ocean to obtain its parallel-
ism. By comparing ancient maps of the coast with modern ones, the
extent of tlie alterations ettected upon the south-eastern coast will be
more readily perceived. We have already shown tliat the face of
Beachy-head has, within the memory of man, sutl'ered considerably
from being undermined and washed away by the sea : and could we
liave beheld it as it was in the times of the Romans, we doubt not we
should have seen it stretching out much further into the sea than it
now does, and the waters, obstructed in their course by its huge mass,
sweeping round its eastern base, forming a deep and ample port (pro-
bably the Anderida of the Romans), and the bay spreading its waters
over the level, till it washed the hills upon which Pevensy and Bexhill
were built.* But why has the sea receded, remains still to be an-
swered. We answer, simply by the gradual removal of the causes
which occasioned its irruptions : in other words, the liquid element
has, in its incessant warfare, reduced the opposition occasioned by
projecting masses of cliffs; these have been undermined, the super-
strata hurled from their heights, and after, perhaps, temporarily in-
creasing the obstruction, and causing a greater influx of water upon
the plains, which must be regarded as exceptions of the general law
of equalization which our coast is sustaining, these iirocumbent masses
of chalk or stone have been battered en detail by the merciless billows,
reduced to fragments, and swept by the maddening tempests into the
deep, or from the locality in which nature had (jriginally deposited
them. The headlands being thus diminished, and causing less reaction
of the sea, deposit after deposit of beach is made in the bays, which
increase in the same proportion as the neighbouring headlands wear
awaj'. In the course of a few years a green sward covers the beach,
and unless interrupted by some extraordinary circumstance, tending
to infringe upon the watery world, the work of decreasing the excres-
cencies, and filling up the indentations of the coast, is carried con-
tinually on by the aqueous element.

hi concluding our observations upon this interesting problem, we
shall proceed to illustrate the solution, "That the mutations to which
our coast is subject, jirocced from the tendency of the waters of the
channel to find their parallel," by further reference to the past and
present state of the coast. Resuming our examples to the eastward
of Bexhill, we find that the clifl' upon which the Galleyhill station-
house is erected, is fast consuming away by the continual assaults of
the sea; and, in accordance with the law which we have jjointed out,
the waters which were formerly obstructed by this interposing head-
land, and thereby intruded with augmented force upon the level to
tlie eastward, so as in former times to render Bulverhithe a small
tributary port to Hastings, and to form a bay from that point to Bo-
peep : the waters, we repeat, in the same proportion as they have
effected their parallelism, have also left deposits of beach in the bay,
which tliev originally formeil. The curvature of this neighbourhood
is now trifling, and in a few years hence its parallelism with the .S.W.
will be perfectly eft'ected by the prevailing current from that quarter.

By the consumption of tlie St. Leonards, the Cuckoo hill, and the
Castle clitt's, the ^ alleys at the Priory, and between the West and East
hills, were forsaken by the sea ; in proof of which, we need only state,
that in removing the Priory bridge, and in digging the foundation of
Mr. Jackson's house, at the end of High-street, nothing, we believe,
but beach was discovered — an unanswerable evidence of the sea having
formerly entered the mouth of Ciich \alley. We have no doubt that
Hastings, the Danish pirate, selected our locality as his occasional
rendezvous, from the circumstance of the East and West hills or clitt's,
which projected in the sea, forming exceUent spots for the formation
of his camps : and between which, at the mouth of the valley, he could
take refuge with his fleet of galleys, perfectly sheltered from every
adverse wind.

The cliffs, immediately to the eastward of Hastings, are continually

■ If the iiroportions tjetuceu tlu' lioadland ami tlic bay be equal, as we
have assumed, by measuring the distance from tlie iiresent liigh water mark
to the most inland extremity where beach can lie discovered, we shall he able
to ascertain, witli tolerable accuracy, tlie distance «hich the iiromontory for-
merly extended.

1 839.]

Till': CIVIL I^NClNEIiil AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

-10.5

wastiiig, from tlie cause to which we have alhuled ; ami as a further
corrnboratioii of our opinion, we may mention tlvat, about the iirst
spring tide after the coui])letion of the large groyne, the sea, obstructed
by the beach which the erection had caused, was thrown with such
additional impetus upon the coast to the eastward, as not only to
sweep the beach away, and to bLvve in an unusual manner the rocks,
but also to undermine and tlu'ow down many tons of a projecting part
of the clitfto the eastward.*

The clitl's, extending from Hastings to Clift''s End, a distance of six
miles, formerly stretched much further to seaward, and by obstructing
the parallelism of the current, caused it to excavate a bay in the valley
to the eastward, proportioned to the extensiveness and jierpendicular
obstruction of ihe cliffs adverted to. As recently as the reign of Queen
Elizabeth, the sea appears to have flowed as high as the town of Win-
chelsea, and to have insulated the cliff upon which that of Rye is
posited. t)nr opinion in this case is further contirmed by old maps
attached to Camden's Britannia, which represent the towns now men-
tioned as almost insular. The destruction of Old Winclielsea, whicli
is buried in the sands to the south of Camber castle, may easily be
explained upon the theory of the erpralizing tendency of the channel
currents, which it has been our object to establish and to illustrate.
It would be easy to multiply examples, and it was rather a remarkable
coincidence that, in our last number, there were two paragraphs from
distant parts of the coast relating to encroachments of the sea — one
respecting the neighbourhood of Penzance, cimtirmatory of our jirin-
ciple ; and another stating that, as the aeciunulation of beach at
Dungeness point augmented, the undermining of the Martello towers
near Hythe, in the bay to the eastward, by (I'le sea, proceeded, with a
ju'obability of many acres of land being speedily swallowed up by the
element.

Without further examples we trust we have not only assigned a
satisfactory reason for the encroachments and recessions of the sea,
and at the same time, by an easy deduction, hinted at the means
whereby land may, Ijy the construction of groynes, be recovered to the
westward, or, if necessary, excavated on the side opposed to the pre-
vailing current by the action of the waves, but have also shown that
no extensive infringement of the coast by the waters need he appre-
hended ; and that tlie irregularity of the ebb and flow of the tide for
centuries past, has been less in proportion than the disturbance of
water in a \essel w'hen carried by the steadiest hand, thereby demon-
strating the onuiipotence of the divine and sublime injunction —
"Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further; and here shall thy proud
waves be staid."

ENGRAVINGS IN RELIEF FROM COPPERPLATES BY .MEANS OF
VOLTAIC ELECTRICITY.
Wk lately imblislied M. Jacoln's letter to Mr. Faraday, in which he de-
scribed his atteniiits to copy in relief engraved copperjilatcs, by means of vol-
taic electricity. We have since received a communication from Mr. Thomas
Spencer, of Liverpool, from which it appears, that that gentleman has for
some time been iiulependeutly engaged on the same sulyect; and that he
has not only succeeded in doing all that M. Jacolji has done, but has suc-
cessfully overcome those difticulties which arrested the progress of the latter.
It is unnecessary here to enter on the question of priority between these gen-
tlemen. To Mr. Spencer nmch credit is certainly due for having investigated,
and successfully carried out, an application of voltaic electricity, the value of
which can hardly lie questioned. The objects which Mr. Spencer says he
proposed to ett'ect, were the following : — " To engrave in relief upon a plate
of copper — to deposit a voltaic copperplate, having the lines in relief — to ob-
tain a fac-simile of a medal, reverse or obverse, or of a bronze cast — to obtain
a voltaic impression from plaster or clay — and to midtiply the number of
already engraved copperi)lates." The results which he has olitained are very
beautiful ; and some copies of medals which he has forwarded to us are re-
markably sharp and distinct, jiarticularly the letters, which have all the ap-
pearance of ha\ing been struck by a die. Without entering into a detail of
the steps by which Mr. Spencer brought his process to perfection, many of
which are interesting, as showing how slight a cause may modify the result,
wc shall at once give a description of his process. Take a plate of copper,
such as is used by an engraver ; solder a piece of copper wire to the hack
part of it, and then give it a coat of wax — this is best done by heating the
plate as well as the wax — then wi-ite or flraw the design on the wax with a
black lead pencil or a ])oint. The wax must now be cut through with a
graver or steel point, taking special care that the copper is thorongh exposed
in every line. The shape of the tool or graver employed nuist be such that
the line made are not V-shaped, but as nearly as possible with parallel sides.
The plate should next be immersed in dilute nitric acid — say three parts water
to one acid : it will at once be seen whether it is strong enough, by the green

* Lieut. -Col. Williams, in bis scientific paper on "Ihc Law.s which govern
the course nf the Shingle on the 8 K. coast, anil liinls upim K\ e anil Dover
llarbom-s," noliccs the general tendency of groynes lo collcci the beach on
the western, and tn clear it away on the opposite side, owing lo the prevail-
ing current from the suuih-east.

colour of the solution and the bubbles of nitrons gas evolved from the copiicr
Let the plate remain in it long enough for the exposed lines to get shgblly
corroded, so that any minute portions of wax which nuglit remain may be
removed. The plate thus prejiarcd is then placed in a trough separated into
two divisions by a porous partition of plaster of Paris or earthernwarc — the
one division being lilled with a saturated solution of sulphate of copper, and
the other with a saline or acid solution. The plate to he engraved is placed
in the division containing the solution of the sulphate of cojijier, and a plate
of zinc of equal size is pl.aced in the other division. .V metallic connexion is
then made between the copper and zinc plates, by means of the copper wire
soldered to the former ; and the voltaic circle is thus completed. The ajipa-
ratns is then left for some days. .\s the zinc dissolves, metallic cojjpcr is
precipitated from the solution of the sidphate on the copper plate, wherever
the varnish has been renmvcd by the engraving tool. .Vfter the voltaic coi)-
per has been deposited in the lines engraved in the wax, the surface of it will
lie found to be more or less rough, according to the tpiickness of the action.
To remedy this, rub the sin-face with a piece of smooth flag or jitimice-stone
v^ith water. Then beat the iilatc, and wash off the wax grounil with spirits
of turpentine and a brush. The plate is now ready to be printed from at an
ordinary press. In this process, care mtist be taken that the surface of the
copper in the lines be perfectly clean, as otherwise the de))osited copper i\ ill
not adhere with any force, but is easily detached when the wax is renmved.
It is in order to ensure this perfect cleanness of the copper, that it is immersed
in ddute nitric acid. Another cause of imperfect adhesion of the deposited
copper, which Mr. Spencer has pointed out, is the presence of a minute por-
tion of some other metal, such as lead, which, by being precipitated before
the copper, forms a thin tilm, which jivevents the adhesion of subsequently
deposited copper. This circiunstance may, however, be turned to advantage
in some of the other aiiplications of Mr. Spencer's process, where it is de-
sirable to prevent the adhesion of the deposited copper. In copying a coin
or medal, Mr. Spencer describes two methods : the one is by depositing vol-
taic copper on the siu-face of the medal, and thus forming a nnjulil, from
which fae-similes of the original nicihd may readily be obtained by prccijii-
tating copper into it. The other is even more expeditious. Two pieces of
clean milled sheet lead arc taken, and the medal being placed between them,
the whole is subjected to prcssm-o in a screw press, and a complete mould of
both sides is thus formed in the lead, showing the most delicate lines perfect
(in reverse.) Twenty, or even a hundred of these, may be so formed on a
sheet of lead, and the'eoppcr deposited by the voltaic process with the greatest
facility. Those portions of the surface of the lead which arc between the
mould's, may be varnished to prevent the deposition of the lead, or a whole
sheet of voltaic copper having been deposited, the medals may aftcrwar s be
cut out. When copiier is to he deposited on a copper mould or mcdal,care
must be taken to prevent the metal deposited adhering. This Mr. Spencer
ctfects by heating the medal, and rubbing a small portion of wax over il.
This wax is then wiped off, a sufficient jiortion always remaining to prevent
adhesion. Enough has been said to enable any one to repeat and follow up
Mr. Spencer's interesting experiments. The variations, modifications, and
adaptations of them are endless, and many new ones wUl uatmaly suggest
themselves to everv scientific reader. — Athenceum.

Traksferrin'g Impressions oi- old Prints. — One of the most ingenious
inventions we have witnessed for many a day is a process invented by Mr.
Joseph Dixon, for transferring impressions to stone. The discovery \yas
made some seven or eight years since, and, by its means, new and exact im-
pressions of the leaves of old books, bank bills, engravings, &e., may be ob-
tained in an incredibly brief space of time. The celerity and exactness of
the work arc tndy remarkable. X bank bill was transferred by Mr. Uixon,
in presence of the otKcers of a bank, with so much fidehty and precision that
the very signers of the bill could not tell the ditl'erence between the copies
and the oiigiaal. It is due to Mr. Dixon to state, that he has obtained a
patent for the process by which bank bills can be protected from his own
invention, shoidd it ever fall into the hands of rogues. The importance of
this chscovery is in nowise inferior to that of the Daguerreotype, of which
we have heard so much within the last year. — New York Mirror — [We gave
a description of a sinular invention, by two Freuehmen, in the Journal for
.Vugust last, page SOS. Editor C. E. and .\. Jounial.]

How TO Stop a Run.vway Horse. — Jlr. Thomas, of St. James's-strect,
has just perfected an invention, the object of which is to stop the progress
of horses which have taken fright. The ajqiaratus is thus described by Mr.
Thomas himself :—" On the nave of the wheel is fixed a small gmi-metal
wheel ; in front of the axle runs a steel spindle, with a small cog attached ;
over the spindle is a cylinder, and to which a check-string is atilxed. The
moment it is put in action the spindle advances, and the cog revolves gradu-
ally romid the gun-metal wheel, which is fixed on the nave, carrying with it
reins leading from the horse's head, composed of cat-gut, or of patent cord,
covered with leather. ,\s the wheel revolves, the cylinder, which is about
an inch in diameter, is gathering up the reins, until the horse is brought to
a stand-still; when, by letting'loosc the check-string, the horse's head is
inuncdiately free." .Mr. Thomas has \ery appropriately named his most
valuable invention a " Carriage Safety, or Traveller's Life Preserver." — ll'ater-
fhnl Po/jer. [We believe this lo be a sinular invention to one patented by
a gentleman of the nanu; of Cook, and aiqilied to several can iages, and to a
Brighton stage coach, about U) or 12 years ago; at that time orders were
received for the apparatus at a shop in Long Acre. — Eo. C. E. & .V. Jour.]

2 S 2

460

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Decp:mbkr,

REVIEVSrS.

Theory of the Steam Engine. By Comte de rAMBOiii. London :
John Wcale, 1839.

(SECOND NOTICE.)

In our September niiinbcr we noticed tins work, and made some
remarks on (lie first cliapter, in wliich the aiitlior criticises tlie ordi-
nary mode of calculating the ellect of steam-engines, and exposes the
principles of his own theory. We then assented to these principles
generally, but at the same time expressed our opinion, that it would
not be very easy to apply them practically, for want of i)roper means
of ascertaining with accuracy the data on wliich the calculations are
grounded, and showed that the same results might be arrived at, by a
method similar to the ordinary one, witli much greater facility than by
the Count's method.

The second chapter treats of the laws \ihich govern the mechanical
action of the steam. Li the first section of this chapter the auth.or
justly observes that the formula wduch he uses to calculate the tem-
perature of steam at its raaxinunn density under dirtt>rent pressures,
have the inconvenience of suiting only a limited part of the scale of
temperatures. At the time when the work was written no formula
had been discovered, to express the relation existing between the tem-
perature and elastic force of steam, which would suit the whole scale,
even as far as it had been ascertained by experiment ; but in the June
number of this Journal a fornnda was jiroposed by Mr. Mornay, which,
though in one part of the scale it dives not accord so well with experi-
ment as Tredgold's rule, follows the natural law much more nearly in
general, and can therefore be used in investigating the action of steam
when its elastic force varies, as in the case of expansive engines ;
particularly as the original elastic force and density of the steam need
not be calculated by the proposed fornnda, but nuiy be ascertained
directly or taken from tables constructed so as to accord more exactly
with experiment.

M. de Pambour proposes the two following formula-, to express the
relation which exists between the elastic force and relative volume of
steam, of the maxinuini density for its temperature :

Formula for coiidtnsing ctigints of various svstems ;

_ _ 10000
'^ ~'4227+^025ft^'
Formula for non-condensing engints ;

10000

^ ~ l-121-f~O023/

In these formula; ^l represents the relative volume, and jj the clastic
force in ])Ounds per square foot.

The application of these formula: is attended with a serious incon-
venience in some cases, namely, when the steam enters the cylinder of
an engine at a high pressure, and is there caused to expand to a very
low one. In this case the second formula would suit ;it the cumnience-
inent of the stroke, after a certain portion of which it would cease to
be applicable: and, unless the action (jf the steam were divided into
two parts, and the effect of each calculated by the respective formula
(which would double the length of the calculation), we should be ob-
liged to content ourselves w ilh a less accurate result than in purely
high pressure, or low pressure engines. But the formulrc adopted by
W. de Pambour do not agree so well as Mr. Mornay's with the results
obtained by means of the ordinary fornnilcC from the table of elastici-
ties constructed so as to accord with experiment, even in those por-
tions of the scale for which they were severally intended. The rela-
tive volume of steam of five pounds pressure is (according to the table,
page b3j -Ui'^l, and the volume calculated by the formula for condensing
engines is found to be 43Sj ; Sir. Mornay "s formula gives 4G00. At
10 lbs. pressure the volume is, by the same table, 2-127 ; calculated by
the formula for condensing engines it is 2417, and by j\ir. Mornay's
formula, 2424. At 20 lbs. the volume is 12S0 ; M. de Pambour's for-
mula for c(mdei;siug engines gives 1273, that for non-condensing en-
gines, 1243, and Mr. Mornay's, 1281. At CO lbs. tlie volume is 4G7 ;
the formula for condensing engines gives 410, that for non-coudensing
engines 470, and Mr. Mornay's formula 4 i'.l. At SO lbs. the voh\me
is 323, the fornnda for non-condensing engines gives 320, and Mr.
Mornay's formula 321.

