(I-:,

ii;!;

mi

JliiHiiifl

11

;it r>

JUihrarg

J

•\

THE

CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S

JOURNAL

SCIENTIFIC AND RAILWAY GAZETTE.

VOLUME IX.

1846.

LONDON:

R. GROOMBRIDGE & SONS, 5, PATERNOSTER ROW; J. WEALE, 59, HIGH HOLBORN; WILEY & PUTNAM, NEW YORK;

GALIGNANI, AND MATHIAS, PARIS.

Printed and Published by WILLIAM LAXTON, the Proprietor, at No. 10, Fludyer Street, Whitehall.

THE

CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S

JOURNAL

INTRODUCTORY NOTE.

In commencing the lOOlh I'art, and a new volume of this work, the con-
ductors of it venture upon a few introductory remarks ; the object pro-
posed is not, however, merely to offer the courtesies of salutation, though,
were it no more, we might well be excused — at a season of universal
greeting and goodwill — for expressing to those who have accompanied
us, and those who have assisted us in the prosecution of our task, with
how much gratification we arrive at this epoch of it, and commence a new
portion of our labours.

In a periodical devoted, not to the general purposes of literature, but to
the publication of information on specific subjects, and these of a very
extended and frequently complicated nature, the reader has a right to
expect that the mode of selecting and communicating information should
be guided by certain fixed principles ; for it is certain that, were no other
rules adopted in conducting such a work as this, than that of setting down
whatever appears to possess a passing interest, and that of recording the
information just as it is supplied to us, the reader would no longer find
what he would most anxiously seek for in these pages, professional in-
formation selected for its intrinsic importance, and referred to certain
fixed principles as tests of its value and accuracy.

In Engineering, the first branch of ourlabors, it is by no means difficult
to explain the rules here adopted. The theory of the operations of the
engineer belongs, fortunately, to a philosophy the most accurate and
complete, of all which the range of human thought encompasses — the
philosophy of motion and equilibrium ; and the application of this phi-
losophy to practical mechanics is founded on a system of experimental
knowledge, far exceeding in extent and the uniformity of its results
all that has been obtained in other practical arts. For while, on the
one hand, none of the operations of nature have been so successfully theo-
rised as the mechanical, and on the other, none have been made so gene-
rally the subjects of practical industry.

In examinining, then, the labours of the engineer and mechanist, we
have first to see how far their notions accord with the pure theory ; se.
condly, how far the details of their works stand the test of experience.
There once prevailed, unfortunately, an idea that the theory and practice
of mechanics were inconsistent with each other ; but the new and constantly
increasing requirements of modern engineering are now fast dissipating
the error ; for, while the theoretical student finds it impossible to render
his knowledge available without actual experience, the practical ope.

Mo. 100.— Vol. IX.— Januaby, 1846. 9 ) <-

rator frequently finds, from the rapid advances of modern engineering, that
he is placed in circumstances altogether new to him — discovers that his
notions of the laws of mechenics picked up here and there, without any
system, and generally mixed up with a vast amount of extraneous matter
will nut always suffice, and that he must frequently submit his judgment,
in a measure at least, to that af the theorist.

It is quite true that the actual operations of engineering generally de-
pend on natural laws so complicated as to render direct mathematical
investigations, either impossible, or rendered possible only by hypothe-
tical simplifications of the cases examined. It is not, therefore, to the
immediate results of mathematics, that we are to look for the most general
benefit derivable from pure theory, though even here how much has been
done for the assistance of the engineer, labours such as those of Coulomb,
Poncelte, De Pambour, Hodgkioson, Moseley, and Professor Willis
amply testify. But there is another far more common benefit which the
engineer will derive from mathematical knowledge, which, if duly con-
sidered, ought to remove from the mind of the practical student sU coldness
and suspicion respecting the results of theoretical mechanics.

It is not to be expected that an engineer, however high his mathema-
tical attainments, could determine, numerically, the velocity of every
engine he constructs, the pressure on every tunnel, or revetement wall
which he builds ; but this is certain, that his mathematical education will
have so systematised and simplified his mechanical conceptions, ihat he
will examine his works far more critically than he possibly would, were
his physical notions derived merely from his own experience or popular
treatises. It may be unhesitatingly affirmed that the perspicuous general
insight into the laws of mechanics, afforded by the study of mathematics,
is not tt be obtained by discursive reading and casual experience how-
ever exle.'sive or varied in ils nature. It were easy enough to give in-
stances of men eminent for their practical labours, who, from lack of syste-
matic knowledge, frequently utter notions the most confused on mechanical
subjects ; or — to refer to more immediate instances — we might, from our
own pages, point out repeated cases of inventors obtaining patents for the
supposed attainment of physical impossibilities.

That chief value of the mathematical theory of mechanics to the prac-
tical engineer would seem then to be, not so much the prediction of the
exact result of his labours, as the general guidance afforded to him in
conducting them — the knowledge by which, without the toil of experi-
ment, he distinguishes between what is physically possible and what im-
possible, and is directed in choosing the mechanical appliances best suit-
able to effect his objects. Who can estimate how vast an amount of intel-
lectual and experimental labour might have been saved, had thoet who

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[January,

so long long strove to discover " perpetual motion," and the means of
making water raise itself, known that they were, in fact, striving to give
to matter la%vs altogether diverse from those assigned to it in the economy
of natare? And yet the same efforts (applied to different objects) are
made in our own day. It may, therefore, be safely assumed that we can-
not greatly err in recording the progress of engineering, if we constantly
refer to pure llieory as a test of the accuracy of our judgment — if we
apply constantly the principles of mathematical philosophy divested of its
language.— The lanauage of symbols is requisite only in determining
exact statistical results, but the general principles of pure mechanics are
of universal application, and are capable of being expressed in ordinary
language with a facility and accuracy far beyond what might be naturally
anticipated, had we not eminent proofs that the attempt may be made
with success.*

In Arciittectbre the determination of fixed rules of criticism is not so
easy a natter. Taste refuses to be fellered by the strict laws of natural
philosophy, and the canons of the fine arts are seldom demonstrable.
Still we have even here some fixed principles which rest on the safe
foundation of universal consent, and are susceptible of very extended ap-
plication. The general law that architectural beauty is dependent on
utility was universally recognised by those from whom we borrow the
only kinds of architecture adopted by us — the Classic and the Christian —
and it is a law which at a time like the present, distinguished by a grow-
ing interest in the philosophy of the arts, few will be bold enough to con-
trovert—the simple and indisputable rule that architectural members ap-
plied without use, or to wrong use, are deformities per se, will of itself
frequently be sufficient in determining our judgment.

It is not however to be concluded that this principle is the only one
which the Classic and Mediajval architects held in common ; and it may
here be remarked how little progress has been made in discovering the
abslract principles by which these masters were guided. Of the actual
forms adopted by them there has been no lack of study. The lines and
dimensions exhibited hy standard specimens of architecture have been
noted down and catalogued with wonderful and praiseworthy minuteness.
But may it not be doubted whether the neglect of principles for the sake
of forms, savour not somewhat too strongly of servile coyping! An in-
telligent student-artist %vill, it may be fairly supposed, endeavour rather to
become imbued with the spirit and genius of his master, than to reproduce
every minute mark and characteristic of his works.

Here seems to be the real cause why some who in our own time have
laboured zealously to restore one kind of architecture to its original purity,
have failed of the full recompense of their talents, industry, and zeal. An
indiscriminate adherence,to precedent hasjproducedjits never failing fruits —
bigotry and intolerance. Had the same labour which has been spent in
recording proportions and copying outlines, been devoted to the exami-
nation of the beautiful philosophy of which those dimensions and pro-
portions were the results, we should hear of few eSTorts to exalt one system
of pure architecture at the expense of auother, and we should probably
have far advanced in reducing our knowledge of ancient architecture to a
system by which alone we can hope to rival the masterpieces of that art of
which we profess to be disciples.

But there may be some who would say further that we ought, not only
to avoid servile adherence to precedent respecting architectural forms, but
even to disown all obligation to be bound by the abstract principles of the old
architects. To this it seems sufficient answer that in that case we must
no longer profess to adopt the old modes of architecture ; we must discover
for ourselves some altogether new system. And though we have no
warrant for denying a priori, the possibility of such a discovery, still until
it be made — until we disown all similarity of our works to tliose of the
classic and niedieeval architects, we are clearly mere mimics, when we
borrow from them some of the forms which they adopted, and ap\ily them
without any regard for their original purposes. This at least is certain
that if we endeavour to confound together principles, which are not merely
different, but directly antagonistic, the result must be discordant and
inharmonious.

It surely were no difficult task to show that the genius of Greek and
Gothic architecture are diametrically opposed to each other. Where we
see the two brought iuto direct contrast (as for instance in the interior of a

* We may refer, in proof, to Airy's Ttieory of Gravitation, a work whicll exliibit3 in a
most extra>jrdinary manner tlie practicability of eiplaioing, in ordinary iaugULige, the
results of elaborate mattiematlcal researclies.

cathedral which the admirable taste of the last age has decorated with
Corinthian columns,) the discordance is so offensive to the eye as to be
immediately condemned. But why should we not carry the principles of
the condemnation a little further, and condemn buildings when the details
belong to the one system, and the outline to another system of architecture
— I>uildings, for instance, in which it is enduavoured to give a lofty vertical
efTect by architectural members, which were originally proposed to produce
a horizontal effect f

It is not to be denied that even where these considerations (indisputable
as they seem,) have been neglected, there have been produced buddings,
which, by the richness of their decorations, fail not of a certain claim oq
our admiration. Hut this is certain, that though the elfect in such cases
be gorgeous, it cannot, in the very nature of things, be pure. To copy
ench work is, at least, but to copy second-hand; and surely, if we be not
going altogether wrong iu our endeavours to purify our taste for Christiaa
architecture, it is but a legitimate extension of our efforts to free classic
architecture of the foreign ideas which have been imported into it. It
may be, indeed, require a certain amount of adaptation, in the application to
modern purposes; but the requirements of those who invented, and first
used classic architecture, too nearly resembled our own to permit the sup-
position that the adaptatioa would involve a total subversion of their origi-
nal principles.

These considerations will explain, with sufficient accuracy, the course
wc would endeavour to adopt with respect to the two leading divisions of
our task. We make no profession, however, of being always able to
attain the true philosophy of architecture and engineering. It is safe,
semetimes, to simply record facts, and to wait until direct experience
shews the value of them. In such cases, our labour is little more than
that of compilation ; and even where we undertake the more hazardous
labours of direct criticism, we have frequently to confide in the consideration
that our readers are, for the most part, those who are practically aware of
the diversity and complexity of our task, and will make full allowance for
the difliculties of it. At the same time, we are well persuaded of the
importance of rendering all knowledge syBtematic ; ind we have this
trust in the principles here set forth, that if they do not always lead to
rapid discoveries of great truths, they will at least prevent the admission of
great errors— that even if ws sometimes loiter ou our road, they will
keep us from wandering altogether out of it.

ARCHITECTURAL DECEPTIONS.

To restore to architecture the excellence which it attained in the periods
of its greatest purity among the Greeks and Mediajval Christians, it seems
absolutely necessary that it should regain that hold on the popular mind
which it possessed during those epochs. With the Athenians the erection
of a temple, with our Christian forefathers, the buildiug of a Cathedral was
a work of no isolated or merely local import, but one which engaged the
interests and tasked the energies of a whole nation. Whiel printing wae
not jet discovered, architecture, according to the beautiful theory of a great
writer of our times, was the only method by which the mind of a people
could express itself — and this at least is certain, and independent of all
theoi7, that public architecture engaged far more of public attention here-
tofore thau now. The slighest reflection will show that the national im-
portance thus given to the constructive arts must have contributed much to
their perfection and purity, and also, that on the other hand the very ex-
cellence of those arts, by re action, greatly advanced the public estimation
of them.

Nothing seems more fatal to the progress of architecture in modern times,
nothing a greater obstacle to the resumption of its former rank than the
custom which has unhappily crept iuto modern practice of using imitative
and therefore deceptive materials. The feeling of honesty and candour
which characterised the olden architects seems fairly out of date : and in
its place we have almost universally a spirit of ostentation, an all'ectalioa
of show, the dishonesty of pretension, the vulgarity of making things ap-
pear something different from, something better than, what they really
are.

Where we cannot afford to build expensively, it would seem the best
taste to use what humbler materials are at command honestly, and without
auy attempt at disguise ; and to compensate as far as may be, for the want

1846. J

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

of more costly appliances, by simplicity and correctness of design. This
rule ought ut.Ieast to be observed in public buildings. For domestic archi-
tecture, the showy system of building is so nearly universal that it seems
hopeless and useless to utter one word of protest against it at present. In
this latter case there seems no better course than to wait patiently till
another race of builders may arise too free from vulgarity to emulate the
jackdaw iu his assumption of the finery of the peacock. Rut with respect
to public erlifices the case is dillerent, and against the building them of de-
ceptive (and for the most part perishable) materials, a public protest ought
to be decisively pronounced.

If it be desired to determine on what principles good taste universally
decides against architectural imitations, the answer appears to be two fold,
lathe first place deceptive materials are almost always less durable than
those substances which they imitate ; whereas one of the chief sources of the
pleasure of viewing beautiful architecture is the consideration of its per-
manence. In admiring an ancient ediflce, we shall find on analysing our
own minds, that a great part of our gratification arises from the reflection
that this very building, the object of our admiration, has beeu the wonder
of many by-gone generations ; and if, again, we are delighted by a noble
work of modern architecture, our delight is in a great part made up from
the consideration that we have bequeathed to posterity a worthy monument
of the skill and intelligence of our own times.

But a second argument against architectural deceptions may be alleged
which cannot be like the preceding one answered by the allegation that
the deception may be made as endurable as the reality. An important
source of the pleasure alTorded by pure architecture is the recognition of
the skill and energy of the architect. The curiously fretted roof and the
elaborate window tracery delight, not only because of iheir intrinsic beauty,
but because of the labour and patience exhibited on the part of the work-
man. If it were possible to conceive that these beautiful forms were ready
made to the builder's hands by some fortuitous process, the feeling of ad-
miration would be greatly moderated. In all masterpieces of architecture
(and not of architecture only, but of all other noble arts) a distinguishing
characteristic is that their full beauties are ascertained only by reiterated
examinations. Every closer inspection serves only to reveal fresh instances
of the skill and perseverance of the builder — but if these closer and more
penetrating examinations should disclose traces of deception only, and
want of candour, if we find that there has not been all that skill and per-
severance bestowed which were promised at first view, the feeling of dis-
appointment is proportionate to the former feeling of admiration, the mind
retaliates by contempt of the juggle — retaliates iu the same degree as it
has been misled.

We have been led to make these observations by observing one of the
most flagiant instances of the vulgarity of " make believe" building which
we remember to have ever met with. The fault is aggravated by appear-
ing in Church-architecture, where, if any where, everything should be real.
"The church at Piatt," says the Builder, " is being erected from the de-
signs of Mr. Sharp, who was the architect of a church at Lever-bridge,
near Bolton-le-Moors, previously noticed, also built of terra-colta. The
plan consists of nave and aisles, chancel, a sacristy south of the chancel
and a tower at the south-west of the nave. The siyle is decorated. The
architect has probably had many restrictions to contend with, to which we
may attribute the slightuess of the internal piers, and increase of distance
between the buttresses. The tower is united to the aisle by a lofty arch,
which is worthy of praise. The church has more than the usual amount of
decoration, and ornament is introduced with good effect in capitals and
buttresses. The windows have two lights with foliated heads, and are, in
tire aisles, of two varieties. The design is evidently the production of a
dever man, but we are compelled to express aa unfavourable opinion of its
execution. — Each separate piece of the terra-cotta is cast to the required
form, and is much about the same size as a corresponding block of stoue.
Every piece is hollow, being, as it appeared, afterwards filled or backed
up with concrete. TUey are all nothing more than pots, and from the trial
we made, seem to have less cohesive power than brick. Nevertheless,
they are made to support great weights. The piers of the church, which,
as we have said, appear remarkably slender, are entirely composed of
these pots. The plan is the clustre of four shafts. There are the usual
defects incidental to the burning ; parts of the rjullions are out of the per-
pendicular, and the lines of the window-sill undulate in a very unsatisfac-
tory manner. Indeed, the whole building, though good in design, and not
deficient in ornament, will not bear a near approach. The face of each
piece is scored with lines to imitate the tooling ; and the mortar Joints are
large, and obtruding."

A church " built of terra-cotta" ! Piers " composed of pots" ! Lines
scored "to imitate the tooling" ! The faults of execution are not the only
faults of such a building — are far outweighed the errors of principle
which produced them. The notice which has just been copied is fol-
lowed by some judicious general remarks — so judicious that we cannot
but regret their brevity. " Unless the skilful hand" it is remarked,
" be apparent, the result is disappointment rather than delight, and regret
that the mind of the artist should have conceived it vain." Here truly
there was no appearance of the skilflul hand. Let us rejoice that it was
KH-skilful — otherwise perchance unskilful observers might have applauded
an essay which the judicious would censure in proportion to its success-
fulness.

ARCHITECTURE IN MANCHESTER, LIVERPOOL, AND
BIRKENHEAD.

Sir, — I resume my notices of the Building Arts in Manchester, and,
having lately had opportunity of looking over sjiue of the principal works
going on iu Liverpool and Birkenhead, propose adding a few remarks
upon the progress there, which may be acceptable to your readers.

In my former letter I alluded to the proposed extension of the present
Manchester Exchange, as designed to be carried into effect by Mr. A.
W. Mills; since that time two great schemes have, with Mr. Mills's
design, divided the attention of the public. The first was for an erection
in Market-street and High-street, and a design of considerable merit was
prepared by Mr. Gregan. The second scheme was to erect the Exchange
on a site iu Mosley-slreet, on part of which the Theatre Royal formerly
stood. The latter seems now to have been decided upon, as on Thursday,
Nov. 13th, the proprietors of the present exchange agreed to dispose of
their buildings to the Musley-street committee, on the condition that an
Act of Parliament be obtained, in the next session, for the erection of the
Exchange and other public buildings on the site in Mosley-street.

It is to be hoped that on this occasion an opportunity for public compe-
tition will be afforded to Architects, and doubtless the committee will
have many first-rate designs sent in, from which they may select one which
shall be an ornament to the town.

The head offices for the Manchester and Leeds Railway, at Huntsbank
are advancing rapidly to completion, being raised to the level of the
second floor. Much delay VTas experienced at first, owing to the unstable
character of the ground on which the building is placed, and the archi-
tects, Messrs. Holden, have taken all proper precaution to have the
foundations firm aud secure, going down in some parts to a depth of 43 feet
below the ground level. It is pleafing to notice instances of care and
atteniion in I'ouudmions, as so many fine buildings are sadly deficient in
this respect; as for example the Town Hall and the Athena;um in Man-
chester, both of which show cracks ia stonework, arising from a sinking in
the foundations. The erection for the head oflices is built of Yorkshire
stone, and the design is in the Italian Palatial style of architecture usual in
the IGth century. The site is an irregular pide of ground, the principal front
being 76 feet long, from which the building extends back about 96 feet.
The height from ground line to cornice is about 42 feet, divided into two
lofty storeys. The whole of the rooms in the basement is fireproof, and of
•>ery strong construction. Below the level of the ground floor windows is
a broad tooled string course, under which is rustic worked masonry, Jn
the centre of the principal front is a handsome Italian doorway, with the
customary mouldedjambs,deutelled cornice, trusses, &c. The ground floor
windows, two on each side of doorway, have unusually bold broad
moulded architraves; and the upper storey has Italian corniced windows ;
level with the bottom of the latter runs a moulded string course- A bold
dentelled cornice will surmount the whole. The back parts of the erection
are in rockfaced Yorkshire stone. These oflices, with the arching over of
the River Irk, will when completed materially improve the approach to
one of the handsomest railway stations in Ih kingdom. The station for
the Manchester and Leeds, and Manchester and Liverpool railways,
which I allude to, ranks high as an enginering work, having two iron
bridges of great span, and embankments of considerable height. The
erection for refreshment and waiting rooms, offices, &;c., are designed with
a substantial simplicity and fitness, which we look fur in vain in structures
of greater pretension.

Warehouses.

A warehouse of novel character is near completion in Faulkner-street,
for Mr. Denlith the drysaiter. It has an elaborately worked stone front in

1*

tHE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[January,

the Grecian Doric style, and U the design of Mr. Thomas Fish Taylor,
Architect. The width of frontage to the street is about 40 feet, and below
the level of footpath are two cellar storeys, and above it four storeys.

The basement, up to the ground floor window sills, is of large blocks of
\berdeen granite, which from its hardness will resist any of those casu-
alties which so frequently disfigure basements of our usual soft stone.
The remaining height of the ground floor is built of faced Halifax stone,
having segment headed windows and doorways. Above this floor are two
pilasters and four three-quarter columns, fluted two-thirds down, and two
stories in height, with suitable capitals. The windows are in the recesses
formed by the columns and pilasters. The architrave, frieze, and cornice
break round with the columns, and the frieze is enriched with a Grecian
fret deeply cut, and presenting a varied play of light and shade. Upon
this cornice and over each column stand bold double pilasters of natural
faced wallstone, with tooled bases and caps ; on these, and on cantilivers
between them, is the horizontal part of the pediment. The pediment spans
the entire width, and would have had a much better efl-ect, if more boldness
of projection could have been obtained laterally: this, I suppose, is pre-
vented from a fear of encroaching on a neighbour's territory. It is said
that the original designs were for a fire-proof building, and it seems a pity
that a building intended for the stowage of sucb combustible materials,
and in the design and erection of which such pains and expense have been
gone to (though I understand the whole will not exceed 2,400i.) should not
have been built on the fire-proof principle. It seems doubtful policy to
run the risk of total destruction, if a fire should occur, for the sake of
saving 20Ui. or so, in original outlay ;— as the warehouse is now built (with
wooden trussed beams, joists and boards), if a fire took place the whole
would, ten chances to one, be destroyed; if built fire-proof, the chances
are that one storey only would be burnt.

A large warehouse, of four storeys besides the cellar, has been built for
Mr. Carver, in Portland-street, from designs by Mr. Uonnisoo. It is of
brick, with stone basement, doorways, window sills, and cornice, and is of
plain and substantial construction. The same Architect has another large
warehouse in progress for Mr. Behrens, of five storeys and cellar. The
first storey is externally of tooled stonework, and has coupled pilasters
between the windows, and a dentelled cornice runs below the second floor
windows. A stone cornice resting on corbels surmounts the whole.

Messrs. R. H. Greg and Co. are having a warehouse built in Tib-street,
from designs by Mr. M-hittaker,and Messrs. Taylor and AViUiams are the
builders. The basement is externally of vermiculated stonework. The
first storey is of good tooled ashlar, with a dentelled cornice. The upper
part of the warehouse will be of best brick with handsome stone quoins,
and all the windows will have moulded stone architraves. It is intended
to place an elaborate stone cornice at the top. The whole is fireproof and
of good strength, and I understand that the cost cannot be less than 8,000i.
Mr Lane, the Architect, is at the present time employed in entirely re-
modelling the old " Queen's Theatre," in Spring Gardens, and from what I
can learn of the alterations it seems likely that a most convenient and
beautiful interior will be the result. The walls of the building have been
underset, the stage and pit lowered five or six feet below the original level,
the pit extended under the boxes, and the stage enlarged. It is intended
to erect a new proscenium, and to alter the whole decorative character of
the house Mr. Bellhouse's workmen are now busily proceeding with the
alterations, and it ii intended that all shall be ready for an opening in

March next. ^ , ,

Scliools.

The Manchester Commercial .Schools are now nearly finished, and
are to be opened in January next. They have been built under the
auspices of the Church Education Society, from the designs of Messrs.
Holden, Architects, on a plot of ground in the Stretford New Road. The
building is three storeys high, and in the Tudor style of architecture. The
front is of stone, and the first story has two entrance doorways, with three
windows between them, the centre one a triplet, and the others double
windows, with flat or four-centred arches ; the second story has an oriel
window with enriched panneling above and below, and two smaller windows
with hood mouldings on each side of it; the upper storey has a large
window in Uie centre, with a depressed four-centred arch, and rich tracery
in the head, and two smaller windows with hood mouldings on each side.
The ground floor contains the assistant-master's offices, porter's residence,
&c., and also a covered playground, about 42 feet by 30 feet, comrauui-
.aling with a spacious play-yard. The second floor is set apart as four

class-rooms, a large hall, and a book and model room. The whole of the
upper floor will be occupied as the general school room, 55 feet by 42 feet,
and as the roof is open to the rafters the room is an airy one. In these
schools a good church and commercial education will be afforded to the
youtli of the middle classes upon reasonable terms.

The Roby Day and Sunday Schools, for children of the independent
denomination, situate in Aytoun-street, were built a short time ago from
designs by Mr. A. W. Mills, Architect. The building is in the Elizabethan
style, and of best brick and stone. Considerable skill is displayed in the
arrangement for supporting the building so as not to interfere with the
burial ground over which it is erected ; the front wall goes down to good
brick foundations, but the back part is carried on iron pillars and beams.
There are three gales into the yard through the lower part of the front wall,
and also other smaller arches which are filled in with ornamental iron-
work. Above are three projecting oriel windows of two storeys; the front
is surmounted by ornamental gables. The internal arrangements are
spacious and well ventilated.

Roman Catholic Church, Salford.
The largest ecclesiastical building in the neighbourhood of Manchester
at this time in progress, is the edifice being built by the Romanists in
Chapel-street, Salford, from designs by Messrs. Hadfield and Weightman,
of Sheffield. The general plan is cruciform, with a central tower and
lofty spire. The cardinal points have not been regarded in the placing of
the building, as the chancel is towards the north. On the south side of the
tower projects the nave, which is divided into four bays, and has a lofty
clerestory. The principal entrance doorway is at the end of the nave.
On the north side are the choir and chancel, which are now intended to
be carried out about the same length as the nave. The original desigQ
showed it projecting only one bay beyond the tower, but a school-house has
been taken down to allow of the extension. The transeptal chapel is on
the western side of the tower, and will be lighted by a large wheel window ;
there will be an entrance to the chapel from the outside, and the vestry
adjoins it. The transept on the east of the tower has a central entrance
doorway. The roof of the choir will be groined iu wood, and that of the
nave framed in square panels, and painted in light colours by Bulmer.
Sticklers for orthodoxy and correct imitation will discover little to cavil
at in the details of the work, such as tracery of windows, arch mouldings,
&c.; they are generally copied from Howden church, Yorkshire, or from
contemporaneous structures ; indeed the principle of imitation seems to
have been carried too exactly throughout, for the most elaborate mouldings
of that exquisitely delicate period of architecture the early decorated, are
given in places where a simplification of them would have produced aa
adequate effect; if this be an error, however, it is on the right side.
Newark furnishes a model for the spire, Howden for the nave, and Selby
for the chancel ; indeed the last will be a counterpart of its prototype, even
to the canopied niches over the columns.

The Irish Presbyterians are now erecting a place of worship, session-
house, schools, &:c., in New Bridge-street, Strangeways, from designs
which are highly creditable to;the architects, Messrs. Travis and Mangnall.
The style selected is the Gothic, which prevailed in England during the
reign of Henry VI. There will be a tower 80 feet in height, next to the
street, which will be flanked by bold diagonal buttresses ; these will
diminish in size towards the top, and will finish at the battlements with
crocketted pinnacles above. The central entrance doorway will have
bold moulded jambs, and a label finishing upon carved heads ; above
this doorway will be a large window with perpendicular tracery and
moulded jambs and labels; similar windows will be situated at each
side of the tower on the front face of the building, and in the back will bea
four-light perpendicular window. There will be two side entrances near
the tower end, having square-headed doorways with labels, &c. The
sidesof the building will be divided by massive buttresses into five bays
each, and the windows between them will be enriched with tracery and
label's terminating on grotesque heads and shields, and will have a transom
in the middle on account of their height. The roof will be open-timbered,
and in one span of 47 feet. At the back of the chapel are buildings to
be used as session-house, schools, and residence for the minister, the whole
of which are built in the style of the domestic buildings of the period.
Mansion*.
A mansion in the Italian style for Mr. Percival, situated near Ksrsal
Moor, from designs by Messrs. Dickson and Brakespeare, is in a forward
state ' There are two good specimens of gentlemen's residences nearly
ready for occupation in Victoria Park ; one for Mr. Critchley, designed by

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

Mr. Walters, in the Italian style, the Trailing being 'of -rough pierrepoiots
with tooled stone dressings : and the other for Mr. James Bellhouse, in the
Tudor style, having the fronts of tooled stone, and the back of rough
pierrepoiots,

Mr. Bowman is the architect for a bouse lately commenced in the same
park for Mr. Langworthy.

A residence is also in course of erection for Mr. Wilson Crewdson, at
Moss-side ; it is being built from designs by Messrs. Holden, and is ex-
ternally constructed of stone; the style of architecture is the Oonjestic
Tudor.

The residences we have mentioned are in good taste, but there are
many houses in the suburbs which are in the style which will be known by
the title of " Gingerbread Gothic," which style appears to have professors
in every locality. I am glad to observe, that in and about Manchester, the
use of stone is becoming more general ; the " Yorkshire pierrepoiat" rough
dressed on the face, and in courses of five or six inches, is the kind most in
demand at this time, which, although more expensive than brickwork, is
not so much so, but that the effect obtained fully compensates foradditional
outlay. The yellow firebrick is occasionally used for dwelling houses, and
the effect is very good.

LIVERPOOL.

St. George's Hall.

In Liverpool, that magnificent pile of buildings, St. George's Hall, is
assuming an imposing appearance, and already justifies the high expec-
tations which have been entertained with respect to it, and all who view
the structure must agree that the Architect, Mr. H. Lonsdale Elmes, has
produced a noble design, and that the superiority of the workmanship in
each department proves that he has been ably seconded by the contractors,
Mr. Tomkinson and Messrs. S. and J. Holmes.

I had prepared a description of the plan and different elevations of the
building, but on referring to vol. vi. p. 329 of your journal, I find excellent
drawings and a well written account of the whole ; I therefore proceed to
notice only the present state of the work.

The exterior of the building is now in a very forward state, the parts
most behind being the row of columns on the east front, and the covering
in of the large hall.

The north end of the building (that having a semicircular projection) is
completed ; and when I visited the place the workmen were engaged in
laying the top stones of the south portico, The great hall is 1G9 feet long,
and 75 feet wide, and is intended to be covered by a semicircular arch,
springing from the side walls. The height from the floor to the top of the
arch will be 87 feet. Around the large hall in the interior will run an
ornamental moulded plinth, with 24 projecting pedestals, similar in
character, and 24 columns upon them: the plinth, pedestals, and columns
are of highly polished Scotch granite. Some of the columns are in their
places, and are as beautiful specimens of workmanship and materials as it
has ever been my lot to examine; they are each 31 feet long, and average
3 feet in diameter.

The columns and the die of the pedestals are of red granite, from Peter-
head near Aberdeen, and the plinth and impost of the pedestals of grey
granite, from the same neighbourhood. The whole of the parts have been
worked and polished at Aberdeen, and when put together in their places,
the joints are perfectly true and good. The mechanical arrangements for
the removal and working of the large blocks of stone required in this
building are admirable, especially the powerful and lofty derricks with
steam engine and boiler complete, working along the lines of railway laid
parallel to the main walls of building; and also the various railways with
travelling cranes over the stone yards.

Docks.
The Albert Dock and warehouses now being built by the Liverpool
Corporation, under the able superintendance of Mr. Jesse Hartley, the
Dock engineer, are nearly finished ; the dock, with all the entrance gates,
&c., is complete, and several of the immense piles of warehouses are in a
condition to receive goods. These erections are ex-
ceedingly strong, and built throughout on the fireproof
principle. The iron beams are somewhat different in
form of section to those generally used, inasmuch as
they have inverted V grooves running along the un-
derside of the beam, so as to divide the web near the
bottom into two parts, and forming a good abutment
for the brick arches to be built against thus : —
The beams are also slightly curved longitudinally. The columns and

beams are of massive proportions ; indeed the whole of the work is strong
and of good design.

The well-holes for the purpose of hoisting the goods up are large, and
surrounded with strong iron curbs, and enclosed by wrought iron doors.
All the window frames are of cast iron, and the entrance doors of wrought
iron plates strongly put together. The roofs are framed in iron,
with a covering in some cases of sheet iron, and in others of zinc. Some
of the floors are covered with tiles, others with planed flags, others with
asphalle, &c. ; indeed there seems to have been a disposition to give each
kind of roofing and flooring a fair and impartial trial. This is as it should
be, as these experiments can best be made by a public body ; it is to be
hoped that the results of a due trial of the different kinds of material, as
regards cost and duration, may be published for the benefit of those engaged
in building similar works, in the Journal.

The approaches from the town to St. George's Hall, and the railway
station, have recently been considerably improved by the widening of Lime-
street, Charlotte-street, and Kanelagh street. Rows of shops are being
built; and a Register OfMce is nearly completed in Lime-slreet, from
designs by Mr. Clayton, Architect. The building is fronted with tooled
stonework, and consists of three lofty storeys. The first floor has circular-
headed windows, splayed from the outside, with plain moulds round them.
The upper windows are square headed with moulded jambs and caps. A
plain cornice runs alone above the first floor windows, and at the top of the
front elevation is a stone cornice with scroll corbels. The safe is spacious
and of good construction; the floor, side walls, and arched top, are of fire-
brick, and the arches are built upon strong iron beams, and skewbacks
connected by tie rods. A set of double iron doors, with Chubb's Iocks,are
strongly fixed in the safe doorway.

BIRKENHEAD.

At Birkenhead, on the opposite side of the Mersey to Liverpool, we have
the strange spectacle of a noble city springing, as if by magic, into
existence; numerous spacious streets and squares have been layed out
sewered, paved, and lighted with gas, and rows of splendid shops and
comfortable habitations are being erected with unexampled rapidity;
whilst thesurrouuding neighbourhood is becoming diversified by picturesque
mansions and villas, which are intended for the residence of the wealthy.

The new Docks at Birkenhead are speedily progressing, and a visitor
cannot but admire the manner in which the natural advantages of the
locality have been made available. The site of the docks was formerly
Wallasey Pool, a large area which was entirely sand bank at low water
but covered by the tide at high water. The Woodside Pier has been con-
siderably widened and improved, and will form one side of a tidal basin of
IG acres in area. Between this basin and Seacorabe will be two spaces of
quay 00 acres each, between which will be a large low water basin of 37
acres, forming the main entrance to the Great Floating Dock, which when
complete will have an area of 150 acres, and be 19 feet in depth. There
will also be a small dock near the entrance. The land adjoining the basins
and docks, and the reclaimed land, will be used for quays, yards, &c., and
will be built upon with warehouses, depots, offices, and other necessary
erections. Mr. Tomkinson has undertaken the contract for the whole of the
dockwalls, Sec; and the energy with which the work is being executed is
highly creditable. Several steam engines have been put down which are
working mortar mills, and hoisting the materials from the bottom of exca-
vations to I he lop of Ihe quays; two limekilns are in full operation; and a
range of workshops and smithies are occupied by arlizans busy preparing
the ironwork requisite for the railways, cranes, &c , about the works. The
cost of the dock walls and gates is expected to be about 400,000/.
Bii'htnhead Park,
The Commissioners of Birkenhead have set apart a space of 190 acres
as a park ; 60 acres to be appropriated to detached villas and grounds, and
130 acres devoted for the use of the public for ever. Mr. Paxton has made
the most of a very flat and unlikely piece of ground, and laid out the whole
in an admirable manner, and the trees and shrubs appear in a healthy con-
dition. Two lakes with rustic bridge and boat house are well situated, and
add to the interest of the scene. There will be six fine lodges or gate-
houses, three of which are now completed ; Messrs. Walkers, builders*
have contracted to complete two grand entrance lodges of stone for the
sum of 3,642i. It is said that the total cost of the enclosures, lodo-es and
laying out of the park, will amount to 20,000J.
Netv Market.
The New Market is now open for the use of the public, and is a great
attraction, as it combines every modern improvement. The building is 430

6

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Januart,

feet long, and 131 feet broad, and is divided into Ihreeavenaes by two rows
of iron columns, vliich sapport a light iron roof in three spans. A haud-
Bome fountain is situated in llie nenlre of the building, and a row of elegant
gas pillars run along each of the three avenues.

Light is admitted from two rows of semicircular windows at the sides,
as well as from skylights in the roof. The whole is cellared below, ami
tlie floor is arched on iron beams supported by columns. Messrs. Fox,
Henderson and Co., of Birmingham, were the contractors.

Four new churches are being provided by the munificence of private
individuals. I had not opportunity of learnnig particulars about them, but
from what I saw they appear to promise well.

In concluding this sketch of what is doing in architecture and building
in the localities I have had opportunities of visiting, it may be well to
state that, generally speaking, the works in progress are decided improve-
ments, as regards taste in architecture, skill in construction, and quality
of materials used, upon previous works of a similar character in those
localities.

There appears less disposition to substitute the sham for the real, and
it seems as though people were at length becoming more generally
acquainted with the fact, that it is in reality little more expensive to erect
buildings which shall be ornamented and not offend good taste, than it is to
provide those which have no pretension to design.

December 12ih, 1845. A. B.

THE COLOSSEUM IN THE REGENT'S PARK.

There is a Colosseum at Rome, and another at London, but their
likeness extends no further than their names, for hardly can any two
things similarly denominated less resemble each other; the first being
one of the most stupendous monuments of antiquity, — a truly colossal
fabric, which, though deeply scarred by time, or rather by the hand
of man, still bears the look of being eternal ; while the other is merely
a thing to day — a toy in comparison with the latter — an architectural
buttertly as contrasted with an architectural megalherium. The
Flavian Amphitheatre or Roman Coltsto — for such is the Italian ortho-
graphy of the name — is a work to be classed only with the pyramids
and some of the gigantic temples of Egypt; sucli an enormous mass,
that it would seem to have required not merely a few years but a
century to quarry the stone and put the materials together. It is to
ancient Rome what S'. Peter's is to the modern city, the "sovran"
pile among conntless others, the leviathan structure that engages
attention, whatever else be passed unheeded ; the object of universal
admiration, be the admiration genuine, or, as no doubt it frequently is,
merely afl'ecled and acted for fashion's sake. The Roman Colosseum
has been a theme for poetry,both in verse and prose: sublime in itself,
it is also arrayed in the halo of antiquity, and an imposing one it is,
for it is apt to plav tricks with and delude the iraagiiration. Whereas
our modern Colosseum is the very antithesis to all this: to the anti-
quarian it is a mere nullity : if he looks at it, it is only to turn up his
nose at it with a contemptuous sneer ; with him its very name crushes
it into insignificance, by calling up more forcibly the image of the other
to bis mind. Still, there is something — nay, very much — to reconcile
us to the disparity between the two buildings — to the disparity of
their purposes, if nothing else. The arena of the ancient one was
drenched with human gore. "There man was slaughtered by his fel-
low-man," to gratify the passion of a brut ilized population, lor spec-
tacles of carange and bloodshed. Humanity will rather exult than
sigh over the proud ruins of the Colosseum, though it must at the
same time blush with indignation for the race who could coolly
look upon the cold-blooded and wholesale murder of wretches,
"butchered to make a Roman holiday," and call it atnusement /

Most happy is it for us that the exhibitions at our modern Colos-
seum are of a far different character from the savage pomps and
proudly atrocious spectacles of the ancient and right imperial one.
This consideration may more than console us for the inferiority of
our own edifice in comparison with the one after which it is named —
or rather m/SKamerf, because, leaving the vast difference as to size,
"between the two, out of the question, they bear as little of archi-
tectural resemblance and analogy to each other as they do of similarity
of purpose; whereas the modern structure docs really bear a strong
likeness to another ancient Roman edifice that is of no less celebrity
than the Colosseum itself. But the title of "Pantheon" had been
preoccupied by the building in Oxford-street, which, even now that it
U completely altered from its original shape, still retains a name that

though in some points apjilicable when first bestowed, has nov» become
a complete misnomer. Therefore, as ancient Rome possessed no
more, one Pantheon was considered quite enough for modem London,
vast as it is; accordingly the building in the Regent's Park was
dubbed the Colosseum, for even the veriest Cpckneys would have been
scandalized at the absurdity, had it been named after the great
pyramid. Of the exterior of the main building we m ly be allowed
to say a word, because it is of considerable merit as a piece of archi"
lecture, — better vcorth than many that have obtained an infinitely
greater share of notice from critics, and which, notwithstanding that
they are now quite eclipsed by later productions of the art, still retain
the rank first assigned them, owing to the character given of them
being scrupulously transmitted from one book to another. The
portico of the Colosseum is by very far the noblest specimen of one in
the Grecian Doric style that we possess in London, one upon a nobler
scale than any other, before the magnificent portico of the new Roval
Exchange was erected, the columns full as lofty, (10 feet,) and of course
of much greater diameter, those of the Exchange being Corinthian,
consequently of slenderer proportions. The situation, indeed, takes
off somewhat from the effect of size, for did the building stand in a
street or other confined space, we should be more impressed by its
magnitude of. It possesses, however, one very decided advantage
over almost every other of our attempts at pure classicalitv of
style, inasmuch as nothing is mixed up with the portico itself to
disturb the antique physiognomy aimed at by that feature ; there are
no modern windows peeping out betv\een the columns, or showing
themselves elsewhere; — none of that intermixture of co'.itmniation
and ftneitration which is so contrary to correct Grecian architectural
idiom.

Except that it has been renovated, the exterior of the building
remains in statu quo, but the interior has been, if not absolutely re-
modelled in plan, metamorphosed into something altogether different
in character, — transformed into one of the most captivating and
fascinating pieces of internal architectural scenery that can well be
imagined. The exquisitely tasteful rotunda or circular colonnaded
saloon, into which it is now converted, stands almost unparalleled for
both beauty of design, and felicitous originality of idea. If there be
anywhere aught comparable to or resembling it, our acquaintance with
matters of the kind does not extend to it. Although rooms far more
sumptuous may be found, enriched with treasures of art, and set off
to all possible advantage by the costliest furniture, we know not of
one that is so charming for intrinsic beauty of design. Neither any of
our royal palaces, nor of our most palatial club rooms, the Reform and
Conservative not excepted, can show an aparlment that is at once so
novel and so impressive, so fraught with loveliness and witchery, as
in this saloon or gallery of the Colosseum. Loveliness is the epithet
that best di scribes it, since striking as the coup d'oeil on first entering
it may be, whether in the day time, or when lit up of an evening, the
effect is not so much that of showy splendour, and dazzling
brilliancy, as of mild and serene elegance, and of that tasteful sim-
plicity which satisfies the eye, every part being complete and in
perfect keeping, nothing superfluous and nothing deficient. In order
to convey to our readers something like a positive idea of this
truly charming interior, we may begin by describing it as a circular
hall, completely surrounded by a peristyle of twenty Grecian Ionic
columns, which divide the entire circumference into the same number
of inter-columns or compartments; within, and corresponding with
which, are as many recesses, the two compartments excepted, one on
the west and the other on the east side, which serve as entrances.
The columns are of scagliola, or to be more exact, of Keene's cement,
in imitation of polished white marble; and the mouldings of their
bases and capitals being gilt, produces a peculiar delicacy of enrich-
ment, in which the monotony of uniform white, and the spottiness
occasioned by scattered masses of gilding, are equally avoided. The
entablature corresponds with the columns, with tins difference, how-
ever, that the frieze being enriched with basrelief, (copied from the
Elgin marbles,) the figures are raised upon a ground of a blue grey
tint. The attic over the entabulature is ornamented with twenty
oblong panels, containing allegorical subjects painted in frtsco; and
the ceiling or roof is divided into the same number of compartments
by as many ribs, between which the light is admitted, the compart-
ments being entirely glazed, yet not after the manner of a skylight,
but so as to produce the appearance of a transparent roof, since it
consists of te>>serm of cut-glass set in reticulated framing; consequently
the light is somewhat refracted, and the raw look of a room almost
uncovered and open to the sky, is avoided.

Thus far, description has been easy to ourselves, and, we trust, suf-
ficiently intelligible to our readers, but without some drawing of it,
it becomes dilhcult to explain that peculiarity which renders this
rotunda so unique in plan, and so widely different iu character from

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

every other interior of the same class. Instead of the whole space
that is surrounded by the colonnade being entirely open, so as to be
fully exposed to view from every part, and be completely covered by
a dome, the centre of the rotunda is occupied by a mass of cylindrical
form, whose diameter may be about a third of that of the larger
circle. Thus the rotunda assumes quite a different character from
what is usually understood by that term, it being converted into a
spacious 'n«g gallery' enclosing and running round another portion of
the structure. Now, there is such a general prejudice in favour of
having as much open and uninterrupted space as possible, that most
persons may be apt to consider it a pity that the structure was not
planned as a simple rotunda or single circular hall. Those who af-
fect connoisseurship may eveu go further and say that we have here
only [the noble idea of the Pantheon spoiled by the excrescence in
the middle of it, obstructing a perfect view of the colonnade in its
entire expanse and circumference. Happily, however, or else un-
happily for ourselves, we do not hold with such narrow and one-
aided criticism which, instead of estimating things according to what
they are, depreciate them very summarily for not being what they
are not designed to be. The same flower cannot be both a lily and a
rose, nor can the same fruit give us the flavour of both the peach and
the pine-apple. But for a circumstance which we shall presently
explain, we might have had a copy of the interior of the Pantheon-
nay, one that might in some respects have been rendered an improve-
ment upon the original ; yet, though that would have been positively
and exceedingly good in itself, we should not then-by have acquired
something altogether new in character, and which, if iliey are able or
care to profit by it, opens quite a fresh train of ideas to architects
for hitherto untried and unadopted combinations of plan. Had
the striking peculiarity of plau in this structure been chosen solely
for its own sake and that of the effect attending it, we should even
then have been disposed to welcome so graceful a caprice; instead of
which, it was a matter, not of choice, but actual necessity — a most
fortunate necessity — compelling the architect to deviate from all pre-
cedents, whether he would or no, it being indispensable to obtain a
staircase in the centre of the building, leading up to the platform
gallery, from which the panorama is viewed. That staircase is
accordingly concealed within the upright cylindrical mass, or tower-
like shalt, that forms what may be called the core of the entire struc-
ture ; and this staircase encloses within itself, and winds round ano-
ther shaft, which is also hollow, and which is turned most admirably
to account. Within it is a small octagon room, or cabinet, capable
of containing seven or eight persons, and fitted up in a fanciful yet
tasteful manner, having, among other decorations, a transparent ceil-
ing of coloured glass, through which it is lit up by means of a gas-
burner fixed over it. You enter this very fairy-looking closet, seat
yourself on one of the velvet-cushioned benches, and before you have
finished examining its embellishments, the door opens, and yon find
yourself at the top of the building — that is, on the platfurm of the
panorama — without having been sensible of any motion during your
ascent. Here then, we have not only a quite novel idea and most
ingenious contrivance, but one that may occasionally prove essen-
tially serviceable. Most assuredly Catherine II. would have liberally
rewarded the inventor of such an enchanted flying cabinet; for when
she began to grow infirm, and found it too fatiguing to go up and
down a staircase, her architect was ordered to construct one that
should be less toilsome of ascent, but he could hit upon no better ex-
pedient than that of substituting a series of inclined [ilanes, or slopes,
for steps, which, besides being not very satisfactory in itself, was
attended with the inconvenience of rendering the distance to be
walked over very much greater; whereas an ascending chamber, like
the one at the Colosseum, would have spared Her Imperial Majesty
the trouble of walking, or even standing. There are also others be-
sides empresses who would be glad to be spared the trouble of going
up a great number of stairs. To ascend, for instance, to the top of
the Monument, toiling up a frightfully narrow, dark, and winding
staircase, is not only a laborious task, but a somewhat formidable ex-
ploit : an ascending closet, or even mere platform, within the shaft of
the column, instead of stairs, would have obviated all dilhculty
and danger — though, we ought to observe, it would have required a
different mode of construction for the shaft itself, as there would
have been neither newel nor steps within it, which now serve to hold
it together. But there are far more probable and frequent occasions
where the same mechanism might be employed: a single visit to the
top of the Monument, or other structure of that kind, is sufficient for
the curiosity of most persons; but, if it is to answer its purpose, a
lofty prospect tower, or belvedere, whether in the grounds of a man-
sion or attached to the mansion itself, ought to be as easy of access
as possible, or it will very rarely be made use of; whereas it would be
most pleasant and couvenient to be able to step at any time into a ,

handsome little closet adjoining your sitting-room, and a minute or
two afterwards step out again into another room in the upper story
of a lofty belvedere tower, where, secure from intrusion, you might,
like the tower-loving Bcekford, enjoy both the wide expanse of sur-
rounding landscape and literary study, merely glancing your eye from
the book in your hand, or the well-stored portfolio on the table befors
you, to the prospect stretched out below and around. But halt! or
our readers will fancy that we ourselves have ascended into an alti-
tude, and taken a flight very far away from our proper subject; so we
will descend as expeditiously as we can, without so much as stop-
ping to speak of the "Panorama of London," which part of the Co-
losseum remains w statu quo — that is, in the day-time, for in the even-
ing it produces quite a different effect, it being then transformed into
a veritable bright moonlight night. However it be managed — and of
course there must be a good deal of artifice besides the painting
itself — this view is the triumph and perfection of scenic skill, for the
full moon actually shines out from the picture, shedding its radiant
light upon the platform and the spectators themselves; its beams
flicker upon the surface of the Thames, while the mighty labyrinth of
streets presents a flaming network of gas-lights gradually dying away
into the far distant horizon. Happy magic ! that can create for us
brilliant moonlight on any or every night in the year, in the despite
of the almanac. Bidding adieu to the upper region of the Colos-
seum and its moonshine, we again enter the Rotunda, and find it
quite as charming as at first ; nor must we hurry through it, for though
we have already reconnoitered it, there is more to be said concerning
it, — very much more, in fact, than can even be touched upon
in an article like the present. One thing which we have notyet told
our readers is, that which is now denominated the Glyptol/ieca (or
Repository of Sculpture), in consequence of its being made to serve
as an exhibition room, for casts of statues and groups by many of our
principal modern English sculptors, including one or two by Thorwald-
sen, and other foreign artists ; all of them disposed in the most tasteful
manner between the columns and within the recess, so that the mere
arrangement of them becomes in itself a picture; the architecture and
sculpture mutually set off each other to advantage, and both together,
thus harmoniously combined, render this Glyptolheca the most
admirable sculpture gallery in the world. It would be absolute folly
to pretend to compare it with many others either for its magnitude,
or for the value and excellence of the works of art which it contains ;
what we mean is, that taken in its ensemble and as an architectural
picture, it has no rival, if only because there is nothing at all similar
to it. The sculpture galleries at the British Musenm are very little
more than very large yet blank-looking rooms, that would be quite
empty were it not for the sculpture itself; and many other places of
the kind also, look very little better than so many statuaries' ware-
houses, or show-rooms, when their works are exhibited for sale. As to
the sculpture room at the Royal Academy, that is so utterly unfit for its
purpose, so wretchedly confined, and contemptibly mean, as to be little
if at all better than a mere lumber-room, into which things sent to be
exhibited, are stowed away during the exhibition. Yet that dismal
" black hole," as it has been called, belongs to an academical body
rejoicing in the ear-tickling epithet "Royal," where the delicious
Glyptotheca, — and "delicious" is the epithet it truly deserves — to-
gether with all the rest of the Colosseum, is merely a private specu-
lation, of course with a view to ultimate profit, which it richly
deserves, but entered upon in a most liberal spirit, and carried through
with admirable ability. It is moreover no less striking an instance of
sound economy than of liberality, the best of all economy being to do
well what is worth doing at all; although it is a species of it, which
very few seem to understand ; for how frequently do we observe
some little paltriness suffered to peep out amidst splendour, some
mark of penny-saving niggardliness to betray itself amidst extrava-
gance, some jarring deformity to obtrude itself amidst beauty.

RtjNCORS. — STDPEsnous BEinoE. — We have been favoured with a view of
the pliins of the Graod Junction Extension Railway from Astou-griicge to Huyton, and
also with those for the bridge in comiexion therewith, to cross the river Mersey at Ilua-
corn. Our readers may form idea of its magnitude when we state that there are to be live
wet arches of 2riU feet span, 101) feet above high water mark at spring tides, and \fiS dry
arches of 'M feet span, and 51 feet high, making a total of 2,4aO yards of arching, which
will be, when cumpleled, the greatest work of the kind in Europe. This great a'chitec-
tural design will be a boon to the counties of Chester, Laneastei-, and Stafford, giving the
required laciUty to the Potteries and to the fertile mines of Cheshire. We predict that
the risirig port of Runcorn is destined to becoma a great emporium of commerce; and
Lord Francis Egerton. with a desire to meet the coming exigency, is about to erect docks
of great extent on the shore of the Werseyi and will also apply, at the next session of
Parliament, for a trunk railway ; thus affording the port a ready transit for goods, in ati-
dition to the two canals in his lordaliip's possession. We are credioly informed that it Is
the intention of Lord Francis Egertou to erect a new Custom-house, the present editice,
now in use tor the Customs, being tound most inconvenient for the growing trade of this
tliriving port. We congratulate the otEcers who are immediately concerned, and the
trade generally, upon tins wise and judicious measure, and are much pleftBed to find that
hi^ LordfiUip Uteods to act with so tuuch liberality.

8

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECrS JOURNAL.

[Jakuabt,

ARCHITECTURAL SYNOPSIS OF SOME OF THE PRINCIPAL BUILDINGS IN EDINBURGH.

Buildings.

Datf.

Architect.

Remarki.

Academy, New Edinburgh

■ •

W. Burn

Said by Britton to be " illustrated by a beautiful portico."

Advocates' Library

__

W. H. Flayfair

New Room, 140 x 42 x 28, recesses with Corinthian colonnades along sides,
central compartment with low dome and skylight.

Assembly Rooms

1787

Plain Roman Doric on basement — tetrastyle portico (added 1818). Ball-
room 92 X 42 X 40.

Assembly Hall

1841

J. Gillespie Graham

Gothic, with spire.

Bank of Scotland

••

R. Crichton

Corinthian on rusticated basement. The south front very mnch in Adam's
style — petty and pretty.

„ Royal

••

Sir W. Chambers

Originally the mansion of Sir Lawrence Dundas. Tetrastyle Corinthian
pilasters, on basement, and crowned by a pediment.

„ Commercial

1845

D. Rhind

On site of Physician's Hall. Portico Corinthian, hexastyle in antes.

Bridge, North

1765-9

W. Mylne

Connecting High-street with Princes-street. Three arches 72 feet span;
entire length 310 feet.

Chapel, Catholic

1813

Gillespie

Gothic. Internally 110x57.

„ St. George's

1794

R. Adam

An octagon structure in Pseudo-Gothic style.

„ St. John's

1816-18

W. Burn

Gothic of feeble character.

„ St. Paul's

1816.18

A. EUiot

Gothic, perpendicular style, internally 105 x 63.

„ Dr. Jamieson's ..

1819-20

Gillespie

Church, St. Andrew's

..

Portico, Corinthian, tetrastyle, monoprostyle. Body of chnrch an ellipsis.

„ St. George's

1811-14

R. Reid

Ionic loggia ; dome 60 feet diameter externally 140 high from ground to
summit ; style poor.

„ St. Giles's

Nearly consumed by fire, 1844. A heavy and patched-up Gothic mass.

„ St. Stephen's

about 1826

W. H. Playfair

Plain Doric, on a basement story ; square tower of two stories at one angle.

County Hall

1816-19

A. EUiot

East front, tetrastyle Grec. Ionic portico.

Exchange

1754-61

Irregular in style, partly Corinthian.

Heriot's Schools

1845

Alex. Black

High School

1825

T. Hamilton

The happiest and most picturesque application of Grecian style in Edinburgh.
Centre portico hexastyle, lateral colonnades of seven intercolumns, and
end pavilions with four antae-pilasters in front.

Hospital, Donaldson's . .

1842, &c.

W. H. Playfair

Elizabethan style. Building 269 x 275 feet. Internal quadrangle 176 x 164.

Holyrood Palace

..

Sir W. Bruce

The quadrangle and chief part of the actual buildings by Sir W. Bruce.

Hospital, Heriot's

1628-50

Inigo Jones .'

Style later Elizabethan, but rather poor, yet the building interesting as an
architectural monument.

„ Merchant Maidens'

1816

W. Burn

Grec. Ionic, tetrastyle portico ; in other respects of quite ordinary design.

„ Watson's

..

W. Burn

Doric, hexastyle, monoprostyle portico, ditto, ditto.

„ Gillespie's

1801

W. Burn

A mixture of castellated, Tudor, and ' sash-window' styles.

„ Lunatic Asylum

1810

R. Reid

Not completed.

Monument, Melville

1821-2

W. Bum

A fluted Doric column, 136 feet high, including pedestal (18 feet).

„ National

1822

Cockerell ?

Intended to have been externally a copy of the Parthenon, but was discon-

tinued after a few of the columns had been erected.

„ Nelson

A lofty circular tower of five stories — style intended for castellated.

„ Flayfair

••

W. H. Playfair

This cenotaph a square mass formed by four Grec. Doric columns on each
side, on a lofty solid stylohate.

„ Scott

1840-5

G. M. Kemp

A Gothic Cross, with pinnacles.

„ The Martyrs

1844

T. Hamilton

Egyptian Obelisk.

Observatory

1818

\\^ H. Playfair

A low Grec. Doric structure, with dome and hexastyle portico on each of

four fronts.

Parliament House

••

R. Adam ?

The building towards Parliament-square, a rather handsome elevation in
the best Adam style, but disfigured by the second floor windows having
no dressings.

Physicians' Hall, Old ..

1775-7

J. Craig

Tetrastyle Corinthian portico. Now taken down.

New

1845

Thomas Hamilton

Tetrastyle porch with statues over the end columns, and a diatyJe over the
two centre columns.

Post Office

..

Plain Grec. Ionic, on a basement floor.

Register Office

1774

R. Adam

Considered one of his best works.

Royal Institution

1825

W. H. Playfair

Grecian Doric, portico double octastyle, recessed colonnades alone sides.

Regent's Bridge

1815-19

A. Elliot

Carried over Carlton-street in continuation of Waterloo-place, on an arch or

tunnel 40 feet wide, 55 high, and 80 in depth. The parapet adorned on

each side with a small colonnade, and an open arch and Corinthian columns

in the centre.

University or College ..

1789, &c.

R. Adam

The largest pile of building in the city — about 400 x 250 feet. Handsome,
but not sufficiently dignified ; the original design, as then intended, pab-
lished in Adam's works.

St. Bernard's Well, Leith Waters . .

1790

A handsome small open circular temple or monopteros, of Doric order, on
stylohate and basement ; but now in a very ruinous condition.

Debtors' Prison

1845

T. Brown

Carlton Hill.

GREAT BRITAIN STEAM SHIP

Flah I

-4^ ^^ t.,.j--4^^4.

.^A

1846.']

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

9

GREAT BRITAIN STEAM SHIP.
( With an Engraving Plate I.)

It is with great satisfaction tliat we commence the series of plales
illustrating this volume with a subject of so general and valuable interest
to engineers, as the engines of the " Great Britain." Plate I. is a c(jpper.
plate engraving representing the position and general arrangements of the
engines. The vessel is supposed to be cut a-midships ; so that one half
the machinery is shown ; two of the four cylinders, half the drum whicq
drives the endless cogged chain, &c. A full description of the Great
Britain was given in the last October and November numbers of this
journal, which it is not necessary here to report, as the engraving is
not sufliciently explanatory of itself. It has been carefully reduced from
the original drawings of the Great Britain, which were courteously placed
at our disposal of the purpose : the scale of the plate is a quarter of an
inch to the foot.

EXPERIMENTS ON STEAM.

A paper by M. Regnault was read at the Paris Academy of Sciences,
on Dec. 15, relative to his experiments on steam. The Minister of
Public Works assisted M. Regnault with the means of making these ex-
periments on an extensive and practical scale. The questions to be de-
termined by M. Regnault were — 1. The law which unites the tempe-
ratures and elastic powers of aqueous vapour at saturation. 2. The
quantity of heat absorbed by a kilogramme of water at 0 degree, to be
converted into steam for saturation at dill'ereut degrees of pressure. 3.
The quantity of heat absorbed by the same quantity of water, in order
lo raise the temperature to the point in which it assumes the state of
vapour under different pressures. 4. The specific heat of aqueous va-
pour at different stages of density, and at different degrees of tempera-
ture. 5. The co-efiicients of dilatation of aqueous vapour in different
stages of density. In his present paper M. Regnault gives the law of
the elastic powers of steam up to 23 degrees cenligrade, which tempe-
rature corresponds to 28 atmospheres and a half. He next fixes the
total heat of steam taken at different pressures, from l-5th to 15 atmos-
pheres ; and finally, he treats of the calorific capacity of water from 0 to
190 degrees. Many distinguished men have devoted their attention to the
elastic powers of steam. We may mention Achard, Greu, Dallon,
Christian, Arzberger, AVatt, Robinson, Betancourt, Schmidt, Southern,
Ure, Gay-Lussac, August, Kaemtz, Dulong, and Arago, the two latter
of whom commenced their experiments in 1S23, at the request of the Mi-
nister of the Interior, and published an account of thera in 1829. They
carried their operations up to 25 atmospheres. About the same period
a commission of scientific Americans performed a series of experiments
on this subject, but went up to only 10 atmospheres. The results, how-
ever, of these different experiments were not alike, consequently IM.
Regnault had lo take entirely new ground, greatly aided, however, by the
progress which science has made since the period alluded to. In his re-
sults he agrees most with Mi\I. Dulong and Arago, particularly as re-
gards high rates of pressure. Watt had supposed that the total quan-
tity of hejt necessary for the transformation of a kilogramme of water
into the state of steam was certain under a constant pressure. The num-
ber admitted was 650. This law, although not exemplified by any pre-
cise experiment, had been, until very lately, regarded as positive, and so
adopted in theory and practice. M. Regnault, however, has ascertained
that this number increases constantly from 622 under the pressure of one-
fifih of an atmosphere up to 670 under 15 atmospheres. At the ordi-
nary pressure the average of 3S experiments gives G36-37. As to the
calorific capacity of water, it is 1,000 between 0 and 30 degrees, 1,005
between 30 and 120, 1,013 between 120 and 190.

The Cathedral of St. Denis. — The monument erected to the memory

of Louis XVII I. iu the vaults of the Cathedral of St. Deuis Is about being completed,
and, when finished, that of Charles X., his Euccessor, nill be proceeded ivith. When
this Is done, all the French Kings and Princes uii to lt<30 will be there represcnred either
by a tomb, a moutimeut, or a statue.

CHRIST CHURCH, PLYMOUTH.

We have received some information respecting the architecture of this
church, which has recently been completed, from the designs of .Air. Wight-
wick. The dimensions are about 70 feet by 90 feet. The style. Perpen-
dicular. The western front presents three entrances and three gable roofs,
of which the central or highest gable reaches the height of 50 feet. Be-
tween it and each of the wing gables rises an octagonal turret, aud at the
outer sides of the wing gables are pinnacles.

It will be concluded from this description of ihe western front, that the
interior of the church is divided into three compartments — of these the
central one, or nave, is divided from the lateral aisle by piers. There are
five arches on either side of the nave, and over them clerestory win-
dows, which give the principal light ; for owing to the contiguity of
neighbouring buildings, there are no windows whatever iu the side aisles,
and consequently there is no means of lighting the church except by these
clerestories and the windows at the east and west ends.

Our informant says it was absolutely necessary to introduce galleries.
However, it appears that the galleries are set so far back, as not to abut
on the piers, and as they do not cross the aisle windows (there being none
to be crossed,) this " absolute necessity" is not so much to be regretted as
it otherwise would have been.

The architect has shown great judgment in the selection of some of his
details, from ancient examples. The western entrances are copied from
those of Tattersall Church, the crockets and finials of the octagonal turrets
from those which many of our readers may remember at Magdalene Col-
lege, Oxford.

The nature of our information does not warrant a very decided criticism
on the merits of the new church — the general character of the architectural
details is probably unexceptionable. Unless, however, we be greatly mis-
taken, the building has one great fault — a show front; the elevation to-
wards the street exhibiting considerable pretensions, while the other sides
of the church are merely plain masonry. If misinformed on this point, we
shall be glad to be set right. If, however, the fact be as here assumed, it
cerlainly will materially diminish the architectural value of the building.
One of tlie most admirable characteristics of the old Christian architects
was their total freedom from pretence. They never adorned one side of a
church and left the other three sides plain — taking care to turn the dressy
side where it would be most seen. There is no ancient cathedral, minster,
abbey, church, or chapel in Christendom with a show side. The old
architects never attempted to cheat beholders into a belief that their works
were elaborate, when in truth they did not deserve the character. Of
course these remarks must not be considered to imply a censure on the
architecture of the Plymouth Church. The architect cannot of course be
blamed for the defect alluded to, if he had no power of remedying it. Still
it is greatly to be regretted tiiat he should have had to exert his talents
under circumstances which would of necessity produce an unsatisfactory
result. At the east end of the Church, in the place where the chancel is
usually built, is a " communion recess," ten feet deep.

Since the above was in type, we have received a description of the
cliurch, taken from the Plymouth Journal. As however this description
is very similar to that given above, we avail ourselves of the following part
only of the extract sent to us. " The interior presents au effect of lightness
and elegance which is admitted by all who have seen it, aud fully justifies
the architect in his idea, that the details of Gothic architecture may be
employed in the fullest consistency with that expression of ojienuess whicli
should characterize a Protestant church. In fact the public of these towns
have now an opportunity of making a fair comparison between the pecu-
liar characteristic of the Camdenite structure, and tliose of the Reformed
Church. St. Michael's, at Stoke, and Christ Church, at Plymouth, are
now before them. In the former, we have the picturesque — in the latter,
the elegant. The first shows a handsome, though unfinished exterior; the
latter its single front of far more ornate character, the means of the archi-
tect being concentrated on one point, and that being brought to perfect
completion. St. Michael's is of the most simple plainness within, and
affects no more than a general expression of shadowed gloom. Christ
Church exhibits, within, the decorative amount pror..ised without, and
unites solemnity with grace. Though ' cheerful as the day,' it is not less,
as Cowper would say, the house of ' true piety.' What the cost of St.
Michael's may be, we have yet to learn ; but we know, that Christ Church
has been completed, including 85i. for extras, for only 01. 3s. 6d. above the
architect's estimate— the total cost of the building beiog 3,475/. The ac-

10

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[January,

commodation is for 1120 sitters, of whom 3 j may, hereafter, have to make
■way for an orgau. The clear internal dimensions of the church are, from
«ast to west, 87 feet, and from north to south G8 feet."

ON THE CHANGE OF OSCILLATORY INTO ROTATORY
MOTION.

By F. Uashfop.tii, B.A., Fellow of St. Johu's College, Cambridge.

Notwithstanding all the disputes respecting the crank, it appears that
no better substitute has been or probably can be found. In fact, the beau-
tiful adaptation of the velocity of the end of the connecting rod to the re-
quirements of the piston is such as cannot be surpassed. Still there ap-
pears to be a great objection to the present method of employing it in
locomotives and some of the steamers, as the Great Britain. The piston
rod and the connecting rod are inclined at a considerable angle during the
most important part of the stroke, and this gives rise to very considerable
friction.

In the beam engine, and where there is room for its application, the
parallel motion of Watt has been found to answer completely every pur-
pose, but in locomotives, &c. there is not the necessary space. For this
purpose it is proposed to make use of the well-know property, that if a
circle of radius r roll in the interior of a circle 2 r, any point in the cir-
cumference of the former will constantly describe the same diameter of
the latter. This geometrical principle has been already applied in me-
chanics, but never, it is believed, in the manner about to be explained.

In figs. 1 and 2, H K represents an arc of a circle, having equal cylin-

Fig. 1.

/

V

/

Fig. J.

drical studs fixed at equal distances in the pitch circle of radius 2t,c
being its centre. These are fixed firmly to the frame. The bar c E, re-
presented by the dotted line, is capable of moving about the fixed centre c,
Hind at E carries the centre of the segment F G of radius r ; e E = r C D
is the piston rod, and during its oscillations C F is compelled to roll oa
H K, and C will describe a perfectly straight line. The piTot Ehad belter
be rigidly connected with the arm c F. The figures represent a projec-

ion on a plane perpendicular to the axis, which is turned by the crank;
The diameter of K H must not be less than the length of the stroke of the
piston. The figures represent the necessary sines of the several parts to
ensure a stroke C 15, the whole of the guarding machinery being on one
side of the i i-ton rod.

Figs. 3 and l represent two differnet states of the same contrivance for

Fig. 3. Fig. 4.

communicating motion directly to the crank, without the employment of
any connecting rod, and so that the axis to be turned may be placed at
little more than half the length of the stroke from the end of the piston.
The letters refer to the same parts as before, the pitch circles alone being
represented.

In this arrangement the cranks must be at the end of the axis to be
turned. This, however, would not be of great importance in its appli-
cation to the screw propeller, or to locomotives, where the connecting rod
acts outside the wheels. It is evident, from an inspection of the figure,
that the velocity of C is greatest when passing c, and that it is gradually
brought to rest at each end of the stroke, although e E may be revolving
all the time.

In order, however, to render these suggestions of any practical utility, it
will be necessary to point out the method of rendering the motion extremely
easy and durable. The studs should be made sufficiently strong to with-
stand the forces to be applied, and covered by short triblet-drawn brass
tubes, and left at liberty to revolve. These could easily be changed in a
short time, if they should become bruised or worn, and would save from
injury the constant parts of the machinery.

It is well known, that by the geometric chuck almost perfect epicy -
cloids and hypocycloids can be traced with ease and rapidity. Now,
hese are the curves required wherever pin wheels are used. Suppose
t hat we have a large chuck, and that we replace the tracing point by a
circular drill or cutter kept constantly revohiig with its centre in the
place of the point, as the chuck, on which the wheel to be cut is mounted,
is caused to move slowly, the exact form of the teeth will be given. The
teeth ought to be cast sufliciently large to bear shaping by the revolving
tool. On account of the certainty with which almost perfect forms can be
given to the teeth of such wheels by ordinary workmen, it appears that
this method of changing angular velocity would be useful where strength
and freedom of motion are required, whether for turret clocks, or for in-
creasing the angular velocity of the screw propeller.

The methods of forming the teeth of spur wheels in common use appea
to be very defective. There are so many chances of error in the setting
out and cutting of patterns, and afterwards in the alteration caused by
unequal construction of metals, that it appears desirable that 90m^ im -
rovenient should be made ; and I am in hopes of being able to point out a
method by which teeth of any pitch may be formed without any change
of cutter, and approximating very nearly to the forms recommended by
Professor Willis.

THE RAILWAY SUSPENSION BRIDGE.
Patented by Mb. H. H. Rcssell.

(With an Engraring, Plate II.)
The accompanying illustrations (Plate II.) exhibit the constrnclion of a
recently patented suspension bridge, which the inventors propose to apply
to the purposes of railway trafiic. We have been favoured by Mr-
Lapidge, the county surveyor for Surrey, at whose expense the patent
was secured," with a description of this invention, written with a mo-

* A model of the bridge, upon a large icat«, may be seen at Mr. l.aptdge*s offices,
Derby-8tr«et, Westminster,

<

o

>— I
CO

'Z

w
0^

p

CO

I— I
<

H

W
H
<1
Ph

F^

J

^

ja

1

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECPS JOURNAL.

11

deration all the more praiseworthy hecause it forms a nearly unique con-
trast to the extravagant encomiums which inventors usually bestow on
their own productions. As, however, on consideration, we think we can
discern advantages in the present invention which are not quite apparent
at first sight, [and which are^not commented on in the description which
we have received, we have ventured to give our own version. The inventor
■will have no cause to complain of the determination.

It is not, however, to be understood that on a] subject so complicated as
the theory of suspension bridges, any judgment, however carefully con-
sidered, can have'xtlio same value as one pronounced ■ in simpler cases.
The general problem of the equilibrium of suspended chains is so dldicult
■when applied to practice, that it is impossible to predict with certainty
the exact practical efl'ect of any untried arrangement. However, as in
the present instance, the inventors do not apply themselves to the compli-
cated questions respecting the relation of the various tensions to the
strength of material, but confine their attention to the means of preventing
oscillationt and undulations of the platform, the subject can be satisfac-
torily examined without the use of mathematics.

The leading idea of the invention is so simple, that a very few words
will suffice to explain it. Each chain of the ordinary suspension bridge
is replaced by two lighter chains crossing each other. Each of these cross-
ing chains is suspended by its highest and lowest points, aid the two may
also be fastened at their points of intersection. The suspending rods are
fastened to each chain alternately, ;and the edge of the platform will be
therefore supported, throughout its length by a series of alternately long
and short rods.

Every practical 'engineer 'knows 'the importance of strengthening a
structure by supports or ties arranged cross-wise. The roofs of railway
stations may be referred toas familiarjnstauces of the value of cross lies.
Wooden bridges, in which the beams are arranged diagonally, and cast
iron girders, with] cross ribs, are examples of the same principle. In factt
it may be laid down as a general principle that all structures where the
points of support are at considerable distances from each other, derive
stability and rigidity from a system of oblique rods or beams.

Let us now see how this principle applies to the case before us. The
disturbances to which a suspension bridge is liable, from external forces,
are of two kinds — first, oscillation, or swinging of the chain from side to
side — secondly, undulation, or the vertical rising and falling of the several
parts of the platform. Now, with respect to this first kind of disturbances
it is obvious that a chain suspended from the tops of two piers must be
more pendulous than one fastened by its highest and lowest point. That a
catenary suspended by its two highest points is readily set in motion, and
can be maintained in motion by a slight force, may be readily seen from
the familiar instance of a child's swing. But it may also be seen from
the same instance, that if the lowest point of the curve be fastened, the
liability to oscillation is almost entirely removed. In the invention before
lis, this method of preventing oscillation is adopted, and the advantage is
further increased by the union of the two cross chains at their points of
intersection.

The second kindof disturbances of suspension bridges — theundulatory —
is by far the most important. The height of the undulations of the Menai
bridge in a storm has been known to be some 8 or 10 feet, while the trans-
Terse oscillations were scarcely observable. By far the most important
part, therefore, of the invention of intersecting suspension chains is the
means they afford of preventing the rising and falling of the platform.
This effect is, however, not immediately obvious,' and we shall perhaps
have some little difficulty in rendering the explanation of it intelligible.

What we wish to show is this — that theeflTect of two chains, both united
to the platform, is such that, where the deflection of the one chain would
tend to raise the platform, the other chain would tend to depress it — so
that the two chains would, during the passing of a load, counteract the
tendency of each to elevate or depress the several parts of the roadway.

To make the point clear we will refer to the figure of the single-span
bridge in the accompanying plate. We will suppose that a heavy carriage
has got some distance across the bridge, but has not yet reached the centre
of it. Now let us see what is the effect of this load on each chain sepe-
ratelij — first, for instance, oa the chain which at this place is the highest.
The load rests on the platform, and tends to sink it, and this tendency is
communicated by one of the long rods to the upper chain. If, however,
the action of the rod pull down the chain at this point, we know by the
nature of suspended chains, that the whole of the curve will be acted upon,
rising at some"points and sinking at others. Now let us see what the
effect of the passing load is on^that chain which at the place in question is

lowest. Here the effect of the load is transmitted by one of the short rods,
which tends to depress this chain also ; and here again,5 if the chain be
actually depressed, the whole curve will be acted upon, [rising at some
points and sinking at others. But if the matter be attentively considered*
it will be found that the parts of the one chain which tend to rise are
directlij above those parts of the other chain which tend to sin/c, so that these
tendencies are opposite to each other, and are counteracted by the
attachment of both chains to the platform.

Or, to express the same thing another way, a passing load tends to alter
the whole curvature of both chains — to draw the two chains, in some
places, closer together, and, in others, wider apart, than they are in their
positions of equilibrium. In the ordinary single-chain suspension bridges
there is nothing but the weight of the chain and platform to resist this
tendency to alter the forms of the curves; but in this double-chain bridge
the alteration is resisted by the tensions or thrusts of the connecting rods.

If we have succeeded in making this point clear, the reader will see
that these counteractions occur, not at one or two points of the bridge, but
at every point of it. Everywhere therefore there will be a tendencyito
bring the two chains closer together, or move them wider apart, and these
effects are everywhere prevented by the connexion of the vertical rods, each
of the rods exerting either a tension or thrust to resist the effect of the
passing load. The two curves cannot either recede from or approach
each other on account of the rods, so that the case is altogether different
from thatjofithe ordinary suspension bridge; for there a passing load
acts only on the suspending rods immediately adjacent to it— but here
every vertical rod of the whole bridge is acted upon by the load, and resists
its tendency to depress the platform.

The effect therefore seems to be to convert the whole structure into a
system almost perfectly rigid, to give it, without any additional weight of
iron, nearly the stiffness and stability of a girder. This is by far the most
important part of the invention, and deserves the careful consideration of
the engineer.

It is a point worth noting, that the vertical rods would not always be in a
state of tension as in other suspension bridges, but occasionally would have
to resist compression also, (where the load tended to bring parts of the two
curves closer together), and therefore these rods would have to be made
with more than the usual rigidity.

Of course on so complicated a subject as that of suspension bridges, no
opinion on practical points is perfectly trustworthy till verified by experience.
We cannot determine exactly to what extent rigidity might be attained in
a suspension bridge on this new principle, still we think enough has been
said to show that the rigidity would certainly be far greater than what can
be obtained in the common suspension bridges, without additional stiffening
by strong diagonal ties. These greatly increase the weight of the structure,
and are generally inapplicable from the difficulty of finding convenient points
for attaching them.

BEVIBV^S.

Companion to the Almanac, or Year Book of Information for the year of-^t
our Lord 1840. London : Charles Knight, Vimo.ipp. 260.
This is the nineteenth of a series of annual volumes published under the
superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.
The information in this volume is collected under two heads — first, "mathe-
matics, natural history and philosophy, chronology, geography, statis-
tics," &:c. — secondly, " the legislation, statistics, public improvements,
and chronicle of 1845." The first chapter is on the " earliest printed al-
manacks," and treats very fully of the history and successive improve-
ments of the calendar. This paper is written by Prof. De Morgan ; it
contains, however, no display of his mathematical genius, but exhibits
a vast amount of antiquarian erudition. Wc have chosen one or two short
extracts, as well for the curious nature of the information they afford, as
to give a general idea of the style of the paper. Speaking of the difficul- |

ties which the Church experienced in determining the time of Easter, and
reviewing the various remedies proposed for these difficulties, it is ob-
served—

" Regiomontanus is the next after Bacon who declared that the nsus ecclesim
was not in accordance with the decrela patrum ; he does not attempt the '■

usual historical falsehood of fixing the existing method upon Eusebius and j

the other Nicene bishops, but refers it (and truly, as we showed in our last

12

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[January*

number) to the Abbot Dionysius, " whose pascal calender," savs he, " wc
are using to this day." He mentions tlie diffusion of tlie Scriptures among
the people in their native tongues as giving rise to many doubts and ques-
tions upon the suhject ; anil alludes to this diffusion as having taken place
in Italv, and specifically as having caused a reference to Cardinal bessarion
■when he was legate at Venice. He further says that the Jews very frequently
raised objections to the existing Christian mode of determining a feast which
•was asserted to be connected with tlic Passover ; ami so far bad the dissatis-
faction gone, that some priests of liremen* (sacerdote.': jiremmses) liad un-
dertaken to correct the error themselves, and liad kept Kaster a month before
all tlie rest of the Cburcli — fordoing which the adjective ;jremcnifs had be-
come a standing joke against them with a double meaning.

Between clocks and watches, lighted roads, and public announcements, we
are now so well provided with information, that an almanac is not a matter
of the first necessity to most persons. It was otherwise io the fifteenth cen-
tury ; and if we consider bow much comfort must have depended upon being
able to arrange business with reference to the numerous holidays and tlie
moonlight, we shall see that the mere list of saints' days and moons must
have been a matter of consequence."

The topic of astrology is naturally touched upon as pertinent to the
subject in liand.

"There are many manuscript almanacs of the fifteenth century yet remain.
ing. They may lie divided into what we now call asl roloijioal (a word which
was then frequently used in its original sense), and those which were simply
astronomical. Tbe majority of the astronomers in the middle ages believed
in the prognosticating power of tbe stars : even Koger IJacon inclines to the
supposition tliat tliey have a physical influence on tbe body, and through it
on the acts of tbe mind. The Church of Home always, collectively, set it-
self against this absurdity. Not that its popes and cardinals were by any
means universally free from belief in it ; but those who believed considered
it as magic, while those who disbelieved thought it of course an organized
fraud. So that, upon the whole, divination by the stars met with little
public encouragement, and its professors were obliged to write about it un-
der modified phrases. We have never found, in ancient astrologers, such
impudent pretensions as those which have been published in London in our
own day. If the members of the Stationers' Company, who still continue to
publish an astrological almanac, could see this trash, and could know that
there are shops in London which sell nothing else, and that there are per-
sons who make a trade of imposing on the ignorant, and who doubtless
quote their authority, we suppose they would not allow any consideration of
profit to induce them to lend their names to the continuance of so vile an
imposition. We should recommend them never again to do what they have
done in Moore's Almanac for the present year, namely, insinuate that un-
belief in astrology is infidelity, and denial of the providence of God. This is
an oversight, arising from an unskilful attempt at imitation of the old
almanacs ; it must show the Stationers' Company that if they will play with
edge tools, andjcall it sport, they ought to]be very careful how they use them."
The note referred to in the above extract is as follows : —
" We quote our ground for this charge from Moore's Almanack for
IS 15. The iialics, when mixed wilh Roman, are our own."

'Astrological Predictions. Judicium Astrologicum, pro anno 1845. Vox
Calorum, fox Dei : The Voice of the Heavens is the Voice of God. He
speaketh in all the Changes of the Seasons and of the Times. — Courteous
Keader, — In this my annual production, I have a long time sounded the
aiove important truth in your ears, and I trust not in rain. It is, however,
to be lamented that there is a great deal of infidelity upon tbe face of the
earth, and even no small portion thereof cleaves to the skirts of Britannia.
.... That wonder-working Hand, which placed each mighty orb. ... is clearly
manifest in our earth by the changes of seasons Let those who are dis-
posed to deng the existence of Divine Providence reflect on these words of

holy writ. Not a sparrow falleth ' — Such an innuendo would have been

loo bad for the sixteenth century."

The following extract is taken from a foot note, p. 17.
" Those who observe that Boyle has let Melancthon off for bis astrology
with two words and a reference, would hardly imagine the lamentable extent
to which this weakness was his master. On his death-bed, he half predicted
that be should die on tbe day on which a conjunction of Mars and Saturn
would take place : and on one occasion, being seen bathed in tears, and
showing every sign of the greatest grief, it was found on inquiry tliat cm
looking at the stars in his evening's walk, he saw that a dreadful war was
going to burst upon Germany. 'The first story is from his most accredited
biographer, Melch. Adam ; the second from a less respectable source, tbe
" Jocorum atque Seriorum Centuriae" ofOtho Melander, whose grandfather,
Dion. Melander, was the person who asked Melancthon what was the matter
with him. This same Otho relates a severe rebuke which Melancthon re-
ceived from Luther, for saying that persons liorn when Libra was in the
ascendant must be miserable through life: and a ridiculous attempt to cast
the nativity of an infant child of his (Otho's) grandfather, whom he sup-
posed to be of the male sex, and to whom be promised learning, honours,
and religious contests. Being told that the child was a girl, he was out of

* At least Rremen is called Premis and Premen in contemporary cosmopraphies : but
it may be tb.it these priests were of Parma, and that Parmcuscs was altered into Pre-
menses Tor the joke's sake.

countenance for a time, and at last said — then she will rule her husband.
But on second thoughts he cast a new scheme, in which be condemned her
to death at seven years old, and staked the validity of his art upon the pre-
diction. The girl lived, however, till the age of fourteen. Otho was of the
reformed church, and was therefore free from one bias against Melancthon,
at least."

The paper of Prof, de Morgan is followed by a very useful article on
foreign exchanges, and some elaborate tables of the fluctuations of tbe"
funds. We sliouhl have liked to have made some extracts from the tables
of the " statistics of crime," as the subject is intimately couuected with
one for which we have frequently endeavoured to enlist the attention of
our readers — the sanatory conditions of large towns. We must, however,
for lack of 'space, pass on to a subject more immediately connected with
the objects of this work, "the railways of Great Britain." Under this
head there is a brief abstract of all the railway acts passed during last
session — forming a synopsis somewhat similar to that which appears in
our present number, excepting that no notice is taken of tbe amalgama-
tions and other private arrangements of companies. The following ex-
tract is likely to be read with interest, as giving a good compendium of
parliamentary proceedings respecting railways during the past year.

" On the 31st of December tbe Railway Department of tbe Board of Trade
issued the first of a series of reports upon the schemes thus examined by
them, in which reports, after enumerating all the projected lines in a certain
district, they expressed their intention to repnrt to parliament in favour of
certain schemes and against some others, while they recommended tbe post-
ponement to a future period of such as they considered might be modified to
advantage, or might be rendered unnecessary by the introduction of better
or more comprehensive schemes. The more detailed reports in which they
explained the reasons which had influenced their selection, were not, in most
cases, published until some weeks after tbe announcement of their decision.
In selecting from a mass of rival, or partially rival, projects, the Board
usually gave their recommendation in favour of the new lines projected in
friendly connection with, rather than those in opposition to or competition
with, already existing lines ; and in cases where the engineering features of
two or more rival schemes were essentially different, they entered, in their
detailed reports, at considerable length into such questions as the compara-
tive merits of the locomotive and atmospheric systems of propulsion, of
different systems of gradients, of width of gauge, and other peculiarities of
construction. In consequence of an idea that such reports would decide the
fate of railway bills, some projects which had been prepared for parliament
were withdrawn in deference to the recommendations of the Board of Trade;
but in many instances the promoters determined to proceed with their bills
in the face of adverse reports, a course which appears to have been by no
means disapproved by parliament, since many such schemes were successful
in obtaining their acts, while some of those most warmly supported by the
Board of Trade were defeated in Committee upon their merits, and others,
in consequence of informalities (resulting, in some cases, from the impossi-
bility of preparing the requisite parliamentary plans and sections by the
appointed day, or of submitting them to the searching examin.ation necessary
for the detection and correction of clerical errors, when the demand for
surveyors, levellers, draftsmen, and engravers was so urgent as in the autumn
of 1844), were thrown out for non-compliance with Standing Orders. It
being very evident that, whether the Railway Oflicers of the Board of Trade
had or had not exceeded the powers committed to them, their recommenda-
tions were distasteful to tbe Select Committee of tbe House of Commons,
upon whose right of decision they appeared to trench, the Railway Depart-
ment has been completely remodelled by a minute of the Lords of the Com-
mittee of Privy Council for Trade, dated the 10th of July, 1845, by which
the distinct Board constituted by the minute of tbe 6th of August, 1844,
was discontinued, and it was determined that in future all railroad business
should be transacted by the Lords of tbe Committee of Privy Council for
Trade in the same manner as the ordinary business of that Committee.

In the House of Commons, the enormous amount of railway business
formed the most remarkable feature of the session, and such of the Standing
Orders as relate to the composition of the Committees on private bills were
suspended, so far as railway bills were concerned, it being impossible, under
such extraordinary circumstances, to adhere strictly to the usual practices of
the House. Railway bills were, at tbe commencement of the session,
divided by a " Classification Committee" into groups, each of which was
referred to one Select Committee, who were allowed to sit during any ad-
journment of the House, in order to get through the immense mass of
business before them. Notwithstanding every exertion, many competing
schemes failed, from want of time, to obtain a hearing; and some bills
which were virtually passed, were necessarily left over to next session, a
special arrangement having been made to allow the privilege of i^e-intro-
ducing in 1846, and carrying on from the point where the proceedings left
off in 1845, such bills as bad been ordered by the House of Commons to be
ingrossed. Before the close of the session some alterations were made in
the Standing Orders, by which the additional maps and statements required
by the minute of the Board of Trade above quoted, are required to be de-
posited, and the amount of deposit required before presenting a petition for
a railway bill is again increased to ten, instead of, as in the last session, five

I84G.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEEU AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

13

per ceot. of the amount subscribed. This increased deposit, however, is not
required in tlie case of bills which have been before parliament in 1S4j, and
may be re-introduced in 1S46, or of undertakings provisionally registered
before it was issued, or such as had their subscri[)tion contract executed, or
partly executed, on the 29th of July, 1845. Among the important parha-
♦nentary proceedings of tlie session we may refer to the passing of tlie Rail-
way Clauses' Consolidation Act, by which all fnture railway acts will be
much sir.iphfied ; and the appointment, in consequence of a motion in the
House of Commons by Mr. Cobden, of a Royal Commission " for inquiring
whether, in future I'rivate Acts of Parliament for the construction of rail-
ways, provision ought to be made for securing a uniform gauge, and whether
it would be expedient and practicable to take measures to bring the railwavs
already constructed, or in progress of construction, in Great Urilain, into
uniformity of gauge : and to inquire whether any other mode of obviating or
mitigating the serious impediments to the internal traffic of the country,
which are represented as likely to arise from the want of a uniform gauge,
could not be adopted."

We regret we cannot find space for more tbau a brief enumeration of
the greater part of llie remaining subjects of information. There are some
very valuable tables comparing rates of life insurance in dilTerent com-
panies, abstracts of public acts of parliament, and parliamentary docu-
ments, a chronicle of the sessions, and a numerical account of petitions
and private bills. The informatiou throughout these chapters is arranged
in a very careful and satisfactory manner.

The thirteenth chapter treats of " Public Improvements," and is divided
into three sections headed respectively, " General Improvements,"
" Churches," and " Miscellaneous Buildings." Of this part of the work we
regret to say that we cannot speak in the same terms of commendation as
of the rest. "Whether it be that the conductors have here towards the end
of the volume been compelled to put their remarks together in a more
hasty manner than iu the preceding parts, we cannot tell ; but the diction
is careless and very frequently ungrammalical, and many sentences re-
quire to be read several times before the meaning of them can be ascer-
tained. Of these faults however we should not complain, (as we do not
here profess to write a literary criticism) were the language s flicieuUy
perspicuous to explain the views of the authors. This however is by no
means invariably the case, and even when we succed in finding out what
ideas on architectural subjects are intended, we are seldom recompensed
for the labour of discovery.

The first piece of criticism is on the architecture of the new buildings
behind the Royal Exchange. Unfortunately enough these buildings are
praised for the qualification which they least of all possess. Speaking of
the arrangement of the windows, it is observed that it '* is such as not to
cut up the mass itself into littleness, as is too generally the case owing to
the windows being put too closely together, which inevilably occasions an
ordinary dwelling-house look to prevail." Now without otTering any
opinion of our own on the merits of the building in question we may state,
as a simple fact, that the ground floor of the building exhibits one continual
series of arched window-openings. separiUed only by piers. Iu many of
the conservatories which are attached to large country seats, and are built
to assimilate in architecture to the contiguous buildings, the aggregate
surface of the windows is not so great compared with that of the masonry,
as it is in the ground floor of the buildings behind the Royal Exchange.
The observation that " this arcade is exceedingly well proportioned as to
the quantity of window opening as compared with the entii-e surface," was
written, it may be suspected, before the writer saw the building.*

The next subject of commentary is Trafalgar Square. Of this it is
said, " The two fountains seem to have altogether disappointed the
public; for not only have they been ridiculed by those who make mere
ridicule pass for criticism, but have been spoken of seriously by those
who profess to deal in sober criticism as things of 'intense ugliness,'
which is rather too severe, since the insignijicance of their aiipcaraiice
is at least an equal defect." This passage, of course, contains a reference
to the criticism of the Trafalgar-Square fountains, which appeared some
time since in the Civil Engineer and Architects' Journal : the objection
now raised to that criticism is odd enough. First, insignificance of
appearance is spoken of as something distinct and separable from
ugliness ; secondly, the former of these qualities, though it is said to be
an "equal defect" with the latter, is assigned — not as an additional

* By these obsercations we do not intend the slightest censure of the actual arrange-
ment of the windows, which is perfectly unobjectionable, considering the purpose and
site of tile buildings; we state tlie simple facts of the c ise to shew the ridiculous and
ignorant absurdity of the criticism. From a rouRh admeasurement which we have made,
we are quite certain that the space for glass occupies upwards of two-thirds of the
ground frontage— which is, in fact, no more than a continued series of glazed arcades I

reason for its condemnation — but on an altogether new system of logic,
as a proof that our criticism was "rather too severe"! — "which is
rather too severe, since the insignificancy of their appearance is at least an
e'lual defect" !

-\nother " defect " is discovered in the architecture of Trafalgar
Square, which certainly never suggested itself to ourselves. The writer,
whose knowledge of the English language is as profound as his know-
ledge of architecture, says that "a singularly disagreeable effect" is
produced, because "the tops of the wall are not nude to rise and fall like
hedges ." We confess that this plan of making Trafalgar-Square
" agreeable " never occurred to us. An excuse for all the defects noticed,
is, however, found in the consideration that the site was a very bad one!
"Barry certainly here undertook a very ungrateful task, it-being hardly
possible to make anything satisfaclory out of such an ill-arranged spot."
We always imagined that the principal cause of the public disappoint-
ment respecting Trafalgar Square, was, that "one of the nobli-st sites in
Europe " was sacrificed in an abortive attempt at architectural display.

In commending the new buildings in Lincoln's Inn, it is observed that
the ceilings, "though only of deal iinpainted, have the appearance of
being of a superior kind of wood, great depth of hue and lustre being
imparted to it by some novel process or preparation." The word " uu-
painted " is marked in italics, to intimate, we presume, that the imitation
is excused from censure, because it is not produced by paint — that the
weight of the censure depends not on the simple fact of deception, but the
method of ellectingil. This principle is that of the Spartans who used to
punish their children for larcenies — when they committed them clumsily.

Had the writers on "public improvements" been accustoiue<l to be
present at the hall-dinners at Lincoln's Inn, they might frequently have
heard the merits of the ceilings in question dismissed somewhat unceri-
moniously by the appellation — "Brummagem." The criticism, to be sure, is
not that of professed architects, but it is at least that of gentlemen and men
of educated taste.

In noticing buildings deserving of admiration, there is a particularly
unfortunate tendency to choose for commendation the very particulars
which a judicious friend might have passed over in silence. The above is
a striking instance, but there are many others. In the Colosseum, the first
subject of commendation is the circumstance, " that the columns. &c., are
of white marble — or, at least, have all the appearance of being so," being
formed of a composition " that imitates that material most decepiivelij ."
The new church at Leeds is said to exhibit a " most praiseworthy regard
to permanent excellence," the last quality we should assign to a Colhic
Church with plaister ceilings.

The final chapters of the work are a " Bankruptcy Analysis," and a
" Necrological Table of Literary Men and Artists." The volume, though
not absolutely free from grave faults, may, on the whole, be pronounced a
valuable and certainly cheap repository of the information usually coniained
in a " Year-book."

Ancient and Modern Architecture ; consisting of Views, Plans, Elcvalions,

Sections, and Details of the most Remarkable Edifices in the U'or/i/.

Edited by M. Jules Gailuadaud. Series the second. Parts 35, 42.

London : Firmin Didot, 18.15, quarto.

We have already noticed some of the previous nnmbers of this series of
engravings ; those before us embrace almost every kind of architecture,
as may be seen from the following list of the principal subjects : — Church
of St. Zachary, at V'enice ; Theotocos Church, at Constantinople ; St.
Etienne du Mont, Paris; Flavian Amphitheatre, Rome; the beautiful
temples of Vesta at Tivoli ; Celtic Monuments, kc. The engravings are
executed in a very satisfaclory manner, a due regard to pictorial effect
being observed, without a sacrifice of the accuracy of the architectural
details. The letter-press, however, occupies by far too small a portion of
the work, which, owing to this defect, has too much the character of a
picture-book for a work on ancient and modern architecture. The
archaeological notices are, however, carefully selected, and are verified, for
the most part, by formidable arrays of authorities. We have selected the
following extract, to give some idea of this part of the work. It is a
description of the Chnrch of the Theotocos (mother of God) at Constanti-
nople, a very important specimen of a style not very well known in this
country — the Byzantine : —

" The plan lies east and west, the surface of the soil sloping from the apsis
to the facade, so as to require a double flight of steps to reach the principal
entrance ; two p'brches, with columns opening towards the west, admit the
the light to a spacious vestibule, which is extended round the corner, along

14

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[January,

the lateral faces of the eliiircli — an arrangement precisely similar to that
adopted in the church of St. Mark at Venice. In the interior, this vestibule,
or narthex, is decorated with a number of marble columns, which, from the
general form of tlieir shafts, and the sculpture of their capitals, seem to

have been obtained from some ancient edillce A second uartbex, or ves-

abule, surrounded on tliree sides by the one we have just described, com-
municates inunediately with the aisles of the church, from which it is sepa-
rated by a tliick wall, with three l.irge doorways in it. This second vestibule
i-eceives its liglit from the outer one by two arcades, and communicates with
it by a large door on the axis of the edifice. .According to the general usage
^mong the Greek Christians, the three aisles of the church are traced in a
space exactly square, with four thick columns arranged symmetrically in the
centre, to support the roofs and the principal dome — a disposition resem-
bling the Corinthian allium of the ancients. The nave, much wider than
the side aisles, has two massive pillars at the end, which divide it from the
sanctuary, the first parr of which is square, but it terminates towards the
east in a semicircular apsis, with three windows separated by small columns
attached in piers. On each side of the sanctuary is a door leading into the

sacristies, which are at the end of the side aisles The facade of the

Theotocos is very regular; the floor of the narthex is raised to the level of
the church by a basement. The principal entrance is approached by two
lights of steps, under which there is a circular brick arch. The arched door-
way projects a little, and above it there is another arch divided into two
parts, and open, to give light to the vestibule. The sides of the far^ade are
each divided into two zones; the bottom ones are occupied by three arcades,
separated by short marble columns, whose capitals and bases, of the same
material (see fig. 3, pi. 3), have all the peculiar characteristics of the Byzan-
tine style. The arches are turned with stone and bricks alternately. Tablets
of white marble, ornamented with crosses and crowns, are placed between
the columns, and support narrow jambs, that reach as high as the capitals,
and appear to have supported lattice casements, or perhaps glazed windows,
to protect the narthex. Towards the corners of the facade, beyond the
open porches, there is, on each side, a semicircular niche of very elongated
proportions. The wall is composed of courses of stone and bricks of equal
thickness. Between the arches over the columns, the builder has introduced
lozenge-shaped bricks, separated by horizontal lines ; near the two niches
which occupy the extremities of the facade, the bricks are turned in arches

concentric with those of the niches Above the whole rises the central

cupola of the church. This cupola stands on a square basement, and con-
sists of twelve small columns, supporting arches under which are the same
number of windows, to light the dome. The spherical portion of the cupola
Is covered with sheet lead, and in the centre there is a very graceful little
ornament. East and west of the cupola we see the roofs of the church, of
the interior narthex, and the sanctuary. This last is lighted from above by a
'window in the vaulted roof.. . . . The apsis stands on a polygonal stylobate of
Ave equal sides. In the upper part there is the same number of arcades,
two of which are closed, and three open ; these last, which give light to the
sanctuary, and are probably intended, as in the church of St. Sophia, to be
an emblem of the Trinity, are supported by columns inserted in square
piers, and are repeated inside in exactly the same form and size. Their
bases, composed of a fillet and a torus, stand upon a stone that forms a
common plinth, and is of a pyramidal shape. Their capitals have a kind
of ornament composed of numerous bevilled mouldings, in the; Byzantine
style ; a thin ledge, which projects considerably outside, supports the ribs
formed by the junction of the polygonal faces of the apsis. In the square
pillars against which the columns are backed, there are a number of holes,
from which it is evident that these windows have been closed by iron
gratings. Above these arcades there is a row of arched niches, which have
been exactly copied in the cathedral of St. Mark, at Venice. The back of
the vaulted part is ornamented with brick zigzags. The roof of the apsis is
a demi-eupola, covered with lead, and hipped, to correspond with the five
sides of the vertical portion. On each side of the ap^is are the construc-
tions that form the eastern end of the side aisles and vestries ; in the centre
of each there is a polygonal apsis, not projecting, but merely cut in the
thickness of the walls."

It would have been better to have devoted a larger portion of the work
to pure, and less to bastard, architecture. AVbat possible architectural
7alue, for instance, can there jiow be in the church of St. Etienne, at
Paris, a lamentable instance o( the sacrifice of a fine mediasval edifice
to the pseudo-classic mania? It were hard to find another Christian
church in which the original features have been so completely elTaced by
hideous imitations of Uoman details. The barbarous mutilations of the
church of St. Etienne exceed even those of the west front of M'estmiuster
Abbey.

Raihcay Almanac, Directory, Year-Book qf Statistics and Digest of Rail-
u-iiy L(iw/or lSi6. London: Groorabridge, 8vo., pp. 132.
We are somewhat late in our notice of this work ; still, as almanacs are
seldom purchased till the beginning of the year, our recommendation will
appear about the right time. In addition to the ordinary information, the
Calendar contains the dates when the existing railways were opened, the
periods when the dividends of each company are payable, &c. 'Jhe

Railway Law Digest (written by Mr. Shaw, of Furnival's Inn) is the
most perspicuous explanation of a very difficult subject which we have
met with. Wc have read it through carefully, and can pronounce it well
worthy of the labour of perusal. The Directory contains the names of the
directors and officers of all the completed and projected railways ; it give
also the lists of the members of the Stock-Exchange of London and the
chief commercial towns. The vrork is very well printed, and in the ar-
rangement of it great care has evidently been taken to secure facility of
reference.

Jabez Hare's Illustrated Engineers' Almanac for 1846. Simpkio and

Marshall.

This is a large sheet Almanac. In addition to the calendar, it contains
wood engravings of several mechanical inventions, such as the railway-
excavator, the steam hammer, and screw propellers, of which also brief
letter-press descriptions are given. There are also tables of areas of
circles, of specific gravities, and the pitch of toothed wheels, &c. Mr.
Hare evidently far exceeds Lord Chesterfield in his admiration of pro-
verbs : the Almanac is garnished by a double belt of them.

First Steps to Anatomy. By J. L. Drummond, RI.D., Professor of Ana-
tomy and Physiology in the Royal Belfast Institution. London : Van
Voorst, 1845. 12mo. pp. 210. 12 lithograph plates.
It would be somewhat travelling out of the record to give a critical notice
of this book, even if we laid claim to the editorial omniscience which
alone would warrant us in undertaking the task. The work is a digest of
lectures to the " first-year students " in the Royal Belfast Institution, and
is written in a very pleasing and perspicuous style.

NEW MODELS OF THE PARTHENON

Jn the British Museum.

The trustees of the British Museum have recently made a most valuable
addition to the collection of antiquities of two large models of the Parthe-
non, made by Mr. Lucas, the sculptor. We are unavoidably compelled to
postpone till next month a critical description of these admirable works of
art ; the following notice of them, however, which is extracted from the
AtheniEum, will he read with interest.

Mr. Lucas, the sculptor— of whom we have heretofore had occasion to
make honourable mention, — has been for some time engaged on a work,
which, while it is at once very interesting in itself and honourable to the
artist who planned and performed it, comes usefully as a sculpture-lessoo
in this time of awakened attention and improving prospects for the Art.
His object has been to achieve two models of that most perfect of temples,
(he Parthenon — one of which shall represent it as it appeared in its dila-
pidated stale in the seventeenth century, and its other being, in the sculp-
IBr's words, " an attempt to restore it to the fulness of its original beautj
and splendour." The scheme is one, especially in its latter portion, which
demanded for its successful execution a rare combination of sobriety and
enthusiasm. Any merely conjectural re-construction could have satisfied
none of the serious demands of the subject; while it would have been aa
unpardonable assumption, that affected to clothe the fancy of the artist
with the sanctions of the highest authority known to art. Luckily, the
material and other documents yet exist in sufficient distinctness and abun-
dance to furnish certain evidence, for the conscientious student, as to the
general plan and many of the details of this great temple, — and, for the
sound and accomplished artist, reasonable inferences as to the rest. Mr.
Lucas has carefully consulted the iiuthorities on the subject — both those
of fact and speculation — remains and drawings of remains, with the
opinions of scholars as to the interpretation of these where their language
is obscure : and where, all these failing him, it has been necessary to con-
nect the known by the unknown, he has taken the principles upon which
Phidias wrought for bis guide, and sought only in what is expressed for
what is meant. In this species of questioning he has shown great judg-
ment— generally winning the assent of the critic to the testimony which
he makes ths monument bear of itself. A passionate worshipper at that
shrine of Art which he has chosen, he is, nevertheless, careful that his
worhip shall approve itself as a reasonable service ; his undisguised en-
thusiasm for his task is not imported into it from without, — but born
legitimately of the embodied principles before him, and appealing to
their quilities of fitness and beauty for its justification. Better disci-
pline, teaching more sure and sublime than this, the sculptor could not
propose to himself; aud, amid that visible want of earnest thought — that
general defect of spirituality — which may ha»e some excuse in the long
tendeucies of public patronage amongst us, but by which the school is held
back from the high destinies awaiting it, we see with more than ordinary
pleasure this patient and zealous search into the fouctains of the true ia

184G.]

THE CnaL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

15^

Art and the immortal in tliought. In the progress of his labour, Mr.
Lucas has maile sure acquaintance with principles which are likely to
have an elevating elfect on all his future works ; anil, better still, uhat he
has found, he has commemorated — embodying, for the use of others, the
instruction which he sought for himself. We have here, by his means,
the text of the Parthenon restored, with fewer conjectural readings (and
those, certainly, for the most part, true in their character) than might have
been hoped ; and, in this view of the matter, we rejoice that the British
Museum has purchased the model of the completed building — to stand in
the Elgin Gallery, as a key to the matchless remains which are so many
of the original parts, and an important element of this restoration.

The faded and, to the uninstructed eye, some%vhat enigmatical character
of these remains will be more fully understood by the public, and more
readily by the artist, in this easy reference to their context ; the meaning
of the restored whole more readily suggests the meanings of the several
parts. The amateur may here catch the full expressions, and the artist
the true canon, of Greek sculpture. In this point of view, the reading-
made-easy of the Parthenon, with its sculptures, is an invaluable lesson
set up in our schools of Arts. While the mere sentiments of the Arts
finds here its full satisfaction in perfect beauty of forms, the intefligent
student perceives how little the secret of that satisfaction is dependent
upon the forms themselves. The principles of art are all summed up in
this great and perfect work ; yet the work, while involving all the truths
vrhich |are necessary to perfection, is not the truth itself, but only one
perfect and harmonious form of its expression. The careful reader of this
magnificent poem, with the full epic before him — who sees how its endless
varieties of detail all tend to the production of one great unity of thought,
cannot overlook the leading .secret which lies at the bottom of all excel-
lence in Art, — and so takes a lesson which has been greatly needed in the
modern schools. In every page of this matchless book is enforced the
great and eternal principle of Jit ness. No single word has the chisel
written on this immortal volume which has not a meaning — and those
meanings are one, and such as could be directly understood and fully
tasted by the national heart to which ihey are addressed. He who takes
these mere forms, and reconstructs them in the heart of London, is but the
anatomist of sculpture — and scarcely that ; the resurrectionist who pro-
duces from its tomb the skeleton of Art — a worthless thing, now the living
soul is gone out of it. The secret of their meaning in Greece is that of
their no-meaning here : and the sculptor learns, from such works them-
selves, that he can, for the most part, only adopt the principles of the
Greek by rejecting his combinations. The language of Art, when rightly
learnt, will be found to be universal — and, therefore, universally intelli-
gible; but he who has wholly different things to express must seek wholly
different expressions. The Gods of Greece, who were all at home upon
their own Athenian hill, are strangers, every one, in the streets of London
and Paris. The true teaching of Greek sculpture forbids to copy it.
The letter of Greek Art is a dead thing, amid the changes of the world ;
but its spirit is immortal amid the ruins — and speaks and breathes from
every mutilated page of this great book.

The materials which Mr. Lucas has had to assist him in his work of
restoration are the drawings made by Carrey, in 1675, for the Marquis de
Nointel, before the Parthenon sulTered its last great dilapidations at the
bands of the Venetians — the work of Stuart and Kevett on Athens, who
saw the ruin in 17.il, when the Ilissus and the Torso of the group of Ce-
crops and Agraulaus maintained their place in the western pediment — the
comparatively perfect condition of the eastern pediment itself, as drawn
by all these artists ; from which Mr. Lucas has deduced very ingenious
consequences of his own for a restoration of the eastern pediment, in oppo.
sitinn to those of Quatremere de Quincy and Edouard Gerhard, and dif-
fering from those of Lusieri and Mr. Cockerell — the scanty hints of Pau-
sanias — the works of Spon and Whelcr, the Chevalier Brondsted and Pro-
fessor M^elcker — the advice and arguments of Colonel Leake, Professor
Cockerell, Mr. Hawkins, and Mr. Pittakis, the present curator of the
Parthenon — and the most invaluable document of all, the actual remains
in the Elgin Uoom of the British Museum. The principal question which
presented itself for solution was that of the eastern pediment — of which
Pausanias merely says that it related to the creation of Minerva; while
the western had reference to the contest of that goddess with Neptune for
the territory of Attica. In the latter case, however, the drawings of Car-
rey, made from the sculptures themselves when the pediment was nearly
perfect, are better evidence of the intentions of Phidias than the casual
remark of Pausanias, — and demonstrate that his expression will not strictly
describe their subject. It is evident that the victory of Minerva in this
contest, rather than the actual contest itself, is expressed in the pediment
in question : and Mr. Lncas demands merely a similar latitude in the cor-
rection of the loose language of Pausanias, as the basis of his restoration
of the eastern pediment. A liberal construction of the word yivems,he
contends, will render it unnecessary to suppose that the very act of the.
creation was intended to be described as the subject, — and will let in any
of the incidents attendant upon that great mythological event, the advent
of Minerva. But it is to be observed, that it is not in the mere idle spirit
of speculative amendment that this correction is proposed, but under the
compulsion of the principles on which Phidias wrought, ss written in
every other part of this great work. " Keeping," says the sculptor, in
some printed remarks on the Parthenon, wherein he has very ably stated
his own views, " stedfastly in our minds the means by which Phidias has
produced so sublime a result in^he western pediment, we will endeavour

to approach the eastern one in the same spirit. The manner and method
in wiiich the myth was rei)resenled in the western pediment open to us the
understanding of the caster pediraental composition ; and if we apply this
mode of viewing the subject to this eastern pediment (of which we have
noticed tlie entire destruction of the central portion in the early times), we
may feel quite sure that the myth must have been treated in a manner
equally satisfactory. . . Hence we have little doubt that the resto-
ration of the eastern pediment, proposed by Brondsted and executed by
Quatrenicie de (Ouincy, where Vulcan is represented as having cleft open
the head of Jupiter, and one of the two goddesses who preside over births
is drawing out a little figure of Minerva, while the other is supporting Ju-
piter as though he were fainting under the agonies of child-birth, can
never be an adequate expression of Phidias'sown design. It may be said
that Homer's description is sufficient warrant for Q. de Quincy's restora-
tion ; yet still we feel that the strict letter of the poet is inapplicable to pe-
dimental composition. Homer describes the glorious form of Minerva as
rising from the brain of Jupiter, and all Nature struck with awe at the
splendour of her form and golden plumage; but in the adaptation of that
moment to sculpture, the glorious form of \\'isdom sinks into an insigni-
ficant puppet. And hence we have no reason to suppose that the exist-
ence of such a subject on a patera (itself taken from a picture) was any
motive with Phidias for the selection of that which, as well from scanti-
ness of space as from unlitness of material, could not be treated with pro-
priety. Nor did the incongruity of the French conception of the subject
escape the eye of Flaxman; who, in his lectures, observes, that the com-
position was no doubt filled, not by a representation of the actual birth of
Minerva, but rather, as would be far more fitting in a temple peculiarly
dedicated to her honour, by tlie introduction of the goddess to the august
assemblage of the gods on Olympus — a subject in the highest degree im-
posing, and admitting of a sculptural treatment of the greatest majesty.
And this view of the subject is also taken by Mr. Cockerell ; who has de-
monstrated that the fragment on the floor of the Elgin Room was the base
of the statue of Minerva in the eastern pediment — a judgment in which
M. Welcker entirely coincides with him. '

This view of the matter Blr. Lucas has himself adopted ; and out of such
fragments as remain, with what we know positively from Carrey of their
place, — supplying the blanks from inferences and reasonings whose artis-
tic soundness are deserving of great commendation — he has reconstructed
the whole into a splendid composition ; which, if not the true one, is cer-
tainly in a Greek spirit, — and where the parts filled up offer no discord
with what remains of the ancient text.

One valuable lesson Mr. Lucas has drawn from the consideration Of
these pediments — which we must not omit. The sculptures that adorn
them — or rather of which they are composed — so far from being arbitrarily
confined within the pedimental lines, as barriers which the genius of the
sculptor must not venture to infringe — a practice that gives to the figures
on pediments in general the charatiler of mere after-thoughts for the em-
bellishment of the building, are here, by latitude in the size and projection
of the figures, not only made to seem an original and expressive part of
the great intention, but the effect of a bold and beautiful variety to the eye
is thus obtained by the same simple act of mastery which gives this addi-
tion to the unity of the thought. " I have the highest authority," says Mr.
Lucas, '* for stating that not one modern pediment has been constructed in
accordance with the rules which this pediment of Phidias prescribes to us;
and as to the sufficiency of this example as a rule, we have the united tes-
timony of all authorities on the subject, that this pedimental construc-
tion contained the result of seven hundred years' experience, — and that
used by the discretion of Phidias."

We cannot follow iNIr. Lucas at length, through all the parts of his res-
toration. The frieze is reconiposed in its entirety, on the outer wall of the
cellar — the existing parts being made to suggest the lost. The columns
are restored to the interior in a double row, Mr. Lucas having finally de-
cided, as a choice amongst difficulties (for this is the point on which the evi-
dence is most contradictory and the decision the least satisfactory), on Co-
rinthian placed above Ionic. The Goddess is replaced in the glorions
shrine which was built up for the sole purpose of containing her idea, hi
her garment of ivory and gold, and with her rich sculptural accessories,
as described by Pausanias and seen on ancient coins and gems. The
missing metopes are restored, the subjects supplied being in every case
sought from coins and vases, and for this purpose on a principle of con-
nexion suggested by a judicious consideration of those which exist, in fact or
in drawing. Even the shields, of whose former presence on the exterior of
the temple the traces remain, are here replaced, — though nothing can be
known of the devices which they contained — that no feature maybe wanting
to convey the general effect of the whole. The adoption of these devices is,
therefore, confessedly, quite conjectural — but not quite arbitrary, notwith-
standing. They have been selected from vases, coins, and the work Monv-
mnes Im'dits, published by the Institute of Rome, which contains a large
number of the shields of Minerva. Mothing has been left out that could be
authenticated, — or restored upon presumptive testimony furnished by the
temple itself. Only in the case of the Polychromatic adjuncts, of which
evidence is supposed to exist, has Mr. Lucas (with that same sobriety of
judgment whicli has ruled his enthusiasm throughout this work, — and which
is but the deep passion for his theme, chastened by the reverence with
which he approaches it,) refrained — because, as he says, it cannot be demon-
strated that they were as early as the period of Phidias — and because, " as
it appeared to me to impair the chasteness of the temple, I am not called on

16

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[January,

to run any risk of making a gaud of tliis restoration of tlie Parthenon, or to
depart from that severe simplicity which is the characteristic of all the art
of Phidias."

In one other point of view, \vc rejoice at tlic adoption of tliis model hy
the Museum ; — we think it calculated to help the siulptor to his place in
England, and inspire him with the determination to take it. Nowhere does
the genius of sculpture seem so yreat as in the Parthenon. There is no
other work in which its marvels have heeu turned to such epic account ; and
though we liesitate to go all the way with Mr. Lucas, who supposes the
temple itself to have been designed as a mere pedestal for the foot of the
<jenius — a frame for the sculptor to work on — yet certain it is that if, in
this unrivalled union of ,the Arts, there be one spirit that presides over the
others with authority, it is sculpture. But the true lesson taught hy this
temple is the oneuess and entirety of Art — the joint and harmonious contri-
bution of its several forms to the production of a great whole — the emhodi.
ment of a perfect thought — in proportions varying with the demands of the
particular subject. 'I'hat splitting into separate members of the great family
of Art, which has left something unsatisfactory in its best achievements in
England, is authoritatively rebuked in presence of this majestic result pro-
duced by their combination. Most of all, in this presence, is that ignorant
error detected which has assigned to sculpture, amongst ourselves, a lower
-place than the highest in Art. Hy academicians who have given it the coal-
hole, it is well it should be seen here with the glory on its brow; and the
sculptor who is content to work as the mere decorator to the architect —
called in to ornament, as with mere artistic surplusage, /lis finished and self-
reliant design — may learn how, as a master, sculpture wrought in Greece.
The architect and the sculptor, where they are not one, must jjltin together.
Sculpture must be a portion of the sou! of great architectural works, not
their garment, ere the one or the other can achieve, with us, the marvels
which have testified so long in vain of the old Greek spirituality. Till
sculpture shall be architectoric, its great destinies cannot be accomplished
amongst us. The sculptor who comes fresh from the study of the Parthenon
will feel that he is a minister in the very highest place of Art ; and the
public, instructed by the same great revelation, will, if the former he true
to himself, help to get him his own again in the new era of Art which is
daw-niiig over England.

Ihe other model is as yet unfinished— and unpurchased. We trust the
Museum will add it to the other ; and shall have some words to say of it
when complete. The models are, severally, twelve feet in length hy nearly
sis in width.

REGISTER OF NEW PATENTS.

If additioral information be required respecling any patent, it may be obtained at tlie
office of tliis Jouniul.

John Cleveland Palmer, of East Iladdara, for " Improvements in
mac/linen/ for maklny augurs," in:. — Granted -March 17 ; Enrolled Septem-
ber 17, 1845.

The object of the mechanism is for manufacturing the " single twist"
augur, usually made of a rod of metal, twisted round a cylinder into a helical
curve. The augur which the inventor's machinery is intended to manufac-
ture is to be formed of a long rod of metal (cither of a triangular or other
proper shape, in its cross section). The iron should be rolled in square bars
or rods, of the size required, and be cut into pieces of sufficient length, to
make the tool or instrument intended. A small piece of steel of proper size
for the cutting lip, (and the conical screw, if it is to be added,) is next
welded upon one end of each one of the said pieces, and the end is next
turned or bent down, at right angles to the remainder, upon an anvil, so as
to fit into the cavityof the lower section of the dies, for forming the lip, or
the lip and screw cone. About three-fourths of the length of the rod from
the steel knob, is next heated to the necessary temperature, to he rolled
down by the next portion of the machinery. The next portion of the pro-
cess of manufacturing the augur consists in forming the cutting lip, or the
cutting lip and conical screw blauk upon its end. For this purpose, dies are
employed to form the lip without the conic blank. The head of steel being
heated, is placed between tiic dies, and the upper of them caused to descend,
with the force necessary to swedge or compress the metal into the shape
required. The knob thus formed , is next bent down to the angle required,
to be applied to tne machine, by which the rod is twisted in the helical
curve. The next operation is, to give the requisite degree of uniformity to
the size and spread of the ^twist, which is accomplished hy hammering in
the machine, consisting of a trip hammer, arranged and operated over and
upon a die anvil or bed-piece, grooved out, so as to receive the twisted
heli.v when laid thereon. IJy turning the augur around, first in one direction
and next in the opposite, successively, so as to cause it to pass back and
forth between the hammer and bed-piece or anvil, the twist is spread out in
a uniform manner. The lower part of the hammer should be curved to cor-
resj)ond with the circumference of the exterior of the twist of the augur.
The twisted portion of the augur is again heated, and rolled between heavy
iron plates, for the purpose of straightening the twist, during which opera-
tion, care shouhl be taken that the cutting lip of the augur does not come in
contact with the plates. The augur is next to be finished hy filing, and
upon grinding and polishing wheels, or by other proper means, in such man-
ner as may be desirable; and when a screw is to be connected with the

cutting lip, it may be cut upon the blank by any contrivance adapted to the
pur|>ose.

William Robinson IMilley and George Mason, jun., of Ipswich,
contractors, for " improremcnls in coUeclinff mil raising stone or substances
from below tta/er."— Granted April 2 ; Enrolled October 2, 1845.

This invention is chiefly intended for raising cement stone from below
water olT West Hock, near Harwich, or other places similarly circum-
stanced, which at present is performed by sailing vessels, the dredging hags
being raised hy manual labour. The object of t'his invention is to apply the
power of steam in a suitable vessel to drag dredging hags, and to raise them
and cement stone, or other matters collected thereby, into the vessel.

Thomas Moss, Esq., of Gainsford-street, Barnsbury-road, for " Improte-
ments in printing and preparing bankers' notes, cheque's, and other paprrs,for
ihe better pretention of fraud." Granted, April 22 ; enrolled Uctober 22
1845.

This invent:on consists in impressing patterns on the surface of paper
used as bankers' notes, and other documents, on which designs or letters
have been or are intended to be printed, that the paper so treated will he
smooth on one side, whilst the other side will have a pattern indented
thereon, so as to produce the appearance of a reticulated surface. The
apparatus consists of a pair of steel rollers, one plain and the other engraved
with the reverse of the pattern to he formed on the paper; and pressed
heavily down upon tlie plain roller. The paper then becomes indented with
the pattern or design ; and if the engraved roller he inked, as in surface
printing, the indented pattern will at the same time be eoloured.

Joseph Hill, of Ipswich, Suffolk, wireworkcr, for "Improvements in
manufacturing wire fabrics for blinds and other uses." Granted May G ;
enrolled November C, 1815.

The first improvement consists in giving a corrugated form to woveu
wire fabrics, to obtain greater stiffness, and render them more useful for
making blinds, and other purposes. Ihe corrugated form is given by
passing the wire between two grooved iron rollers ; the side of the corru-
gations will generally vary from A to f inch. The second improvement con-
sists in submitting woven wire fabrics to a process of embossing, so as to
produce ornamental patterns thereon. A die is formed of brass or other
metal, with the pattern upon it in relief; over this is placed a sheet of
" vulcanized India-rubber," \ inch thick; and then, by means of a powerful
screw-press, the wire fabric is pressed down upon the die, and the required
embossing is produced. The employment of the India-rubber renders a
counter die or matrix unnecessary; and the same sheet of India-rubber
may, as it is plain, be used with different dies.

Fredebick Ransome, of Ipswich, engineer, for " Iicprovements in
combining small coal and other matters, and in preserving icood." Granted
May 10 ; enrolled November 10, 1845.

The invention consists in combining small coal with a solution of silica
or siliceous cement, mads by dissolving 1001b. of crystallized carbonate of
soda in as much WF.ter as will make a solution of 1,150 sp. gr. at a tempera-
ture of 00', and the soda is rendered caustic by the addition of lime ; or,
instead of carbonate of soda, 501b. of carbonate of potash are dissolved ia
the requisite quantity of water, and rendered caustic by means of lime.
This caustic alkaline solution is introduced, along with about 1001b. of
finely-bruken flints or other siliceous substances, into an iron boiler or
digester, and the mixture is kept for ten or twelve hours at a temperature of
about 300° Fahr.. being at the same time frequently stirred. When suffi-
ciently incorporated, the mixture is passed through a sieve, to remove any
undissolved stone therefrom, and it is then evaporated until its specific
gravity is increased to 1,500, at a temperature of 60°. The cement or solu-
tion is now fit for use ; or, if too thin, it may be brought to the required
consistence by evaporation, or by the addition of sand, or of calcined flints
in a finely-powdered state ; if too thick, it can he reduced with water. The
mode of combining small coal into blocks is, by mixing any suitable quan-
tity of coal-dust or small coal with from A^jth to i^th of its weight of the
siliceous cement, which is put into moulds, and subjected to pressure ; after
which it is allowed to dry in the air, and then placed in an oven or hot
room. For pressing timber, the wood is saturated or impregnated with a
solution of silica, in such a manner as to cement the fibrous part of the
wood with the silica, so as to form a solid and durable mass. The wood is
placed in an air-tight vessel, from which as much air is abstracted as is
practicable, by an air-pump or other convenient means ; a sufficient quantity
of siliceous cement to cover the wood is then admitted, and, in order to
cause the cement to penetrate further into the pores of the wood than
would he effected naturally, artificial pressure is applied, by means of a
pump; when removed, the wood is immersed in some acidulated or saline
solution, which will render the silica insoluble.

18-16]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

17

RAILWAYS OF BELGIUM.
By JoHiN ANDtRsoN, Esq., F.R.S.S.A.

{Abrirlgef! from a Taper read before the Royal Scottish Society of Arts.)
The accumul,ited leDgth of the Belgian railroads amounts to 348 miles.

They consist partly of a double and partly of a sinftle way of 4 ft. ?.;, in.
betwixt the rails of the track, and a distance of G ft. GJ in. betwi.vi ihc iaii-
roads. — Tlie following table sives the length and cos! of tlie ditiWreut lines,
the stations thereon, and the total cost of the whole establishment :

Lines.

Length of

Cost of Lines.

Cost of stations

Total Cost.

Cost per

Remrirl:.'?, with reference

Lines.

per Line.

'

Mile.

to the Estimate:;.

£

£

£

£

Brussels to .\ntwerp (including branch from the station

of Borgerhout to tlie Scheldt)

29-028

303,378-12

228,061-48

531,439-60

18,308

Double way.

JIalines to Ostend

76-025

633,350-24

84,847-76

718,198-00

9,447

Double way to Ghent.

Malines to Ans (including branch to the Canal at Lou-

vain)

55-100

743,458-92

42,658-08

786,11700

14,267

Double way.

Ans to the Prussian frontiers (including branch to the

interior of Liege)

29-500

1,240,303-47

132,40000

1,372.703-47

46,532

Double way to Verviers.

Landen to St. Trond

6-350

48,336-72

6,82308

55,159-80

8,686

Single way.

Ghent to Cmirtray

27-130

170,923-88

17,900-00

188,823-88

6,960

Single way.

Courtray to the French frontiers

9-359

131,00000

8,920-00

139,920-00

14,950

Double way.

Monscron to Tournay

11-890

iii,5(;o-oo

10,520-00

122,080-00

10,2S7

Single way.

Urnssels to Quievrain

50'127

648,875-94

99,011-96

747,887-90

14,920

Part double way.

Braine-le-Comte to Namur . .

50-699

563,239-39

75,S00;i)0

639,039-39

12,004

Single way; but embankments
for a double w-ay.

Junction of Stations at Brussels

2-914

29,546-04

29,546-04

10,139

348-122

4,623,972-72

706,942-36

5,330,91508

15,313

Material of Transport ..
Total General Expense. .

823,921-12

0,154,836-20

Up to the end of 1842, 271 -oST miles had been constructed ; and in the
autumn of last year the first way, and piobably more, of the remaining
lines had been completed. On taking an average of the cost of the British
railways, it will be found that those in England cost fully double, and
those of Scotland and Ireland fully a thiid, more than those of Belgiiini.
Eien the French railnays.on the following average, are constructed at
nearly double the expense of the Belgian lines : —

Per Mile.

£10,000
20,000
S9,000

The line from Lyon to St. Etienne cost, in round numbers
I'aris to Versailles
Pitris to St. Germaia
In (he Belgian lines, both parallel aai fish-bellied rails are used. Thci-e
is nothing particular iu their mode of laj ing them down. Tiie ballasting
consists.of sand and giavel, and, from various circumstances, formed a con-
siderable item in the expenditure : —

f. d.

Between Waremme and Ans,

it cost h

5:^ per cubic yard.

Louvaia and Tirlemont

6

9i

TirlemODtand Waremaie

5

6\

Denvze and Courtray

5

1

Landen and St. Trond

4

/

Malines and Antwerp

3

113

aialines and 'Terraonde

.-i

liij

Glicnt and Deynze

3

10

Bruges and Ostead

3

H

Maliaes and Louvain

2

8i

Teroioode and Ghent

2

s

Glieot and Bruges

2

71

Brussels and Tu'jise

2

rt

lilalines and Brussels

1

115

Weight and cost of rails.

The rails were furnished in 18:i4-35.3G 37, and at different times in the
follovs'ing years, iu lengths of 15 feet, IG4 feet, and 14-8 feet. Those of
15 feet were furnished of diiferent weights, weighing 40-1 lb., 39 71b., 35-3
lb., 43 71b., 54 5 lb. to the lineal yard ; those of 17-4 feet weighing o0-41b.,
and those of 14-8 feet weighing 50-4 and 48-S lb. to the lineal yard. Tlie
whole rails are of the manufacture of the country, with the exception of
about 200 tims, which were brought fiom England in IS34, to serve as
model.-;. Their price during the tirst four or live years varied very much ;
no doubt fruiu the coriipetitioo to which the extensive demand give rise.
The ton of rails, which could be furnished at Malines, for instance, in 1834,
for \Al, {'2s. 6(i., rose to 15/. 4s. 6d. and 18^ \s. Gd., and descended again
to nl. Is., 13/. 16s., and came even so low, in 1840, as lOZ. Gt/., but rose
again the stime year toll/. 8s. Gd. Those, however, produced in 1840
were much inferior to the rails first manufactured in the couuti-y. Until
1838, chairs, keys, and spikes, were fui-nished with the rails ; but since
that time the contractors have bargained to supply them separately. The
ton of chairs, in 1834, was supplied at 10/. 7s., but rose the year following
t«> JO/. 1.5s., and, iu ISSli, to 12/. 16s., 13/. 4s., and 14/. 4s. ; aiid. in ge-
neral, fluctuated with the price of rails. Keys and spikes, iu 1834, cost
22/, 7s. per ton, and rose the following year to 24/. 3s. Od.,21/. lis. 6d. In
1S2C-7, they varied from 2S/. 9s. to 30/. is. ; and, in 1838, came down,

after many fluctuations, to 24/. 7s. Cd., and 23/. 19. 7d In short, the cost
iu general, likewi:>e varied iu proportion with the rails and chairs. '

Principal Works.

From inexperience or oversight, the section from Brussels to Malines
was made upon so low a level that it -was often overflown by the Seuue
which greatly damaged, and sometimes even perfectly obstructed, the rail-
way. I'he rails, moreover, were too weak, and Ihe sleepers made from
white and [line wood. Froim these circumstances, it became necessary to
raise the railway at least upwards of a foot and a half, and protect the
banks, and form viaducts through which t\ie waters could flow. The old
rails were nearly all thrown aside, and others of greater strength laid down,
and the sleepers subjected to M. Bouchene's process for the preservation
of wood. Between Brussels and Quievrain. the ground on several sections
consists of peat, and bogs; on this account it has been necessary to build
a greater part of ti.e bridges on piles, aud raise the railway in some places
13 feet; the tunnel of Braine-le-C'omte is 16 4 feet of span, and 25-7 chains
in length.

From a short distance from Malines the railway begins to ascend to Ans.
The works upon the line, though numerous, are light. The greatest un-
dertaking is the tunnel of Cumpiich, which has been lately cmistrucied for
the double way. It is entirely built of brick, and is 20-6 feet in height
ani 45 73 chains in length. The heavy works, however, of the Bel>>-ian
railroads only begin at Ans, where the railway descends into the valley of
Ihe Meuse.

The Liege lacline.
Ans stands upon the west bank of the valley of the Meuse, about 581
feet above the level of the sea ; and Liege is situated in the bottom of the
valley, about 358 feet below Ans. The distance betwiitt Ans and the
.Meuse at Liege is 4 miles 9 chains, thus making on the length of the line
the general gradient about 1 in GO. To descend ibis valley'was a matter
of no little difiiculty, and it was only after many years' study, in whii-h
time numerous projects were examined, that the ailministratioQ saw the
necessity of descendiug it by inclined planes. The plan adopted by them
consists of two inclined planes of equal lengths, with a platform or level
space of ground, on which the engines are placed, situated at the bottom
of the first and the summit of the second incline. The platform is about
IG; chains in exteut, and the inclines 1 mile llr| chains each of length, of a
rise of 1 in 36, both of which are constructed with a double way, the one
beiug employed for ascendiug, and the other for descending. Referring to
the section, the railway proceeding from Ans describes a curve of 1 mile
37 chains of radius, and descends the lirst incline. Having crossed the
platform, it descends the second iucliue, and arrives at the principal station
of Liege. The trains descend the inclined planes by gravitation, their ve-
locity being regulated by drags attached to the carriages and wagons. Two
lixed engines, of 160 horse povver each, are placed on the platform for
raising the trains, which is accomplished by means of an endless rope. Both
engines being situated cl"Se together, are supplied with stuam from tl^e
same boilers. The system of signals, we are tohl, they employ, is some-
what noiel : — -\. lube of fully one inch diameter is laid along the railwi-.y.
E loh of its ext--emities communicates with the interior of a bell, the moeti
of which is immersed in water. Into the top of the bell a whittle is fixed

18

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[January,

which, 89 in the caso of the lonomotite whistle, acts by the vibration of the
nielal. When it is required to cnmniunicate the rime if departure of any
of llic trams from either station, the signal-man has oul> to shut offconi-
niuDicalioii with the whislle, and immerse the bell further amongst the
water. The air in the one btll will thus be forced, by pressure, ibrough
the tube into tlie other bell at the further end of the tube, and will escape
by passing tlirou);h, and at thi- same lime acting upon, the whistle.

Nothing strikes the traveller sn much with astonishmi-ut, when he de-
scends the valley ol the Meuse, and enters that of Verviers, as the contrast
the face of the country presents to that which he a few minutes ago left.
The scenery, indeed, as soon as he leaves Aus, is entirely changed. In-
stead of the Bat and monotonous country through which he has just passed,
he is ushered into a finely varied district of lulls and valleys. The number
and extent of the dill'erent works of art he observes, tell him also of the na-
ture of the country through which he is passing, and the difficulties which
the engineer encountered iu the execution of this part of the national system
of railroads.

It may be remarked, that, in the execution of the different works o''art
throughout the different lines, the workmanship is inferior to that of similar
undertakings in this couulrj ; and that also in their construction, due at-
tention has always been paid to the fortifications of the towns by which
the Tculway passes.

Curves and Oradkiits.

The curves and gradients, as necessarily follows, from the extent of the
different lines, vary very much, and present many of the results which arise
from their existence on railways in general. The radii of the principal
curves are as follows :— 3-73 chains ; 944 chains, (both on the branch of
Louvain to the canal); 9 94 chains; 1243 chains; 17-4 chains; 18 14
chains; 19-88 chains; 24 25 chains; 2'J-83 chains; 348 chains; 37-28
chains; 39 77 chains; 43-74 chains; 44 74 chains; 49-71 chains; 54-68
chains; 59-65 chains; 62-14 chains; 67 I chains; 69-59 chains; 72 58
chains ; 74-56 chains ; 7954 chains ; and I mile 45 chains.

The most important gradients are : —

That towards Waremme, at the station of Landen, of 1 in 241, of 2 mileS
39 chains in length.— That towards Tirlemont. at the station of Louvain, of
1 in 250, of 3 miles 58 chains in lengih. — That between Tubiseand Biaiue-
le-Comte, of 1 in 200, of 5 miles 47 chains in length —That on the branch
from Louvain to th'' canal, of I in 71, of 32 chains in length. — That be-
twixt Jurbise and Hraine-le-Cumte, of 1 in 250, of 4 miles 3 chains in
length —That betwixt Mous and Jurbise, of 1 iu 250, or 6 miles 42 chains
in length.

Slat ions.

The stations throughout the difTerent lines are numerous, and, in generab
neat and commodious buildings. Antwerp, Brussels, Malmes, and Ghent,
are reckoned of the first order, and comaius the warehouses and arsena'
for provision and material. Ample accommodation is set apart in them
for passengers ; one large room bdiiig always devoted to first and second,
and another to third class, passengers. The next stations in importance
to these are, Bruges, Termonde, Louvrin. and Tirlemont ; and then the
minor stations upon the diH'»renl subdivisions of tlie line. Malines was,
from th.- very first, chosen as the central station through which the greatest
numbei of passengers was expected Inflow; and it was al»o fixed upou
as the workshop for the repairs of the heavy machinery, and ofthe railways
in general throughoi.i the country, the workshops at any ofthe other sta-
tions being only of a secondary importance. But. notwilhslanding its
many advantages, Brussels has become the principle station, and draws
one-fourth of the receipts ofthe whole ofthe ditlerent lines. In consequence
of tins uuexpecied result it became necessary to build a more extensive
st.itiun at the north of Brussels. The stations, with the exception of
Ostiiid, Bruges, and Ghent, are placed without the towns, for the purpose
of evading the local taxes, which can only be accomplished by placing
them beyond the houndarh s of the excise. Tickets for the trains are is-
sued from the windows of the dilierent offices ; and, to avoid conlusiun
during a crowd, stalls are erected tlnongh which the pa>sengers pass one
b> one, ri-ceive their checks, and return by a passage parallel to the one
h\ whiih they entered If the traveller has luggage exceeding 44 1b.
weight, he has to proceed to the luggage depot, where it is weighed, and
he IS charged a trilling sum per lb. L'pon paying this su u he receives a
ticket with a number marked upon it, corresponding to one which is put
upon his luggage. From this time he sees no more of his property until he
arrives at hi= destinaii.m, wliere it is brought from the luggage-wagon, and
rhe nnmiier marked npnu it called out by one of the olHcers in attendance,
who reiurus it to its owner on pieseuting the ticket which he had received.

Locomotive Engines.

The locomotive engines, at the Ist of January 1843, were 129 in number,
42 of which were made in England, and the ri-niaiiider in Belgium. Of
tiicse, '.;5 are in good working order, and 34 undergoing rei airs. In addi-
tion to tlie.-e, however, 10 were iu course of being consiriRted, which »« ill
make, in all, 139. The following table gives the makers' names, and the
niiiiiher each has made; with the diameter of the cyliuders and driving
wuceU ; —

Diameter

Diameter

Number by

Makers* Names.

of

of DrivinR

Numltpr of

each

Cylinder.

WtieeH.

fach ftize.

Maker.

England.

fll inches

5 feet

n

12 ..

Il2i ..
^ 12J ..

5 ..

6|

Stephenson

54 ..

;[

30

. 11 ..

4i ..

■\

lu ..

5 ..

ij

Londgridge and Co.

12J ..

5i ..

10

10

Fenton and Murray

12 ..

5 ..

1

1

Sharp, Koberts, and Co. . .

12 ..

5 ..

1

1

Belgium.

ni ..

5 ..

12-]

Cockerill

J 12 ..
1 12J ..

5 ..

27 1
20

69

Ll4 ..

H ..

10,

Soc. St.-Leonard

r 12 ..

tl3 ..

5 ..

5^ ..

5}

7

(12i ..

5 ..

1

Soc. du Renard

i 12i ..

5^ ..

5 .

11

Il3 ..

H ..

5.
Total. .

129

Fuel.

The coke r* quired for the consumption ofthe locomotives is manufactured
at Monplaisir, Malines. Antwerp, Ghent, Ostend, Aus, and Hal: and
costs at these places respectively, 1/. 4s. 2ir|., \l. 3s. Il^d , 1/. 7s. 7|d.,
\l. 3s. 8id., \l 5s. 2Jd., 17s Ojl., and \l. Is. 5d. per ton. The quanuty
consumed in 1841, in running over 927 080 miles, was 29 303 tons, or
70-80 lb. per mile. This is including, however, the quantity required for the
rewrve ■>ind lighting. v!\\\A\ amounted to 4399 tons, and which, if deducted,
will make the consumption 60 17 lb. per mile. In 1842, the distauce run
over was 987,432 miles, and the total quantity of coke consumed was
28,317 tons, or 64 24 lb. per mile. The quantity required for the rtserce
and lighti'ii; was 563 i tons, and which, if deducted, will make the con-
sumption 51-46 lb. per mile.

Cai-riflg-fs.

The carriages consist of three classes, as they do in this country, hut are
much more commodious, and. in some cases, vastly superior in comfort.
I'or example, second class carriages possess not only windows, but the
seats are cushioned, and almost as coinl'orlable as those of the first class,
though, perhaps, a little less elegani. F.ven third class carriag-s have
covered seats, and very often roofs supported upon perpendicular iron rods
fixed at the corners ot ihe carnages. The seais are placed iransversely,
and wi'huut any proper mode of entrance, which is a great inconvenience
to passengers; and the doors are, in every case, unlocked, but are held
close by a catch, which can bj opened and shut from either aide of the
carriage.

The rate of travelling, generally, is about 2ft miles per hour ; but on
some lines, on account of the gradients, it varies from 19 to i5 miles per
hour.

Power of the Engines on Inclines.

The greatest gradient, with the exception of that betwixt Ans and Liesre,
is I in 71 on the branch Iroin Lonvain to the canal. A locomotive, ol a 12J
inch cvlindcr, and driving wheels of 5 J feet diameter, can ascend tins slopt-
with A train of three loaded and three empty wagons, of a lotul weight of
about 44| Ions; but a locomotive of a 14 inch cylinder, withinupled
driving wiieels of 45 feet, can ascend it Willi six loaJed and tliree empty
wagons, of a total weight of about 09 tons, Ihe rate of travelling in both of
these cases being three miles per hour. From a curve in several parts of
this lin-, however, of 3 73 chains of radius, it is thought to be more con-
venient to work it with horses. .\ strong horse npnu this incline can diavir
a wagon ot about six tons w eight, at the rate of 2i miles per hour.

On the luclinatiiiu beiwixt Tubise and Braine le-t'onite of 1 in 200, two
trains, of 16 and 17 carriages each, with a total weight of 88j to 9si tons,
and a lucomoiive of a I2J inch cylinder, and driving wheeU ot a\ leei dia-
meter, were unable lo proceed in iiiifavourable vvea.her. At aiioiber time,
equally unfavourable, an engine <if the same size look up two (rains of 13
and 11 carnages each, with a total weight ofalioiit 88^ and 78| tons, with
great difficulty. On the inclination betvvnl Jurbise and Soiiinies of 1 in
250, two trains, of 12 and 13 carriages each, vviih from 78j lo s^J tou-i,
and an engii.e of the same dinieuaions could not ascend. A third, now-
ever, with 13 carriages of 884 tons, succeeded in mounting the alope.

From these observations it was concluded, that the greatest weight with
which an engine of a 12j inch cylinder, and driving wheels of 5j feel dia-
nieler, can ascend either of these inclinations, is from 88^ lo 9-^ ions in
ordinary weather, but otherwise with only Ironi 73 J to 78j iout> »t ah Ihe
same of cylinder, however, eilher of these iu. nncs can oe ascended wiili
09 tons, at a velocity from about Vil to laj miles per hour; or, wi.li an
engine of a cylinder of 14 inches diameter, about 108^ tons can be taken
up, at the rate ol about i:'i miles per hour.

IS JO.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

J9

On the inrlination betwixt Loiivain and Vertryck of I in 250, the follow
ins traius ascended witli difliculty in unfavourable weather : —

Tons total
Feet. Carriages. weij;)>t.

Dconio-

Inch

tive.

cylinder.

1

14

with couple

1

14

1

1-.'

not coupled

1

14

CL'upled

1

14

2
1
1
1

14
14
14
14

20

1373

23

147^

16

SSJ

18

13/3

24

1474

39

2703

18

lit*

22

1373

22

137J

From 1

6

. .„..i these experiments it was concluded, that a locomotive of a 14 inch
cyUnder. and coupled driving wheels of 4^ feel diameter, could asc( nd this
incline vviih ditliculty i" ordinsry weather, wiih from 137 1 to 117 J tons,
but during times of snow with only 09 Ions ; and a locomotive of a 12 inch
cylinder wilh driving-wheels of .i feetdiarneter, not coupled, could ascend,
in ordinary weather, with from 7!-;; to 'JSJ ions, and in times of snow with
from 44i lo 4'.) Ions. They ascend this slope regularly, however, with
trains oH^ii and lOSj tons, including the weight of Ihe locomotives of 12
and 14 inch cylinders, about the rate of 15j, and from 12| to 15j miles per
hour.

The whole railway buisness is under the management of a director, who
is under the control of llie Minister of Public Works. Il is divided into
four branches— namely, the general mar agement of the whole fystem ; the
management of ihe lines ; the l.icomotive depaitmeul ; the Iraffic of the
railway ; and the managemeni of the stations. The first of hese, generally
speaking, includes ihe other three, one of which consists in the manage-
ment of Ihe lines, and tlie finishing and constructing of new works of art ;
another in llie traction of the trains, the luanufaciuie of coke, and the ma-
na^enientof ihe arseusal at Malines, including the workshops for repairing
tbeloconioiives and carriages; and the third, in the niaiia;,ement of (he
stations and the passenger and merchandise tiatlic. Over each of ihise
four deparlmeiils a functionary, entitled Engineer-in-Chief, or Inspector of
Adminislraiiou, is placed, who furnishes an account of the proceedings of
his department to the Minister, and makes such proposals to him as he
thinks nece-saiy or advantageous. The propositions he submits are sent
fur examination to ihe Council or permauenl Commission of Ways and
Bridges llesides the surveillance exercised by the director, and the ag<'nts
under his orders, the Miuis'er causes all the works to examined by the
Inspecior-General.andby the Divisionary Inspector of Ways and Bridges;
and with the documents receiied from the dillereut departments, renders
an elaborate report of the whole business annually to the Chamber of De-
puties.

ICEBERGS OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS.
" Icebergs were seen in all stages of formation, from five to two hundred
feet above' the surface, and each exposed its stratification in horizontal
layers from six inches to four feet in thickness. When the icebergs are
fuilv fiirmpd they have a tabular and stratified appearance, and are pertectly
wall-sided v'aiyingfrom one hundred and eighty to two hundred and ten feet
in heiKht ' These were frequently found by us in their original situation,
attached 'to the land, and having the horizontal stratification distinctly

^"•'■'in' some places we sailed for more than fifty miles together along a
straicht and perpendicular wal', from one hundred and fifty to two hundred
feet in height wilh the land behind it. The icebergs found along the coast
afloat were from a quarter of a mile to five miles in length ; their separation
from the land may be etfected by severe fio.t rending them asunder, after
which the violent and frequent storms may he considered a sufBcieut cause to
overcome the attraction which holds them to the parent mass. In their
next stase they exhibit the process of decay, being found fifty or sixty miles
from the land.' and for the most part with their surfaces inclined at a con-
siderable angle to the horizon. This is caused by a change in the position
of the centre of gravity, arising from the abrading :.etion ot the waves.

" Bv our observations on the temperature of the sea, it is evident that
these ice islands can be little changed by the melting process before they
reach the latitude of 6U°. The temperature of the sea (as observed by the
vessels going to and returning from the south) showed hut little change
above this latitude, and no doubt it was at its maximum, as it was then the
height of the summer season. During their drift to the northward, on
reaching lower latitudes, and as their distance from the land increases, they
are found in all stages of decay, some forming obelisks, others towers and
eothic arches, and all more or less perforated; some cxhinit lofty columns,
with a natural bridge resting on them, of a lightness and beauty inconceiv-
able in any other material."— A'orra^jjie of Ike United States Exp.ormg
Expedition.

The Rattier screw-propelled steam-sloop, Commander Smith, is having an
aUered screw fittert ; the screw having proved a great drawback to her speed wh^n under
t^l a hachway is being cut from the upper deck down into the dead-wood, by which
means the sc"ew may be lilted up so as n ,t to impede her pro ress when under canvass,
^nd may heal ogether removed or replaced, if damaged, without g„ing into dock. An
ex?ra mfmber of miUwriBhls were put upon her yesterday to eet he. out ol hand as quickly
as possible.

EAST INDIA COMPANY'S NAVY.

The comparative strength of the East India Company's Navy at several
periods, from 1829 to the present day, will be seen from the Table here
subjoined.

1829.
Elphinstone . .
Amherst
Clive
Coote

Benares, 14 guns, surveying ship.
Ternate . . . . 12 guns

Thetis .. .. 12 „

Nautilus .. .. 12 „

Euphrates .. ..10 „

Tigris .. .. 10 „

Falinurus, 8 guns, surveying.

1832.
Hastings, 30 guns, frigate
Elphinstone .. 18 guns"!

Amherst ..18 .i I

Clive .. .. 18 „ f

Coote .. .. 18 „ J

Benares, 14 guns, surveying ship.
Ternate . . 12 guns']

Thetis ..12 „ i

Nautilus .. 12

Euphrates . . 10

Tigris .. 10

Palinurus . . 8

Shannon, 4 guns, schooner.
Royal Tiger, 4 guns, ditto.
Steam Vessel.
Hugh Lindsay.

1831.
Elphinstone
Aniherst
Clive
Coote

Benares, 14 guns, surveying ship.
Ternate .. 12 guns ~|

Thetis .. 12 ,

Nautilus ..12 ,

Euphrates ..10 ,

Tigris .. .. 10 ,

Palinurus .. .. 8 ,

Royal Tiger, 4 guns, schooner
Hastings, 30 guns, frigate.
Steam Vessel.
Hugh Lindsay.

I 1839.

Hastings,* Receiving ship.

il

J

;: j

Coote*

.. 18 guns

1 i

Clive*

.. 18 „

M

Elphinstone*

..18 „

[^

Tigris*

..10 „

1 i

Euphrates*

.. 10 „

\-^

Taptee*

.. 6 „

\'t

Constance*

.. 3 „

•u

Shannon

.. 4 „

S

Rnyal Tiger

.. 4 „

Mahi*

.. 3 „

OT

Nerhudda*
Margaret*

.. 2 „
.. 2 „

1"
J"

Palinurus*

.. 8 „

Brig

Steam

Vessels.

Atalanta.

Berenice.

Zembia.

Victoria.

Hugh Lindsay.

Seniiramis.

Euphrates . . ~|

Indus

Iron

Comet ....

Vessels.

Meteor ....

The Sailing Vessels marked thus * were attached to the Indian navy at the
close of 1844.

List of Steam Vessels attached to the Indian Navj a< the close of the Year

1844.

Name.

Tonnage.

Horse Power.

No. of Guns.

Achar

1143

350

6

Auckland

946

220

4

Sesostris

876

220

4

Semiramis

960

300

4

Atalanta

617

210

3

Berenicef

664

230

3

Cleopatra

770

220

6

Hugh Lindsay

411

160

2

Victoria

705

230

3

Zenobia

684

280

2

Indus

304

60

n

Medusa

432

70

3

Assyria

153

40

5

Comet

204

40

2

A

Conqueror

—

—

—

u

Meteor

149

24

—

>>

Meance

—

—

—

c:

Nirarod

153

40

5

o

Napier

—

—

—

""

Planet

335

60

2

Satellite

335

60

2
2.^

Nitocris

153

40

t It is understood that this vessel has been condemned, and the ' Queen,'
from Bengal, put on as a packet in her room.

2D

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[January,

EVAPORATIVE POWDER OF TURF, COMPARED WITH THAT
OF COAL.*

The following results, as to the comparative effective poster of turf and
coal, are deriveil from the working of the Lansilawue, one of ths steamers of
the Inland Xavigasion Company which ply upon the Shannon with goods
and passengers. I'hcy have been kindly placed in my hands for my present
object, by Mr. C. \V. Williams. Before the use of turf was introduced there
was burned in a week, which comprises forty-nine hours of work, twenty-
four tons of coal, which, costing on an average at Killaloe 13». per ton,
amount to 18/., or 7s. 5d. per hour. To do the same work at present, burn
ing nothing but turf, there are consumed per week 31.? boxes of turf, which,
at 7rl. per box, costs 9/. 12s. 7d., or 3s. lid. per hour of work — but a shade
more than half the cost with coal. The engines of the Lansdowne are con-
densing, of thirty-eight inches and a half diameter, and three feet and a half
stroke. The usual velocity is twenty-five strokes per minute.

The bo.x of turf contains twenty cubic feet ; not very closely packed. It
weighs about Si cwt. ; so that the ton weight of turf costs about 3s. 6d. The
weight of 315 ho.xes is hence fifty-five tons and a quarter, and the practical
value of the turf is to that of the coal as 24 to 55^, or as 43 to 100. It is
interesting to consider the influence which the substitution of turf for coal
in the Shannon steamers has on the population residing near its banks. In
the year 1839 there was no turf burned, and the coals consumed on board
the company's boats amounted to 3,108 tons. In 1843 there were burned
but 724 tons of coal, although the amount of trade was much increased.
The quantity of turf consumed was upwards of 7,000 tons, which, at 3s. Gd.
per ton, gives an expenditure of more than 1,200/. distributed in wages of
labour, by which almost the entire cost of the turf is made up. The equi-
valent quantity of coals would have cost above 1,800/., so that at the same
time the Company saved 600/. a-year.

Those remarkable facts are well exhibited in a letter written hv Jlr.
Williams to the Board of Admiralty, which is subjoined, as it illustrates
some additional circumstances. Mr. WiUiams's estimate of the saving is
greater than mine, for, in the preceding analysis of the results, I have taken
coal at a lower price than is assumed in his letter. The reason is, that it
has fallen since those results were obtained, and I have calculated from what
the price is, whereas he calculated from what it was at the time quoted : —
" 6, Princes Street, Cavendish Square, July 21st, 1843.

" Sir, — I have had the honour to receive your letter of the 12th instant,
addressed to tlie Secretary of the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company,
inquiring, for the information of the Lords Commissioners of the Ailmiralty,
the proportionate duration of turf to coal in the Company's boats which
ply up the Shannon from Limerick, to which I beg to give the fullowln"
reply, derived from experience of the boats on that river.

" The Lansdowne, a steamer with two engines 3S^ inch cy-
linders, at 3 ft. 6 in. stroke, consumed upon an average 120
tons of coal per month, running daily (except Sunday) a dis-
tance of forty-six miles, at 18s. per ton, covering expenses . £103 0 0

"The same duty is done with 1419 boxes of turf of twenty
cubic feet, about 250 ton weight, at 7d. per box 41 7 9

Difference in the cost of the fuel per month .... £60 12 3

"2. The difference iu weight is, therefore, as two of turf to one of coal,
and on the Shannon the difference in price is less than one-half that of coal.

" 3. Its proportionate duration may be estimated by the quantity required,
compared with coal to perform the same duty, that being double its weight ;
its duration in the furnace is half that of coal.

"4. From recent experiments with turf in the experimental boiler in the
Company's yard at Liverpool, it is found that turf can only be profitably
used when it is of the quality that is obtained in good seasons. If bad or
damp, its evaporative power is reduced one-third and more. To improve
tlie evaporative power of this fuel, however, results have shown that an
addition of 40 per cent, of a preparation of turf by an improved method,
which I have been engaged upon for some years, will render it cheaper than
coal used with bad turf, or than coal burned alone ; and that the same per
tentage of this prepared fuel added to good turf, greatly increases its eva-
porative power, with a very trifling addition to the cost.

" From these facts it is evident that turf may he used advantageously in
localities where it al)ounds, and where there is an aljsence of coal. Care,
however, must be taken that the furnace bars are lowered, not only to admit
a greater bulk of fuel, but also to prevent too great a volume of air passing
in the ash-pit, and then through the bars. I may add also, that in burning
turf it is highly essential that air be admitted in the air chamber behind the
bridge, in consequence of the rapidity with which tlie gases from this kind
of fuel fly off. If it be e.xcluded there upon the common furn.ice principle
the weight and bulk of fuel will be increased, tlie evaporative power reduced,
and the cost proportionably greater.

" It will give me much pleasure to furnish you with any further inform-
ation in my power.

" I have the honour to be. Sir, your obedient humble servant,

"To Sidney Herbert, E.«q., Admiralty.'' C. W. Willums.

1 have already noticed, that from ray own inquiries the best turf niav be
had in the turf districts for 3s. 6d. per ton, and as it is a fuel that will never
be drawn far for any industrial use, we may take 4s. per ton as the practical

* From the " Industrial Resources of Ireland,"

value of turf well dried within the range of the central counties. At the
price, and allowing it 44 per cent, of the calorific effect of coal, the horse
power should cost 6d. per day, that is, one-fourth cheaper than coal. Mr.
Williams, using the same sort of fuel as is employed at the corn mill, and
paying 6(7. per box, but drying it w^ll, found that, with a large working
wagon boiirr there were 3-87 lb. of water evaporated per pound of tnrf,
and that it cost 3s. 7d. to evaporate 100 cubic feet of water. Now this is at
the rate of 5|c/. per horse power per working day. When the turf was
burned in the furnace without Mr. Williams's peculiar mode of effecting
perfect combustion, the cost per horse was G^d., coinciding with the result
which I have derived from other sources.

From all these examples, it may be decisively con^udcd, that in Ireland
the horse power of steam costs per day in fuel : —

Using coals, whether British or native . . 7J(/.

Using turf, properly dried Cd.

Using turf in Mr. Williams's mode . . . b^d.

COLOURED DECORATIONS.

At a meeting of the Decorative Art Society, on November 26th, a paper
" On Chromatic Decorations," was read by Mr. E.Cooper. He commenced
with a chronological review of various modes of applying or using colour in
Egypt, and on the continent of Europe, from remote times to the end of the
17th century. In referring to the stupendous and richly-decorated remains
of temples and porticoes in Egypt, he commented on the dull and opaque
colours, contrasted with mat and burnished gold (laid on in leaves) which
are found therein, and also upon mummy cases ; he described the coloured
intaglios on the walls, and the painted ceilings of deep azure, studded with
stars in the temple of .\Iedeenet Haboo, at Thebes ; he exhiljitcd drawings
of Egyptian ornament of excellent design, and remarked that no progressive
improvement in decorative art is discernible in these works.

The temples of Greece were then noticed, where colour was applied to
capitals, frieze, entablatuie, and the backgrounds of the tympanum ; also on
the ogee mouldings, where honeysuckle, egg, and other enrichments were
painted or stencilled ; and it was observed that, although no remains have
been discovered, it was reasonable to infer, from the eminent state of plastic
art, tliat contemporary pictorial art had arrived at considerable perfection,
and the names of some Greek artists were given, on the authority of Phnv
and Qniutilian. After some remarks on the vases of Greece, and 'the mural
decorations of the sepulchres of Etruria, he directed especial attention to the
ma^riilicent baths, or therma;, of Titus, at Rome (erected a. d. 70), and
(referring to the illustrations by M. Ponce), he observed that the fresco
paintings found there display, in the grouping, drawing, and management of
drapery, a refined feeHng and knowledge of art ; and in his remarks on the
colour used, he observed that the decorations were executed, most probablv
by Greek artists. ' '

The decorations of Pompeii and Herculanenm, being of the same period,
were then described ; hut, as might be supposed, from their being proviacisl
towns, they would be found inferior in execution and splendour to those of
the capital. The arrangement on the walls, of masses of black, red, and
white, exhibited a principle which was commented on at some length; and
it was also remarked, that these examples do not afford an absolute crite-
rion by which to estimate the perfection of the arts of that or the preceding
age. Passing over several centuries, he next noticed the eaily efforts of
Christian art, remaining to us in the mosaics of the churches and palaces of
Italy ; and after some remarks on the productions of Ciniahue, Giotto, and
Leonardo da Vinci, he entered upon a consideration of the decorative works
of Michael Angelo and [Japhael.

In this period of Italian art, the anachronisms and disregard of relative
proportion, in the parts composing arabesque or grotesque decorations, were
especially noticed, as well as the enrichments, similarity in design and
colouring, existing between the works of Kaphael and his school, and those
in the baths of Titus, before alluded to, and which were discovered at this
time : a striking instance was exhibited, in the decorations at .Mantua, by
Giniio .'Joniano, and Andrea Montagna. (See Gruner, plate 24, and olate 5
of the Baths.l •

The magnificent decorations hy the Venetians were next described, in
which massive mouldings richly carved and gilt, divided the surface of ceil-
ings and walls ; the coffers or panels being filled with paintings by Titian,
Tintoretto, &c., produced a gorgeous effect. The decorations of the ceiling
of the sacristy attached to the Duomo, or cathedral at Venice were said to
he worthy of recommendation, on account of durability and splendour, for
open colonnades in this country (such as at the Royal li.xchange) ; the back
grounds were of vitrified gold, aud exhibit all the beauty of ancient mosiac
combined with the harmonious colouring and beautiful ornamint of the six!
teentb century. This century witnessed the rise and decline of fine art in
Italy, and in the following one, although we meet with some good artificers,
they were mere copyists and mannerists, and not great artists.

In discussion, the terms arabesque, grotesque, moresque, &c., were argued-
the modes of lighting, and the principles of gravilation of colours oil
walls of apartments were commented on, and a regret expressed that deco-
rations in the houses of nobility are not sufficiently known or accessible to
the inspection of decorators and artists.

I.s,6.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

21

BELFRY TURRETS.
No large tower can be considered complete without a staircase-turret of
stone, containing an ascent by a newel stair to the bell-cbamber.

This very important feature of a church tower has bien singularly neg-
lected in modern designs, in whicli the effect has been often much ini|iaiied,
and an essential part of the construction omitted, under the idea that it is
either a useless appendage, or an awkward and unsightly excrescence.
Both these notions are extremely rrroueous, and in urging upon architecis
the more general adoption of belfry turrets, we will endeavour to show that
both utility and the principles of effect suggested their use to the ancient
builders.

Belfry turrets are usually placed in the south-west, more rarely in the
norte-west, angle of towers ; they occur also in the south-east and north-
east. They are polygonal, and project half externally and half internally,
and liave a small doorway opening into the inside. They are carried up
either to the height of one or two stages, or to the belfry windows, and then
weathered oif with a bold and picturesque slope, or they rise above the
parapet, and form a kind of castellated pinnacle turret, sometimes carrying a
weathercock or other pointed termination. Very frequently they are lost in
tile buttresses, which are, as it were, thrust prominently outwards bv a
bulging swell of the masonry in one angle, reacldy distinguished from the
rest by its visible protuberance, and by small slits to admit light and air
air into the staircase within. Sometimes, as at All Saints, Paston, near
Petert/orough, the head of the turret merges into a broach of the spire,
which gives an extremely bold and irregular effect.

There can be no doubt that irregularity gives effect to a tower, or indeed-
to any Gothic building. Not irregularity for irregularity's sake — that becomes
affectation. But such irregularity as arises from the absence of hypocrisy,
or show, or making one side the same as tlie other, or the like. There is no
need to fear a broken or shapeless mass as the result ; uiiif irmity is far le.-s
ple-ising than variety ; and the eye can never be offended in Gothic buildings
by a door, a window, or a buttress, beirrg fairly pushed aside by the inter-
vention of any necessary constructive feature.

Nothing was mor-e fully felt by the ancient architects than this ; wliile
nothing is more cautiously and timidly adopted by modern imitators. We
have seen with much pleasure, in very elaborate and splendid towers, one
belfry window placed quite on one side, instead of in the middle, even
though the belfry staircase which caused this remarkable irregular-ity wns
scarcely visible on the outside. Examples of this are St. John, Hyhall, and
All Saints, Oakham, in Rutland. Sometimes, as at St. Wuitran, Granthanr,
the splendid decorated tower of which has scarcely a rival in the kingdom,
one of four pinnacles is considerably larger and higher than the other three,
because it forms a capping to a staircase turret. Yet who shall be bold to
say tlris is a fault ? We would say, by all means break up monotony and
sameness uf sides by some such expedient ; and a belfry turret seems rvjoit
admirably adapted to produce almost any kirrd of bold picturesque effect.
From a distance, the lights and shadows, the peaks and the broken lines,
are vastly imposing and arresting to the eye. On a near view, the bold
abutment of an angle seems at once to flank and to prop the stages of a
lofty tower ; and on every point whence the effect is visible, the mind is gr'a-
tiiied by the idea of ingeirniiy or pleased by tlie suggestion of necessity
made subservient to decorative effect.

Some beltVy turrets are corbelled off a little above the ground externally.
This, though not a material difference of construction, is to be deprecated,
because the tower is apt to appear overbalanced by an excrescence which
emerges from the wall itself, and does not rest uporr its own ba:is on tlie
ground. We have seen (as in St. Peter, Barton, near Cambridge) the south-
west angle singularly prolonged into a wedge-like form from the internal
formation of a belfry tower; and again, we have noticed the most beautiful
forms and enlargenrerrts of buttresses to give scope for tire staircase.

It is true that many ancient towers were ascended by ladders, and in a
few we have seen wooden stairs inclosed in wattled or boarded turrets con-
structed in the interior. The ascent to the floor on which tire bell-ringer-s
assemble, if above the ground, should he the belfry turr-et ; though we may
here repeat what we have often urged before, that the entrance to it should
never be from without, independently of any other comruunicaiion with the
interior of the church.

Modern architects are generally compelled to construct a staircase in their
towers; but then they strive to hide rather than boldly to display it exter-
nally ; and herein consists their error. We are inclined to prefer those
belfry turrets of which three or four sides project extermally, sometimes even
irr the middle of the north or south side, and are weathered off at the upper
or belfry stage, to those which are only partially developed from the outside.
The attention, however, of architects needs only to he directed to the sub-
ject, and their observation will abundantly supply fit models and devices for
imitation. — Ecclesiologist.

Lightning Rods. — In a recent communication in the New Haven Courier,
respecting some recent instances of houses beiiii; struck by li^-htmng, Professor Silliman
states that the liglitoing rods caanot be relied upon unless ttiey reach the earth, wliere it
is permanently wet, even in times of the severest drought; and tliat ttie best security is
afforded by carrying the rod or some good metallic conductor, duly connected with it, to
the water in the well, or to some other water that never fails. Professor Sillimau's house,
it seems, was strnclt ; but his liglitning rods were not more than two or three inches in
the ground, and were therefore virtually of no avail in protecting the house. He states
that his contidcnce in the efficiency of rods is in no degree diminished.—* New York Ob.
server,'

SYNOPSIS OF RAILWAYS INCORPOR.\TED IN 1845,
WITH THEIR ALLIANCES.

[For the following important paper we are indebted to the indefatigable and well
directed e.\ertions of an old correspondent, who under the signature O. T., has tontri.
buted several invaluable papers to this Journal.

In the formation of the i ollowing synopsis, the Supplement of the " Tim es," Nov. 1 7,
1345, the Railway Almanac and Directory for lS4ti, the Companion to the British Alma-
nac for 1S46, the Railw.iy Shareholders' Manual, by Henry Tuck, Gth edition, and two Par-
liamentary Kelurns, dated July 17th and Augrrst 4th, have been consulted. None, how-
ever, of these authorities give the alliances of the new lines which are here added. The
parhnmentarv return of August 4th, 1845, which is important, as it gives the number of
shares subscribed for. as well as the number of shares empowered to be created, which
shows the statistics of eiiclr line in public opinion, and the means of the directors in con-
trolling the market by gradually selling shares where the number authorized exceeds the
number subscribed for.]

1. Irish Great Western,

20.000 shares of 50/. each ; capital 1,000,000/.

From Dublin to Mullingar, connecting the Valley of the Shannon with
the Irish capital. 'J"o commence in connection with the Dublin and
Cashel line, near Luccan, passing near the towus of Leixslip, C'elbridge,
Maynoolh, Kilcock, Clonard, Kinnegar-, and Kilnear, to rMuUingar, and
thence by Meale to Athlone.

Length of line 77 miles, 2 furlongs, 4 chains. Reported against by the
Board of Trade. Capital subscribed, 903,000^. and 1S,0U0 shares. Esti-
mated cost, ysC,05U.. Power to borrow on loan 333,000i. Embodied in
group Z, and recommended by the committee.

forking expenses estimated at 40 per cent. Royal Assent July 21.
Sir John JNl'Neil engineer.

2. Lomlondernj and Coleraine.
10,000 shares, of 50/. each; capital 500,000/.
To commence at Londonderry, passing the border of Lough Foyle, and
terminating at Coleraine. with a br-anch to Newtown. Length of main
line and branch. 38 miles, 6 furlongs,3 chains. .'Vinount subscribed, 380,U00<.
Power to bor-rovv 168,000/. Reported against by the Boar-d of Traiie.
Considered by committee of group S, and recommended. Worting e.v-
penses \l,000l. per annum. Ro^al Assent August 4. Charles 1 nyon,
engineer.

3. Belfast and Balhjmena.
7,700 shares of 50/. each ; capital .SH5,nOO/.
From the former to the latter place, with a branch to Carrickfergus.
Deposit 2i. 10s. per share. Amount of deposits l'J,2.50Z. Total length of
the line 37 miles, 7 furlongs. Power to borrow I2S,33;>/. Recommended
by the Board of Trade, and recommended by the committee of group S.
Single line. Estimate of working expenses 11,000/. Hoval Assent, June
21. Charles Lanyon, engineer.

4. Dublin and Belfast Junction {and Nacan Branch).
19,000 shares of 50/. each ; capital 950,000/.

Deposit 21. 10s. per share. Amount of deposit 47,500/. Total length
of the line, from Drogheda to Portadown, 73 miles, 4 fui-longs, 8 chai'ns.
Estimate 950,733/. Power to borrow 316,06f)/. liecommeuded by
Board of Trade ; also by committee of group R. Branch to Kells. Work-
ing expenses 40 per cent. Royal Assent July 21. Engineer Sir John
M'Neil. Meeting August 20. Miles Reck, Secretary. Office, 2, Talbot-
street, Dublin. Call September 10, 21. 10s. Proposed Great County
Down company are to iuspect a trial section of the line to Hillsborough.
5. Dundalk and Enniskillen.
15,0f 0 shares of 50/. each ; capital 750,000/.

Deposit 2(. lOs. .Amount of deposit 37,500/. Total length of the lice,
inchitling branch to Mouaghan, 40 miles, 6 furlongs. Estimated expenses
450,000/. Power to borrow 250,000/. Recommended by tlie Board, also
by tommiitee of group R. Working expenses 30 per cent. Rnyal As-
sent July 21. Engineer Sir John M'Neil. Register of scrip Oct. 18,
l!545. Hatfield Nicholson, secr-etary. Office 72, Talbot-str'eet. Dublin,
Company operates and in conjunction with Dublin and Drogheda aa
Belfast Junction and Irish North iMidlaod.

6. Cork and Bandon.
4,800 shares of 50/. each ; capital 240.000/.
To connect lire towns of Bantry, Bandon, Krnsale, Berehaven, and
Castletown with a I'ich asriculturiil and mineral drstrict and the city and
harbour of Cork. Length of Line 20 miles. Power to borrow 80,000/.
Subscribed 200,000/. in 4,000 shares. Recommended by the Board of
Trade, and by committee of group XX. Working expenses 40 per cent.
Royal Assent July 21. Engineers Jlessrs. Sealey. Secretary J. M'Donnell.
7. Great Southern and Western.
34,ii00 shares of 50/. each ; capital 1,200,000/.
Extension to Limerick and Cork. The extension to Cork will com-
mence between Holycross and Cashel, in conjunction with the Great
Southern and Arestern line, and pass near the towns of Tipperary, Kil-
mallock, C'haileville, and Mallow. The extension to Limerick leaves th«
main line near Tipperary, passinj the towns of Pallns Green, and Cahir
conlish. Length of line 98 miles. Subscribed 1,181,100/. Power to
borrow 400,000/. Recommenuea Dy the Board of Trade, and comiaitt«e

22

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[January,

on eroup AA. Working expenses 40 percent. Royal Assent July 21.
Ensint-er Sir J. M'Ncil. bubacribed to Irish Great Western (Dublin
and <;alwHy; 8UU.UO0/. to Wexfurd, Carluw, and Dublin Junction
lUO.OllOi. to Killaruey Junction iiU.UOO;. Also new line proposed, Clon-
mel, Cashel, Teniplemore, Nenagli, Borris in Ossary. to Ro^ciea, Par-
boiislowD, Knnis, Killaloe, and Walerford and Kilkenny, for which an
Act is obtained. Mr. Taylor, secretary.

8. WaUiJurd and Limerick.
15.000 >har«8 of 50/. each j capital r.Vl.uOOI.
To cmnmenre at the city of Waterford, proceeding thtough the towns of
C'Krrj(k on Siiir, Clonmel, C'ahir, and Tipperary to Limerick, atfording
acconiniotialion 1o a population of more than a million, and giving 10 a
rich agricultural district an excellent port for the shipment of produce to
England. Length of line 77 miles, 7 feet. Subscribed 590,300/. in
llS.OliS shares. Power to borrow 250,000/. Recommended by the
Board of Trade, and rommitlee of group AA. Working expenses 40 per
cent. Royal Assent July 21.

9. Neu-ry and Enniskillin.

18.005 shares o! Ml. each ; capital aoO.OOO/.

To commence, in junction with the Dublin and Belfast Junction, at
Newry, passing through the towns of Monaghan, Clones, and Enniskillen.
terminating, in juuctiim with the L'lster railway, at Armagh. Length of
line 75 miles, S furlongs. Capital subscribed 14,210/. in 284 shares.
Estimate 833,847/. Power to borrow 300.01)0/. Recommended by the
Board of Trade, and by tummiltee of group R. Working expenses 335
percent. Royal Assent July 21. Engineer Sir JohnReuute. Mr. Saunders
secretary.