The two expressions of the relative volume of steam adopted by M.
de Pambour, page SO, were no doubt chosen on account of the facility
which they afford in calculating the mean pressm-e on the piston, when
the steam is used expansively; but they do not agree, that is, they
are not identical with the general ecjuation, page 75. The former are
of the form

and the latter

Elinunaling n betwi

i^ = r

1-f « (/— 32

3n these two equations, we obtain
_ «r[l-f8(/-32)]

^ l-^r[l + n'-32J]

which differs in form from all the equations previously adopted, page
tJS, to calculate the elastic force of the steam in terms of its tempera-
tiu'e.

In the thiril chapter the author develops more fully the theory, of
wliich the outline was given in the Hrst chapter. Here the different
]>roblenis regarding the effects of steam-engines are very clearly and
systematically stated, w itii reference to three cases wddch occur in the
working of an engine. These are : that in which it works at a given
rate of expansion, and with any load or velocity H'.^ii/t if r; that in
which it works at a given expansion, and with the load or velocity
proper to produce its iiiaximum nsiful (fftct with l/ial ixj/ansion ; and
lastly, that in which, the expansion having been previously regulated
for the most favourable working of the steam in that engine, it is
loaded with the most favourable load for that expansion, winch con-
sequently produces the ahsolule maximum ustj'id (Jflct for that engine.
The four problems proposed and solved by the author consist in finding
the Velocity, the Load, the Evaporation, and the Useful Effect of the
engine. Tl>e chapter is divided into three Articles, each of which is
devoted to one of the three above mentioned cases.

The first jiroblem, to Jin 1 the velocttij of thi pislon under a giren load,
is treated in the second section of the Hrst Article. The author here
appears by the following passage to suppose the elastic force of the
steam in the cylinder not to vary so long as the influx of the steam
lasts.

" Let P be the total pressure of the steam in the boiler, and 1" the pres-
sure the same steam will have on arriving la the cylinder, a pressure v.-fiich
will always be less than P, except in a particular case, %\luch we shall treat
of shortly. The steam then will enter the cylinder .it the pressure F', and
will continue to flow in with that pressure and to produce a corresponding
effect, till the communication between the boiler and the cyhndcr is inter-
cepted."

That this is not .rigorously tlie fact is evident, on account of the
varying velocity of the piston; and even though M. de Pambour may
liave ascertained that these variations are not worth taking account
of, it would have been much more satisfactory, if he had mentioned
the circumstance, and shewn that the results are not uuiterially affected
by omitting to take them into consideration. At the connncneement
of the stroke of the piston, when it has no velocity, the steam must
have t!\e same elastic force in the ('ylinder as in tlie adjoining pas-
sages; but when the piston has acquired a considerable velocity, as at
the middle of the stroke Cparticularly in locomotive engines, where
the velocity of the piston is excessive), the steam will not flow from
the steam-pipe into the cylinder sufficiently fast to follow the piston
in its nuiticn, without a certain excess of pressure on the side of the
steam in the pipe, which we do not believe to be a negligeable quan-
tity. In a locomotive engine, for example, with w heels of five feet
diameter, and 18 inches length of stroke, running at a speed of 30
miles an hour, with an effective pressure of GSA '6s. on the square
inch, we should estimate the difference of pressure between the steam-
pipe and the cylinder at one-third of a pound at least on the square
inch. We believe this difference to increase nearly in the ratio of
the square of the velocity of the piston, all other circumstances re-
maining the same, on w hich supposition it would amount, at a speed
of 40 miles an hour, to about three-fifths of a poiuid per square inch.
If this be true, it will materiallv affect the calculation of the effect of
expansive engines, where the steam is cut off at o;(f-Aa//' of the stroke,
as the effect during the expansion is determined by the d.ensity of the
steam in tlie cylinder at the instant of cutting off. It is evident, in the
same manner, that the earlier the steam is cut off, the less the diffe-
rence of pressure will be, since the velocity of the piston is then less
considerable ; if cut oft' at one-sixth, f(n- example, when the other cir-
cumstances are th.e same as in the above case of tlie locomotive
engine running at 30 miles an hour, we believe the loss of pressure
W(juld be about two-elevenths of a pound. This is, of course, but a
rough estimate of the difference of pressure arising from the variations
in the velocity of file piston; but perhaps M. de Pambour will give
the subject some consideration before the publication of a second
edition of his work.

On the supposition of the invariability of the pressure, the author

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

467

finds the following general relation between the different data of the
problem,

«^''+<"+^'){^q^ + '"^^)-

(A.)

- al = Ral,
^q / I' -1-c ( -t-c q

in which P is the pressure of the steam on the piston, before the
communication with the boiler is intercepted, and R the mean resist-
ance on the piston. This equation is then transformed into another,
independent of I-", by supposing the evaporation of the engine, or
rather its effective evaporation, to be known. This new equation is,

S
a

+ l"g'

l + c]

(1-)

n+ql<\l'-\-c ' "'''I'+c
where S is the volume of water evaporated per minute, and trans-
mitted to the cylinder in the form of steam, / the length of the stroke,
/' the length of the portion traversed by the piston at the moineiit the
steam is cut oH', r the clear.uice at each end of the cylinder, that is,
the length of a pcjrtion of the cylinder whose capacity is equal to that
of the waste space beyond that traversed by the piston, wliich is
necessarily filled with steam at each stroke.

In order to make use of this equation, it is evident that we must
know, not only the q\iantity of water actually evaporated, but also the
quantity lost through the safety valve, or by any other means.

The quantity U, which is the total resisting pressr.re on the unit of
surface of the ])iston, is afterwards decomposed into three parts,
namely, the resistance arising from the motion of the load, which the
author calls ;• ; that arising from the friction of the engine, which is
expressed by Cy+Sc), calling _/' the friction of the engine unloaded,
and 5 the augmentation of that friction per unit of the load )■; and the
pressure on the opposite side of the piston, which is represented by
/', and is cq\ial to the pressure of the atmosphere in high pressure
engines, and to the pressure of condensation in condensing engines.
Thus,

R = 0+5) r+p-\-/.

Substituting this value for R, and the expression /i for

I' . , l + c

7+c + '°^-Wc'
the equation (1) becomes

_S k_^_

" - a n+q [(l+5)r+;,+/]

In the calculations relative to locomotive engines, three
are to be introduced into the expression of tlie resistance
express the resistance of the air against the train, which, increasing
as the square of the velocity, could not be neglected without error ;
the second to express the resistance offered by the engine itself in the
transport of its own weight on the rails ; and the third to take account
of the resistance causeil by the blast-pipe.

The abo\'e general equation appears to be very complete, and, pro-
vided we are furnished with the means of ascertaining the quantity of
water which actually passes through the engine in the form of steam,
as well as the amount of the various parts of the resistance, and pro-
vided also the constant values of v and q do not cause too great an
error practically, we have no hesitation in saying that it will be found
of great utility in proportioning engines and boilers to the w'ork re-
quired to be done.

terms more
the first to

RIVER OUZE OUTFALL IMPROVEMENT.

This improvement promises to be the prelude to others, and is of
great national importance, the success of which will lead to similar
improvements in other parts of the coast of England, thereby adding
many thousand acres of rich fertile land to the kingdom; in our own
judgment we have no doubt of its success, if it be not marred by parish
squabbles and the grasping appetite for pecuniary compensation by
adjacent landed proprietors.

We have before us an elaborate' report relative to the above im-
provement, by Sir John Rennie, accompanied by plans ; it ouglit (o be
read by all lauded proprietors connected with property on the sea coast.
We regret that we cannot find space for the whole of the report, how-
ever, we will give a lengthened extract of th.e most interesting part
of it.

The plan for ohtaining this most desirable result consists in deepening the
Outfalls of the Ou/.c, tlic Nciie, the M'illiani and the Wclland, by con-ecting
and straightening their cliimncls, continiiig llicin between salistaiitial and
wcU-formed banks, can7iiig all of tliem into deep water, and there uniting
the whole in one geueral grand channel in the centre of the Great Wash (as

shown uiiou the accomiianyiiig plaa) ; a work wliicb, altliougli of coasider-
able magnitude, yet presents no dithcultics in the execution which caiuiot he
readily overcome by the provision of adequate means. Tlie natural consc-
qaence of these measures will he the closing of all the present minor chan-
nels and shoal water of the Wash, which are now fed and kc|)t Ojieu cliictly
by the rivers above mentioned, tlie circulation of the tide, and tlic agitation
produced l>y the wind over such an extensive surface, which prevents the
alluvial soil held in suspension by the waters from subsiding, so that it is
again carried back to sea. As soon, however, os the present channels are
(hvertcd, and other artificial means resorted to to cheek the currents and
waves, and assist the accmuulatinn of warp, then the whole of this extensive
space will become still water, and the silt and warp which is held in suspen-
sion, amounting to a large proportion, will he <le]iosited, and thus in a com-
paratively few years will raise the suh-suil sufficiently high, when it will be
converted into good land, and may lie wholly ciubauked from the tide. By
pursuing the above system of operations regularly and judiciously, the soil
will accuiiiulate according as the subjacent space is removed from the action
of tlie waves and currents, and thus the acquisition of land will be progres-
sive, and contribute to the ex|iense of acquiring the remainder, until the
whole quantity be completed; indeed about 90,000 acres are now hare at
low water, and a large portion of this, viz., about 10,000 acres, are fit to be
taken in. By way of illustration, it is only necessary to observe, that a por-
tion of the old channel of theOuzc, cniitaini'ig 800 acres, which was deserted
by the Eau Brinlv Cut, has been warped up, by the course of nature alone,
25 feet, in five or six years, and the whole 800 acres is now under cultivation
ami worth from 30?. to 70/. an acre; 1,300 acres were embanked from the
Nene Wash eight years since, and let for nearly 2/. per acre ; since that period
the warjiing of the remainder, containing between 4,000 and 5,000 acres, has
been very rapid, amounting to in parts 14 feet perpendicular, hy the mere
operat'oas of nature alone; this has been further increased hy the addition of
some slight works within the last two months, a'ld the whole of this will be
ready to be taken in in about two years from t!ie present time, and will be
mucii more valnahlo than the 1,300 acres above mentioned ; and if the system
now a-lopteil of assisting the accumulation of soil had been commenced earlier,
1 have no doubt hut that the whole of the NeneVvash might have been under
cultivation by this time ; above 3,000 acres, I understand, have been taken
in also along the shores of the Welland and Witham, and the northern side
of the Great Wash. These it should be observed arc mere detached, isolated
operations carried into eifect without any general plan and system, ami are
necessarily neither so efficient or economical as when carried on upon a great
uniform and well-cnmbined scale ; still, however, they have been veiT pa-o-
fitable, and have well repaid those who undertook tlicin. The Outfall of the
Ouze is the first and principal oiieration, and !)y correcting its course and
channel three miles may be saved ; and an additional fall of nearly 6 feet
may be gained in the low-water fine between Lyiin and the Thief Beacon, 12
miles below the town. There are three lines by whicli the new channel may
he carried; first, by taking it through the inclosed lands belonging to the late
Lord William Beatinek ; secondly, by straightening and confining it liy jetties
rather more seaward than Xo. I into- deep water; and, thirdly, hy carrying it
through the Peter Black Sand hy jetties along tlie Norfolk siiore into deep
water' in tliat direction. The first Plan is, upon tlic whole, sh.orter hy one
mile than the Plan, No. 2, and by the first Plan an additional fall of one foot
would be gained in the current ; it would also be more certain of execution,
more easily maintained w hen completed, and sooner accomplished, although
rather more expensive in the outset.

The Plan, No. 2, would be rather longer, more uncertain, and not so good
when completed.

The Plan, No. 3, is objectionable, in consequence of the great length of
shoal water, viz. 11 miles, through which the uork would liavc to be carried
before it w-ould arrive at deej) water ; and there would be a greater difficulty
in preserving it when made, in consequonce of the extensive tract of shifting
sai.ds which accumulate along the shore.

The expense of Plan, No. 1, would amount to the sum of 250,000/., and
the other two rather less.

The Outfall of the river Nene being 5 feet 8 inches lower than that of the
Oiizc, with the exception of being advanced, is now in such a perfect state,
that much more fall cannot be expected ; by prolonging it downwards, how-
ever, into deep water, so as to unite with the Ouze, the whole of the inter-
vening space of Land, amounting to several thousand acres, would be gained
ill a short time.

The Welland and Witham Outfalls, particularly the former, arc now in a
verv defective state; they may however be comiileted either hy carrying them
direct across the Clays uito Clayliole, or by the Maccaroni or South Channel,
to join the Nene and the Ouze. The advantage of the former plan is, that
the dist.inee to deep water is considerably shorter, .and, in consequence, it
would be sooner elfcctcd; and custom has hitherto jioiuted out Boston Dcepa
as tl;c natural entrance or roadstead both fur the Welland and the Witham.
On the other hand, looking forward to one general grand plan, and the pros-
]icct of maintaining the general OutfaU open, there can be little doubt hut
that the greater the body or mass of fresh and tidal waters that can be brought
into one channel the better, and the greater the certainty of its being .able to
maintain itself open.

In order to ctiVct this cnl.argcd \icw of the subject, the junction of the
William, the AVcdhmd. the Ncnc and the Ou/.e into one common Cutfall in
the centre of the Great \\'asli, appears the best and most certain plan : more-
over, presuming that the >Yitljam and the Welland be carried separately into

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[J)ja KMriER,

Clayholc Cluiniiel, the Neiic into Lynn Well and the Ouze along the Norfolk
shore, there would lie a far greater (|uantity of retaining embankments to
make ; the ehannels, by being .sc|iarate, would not be able to maintain them-
selves open so well; the land gained would bo divided into several separate
islands, which would render it more diftieult of aceess, and couseqiiently re-
duce its value, whilst the cxjiensc of acquiring it wonld be greater; and,
lastly, the boundaries of the counties of Lincoln and Norfolk would be dis-
turbed.

Presuming that the foiu- rivers in (|uestion be turned into one common
Outfall in the centre of the Wash (as shown in the Plan), and the other re-
quisite measures carried on, there woidd most ]irobably be gained, in com-
liaratively a few years, 150,000 acres of land. This, if taken'at 40/. an acre
(and a great proiiortion of that acquired lately on the old ebaiuiel of the
Ouze is now worth a great deal more), would he worth 0,000,000/., and, after
deducting 12/. per acre for the expense of obtaining the greater portion, and
ITi/. per acre for tli.at portion lying nearest to the o)>cn ocean, would anioimt
to the sum of 2,000,000/., leaving a clear gain of 4,000,000/. ; perhaps an
additional quantity may be obtained hereafter, although it is unnecessary to
say more at ]u'eseut, because the other when carried into ett'cct will alone
fonn a sufficient remuneration.

In addition to this profitable result, the following luay be added :^

First, — The conqdcte natural drainage and eo)isc(inent improvciuent in the
salubrity of tlie whole district of low lands draining by the Ouze, the Nene,
the Welland ami the Witham, and into the W.ash, aiuouiitingto about 900,000
acres, 160,000 of which, as above mentioned, are in a very defective state
and comparatively valueless.

Secondly, — The navigation of all the rivers would be so improved as to
occasion no inconsiderable reduction in the charges for freight; there would
be a great saving in the pilot and harbour dues; the deepened cliannelswoidd
admit vessels of nuich larger tonnage; and the ports of Lynn, ISoston, Spald-
ing ami AVisbech would, in consequence, be rendercil nuicii more available for
all the jiurposes of trade and merchandize.

Thirdly, — The shii)ping interests in general would derive great l)enefit in
stormy weather, during the nuxt prevalent winds, from having an opportunity
of entering a roadstead equal in security (o any on the eastern coast of Eng-
land.

Fourthly, — There would be one uniform efficient system of barrier banks
round the (beat M'ash, which would relieve the present proprietors from a
very heavy contimial tax, amounting at tiuu's to 20i-. and o0.v. per acre, and
at the same time guarantee them against all danger of inuuilation.

LOCOJIOTIVE EXCAVATOR.

M. Gervais, a manufacturer of Caen, ami a member of the Superior Council
of Connncrce. has lately ]iresented to the Academy of Seiences a small model
of a locomotive excavator (Terassier Loeomotcnr). This machine luay be
usefully employed in the excavation of canals and formation of railroads ; but
from the want of strength in its construction, it seems at present suitable
only to an alluvial soil. A force of steam of from two to three horse-power
is required to work it ; it clears a space eiglit feet (2 m. .">0) wide, and 2 feet
3 inches (0 m. 70) deep, and advances 1 foot 3 inches (0 in. 38) a minute.
Thus, in twenty-four hours it completes IHOO feet (.')47 m. 20) in length ;
having cleared out 3250 cidiie feet (1000 cubic metres) of earth, which is
levelled as regularly on each bank as it could be ilonc by the hands of men.
The expense in twenty-foui- horns cannot exceed 40 francs. The clearing of
a cidiic metre of earth, therefore, costs about 4 centimes. If we compare
this with the price usually paid, the advantage of the invention is evident ;
hut this is nothing in comparison with the ailvautagcs w4iicb we may expect
to derive from the great saving of manual labom-, and from the rapid increase
of works so beneficial to the ilu^^^try of the countrv.

'I'hc inventors's first idea w, is to employ men in levelling all occasion.il ele-
viitioiis beyond fifteen inches (0 m. 40), but it was found less expensive to
ein]doy the machine used in cutting railroads. His plan proceeds on the
same jirinciple. The same frame which carries the locomotive, is arranged
so that tools, attached to it, can work iqiwards from the surface of the earth,
instead of downwards, and thus remove these elevations. A space is levelled
equal in width to the working of the locomotive excavator, ami then rails are
laid down to preserve the direction and the level. The locomotive follows,
excavating am\ throwing otit the earth either on one or both of the banks,
and forming an inclined jilane, on each side, of forty-five degiTcs. If a canal
is req\urcd to be sixteen feet (five metres) deeii, or deeper, and cannot be ex-
cavated at once, there is attached to the machine behind, an axletree, and
east-iron wlieels with large felloes, by which means, as fast as the first cutting
is finished, lines are traced on which to jilacc the rails for the second, and so
as to preserve the original level. A machijie cajiable of working twenty-feet,
wide, and eight feet deep, excavates sixteen cubic feet of earth in a minute.

In railroads, the process would be nearly the same as in canals, except
that the inclined plane on the sides need be" only of fifteen degrees, and the
eai-tli might be carried away in carts wlierever it was w anted. This machine
is calculated for light and sandy soils ; and is so constructed, thiit, shoidd it
encounter any obstacle, it may be stopped in a nmment to prevent accidents.
Thus, any rocky substance, if small, can he lifted u]); if large, can be broken
to pieces by the workmen, and earned away on the frame of the machine,
.after removing the tools, which can then be replaced, and the work con-
tinued.

It would be difficult to give a more partieidar detail without the aid of the
plan, which the inventor has transmitted to the .icadcmy for the use of the
committee, who, as well as ourselves, have seen the machine at work. \Vhat-
ever their decision may be, it seems to us that the only i|uestion now, is the
.application of steam to the excavation of canals and railroads. Tlie employ-
ment of this machine on a large scale, must be atteiuled with great ailvan-
tages, whether we consider the difficulty of collecting a considerable nundjer
of workmen on one spot, the increased rapidity of the work, or the improved
salubrity of low grounds by the draining of m<irslies, ami the removal of mi-
asma .ind its consequent diseases. And these great advantages, if the ma-
chine of M. Genais can really be employed on a large scale, are to be ob-
tained at a remarkably small expense. Taking the model, which we have
secii at work, as our data, if we calculate on a 3-horse jiower steam-engine,
and on a consumption of 15 kilogrammes (30 lbs.) of coal per hour, we shall
find, after deducting 30 per cent, interest for the outlay, and making every
allowance for rejiairs, and loss of time when the machine is not at work, that
it can excavate 05 7 cubic metres of earth at a cost of IS francs 50 cents ;
whereas we now pay for excavating the same quantity, 47S francs 50 cents.
In short, the invention of JI. Gervais bids fair to make a great revolution in
the mode of excavation, and we look forward with a degree of impatience for
the decision of the committee of the aeademv. — Juvciilors Adoucate.

BUTE DOCKS, CARDIFF.

In our last nundjer we gave the particulars of the ojiening of these docks.
The construction of which was entrusted to Mr. Cubitt, of London, as en-
gineer in chief, and to ^Ir. Turnliull, as the resident engineer. The following
particulars are from a statement furnished by the engineers : —

" The river Tail', which falls into the sea at the port of Cardiff, forms a
principal outlet for the mining districts, with which Glamorganshire abounds;
the ju'odncc of these mines has hitherto foiuid its way to market through the
Gl.iniorgansbire Canal, but its sea lock, constructed about 10 years ago, has
long been found inadecjuatc to the demands for increased aceonunodation,
consequent u]ion the extraordin.ary increase of^ trade since the can.al was
opened, some idea of which may be formed from the fact, that according to
the Can.al Company's Report, 123,234 tons of iron, and 220,071 tons of coal
passed down in 1837 — making a total of 349,905 tons, or about 1,000 tons
per day. **

" The Marquis of Bute possessing lands in the neighbourhood of Cardifl',
an<l especially an extensive tract called Cardiff Moors, where docks, wharfs,
and warehouses, might be constructed to any extent, and a convenient outlet
made into the well-known safe roadstead, protected by the headlaml of Pen-
narth, obtained in 1830, an act for constructing a new harbour, to be called
' The Bute Ship Canal,' and has completed this great work at his iiulividual
expense.

" The princijial advantages of the undertaking .ire as follow : — .V straight
open chainicl N.N.E. and S.S.W. about three-quarters of a mile in length
from Cardift' roads to the new sea-gates, which aretj feet widi, with a depth
of 17 feet water at neap, and 32 feet at springtide. On passing the sea-
gate, vessels enter a capacious basin, having an area of about an acre and a
half, railed the outer basin, calculiited to .icconunodate vessels of great
burden and steamers ; the main entrance lock is situated at the north end of
this outer basin, 152 feet long, and 36 feet wide, sufficient for ships of 600
tons.

" Beyond the lock is the inner basin, which constitutes the grand feature
of this work. It extcmls in a continuous hue from the lock to near the to^^ n
of Cardiff, 14.50 yards long, and 200 feet wide, an area of nearly 20 acres of
water, capable of accouuuodating in perfect safety from 300 to 400 ships of
all classes. Quays are built on each side for more than two-fhu'ds of its
length, finished with strong granite cojung, comprising nearly 0,000 feet, or
more than a mile of wharfs, with ample space for warehouses, exclusive of
the wh.irfs at the outer basin. To keep the channel free of deposit, a feeder
from the river Tafi' supjihcs a reservoir 1.5 acres in extent, adjoinhigthe basin,
This reservoir can be discharged at low water by means of powerful sluices
v\ith cast-iron pipes five feet in diameter, and by 10 sluices at the sea-gates,
so as to deliver at the rate of 100,000 tons of water per hour.

" The feeder was connnenced in 1854, the first stone of the docks laid on
the 10th of March, 1837, and the last coping-stone laid on the 2jth of Mav,
1830.

" Some doubts existed whether sufficient water coiUd be suppUed to keep
the channel clear, but experience has already shown that the daUy discharge
is more than adequate to the removal of the daily deposit, and in fact, a con-
siderable portion of the entrance was cleared by loosening the clay and mud,
so as to be carried out by the power of the sluices."

Some idea of the vastness of this undertaking may be formed from the fact
of its having already cost the noble Marquis about 300,000/. ; and an addi-
tional expenditure of considerable amount will be inciuTcd in the erection of
warehouses, &:c., along the quays.

Mii,li:r's Patknt Firh-dars. — A patent has been taken out for a new
fire-b.ar, which is sinted not only to the common steam-engine furnaces, but
can with equal facility be a|iplied to the furuitces of marine engines, and the
locomotive engines of railways, &c. Tlie principle of the invention consists
in moving each alternate bar longitudinally in one direction, whilst the inter-

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

4(i9

inediale liars :iie moved In tlic opposite one. Tliis niovonient, aided Ijy tlie
channelled surl'iu'c of the bars, breaks up the elinkers the instant they are
fornied, or jirevents tlieir formation, and thus keeps the air wax perfectly
free. Considerable attention has, from time to time, been paid to the im-
provement of the fire-bar, now beeome of so mneh importanee to the manu-
facturinji; comnmnity, by men eminently qnallHed, and several patents have
been obtained for this purpose, all of wliieh have been very consiilerable im-
provements over the ordinary fire-bar. The object of the inventors not being
always the same, has produced a great variety of jilans, wliich have hati more
or less merit. Urunton, and also Steel, with a view to an equal distril>ution
of the fire, made the grate itself revolve ; others have simply moved the tire-
liars, with the intention of preventing the adhesion of clinkers, and the con-
sequent obstruction of the air-way. This is the object of Miller's patent,
which, being simple in its princi]de, of easy construction, not requiring extra-
ordinary strengtii, aiid consequently no increased weight of metal, the object
is attained with little increased expense over the ordinary llre-liar. The ad-
vantages it secures are very considerable ; for not only, liy the perfect free-
dom from all obstruction of the air-way, is the combustion of the fuel and
its heating power eonsiderably increased, but coal of an inferior quality can
be used \vitho\it the usual etfect of choking up the grate. By the vigorous
combustion which this grate ensures, it prevents large masses of coal from
passing away unconsnnied in the form of smoke, and consequently nuist effect
a considerable saving in fuel. The ingenious patentee is the chief engineer
of th(^ extensive works of Messrs. Thomson Brothers and Sons, Primrose,
near Clithero, where these bars have lieen for some time at work, and have
fully realised the expectations of the inventor. — Manchester Gtiartlinu.

An improvement on Barker's mile, for which a patent has been taken
out by Mr. Stirrat, of Nethercraig, near Paisley, consists (licsidcs an inge-
nious water-joint and the application of something like tlie steam-engine
governor) in a beautiful contrivance for preventing the friction which arose
from the centrifugal action of the water on the revolving arms of the ma-
chine. To remedy this, the patentee has bad the arms of his machine made
with an eccentric curve, calculated according to the height of the fall, so that,
when the machine is in operation, the water rushes out, at its full speed, in
a straight line from the centre, to the extremity of the arm, where its power
is xvliolly exhausted by action on the sides o])|>osite the orifices by which it
runs off. The adrantages of this machine are said to be very great. In the
first place, while, by the common water-wheel, in some circumstances, only a
small portion of the water-power can be used, and under the most favourable
circumstances not more than tj.") per cent., it is calculated that by this new
machine not less than 05 per cent, of the motive jiower of the water is ren-
dered available. Secondly, the most trifling rivulet, provided it have a gooil
fall, can be taken advantage of by the new machine; and, thirdly, the ex-
pense of tlie improved Barker mill is not more than one-fifth of the expense
of a water-wheel, to work in the same stream. — Aberdeen Ueraht.

PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.

INSTITUTION or CIVIL ENGINEERS.

(Continued from ji^ye 31 l.j

Hay 28. — James Walker, Esq., President, in the Chair.

Diriny Bell.

Colonel Pasley stated the result of some experiments which he had made
with a diving-bell in the Thames and in the Medway. The common rectan-
gular diving bell, suspended from a vessel in a very strong tide, was com-
pletely swept tinder the boat, and in some other cases it swung round half
and lialf, or was twisted considerably out of its proper position. He attached
boat-shaped ends, and on descending at the half ebb of a strong flood tule,
the bell was iierfectly steady. He should thbik a bell fitted in this manner
would be exceedingly advantageous forgoing alongside of wTccks. He should
recommend the ends to be moveable, and if the wreck were athwart the tide
he should have only one end )iut on, and bring the blurt' end against the
vessel. An experienced diver had informed "him, that in the current of the
Danube, running seven knots an hour, the bell vibrated tremendously. Since
this arrangement had occurred to bini, he discovered that a similar one had
been iirojioscd to the " then Navy Board," about 20 years «go, by Mr. M'. S.
Smith, who had been employed under Mr. Rennie, but it does not ajipear to
have been tried. Colonel Pasley promised the Institution a more detailed
account of his experience on this important subject.

Coke and Peat.

Mr. Parkes stated, that he would take this opportunity of the presence of
Mr. Williams to lay before the meeting some specimens of French Peat,
which had been alluded to on a inevious occasion.* One of the specimens
was that olitained by allowing the particles to come within the influence of
the natural forces to which the atoms are subject. The slnfch as dredged up
from the bottom of the streams, in a state of great comminution, was put into

* Minutes, January 8, 1839, page Ul.j

moulds, and, contracting as it dried, aciiuired considerable density. Tliis
was an instance of density due to gradual drying ; the density became doubled
by this process. Mr. Parkes |ireseiitcd a specimen of coke from compressed
peat ; this Mr. Williams wouhl explain, as he had taken up tlie subject where
every one else bad left oft', and had succeeded in producing density by ine-
clianical means, at a moderate cost, and, by carbonizing the mass, in getting
rid of the volatile particles, which are injurious as a fuel; he thus produced
an extremely valuable coke.

Another specimen was of the incrustation on the interior of a gas retort ;
it was a coke of extreme density and of great value for some imriioses, but
for what was a secret. This deposition accumulates until the interior of the
retort is almost filled up, leaxing no available s|iace for the charge. The re-
torts are bought for the sake of this coke, whicli is a perfect carbon. A thin
coating of carbonaceous matter, wliich would otherwise be carried off in the
gas, is deposited each charge.

Mr. Lowe was not aware of the uses to which this coke could be applied ;
lint it was of extreme ilisuse to the gas-makers; he believed, however, tliat it
was used to produce an intense heat. It is sometimes stated to be a carburet
of iron, but a portion from the centre of the mass shews, on being tested,
not the least trace of iron. It arises naturally in the process of gas-making,
and the rate of its deposition depends on the temperature ; as in those retorts
which have a tendency to become too hot the deposition goes on exceedingly
fast. There were many curious facts connected with its deposition ; that in
a horizontal part is stratified in concentric layers. The njiper )iortions will
be perfectly sectile and form admirable crayons, that at the lower part »ill
scratch glass ; it decreases in density from the bottom ; a portion of the sides
partakes of both qualities. He suspected, that a large quantity was sold as
black lead.

Mr. Williams remarked, that there were two kinds of peat, the one having
a density due to impurities ; this is useless for all ))uriioses of metallurgy.
But for the purest carbon, the upper surface of the moss must be used, and
an artificial density must be communicated to it ; it is only in this manner
that a dense and pure coke can be olitained. The peat iiaving this artificial
density is carbonized, by which all the volatile m.attcr useless in cnmbustion
is driven oft', ground, and then being mixed with a bituminous matter the
operation of nature in the production of various species of coal may be closely
imitated.

June 4. — The President in the Chair.
The following were balloted for and elected : Samuel Castle Gant, as a
Graduate; and Earl de Grey, as an Honorary Member.

A paper was read :

' CJii the Dimen.'iions and Performances of the .irchlmedean Steamer.* By
Gkouge Rennie, F.R.S., &c. ivc. We gave particulars of this vessel in the
last number of the Journal.

June 11. — James Simpson, Esq. in the Chair.

The following were balloted for and elected : Richard Griflith, as a Mem-
ber ; and Thomas Penson and Robert Aytoun, as Associates.

' On JVarniinfj and I'entilatinr/ Public Buitdiuys ami Apartments, with an
account of ttie metttods which have been most successfully employed for en-
suring a healthy state of the .Itmosphere.' By Charles Hood, I''.R..\.S.

The author first treats of the constitution of the atmosphere; the .artificial
changes produced in it, and the eft'ect of these changes on animal economy.
The researches of chemists show that in atmospheric air, uucontaminatcd by
respiration or other means, there exists from 21'1 to 20-5 per cent, of oxygen,
78 per cent, of nitrogen, yL per cent, of carbonic acid, and a small quantity
of aqueous vapour. Besides these there are many foreign matters insensible
to chemical tests, but quite sensible to our organs, whereof many being easily
decomposable by heat, are resolved into their constituent gases; to this fact
is to be referred the wbolcsonieness and pleasantness of some artificial sys-
tems of heating, or the contrary. The hydrometric condition of the atmo-
sphere is most remarkably affected by change of temperature, as the quantity
of vapour in air of 52 ' F. may be estimated at ttttt^^^ ^^ *^'^ weight of air, at
■>'y" V. at ^tb, and at 8(i" F. at ^th ; when then the temperature of the air
within the room is considerably above tliat of the air without, this increased
cajiacity for moisture is productive of ert'ects prejudicial to the health. More-
over if iron surfaces of too high temperature be present, the vapour may be-
come decomposed, its oxygen combining with the iron, and the hydrogen
becoming dift'used through the atmosiibere. Consequences prejudicial to
health from these causes have been repeatedly experienced in rooms heated
by a hot air cockle; these eftccts are not pecidiar to the hot air cockle, but
will result in a greater or less degree whenever artificial warmth is produced
from iron surfaces, the temperature of which much exceeds 212' F. The
dryness of the air may in some measure lie remedied by moisture, distributed
artificially, but the eft'ects from the decomposition of the particles of matter
cannot he obviatctl by any artificial means. The system of Mr. Bernhardt is
peculiarly open to these objections, as tlie jiipes nearest the fire must become
intensely heated ; as also the stoves introduced by Dr. .\riiott ; since, inde-
pendent of the difficulty of keeping down the temperature of the metallic
surface, carbonic oxide is produced from the coke, and carburetted hydrogen
is also formed in the stove. The gas stoves are also open to the same objec-
tions ; moreover the quantities of water, of nitrogen, and of carbonic acid gas
evolved by the combustion of the gas are extremely deleterious. In the
latter case aqueous vapour will be in excess, and consequently the due quan-

470

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[December,

tity of persiiirable iiiiittcr is not carried off fi'oin the lungs and skin, t!ie in-
jurious cft'ccts of wliicli have been dearly cstaljlislicd liy .M. Qiietelet in his
woric on man. Tlic injurious otfects of an excess of nitrogen and carbonic
acid gas are too well known to require coninient.

Tlie author next treats of liie best nietliods of wanning buihlings in order
to secure a liealtliy state of the atinos[:hcre ; and having shewn the disad-
vantages of applying heat directly to any surface, he points out tlie method
of applying it indirectly, as hy steam or hot water, eontainei! in iron pipes :
the latter is more economical and simple, affords gi-eater pcrnKincneo and
equality, admits of a lower uniform temperatm-e, and any form of heating
surface. The temperature of the mctallie surface rarely exceeds 180° F. and
never reaches 1^12 F., which is too low to decomjiosc in any aj)preeiable de-
gree the organic matter contained in the air. The only effect is to increase
the capacity of the air for moisture, which is readily obvi.".ted. The surface
whicli is intended to distribute the beat should be a good conductor and
radiator, and the material which )ircsents this combination in it< highest de-
gree is iron ; the .iniount of heating surface which will be required depends
on the Innhiing to be warmed, and on a great variety of eircumstanecs ; Init
as an apjn'oximatc rule it may be laid down, that for a chinch or similar
public Iniilding the cubic contents of the hiiihling divided by 200 will give the
number of feet of surface requisite for a teunierature of from 55" F. to 58° F.
in the coldest wcatiier ordinarily experienced in this country. The form of
the heating surface is immaterial as regards (he action of the apparatus, luit
the time requisite to obtain a given temperature, and the permanence of that
temperature, depend on tlie mass of be. ted m.atter ; the relative times of
heating and cooling being inversely as the mass divided by the sui)erfieies. A
rapid cirenlation of the water may be oljtaincd by increasing the elevation of
the pi]ies aliovetlie I)oiler, liut it is considerably inducnced by any alterations
in tlie bore of the pi]:es. One great advantage in this apparatus is its perfect
safety, as tlie water at some point is always open to the atmosphere, whereas
in the system of hermetically sealed pipes, containing steam or hot water
under a pressure of from ten to fifty atmospheres, tliis seciu-i!y can never
exist.