10. Walerford and Kilkenny.
12.500 shares of 20/. each; capital 250,000/.

On this line the wooden rail is to be used as a substitute for iron. The
wood i.( to be prepared by Pavnes process, and the engines and carriages
are to be titled with Prosser's guide wheels. Length of line 37 miles,
3 furlongs. Subscribed capital 201. 000/. in 10,000 shares. Power to bor-
row 83 000/. Keconiineuded by the Boaid of Trade, also by the com-
mittee of group BB. Working expenses 40 per cent. Royal Assent
July 21. J. Valentine, Engineer. Office, 34, Broad-street buildings, Lon-
don. Thos. Prosser, secretary.

11. Londonderry and Enniskillen.
1' ,000 shares of 50/. each ; capital floO.OOO/.

Commencing at Londonderry, and passing through Carrigans, St.
Johnston, Strabane, ClitToid, Newtownstewart, Dromore, Trelluk, to
Enniskillen, in juuclion with the line to Dundalk, thus forming a direct
communication between the north-west of Ireland and Dublin, and the
east coast. Length of line 50 miles, 1 furlong. 4 chains. Estimate 462,123/.
Sub^'cribed 380,000/. in 7,()00 shares. Power to bonow 106,(iUO/. U ork-
ing expenses 40 per cent. Royal Assent July 21. Sir John M'Seil.
Engineer. Register of scrip 21 Oct. Fred. H. Hemming, secretary,
Jloorgate-street chambers, London.

12. Dublin and Driigheda.
Capital 150,000/.
Howth extension. Length 3 miles,5 fuilong3.4j chains. Estimated ex-
pense 40,000/. Power to borrow 60,000/. Working expense 30 per cent.
Royal Assent July 21. Engineer Sir J. .M'Neil.
13. Ulster Extension.
Estlinate 133,03.'i/.
From Portadown to Armagh. It was originally intended to run the
Ulster line from Belfast to Armagh, and capital was taken tor that pur-
pose so that it will not be requisite to issue any new shares. A thirteenth
call for 2/. 10s. has |usl been made. This will make the amount paid up on
32/ on shares ol 50/. Leuadiof line 11 miles, 4 furlongs. Working estimate
33 per cent. Royal As^ent July 21. Godwin, Engineer. Raised
50 000/ on loan, and it is proposed to lake interest. Newry, Baubridge,
and Belfast Junction ; the engineer to survey the country between Newry,
Moira, and Li^buin, as also Louglibrickland, Dromore, and Hdisborough.

14 Leeds and Thirsk.

To commence at Leeds, and terminate at Thirsk, passing through the
most populous part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. Lengih 46 miles,
1 furlou'', I chain Amount subscribed 863,100/. in 17.362 shares Power
to borrow 299,000/. Repori-d against by the Board of Trade, and re-
commended by committee of group B. Working expenses 40 percent
Koval Assent July 21. J. tiiainger, engineer. Pa>ne, Kddison, and
Ford solicitors. Office, 58, Aloionsireet, Leeds. Proposed exiension
through the Valleys of Wharfe to Skipton and the Nidd to Pateley, also
to the north-east to Stockton.

15. Leeds, Dewsbury, and Manchefter Junction.

18.006 shares of 6(1/. each ; ccuita'. 650.0OO/.

To commence at Leeds in junction with the Leeds and Bradford, pass-
ing through Dewsbury, towards HuddersBeld, and terminaling, in junction

with the Manchester and Leeds, half a mile west of Dewsbury station.
Length of line 20 lnile^, 3 furlongs, 5 chains. Estinialed ex pen -e 6:iti,000/.
Power to burrow I07,00u/. No report from Board of Trade. Heconi-
uiended by committee of group B. Working expenses 35 per cent.
Royal .Assent June 30. Messrs. Grainger and Miller, soliciiois. Office
of the company, Leeds. Wni. Eagle Bott, secielary. 5/. call 23 Oct.
Interest paid Feb. and August.

16. Slireushury, Osu-estry, and Chester Junction.
20,500 shares of 20/. euch ; capitaUlO.OOO.
Will form a continuation of the North Wales IMiueral railway, and will
complete the direct line of railway from Chester to Shrewsbury. Length
of lii.e 23 m.les, i furlongs. Estimate, 37 1,000/. Power to burrow 130 000/.
No report from the Board of Trade. Recommended by comiiiittee of
group Q. Working expenses 50 per cent. Royal .Assent June 30. H.
Robertson, engineer. Amalgamated with North Wales Mineral railway,
allowing to the latter company for 20/. shares 26/. 13>. 4d. stock, and for
10/. shares 14/. lis. 8ii. and issuing new lo/. stock for extension, one
for each 20/., and one for two 10/. Norih Wales .Mineral railway,

17. Ely and Huntingdon.
10.800 shares nl 25/. eath ; capital 194.400/.
To commence at Ely, in junction with the Eastern Counties and L\nn
and Ely railway, passing through St. I ve's, Huntingdon, and St. Neot"s
to Bediord. Length of line 22 miles, 6 chains. 87,298 shares ; subscribed
a capital of 157,1::5/. Estimate, 190,046/. Power to bornnv 64,800/.
No report from the Board of Trade. Recommended by coniniittee of
group 1, Working expenses 30 per cent. Royal Assent June 30 J.U.
Raslrick, engineer, (all of 3/. lbs. Oct. I. Offices, Lyno, Norfolk.
Secretary, W. W. Williams.

18. Gravesend and Rochester [Thames Medway).
6,000 shares of 20/. each ; capital »5.000/.

To commence between the Town and Terra, e Piers, through the Ter-
race Gardens and groumls of the Fort, over the lands adjoining tlie
Marshes, under Gad's Hill, crossing the Midway, near Kochesti r bridge
and terminating at the (iibralter Inn, Chatham. Lengih of line 0 miles'
7 furl' ngs, I cnain. Amount of capital subscribed 127,500/. Estiniaie
170,000/. Power to borrow 56,006/. No report from the Board of Trade.
Recomiiieniled by committee of group A. Royal Assent July 31. Ei-
tension ^ mile. J.U. Rastrick, engineer,

19. Preston and Wyre Branches.
12,000 shares of 20/. each ; capital 100,000/.
To commence at Preston, injunction with the Preston and W\re pass-
ing th rough the populous manufacturing district of Over D-irweu 'term -
natiug, in junction with the Blackburn, Bolton, and D.irwen railway at
Lower Darwru. Length of line 8 miles 2 furlongs, 6 chains. Estimate
50,000/. Power to borrow 33,333/. No report from the Board of I rade
and recommended by committee of group HH., as Lyiliam Branch and'
Blackpool Branch. Working expenses 32 per cent. Royal Asstut
July 21. G. P. Bidder, engineer.

20. .Vor//i Wales.
12 000 shares of 25/. each ; capital 300,000/.— Amalgamated.
To commence at Bangor, in junction with the Holyhea.l and Chester
railway, passing through the slate disiricts of Caernanun.-.hii-e and Snow-
don, and terminaluig ai Port Dynllacn. Length of line 45 miles. 10 629
shares. Subscribed, a capital of 265,000/. Power to borrow lOOtiuu/
Uorking expcuaes 40 per cent Royal Assent July 21. Sir John Reu-
nie, engineer. Isegotiating with Chester and Holyhead Railway.

21. Brighton and Chichester (Portsmouth Extension).
6,000 shares ol 50/. each; capital 320,000/. -Amalgaoiated-
From the Rope-walk, Chichester, to St. James'sroad, Portsea, with a
branch commencing at the Farliugton Waterworks to the Gosport branch
of the Loudon and South H estern railway. Length of line 22 miles.
Repotted against by the Board of I rade. Single line, Itoyal Assent
Augusts. J. V. Rastrick, engineer. Mr. Oltley, secretary. Office,
Deau-slieet. The abo\e shares issued and sold to the Brighton Railway'
Company.

22. Oxford, Worcester, and Woherhampton.
3i),0oo shares of 5it/. each ; capital 1,5 0,000/.

To commence at Wolverhampton, diverging from the Grand Juoclioo,
passing through the districts in llie vicinity of Bilslon, Tipton, Dudley',
Stourbridge, Kidderminster, Stourporl, Droitwich, Worcester, Per^hoj'e',
Evesham, Morelon, and Oxford, in junction with the Great Western
railway. Leased in perpetuity to ihe Great Western railway at 3^ per
cent, on 22,500/., and capital 1,125,000/. Authorised loan, 500,uo0/.
Working expenses, 40 per cent. Royal Assent .August 4. Brunei]
engineer. N. T. Smith, secretary, Worcester. This Company have'
b<u;lit Stratford and Moreton railway, Stratford-upon-Avon and Sloui-
biiJge (extension) canals, and have shares in projected CUelleLham, Ox-
ford, and South Statfurdshire railway.

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

23

23. Oxford and Runby.
12.0i'0 shares of SO;, each ; capital fiOOOOO/.
In junction with the Great Western railway at Otforcl, passing tlirough
Wi.odstock, Banburj, and Southern, and terminating at Runby, in junc-
tion with the Midland and Birmingham railway. 7 feet gauge. Length
50 miles, 4 furlc.ngs, ti chains. Number of shares subscribed for 9,0(10, and
capital 450,01)0/ Authorised loan, 5!QO,uOO/. Estimated expenses,
700,000(. Working expenses, 40 per cent. Koyal Assent. Aug. 4.

21 Glasgow, Barrhead, and Neitston Direct.
6,000 shares j capital l-'ill,000/.
Length of line 8 miles, 7 furlongs, 8 chains. Capital l.')0,0002. Estimated
expenses, 142 OOOi. Authorised loan, 50 01)"/. Number of shares sub-
scribed for, 5,142(. Capital I28,.550/ Working expenses, 45 per cent.
Royal Assent June SO. N. Robson, engineer.

25. Liverpool and Manchester Extension.
Capital SOS.OOO/.
Estimated expense, 804.000/. Authorised loan, 268,333/. Working
expenses 40 per cent. Koyal Assent July 01. Clias. Liddle, engineer.
26. Eastern Counties Extension.

Estimated expense. Ely and Whittlesea deviation, 320,000/ ; also Cam-
bridge and Huntingdon line; estimated expenses, 150,000/. Capital
stock 150,000/. Authorised loan 50,000/. Length of line 17 miles, 4
furlongs, 5 chains. Amount of capital subscribed, 113.000/ TheCompany
do not raise any money by loan on shares for the Whittlesea deviation
line. Royal Assent July 21. M. E. Borthwick, engineer. Royal As-
sent (Cambridge) August 8. R. Stephenson, engineer.

27. Voi'k and North Midland Extension..
York and Scarborough Deviation line. Estimated expense, 38,?50/.
of Bridlington branch, 87,00(1/.; and of Harrogate branch, 230,000/.
Length of branch to Bridlington, 19 miles, 6 furlongs, 3 chains, and amount
of capital subscribed 70,000/ , with power to borrow 29,000/. Length of
Harrogate branch, 18 miles. 2 furlongs, 4 cltairis. Amount of capital sub-
scribed, 180.000/., with power to borrow 70,CC6/. \\'orkiiig »-xpenses,
33 per cent. Koyal Assent, July 21. J. C. Birkeushaw, engineer.
Wm. Gray, jun., secretary.

28. South Eastern Extension.

From the Tiinhridge s'ation of the South Eastern railway. Length of
line 5 miles, 1 furlongs. 3 chains. Amount of capital subscribed. 135,000/,
with poiver to borrow 60 000/. Company also oblaiued power lo borrow
47,560/. for widening and extension of the London and (ireenwich, which
was estimated at 66.500/. and an increase of their capital of 142,700/ ;
for that purpose also an increase of 180,000/ for the hue Ironi I'onbridge
to Tonbridge Wells ; as also an increase of 187,000/. with power to borrow
62,000/. for branch lo Deal, and extension o' the South Eastern railway to
Canter' ury, Kamsga e, and Margate. Wm. Cubitt, engineer. Kojul
Assent Aug. 4, Aug 8, July 31.

29. Leeds, Deuslittrtj, and M^:nchester Junction.
l:(.00n shares ; capital IISO.OOO/.
A line from Leeds, joining the Leeds and Bradford, tlirough Dewshury
to Huflderslield, joining the Leeds and MHUchester at Kirkheatoii, with
branch to Mirtiehi and Birstall. Length of line 2t* miles, 3 fin long-, 5 chains.
Kstimaied expense, 626.000/. Authorised loan, 160,000/ Number of
shares subscribed for, 2,737. Capital, 487,850/. Reported against by
tlie Board of Trade, and recommended by cominiit-'e of group B Work-
ing expenses, 35 per cent. Royal Assen', June 30. iVlessrs Giainger
and .Miller, ciigioeers. 5th call, Oct. 23. Interest paid, 1 pir cent. EeU.
and Aug. William Eagle 15ott, secretary, Leeds.

30 E.veter and Crediton.
2 800 shares; capital 70,01)0/. — Amnlgamation.
To commence at Credi on, and terminate, in junction with the Bristol
and Exeter railway, at Cowley Bridge. Length of lioe 5 miles, 6 furlongs.
The whole of the shares subscribed for, with a capiial of 70.00'J/. Au-
thorised loin, 23.333/. Recommended to be postponed by the B.iard of
Trade, and recommended by the committee of group M, which sal only
one day. Koyal Assent, Aug. 9. R Uiniond, engineer Thomas Hact
mate, secretary, Exeter. Leased lo Great We^tern at 3 OOo/. per annum,
and one-lhiid of receipts if above 7,00ti/. per anuuiu.

31. Lynn and Dereham.
10,800 shares ; capital 270 OOe/.
Commences at the terminus of the Ljnn and Ely line, and proceeds, by
way of Swatfliam, to East Dereham, in junction wib a liue to Norwich
Length ol line, 2 J miles, o furlongs, 1 i liaiu. Number of shares subscribed
for, 10,510, with a capital of 262,750/. Authorised loan 90.000/ Ksti
mated expen.se, 270 000/. Recommended to be postponed by the Boaid of
Trade, and recommended by the committee ot group K to be adopted.
Working expenses. 35 per ceut. Koyal Assent, July 31. J. C. Kas-
t/-ick, engineer. Call of 3/. 12s. 6d Oclober 1st. Oflice, LjDU. Secre-
tary, W. W. Williams.

32, M'ilts, Somerset, and Weymouth,
30.0110 shams of 5lll. each ; capital I, .^011,000/.
To commence, in junction with the Great Western railway, «t Cors-
ham, passing through the towns of Melkshani, Trowbridge and VVestbury,
with branches to Devizes and Bradford. The line passes through War-
minster, and the Valley of the Wiley, to Wilton and Salisbury, and the
other diverges to Frome, Bruton, Castle C'ar>, Yeovil, Dorchester, Wey-
mouth, and Bridport. Guaranteed 4 per cent, by the Great Western
railway. Lengthof line, 33 miles, 2 furlongs, 6 chains. Number of shares
subscribed, 23,046, and capital, 1,152,300/. Authorised loan, 500,000/.
Estimated expenses, 1,500,000/. Board of Trade reported in favour, and
committee of group G conlirmed their report. Working expenses 40 per
cent. Kojal Assent, June 30, I. K. Brunei, engineer. Leased to
the Great Western at 4 per cent., and J per ceut. increase, should the
Great Western railway pay 8 per cent. Interest paid, June 30, Dec. 31.
Propose to alter the line, and extend it to Salisbury, with the consent of
the South Western company.

33. Southampton and Dorchester.

10,000 shares of 50/. each ; capital 500,000/.
From the former to the latter place, by way of Redbridge, Brocken-
hurst. Hurley, Kingwood, Wimbourue, Hanworthy, and W areliam. Length
of line, 62 miles. Number of shares subscribed for, 7,6'25, and capital,
381,260/. Authorised loan, 166,666/. Estimated expense, 500,000/.
Recommended by the Board of Trade, also by committee of group ti.
Single line. Working expenses, 40 per cent. Koyal Assent, July 21.
Captain Moorsoiii, engineer.

31. Guildford, Chichester, and Portsmouth.

20,000 shares ot 60/. each ; capital 500,000/.

Commences at Guildford, in junction with the Guildford and Woking
line, passing through Godalmiiig to Chichester, in junciioii with the
Brighton and Chichester line ; thence, through Emsworth and Havant, lu
Portsmouth and Fareham, terminating injunction with the South Western
line. To be leased by the South Western railway, and guarauteed 4 per
cent, on the outlay. Estimated expense, 350,000/. Authorised loan,
166,900/ Length ot line, 60 miles. Recommended by tlie Board of
Trade, and committee of group L Working expenses, 93,000/ per an-
num. Rojal Assent, July 21. J. Locke, engineer. Purchased by South
W estern, also Fareham Branch.

35. Newcastle and Beriiick onTweed.

SC.OOO shares of 2.'i/. each ; capital 1,400,000/.
Commences injunction with North British line at Casile Hill. Berwick-
011 Tweed, and terminates, injunction with Bradley junction hue, in Gates-
head, with a branch to Neville-street, to join the Newcastle and Carlisle
line, and a brancli, 7 miles, to Blylh, and one 5 miles, to Alnwick. Length
of line, 95 miles, 3 furlongs. Number of shares subscril)ed for, 39,725, and
capital, 993,I:!5/, Authorised loan, 166,066/. Esiimateil expense,
1,400,000/ Recommended by the Board of Trade, and commiitee of
group E. Working expenses, 40 percent. Koyal Assent, July 31. R.
Stephenson, engineer. J. Close, secretary.

36. Richmond, Surrey, and West End Junction.

13.000 shares of 20/. each ; capital 260.000/.

To commence at Richmond, and terminate at a junction with the South
Western, at Falcon Lane, Battersea, passing thus the districts of Wands-
worth, Putut-y, Karnes, aud Moitlake. Length of line, 6 miles. Number
ol ,^llares subscribed, 8,715. Capital, 164,300/, Authorised loan, 86 000/.
Estimated expense, 200,000/. Recommended by the BoartI of 'Trade, as
also by the committee of group LL, Rojal Assent, Juli, 21. J Locke,
engineer. Secretary, Kichaid Meade. Office, 3, Moorgate-slreet. Call
of 4/. Aug, 30.

37. Lynn and Ely.

12,000 shares ot 2.')(. each ; capital 3''0,000;.
From King's Lynn to the city of Ely, meeting there the Norlhtri and
Eastern line and its exien-.ion to Norwich anil Peierborou,:h. Leu^ith of
liiie,37 iiii'es, 5 tiiilongs, Ocliains. N umberof sliaressubscnbetl for. 11,629,
Capital, 29J,7iO/. Autiiorised loan, loO,000( Estimated expense,
300,000/. Recommended by the Board of Traile. ami committee of group
1. Branch to Wi-beach. V\ orking expenses, 13,433/. Koyal Assent,
June 30. J. U. Kastrick, engineer. Call ol 2/. 10s. Oct. 1. Oliice,
Ljun. Secretary, W, W. Williams.

38. Trent Valley.

S2..')00 shares of 20/. each : capital 1 2-i0.0"0/.
Commences at Rugby, passing through Nuneaion, Atherstone, Tam-
worth. Lichtieltl, aud lermiuates, in junction with the Grand Junction line,
at Castle Church. Lt-ngtii of due, 49 miles. 3 furlouus. 4 chains. Number
of shares subscribed for, 57,442. Capital, 1,14-i. 840/. Autiiorised loan,
417,666/ Estitnaied expense, 900,000/. Kecomiuended by tiie Board of
Tratle. also the committee ol group O. VV tieii conipteie, to be leased in
perpetuity to Hie London and Biriiiingliaiii railway, guaranteeing the same
iliviilend as their owu line. Working expenses, 40 percent. Koyal .As-
sent, July 21. 'T. J. (ioiich, engineer. Se. lelarj, E. J. Cleatiier. Of-
lice, 68, George sireet, Manchester. Reaistereil, Aug. 21. iMeeticg, 20
Sept. Subscribed 306,000/. towards the North Staliordshire.

24

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[January,

39. South Wales.

56,000 «har,:« ; capital 2,H()0,eC(l).
Commences at a junction with tbe Cliellenliam and Great Western rail-
way, at Gloucester, crossing the Severn, through the forest of Dean, by
Monmouth to Chepstow, Newport, and Caidiff; thence to CowbriUse,
Bridirend I'ort Cawl, Nealh, Swansea, and Caertnarthcn, terminating in
two braoJhL-8, one to Pembroke and the harbour of Milford Haven, the
other to 1-ishgiiard. Length of line, 183 miles, 4 chains. Number of
shares subscribed for, 42,000. Capital, 2,100,000/. Authorised loan
233 333i. Estimated expense, 2,o00,000(. Uecommended by the hoard
of Trade also by the committee of group P. Leased to the Great \\ est-
ern railway. Working expenses, 40 per cent. Kojal Assent, Aug. 4.
Brunei engineer. Secretary, N. Armstrong. Office, 4'JU, West Strand,
London. Uegister of scrip, Sept. 8. Meeting, 31 Oct The GlaM.orgau
Central Mineral, late Daffryn, Llysard, and Port Cawl, have resolved to
unite with this company.

40. Monmouth and Hereford.
11,000 shares; capital SSO.OOO/.
Length of line, 30 miles, 2 feet, 8 chains. Number of shares subscribed
for siso. Capital. 412,500/. Authorised loan, 183,333/. Lst.mate of
expense, 550,000/. Recommended by the Board of Trade also committee
of group P. Working expenses, 40 per cent. Royal Assent, Aug. 4.
Brunei, engineer.

41. Blackburn, Darwen, and Bolton.
12,000 half shares of .')0/. each ; capital 300,000/.
To connect the towns of Blackburn, Darwen, and Turton with Bolton,
by which a railway commuuiraliou will be established with Maucbester.
Len 'ih of line, 14 miles. Estimated expense, 300,000/. Authorised
loan" 100 000/. Recommended by the Board of Trade, and committee of
grou'p d! Working expenses, 40 per cent. Royal Assent, June 30.
J. Watson, engineer. F. H. James, secretary. Ottce, King street,
Blackburn. Registered Aug. 20.

42. Blackburn, Burnley, Accrington, and Colne Extension.
21 200 shares of 25/. each ; capital 530,000/.
Commences, in junction with the Manchester, Bury and Rossendale
line near Haslingden, connecting the populous towns of Blackburn Burn-
ley! Accrington, Clitheroe, Colne, and Whalley with the town of Man-
chester Length of line, 24 miles. 7 chains ; number of shares subscribed
for 19 013, and capital, 475,325/.; authorised loan, 176,066/; recom-
mended'by the Board ofTrade, and committee of group D; working ex-
nenses 40 per cent.; royal assent, June 30; — Collister, engineer; regis-
tered 19th July ; James Smithers, secretary, Market street, Bury.
43. Wliitehacen and Furness.
17,500 shares of 20/. each ; deposit \1.; capital 350,000/.
Commences, injunction with the Furness railway, in North Lancashire,
now in progress of formation, and eventually to extend, by way of Ulver-
stone to Lancaster. Length of line, 34 miles, 8 chains ; number of shares
subsc'ribed for, 14,237 ; and capital, 284,740/.; authorised loan 110 000/. ;
estimated expense, 350,000/.; recommended by the Board of Trade, also
by committee of group II; single line ; working expenses, 11,392/. per
annum ■ royal assent, July 21 ; J. Stephens, engineer; John Meyer, secre-
tary l' Guildhall-chambers, Basinghall-street, London; call of 3/. 20th
Oct • p'roposed extension of line to LUverstone and to Lancaster, 25 miles,
at an'cstiraale of 7.'>0,000/. for which the stock is issued.
44. Caledonian.
42,000 shares of 50/. «ach ; caoital 2,100,000/.
Commences at Carlisle, junction with Lancaster and Carlisle, passing
through Lanarkshire and Dumfriesshire, and tenuinatmg, in jiinctiou with
the Edinburgh and Glasgow railway. Length of line, 1S7 miles, 2 furlongs,
5 chains Number of shares subscribed, 34,460/.; capital, 1,723.000/. ;
authorised loan, 700,000/.; estimate, 2,100,000/ ; recommended by the
Board of Trade, and the committee of group DD ; working expenses,
47 per cent. ; rojal assent, July 31 ; J. Locke, and J. E. Errington, engi-
neers; secretary, D. Rankine ; office, 122, Princes-street, Edinburgh;
registered 1st October.

45. Scottish Central.
34,000 shares of 25/. each ; capital 850,000/.
Length of line, 47 miles, 3 furlongs, 3 chains ; number of shares subscribed
for 20,311 ; and capital, 657.775/. ; authorised loan, 283,330/. ; estimated
expe'ns'e, 850,000/. ; recommended by the Board of Trade, and committee
of group DD; working expenses, 40 per cent.; royal asseu:, July 31 ;
Messrs. Locke and Errington, engineer; secretary, Robert D. Ker ; of-
fice, 34, St. J ohn-sireet, Perth; registered, 20th Aug.; Leased to Edin.
burgh and Glasgow at 6 per cent.

40. Aberdeen.
IC.COO shares of 20/. each ; capital 830,000/.
Connects the city of Aberdeen with the towns of Stonehaven, Montrose,
Brechin, Arbroath, Forfar, Dundee, Perth, Siirling, Edinburgh and Glas-
gow. Length of line, 51 miles; uuiubcr of shares subscribed fur, 12,925/.;

and capital, 040,250/. ; authorised loan, 270,000/. ; estimated expenses,
830,000/. ; recommended by the Board of Trade, and coniniiitec of group
EE ; working expenses, 33 per cent. ; royal assent, July 31 ; lubitt, eni;i-
neer; Geo. Keith, secretary, S3, Union-s'.reel, Aberdeen; call of 2/. 10».
Not. 1 ; amalgamated with the proposed Great North of Scotland.

47. Clydesdale Junction.

Ofim shares of 60/. each ; capiuil 330,0001.

Commences at Glasgow termini of railways, and passes through the
Valley of the Clyde, aud near the towns of Hamilton, Buthwell, Mo.her-
well, and Wishawton. Length of line, l5 miles, 2 feet, chains; number
of shares subscribed for, 4,393; and capital, 219,650/.; auihorised loan,
110,000/. ; estimate of expense, 200,000/. ; recommended by the Board of
Trade, and by committee of group DD ; working expenses, 40 per cent. ;
royal assent, July 31 ; J. Locke, and J. E. Erriugton, engineers; secre-
tary, Alexander Grahame, 124, St. Viucent-st., Glasgow ; registered, Aug-
27 ; am-jlgamated wiih the Caledonian at par, and guaranteed 6 per cent. ;
with division of profits ; brought Pollock aud Govan railway for
120,000/.

43. Edinburgh and Northern.
20,000 shares of 26/. each ; capital GSO.OOO.

From Edinburgh, through Fife, to Dundee. Length of line, 41 miles,
7 feet ; number of shares subscribed for, 19,830 ; and capital, 495,750/. ;
authorized loans, 210,060/. ; estimated expense, 050,000/. ; recommeuded by
the Board of Trade, aud committee of group FF; single line; working
expenses, 30 per cent.; royal assent, July 31; T. Grainger, engineer ;
The Company propose various extension, and have issued new shares,
20,000, ol 15/. each, and allotted oue to two old, and one to every three
of New port ; extension shares of 15/. previously issued ; secretary, Mr.
Henry Lees, 4, St. Andrew-square, Edinburgh.

49. Glasgow, Barrhead, and Ncilston Direct.
6,000 shares of 25/. each ; capital 150,000/.
Length of line, 8 miles, 7 feet, 8 chains ; to form a direct line of commu-
nication; number of shares subscribed tor, 5,142/.; capital, 128,550(. ;
auihorised loan, 50,000/. ; estimate of expense, 142,500/. ; recommeuded
by the Board of Trade, and committee of group GG ; w orking expenses,
45 per cent.; royal assent, June 30; Neil Robson, engiuecr ; meeting
Sept. 30; the Glasgow and Greenock railway work the line, the loll
arranged with Glasgow, Kilmarnock, and Ardrossau company.

50. Scottish Midland Junction.

12,000 shares of 25/. eacli ; capital 300,000/.
Passes through the Valley of Strathmore, and will form a link of com-
munication between the Scottish Central railway at Perth and ihe Ar-
broath aud I'orfar and Aberdeen railways. Length of line, 33 miles, 2
furlongs, 2 chains; number of shares subscribed for, 10,740; and capital
208,10.1/.; authorised loan, 100,000/ ; estimated expense, 300,000/. ; re-
commeuded by the Board ofTrade, and committee of tjroup EE ; working
expenses, 40 percent.; royal assent, July 31; Messrs. Locke and Ecc-
ringlon, engineers.

51. Dundee and Perth.

18,000 shares of 25/. each , capital 200.000/.

Joins the Dundee aud Arbroath line, and is 20 miles, 5 feet, 8 inches iu
length ; number of shares subscribed tor, 7,899; capital, 147,475/.; autho-
rised loan, 60,000/.; estimate of expense, 200,000/.; recomui.udud by the
Board of Trade, and committee of group EE ; working expenses, 33 per
cent.; royal assent, July 31 ; J. Miller, engineer. J'ue Company have
agreed to lease the liue in perpetuity the Dundee and Newtyle, guarantee
1 pt-r cent, upon a capital stock of 115,000/. and issue new stock for a aiw
company, the Dundee aodSlrathmore Junction, who are to have 0 per
cent, dividend, the Newlyle subsequently to participale.

S2. Kendal and Windermere.

5,060 shares of 25(. each ; capital 125,000/.

In junction with the Lancaster ond Carlisle line, at Kendal, temiinat-
ing at Windermere, and the Lakes. Length of line, 10 miles, 2 furlongs, 4
chains. ; number of shares subscribed tor, 152; and capital, 3,821/. ; au-
thorised loan, 40,000/,; estimated expense, 125,000/.; recommended by
the Board of Trade, and committee of group II; royal assent, June 30;
John Harris, engineer; T. Hudson, secretary ; meeting, Sept. 23; a com-
pany is proposed for a line from Cockermonth, by Keswick, Ambleside,
to \Vinilermere, called the Furness and M indermeie ; deviation of liue at
Kendal proposed at an increased cost of 25,000/.

53. Lowestoft Railway and Harbour.
6,000 shares of 20/. each; capital 120,01)0/.
From Lowestoft, through Thorpe, Loddon, and Reedham, terminating
in junction with the Yarmouth and Norwich line. Length of line, li
miles; number of shares subscribed for, 5117; aud cipital, 103,920/;
auihorised loan, 40,000/.; estimated expense, 120,000/.; rcconmieiided
by the Board ofTrade, and by committee of group K ; single line ; work-
ing expenses, 2,760/. per annum ; royal assent, June 30 ; G. P. Bidder,
engineer; secretary, Richard i'ill, oUices, Guildhall-cuildiugs, Luuduu,
aud at Yarmouth and Norwich,

J846.J

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

25"

5-1. Manchester and Leeds Branches Junction.
Capital 3IW,000(.
Exfension of tlie Oldham anil Heywood I5raiirlies, also of liurnley
BiMncli to join ihe iM:iuchester, Bury, and Ifosspmlale line ; cupitiil sulj-
scribed, 340,000i. ; auihurised loan, 120,000/.; length of line, 13 miles,
7 feet, 8 chains ; estimated expense, SbO.OOO/. ; lecommended by the
Board of Trade, and committee of ^ronp 11 ; ro^al assent, June SO. J.
Stephenson, engineer; office, Palatiue-buildings, Hum's UaiiU, Jlan-
chester; P. Laurenlz Campbell, secretary.

63. Bedford and Loudon and Birmingham.
2,600 sh:ires ; capital 125,1100/.
In junction with the London and Birmingham at Bletchley, running
through a rich agricultural district by Maiston, terminating at Bedford.
Length of line, 15 miles, i furlongs, 4 chains ; number of shares subscribed
for, 2.187. aud capital 10'J,350/. Authorized loan, 41,050/. Estimated
expense, 125,000. Kecommended by the Board of Trade, and by com-
niitlee of group T ; working expenses, 40 per cent. Koyal assent,
.lune 30; IJ. .Stephenson, engineer; scrip exchanged for certificates
25th July ; B. V. Scott, Secretary, 1 1, Old Jewry, chambers, London.

66. Wakefield, Ponlefract, and Goole.
7,380 shares of 50/. each ; capital 355,000/.
Connect the port of Goole and Pontefract wiih the districts of Lanca-
shire and Yorkshire, and by a junction with the York line near Siiaith,
with all parts of the Kingdom. Length of line 28 miles; capital sub-
scribed, 360,000/. ; authorized loan, 121,(i00/. ; recommended by the Board
of Trade and conmiittee of group \V ; working expenses 40 percent.;
royal assent, July 31 ; J. Harris, engineer. IMethley extension, 25 shares,

1 new for 1 old, and new slock for proposed Great Grimsby, and Sheffield,
and Wakefield, and Pcntefract, and Goole, is to be raised j by Grimsby,
t by Wakefield and Goole ; the latter iy shares of 20/. each, one new for
every old.

57. Great Grimsbij, and Sheffield Junction.
12,000 shares of .59/. each ; capital 600,000/.— Amalgamation.

To open a communicalion from Liverpool on (he west of Giimsby, on
the Eastern coast, and furnish the manufacturing and agricultural districts
■with a communication with each other, and access to a safe port on the
Eastern Coast. Length of line, 5!) miles, 4 furlongs, 5 chains ; the whole
subscribed for ; authorized loan, 20;00;i/. ; estimated expense 590,750/. ;
working expense, 30 per cent.; royal assent; June 30; J. Fowler,
engineer ; anialgamaled with the Shi-fiield, Maucliester, aud Sheffield, aud
Lincolushire com|)auies, as also the tireat Grimsby dock and railway, and
propose to include the intended East Lincolushire Company ; Secretary,
J. H. Humfrey, Sheffield.

5S. Midland (Extension.)
Ernra Nottingham to Lincoln, 33 miles, 5 furlongs, 3 chains, for wiiich
the authorised loan is 130,000/., and an increase of the capital siock of
408,000/., estimated expense 403,009/., extension from Lyston to Peter-
borough, 15 miles, 7 furlongs, 4 chains, for which the authorised loan is
41,050/., or 250,000/. The increase of the capital stock 750,000/. ;
estimated expense 750, oao/. ; c ipital subscribed, 109,330/. more for the
Nottingham and Lincoln; royal assent, June 30; working expenses,
14,000/. per annum for X/yslon and Peterborough ; engineer, Ulessrs.
Gaud, R. Stephenson, and F. Swanwick. Bought the Ashbyde-la-Zuuch
canal for 110,0001. ; proposes to make a line by Hinkley and Muira, to
Burton on Trent, also a canal railway, of IMidlaiid gauge, to Grislcy
Common, also Leicester, Swanningttm railway, for 140.000/. at 8 per cent,
10,000/.; for working stock; 7,000/. debt redemp'.ion in 3 years.

59. London and Suutk Western, {Metropolitan Extension, No. 1.)

From Nine Elms to Waterloo and Hungerford bridges; length of line,

2 miles; capital subscribed, 739,180/. ; authorised loan, 233,000/. ; esti-
mated expense, 800,000/. ; capital stock, 800,000/. ; recommended by the
Board of Trade, and committee of group LL. ; royal assent, July 31;
J. Locke, Engineer.

CO. Bristol and Exeter (Branch.)
5,000 shares ol lOj/. e.3ch; capital 5;l0,000/.
Length of line, 29 miles ; number of shares subscribed for, 2,S50/. ; and
capital 205,000/.; authorised loan, 100,000/.; estimated expense, 375,000/.;
forming a junction between Bristol and Exeter, and the Great Western
line in the city of Bristol, willi a branch to Yeovil ; recommended by the
Board of Traile and committee of group G.; working expenses, 35 per
cent; royal assent; July 31 ; I. K. Brunei, engineer; leased to Great
Western Railway, aud proposed sale as follows: on capital, 1,080,000/.,
and 430,000/., to call up at 10/. each, at intervals of six months, until
January 1849; for 100/. shares and until January 1,1852, for the | shares.
After January 1st. 1838, to have G per cent on a capital of 2,000,000/.,
contingent on any new line or narrow gauge between Exeter and London;
if much is passed only to have 5| per cent.

61. Leeds and Bradford, (Extension) Shipleij to Colne,
Ciipilal 500,000/.
From the Leeds and Bradford Railway at Shipley in Bradford, to Colne,
in Lancashire; length of line, 30 miles, 4 furlongs, 5 chains; capital

subscribed, 382,500/. ; power to borrow 160,606/.; estimated expense,
500,000/.; recommended by the Board of Trrde, and committee of group
1).; working expenses, 40 per cent.; royal assent; June 40; H.Fulton
engmeer; Office, Hunslet lane, Leeds; Secretary, W. E. Greenland. '
02. Birminsham and Gloucester, (Gloucester Extension, Stoke Branch,
and Midland Junction.)
Commences at the junction near Birmingham, and terminates injunction
with the Midland Railway at Aston, with branches to Stoke Prior, Wor-
cester, and Droitwich ; length of line, 1 mile, 0 furlongs, 1 chain; no shares
subscribed or power to borrow obtained ; recommended by the Board of
Trade ; viorking expenses, 40 per cent. ; Angusl4 ; J. Baylis,
engineer.

63. Aberdare.
1,000 shares; capital 50,000(.
Length of line, 8 miles, 5 furlongs, 2 chains, from Aberdeen to Taffs
Vale Line, near Ynys; authorised loan, 10,000/; siugle line ; royal assent ;
July 31 ; Vv'illiam Barber, engineer.

04. Ashton, Staleij Bridge, and Lirerjwol Junction. (Ardwick and Guide
Bridge Brunches.)
Length Ij miles, Manchester and Birmingham Line, and Ardwick to
Ashton, Sialey Bridge, and Liverpool Line, and Newton; estimated
expenses, 90,000/. ; capital, 90.000/. ; authorised loan, 30,000/. ; working
expenses, 33 per cent. ; date of act, July 21 ; Haukshaw, engineer.

65. Berks and Hants.

8,000 shares; capital 400,000/.
Length of line 39 miles ; Termini, Newbury, Hungerford, South
Western, near Basingstoke, and Great Western near Reading ; authorised
loan, 133,330/. ; expense 40 per cent.; June 30, 1845; I. K. Brunei,
engineer.

60. Blackburn and Preston Deviation.

Capital 52,458/; loan 10,000/.

Length of line, 3 miles, 4 furlongs, 3 chains ; Termini, Blackburn and

Preston Line in Blackburn, aud Blackburn, Burnley and Colne line, ia

Blackburn ; capital, 30,000/. ; estimated expenses, 00,989 ; royal assent ;

July 21 ; CoUister, engineer.

07. Brighton, Lewis, and Hastings (Branch Extension).

Keymer branch, 9 miles, 1 furlong, 2 chains ; 2,800 shares ; authorised
loiin, 40,000/. ; Hastings, Rye, and Ashford extension, 29 miles, 7 chains ;
10,000 shares ; authorised loan, 100,000/ ; increase of capital, 500,000/. ;
and for Keymer branch, 140,000/. ; and extension of Brighton and Chiches-
ter (Portsmouth Extension), 22 miles; 6,400 shares; increase of capital,
320,000/. ; single line ; authorised loan, 100,000/. ; dale of act August S ;
J. J. Rastrick, engineer. The Portsmouth Extension is from the Brighton
and Chichester line, to Fareham, on the Loudon and South Western, and
the Hastings, from Hastings to Ashford on South Eastern. The Brighton,
Lewes, and Hastings line is extended from Soulhover and Lewes, to
the Brighton line at Keymer. Sold to the Brighton line for 71. per share
premium, by act had power to sell at 482,000/., the estimated act, aud 10/.
per share additional. Boyman, Secretary, Office, 11, King William-
street, City.

08. Ciiestcr and Birkenhead] (Extension.)
Length, 7 furlongs; capital subscribed, 225,000/.; authorised loan,
100,000/.; capilal stock, 300,000/. ; estimated expenses, 250,000/. ; from
Grange-lane to Grange-end ; date of act, July 21 ; G. T. Payne, engineer.

09. Chester and Holyhead.

Length, 4 miles, 4 furlongs, 0 chains; estimated expense, 500,000/. ;
date of act, June SOth ; Robert Steplu-uson, engineer; Secretary, George
King ; Office, 02, Moorgate-street, London.

70. Cockermoutk and Workington.

4,000 shares ; capital 80,000/.

Length of line, 8 miles, 0 furlongs, 7 chains: estimated e.xpense 30,000/. ;
authorised loan, 20,00u/. ; number of shares subscribed, 3,113 ; andcipilal,
02,100/.; working expenses, 40 per ceut. ; single line; daieofact, July 21;
John Dixon, engineer. From Cockermouth to 'iVhitehaven line at
Workington Harbour; G. H. Barnes, Secretary, Cockermouth.

71. Direct London and Portsmouth.
Capital 1,.500,000/.: loans 500,000/.

Estimated expenses, 1,450,000/. ; returned as passed in return of House
of Commons, printed August 8, 1815.

72. Dunstable, London, and Birmingham.
2,500 shares ; capilal 50,000/.

Length of line, 7 miles ; authorised loan, 10,600/.; number of shares
subscribed for, 119; capital, 2,392/.; estimated expense, 50,000/. ; workini;
expenses, 1,720/. per annum; single line; date of act, June 30; Rober
Stephenson, Engineer; Secretary, Thomas Long; registered, August 27 ;
Office, Eustou-square, London.

26

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[January,

73. ItasteiTi Union (Ipswich and Bury St. Edmn7>ds.)
16,0"0 shares ; capital, 4ijO,buU/.
Length of line, 2fi miles, 0 fiirlonps, 3 chains. Number of shares sub-
scribed for, 1,'JGSO, and capital, 317,000;. ; aulhorized loan, i;{3,33:!/. ; esti-
mated cost, 400,000/.; from ICastern Union line at Ipswich to IJury St.
Edmunds; working expenses, 10 per cent.; date of act, July 21, 1»45 ;
P. Brufl, engineer; ollice, Brook-street, Ipswich; secretary, James F.
Saunders.

74. Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Length of line, G miles, 2 chains ; capital subscribed, 210,000/. ; autho-
rised loan, 23,000/. ; capital slock, 100,000/. ; estimate of expense, 52,000/.;
working ejpensc, 30 per cent.; date of act, July 31; J. 31iller, eogiaeer;
branch lo Stirling,

75. Editil>ttrgh and Hawick.
32,000 shares ; capital, 4ilO,U(JU/.— Amalgamation.
Length of line, 45 miles, 2 furlongs, 8 chains. ; authorised loan,
133,333/.; single line; working expenses, 40 per cent.; date of act, Aug-
6 ; J. Miller, engineer.

76. Eretrash Valley.
3,.S00 shares i capital, l;)o,Ono(.
Length of line, 13 miles, G furlongs ; shares subscribed, 2,920; capital,
146,000/. ; authorized loan, 03,000/. ; estimate of expenses, 187,000/. ;
date of act, July 21; working expenses, 30 per cent.; engineer, G.
Cope; from the Midland line, at Lawley, Derbyshire, to Mansfield and
Pinxton line at Selston, Nottinghamshire; secured to the IMidland at 6
per cent.

77. Epping {Eastern Counties Junction.)
8,000 sliares ; capital, 2000,000/.— Amalgamation.
Length of line, 1 mile, 0 furlongs. Authorised loan, 00,600/. Num-
ber of shares subscribed for, 750, and capital 18,750/. Estimate of ex-
pense, 200,000/. From London to I'lackwall and Eastern Counties' line.
Date of act, Aug, 4. Kobert Stevenson, engineer in Blackwall.

7S. Glasgow Junction.
Capital, 150,0001.

Length of line, 2 miles, 2 furlongs ; capital subscribed, 224,0001. ; au-
thorized loan, 50,000/.: estimated expense, 150,000/.; date of act, 3d
and 2Ist July ; engineer, J. Miller.

79. Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock, and Ayr {Cumnock Branch in

Extension.)

Capital, L'04,000/.

Length of line, 18 miles, 3 furlongs, 0 chains; estimated expense,

350,000/. ; authorised loan, 68,000/. ; working expenses, 30 per cent., and

estimated expense, 440,000/. ; capital stock in trade, 312,500/. ; authorised

loan, 104,106/.; engineer, J. Miller; printed in parliamentary return as

haying passed the House of Commons.

80. Great North of England {Clarence and Hartlepool Junction.)
Capital, 21,000/.
Authorised to borrow 7.000/. Length of line, | of a mile ; date of act,
July 21 ; engineer, Joseph Stevenson ; estimated expense, 2,773/.

81. Great North of England and Richmond,

150,000 shares;

Length of line, 9 miles, 8 furlongs, 3 chains; capital subscribed,
242,340/.; estimated expense, 112,383/.; authorised loan, 50,000/.; work-
ing expenses, 40 per cent. ; date of act, July 21, 1845 ; engineer, Joseph
Stevenson.

82. Guilford, Chichester, and Portsmouth.
Ca])ital 5110^ Amalgamation.
Guilford Junction, purchased by South Western ; capital stock in
shares, 500,000/. ; authorised loan, 100 6GG ; length of new line, 15 miles ;
Fareham branch ; estimated working expense, 9,300/. per annum ; date of
act, July 21, 1845; engineer. J. Locke; capital, 885,000/. ; —

Rand, secretary.

83. 1 Uuddersfield and Manchester Railway and Canal.
21,000 shares; capital, 6.10,000/.
Length of line, 22 miles, 7 furlongs, 1 chain. Number of shares sub-
scribed for, 700, and capital, 500 130/. ; authorised loans, 210,000/. ; esti-
mated expense, 630,000/. From SheOield and Manchester line at Slaley-
Bridge to Manchester. Leeds, at Kirkheaton ; estimated working ex-
pense, 40 per cent. ; date of act, July 21 ; engineer, J. Locke ; secretary,
Edward Ledgard, Guildhall, HuddersCeld, Aug. 18.

84. Huddersfield and Sheffield Junction,
lO.noo shares; capital, i;30,00iW.
Length of line, 15 miles, 4 furlongs, 6 chains. Number of shares sub-
scribed for, 9,229, and capital, 401,000/.; authorized loan, 177,333/.;
estimate of expenses, 531,258; from Huddersfield lo the Sheffield and
Manchester line at I'enistone ; dale of act, 30th June; engineer, A. S.
Jee ; amalgamated with Manchester and Leeds, 10,040/. ; stock of latter
company interested .in proposed Huddersfield, Halifax, and Bradford,

AVest Hiding and West Yorkshire Companies, and propose to extend from
Huzins to Barnsley.

85. Hull and Selby (Bridlington Branch.)
H.CAD shares ; capital, 2,161,0l>UI.
Length of line, 31 miles. Number of shares subscribed, 6,612, and
capital, 105,300/.; authorised loan, 72,000/. ; estimated expense, 210,000/. ;
From Hull and Selby line to Bridlington; date of act, 30th June ; engi-
neer, K. Stephenson.

86. Liverpool and Bury (Bolton, Wigan and Liverpool, and Bury Extension.)
lti,'J40 shares; capital, 1^12,000^ — .\malgamation.
Length of line, 34 milis, 1 furlong, 20 chains. ; number of shares sub-
scribed for 13,978, and capital, 098,900/. ; authorized loan, 304,030/. ; esti-
mated expense, 982,000/.; estimate of working expense, 40 per cent.;
date of act, July 31, 1815; engineers, James Thompson and Sir Joha
Macneill; 5th call, October 18; aiualgamatcd with the Manchester and
Leeds, Monday, October 8.

87. London and Croydon Enlargement.

Capital, 180,000/.
Length of line, 12 miles, 4 furlongs; capital subscribd, [140,000/.;
authorised loan, 00,000/. ; date of act,] August 8 ; engineer, C H.

(iregory.

88. London and Brighton (Horsham,)

Capital, 100,000/.
Length of line, S miles, 3 furlongs; capital subscribed, 73,000/.; au-
thorised loan, 33,333/. ; estimated expense, 100,000/. : from Three Bridges
Station, on the Brighton line, to Horsham ; working expenses, 40 per
cent. ; date of act, July 21, 1845 ; J. H. Kastrick, engineer.

89. Manchester and Birmington (Ashton Branch.)

Length of line, 54 miles; estimated expense, 93,000/.: from Heatoa
Norris to Sheffield and Manchester line near Guide Bridge ; working
expenses, 30 per cent. ; date of act, July 21 ; engineer, W. Baker.

90. Manchester Sottth Junction and Altrinchain.
Capital, 400,000/.
Length of line, 9 miles, 3 furlongs; subscribed capital, 400,000/. ; au-
thorised loan, 133,333/.; estimated expense, 400,000/. ; from Manchester
and Birmingham, and Manchester and Liverpool lines at Altringham;
working expenses, 40 per cent. ; date of act, July 21 ; engineer, W.
Baker ; secretary, John Latham ; office, Manchester and iiirmingham
Station, Manchester.

91. Tlliddlesborough and Redcar,
720 shares; capital 36,000/; deposit 2/. 15s.
Length of line, 7 miles, 5 chains ; number of shares taken, 569 ; capital
subscribed, 28,450/. ; authorised loan, 12,000/. ; estimated expenditure,
36,000/.; working expenses, 40 per cent.; date of act, July 21 ; single
line ; engineer, John Harris ; amalgamated, and guaranteed 5 per cent by
the Great North of England and Stockton and Darlington companies, and
division of half the profits; 10/. paid November 4 ; Mr. Magnay, secre-
tary ; office. North Gate, Darlington.

92. Monmouth and Hereford,

11,000 shares; caiiital 5.'>0,0OU/.

Length of line, 36 miles, 2 furlongs, 8 chains ; shares subscribed for,
8,250 : capital, 412,500/.; authorised loan, 183,333/.; estimated expense,
550,000/.; working expenses, 40 per cent.; date of act, July 31 ; engi-
neers, George and Robert Stephenson ; from the Cheltenham and Great
Western Union line to Monmouth and Hereford ; sold to Great Western.

93. Newcastle and Darlington (Brandling Junction).
Capital 0500,00/.
Length of line, 5 miles, 7 furlongs; capital subscribed, 13,000/. ; autho-
rised loan, 210,000/ ; estimated expense, 90.0(i0/. ; working expenses,
4,087/. per annum ; date of act, July 21 ; engineer, T. E. Harrison.

94. Newcastle-upon-Tyne and North Shields (Tynemouth Extension).

1,000 shares; capital 58,000/.
Length of line, 1 mile; authorised loan, 10,fi0G/. ; estimated expense,
49,091/. ; working expenses, 40 per cent. ; date of act, June 30 ; engineer,
Itobert Nicholson.

95. Newport and Pontypool.

1,191 shares; capital 119,100/.

Length of line, 14 miles, 2 chains; number of shares subscribed for,

900; capital, 90,000/.; authorised loan, 78,163/.; estimated expense,

129,000/. ; working expenses, 40 per cent. ; date of act, 31 July ; engineer,

T. Marsh.

96. North British,

Capital 20,000/.
Length of line, 1 mile, 7 furlongs ; estimated expense, 47,000/.; aatho-
rised loan, 53,333/. ; date of act, 21 July ; engineer, J. Miller; secretary,
J. F. Davison, 24, St. Andrew-square, Edinburgh.

97. North Union and Ribble Navigation (Branch).
Length of line, 01 chains, 7 furlougs ; from North Union line to Vic-

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

27

toria Quay, Preston ; estimatad expense, 16,000/. ; authorised loan, 6,606?.
■working expenses, 2j per cent. ; date of act, 21 July ; engineer, MiUiani
Coulthard.

98. North Woolwich.
1,200 sllares ; capital 30,000/.
" Length of line, 2 miles, 6 furlongs, 6 chains; number of shares taken,
900; capiial, 22,000/.; authorised loan, 10,000/.; estimated expense,
30,000/. ; Eastern Counties ; single line; working expenses, 40 per cent,
date of act, July 21 ; euRineer, G. P. Bidder ; from the Eastern Counties
^'^e, near the mouth of the Lea, to North Woolwich,

99. Nortvich and Brandon {Deviation), and Diss and Dereham {Bra/iches).

Capitiil 320,000/.
Length of line, 17 miles; capital subscribed, 170,210/.; authorised
loan, 73,300/. ; estimated expense, 100,000/. ; working expenses 27 per
cent. ; date of act, 31 July ; engineer, G. P. Bidder.
100. North Wales Mineral.
15,000 shares ; capital 150,0110/.
Length of line, 12 miles, 1 furlong, 9 chains ; number of shares sub.
scribed for, 11,415; capital 114,150/.; authorised loan, 50,000/.; esti-
mated expense, 45,536/. ; from North Wales Mineral line to Kuabon ;
-working expenses, 40 per cent.; date of act, July 21 ; engineer, P. Ko-
bertson; secretary, John Marriuer; meet at the Loudon TaTern.

101. Sheffield and Rotherham.
Capital 45,000/.
Length of line, 3 furlongs, 2 chains ; estimated expense, 45,000/. ; from
Sheffield and Rotherham line to Sheffield and INIanchester line, in Bright-
side, Burlow, Sheffield ; amalgamation with the Midland ; date of act,
July 21 ; engineer, Mr. Swanwick.

102. Wear Valley.
1,650 shares ; capital S2,000/.
Length of line, 11 miles, 0 furlongs; number of shares subscribed for,
1,300 : capital, 05,000/. ; authorised loan, 27,300/. ; estimated expense,
82,000/. ; from Crock branch of the Bishop Auckland line to Watchlass
Hill, Frosterley ; date of act, July 31 ; engineer, John Dixou ; Thomas
M'Nay, secretary, Darlington.

103. Whitby and Pickering.
Capital 135,000/.
Sale to York and North Midland ; estimated expense, 135,400/. ; autho-
lised loan, 45,000/. ; date of act, 30 June; engineer, J. Stephenson.

104. West London.
Capital «0.000/.
Length of line, 1 mile, 5 furlongs, 1 chain; from West London, at Ken-
sington, to a point near Battersea Bridge; estimated expense, 60,000/.,
authorised loan, 20,000/.; working expenses, 40 percent.; date of act,
July 31 ; engiueer, K. Stephenson.

105. i'armoiith and Norwich.
Capital 40,000/.
Length of line, 2 furlongs, 5 chains; estimated expense, 40,000/.;
date of act, June 30; engineer, J. P. Bidder; see also Lowestoft
railway; office, Guildhall-buildings, London ; secretary, Richard Till,

106. Hayle and Redruth.
From Redruth, through Caiu Brea, Camborne, to Hayle, in Cornwall ;
negotiating for sale to West Cornwall ; secretary, Mr. Fleming, Old
Broad. street, London.

'Thr Magnetic Telegraph. — The establishment of magnetic telegraphs,
radiating from New York to the east, west, and south, to the extent of three or four hun-
dred miles, so as to connect all the large cities of the Atlantic border with this metropolis,
is now in a rapid state of progress. The line between this and Buffalo is under weigh,
and so also is the one to Boston, so likewise that between this city and Washington, in-
cluding all the intermediate points. There is also a line commenced between this city
and Coney Island. All these lines are conducted by associations of individuals who derive
their powers from the inventor, Professor fliorse, now in Europe. It is supposed that
the whole of them will be finished ia the course of three or four months ; and that the
principal line between this city and Washington will be completed in time to transmit
the next message of the President to this city, and to enable the publishers to issue it
simultaneously with the Washington papers. V.'hen completed these united lines of
telegraphic communication will embrace a territory of nearly 50'l miles from south to
north, and from east to west— including w:tbin its ramifications the metropolis, Wash-
ington, Buffalo, Boston, with all the intermediate cities, as parts of the grand scheme of
communication. Such a system of telegraphic communication of all descriptions of news
will make the gre.it Atlantic cities suburbs of this metropolis, and all animated by the
same spirit and the same impulses, numlieiing, probably, a population of nearly two mil-
lions of the most active, talented, intellectual, impulsive, and most energetic business
men on the face of the earth. It will not be forgotten that this vast and comprehensive
scheme of telegraphic communication will be completed in tne course of a f«w months,
and be in the hands of inrlividnals for their own advantage and purposes, without any
responsibility to government or society in any particular wliatever. One of the lines of
telegraph, and the shortest and most unproductive, that between this city and Coney
Island, has already made propositions to the newspapers, offering to give them intelli-
gence of ship news and other marine matters at the rate of 50 dollars per week— a sum
nearly double that which is now paid under the old method. This is a sample of what
maybe e.-ipected from the other companies and associations, provided they should be
allowed to estsb.ish their vast and comprehensive schemes without being liable and re-
sponsible to any of the legislative pouevs of the country. In fact, we believe that the
magnetic telegraph is goini^ to produce a greater change in gomeof the social institutions
of the country than any one now imagines. — ' New York Herald.*

PROCEEDINGS Ot SCIENTIFZO SOCIETIES.

ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.

1st December, 1845. — J. B. Papworth, V.P. in the Chair.

A paper was read by John Whichcord, jun.. Associate, on
Kentish Rao Stoni; as a Building Material.

This stone, now so much used in the metropolis, is principally quarried
in a district extending about 30 miles east and west, through the centre of
Kent, and having a breadth of from 4 to 10 miles. This district, which
comprises the towns of Sevenoaks, Maidstone, Leuham, &:c. has its sur-
face within the limits of the green or Shankliu sand. The character of the
sand varies considerablj' in the district alluded to, and the qualities of the
building materials which it yields are therefore very different.
Geological Character,

The Kentish Rag Stone is usually found in beds of from 0 inches to 3
feet in thickness, and these dilierent layers are invariably separated by a
species of sand, known by the name of Hassock, which, in some cases, is
sufficiently indurated to present a tolerably good working stone, used fre-
quently in the neighbourhood as an inside lining to external Rag Stone
walls. Mr. Whichcord principally confined his remarks to the quarry at
Boughton, in the neighbourhood of Maidstone, from which jthe best qua-
lities of Rag are now obtained, and a drawing was exhibited to the meet-
ing, which represented a section of the strata in this part of the district.
The quarry at Boughton has been worked for some centuries, and from it
was very probably procured the stone employed in the metropolis during
the period when the pointed style of architecture prevailed. Stones of a
spherical shape, such as were used in the 14th and 10th centuries for
artillery, are still found among the accumulated rubbish.

At Boughton, as in most of the Rag Stone districts, the surface layer of
vegetable mould is succeeded by a bed of loam, which is sometimes 15
feet in depth, and varies in ita character as it descends, changing from a
stilf brick earth to a kind of gravelly loam, called in the district Red Finn.
It is succeeded by three veins of ferruginous sand of a red colour, alter-
nating with the same number of layers of fine Hassock, which in this
case retains its sandy character, and forms, with the Rag Stone lime,
a very excellent mortar.

Beneath the third bed of Hassock is found the first of about 20 layers
of limestone, which bears the name of Land Hag, and is found much
broken. It continually occurs, that this bed thins off into detached mo-
dules, and sometimes ceases altogether. Its thickness is therefore verj
variable, but blocks of from 6 to 6 feet in length, and 8 to 10 inches deep,
can occasionally be procured from it. The stone is here tolerably free to
work.

As previously stated, this bed of stone is (as are all others of the strata)
followed by one of Hassock. The second bed of stone is called the
Header-Layer, used for headers. The next is the Green Rag, which fre-
quently divides and reunites, the intervening space being filled with the
Hassock sand : it is green in colour, and free to work, though not very
sound. The layer of Hassock, which succeeds the Green Rag, is work-
able, and is much used in the neighbourhood for the purpose before men-
tioned ; it requires very little labour in dressing, and in the quality of
resistance to moisture is superior to brick. The next bed of stone is called
the Yellow Rag, and is used principally for pitching ; it is succeeded by
the Pelsea, from which the largest blocks can be procured, some of 12
inches in thickness ; it is very hard and strong.

The next two layers of Rag are called the Coleman and the Little Cole-
man, and are of a hard flinty nature; they are sometimes used as headers.
We have theu the Great Rag, which is a bed of considerable depth, some-
times as much as 3 feet; but as it very often cleaves into two thicknesses,
and is full of crosses, no stones of a large size can be procured from it ;
it is much used for lime, of which it affords the best quality. The bed of
Hassock immediately under the Great Rag is of a very superior quality,
being of a fine, close, and free working grain, resejubling the Reigate
Stone, and stands exposure to the weather exceedingly well. It is fol-
lowed by the Newington Clcares, which, like the Great Rag, often splits
into two layers ; it is very hard and flinty. Two beds of Hassock, sepa-
rated by a thin flinty lajerof Rag Stone, intervene between the cleaves
and the Whiieland Bridge, which is equal in quality to any in the quarry;
blocks of 12 feet in length, and of almost any breadth, can be procured
from it; its workable thickness is about 14 inches.

The next in order is the 3Iainbridge, similar to the preceding bed,
though no stones of such large scantling can be obtained from it. It is
separated by a layer of inferior Hassock fiom a bed called Garl, used
generally for headstones.. The Hursebridge succeeds it: this is a good
stone ; blocks can be procured from the bed 15 feet long, and 16 inches
thick. The next layer, called Headstone Layers, is about 7 inches thick.
This is followed by two or three header layers, inferior iu quality, and
alternaling with their respective beds of Hassock, below which are what
are termed the upper and under bottom layers. These yield stones of good
quality and colour, aud of considerable size. Next comes the White Rag,
a soft stone, resembling chalk, and crumbling on exposure to the atmos-
phere; it reposes on a bed of hassocky clay, below which the quarrymen
have not penetraied, it being very doubtlul whether any lime-stone would
be found beneath it ; indeed, in some quarries, it has cot been thought

28

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECrS JOURNAL.

[January,.

■worth while to work even as low as this. Mr. 'Whichcord then mentions
that the most fatourahle nianni>r of working these quarries is to expose
the whole section of the elilT, and carry on the work in such a way as to
lay open the upper surfaces of each of the best layers of stone in some
conrenient part of the quarry. IJy this means the largest scantling can be
procured at once, and the frequent diRiculty attending the working of
quarries in a dillerenl manner (that of obtaining large stones when wanted
in hasle).

Pracliciil Properties.

■\Vilh respect to the mechanical proi)erlips of the stone, it stands next to
granite in the list of British slones in respect of rcsislance to pressure —
but the vents to which even the best quality of this stone are liable, render
is unsafe when applied in such a manner, that the strain acts transversely
to the length of the block. Mr. Whichcord then described the various
modes of working and dressing the Kentish Hag .Stone, meulioiiing that,
as Ashler, it is usually worked with a pick, instead of being tooled, as the
"Hassocky" spots which continually occur in it give it, when smooth,
the appearance of bad I'oriland.

With reference to the mortars made witli lime burnt from this stone, it
was mentioned, that it attains, after a time, a degree of hardness equal to,
and, in some cases, even greater than the liag Stone itself. The durabi-
lity of liag Stone wall-work can therefore best be depended on when used
vrith this mortar.

Mr. W liichcord referred to the mode of burning lime in the neighbour-
hood of the quarries, and the quantities used in making concrete, viz.—
six of broken stone, two of sand, and one of lime. He also gave a list of
the prices, botli at tlie quarry and at London, of the various qualities of
stone, and of the prices of labour at Houghton.

Chemical Aiiabjsis.

The following analysis of the Kentish Rag Stone was made for Mr.
"Whichcord's paper by Mr. I'liillips, of the Museum of Economic Geo-
logy :—

Carbonate of lime, nith a little magnesia, .. ..92 6

Earthy matter, .. .. .. .. (J'S

Oxide of iron, .. .. .. .. 0*5

Carbonaceous matters, .. .. .. .. G'4

Hassoclcs.

Carbonate of lime,
Eartliy matters.
Oxide of iron.

26'2
722

Royal E\ch*ngf..

December 151h, 1813. — Mr. Kendall, V.H. in the chair.

Mr. Tite read a paper,

" On liu'i Ori<;in'd Fmnilatiim and Erection of the Roijal Exchange,
by Sir TItomas (iresham, with some Notices of the late Building destroi/ed
by Fire, and an Account of the lioman Antiquities discorered in excavating
for the Present Edifice."

The first branch of his subject IMr. Tite illustrated by numerous extracts
from the records of which the corporation of London possesses a rich
collection, commencing with the original charter granted to the city by
William the Conquerer, a document wliich he incidentally describes as
being comprised in a few lines in the Anglo-Saxon language. Coming,
then, to the authorities more immediately connected with the subject, Mr.
Tite detailed the transactions relating to the buililing of the Royal Ex-
change, through the inunilicence of the princely merchant, by whom the
■whole expense of the structure was undertaken, on cortdition that the site
should be provided by the city, from his first proposal to that efl'ect in
1504. The purchase of the site cost the citizens 3,r)32;. 17s. 2d., including
freeholds, leaseholds, and tenants' interests ; and it is to be noted that tlie
former class of properly realized ahcuit twentj -three years' purchase — a
value not very dili'erent from the average of later times. The building was
completed and opened for use in 1507. During tiie progress of the work,
a question apjiears to have arisen between Sir Thntnas and the city
respecting the ;)rw;ier<i/ in the building, Hhith terminated in his assuring,
after his own life, half the profit of the shops and other tenements to the
Corporation, and half to tlie Mercer^' Company ; and it is from this division
that the affairs of the Exchange have ahvavs been in the hands of the
mixed body called the Gresham Committee. The appearance of the
original building is preserved to us in Hollar's engraving, which shows
it to have been in a much better style of architecture than the Bourse of
Antwerp, of which it has been pretended it was a copy. That of Amster-
dam bears a much greater riseosblaucc to it, but in this case the London
building is the original, and not the copy ; that of Amsterdam dated only
from 1012. Shortly after the death of Sir thomas Gresham, some part of
the building failed, upon which occasion the members of the Corporation
endeavoured to cast the repairs upon the widow of their benefactor. From
a report made by the (iresham Committee, after the destruction of the
building in the great fire, it appears that the arcades of the court were
vaulted with stone, and that it had been necessary to stay the supporting
pillars by transverse iron ties. This report is dated on the 17th September,
1600, £0 that the committe had lost no time in taking measures to repair

the calamity they had suffered. Estimates for the new building were
speedily provided by Mesers. Mills and Jennan, who appear to have
proceeded in the plan of making out quantities, and giving them to the
tradesmen to be priced. After some coquetting on the part of the latter,
who professed to deprecate any interference with the ollice of city surveyor,
held by iMills, Jerii.au was at last appointed the architect, and the ti rst
f tone of the new edifice was laid by King Charles II., on the 23rd of
October, 1007. In erecting the new edifice, the site was considerably
enlarged, and it was the wish of the citizens to disengage the building
from the houses, late Sweeting's Alley, which pressed upon it to tba
eastward, encouraged by an oiler of the proprietor, .Sweeting, to dispose
of his pro]ioily on the most liberal teniis, and which ended, as such
offers usually do, in demands too exorbitant to be complied with. The
tower of Jerman's building, which, from motives of economy, was con-
structed of timber insead of stone, yielded to the eflecis of time in 181S,
and was replaced by a slons cupola, designed by Mr. George Smith,
architect of the Mercer's Company. M'ith reference to the building lately
completed under his superintendence, Mr. Tite confined himself to the
antiquities. Eour glass cases, containing a numerous selection, were laid
on the table, consisting of pottery, coins, writing tablets and styles, a great
>ariety of olijects in metal, and a quantity of shoes and sandals in excel-
lent preser\alion. The whole of these curious olijects were found in one
spot, at a depth below the general level of the solid ground, and bedded ia
black mud — evidence that it had been a pond, and the receptacle of rubbish
for the neighbourhood during the period of Roman London. Mr. Tite
concluded with a powerful appeal to the members of the profesiion in
general, on the subject of the preservation of Antiquities, and of sup-
porting the measuies recommended by Mr. Hawkins, in his letter read
at a former meeting.

SOCIETY FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF ARTS,

T/ie First Meetiny of the Society for the encouragement of Arta, Manu-
factures, and Commerce, took place on the 17th, in the great room of the
Society, in the Adelplii, which was completely filled.

B. lioND Cabbull, Esq., F.R.S., one of the Vice Presidents, took the
Chnir, and an address from the Council was then read by the Secretary. The
Council congratulated the society on the auspicious commencement of their
ninety-second session. During the recess the society had undergone a com-
plete reorganization, and the new system of management proposed by the
Council had been almost unanimously confirmed by two general meetings, so
that the society being thus rewarded, its youth would, it was anticipated,
display all the vigour and energy of a new institution, combined with the
stability and influence of an old one.

It was the intention of the council to add largely this year to the value
and number of the premiums. In the fine arts, the mechanical arts, the
manufactures, agriculture, and commerce of the country — rapid improvements
were in progress, which it had been the peculiar province of this society for
nearly a century to encourage and direct, and in which nearly 100,000^ had
already been expended by it with great public advantage. In the present
session many valuable subjects were about to be offered for competition by
premiums, and so large a number of important papers were coming forward
for notice, that the Council believed the auspicies under which tliis session
commenced were unusually bright, and they thercfoiehad to congratulate the
members upon the improved prospects of the society.
Broad and Narrow Gauge

The first enmmunicatioa read to the society was a paper on certain im-
provements, in constructing the Locomotive Engines, and permanent Way of
Railw.iys, with reference to the question of wide and narrow gauge, by J. G.
Bodmer, Esq., formerly of Manchester, now of London. In this paper the
author examines ihe question of the relative merits of wide and narrow
gange ; he ascertains that the question is not one either of relative safety or
danger, but that it resolves itself ultimately into this question, 'vbich gauge
will admit of the most perfect means for obtaining high velocities with
greater regularity and economy. At present he admits the broad gange has
the advantage in more powerful and speedy engines. lint he then (iroceeded
to show that by placing the cylinders outside, and by increasing the firebox
and the flue surface in the manner he proposes, and by adopting the
principle of compensation as in his doulile piston locomotives, high velocities
may he obtained with security, safety and advantage. In short, that as
powerful an engine in every way may be placed on tlie narrow gange as on
the wide one, and one equally well adapted to high velocities. He then went
on to show how the chief limit in increase of power, and the corresponding
increase of weight in locomotive engines, consists not so much in tlie con-
struction of the engines, as in obtaining a permanent way suitable for the
support of such enormous loads. By these loads travelling at high velocities
concussions are produced which derange the permanent way, and are at
present the chief sources of danger and cost, and the chief limit to the speed.
He ap|iroves of the triangular sleeper, originally invented by Reynolds, and
he proposes to use a modification of that on a larger scale, as a longitudinal
bearing, lie also propos^^s that the breadth of the rad should bejso increased
as to diminish the continual attrition so destructive to wheels, and procure
greater durability. In the conclusion of the paper he suggests th,it an ex-
perimental railway ought to be constructed either at the expense of the
government, or of the joint railways, for ascertaiiung the best means for
giving the increased velocity wnich the public are beginning to demand in the

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

Sd

best manner. The paper gave rise to a long and interesting discussion, whii-.h
elicited tlie opinions of engineers and scientific men present on the merits ,
Mr. Bcdmer's plan. Tlie principle on which his engines are constructed
were approved by all who spoke on the subject, and the thanks of the
meeting were unanimously accorded to the author. The next paper read was
a sequel to the former by the same author, on improved crank axles and axle
boxes, by which greater security and economy are obtained in railway trains
running at liigli velocities. There were other papers on the list of the
evening, one of them containing a valuable discovery by Mr. Nott, on the
nature of the Photographic rays, and a method by which a great improvement
is effected in Daguerreotype pictures. But the lenstb and interest of the
discussion rendered it necessary to postpone that and the other communi-
cations to a future meeting. The meeting was crowded and deeply interesting,
and augurs well for the prosperity of the society under the new regime.

ROYAL SCOTTISH SOCIETY OF ARTS.
Monday, Nov. 21, 1845 — John Beatson Bell, Esq., in the Chair.

The following communications were made : —

" Description niiil Dr<iwing of a new Rijie Breech." By Mr. Thojjas
MoDLD, gnnmalicr, Slirling. Communicated by Mr. Burns ofGarvald.
Sir. Mould's method is to attach two spiral "ribs" to the breecli only, f»r
about two inches where it screws into the barrel, and not to the barrel it-
self, as in the comnion mctliod ; the ribs being made to describe a curve
equal to a whole turu in twelve inches. The breech, after being linished,
is case-hardened. The barrel can be made much longer oa iNlr. Mould's
plan without danger of stripping the ball. After tiring with this riHe, the
tract of the ball can be clearly seen runninj in a spiral direction aloiin the
inside of the barrel, if the breech be unscrewed, and the barrel be held like
a telescope. The piece is also said to be much easier loaded. Referred
to a Committee.

" Description and Drawing of a Railway Alaruin", by which the guard
may communicate with the Kngineer. By Mr. Andrew Cariuck. This
proposal is for a communication to be elfected from the locomotive all
along the train by means of rods passing beneath each carriage, which are
united by chains after the carriages are attached to each other. On the
guard pulling the lever attaclied to this, a bell is struck on the locomotive
so as to give warning to the engineer when any thing is wrong, or when it
is wished to stop the train.

" Description and Drawing of a Railway Indicator," for showing at night,
or in dense fogs, the speed of the engine, or distance it has travelled from
the station. ]5y the Same. This iodicator consists of a screw working
into a piuion on the axle of the driving wheel, whicli carries a spindle that
■works by means of a train of wheels, upon one that carries a hand or
pointer, showing how many miles the eugiue has travelled from the station.
Mr. Carrick recommends that, at each station, the engineer sets the pointer
to zero, aud thus he will know almost exactly where the train is, even in
the darkest night or in dense fogs.

" Description anrf Drawing of another Railway Indicator." By tlie Same.
This is another form of the indicator. It consists in having studs hxed
along the railway at each mile, which oq the engine passing over them,
come in contact with a bell crauk, and ring a bell lised on the locomotive.
The engineer can thus count the number of miles passed over.

Monday, December 8. — John Beatson Bell, Esq., V.P., in the Chair.

The following communications were made : —

Notice relative to tlie properties of

Patent Intonaco Cement, with illustrative specimens. By Mrs. Map.-
GARET Henrietta AIahshall, Millport.

It was Slated that the principal claims to notice possessed by this ce-
ment, are its cheapness, hardness, and durability, and the almost boundless
variety of purposes to v\hich it may be usually applied. Tliat in architec-
ture, it is alike litied for walls, flooring, ceiling, and pointing slates, which
it unites into one solid immoveable body. That it sets in a few hours, aud
dries so rapidly, that a house plastered with it may with perfect safety be
inhabited in eight days. That it is alike hard through its whole substance ;
and, even as exterior cement, in imitation of stone, has remained uninjured
and uurdtered in all weatliers, never having been known to peel or throw
oil' any salt from the surface. That it is such a slow conductor of heat,
tliat iron of equal thickness, exposed to equal degrees, showed a balance
of 6,! in favour of the Intonaco, cousequeatly it offers a very great security
from fire. That as it shows at least as great a power of resisting damp,
lathing may be entirely dispensed with, wherever it is used as wall plaster;
and partitions formed of it, according to the plan of the patentee, only two
inches in thickness, present a much firmer body, and more eti'eclual deaf-
ening, than the i\ inch double lath partitions at present in use ; besides
being cheaper ; — and that no vermin of any description can penetrate or
lodge iu walls or partitions done with it. That this cement oilers a per-
fectly new art of imitating marble, which, imnioveably united to the sur-
face of sandstone, and higlily polished, will bear exposure to any weallier.
Every style of ancient ornanieutal (looting can be imitated to perfection at
moderate cost. 1'hat it forms an entirely new ground either for mural, or
easel oil painting : the finished paintings possessing all the advantages of
fresco, united to greater depth and brilliancy, and incalculably greater ease
of execution. That as a ground for gilding, it has received the highest

aporobation of practical men; and is ready for the gold in 24 hours after
moulding or mode\

Account of Experiments on Electro-Culture. — By Andrew Fvfc,
M.D., F.K.S E., Professor of Medicine and of Chemistry, University and
King's College, Aberdeen.

In this paper the results of trials on the application of electricity t.>
vegetation, as recommended by Dr. Foster, were first stated, the wire*
being applied to cabbages, &c. In these experiments Dr. Fyfe did not
find the slightest benefit to accrue. At the time that the trials were in
progress, experiments were also instituted with the view of ascertaining
whether there was an electric current along the wire, which was done by
the use of the gold leaf electrometer, and by delicate galvanometers. In
all of these, there was not the slightest indication of electric current.

Dr. Fyfe's paper afterwards gave the results of trials on the applicatioQ
of galvanic electricity, this agent being applied in a varietv of ways, to
peas, beans, onions, potatoes. In some of these the galvanism was applied
by sinking metallic plates in the ground, and connecting them with wires,
sometimes sunk in the earth, at other times left above it, and in contacti
with the plants. In other trials the galvanism was applied by the use of
batteries, with wliich galvanometers were connected ; the trials, in some
cases, being continued forseveral weeks. In all, not the slightest dillerenco
could be observed between the products of the galvanised and non-galva-
nised vegetable. Iu the case of the potatoes the products were, in one
trial, as 37^ for the galvanised to 3;i for the non-galvanised. In another,
it was as 4(i^ for the galvanised to 5U for the non-galvanised. Taking th-;
average of aM the trials, the results were as lOU for the galvanised to 10f«
for the non-galvanised.

From the results of his numerous trials, Dr. Fyfe concluded that no
benefit whatever was observed to follow the application of electricity, either
by the mode recommended by Dr. Foster, or by galvanic ■di'Ctricity — at
the same time, he stated, that though in these trials no benefit resulted, he
VNas far from asserting that electricity would not be found beneficial ; th©
subject was worthy of prosecution, and he hiiped that others would be in-
duced to prosecute it, and to give it the scrutiny to wiiich it was entitled.

AT.MOSPIIERIC TRACTION.

The power employed in exhausting the Main Pipe compared with the power-
exerted 6y the Train Piston ; Friction a«rf Leaka HE heiny disreyards't

m both cases. »

I presume that Mr. Ilaydon's formula;* are general ones, i. e. independenj
of the dimensions of the tiilies and pumps, as likewise of the length of the
stroke of the jiunip and the number of the strokes ; and that consequently i
may assume, ./"or the purpose of explanation, any dimensions, &c., which I
find most easy to deal with, however extravagant such dimensions ma/
otherwise appear.

The preliminary exhaustion 1 will suppose to be effected by means of a
piston placed witiiin the main pipe itself. To produce the degree of ex-
liaustion assumed by Mr. llaydon, viz: one third of the atmospheric pressure,
or 511), per square inch, such piston must obviously be moved along two-
thirds of the length of the main; its motion terminating at the end opposita
to that from whieli the train piston is to start.

The power, necessary so to move this piston, may he estimated as follows,
(taking each side separately and considering only the effect upon one square
inch).

Call the length of the main a, call f of its length b, and ^ of its length c,,
then a = b + c.

Opposed to the motion of this piston, through b, there would be the
constant atmospheric pressure of lolb = 15 b.

Assisting its motion throughout i, there would be a pressure varying froiG
lalli at the commencement, to 61b. at the termination : if we call the avej-ayo-
of this varying pressure ,r, then the assisting force would be x b, and the
general expression of the resistance is 15 b — x b, or (15 — x) b, to be over-
come in effecting the preliminary exhaustion down to 51b pressure per square
Inch.

Thetrain piston being now ready to start, the next object is to maintain,
iii front of it, while it travels, the degree of exhaustion just specified, viz. :
51b per inch ; and for this purpose, I will suppose a second piston to bft
placed also within the main pipe, at a point some little in advance of tin
train piston, and that the power by which it (the second piston) is to b(
moved along the main, is so regulated as to draw it along exactly at th«
same rate as that at which the train piston itself travel?, whereby the space
between the two, may not become larger or smaller, as that, if it occurred
would change the degree of exhaustion in front of the train piston.

The power necessary to move this e.i'/ia(«''0« '«a"'''2!'""y piston may hi
estimated as follows :

It must move through a, (the length of the main): opposed to its motioi>
there would be a pressure at the outset of 51b, but by the time the»pistonr
had moved through ; of the length of the main (or b) the pressure woul*
have increased to 151b. This varying pressure being precisely equal ii>
continuance and intensity to the assisting pressure of the preliminary ex-
haustion, its averaye may like that be called ,r, and its total .r b.

* Pan 98, page 335.

^0

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Januart>

This piston must be further moved through the remaining I of the length
of the main (ore) against an opposing pressure of 151b=15 c, the sum of
the opposing force is therefore .i- 4+ 15 c.

To assist its motion there would be a pressure of 51b throughout the
length of the main a = 5 a. The general expression of the resistance of this
piston is therefore x A+15 o— 5 a ; and for both pistons (15 — x) b +
(i 4+ 15 c— 5 a) or 15 (i + c)— 5 a: But (i+e) being equal to a, therefore
15(4 + c) — 5a = 15o — 5a = 10a.

The power operating upon the train piston is (15 — 5)a = 10a; therefore,
(leakage and friction excepted,) no power is lost.

It may be thought necessary to enquire, whether, if an air-pump be used,
this reasoning still applies.

To talie the secondary exhaustion first, I think that Mr. Haydon's formiila
;s just as applicable to the supposed piston, as it is to that of the air-
pump ; as each stroke of the pump would be merely a diminished represen-
Jation of the one long stroke of the supposed piston.

In respect of the preliminary exhaustion, it is most easy to form a judge-
ment by making a calculation of the effect of one or more strokes of a pump
of dimensions assumed with reference to [convenience of calculation only.
For instance ; we may assume that the pump has twice the capacity of tlie
main, in wliich ease it would effect the preliminary exhaustion by one vptvard
stroke. The power necessary to effeiit this stroke may be estimated as
follows : The opposing power is 2 ox 15. The necessary power is therefore
(2 ax 15) — (2 a j) = The assisting power 2 a .»-, (15 a). 2 a. And as a =

3 * ,, • /,r X (3 4x2) ,,.

— ' the power IS (15 — x). — - — -' = (15-

-x). 3 b.

Now as upon the other supposition the preliminary exhaustion of the main
•was found to require a power=(15 — ,j) 4, there would he a loss in using the
pump of (15=ij) 2 i ; but this amount represents exactly the powercon-
sumed in exhausting the cavity of the pump itself, which by the supposition
is twice the size of tlie main.

In my last communication I stated that the only loss (disregarding leakage
and friction) was that of the power employed in exhauting the pumps and
branch pipes j and tlie above reasoning confirms that view of the matter.

I may observe lastly that, with small pumps and branch pipes, this loss
cannot bear more tlian au insignificant proportion to the whole power
expended.

It has been argued that atmospheric traction is like traction by means of a
liighiy elastic rope, which requires to be stretched, at the expense of much
power, before it becomes rigid enough to overcome the resistance of the load,
and which being so stretched, is assumed to afi'ord no advantage over an
ordinary rope.

Now it would be easy in this case to adopt an arrangement which would
recover all the power employed in stretching the ropef. And in the case of
atmospheric traction a mere glance at the subject shows that such a recovery
of power must take place ; for otherwise, the preliminary exhaustion being
analogous to the stretching of the rope, the subsequent exhaustions, to
complete the analogy, must require as much power as would be sufficient to
drag along the train piston by means of a rigid medium ; i. e. a power equal
to that of the train-piston itself! a proposition all hut self-evidently erroneous.
The power acting upon the train-piston as previously shown being constantly
15 — 5 = 10; while the resistance to the air-pump piston is 10 through one
third only of its stroke, with an average of about 3 during the remaining two
thirds of its stroke, making a total resistance equal to about one half oi the
power acting upon the tram-piston.

E. H.

[We have to thank our correspondent for taking great pains to investigate
the subjects of certain papers in this journal, and for communicating his
observations in a most obliging manner. We cannot, however, carry our
courtesy so far as to assent to his conclusions. His arrangement of a
supposititious " exhaustion maintaining piston," " some little in advance of
the tiain-pislon," is wholly different from anything that occurs in practice.
It docs not appear how this exhaustion maintaining piston is itself to be
moved — not by stationary; air-pumps, for the degree of vacuum in front
of it is !uppnsed to constantly diminish, until the air actually recovers its
natural density ; and this cinikl only ^take place on the supposition that the
air-pump ceases wurkinrj directly the train starts.

The mere consideration, that in the air-pump the air is alternately dilated,
and condensed, ought of itself to shew that some power is lost, independ-
ently of leakage and friction. If the particles of air be at constant intervals

t Suppose a weight is to be raised from the bottom of a well 100 feet deep, by means
of an elastic rope loij feet long, passing over a puily at the top of the well, aud being
drawn along hurizontally by a man. Suppose the man found the rope to stretch to

■ double its lvn!,'tli ; i. e. to UOl) feet, by the time it began to lift the weight. Being BO
-stretched, lei its upper end (the 100 feet from the well head) be secured upon the ground,

(by spiking or otherwise) ; and let the man then take hold of the rope close to the well
head; the slightest force applied there will make the weight begin to rise; because the
man has in his f.ivour the reaction of the half of the rope which lies behind him, but as
the weight riKea, this half of the rope will shorten, and its reaction will diminish constantly

■ till it ceases just when the man has moved iO feet from the well head, raising the weight
50 feet.

In this oper.'ition however one half of the power, originally employed in stretching the
rope, will have been recovered.

In like niniiner let the man make fast upon the ground the part of the rope which he
now holds,— go back to the well head, and draw the rope forward !'."» feet, raisijlg the
weight '27i feet ; and he will ftn'ther get back one quarter of the said power.

He may regain ^ ~q t^V &c. so long as he goes on 3 whereby he may regain all b
lufinitesimal fraction.

moved closer together, and farther apart, than they are in their naturel
state, it is clear thit force must be absorbed for the purpose. For to sup-
pose that an elastic fluid has the power of contracting and dilating itself i»
to indue inert matter with an inherent power of motion.

The principles assumed in Mr. Haydon's paper were so entirely in the
ordinary routine course of mathematical investigation, that no mathemati-
cian would dream of disputing the nature of the loss exhibited ; all that
can possibly be done is to question the amount. If our correspondent
wish to do this, he must do it not as here, indirectly, but b y directly show-
ing some error in Mr. Haydon's paper. He must make no suppositious
arrangements of pumps and pistons, but must follow themethod of thepaper
in question, by taking the dimensions of the pump and tube, and the
number of strokes to be exactly what they are in practice.

The illustration of the man drawing a weight from a well is accurate
enough, except that the man's journeys would be less and less eachtime, while
the stroke of the air-pump is always of the same length ; Jthe consequence
would be that in the former case the loss of power might be made much less
than it could possibly be in the latter. Our correspondent himself says,
that there would be some loss in the former case, — that the power usefully
applied would never exactly equal the power expended ; the question there-
fore is, as we said, not one of principle, but a question of mere amount.]

THE PROPOSED EXPOSITION OF MANUFACTURES AND
INDUSTRIAL ART.

The preparations for the proposed exposition of Manufactures and Indus-
trial Art, in connection with the Manchester School of Design, under the
direction of our talented townsman, Mr. George Jackson, are in a forward
state, and the exhibition will be ready for the Christmas holidays. Mr.
Jackson and his colleagues are gentlemen fully competent to the task they
have undertaken, and their success so far has even exceeded their antici-
pations. It is now expected that every nook and corner of the Royal In-
stitution will be required for the display of the articles, so numerous will
they he. From the answers already received, it is expected that the contri-
butions from the Potteries will be rich, indeed magnificent — several houses
of eminence in the china trade having promised contributions of the highest
class, and of considerable amount. From Stourbridge and Birmingham they
have promises of an extensive collection in glass, comprising chandeliers and
articles of general utility ; and from the latter place there will be a consi-
derable quantity of japanned goods, brassworks, and manufactures of other
descriptions peculiar to the town. There will also be some very brilliant
specimens, both in gold and silver, of the electro-deposit. From Coventry
splendid specimens of ribbons and gauzes will be forthcoming, and watches
equal to anything of foreign production. From Leicester a display of ho-
siery ; and from different places in Nottingham a splendid collection of laces
are promised. Sheffield is to contribute specimens of its steel and other
goods, comprising grates, fenders, fire-irons, cutlery, &c. Glasgow is under
contribution for carpets, and some magnificent articles of large dimensions
woven in one piece are amongst the specimens. From Paisley, shawls,
scarfs, and other woven fabrics peculiar to the district are bespoken. From
Ireland specimens of linen are to be exhibited, manufactured from Irish-
grown flax. London is to send silversmiths' goods, including splendid spe-
cimens of plate ; and some magnificent collections of testimonial plate are
on their way to Manchester from thence. Among the manufactures of our
town an effort is making, and the contribution will include a large collec-
tion of printed cottons, de laiues, and silks. The exposition of the latter
description of goods will also include silks from Macclesfield, Spitalfields,
and other places. The Council, we learn, have not restricted the exposi-
tion to articles of home manufacture only, but have induced several foreiga
houses to exhibit and forward specimens of their manufacture. As a favour-
able sample of the spirit in whit-h they have been met on this point, we
may mention that one house in London declined answering the application
till a partner in Paris bad been consulted. His reply was not very favour-
able, but be added, that in his opinion the Council had adopted " a prin-
ciple with regard to this exposition that ought long ago to have been adopted
on the continent, in allowing the foreigner to exhibit in competition, and
that the exoosilions on the continent would never be successful till they
adopted the same principle." The Council, however, confine the exhibi-
tion to the production itself, and do not contemplate exhibiting, as at the
Parisian exposition, the means of production. With regard to the School
of Design itself, it is expected that on this occasion it will fully bear out
the »>vticipations which the public have been led to draw, and that the spe.
cimens will show the utility of such institutions like this, where they cau be
properly conducted. We are also glad to find that the prizes offered by the
Council, to stimulate designers of the town generally, have had a good
effect ; and that the drawings sent in for competition are numerous, and
many of them talented. — Manchester Times,

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

3l

EAILAYAYS NOW AT WORK IN THE UNITED STATES,

(Together with the length
Maine, New Hampshire,
Massachusetts.
Portland, Saco, and Portsmouth, 50 m.
Concord, 35 in.
Boston and Maine, 56 m.
Boston and Maine Extension, 17| m.
Boston and Lowell, 26 m.
Boston and Providence, 41 m.
Boston and Worcester, 44 m.
Berkshire, 21 m.
Charlestown branch.
Eastern, 54 m.
Fitchburg, 50 ra.
Nashua and Lowell, 14-J m.
New Bedford and Taunton, 20 m.
Northampton and Springfield.
Norwich and Worcester, 59 m.
Old Colony.
Stoughton branch, 4 m.
Taunton branch, 11 ra.
Vermont and Massachusetts.
West Stockbridge, 3 m.
Western (117 miles in Mass.) 156 m.
Worcester branch to Milbury.
Housatonic, (10 months,) 74 m.

Connecticut.
Hartford and New Haven, 38 m.
Hartford and Springfield, 25^ ra.
Stonington (year ending Sept. 1) 48m.

New York.
Attica and Buffalo, 31 ra.
Auburn and Rochester, 78 m.
Auburn and Syracuse, 26 m.
Buffalo and Niagara, 22 m.
Erie (446 miles).
Erie, opened, 53 m.
Harlem, 26 m.
Hudson and Berkshire, 31 m.
Long Island, 96 m.
Mohawk and Hudson, 17 m.
Saratoga and Schenectady, 22 m.
Schenectady and Troy, 20^ m.
Syracuse and Utica, 53 m.
Tonnawanda, 43 m.
Troy and Greenbush, 6 ra.
Troy and Saratoga, 25 ra.
Utica and Schenectady, 78 m.

New Jersey.
Camden and Amboy, 61 ra.
Elizabethtown and Somerville, 25 m.
New Jersey, 34 m.
Paterson, 16 m.

of each railway in miles.)
Philadelphia,
Beaver Meadow, 26 m.
Cumberland Valley, 46 m.
Harrisburg and Lancaster, 36 m.
Hazleton branch, 10 m.
Little Schuylkill, 29 m.
Blossburg and Corning, 40 m.
Mauch Chunk, 9 m.
Minehill and Schuylkill Haven, 18 m.
Norristown, 20 m.
Philadelphia and Trenton, 30 m.
Pottsville and Danville, 29i m.
Reading, 94 m.
Schuylkill Valley, 10 ra:
WiUiamsport and Elmira, 25 m.
Philadelphia and Baltimore, 93 m.

Delaware.
Frenchtown, 10 ra.

Maryland.
Baltimore and Ohio (Oct. 1), 188 m.
Baltimore and Susquehanna, 58 m.
Baltimore and Washington, 38 m.

Virginia.
Greensville and Roanoke, 17J m,
Petersburg and Roanoke, 60 m.
Portsmouth and Roanoke, 78J m.
Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Poto-
mac, 76t' ro.
Richmond and Petersburg, 22 m.
Winchester and Potomac, 32J m.

North Carolina.
Raleigh and Gaston, 84 m.
Wilmington and Raleigh, 161 m.

South Carolina.
South Carolina, 136 m.
Columbia, 66 m.

Georgia,
Central, 190J m.
Georgia, 147 ra.
Montgomery and \Vest Point, 89 m.

Kentucky.
Lexington and Ohio, 40 ra.

Ohio,
Little Miami, 40 m.
Mad river, 40 m.

Indiana.
Madison and Indianapolis, 56 m.

Canada.
Champlain and St. Lawrence, 15 m.

FITZWILLIAM MUSEUM.

The Syndicate appointed to report on the state in which the designs for
the building are left, and of the engagements made with the contractors for
the execution of the work, have reported as follows : —

" The Syndicate find by an examination of the drawings left by Mr. Basevi
(which have been sent for their inspection by his brother, Mr. N. Basevi),
that the designs for the greater part of the work remaining to be executed
are in a forward state, but they conceive that these designs not having been
perfected, require, for the completion of the work, the assistance of an
architect of the same order as Mr. Basevi in professional eminence and skill.

" The Syndicate think it highly desirable that the building should be com-
pleted with a close adherence to Mr. Basevi's intentions, so far as they appear
in a settled form in his designs.

" The Syndicate have also ascertained, by inquiry of Mr. N. Basevi and
Mr. Baker, the state of pending engagements with Mr. Baker, and the results
of this inquiry will be laid upon the registrar's table.

" The Syndicate, considering the high professional character of Mr.
Cockerel], and the confidence already reposed in him by the University, beg
leave to recommend that Mr. Cockerell be appointed Mr. Basevi's successor

as architect of the new Fitzwilliam Museum, with instructions to adhere as
closely as may be to Mr. Basevi's designs in carrying on the work to its
completion."

In; accordance with that report a grace passed the Senate to appoint
Mr. Cockerell architect of the Fitzwilliam Museum, in the room of the late
lamented Mr. Basevi.

Newcastle Philosopliicut Society.— An excellent paper has been read by
Mr. Armstrong (the inventor of tiie hydro-electric machine,) on the appli-
cation of water pressure as a motive power, to be supplied from street
mains. The lecturer illustrated his remarks by a model of a crane for
lifting heavy weights, aud he had the complete control of the motive power,
and speed for raising, lowering, or turning round variab:e loads. He
referred to a paper in the Mechanic's Magazine of April, 1840, on the
subject, and wished his claim of priority of application of this povter lo be
confirmed. The mechanical arrangement was very
perfect. The lecturer exhibited also a machine for
circular motion ; a a curved pipe, with water pres-
sure beneath ; b a circular disc, or piston, with
otiiers similar to it, arranged at equal distances ia
the periphery, and they are, like the reefing paddles,
made to enter edgeways into the curved pipe, and
to turn transverse to act as pistons ; each succes-
sive piston entering before the preceding leaves the
curved pipe. The machine is applicable to copper-
mill lathes, where a motive power of amount is required at intervals, and
the cost of power is estimated at only one-third the cost of manual labour.

MISC£Z.I.Arj£:A.

Astronomical Oesf.rvations. — A parliamentary document has just been
printed, in answer to a return of fllr. Hume, for a copy ot inslructions to astronomers ot
the several observatories at home and abroad in the year lt*3r-8, with tlie number of vo-
lumes ot astronomical observations made at each observatory since that year. It appears
that no instructions were sent by the Board of Admiralty to the Astronomer Royal ii:
183r-8. One volume of astronomical obs&rvations is printed in each year by the Royal
Observatory. A report is annually made in the month of June to the Board of Visitors
by the Astronomer Iloyal on the stale of the observator>, and communicated to the Board
of Admiralty. It is added, that at the Royal Observatory at the Cape of Good Hope no
astronomical observations have been printed since the year 1838, the astronomer and his
assistants having been chiefly employed in the measurement of an arc of the meridian.
Dili'erent volumes of astronomical observations made at Greenwich and elset; here have
been printed since IS'.C, under the superintendence of the Stationery-office.

St. Mary's Church, .at Beverley. — A local paper says that the restorations
of this tine ediQce are progressing satisfactorily, and the work already executed is done in
a substantial manner. A barrel drain of sufficient dimensions has been laid at a consi-
derable depth round the church, which proves very efficient in keeping not only the floor
of the nave and chancel, but the whole building perfectly dry. The flagged area and
parapet wall, and the approaches to the five entrances, are finished. The foundations of
the fabric have been carefully examined, and the basements of the buttresses, the walls,
aud their respective weather mouldings, repaired and restored to a considerable height;
so that the stability of the structure may so far now be considered as secure as when Inrst
erected. The interior of the crypt is being proceeded with, and what has lor ares seemed
only a miserable-looking cellar, choked up with accumulations of soil,, and bones and
debris of every kind, already assumes a haudsome appearance.

Present of Medieval Antiquities to the British MtsEt.M. — AVe understand
that Lord Prudhoe, anxious for the formation, in England, of apublic national collection
in illustration of national antiquities, and persuaded that the British Museum is the best
and most extensively available place o- dejiosit for sueli a collection, has made an offer on
subjrct to the Archteological Institute, — whose authority in such matters he desires'to
recognize and reserve. He proposes, we believe, to present to the JIuaeuui, through the
nredium of the institute, and as a result of the ntceling at Winchester, his collection o
remarkable antiquities which were exhibited in the Museum on that occasion, — on con-
dition that the trustees shall undertake to set apart a proper place for collections of the
kind. Such is the report in antiquarian circles ; and we have reason to believe that the
example of Lord Prudhoe has already been fruitlul in other otfers of a similar kind, in the
event of the arrangement which is its condition taking effect. We have little doubt that a
proposal of the kind will determine an arrangement for a separate assemblage and exhibi-
tion, in our great national institution, of the works of British and T-Iediieval Ait : and the
influence of the Institute will then have been early felt, in the formation. throtM^li their
means and authority, of a department which has been so long felt to be a necessary
feature of such an establishment. At the same time the Institute has no intention,
while ministering to their larger object, to abandon the formation of similar collections for
itself. Contributions to its library are, wc are glad to hear, rapidly coming in ; and one
of its projects is to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by its extended corres-
pondence, in the collection of materials for local history. A large number of impressions
from sepulchral biasses have also been presented ; aud the Society purposes, we believe, to
form, if possible, a complete collection of these memorials, tor the sake of their valuable
testimony on subjects of costume, family history, heraldry, and other antiquarian sub-
jects.— ' Athenaeum.'

It is reported that an experimental squadron of steam vessels will put to sea to tr/
their respective rates of sailing and steaming, and other features, as efficient and seri-ice-
able vessels of war, early in the ensuing spring, and that gunnery exercise will be a lead-
ing item in their trials, in order to ascertain which armament is best adapted for vessel*
of their class. The competing vessels named are the —

Horse Power,
>S0IJ
8UU
650
4 <0
4.50
-'00
200

Vessel.

Tons.

Terrible

1,847

Retribution ..

l,e41

Avenger

1,444

Gladiator .. ..

1,11)7

Sampson (frigate)

Ardent (sloop) ..

Rattler ^screw)

888

Scourge

1,124

Black Eagle..

495

32

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[January,

Early PAiNXF.n Df.corations. — Some curious remains of the early art of

pointing, as practised in England, liave been lalely brought to vit-w, at Southcrop, in

Gloucestershire. The chuncel of the parish church, of the AnKlo-Norman era, ri-cpiiring

restoration, on removinR the accumulated coatinis of whitewash irom the walls, il \v;>m

diecorere^l that it lia I beecn at one time a perfect j^atlery of scriptural and other sui'jccts,

not the smalU'jfl uortion, from the r<:of to the fluor, having been Wt't unadorned. RIost of

these quaint designs were loo far advanced in decay to he deciphered ; hut ilie Nativity,

be Annunciation, and the Decapitation of St. John the Baptist, arc stili apparent, and

hotv that th(. recluse and devout designers possessed all then known o( art, as well as

11 the learniiii< of the time. A remarka'de device for the de^-oraliitn of a sacred edifice

cmains in one of tlie deep recesses of the laiic-t shaped windows; it is the figure of a

outh, in a red tii ic, shoo:iag an arrow at a red squirrel in a bright yel'ow tree, the bow

eld in the rik'Iit hand, 'i'he costume of this figure seems to make the date somewhere

»out the middle of tlie fourteenth centurj*— five hundred years since.

Vai-UABI-i: Discuvkry. — A French mi'chanic formed tlie idea that I)y sub-
Ctlng iron dross to the slow cooling process which is known to produce a total cluinf^e
1 the nature ot glass, a new and useful species of stone might be o!):ained ; and as iron-
rosfl, such as thu large furnaces yield, is a wholly useless substance, the announced sue-
tssful result of his persevering attempts cannot hut be matter of great interest, more
tpecially at the present time, when the smelting furnaces of Kngland ore in a hitherto
nknown st;ite of activity. The object which the Frenchman sou.rht tti atcompli;li was,
o impart to iron dross the compactness and hardness of granite, und at the same time to
ave the cost and labour which the hewing of the real stone requires. To this end he
^■ouirived to let the iron refuse, while in a fluid stale, run into iron forms, which were
previously hrouglit to a red heat by being placed so as to receive the superfluous flame
which issues from the mouth of the furniice ; and in order to inru-e the slow cDolin^-,
these f rms are provided Willi double sides, between which sand is introduced, which is
ivell known to be a bad conductor of heat ; the whole is then brought again to a glow
heat, and in lil^e manner ajjain cooled olf. By this procedure, it is asserted, the inge-
nious (discoverer has succeeded in forming paving stones, flags, large building blocl; and
«ven pipes, of any given firm, of u degree uf hardness nnd jmlish, equnl, if not superior,
to the best hewn natural granite, and at the moat trifling conceivable cost.

The Iron Trxdk in America.— Hy an arrival fmm Keu York, on Mon-
day, we have the hilku\ing interesting particidars relaiive to the developnu-nt of the iron
trade there:— "The production of iron in Pennsylvania in l.':^-!-! was about yuu.tiuu Ions
«iul it is estimated that this year it will amount to about 350, udO to 4ilO,0l)(l tons. It is,
also eslimnied from pood data that the total production of in the United States this year
will not fall short of 7uU,OliO tons, and that the consumption will amount to about. tdO.OOO
ton?, leaving a deficiency, to be supplied by importation, of about IdO.UUO tons. We annex
rv table exhiliiling the quantity and value of irou and steel of all kinds imported into the
Onited States for the last sixteen years.

Aggregate Quantity and V;:lue of Iron and Steel imported iulo the United States.

Value. Per Ton.

Years. Tons. Pol.ars. Dollars.

1828-23 .. 30,;il4 .. 2,4l7,2a2 .. dij

ldi!'-.!0 . . 4(J.';-I4 . . 2,:i40,yt>4 ., 56

l}iM.:i] .. 51,.%-! .. 2 235..iG3 .. -iO

ls/.l.;^_' . . 7a.97y . . 3,61)7,380 .. —

lSi-.;i;i .. 80.2'<9 .. 3.37l,b67 .. —

l.-si.j-:;4 . . 78.UI0 . . 3.9dd.396 . . —

K<J|..i.> .. i>9777, .. ^7UK\'J3 .. —

la3;i-.s(i .. '.K\,22tt ., 5,:io9,i3i .. —

lS.io-;^7 .. 102.8(:6 .. 6,36.M88 .. —

lH37-::8 . . 74.762 . . 4M*>,'.H*ii •• 54

I83ri-;i;> .. li.V"37 .. C,ti8S,59t> ., ,07

iMlt-AO . . 72.7(;:) . . 4.;i4l,0^6 . . 59

1.-4.1-I1 .. 112.111 .. (1.020,416 .. 44

IMI.42 .. I(i7,.i;i2 .. 4,332.0<U) ., 40

1M2 4.J . . 37,4(15 . . i,*;(;5.(;rii . . 4:s

1641-44 .. lU5,277 .. 3,%3.Ki3 .. 37

1.2G 1 .074 63,837,52*'" 50

Thi* table shows that, nolwithstandiiig the immense increiso -in the consumption of iron
in this country, thtre has not bsen any very g'eat increase in the imp-iriuiion, ond that
Ihesuppllies fiom our own manufactories Iiave nearly kept pace witti the increased de-
mand lorconsumption.— Tlie n-.ost extensile works in this coitniry are those of the Mount
Savage Company of Maryland. Its present capital is l,50'i,tj(j(l dollars, with power to in-
■crease it to 5 (MK-O.OliO dollars. Its slock is owned principally iii Europe. Tliese ave the
xiti\y works In the Uniieil States where railroad iron is manufac'.ured to any extent, and it
is calculated that 2i>.00l' tons can homage in a year. Some of t!ie eastern railroads now
ibcilding are supplied with nuls by this company. The mines of the Mount Savage Com-
pany, and in fact all the iron mines of Maryhind, are situated iu the Cumberland coal re-
Sion, which, for the manutacture of iron, is said to be superior to any other."

LIS? OP 2KiS\^ PATEICTS.

GRANTED IX ENGLAND FROM NOVEMBER 27, TO DECEMBER 2^, 1315,

Six Months allowed for Enrolment y unless othenvise ex2jressed.
■John White, of Salford, Lancaster, engineer, for " certain Improvements in engines,
machinery or apparatus for raisiitg and forcing wati^r."— Sfuled November 'J.7 .

Peter Spence, of Buvgh, Cumberlnnd, for *' Imprcveracnts iu the manu'aclure of cop-
peras and alum." — November 27.

Moses Poole, of Scailc-street, Middlesex, gent., for *• certain Improvements to hinder
th.e oxydation ol iron to all its various sti.tes of cast inetai, hteel, malleable iron, and also
to rentier malleable irou more hard and durable." (A comnuinication ) — November 27.

Eden Thomas Jones, of Bristol, manuiacturing cliemist, for " improvements in the
a;jpatatus used in the concentration of sulphnric acid.*' — November 27.

William Maui;liam. of Newport. stri-et, Surrey, consulting cliemist, and Archibald Dun-
lop, the yonti'.;er, of Upper Thames-stieet, gent., for " Iin|)roveme:.ts in the :nanufacture
of ale, porter, and otlici ferment-^d liquors."— November 27.

Edward Del', of Wtolwich, wine-merchant, for "certain Improvements in apparatus
for lieating and warming." — December 4,

Robert Uettie, civil engineer, of Glasgow, for ** an Improved method of signalizing, or
tt'.egraphing on sea or land, preventing collisicn at Fca. and giving signals of distieas by
imj>roved burrcrs with glasses coloured, and signal card^^, iip| iiculde to railways in all the
various departments, i:s wfll as prevwntitig of accidents when the traiu is ai lull speed,
showing Ihe state of the tide in Imrbouis, also the diurnal for railways, towns, villages,
■itc."— Deceniher 4.

William Gossage, of Neath, metallurgist, for " Improvt-mentg in obtaining products
from ceriain ores und other compounds of certain metals.'*— Oecember 4.

John Leslie, of Conduit- street, Kanover-square, tailor, fur " Improvements in the com-
bustion of gas."— December 4.

Moses Poole, of Serle-sireet, Middlesex, gent., for " Improvements in locks." (A com-
munication.)— December 4.

James Meacoik. of Kingston, Jamaica, niercljant, for " Improvements in pulping,
dreBsing, and sorting coffee." — D«c«mber 4,

Archibald Dunlop, jun., of Thames-street, London, gent., for " Improvements in the
manufacture of aerated waters." — December 4.

Henry Bessemer, of Baxter House, Old St. Pancr,is-road, Middlesex, engineer, for
"certain Improvements in atmospl!<;rtc propul.ion. and in app.tratus connected there-
with, part, or parts of which improvements are applicable to the manufacture of columns,
pipes and tubes, and other parts are applicable to the exhausting and impelling of air and
other fluids generally. " — December .1.

John Robert Johnson, Alfred-plnce, Blatkfnars. chemist, for "Improvements in the
materials employed in constructing and working atmospheric railways."— December C.

Henry Heaihcote Russell, of Millbank-street, Westminster, civil engineer, for " Im-
provemeiiti in construc'.ing suspension bridges and viaducts. "—December 6.

Josiah Wilkinson, of Lincoln's Inn-fit*lds, gent., for " ceitain Improvements in filtering
water and other fluiiii." (A communication.)- December tt.

Henry Augustus Rox, of Great Titchlieli. street, St. Marylebone, decorator, for "A
new method of pjlli-hing, dyeing, fnd colouringmarb!e, stone, and certain olhtr materials
used in the construction or decoration of houses and other buildings, '* — December 10.

Edv/ard Green, of Waliefield, York, engineer, for " A new method of economising fuel,
and ceriain imiirovements in retaining and applying heat for generating steam and beat-
ing water." — December 10.

Thomas Williiims, of Norway. street, iV'iddlesex, gent., for " a ceriain Improvement or
improvements In wrenches or spanners." — Dfcemher 10.

William Dines, of Oldston, near Dartmouth, Devon, Esq., for *' Improvemcnlg in the
making and fixing window glass."— December 10.

George Mordey Mowbray, of Paternoster-row, London, wholesale dniggist. for "an Im-
proved method oi commimrcation between the person or perscn:^ having the charge of a
railway train and the controller of its motive power." — December 10.

Robert William Thomson, of Adam-street. Adelphi, civil engineer, for "an Improve-
ment in carriage wheels, which is also np[)licable to other rolling bodies." — December 10,

Henry Lawrence, of Wigmore-street, Cavendish-square, geuileman, for •' an Itiproved
t uckle, suitable for harness and other purposes." — December 10.

George Leach Ashwonh, o! Rochdale, Lancaster, cotton spinner, and Wilson Crossley,
of the same phice. nianayer, for "certain Improvements in m « chinery or apparatus for
preparing and spinning cotton and othtr librous substances." — December in.

James Garforth, of Dunkinfield, Chester, engineer, for " certain Improvements in ma-
chinery or apparatus tor connecting of boilers, and other purposes "—December 10.

Alfred \''incent Newton, of Chancery-lane, mechanical draughtsman, for " Improve-
ment in printing and dyeing various fabrics." (A communication. — December 10.

Christoplier Dunkin Hays, of Rermondsey, master mariner, for " Improvements in the
construction and adaptation of apparatus for propelling and steering vessels on water.'* —
December 10.

Charles Dowes, of Camden-town, gentleman, for "an Improved paper or material." —
December 10.

William Mushet and Robert Musbet, iron founders, of Dalkeith, Scotlaad, for " Im-
provements in moulding iion." — December 10.

Thomas Victor Allier, of Quai Saint Michel, Paris, gentleman, for " Improvements in
breaks or machinery for stopping or retarding carriages." — December 10.

Frederick Gye, jun., of South Lambeth, for "Improvements in preparing aerated
waters, and in vessels to contain aerated and mineral waters." — December 10.

Moses Poole, of Serle-streel, Middlesex, gentleman, for " Improvements in apparatus
to be used for drawing aud marking." (A communication.) — December 10.

William Mac Naught, of Robertson-street, Glasgow, engineer, for "certain Improve-
ments in the steam engine." — Decembei lO.

Isaac Hawker Bedford, of Birmingham, for " Improvements in the manufacture of
windowand other glass." (A communicution.) — December 12.

flioses Poole, of Serle-sireet, MiJdlesex, gentleman, for " Improvements in filling
bottles and otlier vessels, and also in covering, stopping, or securing liquids and other
matters in bof.les and other vessels." (A communication.) — December 12.

Samnel Cunllffi; Lister, of Manningliam, Yo^k. gentleman, for " Improvements in card-
ing, combing and spinning wool." — Di,'cembcr 12.

Thomas Findler, of Flint, miller, for " Improvet^^ents In the construction and opera-
tion of certain parts ut fliut-grluding mills, and other grinding mills or machinery for
grinding." — December 15.

John Robert Johnson, of Nelson-square, chemist, for " Improvements in purifying gas,
and in tl'.o treatment of products of gas works " — December 20.

Henry MandcviUe Meade, of New York, America, gentleman, for " certain Improve-
ments in the inanufacturw of bread.'* (A conifliunication.) — December 20.

Georjire Fergu^son Wilson, of Helmont, Vauxhall, gentleman, George Gwynne, of Re-
gent-street, gentleman, aud James Pillat:s Wilson, of Belmoat, aforesaid, gentleman, for
" Improvements in treating certain inflammable matters, and in the manufacture of can-
dles."— D;;cembcr 20.

William Ilannis Taylor, of Picc.",dilly, gentleman, and Franc's RouViliac Conder, of
Birmingham, civil engi:iter, for "certain Improvements in propelling." — December 20.

Jabe/. Clmrch. of CoUlicster, gas engineer, for "Improvements in the mai-ufacture of
coke, and in the ovens for producing the same." — December HU.

Joiin IJlyih, of Limehou^e, en-ineer, for "certain Improvements in diminishing th«
risk of accidental explosions of gunpowder and other substances which are liable to ex-
plode, or ignite by contact with fire."— December 20.

William M'Hardy, of Salford, for "certain Improvements in machinery or apparatus
applicable to the prep ^ration and spinning of cotton, wool, silk, lia."!:, and other fibrous
suhstatices."— December 22.

Alfred Vinc3nt Newton, of Chmicory-lane, draughtsman, for " Improvements in comh-
.iig wool." i..\ communication.) — Dect;mber 22.

Samuel Heseltine, jun., of Bromley, Middlesex, civil engineer, for " Improvements in
machinery orapparatus for dressing stones for grinding corn, grain, and other substances.*'
(A communication.)— December 22.

Philip Smith, of Hiijh-street, Lambeth, lock-smith, for " Improvements in locks, latches,
and other similar fastenings." — December 22.

CORRESPONDENTS.

Mr. Henry Carr, engineer of the Croydon Atmospheric Kailway, in con-
sequence of numerous inquiries, is anxious to state that the autliorship of
cei tain papers, which have appeared in this journal, with the initials *' 11. C/'
apppndrd, is not to he attributed to himself.

Dr. Shokhtz, Limhurg, Austria. On examining the invention, it appears
to us so very impriicticabie, that we have not thought it worth while to give
an account of it.

Next mouth, " rrcshyteriau Church, Dublin," and " Railway Key, Cardiff."

J846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

33

ON LIMES, MORTARS, AND CEMENTS.

From the Report to the Chamber of Deputies nf the Commission ap-
pointed to consider the proprietij of i;ranting a pension for life to M. Vicat;
Engineer in chief, and Superintendent of Bridges and I/ighwai/s.
By M. Arago.*
{Translated from the French for this Journal.)

Your Committee, from the time of their first sitting, have fully assented
to the motive which suggested the proposition on which you are called to
deliberate. They felt convinced that in submitting the great discoveries
of our countrymen to the appreciation of the three constitutional powers
of the kingdom, that in having recourse to all the solemnities of the law
in regulating the reniuuerations which inventors may have deserved, they
stimulate to the highest degree, and in the most beneficial manner the ztal,
the ardour, the perseverance of men of genius.

We speak, solely of great discoveries. Respecting extensive works,
however admirable in themselves, as this character does not legi-
timately belong to them, it does not appear our duly to invite the atten-
tion of the legislative Chambers.

These considerations mark out distinctly the course which we have to
take. We have to examine whether M. Vicat is to be placed among the
privileged men whom posterity will hold in remembrance ; whether his
works, when they came before the public, had the indisputable character
of novelty : whether they possess general interest; whether, in Doe, the
results arising from them ought to take their rank among the brilliant in-
ventions for wliich our country justly claims honour.

This brief preamble will justify the detailed observations which you
are about to hear. We considered that in submitting to analysis the
strictest and most minute a merit, so well recognised as that of M. \''icat,
we should inspire a salutary distrust in those mediocrities who
would have their names resound in this place. If the Commission have
attained this end, they will, without doubt, have satisfied beforehand one
of the objects of the Chamber.

Manufacture of Hydraulic Limes.

Lime, whether in a state of purity, or, as is more usual, mixed
with other substances, is the material used from the remotest times to
bind together stones and all the constituent parts of buildings. If lime
be not found in any part of the globe pure, the rocks from which it may
be extracted — the calcareous rocks — exist almost everywhere. No mine-
ral is so widely distributed by nature.

It is rare that calcareous stones are entirely pure, or exclusively com-
posed of lime and carbonic acid. Their substance is usually made up of
silex, aluminum, magnesia, oxyde of iron, manganese, &;c. Thence the
terms adopted by mineralogists of argillaceous, magnesian, ferruginous, or
inanganesian limestones.

These limestones furnish by roasting very different limes. Builders
distinguish many kinds of them — rich lime — poor lime — hydraulic lime.
Eich lime increases greatly in bulk when slaked; its weight is then more
than doubled. This property would be very valuable in respect of eco-
nomy did not rich limes remain a long time without hardening, especially in
the centre of masonry, and particularly where they are kept from the action
of the air; rich limes, moreover, are dissolved to their last particles in
water frequently renewed ; this solubility of the lime in time converts ma-
sonry into mere heaps of stones : quay-walls, for instance, which have
been supposed to have been built of strong masonry, and with the greatest
solidity.

Is it necessary to cite examples to shew that the rich limes will not
harden without the action of the air? We may point to the fact that
M. Treussart having had to reconstruct in 1S22, at Strashurg, the foun-
dations of a bastion built in 1(?CG, found there the mortar as fresh as if the
masons had laid it some few hours before. A similar circumstance was
observed at Berlin by the architects who took down one of the pillars. of
the tower of St. Peter, built about SO years ago.

Are we required to shew that the constant action of water dissolves
rich limes in masonry ? We choose among a thousand examples the de-
molition of the remains of the ancient sluices of the Vilaiue. During this
operation, it was found that, by the dissolving of the rich lime, there re-
mained behind the revetement walls nothing but masses without cohesion,
simple heaps of loose stones.

Poor or thin lime has all the defects of rich lime, and moreover, as its
name indicates, but slightly increases in bulk. The use of it is therefore,
as much as possible, avoided.

* Notices of M. Vicat's Iiydiaulic lime, for resisting the action of water, will be found
in the tirst volume of this journal, p. 4, and in vol. VI., p. '2'1'J,

No. 101.— Vol. IX.— Feeru.\rv, 18-16.

Builders who desire to make their works lasting, must employ exclu-
sively hydraulic limes, especially for foundations resting on a damp soil.

Hydraulic limes are those which readily harden under water. This
property <loes not develop itself always in the same degree. The most
valuable hydraulic limes begin to set the second to the fourth day after
immersion ; at the end of a mouth they are hard and quite insoluble ; in the
sixth month they assume the nature of certain limestones, a blow breaks
them wiih a sharp sound, and the fracture has a laminated appearance.

The uatural limestones are not distinguished in general from each other
by any particular physical character of their texture, hardness, specific
gravity, or colour, which will enable us to predict what kind of lime they
will furnish. The rich, the poor, and the hydraulic limes are imperfectly
wliite, grey, fawn-colored, red, &c. It is in the internal composition of
rocks, in tlie nature and proportion of their constituent principles that
the chemists have sought the real causes of the power of hardening
under water {hydraulicite).

It has been long proved that the most pure limestones, the statuary
marbles, primitive or saccharoid, the marbles of Pares and Carrara, al-
ways give by calcination the rich lime ; it is also well known that the pro-
perty of liardening under water is communicated to lime by particular
substances contained in the material of the calcareous rock from which
the lime is made. But what are these substances, and in what propor-
tion ought they to exist in the limestone, to produce the requisite pro-
perty in a sufficient degree? On this point opinions have long been
divided.

Bergmann (for the greatest chemists have occupied themselves with the
question,) attributed the char.acteristic properties of hydraulic limes to
the presence in them of a small proportion of the oxyde of manganese.

Guytou-Jiorveau adopted the idea of his illustrious friend. It was
evident, nevertheless, that the hypothesis did not alford a general solu-
tion : there are known to exist natural hydraulic limes in which there is
no trace of tiie oxyde of manganese. It has even been stated that this
oxyde does not possess the property assigned to it. A sluice constructed
in Swe<leu, according to the notions of Bergmann, with a mortar com-
posed of rich lime and manganese, was found so defective that it was
necessary to destroy it a very short time after it was constructed.

The earliest investigations which we are acquaiuted with on the compo-
sition of hydraulic limes, date from the year 1750, that is, from the epoch
when Siueaton proposed for bold task of building the Eddystone
lighthouse. This great engineer then examined with the most scrupulous
care the natural hydraulic lime of Aberthaw, Glamorganshire. This lime
had in England a certain celebrity. Treated by acids, it left a residue
'• vybich appeared to be a bluish clay, weighing about j^\\\ of the total
weight of the stone." The reddish colour which this residue acquired
by roasting, induced Smeaton to think the calcareous rock of Aberthaw
(it was already called Has) contained iron.

Saussure published in 1786, in the second volume of his celebrated
travels, some observations tending to attribute the hydraulic property of
the limes of St, Gingoulph, in Savoy, to the combined iufiuence of manga-
nese, quartz, and even clay, contained in the calcareous rocks of that
locality. It must be added, for the sake of accuracy, that the illustrious
naturalist leaves his opinions in the form of simple conjectures.

One more citation, and we shall have gone over the whole of the re-
searches which preceded those of M. Vicat.

M. Collet-Descostils, Engineer of mines, having, in 1813, discovered a
remarkable quantity of silicious matter in a very divided state in the lime
ofSenonches, attributed to the presence of silex, the hydraulic property,
which is so energetic, and well known in this lime.

What was wantiug in the conjectures of Smeaton, of Saussure, of Des-
costils ? They wanted that which transforms simple conjecture into in-
contestible principles ; they wanted the precision and clearness, the never-
failing marks of established truths ; they wanted to be resolved and sim-
plified— to pass, in a word, by the impulse of a powerful hand, from the
vague cloudy region of reveries into the place of practical truths.

In his first essays M. Vicat made use of synthesis ; every one who had
remarked how much the crystalline or uolecular condition modified the
physical properties of certain bodies could not attach, but a limited confi-
dence in the advantages to arckitecture likely to proceed from the che-
mical analysis of limes. The experiments of iM. Vicat were directed
straight to the object in view.

The natural limes of Senonches were the type of perfection. M. Vicat
composed an artificial lime, superior to that of Senonches. He obtained
this great result by calcin,ating, in proper proportions, chalk or pure
lime, mixed with clay. By this experiment light succeeded to obscurity,
certainty to doubt ; the art of building had received the accession of an
admirable discovery.

We do not suppose that this merit can be contested. We cannot be-
lieve that the desire, unfortunately too common, of robbing a contempo-
rary of honor to the profit of the dead, will influence any one to exag-
gerate the value of the essays, hypotheses, and conjecture, previous to the
labours of the engineer of the bridge of Souillac. It may be proved in-
contestibly that iM. Vicat is not less really the discoverer in the subject
of hydraulic limes than Newton was when he published the Theory of the
Composition of White Light, or than Franklin was when he proposed
lightning conductors to the civilised world. The great Smeaton essayed
fruitlessly to render the rich lime hydraulic by the addition of clay with-
out preparation ; Smeaton mistaking, after repeated trials, the necessity

34

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[February,

son the analvMS of Ihe refined theorelical consKleratioiis, by tlie aid ot
icli'oiir cn-'iueei- exi.lains the gradual and prolonKi'd action of limes
the substances witli which they are combined in tlie mixin- of mur-

of roasting- the clay, showed, moreover, more clearly than all reasoning
could do, the immeuse distance which separates simple appearances
from realised and coniplele discoveries.

M Yicat has carried out his felicitous investigations in a. 1 respects
relating lo the nscs to whicli lime is appled in masonry ; the art of burn-
ing-lime, of dispelling!, in the most ellectual and economic manner, the
carbonic acid, one of the conslituunis of calcareous rocks, is iiKlel.ted f^or
imporlaut remarks lo the labors of our celebrated en-'ineers ; aficr the
precise directions which these labours explain, there can be no hesitation
as to the methods lo be adopted to foresee at once what will uliimately
be the qualilies of any Riven samples of lime. To understand the pro-
cesses which must be followed to slake limes of different sorts, we may
consult with much prolit the result of the experiments of IM. Vicat ; the
choice of the materials which unite with limes of all kinds lo form mor-
tars will no longer be a matter of blind routine.

The necessity of beins concise compels us to mention merely under tins
head the interesting researches of JI. Vicat. _ We suppress, _f>";'l|e f.^/''^^.
reason
wh

tar We re-ret also to he compclird to refrain from the a-rce-ible task oi
rendering fuU justice to the admirable experiments of M. lierihicr, one of
the best chemists of wiiom frauce can boast.

Cements.

M. Vicat has occupied himself with equal success in investigating the
properties of cfinin/s. , , . . ,

Architects distinguish cements from mortars by their natural appear-
ances. The sand contained in tmrUtr exists there in the form o, gravel
more or less coarse, and more or le.ss apparent. The cunipusition of ce-
ment appears homogencons, although it contains lime, sdex, and alumina.

No substance has gained more celebrity among builders than that
known at the present day as Homnn Cement. This cement, called on-
ginallv anuatic cement, was made in the year ITPG by IMcsi^rs. Farker
and Wyatt. It was the result of subjecting to heat certain nodules of
limestone of an ovoid form found in great abundance at some disiance
from London. Koman cement, mixed rather thick, solidiufs in a few
minutes either in air or water. There are certain works, Ihe Thanies
Tunnel for iustKnc(^ which could not have been executed wiihout Ko-
man cement. Vm\ev other circumstances this rapid solulilicalioa is a
real obstacle ; and in such cases it is necessary to suustitute hydraulic
lime, of wliich the price is much less. , . , , r

I'arker and Wyatt mannlactured their cement, and found a sale for
it throughout Europe; builders used it, but no one took notice of the
real cause of its singular properties. The discovery of this cause be-
longs incontestibly to M. Vicat. We find, in fact, that ailer I'-'ving in-
dicated the proportion of clay which renders lime hydraulic, the skilful
experimenter published in 1817 this categorical observation—

"When we increase the proportion (of clay) to 33 or 40 per cent., we
obtain a lime which does not slake; but it pulverises readily, and pro-
duces, when wetted and mixed up, a composition which quickly sets

under water." , . ^ ., u .

The proportion of clay indicated is precisely that of the substance ma-
nnfactured by Parker and Wyatt. M. Vicat made, then, from 1S17,
every kind, not only of hydraulic lime, but also of Roman cement.

The duty assigned to your Committee does not permit the citation of
facts purely scientific; they therefore desire to remark tliat the discovery
of our engineer respecting cements comes, in a great measure, under the

description of practical applications. Here, as m the case ot hydraulic
limes, and as in other cases to be explained hereafter, geology, enliglit-
ened by iM. \icat as to the industrial value of limes coulainiug a
quantity of clay, has directed its attention to these useful investige
and the French builders, not long since dependent on England, ha>

; a large
gations,
have dis-
covered a great number of places"where they can prepare Roman cement.
M Vicat himself has pointed out more than 400. This new branch of
industry is carried on with much success in many depar'.ements of France.
If the limits of this Report permitted, we could mention here many per-
sons who have deserved great credit by the discovery of quarries of Ro-
man cement, and, among others, a skilful engineer, whom the Chamber of
Deputies reckons among its members, M. Lacordaire.

POZZOLANAS AND TaRRAS.

The natural pozzolanas, in the hands of ancient architects, farras in the
hands of medi;eval architects, have played too important parts to have
escaped the attention of M. Vicat. Despite all Ihe difficulties of the sub-
ject, success, as regards practical results, has completeiely crowned the
patient and laborious investigations of the engineer.

Thenaiiie ofpo::uM;ia is given to a volcanic substance found m great
abundance in the neighbourhood of Po/.zala, and of Rome.

Tunas is a conglomerate, also volcanic, found on the banks of the
Rhine, and especially in the environs of Andcrnach.

To render rich lime hydraulic, it is sullicient to wet it in proper propor-
tions witli pozzolana or tarras. What more simple or convenient mode
could be imagined? IJut in many localities the expense of conveyance
renders it impossible to use either pozzolana or larras. Many attempts
have been made to prepare substances which possess the same properties.
Chaptal thought he had resolved the problem by very much calcmaliiig
certain schists or ochreous clay. But even supposing the properties of

tarras and pozzolana to be reproduced in this manner, the difficulty was
only shifted. The schists experimented on by Chaplal are not common
in France; and there is, moreover, in Ihe operation recommended, even if
ochreous clay be employed, a circumstance the very high temperature
requisite, which opposes an irremediable difficulty.

M. Vicat resolved the questions into its elcmcu'.s. This solution is as
follows : —

Artificial pozzolana superior, or at least equal to the best Italian pozzo-
lana may be obtained by a simple manner of using clay of the purest
kind. This method consists in sli^hthj calcinating tlie clay, in merely
driving off the water of combination, and always keeping Ihe tempera-
ture between OOO' and 700' centigrade (1-112° lo 1 292° Fahr).

The mind rests with satisfaction on the solutions of problems of practical
art when they possess this admirable simplicity. On the other hand, one
is astonished lo see an operation so easy that the workmen call it a tour
de main, enrich a kingdom, or rather the whole world with a substance
eminently useful, and which appeared as if it must inevitably remain the
privileged property of a corner of the earth once the seat of volcanic erup-
tions. , 1 ,• r -.r

We should fail of our duty if, after having cited the discoveries of M.
Vicat in the diliicult subject of pozzolanas, we omitted to mention that M.
le General Treussart, whose premature loss the whole army deplores, has
left a work on this subject tilled with useful observations and valuable

remarks.

The publications of M. Vicat have long since satisfied all the necessities
of art, for liie execution of works in fresh waier, in canals, rivers, and
streams. The sea water gave rise to grave difTiculties which no one had
anticipated. M. Vicat has the double merit of having pointed out the
evil and indicated Ihe remedy.

According lo new and quite recent researches of M. Vicat, sea water
has some tendency to decompose cements of every kind. It attacks in-
discriminately those which contain rich limes or hydraulic limes, natural
or artificial pozzolanas. This tendency results from the presence in the
water of certain acids whicii have a great alllnily for lime. M. Vicat has
found the means of resisting this pr.judicial effect and removing it. He
is at this time preparing to point out the limes, pozzolanas, and cements
which, prepared according to the old methods, will resist the destructive
action of the sea ; and with respect to others, to shew the modifications to
whicli they must be subjected, to acquire the same power of resistance.
Jt will be appreheuJud that in so nice a question M. Vicat will be in no
haste to announce his discoveries. We may, however, state that the
public will in a short time be put in possession of them. It is just to
state that they already tend lo the rejection of a certain kind ol pozzo-
lana proposed for Ihe port of Algiers, and Ihe employment of which has
led to such disastrous consequences. The reserve wisely maintained by
M Vicat gives him the opportunity of supporting his system by deci-
sive experiment : the artificial pozzolanas employed with so much success
at Calais by M. Nehou, Engineer in Chief, are found to satisfy Jortiiitously
the conditions, laid down by M. Vicat in his new labours, of preservation
against the sea.

Statistics of Hydraulic Limes.
The materials forbuildina recommended by JI. Vicat did not meet with
the usual fate of new things. Tue proofs of superiority were palpable,
and the old system at once acknowledged itself vanquished. Scarcely
had a few mouths elapsed after the publication of the memoir of the En-
<'ineer of the SouilUic bridge before the artificial hydraulic lime was
brought into use at Paris for quays, at the landings of the bridge of Jena,
for the construction of four large uOuttoirs, and for the works on the Canal
St. Martin. , , , . .

Since then the artificial hydraulic lime has been less used ; for it is now
usually substituted for the natural lime of which the price is lower, and
which possesses the same qualities. But we hasten lo repeat the remark
that it is principally owing to M. Vicat, that constructors daily avail
themselves of new wealth in every part of the kingdom. _ ,, . .,

Our engineer had too much penetration to avoid the conjecture that If,
according to his discovery, lime became hydraulic by the simple addiUon
of clay, there must be innumerable formations of argillaceous lirae-stones
throu>'hout the kingdom capable of allbrding hydraulic lime by roasting.
The idea having taken possession of M. Vicat, he has for twelve years
explored almost everv one of our Departements. His publications under
the modest title Statistics of Ilyilraulic Limes, have revealed tins invalu-
able wealth in numberless localities where its existence was not even sus-
pected. The Departements where natural hydraulic liine is found in the
rreatcst abundance are Lot, Lot-el-Caronne, Tarn, Dordogne, (..arel, Ar-
deche, Drome, Gers, Charente, IlJrault, Cher, AUier, Nievre, Vinne,
C5te-d'Or, Ain, Isere, Jura, Doubs, Haul Khin, &c. Of twenty-four
Departements already explored, there are no more than six or seven, ot
primitive earths, where hydraulic lime is entirely wanting.

We proceed to relate two facts which exhibit in a striking manner wh^
was the state of the knowledge of practical men respecting the wealth ot
our country in hydraulic limes when M. Vicat commenced histsanina-

tions for it. , ■ j rn „

M'hcn he visited Marseilles, a new basin was being dug. I he con-
tractors were at great expense to get rid of an immense quantity of calca-
reous refuse. On examination M. Vicat found that this matter would
furnish sufficient hydraulic lime for the construction of the who.e basin.

I8J6.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

35

The following is a still more remarkable fact, especially when esti-
mated by its consequences. —

At tlie time of coustrurlinR the canals of l!rctaf;ne there was great
difficulty in proctiring hydraulic lime. M. Vicat uiidertook the mission
of visiting the localities, and almost immediately discovered iu the quarries
of Ponpean, near Reon^s, between the beds of rich lime whicli had been
worked from time immemorial, a bed of greenish marl known by the
name bruletnori-veri, which the limemakcrs rejected. This rejected
bed, after the examination of .M. Vicat supplied nut only all the works ol
the Vilaine, and the canal of Isle-et-Kaiice, but has become the sole re-
source of that part of the kingdom for all hydraulic works.

Economical Considerations.

The price of lime almost always forms a considerable item in the cost
of masonry. Limes have very dilferent properties which determine the
duration of works and the mo(/c of executing tbem. In countries where
lime is abundant and of good quality, the buildings last for ages without
having required great expenses for their erection. In such districts ha-
bitations, even for the poorest classes, may be built with strict regard to
healthfulness and preservation from accidents by tire, by the violence of
storms, and the destructive elfects of inundations and great rains. It is
on account of such useful applicaiions as these that the labours of engi-
neers and chemists deserve the attention of the public authorities and the
legislature. Let us consider for a moment this phase of the question ; let
us seek to value the number of the services which, iu this respect M.
Vicat has rendered to his country.

It was at Paris that the discoveries of M. Vicat first received a power-
ful impulse from the influence of M. IJruyere, it is at Paris that we fiud
a valuation of the economy effected by these discoveries.

Before 1818 tlie hydraulic works of the capital were almost all exe-
cuted in plaster or with rich lime. Thence arose tlie annual expense of
numerous and costly repairs. From 1818, the date of M. Vicat's first
publication, recourse was had to hydraulic lime. It is hydraulic lime
which gives to new buildmgs an almost infinite durability.

The same solidity might have been obtained with the lime of Senou-
ches ; but tlie lime of .Seuonclios conveyed to Paris costs 80 to 90 francs
the cubic metre, while the lime from the quarries from which plaster is
obtained, that lime which, before the researches of M. Vicat, was rejected
as refuse, costs about 40 francs. This ditfereuce of cost reckoned for
37,000 cubic metres of lime, the quantity used iu Paris from lS18 to
1841 in the construction of sewers, resei'voirs, canals, &:c. gives a total
saving of more than 1,500,000 francs.*

One of the members of your Commission superintended part of the
works of the fortifications round Paris. He has laid before his colleagues
detailed tables, from which it is concluded satisfactorily that at Belle-
ville alone during the years 18401-2-3-4 a saving of more than half a
million [of francs] has been tlie consequence of using certain lime which
■was found on the spot, but which would have been considered of no value
before the learned publications of M. Vicat.

We now proceed to ofl'er some tables, iu which the saving resulting
from the labours of the celebrated engineer appear on the grandest
scale.

Sluices and Barrages constructed in France in accordance with the laws
of Aug. 5, 1821, and of Aug. 14, 1822.

NAMES OF CANALS. ^'siuk«.°''

Number of
Barrages,

Rhone and Rhine

Somme

Ardennes

Isle

Aire and Bassee

Boiir^ogne

Nantes nnd Brest

Isie.et-Rauce

Blavet

Aries and Bone

Niveniaia .. .. .. .. ..

Berry

Branch to the Loirs

Tarn

Olse

In acciirdnnce u-ith the laics of July 3,
1S3S, and July 8, 1840.

Marneand Rhine

Branch to the Garonne

Improvemcnis of Rirer Navigation.

Branch to the Mame

Charente ,

Dordogne .. ., .. .. ..

Tarn

Lot

Totals

1S2
24
49

:)9
lyl

234
28
28
4
114
115
4-5
9
7

ISO
50

14

10
9

<;

39

28

i
9
7

6

47

1348J

136

* About 60,0001. English, The metre is rather more than 3 feet 8 inches.— £d.

LARGE BRIDGES OF HEWN STONE, &C.

To establish a comparison sufficiently exact between the cost of bridges
erected on caissons and piles, and of those which, at ihe present day, are
erected on a foundation in concrete, it will be necessary to take some unit
of comparison which is independent of the number of arches and their size.
^Ve will choose the area of the surface between the parapets for our pur-
pose.

Proceeding thus, it is found for bridges, where it has been possible to
substitute the modern method for the ancient that the square metre costs,
on Ijie average, 1,312 francs.*

Now, for bridges erecled under altogether similar circumstances, but
on foundations in concrete, the square metre has cost, on the ave-
rage 023 francs. The proportion of the expense of the old system to that
of (he new, is as 100 to 47. According to this calculation, if a bridge
erected on foundations like those of Jena or of Sevres cost, on the ave-
rage, 2,000,000 francs [104,000/.] a similar bridge built iu the modern
plan would not cost more than 1,222,000 fr. [18,880/.] consequently the
saving would be 1,378,000 francs. Since ISIS there have been 19 great
bridges built on foundations in concrete, which, therefore, may be reckoned
a saving of 20,182,000 francs [1,047,280/].

Of bridges of the average size having a span of 15 or 10 metres for
each arch the number is about 30. For each, reckoning in proportion
there would be a solving of 23.).000 francs, or for the 30 the saving would
be 7,050,000 francs [282:000/.].

As for bridges of a single arch of 15 to 20 metres span, there have
been constructed more than a thousand during the interval of five and
twenty years on royal highways and deparlemeut-roads. In each of
these the average saving by Ihe substitution for coH'ei' dams of hewn
stone with concrete, in the foundations has been 25,000 francs, or for the
whole 25,000,000 [1,000,000/.].

Siisi'ENSiON Bridges.

Prior to July, 1843, there were authorised to be constructed 327 sus-
pension bridges of one, two, three, or four spans. If we calculate each
to have a span of 100 metres [325 feet English], each costing 100,000
francs [4,IJ0U/.], deducting from this sum 30,000 francs [1,200/.], the
cost of the platform and means of suspension, there remain 70,000 fr.
for the founilations and masonry. Experience having showed that for
bridges, as for lodis, the expense has been reduced more than one half,
there would be grounds for reckoning here a reduction still more consi-
derable ; still, we will estimate it at one half, and then the saving will be
22,890,000 fr.

liecapilulation of the Economy effected.

francs.

XVcIrs 67.3.10,000

Barrages or sluice gates .. .. 13,t)00,UOO

Locks, &c 20,000,000

Large bridges 2<;.1>2,000

Common brid{,'e 7,050,000

Single ?paii bridges JS.oCO.OOD

Suspension bridges 22,S90,000

182,072,000 [if7,2S2,880]

Other constructions in which economy has been eflTected but without
sufficient documents to shew the actual amount are,

1. Wooden or iron bridges, on foundations of masonry.

2. Bridge of a single arch, of from 0 to 10 metres span.

3. Marine quays, dikes, basins, &c.

4. Foundation of public and private buildings in towns.

5. Military VI'ouks.

It is important to remark, that we have not taken into account the ques-
tion of time. Now, in these matters, time is money, and becomes, finan-
cially speaking, a consideration of the highest importance. The new
system of foundations allows the execution of works to be done in one or
two years that formerly took five or six. There is therefore iu this res-
pect also a considerable saving.

One conclusion springs out of all the preceding evidence — it is that sup-
posing the constructive arts such as they were before 1818, the period of
the discoveries of M. Vicat, the greater part of the important works in
course of execution would have stopped by the considerations of tims
and expense.

If we did not estimate, how much the remuneration demanded
will acquire value from the imposing manner in which it is granted,
we should have omitted all these sums and the accompanying re-
marks. In a purely financial point of view, what are 0,000 fraiics
pension beside the colossal economies for which the country is ia-
debted to the labours of M. Vicat?

The AVorks of M. Vicat compared with those of the Ancients

Certain of the learned profess an admiration, absolute, passionate, for
the monuments of antiquity. According to them, the Greeks and Ro-
mans had discovered everything in the constructive arts. The solidity
of edifices yet remaining show that the moderns are the real disciples.
BI. Vicat has simply rt-discuvercd the methods practised in Egypt, at
Athens, at Rome, of which the remembrance was lost in the times of
barbarism. ,

Although we do not perceive any injury that these reflections Tvill do

* About H, Os. 6. per square foot.

5*

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. [February,

36

to the labors of M. Vicat-although the discovery of lost truth seems to
«« a together similar to the discovery of a new truth-your Comm.ssioQ
hasdevoted it elf to a n,inute examination of the pretended snpenorUy
nf the ancients over the „>oderns in the art of h.nldmg. A e l>uve exa-
mined moreover, whether this superiority can he main.a.ned on reference
To ?he progress due to the discoveries of our illustrious engmeer.

"So^ie of the Roman mortars have lasted eighteen centunes. A great
number of modern buddings are in a deplorable conuit.on !

Jhs comparison is essentially erroneous. To give .t any value ve
must draw a parallel between none but the greatest monuments of the
twoepo^h^- The results will then be very different to those on wh.ch
fhp learned support their position. . . ,

The Ramparts of the ISastille were of extreme solidity even in the
centre ofThe masonry. It was necessary to use gunpowder to des roy
them Gu powder Ls also found necessary a few y^^- »g» '» ""''-y
at A-cn the ruins of a bridge built about the year 1200. M J -c,
h mself ascertained that the mortar of the bridge of Valentre, built at
Cahors in HOOrsurpassed in hardness that of the ancient theatre, of
which the ruins are seen in that town. ,. . „ . r ,i,o

Ancient architects, like modern, built according to the nature of the
materials atUieir disposal, and also according to financial exigencies,
either edifices whidiwei; indestructible, or with the same oxter.or
forms temples, palaces, and houses, without solidity. The construct.ons
oftTelitter clas rapidly disappeared. The others a^one have resisted
the ravages of time and -fhe violence of the seasons. The blm; ladnnrers
of by 'one age have they forgotten the words of Piny, " The cause
from«hichaaionieso many buildings fall is the bad quality o, the ce-

"Tf'asit is pretended, the Romans knew certain methods of preparing
good mor ta we ought to find this substance in all their pu M.c nionu-
ments with qualities -dmost identical. Now this is not even the case in
ron°pari,.g dillerent parts of tlie same edifice. The Commission have le-
na ked n many pub ications of M. Vicat's experiments which throw great
Stonthi"subject; those, for instance made with mortar taken <ro-
ditlerent points of the bridge of Card; these experiments give resistances
varvinn- in the proportion of one to tUree. , , , „i, ,.

Those who devote themselves to these cotnparisons should remember
that time acts unceasingly in foundations on the hardnessof moita Ihe
mode of action by which this conglomerate hardens-acqiures adhesue-
r^_is still a matter of controversy among the learned. But no one can
deny that tliere are circumstances under which it is impossible foi this
mysterious action to continue for a long series of ages. , , „f ^^

It would seem forgotten, .that in considering the knowledge of ce-
ments in the art of building, we are not reduced to simple c«"J«^ "[^s^
Vitruvius, contemporai-y and architect of Augustus has left a detailed
account of the precepts in use among the builders of Greece and Ron
These precepts are far from justifying our unreserved admiration of the

'^"Tlie'ancients were not in possession of any exact notion concerning the
cftemical modification that calcareous stone undergoes id the kdn, a mo-
dification by which its friability is so much increased. Neither d,d they
know anything of the kind of action which restores to the disintegrated
molecules of this stone converted into lime, the adhesion and hardness of
Xh they had been deprived by heat. Tlie eirorts of Vitruvius to give
a plausible explanation were ineffectual. The same was the case unt 1
the chemical discoveries of Black respecting carbonic acid, with the a -
tempts of the most illustrious successors of Vitruvius, Scamozzy, 1 hili-
bert Delornie, Perrault, &c. j .u i „ .i,„t

One sin-le word will disabuse all those who persuade themselves tliat
the theoretic errors of these great architects are of no consequence lake
the instance of Philibert Uelorme: to arrive at a maximum of solidity in
edifices, he thought it necessary that the lime should be taken from the
same bed of limestone as the materials of the masonry. This direction, it
it had been followed out, would have involved an enormous increase of

^'^BuUders who regulated the choice of their lime by the colour of the
rock from which it is obtained ; who were not acquainted with any na-
tural hydraulic lime: who were lavish in mixing with their lime brokeri
pottery and brick rubbish, cannot, without great injustice, be compared
with modern constructors. Putting aside the excellent observations on
the properties of natural fozzolanas, on the possibdity of using this mate-
rial to make enormous artificial blocks to be sunk in the sea we find that
the Romans have taught us nothing essential in the art of building.

For the rest, every attempt to exalt the merit of the ancient in the con-
structive arts only redounds to the merit of I\I. Vicat. The best mortar
extracted from Roman monuments has, after two thousand years of anti-
quity, a hardness precisely equal to that which M. Vicat obtained with
sood limes in the short period of a year or eighteen months. In applying
the comparison to average resistances, the advantage greatly preponde-
rates for the modern mortar.

Opinions of Chemists and Builders on the Labours of M. Vicat.
The importance of M. Vicat's discoveries is palpable. For about a
tiuarterof a century all builders have taken advantage of them : now in
such matter, it must be readily understood that it must rest with the ac ual
practitioner to pronounce a definitive judgment Nevertheless, not o
L-'lect any kind of information, the Commission have thought it right to
gather the opinions of chemists and engineers, who are occupied, with the

greatest success, in the application of science to the arts. In this examina-
tion we have met with the most flattering recognitions of the labours ot
the celebrated engineer; no one appears to have contested their novelty.

Is the first memoir of M. Vicat on the production of artificial hydraulic
lime presented to the Academy of Sciences? That learned body decide
on the motion of MM. de Prony, Girard, and Gay-Lussac, that the me-
moir shall appear in the celebrated collection entitled Receud dcs Sarants
etran'rers. To this mark of approbation, the greatest that academic com-
missions ever give, was soon added a proof of esteem sought for through-
out the world ; the Academy named M. Vicat one of its correspondents.

The Council of Bridges and Highways, called upon at the commence-
ment of Ibis, to declare its opinion on the artificial lurmation of hydraulic
lime, declare, by their organ, the accurate and skilful M. Bruyere, " that
the advanta-es t.f the new method were innumerable, that they dispensed
with the cosily employment of real pozzolanas, and that of stones of large
dimensions, lavishly used in modern buildings, in s'lite of all the examples
to the contrary atlbrded by the Romans and Goths." " We may predict,
adds the sagacious In^pector-General, " that some years hence, no other
mortar will be allowed in public buildings. When M. ^ icat made Known
the first part of his statistical labours on the hydraulic limes ol trance,
the Academy decreed to him one of the medals founded by Montyon.

Let us take the opinion of M. Berthier, the most competent judge of
the labours of M. Vicat who could be found in the wliole world. Ihe
researches of W. Vicat on limes and mortars ought lo be placed in the rank
of the best works due to members of the cor;,.s of bridges and highways.
His discovery relative to the manufacture of artificial hydraulic limes is

of the highest importance In making it public M % icat has-

acted the more nublv, because he might have made a considerable fortune
either by selling the lime or by securing a patent of his invention.

M. Dumas, (we will quote only those of the greatest celebrity in science)
declares in his Ckimk Appluiuf'c uux Arts, that the solution «f "'« '''°S
debated question of hydraulic limes is due entirel,, to the labours
of M. Vicat. In speaking of artificial pozzolanas the illustrious
chemist observes, " It is, however, from labours in '>>« 'f "''^ "^.^ ''^'^.^J:
Vicat has been led to the important discovery with which he has enriched
the arts. The state in which he found the question renders the discovery
the more remarkable." ^ ,,-■.. a

We could borrow proofs equally flattering from a host of writers, and
especiallv from two excellent articles by M. Chevreuil, inserted in the
ZLl L Sarants. These opinions, notwithstanding the high authorities
?,om whom the, emanate, ought not, doubtless, to prevent ''je commiss ma
from making the minute enquiry of wh.ch the Chamber has beaidthe
results, but your commission, since they have by their own researches b en
led to the opiuions professed by the Academy of Sciences, and the judg-
ments of Gay-LusL, of Beiiier, of Chevreuil, of Dumas of Bruyere
desire to avail themselves of a circumstance which proves they have not

erred.

Conclusion.

M.'vrcat' was the first to demonstrate that the properties of natural
hydraulic limes depend on clay distributed throughout 'l^^'r substance ha^
is, on a particular action which silex united with alumina exeicises on
lime when these substances are brought by heat to a proper state.

M. Vicat has been the first to make hydraulic lime of all ' '^^ , "o only
in small quantities in the laboratory, but in large q"^'" 'f, ^^^'''= ^^ '^f^
tions of his bridge of Souillac. The piers of this ""^le budge rest on a
foundation of concrete formed with artificial hydraulic lime Since he
labours of M. Vicat, means have been found of procuring, whenever it is
necessary, lime, which readily sets lu water. i, u certain

M. Vicat has liberally given his discovery to he P"bl'<=. I^ ^ "^ hv°
that if he had secured by a patent the privilege of making the ai ncial by
draulic lime, this engineer would have acquired an •■"»;° \f"'^"."^; .
The first discovery of M. Vicat has faded, if the "P'*^^.^/;" "^l "" PfJ,
netted, beside the important results deduced from it. \«. ''^^: ^J!^;" "'^
Uidefatigable enginee. traversing France step by ^'^P, seek ng beds olcal
careous^narl, clay formations in which were united nat.u> ally in proper

proportions, the constitutive elements of liyd'-f 1"= l'""^^ '-nme fo siccessfal
him during twelve years in this search winch has '^^'^,7f/°^7<^'=j;"i'
that there are now known on French ground by the ol'; 1^^""= "Jj^;
Vicat 900 quarries capable of furnishing hydraulic limes, while belore
U ere were 'reckoned o^ly eight or ten. M Vicat has - "f J^P-^^^' f
the houour of having discovered and placed in the '^'^"''^^."/j^^' ""';;'.'
such wealth hidden in the bowels of the earth, or been ^^J^f ^ at lU, sur
face, that in order to complete this work he has ^«7™^"'^f'li''^,^f;j'"^'„d
ment to which his standing and merit give him claims uncontested and

'" Xwo'ikfof M Vicat on po-.:ola„as have been equally decisive. They
ha^ prov d thit the pj:-ent c'lays aflord a'tificial pozzolanas superior, o.
at least equal to the Italian; and as nature has ^-stribu ed chiy «ith a
kind of profusion on the surface of the globe, °»'f '"^ Pre;;-^^; "^ j^'
present day from easily obtaining excellent pozzolana in every regain
^ France, which before the time of W. Vicat, was tr.buaiyto^Lngland
for Roman cement, could now supply the wants of ''>« v^l'o'e », ^urop^
The general system of foundations, by means of concrete, dates Irom tne

* M. Vlca.. appointed divisioo.ry '"r'rZT:j:{,X::^':{^<^^'^^^^^^^^
pritL his rank of eneineer iu duel tu contiuue the investieatiou wiutu

, commenced.

1846.J

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

37,

discoveries which we have analysed, and particularly from the admirable
■works of the bridge of Soiiillac. Engineers, to their honour, never refuse
to assign a large share to M. Vicat of the success which they obtain, even
when circumstances permit them to have recourse exclusively to natural
hydraulic lime, and natural pozzolanas. Thus, for example, on the occa-
sion of the entirely successful completion of the new basin for repairing
vessels at Toulon, founded 42 feet above the level of the sea, the able
director of these works, M. Noel, wrote on the 24tli of April last to the
Under Secretary to the Department of Public Works ; "At a time when
the law respecting M. Vicat is about to be discussed, it will not be super-
fluous to bring to your knowledge a fact which gives a new importance to
the labours of the illustrious engineer who lias done so much for the ad-
vancement of our art."

Thanks to the laborious and patient researches of M. Vicat, works
once deemed impossible, are executed at the present day safely in every
part of the kingdom, and without requiring enormous expenses.

We will not repeat the numerical computations already given respecting
the economy efl'ected in public works by M. Vicat's invention. Those
computations should be retained in every mind. It would, in fact, be dif-
ficult to cite a discovery which, in t!ie short interval of 26 years, has pro-
duced such colossal and useful results.

The Commission are unanimously of opinion, that in voting, without
some modification, the law which has been proposed by the Minister of
Public Works the justice rendered to M. Vicat would not be complete.
They would desire that the pension of 0,000 francs should be accorded
more explicitly under the title of a i^'ational Rt'compctise. This is the only
change of which the Government proposition appears to us susceptible.
We trust that the Ciiancellor, adopting our opinions respecting the services
rendered to the country by JI. Vicat, will assent to the amendment which
we have the honour of suggesting, and which has already received the
sanction of the iNIinister of Public Works.

ATMOSPHERIC TRACTION.

Sir — Since the appearance of Mr. Haydon's paper in your November
Part, I have been inclined to pay some attention to the atmospheric sys-
tem. The favourable results actually obtained after so few attempts led
me to expect some error in the numerical example appended to the fore-
mentioned paper, especially when the length of the formula and the diffi-
culty of substitution were taken into account. I made several attempts
with the formula as it now stands, but in every case arrived at different
results, and each of them at variance with that deduced from the work
done each stroke. One source of error seems to have arisen from taking

!0.)390(J n

R = 99, instead of its exact value ^^^ for if R =^ we get n = lll or

87, nearly according as the former or latter is used. I was surprised at the
difference in the results, but it teaches us how careful we ought to be to
ensure approximations in our results. In my application to the example
at Dalkey, I shall suppose the whole length of the connecting pipe to be
used for propelling the train, as local circumstances compelled them in
that instance, to place the engine at an inconvenient and extravagant dis-
tance from the main tube.

Let u„ denote the work done during the nth stroke of the air pump.
W^ denote the work done at the end of the nth stroke.
^^' n '^'^""''^ ^^'' '"''"''' '^""'^ during the motion of the train, their hav-
ing been n strokes of the air pump before the train started.
W, the useful effect communicated to the tube piston.
Then it is found by Mr. Haydon, that

Wn =I5afcR"~^(l-^rrilog,R + ^Z:i log -^ 1
fl R" X S A X

Where R =

B-hC

(1-R) = 1--

A + B + O

B + C

r, andA + B + C = S

_A.

S-A
S

K,

log R

after the proper substitutions have beea made.

(A)

The correctness of the simplification may be tested in the following man-
ner : W|j — Wj|— I rework done at the nth stroke— that done at the end of
the n-l'h-

15 a ic

■d-R"

+ U nlog R-(l-

- R + n -

1r" 'log p.) I

liak(„n~l nil / ,„n— I ,.n, n — 1\, „)

=-_-^|R -R+^-hCR -R ) +R I'oSe^j

= 15 « A: r"-^ / 1 + (i^r") '""^ " }

= 15 a fc r"~ 1 1 + ( « ) 'ogj R I =W =work done during the

nth stroke. Let n have such a value that R„ = J '" then n=;S7 nearly.

W«

15 a 7c f , , , )

= — j^l 2 — (1-098612) j =5afc_(-90138771)

= 720 S X 90 1 3877 1 lb. raised one foot.
Where S = vol. of the tube and air-pump cylinder expressed in feet.
Wg, =720x 10673-74X -90131771 = 6,927,242.
W-8,=5 X 176-7 X 8588 = 8,335,720.
W = 10 X 176-7 X 8588 = 15,174,926.
Wj, +W'g, = 15,274,926 = work done.

W = 15,174,996 = useful effect of work done.

Subtracting, 87,972 = loss.
Hence the loss is about y},-, of the power given out by the engine.
Let B-|-C=V = vol. of lube to be exhausted ; w = vol. of air-pump cylin-
der; S =: V 4- V.

^„ = li^Jl_R«,R'.,0,^R»}

W.

= 15afc(.Il^(l-R%R"log R"l
= 2160 (V + f) f l-R" + R"log, R|

Where V and i- are expressed in cubical feet.

W'„=2100 R" V loge — = -2160 r" V log
R"

W = 2160 V(l-R")

W

„ + W'„ = 2160(1-R" + 2160d | i_R« + R" log^ R" |

.-. Loss = 21G0xt> ■[l-R''-t-R"logeR"|

For the loss in the Dalkey line we have = 2160 x 134-65 x \ (-90138771) =
720 X 134-65 x -90138771 = 87,387 lb. raised one foot high.

This agrees very nearly with the former result, and therefore we may
suppose that the necessary loss is correctly determined.

This we see varies as the volume of the air-pump. If W^^ be a maximum

= 0

li n

0 = R"-llog^R(l+ (^^-") log«K)-l^

n-1

Jog

R, orO=- — n,

K= — = 79 nearly.
A

R'3 = 11 nearly, which agrees with Mr. Stephenson's experiments.

It may be observed that the above formula; are true, for positive inte-
gral values of «. By examining the diagrams which accompany the Re-
port to the Directors of the Chester and Holyhead Railway, it will be
found that the pressure of the air in tlie pump became equal to the pres-
sure of the atmosphere sooner than we should have expected from theory.
This would no doubt be caused in some measure by the heat developed
during compression, but before the stroke commenced, the pressure in the
pump cylinders generally exceeded that in the branch pipe — so that pro-
bably more air rushed into the pump each time than was sufficient to re-

^

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECFS JOURNAL.

[FEBRtTART,

store the equilibrium with the main tube and its retreat being cut oBf by the
valve, it was expelled by tlie piston.
I remain,

Your obedient serrant,

F. Bashforth.
.<?(. John'i College, Cumbridst, Jan. 15, ISIG.

[It may be as well to iufurai the reader who is not acquainted with ma-
thematics, that the object of Mr. IJashforth is not to controvert the princi-
ples of Mr. Haydon's paper, but to effect simplifications by wh.cb the
arithmetical computations are greatly facilitated. We are, we believe, in-
debted to these gentlemen for the only accurate mathematical investigations
of a very important subject, hitherto published.]— Ed.

REVIEViTS.

A Treatise on the Steam Engine. 15y the Artizan Club.
Dec. I. 1845 : Longman, 4to. pp. 10.

Part XVIII.

This work which has several times been the subject of our reviews is
now drawing to a close. Of the twenty-four monthly parts in which it is
to be complettd, three-fourths are now published. It cannot be denied
that a vast mass of information is collected in this work, though some por-
tions might have been omitted without harm. Of the mathematical in-
vestigations, parts are of a very doubtful description, and there is not much
'n the theoretical portion of the work which possesses originality. With
respect to the practical views, however, the cause is very diflerent. The
writers have a way of looking right at practical questions which is exactly
suited to the nature of the subjects; so that even wheu we dispute their
views we are compelled to confess that they are fairly set before us.

The present number is illustrated by a large plate of details of the West
India Mail Packets Clyde, Tweed, Tay, and Teviot, exhibiting in a very
clear manner the forms of the cylinder and slides, the metallic packing, &c.
The most interesting subject treated of in the letter press is a comparison of
the merits of the principal forms of direct action engines which are divided,
into five classes. 1. The Gorgon ; 2. the double cylinder ; 3. the steeple ;
4. the double cross-head ; 5. the oscillating. We will give part of the ob-
servations made on each class.

1 The Govon Engines (those which have the connecting rod between
the'uiston rod and the crank). "The objections to the Gorgon plan of
en-ine are numerous and weighty. In the fust place, only a very short
stroke is attainable by this plan of engine; and although we are not ot the
number of those who subscribe to the doctrine, that expansion can only
be productive of its proper efficacy in a long cylinder, yet we believe that
an engine of a moderate stroke will work more steadily and smoothly than
when the stroke is short and the reciprocation rapid. There is, moreover,
a creat waste of steam at the ends of the cylinder when the stroke is short;
and although the amount of this loss cannot be great, yet it is too great to
be altogether disregarded. We do not attach the importance attributed by
some to the deranging influence of a short connecting-rod upon the side
valve but we attach a good deal of importance to the increased friction
consequent upon the thrust, when the angle the connecliug-rod makes is
great —not on account of the power absorbed, but on account of the dilh-
^ulty' of keeping the bearings from heating. To tins objection it is no
Answer to say, that the friction of a direct-action engine is as little or less
than that of a beam engine ; the vice being, that the friction is not fairly
distributed, but so concentrated at particular points as to be productive ol
iniurv in engines of the common proportions. ,, ^ •, r

"There is however, a far more serious defect of the Gorgon variety of
engine than any we have yet mentioned. It involves the use of a large
paddle-wheel by the elevation of the shaft, reudered necessary to afford
room for the stroke ; and the largeness of the wheel gives too great a ve-
locity to the float boards, by which means a considerable proportion ot the
engine power is dissipated. There is nothing better known, than that in
all cases where there is a great disparity between the speed of the wheel
and the speed of the ship, a large amount of the power is wasted in throw-
ing the water back from the wheel, instead of being employed in forcing
the vessel forwards ; and in the Gorgon plan of engine, as applied to or-
dinary sea-going steamers, a serious loss from this source must be per-
petually going on, or else the engine must be working under its proper
•^ ■ ■ These objections apply to all short connecting-rod

speed and power. ., •--.,,., ■ ■

eu-ines, of which the stroke is small and the shaft high ; and in our eyes,
they carry sufficient weight to justify the condemnation of this species of
engine in ioto."

Several varieties of Gorgon engines are then brought under review—
those by Boultou and Watt in the " Centaur," by Miller aud Ravenhill in
the " Eclair," by Fairbairn and Co. in the " Odin," fvc. The first introduc-
lion ofthe Gorgon class is attributed to Messrs. Seaward, and the same
defect is alleged against every one of the numerous varieties— that of
having the shaft too high. The next classes treated of are

2. The Steeple Engine, "which is the invention of Jlr. David Napier'
has the merit of being very compact and effectual, and in the case of river
vessels, offers advantages which have led to its extended adoption. The
protrusion of a large portion of machinery above the deck is, however,
much objected to in the case of seagoing vessels, and Messrs. Tod and
•Macgregor now give the preference to the double cross head engines in
such cases. It is a fault, we conceive, to make the air-pump with the same
stroke as the cylinder. Where the air-pump bucket moves with a great
velocity, the valves atrike so forcibly as to wear themselves out very soon.
The injury might, liowever, be mitigated by the use of the Cornish equi«
librium valve, both for the delivery valve and the air-pump bucket."

3. The Double Cylinder Engines. " Of this plan of engine we cannot ap-
prove, and we think Messrs. Maudslay would act wisely by giving it up
in favour of some less precarious arraugement. The Siamese plan involves
an increased leaka;;e, increased friction, and increased radiation, while
the grand purpose of direct action— saving of room — is only imperfectly
fiillilled. Should either ofthe pistons leak steam, moreover, or either of
the stuffing boxes leak air, a twist must be given to the parts ofthe engine,
such as would arise if there were more pressure upon one half of a piston
than on the other. Such a strain cannot, in our judgment, fail to be sooner
or later injurious. The arrangement also involves the use of a low con-
denser whicli the air-pump cannot thoroughly drain, and the pitching of
the vessel, by causing the waler to run from one end of the condenser
to the other, sometimes causes the air-pump to make an ineffectual stroke
while at other times the air-pu.np is choked with water, which it can only
with difficulty deliver, and fractures occur in consequence."

A long description is then given of the engine of the Ellen Mac Gregor.
A very decided preference is given to the fourth and fifth classes above all
the rest, and as the treatment of the question involves points long disputed
among engineers, we will at the risk of making a rather long extract, give
the decision with some few omissions.

4, The Double Cross-head E)igi)ies. " The nature of the arrangement in
the double cross-head engine will be made manifest by a reference to the
engines of Messrs. Bury or iMessrs. Fawcett. From the top of the piston-
rod a cross-head and side-rods proceed as in side-lever engines ; and from
tlie lower ends of these side-rods other side-rods ascend to a cross-head,
situated above the other cross-bead, and which, by means of a short arm,
communicates with the crank. By this expedient, the benefit of a long
connecting-rod is gained without the disadvantages incidental to the plans
already mentioned. There is only one air-pump in Messrs. Bury's engine,
but it is double-acting, so that, in effect, it is equal to two. A common
objection to this description of pump is, that the air accumulates under-
neath the piston ; but it will be remarked, that a provision is made to
counteract this tendency, the bulk of the air-pump piston being made to
travel past the port, so as to expel air as well as water. We may here
remark, that it appears expedient in this engine to avoid injecting from
the bilge into the lower condenser, as coal-dust and oiher foreign matters
might be drawn into the air-pump chamber, which would resist the descent
of the piston, and probably occasion fracture.

" In Messrs. Fawcett's engine there are two air-pumps, which are
wrought by independent bell-cranks off a ciauk in the intermediate shaft.
The inferior cross-head is made iu the form of a cross, from the ends of
which two rods proceed to a cross bar working vertically in guides on each
side of the cylinder, the effect of this arrangement is to bring the centres
ofthe rods on each side of the cylinder in the same plane, whereby the
twist incidental to an overhanging pin is avoided. Messrs. Fawcett have,
we understand, since this design was made, more nearly approximated to
Messrs. Bury's arrangement; and we believe their engines are bkely to
become a type which many will follow and many more approve.

5. Oscillating Engines. "The most plausible objection to the oscillating
en<rine that we are aware of is, that the cjlinder and stuffing-box will
speedily become oval, on account of the pressure necessary to communicate
motion to the cylinder. The existence of a tendency of this kind cannot
be disputed ; but it is so small in amount as to be imperceptible in prac-
tice ; and although, after a lapse of )ears, ilhas been found that oscillating
lers became slightly oval, yet the amount of ellipticity is, for the most
actually less than is found to exist in the cylinder of common side-
lever engines, after ihe same amount of wear. This, indeed, it the ques-
tion be considered attentively, is by no means surprising ; for the common
parallel motion, if in the least degree out of adjustment, will exercise a
most severe pressure upon the cylinder; whereas the maximum pressure
that can be exerted on the oscillating plan is only that requisite to over-
come the friction of the pivots on which the c>linder oscillates, of which
the amount is insignificant. Upon the stuffing-box, indeed, the tendency to
wear oval mav be more operative, but, to counteract this tendency, it is
made of unusual depth, and a very substantial brass bu.sh is fitted into its
interior norlion. The piston rod, moreover, is made of cast steel ; ana,
with these precautions, oscillating engines are found to work, for a number
of years, without inconvenience from the causes mentioned.

" Many nautical men, and some engineers, have objected to oscillating
engines on account ofthe movement ofthe cylinder, which they imagine,
would become a formidable evil in the case of a vessel rolling heavily at
sea. These objectors do not seem to have remarked that the ic

cylinde
pari.

ng ofthe
cylinder is neither dependent upon, nor proportionate to, the rolling ofthe
sliip, but is regulated exclusively by the movement of the piston ; and we

18J6.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

39

really do not see why a mass of matter, in the form of a cjlin Jer, slioiild be
more formidable or intractable in its movements than a similar quantity of
matter in the form of a side lever, or in any other sliai)e whatever.

" It has also been objected against the oscillating engine, that the
eduction passages are more tortuous ihan in coninion en;;iues, so that the
steam gets out of the cjlinder less freely. We do nut believe such lo be
the fact, if the comparison be made with the ronimnn run of marine engines;
and in practice, no diminution of elMcacy from this cause is appreciable.
The fact is, all the objections ibat have been raised lo the oscillating engine
are merely hypothetical; they are anticipations of defects to be found out
in large engines on the oscillating plan, and would probably be plausible
enough to carry some weight, were it not the fact, that they have been
completely controverted by experience. The remark, indeed, is heard
Bometimes even yet, that the oscillating method may do very well for small
engines, but is of doubtful efficacy for large ones. But the definition of
large en"ines has been continually changed, to escape the contradiction ex-
perience afl'orded, and that size is, in every case, decided to be large,
which just exceeds the size of the oscillating engine last constructed. It is
plain, however, that the grounds of tnis scepticism are being fast contracted;
and, indeed, we think it requires a little cojitroversial intrepidity to set
down engines of C2-iuch cylinders, which is the size of those of the '• Black
Eagle," as among the number of small engines. And if engines of this
size are found to operate well — and those of the '• Black Eagle" have been
found to perform most satisfactorily — it really appears to us impossible to
suppose that engines of 5 or 10 inches more cylinder would not be found
correspondingly effective."

The points here discussed are many of them of that complicated nature,
that independent reasoning will not suflice for the decision of them. The
ultimate verdict must depend on a much more extended experience ihan we
at present possess. However, notices such as the above, in which engines
of each kind are examined together and their defects compared, have the
happiest elfect in removing prejudices.

Weale's QuarterVj papers on Engineerhi!;. Part IX, quarto, p. p. 240.
23 engravings, Weale, High Holboru.

The present Part of Jlr. Weale's series of magnilicently printed and
illustrated volumes, is that for Michaelmas 1845, but the publication of it
has been unavoidably postponed to January 1846, owing, as it is stated,
to " the engagements in Railway matters of two of tlie gentlemen contri-
butors." There are four papers in the present number ; of which the first
and third may be considered together, as both are chiefly of a historical
nature ; the subjects of them being respectively " iheProgressof Machmery
and Manufactures in Great Britain, from the earliest times to Queen
Elizabeth," and "a memoir of the Thames Tunnel. Section II., by
Henry Law." The first of these papers gives a historical account of the
progress of the arts, year by year, in England ; the principal enactments
affecting manufactures and inventions, the importation of foreign improve-
ments, &;c. Some of the notices are very curious and interesting. — In 1404
■we fiud Henry IV. ordaining " that none henceforth shall use to multiply
gold or silver, nor use the craft of muliiplication under the pain of felony."
The paper closes with an account of the disputes between Elizabeth and
her Parliament, respecting the royal, fondly -cherished, privilege of granting
patents for monopolies.

Mr. Lasv's paper is also interesting, and will be very acceptable to those
who feel the value of tracing the /tjsfory of Engineering. This branch of
knowledge is much neglected at the present day; we seem content with
ascertaining the actual state of Engineering, and care but little to know
how and by whom the advancement of practical science has been effected.
The paper on the Thames Tunnel supplies a very important point in the
annals of mechanics. It details in distinct and forcible language the
wonderful skill and patience by which the difficulties attending that great
work were overcome, and deserves to be read with the greatest attention.

The second paper is entitled " Praclical and Experimental Researches in
Ilijdraulics, by R. H. Peacocke, E. C. ;" the object proposed is to suggest
formula; for calculating the discharge of water from pipes, inc. The first
investigation which the author makes, tends to show that the curve which
water assumes when discharged from a pipe is not a parabola. It m ly be
as well to remark, in limine, that the form of the curie in which water
actually falls is never taken to be exactly a parabola; because it is
natural to conclude that if a projectile in air do not describe a parabola
neither will falling water. Mr. Peacocke, suggests a formula for calcu-
lating the curve of falling water in the following terms ;

" The hydraulic curve consists of ordinates of a parabola plus, (some-
times minus) a certain constant quantity which increases arithmetically
as the corresponding abscissse increase." p. 3.

.. It is not very easy to see how a ''certain constant quantity" can increase
arithmetically ; and we find out afterwards that this quantity is no /«c(o?-

at all, but something to be simply added to, not multiplied by, the length
of the ordinate. He apprehend Mr. Peacocke's meaning to be— that his
curve is found by adding to, or substracting from, the ordinates of a
parabola, quantities proportional lo the corresponding abscissa;. For
instance, in his first experiment he substracts from each ordinate the decimal
part .07 of each corresponding abscissa, in the second experiment he
substracts '09 of each abscissa;, itc. Butone great defect which seems
fatal to his formula is, that it leaves quite undetermined ivhat proportions
of the abscissa; are to be substracted. These decimal parts .07, .09, &c.,
are wholly empirical, and only suitable for the particular cases to which
they are respectively applied. He, himself says, of his " factors," as they
are termed throughout,

'• In Experiment 1. The factor is — .07.
„ 2. Ditto -.09

„ 3. Ditto —. a minute quantity not ascertained

„ 4. Ditio -f.03

„ 5. Ditto 0

On comparison of these factors, and consideration of them with reference
to the lengths and diameters of the tubes, and the amounts of " head" — it
is not observable that the factors follow anij definite law ; though it is
probable that a greater number of experiments would have proved the ex-
istence of a definite law. But the farther prosecution of the subject in
that way, though it would have been interesting, was not necessary to my
present purpose."

So that we really cannot see in what way we are the wiser for his ex-
periments. In two out of five of them he does not determine any " factor"
whatever, and in the remaining three the factors apply only to the particular
cases and suggest no general law.