3.' — The author lastly treats of ventilation ; a subject of the greatest im-
portance, independent of the changes already alluded to as produced in the
atmosphere by overheated surfaces, since all air respired from tlie lungs is
found to b.ave lost a ])roportion of its oxygen, and to have acquired a pro-
portion of carbonic acid gas and vapour, and the quantity of air which ^vill
require to he changed maybe taken as 3.\ cnbie feet per minute for each jier-
son a room contains. The author dwells at considerable length on the phy-
siological eft'ecls consequent on these changes, anil details several striking
instances of the great advantages resulting from iminoved ventilation, in
places wdiich had previously lieen unhealthy. All ventilation may he placed
in one of two classes, the natural or the meeb.anical ; in the former, the ex-
cess of temperature of the air is the primum mrihile of the efflux, and the
rapidity of the discharge may be nuieh increased by artilicially raising the
temperature of the discharging pipe. Verjtilatiou hy mechanicaT means, as
by pumps, orhy fans rotating witli a great velocity, may be most advantage-
ously enqiloyed, wherever mechanical power is used for other ]iiirposes ; the
great ellieacy of this latter nioile is proved most unquestionalily by the ex-
perience of the manu.facturing districts. The former metliod has recently
been tried on a very large scale at the House of Commons, anil it is calculated
by Dr. Ure that 38 times more fuel is expended in jiroducing the same effect
by chimney ch-aughts than by mechanical power. It a]qiears, however, that
the natural method of ventilation, by the spontaneous effusion of the heated
air, through openings in the ceiling, is the best calculated for ordinary pur-
poses ; hut thiit in all extraordinary cases ventilation hy some mechanical
means is the only economical and efficacious method.

A ]>ai)er was read on

' Exjxrhnenial Researches upon the cost qf the Light affonled l)y dijfermt
Lamps and Candles' By Anubew Ure, M.D., F.K.S., &c. ixe. We pub-
lished this paper in the last September Journal.

June IS. — The President in the Chair.

A pajier was read giving ' An Account nf the New Stone Brtdgrs over the
River Lea, at Stratfurd-le-Bow,'' By John Buldry Hedman, Grad. Inst.
C. E. We published engravings and an account of this bridge in the last
April Journal.

* A neir plan of comfructton of Slldinrj Gates for the Entrance Lodes of
Bocks, iS^'c.' By J. C. Singels, Engineer of the Waterstaat, llollande, &c.

The imiirovement suggested consists in substituting for the ordinary Lock
Gates, Sliding Gates, traversing the ends of the lock on rails laid on sills,
drawn across by chains and cajistans. The author in proposing this mode of
constmetion assumes, that wlien a lock exceeds 50 feet in width, ordinary
gates must be abandoned and caissons used. The advantages offered by it
are, diminishing the length of the lock by that of the ordinary opening gate,
consequently the volume of water to fill the lock is lessened in the same de-
gree, and reducing tlie number of tlie locks; for as a small elevation is essen-
tial to the strength of the ordinary gates, the sliding gates may on the con-
trary be made of almost any lieiglit without any fear of impaii'ing their
strength or solidity.

In the description of the I'hms aeeompanying the paper, great stress is laid
on the whole length of the lock, with the cxce|)tion of that part across which
the gate traverses, bciug-construi ted on an invert arch, liius giving gi'eater
solidity than where a lint floor only is used, cither for the v\hole length, or

for tlie wide space necessary for the ordinary gates to swing upon. It is
aeknowdedged that more masonry is required in this mode of construction,
but it is argued that the extra expense will be met by the saving in the
length of the lock and in the quantity of the water used.

In constructing the Sliding Gate, the timbers of which are cross braced
and strutted, and tlicn covered with planking on both sides, the rule to he
observed is, that the thickness of the gate is one-fourth of the width of the
lock, £0 that the main bracing timbers are at an angle of 20°. These are
crossed by other timbers, also diagonally braced, extending the vertical height
of the gate, so as to give tliat eombination best calculated to withstand the
pressure of the water on either side. To obviate the difficulty of setting in
motion so heavy a mass as the sliding gate, it is proposed to place within it
some barrels tilled with air, which hy their buoyancy would relieve the
rollers of some portion of the weight, and enable the gate to traverse more
easily.

Mr. Palmer observed, that the author could hardly be acquainted with the
modern practice in constructing locks in this country, as timber had for a
long period been but little used in the lock chauiber. His practice had been
invariably to have an invert arch at a lower level than the lock chamber.
He was now constructing at Port Talbot, in South Wales, a lock of 45 feet
span, in which there was at invert arch built of stone, 3 feet thick, with lias
lime, ]ilaced on a stratum of concrete, 2 feet thick, the concrete being com-
posed of four parts of gravel and sand to one of lime ; above this invert, the
floor was tilled in with 2 feet thick of brickwork, laid in Roman cement.
Beneath the roller curbs, stones were placed to bed them upon. Each lock
gate weighed about 40 tons, one half of which was borne by the heel-post
and the other half on the rollers, yet there was no difficulty in moving it at
pleasure. The depth of the water was 30 feet, and sometimes the whole
column pressed on the gates, yet no injury was feared. There had been great
difficnlty with the water during the course of construction, but the invert and
the side walls placed on it were perfectly sound, and able to withstand any
pressure. Me apprehended that the sliding gate would be much heavier than
the common gate — that the expense of construction would be greater — and
he could not discern any compensating benefit to result from its adoption.

June 25. — John Macneill, Esq. in the Chair.

The following were ballotted for and elected : J. F. Hanson, John Llewellin,
and W. Llewellin, as Associates.

The following coinmuuieations were read in part :—

' On Steam Engines, particnlarhj trith reference to their eonsumption of
Steam.' By Josjau Parkes, M. Inst. C. E.

' On the Analysis of a portion of the Iron Heel-plate of the Stern-post of
the John Bull, Steatn Vessel.' By David Mus:iet, A. Inst. C. E.

The action of the sea water had converted the iron into a substance some-
what resembling plumbago. Mr. Musbet, after analysiug it, considers this
substance, which had been called marine plumbago, to be composed nearly as
follows ;

Carbonic acid and moisture - - - 20
Protoxyde of iron . - - - 35"7

Silt or earthy matter . - - . 3'2
Carbon - - - - - - 4I'l

100

' On amethod of Dowelling Timber hi/ Iron Dowels and Asphalte. By M.
J. Brunel, M. Inst. C. E.

' On ttte Ejponsion of Iron and Stone in structures, as shewn hy olserva-
tions on the Southwark and Staines Bridges' By George Rennie, F.R.S.
&c. &c.

* A theoretical calculation of the amount of Fuel saved hy working Steam
expansively.' By J. W. Luiidock, lion. M. Inst. C. E.

' Tlie following communications were announced as received :—

* Ohservalions on the ej^iciency or gross power of Steam everted on the
piston, in relation to the reported duty of Steam Engines in Cornwall at dif-
ferent periods.' By John Scott Enys, A. Inst. C. E.

'Specifications and Drawings^ of the Gas Works at Middleslro-on-Tees.'
By Petkr HENnEas;oN, A. Inst. G. E.

' On tlie cons'ru -tion of the Clierbourg Breahvater ; with a Drawing* By
G. S. Ualrymple.

' Drawing and Description of the Coffre Dam at the new Houses of Parlia-
ment.' By G. S. Dalrymi'le.

The meeting of this evening concluded the session of 1839.

INSTITUTE OF THE ARCHITECTS OF IRELAND.

On Monday evening, 11th ult., the members of the Royal Irish Academy,
Sir William ilamiltnn in tlie chair, called upon Mr. Morrison, Vice-President
of the above-named learned body, for a slateinent of the nature of its objects ;
and the learned gentleman having comjilied with the demand, a resolul ion
in favour of the Institute \\i\» moved, sseonded, aud unRuimously adopted.

1830.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

471

SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES.

At tlic opeiiin? mectinj; hdd on Thursday pvening, Novciiilipr 21 si,
William Hamilton, Esq. V. W in the chair, J. A. Simpkinson, Esq. M.A. was
(•looted a Fello\v. ,\ paper was read on some ecclesiastical buildings in Nor-
mandy, by George Godwin, Jnn., F.R.S, F.S.A. Lower Normandy is visited
hy but few Englislimen, notwithstanding its intimate connection witli the
early history of our country, botli political, literary, and artistical, and every
item of information concerning it from an o]>server, jirovideil he use liis own
eyes, is valuable. i\Ir. fioilwiu remarl<s that many of the buildings are fast
hastening to decay, tlirougli tlie use of improper stone. Tlie Frencli society
for tlie preservation of public mommients are actively bestirring themselves,
but their funds are so limited that their operations are necessarily confined.
Some of the stone now being used at Caen did not seem to the writer of the
])apcr in question, selected with care. The Caen quarries furnish stone of
very iudifl'erent as well as of very excellent quality, as is proved hy many of
the comparatively modern residences and walls in the city, which arc fast
ileeayiug under the inllucnce of the weather, and discrimination ought tliere-
fore to be employed in making selection. The paper consisted chietly of
remarks on the cathedal of liayenx, which presents several peculiar features ;
it will be followed, it was stated, by other rough notes on Coutances, Falaise,
Evreux, &c.

Royal Acadkmy. — Mr. Philip Ilardwick has been elected an associate of
the Academy, and Mr. CockercU to the Professorship of Architecture, in
room of the late Mr. Wilkins. We trust there will he no fm'ther delay in
giving the ordinary course of lectures on architecture, which has been, of
late, very much neglected.

BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE.

(From tl/c Rf/iorh of tfif Aihciueum and Litcrarij Gazettv.)
( Continved from page 422.^

On Waves, Mr. Scott Russell brought up the Report of the Committee (Sir John
Rohison and Mr. Russell.)

Since the last meeting the committee had continued their researches, and
had. in each department, confirmed or corrected llie results formerly obtained
by them, and had also extend. 'd their aequainfance wiih several interesting
phenomena. The first object of their attention, was the determination of the
nature and laws of certain kinds of waves. Of these, the inii.st important
species was that called by Mr. Russell tlie Great Solitary Wave, or the
Primary Wave of Translation ; the second, «as the Oscillatory Wave, or se-
condary species. The recent researches, while they had conlirmed and ex-
tended to a larger scale the observations of preceding years, have in no
respect altered the views formerly staled by this committee. The form of the
wave is lliat to which the name 1 lemicyeUiid has been given; its velocity is
that due to half the depth of the fluid, ret koncd from the top of the wave to
the centre of gravity of the section, where the depth of the channel is not
uniform. The motion of the particles, is a motion of permanent translation
in the direction of the motion of the wave, through a space emial to double
the wave's height ; the particles of the water perfectly at rest before the ap-
proach of tlie wave, were lifted up, translated forwards, and were deposited
perfectly at rest in their new locations — the translation taking place equally
throughout the whole depth of the fluid. It had been stated by Mr. Russell,
in a previous report, that all the data requisite to derive the phenomena of
the great wave of translation had been now obtained, and that he him.self
had f(jund no difticulty in obtaining the laws of this wave from the ecpiations
(if M. Laplace, on the hypothesis, that the motion of the water particles was
not inflnitely small, and the oscillations inflnitely small, as had been hitherto
supposed, but that they had the magnitude and nature actually found in these
experiments. During the past year, considerable progress has been made in
this examination, and highly satisfactory confirmation of the truth of these
views had been obtained, by the labours of Prof. Kelland. Prof. Kelland had
also adopted the method of introducing the hypothesis of the particles of the
water having the motions observed in the experiments — viz. a motion of per-
manent translation in a given course ; and although his results did not per-
fectly accord with Ibi' experiments, they b.ad presented a much closer appnisi-
matioii to them tlian previous investigations, and were to be regarded as
additions to the theory of the motion of waves. The second subject of inquiry
by this committee regarded the connexion which existed between the motion
of waves, and the resistance of fluids to the motion of floating bodies — a sub-
ject closely connerted with practical navigation. In the continuation of this
inquiry, the committee had received many confirmations of their former
views, while they had been exteniled beyond their former means of observa-
tion. The phenomenon of vessels at liigh velocities riding the wave, had been
exhibited to an extent never before w itnessed. It had been formerly observed,
th.at when a vessel was, by any means, ,drawn along the surface of water
with a high velocity, it proiluced a wave, which was a wave of translation,
moving with the velocity due to the depth ; and that whenever the velocity of
the vessel becomes greater than the velocity of the wave, the vessel is carried
along on the top of the wave with diminished resistance. This phenomenon
had been last year exhibited on a scale much more striking than formerly.
The wave, divided in two by tiie pruw of the Vi'ssel, had risen on each side to
a height far greater than that even of the vessel itself; it expanded on each
side of the vessel, from stem to stern, in a broad unbroken sheet of water,
bearing along the vessel between what seemed to be a pair of extended gossa-
mer wings, giving, at extremely high velocities, a resistance very much less
than had hitherto been observed. The third point of inquiry concerns both
the theory of hydrodynamics, and the art of practical navigation. What is

the form of a solid of least resistance, is a question which has been much
diseusised since the days of .Sir Isaac Newton. What is (he shape to be given
to a vessel or ship, so that il may be driven by sails, or propelled by oars or
steam, with the greatest velocity, or at the least expemlilure of power P i.s
the same question, asked by the practical ship-builder, in relation to his art.
ll had been inferred by Mr. Russell, from certain theoretical considerations,
that a certain form, which be called the Wave Form of vessel, woulil be the
form of least resistance, and the form of grealcst velocity. This form was.
that the lines of anterior displacement should correspond to the outline of
the great wave of translation anteriorly, and to the outline of the posterior
wave of replaceni"nt. towards the stern. This form had been the subject of
experiment from 1834 to the present time; and the expcriiii'Mils i/f last ye;ir
confirmed the truth of the original supposition, that this form was I hat of
least resistance. A very curious and gratilying confinnation of the truth of
the hypothesis had been received during the course of last year. A clergy-
man in the north of .Scotland — the Rev. Mr. Hroilic — had seen an account of
these experiments in the Reports of the Association, and had deduced from
theory, without a knowledge of Mr. llussell's process, results almost precisely
the same, so as to give them the most gratifying confirmation, although de-
rived from grounds'somewhat diflerent. The views formerly submiited Hi tlu'
Association on the form of vessel best soiled to the practical p;ir|iosc's of na-
vigation, had, during the past year, received very remarkable praclic.il cmi-
firniation. A large steam-vessel had been built" on the wave principle, — a
vessel of GCiO tons, with an engine of 220 horse power, — and it had turned out
th ,t this was the fastest vessel now in Great Britain. This vessel, built as a
ple.asure-yacht. combined the qualities of sailing fast, and carrying a large
cargii : she was named the Fire Kiny, and belonged to Mr. Ashton .Smith, of
Wales. The last point of iiiipiiry in which this committee had been engaged
cluring the past year, was the question of the nature and laws of the tidal
wave, as propagated along our shores, and up the estuaries of our great rivers.
But the nature of its propagation along our shores, after it ceased to be
aflected by the celestial influence, formed a terrestrial mechanism, with which
we were still very imperfectly acquainted. To this .subject, the committee
had devoted their attention, ;ind they had made simultaneous obsery;itions
for this purpose, at ihirteen dillcrent station, along the Frith of Forth. The
Board of Northern Lights, and Mr. Stevenson, their engineer, had afforded
every facility for the observations, and results of a very remarkable nature
were obtained. It was found, that there were four tides a day in the Forth,
instead of two — four high waters and four low waters. Mr. Russell exhibited
drawings of these tid.al waves, and gave, what he conceived the explanatiim
of a phenomenon, which is, he thinks, much more common than hitherto
supposed, [t is well known, that the tidal wave which brings high water
from the Atlantic to the south-western shores of Great Britain, becomes
divided into two parts, one of which passes upwards through the English
Channel, and the other passing round the west and north of Irebmd and Great
Britain, brings high water to the east coast of Scotland anil to the Frith of
Forth. Now, it appears not to have been recollected, that the other wave,
after coming up through the English Channel, and bringing along with the
former, high water to London, must pass on nin-lhwards, and in doing so,
will enter the Frith of Forth considerably earlier than the northern wave
passing southwards. Now. this southern wave, smaller, but earlier than the
other, appears to enter the Frith, and may be traced at every station. It is
followed up. however, very rapidly, by the great northern wave, and the
former moving more slowly than the other, according to the law of the great
wave of translation, is overtaken by it at the higher parts of the Frith, and
being both greatly exaggerated by the form of that chinuel. produced the
two tides oflhe Frith of Forth. Mr. Russell expressed his opinion, that the
tides in the upper part of the Frith of Forth would be found to rise as high
above the mean level of the sea, as the tides of (he Bristol Channel. I he
observations on this subject were not, however, completed, but would be
finished in the course of next year. , ,, r>

Mr. Byrne asked what was the exact form of the curve which Mr. Russell
considered to bound the solid of least resistance? or what was the mathema-
tieal formula (or e(|naUon) of the curve?— Mr. Russell replierl. that it was
stated at length in the published reports of the Association.— Prot. Forbes
asked, whether the double culmination of the wave might not arise rather
from the circumstance of the two waves not coming simultaneously to the
mouth of the Frith than to the separation of the waves, to wh ch Mr. Kusell
h id asiribed il ? In fact, the waves, as he considered, must lie dissimilar m
period, en- one could not overtop the other; after they had blended into one,
the ellcet would be either to cause the ordinate of the joint wave to be the
sum or difl'erence of the ordinales of the waves or waved depressiou. aeeord-
ingly as ih.-' two waves or waved depression coincided.— Prot, Whewell saiil.
No ; they n ill separate.— Mr. Russell observed, that tlie waves were touiid
freiiiiently to separate, ami the instances he had cited were remarkable cx-
emplilications of this.-Prof Stcvelly helieveil the difficulty Prot. I'orbes
laboured umler, arose from his not having been present at the Men castle
meeting, when Mr. Russell gave a very minute .account of the sttaicture of the
wave of translation, which dillered from a common undulatory wave in this,
that every particle of the fluid had not only a rising and tailing motion, but
also a motion of translation, sometimes forwards, sometimes backwards.
Now, the mere undulatory motion would exactly produce the effects 1 rof.
Forbes expecteil. and had so well explained ; but the motion of translation ot
the particles would, from its very nature, cause the wave to separate, even
alter blcmling into one, as explaiiierl bv Mr. llusscll.— Lieut. Morrison asked
whether Mr. Ku.ssell had investigate! the eflect of the descending current ot
the river, particularly in the time of freshes, on the tide w.aves ? It bad been
well ascertained by observations on the Thames, th.at .at such times the de-
scending force of the current exercised a very decided influence on the tides;
and he could testify the same from his own experience in other places .-- Mr.
Ru,ssell said, the cominiltee had found that effiDct very decided, insomuch that
in the time of freshes in the Fritli, it occasionally obliterated the tide wave.

Experiments upon the effects of Weights acting for an indefinite time upon bars
of Iron, by Mr. Fairbairu.

8 T 2

472

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Deckmbkr,

The t'xpeiinirnts of wjitch tlie present is a notice, were comniencetl by Mr.
Fairhairii in Jlareli, 1837, when ;i number of bars of CoeJtalon iron cast from
flie same moilcl, 5 feet long and 1 inch square, were placed horizontally on
props 4 feet fi inches asunder, and had dilVercnt weights, as 21. 3, 3i, and 4
ewt.. laid upon the middle of each : the last weight being within a few pounds
of the breatdng weight. The intention was to ascertain what cflcct would ari.se
from eacli of these weishis lyinf; constantly upon the b.irs. The results are,
1st. Tlic liars are still bearing the loads, aiid apparently may do so for many
■years. 2nd. The deflections, which are frequently measured, the temperature
leing observed at the time, are constantly increasing, though in a decreasing
ratio, — a fact which shows that, though cast iron may be safely loaded far
beyond what has hitherlo been deemed prudent, still it is extremely probable
that the liars are advancing, by however slow degrees, to ultimate destruction.

T]ie Baron Eugene die Me.'inil gm>e a description of a Snfety Lamp, itwented
hj him in 1834.

He stated, that he had presented it to the French government in 1837. and
that it had been now adopted, after a favourable report upon it by M, C'h.
Combes.

This lamp consists of a body of flint glass, defended I;y a dozen of iron
bars. The air is admilled by two conical tubes, inserted at the bottom, w hich
are capped with wu'c gauze, and enter by the side of tlie flame. The latter
rises into a chimney, which has a piece of metal phaced in the form of an
arch over its fop : the chimney, however, being quite open. The consequence
of this construction is. that a strong current is constantly pas.sing up the
chimney. M'ben carliuretled hydrogen passes in, the fact is discovered by
numerous small explosions, and the w hole glass w ork is throw n into vibrations
which emit a loud and shrill sound, which may be heard at a very consider-
able distance.

Prof, (iraham stated, that the novelty in Baron dii MesniVs lamp was, the
circumstance of the chimney being quite open. He considered, that the Lamp
was left almost perfect liy that iibilosopher, and that all accidents proceeded
from carelessness. He alluded to the deleterious elT'ects of the afler-damp.
or carbonic acid left in the a'mnsphere of a mine after an explosion, which
is believed to occasion often greater loss of life among the miners than the
original explosion, and often prevented assistance being rendered in case of
accidents. In many casen, it w as certain (hat the oxygen of the air was not
oxhausled by I lie explosion, allhough. from the presence of five or ten per
cent, of carbonic acid, it was rendered irrespiralde. The atmosphere might,
therefore, be i-endered respirablo by withdrawing this carbonic acid, and he
suggested a method by which this might be elTected, He liad found that a
mixture of dry slaked lime and pounded Glaidier's salts, in equal proportions,
has a singular avidity for carbonic acid, and that air might be piiritied com-
pletely from that deleterious g.as. by inhaling it throirgh a cuthion of not
more than an inch in tliickne.ss. filled with (hat mixture, which co'jid be done
without difficulty. He suggested the use of an article of this kind by persons
who descended into a mine to afford assistance to tlie sufferers, after an
explosion ; indeed, wherever the safety-lamp was necessary, and the occur-
rence of an explosion possible, the possession of this lime-iilter would be an
additional source of security,

Chi a small Voltaic Buttenj of e.xfraordinarij energy, iBy M'. R. Grove, Esq.

In a Icller published in the Pliil. Mag. for February, I stated (said the
author) some reasons for hoping tliat by changes in the constitiietils of vol-
l.aic comljinalions of four elements, we might greatly increase their energy.
At that period I sought in vain for improvements, which a fair induction
convinced rne were altainable, but, being in the country, all my euperiments
were with copper as a negative metal. 1 was constantly unable to use con-
centrated nitric acid as an electrolyte, and its importance never occurred to
me until forced upon my nolice by an experiment, which I made at Paris for
a different object. This was an endeavour to prove the dissolution of guld in
nitro-muriatic acid to be an electrical phenomenon, or rather that this (as I
believe, willi .Sir Hum|ihrey Davy, eveiy other chemical phenomenon,) could
be resolved inio an cicctric'al one, bv operating upon mas.ses instead of mole-
cules. The experiment was the following:— The extremities of two strips of
gold leal were immersed. Ihe one in nitric, the other in muriatic acid, contact
between the two liquids being permitted, but mixture prevented, by an inter-
posed porous diaphragm. In this case the gold remained undissolved for an
indefinite period, but the circuit being completed by metallic contact, either
mediate or immediate, the strip of gold in the muriatic acid was instantly
dissolved. Thus, it seems, that the affinity of gold for chlorine is not able
alone to decompose muriatic acid ; but when it is aided by (hat of oxygen for
hydrogen, the decompusliii n s ertected. The phenomenon bears much .ana-
logy (o ordinary cases of double deeomposilion. The two gold strips in Ihe
experinvnt being conneced with a galvanometer, occasioned a considerable
deflexion ; and it now occurred to me, coupling this experiment with my pre-
vious observations, that these same liquids, with the subsdtution of zinc and
platinum for (he gold leaf, w ould produce a combination of surpassing energy.
My expeclalions were fully realized ; and on the 1 Ih of April, M.Becquerel
prespnied to the Insiitute a small battery of my construction, consisting of
seven liqueur glai,ses. conlaining the bowls of ctmmon lobacco-pipes, the
metals zinc and platinum, and the electrolytes concentrated nitric and dilute
muriatic acids. This little apparatus produced effii-cls of decomposilion equal
to the most powerful batleries of the old construction. I have since this
tried v.arious combinations upon (he same principle, and (hough some of the
rarer sulslances— surh 'or inslance, as chloric acid— have proikiced powerful
effects, I have found none superior, and few equal, to the preceding. I have
therefore, directed my attention to using these materials, and rendering the
apparatus more economical, although I soon found that it was not so expen-
sive as it at first appeared — the platinum remaining unaltered. Dilute nitric
acid diminishes the energy ; nitro-sulphuric acid acted as an electrolyte much
as nitric acid ; it is an excellent conductor, yielding oxygen at the anode, and
hydrogen at the caihode. Appl) ing (his to my battery, I found it to succeed
admirably, and hence a cons derable diminution of expence on the side of the
Kinc, and found salt and water nearly equal to dilute muriatic acid. It also

removes the necessity of amalgamating the zinc ; but it sometimes, though
rarely, disaggregates the porous ware, from the crystallization of niirate of
soda ; and therefore, in large batteries, 1 should prefer muriatic acid diluted
with five times its volume of water. By using flaltened parallelopiped-shaped
vessels, tlie concentrated ,acid is much economized, and the metals approxi-
mateil. Now, according to Prof Ritchie, the power is inversely as the square
root of (he distance between the metals. The hastily constructed fjattery
which I have to present, consists of an outer case of wood, height 75 inches,
breadth 5, width 3, (it should be of glazed earthenware, similar to Fhe Wol-
laston troughs.) separated info four compar(men(s by glass divisions ; in
(hese compartments are placed four flat porous vessels, the interior dimen-
sions of which are 7, 2J, and 3-lOths of an inch, the thickness of the walls
g inch ; they contain each three measured ounces ; the metals, four pairs,
expose each a surface of 16 square inclies. and the battery gives, by decom-
position of aciduiated water. 3 cubic inches of mixed gases per minute ; char-
coal points burn brilliantly, and it heats (> inches of platinum wire of an inch
diameter ; its effect upon the magnet, when arranged as a single pair, is pro-
porfionally energetic ; it is constant for about an hour without any fresh
supply of acids. The porous vessels are idenlical in (heir constitution with
the common toliacco pipe. As far as my experiments go, its power, with
reference (o (he common constant baltt?ry, is cccteris paribus as six to one, Ijut
the relative proportions vary somewhat with the series. The cost of the
apparatus is 2/. 2s. During the operation of this battery, the nitric acid, by
losing successive portions of oxygen, assumes first a yellow, (hen a green,
(lien a blue colour, and lastly becomes perfectly aqueous ; hydrogen is now
evolved from the platina, tlieenergy lowers, and the action becomes incon-
stant. It is worthy of remark, an an argiunent for the secondary nature of
metallic precipitation by voltaic electricity, that the oxidated or dissolved
zinc remains entirely (or at least by far the greater portion) on the zinc side
of the diaphragm ; the hydrogen alone appears to be transferred ; and yet
the reversal of affinities which the theory of reduction by nascent hydrogen
supposes, is an enigma difficult of solution. I have invariably observed in
this batteiy, a current of endosmose from the zinc to the platinum, or with
the current of positive electricity.

The radonale of (he action of this combination, according to the chemical
theory of galvanism, appears to be as follows; — In the common zinc and
copper combination, the resulting power is as the affinity of the anion of the
electrolyte for zinc, minus its affinity fur copper ; in the common constant
battery it is as the affinity of (he anion for zinc, plus that of oxygen for
hydrogen, minus that of hydrogen for copper. In the combination in ques-
tion, (he resulting power is as the affinity of the anion for zinc, plus that of
oxygen for hydrogen, minus that of oxygen for azote. Nitric acid being
much more readily decomposed (ban sulphate of copper, resisiance is lessened
and (he power increased ; and no hydrogen being evolved from the negative
metal, there is no precipitation upon it, aiul consequently no counter-action.
I need scarcely add a word as to the importance of improvements of this
description in the voltaic battery. This valuable instrument of chemical
research is thus made nortable, and, by increased power in diminished space,
its adaptation to meciianical, especially to locomotive purposes, becomes
more feasible,

Mr. Spencer then exhibited a cylindrical battery, so as to include great
intensily in small space. Prof Graham considered Mr. Grove's battery an
im))ortant improvement, and could only account for its power from the cir-
cumstance, as in Daniell's battery, of the removal of liydrogen.

Prof, llliewell comniiuiicated some tide observations, forwarded to him hy ihe
liiissian Admiral Liitke.

These observations supplied— first, the tide hours of various places on the
coasts of Lapland, the White .Sea, and the Frozen Sea, and the co.asts of
Nova Zemlia, These observations enable us to follow the progress of the
tide mean further than had hitherfo been done. Mr. UTiewoll's map of
Cotidal Lines, (the second approximadon con(aincd in (he PJtil. Trans, 1836,)
follows (lie tide only as far as the North Cape of Norway, e.as(ward of Nova
Zemlia. Prof. WTiewell stafed. (hat he was informed 1jy Admiral Liitke,
that in (he Frozen ,Sea, cast of Nova Zemlia, there is little or no perceptible
tide. The observations comniunieated by Admiral Liitke, offijred various
o(her results, and especially the existence of (he diurnal inequality in the
seas explored by Russian navigators, as on the coast of Kamscatka, and the
west coast of North America.

Prof. WheiccU made some observations on Capt. Fitzroy^s vieivs of the tides.

In the account of the voyage of H.M.S. Adventure and Beagle, just pub-
lished, there is an article in the Appendix, containing remarks on the tides.
Captain Fitzroy obsen'cs, that facts have led him to doubt several of the
assertions made in Mr. Whewell's memoir, published in (he Pliil. Trans.
1833, and cndtled " Essay towards a First Approximation to a Map of Cotidal
Lines." — (Appendix, p. 279.) Prof AVhewell stated, that he conceived that
doubts, such as Captain Fitzroy 's, are reasonable, fill Ihe assertions are fully
substantiated by facts. Capt. Fitzroy has further offered an hypothesis of
the nature of (he (idal mo(ion of (be waters of w ide oceans, different from
the hypolhesis of a progressive wave, which is ihe basis of Prof. Whewell's
researches. Capt. Fitzroy conceives, that in the Atlantic and the Pacific,
(he waters oscillate laterally between the eastern and weslern shores of these
oceans, and thus produce the tides. This supi>osi(ion would explain such
fac(s as these, (hat the tide takes place along the whole west coast of South
America at the same time ; and (he supposidon might be so modified as to
account for the absence of tides in the central part of Ihe ocean, Prof.M'he-
well stated, that he was not at all disposed to deny, that such a mode of
oscillation of the waters of Ihe ocean is possible. Whether such a mo(ion
be consisient with the forces exerted by (be sun and moon, is a problem o
hydrodynamics hitherto unsolved, and probably very difficult. No demon-
strative reason, however, has yet been published, to show that such a motion
of the ocean waters may not approach more nearly to their actual motion,
than the equilibrium tlicory, as usually applied, does. When ihe actual
phenomena of the tides of the Atlantic and Pacific have beetj fully explored,

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

473

'f it appear tliat they are of the kiuJ supposed by Capt. Fitzroy, it will bo
very necessary to call upon mallicraaticians to altempt llie solution of the
byilroilynamic problem, either in a rigorous or an approximate shape.

Oil the Specific Gravity or Dcmittj of Steam at successive Temperatures, by
Dr. Ure.

This Report was made agreeably to a motion at Newcastle, calling on Dr.
Ure, Mr. Faraday, Mr. B. Donkin, and Mr. Cooper, to draw up a view of the
present state of our know)edf,'e upon that subject. The other members of
the Committee having declined to enter upon the reseai-ch, Dr. Ure undertook
it. He began his Report by stating that M. Gay-Lu.ssac was the first phi-
losopher who devised and executed an exact process for determining the spe-
cific gravity of steam and other vapours ; his principle being to measure the
volume of vapour furnished by a given weight of litittid. Having weighed a
glass bulb, lil<e that of a thermometer, he tilled it. by healing it, and plunging
the point of its capillary tube in the liquid to be converted into vapour ; re-
peating the heating and immersion till it was perfectly full. It was now
slightly heated, to expel a drop of the liquid from the point, which was then
hermetically sealed by the blowpipe. 'J he bulb was next introduced into a
graduated bell-shaped jar. about one foot long, and two inches in diameter,
filled with and inverted over mercury, in a cast-iron pan. The jar was sur-
rounded by a glass cylinder, open at each end ; and the space betHecn tlic
two vessels was filled with oil, or water, according to the volatility of tlie
liquid. The interstitial column of liquid rested upon the column of mercury
in the iron basin or pan. This was placed over a little furnace, w hereby the
mercury and superjacent oil were heated to any desired pitch. Eventually
the bath became hot enough to generate vapour of such tension within the
bulb, as to burst the thin glass of which it was blown. In the case of water,
M. Gay-Lussac continued to heat the apparatus, till the water contained be-
tween the two cylinders had entered into a state of steady ebullition ; and he
then measuJed the space occupied by the steam generatod from the bulb in
the bell jar, taking care to note the height of the quicksilver within the jar
above its level in the ba.sin Deducting this height from that of the barome-
ter in the same apartment, he Ibund the pres.sure of the internal vapour. He
then reduced, by calculation, the length of the mcrciu'ial column to w hat it
would have lieen at the temperatiu'c of melting ice ; and made a small cor-
rection for the height of the liquid column between the two cylinders. In
this research, we must take care that the w hole of the liquid in the bulb is
reduced into vapour, otherwise we sliall fall into great errors. Tliis circum-
stance would occur if more liquid were introduced into the bulb than would
fill the whole space over the mercury in the bell jar, at the given tempera-
ture. M. Gay-Lussac founil in this way, that one cid-iic inch, or a gramme
measure of w ater, produced 1 ,691 cubic inches, or gramme measures, of steam,
at the temperature of 100 Cent, or 212° Fah., under a pressure of 29,012
inches of mercury, or that of the atmosphere in the mean state of the baro-
meter, lie reduced that v(dume to what it would be at 32° Fah., by the rule
for estimating the expansion of gaseous matter by heat, and concluded that
the specific g'ravity of the vapour of water was to that of air, both at the
said temjierature, as 0 ()2o to 1000. The following table of densities includes
all the vapours which he subjected to experiment upon that occasion : —
Air (as 0° Cent.) being called . , . 1000

Vapour of Mater . . . . .0 625

Alcohol ...... 1-613

Sulphuric Ether , . . . . 2 586

Sulphuret of Carbon .... 2 645

Oil of Turpentine ..... 5013

The density of the vapour is evidently irrelative of the boiling point, o^
density of the liquid from which it is lormed ; for clher boils at 98° Fah.'
and has a specific gr.ivity of 0"00 or somewhat less, w hilc oil of turpentine
boils at 316 Fah., and has a specific gravity of 0'870.