It is important to remark that Mr. Peacocke merely observed the form
of the curve near the orifice. His experiments for the determination of
the curve do not extend to a fall of four feet below the discharge pipe.
Now it is very possible the proposed formuhe may represent a curve, re-
sembling that of falling water near its source, but widely diverging from it
at a great distance from the source ; for with short lengths of the curve,
errors would not be easily detected. It may readily be conceived that by
Mr. Peacocke's system of " factors" (determined, it is to be observed,
separately for each case,) he may get a formulae which coincides with the
results of his experiments as far as they extend, but not much farther ; —
and we must be excused for adding that it is also possible to conceive the
existence of a formula of entirely different shape, and involving altogether
diflereut functions, which would represent the form of the curve both near
and at a distance from the origin.

The experiments are followed by an examination of formula, proposed
by Mr. Smeaton, M. Prouy, Dr. Young. Chevalier Dubuat, M. Eytelwein,
&c. for the discharge of water. The following conclusions are ultimately
made.

"Isf. How nearly the experiments are a mean of the two extreme formulae,
namely, those of 51. Eytelwein and M. Genieys.

2ud. How nearly the experiments are a mean of the two next formulae,
namely, those of Sir. Smeaton and Chevalier Dubuat.

3rd. How very nearly the experiments are a mean of the two most ac-
curate formulae, namely, those of M. Prony and Dr. Young.

I think no scientific man will,after satisfying himself that my calculations
are correctly made from M. Eytelwein's and M. Genieys' directions, make
use of either of these gentlemen's formula;."

Having some curiosity to know on what data the condemnation of
Eytelwein's formula;, which has considerable reputation, was founded, we
turned to Mr. Peacocke's examination of that particular formnlfe, and
found that he had by his own showing, taken the value of one symbol at
ouefourth of that intended by Eytelwein. He says that Dr. Young
understands the symbol d in the formula; " to signify the diameter, (of the
discharge pipe) while I understand it to mean the hydraulic mean depth,
or one-fourth of the diameter of the pipe," and then adds in a note that he
finds on reference to the original work in German, thatDr. \oung is ■
right, but that he himself was misled by the Encyclopiedia Britannica.

" I have, since this essay was in type, referred.to M. Eytelwein's original
work in German ; and have found that rfsigciiSes the diameter, consequently
the writer in the Encyclopa;dia Britannica has (unintentionally of course)
mis-stated M. Eytelwein's formula."

The paper certainly evinces great labour, but such an error as the above
is rather a serious one; and the writer must nut be surprised to find that
in a subject which has baflled the sagacity of the acutest philosophers, the
proposition of new empirical formula will be regarded with distrust, unless
they be supported by a weight of testimony far exceeding any hitherto
collected.

The last paper is a report of the Institute of France, on M. Arnolett's
system of Atmospheric Railway. This paper is translated and prepared

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. [February,

40

for publication by Mr. R. Mallet, A B. CE., who prefixes an introductioa
explaining "the views and objects" which inOuenced h.m m p»bl>sh,ng
the report in I'nglish. After assigning various reasons, he brings forward
the following in a paragrapli by itself.

«Mv principal inducement, however, has been to make readily avail-
able to\heEngUsh engineer the mathematical notes of M. Lame, appended
to the report of the commissiou."

Now when we find, as we presently shall, that these "mathematical
notes" are not only incorrect, but that there is scarcely "nehoejcee lom
-ross errors, we can scarcely be expected to give great credit to Mr. Mallet,
for bis judgment in selection. It is necessary to state that M. Lame s
investigations exclude the supposition of leakage in the main pipe : he
reason. Slated in the body of the report, is that "as this defect of the
apparatus and the loss of power which it occasions have not yet been
sufliciently considered, we shall neglect it in comparing the two systems.

We take the first dozen lines of the " notes" as a sample of their general
character The object is to calculate the power required in the prehmmary
exkaustion of a tube of the length A and section S, from a density H to a

density n- , u • •

«We will assume the tube to have a fixed bottom, taken for the origin

of a- and that it is closed towards its other end by a moveable piston, f,

bevond which the tube is indefinitely prolonged.

We readily perceive that the power sought is equal to that which will be

required to draw out the piston P, placed originally at a distance .r

= 4^'from the fixed bottom to the distance A. H being the density of the

H
air contained in the tube of the length ^y^let ;; be the elastic force of this

&ir for any length, x ; we then have

p— or H — p — H —

A 1

(1)"

and the power sought will be given by the definite integral.

/"^ S (h =i^) d .=8 A (h =. ^ - ^ log. ^) .

IT

In this calculation we first of all observe that the alternating action of
the air-pumps, and the influence of the external valves (those aKongh
which the air is expelled from the pump) are totally neglected But th
Zhole amount of error is not perceived till we come to see to what use this
formula (1) is applied. The conclusion from it is thus expressed, at p. 14.
'< Hence we conclude that in the English system, the available power_ ex-
pended, however the engine work, is exactly equal to the work done.

Now the full force of the reasoning amounts to this-the passage quoted
above, and commencing " we readily perceive that the power -"; >'-' ^;;
assumes that the po,oer e.rpended may be measured by the «.e/,J effect pro-
duced: having made this assumption, M. Lam^ gets a formula from it
which he concludes that the power expended is equal to the nsefal cffec
produced, that is-he assumes a proposition in order to prove the truth

""^The mathematical reader will have no difficulty in seeing that this logic
is as bad an example of reasoning in a circle as can possibly be found.
But we want, if possible, to convince the ««mathematical reader- for it is
he who is most likely to be injured by errors so gross as this appearing in
a work like the " Quarterly papers." M. Lame totally overlooks the loss
arising from the employment of an elastic agent for communicating power.
This sample consideration, as we said last month, will shew that the power
expended cannot be mathematically equal to the effect produced-the
alternating action of the pump-piston alternately dilates and condenses
the air in the pump-dilates it while draining it from the main
tube - condenses it while expelling it into the external air. Con-
senuently all the component particles of the air in the pump are first
drawn further apart, and secondly are brought closer together, than they
are in their natural state. Now to suppose that no force is expended in
thus continually altering the constituent arrangement of the particles of a.r
is equivalent to assorting that the change takes place spontaneously, that
the molecules can of themselves approach and recede from each other-that
is, that they have a kind of vitality in them, an inherent power of moving
themselves.

It may seem bold to attack opinions sanctioned by such high authority
as that of INI. Lame ; but philosophy does not recognise the weight of
personal testimony. It is the obvious.duty of the reviewer to point out
errors wherever be finds them, and his duty is only increased in importance

where errors seem confirmed by the celebrity of their advocate. The
proposition of SI. Lamt, to somewhat vary the view of it, may be stated
thus:— The requisite exhaustion miff/U be produced in the tube by moving
a piston within it through a certain distance ; and hence the force required
is the same whether the elTect be produced by this hypothetical arrange-
ment, or by that rra/Zy employed in practice. That is, provided the result
be the same, the means of eliecling it are matters of indifference ! Now
this assumption that no more force is lost by the use of air-pumps than by
an arrangement more direct, but entirely imaginary, what is it but an
assumption of the very question in debate, namely, whether the power,
expended by the air-pumps &c., be equal to the useful ellect.' It is clear
that the mechanical means by which the effect is produced cannot be
neglected in the calculation, for it would be easy to contrive machines
which would effect the requisite exhaustion with a loss of 99 per cent of

their power. , . .,

It is very true, that the investigation of Mr. Bashforth, in another page
of this number, shews that the loss under consideration is but «»«// ,• but
the mathematical truth remains independent of the actual amount of the
loss Whether that amount be 1 per cent, or 99 per cent., the fact remains
the same, that mathematics founded on the assumption that the effect pro-
duced is equal to the power expended must be erroneous.

If any conflrmation of this opinion were requisite, the following extract,
from the "notes" of 31. Lamfc, almost immediately following the one
made above, is perfectly conclusive :—

" Thus the power expended to form the vacuum in the tube before the
starting of the^rain is to the whole power as (2 - log. 3 is to 2, or since
the hyperbolic logarithm of 3 is = 1.09801- the time of woiking of the
engine'^isto the time of transit of the train as 2 is to 1.09«t,l, that is to
say, a little more than double, or more exactly, as 9 : 5.

Here it is asserted, that for a working pressure of 10 lb. to the square
inch, the preliminary exhaustion will be a/icnys 5 of the whole power ex-
pended And it is particularly to be observed, that this conclusion is inde-
pendent of the length of the main tube, or the size of the a.r pump ;
whereas, in truth, the power expended in the preliminary exhaustion de-
pends most materially on the relation between the solid -content o he
pump and that of the tube. Every tyro in pneumatics knows that he
density of air in an exhausted receiver depends on a formula in which the
number of each stroke appears as a pccer or index. For instance, if the
capacity of the pump and receiver together were to the capacity of the re-
ceiver alone as 20 : 19, the density after the first stroke would be expressed
by' ; after the second stroke by the square of J? ; after the third by he

cube of '^; after the fourth by the fourth power of Ja after the

hundredth by the hundredth power of Jg. Now these considerations,
^vhich are to be found in every elementary book on pneumatics are totally
neglected by M. Lam^, not only in the passage here quoted, but through-
out his investigation. „

The "mathematical notes" next discuss " M. ArnoUet's system, m
which magazines of power are obtained by the exiiaustion of large air-
ti<.ht reservoirs. The mathematics are here founded on the same reasoning
aJbefore-that is, the alternate acuon of the pump and the proportion of
i,s size to that of the tube are quite left out of sight. It would be worse
than useless to quote conclusions obtained under these unsatisfactory cir-

'"whradds greatly to the regret, excited by finding these calculations in
a report by a commission of the Institute of France, is the circumstance
that M. Arago's name is attached to the report. _

En-rineering seems fated to be particularly unfortunate, in being ob-
scured by incorrect mathematics. Were the confused heaps of mathema-
tical symbols which beset the path of the engineering student merely
worthless, we would not say one word respecting them. They might
safely be consigned to oblivion. But, unfortunately, these errors have the
most pernicious effect on those who are least able to discover them
Mathematics of the very worst kind are constantly receiving the highest
s ion when applied to engineering. In any other department of science
he authors would infallibly meet with condemnation. We can only g e
general advice to the student who is likely to be affected by these evils,
!!never to take on trust any mathematical conclusions except those sanc-
tioned by time,and embodied in works of accredited autbority : respecting
aU new investigations, we recommend him to reject them alogeher un .1
be ?eels his physical views sufficiently matured to enable h.m to investi-
gate and confidently decide for himself.

IS46.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

41

RAISING THE SPIRE OF A CHURCH.
(From the American Franklin Journal.)

" Account of the Raising of /he Spire of the Nativity, in Spring Garden,
Philadelphia county." By N. Le Brun, Architect.

The Doric tower on which this spire was raised, faces the east, and is 90
feet in height ; it is strengthened at the angles by four buttresses, project-
ing at the base four feet ; the projection of these buttresses is diminished at
four stages in their height. The interior figure of the tower at the base is
a square, but mid-way it assumes the figure of an octagon by gathering
over the brickworli at the angles ; the whole forming a construction of the
most solid character. The octagonal spire, which was finished complete in
front of the tower previous to rising, is 80 feet high, including its crown-
ing ornaments ; its width at the base is 12 feet 6 inches.

The spire was raised by means of two derricks situated on the north and
south wall on the top of the toner, and placed about 18 inches behind the
front posts of the spire, or about 3 feet back from the front of the toner,
and were 13 feet, 6 inches apart, allowing about 6 inches on each side be-
tween them and the spire. Their feet were made convex and fitted into
corresponding cavities worked in the oak sleepers which were securely
bolted down into the sills of the spire, which sills were themselves secured
to the tower by IJ inch rods 36 feet long, and built in the angles of the

tower walls. To avoid all the strain being thrown on the top of the walls
at these points, diagonal braces were placed, extending 40 feet down the
tower, and as an additional precaution to prevent the derricks from slip-
ping at the heels, they were connected by la<.hings fastened to iron bolts
passed through them,— the heads were coniiccted by two tackle blocks,
which were only of use to keep them in their position till the spire was
being raised. The guys from each of the derricks, extended in three direc-
tions over the neighbouring commons.

The spire was connected with the derricks by four double lashings, (each
end of which was fastened to one of the spire posts at the foot,) and two
spans ; the belt, which connected the spans, was 30 feet high above the base
of the spire, (being about 5 feet above the centre of gravity) and passed
through the straps of the purchase blocks. The falls from the treble blocks
on the derricks to the leading blocks, were in the interior of the tower,
and the two capstans used, were placed in the main story of the church,
and were each manned by twenty men. Attached to the base of the spire
were three guys, and at about 25 feet from the head were four more guys,
all secured to guy posts.

All the arrangements having been made with the greatest care, on the
1 0th of February, at two o'clock in the afternoon, the raising was com-
menced, and it was performed with the greatest ease. The spire was kept
plumb by the management of the guys attached to it. As the derricks were
but 42 feet high, and the belt to which the purchase blocks was fastened
■was 30 feet from the base, (at which height the distance from each der-
rick head to the spire would be about 3 feet,) there would be but 6 feet
between the blocks when the spire would be raised ; — they would thus
necessarily have lain almost horizontal, and caused a great strain on them ;
to avoid this strain, as the raising was progressing, the north and south
derrick guys were slackened to make the purchase blocks work more per-
pendicularly.

When the spire had been raised to its proper height in front of the tower,
the two west derrick guys were worked by two crabs to draw over the der-
ricks and swing the spire to its destined position. It had been deemed
most prudent to work them in that manner, as in the hauling in of the
back guys in the usual manner, an oscillatory motion might have been com-
municated to the spire, which would have rendered it difficult to manage at
this most critical moment. The raising lasted an hour and thirty minutes,
and thirty minutes were required to secure it firmly to the sills onlhe tower
by the iron straps ; — thus the whole operation occupied two hours.

METHOD TO PROJECT CIRCLES ISOMETRICALLY.

By Thomas Prosser, C.E., New York.
Fig. 1. Draw the two Isometrical diameters ; {i. e. the two exi-conjugate
diameters of the ellipse which is to represent the circle,) unite their ver-
tises so as to form a rectangle with its diagonals ; circumscribe the whole
with a circle passing through each angle of the parellelogram, the sides of
which will thus form chords to its segments ; with the chord of half the
arc of a lesser segment as radius, describe another concentric circle cutting
the diagonals of the rectangle, at a, a, a, a.

From each angle of the rectangle as centres, and with its largest side as
radius, describe arcs cutting each other within the rectangle as at b, b.

6

'12

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Februabt,

I'rom Hie same centres, and with the diagonal of th« rectangle u radini,
describe arcs on the opposite side of the figure, a< at e, e.

From each of the points a, a, a, a, as centres, describe arcs pasting
through the vertises of the isometrical diameters which are on the same
fide of the conju^nte axis, but on the opposite side of the transverse one.
From the points A, 4, and c, c, as centres, describe arcs in continuation.

IJEPORT FROM THF, INSTITUTE OF THE FINE ARTS ON
PU15L1C COMPETITIO.NS.

" Gentlemen — Competitions in art are now so frequent and so fully re-
Sfionded to that, without sound principles in their management, thi-y must
necessarilv be very injurious to the artists, hovvevur advantageous lliey
may appear to the' public ; for instance, in the case before us, if l,(IOO(.
lias lo be competed for, and lifly artists enter the lists and ?ppnd I,hilOi. of
monev and an amount of time equal lo twetiiy-nine yeard of bumdn lite, as
tliis iiHiuiry will demonstrate, they evidently luse l.SOOi. and the whole of
that lime, unless there is compensation by reputation, by acquired know-
Jedu-H which may be turnt-d tn account, or in the sale of lb'' compelilion
pictures. If wbidesome condition of public taste, good sense in the ar-
rangements, and strict justice in the awards at competitions, would, in
some measure, afford this compensation, but tlie usual modes adopted in
th<-s» trials of skill afford none ; on the contrary, tliey are attended with
many cirronislances that embitter the feelings, aggravate Ibe sufferings,
and uikiie the reputation of enthusiastic competitors. Such a course must
ultimately be injurious to the public as well as to the artist. 1 he system
has indeed mucli of the excitement and immoral tendenc.es of a lottery.

In (irdir to arrive at a bet'er principle, we have inquired into the results
of varirius competitions in dilferent ages, and in several countries ; we have
endeavoured to trace the amount of competency in the judges and of equity
in the mode of arrangement, or of good faith in the superintending authori-
ties. Among tlie aucient Greeks various jilaiis were adopted, according
to the mure or less popular political inslitutioua of the commuuity. AVhere
the arts flourished most, public opinion, in whatever form expressed, was
the basis of public patronage. In some cases the cnnimunity, considering
the ciunpeling artists most interested in a fair decision, actually left that
decision to them ; in others the opinion of the people was paramount ; but
even then suggestions from the artists were attended to with deference and
respect, and not disregarded or condemned as is too often done among us.
When I'hidias and Alcamenes competed for a statue to be placed on a
column or other eleialed siluaticm, at first sight all opinions weie in favour
of Alcamenes, but I'hidias demanded that both figures should be placed at
the intended elevation, previous to the award being made. This was done,
and such was the consideration of perspective effect by the one artist and
its netrlect by the other, that the people uo sooner saw them at their re-
quiri-d elevaticm, than they changed their opinion, and decided in favour
of I'hidias. Id this instance it is clear tliat the judges, i. e. the public,
were not fully competent to their task, but it is also obvious that such
artists as Alcamenes would have been equally unlit or even worse; for, in
all probability, relying on their practice and skill, they would not have
taken tlie trouble lo raise the competing statues lo the proposed elevation,
and in all likelihood they would have been more tenacious of a first opinion
than the people were.

In the case of the ciiizens of Cos choosing a statue of Venus from two
by Praxilelles, so far from delegating their judgment to artists, they se-
lecled, from a motue of delicacy, that which the technical connoisseurs
denounced as inferior. Posterity has decreed lliat in this, good sense
triiimiihed over conventional excellence.

iMuch has been said of a mode of deciding some competitions among
artists III aniit-nt Greece, in which the competitors were each allowed two
votes, under the notion that in the ballot, each would give one vole in favour
of his own performance, and Ihe other lo the best of his rivals ; as though
all the candidates, after imlulging a sellish conceit, would, as soon as that
first impulse was gratified, become perfectly candid ; as though the act per-
formed by one hand, and its motive, were unknown to ihe other? Unless
lliev were strictly lionourHble and impartial, it is more likely that they
Wood give both votes to tlieir own work, or the second vote to the most
uidikfly rival ; thus might the least talented stand at the head of the poll :
\^e have been informed of occurrences which confirm this opinion. On one
decision at one of our distinguished instiluliuns, a candidate was elecled
to an iinporiant office, for which he was so totally unfit, that the self-de-
graded electors had to request their own nominee to resign ; on another, an
iiiduidual of considerable reputation, after proposing and making a warm
eulogy of a friend's qualifications, was proTeil, by the unanimity of the
voles in favour of himself, to have sacrificed that friend to his own conceit.
If candidates are honourable and true, one vole is as good as two ; and so
il would be if they were all selfish and cunning.

Karly in the fourteenth century, a very important competition took place
at Florence, between Brunelesuhi, Donalcllo, Ghiberli, and four other
eminent sculptors; for under good aud honourable regulations, the greatest
\\ere not loth to compete. Sulijects, to be executed in bronze, for the
ornament of Ihe gates of the Uaptistery of Bt. John, were confided lo their
euiulatiou, each b.iog provided, at the public expense, with every con-

venience of Btadio, furnace, and other accommod.ilion, that could ensure
Boccess, and a sura for personal expenses. Having done so much for Ihe
comfort of the artists during the period of their exertions, a compi-teut tri-
bunal next recei'ed the consideration of the Flureatines ; thirtyfour men
of taste and talent, some artists and some amnteurs, were appointed judges
to determine which was entitled toespecial admiratiou, and public employ-
ment. Their votes were divided, and no .lecisiou obtained froia them ; but
the magnaniinuus candour of Bruneleschi and Uonalellu, who had each
the same number of votes as Ghiberli, at oni-e settled it in his favour, and
proved the tribunal incompetent : those generous rivals saw nu room u>
doubt his superiority in that contest ; and posterity has sanctioned iheir
opinion. The incompetency of this tribunal was, however, but n-gativrly
bad ; it allowed the scales of justice lo remain in doubtful suspension, but
il did not actually reverse its tendency, and cloud the prospects and fame
of a deserving candidate. A similar diffidence, or modest ignorance, wai
remarkabl"! when Leimardo da Vinci, and Jlichael Augelu Ijuonarolti,
made their great trial of skill at the Council Chamber; the splendour of
the one did uot eclipse the majesty of the otlier,a3 the success of one man's
talent invariably smothers the fame of every other in our modern competi-
tions.

In France, during the period of religious animosity, from the reign of
Francis the First to that of Louis the Fourteenth, public com|)eliiious were
often productive of fine works, as the best portions of the palace of Fon-
taiuebleau, aud the beautiful square of ihe Loutre attest. In those in-
stances, native talent, both Catholic and Protestant, in worthy emulatiou,
stands triumphant amidst the performances of foreign rivalry. The same
system was resorted to for the east front of the Louvre, and the award of
superior merit was in favour of Claude Perraull, ihe physician aud ma-
thematician, but a corrupt court, where the spirit of intellectual freedom
had not survived that of anarchy and rebellion, could uot rest satisfied
with the result of competition and public opinion. Louis the Fourteenth
endeavoured to set aside the design of Perrault, and invited lierniiii, the
fashionable Italian architect and sculptor of the day, to vi,it his court aud
design something worthy the magnificence and splendour of that pompous
monarch. Princely honours attended on the foreign artist in his progress
lo the French capital, but Colbert found it advisable to lean towards the
popular opinion : the king relented, Iternini retireil with Ihe snme affected
magnificence that accompanied his arrival, and the design of Perraull, ihe
masterpiece of Ihalera, before which even Whitehall sinks in comparison,
was completed, at once a monument to French taste aud a trophy lo public
opinion.

Under Napoleon, competition was far from pure. The jury of artists
for the Decennal prizes adjudged the great prize for a subject of ancient
history to (Jirodet, for a scene of the Deluge. The emperor was disap-
pointed : he had expected that pi'ize to be given lo his first painter, iJavid,
for the intercession of the Sabine women between iheir enraged relatives
and Iheir Uoman husbands. The judges could not indeed be induced to
convict themselves of incompetency in that decision ; but, to conciliate the
sovereign, in the next trial, they conferred the prize for a modern subject
on Uavul's coronation, and not on the plague of Jaffa, by G.'os, wduh
they individually preferred. A sad example of artists, eminent fur talent
and character, rendered dishonest by the interference of a potentate.

At the present lime in France, where artists constitute an infijential
portion of the intellectual aristocracy (the aristocracy of talent and prol'es-
sions); wdiere authority and intrigue are variously apportioued. uo one
ronipetitiou is of much importance, for the elfect of a partial decision by
the court parly, is frequently neutralised by an equally unsound award in
favour of the injured artist, by some municip dity of opposiliou politics, lu
whose prejudices an appeal is made, aud who have in their gilt a provin-
cial commission.

In our own country, competitions are very unsatisfactory, and frequently
alike absurd and unjust : in Ihat for the Nelsou memorial, the vacdlaiioo
of the committee in setting aside their first hasty award, aud advertising a
new contest and exhibition, with their final connrmation of tliat firat very
doubtful judgment, coiupromised the dignity of the committee as much a6
its taste, ami unnecessarily increased by many thousands of pounds lh«
expense (besides trouble) of the artists. That competilion w.is fatal lo the
confidence of artists in a tribunal of amateurs of rank and fortune, but that
of the Uoyal F.xcbange with a tribunal of artists was still noiie : the jury
of three eminent architects, refused any premium to the design which ibey
acknowledged lo be the best, under the plea that it could uot be built for
the sum stipulated ; nor was ihat decree reversed when contractors of
reputation ofi'ered to undertake it under securities ; but they gave the pre-
miums to other cainlidates, whose designs they declared lo be quite im-
practicable. They were next requested to prepare a design themselves.
It is understood, that two of those three judges, after examining aud cuu-
demuiiig all the designs, actually consented to do so, but the unseemly
proceeding was checkeil by public opinion. The ultimate conipetilion wits
between two architects of considerable and ueujiy equal iufiuence among
the civic authorities.

The recent competition exhibitions at Westminster Hall, for the decora-
tion of the Parliament Houses, were at first hailed as the beginn ng of a
better system, more intellectual and pure ; but up to the preseni lime, the
results have led ouly to disappointmenl among the great body of the candi
dales, and growing indifference in the public, ^oiue artiets, after being
rewarded the first year, had their works treated as unworthy even to be
publicly exhibited at the second, Hbilst others bavu beeu appointed for

1x46]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

43

actual employment on one trial, or even withoat passing through the pre-
scribed ordeal at all. Several who have appeared honourably and with
general approbation at all the exhibitions, have been utterly neglected or
discarded by the royal commission, although tlie leading object of its ap-
pointment was the encouragement of native talent in the higher walks of
art, and the commissioners had pronounced the works of many of those
artists " highly creditable to the country."

The wheile of the evidence on competitions, tends to prove that in respect
of matters of art, a competent tribunal and equal justice have scarcely ever
been obtained. In questions of taste, there is indeed so much room for
doubt, that prevarication and partiality are less obvious and disgraceful
than in simple questions of properly, and yet the injury done to the suf-
fej'ers is far greater where professional reputation as well as fortune is in-
volved. A\"hy should not artists, whose fame and means of existence are
at stake, have as good protection from a committee of taste, as persons in
trade are sure to find in a court of justice? Why are not committees, like
judges and juries, responsible fer their proceedings, either to a higher tri-
bunal or to public opinion ? Why are they not, in like manner, obliged to
examine and consider both sides of ihe question ? Our juries are selected
fiw their impartiality, and every accident in that respect is rectified, by
allowing each contesting party to challenge the jurors ; no false delicacy
towards jurymen is allowed to Keigh against the welfare of the parties be-
fore the court and the strict ruli-s of justice. To see that they attend to
their prescribed duties, and that the evidence is fairly placed before them,
and not to interfere with the verdict, a judge presides who, after a long
career of study and experience, is placed above ordinary rivalry and cou-
teulion. in circumstances that render character, especially for impartiality
and judgment, to him, all-important. Should he, forgetful of his high re-
sponsibility, lean unduly to one side and misdirect the jury, an appeal lies
to a higher Court, where his error or misinterpretation is sure to be severely
discussed, and, if a case is made out, the trial is set aside or the verdict is
reversed, without the least complacency fur his authority and feelings.
Thus is the property of the humblest trader protected ; thus the life or
liberty of the poorest wretch accused of crime, is held paramount to all
considerations of rank and station. In questions of property, every possi-
ble discussion has long been afforded; witnesses are examined, cross-ex-
amined, and re-exaniined, by contending advocates. The same protection
has of late years been granted to persons criminally iudictetl. — And why
should this wholesome respect for mutual rights, be denied to men of iutel.
lectual pursuits — authors or artists, who embark fame and fortune on the
tide of public competition ? W by should those to whom they cutruat all
that is precious in their estimation, think lightly of their responsibility.
Something like the system of judge and jury, or an assimilation to the best
of our prerogative Courts can alone render competitions among artists fair,
honourable, and efficient, and give to the emanations of genius their proper
value among us.

In the case immediately before us, it is proposed that a prize of l,00fl/t
be given to the artist who, in general competition, shall |)roduce the bea
painting 12 or \.i feet one way, and 10 or 12 the oiher ; the subject is de-
fined, and, in several points, the precise mode af treating it. With so
great a templaticm, it is reasonable to suppose that many will overlook
the expense, trouble, disappointment, and serious inconveniences that
await all but the one fortunate candidate ; it is reasonable to suppose that
fifty artists may risk comfort and reputation in the attempt. VV e feel as-
sured that the gentlemen who propose this competition, besides the desire
10 obtain as fine a picture as possible, are anxious to make it worth while
to men of talent and character to vie with each other iu honourable emu-
lation. They would evince generous delicacy towards the less successful
artists who gave proof of lii^'b talent in ihe contest ; for their object is not
to encourage speculators to make a heedless dash at the 1,000/ , nor can
they wisii for a gantly meiilricious picture, but one wherein the subject
is fully considered, the character of each figure is faithfully studied and
pathelically delineated; — where the action of all is in due relation one
wiUi the other, and the whole is combined into a rational and picturesque
coinpo>ition. Such are the essentials of high art ; they are best attended
to in the simplest and least expensive inaierials, such as involve a larger
outlay of mind in proportion to that of numey. Thus may the best results
be obtained with as little injury as possible to the candidates, as all vir-
tuous and religious men must wish to do.

We now proceed to state the artist's case in two ways: — first, as it
will stand if the advertised regulations are carried out; and next, as it
would be, if our suggestions were adopted, suppo.-ing iu either case the
number of candidates to be fifty.

Fifty finished paintings, varying from 12 feet by 13 to 15 feet by 12,
would involve the artists in expenses (actual outlay) from 30/. to 40/.
each ; average, 30/. ; total in money, 1.800/.

In time expended, average 7 months; total 29 years; which, at the
low estimate of 150/. a-year amounts to 4,350/., making the whole out-
lay equivalent to G. 150/. ; a positive loss in the aggregate of 5,150/. be-
yond the prize of 1.000/.

As pictures so large, all of a given subject, peculiarly treated, and
blighted by Ihe vulgar stigma of defeat, stand no chance for sale, but
really become a trouble and a nuisance to the artists, we may fairly say
that in the aggregate this loss is wholly unmitigated, and that ten such
speculative competitions would be equivalent tu a loss among them of
50,000/. or l.OUU/. each, or in other words, a toial loss of two hundred
and ninety years of human life, and 8,000/. of the artiste' money.

By the mode we would suggest, the loss on Ihe present occasion may
be reduced to about 300/. in money and 17 years of liiiie ; that is, com-
pared with the above, a saving of .025/. in money, and of nearly 12
years of time and exertion, whilst four or five paintings and twice that
number of artists would be held up to distinction, instead of one, who in
the ordinary way, engrosses admiration.

On a plan somewhat similar to the double competiton trial, adopted by
the French institute at the election for students for residence at lionie,
w would have two exhibitions; thus, supposing ihe number of compe-
titors to be as above, fifty. The first exhibithm would be of 50 car-
toons, half life size, and 50 studies, of hall figures, life size.' From
these, eight or ten should be rewarded with preliminary prizes. To each
the sum of 40/. or 50/. should be paid, i. e. an equal portion of 40(1/.
These distinguished candidates are then entitled and invited to compeie
with each other for the ultimate object. Thus the final great slrugiile
would be between these eight or ten, and the second exhibition woiTid
consist of their eight or ten cartoons and studies from their first exhibi-
tion, and eight or ten finished pictures full size.

Four or five prizes should be awarded iu this competition according lo
the number of good productions, i. e. 200/. among them. Thus four or five
would receive 40/. or 50/. each, and as many would have ^iO/. or 100/.

Of these twice rewarded four or five, by the final decision, one would
receive the great prize of the remaining 400/. in addition to his previous
rewards, amounting together to 4bU/. or 500/. Surely the honour and ad-
vantages of such a victory, if properly awarded, would satisfy an ambi-
tious enthusiastic artist. Could any one, amidst the honours and comfort
of the glorious harvest, envy his less successful rivals the small reluru
their gleanings had procured them ?

Uy this arrangement the outlay of money and time of the competitors
would be,

For 50 cartoons, average 13/. and 3 months each Total £G50and 12J years.

50 studies, average 8/. and 14 days 4oO — 2

8 or to (sav 9) paintings, at 25/., and 5

mouths' average 225 2J

General Total £1,275 — 17J yei>rs.

Let us now consider the best mode of awarding the prizes, and the
way to secure a competent tribunal, without which uo good result can be
depouded ou. Much of the difficulty come* from the uncertainly of what
is considered excellence in art; some adjudging by the diclates of com-
mon sense, untutored to the technical rules of art. others guided almost
entirely by conveutiuual techuicalites. Again, personal or professional
prejudices have nut been sufficiently controlled by principles or by res-
ponsibility.

The following regulations appear to us entitled to consideration and
adoption, viz. the judges should consist of three, elected by the parlies
interested in the purchase; and three elected by the artist competiiors ; iu
all six persons. They should be elecled by ballot after nomination : at
least, this rule shouhl be strictly observed in respect lo those who repre-
sent Ihe artists.

Each of the judges should separately, from others, examine and criti-
cise the performances, and wrile his opinion of each, and of every work,
of art; and, naming those which he considers entitled to distinction, give
his reasons for that opinion.

These written opinions to be given in previous to the opening of the ex-
hibition to the public ; but the result not to be confirmed until a cerlaiu
number of days after its closing. Then the judges should, lor the first
tim^, meet and discuss each other's opinions, and the merits of the compe-
titors ; and, recording their matured judgments, decide by Ihe majorily ;
the contrary opinions being also recorded, in order ihat public opiniuu be
not smothered, as it now usually is, under respect for a supposed unani-
mous decision.

Gentlemen — Your committee beg to observe that, in this inquiry, they
have considered it of the utmost importance to discuss both sides of every
question, and on several occasions, its members have abandoned old fa-
vourite views, when the evidence or the argument outweighed a favour-
ite prejudice ; they are therefore the more confident in their anticipation
of this report meeting wilh favourable attention, and serious consideraiiuu
at your hands, and they sincerely hope it may eventually lead to changes
equally advantageous to artists, and lo Ihe public ; to the establishment of
regulations more consistent with the immutable principles of equity and
good sense, than those which have too often rendered competitions illu-
sive and hurlful ; and they trust that apparent difficulties in the opera-
tion of a wholesome system, will not weigh against the best inttrcsls of
humanity, and the progress of the Fine Arts.

French Railways. — The Journal rles C/iemins de Fer publishes the
receipts of the French railroad companies for the year 1845, by which it ap-
pears that the railroads have produced sufficient to pay a dividend of 6 per
cent, on the amount of capital subscribed, besides a prospect of a consider-
able increase in fuluie years. " This result," observes the journal, " without
being extremely brilliant, is sufficiently favourable to encourage inve^tments
in railroad speculations ; for not only is the increase of the receipts certain
but a reduction iu the expense of working them may be expected."

6*

44

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. [Febhuart,

MODEL OF THE PARTHENON.

Tlie principles of pure taste are best taught by examples. One single
specimen of ilie sublime and beautiful will exhibit the nature of it more
clearly than whole folios of discussion about the abstract idea. It is for
this reason that we must look to the actual restoration of works of ancient
architecture, to their original purity as the principal means of elevating the
public taste. That architecture has made rapid advances during the last
few years, and has attained a higher position than it formerly held in popu-
lar estimation, is undeniable ; but it is still far from its true place, and not
until the works of the architect become, as they once were, works of na-
linnal importance, not until architecture be restored to perfect purity and
be tlioroughly purified of all taint of barbarism and all the stains con-
tracted during the debasement of the arts, will those who labour now so
zealously for the Revival of the Art, have thoroughly accomplished their
great task.

The Parthenon is universally esteemed by the architectural student as
the exemplar of one of the two great modes of architecture recognized
amongst us. The perfection of Classic An— the complete realisation of
its true principles— the last appeal of architectural discussion must be
looked for amongst the ruins of the Acropolis— whatever disputes we may
have respecting the true spirit of classic architecture must be ultimately
settled by reference to this great authority. So that it is impossible to
overrate the importance of ascertaining clearly the precise nature of the
original architecture of the Parthenon. It is the his;hest architectural
Pandect; the true and right understanding of the code of laws which it
embodies must be the sole foundation of all modern Commentaries.

In examining the results of Mr. Lucas's talent and labours now de-
posited in the British Museum, we criticise a work which is calculated to
woik an important (ffect on the public laste. The model of a restoration
of the Parthenon, placed where it is universally accessible, aflbrds to the
people a type of that of which they possess no actual specimen — pure
Grecian architecture. Of the thousands who will inspect this model,
there will be scarcely one, even of the most unrefined and uueducated, who
will not be led to admire the wonderful beauty of the temple represented —
for this is the distinguishing feature (is it not, rightly considered, the being
criterion ?) of perfect architecture, that its beauties are apprehended by
the simplest understanding, and yet for their full appreciation task the
energies of the most erudite observer. It may well be imagined that many
of those who look with admiration on the representation of the masterpiece
of Grecian art will enquire how it comes that we have nothing so perfectly
beautiful in our country, as we may reasonably hope that the eye becomes
more and more familiar with the principles exhibited in tlie Parthenon, it
will grow more and more dissatisfied with those of modern works in which
these principles are most flagrantly violated.

We intend to confine our notice of Mr. Lucas's works to the architec-
tural considerations. A criticism of the elaborate sculpture which the
models exhibit does not come immediately within our province, except in
so far as the arrangement of the sculpture all'ects the architecture of the
building.

With respect to the external architecture of the Parthenon there are
happily but few opportunities for controversy. The remains are in a suffi-
ciently perfect condition to exhibit in a clear and indubitable manner, all
the great features of the exterior of the temple. With respect to the in-
terior, however, our knowledge is not so satisfactory. Time and violence
have worked so busily within this glorious fane, that now the best evi-
dences of the original design are often no better than mere conjectures. We
know the interior of the building was divided into two great chambers,
the Opisthodomus or ti'easury to the west, and the chamber which con-
tained the great statue of Miverva, to the east ; but few traces remain of
the architecture of tl)ese two great divisions of the temple.

In the restoration by Mr. Lucas, the roof of the Opisthodomus is sup-
ported Irom the ground by Ionic columns ; the roof of the principal or
eastern chamber is supported by a double order of columns, the lower tier
Ionic, the upper Corinthian, and for this arrangement Mr. Lucas assigns
the following reasons in a small octavo volume, entitled Remarks on the
Parthenon, being the result of studies and inquiries respecting that noble
building,

"In the restoration of the interior, I have adopted that view of the case
which is set forth in the seventh volume of the Museum writings, pub-
lished by the Trustees. Mr. Cockered has, in that volume, given a res-
loratioa which is mainly based on the discovery I have alluded to, of

the Corinthian capital in the eastern chamber ; • and supposing that this
beautiful combination contains the result of all the information on this
branch of the subject, I had implicitly adopted it; con3ideral)le diflference
of opinion, however, exists as to the propriety of placing the Doric order
over the Corinthian, as Mr. Cockerel! has done, or even using the Corin-
thian at all with propriety. This objection was urged with great force by
the celebrated Sicilian antiquary, Le Due di Serradifalco, on his recent
Tisit to this country. Col. Leake's observations, however, appear con-
clusive as to the Corinthian order ; the Doric over it does not appear to
rest on any sure data, as in the Walhalla the caryatides are used inst«-ad
of the Doric. As tliis restoration is purchased by the trustees of the
British Museum to illustrate the Elgin Gallery, I consider it needful this
work should have the advantage of all the recent information that has
resulted from Iho excavations and discoveries of King Otho ; and by the
kindness of Col. I'ox and Major Parker, I am placed in correspondence
with the architects of the Walhalla, and also those now employed by the
King of (jireece at Athens, so that all information will be exhausted in
the restoration of the interior. In Inwood's folio work, published in
1827, is engraved plate 22, a portion of a Corinthian capital that was
brought by liim from the Parthenon, and which he considered a fragment
of one of the lower tiers of columns of the interior ; and of the fragment,
and his restoration from the same, an etching is here presented, t

In regard, however, to the roof of the chamber being open over the
statue of the goddess, that question has been much discussed ; and it ap-
pears probable that the aperture over the statue was filled with some
transparent substance, cunduciug alike to the double purpose of the pro-
tection of so costly a work, and rendering its effect mysterious.

Note. — The following communications on the subject of the interior of
the Parthenon have been obtained from Athens, through the influence of
Sir Edmund Lyons, the British Minister at that Court, from Mr. Piitakis,
the present Curator of the Parthenon ; and also from Mr. George Finlay,
who is esteemed a great authority on ibis matter.

Questions submitted to Mr. Pittahis by R. C Lucas.

1st. — Is the capital of a Corinthian column which Col. Leake alludes
to in his work, as having been found in the eastern chamber of the Par-
thenon (and on which discovery Mr. Cockerell has based his restoratiou
of the lower tier of columns in the interior of the Parthenon) in Athens ;
or can any account be given of it ?

2d. — Can any data be given for the upper tier of columns or support
to the roof of the eastern chamber ? Mr. Cockerell has used the Doric
placed over the Corinthian in his restoration.

Mr. Pittalcis's Answer to Mr. Lucas's Inquiries.

In answer to the first question, around the altar, which was the an-
cient Hecatompedon, the sod of which is lower than the rest of ihe Par-
thenon, appear signs of double columns. The first, which Mr. Cock-
erell saw, are about three feet in diameter; and thus it has been sup-
posed, wrongly, I think, that those small columns supported the roof of
the temple ; but when the mosque, which stood on the south side of the
temple, was knocked down and cleared away in 1814, traces of columns
of five feet in diameter were discovered on the flooring, and are still
visible ; these columns, which, from their size, were able to support the
weight of the roof, were up to the half the height of the Temple of the
Doric order; above them was another tier of columns of tlie Ionic
order; so that the lower tier was Doric, and the upper Ionic. The
same order of architecture prevailed in the Temple of Minerva. The
traces of the Doric order appear in two places, and I have shown the
same to several travellers, particularly to Mr. Bracebridge, who may
assist in this explanation if referred to. As for the upper range of
columns, they were certainly Ionic. This I have ascertained from
fragments of this order which I have found in the difl^erent excavations
I have superintended in the Parthenon ; and I also believe that the
traces of those columns which Mr. Cockerell gave were made in the
time of the Romans, when the Parthenon was restored ; and I have
found in excavating up to the present period four pieces of the frieze of
the Roman era, and they made use of the same upper tier of column^
tliat is, Ionic. As to the second question, six traces of the slylobates
exist towards the south of the Parthenon, and four on the north side ;
but they are of the Roman epoch, as I said before.

I do not agree with Mr. Cockerell in placing the Doric order on the
Corinthian; and, if I may be allowed to oBer my opinion, I should

* Note. — (From Cnl. Leslie's Work. vol. i. page 334, Second Edition.)— In the e»sl-
tern chambi-r of the Parthenon, a Coriutliian capital has been found of such dlmansioos
as leads to the belief that the columns were of that order. The smallness of their dia-
meter leaves little doubt that there was an upper range, as described by Pausanias at
Olympia, and as still exempliljed in one of the temples at Pieslum. In the interior of
the temple of Phygalia are two new varieties of the Ionic order, one of which by its
helices and leaves of acanthus must be considered as the ord^r afterwards called Corin-
thian, It proves, therefore, this order was employed Id the time of Pericles ; Id fact,
Vitruvius gives the honour of its Invention to Cidliinachus, who lived about that time.

t This restoration, Inwood himself says, Is merely ideal. He observes, that there is a
peculiarity in the fluting, being difierent on different sides of the volute. This peculi-
arity exists also, according to Mr. Cockerell, in the fragments of Corinthian capital in
the Temple of Apollo Epicurius, at Phygalia, which was built by Iclinus ; bul it doei not
appear that the fragments were similar in other respects, and, even if they did, there is
no argument for a range of Corinthian columns in the Parthenon, for iu the other
temple (that of Apollo, at Phygalia,! the Corinthian column was a solitary one. In
" this" case, there is no donbt whatever that the column was a '* single " one (not one of
a range), and its office was to support the south end of the cellar.

184G.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECrS JOURNAL.

45

say, that in aocient times, vehen good taste prevailed in Greece, the
Greeks never made use of the Corinthian order to support weights,
because this order is only an imitation of flowers, and naturally cannot
support anything heavy ; they, therefore, used Tripodcs, or other archi-
tectural ornaments ; and used the Corinthian for small, pretty, elegant
buildings, such as the Tomb of Lysicrates ; but the Romans lost this
fine idea, and made the Temple of Jupiter Olympus of the Corinthian
order, as also the Gale of Adrian.

From Mr. Finlaij to Sir Edmund Lyons.

My dear Sir Edmund, — I have read over Mr. Lucas's questions and
Pittakis's replies, and which I now return. The question is one of
evidence, and I am not aware that enough exists to decide on how
the Parthenon was roofed, or how that roof was supported. There
were certain columns ; but the very vagueness of Pittakis's conjectures,
about which are the Roman restorations, show how much uncertainty
reigns concerning the subject. The Corinthian was just as much
used to support an entablature as any other order from its earliest ex-
istence, as may be proved from many Attic examples.

This subject, therefore, has been discussed, and it appearing probable
that in the recent excavations the foundations of the old Parthenon, that
exist on the site of the present building, have disclosed traces of the
Doric columns that supported the former building ; as five feet in dia-
meter is too great for the required height of the lower tier of columns in
the interior ; and the evidence for the Corinthian order appearing con-
clusive for the upper tier, as the fragments that Inwood discovered in the
Partlienon, from their size, must have belonged to the upper tier, and
the size of the Ionic according with the required size of the lower tier,
this restoration is now completed with the lower tier Ionic, and the
upper of the Corinthian order.

From the above extracts it is obvious that traces of the interior arrange"
meet of the Parthenon are eo indistinct as to leave the matter at least a fair
subject for controversy. In the sixth volume of the large work published
by the Trustees of the British Museum as a catalogue of the Aucient Mar-
bles in tlie Museum Collection, Mr. CockereH confesses that the orders of
the columns are not clearly ascertainable. We have endeavoured to collect
all the principal facts and arguments respecting the internal architecture
of the Parthenon, and give them in this place, because, as had been said,
no subject can be so important to the architectural student as a precise
knowledge of the construction of the great type of Cirffcian architecture.
The reasons for supposing a double tier of columns in the cella of the
Parthenon seem to resolve themselves into these two.

1. The presence of the fragments of a Corinthian capital delineated
above.

S. Indications in the floor of the interior that columns once stood there
of BO small diameter that if of proportionate height they would not have
reached the roof.

We propose to examine each of these reasons separately. With respect
to the first it may, we think, be safely pronounced that the fragments of
the Corinthian capital belong to a far more ancient date than the erection
of the Parthenon. In Inwood's large folio work, he gives an ideal re-
storation of the capital to which these fragments belonged, but whether
his restoration be correct or not, this is certain that enough of the frag-
ments remain to show that they are to be assigned to an epoch when the
arts were in a very diS'erent state to that manifested in the building of the
Parthenon. Inwood indeed gives a collateral testimony in favour of the
hypothesis of a double tier of columns which appears at first very plausi-
ble, but which on examination will not be found to have much weight in

it. He says that there is a certain peculiarity in which this fragment re
sembles another found in the temple of Apollo, near Phigalia, Vt^hich tem-
ple was built by the architect of the Parthenon— Ictinus. The point of
resemblance between the fragments is this — it is observed in each volute
that it is not fluted in the same way on both sides. It does not appear
that the resemblance extends any further than this — that the general form
and indications of date are the same in both capitals. But even supposing
that the similarity were carried much farther than it really is, what does
the argument amount to? In two difl'erent temples built by Ictinus, we
find two columns somewhat resembling each other. But surely this is no
proof (of itself) of the existence of a double tier of columns in the Parthe-
non. For in the other temple built by Ictinus (that at Phigalia), it has
never been even surmised that there was a double tier of columns. Hiiti
it is quite certain what were the purposes and situation of the Corinthian
column. It is stood near one end of the cella and midway between the
lateral walls, and supported the roof from the ground. It has never been
questioned that this column was a single one, not one of a ran^e bu
standing in the isolated position described, and supporting the centre of
the roof by itself. lu the case of Ihe Parthenon, however, the circum-
stances are altogether different, for there the fragments are so small that
they could never have belonged to a column which discharged the same
oflice as that at Phigalia. The argument seems therefore reduced to this
— if an analogy be made between Ihe two cases, we must infer the use and
situation of the one column from the use and situation of the other : and
yet from the different sizes of the fragments it i,s impossible to conceive
that they belonged to columns which discharged the same offices.

So that even if it be conceded that the Corinthian column was actually
made use of at the Parthenon, the accidental presence of two small frag-
ments seems but scanty data for the supposition of a whole order. To the
objection that the Parthenon fragments are of a date anterior to the temple
itself, it may be replied that perhaps some of the materials of the old Par-
thenon were used up in the construction of the new. (For the Parthenon
now existing is the second temple built on the same site ; its predecessor,
the ancient Hecatompedon having been destroyed during the invasion of
Xerxes, and the stones of it having been carried away to make military
fortifications.) Now it is scarcely to be supposed, the old temple having
been violently destroyed, and the materials of it used for fortification, that
at a subsequent period part of those materials (namely, the columns and
their capitals) would be found so perfect as to be worthy of being used
again in the building of the new temple, which was to be the wonder of
Greece. There is every reason for thinking that Ihe Athenians were de-
termined that the new Parthenon should be, what in truth it is, the mosf
perfect specimen of Grecian art. The construction and decoration of it
taxed the energies of the greatest artists and sculptors of that age, and not
only the Athenians but the whole Grecian race looked to the perfect com-
pletion of it with the greatest interest. Is it then to be supposed that the
poor economy of using up old materials would be readily allowed under
any circumstances? And is it not in the highest degree improbable that
columns would be employed which in the important points of their orders
and their dates differed from the other columns of the temple, and which
had moreover suffered all the mutilations inevitable in the rough usages of
warfare ?

2. The second argument for the upper tier of columos is that traces have
been found in the pavement, from which it is concluded that columns of
email diameter once stood there — so small that the columns could not have

46

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Fkbruart,

been high enough to reach the roof. This certainly is a more formidable
argument than the last; it shows that if columns corresponding to these
indications actually existed, there must hare been another order of columns
or some other architectural members between them and the roof. This
conclusion seemed perfectly unavoidable when Professor Cockerell wrote ;
hut we seem now relieved from all necessity of a supposition of the kind
by the subsequent discovery of traces of larger colums which icuuld have
reached the roof. There seems no reason whatever for supposing that these
columns rather than the small ones were vestigies of the old Hecatorape-
don. It may be conceded that such traces would remain of the foundations
of the first building as would exhibit the position of its columns ; and
there is no great improbability in snpposing that these traces would no'
be wholly effaced by the erection of the new Parthenon. — We ourselves
have repeated experience of the same stale of things in our own mediajval
edifices. But there seems no reason for preferring the small columns to
the large ones as having been those actually constructed in the new Par.
thenon. If either set of remains are to be assigned to the previous build-
ing, we have a perfect right to choose which we please— so that there is
no absolute necessity for supposing that the small columns rather than the
large were those of the Parthenon.

But there are several general considerations of a very weighty nature
which lead us irresistibly to choose the larger columns reaching from the
pavement to the roof as the set actually belonging to the Parthenon. In
the sixth volume of the work on the Museum collection of marbles, already
referred to, Mr. Cockerell gives a representation of the interior of the
temple restored ; his drawing resembling the illustration of the present
article, excepting in the orders of the columns. Now it will be observed
that iu Mr. Cockerell's drawing, and also in the woodcut here given, the
ower order of columns of the cella are between two and three times the
height of the npper order. It seems to us perfectly impossible that such
an arrangement could have actually existed. The upper range of columns
would be considerably lejs than half the size of the lower range, and con-
sequently one of these two thinsrs must have occurred — either the upper
columns must have been constructed in total defiance of all due proportion
of their height to their diameter (a deformity which such an architect as
Ictinus could never have permitted), or else the columns of the upper tiers
must have been of less diameter as well as less height than those of the
lower tier — an arrangement as awkward and ungraceful as can possibly
be imagined ; for Ihe intercolumniation ought to be proportionate to the
diameter of the columns, and here we should have the large columns of the
lower tier and the small upper columns arranged at the same distances
from each other.

This objection appears perfectly fatal to the existence of the upper
range. It >Jiay be added that, viewed quite independently, the second
tier of columns is but a poor make-shift contrivance for getting addi-
tional height, and one which we should never altribute to the archi-
tects of the Parthenon. The whole building — that is, where the archi-
tecture is clearly determined — exhibits a perfect simplicity and one-
ness of design, totally at variance with this supposition, for which we
have shewn that there is no absolute necessity, and against which there
are so many powerful a priori arguments. In the exterior of Ihe temple
the columns were all of one order, and all supported the roof from the
ground : if, in examining Mr. Lucas's beautiful model, the observer will
imagine that the same arrangement was observed in the interior of the
ouilding, he will, we think, be disposed to agree with us, that the
beautiful symmetry and unity of the whole is greatly enhanced on this
supposition.

If we suppose the great chamber of the temple supported by a mag-
nificent range of lofty columns rising to the roof, the mind instantly

pictures a noble interior, harmonising in its severe and simple beauty
with what the eye has been taught to expect by surveying the exterior
of the building. If, on the contrary, we suppose in the interior a
range of diminutive columns supporting others still smaller than them-
selves, our preconceived notions of the dignity and simplicity of the
Parthenon are entirely overturned, and we are forced to allow that the
Greeks themselves gave a precedent for the later parodies and barba-
rous adaptations of their beautiful architecture.

There is good reason to hope that before long this matter will be settled
beyond all dispute. Mr. Lucas is far too energetic a lover of the arts to
leave his task half done. He purposes to show shortly the very scenes uf
which he has furnished so admirable representations, for the purpose of
examining, in the minutest manner, all that remains of the Parthenon,
and of clearing up, as far as possible, all controversies respecting it. All
disciples of true architecture will await the true result of his mission with
interest, as tending to elucidate points of the very highest architectural
importance. It may not be inopportune to call to remembrance that the
distinguishing characteristic of Grecian architecture is unity aoii simpli-
city, and that therefore, in all cases of doubt, we should lean lo Ihe opi-
nion which favours the simplest form. In nothing is the simplex mundi-
His so admirably developed as in pure classic art, as distinguished from
the subsequent imitations of it ; and therefore it is by folluwing up those
traces which are in<licative of the greatest simplicity, that dilficulties
are most likely to be unravelled. With this hint we quit the subject,
thanking Mr. Lucas for the valuable information which he has personally
communicated, and congratulating him cordially, not only on the acces-
sion of fame which his models will win for him, but on having completed
a work which will have the most powerful effect in elevating the public
taste for true classic architecture.

ON SACRISTIES.

Very little has ever been said on the subject of Sacristies, or, as they
are more usually called now. Vestries, in the Ecclesiologist. Yet it niav
be doubted whether such an appendage is not absolutely necessary to a
church ; from the impossibility of dispensing with its use, if the Divine
offices are to be performed with any ceremonial, not to say decency. For
not only is a receptacle required for the ornaments of Ihe altar, the church,
and the clergy, but it can scarcely comport with seemly reverence for any
change of vestmentto take place in the presence of an assembled congrf-
gatioQ : the high pews in the chancel, which used often to hide this pi-o-
cess in mean country churches, having by this time pretty generally dis-
appeared ; and the device of screening off a part of the area of the church
being now fitly regarded as an expedient scarcely justifiable under any
emergency.

It is not difficult to derive a general rule for the right position, and for
several important details of the arrauKement of Sacristies from obser-
vation of our old churches. For although existing ancient examples are
far from numerous, yet in a large proportion of uuiouched chancels, we
may observe unmistakeable traces of Sacristies which have been destroNed.
From these we deduce that the proper situation of a Sacrisiy is on the
north side of the chancel, towards its eastern part. The reasons for this
position are obvious : it is near the altar (to the service of which the Sa-
cristy, like the rigidly prescribed Diaionicum in a Greek church, more
especially belongs); the door into it falls conveniently between the end of
the northern stalls and the steps of the sacrarium, the south side being
pre-occupied by piscina, sedilia, and the priest's entrance; aud perhaps
its presence, always rather intrusive, is less so on Ihe north iluiu it
would be if it marred the southern prospect of the church, which in our
climate is, as a general rule, in an inoffensive sense, the show side.

Ancient Sacristies remain in the above situation at S. Nicolas, South-
fleet, Kent; S. Swilhin, Leadeoham, Liucolnshiie ; S. Mary, Reigate,
Surrey, where there is a north chancel-aisle ; S.Andrew, Backwell, So-
merset. Sacristies in the same position once existed in SS. Mary and
Michael, Triimpingtnn; All Saints, Teversham ; S. Mary, Fen Ditton,
Cambridgeshire; S. IMary, Stone, Kent; and S. John, Shoilesbrook,
Berks. These examples are taken at random. External corbels on the
north chancel-wall ; the absence of windows in that part; the preseuc-e uf
H north chancel door, generally blocked, (in addition to llie priest's door),
the outer mouldings of which will often be found to be not of an external
character; aud foundations discovered in digging graves; reveal the
former existence of a Sacristy, and are peculiarities not explaim d by any
other supposition. In some few cases these may be traces of a chantry
chapel ; much more generally, however, of a Sacristy, allowed to fall to
ruiu, or destroyed, by the holder of the great tithes. Again, chantries,
more especially detached ones, belonged generally to manors, and con-
tained monuments, for the sake of which they ha\e been preserved.
Chantries also opened to the church by arches, not by a small door ; su
that we may conclude the marks mentioned above to be true signs of a
Sacristy, not of a chantry chapel.

i»4«.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

47

Before we leave the qnestion of position, we mnsf condemn the prac-
tice of sume architects who, having partly received the rnle we are lay-
ing duHU, have placed their Sacristies at the western part of the north
s.de of tiie chancel, in the angle between the north aisle and ihe chancel.
Certain advantages seem to be gained by this alteration : it is particu-
larly convenient for a concealed winding staircase to the pulpit ; it avoids
«a nivkivard corner on the outside ; it allows of the door being placed so
far vvest as not to interfere with the altar space, which is felt to be a gain
now, cuusidering that so many lay people resort to the Sacristy. Never-
ihejess, independently of the argument from authority, we prefer the old
arrangement, by which the |iroxiniity of the Sacristy to the altar is main-
tained, the east window of the north aisle is preserved, a better distribu-
tion of light iu the chancel is gained, and the stalls on the north side are
left free. In a word, we think it will be felt that this arrangement har-
monizes more with the disposition and keeping of an old church ; and
very often the feeling of a thoughtful observer of our old churches is
worth attention, even though he may find it difficult or impossible to
describe in words the nature of, or the reasons for, his impression.

W'e are aware that examples may be found of Sacristies built in the
middle, and not at the eastern part, of the north side, as at S. Margaret's,
Leicester, where it occupies the middle of the three bays composing the
north chancel aisle; or even of Sacristies in the middle bay of the south
side, as at All Saints. Maidstone, Kent; but this is the case, perhaps ex-
dusively, in Third-Pointed churches, and those of a more dignitied kind
than the class we are now considering. The eastern end of the north
side will be found, we believe, the usual place in moderate churches of
the Middle-Pointed period.

Another position, sometimes chosen in modern times, is to be severely
reprehended. The Sacristy ought not to be eastward of, or behind, the
altar, whether it be made by advancing the altar and reredos aud leaving
a screened space between it and the east wall, as at Holy Trinity, Cam-
bridge, or by building a semicircular apse for it, as at Emmanuel church,
Caniberwell. We are aware that some have held that the apsidal Ro-
manesque churches in this country were originally so fitted : at S. John,
Little Maplestead, Essex, the arrangement remains : we answer, that
even were this the case, which we do not believe, both the Romanesque
style and the apse itself have passed away, and the Camberwell parody
ptrhaps did not deserve mention.

Having thus settled the right position of the Sacristy, we will mention
a few further particulars respecting this part of a church. We believe
that generally it ought to have a lean-to roof, to distinguish it from a
chantry, which, more often, if not always, has a gable. We are not sure
that a separate gable is ever to be recommended, where there is no altar ;
for example, in aisles : the picluresqueness of three gables is, we are con-
fident, a snare to some of our best modern architects. Still, if the Sa-
a'isty runs at right angles to the axis of the church, instead of parallel to
it, a gable may be allowed ; but this arrangement is not to be encou-
raged.

The details in the Sacristy may be of a less ecclesiastical character
than tliose admitted into the church itself. Authority for this is found to
a limited degree in the instances above; the church ofS. M->ry, (Jber-
wesel on the Rhine, and S. Leonhard, at Frankfort-on-the-iMainc, are
examples in point. It may be questioned whether this licence is to be
extended to more dignified churches. We cannot object to a fireplace
and a chimney in a Sacristy : let them be boldly and uudisguisedlj treated.
Still we are not sure that a too secular style has not been sometimes ad-
mitted.

Keipecting large or town churches, the rules are not so stringent. In
theoe the Sacristies may be in any convenient situation ; of course, nearer
the altar than otherwise. Thus at S. Mary, RedclilTe, they are on the
north side, and have an upper story of rooms fitted for residence ; in the
abbey church of S. Mary, Tewkesbury, they are beautifully vaulted apart-
ments to the south. In such churches the Sacristy ought to glow with
C(Jour and ornaments no less than the more sacred parts of the building.
The Sacristies at S. Miuiato, I'lorence, and .Sta. Maria Gloriosa di' Krari,
Venice — the first south of the south chancel-aisle, the latter south of the
south transept— are remarkable examples. S. Anastasia, Verona, hiis a
notwe Sacristy, north of llie north transept. The Duomo, at iMilun. has
Sacristies north and south ; an arrangement adopted, not unhappily, in S.
Paul's, London. At Cologne they lie to the north ; and the detached
.S«cristies at S. Peter's, Rome, lie also to the north of the nortli transept.
On the whole the noilh, for dignified churches also, is the better side.
The Vestries of the churches in London built after the great fire — which
provoke many a sneer from superficial observers for their supposed com-
fori — «ire rather to be regarded as instances wherein the architects have
mastered the true idea of what they were building ; placing it where
most convenient, fitting it for its various ii.ses, (unfortunately not solely
reJigious ones,) and making it a not unworthy appendage to their costly
churches. It waa neither practical skill, nor boldness, nor animus that
was wanting to our then architects. The Paganism of their age spoilt
it all.

And this consideration leads ns naturally to observe the importance
of an architect's clearly mastering the idea of what he is going to de-
sign before he begins. There is no part of a church which has no)
its peculiar use, and ought not therefore to have a peculiar character.
One does not see how a northern or southern porch could be otherwise
than a gabled building, with its axis at right angles to the church.

Again, nothing can be more distinct, or peculiarly appropriate to Ua
use, than the character of a chapter-house. Similarly, a chantry, or an
aisle with eastern altar, would seem to require a gabled roof: a lean-to
roof, again, befits the subsidiary use of a Sacristy. The selection, then
of the detached chapterhouse form for the Sacristy at a new church at
Keswick, and at S. John Baptist's, Eastover, was a great mistake
arising from a want of discrimination between the two kinds of build-
ing. But a less pardonable confusion of ideas is to be observed in the
restoration of S. Martin's, Canterbury, where a nondescript building
part aisle, part chantry, is added as a Sacristy, and a cellar for the
stove, towards the western part of the north side of the chancel. It is
a great mistake also to build parvises for Sacristies. The position is
most inconvenient, besides that the parvis had, and might have again
an appropriate use. Nor can this use of an ancient parvise be well
defended, even where the sacristy has perished. This was the case at
Kemerlon, Gloucestershire, and led perhaps to the blocking up of the
priest's door in that church. We have seen a modern design in which
the chancel is raised and a Sacristy formed like a crypt below it It is
conceivable that great peculiarity of site might justify this arrangement-
but it is not to be recommended. ° '

It will be at once seen that if our observations be true, few devices
are more essentially objectionable than one we have often deplored •
namely, the use of a building, opening to the church, aisle-wise or
chantry-wise, by an arch, and purclosed off fur a Sacristy, the ofan
perhaps being pl.iced above. It is altogether a confusion of ideas. °

Any secular uses of a vestry are so incompatible with the religious
ones, that we cannot conceive any arrangement which shall unobjec-
tionably suit the two combined. We have confined ourselves to point-
ing out the best course to adopt with reference to the Sacristy consi-
dered only in ita higher use. — Ecclesiologist,

SUSPENSION AQUEDUCT OVER THE ALLEGHENY
RIVER, PITTSBURGH.

This work, recently constructed under the superintendence of John \
Roebling, the designer and contractor, has supplied the place of the, 'hi
wooden structure which originally was built by the State of Penusvlva
nia at the western termination of the Pennsylvania Canal.

The Council of the city of Pittsburgh, by whom, iu co'n^eauence r.f j,.

gross sum of 02,000 dollars, including the removal of t'hTolTuouderou^
structure and the repair of the pier and abutments ; a very ^nall
indeed for a work of such magnitude. As this work is the first of u'e
kind ever attempted, its construction speaks well for the enterprize of the
city of Pittsburgh. ^ '

The removal of the old work was commenced in September 1844 aud
boats were passed tlirough the new aqueduct in May 1843 ' '

two courses crossing each other at right angles, so as to form a solid lat
tice-work of great strength and stiflcess, sufficient to bear its own wei„i,t
aud to resist the effects of the must violent storms. The b,.ii„n, ..."h

, I , , , . ''"""ms. The bottom of th,

trunk rests upon transverse beams, arranged in pairs, four feet aoarl •
between these, the posts which support the sides of the trunk are let in
Willi dove-tailed tenons, secured by bolts. The outside posts which Mm
port the sidewalk and tow-palh, incline outwards, aud are connected w, I.'
the beams in a similar manner. Each trunk-post is held by iw„ brace
2i X 10 inch, and connected with the outside posts by a double ioisi of
25 X 10. The trunk-posts are 7 inches square on top, and 7 x 14 at th •
heel ; the transverse beams are 27 feet long, and 16x6 inches • the snare
between the two fiamii.gs is 4 inches. It will be obseried that all nans , f
the framing are double, with the exception of the posts, so a. to admit
the suspension rods. Each pair of beams is supported on each s.Je „f
the trunk by a double suspension rod of l|th inch round iron beut'iu the
shape of a stirrup, and mounted on a small cast-iron saddle, which rests
on the cable. These saddles are connected, on top of the cables bv link ■
which diminish in size from the pier towards the centre. The side ''f
the trunk set solid against the bodies of masonry, which" are erected" tV
each pier and abutment as bases for the pyramids which support the
cables. These pyramids, which are constructed of 3 blocks of a durable
coarse, hard-grained sandstone, rise 5 feet above the level of the sid '

walk and tow-path, and measure 3X5 feel on top, and 4x0' feet at
base. The side-walk aud tow-path being 7 feet wide, leave 3 feetsnait
fur the passage of tlie pyramids. The ample width of the tow and foot
path IS therefore contracted on every pier, but this arrangement proves ni
inconvenience, aud was necessary fur the suspension of the cable* „^,.
:o the trunk. "'

48

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[February

The caps which cover the saddles and cables on the pyramids rise 3
feet aboTe the inside or trunk railing, and would obstruct the free pas-
sage of the tow-line ; but this is obviated by an iron rod which passes over
the top of the cap, and forms a gradual slope down to the railing on each
side of the pyramid.

The wire cables, which are the main support of the structure, are sus-
pended next to the trunk, one on each side ; each of these two cables is
exactly 7 inches iu diameter, perfectly solid and compact, and constructed
in one piece from shore to shore, 1,175 feet long; it is composed of 1,900
■wires of Jih inch thickness, which are laid parallel to each other. Great
care has been taken to insure an equal tension of the wires. Oxidation
is guarded against by a varnish applied to each wire separately, their
preservation, however, is insured for certain by a close, compact, and
continuous wrapping, made of annealed wire, and laid on by machinery
in the most perfect manner. A continuous wrapping is an important
improvement, which, in this case, has been for the first time successfully
applied.

A well-constructed and well-wrapped cable presents the appearance of
a solid cylinder, which in strength greatly surpasses a chain, made of
bars of the same aggregate section or weight. It is not only the great
relative strength of wire which renders it superior to bar iron, but its
greater elasticity, which enables it to support strong and repeated Jtibra-
tions, add still more to its value as a material for bridge building.

The extremities of the cables do not extend belou- ground, but connect
with anchor chains, which, in a curved line, pass through large masses of
masonry, the last links occupying a vertical position. The bars compos-
ing these chains average IJ X 4 inch, and are from 4 to 12 feet long;
tliey are manufactured of boiler scrap and forged in one piece without
a weld. The extreme links are anchored to heavy cast-iron plates of 6
feet square, which are held down by the foundations, upon which the
weight of 700 perches of masonry rests. The stability of this part of
tlie structure is fully insured, as the resistance of the anchorage is twice
as great as the greatest strain to which the chains can ever be sub-
jected.

The plan of anchorage adopted on the aqueduct varies materially
from those methods usually applied to suspension bridges, where an open
channel is formed under ground for the passage of the chains. On the
aqueduct, the chains below ground are imbedded and completely sur-
rounded by cement. In the construction of the masonry, this material
and common lime mortar have beeu abundantly applied. The bars are
painted with red lead. Their preservation is rendered certain by the
known quality of calcareous cements to prevent oxidation. If moisture
should find its way to the chains, it will be saturated with lime, and
add another calcareous coating to the iron. This portion of the work
has been executed with scrupulous care, so as to render it unnecessary
on the part of those viho exercise a surveillance over the structure to
examine it. The re-painting of the cables every two or three years will
insure their duration for a long period.

AVhere the cables rest on the saddles, their size is increased at two
points by introducing short wires, and thus forming swells, which fit
into corresponding recesses of the casting. Between these swells, the
cable is forcibly pressed down by three sets of strong iron wedges, driven
through openings which are cast in the side of the saddle.

When the merits of the suspension liar were discussed previous to the
commencement of the structure, doubts were raised as to the stal)ility of
the pyramids and the masonry below, when unequal forces should hap-
pen to disturb the equilibrium of adjoining spans. It was then proved
by a statistical demonstration, that any of the arches with the water in
the trunk could support an extra weight of 120 tons, without disturbance
to any part of the work. In this examination, no allowance at all was
made for the great resistance of the wood-work, and the stiffness of the
trunk itself. During the raising of the frame-work, the several arches
were repeatedly subjected to very considerable unequal forces, which
never disturbed the balance, and proved the correctness of previous cal-
culations.

The stiffness and rigidity of the structure is so great, that no doubt is
entertained that each of the several arches would sustain ilscl/ in case
the wood-work of the next one adjoining should be cousumed by fire.

The wood-work in any of the arches separately may be removed and
substituted by new material, without affecting the equilibrium of the
next one.

The original idea upon which the plan has been perfected, was to form
a u-uoden trunk, strong enough to support its own weight, and stiff
enough for an aqueduct or bridge, and to combine this structure with
wire cables of a suflicient strength to bear safely the great weight of
water.

The plan of this work, therefore , is a combination which presents very
superior advantages, viz., great strength, stiffness, safety, durabilUy, and
econnmi/.

This system, for the first time successfully carried out on the Pitts-
burgh aqueduct, may hereafter be applied, with the happiest results to
railroad bridges, which have to resist the powerful weight and "^reat
vibrations, which result from the passage of heavy locomotives and trams
of cars.

Kemark. — The qaantities in the following table are calculated for a
depth of water of 4 feet, which has been in the aqueduct ever since the
opening. The depth contemplated was J J feet; a greater depth is at
present required ou account of the raising of the bottom of the canal by
bars and sediment, which have to be removed before the level can be
lowered.

Table of Quanliliea of the Aqueduct.

Length of Aqueduct without evtensioas 1,140 feet.
Length of cables, 1,175 feet.
Lengtli of cables and chains, 1,283 feet.
Diameter of cables, 7 inches.
Aggregate weight of botli cables, 110 tons.
Section of 4 feet of water in trunli. 59 sup* feet.
Total weight of water in aqueduct, 2,100 tons.
„ ,, one span, 295 torn.

Weight of one span, including all, 4.0 tons.
Aggregate number of wires iu both cables, 3,800,
Aggregate solid section of both cables, 53 sup. inches.

„ „ anchor chains, 72 sup. inches

Deflection of cables. 14 feet G inches.
Elevation of pyramids above piers, 1(1 feet fi inches.
Weight of water in 1 span between piers, 275 tons.
Tension of cables resulting from this weight, 3112 tons.
Tension of one single wire, 2LitJlb.
Average ultimate strength of one wire, l,loO lb.
Ultimate strength of cables, 2,0'JO tons.
Tension resulting from weight of water upon one solid square inch of wire cable,

ll.BOOlh.
Tension resulting from weight of water upou one square inch of anchor chains,

11.000 lb.
Pressure resulting from weight of water upon one pyramid, l.?7^ tons,

„ ,, „ „ one superficial foot, 18,400 lb.

COLOGNE CATHEDRAL.

It appears from the forty-ninth Report of the Committee of the Society
for the Restoration of Cologne Cathedral, that the advance made during
the period embraced in the present Report consists, on the south side, in
the additional height to which the pier of the transepts have been car-
ried. In the same part, the western entrance has been completely
vaulted in, and the eastern begun to be so. A great quantity of stone
is Iving ready cut for the work, and still more is expected from the
quarries, in order, if possible, to vault-in the middle space also before
the end of the year.

Similarly, only somewhat further, advanced are the works in the
north transept. Here the three spaces are for the most part already
vaulted over, and they will at all events be quite completed in the
course of the present autumn.

The works in the northern nave aisle were put in activity immedi-
ately after the illustrious visit of Queen Victoria, it being necessary
that the old roofing should be retained till up to that time. This has
now been removed, and scaffolding is in course of erection in order to
set to work upon the new vaulting. Seven bays of original vaulting-
as is well known, already existed on the north side; so that there
remained but five to construct. Dut on the removal of the old roofing
and woodwork, the south-eastesn pillar of the seventh bay was disco-
vered to be built of brick in the most slovenly and insufficient manner.
The groining bands and ribs of tuffstone springing from it were in the
same way most meanly put together, the lines broken so as to form
polygon*, and the joints very faulty. Still, supposing this defect could
have been partly discovered from below by the naked eye, and the con-
clusion thence arrived at that this vaulting was of later origin than the
other portions of the beautiful vaulting of the cathedral, with which it ad-
mitted of no comparison, this would not have prevented it from being
retained from antiquarian considerations, had the previously-concealed
pillar proved at all adequate to support the pressure of the mass rising
from it to the additional height of ninety feet and more.

This not being the case, this pillar and the vault belonging to it had to
be given up to destruction. This is at present being accomplished, and
the construction of the remaining spaces of vaulting suffers some delay in
consequence. In general, the works will be carried on uninterruptedly
with about four hundred men. Meanwhile the supply of stone is by no
means kept up with the regularity to be desired, notwithstanding tha

IS-16.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

49

arrangements have been entered into with tendilTerent contractors. There
is considerable diBiculty in procuring stone of good quality in a suliicieiit
quantity ; and even were these stones obliged to be delivered in all at
once according to given dimensions, the due succession would not be
always observed, as the quarry-men work out the material only as it can
be procured to best advantage from the rock.

At a previous meeting of the Committee, the following order of the
King of Prussia was read : —

" I have received the report of the Central Restoration Society's opera-
tions during the last three years, transmitted to me the 2nd of last nionlh,
and have taken cognizance of its contents with true satisfaction, l-'mm
it I perceive with pleasure the constantly growing synipatliy for the
grand object of the Society in most of the provinces of Ciermany, and am
much graiilied in recognising the credit which the Society's Committee
lias gained itself by its wise and strenuous conduct of the concerns en-
trusted to its care. The judicious administration and application of the
resources placed at its disposal are sufficiently attested by the perform-
ances of the Society during the short period of lis existence. These fully
answer every reasonable expectation, and justify a still higher confidence
iu the successful prosecution of this sacred and noble work. To promote
this success to the utmost of my power and with undiminished interest,
forms one of the objects to which my life will be devoted."

Frederick AVilliam.

Siinsnuci, Sepl. I, 1845
To the Central Society for the Restoration of Cologne Cathedral.
The total receipts of the Society amount to about 22,130i.

BROAD AND NARROW GAUGE EXPERIMENTS.

We are indebted for the following particulars of the experiments made
before the G'uHg-f Commissioners to the Morning Herald, at present the
oliicial account has not been published.*

Broad Gauge Experiments.

started from

PaddiDgton

First mile post

WestLondon crossing rly

Ealing

Hpnuell

Soulhall

West Drayton

Sloui;li

Maidenhead

Tirj-lord

Reattine

Paugboitrne

Goring

Wallin^ford Road

Didcot

Total time on tlie road. .

First Day.

First Trip.
8 Carriages of 10
tons each, 81 tons
13 cwt. gross wht.
exclusive of en.
gine and tender.

Second Trip.

Carriages of 10
tons each, 71 tons
gross weight ex
elusive of engine
and tender.

Down,
a.m.
h. m.

9 68J
10 2i
10 (ii
10 U
111 13
10 143
10 20
10 25^
10 30i
10 40
10 46
10 521

10 56^

11 0
11 64

1 4

Up.

1 43

1 2i

12 5:i

12 .V
12 .i5i

12 oOi

13 44i
12 40
12 31
12 26
12 20
12 16
12 13
12 4i

1 li

With 6 carriages
and gross weight
60 tons exclusive
of engine and ten-
der.

Down,
a.m.
h. m.

2 4i
2 8!
2 12"
2 16
2 13
2 20*
2 2.ij
2 .-ll"
2 36
2 46i
2 52

2 5SJ

3 2i
3 6
3 12

1 3i

Up.
a.m.
h. m.

4 51
4 50
4 47
4 4.'!
4 4oJ
4 3LI
4 .14
4 2Ui
4 2IJ
4 16
4 10
4 6
•14

3 54i

0 56i

Second Day.

Down,
a.m.
b. m.

10 24
10 6i
10 0
10 14
10 16i
10 17*
10 22i
10 274
10 32
10 4:'i
10 46
10 52

10 65J
111 59*

11 5"

1 2i

Up.

a.m.

h. m.

1 4
1 0
12 50
12 56
12 .54i
12 62
12 474
12 42J
12 38
12 20
12 24
12 20
12 15
12 Hi
12 3

0 60

Gradients.

From i to 21 rise 3 feet per mile.

21 .. 7i „ 4 ilitto.

"1 .. OJ „ 4 ditto.

OS .. Ill} level,

lol . . l:- J fall 4 feet per mile.

12J .. 15* level.

15* .. 171 ^all 4 feet per mile.

171 • • 20 rise 2 teet per mile.

From 20 to 23 rise 4 feet per mile.
23 .. 325 „ ditto.

32S .. 36Jfall ditto.

364 .. 42 Tlie ditto.

42 .. 43 levl.

43 ..44 rise 2 MOth per mile.

44 ..63 rise 4 feet pel mile.

On Saturday morning, January 10, two more experimental trips were
made on the broad gauge (the Great Western Railway) in the presence
of the Gauge Commissioners; the weather was rather unfavourable, the
morning being dull and damp, and very little wind stirring until the after-
noon. The Hercules was again selected for the purpose ; it is a powerful
engine, having connected wheels 5 feet in diameter, cylinder l(j inches,
stroke 18 inches, and weighs 22 tons. At 7h. 52m. 24s. she started from
the one mile post, Paddington, with a train of 13 trucks, coal-laden, an
additional tender, and a first class carriage, which was occupied by Sir F.
Smith, Professor Barlow, Mr. Watson, Mr. Saunders, secretary to the
company, Mr. Harmer, and Mr. Gibson; on the engine were Mv. Firunel,
engineer of the line, and Mr. Gooch, superintendent of the locomotive de-

* The first experiments were made in the midfile of December last on the Great
Western Railway. The Hercules locomotive engine was selected for the purpose.

parlment. This experimental train was driven from Paddington to Did-
cot, a distance of 62J miles, where it arrived at lOh. 19m. 38s. having made
stoppages at Ealing, Soulhall, West Drayton, Slough, iNIaidenhead, Twy-
ford, aud Goring. For the exact time of arrival and departure from the
several stations the reporter has been indebted to Mr. Seymour Clarke,
the principal superintendent of the line, and it is as follows : —

flfiles from

Paddington.

Paddington

5*

Ealing

'1

Hanwell

9

SouUiall ..

13

West Drayton

18

Slough

22J

Maidenhead

303

Tvvyford

35 J

Resding

411

Pangbourne

441

Goring

474

WalHngford-road

52I

Didcot

Arrival.

Departure.

Stoppage.

h. m.

8.

h.

m.

R.

h.

m.

8.

7

S2

24

—

8 4

63

H

7

42

0

•>

49

8 12

36

8 16

62

R

20

41

0

3

49

8 36

25

8

40

33

0

6

8

8 61

38

H

65

4;i

0

4

6

9 6

41

9

11

32

0

4

51

9 28

33

9

33

44

0

A

11

9 44

42

—

_

9 54

8

10 0

8

10

2

0

0

I

52

10 9

30

—

10 19

38 —
1 stoppage

—

Tota

0

26

66

The distance was accomplished in 2h. 27m. 14s., or at a rate of2Q'75 miles
an hour. The weight of train propelled, exclusive of the engine, was 204
tons 18 cwt. 1 qr. 31b. Soon after the arrival of this tr^iin at Didcot.the
Ixion, a powerful passenger engine, having driving wheels 7 feet in dia-
meter, came up with a train of 15 trucks, laden witli coal, to be attached
to the train of the Hercules, making in all 28 trucks aud one first class
carriage. After all matters were arranged this leviaihian train proceeded
on its journey ; its weight, length, and the time it passed the different sta-
tions, are given from the same authority as that of tlie down trip : — weight
400 tons, 3 cwt. 1 qr. 10 lb. ; length of train, 232 yards.

From

Paddington.

Miles.

h. m.

3.

Started from Didcot

53

1 22

15

— Wallingford road

474

1 38

0

— Goring

44

1 49

0

— Panybowrne

411

1 57

0

— Reading ..

35J

2 8

30

— Tivylord ..

30J

2 22

15

— Maidenhead

224

2 41

0

— Slousjh

18

2 51

0

— West Drayton

13

3 7

0

— Soulhall ..

;)

3 23

0

— Hanwell ..

71

3 25

0

— Ealing

54

3 29

V

Arriving at the U mile-post from Paddington . .

3 39

u

Performing the journey in 2h. 10m. 45s., at an average rate of speed of 23
miles an hour.

The duration of this trip was 54 minutes, 0 seconds, which shows a
speed of upwards of 47J miles per hour. The mnxinium rate, betweeu
the 18th aud 191b mile-posts, was somewhat above 54 miles per hour.

Narrow Gacge Experiments.

The experiments for testing the tractive capacity of the narrow-gauge
engine commenced on the 30tli Dec. last, upon the Great North of Eng-
land line, between York and Darlington. The distance run was that be-
tween ihe first and forty-fourth mile-posts— viz. 43 miles. This piece of
railway has been selected in consequence of its being nearly a direct line
throughout its whole course, and from the very easy character of its gra-
dients. The en-ine selecte<l is a new one, recently constructed, made at
tlie celebrated locomotive establishment of Mr. Robert Stephenson. She
had been running for about a week only, and had not made any except
experimeutal trips. Her performances were considered to be so good
mat she was fixer! upon as the champiou for the narrow-gauge interests.
Slie is a six-«bi el engiue, with outside cylinders; has 0 feet 0 inches
driving wheels, and the top of her boiler is about 7 feet 4 inches from the
rails.

The hour fixed for the starting of the train was nine o'clock. There
were present to witness the experiment Professor Barlow, Professor
Airy (two of the gauge commissioners) ; Mr. Watson, the secretary to the
commission; Mr. G. Hudson, M.P. ; INIr. Richardson, the mayor of York;
Mr. Brunei; Mr. C. A. Saunders, the secretary of the Great Western
company ; Mr. Gooch, superinlendent of the locomotive aepartment in the
same company; Mr. Bidder; Mr. Cabry, the engineer of the York and
North Midland ; Mr. Harrison, the engineer of the Great North of Eng-
land ; Mr. W.Stevenson, of the Great Western Company; Mr. Wynd-
ham Harding; Mr. Berkeley of Mr. Robert Stephenson's establishment,
and several other scientific gentlemen.

The weight of the train was 50 tons only, and that of the engine and
tender together about 23 tons. The weights of the experimental trains

50

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Februart

upon the broad gauge were (exclusive o( engine and tender) fixed at 80
tons, 70 tons and fiO tons, but the actual tonnages were 81 tons 13
cwt., 71 tons 12J cwt., and CI tons 0 c«t. 2 qrs. It will be seen, there-
fore, that the experiment upon the narrow-gauge line, the particulars of
■which we are about to detail, has no parallel working upon the broad-
gauge railway ; aud that whatever the value of the result, it can he recog-
nized only when the broad-gauge engine shall have taken the same re-
duced tonnage for the same distance.

Starting. — At 9h. 7m. 1.5s. the train started from the station in order
to proceed to the first mile-post, from which it had been understood the
experiment was to commence. Upon the (ireat Western line the expe-
rimental trains left the I'addinglon terminus, and %vere brought to a
stand-still at the first mile-post. This, however, was not the case this
morning.

The train passed the —

Time

each

Time

each

Train passed

mi

e.

Train passed

m

le.

l8t mile-

h.

m.

s.

m.

8.

23rd mile-

h.

m.

8.

m.

8.

post at

9

12

17

0

«

post at

9

47

50

I

26

9

14

■:h

2

8

24

9

49

35

I

46

3

9

li

4.')

20

25

9

51

35

1

55

4

9

17

0

15

26

9

53

20

1

50

i

9

18

12

12

27

9

55

15

1

66

e

9

19

20

8

28

9

57

15

2

0

7

9

20

30

lU

29

9

i'J

12

1

57

8

9

21

40

10

30

10

1

28

2

16

9

9

23

2

22

31

10

3

30

2

2

. 10

9

24

32

30

32

lu

6

15

J

45

11

»

26

15

43

33

10

6

50

1

.36

12

9

2H

8

63

34

10

H

44

1

54

18

9

30

4

id

35

10

10

35

1

61

14

9

S2

6

2

2

36

10

12

35

2

0

15

9

34

0

64

37

10

14

66

2

21

18

9

Xb

45

45

S3

10

17

IS

2

22

17

9

37

22

37

39

10

19

0

1

42

IS

9

.tH

50

2rt

40

10

21)

20

1

20

19

9

40

25

Si

41

10

21

34

1

14

20

9

42

20

65

42

in

22

49

1

16

21

9

44

45

2

26

43

10

24

8

1

111

21.'

H

J6

25

1

40

44

10

26

10

2

2

The train stopped at the Darlington station at 10b. 27m. 20s. It will
be seen that the 43 miles were performed in 1 hour. 13 minutes and 53
seconds, or at the rate of nearly 35 miles per hour. The maximum speed
(between the 5th and 0th mile-posts) was nearly 53 miles per hour, and
the minimum rale rather more than 25 miles per hour. The average speed
of the 80-tons train (exclusive of the engine and tender) upon the broad-
gauge line was 47*5 miles per hour, and the maximum speed 55 miles
per hour. There was, however, one thing greatly against the narrow-
gauge experiment of this morning, viz. — the wind. When the train left
the York station the weather was not at all unfavourable ; the horizon
promised rain, but very litUe wind was stirring. Up to the lOlh mile-
post the result promised to be pretty good ; the last three miles had been
done at about 52 miles per hour, and the narrow-gauge party calculated
that the 43 miles would be got over in about 52 or 54 minutes. On reach-
ing the loth mile-post a heavy westerly wind came suddenly down upon
the carriages, taking them obliquely in the direction the train was going.
The effect was felt in less than a minute — the wind reduced the speed
from 50 to nearly 30 miles per hour. There could be no doubt about the
cause of retardation, because from the 10th mile post the progress of the
train was slow or fast in proportion to the length of embankment, open
country or cutting. Immediately the engine entered a cutting, the in-
crease of velocity was most sensibly apparent. If she entered a cutting
of a couple of furlongs in length or 30 miles an hour, she dashed out of it
at 38 or 40, and before another couple of furlongs had been run upon an
embankment exposed to the gale the speed became reduced to 30 miles
per hour.

The return trip commenced at 12h. 8m. 15s., and the train reached the
first mile-post from the York station at Ih. 32m. Ss., performing the 43
miles in 1 hour, 24 minutes and 53 seconds, or at a speed of about 30
miles per hour. A stoppage took place in this trip for water, by which
two or three minutes were lost.

The experiments were resumed on the following day.

The experiments yesterday with the 50 tons trains were considered so in-
conclusive, in consequence of the high wind which prevailed, ihat it was
determined to repeat them to-day. The hour appoiuted for leaving the
station was 9 o'clock. The train left at 9h. 2m. lOs., accompanied by
Professor Barlow, Professor Airy, Mr. Watson, Mr. Brunei, ^Mr. Saun-
ders, Mr. Gooch, Mr. Bidder, Mr. ^^'yudham Harding, Mr. Berkeley,
Mr. Cabry, and about a dozen other gentlemen. The day was a favour-
able one. There was a slight breeze to the north, aud the rails were in a
fair condition. Contrary to the practice observed in the experimental
trips on the Great Western Railway, the train did not stop at the first
mile-post, and commence its experimental trip from a state of rest. In-
stead of doing this, it passed the post at the rate of about 8 miles per
hour. The following is the working of the train for the 43 miles, — that
is, measuring from the first mile-post out of the York station to the mile-
post on the York side of the Darlington station : —

Time eaeb

'lime eacti

mile in

mile ill

seeonds.

seconds.

Passed l8t

h.

m.

s.

Passed 23rd

b.

m.

s.

mile-post at

'J

6

30

—

mile-post at

9

Xi

20

72

2

9

8

SO

120

24

9

m

M

78

8

9

10

0

90

25

9

36

48

7«

4

9

11

13

73

2«

9

37

(I

72

5

9

12

26

72

27

9

;w

11

71

6

9

13

30

66

28

9

39

25

74

/

9

14

36

66

29

9

41)

36

71

8

9

16

<4

68

.30

9

41

48

72

9

9

16

56

76

31

9

42

58

70

10

9

18

5

70

32

9

44

5

67

11

9

19

16

70

33

9

46

1ft

7a

12

9

20

28

73

34

9

4«

30

72

13

9

21

39

71

35

9

47

43

73

14

9

22

49

70

36

9

49

A

82

16

9

23

59

70

37

9

50

24

79

16

9

26

8

69

38

9

61

4i

80

17
18

9
0

26
27

18
28

70
70

391
40/

9

64

12

148

19

9

28

38

70

41

9

56

.30

78

20

9

29

48

70

42

9

66

48

78

21

9

30

59

71

43

9

68

10

82

22

9

32

8

69

44

R

69

58

108

The time occupied in performing the distance yesterday was 1 hour, 13
minutes, 53 seconds, or at the rale of something less than 35 miles per
hour. It will be seen that today the same distance was accomplished ia
53 minutes, 28 seconds, or at rather less than 48 miles per hour, the max-
imum speed, between the 5lh and Gth mile-posts, being nearly 55 miles
per hour. The wind of yesterday may therefore be considered to have
offered a resistance equal to above 13 miles per hour.

The return train with the 50 tons left Darlington station at llh. 21ra.
Os., and passed the first mile-post at llh. 22m. 18s. The following is the
working of the engine : —

Time each

Time each

mile in

mile In

seconds.

seconds.

Passed 1st

h.

m.

6.

Passed 2:frd

m.

8.

mile-post at

22

18

—

mile-post at

61

28

77

2

24

68

160

24

62

4.3

7S

3

26

28

90

25

63

56

73

4

27

.63

85

26

65

8

72

5

29

29

96

27

66

19

71

6

30

42

83

28

67

31

72

/

31

68

76

29

58

41

70

8

30

10

72

30

59

51

70

9

.14

23

73

31

12

1

5

74

10

36

42

79

32

0

0

0

11

36

66

73

S3

12

3

26

141

12

37

12

77

34

12

4

32

6<

13

38

29

//

35

12

5

48

7«

14

a

0

. —

36

12

6

59

71

15

41

60

181

37

12

8

11

72

1«

4;t

8

78

38

12

9

23

72

17

44

22

74

39

12

1ft

.33

70

18

46

36

73

40

12

11

43

70

19

46

42

67

41

12

12

63

70

20

47

48

66

42

12

14

2

69

21

49

0

72

4i

12

16

12

70

23

60

11

71

44

12

I'-

24

72

The next experimental trip was with an SO-tons train ; and at a few
minutes after 2 o'clock the train proceeded towards the first mile-post.

Time each

Tune each

mile in

mile in

seconds.

seconds.

Passed 1st

h.

m.

s.

passed 23rd

h.

m.

s.

mile-post at

•>

19

38

mile.-post at

2

39

0

76

2

11

48

1.30

24

2

40

18

78

3

2

13

18

90

25

2

41

40

83

4

2

14

.34

76

26

2

41

0

80

6

2

16

62

78

27

•>

44

20

80

6

2

17

U

79

28

2

46

34

74

7

2

18

25

74

29

■I

46

60

76

8

2

29

40

75

30

2

48

14

84

9

2

20

62

72

31

2

49

.12

78

10

2

22

s

73

32

2

50

50

78

11

2

23

11

73

33

2

52

8

78

12

2

24

39

73

34

2

63

25

77

13

2

25

48

78

35

o

64

42

77

14

2

27

8

80

36

2

56

0

78

15

2

28

26

78

iS7

2

57

28

88

16

2

.39

40

74

S8

2

69

0

92

17

2

30

54

74

39

3

0

.30

90

18

2

32

13

78

40

3

1

65

85

19

2

.33

84

82

41

3

3

IS

83

20

2

35

0

86

42

3

4

42

84

21

2

36

22

82

43

,1

6

66

84

23

2

37

44

82

44

3

8

8

118

Krom this table it is seen that with good weather to-day, the same en-
gine upon the same line, and going over the same gradient (for curves
there are none), took 80 tons 43 miles in 58 minutes, 30 seconds, or in 15
minutes, 23 seconds, less than she took 50 tons yesterday with a side wind
against her.

IS-J6.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

51

Third Day. — In consequence of an accident by the engine running off
the rails, the experiments could not take place.

Fourth Day. — Two more experiments were made with the goods train
of 200 and 400 tons respectively. The engine employed was the Hercules.
She is a six-wheel coupled engine, with 4 feet (i inches driving-wheels.
Fire-box, 00 feet surface; tubes, 900 feet; cylinder, 15 inches; stroke, 24
indies ; weight. 20 tons.

The engine started from the first mile-post beyond York at 9h. 3Gs.,
made seven stoppages, amounting to 40m. 50s., and arrived at the 43rd
mile-post at 12h. 31m. 40s. The actual time of running therefore, was
2h. 1 4m. 203., or upwards of 18 miles per hour. The return trip from
Darlington was with 400 tons, the train being above 300 yards long. The
train left the 44| mile post at 2h. 5m. 5s., and arrived at the first mile-post
at 4h. 22m. 24s., without making any stoppages. This gives something
like 19 miles per hour. The following is the working of the engine with
the monster train, viz. 47 wagons.

m. 8.

m. s.

Ut mile performed iu. . .

..4 6

i^lth mile performed in . .

..3 1

2

1 20

".i

2 60

3

2 10

26

2 .'<»

4

3 30

27

3 10

5

6 20

28

2 ."JO

6

3 40

29

2 30

7

2 20

30

2 40

8

2 10

31

2 40

9

2 10

32

2 35

10

2 20

33

2 36

11

2 40

34

2 60

13

3 20

35

4 0

13

3 0

36

6 10

14

3 0

37

7 20

15

2 40

38

6 30

16

2 20

39

3 30

17

2 10

40

.'i 30

18

2 10

41

3 0

19

2 4

42

3 0

21

2 30

43 .. .. .

3 0

22

3 25

+1

3 20

It will be seen that the maximum speed was nearly 30 miles per hour.

THE LATE ACCIDENT UPON THE NORFOLK RAILWAY.

At an inquest commenced in December last, in consequence of a fatal
accident on the Norfolk Railway, considerable interest was excited on
account of the contradictory opinions expressed by two gentlemen of the
highest eminence for their knowledge of engineering — General Pasley and
Mr. Bidder. General Pasley did not hesitate to assert in his evidence
that Mr. Bidder had, in the course of his examination, expressed opinions
" quite erroneous and contrary to the first principles «/ mechanics. It is of
the highest importance to the engineering profession to ascertain the truth
respecting several very important views propounded during the inquest.

It does not lie within our plan to give a detailed account of the accident,
it will be sufficient for our purpose to state simply that it arose from the
engine running off the rails. The following extracts from the evidence of
Mr. Bidder embody the notions which General Pasley declared to be con-
trary to sound philosophy. '

" The inclination of the line where the engine had run off was 1 in 100.
The permanent way was as good a piece as any in England. It was con-
structed on a chalk embankment, the most favourable soil for such work.
At the point where the engine left the rail the embankment was raised about
five feet above the oidinary surface of the eartn. The chalk in the embank-
ment was used in large lumps, and he thought the late wet weather would
have no effect upon it. On examining the engine he found the steam-regu-
lator indicated that the steam had been turned off suddenly, tlie effect of
which would be precisely similar to that which had been described by the
previous witness. The speed of the engine would be more retarded than the
carriages, and the train would urge the engine on, forcing it ofi' one side
of the rail, and the carriages on the other. He attributed the accident to
the impropriety of the engine-driver ;jrocee/:?;H^ at a very hiyh veloeily and
tsuddenly shutting off the steam. Moreover, the line near Tlieti'ord lieing tmder
repair, it required particular caution in passing over it, and if the deceased
did not exercise that precaution, it showed a great want of care on his part.
He had no means of judging the exact speed the engine was going, but his
opinion was, that it must have been very great, far beyond that of the pro-
per speed, viz., 'M miles an hour."

The evidence of the next witness examined after Mr. Bidder is im-
portant, not for matters of opinion but matters of fact ; for it appears that
he distinctly stated the circumstances on which Jlr. Bidder founded his
opinion to be, in reality, quite different from those under which the acci-
dent took place. Coleman, the chief guard of the train says, that '• no
alteration was made in the speed more than usual," that the speed of the
train " up to the period of the accident did not exceed 35 miles an hour,"
and that " he had travelled on the line frequently as fast as he did on
Wednesday." He says also that just before the accident, the engine gave
a" tremendous jump ;" that he could see distinctly what the engine-driver

was doing, and that "the moment the engine jumped, Pickering turned
round and looked on one side, and then cut off the steam." He swore
positively that " Pickering did not shut off the steam until after the engins
had jumped off the raits,"

The evidence of Major-General Pasley is as follows.

General Pasley — My opiuion is, that owing to the peculiar construc-
tion of the engines, like the one that met with the accident on the Norfolk
line, they are not the most suitable to the narrow gauge, as they do not
admit of any great speed without danger. They are perfectly secure OQ
the narrow gauge at a certaiu rate. For instance, the distance from the
Harsling-road station to Thetford is eight miles, and 20 minutes is allowed
to accomplish that distance. The distance and time noted in the Norfolk
Railway Company*s time-bill can be travelled over without any excessive
speed. If by any extraordinary neglect 10 minutes should be lost between
those two stations, there is IG minutes to go the eight miles, a rate of 30
miles per hour.

Coroner — Can you account for the broken chair, which was 22 feet from
the sleeper, that was cut apparently by the engine when it got olfthe rail?

General Pasley — I should say that the chair was broken by the motion
of the engine. If it was defective before, the motion might contribute to
its breaking entirely.

Coroner — What description of engine was it that met with the accident ?

General Pasley — One of most extraordinary length of such a length as
"was never used on the narrow or any other gauge before. If you will
allow me, I will mention a circumstance respecting these peculiar class of
engines. Some months ago thei'e existed doubts as to the safety of express
trains to travel by, and knowing that oscillation of carriages was no proof
of danger, or that their steadiness ensured perfect safety I determined to
ride upon the engines, with a view of more easily detecting their unsteadi-
ness— their oscillating indicating danger. 1 travelled lines in different
parts of the country, and the only engine I found having such an oscilla-
tion was one on the South Eastern Railway, called the White Horse of
Kent, manufactured by Mr. Robert Stephenson, and of the same peculiar
construction as tiie one that went off the rails on the Norfolk line. I went on
that engine at the rate of 44 or 45 miles an hour, and at that speed she rolled
something like a ship at sea. The oscillation, when the train is going at
such a rate, indicates a danger of running olfthe rail. I told the engine-
drivers and other authorities that if they ran 50 miles an hour, like the ex-
press trains on the Great Western Railway, the greater likelihood of the
engines rolling over. I have slated that opinion to the Gauge Comrais-
siouei's. The dilierence between the engine jou have alluded to as manu-
factured by iMr. Robert .Slephenson and those employed on the Great
Western, is thus- — The narrow gauge not olfering so great a diameter of
boiler as the broad, Mr. Stephenson, to remove the obstacle, constructed
the long-boiler engines to equal them iu power, and they have failed in the
purpose for which they were intended. The lung boiler engines, which
Mr. Stephenson persevered in, are four or five feet longer than those of
original construction, the smoke box overhangs the fore wheels, and the
fire box and dome the hind wheels, which will cause theni to oscillate. I
think such an engine as the one in question can go at 30 or 35 miles an hoar,
and I think I have gone at 45 miles an hour upon them ; but when they ap-
proach 50 I think they are unsafe, and that is an opinion not hastily formed.
I have mentioned it fi"equeutly to engineers and superintendents of rail-
ways, as well as to the Gauge Commissioners. The Great Western Rail-
way has been worked by engines of one pattern for the last five or sis
years. The motive fur forming the long-boiler engine was to gain a larger
evaporating surface, and thereby obtaining greater power of steam. That
however has failed, owing to the tube at the fore part of the boiler being
so far distant from the fire-box, and not being exposed to the full action of
the heat. The engine on the South Western, JNIauchester and Birmingham,
and Grand Junction Railways, of the make of Messrs. Sharp and Brothers,
with boilers of moderate leiii;lb, have equal, if not more power, and are
capable of going at any speed they will admit of, providing the ground is
in good order. I Ihink these long boiler engines, if they are going at a
rate exceeding 40 miles per hour, are liable to oscillate and run over the
line. The cause is the defect in their formation. It is the wheels huddled
together, or the axles under the boiler, that gives so much overhanging
dead weight at each end, which 1 have not found with any other engines
but those of Mr. Stephenson.

Coroner — Did you ever anticipate an engine of this description meeting
with sucli an accident?

General Pasley— -The fact is, I did not expect such an accident could
have taken place. I did not think that such an engine could have gone at
the speed it did in running oil the line. It is a rule with engine drivers
to shut off the steam on a descending gradient, and in all my journeys iu
railway travelling 1 never found them neglect doing so. I have frequently
informed the engine-driiers of these engines of the danger they were in-
curring when driving them at a r.ite verging upon 50 miles per hour. Iu
the north of England, however, I remember being on one of Mr. Stephen-
son's long-boiler engines, and two pair of the wheels were coupled to-
gether, and in riding upon it I fi It more secure than I would upon the two
other ones, as the coupling produces steadiness, and consequently safety.
I wish to explain why I consider that the sudden shutting off of the steam
could not have led to the accident — the grounds upon which I difl'er with
other opinions. AVhen the steam is shut olf suddenly, more especially on
a descending gradient, the momentum will drag the tender and carriages

52

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND AllCMITECT'S JOURNAL.

[!•'

K ;< R u A a Y ,

for a considerable distance, and presuming that the engine should become
detached from the tender, its impetus would carry it far in advance; so
much so, that the train would fail in overtakin;; it. The engine would
proceed faster than the carriages. In order to show you the eli'ect of sud-
denly shutting oil' the steam, I was lately on an engine on the Bristol and
Gloucester Railway with Mr. Connell, the locomotive superintendent, the
Gauge Commissioners being in the train, when I desired a greater speed to
be put on, and then requested the steam to be turned olT suddenly. It was
done so, and not the slightest effect was produced. Again, on the (Jreat
Western Railway I was on an engine with Mr. Brunei — two tenders at-
tached and a goods'-train of 2,000 tons, with a speed of 30 miles an hour.
I desired Mr. Brunei, when they had to stop at a station, to sliut oil the
steam suddenly a minute before the breaks were applied. It was done
frequently, and not the least elfect felt. The tender did not crowd upon
the engine, and neither did the wagons crowd upon the tender. In short,
shutting oil' the steam produces no effect, unless the breaks are applied,
more especially in descending an inclnie of 1 in 20U. At the New Cross
incline, which is 1 in 100. the trains are always stopped by turning the
sleum ofT suddenly, and applying the breaks immediately, and if the cause
of the accident was really the shutting oil' the steam, accidents would be
constantly occurring at New Cross. Whenever there was a necessity for
such a step I should have no hesitation in adopting it.

Coroner — Then, Sir, you quite disagree with Mr. Bidder's opinion as to
the cause of the accident.'

General Pasley — I consider IMr. Bidder's opinion perfectly erroneous ;
at the same time I « ish to observe that INlr. Bidder is a gentleman of much
ability, but in this case I think he is much mistaken ; his opinion is con-
trary to the first principle of mechanics. Tlie dimensions of the engine are
19 ft. Gin. in length, without the foot-plates which the engine-driver and
occasionally the stoker stand upm, which gives about 2 feel more. The
distance from the centre of the front and hind wheels is 10 ft. 3 in., so that
the smoke-box is projecting befitre the fore wheels, anti the tire-box and
dome overhanging the hind wheels. In all engines, before Mr. Stephenson
look out his patent for the construction of the long-boiler engines, the hind
wheels are in the rear of the fire-box and dome, and consequently there is
nooverhanging dead weight at the rear of the wheels. W'lien I first saw
the engines I thought them very good in travelling at a moderate rate, but
1 now see no advantage in their construction or improvement. The fore
part of the boiler being so far from the tire-box, the tubes being so much
distant, the engines do not afford the power that was expected from them.
The engines of Sharp, Brothers, and Co., with moderate length boiler,
possess equal or greater power, and are free from danger.
Coroner — Are there any signal posts to denote gradients
General Pasley — After the first accident on the Eastern Counties
Railway, the Earl of Dalhousie .wrote to the board desiring that all
the inclines should be marked out with posts, which had been done
to guide engine-drivers ; for at the accident at Liltlebiiry, on that line, the
superintendent of the locomotive departuifut, who was on the engine, and
the driver, were really descending a gradient without knowing it.

Coroner — Mr. Bidder has told us that on gradients of 1 in 200, engines
are in the habit of travelling at the greatest velocity?

General Pasley — Then that is contrary to my general experience. I
never travelled an incline but that the steam hnd been partially or perfectly
shut off. It is a general rule to shut it off on going down an incline. I do
not think that on a gradient of 1 in 200, engines are in the habit of running
at the greatest possible velocity.

Coroner — Then we perfectly understand you to say, that shutting off
steam in descending a gradient would not cause an engine to stop ?

General Pasley — Certainly, if the breaks were not applied. If the de-
cline is 20 miles in lengtii, it will not stop until it comes to a level. It is
the source of gravity. Its momentum forces it along.

The learned Coroner proceeded to sum up the evidence, anti after com-
menting on the principal facts as related to tlie unfortunate occurrence, re-
marked upon the wide contrast of opinion enleitaiued by .Major-Geneial
Pasley and Mr. Bidder. It was for liic jury to determine, knowing well
that they would so decide as would ensure the public evei;y safety.

The verdict was " Accidental death, caused by the imprudent conduct
of the engine driver in going at an excessive speed."

General Hasley, on his return to town by ilie last train, rode on the en-
gine of the Eastern Counties („"oinpdny, one of the same description as those
that ran off the rails at Liltlebury and U'aterbeach, built by Stothart,
Slaughter, and Co., in order to test ils capabilities 'I'he speed ou one por-
tion of the line between Bishop's Siortford and Sti-aiford was for a short
time upwards of 4.'> miles an hour, anil the engine rode very steady ; and
in two or three instances, on nearing a station, he directed the engiue-driver
to turn the steam off suddenly, full a minute before the breaks were put
down, and not the slightest effect was produced.

The reply of Mr. Bidder appears in the form of an advertisement, pub-
lished in the Times, from which we make the following extracts: — •

"The substance of the evidence nhich I gave was to the effect, that by
the sudden shuttini; off of the steam of the engine, the carriages were no
longer drawn by the engine, but that the engine was propelled by the car-
riages, and that this, in combination with other circumstances which (as I
then stated) might not occur once in a thousand times, had, on this occa-
sion, the effect of forcing the engine off the line.

'• The grounds upon which I formed tliis opinion are based upon what I
must still believe to be a well-established law of mechanics — viz., that in
any system of bodies moving together, if there be no resistance, or if the

resistance of each body be in the like ratio to its weight, when the motive
power ceases to act upon them, these bodies will exert no influence upon
each other in any direction, but if the resistance to the motion of the
bodies in front be greater than that which is required to sustain the motion
of those which are liehiud. the retardation of the former will be more rapid
than that of the latter, and will be impelled by them, and rice versa.

"Applying this to the case of a railway train in motion, we have this fact
for our guidance — that an engine requires from 7 to 12 lb. per ton more to
sustain its motion than the cairiages — it must inevitably follow, that the
effect of suddenly shutting off the steam causes the carriages to overtake and
impel the engine forward, as staled by me in my evidence."

It certainly must be conceded that assuming with Mr. Bidder, the re-
sistance to motion to be 7 to 12 lb. per ton more for an engine than for car-
riages, the carriages will exert a pressure against the engine when the
steam is suddenly cut off. But the misapprehension on which General
Pasley grounded his censure of Mr. Bidder appears to be this — that he
presumed Mr. Bidder's notion to be that the carriages acted on the engine
not by a continuous pressure, but by impact or collision. There is no ground
however for supjiosing that Mr. Bidder entertained this idea. At the same
time while defending him from the charge of having erred in the first prin-
ciples of mechanics, we do not hesitate to deny the possibility of the acci-
dent having arisen from the causes assigned by him.

It appears from the very careful and elaborate experiments of M. de
Paiiibour, that the friction of an engine when not drawing a train (the case
here supposed) is about 14 lb. per ton. The friction of carriages is 61b.
per ton. This gives an excess of 8 lb. per ton for the friction of the engine.
But from this must be deducted the resistance of the air, a most important
item in considering high velocities. The resistance of air on the carriages is
much greater than on the engine in proportion to the weight of each. We
should be quite safe in supposing that at velocities ranging from 30 to 50
miles an hour, the resistance from this cause is 3 or 4 lb. greater per ton
on the carriages than on the engine. So that on the whole we may safely
conclude that when the engine and train are disconnected at a high velu
city, the steam being cut off at the same time, the excess of resistance on
the engine is certainly not more than 5 lb. per ton.

Now we shall have no difficulty whatever in showing that the pressure
which the carriages will exert on the engine under these circumstances
is no greater ihan that which could be easily exerted by a boy 12 or 14
years old. By the very simplest mathematics it may be demonstrated that
the pressure is equal to 5 times the product of the number of tons which
the train and engine weigh respectively, divided by the sum of those num-
bers.* For instance if we suppose the weight of the train 40, and of the
engine 10 tons, the product of tho.se two numbers (400) being divided by
their sum (.'jO) gives 8, which multiplied by 5 gives 40 lb fur the pressure
on the engine. Again, take the weight of the train at 60 tons, and of the
engine at 12 tons, 12 x CO is 720 and 12 + 00 is 72 ; dividing 720 by 72,
and then multiplying by 5 as before, we ^et 501b. for the pressure on the
engine.

It must be carefully uoled that the pressure here calculated represents
the wlwle effect of the train on the engine. There is nothing like impact
or collision because the velocities of both engine and carriages are in-
itially the same, Hud ure grail ualhj retarded.

Now it would be perfectly ludicrous to imagine that a pressure of 40 or
501b. would injure au engine or force it oU' the line. Taking the weight
which a man can usually raise at 2001b. (no very high estimate) we have
for the pressure in question one-fifth to one-fourth of tlic average of human
strength. Even if we take Mr. Bidder's own account and assume the
excess of resistance to the engine over that to the train at 7 to 12 lb. per
ton, the case is made very little better, for even then the pressure is not
nearly so great as that which could be exerted by one man.

* Let BI be ttie number of tons which the train weighs, F the resistance per ton to ilt
P th'.- ii)>ilual pressure betwreii tile train and engine; then nieasiinng Ihe accelerating
lorce t'runi the time ul discuutiecting the two, in the direction of uiotioii, we have

U- — =-MF-P

d t-

for the motion of the carriages. For the motion of the engine we have, putting M' lor
the ouLQbtT of tuns, uiii'l K' lur resistance per ton,

M'— i^=_M'F' + P
dt'

P here changing its sign. Equating the values of the diSferentiat (which we may cleirly
do since the carriages and engine an supposed to continue mtviog al the saioe vtlocit;)
we get the pressure P equal lo

M M'

M + M'

(F-F).

HIG.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

53

So that if we leave mere generalities and come to actual calculation, the
whole theory seems fallacious enough. M'hat is the pressure in the case
in question compared with that which the carriages aad engines exert ou
each other when the engine has to be reversed to move carriages back-
ward? And this occurs daily and hourly without any rery disastrous con-
sequences.

A much more serious source of accidents on the Norfolk Railway ap-
pears to us to be the manner in which the tranverse sleepers are laid.
Being made from unsquared timber sawn in half lengthways, their form is
hemi-cjlindrical. Now these half cylinders are not (we understand) laid
with tlieir flat sides downwards, as in many other railways where they are
of course (irmly supported by the soil : but in the Norfolk Uailway the
sleepers are laid with the flat sides uppermost. The hold which the
rounded sides have on the soil is comparatively small, and it is obvious
that a pressure on one side of the upper side of the sleeper might easily
cause it to slip round. If for instance, a stone resting on the edge of the
sleeper were pressed upon it by the passing of the train, it would certainly
tend to shift the position of the sleeper, and therefore of the rails.

Mr. Robert Stephenson's Report.

The following report upon tlie causes of this deplorable occurrence has
been presented by Blr. Robert Steplienson to the directors : —
To the Directors of the A'oi/o/A; Railway.

Gentlemen, — Absence from London on urgent business has prevented
me complyiiis earlier with your request that I should report to you my ob-
servations on the statements made in tiie evidence given at the inquest on
the late (.ccident upon the Norfolk Railway.

I returned to town last night, and now proceed to lay before you such
remarks as have suggested themselves. In the outset 1 may state, thai 1
concur generally with the engineering evidence given by Mr. Bidder and
Mr. Marshall. I shall therefore contine my observations to the evidence of
General Pasley, but before I direct your attention to the individual siate-
roeuts, I must observe, that I have experienced considerable difficulty in
dealing with them, in consequence of their being merely expressions of
opinion, without adducing arguments or specific facts to support them. If
the General had, after giving an opinion, stated the particular reasons or
result of calculations which led him lo such conclusions, then their validity
mioht have been tested. In the present instance such a course is duulily
necessary, because the subject, from the tone assumed, is made not merely
a scientific one, but one involving professional character. I shall, however,
confine my remarks to the former.

General I'asley commences by stating that the description of engine
was one of "extraordinary length, of such a length as was never used ou
the narrow or any other gauge."

From this statement everybody would conclude that this class of engine
was not in very general use ', that little or no experience bad been obtained
of its peculiarities ; that it was an experimental engine, possessing several
obvious defects.

Against this assumption 1 only think it necessary to state the fact that
upwards of 150 engines of this description have been in daily use in this
country and ou ihe continent for the last two or three years ; that the long
boiler has, by evei'y experienced and impartial locomotive manager with
whom I have communicated, been received as a decided improvement; so
much so, that since this class of engine was first introduced, the boilers of
old engines have been, in several cases within my own knowledge, very
considerably lengthened ; thus ofl'ering the most incontestable proof that
the old construction of engine is admitted lo be deficient in length of boiler.
You will bear in mind that I am now speaking of the boiler simpl\ ; tiie
olher parts of the construction of the engine upon which General Pasley
oilers an opioiou I shall come lo afterwards. I need hardly say, that dur-
in'Tthe working of such a number of engines over such a length of time, it
is impossible to conceive the avoidance of accident, if this construction of
engine involved danger to the extent stated by General Pasley : but, us if
to meet this argument, the (ieneral in his evidence qualifies his opinion of
danger by saying, "that such an engine as the one in question Ciin go at
SO or 35 miles an hour, and I think 1 have gone 4:') miles upon them."

I can only state my own experience leads me to a different conclusion,
and that I have frequently been upon this description of engine when the
speed far exceeded those above referred to without the slightest accident
occurring.

Oscillation in the body of the engine at high velocities I regard as in-
evitable, no matter what the construction may be ; but this oscillation
arises from causes which cannot have come within Ihe Inspector-General's
sphere of observation. It is only the practical man whose opinion on such
points can be depended upon ; it is not the occasional riding upon an en-
gine that can enable any one lo decide between the construction of one
class and another, or to decide that dangerous oscillation is caused by an
overhanging firebox or a long boiler. In a word, to decide a point of this
kind it is absolutely essential to examine the condition ef the engine as
well as its construction ; for instance, the steadiness of all six-wheeled en-
gines essentially depends upon three conditions, —

1. The distribution of the weight upon the three axles.

2. The lateral play in the bearings.

3. The distance betw. en the extreme axles, that is, the extreme length
of bearing upon the rails.

Of these the last only is permanent ; the two first are constantly subject
to change. An engine which is perfectly safe and comparatively steady
to-day may become unsuady, and even dangerous at high speeds, in a
short time by an alteration either in tlie springs or by the lateral wearing
of the bearings. Now, I have reason to know that Ihe While Horse
of Kent, the only engine which General Pasley quotes as having oscillated
excessively, allhongh he has tried several others, was not in tiie best work-
ing condition at the time he made the experiment ; no opinion wiih refe-
rence to its motion could therefore with propriety be drawn without taking
into account the condition in which Ihe bearings were at the time, together
with the disposition of weight upon the wheels.

All eugines when allowed to get play upon the bearings become un-
steady at high velocities, and oscillation from this source is aggravated if
more than a due proportion of weight be thrown upon the middle pair of
wheels.

I believe nearly all the accidents which have occurred by eugines leaving
the rails are mainly attributable lo want of attention to this condition.

In bad weather, when the rails are slippery, the temptation to the en-
gineman to increase the weight upon the driving wheels is very great, and
I have frequently known it carried to an improper extent. How far this
may have operated in the Norfolk Railway accident cannot now be ascer-
tained, but, referring to that which took place during the progress of Ihe
experiments on the Great North of England Railway, under the Gauge
Commission, 1 have ascertained that this improper distribution of weiaht
was one of the cliief causes of the engine leaving the rails. Ou a piece of
absolutely perfect road this cause would in all probability not have pro-
duced the result, but in cases of this kind the ultimate result seldom, very
seldom indeed, flows from one cause ; it is the concurrence of two or more
circunl^tances operating in the same direction.

If accidents on railways arose from any pecularities of construction in
the engine, we ought to have them every day. If the overhanging firebox
so much objected lo by General Pasley were dangerous, it would be ab-
solutely impossible to work the London and Birmingliam one day wilhout
a Scries of accidents. The engines upon that line have fireboxes projecting
beyond the bearing axle fully 4 feet (i inches, being 5 inches more than the
corresponding projection of Ihe Norfolk engine. The Lond<in and Birming-
ham line has been worked now uearly eight years with an unparalleled traltic
with engines having overhanging fireboxes, without any accident nhiih
can fairly be allribuled to such a peculiarity of conslruction.

I originally objected to this projection of ihe firebox beyond the axle ;
but, afler an experiment continued uniulerruptedly for a series of \ ears,
with an ernormous traffic, it would be absurd lo reject such practical evi-
dence and to hold to such an opinion.

It was this opinion that led me to the construction of the new long-
builer engine, and the abandonment of the objection I originally enter-
tained and acted upon. When I considered, moreover, that the Loudiin
and Birmingham eii;;ines had, in addition lo the overhanging firebox, a re-
markably short beaiiug upon Ihe rail, and, consequently, admittiug of the
overhanging weight operating with increased effect, the testimony appeared
to me conclusive.

The London and Birminsham engines in the commencement had a bear-
ing upon the rail of only 5^ feel (they have since beeu extended), whereas
the Norfolk engines lla^e a bearing of lOJ leet. On this point I need not
confine my reference to the engines upon the London and Birmingliam,
because they are not peculiar to that line ; they are to be found on many
others.

Whatever may be the effect of such evidence upon Ihe minds of others,
I must confess that lo me it Hppears perfectly conclusive that the over-
hanging box exercised no influence such as General Pasley imagines.

In confirmation of this, I may slate that yesterday, with a passenger
train of 40 tons, with a boisterous side Wjud, 1 came from Dariinglou to
York on the A engine, which has an overhanging box and long boiler, ac-
companied bv Jlr. T. K. Harrison, Mr. Fleiclier, and Mr. JosephSle-
phenson, for the express purpose of trying the oscillation of Ihe engine.
Kor several miles ihe speed exceeded 58 miles an hour, and in some we
passed the conseculive quarter mile posts in 15 seconds, being 00 miles aii
hour. In addiiion lo the overhanging firebox, we were all standing on llie
footplate wiih the enginemaii, excepiing iMr. Joseph Stephenson ; conse-
quently, the circumstances were peculiarly calculated lo excite oscillation,
if the tendency existed to auy appreciable extent. I am, however, enabled
to declare most positively, that this engine was not only entirely free from
any dangerous oscillation, but as steady as any engine 1 ever rode upon.
Here I will leave the question of o\eihanging firebox and proceed lo notice
the next peculiarity of the Norfolk engine specially noticed by General
Pasley — viz., ■' The wheels being huddled together."

In looking at this part of the subject, 1 am relieved from any disciisp.ioa
as to mailers of opinion ; it is simply one of dimeiibiou, which admits
happily of no dispute. I therefore give >ou the dimension of t^langhter's
engine, which Ihr- Cieneral reUiriietl totov\n upon, and declared safe and
steady, and lliose of the Norfolk eugiue, which he condemns : —

Ft. In.
Slaughter's engine, distance between extreme axles .. II (i
Norfolk eugiue, distance between extreme axles . . 10 B

54

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Februaby,

I leave the fienoralto say wlielher this iliffeience of six incliesjiistifies
the epithet, " huddled together," as applied by him to the wheels of the
Norfolk engine.

Thf General, ia another part of his evidence, says, " These engines
(alludiug to Slaughter's), although they are of a long boiler construction,
have DO overhan;;iDg weight like Mr. .Stephenson's." This, like the last,
is merely a question of dimension, tlie fact being that at the cliimney end
Slaughter's engine overhangs precisely to the same extent as the Norfolk
engine — viz., 4 feet 9 inches ; at the lireliox end in Slaughter's engine the
axle is placed underneath the n]iddle of the lirebox, whereas in the olhers
it is placed imniediately in front o( it, without, however, giving the engine
more than G inches additional base upon the railway, and this in a distance
of 11 feet; yet this shade of dillVrcnce, according to the (Jenenil, makes
the one engine safe and steady, and the other dangerous, and apt to '* roll
like a vessel at sea,*' and this without reference to the fact that the centre of
gravity of the Norfolk engine is fully a foot lower than Slaughter's.
Were it necessary to adduce any further evidence it w<juld only be neces-
sary to recall to mind the base of the London and liirniiugliam engines,
where, with an overhanging lirebox, the base of the rail does not exceed 7
feet.

I do not think that comment on such a conclusion is necessary ; if a
shade of difference of this kind be really adequate to produce such conse-
quences as are here staled by the Inspector-General, the sooner the cou-
struction of every class of locomotive engine is revised the better.

General Pasley states in another part of his evidence, that " the nar-
row gauge not offering so great a diameter of botler as the broad, Mr.
Stephenson, to remove tlie obstacle, constructed tiie long boiler engines, to
equal them in |)ower, and they have failed in the purpose for which they
were intended." And again, "that owing to the fore part of the bailers
being so far from the firebox, the tubes being so much distant, the engines
do not alVord tlie power that was expected from them."

This paragraph I have no hesitation in declaring to be entirely erro-
neous. In the first place, the motive for lengthening the boiler had no
reference to gauge at all, because it is equally applicable to all gauges ;
the object was to save fuel, hy preventing the escape of a large quan-
tity of waste heat up the chimney ; in this it has been perfectly success-
ful, which has been established by every experiment tried with this ob-
ject. Even with the longest tube yet introduced in locomotive engines,
the temperature at the chimney end has been found suHicient to melt
lead, which is upwards of 200 degrees above the temperature of the
water in the boiler. The opinion of General I'asley on this point is
equally at variance with the most extensive experience with slationary
engine boilers, which are much longer, with much less velocity of draught.

It must be obvious to every one that every addition to the economy of
fuel obtained by an enlarged evaporatory capacity is necessarily attended
with a corresponding increase of power, and therefore, as before observed,
although my original object in lengthening the boiler was with the view
of economical results, it has been attended with a large increase of po-
wer. I beg therefore to remove the impression produced by General
Pasley's evidence, by emphatically declaring that the long boiler arrange-
ment suggested itself to my mind, indeed was in actual tiperation, years
before the question of gauges was agitated. 1 forbear liere going into
the question of gauge, which has been so pointedly introduced by Ge-
nera! Pasley both in his evidence and in his letter in Tlit Times, because
it is both foreign to the subject, and can lead to no result whilst it is
under the consideration of the commission appointed for that purpose.

In conclusion, I am willing to believe, nay, I am sincerely convinced,
that General Pasley, in giving his evidence, was actuated by no other
molive than a wish to arrive at the truth, but in the present instance I
must be excused for regarding him as having ventured to give opinions
upon a diflicult subject, and one with which neither his education nor
experience can have made him thoroughly acquainted. In venturing
thus to express myself, I am far from wishing to imply the least disres-
pectful feeling to General Pasley ; on the contrary, my experience in the
mode in which he has filled the difficult ollice of Inspector-General has
led me to respect him, and at all limes to aid him by giving him opinions
on practical subjects wheuever an opportunity presented itself; but in
the present case I am so personally involved by his evidence, and feel so
strongly convinced that his views are entirely erroneous, and calculated to
injure raiUvay interests, that to express my opinion with any reservation
would be injustice to many railway companies whose confidence 1 en-
joy-

1 am, (Jentlemen, your obedient servant,

KolltKT STtPHLNSON.

24, Great George-street, \\estniinster, Jan. 21.

FALL OF A VIADUCT ON THE ROUEN AND HAVRE
RAILWAY.

{Extrnct from a Private Letter.)
It being possible that the news of the falling of the whole of the viaduct
of Barentin, ou the line of the projected railroad betwi'eii Ifouen and
Havre, and within three leagues of the former place, may not yet have
reached you, I therefore hasten to send you all the particulars that I have
collected.

This event took place on Saturday last, the 10th .January, and has made
a deep impression on the feeling and fears of the population of Havre, who
looked forward with much anxiety to the speedy and safe accomplishment
of an undertaking in which their commercial and general interests are so
importantly involved. Now that the accident has happened, opinions,
which were formerly kept in subjection, are expressed without reserve, and
it would appear that duiibts have long been enteriained of the solidity of
the works, of the amount of care observed, and of the quality of the mate-
rials used in the < onstruction of this railroad. One shudders at the idea
of the dreadful consequences which might have ensued had the road beea
in full operation at the time of the accident. The fall of this enormous
work, raised to the height of 32 yards French, (about 10.5 English feet)
above the soil, naturally gives rise to the most serious apprehensions for
the eventual fate of two others, those of .Malauney and JlirviUe, which the
same conditions expose to a like result.

Public confidence in the general stability of the works upon this railroad
has, by this dreadful event, received a blow, the effects of w hich can only
be removed by the test of time and a long series of successful operaiions.
Happily, no lives have been lost, nor much property in the immediate
vicinity destroyed by the fall of the viaduct. A lluurmi'll, situate upon ihe
river St. Austreberthe, was entirely knocked down, and it was not till
within an hour afterwards that the inhabitants of Uarcntin could make their
way across the masses which encumbered the road to the rescue of Ihe sole
inmate, who miraculously escaped with a slight wound only of the finger.
The machinery and fragments of the mill were scittered about in every
direction.

The Journal Jes Debuts publishes the following letter on the subject of

the late catastrophe which occurred on the Rouen and Havre Railroad :

" i have the honour to address you the following note, with a request that
you will insert it in your next number. The directors of the Rouen and
Havre Railroad Company hasten to publish the first information transmitted
to them on the state of the viaduct of Berenlin by Mr. Locke, the principal
engineer of the company. The directors have siuce had a conference with
the principal engineer, at which the announcement made in the journals of
last evening was fully confirmed — viz., that the cost of the rebuilding of
the viaduci of Barentin will be at the ex|iense of the contractors, and that
the reconstruction of the viaduct will not retard for more than two months
the opening of the line. The plan of the reconstruction was this day ar-
ranged by the board of directors, and will be presented to-morrow to the
Minister of Public Works. The damage caused to ihe proprietors in the
neighbourhood of the viaduct is of no serious importance, and can give rise
but to a slight indemnity, already partly arranged.— E. Delacour, Secre-
tary to the Company."

THE JANUS STEAM SHIP.
(Wee opy the following article, addressed to the Editor, from the Tintes.)

Sir — The frequent articles inserted in your universally circulated paper
relative to the Janus, indicate that the success or failure of the engines,
boilers, and lines of construction are subjects of public interest.

Being thus confirmed in my opinion, I enclose to you the last report
made on the original revolving engine erected by the late Admiralty in
Portsmouth Dockyard, tlie performance of which engines gave to the pre-
sent board the confidence they have manifested in promoting the attainment
of an object highly interesting to the naval service.

Those only who attempt to introduce an iinporlant novelty can estimate
the effects of jealousy and prejudice. I confide, however, in your liberality
to aid in their removal, and beg that you will inquire whether any recipro-
cating engine has ever performed duty equivalent to 13 consecutive double
voyages from England to America (as the Portsmouth engine has done),
almost without repair ?

I am. Sir, your obedient servant,

Portsmouth, Jan. 8. Dundonald.

UejioTt of the Earl of Dunilonald's Rotatory Engine erected in Her
Mojestij's Dor.kijarii at Portsmouth.

On the 22d of December, 1S45, two years and nine months of constant
performance o.f the rotatory engine expires, during all which lime it has
been working in the most elfectual and satisfactory manner, no derange-
ment of consequence having ever taken place.

It is presuuied (hat these two years and nine nionllis of constant and
laborious operation (requiring no more than slight attention by the work-
men) have gone far to establish that quality which, until now, had not
been suflicieutly developed,— namely, durability, and consequent continuuy
of operation.

The principal repair this engine has required was taken in hand about
nine months ago. This was so trifling that six men could have accom-
plished it in one day, but having been much pressed with work at the time,
one man only could be spared, which consequently protracted its comph-
tion for one week.

Thus after four years and nine months constant working as a prims
mover, two years and nine mouths of which have been so successfully per-
formed, nothing more can be wanting even by the most sceptical to esta-

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

55

blish its merits as a powerful, econoraical, and durable engine, equal in
point of efficiency to any reciprocating engine in Her Majesty's service.

Sliould additional evidence be sought to establish further claims as a
rival in steam mechanism, it is to be found in the simple fact, that this first
essay on the Earl of Dundonald's principle, although at first altered and
mutilated to bring it to perfection, is nevertheless at the present time per-
fectly free from those indications of weakness and declining energy wliich
any other engine, under similar circumstances, might probably evince, as
ii proved by its exhibiting a vacuum at all times equal to 2S inches of mer-
cury.

Another fact which gives great confidence in the utility and applicability
of this principle is its freedom from liability to internal derangement, and
consequently tlie service in v\hich it is engaged is scarcely ever incon-
venienced by stoppages.

The engine has not been opened for examination since July last.

R. Taplin, Engineer and Machinist.

Her Majesty's Dockyard, Portsmouth, Dec. 31, 1845.

ARTIFICIAL ULTRAMARINE.

Till within the last twelve or fifteen years the only source of this beati-
liful pigment was the rare mineral, /ayns lazuli. The price of the finest
ultramarine was then as high as five guineas the ounce. Since the njode
of making it artificially has been discovered, however, its price has fallen
to a few shillings the ounce. Artificial ultramarine is now manufactured
to a very considerable extent on the continent, but, as far as I can learn,
none has as yet been made in Great Britain. The chief French manu-
factories of ullraniarine are situated in Paris ; and the two largest ones in
Germany are those of Meissen in Saxony, and of Nuremberg iu Franconia.
Three kinds of ultramarine occur in commerce, the blue, the green, and
the yellow. The two first only are true ultramarines, that is sulphur com-
pounds ; the yellow is merely chromate of baryta. Both native and arti-
ficial ultramarine have been esamined very carefully by several eminent
chemists, who, however, have been unable to throw much light upon their
true nature. Chemists have undoubtedly ascertained that ultramarine
always consists of silica, alumina, soda, sulphur, and a little oxide of
iron, but no two specimens, either of tlie native or artificial ultramarine,
contain these ingredients in at all similar proportions. . . The last
chemist who has examined ultramarine is Dr. Eisner, who has published
a very elaborate paper upon it in the 23rd number of Erdmann's .Jour-
nal for 1841. The first part of Dr. Eisner's paper is historical, and con-
tains an account of the accidental discovery of artificial ultramarine bv
Tassart and Kulhman in 1814, and of the labours of subsequent chemists.
He then gives a detaded account of his own experiments. . . Dr.
Eisner's paper does not, however, furnish any details by which ultrama-
rine could be manufactured successfully on the great scale. Tlius, for
example, in regard to the necessary degree of heat, perhaps the most im-
portant circumstance in the process, he gives no directions whatever. W'e
know, however, from other sources, that it should be a low red i)eat,asatmuch
higher temperatures both native and artificial ultramarine soon become colour-
less. Dr. Eisner, indeed, does not allirni that be was able to procure ul-
tramarine in quantity of a uniformly good colour. In fact, the process of
Robiquet, published nearly ten years ago, is the best whicii scientific che-
mists possess, though undoubtedly the manufacturers have greatly im-
proved upon it. Robiquet's process consists in heating to low redness a
mixture of one part porcelain clay, one and a half sulphur, and one and a half
parts anhydrous carbonate of soda, either in an earthenware retort or co-
vered crucible, so long as vapours are given off. AV hen opened, the cru-
cible usually contains a spongy mass of a deep blue colour, containing
more or less ultramarine mixed with the excess of sulphur employed, and
some unaltered clay and soda. The soluble matter is removed by wash-
ing, and tlie ultramarine separated from the other impurities by leviga-
tion. It is to be regretted, however, that the results of Robiquet's pro-
cess are by no means uniform ; one time it yields a good deal of ultrama-
rine of excellent quality, and perhaps, at the very next repetition of the
process in circumstances apparently similar, very little ultramarine is ob-
tained, and that of an inferior quality. The fabrication of ultramarine is
a subject whicli well deserves the attention of English chemical manufac-
turers, as it could be carried on with peculiar advantage in this country.
The chief expense of the process is the fuel required, which can be pur-
chased in Great Britain for less than half the money it would cost either
in France or Germany, — Proctedinga of the Glasgow Philosophical So-
ciety.

The Nelson Monument.— The completion of this work has at length
been determined on by the Woods and Forests, and to this effect a communication has
been made to the artists to wlioin the commissions have been confided, by the Earf of
Lincoln. The subjects proposed for the four bassi reiievi are the victories of Cape St.
Vineent, Copenhagen, the Nile, and Trafalgar; and the sculptors appointed to execute
these worlfs are Mr. Watson, Mr. Woodington, Mr. Carew, and Mr. Tmnouth. The
four lions will be executed fay I\Ir. Lough. The relieved works will be in bronze— the
lions in stone or granite. — " Examiner."

PROCEEDINGS OP SCIEWTIPIC SOCIETIES.

ROY.\L SCOTTISH SOCIETY OF ARTS.

S. Mackenzie, Bart., of Coul, F.R.S.E.,

Monday Jan. 12. Sir Geo.
President, in the Chair.

The following communications were made:

1. " A Development of the o;jeralion of the Harmonic Patios m a pro.
gressive series of Scalene Triamjles, and of their effect upon the nectanglen
which these Trianc/les produce, by the nnion of their hypothenuses ; with
Remarks upon tij utility of such a series in an .iJslhetical point ofviev:.
By D. R. Hay, Esq.— Mr. Hay, in reading this paucr on the harmonic
ratios, exhibited by drawings, made in presence of the meeting, their ope-
ration, by a natural process, in producing a series of scalene triangles having
all the harmonic properties in relation to form, that the natural diatonic
scale of music has to sound. He showed that the beauty of proportion and
symmetry depends upon the operation of the numbers 2, 3, and 5, and that
theee numbers operate in the formation of geometrical figures by the division
of the circle into 3G0 degrees; asserting that no other mode of division
would produce the same results, because that number is in a peculiar manner
(which he also exhibited to the meeting) a multiple of those three harmonic
numbers. He also showed that, by the combinations of the scalene tri-
angles resulting from liis process, a series of rectangles was produced, and
proved that these rectangles had peculiar harmonic qualities, that belonged
to no other figures of the same species. He stated that such a scale was
a desideratum in architecture, and that its adoption would be attended with
incalculable advantage in that as well as in every other art in which form was
treated in the abstract. He also mentioned that his scale of harmonic forms
was applicable to curvelineal as well as rectilineal figures, and tliat he was
engaged in a work in which this should be proved.

2. Description and Drawings of a Circular Saw for general purpose», hut
more particularly for Agriculturists. By Capt. G. D. Paterson.— This
saw, it was stated, is adajited both for cross-cutting and all other kinds of
work, but more particularly for running cuts through Ijattens, deals, cS:c., and
can travel through timber of any length. In cross-cutting, the workmen
can cause the saw to advance or retreat by means of a handle. For long
work the saw is driven backwards and forwards by machinery. Captain
Paterson adopted the plan of making the saw travel instead of ttie wood, not
only because liy that means greater precision is obtained than by moving the
wood to the saw (which indeed, in cross-cutting large trees is almost im-
practicable), but also in order to avoid the risk of crippling the saw, which
he had often known to occur from careless or inexperienced workmen twist-
ing the wood in the act of cutting. The saw is driven by belts.

3. Description and Drou^ings of a Railway Indicator. By William An-
derson, mail-guard. — The machine, as it has been in action for three
months past on the Dundee and Arbroath Railway, was exhibited. The
indicator shows, at any moment, the number of miles the train has travelled
from the station at which it started, as well as the number to travel to the
end of the journey. It also enables the engineer or any other person in the
train to ascertain at night or in dense fogs, within a few' feet of the particular
spot on the line upon which the train is travelling. It also tells the rate of
speed, and the difl'erent stations and localities which the train passes ; and
also the hour and the length of time it takes to run every mile. It was stated
tliat it would be an eft'ecfual check to careless or reckles's driving, and would
be also a complete check upon book-keepers, conductors, and every other
servant connected with the train, as at the end of the journey it has only to
be examined in order to show the time when the train started — when it
reached every one of the dilierent stations — and the precise speed at which
it had travelled during any part of the jrmrney ; and were its indications
copied into a book, this would form a complete and lasting register of the
whole working on the line.

-•/ tail Signal Light, to be attached to the upright spindle of the indicator,
was also described, viz. a revolving red and white light, which would show
at night the speed of a train in advance of another at a distance of four or
five .miles, and thus enable the driver of the following train to keep at a
proper distance from the one in advance.

4. An antique calnnet Lock and Key of curious and ingenious worhnanship
was exhibited by Adam Gib Ellis, Esq., W.S., F.R.S.S.A.

5. AModelofMt.'W. G. Cover's Removeal/le fVindow Sashes for the more
easy and safe 7neans of Cleaning IJ'indows entirely within the apartment. —
The advantages of the invention are stated to be, that the iron corner-pieces
strengthen the sashes, and render them removeable, and capable of being
taken inside the apartment to be cleaned. They also cause the sash to slide
more freely and silently in the frame; and when closed, the win'ow is per-
fectly firm, and free from any rattling or vibration. They can be applied
either to new or old windows at a cost of lUs. per window.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE.

January 9. — Sir Richard Westmacott in the Chair.

The increasing number and interest of the communications submitted to
the Institute has induced the Committee to devote two meetings in each
month solely to the exhibition of antiquities, and to archa;ological discussion.

56

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Fkbruary,

The first of these conversaziones was held at the apartments of the Institute
(12, Hayniarki-ti, on Friilay la»t at four o'clock, as hart been announced in
the printed circulars of the Committee and the recently pu1)lished number of
the Arclucological Journal.

On opening the proceedings. Sir R Westmacott observed that, before en-
tering into an examination of the objects submitted to them, he thought it
right to state, that it was far from the intention of tlie committee of tlie In-
stitute, in holding these meetines, to interfere in any degree witli tlic pro-
ceedings of the Society of Antiquaries. He conceived that there was a mark-
ed distinction in the p'lovince of the two societies. It was competent to tlie
Society of Antiquaries to undertake far more important objects ;— its range
of research was wider, its resources were more ample. 'I'lie Institute was
necessarily subsidiary— designed to act in a pioneer capacity, and to supply
by its extended correspondence those materials not otherwise accessible, on
which the more important labours of the Society of Antiquaries must ulti-
mately be based. The constitution of the Institute was so framed as to em-
brace' all classes interested in tlie study of Archaeology,— not those only
whose support was valuable from their position and influence, but also those
precluded by their limited means from joining the Society of Antiquaries,
and deriving' full benefit from its valuable publications. By tliisinore com-
prehensive enrolment, the Institute hoped to secure the co-operation of those
who were the official conservators of our great ecclesiastical edifices, and
those also whose professional education involved the study of Arclia;ology ;
and of the national sympathy thus created the Society of Antiquaries would,
he felt sure, reap the benefit'. He confidently antiiipated that, by the annual
meeting, a very great stimulus would be given to the study of Arcba:ology,
and that in each'successive visit a new and interesting locality would be ex-
plored and illustrated, and many precious objects, which lie concealed in
private collections, would lie brought to light. By the smaller meetings,
such as the committee held this day, they hoped to give the opportunity for
much friendly intercourse and valuable discussion. He rejoiced to see, on
the present occasion, such a variety of interesting objects and communica-
tions as those laid before them,— a most gratifying assurance of the manner
in wliicli these meetings would be supported by the members of the Institute ;
and be could only regret that the limited space of their apartments did not
allow them to accommodate, on the present occasion, a larger assembly.

Sir Richard then called the attention of the meeting to some beautiful Ita-
lian sculptures in ivory, which bad passed into his possession from the col-
lection of Flaxman. He observed, that they probably represented, in a series
of groups, the incidents of some legend or media;val romance. They appear
to have been executed in the earlier part of the fourteenth century, and afiord
a remarkable example of a peculiar style of design, considered by foreign
antiquaries to be Venetian, and of which several specimens may be seen in
the Musee Charles X. at the Louvre, and several private cabinets at Paris and
other parts of the continent. He also submitted for inspection a head
sculptured in stone, of the 13th century, from Hereford Cathedral, remark-
aide for the fine character of the features and general expression.

The Marquess of Northampton exhibited a bronze Etrusc.in vase, of un-
usual form, found at Bomazza, and a mirror ornamented on tlie reverse with
an engraved group of the Judgment of Paris, and a number of lieads formed
of vitreous pastes, discovered near Rome, much resembling the beads found
in British barrows. .

Several interesting primeval weapons of flint and bronze, discovered in
Glamorganshire, belonging to the museum of the Royal Institution of South
Wales, were communicated for exhibition, by permission, through .Mr. G. G.
Francis, local secretary to the Institute. A valuable illustration of these re-
mains was contributed by Mr. J. Winter Jones, consisting of an unique as-
semblage of lance and arrow heads of silex. discovered in Canada, which, as
Mr. Birch remarked, closely resemble in form and adaptation the weapons of
the primeval tribes of Great Britain and Northern Europe.

Mr. Dilke exhibited a portrait on glass of late iioman times, purchased at
Strawberry Hill, representing a female bust, and that of a boy wearing the
bulla. This portrait is remarkable, not only from a variety of details of
classical costume, rarely to be met with, but also as an example of ancient
design, showing a great knowledge of form and chiaroscuro. The bend-dress
of the female resembles that of the Empress Julia Momoea, and the portrait
is probably not later than the time of Gordianus .\fricanus. The mode in
which the work is executed is also curious :it is apparently formed by scraping
■way parts of a black pigment, so as to show a gold ground below, the sur-
face of the picture being protected by a glass plate cemented over it. .\nother
beautiful portrait of the same kind was exliibited by Mr. Burgon ; and other
eiamples of this species of glass have been noticed by Buonarotti, in his
TrorK on ancient glass.

.Mr. Talbot exhibited a warrant for the payment of 55 sols totirnois to
Riitandore, trumpeter of the Comte d'Angouleme, for bringing the " good
and joyful news of the death of Talbot and the defeat of the English before
Caslillon," in the year 1453. Mr. Talbot also exhibited some Roman silver
Imperial coins from Vespasian to Severus, found near the Giants' Causeway
in Ireland, and a Chinese porcelain phial said to have been found in a tomb
at Thebes.— Mr. Bircii stated that all these phials were probably very much
lalcr than tlieir alleged date ; first, from their being inscribed with a i barac-
ler not earlier than the first century B. c. ; secondly, from the fact that in
the Chinese annals the first mention of porcelain does not occur till the
seventh century a. d., and then it is spoken of as a rarity ; thirdly, that the
merchants were in the habit at the present day of bringing these vases to
Cairo on the return of the caravans from Mecca.

Mr. C. ViUicrs Bavlv exhibited a slab of wood, probably part of a coffer,
oriiau'iented, and wit'h 'groups in relief and pounced work, supposed to repre-
sent a subject from some romance ; the costume of the figures was Italian,
of the latter part of the fifteenth century.

Mr. Poynter exhibited some stamped leathern hangings of beautiful de-
sign, from' Bradwell House, Bucks ; they presented a good example of the
decorations which supi>lied the place of hangings of Arras, towards the close
of the seventeenth century. , „, . . . ... ,

Two drawings, on a verv large scale, of early Christian, inscnbed and
senlpturcd crosses at Nevin and Carew, in Pembrokeshire, were exhibited by
Mr Westwood. Mr. Westwood stated, that these were the two finest speci-
mens of this class of monument that he had been able to discover, and that
their date was prohablv the eleventh century.— The representation of a re-
markable sculptured monument, at Auldbar, near Brechin, was exhibited at
the same time, and several features of resemblance in design were noticed.
This curious early Christian memorial had been communicated to the Insti-
tute bv Mr. Chalmers, of Auldbar.

Several communications were read to the meeting, among which was a
letter from Sir Philip Egerton, stating some singular facts connected with
the Roman occupation of Cheshire, as detailed by Mr. Hostage, of North-
wich. Letters were also read from the Rev. Hugh Jones, D. J., and the
Rev.H. Longueville Jones, announcing their intention of commencing exca-
vations'on the site of Segontium, near Caernarvon, where it was anticipated
that intere'tins discoveries would be made. Dr. Jones stated that the walls
of Caernarvon Castle had recently been repaired in a most satisfactory man-
ner, hut that some portions of the town walls, the property of .Mr. .\iheton
Smith and Lord Newborough, were in a very decayed state.

DECORATIVE ART SOCIETY.

A continuation of the paper " On Chromatic Decorations in England,"
was read by "ilr. E. Cooper. He commenced by noticing the progressive
regard for coloured decorations exhibited during the Norman and Gothic
epochs • alluding to the simple and chaste effect produced by the polished
Purheck marble shaft at Elv, and the Temple Church, the rich grandeur
of the earlier stained gbus windows at York and elsewhere; with the at-
tendant painted decorations on ceilings and walls, and the pavements of
encaustic tiles. He attempted to elucidate the principles which predomi-
nate in the b-tler examples, by explaining the general application of the
three primary colours, and the more usual construction ot the designs. He
then noticed 'the stained glass windows at King's College, Cambridge,
where the whole of the subject and detail are designed with a teelmg of
Renaissance (it is supposed by Ciiulio Romano) ; he said from personal
observation, that nearly all the coloured glass is what is technica ly termed
poi-raetal, so that where it is not so, as probably in the finest colours, it is
enamelled glass ; and be observed that drawing and shading were placed
upon these, as is evident from the disappearance, in many cases leaving
the pot metal only. A discmsonance was alluded to, arising from the
colours of back-ground and foreground in pictorial subjects being of the
same intensity ; and a method of producing light and distance by removing
more or less from the thickness of the enamel was suggested as applicable
to windows, and a specimen was exhibited. Mr. Cooper then commented
on the agreeable elfect of stained glass windows when the walls are of a
simple or uniform colour, but urged careful consideration when the walls
are decorated with pictures. He observed that the altar piece at Kiug s
Colle<re is entirely neutralized in effect by the ovei whelming coloured rays
of li'-bt enterin" in everv direction upon it ; the earlier examples of Oothic
windows were said to 'allow the transmission of a greater proportion of
pure li-'ht. He maintained that the ancient coloured glass had no supe-
riority over that now produceable, and that the prevaleut opinion of in-
ferior'itv had arisen from the greater use of painted, instead „( pot-metal or
emimelied ■'lass. Afier some remarks on encaustic tiles (specimens from
ReiKliii- Abbev), ami the peculiarities of Gothic drawing, colouring,
au.l sculpture, Sir. (.'ooper described some examples of transition, or mix.d
Gothic and Italian character in the ceilings of the Chapel Royal, bt. James s,
and the chapel of Hi.hop West, in Ely Cathedral ; also the fine specirnens
of baronial decorations lately restored at Hampton Court. He then took
occasion to censure ibe manner in which some of the coloured decorations
in the spandrils below the windows of the aisles in W estminster Abbey
have been destro\ed or concealed by misplaced and absurd mythological
monumental tablets; and he noticed some fine and well known examples
of " hi"h tomb" " richly ornamented with marble, colour, and gilding.
The decorations of the Elizabethan period were noticed, and a specimen
of embossed, silvered and coloured leather hangings from the iManor House,
Billin.'sburst, was exhibited. The introdudion of Italian architecture, by
Charles, led to the consideration of the ceiling of the Banquetting House,
Whitehall, painted by Rubens, also of the works byTliornhill Verrio,
Lan-uerre, and Charles de la Fosse at Greenwich Hospital, M. Paul s,
Charsworth, and Montague House (late British Museum). At present,
he remarked, there appears to be a struggle for supremacy between the
Gothic and Italian styles ; and, in his critirisms on some recent decora-
tions, Mr. Cooper expressed an opinion that the imitations have l>een un-
successfully applied, instancing those in the Temple Church as partaking
too freely of yellow ochreous tints, the Royal Exchange as being too petite
and paltry for their purpose, the Conservative Club as presenting a be-
wildering profusion of trifling ornaments devoid of any important chaiactet

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

or <lesign, anil materially dimialshir)!:; any grand effect that the architect
might have conteniplatcil. After some remarks explanatory of his views
on domestic decorations of the present day, Mr. Cooper submitted a quess
tion as to the applicability of Go/Ait </(T<H'«(io«s to modern purposes, \vi\h
more especial reference to the New I'alace of Westminster ; he admilled
that decorations should be in accordance with the style, and subservient
to the architectural character of the edidce ; but, he asked, must we there-
fore follow the earlier Gothic mannerisms? Copy the attempts of an af;e
of comparative barbarism iu Art? Or, are we to adopt all the improve-
ments and knowledge of form of llie present day ? He contended that the
Gothic did not admit of pictorial decoration in proper keeping, and that
the modern school of painting presented too many inconsistencies. He
concluded by asserting that the Italian style of the fifteenih and sixteenth
centuries, as found in the designs of Palladio, Scamosi, Sansovino, and
others, admitted of the utmost degree of refinement, both in sculpture and
painting, and aflbriled profitable materials for study for such a purpose.

INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.

Extracts from the Annual Report. — Session lS-16.

Pri-miums.

Telford Medals, in silver, have been awarded to Philip Chilwell De la
Garde, for his " Memoir of the Canal of Exeter, from 15G3 to 1724," and to
George Edwards, M. Inst. C.E., for his paper " On Blasting Marl Rocks
under water in the River Severn." — Premiums of Books, suitably bound and
inscribed, have been awarded, to John George Bodmeb, JI. Inst. C.E., for
his paper " On the advantages of working Engines with High-pressure Steam
expansively, and at. high velocities, &c. ;" to Benjamin Lewis Vdlliamv,
Assoc. Inst. C.E., for his paper " On Railway Clocks ;" and to John Baldry
Redman, Grad. Inst. C.E., for his " Description and Drawings of the new
Cast Iron Pier at Gravesend."

Obituary,

The deceases are few ; they are Robert Thomas Atkinson, Member, and
Lieutenant Edward Nicholas Kendall, R.N., and John Llewellyn, Associates.

Mr. Atkinson was the nephew of the late Mr. Buddie, and after being
brought up by him, assisted him for some years in his large mining and en-
gineering undertakings in the North. Not long before his death he took the
management of the Seaton Delaval mines, where he is stated to have dis-
played great talent and judgment in rliflicult positions. His communication
to the Institution in the session cf 1812, " On sinking and coffering pits in
the North of England," will be recollected by the members and increase the
regret which must be felt for his loss.

Lieutenant Kendall, whose grandfather. Admiral Ilicks, and father.
Captain Kendall, were both distinguished naval oSicers ; received his edu-
cation and became first boy, at the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth. Ha
entered His Majesty's service as a Midshipman in lS14,on board the Mutiue.
He served with credit in several other ships, and from his scientific acquire-
ments was chiefly employed on the surveying service ; upon the trigonome-
trical survey in Orkney, Shetland, the coast of Ireland, and in the North Sea.
On the fitting out of the Polar expedition, under Captain (now Sir Edward)
Parry, he volunteered his services, and acted as Master's Mate on board the
' Fury,' Captain Lyon. He was subsequently selected by Captain (now Sir
John) Franklin, as one of his companions for the land Arctic expedition, and
returned with the proud distinction of being attached to the oniy one of the
Polar expeditions that had completely effected its olijects. The charts,
drawn up by Lieutenant Kendall, from the astronomical observations made
by Sir John Franklin and himself, remain as evidence of his talent and in-
dustry. He was then appointed, at the recommendation of the Koyal Society,
to the ' Chanticleer,' for the purpose of assisting the late Captain Henry
Foster in a series of experiments on the pendulum, and various other branches
of scientific research in the Equatorial and South Polar regions. He then
conducted the survey of the Western Coast of Africa in the ' Hecla,' the
officers of which vessel had nearly all fallen victims to the climate. He was
then employed by the Secretary of State for the Colonial Department, in a
secret and confidential survey of the boundary line of the British and Ameri-
can states, in New Brunswick, and executed his task in the most satisfactory
manner. On his return he compiled a complete map of the province of New
Brunswick, from his own astronomical and other observations. He then
turned his attention to the subject of Steam Navigation, and after superin-
tending for a Joint Stock Company, the building and fitting out of the ' India'
steam ship, which was destined for opening a direct communication with the
East Indies, via the Cape, he was appointed to a post under the Royal Mail
Steam Packet Company, which he only held for a short time, and then be-
came the agent at Southampton, for the Peninsular and Oriental Company;
and the Directors and all who knew him in that capacity, bear testimony to
his zeal, talents, and high integrity. While holding that position, he was
attacked with sudden illness, and expired on the 12th of February, 1845, in
the prime of life and usefulness, being only in his 45th year. ' He made
several useful communications to the Institution, and attended its meetings
as frequently as was compatible with the nature of his engagements.

SOCIETY OF ARTS, LONDON.

The second ordinary meeting for illustration took place on Jan. 21, at
the Society's House, Adelphi, Edward Speer, Esq , iu the Chair.
The following communications were made —

1. On flif tlwor;/ of Plioto':raph!c Action, illiislratiit^ the connection he-

tweenihe Photo'^raphic iii;ent nnd FJeclricitii. l!y J. Nott, Esq. The

substance of this highly important and original paper, which led to aa
interesting discussion, and was to be resumed at the next meeting, was as
follows. " Since the discovery of Photography there is, perhaps, no branch
of electrical physics more interesting than that which comprehends the
phenomena of phosphorescence. For though liglit be the apparent agent
in the production of the photographic picture, yet the accompanying cir-
cumstances ran only be satisfactorily explained by a reference to electrical
principles. Light is a term merely relative to us, but light itself has no
absolute existence no more than sound ; then how unphilosophic are the
terms, latent light and light in darkness, which we sometimes hear, as if
that which is merely an effect, could be regarded as a cause, or a physical
force, at the same time that we know it is not possible to demonstrate the
existence of any other physical force in nature than electricity.

"Light is, therefore, only an atteiKlant circumstance in the production of
the photographic picture, and this seems clearly proved by the fact of one
body impressing its image upon another in the dark, when the bodies are
approximated iu electrical phraseology is called the striking distance.

"As light then cannot be regarded as the photographic agent, electricity,
which iu all prnbability is the piinciple of light, wonid seem to be, and the
ellects produced when phosphorence is developed through juxta posed
transparent media, of different densities or electrical affinities, bear s
striking an analogy lo those which are produced upou a sensitive surfaca
when exposed to the action of light reflected from bodies in different de.
grees of intensity as to render it more than probable, that what is undei-.
stood by the term photography, is a simple ca^e of phosphorescence by in-
sulation. For we find that some parts of the sensitive surface, then exhibit
what may be called an elective affinity for certain substances, while others
do not. The results can only be the effects of simidtaneous attractions and
repulsions, the manifestation of which is incouceviable iudepeudent of the
presence of electricity.

" The question then arises, if the photographic picture be the result of
electrical action, why may not the colour as well as the contour of bodies
be takeu down, seeing that colour is not a propirly matter, but as a
properly of light- All bodies are seen only by reflected light, and their
colours vary in tint according to the position of the spectator with respect
to the plane of reflection. For instance, iu the normal of the plane of re-
flection, the colour of bodies is most distinct, and at every deviation from
this point, the local tint changes, and in many cases, is totally extinguished
when the e;.e of the spectator reaihes the angle of total reflection. Thus
then, where the reflected l|ght is the strongest, the colour of bodies is least
perceptible, and vice versa.

These considerations induced me to try what comparative effect would
be produced upon a sensitive surface, by light reflected at various angles
of incidence from tiie plane of the picture.

"The effects which were thus produced were quite analogous to those
which are observed iu nature, the local lints of the bodies represented
varying with every change that was made in the angle of reflection ia
which the picture was taken down, and the direct ray invariably gave less
picturesque results than when a parallel glass was used. In some speci-
mens taken with the parallel glass when they were looked at directly, all
the appearance of a radiating relleclion were presented, and when looked
at obliquely, all those of a speculary reflection, as if the sun were actually
shining within the photographic picture itself.

These results gave promise that some remarkable effects viould be pro-
duced by polarized light, I therefore had a small sundial made, the style
of which w as formed by a bit of very fine silver-w ire, and from the centre
of the dial a bit of the same wire was erected perpendicularly, so that the
hour angle and the sun's azimuth were given at the same instant.

liy means of this instrument Mr. Nott observes, he was able to determine
with a good deal of accuracy, the position of the sun, with respect to the
plane of the picture that he wished to take a photographic representation
of. The glass of the camera was also made adjustable to the polarizing
angle by an attached graduated quadrant.

When, by these means the light was polarized into the camera, by a
double reflection from the plane of the picture, and from the parallel glass
it was found that the objects in deep shadow and those iu sun-light were
taken down simultaneously and with equal precision, and that without the
slightest trace of solarization, exhibiting a sun-light view of the greatest
truth and beauty, iu which the transparency of the shadows and the effect
of the distance produced by an exquisite gradation of tint, such asart coidd
scarcely hope to itnitate. This result of polarized light seems doubly
interesting since the recent and beautiful discovery of Faraday, where a
ray of extinguished polarized light is reillumed by electricity.

How far this discovery may enable us to determine the nature of the
active agent concerned in the production of the photographic picture, we
will not at the present moment presume to decide.

2. On the new Patent Oil Integument, or skin of Paint, by H. Page,
by which great facility is afforded for iuterior or exterior decoration.
The author, after pointing out the various inconieaiences which the public
experience iu having the painting, graining, and oil decorations done on

8

58

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[FEBRrART,

the premises, proceeded to sliow some of the advantages which he ob-
tains by subslituling a prepared skin of paint for the ordinary common
painting. These advaiitaR'S are very apparent in tlie decoration of ceil-
ings, or in the t-xecution of any kind of flat ornamental »vork, wlielbcr it
be iniitaliousof \vood.<, marbles, lettering in gold or colours, on nails or
wood-work, as it is only necessary that the dimensions of the parts to
be ornamented should be previously taken, and the work can be com-
pleted at ihe arti.'ts' shop or study. He neit proceeded to describe the
process of manufacture, remarking, that the skins at present made are
12 feet by 3 feet, that being found the most convenient size, but ihey can
be made of any dimensions. A shectof elephant, or any stout paper, rather
larger than the skin required, is taken, and the surface on one side only
is prepared with a mixture of gum arabic, treacle, and v.iiler, upon
which when dry a coat of paint made with boiled oil and white lead in
the ordinary way is put upon it ; when that is dry, the operniion is re-
peated till the skin is of tlie required Ihickuess, but two coats are found
to be sufiicieut for general use. To separate the skin from the jiaper it is
laid on a clean board, with the painted side dovrnward ; the paper is then
wetted at Ihe back v. iih clean water, and after it has stood a lew minutes,
the paint may be rcnioved without any difliculty or the least fear of its
tearing. Tlie same paper may be painted on thirty or forty times, but
must always be prepared as described above. The paint where removed
is carefully wiped with a sponge and then dried with a wash leather lo
remove any portion of the preparation which adheres to it. The skin is
then folded and. put away till such time as it may be required for use.
The mode of fixii^g the skin is to rub down the surface lo which it is to be
attached, and, when tlioroui;hly clean, it is gone over with boiled oil and
gold size ; a smear is sunkieut. The skin is then laid on with a soft
cloth, as in the ordinary paper-hanging. Several beautiiul specimens
were exhibited.

INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.
January 12. — II. E. Kendall, Esq,, V.P., ia the Chair.

A paper was read by John Kritton, 'Esq., descrip/ive of lioilt/n Chapel,
near Edinburcjh. This edifice was commenced in 144G, and his widow and
successors continued the works, which had been left unfinished at the death
of the founder, in 1479. Mr. Britton observed, that his attention had been
directed by Mr. David Roberts to the aisle at the east end, which is wider
than ths other ; and it would appear that the plan had been changed after
the stoiie-work for the vaulting was prepared, and in order to make it avail-
able, the architect had resorted to the expedient of carrying the arches upon
large projecting corliels, — a remarkable feature in the construction, which it
would be difiicult otherwise to explain. — Mr. Burn observed, that the pic-
turesque tradition (so well handled by Sir Walter Scott) of the interment of
the Sinclairs, shrouded in the armour and uncofiined, in a vault beneath the
chapel, is destitute offoundaiion. There is a crypt, not under, but bcyondthe
chapel, to the eastward, nhic!\ Mr. Burn believes, on a care.''ul examination
never to have been used as a sepulchre ; and there is only one other small
vault, where some of the family have been deposited in oaken coffins. — Mr.
Fowler observed, that the nave of the building was vaulted on the uncom-
mon, though not singular principle of a solid roof, the extrados of the arch
forming the external covering. The vaulting of tlie east end aisle is remark-
able for its excessive flatness, and appears to have been retained in its place
by iron ties grooved into the stones — a singularity in the construction of the
Middle Ages.

Mr. Donaldson read a letter from Mr. Knowles, from Athens, describing
some late discoveries made in further disencumbering the Acropolis of its
rubbish. One result has been to ascertain, that the interior of the Parthenon
was supported by columns of the Doric order, 3 ft. 7^ in. in diameter, of
which the fluted contours remain traced on the pavement. Mr. Donrddson
made some remarks on the model of the Parthenon by Mr. Lucas, exhibited
at the British Mnseuni, in which the lower range of interior coluiuns is re-
presented as of the Ionic order, and promised some further remarks on this
subject at a future opportunity.

Steam Engine. — At the Academie des Sciences, Paris, Dec. 29,M. A.
Seguier read a notice of a new steam engine, the invention of Messrs. Isoard
and Mercier. After describing the construction of this engine, M. Se-
guier says : — " It ddfers fiom all that has hitherto been invented, not only
in its construction, but also by the special manner in wliich the steam is
employed. Instead of being conveyed from the generator to the motive
apjiuraius, and undergoing on the way, or at the moment when its action
is required, all the losses due to the diminution of volume by the causes
of the cooling process, the steam is maintained at a very elevated tempe-
rature in the generating tube, and the relations of the heated surfaces and
of hot water injected are calculated in such a way that the heat does not
escape by the orifice until it has acquired an increase of temperature
which permits it to act at once as steam and as dilated gas.

A VIEW TAKEN OF A REVIEWER;

In a Letter to the Editor of the Ciril Engineer and Architect's Journal.

[W» are compelled by an unfortunate misprint at p. 13 of this journal,
and from an anxiety to avoid all appearance of injustice, to give insertion
to the following letter. It is rather of a philological than architectural
character, and this, togellier with a fuU apprecia'ion of the writer's merits
as an architectural critic, renders it wholly unneces^-ary for the Reviewer
to enter upon a detailed i-eply. We have taken the liberty of omitting
one or two passages in which the writer's f. elings have betrayed him into
personality. The misprint of the word " fagade " was marked ou the
proof-sheets, but the correction was neglected by the compositor.]

Sir — To crave as a particular favour, or favour at all, what I can de-
mand as an act of justice, would be no particular compliment to yourself
personally. It would imply that I thou;;ht so meanly of you as to sup-
pose that you would not feel jourself sullicieully bound by your own sense
of honour'and honesty to atibrd rae, as mere matter of course, the oppor-
tunity of exposing in your own Journal the not only very unfair but actu-
ally falsifying remarks which the " Review of the Companion to the Al-
manac" has rendered it the vehicle of. I need not adopt the submissive
tone of a petitioner, nor do you require to be tickled by dainty phrases
into doing what your own feelings must prompt you to at once, or if nut
your feelings, mere regard to your own interest and to the character of
your publication.

Your very clever Reviewer has blundered in the oddest manner
throughout, and has committed both himself and your Journal. If not
a downright blunder, it was surely a piece of great indiscretion on the
part of the " Civil Kngiueer" to assail, or suffer to be assailed all at
once, in its own columns, and that, with rancorous spite, and undis-
guised hostility, that very portion of the Companion which the Journal
itself has hitherto especially and almost exclusively noticed, aud has
recommended to its own readers, as containing much interesting archi-
tectural description, remark and information. I do not say that be-
cause the Companion had all along been spoken of favourably— at least
civiiy by the " Civil Engineer," the latter ought for mere cousisleucy's
sake, to have contitiued to speak of the Companion in the same tone as
formerly. In the course of time, publications of the kind are apt to alter
— and alter greatly for the worse. They quite lose their original spirit and
character, and merely live on upon the reputaiion which they have acquired
during their season of vigour. Such unfortunate change may have come
over the '• Companion :" its architectural writer may be in the condition
of the poor archbishop of Grenada, and your Reviewer has kindly under-
taken 10 be its honest, and disagreeable <in(7i-tclling Gil Bias. A change
has of late come over even jour own Journal, altliongh it has not numbered
quite so many years as the Companion, consequently lias not become
superantiualed. That change, however, is of couiae one decidedly for the
better. Still, it has in some respects been rather a too sudden and startling
one. Most of your readers must have been not a liilie astouiahed by tlje
" Review" in question. If the Companion — by which is to bo understood
the architectural part of it— has altogether degenerated, and is no lunger
of any interest and value, it might have been coolly dismissed or have been
passed over without any notice at all.

Between not speaking favourably of a publication, and speaking of it
abusively, there is a wide dilierence, — a wide ditfereuce between not
praising, and coursely reviling. Wide as it is, your " Reviewer'' has dis-
played his agilit} by leaping over it at a single bound. In performing
which notable feat he has, unluckily, jumped pUimp into a quagmire. Let
ushope, Mr. Edilor, that he has not dragged your Journal into it at the
same time. — In his hurry to fire his blundcrOms at ilic Coni]ianion,he over-
loaded it so incautiously that it has recoiled, aud laid him sprawling.

Intended to be severe, his remarks show chiefiy impotent savageness ;
and if he does not actually foam at the mouth, be has discharged a great
deal of nonsensical froth from his pen. As to severity. 1 can be severe
myself; perhaps, Mr. Editor, you think me so now ; it would, therefore,
as ill become me to exclaim against that " Qudifcittion,-' — or what looks
like it — in your Reviewer's observations, as it has done him to protest so
lustily against every — even the most innocent species of artifice, sham
and deception, at the very time that he was imposiug upon the readers of
your Journal his own distortions and niangliugs of words and meanings,
as remarks actually made in the Companion.

Such being the case, I might very well pass them over as too contempti-
ble for notice. Undoubtedly, I might do so— most others, perhaps would
do, because that ssiine " too contemptible for notice," is a very cheap and
convenient mode of showing one's philosophy. I also should perhaps have
adopted it, had not the Reviewer among his other fabrications, hammered
out and sharpened weapons to be turned against himself. There are in
the world those who cau very heroically submit to bear any amount of
contempt so long as it is not expressed publicly. It is not the mere con-
tempt Itself, but the publicity of it, which at all touches them. Besides all
which, however contemptible the matter may be in itself, the opportunity
of turning a Reviewer completely inside out is by far too templing. It is
not every day that a similar one presents itself, and perhaps it is better bo
than otherwise.

As I have already said the Reviewer's perversions and raisrepreseata-

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

59

tions are so gross as instantly to expose themselrf s, yet very few readers
indeed take the trouble of compariDg a Reviewer's remarks aud qnotatiHns
witli tlie book itself tha- happens to be under notice. And your Reviewer
must not only be of sucli opinion, but must hare Mt pietly well assured iu
his own mmd either th It no readers atallev.rdi so. or that the "Com
panioa was of all books in the world the mo-t uolikely to fall ia the wav
ofthe readers of the Civil Eugine,>r, else he wmild hardly have ventured
upon asssrlions ealcuiated to induce people to Uirn at once to the Com-
panion, for the purpose of ascerlaimug whether the remarks on Public
Improvements were as nonsensical as he has represented tliem

The Reviewer commences his attack on (hat chapter in the Companion
with what IS rather an unlucky slip for a gentleman who pretends to take
otbers to task, for carelessness of espress.ou, and inaccuracies of lan^ua'^e
giving It as his opinion-aad a Reviewer's opinion can be nothin-^- les°s tlfan
a pi«m;,<;r-that ihe new range of buildings near the Royal Exchange, called

treemans Place, is praised for the " 'juali/ication"\ which it least of
all possesses. Here then, vve (iud '• qualification" confounded with
' quality, ' aud though what the writer means to say is obvious eaou-h
he has no right to expect that his own meaniogs will be iudulgentiv made
out for him, when he himself studies to misinterpret the at least eauallv
plain meanings of other writers. Perhaps he thought that " oualificatioa''
being ihe longer one, was the liner sounding word of the two and .ave it
the preference accurdm-iy. Still, however awkwardly exoressed the
censure itself may be just; and it is certainly no slight censure upon one
who pre.ends to speak of architecture, to say that he praises buildings for
quahties which they do not at ail possess ;-i,ot but that such malaprop
praise has been U-alt lu very largely by architectural critics

The particular mem cLaimed for the building above mentioned is, that
It ,s a hae and well-proportioned architectural mass, as will hard y be
disputed by those who ha.e seen it. Therefuie, in order to make ev dent
with what pains aking ingenuity the Reviewer has proved it to be wholly
undeserving of the character given it, it is necessary lirst to give The re-
marks in the ' Companion' at length, and then consider what ^ort of fl!r
constructiou the Reviewer has put upon Iheiu.