Tlie steam which issues from the spout of a tea-kettle is no hotter, as mea-
sured by a thermometer, than the boiling liquid within, and yet, wlicn con-
densed in a body of colil ivater or ice. it gives out as much heat as one thmi-
sand times its weight of boiling water would do. This heat of steam, wluch
is insensible to the thermometer, is called latent heat, and it dill'ers in quan-
tity fordiflerent kinds of vapour. One part of water at 212° Fah. requires
for its conversion into steam, as much heat as would raise SJ parts from the
freezing to the boiling temperature, or as would heat it up to IITO"' Fah.,
could the water be made to receive that heat without changing its form. The
(|uantity or energy of heat which steam contains or possesses is constant ;
that is, for equal weights, steam of every temperature and density contains
the like cjuantity of heat ; — a proposition which has been proved by accurate
researches. Water at all temperatures, even in the state of ice. is convertible
into vapour : the density of this vapour depends upon its temperature; so
that this density, that is, the weight of the steam under a given volume, is
greater the higher the temperature at wdiich the steam is generated over
water. M'hen the steam is not in contact with water, it follows the same
law of expansion with heat, as gases do. An air-tight boiler having a vacant
space over the water of about 1,700 cubic inches, contains at the temperature
of 212°, one cubic inch of w ater in the state of vapour, and has therefore a
specific gravity of .3-000589; water being 1-000000: = ■''°!^'" -". If the
heat be raised to '234'5°, the incumbent steam will acquire an elastic force
e(|ual to ioi inches of mercury, or 22 3 lb. upon the square inch, and a den-
sity of 0000867 ; if to 2502°. ihe elastic force w ill be 59-8inches of merciuy,
or'29-26 pounds, and the density will be 0001114. In the fomier case, the
elasticity has increased about 50 per cent., and the density 34-3 ; in the latter
case the elasticity has increased another 50 per cent., and the density 32 1 :
thus, while the elastic force is doubled, the density is increased in the pro-
portion of 111 !■ to 589 or 100 to 53. M'e see, therefore, that the elasticity of
steam increases with the density, but in a greater proportion, or more rapid
ratio. Since like weights of steam conhain like quanliiies of heat, and since
the elastic force of steam is the moving po'.vcr in s'eim-engines, it follows,
that for like quantities of lie.it, or fuel well applied, a greater elfcct w-ill be
obtained from steam of high temperature and density, than from steam of

low-er temperature and density. At all temperatures, the sum of the latent
and sensible heats of steam is a constant quantity, so that steam of higher
density and temperature contains always the same quantity of heat, as steam
of loH-er density and temperature. M'hen denser steam flows into a vacuous
space, it will fill it entirely without condensation, provided that no heat is
dissipatcvl outwards; and it will possess an elasticity and temperature de-
pendent ujnm its expansion. ,Suppo.'^e, for example, that a vessel of one cubic
foot capacity is filled with steam of 212° Fah.. let this vessel be placed in
communication wdth another air-tight vessel, of nine cubic le"t capacity, so
as to expand into it ; in filling the latter, it will become cxjianded into ten
times its bulk, and from the table ^vbich accompanies the report, it will be
iound to assume, when thus e.spanded, a temperature of 108.5° Fah., while its
elasticity falls to 2-4 inches cl^ mercury ; though the steam has neither ab-
sorbed nor emitted any heat, nor deposited any water by condensation.
A\'hcn dense steam escapes into the air, it assumes the same specific gravity
and elasticity as the atmospheric vapour.

'I'he talde annexed contained seven columns ; the first three were the scales
of the three thermometers now in use ; and Dr. Ure remarked, that it was to
be regretted, that we in Great Britain do not adopt the Centigrade scale, as
the Germans are now doing, instead of the arbitrary and inconvenient divi-
sions of Fahrenheit. The fonrtli and fifth cidumns exhibited the elastic forces
of the steam, the former in inches of mercury, the latter in pounds upon the
square inch. The sixth column showed the number of cubic feet of steam
resulting from one p<iund of water, and the seventh the specific gravity of
the steam, water being called unity, or I'OOOOOO.

COMPETITION DESIGNS FOR THE ROYAL EXCHANGE.

We need not particularly regret our inability at present to entei
into the various questions which this competition suggests to us, siuce
we foresee that whatever turn matters may take, we shall have more
than one opportunity of making our comments before the business is
settled, or any thing- finally determined upon. As far as we can under-
stand, that is, as far as on-dUs may be relied on, all the three archi-
tects who g.ive in their report on the designs to tlie committee, have
now declined taking any farther sliare in the affair ; nor do we wonder
that they have done so, since the task tliey were called upon to un-
dertake, woidd have been as invidious as it would have proved difH-
cult; — and that it would have been a difficult one, can hardly be
disputed without calling their sincerity into question, there not being
a single design which they could recommend to be returned to its
author, in order that he might make those corrections whicli would
remove the first objections to it. Their non-coinpliauce with the
committee's recpiestjonly confirms whatever was previously expressed
in regard to it. But what course the committee will now take, we
are unable to conjecture, our surmises extending no farther than to
giving them credit, for at length discovering how ill-advisedly
they have acted throughout the whole business.

Among other things, they have probably now found out that it
would have been infinitely more prudent on their part to have had a
public exhibition beforehand, and one of such duration as to afTord
time for people to form something better than hurried, otl'-hand
opinions. And if it be -asked where such protracted exhibition could
have taken place, without causing inconvenience, we sliould say that
perhaps, no fitter place could have been found th-.mthe exliibition rooms
of the Royal Academy, where there would have been space to arrange
all drawings, without hanging any of them up so high as they were
at Mercer's Hall. And we must say, that it would have been no more
than natural and proper, had the academy offered their rooms for that
purpose ; — or are we to presume that the whole alRiir is matter of
utter indifference to that body ; and that though it is one which may
eventually bring credit or discredit upon the taste of the country, the
academy are not willing to give themselves the least concern about
it. It cannot be said that, by taking no notice in any way of what
does not immediately relate to them, the academy can be charged
with having neglected their tluty, yet tlie fact itself is a symptom of
the zeal with which they are animated for advancing art and its in-
terests generally.

Undoubtedly a very great point in architectural competitions has
been secured, by the public being allowed to see the designs at -all,
though, in the case of that for the Royal Exchange, the exhibition
was no more than what is generally styled a private etcw. Still in this
respect, another point remains to be carried, which is, that in future
all such exhibitions shall be j'Klimiiiari/ : nut in order that umpires
and committees should be entirely guided by, or pay untpialified de-
ference to a majority of opinions so elicited, but that they may have
the opportunity of taking into consideration wliate\cr arguments, if
any at all may happen to have been brought forwartl, on various
points. We therefore trust, that instead of this competition, and
the one for the Nelson monument being- made use of to show the
utility of public exhibitions of the designs, tliey will opei-ate as use-
ful corrective lessons, and li'iul henceforth to the ;idoption of a better
system.

2 T 2

474

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Di';<.;ember,

Little is it to be wondered at, if those who see no furtlier than im-
mediate facts and consequences, now exclaim not against ill-
managed competitions, but against the system of competition at all,
as necessarily bad and ineliicacious ; delusive to those who enter into
it, delusive likewise to the public, and embarrassing to those who
invite il ; and moreover no better tlian a cloak to sinister influence,
f.ivoiuMtism and jobbery. The proceedings attending the compe-
lition lor the Nelson monument, certainly afford room for saying as
nuirh, to anyone disposed to look at tlio matter on its worst side;
wliilelheone for the Royal Exchange coming so immediately after,
and attended with no more satisfactory results, enables peo])le to ex-
claim "another failure 1" and then to rail at competition altogether.
From the tone in which some of the crilics have spoken of the last
one, it is easy enough to perceive that we are quite as well jileased as
not, that the result should not have proved more successful. While
they are thus left at liberty to indulge in sneering, abusive tirades,
they can excuse themselves from ottering any opinions or remarks of
their own upon the designs, by conveniently representing them one
and all as below criticism, and unworthy of any specific remark.
Such was the course adopted by the writer, who dots tlie architectural
criticism in the Sunday Times ; but many will think that in the volu-
bility of liis abuse, he betrayed his shallowness and ignorance, when
he spoke of there Ijeing designs in the Chinese style as well as in
almost every other; and allirmed that out of them all, there was not
one deserving serious attention or consideration.

It must be confessed, there were a great many not rising at all
above mediocrity, and not a few which did not reach even that point ;
which certainly did surprize us, because we had imagined that owing
lioth to the size and the number of drawings required, the labour and
expense would lune deterred any one from attempting a design, who
did not feel that he could produce something either original in its
conception, or treated with some degree of mastery : and hardly any
one, w"e presume, would set about making a finished set of drawings
of the kind, imless he had previovisly satisfied himself in his prepara-
tory sketches, and found that he had got hold of a good idea to work
upon. Such, however, certain'y docs not appear to have been the
case here, since many of the designs too plainly showed that no idea,
in- the very poorest possible, was considered sutKcient, and that little
else was required than merely to provide the accommodation stipu-
lated for by the instructions issued by the committee. It did, indeed,
quite stagger us, to see nvany designs of such quality in all but the
ujere drawings, as to seem the first ettbrts of beginners, who thought
that to be able to draw cohmms and ]]ilasters of the most insipid cha-
racter, was a sufficient qualification. One would suppose that some
of those persons must have been exceedingly studious indeed, — so
buried among their books, as to be utterly ignorant of all that has
been doing in architecture in this and other coimtries during the last
ten or fifteen years ; for if acquainted with it, they were unable to
perceive, how greatly they fell short of the ordinary standard, and
could flatter themselves that there was uot the slightest chance for
their designs being noticed, except for contempt and derision, they
must be egregiously blind indeed ; so ignorant as not to be capable of
perceiving that they were only affording proof of their own
incapacity.

Now, as we have seen it lately remarked in an architectural jnaper
in Fraser's Magazine, though any one is at liberty to send in a design
to an open couq)etition, it does not exactly follow, that because he
can draw, a man is called upon to do so, whether or not he possesses
any of the talent that occasion demands. Common sense would sav,
that the invitation is to be understood as given to those possessed of
talent to come forward with it, not for the dull and the stupid to step
in and make fools of themselves.

At present we cannot either pursue tliese remarks any fui'ther, or
liere add to them any comments on such of the designs as on our
second visit, struck us as most deserving of notice, not as being en-
tirely unobjectionable, but as containing many good points and dis-
playing considerable ability. Yet, though we find we must now defer
uKu-e particular mention of them till our next number, we may here
jn>t point one or two of the kind which seem to have escaped the
altenlion of others: viz. No. 25, 33, and 51. The first of these was
one of the few, in which a circular plan was adopted for the inner
area. This cortile was not only very spacious, but in exceedingly
good taste, and wovdd no doubt produce a fine effect. The external
elevations were also of an imposing character, (in the Italian style),
but we did not so nuich approve of the tower at the west end, parti-
cularly the up|)er part of it. No. 33 w.is also Italian; and No. 51
was a remarkable, and in Tuany respects a very clever and original
application of Greek architecture. With respect to the design which
obtained the first premium, we must acknowledge, after again looking
at It, that so far from being able to delect it in any kuid of merit fha..

seemed to warrant such decided preference, for if it might be free from
defects and objections occurring in many other designs, beyond such ne-
gative recommendation, it seemed to possess no other. Uf course we
speak only from a general inspection of it: it nnght have merits, but
they certainly did not extend to the general chaiacter of the composi-
tion, or the taste shown it. Perhaps it was chiefly on account of its defi-
ciencies in regard to these latter qualities, that allhough deemed
worthy of the first ]nize, the judges could not recommend it for exe-
cution. We think that their report ought to have left no doubt in
respect either to this or the other designs pointed out by them to the
committee; but should have distinctly stated both the particular
merits and the objections against each of those designs. Had that
been done, both the public and ourselves might have gained siuue
instruction.

Since writing the ])receding remarks, we arc informed that Mr.
W. Tite and Mr. George Smith have been requested to advise the
committee on their selection of a design from the eight now before
them; the former gentleman, we understand, declines to act, conse-
quently the onus devolves on Mr. Smith, who is Architect and Sur-
veyor to the Mercers' company. We lielieve Mr. Smith to be re-
spected by all who know him, but to say the least of it, in whatever
way his decisicm may be made, it will be placing him in a most in-
vidious and unpleasant situation, in the first place Mr. (irellier who
obtained the first prenniun, was, as is well known, pupil of Mr. Smith,
therefore if he give judgment in his favour, it will be immediately set
down as an act of favouritism, and if he decides against the design,
it will bring him in collision with the three former architects named
to examine and select the best tlesign.

THE BUDE LIGHT.

A serious accident took place on Friday evening, the 8th ult., at the costly
premises of Jlcssrs. Hancock and Ilixon, Pall Wall ICast, caused by the ex-
plosion of a bag of oxygen gas, «ith wliich some experiments were being
fried, in order to show a few scientilic gentlemen the effect of tlie Bude light;
the force of tlie explosion was so great as to dash to atoms nearly every
article in both the upper and lower warehouses, many of which were of the
most valuable description, cousisting of beautiful chandeliers, lamps, lustres,
vases, decanters, &c., all were in an instant completely destroyed, the counters
rent asunder, the sashes torn out and broken to pieces, and the report
so loud as to alarm the whole neighhourliood. The company present about
seven or eight in munbcr, narrowly escaped with their lives ; some of them
were seriously bruised, one being thrown into the shop window from a cou-
sideral)le distance, another up the staircase, and all more or less injured.
We have thought projicr to give publicity to this accident, as it is most
desirable that every fact connected with so imjiortanf a subject as the " Bade
Light," should be fully investigated, and we trust that the proper authorities
superintending the expci-inients for hghting the Houses of Parliament, will
make such inquiry into this serious matter, as to fully satisfy themselves n|)on
the safety of tliis or any other light, before a decision is made ujion the one
to be ultimately adopted. We believe it has uot yet been satisfactorily ac-
counted for, what caused the oxygen gas to be so very explosive.

OxFORD-sTRKKT ExrKiiiMENTAL WooD Paving. — Tho Settlement of this
almost interminable question is completed. Out of the many competitors
for laying down s|ieciincns of wood pavement within the space allotted by
the vestry of St. .Mary-lc-bonc for the additional experiment in Oxford-street,
but one paity has acceded to the terms of the vestry to do the same at their
own cx])ciise and risk. A contract has been effected by the Mary-le-bone
vestry, to lay down 4,000 yards in the sjiace from Charles-street to McIIs-
street, after the mode invented by the Count de Lisle, called the .Stereotomy
of the Cube. This singular plan of pavement will, from its peculiar con-
struction, possess the property, by finding an abntmcnt, on the curb-stone on
each side of the street, of forming a self-supporting bridge without the aid
of a concrete liottom ; and by the mode in which it is inteniled to lay down
the blocks, the complaint prevalent against wood iiavcmcnt, of its being,
under some atmospheres, exceedingly shppcry, will, in a great measure, be
remedied, if not totally avoided. The vai'ious models which have been pre-
sented to the notice of the vestry, afford a strong instance of the accom-
plishment of art and ingemiity over the riale mode mider ^^■hicb this project
was first sidjmitteil to the English ]iublic as a carriage-way paving at once
surprising and pleasing. The whole of this contemplated work is to he
conqileted on nr before the first of t'ebruary next; and although it is to re-
main, if the vestry require it, twelve months as an experiment, yet the
general opinion entertained by that body, of the efficacy of wood pavement,
renders it more than probable that the whole of Oxford-street \\ill he com-
plticd liy the next sununer, and thus reniler this important thoronghfarc free
from noise, nnul, or dust, and the first street as a promenade for carriages in
London. — Tiiius,

183f).]
■

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

47

NOTICES OF AITHCATIONS TO NEXT PARLIAMENT FOR LEAVE
TO BRING IN BILLS.

METROPOLITAN IMmOVEMENTS.

UoUmrn Improvements. — For forming a new road or street on a level,
commeneing at tlic corjicr of Bartlet's-bniklings, top of Holborn-liill, ajiil
proceeding at the liael; of St. Andrew's cluircli, passing over Farringdoii-
street on a liridge, and terminating at tlie Old liailey, opposite tlie end of
Newgate-street.

Piccadillii t'l Ltimi Jere. — For forming a new street from I'iceadilly, alojig
Coventry-street, tlie nortli side of Leicester-stpiare, and terminating at the
jnnetion of Long-acre witli St. Martiii's-lane.

Lunr/ .tire iu Cliarlnfle-ii/rect, lUnonixhunj. — For forming a new street
commencing ojijiositc How-street, Long-acre, and terminating at Bedford
Chapel, Charlotte-street, and also to widen the north east corner of King-
street, Seven-dials.

O.rfurd-nl reel In Uolhorn. — For forunng a ricw street, eommencing from
the east end of Oxford-street, and terminating at the sontli end of Sonth-
ampton-street, Bloomshury.

London Doeks lo Sjnialjiehh Chnrcft. — For forming a new street, running
nearly in a direct line with Leman-street, and terminating at tlie west front
of Spitalfields ehiirch.

Fulham Road and Bromptnu Road. — For widening, &c. a lane or road
leading from the Bell and Horns Tavern in the Fulham-road, to the lloop
and Toy Tavern, ("lid Brompton, and thence to Earl's-eonrt ; and also for
continuing the ^'ictoria-road, commencing at the east end of Kensington, and
to terminate by the most direct line, at the north end of Battersea-tnidge.

Metropolitan J!ridr/es. — For redeeming tlie tolls on Waterloo, Sonthwark
and Vauxhall-hridges, and levying a tax of sixpence per ton on coals.

DOCKS, CAN.\LS, H.VRBOURS .\ND BRIDGES.

Wi/rleij and Efmini/ton Ca»«o/.-'-For power to incorporate the Company with
the Birmingham Canal Navigation Company, and also for power to make
additional cuts or canals.

Portsmouth Floatimj Bridge. — For power to improve lancUng places and
approaches.

Portsmouth and Stokes Bai/. — For constructing a Pier and Tide Ilartioiir
at Kicker Point, situate at Stokes Bay, in the Parish of Alverstone, and
county of Southaniptoii ; and also for making, &c., a Sliip Canal from the
said harbour, and comniunicating with the hiu'bour of Portsmouth.

Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, — For making a canalivowi the said
canal at Hinksford, in the parish of Kingswinford, and to terminate in a canal
now being formed by the Devisees of the late Earl of Dudley.

The llercnlanenm Estate Sock Lancaster. — For taking tolls, &c., for docks
about to be constructed adjoining the river Mersey.

Deptford. — For forming new docks.

Deptford Pier. — To alter and amend act, and for purchasing additional
property.

Portishead Bay, Somer.sels/iire. — For making a pier, &c., and a road to
Bristol.

Soutltampfon. — For making wet docks at Northam ilarsh.

Isle of Wiijht. — For improving, he, the harliour of East and M'est Cowes.

Dartford and Crayford Creek. — For deepening and improving the said
Creeks.

Gravesend. — For making, &c. a pier at the Royal Terrace Gardens, Milton.

Leeds. — For building a bridye over the river Aire, and forming approaches.

Fnl/tain and Putney Bridge. — For building, Sec. a bridye over the river
Thames, and for making approaches.

Netccastle-upon-Tyae, — For erecting a bridge over the river Tyne.

NEW RAILWAYS.

Croydon and Briyhton Railways.- — For the formation of a railway from the
Croydon railway at or near the Dartmouth Anns, and terminating at the
Elephant and Castle, or from the Brighton railw.ay at the Junction of the
Croydon railway at Croydon, and terminating as aforesaid.

Manchester and Birmingham Ilailwag. — For an extension of the raih\ ay
from Stone to Rugby.

Neircastle-upon-Tyne to North Shields. — For the formation of a railwaj'.

West Cumberland Railway and Morecamie Boy Inclosure. — For making a
railway and inclosing the said bay.

FOR ALTERING OLD RAILWAY ACTS OF PARLIAMENT.

Chester and Birkenhead Railway. — For jiowers to raise additional money,
and to alter time for purchasing land ; also for extending the railway from
Birkenhead to the river Mersey.

Commercial or Blackwall Railway, — To alter powers and provisions.

Eastern Counties Railway. — For alterations, &c.

Grand Junction Railway and Chester and Crewe Railway. — Powersf or the
former Company to purchase the latter railway.

Great Western Railway. — For making a station or depSt in the parishes of
Upton and Stoke Poges, Bucks, or one of them.

Ilartlej ojl Dock and Railway Company. — Relative to the government of
the company.

London Grand Junction Railway, — To alter, &c., and extend line.

London and Greenwich Railway. — To enable the Croyrlon, the Brigbtun
and the South Eastern Railway Company, or one of them, to widen and
enlarge the present London and Greenwieli railway.

London and Greenwich Railway. — For powers to alter tolls, tkc, and to
make a new station at the Soulhwark tcniiimis,

Newcastle-npon-'I'ync and North Shields Railway. — For alterations, (*^c.

Norlltern and Eastern Railway. — For pow'er to alter act, and make devia-
tions.

South Eastern Railway Company. — To alter line in the pai'isbes of Sellingc
and Standford, in the comity of Kent.

WATER COMPANIES.

London and Westminster pure Water Company. — For making, &c. a con-
duit to convey water from streams, rivulets and springs at Bushcy-lodgc Mea-
dows, and the river Colne adjoining, and to terminate near the Eyre Arms
tavern, JIarylebone.

Surrey and Kent. — For sujiplying the metropolis on the southern side of
the Thames, Deptford, Greenwieli, Woolwich, &c., with water from Merstham,
Surrey.

Bradford Water-works. — For better supjilying the town with water.

Newcaslle. — For better supplying the towns of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and
Gateshead.

Derby. — For supplying the I own with water.

E.reler Water Company. — For power to alter present act, and make addi-
tional works.

FOR INXORI'ORATING COMPANIES.

Farmers and General Fire and Life .'Vssm'ance and Loan and .Vniiuity Insti-
tution.

Protestant Dissenters and General Life and Fire Insurance Company.

The Scottish AVidow's Fund and Life Assurance Society.

The Standard of England Life Assurance Company.

The Talacre Coal and Iron Company.

The Gwendraeth Anthracite and Iron Company.

The I'nited Wood Paving Company.

Gas Jlanufacturing Company.

Great Forest Anthracite Coal and Iron Company.

City of London (Jas Pipe Company.

Great Leecl of the IVash. — Company for reclaiming from the Sea, draining
and improving, Ac. land within the great Estuary, called the Wash, in the
counties of Lincoln and Norfolk.

North American Colonial Association of Ireland.

FOR IXCOlirORATING COMPANIES TO PURCH.\SE THE ASSIGNMENTS OF
PATENTS.

Carey's Patent, for certain improvements in paving or covering streets,
roads, and other ways.

Kollmann's Patents, for iniproveiiients in railways, and in locomotive and
other carriages.

Justin and Burke's Patents, for improvements in raising and lifting sunken
and floating vessels, and other bodies under or in the ^^'ater.

T/ie I'nited Wood Paviny Company, to purchase patents for paving with
timber or wooden lilocks, and for improvements in wood paving.

John's Patent, for improvements in colouring or painting walls and other
surfaces, and preparing materials used for that jiurpose.

Daniel Stafford's Patents, for his invention, or certain improvements on
carriages.

STEAM WAVIGATIOW,

The Neui Steam-ship, " New York." — The " New York," now on the slocks
at the yard of Jlessrs. Wilson, North Shore, is rapidly advancing towards
completion. She is a noble looking vessel, superior in tonn.ige to the Liver-
pool, belonging to the same eonipaiiy ; is of a beautiful model, and biult in as
substantial a manner as any of her Majesty's ships. The following are her
dimensions : — Length over all, 233 feet ; beayi of the hull, 3G feet ti inches ;
beam over paddle-boxes, CO feet; depth of bold, 22 feet ; tonnage (supposed
new nieasurement) 1600 ; horse power of engines, -120. The frame of the
New York is of English oak, the bends and clumps of English ami African
oak. Her bottom is of .\nierican elm and Baltic timber. She is fastened
on the diagonal principle, by riders of iron let into the timbers, and crossed
at right angles by strong trusses of English oak. Her bottom plank is five
inches in thickness, the diagonal wood fastenings six inches. Her frame is
peculiarly constructed, her timbers Ijcing dowcUed or " coakcd " together in
a scicntitic manner. Every alternate timber has a screw bolt through it.
She is tilled in, fore and aft, six feet above the lower edge of the keel, and
caulked, the whole forming a solid mass of timber. Her bolt and minor
fastenings are entirely of copper. Her bilge planks, clumps, and bends, are
six inches in thickness. In her flooring she has apparently from twelve to
fourteen inches of a rise from the keel to the bilge; and lieing otherwise
liuely modelled, and anything but wall-sided, she can scarcely fail to attain
an nncommon speed under steam. On deck the New York has a very noble
appearance, from her great length and beam, and her uucnciuubcrcd deck

476

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Decembeb,

room. It is rcmaiUalilc that she is al)out the same length over all as the
Liverpool, (23.') feet,) and tliat her priiieijial eahin will also be about the same
length (75 feet.) She has, however, six feet more beam than (hat favonrite
vessel, whieh, it is considered, will give her. considerable advantages. The
cabin, not yet titled up, is under the poop, the floor of which is continuous
with the main deck, which is thus " flush " fore and aft — a great desideratum
as icgards the strength of a vessel. She has seventeen window ports on each
siile to light the state rooms. Prizes are ofl'ered by the owners for the best
plans of the cabins. She has a small top-gallant forecastle, and will have
gangways and a spur deck, in the style of a frigate : she is what is termed a
" solid " vessel, being |)lauked up to the gunnel, whieh is of considerable
height, and will render her unusually comfortable as a sea-going ship. The
working part of the vessel will, from her construction, be tpiite a]iart from
the cabins, and this will be auothcr convenience. Her engines are now in
comse of coastruetion, at the celebrated manufactory of Messrs. I'awcett and
Prestou, aud will be of a superior description. Some idea may he fomied of
the strength of the frame work to which the engine will be more inmie-
diately attached, from the fact that the ])addle beam is of solid African oak,
22 inches square. It is expected that she will be ready for launching in
about a month, but may not perhaps be placed in ber destined element until
early in tlie spring. The carpentry of the New York, which will bear the
minute ins]iection of the most fastidious and seicntifie, is highly creditable to
Messrs. \Vilson ; and we doubt not but that when she is placed on the station
from which she derives licr name, she will become a favourite transatlantic
steamer, and, we hope, a profitable speculation to the enterprising company
to which she belongs. — Liverpool Mercnnj.

Marine Steam-cnyine Boilers. — M. Couste proposes to adapt au apparatus
to the boilers of marine engines supplied with salt water, by which the crys-
tals of common salt are removed as fast as they are depositeil on the heated
surfaces of the inside of the boder ; and he hopes, by his invention, to avoid
the loss of heat wliieh is occasioned Ijy the ])rocess at present employed for
getting rid of the salt, in blowing ofl' a cpiantlty of the hot satm'ated solution
at stated intervals. — Athetufam.

ENGINEERING 'WOKKS.

Soiitliumplon Doclis. — The interest excited in the public miud by the pro-
gress of tliesc Works is very great ; nund)ers, both of ;he inhabitants and
strangers, are conlinually visiting the beach to view the active and bustling
scone ; the work is carried on uitli spirit, and during every moment the tides
permit, and at the low water of the night tide, there may uou be seen nearly
200 men working by the light of bet« ecu 20 and 30 tires, which has a singular
and interesting elTccl. We understand that in embanking, pile driving, quar-
rying, Ste., the contractors are paying upwards of 230 men. and are willing to
employ many more able hands if Ibry should utter; in tact, they seem deter-
mined to spare neither money nor personal exertions in expediting the work,
and endeavouring to realize the anticipations of the supporters and friends of
this great undertaking. They have our best wishes for their success.— i/«my)-
shire paper.

Opening of ihc Manchester and Siilford Junction Canal. — This important link
in the chain of water communication was made available to the piiblic on
Jlonday, the 4th nit. By means of this canal, which connects the Rochdale
Canal with the Mersey and Irwoll Navigation, near the Old Quay, all the
navigations of Ynrksliire, Derbyshire, Cheshire, Staffordshire, Uc, will have
a direct communication with the Bolton and Bury Canal, with the additional
advantage of using the Mersey and Iru ell Navigation (« hieh is deeper, wider,
and several miles shorter than any other line.) to M'arrington, St. Helen's,
Kinicorn, Liveriiool. Sec. The .Junction Canal has the advantage of double
locks, whieh will considerably facilitate the passing of vessels from the Roch-
dale Canal, thereby avoiding an inconvenience whieh has hitherto caused
serious delay. The tunnel, which is .-hnrt. is well lighted with gas every 20
yards; there is alto a towing path the whole length, and, for the conveni-
ence of vessels using this line, men will be in readiness, if required, for tlie
purpose of hauling them, and assisting them through the lucks, for which a
small charge will be made. The ceremonies connected with the opening, we
understand, passed off in the most satisfactory manner. — Manchester Adver-
tiser.

Siisse.t. — During the summer, a great improvement has been effected at
Bines Bridge, on the Horsham and Steyning turnpike road, under the super-
intendence of Mr. Jesse Heath, surveyor to the trust. The approaches have
been rais:"d nearly to a level with the crown of the bridge, and it is antici-
pated that Ibe heaviest floods will not reach the surface of the road, w bercas
they funuerly reuilered it utterly impassable. It is, however, fearful that the
waierway (only 2'1 feet) through the n-w embankment, will not be found
sutficieiit.— 7f. S.

PROGRESS OF RAILWAVS.

London and Brii/hton Kaihrot/. — The Shoreham Branch of the London and
Brighton Uailway is now advanced within three quarters of a mile of Shore-
ham, and the work is proceeding with great dispatch. At the Brighton end
the permanent rails are laid down to the entrance of the tunnel ; the tunnel
itself is completed, and we are authorised to state that the engine will make
her first journey through it, weather pcriuitting, on Mgiulay ue.\t, — Brighton
Gasede, Thursday, 21st wit.

Stockport Viaduct. Manchester and Lceih Raihrai/. — Eight of the twenty-
two centres for the arches of this stupendous undertaking being now formed,
and five of them being turned and completed, the work of striking the cen-
tres has been commenced, in order that the timber may be made available
for the continuation of the viadnct, as the arch over Heaton Lane (the 9th)
will be formed from the timber of the first princip.al arch. The first stone
of the pier of the river .arch (the 12th) on the Cheshire side is expected to
be laid next week — that on the Lancashire side being nearly completed. —
Manchester Guardian.

Great Jf'cstern Railway.— 1\\i works on this line near Chippenham, are
advancing rapidly, and the line in progress now- extends from the mouth of
the Box Tunnel at Pockeridge nearly to Christian Malford. The changes in
the height and level of the country, cause, in this cbstance, every possible
change in the form of the line, from embankments of 60 feet to cuttings of
so great a depth. — Bristol Jnurnal.

Bristol and Exeter Railway. — The confraet for building the two stone
bridges near Pile Hill, for this railway, has been taken by Messrs. Richard
and George Hill, masons, Temple-street, Bristol. Tliis wUl complete the
masonry between Bristol and Bridgewater ; and as the tenders are now ad-
vertised for laying the permanent rails, the time cannot be far distant when
tliis part of the line wiU be opened to the public. — Bath and Cheltenham
Gazette.

Eastern Counties Railway. — Two iron bridges have, witliin the last few
days, been thrown over two roads at the Loudon end of the railway ; one
over the Globe road, and the other over Hand-street. It is now said that
the hue will be opened to Brick-lane, near Mbitechapel church, about Christ-
mas. Some alarm was created on Friday evening, in consequence of the
non-arrival of the train from Romford for half an hour after its time. The
delay was occasioned, it ajipears, by a failure in a new engine ; but beyond
the loss of time no accident oecurred. A settlement has taken place, it
seems, in the new bridge over Dog-lane, Romford, wliicli will render it neces-
sary to rebuild a portion of it. — Chelmsford Chronicle.

NE-W CHURCHES, 6tc.

.ft/ssc.r.— The now Chapel of ease, in St. Leonard's Forest, in the parish of
Lower Beeding, was consecrated on the 10th of October. It is a neat, plain,
building in the early Knglisli style, (of about the 13'h century) which is well
suited to the locality. It contains somewhat upwards of 200 sittings. It is
due to the good taste of the Dowager Marchioness of Northampton and
Lady Klizabeth Dickens, that the trees on the south side of the chapel have
been cleared aw ay, so as to afford a more picturesque view from the Brighton
road, distant about half a mile. — The new Church at Plummer's plain in tlie
same parish, and the parsonage house, ara approaching completion, and will,
w hen finished, aft'ord some of the best specimens of work in our native sand-
stone.—fl. S.

Jlnrsliam. — The ground is staked out for ihe erection of flic new Chapel of
ease in this town. The stone-pit which has been opened near the spot turns
out favourably, blocks being now procured from two tons downwards. — R. S.

Greenock. — A new Church is erecting in Greenock in the Italian style.
Height of the spire 180 feet, estimate about £7000. Mr. David Cousin,
of Edinburgh, is the architect.

Leeds. — The parish Church of this town is slated, and the lower carried up
to the under si(le of the clock dial, about 70 feet. It is entirely built of sand-
stone, in the Gothic style of the latter end of the Hth century, or transition
from decorated to perpendicular ; the nave and chancel are thrown open,
and are 28 feet wiile in the clear, 47 feet high, and 160 feet long together.
Near the centre is a transept 22 feet w ide, terminating with a north transept
tower lacing the street; the side aisles are 16 feet wide and 3j feet high, ex-
lending from east to west, and an additional north aisle forms ante chapels
east and west of Ibe tower; the plan is ihat of the old church, which was
taken down last year. The altar will be raised five feet above the floor of the
body, rising in three fhghts of steps; the wlnde breadlh of the church is
about Go feet, or including the anle-chapels, 83 feet. The tower is 27 feet
square, and 130 feet high. It is richly pmelled, and the wreathings over the
H indows are canopied and crocketted. The total cost, w armed and fitted up
with gas and all necessary furniture, will be about £19,650. Architect, R.
Dennis Chantrell, RR.l.B.A.

Yorlshire.—A new church is about to be built at Middleton, near Leeds,
of stone found on the spot, to accommodate 500 persons. It is a plain
Flemish country church in form, and will have a go:)d effect and character
at a distance. The windows are plain lancet, and it has a square tower i\ith
slielvings, and an octagon spire. Total cost about 800/. R. Dennis Chantrell,
Architect.

I'or/.sA/re.— Poole Chapel, near Otley, lias been taken dow n and enlarged.
The old building contained 100 sittings, the new building 200 sitlings. It has
lancet coupled windows, buttresses, square tower and spire, and cost 340/.
It is built of branched sandstone from Otley Chevin Side, (millstone gTit], and
is covered with slate.— R. Dennis, Ch uitiell. Architect.

Manchester.— On t'riday, Oct. 24, the first stone Has laid of a new church,
which is about to be erected Ijy subscription, in Every Street, Great Ancoats,
in Ihe centre of one of the most densely populated districts in Ibe to»n.
'the building will be a very neat edifice in the Norman style. The sutiserip-
lUiU amounts to £2.000, and is rapidly increasing. It is intended that this
edifice shall accommodate about 1500 I'etBOUs ; one ihird of the sitlings are

o be free.

1839.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

477

Birmiii^linm. Lni/iiif; the Cnnier-stnite of SI. CImd's Church. — TIip foundation
sttiiie of tlu' Roman Catholic Church in' Hath Street, was laid with Rivat so-
lemnity on Tuesday, 29th ult., accordin;; to the form prescribed by the Roman
Catholic Church. Owing to tlie irregidarity and declivity of the ground, Mr.
Pugin, the architect, deemed it necessary to erect, under the great church, a
crypt for the interment of the dead, connected «ith which is a mortuary
chapel, where service for the dead will be performed. The plan of the super-
structure will be, internally, cruciform ; consisting of a nave, transept, aisles,
and choir, at the entrance of w Inch will be constructed an open screen, usually
termed the rood loft. The space between this and the sanctuary will be
filled with .incient stalls, brought from Cologne, of exquisite carving, in the
style of the 13th century. Tho high altar will be in the ancient triptic form,
atid will be entirely decorated in the same pure and beautiful style of archi-
tecture. The windows, which will terminate the apsis of the choir, will be
filled with rich stained glass, the munilicent gift of the Earl of .Shrewsbury.
The church « ill altogether contain five altars ; one in the chapel of the Blessed
Virgin. tH I) at the entrance of the choir, the high altar, and one in St. Peter's
crypt. — Miilland Counties Ilcrahl.