"Freemim's Place, is in a manner so connected with the Roval Fv
change (mentioned just before in the book) " to which it may be con"
sidered a sort ot architectural satellite, that we proceed to notice it at
once before we come to other general improvements and alterations of the
kmd, more especially as it dutiuguisbes itself from all the rest by havin-
more the air of a single large editice, than a mere piece of stree- arrhi"
tecture. This range of building, which immediately faces , I 'e^Vront'
of the Royal Excnange, and forms the opposite side of a wide pa°"d
avenue between the two Ouildings, that is reserved for foot passen-ers onlv
IS in a sty e of noble simplicity that says much for the good !ae and
judgment ot its architects, Messrs. E. I'Anson and Sou. ° Ennaly flee
from the usual common-place of pretensions decoration-apt to run i lio
he merelricious, and Irom baldness and lusipidity-apt alio to be mixed
up w^ith the former, ,t is at once sober and digniUed-wilh neithe" too
much nor too little ot embellishment, but consisrent througuo ",?ani all
of a piece. Not only is it a hue mass as far as mere size .-oes but the
importance so derived is well kept up and preserved by the°charac"er of
the .fenestratiou," which is sucn as not to cut up the mass itselt- i,u,
littleness, as is too generally the case, owing to wfudorv b ,ig p"t "oo
closely together, which inevitably occasions an ordinary dwelling house
to prevail in spue ot every attempt to mask it by ornament; wl erfas this
fa?ade"-et this be particularly attended to-'- is exceed, igly well pro!
portioned both as to the quantity of window opening as compeared w hX
entire surface, and well-proportioued also iu regard to mass fabou 1 0

^:^^i^!:r::i;::;^'"'-''^-^' -'- ^" ">« whole of it:s^fd:^i;:it

More need not be quoted, there being already enough for the purpose
and also to show the kind ot writing and architectuTal comment in the
Companion, which, it none of li.e best, are quite as good as what we

frjil ^' '^"^ ^™"' '^'•'^'^''•^'='"™' J-'--''^'^'- Novi, after reading he utv,
would any person m hi:, senses suppose that bv ■' fenestraiin„-'^t i
det-stood merely the ground-Uoor "Lows wh'.ch l^l rarch^e^cturUr;
and artistically, answer much better to the nauie ot'glazed^rcades than i^f
windows? Ihe design would have been precisely the°same hid the tround
flcor arches been entirely open, as tor instance, in what is ca td'coveu
(warden Piazza. And did the Reviewer understand any th^i of arch^
tecture beyond a few crude notions about it he must know hS, f ,
tiou aud arcading require very dilierei.t prip'ortions n it'a d to the "atij
between souls and voUs. So desperately determined,Cvee,rs he o

^z i^ui^^^^^i^ii^he ;:;l:;:;; zix-^rT'h'-'^^^T^^

term " fenestration "-for of the „' ndows and ^ih- " ," '""'''" ^^ ""^
the fasade he takes no not.ce-lbut nvTouslv c^nharr!' T'T"'" f
to the ground.floor, the very p.rt whfch "s irromTei' '"nT' ofn tfclt

ui^iSsrcLt:;^? ^;::^;:/^^t:;;:;::i '^s^^^-^'j ^"'-^" ^"

plausibility to his own distorted rep resen atiln of thi IT, '" f '" '"'r

converts the words '-this F.c.nc," into "^"aI^^IP"^'"'-'^' ^l

pri^t u'L it"wasTmo';"'','" "?' ''"' "" """"""" ^^^ - ™ere mis-
i"iui. II so, It was a most pat and convenient om. a, ,i,= t; i i

accordingly took care not to auer lh,a when cori" ctm" Uie p ouf \"'. t "

muake is so unluckily lucky aud con>euient, that widiout U the quotation

aAfnt M™ 7r «""«.'•'•'' ?'« pvrpose at all, but wotild rather have told
somewha, Jfti M '" '""^^equence cut off, having exerted his ingenuity,
.somewhat after the manner of the fellow in one of Ho-arth's Electioa

Ihe grc. und"'"'"' '^'" ^'' ""^' ''« »"=' certainl/come to
' To make assurance doubly sure,' the Reviewer takes some pains fo
convince us of the marvellous fact, that when Conservatories are buil to
cor espond with the architecture of the mansion they happen to be con-
nected with-whether designed as arcades or olher^4e-the spaces be-
tween the glazmgs are quite as wide as tha piers of the grounTfloor in
Freeman s Place. What a notable piece of information ! how wonderfL"
that an arcade forming the ground floor of a street building should resemWe
any o her arcade, more especially one used as a conservatory ' Fortu"a e
was It for the Roya Exchange that the Reviewer did not turn round upon
ha'oTthet'n""' ";«^Sg.-egate surface ofthe windows, compared vvkh

r ic r 1, '■^' '? ''" '", S''"' °'" S''"'*'^'- ""'" " is !« many conserva-

tones, for the reason that "the grouud-lioor of the building exhibits one
continued series of arched window-openings, separated only^by piers ''

Of course he himself has seen the building-or if not, there is a partial
elevation of it m the Companion to inform him what is its design, and what
are Us propor ions. Besides seeing it, he gives us to see that he examined
It very carefuily-so very carefully indeed, as to see nothing at all in it
except the single part which it served his purpose to look at,-which he
took a "rough admeasurement of," and concerning which he had written

Zl^r,? ™"^: ' ■■""".'■'"• . "^''"^ ""'y ''""S i" "l''^!' !"• shows any smooth-
ness ,s the gentle protestatiou-flung out as a sop to the architects Ihem-
selves-that ne does "not intend the slightest censure of the actual
arrangement of the windows." How vastly candid and generous ' how-
soothing and flattering it must be to them to be assured that their buildincr
IS passable enough, only it does not at all answer to the character n-iven of
It in the Companion as being a noble aud well-proportioned aslylar facade
not cut up into littleness by too great a number of windows. Ho\v far
such really is or is not the case will be rendered tolerably evident by statinsr
that m a frontage of 160 feet or thereabouts, there are only thirteen window!
over the (craz-o or groundfloar, which being treated as an arcade has, of
course very much wider openings than the rest of the facade. The -'eneral
Ia9ade IS assuredly quite as solid in its proportions as those ofthe Reform
and other palatial club-houses,-at least as regards the fenestration of the
several Hours, for it must be admitted, that there is not quite so much
space between one floor and another as could be desired. Still, upon the
vvhole, the Freeman's Place facade is marke.l by the quality— or as the
Reviewer has it, by the qualification of bre,ulth-by which, I ought for his
beueht to explain, is not to be understood width.

The next subject of commentary, observes the Reviewer, is Trafalgar
Square; whereupon he proceeds to comment upon the commentary in tha
CorapanioD, alter his own ingenious and iugeuuous fashion. The Civil
hngineer pronounced, some time ago, the two fountains in Trafal-'ar
Square to be not only far from beautiful, but positively ugly, aud not only
ugly but of "intense ugliness!" which the Companion opines to be rather
too severe,' assigning as reason for such opinion, that " the insigniScance
ot tlieir (the fountains) appearance is at least an equal defect." Which
observation has not been thrown away on the Reviewer, for he seizes hold
of it m two ways, first to broach a novel and very peculiar notion entirely
his own, and next to expose the writer's false and absurd logic. Accordins
to the Reviewer, Insigtiijimnce of appearance and Ua liiiess, —hiihevto con-
sidered two uistinct and very separable, although not always separated
qua iiies, are so incorporated together as to constitute one and the same •
so that whatever is ugly must be also iusigniucani, whatever is insi-ni-
beaut, ugly ; whence it should follow that what deserves either one oi-°the
other epithet in the superlative degree is superlative with regai-d to both
attributes at the same time, and "intense ugliness" is equivalent to intense
lusignihcauce. Hence— if such very curious argumentbe worth any thing—
a pigmy must be a far uglier monster to encounter than ugliest Polyphemus,
or what IS the same thing a hideous monster of agiaut more insignificant than
a pigmy. Alter this, it will be absurd to talk of things being " too insig-
nificant and contemptible for notice." Nevertheless, there are some diffi-
culties attending the doctrine aud its application. 'Insignificance' has
till novv passed for being rather a relative than a positive quality : the
same thing may be either insignificant or the contrary according to place
and circumstances. What would be admired as a very elegant aud tasteful
ornament upon the mantelpiece of a lady's boudoir, uught'make but a very
insignificant appearance in a stately and spacious saloon, yet would it
therefore become at all ugly in itself ?— hardly. To such awkward conclu-
sion, however, those must arrive who go along with the Reviewer, the
curiousness of whose ideas on that point of theory has seduced me into
something like digression. The notion which he has briefly thrown out
is by far too good to be thrown away ; wherefore it is to be hoped that he
will evolve, expound, and elaborate it, tiking it as the germ of a now
" Philosophy of .Esthetics," which, if it should not edify will at least
astonish the public.

Besides the mistake of supposing there is any distinction at all between
ugliness and insignificance, the Companion has committed the egregious
error of assigning one defect, not as additional cause for censure, but in
mitigation of very strong censure on account of some other imputed defect,
let there is surely nothing illogical in that, unless logic consists more in
verbal forms than ideas. The Reviewer excepted, every one is aware that

8*

CO

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[February*

opposite defects neutralize each other more or less ; consequently what is
so far from being noticeable as to be insignificant, cannot be especially
remarkable or olTensive for its ugliness. Neither does the remark in the
Companion admit that Mr. Barry's fountains deserve to be called ugly at
all. It is ratlier levelled against the outrageously vituperative criticism
■nhich brands them with that epithet in the hyper-superlativc decree as if
they exbibiteil the very ' pricterplui)erfect' of hideousness. AVIien it was
first bestowed on them, the expression "intense ugliness" seemed to Ije
uttered very inconsiderately, but as it has been brought into notice again
without any admission of it's impropriety, or with the least attempt to soften
it down, we must perforce conclude that it was penned deliberately at the
time, and that its author still maintains it most resolutely.

That critic's vocabulary must be exceedingly limited indeed, who can
find no terms for the uunu-rous intermediate gradations between beauty
and positive ugliness and tlie extreme of hideousness. The lieviewer
seems to have only black and white upon his palette, and to daub every
thing he notices with one of those two colours, as best suits his purpose
at the moment.

In point of design the Trafalgar Square fountains are not remarkable
for any particular beauty, neither are they so for the opposite reason.
"What is most to be complained of is that they are not uijnu a snfliciently
noble scale. A single fonnlain equal in capacity to both the present ones
would have formed a noble decoration — a far more imposing object in the
centre of the square. But I forget— the lieviewer has an inUnse horror
of every thing that is imposing or partakes of imposition. Let us, however,
see what sort of imposition be can, nevertheless, stoop to himself, — what
sort of sense, or nonsense he has made out of what is said in the Com-
panion respecting the general appearance of Trafalgar Square. And here
it is necessary to quote from the book.

" A more striking architectural fault as regards the enclosure m Square
itself is, that the two side boundary walls, east and west, are made to
slope according to the fall of the ground from north to sontii, although the
enclosure itself is on a uniform level plane. Within the enclosure this
produces a singularly disagreeable eOect, for the tops of walls are not made
to rise and fall like hedges according to the iucqualities of ll:e ground."

Undoubtedly, this is not so well expressed as it might have been ; still
the meaning is sulliciently obvious, viz. that an unpleasing efiecl is occa-
sioned by liie tops of those walls being made to slope, instead of being
carried horizontally, and parallel to the flat pavement of the area. Yet
the Reviewer has made it appear that it is complained of by the Com-
panion, that " the tops of tlie walls are not made to rise and fall like
hedges." How came that remarkably significant "The" to be conjnred
into the text? — or did it jump in entirely by accident, and just into the
very place where it so admirably suited the purpose of the honest and
conscientious Ueviewer? Can that, too, be a mere mistake ? If so, the
mishaps which liave occurred in printing the Reviewer's comments, are
not so much mistakes and mishaps as actual miracles. Still, prodigiously
lucky andconvenient as they may have been just at the time, they prove
anything but agreeable in their consequences, when they are pointed out.
They oc'casion not only ugly, but " intensely ugly" suspicions; and those
suspicions are rather confirmed than at all lessened when it is perceived
how studiously the Reviewer labours to fasten upon the Companion more
silliness than it really contains. AVhere did be find in the book itself
such a Balaam expression as that of "making Trafalgar-square agree-
able ?— and, if it be not in the book, but one of his own concocting, where-
fore should " agreeable " be printed with inverted commas, as if it was
the very word there made use of, and the one constituting the silliness of
the phrase employed. It is also in some degree made to appear that,
while it speaks of Trafalgar-square as an "ill-arranged spot," the Compa-
nion calls it " one of the noblest sites in Europe," those words being
also printed between inverted commas, as if a quotation from the book ;
which, not being the fact, the Reviewer ought to have guarded against
misconception by saying, " irlmf lias been called by some, ' (most ptople) one
of the noblest sites in Europe.'"

It is, however, absurdity in me to talk of his guarding against miscon-
ception, when misconception and misconstruction, and misrepresentations
are what he has evidently laboured at in all that he has said of the sec-
tion headed " Public Improvements" in the Companion to the Almanac.

In like manner as he has reiterated his crushing condemnation of the
Trafalgar-square fountains, he has again attacked— for there can be very
little doubt that the former attack proceeded from himself— the new
building at Lincoln's Inn, on account of deal being used for the ceilings
of some of the rooms, which he not only derides, but absohilely vilifies
as mere sham and deception, notwithstanding that it is the real wood
which shows itself, without pretending to be any other material than what
it actually is. In asserting that the members of the Inn themselves vote
the ceilings in question to be Brummagem, he may be right, for if he
assists at the " Hall dinners," he of course can best tell whetlier they do
or not— and his veracity is of course also unimpeachable. Still, few will
agree with him that the sneering exclamation " Brummagem " is at all
the criticism of " gentlemen and men of educated taste," On the con-
trary, it is a very Brummagem sort of criticism, to which those only have
recourse who have neitlier reasons nor arguments wherewith to support the
opinions they pretend to hold.

Singularly enough too, just after seemiug to allow that it is the clum-
siness of the deception which renders imitative materials despicable, he
is shocked at the Companion fur its commending the columns in the Co-

losseum because they imitate white marble " most deceptively." Admi-
rable consistency, truly ! Are we then to suppose that, in his opinion,
the imitation wonld have been all the more praiseworthy had it been less
successful and less deceptive ? — that the paltriness of deception is in pro-
portion to the exactness and truthfulness of the imilation.

At any rale he has started a fieali and fertile topic for discussion — one
which I must here pass over, contenting myself with keeping it in reserve
for some other occasion, only remarking that the Reviewer seems to con-
sider Design as altogether secondary to Material ; wherein he shows him-
self to be a much more matter-of-fact kind of person than he has done as
regards sticking to matlerof-fact quotation. According to his notions,
Pompeii, with its stucco columns, Venice, with its so called " marble pa-
laces," and Vicenza, with its Palladian facades of brick coated over
with intonaco, ought to be scouted as exhibiting the mere Brummagem
architecture. The Travellers" Club House, Pall Mall, is but of mock,
material ; and there is plcntv of ISrummagcin, viz. sham marble, or scag-
liola, not only in the other ciub-houses, but in Buckingham Palace and
Sutherland House. Nay, there is even mock masonry— wood-work ceil-
ings painted to imitate stone vaulting, in some parts of both \ork Min-
ster and Ely Cathedral, surely, therefore, the deal ceilings at Lincoln's
Inn are not such very dishonest things after all— perhaps houest enough
to satisfy most people, if not one who is as straightluced in his notions of
honesty as the Reviewer h.is shown himself to be. * *

To your own Readers, Mr. Editor, I leave now to judge if I am the
ridiculous ignoramus which your publication has represented me ; and
whether I am capable of writing tolerably correct and intelligible Eng-
lish. This letter contains some pretty plain English, and also some suf-
ficiently intelligible and significant hiuts, which you ought to thank me for
not having made plainer.

I remain. Sir,

Yours, &c. &c.
Thi; AVbiter in tul Cumpamon to the Almanac.

CHRIST CHURCH, PLYMOUTH.
Sir— In reference to your observations on the fault of a " show front,"
the " other sides" of my church being " merely plaiu masonry," it
is only necessary to inform you that the sides of the building unite
with the buildings on either hand: that the Eastern end is entirely
concealed, with no more than a space for light of ten feet deep ; and, m
short, that the front alone is visible ; or that it alone iciH be visible when
the intended school is built against the Southern side. The church is
already built in on the nurlh side. Of course, nothing can be worse than
the making of an insulated building with a " show front."

Yours truly,

G. M'iGHTVVICK.

[Amon" the difficulties which architects meet with from the injudicious
wi'^hes of"those who employ them, not the least is that of erecting buildings
on sites wholly uusuited for them. A church of which the sides '• unite
with the buildings on either hand," must have three great defects : 1st. It
has a show front which greallv diminishes its architectural value. 2nd.
The difficulties of procuring light must be obviated by some unchurchlike
arrangement : 3rd. The adjacent houses produce inharmonious combinations
,and secularize the character of the church.] — Eu.

ICKWORTH.

SiK— In a memoir which I have just been reading of Mario Asprucci,
an Italian architect who died in 1S04,— and who, I may observe, is omitted
not only in Na-ler's Kunstler-Lexicon, but in the enormously copious Bio-
graphical Diclimary of the Society for the Diliusion of Useful Knowledge,
—it is stated that he designed for " Milord Ervei," a splendid palace which
that nobleman afterwards began to erect in England. By " Milord Ervei"
—that "■'ran mecenate delle belle arti," is of course meant the eccentric
Hervev. Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Derry, but is it Ickworth that is
the edifice alluded to? In the " Beauties of England and Wales," that
mansion is said to have been begun from the designs of two Porfw^iicsc
architects, named Carialho, — which has always struck me as an improba-
bility. Supposing, however, the latter account to be correct, what is the
other " palazzo" which " Milord Ervei" erected or began to erect in Eng-
land ? Or is that a mistake on the part of the Italian writer, who perhaps
confounded Ireland with England, in the former of which countries there
is or was somewhere in the county of Derry— the name of the place, I
do not now recollect— another stately country-seat, built by the " Bishop ;
and which like Ickworth was remarkable for the singularity of its plan,
the body of the house, being in both instances, an ellipsis.

M'hct'herthe mansion in question be really Ickworth or not, the designs
for it were engraved and published, that circumstance being alleged as
sufficient reason for merelv mentioning that specimen of Asprucci's abili-
ties, " che tutti, perchi- inciso, baslumenle conoscono"—it being what is so
well known to every one by means of those engravings. Be they ever so
well knowu'in Italy, no copies of such work or engravings seem to have
reached this country,— at least uot for sale ; nevertheless I take refuge

NEW PAT E N T S

FT, ATE lU

mj^itr <ul'

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

GI

in the possibilitij of tlieir having been seen by some one among your readers
and correspondents, who iu such case will probabli/ comniuuicate what he
knows respecting them. If no oue else, the present Marquis of IJristol, no
doubt, can, and no doubt also, would afford me the information which at
present I endeavour to elicit through your Jourual. I dare say it would
be the very first and last time of his Lordship's being ever troubled with
so eccentric an application — one paying him the compliment of my talcing
such very strange iuterest iu his mansion at Ickwortli.

Strauge as in the opinion of most persons such course would be, in my
own opinion it is infinitely iiiore strange that so remarkable a piece of archi-
tecture as that mansion is, should have altogether missed the celebrity
which many structures far less deserving of it have obtained. Most of the
houses shown in"\'itruviussis" *' Views of Seats," and similar collections,
are scarcely worth showiu^^, at all — as studies, or as architecture mere
nullities — things not worth the powder and shot of engraving them ; where-
as Ickworth is unicjue if ouly on account of the lavish display of sculpture
ia relievo ou its exterior. Yet do those who can tell to a hair'sbreadth
every admeasurmeut of the Partlieuon, know not of even the existence of
Ickworth.

I remain, your's, &c..

Eccentric.

REGISTER OF NEW PATENTS.

If additioral information be required respecting any piUent, it may be obtained at the
office of tllis Journal.

PURIFYING OF GAS.
Henry Phillips, of Clist Honiton, Devon, Chemist, for " Improvements
injmrifi/ing Gas." — Granted April 15; Enrolled Oct. 15, 1845.

In the purifying of gas by lime two means are resorted to, called the wet
and the dry lime processes; in some works one only of the two processes is
used ; in other works both processes are used consecutively, and the lime
employed for each process (where both are used) is fresh lime. The object
of the present invention consists in using for the wet lime process the lime
which has been previously employed for the dry lime process, by which a
considerable saring of lime will result. The gas is first passed through the
wet lime purifiers, and then through the dry lime purifiers ; new or fresh
lime in the ordinary manner is employed for the dry lime process, and after-
wards this lime is used for the wet process, to be immediately mixed with
water, in a vat, vessel, or other receiver, to prevent it from becoming bard—
which lime, by means of additional portions of water, is brought to the pro-
per consistency for the wet lime process in the same manner as if using fresh
lime for such purpose ; and such mixture of lime is applied in the ordinary
apparatus used for the wet lime process.

PROPELLING RAILWAY CARRIAGES.

Elijah Gallowav, of the Strand, for " Improvements in propelimg rail-
way carriages." — Granted April 10; Enrolled Oct. 10, 1845, {With En-
graving, Plate III.)

This invention is for certain improvements in rope traction, the object
being to propel the train ef carriages at a speed greater than that of the tra-
velling or propelling rope, and is effected by means of an apparatus termed
a " drag," attached by any convenient means to the first carriage forming the
train. The following is a description of the apparatus, reference being had
to the drawings of which fig. 1 is an elevation ; fig. 2 a plan ; and fig. 3, an
end view. Similar letters denote corresponding parts in each figure ; a «, is
a rectangular or oblong frame supported on travelling wheels b b, which run
upon auxiliary rails placed within those upon which the train of carriages
move, the whole apparatus being so constructed as to pass underneath the
carriages forming the train, or in other words that the train shall pass over
the drag, c c' are two shafts supported at each end in suitable bearings at
d d; upon each of the shafts c c' there are pullies e/", of different diameters ;
g g, h h, are two ropes extending the whole length of the line, the one marked
with the letters g g being a travelling rope, the other marked with the
letters h h, being a fixed rope, the ends thereof being attached to a fixed
point at the termini of each station. The ropes g and Ii pass round the
pullies e e', HTLifJ' in the following manner, namely, the rope g g', which is
the travelling rope passes under the pulley e', over the pulley e, and round
the driving pullies or drums connected with the engine at each station. It
■will therefore be evident tliat if motion be given to the rope g g', such mo-
tion will be imparted to the pullies e e',ff', the carriage or drag a a, at the
same time remaining stationary. We will now suppose the stationary rope
7( h to pass under the pulley /', and partially round the pulley/, and to be
fixed at each end. By this arrangement it will be apparent that if motion
be given to the pulbes e e',f/' by the travelling rope g g, such motion would
be transmitted to the rope h h, which would (if it were loose) travel at a
greater velocity than the rope^-, in consequence of the difference in the
diameters of the two pullies e and J". But in consequence of the rope h h
being a fixed rope, it nece.'sarily follows that such motion will be given to
the drag, which will travel upon the auxiliary rails at a speed double or
treble the speed of the propelling rope, depending upon the difl'ereace in

diameter of the pullies e and /. By this contrivance the stationary engines
will only be required to work at one-third or one-half the speed (depending
on the dift'erent diameters of the pullies,) in order to obtain tlie same velo-
city as trains worked on the lines constructed on the present principle.

Mr. G. proposes at each station to detach the drag from tlie train of car-
riages whicli are taken up and propelled by another drag to the next station ;
the train of carriages in arriving at the station passes over the drag ; for this
purpose the carriages must either be constructed so that the drag can pass
under them or a recess must be made at each station for the drag to run into,
so as to lower it sufficiently for the axles of the carriages to pass over. Thv
pullies e e' auAff are capable of being disconnected by means of a clutch-
box, so that the train can be stopped at any part of the line without stopping,
the stationary engines.

RAILWAY CARRIAGE BUFFERS.

Thomas Walker, of Euston Square, mechanic, and George Mills, o
Dover, coal merchant, for *^ improvements in springs and elastic power a
applicable to railway caniages and other vehicles, and to otiier articles an
purposes in w/tich springs or elastic power is noir used." — Granted July 3
1845; Enrolled Jan. 3, 1S4G.

This invention for springs and elastic power consists in the application of.
steel springs or other elastic substance in combination with atmospheric air to
buffers of railway carriages. Fig. 1 sliows a longitudinal section of a buffer
constructed according to this invention, in which a rt is a cylinder of cast iron,.
b b are the bufl'er-rods which pass through holes formed in the end of the
cylinder ; c c are pistons made to fit tight within the cylinder, which io
divided into two compartments by means of a diaphragm e; f/are holes ia
the piston, which are provided with valves opening inwards ; g g are spiral
steel springs, one end of which presses against the diaphragm e, and the other
against the piston, so as to force the same outwards ; the object of the valve
is to admit air betv/een the piston, and diaphragm during its motion out-
wards, which air is prevented returning or escaping from such place by means-
of the valve aty; the object of this arrangement being that shculd a force be
applied to the bulTer, such force is not only counteracted by the spiral spring,
but also by the air contained within the cylinder, forming the bufi'er, whicii
becomes forcibly compressed, and thereby acts as a resisiing power to the
opposing force.

Another modification of this buffer is shown at fig. 2, in which the inven-
tors employ elastic bags of India-rubber placed within cylinders, and filled,
with atmospheric air which is supplied through openings at g g.

Another part of this invention consists in a peculiar mode of obtaining,
motive power, for which purpose the inventors have shown in the drawing
a sectional elevation of an engine to be worked by the vapour of ammonia,
which is contained in a boiler placed in a water bath heated to 212^. The
vapour or motive power obtained from the ammonia passes through the
eduction and induction pipes of a cylinder constructed in the ordinary mau-
ner, with the exception that the patentees employ India-rubber bags (similar
to those described), within the cylinders above and below the piston, the
object of which is to prevent the vapour escaping through the stuffing bo.v;.
or between the piston and sides of the cylinder.

IMPROVED ARTIFICIAL MANURE.

James Muspratt, Esq., of Liverpool, gentleman, for " Improvements ir-
the manufacture of manure." — Granted April 15 ; Enrolled Oct. 15, 1845.
(A communication from Prof. Liebig.)

It has been ascertained, that the growing of any crop on land, and remov-
ing and consuming it wholly from the land where it was grown, takes away
certain mineral compounds ; and it has been suggested by Professor Liebig.
that in cultivating land and applying manure thereto, that the manure should
be such as to restore to the land the matters and the quantities thereof,
which the particular plants have abstracted from the soil during their growth.
It has been observed in the chemical examination of marls and vegetable
ashes, that the alkaline carbonates and the carbonate of lime can form com-
pounds, the solubility of which depends on the quantity of carbonate of
lime contained in the particular compound. It has further been found, that
the said alkaline carbonates can form a like compound with phosphate of
lime, in which the carbonate of potash or soda is partly changed into phos-
phate of potash or soda. Now the object of this invention is to prepare
manure in such manner as to restore to the land the mineral elements taken
away by the crop which has been growu on and removed from the land, and
in such manner, that the character of the alkaline matters used may be
changed, and the same rendered less soluble, so that the otherwise soluble
alkahne parts of the manure may not be washed away from the other ingre-
dients by the rain falling on the land, and thus separating the same there-
from. And it is the combining carbonate of soda or carbonate of potash, dt
both with carbonate of lime, and also the combining carbonate of potash and
soda with phosphate of lime, in such manner as to diminish the solubility of
the alkaline salts to be used as ingredients for manure (suitable for restoring
to land the mineral matters taken away by the crop which may have been
grown on and removed from the land to be manured), which constitutes the
novelty of the invention.

Although the manures made in carrying out this invention will have
various matters combined with the alkaline carbonates, no claim of inventioa

62

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Februaey,

is made thereto separately, and such materials will he varied according tolthe
matters which the l;uiJ to he manured requires to have returned to it, in ad-
dition to the mineral snlistanees above mentioned. Ihe quantity of carbo-
nate or phosiihati; of lirac, used with carbonate of soda or potash, may be
varied according to the degree of solubility desired to be obtained, depending
on the locality where the manure is to be used, in order to render the pre-
paration less soluble, in localities where the average quantity of rain falling
in the year is great ; but as in practice, it would be ditlicult to prepare
manures to suit each particular locality with exactness, the average prepara-
tion as will suit most localities will be given. In making manure accord-
ing to the invention, carbonate of soda or of potash, or both are to be fused
in a reverberatory furnace, such as is used in the manufacture of soda-ash,
with carbonate or phosphate of lime (anrt with such fused compounds are
mixed other ingredients as hereafter mentioned,) so as to produce n.anures ;
and such composition, when cold, being ground into powder by edge stones
or other convenient machinery, the same is to be applied to land as manure.
And in order to apply such manure with jnecision, the analysis and weight
of the previous crop ought to be known with exactness, so as to return to
the land the mineral elements in the weight and proportion in which they
have been removed by the crop.

Two compounds are first prepared, one or other of which is the basis of
all manures, which will be described as the first and second preparations.
The first preparation is formed by fusing together two or two and a half
parts of carbonate of lime with one part of potash of commerce (containing
on an average sixty carbonate of potash, ten sulphate of potash, and ten
chloride of potassium or common salt in the hundred parts), or with one
part of carbonate of soda and potash, mixed in equal parts. The second
preparation is formed by fusing together one part of phosphate of lime, one
part potash of commerce, and one part of soda ash. Both preparations are
ground to powder; other salts or ingredients in the state of powder are
added to these preparations and mixed together, or those not of a volatile
consistency may be added when the preparations are in a state of fusion, so
that the manure may represent as nearly as possible the composition of the
ashes of the preceding crop. This is assuming that the land is in a high
state of cultivation, hut if it be desired to grow a particular crop on land not
in a hieh state of cultivation, then the manure would he applied in the first
instance suitable for the coming crop, and then in subsequent cases, the
manure prepared according to the invention would, as herein described, be
applied to restore to the land what has been taken therefrom by the preced-
ne crop.

Preparation of manure for land iphich has had a wheat crop grown on and
removed tlierefrom. — Take of the first preparation six parts by weight, and
of the second preparation one part, and mix with them two parts of gypsum

one part of calcined bones — silicate of potash, (containing six parts of

silica) — and one part of phosphate of magnesia and ammonia. This manure
is also applicable to be used after growing barley, oats, and plants of a
similar character.

Preparation of manure for land which has had a crop of beans r/rown
thereon, and removed therefrom.— Tike fourteen parts by weight of the first
preparation, two parts of the second preparation, and mix them with one
part of common salt, (chloride of sodium,) — a quantity of silicate of potash,
(containing two parts of silica,) — two parts of gypsum, and one part of
phosphate of magnesia and ammonia. This manure is also applicable for
land on which peas or other plants of a similar character have been grown
and removed.

Preparation of manure for land on which turnips have ieen grotcn and re-
moved therefrom.— Take twelve parts by weight of the first preparation, one
part of the second preparation, one part of gypsum, and one part of phos-
phate of magnesia and ammonia. This manure is also applicable for laad
•«here potatoes or similar plants have been grown and removed.

The claim is for preparing and applying in the manufacture of manure,
carbonate of potash and carbonate of soda with carbonate and phosphate of
!ime, in such manner as to render the alkaline salts in manufactured manure
less soluble, and therefore less liable to be washed away by rain before they
are assimilated by the growing plants.

STEAM ENGINES.
KiniARD Haworth, '/ Bury, in the cnimty of Lancaster, engineer, for
certain iniproremetits in steam-engines. — [tiiuuted February 10 ; Enrolled
August 10, 184.).] — Reported in Newton's London Journal. — {With en-
gravings, Plate IIL)

The principal feature of novelty in the invention is as follows : — The
entire working engine has both the common reciprocating rectilinear
motion, and also a circular motion round the centre of the driving-shaft ;
the steam cylinder being fixed at oue end of a lever, whilst the crank
Involves loosely iu a step or bearing at the other end of the same lever,
'ihe boss or centre of tbis lever is keyed fast upou the main driving-shaft,
and is intended to communicate the motion of the engine to the same.
This molnin is transmitted in the following manner: — Ipouoneendof
the crauk-shaft a spur-wheel is keyed fast; the radius of its pitch line
being equal to half the distance of the centres of the crank-shaft from the
mam dnving-slial'l of the steam-engine. This wheel gears into another of
the same diameter, which is fixed, and remains perfectly stationary ; the
main driving-shaft revolving loosely through its centre : consequently,

the wheel open the crank shaft has a double motion to perform, — one
being a rotary movement round its own axis, communicated from the pis-
ton by means of the connecting-rod, as in ordinary steam-engines, — tlie
other being a planetary motion round the main driving-shaft, occasioned
by the spur-wheel upon the crank-shaft revolving, while the other wheel
(through the centre of which the main driving sliaft passes) remains per-
fectly stationary. The wheels being both of the same diameter, the
" planet-wheel " will complete its orbit round the main driving-shaft
ajid " siui-wbeel" in exactly the same space of lime as Ihe crank takes
to make one revolution round its own centre. The object of these im-
provements is to gain both power and speed, which is accomplished by
the motion being communicated to the driving shaft by a much longer
leverage than usual ; the increase of power being in proportion to tha
difference between the length of the crank and the length of Ihe lever,
iu the end of which it revolves : the speed is gained by Ihe shortness of
the crank, as the piston has a smaller distance to travel at every stroke
of Ihe engine.

In Plate III, fig. 1, is a plan or horizontal view of the improved
steam. engine, to be worked by high-pressure steam; and fig. 2 is a
partial section, shewing more clearly the contrivance for the entrance
and exit of the steam to and from the cylinder; a, foundation walls
which support the main shaft b; c, lly-wheel ; d, steam-cylinder ; e, con-
necting-rod ; /, crank; aud g, the crank-shaft. This crank-shaft g, in-
stead of revolving iu fixed bearings, as iu ordinary steam-engines, re-
volves in bearings at oue end of the levers h. It' ; the centre or boss of
the lever A, is keyed fast upon the main-shaft 6; the steam c; finder d,
being attached, by bolts and lugs, to the other end of the levers k, h'.
The steam is admitted into the cylinder, for the purpose of actuating
Ihe piston, in the following manner: — It will be seen, by referring to
fig. 2, that the end b\ of the shaft is made hollow, having a inidfeather
i, through the centre, to divide the entrance-pipe fc, from the exit-pipe /,
and revolves iu a hollow steam-chest or chamber m, being packed steam-
tight by means of stufliug boxes. Steam is introduced into this cham-
ber by the feed- pipe n, and passes through the opening o, into the en-
trance-pipe k, and thence through the slide-valve (which is of the ordi-
nary constrnctioo) to the steam cylinder. The action of Ihe piston com-
municates rotary motion by means of the connecting-rod e, and Ihe crank
/, to the crank-shaft g; upou one end of this crank- shaft g, the planet-
wheel ji, is keyed, gearing into a sun-wheel q, of the same diameter;
this wheel </, has no motion whatever, but merely serves as a rack,
around which the planet-wheel p, travels. Through the boss of the
wheel, q, the end 6, of the main driving-shaft passes, revolving loosely.
Thus it will be evident, that, in consequence of Ihe wheel q, remaining
perfectly stationary, Ihe rotation of the crank-shaft g, will cause the
planet-wheel p, to travel round the sun-wheel or circular rack q, in the
same space of lime iu which it revolves upon its own axis, thus caus-
ing the engine to revolve, while going through its reciprocating action;
the niaiu-shal't 4, i', being the fulcrum, aud revolving with it, in eon-
sequence of the bosses of the levers k, li', being kejed fast upon that
shaft. In this improved arrangement of the steam-engine, in order to
work the slide-valve, the excentric r, is stationary, and is connected to
the valve by a series of links and levers s, s, »; the rotation of the
engine communicating the requisite motion to the valve, the same as
the revolution of the excentric r would do if the engine were fixed or
stationary. Fig. 3 is a face view aud section of a cam, to be used iu
connection with this arrangement, in place of the excentric, if it is de-
sired to work the engine expansively ; this cam being calculated to cut
oil' the steam at half stroke.

The patentee remarks, that he has represented his invention as ap-
plied to a high-pressure "stationary" steam engine; but he considers
tlie improved "planetary engine" equally adapted to condensing eu.*
giues, and v%hether employed for marine or other purposes.

MANUFACTURE OF GAS.

James Murdoch, of Staple-inn, Middlesex, mechanical draughtsman,
for " certain impiovcmcnts in the manufacture of gas, and in ihe apparatus
emplaned therein. — (Being a communication.)— Granted February 20lh ;
Enrolled August 20th, 1S45 ; with engravings. Plate III.

This invention consists in certain improvements in the manufacture of
gas for illumination, uliicli are elt'icted by means of an apparatus shown
in the engraving, fig. 1, is a transverse Section, aud fig. 2, a longitudinal
section thereof, a, is for the coal. The neck a', of the retort is connected
by a horizontal tube w ith a vertical retort A, at the back of the apparatus ;
and this retort b, is connected by another horizontal tube c, parallel to the
first, with the neck d, from whence a pipe c, extends to the cooling appa-
ratus/: the two horizontal tubes are termed purifying retorts; aud each
contains a spiral piece of iron. The retort h, is nearly filled with coke or
charcoal, and is usep for decomposing water, supplied through the syphon-
pipe g, which descends nearly to the bottom of the retort, as indicated by
the dotted lines in tig 2. The lid oC the cooling apparatus /, has, on ita
under side, a long spiral channel, interrupted by slops, so as to cause the
gas, admitted into the apparatus by the pipe i', to pass over a large surface
of water, and occasionally through it, previous to its escape tlirough the
pipe A, to the gasometer. ;', is a syphon-pipe, for carrying off the surplus
water of the cooling apparatus. /, /, are fire-bricks to protect the retort a,
from the direct action of the flame ; and ;«, m, are openings, conducting the

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEEERAND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL

G3

flames to each side of the retorts, and heating them by reflection from llie
roof n, of ihe furnace, composed of fire-brick, j, is a vessel contain in;;
■water, to protect the flre-bars k, from the destructive action of Ihe fire, and
by the steam arising therefrom to increase the combustion of the fuel.

The mode of working wilh this apparatus is as follows : — The covers of
the purifying relorts are first secured and carefully luted ; the retort b, is
nearly filled with coke or charcoal, and its cover secured and luted ; a fire
is then lighted in the furnace, to bring the retort n, and purifyiug retorls
to a cherry-red heat, and the water retort h, lo a hriglit red heat ; and
when this heat is attained, the retort n, is charged with coal, and water is
admitted, in small quantities, into the retort h. The action of the heat
upon the coal disengages gas mixed witli tar, which passes iuto the first
purifying retort, and the sulphuretted hydrogen contained tlfereiu is de-
composed by the coil of incandescent iron; at ihe same lime the tar under-
going a second distillation is converted into gas, and mixes with that
coming direct from the coal. The gas, which is now mure dense from its
combination with the carbon contained in tlie tar, proceeds aloni- the
purifying retort, until it arrives at the retort h, where it mixes with the hy-
drogen resulting from the decomposition of tlie water by the incandescent
coke or charcoal, and passes into the second purifying retort, c, carryinf
with it the carburetted vapours and volatile oils which may have escaped
decomposition, but which, in tlieir course along the retort t. become de-
composed by the heated coil of iron, and give out their carbon to the
hydrogen. By this means the hydrogen becomes carburetted without im-
poverishiug the other gas. The gas then proceeds llirough the pipe c to
the cooling apparatus/, and tlicnce through the pipe /i, to the gasometer.
Instead of coal, resins, schistus, oils, fats, and similar substances, may be
distilled in this apparatus ; and, provided the punfying retorts, with the
coils of iron, are retained, the gas may be distilled and purified at one
operation, without the employment of a water retort.

MANUFACTURE OF TILES.

Richard WELLF.R,of Cape), near Dorking, Brick and Tile manufacturer.

for " Impruvemeiits in the manufacture of drain and other tiles and jiipex." ■

Granted March 27,1815 ; Enrolled Sept. 27,184a.— (TFii/i ok Engruving.)
— Reported in the Rcpertorij.

We gave a brief description of this invention last Dec, which for want
of drawings was not properly understood, we now give another description
with reference to the drawings, which will make the invention intelligible.'
The invention consists of improvei;ients in arranging and constructing
machinery for facilitating the making of drain, and other tiles and
pipes.

Description of the Drawing. — Fig. 1, is a side view of a machine, con-
structed and arranged according to this invention. Fig. 2, is an end view ;
and, Fig. 3, is a plan of the machine ; and the other figui-es of the drawing
show details ; and in all the figures, the same letters are used to indicate
the same parts of the machinery, a, o, is the framing of the machine,
the nature of which will readily be traced on examining the va-
' Jious figures of the drawings. The machine is mounted on four wheels,
to_ facilitate the transport thereof from place toplace. b, b, are tw-o vessels,
witliin which work pistons, for expressing the clay through dies or mould-
ing orifices at the outer ends of the vessels, 6, b, and the machinery is so
arranged, that when one of the vessels h, is having the clay expressed
therefrom through the monldiug orifice or die, affixed thereto, the other
■vessel, b, is brought into a position for allowing the same to be tiiied with
•clay. The vessels, b, are of a cylindrical form at their upper pai ts, and
flat at the under parts, which will be found to be a very convenient form,
particularly when making half cylinders, or bent tiles of large diameter,
compared w ith tlie diameter of the vessel.', 6; and, although it is believed that
it is better to have somewhat more than half a cylinder as shown, yet the
shape may be varied, so long as the sectitinarfigure of the vessels b, be
coDiposedof acurve and a straight or horizontal line. The vessels i, 6,
are mounted on necks or trunnions, so that they may move in bearings, in
such manner as to assume at one time a horizontal, and at another, a° ver-
tical position, by which, when either of the vessels b, has been emptied by
Its piston or plunger, it may be turned in a position to be again filled.
c, c, are the two pistons or plungers, which respectively work in the two
vessels h, b. These pistons are fixed to the two ends of the bar, rf, which
js supported, and slides in a suitable bearing in the bridge, e. On the
tinder surface of the bar, d, is formed or affixed a toothed rack, which is
worked by means of the pinion,/, on the axis, g, such axis receiviu' mo-
tion, by means af a lever hereafter described. In each of the pistons is
an opening, over which is placed a flap or valve, A, which allows of the
air passing between the piston and the clay, when the piston is drawn back,
and thus is the drawing back of tlie piston facilitated. On the upper
surface of the bar, d, are formed four rows of ratchet teeth, two rows bemf
formed so as to receive the catches or stops, i, which will retain the band
from going back in one direction, the other two rows of teeth being formed
or cut in an opposite direction, so as to receive the two catches or stops, j,
to retain the bar, d, from moving back when working in Ihe other direction ;
and the object of thus stopping the bar, <;, is, that the piston which is in
work, may not be driven back by the air which may have been compressed
between the piston and the clay, %vheu the lever, m, is put back, in order
to make another stroke. The two sets of catches or stops, i,j, are con-
nected together as shown, so that, by moving the lever, k, those stops or
catches wluch have been in action are moved out of action, and those which

are out of action, are brought into action. By this arrangement the bar
will be held from returning, in whichever wav it may be workiu- ■ and
when the piston at the end of the bar, d, has been forced up to the''e'iid of
Its stroke, the lever, k, is reversed, which will change the positions of the
catches or slops, i and.;, and then the bar, (/, may be reversed in its di-
rection of movement, which will, by the other piston, force out the clay
from the other vessel, b, and allow the vessel, l>, which has just beeii
emptied, to be moved in its axis or trunnions, so as to assume a vertical
position, rn order again to be filled with clay. I, I, are catches which re-
tain the vessels, b, in the horizontal or in the vertical position. It may be
remarked, thai although the vessels, b, I,, are preferred when mounted on
axes to be of the form shown and dcscribe<l, yet this part of my in-
vention is equally applicable to vessels of a cylindrical or other shape
from whicli clay is forced by pistons or plungers, through moulding- orifices'
or dies, to make tiles or pipes ; for such vessels may, with equal advan-
tage, be mounted on axes or trunuions. The moulding orifices are formed
m Ihe said covers of the vessels, i, and are as heretofore, suitable for
making tiles of diUereut forms or pipes, and are well understood, and
therefore do not require to be described in this specification. The bar
d, IS moved to and fro by means of the lever, in, which gives motion to the
axis,/, first ill one direction, then in the other, in the following manner-—
n, IS a ratchet-wheel fixed on the axis,/: this ratchet wheel has two sets
of teeth cut in opposite directions, and the lever, m, (the nature of which is
clearly shown in the drawing,) has the drivers o. p, so that when the lever-
handle, m, IS on one side the axis, it will, on being raised and lowered
cause the wheel, n, and consequently the axis,/, to move round, which
action will be continued till the pision (in action) has completed its stroke
when the small lever, k, is to be moved over, which will reverse the stops
or catches, when the lever, m, may be moved over lo the other side of the
axis,y, when the working of the lever, m, up and down, will cause the
axis,/, to be moved in the opposite direction, and by the other piston
it will force out the clay from the other vessel, 6, allowing time for the
empty vessel, i, to be filled agaiu with clay. The tiles, as they are forced
out, are received on suilable "horses" as heretofore ; and they are cut ofi'
by means of the wires, rj, carried by the sliding frame, r ; and when the
tiles are to be punched with holes, such as flat tiles for roofiug purposes, a
suitable punch is applied, s, to the frame, )■, so that in causing the frame
lo descend, a tile will be cut off, and punched at the same time"

ISISCB&iZiA^ s1£l.

An interesting experiment took place at Portsmoiith on the 13th Jan
off the Excellent, Captain Cliads, on tiie most speedy and efficacious modi of deetl-oyiiiK ■
boom, whicli miglit impede tile Jirogress of boat squadrons in narrow rivers, ns in the
case of tne receot attack on tile pirates of Borneo by tlie squadron under Kear-Admiral
hir Ihomas Cochrane. The ijrst esperiment toolc place ou tile Olh, but was on a
smaller scale tlian the pre5e-.it, consequently was not so convincinsr or successful in its
results. On thi: present occasion two li.ne-of-battle sidps' tower masts were tak-en ;rom
tne old mast pond and moored at a short dislauce from the Esceiient. Six turns of
small chain lashing secured the two spavs in the centre ; the ends of tb' spars were
secured by two half hitches of cliaiu, and f.vo parts of tlie chain cable ran kong the
spare, and nvre secured in the same manner round tiie ojiposite ext-eme. The spars
hemg thus secured, as if at the enti-ance or a river or creek, to prevent intrusion the
operations now commenced to dislodge them :— A breaker, containing alilli. of eun-
powdcr, was brought to the spot : at one end were eii;ht inches of port-lire passed info it
over which was secured a copper tube made perlec'tly water tight, and two threads of
quick match being attached to the upper end of the port-fire, and the opposite extreme
brought through to the mouth of tlie tube above the water, they were ignited and the
breaker being thereupon hauled and secured immecdately under the spars, a sufficienc"
of time (eight minutes) was provided for the boat to get clear of the ma«s before the lort'.
hie readied the powder, which it did in the time above mentioned, when a Iromendous
explosion took place. On examining tile spars and their fastenings a.' terwards the fol-
lowing was the result :— 14 feet out of tlie centre of both spars were shivered into atoms
with one of the chain bashings blown up with th« timbers. The same e.tiieriraent was
afterwards repealed upon llie shorter end of the obstrui-tion, under the part^ of the chain
cable, the result of wliich was that the whole of the spars was lilown to pieces. These
experknenls were highly snccesslul and salisfactory. On tlie following morning a fur-
ther experiment was made upon the two long ends of the same spais, with the chaii-
cable wound round them, and a hemp (IB-inch) cible hove "taut" in the intervalt,
the rest of the arrangements being the same as yesterday, except tlie qnar.uty of
powder, Ill'lb. being used lo-day. The result w.is the total demoHtion of both spars,
the chain cable was thrown to Ih" bottom, and the hempen one blown away. Thus the
success of the experiments is most unqualified and important. They were performed at
the desire of Lord Ellenborough, who had expressed to Captain Chads, in a letter, his
opmion upon the importance of naval officeia becoming acquainted with the safest and
most speedy method of removing such obstruclions as those ollorcd to the China squad-
ron on the late occasion of the conlliot with the pirates in ttw Malvodo river. Captain
Chads personally superintended the operations of the respective experiments, and which
were executed by Lieutenant Robert Jenuer, gunnery iieutenaiit to the Excellent, in a
manner highly creditable to the talents and ingenuity of that officer.

DiFFEKENCt; OF TiME. — In the streets of Brussels there may now be
seen in the windows of the clockmakers' shops lar^e mahogany clocks with the following-
mscription, "Railway time." It appears that it is owing to the care of the directors
that these clocks have been exposed, in order to facilitate the arrival of travellers at the
ditterent times of departure. — "L'OIiservatenr."

An AniEp.icAN Manufacturisg Citv. — The tm manufacturing compa-
nies of Lovveil consume annually 12.UU0 tons of coal, 3,1171.' cords of r.ood, 72,.'j49 gallons
of sperm, and Ul,(lll(l of other oil. Of the whole population of Lowell, (1,320 lemaies.
and 2,915 males, together 9,2;l5, are employed ns operatives, either in the mills or con-
nected .vith other mechanical employments. There are 33 mills and about 5J0 houses
belonging to the corporations. The capital invested in manufacturing and mechanical
enterprises is PJ.OOO.OOO dollars. There are made in Lowell every week l,.I.51).15ll yards
of cloth, or 7'5.86pI,0U0 yards per year. The cotton worked up every year is (11,101} bales.
The printed calicoes made annually amount to U,OOl',(lllO yards, the payment annul
ally amounts to more than l,500,oilO dollars, and the annual piofit of this immense
business has been estimated at the same amount, or at about 124 per cent- *• tjlobe,"

64

THE CIVIL EXGINER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Fkbruart,

Feet.

111.

177

0

152

53

43

2

42

H

42

U

l:i

■1*

1473 c<;.

94ths.

U7S 141-i

.'jllUths.

The Ampiiion Frigate.— This frigate of 30 guns was launched at

-VVoo'ivichonlhe!4thJ.inuary. The b.jilding commoiiceil on the 5th of April, 1830;
^hXs sine" bc8l IcnRllion.rt IG feet by the bow, and fitted in the Btern for a screw.,,ro-
,.eTler as in Mxlto^ fitting being the Bame as a proper s.i,l,nglr,-

M e She appear" o be a sigh;l/ vessel, and sits well upon the water. Her figure head
f^a bast of the fate pnllant Captain Sir William Ho.t., Hart., and her stern .s ol a neat
innare form rxternally, but ro'iiid internally, for fighting her guns. To all appe.rance
12e wUl be a ffst sailer, and a good ship of war. The following a^e her dimensions :-

Length of the lower deck

. . keel for tonnage . .
Breadth extreme
.. For tonnage..

moulded
Depth in hold..
Burden in tons, old measure, . .

ThP AmnhloiVis fittedwith eifg^ines of Sdivhorsc power by Messrs. MiUer, navenhiU and
?^a,7wl U the first constuicted for the steam n.r.-y of this C7"='y "",f ' '',?dl'
of her mae ilnerv considerably under the water line, and consequently not hal le to be de-
™„^e 1 bv shot Tlie screw will be 15 feet in diameter, on Erieson's pnnc.ple, attached
rangetl by snot. 1 ne sc . . .j , „,n,, f„af,feet stroke, performing AS revolu.

l?ons'ne?m°inu" •;l''bo^'iers"iTll'aL he under the witter line,''and the vessel is ex.
peeled to ™ a superior ship of war by the aid of these appliances ,. , . „

* VAU°AbLE DiscnVERY.-A I'lench mechanic formed the idea that by
1- ,1 „ irnn ,lrnss to the slow coo'.ing proccss which is known to produce a tota
ci;S"^hrnatreo?gass,aTevv^ useful species of stone might be obtained ; and
^t?on dross such as °he large furnaces yield, is a wholly useless substance, the an.
M iron urosb. sutn a» I e b J attempts cannot but be matter of great in.

rest"l"e' spedal" the Slime, when th^ smelting furnaces of England are in
a Ser^runknown sL e of activity. The objcctwhlch the Frenchman sought to accom.
,SlUh was to i.Ztt° '"•"•'''"" *= compactness and hardness o granite, and. at the
t:t S.r siL the cost and labour which t'-.hewingof the n.1 st^« -'■-- J »

«f"Si"'.^f 1^ S:^s^ ^ h^ si^c^^i^d in forming paVing.stones, flags, larg.

ceivable cost.

The Manhpactiire of Steel in Spain.— The following particulars,

IHE JlAMlFALl. ^^ cast-strel and D.imascus steel, at the forges ol Toledo, in
■Spiin, may perhaps be deemed interesting. It has been found ttat ovens ^do - .V'™;

resnecting the fabrication of cast-strel and D.imascus steel, at the forges of Toledo, in
respecting lab ca i„teresting. It has been found tbat ovens do not pro

dice a suflicient'h'eat ,0 melt the steel,.co„sequently they_have_been^obl,ged to construct

fo"rVes" 'amfthe metal .s placed in crudbles of earthenware, that withstand the greatest

ziS^i^ l^;^?j'Si"in^s!;S'f^s;^r -^t^^^:^^

Zii^!,Til\m'l^l^"o^e^vi<M great caution, and at a degree of heat far be ow bright
^fl When it Tis acV,red the temper necessary, it is reduced to one quarter its size by
■bemoans of heavy Sn™^ and formed into bars : niter which it is filed at each end, so

S=?Ss^dt£;^:!r'^K^^:s:^^^^^

nth oil for a day. The

free from groiise, it is emerged in pure water, w;hich adheres
dipped inficiJulated water, and covered alter being wel dried,

^;;;;cat;o,roFDa,^cus sud is by^placing three^llncs or^s.^^^^.^^<^^^^-

^"■"-T^^s;;J!rir^'dSS'of'::ifg;sr:n^™^^en;7is^iiedwa^

(Hflert-nt c

The working of steel,

^'viiic iirid which causes the various veins in the steel to appear. „ „.h;^i,

abound in wood and coal.

LIST OP NEW PATENTS.

g^^j.T.KD IN ENGLAND FROM DECEMBER 22, 1S45, TO J-ANUAUT 27, 1S4G

Six Months allowed for Enrolment, unless otherwise expressed.
iw.bonse of Birmingham, manufacturer, for "a certain improTement or cer.
tamSlv men'/ln app™iti!s used in connection with writing, and also in attaching

.i.T,, tamos and labels."— Sealed December 22.
pot.ge stamps ami ^^ ^ .__^^^_ ^^.^ll^^ ^^ ^^ ^

••"S ,' Je make, engin er, and .lohn Matthew, the younger, of the same place, engineer,
wich. lace.makei, engi ^^ ^^^^ machinery for proi.ellii.g vessels

'°hV ,Tml" ovenT .s"^ also appllcabl. for o'lher purposes."-December 23.
' WiUiam Co™ of Coventry, warehouseman, for ■' certain Improvements ,n looms."-
Decembei- 2J. of Nottingham, lace manufacturer, and William Bull Uex-

ter,°orthe same prace,"acker' for " Imlirovements in the manufacture of warp labr.cs."

-December 24. Southwark. for " Improvaments in the treatment

Daniel Tf^s Shears, oio ^^^^^^ improvemenls are applicable

of inc ore for '^e purpo^" °f P °''^™8 ,, ,a cominunicationO-December 24.
to the reduction "f o'"^-^ "" ^ t^rury Square, in the county of Middlesex, engineer,
ror'^^.t pr^:ren\s^;rr.m"e^gif",' anJ InijJrov^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ the power and

velocity "V"^'""":::r„Trarh::l "h; co"nt;r;^u;h.m, doctor m phUosophy:
f„r'^.''rim!nred^node'of' t'^eatfn'g'guano for the purpose of obtaining chemical com
pounds ihorefrom."— December 24. ,,.•,„

Tohn nuss.ll, of the City of Edinburgh, accountant, for " a manufacture of glass tiles.

"Thras'^Swlnbi^r!:;, of t-incolnVlnn, Esq., for " Improvements in railways and in the
means of propelling and carrying thereon."-January J, 184b.

Arthur EldrcdVValker, of Bonverie-street. London, engraver, for certain I" improve.
TDcnta in machinery for sewing."— January 0.

Conrad ITaverkam Greeiihow, of North Shields, gentleman, for " Improvements in the
construction of raihvays and railway carriages.'*— Jannary (J.

Henry Watson, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, hrass- founder, for "Improvements in with-
drawing air and vapours from furnaces, or other apparatus, and in condensing and em-
ployiug such vapours." — January ti.

Jost'ph RomnaM Bozek, of Cheapside, mechanic, for" Improvements in the construc-
tion and apphtation of railroad carriage-wheels."— January 6,

William Smith lirown, liie younger, of Broad- street, lUtcliffe-cross, sail-maker, for
" Improvements in the manufacture of square and quadrilateral sails, for ships and other
vessels."— January li.

Joseph Douglas, of Cross Cheaping, Coventry, furnishing ironmonger, for " iroprove-
ments in the patterns used for ca Ung aud in casting metals."— January II.

Charles Chinnock, of Cook's-grounds, Chelsea, for •* Improvements in the constructioa
and methods of extending and compressing articles of furniture and domestic use, also
applitable to cutlery, workmen's tools, windows, blinds, shutters, and similar useful pur-
poses."— January 12.

Charlas Hancock, of Grosvenor-place, gentleman, for "certain Impro vements in the
manufacture of gutta percha, and its application alone, and in combination with other
substances." — Jannary 12.

Henry Sthloss, of Finsbury-sqnire, gentleman, for an " Improved instrument, or in-
Btrumenta for proilucing ignition." — January \2.

John Seaward, of the Canal Iron-works, engineer, for " Improvements in the steam-
engine, and In machinery for propelling."— January 12.

George Tillett, of Snow-hill, Ironmonger, for '* Improvements in stoves and fire-
places."— January 13.

Jean Maiiit Durnerin, of Paris, Doctor of Medicine, for *' Improvements in treating
fatty matters." — January 1^.

Thomas Moorcroft Benbow, of Birmingham, surgeon, for " Improvements in fasten-
ings for surgical and otiier bandages, and tor articles of dress." — January 13.

Robert Bewick Longridge, of tlie Bedlington Iron-works, near Hlorpetb, Northumber-
land, for an " Improved locomotive engine." — January 13.

Joseph Maudslay, of the firm of Maurislay and Field, of Lambeth, engineers, for " Im-
provements in propelling and propelling machinery."— January 1;^.

Edmund Leahy, of Cork, Ireland, Civil Engineer, for " improvements in loccmotiv

carriages, intended to be employed on ordinary roads." — January 15. e

William Benson, of Allerwash House, H;iydon-bridge, Northumberland, gentleman,

for certain "Improvements in machines for the manufacture of ii!es and other plastic

substances."— January IT).

William Clark of Nottingham, and William Vickers the younger, of the same place,
lace manv.faelurers, for " Improv ements in manufacturing lace and other fabrics by lace
macliinery." — January 17.

Arthur Welliii;;ton Price, of Manchester-street, Gray's-inn-road, gentleman, for
"Improvements in tlie construction of anchors-"- January 17.

Peter Taylor, ot HoUingwooJ, near Manchester, machinist, for *' certain Improvements
in machinery for propelling vessels, carriages, and machinery*, parts of which improve-
ments aie applicable to drawing and propelling fluids, aiso improvements in the construc-
tion of vessels.- January 2*'.

Gerard Andrew Arney, of Mare-street, Hackney, gentleman, for " Improvements In the
preparaLlion of gel itine, and improvements in fining or clarifying liquids.— January '2.0.

John Braithwaite, of Bedford-Square, Civil Engineer, for " Improvements in heating,,
lighting, and ventilaUng.— January '20.

William Vincent Wennington, of Goscote Iron works, Stafford, esquire, for certain
"Improvements in, or improved methods of cutting plate and sheet iron.— January 20.

Richard^Archibakl Brooman, of Fleat-street, London, gentleman, for certain " Improve-
ments in railway aud common road carriages. (A communication. J— January 20.

William Malins, of Mansion House-place, London, and West Bromwich, Stafford
Iron Master, for certain " Improvements in the construction of buildings. — Januarj' 20
(A communication.)

William Newton, of Chancery-lane, Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for certain "Improve-
ments in manufacturing jtiled fabrics.— January 20. (A. communication.;

John Nott, of the city of Cork, gentleman, for certain " Improvemenls in the means of
communicating iuteUigoncc from one place to another, — January 20.

William Henry Burke, of Tottenham, gentleman, for certain "Improvements in the
manufacture of fabrics which m?y, if required, be made air and waterproof; a part of
the materials employed herein, when combined with other matters, being intended to
produce coverings for vessels of capacity. — January 20.

Andrew Kurtz, of St. Helen's, Lancaster, manufacturing chemist, for certain improve-
ments in tlie construction of furnaces, and apparatus connected therewith, for cvapapo-
rating or concentrating sulphuric acid." — January 20.

Jolin Spenceley, of Whitstable, in the county of Kent, Master Blockmaker, for ** Im-
provemenls in the construction of sliips and other vessels, aud also improvements in ap-
paratus to be attached to ships and other vessels." — January 20.

John Wallcer, of Maiich-^ster, silk manufacturer, forcertain "Improvements in weaving
or manufacturing piled or napped cloths or fabrics, Jind .^Iso improvements in machinery
or apparatus for cutting the pile or nap of the same." — January 20.

Charles W'heeler, of Specnhamland, Berkshire, machinist, for "certain improvements
in the construction and working of railways." — January 22.

Joseph Cooper, of Great Chart-street, Hoxton, chemist, for ** an improved mode of
separatintc certain of the fluid, and soluble parts of certain vegetable substances from the
solid parts thereof." — January 22.

Frederick William Campin, of Fleet-street, in the City of London, gentleman, for
*' certain improvements in obtaining and applying motive power." — January 22,

Daniel lloss, of South-street, Southwark, bat maiuifacturer, for " improvements in the
manufacture of hats." — January 27.

CORRESPONDENTS.
The appearance of Sir. Kashforlh's letter prevents »s from inserting a
Tery inj^euious paper on almospheric traction, received in the earlier part
of the n)oiith.

ERR.\TA.

In speaking of the plate of the engines of the Great Britain, in our last number, p. !),
we were made to say that the engraving was "not sufficiently explanatory," the word
" not" should have been omitted.

In the notice of the Model of the Parthenon, in the present number, p. 44, col. 2, the
first note belongs to Mr. Lucas's book ; the second is editorial j the word " cella " is mis-
printed *' cellar."

3

<

UJ

a

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

65

IDEA FOR THE FACADE OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM.

(With an Engraring, Plate I V.J
Little less than marvellous is it — ceitaialy unaccountable, that so im-
portant a structure as the British IMuseuni — the most public of all our
public edifices, because that to which the public liave freest access, should
be regarded by the public and the public press with so much apathy and
indifference. Or if it is not to be attributed to sheer indifference, the sullen
silence which has succeeded to the bitter remonstrances made against the
design for the Facade at the time the works for it were first commenced,
argues despair, and the unhappy conviction that all the remonstrances in
the world would have no effect upon those whom it has behoved to con-
sider very seriously what they are about, and to reconsider the design
adopted for the Facade, ere it be altogether too late. Poor as it would be,
it would still be some sort of satisfaction lo be informed what it is that has
recommended the design in question, what are the particular merits and
beauties discerned in it, and claimed for it. Instead of which, all that has
been said about the intended Facade has been siroi.gly against it, without
the slightest attempt having been made to reconcile us to it, by gainsaying
anyone of the objections which have been urged in condemnation of it.
If they can fairly be set aside, the neglecting to do so looks much more
tike scorn/ul disregard of public opinion, than like generous forbearance.
However matters of the kind may have been managed formerly, at the
present day, we have some right to expect to be tolerably well satisfied
beforehand that a work of such magnitude and importance, will be found
perfectly satisfactory when compleled.

To bid us wait — lo suspend our judgment until we shall have the entire
Facade before us, is merely idle evasion, for the Model might all along
have been exhibited for general inspection in the Museum itself, instead of
being kept there under lock and key, jealously secluded from all eyes but
those of a privileged few,— eyes likely to be far more partial and indul-
gent, than at all critical. Does such very cautious vigilance bespeak coju-
fortdble confidence— well-grounded assurance that the model justifies what
was on one occasion said of the design? — but said, be it remarked, very
long ago, when the name of its architect stood very much higher in general
estimation than it does at present; and that, not because he himself has
fallen off from what he once was— on the contrary, he remains just the
same as he always was ub iititio, — but because others have far outstripped
him, and because several structures have in the interim arisen both in this
and other countries, in comparison with which the British Museum will
show exceedingly poor,— rescued from insignificance only by its mere
magnitude as a building, and on that very account all the more distress-
ingly unsatisfactory, because the occasion both demanded, and afforded
opportunity for something infinitely superior. For that to be merely pass-
able, which ought to be a. first-rate piece of architecture of its kind, and to
display all the very best qualities of the style adopted for it, amounts to
nothing less than failure. We are annoyed by the disagreeable contrast
which impresses itself upon us, between the what is and the what might
have been,ajid ought to have been.

Id the case of the British iMuseura, those who will have lo answer for
the disappointment which the building will create, will have left themselves
very little excuse for their error. They will in a manner have made them-
selves doubly responsible by waiving off all interference whatever in the
shape of opinion, remonstrance, or the expression of wish that the building
should prove at least not inferior to other contemporary ones, in the same or
a similar style. Interference of that kind being totally disregarded, all the
less scrupulous need we be about speaking out quite freely, being well
assured that our remarks will not iu the slighest degree disturb or perplex
either the architect himself, or those who sanction his treatment of the Bri-
tish Museum facade.

There is no necessity for waiting longer when the whole already exhibits
itself very clearly to an architectural eye, the entire mass being shaped
out, and as much of it completed as very distinctly shows the precise
quality of the architecture, and the degree of fiuish and effect. There is
uothmg at all doubtful,— nothing left for conjecture : we cannot flatter our-
selves with the possibility of being mistaken in regard to any of the archi-
tect's inteutious, or with the hope of being taken very agreeably by sur-
prise by aught that yet remains to be done. Even yet, indeed, there re-
mains an opportunity for redeeming the Facade by introducing into it a
magnificent feature that should be superior to every thing which we now
have of the same kind. We are not therefore exactly too late, though cer-
tainly not at all premature in submitting an idea of our own ; though its
No. 102.— Vol. 1.\.— March, 1846.

being in sufficient time to allow of its being adopted, makes, we are fully
aware, no difference whatever. By some, perhaps, it would be considered
better timed, were it to be kept back until the possibility of adopting it,
had altogether passed away. We of course lay ourselves open to the
charge of presumption in pretending to correct the architect's design, more
especially as it is one in regard to which the Horatian precept of .\omim
prematur in nnnum has been observed in more than its fullest extent. Let
us be deemed ever so presumptuous, we will not show ourselves sneaking
also, by gently protesting that we feel exceedingly doubtful whether our
variation would be any improvement after all,— that we here produce it
most hesitatingly, and reluctantly,— with many other pretty perjuries of
the kind, which if Jupiter docs not laugh at them, all sensible readers will
at once see through. All that we have to observe apologetically is that the
accompanying Elevation (see Engraving) purports to be not such a design
as we could have wished to see adopted, but merely an alteration of the
existing one, adapted to the Facade as already shaped out, so as not at all
to disturb the structure itself, or iu any way interfere with what is actually
done, except in so slight a degree as to be of no moment.

Nothing more would be required than to enlarge the plan of the centre
portico, making it of a different order and upon a larger. scale than the
colonnades along the rest of the facade, whereas now that portico will be
merely in continuation of them, and not otherwise distinguished in the
general mass than by the addition of a pediment — very insullicieut to give
a decided expression of loftiness to the centre of the compositiou. For the
colonnades alone, as subordinate to the main feature, the present Ionic
order may be upon a sufficient scale, but it will not produce a portico upon
a scale at all more majestic than some which we already possess — not
comparable in that respect — or indeed, any other- with that of the Royal
Exchange. Projecting only a single iutercolumn in advance of the lateral
colonnades, it will not display itself at all advantageously, neither will it
be of sufficient depth within to be attended with, much architectural effect
on that account, or properly to answer the purpose of a Vorhalle, or open
colonnaded vestibule containing the entrance to the building, because it
will be in a manner choked up wilh a second row of columns within cor-
responding with those in front, and dividing it into two spaces not at all
wider than the other colonnades. Great advocates as we are for the use of
internal columns in porticos, we are far from approving of the arrangement
of them in the portico that is to be, of the British Museum. A certain de-
gree of richness will, no doubt, be so produced, but, it may be apprehend,
ed, it will cause the rest of the colonnading to look meagre and scanty, by
comparison, especially at the external angles, — where we could wish to
have seen square pillars, if only in order to break the monotony arising
from such a number of columns as there will be, and nothing else. The
whole facade will consist of nothing more than columniation put up ia
front of a fenestrated structure. Take away the former, and so far from
losing any thing essential to it, the rest would remain as good as ever, with-
out there being aught to show that there had beeu columns, or that the
structure was framed with reference to their becoming constituent parts of
it. Were they taken away, there would be no hialusses on the design ; it
would be only rendered astylar, with a single range of windows, not very
dissimilar from the Hall of Commerce in Threadneedle Street, except that
it would be somewhat less ornate. Over-decoration will certainly not be
the failing of the facade of the British Museum ; the absence of sculpture
and all other artistic embellishment may obtain for it the reputation of
simplicity from those who have no have no other idea of simplicity than
that of nudity and bareness : yet the inscription of " British Museum" will
be necessary to apprise strangers that withiu such structure may be found
soraeof the most precious remaius of ancient art and sculpture, and the
model of the Parthenon, to boot. Even the order itself is nowise distin-
guished : it is a fair average example of Grecian Ionic, and nothing more,
and except that the shafts of the columns are fluted, it is quite plain. It
is in fact the same example as that employed for the Post-oltice, without
any attempt at difference of character and expression. Its merit there-
fore is merely of a mechanical kind, for il has not cost the architect the ex-
ertion of a single fresh idea> What will serve for a I'ost-Oliice, will serve
it seems, equally well for a Museum ; although there had m-ed be some-
thing more than usually striking iu the order to make amends for the tame-
ness and monotony of the general design.

In our altered version of the Elevation, the Ionic order becomes a se-
condary one, and as such contributes to contrast with and set otT the Corin-
thian octastyle, which though considerably loftier (being somewhat higher
than the portico of the Uojal Exchange) would nut in its turn have theef-

66

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[March,

feet of diminishing the other columns by comparison, the Uller being on
nnite as large a scale as we are accustomed to. By exceeding tl.at scale
and rising up higher than ihe Ionic colonnades, the central port.co would
confer dignity on the whole faya.le. That such combination of two d.t-
/erent orders is not in strict accordance with Grecian precedent, .s what
we need not be told; vet it seems to us that, instead of requiring excuse,
such deviation from the letter of Greek architectural law, would rather
tend to excuse those violations of it which there will now be, by pro-
claiming at once that the building does not alVect to be severely Grec.an.

The I'lan ace .mpanying the Elevation, shows the Connth.an octas yle
to be bron-ht forward two intercolumns in adva-.ce of ihe adjoining colon-
nades ; owing to which it would be rendered unusually spacious, and
would constitute a rather striking piece of architecture interndly ; while
another advantage would be that the portic would display itself more pro-
minently in an oblique view of the facade. In the external elevation of our
Corinthian Portico, there is nothing either amounting to design, the sketch
merely indicating the order and showing that the frieze of the entablature,
and the pediment would be enriched with sculpture. But perhaps some
little degree of novelty may be claimed for the mode in which the portico
is connected with the lateral colonnades, which latt.rare entered through
open doorways or portals, answering to the extreme intercolumns of the
oetastyle. Thus treated the portico would be better enclosed than if open
at its ends, into the colonnades, and a greater variety of eliect upon the
whole would be produced. One other thing that may deserve to be
pointed out as partaking of novelty, is the position of the two statuesaga.nst
each of the extreme columns of the oetastyle, iu which situation such
figures would, we conceive, tell very forcibly, and throw a good deal of
plav into the architecture.

We are aware that such a portico as we have imagined could not be
applied to the building in its present state: it would be necessary to
carry up th. back wall of the portico higher, and also to raise the cen re of
the roof to the pitch of the loftier pediment. What then ? there would be
nothing of very awful or unheard of extravagance in doing that ; far better
that, than to erect what may sometime hence be doomed to be ta^ea down
a-rain to make room for something more digniBed. If Sir John Soane
built the exterior of his Law Courts twice over ;-if the wings that were
first put to Buckingham Palace were no sooner up than they were taken
down again, the mere consideration of a little more expense and a little
„,„re delay, ought not to deter from elTecting even at the eleventh hour an
alteration greatly for the better in the fa?adeofthe British Museum. That
we ourselves consider it would be one greatly for the better is evident ;
and most persons we fancy, will be of the same opinion ; stil others may
think very dilferently, in which case they are heartly welcome to be
as free in their strictures upon us as we have been .n speaking of the
design which is now being carried int) execution.

DECEPTIVE ARCHITECTUR.\L MATERIALS.
II.

We published last month a long letter subscribed "The Writer in the
Companion to the Almanac," controverting certain criticisms which have
appeared in former numbers of this .lournal. It is not worth while to pro-
Ion- an uninteresting and unprofitable controversy by replying categori-
cairy to the letter; at the same time, there are views suggested by it on
one subject-that of deceptive materials-which are certainly worth ex-
amining It is a matter of very general interest to architects and those
w-ho employ them, that the general question as to the propriety of using
deceptive materials, and also the specific questions as to what particular
materials are to be considered deceptive, should be clearly and debnit.vely

answered. „. • . n

But a mere unsupported dictum will not be a sufticient answer. On
subjects like these the reader claims the right of reasoning and examining
for himself and will not be satisfied with simple statements of opinion,
however autlioritatively pronounced. It will be necessary therefore to
observe some sort of method in considering the question, and as we have
already assigned in the former paper with the same title as the present
one, the abstract reasons for condemning architectural de. eptions, we now
purpose to examine the specific applications of the general rule.

It may then be first remarked that every rule of art which is of the na-
ture of a restriction must be applied more strictly to works of the highest

order than to those of a trivial or unpretending character. So that, ia
condemning architectural deceptions, the condemnation must be con-
sidered to fall far more heavily when it aliecls important public edifices,
churches, collegiate buildings, iic, than when it refers to ordinary domes-
tic architecture. There would, for instance, be no dispute as to the impro-
priety of making the great doors of a cathedral of some common wood
painted in imitation of oak, but it would be mere affectation to object to
the use of " grained" deal in an ordinary dwelling room. Neither, we
presume, would there be found at the present day many defenders for an
architect who constructed an elaborate roof like that of Henry the Seventh's
Chapel, of some cement or stucco resembling stone ; but it would be ab-
surd to conclude that there was any impropriety in using plaster ceilings
in priva'e bouses. Neither, again, would it be possible to deny that a
chimney piece of wood painted and varnislied to resemble marble would
appear contemptible iu a noble banquetting hall ; but it is quite possible
to conceive instances where wood painted like marble might be introduced
without any grievous ofi'ence to good taste.

The more immediate occasion of the present paper arises from the re-
marks which have been made in defence of the use of varnislml deal, and
as this material has of late been very frequently used in buildings of the
highest pretensions, it becomes a matter of great interest to the architect
to ascertain under what circumstances its use is justifiable. It is clear
that no reason exists for making it an exception to the remarks just made
respecting the ca-;e3 where imitative materials may be allowed, and those
remarks are of the more importance with respect to varnished deal, because
there are methods of using this substance by which it altogether avoids
the risk of being ranked among deceptive materials. In many of the old
mansions and seats of the nobility the wood-work is of the Norway pine
timber, varnished ; and this wood from its superior hardness and closeness
of texture compared with common deal, admits of considerable delicacy
and minuteness in carving. The grain of the wood also is free from that
coarseness which renders deal generally inapplicable for ornamental pur-
poses. The colour of the Norway pine wood when varnished somewhat
resembles that of pear wood, and produces a very agreeable elfect ; the
varnish also improves the appearance of the wood by developing its texture
and " bringing up" the graiu, which often exliibits considerable delicacy.

This point however is particularly to be noticed— that where the Norway
pine wood has been used with good effect, there has never been any attempt
to yroduce deception by artificially disguising the natural colour of the
wood. This remark is most important, because, otherwise, all attempts
to improve the natural appearance of architectural materials might be con-
sidererl synonymous with architectural deception. It is very necessary for
the consistency of our argument, that this distinction should be clearly
made ; for otherwise it might lead to most absurd inferences. An un-
thinking person might, for instance, condemn the polishing of marble on
the mere ground that marble when polished presents an appearance alto-
gether different to that which it has in its natural state. But the essential
distinction between the improvement of natural materials and architectural
deceptions is— that by the latter, a poor and cheap material is made to
look like some other well known material, which is more rare and costly.
Marble, by being polished, cannot be said to be made to resemble anything
more costly than itself; neither can varnished Norway pine ulun unstained
be supposed to be a spurious and deceptive substitute for a more ex-
pensive wood.

If, however, some cheap common wood, such as the ordinary pine be .
stained of a dark colour, altogether dillerent from its natural hue, and if
moreover, as iu the case of the timber roofs at Lincoln's Inn, the stained
wood is placed at such a height that the eye cannot detect the poverty of
the material by its shapeless knots and coarse graiu, it seems impossible
for any one but a mere disputer about words to deny that in such a case
varnished deal must fairly be reckoned iu the list of deceptive materials.

It does not appear any answer to our objection to say that ia this case
the wood is not painted. Of what consequence can it be whether the de-
ception be produced by painting the wood or by staining it.' The object
of the discuasou is to ascertain the/)c( of the existence of deception— not
the mode of producing the deception. So long as it remains undisputed
that a common material is made to look like another, better and more ex-
pensive than itself, it really seems wholly immaterial to dispute about the
specific means by which the deceptive resemblance is effected. The notice
of ceiling at Lincoln's luu, copied into our pages from tlie Atheiucum,
stated that the wood was first stained and then varnished, and that the
colour of the wood was entirely changed ; these facts are perfectly suffi-
cient for our argument.

IS-iO.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

67

It may appear perhaps that we are prolix and annecessarily minute on
a point of comparatively little importance. This however is not the case.
The parliculur kind of deception which we now nolice seems growing into
fashion, and believing, as we do, that a great— if not the icnj grcatesl—
barrier to the improvement of modern architecture, is the tendency which
has unhappily crept in of using all kinds of tricks and artilices and make-
beliefs, we do not think that we can be mispending the time of our rea<ler
by endeavouring to set forth clear and explicit notions on the subject. 15y
accurately explaining the nature of one architectural deception, we, by
implication, determine the nature of all ; and it may be added that it is the
want of clear notions on this subject, and not the subject itself, which has
occasioned tlinse exaggerated inferences by which attempts have been made
to throw riiiicule on the important rule of architectural criticism now
under consideration.

It is not very easy to see from what cause have arisen the loud remon-
strances which have been urged against us in justification of architectural
deceptions. Were our condemnation of them an altogether new and un-
heard-of rule, it might be anticipated that objections would be raised
against the doctrine, not on account of any inherent defects in it, but sim-
ply for its novelty. But we do not claim the merit of novelty. The doc-
trine asserted by us has been assented to by almost every thinking writer
on architectural subjects; it was rigidly observed by all the ancient archi-
tects, both Classic and Christian ; and we may observe that in works pub-
lished at the present day, which comain architectural criticisms, the same
principle is universally recognized. We quoted not long ago some re-
marks from the pages of The Builder, respecting the church built of terra-
cotta, near Manchester, the tendency of the extract being to show that such
'a buildiug ought to be condemned, not because of accidental failures in the
workmanship, but pfr se as an aitempt of the worst kind at architectural
deception. To this testimony we might add that of the Athenaum, and it
would be impossible to read a single number, scarcely a single page of the
Ecclesiologist, without meeting with numerous censures of the employment
of imitative materials.

We repeat boldly that there is scarcely a more fatal obstacle to the ad-
Tanceraent of architecture than the system now too prevalent of building
showily, instead of well. There is no doubt that those builders who have
been trained in the " Cheap Ciothic" school will feel much olTended to find
their mouldings and mullions of patent cement, their walls of stucco pa-
nelled to resemble masonry, and their showy-looking ceilings of stained
deal condemned for ostentatious vulgarity, but their disappointment does
not awaken our pity. From the days of Esop, the jackdaw has been con-
demned for excessively bad taste in arraying himself in the plumage of the
peacock.

It is far better taste to use homely materials honestly and without con-
cealment, than to trick them out with a vulgar unreal magnificence. There
is an honest and substantial appearance in good dark brickwork, which is
far preferable to the splendour of the best mock-masonry ever constructed.
Of the former material some of the noblest and most stately edifices have
been built— fine old mansions, ancient gateways, halls and towers ; the
latter is the type of suburban cockney architecture, it gladdens the eyes of
retired tradesmen, and assorts well with those notions of the beautiful which
are learned at the counter or iu the counting-house. It is perfectly con-
genial to the taste of the ruralising stock-broker, who prefers that his
rus in urbe with its patch of garden and smart summer-house should look
spruce and frim, jusi like the new proprietary chapel-of-ease over the way ;
who sees no beauty in the old village church with its great sullen tower
and dingy frowning buttresses, and pronounces the neighbouring baronial
hall (which is coeval) a dull, dark, solemn place, which he would not live
in for the world, for fear of growing melancholy and — romantic.

Now though we have no expectation or desire of converting such a
critic, the readers to whom we now address ourselves claim that respect
by education and profession, that it cannot be a matter of intiilference
whether the\ consent to, or dissent from, the views here laid down. AVe
can have no fear that men, who are necessardy compelled to examine for
themselves the principles of pure taste, will condemn the honest real archi-
tecture of the Grecian temples, and our own glorious cathedrals; the only
ground of apprehension is that our rules may not be expressed with suffi-
cient clearness to prevent exaggerated and inccmsistent inferences. The
true criterion a? to the deceptive use of materials is — not that the natural
appearance of the materials is improved — but that an attempt is made to
cheat the eye, to impose the belief that what is in reality homely and c< m-
mon is some well known substance of a more costly description. The
criterion is altogether independent of the particular method by which i.'ie

deception is produced, and it is also irrespective of the degree of success-
fulness of the deceptioa. It is no palliation, but rather an aggravation of
the evil, when the imitaiion is close and minute, because in this case tlie
amount of deception is ouly increased. If a nobleman were to appear at
a great public solemnity with false jewels in his insignia, he would cer-
tainly be making a display in the worst possible tasle, and the vulgarity of
his ostentation would not be diminished, if his paste diamonds were so well
made that they passed for real.

It is well worthy of remark that the art of imitation has always been
most successfully practised in countries and at epochs distinguished by
the debasement of the fine ails. A painter who could paint a joiut of meat,
or a knife with all the minuteness of reality, might certainly claim the
credit of being a good nieihanical imitator, but could scarcely lake his
rank among the disciples of -'high art." Imitation is the faculty of the
Apo, and is most ob>ervable among nations least elevated by moral and
intellectaal energy. Wonderful stories are told of the miuuteness with
which the Chinese and Japanese imiiate natural objects, but none of the
lofty beauty of their sculpture, paiuting, and architecture. The mimetic
faculty is seldom predominant in men of original genius, and is never dis-
played in their greatest works; the subsUiutiuu of the fictitious for the
real, the minute for the beautiful, has uniformly been found to presat,e the
neglect and speedy degrada;ion of the fine Arts.

.ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH, PIMLICO.

Notwithstanding the rapid advancement of church architecture during
the last few years, it must be confessed to be siill in a state of transition
from the barbarism of the last age, and to have as yet but imperfectly regained
its original purity. A characteristic defect of modern Pointed architecture
appears to us to be the want of that boldness and niassiveness which dis-
tinguished the architecture of the fourteenth century. There is in modern art
a general tendency to what may be called, for the want of a better term,
prettyism. This afl'ectation of smoothness and delicate ornament is espe-
cially observable in sculpture and architecture, and iu neither of those arts
have we the energy and boldness of the old artists. We seem altogether
afraid of exercising that kind of courage which produced the strong simple
lines, the bold salient angles, the sudden alternations of lights and shadows
which distinguish Westminster Abbey or King's College Chapel. And it is
the more to be regretted that these simple means of rendering architecture
effective should be altogether missed in modern buildings, because they
seem to be the very means which should be most valuable at a time when
architects are constantly complaining of the parsimony by which their
elforts are restricted. Speaking economically, it must be clear that bold
simple ornaments must be cheaper than those of more delicate workman-
ship, and the architect can complain of no one but himself if fur want of
the former his works appear ineli'ective.

The new church of St. Michael's, Chester Square, built from the designs
of Mr. Cundy, possesses in a great measure that necessary play of light and
shadow without which the first and distant view of a church can never be
satisfactory. The plan of the building is cruciform, there is a bold tower
surmounted by a lofty spire, the roofs are of high pitch, and the combina-
tion of the various parts produces a very picturesque specimen of the style
adopted— the Decorated. The entrance is not at the west, but beneath
the tower which stands on the north side near the north west angle, and is
strengthened by buttresses divided into three stages, and panelled. The
buttresses are surmounted by pinnacles with crockets and tiuials ; between
these rises the spire which is surmounted by a vane at the height of ItiO
feet from the ground. The roofs of the church are slated and ha>e floriated
crosses at the gables. The whole of the exierior is faced with Kentish
ragstone, with Bath-stone dressings oiled to resist the ellecl of moisture.

The entrance to the church is beneath the tower, of which the lower part
is entirely open, and forms an arched portico. Similar examples exist at
West Walton, Norfolk ; at Dedham, Essex, and in one ot the churches at
Cambridge. Within the church there is accom.i odation lor 1200 persons,
7.i0 in pews and 450 in free seats. The roof is of open wood-work, and is
supported by piers between the nave and aisles. The font which is at the west
end, has a cover of carved wood, and the pulpit and reading desk are
low, and stand on either side of the "communion recess," which is paved
with encaustic tiles. The comm.indments are written in panels beneath
rich canopies, and on the south side are sedilia. If these are to be used
there can be no objection to them in an architectural point of view, if how

68

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL,

[March,

ever they be useless and are merely for show, the architect would have
certainly done well to have omitted them.

Where there is much to praise it is very painful to have to find fault ;
truth and consistency however compel us to stato that there are many
things in the interior arrangement of the churcli wliich cannot be praiseil.
There are galleries intersecting the piers and blocking up the side
windows ; the shafts attached to the piers have poor bases which are
hoisted on a species of stilts to the level of the pew-seats. But above all
there is an appearance of unrca;;;;/, objectionable in all kinds of architec-
ture, but perfectly indefensible in that kind which ought to be the very
highest and most truihful— church architecture. The walls of the church
and of the staircases are coated with plaster on which black lines are
drawn to imitate, or rather, mimic the courses of real masonry. Some of
the window mouldings are "run" in cement, and are the more deceplive
because the mullions and corbels are of stone. The same remark applies
to the shafts attached to the piers, which are partly of stone and partly
imitations ; the piers themselves are all of plaster decorated with the black
lines aforesaid. The pews are of stained deal. Of the value of this ma-
terial we have pronounced a sudiciently explicit opinion in another part of
our present number. It may be added that here the coarse shapeless knots
of the wood and the harsh lines of the grain have a very disagreeable effect
The glazed and shining appearance of varnish is, to our taste at least, very
objectionable. This however is merely an individual opinion, — but it is a
matter of certainty that the effect is very unchurchlike.

We regret also to find the appearance of sham windows — indentations or
shallow recesses in the plaster of the walls, with imitation hood-mouldings
in cement. In the exterior of the church there is also apparently an un.
truthfulness about the western side which is treated as if it were the 6/ic/v
of the church, (a church ought to have no back or inferior side,) for on this
side we find nothing but plain blank walls of masonry without ornament^
and with a surface entirely unbroken, except by one or two very small
windows in the upper part. This defect is certainly not necessitated by
the site of the church, which is quite isolated. The western side is not
quite so conspicuous as the other sides, still it is far from being actually
concealed. There are indeed houses on the north side, but at such a
distance as to leave plenty of room for viewing the building in that direc-
tion.

It is very tedious to have to repeat the same obvious truths over and
over again. But till the lesson is perfectly learned and practically exem-
plified we must not cease to set forth the truthfulness and honest sincerity
which the old builders scrupulously observed in their works. To express
a species of excessive vulgarity by a vulgar phrase, there is in modern
church-building a tendency to show-iiff, which is utterly repugnant to the
principles of good taste. And not only is this ostentation and afi'ectation
of fictitious magnificence contrary to reason, but it is agaiust precedent also.
The old architects uniformly used real materials and were never guilty of
leaving one side of a church poor and unembellished that they might lavish
richer ornaments on the conspicuous parts. Until our own times the
art of make-belief decoration has been monopolised by milliners and scene-
painters.

We must not be understood to express these sentiments in an unfriendly
spirit. The architect of St. Michael's Church cannot be censured for the
existence of a widely-spread error which is doing the greatest possible in-
jury to architecture, and which we boldly affirm must be corrected before
the constructive arts cau regain their original excellence. At the same
time we must express regret that in the present case the architect should
have fallen in with a bad custom, and we sincerely hope to see many ex-
cellent works of his, as bold and effective in design as St. Michael's church,
but free from its faults in detail.

There is one good arrangement with respect to the comfort of the future
congregation of the new church which must not be passed over. The
church is warmed by hot-air pipes, which are contained in channels in
the floors covered by grating. There is nothing like concealment here ;
the pipes honestly reveal their purpose — they are not concealed, but
they are put where they do not obtrude on the siglit, and are simply ren-
dered inconspicuous. W'e have no doubt that the titled cougrec^alion who
will frequent St. Michael's, will prefer this arrangement to the delightful
inventions of the Cambridge Camden Society.

The first stone of the church was laid on the 20th of May 1S44, by the
present iMarquis of Westminster, who subscribed 5000/. towards the
building, and gave the fee simple of the site. The remainder of the cost

must be raised by subscription before the church can be consecrated. There
is at present a deficiency of 5,200/., which includes the cost of an organ,
bell and clock, and of inclosing the church-yard.

CHRIST CHURCH, PLYMOUTH.

The accompanying illustration represents the elevation of a Cbapel-of-
ease recently erected in the parish of St. Andrew, Plymouth, from the de-
signs of Mr. Wiglitwick, to whose courtesy we are indebted for the sketch
from which our view is copied. Mr. Wightwickhas also favoured Ui with
some brief but very pertinent observations on the strictures which appeared
in the January and February numbers of this Journal, respecting the
manner in which light was obtained in the new building. He says,

" I do not exactly see that a church united with other buildings is ne-
cessarily so beyond all successful treatment as you suppose. Is it quite
fair to call the only front that shows " a show front >" Is there any thing
" unchurchlike" in the " arrangement" by which I obtain light f viz., by a
clerestory ? 3rd!y. The adjacent buildings harmonise with the church in
style; the one being a residence of a simple Tudor character; and the
other a School-building literally belonging to the church. Furthermore the
building is but a Chapel-of-Ease."

A\ ith respect to the use of the word " unchurchlike," we would observe
that it was meant to refer, not to the admission of light by clerestory win-
dows, but to the Bon-admission of it by aisle windows. It must be obvious
that wheu a church is lighted by clerestory windows alone, either the
amount of light obtained must be insufficient, or else these windows must
be so enlarged as to become very prominent features of the architecture,
or at all events, to lose that subordinate relation which they bear in ancient
churches.

The omission of aisle windows has also this disadvantage, that the whole
of the north and south walls are broken and unbarred : and this again is con-
trary to precedent, for in ancient examples large surfaces of " dead" wall
are uniformly avoided. Another disadvantage arising from the same cause
is that the quantity of light obtained in the centre aisle must far exceed
that in the north and south aisles. In Christ Church the lateral aisles
contain galleries extending from the walls to the piers of the nave;* and it is
certainly against usage that a lateral aisle of a church should as in this
case be divided into two stories or compartments, each of which constitutes
a spacious wiodowless recess.

Light obtained from upper windows alone produces an effect very dif-
ferent to that to which we are accustomed in Pointed Architecture. The
lights and shadows are, so to speak, reversed. This may seem at first
siglit an unimportant remark, and one rather of an artistic than architec-
tural nature, but if the reader will compare a building lighted by vertical

* We h.id formerly undsrstoou ttiat these galleries did not iatersect the piers.

IS^G.l

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

69

lights in the roof (such as the National Gallery, the Elgin Room of the

British Museum, ice.) with a chamber ia which there is a series of side
windows, he will see that the ellects produced are totally dilTerent, and as

the beauty of Christian Architecture depends most materially on the dis-
position of light and shadow, this consideration is by no means to be neg-
lected. We never should expect to meet with an ordinary akylight in an
ancient church ; in that case, it is immedM^e/i/ obvious that the effect would
be contrary to the spirit of Pointed Architecture. It needs, however, but
little reflection to be satisfied that there is a similar objection to the
exclusive employment of clerestory windows. By the arrangement of win-
dows similar to that in the National Gallery the light is so generally diffused

that it nowhere casts strong sharply defined shadows; this arrangement
is therefore very advantageous in a Museum of Art, but the effect produ-
ced is essentially secular, and very different to that " religious light''
which is so beautiful a characteristic of the Mediaeval churches.

It is however by no means necessary that a church should be built in a
perfectly isolated situation. Our noblest cathedrals have attached to them
accessory buildings (Cloisters, Chapter-houses, &c.) of corresponding
date and architecture. Much injury has indeed been done by the injudicious
temerity of modern "restorers" in their zeal to isolate ancient churches.
Vi'e may here perhaps refer to M. Didron's vehement denunciation of the
Vandalism which has recently destroyed the Chapter-house at Troyes, and
which contemplates a similar destruction at Rouen under the pretext of
revealing the beauties of the Cathedral itself. But though it be perfectly
allowable, and frequently desirable that a church should have dependent
buildings attached to it, there seems no warrant whatever for so placing
those buildings as to prevent thfe admissioQ of light to the church by aisle
windows.

Of course these remarks must be considered perfectly general in their
tendency ; it would be absurd to censure the architecture of the new chapel
at Flymoulh because the architect has not performed physical impossibili-
ties. On the contrary, there is every reason to suppose that his expedient
is the very best which the circumstances of the case admitted. At the
same time it is one which can never be defended, except on the ground of
absolute necessity, and we certainly should never feel disposed to approve
of the omission of aisle windows, unless the question lay between building
the church without them— or not building it at all.

AMALGAMATION AND LEASING OF RAILWAYS.

In continuation of the papers on this subject, that appeared in the
Journal for October and December 1845, my only apology is the difficulty
ofgetting this description of information after until the period at which it
appeared in the public papers, and although these papers may not claim
the merit of original thought, yet their computation at the period of the
Railway Fever of 1845, the one previous and the other after the dreaded
month of November, may in itself be some merit. In the last paper
speaking in reference tolhe new infusion of lines of the session of 1845, and
the positionof the remnant of the new lines that has not formed any alliance
with the old companies, an alliance was indicated as probable, and
which has since taken place, as will be found in the after part of this
paper.

The remnant of lines not yet allied to, the old companies is reduced to
the Kendal and Windermere, Cockermouth and Workington, Newport and
Pontypool,WeirValley, Richmond (Surrey) and Leeds and Thirsk and
these may be further reduced as the latter line, and the Great North of
England have come to an understanding so as not to compete, and the
Weir Valley may be said to have the same interest as the Stockton and
Darlington. As regards Scotland, the following are the groups into
which the railway interest have naturally divided this country entirely from
the East Coast; we have the North British, Edinbu.gh and Hawick,
Edinburgh and Dalkieth, and meeting with the West Coast Interest at
Peebles, which may be considered as a fixed point. The Western write to
be obtained from Carlisle, is by the Caledonian Line, 137 miles long, which
is united with the Clydesdale Junction, Pollock and Govan, Glasgow and
Garnkirk, and Caledonian and Dumbartonshire Junction, and West of the
meridian of Glasgow, and North of Carlisle, is the group proposed to be
called the Great South Western of Scotland, composed of the Glasgow and
Greenock ; Glasgow, Kilmarnock and Ardrossan, and Glasgow, Paisley
Kilmarnock and Ayr, and Glasgow, Banhead and Neilston Direct, and
tiking the parallel of Edinburgh and Glasgow, we have the Edinburgh

and Glasgow, and Lanarkshire Lines, viz: Ballochney, Slamannan and
Monkland and Kirkintillock, also the Glasgow Junction, Scottish Midland
and Scottish Central, and Coupar Angus, and Glammis ; and East of
Edmburgh, and North of the Firth, we have the Kingdom of Fife group
the Edinburgh N orthern, and Edinburgh, Leith and Granton, and from
Perth Northward, we have the Dundee and Perth, and Dundee and
Newtyle, and its continuation by the Dundee and Arbroath, Arbroath
Forfar and Aberdeen. '

The following are the groups of alliances in England. South of London,
and to the East, we have the South Eastern to the West, the South
Western, and intermediate the group of Lines compressed in 'the London
and Brighton.

The district asems fairly assigned to each, and the three companies are
on friendly terms, and disposed to become consolidated ; indeed, two years
ago, the South Eastern offered 100,000/. per annum, for the Brighton,
which would have been just equal to the present dividend.

North of London, ani to a\e East, is the group composed of the Eastern
Counties, Northern and Eastern, with proposed Extension to York, and
the Norfolk, East Anglian, and Eastern Union, and its Extension.

North of London, on the East Coast, is the Midland, from Bristol to
Berwick.

North of London, on the M^est, the Great London and Liverpool extension
to Carlisle. '

London to the West, the first group Line is the Great Western, which
with the London and Birmingham occupies the whole of Wales, the one
South, the other North.

T/ie Second Cross Line is from Liverpool to Hull by the Manchester and
Leeds.

The Third Cross Line is from Jlanchester, by the Sheffield and Man-
chester, Hull and Barnsley Junction, and Sheffield and Lincolnshire.

The Fourth is from Shields on the East to Maryport on the WestjCoast,
by the North Coast and Carlisle.

The above general view may be confirmed in detail by a reference to the
former papers, and the amalgamation there indicated, and since taken
place, is the East Anglian.

The Board of Trade having ceased to report on new schemes, I record
their period of influence. The total notices together were eleven, the first
appeared 31st Dec. 1844, and then in January, 14, 17, 24. Four in Feb.
4,7,18,28. Three in March ; and nineteen reports were published,
accompanied with twenty-one maps of districts into which they had divided
the country, and the name of the different districts and date of reports are
as follows.

First, Feb. 1 3. Kentish and South Eastern.

Second, Feb. 24, Manchester and Leeds, and Newcastle and Berwick.
Third, Feb. 28. District of Berks, Hants, Wills, Dorset and Somerset,
—District, London, Worcester and Wolverhampton— District, Birmingham
and Shrewsbury.

Fourth, March 4. Norfolk and Suffolk, Cornwall and Devonshire.
Fifth, March 13. Trent Valley, North and North West of Ireland,
approaches to the Metropolis and Scotland.

Sixth, March 20. London and York, West of Dublin, South of Ireland
South Wales. '

Seventh, March 31. Colchester and Harwich, Portsmouth, North of
Leeds and West Riding.

Eighth, April 16, 1845, Lancashire.

The influence of these reports will be felt in the present session. The
Chairman of the Great Western at the Meeting, Feb. 12, 1S46, sajs,
"There could be no doubt that under the report of the Board of Trade,;the
traffic of Exeter and Yeovil was to be provided for by the Great Western."
The Chairman of the South Western at the Meeting, January 21, says, the
Great Western would not treat for a friendly alliance until the Board of
Trade reported in January 1845; the Board of Trade made their report, and
was appointed mutual arbitrator and sole referee betwen the two com-
panies, which, however, tbe G. W. R. now decline, and the Board of
Trade declined to interfere, and the Chairman further says, " An opposition
was eventually made to that board, which could not he foreseen. Lord
Howick commenced it in connexion with the atmospheric, and others
followed by which the Board was overthrown." From the above there can
be no doubt the quarrel between these two powerful Companies will be
much perplexed, by the record of the Board of Trade Report. Neverthe-
less we have the experience of the last session, that the Committees of
Parliament are jealous of this interference, and are prepared to act inde-

70

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Mabch,

pendently as they sanctioned the following lines contrary to the report of
the lioard.

Leeds Dewsbury and Manchester, Exeter and Crediton, Lynn and
Dereham, Londonderry and Coleraine, Londonderry and Enniskillen,
J-ish Great Western, (Dublin lo MullinKar,) Leeds and Thirsk, Shrewsbury,
Oswestry and Chester, Kly and Huntingdon. The abandonment of a
portion of the Great North of England and Eastern Counties Line, seems
to have had great influence with the Hoard.

I have been curious to know what lines, for which Acts of Parliament had
been obtained, havebeen abandoned, they are as follows : 1«1 1 ; I'-erwick
and Kelso; 1812, Peurhynn; 1814, Mamhilad ; 1816, Peak Forest;1825,
West Lothian; 1S-2G, Dulais, Manchester, Oldham, Limerick and Water-
ford; 1831. Rutherglen and M'ellshot, Lanarkshire, Sheffield and Man-
chester; 1832 Exeter and Crediton; 1S3G, London Grand Junction, Thames
Haven, Launceston e.id Victoria; Deptford Pier. In looking over the
above it will be seen at a glance that many of the projects are carried out by
Companies incorporated since.

I will now proceed to give a general summary of the acts of each
Session, and those which were refused the sanction of Parliament, although
from want of data I cannot separate those refused into the two heads of
New and independent Lines, and those promoted by Old Companies, or
being amendments of former Acts. The first Act was passed in 1801, and;
inl802,two; 1803, one; 1, one ; 8, one ; 9, two; 10,one; U, three; 12,two;
14,one; 15, one; lG,one; 17,one; 18,one; 19.one; 2l,one; 23,one; 24,two;
25, live ; 20, six ; 27, six ; 2S, eleven ; 20. nine ; 30, eight ; 3 1 , nine ; 32, eight ;
S3, eleven; 31, fourteen; 35, eighteen; 30, thirty-five ; 37, forty-two; 38,
sixteen; 3',), twenty-six ; 40, twenty-four ; 41, nineteen; 42, twenty-two;
43, twenty-four; 44, forty-eight; 4.3, one hundred and twenty ; and 1846,
sevenhundred and twenty-one applications. And commencing with the same
period, there are distinct titles of new Companies, and old ones with a
distinct application exclusive of amended Acts, 1801, one; 2, two; 3, one i
4,one;8,one;y,three; 10, one; 11. two; 12. one ; 15, one; 17, one; 18, one;
19, one; 21, two; 24, two; 25, seven , 2'j, seven ; 27, one; 28, Ave; 29, six J
3ui five; 31, three; 32, four; 33, five; 34, five; 35, nine; 36, twenty-four; 37,
thirteen; 38, two; 39, three; 41, one ; 42, four; 44, sixteen; 1845, sixty-two;
being upwards of 200 Kadways with distinct titles, no Act is dated
in 1805, 6, 7, 'or 1813, 14, or 1815, or 1820, 22, 23, or 1840, and 1843.
Commencing with IbOl, the number of liailway Bills, that was passed in
eachsession.that I can find account of is the fallowing: in 1826, two;
lS2C,one; 1830, five; 1832, four; I833,five; 1831, four; 1836, twenty-four i
ISSTjorty; 1839, nine; 1840, seven; 1841, six; 1842,five; 1843,ten; 1844,
twenty-three; 1845, one hundred and five.

I will now proceed to give an account of the alliances formed since the
preceeding paper, viz:

Dundee and Sewt<jle, leased in perpetuity to the Dundee and Perth, at
an annual rent of 1 ,400/, or H P'^'' <^''n*-

Edinhiiri:ti, Leith and Grantan. amalgamated at par with the Edinburgh
and Northrrn', ona capital of 310 DOO;, the preference shares are guaranteed
4 per cent, by the united companies, and 1 per cent by the original slock,
of the Edinburgh, Leith and Granton, Lancaster and Carlisle, with the
Lancaster aud Preston Junction.

Arhnnlh and Forfar, leased to the Aberdeen, from the 1st Feb. 1848, at
a fixed rent of 5} percent, and half the surplus profit, after deducting Z\
per cent for working, the lessees have the option after 5 years of working
as a basis, to fix the amount of surplus profit to be paid the Arbroath and

Forfar Company.

Scvltish Midland, agreed to be worked by the United Scottish Central;
and Edinburgh and Glasgow Companies, at 37J per cent on the gross
receipts, guaranteeing a dividend of 4 percent for 5 years, and to anjalga-
niate at the end of that period, on the basis of the receipts of each lire lor
the last two years preceeding. The Scottish Miolaud purchased the
Coupar Angus Line for 15,000/., and the Glammis for 21,000/.

Huddersfield and Manchester repudiite the lease to the Sheffield and
Manchester, and set forth the Leeds and Thirsk, and Leeds and Dewsbury,
as their natural allies, and that hereafter better terms may be obtained either
from the Manchester and Leeds or the Sheffield and Manchester.

Leeds and Brw'ford, with Manchester and Leeds, two of the former
converted into one of the latter Company's. 675,000/., of new Manchester
and Leeds fifths to be distributed among the Bradford proprietors. The
Midland Branch to belong 10 Midland, York, and North Midland, and
Manchester and Leeds Companies, aud the Midland to run their trains to
Bradford; e'lual calls and dividends and contributions to increase of capital
and proportionate dividend in the interim.

East AnnHan, name taken by the Lynn and Ely, Lynn and
Dereham, F.hi and Huniingdon, amalgamated Companies, which look
place as from Ist January, 1846, the Extension of Lynn and Ely ap-
portioned among the proprietors of each company, onenew share for one old.
Theamount paidisonly 3i per cent until completed, whilst most Com-
panies pay 4 per cent.

Chester and Birkenhead, leased for 7 years lo the Chester and Holyhead
on the capital Stock, 5 per cent for the first year, 6 for the second ; 7 for
the third ; and 8 for the last four years.

Edinhurgh and G/«sfoir, with Ballochney, Slamannan, MonkUnd and
Kirkintillock Lines, the arrangemen lis taking the Edinburgh and Glasgow
at 100, the proportion allowed is respectively 37 J for the first, and 21 for
the two remaining lines.

Gmii yorth nfEni;land, Clarence and Hartlepool Junction, amalgamated
at pur with the Hartlepool Dock and Railway. Capital 80,000/., to pay
3 per cent from July 1846, to 1848, and 5 per cent to 1849.

Harllcpo'd Dock and Raihriiy, sold lo the Newcastle and Darlington
Junction, for 220/. per 100/. share, lo complete in 5 years, 10 per cent in
the interim, the Share Capital 313,320/., aud 52 250/. of the debt to be
converted into 1 shares, and included in the arrangement. The old shares
and quarters to be entitled to the issue of one sixth, possession to be given

on the 30th June, 1846.

Limd<in and Birmingham Railway, and Birminghiim Navigation Com-
pany.

The Southampton and Dorchester, with the London and South Western.

The mere projects have not been less active in reconciling conflicting
interests, and the following alliances or amalgamations have taken place.

Korlh Staffordshire, with Derby and Crewe.

Reading and Reigate. with Reading, Guildford and Reigate.

Welch Midland, and Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford.

Waveneij Valley, and Ipswich and Norwich.

South Eastern, aud Dover, Deal, and Cinque Ports.

London and York, and Huntingdon, St. Ives, Wisbeach, and Sutton

Union.

Chepstow, Forest of Dean, and Gloucester, with Welch Midland

Extension.

Birmingham and Leicester, and Direct Birmingham and Leicester.

Leeds and Carlisle, and Yorkshire and Glasgow Union.

London and Binningham, with Birmingham, Wolverhampton and
Stour Valley ; Shrewsbury, and Birmingham ; Dudley, Madeley, Broseley
and Iron Bridge Uniied Co.npany.

Worcester, Warwick and Rugby, with Rugby, Warwick and Worcester,
and Warwick and Worcester.

Manchester and Rugby Direct, and Churnet and Blythe.

Lincoln, iVamJieet Hacen, and Boston, and Great Grimsby, Lincoln

aud Louth.

Gonle.Doneaster, Sheffield and Manchester Junction, and South York-
shire Coal Company.

Sluffield and Lincolnshire, and Manchester and Lincoln Union, and
Gainsbro' Canal.

Trent Valley, Midland, and Grand Junction, and South Staffordshire.

Worcester, Hereford, Ross and Gloucester, Great Western, with the
Worcester and Smith Wales Junction.

Abcrdcin. Banff and Elgin, and Great North of Scotland.

Scottish South Midland, and Stilling and Dunfermline.

Edinburgh and Leith Atmospheric, and Direct Edinburgh and Leith
AtmosphiTic.

Tyiie Valley, and East Lothian Canal.

Midland Great Western of Ireland, and Extension to Galway and Sligo,
and the Liffey Branch, Lout;l'oid Deviation.

Scottish Grand Junction, now only from Oban to Lochlomond.

Forth aitd Clyde, on friendly terms with Scottish Central, and Caledonian
and Dumbartonshire.

The foUotcing Lines are Abandoned/or the Session.

Chi-pstovT, Forest of nenn. .Tid GInucesler.
Liv<Tii(jol. Prestiin. and Nurth Union.
^\'olverhiniplon onrt Birkenhead.
BirniiiiBlmm, Wesl Broinwieli. and Walsall
Hull and Great Nortli of England.
Fleetwood and Clilheroe.
Birmiiighan. and Douley
Wolvcrliump'on. Thester and Birkenhead.
Birmingham and Worcester.
Hndderslield, Ea«t and \\ eot Coast.
Great Welch Central.
Trent Valley Continuntlnn.
Wluthy, Pickering, Thirsk, andOrealNorth
of England.

North and Kast RidinK.
Kenfrew and Ayr Coiinties.
SHiiqnhar and MuirkirU.
Scottish North Western.
Arbroath and Stonehaven-
Lancashire and Kastern Coucties.
North Cheshire.

West End and .Southern Counlies.
Bepent's Canal Railway.
Isle of Wight.
Direct London and Exeter.
Great North and South Wales, and Wor-
cester.

Hl'J.J

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

71

CJAISK OF THE CATASTROPHE AT BARENTIN.

Our professional correspondents write to us expressiDg tlieir inability to
make out tlie trutli regarding llie recent catastrophe of the Barentin via-
duct, and their desire to obtain such authentic intelligence regarding the
facts of the case as may enable us to guard, if possible, against the recur-
rence of similar casualties, so disastrous to railway enterprise. Similar
accidents have happened in this country, generally from injudiciously tip-
ping the stuli' out of wagons on the arches while yet very green, and un-
equally loading them so as to push in the haunch, and raising up the
crowu so as to destroy the equilibrium of the arch. In other cases, the
foundation has given way ; but this Barentin case appears still to be
a mystery.

From the French papers we have endeavoured, but in vain, to gather
consistent intelligence. The statement seems directly opposite, and so
mixed with prejudice and manifest ill-feeling, that it is not possible to
ground any tolerably consistent opinion on their statements. Even the
French railway journal contradicts itself flatly, so as to display either the
greatest ignorance or the greatest prejudice, on a subject on which every-
body would naturally have expected it to be intelligent and just. We
have it one day assuring us that the structure was built in conformity with
the plans of the engineer, that the railway company must therefore incur
all the loss, and so leading the shareholders in this country to believe
that their plans were faulty, and that a design, of course ill-proportioned
and injudiciously planned, was the origo malis. Then, next week, «e find
in the same journal a letter from the coutractors themselves, giving the lie
to the journal, and stating that the work was altered from the plans to
suit their wishes, that they held themselves and not the company respon-
sible for the loss, and that they were immediately to recommence their
work. This is a little creditable to the English contractors — creditable to
Mackenzie & Brassey, of whom we expected no less; it is in every way
calculated to enhance their character, which is respected both abroad and
at home, and it is also a step which must tend to give the public confidence
in whatever they may in future undertake. It also justifies those direc-
tors of the company who have reposed in them implicit confidence for the
execution of works ofenormousexteut, and gives confidence also to English
shareholders. But what are we, what are the shareholders in England,
to say to a French journal, which professes to watch over their interests in
France, and yet spreads false alarms among them and the public, so peril-
ling the value of their property, by increasing the fears it ought to have
assuaged by a judicious and well-timed statement of the truth, and, wheu
obliged to publish an oBicial contradictiou from another source, does not
even frankly apologize for its former delinquency, nor advert to the injus-
tice of which it had been guilty? Surely, it is manifest the interests of
shareholders are not safe in such keeping.

We have, therefore, endeavoured to obtain from our correspondent, from
the spot, a true account of the accident; and we now give our readers,
with the assistance of his sketches, a fair and tolerably precise account of
the matter. But, first we give the contradiction referred to.

The following letter was addressed to the editor of the Journal des Che-
mins de Fer : — " Sir, — In reply to the article in your number of Saturday
last, we have the honour to iuform you that we take upon ourselves the
whole responsibility of the accident, and will begin to rebuild the viaduct
without delay. We are not in a condition to say with certainty how the
accident originated, but are disposed to attribute it to the substitution
(with Mr. Locke's approbation) of stone-work in the basrs of the piers for
the brick-work prepared in the original plan. This alteration was made
at our request, with a view to accelerate the progress of the work, and
fulfil the engagement we had contracted with the company. — We have the
honour to be, &c. Mackenzii! & Brassi;y."

The arches are semicircular, and designed of ample dimensions and
strength — some engineers, whom we know, would have been satisfied with
considerably less strength. The whole work was brick, excepting the bases
of the piers, which were of stone ; and the fact is unquestionable, that on
the day before the accident not the slightest flaw had been discovered in any
part of the brick-work, but that vertical cracks near the corners had been
observed iu the stone-work. Now, be it observed, this stone- work was
ashlar facing hearted with rubble. Let our engineering reader look at
the plan, and then let him think over the probable eflect of this — taking
into account, as we formerly stated, a little haste and a great deal of wet
weather.

We must here notice a sort of professional controversy which exists in
France between the English engineers and the French, We English like

brick-work— we understand it, andwe make it good, so good that from one
endjto the other of the railway, not a single Haw could be detected by the in-
spector-general in any part of the brick. work of the line. The French eu.
gineers do not like brick-work. They are, perhaps, better acquainted
with stone, and certainly like it better. Be this as it may, the conse-
quence, as regards this work, has been as follows :— This bridge was ori-
ginally designed by the engineer and contracted for as all in brick. The
contractors partly to expedite the work and partly to please the French en-
gineers, asked leave to make the bases of the piers up to a certain point in
stone-work : they obtained the permission of the engineers to do so ; and
thus, in a desire to expedite the work and to please the French engineers,
they have brought on themselves a loss, in which we must all sympathize
with them, and which we can attribute to nothing but the best intentions.
This casualty, while it entails pecuniary loss, will raise the character of
the contractors for honesty and responsibility, both here and abroad.

Well, to return to the accident. This stone base was 19 feet greater
diameter than the brick pier resting on it. The chief pressure of the weight
of pier and bridge was thus brought to bear on the rubble hearting. The
tendency of this to crush the hearting and burst the facing is manifest.
The vertical cracks visible that morning in the stone casing were evident
symptoms of it ; and as the upper work was perfectly sound, and had been
some time completed, and as the pile foundations are still perfectly sound
as far as can be discerned, the cause is manifest.

The lessons it teaches are also obvious : we are all wise after the fact —
we can all now see that it was weak to yield to an idle prejudice and not
use brick throughout as intended — we can all see that it would have been
better to wait until the bricks were got, than to build work to tumble
down! But who would have ventured to say beforehand, to this point
may you go, both in haste and in matf rials, and no further? No! Con-
tractors and engineers must often make sacrifices of mere opinion to
accomplish what they conceive their duty to the companies they serve ;
and ifiu doing so, they commit errors, they are but men gaining ex-
perience, and they have to pay for it. But iu this country, at least, when
they bravely set their face to do their work honestly and well— and when
taken as a whole, the work is honestly and creditably done, as everytliing
is that English engineers and English contractors have done in French
railroads — they will meet with that sympathy and support from their
countrymen which they have a right to expect, and they will be entitled
to that respect and esteem abroad, which their acliieveraents must command
from all right-minded and judicious mea.— Railivay Chronicle.

TRACT ON VOLCANOES, SPRINGS OF HOT WATER, AND
EARTHQUAKES.

During the period of my altering the hot-water baths, at Buxton, in
Derbyshire, I was naturally led to reflect upon the causes of the various
hot springs of water, and the regularity of the supply, and temperature at
every season of the year. Thirty-five years have since elapsed, and the
interval has aflforded me maoy opportunities of judging whether the notions
which I then entertained were correctly founded, and whether they de-
served to be promulgated.

Reading lately in a Colonial .Journal an article on Volcanoes, which
contaius the following remarks, I have been led to set set down the con-
ceptions alluded to, and in reference to the writei's observations, viz ; —

" When these fires were kindled, by what sort of fuel they are still
maintained, at what depths below the surface of the earth they are placed,
whether tiiey have a mutual connexion, and how lonj- they may continue
to burn, are questions which do not admit au easy decision. The greater
number of volcanoes rise in a cone, their mouth or crater, has generally
the shape of a cap or an inverted tunnel ; but iu some instances the lava
breaks out at the sides. AV'hen the fires find no issue they produce earth-
quakes. When Vesuvius throws ofl'its inflammable contenis by moderate
and regular eruptions, the inhabitants of Naples have but little to dread
on, the occurrence of an earthquake : after a long repose the volcano breaks
out with additional force ; the extent of its influence is astonishing; that
of Toniboraa in one of the Islands of the Indian Archipelago, was felt
througli a circular space of 2000 miles in diameter."

I submit with great diffidence whether it may not be possible to show
that the origin of almost all the internal heat of the earth arises simply fi oni
the attraction of the particles composing it, in fact constituting an universal
pressure, greater in the exact ratio that these particles collectively have
to one another. Let me instance, what we all know, that independently Of

72

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[March

the qualities of the component soil, in every perforation^ into the boJy of
the earth the temperature increases regularly with the depth of perforation,
and that the water when reached has always a warmth proportionate to
its depth under the incumbent soil, thus natural rivers have at their original
springs (if constant) a warmth which in the coldest weather prevents their
freezing, and it has been ascertained that the well at Paris, the deepest
we believe ever executed, gave a high temperature much above the heat
of any other artificial spring.

Let me endeavour to explain my views by observing, that admitting as
a llieory, that the attraction or condensation of the materials of the earth,
and simply sea sands, I conceive that at some enormously great pressure I
believe they would be vitrifipd, I placed under Bramah's Hydrostatic
engine, a short square column of Portland stone, viz. 2ft. Tin. high, and
1ft. by 1-2 at bottom and top ; this piece of stone burst asunder with the
pressure 173J tons, the fragments being then quite hot, and the fracture
was attended with a report as loud as that of a pistol. Now admitting
that tlie pressure of each portion of the surface of the earth 1-2 by 1ft.,
superficies, produced a heat such as described under the pressure of a
column equal to the weight of 1737 tons, an increased height may
reasonably be supposed to generate heat in the same progression until at
length such heat would be produced, that expansion would follow, and
at length a volcano takes place in some place of the west of the globe,
probably where as at sea there is the least incumbent weight, or in some
district of country where the nature of their constituent materials opposed
the least resistance to expansion.

With respect to the heat of water, the reflection on the most considerable
geissers gives the same infeieuce, for let us admit that water shall perco-
late the fissures of the earth to a great depth, and that its incumbent
weight produces heat to such an extent that it boils over, and that after the
heat escapes a temporary subsidence takes place, thus the exceptions of
the geisser does not re-occur until heat has been again regenerated by the
same pressure ^hich before produced it.

Possibly it may be opposed, that the regularity of Buxton, Baths, and
other overflowing hot springs does notlead to this conclusion!; I am inclined
to think that where there are natural cavities in mountains which are
recipients of water, and when the incumbent pressure is not excessive, and
where there are oriticesj which discharge the superabundant water, it is
not irrational to suppose that the vents just referred to perforin the office of
geissers, and as there is no obstruction to them by the narrowness of their
orifices, or vast height of columns or water, violent discharges do not
take place.

A further observation on volcanoes, and earthquakes may perhaps deserve
attention, namely, that in the districts where they have more particularly
been attended to, the component soils are in themselves of a nature liable
to the action of fire. Sulpliur abounds near Etna.

It may be said, that admitting this doctrine of the generation of heat and
the self-discharge thereof by its escape by volcanoes, and the invasion of
hot water, and hot vapours, yet there must be some portions of the earth
where these efforts of nature do not appear to take place. To this I reply
that we are so ignorant of the lowermost structure of the earth, as to the
inclination of their various beds, that it is possible Hecia the great vent of
the North, may serve as the chimney of a great region, and that the other
volcanoes mentioned in the remainder of the article first referred to, may
discharge the superabundant heat of other portions of the Globe, for it is
notorious that earthquakes are felt 20 or 30 degrees of longitude distant
from the places where such eruptions have taken place.

It is therefore, I trust, no presumption to entertain those ideas that so
long as gravitation exists, there will be a generatiou of heat, and conse-
([uently that this discharge of heat, is an important dispensation in main-
taining this Globe, and that although sometimes dreadful vi>itations are
witnessed, yet they are not without their benefits to the great bulk of
mankind.

John White.

Paddle Box Boats Abandoned — The Rdributmi steam-frigate, Cap-
tain Lhshington, ha\in^' retnmefl her pa(i(ile-bo.v bouts to Ihe Portsnioulh dockyard on
account of their great vrelght(12 tons,) will not have any more paddle-box boats litted, and
the padule-box is accordingly already built up in the usual way, it being apparent that the
vessel can carry conveniently as many boats as are necessary on board and upon her
quarters, without encumbering herself with such heavy appurteuanccs. The removal of
the paddle-box boats has given this fine vessel a much more sightly and light appear-
ance, and no doubt will ease her in sea-going. She is being fitted with a connecting beam
u> strengtbea her paddle, boxes.

REV1E\VS.

An Essay on an Improved Method of Construction for Viaducts, Bridges,
and Tunnels, being an .ipplication of the Principle of Universal Gravitation,
as illustrated in the Solar System. By Messrs. Blair and Phillips, .\rchitects
and Civil Engineers. London : Weale, 1845. 8vo. pp. 10.

We are constantly called upon to criticise opinions which evince incorrect
conceptions of mechanics, but we seldom or never have criticised any dissert,
ation in which the laws of nature are so gloriously confounded together as
in the pamphlet before us. To most (we hope, all) of our readers its title
will sufficiently explain its merits : the laws of motion and those of equili-
brium are throughout ttiken as identical ; the equilibrium of arches, &c. is
referred to the " principle of gravitation as illustrated in the Solar System .'"
Risum teneatis amici ?

We will not attempt anything like serious argument respecting the views
propounded in the pamphlet. It is necessary to a satisfactory discussion
that the disputants should have some similar views : we should imagine,
however, that Messrs. Blair and Phillips have not one idea in common with
us respecting the theory of the arch. Dissimilarity of opinion may reach a
point beyond which argument is fruitless. It is possible to diverge so far
from the highway of received opinions as to render a return to it absolutely
hopeless. Our authors seem in this predicament. However, that the reader
may judge for himself as to tl)e possibility of their hereafter returning to the
paths of orthodoxy, we give one or two short extracts.

" If an arch be turned over any opening, and a wall be built upon it, the
arch supports very little besides itself. There is no weight for it to support,
because the position which a regular wall takes is that of a continued series
of corbels, which corbels meet in the centre, and form a direct line from the
centre to each pier. This reminds us of a general law of gravitation by which
all bodies, when unimppded, fall directly to the earth^s centre, and, if im-
peded, take a direct line tending in some degree toxcards that centre.

With this law of nature before our eyes, let us examine — 1st, the semi-
circular arch. This form of arch is used very much, and is by many con-
sidered of great strength. Now we wish to show- that of itself this arch is
very weak. It is weak, because, when a weight is placed on any one part of
it, there is great danger of it becoming deformed."

The remarks are illustrated by absurd diagrams in which arches are re-
presented as distorted by a superincumbent pressure into all kinds of im-
possible shapes. The authors seem to think that when an arch fails it is by
the slipping of the voussoirs on each other ; whereas in practice it is uni-
versally found that the friction of the voussoirs is so great that they cannot
slide, and that the arch can only fall by the opening of the joints. The point
endeavoured to be elucidated by these diagrams is that all curved arches
must be distorted by pressure upon them, and that a perfectly flat arch is
alone free from this danger. The reasoning is as follows : —

" Why is this ? The reason is evident. The line of the arch is curved,
and as curved (and in proportion to its curve) liable to bend.

" Ve come then to our great point, namely, that weight falls in direct
lines, and not in curves, as is supposed ; and the nearer our supports ap-
proach to a straight hne, the more strength we obtain. If this is true and
it cannot be denied, the elliptical arch is of all arches the weakest."

It really is no more than charitable to inform the writers that the strength
of an arch depends not only on its curvature but also on that which they
have altogether neglected to consider — the depth of its voussoirs.

We are informed by our authors that they take no credit to themselves for
the plan of building arches flat, but they pronounce the whole body of civil
engineers blockheads for not having previously thought of it.

" It may, however, and, we doubt not, will be said, that what we advance
is plain and easy, and that we need not claim to ourselves any credit for in-
troducing it. \Ve acknowledge that it is both plain and easy; indeed we
stated this at the commencement of our description. Cut who is he that
has apjiliid this plain and easy method.' If we cannot claim any credit,
surely they that have overlooked what we have now taken up may be set
down as ignoramuses, and not df. serving the name and title of civil engineers.
For why should the best method of construction be set aside, and an inferior
one adopted .= Why should thousands and tens of thousands of pounds be
thrown away in that which is worse than useless — injurious ? And why
should we praise men trho, directly in face of the laws of the universe, would
erect a fabric whose stability they doubted, or which would not stand the
test of time and the researclies of science.'"

After this the least that the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Institute
of British Architects can do, is to ordain a fast and go into mourning.

18-16.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

73

A Complete Treatise on the Oblique Arch. By Peter Nicholson. Third
Edition. London: Groombridge, 1846. 8vo. pp. 110; 43 lithographic
plates.

This is a new edition of a work reviewed in a former volume of this Jour-
nal. The object of the treatise is confined to the explanation of the geome
trical forms and position of the Voussoirs of Oblique Arches, and does not
comprise the mechanical theory of these structures— the subject is in fact a
particular branch of Descriptive Geometry. The three preliminarv chapters
treat of those principles of plane and solid geometry which are neceisary to
the explanation of the construction of oblique arches ; the theory of which
IS divide-} into two portions-the theory of oblique arches, with spiral joints
and that of oblique arches with plane joints, the distinction between the two
kinds of arches is thus defined.

J'^ oblique flrcA with spiral joint., is that in which the surfaces of the beds
and the surfaces of the joints are both spiral surfaces.

If an oblique arch with spiral joints be executed accordine to the nrinci
pies here established and cut by a plane perpendicular to the axis of the cv"
bnder, the section w,ll exhibit a series of straight lines, dividing the are of i
circle^ into smaller ares, and the lines being prolonged, would meet in the

An oblique arch with plane joints is that in which the beds of the stone,
are planes, passing through the axis of the cvliiider. The iilane-T nf ti
joints being parallel to the axis, intersect each face of the arch in verv
oblique angles, and only one of the joints can be perpendicular to tl"e flee
AI the 0 her joints, as they recede from the centre, are more and m^,?;
oblique till they reach the summit of the arch. As eve v oblimie ini^f
the angWs made by the face and that joint to beve^y "i^qu^ 'eoM e::!'
will be muchstrongerthan that which is acute, theseandesbeinff ,,,„?! V

t:fT"- Vr'^'l """'^"^ ^^^''^ "'«■ PlanrgLts'sh'o ^'"n'eTert
used where great strength is necessary; and where the angle of obliouftv is
very acute, tteobhque arch with spiral joints should only be emSe7
Im admit!"" '''"'"'' perpendicular to the face as' the construction

Of course in a work like this one of the first requisites is simplicity and
precision 0 language. The dimculty of conveying by words (and even by
diagrams) clear ideas of solid geometry can only be overcome by the mos
scrupulous adherence to the plain and uncomplicated modes of expression*
Our author seems to have generally paid great attention to this point"
Among the new portions of the present edition is a description of an oblique
budge over the river Gaunless, to which the following general observation,
are appended. '

it 'i'7^r" u"i" '" ""'''"' '''■' ""''■■'"'5' °f ^'""e is. in some countries where
It IS difficult to procure, verv expensive. However in nrrlp,- 1„ i -ij
which will be sufficiently strong at'a moderate pr" i s ecTs sary that "Z
imposts or spriugings should be of stone, and, to have thetppe^tf
.good work, the quoins which form the ring.stones and the head of the arch
should also be of stone Then the intermediate parts of the courses may be
of brick, (allowing perhaps fou, courses of bricks to each stone sprTn/erl
depenmng on thickness at the abutment. To work the springers and^ the
quo.n heads the same templets will be required as if the arch had been con
structed entirely of stone. Previous to setting the brick eourserthe board!
.ng or laggings should be truly adjusted and fixed ; and, for th; regularion
of the work, the bed-lines should be drawn thereon in the r true Sn^n
order to try the work as the bricklayer proceeds, he ought to use a ki, d of
set-square, made of thin board, containing an angle exactiv the reverse of the
templet; and, consequently, the curved edge will be concave instead of he ne
convex, as in the arch-square. The sides of each course being m de "o a'ef
vvith every application of the set-square, will be what it oSg" to be In
stone courses, if he stones are truly wrought, the spiial surfac^e of the'beds
w, I all agree with a set-square ; and, therefore, in this case it will be unne
cessary to provide one. uc unne-

There are several useful trigonometrical tables appended to the work in
order that the mason may find in it all the information which he requires
without the rouble of referring to other books. The plates are well exe:
cuted. At the end of the volume we regret to see several '■ testimonials re-
garding the success which the author has had in the appHcaHon of his prin-
ciples to the execution of oblique arches." These testimonials appear to be
satisfactory in themselves, but thev arc nut nf „i„» <-. . ■ .

' J. . ' "" ""^e out of place. Geometric princ pies

are not patent medicines. '^

Coneise Tables to FaoilHate the Calculation of Earthworks required in the
Construction of Railways, &rc. Bv Tohv HTTr-nro w • r ,

T?(K k ITT-, ,„,f. ' ^ Hughes, Engineer. -London:

Effingham Wilson. 1846., 12nio., pp. 26.

This is a very useful litile book, and th^ portable form which it assumes is
not Its least recommendation. The object is to determine the volume of the
solid formed by earthworks in cuttings and embankments I

There is this difficulty in determining this solid, Ihat'only one side of it '

is rectangular or of the same width throughout— namely, the plane sur-
face of the roadway itself,, which, in embankments, is the highest, and ia
cuttings the lowest side of the prismoid; the other sides of this solid vary
in all their dimensions, and though two sides opposite to each other may
be of unequal areas. For instance, in a cutting which commences at the
foot of a hill and terminates at a tunnel, the depth of the cutting gradually
increases, so that the perpendicular face at the mouth of the tunnel is of
greater area than the parallel vertical plane, supposed to be drawn at tho
base of the hill. The two oblique sides of the cutting also necessarily
widen as they approach the tunnel. Opposite portions of them may also
be unequal to each other, the depth of cutting to the right and left of the
railway depending on the original form of the hill. Mr. Hughes takes a
very simple method of ascertaining the solid content of the prismoid. He
imagines it divided into numerous small portions by vertical planes pa-
rallel to the faces at the commencement or end of the cutting: so that la
fact, the solid is considered as made up of numerous tliin slices of equal
thickness, but varying in their vertical areas, v.hicli are trapeziums. It
is clear, that by ascertaining the area of each of these trapeziums, takeo
at a certain determinate interval, the solid content of each slice may be de-
termined by knowing its thickness; and, adding all the solid contents so
found, we have the total volume of the cutting. The same method of
course, applies to embankments. It is important, however, to remark re-
specting the method here adopted, that the more numerous the cross
seclions are, the more closely will the result approximate to absolute
accuracy.

It is clear also, that Mr. Hughes's method contemplates the case in
which the upper side of the solid is curved. The tables hitherto published
have referred only to the particular case in which the solid is bounded by
planes only. Tiie following extract may be introduced to show how far
the present work differs from those of an analogous nature which bavei
preceded it : —

In extensive works, snch as railways and canals, the value of the earth-
work is about one-fourth of the entire cost of construction ; and, therefore
we find that engineers have given their attention to correct the approxima-
tions with which, in past times, the parties were satisfied, as well who
executed road and canal works, as their superintendents. The appearance
of the elaborate tables of Macnedl, and of those in a more condensed form
attributed to Bidder, went far to eradicate the practice, almost universally
prevalent, of taking average heights from a longitudinal section, or of
averaging the areas of the cross sections; a practice recommended by its
facility of application, and having nothing in its form, until reflection was
bestowed upon it, to excite suspicion of erroneous results in the minds of
those who were deeply interested in its truth. The damage to the interest
of contractors, in point of quantity, was, however, in all probability no
more than equivalent to the additional price paid to them for executing the
work ; but all arrangements which depended on balancing embankments
and cuttings were frequently found to be unavailable, and the disappoint-
ments from this source were set down to a change of bulk in the material
removed, which was assumed without sufficient examination, and which
until more competent persons took such arrangements into their own
hands, covered the ignorance of the surveyors from the eyes of their em-
ployers.

Bidder's table requires that the longitudinal dimensions should be taken
with a Gunter's chain, a standard never introduced in the drawings or
specifications of the architect; and, as well as Macneill's tables, does not
extend to heights greater than 50 feet, whilst cuttiugs occur on railways
more than 100 feet in depth. At the entrance of tunnels they are rarely
less than 70 or 80 feet, and embankments of 80 feet in height are not un»
common. I naturally, therefore, directed my attention to the means of
obviating this inconvenience by employing the general formula for the con-
tent of a prismoid, of which Macneill gave a demonstration as applied to
a restricted case, and upon which restricted case both his tables and
Bidder's were calculated. The particular case taken by Macneill, is that
of a solid bounded by a horizontal rectangular plane at the bottom ; by
two parallel, trapezoidal, vertical planes, of unequal heights, at the ends;
by two trapezoidal planes, equally inclined, on opposite sides of the ver-
tical, at the sides ; and by a sixth plane at the top, passing through the
parallel bases of the end trapezoid.

The Sdipension Bridge at the Falls of Niagara. — It is proposed

to construct a auipenslon bridge above ttie Falls of Niagara, so as to join the Canadiaa
Railway and the United States. The execution of It is to be conSded to Mr. Charles
Ellett, of Philadelphia, or to Mr. John A. Roehliiig, of Pittsburg. Mr. Ellet lately visited
the spot, for the purpose of examining the locality, and to ascertain the practicabilUy of
erecting so great a desideratum, There is a bridge which exists about a mile and a half
belew the cataract, and near the gulph, or whirlpool, where the distance of the two chief
abutments, from oae side to the other, does not exceed (J40 ft. The expenses for con-
structing this bridge are estimated by Mr. Ellett at 43,200/., for wflich aum he offers to
build it, and he lubscribes Imngelf to the amount of 4,J20f.

10

74

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[March,

THE BROAD AND NARROW GAUGES.

Ki:voET OF TEiE Royal Commissioners.

May it please your Majesty, — AVe, the Commissioners, ajipoiuted Iiy
writ, UDciur your Majesty's I'rivy Seal, bearing date the 1 1 tli of July, in the
ninth year of your Majesty's reign, to inquire whether, in future private actsof
Parliament for the construction of railways, provision ought to be made for
securing an uniform gauj'e, and whether it would be expedient and practi-
cable to take measures to bring the railways already constructed or in pro-
gress of construction, in Great Hrilain, into uniformity uf gauge, and to in-
quire whether any other mode could be adopted of obviating or mitigating
the evii;apprchemJed as likely to arise from the break that will occur in
railway communications from the want of an uniform gauge, big dutifully
to submit, that we have called before us such persons as we have judged
to be, by reason of their situation, knowledge, or experience, the most com-
petent to afl'ord us correct information on the subject of this inquiry, and we
have required the production of such books and documents from the various
railway companies as appear to us to be the best calculated to aid our
researches.

We have personally examined into the usual course of proceeding on
various railways both at home and abroad, especially those which are in-
cident to a break or interruption of gauge, and we have personally inspected
several locomotive engines as well as mechanical contrivauci'S invented,
either for the general use of railways, or for obviating the sjiecial difficulties
presumed to arise from the break of gauge, or otherwise connected with
the subject of our inquiry, and as we believe we have now carried our in-
Testigation to the utmost useful limits, we feel iu a position dutifully to
offer to your Majesty the following report.

DKEAK OF GAUGE.

1. Our attention was first directed to ascertain whether the break of
gauge could be justly considered as an inconvenience of so much import-
ance as to demand the interference of the Legislature.

Gloucester is the only place where a break of gauge actually exists at
the present time. It is caused by the meeting at that place of the broad
or 7 feet gauge with the narrow or 4 feet 8i inch gauge. There are other
points, however, where a transfer of goods occurs similar to that which
must result from a break of gauge, and persons well acquainted with rail-
way traffic have no difficulty in seeing the nature of the inconvenience that
would arise from any further intermixture of gauge : and we humbly sub-
mit the observations that occur to us as to the whole of this important part
of the question.

We will divide the subject of the break of gauge under the following
heads : —

1st, as applying to fast or express trains; 2dly, to ordinary or mixed
trains ; 3dly, to goods trains, and 4thly, to the conveyance of your Ma-
jesty's forces.

1st. Fast or express trains.
We believe that the inconvenience produced by a break of gauge will, in
some respects, be less felt in these than in other trains, because the passen-
gers travelling by fast trains are usually of a class who readdj submit to
many inconveniences for the sake of increased speed on the journey, and
who are perhaps generally less incumbered with luggage than persons tra-
velling by the slower trains; and as it is understood to be the t;eueral prac-
tice that no private carriages or horses are conveyed by these trains, the
inconveniences of a break of gauge are reduced in this instance to the re-
moval of the passengers and a moderate quantity of luggage ; and, although
such removal must create delay and some confusion, as well as personal dis-
comfort, especially at night and m the winter season, besides the risk of a
loss of luj^gage, yet we do not consider the break of gauge, in this instance,
as being an inconvenience of so grave a nature as to call for any legislative
measures, either for its removal or for its mitigation.
2dly. Ordinary or mixad trains.
In these trains thepasseagers considerably exceed in number those who
travel by the fast trains, and they have generally a much greater quantity
of luggage. To such travellers a change of carriage is really a serious incon-
venience, and it is a well known fact that persons travelling by railways in
communication with each other, but under different managements endea-
vour to make such arrangements as to admit of their travelling by those
trains which atibrd them the accommodation of occupying the same
carriage from the begirming to the end of their journey.

The managers and directors of railways are well aware of this feeling,
and in some instances where they do not allow their carriages to run
through, yet with a view of diminishingthe inconvenience to which this ex-
poses their passengers, they send a luggage train from terminus to terminus,
to prevent the evil of a removal of the passengers' luggage ; and some rail-
way companies incur considerable expense in running trains of return
empty carriages, in order to accommodate the public by enabling travellers
to avoid a change of carriage on the journey.

It is by the ordinary or mixed trains that private carriages and horses
are conveyed, and the removal of either from one truck or horsebox to
another, at any part of the journey, would be attended with inconvenience
and delay ; and with regard to the hurses, it would involve considerable
risk.

Me arrive, therefore, at the conclusion that the break of gauge would
nflict considerable loconvenieuce on travellers by the trains now

under consideration, and that this inconvenience would be macb increased
at points of convergence of more than two lines.

'The change of carriages, horse-boxes and trucks, and the transference of
luggage of an entire tram of much extent, must even iu the day time, be an
inconvenience of a very serious nature, but at night it would be an into-
lerable evil, and we think legislative interference is called for to remove or
mitigate such an evil.

3dly. Goods trains.
From the statement? made to us b) carriers on railways, and from our
own observation, we are induceil to believe, that not only a considerable
degree of care, judgment, and experience is necessary in the stowage of
merchandise in railway wagons, but also, that it is desirable that when
properly packed the articles should, generally speaking, not be disturbed
until the journey is completed. We find that in the arrangement of mer-
chandise, the heavier goods are placed at the bottom, and the lighter at the
top of the load, and so secured as to prevent friction us far as practicable
from the jolting of the wagons; audit is considered very desirable, with
a view to prevent loss by pilfering, that the sheeting, which is placed over
the load, should not be removed till the completion of the journey. Indeed,
acting upon this principle carriers find it profitable to scud their wagons
partially filled from various stations on the line, thereby increasing their
toll to the railway company, rather than incur the risk of loss by
theft, to which they would be exposed by uncovering the wagons on the
journey to fill up with intermediate local goods wagons that may have
started with light loads from one of the termini.

The stations for re-arranging the goods trains are therefore as few as
possible ; thus, between Leeds and London, the points for unsheeting the
goods wagons are only Derby and Leicester, and iielween Liverpool and
Loudon, the re arrangement is confined to Birmingham and Kugby ; and
even at those stations the proportion of wagons which are uncovered is
very small : indeed, it is slated that at the important town of liirmingham
five-sixths of the wagons pass without rearrangement.

In the conveyance of machinery and articles of a similar class, which
are both heavy and delicate, it is of the utmost consequence that the load
should not be disturbed between the beginning and the end of the journey;
a change of carriage, such as would result in all probability from a break
of the gauge, would altogether prevent the transport of such articles by
this mode of coveyance.

M'e belitve that the traffic upon the line of railway between Birming-
ham and Bristol has been greatly restricted by the interruption of gauge
at Gloucester.

In respect to the conveyance of minerals, the inconvenience of a break
of gauge would be very serious; the transfer being attended with aa
expense which would be sensibly felt in consequence of the low rate
tolls charged on such articles ; moreover, many descriptions of coal, such
as a considerable proportion of that of the Blidland Counties, are subject
to great deterioration by breakage.

In regard to various articles of agricultural produce, the loss b^ removal
would be less than on other classes of goods; much inconvenience, how-
ever, would be found in the transfer of timber ; and the difficulty of
shifting cattle would be so great as to present an insurmoontable obstacle
to such an arrangement, from the excited stale of the animals after
travelling by railway, and the resistance they in consequence oB'er when
it is attempted to force them a second time into a railway wagon.

4thly. Conveyance of Troops.
There is another use of railways which we have deemed it necessary to
consider; we allude to the transport of your Majesty's troops, with
their military stores, &c., either in the ordinary movement of corps through
the country in the time of peace, or in the mere pressing and urgent case
of their movements for the defeuceof coast or of the interior of the country.
We have carefully weighed the important information given to us by the
Quartermaster-General of your Majesty's Forces, as well as by the In-
spector-General of Fortifications, both officers of great experience; and
we deduce from their opinions, that although a break of gauge on the line
of route would produce both delay and confusion, yet that, as in time of
peace it is usually practicable to give notice of the intended movements of
a body of troops, the inconvenience of the break of g:auge might be so re-
duced as not to bean evil of great importance; but, iu the event of ope-
rations for defensive objects against an enemy, the inconvenience would
assume a serious character.

It would appear, that for the defences of the coast, the proper course
would be to retain the great mass of troops in the interior of the country
to wait until the point selected by the enemy for his attack should be ascer-
tained with certainty, and then to move upon that point such an over-
whelming force as should be adequate to the emergency.

It is obvious that the success of such a system of defence must depend
upon the means of conveying the troops with great dispatch, and without
interruption on the journey.

The troops should be carried with their equipments complete in all their
details, and with their artillery and ammunition ; and it therefore appears
indispensably necessary, in order toinsure the requisite supply of carriages
where perhaps little or no notice can be previously given, that the whole,
should be conveyed in the same vehicles from the beginning to the end of
the journey.

The effect of a break of gauge might ia this view of the case expose the
country to serious danger. <

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEEERAND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL

75

To all classes of merchandise, as well as to all military operations con-
nected with railways, one general remark will apply, that in starting from
any one point it is usually practicable to obtain a sufficient number of
wagons for whatever may be required to leave that point, however
irregular the traffic may be ; but, at the convergence of several lines, where
the greater number might be of a gauge not corresponding to the gauge of
the other lines, if it happened that all were unusually loaded at the same
time, it vi'ould probably be impossible to provide on the latter an adequate
Dumber of wagons to carry off all the loads thus brought ; the alternative
would be, on the one hand, to submit to great confusion, delay, and incon-
Teuience, on all the converging lines having the majority on the same gauge ;
or, on the other hand, to maintain ou the hues being in the minority a very
extensive stock of carriages, which in general would be totally useless.

There is oue point which forcibly presses on our attention, and the truth
of which must be readily acknowledged, but of which the importance is
Dot at first equally obvious ; it is, that the greater part of the incon-
Teniencies to which we have alluded are not iucouveniencies of rare oc-
currence, and which would affect only a small number of persons, but, ou
the contrary, that many of them would occur several times in the course
of every day to a great number of persons at each point at which a break
of gauge might exist. The cumulative amount of such inconvenience
would of necessity be very considerable, and we feel bound to sum up our
conclusions by stating that we consider a break of gauge to be a very
serious evil.

II. Mechanical means of transference from one Gauge to the^other.

We are now brought to the second stage of our inquiry,-which is, to
discover the means of obviating or mitigating the evils that we fiud to result
from the break of gauge.

The methods which have been laid before us, as calculated for this pur"
pose, are as follows : —

1. AVhiit may be termed telescopic axles; an arrangement of the wheels
and axles of carriages, permitting the wheel to slide on the axle, so as to
contract or extend the interval between them in such a manner that they
may be adapted to either of tlie gauges.

2. A form of truck adapted to the broad gauge, but carrying upon its
upper surface pieces of rail 4 feet 8^ inches asunder, so that a narrow
gauge carriage may be run upon these rails without any disturbance of its
wheels.

3. A method of shifting the bodies of carriages from a platform and set
of wheels adapted for one gauge, to a different platform and set of wheels
adapted to the other gauge.

4. A proposal to carry merchandise and minerals in loose boxes which
may be shifted from one truck to another and of which only one would
probably be carried upon a narrow gauge truck, while two would be con-
veyed on a broad gauge truck.

]. Telescopic Axles.

Of these various methods, the first — if it admitted of being used safely
and extensively — would be, in its application, the easiest of all. — By the
operations of detaching the wheels from one limiting hold, of pushing the
carriage along converging or diverging rails, until the wheels were brouglit
to the required width, and of then connecting them by another limiling
bold, the transformation of the narrow gauge carried to the broad gauge
carriage, or vice versa, would be completed. But this construction is
liable to grave objections. It is stated to us as a matter of experience
(and we believe it admits of satisfactory explanation), that very small un-
steadiness of the wheels o' a railway carriage upon the axle renders the
carriage liable to run off the rails. A far more serious objection, however,
is, that the safety of a carriage and the whole train with which it is con-
nected would depend ujion tlie care of the attendant, who has to make the
adjustment of the axle-slide.

It is true that there are other cases, as in the attendaat on the switches
and signals, which depend upon the care of the person who is stationed to
work tiiem : but the circumstances differ very \videly. In these cases the
attendant has a single act to perform (or at the utmost, two acts only,) he
is not hurried, and his whole attention is concentrated on very simple
duties.

In respect to the shifting axles, the attendants would have to adjust a
great many carriages in succession (as there are sometimes a hundred
wagons in a goods train), the adjustment must be made hurriedly, and
often in the night; and the attendant's thoughts would probably have been
partly occupied with the loading of goods and other station arrangements.

On the score of danger, therefore, we think that the construction must be
at once abandoned. But we think it proper to add, that even if there were
DO such essential ground of objection, a construction of this nature could
not be adequately useful unless it were extended to every carriage which
is likely to pass the station where the break of gauge occurs. Under the
existing system of interchange of carriages, which is adopted by all the
railway companies whose hues communicate, and of which the advantages
are recognised in special clauses of the acts of Parliament applying to
several railways, carriages belonging to distant railways will frequently be
found a the place of junction of the two gauges, lliis construction therefore,
would lose much of its utility unless every railway carriage were made in
conformity to it, that is, unless a vast expenditure of capital, and a corres-
ponding annual expense in replacing worn-out carriages. is:c., were in-
curred even on railways very distant from the break of gauge.

2. Shifting Narrow Gauge Carriages on to Broad Gauge Truclis.

2. The plan of placing a narrow gauge carriage upon the top of a broad
gauge truck has, on the face of it, this obvious difficulty, that a broad
gauge carriage cannot be placed in the same manner upon a narrow gauge
truck, and therefore, unless not only the broad gauge railway, but also as
others communicating with it, be furnished with trucks proper for carrying
narrow gauge wagons, and with narrow gauge wagons also, and unless
the loads travelling towards the narrow gauge be placed only in these
narrow gauge wagons, the system effects nothing as regards the passage
in one direction. But even with regard to the passage from the narrow
gauge to the broad gauge, the system will not bear examination. If the
trucks are supported on springs, there is practicnllv a difficulty in running
the wagons upon them ; and if they are not supported on sprino-s they
will sustain great injury on the journeys. If they are loaded singly there
will be a great delay ; if they are placed in a row, and the narrow" gauge
carriages are run through the whole series, very great caution will be
necessary to secure each carriage both in front and in rear. When heavy
loads are thus placed in elevated positions, and when the security of each
depends upon adjustments hurriediy made, there will be the danger to which
we have alluded in uoticing the first proposed construction. Finally an
enormous amount of dead weight will be carried ou the broad gauge I'ine
We reject this proposal as entirely inapplicable to the traffic of railways. "

3. Sliifling tlie bodies of carriages from oue set of wheels to another.

3. The system of shifting the bodies of carriages from road wheels to
railway wheels is practised successfully in France, where the diligences
from Paris to distant towns, proceeding on road wheels from the Jless'agerie
of Paris to the railway station, are carried on a peculiar railway truc°k as
far as liouen and Orleans, and are then again placed ou road wheels to
continue their journey. At the low speeds of the French railways this
system is safe, but we doubt whether it would be safe with the speeds
of the English railways. Moreover it deprives the railway system of one
of its greatest conveniencies; namely, its readiness to receive almost any
number of passengers without warning, and to carry them to any distance,
small or great. Carriers' carts are also conveyed (but to no great amount)
jD the same manner. In France, as we understand, it is not thouiiht likely
jhat the system will be in any degree retained when those railways shall
l^ave been extended further. The same remarks, we conceive', would
gPply entirely, or in a great measure, to similar proposals for the shifting
J the bodies of railway carriages ; but as this plan has never been
gtrenuously urged, it is unnecessary to criticise it more minutely.

4. Conveying Goods in Loose Boxes.

The system of conveying goods in loose boxes, carried upon railway trucks,
has been seriously discussed. It has been repealcHly tried, and we are able
therefore to give an opinion on it, founded on experience.

The result of this experience is, that in one instance of a temporary
character, where the whole operation was under the control of one engineer ,
it succeeded , in other instances, although always under the controf of one
engineer or one company, it has usually failed; and these failures have
occurred where from the deterioration, caused by hand-shifting, to
the mineral conveyed, it was matter of anxiety to avoid transference of the
load from one box or wagon to another, and where no expense was spared
in the erection of machinery proper for the transference of the loose boxes.

These failures, it is to be remarked, occurred in a traffic which is com-
paratively regular, viz., that of coal ; in traffic of a less regular character
the causes tending to produce failure would be very much more numerous.

We consider that this method is totally inapplicable to remedy the in-
conveniencie of a break of gauge.

Some of the witnesses whom we have examined are of opinion that there
would be less difficulty in unloading the wagons of one gauge, and placing
the articles in wagons of the other gauge, by having two rows of wagons
on the different gauges, marshalled alongside of each other; but having
witnessed this process at Gloucester, we are of opinion that such a system
is totally inapplicable to an extended traffic.

Me sum up our conclusion on this head, by slating our belief that no
method has been proposed to us, which is calculated to remedy in any
important degree the inconveni#ices attending a break of gauge.
III. Policy or Uniformity of Galge.

Considerations on the general policy of establishing an uniformity of
gauge throughout the country.

Me approach this momentous question with a full convictiou of its im-
portance, and the responsibility that rests upon us.

That an uniformity of gauge is now an oliject much to be desired, there
can, we think, be no question. In the earlier period of the railway history
of this country the great trunk lines were so far separated as to be indepen-
dent of each other, as it were, isolated in their respective districts, and no
diversity of gauge was then likely to interfere with the personal convenience or
the commercial objects of the community; but nowtfiat railways are spread-
ing in all directions, and becoming interlaced with each other in numerous
places, that isolation is removed, that independence has ceased, and the time
has arrived when, if steps cannot be taken to remove the existing evil of the
diversity of gauge, at least it appears to us imperative that a wider spread of
this evil should be prevented.

If we had to deal with a qnestion not affecting the interests of parties, who
are not only unconnected, but who are opposed to eaih other in a spirit uf
emulation, it not of rivalry; or if we were dealing with the property of the

J«

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[March,

public, and not of private trading companies, we should merely have to
consider whether that uniformity of gauge which we deem to be so desirable
would be to dearly purchased by an alteration of one gauge to suit the other,
or of both to some fresh gauge which might be considered preferable to
either, if any such there be. . , . ,

But our position is diflFerent from this, since we have to consider not only
the relative length of the different systems, the comparative mechanical effi-
ciency of eacli, the general superiority of one above the other, their adapta-
tion to the wants of the country, and the possitiility as well as the policy of
a change, but also the pecuniary meaus of effecting it. We have further to
ook to the consequences of an iuterruption of the traffic during the progress
of an alteration.

X)ouble Gauge Railways. — There is still another fiew of the question, and
that is, the expediency of having, on lines of railway, additional rails,
10 as to afford the facility of using engines and carriages on botli gauges.

This expedient, in whatever form adopted, cannot be considered as free
from difficulties. If two rails, forming a narrow gauge way, arc placed be-
tween the two rails which form a broad gauge way, carriages of the different
gauges may run in the same train, without alteration even of their buffers,
which in the ordinary construction of the carriages correspond exactly on
the broad and narrow gauges. But the expense of such an insertion would
probably be not less than that of an entire change of gauge, including in the
latter, tiie change of engines and carrying stock ; and the complication
which it would introduce at the crossings might produce danger to rapid
trains, unless their speed were diminished at approaching such points. The
difficulty of packing the rails, if longitudinal sleeper* were used, would also
be much greater than if rails of only a single gauge were employed. If a
lingle rail were inserted eccentrically in a broad gauge way, so as to form,
in conjunction with one of the broad gauge rails, a narrow gauge way, the
expense of the insertion, and the danger of the crossings, as well as the
difficulty of packing the rails, would be somewhat diminished, but it would
be imprudent to run carriages of the dilfeient gauges in the same train, and
•I it would probably be the policy of the railway company to adopt for
their own stock of engines only one of the two gauges, and to interpose
those difiiculties which amount to a prohibition of the use of other com-
panies' engines, the inconveniences of a break of gauge would exist in
almost all their force at every junction of a branch railway on a different
gauge.

We consider, therefore, that the general adoption of such a system ought
not to be permitted.

We remark however, that the difficulties to which we have alluded may be
greatly diminished on any railway where the system of combiued gauges is
cordially taken up by the company ; and we think that great respect ought
to be paid to the rights which the companies may be supposed to possess in
the methods or systems which they have devised or adopted. At the same
time, we lay it down as the first principle, that inter-eomniunication of rail-
ways throughout the country ought, if possible, to be secured. If, to obtain
the last-mentioned object, it should be necessary to alter or make a change
in any existing railways, we think that it may be left as a matter of ulterior
consideration for the Legislature, whether in these limited instances the com-
bination of gauges may not be allowed.

Whatever may be the course which at the present time circumstances will
permit, it will appear from the opinion we have expressed, that we
think, abstractedly equalization desirable ; and we shall therefore proceed
to consider what gauge would be the best in such a system of equali-
zation.

We shall examine this part of the question under the following heads : —
1. Safety. — 2. Accomodation and convenience for passengers and goods. —
3. Speed. — i. Economy.

I. Comparative Safety.

We are of opinion that experience will, in this matter afford a better test by
which to compare the systems of the broad and narrow gauge than any
theory ; and we therefore have made inquiry into the nature of the acuidents
recorded in the official reports of the Board of Trade, as well as of such as
have happened since the last report was published.

We find that railway accidents ariie from collisions, obstructions on the
load, points wrongly placed, slips in cuttings, subsidence of embankments, a
defective state of the permanent way, loss of gauge, broken or loose chairs,
fractures of wheels or axles, &c. ; and, lastly, from engines running off the
line from some other cause.

|t- Of these several classes of accidents, all except the last are obviously inde-
pendent of the gauge ; and with reference to this last class, we have thought
it right to endeavour to determine whether the advocates of either gauge
could fairly claim, in regard to these accidents, a preference for their respec-
tive systems, on the score of greater security to the traveller. In these lists
we find only six accidents of the kind we are considering recorded from Oc-
tober, 1840, to May, 18-l.j, whereas there have been no less than seven
within the last seven months, and these are attributable to excessive speed,
the majority having happened to express trains. Of the whole number of
these accidents, three have occured on the broad gauge and 10 on the
narrow ; the former, however, differ in their character from the latter, the
carriages only, in the last two cases, having been off the line, whereas, in all
the 13 narrow gauge cases, the engines have run off, and the consequences
bare been more fatal. We must here observe, jhowevcr, that the extent of

the narrow gauge lines is 1 ,901 mi'es, and that of the broad only 274 ; there-
fore the comparison would be unfavourable to the broad gauge if considered
merely with regard to their relative length ; but it must he borne in mind
that the general speed of the Great Western considerably exceeds that of
many of the narrow gauge lines, and that some consideration is on that ac-
count due to the broad gauge.

The primary causes of engines getting off the rails appear to he over
driving, a defective road, a bad joint, or a badly balanced engine. If, in con-
sequence of heavy rains or other unfavourable circumstances, any part of the
road becomes unsound, the engine sinks on one side as it passes along such
part of the rail, suddenly rises again, and is thus thrown into a rocking and
lateral oscillatory motion, with more or less of violence according to the
rate of speed, and a very similar effect it produced in passing at high speeds
from one curve to another of different cunature. A succession of strains i»
thus thrown upon the rails, and if, before tlie rocking subsides, the wheel
meets with a defective rail or chair, which yields to the impulse, the engine
and train are thrown off as a necessary consequence ; but, as far as we can
see, such carnalities arc equally likely to happen on either gauge, other cir-
cumstances being similar.

It has indeed been stated by some of the witnesses whom we have ex-
amined, that the broad gauge is more liable to such accidents, from the cir-
cumstance that the length of the engine, or rather the distance between the
fore and bind axle, is less in proportion to its breadth than in the narrow
gauge engines, and that therefore the broad gauge engine is liable to be
thrown more obliquely across the lines, and in case of meeting with an open
or defective joint, more liable to quit the rail; hut we cannot admit the va-
lidity of this objection against the broad gauge lines. It may be that the
proportion between the length and breadth of the engine has some influence
on its motion, and that the motion is somewhat less steady where the dif-
ference between the length and breadth is considerably diminished; but
practical facts scarcely lead to the conclusion that the safety of the trains is
endangered by the present proportion of the broad gauge engines ; for it
appears that on the London and Birmingham Railway, where the engines
hitherto employed have been, generally, short four-wheeled engines, the
distance from axle to axle not exceeding 7 feet, or 7 feet G inches, no such
accident as we are considering has been reported ; and we are informed by
Mr. Bruyeres, the superintendent of that line, that no such accident has ever
occurred. The same remark applied to some other narrow gauge lines; and
if, as has been stated, exemption from these accidents has resulted from the
close fixing of the engine and tender adopted on this line, the same system
might be adopted on any other line, whether on the broad or narrow gauge.
An evil may also sometimes arise in six-wheeled engines, by the centre of
gravity of the engine being brought too much over the driving wheels, and
the springs being so adjusted for the sake of the adhesion of the wheels to
the rails, that the front wheels would have little or no weight to support,
and would be thus in a condition, by any irrpgularity in the road or other
obstruction, to be more easily lifted off the rails. But here again, if this
fault in the construction or adjustment has been anywliere committed, it is a
fault or defect wholly unconnected with the breadth of gauge.

Another cause of unsteady or irregular motion, dangerous to the safety of
the train has been stated to be the great overhanging weight beyond the
axles of some engines of recent construction, and of the weight of the outside
cylinder beyond the axle bearings. So far a& this construction is concerned,
it certainly appertains to narrow gauge lines only ; Init at the same time we
must remark, that it is not essential to their working.

Upon the whole, therefore, after the most careful consideration of this
part of the subject, we feel bound to report, that as regards the safety of the
passenger no preference is due, with well proportioned engines, to either
gauge, except perhaps at very high velocities, where we tliink a preference
would be due to the broad gauge. On this part of the suKji-ct we would
beg to point to the nature of the evidence of Mr. Nicholas Wood.
Relative Accomoflation for Passengers .lod Goods.

• Passengers. — The first-class carriages of the broad gauge are intended to
carry eight passengers in each compartment, and the compartments are
sometimes subdivided by a partition and inside door. On the narrow gauge
lines the first-class carriages are usually eonstructtd to carry only six pas-
sengers in each compartment; and we find that about the same widtli is
allowed for each passenger on both gauges. Some of the original mail
carriages were adapted for four passengers, and we believe that the public
had a preference for these carriages over butli the other descriptions.

Until lately the broad gauge carriages were altogether more comraodioiis
than thuso of the narrow gauge, but recently carrii^es have been introduced
on several of the narrow gauge lines nearly as lofty as those on the broad
gauge, and equally commodious ; in short, we now see no essential difference
as regards accommodation and convenience to individual passengers in the
first-class carriages of the two gauges.

In the second-class carriages on the broad gauge, six-persons sit side by
side, each carriage being capable of holding 72 passengers. On the narrow
gauge generally, only four passengers sit side by side, the total number iu
each carriage being i2 ; in this respect we are inclined to consider the latter
are more comfortably accommodated.

With reference to the case of the carriage, and the smoothness of the
motion, we have had very contradictory evidence, and it must be admitted
that great difference is experienced on the same line at different times,
depending upon the state of the road, the springs of the carriage, the number-

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

of persons in a carriage, to bring the springs into action, the position of the
carriage in the train, and the speed at which the train is propelled, of all
vrhich conditions are independent of the breadth of the gauge. We have
however, with a view of making our observations on this question, travelled
jeveral times over all those lines having their stations in London, and after
making, to the best of our judgment, every allowance for the circumstances
above-mentioned, we are of opinion that at the higher velocities the motion
13 usually smoother on the broad gauge.

Merchandise.— \t is now to be considered whether either gauge has a
luperiority over the other in regard to the conveyance of general mer-
chandise.

Under this head we class manufactured goods and their raw material,
mineral products, such as coal, lime, iron, and other ores ; agricultural produce,
inch as corn, hops, wool, cattle, and timber.

On these points we have taken the evidence of persons well acquainted
with the carrying trade, and from their information, and our observation, it
does not appear to be of consequence to the parties sending or receiving
goods whether they are transmitted in wagons containing five or six tons,
or in wagons of larger capacity, provided that the cost and security are
the same, and that the carriers undertake the responsibility of any damage
that may result from the size of the load. But Messrs. Home and Chaplin,
»nd Mr. Ilayward, who are largely interested, and have had great experience
in the carying trade, have expressed a strong opinion that the smaller
wagon is far the more convenient and economical. The satpe opinion is
still more strongly expressed by those witnesses we have examined who
have experience of our mineral districts. These persons state that the
smaller wagon can be more easily handled, and can be taken along sharper
curves than would be suited to a broader wagon ; that such sharp curves
are very common in mineral works and districts, and that the broken nature
of the ground would render curves of greater radius inconvenient and
expensive.

Another important difference between the two gauges, in this commercial
Tiew of the question, would present itself in localities in which there may be
a difficulty of readily obtaining full loads for the wagons at road stations.
Here the defect of the dead weight, which we find to apply more particu-
larly to the broad gauge , would be greatly increased unless another evil of
bUU greater commercial importance were created, that of detaining the
■wagons to receive full loads. On the whole therefore, we consider the
narrow gauge as the more convenient for the merchandise of the
country.

2. Relative Speed.
With a view to form our judgment on this subject, we have examined
the time-tables of the several companies having express and fast trains, and
the returns furnished by those companies of the actual speeds attained by
the express trains, on 30 successive days, from the 15th of June to the 15lh
of July, 1813.

We have also, on various occasions, travelled in the express trains, and
noted the speed, mile by mile.

The result has been, that we are fully satisfied ihat the average speed on
the Great M'estern, both by the express trains and by the ordinary trains,
exceeds the highest speed of similar trains on any of the narrow gauge
lines. But some of the latter have trains which exceed in speed the cor-
responding trains of the Bristol and Gloucester line, and also of the Swin-
don and Gloucester line, both of which are on the broad gauge ; but these
latter, it is to be remembered, are still of recent conslrnction with unfa-
vourable curves and gradients; and we have been informed by Mr. K.
Stephenson, in his evidence, that at one period the speed on the Northern
and Eastern line even exceeded that of the Great Western.

In treating of a difference in the speed, other circumstances besides tlie
mere gauge must be considered. The inclinations and curves of the Great
Western Railway, between London and Bristol, and even for 40 miles be-
yond Bristol, are, with the exception of the Wootton-Basset and the Box
inclines, particularly favourable to the attainment of high velocities ; and it
is important to remark, that the inclinations and curves on that part of the
Nortliern and Eastern Railway where the competition iu speed with the
Great Western was the most successful are generally of a similar cha-
racter.

O ne of the principle motives professed for constructing the Great West-
ern Railway on the broad gauge was the attaining of high speeds, and the
credit of the proposers and defenders of that construction has therefore been
deeply engaged in maintaining them.

The elfsct of gradients on the speed of the Great Western trains, even
with the powerful engines used on thatline,is shown in the Time Table, page
24, where we find that while the speed from Paddington to Didcot by the
express train is 47^ miles per hour, from Didcot to Swindon it is only 41'1,
and from Swindon to Gloucester ouly 31'7 ; from Swindon to Bath it is
482, but returning only 37 2 : from Bristol to Taunton the speed is 4t}'3,
and from Taunton to Exeter only 39'2.

Possibility of Future Increase of Speed. — We must observe, however,
that while the Great Western Company have not altered in any degree the
plan of their engines, the higlier velocities of the narrow gauge lines have
been attained by the introduction of a more powerful kind of engine than
was employed at an earlierperiod, and probably the new engines now used
on the narrow gauge are as powerful as they can well be made within the
limits of their gauge; whereas the broad gauge lines have still a means of
obtaining an increase in the puwer of their engines, and of increasing their
speed, providing the road be in a condition to sustain the great increased

force which must result from any increased weight of the engine moving
at such high velocities.

Whether the permanent way is in such a state at present is very question-
able, or even whether it bi' posiblein all vicissitudes of weather to main-
tain it in such a condition. We ought not to lose sight of the fact, that,
since the introduction of express trains the accidents arising from engines
running off the line have been much more common than in former years ;
indeed, these accidents have been more numerous within the last
seven months than within the preceding five years, and it is questionable
whether this contest for speed ought to be carried to any greater length.
We are, indeed, strongly inclined to the opinion stated by several engineers
in their evidence, that it is the stability of the road, and not the power of
the engine, that will prescribe the limits of safe speed.

On the first introduction of passenger railways, speeds of about 12 miles
per hour only were anticipated ; the rails then employed weighed ouly 35
lb. per yard, and the engines about six or seven tons. As soon as speeds
of 20 and 24 miles per hour were attempted, it was found necessary to
have rails of oOlb. per yard, and engines weighing 10 and 12 tons. Since
that time the rails have been increased in weight progressively to G5lb.,
75lb., and 85lb. per yard, and the weight of the engine on the broad gauge
exceeds 22 tons, and on the narrow gauge it now approaches 20 tons ;
indeed, we have seen a narrow gauge engine on six wheels weighing 3il
tons. We doubt, however, whether a corresponding stability has beea
attained in the road itself.

Outside Cylinder Eagine». — Amongst other changes for increasing the
power of the engine and the speed of the trains of the narrow gauge lines
there have been the giving an increased length to the engine, and the placing ..
the cylinders on the outside of the framing ; but it is the opinion of some oC
the witnesses we have examined, that this position of the cylinder has a,
tendency to produce a greater wear and tear of the journals, and a conse-
quent rocking and irregular motion of the engine on the line. This,
however, while the engine is of medium length, has been denied by Mr.-
Locke, who has had great experience in the working of outside cylinder-
engines. But it is stated by Mr. Gray and Mr. Gooch, that where the
length of the engine is greatly increased, this increased length, by causing
the extremities of the engine to overhang very considerably the fore and.
hind axles, has a great tendency to increase the irregular motion producsd-
by the outside cylinder.

iVIr. R. Stephenson admits that in some of the later engines this irregu-
larity does exist, but he attributes it to the weight of the piston and its
appendages, observing, " I do not believe that it is the steam that causes
the irregular action, but I believe it to be the mere weight of the pistons
themselves, and therefore if we could contrive to balance the piston by the.
weight upon the wheels, we should get rid of that very much."

At all events, from whatever causes the motion may arise, the oscilla-
tions are very considerable in some of these long engines, and such as can
scarcely be considered safe at high velocities.

This great length of engine is, however, by no means essential to the
attainment of high speeds on narrow gauge lines.

We found by timing the express trains on four different journeys on the
South Western line, in both directions, that the whole distance was per-
formed very satisfactorily in about 1 hour and 52 minutes, including the
time of two stoppages, being at an average rate of 41 miles per hour, on
a line which, in one direction, rises for a length of more than 40 miles oc
a very prevailing gradient of 1 in 330 ; and in the other rises for several
miles on a gradient of 1 in 250. On each occasion a distance of five
miles, on a level part of the road, was passed at the rate of 53 miles per
hour.

The length of the engine boiler was only eight feet seven inches, the
driving wheels six feet six inches in diameter; the leading wheels haa
both inside and outside bearings. The diameter of the cylinder in one
case was 15 inches, in the others 14^ inches, both outside, and attached
to the smoke-box,

Evaporative Power of Broad and Narrow Gauge Engines. — In proceed-
ing to compare the locomotive engines, we remark, in the first place, Ihat
the fire-boxes, boilers, &:c., of the narrow gauge engines still possess a
smaller evaporating power than those of the broad gauge engines, al-
though recent attempts have been made to raise the former to the level of
the latter ; but those attempts have not succeeded ; and it is indis-
putable, that whatever can be done for the narrow gauge, in this respect,
can be surpassed on the broad gauge. And we concur in opinion with
many of the ablest engineers, who have stated, that the engines of both
gauges have nearly obtained the speed and power which it would be
justifiable to employ in reference to the present strength of the rails and
the firmness of the earthworks.

Diameter of Driving Wheels.— We remark, in the next place, that the
diameter of the driving wheels of the broad gauge engines is greater than
than that of the driving wheels of the narrow gauge engines, and, al-
though, in many of the narrow gauge engines the use of the externa!
cylinder has enabled the manufacturers to bring the boilers nearer to the
driving wheel axles, and has thus permitted an increase of the diameter
of the wheel, still it is always in the power of the constructors of broad
gauge engines to make a corresponding change, and thus to mamtain the
superiority; for the larger diameter of the wheel is unquestionably
favourable to high speed, both because the steam is used to greater advan-
tage, and because the alternating shocks upon the machinery are less
rapid. It is, however, extremely difficult to say at what speeds this ad-
vantage becomes appreciable. We think it likely, that as far as the speed

78

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[March,

of 40 miles an hour, tliere is no great dilTerence between tlie two, but that
for speeds of 5(1 or GO miles an hour tlic dilference may be wortliy of
COtice. It becomes iiiipurlant, then, to intjuire what may be the preatest
speed that will probably be desired or mainiained on railways for ordinary
purposes.

It is certain that the wishes of the public will be limited only by consi-
derations of economy and safety. Tlie greater llie speed the Krcater will
be the cost ; and it ajipears to be the opinion of many of the oflicers of
railways, that it would be diflicult to maintain wilh safely the present
express speeds upon the great trunk railways.

The chief impediments to mahitaiuing tite present exjiross speeds are —

1. The diniculty of arrangiuclhe trains, where the traffic is frequent, so
that the first traiiis shall be entirely protected from the chance of inter-
fering with or coming into collision wilh the slower trains, or those that
slop at numerous stations.

2. The difficulty of seeing siEtials, especially in foggy weather, in time
■to enable the engine-driver to stop the fast trains.

We feel it a duly to observe here, that the public are mainly indebted
for the jircseut rale of speed, and Ihe increased acconimoduiinn of the
railway carriages, to the genius of Mr. Brunei, and the liberality of the
Creat Western liaihray Company.

As regards ihe applicability of the atmospheric principle of traction,
or of any oilier priueiple differing from the locomotive, we see no difference
between the two gauges.

4. The Question of Ecnnomij .—V ai'.er this head we have to consider the
cost of constructiou.the purchase of the plant, which consists of engines,
of carriages, and of other carrying stock ; aud lastly, the cost of working.
There can be no tjueslion that, in the lirst construction of a railway, the
narrower tlie gauge, the smaller will be the cost of the works. This ap.
plies to tunnels, bridges, viaducts, embankments, cuttings, sheds, work-
shops, turn-tables, transverse sleepers, and ballast, aud the purchase of
land; but it does not affect the mils, fences, drains, aud station houses.
The exact difference, however, must depend in a great degree upon local
circumstances, and no ojiiuicin can be given of the precise ratio of dif-
ference without going inlo a very minute calculation of each line on which
the two systems are to be compared ; for instance, in a line free from tun-
nels or viaducts, and in a flat country, where there are neither cuttings
nor embankmenls, the difference would be limited very nearly to the
quantity of land to be purchased (llie severance and damage being about
equal in both cases), the amount of ballasting, and some increase iu the
cost of Ihe sleepers; whereas, in a very undulating country, the dilference
■would be more considerable.

As to the cost of the maintenance of way, supposing the construction to
be the same, that of Ihe broad gauge must be rather the greater of the two.
Cost of Locomotive Puiccr.— In respect to the cost of the engines and
carrying slock, we have to observe that they are generally more expensive
on the broad than on the narrow gauge. But, on the other hand, it is as-
serted by the advocates of the broad gauge system, that as the engines
■svill draw greater loads, as the carriages will accommodate a grealer
number of passengers, and as the wagons are capable of conveying a
larger amount of merchandise, the work can be, and is done, at a less
charge per ton, and ihat a compensation is thus obtained for the increased
outlay. How far this is found to be practically the case is the next sub-
ject for inquiry.

We were very desirous, if it had been found possible, thoroughly to in-
vestigate this part of the subject by means of the official data called for
by us, and furnished by some of the principal companies, containing a
statement of their working expenses ; but we find the circumslances so
different, tliat very little satisfactory information can be thus obtained,
tliat has been obtained, Ihat has slriclly a reference to the economy of the
two gauges. There are, of course, various matters Ihat have an influence
on the actual cost of locomotive power aud general traffic charges, ihat are
in no way connected wilh the breadth of gauge; such as the nature of
the curves and gradients, the price of coke, the general nature of the
traffic, the mode of working that traffic as adopted by diderent companies,
the employ nient of en-ines of greater or less power, that increased accom-
modation to the pulilic which involves an extra expense for return car-
riages, &0.

The London and Birmingham, and the Great Western Railway, as me-
tropolitan lines of great traflic and of considerable length, would at first
.sight appear to furnish the best means of comparison, and there is, iu fact,
j!0 diflicully iu comparing the actual expenses; but these lines differ es-
sentially in the character of their gradients and in the amount of traffic,
estimated at per mile, aud, above .ill, they dili'er in the character of the
engines they employ.

Four Wheel Engines. — The London and Birmingham Company have,
from the commencement, persevered in the use of light four-wheeled en-
gines, while the Great Western, availing themsehes of the facilities their
gau;;e all'ords, have adopted large aud powerful engines, which are
worked at nearly the same cost per mile as the former; and if such en-
gines, as those on the London and Birmingham line, were essential to the
narrow gauge, the question, as to the economy of working, might be at
OBce decided iu favour of the broad gauge ; but this is by no means the
cas^'.; several narrow gauge lines employ engines of great power, and
work, in cunsequente, much more cheaply than the London ami llirming-
Jiain ; therefore, the comparison between the working expenses of this line
aud of the Great Western can only be considered as a test of the prin-

ciple of working wilh light and with heavy engines, and not as furnishing
a test of the working ecouomy of the two gauges.

It is a common practice wilh different railway companies, in their half-
yearly reports to their proprietors, to stale the per centage of their various
expenses, under a few distinct heads, as compared with their revenue ; and
from these it appears Ihat on the Great Western, the locomotive charges,
during a period of three years, have varied between 8 8 and 11.1, ave-
raging 9.7 per cent on their income, and on the London and Birmingbatn
they liave varied, within the same period, between 7.'J and 9.3G, ave-
raging about 8'G per cent, on their income ; and, therefore, on a superficial
view of Ihe (juesiiun, tlie London and liirminghani would appear to have
worked their line at a cheaper rate ; but valid objections have been made
to this comparison on the part of the Great \lestern; because it is obvious,
from the several returns we have received, thai the London and Birming-
ham Company has far the more abundant traflic per mile, and ought,
therefore, to be expected to perform its work at a less per centage on its
income. It has been stated by Mr. Gooch, that as locomotive superin-
tendent on the (Jreat Western, he is called upon to supply a certain
amount of locomotive power, and that the cost of such power is almost
entirely irrespective of the load or number of passengers it is made to
draw ; but that these numbers are of great importauce in comparing the
locomotive evjienses wilh the revenue.

In page 27 of the appendix to this report, an abstract and comparative
table are given, founded on returns furnished by the Great Western and
Loudon and Birmingham Hailway Companies, showing that the revenue
derived from the passengers' Iraiu is 01 per cent, greater per mile worked,
on the latter tlian on the former line. It must, therefore, be obvious that,
as a test of economy for working, we cannot adopt the principle of a per
centageon the revenue, neither will the cost per mile run give a more just
comparison as to the ecouomy of the two systems, because it is a well-
known fact Ihat the London and Birmingham Company have been con-
veying their traffic wilh engines of inadequate power, and that great eco-
nomy would result to them by the adoption of larger engines.

Other dilliculties also occur in the comparison of these expenses on dif-
ferent lines, in consequence of the difference in the form of the accounts,
aud of the circumstauee of oue company adopting Ihe principle of having
a reserve fund for renewals, and other companies having no such fund.

Probable Cost of Locomotion on Great Western if made uitk Narrow
Gauge. — We are, therefore, of opinion that the most satisfactory compa-
rison that can be made of the economy of working the two guages, will.
be, by applying to first principles, endeavouring merely to determine what
the working expenses of the Great Wesleru line, wilh their present
amount of traflic, would have been, provided it had been made a narrow
gauge line, aud worked with such engines as iHiose employed on the South
Western and some other narrow gauge lines.

The average weight of a passenger-train on the Great Western Railway
(independent of llie engine and lender, which weigh 22 tons) appears, by
the returns sent to us, to be C7 tons ; aud the average number of passen-
gers per train for the half-year ending the SOlli of June, 1845, as appears
by our comparative table, page 27, is only 47"2, whose weight, including
their lu:;gage, may be estimated at about 5 tons.

Mr. Gooch estimates Cttch carriage and its passengers on the broad
gauge, to weigh about U-3- tons, and therefore there would be seven carriages
to make up the G7 Ions above specified. The most commodious carriage
on the narrow gauge lines, such as those on the .South Western, weigh less
than 5 tons ; seven such carriages would therefore weigh about 34 tons,
and being capable of containing 12G first-class passengers, weighing, with
their luggage, iL'J tons, the total load would be only 4GJ tons. Now we
find, that even niUi a traflic as large as that on the Loudon and Birmingham
liaiUvay, the average per train would only be 81-9 passengers, weighing
about 8 tons ; so that, under the supposition of a traffic of this extent,
the luad of the seveu narrow gauge carriages so occupied would only be
42 Ions.

But JNIr. Gooch estimates, from his own experiments, the relative powers
of traction of the broad gauge engines, and of the narrow gauge engines of
the Souih Western Kailway, wiien working at the same speed, as 2.067 to
1,39s, or as GT per cent., the load of the broad gauge iu tons, to 45 tons
whicli would be Ihe corresponding load for the narrow guage, so that the
narrow gauge engine has more power over the 42 tons it would have to
draw than the broad gauge has over its average load of 07 tons, both ex-
clusive of the weight of the engine and tender, the narrow gauge carriage
in this supposition being supposed to contain 84'9 passengers, and the
broad gauge only 47*2.

If, however, it were necessary, 224 first-class passengers might be placed
iu the seven broad gauge carriages, and, as it has before been said, 120 in
the seveu narrow gauge carriages; but it appears likely that this extent
of accoinmodalion would only be called for on such rare occasions, that the
question of providing for it, except by assistant power, cannot betaken
into consideration in the present comparison.

It is obvious, from the foregoing statement, that the narrow gauge en-
giiie of the class we have been considering has more power over the seven
narrow gauge carriages, and a load of 120 passengers, than the broad
gauge engine has over the seven broad gauge carriages, and the load of
Ihe same number of passeugers ; and that, therefore, if the Great M'estern
had been a narrow instead of a broad gauge line, the South \\estern en-
gines would have had the same command over the existing passenger
traffic of the Great \\ estern as its owa.,engines now have with the present
construction of that railway. ,,.■ .

1846.J

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

79*

We musl remark, however, that this calculation is for trains consisting
exclusively of passengers and their personal luggage. In the Great
"Western average trains of 67 tons there is an allowance of about IG tons
for passengers and luggage, including gentlemen's carriages. Allowing
the same weight of luggage on the narrow gauge line, the train would
still not exceed 50 tons, which is considerably witliin the power of the
narrow gauge engine. For it appears, by the evperimeuts that liave been
recently made ou the Great Western Railway, the details of which are
given in the appendix to the evidence, that the Great Western engine is
capable of propelling 13 Ions at a greater speed than the average speed of
that line ; and, conseijuently, by the proportion above slated, the narrow-
gauge engine would be capable of propelling .53 tons at the same rate.
'We conclude, therefore, that the work would be performed at about the
same expense for locomotive power.

That there may be cases in which not only the full power of a broad
gauge engine is required, but even the assistance of a second engine is
quite certain, but such trains form the exception, and not the rule, in rail-
way passenger traffic, and we doubt the soundness of a principle which
involves a great expense in construction, for the sake of possessing capa-
bilities so seldom called into action.*

It is proper to observe, that the foregoing comparison would have ap-
peared to stand more in favour of tlie narrow gauge, had we taken for the
engine of comparison, one of those engines, of whose increased capa-
bilities some of the supporters of the narrow gauge system have informed
us ; but we have preferred the comparison afforded with the South Western
engine, from its being the one on which Mr. Gooch of the Great AVestern
Railway, superintended the recorded experiments — hence our deductions
are made from data furnished by the advocates of the broad gauge system,
without drawing anything from the evidence on the other side ; and as
these deductions snliicientiy demonstrate that there is no economy in tlie
locomotive expenses for passenger-trains resulting from working a line on
the broad gauge system, even on such lines as thusi; which have at the pre-
sent moment the most abundant passenger traffic, any analyzation of the
evidence offered in support of the narrow gauge system appears to us to
be quite superfluous.

Gross and Net Loads. — There is one point, however, stated in Mr.
Gooch's comparative table, and repeated in his evidence, which appears
so much at variance with the results we have obtained from other data, as
to require explauation.

Mr. Gooch has asserted that the Great Western Company work their pas-
senger-trains at half the expense per ton, at which ihe London and Bir-
mingham Company work tiieir passenger-trains. Tlie fact is, however,
that Mr. Gooch's calculations refer to the gross and not to the net loads;
and therefore, the comparison is not applicable, so far as regards the profits
of these companies, and atfords no proof of economy in working the pas-
senger trafHc on the Great Western system.

There can be no doubt, judging both from Mr. Brunei's evidence given
to us, and from his report to the directors of the Great Western Railway
Company, that he originally expecteil there would be on the Great Western
Railway a demand for carrying great numbers of passengers at high velo-
cities, but from his own evidence it appears that the only heavy passenger
traffic upon that railway is between London and Reading, and between
Bath and Bristol, being a total distance of about .iO miles, out of 2-15.

On the remaining part of the line the passenger traffic, per train, is
small.

Division of Traffic. — If the convenience of the public would admit of
the whole of the passenger traffic of this portion of the line being con-
veyed daily by two or three large trains, Mr. Brunei's views would have
been perfectly correct in providing such powerful means; but experience
has proved that the public require passenger-trains to be run many times
during the day, and with this frequency of trains, such numbers of pas-
sengers as Mr. Brunei has provided for cannot be expected even on rail-
ways of the largest trafhc, so that practically there is a waste both of
power and of means. In the case of " goods' traffic," the circumstances
are not the same, railway conveyance for merchandise seems only to be re-
quired a few times in each day, and the trains are generally large. The
" through" wago»s have, for the most part, a full load, and the dispro-
portion between the gross and the net weight is consequently much kss
than in the passenger trains ; still, however, it appears from the evidence
of Mr. Home, and of other persons connected with the carrying trade.
that on the London and Birmingham Railway it frequently happens that
wagons are forwarded to a considerable distance, to " road-side stations,"
containing not more than a ton of goods : and there can be no doubt that
this must happen on any long line of railway. The same also occurs in
wagons coming in from branches along the trunk line, and in all such
cases the heavy large wagon of the broad gauge must be disadvanta-
geous ; but although the evil is not so great with goods' wagons of the
hroad gauge as with their passenger carriages, still the loss by dead weight
is greater with these than with smaller wagons, and we do not perceive
any advantages in the broad gauge to counterbalance it ; for where speed
is not an object, and this is the case with goods' trains, we believe from
the evidence we have received, that engines of nearly the same jtractive
power are to be found on many narrow gauge lines as those in use on the
broad gauge.

* It appears that during the half-year ending June 3U, 18J5, the number of miles run
by coupled and assisting engine* for passenger-trains on the Great Western Kailway,
•rnounted to 11,628, and for goods trains to 51,15.5. The total number of miles run bv
the former trains being 761,-)i«, and of tlie latter, 169,324.

New Railways. — Thns far we have considered the question with refer-
ence to the railways as they now exist, and composed, in a great measure,,
of trunk lines of considerable traffic, but the railways to be made in future
will, in some degree, be branches or lines in districts having traffic of less
magnitude than is to be provided for in the existing railways ; and hence,
if for the greater trunk lines a superiority werel due to the broad gau'e
system, that superiority would be less for lines yet to be constructed of a
smaller amouut of traffic; and, necessarily, if the preference were given-
to the narrow gauge for the existing lines, that system would be still more
entitled to the preference for the railways of smaller traffic to which we
look forward .

Experiments on Broad and Narrow Gauze. — We must here add that
towards the close of our inquiry, Mr. Brunei requested, on the part of
the broad gauge companies, to institute a set of experiments to test the
power of their engines, and Mr. Bidder, on the part of the narrow gauge
companies, undertook, in consequence of such application, to make corre-
sponding experiments ou the narrow gauge. After sanctioning these trials,
and being present at the performance of them, a record of which will be
found in the appendix, we may observe, without entering into a minute
detail of the results, or the discrepancies between the returns as furnished
by the two parlies themselves, that we consider them as conlirniing the
statements and results gives by Mr. Gooch, in his evidence, provin» as
they do, that the broad gauge engines possess gi-eater capabilities fur speed
with equal loads, and, generally speaking, of propelling greater loads with
equal speed ; and, moreover, that the working with such engines is econo-
mical where very high speeds are required, or where the loads to be con-
veyed are such as to require the full power of the engine. They confirm,
also, the evidence given by Mr. Bidder as to the possibility of obtaining
high evaporative power with long engines for the narrow gauge ; but under
somewhat peculiar circumstances. It appears, moreover, that the evupo--
ration thus obtained does not produce a corresponding useful effect in the-
tractive power of the engine ; a ciixumstance that would probably be dif-
ferently explained by Mr. Gooch and by Mr. Bidder; but as we do not
refer to the power of this description of engine in the deductions we have
made, it is unnecessary for us to allude further to tliem.

Conclusions. — .\fter a full consideration of all the circumstances that
have come before us, and of the deductions we have made from the evidence,
we are led to conclude —

1. TIcat as regards the safety, accommodation, and convenience of the pas-
sengers, no decided preference is due to eitlier gauge, but that on tlie broads,
gauge the motion is generaUij more easy at high velocities.

2. That in respect of speed, ice consider the adrantages are with the broad
gauge, but we think the public safety would be endangered in employing the
greater capabilities of the broad gauge much beyond their present use, except
on roads more consolidated and more substantially and pirfectty formed, than
those of the cristiug lines.

3. That in the commercial case of the transport of goods, we believe the
narrow gauge to possess the greater convenience and to be tlit more suited to ■
the general traffic of the country.

4. That the broad gauge involves the greater outlay, and that we have not
been able to discover either in the maintenance of way, in the cost of locomo-
live power, or in the other annual expenses, any adequate reduction to com-
pensate for the adtiitional first cost.

Therefore, esteeming the importance of the highest speed on express trains
for the accommodation of a comparatively small numoer of persons, how-
ever desirable that may bo to them, as of far less moment than affording
convenience to the general commercial traffic of the country, we ai'e in-
clined to consider the narrow gauge as that which should be preferred for
general convenience; and, therefoi'e, if it were imperative to produce uni-
formity, we should recommend that uniformity to be produced by an alter-
ation of the broad to the narrow gauge, more especially when we take
into consideration that the extent of the former at piesent in work is only
274 miles, while that of the latter is not less thau l,i)Ul miles, and that
the alteration of the former to the latter, even if of equal length, would be
the less costly as well as the less difficult operation.

Intermediate Gauges. — We are desirous, however, of guarding ourselves^
from being supposed to express an opinion, that the dimensions of lour feet
eight and a half inches is in all respects the mosts suited for the geueral
objectsof the country. Some of the engineers who have been examined-
by us have given it as their opinion, that fire feet would be the best di-
mension for a railway gauge ; others have suggested .5 ft. 3 in., .5 ft. G io.,,
and even tt ft., but none have recommended so great a breadth as 7 ft., except
those who are more particularly interested in the broad gauge lines. Again
some engineers of eminence contend that a gauge of 4 ft. 8j in. gives ample
space for the machinery of the engine and all the railway requirements,
and would recommend no change to be made in the gauge.
'-We may observe, in reference to this part of the question, that the
Eastern Counties Railway was originally constructed on a gauge of
5 feet, and has since been converted into a gauge of 4 feet 8\ inches, to
avoid a break of gauge ; and we have been informed that some lines iu
Scotland, originally ou the gauge of 5 ft. 3 in., are about to be altered to
4 ft. Si in. for the same reason.

Gauge of Foreign Railways. — AVhatever might be the preferable course
were the questions now to be discussed of the gauge for an entiie system of
railways, where none previously existed to clash with the decision, yet,
under the present state of things, we see no sufficient reason to suggest or
recommend the adoption of any gauge intermediate between the narrow
gauge of 4 ft. 8.^ in., and the broad gauge of 7 ft., and we are peculiarly

"•SW''

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[March,

struck by the circumstance, that almost all the continental railways have
beea formed upon the 4 ft. 8J in., gauge, the greater number having been
aadertaken, after a long experieuce of bolh the broad and narrow gauge in
this country ; nor must the fact be lost sight of, that some of these railways
hive been constructed as well as planned by Knglish engineers, and
amongst that number we find Mr. Brunei, the original projecter of the
uroad gauge. Mr. Brunei was also theengiueer of the JlerthyrTydvil and
Cardiff Line, wliiuh is on tlie 4 ft. 85 in. gauge ; and we think that the mo-
tives wliich led to his adoption of the narrow gauge in that instance would
equally apply to many English lines.

We are sensible of the importance, in ordinary circumstances, of leav-
isg commercial enterprise as well as the genius of scientific men un-
fettered ; we therefore feel tliat the restnclion of the gauge is a measure
ihat should not be lightly entertained; and we are willing to admit, were
it not for the great evil that must inevitably be experienced when lines of
unequal gauges come into contact, that varying gradients, curves, and
traffic might justify some difference in the breadth of gauge. This appears
to be ihe view which Jlr. Brunei originally took of the subject; for the
Great Western proper is a line of unusual good gradien:s, on which a
larger passenger Iraflic was anticipated, and as it touched but sliglilly on
any mineral district, it embraced all the conveniences and advantages of
the broad gauge system, and was comparatively free from the influence of
those defects on which we have commented ; but such a breadth of gauge,
however suitable and applicable it may have originally been considered to
its particular district, appears wholly inapplicable, or at least very ill
suited to the requirements of many of our Northern and Midland lines.

In references to the branches already in connexion with the Great
Western Railway, we may observe, that the greatest average train on the
Oxford branch, for two weeks in July and October, was only 43 tons; on
the Cheltenham branch, it did not exceed 4G ; between Bristol and Exeter,
53; and between Swindon and Bristol, it was under 60 tons. With such
a limited traffic the power of the broad gauge engine seems beyond the
requirements of these districts.

Expense of Altering Broad to Narrow Gauge. — We find from an
estimate furnished to us, and the general grounds of which we see no reason
to dispute, and the expense of altering the existing broad gauge to narrow
gauge lines, including the alteration or substitution of locomotives, and
carrying stocks, would not much exceed l,00O,OO0i. ; yet we neither feel
that we can recommend the Legislature to sanction such an expense from
the public monies, nor do we think that the companies to which the broad
^auge railways belong can be called upon to incur such an expense them-
selves (having made all their works with the authority of Parliament), nor
even the more limited expense of laying down intermediate rails for
narrow gauge traffic. Still less can we propose, for any advantage that
lias been suggested, the alteration of the whole of the railways of Great
Sritain with their carrying stocks and engines, to some intermediate gauge.
The outlay in this case would be very mucli more considerable than the
sum above mentioned ; and the evil, inconvenience, and danger to the
traveller, and the interruption to the whole traffic of the country for a con-
siderable period, and almost at one and the same time, would be such that
£his change cannot be seriously entertained.

Guided by the foregoing considerations, we most dutifully submit to
jour Majesty the following recommendations : —

1. That the gauge of 4 ft. 8J in. be declared by the Legislature to be the
gauge to be used in all public railways now under construction, or hereafter
to be constructed , in Great Britain.

2. That unless by the consent of the Legislature, it should not be permitted
to the directors of any railu-ay company to alter the gauge of such railway.

3. That in order to complete the general chain •/ narrow gauge commu-
nication from the north of England to the southern coast, any suitable
measure should be promoted to form a narrow gauge link from Oxford to
Jieading, and thence to Basingstoke, or by any shorter route connecting the
proposed Rugby and Oxford line with the South Western Railway.

4. That as any junction to be formed with a broad gauge line would involve
a break of gauge, provided our first recommendation be adopted, great com-
mercial convenience ti-ould be obtained by reducing the gauge of the present
broad gauge lines to the narrow gauge of 4 feet 8^ inches, and we, therefore,
think it desirable that some equitable meant should be found of producing
such entire uniformity of gauge, or of adopting such other course as would
admit of the narrow gauge carriages passing, without interruption or danger,
along the broad gauge lines.

(Signed; J. M. Frederic Smith, (L.S.)

Lieut.-Col. Rojal Engineers.
G. B. AiRV, Astronomer Royal. (L.S.)

Peter Barlow. (L.S.)

Broad and Narrow Gauges C

Rtturn of Railways furnished by the Board of Trade, 1845.

RAILWAYS

% Completed ,. •• ..

SaDCtioned In 1844

?a»Bed the House of Common*, Seaslona 1845
and seem likely to tM aanctioued in Ses-
sion 1S46

Total leagth .,

Narrow Gau^e,

4 ft. HJin.

miles.

ISOl

6024

Broad Gaage,

7 feel.

miles.

2/4

63

K2S
4,131*^

Irish Gaii^,

5 ft. 3 in.

miles.

tl9

983J

The Broad Gauge includes the Great Western, Cheltenham branch, Ox-
ford branch, Bristol and Exeter, and the Bristol and Gloucester completed.
The South Devon now progressing, and the Bristol and Exeter branches,
Cornwall, Exeter, Crediton, South Wales, Wilts and Somerset, now in
parliament.

The Narrow Gauge includes 32 miles of the Arbroath and Forfar and
Dundee and Arbroath Railway, Oft. 2 in. gauge to be altered to 4 ft. SJin.,
and the Irish gauge is confined to .-ailways m Ireland.
Table exhibiting the Expenditure of the Great Western and London and
Birmingham Itailwaysfor Locomotive Engines, Carriages, and Magons,
from the commencement of the traffic to the present time ; also the Re-
venue Returns of each for the last two years, and the Expense of Loco-
motive Power, as deduced from the Half-yearly Reports of each Com-
pany.

Great Western.— Total cost of locomotive engines, lenders, carriages, ^ a. d.

and wagons, to SOth of June, 1845 .. .. .. 622,0;8 12 0

London and Birmingham. — Total cost of locomotive engines, teodera,
carriages, and wugoos. to ^Otb June, 1-4^ .. .. .. 4M,403 6

These sums are exclusive of the cliji^ci for locomotive, carriage,
and wagon repairs, includ«d in tlie half-yearly accounts. These
latter have amounted in thi- 3;i-st '^o yara to —
Great Western.— From 1st July, Ic-!". to :; itii .luiie, IW5 .. .^«,932 17

London and Birmingham. — From 1st J J0> is4^i to ayth June, I;v45 67,578 3

The cost of locomotive power, incluiiiiig repairs of locomotive en-
gines, coal, coke, wages, and all incidental charges, have
amounted in the same period to —
Great Western— From 1st of July, lti4.!, to 30th of June. 1844 .. 155,902 3

London and Birmingham — From 1st of July, 1843, to 30th of June,

1^45 .. .. .. .. .. .. 146,172 3

The revenue for the same two years, for the carriage of passeagers,
mails, goods, &c. —
Great Western.— From Istof July, 1343, to 30th of June, 1845 .. 1,617,995 8
London and Birmingham.- From 1st of July, 1843, to 30th June,
1845 .. .. .. .. .. 1,735,795 14 3

The total mileage of every passenger for the last two yean
amounts to —
Great Western.— Total mileage from 1st of July, 1?43, to SOth of
June, 1845 .. .. .. .. .. 128,524,232

London and Birmingham,— Total mileage from lit of July 1M3,
toSOthof June, 1845 .. .. .. .. 121,529,606

Ratio of coat of engine and carriage plant
Ratio of repairs of engine for 2 years
Batio of cost of locomotive power for 2 year»
Ratio o( passengers' mileage for 2 years
Ratio of total passengers* revenues for 2 years

Great Western and London and Birmingham.

to 763
1 to 1031
I to -Oit
I to -9-15
1 to -low

During the periods which these returns embrace, the lengths of line
worked by the Great AVestern have varied by the opening of diflferent lines
and branches ; but from the SOth of December, 1S44, to June SOth. 1845,
the number of miles worked have been constant, viz., 222 miles. The
length worked by the London and Birmingham has also becnj constant
during the same period, and Mr. Creed in his evidence states (excluding
the branches) that the distances worked was 113 miles, and the revenue
and mileage on this length, that is still excluding the branches, he gives aa
below.

Similar statements are given in the appendix of the rerenne, mileage,
6cc., on the Great Western for a like period ; from which we have the fol-
lowing comparisons : —

MUea.
Great Western, length of line worked .. .. .. ,. 223

London and Birmingham, length of line worked .. .. ,, 113

Great Western, total passengers* mileage .. .. .. .. 35,967,713

London and Birmingham, total passengers* mileage .. .. ,. 3^,758,260

Great Western, miles run by passent'er trains .. ., , 761,-1^

Lrfjndon and Birmingham, miles run by passenger trains .. ., 4.'>6,529

Great Western, average number of passengers per trains .. .. 47'2

London and Birmingham, average number of passengers per trains .. H4'9

Great Western, average passengers' revenue per trains per mile .. i's.

London and Birmingham, average passengers* revenue per trains per mile .. 14s. 9d.

Improvement of the Severn. — The River Severn, which is subject to

alternate floods and droughts, has. during the last two years, been greatly improved by
dredging, and by the erection of gigantic weirs andlo-.ks. These works are now completed
from Bewdley to Worcester, a distance of seventeen miles, and from Worcester to Glou-
cester the river is being deepened by dredging and closer enbankment, the Sever* Act
limiting the erection of weirs within the county of Worcester. By the operation of
dredging, long rocky shoals have been entirely removed. The hardest rtx-ks are first
blasted under water.and, therefore, easily removed by the dredging machines. L'pwardi
of 200.01J0 tons of marl, rock, gravel, and soil have already been raised from the bed of the
Severn by Messrs. Grissell and Peto's dredging machine alone, besides what has beea
removed by another contractor. At Gloucester it has been necessary to remove the entire
foundation of one of the piers of the old bridge, and in tha course of this operation some
curioBS relics of ancient coins have been discovered.

- Sheebness. — The whole of the guns for the old fortifications have novr
arrived from Woolwich. They are t^3 in number, and are of the following description: —
4 eight-inch guns, 9fl cwt. each, II feet long; 29 eight-inch guns, f^6 cwt. each, 9 feet
long; 20 t>4.incb guns, .^>t> cwt. each, 9 ft. 0 in. long; and 4 6^ inch guns, 32 CA-t.eacb,
6 ft. 6 in. long. The workmen now await the arrival of the carriages and platforms from
Woolwich ; tlie masonry- on which they are to rest is all ready to be laid down. The
guns are to be placed as follows: — 20 on the Halfmoon Battery at the Point, 13 on the
AdmiraFs platform overlooking the said battery, and the remaining 30 along the works
protecting the barracks. The new works progress rapidly ; the battery forming opposite
the dockyard gate is now carried to the height of the platform ; its further progress has,
however, been deferred till the formation of the deep ditch by which it is to be protected,
and on which all the workmen are now concentrated, ^\'ooden protiles are now up for
another battery, with which this is to be connected by a musketry wall, while to the east-
ward it will be continued into the bastions extending from the Thames to the Aledway.

IS 46. J

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

8b

NEW CHURCHES.

All Saints, Rise, Yorkshire.— CmisHis of a nave and cliancel in the First
Pointi'd style, a. .1 cnst ab()ut4000i ; it is cajiable ofconlaining 20i) persoin.
The cliancel is asccnilfd by one step at llie uave and two more at tlie altar.
The stalls and the fittings tliroushout are of oak ; the Boor is laid wilh
encaustic tiles; Jie wall as higli as the string-course is inlaid with tiles.
A recess in the wall is used for a credence. The east window of three
lancets, is filled with stained glass by Wailes. The stonework between
has received decora'ive colouring, and the walls are ornamenled wilh
scrolls. The spacej between the beams of the rouf are painted blue with
gilt stars. The capitals of ihe pillars are gilt.

Ilomerton. — A uutv church is building in Homerton from the design of
Mr. Ashpitel. When we have praised ils malerial, Kenti.-b rag with the
dressings, &c., in Caen atone, and its general plan, chancel, uave, soulh-
aisle, porch, and wesi >ower, we have said all that we can in ils favour.
The chancel is very short, and a sacristy is add.d to the north-west ,
instead of the nortli-east of the chancel. Again tlie style chosen is Third
Pointed, but witl: a poor attempt at tracery of tlie Middle pointed period.
The mouldings throu^AHout are very inaccurate. The west lower is si|iii;n-,
wilh a corner turret; all on too small a scale. The aisle is to haie a
separate gable, wilh great haunches.

St. Jiilin, Eitst Chisleliurst, Kent. — The ground plan of this church is a
wide oblong, without any pretence to a chancel. There are iiorlh, south,
and west galleries, the latter conlaining the organ. -At the east end of Ihe
south cloister (here is a door labelled '■ Chiipel Cleric's Office." (.'orres-
poniling with this on the north side, is another door, with the inscription
" Minisier'.s Vcstri'" upon it. The altar, an old oaken table well carved ;
altar chairs the same; an altar-piece of Carrara mirble ; altar-rails of
massive grey marble ; a pulpit of oak paneled with has relief, a hcxa^^otial
font of white tinrblo ; a brass lectern; a litany desk (turned the wrong
way), these form a catalogue of gems seldom met with in this country.
Indeed the whole have been imponed from the continent. There are two
thin western towers capped with short shingled spires. One of them con-
tains six bells. The style of the church is inteiidt d to be Italiati. The
windows are all roundheaded triplets glazed with ground glass ; that
at the east end is included in an enormous arch of construction. The
nia.^onry is of Umt, with dressings of red and white brick, and white ashlar.
The roof is of stained deal. The church is said to have cost nearly 800l>/,
and holds 500 v.orsh>ipers. The architect is a Mr. Wolla^^on. Here one
has again to lame;:'; the lavish expenditure of mouey upon an unworthy
design.

West Mean, Hnmpshire. — Consists of a ch&ncel, (SOfeet,) nave, (70,)
with aisles, south porch, and west tower. The style is the transilicui
between First and iMiddle Pointed, and yet there is not to be a spire. The
material is iiint dressed with stone. The reredos is a trefoile<l arcade.
There are sedilia, only however two in number, and a credence. The
roof and seats :;iL' of deal. The flooring of the chancel is blue and white
lias. Messrs. Scott and Moffatt are the architects, and the building par-
takes too much of the fineness conspicuous in their designs. In particular
we object to the pert-looking unmeaning window over the north door.

Loughtun. — We have seen a lithographed view of "the new church,
Loughtou,"' taken from thn X.E,, to which Mr. S. Smirke's name is at-
tached as architect. It is a most unsatisfactory productiou: of English
Romanesque style, cruciform, with low square central tower, having no
capping whatever above ils parapet. The windows are all large and
round-headed: the side walls high : the strings clumsy: the buttres.-^es
very unlike Norman ; and the whole effect quite diifL-rent from that of any
ancient church we ever saw. The view shows a nurlb west porch, a doiu-
in the north transept, and a third door into a kind of 'belfry turret, which
occupies the angle between the north transept and chancel. The faces i^f
the two gable-fionlr shown iu Ihe view are recessed, not under corbel
tables, but under a flaisided triangular head following the lines of the low
gable, in Ihe most remarkable way. We thought it had been long ago ad-
mitted that all Romanesque towers ought to have a high caj^ping ; uothing
can be imagined worse than the flat parapet in Ihi^ example.

Brockham, Uetchworih. Surre i — Consists of chancel, (not long enough,
but very much better tl.an the ordinary run,) nave, Iraucepts, an easlrni
aisle to each transept, north porch, and central tower. We haie often
protested against the adoption (except under peculiar circumstances.) of
the cruciform arrangement. In this case it was especially bad, because
the funds, we understand, fell short. The style 1= I'lrst Pointed. The
lancets are not too broad, but too short, and far too high up : the east end
contains a triplet of a very nondescript kind, 'i'he north porcli is im-
mensely too large, and absurdly elaboraie. Tlie sti iug-course is grievously
faulty. And, worse than all, the piers, both of these aisles and the belfry
arches, are made indeed of local sione, but are to be cased, and all ilie
mouldings, run, in plaister. On the whole, this church is very unworthy
of Mr. Ferrey.

Tubney, lierksliire. — A small church, the shell of which did not cost
more than dOUl. or TQ'Jl, has been built herefrom the designs of Mr. Pugiii,
at the expense of St. Mary Magdalen College, (J.\ford. The most striking
feature is the roof, of unusually sharp and lofty piich : which lias beeu
censured as excessive by many who are most disposed to f.ivour higli roots.
Ihe well-known example of the roof of All Saints, Sktllon, may be pleaded
as a precedent. The west end displays a bell gable of two arclu-s, and a
quatrefoil pierced between the heads, with a floriated cross above. All

the windows on the north are of one narrow light with trefoil heads ; the
east window of the cha,-:CL-l has three lights wilh flowing tracery, and those
on the south side are of two lights in form and prui-.irtiun like I'ho^e on the
norlh. The plan consists of chancel, vestry in the north side, nave, and
south porch, the whole paved with small tiles rf a fh.fk red colour. The
altar and pulpit are of stone, both plain, as is almost every detail of the
church, wilh the excepiiou of the font, which is very richly and beautifully-
carved.

St. James, WnodsiJe.—We have seen a wood-engraving of this church
from the uorlh-west. The archilect is Mr. C. W. Burleigh, of Leeds. The
style is Middle Pointed ; and the plan consists of a chancel, nave with
west hell-cote and west door, north aisle, with a separafe gable, and north
porch. All th^ gables are coped in stone, and have cros.'as. Upon ihe
whole we are W3ll satisfied, and hope to meet Mr. Burlein-h u^^ain.

Sanilown Brat^hig, Isle of U'if;Ut. — We have seen a lithog-:iph of the new
church about to b • erected at Sandown lii-ading. Isle of Wight, in the First
Pointed style. There is a south aisle under a .separata gable. The cast
window of the aisle is a trijilet, and too much like a chancel east window.
The tower wilh broa.l. spire is engaged in the aisle at its west end. The'
roofs are of a good pitch. Mr. Woodman is the architect of Saudowu
church.

CHURCH RESTORATIONS.

St. Mary, Battel. — Some very interesting wall-paintings, were lately dis-
covered in the seini-ljomauesque nave of the decanal church of St. Mary,
Battel. In spite of earnest remonstrances the churchwardens have again
whitewashed them. The splays of the clerestory windows were Idled
with whole lengtli figures. The works in Ihe chaucel and its aisles will
be done in the right direction, these being free from churchwarden's in-
fluence.

St. Marij, Snettisham. — The magnificent Middle Pointed west window
of this church has been opened ami repaired by Ihe exertions of the curate.
It is to be tilled with stained glass by Mr. Warriip.;tou.

St. Michael, Sowtoii, Demnshire. — The churcii of St. Michael, Sowton,
Devonshire, has been recently rebuilt, at ihe sole charge of J. CJarreil]
Esq. Mr. Hayward is the arcliilect. The style is Third Pointed. The'
plan consists of chancel, nave, north aisles, and western lower. The stone
is red-sandstone ashlared ; Ihe dressings are of Caen stone. The exterior
efl'ect is described as being religious and unobtrusive. There is no saving
of expense externally. and there is much enrichment within. The windows
are filled wilh stained glass chiefly by Willement.

St. Leonard, Bee/ord, Vorkshire. — This church consistrd of a chancel,
nave, and south aisle, and presented all the disfigurements of sash windows
pagau Tate-and-Brady galleries, with a low ceiling entirely hiding the
wood-work. The restoration has been uuderlakea and carried out in an
excellent s-piril. A new norlh aiije has been added, containing four win-
dows. In Ihe nave the ceiling has been removed, and the old roof has been
enriched wilh cusps, &c. Tlie gallery which occupied the western end,
and completely blocked up the lower, and a very beautiful arch, has beeu
pulled down, and opens to view a fine Third Pointed window. A lar"-e
stack of pulpit and reading desk is shortly tj be rt placed by new ones
of proper proportions.

St. Mary. Riimsei/. — The magnificent abbey church of St. Mary,
Romsey, is under restoration by Mr. Ferrey. The spirit with which the'
"ork has been undertaken is desening of all praise. We are grieved
however to see such little respect paid lo the peculiar character of the
Romanesque masonry. The new work is fine-dress.J and close-jointed.
Such an alteration goes far towards destroying Ihe jennineness of any
building. The oliensive gallery which spanned the church has beenalready
swept away, and the lantern is about to be opened.

St. Marij, Eastwcll, Kent. — The church which is mainly Middle Pointed,
is of that peculiarly unmanageable form, a chancel and na -e, with a single
aisle (a south one) wider than the nave ilselt", and with a separate roof.
The nave has a chancel arch, not the aisle. A rood-screen h, - been put up,
and Ihe east end of the aisle parclosed otf. The parclose has no open'.ai'
at all, leaving the chanlry to be entered perforce through Ihe chaucel. The
wood-work is very costly and well-intentioned, wanting however in sim-
plicity and in force. The prayer-desk we are sorry lo say looks w.'sl.
There are altar chairs, arranged however north and south. We may in
passing, remark the extreme shortness of the chancel. The nave and
aisle are filled with open seats of oak, wilh poppy-heads.

St. Botolph, Boston. — The restoration of the magnificent church of St.
Botolph, Boston, under the superintendence of Siessrs. Scott and Molfatt,
has commenced. The inlerior of Ihe uave has already been denuded of
whuewash, and some arcbiteclural resturatioDS have been made in the
exterior.

St. Denis, Rutherjield, Kent.— The shingle roofing of the spire (sur-
mounted by a iiiibie cross aud a cock), and tue interior of the chaucel have
been repaired ; the piscina, sed/lia, aud ihe atuup at the Priest's door, all
in the south wall, have beeu restored. The piscina is circular-headed ■
Ihe sedilia are birst Pointed, and composed of two arches of unequal span,'
separated by a single shaft, aud apparently intended for one aud two
occupants respeciivcly. The pavement of the entire sacrariuni has beea
raised.

iS'(. Julian, Welhtc. — The oak open benches in the uave have been
carefully restored, aud the fine rood-otreeu cleaned. The cliancel has beea
rebuilt aad ils roof baded. Ils littini;s aie unfyrluualei) oi deal. A wesS

U

m

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[March,

gallery is perinilled to remain. The font is remored to its proper place
and a north door is opened.

iSf. Nicolas, Crantey, Surrey. — The channel is sealed slallwise, but
without returns : the details arc- poor. The paving is of encaustic tiles.
The sedilla have been restored, but are not used, nor can they be while
the altar rails remain. There is a pour cajole, a pulpit wanting; height, (a
fnult on the ria;ht sule), and a readiug-pe\T that faces south. In the nave
are two horrible but elaborately panelled galleries between the first and

S2C0nrl l)eWo.

.S7. Mariritret, Lijnn. — The parclose of the chancel of St. IMargaret,
Lynn, is in course of restoration by Mr. Patterson, carver , of that town ;
under the superintendence of the Lynn and West Norfolk. Architectural
Society.

Jesus College, Camlirid^e. — We are delighted to be informed by a cor-
respondent, that llie master of .Jesus College, Cambridge, has announced
his intention of presenting five stained glass windows for the lancets on
the north side of the choir of the college chapel. The " Five Sisters." of
Yoik, will be the model.

THE COLLECTION OF SEWAGE MANURE.

In connection with the efforts that have recently been made to improve
the sanatory condition of large towns, one of the most important proposi-
tions is the plan entertained, applying to ugricuhure the re/use and
drainage of Loudon.

It is argued, and apparently with good reason, that by this plan not only
would large quantities of valuable manure, which is now wasted, be use-
fully applied, but tha' also, the plan would involve more elfectual means
of removing it, than by the flow of the Thames, and that a fruitful c.use
of miasma would be removed.

Two modes of elVeciiug the requisite object have been suggested. In the
First Report of the Health of Towns Commission are published various
reports and estimates made by Mr. Smith, of Beanston, in which he sug-
gests the practicability of dispersing sewage water of lands in the vi-
cinity of London by a system of fixed jets or hose pipes, and more recently
details are given in a prospectus issueil by the .Metropolitan Sewage Com-
pany, to which Mr. Smith's name appears as consulting engineer. The
scheme is stated by the prospectus to have been matured for conveying the
sewage water of London, by means of a system of punLinng-engints and
pipes analogous to that of ihe i^reat Water Companies, and thus distributing
the fertilising fluid ail over the land, in such manner and proportions as
may be best adapted to the various kinds of field and garden culliiation.
The average quantity required for agriculture is estimated at bO ions per
acre, which can be supplit-d within alront 20 miles round the metropolis
at less than a quarter of the cost of stable or farm-yard manure, aud at
one-teiiih of the expense.

The contents of these sewers are to be raised by powerful steam engines
and distributed by pipes over an extent of sixty square mites, through the
"ardenin" and agricultural districts to the j<tcs(ifa/(/. Al sum of 300,000/.
only will be required to carry this part of the plan into efiect. On com-
paring the relative expense of conveying solid and liquid manure, it is
calculated that the cost of the convej aiice of liquid manure by pipes, is, at
th» very outsule, one twentieth of the transport of solid manure Inj ciirts.

The authority quoted is Mr.T. Hawksley, Engineer, of Nottingham ; he
states in evidence that the cost of transmitting water to a distance of Jire
miles, and to a height of 200 feet, imlnding wear and tear of pumping ma-
chinery, fuel, labour, interest of capital invested in pipes, reservoirs, en-
gines &c., amounts to 2jd. per ton ; the cost of cuWrtg-c to the same dis-
tance aud height will, under favourable circumstances, amount to 4s. per
ton.

This plan depends chiefly upon the authority of Mr. Smith's report and
estimates, published by the Healih of Towns Commission.

He appears to have maile several experiments respecting the diffusion
of water by jets ; in applying the results of his experiments to the case of
sewage manure. He states that the water must be at a pressure of from
100 to 150/c('f at the point tvhcre it is to he distributed by hiise over the
land. ^V'ith a pressure at liie hose of 120 feet, he fonnti that he could,
thniu'^h a 2J inch hose and a one inch nozzle, distribtite wafer over an area
of («•« statute acres— but to he safe, say one statute acre, and if the land
rises an addition must be made to the pressure equal to the rise in Ihe land.
Mr. Smith states that for his estimate he assumes 200 feet total height to
raise the water.

Great doubts have however been expressed as to the practicability of
distributing the sewage water by jets. In a report to the London Sewage
Company iMr. Wicksteed. C.E., proposed an altogether diil'erent plan, and
brought forward powerful argumeuis for condemning in tulo Mr. Smith's
scheme. Tlie following extracts embody the princijial points of his
reply : —

" The quantity of sewer water to be supplied is equal to 17,920 gallons
per acre per annum, one-third of which Mr. Smith says can be delivered in
one hour, or 99.5.5 gallons, or about 10 cubic feet, per minute. At this
rate the engine would supply 5 jets only at a time. Mr. Smith provides
for 01 jets, and 8 lines of services each two miles long, which gives
8 plugs to each line of service pipes. Mr. Smith savs he never intends
more than two jets to be playing at one time on a service, But if, instead

of the jets playing for an hour over an acre, they are playing fur rather
more than three hours ; then two jets on each service, or 10 jets, may be

playing together, and the engine will supply them The additional

head required to overcome the friction of the water passing through the
main, services, and hose, will be equal to 24 feet; but if only 8 jets, or half
the number in the former estimate, are playing at the same time, then the
water must travel through the hose at twice the velocity, (to deliver an
equal quantity of water) and the head of water to overcome the frictioD
must be 35 feet, and if only .5 jets are open at the same time, as proposed by
Mr. Smith, to deliver the same quantity of water in the same time, the ad-
ditional head required to overcome friction would be still further increased
to 07 feel. Mr. Smith however seems to have lost sight of the fact that
friction of water tiirough pipes increases as the squares of the velocity,
and that to force double the quantity of water through the same sized pipe,
is equiialent to doubling its velocity, anil would therefore require four
times the pressure, and consequently an addition must be made to the pro-
poscd head (viz. 200 feet) of 24 feet, 35 feet, or 07 feet, depending upon
Ihe number of jets opened at one time, which regulates the delivery ; and
if in the latter case the level of the ground proposed to be manured should
be 133 feet above the town,* there would be wo pressure at the nozzle to
create a jet at all, unless the bead or pressure be iucrea^ed beyond the 200
feet, and which head, to produce the eflect Mr. Smith proposes, must be
224 feet, or 235 feet, or 207 feet, depending upon the number of jets play-
ing at one time. But taking the most favourable arrangement for working
the jets, which will be when the greatest number are playing at one time,
the proposed head must be increased to 224 feet, and the power to 33 6-10
horses, aud this will be putting the scheme in a much more practicable
form, and will enable me to check the estimates.

Mr. Smith however further asserts that the twelve inch pipe is ample for
</o«ft/« the extent of country, and therefore considers he may reduce his
estimate of the cost of the main to one-half. f — If the main is ample for
double the extent of country, it must be capable of conveying double the
quantity of water, and of supplying the additional number ot services for
double the extent, and the head required to overcome liie friction will be
increased ; with sixteen jets playing on each plot, it will be equal to 92 feet
instead of 24 feet; with eightjets on each plot, it will be 104 feet instead of
35, and with live jets on each plot. 135 feet instead of 07. It is evidently
erroneous therefore lo suppose that the same sized pipe could convey double
the quantity of water " lo supply other sections of land of equal extent."

Again : Mr. Smith gives another estimate of the cost of supplying douhlt
the quantity of sewer water to the sanie section, and assumes that this can
be done for the same outlay, forgetting that the head for friction must be
quadrupled ; aud that if IG^ets are to be sujiplied with double the quantity
of water, it would require a head of 96 feet instead of 24 feel ; and for 8
jets it would be 140 feet instead of 35 feet ; and for 5 jets 2GS feet instead
oi 07 feet; but taking, as before, the most favourable case, that of the 16
jets, Ihe head of water must be 290 feet instead of 200 feet ; and Ihe power
required for raising double the quantity of water, under this incrtastd pres-
sure, must be equal to 88.8 instead of 30 horses power.

The next point for consideration, and a most important one, in reference
to the supply of sewer water by pipes, is the actual number of days during
the J ear, on which the engines can be kept at work pumping the sewer
water on to the lands — as it is evident that upon this point must depend
the power of the engine, the size of the pipes, and the capacity of the reser-
voir for preserving the sewage, at periods when it cannot be thrown over
the land. Assuming the periods for this purpose to be on the aggregate
equal to six weeks in the year; and that the engine will be constantly
pumping sewer water during this time, 7 days per week, for 12 hours each
dav, the quantity of water raised by the engines must be equal to 6,300
cubic feel per ininute,.

As the sewage water is constantly flowing every day throughout the
year, while the period for delivering it upon ihe lands is but six weeks —
i.e. 504 hours in 8,700, it is evident that Ihe reservoir must be capable
of holding the supply afforded during 8,250 hiuirs, or
5,020,278 loos ; consequently the capacity of the reservoir will be6,0C3,9]7
cubic \ards, and at a depth of 12 feet, or four yards, its area at the mean
water line will be equal to 344 acres — if a square, the length of each side
will be 1,290 yards, or nearly three quartkrs of a mile.

Taking Mr." Smith's standard of 200 feet as the whole pressure at the
engine, w Inch, as he proposes to raise the water over a staiidpipe column,
may be considered sufficient,} the power of the engines required will be
equal to 2,389 horses, and should it be thought advisable lo increase the
pressure, the power must also he increased in the same ratio.

In explaining ihe plan proposed to be substituted, Mr. Wicksteed ad-
dunes some general reasons for supposing that the cleansing of the metro-
polis would be secured elfectually by mechanical means, than t)y the tidal
action of tlic river. At present it is necessary to make the main sewers of
?real capacity, because their contents can be delivered into the river, at or

* Tliul tliis elevation may be expected in ca-es where it is nocessa'-y to go to a (tistar.cs
from tlie tov.o. seems to liave I'een anticipated by Jtr. Smiili himself, in bis statsraeut
qiuiifil in page 12 of this Report, where he states " That the water of most iowns can ba
(l■.spl)^cd of at from 50 to 100 feet, aud will seldom be required to be raised more tba*

4(111 I'ect.

t " Onelial: of the cost of the main pipe is only charged, as, from its position and ca-
pacity, it is sufficient to supplv other sections of land ol equal extunt."— See Mr. Smith's
Itepoit on the -Ipplication ol Sewer Water to Agricullur,il purposes. Published by the
Health of Towns t'oinaiission.

t Tlie heiglit of the standpipe lately erected by me at the Grand Junct'on Water Worki,
near Kew Uridge, is about 2111 feet,— the height of the Alouunient is about 202 teet.

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

83

near low water only — a period at which the delirery upon the shores
most offensive to the public ; »ud although this part of the evil might iu
some measure he remedieil by the acloptioa of the plans proposed by Mr.
AValker and Mr. I'a;.',e, for extending liie existing sewers into low water,
still the contamination of the ri»er would remain the same. At all other
states of the tide, the sewage is pent up and held back, these large sewers
becoming reservoirs, to contain the quantity collected during tliose periods
iu which the height of Ike tide prevents its discharge into the river.

Au'ilher evil now arises, not more offensive than injurious : the foul air
Dot beingcarried off with the current into the river, necessarily and naturally
rises through any openings it can find, and a stream of noxious effluvia is
evolved.

A further disadvantage resulting from this penning up of the sewage, is,
that the current through the sewers being checked, the water becomes qui-
escent, and the heavy particles previously held in mechanical suspension
are deposited, and accumulate. When the current in the sewers re-com-
mences, it is slow, depending upon the rate at which the tide falls into the
river. Until it has fallen below the level of the pent-up sewage, there is
no fall in the sewer. Then as the tide falls inch by inch, so docs the fall
in the sewer increase, but not in the same ratio, because the water being
always running, the relative difiVrence between the two levels is always
diminishing. The case would be ditlerent were the sewer water held back
by mechanical means, until there was a sufficient fall of tide in the riter ;
but it is not so— the process is gradual, and no fall is obtained sufficient to
scour away the accumulated deposits. Hence the necessity of manual la-
bour to clear away these offensive deposits, which must be brought to the
surface, or for machinery for carrying it off by Bushing, and the demand for
larger supplies of water, which vs'ould be useless unless there was an unin-
terrupted current in the sewers.

The following is an outline of Mr. Wicksteed's own plan of making the
sewage manure available. He proposes to collect it in one large reservoir
where it is to be dried and packed like gunao for sale. As regards tlie
northern side of the Thames, it is proposed to construct a Circular Sewer
of eight feet diameter ; to extend from the end of Gros»enor-ro:Kl, to pass
through, in an easterly direction, TothiU-street, Westminster Abbey-yard,
King-street, Whitehall. Strand, to the end of Fleet-street; from tlience a
sewer of twelve feet diameter in continuation across through Ludgate-hill,
the south side of St. Haul's Church-yard, Watling-stieel, Cannon-street,
Tower-hill, l?atcliffehigh%vay, Commercial-road, under the river Lea, above
the Iron Bridge, and from thence in a straight line through the West Mam
5Iarshes, to the proposed works, iu an angle formed by the western banks
of Barking Creek and northern banks of the Thames.

The necessary communication between the present sewers and the inter-
cepting sewer will be effected by means of shafts from the top of the pro-
posed sewer to the underside of the existing sewers, so that whatever so
flows through the present sewers must flow into the intercepting sewer ;
unless in case of long continued rains or storms, when if much more than
double the usual quantity of water should pass down, then
as soon as the intercepting sewer is fully charged, the
surplus water would run oil through the old channels into
the Thames. The sewers will, however, at these times, be relieved by
an additional outlet of large capacity, the proposed sewer forming a com-
munication with the Thames at Barking. All the flaps at the mouths of
the present sewers will have to be made water-tight, to prevent the wa-
ter of the Thames flowing at high water into the intercepting sewer, unless
required, although this, of course, will not prevent their being available tor
allowing the surplus waste to flow into the Thames when necessary.

The new sewer has a fall of 12 inches per mile, which wU\ give a velo-
city of 120J feet per minute in the 12 feet sewer, and 982-10 feel per
minute in the S feet sewer. The main sewer will terminate in a receiving
reservoir, in the Barking Marshes. The engines will be equal to an aggre-
gate power of 1,060 horses, and will be capable of raising, wlien worl^ed at
their full power, 56 feet high, 18,112,320 cubic feet in 2-1 hours, equal to
more than 2^ times the present ordinai'y quantity of sewer water. Tiie
sewer water will be raised into reservoirs sufficiently elevated (o allow of
its solid contents being deposited at a level above the Trinity high water
mark, so that it can easily be shipped, or loaded into railway trucks, and
that the refuse liquid may be discharged at all states of the tide. And
lastly, the deposit iu tlie reservoirs will be removed periodically, and dried
by artificial means, and then compressed and packed up, ready for irans-
missiuu by land or water.

TUBULAR BRIDGE OVEK THE MENAI.

The following is an abstract of the report on this gigantic undertaking,
made by Mr. Robert Stephenson to the Chester and Holyhead ltail«aj
Company, and read at their last meeting.

" I have throughout the experiments carefully studied the results as tl'cy
developed themsehes, and I am satisUed that the views i ventured to ex-
press twelve months ago were in the main correct, and tliat the adoption
of a wrought- iron tube is the most efficient, as well as the most economical
description of structure that can be devised for a railway bridge across the
Menai Straits.

" In the course of the experiments, it is true, some unexpected and ano
malous results presented themselves; but none of them tended, in my mind
to show that the tubular form was not the very btst fur obtaining a

rigid roadway for a railway over a span of 450 feet, which is the absolute
requirement for a bridge over the iMenai Straits.

" The first series of experiments was made with plain circular tubes, the
second with elliptical, and the third with rectangular. In the whole of
these, this remarkable and unexpected fact was brought to light, viz., that
in such tubes the power of wrought-iron to resist compression was much
less than its power to resist tension, being exactly the reverse of that which
holds with cast-iron ; for example, in cast-iron beams for sustaining weight,
the proper form is to dispose of the greater portion of the material at the
bottom side of the beam, whereas, with wrought-iron, these experiments
demonstrate beyond any doubt that the greater portion of the material
should be distributed on the upper side of the beam. We have arrived
therefore at a fact having a most important bearing upon the construction
of the tube, viz., that rigidity and strength are best obtained by throwin"
the greatest thickness of material into the upper side.

" Another instructive lesson which the experiments have disclosed is
that the rectangular tube is by far the strongest; that the circular and ellip-
tical should be discarded altogether.

" This result is extremely fortunate, as it greatly facilitates the mechani-
cal arrangements for not merely the construction, but the permanent main-
tenance of the bridge.

" We may now, therefore, consider that two essential points have been
finally determined — the form of the tube and the distribution of the ma-
terial.

" The only important question now remaining to be solved is, the abso-
lute ultimate strength of a tube of any given dimensions. This is, of cour.-e,
approximately solved by the experiments already completed ; but Mr .
Hudgkinson very properly states, tliat others, with tubes of more varied
dimensions, should be continued, iu order to clear up some anomalies which
still exiit.

" The formula, as at present brought out by Mr. Hodgkinson, gives the
strength of a rectangular tube of the dimensions I proposed — viz , 450 feet
long, 15 feet wide, by 30 feet high (assuming the plates to be one inch
tiiick) equal to 1,100 tons applied in the centre, including the weight of the
tube Itself ; but, deducting the latter, equal to 747 tons in the centre, or
double this, supposing the weight to. be uniformly distributed over the
whole 450 feet.

"This amount of strength, although sufficient to carry any weight that
can in practice be placed upon the bridge, is not sufficiently in excess for
practical purposes. It is on this ground, therefore, I have requested Mr.
Hodgkinson to devise a few more experiments in the shape best calculated
to free the formula from all ambiguity. In the meantime, however, as I
consider the maiu question settled, I am proceeding with the designs and
working plans for the whole of the masonry, which I expect to have the
pleasure of submitting to you in a fortnight from this time.

" You will observe in Mr. I'airbairn's remarks, that he contemplates the
feasibility of stripping the tube entirely of all the chains that may be re-
quired in the erection of the bridge; whereas, on the other hand, Mr.
Hodgkinson thinks the chains will be an essential, or at all events a useful
auxiliary, to give the tube the requisite strength and rigidity. This, how-
ever, will be determined by the proposed additional experiments, and does
not interfere witii the construction of the masonry, which is designed so as
to admit of the tube with or without the chains.

" The application of chains as an auxiliary, has occupied much of my
attention, and I am satisfied that the ordinary mode of applying them to
suspension bridges is wholly inadmissible in the present instance ; if,
therefore, it be found hereafter necessary or desirable to employ them iu
conjunction with the tube, another mode of applying them must be devised,
as it is absolutely essential to atfach them in such a manner as to preclude
the possibility of the smallest oscillation.

" In the accomplishment of this I see no difficulty whatever; and the
designs have been arranged accordingly, in order to avoid any further
delay.

"The injurious consequences attending the ordinary mode of employing
chains in suspension bridges were brouglit under my observation in a very
striking manner on the Stockton and Darlington Railway, where I was
called upon to erect a new bridge 'or carrying the railway across the river
Tees, in lieu of an ordinary suspension bridge, which had proved an entire
failure.

" Immediately on opening the suspension bridge for railway trafHc, the
undulations into which the roadway was thrown, by the ineviiatile uu-
equal distribution t»f the weight of the train upon it, were such as to
tlireaten the instant downfall of the whole structure.

" These dangerous undulations were most materially aggravaletl by the
chain itself, for this obvious reason, — that the platform or roadway which
was constructed with ordinary trussing for the purpose of rendering it
comparatively rigid, was suspended to the chain, which was perfectly
flexible, all the parts of the latter being in equilibrium. The structure
was, therefore, composed of two parts, the stability of the one being totally
incompatible with that of the other ; for example, the moment an unequal
distribution of weight upon the roadway took place, by the passage of a
train, the curve of the chain altered, one portion descending at the point
immediately above the greatest weight, and consequently causing some
other portion to ascend in a corresponding degree, which necessarily raised
ihe platform with it, and augmented the undulation.

" So seriously was this defect foual to operate, that immediate steps
were lakeu to support the platform underneath by ordinary trussing ; ill

11*

84

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[March'

short, by the erection of a complete wooden bridie, wliicli took olTa large
portion cl" the strain upon the chains. If the citaius had been wholly re-
Dioveii, the substructure would have been njore eilcclive; but as they were
allowed to remain, wilh the view of assisting, they still partake of these
changes in the form of the curve consequent upon the ur.ei|Ual distribution
of the weijihl, and eventually destroyed all the connections of the wooden
frantework uuderneatli the pbitfurni, and even loosened and fiuspended
many of the piles upon which the framework rested, and to which it was
attached.

" The study of these and other circumstances connected wilh the Stock-
ton-bridge lead me to reject all idea of deriving aid from cliauis employed
in the ordinary manner.

'• 1 have therefore turned my attention to other modes of employing them
in tonjunclion with the wrought. iron tube (as suggested by .'.Ir. Hud^kiu-
Bon), if such should be found necessary upon further investigation.

" .is I have already staled in this I perceive no diHiculty v^liatcver ; in-
deed there is no either construction which has occurred to nie which pre-
sents such facilities as the rectangular tube for such a con.binalinn,

" Having, I trust, clearly explained my views in reference to this im-
portant work, I have only to add that in two months I expect every ar-
rangement will be completed for commencing the masonry, which shall be
conducted w.th 'lie utmost activity and vigour.

" I can scarcity venture to say, until after these arrangements are finally
roinpletetj', at what period we may calculate upon the cunipietiou of this
bridge; but I cannot recouinieud you tu calculate upuu llie whole being
Mccuiuplished iu le.ss than two years and a half."

WEIRS ACROS.S RIVEKS.

Report bij the Committee of the Clyde Triittsts o<t the Weir Question.

The Committee believe the present position of the Clyde Trustees, as
regarda the question of Uie weir proposed to be er*^cted across the Clyde,
is as follow".' : — From ihr Act procured last Session of Parliament by the
Bridge Trustees, coulainiug clauses to the following effect ;

1. 'J'hat the ISridge Trustees are entilled to form a new dam or weir at
or about one huiidred and forty yards above Hutch'json's Bridge, having
a lock or work therein, or connected therewith, at the expense of the
Clyde Trustees.

2. When these works are erected, the Bridge Trustees are then au-
thorised to remove the weir or works placed at the Stockwcil Street Bridge
by tlie Clyde Trustees, at the Clyde Truslees' expense

S. The Clyde Trustees are obliged to contribute a sum towards sinking
and building the piers and foundations of the new Bridge at Slockweli
Street. And the Clyde Trustees are obliged to maintain the weir and lock
constructed by the Bridge Trustees, at their expense, in all lime coming.
No detailed plans or estimates exist of the weir and lock. The Act pro-
vides that the cost to the Clyde Trustees, of the whole works for which
they are made liable, shall be fixed by two Engineers or Arbiters appoint-
ed by the .SherilT.

Whether the Clyde Trustees ought to conlribule to the building of a
Bridge over the Clyde, is not within the remit to this Committee; and
having stated the present position of the Clyde Trustees as regards the
weir, the Committee proceed lo the consideraton of the clfect of the pro-
posed dam or weir upon the navigation of the Clyde.

The Committee believe that all Engineers now act upon the principle
of giving the greatest possible freedom of admission to the tidal waiers,
as the best means of improving navigable rivers, — tiie recession of these
waters carrying down with them lo the sea, the alluvial matter held in
suspense by the waters of the river; and iu proportion to the quantity
and velocity of the retiring tidal wave, is the benefit derived from its
cleansing and deepening power.

In order to carry out this principle, now well understood and universally
acted upon, Engineers widen, siiaighten and deepen the channel of rivers,
from the sea upwards, as far as the tidal wave can be enticed to come,
and break up and remove all obstacles lo its progress, whether natural or
artificial. The tidal wave in the Clyde, according to the report of the laic
Mr. M'Quiston, confirmed by subsequent observation, can be made to
How seven miles above the Cily of Glasgow, and give an additional pres-
sure and impetus to the retiring tidal wave of not less than eighty-millions
of cubic feet of water at ordinary tides; and if tiie river be properly
deepened, even this quantity of water may be increased. The Committee
Ihi-refore take leave to recommend that no weir or dam be erected across
the Clyde within the reach of the tidal flow.

The Trustees are aware Ihat the largest portion of their stated oiiilay is
upon dredging in the River and Harbour; and the Committee are satis-
fied that a vrry large proportion of this outlay might be saved by the em-
ployment of the powerful natural agency of the lid^l waters. The ex-
pense of dredging from .July, 1S40, to .Inly, Itj'.-l, amounted to a very
large sum, and it constitutes by much the largest item of our annual ex-
penditure. The heaviest portion of this expenditure was ujion the Ilar-
huur, where dredging is performed at great inconvenience to the shipping,
and to tlie business of the i'ort. Nor will it in the opinion of the Com-
mittee, ever be otherwise, until the River above be cleaned and d, epened,
and a body of water procured suliicient to scour the Harbour, which at
preseut serves as a settling pool fur the upper waters.

It will be said that the Clyde Trustees have no power nnder their Act*
to operate upon the River to the eastward of Stockwell Street Bridge, and
that their Acts bind them to maintain the present level of the River.

The Committee believe that if the Clyde Trustees can show that the
Navigation of the Clyde is to be benefited by an extension of their powers,
say for seven miles above the Slockweli Street Bridge, penetrating into the
heart of the mineral districts, I'arliament will grant these powers ; nnd in
regard to their obligations to maintain the present level of the River to
the east of .Stockwell Bridge, for the protection of certain public works,
the Committee believe that the Clyde Trustees were coerced into the ad-
mission of these clauses into their Bill, and that there are other and better
modes of protecting these worlcs than by a weir across the Clyde. The
Committee refer to the analogous circumstances and condition of similar
works along the course of the River, beneath the .Stockwell Sireet Bridge,
because, if a like protection to these public works had been sustained,
there could have been no deepening or imp I'ovenient of the Clyde Naviga-
tion. The Committee, in short, believe, that no public companies, whetlier
constituted by Act of Parliament as Canal Companies, or Water Com-
panies, Joint .Stock Companies, or private individuals having works on the
banks of a navigable river, using its waters, or having a right of access
thereto, can for their interests control or prevent the impiovement of a
public navigable river, as far as the tidal flow reaches.

From the absence of all detailed plans or descriptions of the works to
be erected at the weir, the Committee can give the Trustees no information
as to the height or elrralion of the intended weir; but from its containing or
being connected with a lock, the committee rre led to believe that the weir
or dam must be elevated to si/c/i a height as to enable the lock to lie wrought
at all times of the tido, and in all conditions of the river, or it i . eiiileni it
must be useless for navigation purposes. The Committee cannot believe
that so bold and iujurioas a measure as the elevation of the chanu'. 1 of the
Clyde would be attempted, although there is an indic:-.tion of such on in-
tention on the very small plan submitted lo Parliament ; and without such
elevation, the works describe,- appear to the Committee to be either useirs*
or impraclit ible.

The C'omi. itltee, therefore, tr.ke leave to recommend that the Clyde
Trustees apply to Parliriment next SesJoG for powers to open up the na-
vigation of the Clyde lo a distance of fay seven miles above Ihe City of
Glasgow, to construct all necessary wQri>s, and levy such dues as shall
he judged iitting and proper. They will thus, in the opinion of the Com-
mittee, give great facility for the conveyance of minerals, country produce,
and traffic of every description to and from the Harbour; and v\hatisof
equal, if not of greater importance, they will, by the reressiou of the tidal
waters, be enabled to k'ep the whole channel of the river clear at a very
moderate expense, and thereby be enabled to devote several thousands,
a year, now expended in dredging the River and Harbour, to other
purposes.

The Committee farther recommend that the Clyde Trustees intimate to
the Bridge Trustees their intention of going to Parliament next Session, in
order to prevent the Bridge Trustees from conslriicling a weir across the
River Clyde, w ilh a lock or works therein, and lliat the Bridge Trustees,
in the erection of their Bridge, do not in the meantime interfere with the
bed of the River, so as to prejudice the Clyde Trustees in their position as
regards the AVater Company and other parties.

Before concluding their Report, the Committee also beg lo direct the at-
tention of the Trustees to what is already partially before the Trustees,
viz. — the attempt upon the part of a Canal Company, to take possession of
the River Cljde at and above the proposed new weir at Hutcheson's
Bridge, and to make additional works in connection vvilli (hat weir. The
Commitiee have not been able to procure a sight of the jdans of the works
which the Canal Company propose to attach to the weir; but as the w-hole
scheme implies the existence and continuance of a weir across the Clyde,
the Committee trust the Clyde Trustees will not be consenting parties to
any such scheme, but will oppose it with all their ])owerand interest, and
compel the Canal Company to terminate their works withiu the northern
line of high water.

And the Committee fartlier recommend that a copy of this Report be
sent to the Lords of the Admiralty, and another copy to the Tidal Har-
bour Commissiouers.

Archd. M'Li;llan, Cottrencr of Commitlei.

PROCEEDirTGS OP SCIENTIFIC SOCIETISS.

INSTITUTE OF BRITISH AKCIIITECIS.

January 2C. — J. B. Papwoetb, V.P., in the Chair.

The Very Rev. \V. Buckland, D.D., was elected an Honorary Member, and
F. C. Penrose, Esq., an Associate.

A letter was read from Herr Zanth (honorary and corresponding member of
the Institute), at Stutg.ird, descriptive of a Ca-iino, now nearly completed
from his design and under his siiperintemlence, for tiie King of Wirtemburi.'.
The structure— named after the royal owner, " Wilhelma," is of stone, in
the Moresque style, the courses of the masonry being coloured white,
yellow, and red violet, and covered with copper, partly gilt. It is situated
in a winter garden, in the midst of four conservatories with pnnieoes, steps
and terraces, and parterres;— it consists of a vestibule, an Oriental court.

!«-J6.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

85

with a fountain, a |jicture gallerv, a divan, a saloon, an eating-room and
i|i|jurleiiances, a sli:eping and dressing room, and a liath with an arched
ruof, decorated with pendants. The conservatories and porticoes are of cast
iron, very slender, and richly ornamented ;■ — in tlie same taste, the con-
stirvatonus divided into two aisles, containing various rare flowers, alut
against two pavilions, surmounted by glazed octangular cupolas, for tmpieal
plants ; — the entire extent is about 350 feet ; at the end of the conserva-
tories the porticoes commence, which form the enclosure of a flower-gar-
df 0, for the private use of the king.

Mr. C. Fov\ler, Fellow, on presenting some plans and designs relative to
the proposed Thames Embankment and railway street, read a paper on the
piojecti'd lines of railway in the metropolis about to be submitted to Parlia-
ment. Mr. Fowler stated that he was indebted for most of the details to
Mr. .Austin, the engineer (Hon. Secretary to the Metropolitan Improvement
Society), who had been at considerable pains to prepare a plan of the whole
of those linei for which the deposits had been completed. He need scarcely
say, that there had been a number of other schemes, which had not survived
the fatal effects of the panic ; of those that remained, it appeared from the
plan tiiiit there were iwenly-onf diffimU lines, comprising 100 miles of
proposed railway, within a circle of five miles from St. Paul's. The spaces
scheduled for termini w ithin a circle of fourteen miles of St. Paul's, together
with that necessary for the construction of so much of the lines, constitute
an area of little short of 20U rcres, being equal to that portion of london
extending from High-street, Whiteehapel, to St. Paul's Cathedral, included
between Leadenhall-street, Cornbill, the Poultry, and Cheapside, on the
nortli, and the river Thames on the south : nearly equal to one-third of the
City, and little less than one-half of that devastated by the conflagration of
1C66. On a moderate calculation, it would involve the destruction of be-
tween 9,000 and 10,000 houses, and cause an expendituie, for the purchase
of pKiperty alone, of about fifteen millions sterling, Mr. Fowler stated,
tliai a memorial on the sul'ject bad been forvrarded to the First Coramis-
kioner of Woods and Forests by the Metropolitan Improvement Society,
suggesting that the Metropolitan Improvement Commission should take the
suljject into their consideration at an early period ; and observed that it he-
hovei not only all piofessional men, but all who desire to see a right direc-
tion given to this extraordinary movement, to assist in promoting the same
in order that this branch of railway communication may he dealt with sepa-
rately and distinctly, so that a comprehensive and systematic plan may re-
sult from what at present is aheap of confusion, arising from the fact that
each line has been separately laid down, without reference to, or the know-
ledge of, what is proposed by any other. Mr. Fowler alluded to the new
principle of railway streets, and to the double object that the Thames Em-
l)ankinent and Railway Junction Company had in view in adopting it, namely,
that of carrying out a great public improvement in conjunction with the ex-
tension of railway communication ; likewise that, in ttie event of Govern-
ment acceding to a separate and distinct consideration of metropolitan lines,
an opportunity was at present afforded which could never again occur of
effecting the improvement of this great metropolis, as to salubrity, con-
venience, and splendour, without, probably, any sacrifice ou the part of the
Government. Mr. Fowler adverted to his design for carrying a railway over
London-bridge, as one of the means proposed to connect the lines now ter-
minated at the south end of the bridge with that projected through the City
from Hungerford-market to the Blackwall line. This was proposed to he
elfected by the addition of arcades ; covering the footways with iron frame-
work, extended over the carriage-way to carry the rails : the former of these
additions had been projected by him in one of the designs submitted to the
House of Commons, when the reconstruction of the bridge was under con-
sideration.

February 9. — Mr. Tite, V. P., in the Chair.

NEW MODEL OF THE PARTHENON.

A discussion took place which excited more than ordinary interest, nnd
attracted a very crowded meeting of the members of the Institute, the sub-
ject being the consideration of certain questions respecting the original
arthitecture of the Parthenon, suggested by Mr. Lucas's models recently
dejiosiled in the British Museum.

Mr. Lucas commenced the discussion by reading the following paper, of
which he has obligingly furnished us with a copy.

.^lr. President and Gentlemen, — I beg to oiler you my best thanks for
your obliging courtesy, in the opportunily thus ali'urded me of introducing
the subject of the Restoration of the Parthenon, before it may be, the most
s vire, but at the same time certainly, the most competent tribunal — and I
bring this subject before you wilh much anxiety, conscious as I am Ihat
Ihe poriion of my work you are most likely to sit in judgment on, is that
111 which my previous studies had been but cursorily directed, and but
Ihat I appear before you rather to court correction than to impart infurma-
lion, 1 should now feel as though 1 were bearding the lion in his own
den. Sir, it is our lot to live at a period when improvements in every de-
partment of science have been carried to great results ; and though in Ihe
line arts, a commensurate development of successful energy is not yet ap-
parent, the time is now come when the artists whose works are Ihe must
tnduringchrouiclesuf the great events of their period, should bestir them-
selves, for it cannot have escaped our observation, that within the last few
years simultaneously and apparently without any connection, a general
tendency to revive the study of high art has sprung up in (he most intellec-
tual parts of Europe, in Germauj, England, Denmark, France — while in

England, from many happy circumstances, arl appears likely to assume %
high position.

i have. Sir, in the course of my reading met wilh Ihe observation Ihat to
have a difiicult subject Ihoruughly investigated, we should set to the task
one who has a fitting amount of natural qualifications, but who is entirely
ignorant of the theme ; place at his disposal all means and appliances of
study, and if it be his aim (as mine is) to investigate solely for the pro-
duction of the truth, jou may then gel the subject treated with all the leal
of the advocate, united to the calmness and sobriety of the judge, even
ihoiigh the subject matter be so important as the master work of Ictinus,
or the profound science displayed in the Iriiimph of I'hidias ; a theme so
glorious immediately roiijcs in the mind of the investigator all the latent
or dormant energies of his nature, with no inaccurate early impressions to
remove from his mind, no erroneous foregone conclusions to bias his judg-
ment, he surveys with ardour and enthusiasm, but records with calmness
and indifi'erence, untramelled by the vividness of early impressions; he is
compelent to seize and to anahze all the salient points of controversy, and
to arrr'. e by inductiou at sound conclusions.

Ijiil iVom this mode of proceeding one defect may be anticipated which
ought to be guariled against, namely, that in investigating the details of
an inleretting subject, a few points already too partially iuvesligated may
be liiken for granted, and therefore some matters not apparently important
to the high bearings of the case may be overlooked or underrati d ; but it
is my good fortune to introduce Ihe result of my labours wheu the spirit
of them will be fairly appieciated, will for minor blemishes not materially
pfl'e"t Ihe whole performance in its general appeal to :\,e ondersianding, and
lam sure that you. Sir, will always appteci;.ii5 a work accordii.g to its
merits, and judge the artist wilh respect to his iulenlions, and Ihe peculiar
circumstances under wliiJi his work was executed. Our subject, Sir,
appe.iis naturally to resolve itself into a recapitulation of the known and
ndiiiifted facts of the case, includmgits general history^ architeciral con-
structi(m and sculptural adoriimenls, with a consideraliot. of the doiibiuil
or uncei tain portions, !n(duded in w hicli is lo be placed the qupslion i elal''. e !o
the interior of the Temple, its polychromatic adjuncts, the Chrys-elephaa tine
statue of the Goddess, the central portion of Eastern Pediment, with the
missing metopes frieze-shields, &c. and having examined these matters 1 pro-
pose very briefly to investigate the principles that f tided these great
artists in Ihe adornment of th»ir works. It is necessary for the unity of
the subject I should notice the known parts, but only very brielly.

It is V ill known that the Parthenon was erected at Alliens about B.C. 410,
in the most nourishing and glorious period ol Ihat g: 'jat republic, under
the auspices of her greatest statesman, Pericles, and from Ihe designs of ihe
greatest sculptor and of the most celebrated architect of the ancient world,
Phidias and Ictinus. It stood on the summit of the Acropolis, was a
Doric temple, 227 feet in length ou the upper step, by 101 feet in breadth.
It was conslructed entirely of Peutelic marble, and, including a slylobale
of four steps, was GG feet in height; it was called Hecatompedon, or tl;e
building of a hundred feet ; and trom its united excellencies of desigu, de-
coraliou and material resulling from the fine taste, unbounded means and
munificence of Pericles, it may be recorded as the most perfect that was
ever executed. In ihe Parthenon was consummated the noble triple
union of architecture, sculpture and painting; in it was the artist'r
triumph complete, and art reached its acme.

In the construction of the columns of the exterior much subtlety of
management appears lo ha\e been used, such as the well known facts of the
inclination of the columns ] J inch inwards, and that of the outer or angu-
lar ones of the exterior being larger by 2^ inches diameter than the others ;
and I have also been informed that the enstasis or swell is dissimilar ia
Ihe dillerent columns, and that the diameters of others besides the end ones
are also different; but the most curious circumstance is the last I have
heard, and which I believe a talented member of your Institute, recently
arrived from Athens can testify to you, viz., that all the viipitals on the south
side of Ihe temple are 6 inches smaller llian any others, and 1 hope also
now to learn if the diminution of these capitals be confined to Ihe ovolo
under it, or whether it serve to increase llie entasis of the columns gene-
rally ; other further peculiarities of structure may here he alluded to. Mr.
.1. Per.nelhorne in his w'ork obseives, Ihat he found the upper step of the
I'arthenon to form a simple curve rising S inches in the cenire, that liigher
iu the front the curve changes its character, and in ttie architrave becomes
a curve of a double curvature. And Mr. liracebridge informed me that fin
stretching a string from the two ends of the front lower steps he found that
the cenire of it receded two inches from the string,

[Mr. Lucas then detailed at sonie lengih the history of Ihe Parthenon
from the time when the Acropolis was beseiged by the X'enetians iu IfiHT, to
the time of Lord Elgin — the general character of the sculpture, kc, hut as
these points are fully considered in Mr. Lucas's pubII^Iled observations,
they are here omitted. After a minute exaniiaatioii of the designs of the '
sculpture in the pediment, the lecturer proceeded as follows.]

In restoring the Parthenon the question that is most difficult to grapple
with, and least likely lobe successfully investigated, is the interior of
the Temple, it having undergone so many transformations, each possibly
leaving some trace or vestige, and those vestiges so comniinated together
Ihat little satisfactory information can be expected to result from the most
determined application, 'i'hose most competent to judge on this mittter
generally arrive at different coiulusions. As regards Ihe roof, some sup-
jiose it was open, and nthcrs Ihat it was enlirc'y closed, and that Ine
natural light of the heavens was supplied by artificial light, but both these
suppositii'"S appear lo be untenable; the open roof hypothesis being met

86

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Makch,

by an ancient epigram on (he statue of Jupiter in ivory and Rold, in a tem.
pie similar to the I'arlheuon, namely, that if the god rose he would carry
the roof with him ; while the eiilire closing the roof and consequent ex-
clusion of the best light for a statue, the light of day, seems very impro-
bable- A partial opening admitting light, by the means of some semi-
transparent substance, appears in the absence of all proof the most feasible
supposition.

As to the columns that supported the roof equal obscurity exists, the
most probable supposition being the last one on the subject, and which has
only been lately brought to light on destroying the mosque, in 1814. M.
Pittakis, in a letter to me on the subject, gives it as his belief, that the traces
of Doric columns found on this removal of the mosque, with a diameter of
fire feet, supported an upper tier of the Ionic order. This statement of the
diameter of the lower or Doric tier, being of the proportions of live feet in
diameter, is confirmed by the personal observations of Mr. ISracebridge,
and of Mr. Penrose. On the other hand, in letters read at this Institution,
from Mr. Knowles, a month since, the diameter is given at 3ft. 7J in.
I am at a loss to account for this great discrepancy on a subject so interest,
ing, and apparently so easy to be ascertained. Now admitting the Doric
to have been the original structure, and live feet the diameter, it then
appears from the following diagram that there would be no space for an
upper tier, for if it be an Ionic one, it must have been disproportionately
8niall compared with the bulky Doric below. Supposing the Doric to
hare been used, I am rather disposed to believe that an upper tier could
not have been used, but that some other architectural feature must here
be substituted.

No. 1. No. 2. No. 3

6 feet 2. fi feet 6. S feet. 3 feet 6.

No. 1 Outer Column.— No. 2 Column of the Pronsus.— No. 3 Size of the traces of Columns
lately discovered.— No. 4. The arrangement of the interior in the restoration.
AVith regard to the chief sources of authentic information as to the
use of colours by the ancients, the subject has beeu exhausted by the
able remarks of the various writers on this matter; Mr. Hamilton, in
his translation of the report of the committee who investigated the mar-
bles of the Parthenon, appears to have had no biason the subject, and
the inferences I derive from his translation are, that someof the early temples
must have been white, and that others were certainly painted, but no hint is
given as to the period, and as to the actual tintsonthe most perfect specimens
of remaining colour in the temple of Theseus, Semper found some blue colour
■nder the necks of one of the anta:, and therefore drew the conclusion that
the whole of the wall of the cella was blue. Scheubert on the other hand
sayshe found on thesame spot colour, and that it was yellow, and yellow in his
opinion was the colour of the cella. Another observer found what he con-
sidered red, and draws similar conclusions. But although this discrepancy
exists on this point, all agree in stating that above and below the
frieze, iu the Parlhenon, the meander ornament was painted in a
reddish brown. On that brown, gold has been discovered, and therefore
some suppose the colour to have been the ground for the gold, and this
also applies to the elegant palm leaves, on the facia, below the triglyphs
and the ornament on the pediment.

Admitting as we must, from the amount of evidence that the Greeks did
use much colour on their works, yet with regard to tlie actual mode of
applying it, or the period of its most general use, we are in a state of great
uncertainty.

It has been observed respecting the purity or impurity of taste in the
use of colour by the Greeks, that this consideration was foreign to a resto-
ration, that it was for us to decide on the question by the proofs as adduced,
and that in restoring we must restore colour as demonstrated, and that wo
have no right to set any fastidious idea of our own in the use of colour
ia opposition to the practice of the Greeks, where that practice admits of
proof. To this however I would beg to demur, that from our practice in
the use of colour, we have no right to assume, that the ancient Greeks
«sed colour as we now apply it, especially in their application of it to their

highest uses in painting their divinities. We have it in eridence that the
columns of the Parthenon were painted red, but the circumstance
that the paint exists iu the openin); of the joints of the columns demonstrates
that the colour was applied at a late period, subsequent perhaps to some
earthquake or other commotion, because on the completion of the temple the
joints were so close as to prevent the insertion of colour. Now it does ap-
pear to me, that of a style of art so severe and chaste as the architecture
and sculpture of the Parthenon, the high excellence can only be com-
prehended and appreciated, by our having still in existence enough of the
precious fragments to form some conception of theeffectsof the whole. What
kind of idea could we have formed of the architecture and sculpture from
mere description or fragmentary evidence? Let us reflect — wtiat idea
does our own art give us of the perfection of Greek art, except as a close
imitation of that which actually exists. M'ithout the actual work of the
Greek artists before us, who could have propounded any resuscitation of
its high excellence eiiher in form or execution ? And in like manner from
the nature of things, I am entitled to contend that in the best times of
Greek art, where colour was applied, it was used with equal severity,
chastity, skill and purity, as the sculpture and architecture demonstrate,
and therefore reasoning from analogy as from fragments alone, we could
not hope to restore as a whole, neither can we in colour hope to reconstruct
with our limited opportunity of observing, not so much perhaps as to
the actual tints as to the mechanical application of them, after the beautiful
sculpture had received all its wonderful discriminative touches, th*
marking of bone, tendon and muscle. Does it seem probable that
men of such cultivated tastes would have smeared over these highly
wrought forms with oil and earth ? Does it not. Sir, seem more probable that
the surface was stained with colour, not coated with a pigment? in using
colour to embody the forms of their deities, we may be assured that the
same amount of skill, pure taste, and beautiful appliance would be used
as was shown in producing and finishing the actual form. Viewed in this
light, it is by the power of the imagination, and this power alone, that we
of these latter dajs can comprehend the glorious aspect of the Parthenon,
in its integrity of colour as well as form. It may be that my bias may render
me an incompetent judge on this subject, but I have searched with
much assiduity, and I believe that all the colour I have seen results
from the surface being stained, not painted. In some parts colour re-
maining, shews the pure surface of the marble where it has been
protected by the pediment; and where exposed. In some parts the original
surface is still preserved by the means applied to tint it, and as the
other surrounding portions are deeply corroded by time or drip, so I
believe that the process of tinting hardened and preserved the semi-
transparency of the marble; and of that mode of execution as applied to
sculpture, I do not thiuk we have acquired the secret.

Having thus briefly explained the structure and decorations of the
Parthenon, we proceed in our endeavours to investigate the principles of
design that characterise this great work of Phidias and Ictious. The
etfect which their work creates on our minds appears everywhere to be
produced by the same means, — variety and contrast in unity — whether in
its architectural construction, in the selection of the subjects for the
sculptures, or iu their composition and treatment. In the architecture, the
solemn and rigorous uniformity of its masses, and the severe proportions
of the columns, contrast marvellously with the boundless diversity of the
lines of the sculpture. And while unity is thus preserved by the symme-
trical character of the whole structure, clearly and intelligibly stated to the
eye, and commanding the observance of the mind, the attention is enchained
and preserved by the beautiful and harmonious play of light and shade
resulting from the inner columns of the pronaus being smaller than the
outer, and being placed on steps, which c.irry the inner architrave higher
than the outer. The beautiful frieze is thus placed above the spectator's
first glance, and reserves for him beauties veiled from his first impression,
and therefore far more effective in their unobtrusive display at the proper
period.

It was thus, by an inexhaustible power of invention that Phidias pro-
duced that great impression, which all minds gifted with a perception of the
beautiful acknowledge, in the contemplation of the Parthenon; and, for
ourselves, let it be our study to dwell on these noble works, and to seek to
imbue ourselves with their spirit and power, in the choice of noble theme, in
composition and treatment. This, then, is the proper influence these noble
examples should exercise on our art, to produce a truly National School of
Sculpture; for we cannot be blind to the circumstance, that merely re-
peating the /wrms of Greek art ; must altogether fail in producing such a
desideratum, (Jreek art was perfect because it was national, because its
peculiarities suited alike the national feeling and the national religion. An
attempt to repeat the mere forms, whether united to their myths or
without that appendage, must fail to satisfy in any department of art, as
far as regards the producing an English School, either in poetry or
sculpture, painting or architecture ; yet the contemplation of the myths of
the Greeks is full of interest and use, as adding to the amount of our
knowledge of the operations of the human mind, and here we may learn
how man sometimes produces results so perfect as to become laws, and at
it were to form an eternal model of fitness and propriety, the result of
wants perfectly supplied, of ideas perfectly embodied, of uational feelings
incorporated with and represented by national emblems.

It requires indeed a considerable knowledge of (ireck art to be able to
appreciate the full amount of influence it may exercise, and a still more
Iborongh acquaintance with their works, to comprehend their real scope and

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

87

depth, and it is not therefore surprising that a high general estimate of this
art should prevail, and yet Ihai it should be but little understood, or that
its inlluence should In' limited. It may be said — what are the
excellencies we are to seek and to use, to form as it were part of our
national]!)' ? 1 answer the general comprehensiveness of plan, ils fitness, its
grandeur, ils profound science, and general nobility of treatment, so unlike
the meanness of plan, rigidity and utter prostration of science, so often
discoTerable in works, produced oui of the paleof Gi'eek art.

The whole chain of dependent facts was evolved and laid out to be
examined; the most delic-ile shades of truth scrupulously distin-
guished, and as no science can exist without demonstration, the whole ex-
isted as one. Architecture and Sciiliiliire, and Painting blended into con-
summate harmony : the Parthenon \Tas a magnificent poem, comprehended
at a glance, and in this poem of a thousand stanzas, every separate verse
was a poem in itself, but subdued and aiding to the general eii'ects by the
fitness of its application, and the harmony of its proportion. This accurate
systematic form which gives to Olreek art its utility as an example, indeed
is to be found no where else, and without it we cannot understand the
science of art in its truth. Now to speak of a general system as applied to
i\ledia;val art sounds rather curious. I speak here of the adornments
rather than construction ; they seem a collection of fragments — here a con-
sistency, there an absurdity, hint and hypothesis, doubt and dogmatism,
feeling and reason, cold mathematical iibstraction, and the most gorgeous
poetry, the drama and the lecture, the serious and the ridiculous, all thrown
together by a hand careless in its profusion of riches, both disjointed, and
constituted — these are the characteristics of the most perfect specimens of
i\ledia;Tal art, and in this art they often seem to have overlooked that great
advantage in Greek art, the exquisite beauty of their forms. Whether it was
climate or natural temperature, or education, or social circumstances that
gave the Greeks their delicate perceptions of universal beauty, no people
ever existed in whose happiness it was so necessary an ingredient, or to
whom it was so profusely ministered by the genius of their composers. Their
whole nature was so refined that truth stripped of grace and beauty, could
no more touch their minds than religion their hearts, unless veiled under
a gorgeous mythology .

The Greeks succeeded in producing perfection in the art or science of
pourtraying thehumanformiu its most perfect beauty : this we also must use;
for wiihout it our art must retrograde. Hut we require something more than
the science of beautiful form: we must use the form, and superadd a
spirit of nationality. The sculpture of the ancients is the most faithful, the
most eloquent, the most enduring chronicle of their greatness. If, in his
solemn discourse over those slain in battle for their country, Periclescould
say that of illustrious men all earth iciis their tomb, and that their names were
not merely graven on the sepulchral marble among their own kindred, but
stored[up fur erer, in the unwritten registers of memory in other lands;
so may we say, at the close of this our essay on Phidias, that
though the glory of it, manifested to his countrymen in distinct and
familiar characters and in the fulness of its meaning, is to our distant age
only dimly and distantly revealed ; if we know it only by the few frag-
ments we have preserved, or by those scattered in foreign lands, or by
cold delineations and still colder descriptions, yet the image of the art
survives in the mind of man, to be reflected again and again in the thought
of remote posterity, an unwritten record and silent witness of the great-
ness of the Athenian people, and the genius of their sculptor.
" They so sepulchered in such pomp do lie,
That kings fur such a tomb might wish to die."
When Mr. Lucas had finished, Mr- Donaldson read the following remarks :
You will doubtless, gentlemen, have been struck with the energy and
fixedness of purpose with which Mr. Lucas has followed up his project of
working out a reputation for himself by a restoration of the Parthenon, the
fame of which, he hoped, would bring him favourably before the notice of
the public, and no less pleased by the frankness with which he has com-
municated to us his ideas on the subject.

But there are other consideratiojis of very great importance, which offer
themselves in connection with so vast an undertaking. The boldness of
the attempt must be justified by the qualifications of the enterprising artist.
The taste and practical skill of the sculptor must be seconded by the learn-
ing of the antiquary, llie professional experience of the architect, and the
precision of the modeller. It seems beyond the range of human probabi-
lity, that any thing less than a visit to this noblest of ancient monuments,
and many weeks, nay months, devoted to the study of it on the spot, could
enable any one, however gifted, to solve satisfactorily the many doubtful
ques'ions which hang over its complete restoration. We know that Palla-
(lio thiice visited Rome ere he ventured to publish his monuments of Roman
architecture. Brunelleschi returned again and again to study the baths,
the temples, and the ruins of that ancient city ere he felt satisfied to under-
fake t!u> construction of the dome of Santa Maria dei Fiori, at Florence.
Mazois repeatedly went to Naples to measure and draw the remains of
Pompeii, in order to ensure a scrupulous and faithful record of the exca-
valid liuildings.

If iMr. Lucas had published his model and descriptions of it, as a re-
storation of the sf«/p(Kr(?s of the Parthenon, if the laudatory paragraplis,
inserted by his admirers and friends in the public prints, had confined tlieir
eulogies to this, and had laid no higher claim than to the merit of having
restored the work of the immortal Phidias, I should have left to others
mure compt-tent than myself, and better acquainted with that sister art, to
have examined into the proprieties of the restoration in that department.
Ijut the title-page of Mr. Lucas's own pamphlet, copies of which we owe

to his friendly courtesy, slates that one of the models exhibits the temple as
it appeared in its dilapidated state in the seventeenth cent ur if, and executed
from the existing remains, or from authentic drawings. The" other being (in
attempt to restore it to the fulness of its original beauty and splendour. It
is upon the fallacy of these statements, as regards its architecture, that I
feel obliged at once to protest against the models— the one as not being a
faithful representation of it in its dilapidated state, not executed from ex-
isting remains nor from authentic drawings— the other being inaccurate
generally in its architectural details, and being deficient, instead of ex-
hibiting the/i/^ncss of its original beauty and splendour.

I feel called upon to examine the subject thus specially, for the archi-
tectural errors are so contrary to the canons of the art. that the character
of the profession is implicated, when we see that the Trustees of the British
Museum give the stamp of approbation to these mistakes by purchasing
the models, and exhibiting them in juxta-posiiion with the very marbles of
the Parthenon itself. We must give them full credit for wishing to do full
justice to the high reputation of Phidias; it is only to be regretted that,
from parsimony or ignorance in themselves or those around them, they
should have forgotteu the claim of Ictinus to the character of the first archi-
tect of his own or any age, and as having produced in the Parthenon a
work free from every defect, pure in every detail, graceful in every pro-
portion.

In the model of the Parthenon in its dilapidated state, Mr. Lucas has
erroneously represented on the architrave over the columns of the Posti-
cuin, the fillet caps over the guttse. He has not placed them at the angles,
and has continued them along the flanks. They now exist at the angles,
and at equal spaces along the front, as shown by Stuart, and there were
none as usual along the Uank.

Blr. Lucas has continued the antae cap mouldings along the wall of the
Posticum, and along the_Uank wall of the cella, in both which positions they
never existed. Mr. Lucas has represented cornices on the inner face of
the cella wall where they do not exist, nor according to the most probable
mode of restoration, ever could exist.

These introductions are totally at variance with the drawings of Stuart
and cannot possibly be extant in any other authentic drawings as staled in
the title-page of the pamphlet.

I must now venture to allude to the restored model. In the first place,
it is less accurate as regards the steps, than that of the mined temple. In
the latter there are only three, in the former four. Upon referring to my
own studies made on the spot, I find three steps of marble, and below the
Knvermost a slab of the same height and about the same projection of stone,
and thus specifically staled in my sketch. There is then a much wider
slab of stone, and a drop beyond of 3 ft. 4 in. It appeared conclusive to
my mind, that the stone slab was a portion of the pavement of the area
around the temple, which was laid with slabs of stone, the upper surface
being level with the upper face of the stone slab under the third marble
step. In fact, it would have looked incongruous to have had one step of
sione and then three of marble. Besides which we have the testimony of
Vitruvius, who says, Book III. c. 3. ''The number of steps iu front
should always be odd, since in that case the right foot, which begins the
ascent will be that which first alights on the lauding of the temple." We
know that our great master borrowed all his canons from the Greeks, and
that the superstitions of the ancients had a common origin and a common
acceptation.

The restored model shows no traces of the plinth which existed between
the lower parts of the columns of the Posticum, and of which there are in-
disputable signs in the Parthenon. This plinth, which was 9 feet I inch
high, and half as wide again as the centre fluting, received the standards
of the metal grating which inclosed the intercolumniations up to the sum-
mit of the capit.ils, as is ascertained by the mortice holes still existing in
the antie. This metal work was for the purpose of giving security to the
Posticum, as within it were exjiosed to public view many of the votive
ollfiings of beauty and value, the riches of the temple, and being placed
within the metal railing, they were prevented being injured by accident or
purloined by the evil disposed. This grating was probably of bronze gilt,
and many Roman bas-reliefs offer authority for a restoration.

The next inaccuracy to which I wish to call attention, is the doorway.
The old aperture had been uarrowed long since, either by the Venetians or
Turks, by the introductiim of slabs in irregular courses ; beyond these
slabs the wall is perfectly plain. Reasoning from the magnificence and
importance of the Parthenon, which would be evidently deficient in ell'ect
if the doorway were a mere square aperture ; reasoning from the analogy
of the Ereciheum, which has a magiiificf-nt doorway, although an edifice
of less importance than the Temple of Minerva, and reasoning from the
evidence to be found on the apertures of the Propylea, which had evidently
bronze dressings, I have littie hesilatiou in stating my opinion, that the
dressings of the Partiienon were of bronze, and that the model is singularly
unfortunate in having consoles or trusses, which support nothing, are ac-
companied by no corresponding embellishment, and are contrary to all rea-
son, propriety, and example. I have already alluded to the continuation
of tlie mouldings of the aut^e caps, retained in the restoration, and quite
contrary to fact. We now come to the interior of the cella, and consider-
ing the complexity of the opinions ofl'ered by Messrs. Pittakis, Fiulay, and
others, who were consulted by our author, it is not surprising ihat tie
should have found himself involved iu a maze of difficulty. It appears
that Mr. Cockerell, iu tlie seventh volume of the Museum Publications,
has restored the interior with two orders of columns ; the lower are Co-
rinthian, the upper arc Doric. All the rules of the art, all analogy, and all

S3

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[MAKCrt,

pro'iability havp run counter to iliis daring arrangement. In the l-^mples
of Pa;itii'n we Bud a double tier of columns, one over the oihir, to sup-
port the rouf of tlie hypcihrnm, bo'h Doric; but the casual staemcpt of
Mr. Inwood, (hat a portion of i: t'oiinlhian capitnl was brought by him
from Ihe Parthenon, and a similar fragment discovered in the Temple of
Apollo Eiiicurius, at IJassa;, near Phigalia, seein to have been considered
Butlicieuily grave auihority for the introduction of the Corinthian, as one of
the inner orders of tlie Panhenon. .Vssuming at once that Mr. Inwood
g.)t it from Ihe Parthenon— How did it get there? Was it there originally .'
Had any other traveller — the precise Spon and Wheller, or liie lahorious
Stuart and Rcvctt ever seen it ! Among the strange metdmorphoses by
Venetian, Turk, and Greek, may it not have been converted to the pnrpo^e
of construction frcji some stray fragment beyond the verge of the Parthe-
non, as being lighter and more easily applicable for their purpose than the
ponderous blocks of the construction of Ictinus? May it not have been
purposely placed there by some wily Greek to give it additional value in
the eyes of one, who was eager for any fragment of .\ttic art. and pro-
fusely liberal to every one who contributed to his collection? The intro-
duction of the Corinthian orderintothe Parthenon involves so many serious
questions in the art, that ils adoption must rest upon some more au'hentic
proof than that which accompanied this questionable fragment. Outlet
us assume that it cam_- from the I'arlhenon, and was always there; is it
too much to require the restorer to pause and consider whether this may
not have b ei a fragment from some object quite distinct from the archi-
tectjnre > for we know, from Pa'i:;anius, that all the Greek temples of auy
iize aud reputation were filled with statues, groups, pedestals, candelabra,
cars, tazza?, tripods, vases, seals, and other articles of wood, metal, an.l
bronze; the votive olferings of the conqueror, the supplicant, and the
superstitious. Mr. Lucas has introduced the Ionic as his lower order,
aud the Corinlhian above ; a restoration more consistent with our precon-
ci ived notions, yet siill open to serious objection. However, he has given
a regular entablature to his lower order, whereas, judging from the P.-estan
Temple, and the reason of the tiling, a mere arciiiiiave or beam were more
fitting. IJot a mure serious objection presents itself in the arrangement of
the ceiling, which is made to overhang the upper range of columns for the
purpose of contracting the aperture of the hypelhriini. This presents so
much difiiculty of C(m>truction, and seems so much in advance of the
science of tiie Greeks at that period, that I cannot but consider it as apo-
cryphal, as alsj the pedimental form of some of the compartments of the
ceiling, and the sloping roof over the aisles of the cella.

I have not wished to lengthen my remarks by allusions in detail to some
questionable portions of the sculpture. I may, perhaps, be venturing on
ground for which I am as little qualified to judge, as Mr. Lucas is to form
an opinion of the architv-tlure: but I must own, that I could have wished
that the sculpture had been modelled with a refiuement and liuisli more
corresponding with tlie exquisite execution of the matchless original. I
could have wished that one's ideas of the dignity, the splendour, and pro-
portion of the Chryselephantine statue, and the grave majesly and beauty
of Minerva herself had been more realized than it is in tliis conception;
and it appears to me that the want of pure drawing, the total absence of
Attic elegance aud correct proportion in Ihe rude illustralions of his pam-
phlet, do little justice to the intelligence of the author in the letter-press.
I could have desired that the modelling and putting together of the archi-
tectural details had been less characterised by coarseuess aud want of
delicacy. Aud I must own, that the prominence given to the sculptures of
the pediments, the projections of the heads and limbs of so many of the
figures, seem to me so much to interfere with the liues of the architecture,
aud themselves to be so much cut up by the intersection of the corona, as
to produce a most uusatisfaclory iniricacy, and disagreeable contrast.
Neither the drawings of Carry (perspective views taken iVoin a low point),
nor the casual signs of a water drip, which may ha\e arisen from a mis-
placed slab above, nor the solitary instance of a questionable indentation of
a fragment head— more than probably a rebate to receive the bronze helmet,
nor the projecti.m of the horse's jaw at a part where no shadow broke the
continuous line of li;;ht, seems to me to justify the solitary instance of so
marked a principle, which would have itself established a rule in all future
cases, but which has never, that I am aware, been followed in any suc-
ceeding instances in ancient or modern times, that have pietensions to be
considered as classic works of art. 1 shall cmiclude with one more
reference, aud that is to the polj chromatic embellishments timidly indicated
over certain parts. Mr. Lucas states, thai he is not called upou to run any
risk of making a ^'■auJ of this restoration of the Parthenon, or to depart
from the severe simplicity, which is the characteristic of all the art of
Phidias. The testimony of trailition as recorded in the Transactions of
this Institute, the evidence on the monument itself, the fragments recently
dug up, all prove that polychromy had its full development in the Parthenon.
The fragments di>tovered in the foundations, attested the antiquity of the
practice" Will Mr. Lucas venture to say, that ihe Parthenon, when so
embellished, was a gaud f Mill he assume the question, and say tliat the
simplicity characteristic of all the art of Phidias was colourless? \t hat
is the lestiiiiouj borne by the monuments of ancient Egyptian architecture?
What by the producliuus of mcdiiieial art?

If, in regard to the exteut of polychromatic embellishment, Mr. Lucas
nesit'ated among conflicting opinions to go to the full extent of some of the
advocates for nnqualilied adoption of colour, I could understand his pru-
dence ; but it seems equally rash to reject all colour as to adopt it through-
out : iind reasouing do-.-s cot seem to justify the iutroducliun of colour iu

one or two parts only, which by their rery Bolitariaess contrast most harshly
with the rest of the modi I.

In subini ting to jour notice these observations upon these models, I
have felt called upon to do so, in order to vindnate the professional
character of the English architect, which is perrilled by the conspicuous
position given to a work of art, professing to be a restoration of ;he noblest
monument of antiquity, a 1 uniting the knowledge, science, and learning
of this country. The acc.iracy of the English architect has been acquired
by many personal sacrifijes, laborious iuvestigalions, and pains-taking
accuracy. The work of Stuart and the productions of the Dilettanti
Society, had established tiie fame of the English, as the revivers and best
illustrators of Greek art. But what will be the opinion of foreigner.* upou
English architects, if this defective and erroneous restoration be assumed,
as the proof by which to estimate the res earch, and knowledge, and skill
of the English architect in 1840. In this I do not so much allude to Mr.
Lucas, as to the Trustees of the British Museum. Mr. Lucas has been
imprudent in calling this a restoration of the Parthenon in all ihe/u(n«» of
its original heauly unJ siilendjur, Hehas looked at it merely as a sculptor;
and the architecture he has considered as subordinate to that his first
object. The Trustees should have called in the advice of some one or
more of the many architects who have measured the Parthenon stone by
stone. They should have provided Mr. Lucas with Ihe most perfect model
of the building that modern research could have produced; and our
sculptor rould hive worked on his restoration of Ihe sculpture, nnem-
barassed by considerations of the details of the architecture, for which he
WHS neither prepared nor fitted by previous study, as he has himself
modestly avowed.

I now conclude these remarks, put together in the brief interval of
numerous and important professional avoca'ions, not to detract from the
merit of Mr. Lucas's courageous attempt, but, as 1 have said before, lo
vindicate my profession from the imputation ot those unfortunate blemishes,
which, although ihey may not afl'ect the reputation of Ihe author as a
sculptor, seriously peril the fame of the English architect, scholar, and
antiquary, in the esliiuation of the accomplished and learned foreign artiiit*
01 Europe.

Mr. Lrc\s in reply, observed that he felt much indebted to Mr. Donald-
son for his valuable suggestions, and for the obliging manner in which
they were conveyed. He was not prepared to accede to the propriety of
all the alterations proposed by that gentleman, but he readily allowed that
in several points his own opinions were modified by what he had just heard.
Much applause was expressed by the meeting at the frank manner in
which Mr. Lucas made this avowal. He said that with respect to the io-
troduclion of tour steps instead of three at the base of the temple, he had
been guided by the authority of Colonel Leake. In the small model which
was made as a preliminary lo the execution of the larger work now in ihe
British Museum, there were but three steps: but the alteration had
been made in consequence of the statement in Colonel Leake's book, that
the number was four, and his determination had been confirmed by a letter
which he had received from Mr. Walter Grenville, stating that there was
a fourth step now obscured by rubbish. He felt however the full force of
Mr. Donaldson's argument, and in fact he had, from an anticipation ihat
an objection might be made on this point, so arranged his model that the
requisite alteration could be immediately efl'ecled if he should hereafter
feel himself sulliciently authorised in making it.

With respect to the continuation of the mouldings of the antae all round
the temple, he had beiu guided by the drawings of Stuart. .\s the fascia
and string course certainly went all round, and as in the plates published
by Stuart, the lines benealh those members were alsodrawu us continued,
he considered that he had accurately interpreted the intention of the draw-
ings by the arrangement observed in the model. It was also necessary t;>
observe that his original uiodels had been submitted to the inspection of
many highly competent persons, but thoui;h he was inilebted to them fur
several valuable suggestious, no objections had been expressed as to tha
particular architectural features in question.

With respi'ct to the strictures on the inclination of the doorway and the
form of thf- consoles, he had no defence to offer. He was convinced of the
propriety of Mr. Itonaldsun's remarks, aud intended to adopt his sugges-
tions. With respect however to the introduction of railings at the en-
trance he could not express the same concurrence. It appeared to bim
that these features were purely matters of detail, and it was obvious that
there were many mere details of the interior which it would be not only
impossible, but improper also, to represent in a model. In cases of this
kind, especially where the artist had no guide from the remains of ancient
fragments, some liberty must be given to him of using his own discretion.
It certainly appeared lo him Ihat the railings iu question might be with
propriety omitted.

The first part of his work which he had finished was the Chrys-elephan-
tine statue of the goddess. In tiie course of this work the idea had oc-
curred to him of making a niudei of the temple, but he had originally en-
tertained no higher aim than that of making the model a sort of cover for
his statue. He observed that he agreed with Mr. Donaldson in not liking
the present statue, and had pledged himself, without solicitation, to the
trustees to replace it by another containing the result of his latter expe-
rience. The objection that he had made, that some parts of the sculpture in
the pediment iuleisectid and protruded beyond ihe corona, aud had thereby
broken the continuity of the CJiuicc, was the objection of an architect rather
than of a eculpior. His answer was this— on eiiaminiug the ihuulder

1S46.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

89

of the Ilissus, it would hfi found (hat Ihis part of the statue was markfd
and ^^■ora by the constant dripping of water, and it was llieretbre clear
that this part of the figure could not have been sheltered by the projection
of the cornice. The liissiis was only a fragment, still from the attitude it
could at once be seen that the heail nuist have been higher and raore for-
ward than the shoulder; and as the shoulder must luive been, at the very
least on a line with the cornice, the head must have projected considerably
beyond it. His reasoning was confirmed by the drawings of Carrey, who
had represented the sculpture as intersecting the line of the cornice. The
case of the Jlissus was by no means a solitary one, as, for instance, the
horse's head and the fragment of the head of the IMiuerva of the western
pediment, and Carrey represented the same state of thing as existing in
numerous instances throughout the temple. Mr. Lucas said he was tiiere-
fore by no means prepared to assent to any change iu this respect, but firmly
maintained his original opinion.

He had made preparations for shortly visiting and minutely examining
the temple. He felt very much indebted to the Institute for the sugges-
tions which had been e.\preised there, and for the manner in which his ex-
planation had been received. His great and anxious desire was to render
the model as perfect as possible, and he earnestly assured the members
that he was desirous of hearing every objection that could possibly be
brought against it, as by these means errors would be corrected and
doubtful points as far as possible explained. For his own part, he pro-
mised that no effort should be wanting towards the fulliliuent of these im-
portant objects.

The PRtsiDENT expressed in warm terms the obligation of the society to
Mr. Lucas and Mr. Donaldson for the information which they had afford-
ed. He would observe respecting the railings of (he Opisthodonius, that
as that part of the temple served as the treasury, and contained the votive
offerings which were of immense value, it seemed necessary that it should
be guanled by railings, and he thought they might properly be represented
in the model. He invited Mr. Lucas to examine some models of the Par-
thenon in his own possession, which had been made by a gentleman who
had measured every square inch of the ground. A great benefit arising
from the exhibition of Mr. Lucas's models would be the enlightenment of
public taste, and the illustration it would aiford to those not conversant
with architecture, of the form of the Parthenon. He was convinced that
many who visited the Uritish Museum, had an impression that the Elgin
Marbles were hung round the interior walls of a room resembling that iu
•which the remains are now deposited. The new model would serve to
correct this error. The President concluded by expressing in very happy
terms the thanks of the meeting for the papers which bad just been read.

Mr. Donaldson said that he must make one remark before the meeting
separated. He trusted that the Institute would render every assistance to
Mr. Lucas in the investigation which he was about to commence, and
would use its inSuence with the Trustees of the British Museum, that
they might liberally offer to Mr. Lucas every possible facility and assistance
in the prosecution of his undertaking.

Feb. 23, Mr. Tite, V. P., in the Chair.
Mr. Penrose read a paper on the entasis and other carved lines observed
in the architecture of the Parthenon, but as the paper of Mr. Lucas, on a
somewhat similar subject occupies a large part of our present number, we
must defer the report of Mr. l^enrose's paper till next month.

ROYAL SCOTTISH SOCIETY OF ARTS.
January 2G. — The Prj;sident in the chair.
The following communications were made : —

In place of Mr. Lawson's Paper on Hurricanes, which was postponed till
next meeting, the Secretary gave an Account of Mr. Jacob Owen's (of Ire-
land) Paper on the Results of Experiments on the relative Strength of diffe-
rent forms of Retaining Walls.

2. Accoimts of some Eieperimcnts on Electro mid Galvano Culture. By
\ViLLiAM Fraser, Esq., Aberdeen.; In this Paper, Mr. Fraser gave an
account of the results of numerous experiments he had made on the effects
of electricity and galvanism on the growth of seeds and vegetables. In one
set of experiments, he had passed a current of electricitv through the seeds
before sowing, and in others, he passed the galvanic current through the
earth i.i which the seeds were sown, and he also applied it to the plants.
He experimented in various ways, but with no benefit to vegetation, either
from electricity or galvanism ; for, although the seeds through which he
had passed a current of electricity previously to sowing, sprung up quicker
than those not subjected to that process, just as seeds do which have been
previously steeped m water, yet, after a while no perceptible difference could
be seen betwixt the plants from electrified seed and those from seed not
subjected to that process. Mr. Fraser, in conclusion, suggests the form of
an apparatus by which he thinks, it could be clearly seen whether galvanism
produces any benificial effect upon plants.

3. Description of a Drawing of a Horizontal Condensing Pump, for
honzonlal condensing Steam Engines. Bv Mr. M-illiam D. Meiklejohv.
In this condensing pump, Mr. Meiklejohn states that the condensation will
take place much more rapidly, and that there would be a very considerable
saving in the first cost of the condenser.

• wl'u^^"," •^"*»'''«'« ./<»• Railway Bridges. By Mr. James Miller,
Watchmaker, Perth. Mr. Miller submits, that in small bridges for railways

there is too great a rigidity, when built of stone or brick, and that they are
liable to he destroyed by their want of elasticity, and their not yielding to
the vibration of the train ; and he suggests tliat they should lie made of

strong rings of iron, upon which longitudinal iron bars should be rivetted

somewhat in the form of a cooper's chauffer. They could be made at a
distance, in pieces, and carried to the spot, and there bolted together.
February 9.— George M'ilson', M.D., F.R.S.E., in the chair.
The following communications were made : —

1. Description of a New Clod; impelled ly a combination of Gravitation
and Electro-Magnalism. Invented by Mr. Alexander Bryson, Chrono-
meter, Watch, and Clock Maker, Edinburgh. In this clock the common
pendulum is used. It is kept vibrating, in equal arcs, by a small falling bar,
or detent, which is raised every second by the attraction induced in a soft
electro-magnet. The magnetism is excited by constant batteries placed in
the bottom of the clock-case, which may be kept in action for any desirable
period, and when changed it is not necessary to stop the clock ; as before
the spent battery is out of action, the otlier, which is newly charged, is in
full operation. The wheel work, showing minutes and seconds, is moved by
the gravitating bar or detent immediately on its being attracted by tlie elec-
tro-magnet. When this clock is made to show minutes and seconds only,
as in observatory clocks, it consists of two wheels only, and when it is made
to show hours, three wheels are necessary. The contact-breaker is sus-
pended on knife-edges immediately aliove the pendulum bob, having a gold
concentric arc, on which press two very slight gold springs. In tliis arc is
inserted a piece of ivory, which breaks the current, and permits the falUng
bar or detent to fall on the pendulum so as to keep up its viliration. By
the method of coincidences it was stated, the pendulum was found to keep
its motion witli the utmost steadiness, as compared with a compensation
mercurial pendulum beating seconds.

2. On the Causes of Hurricanes in the TTest Indies, with illnstrative
Diagrams. Ey Robert Lawson, Esq., Assistant-Surgeon, -1 7th Regiment.
Communicated by Alexander Bryson, Esq. In this paper .Mr. Lawson gives
further instances, both from personal and recorded experience, of hurricanes
in the West Indies, exhibiting phenomena not conformable to the laws of
Hare, Espy, Reid, or Redfield ; and while adopting as true many points
insisted on by these eminent observers, endeavours to prove the dependence
of those mighty convulsions on the moon's influence, which seem to have
escaped all observers in this field of inquiry except the indefatigable Howard.

3. Description, illustrated with Drawings, of an Improved Method of
Manufacturing Pyro.vilic Spirit fH'ood Naphtha of CommerceJ, Pyro-
ligneous Acid, and other products, from the destructive distillation of Wood.
By Captain George Dacres Patersox. This communication contained a
description of the manufacture of Pyroxile Spirit and Pyrolignite of Lime,
with various improvements, the principal of which consisted in a new menner
of stifling the charcoal, so as to free it from the noxious gases, and in the
distillation, which is conducted on the principle of distillation in vacuo.
The arrangements were stated to effect great saving in fuel and labour. The
vacuum is formed by steam, and by a simple arrangement the condensed
vapour is entirely drained off from the;still prior, to the supply of liquor
being forced up from the charging Back. A simple apparatus was described
for guiding the workmen as to the different strength of the liquor ; and a
plan of a rectifier, by which the essential oil is more easily separated from
the spirit, was also given, by which means, and others farther described, the
Pyroxile Spirit, it was stated, could be procured in great purity.

SOCIETY OF ARTS, LONDON,
January 28.— W. F. Cooke, Esq., in the Chair.

The first paper read was by Mr. Claudet, on " some principles and practi-
cal facts in the art of Photograp/iy," ami contained a series of vary inte-
resting scientific researches, and communicated several important discoveries
in this new and curious field of research. It was a sequel to a communica-
tion read by Mr. Nott on a previous evening, in which he had endeavoured
to establish that the rays which make the photographic picture are different
from those which produce light, and this he thought he had proved by means
of pictures formed with a polarized ray reflected from parallel plates. Mr.
Claudet contends that the rays of hght are the agent. He had made many
experiments on forming pictures by reflection, but had not been able to dis-
cover any essential difference betwixt then* and such as are formed by the
direct ray. — His next series of experiments regarded the photographic quali-
ties of light of different colours; blue proved to be the most powerful photo-
graphic agent, yellow the weakest. One of the most beautiful experiments
by which this was proved, consisted in throwing the prismatic spectrum on
paper and on the silver plate, the colours being marked on the paper and the
effect remaining on the photographic plate — be thus showed that the photo-
graphic prism presents effects very different from the apparent intensity of
the prismatic spectra. A remarkable specimen was shown of a silver plate,
on which the rays of light had brought out a powerful picture without the
action of mercury. — ,\nother series of experiments made was on the photo-
graphic action of the rays of the moon, which had formed a powerful picture
by five minutes exposure ; he hoped to be able to obtain a very accurate
Daguerreotype of the moon's surface, drawn by herself, on a silver plate.

Considerable [discussion followed, ami the announcement in the paper

as received with much approbation.

12

00

THE CIVIL ENGIXIEli AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[March,

" On a Xew Code of Signals and Me Conslruolion of the Si^al Lamps." —
By Mr. Rettir, and illustrated by models and experiments. I!y the simple
use of a pair of slidfs attached to an ordinary lantern, a comtiination of sig-
nals is effected, ly which the loss of life and property by the collision of
steam boats and sailin\; vessels, might be simply and cheaply avoided.

February J— William Pole, Esq., F.U.S., Vice-President in the Chair.

The foUowini; papers were read: —

The first communication was " On the Theory of the Comfruc/ion of Vk
Portland Vase'' Uy ilns P. Exsell. — .Vliss Ensell considers the Portland
Vase to have been constructed in the following manner. A jar of blue glass
was formed in the usual way by the glass blower, and its whole surface
roughened — it was then encloied in a mould similar to those used for the for-
mation of alabaster relievos ; the jar and mould were then exposed to the
action of one of the petrifying springs of Italy, and thus a clear transparent
substance wa» deposited on the vase, in such proportions as to form the
figures in that beautifully white semi-transparent material, wliich is exhibited
in the Portland Vase. She then gave various details for the practical carry-
ing out of the operation, and suggested the propriety of undertaking a series
of experiments, with a view to constructing vases of a similar di'scription.

Mr. Doubleday, the gentleman who was charged with the restoration of the
Portland Vase, and which is now under his care, having examined its struc-
ture most minutely, proceeded to give the following account of tlie manner
in which it had been formed. The base is of blue glass and has been made
in the usual manner by the glass-blower, the white figures are also of glass
and perfectly united with the base. The blue jar having been formed, was
dipped into a pot of white metal, and so the lower part of it becauie entirely
covered with a uniform coating of white glass. The material to work upon,
•which is thus described is in all respects similar to the cameo, an. I has been
operated on iu the same manner. Mith some talent and considerable artis-
tic skill, by a process like that of gem engraving or cameo cutting, the white
glass has been cut away in different forms, and various thicknesses by tlie
artist; he considered that not less than 3 or 4 years of continuous labour
would be required in order to produce such a work of art. — Several other
gentlemen then joined in the discussion, the result of which was to establish
the fact that we possess in this country both materials, mechanical means,
and artists capable of executing similar works to the Portland Vase, and that
those works, if executed, would necessarily, from the length of time and
skill required to execute them be the most rare and most costly that art can
produce.

" On a Xew Theory of the Formation of Meteoric Stones." Cy .Arthur
Wall, Esq. He considered they were derived from subterranean origin ; he
showed by analysis that abundance of materials and means arc presented for
the formation of those meteors in the bowels of the earth, and their descent
from the atmosphere without going into the planetary spheres to seek for
their cause.

February IS. — E. Speer, Esq. in the Chair.

The discussion on the Portland Va\e was resumed.

Mr. Doubleday, of tlie British Museum, who has repaired the Portland
Vase in a manner so admirable that the fractures are scarcely visible, pre-
sented a number of specimens of ancient manufactures in glas'i. illustrative
of the theory which l.e ileduced on the true principles of its cousUnc'iiin.
Sir. .Vpsley I'ellatt, who was present, exhibited to the socicly, through
Blr. Illashfield, a very beautiful model of the Vase, it being one "of the ori-
ginal and most perfect copies made by Wedgwood. He ex|ilaincil fully to
the meeting, as a practical manufacturer of slass, the exact process by
which he conceived that that vase was originally formed. He explained
how such objects of art might be constructed at the present day, and the
diliiculties which stood in the way of their couslructioii. Mr. Christie, of
tlie ^'auxhall Glass-works, explained another mode in which the two co-
lours of classes might have been originally united.

" On Hiiihriiy Lucomotinn, tcitli reference t<i the effects of Centrifugal
and Centripetal Forces." Hy iMr. C. H. OIrcenhow. He proposes for the
purpose of increasing the safely of railway trains to suspend the bodies of
the carriages upon an horizontal a\is, in such a manner that Ihe centre of
gravity being equal, shall equipoise the centrifugal force. He gives to the
rails the form of a hollow circular tube, and to the flanges of the wheels
a corresponding form, by which he conceives that the forces tending to
throw the train oil' the line would be counteracted. The wheels also are so
constructed that the spokes form a straight line passing between the rails
and the centre of gravity of the body ; all these arrangements are designed
by him to give increased safety and stability to the railway trains. A long
discussion ensued, in which many practical engineers and scientilic gen-
tlemen took an active part. It was maintained by some of them that no
increased stability was given by pennitting the centre of gravity to oscil-
late, but on the contrary it would thereby be considerably weakened,
and; that the wheels would not adjust themselves to the partial
variations and irregularities in the condition of the railway ; that
there would be attrition between the rails and the flanges of the wheels
and that of the circular form of rail being of cast iron would not be safe.
lo these allegations .'Mr. (ireenhow gave various replies, and the discus-
sion was prolonged to a late hour when it was adjourned.

AMERICAN PATENTS.
(From the .\mericaa Franklin Journal.)

" Improvement in the CoupUny and Stuffing Box for shafts, spcciallf in-
tended for submerged propellers for Ships." By R. F. Loper, Philadel-
phia. Oct. 9, 1845.

The outer tube of the stuffing box, instead of being permanent, is tapped
into a metallic casing surrounding it so as to admit of screwing it over the
lapped or other joint of the shaft, so that when this tube is drawn in, the
two shafts can be seuarated, and if desired, the propeller drawn out of the
water, and when screwed out, passes over and prevents the two shafts from
being separated.

"Improvement in the Current Voter Wheel." Bv J. D. Robinson, Illi-
nois. Oct. -24, 184 5.

The buckets are each composed of several narrow strips attached to
chains hinged to a cylinder, so formed as to permit them to fold in one di-
rection, but not to go beyond a line radiating from the centre of the cylin-
der to which they are jointed — when acted upon by the current, these
buckets are thrown open, but so soon as they begin to make back water
they fold on the periphery of the cylinder, and prevent undue resistance.

'- Improvements in Tide Mills." By John Gerard Ross, New York.
Nov. 9, 1845.

The wheel is placed in a rnce, at one end of wliich there is a fde gate
hinged to a wall beyond the end of the race and shutting against either side
of the race ; and at the other end of the race there are two current gates,
one termed the "inner current gate," and the other the " outer current
gate ;" these are hinged to the ciuN of the race way wall, and shut against
a pier placed beyond the eml, and in a line with the middle cf the width of
the race way. The current in passing along opens the " current gate." and
after acting on the wheel, jiasses out through the " outer current gate," and
on the return tide the pressure of water closes this " outer current gate,"
whiclt causes the current to pass around to that side of the tide gate oppo-
site to that at which it entered on the rise of the tide, throws it against the
opposite side of the race-way, acts on the same side of the wheel as on the
rise of the tide, and passes out through the " iniier "current gate." The
dam walls are formed with pits, open at the sides for the free ingress and
egress of the water to act on floating caissons which sustain the wheel and
always keep it at the required elevation. The shaft of the -wheel (or
wheels) is connected with the frame-work of the mill by bars radiating
from the axis of a cog wheel, into which work the cogs of the master
wheel. '

" Improvements in the Meaju of Removing Mud, Sand Bars, ^'c. from the
Beds of Rivers, ifc. Bv De.nnis Vermilion, Washington, U. C. Nov.
9, lS-15.

A mass of logs are put together in the form of a boat, to be moved down
by the current, tide, or otherwise, and which from its great weight and
strength will acquire great momentum. Iron breakers sharpened at the
lower end, jiass obliquely through apertures in the mass, and extend down
to the depth required to act on the obstruction to be removed. At the
stern there is suspended a drag rake, connected with the boat by means of
two arms that slide freely in apertures in the ends of a cylinder which is
hung on appropriate journals ; and for the purpose of raising thii rake, cords
extend from it to a windlass on the boat. The operation of the apparatus
is this — the boat being put in motion by the current, or otherwise, is di-
rected towards the sand bank, or other obstruction, and the breakers and
rake having been set to the required depth, the breakers cut up and loosen
the sand, mud, iiic, which is then raked into deeper water.

"Improvements in Horizontal Wind Mills." By Daniel Dennet.
Nov. 13, 1813.

The wing or vanes of this are jointed to radial arms, and are suspended
by cords to vibrating levers that pass through, and are jointed to, the shaft
above the arms to which the wings or vanes are jointed, so that by this
arrangement the moment one vane begins to make " back wind," (as it is
termed,) it is blown down, and by its connection with the one oa the oppo-
site side of the shaft draws it up to catch the wind.

" Improvements in JValer TTheels." By John L. Smith. Dec. 10, 1845.

Two of these wheels are put on a horizontal shaft, one on each side of
the trunk or tunnel through which the water is applied to the wheel, the
face towards the tunnel being open for that purpose. The apertures or
issues for the water extend from the shaft to the outer rim, which is scol-
loped for that purpose, and are formed by the forward edge of one bucket,
and the back edge of the other, these being placed diagonally for this pur-
pose. And to the back edge of each of these buckets there is a flanch
radial in its length, and parallel with the shaft in the direction of its width,
which extends to the inner face of the wheel, or to the floor.

1S46.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

91

" Improvements in the mode of preparing, apphjing. and using certain
fluxes for the reduction of Ores in the Blast Furnace." By Jonas Towers,
Madison; Lake county, Ohio, Deo. 7, 1845.

What I claim as my inveiilion, and desire to secure by letters patent, is
the ajiplication of tliose earths or minerals which are dissoluhle or diffusible
with w.iter, and have an atUiesive nature, and can he made into a paste,
pap, or grout, with the above or other liquids, and can be applied as other
fluxes for the reduction of ores or minerals in the blast or other furnaces.
I claim the application of the above preparation, as herein described, to
other minerals as well as iron, which have a similar objectional tendencv,
while smelting, that is found with iron. I do not claim any special right to
the use of the above fluxes in a dry or natural state ; it is only after thev have
been mixed or ditfused with water or other liquiils, and formed into a'p.isti-,
pap, or grout, and apjilied as a coating or adhering substance, as herein
described, that I claim as U)y invention, or discovery, and desire to secure
by letters patent.

" Opening and closing Waite Water Gaten." By Robert Robinson.

The gate is provided with a chain which passes over a roller, and is
attached to one end of a lever, the other end having a box suspended to it.
When the water rises too high, it passes over a dam, and fills the hnx,
which, by its preponderance, sinks, and opens the gate; and the box being
provided with small holes, after the water has ceased to flow over the dam,
it runs out of the box, and thus gives the preponderance to the gate, which
is then closed by the pressure of the water.

" Hydraulic Gate, for Locks, Docks, ti^-c." Bv Geo. Heath. Ante-
dated July 3, 1841.

This improvemeiit consists in using for the gate, singly or in two parts,
the segment of a cylinder for the front of the gate, with' the radius whirli
cuts the centre line of the arch of the segment lying horizontally, and «ith
the arch next the water which is to be passed. This front of the eate rests
for its support against the pressure of the water, on gudgeons at the centre
of the cylinders, which are connected with the front, either by arms, or by
the sector of a circle, at the two ends of the segment.

For a composition of matter for " lul/ricating the nibbing mrfaces o/jh«-
cAinfrv."— Increase S. Hill, and Joseph Dixon, the former of Boston, and
the latter of Taunton, Massachusetts, January 31, 1845.

The patentees say, " our composition consists mostly of zinc, (which as is
well known belongs to the class of cheaper metals) hardened by being com-
pounded with what we denominate a. hardening composition. This latter com-
position is formed of the following; metal, mixed in a state of fusion in the
proportions hereinafter specified, viz., 15 parts of tin to 35 parts of copper.
This composition in a state of fusion is to be mixed with molten zinc and
tin, (although tin is not absolutely essential) in the proportion of the two
parts of the said hardening composition, of 19 parts of zinc, and from thres
to five parts of tin, according to the peculiar purpose for which the compo-
sition is to be used, the tin specified to be added last, having the tendency
to render the compound when cohl more or less ductile, accordinir to the
quantity of the same incorporated therewith. The metal formed witliout the
addition of the last named proportion of tin, when broken, will have the
appearance of cast steel of coarse quality, but the addition of tin will male
it stronger and cause it to be finer in grain until four parts of the same will
be added, when the appearance of the metal on its being broken, will be like
that of fine cast steel and more closely resemble the same than any other
metal. The great strength of the composition combined with a certain de-
gree of softness which it possesses, renders it highly useful in the construc-
tion of bearings for rubbing surfaces of machinery, as it is capable of resist.
mg for a great length of time, the effects of wear and attrition. The large
proportion of zinc used in forming the compound renders its use in the me-
chamcal arts, much less expensive than the metal ordinarily employed for
these purposes, the cost being much less than anv other composition in
which copper and tin are the principal metals."

REGISTER OF NEW PATENTS.

offiL'of this Journar""" *" '""''"'"' ^"P«""S "-y Patent, it may be oLta!D.-d at the

ATMOSPHERIC EAIUVAYS.

WiLHAM Sykes Wakd, of Lccds, gentleman, for " Imjwomments in ex-
hausting air from tubes or vessels for the purpose of working atmosplieric
railumys, and for other purposes.'!— Glinted June 25; Enrolled December
2o, 1845.

The object of these improvements relates to the arranging and working of
the valves of air-pumps for the purpose of exhausting the air from the trac-
tmn-tubes of atmospheric railways, and also for the purpose of exhausting
air from any vessels or tubes upon a large scale. In using air-pumps as

hitherto practised for working atmospheric railways, power is lost in openiuff
the inlet and outlet valves, by the act;on of the air enterin.' into, and ex-
pelled from the cylinder of the pump, and the violence with which such
valves close is objectionable.

The inventor's mode of constructing air-pumps is such, that the power re-
qmred for opening and shutting the valves is supplied bv gearing or me-
clianical movements, from the engine, or other source of po'w-r by which the
air-pump IS actuated, so that the inlet valves are opened and shut altcrnatelT
almost immediately after the commencement of the stroke of the piston of
the pump, and the outlet valves are respectivelv closed, or pushed home at
the end or conclusion of the stroke of the piston. The gearing afterwards
releases the valve, which is retained on its seat by the pressure of the exter-
nal air, until the air witliin the cylinder of the pump becomes nearly of the
same density as the external air, when the valve (if the lower outici) falls
by its own weight, or (if the upper outlet) is raised by ,i oonntrrpnise of
greater weight than the valve, or by a spring, thus moving rather in advance
or as though in anticipation of the current of expelled air, and aflbrdine a
free passage for it. °

Fig. 1, A, represents the cylinder of the pump, B, the piston, C, the piston-
rod, D, D, D, pipes communicating between the main, or vessel to be ex-
hausted, and the upper inlet valve-box, E, and the lower inlet valve-box, F.
G, represents the upper inlet valve, and H, the lower inlet valve, which
valves, G, and H, are attached to the rods. I, and I, at V, and V, by joints,
allowing a slight motion, so that the valves may the better close on their
respective seats. The rods I, move air tight, in stuffing-boxes K, in guides,
by levers L, and connected by the rod T. part of which only is shown. M
represents the upper, and N the lower outlet valve, attached to the rods 0,
and O, moving in guides, and which valves, M and N, may be respectively
closed by the levers P, fixed and acting upon the tappets" Q, so as to close
the valves M and N alternately, but not to open tlicm. The upper valve M
is counterpoised, and somewhat overweighted by the lever K R, and the
weight S. The lower valve N opens by its own gr'avifv, when not closed by
the lower lever P, or supported by the 'pressure of the'atmosphere against a
partial vacuum in the lower part of the cylinder A. The levers P are con-
nected with an excentric by the rod W, pait of which only is shown.

The mode of action is as follows: — Suppose ihe pump has already ex-
hausted the main, or vessel connected therewith, to half vacuum, a'nd is
making the down stroke ; the air from tlie main, therefore, enters at the
upper valve, which was opened by tlio lever L, immediately afler the com-
mencement of the down stroke, and the lower valve H, was closed at the
same time. The upper outlet valve M, was closed simultaneously with the
conclusion of the ascending stroke, and remains closed diiniig'the down
stroke; and, at the same time, the end, P a, of the lower lever P, released
the stud, or tappet Q, leaving the lower valve N, at liberty to op<;n by its
gravity; but the air in the cylinder of the puni)) having'had, at the com-
mencement of the stroke, only half the density of the external air, the valve
N, will have been supported until the piston descended to about the middle
of the stroke. The gravity of the valve N, will then overcome the cohesion
of its surface, and of the valve-seat, and open, leaving a free passage for the
air to be expelled from the bottom of the cylinder. When the piston ap-
proaches the bottom of the cylinder, the valv'e N, will begin to be raised by
the lower lever P, the motion of the piston, from its connexion with the
crank of the engine actuating or driving it, will liave become slower, so that
the aperture will, nevsrtheless, be adequate for the expulsion of the air; but,
at the turn of the stroke, the last-mentioned lever P, will close the valve N,
quietly, so as to avoid any detrimental concussion consequent on the change
ot the stroke. The upper inlet valve G, will be closed, and the lower inlet
valve H, will be opened. The upper outlet valve M, will be left free, lint, as
before explained, will remain closed, until the density of the air above and
below it are nearly equal, when it will be raised by the counterpoise or
weight S.

92

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[March^

Another part of the improvements consists in the combination of large
Tessels with air-pumps, so that such vessels, having been previously exhausted,
shall assist tlic pumps in the exhaustion of the traction-tuhe. The cylinder
of the pump njust he of such dimensions, as to be capable of restoring the
exhaustion of the reservoirs in the interval between tlie running of the trains
on the section of railroad it, is required to work. And the steam engine is to be
of such power as to worl; the pump, and restore such exhaustion of the re-
servoirs with facility, in the before-stated period, after the first reservoir
has been exhausted, but such exhaustion need not be continued to a very
high gauge; for eiample, the first reservoir may be exhausted until a baro-
meter gauge attached thereto shows the height of about fifteen inches of
mercury ; by a change of position of tlie cock Q, tlic second reservoir may
then be exhausted to about twenty inches of its gauge, and lastly, by a further
change of the cock, the third reservoir may be exhausted to about twenty-
five inches of its gange.

Anotlier part of tlie improvements consists in the construction of the pis-
tons of large air-pumps, by making the packing of the pistons of leather cut
into bands, of the breadth of about one-sixth part of the diameter of the
cylinder of the pump. Such bands are unitid by sewing, and also with the
well-known cement of isinglass or fish-glue dissolved in weak S|)irit, or are
united by other suitable means, so as to form a continuous circle of about
the same diameter as the pump cylinder, but considerably conical, so as to
facilitate the bending hereinafter mentioned. The bands of leather, after
being softened by water and placed upon a block of similar siiie to the pis-
ton, are then bent and contracted so that about one-third part of the breadth
may lit the cylinder and the Oliver two-third parts may be attached to the
piston, and secured by plates of metal screwed to the main part of the jiiston.

The claim is for so arranging [apparatus or gearing with the valves of air-
pumps, as to close the outlet valves but not to open them, the gearing leav.
ing such valves at liberty to open when relieved from the pressure of the air.
Secondly, the so combining vessels or reservoirs with air-punips in working
atmosplieric railways that the air may be pumped from the traction-tubes of
atmospheric railways into partially exhausted vessels or reservoirs, and, when
desired, the pressure of the air passing from such traction-tubes into sucli
partially exbauste<l vessels or reservoirs may be used for giviiig motion to
jair-pumps. And thirdly, the mode of- packing pistons of air-pumps as herein
described.

William Palmer, of Clerkenwell, in the county of Middlesex, manufac-
turer, for " Improvemmfs in u-orkhig a/mospftrric railways, and in htbricut-
inff railway and other machinery." — Granted June 0 ; Enrolled December
5, 1845.

This invention consists in applying tallow, oil, or other fatty matter, or of
oil prepared in the form of soaji, insoluble in water, to line the tnlies and to
aid atmospheric railways ; and the said invention also consists in applying
such materials to the lubricating railway and other macliinery. Any quan-
tity of the tallow-oil is taken and heated in a copper or boiler to the point
of boiling, or nearly so, and then litharge is stirred in so long as the same
is taken up by the tallow-oil, and until the litharge falls to the bottom and
is not taken up by the tallow-oil; after stirring for half an hour from the
time the last quantity of litharge has been introduced, the melted matter is
removed into casks or other suitable receptacles. By this means a soap in-
soluble in water, will be produced, suitable for the purposes of the invention.

The claim is for the application of tallow-oil or other fatty matters, or oils
prepared in the form of soap insoluble in water, by means of litharge or
other metalline matters, to line the interior surfaces of the traction-pipes of
atmospheric railways, and also for lubricating machinery as herein described.

Joseph Cliff, of Wortby, Yorkshire, fire-brick manufacturer, for "/m"
provemcnfs in the manufaeiure of alum, and of aluvtinotis compounds, from
a substance 7iot hitherto used for that purpose, end in the production of an
improved fire-clay from the residuum thereof." — Granted June J ; Enrolled
Dec. 5, 1815.

This invention relates to fire-clays containing a great quantity of alumina,
especially the " Wortley fire-clay." For extracting the whole or the greater
part of the alumina, and converting it into alum and aluminous compounds,
and in using the puriiied clay, either alone or combined with other fire-clay,
for making fire-bricks, glass-house pots, crucibles, gas-retorts, and similar
articles. Any fire-clay containing alumina in excess, is first ground, then
calcined, and alterwards submitted to the action of sulphinic, nitric, muria-
tic, or other acid, diluted with water. The mass being l.xiviated with water,
the alumina is obtained in solution, and this solution is freed from iron by
the employmentof prussiate of potash, gailic acid, sulphuretted hydrogen,
or some other suitable agent, the solution is then evaporated by itself, to get
the sulphate, nitrate, or muriate of alumina, according to the acid used ; or
the sulphate or muriate of potash, soda or ammonia is mixed with the so-
lution, and evaporated or crjstallised to obtain the alum salts, and then, by
reaching, the alum of commerce is formed. After he whole or greater
part of the alumina has been extracted, as above described, the puriiied and
residuary earth may be employed, alone, or combined with other clay, in
the manufacture of fire-bricks, glass-house pots, ciuciblcfi, gas retorts,' and
similar articles.

Jon.v Hopkins, of Brand-street, Greenwich, in the county of Kent, sur-
teyor, for '• certain improvr-menls in rails and trams for railroads and trttm-
riiy*."— Granted July 3, 1845 ; Enrolled Jan. 3, J846.

The object of this invention is to employ rails, trams, or continuous sur-
faces of wood, upon which the wheels of engines and carriages May travel as
on the ordinary rails or trams, consisting of a piece of timber, placed longi-
tudinally and bolted between two cheeks of iron.

HOT AIR. ENGIS-F..

IsRAM Baggs, of Great Percy Street, Claremont Square, engineer, for
* Improvements in obtaining motive power by air." — Granted June 26, 1845;
Enrolled January 2G, 1846.

The first part of this invention is to cause condensed air to pass from a
vacuum placed within a flue, and surrounded by fire, to the cylinder of an-
engine, so as to give motion to the piston of the same by its clastic and
expansive power, the condensed air being supplied from time to time by
means of a double acting pump. The heated air after having worked the
engine is conducted by means of a pipe to the furnace or fire, for the pur-
pose of increasing combustion.

The apparatus consists of a cylinder, constructed somewhat in the ordi-
saryimanner, having induction and eduction ports with suitable valves. This-
cylinder is placed vertically within a closed receiver, or strong iron vessel,
fixed in such_ manner that it is surrounded by a flue, and can be heated by
a fire for the purpose of expanding the air within it, which after having
worked the piston of the engine passes tbronsh the eduction port,
and is conducted to the fire if desired. The piston rod is atfached in
the ordinary manner to the crank, and upon the same shaft is a
second crank for working the force, or air-pump, which at every
stroke forces into the receiver a quantity of air equal to that
expended in moving the piston. The specification is accompanied with
three or four sheets of diagrams, showing sections of the cylinders &c., which
would be too elaborate to give in detail. The annexed rouijh sketch show*
the position of the working cylinder, receiver, and air pump, which we have
no doubt the reader will understand by the following description — a a is thei

receiver or reservoir, fixed in brickwork and surrounded with a flue proceed-
ing from the furuace ; b is the cylinder of the engine placed within the same ;
c is the piston ro<l connected with the crank-shalt in the usual manner by a
connecting rod ; d d are the valve rods worked by means of excentrics ; e is
a double-acting air pump for forcing air into the receiver a; yis the piston
rod connected with a second crank formed on the crank-shaft, which latter
crank is placed about 140 degrees iu advance of the other crank, in order
that the resistance may not be greatest when the power is least. In
starting this engine atmospheric air is to he forced into the receiver equal to
4 atmospheres, by means of hand pumps or otherwise ; the fire is then to
be lighted, which will have the effect of expanding the air which is then
admitted into tiie cylinder, when motion will be given to the piston, and
crank shafts, (not shown in the diagram,) and by means of the second
crank such motion will be imparte<l to the piston rod f of the air-pump e,
which is pronded with two induction and two eduction valves, and intended
to force into the receiver a just as much common atmospheric air as has been
expended in giving motion to the piston in the cyhnder h, the slide valves of
which are worked expansively|; g is the eduction pipe of the air-pump, and
is connected to the receiver, the induction pipe being open to the atmos-
phere, bv closing which the engine will be stopped, in consequence of the
supply of air being cut off.

HIGMTON'S SAFETY RAILAVAY CHAIRS.

The peculiarity iu the fastening of the rails by means of the Safely Chair
and Key Medge, consists in making the side of the chair next to the Key
with a concave instead of a plane surface, and using a peculiarly shaped

J846.1

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

9»

into the chuir, a safety wedge is to be driveo into the key near to the side
of the chair as shown iu the drawing. This forces tile Icey into the coD'
cavity of tlie chair producing perfect contact between the key and llie in-
terior of the chair. The key being thus made larger in the middle llian at
the ends, is unable to leave the chair until forcibly driven out by the
hammer. The wedge is prevented from splitting the key by the combined
action of the two projections cast in the sides of the wedge at its lower
end, and the shape of the interior side of the chair. 'W^hen the wedge is
being driven into its place, these projections cut all the fibres of the wood
across as the wedge enters the key ; and as many as five or six wedges
may if required, be driven into the key without splitting or injuring it in
the least degree.

The end attained by this description of fastening for the rails of a rail-
way, consists in the impossibility of the keys shaking out by the combined
action of the shrinkage of the keys in dry weather, and the passage of the
trains : an advantage of the greatest importance on all lines of railway using
chairs.

The accompanying engraving shows that it is impossible for the key to
shake out until it has shrunk at least a quarter of an inch; this a well-
seasoned key will never do: but should the shrinkage in very dry weather
amount to anything near this, the driving in of an additional safely wedge
will make the key as fast as ever ; and it will then become more perfect
than at first, as its fibres will be more closely compressed, and consequently,
less subject to alteration in size by change of weather. The weight of each
safety-wedge is less than 2 oz. ; and the inventors state that more iron is
saved in the concavity of the chair, than is sufficient to make a safety-
wedge.

Fig. 1 Fig. 2

Fig. 1 is a vertical section of the chair, showing itf key and wedge.
Fig. 2 is a flat or front view of the fastening wedge. A is the chair, li
the rail. C a wooden key driven in a horizontal direction between the rail
and chair, and transversely across the chair. D is the metal wedge driven
vertically downwards into the, key with its width laid in the direction of
the length of tlie key, forcing a portion of the key against or into the hollow
side d d of the arm a a of tlie chair, the key is thus secured between the
rail and its chair.

We understand that this improvement has been adopted with success
on tliree miles of the Taff Vale IJiiilway, and after being in use for three
months, ane upwards of 1,200 trams passing over the line not a single key
was removed.

KAILWAY PROCEEDINGS.

■We propose to give under this head selections from the decisions of thesuh-comraittee
on the standing orders. It must be understood that the decisions are not always final, a
the petitioners may go before another committee on the standing orders, wlio may if tlie
see fit, recommend the House to waive the conformance to the standing orders.

House of Lonos, Feb. G.

" Resolved, that it is the opinion of this committee that such portion of
the standing orderNo. 224 as requires a deposit of one-tenth of the amount
subscribed, should be suspended with respect to all such railway bills as
shall commence iu the House of Lords during the present session.

" That no such railway bills shall he read a first time in this house unless
a deposit of one twentieth part of the ainonut subscribed should have been
paid on or before the 6th of February.

" That no such railway bills sliall be read a third time until a further
deposit of one-tvrenlieth part of the amount subscribed shall have been
in like manner paid.

"Resolved also, that it is the opinion of this committee that this house
should not receive any petition for a railway bill after Monday, the 23rd of
February."

House of Lords, Feb. IS.

The House of Lords resolved that the standing orders be amended as
follows :—

That it is the opinion of this committee that the standing orders of this
house with regard to railway bills, should as respects railway bills com-
menced in this house during the present session, be altered in the follow-
ing particulars.

That standing order No, 219 be altered in the following particulars,
Tiz., that on the bill being reported to the house from the committee on
the bill, or at any time previously, on the petition of the parties to such
bill, or any of them, the bill shall be referred to the Standing Orders- Com-

raiitee, whicli shall inquire whether standing orders, the compliance with
which is directed to be proved before or reiro-'ted by the St^inding Order
Committee previously to the thirri reading of the bill, have been complied
with ; and the committee shall report on the matters referred to them in the
same manner as they are directed to report on other matters referred to Ihent
by the standing orders.

That five clear days' notice be given of such meeting of the committee,
and that it be proved to the satisfaction of the committee, that the standing
orders had been complied with five clear days before such meeting of the
committee.

That the Standing Orders Committee shall not meet to consider the
compliance with such of the standing orders as are directed to be proved
before them until after the expiration of seven clear days from the pre-
sentation of the petition if the bill relate to England, or until after the ex-
piration of 10 clear days if the bill relate to Scotland or Ireland.

That every petition compalining of a non-compliance with such of the
standing orders as are directed (o be proved before the Standing Orders
Committee subsequently to the first reading of the bills, shall be presented
three clear days before the meeting of the committee to consider such
standing orders.

That standing order No. 220 be altered in llie following particulars,
viz., that the service of every application required to be made to the owners
or reputed owners, lessees or reputed lessees, and occupiers, by the fourth
paragraph of the said standing order, may, unless a petition complainingof
the want of due service of such application shall have been referred to the
Standing Oi'ders Committee, be proved by the evidence of the agent or
solicitor for the bill, stating that he gave directions for the service of such
application in the manner and within the time required by the standing
orders, and that he believes that such application was so served ; but in
case tlie Standing Orders Committee shall nut be satisfied with the evi-
dence of the agent or solicitor, the service of such application shall be
proved in the usual manner.

That no bill commencing in this house and empowering any company
already constituted by act of Parliament to execute any work other than
that for which it vTas originally established, shall be read a third time,
unless the Committee on Standing Orders shall have especially reported
that the requisitions contained in paragraph No. 5 of such order have beea
complied with.

That standing order No. 22-1 be altered in the following particulars,
viz., that as respects all railway bills which shall commence in this house
during the present session of parliament, it shall be proved to the satis-
faction of the Standing Orders Committee that a sura equal (o l-20th part
of the amount subscribed has been deposited, in the mariner required by
the said standing order, on or before the Cth day of February inst. ; and it
shall likewise be proved to the satisfarlion of the said committee, before
the third reading of such bill, that a further sum, equal to l-20th part of
the amount subscribed, has been deposited in like manner.

That standing order No. 225 be altered in the following particulars,
viz., that it shall be sufficient if the proof required to be given by the last
mentioned standing order be adduced before the Standing Orders Com-
mittee at any time previous to the third reading of the bill.

That all the standing orders applicable to railway bills, except such of
them or such part of them as are altered by or are inconsistent with the
aforesaid standing order, shall apply to the railway bills commenced in
this house during the present session of Parliament, and to the proceedings
on such bills.

HoDSE OF Commons.
First Report, Feb. 5,

The select committee appointed to consider the mode in which the
house shall deal with the railway bills proposed to be submitted to the
House during the present session, and who are empowered to report from
time to time to the House, have considered the matters referred to them,
and agreed to the following report : —

That for the purpose of facilitating the dispatch of railway business
during the present session, it is expedient that a portion of the railway
bills shnuld commence in the House of Lords.

That with respect to any railway bills which, in pursuance of these re-
solutions, shall commence in the House of Lords during this session, this
House will not insist on their privilege with regard to the clauses fixing
and regulating rates and tolls in such bills.

That with a view of affording early and increased means of employ-
ment in Ireland, it is expedient to give facilities for the early consideratioc
of Irish railway bills.

That, for the attainment of this object, it is expedient that all Irish
railway bills should, in the present session, commence in the House
of Lords.

That it is expedient that all bills which compete with or ought to be
considered in connexion with any bills, the pi-omoters of which shall prove
themselves entitled to the privileges agreed to be granted in certain cases
by the resolutions of this House of the 7th July last, shall commence iu
the House of Lords.

That the parties promoting railway bills which, by the above resolulia:s,
are to commence in the House of Lords, may (notwithstanding any pro-
ceeding respecting such bills in the House of Lords) prove before theccm-

91

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[March,

TPittee on pelitions of llie House of Commons that they have complied with
4be standiti'' orders of tliis House, Hiid the rcptirt of fucii committee shall
Reordered to lie on the table. If the committee should report that the
standiii" orders have nut heen complied with, their report bhall be reft-r-
T^d to the committee on standing orders, whose report shall be ordered to
lie on the table.

That wiien a railway bill sliall have commenced in thf Hou.sc of Lords,
^and shall he sent down to liiu House of Comii:ons from the House of Lords
U shall be reiul the lirst time in the House of Comnious, and shall then be
referred io the committee on petitions, to ascertain whether the railway bill
SQ sent down is substantially in accordance wuhthe standing orders, as
iletermined by the House of Comraous,

SECOND REPORT, FEB. 10, 18-iti.

I. That a committee of bve members be a]ipointeiJ, lo be calleil the Classification Com-
mittee of Railway BilN, uirl thtit three be tlie t'piorum of such committee.

'2. Tbftt collies of uU petitions for railway bills presented to the House be laid before
ihe said committee.

3. That the committee of classification shall inquire and report what railway bills com-
•pete with, or ought to be consittcrod in connexion with any railw.iy bills, the promoters
■of which shall have pr(.x*ed themselves entilied to the privilepe agreed to be granted in

certain cases by the rusulutions of this House of the 7 th of July la>it.

4. That the committee of classilicalion shall form into grovips all olher raihviiy bills
■ft'hich, in their opinion, it would be expedient to submit to the same coimnittee.

fi. That as soon as tile committee of cla«sitication shall hare determined what railway
tJUs are to be grouped together, they shall report the same to tlie House, and all peii-
lians a^aiust any of the said bills shall Le prvseuled to the House three clear days before
tlie meeting of tlie committee thereon.

G. That no railway bill be read a fust time later than the next day but one after the re-
port of the committee on i)etitions or of the standiru' order committee oii «tich bill, as the
case miv be. shsdl have lieen laid on the table, except by special urder of the House.

7. That there be not more than seven clear il;iys between the first reitding of any rail-
way hill and the second reading thereof, except by special order of the House.

8. That the brevipte of every railway bill shall he laid on the tabic of the House, and
hs printed and delivered one clear day before the second reading.

II. That such railway bills as shall have been read a tirst time before the House shall
agree lo ihese resolutions, shall be read a second time within seven clear days thereafter.

10. That such of the standing orders as relate to the composition of the commiltets on
private bills, and the orders consequent thereon, be suspended so iar as regards railway
mis pending in the course of tlie present session.

11. That committees on railway bills during the present session of Parliament shall be
composed of a chairman and four members, to be appointed by the committee of selec-
tion.

13. That each member of a committee on a railway bill or hills, shall, before he be en-
titled to attend and vote on such committee, sign a declaration that his constituents have
no local interest, and that he hitJiself has no personal interest for or .-ifainst any bill re-
ferred to him ; and no such committee shall proceed to business until the whole of the
!;. embers thereof shall have signed such declaratiwn.

13. That the promoters of a railway bill shall be prepared lo go into the committee on
the bill on such day as the committee of selection shall, subject to the order that there be
seven clear days between the second reading of every private bill and the sitting of the
committee thereupon, think proper to appoint, provided that the classification committee
shall have leported on such IjiU.

14. That the committee of si-lection shall give each member not less than 14 days* no-
tice of the week in which it will be necessary for him to be in attendance, for the purpose
cf serving, if required, on a railway bill committee.

lo. That the committee of selection sliall give each member a sufficient notice of his
appointment as a member of a committee on a railway bill, and shall transmit to him a
copy of the I'ith resolution, and a blank form of the declaration therein required, with a
Yequest that he will forthwith return it to them properly filled up and signeii.

W. That if the committee of -election shall not within due time receive from each such
member tlie aforesaid declaration, or an excuse which they shall deem sufficient, they
■E'lall repoit lo the House the name of such defaulting member.

17. That the committee of selection shall have the power of substituting at any time
Vefore the first meeting of a comnr.ittee, anoilier member for a member whom they shall
deem it proper to excuse from serving on that committee.

ly. That power be given to the committee of selection to send for persons, papers and
records, in the execution of the duties imposed on them by the foregoing resolutions.

I'.t. That no member ol a cnmmitr*c shall absent himself from his duties on such com-
Tnittee, unless in the case of sickness, or by leave of the House.

20. Tr.at all questions before committees on ra'lway grorps or bills shall be decided by
a majority of voices, including the voice of the chairman; and that %vhenever the voices
shall be equal, the chairman fhnW have a second or castinu: vote.

'21. That if the chairman shall be absent from the committee the member next in rota-
tion on the list (wlio shall be present) shall act as chairmau.

22. That committees shall be allowed to proceed so long as three members shall be pre-
sent, but not with a leSB number, unless liy special leave of the House.

2."{. That if on any day within one hour after the time appointed for the meeting of a
■committee three members sliall not be present, the committee shall be adjourned to the
same hour on the next day on which the House shall sit, which had been fixed for that
day.

2-1. That in the case of a member not being present Avithin one hour after the time ap-
■pointed fur the meeting of the comiaittee, or of any member absenting himself from his
idu(i*'S on such committee. such member shall be re)torted to the House at its next sitting.

'j'k That eicJi committee shall be appointed to meet on each day of its sitting, not
later than 12 o'clock, unless Vjy the regular vote of the committee.

'2G, That committees on railway bills have leave to sit io the present session, iiotwith-
'Etandii'd any anjournment of the House, if the committees sliall so think fit.

27. That every committee on a railway bill shall fix the tolls, and shall determine the
maximum rates of charge for the conveyance of passengers (with a due amount of luggage)
and of goods on such railway, and such rates of charge shall include the tolls, and the
costs of locomotive power, and every other expense connected with llieconveyar.ee of
(i;assengers (with a due amount of luggage) and of goods upon such railway; but if the
committee shall not aeem it expedient to determine such maximuifi rates of charge, a
special report, explanatory of the grounds of their omitting so to do, shall be made to the
'liouse, which special report shall accompany tht report of the bill.

THIRD REPORT, FEB. ]7.

The number of petitions for railway tilts, which have been prasented this session, have
"leen st:.tcd by your committee to amount to .'(02, viz. :—

For railways in England and Wales .. .. ,. 3i(5

,, Scotland . . . . . . . . 120

„ Ireland .. .. .. .. 47

The above numbers include petitions for amalgamation bills, and in some cases there
Tire more petitions than one for the same sclieme. After the deduction to be made on
■this account, the number of distinct railway shemes appecra to be —

For England
Scotland
Ireland

47

As, however, many of these schemes may fail, from non-compliance with the standing
orders, the number of bills presented to Parliament may possibly fall coiisiderably short
of this amount, and your committe« are of opinion that it will not be necessary or ex-
pedient io the present session of Parliament to refer mere projects to committees, as was
done, owing to peculiar circumstances, in the last ses<^io^.

From a statement prepared 1 y the officers of the hoard of Trade, it would appear, that
if the same piinciple of grouping which was adopted last year should be followed in the
present session,) the riiilway schemci in England and Wales might be formed into .51
groups, and those for iicotland into lU ; about Gl select committtes would therefore be
retpiired.

As the bouse has already ordered, that all Irish railway bills, and a certain limited class
of English bills, (the hitler of which are included in the foregoing siatement), should
commence in the House of Lords, it is impossible to say how many of these may be sent
down tu the House of Commons. The number of gron;)s into which railway schemes for
the United Kingdom were divided last year was ^2; but, owing to various circumstances,
only 45 committees appear to have actually sat.

The necessity of considering so great a number of railway billf, in addition to other
.private bills, ma; certainly be expected to produce an unusual and inconvenient pressure
upon the time of members of the house ; but your committee trust, that as committees
on railway hills may in this session begin to sit at an earlier period than in the lust, it will
not be found impracticable to constitute the requisite numbw of committees during the
progress of tht session.

Under these circumstances, your committee have not deemed it advisable to recommend
to the house to make any selection from, or to place any limitation on, the number of
railway schemes to be submitted to the consideration of Parliament during the present
session.

As your committee, howfver, believe that much of the time of the select committees
on railway bills is consumed, with little public benetit, Ui miHUte and detailed inquiries
into the amount of traffic and the probable profit lo the projectors, your committee are of
opinion that the stamling orders on these points should be altered, and that it should no
longer he obligatdry on conimitiees on railway bills to make special reports on them.

At the same time, yonr committee have no K-ish lo fetter the discretion of the select
committees to make such intjuiries as they may judre proper wiihregard to population,
and to the extent of accommodation that would be afforded to the public, where they con-
sider such infoimatiou to be require<l.

Your committfe beg further to suggest, that power be given to select committees to
refer the consideration of any unoppf>sed railway bill included in" the group referred to
them to the chairman of Ways and IMe.ms, and the members ordered to prepare oud
bring in the bill, to be dealt with as other unopposed bills.

Standing Ordi;r, No. 87.

On Thursday. Feb. 19, in the House of Commons Nos. 7, 8, and 9, of
the Standing Order ; No. 87 were rescinded, this will get rid of a very ex-
pensive, tedious, and troublesome part of railway proceediug, as it wdl no
now be compulsory to produce evidence relatixe lo traffic.

Datum Line, Order No. 25.

A doubt arose in the minds of tlie committee respecting the London and
Brighton (Dorking Branch) Railway, whether the datum line taken from
tlie proposed junction with the Loudon and Brighton Railway was taken
from a sufficiently tixed jjoint, and was in compliance with order No. 25,
The comiiiiltee accordin^^ly postponed their decision, but subsequently de-
cided that in this respect the standing orders liad not been complied with.

The reception of the petition of the London and South AVestern (Romsey
and Redbridge Junction) Railway, was objected to on several technical
grounds. Among other objections, it was urged that the datum line taken
Jrovi the top-'iiattr of the Andover and Reigate Canal was not sufficiently
fixed. One engineer stated that the top-water was always nearly on the
same level, it being regulated by a weir, but two olher witnesses gave
evidence of a very different nature on this point. One of tlie latter, who
was employed on the canal itself, stated, that so far from the weir being
suflicient lo preserve the level, it was very small, and when there was
much water he had to open a hatrh to let it fiow out. The sub-committee
declared thai the stauding orders iu this case had nut been complied with.

It appeared that in the North Stafibrdshire (Churnet Valley Line) there
were three fixed points given in tlie plans from which a datum line was to
be drawn, one only of which, however, was the subject of controversy be-
fore the committee. The petition stated tliat one datum line depended oa
a point 418 feet below tlie " sollit" of the arch of Cocksliott-bridge, and his
agent contended that this point was not fixed, but variable and uncertain.
The whole turned ou the meaning of the "soffit." The opponents called
several wituesses. among \\ honi were Mr. Leather, a civil engineer of some
years' practice, Professor Hosking, of King's College, London, and Mr.
Tite, the architect of the Royal Kxchange, «lio stated that by *' soffit" they
understood the whole of the interior surface of an arch from springing to
springiug, and not the top or crown. One of these witnesses said, that
with such a point given to him he should consider himself at liberty lo take
the measurement for the datum line from any part of the interior surface of
the arch, and tliat, therefore, this was a fluctuating and not a fixed point.
On cross-exaniitiation, most of these witnesses admitted, that from this
word being used in reference to a level, they might probably suppose it
meant the top of the arcb. ,

Mr. Burke, on behalf of the line, brought many experienced engineers
among them Mr. Vignoles, IMr. R. Stephenson (the engineer of this rail-
way), and Mr. <i. B. Bidder, who proved, that whatever schoolmen might
understand by the word '* soffit," 00 doubt could exist in the mind of a
l>ractical man as to its meaning, especially in a case like this, where height
or depth was to be measured from it. These gentlemen distinctly stated,
\\\M none but a tyro in engineering could suppose it to mean auj other por-
tion than the top of the arch.

The Chairman announced that the committee (No, 1) considered the
ttauding orders complied with in this case.

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

9^^

Tlie iliitum line of the Lancasliire anJ YorUsIiire North Eastern Railway,
■was taken on a level with the topnater of the Leeds anil Liverpool canal,
■which wonia be crossed by the proposed line. The Cliainnan doubted
whether this could be allowed as the ti\ed point to which the diitum should
be referred. The engineer explained that there was a weir of stone work
close to the point from which tlie level was taken, the water had not fallen
below a certain point for the last 10 years.

This being considered satisfactory, the committi-e decided that this bill
should be reported as having complied with the standing orders.

In the committee on the Great Grimsliy and Sheffield Junction Extension Raihvuy (No.
2) Bill mis opposed, and the lirst alleB^tion w:is that tlie ■ datum' line slioivH upon the
sections of the plans wits not the same throughout the line, as two ditlerent ' datum' lines
were shown iu ditierent lengths or parts of the line. lilr. Parkes obJL^eted to the aileyation
that it was not sulheiently stated, hut was so vague that it was impossible to Hnd out to
what part it aliuded. Mr. Dernlit s.iid that it referred to the fat-t that one 'datum' line
was taken from the High-street at Liiitoln, and the other from Grimsby Dock. Rlr.
Fowler said the latter • liatura' line was in a branch not included in the present bill. Mr.
Dernht said the second allegation was that the point from which the 'datum' line was
taken was the level of a stalie driven into the ground at the point of junctloH with the
Nottinyliani and Lincoln Railway, now in course of construction ; but did not state
whether it was the upper part of the stake or the lower part of it. He called a gardener
of Lincoln, who staled that the stake was in his orchard, ne.\t to the wall, and was the
"crown stake" of the Nottingham and Lincoln Itaihvay. There was no stake in the
street. The Chairman said that it appeared the stake was not on the west side of the
High-street, but iu the orchard, and therefore was incorrectly described. Mr. Parkes said
the reference that it was at the point of junction with the Nottingliain and Lincoln line,
on the west side of the High-street, clearly described the point meant, and that the stake
was correctly described as being on the west side of the High-street. He called .Air.
Fowler, Sir. .loieph Gibbs, and Mr. Harrington, who all said that no engineer could mis-
take as to the point referred to, and that they should consider the stake a lixed point as
it was protected by law, it being an ofience to take any of them up. The 'datum' stakes
were kept standing for a long lime alter a railway was completed, as it was from them
that the levels were kept up along the line. The Chairman said, that the Committee
were of opiiiii,u that the description was not accurate enough, besides having some
doubts as to the sufficiency ol a mere staK-e as a fixed point. They must, therefore, report
the case to the select committee. The standing orders had not been complied with in
this case.

SiiBSCRiPTio.v Contract.

M'hen the South-Eastern (from the M'aterloo-road, near the Hungerford-
Bridge, to the tireenwich Railway) K.iilway, had been gone through, the
Chairman stated that the committee (No. 3) could not decide that the pro-
moters iu this instance had complied with the standing orders, inasmuch
as a considerable doubt was raised in his mind, as well as in the minds of
the other members of the committee, whether the subscription contract
entered into was such a one as, consistently with the intentions of the house,
they could consider sunicient. The contract presented to tiiem was one
■which combined several dill'erent projecls, for which separate and cjjslinct
estimates had been made — i. c, there were several classes of works to be
coustrucled, but only one subscription contract for the whole, and not a
separate one for each of the estimate.^. The contract certainly provided
iu its pages for the parties binding themselves only for so much as would
be applicable lor the particular work or works, A, B, and C respectively,
to which they might have subscribeti. Unt, lu order to prove the sub-
scription contract for A, itappeared to them it was necessary to admit the
proof of that for B and C, a course wliicli he considered was not a strict
nor such a conpliance with the standing orders as was contemplated.

Mr. Burke, on the part of the promoters, urged that a precisely similar
contract had been considered sulficient in one case last session.

The Chairman said, that was in the case of an nnojiposed petition, and
might have been overlooked, and could not therefore form a precedent in
this instance. The question, consequenlly, whether this project had com-
plied with the standing orders must remain over until he had consulted
the Speaker and the diiierent chairmen of the other committees.

An objection was made to the Staines and Richmond Railway, an account
of the deposit of 10 per cent, nol having been paid by the subscribers according
to the provisions of the Joint Slock Act. It was admitted however,
that 10 per cent, had been paid into the Court of Chancery, in compliance
with the standing orders of the House of Commons, but it was contended
that the deed itself proved that 5 per cent, only had been paid by the sub-
scribers themselves. — The Chairman, after hearing the objection, stated
that this point had repeatedly been decided; and that if the amount re-
quired were actually deposited iu the Court of Chancery, the cominillee
could not inquire by whom it had beeu paid ; whether it was by the sub-
scribers or by some person for them was quite immaterial. The chairman
accordingly decided that the standing orders had been in this case com-
plied with.

An objection was made to the subscription contract of the Ayrshire and
Galloway Railway, on the ground that Richard Hodgson and William
Macdonald were parties to the deed in a double capacity, as trustees of
the first part, and as subscribers (with others) of the second part, and thus
covenanting with themselves for the performance of certain matters ; which
he contended was repugnant to the practice ia England and to common
sense, inasmuch as it placed the parties in a position in which they might
be called upon to sue themselves for a breach of their covenant.

Mr. Connell, for ihe promoters, stated that the contract had been drawn
up in conformiiy witli the practice and the law which obtains in Scotland,
■where it was competent, in certain cases, for a man to sue himself under a
deed. He apprehended also that, in the case of a debt due from one
member of a lirm to another, the firm might legally sue that member.

Mr. R. Mackay, Writer to the Signet, on the same side, said that a legal
objection had never been stated in Scotland efi'eclually against the power
of any party to sue because he was a shareholder. Under the common

law of Scotland a parly could sue himself. It was of daily occurrenc
He had taken the opinion of the Lord-Advocate on the point thatmorninff
who ridiculed the idea that a party could not sue himself by the law of
Scotland.

The Chairman desired the room to he cleared for a division. On our*
re-admissioii, he stated that, iu regaril to the objeciion of Mr. Burke, the
committee had decided that-the standing orders had not been complied with,
inasmuch as the subscription deed was invalid, in that it did not biud the
subscribers, within the meaning of the standing order 40.

The committee ou standing orders coulirmed this decision of the sub-
committee, but subsequently in tlie House tlie Attorney General declared
that the contract was not illegal, consequenlly the report was referred baci-j
to the committee.

Notices. — Order, No. 17.

It was contended by Mr. Counel, on the part of Sir W. Napier,
that the section of Ihe proposed Ayrshire, Bridge of Weir and Port
Glasgow Junction Railway, so far as it related to Ihe parish of
Kilbarton, was not in accordance with the stantling orders, iu that
the notice which had been served ou his client. Sir William Napierg.
did not inform him how a road in that parish which tiie petitioners intended
to lower 15 feet would alfect him, as they were required to show in tha
heading of the schedule (form referred to in standing order No. 17);
secondly, that in respect to the position of the road, the level of the same,,
and the manner in whitlitlie railway would affect it, these particulars
were all inaccurately described.

I'he committee, after minutely examining the sections on tliis point, and
considei^ing the order referred to, overruled the objections.

Hcfereucfs.- — It was contended by the opposition, that a narrow strip of
ground in the parish of Port (ylasgow, and tlescrihed as vacant ground,
was in the occupation of the Gourlock Ropeworks Company, and belongetl
to the Glasgow and (Jreenoek Railway Company, and not to the partici
named in the book of reference.

The petitioners' agent called a witness to prove that he had made diligent
inquiries as to Ilie ownership of the land in question, and that in prose»
cutiag those inquiries he was referred to one of the servants of the Glasgow
and Ureenock Railway Company, at the station adjiuning this piece of land;
who informed him that he (the servant) had received instructions front
liead-quaiters to vvithold information from parties concerned in the pro*
jected line.

The Committee were of opinion that the petitioners had used du&
diligence in ascertaining the ownership of the land, and that if partien
refused to give such information whereby ihe promoters of a railwa> were
led into error, the allegation of error came with bad grace from such partie»i
Therefore, in this case, the standing orders had been complied with.

Imfortant Dccision with regard to oppo.iiNG A Bill before th.'.
Standing Ohder's Committbe.

Mr. Burke, on behalf of a petitioner against the London, Newbury and
Bath Railway, stated that he could prove that the books and plans
deposited in the office of the House of Commons dill'ered from those which
had been deposited with the clerks of the peace. He contended that the
jietitiou was snlliciently in compliance with standing order No. 9 to entitle
him to be heard, for as the plans and books of reference were incorrect, na
landowner or occupier could know whether his land would be affected or
not. and, therefore, was entitled to petition.

The Chairman said he had conferred, not only with other commiltee?,
but also with other persons, to whose opinion he was inclined to bow, ami
he had come to the conclusion that where the objection had reference toth»
subscription contract, or other matter allecting the public, tlieu any one of
the public miglit petition. M'lieie there wan nut aiiij fiirtij affected, then
the stnnding order A'o. 9, did not apply, hut it tfiis made fur the protection of
indiridunis, where there ifiis a party affected, then that party must be
cognizant of an assent to such petition. He would not say the party
affected must necessarily be a landowner or occupier. The committei
might liold that under special circumstances some other person uiiglit be
alfected within the meaniug of the order.

Mr. Burke expressed himself much pleased at the decision, which Ik?
was certain would affect some hundreds of petitions. He then withdrew.,
the petition.

An important allegation was made by Mr. Coates against the Bill of the
Berks and Hants, (Hdngerford Extension) Railvvay, on behalf of a
petitioner opposing the bill annexed to the promoters' petition, ihat power,
was sought by tlie Great Western Railway Company to raise the sum of
S.50,OUOJ., yet the said notices did not make mention of any application t'j
I'arliament for the amendment of the acts relating to the said company,
nor had suck notices been published in all the counties in which the works
of the said company were situate.

Mr. Pritt read the notices from the Gazette, and contended that they
were amply suflicieut, and given in compliance with the standing orders.

The Chairman desired the room to be cleared ; and on our re-adniissioc,
after an interval of upwards of ha!f-an-hour, the Chairman intimated thai
with respect to this allegation, the committee had come to the following
resolution, namely that the committee were of opinion that the standing
orders had not been complied with, inasmuch as the notices of application
to Parliament to make a railway did not state the inlentim of the Great
Western Railway Company (though subsequently staled to be the owners

yS

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[March

of the said Berks and Hants Railway) to amend their acts for the purpose
of raising a furllier sum of money, but a separate notice of the feume dates
respectively was givt-n by llie Great Western Kailway Company to amend
their acts, yet such lasl-mciiliuut-d notice did not contain ihe uumes of
places through wliicli the works were intended lo be made.

KoYAL Observatory, Paris, — A contemporary states that there is

being consiructcil on the top of this tiuUding, a study cabinet, Itie walls of which, as well
as thtt Cfiline, are of pure crystal. It is in this chamber tb.it I^I. Arago wiil work and
watch the stars, planets, and comets, by the assistance of a monstor telescope, which is
now being made. It is expected ttiat this new transpurenl ob^ervutory will be tetmi-
naled by Ihe oionth of July neit.

The Dauntless and Jrrof^ant frigates, on the designs respectively of Mr.

White, of Cowes, and Mr, Fincharn. master shipwright of this eBtablitlmient, are pro.
greasing very rapidly toM-ards readiness for launching; their timbering is finished, and
their ceiling and planking. The Dauntless ;Mr. Finchani's design; is intended as a steam
frigate, 'but the Aoirgant will only have steam as an auxiliary to work a screw. The
follo«'ing are the pruuiple dimensions oi the Arrogant. Lt-ngtli between the perpen-
dic'ilars wMU feet; Length of keel for tonnage, 17a feet; Breadth extreme, 40 feet, 4 in ;
Breadth moulded, 44 feet J Depth of bold, j;;t feet ; Burden in tons, l.K'U; Horse-power
for screw, .'iOO. This bne ship is in the moat forward state of the two, and presents a
boldness ot outline very much admired by all who have seen her since shir has been
planked. She presents a very handsome looking mudel, and is expected to prove a per-
fect man of war.

LIST OP NEVSr PATENTS,

GRANTED IN ENGLAND FROM JANUART 2U, 184G, TO FCBRCARY 25,1840

Six Months allowed for Enrolment^ unless otherwise expressed,

George Frederick Hall, of Norfolk-street, Fitzroy-squarii, in tlie county of Middlesex,
pawnbroker, for "certain m;ichinery or apparatus for writing and Ijookiug, numbering,
cutting, checking, and expediting the delivery and receipt of pawnJiokers* duplicates,
pass-tickets, and other like documents."— Sealed January 29.

James Brown, of Ball's-row, High fields, Coventrj-, for "certr-in Improvements in
V7eaving." — January 2!'.