St. Helen's — On Tuesday, 8th Oct., two circumstances of iiiii>ortanco to tlie
improving and prosperous town of St. Helen's took place— the consecration
of a new church ami the opening of a new Town Hall. The buildings are
such as rellect the highest credit on the arch'tecis, Messrs. A. & G. Williams,
of Tarlton-street, Liverpool, and besides being useful, are really ornamental.
The Town Hall is situated in the new market place. The elevation is in the
inodern Italian style. The front is to the market square, and has a rusticated
basement, supporting in the centre a Corinthian portico, over which is a
ballustrade ; the entablature of the centre is beautifully enriched, w hilst the
cornice of the wings is plain and massive, and supported on brackets. The
groun<l floor is occupied by various offices. In tlie centre is a handsome
entrance, and a stone staircase, w Inch leads to the principal floor, containing
a news room, 26 feet by 26 feet, and a magistrate's private cKamiuation-room.
The court room is remarkably spacious and neat. It is 65 feet long, 36
feet wide, and 22 feet high, decorated with pilasters, and a panelled ami
enriched ceiling, through wdiich light is introduced, mellowed by passing
through ground and stained glass. The room is veniilated by means of
scroll-work panels between the pilasters, which may be closed or opened by
wires and cranks worked in the magistrate's retiring-room. The contract for
the building amounted to £3000. Mr. Morrison being the contractor. — The
church is in the early English Gothic, the style of architecture which pre-
vailed in England at the latter end of the 12th and the early part of the 13lh
centuries, and in the form of a Latin cross. The principal entrances are in
the transepts, through deeply recessed arches, and connected by a spacious
aisle. The galleries extend only across the west end and tlie transept. There
is a square tower, 76 feet high, which has long lancet windows, to give light
to the gallery stairs. The whole is ornamented by gables and pinnaccles.
The contract for the church was about £3500. — Wisan Gazette.

PUBLIC BUIIiDINGS, &c.

Aberdeen. — A new market is about to be erected in this town under the
directions of Mr. Archibald Simpson, Architect.

Glasgow.— A new theatre is erectin"' in this city, from designs by Mr. ^V\\-
liam Sjience. Architect ; also a new club house in the Italian style, designed
by Mr. David Ihamillon, Architect. The Custom House is nearly completed,
from designs by Mr. Taylor, of London.

Edinburgh.— A new Museum for the Highland .Society is just completed,
from designs by Mr. John Henderson, architect, in the style of Elizabeth and
.lames I.

Liverpool. — On the 24th ult. the foundation stone was laidjof a new Insti-
tution iorthe Deaf and Dumb, to be erected from designs of Messrs. Cunning-
h,am and Holme, architects, on the site of the old Botanic Gardens, Oxford
Street. The building is to be of a plain Grecian character, the entrance front
being relieved by a solid projection in the centre, surmounted by a moulded
cornice and pediment. A parapet or attic will be carried round the principal
fronts, and etfectually hide the roof of the building. A portico of beautiful
proportions, comprising two Ionic columns, in Antes, w ill form the entrance
to tiie principal floor, on each side of which w ill be windows, with moulded
architraves. Tlie wliole of the principal fronts are intended to be o' white
stone.

Woolwich. — We are happy to learn that the observatory, some time since
in contemplation, for the officers of the Royal Artillery and Engineers, is
now in course of immediate construction. The site chosen for the building
Is in the barrack-field, between the Repository .and the Mortar Battery, on
the right wing of the barracks. — M'oolwich Advertiser.

Ireland. The Caledon Tesliuumial. — We are happy to learn that our towns-
man, Thomas J. Duif, Esq., has been the successful competitor for the pre-
mium otlercd for the best design for the Caledon testimonial. And when we
mention that there were submitted in comn-tition thirty-two plans, the f ct
that Mr. Duff's obtained the preference, sufficiently attests the superior taste
and ability of that gentleman. The approved design (with a sight of which
we have been favoured) is a (jrecian iJoric column, placed on a stylobate or
pedestal composed from Athenian remains. T'be panels on the sides are to
be ornamented with appropriate sculpture, executed in Imsso relievo, and hav-
ing suitable inscriptions. The column is to be fluted, iind will measure up-
wards of 5'1 feet in height from its inferior diameter, and is to be surmounted
by ^cippus, on which will be placed the statue (jf the late lamented nobleman,
habited in his parliamentary robes, decorated with the collar of the order of
St. Patrick, and other insignia. The stylobate is seated on a broad basement,
with surrounding steps, teiminating al the angles by dwarf pedestals sup-

porting lions eouehant. Including the steps, basement, ^c, the column, u laen
finished, will be nearly 100 feet in height. The whole is to be constructed of
white freestone, procured from a (piarry in the neighbourhood of Caledon.—
Neiery Examiner.

raiSCSIiZiANEA.

A New Mathematic.a,l Instrument for the purpose of ascertaining
terrestrial distances and heights, has been invented by Mr. T. Sheffield, of
this tomi. " It is very neat, and so portable that it may be earned in the
pocket. It is, moreover, very simple in its ap])lication ; merely requiring its
sights— after some necessary adjustment at two convenient stations whose
distance has been measured — to be directed towards the object ; and then a
divided index or handle points out, upon the geometrical principle of similar
triangles, how many times the distances of the object fi'om the stations con-
tains the measured base line. It is also fiuaiishcd with two levels for placing
it either in the horizontal or vertical plane." — Carlisle Journil.

A New Agricultural Machine. — "A Forest Farmer," in a Notting-
ham paper, calls the attention of agriculturists to the newly invented machine
of Messrs. Winrow and Carey, for the destruction of seeds, weeds, ami in-
sects on land, by burning the surface. lie says — " it destroys animal and
this vegetable m.itter, consequently makes manure ; and to use the machine at
time of the year, would destroy the slugs and their eggs, which would be of
the greatest importance to the farmer. My mind upon this subject was, like
many others, hard of belief, until the ploughing match at Ramsdalc Farm on
the 15th ult., when I was astonished to see this machine at work : althougli it
rained fast and the gi'ass was very wet, the machine did its work in excellent
style. Mr. AVinrow informed me that he cotdd make a light port,ablc ma-
chine, to be worked by two men without horses, that would burn about two
acres per day, — say one acre per day : paring and burning would cost 1/. Os.
per acre by spade ; so by this machine, sujiposiug two men at 3s.- each per
day, and coal 3,?. per day, there woidd be a saving of l/s. per acre to the
farmer, besides 70 per cent, in manure.

Russian Observatory.— The grand observatory at Pulkhova, near St. Peters-
burgh, has been opened.

£<-i^s of Wind for raising fc's.s<-/s.— We witnessed an interesting experiment
this ftrenoon on board the revenue cutter Hamilton, Captain Sturgis, which
was intended to illustrate the practicability of raising a vessel by means ot
cylindrical bags placed under her bottom, and tilled with almosidieric air.
The bags were each of large size, capable of containing 2,500 cubic feet of
air. They « ere confined by means of ropes passing under the keel, and after-
wards filled by two forcing-pumps propelling the air through tubes into the
cylindrical floats. The bags were made of three parts of stout cotton canvass,
made air and water tight by means of India-rubber, and w ere prepared by
M.I. Howard, of Roxbury. under the direction of the inventor, Mr. M'Kean.
The cutter was raised considerably Ijy this process, but the floats were made
for a larger vessel, and. when inflated, a large portion of them rose above the
water. The utihty of this apparatus, thus adapting a well-known principle
in pneumatics to a practical use, must be obvious to every one. It will
eiKible vessels with large draughts of water to pass over barred harbours, as
New Orleans. Mobile, Ocracoke Inlet, ivc, without lightening. It may be
used also with advantage to various other purposes, as raising a ve-ssel sunk
in several fathoms of water, he. — Boston. Mercantile Journal. — This plan of
raising sunken vessels has been known in England several years. — Ed. C. E.
and A. Journal.

Remains of a Cetacea. — M. Laubepin has announced to the Academy of
Sciences, that he has found in Louisiana the fossil head of a cetaceous
animal.

Ajine suit of armour has recently been discovered in an old manor-house in
the Vienne, which antiquaries declare to have belonged to an officer who
fought at tlic battle of Poictiers. It is to be sent to tlie Musee d'Artdlerie
of Paris.

LIST OP KTE'W PATENTS.

GRANTED IN ENGLAND FRO.M SlST OCTOUHR TO 2CtII NOVEMBER, 1839.

Stephen George Dorday, of Blackman-strect, Borough, Chemist, for
" certain improvemmts in the manufacture of ijelatine si:e ffwrf y/ae."— Sealed
October 31 ; six months for enrolment.

David Greenwood, of Liverpool, millright, and William Pickerring,
the same place, mercliant, for " im2)rovements in mgines for oblaining pmver."
— November 2 ; six months.

Samuel Morand, of Manchester, merchant, for " improvement.^ in ma-
chinery for si retchiny fabrics." — November 2 ; six mouths.

Theobald Wahl, of George-yard, Lombard-street, engineer, for " im-
provements in boilers applicable to locomotive and other enyines," — Novem-
ber 2 ; six months.

Alexander Angus Croll, of Greenwich, mauufacturing chemist, for
" iniprovemeni.'i in the mantifacture of yas, and in re-convertiny the salts
used in purifying yas, and improvements in the manufacture of ummoniucal
salts." — November 2 ; six mouths.

John Gotten, of Margate, coal merchant, for "improvements in garden
pots" — November 2 ; six months.

478

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Dkcembkr,

William IIannis Taylor, of Bridge-street, Blaclcfriar's, Esq., for " im-
proremenls in ubtaininy power by tneans of elect ro-magnelhm ." — N'oveml)er
2 ; six montiis.

Frederick Augustus Glo'\'er, of Cliarlton, near Dover, clorl;, for " an
improved inxtrnmenf for the measiirenimt of nnglvx." — Novcmiier 2 ; six
montlis.

Henry Vaxner Cocks, of Birmiiisliam, iron fomider, for "certain im-
proremen/s in stores and fitrnnces.^* — November 2 ; six inoiitlis.

Henry C'Hosr.EV, of Hooper-square, Leman-street, civil engineer, for
" an imjiroved batten/, or arrangement of apparatus for the manufacture of
iiiynr."- — November 7 ; four montlis.

James Murdoch, of Great Cambridge-street, Hacl<ney-road, mechanical
draftsman, for ** certain improvements in marine steam-engines." — November
7 ; six months.

Thomas Yates, of BoHon-le-Moors, manufacturer, for " certain improi'e-
•menfs in the construction of Jooms for weaving, and also tlie application of
the same in order to produce certain description of goods or fabrics by steam
or oilier poirer" — Novcnilier 7 ; six months.

George Haxson, of Iluddcrsfield, ]ilumber and glazier, for " certain im-
provements in the construction of coc/iS or taps, for drawing off fluids ." —
November 7 ; six months.

Thomas AA'hiteley and Johm AVhitelev, of Staplcford, Nottingham,
lace makers, for " improvements in warp mac/iinery. — November 7 ; six
months.

John Thomas Laurente Lamy Goddaro, of C'hristo))her-street, Fins-
Inny -square, merchant, for " improvements in looms for weaving, to be vorled
by steam or other power." Communicated by a foreigner residing aln-oad. —
November 7 ; six months.

John Jones, of Westfield-place, Sheffield, for " an improved table hiife."
— November 7 ; six mouths.

Edmond Moody, of Maiden Bradley, AVilts, yeoman, for " improvements
in machinery for preparing turnips, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, and all other
Itnlbons roots, as food for animals." — November 7 ; six months.

Thomas Edmondson, of Manchester, clerk, for " certain improvements
in printing presses." — Noveniher 9; six months.

James White, of Lambeth, engineer, for " improvements in machinery
for moulding clay to form of bricks and tiles, and also for compounding and
moulding other substances." — Noveiabcr 12; six months.

William Chesterman, of liurford, Oxford, eugineer, for " imjjrovements
in stoves." — Niivember 12 ; six months.

Moses Poole, of Lincoln's Inn, gentleman, for " improvements in maiing
vails, bolts, and spilces." Communicated by a foreigner residing abroad. —
November 12 ; six months.

Moses Poole, of Lincoln's Inn, gentleman, for " improvements in looms
for weaving." Commnnicalcd by a foreigner residing abroad. — November
12 ; six months.

William Wiseman, of George-yard, Lombard-street, merchant, for
" improvements in the manufacture of alum." ooiuinunicated by a foreigner
residing abroad. — November IG ; six months.

John Burn Smith, of Salfoid, Manchester, cotton spinner, for " certain
improvements in machinery for preparing, roving, .spinning, and twisting
cottons, and other fibrous substances." — November IG; six mouths.

Miles Berry', of Chancery-lane, patent agent, for " an invention or dis-
coverg, by which certain tc.rtile or fibrous plants are retulered applicable to
making paper, and spinning into yarn, and weaving into cloth, in place offia.r,
hemp, cotton, and other fibrous materials, commonly used for such purpose."
Oommnnicated by a foreigner residing ain'oad. — Novemlier 19; six months.

Francis Worrell Stevens, of Chigwell, Essex, sclioolmaster, for
" certain improvements in apparatus for propelling boats and other vessels
on water." — Novemlier 19 ; six months.

John Parsons, of the .Stag Tavern, Fidham-road, victualler, for " im-
provements in jireventing and curing smokey chimneys. — November 21 ; six
months.

Robert Hawthorn and William Hawthorn, of Newcastle-upon-
Tyne, civil engineers, for " certain improvements in loco>notive and other
steam-engines, in resjiect of tlie boilers, and conveying tlie steam therefrom
to the cylinders." — November 21 ; six montlis.

John Faram of Middlcwicb, Clicster, gentleman, for ^' certain improve-
ments in the mode of constructing, applying, and using railway switches, for
connecting different lines of railway, or two distinct railways, omI for passing
locomotive, steam, and other engines, and railway carriages, and waggons,
from tlie one to the otfifr of such railways, and for certain apparatus con-
nected l/ierewith." — .Novemlier 21 ; six montlis.

Pierre Auguste Ducote, of Saint Martin's-lane, for " certain im-
provements in printing china, porcelain, earthenware, and other like wares,
and for printing on paper, calicoes, silks, woollett, oil-cloth, leather, and
other fabricks, and for an improved material to be used in printing." —
November 21 ; six mouths.

William Danbury Holmes, of Lambeth-square, .Surrey, civil engineer,
for '' certain inijirovemenfs in the construction of iron ships, boats, and
other vcs'sels, and also in means for preventing the .same from foundering,
also in the applicalion of the same improvements, or parts thereof, to other
re.«si?/.v."— November 23 ; six months.

John Hunt, of Greenwich, engineer, for "an improved met/iod of pro-
pelling and steering vessels." — November 23 ; six months.

Richard HoRNSLEY,of Spittlegate, Lincoln, machine maker, for "an im-
proved machine for drilling land and solving grain and seeds of different
descriptions, either with or without hone, or other manure." — November
2.5 ; six months.

John Sutton, of John-sfreet, Lambeth, Surrey, machinist, for " improve-
ments in obtaining power." — November 2.') ; six months.

James Craig, of Newbntlle Paper Mill, Ediuburgh, for " oh improve-
ment or improvements in tlie machii «•(/ for the manufacturing paper." —
November 25 ; six months.

Arthur Collen, of Stoke, by Mayland, Suffolk, plumber, for " im-
provements in pumps." — November 25 ; six months.

James Matley, of Manchester, Gentleman, for " improvements in ap-
paratus or instruments for the cutting of cotton or wicks of lamps. Com-
municated by a foreigner residing abroad. — November 25 ; six months.

George Kennie, of Holland-street, Blackfriar's, civil engineer, for " cer-
tain improved methods of propelling vessels." — November 26; six montlis.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Books received too late for review. — Weale's work on Bridges, Parts J', and
T'l. in one, contain some beautiful engravings, among which is the Jf'ellesley
Bridge, at Limerick, and the Friburgh Suspension Bridge ; the letter-press con-
sists of useful practical infornuttiou un the foundation of bridges, which we shall
notice next month.

Mr. Weale has edited and published a work on Ornuinenfal Gales, Lodges,
S(C.

The Companion to the Almanac contains several interesting Papers and En-
grnrings connecfcd wifh architecture.

We have received EacUtVs Elements, by W. D. Cooley, A B., from a Jirst in-
spection, it appears to be a well arranged and condensed elementary work suitable
for the student.

We linre received from Edinburgh Mr. Walker's and Mr. Cubitt's report on
the Leifh Harbour, wh/rh will he n»f/eed ne.vt month.

Several vommunicatiuns ivc hare been obliged to condense, and others u>e have
postponed, in consequence of the Preface, Index, S{C. occupying 10 pages of the
Journal, and it was not our wish to increase the size, as that would have al.so
increnaed the price.

For the same reason we have been obliged to postpone the tables on Railway
Curves, which are completed, and will appear in our ne.it.

To Mr. Sheppard we are obliged for his offer, he will perceive that ivc have ih:i
tables prepared, we shall be glad to hear from him on some other subject. \

To our new Correspondent at Glasgow, we have to return our thantcs, and trust \
he will continue to furnish us with similar information. If'e should like to have a
few 7uore particulars relative to the general character of the buildings and othi r
public -works.

Steam Vessels 'Repo)t. — In answer to numerous correspondents and engineers
ive beg to state that we have not deserted the cause, '* we are lying on our oars,'-
until the meeting of Parliament, when tve shall be prepared, if necessary, to fight
the battle ; in the mean time, we shall be glad to receive any information on the
subject, particularly from steam boat builders and engineers.

Com mnnie<it ions are requested to be addressed to "TheKilitor uf tlie Civil
Engineer and Architect s Journal." No, \\, Parliament Street. Westminster,
or to Mr. Groombridgr, Panyer Alley, Paternoster How ; if by post, to be di-
rected to the former place ; If by parcel, to be directed to the nearest of the tw<i
places where the coach arrives at in London, as we are frequently put to the
expence of one or two shillings for the porterage only, of a very small parcel.

Books for review must be sent early in the month, communications on or before
the 20th (if with wood-cuts, earlier), and advertisements on or before the 25th
instant.

'i'nE First Volume may br uad, ROUNn in cloth and lettered in golp,
Price 17s.

%* The Second Volume mav also be had, Price 20s.

THE END OE THE SECOND VOLUME.

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

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