Aucustus Turk Furder, of Leamington Priors, in the county of \\'arwick, solicitor, for
•' an Iinj^roved pump or enpiue for raising and inipelling inelastic lluids, and producing
motive power." — January I'y.

Charles Cowan, of Valley-field mills, in the county of Edinburgh, paper manufacturer)
for " Improvements in the manufacture of paper mill-board, and other similar sub-
stances."— January 29.

John Greenwood, of Church, in the county of Lancaster, manuficturlng chemist, for
*' Improvements in dyeing Turkey-red, and other colours." — Januaiy 29.

George Howell, of Larkhall-lane, Clapham-common, Surrey, for " coating with a metal
the surxoce of articles formed of copper, or copper alloys, or iron, whether wrought or
cast." (Communication.) — January 29.

Michael Rimington, of No. In, Rufford-row, Islington, In the county of Middlesex, gen-
tleman, for '* Improvements in obtaining and applying motive power." (Comnmuication)
—January 31.

George Hir.ton Bovill, of Millwall, in the county of Middlesex, engineer, for " Improve-
ments in the manufacture of iron." — January 31.

Andrew Etienne, of Hatton-garden, in the city ofLcndon, gentleman, for "Improve-
ments in the construction of railways, railway carriages, and in the means of preventing
accidents on railways." — January 31.

James Pilbrow, of Tottenham, in the county of Middlesex, civil engineer, for " certain
Improvements in propelling on land and wator." — January 3l,

Henry Highton, of Uugby, in the county ot Warwick, master of arts, for "Improvements
in electiic telegraphs." — February 3.

Edwin Chesshire, of Birmingham, surgeon, for "Improvements in apparatus to be ap-
plied to railway carriages to reduce the prejudicial effects «f collisions to passengers in
railway carriages." — February 3.

Samual Brown, of Gravel-lane, in the county of Surrey, engineer, for " Improvements in
gas engines, and in propelling carriages and vessels." — February 3.

Thomas Foxall Griffiths, of Wolverhampton, for " Improvements in stamping and
shaping sheet metal." — February 3.

William Garnett Taylor, of Halliwell, in the county of Lancaster, cotton spinner, and
William Taylor of Halliwell, aforesaid, labourer, for " Improvements in consuming smoke
and economizing fuel." — February 3,

William Malligan, of Bradford, in the county of York, manufacturer, for •' certain Im-
provements in the power-loom-"— February 4.

William Greener, of Birmingham, gun maker, and William Edwards State, of Peck-
ham, Surrey, estiuire, for "improved means of ignition and illumination." — February 7.

Thomas Clarke, of Hackney, Middlesex, engineer, Mark Freeman, of Sutton, in the
county of Surrey, gentleman, and John Varley, of Poplar, in the county of Qliddlesex,
for "certain Improvements in obtaining and applying motive power, parts of which are
rjplit-able to the regulating and controlling of fluids."— February U.

James Palmer Budd, of Vstalyfera Iron Works, Swansea, merchant, for " Improve-
ments in the manufacture of iron."— February 11.

J ohn Keating, of North-niews, Fitzroy-stiuare, in the county of Middlesex, scagliolist,
lor "certain Improvements in the manufacture of cement." — February 11.

Joseph Pierre Gillard, of Rue Martignac, in the city of Paris, professor of mathe-
matics aud philosophy, for •* Improvements in the production of heat in general." —
February 11,

Charles Tetley, of Bradford, In the West Riding of the county of York, stock and
eh are broker, for " certain Improvements in machinery for raising and impelling water
an d other liquids, and also thereby to obtain mechanical power." — February 1 1.

William Edward Newton, of Chancery-lone, in the county of Bliddlesex, civil en-
B ineer.for " Improvemunts in the construction of instruments or apparatus for ascer-
t aining, registering, and regulating the speed of carriages and machinery." (A communi-
cation.)— February 11.

Andrew Smith, of Prince's.street, in the county of Middlesex, engineer, for " Im-
provmeiits in coating or covering metals for the purpose of preventing oxidation." —
February 11.

Alfred Vincent Newton, of Chancery-lane, mechanical draughtsman, for "certain
-m provements to be applied to the grindlDg of grain and other substances."— February U

James Murdoch, of Staples-inn, in the county of Middlesex, mechanical draughtsma
for " an Improved process for preparing a certain material for the purpose of painting,"
[A comrnunication.) — February 11.

George Sterenson, of Tapton-house, Chesterfield, In the county of Derby, engineer,
aod William Howe, of Ncwtastle-upon-Tyne, in the county of Northumberlaud, me-
chanic, for " an Improvement in bicomoliYe slcam-eiigines."— February 11.

William Wharton, superinterdent at the Enston-square station of the London and
Birmingham Railway, for Improvements in straps and bunds."— February 11.

Charles Uft#lev, of Birmingham, button manufacturer, for " Improvements in buttons
and other fallen. ngs for wearing apporcl, and iu thcmachinery for manufacturing parts of
the said faAtenings."— February iH.

John William Stnnbrldge, of .'^S, Brudenell-place, New-road, Middlesex, gentleman,
for " an Improveniertt in the manufacture ot certain descriptions of aliks and other
fabrics."— Febraary lb.

John Brockiehurst, of Holborn, In the county of Middlesex, lamp manufacturer,
for "Impruvemeiits In the hanging and disconnecting of window sashes and frames."
—February U.

James Nunmyth, of Aruudel-street, in the county of Middlesex, gentleman, for " cer-
tain Improvements in engines or machines for ob tail. iug and applying motive power. "^■
Febmary l(i.

William Edward Newton, of Chancery-lane, in the county of Middlesex, civil engineer
for "Improvements in thw preparation or manufacturing of thread or yarn." (Acorn*
muqication.)~February 17.

Jacque Cloet, of Manchester, in the county of Lancaster, gentleman for " a certala
Improved combination of materials lo be used as a substitute for leather or for water-
proof clolh aod other similar uselul purposes."— February 17.

Juan Nfpomuceno Adorno, of Mexico, in the republic of Mexico, gentleman, for •• Im-
provements in manufacturing cigars and other similar substances."— February 17.

Edonard Auguste Desire Guithard, of Rue des Feuueurs, Paris, in the kingdom of
France, for " Improvements iu printing calieo and othur fabrics."- February 17.

Stephen Etievant, of Church-strcct, Sobo, in the county of Middlesex, for " ImproTO-
meuts in stores." (Communication.)- February 17.

Nicholas Francois Corbin Desboissierres, of Rue Saint Pierre, Montmartre, in the
Kingdom of France, gentleman, for "Improvement! in preparing and burning fueU"-*
February 17.

Joseph Clinton Robertson, of 166, Fleet-street, London, civil engineer, for " Impr»TO-
ments in nail making machinery." (Communication.)— February 18.

Robert Nisbet, of Lamden, in the county of Berwick, esquire, for *' certain Improve-
ments in locomotive engines and railways."— Febmary 19,

Peter Claussen, of Leicester-square, Middlesex, esquire, for "certain Improvements in
machinery for weaving, and iu preparing materials lor weaving." (Communication.)—
February 20.

John Piatt, of Oldham, in the county of Lancaster, machinist, for "certain Improw-
ments in machinery or apparatus to be employed in the preparation and spinning of
cotton and other fibrous substances." — February 25.

John Britten, of Liverpool, chemist, for " certain Improvements in the method of ap-
plying heat for the purposes of iieating, cooking, and evaporatuig, aud iu the apparatus
cunnectcd therewith." — ■Fehiuary 25.

Peter Bancroft, of Liverpool, merchant, for " certain Improvements in the method or
process of refining and purifying animal and vegetable oils and grease." — February 25.

John Harcourt Brown, of Brunsuick-place, Barnsbury-road, gentleman, for " Improve-
ments in securing letters, envelopes, covers, despatches, packets, and parcels.**-^
February '2h.

Thomas Murgatroyd Dean, of Rtockpoit, in the county of Chester, engineer, for
" certain improvements in machinery or apparatus applicaL-le to to the furnaces or fire-
places of steam-engines or otbur boilers." — February 25.

Moses Poole, of the Patent Oiiice, London, gentleman, for " Improvements in cleaning
and separating grain and other seeds." (A communication.)— February 1'5.

Antonio James Mayer, of Ashley-crescent, City-road, for ** Improvements in certain
wood-cutting machines."— February 25.

Josue Heilmann, of Mullhausen, in the Department Du Haut Rhin, France, machine
maker, for " Improvements in certain raacbinea used for preparing to be spun cotton,
wool, and other fibrous materials." — February 25.

William James Cantelo, of Paris-street North, Lambeth, for " Improvments in appa-
ratus for hatching egijs and raising the young, aud for heating hot-bouses and other
buildings."— February 25.

Thomas Pemberton, junior, ot Birmingham, manufacturer, for ** a newer Improved
method, or ue-v and improved methods of ornamenting window- furniture and articles of
upholstery in general."— February 25.

William Robertson, machine maker, of Gateside, Renfrevvshire, for *' certain improve-
ments in the machinery for spinning and twisting cotton, silk, wool, flax, and other
fibrous substances." — February 25.

George Alexander Thompson, of Connaught. terrace, Hyde-park, gentleman, and
Josejjh Weight, of Holborn-bars, mechanic, for" Improvements in propelling vessels.**
— February 25.

John Maddock, of Binstern, Stafford, earthenware manufacturer, for " a new and im-
proved method of building and constructing kilns and ovens used by potters and manu-
facturers of china aod eathenware."— February 25.

CORRESPONDENTS.

Mr. Foster's book on Book-keeping relates to subjects which do not fall
within Ihe scope of this Journal.

Received — Mr. Neville's paper '' on the pressure to sustain banks of
earth ;" notice of this paper is in type, but is unavoidably postpoueci to
next month.

The notices of new and restored churches in the present number are
abridged from the Ecclesiolojist.

Can any of our readers refer us to books or docutnents containing the
history of St. Margaret's Church, Westminster, ami detailing the nature of
the modern alterations.

M. The restorations of Notre B&me at Paris are made at the expense
of the French Government.

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

97

ON THE ENTASIS AND OTHER CURVED LINES OF THE
PARTHENON.*

By F. Penrose, M.A., Magd. Coll., Cambridge, Associate of the
Institute.

Read at the Rayal Institute of British Architects.

{With an Engraving, Plate V.)

It is an admirable principle of this Institution that it has for its object
the bringing together of various points of information from its different
members, inasmuch as no one can see or understand everything. It would
be contrary to the spirit of this proposition, to eipect that no one should get
op here to speak who had not materials for an entire evening's lecture. In
accordance with these views I shall only detain you a short time, to inform
jou of the results which I have arrived at, in a limited survey of the Par-
thenon ; all the measurements I took having reference to its scientific, not
its decorative construction.

It is a very convenient season for such discussion, after the very edifying
and agreeable evening which we passed here on the last occasion of our
meeting, when the zeal of Mr. Lucas and the remarks which he called
forth from Mr. Donaldson, brought the subject so vividly into discussion.

However I will proceed at once to what I have to say — The first point
to be considered is the carvature of the steps — it is obvious that the earlier
investigators of the Parthenon had no opportunity of observing this as the
ground was covered with rubbish, and it is so slight as to elude the eye
unless brought down to the level of it.

Had Vitruvius however been in credit, the following passage would have
Bnfficed to suggest it, " The stylobate or step should be so set out as to
have in the middle an addition by means of unequal/oofsfoo/s (literally),
t. e. unequal blocks. For if it be made level, it will appear to the eye
Bunk in the middle (literally channelled) to the eye." Again, " When the
capitals are finished they must be arranged on the shafts of the columns.
Dot level, but according to the same measurement as before, so that the
symmetry of the architraves and upper members may correspond to the
same addition as was made in the stylobate,"

This was first observed in the Parthenon, I understand, by Mr. John
Pennethorne. He unfortunately, however, allowed the Germans to have
the credit of prior publication ; it made its appearance in a Vienna archi-
tectural journal, four years ago. I have a drawing (see plate), made from
my observations of the east front of the Parthenon. I levelled it, I believe,
very correctly, as my instrument, on being taken to the opposite end, gave
exactly the same line. I have drawn a black line along what I suppose
to have been the original line ; the shaded line marks that which I obtained
from my measurements ; these, in which I was assisted by Mr. G. Ken-
nedy, were taken with the French metre, and I have reduced them to
English feet and decimals of a foot, which, I think, is the best system we
can use for scientific mensuration — it were much to be wished that it
should become universal. A circumstance which would render this change
less troublesome to workmen is, that the 100th of a foot is nearly the same
as the eighth of an inch.

Now, observing that the sixth column from south-east angle is the highest
for its situation of all the columns, and that the architrave above has a
crack about -06 feet in width, I infer that that point has been set most
firmly in the foundation, and the rest have all settled more or less about it.
This may perhaps have been all the result of earthquakes, as I found that
the base of the central columns of the west front were -08 feet higher than
those at the east end, and the base of the south angle column of west
front was -09 feet higher than that at its north angle.

In the east front it will be seen by the drawing 4hat the north-east angle
of upper step is -028 feet lower than south-east angle, showing a settle-
ment in that part of the building, which is also attested by the aforesaid
eiack over the architrave of the sixth column. It will be seen that on the
south half of the front the step runs very nearly straight, except that at
the angular column there is a little more shoot, probably to throw off the
■water better. And the angular column is about -02 feet longer than the
others to compensate for this. The step, at this point, has a gradient of
about f^, afterwards ^ nearly. The chief rise is -022 feet, which is about
the same as the amount which the columns lean from the perpendicular.

• The curvature of the itvlobate of the Parthenon It briefly noticed In the Seventb
Volume of this Jouroal, p. 16.

No. 103.— Vol. IX.— Apbu, 1846.

The height above level of fourth column from the cast on the south flank is
•23. It is quite clear that the step has been lowered a trifle by settlement,
as the stones of the step immediately under the columns adhere so closely
that they have actually grown together, as Stuart found to be the case;
but lower down the joint is apparent enough.

An hyperbola may be drawn approximating very nearly with the line
after allowing a very little for these settlements, which have unquestionably
taken place, and as the conic sections have been applied constantly in the
construction of this and the other temples at Athens, I think it not im-
probable that they were regulated in this matter by that curve.

Can any geometrical or optical considerations suggest the ntcessity for
this addition in the middle of the stepf

Vitruvius does not go so deep into this as he usually does on optical
questions ; he merely says that the step if level will look channelled. It
occurs to me that it is in the pediment and not in the step that we are to
look for the necessity of this correction.

It is a matter of constant experience that the presence of a curved line
distorts any right line in its vicinity, as for instance, the tangent to a circle
always looks bent contrary to the curvature of the circle, and the same
thing is no less true of the chord. A small segment of a large circle may
be made to look straight, or even bent contrary to its real direction, by the
juxta-position of a curve of greater curvature.

The same thing obtains more or less in a pediment where the converging
lines have ultimately exactly the same relative position as an arc and its
chord. And any portico to which these corrections are not applied will
give something of this feeling, if we look attentively at its angles.
Another confirmation of this view of the matter is, that in the great temple
at Paestum, (undoubtedly built some time before the temple of Theseus, )tlie
addition to the stylobate and entablature is applied only at the ends; the
flanks are horizontal. At Segeste, whose greatness is probably posterior
to the glorious days of Athens — and consequently their temple is to be
referred to a later period — the addition is on all sides as at the temples of
Athens. This adjustment could only be required in temples seen directly
opposite. So in the Propyloea, we do not find any addition made to the
stylobate.

We have heard something of a curvature of the entablature in an
horizontal plane as well as the vertical. Mr Lucas stated last meeting
that he understood from Mr. Pennethorne that such was the case. I
admit that both the fronts of the Parthenon are bent inwards, but not that
it was so originally.

In the east front of the Parthenon Ihe four first architrave stones are in a
continuous plane nearly vertical ; the fourth is bent slightly inwards away
from this, the rest are quite irregular. The entire deflexion in the east front
is not more than -09 feet.

I observed that the joints of masonry on the fronts are almost all
crus'hed, so that it is clear that there has been a slight disturbance of the
original plane of the building ; indeed, the angular columns give less
declination than the central ones.

I found that the fourth column from the south-east angle leant '235 feet ;
(this is the same as that given in the supplement to Stuart.) From the
north-east angular one I deduce '225 after allowing for the amount of set-
tlement due to the crack above the sixth column. I cannot admit that
such horizontal curvature was ever intended. Vitruvius does not mention
it, nor can any reason be assigned that I am aware of for the use of it.
Constructive and optical advantages are obtained both by tlie leaning of
the columns and the raising the stylobate and epistyle. It is evident that,
in a country liable to earthquakes, a certain degree of pyramidal construc-
tion given to the building must be of statical advantage. The slight dis-
turbance which has actually taken place has thrown the north-east angle
column about '07 feet to the right hand, and it would have leant away
from the building in an unsightly manner had not there been an original
declination three times as great inwards.

Still I do not compare my argument a priori with that drawn from marks
of crushing and settlement on the building. As Wilkins fell into a sad
mistake when commentating on these very subjects in Vitruvius, when he
states his belief that it was only a fancy of Vitruvius, and did not enter
into the works of the ancients. Vitruvius is very positive about the lean-
ing of the columns, and states that their inner face should be parallel with
the wall of the cella. The columns of the Parthenon have not nearly eo
much lean as this, however owing to the nature of the curve of their

13

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHlTECrS JOURNAL.

[April,

eotasis, they are bo at their springing, which may perhaps be Vitruvius's
meaning, as lliere is no instance, except, I believe, the temple atTivoli, of
so great a declination as he describes. It was well known generally
among the ancients that such was the case. Cicero relates an amusing
story, in his oration against Verres, how Verres was very anxious to do
Bomelliing in the building way, and restore a certain temple of Castor at
Syracuse. He came into the temple, and on examining it, found every
thing sound and in good repair. He turned about him, and asked his
conlideulials what he should do. One of them jokingly said, '• Why,
Verres, you have nothing to do here, unless, perhaps, you would like to
set the columns perpendicular." That man (Verres), most ignorant on all
subjects, asks, " What do you mean by perpendicular ?" They answer
him, that there was hardly any column which could be perpendicular.
Then said he " By Hercules, let us do so, and put them perpendicular."
Cicero thus holds up Verres for derision, for being ignorant on matters of
taste.

It seems to me that the following consideration suggested the inclina-
tion given to the columns : — In consequence of the diminution of the
columns, the upper spaces become larger than the lower, and as the eye
measures the whole length of the architrave by the sum of the inter-
columniations, it would appear longer than the step, and consequently the
columns would appear to diverge from the ground, unless such inclination
be given to the angular columns as shall correct this false impression.

Vitruvius states that all Ihe members above the capitals should lean
outwards ■}^\h of their height. This, 1 believe (and 1 have seen some very
careful measurements of Mr. Scoles's, made with reference to this), does
not obtain iu any Greek building. The corona of the Parthenon, indeed,
has an inclination outwards of 1 in 100, but all the rest of the members lean
inwards in the direction of the columns ; it is clear that -j'jlh would be too
much, and especially at the angles would appear nearly J(h, which would
look preposterous. I have no doubt that the I'/h in the text of Vitruvius
is corrupt, or else Vitruvius must have generalized too much; I should
prefer the former hypothesis.

There is a small dill'erence both iu the west front and east front. In
the outer intercolurauiations of the Parthenon, that to the south is in both
fronts about ^'jth ofafoot wider than the northern one. Can this have arisen
from a desire to make the intercolumniations towards Ihe south — which are
more seen, both on account of sun and situation — more nearly equal to each
other? In the temple of Theseus the same holds but vic^ versi. In both
cases the addition is given at the side which from its position is most com-
manding.

The joint of the stone of the architraves next the angles is on both sides
made to lie a little within the centre of the column (or towards the centre
of portico), by means of which the two metopes next the angles are squares,
and the next two diflcr, by a small quantity, from that figure. It must
have been thought that it was more important to get the angular metopes
exactly symmetrical im each face, than two contiguous ones on the same
face. This adjustment, however, is not so apparent on the flanks and west
front as it is in the east front ; but the east was the principal front theo-
retically, though in the Parthenon the west front was seen more from the
town.

There are some small and curious varieties in the abacus in different
parts of the Parthenon. The more ordinary one on the east, west, and
north sides is -['jth upper step. The abacus of Ihe angular column is Ij
Attic dactyli, or nearly j'jih greater. I divided ^J^th of the upper step of
the Parthenon (i. e. one Allic foot, according to Ihe Greek fashion) into
16 dactyli, and have found these divisions to agree very well with the
smaller dimensions, which were taken by myself as well as by others, and
with fragments in Ihe British Museum.

If the abacus be divided into 30 parts, 28 such parts will give Ihe lower,
and 22 parts the upper, diameter of Ihe column. The angular abacus is
^th the height of Ihe column; the thickness of this abacus is Jlh of its
breadth. On the south side every abacus is less by -2 feet than those on
the north side and fronts, and is equal to Cj' Olympic or Attic feet, or y-jjjof
upper step.

These capitals, being always seen either from the city below, or from the
very narrow space between the temple and ihe wall, on the platform itself
of the Acropolis, in quick perspective, a large portion of their under sur-
face would be seen, which would give them a greater appearance of size
than the others, which are not generally viewed from a similar situation,
and which would, therefore, appear more as in elevation. The abacus in
the British Museum is from the south side.

1 now come to the entasis of the columns. In the Parthenon it is so

slight as merely to correct the false impression which the eye always
receives from columns wnose sides are really straight lines, for the eye
naturally fixes upon and measures the column at the neck, and the spring-
ing or base, but has nothing to compare it with in the middle, so it loses at
that point in importance and requires compensation.

The entasis of the columns of Ihe Parthenon is about that which would be
given in an Ionic column of Ihe same height, according to Vitruvius's rule,
viz., the thickness of the fillet of one flute. I have found, from measure-
ments taken at the edge of the flutes, that this curvature results from the
columns being hyperboloids of revolution. The generating hyperbola has
a principal axis equal to I Attic foot, a focal distance equal to 30 Allic
feet ; i. «., the distance between foci is equal to CO Attic feet, the line
of the foci at a distance of twice the abacus below the upper step.

It is well known that the conic sections have been used very generally
in these Greek buildings, but 1 am not aware that the exact nature of the
entasis has been before demonstrated. In confirmation, I will only appeal
to Mr. Scoks. Hearing that he had some accurate measurements of one
of the columns, I asked him for his vertical measurements, and promised
to bring him Ihe horizontal diameters corresponding. On comparing these
with his measurements the coincidence was so striking that I am morally
certain that 1 have obtained the true nature of the curve. I have also
consulted the dimensions of the columns of Ihe Parthenon, given in the
supplement to " Stuart's Athens," wiih a highly satisfactory result ; I
have also found the columns of the Theseus.to be hyperbolic. A curve
obtained geometrically with line and rule, owing to the unequal action of
the elasticity of Ihe string, gives a trifling deviation from the curve obtained
by calculation, and approximates still nearer to Ihe entasis of tlie columns.
It is not to be supposed that, in forming their columns, the Atheniaa
artists struck the hyperbola full size, for then they would have required a
straight-edge about fifty feet long, which would have been very unmanage-
able ; but any hyperbola, constructed with the same principal axis, viz.,
0 = 1013 feet, will have its horizontal abscissa full size, and the vertical
ordinates in some proportion, which can be easily determined. Conse-
quently, to obtain any number of dimensions for constructing a column
like those of the Parthenon we should proceed thus :—

Take a straightedge H h, about
five feet long ; fix a string at one
end of this straightedge /i, and let
the other end traverse, upon a table
or drawing-board, round a fixed
point, H, by means of a pin or
awl. Let the siring be cut off
exactly 2025 feet shorter than the
length, H A, of the rod. The string
being fixed to the moveable end of
the rod h, and to a fixed point S at
some convenient distance H S,
from H, viz., about three feet.

Now let the straight-edge revolve about H , and keep the string tight
against it with a pencil, as alQ ; thus will an hyperbola, P Q A, be traced
on the board, having all its horizontal dimensions equal to the real size, and
its vertical according to some scale which can be very easily determined :—

Draw A V perpendicular to H S, aud, at

a distance, N P =

10 13 feet
been using, v

11

-=•092 feet, draw

J

P F parallel with A Y. Then set off
FQ = 'G9G feel, which is equal the entire
diminution of the column, and the segment
Q P will be proportional in height to the
shaft of the column, and if it be divided so
as to represent 31-4 feet, the scale so ob
tained will give the full size entasis at any ^
point required. jj

A somewhat similar method may be used
to obtain any desired entasis for any column that may be required, having
first fixed upon the amouut of the entasis and the diminution of Ihe column
by first drawing the curve as here described, with any convenient axis and
foci, and then applying a straight-edge until we get exactly or approxi-
mately the amount of entasis and dimiuulion required; dividing the length
of the arc so obtained for a vertical scale of Ihe column ; but as this im-
plies something of Uie loose natur e of a tentative process, itwould of

18-16.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

99

coarse be more satisfactory to fix exactly the upper, lower, and middle
points of tlie proposed curve, tbe distance below the springing of the focal
line, and then obtain the curve by an analytical, or, when possible, by a
rigid geometrical process ; the first method, however, is very easily done
and capable of great exactness.

The hyperbolic form is admirably adapted for Doric columns. The
conchoid of Nicomedes, which is so very beautiful in Corinthian, has a
point of contrary flexure near the neck, which is inconsistent with the
solidity and dignity of Doric.

Before I leave tliis subject I will say that by slightly modifying the
points, he, and string in the geometrical drawing of the hyperbola, multi-
tudes of beautiful curves are produced, some of which are very like those
of the vases and amphorae of antiquity. There can never be any need of
drawing cnrves arbitrarily by eye, as there are an infinite variety of
regular curves, suited to every possible want of art or science. I cannot
help alluding to the exceeding beauty of the curves produced by Professor
Willis by his epicycloidal chuck.

Are these isolated principles? Or are they not rather connected by
someone beautiful connecting link? — I cannot yet attempt to decide:
fomelhing must have been left to the eye and judgment. But it would be
extraordinary that such wonderful adjustments — such subtle corrections,
worked too with such precision and geometrical accuracy, should be in
each case merely empirical. Without the most accurate measurements of
these small differential quantities, taking into consideration every crack
and movement among the blocks of marble, it must be hopeless to discover
it. There is ample field for a work which shall be the standard of the
scientific, as that of Stuart is of the decorative architecture of the
Greeks.

Reference to the Engraving.

The engraving is a sketch showing the rise in the stylobate and the in-
clination of some of the columns in the East front of the Partlienon. The
differences in the steps, &c. are drawn to a scale equal to one-fifth of tlie
real size, and the remainder one 150th of the real size. The dimensions
are given in feet and decimals of a foot ; the figures under each column
show the height of the steps above or below the level line. The irregular
line at the foot of the columns shows the existing line of the steps, and the
line above it the probable original form.

Tlie upper and lower courses of the columns are the scamilli hnpares of
Vitruvius ; all the rest are symmetrical and perpendicular to the axis of
the column. The left baud outer column leans to the right '206, and the
right hand one leans to the left -15.

THE DECORATIONS OF THE OPERA HOUSE.

The example that is to be, of the New Palace of Westminster, and
wbich is now only in prospectu, may be said to be operating by anticipa-
tion. All branches of decoration connected with architecture are, in city
phrase, looking up, and even mural pictorial embellishment, in encaustic,
if not yet in fresco, has begun to be introduced among us, — and that, per-
haps, with more hurry than good speed. What was the first application
of it is by no means a very prepossessing specimen, the decorations in the
arcades of the Royal Exchange being almost ludicrously inconsistent with
the purpose of the building, — so greatly at variance with all propriety of
character, that were they very much better both as to execution and gene-
ral effect, they would still be unsatisfactory. Strange to say, although De-
coration would seem to hold out the fairest opportunities for the exercise
of inventive talent and the indulgence of fancy, it seems to be shackled by
and under the thraldom of " Precedent." Even in Ornameulation we
either can, or else allow ourselves to do nothing without asking permission
of Precedent. Our most approved novelties— our newest fashions in furni-
ture and the fittiiig-up of rooms seldom amount to more than the re-intro-
duction of obsolete and by-gone ideas, — not of ideas legitimately borrowed
in order to be modified and so remodelled as to be made our own, but taken
bodily, and copied with scrupulous exactness, on which very account what
is intended for fidelity becomes no better than absurdity, and what was ex-
cellent in its own time — in accordance with the spirit and circumstances of
that time, is rendered more or less ridiculous by misapplication. Me hut>-
and pique ourselves upon our wonderful talent — the only wonder beiu"
that it should be thought such — for imitating what has some time or other
been done before. We plume ourselves upon being p/us araie que I'Aruhie,

— more Pompeian than Pompeii, more d la Qaatorze, than the great Louis*
All (5 la grecque and A la Hope one day, we are all Elizabethan the next '
Renaissance, and Roman, by turns ; Gothic or Grotesque, according just
as fashion dictates.

The Opera House has just been embellished A la Raffaellesque, and by
good luck — by sheer good luck it happens that that style — in reality the
<i la Titus is admirably well suited for the decorations of such a place, it
being playful, poetical, and fantastic enough, for which very reason the
application of it to a pontifical palace becomes somewhat questionable, not
but that it would have been highly commendable in some of the successors
of St. Peter had they emulated the noble example of Titus himself. By
those who have spoken of them, great stress is laid upon all the decoration
of that theatre being taken verbatim from accredited authorities. We are
awed into admiration by the names of Raff'aelle, Romano, De Udine ;
such piece of ornament, we are assured is from Genoa, another from Man-
tua. Then we have Guide's Aurora on the sofitte of the proscenium —
which if not poignantly satirical, is admirably appropriate, twelve o'clock
at night being the hour when the votaries of Fashion shout out
" Uprise ye then.

My merry merry men,

This is our opening day I"
AVhether any of the miniature subjects in the panels on the fronts of the
boxes be immediately taken from Ratl'aello and his contemporaries or not,
is of very little moment, since as subjects they are utterly lost, and a few
dabs of colour would show just as well, it is enough that the general effect
is good, — light, sportive, fantastio, and not overloaded with meaning!
This so to call it, unmeaning arabesque style of decoration may be allowed
to be admirably in keeping with the lyric or musical drama, both being
outri, and avowedly imitating nature only at a very great distance, and ex-
ceedingly conventionally : tbe nature of both is the nature of fairy-land,
and only a formal blockhead would object to them that they are nature
d la Ictlri. Arabesque may be regarded as the musical style of the picto-
rial art, and as distinct frum subject painting as singing is from speaking.
It is only the ultra-prudery of common sense that objects to such applica-
tion of the pencil as nonsensical and absurd. In fact it is its vagueness
and want of express meaning, together with its renunciation of any pre-
tension to imitate natural objects nuluralhj, that render this mode of paint-
ing preferable to picture in direct imitation of nature, for being allied with
architecture so intimately as to assume somewhat of the nature of the
latter art. Free and playfully fanciful, it is at the same time architectonic,
accommodating itself spontaneously to linear and symmetrical arrange-
ment.

One very great thing in favour of the pictorial embellishments of the
Opera House is that ihey are seen only by artificial light, which sheds
over them a glow whose very warmth sobers them, whereas by day paint-
ing of the kind is apt to look garish if not tawdry. In a theatre it is in its
proper element, the very atmosphere of the place being artificial; and
where all is artificial, the artificial becomes the natural. Had there been
even less of" picture" introduced— or we might say dragged in among the
properly so-called pictorial decorations, better taste would, we think, have
been shown. Besides Guido's Aurora over the proscenium there are four
circular compartments in the ceiling containing copies of Albano's Sea-
sons. In what respect they are at all significant we cannot divine : — there
are not four, but only one Opera " Season'" in the course of the year. In-
applicability of subject we could, however, wink at; but besides that we
protest against the absurdity of sticking up " pictures" upon a ceiling
where as " pictures" they can not possibly be properly seen,— and here
they show only as mere spots, — even as panels in the ceiling, those com-
partments are quite at variance with sound architectural design and com-
bination. Nor do we scruple to say this, although the ceiling is said to be
taken from one in the celebrated Villa Madonna at Rome. We can only
say, pity that instead of being taken, it was not left where it was found ;
and that Mr. Johnson, the commander-in-chief of the artistical forces em-
ployed, did not set his wits to work, and devise something better of his
own.— As to the " house" itself, it is by no means a model for a theatre :
all that it has of proscenium is confined to fluor and ceiling between the
orchestra and curtain, the boxes being continued quite up to the latter, so
that the audience are almost mingled with the actors.

n*

100

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[April,

NEW CHURCHES.

SiR—AViU you allow me to notice the inaccuracy of the acconnt of All
Saints Church, Rise, Yorkshire, extracted from the Eccksiologtst, and
riven in your last number? • , r „

For that account, should be substituted,-That this church consists of a
chancel (correctly propo.tioned) and nave, vvith a south porch, a massive
tower, and broach spire, " .n the first pointed style ;" the nave will seat
220 persons ; the cost is about £4,000. The extenor .. whol y of York-
shire (West Riding) grit stone, in regular courses, backed uith brick ; all
the inside arches and splayed jambs of the windows and jambs of doors
nre dressed stone ; the nave walls are plastered, but two lines of scrolls
are cut out and filled in with Martin's cement, which is used to cover al
the walls of the chancel. The east window is a triplet, plain outside, but
inside, the arch is richly moulded and supported by detached pillars. Ihe
chancel pillars and arch are old, and were found in the old walls m so
perfect a state as to be used with safety in the new building.

This church was built for Richard Bethell, Esq., upon the s.te of
the old church, near his mansion. Hot-water pipes are laid under the
middle aisle from a furnace and boiler, built externally ; the pipes are
covered by cast brass gratings. The whole of the chaucel is paved with
Messrs. Minton-. encaustic tiles, and round the altar the wall is covered
with figured tiles up to the window sills. All the seats, pulpit, lectern,
stall ends, &c., of chancel, are of Norway oak. The roof has no beams,

but is of the early form, found al How-
den, Hemsworth, Fenton, Cottiogham, the
Augustines, London, and many others,
which, when left open, are, after five cen-
turies, found in a perfect state. Each
rafter forms a perfect truss ; the spaces
between them are usually 18 to 22 inches;
these fir trusses are painted as oak, all the
boarding a pale azure, with gilt stars,
shaded, taken from an old boarded ceiling
in St. Mary's Church, Beverley. From
authority of ancient decorations in Eng-
, , ... .-„„„( the walls are coloured drab or stone— the scrolls

land and on t>>«7''''°;°'; '^."f^e „a'>s, margined with lines of scarlet
as parchment, rather lighter than the 'J- („„,i5.ima mona-

_the texts in the <^\"-''^;^ PJ^^^^'^fii ^ L lesser mouldings of the
clu^tes) m the P^^^^f/^^lt, '„■:., Le arches red and blue, with
caps and bases are gilt, the follows a , ^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^

the under sides of the -°;'^;"°X colour-pale blue ; the light reflected
the windows are coloured -"^ "^^^^ ~ ^^ ,bewn to great advantage

from this pale '>'"?--;[;;" J":,' /elne absorbed the light. A cor-
during the execution of the ""'■k'^^ '^^^ . ,„,„^,, m,„.

„ice of wood covers the --''%l\^^''2Tl narrow in proportion to its
duced, the gilding, answering for the ^^^^Jf ,,i,dows! by Wailes,

«!>;= mas a "iraall extravagant building, Dliea wiiu oduuj

this was a smau eiua j, u-t,„t;al pdifice the material coursed,

T^L ;;r ::: uiS:::^::-- --- on .e tr. ....

Trirc les even to the n,ou:dings_«o./ii«, strictly coJ,^e<l hut co.po i
No two buildings are to be found alike,-and why. Simp y for this
reason: that the principle, on having the key, is inexhaustible, and, by

I enclose you a sketch of a small village church, which is formed upon
that diagram, built at Leven (four miles from Rise), and which is little
more than a restoration of the old church of Leven-the old pillars, arches
font, piscina, and other porUons are used in the new building ; the church
was dedicated to St. Faith. At the end of the south aisle was a chantry ;
part of the old rood was found and removed there.

As I am anxious to reform many of the errors into which modern ar-
chitects have fallen, I will shortly send you some practical observation

PLAN OF LEVEN CHURCH.
N, Nare.-A, Alsle.-C, Chancel.- V. Vestry .-P, Porcll.

which I have made on ancient ecclesiastical works during the last twenty-
fire years or more. I am. Sir,

Your very obedient servant,

London, March 10th, 1840. R- Dennis Ch.ntrell.

p S I have now some new churches in progress on this principle-
first pointed," at Halifax ; " second" (decorated), at Huddersfield and at
Leeds • " third" or perpendicular, at Keighley, which latter, though perfect
as a bulling, must be degraded by galleries, which I cannot acknowledge
as in any way belonging to the building.

LEVEN CHURCH, HOLDERNESS, YORKSHIRE.

..orfcin,^ upon that key, minates will suffice to produce new ^»^if''^^"'
days may be expended in copying. Almost every ancient church, too,
contains the diagram, upon which it has been composed.

NOTES ON ENGINEERING,
IV.

ON THE STRENGTH AND F^M OF THE MENAI TUBULAR
BRIDGE.

The plan devised by Mr. R. Stephenson for a railway bridge consisting of
a wrought iron tube 450 feet long, is so bold in itse f, and suggests uch
veTyTmportant and instructive lessons respecting the theory of girders
thit an investigation of the principles on which it is proposed to construct
tie Me ai Bridge, and of the form which it will be necessary to give .t, m
order that its strength may be uniform in every part, cannot fail to be ,n-

"bS entering, however, on the investigation of this particular case, it
may teas well t^ notice briefly the views of those eminent philosophers
:« hav undertaken to investigate theoretically the strength of beam.
We find here as in every other branch of the physical sciences that the
Ubo s of e c,. succeeding investigator have tended to define and simplify
he op nions of his predecessors ; and it is not only very interesting but
very useful to trace historically these modifications, because by cons.d r-
veryusetuiio overcome before fixed principles

^^ultbe Subtle :;: ^ to see the essenUal nature of the princi-

•" TheZt SiLopher who endeavoured to determine the •- regulaUog

the strength of bodies acted upon by transverse strains was Gall.leo. The

b ef er 0 ofUis theory was .hat he assumed that when a body was about

o b eakby an excessive pressure, all the parts near the racture are in a

It of tension Another of his suppositions was that the tension of aU

epaltoth"; section of fracture was the same. This second error was

^-:k::rii^r;i^ot:rr;:;^.::^^;a:^

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEEERAND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL

101

was extended and the concave compressed, and that consequently on the
one side the strains vpere of the nature of tensions, and on the other of
pressures. The simple deduction from this view of the case was that there
is some place between the two sides of the beam where the extension of
the particles ceases, and the compression begins, — that is, there is a line
in the beam which is neither lengthened nor diminished in length by the
deflection. To this line Bernoulli gave the name of the Neutral Line :
his views are now exclusively adopted ; the only difficulty still existing re-
fers not to their accuracy, but the means of applying them.

A very simple illustration of the fact that a deflected beam is partly com-
pressed and partly extended, may be obtained by bending a twig of hazel or
willow ; if the bark be tender and flexible, it will be found to have a cor-
rugated appearance — to be gathered up in folds — on the concave side>
and on the convex side to be tightly stretched or actually burst asunder.

The chief difliculty in the above familiar instance, and one which indeed
Bernoulli's theory is generally subject to, is tlie determination of the pre-
cise place where the material is neither stretched or compressed. But
there is also another objection which will frequently hold — Bernoulli
adopted so much of Leibnitz's theory as assumed that the tension of any
part of the beam varied as the distance of a fixed line — that line being ac-
cording to Leibnitz in the upper or lower surface — according to Bernoulli
the neirfra; (in< between the two surfaces. Bernouilli's law of the mole-
cular forces was in fact this, that if at any purl of the beam, a plane be
drawn perpendicular to the neutral lines, the elastic forces perpendicular
to that plane (whether of the nature of pressures or tensions) are propor-
tional to the distances of the molecules from tlie neutral line. This law
was founded on Hooke's principle that the restituiive forces of a body are
proportional to the amount by which its natural length is increased or
diminished. But it is found in practice that it is possible to apply so great
a strain to a body that Hooke's law ceases to be true ; in^other words, that
there is a degree beyond which if the extension or compression of a body
be carried, its restitutive powers will no longer continue to increase with
the strain, but will actually diminish. The point is called the "elastic
limit ;" the nature of it may be illustrated by bending a flexible strip of
metal or wood to such an extent that the restitutive forces are no longer
able to restore the original form of the body, which remains permanently
bent.

The difficulty certainly is often opposed to the application of Bernoulli's
laws, because it is a matter of common experience that beams may be so
much strained and bent as to permanently retain their deflection when the
load is removed.

The most celebrated of the modern writers on the theory of the strength
of girders are M. Poncelet and Prof. Moseley. The elaborate researches
of the latter contained in the fifth part of the Mechanical Principles of En-
gineering, are well known to the English reader. In these researches
however, the weight of the girder itself is neglected as small compared
with the load to be supported : but as in the case of the Menai bridge, a
great proportion of the strength of the material is required to support its
own weight, a separate investigation seem to be required.

Distinctions between girders, arches, and suspension bridges.
It is very necessary that the effect en girders by which the molecular
action on their upper and lower sides have opposite tendencies should be
clearly conceived in the mind : for it is this opposite tendency which con-
stitutes the essential strength of girders. It is also their characteristic, by
which they are distinguished from the other structures for supporting loads
between piers or abutments. In the arch the material is entirely in a state
of compression, in the suspension bridge, of tension — in the girder alone
part of the material resists compression, and part resists extension. Did
not this property exist, the girder must, like the arch, and the suspension
chain be more and more stretched, the more nearly it was horizontal. It
is known that no finite tension will make a suspension chain quite horizon-
tal, and that when the deflection is small the strain and tendency to rup-
ture is very great. In the arch'also it is known that where the curvature
is small, the lateral thrust is greatly increased, and that when the height
of the arch is very great compared with its span, the strain on the material
i« not much more than that of the superincumbent mass. In the girder, how-
ever, it is found that no advantage is gained by giving the surfaces a great
curvature ; the strongest and most useful form which can be devised is
that for which the girder is equally strong in every part, and for the at-
tainment of this object, the curvilinear surfaces of the girder may be made
very much flatter than would be the curves of an arch or suspension chain,
eabjected to equal strain under similar circumstances.

Another important characteristic of the girder, due to the opposite ten-
dency of the molecular action on its upper and lower sides, is that unless
it be positively bent by its load, it exerts no lateral force on its abutments
A beam supported on two props will exert upon them a vertical pressure
only, and however much it may be loaded will exert no horizontal force at
its extremities unless the load be suflScient to alter its geometrical form.
In an arch or suspension-chain, however, the smallest load requires a cor-
responding lateral force, this force being in the former of the nature of a
thrust, in the latter of a tension. The distinguishing property of a girder in
this respect is due as has been said to the antagonism of its molecular ac-
tions, for it is demonstrable that whatever lateral forces its particles exert
on the lower side are counterbalanced by equal and opposite forces on the
upper side, so that ultimately the resultant horizontal force is zero.

Form of section of greatest strength.
Before proceeding to determine the amount of the strains actually ex-
erted in the proposed Menai tubular bridge, it is necessary to consider
what form of the transverse section of the girder gives the greatest
strength. These considerations cannot be expressed more clearly than in
the following quotation from the fifth part of Professor iMoseley's work
already referred to. The extract deserves careful perusal, as the correct
comprehension of it will clear up all difficulties as to the means by %vhich
the strength of girders is obtained :—

"Since the extension and the compression ofthe material are the greatest
at those points which are most disiant from the neutral axes of the^ection,
it is evident that the material cannot be in the slate bordering upon rup-
ture at every point of the section at the same instant, unless all the material
ofthe compressed side be collected at the same distance from the neutral
axis, and likewise all the material of the extended side, or unless the ma-
terial of the extended side and the material of the compressed side be re-
spectively collected into two geometrical lines parallel to the neutral axis ;
a distribution manifestly impossible, since it would produce an entire sepa-
ration ofthe two sides of the beam.

" The nearest practicable approach to this form of section is that repre-
sented in the accompanying ligure (tig. 1), where the material is shown
collected in two thin but wide flanges, but united by a narrow rib.
Fig. 1. ""

[:>^«ps»->^

That which constitutes the strength of the beam being the
resistance of its material to compression on the one side of
its neutral axis, and its resistance to extension on the other
side, it is evidently a second condition of the strongest form
of any given section that when the beam is about to break
across that section by extension on the one side, it may be
about to break by compression on the other. So long, there-
^jgi fi>re, as the distribution of the material is not such as that

1-''''^'' '^^'1 the compressed and extended sides would yield together, the
strongest form of section is not attained. Hence it is apparent that the
strongest form of the section collects the greater quantity of the material
on the compressed or the extended side of the beam, according as the re-
sistance ofthe material to compression or to extension is the less. M'here
the material of the beam is cast iron, whose resistance to extension is greatly
less than its resistance to compression, it is evident that the greater portion
ofthe material must be collected on the extended side.

" Thus then it follows, from the preceding condition and this, that the
strongest form of section in a cast iron beam is that by which the material
is collected into two unequal flanges joined by a rib, the greater flange
being on the extended side; and the proportion of this inequality of the
flange being just such as to make up for the inequality of the resistances
of the material to rupture by extension and compression respectively.

" iMr. Hodgkinson, to whom this suggestion is due, has directed a series
of experiments to the determination of that proportion of the flanges by
which the strongest form of section is obtained."

Effect ofthe vertical ribs.

Now it will be seen from the representation of the trans-
verse srction (fig. 2) of the Tubular Bridge that it is in fact
a girder of the required form, except in that it has two
lateral ribs instead of one central rib. These ribs, it will be
seen from the quotation, contribute to the strength of the
r^.^^x^Njig girder, not so much directly by their own strength, as
Fig. 2. indirectly (I) by separating the upper and lower flanges,

and (2) by establishing that rigid connection by which the opposite
tendency of the molecular action already spoken of is maintained..
These two offices of the vertical ribs ought to be rightly understood
Respecting the first, it may be observed that for a given quantity
of material, the strength of the beam increases with the distance by
which the upper and lower flanges are separated. This increase
of strength does not arise from the increased mass of the rib, so mach
as from the circumstance that the further the flanges are apart, the
further are they from the neutral line within the girder, and, consequently,
the greater U the leverage of the molecular forces. The advantages of

102

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Aprii.,

making the molecular forces act at a great distance from tlie neutral is
illustrated in a very striking way in the floor-joists of a house, which are
uniformly laid on their thinnest edges, in order that their upper and lower
surfaces may be separated by the greatest possible interval. Again, if a
tlat slip of wood, such as a fiat drawing rule, be pressed on its broad side,
there is no difficulty in bending it; if, however, it be pressed on its thin
edge it will be almost impossible to produce a deflection. Now, it 13
carefully to be noted that in both experiments the nature of the forces
called into action are precisely the same ; the material remaining un-
changed, of course the cohesion or elastic force is unchanged also ; the
only dilTerence is that, in the second case it acts with much greater
advautase than in the first, simply because its leverage is increased.

It is but a very slight extension of Ibis idea to conclude, that the form
of the greatest possible strength is that in which all the elastic force acts
at the greatest possible distance from the neutral line, or in which all the
material is collected in the upper and lower flanges, except what is abso-
lutely necessary for the due connection of them by the rib or ribs.

This brings us to consider the second oflice of the rib — the establishing
a rigid connection between the flanges. It is not sufiicient that the flanges
should merely be kept asunder: for this purpose an open railing of vertical
bars would be sufficient. But it is easy to see that if such a contrivance
■were substituted for the solid rib, the "antagonism" of the molecular
forces would not be maintained. It is absolutely necessary that the upper
and lower flanges should be in opposite states of elasticity and that they
•hould mutually counteract each other. These requisites cannot be an-
swered unless the web be rigid — not only vertically, to prevent the flanges
approaching each other, but also laterally, so as to act in every part as a
rigid lever, of which the fulcrum is in the neutral line, the molecular
actions of the flanges constitute the balanced forces.

Before concluding these preliminary remarks, it may be as well to notice
one passage from Mr. Stephenson's Report, published in the last number
of this Journal. He says —

" Another instructive lesson which the experiments have disclosed i«,
that the rectangular tube is by far the strongest: that the circular and
elliptical should be discarded altogether."

It may, however, be fairly asked, whether it were necessary to make
that a matter of erperimfnt which might be unhesitatingly predicted by
the ordinary laws of mechanics ? It is clear that, comparing a curvilinear
and a rectangular tube of given depth and containing a given quantity of
material, the latter is that in which the greatest proportion of the material
has the maximum leverage, and confequently that the rectangular form is
that of the greatest strength.

1. Practical Limits to the length of the Girder.
It will be found in the following methods of calculation that the particu-
lar form of the transverse section adopted by Mr. Stephenson, aiTords peculiar
facilities for the determination of each problem without incurring the diffi-
culties which are usually opposed to the application of the theory adopted
by Bernoulli. It will be assumed in all that follows that the ribs are only
sufficiently strong to bear their own weight, and to maintain the necessary
rigid connection between the upper and lower flanges— that is that the
whole of the available strength of the material is applied where it may
have the most useful eff'ect. It will remain to show hereafter how the
flanges may be made to satisfy this assumption, or how far they will mo-
dify it.

It is proposed for the Menai Bridge that the plates of iron shall be one
inch thick ; this construction very nearly satisfies the conditions of the
greatest strength as laid down in the extrnct from Moseley's Engineering
given above. The flrst problem which will be the determination of the*
greatest possible length of a girder of the depth proposed (30 feet) so that
it may bear its own weight.

It is found by experiment that wrought iron will bear with safety a strain
of nine tons to the square inch, and if that amount be much exceeded,
the material begins to stretch. Now as the beam cannot be deflected
without some part of its material stretching, the point to be determined is
this— what is the length of the beam when by its own weight a strain of
nine tons to the square inch, is applied to the metal. It is obvious that if
the beam be of uniform depth, the longitudinal strains will be greatest in
the miildle.

Let A B C D, fig. S, represent a longitudinal section of one-half the
girder, which is supposed to be cut in half by a vertical plane at C D. If
we suppose the half beam to be acted upon at C D, by forces similar to the

Fig. 3.

I

molecular actions which actually exist at C D in the undivided beam, it
is clear that the conditions of equilibrium will not be affected.

The forcesacting on A B C D are— lst,P the upward pressure of theabut.
ment (the beam being supposed uniform P = ^ the weight of the beam, br
the ordinary conditions of equilibrium). 2nd, a downward force W equal
to the weight of A B C D, and acting at the centre of gravity half way
between A and D. 3rd, the molecular actions at C D.

Respecting these molecular actions it is to be observed that they are
wholly horizontal ; for P and W being both equal to half the weight of the
beam P=W, and therefore if a third vertical force were introduced the
equation of vertical forces could not hold. The molecular forces are there-
fore horizontal ; they are also equal and opposite, for otherwise the equa-
tion of horizontal forces could not hold. As therefore we have supposed
the plates A C, B D to be of comparatively small thickness, we may sup-
pose the molecular actions to be represented by two forces H, M, in the
directions indicated by the arrow beads. The only eff'ect of representing
all the forces of compression by one single force, and all the forces of ten-
sion by another single force, is the assumption of that which is practically
true, that all parts of the section C exert equal pressures, and all parts of
the section D equal tension, and that all the forces at C and at D, act so
near each other that they may in each case be represented by a single
force.

Taking moments about B, W ) A Dr:M. A B. (1-)

Now we suppose the tension at D to be 9 tons or 20,160 lb. to the square
inch ; consequently if we call the area of the section D, a inches, M =
20,100 a.

W is the weight of the plates B C and AD : if the length of each of
them be I inches, its solid content is a I cubic inches, and since the weight
of a cubic inch of wrought iron is about -28 of a Ih. the weight of each
plate is a ix '28, and W is double this or 2 a ix-28. Substitating in (1.)
a(ADx-28 = 2O,lC0aAB (2.)

j5_2oj^i A B = 72 000 A B.

•28

A B the depth of the girder is in the proposed bridge 30 feet or 360 inches.
Therefore multiplying 300 by 72,000, and extracting the square root, we
get the value of ( in inches : this value will be found equivalent to 421-26
feet. Hence we arrive at the following conclusion, I being half the length

of the girder ;

The greatest length of a girder 30 feet deep, which trill support its own
weight safely is Si&fcet.

It will beobsened that this conclusion is independent of the arch of the
cross sections C and D. or of the width of the girder. This circumstance
arises from the tension and weight being both proportional to the cross
section.

2. Tension at the centre of a Girder iSO feet long.
The length proposed by Mr. Stephenson falls far within the limits of
length determined by the last proposition. The next point to determine is
the actual tension per square inch when the length is that of the Menai
Bridge— namely, 450 feet.

Using the figure and notation of the last proposition we have putting io
2), the value of / or A C = 225 feet (-2700 inches), and the value of A B
c 300 inches ; and putting also t for the tension per inch at D.
ax(2700)2x28 = <a300,
,290,000 X '28

* = -

360

Efl'ecting the operations indicated by this equation, we find the value of
i to be 5(.70 lb., or 253 tons. Hence we come to this conclusion—

When the girder is i^O feet long the tension prodwcfd at its centre by itt
weight is rather more than 2J tons to the square inch.

1 his conclusion like the last is independent of the area of the section

CorD.

3. Vertical strain on any part of the Girder.
It has been demonstrated in the first proposition Uiat the molecular ac-

18i6.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

103

lions are entirely horizontal at the centre of the girder ; this however is not
the case at any other part of it. AVe shall find that if a section be sup-
posed to be made at any point but ihe centre, that llie molecular actions
have to be replaced by a vertical strain in addition to the horizontal couple
of tension and pressure, and it will be found also that this vertical strain
increases continuously from the centre to the extremities of the girder,
while the horizontal couple on the contrary is greatest at the centre aud
zero at the extremities. The efl'ect of this vertical strain, if it were suf-
ficient to produce rupture, would be— not to tear the material asunder

but to make the particles at the surfaces of the section g/iVe upon each
other. It may be shown however that the vertical strain is so small that
this effect need not be apprehended, and in fact may be neglected without
appreciable error.

Fig. 4.

Let A B CD', fig. 4, represent the longitudinal section of a larger por-
tion than half the beam, the vertical line CD' being now beyond the mid-
dle point. Let W be the weight of A B C D', aud let N be the sum of
the vertical strains acting at €' and D'. Then we have for the equation
of vertical forces^

W' = P + N.

But the value of P is the same as in fig. 3, and is of course unaltered by
the vertical section being removed to C D' ; that is, the value of P is, as
before, W or half the weight of the girder. Hence

N = W — W.
That is, the vertical strain is the diilerence between the weight of the por-
tion of the beam on which it acts and the weight of half the beam. From
the last equation it is clear that N increases as W increases, aud if the
section be taken close to the further extremity of Ihe beam where W is
nearly equal to the weight of the whole beam, N will be equal to 2 W-W
or half the weight of the beam. Giving N this its greatest value we may
readily ascertain the strain which it produces per square inch of Ihe verti-
cal section. Taking as before the area of the section C or D' to be a inches
and therefore of the two together 2a, and putting r for Ihe vertical strain
per square inch, N =2 a u. Also the solid content of the two plates to-
gether is 2 a multiplied by the length 5400 in. (4J0 feet), and sinte Uie
weight of the cubic inch of iron is -28 lb., the total weight of the two plates
is 2 a X 5400 X "28. Hence since N equals half this weight ;
2 a « = a X 5400 X -28.

It will be found from this equation that the value of ris 7561b., or the
greatest vertical straiit per square iuch is rather more than one-third of a
ton.

It is clear that this strain would have so small an elTect to produce rup-
tare that it may safely be neglected.

4. Tension produced in the Girder by a given load.
It has been shown that the greatest strain produced in the girder by its
weight merely is rather more than 2^ tons to the square inch : so that if 9
tons to the square inch be taken to be the degree of strain which may safely
be applied to the material, we have raiher less than Oi tons to the square
inch, which may be produced by the railway train or other load upon the
bridge. It is clear that when the load is at the centre it has ihe greatest
efl^-ect or moment about the points of support at Ihe extremities. Let us
now esammewhat strain a given load would of itself produce at the centre
neglecting the weight of the girder. Kecurring to fig. 3, let us suppose
the force marked W no longer to exist, and that a(.the point D a force «•
equal to weight of Ihe given load is applied. Let the force marked M now
represent the strain produced by w. Also let P instead of its former value
take the value now required, namely, ^ „■ : then it will be clear by reason-
ing similar to that in Prop. 1, that no vertical force but w acts atD. Tak-
ing moments about C, and putting P=^«',

fit) . AD = M . CD.
A D and C B are in the proportion of 225 feet : 30 feet, or 15 : 2, so that
we may substitute for the above equation ;

Hence whatever number of tons w may weigh, the strain produced by w
will be 3i times as many tons. To find the number of tons strain per square
mcho/the vertical 3ec(«,«, we observe that the width of the plate is supposed
to be 15 feet or 180 inches, and its thickness one inch, so that the area of
the section is 180 .square inches, and consequently the strain per inch is the
180th part of M. Consequently the strain per iuch is equal to
15 7.<: 1

(3.)

. 15

4xlH0"'-7^'

"48

From this equation we get the following simple rule-
Fur every 48 tons load actini; at the centre of the bridge a strain of 1 ton
per square is produced on the metal plates.

It follows from this that since af.er deducting Ihe strain produced by the
weight of the bridge an additional strain of ra.her less than Ci tons per
inch may safely be produced by the load, the load which could safelu be au
pUed at the centre of the bridge is rather less than three hundred and twelve
tons.

In Mr. Stephenson's report it is calculated that the bridge can bear a
load of 747 tons at its centre. But this discrepancy may easily be ac
counted for, by supposing that Mr. Hodgkinson's experiments had refe-
rence to the ir.«A-i«^ ueight, whereas here the load calculated is that
which with the weight of the bridge would produce a strain of 9 tons to
the square inch. It is to be observed also that in the present calculation
the amount of the extreme load is somewhat underrated, because it is sup
posed to act at a single point, whereas in the case of a railway train it would
be distributed over a considerable portion of the length of the brid<.e and
consequently when Ihe train was at the centre of the bridge, the part Jf the
load cut oir by the vertical seciion C D, and resting on A D, would not
act wholly at D, but the centre of gravity of this portion of the train would
be applied at a point somewhat nearer the extremity, and the moment of ihe
load would be proportionabiy smaller.

This however does not make a material difference. Mr. Stephenson
says in his report tliat for practical purposes a strength equivalent to 747
tons in the centre would be insufficient; it is clear therefore that as 312 tons
(which is less than half this load) causes a strain of 9 tons to the inch
when the dimensions of the bridge are those here assumed, it is necessary
to determine other dimensions by which the strength may be increased
There are two ways of effecting this object-Ist, by increasing the depth"
of the girder; 2nd, by increasing the area of the transverse section of the
plates, (that is, by giving the plates greater width, or greater thickness or
both). There is indeed a third method of increasing Ihe strength, namely
by increasing the dimensions of the vertical ribs beyond the degree of
strength necessary for the rigid connection of the upper and lower plates
but this method is so uuphilosophical and involves such a waste of mate-
rial that it may fairly be excluded.

The examination of the means of obtaining the requisite degree of strength
by increasing the thickness of the plates, and the depth of Ihe tube sh'all
be given in the next number of this Journal. It is proposed also to examine
how Ihe dimensions of the tube may be varied in dillerent parts of it so that
the strength may be uniform throughout, to examine the ellects of expansion
and contraclion of the material by variations of temperature, the form of the
vertical ribs so that Ihey may be sufficiently strong to perform their office
without adding to the strain on the flanges, aud lastly, the effects of imbed-
ding the ends of the tube in solid masonry.

It may be as well to say one or two words to prevent the purpose of
these suggestions being misinterpreted. They are certainly not intended for
the guidance or direction of ihe distinguished engineer who has planned the
Meuai tubular bridge, and whose scientific knowledge is fully adequate
for the calculation of its dimensions ; but to those who have not fully con-
sidered the principles of the strength of girders the present investigations
may offer an instructive lesson, especially as the conclusions are derived
not from gratuitous and dangerous hypotheses, but from the common funda-
mental principles of statical equilibrium.

H. C.

The syndicate of the Filzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, have received
from Mr Cockerell designs for completing the hall and staircase of Ihe
new buildmg, for parts of which Mr. Basevi had not left any sett ed
designs H orking drawings and estimates were ordered to be prepared

104

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[April.

ON ATMOSPHERIC RAILWAYS.

Resistance from the Ileal developed in the Air Pump.

By F. Bashfokth, B.A., Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge.

There are considerable differences between the mean theoretical and ex-
perimental resistances to the air pump piston, for given heights of the
barometer, as stated in Mr. Stephenson's Report on the Atmospheric Sys-
tem. The discrepancies, for low heights of the barometer, are easily ex-
plained by a reference to the diagrams from which the numerical results
were deduced. It here appears that the exit valve by its flapping through
a very considerable space, caused an increased and useless resistance. In
addition to this, it will be seen that at the very commencement of the stroke,
the indicator frequently gave a pressure of nearly 1 lb. per square inch
greater than the pressure in the tube. This no doubt was caused by the
stream of air rushing into the cylinder in tlie same manner as water into
the hydraulic ram. Thus the mass of air enclosed and expelled wae
greater than what was supposed by theory.

When the barometer rose to about 19 inches, although the above two
disturbing causes diminish with the increased rarefaction in the tube, the
ditferences of the theoretical and experimental results increased. Thig
was so considerable that Mr. Stephenson was driven to suppose that in
addition to the heat developed, a considerable leakage in the air pump
existed. It appears, however, that the first cause is quite sufficient, and
that the connecting tube must have admitted 206 cubic feet of air per
minute at the density of the atmosphere. Let

a = A B = length of stroke of air
pump piston.

k = area of air pump piston.

n= pressure of the atmosphere on
a unit of surface.

P, P, P„ the pressure of the

air in the tube after 1, 2 n

strokes.
Pi Pj p^ the density of the air

in the tube after 1, 2,....7i
strokes.
V = volume of the receiver,
c =: volume of the pump cylinder.
Suppose that at the nth stroke
when he pump piston has described a space B M = o — x, that the den-
sity of the air is p and pressure P. Then

-^ _/_£_^K AliUer'a Hydrostatics (38.) J

Also

pV =p, (V+r).

P.V

=P, CV'-f r).

biC.

= &c.

''n-l

\=,^{\+e,).

pV

=pn (V+r)".

I'n

-<v.f.> "

, suppose

Also P" = n R , for the rarefaction of the air goes on slowly, and it is

in contact with so large a surface of metal, that we may consider the tern,
perature to be uniform, and . • . the pressure and density. The tend,
ency however would be in favour of the atmospheric traction, k a p ,

= mass of air inclosed at the commencement of nth stroke =. k x p.

2=_i-. AisoP = P Y-^-^''=nr'*-'^''^'''

when the exit valve opens P = n, and suppose i = a,

,K

=__!.. Aisop=p r-^-^''=^R'-Y''^•''

pn—1 n—l\Pn~lJ \x/

"/•a a /^a K oft

then,=R"-'(^)
Work done in compressing the air =

_ n g fc ( i- n— 1 J

~K^^R — R ^

Work done in expelling the air = n fc x = 11 R a k.
Work done by the assistance of the air in the tube

y'a
V d X „n— 1 V

V+(a-x) "

k log, K

Hence work done during the nth stroke,

= .^=nak[ r"-' ;- log, U+^,(K k"-=1 -k"-' ) }
Work done at the end of n strokes.

n
/i_R>»v 1 / 1— R" i_R"\ >

l-R'

Ifw

n =a. maximum,

dn

This gives n = 100 nearly corresponding to a rarefaction of between 91
and 22 inches, which agrees exactly with experiment. If we do not allow
for the heat developed, theory gives 19 inches.

K-1

STEPHENSON'S REPORT, TABLE NO. V.

Diffe-

Height

Theory

pence of

of baro-

Theory.

Diffe-

Eiperi-

ivith

Theory

meter.

rence.

mentg.

heat.

and Ei-
perimen

The numbers found in
Table V. of Mr. blephen-
son's Report correspond to

6
7

2-6
30

0-8
0-8

S-4

3-8

2-6
3-0

0-8
0-3

8

3-4

07

4-1

3-4

07

"'n\
the valves of (—/ fcr

9

3-7

0-8

4-6

3-8

07

10

40

0-8

4-8

41

07

11

12

4-3
46

0-8
0-8

6-1
5-4

45

4-8

0-6
06

every inch of the barome-

13

4-8

0-8

6.6

6'1

U-6

ter from 5 to 27 inches.

14

50

0-8

5-8

5-4

0-4

where n = 15 lb. and K

15
16

4-2
5S

07
07

5-9
6-0

8-6

67

0-3
0-3

^ 1'416. The value found

17

6-4

07

«-l

61

0-0

by comparing the theore-

18

5-5

0-8

6-3

6-2

0-1

tical and experimental ve-

la

20

6-5
i'5

1-1

1-2

«-6

67

6-3
6-4

0-3

0-3

locities of sound. The

21

6-4

1-4

6-8

6 4

0-4

accompanying table ex-

»2

5-3

1-5

6-8

6-4

0-4

hibits the theoretical and

28
24
25

61
48
45

1-4
1-4
12

6-6
6-2
67

6-3
6-1
6-9

0-2

01

-0-2

experimental values of the
mean resistance to the pis-

26

40

09

4-9

6-5

—0-6

ton.

27

3-4

0-9

43

4-9

—0-6

In addition to the above test we may construct theoretical diagrams, and

compare them with those found by experiment.

The equations to the part described before the exit valve opens

a')
is </ = h' (- when heat is neglected (a.)

.„„ , — - -) in the otb*r case

(3.)

where A' denotes the length of the line between Gib. and the dotted line in
the figures representing th« pressure of the air in the tube, and a' the length
of the diagram, (a') evidently represents a series of rectangular hyper-
bolas referred to the same axes as asymptotes.

The curves (j3) are found to agree very nearly with experiments, whilst
(a, are very different when the height of the barometer is about 20 inches.

Both theories have their use. It has been seen that when heat is neg-
lected the work done by the engine, and the useful effect may be considered
equal. The other by its close agreement with experiment enables us to
estimate the necessary loss of different arrangements on the supposition
that the machinery is perfect.

Between 10 and 2S inches the loss arising from this source is IS or 24
per cent, of the useful effect, and is another reason why the rarefaction In
common instances ought nut to be pushed beyond IS or 19 inches.

18-16.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

105

UNFAITHFULNESS IN ARCHITECTURE.

By unfiitlifulnpss in architecture we mean — the employment of forms or
materials in such a manner that the true character of the architecture is
disguised. This delinition includes the use of materials deceptively, the
application of arcliiteclural members to wrong purposes, the introduction
of them when not used constructively, and lastly the decoration of the con-
spicuous parts of a building in sncli a manner that the eye is deceived as
to the architectural character of the parts unseen.

A curious instance of unfaithfulness in architecture has recently been
exhibited in some buildings connected with the Croydon Atmospheric
Railway, in the employment of structures, resembling in form the turrets
of Pointed Architecture, as chimneys. From these turrets may be seen
issuing day by day dark volumes of smoke, and consequently all the upper
portions of the ornamental work are blackened with soot. This begrimed
specimen of mock architecture is of course so ridiculous that the most
superficial observer ran detect the absurdity of it : but it must be carefully
noted that though in this case the accident of the discolouration has ren-
dered the archilectcrral error palpable, it is not that accident which con-
stitutes t\ie error — the principles of pure taste would have been quite as
much violated even if the ridiculous appearance of the soot-covered njould-
ings had not rendered the violation manifest. At the same time we ought
always to feel satisfaction when these accidents occur, because they render
obvious to the most uneducated observers, the defects which otherwise
would be condemned by those only who had studiously examined the
principles of architectural taste. Though in fact we shall usually find
that in all instances like these of the Gothic chimneys, some attendant dis-
aster is sure to follow, which by a kind of architectural retribution —
punishes the error by a signal publication of it.

To return hiwever to the general subject, we may remark that one of
the necessary consequences of architectural unfaithfulness is the neglect of
what has been aptly termed apparent construction. This term (lirst intro-
duced by Prof. Wdlis, we believe), signifies that development of the con-
struction of a building by which it is made manifest how each part is sup-
ported, and in what manner each member contributes to the stability of the
whole. It is not of course to be argued that wherever apparent construc-
tion is unironnly observed, the architecture is necessarily beautiful ; be-
cause in that case we must be prepared to find beauty in a hut, a sty, or a
stable; for in these structures the principles of apparent construction are
generally observed for the sake of economy. But still the converse pro-
position may be safely asserted, namely, that where apparent construction
is violated one of the sources of the beautiful is neglected ; and it also
seems an unavoidable conclusion that where forms which are individually
beautiful are combined faithfully, the resultant must necessarily be beauti-
ful also.

It is necessary that the exact value of faithfulness as an element of
beauty should be thus clearly ascertained, because it is not uncommon to
hear those who argue most zealously for the necessity making architecture
faithful, sjieaking as if they thought that by securing to it this single merit,
perfection was attained. For instance we find one of our contemporaries
pronouncing the architecture of the Parthenon, faithful and therefore
beautiful, whereas it is clear from the common instances which we have
adduced, that faithfulness is separable from beauty— that it is but one ele-
ment (though an essential one) of beauty, for we may readily conceive the
possibility of architecture being faithful which is not beautiful, though it
be quiie impossible to imagine perfectly beautiful architecture which is
not faithful.

M e will take an instance, and perhaps our selection may appear a bold
one, to illustrate our meaning. The dome of St. Paul's, nolwiihstaiiding
the astonishing constructive skill which it displays is disiinclly an example
of neglect of the rules of apparent construction. The exlcriordome instead
of being supported entir.ly by the substructure, as it appears to be, is in
fact carried by a timber framing resting on a cone of brickwork concealed
between the inner and outer cupol.is. On this cone of brickwork also
rests the lanlhern, which apparently is supported by the outer dome. More-
over the lateral thrust to the cone is resisted not by buttresses or other sup-
ports openly displayed, but by a bidden iron chain, which by its tenacity
preseries the stability of the nia>onry.

If it appear very bold heterodoxy to adduce such an instance as this, we
will bring the architect himself as a witness to cunoborale our opinion. Il
wdl be remembered that the original design submiited by Sir Christopher
W req, for St. Paul's, was rejected. In this first design, of which a model

exists in the present cathedral, "he endeavoured to gratify the taste of the
connoisseurs and criticks with something coloss and beautiful, wi'h a de-
sign antique and well studied, conformable to the best style of Greek and
Bonian architecture." Respecting this second design however— that ulti-
mately adopted, we are told in the Parcntalia, that be " then turned his
thoughts to a cathedral form so aUered m to reconcile as near as possible
the Gothic to a belter manner of architecture." — That is, he attempted an
impossibility.

The character of St. Paul's, as has been recently stated by Professor
Cockerell in bis lectures, is (independently of the individual members) that
of a Medisial Cathedral. A cruciform building with a lofty central dome,
it is obviously as different in form as it possibly can be, from the ancient
classic models. And consequently in reconciling classic architecture to
forms which it never contemplated, and for which it was not desifiied it
was necessary to import numerous contrivances which never belonged to
the original style, and which therefore of necessity involved the violation
of the principles of apparent construction.

To take another instance, and perhaps the most flagrant one in the same
building,— who would imagine by inspection fio n the exterior, that the
whole of the upper order round the church is nothing but a mask to conceal
the flying buttresses behind it which are similar in purpose to those which
in the ancient cathedrals are not only displajed openly, but are among the
most beautiful features of the architecture. (Jf the hundreds w ho pass St.
Paul's daily, how few are aware that the whole masonry which appears
above the lower range of columns is an isolaied mask, that it has nothin" to
do with the interior of the building, that it might be removed without pro-
ducing the slightest change in the interior, that in fart it is merely an ap-
pendent excrescence answering no purpose whatever except that of con-
cealment.*

It can scarcely be denied that the adaptation of classic architecture to
the mediaeval form involves incongruities and necessitates unfaithfulness
of construction. The mere consideration that the characteristic of the one
style is verticality, and of the other horizontality, s. ems sufficient proof
that the two can never be successfully rei onciled. lu these particulars
Damelj — the predominance in the one of vertical, and in the other of
horizontal lines — the two styles are not merely different but are diametri-
cally opposed to each other. And it is clear that this antagonism is so
direct, that it can never be avoided except by the violation of the principles
of one or both kinds of architecture.

This truth has been laid down with sufiicien! distinclnes's by others than
ourselves ; but there is another great distinction between Christian and
Classic Architecture, which though generally neglected is a most frequent
cause of architectural unfaithfulness — Classic Architecture is characterized
by DNITY— Christian Architecture by multiplicity. In the most perfect
specimen of theClassic stjie, the Parthenon, the ground plan is the simplest
possible, a rectangle, and all the details are combined so as to represent to
the mind one single uncomplicated idea. In the most perfect specimen of
the Media-val style, — Cologne Cathedral, perhaps — the effects of awe and
astonishment are produced by the combination of an infinite number of the
most varied forms: the effecis therefore in these two cases depend on en-
tirely diflcrent principles. M'e endeavoured to explain this distinction io
a former paper, by designating the one style as statuesque, that is, resem-
bling a statue or sculptural group, in which every part contributes to the
development of one single thought or action, and the other as pic/urcsji/e,
because it derives its beauty from the same various and complicated group-
ings which characterise the highest kind of painting.

If it be once admitted that Grecian and Christian Architecture are re-
spectively distinguished by unity i)i>ii multiplicity, it follows as a necessary
consequence that an edifice in which the design as a nhole is Mediajval,
and the individual members Classic, must be incongruous. It would, we
think, be scarcely denied that, were it necessary at the present day to build
a new mefiopohtan church of the same iinporlauce as St. Paul's, notwith-
standing the general admiration of the architeciure of Sir Christopher
\\ ren, the attempt to combine the cathedral form with the elements of
Corinthian architecture would not be renewed.

Archiieclural criticism has frequently been censured for deficiency in
fixed leading principles. Those whose office it is to pronounce on the

* Ttiat we may not appear singular in th'S criti' ism, we quote the foUowing from the
i!e5c:iptioii ot this church in Gvvilt*s Kiityclupedia of Architecture. " tVe must here
niutition une of the most unpardonable de'ects or rallier abuses which tliis church ex-

h'tjil^ Tite enormous expense ot tile second or upper older all around the church was

incurred lor no other purp. &e than that of cotitealing the flying bullresses tlut are uset)
to coui.teract the tlirusls of the vaults of the nave, ctioir, a.iil transepts- an abuae that
aduii'.s of no apoloyy. It is au architectuiul fraud."— B. I. ch, HI. sect. 7.

14

106

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[April,

merits of modern buildings are accused of forminK their judgment on cir-
cumstances peculiar to each individual case, and not on broad general
rules. The criterion however which we here advocate, that of faithfulness
is certainly suHiciently general and definile. It were difficult to overrate
the advance which modern architecture might make, were the necessity of
using forms and materials faithfully once fully established in the minds of
architects and critics. Even if such an obvious truth as this could be once
firmly established— that a col.imn when not used as a support, is simply a
deformity— that the hoisting of a column on the first floor of a building, or
the slicking it against the face of a wall, where instea.l of supporting the
building it is supported by it-if only such plain lessons as these could be
learned°we should have made a bold step towards the attainment of purity

of taste. , , .. J

Those who really love the art, and feel a generous zeal for its advance-
ment, should devote their best energies to the development, and establish-
ment of philosophical principles in it. It is a painful but unavoidable re-
flection that while in most other professions the ability of the practitioner
outrunsthe desires of the people, modern architecture scarcely ever satisfies
their expectations. There is no difficulty however in assigning a sufhcient
reason for these deficiencies. Almost all other branches of modern skill ex-
hibit a spirit of a philosophical accuracy which exactly accords with the
intellectual genius of the age ; iu architecture alone we are still tramrnelled
by obsolete forms, and instead of adopting the principles and emulating
the excellence of the purest ancient architecture, continually reproduce the
barbarous incongruities invented by our more immediate ancestors.

CHURCH ARCHITECTURE, AND CHRIST CHURCH,
PLYMOUTH.

Only by the encounter of opinion with opinion is it that prejudice can be
overcome, and truth elicited in matters of opinion, criticism and taste.
Such encounter, however, cannot take place unless contrary, and conflicting
opinions are brought forward in the same quarter, so that the same
,Tad rs may learn vvhat is said on both sides of the question ; otherwise
hevTet on y one-perhaps the weaker half of the argument, "I'-b passes
for being uuLswerable, merely because it is unanswered, or -t allow d
0 be answered, all that would make against the side which has been
taken up, being studiously suppressed. Such conventent -e-sidede
generally takes the plausible name of consistency, and it certainly flatters
the indolence of those who having made up their minds upon any subject
„f inquiry, once for all, do not like to be disturbed and put to the
troubk of reconsidering what they would fain believe to be incontro-
vertible Yet even sound opinions are apt to grow rusty by tune, and the
advocacy of them to degenerate into mere dogmatism, if they be not oc-
casonaly stirred up and turned over afresh. This has been decidedly
the case w ith regard to architectural opinion and criticism, in which brow-
beating assertion founded chiefly upon previous autborat.ve dicta, has been
substituted for convincenient, whether in confirmation of o, in opposition
,0 such authorities ; for nearly the same superstitious reverence (or precedent
„hich prevails in regard to architectural styles, prevails also in regard to
Trchitectural doctrines. Nevertheless, even doctrines that are sound in
the ml n, require sometimes to be further explained, to be illustrated by
posi v -nV.-dtobeset in a fuller and clearer igt ; and ,t is
owTngtothisact being done, that so far from being able to defend the
uTdifional opinions and arguments which they have adopted at the outset
'their studies, people feel bewildered when they find them impugned
ind unable to defend them, though they may be obstinately determined not
to irive them up, or even admit any qualification of them.

Wherefore should not architectural criticism, instead of being confined to
the narrow and beaten track in which it is now made to move-or raUier
hobble along just at the heels of precedeut-a sort of lu^uais de paceio it,
and sometime a Will-o-.the.Wisp,-why, I ask, should it not be allowed to
IgeTre y and exercise itself as it lists 1 It is time for us now to turn
our atte ntion to something more than the consideration of styles alone and
2 mere settling ofdates and matters of that kind, to which the study of
*e"t as a branch of literature and criticism has hitherto been almost
delusively limited, the merely historical and antiquarian quite over-
ZlLnX.sthetic; whereby such study has been rendered one Uiat
chiefly exercises the faculty of memory, leaving that of taste inactive, and

inert. If in addition to the historical and non-architectural we obtain
tolerably full matter-of-fact description, it is nearly the utmost that we
ever do. Take our English Cathedrals — for they have been more
frequently and more minutely spoken of than any other structures of the
tint ; which among them all has been made the subject of a complete
critical and rtsthetic examination, noticing every peculiarity in it? In
other words, have we any urtiftical descriptions of them ?— that sort of
description which not only illustrates but illuminates, kindling up into
beauty, irradiating and making clearly perceptible what is also hardly
discernible to ordinary eyes ?

No wonder, therefore, that persons in general hold architecture to be a
dry study, and find it to be a distasteful one, encumbered with grave and
learned pedantry on the oue hand, and a dully plodding, and mere
mechanical pursuit on the other ; while as to the vaunted mystic excellence
of 'proportions,' thanks to those who have systematized them, they are to
be got at ready-made— for the matter of that so is criticism too, and the
essence of it consists not in judging of buildings according to their in-
trinsic and individual merit as productions of architecture, but in prejudging
them according to certain conventionalities, and wherever those are broken
through, in condemning without further inquiry. Nearly the same one-
sidedness which once scouted Gothic architecture tl ogether, as barbarous,
prevails now, the difference being that it is in contrary direction, pushing
veneration for it'to superstition.

Cumbersome tediousness, amounting to nothing as architectural inform-
ation, and bewildering unreadableness are the prevailing faults of most of
the recent publications which profess to speak at length of our ancient
architecture as exemplified in particular buildings. As to modern churches,
though they obtain more frequent and a far greater share of notice than almost
all the other classes of buildings put together, they are criticised only £«-
cletiologicalhj, or else cried up as wonders in newspaper paragraphs that
read very much like paid-for newspaper puff's. Mr.Wightwick may, there-
fore, consider himself singularly fortunate, and his Christ Church at Ply-
mouth especially favoured by the latter having been made the subject of
remarks partaking of controversy ; and as I myself think think it has been
captiously censured for what I am inclined to look upon as an improve-
ment rather than the contrary, in modern church architecture, — at least
where galleries are introduced, I avail myself of the opportunity arising
out of what has been said to offer some further observations. Besides
that, I honour Mr. AVightwick for being one of the fevr of the profession
who think for themselves, without waiting to be prompted by precedent
on everv occasion. Caadidus owes him some reparation for having pub-
lished, sometime ago, a paper in one of the leading periodicals, entitled
"Wightwickism," intended to be commendatory, but which some dull
matter-of-fact blockhead in a Plymouth newspaper pronounced to be
nothing less than a complete cut-up !— whereas, had that been my object,
I should have exhibited my ability in cutting-up after a very difl"erent
fashion. Perhaps, for the benefit of the country gentlemen, that is, country
newspaper editors, I ought to give warning that I am not going to cut-up
Wightwick now; tout au contr aire, to give him my good word— and it
may go for just as much as that of many others.

In his reply to the strictures upon his church at Plymouth, Mr. Wight-
wick asks if it be "quite fair to call the only front that shows a j/tow
front." Most certainly not, if that terra is to be;taken, as was evidently meant
in an injurious and reproachful sense ; and if not so intended, it is only an
Anglicised version of the Italian 'fnciuta,' and our naturalized Anglo-Italian
word '/«(adc.' As a term of a reproach in contradistinction to ' facade,'
that [of ' show-front' applies only where the other sides of a building are
seen, yet are quite out of keeping with the display affected in the principal
one. The British Museum, for instance, will have a veritable show-front,
and even that front will be in some measure disfigured by the paltry
buildings which are allowed to come into sight between the main body of
the edifice and the west wing. It will be said by some that a church ought
to stand quite apart from other buildings, so as to show more than a
mere fafade towards the street : yet such 'ought' is not very evident, it
depending in a great measure upon circumstances, and even where there
is nothing to prevent a church from being quite insulated; that may be
rather a disadvantage than not in regard to architectural design, because
if the funds are limited, either architectural finish will be contioed almost
exclusively to the west or entrance end of the building, which therefore
becomes a mere show-front, or such inconsistency is avoided only by im-
poverishing that and making the whole exterior equally poor and insipid
throughout. One or other of these flagrant defects is exemplified in most
I of our modern structures, whatever merit some of them may possess in

1S46.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEEERAND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL

107

other respects ; and one of the latest of those erected in the metropolis,
which sliows very well from one point of view, looks almost ludicrously
mean, owing to the body of the church being fully exposed to view on the
north side, it being a mere pigmy in comparison with the tower and spire,
at the foot of wliich it seems to have squatted down.

After all, 'show front,' perhaps, might pass, were it not for something
much worse, the unpardonable prc/ii' T/ior/s/ of Mr. Wightwick's church
being that it is lighted on the sides only by clerestory windows, there being
Done in the aisles. This is found fault with as un*Imrch-like, — and if by
' unchurch-like' were meant nothing more than that it dill'ers from what ne
are accustomed to see in churches, the epithet would be suitable enough ;
but it implies a very great deal more— nothing less than something unbe-
coming to, and what ought on no account to be adopted for cliuiches. Vet
vrliy not? — more especially if situation requires it, when such mode of ob-
taining sufficiency of light in spite of the external obstructions oc(-asioned
by surrounding buildings, ought to be prizad as a great advantage in itself
atid one immediately derived from the Gothic style, and in efl'ect character-
istic of ecclesiastical examples of it. Were it found that an interior
tivving no other side windows than clerestory ones, can be but imperfectly
lighted, the objection might be considered tolerably valid ; but such cer-
tainly does not appear to be the case in regard to Christ Church, because
ID the extract given from the Plymouth Journal it is spoken of as being
" cheerful as the day," though that may be only a flourish of newspaper
rhetoric. Be that as it may, we need not travel to Plymouth to ascertain
whether it be possible for a church so circumstanced in regard to windows
to be adequately lighted, because there happens to be one now erecting,
and fast advancing to completion, near Fitzroy-sqnare, which instances
erery one of the points that are deemed architectural heresies aud devia-
tions from orthodox ecclesiology in Mr. Wightwick's structure, it being
built in between houses, consequently having only a show-front, and being
lighted on its sides by clerestory windows only. In regard to tiie Plj mouih
structure, it has been assumed somewhat confidently that it must be either
insufficiently lighted, or the clerestory windows so enlarged as to become
" very prominent features" — of course disadvantageously so. Excess uf
size in its clerestory windows is certainly not the fault of the other church
just alluded to, for there they consist of very small apenures put in pairs
over each arch of the aisles; yet so far from there being any deficiency of
light, there seems to be rather too much, and that it requires to be mode-
rated by diapered glass, notwithstanding that at present one of the end
windows is covered up by temporary boarding before it. Little, indeed,
can be said in favour of the interior itself, since it is bare and poor, but iis
unsatisfactoriness is certainly not occasioned by there being no windows in
the aisles, since were there any, the efl'ect would be rather for the worse
than the contrary.

" We never should expect," it is urged in argument against Mr. Wight-
wick's building," to meet with an ordinary skylight in an ancient church,"
which remark, as far as it has any drift at all, seems to imply that such is,
neverlheless, the case in his modern one, although to answer to the name of
skjlight at all, his clerestory must be a very exiraordiiianj skylight in.
deed. That the exclusive employment of oli-reslory windows, or in other
words, of windows placed aloft, so that light streams down into the build,
ing, is contrary to the spirit of pointed architecture, is more easily asserted
than to be borne out by proof. The efl'ect so produced is certainly a pe.
culiar and unusual one, but it has generally been prized accordingly as of
rare merit. This it is which if it does not constitute, contributes so greaily
to the peculiarand charming efl'ect of the octagon in Ely Cathedral. To say
that and similar instances do not answer to the title of ■' clerestory would
be only cavilling about words, because the point for actual consideration
is, not whether such term can be correctly applied to instances of the kind'
but whether such mode of lighting a Gothic interior principally, if not en-
tirely, from the upper part of its sides, be contrary to the spirit of the style
itself or not ; or if not exactly that, be " un-church-like." That it must
inevitably be the latter, and that the character of an interior so lighted
must partake of that of an exhibition-room or picture-gallery has been do.
cisively taken for granted, else why should the National Gallery be
referred to as proving most convincingly that the elfect attending
light admitted from above must be " essentially secular.'' Why ! except
that single circumstance, there is not a single particular of resemblance,
and even in regard to that there is a difl'erence, the rooms alluded lo being
lighted by sky-lights or lanterns in the ceilings. Undoubtedly the light is
there generally difl'used, because it was intended to be so, neither is "there
•ny decided architectural expression or any play of light and shade, there

being nothing whatever to produce either the one or the other. Does it
follow that every other interior into which the light is admitted at all after
the same manner as in a picture-gallery or museum, must on that account
resemble an apartment of the kind ? Can no diflerences as to style, as to
design, as to arrangemeDt, as to fitting up, as to quantity of light, Sec,
overcome such fatal resemblance to a secular buildin"' ?

Had it been intended to judge fairly what striking architectural ex-
pression and efl'ect may be achieved almost entirely by admitting light
from above, a very secular builduig indeed— namely the Bank of England,
might have been referred to as exhibiting a variety of modes and ideas of
the kind, all of them attended with diflerences of efl'ect. There might even
have been policy in especially pointing to the halls and offices in the Bank,
as that would have furnished a very plausible protest against the unseemli-
ness, ifnot actual profaneness, of adopting for religious buildings au
arrangement in regard to lighting, that could by any possibility be likened
lo one desecrated by having been made use of in a temple of mammon.

It is amusing to observe how readily people allow themselves to be
scared by bugbear words aud mere names, 'secularity' is one of them, as if
everything in and about a church ought to be totally distinct from, and
bear no sort of resemblance whatever to anything else of the same kind
employed m buildings of a dilfereut character. If such ought to be the
case, we ought to be informed hoiv it is to be accomplished. Some of the
leaven of secularity is freely enough tolerated iu churches without
scandalizing even the most scrupulous, — coats of arms, for instance
monuments with fulsome epitaphs, and other mundane varieties. Rooms
with either laulern lights, or with windows only overhead in the upper
part of their walls, are not so exceedingly common that such mode of
lighting can be regarded as secular and uuchurchlike on that account.
And if there be anything at all in symbolism, light from above, proceeding
immediately as it were from heaven, while all external objects reminding
us of this every-day world are excluded from view, might surely be
thought equally appropriate and significaut in a church. It is not denied
that side windows in the aisles are characteristic of our ancient churches,
and if in modern ones they are made worthy features in themselves, and the
character established by precedent can be fully kept up in all other
respects, well and good ; but where aisles serve only as recesses for seats
and galleries, windows in them chiefly render the deviation from ancient
precedent all the more olleni-ive- in fact, a positive^ solecism, exactness
being profusedly aimed at under circumstances which render it unattain-
able. If we can imitate with perfect consistency, with such thorough
observance of former architectural costume, aud with such deceptive fidelity
that a modern structure can perfectly counterfeit au ancient one, correct-
ness, though after all it amounts to no more than copying, may pass for a
merit ; but when altered circumstances require a dilferent mode of treat-
ment, it is for the architect to comply with the exigencies of circumstances
without forfeiting any of the spirit of the style he adopts, but on the contrary
to engraft upon it fresh ideas that may serve as precedent hereafter. Truly
it is not every one or any one that can do this ; otherwise architecture
would nut deserve the name of Akt. All the more honour therefore be
to those who can.

Ca.n'didus.

PAESEV'S AIR ENGINE.

The facility with which unprofessional observers are deceived respect-
ing the value of mechanical inventions is really lamentable. The locomo-
tive air engine is a case in point. This contrivance was described with an
engraving in our last volume, p. 298, and we should have contented our-
selves with the notice then given, without again alluding to the subject,
but that we find this inveution lauded in newspaper paragraphs as
calculated to produce a revolution in the system of locomotion. To the
scientific man the language of the paragraphs alluded to will suffice to
prove that they are written by incompetent persons, but the general reader
has not the same means of ascerlaininj; the value of these encomiums
We wish to call attention to a notice which has been forwarded to us by
a Dublin Correspondent. The object is briefly to show thht for ajour-
ney of thirty miles there would be required 37,200 cylinders full of
air, or as many c'u/)(i- /"<■«<, if each cylinder full be a cubic foot, (a very
low estimate); and that supposing this air ten limes as niiich compressed
in the reservoir as in the ( ylinder the capacity of the reservoir must be
equal to one-tenth of the 37,2U0cubic feet; that is, the magazine if eight

14*

108

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[April,

feet diameter, would be required to be 75 feet long. Of course it would
be preposterous to carry with the engine a vessel of this magnitude.

In the first place, no power is f;uinid by using compressed air, because
as much force must be employed in condensing the air into the receivers,
as the condensed air can exert when brouglit iuio action. Next let us sec
what size of magazines or cases would be required for a railway locomotive
worked with compressed air, for a thirty mile stage.

" The cylinders of a modern locomotive are about 14 inches diameter, that
is, the pistons have each an area of about one foot; the stroke is usually
about IG to 18 inches, and the circumference of the driving wheels is almut
17 feet ; they will consequently make about 310 revoUilions in a mile ; the
pressure in the pistons is about 50lb. on the inch. Then, assuming that
the air is compressed toa pressure of about 5000 lb. on the inch, we have
the elements for calculating what size of magazines or cases would be re-
quired."

"As the wheels would make 310x30 = 9300 revolutions in 30 miles, and
as the two cylinders would each be filled twice during each revolution,
there would be 9300 X J = 37.200 cylinders full of compressed air required
to carry on a locomotive 30 miles ! Assume that the air was worked ex-
pansively in the cylinders, and that only a cubic foot was admitted at each
half stroke, the quantity of air compressed to 50 lb. on the inch, would be
37 200 cubic feet ; but as the air is supposed to be compressed to 500 lb.
on 'the inch in the portable magazine, its cubic contents would still require
to be 3,720 cubic feet ! To hold this would require a cylindrical magazme
of abou't 8 feet diameter, and 75 feel long ! Kalhcr a bulky case to move
about, or carry along a line.''*

We have only one remark to make in support of these conclusions,
and that is, that not only would there be no gain of power by the
above arrangement, but many sources of absolute loss. lu the liist
place there would be the friction of the engine pumping the air into the
magazine, and in addition the friction of the locom.itive engine worked by
the compressed air. So that comparing Mr. I'arsey's system with the pre-
sent locomotive system, there would be for every journey the friction of
two engines instead of one. Another source of loss would arise from the
fact that all elastic fluids when compressed develop their latent heat. Now
as the elasticity of air is greatly increased by an increase of heat, it is
clear that the development of latent heat would in the present cnse greatly
increase the labour of pumping. This increased elasticity by the genera-
tion of heat would hovve.er be all lost, for the magazine would be rapidly
cooled by the radiation of its metallic surface. Another loss would arise
from the refrigeration of the air by its dilation when passing from the
magazine to the cylinder.

It may be said that air could be pumped into the magazine so slowly
that the development of heat would not be apparent to the senses. But
this is only concealing the evil instead of removing it. It is true that the
heat might be generated so slowly that the radiation of the cylinder would
carry it°off as fast as it was produced, but this would simply render the
evil non npjinrent.

Contrasted with the previous quotation which avoids all diBiculties
arising from the variation of the pressure in the reservoir, we have a letter
addressed to the Mining- Journal in favour of the new invention. We wish
to draw attention to one error in it, because it is one very likely to be com-
mitted by a person not familiar with the theory of pneumaiics, and as it
entirely vitiates the calculations. The writer calculates " that to draw a
train CO miles with a tractive f.irce of 3000 lb. the work done must be
1,188,000,000 lb. moved through one foot," and the letter concludes in the

following manner.

" Let it be propo'jcd.to compress the air to 1000 lb. pressure, which will
give a medium working pressure of 500 lb. per square inch ; 1000 lb. pres-
sure per square inch is equal to CC atmospheres-consequemly, a column
of a,r compressed into 60 times its density-«u> foot iiigh, and inch
IZ at"lu. base-will lift 500 lb. GO feet high, or 33,000 lb. 1 foot high ;
consequently, a column of compressed air of (iG at.nospheres, being 1 foot
higraml 1 f^ot square at the base, will lift 33,000 X 141 lb. 1 foot high,
or 4,752,000 lb. I tout high. Then, as 4,752,000 lb. "'H ■■"qun.-e one cubic
fool what v^ill l,llS,000,UOOIb.r..quire?-Auswer 2.(7 cubic feet. In
iL' manner, if the air were compressed to 2000 lb., the contents of the
magazine required would be 60 feet. A magazine of 3 feet diameter J
feet lon<f and 1 inch thick, would, therefore, be amply sufficient ; the
weight of such a magazine would be4000lb.-AN tNGiNEEa: London,
Feb. 18." . ^ , . , .,

The chief error in the above paragraph is the assumption with which it
starts, that if the air be at 1000 lb. pressure at the first, and at 15 lb. pres-
sure at the last, the average pressure will be about half way between these

'. or course if tlic prB8»uie be lOCil) lb. to the inch ia the reservoir, llie size of it will
be reduced ooe-balf.

two pressures, or equal to 5001b. Now we want to show that the average
will not be nearly so much as this, and the explanation is worth attending
to, because it shows the danger of "jumping" at conclusions.

Suppose, for simplicity, the case taken in the extract, of the air in a tube
60 feet Ion;;, and of uniform diameter, being compressed so as to occupy
only one foot of the tube at its end : what we want to find is the work
done by this compressed air (or the number of pounds moved one foot by
it), while being dilated back to its ordinary density. Tracing its progress
foot by foot from the first foot to the sixty-sixth, we find that at the second
foot it occupies twice as much space as at first, at the fourth foot, four
times as much space, at the eighth, eight times as much, he. Consequently
the pressures at the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 8th, & c, feet are respectively 1000, 500,
250 125 6tc. Now the mere consideration that at the second foot the,
density is reduced to 500, shows how terribly the average has been over-
rated in the above extract, where the rapid decrease of pressure is ne-'
glected, and the air is supposed to act with the same average force through-
out the CO feet, which in fact it exerts only from the first to the second

foot.

We could not without a few mathematical symbols calculate the exact
amount of work done in the present case, still we can give an approximate
method readily intelligible to any one acquainted with the first four rules
of arithmetic. Let us consider what would be the pressure of the air at
the first, second, fourth, eighth, &c. feet, and let tis suppose that it passes
from each one of these stages to the next without a diminution in pressure.
This supposition of course exaggerates the amount of work done. Then
from the first foot to the second it moves 1001) lb. through one foot; from
the second foot to the fourth it moves the half of 1000 lb. through two feet
(= 1000 lb. through one foot) ; from the fourth foot to the eighth it moves
the fourth of 1000 lb. through four feet (= 1000 lb. through one foot, See.)

Arranging the results in the form of a table, we have-
Work done or number
of lb. moved one toot.
1st to2nrtfoot, 1000 lb. through 1 foot - lOllO

2n.lto4th, halfof lOOOlb. tlirough a feet - liiOl)

4tli to Sth, quarter of loonlb. througll 4 feet - lOOO

8tb to llilb, oneeighth of ISiiO lb. through 8 feet = 1000

Killi to 32nd, one-sixteenth of loriO lb. through 10 feet = 1000

.i2nd to64ih, one-thirty-sccOBaof KlOO lb. through a2 feet •= 1000
This gives the total work up to the G4th foot ; for the remaining two
feet add' two sixty-fourths of 1000 lb. (about 31 lb.), and we find finally for
the total work done, that according to the above calculation (which is a
very favourable one) the number of lb. moved one foot is 6031. The " En-
gineer" makes the number 33,000, or more than five times as much 1

The following method gives the true result much more accurately. If
the pressure at a distance of 1 foot from the end of the tube be 10001b., at

any increased distance .t the pressure will be

the work done through a short distance dx,

1000 100

1 and dx will be

. • . the whole work done

will be 1000

/dx

between limits 65 feet and 1 foot = 1000 x log, 66

= 1000X 11S9I1 = 4189-G.

The amount of work then really done is equivalent to 41891b. moved
through one foot. Comparing this with the quantity calculated by the
"Engineer," (namely, 33,000 lb.), we find that he has made it between
seven and eight times ii-ltnt it ought to be.

It is really lamentable to see people deluding themselves and others in
this manner. The newspapers state that Prince Albert saw the model of
Ihe air engine, and expressed his approval. It is not however stated that
he made any calculations, or that his royal power extended to a suspen-
sion of the laws of elastic fluids.

AVe had almost forgotten to mention that the pressure in the reservoir
supposed to be 1000 lb. to the square inch, is more than ten times as much
as the very extreme pressure which is considered safe in the boiler of a
locomotive engine.

DnrDGiNG Machinery for Ecvpt.-M. Cav^, of Paris, who contracted
for the building of the Chaptal, iron steamer, with all her machinery com-
plete, which is about leaving France, is now busdy engaged at Uoiien,
ft sb ppiug oirto Alexandria, in Egypt, the ddlerent materials to complete
I e U-'e dredging machine, for which he has contracted with the Pacha,
Mehen^^l-Ali, for the purpose of dredging the Nile, so as to render it per-
fectlv navi<rable. This is only a preliminary step towards the cutting of a
navigable ship canal across the Isthmus of .Suez to j,,m the lied Sea with
Uie MedUcnanean-one of the grand projects of the Emperor Napoleon.

1846.}

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

100

PRESSURE ON RETAINING WALLS.

In the first volume of llie Transactions of the Institution of Civil En-
gineers, Ireland, is published a paper by IVIr. Neville, on the horizontal
resistance required to sustain banks of earth. The formula; arrived at in
this paper were printe<l at p. 242 of the last volume of our journal; and
a letter liaving appeared at p. 359 of the same volume, subscribed '' A
Youn;; Engineer," asking for a demonstration of the results given, Mr.
Neville has been good enough to send us in reply a copy of his printed
paper. Hefore, however, making any extracts from if, we wish to stale an
objection which appears lo us to apply generally to the mechanical consi-
derations on wliich the mathematical investigalions are based. If, how-
ever, we mistake Mr. Neville's views, he will, of course, have the oppor-
tunity of replying.

The earih behind a revetement wall of a railway cutting pressing on
every part of the masonry, tlie equations given by Mr. Neville determine
the resultant of all the horizontal pressures, but the moment of this result-
and the application are left undetermined. Now, the determination
of the value of the resultant pressure, is not sufficient of itself for ascer-
taining the necessary strength of the retaining walls, or rather, that value,
if it alone be determined, does not afford the slightest assistance whatever
in examining the conditions of equilibrium. The case contemplated by
. JMr. Neville appears to be one which seldom if ever occurs in practice —
namely, the moving of the revetement wall bodily forward without over-
turning. Whereas, in reality, the real points to be ascertained are the
necessary thicknesses of masonry, to prevent, 1st, the slipping of the
courses of bricks on each other ; 2nd, the overturning the structure about
. its base.

In order to the ascertaining these two points, two sets of equations are
required. The first set of equations must exhibit the variations in Ihe de-
gree of pressure on the revetement at dill'crent heights from the ground.
It is manifest that the pressure will not be uniform, that it will generally
be greater near the base than the top of the wall. Consequently, lo pre-
vent the courses of masonry slipping on each other, the " wall of equal
strength" (that is, the wall in which the strength is everywhere propor-
tionate to the pressure) will be of the greatest thickness at the base and
diminish upwards. To ascertain tlie varying form of the wall the law of
Tariation of thediflercnt pressures must be ascertained. Mr. Neville has,
however, considered only one single pressure to be acting on the wall-
namely, the resultant of all the pressures, which, in reality, exist.

The next point to be ascertained is the tendency to overthrow the wall
by turning it about ils base, to lliis end we must have equations exhibiting
not the value of the pressures merely, but their moment or leverage. For
it is clear that of two equal pressures acting on a wall, that which is ap-
plied at the greatest distance frum the base will have the greatest jiwrc/wsc
or effect to throw down the structure. To find therefore how strong the
wall must be built to prevent its being overturned, it will be necessary
either to ascertain the resultant force and also its point of application ; or
(if it be possible) we may determine the sum of ihe moments of the
pressures on every point of the wall. In analytical language if;) be the
pressure on a unit of the area of the wall at a height x from the base, the

quantity to be determined is

i I p X dr.

The calculations of the paper before us would be perfectly satisfactory,
if it were possible so to build the relaining wall that by means of it a
pressure equal, and exactly opposite to the resultant of the pressures from
the earth could act at the same point of application. This, however, is
obviously impossible, for the horizontal resisting force exerted by the mall
is applied at the base, since all the strength of the structure is derived
ultimately from ils connection or cohesion wilh ils foundations. The re-
Bultant pressure of the earthwork is however applied at some point above
the base ; ihe two forces, that which sustains Ihe wall, and that tending to
overthrow it, cannot therefoi-e besupposed t.j be applied at the same point.
The determination of the value of the latter force, therefore, is not of itself
of any value, for it may happen for instance to be applied at a distance of
two feet from the base, or at a distance of four feel, and in the latter case its
effect will be twice as great as in the former. It is not Ihe pressure, but
the momentum of it which is to be sought for, and wilhout this be de-
termined, no useful result can be deduced from the mathematical investi-
gations.

Mr. Neville quotes in a note the concluding remarks of a paper on the

resistance to banks of earth, by Tredgold, in the 5Ist volume of the
" Philosophical Magazine,'' anri adds " It is, however, evident that Tred-
gold was mistaken in this conclusion." If Mr. Neville will again refer
to the original, he will, perhaps, see that the mistake is hisown, and arises
from a misapprehension of the sense intended to be conveyed. He might,
by-the-bye, have laken a hint for his own investigation from Tredgold, who
is careful to determine not the pressure only, but the moment of it.

OCEAN WAVES.

(We liave slightly abridged this interesting paper from the " Nautical Magazine.")
Oceanic waves, from whatever source they may arise, have always been
regarded as objects of interest to command our attention, yet very little
is known of the laws whereby they are raised, augmented, or transferred.
Landsmen, when actually embarked in stormy weather, are generally so
deranged by sea-sickness and the ship's motion, as to be rendered unlit
for observation or philosophical research. On the other hand, practical
seamen, accustomed to the sea from an early age, although not altogether
disqualified, become so familiar with all kinds of waves, that the subject
is a matter of indifference to them.

It is, however, very certain that erroneous notions are entertained about
waves, for we read in works of acknowledged merit, that the height of
waves above the mean sea level, seldom exceeds six or eight feet, yet the
language of poetry and metaphor raises them into aqueous mountains.

Some sense, and a good deal of nonsense about waves, was published
by a section of the British Association for the advancement of Science.
Being smitten wilh the mania of making observations on waves, and leav-
ing Daddy Neptune to make the actual experiments, I seriously set to
work at my ofticial residence, which is within thirty feet of the Atlantic,
and 3,800 miles from the nearest land on the north-east coast of South
America ; the waves, therefore, coming from the south-west have " a pretty
considerable fetch." I had, perhaps, the best opportunity, and much in-
clination to collect as many fjcts as possible about the waves, that are
almost constantly commanding my attention. 1 now send those I made at
Plymouth, believing ihey may be useful ; as nothing of the kind has ever
been published, Ihey afford data for mathematical research. The obser-
vations are arranged in a tabular form, willi very brief remarks of my own,
extracted from a paper of mine, where the subject is more fully discussed .

Obscrvalions made on Waves reaching Bovisand, east-end of Plijmouth
Breakwater.

Dist.

Time

of
transit

Dist.

Alti-

No.

Date.

Dplh
ofSea.

tra-
velled
by

Irotn
Wave

Co irse

tit
Wave.

Wind.

Baro.
meter.

miles,
per
hour.

tude
of

lo

wave.

Wave.

Wave.

1 18)1.

feet.

feet.

sec.

feet.

feet

1 Aug. 11.

4ii

22(5.1

61

320

E.N.E.

N.N.W. si

■29.65

21.9

3'

2 Sept. 5.

48

2-65

66

175

-M.E.

N.E. light

„ 72

20.2

2i

3

.. 7.

46

2760

136

11114

.V.EbN.

E. fresh.

.. 7

li.O

2i

A

„ 13.

48i

2760

64

345

.V.E.

S-E.

IP 7

25,4

4

5

.. 14

49

2760

75

34.)

M.E.

S.E. strong

M 7

23 4

4t

li

„ 2«

42

1760

e*

450

N.EtiN.

S. b. W.

,, 36

26.5

7

„ 2M

SO

2760

60

460

,V.Eb.\.

S.W.str.

„ 15

27.1

mid

S

„ *2'J.

45

2760

66

442

.V.E.

N N.W.m

,. 23

24.7

27

9

.. 30.

40

2760

67

403

N.E,

S.W.

„ 24 24 2

mod

Ul

Oct. 1.

47

2760

6i!

345

S.E.

N.E. light.

„ .W

27.1

lotv

11

2
1842."

45

2760

75

306

N.E.

calm

„ 7

21.7

long
tow

VI

Jan. 14

40

2760

72

394

.V EbN.

N.W.

.. 6

22.6

,,

1.3

March I.

49

276U

75

306

.V.EbN.

N.W.

,. 2

21.3

^^

14

April 29

48

2760

65

460

N.E.

E.b.N.

28.28

25.2

"

Remarks on the Observations^

No. 1.— San Carlos to Bovisand Rocks.

2. — This evening only ten waves over space.

3.— Distance traversed from San Carlos Huoy to Pi.t.

4. — Waves become crowded near tlie Pier.

5. — The east wind has probably diminished the vtlocity of the waves.

6.

* On this day, the height of the waves, unbrokm. was measured, by means of many
obseivalioiis. The mean level of smoo'.h water on the tide gauge was noted, and the eye
ot tlie ol)6erver being 3-' feet above the sea level, his visible horizon was li^JyJO feet. The
buoy on the Tinker Shoal was distant '»,l8il feet, and as the waves resiched this buoy and
raised it, the summit of the wave was in u line with the observer's eya and his visible
horizon. Since the distance of the visible hoiizon ana height of t!ie eye are given, ani
the distance of the Tinker Buoy also Kiven, the height of the waves at the buoy may be
fonnd, because, 3'J,.'J20 : ;i2 feet ; I 3y..'')20— G,180 : 27 feet, the height of the wave above
the mean level, and as the sea wns brciiking in a di.'pth of five futiioms, the depressioM
were equal to the elevations . * , the faeitjLt beUveeii the two extremities, or rather hollow,
would be bl ftel.

110

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[A PRIL,

7 —Cranes being washed down on the breakwater.
e'.-TMe ebbing, barometer risioi!, and sea breaking In flye fathoms.
9.— Small waves ha»e ran into large ones.
10.— High water.
11. — Swell iubsiding.

12.-These waves raised by the south-west wind of yesterday. ,.„.,.,,,,,

13 and 14. -These waves indicate an approaching south-west wind as they subside.
These results were noted with the greatest care, and niaj be taken as
pretty correct. AVithoul goiDg into a discussion of the very many results
that may be obtained by analyzing the table, I may state two or three

f>4pt4 VIZ ' ^^

Ist'.-The velocity of waves is retarded as they advance into shoaler
water. I have actually seen a wave overtaken and emerge into another,

2nd".— The velocity of waves is not dependent on their height, No. 8 and

3,.d iThese experiments on a large scale appear to prove a result ob-
tained by Mr. Scott Russell on a small scale, viz., that when the depth of
tl.e water equals the height of a wave, it breaks, and becomes a wave of
translation. (See No. 8, remarks.)

4th -Deep water facilitates the undulations of waves, (September 28th,
No. 6 and 7), the tide rose eight feet, and the increase in velocity of Uie
waves was one-and-a-half feet per second.

Leaving your readers to make comparisons or draw conclusions, I may
briefly assert that the hydrostatic and hydrodynamic force that water ex-
erts is far from being so well understood as it should be by those who as-
sume the duties or appellation of "civil engineer." The man who con-
trived the huge iron tank, which burst the other day at Liverpool, when
only two-thirds full, destroying much property, and drowning several per-
sons, knew nothing of the pressure that his tank would have to sustain
when filled with water. The hydrostatic pressure at any depth, is as the
anuare of the depth = the sum of all the pressures above it.» In comput-
ing the force that a wave is capable of exerting upon a solid immersed in
the sea we have to take into consideration the rate at which the water
moves or impinges against the solid, in addition to the hydrostatic pressure
"poa it. There are many gentlemen who add C.E. to their names, and
who believe that the impulse of a volume of water iu motion upon a solid
gtructure opposing it, will be as the volume into the velocity, as is the
case when one solid impinges upon another, as a mass of ice upon a stone
But a little reflection will convince us that the force which a volume of
water moving exerts upon a solid obstacle, is not proportional to the velo-
Ty of water but to the s,uare of its velocity. The velocity with w ich a
wave is thrown forward is equal to the velocity with which the unduluUon
was previously moving, and although a very high wave is always danger-
o«s, it is not always the very highest waves that are the most destructive

If reference be made to the table of observations, it will be seen that
No. 7 had waves moving at the rate of forty-six feet per second ; these
waves were far apart, and of middling height. They were however
washing the huge blocks of marble about on the breakwater, and knocking
down the cranes upon it, whilst much higher and more crowded waves
moving at the rate of 41-8 feet per second, were less destructive to the

" The ett'^btin'g, (ceteris parib„s).as the square of the 'e'ocity, we may
estimate what the height of the waves, moving at the rale o 46 fee,, shou d
Te, to equal the impulse of the waves 27 feet high, and travelling at the
rate of 41-8 feet per second.

Put X - the required height. . , , r oo c.„,

Then 41-82x27 =46^ x. Now by this equation the value of .r = 22 feet.
Hence it would appear the height of the waves on the 28th of September
must have been greater than twenty-two feet to produce the lesults upon
the breakwater, although their height was certainly less than the height
of those measured on the following day. ^^_^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^

— •~ T r," V. „.w.^,;,„ hrrr It is the total amount of pleasure on the vertical

,id^s^f"L'l.nk '.^hiVr;arfe's'a?thl sqiLr: of the depth-the pressure on any one po,„t
varies as the depth simply. resistnnre of the wave does not follow

We are told further on, in he '« • '^^t;^ ^','',\^;',fr.he velocity. Views so vague as
the laws of impact of so'.ds. bu '^"'"■' »J '^'^h' "^s upon him to condemn the philoso.
these ounht not lo be e.prcssea ' V » ""J^" "",''( t^e resistance of fluids varies as the
ph, of others. 1 1 is indee.l "»''"''V »'*""'?i ''V, „ „inUy But this law is only approxi-
extent of surface and Oie square oahe velocity 00^^^^^^^ „, ,n,th. as that can only be

S^risTnti'M-rcltre'rim:-: «n'd'cannoTbr;r"ved by indepeudent reason,ng.-[Ed.
C. E,& A. Journal.]

ON THE TEMPERATURE OF THE EARTH AND SEA.

A Lecture on this subject was delivered at the Royal Institution, by Mr.
S. A. Tayliir. He observed, that the atmosphere is an ;erial film sur-
rounding the earth, but, although of almost inappreciable thinness when
compared with the earth's diameter, it forms a non-conducting investment
resisting the radiation of terrestrial heat into space. The mean density of
the earth, according to Haily, is 5 CO, or about twice 28, the density of
rocks and strata constituting its surface. We infer from hence that the
mass of the earth, must be formed of materials lighter than the common
metals, as iron, tin, lead, &c. Its specific gravity falls between that of
titanium and tellurium. From careful inquiry it appears that the tempe-
rature of the surface of this planet depends entirely on heat acquired from
the sun. Part of the heat thus received is conducted to a certain depth
below the earth's surface ; and part radiates into space. The greatest
natural cold on the surface was observed by Erraan at Yakutsk, the capital
of Eastern Siberia, where the thermometer stood at 72 deg. below the zero
of Fahrenheit. The temperature of space beyond the limits of the atmo-
sphere must therefore be much colder — too cold to admit of the mainten-
ance of life under its present conditions. The heat of the sun penetrates
the earlh to but a very small depth. Diurnal variations of temperature are
not perceived below two or three feet, while the annual variations do not
affect the earth's crust below l-400,000lh of the diameter of this planet.
On the alternate heating and cooling of this film of depth depend the vicis-
situdes of climates, seasons, aud cycles of years.

Mr. Taylor then stated, that, at a certain depth below the earth's sur-
face iliere is a stratum at which the thermometer is almost stationary.
This stratum is consequeully termed the stratum of inrariahic temperature.
The depih of this stratum depends— 1st, on the directness wilh which the
sun's rays fall ; and, 2nd, on the conducting power of the superficial strata.
It must, therefore, be dilTerent at different localities. At Paris the depth
of this stratum has been accurately ascertained to be 90 feet below the sur-
face, at which deplh the temperature has, for 50 years, remained constant
at 53 deg. Fah. In other different parts of the world, this stratum varies
in depth from reasons already assigned. In the tropics it is three or four
feet, iu the temperate regions from 55 to CO feet below the surface, while
in the regions of extreme cold, solar influence does not extend beyond three
or four feet, the ground below this deplh being found always frozen, to the
extent of 400 feet. Generally, however, the temperature of this invariable
stratum differs but little from the mean temperature of the place. Mr.
Taylor then directed attention to the important aud universal truth, that,
when carried below this stratum of invariable temperature, the thermome-
ter rises. The rise is not, however, the same at all depths in all places
As there are isothermal lines on the earth's surface, so there are iso-geo-
thermal lines beneath it. Many localities, as five of the principal mines in
Cornwall, the well of(JreneUe at Paris, the Monkwearinoutli mine of
Sunderland, Joseph's Well at Cairo, &c., were noticed as indicating the
great curvature of the iso-geothermal line.
The theory of the existence of internal heat was then established from —

1. This progressive rise of the thermometer in descending inlo mines and
other excavations.

2. The high temperature of the water of artesian wells.

3. The high temperature of natural thermal baths or springs.

4. The phenomena of volcanic eruptions aud earthquakes.

From accurate examination of these sources of inquiry, there has been
found that the thermometer rises in mines one degree for about every 50
feet of depth ; a result confirmed by the fact that the temperature of water
in artesian wells increases in about the same proportion to their depth.
The heat of thermal springs has been found equal to that of boiling water,
and the perfectly fused condition of substances ejected from volcanoes in-
dicates a tempeiatiiie of 1000 deg. The opinions of various philosophers
respecting the cause of the central heat of the world viere reviewed. Buffon
held that the earth was a vitrified ball in the act of cooling ; Leslie and
Halley that it was a hollow sphere, made up of stories like a house ;
others that the interior of the earth is iu a perfectly molten state, the heat
at twenty miles below the surface being suflicient to melt granile. Having
pointed out llie objections to these various hypotheses, Mr. Taj lor aflinned,
as an apparently certain fact, that this internal heat does not ali'ect the
temperature of the earth's surface. He particularly dwelt on a calculation
made by Arag", that if iu the period of 2000 years the earth had cooled
only l-300lh of a degree, the fact would have been indicated by adiftereaca
in the length of the day, in consequence of that contraction of its diameter

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

Ill

which any diminished temperature of that planet would have occasioned.
Mr. Taylor quoted also records which proved that the climate of Tuscany
has undergone no change during the last 200 years. With respect to the
temperature of the sea, many difficulties are offered to accurate observation.
The uncertainty as to the depth to which thermometers can be sunk, the
influence of cold and warm currents, the laws regarding the circulation of
heat in liquid.i, and the effects of heat on the density of water, present
serious obstacles to accurate results. The most careful observations and
calculations give an oceanic temperature of from 34 deg. to 44 deg. It is
probable that the submarine strata are sufficiently thick to prevent the free
conduction of central heat, while the effects of heat on the density of water,
together with its rapid diffusion throughout the mass of the ocean, would
render a high temperature imperceptible at any one point. On the other
hand, the abundance of insular volcanoes sufficiently testifies the existence
of igneous matter beneath.

From these considerations, Mr. Taylor concluded —

1. That, at a certain de|/th below the surface of the earth, there is a
source of heat which increases as we descend.

2. That this heat cannot be derived either from the sun or from chemical
changes.

S. That this heat neither perceptibly affects climates or seasons, nor in-
fluences the lemperature of the surface of the earth, nor of the depths of the
ocean, nor of the atmosphere.

4. That the vicissitudes of climates and seasons are entirely referrible to
solar influence.

5. That this influence, even at its maximum, does not penetrate below
l-400,000th of the earth's diameter.

fl. That, although we have positive evidence that subterranean heat ex-
ists, we can neither measure its intensity, nor determine the exact ratio of
its increase towards the centre of the earth.

7. That there is no evidence to show that the earth is gradually cooling
from a high temperature.

EXPLOSION IN A SEWER AT IXELLES.

A report has recently been published in a Brussels Journal on the
causes of an explosion which occurred on the 2nd of January last, at
Ixelles. The following account is taken from this report, which however
we have not translated very faithfully, as in several places we have made
omissions for the sake of brevity. The report is signed by M.M. Nollet,
Dieudonn^ and Spaak : their principal object seems to be to remove all ap-
prehension as to the possibility of explosive gases being generated in
sewers.

It is stated that the street gas pipe under the Etterbeek road was broken,
aud that in consequence there was an abundant escape of gas wliich pene-
trated the sewer in which the explosion took place. Another main gas
pipe under the Ixelles road was also broken; but this second accident
might have resulted from the explosion, which caused a great deal of
damdge in the neighbourhood. The sewer in which the explosion took
place had been in use only twelve days. The commissioners on entering
the sewer in which there was rooji to stand upright, found in it water
slightly blackened ; but the flame of a candle burned in it as brightly as in
the external air, respiration was not impeded, and there was but very little
odour.

The water from the Ixelles road after passing through trapped gratings
falls into a brick cistern, from which the overflow, after leaving the heavier
deposits in the cistern, passes into a conduit from which the liquid de-
prived of the insoluble matter* passes into the sewer.

Much rain had previously fallen. The water was consequently con-
stantly renewed ; the temperature of it was also below zero (centigrade),
and there was little vegetable matter present.

Two questions presented themselves. Was it possible, as had been

*-0n ttle other baQd it is stated in a memoir, by IJupuytrea, on the mephitic air of
cesspools (Journal de Medecine, Vol. XI.) that on analysing the air iu one of tliese [Jaces
tilere were—

Aeote . , . . 94

Oxygen . . . . . , 2

Carbonate of ammoata . . . . 4

Id znother case there were —
Azote
Oiygen
Carbonic acid gas

100

IDO

suggested, that carbonated hydrogen could have been generated in the
sewer itself, and there formed an explosive mixture? Again, in what
manner could this mixture have been produced .'

The reply to the first question is, that carbonated hydrogen could not
have been formed either in the sewer or the branch pipes ; that neither the
nature of the substances, nor their stagnation, nor the degree of tempera-
ture, nor the length of time, four conditions requisite for the supposed de-
composition, permitted this hypothesis.

If it be true that in the Pontine Marshes and other marshy places where
there is a large quantity of mud, composed principally of the detritus of
vegetable matter, and constantly covered by water heated by the sun,
bubbles of carbonated hydrogen escape, especially when the mud is stirred,
it is when the four conditions determined above concur to produce the
phenomenon.

But it may be said that sewers contain faeces and other animal sub-
stances. The examination of the nature of the gas emanating from these
substances has been undertaken by a commission appointed in Paris to
superintend the purifying of ancient sewers. The average of 21 experi-
ments gives the following result -.^

Oxygen .. .. .. 18-10

Azote .. .. .. 7870

Carbonic acid gas .. .* 2*30

Sulphuretted bydrogea .. . . -yO

100-00

In no instance was the gas inflamed during the visits: on the contrary
it was remarked that the flame of a candle burned feebly and sometime*
was extinguished. This was a necessary consequence of the compositioa
of a gaseous mixture in the sewer of Kue du Chemin Vert at Paris, of
which the following is the analysis.

Oxygen .. .. .. 13-79

Aiote .. .. .. 81-21

Carbonic acid gas . . . . 2-01

Sulphuretted hydrogen .. .. 2-99

This gas was asphyxiant ; it instantly extinguished the flame of a taper.

In one instance only M Serpette, Inspector-General ofSewers, at Paris,
found a gas which inflamed on the introduction of a lamp ; the flame of the
gas went out and again caught fire, but this phenomenon which never oc-
curred, but iu this one instance, took place in a sewer of the Rue du Pon-
ceau, where the mud was very deep aud had long been undisturbed, and
the gas burned without explosion. All the facts are detailed in the work
published by Parent du Chalelet on the sewers of Paris, and in his treatise
on public health published iu 1836.

One more instance is known of fire occurring in a sewer at the approach
of a flame, but this occurred from the passage into this sewer of a liquid
refuse containing a large quantity of tar produced at some neighbourii>g
gas works.

With respect to the explosion in the main sewer at Ixelles, it is ascer-
tained that the main gas pipe was broken before the explosion near the
drain of the Etterbeek road took place. Several days before the accident
occurred a stiong odour of street gas was perceived in the neighbourhood.
This odour is easily distinguished from that of drains, and it was so stroog
that notice of the escape of gas had been given at the gas works. It is to
the mixture of this gas with the air of the drain that the explosion must be
attributed.

To prevent the recurrence of so serious an accident, it ii proposed to
make the gas tubes of increased thickness where they traverse cross streets,
and to imbed them in brickwork. It is also proposed to replace the exist-
ing close covers of the drains by openings which will facilitate the renewal
of the air. The inside of the drains also has been carefully coated with
plaster, so that there is no cause to apprehend that a detonating mixture
can be again formed under circumstances resembling those which led to
this disastrous explosion.

Height of Vesdvids. — According to the latest observations of the
scientific men charged with the geodelical works of the kingdom of Na-
ples, the height of Vesuvius, at its most elevated point — a point which has
undergone no change for many years — the punta del Palo, is 1203;^ metres
(3948 feet) above the mean level of the sea.

112

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[April

STYLES AND METHODS OF PAINTING SUITKD TO THE
DECORATION OF PUIiLIC BUILDINGS.

By C. L. Easti.ake, II. X.

Secretary to the Commissioners on llie Fine Arts.

External Conditions of Works of Art.

Tlie materials and dimensions of works of Art, and the situations and
lights for wliich tliey rnay be intended, are termed extirnal imuiitiotis ; as
di&lin{;iiished fnini the character of subjects, the aims of individual artists,
the tendencies of general taste, and similar influences. The former class
only, as afr^nling dt-fmile prounds for investigating and as suggesting
practical iuf«*rences. can here be considered.'

Whatever be the external couditions, it is essential that the visible im-
l)ressit)a (if the work j-hould, iindtT the circumstances, be as complete as
possible. Tu insure this, not only tlie executive means, but the qualities
to be represented still require to be adapted or selected accordingly as
c(mdi(iuns vary. Such methods and resources constitute in each case a
specific and appropriate style ; the criterion of which is, that the amount
of excellence resulliug from it is unattainable in the same degree by any
otJier means.

The (juestion respecting the relation of painting to external conditions is
not uuimportant in coupidering the tendencies and claims of dilferent
schools. In general, the great masters seem to have inquired what the
outward resources at their command could best elTect. Such a habit,
instead of confining, was rather calculated to enlarge their invention and
to vary its forms. The result of tlieir labours is the sulhcient ground of the
world's admiration ; but their docility cannot be duly appreciated without
a reference to the local circumstances under whicli they worked.

An inquiry into the principles which may regidate such varieties of
style appears to be especially requisite when painting is employed in the
permanent decoration of public buildings, and may now be resumed with
a more direct object, as particular localities in the new Houses of Parlia-
ment approach their completion. In such furtlier invesiigatmn it may
sometimes be necessary to advert to the statements and illustrations that
have been before submitted.

The conditions now proposed to be considered are —

Dimensions^ Situation, Light, and the Means of Repreaentalion,
Large dimensions fin respect to the size of the entire painting), requiring
a correspnnding point of view ; the height at which the work may be
placed, requiring a distant point of view independently of dimensions ;
imperfect liglit ; and a method of painting posses>ing limited tectinical re-
sources, are all to be considered as causes of indistinctness,- requiring to
be counteracted by such means as the method of art adopted can command ;
by such means as may appear preferable on general grounds, and whicli,
supposing its practical difficulties overcome, may render that method tl-e

fittest.

The relation between the longest dimension of a picture, and the distance
from which the work requires to be viewed, may here require to be agaiu
remembered. Once and a half the extent of the longest dimension (whe-
ther in width or height is inimaterial)is the minimum of distance to which
the spectator can retire in order to see the entire surface. A circle cannot
be enibraced by the eye till the spectator retire to a distance equal to once
and a lialf its diameter.

The law relating to the next cou<litiun is a necessary consequence of this,
lu some cases, tiie situation of a picture, independently of its dimensions,
may require that the work should be viewed at a considerable distance.
A painting placed opposite the eje, and measuring 14 feel high (such be-
ing assumed to be its longest dimension), would require, according to the
foregoing law, to be seen at a distance of 21 feet. But if the lower edge
of that painting be 2G feet fr<uii the ground, the spectator must retire to the
distance of at least (iO feet before the eye can * mbrace it; for a paiuting
equal to llie wliole height (40 feet) would require t'lat distance.

Tills is the state of ilie case with regard to the compartments to be
painted in the House of Lords. They are 2G feet from the floor, and may
be reckoned to be about 14 feet high.*'*

At the end opposite the throne, the compartments are in recesses, and will
be le.ss fully lighted. At tliis end, therefore, all the causes of indis-
tinctness above enumerated are lumbined, and may suggest a counter-
acting treatment in the paintings accordingly.

If, oD the one hand, these considerations may f jrnish an answer to
those who look for finish and minuteness of detail in specimens of
fresco-painting that have reference to such a siluati(Ui ; it will be acknow-
ledged, on the other, that the general treatment which may be calculated
to correct the consequences of such conditions is a problem requiring

» It has pot been thought necesssiry again to consider the question of the adaptalioii of
dlyle in p.iinling to that of the architeituie of tlie new H .uses of I'.4rlinri ent. It may be
BuffiL-ient. to rejieat that the Tudor style hi Kn^land is coeval ivith the bi-st e-xamples of
Italiiin art, anil that if Raphael had accepted the invitation of Henry VI 1 1, to visit this
eoinilfy, edilices eretted during or hefuie llie reipii uf Ihui nionarcli ini,ihl have betn
Hdorned with the great artist's wwrks. Second Iteport, p. (IO. Compare Fust Keport,
i>. lit.

~ It 19 necessary to separate the causes from the renierlies of indistiiutnesa. A distant
point of view, whether the cnnsecpieme of thesiieofihe ivoik or ot its situation, is in
itself a cause of indistinctness ; tlie size of the objects represented, if cakulaied to coun-
teract this, is amon^ iherenriedies, but. it will appear, may sometimes be overlooked.

8 The hei^rlit of the compHrtments to the point of the (Gothic) arch is IG feet j but the
picture, properly so called, uiay he considered to terminate two lect kwer.

some experience to solve. Fortunately, a reference is possible to the
example of great artists under similar circumstances.
Dimensions.

Tlie instances are not frequent in which the size of the objects repre-
sented on a large surface is too small for the distance which the size of
the entire painting requires. Ifaphael's tirst work in the Vatican, called
'Tlie Oispute of the Sacrament,' would be such an instance if the room
in which it is painted were large enough for the spectator to retire to the
requisite distance. This is not possible ; the w hole of the painting cannot
be embraced by the eye at once. The experiment can, however, easily be
made with the engraving; the small size of tiie figures, as compared with
that of the entire work, is then apparent. This imperfection, as is well
known, was rectified by the artist in his subsequent works in the
Vatican.

Situntion.*

The next condition — situation, without reference to dimensions, presents
greater dilliculty. Michael Angelo, after having painted the second com-
partment in the ceiling of the Si?tinc Chapel — about GO feet high — appears
to have found (as is, in fact, the case) that the size of the figures was in*
adequate to the distance at which they were to be seen. Comlivi relates
that the artist was on the puint of abandoning the work because of some
supposed defect in tlie lime ; but the real cause of his temporary dissalis-
factiou is apparent iu tlie subsequent change in his stjle; tlie figures in
the compartments last executed being more ihau thrice ihe size of those in
the first paintings.^ Thus, w halever nuiy be the dimensions of the picture
(and in ceilings the compartmeuts are commonly smaller than the distance
would require), the size of the figures must always have reference to the
place of the spectator."

In this instance, therefore, although the space was scanned by an expe-
rienced e}e,lhe means emplo}ed to counteract the eflect of (he existing
conditions were miscalculated. The example shows tlie necessity of sim-
plicity, magnitude, and distinctness for works requiring to be seen at a
distance, and is also valuable as afiordiu^ encouragement to our artists,
should they think that their first efforts are in any respects not altogether
adapted to the place for which they were iuteuded.

Li^rht.
It will appear from the practice of another great painter, that imperfect
light required, in like manner, magnitude and simplicity of parts ; while,
at the same time, large masses of deep shade were avoided. The frescoes
of Correggio, in the tribune of the church of S. Giovanni in Parma, werq
remarkable for these qualities. An idea may be formed of their general
style by the portion which remains (now in the library at Parma, repre-
senting the * Coronation of the Virgin'}. Pungileuui remarks' that the
figures generally were considerably larger than life, not so much in this
instance on account of their distance from ihe spectator as because ihey
were seen by a subdu<'d, reflected light. The result was probably satis-
factory ; fov objects require to be magnified, even when seen near, to coun-
teract the iudi&tiuctness arising from want of light.

Means of Representation,
A fourth case is that in v\hich the indistinctness to be guarded against
arises from the means of represeuiation. Fresco, with its limited scale of
colour, cannot produce such varied elfects as oil-painting ; but a much
stronger instance of defective means and of the excellencies which the ne-
cessity of counteracting them may induce, is to be found in the Cartoons of
Haphael. The ullimale works lor which the Cartoons served were copies
wrought in tapestry — a mode of representation which, iu the early part of
the sixteenth century. Wits far from exhibiting even the compar^live force
of colour, and light and shade which it afterwards attained. ^ With a view
to such faint transcripts, however, tlie great artist worked ; he knew that
his <lrawiugs would be transferred to them, and that in the tapestries
alone, possibly, his designs niighl live." Distinctness was nevertheless at-
tained, without any sacrifice of such of the proper attributes of paiuting as
was compatible with the means employed; «nd without any violation of
probability. U'heu we consider the great qualities which were combined

4 In pictures of processions or unconoected incidents, the treatment here referred to
cannot bi* considered a detect.

5 The figures in the third compartment coriespor.d in size with those in the first
(either for the -ake of uniformity or because the scatfolfliiig immediaielyunder the ceiling
prevented tlie artist fiom making his oliscrvations earlier;; the great change beifins in
the fourth. It is scarcely necessary to observe that targe toregrunnd figures are quite
compiitible with subjects requiring numeious actors. Michael Angelo's treatment of the
subject of ILiutan is an cxiunple. 'ihe 11 gu res in the subjvct ot Noah (the first ceiling
conipartinent; mi^'ht, even with tiie present composition, have been as large as those In
the CreHlion of Kve. The circumstance of the ceiling subjects last execuieri requiring
fewer dxures is therefore not to he cnsidered the only cause of the change in the nriist'i
style. See Conriivi, Vila di ftlichelagnolo Buonarotti, Firenze, 174ii, p. 27. The first
edition of this work was published in i<.ome, l&f)8, in Michael Angeto's iifetime.

6 J'be subjects in the small gdld-coli-urel meduUionsia the leiling of the Si->iine chapel
must have been, even at first, almost invisible from below. They are, however, to be re-
garded as mere decurntions.

7 Afetnoiie Isioriche Ui Antonio AUegri, P.irma, 1817, vol. i.,p. 134.

8 The admiration of Italian contemporaries is excusable. Iioni the novelty of the manu-
facture at thai period. The praises of Paris de Grassis, Vasjiri, and others may be com-
pared Willi the just er remarks of < Minn, Cart.. nensia, London, \S'6'2, p. 3-* j aud Cattermole,
The Book o the Cartoons. Lonilon, IMll, p. :'I.

s Such designs were treiited as mere working drawings ; they were cut into slips f«r
the execution of the tiiueslries. and were then thrown aside till again wanted for the
same purpose. It was in this niutdated state that the cartoons at Hani) ttm Cuiiitwere
first brought from Klundes. Sie Quiitiemere de Quircy nt-d bonjihena, I--lorin, &c., dl
Kaffaello Sanzio, Milan, lH2U, p. 'M>i ; and Trull, Raphael Vindicated, Loudon, 1840, p. 9

18-lG.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

113

with these requisites — when we find that such apparenlly unpromisin;;
conditions had the eflect of raising even Raphael above himself, we can
hardly refuse to admit that a due eniploynieot of liniiled means of repre-
sentation may, at least, invite atlentioa to the most important attributes
of art.

In cases like those that have been adduced it is probable that the qua-
lities which might fit the worlss for the circumsianees of place, light, or
materials for which they had been calculated, would be looked upon as
defects on near inspection. The critics on art who have had the best
right to exercise an unrestricted judgment, have ever dwelt on the neces-
sity of inquiring what qualities are to be chiefly looked for in the subjects
of our observation.'" It may be sometimes requisite even for persons of
cultivated judgment to bear in mind that the excellencies on which the
highest reputation of great anists is founded, are to be sought, not so much
in the beauty of parts as in the grand or tasteful arrangement of the com
bined work, in the harmonious relation of entire masses, and the grace of
entire forms. These qualities, which suppose the labour of the mind be-
cause they have reference to a whole, have ever constituted the worthiest
criterions of merit, in the practice of the arts.

The influence of conditions, similar to those in question, on every depart-
ment of painting, may be traced in the works of great artists ; for, from
whatever cause the sense of vision is imperfectly addressed, the selection
both of qualities in nature and of the technical means fitted to represent
tbein, will be influenced accordingly. But, before pursuing the inquiry,
it may be desirable to state the elementary facts connected with visible
distinctness, since these, though familiar in reference to nature, are more
complex in relation to works of art when seen under particular circum-
(tances.

Causes of Distinctness in Nature.
They have been defined as follows : an object in Nature can only be ap-
parent, by ditfering in its visible attributes from what surrounds it. The
chief causes of this distinctness are — dilTerence of position ; of mere niag-
nitude ; of light and shade ; of form, and of colour.

Accordingly these attributes constitute the general resources of the artist ;
but it will be for him to inquire which of those means are more especially
calculated, under any extraordinary conditions, to produce a result which
shall satisfy the eye. The nature of the resources themselves will require
to be first considered.

Position.
The differences of Position exist either superficially or in depth. In
basso-rilievo. for instance, they are (eitlier in the horizontal or perpen-
dicular sense) superficial. In painting, on the other hand, alllioiigii they
are superficial as regards the actual plane, they are chiefly sought and
expressed in (apparent) depth ; one of the great aims of this art being to
conceal the flat surface and to represent space. Various practical and
other considerations, presently to be noticed, tend, however, to limit this
attribute iu works executed under the conditions before supposed.

Magnitude,

The difl^erences of Magnitude are either real, "^ as at one and the same
distance; or may be only apparent, as the result of perspective. The
Bubdivisions of the remaiuing causes of distinctness above enumerated will
be referred to hereafter.

It must be evident that gradations in magnitude will be more full and
Taried when they comprehend, if only in a limited d' gree, the perspective
diminution of forms. The great Italian artists seem to have considered
this essential to distinguish painting, however severe in style, from basso-
rilievo, in which the varieties of magnitude are real.'^ But iu the works
before referred to by Michael Angelo and Raphael, this perspective dimi-
nution of figures is confined to narrow limits ; partly because the technical
means may have been wanting to mark the relative distances of objects
when the work was seen under the conditions required ; but chiefly because
figures much reduced in size cannot be consisiently rendered expressive as
actors or spectators. In the second compartment of the celling in the
hisline Chapel before mentioned, the effects of tlie perspective .ire expressed
without restraint ; hut the indistinctness which was the consequence was
probably among the causes that induced Michael Angelo to reduce the
space in depth in the other comparlments (as regards the figures) almost
to the conditions of sculpture. In Raphael's Transfiguration the figures
on the Mount are supposed to be distant with reference to tlose below;
but, had they been so represented, they would have been devoid of
meaning and importance: they are, therefore, by a judicious liberty,
brought within that range of vision where expression, acluin, and form are
cognizable.

On great exception is, however, not lo be overlooked. Correggio, who
was devoted to picturesque gradation under all circumstances, and some-
times at any sacrifice, adopted a dillerent course. The perspective
diminution in the cupolas at Parma (to say nothing of the objects being

10 See Reynolds, Fourth DiscoHrse, and the Idler, No. 79.

li Position is added by Proft-ssor Wheivetl (Bridgewaler Treatise, p. 130). Abstract
inaf»iiitudt may be allowed to form a separate class, as splieres (for eiample; of ditfercnt
sizes may be said to dllfer rathur in magnitude than in torn).

i - The term ' real magnitude,' in painting, is restricted to such superficial dimensions
as have a permanent relation to each other. Undef this category may be classed propor-
tion or symmetry.

» 3 The style of basso-rihevo, as generally practised t-y the Italians, was not strictly in
eonforniity with this definition, as they injudiciously endeavoured to represent in it the
effects of perspective.

represented as if above the eye) is extreme; so that even the principal
figures are altogether subservient lo the expression of space. This was the
chief object; but the grandeur of form and characti r which the nearer
figures exhibit has been justly considered to place these works far above
subsequent elTorts of the kind, which, iu the hands of the ''machinists,''
soon degenerated to mere decoration.

If the criticisms which the frescoes in the Duomo at Parma called forth
on their completion had any foundation, it may be inferred that the great
distance at wh.cli the figures were seen rendered it impossible, in some
cases, to discern the nicer grarlations of light and ^hade which are essential
to make perspective appearances intelli.;ible. Such considerations most,
at all events, operate to restrict foreshortening under similar circumstances.
But here, again, it is to be rememliered that painting is siill distinguished
from basso-rilievo. Examples of foreshortening are accordingly to lie met
with in works intended to be seen at a consideralile distnnce. and in which
the technical resources were very liiiiitert; tor instance, in the Cartoons of
Raphael. The amount of fo^e^horteniug which is introduced in them may
be considered to be the just medium. Its effect in rounding and connecting
the groups, and in giving a due impression of depth, is in accordance with
the troth of those works in other respects, and (even in the tapestries,
while iu their unfaded state.) may have beeu quite compatible with dis-
tinctness.

The transition from this picturesque treatment, and still more from the
unlimited depth of Correggio's compositions, to ihe flatness of a style re-
sembling that of the early mo-aics, is violent indeed.** In cases where a
gold ground is introduced behind the figures, painting really approximates
to basso-rilievo, and to the conditions of the Greek monochronis, \\itliout
even Ihe advantage of the figures and the ground being of the same quality.
Under such circumstances, neither [lerspective nor foieshorlening can be
introduced to any extent. Tiie varieties of *' Position" are almost con-
fined to one and the same plane, and consequenfly the relations of Magnitude
are real. The splendour of the gilt field, though subdued by being
roughened (for this is absolutely necessary), betrays Ihe comparative
dulness of the painted surface, and the final outlines on the ground (even
making allowance for the gradation of real light on a large resplendent
surface) are in danger of being too uniformly distinct, unless a daikeuing
colour be partially added to the gold.

The union of absolute reality with imitation is rarely, if ever, satisfactory,
as it is essential that the most Imporlaut qualities should exhibit the nearest
approach to nature. As an accompaniment to paiuting, there is, therefore,
no defence for the gilt ground, when it appears as such. For the rest, it
cannot be admitied, on the one hand, that art newd be reduced to mediaM al
penury in order to agree with this hard condition, if adopted ; nor on the
other, that even the extreme restrictions in repre?enlatiou which it actually
involves, considered in IheiuseUes, necessarily suppose incompleteness.
An analogous style springs from those restrictions which, in adhering to
its own resources, may still have its charai teristic perfection. Wherever
there is gradation, wherever a greater quality becomes conspicuous by
comparison with the lesser (even if abstract lines alone be the means of
representation), we recognize an imporlaut principle of art.
Light and iShade.
The influence of the general conditions before mentioned may next be
considered with reference to Light and Shade. The varieties of this
source of distinctness, though inlinite, are, like those of Magnitude, merely
differences of degree. The circumstances best calculated to display it will
be again considered in examining its relation to colour.

The example of Correggio, which was adduced with reference to per-
spective and foreshorteuiug, may also appearlo recommend the employment,
of chiaro-scuro without restriction, under any circumstances ; but this, his
favourite attribute, was confined, in the instances of the cupolas at Parma
as compared with his oil pictures, to a light scale, especially iu the upper
portions of those cupolas, it is evident that a dark etfect would have ill
suited both the places and the subjects.

The instances are rare, and not always successful, in which extensive
surfaces, whether on canvas or on walls, have been covered with masses of
low half light and deep shade. Such masses, as is well known, are
especially ill adapted for fresco, on account of its tendency to reflect light
only from its sur lace.'* Among larger works of the kind, one of the best
S|peciniens is perhaps Raphael's fresco of the Deliverance of Peter from
Prison. But, although successful iu this instance (as far as the material
permitted), the great artist did not resort to tlie same style on other
occasions ; on the contrary, in a subsequent work, the Incendio del Borgo,
in which the subject might have justified a free use of chiaro-scuro, he did not
employ it to any great extent. The reasons for employing it in the first
instance appear to ha\e been accidental.'"

1 4 The general predilection for all the modes of ilecoration which belong to the '* re-
naissance" may be an excuse for here briefly reconsidering the claims ol the gilt ground
in itself, and with relerence to peculiar conditions in representation.

1 5 It may at tirst appear that all pictures reflect light trom their mere surface, but this
is not, stiiclly speaking, the case. One great ctiarm of oil-painting is its power to reflect
light from an internal surface, throuch superpi'seii substances more or less (li;iphanous.

• s Among the painters whose frescoes, previously executed on the walls of the same
apartment, were destroyed to make room fur the superior worbs of Kaphael, Vasari men-
tions Pietro riella Francesca. This artist was remarkable for his study of chiaro-MCuro,
and in that department of art had probably considerable influence on his contetnpoiaiic s
and successors. The sulject of his work here referred to is unknown, but supposing it to
have exhibited a striking effect of light (like bis Vision ot Constantine), it is quite con-
ceivable that Raphael sliould aim at sin ilar qualities in substituting for ita wuik of his
own, — See Vasari, -Vita di Piero della Francesca, and Vila to Raflaello, and Passavaut,

15

Ill

THE CIVIL ENGINEKR AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[April,

Other examples, with all their excellence and even with the advantages
of the riclHTinclliDd of oil painting, are more or less unsatisfaclorv, from
causes inili'pcncli-nt of llif materials. Tlie »ii;ht scene of the IMartyrdoin
ofS. Lorenzo, by Titian, is heavy in its elfect. " Of Tiutoret's darker
works it would he unfair to speak, as the shadows have too often hecome
hiack, either Ijy time or by some mischievous technical process.'" The
celebraled Nij;hl"alch. as it is called, by Uembrandt, isgenerally acknow-
ledged to be overloaded with shade;'" and tlie Santa I'etronilla of
(Juercino is a mmiument of great, but in that iiislance, niijdirecled powers.
These a'e the n)o?t remarkable examples ot' dark pictuies on a colossal
scale. The La!.t Judgment, by Micliael .\ngelo, now obscured by time
and the smoke of candies, must always have had a solemn elfect from the
depth of the flefh colour (a treatment w hich may be traced to llie iuUuence
of Sebastiao del I'iombo), but there are no niahses of deep shade. As the
work is in fresco, mere blackness would have been the result had such been
iutroduced.

The unfitness of masses of extreme shade in paintings of considerable
dimensions (wilhoul reference to the material) is explained by the fact that
the distance at wliicli the work requires to be viewed tends to obliterate
the fainter lights and relleclions in such masses, thus changing dc|)th to
flat obscurity. -° In subjects which require gloom, it is still essential that
the iniiislinctness should be felt to be intentional, and not to be the result
of such distance. The size of the work should admit of the spectator
being Si) placed as to see all that the artist intended to be seen. The
' Notte' of f Jorreggio can be thus perfectly seen at the distance which its
size re{!uires ; but, in looking at the 'Night-watch' of Uembrandt, under
like conditicms, the spectator is presently compelled to draw uearer. The
conclusion is, that the amount of darkness in the latter is too great for its
size, and on the other hand, that moderate dimensions may render such a
treatment, if suitable on other accounls, not only unobjectionable, but desi-
rable. The finer gradations of low tones can be apprei-iated only on near
inspeclioM. Subjec's, the intended place of a work, or other circumstances,
independently of dimension-, 2» may interfere with this consideration, but
it is not the less true that the scarcity of light which would be inappro-
priate in a collossal picture is quite compatible witli the physical condi-
tions here referred to, in regard to works of smaller size.

The A^enetian painters, as compared with those of the schools of Lom-
banly and the Netherlands, appear with few exceptions, to have systema-
tically avoided a preponderance of deep sliade.-'' This must be uuder-
htood as meaning no mure than that their treatment of light and shade was
calculated for works of large dimensions. From the lirst, the great Veue-
tian colo iri=ts were accustomed to execute frescoes in the open air, and
sometimes in siluatiuus where the distance at wiiicii the paintings could
be viewed was far greater than their size required. -^ The elements of
distinctness and breadib were thus familiar to ihem, and, it must be con-
fessed, were sometimes transferred to works whicli, admitting of near in-
spection, might have suggested a different treatment.

"Venetian shade," which, notwithstanding t!ie occasional darings of
Tintoret in more capricious directions, is characteristic of the school, and
which the praise of Agostino Carracci has rendered proverbial, is the
worthy auxiliary of composition on an extensive scale, and is fitted, by
combining distinctness with breadth, to correct the uncertainly which arises
from distance or want of light ; it is calculated to give place and meaning
to form, lo fiisplay the remembered attributes tif colour, and, while it ren-
ders force (,f local hues indispensable, to combine solidity with clearness.
The view which the Venetian artists took of nature was consistent with the
ordinary destination of their works.

They appear, in most cases, to have assumed that the objects to be repre-
sented were seen by the ditl'used liglit of the atmosphere, as opposed to the
case where the light is derived from a particular source. 'I'he practical
result of tliis is that intense shadtiw is smaller in quantity, and that the
picture is chiefly composed of gradations of half aud reflected light ; bright-
ness thus marking projections^ and obscurity, depth. It has often been

Rafael von Urbino, Leipzig. 18:19, vol. i., pp. Iil2, 4;i4-5. Of Ritphael's fresco Wilkie ob-
serves, " the 8t. I'eter in Prison, tinely as it is airunged, is biacit tiiid c-olou ies3." Set*
ThoUBlits on the Uelative Value of fresco and Oil-painting, by B. 11. Haydon, I>onaon,
181'.', p. 31.

17 Compare Burnet, Practical Hints on Light and Shade in Painting, London, 133S,
p. 4

1 8 This is the case even with some of the fine worlds in the Scuola di 5. Rocco, io
Venice.

lu See Reyno'ds, Journey to Fl.inders and Holland; and Kugler, Handbuch der
Geicii chte der Malerei, vol. ii., p. 17H

^*> It has been before observed tiiut although an object may he increased in magnitude
to any extent, in proportion to its distance, and in order to accomniorlate the spectator,
yet itsforce ot light and shade cannot be increaseri lieyund a cert.tin |)oiat, and Ihat point
is B'ippo3«d to be already attained in pictures requiring to be seen near. Not only is force
not to be increased in proporri-m as distance increases, it is unavoidably diminished by
it, in coiisei)ueiice of interposed air.

a» lu modern exlitljitions where no space is lost, and where, conseqnently, the eye is
influenced by the elfect of the mass, an entire wall approaches tlie conditions of a large
picture. Hence the amount of light in the component p;*rts of tins decoration is required
to be great. A subdued window light may also liave its influence.

22 The relative amount of light, shade, and hail-iight, in tlie worlis of the colourists,
as given by Iteynolds, is well linown, and it will lie remembered that lie made his obser-
vations chiefly from large pictures. See notes to ilu Fresnny.

2a Tile circumstance of Titian and (iiurgione painting on the farade of the Fondnco
de' Tedeschi is well ki:own. (The remains of some of the figures there painted by them,
now quite obliterated, were etched l)y Zaneli in the last century : two were engraved by
Giacomo Piccino at an earlier period.) Kxampies of a similar bind by Pordenoue anil
other artists still exist in Venice and in various towns of Friuli.

24 The "central liglit of n globe" fKiiseii, Second Lecture) would not be the most fa-
vourable, with reference to the spectator, foi displaying the object, or for eusuriug a

said that in Venetian pictures (more constantly than in those of other
school-) the foreground objects are, relalively to their hues, the lightest;
the retiring ones being lower in tone. The diminiiiion of the force of shade
in remoter masses, the iulroduction of accidental cast shadows, of dark
hues near, and bright objects, buildings, or sky in the background and dis-
tance, may conceal without allering the arlilice. This system of eflect in
Venetian pictures corresponds with that of general nature, and, like that,
is too familiar to be remarked ;"* but its apparent sim|ilicily conceals a
scale of grailation the fulness of which may be more difficult to compass
than the pronounced ellects of confined light. Hence the unaflVcted cha-
racter of " Venetian shade ; and hence, at the same time, its powers in
marking the essentials of form, while it leaves the general idea of colour
unimpaired.-'

If the artists of the northern schools may be accused of sometimes em-
ploying the ellects of a confined light for scenes supposed to take place
umler llie broad atmosphere, the Italian painters (for the practice was not
confined to llie Venetians) must be acknowledged to have as often adopted
the opposite course ; viz., that of representing scenes in interiors as if seen
under a diffused light. They appear to have thought that objects so illu-
mined are more intelligible in pictures requiring tube seen at a distance
(as was the case with altar-pieces), and that such effects are in themselves
more large and beautiful.

The ellects themsehei, though derived from the observation of nature in
the open air, were produced by various artitices in Italian painting-rooms.
The mobt common (still in use) was that of employing oiled paper iubtead
of, or before, the glass of the window. A Mationna of Uaphael's takes its
name (dell' Impannata) from the oiled paper window, probably that of the
painter's studio, in the background. Leonardo da A'lnci, who is careful to
distinguish between ombrii, " the diminution of light," aud tencbre, "the
privation of light,"-' frequenily recommends attention to the effects above
described, and speaks of the modes (probably then coiumoii) of producing
them. He remarks that objects seen in a diffused light are more beautiful
than when lighted from a confined source, and that when represented in
pictures they are more intelligible at a distance.^® He recommends
the mitigated light of evening, or of cloudy weather, in preference to
the direct light of the sun, in order that shadows may have due grada-
tion.^^ He observes, that not only the equal force but the hardness of the
boundaries of such shadows, if imitated in pictures, tends to render objects
confused when seen at a distance. ^o The latter appearances (hard-edged
shadows), he adds, "are especially condemned by painters." His contri-
vance for securing the larger effects which he recommends, is to stretch a
linen awning across an open court. In one instance he suggests that the
walls should be blackened ; in another, that they should be painted flesh
colour, and be altogether open to the sky. Elsewhere he mentions the
"Impannata" (forordiuary lights);^' aud again proposes an expedient,
similar in its resulls, for softeuiug the edges and varying the strength of
shadows liy lamp light.

Neither Leonardo nor the Venetians were ever deficient in force ; but the
latter in making the fullest use of the principle thus dwelt on by the Flo-
rentine compensated for their comparatively small amount of ' tenebre,'
as nature compensates for it, viz., by intense local colours. This resource
never led them lu ueglect the study of chiaro-sciiro on their own large, aud,
it may be added, difficult principles, but only served to conceal its artifice.
So inlent were they on securing relief, as well as breadth of general effect
by means of light and shade, that they frequently defined the perspective

balance of light and shade. The expression is, however, usual and allowable, and the
Venetians themselves w ere not more accurate ; their technical term tor ' lighting up' with
the brush, was • coimiiare,' from colmo, summit, most prominent point. See Uoschini,
la Carta del Navegar Pitoresco. Ven. 1660, p. 2t^8.— Light in hnllows, or rather slight
concavities (called by the French artists 'aillons luminenx'), is hardly an Jexception. In
some cases, for exam[)le in plai^ter casts, the appearance is assisted by a difference of tint.

25 Tiuis in some of the vast compositions of Paul Veronese, although every figure
keeps its place, the artifice of the gradations of light escapes observation, as it does in na.
tnre. The Venetians seem to have considered that the oflice of light is ratiier to exhiliit
tile qualities of material objects than to display itself. EtTects of light are generally con-
fiiiefi in tiieir worlis to the distance, where, as regards figures, form and colour are no
longer important.

26 Zanetti (Delia Pittura Veneziana. Ven. 1771, p. 1*9) justly observes, that in the
hendsof 'litian tile broader siiades do not approach the lorce of the shadows under the
features. Compare IJarry, Worlis, vol. ii., pp. 4.'i, 411, 51.

2 7 I'rattato della Fittura. Roma. 1817, p. 274.

2 8 Ih., p. '6b7. " Distinctness of local colour and precision of outline, are the peculiar
character of objects placed out of the eH'ect of strong (sun) light." Burnet, Practical
Hints on Colour in Painting, London, 184a, p. 18.

2 9 I [J., p. SM>. When Reynolds, speaking of Vandyck's St. Sebastian, now at Munich,
ohseives. Hint it is painted in ills first manlier (when lie imitated Rubens and Titian;,
wliicb "supposes tlie sun in tile room," lie can only mean the reilected or diifused rays,
not the direct light, of the sun. 'Ihe picture which he describes, sufficiently proves that
the latter eflect is not imilaled. In some of Rubens's works, however, the elfect ap-
proaches tliat of the direct sun-iipht.

3o lb., p. 71. He elsewhere observes that objects represented with masses of intense
shade, instead of appearing distinct at a distance, appear 'tinted.' Dark shades undtr
such iircuuistances, ^ilaving no longer the quality of depth,) assume the elfect of neutral
colours. lb. 248. — 1 he eiiual lorce of shade in many of tiuercino's pictures might exem-
plify tiie ju-stness of Leonardo's remarks on that poiut, but the works of Paul Veronese
olten cxhiliit a modiiied an'l agreeable use of cast shadows. In preserving their com-
parative sharpness he reduces their force, so as to give the impression of a mitigated sun-
light.

3, lb, p. 711. The impannata mny mean cloth as well as oiled paper, fifost of these
contrivances, although not without interest as connected wiih the Italian practice of ait,
are obviously fit only for a brigiit climate; but the observation of nature and the technical
expedients which were then habitual to the artists had also relation to the due effect of
works in vast localities. It was tlie more essential to preserve the general appearances of
natnru in colour and light aud shade, because the forms in votive altar-pieces were often
individual.

1846.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

115

depth of their compositions and the place of each figure by means of chiaro-
scuro alone. Tintoret was in the habit of placing large paintings thus
studied, but before any colour was added, in the situation which they were
ultimately to occupy, in order to judge of their elTect and keeping =*- The
habits of the Venetian and other colourists in thus occasionally prepar-
ing their pictures may be adverted to hereafter in au inquiry into the early
methods of oil painting.

Form.
The treatment of form^^ which is applicable to pictures intended to be
seen at some distance, has been already partly considered in reference to
certain works by the great Italian masters. It is further to be ohservrd
that the means employed to insure distinctness in this department of paint-
ing may, without due caution, tend to confound its style with that of
sculpture. It is obvious that forms are most intelligible when they are
freest from peculiarities; iherefore when in any extreme case it may be
necessary to counteract indisiinclness, it would appear that a generalized
treatment is indispensable. But in sculpture this intelligible appearance
can only be produced by means of form ; whereas in painting, colour
(which in like manner admits of a generalized treatment) can powerfully
contribute to such a result. The representation of figures of unusually
colossal dimensions need not be supposed '■'*

The grandest examples of painted figures on a colossal scale — the Pro-
phets and Sibyls, by Michael Angelo, in the ceiling of tiie Sistine Cliapel
— do not exceed 15 feet. In such representations, as those celebrated
works prove, painting can still maintain its complete independence as
compared with the sister art. The figures in question though, strictly
speaking, abstract conceptions, have the force of cliaracter of real beings.
It is also to be observed that in the subjects by Kaphael in the Vatican,
the treatment of form does not approach the conditions of sculpture ; as a
proof of this it is to bt remarked that the portraits introduced in those
compositions do not appear incongruous. Thus, although it ma) be ad
mitted that the most intelligible forms are those which are freest from
accident, and that such forms must be best calculated fur works intended
to be viewed at some distance, yet it appears that, even in the most limited
styles of painting, the degree of generalization which is necessary, with a
view merely to distinctness, need nut be confounded witli the more abstract
beauty of sculpture. If, again, the subject should require an approxima
tion to the latter, the full display of the proper attributes of painiing,
which may be compatible with the existing extermd conditions, is indi-
spensable. Thus colour enables painiing to vary its forms and characters
consistently with the intelligible ell'ect at present assumed to be requi.-.ile,
and is, therefore, the department of this art in which au abstract treatment
can be best adopted consistently with its independence of sculpture. In
general, the region of the 'ideal' (the largest view of nature) is more
safely approached by means of artributes which are exclusively character-
istic of the art; the poetic impressions of each mode of representation are
then of a distinct order.

But to whatever extent characteristic details in living forms would be
admissible in the higher styles of painting, the causes referred to wouhl
unquestionably operate to limit the introduction of in.iuiinate objects and
accessories, and would influence their treatment.

It is unnecessary to repeat what has been before observed on this sub-
ject ; a consideration in connection with it is how ever not to be overlooked.
Next to the great requisite that each mode of representation should rest
chiefly on its own resources, the works of great artists teach the principle
that the notilest object of imitation should always be the nearest to nature.
In sculpture, and in painiing when employed to represent human actors,
this noblest object is life, with its attributes of action and thought. VV hen
the field fur displaying this quality is even confined to a head, it is still
required that no circumstance represented should surpass it in complete-
ness of imitation. Rarely in the works of the best Greek sculptors or in
those of the excellent modern painters does an inanimate object exceed in
truth the representation of the living surface. The contrivances with a
view to insure this insubordination are, necessarily, most daring in sculp-
ture, in which certain qualities are in danger of being confounded with
reality. It will generally be found that tlie en ployment of cunventionul
methods (as opposed to the more direct truth of lepresentation) increases
in proportion as objects are easily imitable, and, consequently, in danger of
interfering with the higher aim. Thus, to take an extreme case, rocks,

3 2 Seethe introductory "Breve Instruzione" in Boschini's Ricche Minere delta Pit-
tura Veneziana. Van. 1674. Tintoret and Bassan, ttie darkest of the Venetian painters,
are still examples, in their main aim, of llie principles ol the school, 'their study of
chiaro-scuro was, however, more derived from interior and evrn from nocturnal effects.
Both were in the habit of using Lmall modyU illumined arUhcially ; less (in Hassan's cast)
for the sake of noting accidents of light than for the purpose of observing its gradrttion on
objects more or less removed from its SLturce. Boschiui remarks tliat, with the Venetian
painters, "every room answered the purpose of the open air;" meaning that they could
give the eflfects of open light, either from contrivances like those above mentioned, or
from observation and practice, wherever they might be placed while painniip. See La
Carta del Navegar, &c., pp. 72, l;i7, &c. ; and Ridoifi, Delle fltaraviglie dell* Arte. Ven.
16-IS. vol.2, p. 5-5.

8 3 The 'differences of form' (almost another word for the visible world) can only be
classed in their abstract elements, viz., as mere lines. These may vary in position, direc-
tion, and eiLtent. Lines are said to be massed by extension ; they may be contrasted in
their direction, and are repeated by parallelism.

3 4 It is reuiarkable that the only ancient example on record of painting thus employed
(bycommnud of Nero) was a portrait. The figure, painted on cloth, measured more llian
101) feet. The extreme modern instance, a consequence of the folly of the artist rather
than of his employers, is the cupola of the cathedral at Florence, begun by Vasari, and
finished by Zuccaro. One of the fig\'.res, if erect, would be about 50 feet. See Puny, 1.
35, c. 7, and Kugler, ib., p, 385.

which in marble are sometimes made identical with nature (thereby be-
traying the incompleteness of the art), are generally conventional in fine
sculpture. Witness the basso-rilievo of Perseus and Andromeda, anil
various examples in statues where rocks form the support of the figure.
In order to reduce what would easily amount to literal reality to the con-
ditions of art, the substance in this instance is, so to spenk, uncharacter-
ized.^-'*

In painting, the instances are rare in which such absolute identity with
nature is possible's The represenlation of a flat surface, of coloured
patterns, and painted objects, are almost the only cases ; and fjir less arti-
fice is sufficient to reduce them lo the conditions of imitation. But as
regards the necessity of superior truth in the living surface, compared with
all other objects, the principle is the same as in sculpture. The contriv-
ances to insure this superiority, without violaling nature or betraying the
artifice, are among the distinguishing merits of fine pictures. Inanimate
objects may often form a considerable part of a composition, and therefore
cannot be neglected; the colourists, as has been often observed, have contrived
to give interest to such subordinate materials, by dwelling on a portion only
of ihe qualities of the substance, and selecting such qualities, willi a view
to give value to the flesh, as if they were merely forced into notice by the
existing comparison. In the instances in sculpture where absolute identity
with nature is to be guarded against, it appears that the substance requires
to be in a great measure uncharacterized ; in the cases now referred to,
the objects are only partially characterized. The principle is, however,
the same in both methods ; art is permi ted, or rather required, to be ap-
parent, in proporiiou as nature is in danger of being too nearly ap-
proached.

Colour.

The general treatment of colour which is calculated to assist distinct-
ness, cannot be better exemplified than by the practice of the Venetiaa
school. It may be first necessary lo recur to the elementary facts before
noticed.

It was observed, that an object in nature can only be apparent by dif-
fering in its visible attributes from what surrounds it ; its distinctness iu a
word, supposes the presence of some or more qualities which are wanting
elsewhere. Thus, the imitation of the appearances of nature is especially
conversant wilb diHereu'^es ; it is opposed lo (absolute) equality, and is
founded on Gradation and Contrast.

The Ursi, a dilleieuce of degree, comprehends Magnitude and Light-
and-sliade. By means of their varieties, — peispective, depth, relief, and
roundness, in other words, substance and space ate represeuled.3 '

The second, a difterence of kind, comprehends Form and Colour; by
means of which physical and even moral characteristics are expressed.
Position, as an incommunicable attribute, belongs to the same category.

The possible inlerchaiige of these two sources of variety (as regards
their effects), is constantly exemplified in nature and iu art. An abrupt
difference of degree amounts, practically, to contrast; the full scale of
diH'ereucesof kind involves gradation. Contrast itself is imperfect with-
out the auxiliary element, by means of which equality even of antagonism
is prevented and one impression predominates.

The great oflice of colour is then to distinguish. Each object in nature
has its own hue as well as ils own form, and hence the origin of the
painters' term 'local colour.' This characleristic diflerence becomes more
strikingly conspicuous at a moderate distance, when objects are seen as
wholes, and in their largest relations and oppositions ; for in a nearer
view, the eye is necessarily more confined to their component varieties.

On the contrary, light and shade, being common to all substances, and
presenting differences of degree only, is less powerful at a distance as a
means of distinguishing objects from each other; but in a nearer view,
when its infinite gradations are appreciable, it is sufficient, without the
addition of colour, to express the relative position even of contiguous
objects, as well as of their component parts.

Accordingly, while chiaro-scuro in all its richness and delicacy is in-
dispensable in pictures that are to be viewed near, colour is no less
desirable in colossal works, or in such as can only be seen at a distance.

When emplojed under such circumstances by the Venetians, its larger
app arance, above described, was selected in preference. The ' local hue,'
displayed and influenced as it must be by what surrounds it, was espe-
cially dwelt on by them as a means of insuring distinctness. The union
of due variety (a union which, in all cases, taste alone can define), with
this integrity of local tint, has been considered to be one of the great
excellencies of Titian, who, uevertlieless, changed his style — accordingly
as his works were to be seen in vast balls and churches, or in ordinary
apartments — from the most daring force of local colour to the fuller har-
as The same liberty is obseivable in sculptured armour as treated by the antienlj •
sharpness is avoided, and the polish does not surpass, sometimes does not eijual, that tf
the flesh. In like nicnner steps, or any purtions of architecture, arc irregular. On a
similar principle, p-obably, the iiiscriptious on the finest antique medals are rudely form-
ed ; for it cannot be supposed that the artists who could treat the figures aud heads so
exquisitely could have been at a loss to execute mechanical details with precision.

3« fliere form is, or may be such an iusi-ance ; but as, in painting, the imitation ol sub-
stance and space is more or less incomplete, the literal truth of the mere outline, whea
present, is in no danger of confounding the work with nature.

3' The diherences of degree which all visible qualities and their 'forms' may exhibit
arc perhaps to be resolved into modifications or abstractions of Magniiude and Light, the
representatives of mere gradation. Position comprehends augmenting or diminishing in-
tervals. Colour, degrees of warmth and coldness, transparency aud opacity, purity and
commixture, intensity ami lightness. The boundaries of substance, degrees of sharpness
and softness in their relief. Mere lines, degrees of extent.

15*

116

Till? CIVIL KNfilNEKR AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[April,

iiiony of bri ken tinU iiliscnalilp in mar objprls. The abstract Irealmf-Dt
IS more exrlusively ih ■ sijl.- of Gicirgione ;'» by him il was liret carried
10 its utmost lull. Is, anil was siimetiiiies, pc-ihaps, too iQciiscrimiuatrly
I'nipl ijecl, wiihitul re'ereiice lo (iiiiiensions and distance.

The Reiiiial style in qiii-stiim lias been nell defined (making some allow-
ance fur the stress on its learlin;: attribute), by Ment;s, whose observations
on this snt>jftt are adopted b) Kuscli. The.-e writers observe, thai ** the
breadth of loi al lint" referred to was attained by taking the predominant
quality in a colour for the only quality ; by painting a complexion, for
mstance, *' which abounded in low tones, entirely in such tones, and by
generalizing, in the opposite sense, another near it, of a lighter character ;
by painting a carnation, abounding in ruddier lints, entirely in such tints,
and by depriving of all such tints its neighbour thai had few." The aim
being distinctness, qualities that were common to several objects were
exaggerated in the one that had most, and comparatively suppressed in
the others. The same principle, deiived from the observation of nature in
her largest aspects, was extended lo e»ery risible 'difference of kind,'
i'he soil elasticity of flesh (ever a great object of the colourisls) was, if
possible, more than usually dwelt on in the neigbiiouriiood of substances
which, eiiher from their general nature, or from the character which they
were made to assume, were calculated to give it value ; for not only in-
flexible and sharp substances, but sometimes drapery was made to serve
this end, independently of colour, by abrupt folds, and crisply painted
lights. The shine on the surface of ^kill was omitted generally, but most
so when polished surfaces were near it ; while these were allowed to
reflect light like mirrors. Gradation supported the comprehensive system ;
colours were varied not merely in their hues, but in Ihcir mass degrees of
brilliancy, and other qualities. Vivid colours were therefore few, and
thus the end even of distinctness was harmony. Lastly, the same breadth
which obliterated differences in detail, obliterated them also, to a ceitain
extent, and according to the scheme of effect, in opposing masses; thus
was insured, yet without the appearance of artifice, that pleutitude of im-
pression which the eye requires.

It must be apparent that not all the contrivances above adverted to
would be applicable in works intended for a near view. The emphasis on
local colours, for example, is in them no longer necessary to insure dis-
tinctness, and, moreover, might supersede peculiar beauties; yet the ex-
ample of the colourisls may show how much of this greatness of style may
be sometimes infused with effect, even into narrow dimensions.

The system of the Venetians comprehended other methods, which may
be considered, iu a great n;easure, peculiar to the school, and which were
equally calculated to counteract indistinctness. Among the means adojited
bv them for securing such a result, their treatment of certain colours, as
atfected by light and shade, merits attention. The artifice was, as usual,
derived from the observation of nature in the open air. At that distance
where the entire object acquires full force of local hue by the opposition
of what surrounds it, the focus (if the expression may be allowed) of its
colour will vary, according to the real depth or lightness of its tone. That
focus will sometimes be in the illumined parts, sometimes in the ' dimin-
ished light,' which we call shadow, accordingly as the particular hue
requires more or less light to display it. All forcible colours are most
apparent in their brightest parts, even when the light is powerful. All
delicate colours are impaired, and sometimes nearly effaced, iu strong
light, and are then most apparent iu their shadowed portions, where they
bei'ome deepened by means of reflection. I5ut, let the same object be
transferred from the open air to a confined or less vivid light, and the effect
is reversed ; the shadows become dark and, generally, neutral, and the
colour is displayed iu the light only. The larger system, though adopted
by the Venetian painters from habit and pretlilection almost indiscrinii-
nately, was especially employed by them iu works intended to be seen at
some distance. Fullness and bieadlh were iu such cases indispensable;
and by a judicious use of the effects in question, they increased colour
without sensibly diminishing light. The extreme and exaggerated in-
s:ances of this treatment weie generally in situations which admitted only
of a distant view. The abu^e of the sijle was indeed sufficiently guarded
against by the principle, seldom forgotten in pictures of the school, that
coJonrs require iu all cases te be more or less subdued and broken, fur the
sake of general harmony. Tiiis object was even partly attained by the
practice referred lo : the ordinary (and most commonly applicable) prin-
ciple is, that colours should be neutralized in shatle ; but, in the excepted
cases above described, where they are most displayed in reflection, they
require to be, and are in nature, in a great measure suppressed and neu-
tralized in their illumiued parts. This is assisted by the colour of ihe light,
which, although assumed to be nearly white, appears comparatively warm
on cold light cidours, and the contrary on warm ones. Harmony, there-
fore, was also promoted by this method.

The influence of certain conditions on the leading departments of paint-
ing has now been considered. In this examination, the effects of distance
on objects in nature, and also on their painted representations, have
been adverted to. The two are not to be confounded ; but the question
respecting their relation presents no difficulty in a practical »iew. It is
quite certain that the most distinct and easily recognized appearances are

^ « From the scarcity of tlie worlfs of lliis great artist, filengs hesitates to believe that
,^ was ttie inventor of the dt-ep mid gtovviog style of colour vvbich his Italian eulogists
^{irilintetn him ; the latter are. however, safer goidfS. 'J'tie early i,iotures of Titian, and
tbe works of Bcbasiloji del PiumbL', esjiecialiy bis portraits, attest the influence of tiior-

best adapted for pictures requiring lobe viewed at some distance. Tha
machinery of art is selected accordingly. The point, or degiee of remote-
ness iu nature, where colour is most distinct (that is, most l.irge and power-
ful), is not the point where form is so; for figures must, even at such a
moderate distance, be considerably reduced by perspective. It is not the
point where outline is so ; for, in ordinary cases, outlines are soon blunted
by distance. 'I'he artificial combination of the breadth of general appear-
ances with due distinctness of form is not dictated merely by the neces-
sities of particular conditions, nor is it confined to particular school... ; it is
a liberty which all have taken, and is one great source of what is called
ideal beauty; for the "enchantment" which "distance lends' is thus
combined with precision.

Such are among the expedients adopted by the great painters, in order
to counteract indistinctness. The considerations who h weighed with
them niay not only be applicable in similar cases, but may show the
necessiiy of employing the resources of art generally for the same great
object, viz., that of satisfying the eye in order to aflTect the mind. The
selection and adaptation of particular resources, uith reference to par-
ticular conditions ; the view of nature, and the use of art which may be
calculated for different circumstances ; have all one and the same imme-
diate end. r>ut the test of a due application and economy of the means
fitted lor such various cases will be, that their conventions should be
unmarked, and that art and its contrivances should be forgotteu iu their
ultimate impression.

It remains to observe that if the qualities in various departments of ait
above considered are fit for works executed under the conditions of dimen-
sions, situation, and light, before enumerated, then fresco-painting (sup-
posing due practice in the method) is calculated to display lliose qualities.
For example, its unfitness to represent large masses of shade is not objec-
tionable because such a treatment is not desirable according to the above
conditions. In colour, the stress on local hues and the integrity of masses
(nut incompatible with harmony and due gradation) which have been
employed by great painters iu works chiefly intended to be seen at a
distance, are quile consistent wiih the resources of fresco; while in form,
the distinctness and siuiplicily which appear to be desirable are especially
adapted for its means.

It has been already observed that the Venetian painters were in a great
measure indebted to the practice of fresco painting for that comprehensive
style of colauring which treats objects and their surrouniling accompani-
ments in their largest relations. The early rivalry in fresco of Titian and
Giorgione, on the exterior of an edifice near the liialto, in A'cnice, has been
already noticed, 'i'heir works, chiefly consisting of single figures, were
there numerous. Besides that building, the following houses iu Venice
were painted on the outside by Giorgione. A fafade near Santa iMaria
Zobenico, another near .S. Vilale, two others in the same neighbourhood,
the Casa Soranza, near S. Paolo, his own house, near S. Silvestro, and the
Casa Griniani, near S. Ermacora. The houses painted fresco on the ex-
terior, by Tintoret, Paul Veronese, Zelotti, Pordenone, Schiavoue, Salvi-
ati, and others, would form, iu each instance, a longer list.

The modern revivals of fresco on the continent appear to have chiefly
had the Florentine style iu view ; it may remain fur the English artist to
engraft on this and on the maturer Roman taste Ihe Venetian practice. It
was formerly a question whether Venetian colour was compatible with the
grandest style of paiuting, but that prejudice may be consideied extinct.
Unfortunately, the best of the Venetian frescoes were painted in the open
air, and most of them live only in description. The frescos of Pordenone,
in Piacenza,and two of Ifapliael's (the mass of Bolsena and the Heliodorus)
in the Vatican, are probably among the best examples of colour in this
method now existing. The last mentioned, according to every hypothesis,
were painted under the influence of an artist of the A'enetian school. Their
date corresponds with the arrival in Rome of Sebastian del l^iombo, whose
powerful style of colouring may have been emulated by Raphael; and
IMorlo da I'ellre appears to have been employed ou them. Both were of
the school of Giorgione.

Opposite conditions to those first enumerated.

The resources which have been here dwelt on are to be considered as
applicable, in many cases, to one class of conditions only. The different
means and aims, « hich entirely opposite circumstances might require or
suggest, have been already occasionally noticed, and may now be
recapitulated; with a view to obviate the partial conclusions which u
somewhat exclusive view might appear to involve.

The external conditions, relating to light, situation, dimensions and
metbodi, at first proposed for consideration, were called " causes of indis-
tinctness."

Let those conditions now be reversed. Let the dimensions of the
picture and of the objects represented »° be such that the spectator may
contempldle the work at the tlistance of two or three feet (or whatever
distance may be requisite to insure most distinct vision). Let the picture
be opposite the eye. Let the light be altogether adapted. And let the
means of representation be oil-painting, the resources of which are all-
sufficient for complete imitation.

39 A small picture may contain portions of large or even colossal 6gures, In which case
the distance o( the spectator from the work is no lonfrer regulated by ttic dimensions of
the frame, but by those of the olijects represented. A distuiK-e corresponding with the
average limits of moat distinct vision is here purposely assumed.

18JG.]

THE CIVIL P:NGINEER and ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

ir:

Consequences in sti/le.

Oq the former principle thfse conditions may be called causes of dis'
linctness. Tliey are ciinipatible will), and therefore invite the introduction
of, all (agreeable) qualities which iu nature can be appreciated only by
near inspection. Such qualities uow become characteristic of the style,
for the above external conditions— involving a just adaptation of technical
means, not only permit, but require that every excellence which was iu-
admissable or unattainable under other circumstances, should now assert
its claims. ()u the same principle, provided the work can be seen with
perfect convenience, the means before employed to counteract indistinctness
may now be thrown aside — not merely as unnecessary, but because Ihey
may interfere with the complete representation of a new order of facts.
These appear to be the general principles of the school of the Netherlands,
especially in subjects of figures. The leading qualities which are the
result may be thus enumerated.

The assumed near point of view, permits and invites the iutroduction of
a large proportion of low tones, all the gradations of which are now ap-
preciable. These are rendered luminous by intenser but still transparent
shades and acquirn richness from the scarcity of strong light. Accidents
of light — not excepting sun-light, are admissable, and often even desirable;
they are no longer in danger of interfering with the intelligible represen-
tation of form and colour, and may be necessary to give that degree of
interest which the subject cannot always command.

The employnu'nt of perspective and foreshortening is unrestricted; the
last appears to be avoided in no case in which it would be intelligible in
nature. \'arielies iu the place or " position" of objects are especially
Bought in depth.

An assemblage of broken, harmonious, and nameless hues is next to be
remarked, among which the slightest approach to what is called positive
colour is efleclive. This sobriety has nevertheless the elfVct (with oc-
casional exceptions in the school) of giving a predominant impression of
warmth, and of thus vindicating the general character of colour as distin-
guished from mere chiaro-scuro.

The varieties of sharpness and softness in the boundaries of forms and
in their internal markings, must ever exist where there is a background
and light and shade; the relation between them is therefore the same as
on a larger scale, but the extreme diminution of figures in cabinet pictures
generally induces utmost precision in the sharper parts. Lastly, where
each object may be discerned without difficulty, yet by means of delicate
gradations of light can keep its place and thus be easily intelligible, details
may be copious and forms altogether individual. Thus is again furnished
the link between appropriate technical means and the choice of incidents,
and hence the predilection with the masters of this style for familiar and
even trivial circumstances. On this last point it is however to be remarked,
that where so much juiigment and well-directed skill are present in the
work, our respect is commanded even by the unpretending nature of the
subjects ; and where these are not offensive, they cau hardly be said to
diminish the satisfaction of the spectator who is alive to the higher objects
of the artist. A greater danger to which this style is liable (in finished
pictures where human actors form the subject), is that of making the
accessories aud inanimate objects truer to nature than the representation
of life. This defect is, however, avoided, even iu elaborate works, by the
best masters of the school.

To conclude; the resources, whether abundant or limited, of the imita-
tive arts are, iu relation to nature, necessarily incomplete; but it appears
that, in the best examples, the very means employed to compensate for
their incompleteness are, in each case, the source of a characteristic per-
fection and the foundation of a specific style. As it is r. ith the arts com-
pared with each other, so it is with the various applications of a given art;
the methods employed to correct the incompleteness or indistinctness which
may be the result of particular conditions are, in the works of the great
masters, the cause of excellences not attainable, to the same extent, by any
other means. In the instance last mentioned— the school of the Nether-
lands— it is apparent that no indirect contrivances or conventions are ne-
cessary to counteract the effects of indistinctness ; on the contrary, all that
Would be indistinct in other modes of representation is here admissible
with scarcely any restriction. The incompleteness overcome, which is here
the cause of peculiar attractions, therefore resides solely iu the conditions
and imperfections iu the art itself, which, on near inspection, are in greater
danger of being remembered. These are a flat surface and material pig-
ments ; and these are precisely the circumstances which, by the skill of the
artists in the works referred to, are forgotten by the spectator. The conse-
quences of the d.lliculty overcome are, as usual, among the characteristic
perfections of the style.

The two extremes of "external conditions" and their corresponding
styles have been here chiefly considered. The intermediate modes and com-
binations are innumerable; but in considering the question to what extent
and in what respects the extremes of style may be tomp.itible with each
other, it will appear, on a review of what has been stated, that the grander
view of nature and of the technical means fitted to represent it may be satis-
factory in reduced dimensions in the department of form rather than in
those of colour and light and-shade ; and ihat, on the other hand, the com-
bination of the usual characteristics of small pictures with large diuicn-ions,
if possible in light-and-shade and colour, is impossil.le in fjim. The last-
named attribute being the indispensable medium of the artists' conceptions,
it follows that the interchange of subjects fitted respectively for the two
styles can only be admissible as regards the trealmeut of grand subjects

in small dimensions, and even then at the risk of the conventions of the
grander style being too apparent.

ON THE QUALITY OF LIME PRESERVED FOR FRESCO
PAINTING.

By Professor Faraday.

Led by the statement that the keeping of the lime in a slaked conditioa
for a couple of years is a great advantage to it, I took some specimens from
the stores which have been so laid up at the Houses of Parliament, for
the purpose of examining them in this respect. It appears to me that this
lime (which is in a stdte of paste) is in a very soft and sniouth condition
in comparision with what would probably be the condition of the lime re-
cently slaked ; a condition which seems to be due to its thorough disinte-
gration as a mass, and its separation particle from particle. On analysing
it I found that it contained a little carbonic acid, but not much ; for in 101)
parts of the dry substance there were but 5^ parts of carbonic acid ; these
100 parts, therefore, would contain 88 parts of quick or uncarbonated
lime, and 12 parts of carbonated lime, which considering the processes of
burning, carry ing, slaking, &c., that it had to go through, and the necessary
time of exposure to air before it was laid up in store, is a very small pro-
portion. I do not believe that the lime, which is more than 4 inches in,
from the exterior, has received any portion of carbonic acid during the two
years of its inhumation.

In respect of the etiect of keeping lime for a time, I am led to think,
without however having formed any strong opinion on the subject, that the
benefit is due to the fine texture which it gradually acquires ; and as there
is no doubt that if two surfaces were prepared, the one with fine sand and
lime in particles comparatively coarse, and the other with the same kind
of sand and lime in particles comparatively far more perfectly divided,
that these two would act very differently both as to the access of carbonic
acid from the atmosphere and the transition of lime dissolved in the mois-
ture of the mass from the interior towards the surface; so there is every
reason to expect that there would be a dilTerence in the degree ofactioa
upon the colours at that surface, and also in the time at which that action
would come to a close.

WOOBCROFT'S SCREW PROPELLER.

WOODCROI^T r. SMITH.

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council met March 11, Lord
Brougham, Dr. Lushington, the Duke of Bucrleuch, and Lord Cottenhaiii
being the members present, to decide upon an application for the extension
of bis patent made by Mr. Woodcroft, the inventor of a particular form of
screw propeller.

Mr. Jervis appeared to support the application ; and the Solicitor-Gene-
ral, besides waichiug the proceedings on behalf of the Crown, appeared
in opposition ou behalf of Mr. Smith and the Ship Propelling Company,
who have adopted his patent.

Mr. Jervis, iu stating the case for his client, said, that the invention for
which a renewal of his patent right to which application was now made,
dift'eied entirely from every other kind of propelling screw in existence.
It was formed on the principle of a spiral, represented by the winding of a
circular hue round a cylinder. The patent was granted iu March 1832,
and he now applied to their Lordships for an extension. The history of
patents for screw propellers (of which he enumerated the advantages) was
as follows: — In 1794 Mr. Littleton had takeu out the first patent for an
invention of that kind, which he proposed working by band with the cap-
stan, and which was to be either partially or totally immersed iu the water,
according to circumstances. The next patent for a screw was Mr. Shor-
ter's, taken out in July, 1800. It consisted of the two vanes of a smoke-
jack, not submerged, and adapting itself to the movement of the vessel by
a universal joint. In ISl.i Jlr. Trevethic proposed the Archimedean or
fixed screw, working in a cylinder. In July 1810, Mr. Millington got a
patent for the application of a smoke jack placed beyond the rudder, and
worked with the universal joint. Iu February, 1S25, Mr. I'erkins patented
an invention for having two vaues, working in opposite direciions, placed
at the side of ihe rudder. In I82'J, Mr. Commcraux patented a perfect
one-turn screw fixed paralhl to the keel, and held by a stage erected for
that purpose beyond the rudder. The date of Mr. U oodcroft's patent was
in March, 1S32, and the difl'erence between his spiral and the screw of his
predecessors was, that whereas the former consisted of a straight line coil-
ed round a cylinder, the latter was made by a circular line so coiled round.
The effect of this invention has been to economize the power of the engine,
to destroy the vibration, and to produce a greater speed with fewer revo-
lutions. If a spiral worm was coiled round a cy linder, the angle given
thereby would decrease, and the " pitch" therefore increased throughout
the length of the shaft. Mr. Woodcroft, in his spi-cificalion, proposed ap-
plying this " spiral" in d.fferent parts of the ship, and amongst ether places
before the rudder-post, by cutting away a part of the bull. Mr. Smith's
patent, which wms on the application of a perfect screw of one turn placed
in the centre of the dead wood, was takeu out in May, 1830. In 1837
Mr. Ericson patented an invention which dilTered from that of Mr. Perkins

118

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITIXT'S JOURNAL.

[April,

only in beinj; submerged and placed behind tlie rudder. In 1838, it being
ascertiilued that a perfect screw of one or two turns could not be worked
by the obstruction of the back water, Mr. Lowe took out a patent for cut-
ting the screw into arms or blades, which worked between the rudder and
the stern-post. In April, 183y, .Mr. Smith entered a memorandum of dis-
claimer, by which he slated that he found that a screw of two turns would
not do, that the true principle was to take two half turns of a screw planted
in the centre of the 'dead wood." After explaining the evidence that he
had to produce as to the usefulness of Mr. \V oodcroft's invention, jMr. Jer-
vis concluded — Having expended 1,201)^ and upwards in pushing his in-
vention, and having only received in return about 130(., Mr. M'oodcroft
was entitled to such a renewal of his patent as would enable him to re-
munerate himself, not only for capital laid out, but for the trme and talent
which he had spent upon it. Mr. W'oodcroft had made several other in-
veulious, and in appljing for a renewal of his patent, he proposed intro-
ducing an improvement on the original plan, by which to alter at pleasure
the variations in the " pitches."

Mr. Carpniael stated that he had studied the subject of the screw pro-
peller for several years. In the use of ordinary screws, tiie water was put
in motion by the first part of the screw, and being of ihe speed of the second
part of the screw, choked the screw. The advantage of this screw was
that the second part was so constructed as to outstrip the motion of Ihe
water, so that the instrument was an operative one, whatever might be its
length. All other screws consisted of a straight line wound round a cylin-
der, but that of Mr. Woodcroftwas a circle, or segment ot it, wound round
a cylinder. Tredgold, in his work on propulsion, proposed that the screw
should go on with a decreasing angle on an increasing pitch, but he stated
nothing about a circle wound round a cylinder, which was Jlr. Woodcroft's
principle.

Cross-examined by the Solicitor General. — Mr. Corameraux's patent
was a spiral by language, but a screw by description. The word " spiral"
or " screw" did not truly designate the distinction. The word " helix"
was used at present. He had seen the screw of Mr. Woodcroft in a vessel
at Bristol, which had come in from sea about three years ago. With that
exception he had never seen it in use. He had never known a screw used
practically till the time of the Archimedes, in 1839 and 1840. From that
time the use of the screw had increased greatly, both in the Royal and
mercantile navy. The screw he saw at Bristol was only one fourth of a
convolution, and a three-threaded screw. lu practice it was called the
one-eighth of a convolution. He had never seen the ordinary screw in
operation of more than one convolution ; but as far as his experience went
it would not work. He was satisfied that Mr. Woodcroft's spiral would
work with more than one convolution. The varying angle would, he
thought, operate all through. The spiral was between the stern-post and
the rudder-post, raised for the purpose. Smith's patent was placed in the
dead wood. Woodcroft's was not technically a spiral, because it did not
run up to a point.

Mr. S. Slaughter said he bad built two vessels fitted up with Mr. Wood-
croft's ''spiral." He had tried other screws in the vessel before Mr.
Woodcroft's, and he greatly preferred the latter.

Cross examined by the Solicitor-General. — The other screws he had tried
were not under any patent, and had varied from one-fourth to oue-tenlh of
a convolution. He tried nine screws of varying diameter and the same
pitch. Being dissatisfied he tried an increasing pitch and found the ad-
vantage of it. He had thus accidentally stumbled on Mr. Woodcroft's in-
vention, and finding thai, he applied for a license. Wilh Mr. Woodcroft's
he had attained a speed of i4 miles an hour, while with others he had only
secured a speed of seven or eight miles an hour. In the one case the water
" slipped" olTthe blades, and in the other it did not.

Mr. Murray, assistant-engineer to the Admiralty, said that he could
speak to two trials, one on Ihe 13lh of April last, and the other on the 18th
of March, in which Ihe relative merits of Mr. Smith's and Mr. Woodcroft's
invention had been attested. With that of the former the results were as
follows : — With the engine giving 26-28 strokes the rate of speed was 8- 18
knots, the slip being 3 143. or 27-758 per cent., and the revolution per
minute 104.34. Mith that of Ihe latter the results were— wilh the engine
giving 24-152 strokes a revolutio.-i per minute of 95-99. a speed of 8-159
knots and a slip of 2-155, or 23502 per cent. The result exhibited in Mr.
Woodcroft's favour a speed nearly as great, with less power of the engine,
and much less slip. If the facts which he had staled were reduced, a dif-
ference would be shown of one-sixth of a knot per hour in favour of Mr.
Woodcroft. He was aware that by other experiments Mr. Smith's screw
had attained a greater velocity.

Mr. Cowper, an engineer, said, that the invention was a new and very
ingenious one. He illustrated its effect by an experiment on the air with
tin blades modelled after Mr. Woodcroft's screw, and which when spun
rapidly round on an axis by a piece of twine, as a lop is spun by a boy,
flew up wilh great force to the eeiliug. When the side was reversed, and
the experiment repeated, the model was not moved from the axis it re-
volved on.

The Solicitor-General submitted that the present was no case of a useful
invention at all. There was nothing new in the idea of using a screw for
propelling vessels, as it had been in existence as long ago as 1794. It wa»
Mr. Smith's discovery that the screw should be placed in the centre of the
dead wood which first led to its practical utility. When Ihe screw was so
placed and reduced to between one-fouith and one-eighth of a convolution
all other points with regard to its construction became immaterial. Before

Mr. Smith's invention the screw was placed in unsuitable parts of Ihe
vessel, and none of them had ever succeeded. The Solicitor-General then
proceeded to explain, wilh reference to the models produced in court, that
it was only by adopting Mr. Smith's discovery and inserting the screw in
the dead w-ood that .Mr. M'oodcroft had succeeded in making a practical
application of his patent. He read an extract from the specification of the
latter gentleman, the strongest point in which was as follows : — "The
spiral propeller may also be placed under the stern of the vessel, as seen
in figures 5 and C, where a part of Ihe hull is removed." The improve-
ment claimed by him had nothing to do with Ihe position, but was one in
reference to an increasing angle. At the time when Mr. Woodcroft took
out his patent it was no improvement at all, for want of the discovery that
it should be placed in the dead wood.

Lord Brougham. — But it is now beyond a doubt that some steamers
may have no " dead wood" at all.

The Solicitor-tieneral. — I'ractically it might be so in the case of a Dutch
built vessel, but not one for steam communication. In all vessels there
was but one slerupost, and it was playing wilh language to introduce the
terms which had been used in the evidence, lie should refer to Mr. Wood-
croft's specification hereafter, but in the mean time he would ask if the
space filled by Mr. Woodcroft's screw were not so occupied, would it not
be the "dead wood." If so, then Mr. Woodcroft's screw was inserted in
the dead «ood. In his drawing there was no continuation of the keel, but
an undue prolongation of the deck, and a stern-post to which Ihe rudder
was attached. No particular ratio of angular increase or decrease was
claimed by Mr. Woodcrofi, and Mr. Conmieraux had already discovered
the principle. In the patent of the latter the term •' spiral" was used, and
in the drawing the increasing angle was clearly marked. The convolutions
in the drawing were as three to two.

Mr. Cowper was here recalled, and stated that there was no intimalioo
of an increased pitch in the drawing, even taking into account the word
spiial in the specification.

The Solicitor-General then gave up that point, and proceeded to argue
that as Mr. Woodcroft had in his specification only provided for one con-
volution or more, and as there was only evidence of its answeritig for one-
eighlh of a convolution, there was no direction in the specification which
would guide a workman to the only form of the invention which bad prac-
tically been found to answer.

Lord Brougham. — The drawing No. 12 shows only one-eighth of a con-
volution, being esaclly what is now used. His claim is quite general.

The Solicitor-General. — Mr. Carpmael had stated that Ihe spiral would
work wilh any number of convolutions, but notwithstanding the amount of
experience on the subject now, not more than one-quarter of a revolutioQ
had in any screw been found to answer. Afler 14 years' opportunity for
experiment, it had been so, and the onus probajidi therefore lay on Mr,
Woodcroft, for showing that the spiral would work at more than one revo-
lution.

Lord Brougham delivered the judgment. In all cases where there was
a disputed right as to patent, and where Ihe validity of the patent might
come into question, there were two things to be considered. 'The first was
whether Ihe case to prove the invalidity of Ihe patent was so clear as to
remove all prdiiiary doubt ; the second was whether the case was so doubt-
ful that that Court would rather retire from its consideration and not de-
cide it. In the former case they would nol grant the extension, because
they did not see the merits, and because they would not put Ihe opposing
parlies to the vexatious process of bringing their scire facias in the law
courts. But %vhere Ihe matter was doubtful — where confiicling evidence
and questions of law equally arose, that Court would not refuse the discre-
tionary power vested in them by Parliament merely because it was also a
case in which the valid:ty of the patent was contested. The present case
came under the first principle he had slated. There was nothing to make
it clear that the patent should not be sustained until they took away the
merit of the invention. If the patent turned out to be invalid, it would
only be the extension of such a patent for so many years. Now, as to the
merits in this case there could be no doubt. His Lordship gave it as his
own opinion on a scientific point, that Mr. Woodcroft's invention was a most
ingenious application of mathematical principles to mechanical ends, and
he commented on the evidence which had been adduced on Ihe subject.
It was not enough to object that Ihe patent had been long in coming into
operation, for the steam-engine, and many other discoveries, were open to
the same observation. All his time, his ingenuity, and his labour had pro-
bably been exhausted by Mr. Woodciott on this work. They had every
reason to believe that he would be for the next few years in happier cir-
cumstances, and more likely to receive compensation. On the grounds he
had staled, their Lordships were of opinion that a period of six years should
be given by way of extension to the petitioner. What he had said was
without reference to Mr. Smith's invention, which might be a most ingenious
one.

The Skew Arch an Old Invention. — "Now visiting the Alcazar
(cathedral at Sevdle), but first observed a singular Moorish skew arch, in
a narrow street leading from the cathedral to the Piierla de Xeres ; it
proves that the Moors practised Ibis now assumed modern invention at
least eight centuries ago." — Ford's Spain.

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEEERAND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL

119

THE BOODROOM MARBLES.

For the following comniunication from Boodroom, Asia Minor, we are
indebted to a correspondent of the Times.

Our arrival at this once celebrated place, anciently called the city of
Halicarnassus, is caused by a request from his Excellency Sir Stratford
Canning, the Minister at Constantinople, to remove and receive on board
for conveyance to England some ancient marbles, supposed to be a part of
the tomb of Mausolus, erected by Artemisia to the memory of her husband,
and which was, in the days of the kings of Caria, considereil as one of the
seven wonders of the world. The monumeul, in question was, no doubt, a
mass of unusual splendour, and from this magnificent sepulchre tombs and
the like edifices received their names ; it was built by four dilTerent archi-
tects— Scopas erected the east side, Timotheus the south, Leochares the
west, Brucis the north. Pithis was also employed in raising a pyramid
over this stalely super.structure, and the top was adorned by a chariot with
four horses ; the expense was immense, and called forth the remark made
by the philosopher Anaxagoras, when he saw it, "How much money
changed into stones."

The marbles were found inside the fortress, and built into the ramparts,
and counterscarp and bastions, at various heights from the ground, varying
from 10 feet to 12 feet ; are of considerable size, being from 7 feet by 5 feet,
and of great thickness, varying from 25 to 46 cwt., and 14 in number. This
fortress withstood many sieges, especially the one maintained against
Alexander the Great, under Wemna, and another during the time of the
knights of Malta and Rhodes. It is now a Turkish castle, miserably pro-
vided with the munitions of war, and bearing striking evidence of the state
of Turkish command. Three ot^ the friezes were outside facing the north,
one was embfdded under a high wall on the left side of the second en-
trance, three were under the drawbridge leading to the citadel, three more
were taken from an outer wall of a moat or trench ; two from the right of
a wall in the fourth portal, and two from the south-east wall. They were
thickly coated with whitewash to correspond with the rest of this strong-
hold of chivalrous knights, and the greater part resisted, for some lime, the
impression tried to be made upon them in loosening the brickwork tor their
extraction. It may here be mentioned, that the citadel of Boodroom, as it
is called, has, on its various walls, ramparts, and bastions, many shields
in marble, and near to every one of the antiquities were specimens of the
same. No doubt they were considered by the holders as ornaments to their
heraldic devices, and their position evidently bespoke that they were so
placed as a commemoration of some gallant achievement of the warrior
who defended that particular spot. In the inside of the largest lower there
appeared one with the figure of St. George and the Dragon, having on
each of its sides nine lesser shields, and over the first gale of the draw-
bridge one betokened that the knight had served in Palestine, bearing un-
derneath the following inscription : —

" I. H. S.
"Salve, nos, Domine vigilantes;
" Nisi Doniinus custodierit civitatem
" Frustra vigilet qui cusludit."

Leaving, however, these mementos of peculiar interest, it may be men-
tioned that ihe figures on the marbles are in a very masterly style. The
majority of them are sadly defaced by time, weather, and lime ; from their
character they are evidently meant as a picture of the wars of the "Ama-
zons;" a few are in a state of preservation, and present to the eye a rare
specimen of the sculpture of the age in which they were executed ; some
pourlray women stricken down by the ruthless hand of the warrior, and
their subdued bodies are exquisitely chiselled. But to illustrate this re-
mark, there is one which cannot fail to impress the spectator, and W'hicli I
think stands preeminenl — it is the death of a woman by the hand of a
man, stretched on the ground, with her head fallen on the left arm, the
right hand clenching the earth in the last struggle for life, her conqueror,
with head bent and shield before his breast, stands looking with peculiar
ferocity on the bloody deed he has committed, whilst an Amazon, with out-
stretched body and uplifted arras, appears in the act of wreaking vengeance
on him who has slain one of her sex.

The village of Boodroom, for it cannot be called a town, is a specimen
of Turkish indolence, and were it not for its ancient site, would otter little
pleasure to the visitor. There are some fine remains of what Ihe city of
Halicarnassus was, on a hill, besides what was most likely an amphithea-
tre; and though many of its massive stones and marble seats lie scattered
in the grass and rank vegetation with which it is overgrown, still there is
a sufficient perfeclness to denote that 6,0;-0 people could have witnessed
the scenes tberein enacted. On a sumn.it at a short distance from this
spot are several catacombs, containing chambers or vaults for their dead,
some were sealed by stone slabs, and so firmly, as to resist an iron crow-
bar ; one of them was found to contain nearly 40 lachrymatories. These
chambers of death have a very curious appearance from Ihe entrance of
the harbour, and are seldom visited either by Greek or Turk. About a
mile in the country stands in tottering form what was once a gateway, but
which is in a very ruinous state, and not far from this place are several
small arched buildings, near which must have been an entrance to the city,
as several parts of the wall can be traced through the rich olive groves.
Adjoining, under the wide spreading branches of a tulip tree, is a sarco-
phagus, apparently of great antiquity. Time and weather have completely
destroyed its sculpture. In another orchard stands the ruin of a frontal
piece of a temple, much decayed. Several rams' heads can be traced on

it, and the pillars are in a very tottering condition. There are about 2,000
houses in Boodroom, inhabited by Turks and Greeks. The soil is rich,
but in lieu of green pastures, unwholesome weeds spring up before the eye,
proving how much given to indolent habits the Turks are,how they manage
to sustain life cannot be told. There is the appearance of their cultivating
the olive, fig and almond trees, but even these require but little manual
assistance. Some coins of ancient dale were obtained; sickness and dis-
ease appear iu almost every family, and some, from want of medical as-
sistance, were found to be beyond human skill.

Thanks to Sir Stratford Canning, England may now congratulate herself
on possessing some of ihe finest specimens of ancient sculpture in existence;
for althougli those in the interior have been guarded willi such Jealousy bj
the Turks, that no eye, save those of the officers of the Siren, have ever
been set on them, those on the sea bastion have been visited by celebrated
travellers, and pronounced to be little inferior to those of the Parthenon.

REPORT OF EXPERIMENTS ON GUNPOWDER, MADE AT WASH-
INGTON ARSENAL, IN 1843 & 1844.
By Captain Alfred Mordecai, of the Ordnance Department.

This Report embodies the results of many thousands of accurate experi-
ments made by Capt. Mordecai, under government authority, with instru-
ments constructed in such a manner as to ensure perfect accuracy. Having
had the satisfaction of inspecting the instruments, and of hearing from
Capt. Mordecai an account of the methods of experimenting, we can speak
of them with the greater certainty. The force of gunpowder, since the
time of Hutton and the French experimenters, has been calculated by means
of the balistic peiiduluyn and of a gun penditbim. The yww (in these experi-
ments a twenty-four and a thirty-two pounder) is suspended in an iron
frame, hung on knife edges of hardened steel, like a balance beam, the
whole supported (a load of 10,500 lb.) on massive stone pillars. The recoil
is measured on a limb of brass, having a curve, of which the frame work
and the gun are the radius, and graduated to read to seconds by means of a
vernier which is moved by the recoil, and retained at the point of greatest
vibration by a slight spring. When the gun is adjusted and at rest, its axis
is a horizontal line, and the vernier stands at zero on the scale.

At a distance of only fifty-five feet (between the centres), is inserted the
pendulum block for receiving the shot and measuring its velocity. This/)en-
dulum is a counterpart to the gun, as regards its mode of suspension and
motion, which is also measured in like manner on a graduated arc. This
" block" as it is called, resembles a mortar or wide howitzer, with a bore of
four and a half feet deep and fifteen inches calibre, and filled with leathern
bags of sand, and a bedding of lead. This block, the frame and counter-
poise weights, weighed 9, .358 lbs., and was suspended so as to hang when at
rest, with its axis perfectly mi one and the same line as the axis of the gun.
When prepared for use, the aperture of the pendulum block was covered by
a sheet of lead, which served to make the deviation of the ball from a right
line, by the hole which was pierced in it. This deviation was found to be
very slight.

It seems, to a person unaccustomed to such experiments, a rather daring
attempt to fire a thirty-two pound shot, at the distance of only 50 feet, in the
mouth of another gun. But that velocity which, left unrestrained, would
serve to carry the shot for miles, is in this apparatus restrained within the
range of a few feet, and imparts only a moderate motion on the great mass
of matter on which it impinges, which can be wholly and accurately esti-
mated. Capt. Mordecai remarks, that "an observer, placed in such a posi-
tion as to see the face of the block uiiobscured by the smoke of the gun,
perceives, at the moment of impact, a circle of reddinh white flame surround-
ing the hole made by ths hall." He supposes " that this flame may be pro-
duced by the combustion of minute particles of iron and lead ignited by
friction." He further remarks, that " in firing a thirty-two pound ball into
the pendulum block with a charge of eight pounds, the sand immediately
before tlie hall was compressed into a solid mass, forming an imperfect
sandstone sufiiciently firm to bear handling. A specimen is still preserved
in that state, after a lapse of more than eighteen months." This sand,
when examined, was found quite free from any calcareous cement. An
apparatus of quite similar structure, on a proporaionaie scale, was used for
muskets. In these experiments powder from a great number of manu-
factories, and of great variety of compobition, grain, and finish, was tested.
The eleiuen's for calculating the strength of gunpowder, obtained by these
experiments, were resolved by the formula; of Hutton and those which more
recently have been employed by the French at .Metz. This portion of the
labour is performed with the accuracy and skill which characterize all the
highly educated officers from West Point Academy. Capt. Mordecai con-
cludes from the results of his experiments, that the only reliable mode of
proving the strength of gunpowder is to test it, with service charges, in the
arms for which it is designed; for which purpose the balistic peadulumi
are perfectly adapted.

In the twenty. four pounder gun, new cannon powder should give, with a
charge of one-fourth the weight of the ball, an initial velocity of not l-ss
than sixteen hundred feet, to a ball of medium size and windage.

120

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[April,

The initial velocity of the musket ball, of 003 in windage, with a charge
of one hundred and twenty grains, should be

With new musket powder not less than 1,500 feet.

" rifle " " •' l,fiOO

" fine sporting " " " 1,800

The common eprouvettes are of no value as instruments for determining
the relative force of different kinds of gunpowder.

The proportions used in making our best powder, 76.14.10, and the Eng-
lish "5.15.10, appear to be favourable to the strength of powder. The best
mode of manufacture is in what is called the cylinder mills under heavy
rollers, and this process alone is considered capable of making good spurting
powder. The English have employeU this process for fifty years, but the
French still use the old method, by stamping or pounding. The *' yravime-
trie demily" should not he less than 850. nor more than 920. The charge
for cannon for all ordinary purposes should be one-fourth. No purpose, even
breaching a battery, requires more than one-third the weight of the hall.
For small arms the following charges are proposed ; for the percussion
musket, 110 grains; the percussion rifle, 75 grains; the percussion pistol,
30 grains of rifle powder. It is proposed that musket and rifle balls should
he nia.e by compression, instead of casting, as at present. — Silliman'n Amer.
Journal.

REGISTER OF NEW PATENTS.

If additlorol Information be required respecling any patent, it may be obtained at the
office of Itiis Jourual.

FIRE ALARUM.

Francis Taylor, of Romsey, in the county of Hants, surgeon, for " Jm-
provements in giving iilarum in cute of fire, and in extinguishing Jire." —
Granted August G, 1845; Enrolled February 5, 1846.

Fig. 1 shows a transverse section, and fig. 2 a front eleva'ion of an ap-
paratus for giving alarum in case of fire ; a is a tube of glass having a
bulb or enlargement about the middle part thereof, this tube which is to be
filled vvith mercury and hermetically sealed at both ends is supported in
Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Fig. 3.

-0^

K

^^

X_'i-

two brass sockets; b c, d d, h & brass ' '

or other metal box composed of two
parts, the frout part d being attached lo
the back part by the strength of the
glass tube ; e e are two pieces of tape
of about half a yard each, more or less ;
one end is attached to the upper and
lower, or front and back part of the box,
the opposite ends being joined to a de-
tonating packet containing some explo-
sive mixture. This apparatus may be hung up in any part of a room most
likely to give immediate alarum in case of fire, which fire on attaining a
few degrees of heat above the temperature of the room would expand the
mercury, and have the ell'uct of bursting the tube, and thereby let fall
the front part of the box, and cause the explosion of the detonating
mixture, which would give the alarum required. The specification shows
several modifications of Ibis principle ; it also shows the application of one
for stopping the draft of the chinmey, so as to impede the progress of the
lire. I'ig. 3 i^ a transverse section of the chimney, having fixed therein
a few feet from the bottom, a rectangular frame a, and plate i, which i)late
is kept in a vertical position by a chain c passing over two small pullies,
the opposite or lower ends of this chain are attached to au apparatus cun-
structed on the same principle as that above described, fixed over the man-
tle-piece, which in case of fire would burst as aforesaid, and let fall the
plate i,and have the efl'ect of stopping the draft, thereby impeding the
progress of the fire.

COPPER ORES.

Frederick Bankart, of Champion Park, Denmark Hill, in the county
of Surrey, Gent., for " certain improtj emcnts in treating certain metallic ores,
and rejinint/ the /iroJacts t/iere/rom."- -Gnntci August 7, 1845; Enrolled
February 7, 1846.

The improvements relate to ores containing copper, whether combined
with sulphur or not ; and consist in mixing the diti^erent ores in such a
manner, that those which contain sulphur in excess may compensate for the
deficiency of sulphur in the other ores, and submitting the ores so adjusted
to successive roastings and lixiviations, whereby a solution of sulphate of
copper is obt.iineil, from which the copper may be precipitated in a refined
meta'lic stale, which is dotie in the following manner : — The copper ore is
first reduced to powder, and the relative proportions of sulphur and copper
which it contains are ascertained by analysis ; then if the sulphur bears a
less proportion to the copper than one to two, iron pyrites or copper pyrites,
also pulverized, are added, in such quantities as will bring it to that propor-
tion. If two or more descriptions of copper ores are to be treated, they
must be mixed together in such proportions as will make the sulphur of the
mixture bear to the copper at least the proportion of one to two ; iron
pyrites or copper pyrites being added, where necessary, to ensure that pro-
portion of sulphur. And there must always be a sufficient quantity of
sulphur ores for the conversion of the copper into a soluble sulphate, and
also to allow for the escape of part of the sulphur during the processes.
The copper ore, prepared in this manner, is then submitted to such a degree
of heat, in free contact with atmospheric air, as will oxidize the metals not
already in a state of oxide, and convert the sulphur into sulphuric acid. For
this purpose, a common reverberatory furnace is used, and the ore submitted
to a dull red heat, in free contact with the air, until the mixture attains a
state of seeming fluidity, and it is retained in that state until the evolution
of sulphurous vapour nearly ceases : the whole of the mixture is not put
into the furnace at once; hut it is divided into several portions, and one
portion being put into the furnace, another is added when the first hat
attained a dull red heat, and so on until the whole has been introduced ; —
the mixture is frequently stirred during the process. The evolution of sul-
phurous vapour having ceased, or nearly so, the mixture is removed from
the furnace to a vat or pit, and water (or a weak sulphate liquor from a
previous lixiviation) applied at about the boiling temperature, and retained
at that temperature for some time, by means of injected steam, to ensure
the solution of the sulphate of copper. When the sulphate of copper liquor
is drawn off from the residual mixture, the latter is mixed with as much iron
pyrites or copper pyrites as will supply the requisite proportion of sulphur;
the while is then subjected to a second roasting, and to a second lixiviation :
this process of adjusting the proportion of sulphur in the mixture, and
roasting and lixiviating, is repeated until the w hole of the copper is obtained
from the ore. The next process is to precipitate the copper from its sulphate
solution ; after which it is to be fused, and run into moulds, for sale as fine
metallic copper. Various modes of precipitation ma> be adopted ; but the
patentee prefers to employ cast or wrought iron plates, keeping the solution
at a temperature of from 120° to 150" Fahr., and as nearly as may be of the
same strength, by means of a circulating stream of fresh sulphate solution,
which, entering at the top. and being conducted by a pipe downwards, tends,
by its greater specific gravity, to displace the lighter solution; the latter,
overflowing, is to be returned into the lixiviating vat, to be recharged with
sulphate of copper, and this again precipit.ited, until the refuse liquid
becomes a nearly saturated solution of sulphate of iron, when it is set aside
to crystallize.

The claim is for mixing of the different ores of copper and iron pyrites in
such proportion, according to the quaniity of sulpliur relatively with the
copper which they respectively contain, and adjusting them in such manner
as that ores which hold sulphur in excess may compensate others which are
wholly or partially deficient in sulphur, and subjecting such mixture to a
succession of roastings and lixiviations (the residuum, after each roasting,
having the proportion of copper to sulpliur adjusted as before), and thereby
obtaining a solution of sulphate of copper, whence the copper is obtained,
by precipitation, in a refined metallic state.

Charles Searle, of Bath, in the county of Somerset, doctor of medi-
cine, for " improvements in stoves." — Granted August 9, 1845 ; Enrolled
February 9, 1840.

The improvements consist, firstly, in the employment of a heat retaining
mass in connection with the fire-chamtier, for the healed gases to pass
through on their way to the flue, instead of the vessels now in use as the
conceding medium between the fire-chamber and the flue. Secondly, in so
constructing the fire-chamber or furnace as to obtain solidity of substance,
and isolation from surrounding conducting media as far as may be practic-
able, with confinement of space or closeness of the fire-chamber : the
patentee's object being to absorb and retain as long as possible the heat
derived from the combustion of the fuel, to prevent its escape, and to con-
centrate its operation upon the fuel, in aid of its more perfect combustion.

JS46.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

The annexed figure shows a vertical
section of a stove, a is the fire-cham-
ber, of fire-briclis, about two inches
thick, of a cylindrical shape (or eitlier
conical, square, or polygonal, if prefer-
red), and the lop is perforated with nu-
merous holes, from ith to ith of an
inch in diameter, on the side, as
shown at y, for the escape of the gases
from the lire; at the bottom is an iron
grating b, and beneath it an ash-pit or
chamber <?. rf is a packing of sand or
ciay, between the fire-chamber and the
outer cylindrical case of iron e, to pre-
vent the radiation of heat at that part ;
and/is a door-way or opening for the
introduction of fuel. The smoke and
gases, in their escape from the lire-
chamber, having to pass through the
apertures in the top or side (which in
time becomes red-hot), are consumed or
intensely heated. The combustion is
earned on in the lower part of the chamber;' the upper part serving as a
magazine or store of fuel.

Besides these methods of constructing fire- chambers, they may be com-
posed of two vessels of a cylindrical or other shape, one within the other ■
the gases from the fire being allowed to escape between the two bv openings'
in the side of the inner one, which contains the fuel, and is closed at the
top; or the current of gases may be made to descend through the body of
the Ignited fuel and grate, and then pass up between the two vessels, by
admitting air above the fuel, instead of from below.

The heat retainer of ihe stove, through which the gases have to pass in
their course to the flue i is made of slabs or discs of burnt clay or brick,
fitting closely within the casing or body of the stove ; or the retaining mass
may be composed of any number of smaller parts, with intervening spaces
tor the passage of the gases, instead of the perforations above-mentioned
Ur slabs of soft stone or brick, of any shape, may be employed ; the gases
either passing through openings in the slabs, or circulating between them,
ur the body of the stove may consist of a vessel of iron or other material,
lilled and packed with sand, day, or other suitable substance, as represented
at 4, tlirough which tubes of metal or pottery I, about an inch in diameter,
extend ; in this arrangemant, as well as when perforated slabs or discs are
used, a solid mass, of not less than two feet in sickness, is considered
desirable. A series of hollow cones, or cyUnders of pottery or brick, might
also be arranged one within the other, to act as a heat-retaining mass ; the
gases passing between them. Or a "tubulated cvlinder," filled with tallow
oil, or other fiuid possessing a great capacity for caloric, might be employed
lor the same purpose. '

The patentee does not confine his invention to stoves for heating apart-
ments ; but proposes to apply it also to apparatus for cooking.

JIOTIVE POWER.

^.i^tJ"""' ^f,"^'^-?'' f'"-^^/' Of" I'aris, for " Impv^remnU in obtaining
1846 P'""'- -^'^"^''•^ ^"S"^' 281h, 1845 ; Enrolled February 28tb,

r^Itll '"f*^°''7 ™°^'^'^ '" "^'^ application of the reaction of steam for the
purpose of producing rotary molion, and in the peculiar combination of
parts forming a rotary engine. Fig. l shows a sectional elevation of an

Fig. I.

Of l"e ramewtk f '°'''i°° '^k''^'' '°'''"'°°' '" "'''^•' « ^l-""^ « ?''>■"'"'
form shown aT^A fP?"'''"'^ ">« engine, which consists of a vessel of the
rhow",.. /' .° ''." °P'=°J"Satci this vessel is supported upon

^ hollow aiis d, so as to admit of the same turDiug freely ;e e are one

121

two, or more, coils of pines, and are marlp in ti,a e r

double threaded screw.^^^nd'ngTportt LtLT.SetZlt:^
tach of these pipes commuoicale with the hollow ax s j hv T*^ ^ ;
Pipesyy, and are provided with outlet pipes ., ,, madrto 'paL thro^^h

Fig- 2.

flf^^'' "^ ".f ''^'''' '' *' "'^^ P'S- 2. which shows a plan of two pipes
coiled one w.thm or between the other, h (Fig. I) is a pipe leading from
a torce pump (worked by the engine), and is intended to supply the pipes
wiin water, k k represents the combustible matter of which the fire is
composed winch is lighted within the vessel 6 i, and provided at the
lower end with a number of openings, i i, for supplying the fire with air.
1 lie action ot this engine is as follows : the pipes e e being filled with
watei, a file is lighted within the vessel b b, and steam is generated withia
tne pipes e e, which is allowed to escape through the outlet pipes g- g, the
reaction of which against the air causes the vessel b b, together with the
pipes ec and hollow axle d, to rotate. Upon Ihe hollow axle d is keyed a
Wheel (not shown in the diagram) for the purpose of imparting such mo-
tion to the force pump, which supplies the pipes e e with water as steam is
„eneiated; trom such wheel, motion may also be imparted to other ma-
climery intended to be driven by the aforesaid engine. I I is the ash-pit
which receives the ashes as they fall from the openings m m.

IMPROVED CUPOLA FOR MELTING IRON.

Constructed by Messrs. Franklin Townsend, & Co., Albany, N. Y.

This cupola is of the ordinary construction, only being of enlarged di-
mensions and made ot cast iron. Us diameter at the Uyives, when lined
with fire brick, is three feet ; and its height, from the hearlh to the charg-
ing door eleven feet. When charged full, it will contain three tons of pi-
iron, and IS capaole of melting upwards of twelve tons at one blast ThS
air IS admitted into the cupola by six tuyeres, which are placed about
fifteen uiches above the hearth, aud equidistant on the circumference of
the cylinder. To avoid the number of pipes which would be necessary if
the air were conducted into the cupola by the usual method, an air cham-
ber IS made to surround the cylinder and enclose all the tuyeres, and into
this the main blast pipe is introduced. An opening is made throu-h the
outside of this air chamber, and directly opposite to each tuyfere which
being protected by a plate of glass, allows the mdUr to observe the world
lug of the furnace. This plate of glass is so attached that it can be easily
removed, and tuus give free entrance to clear the tuyeres whenever it mav
be necesssary. ■*

The air is heated by being forced through a number of small pipes,
placed in such a manner in the interior of the stalk immediately above and
directly over the cylinder of the cupola, that their outside surfaces are
exposed to the full action of the waste heat of the furnace. For reason of
the diihculty caused by Ihe expansion of Ihe metal when healed, these
pipes are required to be of peculiar construction. By this arrangement,
tlie air becomes heated during iis passage from the blast reservoir to the
tuyeres, upwards of 400° Fahrenheit's thermometer.

This cupola has been in operation during the past three months, meltin>r
en tons of iron daily. The iron is charged in the shape of ],ig and scran
(sprues, gates, S,-c) in about equal proportions, and is cast into stove plates
which require that it should be very hot and liquid. The average con-
sumplion of coal (Lehigh) in melling this quantity of iron, is 225 lb to
the ton of iron, and the rate of melting is from two to three tons per hour
Ano;dmary cupola, operated with cold blast, consumes upwards of 5001b
ot coal to the ton of iron, and its rate of melling is from one to two tons
per hour.

Not having the results of the operation of any hot blast cupola in this
country, the comparison of the working of this improved cupola with them
cannot be given ; but its evident superiority to those of England is shown
by the following extracts from a report made by M. Dufresnoy, chief en-
gineer of mines; —

" rbe cupola furnaces at the Tyne Iron Works are operated with heated
air. Ihe consumption of coke is 309 lb. to the ton of iron : rate of melt-
ing, one ton per hour.

" At Wednesbury, the cupolas are operated with hot blast, and consume

]6

122

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[April,

*287 lb of coke to the ton of iron. Before the adoption of the hot blast,
the consumption of coke was 411 lb. to the ton of iron. The same quan-
tity of iron is melted in oue-half of the time that was required before the
adoption of this process." — Franklin Journal.

AUST I'ASSAGK BRIDGE.

(With an engTaning, Plate V.)

The proposition to build a bridRe across the old passage of the Bristol
Channel, at Chepstow, has arisen from the intended improved connection
of South M ales with I'.ngland by means of railways, and whatever may
be the objects of crossing the Bristol Channel elsewhere, the old passage is
unquestionably the point where the nearest junction of South M ales with
Bristol, the West of England, and London, can be effected.

In the session of 184.i I recommended, in my evidence upon the South
"Wales Railway, that this bridge should be constructed with a span of
1,000 feet from pier to pier, and height of 120 feet above high water mark
of spring tides. Since then, I have had a correct plan and sections made
of the Channel, from which I find it practicable to place the piers on rock
foundations, accessible at low water, but at distances of 1,100 feet apart.
The bridge will therefore require four spans of this length, and one at each
end of nearly 5o0 feet. In addition to which, another bridge should be
built across the Wye, with one span of about 500 feet in length, and one
at each end of about -.250 feet each. I expressed ray opinion in the ses-
sion of 1815, that the suspension principle adopted at Meuai Bridge and
elsewhere, would not be sufficiently steady for the Aust Bridge without
material improvements in it. I have accordingly, in conjunction with Mr.
Francis Bashforth, Fellow of St. John's, Cambridge, designed a bridge
for the Aust I'assage, which the accompanying engraving represents (see
plate V.) ; the calculations for which are subjoined, for the scrutiny of
scientific men, and I have great pleasure in associating my name with Mr.
Bashforlh's in this work. Francis Giles.

Experience has shown that the instability of suspension bridges is their
great defect, whilst they may be made of sufficient strength to bear any
load that can ever be placed upon them. To guard against their liability
to undulation an arrangement is proposed, so that every part may be
always in its proper position to support any heavy weight plared on the
roadway. The bars radiating from the tops of the piers are of variable
thickness, so that each is capable of sustaining the same weight as when
placed at its extremity on the platform (supposed to be a rigid lever move-
able about the end). These radiating bars are kept straight and connected
together by transverse rods, but the former alone are calculated to sustain
the whole of the load, the latter being employed to keep them in their
proper position and to ensure the assumed rigidity of the platform. The
supporting bars are attached to the platform at equal distances and are
passed over the top of the pier (side by side or otherwise). On account of
their number the space covered would be considerable, but this would be an
advantage as the tendency would be to keep the platform steady. In
addition, the main chains are proposed to be connected by rods overhead
to within about 20 feet of the roadway. So as to form an immense trussed
beam. Let ( denote the number of Ions that a bar of iron of 1 square inch

E. 01 * B

section would bear without injury. A B =A ,EB =s, BC = C D=:
D E = &1C. = 5. Let A F be the r the bar from A B. Then B F = rS
•»-, the weight supported by A F at F on the platform, /i^ weight of a bar
of irou 1 foot long and 1 square inch section, n = number of bars between
B and .1.

A F A F

'AB = "' h

The tension of A F :

Weight of A F =K tensio" "''■*■ ^ v A F -1."^' _«C|W. +r= 8»
t ^ ~t h t K'- k-->

and giving to r successively the values 1, 2, 3 n we get the necessary

•veight of each bar, and four times their sum will be equal the weight of
the supporting bars between the piers = W suppose

W =4)

A a

•■'I

= ..A« f, .!ill"(l.^l^_L.U

But if W be the weight to be supported on the platform when nDiformly

g
distributed , W = 4 « u and n J =—

•W xh

t ( ' ■" 4A-' "-S " 2n
It is manifest that W' cannot be made a minimum by the variation of n,
but as n increases W decreases, and the least possible value is given by
W«A ( S'

W'=

/ S' , 1 1 , 1 , \

»=B ID which case W'

{•*iS^}

Id this case we should

have the bars replaced by a very great number of wires, but there would
be no rigidity for preventing the platform being raised in the middle. A
bridge so constructed in Scotland was soon destroyed by the wind and
replaced by one of the common form. Hence the greatest number of bars
must be made use of, consistent with the rigidity of the whole. W is also
a function of A, the height of the platform above the roadway. Making

dw s /"i i r

dh

0 we find

d2_W'
rfA=

A = + — A / —.—. — J. The positive value

a positive quantity and . ■ . gives the minimum vakie

of A makes

of W.

But the expense of raising the piers to a height necessary to ensure the
minimum quantity ol iron being required must be taken into account. Let
11 denote the height of the roadway above the ground, and x the height of
a course of stones on the pier above the platform. Suppose now the cost
of any course of stones varies as (height) s, where s is integral or fractional,
and also that n is the expense of a course at height unity from the ground,
expressed in terms of a weight of iron of equivalent value.

Expense of the pier above the platform,

=^J (H + x j \ln =g^ I H + A
must have such a valu

s+i_jjS+n,

i

: such a value as makes
WkA f

S- 1 1

Hence A must have

_ J_

t \ 4A= ^3 ■'"2n"*'CB2

It must be remarked that the extremities of the radiating bars would re-
main in the same straight line for all variations of temperature, provided
each bar expanded in proportion to its length. Thus the equation to a
straight line is f cos e=a (1) If we suppose p to receive an increment ^ p
proportional to its lengtli, the radius vector then becomes p + ynp = p' (2).
(suppose) and eliminating p between (1) and (2) we get p' cos 6 =
a (l+t«) • • • (3), which is the equation to a straight line, paralUI to (1) and
at a distance jl a. For a span of 900 feet ; a ^ 00 feet suppose, and for
ordinary changes of the atmospheric temperature
1 90 ,.. 12..

. Iia = .

feet = — inches :
20

•0 inches.

It has been objected that there would be a tendency in the network to
" buckle ;" this would be perfectly correct in the case of a girder bridge,
but there would be no occasion to fear that defect if the proposed plan were
properly carried out. For it must be remarked that everything is made
subordinate to the radiating bars. The straight horizontal rods are in-
tended to insure the rigidity of the platform. \t hen a weight passed over
the bridge, the tendency of the supporting bars would be to rotate about
the top of the pier, but these straight bars acting directly by tension on one
side and compression on the other, prevent this, and cannot buckle unless
the rods stretch. The bars must be coimected so as to admit of adjust-
ments without injury to the strength of the material.

The weight of the material required for the supporting bars on this plan
would be from half to two-thirds of that required for the main chains of a
catenary of equal strength, but on account of the numerous cross pieces,
the saving effected by this plan would not be important, but it is satisfac-
tory to know that suspousiou bridges may be made much firmer and free
from undulation without increasing the cost and adding to the weight to be
supported.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

123

RESEARCHES IN HYDRAULICS.

Sir— In Weale's " Quarterly Papers on Engineering" for Michaelmas
last, there is an article, " Researches in Hydraulics," by a Mr. Peacocke,
in which he attempts to prove the several formulae of Genieys, Dubuat'
Piony, Eytelwein, Dr. Young, and Smeaton, for calculating the discharge
of water from pipes, are incorrect, and joins his faith to that of ivfi-.
Provis, whose formula, he thinks, might be carried out for a length of pipe
of 1,500 feet (!) at least, without any considerable inaccuracy. Ignorant
he must be that mains are sometimes three or four miles long, and even
more than that. It would be doing Mr. Peacocke and the profession a
service, were you to review this in your usual clever style and expose its
absurdity.

In Smeaton's Reports, vol. 1, page 231, you will see that by measure-
ment, one of the mains of the Edinburgh M'^ater Works is 4'.5in. diameter,
and delivered 21 97 cubic feet per minute. By calculation with Ey tell
wein's formula he gives 4-4!) in. for diameter and 12 feet discharge ; and
again, vol 3, page 231 (1st edition), the actual velocity from a main of the
same Water Works was 1,815 feet per second, whilst the calculated ve-
locity was 1,810 feet per second. I remain &c.

Macclesfield, March 14th 184G. ' $. o. S.

[A review of Mr. Peacocke's paper has already appeared in our janu •
ary number.]

THE BRITISH MUSEUM FACADE.

Sir— The " Idea" shown in the last Number of your Joarnal would
effect so decided an improvement in the facade of our national museum,
that it is a thousand pities it did not originate with the architect himself
its adoption being nosv altogether out of the question, unless it could be'
made compulsory. Such an important public edifice is a very legitimate
subject for public interference; it ought, therefore to be made a matter of
consideration whether something; of the kind at least ought not to be now
done. 15e such the course or not, it is highly to the credit of your .Tournal
Jo have shown what might be done to redeem the Museum facade.

I remain. Sir,

London, March 11th, 1840. A Constant Reader.

PROCEEDINGS OP SCIEJNTZPIC SOCIETIES.

ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.

Feftruary 23.— The successful competitors for the Prize Medals of the
institute, for the year 1845, were announced as follows :—

To Mr. T. Worthington, of Manchester, the Medal of the Institute for
the best Essay on the History and Manufacture of Bricks

To Mr. S. J. NichoU, the Medal of Merit, for his Essay on the same
subject.

To Mr. J. F. M^admore, of Upper Clapton, the Medal of Merit, for a
Design for a Royal Chapel.

March 9.— J. B. Papworth, Esa., V.P. in the Chair.

Mr. E. Woodthorpe was elected a Fellow. Amongst the donations an-
nounced, was a Medal struck by the Society for the Encouragement of the
Industrial Arts in Prussia, in honour of their President, the Chevalier
Beuth, presented by the Chevalier Hebeler, who likewise exhibited Herr
iernite s work, " On the Frescoes at Herculaneum and Pompeii "

A portion of the Prize Essay, "On the History and Manufacture of
Bricks by Mr. Worthington, was read, and comprised chiefly an
account of the earliest recorded instances of the application of brick,
both in a crude and burnt slate, in the walls and structures of Baby-
Lon, Nineveh Lcbataua, and other cities of Assyria, in China, Egypt
Greece and Italy, involving frequent allusions to the Sacred Writings, and
lengthened quotations from Herodotus, Pliny, and other well-known an-
cient authors, as well as modern travellers.

JV/arcA23.— W. Tite, Esq., V.P., in the Chair.

Mr. Poynter, the Honorary Secretary, read a highly interesting and
valuable paper on the Stained Glass in Sainte Chapelle, at Paris. We
must defer this paper until next month, when we propose to give it fully,
illustrated with several engravings.

A paper, by Dr. W. Bromet, (accompanied by a drawiag,) descriptive
«fsome moulded bricks o( various forms, found in the walls of a church, at
Sanson-sur-Rdle, in Normandy, taken down a few years ago, was read.
From the circumstance of these bricks being of ornamental form, and from
their being found imbedded as materiel in the walls of a building which
IS mentioned in a book of the year 1210, they are believed to have been
portions of the abbey founded at Sanson, in the siith century, by King
Childebert, but destroyed during one of the incursions of the Northmen
m the ninth century. From the pyramidal form of most of these bricks
and the similanty in shape of some to the stones in the Tour-Magne, at
Nismes, it is thought probable that they were made after Roman models,

if not in Roman times. On the church walls of Ainay, at Lyons, at Tour-
ness, on the Saone, and of Notre Dame du Port, at Clermont,-aIl nearly
of Car ovingian times,-there still exist moulded biicks, geometrically ar-
ranged as ornaments; and Dr. Bromet thought .t probable, that durin-
Saxon times many of our buildings were adorned with moulded bricks,

Tr,f Vr^- r™'"^ ? ''*"'', "" ""^ "'^^^'' "f Sompting Church, in Sussex
and which Rickman deemed to be Saxon, because never seeu by him in
Normandy or elsewhere. " In conclusion," says Dr. Bromet, " I vvill ven-
ture to express an opmion, that, in no part of the Romanized world could
so useful an art as brick-making ever have been lost ; although Eginhard

ffl T,l. n, T r ''' '"l'^ '\V''' "■"^'^^' Cl>arlemagne, re-introduced it
from Italy into his French aud German dominions

The Chairman drew attention to the expected arrival in England from
Boodroom of a valuable addition to the treasures of ancient sculpture which

nntHT'\ '' 7 ■ r''"''''- "^^^ """'^^'^ •-'"'"''^d '» a'-" generally sup-
posed to have formed a part of the tomb erected by Queen Artemisia to
the memory of her husband, Mausolus, though the fact is quesEiooed by
r , , 1 i^ '';,^",'' \''°^ occasion to express his satisfaction at the sue-
cess which had attended the efforts of the architects of England, in 1841.
to merest the Government in the preservation of these valuable relics, at
which lime a representation was made by the Institute, to Lord Palmer-
ston, of the importance of rescuing these antiquities from the degradatiou
and destruction to which they were exposed. The suggestion had been
tor resuu" '""''^^°°^^^ ^""^ '"^'^'^ "P"" '° * way to eliect this satisfac

ROYAL SCOTTISH SOCIETY OF ARTS.
February 23, 1846.— Sir George S. Mackenzie, Bart., r.R.S.E., President,
in the Chair.
The following communications were made :

1. Notice of an Improvement in his Model of a Self acting method of
Throwing the Shuttle in the Common Hand Loom, &c. By Mr James
Miller, Watchmaker, Perth. In this model an improvement is introduced,
calculated, in Mr. Miller's opinion, to prevent the recoil of the shuttle, viz.,
by interposing a driver, as in the common loom. He has also made simple
arrangements by which the strength of the driving springs may be tempered
or increased at pleasure. = .> r

2. On the applicability of the Electro-Magnetic Bell to the trial of ex-
periments on the Conduction of Sound, especially by Gases. By George
Wilson, M.D., F.R.S.E. The apparatus was exhibited. The object of this
paper, and his illustrative experiments, was to show that the Electro.
Magnetic Bell is a better and cheaper means of ascertaining the capabilities
of diflTerent gases to conduct sound than the method of a bell struck by clock-
work, as hitherto commonly used. The Electro-Magnetic Bell is much more
under command, and we are not troubled with the clock-work running down,
and being obliged to remove the receiver of the air-pump to wind it up
again. It was exhibited to the Society, by means of the Electro-Magnetic
Bell ; the difference in the conduction of sound betwixt atmospheric air and
hydrogen gas, showing that the latter has greatly less capabiUty to transmit
sound. He experimented by placing the bell within the glass receiver of a
common air-pump, full of common air, and making the hammer strike the
bell by connecting the wire of the temporary magnet with the battery, when
the sound of the bell was distinctly heard ; and then by exhausting the air
from the receiver, and introducing hydrogen gas, and again making the ham-
mer strike the bell, when the sound produced was so weak as to be scarcely
audible. '

3. Description and Drawings of an Improved Crank Planing-Mac/tine, and
of lis advantages over the Common Crank Planing-Machine. Manufactured
by Messrs. Thomas Shanks & Co., Engineers, Johnston, Renfrewshire.
This IS a very beautiful application of the ellipse to produce alternate quick
and slow motion. Two elliptic wheels are made to work into each other,
the driver working round the one focus, and the follower working round the
opposite focus of the ellipses, by which means the two ellipses roll upon each
other, and always keep in contact. When the driver has its shorter lever
turned towards the longer lever of the follower (to which the crank is fixed),
a slow motion is produced, suitable for taking the cut : but when the driver
13 turned round, and its longer lever becomes opposed to the shorter lever of
the follower, a quick motion is produced, thus sending back the planing
table very rapidly, so that little time is lost betwixt that and the next cut of
the tool.

4. Description of a Modification and Improvement of the Voltaic or Elec-
tro Chemical Telegraph. Invented by Mr. R. B. Smith, Lecturer on Che-
mistry, Blackford. This is an improvement of the Electro-Chemical Tele-
graph formerly communicated by Mr. Smith. In this telegraph a ribband
of cotton or paper, which has been made to pass through a trough filled with
a solution of ferro-cyanide of potass, to which has been added a few drops
of nitric acid,— is drawn by clock- work, or otherwise over a cylinder of lead,
which is in communication with the negative wire of the battery; while
there is in communication with the positive wire an impress iron wire, rest-
ing immediately on the cotton or paper ribband as it passes over the leaden
cylinder. When the circuit is completed by pressing down a key with the
finger, the electricity passes along to the impress wire, and a blue coloured
mark is printed on the paper, or cloth, caused by the action of the electric
fluid decomposing the ferro-cyanide of potass, and forming ferro-cyanide of

124

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[April,.

iron. If the circuit is closed and broken rapidly, a succession of marks or
dots will be printed on the ribband ; but if closed for a longer time, and then
brckjn, the marks are longer; so that long spaces, and short spaces, dots,
long and short lines, are formed at pleasure. An arrangement of these
marks constitutes the Telegraphic Alphabet.

Monday, IMarch 9. John Adie, Esq., F.R.S.E., V.P., in the Chair.
The following communications were made : —

1. "Description of a Machine for draxi-ing the perfect E<jg Oral, and a
Method of producing Curi'ilineal Figures. Invented by D. R. Hay, Esq.,
Edinburgh. — .V model of the machine was exhibited to the meeting ; it will
draw correctly the egg form, or oval, as it differs from the ellipse ; and also
a mode of producing, upon the principle of harmonic ratio, and by a very
simple process, a series of curvilineal figures, by which beauty and origin,
ality may be imparted to the ornamental works of the architect, and to those
of the silversmith, potter, &c., from the ino.st expensive to the liumblest
product of their respective arts, sudi as vases, tureens, teapots, cnps, &C. ;
and proved, by specimens executed on a large scale, in presence of the
meeting, that, if the most approved works of this kind that have been
handed down from the Greeks and Etruscans, were not produced by the
same means, bis method could produce, with ease and certainty, equal beauty
and elegance of design, in endless variety.

2. A specimen of ornamental Oak Carring, executed by Mr. Jonx Steel,
sen., Edinburgh, was exhibited. It was a very beautiful specimen of Scot-
tish art, exhibiting a number of figures of dead game, &c., from the stag
and the heron to the grouse. It was much undercut, some of the figures
nearly relieved, and met with general admiration.

3. Some Specimens of the Native useful Arts of New Zealand, and a Spe-
cimen of the Flu.r Plant of that country, were exhibited by Mr. W. Wells.
— The specimens consisted in various articles of dress, of native manufac-
ture, woven from the native fl.ix, and ornamented in a curious manner with
portions of the plant. They form very thick and comfortable outer gar-
ments. Some specimens of dyed stuff .vere also shown ; and a specimen of
the Hax plant, together with the flax produced from it, which, when formed
into cordage, was said to bear a considerable strain, provided the strain be
equal, but is very apt to snap if a sudden strain be applied; or if a knot be
formed on the cord it is apt to break at the knot. It was stated that these bad
qualities might result from the imperfect manner in which the flax is pre-
pared, and that they may possibly be removed by skilful preparation of the

SOCIETY OF ARTS, LONDON.

\reb. 25.— VV. H. Bodkin, Esq., M. P., V. P. in the Chair.

The following papers was read " oji a new fonn of Locomotive Steam
Knirine," by Mr. T. R. Cramplon. The object being to prevent rocking
and vibratory motion, and to obtain Ihe advantage of large driving wheels
•without increasing the height of the centre of gravity. The principal
features of the invention are first, the driving wheels are placed at the
fire-box end of the boiler, so that the wheels way he made of any height
without raising the centre of gravity of the engine, thus a lower centre of
gravity is obtained, and also greater stability than is the case in any of the
usual forms.

• It is also conceived that by placing Ihe driving wheels beyond the ex-
trenjity of the boiler greater steadiness would be given from the absenceof
overhanging weight. With these essential changes the remainder of the
■working parts of the ordinary engine may be maintained without any
other alteration in their position.

On tlie ronmition of Jnaustulionsin S/eam lioilrrs, and on the )neans
vf preventing it, by Dr. I{ittei!I)Rani)t. The first part of the paper
shows that incrustation is the cause of the majority of Steam Boiler
explosions. Secondly, that it is incompatible with the economical nse of
fuel. Thirdly, that it rapidly destroys the boilers, and that the extra
lieat necessary to raise water to a given point greatly increasing oxidation
or scaling, and fourthly, that it is a source of serious expenditure, by
rendering labour necessary to remove it, and by the destruction of the
boiler, to whi( li this mechanical removal gives rise. In luder to obviate
these dilliculties, Dr. Hittcrbrandt proposes to use the sails nf ammonia, it
being kuown that if to a soluble salt of lime be added a solution of
carbonate of ammonia, precipitation t.kcs place, and the acid which held
in solution Ihe lime, unites with Ihe ammonia while the carbonic acid of
the carbonate of ammonia combines and falls down with Ihe lime, but upon
the water being heated, the precipilatid carbonate of lime combines with
the salt of ammonia, is re-dissolvcd and the carbonate of ammonia is formed,
and escapes with Ihe vapour of the boiling water. On feeling convinced
that this peculiar re action look place, viz : that carbonate of lime precipi-
tated from a salt of lime by carbonate of ammonia would be again dissolved
by the application of boat, it only remained to be proved how far this
principle was applicable to decompose the carbonate of lime already
existing in talcareijus water, and the lesulis exceeded the most sanguine
expectiitions ; however, hi;;hly charged with lime Ihc water may be, the
process answers, and the solution is in all cases perfect.

The ratiuuale of the chemical reaction was explained bv the following
diagram : " °

uriale off ^'^■

mmonia.i .7
Cati

Carbonate C

of lime. \ -J

(insoluble. (

^H.A.-fS

f Muriate of Lime
i (soluble.)

C.4.+Am

Carbonate of
-Ammonia
(volatile.)

March 11. — T. ^^'inkworth, Esq., in the Chair.

The first communication was by Mr. M'aterhouse, " On his Machine for
the Manufacture of Mechlin Lace." It appears from the description of the
machine and the specimens of the lace exhibited, to be one of great capa-
bilities; the number of warp-threads in the width alone is 4,700, and a
corresponding number of bobbins or weft-tlireads, which represent the same
number of bobbins, and are all kept in motion at the same time. In mak-
ing pillow lace, it requires as many hands as there are bobbins, for on the
cushion one baud must wait for the other, in order to obtain the requisite
crossings of the threads. Some idea may, therefore, be formed of the in-
tricacy of tiie machinery, and of the ingenuity displayed in its arrange-
ment, as by it every motion given to the threads by the hand is exactly
given by the machimry, but with greater rapidity and precision. The
process of Ihe manufacture was described at length, and illustrated by
diagrams and parts of the machinery itself; there were also specimens ex-
hibited,— one of which was twenty-six yards long and four yards wide, and
had four patterns woven upon it. The number of motions or throws that
would be required to produce a similar piece of lace by hand would amount
to not less than 2,1 11.016,000. The lace is said to be in no respect inferior
to the foreign lace.

The next communication was, by Dr. Paltrineri, " On a New Steam
JCng^inc, Magnetic Engine, and other machines in which the moving power
is applied simultaneously, by Action and Reaction, to the work to be per-
formed, being illustrations of a system for obtaining all motive powers and
maximum of ellect." Dr. Paltrineri conceives that the maximum of effect
is to be obtained by applying simultaneously the action and reaction of
every motive power with equal velocities lo the production of the useful
effect. He exhibited a double turbine, in which the water, steam, or other
moving fluid, is applied by means of two concentric wheels, through which
the fluid passes successively, and by this means he showed that a residual
effect, which is lost on the ordinary single wheel, would be converted to
use by Ihe double. He showed Ihe same results in Ihe case of his new
magnetic engine, and he illustrated the fact by a machine in vThich the
constant force of a spring is applied to raise a weight, fi/st by having one
bend released and Ihe other fixed, and next by releasing both bends simul-
taneously, and in which latter case Ihe maximum of effect is utilized. The
machines were simple in their construction.

ON THE MANUFACTURE OF GLASS.

Abstract of a paper read at the Royal Institution. By Mr. Pellatt

Though we have accounts of foreign glass having been used in this
country during the 7th century, yet the manufacture of glass io England
is comparatively of recent date ; the first manufactory having been esta-
blished at Savoy House, in the Strand, in 1557, probably by French Pro-
testant refugees, most of the technical terms in glass-making being from
the French. In IC70, the second Duke of Buckingham advanced the ma-
nufacture by the introduction of Venilian workmen ; and three years after-
wards the first plate of glass was produced at the works of that nobleman
at Lambeth. In 1773 a royal charter was granted to the governor and
company of British Plate (i lass Makers ; their works are at Ravenshead,
Lancashire, and are the most capacious in Europe. Since this period Ihe
manufacture of glass, notwithstanding the restrictions lo which ii has been
subjected, but which are now removed, has continued to advance.

Crucibles and lumaccs. — Before considering Ihe manufacture of glass,
it is necessary lo say a few words respecting the mode of preparing the
crucibles and furnaces for melting the materials. Every glass-maker is
his own poller and furnace-builder. The preparation of the crucibles in-
volves the greatest care, because upon the quality of them depends all the
after processes and results. 'Ihe material used is fire-clay. The clay best
suited is that which contains the most silica. The crucibles or pots are
made by forming the clay into small rolls, which are spread, layer over
layer, with considerable pressure : the whole is thus built up little by little,
allowing the clay to harden so that Ihejshape is preserved. During the build-
ing and afterwards, the pots are in a room in which the temperature is regu-
lated at about 60% and all drafts excluded ; five or six months are required
in this temperature to dry thcin. The reason of so much care is to exclude
as much air from the clay as possible ; which, if it cxisteil in quantity,
would, upon Ihe pot being brought into contact with the high temperature
of the glass furnace, become so expanded as to burst ; and also to insure a
capacity in the pot lo withstand the sudden contraction and expansion to
which it is exposed. Pots are of two diflerent constructions — closed and

1816.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

123

open ; the former are used only {or flint glass, the latter for all other ilo-
scriptions in both shapes. The upper part is the most capacious: the
reason for this is, that the heat reverberates from the top of the crown of
the furnace directly upon the top of the pots. The pots cannot, of course,
be exposed cold to the heat of the furnace, but have to undergo a gradual
beating till they attain a white heat, and this is done in a furnace con-
structed for the purpose, from which all air is carefully excluded ; from
this furnace they are removed upon iron carriages to the glass furnace.
The heat required to melt glass, especially that made without lead, is very
great; yet, on account of the danger to the crucibles from any sudden rush
of air, it is impossible to make use of blast, or even fanners: the
proper draft is secured by the construction of an air funnel, called a cave,
and by having the glass-house so construcled that it can be closed from the
entrance of exlerual air above. Upon the arcli of the cave the furnace
floor or seige(from the French sitg-e, seat of tlie pots) is constructed, formed
of strong heavy square bricks. The round furnace is used for flint glass,
the flames finding vent by flues passing through the pillars of the furnace,
having chimneys upon the outside for carrying off the smoke. Square fur-
naces, agaiu, are employed for glasses without lead, a greater heat being
required ; which is obtained by the grate-room running llu; whole length of
the seige. Tlie proper construttioti of the furnace is of great importance
to the oper.itions of the glass-maker ; in fact, good glass cannot be made
without a good furnace.

There are several distinct varieties of glass manufactured ; and so dif-
ferent are they, both in preparation and manipulation, that they may be
considered separate manufactures. There are, however, oidy two melhods
by which fluid or senii fluid glass is formed to shape, viz. casting and blow-
ing. Casting applies exclusivity to i>lale glass, and is the emplyingglass out
of the pot by casting it out upon a table, the casting of glass as metal is cast,
being yet unuraclised ; blowing applies to all other descriptions of glass.

The tools used by the glass-maker are simple : the blov\'ing-iron — simply
a hollow tube ; uith this the serai-liquid glass is gathered from Ihe pot and
blown out into shape ; the punly, for attaching to the bottom of glass afier
blowing, so that the blowing-iron may be detached, and the glass, being
heated up, may be cut with scissars, and afterwards formed. 'J'he shears
or procellos, for shaping the glass whilst it is turned by the workman upon
the arms of his chair, or working bench. These, with the addition of a
pair of scissars and pincers, are the whole of the tools.

All glass requires a'inealing or cooling ; the process is performed in a
furnace called a lier, from the French liei\ — figurative, perhaps, of the
change in stale, as well as atomic arrangement, which takes place during
the cooling. We know that a change dots take place, from the fact that
glass before cooling is of greater bulk and less specific gravity than when
cold ; that it parts with a portion of colour during the process, probably by
giving off ox J gen ; and that though, whilst in a fluid slate, glass is a good
conductor of electricity, when cold it is a non-conductor. The object of
annealing is, by a gradual diminution of the temperature, to allow of that
arrangement of particles necessary to the body at a low temperature, and
which particular arrangement alone enables the glass to support sudden
changes.

The base of all glass is silica : the most convenient form in which it is
found is in fine sand; upon the due pi'oportion of this substance in glass
depends its compactness of body, brilliance and capacity to withstand sud-
den changes- 1( often happens, either on account of want of sufficient heat
in the furnace, or in order to save time in the melting or founding, that too
small a proportion of silica is employed, tilass which has this fault may
be known oy its rapidly attracting nioisiure. The diflerent descriptions of
glass made are known by the names of plate glass, German sheet or Ijritish
plate, crown or window glass, bottle glass, and flint glass ; there are
others, but they are merely modifications of these, and need not be noticed.

Plate Glass is composed of sand, carbonate of soda and chalk, with small
quantities of arsenic and manganese ; the proportions vary at diflerent
works, but llie general proportion is — Lynn sand, 400; carbonate of soda,
250 ; ground chalk, 3.5, by weight. The quality of the glass depends upon
the quality of the alkali. Plate glass is melted in large open pots. The
furnaces are square, conlainiug sometimes 4, sometimes (i pots each ; when
the glass is melted, which takes 22 hours, it is removed to another furnace,
where the pots are smaller, of a cylindrical furni. Here it is fined, which
occupies 4 10 G hours, and when free from air bubbles and impurity the pot
with the glass is removed bodily from the furnace by means of a crane,
and hoisted to the end of the casiing table, upon which the glass isempiied;
a large iron roller vhich works inside the flangesof the casting table, is
then made lo pass over the melted glass, in order to flatten it out; it isihen
removed upon a wooden table on wheels to the annealing arch, which is
BOW at a high lemperalure, and here it is excluded from the atmosphere
until cold. The glass is rough and uneven, but is afterwards cut flat by
machinery, and then smoothed and polished; it is these processes which
render plate glass so cosily.

Crown, or window glass is of much ihe same composition as plate glass,
except that a cheaper description of alkali is used ; Ihe ordinary mixiiire
is, 500 cw I. Lynn sand, 2 of ground chalk, and 1 cwt. each of sulphate
and carbonate of soda. The square furnace and the open pots are used,
there being generally G pots on each furnace. It lakes from 14 to 20 hours
to melt this glass, aud it then requires lo stand 4 lo S hours lo allow it to
become free from all air bubbles, and to cool sufliciently for working.
Window glass is formed by blowing : upon the blowing-iron is gathered at
three several times ^the fluidity of the glass never allowing fewer) the

weight of glass necessary to produce the table, and which weighs U lb. ;
this is then blown oul, leaving a solid lumj) at the farthest extremity from
the blowing-iron, for atlaching the punty ; this is called the bullion. The
punty being fixed to the bullion, the blowing-iron is relieved by merely
touching the glass with a wet iron ; being firmly attached to the punty, it
is removed lo a small cylindrical furnace, called a flashing furnace, where
a rotatory motion being given to it, increasing as the glass becomes softened
by the heat, Ihe centrifugal force, together with a little sleight of hand oq
the part of the workman, produces a flat circular plate or table, as it is
then called.

British plate, nr German sheet-glass is of the same composition as plate
glass, but the nuiuipulalion is diflerent. The glass is blown into open cy-
linders, and, when cold, these are cut open along the length with a dia-
mond, and placed in a flatting furnace, which is at a sufficient heat to
bring the glass into a semi fluid state, so that it falls quite flat. The sheets
thus made are afierwards cut flat and polished. The size of the sheet is
restricted to what can be blown and worked by one man ; it is cheaper
than plate glass, because all waste is avoided, and less cutting is re-
quireil.

Bo(</<' ^/as's is composed of the cheapest materials which can be pro-
cured— ordinary pit sand, refuse alkaline waste from soap works, refuse
lime from gas works, &:c. The proportions of the materials vary according
to quallly. Hollies are blown in moulds : the glass having been blown in
the mould, nothing remains but to form the mouth; this is done, the bottom
being attached to an iron punty, by holding tiic extreme edge of the neck
to Ihe heat for a short period, and, having collected a small quantity of
liquid glass upon the end of a small iron, called a ring iron, a ring of glass
is allowed to cover this extreme end, and this is afterwards worked into
shape by a machine which forms the inside and outside of the mouth at
the same time, merely by Ihe workman turning the bottle on Ihe iron upoa
his knee once or twice. The rapidity with which bottles are made is
almost incredible ; a workman, with Ihe assistance of a gatherer and
blower, will begin and finish 120 dozen of quart bottles in 10 hours, which
averages nearly 2^ per minute, and this is ordinarily done; and in some
works the men are restricted to 2 per minute, to prevent the work being
slighted. It may not be uninleresting lo observe the low price at which
this description of glass can be procured, now that Ihe duly has been re-
moved : quart bottles can be produced at ihe works at about 14s. per
gross : each gross weighs 2 cwt., which is equal to 7s. per cwt., or £7 per
ton, for manufactured bottles ; if from this we deduct for workmen and
incidental expenses, £2 per ton, it would leave the price of bottle glass
£5 per ton.

Flint glass h thus designated from calcined flints having been formerly
used in its composition ; this is now replaced by fine sand. The term flint
glass is now applied lo all glass into Ihe mixture of which lead enters, and
is used in Ihe manufacture of table glass, &c. In the manufacture of flint
glass the circular furnace is used, the pots surrounding the grate room ; ou
either side of the pots are flue-holes, which pass through the pillars, the
smoke being carried up by flues outside these. The heat thus reverberates
from the crown of the furnace, and is drawn round Ihe pots previous lo
passing through the flue-hole. The melting pots are covered in, to protect
Ihe glass from dust, v\hich would i^iTect the colour. The materials used in
flint glass are sand, red lead and litharge, carbonate and niirate of potash,
arsenic, and manganese ; and the greatest care is taken iu the selection of
them — the beauty of the glass dependii]g mainly upon the qualily of the
materials. 'J he best sand comes from Alum Bay, Isle of Wight; this is
carefully washed aud dried previous to using. Ked lead, or lilharge: this
assists as a flux, and gives density, brilliancy, and duclilily,- — the latter
quality being particularly required in flint glass; it is, perhaps, owing to
the superior quality of Ihe oxides of lead prepared in England ihat we are
iuad\auceol oiher nations in Ihe manufaclure of fiue flint glass. The
carbonate and nitrate of potash are used wholly as fluxes ; soda, though
more active, is never used where quality is required, as it aflects the colour.
For almost every purpose, Ihe best glass of every descripiiou is that which
contains the greatest amount of silica. If the sand, lead, and alkali,
even though ihe quallly were never so pure, were melted, the glass
which would be produced would not be colourless, but of a pale green;
and this, in all probability, is not so much the result of impurity, as ihe
deoxidating efl'ect of the fusion. To obviate this, it is necessary to use
oxide of manganese, which, by supplying oxygen, retains the diflerent
subslances in Ihat stale of oxygenation necessary to a colourless glass; if
too much manganese he used Ihe colour is slighlly purple, designated by
the glassniakeis " high ; the green lint, again, is called ''low:" in other
words, the glass is high when it contains more than sutlicient oxygen, and
low when too litlle. ftiinute quanliiies only are necessary ; from a quarter
to half an ounce per cwt. is sufficient. Arsenious acid is sometimes used
in flint glass, its use being to expel the carbonic acid gas present in Ihe
materials ; if loo much is used it gives opacity.

Glass must be considered, unfortunately for science, an imperfect body.
The principal imperfection, more especially of Uint glass, arises from
what are called cords, or stria; in the body of the glass, which give it the
appearance of alcohol and water imperfectly mixed; through ihese stria'
the rays of light will not pass, but are diverged and broken. This detect
is altnbuled to the difference in specific gravity, or want of homogeneity
of the particles: this, no doubt, is true; but the question is, lo what
cause is this attributable? I would suggest, that it may arise from the
unequal distribuliun of heat to the materials during fusioa and whilst in a

198

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECrS JOURNAL.

[April*

fluxed state, and to the particular action consequent tlipreupon. The |
oumber and variety of articles nianufaclured in flint glass are great, and \
require considerable practical experience un the part of the workmen. It I
is impossible to describe the manner of operating, which appears even to |
those who have often seen it almost magical. It is certainly surprising to
see an apparently opaque and fluid body in a moment become tran.'^parent
auil solid, and, whilst undergoing this rapid change, to see it take beauty
of form.

Culournl Glass. — The substances used for producing coloured glass are
the metallic <ixides, the quantity being proportioned to the depth of colour
we desire to obtain. Tor blue glass we use oxide of cobalt ; this produces
a rich colour : the material, however, being expensive, it is seldom used
by the glassmaker alone, but generally with an equal quantity of manga-
nese ; this materially allects the richness of the colour, (ireen is obtained
from the oxides of copper and iron, mixed, the protoxide of copper and
the peroxide of iron : equal quantities may be used, the proportions being
varied according to the tint desired to be obtained : the copper produces a
blue-tinted green, and the iron liie yelloit tint. Purple is obtained from
the oxide of manganese ; the purer this substance is, the liner will be the
colour. The pyrolucite already referred to, especially when used in small
quantities, gives a beautiful and delicate amethyst colour. Ordinary yel-
low is got from carburnte of iron and oxide of manganese. Ruhy is ob-
tained from the oxide of gold, called the cassius precipitate ; it is a colour
which is neither obtained nor retained with any certainty — in fact, the mo-
dern glassmaker is quite at a loss for this colour. There can be no doubt
the ancients manufactured ruby of a much finer colour than any now
made, from suboxide of copper ; this art has been lost for centuries : the
difficulty is, the preventing this substance from peroxidieiug. The oxides
of uranium produce beautiful tints in yellow and green. Copper scales
give nzure blue : oxide of chromium, emerald green. Opaque glass is pro-
tluced by the addition of phosphate of lime, arsenic, and other substances.
The addition of many of the metallic oxides renders glass less ductile ;
and in making use of these it is always well to employ an additional quan-
tity of lead. We often hear of the superiority of the colour of ancient
sheet glass to the modern, and are bound to conclude, when we see, par-
ticularly in church windows, the diflerence, that there is good ground for
the assertion. With the exception of ruby, the modern colours are all
finer than the antique. I speak of body coluiirs — that is, glass made of
coloured mixtures, called pot metal; but this is seldom used, all our mo-
dern church windows being made of while glass stained with metallic
colours; this saves trouble a!id expense in the fitting. Glass of various
colours in the same jiieie is ohtained by casing one metal or glass with
another. A small quantity of one colour having been gathered, it is blown
into a small ball, and dipped into a pot of a ditferent colour; this being
rolled on au iron slab, so that an equal thickness of the second covers the
first, the ball is a trille enlarged by blowing, and may be dipped into a
third and fourth colour. Care must be taken that the character of these
different glasses exactly agree, that the contraction in cooling may be
alike.

RAILWAY PROCEEDINGS.

Selections from the decisions of the Sub-Committees on Standing Orders.
House of Commons — Session 1846.

Gazette Notices.— In the Committee on the Runcorn and Prestonbrook
Railway, it was slated by the solicitor for the bill that the notices had only
been twice published in the Gazette. He had delivered the notices at the
Gazette oflice on October 2S, with instructions for three insertions. Mr.
Watts, the editor of the Gazette, said he found by an entry in his book that
the notice had been withdrawn. Has no means of knowing by whom it
was withdrawn. Blr. Turner said he had given no instructions for the
withdrawal of the notice. Mr. Watts said it might have been a mistake,
arising from the pressure of business at that time. The committee decided
that in this instance the standing orders were not complied with.

PoBi.ic Roads. — In the Committee on the Wexford, Carlow, and
Dublin Junction Railway, an allegation was made that a public pre-
sented county road, in the townland of Killurin, was described to be in
the ownership of the Earl of Arran, whereas in fact it was a public road
nnder the jurisdiction of the grand jury and road surveyor of the county of
Wexford. The allegation turned on the ownership of these roads, whether
in fact the right owners had been entered in the book of reference. The
chairman observed, what is intended is, that the fie in the land is in certain
other parties, but the public have a right of road. That comes to the state
of English ro ids. There the property is not in the surveyors or trustees.
A mine under the road does not belong to the trustees. The practice in
England is to treat the ownership of the surface as that which entitles the
parties to he served. The question is, whether there is anything which
«utitled you to take the Irish roads out of this condition. Me cannot draw
any distinction between the cases. If so, you ought to give notice to the
persons in Ireland, who answer the same description there, as the surveyors
of roads in England. As regards these nllegaiions, we shall report that
ibe standing orders have not been complied with, inasmuch as the grand
jury of the county of Wexford have not been inserted in the book of refer-
ence as owners of certain roads particularly specified.

Ow.sERSHip OF Lands. — Id the Committee (No. 2) on the Glasgow and
Ayr Railway, the petitioner opposing the bill alleged that in several in-
stances the promoters had inserted, in their book of reference, the name of
the reputed and substantial owner of the land, in cases where there was a
superior owner or feu lord, to whom a merely nominal payment, in respect
of the land, was annually made. It was submitted that the book of refer-
ence ought to have contained the names of such feu lords. The chairman
remarked on that point, that the committee had always considered the
reputed owner, in such cases, as sulticiently the owner for the purposes of
the book of reference, and not the superior lord, who, in most cases, had
only a peppercorn rent reserved to him.

Notices. — In the Committee (No. 3) on the Midland and Bradford
Railway, the petitioner opposing alleged that the Gazette notices bad beea
given for six lines of railway, and the bill was only for one. In the
cases decided last sessions, the Direct Northern, the Wells and Dereham,
and Gojle and Doncaster Uailvvays, where they came to Parliament
for a shorter line than they had given notice of applying for, were
held as not having complied with the standing orders. The promoters
contended that the cases quoted were not analogous to the present. The
notices given announced the intention of the promoters to apply for powers
to construct six railways, and this might be called the first of the series.
In the case of the Direct Northern, who gave notice of making a railway
from London to ^'ork, and afterwards only came for powers to make a line
from Cambridge to York, a landowner on the line between Cambridge and
York might be willing to concur in the whole line, but might object to have
his land cat up by the shorter line. The committee were of opinion that
there had been a sullicienl compliance with the standing orders in this case
upon that point.

fl'lTiiDRAWAL 01' Petition. — In the Committee on the Grand Union
Railway au opposition was about to be entered into by Mr. Thomas, when
Mr. Burke objected, as the petitioner had withdrawn his consent after the
presentation of the petition. It was contended on the other side that it was
not competent to any person to withdraw a consent once given. The
chairman after conferring with the chairman of another committee stated,
that the committee had given their best consideration to this case, and they
regretted that the standing order No. 9 was not more clearly worded. If
they abided strictly by its words they would not decide according to the
intention of the house, as there would be constantly raised questions as to
the manner in which consents had been obtained. Their decision therefore
was, that it should be in future in the power of any petitioner to withdraw
his consent to the petition. The petition was then withdrawn.

Levelling Books. — The Committee (No. 2,) sitting on the Edinbnrgh
and Glasgow and Dumbartonshire Junction Railway, in a case of dispute
as to the correctness of the levels, decided that the promoters of the Bill
should produce the notes of the levels.

Parish BorNDAP.iEs — In the same Committee, and on the same Bill, a
petition alleged that in the plans deposited with the sheriff clerks of Dum-
bartonshire and Lanark, the parish boundaries of the parish of Dumbar-
ton were not written in words, whereas the boundaries had been so written
in the plans lodged at the Private Bill-oflice. This allegation was sus-
tained, as was also the second, which had reference to a discrepancy in
the plans lodged with the sheriff.clerk of Dumbartonshire, and that de-
posited at the Private Bill-office, in regard to another omission in the
county plans of the words " parish boundary."

Cross Sections of Roads. — In the Committee (No. 7) on the Cornwall
Railway, the opponents to the bill objected that the 42nd of the standing
orders had not been complied with in respect of a proposed alteration of a
turnpike road not having been shown in figures nor on the cross sections. —
Mr. Brunei stated that any surveyor orengineer would understand the sec-
tion. The Chairman, having inquired whether there was any case reported, in
which, after argument, it bad been held that the standing orders had been
complied with, although such alteration or inclination had not been set
down in figures, ordered the room to be cleared, and upon the doors being
re-opened, staled, that the Committee were of opinion that the standing
orders had not been complied with in respect of any of these cross sections.
Petitioners. — The Committee (No. 4) on the Dublin and Enniskillen
Railway decided that it was absolutely necessary, in order to comply with
the standing order No. "J, that the petitioner, authorising an agent to ap-
pear for him, should be proved to have been cognizant of the actual allega-
tions contained in the petition. In the absence of this proof the petition
could not be entertained.

Withduawal or a Portion of a Line after Notice. — In the Com-
mittee (No. 2) on the Northumberland and Lancashire Railway, two im-
portant allegations were made against the bill ; the effect of tl\e Jirst was
substantially this— that whereas the promoters of the bill gave notice in
the newspapers, and to the petitioner, amongst others, of their intention to
make a railway, commencing at a point called A, and terminating at a
point called C, with divers branches therefrom ; but their petition only
asked for the authority of the House to bring in a bill for executing a
portion of that work only, and that a very small portion. The promoters
had, in fact, greatly modified their original project, and had abandoned a
considerable portion of it, but had not given fresh notices to the landowners
on the line or in the newspapers of such modification and abandonment.
After the question had been argued at some length, the Chairman an-
nounced that the standing orders had been complied widi. The second
allegation was that a sura equal to one-tenth part of the amount subscribed
in the subscription contract deed had not been deposited with the Court of

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

i^r

Chancery, inasmuch as the sum actually subscribed was the sum of
£1,285,340, which would require a deposit of the sum of £128,534,
whereas the aniouut which the promotors had deposited was only £93,0(i6.
The question depended upon the construction of the standing orders 39 A
and 29 A. The point appeared of some importance, and the Chairman
retired, with the view of consulting the Speaker upon it. After hearing
the arguments of the agents on each side, the Chairman (Sir John Y.
BuUer, Hart.), on his return, said the Speaker quite agreed with him that
the intention of Parliament was quite clear on the point, and that three-
fourths of the amount of the estimate was all that was required by stand-
ing order 29 A to be subscribed, and that one-tenth part of the amount
subscribed should be deposited with the Court of Chancery by the order
39 A. In this case the sum actually subscribed was £1,285,343, but, in
consequence of the promoters abandoning a considerable portion of'tlie
works, the sura required for ihe undertaking was reduced to £758,001),
and they had deposited £93,006, a sum larger than they would be called
upon to deposit in respect to £758,000, the estimated cost of the work,
even if the construction of the standing orders required, as was contended'
by the petitioners' agent, one-tenth of the sum subscribed to be deposited.
He (the Speaker) thought the House had no right to find fault with and
punish parties for doing more than the requisitions of the House demand-
ed. The Committee, therefore, thought that, ou this point, the slandiu"-
orders had been complied with. °

NOTES OF THE MONTH.

We are sure that many of our readers who were acquainted with the
late Mr. Loudon, will feel gratified to hear that a pension for life of £luo
per annum, lias been granted by her Majesty to Mrs. Loudon. Sir Robert
Peel has just communicated to Mrs. Loudon this act of beneficence To
her It wdl be doubly grateful, as it is conferred in consideration of her
deceased husband's labours and writings on subjects of science.

At the Marquis of Northampton's second soiree there was exhibited a
cast of " Chanty," moulded out of pounded marble combined by a cement
so as to imitate the original marble. '

■I'he Archaiological fnstitute, under the presidency of Earl Fitzwilliam
will hold their next annual meeting at York, on Tuesday, 2 1st of July next'

It IS proposed to construct a glass saloon at the Botanic Gardens, Man-
chester, of sufficient size to receive the usual exhibition of flowers, pl.ints
and truit, and all the promenades, and to be also available for lectures It

■The west end of the building is to have a semicircular alcove or
recess, for the reception of the band. The area of the building will be
equal o C,750 square feet, and will accommodate nearly 2,000 persons.
The whole space of the interior is to be made available; no pillars or other
obstructions are to be introduced ; but the ribs of the frame-work are to
be fed beneath the floor, Messrs. Irwin and Chester, architects, of Man-
chester, have been entrusted with the designs by the Council for an-
proval. ' *^

•iotZ"VT?'^i''^ ^'^P^"""^"'^' "ial of Nasmyth's steam hammer of
50 cwt., lately took place at the Chatham dockyard, where it has been
recently erected. The trial commenced with breaking up old and con
demned anchors, under the superintendence of the patentee and Captain
weV; hr f ■ ^"P"','"'^"dent of the yard. Anchors of various sizes

ivee broken up ,n engths vvith perfect ease-in some instances by one fall

30 cwt .^^sh'; ,7 ""'"i'," "T "f ""^ ^''''"'^ "f ''" anchor, of about
rod of about four inches in diameter. Here proof was given of the per-
fect control under which the inventor had the hammer if finish ngoffor
rounding up. 1, was brought out from under the hammer quite equal m
finish as It would have been by the small forge hammer. In beaUno- out
1 on or conversion, the blows are so powerful and eflective that drives

who! ma^s^in T'T'/ I'T ".'^ ''""' '''"' P-f-^^^''^ consolidates th"
Who e mass, in proof of which, the four-inch rod was cut into various

If fhe'shanl'tt'i'h','' '^1,""'"' '''""'"' °' '"'"^ '"^'«>' whillt tie "a
ol the shank, 1 at had not been under the hammer, showed ucarlv every

of toe frUish f:'S'""'rf ^O':''"''''- "'"'^'' by 'I'e timely interposition
tion isnn.nf H f^'f ^'"'"''"°"'"'''"^"' preserved from destruc-

about 2?8 feet hv l^f >nteresting of our national antiquities. The area is
moTnH i? t I M .u\ " " "^ '° "'^' ^°™' ^'"^ i' surrounded by a
TeT. "f .<^°''^"i^'-''''le thickness, formed of blocks of chalk cut from the

wal"'abouN'nfrrh''"f°''-;r"^'^ ^7" ''"''" *'>•= -'^-^> surface Thi
wall is about 20 feet high. The amphitheatre at Silchester is of
aame form and dimensions as that at Dorchester
feet state of preservation.

nearly the
er, but it is not in such a per-

larirer hein. 9fi'? r t i, \J. "^\.°^ ""= Coliseum at Rome is a trifle
larger, being 263 feet by 165 feet. Mr. I. K. Brunei, the engineer of the

he amphitheatre,
nre«pri7atin„ „<• .i ■ ■ ^' '"' ■' — "■ """ association tor the

fhe toe. ' *""""^ monument, and took proper measures to divert

Weymouth Railway, which was planned' to cut throuKh the
Tery readily and courteously admitted the plea of the ass

f . .-, „ """elty of design,— in which some good as well as

fiesh ideas are thrown out. At the same time it is to be regretted that it
betrays great inequality of taste. While there has evidently been a -cod
dea of petty parsimony in some respects, money has been not only use-
lessly, bu rather mischievously expended on what are intended for orna-
n e'«n".ir "-^^'"y <'y^^»'-««.-"'« tnean the trumpery obelisks stuck up
at the angles of the building, and producing at a little distance the effect
of pinnacles, consequently quite inconsistent with the style On the other
hand, something certainly ought to have been done to what was left of the
old gab e and the belfry lantern upon it, for the latter is not at all in keeo-
ing with the new exterior, and the other shows most awkwardly as a mere
riangular bit of wall, seen poking up behind the front, but not at all be-
onging to or connected with it. Another very great blemish marring the
front- which would else possess considerable merit-is occasioned by the
wo sma ler , oois next to the middle one, being out of the centre in regard
to die intercolumns or arcades, in which they come. This very disagree
able irregularity might easily enough he remedied even now, by merely
hanging additional outer doors before the two mentioned, so as to be flush
vvith the wall, and painted or coated over so as to be of the same colour,
m other words those should be what are called jtb doors,-as is the case
House """"*' •^"'■'■•ase entrance in the front of Northumberland

Sir Kobert Peel has announced to the House of Commons her Majesty's
intention ot appomtiug a Koyal Commission for considering the vaiious
projects for railway termini in the Metropolis.

In consequence of the valuable collection at the Museum of Ecraowif
Geology having increased so rapidly, it has been found necessary to build
a larger museum, for which purpose a large plot of ground has been cleared
ot its buddings in Piccadilly, near St. James's Church

It is proposed on the projected railway from Lyons to Vaise, to haye a
tunnel on that part of the line under Croix liuussc; with shafts to com-
municate with the commune above, through which the passengers are to be
raised and lowered, seated in elegant boxes or apartments

Travelling by Steam ou the nver Thames between London and West-
minster Bridges IS reduced to the low fare of one penny for each passenger.
Ihe Jletropolitau Improvements of New Oxford Street are fast approach-
ing completion, and it is expected that the roadway will shortly be thrown
open for the passage of vehicles ; the whole of the buildings having an
architectural frontage, presents a pleasing appearance.

It IS stated that the laying down of wooden pavement and subsequent
removal for the old granite, cost the city of London £40,000 last year

rhe new street (rom Farringdon-street to Clerkenwell is to be called
Victoria Street. >.»"<=i*

The site for a new church has been selected by the Metropolitan Church
Commissioners in Old-street, City-road, the first stone of which will be
almost immediately laid.

The repairs and restoration of Chester Cathedral are nearly completed
with the exception of the pulpit, for which orders have just been given
It 1.S to be constructed of Painswick stone, from a design by Mr. Hussey,
ot Birmingham, under whose superintendence the restorations in the choir
have been eilected.

.ioJ"" '^f^^t^i-'^ War STEAMER.-Tbe Terrible war steamer is in commis-

Sv Ue No?/"l'l','"''l "'.''" '""^ ''°"" '•"' ■'""'«"" f™"' Woolmoh «>
cania... and f^' % "' 'T""'' 6""' mounted, also a brass field-piece and
tan age, and a wagon for powder to accompany it. On her uuner deck each sId,

with the te^l'^n.'''''^'"-'"'""'"^^''' """^'^ '' f"' 8"-. to fire^e audafti^a nl
sweep 'otnd 'to hl^T ""7"''" °" " f?"' "'"' "'" "°'^ ^"^ '"'^ each other, and also
croS3''a'od "teen ,„ h V '""T'" "l"?" ''""^ B""'' "«"' "'t i» the steri,; will also
/uns ifren!,Tref *» '''^,,''™"'«"ie on their pivot, so as to lire forward, acting as chase
shot whicraf, he , ? H 'f '"'" «»:?'"'"<'«•» <>■> "'^h broadside, to carr, shells or solid
which is also fl.f,'',"'. '^ "'„'""^'' '"i'-T^'-'S t" "Circumstances. On the deck below. '
Runs 1 feet ?onl in IT,""'^ ""■ ^"^ ^>ht guns. ,1,., two long ,56.pounders, Wonk-»
lreesoftr„i^in"^;,?h 1^ bow pons, to fire in a line with the keel, and also .-everal de-
?an Bive such de^reL ''""t'"'"' """^ '"■" "'""^ """^ S""' *■> the stern, right aft, which
with fonr^nn. ,v . "' '° ''u'^'""" '"'"' " '""'" '"""t from coming under her stern ;

si^ialler J,f„?^; ih '""""'"^ "" *"" •"•""dsides, for shells or solid shot. There are fou;
naddebThnar. f"P''"''H",'''""'' traversed to any place or carried onshore in her
^r, i„,;„n?nH . ' '■"I,""'':'* to-- '"^ in landing troops, &c. She has four separate boil-
one oe?chhnl! f^'"""";' ""''''' °"'y"'= connected when required ; four funnela.
set when .ain' ^^V^V ^"" »"" strike down, so as to allow a square mainsail to be
set wnen sailing, and still using the two foremost boilers, thus working half her power, at

TlieT»rrii",i„ k" ".~~ '■" """ """s vnwicu awaj; her one funnel lost, she has lost all.
r„„m a^,H ! ,"? mjgaiineB, and two shell-rooms, one of each beiore the engine-

loo n'wh. r- i °' ""^ '""'ty "' t''^ "''"^'' "> ?■•""" any powder passing the engine
urenaredTn h""^ 'h-^B^^- She can store 4(J0 tons of coals below the lower deck, and is
ade/enrlfJV,^ '.!'"",■""' "' ""^ '^""^ to take 200 or :W« tons more, packed ia baas, as
?io„tnhi,K L ','" ""^^Pn" and boilers, lilUng up a space oflSfeet. lo'addi-
Darti;.?,l,r ' '"^^""""''' """'' <>'">"<' ^l'<^ bas good capacity, and if required for any

The can hprfri'n, n" ''anymore coal in sacks. VVithregaid to the conveyance of troops,
comnam, ,i ■ '■ !^t" ""'''''' ""^^ "" *""■ =^"™"'l g""-'ieck, independent of her ship's
soTh'L, J.; , ^"r'] ^""^ ''<^'°"' ""'"'arcl, and the officers' cabins, gun-room, &c. abaft :
bulkhead „ ?","-'<"■'' 'S entirely clear and always ready for action, without removing a
the ves,ei i "■ ""* ""'"S P,"-"^"'' "" ""^ ""-* "capt'-'in's cabin abalt, to the bow of
I an^^=1„ . '^ constructed in the strongest and most substantial manner, on Mr.

,„^h.„ ""P''"'e'^ method of uniting the frame timbers, making her perfectly water-tight,
method iS^rd '"■","■ ''T \l "'T "■"'"'" ""' ='"" l''-"" ""'e "f 1=" bottom. This
"n t fs in in w f k'","'? ''T' ^nl""'' '^^ '='"''> ""''' "' "" '""*' »■>■< >""y be seeu
on tiic shp in Woolwich dockyard. The engine-room of the Terrible is most spleodid ;

]28

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[April,

nn.lprk the whole lenRth of Ihe cnpoe-room, are gtallngs open and nell venliUted by
l,auhwiv7«"v?nglshiand air to .he engineers, stokers, &c. It is an adm.rab e plan
sud. r/no ,'eaZ as yet has the advantage of; and each boiler has a fP-J"' ^^'^''^^V-
and nJavte readily uken out for repair, without mlerlermg w.th the other hollers, fhs
^PtW of Mr I-aL's invention prevents the necessity of ripping up the deck, which is
rhec^ewilhoihe ste.mers when the boilers are re.,ulred to be taken out .roiu. hose
l«,eU and there too, the .leek covering the boilers, tile engineers and stokers have the
Tleht admUted by the hatchway over the engines only. The Terrible-s enpr.es are mos
,i&tic hVyare HOO-horse power, the produelion of Maudslay, Sons, and Field, and
r^iXo advantage in thi, large war steamer. Her decks have hatchways in "riou parts.

^"" . p ,;l..,l..„ ,V,a ol, n l,v..n tn Hi,. IrtWer liartS of hkT hull : aHQ

how to advantage in IIII3 laiyewui aii^ai"-;'. ••^. "V-..- ..-.- .,- , ,,„ii . ^„a

(■Mtlles Bkv lights, &c., for ventilating the ship even to the lower parts of her hull , and

there are many other conveniences too numerous to mention, contributing to the efficiency

f the ship and the comforts of the officers and crew, so that she may be said "be the

' lue snip ail" " = ^, _ __ _^^^ i^,,.|, ,p|,^ Tprrihle iH tommaiided by Captain

2^1, officers.

fargest and most perfect war steamer ever built. The Terrible is coinraaiided by Captain

Ramsav late of the Dee steam-vessel, and she is to have a complement of 1'- _

me" ana boys. At the trial, when she was off Sheerness, her rate of speed, by Massey s

log. was 10-« knots per hour ; the engines making 14 to 14.J strokes per minute.

1816

LIST OF riEW PATENTS.

GRANTED IS KNGLANU KROM 1 EURUARV 2b, 184G, TO MABCH 25,

Six Months allowed for Enrolment, unless otherwise expressed.

John Samuel Templeton. of Susscx-place. Kensington, artist, for '•improvements in
propelling carriages on railways ; and improvements in propelling vessels.' -Sealed Feb-

"peu'r'Armand Lecomte de Foiilainmoreau. of New Broad-street. London, for "a new
mode of manufacturing and glazing cotton wadding, and its application to the making o.
mattresses." (A comunication.) — February .'8.

' an improved pump, applicable to steam-

James Soulier, of Limehouse. engineer, for
engines, or other purposes.*'— ftlarcli 'i.

John Fuller, of Beacham- well, Norfolk, farmer, for " improvements in apparatus for

sowing corn or other seed."— March J. ,,. , v c

William Nicholson, of Manchester, Lancaster, engineer, and George \V ardsworth, of

Sutton glass-works, iu the same county, manager, " certain improvenienls in the roaou-

facture of glass and other vitreous products."— March 5.

Robert Lewis Jones, of Chester, railway agent, for " improvements in reducing char-
coal and other similar matters, to powder, and in treating the same when in a state ot
powder, so as to k luler them suitable to be used in place of vegetable black-drop, DlacK,
lamp-black, and other matters."- March 5.

Robert Warrington, of Apolhccarics'hall, London, chemist, for " improvements in
preserving animal and vegetable substances."- March 5.

William Green, of Hyde, Cheshire, baker, and Mark Walker, of the same place, grocer,
for " certain improved apparatus for lacilltatine tlie putting on of boots to the feet. —
March a. . - „

Godfrey Woone, of Kensington, Middlesex, gent., for "certain improvements in the
art of engraving in relief.'"- March 1 1.

Jean Joseph Ernest J!.irruel, of No. 172, Hue St. Jacques, Paris, chemist, for ■' improve-
ments in working of certain snlphurets to transform them into metal or oxides, and to
collect the latter ; also to collect the oxides from oxydised ores, equivalent to these snl-
phurets."—March II.

William Nairn?, of MiUhaugh, Perth, North Britain, flax-spinner, for " a new mode, or
new modes, of propelling carriages along railways.— March 1 1 .

Parfait Grout, of Rouen. France, but now residing at Leicester-street, Leicester-square,
doctor of medicioe, for " improvements iu the manufacture ol plaster-ot-paris, lamp-
black, and coke." (A communication.) — March 11.

Frederick Grace Calvert, of Paris, for " improvements in the preparation of the article
called ' Jute," rendering the same suitable for various useful purposes."— March 11.

William Price .Strove, Swansea, civil engineer, for " improvements iu ventilating
mines."— March 11.

Erasmus B. liigelow, Boston. Massachusetts, for "certain new and useful improve-
ments in looms for weaving certain kiniis of carpets, or other fabrics of like character.
—March U.

George Hinton Bovill, of Millwall, and Bobert Griffith, Havre, France, engineers, for
"improvements in apparatus applicable to the working of atmospheric and other rail-
ways, canals, and mines, and in improvements iu transmitting gas lor the purpose ot
lighting railways and other places."— March 11.

Benjamin Shaw, Bradford, York, overlooker, for " improvements in preparing for spin-
ning worsted and oiher yarns."— March 11.

Thomas Vaux, Frederick-street, Gray's inn-road, Middlesex, land-surveyor, for " im-
provements in the manufacture of horse-shoes, aud horse-shoe nails."— March 11.

Cbales Ucbert Robinson. Strines, Derby, calico-printer, and William Bowden, ol the
same place, mechanic, for certain improvements in machinery for washing and cleansing
cotton, liuen, or woollen fabrics." — filarch 11.

John Benfieid, Birmingham, Warwick, organ. builder, for "certain improvements in
making signals and communications on railways, and bet-reen railway- engines, carriages,
end trains, which are also applicable to other localities."— March 1 1 .

Henry Austin. 10, Walbrook, London, civil engineer, and Joseph Ijuicll, Summer-
Street, Southwark, Surrey, engineer, lor *' improvenienls in the construction of railways,
railway-carriages, and conveyances."— March 11.

Thomas Hancock, Stoke Newinglon, Middlesex, esquire, for "improvements in the
manufacturing and trealing of articles made of caoulcliouc, either alooe, or in combina-
tion \vilh other substances, and in the means used or employed in their manul'acture."—
March 18.

JohnLongliotlom, of F.dwordstreet, Leeds, mechanist, for "improvements in the
manufacture of oil-cake, and in the machinery and processes for pressing and moulding
the same: which macliinery and processes are also .applicable to the manufacturing of
other articles from plastic materials."— March I.s.

Bennett Woodcroft, of Manchester, iirinler, an extension ot letters pa'ent for the term
of six years from the I'Jiid ilay of March, IhJlj, being the expiration ol the first term of
fourteen yeai s for his invention of " certain improvements iu the conUriiction and adap-
tation of a revolving spiral paddle for pronellmg boats and other vessels on water."—
March '-'1:

John Haskins Gandell and John Brunton, of Biikenhead, Cheshire, civil engineers, for
" an improvement in the construction of, and in the mode of opening and rtosing of
moveable bridges or arclies for the purpose of carryinif railways, tramways, or other
roads acruss canals, locks, docks, or other ojien cuttings."— March 25 ; two months.

Charles Robert Robinson, of Strines, Derby, calico printer, for " certain improvements
in machinery lor tiering, in the printing of calicoes and other fabrics."— March 'Jo,

Charles Hes, of Bordesley, Birmingham, machinist, for " an improvement In the method
of carding certain descriptions of dress fastenings, and other articles, and in the fabrics
employed for that purpose." — March -5,

Thomas Howard, of the King and Queen Iron Works, Rotberhithe, engineer, for "im-
provements ill steam-engine comlensers."— March I'.^i.

Robert Warrington, of South Lambeth, Surrey, gentleman, for " improvements in the
operation of tanning."— March 2'i.

Thomas John M'Sweeny. of Killainey, gentleman, for " improvements in steering ships
and other vessels." — March -5.

George Fergusson Wilson, of Belmont, Vauxhall, George Gwynne, of Chester Terrace,
Regent's Park, Jamas Pillans Wilson, of Belmont, aforesaid, and John Jackson, of South
ViUe Wandsworth, gentlemen, for " improvements in producing light, and in materials
and apparatus applicable thereto ; and in treating fatty and oily matters."— March 2i.

Alexander Parkes, ol Birmingham, artist, for "improvements in the preparatioQ of
certain vegetable and animal subswnces, and in certain combinations of the same sub-
stances alone, or with other matters."- March 25.

Thomas Pope of Kidbrooke, Kent, gentleman, for " improvements in apparatus for
moving railway carriai-es on to railways, and in machinery for lifting and moving heavy
bodies." (A communication.)— March :.'.'i.

Louis Setbat of Saint Soulve. in the departmentof the Nord, in Franc, chemist, for
" a new method of constructing the roofs of houses, buildings, sheds, and all other erec-
tions."—March I'.''.

William Unsworth, of Derby, silk manufactnrtr, for " certain improvements in looms
for weaving." — Marcli iiS.

Charles Smith, of Newcastle-street, Strand, Middlesex, for " improvements in cookinp
andculinaryuli-nsils, aud methods of heating and suspending, or fastening articles of
domestic use, and similar purposes."— March 25.

Joseph Needham Tayler, of Chelsea, captain in the navy, for " certain improvements
iu propelling vessels; and also certain improvements in constructing vessels, so as to be
used in combination with certain machinery or apparatus lor movng sand- banks and
other obstructions to navigation, part or parts of which machinery or apparatus may be
used on railways, or may be adapted and applied to carriage or common roads. — Marctt
26th.

Edward Crump Deli, of Ilighgate, Middlesex, surgeon, for "certain improvements m
apparatus for lighting the magazines and other paits of ships: applicable also for the
general purposes of lighting buddings, roads, or ways."-March 25.

Edwin Cotterill, of Birmingham, manufacturer, for " certain improvements in articles
applied to windows, doors, and shutters, part of which has been communicated to bim
by a certain foreigner residing abroad." — fliarch 25.

William Carpenter, of Bridge.street, Banbury, Oxford, watchmaker, for " certain im-
provements in thrtshing.machincs."— I^Iarch 25.

CORRESPONDENTS.

Messrs. Blair and Pliillips have written to us denying that they have
confounded tlie laws of motion and equilibrium in their tract, reviewed in
this .lournal last moiUh, and entitled " Au Essay on an Improved Method
of Construction for Viaducts, I'.ridges, and Tunnels, being an Application
of the Principle of Universal Gravitation, as illustraied in the Solar Sys-
tem." If they really have not made this mistake we cannot help saying
that they have been particularly unforlunate in the choice of a title to their
work. Their opinions have certainly the merit of novelty, but as they are
not supported by any proof except those which may be supposed to be de-
rived from an inspection of Ibeir diagrams, it seems no more than fair that
they shoulil point out where the standard writers on the theory of the
arch— Moseley, I'uiicelet, IJondelet, &c.— have failed in their reasoning.

Christ Church, I'lymouth.— In answer to our old contributor Caodidus,
fsee page 08), we would observe that we assumed it to be an essential
principle of Pointed Architecture that the north and south walls of a
churcli should have windows, simply because we find this to have beeu
universally the case, without one single exception, in the ancient examples
of Ihe art as practised by its inventors. It is al.so an indisuensible princi-
ple of n// good architecture that the light should be generally difiused, so
that no part of a building may be rendered inconvenient or useless by its
darkness. In a church lighted by clerestories only, the noitb and south
aisles being deep recesses witl.out windows, this defect must exist; ami
it will be only aggravated bv bisecting the recesses by galleries— unless
indeed the light be of Ihat'conveuient nature that it can shine round a
corner. The extent of unbroken surface of the north and south walls is
also a great objection. It is a characteristic distinction between Christian
and Greek architecture that large continuous surfaces without openings
are contrary to the spirit of the former. The case of the lanthern of Ely
Cathedral is a .strong precedent— for our view of the question, for at Ely
it is a matter, not of opinion, but fact, that the intersection of the nave and
transepts is lighted not only by the lanthern but by the lower windows.
The main principle for which we contended is that in Ecclesiastical archi-
tecture, the vertical lights are modified by the horizontal.
Amicus. — Simnis on Levelling.

ERRATA.— Page lOG. In the article on " Unfaithfulness in Architec-
ture," in the concluding sentence of the last paragraph but one, after the
words, " instead of supporting a building, it is supported by it,' add " are
instances of architectural unfaithfulness."

I'age 108. " Parsey's Air Engine." In the last paragraph but three,

10(1 , , 1000
for dx, read ax.

Page 102. " Tubular Bridge over the Menai." In the last paragraph
of the section on the " Practical limits to the length of the girder, for
" independent of the arch of the cross sections," read " independent of the
area of the cross sections."

I if,-

o

Q

CD
S
<

>

5

f

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEEERAND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL

129

THE FITZWILLIAM MUSEUM.

( With an Engraving, Plate VI.)
Possessing some points of resemblance, the fafade of the Fitzwilliam
and that of the British Museum are the antitheses of each other in regard
to architectural composition and taste. The Cambridge edifice was in-
finitely more fortunate than the metropolitan one will have been ; and per-
haps very much better than it might have been had there been no compe-
tition— no trial of skill, but had the building-trustees merely placed them-
seWes in the hands of some "crack name" in the profession. And what-
ever may be said against the littledirty jobbing that is so rife in the paltry
hole-and-corner competitions in which ten or twenty guineas are offered
for the successful design, — the Fitzwilliam Museum is a proof of the bene-
ficialness of Competition when conducted with good faith, and with the
sincere intention of obtaining a good design, no matter by whom it might
be. At that time hardly would the name of George Basevi have been any
recommendation, for he had given no great promise of particularly good
taste in any of his previous works, — to own the truth, we ourselves should
have felt more prejudiced against than prepossessed in favour of him.
However, when the opportunity for accomplishing something of note did
present itself, he responded to it worthily, and produced what is by far
the most elegant structure in the classic or modern style that Cambridge
can show, — beyond all comparison superior to the affected would-be Gre-
cian style, and miserable pedantic dulness of Downing College. Had not
the latter been so decided a failure, it is probable that its architect would
have been engaged to make designs for the Museum, yet we question
whether he would have produced anything so good by many degrees, for
Milkins was not at all gifted with imagination or invention : he had in him
more of the archaeologist than of the architect— that is, the artist;— he had
too much of the mere rust of antiquity, and too little of the sterling metal
of his art.

Pre-eminent among all the buildings at Cambridge with which it at all
admits of comparison, the Fitzwilliam Museum, at least its fafade- is
hardly rivalled by any other of its time in this country, in point of novelty
and felicity of idea, and for equally captivating and striking effect. Or if
there be any other which has so much of picture, and of the poetry of the
style in it, we shall be glad to learn where it is to be found, in order that
we may honour it accordingly, and have something we yet wot not of,
upon which we can bestow our cordial admiration.

Were it little remarkable in any other respect, the facade we are speak-
ing of, most strikingly exemplifies the possibility of obtaining decided
novelty of composition, and consequent originality of character, in perfect
accordance with the style followed. The idea here adopted is so exceed-
ingly natural, that our chief wonder is at its having been missed so long ;
and that it was, is to be accounted for only by that unlucky adherence
to routine, which apparently prevents architects from seizing hold of fresh
ideas, and new combinations. We do not say that all fresh ideas are to
be laid hold of indisoriniinately and actually adopted ; all we mean is that
those which can be made something of, and be satisfactorily matured,
ought to be brought forward whenever opportunity offers. Nevertheless
in regard to columnar composition architects seem to have voluntarily re-
nounced all originality of design. Modern porticoes— and their name is
" legion"— are almost one and all the most common-place affairs imagin-
able,—(he work of the stone-mason rather than of the architect, consisting
as they do only of so many columns in front- four, six, or eight, wrought
after some prescribed standard example. Dulness seems to have set "its
mark upon almost every thing of the kind, for out of some hundreds of
modern examples— or, we should say, instances— there are hardly half a
score which exhibit aught of design, or even study. Indeed, the majority
of them are no better than arrant " Brummagem,"— a few columns be-
neath a pediment tacked on to a front which in many cases would be a de-
gree less intolerable, certainly less paltrily vulgar without them. Among
the exceptions, the portico of the Fitzwilliam Museum deserves an honour-
able place : instead of being after some antique specimen, it has the better
merit of being be/ore almost all modern ones, in respect to beauty of ar-
rangement, in which respect it can be but imperfectly appreciated from the
elevation alone, much of the peculiar merit of the design arising from the
plans, and not to be understood, except in the building itself, where it is
plainly enough felt, without a drawing of the latter kind. The Fitzwilliam
Museum has in consequence been taken in the article " Portico" in the
Penny Cyclopajdia, as an example of peculiar arrangement, and we might
fairly call it one that at present constitutes a class by itself, or else the
No. 104.— Vol, LX,— May, 1846.

model for a class that would afford scope for design. Confined as they
now are to mere columuiation in its simplest mode, porticoes are made
features stamped by most monotonous and wearisome sameness ; yet after
all that can be done, there must ever be enough of characteristic resem-
blance and conformity to the original type, llie frontispiece or external ele-
vation of the prostyle or portico division, invariably consisting of a line of
columns beneath a pediment. In that respect there is but one stereotype
idea to work upon, and all the Tariety that can be imparted to it amounts
to no more than minor differences as regards matters of detail and execu-
tion. Still it is this mere stereotype frontispiece that chiefly obtains notice,
and if that be but secundum artem, and upon a tolerably imposing scaled
the whole obtains credit for being a fine portico, let its other deficiencies'
and defects be what they may. Such is most assuredly the case with re-
gard to the extravagantly cried-up portico of St. Martin's, which is so far
from possessing any unity of design, that it rather exhibits two decidedly
opposite styles brought into violent contrast with each other, the inner ele-
vation* forming the back ground to the external one or Corinthian hexa-
style, being the very reverse of the latter in character and taste— positively
barbarous in comparison with it. To say the truth, as usually treated, a
portico is little more than an arrant plagiarism, and as frequently as not
betrays equal sterility of imagination and vulgarity of taste, there being
nothing at all in common between such pretentious feature and the building
to which it is applied, but to which it does not seem at all to belong.
Thanks, however, perhaps to the intense vulgarity and dulness together of
many things of the kind, the portico-mania which prevailed some yean
ago, has latterly subsided. Nothing could be more desperately dull and
dowdy than the majority of the things of that kind which were then perpe-
trated, when in order to provide for what after all looked no better thau
an excrescence, if not actually an encumbrance, all the rest was left
quite bare or nearly so, instead of being decorated and finished up in
accordance with the other. Thus instead of encouraging architectural de-
sign, the application of ready-made porticoes became a substitute for it •
and instead of improving the appearance of the buildings themselves, they
were actually the cause of their being left more bare and poverty-stricken
than they else might have been without at all greater cost being incurred.
A portico is so decidedly a feature of parade, and such a direct avowal
of pretension to classical dignity of manner that unless the latter can be
fully maintained, it is what had better not be attempted; and in regard to
convenience such architectural appendages are in general so exceedingly
deficient in depth that so far from affording adequate shelter at the entrance
to a building, they rather express the want of it, by making it too evident
that what seems to be thought requisite is not obtained. In order to be
effective a portico demands depth and spaciousness of plan ; yet it is very
rarely indeed that they can be— at least, are afforded, which becomes an
additional reason wherefore things of the kind should be reserved for suit-
able occasions —for those rare opportunities when they can be treated with
gusto, and made to partake of the poetry of the art.

The facade of the Fitzwilliam Museum answers truly to the latter cha-
racter, nor is there aught of the ordinary and prosaic to disturb the im-
pression produced by the general composition. As the front or external
line of the plan, it consists almost entirely of columuiation, regularly dis-
posed (all the intercolumns being equal throughout), yet so as to combine
play and variety with continuousness, in which respect we consider this de-
sign to be an improvement upon Schinkel's fafade of the Berlin Museum,
—we know not if Basevi took a hint from it,— which is too much of a mere
colonnade (eighteen columns in antis), and would be rather tame and mo-
notonous were not some effect thrown into it by the disposition and decora-
tion of its background and interior. In the Cambridge edifice the projecting
octastyle and its pediment are now so well proportioned to the rest, and
maintain such superiority in the composition that more prol)ably would
have been lost than gained had the extent of front been greater, unless the
whole could at the same lime have been on an enlarged scale, so as to ob-
tain increase of height as well as of length. For although extent of fafarle
is generally held to be a positive merit, it may be carried to excess; and
when it exceeds a certain ratio as compared with height, instead of at all
conducing to grandeur, is rather apt to induce littleness of manner, as may
be seen by the facade of ti.e unlucky National Gallery, where in order to
give due importance to the portico as the main division, the architect broke
up the rest into insignificant parts ; besiiies which, its length— or, speaking

* It is to be wished tliat this inner front wall were refaceil and subjected to such " re
facciamento" as would bring it into something like keeping with the character indicaterf
by the order of the portico : the central duornay which although arched, is not loftier
than the others, looks quite depressed in consequence, as compared with them and aim
gether evidences most vile and barbarous taste. '

17

13U

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[May,

of a fafude, thp correct eTpression would be its icii/tft— causes that build-
ing to look lower than it otherwise would do.

The Fitzwilliara fajade, on the contrary, presents itself to the eye as a
whole, sufficiently consistent and compact, without too moch of mere re-
petition of parts ; and the lateral extension of the portico, in immediate
connection with the octastyle, produces a peculiar richness of columniation
thai instead of being increased, would rather hare been impaired had those
parts been carried on further so as to be equal to or wider than the octa-
style itself, because in such case the arrangement would have resolved
ilselfinlothe somewhat hackneyed one of a portico between wingcolouuades.
There is indeed one fault — or if it be not positively a fault, it is what
might have been managed gn ally for the better, as in our opinion it de-
cidedly would have been, had insulated square pillars been substituted for
the t»vo columns behind the eitreme ones of the prostyle, (which alteration
together with the further one of pilasters, instead of attached columns, we
have made in the sinister half of the ground plan). A square instead of a
circular shaft at those re-entering angles would not only have produced the
appearance of greater solidity, but have conformed better with the junction
of the enlablalures uniting at right angles. Another advantage gained
would have been that of increased variety, and the other columns would
have told all the more forcibly in consequence of the contrast so produced.
Neither could it by any means have been called a caprice, or have been
said to have been done for the mere sake of novelty, the motive for it being
sufficiently obvious and legitimate. Bather would there have been a de-
cided expression of intention, inasmuch as those two pillars or pilaster-
piers would have plainly demarcated the three divisions of the general
colonnade, whereas it now looks as if the architect had at first intended to
carry it in a single line the whole way, and afterwards thought of breaking
it, by advancing an octastyle crowned by a pediment. There would be-
sides have been more of unity of design in one respect, because each of the
lateral divisions would have been in antis, and the composition would
thereby have gained in distinctness of articulation.*

It deserves to be remarked that though the shafts of the columns are
plain, the pilasters are fluted — quite contrary to Grecian practice, in which
a similar degree of contrast and distinction was produced by a precisely
reverse mode of treatment ; while in the Roman and modern styles the
principle of uniformity has generally been followed, and columns and
pilasters made, either plain or fluted, alike. Each of the three modes has
something to recommend it, and it may therefore be left to circumstances
to determine which is best suited to the particular design or occasion. In
support of that here adopted, it may be argued that the principle of con-
trast being assumed, there is very sufficient reason for bestowing what consti-
tutes it upon that which most requires it. Although left quite plain, the
shafts of insulated columns always express themselves to the eye with suf-
ficent distinctness ; whereas, the faces of pilasters upon a wall require
something to distinguish them from the general surface, without which they
show themselves very feebly, and chiefly in their capitals and bases, which
thereby become spots. The requisite difference of surface between that of
the wall and the pilaster faces, is hardly to be obtained except by
one of two modes, that of rusticating or showing the joints iVappareil of
the wall, or fluting the pilasters, which thereby acquire richness as well as
distinction, and are made, in artistical phrase, to " hold colour." Differ-
ence of application demands didereuce of treatment ; the Greeks employed
pilasters merely as antae at an angle of a building, or at the ends of the
side walls inclosiug a portico in antis, where they exhibit themselves not
only plainly but forcibly ; whereas, as decoration upon a wall, pilasters
require to be relieved from it. In the building under notice this is done
by fluting them,t notwithstanding that the shafts of the columns are plain,
wherefore it may be thought that, in comparison with the latter, an undue

* In the portico of the Hoyal Institution at Manchester, which we might have before
observerl Iti bo very similar in composition to that of the Fitzwilliam Museum, that the
idea of the latter seems to be derived from It, Barry has hoUlIy detined the junction of the
lateral lot^giaa and proalyle, the point ol union beini; a pier, whose solidity is increased by
anise pilasters b;icklng the extreme columns of the prostvle (an Ionic hexastyle) and
flanking tliuse of the loggias. That building may therefore be quoted as affording an ex-
ample of picturesque combination, and a highly favourable exception to the equally in-
sipid and common-place things constituting the majority of the class. We regret that
having no plan ot li, we are unable to say bow far in that respect it differs from or is
interior to the Fitzwilliam.

t Barry, who has true artistic feeling for effect and finish of detail, has fluted — and, no
doubt, with reason to himself for what ho was doing — the pilasters to the windows in
both fronts of the 'i'ravellers' Cluli House. Apr poa to which we m.iy observe that we
dissent trom the opinion which has passed unqualified condemnation on the practice of
decorating windows with columns, pilasters, and pediments. U'e cannot pretend to
Justify the propriety of it here in a note, therefore content ourse'ves with remarking for
the present, that if it be contrary to sound architectonic principle, we must abate our
admiration of Ooth'c, in which nearly all the minor features and decoratloti in general are
made up of forms borrowed trum and repeating those of the principal members of the
structure.

degree of decoration is bestowed upon the pilasters ; yet, independently
of the reasons already alleged for it, the greater richness conferred on the
pilasters is no more than what serves to equalize them in importance with
the columns. .Still it strikes us that in this instance a very good though
unusual effect might have been produced by fluting some of the columns,
viz , the eight in front beneath the pediment, whereby the octastyle would
have been distinguished from the rest of the colonnading, and the columns
in that division of it would have been decorated in accordance with the
pilasters at the extremities. Nay there is direct precedent for the combi-
nation of fluted or plain columns, not only in the same design but almost
in juxta-position with each other, namely, in the beautiful loggia forming
tke north-west angle of the Hank, — a composition distinguished by pictu-
resque effect of the most striking and sterling kind.

The portico of the Fitzwilliam Museum exhibits kindred taste — some
of the best quality of that work of Soane's, without the tincture of Soane-
anism. It is full of perspective effect, mainly produced by arrangement of
plan, which, though apparently complex, is not at all tovrmeuti ; on the
contrary, exceedingly simple, it being in three divisions in both directions,
i.e., upon both the longitudinal and transverse section, through the portico.
The first gives us the body of the portico and the two lateral colonnades ;
the other, the projecting octastyle, the lateral colonnades, prolonged to ao
avenue extending through the building parallel to its front, and the re-
cessed portion corresponding with the projecting one. It is this beautiful
combination of plan, in which regularity and variety, harmony and con-
trast, are all united, which constitutes the surpassing merit of this portico.
Its external design is the least part of its merit; and even in regard to
plan, it would have been of a superior kind even had it been less perfect,
complete, and symmetrical than it now is. Do away with either the pro-
jecting or recessed portion of it, and it would lose half its peculiar charm ;
or had the colonnades terminated against the masses which form the ex-
tremities of the elevation, or else been continued by another open inter-
column instead of a closed one, while the facade itself would have been
impaired, two most charming effects would have been entirely lost, viz.,
those of vista, whether as seen from end to end on approaching by one of
the side entrances, or on entering through the octastyle in front, when that
transept suddenly reveals in the most captivating manner. The promise
made by the exterior is found to be more than fulfilled by the interior of
the portico, which is, in fact, so replete with effect as to be all picture, and
at every step some fiesh combination of perspective lines and of light and
shade is produced : no single view, even were it the very best that could
be selected for giving some general idea of it, could do more than convey
an imperfect because necessarily a very partial and limited one. However,
we should have been glad of even something of the kind in the " Memo- ,
rials of Cambridge," where it would have formed a most interesting illus-
tration; whereas only the fa9ade is shown, and that in such manner that
the effect attending the interior is very poorly expressed. Still in one
respect the Fitzwilliam Museum has been more honoured in that work
than any other structure in the University, it being almost the only one on
which anything like satisfactory architectural description is there bestowed.
Possibly this may have been in some measure owing to there being nothing
but the building itself to speak of, — no ready-made history, or history at
all, belonging to it ; and perhaps it was considered indecent to make the
article a mere peg for hanging Earl Fitzwilliam upon it in eliigy, alias in
memoir.

If our remarks have been somewhat in extenso—aoi, we hope, prosingly
prolix — we are not likely to be equally diffuse again in a hurry on a simi-
lar subject. Very few things indeed of the kiud afford aught for either
description or comment. Our modern Anglo-Grecian and Uomao porti-
coes are, for the most part, the merest architectural humdrum imaginable.
We may fairly apply to them what Pope said of women, namely, that they
"have no character at all;" though book-makers and guide-books are
ready enough to extol every " four-posted" production as " a fine portico!"

In conclusion, we may express the hope that the gentleman to whom the
completion of the Fitzwilliam Museum has been confided since its archi-
tect's death will adhere to his intentions, for be is not very likely, we con-
ceive, to improve upon them. Most assuredly, he has oever yet conceived
anything at all comparable to that facade and portico.

I8J6.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

I3[

STAINED GLASS WINDOWS AT SAINTE CHAPELLE, PARIS.

(Paper read at the Royal Institute of British Architects),

By A. PoYNTER, Esq., Hon. Sec.
The excellent restoration now in progress at the Sainte Chapelle, in the
Palais de Justice, at Paris, has caused it to be lately mentioned in this room
on several occasions, on one of which a wish was expressed by some of the
members present, for a more particular account of the stained glass with
which the windows are decorated, and which, notwithstanding some serious
dilapidations, has remained, on the whole, more perfect perhaps than any
similar work of the 13th century. I fear the subject will scarcely prove so
interesting as may have been anticipated, owing to the want of the illustra-
tions necessary to do it justice; the developement of the details, to any
great extent, being obviously a work of time and labour. The Sainte
Chapelle, it need hardly be repeated, was built by St. Louis in the 13th cen-
tury. Previously to the restoration of the polychromatic decorations of the
interior, the Sainte Chapelle attracted little attention from our travelling
students. The decorations had either disappeared or were covered up behind
the cases and presses with which the chapel was filled, in order to fit it up
for a depository of records connected with the Palais de Justice ; and this
use to which it was put was a sentence of exclusion to strangers from the
interior, seldom remitted. I was however fortunate enough, some years
ago, to penetrate into this mysterious sanctuary, and at my leisure to make
notes on the stained glass, (at that time the only object worthy of study
which the chapel afforded,) the results of which I am about to submit to
yon.

The Chapel contains sixteen windows — four on the north side, four on the
south, and seven in the apsis, which forms the eattern termination of the
building. These are all the original windows ; the sixteenth is a rosace at
the west end, which has been restored, both stone work and glass, in the
style of the Gothique flamboyant, probably not earlier than the middle of
the 15tb century. The side windows are in four lights each, with circles
and tracery in the heads, and the windows of the apsis in two lights, the
compartments being extremely lofty in proportion, as is usual in the French
Gothic. The iron work of these windows, forming the frames of the com-
partments in which the glass is arranged, is well worthy of attention for its
beautiful and varied form of composition, producing, in the tall spaces which
it occupies, an effect which in some measure supplies the place of tracery.
This is especially the case with the third window on the south side, which
will be further noticed in its turn.

In the state in which the chapel was when my notes were made, — and
indeed as it may be still, for I believe the restoration has not yet arrived at
the glass, — many of the lower compartments of the windows, hidden behind
the presses for the records, were destroyed. Some of the glass was probably
abstracted when the presses were fixed, and it was unknown what had
become of it ; but it is probable, from the confusion which exists in some of
the windows, that a portion may have been taken to make good defects in
those parts which remained visible, for in one or two places, which will he
noticed in their turn, the glass has been much damaged, and badly patched
up; but these losses are small in comparison with what remains in a high
state of preservation, and which may be stated to amount to about 800 com-
partments, representing subjects of scripture history, and containing from
two figures each, up to as many as nine. The total number of figures may
amount to between two and three thousand on the most moderate calcula-
tion. They exhibit nothing remarkable either in drawing or composition
beyond the art of the period; on the colouring there will be some observa-
tions to make presently. The grounds and borders of the lights are more
worthy of attention. The fleur-de-lis and the arms of Castile, in reference
to Blanche of Castile, the queen of Louis VIII, and mother of the king by
whom the edifice was founded, are conspicuous throughout these details.

The first window on the north side (to take them seriatim) is one of those
which has suffered most wrong from time and violence. Part of the more
modern erection of the Palais de Justice is built close against it, so that the
light is shut out, and the glass is either entirely destroyed, or so patched up
where it has been kept in its place as even to render the suljects undistin-
gnisbable. The iron work of this window is arranged in circles and semi-
circles. (Fig. 1.) No. 2, on the north side, contains seventy-two compart-
ments above the line to which the presses [formerly reached — eighteen in

in each of the four lights, besides those in the circular compartments of the
heads; the compartments are disposed in the form of lozenges and portions
of quatrefoils on the iron frame shewn at fig. 2. The subjects are all from

ir

Fir- 1. Fig- 2.

the book of Exodus and in high preservation throughout, except that, in
some repair, the drowning of the Egyptians has been turned the wrong nay
upwards. The ground of this window is a sort of trellis, not very remark-
able, with a border of the arms of Castile.

In the third window fifty-six compartments remain above the press line,
arranged in portions of quatrefoils, and in the vessica piscis form (fig. 3),
each of the latter containing two subjects; the eight lower compartments
represent coronations of the kings of France, and more remained at the
time these notes were made, behind the presses, which are now brought to
light. In the upper part is contained the history of Moses, who is intro-
duced into most of the groups. Among these subjects the plague of flics is
represented with the most amusing naivete, the faces of Pharoah and his
court being covered with the insects after a fashion which renders the subject
quite unmistakeable. The ground of this window is magnificent, being
entirely semt of fleurs-de-lis, with medallions of Castile. It is to be re-
gretted that it should be placed in the north side of the chapel, from which
circumstance, and from being pressed upon by the Palais de Justice, it has
not the benefit of a due share of light. The border is not so remarkable.
The whole of this window is also in high preservation.

No. 4 exhibits thirty-six compartments, very elongated quatrefoils, each
divided into two subjects, wrth quatrefoils of tlie ordinary form betweeu.
(fig. 4.) The subjects are principally from the book of Joshua, and for the
most part represent battles (certainly not of the crusades of St. Louis, as a
French artist has supposed), among which the fall of Jericho is conspicuous.
Most of the compartments are in high preservation, and it is unnecessary to
say that the Israelitish warriors are clad and armed in the fashion of the
13th century. There is nothing very remarkable either in the ground or
border of this window, except that the sun and moon are introduced in the
heads of the lights.

All these windows contain nine compartments in the heads — one in each
of the curves between the circles, one in the sixfoil light of the middle circle
and one in each of the quatrefoils, which compose the tracery.

The first of the seven windows o( the apsis is filled with plain rectangular
iron work (fig. 5). This is one of the windows which has sufl'ered the most
dilapidation, and only some of the lower panels remain entire. Among the
surviving subjects is Sampson, with Dalilah cutting his hair. The ht^ad
consisting, like all those in the apsis, of three trefoils, contains a cherub in
the upper trefoil, and an angel in each of the others ; these figures are in

m

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Mat,

eirclei inscribed within the trefoils, and the surrounding spaces are filled
>rith the arms of France and Castile,

Fig. 5.

Fig. 8.

Fig.

Fig. 8.

The first light of the second window in the apsis is in sixteen compart-
ments— lozenges and half-quatrefoils (fig. 6). The subjects are generally
obscure and do not appear to belong to each other ; the ground, which is in
figured circles crossed by a trellis, is very handsome ; the border, plain red
with small blue rosettes.

The second light is unlike the first, and differs totally from anything else
in the chapel ; it fits its place too well to have come there by accident, but
the style plainly indicates its date to be the 14th century. It is divided by
plain iron work into rectangular compartments (fig. 7), of which twelve
remain. Each of these is subdivided into three, and the same subject, with
Tariations, is repeated in eleven of them, viz., in the centre a throned figure,
placed within the convolutions of a rich flowing arabesque, and a standing
figure under a canopy on each side ; the upper figure of the eleven is God
the Son, the next below, the Virgin. It is evidently a portion of a Jesse
window. In the centre of the upper compartment and in the head of the
light the arabesque is beautifully developed, and the Dove appears among
the scroll work. In the head is God the Father and two angels, filled up
with the arms of Castile. The whole of this light is in the highest degree
brilliant and harmonious, and in the best preservation. It is impassible to
believe it contemporaneous with the rest of the glass, though how it came
to be thus interpolated where all the rest is uniform in style it would be
difficult to conjecture.

No. 3 in the apsis contains twenty-two compartments, in the form of the
vesica piscis (fig. 8), each divided into two subjects, generally referring to
the Nativity, but some do not appear to belong to the rest ; some of the
damage and patchwork previously noticed is to be observed in this window.
In the top compartments and heads of the lights a building is represented,
with figures incensing, probably the holy house of Loretto. In the head of
the window is an angel, the Virgin and child, and God the Son, with the
arms of France and Castile. The ground of the window is a plain trellis,
with a border of fleurons.

No. 4, thirty-eight compartments, in squares and quadrants, relating prin-
cipally to the crucifixion and events connected with it, with groups of saints
and angels in the upper compartments. What is not actually destroyed is
mostly in high preservation, but three of the principal compartments are
lost and the squares filled with patchwork, and two others are misplaced.
The ground of this window is a rich and beautiful trellis, with medallions of
the arms of Castile, and a border of fleurons, and iu the Centre of each
division of the four quadrants a very rich quatrefoil.

The first light of No. 5 shows eleven compartments, in lozenges, and a sort
of quatrefoils (fig. 9), with a common trellis ground, and a border of very

Fig. 9.

Fig. 10.

Fig. 11

graceful fleurons. The second light is difl'erent,— regular quatrefoils (fig.
10), on a ground semf' of Castile, and a sort of festoon border, rather un-
graceful. The subjects are generally obscure, and apparently unconnected.
The circumcision and the beheading of St. John are the only two which are
obvious in the first light, and Moses with the tables in the second. In the
head are three saints with the arms of Castile misplaced. This window i>
not in very good preservation, and the glass itself is much corroded and
perished.

In No. 6 there are twenty compartments in quatrefoils. The subjects
appear to be from the history of Noah, but they are for the most part obscure.
This window is in rather better condition than the last ; the ground and
border the same as in the second light of the last window ; seme of Castile
with festoons.

No, 7, twenty compartments, in circles and half of the vesica piscis (fig.
11); the subjects obscure, but Tobit and his dog, and Daniel in the den,
with a lion with a human face, are to be distinguished ; the ground it a
handsome trellis pattern, with a border of fleurons.

This completes the windows in the apsis.

The first window on the south tide contains forty compartments, all in
circles (fig. 12); the ground a trellis, with a fleur-de-lis in every square
formed by the intersections. The subjects in the two first lights are from
the book of Job ; of course the devil plays a conspicuous part in the history,
and is represented with much liveliness of imagination ; the burning of
Job's bouse is represented with edifying simplicity, his satanic majesty per-
forming the incendiary in person. In the other two lights the subjects ar«
not so clear ; in the four top compartments are angels incensing. The head
of the window is arranged as described on the north side, hut the quatrefoil
compartments represent buildings surrounded by arabesque work.

No. 2 on the south side is a window of extraordinary beauty ; there are
eighty compartments, quadrants, with a quatrefoil in the centre of every
four (fig. 13); in each quatrefoil is Castile, and between the quadrants ii
also a medallion of Castile on a ground of rich mosaic. The subjects are
various and abound in royal personages — those from the book of Esther are
the most obvious. The head of this window is similar to that of the last.
This window is particularly to be noticed for its rich, brilliant, and harmo-
nious eff'ect, aided no doubt by its position to the south. The form of the
compartments, which the iron work follows throughout, fall in well together,
and leave no awkward or irregular shapes in the ground. From the number
of thrones and tabernacles on red grounds, there is more rich colour than

1846.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

133

usual, and this, with the repetition of the arms of Castile on a large scale,
effectually balances the general blue tone which pervades this and the rest
of the windows.

Notwithstanding what has been said of the last window, No. 3 on this
«ide is perhaps the finest of the whole ; the iron work already referred to is
remarkably elegant ; there are eighty compartments, the centre of every five
being a very graceful compound form (fig. 14), and as they fill very nearly
the whole space without interstices, the colours, of which a great proportion
is very rich, are spread without any inharmonious spots. King David
figures as the princpal personage in the history illustrated by this window.
What little ground there is, is a mosaic, and it is remarkable that the border,
which is in fleurons, is the poorest of the whole set. This window is in
good preservation generally, but not altogether so perfect as the last.

No. 4, the last of the series has all the appearance of having once been a
brilliant window, but it is in bad condition and patched to confusion. The
form of the iron work and disposition of the compartments are the same as
No. 4, on the other side. There is a large building represented near the
centre of the window, which judging from others of the subjects, the priests
carrying the Ark for instance, may be conjectured to be Solomon's temple.
The ground of this window is particularly fine, diapered circles with the
fleur-de-lis in the centre, and Castile in the spaces between.

It is to be feared that this description will have conveyed very little idea
in the absence of illustrations, of anything beyond the quantity of matter
contained in this glass, and the pains with which it has been elaborated. It
may be well to add a few words on the eflfact produced. Bvery one is fami-
liar with the blue tone of the early style of stained glass, arising from that
colour being almost exclusively used in the back ground of the compartments.
Such is the case with the glass of the Saint Chapelle, and as the harmony of
the general effect is supported by the introduction of a preponderance of the
same colour in the general ground works of the lights, this tone prevails
very greatly through the whole surface of the glass, reds, greens, and violets,
with only a small proportion of yellow, flesh colour, and other light tones, form-
ing the reliefs and contrasts. The glass therefore admits but little light,
and on the north side under the influence of sunshine on the opposite side,
fails even in its effect of transparency, a result which must have been noticed
by all who have had the opportunity of examining glass of this kind under
different aspects. It appears, however, from the restoration of the Poly-
chromatic decoration, of the authenticity of every part of which, I believe,
no doubt can be entertained, that the architects of the Middle Ages were well
aware of this inconvenience, and took very good measures to counteract it,
(he (tonework of the windows being coloured of a sort of deep maroon ; and

the effect of the glass set in a framework of this tone, is something very dif.
ferent from its appearance between jambs and mulliona of dead white as it
is most generally seen, and as it really was in this instance, when my notes
were made. The confusion which results from the collocation of such an
infinite number of small pieces of coloured glass as we find in the composi-
tions of this style, has been sometimes considered one of its beauties, and w«
hear glass commended because it looks like Turkey carpet. This is cer-
tainly the case with the glass of the Sainte Chapelle. The first impression
conveys nothing to the eye or the mind, but the unmeaning variety of the
kaleidoscope— but let it be observed, that to produce this effect with dis-
tinctness is no small triumph of the art of the collocation of colours. And
here a remark may be made upon the general belief that there is some ex-
traordinary quality in the colour of the ancient glass. That it is so in many
cases is unquestionable, since the fact has been recognized by those who are
practically acquainted with the manufacture of glass ; but there are instances,
and the Sainte Chapelle is one, where much of the red glass is far from
being of a good quality ; but this is by no means perceptible on a general
view, and it proves that the brilliancy of the old red glass depends no less
upon its collocation and the effect of judicious contrasts than upon the indi-
vidual character of the colour. To return to the glass in question, if the
forms are confused, the colours are not confounded ; and when it is considered
how easy it is by the injudicious disposition of small surfaces of transparent
blue and red, to fuse them into a general effect of purple, of all results the
most disagreeable and inharmonious, we must admit that their art was well
understood by those who combined them, as they were combined by the
glass painters of the 13th century ; and it can hardly be doubted that the result
produced was that calculated upon by those artists, viz., the effect of a rich
and harmonious couj) d'mil at the first view, heightened by the obscurity and
mystery enveloping the details which a more deliberate survey and examina-
tion brought to light. If this were really their purpose, their success is un-
doubted. Whether this be the best mode of treating stained glass is another
question altogether, and opinions may differ upon it. Stained glass wa«
certainly very differently treated when it became combined with fine art, a
quality to which the early glass can make no pretence. Perhaps the later
Flemish and German glass displays the greatest perfection to which this art
has been brought, exhibiting a combination of the qualities of good drawing
and composition, with those conditions which are indispensable in glass
painting, and separate it altogether from the art of painting on canvass.

One of these conditions which was never neglected as long as glass paint-
ing was understood, and which will be found invariably attended to in every
successful specimen of stained glass, whether ancient or modern, is the pro-
fusion of detail. The earliest and the latest glass, however differing in every
other respect, possess this in common. In the glass of the 13th century this
quality is produced by the minuteness of the parts. In that of the 15th
when the large treatment of the subjects necessitated large masses of the
same colour, it is obtained by the introduction of diapered grounds, or some-
times by the minute elaboration of the draperies. It is not enough that thi»
diaper work should be introduced when the eye can distinguish and appre-
ciate it; in the old glass it is developed in situations, and on a scale, where it
is inevitably thrown away, except in contributing to the general effect, which
would as inevitably be marred by its absence. The rosace at the west-end of the
Sainte Chapelle to which reference was made at the beginning of this paper,
is a strong instance of the truth of these observations, so far at least as re-
gards the practice of the Middle Ages. In this rosace there are eighty-one
principal compartments containing a series of subjects from the Apocalypse,
of which about sixty-six remain entire. The style in which this glass is
executed exhibits the strongest possible contrast with that of the older
series — there is very little colour of any kind — instead of strong contrasts
the effect is brought out by chiaro-scuro. In which colour there is the pre-
dominating tone is yellow, but there are vigorous touches of red of great
value to the effect. There is of course none of the depth and richness which
characterize the original windows, but there is a transparency, and a sparkle,
scarcely less imposing in its effect, and when to this first impression succeeds
the examination of the detail, a proficiency in drawing and composition is
developed, united to a refinement and delicacy of execution which can be
fully appreciated only by means of an opera glass, and which might be thought
thrown away, did experience not prove the elaboration of the detail, whether
in one form or another, to be the one thing needful to the full effect of
stained glass.

A few words may be added in conclusion, on the phlychromatic duration

134

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[May

already referred to, by which this gorgeous display of transparent colour is
harmonized and supported ; every portion of the interior surface of the
Chapel is covered with the richest and most positive colours, relieved by
gold. The shafts of the columns, hoth principal and subordinate, exhibit the
briglitest vermilion and green, the vaulting shafts, which present the largest
surfaces, being broken up by gold lines, disposed in various patterns ; the
lines themselves being eral)osscd and minutely diapered, and the intervals
filled with the embossed arms of France and Castile. The removal of the
presses has revealed a magnificent dado, resembling that in Westminster
Abbey and other buildings of the period; the back ground elaborately diaper.
ed and all the foliage gilt. In the spandrils of the arches are sculptured
angels on grounds of blue enamel, diapered with gold. As the dim religious
light admitted into the building is too feeble to prevail against the immense
mass of colour, au ingenious and successful device is adopted to supply the
place of light and shade in the sculptured details, and to give them the sharp-
ness in which they would otherwise be deficient, by defining the edges of the
foliage with a thin black line. Against the pillars are brackets destined to
receive statues, some of which are restored, but not yet placed; they are all
of that superior class of sculpture as compared with contemporary works
elsewhere, which marks the French school of the Middle Ages, and are ela-
borately decorated with enamel and jewels. The only part of this splendid
interior not perfectly satisfactory is the vaulting, of which the plain blue
ground seme of fleura-de-lis is too simple for the rest, and from this ob-
servation must be excepted the apsis, where a border round each compart-
ment affords the necessary relief. Under the Chapel is a crypt or sub-
Chapel, partaking of the same style of decoration, but not yet restored.

CANDIDUS'S NOTE-BOOK.
FASCICULUS LXVIII.

" I must have liberty
Withal, as large a charter as the winds.
To blow on whom I please."

I. Of all the ancient orders the Grecian-Doric is by far the most in-
tracticable — almost to impracticability, although it has been largely intro-
duced into practice in this country. By impracticsbility is to be under-
stood not any difficulty as to construction or ei«cution,but the impossibility
of applying it consistently or naturally in buildings which are altogether
differently constituted from those in which it was originally employed. It
is so obstinately stern and iutlexible, and so strongly marked in character,
that it will suffer nothing else to come in contact with it. Nevertheless it
has been patched up with, and patched upon, everything, Gothic alone ex-
cepted. So long as the mere columns and entablatures have been correct,
that is, mechanically-produced fac-siiniles of some aoci«nt example, and so
far, bearing noiniual resemblance to Parthenon or Pitstum, the most ex-
cruciating violations of the style have been tolerated^why do I say tole-
rated?—they have even been regarded with self-complacent wonder ; and
because we have copied it piecemeal, we have given ourselves credit for ap-
preciating and relishing the severe simplicity of that order. Though it has
been repeated ad tiauseam, in hardly any one instance has the sentiment of
the style been fairly expressed; and notwithstanding, too, the lackadaisical
prating about " proportions," very rarely is any kind of proportion at all
observed between the order itself and the structure to which it is applied.
Instances have occurred before now, where otherwise very plain ordinary
buildings have, the in attempt togive them somethingof style, been croshed
into insignificance by huge Doric columns of greater diameter than the
breadth of the openings for windows; while, in others, the same order
has occasionally been reduced to minikin dimensions, anil applied as de-
coration to subordinate parts of the general mass ; which is surely a very
great mistake, there beiug nothing whatever in the constitution of the
Grecian-Doric — an order rigidly expressive of architectonic purpose and
nothing more, and possessing no elenieuts of coiubiuatiun and variety — to
recouimeud it for purposes of embellishment. There would be something
rational in taking the order merely as a type to be modified according to the
exigencies of the particular design, and if needs be, even enriched. But no ;
that must not be thought of,— that would be quite illegitimate, and would
be reprobated aa " tampering with the orders," whereas the abusing or

misusing them by preposterous mis-application is, it seems, perfectly le-
gitimate and secundum artem ; though, in my poor oi>inioo, au architect
may as well give us columns of his own invention at once, as mar the
effect of an ancient order by joining it on, and mixing it up with, what does
not at all agree with it. At the worst, were the invention bad, the whole
work would be as likely as not to be of a piece throughout ; at any rate
the genuine and classical would not be degraded by being made to associ-
ate with the vulgar and mean. Architects should learn to rely more upon
themselves for detail, and less upon their barefaced and wholesale bor-
rowings, which borrowing system has, if nothing else objectionable in it,
this unlucky tendency — that it relaxes industrious study, and renders ar-
chitects prone to rely upon the merit of what is not their own, as excusing
the bad that really belongs to them.

II. It would seem that professional men, who may be supposed to have
studied the orders thoroughly, can do no more with them than those who
are not architects. Just as they find them ready prepared to their bands,
so do they make use of them, without any more ceremonious process of
appropriation than that which is expressed by the euphuistic term "ab-
straction." Perhaps their study of them is not of the most fructifying
kind : to learn to talk learnedly about dales and the histories of styles,
and to know to the fraction of an inch all the dimensions of the Par-
thenon, is a very dillerent matter from understanding architectural design ;
knowledge of the former kind constitutes for the architect only the mate-
rials for and aids to his proper artistic study. After all our so-called study
of Grecian architecture, what have we made of it? Have we acquired
from it the power of producing anything in congenial taste ? \t itb copy-
ing we began — which was excusable enough, — and wiih copying we go
on, and are likely to do so to the end of the chapter, till we lay it aside
altogether, for we do not care to take the first step towards any advance
beyond the mere copying point. Truly, we have most singular notions of
studying the antique, for we learn nothing more from it than what lies on
the immediate surface, and mimick rather than imitate it ; nor do we even
avail ourselves, as we easily might do, of the varieties of the Greek orders
which the Greeks themselves have left us. Have we as yet even so much
as attempted to turn to account the idea for a four-faced Greek-Ionic capi-
tal, held out to us by that singular example in the temple of Apollo, at
Bassoe, — an example, perhaps, all the more valuable because it is sug-
gestive of further improvement ? We seem to search out and accumulate
examples only in order to bury them again in museums and in books.
There are a few charming specimens of antique inventiuns for capitals in
the British Museum, but for any use that is made of them they might
about as well be at the bottom of the Thames at once. Has any service
been rendered to architecture practically by the specimens lately discovered
in Asia Minor by Texier, (who, oddly enough, was sent out thither by the
French government, for the French make no use of the Creek and Asiatic
orders,) — has a single idea been adopted from them ?

III. If it may be judged of in its present state, Cockerell's building for
the new Bank at Manchester does not promise to be any great architectu-
ral achievement. It may not unfairly be said to exhibit a sort of traresti
Greek style, a Doric order, borrowed from that of the temple of Nemesis at
Rhamnus(the shafts of whose columns are fluted only just at foot and top),
being employed not for the entire elevation, but merely as decoration to
the lower division or ground floor, in three-quarter, consequently, attached
columns, and so wide apart (for there are five trigljphs over every inter-
column) as to be totally contrary to Greek ideas of proportions for inter-
coluuiniation in that order. Greater conformity to charateristic proportions
might have been expected from one who descants so flueutly ex cathedra-^
more fluently, perhaps, than perspicuously — on the doctrine of propvrtiom.
However, such violation of strict architectural Dorism is not greater than
that of filling in the three centre intercolumns with large arched triple or
Anglo-Venetian windows. The upper part of the front will be a sort of
heavy Attic, of which the merit may be that it is unborrowed. It could
be wished thai the order had been equally nondescript, for then the whole
would have been stamped by greater uiiginality — at least, greater con-
sistency; and whatever his invention for the purpose might have been, the
Professor could hardly have been a degree more heterodox than he has
been in the use which he has now made of Greek orthodoxy.

IV. One of the objections raised by way of answer to what I said in
regard to a church being lighted on its sides by clerestory windows alone,
does not apply either to Mr. Wightwick's building, or the other mentioned
by me, because that circumstance does not, in either instance, in the slight-
est degree affect external character, no part of the exterior being visible
except the froat, M'indows are so expressive io a Gothic church, and

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

135

design depends so mainly upon them, that to erect an insulated structure
of the kind, without other windows on its sides than those of the cleres-
tory, might be deemed improper and perfectly arbitrary; not that I myself
should despair of something good as well as striking being produced with-
out any windows below. But did I in what I said, go to the extent of
recommending the banishment of side windows, except del eslory ones,
from churches? I think not; at least, I did not intend to do so, and
tlierefore, I snppose, expressed myself very muddy-headedly. But
what Mr. Wightwick has done is— oh horrible '.—not according to
precedent. Now ten thousand maledictions upon that 'said " prece-
dent"—or rather the servile doctrine founded upon a blindly super-
stitious reverence for it,— doctrine that entirely denies to art the power
of further production ; or if it does chance at any time to throw out
or begin to throw oat a fresh shoot, it must be extirpated at once.
Mhat is good requires no precedent to justify it, and what is bad is not to
be justified by a thousand precedents in support of it, for if the latter be
iu themselves good, they rather convict the thing that appeals to them of
departing from iheir spirit. Your precedent-mongers do not even know
whether they ought to admire or censure what is shown them, until they
refer to authorilies. Tell them that such or such idea is quite new, and
they will instantly begin to frown, although they may just before have
seemed disposed to relish ; or, on the contrary, they will, on hearing that
there is valid authority for what appears to be quite a novelty, be instantly
propitiated in its favour, yea, even though an energetic " Damnable !"
were actually hovering upon their lips. The present overweening rever-
ence for precedent in some quarters, is likely to prove the Dry rot of Art.

PRESSURE ON RETAINING WALLS.

Sir— In your remarks, at Page 109 of the Civil Engineer and Archi-
tect's Journal, on a paper of mine on the pressure to which retaining walls
may be subjected, a necessary preliminary investigation has, apparently,
been mistaken for one on retaining walls. The subject was pressure, not
retaining walls ; and you may have seen from the conclusion of the paper,
and other parts of it, that it was merely introductory.

It is best to calculate the pressure free from all considerations of mo-
mentum at first, because when once this pressure is determined, it can be
readily applied to the determination of the strength, &c., required in a
retaining wall, so as it may resist being overthrown, being moved forward,
or being fractured, by the resultant of its own weight and this pressure.

Mere formulae without calculations from them are, to the practical man,
nearly useless. I have therefore given tables of pressure ; but tables of
momentum would, in my judgment be useless. Telford gives pressure, not
momentum, very properly ; and gives separately the leverage, or the po-
sition of the centre of pressure ; I have not done so, because it was not
necessary to do so in this part of my subject, and because, also, any ana-
lyticiil determination of the position of the centre pressure must depend a
good deal on an hypothesis, which may be considerably modified by the
manner in which a wall is brought up and the filling behind it. Friction
at the back of the wall belongs also, most properly, to the next part of my
subject.

The formula / p x dx is a correct representation of the momeatam, but

^o make it useful, take p=w (A — x), a fraction of x, the height k, and a
known quantity w: we find then, by integration, &c., the momentum

w =tcl — — — 1 = ^when x=h) — — x - and, as it is easy to show that

IV h^ h .

— ;r — is the pressure, - is the leverage ; but there are many circumstances

in practice which may alter the position of the centre of pressure, whilst
the pressure itself remains unchanged.

With respect to the conclusion of your remarks, I believe yoa will find
on a re-examination, that I am not mistaken here. I have benefitted a
good deal by the study of Telford's works, and if I have pointed out some
of his mistakes— which every investigator is subject to — it was for the
purpose of warning those who, not being disposed to investigate for them-
selves, may adopt them without consideratiua. The mistakes of 6ucb men

as Telford are doubly dangerous, from the position which bis works justly
hold.

May I request insertion for this in your next number.
I am Sir,

Your obedient servant,
Dundalk, April Zrd, 1846. John Neville.

[Jlr. Neville having stated his intention of completing his memoir in the
particular to which we alluded, there now remains but slight dilTereuce of
opinion between us. We still, however, are unable to assent to the expe-
diency of considering the resistance and the moment of it separately. Mr.
Neville says, " there are many circumstances in practice which may alter
the position of the centre of pressure, whilst the pressure itself remains
unchanged :" he could not have made an admission more in our favour,
for this shows that the determination of the pressure by itself adds abso-
lutely nothing to our stock of knowledge.

In the case taken in the present letter — and, indeed, in all other cases,
where the sum of the pressures varies as h'^ or the square of the distance
from the top of the vvall — it is easy enough to find the centre of pressure,
because the pressures themselves follow a known hydrostatic law. But in
some of the most important cases the pressure does not vary as /i^; for
instance, the equation 8, page 4 of Mr. Neville's memoir, which refers to
one of the very commonest cases, that of a wall supporting a bank sloping
upwards behind it, gives an altogether difTerent law. We do not at present
see how it is possible to ascertain the centre of pressure in this instance.
(The result, by the way, is identical, mu(o(« miidini/is, with equation 453
in Moseley's " Principles of Engineering," and Mr. Neville's investiga-
tion, though more general, has the advantage of much greater simplicity.)

Is there not an error in equation 28, page 1 1 of (he memoir ? Putting
5=0 fthat is, supposing the upper surface of the bank inclined at the angle
of repose), the right hand side of the equation vanishes, and, consequently,
on the left-hand side cz^<p ; which leads to the strange conclusion that,
when the upper surface is inclined at its natural slope, the plane of frac-
ture is parallel to the plane of repose. At the top of the next page, Mr.
Neville gives a definite value to the horizontal pressure when the wedge
of earth is resting ou a plane of repose. But surely, by the principles of
the inclined plane, when a body rests on a plane inclined at angle, of which
the tangent is the co eflicieut of friction, the body will have no tendency to
slip forward, and cannot, therefore, require an additional horizontal pres-
sure to support it.

We scarcely know what is meant by the allusion to Telford in the
present letter, unless there be an accidental mistake of his name for that of
Tredgold;— we said, last month, that Mr. Neville had condemned the
latter from having misunderstood his meaning. On referring to Tredgold's
original paper, we find his conclusion to be in effect this, — that if the
sloping bank be carried up so high that the plane of fracture meets the
natural slope of the upper surface, all the pressure on the wall is caused
by the wedge, included by the plane of fracture, the wall, and the upper
surface : in other words, however high the bank of earth may be, the
additional height, beyond the place where the plane of fracture meets the
surface of the scarp, adds nothing to the pressure on the wall. Mr. Ne-
ville says this conclusion is erroneous! But a moment's reflection will
show that all the earth behind and above the plane of fracture is in a slate
of rest by itself, and cannot possibly add to the pressure on the wall.
Tredgold further says that if we were to adopt the now exploded doctrines
of Belidor and Rondelet, we should get a different and an absurd conclu-
sion. This is all perfectly correct. Tredgold is not infallible, but he ought
not to be blamed for errors committed by others— he has plenty of his own
to answer for.]

Subsidence or the Preston Viaduct.— This viaduct consists of 27
arches, and it crosiea the turnpike road from London to Brighton, near the Brighton
Urmium. It has been finished several weeks, and the principal portion of the wooden
centre, supporting the arches taken away.— April 11, the men engaged in baUasting the
line over the viaduct discoversd symptoms of the middle arch, which crosses the tum-
pike-road, having given way. Woikmen were immediately employed In placing timber
to support the arch. It was found to have sunk a foot or 18 inches, and will have to be
taken down and rebuilt. This arch was of wider span than the others, and was the only
elliptic arch in th« viaduct. Some persons foolishly ascribe IU subsidence to Us being
built in that form, but it Is more probably owing to the continued wet weather, as another
of the arches has since been found to be cracked. They will both have to be taken down
and rebuilt. This lin« was to have been opened In May, but In comequence of this unto-
ward event the opening muat be deferred.

136

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[May,

SETTING OUT CUTTINGS AND EMBANKMENTS.

Sir— Permit rae through your columns to submit the following simple
formulit, for the solutioo of a most important problem in field engineering,
viz., the correct determination of the half widths of cuttings and embank-
ments in sidelong ground. While the methods usually adopted are for the
roost part tedious, and all, I believe, merely approximative, the following
will be found to possess not only the great advantage of facility in practice,
but the result is obtained by a very simple calculation which may be made
in the field.

I need hardly allude, more especially at the present time, to the practical
importance of this problem, since upon a correct staking out of the half
widths, not only the quantity of land required but the amount of the work
to be executed is mainly dependent ; an error, either in excess or the con-
trary, being equally objectionable— perhaps even more so in the latter
case, since an extra quantity of land would be required, under probably
less favourable circumstances, for purchase, and the additional increase to
the slopes, subsequent to the first formation, would be attended with an
increased cost in the labour.

If, in the accompanying diagram of the cross section of a catting in
sidelong ground, B'C E represents the ground surface, H C the depth of
the cutting at the centre point, corresponding to the same point on the lon-

gitudinal section, H F and H G the half-widths at the formation level, it is

obvious that the simple addition of each slope (calculated to the depth at

the centre) to the half-widths at the bottom would, in the present case, be

inapplicable— since the widths so obtained would be too small for the

upper side and too much for the lower, and the contrary for embankments.

The method now proposed is simply this :— measure off from the centre

8take the half-widths, supposing the ground to be horizontal, and between

the centre stake and each of the points so obtained, E and E', take the

difference of level, viz., D E and D' E' ; then the distance H C, or the

true position B of the side stake, indicating the superior edge of the slope

CD' „^

on the lower side, is equal to ^ „ . j^ g v'O

where r represents the ratio of the slope, or of the horizontal to the vertical
distance. In other words, it is equal to the square of the half-width on
leiel ground, divided by the sum of the same half-width and the product
of the difference of level before observed and the ratio of the slope.

The distance C A', or the position B' of the slake on the upper side, is
CD'

equal to

(2.)

CD -D'E' X r

that is, equal to the square of the half-width on level ground, divided by
the difference between the same half-width and the product of the differ-
ence of level, before determined, and the ratio of slope.

Thus, for example, in the diagram, if the depth of the cutting H C be
20 feet, the half-widths H F, H G = I5 feet, and the ratio of the slopes H
to 1, it is evident that the half-widths C D', C D on level ground would be
45 feet :— Let D' E', D E (the difference of level between the above points
and the centre) be respectively 8 feet and 40 feet. Then, by formula No. 1,

CD»
C A the half- width on the lower side 3 c D -4- D E y r ~ ^^'** ^*^'' ^^^

the half-width C A' (by formula No. 2), the half-width on upper side =

CD'S
C'D'-D'E'xr = "'f««'-

For embankments, the values for the upper and lower sides would be
exchanged, which is evident by reversing the figure : —

Demonstration.— Dnvt A B, D E, B'A', and E' D', perpendicular to
the horizontal A' C D.

Then let A C or A' C = x
C D or C D' = o
D EorD'E' =d
A D and A'D' =: o — x and x — a

A Band A' B'

Where r represents the ratio of the slopes,
Then by similar triangles —

a— X x—a
: and

AC : AB :
a* — ax

C D : D E ; or, X :

dx.

and drx-(-ax = o'*.'. x= , ^^

d
= CA.

In the same manner for the upper side —
A A' C : D E' : : A' B' ; D' E' or, X ; a :

. ox-a=
ax= and a.T — orx = o^ . '

= CA'.

(!•)

(2.)

o — dr

Q. E. D.

It is scarcely necessary to mention that the above formulae presuppose
that the points C, B, E, and C B' E' fall on the surface, and are respec-
tively reducible to one plane, which in fact, unless in very extreme cases,
may be assumed without leading to material error in the result — at all
events, the correction would be so slight that it might be made by the eye;
taking the distances CA, CA' rather in excess when the point B falls
within the surface, and the contrary when it falls without.

G. Hawkins.

BROAD AND NARROW GAUGE.

Sir — I have not a single share in a railway, broad or narrow, and, in a
pecuniary point of view, care not one iota which way the Gauge Question
may be settled ; but, for the last sixteen years, I have watched, with the
greatest interest, the progress of railway locomotion, and at every increase
in the capabilities of the locomotive engine I have rejoiced, as every man
ought to do who purely desires the advance of art and science. From
recent experiments and from daily experience it appears the engines on
the narrow gauge have attained their limit as regards power, while the
broad gauge engines are susceptible of an increase of power to any extent
compatible with safe velocities. The engines on the Great Western Rail-
way have not varied in their dimensions almost from the opening of the
line, — having a boiler remarkably short in proportion to the other parts of
the engine ; but there is now building, at Swindon, an engine, the boiler
of which will be of a length corresponding to the long boilers on the nar-
row gauge lines ; the driving wheels will be 8 feet in diameter, and the
calculated average velocity with an ordinary train will be 70 miles an
hour. We are told that narrow gauge engines are not safe at velocities
exceeding 45 miles. What an exceedingly humiliating reflection that,
probably, the whole of the kingdom will be tied down for ever to a velo-
city of 45 miles. What is to be done? Cannot our great engineers and
scientific men rescue us from this unhappy fix ? — There is but one hope
left for the narrow gauge, and that is, the success of the atmospheric sys-
tem; but most provokingly, it so happens, that the opponents of the broad
gauge are also the enemies of the atmospheric system, and Jlr. St«phen-
son, instead of holding his post as driver of railway science, by the force
of circumstances finds himself in the unenviable position of its bnaksman.
It is most devoutly to be wished, for the honour of the narrow gauge, that
the engineers and scientific gentlemen who are most unmercifully attack-
ing the unfortunate atmospheric system month after month in your valu-
able journal, would cease their enmity, and, contrariwise, take the almost
prostrate system, try what they can make of it, and adopt it as a bantliDg
of their own. I remain. Sir,

Your obedient servant,
April 12th, 1846. S. T.

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

137

ON THE MODIFICATION AND ADAPTATION OF

THE ORDERS OF THE GREEKS BY THE

ROMANS AND MODERNS.

By H. Fdlton, M.D.

"All nations in the most advanced state of civilization have been unanimous in their
admiration of Grecian architecture." — The Earl of Aberdeen.

The learned are agreed and we must agree with them, that the Greeks
derived their knowledge of architecture from Egypt, and its neighbouring
nations. We find them possessing three orders, all of great beauty ; and
although these orders differ from ea<:h other in many respects, yet, iu the
opinion of all architects both ancient and modern, they may be resolved
jato one elementary order — the Doric, which, there is every reason to
believe, was the original one. In the ruins of the temple of Amada, in
Nubia, we have a very near approach to the Greek example of the Doric
columns of the temple at Corinth, the earliest known example of the order
in a Greek dress; indeed, it requires but little addition to make the Nubian
column an example of (he Doric order, from which it does not differ so
much as the latter does from either the Ionic or Corinthian. Denon, in his
delineations of Egypt, gives a column composed merely of a fluted shaft
supporting a low architrave ; this shaft is precisely similar to those at
Pajstum and Agrigentum. But this inquiry, however interesting in itself,
strictly forms no part of our subject; we shall therefore dismiss it by
adding, that what the Greeks did we may also accomplish, and find in the
rich and almost unexplored field of Egyptian architecture many examples
of detail— particularly capitals— which are capable of being Grecianised
and adopted into modern practice ; an example of which is given, under the
name of the Victoriue order, in the Chil Engineer and Architect's Journal
for the year 1845, and is proposed as a substitute for the Roman Doric,
which intention it seems calculated to fulfil.

The Greeks then had only three orders, and the Romans in making the
addition of two others, effected it, as regards one, by stripping the Doric
of all iis embellishments, altering its proportions, and supplying a base for
the formation of what is called the Tuscan. And the Composite can only
he considered as a variety of the Corinthian, or a combination of it and the
Ionic, and is not entitled to be received as a distinct order ; nor should
either the Tuscan or Composite be considered in our elementary works
except as mere modifications of the other orders.

That the Romans felt the force and power of the Greek style is readily
proved by its extensive adoption throughout their empire, but that they
were not able to foster the adopted child with the care and affection of its
natural parent, is manifest from the deterioration it suffered in their hands.
The taste for, and knowledge of the fine arts amongst the Romans at the
time of the conquest of Greece were at a low ebb ; that warlike people
came, and saw, and admired, but did not acquire a true knowledge of the
grand and leading principles of the art as practised by the Greeks, either
in pamtmg or sculpture, and still less in architecture. Wealth poured its
tributary streams into the lap of all-conquering Rome ; everything that
riches could purchase was at their command ; and magnificent structures
were soon raised on the spot where formerly stood the rude hut of Romu-
lus ; and so great was the change effected, even in the lifetime of an indi-
Tidual, that, as Suetonius relates, Augustus found the city built of brick,
and left it of marble. The most distant conquered provinces felt the genial
influence of the newly.acquired taste, as the many ruins still existing in
Africa and (rans-alpine Gaul attest. Gold has a magnetic power to at-
tract, though perhaps not to create, genius; but the possession of wealth
does not always improve the taste, and although we see in the ruins of
X ossidonia what Greek artists could do in a foreign land when left un-
trammelled, yet under the influence of Roman patronage they were not
altogether so successful. It may have been observed that ignorant persons,
on bemg shown sketches of the three orders, invariably prefer the most
ornate; such a preference would also be given by a semi- barbarous people:
but those who love all the three cannot censure any for preferring Aglaia,
to Thaha and Euphrosyne-nay, we rather rejoice that they should be found
tojoin with us in admiring even one of our beloved Graces, although we
may be persuaded that to love one well, we must love all three. But the
Romans went further than a mere preference, and rejected the claims of
Stal re ' T^ m'" ""-^'fi^^""" "f ">e Doric is even worse than a

due dTr' .'"k '""PP^^-^^'^'l^egrand-the sublime effect pre

SIV, °K k' f '?, '^"''"''' "■" ""^ ^^^'« ^"'l constructed on the
principles to which the Greeks trusted for producing effect, they appa-

rently cast this order aside ; in the first instance, leaving it for homeir
practise perhaps ; then its new patrons finding it, when deprived of all
embellishments, the least expensive, and, therefore, when magnificence
was not requisite, the best adapted for their purpose, may have turned it
into the order now called Tuscan, as spoken of by Vitruvius; and although
subsequently, in such erections as the temple of Hercules at Cori, we see
that some vague idea of its former state may have been entertained, yet in
Roman hands, neither ancient nor modern, has it up to the present day
been treated as if its real beauty were either felt or understood ; for the
thing which the Romans have left us, and the modern restorers of the
Greek style have served up to us as the Doric, is no more like the noble
order whose name it bears, than Alexander the coppersmith was to Alex-
ander the Great.

Nor did the other orders altogether escape modification, as for instance
the capital of the Ionic, which, instead of presenting, as in the Greek, two
faces and two sides, is made, by the angular arrangement of the volutes,
to give four faces precisely similar. There is also a very striking differ-
ence between the flowing lines of the Greek and the spiral formation of
the volutes of the Roman Ionic. Our knowledge of the Greek Corinthinn
IS very scanty, but we may, at least, hope its capital, in the best of the
Roman examples, has in some measure escaped unscathed, although in
various other matters, such as the contour of the mouldings, the stylobate,
and the cornice, extensive alterations were made, both in the voluted and
foliated orders.

Some person has called the Tuscan the modified or emasculated Doric ;
this idea must be grounded on the notion of Vitruvius, who likens the
Doric to a man robust and well-proportioned, for take away this character
from him or it, and you take away the virility— that is, according to John-
son, the physical character— of a man. The strength or characler of au
order depends on the proportion of its intercolumniation and height of the
shaft to the diameter of the column itself. Now the Tuscan, as given by
Palladio, has an intercolumniation from centre to centre of five diameters
and an elevation of seven, and, according to the same author, the Doric
has an intercolumniation of nearly four and " an elevation of eight or seven
and a half at least." Viola and Vignola give the same elevation, and
Scamozzi eight and a half, and the same intercolumniation as Palladio,
whilst the Athenian Doric has an intercolumniation from axis to axis of
little more than two diameters, and an elevatiun of about five and a half.
The ancient harridan, in modern times, finding that the blush of early
beauty has deserted her cheek, and that time has bleached her scanty
locks, seeks with pigments to give a colour to the one, and supplies the
place of the other wilh the stolen ringlets of youth : but do such dire ex-
pedients as the application of paint or the rape of the lode deceive any one
save herself? So it was also with Palladio and the rest when, with Vitru-
vius for their guide, they took the attenuated Tuscan and proceeded to
dress it up in the Doric garb, giving the shaft a kind of colour (as it were)
by fluting, and hanging a profusion of ringlets, i. e., triglyphs on the brow,
the frieze of the order.

It is, however, to the credit of the ancient Romans that this modified
order, even when dressed iu the manly garb, found little favour wilh them ;
consequently, we have but few remains of it— some amphitheatres, the'
theatre of Marcellus, and the temple at Cori, being the only ones handed
down to us. Of the deterioration of the other orders, on which the Ro-
mans appear to have bestowed their patronage, our proofs are not so strong:
they were the orders which the Greeks, for the most part, used in cases
were magnitude— so essential to the full development of the Doric— was
not required ; hence examples of them were more likely to suffer from the
hand of time, and to offer to barbarians and others more portable materials
for the erection of their own temples and domiciles ; besides, in the age of
darkness and ignorance, when Grecian art was as it were eclipsed, men
would naturally view the vast remains of former times (the use of which,
as well as the means by which they were or could be eiecied, were totally
unknown to them,) as invested with something of a superstitious character
—the works of genii or giants, who, although unseen, had still the power
to avenge their overthrow ; to this may we not, in some measure, be in-
debted for those precious remains of the Doric order still existing ia
Greece and elsewhere, and to the absence of its protection ascribe°the
paucity of examples of the other orders in the same localities?

It has been stated by an accomplished writeron architecture, Mr. Hosking,
that if two persons, acquainted with the Doric order, were desired each to
give a design of a Greek temple of any specified class (the dimensions of
a single column and the proportion the entablature should bear to it being
given), the designs would be exactly similar in size, arrangement, features^^

18

138

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[May,

and general proportions. Such is tlie stringent nature of the Greek Doric,
in wbicli respect it is unique. The trigljplis, when yiven, are the index of
this proportion, and, except oier the columns at the angles, we find one
over the axis of each : at the angles of the edifice the column is placed so
ucar to its proximate, that a line let fall from the outer edge of the triglypb
will touch the circumferential line of the column at its base, thus giving
increased strength to the strncture. Stuart makes the measurement of the
columns at the angles of the Parthenon G' 3" 5'", and those bctrteen
them 0' 1" 8'", and the iiitercolumuiations 5' 8" b"' and 7' 11" 5'".
Hut the restorers have modilied this either by giving half a metope outside
the triglypb at the angle, or by showing a disregard to any rule, as we see
in the portico of the University Club, in SulTolk-street, London. In such
cases as the last-mentioned, would it not be in better taste to omit the
trii^lyphs altogether (as we find they are in the pronaos of the tireek ex-
amples), and substitute sculpture in their stead. V, e stated that it was
the rule to have only one triglypb between those over the axis of each
column; there is, however, an exception of high authorily, as may be seen
in the I'ropylea, — but it forms the exception, not the rule ; and although this
structure is very beautiful in other respects, yet did we not know that it
was erected in the age of Pericles, when art was in its zenith, we should,
on account of this deviation from the general rule, have ascribed it to a
period subsequent to the Itomau conquest. It would appear that the
reason of this wide intercolumniation between the centre columns of the
Propylea was, that a larger space might be left for the passage of eques-
trian processsions to the Acropolis. If we were constrained to assume
the functions of the judgment-seat when the example was pleaded as a
precedent, our decision should, in legal phraseology, be, " Like case only
like rule." But let us not forget that although we may pay the closest
attention to all the miuutia) of the Greek models, yet a repetition of the
Doric in small cannot be effective, for magnitude is indispensable.

Although tlie Romans proved by conquest that they were superior to the
Greeks in arms, yet they were inferior in arts, and for a time had recourse
to the importation of Greek artists, and, in the reign of Bomitian, columns
were taken from an edifice in Greece for the purpose of rebuilding the
Capitol ; but such was the taste of the Roman architects, that they were
altered under the pretence of being polished, and, as Plutarch, who saw
lliem previously in Greece, says, " they gained not so much in the polish
as they lost in proportion, for their beauty is injured by their appearing
too slender for their height." In the old church of Araceli, on the Capi-
toliue hill, which contains many antique columns, tliere are some, not diffi-
cult to imagine as being the identical ones alluded to by Plutarch. But
the wholesome stimulus of good taste in the employer could not be im-
ported as early as the artists themselves, and it is in the nature of the
mind not to produce beyond what is required of it. Mho will be at the
pains of cultivating a flower that must be

-born to blush unseen.

And waste its sweetness on the desert nir?"
It may be replied to this that the ancients, both Greeks and Romans, put
the highest degree of finish on parts that never could come under observa-
tion as long as the buildings stood — but not so; for superstition invested
their gods with the power of visiting their temples, and hence every part
which might possibly come under their scrutiny was made as perfect as
possible. Another cause for the modification of the transplanted archi-
tecture was the scarcity of materials of sufficient magnitude to construct
buildings with on the Greek models : if, under such circumstances, Greek
employers had been substituted for Roman, and Rome had become a Greek
colony, then, indeed, there can be no doubt that all the modifications which
materials rendered necessary, would have been guided alone by those prin-
ciples which had sustained the character of Grecian architecture as the
first in the world — superior to the Egyptian in this respect, that whilst,
wiih less bulky materials, it preserved the character of grandeur, magnifi-
cence, and simplicity of outline, it imposed thereon an elegance and har-
mony of detail, which made it rise superior to its prototype. But no such
fostering influence met it on the banks of the Tiber: the ancient Romans,
like some moderns, had indeed a great desire — a longing after magnifi-
cence, without being aware of what its constituents were;— possessing the
superiority of conquerors, they were too ignorant — too vain, to learn, or
rather submit, to the taste of the vanquished, whose productions they con-
descended to appropriate in order to grace atriumph and mark a conquest;
and although we see in the earlier works of Italy many vestiges of the
good taste of their instructors, yet a history of its progress under Roman
patronage would be a narrative of its decline and fall, for other principles
guided them Bubsequemly, aud they in vain sought to give their edifices

that grandeur, which the Greeks had been able to effect by a far different
method. The art appears to have run riot io Roman hands, if we are tij
ascribe to them the erection of Baalbcc and Palmyra, entire cities built
on a scale of maguiCcence and splendour which would not be credited
were the fact not attested by their existing ruins.; yet these ruins, exten-
sive as they are, possess no feature worthy of our imitation, except it be a
few details of mouldings which have been introduced into the interiors of
our domestic edifices.

The principles of the one school were sure and fixed, and incapable of
being perverted, whilst those of the other were unstable, and led to every
possible variety, until they brought ruin on the art, and so early as the
times of Diocletian, obliterated almost every vestige of its origin. In suc-
ceeding ages, which we call dark, architecture lay buried under its ohq
ruins : but the most sanguine enthusiast could scarcely have anticipated that
out of this chaos a new style should have been created, having claims on the
admiration of posterity ; and that, in the hands of men who have left no
wriltcn or other record of their knowledge of science or art, the examples
of the florid Gothic of the middle ages should have been brought to thai
state of perfection wliich v^e cannot surpass; this, however, forms no part
of our present enquiry. Subsequent to this period, there arose in Italy
another set of men, who did nut aim, like the Freemasons, to create a
new style, but professed, by the aid of the works of Vitruvius, to resusci-
tate the ancient one out of the incongruous materials by which tbej found
themselves surrounded. If, instead of doing this, they had consigned
Vitruvius to oblivion, and followed the example of the Freemasons, they
might have given us some thing good — at all events, they could not have
given us anything worse than the so-called revival. Greek models they
did not seek for, but even if it had been otherwise in this respect, vre hare
no reason to suppose that the purer specimens would have found more
favour in their eyes, than the best of the Roman did. Serlio and Palladio
drew and published almost all the Roman examples existing in their day,
yet, in their own designs, show how little they studied the best of them,
except to copy a capital or a cornice.

The restorers who flourished principally in the fifteenth century are
called for the sake of brevity, the Cinque-cento school ; they were all of
the same country as the earlier debasers of Grecian art : eminently snc-
cessful in painting aud sculpture, the Italians fell far short indeed in ar-
chitecture. Unacquainted with the Greek models they yet set about the
restoration of the style ; their country never possessed any example of the
pointed Gothic worlliy of attention, and indeed the very name Tedesca im-
pinges harshly on an Italian ear, and the mere suspicion that Germania
was the country of its birth was sufiicient to create a prejudice in the
mind of an Italian patriot ; so it was altogether passed over without
notice, and our ov^•n Jones and Wren, not finding any mention made of 11
by any of the admired authors of the Cinque-cento school, at once stigma-
tised it as barbarian ; but it is remarkable that in proportion as the beauty
of the pure Grecian is known and felt, so is that of the Gothic appre-
ciated ; and so it ever will be in art, a correct taste in one branch leading
to the due estimation of others.

It is true that the change of habits and the difference of climate may,
in many respects, render what was once appropriate not fitting now, and it
must also be admitted that all the examples of Greek architecture which
we have, are either of the templar or monumental description, and therefore
may not be suited for domestic edifices. We know from the somewhat
Greek town of Pompeii, that a great difference existed during the first
century in the style of domestic edifices, and no attempt was made to ren-
der the former similar to the latter, but, on the contrary, it was at ona
period unlawful to make the attempt in Rome, and not customary io
Greece ; for Julius Cassar obtained permission by a decree of the Senate
to make the front of his house like a temple, and Demosthenes, about a
century after the death of Pericles, directed the thunder of his eloquence
against the practise as an innovation. Columns, both square and cylindri-
cal, were however much used for internal decoration and construction in
Roman houses, but the exteriors were plain, and for the most part, devoid
of all architectural ornament : according to Vitruvius, the exteriors of the
town houses were quite plain, all ornament being reserved for the interior;
just as we see at Pompeii, and as is the custom in the towns of China at
the present day. However, in the so-called revival of Greek architecture,
any building, although its outline might be broken up by receding or ad-
vancing wings — although it might have a pediment in mockery only of a
gable, or not extending the entire length of the fafade — although it might
have its frieze pulvinated, its stylobate not graduated, its intercolumoia-
UoD3 extended, its columns (some of them sinecure) of different orders—

1816.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

130

attenuated, unflated, coupled, and mounted on stills : its antae fluted, di-
minished, and capped, as cylindrical columns should be; its cornice
crowned with an attic, or perhaps a balustrade; its shallow portico a mere
afterthought, advanced in front, and thus made the only prominent feature
in the composition; instead (as tlie painters would say) of every part being
worked into each other, so as to produce one whole ; — or, in short, although
it might have all the characteristics of the cinque-cento school, provided
that iu some respects it bore the resemblance of a caricature to the original,
it was designated as a Greek composition.

In this so-called revival, abundant use is made of columns, particularly
as dressings for windows and doors ; and here there is a marked departure
from the principles as practised by the ancients and even as laid down by
the restorers themselves, namely, that the intercolumniation should not ex-
ceed a certain width. Palladio. in the 13th chapter of his first book, says
that " the intercolumniatious of the ancients never exceeded three diame-
ters except in the Tuscan." Now if only three diameters, or four from
centre to centre, be given, the opening would be too narrow either for a
door or a window ; hence the use of them in such situations in practice is
contrary to the principles so peremptorily laid down in theory. The great
object to be attained in the use of columns is the depth of shadow, which
has been called the chiaro-scuro of architectural composition, but as win-
dow dressings are stilted on a lofty slylobate they degenerate into mere
q%iisi ornaments, alfording no shadow that can be seen. The practice of
wide intercolumniatious in order to admit a window or door is defended on
the ground of the columns being attached, and therefore not requiring to
be limited in the interspaces ; but this seems like doing a thing in the first
instance, and finding out au excuse for it afterwards ; and there appears to
be no good reason for placing them in such situations, as they then convey
no idea of utility, and a wide intercolumniation and lofty situation prevent
their being ornamental ; besides, attached columns are only to be defended
on the ground of their harmonising with those that are insulated, and tliis
they do not when placed as door or window dressings ; but it can scarcely
be said that when so placed they are attached in the usual acceptation of
the term, for the architrave, or whatever may supply the place of one, has
uot the aid of any other support.

For the practice of coupling columns, an expedient by which the sim-
plicity of the composition is marred, without any commensurate advantage
being obtained, we are said to be indebted to him wlio was justly called
the Prince of Painters.

We must not omit mention of the practice of adapting single columns
for monumental purposes. The first example we have of this is the Alex-
andrine column, called Pompey's pillar; then the column of Phocas at
IJome ; these are both of the Corinthian order. Of an earlier date than
the latter, we have modifications of the Doric in those of Trajan and An-
toninus ; and iu our own times, a copy of Trajan's in the Napoleon at
Paris. In England we have several of both orders, but we are not aware
of any in the Ionic. The legitimate practice of architecture rejicts a
column in the singular number, except as a fractional part of an edifice,
und always requires, in the horizontal styles, that it should be surmounteil
by a suitable entablature, in order to give it that completeness which the
eye seeks for from association — the architect's line of beauty, from wbiili
lie is slow to admit of any deviation. Although, by their sculptured
reliefs, the columns of Trajan, Antoninus, and Napoleon, are in a great
measure taken out of the class of edilicial columns, yet they, as well as
those not so circumstanced, are unsuiled for the reception of figures on
the summit; for if the figure be badly designed and executed it should not
have place anywhere, and if well designed and executed it is lost to the
eye by its exaggerated elevation. An Irish round tower or an Egyptian
obelisk oS'ers a more appropriate model for a monument or landmark than
any modification of the classical orders.*

In a Greek composition the columns may be said to form the building
itself (supporting its entablature, on which the roof is imposed) ; not
ranged in broken lines, for the purpose of pictorial effect, but presenting
an integrity of outline — giving the idea of completeness and unity of one
whole, and not several parts badly suited in size and form to be joined
together; for, as an accomplished writer has said, "however starlliug it
may be in geometry, it is true in taste that a great many little things do
not make a great one." It has been justly said that all the parts of a
Greek composition which are useful or necessary are rendered pleasing,
and what is beautiful appears to be necessary. The aspect of a building
of this description will be a bold unbroken outline; the ornamental parts

* See a piper ob Obeliskg in tlie " Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal," Vol. VIII.
1845.

from a distance, will appear subdued, so as not to interfere with the ap-
pearance of unity, and merely solicit a closer examination ; and wlien, to
obtain this, the eye approaches, the most highly finished details aloue lay
claim to inspection,— fitness, completeness, and harmony, will be the dis-
tinguishing characteristics throughout the entire. Let us bring some of
the edifices erected in the so-called revived style to this test, and the difler-
ence in the effect produced shall at once be evident. If then our most
elaborate and expensive compositions fail in this, should we not inquire
how the defect might be remedied? Perhaps it may be urged that gran-
deur, magnificence, sublimity, and harmony, have all been attained in tlw
florid Gothic ; but it must be considered that although in detail this style is
trifling, weak, and often ridiculous, yet the parts in themselves are so
minute, and the outline so bold, as rather to afford a proof of the contrary.
There was a man who dared to work out the Greek principle, and that
man was Michael Angelo Buonarroti— a name that stands second to none
either as painter or sculptor,— a name which it is difficult to decide as
meriting more praise or censure as an architect. In the noble cornice of
the Farnese palace, and the daring dome of St. Peter's fane, we have the
principle carried out on another model ; the remainder of the Farnese
palace was designed by San Gallo, and cannot be laid to the charge of
Michael Angelo.* But if, after seeing the dome of St. Peter's, we cross
the Tiber, and look at the Capitol, we find it hard to believe that it is the
production of the same hand, and would willingly ascribe it to some other
San Gallo did truth permit. The beauty of the dome almost covers all the
architectural sins of the rest of the edifice, but the Capitol presents no
such redeeming feature ; all is trifling and unworthy of the name and site,
and fit only for the habitation of the feathered guardians of the mount
— whose efligies in bronze it contains, — but not to crown a Roman Forum
even in ruins !

It must at the same time be mentioned, to the credit of Buonarroti, that
his plan was to make St. Peter's in the form of a Greek instead of a
Latin cross: with the former figure the dome would have been more effect-
ive exteriorly, and on this account it is to be lamented that a sectarian
feeling of preference for tlie abstract figure subsequently prevailed over
the belter taste of the architect. We participate with Sir Joshua Reynolds
in the admiration he expresses for "this truly great man," and gladly turn
from his faults to admire his excellencies, and see in the dome and corni-
cione the elforts of genius emancipating itself from fhe trammels and false
principles of a vicious school. He also intended to have given a portico
to St. Peter's on the plan of that of the Pantheou of Agrippa, instead of
Carlo Maderno's miserable fafade ; such a portico, with a colonnade of
the same order, on the plan of the present one, but having its entablature
and stylobate on a level with those of the portico, would indeed have ex-
hibited what the art was capable of effecting, and given a coup d'leil supe-
rior perhaps to anything in art the world has ever yet beheld. The genius
and taste which designed such examples as the dome and cornicione are
exactly what we most require in modern times ; not, indeed, for the pro-
duction of isolated features to redeem a composition from censure, but as
parts only of works in which the same character shall be carried through-
out the entire.

Much has been written by accomplished authors on the subject of taste,
and rules have been laid dowu for the formation and diiection of it. In

au altogether artificial art like architecture — a mere creation of llie mind

we can glean but little from nature for our guidance, and are driven to
refer to the best models of each particular style to form our rules from
what we there observe ; and it would be wise to take it for granted as a
general rule, that those who had the genius to invent a style or sub-divisiou
of one, were the fittest persons to give rules for the guidance of those who
were to follow them as copyists; therefore it would, in most cases, be more
desirable to invent a new style for our purpose in preference to violating
the rules observed in the old ones, or applying tlicir peculiar and striking
details to other purposes than those for which we find tbeni invented. The
architect who does so may indeed lay claim to a kind of invention, but it
is of the lowest description, and is anything but a proof of genius. Had
we known nothing of Greek arcliitecture save what we see in its restora-
tion, doubtless we should have thought these restorations very beautiful,
and have been perfectly satisfied to have fumed our tastes on such models;
but a single glance at a Greek peripteral temple would awaken in us new
sensations of pleas re, and leave an impression that would never after-
wards be obliterated from the mind. Seldom do our climate and wants
admit of the erection of such a structure, but happy indeed must be the
lot of the architect to whom such an occasion shall fall of oHering that, the

* The d«t(iils of tbt doce do not deserve commendation.

]&«

140

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Ma,

sight of which is pre-eminently calculated to form the tasle both of the
public and the profession.

It was utifortuiiate that architecture, at the period of the revival of the
(ireek stjle, was taken up as a profession by painters, whose minds are
too much imbued with a love of the picturesque ever to admit of their
producing a good ell'ect with such materials as wood and stone. The car-
penter's plane and the mason's chisel completely remove all that gives pic-
turesque effect to the tree and the rock ; and the painter seeks, by the ar-
rangement of the principal parts of an architectural composition, to pro-
liuce what a skilful architect will elTect by the minor details, namely, a
variation of light and shade — not as the principal feature of his picture,
but merely as a tinting; to obtain which he has not sacriliced either unity
or simplicity. It matters not then to the painter-architect whether his
columns be fluted or not ; all he cares for is to avoid what is not his line
of beauty — a straight one, which happens to be the very main-spring of
beauty in a Greek composition. The generality of mankind are betler
informed on the subject of painting and are belter judges of it than of
architecture ; hence, so many side with the painters, and architects are
driven to succumb to the ruling taste of the day, and to fashion their de-
signs, not with reference to how thi-y must appear in the solid, but to how
they do appear as pretty pictures on paper. It will not avail anything to
argue this with the painters, fur —

*' Convince a painter against liis will,
And he'll hold the same opinion Btlll."

Nor still less can it avail to argue with those who are led by the opinions
of the painters, and such are the great mass of those who compose what
are called Committees of Selection, who must be treated as children — as
babes in knowledge ; and, instead of giving them a toy, which they would
in a state of innocence seize with avidity and soon afier as capriciously
throw aside, something that they would prefer and continue to estimate
when their judgments shall be more matured and their taste improved
should be given. It is generally admitted that the Propylea at the London
terminus of the Birmingham Railway is one of the best examples in this
country of the Greek style, and justly, one of the most admired ; yet we
should tremble for its fate if its geometrical elevation were to be exhibited
before a Committee of Selection in competition with one of the facade of
the Goldsmith's Hall, the production of the same architect : in short, the
latter would appear on paper, to the eye of a commitltee-man, as much
preferable to the former, as it does in stone to the eye of every one. An
architect of genius will reject the opinions of such tribunals. Let com-
mittees say what they require, and proviile the funds — that is their legiti-
mate portion of the division of labour. Would any of the great painters
(to whom their art is so much indebted for a true revival) have submitted
to the control of ignorant monks (who wore their best patrons) in handling
their works? Did Titian alter his style because these monks objected to
his figures appearing to stand out from the canvas ? And shall architects
be less free from the intermeddling of ignorant pretenders? It is greatly
to be feared that too many in the profession are fettered by the opinions
and taste of persons who neither know, nor even profess to know anything
about the art — a state of things which it is neither the interest of the
public nor tiie profession should be maintained.

In reviewing the modificalions which the style experienced in the hands
of the Romans, one of the most important is to be found in the arrangement
of the portico, which, in all the edifices remaining in Cireece, Magna
Grecia, and Sicily, with the exception of the two porches attached to the
little octagonal tower of Andronicus Cyrrhestes, called the Temple of the
Winds, forms an integral part of the design, from which it is impossible to
consider it separately. The earliest example we have of the Roman mo-
dification is that of the Pantheon of Agrippa. This magnificent portico,
raised on a graduated stylobale of nine steps, has eight columns in front,
and, reckoning those at the angles, three and an anta; at each side ; if the
columns were lluted, and the aniaj not, and these latter had suitable
mouldings instead of foliated capitals, this portico would perhaps possess
all the excellence that taste could require or fancy conceive. The neces-
sity for an isolated portico in that instance is obvious both from the form
and magnitude of the principal building, which, for the latter reason, at
once forbids the attempt to make the cornice of the one correspond in line
with that of tlie other. The unornaraented state of the Great Rotunda also
suggests that probably it either was, or was intended to be, concealed from
observation by surrounding buildings, leaving only the stately portico
itself in view; however this be, the idea of what may be either called an
attached or a detached portico seems to have been seized with avidity in
modern practice, where it is made not ttu ornamented part of the design,

but rather a mere ornament attached to it. In many instances the difli-
culties arising from considerations of expense seem to be more porterful
than good taste in influencing the selection of a starved-lo-.ikiug poiiico of
four columns only in front, instead of six or eight or more, which would
have occupied the entire field ; and for the same pecuniary reasons, ilia
rear ranks of colunms, which, by the depth of shade they afford, are so
essenlial to the beauty of a portico, too often are dispensed with. In the
instance of the nine column portico at Pa;stum, we see how indispensable
the Greeks considered it to be that the integrity and unity of outline should
be preserved. In more modern practice, a building of ibis description
would probably have been furnished with only four or six columns in
front, leaving the angles of the exterior of the cella either naked or witli a
pilaster ; thus making the cornice of the portico and that of the rest of
the building on different ranges. One of the most beautiful, as well as
one of the most perfectly preserved cxamjiles of Roman taste we have is
the little pseudo-peripteral temple at Nismes, calJMl the Maison Carrte '.
If, with a Iransposable model, we take away the Hanking columns of the
portico, or attempt any other arrangement of them, unless it be to make it
peripteral, it will be seen how much it may be deteriorated in effect ; but
it seems unnecessary to enter into a lengthened condemnation of a niodiS*
cation which no one attempts to defend on the score of good taste, though
many practice it on the plea of saving expense, as it must be their poverty
and not their will which consents.

Another departure in most of the Roman examples, from the plan of the
Greek portico is the larger space left between the two centre colunms. in
the Ionic and Corinthian orders if not carried to excess, this is scarcely
perceptible, but in the Doric it necessarily requires an additional triglypb,
and is highly otl'eusive and painful to the eye, as the architrave is elongat-
ed, and of course apparently weakened at the place where it has to suslaio
the loftiest and weightiest portion of the pediment; for although in build-
ing (using the term in contradistinction to architecture), it may answer
every purpose if the supi)orling parts be sufficiently strong to bear the im-
posed burden, yet in the higher branch which commends itself less to the
judgment than to the eye, that organ must be satisfied both from analogy
and comparison : for instance, the inclining tower at Pisa was erected, and
acquired its present inclination of about twelve feet from the perpendicular
about 670 years ago, and although the spectator may be assured from the
experience of so many centuries that it may remain some years longer, yel
after the first ell'ects of astonishment subside, it is a painful object, between
which and the eye it is impossible to effect a reconciliation.

It was the practice of the Greeks to make the base of the triangular
pediment correspond in length with the cornice on which it was imposed,
just as we see a capital correspond in diameter with the neck of the shaft
which it crowns ; but it is now the practice either from poverty of taste or
of purse, or both, to place on the cornice a pediment with a shorter base;
it would not be more at variance with good taste were we to suggest that
for the sake of harmony the capital also should have a less diameter
than the shaft ; and again, the pediment was the crowning feature of the
composition, and had no wall, attic, or parapet either pierced or unpierced
above it, but just as the capital was placed on the summit of the shaft;
modern practice in the management of pediments is frequently otherwise,
and we might with propriety propose that when it is deemed advisable to
surmount the pediment with a mass of building, the columns also should
have their elevation increased by the addition of a portion of shaft placed
above the capital,* but if any object to this suggestion, then we have
only to reply that our proposal is as capable of defence as their practice,
and we are willing to let both fall together. Me are coafideut that Mr.
Hay will agree with us on the justness of the hypothesis, and from Lis
admirable works on the harmony of colour, form, and proportion, we
could not appeal to a more able judge.

The rage for pediments appears to have commenced in the reign of
Diocletian ; not satisfied with one at the gable ends of each edifice, the
exaggerated taste of that day required that they should be represented ia
small, and turned into dressings for doors and niches ; the latter in some
measure corresponding with our windows, thus making a kind of moch-
gable where no real one could possibly have place. Such a description of
window dressing, although more expensive than appropriate mouldings, ig
very fashionable in our own times, and was also much used by the ciuque-
cento restorers.

The discovery, or as we should rather say, general introduction of win-

• We do not lay any claim to originality in offering this suggestion, for we have In our
possession a much adiulied coiumuor cUiiuoey piece of ciDque-ceato design, from vblvla
we t&ke the hint.

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

141

(low glass, causes a great difficuliy in the arrangement of the (Jreek tem-
plar eililiies. That the Romans were aware of this use of glass is evident
from the discovery of it at Fon)peii, as noticed in the secoudjseries of Sir
William (iell's work, but they appear to have availed themselves of it so
Geldoni that for a long time it was thought they were not acquainted with
it. The little use made of it by them is to be accounted for, partly from
the bad quality of their glass, and partly because their plans of buildings
were matured before the inveutioa was known ; and their in-door worship
did not require that the light of day should be admitted into their temples.
It is (juite idle now to dilate on the disadvantages of introducing windows
into (ireek compositions ; the necessity for them is paramount, and all that
remains for us to do is to render them as little discordant as we can ; nor
are we without Greek and Roman models to guide us, as may be seen in
the temple of Erechlheuni, at Athens, and that of the Sybil at Tivoli. In
both instances they are of the size and form of ordinary windows, and
Bierely ornamented with mouldings. The inside of the jambs of those in
tlie Erechtheum are revealed, as if for the insertion of window frames, and
tJiey were most probably filled up with thin plates of semi-transparent
marble, such as those spoken of by Pliny, and found in the Parthenon by
M' heeler. The Chinese sometimes use thin lamina of the mother of pearl
oyster-shell, but more generally oiled silk for the same purpose.

lu the palace of Diocletian we also find the pulvinated frieze which was
taken inlo high favour by the Restorers, and not yet entirely laid aside in
modern practice, though otherwise left undefended from the condemna-
tion it has met with from all authors who have written on the subject : it
imiks in ell'ecl as if the frieze had been made of some soft material, and
hnd given way under the pressure of the cornice, a semblance of weakness
winch may harmonize with the works of the cinque-cento school, but is
totally inconsistent with Greek principles of construction ; indeed it is dif-
iicult lo conceive on wnat ground it could be recommended, or to guess
why, except from carelessness, any architect of ability should disgrace his
composition by its introduction, as we see it in the facade of one of the
most admired Club-houses in London; but as this edifice, like the Farnese
palace, has also a redeeming cornice, may we not be indebted for its win-
dow pediments, pulvinated friezes and balustrades to the taste of some
n>oderu Sau Gallo ! The pulvinated frieze was thought to be a proper
accompaniment to the Roman Ionic capital, and it must be admitted that
the capital is quite good enough for such a frieze.

Many and great as the modifications of the Romans were, they are
diargeable with nothing so preposterous as turning the graceful column into
a hideous pigmy, for such is the dwarf column or baluster of the Re-
storers. Florence, the Athens of Italy, ia said to have been the city of its
birth in the first century of the revival ; that it ever could have entered
into the head of an architect to invent such a thing, is somewhat difficult lo
believe, indeed as much so as to discover the reason of its preservation in
modern practice in preference to various other forms of rails and piercings.
It may be described as an unhappy little column compressed into deformity
by some process analogous to that by which goblii (for which Italy also is
celebrated), are made; and it is often introduced into a composition into
which columns of due proportion enter, doubtless in perfect consistency
with some laws of harmony with which we are unacquainted.

A striking difference in the practice of the Roman and Greek schools is
to be found in the formation of curved mouldings ; those of the former
being parts of a circle may be formed with compasses, whilst those of the
latter being excentric can only be drawn by the hand, and are in fact the
line of beauty of Hogarth, in whose time what are now known as Roman,
were supposed on the authority of the Restorers to be Greek mouldings.
For a careless architect, and an ignorant employer, the Roman forms may
do well enough, but by those who have eyes to see them the Greek will be
preferred.

Both schools (as far as our observations extend) appear to have agreed
in all cases on the necessity for a stylobate, although they diH'ered much
as to its form ; in that respect modern practice is not similar— for we have
seeu many porticoes without any, though none so circumstanced that would
not have been improved by the addition. With the Greeks it was formed
iQ three receding courses, proportioned to the diameter of the column ; but
with their imitators no rule of any kind seems to have existed, except in-
deed, that the ancients, when it was formed in receding courses, (bought it
necessary that the number of the courses should be odd, in order that the
innple might be entered with the right foot in advance. It might appear
without due examination, that the triple arrangement of the stjlobale was
iq, itself a matter of small importance, but those who have observed the
Greek plan particularly, in the Doric order, will not be of this opioion, or

admit that any other numerical arrangement could produce the same pleas-
ing effect. The most searching scrutiny into the practice of the Greeks,
not only in this but in every particular relating to the art, must end in con-
vincing the mind that they exactly attained the point of beauty. It would
appear from all the Greek examples, with the exception of the Choragi<t
monument of Lysicrates, that columus when used externally, were intended
to have the appearance of affording facility of entrance into the edifice, or
to harmonize with those that did ; which intention would be entirely de-
feated by a lofty stylobate, and in modern practice it has often too much
the appearance of a penurious expedient in giving a small column instead
of a large oue, thus showing a starved design. Besides, when column.i
are placed so much above the point of sight, as they frequently are, they
fail in producing the desired effect. In modern adaptation we see an un-
happy expedient, if possible more fatal than that of endeavouring to gain
elevation by a lofty stylobate ; we allude to the practice of piling''columns
upon columns. It cannot be denied that the entablature ought to be iu
proportion to the height of the fafade, and therefore the superior must have
iu such cases a greater projection than the inferior ones. How can any
harmony, any just proportion, any simplicity be attained in such composi-
tions?

In this adaptation, for which they are not adapted, the columns and their
accessories, whether they be of the same order or not, or whatever the
scholastic arrangement may be by which their order of succession is regu-
lated, are debased, and the expedient reflects no credit on their compilers.
The most remarkable instance in this country of the practice is the fa9ade
of St. Paul's. Sir C. Wren never saw either a Greek or Roman edifice,
yet his first thought (and first thoughts are sometimes best), was to make
it with only one range. The practice seems to have arisen with tlie
Romans, in the construction of the amphitheatres, for the interior arrange-
ment of some of the Greek temples can scarcely be considered as a pre-
cedent.

By far the most important modification which awaited Grecian archi-
tecture on its reaching the banks of the Tiber, was the engrailing of iIk;
arch. That the Greeks were acquainted with this valuable addition lo tfie
science of construction is not certain, for although many persons have in-
ferred it, yet none have been able to prove the affirmative. It is certain,
however, from the corbelled dome of the treasury or tomb at Mycene, that
they were at a very remote period acquainted at least with its form, though
not its principle. To the Romans has been given the credit of its iuven-
tion, and they may be entitled to it, but not exclusively ; for the discovery
of IMr. Hoskins the traveller, in Kihiopia, sets that point at rest. At
Meroe, the ancient capital of Ethiopia, he found in the porch or entrance
to one of the pjiamidal tombs, which he fairly supposes to be of greater
antiquity than any similar structure now existing in Egypt, a regularly
constructed circular headed arch, with a key stone, supported by°lateral
pressure. This arch consists of alternate courses of four and five stones,
and when there are only the smaller number, there is no single keystone!
The span of the arch is five feet. At Gebel el Birkel, near the fourth
cataract of the Nile, in the interior of another pyramid, he found a pointed
arch supported in the same manner, having a joint at the apex, and appa-
rently of a later date than the former ; he also found a brick arch forming
the tomb of Amuuolph 1st., at Thebes, and this arch was constructed ex-
actly like those of the present day, and had a span of eight feet six inches.
As this king reigned 1550 years before our era, we can at once fix its dale
as nearly bOO years anterior to the building of Rome.' It has been said
that probably the bow which the Great Archiiect of the Universe has placed
in the Heavens, furnished to the Romans the idea of Ihe arch in construc-
tion, if so, they soon attempted to improve on the model, by the introduc-
tion of the dropping keystone, which destroys the similitude. Or it may
have been that as mathematicians assert, the circle to be the most perfect
of all figures, it was desired to refute this and " relieve the eye" from its
monotony, by giving a figure wilh a broken outline.

But, however the Romans may have arrived at the knowledge of the
arch, it soon became general, and its introduction was fated lo destroy, for
a time, the architecture of Greece, and raise out of its ruins another style
to compete with it for a share of the adrairalion of mankind. Long before
we find any traces of Ihe Greek orders in Rome, we see the arch in the
Cloaca Maxima, which was constructed about the year 519 before our
era ; after ihis we have it at Pompeii, and iu the triuniphdl arches and
amphitheatres ot the first and tecoiid centuries, when we see a striking and
fatal departure from the Grecian rule, as lo the width of the inteicolumnia-

0 J, Volfyu!, pagriSMWo"."''" "' ^'"" ^ "" '^'"' ^°^"'^" ""^ Archit«fs Jcur-

142

' THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Mat.

tion occasioned by the combination of columns and arches in those struc-
tures. When in this examination we pass on to the temple of Antoninus
and Faustina, we find that I'alladio gives in the restoration of this edifice
court in front (not now to be traced), part of which he says he saw removed,
nnd in this restored court we have an arcade nearly similar to what he gives
as that of the Corinthian order; then at the palace of Diocletian at Spala-
tro, we find arches springing from columns, tlie germ as it were of what was
afterwards to be p',-rfected in the pointed style, and produce the cl'istered
column and the lancet arch, which in the long drawn aisle and fretted vault
exhibit the glories and triumph of monastic architecture ; for however that
style may be indebted for some ideas to the Saracenic, imported at the
time of the Crusades, yet at Spalatro we have incontrovertible proofs of its
origin, even to the grotesque human heads and the zigzag ornament we
erroneously call Saxon, and suppose to be peculiar to that style. Here
we have also two legs of dilferent arches springing from one column, both
with and without imposts, the columns themselves raised on consols, these
latter being ornamented with grotesque beads just as they are in the Gothic.
When then we hold in one hand an elevation of the Partlienon, and in the
other one of the Cathedral at Cologne, however startling it may appear,
the style of the latter is a moJificalion of that of the former. Some archi-
tects have drawn rather too largely on the harmony relationship might be
supposed to maintain between the two styles, and have grouped them to-
gether as we see in the Duomo at Milan, and some of the alterations at
Westminster Abbey.

It must be admitted that the Moorish architecture e:>;isting in Spain is
very similar as regards the support of the arch to that at Spalatro, but
■when we consider that all the Mediterranean coast of Africa was a Roman
province, and see in it the remains of an earlier and purer state of art, we
may reasonably infer that Africa was also indebted to the Romans for the
iatroduction of the method of raising their horse-shoe arches on columui.

Of Grecian domestic edifices we absolutely know nothing, except
through those of Roman taste, and we may fairly conclude that those of
the former ditTered as much from the latter as the public edifices of the two
people did : however it is in vain to speculate on this point, and we must
lake the Romans as we find them, in the disinterred city of Pompeii. One
thing very worthy of observation in the interiors of the edifices of this
place in which they differ so much from those of more modern times, is that
in almost every instance the hand of the architect is seen, and not the mere
monotonous arrangement of a common builder. It is very true that diffe-
rence of climate and habits prevent us from taking the Pompeiian houses
as models for the construction of modern domestic edifices, yet much may
be learned from a study of them, and the pleasing variety of character that
may be given to interiors by a judicious architectural arrangement too
often overlooked hy us. An inspection of the house of the late Sir John
Soane will show what can he done in this way even in an edifice of ordinary
size and exterior, and in this point of view, independent of the models and
treasures of art which it contains, the legacy of it to the nation is a bequest
that can scarcely be too highly valued. It is curious to observe the simi-
larity in the ground plans of the domestic edifices of the Chinese and those
at Pompeii ; and also between the temples of the same people and those of
Egypt, the details indeed have nothing in common in either case, but
the plans are much more similar than anything to be found of a modern
date either in Italy or Egypt, are to the ancient buildings of those coun-
tries.

Koth the Elizabethan and the Italian villa style are modifications of the
Greek ; and it is remarkable that when once we leave the fountain head,
the farther we go from the source the clearer the stream runs, i. c, when
the modification ceases to bear that kind of resemblance that a caricature
has to the original, it presents something original in itself, and ceases to
be ofl'ensive to the eye. Perhaps the great merit of these styles when used
for domestic purposes consists in their pliancy and freedom from strict
rules. When well designed they present pleasing compositions, but never
can aim at anything higher.

The Greek style has sulfered much from its professed admirers and re-
storers, and it has now to sustain an attack from its avowed enemies ; for
in onr own times and country the senseless cry of no Pagan, no Heathen,
is now raised against it ; as if the style which the short-sighted bigots
have selected to supply its place were not equally obnoxious to the charge.
Do these anti-Pagans not recollect that many of the sacred writings from
which they profess to draw their religion, were written in a Pagan tongue;
and that to acquire a knowledge of it and enable them to teach their reli-
gion to others, they store their minds with the history of all the abomina-

tions of Paganism? ^Vhetber the Greek style be more suitable than the
one they have selected for the erection of </uir temples we do not pretend to
decide, but we do maintain " that things which are equal to the same are
equal to one another'' — and further, that the Christian dispensation was
not intended to overturn any of the practices, inventions, or institutions of
mankind which were not repugnant to its own laws and precepts. Ac-
cording to some the great temple of Jehovah at Jerusalem, was in the
Egyptian style, and to others in the early Greek of P*stum : in either
case the style must have been the same as that employed in the construc-
tion of Pagan temples. The Rev. James Dallaway, iu his Discourses on
ARciilTECTL'r.E, has fallen into an error in saying that " the Basilica of
St. Paul's, at Rome, erected by Constantine, had the earliest instance of
arches constructed on columns instead of piers," and may have Ud his
reverend brethren (unintentionally, we believe), into the error of hence
supposing that form to be of Christian invention ; but they cannot cod-
tinue to hold this opiuiou after examiniug Adam's View of Diocletian's
palace at Spalatro.

With the exception of the form of the cross in the ground plan, the
mullions of windows, the rose or wheel windows, and the spirei, (important
features no doubt, yet insuflicient iu themselves to constitute a style), w«
know of no other characteristic that can be said to be exclusively of Chris-
tian limes or countries; for all else we are more or less indebtwl to tlie
Pagan or the Moslem.

It was admitted, in a former part of this essay, that difference of climate
and habits may require dilferent descriptions of edifices, both public and
private, from those that were erected by the inventors of the Greek style;
but it cannot be too strenuously urged, as before stated, that if it be desired
to preserve the character of a style in its purity, we must adhere strictly
to the principles that guided its inventors, although, from circumstances,
we may be constrained to modify the stjle in its application. A Greek
composition is not a thing of shreds and patches, with a portico stuck on
its front; nor is it a receptacle for groups of mock pediments, a retreat for
a pigmy ordinance, nor yet an asylum for columns out of place. Simplicity
of the most bewitching kind, an air of repose and compleleuess, and the
most perfect harmony, pervade every part. It would be impossible to lay
the finger of criticism on any ornament and say that it could be dispensed
with, or its place more appropriately supplied by any other: such are tbe
examples which the architects of the age of Pericles have left for our in-
struction, and when we attempt to modify them to suit our present wants,
the great difficulty is to preserve their evanescent spirit ; still it appears
to be within the range of possibility to do so, but only by those who are
thoroughly imbued with the idea that these models contain iu themselves
the elements of perfection sufficient for a new creation of the art if all else
were lost. On that feeling the success of our adaptation depends; without
it, an edifice may have a verbal resemblance to the model wiihout possess-
ing its expression ; may be ornate, but not ornamental ; convenient, but
not symmetrical ; well constructed, but ill designed ; the work of a skilful
builder who understands his trade, but not the production of an acuom-
plishrd architect who aims at the highest walk in bis profession ; it may
induce the groundlings to stare, but it may also force the judicious to
grieve.

With the sublime works of the ancient masters for our guidance in tbe
three orders we have sufficient materials to work upon, lo modify, combine,
and adapt for our present requirements, and the instruciiou of future ages.
As soon as we shall have these examples, not only in distant lauds and
geometrical elevations, but realised before our eyes in our own country,
then they must eliect an improvement in our taste, and then we shall be
better able to invent aud make new combinatious on the same unerring
principles exhibited iu our models; in short, we must first have a pristine
— not a cinijue— but a Jiorocfn<() revival; and it would appear that such
was the opinion of the Institute of British Architects in proposing ll>e
subject of tlie present essay. Let us commence then by discarding, in tvlo,
the emasculated Doric, and when we compose in the Doric itself let us
recollect that onr conceptions must be the works of giants, and not tbe
etl'urts of pigmies ; aud in the Ionic and Corinthian, that the ornate capi-
tals require ornamented shaft.s, and that sculpture adds much to the beauty
of the frieze in all the orders. We must also guard against breaking up
the entablature, and in the treatment of porticoes bear in remembrance
that those which are wanting iu depth must be deficient in beauty. Let us
also remeoiber that although windows be necessary evils, yet it is not
necessary to increase the evil by incongruous ornaments ; nnd that our
designs must have unity and be one whole, not a collection of separate
and distinct parts.

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

143

For ourselves, alihoagh in various countries we have seen " cloud-
capp'd towers, gorgeous palaces, and solemn temples," of christian, pagan ,
heathen, and moslem constructiou, yet vre remain convinced that (as has
been well said) " for all the higher efTects which architecture is capable of
producing, a Greek peripteral temple of Uie Doric order is dnbivalled."

THE PRINCIPLES OF CHURCH RESTORATION.

Thofe who can distinguish between the revival of the ancient principles
of pointed architecture and a mechanical imitation of ancient forms, have
no diUicull) in recognising the propriety of restoring the numerous eccle-
siastical aud civil edifices bequeathed to us by our medix-val ancestors.
An important distinction between the renewed appreciation of pointed
architecture now, and the Renaissance of classic architecture in the fifteenth
century — and one greatly in favour of modern taste, — is that no effort is
now made to reconcile styles which depend on opposite causes for their
beauty. The modern revival, on the contrary, is marked by an anxiety to
pijrge our churches of the barbarisms of the Debased and pseudo-
dassic revivals, and to render our national architecture as free as possible
from foreign admixture.

If we define the principle of church restoration to be the removal from
our churches of everything that is absolntely incongruous xfHb their archi-
tecture, and if we apply this principle consistently, we shall have no dif-
ficulty in ascertaining what is to be retained, and what is to be rejected
where several styles of architecture are exhibited in the same edifice.

It is necessary that this definition should be established, because re-
storers have frequently contented themselves with the object of ascertain*
iDg aud carrying out the original iiJea of the building restored. Now,
what we look upon as a fatal objection to this principle is, that in the ma-
jority of cases it is incapable uf a practical application. We suppose that
there is no one, really zealous for the advancement of pure archi-
tecture, who would not rejoice to see every oue of our glorious cathedrals
thoroughly and efliciently restored ; and yet, if the task were to be set about
with the view of realizing exclusively the intentions uf the first founders
of these vast piles, which are the growth of successive ages, the most
enthusiastic lover of mediaeval art most oppose a work which tended
rather to destruction than restoration.

Supposing, for instance, it were determined to perfectly restore Ely Ca-
thedral, and suppose ample funds existed for this purpose, so that there
were absolutely no restrictions whatever on the eflbrls of the archi-
tect except those imposed by his own taste and judgnieut- — would any one
be insane enough to attempt to restore Ely Cathedral to one uniform style.'
Or, supposing that one style only ought to be retained, by what rule should
the selection be directed ? Should all the cathedral be destroyed except
those parti which exhibit the Norman architecture of the Prior's En-
trance ? — or, all except the Early English similar to that of the presbytery ?
— or, all except the Decorated of the choir? — or, all except the Perpendicu-
I.ir of Bishop Alcock's Chapel ? Is it not obvious that it would be im-
possible to retain any one style exclusively ?

By what principle then ought the restoration to be directed in the in-
stance supposed? Obviously by this, — of removing all the additions and
repairing all the mutilations by which the church has been defaced since
tlie Reformation, and of retaining the uhole of the genuine architecture.
If the difl'erent styles adopted by our ancestors had been so essentially
discordant as to be absolutely irreconcilable to the same principles of
beauty, — if it were impossible that forms successively developed in Chris-
tian architecture could be combined harmoniously, — if, in every case
where the same building exhibited more than one style, the variety ap-
peared harsh and offensive to the eye, — then, indeed, there might be some
pretext for the advocates of uniformity. It is a matter of fact, however,
Bnd one that speaks loudly for the merit of Christian architecture, that it
is consistent with itself, and that different forms of it may exist together
wiihout producing a discordant etfect. When, indeed, we come to the
Debased period, we find contrasts repugnant to pure taste, because arising
from the combination of pointed architecture with a style diametrically
opposed to it— the Classic. The elfect of Grecian mouldings introduced
in tho woodwork (and sometimes, alas, as iu Westminster Abbey, in the
masonry) of an English cathedral, is monstrous and insulferable. But the
case is altogether different where Norman architecture is combined with
Early English or Decorated with Perpendicular ; for here, the very fact

that each style grew out of the preceding — that there was in each case a
Transition style — proves that there cannot be incongruity or discontinuity
iu these successive developements of mediaeval art.

There is moreover a tacit homage paid to the principles of our ances-
tors by the very act of restoring their architecture, which is inconsistent
with the destruction of any part of it. M'ilhout adopting a vague ad-
miration of old things simply for their antiquity, independently of their
excellence, we yet must concede thus much : — that, iu destroying the ad-
ditions made to our churches after the Reformation, we, in fact, give our
adhesion to the architec'.iral principles of those who preceded the Reform-
ation. We say, iu fart, this, by our preservation of the existing monu-
ments of Norman and i'ointed architecture, that those edifices exhibit
merits totally overlooked or mis-apprehended by the classic innovators.
Now is it not palpably absurd and inconsistent, when we have made this
profession, to destroy any portion of the genuine works of the mediajval
architects ? Must we not, to speak plainly, condemn this destruction as
sheer Vandalism — a Vandalism, too, which is inconsistent with itself, and
works all the more fatally because disguised by a profession of reverence
for antiquity ?

The restoration of St. Sepulchre's Church, at Cambridge, was disgraced
by this reckless and irremediable desecration. The ancient Perpendicular
architecture of the fifteenth century was destroyed in the western part of
the building by those who, by a singular perversity, erected at the east a
chancel in the Perpendicular style of the nineteenth century ! And this
destruction, under the name of restoration, was the work of those who take
to themselves kot' f^oXI" "i^ character of guardians of English church
architecture. Well might M. Didron complain that the injury which
modern restorers have, in their self-sufficiency, done to our ancient monu-
ments is far more irreparable than the ravages of time and neglect.

In a recent number of the Ecclesiologist we find a complaint of the de-
struction of the old gateway of the British Museum. This complaint is
founded, not on tlie consideration that the structure has any merit in itself,
— it is not attempted to be denied that it is a hideous specimen of bastard
architecture, — but simply on the grouud that the architecture is " genuine '."
Senseless inconsistency ! A vile mass of brickwork, decorated with some
contemptible imitations of Grecian mouldings, is to be preserved, sim/i/i/
because it is old ; and yet these blind admirers of mere antiquity cannot
consent to the preservation of that which is much more ancient, and pos-
sesses moreover the merit of architectural beauty aud the claim of rever-
ence for sacred places.

It is well nigh time that some effectual means were taken to prevent
injuries which once effected are irremediable. We speak thus boldly of
them because there is a growing spirit for tampering with ancient archi-
tecture in England and France which has already produced the most per-
nicious effects and tends to produce more. The injuries that have been
committed in the cathedral of St. Denis, near Paris, under the pretence of
restoration, ought to move the indignation of every lover of Pointed archi-
tecture. At Rouen, too, aud Amiens (we believe) also, the same work of
destruction has been commenced, and under the same pretext. One zeal-
ous and uncompromising denouncer of these innovations — M. Didron — has,
indeed, been able, in many instances, by the respect attached to his pro-
found antiquarian learning, to restrain the progress of the mischief — and,
in a country where the reparation of public monuments is in the hands of
the government, his voice must have effect; but here we have no such
general supervision, and can only trust to the slow progress of public
opinion for the protection of our churches.*

If there must be a destruction of ancient architecture it ought, at least,
to proceed on principles which are consistent with themselves, but even
this is not the case. Before taking a step which cannot be retraced, the
least exercise of prudence is to lay down a general plan of our future
progress ; and yet, iu church-restoration this has been hitherto impossible.

• We do not mean to assert absolutely that It is impossible for a case to arise where the
partial demolition of ancient work is justihable, but we certainly are quite incapable of
foreseeing such a case. It may be as well to allude here to to an instance where a laud-
able work of restoration is likely to be marred by indiscretion in the particular noticed in
the text. Oue of the proposedalterationsof Jesus College Chapel, at Cambridge, is the sub-
stitution of an Early I^ngiish east window fi^r that ot ancient 1 erpendicular architecture, at
jireseut existing in the choir. On what principle this demolition Is commenced it is not
very easy to see : it is not even pretended that it will be possible to adopt lancet archi-
tecture throughout the entire building, tor the Perpendicular windows in the transepts
and nave are not to be removed. In fact, a destruction of all the chapei except the lancet
architecture would almost involve the rebuilding ot the whole edihce. Besides, there 19
no more reason to retain parts anterior th in those posterior to the lancet period, and, to
be consistent, the piscina aud the Norman gallery in the north transept ought to be de-
stroyed—or rather, it the principle be to carry oat the original idea of the edihce, then
the Norman ought alone to be retained. It the great east window be, as we believe,
the work of Bishop AlcocU, the founder of thecoUege, to whom the present institution is
chiefly indebted for Us existence, respect for his memory should be an additional mgtive
for preserving one, and hot the least, of the records of Lis munUiceuce,

144

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[May,

The modern science of medijEval arcliitectore is at present an immature sci-
ence ; every day is adding to our stock of knowledge or correcting false
impressions. It is not many years since Hickman introduced the classifica-
tion and nomenclature of the difl'erent styles now in use. How is it possible
•lien that in so brief a period «e can hare learned all of the science that is
worth knowing — that we have now learned so much that we may venture
to correct the errors of our teachers, the medixval architects? At least,
there is no harm iu wailing awhile till we be quite sure that our corrections
are not the result of imperfect knowledge.

Of this there will be no debate, that no mischief can arise from confining
our endeavours, fur the present, to careful reparation. The removal of
Hat plaster ceilings, of Grecian or Elizabethan screens, of the defilements
of stucco, paint and whitewash, and the other inventions of churchwardens
and parish architects, are works that may be undertaken without the
chance of their propriety being hereafter disputed. Add to these, the
repair of parts which have decayed by process of time or been mutilated
by violence, the restitution of adornments where clear traces of them re-
main, and the scniiiulous preservation of every portion of the genuine meduE-
ral architecture, and we have done all that the present, or, probably, any
future, state of our knowledge can justify.

BLAST FURNACE.

Observations on the more recent lieaearches concerning the Operation) of the
Blast Furnace in the manufacture of Iron.

By Dr. J. L. Smith.

[From Silliman't Journal for March, 1846.]

The great difference existing between metallurgical operations of the pre-
sent day, and those of a former period, is owing chiefly to the ameliorations
produced by the application of the science of chemistry to the modus operandi
of the various changes taking place during the operations, from their com-
mencement to their termination.

Copper and some other metals are row made to assume forms in the che-
mist's laboratory, that formerly required great artistical skill for their pro-
duction— the chemist simply making use of such agents and forces as are at
his command, and over which he has, by close analytical study, acquired
perfect control. Our object, at present, is only to advert to the chemical
investigations more recently made on the manufacture of iron, treating of
those changes that occur in the ore, coal, and flux, that are thrown in at the
mouth of the furnace, and in the air thrown in from below. For most that
■will be said on this subject, we are principally indebted to the recent inte-
resting researches of M. Ebelman.

The importance of a knowledge of the facts to be brought forward in this
article, will be apparent to every one in any way acquainted with the manu-
of iron. It will be seen, tliat the time is not far distant when the economy
in the article of fuel will amount in value to the present profit of many of
the works. The consequence must be, that many of those works that are
abandoned will be resumed, and others erected in localities formerly thought
unfit.

It is well known that the blast furnace is the first into which the ore is in-
troduced, for the purpose of converting it into malleable iron, and much
therefore depends upon the state in which the pig metal passes from this
furnace, whether subsequent operations will furnish an iron of the first
quality or not.

In putting the blast furnace into operation, the first step is to heat it for
acme time with coal only. After the furnace has arrived at a proper tempe-
rature, ore, fuel and flux, are thrown in alternately, in small quantities, so as
to have the three ingredients properly mixed in their descent. In from 25
to 48 hours from the time when the ore is first thrown in, the entire capacity
of the furnace, from the tujer to the mouth, is occupied with the ore, fuel,
and flux, in their various stages of transformation.

In order to explain clearly, and in as short a space as possible, what these
transformations are, and how they are brought about, we may consider : — 1.
The changes that take place in the descending mass, composed of ore, fuel,
and flux. — 2. The changes that take place in the ascending mass, composed
of air and its hygrometric moisture, thrown in at the tuyer. — 3. The chemical
action going on between the ascending and descending masses. — 4. The
composition of the gases in various parts of the furnace during its operation.
— 5. The causes that render necessary the great heat of the blast furnace.

1. Changes that take place in the descending mass, composed of ore, coal,
and flux. — By coal is here meant charcoal ; when any other species of fuel
is alluded to, it will be specified. In the upper half of the fire-room, the
materials are subjected to a comparatively low temperature, and they lose
only the moisture, volatile matter, hydrogen, and carbonic acid, that they
may contain ; this change taking place principally iu the lower part of the
npper half of the fire-room.

In the lower half of the fire-room, the ore is the only material that under-
goes a change, it being converted wholly or ia part into iron or magnetic

oxide of iron — the coal is not altered, no consumption of it taking place
from the mouth down to the commencement of the boshes.

From the commencement of the boshes down to the tuyer, the redaction
of the ore is completed. Very little of the coal is consumed betweeu the
boshes and in the upper part of the hearth ; the principal consumption ol it
taking place in the immediate neighbourhood of the tuyer.

The fusion of the iron and slag occurs at a short distance above the tuyer,
and it is in the hearth of the furnace that the iron combines with a ])ortion
of the coal to form the fusible carburet or pig-iron. It is also on ihe hearth
that the flux combines with the siliceous and other impurities of the ore.
This concludes the changes which the ore, coal, and flux undergo from the
mouth of the furnace to the tuyer.

If the fuel used be wood, or partly wood, it is during its passage thronuh
the upper half of the fire-room that itsvolaiile jiarts are lost, and it becomes
converted into charcoal. M. Ebelman ascertained that wood, at the deplli
of ten feet, in a fire-room twenty-six feet high, preserved its appearance alter
an exposure for 1| of an hour, and that the mineral mixed with it jireserved
its moisture at this depth; but three and a half feet lower, an exiinsure o(
3J hours reduced the wood to perfect charcoal, and the ore to iiiiignetre
oxide. The temperature of the upper half of the fire-room, when wood »
used, is lower than in the case of charcoal, from the great amount of heal
made latent by the vapour aiising from the wood. In the case of bitumiiiouj
coal, liunsen and Playfair find that it has to descend still lower before it is
perfectly coked.

After the wood is completely charred, or the coal become coked, the sub-
sequent changes are tlie same that happen in the charcoal furnaces.

2. Changes that take place in the ascending mass, vhich is composed of air
and hijgrometric moisture. — The weight of the air thrown in at the tuyer ia
twenty-four hours is twice that of the ore, coal, and flux, thrown in at the
mouth during the same lime.

The air, as soon as it enters the tuyer and reaches the first portion of coal,
undergoes a change — its oxygen is converted into carbonic acid, and its
moisture decomposed, furnishing hydrogen and carbonic oxide — after as-
cending a short distance (12 or 18 inches,) the carbonic acid is converted
into carbonic oxide — between this point and the upper part of the ho»hes it
undergoes but very little change, having added to it a further small amount
of carbonic oxide. So the ascending column at the top of the boshes »
composed of nitrogen, carbonic oxide and hydrogen — from this point it t>6-
gins to undergo a change ; the carbonic oxide diminishes, carbonic acid ap-
pears, and goes on increasing for about half the way up the fire-room ; after
which the carbonic acid, carbonic oxide, and nitrogen remain the same,
when the hydrogen increases, and moisture begins to appear and augment
up to the mouth. The ascending mass, as it passes out of the mouth, con-
tains the vapour of water, carbonic acid, carbonic oxide, hydrogen, and nitro-
gen. The nitrogen undergoes no alteration in its passage through the fur-
nace, and the same is true of the hydrogen formed at the tuyer.

If wood be used, the gases passing out of the mouth are the same as tliose
just mentioned, with an increased quantity of moisture, and the addition of
those pyroligneous products arising from the dry distillation of wood.

In case of the use of bituminous coal, the gases, first alluded to, have
added to them ammonia, light carburetted hydrogen, olefiant gas,carbuietted
hydrogen of unknown composition, and sulphuretted hydrogen.

3. rite chemical reaction occurring between the ascending and descending
masses. — From the foregoing statements we can at a glance see what are tU«
materials to be met with in the dill'erent parts of the furnace, and can there-
fore readily study their reactions upon each other.

In the upper half of the fire-room little or no chemical action is taking
place, the ore, flux, and coal, as already stated, simply losing their volatili
parts. In the bottom of the upper half and the entire lower half of the firs-
room a reaction is taking place between the ore and the carbonic oxide of
the ascending column ; iron or magnetic oxide of iron and carbonic acid
being the result. It must be borne in mind that the coal has played no pari
in this reduction down to the commencement of the boshes, lietween the
boshes, and in the hearth, no reaction appears to take place between the
ascending and descending masses, but the reduction of the ore is completed
by the direct action of the coal upon the remaining portion of the undecom-
posed ore ; carbonic oxide being formed ; — and here is the first consumption
of the coal in its passage downwards.

According to M. Ebelman, the ore loses in the fire-room fs of its oxygen
by the reaction of the oxide of carbon, and the remaining -/^ disappears in
the boshes and hearth, in the manner already stated, at the expense of from
T^ to ~ffj of the entire amount of charcoal used.

The ore being now completely reduced, unites with a portion of carbon in
the hearth, melts at about 13 inches from the tuyer, and descends into tlw
crucible ; and here also the flux, combining with the impurities of the ore,
forms the slag, which melts.

The coal and the air react upon each other most powerfully, just in the
neighbourhood of the tuyer, where the most intense beat is produced ; tbs
oxygen becomes converted into ( arbonic acid, which acting upon a portion
of the ignited coal, is almost at the same moment reduced to carbonic oxide;
the moisture of air acting on the ignited charcoal undergoes the decomposi-
tion already mentioned, hydrogen and carbonic oxide resulting therefrom.

When the ore is easy of reduction, the gas at the boshes is represented by
100 nitrogen and 52-d carbonic oxide, ;)/«« the quantity of carbonic oxide
and hydrogen afforded by the moisture.

It must be clearly understood, that these rules d« not apply to eiery

18J6.]

Tm<: CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

115

»arietjr of ore. They are especially applicable to the hemetites and such
nrei as are either naturally porous or become so in their passage through the
fire-room of the furnace, thus increasing the surface of contact exposed to
the action of the reducing agent (carbonic oxide), so that when it has reached
the boshes the reduction is nearly complete.

The specular, magnetic, and siliceous ores, are reduced with much more
difficulty ; most of the ore, in these cases, reaching the boshes but slightly
titered.they being principally dependent upon the direct action of coal for
their reduction. This circumstance largely increases the consumption of
•oal when any of these ores are employed; and the amount of caloric made
latent, in consequence of the reduction requiring the direct action of the coal,
ia very great; whereas in the reduction of the ore by carbonic oxide no heat
becomes latent, for the heat rendered latent by the oxygen of the ore be-
coming gaseous, is compensated by the sensible heat produced by the com-
bination of the carbonic oxide with the oxygen. Where the reduction is
produced by the carbon, with the formation of carbonic oxide, 1598 unities
of heat are made sensible, while C216 are rendered latent, giving a ditference
of absolute loss of 4618.

It should be the object of the metallurgist to reduce as much of the iron
at possible by the oxide of carbon. Magnetic, siliceous, and other hard
ores, should be reduced to smaller fragments than those softer and more
easily managed. Were it possible to reduce them to ponder without the
danger of choking the furnace, it would be all the better, as the great object
is to have a large extent of surface exposed to the carbonic oxide. The dif-
fercTit capacity of different ores for reduction shows the necessity of having
furnaces of different dimensions for them respectively.

The matter which covers the melted metal in the crucitde, and that which
adheres to the interior of the hearth, contains silicate of iron and charcoal
in a pasty state, and there is consequently a constant reduction of the oxide
of iron, which gives rise to carbonic oxide; this gas bubbles through the
Blag, which, if drawn off at this time, will, when cold, present a porous
• tructure, — a sure indication that the furnace is not working well, and that
the slag itself contains much of the ore in the form of a silicate.

4 . Composition of the gas in various parts of tlie furnace during its opera-
tion.— The analyses lately made by Ebelnian are the most accurate and best
detailed that we are in possession of. What follows has reference to a fur-
nace worked with charcoal.

Gas taken from the mouth of the furnace and dried: —

Carbonic acirl .. .. ..12 88

Ciirbontc oxide .. .. .. 2;i'51

Hydrogen .. .. .. .. 582

Nitrosren .. .. .. .. 57'"y

The vapour of water in a hundred volumes of this gas, varies from nine to
fourteen volumes. Examinations made at different times show the propor-
tion of hydrogen and nitrogen to be nearly uniform, and that the sum of the
Tolunies of carbonic acid and carbonic oxide is constant, but that there is a
variation in their respective proportions.

(jas taken from the interior of the fire-room at 5 to 10, and 13 to 17 feel
from the mouth (fire room 36 feet). From five to ten feet the proportion
of moisture diminishes, the other ingredients remaining about the same.
From 13 to 17 feet the proportion of carbonic oxide increases, while the
aarbonic acid and hydrogen diminish.

Gas from the bottom of the fire-room and top of the boshes: — This is re-
markable for the constancy of its composition, and for the absence of car-
bonic acid and v^atery vapour. Composition : —

Carbonic oxide .. .. .. 3501

Hydrogen .. . . .. .. 1 92

Nitrogen .. .. .. .. 63'07

Gat from the bottom of the boshes and commencement of the hearth ; —
Carboidc acid .. ,. .. (i-31

('arbonic oxide .. .. .. 41*59

Hydrogen .. .. .. .. 1*42

Nitrogen .. .. .. ,. SGGb

Gas from the neighbourhood of the iuyer: —

Carbonic oxide .. .. .. 5r3i

Hydrogen .. ., ,, ..1-25

Nitrogen . . . . . .. 47 40

The two last statements would appear to contradict the rules previously
laid down, as regulating the operation of the blast furnace ; for, according
to them, the proportion of carbonic oxide, at the top of the boshes, should
be a little greater than in the hearth, whereas the reverse would appear to
be the case by the analyses here given. Besides, from a glance at the com-
position of the three last gases alluded to, it would appear that the gaseous
products, as they ascended the furnace, lost completely a portion of the car-
bonic oxide, without a replacement by carbonic acid or oltier compound ; in
other words, a portion of it would appear to be completely annihilated, which
of course is an impossibility. This apparent anomaly is easdy accounted
for, when it is stated how the gas was collected.

In order to obtain the gas from different portions of the furnace, holes
were bored into the side, and a tube inserted, by which it was drawn off.
Allusion has already been ccade to the fact that a pasty mass adheres to the
ridei of the hearth, containing silicate of iron and charcoal, in which there
i« a constant reduction of the iron, with the formation of carbonic oxide.
How it is evident that the gas drawn off by a hole bored into the side of the
beanh, will be largely mixed with this carbonic oxide forming in the imme-
diate neighbourhood of the opening, and that it cannot serve as an index to
the character of gas passing through the centre of the hearth. M Ebeliuan
was aware of this fact, but he was not able to overcome the difficulties in
tlia way of obtaiuing the gat uader the proper circumstances.

Gas taken at the tuyer. — Here it is little else than atmosphere mixed with
a few per cent, of carlmnic acid.

From these results it will not be difficult to admit, that the oxygen of the
air ia converted immediately into carbonic acid, which is rapidly changed
into carbonic oxide, under the influence of an excess of carbon and the high
temperature developed near the tuyer.

5. The causes that render necessary the great heat of the blast furnace. —
The weight of the ore. flux, and combustible, which enters the furnace, being
only one-half that of the ascending column, and as the specific heat of these
three materials is very much below that of the gas of the ascending mass, it
is not the heating of them that explains the necessity of the very great heat
of the blast furnace. But the principal cooling causes are, —

1. The drying of the ore, flux, and coal, and the expulsion of carbonic
acid from the flux, &c., rendering much of the heat latent; for what was
solid is now transformed to the gaseous state.

2. The reduction of the ore, or in other words, the transformation of the
solid oxygen of the ore into gaseous oxygen. If the ore has been deprived
of its oxygen by the action of carbonic oxide, with the formation of carbonic
acid, the heat rendered latent by the oxygen, is compensated for by the heat
developed by the reaction between the oxygen and carbonic oxide; which is
the character of the operation that principally takes place in the lower part
of the fire-room. If the ore has been deprived of its oxygen by the direct
action of the coal, the amount of heat rendered latent is enormous, as already
stated ; for carbonic oxide is the result of this reaction, and the amount of
heat developed by it falls far short of that rendered latent by the oxygen
that has entered into its formation, assuming the gaseous condition, — this is
the character of the reduction taking place in the boshes and hearth.

3. The conversion of the carbonic acid near the tuyer into carbonic oxide
has a powerful influence in cooling the upper part of the hearth ; for of the
6260 units of heat formed by the first action of the air upon the coal, 4662
are rendered latent by the conversion of this carbonic acid into carbonic
oxide.

This terminates what it was proposed to treat of; it is little else than a
sketch of the chemistry of the blast furnace, sufficient to show its im-
portance.

In a future article, some remarks will be made upon the amount of com-
bustible lost in the operation of this furnace, the recent methods employed
to prevent this loss in the complete combustion of coal, the action of the
hot blast, theory of the refining furnace, charring of wood, and other points
of interest.

STEPHENSON'S TUBULAR BRIDGE.

Mr. Fairbairn's Report.

Abstract or tliorl Summary of Hesults from Experiments relntire to the
proposed Bridge across the Menai Strui(s, addressed to Robert Stephenson,
Esq. By. W. Fairbairn.

After a series of experimenls undertaken at your request, for ascertain-
ing the strongest form of a Sheet li'on Tubular Bridge across the Menai
Straits, i have been induced, in order lo meet the requirements for such a
struclure, and lo ensure safety in the cuustruction, to call in the aid and
assistance of my friend Mr. Hudiikinson.

The flexible nature of the material, and the diflicullies which presenleii
themselves in retaining the lighter descripliou of tubes in shape gave ex-
ceedingly anomalous results ; and having no formula on which dependence
could be placed for the reduction of the experiments, 1 deemed it necessary,
in a subject of such importance, to secure the co-operation of the first
authority, in order to give confidence to the Chester and Holyhead Rail-
way Company, with whom you are connected, and the public geuerally.

It will be observed, that the lirst class of experiments is upon cylindri-
cal tubes ; — the second upon those of the elliptical form ; — and the last
upon the rectangular kind. Tubes of each sort have been carefully lesled,
and the results recorded in the order in which they were made ; and more-
over, each specimen had direct reference to the intended Bridge, boih as
regards the length and thickness, as also the depth and widih.

In the first class of experiments, which are those of the cylindrical form,
the results are as follow :

CTLINORICAL TUBES.

No. of

Distance

Diameter

Thickness

Ultimate

Breaking

Experi-

between

in

of Plate

Deflettion

weight

Aemarks.

ments.

the
supports.

Inches.

in inches.

in iiicbes.

la lb.

ft. in.

1

17 0

12i8

■0408

•39

.■(.OJO

Crushed top.

2

17 0

1200

•O.i70

•65

2,704

Ditto.

i

15 "i

12-40

1810

1-29

11.440

Torn asunder at the
bottom.

4

23 5

18-2S

0582

•56

«,400

Ditto.

i

23 5

17-fi8

•0(i31

■74

6.400

Ditto.

e

23 5

18 18

•UW

119

14,240

Ditto.

7

31 »i

2400

•0W4

■63

9.760

I'itlo.

8

31 3i

24-3U

•13.'.U1

•S5

14.240

DlLtO.

9

31 3i

84-20

II9..4

•74

lO.BbO

Ditto.

19

14(5

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Mat,

With the exception of the first two, nearly the whole of the tubes were
ruptured bv tearing asuniler at the bottom through the line of the rivets.

Findion the cylindrical form comparatively weak, the next experiments
were upon tubes of the rectangular shape, which gave much better results.
For the present it may, however, be more convenient to take the elliptical
kind, as being the nearest approximation, as regards both form aud strength,
to the cylinders recorded above.

ELLIPTICAL TUBES.

Distance

Diametera,

No. of

between

transverse

Thickness

Ultimate

Breaking

Esperi.

the

and conju-

of Plates

Deflection

weight

Remarks.

mtnta.

■upports.

gaie in
Inehea.

in Inches.

In iocUes.

in lb.

ft. in.

19

17 0

/1402

•041C

•«2

2,101)

Crushed on top.

20

24 0

/21 W
\ 13-50

1-1320

1-3G

17,070

Broke by extension.

21

24 0

f 21-2.5
U412

•0688

•45

7,270

By compression.

r

-By compression.

23

i

18 6

I 1 2-00
j 7-.'iO

•0776

•95

fi,8(;7

This tube had a
fin on the top
. side.

34

17 6

; 15-00

•1430

1-39

15,000

/Both sides were
l ruptured.

It will be observed that the whole of these experiments indicated weak-
ness on the top side of the tube, which, in almost every case, was greatly
distorted by the force of compression acting in that direction. It is proba-
ble that those of the cylindrical form would have yielded in like manner,
had the rivetting at the joints been equally perfect on the lower side of the
tube. This was not, however, the case, and hence arise the causes of rup-
ture at that part.

The next experiments, and probably the more important, were those of
the rectangular kind ; they indicate a considerably increased strength when
compared with the cylindrical and elliptical forms : and, considering the
many advantages which theypossess over every other yetexperimented upon,
I am inclined to think them not only the strongest but the best adapted
(either as regards lightness or security) for the proposed Bridge.

RECTANGULAR TUBES.

No. of

Distance

Depth

Width

Thickness

Ultimate

Break-

Experi-

between

in

m

of Plate

Deflection

ing

Remarks.

ments.

Supports

inches

inches.

in inches.

in inches.

Weight
iulb.

bot-

ft. in.

too.

tom.

Broke by

14

17 6

96

9^6

■075

•075

MO

3.7.-!8

Compression.

14

17 6

9-fi

9-6

-272

•075

M3

8.273

(Reversed.) Extens.

15

17 6

9-6

9-6

•(175

•143

0-94

3,788

Compression.

15

17 6

9-6

9-6

-14-J

•075

V88

7.148

Extension.

16

17 6

1825

9-25

-059

•149

0-93

6.812

Compression.

16

17 6

1825

9-25

•149

•059

1-73

12.188

Ditto.

17

24 0

16-00

2-26

•IHll

•160

2-6S

17,600

Ditto.

18

18 0

13 25

7-50

•142

•142

1-71

13,680

Ditto.
[■Compression. Cir-

23

18 6

13-00

8-00

•066

•060

1-19

8,812

cular bottom,
fin at top.

29

19 0

15-40

7-75

•230

•180

1-59

22.469

r Sides Olstoited.
I Corrugated top.

On consulting the above table, it will be fou nd that the results as respects
strength are of a higher order than those obtained from the cylindrical aud
elliptical tubes; and particularly those constructed with stronger plates
on the top side, which, in almost every experiment where the thin side was
uppermost, gave signs of weakness in that part. Some curious and inte-
resting phenomena presented themselves in these experiments, — many of
them are anomalous to our preconceived notions of the strength of mate-
rials,— and totally diflerent to any thing yet exhibited in any previous re-
search. It has invariably been observed, that in almost every experiment
the tubes gave evidence of weakness in their powers of resistance on the
top side, to the forces tending to crush them. This was strongly exempli-
tied in experiments 14, 15, 16, &c., marked on the drawings and the table.
With tubes of a rectangular shape, having the top side about double the
thickness of the bottom, and the sides only half the thickness of the bottom,
or one-fourth the thickness of the top, nearly double tlie strength was ob-
tained. In experiment 14, (marked in the margin of the above table,) a
tube of the rectangular form, 9 J inches square, with top and bottom plates
of equal thickness, the breaking weight was 3,738 lb.
Rivetting a stronger plate on the top side,

the strength was increased to .. 8,273 1b.

The difference being 4,535 lb., — considerably more
than double the strength sustained by the tube when the top and bottom
Bides were equal.

The experiments given in No. 15 are of the same character, where the
top plate is as near as possible double the thickness of the bottom. In
these experiments, the lube was first crippled by doubling up the thin
plate OQ the top side, which was done with a weight of . . 3,788 lb.

It was then reversed with the thick side upwards, and by

this change the breaking weight was increased to . . 7,118

Making a difference of .. .. .. 3,360 1b.

or an increase of nearly double the strength, by the simple uperatioo of
reversing the tube, and turning it upside down.

The same degree of importance is attached to a similar form, when the
depth in the middle is double the width of the tube. From the experiments
in No. 16, we deduce tlie same results in a tube where the depth is 18J,
and the breadth yj inches. Loading this tube with 6,812 lb. (the thin
plate being uppermoai), it follows precisely the same law as before, and
becomes wrinkled, with a huramoc rising on the lop side so as to render it
no longer safe to sustain the load. Take, however, the same lube, and
reverse it with the thick plate upwards, and you not only straighten the
part previously injured, but you increase the re^isti^g powers from C,812lb.
to 12,188 lb. Let us now examine the tube in the 2'Jlh experiment, where
the lop is composed of corrugated iron, as per
sketch, forming two tubular cavities extending lon-
gitudinally along its upper side. This, it will be
observed, presents the best form for resisting the
** puckering," or crushing force, which, on almost
every occasion, was present in the previous experi-
ments. Having loaded the lube with increasing
weights, it ultimately gave way by tearing the sides
from the top and bottom plates, at nearly one and
the same instant after the last weight, 22,469 lb.,
was laid on. The greatly increased strength indi-
cated by this form of tube, is highly satisfactory,
and provided these facts be duly appreciated in the

construction of the bridge, they will, I have no doubt, lead to the balance
of the two resisting forces of tension and compression.

The results here obtained are so essential to this enquiry, and to our
knowledge of the strength of materials in general, that I have deemed it
essential, in this abridged statement, to direct attention to facts of immense
value in the proper and judicious application, as well as distribution, of
the material in the proposed structure. Strength and lightness are deside-
rata of great importance, — and the circumstances above stated are well
worthy the attention of the mathematician and engineer.

For the present we shall have to consider not only the due and perfect
proportion of the top and bottom sides of the tube ; but also the stitfening
of the sides with those parts, in order to effect the required rigidity for
retaining the whole in shape. These are considerations which require
attention : and till further experiments are made, aad probably some of
them upon a larger scale, it would be hazardous to pronounce anything
definite as to the proportion of the parts, and the equalization of the forces
tending to the derangement of the structure.

So far as our knowledge textends, — and judging from the experiments
already completed, — I would venture to slate that a tubular bridge can be
constructed, of such powers and dimensions as will meet, with perfect
security, the requirements of railway traffic across the Straits. The utmost
care must, however, be observed in the construction, and probably a much
greater quantity of material may be required, than was originally con-
templated before the structure can be considered safe.

In this opinion Mr. Hodgkinson and myself seem to agree: and
although suspension chains may be useful in the construction in the first
instance, they would nevertheless be highly improper to depend upon as
the principal support of the bridge. Under every circumstance, I am of
opinion that the tubes should be made sufficiently strong to sustain not
only their own weight, but in addition to that load, 2,000 tons equally dis-
tributed over the surface of the platform, a load ten limes greater than
they will ever be called upon to support. In fact, it should be a huge
sheet iron hollow girder, of sufficient strength and stiffness to sustain those
weights ; and, provided the parts are well proportioned, aud the plates
properly rivetted, you may strip off the chains, and leave it as a useful
monument of the enterprise and energy of the age in which it was con-
structed.

In the pursuit of the experiments on the rectangular as well as other
description of tubes, I have been most ably assisted by my excellent friend
Mr. Hodgkinson ; his scientific and mathematical attainments render him
well qualified for such researches; and I feel myself indebted to him for
the kind advice aud valuable assistance which he has rendered in these
and other investigations. I am also deeply indebted to yourself and the
Directors for the confidence you have placed in my efforts, and for the en-
couragement I have uniformly received duringthe progressive development
of this enquiry.

But, in fact, the subject is of such importance, and the responsibilities
attached to it are so great, as to demand every effort to demonstrate, cal-
culate, and advise what in this case is best to be done. Both of us have
therefore laboured incessantly at the task, and I am indebted to my friend
for the reduction of the experiments which I would not attempt to weaken
by a single observation.

IVm. FaIRBAII!N.

Mr. Hodgkinson's Eeport.
Summary of Results offered, in conjutiction with one by William Fair-
bairn, Esq., M.Inst. C K , to Robt. Stephenson, Esq , M. Inst. C.E , &c.,
&c.,/or the Directors of the Chester aud Holyhead Railway, on the subject
of a proposed Bridge across the Menai, near to Bangor. — By Eaton Hodg-
kinson, F.li.S.

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

147

Having in the month of August last year been requested to render
assistance, principally in a scientific point of view, wilh respect to the
experiments to ascertain the practicability of erecting a Tubular Bridge
across the Menai Straits, of suflicient strength for railway trains to pass
through it with safety, I attended twice in London for that purpose : and
as the experiments made there were on tubes of various forms of section,
including several elliptical and circular ones, I investigated formulas for
reducing the strength of the leading ones. It appeared evident to nie,
however, that any conclusions deduced from received principles, with
respect to the strength of thin tubes, could only be approximations ; for
these tubes usually give way by the top or compressed side becoming
wrinkled, and unable to offer resistance, long before the parts subjected to
tension are strained to the utmost they would bear. To ascertain how far
this defect, which had not been coutemplated in the theory, would atfect
the truth of computations on the strength of the lubes proposed to be used
in the bridge, — and also to show whether the principles generally received
could be applied with certainty in reasoning as to the strength of the
bridge from that of models comparatively very small, — lor these two pur-
poses I urged the necessity of a number of fundamental experiments,
which, besides supplying the wants above mentioned, might enable me to
obtain additional information to that from Mr. Fairbairu s experimenis,
wilh respect to the proportions that the dilTerent parts of the section of such
a bridge ought to have, as well as what form it should be of, in order to
bear the most.

Feeling that there might be objections against allowing me to follow the
courses I proposed, however necessary it might appear to myself, I sug-
gested a much more limited series of experirueuts than now appear to me
to be necessary ; and, as the time consumed in getting the plates rolled and
the tubes prepared, caused the experimenis to be deUyed till the beginning
of the year, the time given me has beeen too limited to obtain all the facts
which the few experiments proposed would have ati'orded.

I will now give the results, so far as they have been obtained and seem
worthy of reliance, subject to correction from future experiments ; begin-
ning with the reduction of Mr. Fairbairn's experiments on the strength of
tubes of wrought iron made of plates rivetted together.

Cylindrical Tubes. — The strength of a cylindrical tube, supported at the
ends, and loaded in the middle, is expressed by the formula

'a I

{a*-a">).

)■ Mean 29887 lb.= 1334 tons.

Where I is the distance between the supports ; a, a' the external and
internal radii ; w the breaking weight ; / the strain upon a unity of sec-
tion, as a square inch, at the top aud bottom of the tube, in consequence
of the weight «•; ir = 3'1415'J.

From this formula we obtain

wl a
■^^ n{a^-a'*)'

As it will be convenient to know the strain /per square inch, which the
metal at the top aud bottom of the tube is bearing when rupture takes
place, this value will be obtained from each of Mr. Fairbairn's experi-
ments : the value to being made to include, besides the wei",ht laid on at
the time of fracture, the pressure from the weight of the lube between the
supports, this last being equal to half that weight. Computing the results
wtr have, from

Experiment 1, / =33456

2, / =33420

3, / =35462

4, / = 32415
„ 5, / =30078

6, /= 33869
„ 7, / =22528

„ 8, /= 22653

„ 9, / =25095 J

Fracture in all cases took place either by the tube failing at the lop, or
tearing across at the rivet holes ; this happened on the average, as appears
from above, when the metal was strained 13^ tons per square inch, or litlle
more than half its full tensile sirengih.

Elliptical Tubes. — The value of/ in an elliptical tube broken as before,
(the transverse axis being vertical), is expressed by the formula

w la
f=

•' IT (ba^ — 6' a"-')

Where a, a' are the semitransverse external and internal diameters ;

b, b' the semi-conjugate external and internal diainclers ; and the rest as

before, w including in all cases the pressure from the weight of the beam.

Computing the results from Mr. Fairbairn's experiments we have from

Experiment 20, / = 36938 lb. ]

„ 21, /=29144 ^ Mean 37089 lb. = 16-55 tons.

24, / =45185 J
Rectangular Tubes— li in a rectangular tube, employed as a beam, the
thickness of the top and boitom be equal, and the sides are of any thick-
ness at pleasure, then we have

3u<ld

■^"^2 (bd'-f d'->)'
in which d, d' are the external and internal depths respectively ; b, b' the
external aud internal breadths ; and the rest as before.
Mr. Fairbairn's experiment No. 14 gives by reduction
/ = 18495 lb. = 8-2566 tons.

This is, however, much below the value which some of my own experi-
ments give, as will be seen further on.

The value of /, which represents the strain upon the top or bottom of
the tube when it gives way, is the quantity per square inch which the
material will bear either before it becomes crushed at the top side or torn
asunder at the bottom. U ut it has been mentioned before, that tbin sheets
of iron take a corrugated form with a much less pressure than would be
required to tear them asuuder; and therefore the value of/, as obtained
from the preceding experiments, is generally the resistance of the material
to crushing, and would have been so in every instance if the plates on the
bottom side (subjected to tension) had not been rendered neaker by rivet-
ting.

The experiments made by myself were directed principally to two
objects : —

I. — To ascertain how far this value of/ would be affected by changing
the thickness of the metal, the other dimensions of the tube being the
same.

II. — To obtain the strength of tubes, precisely similar to other tubes
fixed on, — but proportionately less than the former in all their dimensions,
as length, breadth, depth, and thickness, — in order to enable us to reason
as 10 strength from one size to another, with more certainty than hitherto,
as mentioned before. Another object not far pursued, was to seek fur the
proper proportion of metal in the top and bottom of tlie lube. Much more
is required in this direction.

In the three series of experiments made, the tubes were rectangular,
and the dimensions and other values are given below.

Last ob-

Value of

.

■a

Distance

Thick-

served

Corres-

Break-

.'. lor

Length.

a

between

Weight.

ness of

Deflec-

ponding

ing

clubbing

5

n

supports

Plates.

tion.

Weight.

Weight.

Strain.

In.

In.

ft. In.

cwt. or.

Inch.

Inch.

Tons.

Tons.

Tons.

31 6

24

16

30 0

44 3

•525

3-03

!i63

57- 5

1917

31 6

24

l(i

30 0

24 1

•272

1-63

•io-i

22-75

14 47

31 6

24

16

30 0

10 1
lb. oz.

•124

1-20

5 '04
lb.

5 S3
lb.

7-74

3 2

6

4

7 6

78 13

•132

•66

9,416

9,976

23-17

8 2

6

4

7 6

38 U

■UBS

•32

2,696

3,156

16 31

8 2

6

4

7 6

••

••

4 2J

3

•f

3 9

10 12

•061

•435

2,4eii

2,464

24 56

4 H

3

o

3 9

4 li

•1)3

•13

560

672

1342

The tube placed first in each series, is intended to be proportional in
every leading dimension, as distance between supports, breaiith, depth,
and thickness of metal, — aud any variations are allowed for in the com-
pulaliou. Thus the three first lubes of each series are intended to be
similar ; and in the same manner of the other tubes, &c.

Looking at the breaking weights of the tubes varying only in thickness,
we find a great falling oil' in the strength of the thinner ones ; aud the
values of y show that in these — the thickness of the plates being -525,
•272, -124 inch— the resislance, per square inch, will be 1917, 14-47, aud
7-74 Ions respectively. The breaking weights here employed, do not
include the pressure from the weight of the beam.

The value of/ is usually constant in questions on the strength of bodies
of the same nature, and represents the tensile strength of the material, but
it appears from these expennienls that it is varittble in tubes, aud repre-
sents their power to resist crippling. It depends upon the thickness of
the matter in the tubes, when the depth or diameter is the same ; or upon
the thickness divided by the depth when that varies. The determinatiou
of the value of /, which cau only be obtained by experiment, forms the
chief obstacle to obtaining a formula for the strength of tubes of every
form. When/ is known the rest appears to depenU upon recened prin-
ciples, and the computation of the strength may be made as in the Appli-
cation de la Mecanique of Navier, Part 1st, Article iV. ; or as in Papers
of my own in the Memoirs of the Literary and Philosophical Society of
Manchester, vols 4 and 5, second series. I have, however, maile for the
present purpose, further invesiigatious on this subject, but defer giving
them till additional information is obtained on the tlitferent points alluded
to in this report ; and this may account lor other omissions.

In the last table of experiments tlie tubes were devised to lessen or to
avoid the anomalies which rivettiug lutrocluces, in order to render the pro-
perties sought for more obvious. Hence, the results are somewhat higher
than those vihich would be obtained by rivetting as geueiallj applied.

The tube 31 feet 6 inches long, 24 cwt. 1 qr. weight, aud -:i72 inch in
thickness of plates, was broken by crushing at the tup with i;i-7o tons.
This tube was afterwards rendered straight, and had its weak top replaced
by one of a given thickness, which I had obtained from coiupulatiuu ; and
the result was, that by a small addition of metal, applied in its proper
proportion to the weakest part, the tube was increased in strength from
22-75 tons to 32-53 tons ; aud the top and the bottom gave way together.

If it be determined to erect a bridge of lubes, I would beg to recom-
mend that suspension chains be employed as an auxiliary, otherwise great
thickness of metal would be required to pioduce adequate stitiuess and
streDgth.

EATU^ HODGKINSON,

19*

148

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Mat,

TIDAL HARBOURS.
Second Report of the Commi99IONer9.

A more eitcnilpd inquiry has fully confirmerl the views which the limited
eiamination of last year led ua to submit to your majesty. Not only Is there
a ceneral want of control over the manageiiient and revenue of the ports,
but tlitre is not a single exception aiuon^ the numerous cases which have
come hefore us in which such a control might not have been the means (if
saiing unnecessary outlay; of preventing encroachments that can now
scarcely he remedied; or of stopping works that must be removed in order
to necure the objects to which the attention of the commission is directed.

The necessity of such supervision has alio become more apparent since
the publication of the returns to the orders of the House of Commons of
August last, from which we learn that the income of Ihe various ports of
Ibe United Kingdom considerably exceeds the sum of £HO(1,0(IO a year — the
whole levied bv charters and acts of Parliament, or otherwise, from dues on
shipping, anil on goods borne hy shipping, but over the expenditure of which
I'arliament has not at present the slightest control.

That much of this money has been and is misapplied will excite no sur-
prise, when we find that several harbours are governed by numerous sclf-
ebcted, irresponsible Commissioners, (in some places exceeding even 100 in
nunihcr), often conducting their proceedings in private, auditing their own
sicounis, publishing no statement of income or ex|ienditure, and lading out
Urge sums of money without the advice of an engineer ; and that these
commissioners are frequently landed proprietors, sometimes non-resicient,
Iind occasionally a shipowner, hut rarely a sailor aniong them. Such, how-
ever, is the constitution of many of the harbour boards of this country,
acting under authority conferred by Parliament.

Since the date of our first report we have, in compliance with that clause
of her Majesty's Commission which directs us to visit and personally inspect
all the harbours and shores of the United Kingdom, examined the chief
ports on the east coast of England, from Ihe river Thames to the Tyne,thu3
including Yarmouth, Hull, and the principal coal potts of Durham and
Northumberland, which, owing to the extraordinary increase in steam navi-
gation, are daily rising into greater importance.

On the west coast we have personally inspected the rivers Lune, Wyre,
Rihble, and Dee ; and the ports of the Isle of Man, which, although of small
extent as harbours, become of consequence from their position in the centre
of the Irish Channel, and as the head-quarters of an extensive and increasing
tiihing trade.

In Ireland we have been enabled to visit most of the ports and fishmg-
piers around the coast, and have been strongly impressed by a sense of the
great value of its natural harbours, their depth and capacity, and the extent
and capability for improvement of its fisheries, which, even in their present
itate, and with the fishery-piers often in ruins from neglect, afford employ-
ment to 19,880 vessels and boats, and 93,000 hardy fishermen.

But these natural advantages are very far from having been turned to the
best account.

The harbour of Dublin and the river Liffey offer an instructive example of
the correctness of this statement. Within the last 30 years many improve-
ments have taken place. The depth of water over the bar and up to the
city quavs has been increased several feet, by dredging, and by the bold
measure' of running out the great north wall. The tratKc and consequent
revenue of the port have more than doubled, and the latter has risen to
jE34,000 a yoar. Yet the evidence shows that the foundation of the quay
is generally so imperfect that they will not, in their present state, admit of
the river being further deepened; that the south quay, the resort of three-
fourths of the shipping of the port, is encumbered at its foot by heaps of
mud ; that the entrance into the grand canal dock is all but blocked up hy
sand-banks ; that there is a great want of graving docks ; that there is but
one pulilic crane ; that the port charges are very high ; and that the ballast,
of which, hy Act of Parliament, the ballast-office has a monopoly, and for
■whi( h it charges about double the market price, is in many cases bad.

The Isle of Man occupies an important position in the Irish Channel, di-
rectly in the track of commuication between Liverpool, Glasgow, and Bel-
fast, and of the coal trade from Whitehaven and Maryport to the whole of
the east coast of Ireland. It has been aptly termed the " Beacon of the
Irish Sea," and as such everything that care and skill can suggest, as to
lights, beacons, and improvement of its harbours, would be well bestowed,
»nd tend to prevent that recurrence of the numerous wrecks that have taken
place around its shores. Yet such is far from being now the case; on the
contrary (with the exception of the coast lights maintained by the Board in
Scotland), marked neglect prevails throughout ; and here the evils of irre-
dponsible, seif-elected authority are but too manifest, the commissioners
meeting onlv once a year to go through the form of auditing their own ac-
counts, keeping no regular minutes of their proceedings, and practically
leaving the whole power and authority in the hands of a single person.

On the north-west coast of England, the river Lune and the port of Lan-
saster are capable of much improvement.

The river Kiiible and port of Preston offer a proof also of the value of
skilful engineering, as applied to navigable rivers. Only five years since,
•pring tides rose hut six feet, and neap tides not at all, at Preston quay, so
that vessels were obliged to unload their cargoes at Lytham, near the mouth
of the river, and send them up to Preston in lighters or flats drawing but six
(cet of water ; whereas uow, by means of straightening the channel, »ud

deepeLing its bed, spring tides rise ten feet, and vesiels of 200 tons, drawing
eleven feet of water, come up to the quay.

It appears from the Parliamentary returns that the aggregate debt of the
several ports of the United Kingdom, exclusive of ducks in the port of Lon-
don, exceeds jLM.OOO. 000 sterling ; one-fourth part, therefore, of the whole
harbour income of £800,000 a year must be annually appropriated to pay
the interest of this ilebt, which will consequently materially cripple the
means for future improvements. This Uirge sum, although borrowed with the
sanction of the Legislature, has been laid out entirely by the several local
hoards, without the sli;;btest control being exercised over it either by Par-
liament, or by any other power specially charged to watch over the iuteresU
of the public.

Among the numerous cases of the misapplication of the harbour fund?,
to whiih we have already had occasion to refer, the sura of more than
£28,000 expended last year in Parliamentary and legal expenses connected
with bills for the improvement of harbours, seems to your commission to b«
a most impolitic unnecessary outlay, and one which might he entirely pre-
vented hy the establishment of a Harbour Conservancy Board, such as we
have hiinihly ventured to submit for your Majesty's consideration.

From the competition already commenced between railroads and the coasl-
ing shipping, we fear that unless immediate measures be taken to improve
the harbours and navigable rivers of this kingdom, and, where practicable,
to lessen the dues, a large portion of the goods which these vessels now
carry will soon he conveyed by the railroads rapidly extending to almost
every part of the coast. ' We would, therefore, strongly urge such assistance,
not only on economical hut on political grounds of the highest importance
to the mantiine interests of the kingdom, as the coasting trade has ever
been the best nursery for the hardy race of seamen who have so ably main-
tained the honour and power of the country.

We alluded in our first report to the obstructions and shoals which so
seriously impede and endanger the navigation of the Thames, betwee»
Gravesend and London-bridge; all the additional informaiion and evidence
we have received since that report was presented, fully convince us of the
correctness of the opinions we then expressed, and we feel confident that, if
the various and frequently conflicting authorities to whose guardianship the
conservancy of this noble' river is entrusted, could be induced to co-operate
cordially in its improvement, and to carry on their operations jointly on one
sound and uniform system, the impediments which now discredit the local
administrations and endangered the commerce of the metropolis, might he
speedily and cheaply removed. And in strong corroboration of our own view
of this 'subject, we subjoin the following extract from the report of a select
committee of the House of Commons in the year 1836, specially appointed
to inquire into the state of the port of London: —

"That this committee are of opinion that the various conflicting jutisdit-
tions and claims of the Admiralty, the Trinity House, and the Corporation
of the Citv of London over the river Thames heluw the bridges, have had a
most injurious effect upon the interests of navigation; that it is desirable
they should be consolidated and vested in some one responsible body, and
that means should be found to provide for the removal of shoals and ob-
structions in the bed of the river."

All these facts and considerations induce us most earnestly to repeat the
recommendation, which we ventured dutifully to submit to your Majesty in
our former report, that all the tidal harbours in the United Kingdotu be
placed under the special care of a hoard of conservancy, to be formed under
the authority and provisions of an act of Parliament, being fully convinced
that any less stringent and decisive measures will be found wholly inadequate
for the accomplishment of the great national object which your Jh.jesty has
been graciouslv pleased to direct us to consider and examine.
' All which we humbly certify to your Majesty,

W. Bowles, Ke'ar-Admiral, M.P., Chairman.

J. J. Gordon Bremer, Captain R.N.

Joseph Hume, M.P.

Aaron Chapman, M.P.

Edward R. Rice, M.P.

Thomas Baring, M.P.

F. Beaufort, Hydrographer.

G. B. Airy, Astronomer Royal.
John Washington, Captain R..N.

Richard Godson, Q.C. and M.P., Counsel to the Admi-
ralty.
London, March 20, 1846.'

The Valve of Smokf.. — A strikin;; instance of economic talent came !•

our knowledge in the district of Alston Moor. From the smelting earths of one " honse,"
nn arched tunnel conducts the smoke to an outlet at a distance from the work., id a
waste spot, where no one can complain of it. T]|9 gathering matter or " fume" resBltog
from the passage of the smoke is annually submitted to a process, hy which at thnt ti»e
it yielded enough to pay for the construction of a chimney. A slmilarlnnntl chimney
three n;lle» In length was erecting at Allenoale. Its fume will yield thousands of pounds
sterlinBP'rM'""". Truly, here it maybe said that smgk. doea ngt end in smoke.—
* British tjuarterly UcTiewr.*

18 J6.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

149

PAINTING ON GLASS.

There are tliree kinds of paintings on glass ; paintings will) (he diflVrent
•oloiirs on separate pieces of glass, painting on uncoloured glass, and
painting on crystal. The first two methods are frequently combined so as
to constitute a fourth kind of painting on glass. The first kind of painting
is inconlestably the most ancient. Glass is prepared in sheets, blue,
»iolet, jellow, green, and red, and after being divided into pieces of the
proper size and shape, the separate portions are put together by glaziers'
lesd.

The preparation of purple glass has fallen into such disuse, that till very
recently, the art was considered to be entirely lost, but this is not the case,
for there stdl exist printed receipts which describe all llie details of the
operation. Haptiste Porta, wlio was born in the year 1540, has given one
of the receipts in his Magie Naturelle, and he has taken care at the same
time to warn us of the dilHcully of obtaining a successful result. Other
receipts are found in the compilations .of Neri, Merrel, and Kunckel,
»nd have been transferred to the encyclopa;dia. No information, however
is given respecting red glass. It is not prepared with the purple of gold,
for this substance gives neither ascarlet red nor the red, of clear wine: in-
stead of osyde of iron, the protoxyde of copper is used. 15ut as this last
produces an exceedingly deep colour which deprives the glass of its trans-
parency, the usual plan is to cover white glass with a thiu layer of red
j^lass, so as to form a kind of plated glass. The process is as follows —
there are placed in the furnace two crucibles, of which one contains com-
mon glass, the other glass of ihe same composition, but coloured with pro-
toxyde of copper, to which is added protoxyde of tin. This last body tends
to prevent the oxydation of the protoxyde of copper ivhich would have the
eflect of cultuiring the glass gieen. A small addition of protoxyde of iron
gives a scarlet red or flame colour. If the glass take a greenish tint a little
bi-tartaiate of potash will renew the colours by restoring the bi-ox\de of
copper to the state of a protoxyde. The workman commences by taking
(m his •' blowing-iron" a small quantity of red glass ; he then plunges the
tube into the white glass, of which he takes a much largerquantily, and he
(hen blows it out accordiug to the ordinary method of making " tables" of
crown glass. This n;eibod was employed for the ancient glass of church
windows ; at the present day this glass is manufactured at Hoirniungsthal,
in Silesia, by the Tyne Company in England, by Bonteinps in France, and
at Besan^on,

The glass, as has been said, is cut up into coloured plates. The tints
and half tmts are applied by means of coloured enamels on one face or the
other of the glass, which is exposed to heal, and the different pieces are
joined by glaziers' lead according to the pattern or d^sign. If the paintings
be small, and designed to be viewed close, plated glass, and not glass
coloured throughout its thickness, is employed. Parts of the coloured
layer are removed at the requisite places, and on the while glass thus laid
bare, the colours required for the painting are applied. In this way de-
signs are obtained of which the colours differ altogether from the ground-
colour. Instead of removing the coloured layer by mechanical means, it
may be destroyed by fluoric acid.

The effect of the wea'her insensibly alters the colours of ancient paint-
ings on glass.

Painting on glass properly so called, that is to say, the application of
coloured enamels to uncoloured sheets of glass was little known to the an-
cient artists, and it is only in our own day that the progress of cheiuistry
has advanced this art to auy degree of perfection.

Painting on uncoloured glass was executed in 1800 by Dihl ; it consists
in tracing the same design on two sheets of plain glass, which are sub-
mitted to the action of lire, and then the faces on which the designs are
drawn are laid one upon the other.

To fix by heat the colours on glass without altering its form, or fusing it,
it is necessary to add vitreous matters, which are readily fusible, fluxes,
which vary according to the nature of the colours.

Silicate of lead is employed with or without borax, minium and very fine
land are fused together, and different proportious of calcined silex and
quartz. For instance, take

. 3 parts or Borax calcined
. y ,, Quartz

1^ „ Alinium

The quantity of flux required for each colour, so that it may have the
required fusibility aud clearness is very variable, the necessary proportion
is in general three or four parts. All colours are not adapted for the same
flux ; the purple of gold, the blue of cobalt, require an alkaline flux ; the
minium injures iliese substances, while other deep colours are not injured
by fiuxi-s into which lead enters.

Some substances require to be vitrified with the flux proper to them, be-
fore they can be employed in painting, as the feeble heat to which they are
•ubsequently subject is not sufficient to develop the colour properly. The
deutoxyde of copper, and the yellows, blues and violets, are among these
»ub^^ances. \\ lib purple of gold aiidoxyde of iron on the contrary, great
precautions are necessary to prevent the injury of the colour by too great
beat. The coloured enamels when prepared are reduced to powder, and
preserved from the action of moisture.

. All kinds of glass are nut suitable for painting. Fxcess of alkali is
destructive ; preference is therefore given to the hardest glass, which con-
tains a great deal of silex, aud which dues not attract muitture, as the bo-
keuiiau glass for lustance.

Quartz
Alinium
Burax calcined

d parts.
3 „
1 ..

Before applying the colours with the brush, they are mixed on a palette
with turpentine. When the painting is finished the colours are fixed by
heat, an operation which requires great rare and experience. Pots oi fire-
clay closed by a cover of the same substance are placed in a support of
iron, so that they can be enveloped on all sides by the flames ; the method
adopted in France for cooling the glass is to put it in separate furnaces
heated by charcoal. The plates of glass are laid one upon another on clay
slabs, supported on props of the same material. The heat is judged of by
trial-pieces, which are introduced with the rest of Ihe glass into the fur-
nace, and are withdrawn with a spatula. When the colours are well vitri-
fied, the plates are put in the annealing oven and gradually cooled. It is
necessary that this last operation should be conducted very gradually, to
ensure the permanence of the colours.

The colour communicated to glass by the protoxyde of copper is. as has
been observed, too intense to be employed alone, for it causes the " metal"
to appear opaque of a deep brown. It is necessary for procuring a trans-
parent red that the glass should be extremely thin. Consequently, the
only means of getting red glass of a proper thickness is by covering plain
glass by a thin layer of red. The plated glass has the advantage of allow-
ing the partial removal of the red layer in order to obtain white figures or
add other colours. The glass of the Middle Ages shows that this method
was adopted by the ancients.

In order that, when the red and white glass are blown together, they may
be well united and do not separate during cooling (as happened in some of
Engelhardt's first experiments), the " metal" of both must be the same, or
at least analogous. It is best to make the red a little weaker than the
while ; the latter must not contain any oxydising substance, which would
injure the red colour.

Great care is required to avoid air bubbles in the glass. The red and
white must be ready at the same time, in order to work together well. The
beauty of the glass depends also materially on the skill of the workman,
for it is easy to understand that the coloured glass is always thicker near
the orifice of the blowing-iron than at a distance. It is on this account
that Ihe glass is seldom of a uniform colour, except in the middle of Ihe
plate: at the extremity of it the red layer is sometimes so thin that all
trace of colour is lost. Dr. Engelhardt has preseried several ancient
specimens, in which this gradation from a deep colour to a light one, has
been made use of in a very happy manner to produce striking effects.
After a certain degree of practice, the workman is able to oblain a
tolerably uniform colour, and Ur. Engelhardt expects to effect this object
completely in a gla^s manufactory where he has directed attention to this
particular branch of the art.

It is sometimes necessary, when the glass has once beeii painted and the
colours fixed by baking, to add a second coat of painting ; and as it is then
necessary that the glass should be again subjected to heat, the colouring
matter must be lenilered so fusible by an additional proportion of flux as
to avoid all risk of fusing Ihe colours first painted. — Translated from tlie
Recue Scieyitijiqae et liulustrielle.

CLERESTORIES IN MODERN CHURCHES.

Christ Church, Plymouth.

Sir, — I am really most reluctant to intrude myself again upon your
pages; the more so, as " Candidus" has so kindly and (of course, as /
think) so ably defended the principles on which I have acted. The answer,
however, which you have made to " Candidus" seems to require from m«
a word or two in explanation. In the first place, Christ Church, Plymouth,
isTiot l.ghted by '• clerestories only." There are windows at the east ends
of the aisles on the gallery floor, besides the two great east and west win-
dows, which literally do make the main body of the interior as " cheerful
as the day;" and in the darkest seats beneath the galleries, on a gloomy
day, you can see perfectly well. There is no part " useless" or even " in-
convenient," "by its darkness." The body of the church is so wide, and
the gallery recesses so comparatively shallow, that the "defect" which
you say " must exist" does not exist. Though a positive sun-beam cannot
" shine round a corner," it is equally certain that where there is a great
central reservoir (if I may use the expression) of daylight, it will expand
its illumination even into corners which the sun's immediate rays can never
reach. Again, " the extent of unbroken surface of the north and south
walls" is not so great as you seem to imagine. There a e recesses for
seats where, under other circumstances, there would have been windows;
and these (had our means allowed it) might have been rendered highly
ornate. At all events, here are admirable localities for mural monu-
ments.

You are, likewise, under a misconception as to the reference made by
" Candidus" to the octagon of Ely Cathedral. The "lower windows," as
jou term them, are only "lower" than Ihe lantern, Thej are the cltrtttor^

150

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Mat,

windows of the octagon, above the arches opening into the aisles, and
ranging with the clerestory of the nave.

In assuming it to be an "essential principle of Pointed architecture that
the north and south walls of a church should have windows, because you
find this to have been universally the case in ancient examples of the art
practised by its inventors," you, in fact, deny the applicability of Pointed
architecture to any church that is not insulated ; or, in other words, you
declare that no circumstances can warrant the construction of a church in
immediate contact with other buildings on either hand. This may, or may
not be. All I desire of my critics is a fair consideration of the conditions
under which my church has been built. They were imperatively these : —
the Gothic style, and no north or south windows ; the latter resulting from
the economy which required a maximum building on a minimum space,
and therefore precluded any north or south area. The question was, whe-
ther a certain number of Christians should remain without church sitting-
room, or whether a church without north or south windows (in the Gothic
style) should be built?

I shrunk not from the attempt to reconcile the demands of my employ-
ers with the limits of my means ; and considered, that no " essential prin-
ciple" of architecture (be it " Pointed" or otherwise) would be compro-
mised by the modification of ancient example to modern purposes. I did
as I conceived the old architects would have done under the different
necessities of protestant worship and other peculiar circumstances of
means and situation ; and I am not aware that any, who have seen the
result of my endeavours, have pronounced them unsuccessful.
I am, Sir,

Yours truly,

George Wightwick.

[The difference between Mr. Wightwick's opinion and our own respect-
ing the subject of the letter which he unnecessarily apologises for sending,
is, probably, less than he himself imagines. Where the question arises,
as he has stated it, " whether a certain number of Christians should re-
main without church sitting room, or whether a church without north or
south windows (in the Gothic style) should be built," we must answer at
once that the attainment of the main purpose of the building should be
preferred to all considerations of architectural beauty.

It is conceded, however, by the phrase " modification of ancient ex-
ample," that the mode of construction suggested is modern. The only
nuestion between Mr. Wightwick and ourselves is, whether the ancient
architects could have been induced to adopt this mode. We think not,
and will give the reasons of our opinion consecutively.

I. Ancient precedent is universally in favour of this opinion. In all
ancient churches, without one single exception, the aisle or nave windows
are an essential part of the edifice. We do not mean to strain the argu-
ment of precedent beyond its proper limit, or to advocate the imitation of
the practice of our forefathers without examining the correctness of their
principles. But the plea of precedent is at least valuable thus far — that
the universality of it indicates something more than the uniformity of mere
rontine. It seems obvious that if the niedi;eval architects, under whatever
different circumstances they constructed churches, whether isolated in vil-
lages or among the crowded buildings of large towns, or within the walls
of fortresses, colleges, or abbeys, — whether the site were on a plain or on
the precipitous declivities of a feudal fastness, — under conditions the most
varied and frequently the most difficult, adhered to the principle of build-
in" nave windows, we have at least a presumptive proof that the inventors
of Pointed architecture, who may be supposed best acquainted with its
•ssential nature, considered this principle of paramount importance.

It is to be remembered that the ancient architects frequently built
churches under the same difficulties, arising from the contiguity of secular
buildings, which embarrass modern architects. In the old cities of Nor-
mandy and Flanders the careful observer will notice cases of churches to
which large additions had been made after the site was closely hemmed in
by other edifices ; and it is frequently very instructive to observe the skilful
means adopted to procure access of light to the lower part of the added
portions of the building.

II. The light of the clerestories was always subordinate to that of the
aisles until Pointed architecture began to decline. In Early English and
Decorated architecture, clerestories are not nearly so large as in Perpen-
dicular buildings. In the former styles the clerestory is in by far the
greatest number of examples omitted altogether ; and where it exists, the
windows are always small, and the light from them greatly subdued. la

churches these windows are trefoils or quatrefoils or other single-light
apertures : clerestory windows of more than one light are confined to Ca-
thedrals or very large churches. In the Perpendicular architecture, how-
ever, especially in the latter and worst part of it, the fatal principle of
enlarging the clerestories was first introduced, and became a powerful
cause of the debasement of Christian architecture. To the very last,
however, the construction of nave windows was universally retained, even
when the art exhibited that sure and certain mark of decay — the substitu-
tion of elaborate details for simplicity and excellence of design.

The preceding arguments are of the nature of historical considerations.
We wish, however, to guard ourselves against the snpposition that we
over-estimate the value of precedent. We trust that we shall never be
accused of irreverence for antiquity ; but, at the same time, it is mere
pedantry to affect ancient rules which have no intrinsic merit to recom-
mend them. Precedent always furnishes ]resumptice evidence, but there
are three causes from which it may become valueless. First, — an ancient
practice may have originated in prejudice or accident and not in fixed
principles. Secondly, — the fixed principles which influenced the ancients
may be proved, by subsequent knowledge, to be erroneous or insuthcient.
And lastly, — principles which were perfectly sufficient when first acted
upon, may, by time and change of circumstances, become obsolete. It is
therefore necessary, for the completeness of our argument, to show that
none of these causes operate in the present case to destroy the value of
the precedent. We proceed, therefore, to the arguments derived from
general considerations of the nature of Pointed architecture.

III. The clerestory admits light in that part of the church which
appears most beautiful by a subdued light. The soleuinity then of
the appearance of a church is derived in a great measure from the com-
parative obscurity of its roofs. The dark shadowy roofs of Pointed ar-
chitecture have been favorite subjects of admiration with those who are
excellent judges of general architectural effects — the poets. In questions
like these, one example is worth a folio of dissertation, and if those who
are really anxious to get at the truth in this matter will take the trouble to
observe the difference between the mode of lighting the interior of the nave
of Westminster Abbey and Henry Vllth's Chapel, they will have no diffi-
culty in arriving at a conclusion. In the former case, the great body of light
(notwithstanding that much of it is unhappily obstructed by preposterous
monuments) comes from the aisles, and produces the most beautiful effect
by the shadows of the piers and arches. The light of the clerestory is
comparatively small, and must have been still less when the windows
were filled with stained glass. Let the reader, when he has carefully ob-
served the effect of the light in the nave, especially at the western end of it,
proceed to Henry the Seventh's Chapel— a building belonging to the very
last period of which the Pointed architecture continues to claim our re-
spect. In this chapel he will find enormous clerestory windows, admitting
a flood of light near the roof. The lower windows give but little light,
and that little is almost entirely obstructed by the stalls. Here, therefore,
the observer has one of the best instauces which ancient churches afford
of the effect of light admitted by clerestories. We have never heard any
difference of opinion among unprejudiced persons as to the solemnity of
this effect. It is not solemn — it is scenic— theatrical— the glare thrown
from the upper part of a stage when the foot-lights are lowered.
Compared with the effect of the nave of the Abbey, there cannot be a
doubt which exhibits the " dim religious light" of a Christian edifice.
The gorgeous multiplication of ornaments which profusely decorate Henry
the Seventh's Chapel dazzles the eye, but produces nothing like a solemn
impression, and the judicious observer goes away satisfied that the design
and general arrangement of this structure is incapable of that stately
grandeur which imposes a feeling of awe and reverence. Westminster
Abbey is by no means the most favourable instance which we could have
selected, but it was the most familiar. 13ut imagine some of the more
magnificent cathedrals of the continent lighted by the clerestories alone-
Antwerp, or that of Cologne, or Rouen ! Suppose, if it be possible, the
dim obscure roofs of these glorious edifices suddenly illuminated by a flood
of light ; — where would be the solemnity of the "long drawn aisles" then ?
Suppose the windows of these aisles darkened and every shadow reversed,
— will it be denied that the effect would be absolutely hideous ? Or if it
be objected that the question in dispute refers to a church and not to a
cathedral, we will cite the well-known instance of Great St. Mary's
Church, at Cambridge, where the dazzling light of the clerestory is not
only destructive of all solemn effect, but actually painful to the eye by its
violent contrast with the comparative darkness of the aisles.
IV. By the undue enlargement of the clerestory, the piers and arcbeg

\S46.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

151

become subordinate parts of the structure. This result is produced not so
much by the actual dimiDution of the size of these members as by the pro-
minence given to the clerestory by the light proceeding from it. Now the
consequence of this is, a violation of the rules of "apparent construction,"
for the greatest weight to be supported being that of the nave-roof, the
arches and piers should be treated as of primary importance : the archi-
tectural effect of them is destroyed directly they become subordinate, and
accordingly in the best churches the piers of the nave have great strength,
and the weight of the roof appears directly imposed upon them. Where,
however, the wall above the arches is perforated by numerous windows
(sometimes so numerous as to give this part the appearance of a huge
lanthorn), the roof never seems adequately supported ; there is an appear-
ance of instability produced, which is directly opposed to the canons of
architecture. And this instability is not always merely apparent. It is
frequently a matter of observation that the walls of the clerestory, where
they have been weakened by the size of the perforations, are thrust out-
wards by the pressure of the roof. This deviation from the perpendicular
is especially observable in cases where a Perpendicular clerestory is a
subsequent addition to a Decorated or earlier church.

V. A church is not a mere fafade. That word /af«d« is Italian in its origin,
and both the word and thing signified belong exclusively to Italian archi-
tecture. The Christian architects viewed their churches not as mere sur-
faces or fronts, but as possessing the dimensions of length, breadth, and
height. The superficial style of architecture is a modern invention, doubt-
less derived from that habit of making up elevations on the Italian principle
which characterized the last century.

Of the reversal of the shadows where the light is obtained from a cleres-
tory exclusively, it is not necessary to speak at large, because we have else-
where spoken of it. We may observe, however, that in the mouldings of
nave-arches and the deep undercut capitals of pillars the shadows must be
exactly reversed when the light is obtained from a clerestory, instead of
the aisles : in the one case these shadows are thrown downwards — in the
other upwards. Consequently the architect, if he have a due sense of con-
structive propriety, will never dream of using ancient mouldings in
churches built on the new plan— he must devise new mouldings suited to
the novel disposition of the light. This point is not one of speculation but
observation, as any one familiar with ancient mediaeval mouldings may
satisfy himself by examining the result of introducing them into some of
the new London churches, windowless aisles.

The breaking the continuous surface of the north and south wall by re-
cesses instead of windows, is an expedient which by no means removes
the objections here assigned. We have, in a previous number, guarded
ourselves against the conclusion that churches are necessarily to be isolated.
There are many cases where chapter-houses, cloisters, &c. abut on churches
without marring their architecture. If however we be asked whether a
church built in the line of a street, between adjacent houses, and only dis-
tinguished from them by having its gable instead of its parapet turned to-
wards the street, and by the display of a few Btock-in-trade Gothic orna-
ments, satisfies the essential principles of mediasval architecture, we answer
emphatically and unhesitatingly — No. By no means — if the laws of style
are to be interpreted by the spirit instead of the letter — by the general
artistic efiTect of a design, and not by minute resemblances of detail.

We know that architects have much to contend with in the injudicious
wishes and erroneous taste of those who employ them ; but we are also
convinced that they may frequently get over these difficulties by firmness,
and by explaining the reasons which fortify their own opinions.

Of course when an architect is told to build a maximum church on a
given area, or a church of given cubic contents on a minimum area, the
question becomes one of simple geometry — all idea of architectural pro-
priety must be given up. In less hopeless cases, however, we would ven-
ture to recommend the architect to leave a little space, if only of two or
three feet, between the walls of the church and those of the adjacent
houses, — to provide at least enough space for the construction of buttresses.
It will require some additional expense to render the north and south walls
uniform in architecture with the rest of the church, and the architect will
have to practise some self denial, since he will not have so much money to
expend on the more conspicuous western end. But this self denial will
be well rewarded, for though there will not be so much to attract the eyes
of mere lovers of show, the homage paid to the principles of pure taste will
claim the admiration of the judicious observer, "the censure of which one
must, in your allowance, outweigh a whole theatre of others."

Of course this advice is given on the most unfavourable supposition,
namely, that there are not funds to purchase the adjacent buildings. In

this case it may be well left to the munificence and good-feeling of
future benefactors to contribute the means of removing these obstructions,
and displaying in all its dimensions, the edifice which then, and not till
then, will exhibit the character of a Christian Church.]

THEORY OF THE ARCH.

Sir— In our last letter we endeavoured to show that your review of our
pamphlet was written under a misconception of the principles therein
advanced, and hence the wholesale condemnation with which you were
courteous enough to favour us.

You have challenged us to show where the standard writers on the
theory of the an h have failed in their reasoning. We should consider it
presumptuous to entertain any doubt of the accuracy of the statements of
Professor Moseley, neither does his theory of the arch, and the method by
which he arrives at the line of resistance and the line of pressure, militate
against the observations which we have ventured to bring forward.

We maintain that the voussoirs of an arch, of any form, have'only to
support that portion of the superstructure where the corbelling ceases to

' ' L3

I 1 1 h

1 1 h

1 :

, ' 1

1 1 1 ■

__l 1

"n—^

1 1 Tl

■^ I

I

II . j-

mh r

exist (represented by the shaded lines in the accompanying diagram).
Now, if the " two-centred pointed arch"— not the plate bond, which you
have erroneously put forward as our proposition,— shown at A, A, is sub-
stituted for the semicircular, segmental, or elliptical, is it not manifest that
there IS greater strength obtained, with less amount of material? The
beds of the voussoirs being nearly parallel, and the key stone of the arch
bemg the only portion at all affected (in a downward direction) by the
supermcumbent weight, it appears to us to possess advantages coequal
with the " merit of novelty."

We do not consider it worth while to occupy your pages with any re-
marks respecting the title of our tract; if we have demonstrated that a
stronger arch at less cost is obtained by our method of construction, we
shall consider our labours amply repaid.
We are. Sir,

Your obedient servants,

Blair and Phillips.

ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITION.

Sir— The recent award of premiums of competitors for the Leeds In-
dustrial Schools, affords another source of encouragement to young archi-
tects, and is too good an example of what professional men have to con-
tend with, to pass unnoticed.

The Committee was composed of one respectable innkeeper, a fourth-
rate manufacturer, a maltster, a drug dealer, a house painter, a leather
dealer, a grocer, and an apothecary. The Plans were hung up for the
private inspection of the committee and friends by a joiner, who gave the
names of the competitors to the parties, but to appear decent, they called
in a reputable architect, from a neighbouring town, to decide upon the
merits of the designs, and on his decision this Committee professed to act.

Among the competitors were some four or five architects (one of whom*
took care, with all due nort/tern foresight, to describe by letter his pertiekltr
plans to his friends on the Committee, lest they perchance might favour
those of older and better rivals) ; another competitor was a joiner, preacher

152

THE CIVIL ENGIiNEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[May,

and conventicle builder; another, a pothouse keeper, who began his
career as a joiner, and perfected himself asi a toll clerk of a market house.

The Judge made a just award, upon which the committee did not act,
but, contrary to all reasonable expectation, they gave the lirst premium to
their friend whose hranily-anduater and pennyworths of tnbacco had oft
regaled the majority after closing their shops.

Much more might be said, but this suffices to show the state of art in
this great niauufdcturing place, and how hopeless is the chance of any
young or old architect to erect a public building here, unless expressly
oummissiuned by some of the few men of education and taste who remain
to us of llie ancien regime.

I remain, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

Lttit, April 18, 1846. Viator.

REGISTER OF NEW PATENTS.

IfaddiHoral Informatiun be required respecting any patent, It may be obtained at tlie
•fice of thii Jourual.

MOTIVE POWER,

David Wilkinson, of Potters Bury, near Stoney Stratford, Gent., for
"improvements in obtaining motive power." — Granted October 10, 1845;
Enrolled April 9, 184G.

This invention consists in a mode of combining heated air with steam,
instead of using air or steam separately. In carrying out this invention the
patentee proposes to apply an air pump of about half the cubic contents of
the cylinder, by means of which air is to be forced through tubes or other
suitable apparatus, such apparatus being heated externally, so that the air
may become highly heated, which is afterwards admitted into the steam
boilers or generators, that the heated air may combine with the steam
«nd go together into the working cylinder of the engine. This invention is
more particularly intended for high pressure engines, notwithstanding, the
patentee states the same is equally applicable to low pressure or condensing
engines.

The claim is for forcing air through pipes or other suitable heated sur-
faces and then mixing the same with steam, and working the steam and
heated air conjointly.

SLIDE VALVES OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES.

Robert Bewick Longridge, of the Bedlington Iron Works, near Mor
peth, Northumhi?rland, for " an improved locomotive engine." — Granted Jan-
uary 13; Enrolled March 13, 18-16.

This invention for improvements in locomotive engines relates to the slide
valves and mode of working the same. The accompanying figure shews a

transverse section of the slides and steam ports leading to the cylinder.
a a are the induction ports leading to the cylinder ; i is the eduction port ;
ec is a slide valve for opening and closing the ports in the cylinder, and is
worked by an arrangement of levers and excentric, which latter is capable
of being moved upon the shaft say 30 degrees on each side the centre of the
crank, for backward and forward movement of the engine. The induction
ports of the valve pass through to the back thereof, at which place there is
a second slide c' for cutting ofl" the steam at any required parti.f the stroke.
This Utter valve or shde is worked by an excentric, keyed fast on the shaft.

and an arrangement of levers shown at fig. 2. d is the excentric rod, the
outer end of which is connected to a levtr keyed on the weigh shaft e ; ujion
this shaft is keyed a slotted lever/, which receives a stud attached to the
end of a link g; the opposite end of the link g is attached to the valve rod
A, so that by raising or depressing the stud in the slotted lever / the
amount of motion imparted to the valve rod A and valve or slide c' can bt
varied at pleasure. The end of the link g is raised or depressed in the slot
by means of a rod i, attached to the end of a bell-cranked lever i ; to tht
opposite end is attached a rod /, actuated by a lever placed near the engine.
driver. Another improvement consists in heating the water supplied by the
feed pumps previous to entering the boiler. For this purpose the inventor
proposes that the water, after leaving the feed pumps and before entering
the boiler, shall pass through a chamber or series of pipes exposed to tb«
action of heated vapours, which pass through the tubes into the smoke box,
BO that the water may become highly heated before entering the boiler.

LOCOMOTIVE ENOINES.

Henry Samuel Ravser, of Ripley, Derby, Gent., for "certain imfrrore-

ments in locomotive engines." — Granted September 4, 1845 ; Enrolled March
4, 1840.

The object of the inventor is to construct a locomotive engine, which it to
be propelled by the pressure of the atmosphere acting upon the exterior sur-
face of a vessel or vessels exhausted of air. The annexed diagram shows a
side elevation of Mr. Rayner's locomotive, which may be termed a perpt^tual
locomoti\e, being of that class of machines when once started will continue
its course so long as liie parts of the apparatus will hold together ! a re-
presents a rectangular or oblong vessel of a wedge-shape form mounted npua

the carriage framing ; above this vessel is fixed another (marked i) of the
same construction, but in a reverse position ; the object of reversing the two
vessels being for the backward and forward movement of the apparatus.
Each of these vessels are made hollow and perfectly airtight, and are con-
nected, by means of a pipe, with an air-pump c, also (ixed upon the framing
of the carriage. Now, in order to start the locomotive, Mr. R.iyner gravely
proposes to exhaust one of the two vessels a or b, when the locomotive will
be propelled either backward or forward as may be required. For the in-
ventor states, if the vessel b be exhausted of air, a certain amount of pres-
sure will be exerted on the whole of its exterior surface; that is to say, there
would be a vertical pressure on the upper or inclined surface, which the in-
genious Mr. Rayner supposes would propel the locomotive ; in order therefore
to counteract this propelling power, he proposes to luve the " wheels, rail»,
and axles'* at an angle, so that the locomotive under such circumstances
would remain motionless. He then states that the sides of the vessels being
equal to one another, the pressure wnuld be equal ; that is to say, the pres-
sure on one side of the vessel would he counteracted by that of the other.
Now, the pressure on the under surface, the inventor states, is counteracted
hy the gravity o( the carriage (this would not have been a bad idea for
Ilansnii's ■■enal machine). Again, the pressure on the ends of the ves-el is
also the same per square inch as the other parts of the vessel ; but one of
the ends is double the area of the other, consequently, there will be double
the pressure on the larger end of the vessel b when exhausted, tending to
propel the carriage in the direction of the arrow ; and in order to reverts
the motion of the locomotive, it will only be necessary to exhaust, by means
of the air-pump c, the vessel a in place of the vessel b. In conclusion, it
would perhaps not be out of place to recommend the inventor to pay a littlt
more attention to the study of pneumatics before he attempts to bring his
invention before the public.

PROPELLING POWER.

John Lake, of Apsley, in the county of Herts, civil engineer, for " t*r-
tain improvements in propelling." — Granted October y, 1845; Enrolled
April 'J, 1846.

This invention consists in a peculiar mode of propelling carriages on rail-
ways and common roads, and also barges or boats on rivers and canals, la
carrying out this invention it is proposed to lay between the rails a
continuous pipe, having a longitudinal slit or opening similar to those em-
ployed on atmospheric railways , as will be seen on referring to fig. 1, which
represents a longitudinal section of a portion of a tube showing the other
arrangements necessary for propelling a train of carriages upon a line of
railway, between the rails of which is placed the tube a, and continued
throughout the whole length of the line. Within this tube there are tw«
pistons b b, connected together by meant of a pipe c with a stop-eock d\

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

153

this pipe is firmly attacheJ to a vertical arm that passes through the lon-
gitudinal opening and attached to the leading or driving carriage of the

Fig. 1.

train, a portion of which is marked with the letter /. Fig. 2 represents a
transverse seciion of the apparatus taken through the line A B of fig. 1, in
which is shown the mode of closing the longitudinal opening hy means of a
Talve g sliding edgeways into a groove or recess formed in the upper part of
the tube. The operation is as follows : — At certain intervals along the line

are to be erected steam boilers ; and in order to propel the carriages, steam is
to be admitted into the tube a a throughout the whole length, for the pur-
pose of warming the tube and driving out the air. The ends of the tube
and longitudinal opening being closed, a communication is to be formed
with the tube and a condenser, similar to those employed in steam engines,
for the purpose of condensing the steam, leaving the pipe empty or nearly
so ; when this is done the piston d d\% brought near to the opening leading
from the boiler, when a fresh supply of steam is admitted, which will have
the effect of propelling the piston and train of carriages along the line.
The specification states that the condenser may be dispensed with by open-
ing the cock rf, so as to let the steam first introduced into the pipe pass up
the funnel h for the purpose of driving out the air. i i is an arrangement
of levers for opening the valve d. In place of having stationary boilers, the
inventor proposes to have an ordinary locomotive boiler, and instead of the
steam working the engines as heretofore, such steam is allowed to pass
through the pipe e e into the main, either from behind or in front, depend-
ing upon the direction in which the carriage or train is to be propelled. In
descending inclines, the inventor proposes to fill the tube with steam, which
will have the effect of a break, the motion of the carriage being regulated
by opening the valve d so as to allow the steam to escape from the main a a
through the funnel into the atmosphere, k k (fig. 2) represents a covering
for the pipe, composed of felt, straw, sawdust, or other bad conductor of
heat.

White Gravel. — Upwards of 7,000 tons of white gravel have been
sbipped from this city to Loudon since the 1 5tb of September last. It is
taken from the beach at Long Island, and used to beautify the parks
and gardens of London .—AVii- lor A' paper.

A NEW GONIOIVIETER AND CRYSTALLONOME.

At a recent meeting of the Chemical Society, Dr. Leeson read a paper
'' On crystalhii^rapliii, with a description iif a gfniiometcr tind crif^tutlonome,
or instrument for studi/ing cryslah, in reference totlieir gubernatorial aies."
The author commenced by observing that discriminative chemical researches
have not received that assistance from crystallography which might reason-
ably be expected from the natural distinction of form peculiar to various
different substances.

The particular design of the author's present paper was to introduce
greater facility and simplicity in the classification and determination of
crystalline forms, both by improved methods of observation, and also by
a system of classification founded on the three gubernatorial axes, for the
happy discovery of which we are indebted to \\'eiss, by whom, however,
as well as by olhers who have succeeded him, systems have been proposed
by no means realising that simplicity and perfectiou of which the funda-
mental principle is believed to be susceptible. To prove that the nomen-
clature and classification of the dilferent authors were both confused and
complicated, various tables were referred to, showing the systems respec-
tively adopted by them. By referring to which it was apparent that dif-
ferent authors nsed the same terms for totally different fundamental forms ;
and also that by many of them terms were employed which, having reference
simply to the miinher of planes bounding a given system, were, in fact, as
subsequently demonstrated, applicable tu every class and order, and there-
fore not discriminative of any one in particular. Any one who may have
carefully examined the first crystals depositing from solutions of different
substances, will be struck by the general prevalence of the prismaiic or
hexahedral form, or of some modification thereof; at the same time, he
will observe great variety in the number of planes bounding many of the
crystals. Under the microscope he will not only be struck by the general
prevalence of parallelograms, or sections of the prismatic forms, as well as
hexagons, triangles, and other sections, resultiug from hemihedral modifi-
cations, but also by the primii facie similarity of the sectional forms pre-
sented by totally diflferent substances. It is in the discrimination of these
forms that the principles of classitication now about to be proposed, and
the goniomeier subsequently described, are peculiarly applicable.

Before describing the system itself, the author requested to explain an
instrument which he exhibited, and stated he had contrived some years
ago, for the purpose of studying the relative character of crystals derived
from different positions and lengths of the three gubernatorial axes, and
for which instrument he requested to be allowed to propose the name
crystallonome. The author showed, with that instrument, that whatever
be the length and relative position or inclinalion of the three axes, a prism
or hexahedron must necessarily result from a set of planes terminating the
extremities of the respective axes, such planes terminating one axis, and
being parallel to the other two axes. These planes were represented by a
contrivance for attaching pieces of stiff paper or card-board to the extre-
mities of the axes. The author then showed that an octahedron must ne-
cessarily result in every case from a set of planes cutting all three axes,
and which octahedron might easily be built up and represented by threads
connecting the extremities of all the axes. The construction of other forms
was also demonstrated.

The crystallonome, although constructed with only three zones placed
at right angles to each other, is nevertheless capable of showing the posi-
tion of the axes in every class, even where all the axes are oblique ; this
was illusirated by the iustrument itself. It was also shown, that whatever
be the class and order of a crystal, there are always two zones in which all
three axes will be fuuud. It having been already stated, that the three
gubernatorial axes form the basis of the proposed system, it w ill be evi-
dent that the discriminative iirinciples of the system must be dependent on
the position and length of the respective axes. Since the relative position
of the axes occasions the greatest difference in the appearance and character
of a crystal, it seems natural to take that as determining the class ; and we
shall find that as regards this distinctive charactLr, there are but three
classes to which the variation of position can give origin, viz. :— I, where
all the axes are situated at right angles to each other ; 2, in which one
axis is at right angles to the other two, which are obliquely placed as
regards each other, one rectangular axis and two oblique, being, in fact,
the same as thoush we represented it as two rectangular axes and one
oblique; 3, in which all the axes are oblique to each other.

We have thus three classes, which we term respectively : — l.reclaugular;
2, right oblique ; 3, oblique ; and these we again subdivide into three
orders, dependent on the relative length of the axes, viz. : — 1, all the axes
equal ; 2, two axes only equal, the third being longer or shorter than the
other two ; 3, all the axes of different lengths. These orders we term— 1,
equiaxial ; 2, binequiaxial ; 3, inequiaxial.

M'itb these three classes and three orders we obtain nine distinct crys-
talline bases, which, the author trusts, will be found easy to remember and
simple to distinguish. Generally speaking, few substances will be
found to crystallise in forms belonging to distinct classes or orders.
Without, however, passing any opinion on the subject of dimorphism,
the author showed, by reference to the native crystals of sulphur, and
also those obtained by fusion, that, according to the system now pro-
posed, sulphur cannotbe considered as dimorphous, the native crystals
being, in fact, modifications of the octahedrons, or the rectangular in-
equiaxial system ; whilst those of fusion are prisms or hexahedrons be-
longing to the same system. Both were exhibited to the meeting, and the
goniometer, subsequently described, applied to tlie measurement of the

20

154

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Ma*,

angles of the crystals of fusion. Whilst a chemical substance usually
crystalii/.es in forms pertaining to the same class and order, it may never-
theless, as has been already shown, assume a great variety of forms, if
reference be had only to the number of bounding planes ; and these forms
constitute what may be termed the genera of the author's system, which
were shown by reference to diagrams, as also the symbolic nutation recom-
mended by the author.

The author concluded by exhibiting bis goniometer, consisting of a
double refracting prism, placed in a vernier revolving round a graduated
circle, and applicable either to the microscope or to crystals placed on any
convenient stand. He stated, that in must cases of crystallisation, particu-
larly under the microscope, some crystals will be observed presenting the
prismatic or hexabedral form ; and knowing that the gubernatorial axes of
any prism must terminate in the centre of the sides of that prism, we are
at once directed to the position and length of the axes in any given crystal ;
whilst, by examining the angles formed by the sides of the parallelogram
constituting the section of Uie prism with the goniometer, we may deter-
mine the inclination of the several axes. In all natural octahedrons formed
by inaxial planes, the axes will be found, as shown by the crystallonome,
by taking the points where four planes meet. Although octahedrons may
be mathematically formed by biaxial planes — that is, by bending in the
sides of the prism — it is believed that such octahedrons do not occur in
nature, as it would contradict the general laws of symmetry, inasmuch as
that, whilst the perpendicular axis terminated at the meeting of four
planes, the middle and transverse axis would be situated in the centre of
an edge bounding two planes — a state of things that could not certainly
occur in the regular system ; the general condition of natural symmetry
being, that whatever disposition takes place at any one extremity of an
axis of equal length, the same will take place at its other extremity, and
also at the extremities of every other axis of equal length.

REVIEWS.

Parish Churches, beiiif! Perspective Views of English Eccksiatlical
Structures, accompanied by Plans, drawn to a uniform scale, and letterpress
dtscriptions. By R. and .J. A. Brandon, Architects. Bell, Fleet-street,
1846. No. 1, 8vo., pp. 12 ; fourteen lithographic plates.

Messrs. Brandon are already favourably known to our readers as authors
of the Ayialysis of (iothick Architecture, reviewed in this Journal for
August 1844. The publication now before us is the first of a series in-
tended to illustrate " such Churches as from their beauty of design and
peculiar fitness for the sacred purpose for which they were reared, seem
worthy of being adopted as models by those engaged in Church building."
The principal distinction between the present work and the " Analysis,"
is, that while the latter was exclusively confined to the exemplification of
architectural details, the new series gives views of entire buildings only.

Our old English Churches are so beautiful, and contain such treasures
of architectural science, that we naturally commence the examination of
any work, which professes to contribute to our knowledge of them, with a
favourable prepossession. We cannot suggest a work which we should
study with greater personal gratification than one which gave a compre-
hensive, systematic, and minute record of all that is valuable in our national
church architecture. Such a work, however, to be satisfactory, must be
conducted with liberal and extended views ; it should be a very cyclopEe-
dia in which nothing is left out that deserves a place in it. The chief
value, or to speak more truly, almost the only value of such a publication
would heUs completeness. Of course we do not mean that the work should
be a confused mass of facts— a collection of knowledge so ill assorted and
so crammed and crowded together, as to become, like certain modern
cyclopa-dias, that we wot of, absolutely unintelligible. But we repeat a
deliberately formed conviction that the most valuable contribution to archi-
tectural literature which could now be made, would be a digested and
complete pandect of church architecture — not concocted hastily as a pub-
isher's speculation to meet a transitory mania for old churches, but ar-
ranged, slowly and carefully, from a mass of information collected by
pains-taking and unwearied research.

The work before us certainly does not reach this mark. The plan of it,
as far as we can see, does not make any pretensions to system, and is by
no means comprehensive enough. Each number of the series is to can-
tain eight perspective views of churches, selected at random from different
counties and in different styles, and the work will be completed in twelve
parts: so that, altogether, we shall have ninety-six churches delineated.
But what are these among so many ? If Messrs. Brandon would multiply
the proposed number by ten or twenty, their undertaking might assume an
importance commensurate with the object in view. Not, indeed, but that
he work is in many respects a valuable contribution ; and if we speak of

it in terms of qualified praise, it is on the score of sins of omission, not
commission. The views here given are not absolutely faulty, but there
are numerous drawing-books, published as first lessons in pencil drawing
which frequently contain sketches which are quite as good. The letter-
press descriptions, again, are not nearly copious enough, and this defect
might be remedied the more easily as the authors state that they intend to
visit personally every church illustrated. In the number before us, the
description of each church is comprised, on the average, in thirty lines.

One other point to which we must allude is important. The authors
state their intention of selecting churches which seem '' worthy of being
adopted as models." AVe hope they will give up this part of their plan.
Nothing can be more fatal to the progress of architecture than the mo-
dern idea of model churches. Let us study the principles and the
forms devised by our ancestors, and their modes of combiniug them with
the zeal and reverence of learners ; but let us not grow mere copyists of
ancient churches. This contentment with mere reproduction marks the
lowest ebb of artistic feeling — the very last stage of architectural degene-
racy. The vilest modern plaster-gothic travestie is better than absolute
copying; these abortions, hideous as they are, mark at least a desire to
regain something of the glorious art lost among us during the Reformation;
but mere mechanical imitatiou argues absolute hopelessness — the indolence
of despair — that we have given up all endeavour to recover the ancient
excellence of our national architecture, because satisfied by experience of
the absolute futility of the attempt.

Besides, even supposing the copy to be fairly made, and to be a faithfal
transcript of the original, there are ten chances to one, that some local cir-
cumstance, an irregularity in the site, the proximity of secular buildings,
or even local customs and requirements, may render it inconvenient or
unfit for its purpose. Our ancestors did not design churches and stick
them down anywhere : on the contrary, they examined the site of tlie new
building, the nature of the soil, the particular wants intended to be sup-
plied, the character of the surroitnding scenerij, and a thousand accidental
local circumstances, before projecting the form to be adopted. A church
built on a hill top would, according to their exquisite feeling of propriety,
require different treatment to a church on a hill side or in a valley. A.
church hemmed in by woodland scenery would of necessity be different
from one built on a wide open plain. Modern practice does not recognise
these subtle distinctions. We get up a dozen or score of designs for new
churches, send them to a picture exhibition to be duly admired by fashion-
able visitors, and duly be-paragraphed in the newspapers, and are fully
prepared to execute our plans (any or all of them,) in any given spot of this
island, or if need be, in the most distant quarter of the globe. They are
building now, in Calcutta, a cathedral with roofs as sloping and windows
as numerous and large as those suited for a similar edifice in latitude 51°.

Even if we conceded the principle of adopting architectural models, we
certainly ought not to take those selected by Messrs. Brandon. A model
church ought, at least, to have a uniformity of plan — a consistency of de-
sign in it. The examples before us show, on the contrary, such a remark-
able diversity of style, that we might almost suppose them selected for
that very peculiarity. The first church delineated, Little Caslerton, Rut-
landshire, is Early English, with Norman piers and arches. Perpendicular
clerestory, and a Decorated piscina^ the second, Apstoti Church, in the
same county, is Perpendicular externally, with the exception of some De-
corated windows ; in the interior, the arches on the north side of the nave
are circular. Duddington, Northamptottshire, the third specimen, is in the
transition from Norman to Early English, with a north aisle Norman, and
a Perpendicular clerestory. Heme Church, Kent, is apparently the most
unmixed in style, being almost entirely early Decorated, with, however,
some Perpendicular details. Brampton Church, jS'ortliamptonshire, the
last example, has an Early English chancel and a Perpendicular nave; this
church, by the by, has (on paper at least) somewhat too much of the prim
pert look of modern Gothic.

We hope that as the work proceeds, the plan of it will be extended, and
that all idea of furnishing models will be abandoned. It certainly would
be preposterous to re-construct buildings which, like those here pour-
trayed, are the growth of successive ages. The authors of the present
work are fully capable of contributing largely lo the science of mediaeval
architecture, and we trust will greatly extend the limits which they have
assigned to their undertaking.

Reply to " Observations" of the Great Western Railway Company on tlie
Report of the Gauge Commisioners. Vacher, Parliament-street. 1846.
8vo. ; pp. 75.

This rather long " reply" is ia the form of a pamphlet, which, if we mis-

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL

155

take not, claims Mr. V^yndham Harding for its author. The style pos-
sesses the clearness, and the views are expressed with the moderation, by
which Mr. Harding's dissertations on the gauge controversy have been
characterised. Without involving ourselves in the discussion, vpe cannot
help expressing an opinion that those vfho have read the " Observations"
of the Great Western Railway Company ought certainly to examine the
present pamphlet, which meets each argument consecutively, and treats
the general question with great perspicuity. We wish, however, more had
been said about the Intermediate Gauge. There are many competent
persons — Messrs. Bury, Vignoles, and Cubitt, Col. Landmann, and Gene-
ral Pasley are among (be number — who think the broad gauge too broad,
and the narrow gauge too narrow. In the present pamphlet this opinion
is dismissed in twelve lines; in the Commissioners' Report scarcely more
space is occupied with it, and the view there taken is supported by very
inadequate and inconclusive arguments.

Tables and Rules for facilitating the Calmlation qf Earthwork, Sjc, of
Railways, Roads, and Canals. A Iso essays on the prismoidal formula, and on
the power required upon inclined planes. By J. B. Hdntinoton, C.E.
Weale, Holborn, 18-16. 12mo. pp. 286.

The object of this work in some measure resembles that of a smaller
one by Mr. Hughes, reviewed in the March number of this Journal. The
present treatise, however, embraces several subjects in addition to the cal-
cnlation of earthworks. Tables are given for the calculation of the areas
of slopes, the offsets and radii of curves, &c. The first 170 pages are
occupied by the tables for the cubic contents of cuttings and embankments.
Kext follows a demonstration of the prismoidal formula and illustrations
of the accuracy of the calculation by this method compared with that
generally used by contractors. After explaining the method of using the
foregoing tables, the author gives a description of a graduated scale for
measuring earthworks, without the necessity of referring to tables. A
woodcut, respresenting one of these scales made by Elliot, accompanies
the following description : —

" I now proceed to give an explanation of a scale for measuring earth-
■work, which I have successfully used on the Eastern Counties Railway.
The vertical and horizontal scales, and also the base and slope, must be pre-
viously determined for each scale, and then a set can be formed embracing
the required slopes of the railway. My scales were made four in number,
for base 34 ; slopes 1, IJ, IJ, and 2 to 1 ; and on the back of each was
properly described the slope, base, and vertfcal and horizontal scales to
which they were applicable. All the dimensions were taken in yards lineal,
superficial, or cubical, as required ; the application being precisely the same
as the use of the tables, and the rules being the same to find the ai'ea, using
2 as a co-efScient instead of 6. Owing to the fineness of the graduations,
1 would not advise, to insure accuracy, that the vertical scale be made less
than 40 feet to 1 inch, and, generally, the larger the better. 20 feet to 1 inch
vertical is a good working scale. The lengths can be made to suit conve-
nience. There is no necessity to measure the heights or lengths previously,
and the same form must be used as before described.

To Measure a Cutting by the Scale. — Apply the zero of the scale of sec-
tional areas vertically to the gradient or formation line, and read off where
the surface line intersects ; put this in column 1 or 2, as the case requires :
then, at the smaller end of the prismoid, upon the scale of vertical yards,
with zero on the surface line, observe where the gradient intersects, then
place the same point of intersection on the gradient at the other end, and
read off above the zero on the scale of differential areas, where the surface
line insersects; put this in column 4, and then, having measured all the
lengths by the scale of horizontal yards, proceed as in the use of the tables.
To save time, it is desirable to take a pair of dividers, and mark off at each
division the difference of the heights in succession, and then the differential
scale above zero need only be applied.

This method of computing cubic contents of cuttings and embankments
is very expeditious with a little practice, and is quite as accurate, and gene-
rally more so, than the calculating by feet and the tables ; because, in a
working section, the paints of intersection of the scale and surface line can
be estimated readily by the eye ; but, in using an ordinary scale of equal
parts, we are compelled to neglect the fractional parts of a foot."

The above extract is followed by tables of areas required on a railway
for cuttings and embankments of various heights and slopes; tables for
estimating the superficies of slopes ; for finding the radius of a curve of
which the chord and the angle contained between the tangents to the two
extreme points of the arc are known, &c.

The part of the work which refers to mensuration is followed by essays
on the resistances to locomotives, and the relation of the power of the
engines to those resistances. These essays, however, are not altogether
satisfactory ; for instance, the resistances in question are stated to be these
threej— the friction of the carriages, &c., the resistance of air, and the re-

solved part of the weight on an incline ; the author has, however, neglected
the resistance due to the blast-pipe, which frequently at high velocities
causes a pressure of 8 or 9 lb. per square inch on the piston. The follow.-
ing passage is altogether erroneous— the author is calculating " power"
necessary for drawing a given load ; D is the diameter of the driving
wheel, a the area of the piston, I the length of the stroke : —

" Letp represent the pressure (CO lb. on the inch), and let the previous
notation be used, then the general expression of the power hpal-^T> for one
cylinder only. The ratio between the greatest effect of one crank, and the
mean effect of two acting simultaneously at tight angles to each other, is
nearly as 10 to 16 ; and adopting this proportion, we have 1-6 x^aA^D =
power of two cylinders."

This short extract contains three errors, either of which would be fatal
to the conclusion arrived at. First, the pressure in the cylinder is sup-
posed to be the same as that in the boiler, whereas the relation of these
two pressures to each other depends on the velocity or number of strokes
per minute ; for the more frequently the cylinders have to be filled in a
minute, the more will the steam be dilated in passing from the boiler.
Next, the "general expression of the power" po/-r-D is erroneous, for the
relation of the pressure on the piston to that exerted by the driving wheel
depends on the proportion of the distance traversed by the piston, to that
traversed by a point in the circumference of the driving wheel ; conse-
quently, supposing the above formula correct in all other respects, we must
substitute the length of the circumference for that of D the diameter.
Lastly, the ratio 10 : 16 could not have been arrived at sxcept by a stati-
cal process, that is, by supposing the engine not in motion ; for when it
is moving, the ratio will depend on excessively complicated relations
between the velocity, the load, &C. ; moreover, the application of this rela-
tion here is hopelessly erroneous, for {inter alia) it is in direct opposition to
the law that in machines force is neither gained nor lost by transmission,
excepting so much of it as is absorbed by friction of the mechanical
organs.

It is due, however, to the author to state, that the theoretical essays are
not considered as integral portions of the work, and that in the part which
refers to mensuration everything has been done to facilitate calculation and
to render the tables convenient for reference.

Ancient and Modern Architecture ; consisting of views, plans, tfc.
Edited by M. Gailhabaud. Parts 43, 44, and 45 ; quarto. Didot. 1846.
The concluding parts of the second volume of this series, which has
be^n before favourably noticed in this Journal, are now before us. They
contain views, sections, and details of the Treasury of Atrens, at Mycenaa,
a monument of Pelasgian architecture, and five plates, illustrating the
Church of St. Francis, at Assisi, in Italy, built in the Pointed style of the
thirteenth century. We have little to add to our former notices, except
the necessity of making the plates architectural instead of pictorial seems
to have been more carefully regarded in the latter parts of the work than
in the commencement of it. The following extract from the description of
the church at Assisi may suggest some reflections to those who advocate
the universal adoption of high roofs in Pointed architecture :—

" The lofty gable which surmounts the front does not attain the object
aimed at by the architects of the North in the pointed forms of their Gothic
fronts. The climate of northern countries required the roof to have a very
high pitch ; the architectural decorations were conceived so as to harmonise
with this necessity. In Italy it had always been usual to cover buildings
with low roofs ; and architects even in the Middle Ages should have con-
formed to this long establised practice. This high and useless gable, form-
ing an isolated wall of a very uppleasing efiect, and exposed to all the winds
of heaven, is an anomaly that would seem to indicate th? northern origin of
the architect of the church of Assisi. .... In the
upper nave, the trefoil arches, the tall openwork gables, the capitals with
vegetable ornaments, all so common then in the North, are too boldly em-
ployed to be attributed to Italians, who were then novices in this Northern
style. Let us add, that the muUions of the windows have the shape and outline
of those executed at the same date in France and Germany ; and that this
edifice is the only one beyond the Alps that contains a series of painted
windows so complete and so strictly in keeping with the general cha-
racter of the building. The Pointed style was still a novelty in Italy at the
beginning of the thirteenth century, when the church of Assisi was built ; it
was called tedesco, or German, and only a few essays had been made. At
this epoch, what Italian artist could have conceived so perfect, so well-pro-
portioned a whole, in a style then quite new to him ? The isolated gable,
which serves no useful purpose in the cHmate of Italy, though so appropriate
in the North, seems to prove the northern origin of the architect, who could
not allow himself to disfigure the pointed forms to which he was accustomed,
by reducing them to the low pitch of Italian roofs — a modification which
Niccola Pisano introduced in Gothic architecture, when he built the charcb.

20»

]56

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Mat,

of Saint Antony, at Padua ; as Simon Andreozzi did in the side elevations
of the AraCccli. at Rome ; and as many other Italian artists contemporary
with the Fiiinted-arch period have done, hut in general very imperfectly, in
numerous edifices scattered about Italy, from Venice to the kingdom of
Naples."

The last number contains the title-page and index of the volume. The
third volume will be published in December.

NEW LAW OF COMPOUND MOTION.

At the last soirt'e of the Slarquis of Northampton there was exhibited
an instrument by Mr. I'erigal for developing a peculiar law of com-
pound circular motion ; the following description we extract fnom the
Literary (iazette. It is an instrument for " generating rclrugressive or
recurrent curves, by which the moving body, when it has reached the
extreme points of the curve, retrogrades or returns back in exactly the
same line along which it advanced ; constantly moving forward and back-
ward from one extremity to the other; and always tracing and retracing
the same line as it alternately advances and recedes."

These curves were produced by a complicated system of wheel-work,
which Mr. Perigal stated lo be capable of generating numberless varieties
of curves dependent upon the ratio of the velocities of the movements ; but
the instrument was, on this occasion, adjusted for the production of para-
bolas or hyperbolas, and a sort of figure of 8 curve, resembling a lemnis-
cate, which he showed to be different forms of one and the same curve,
just as circles and right lines are (limits or) varieties of ellipses. M'hen
the tracing- point passed through the centre, the curve was at one of its
extremes or limits ; and the two ovals of the figure of 8 were opened to
their fullest extent of roundness; but alterations in the angular adjustment
of the movements caused these ovals to become more and more flattened,
till they ultimately converged or collapsed, and became in appearance a
single line, terminating in points, with the form of a parabola or hyperbola ;
and the tracing-point travelled forward and backward from one extremity
of the cur\e to the other repeatedly, without in the least degree thickening
the line in one part more than in another ; evidencing that it advanced and
receded in exactly the very same path ! In fact, the line of return might
be considered as superposed upon the liue of advance; as Mr. Perigal
remarked, in reply to a very eminent mathematician, who objected that
the figure of 8 cui-ve was a liue of the fourth order, inasmuch as it could
be cut by a straight line iu four places, while the parabola was a line of
the second order, because it could be so cut only in two places; but the
suggestion of its being a double line superposed seems to remove the
difficulty.

Mr. Perigal informed us that one of his objects was to exhibit the para-
bola in the novel character of a retrogressive or recurrent curve of definite
range ; whence he inferred, that (/' a comet mored in that curve (as most of
them are said to do) it might return after it had performed its allotted
journey, and continue to visit us periodicalli/, as several do, which are
therefore supposed to travel in very elongateii ellipses, although their ap-
parent path more resembles a parabola.

We do not take upon ourselves to decide that this " retrogressive" curve
of Mr. Perigal is or is not identical with the parabola of Apollonius ; but
we can bear testimony to its striking resemblance to the conic section;
and atlording at least primafacie evidence of its relationship, however
much its newly discovered properly of " periodicitij" may shock the pre-
judices of those who have hitherto thought themselves learned in such
matters. Besides, it is well known that reciprocating straight lines can
be produced by combinations of circular motions ; and, therefore, we can-
not see why it should have been deemed impossible so to produce para-
bolas and hyperbolas, which, being curved lines, would even appear the
less unlikely. Of the importance of the discovery in reference to the
cometary theory, our scientific readers can judge for themselves ; and such
of them as are mathematicians can, for their own satisfaction, put the
question to the proof by submitting the problem to analytical investigation.

POWER TO OVERCOME INERTIA OF RAILAVAY TRAINS.

Paper read at the Royal Society, on the Investignlion of the Power con-
sumed in Overcoming the Inertia of Railway Trains, and of the Resistance
of the Air to the Motion of Railway Trains at high velocities, by P. \V .
Barlow, Esq. — The object of the author iu this enquiry is to obtain a
more correct knowledge than has hitherto been possessed of the resistance
which the air opposes to the motion of locomotive engines at high veloci-
ties, and of the loss of force arising from increased back pressure, and the
imperfect action of steam. For this purpose he inslitutes a comparison
between tie velocities actually acquired by railway trains with those
which the theory of accelerated motion would have assigned ; and his ex-
periments are made not only ou trains pro|)elled by a locomotive engine,
but also on those moving on the atmospheric railway, which latter afford
valuable results, inasmuch as the tractive force is not subject to the losses
at high velocities necessarily mcident to locomotive engines. A table is

given of the theoretical velocities resulting from calculations founded on
the dynamical law of constant accelerating forces, in the case of trains of
various weights, impelled by different tractive forces, moving from a state
of rest, and is followed by another table of the observed velocities in Mr.
Stephenson's experiments on the Dalkey line ; the resultof the comparison
being that, in a distance of a mile and a quarter, the loss of velocity is
about one-half of the observed velocity. A series of experiments ou lo-
comotive lines is next related ; but the comparison is less satisfactory than
in the former case, because the tractive force cannot be so accurately estij
mated ; it is, however, sulliciently so to establish the fact, that the power
lost by the locomotive engine below the speed of thirty miles per hour, is
so small as lo be scarcely appreciable; and that the time and power vshich
are absorbed in putting a railway train in motion are almost entirely re-
quired to overcome the inertia of the train, and do not arise from any loss
or imperfection of the engine. It appears from these experiments _lhat
above one-fifth of the whole power exerted is consumed in putting the
train in motion at the observed velocity. In the atmospheric railway the
author finds that the tractive force of a Dfteen-inch-pipe is so small (being
less than half that of a locomotive engine) that the time of overcoming the
inertia must limit the amount of traflic on a single line, especially with
numerous stations. When a great velocity is obtained, the tractive force
of the locomotive is much reduced, and, therefore, a much greater velocity
can be attained on an atmospheric railway. The inquiries of the author
into the amount ol resistance exerted by the air on railway trains, lead him
to the conclusion that on the atmospheric railway the loss of the tractive
power of the piston from friction, itc, is very inconsiderable, and that the
resistance of the air is less than had been hitherto estimated, not exceed-
ing, on an average, ten pounds per ton on the average weight of trains. A
tabular statement is then given of the results of the experiments made by
the British Association for the purpose of comparison with those obtained
by the author. The general conclusion which he arrives at is, that the
resistance of the air in a quiescent state is less than had been previously
estimated, and that the ordinary atmospheric resistance in railway pro-
gression arises from the air being generally itself iu motion, and, as the
direction of the current is not always oblique, from its producing increased
friction in the carriages. This kind of resistance will not increase as the
square of the velocity ; and as it is the principal one, it follows that the
resistance to railwaj trains increases in a ratio not much higher than the
velocity, and that the practical limit to the speed of railway travelling is
a question, not of force, but of safety.

FROCBSDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.

ROYAL SCOTTISH SOCIETY OF ARTS.
March 23. — John Clerk Maxwell, Esq., F.R.S.E., in the Chair.

The following communications were made : —

1. Description of a Water wheel with Vertical Axle, on the plan of the
Turbine of Fourneyron, erected at Balgonie Mills, Fifeshire. By Joseph
Gordon Stimrt, Esq. The paper gave an interesting description of a
Wheel on tliis principle recently erected by him at his tlax-spinning works
at Balgonie, in Fife, and a summary of its general advantages. The Turbine
is, in general appearance, like an overshot wheel, laid on its side, and wrought
at the bottom of the fall. The water enters it from the inner circumference
of the crown, and quits it at the outer circumference, impinging on every
bucket of the one, and flowing from every part of the other, at the same
instant of time. The water is supplied from a reservoir rising above the
wheel, in which it stands to the full height of the fall, and is discharged
from the bottom of this reservoir tlirough a cylindrical sluice, so as to be
delivered not only on every bucket or curve of the wheel at the same time,
but also with the full velocity due to its head. The problem sought to be
solved in the construction of the curves is, that the water, which has entered
without shock, should quit without velocity. On the nicety of this con-
struction will depend the economy of power, but in general the useful etfect
obtained will be equal to that of the best constructed overshot wheel. The
turbine has the advantage of the overshot wheel in being adaptable to any
height of fall (such wheels are working on the continent on falls from 332
feet to 13 inches), in being generally cheaper in constrnction, and always
much cbeai>er in maintenance, — in being little disturbed in its economical
arrangement citheir by changes in the quantity of water supplied, or by
being thrown in back water — and in going at such speed as greatly to eco-
nomise the necessary connecting gearing for factory work. Mr. Stuart's
paper, with the illustrative drawings and model, was remitted to a committee
of the Society that they may report fully on the merits of that (in this
countrj) novel mode of economising water power. M'hen that committee
have made their report it may be expected that the result will he laid more
fully before the public, especially if it be such as to justify the expectations
entertained by Mr. Stuart, of this being a most valuable improvement upon
any water wheel hitherto in use.

2. Xotice of a Double Bell- Jar, — or Receiver, — for the Air Pump. By
James Ton, Esq., W.S., .Sec. On a late occasion, in treating of his experi-
ments on the relative capabilities of different gases to convey sounda. Dr.
M'ilson having stated that he had constructed the plate on which the bell-jat

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

15^

of the air pump rests of thick plate glass, but that on exhausting the bell-
jar, the pressure of the atmosphere had shivered the plate glass into pieces,
Mr. Tod, in this paper, suggested a plan by which the necessary strength
might be obtained, while, at the same time, all parts of the interior would
be as visible as when the plate glass disc was used. Mr. Tod suggested that,
by taking two semi-elliptical bell-jars, the one of which should be per-
forated at the bottom, and fixed in a brass or other collar attached to the
pump, and the other made to fit upon its ground lip, there would then be a
double bell-jar formed of great strength, able to resist the atmospheric
pressure equally from above and from below ; and that the galvanic wires
could be introduced into the interior of the jar through perforations in the
collar at the bottom and properly insulated.

3. A Communication from Australia on a new arrangement of the Screw-
Propeller. By Mr. Ja.mes P.iterson, engineer. Melbourne, Port-Philip,
Australia. In this new arrangement of the screw propeller, the screw is
made to traverse in an angle of 30 deg., by means of a Hook's joint, and is
thus intended to serve the purpose not only of a propeller but of the rudder.
It is not fixed, as usual, in the dead wood, but at the outside of the steru
post, just where the ordinary rudder is placed.

April 13.— Sir G. S. JIackenzie, Bart., F.R.S.E,, President, in the Chair.

The following communications were made:

1. Verbal observations on the use of the Fibres of Plants, and jiar-
ticu'larly on the use of the Plantain Fibre : illustrated by Drawings and
Specimens. By Professor Balfour, F.R.S.E. — Dr. Balfour made some
general observations on the plants which furnish fibre for the purposes of
manufacture. He noticed the dillerence iu the tenacity of the woody fibre
of various species of plants, such as flax and hemp, and illustrated by
drawings of the form and nature of the fibre, as contrasted with the other
tissues,''and its distribution in the stems of herbaceous plants. Fibres,
from various plants belonging to the nettle and mallow tribe, from screw
pines, pine apple leaves, and palms ; also New Zealand flax, Pita (lax,
African or Bowstring hemp, Bengal hemp, Coir, kc, were brought under
consideration. Dr. Balfour then alluded to various trees, the bark of
which furnished cordage, and such as the lime or linden tree, the lace-bark
tree, and the East Indian sack tree or chandul (a species of Antiaris),
which grows iu the deep ravines of Kandalla, and iu the jungle near
Coorg. He then proceeded to notice various species of plants belonging
to the banana and plantain tribe, as Musa textilis, jiaradisaica, sapicntum,
and rosacea, from which fibres have been prepared, the mode of prepara-
tion, the quantity yielded, and the nature of Ibe fibre. Specimens of plan-
tain fibres, in various states, were exhibited. In some of the specimens
not fully prepared, the microscope showed, in addition to woody fibres,
spiral and dotted vessels, which are by no means so tenacious as ligneous
tissue. The fibres, although tliey bear a considerable weight, are not well
fitted for the ordinary purposes of manufacture : they break easily wheu
a knot is made on them. The communication was illustrated by fresh
specimens of the leaves of many of the plants, from the Botanic Garden,
and by a large drawing of the plantain.

2. Description and Drawing of a Cabinet Lock and Key of a new con-
struction. By Paul S. Samuells, SI.D. There are three plates in this
lock, a bark, a front, and a centre plate. A square hole is formed in each,
but it is only the middle one which can be moved by the key ; so that un-
less the key go down to the proper depth and no farther, the bolt cannot be
shifted. There is also a back spring behind the bolt, ou which two pins
or studs are fixed, the one of which enters a hole in the bolt, which pre-
vents it shifting until the spring be depressed by the key. The other pin
or stud enters the pipe of the key ; so that unless it exactly fits the length
of that pipe, the key will not depress it far enough to relieve the bolt, or if
too long, the key vvill not get into its place, but be caught by the outer
square. Another advantage of this lock is, that on withdrawing the key,
the bolt is necessarily locked.

3. Description,' with Diagrams, of a Uydrn-Pneumatic Railway. By
Mr. George Clark, Edinburgh. The weight of water is made use of to
compress the air, which is forced into the tube laid betwixt the tvi'o sets of
rails. He then contrives an apparatus for opening the continuous valves
of the tube, and for conveying the compressed air from it to the boiler
of the locomotive, from which it is admitted to the pistous of the cylinders,
as the steam is used, in the common method.

4. Description of a Model of an improved method of Hanging Windows,
zvhereby, at small expense, windows in common use can be so altered, that
the Sashes can be taken out and cleaned, painted, or glazed, from the interior
of the room. By Mr. John Steven, Edinburgh. This simple method can
be applied to all windows as now constructed at a very trifling expense,
probably under five shillings for each window. The sashes can be taken
out with ease and in about two minutes. There is nothing liable to get
out of repair; and it possesses other advantages, such as allowing the
upper sash to come down to the very bottom, the steps covering the pocket
holes being removed to the inside frame. As a separate improvement, Mr.
Steven recommends that in new windows the sashes should be made with
a slight taper, so as to fit closely when shut, but to move freely wheu pulled
up or down.

5. On a Machine for Beating Carpets, Wringing and Drying Clothes,
l(c. By Mr. John Baillie, Edinburgh. This consists of a broad wheel
with four arms, on each of which leather is stretched — and on being turned
round by a handle, these leaves strike on the carpet, while the broad lea-

ther fan drives away the dust. The wheel is then reversed, which beats
the under side of the carpet, which is brought in successive parts under the
beaters. By having a hook attached to the axle of the wheel, heavy-
clothes, such as blankets, may be easily wrung ; and the wind of the fans
speedily dries them wheu suspended within its influence.

SOCIETY OF ARTS, LONDON.
March 25. -G. Moore, Esq., V.P., in the Chair.

The first paper read was, by the Rev. Dr. Thompson, " On the Earth-
quakes of Peru and Chili." The paper also described the peculiarities of
the mountains of North and South America, and concluded with an ac-
count of the most celebrated earthquakes that have occurred in America.

The second communication was, " On an Improred Safety Lamp for
Miners." By Dr. Clannv. The improvement consists in preventing cur-
rents of air coming in contact with the flame ; a glass, or other transparent
substance, being substituted for the wire gauze at the lower part of the
lamp. It is also less liable to be blown out than the Davy lamp.
April S.—W. F. Cooke, Esq., V.P., in the Chair.

Ths following communications were made by Dr. Green, " On a Neio
Portable Stand for Telescopes with an Equatorial Movement, but witliout a
Polar Axis." The subject of the improvement was introduced with au
account of the telescope from the time of its discovery, and the improve-
ments which have been made upon it up to the present time. He next
alluded to the stand ordinarily used, and pointed out the peculiarities of
the Herschelian, achromatic, and other stands, and the objections to them,
arising either from their unsteadiness, unportabilily, or other causes; he
then proceeded to point out the improvements which he had ell'ected, by-
describing his own stand. The true principle upon which every stand
ought to be constructed (observed Dr. Green) is to have the heaviest end
of the telescope supported on a solid foundation, and the moving power
should be placed as far as possible from the centre of motion. To ellect
both these conversions has been my aim in the stand which I now submit.
As a triangular support is found to be the most steady, it has been adopted
in this case, and pervades almost every part of the stand. The object-end
of the tube containing the great mirror rests upon a circular disc, having a
diameter about one-half larger than that of the tube. It is supported by
three feet, which are not more than three-quarters of an inch high, so that
it may be said to rest solidly on the earth. To admit of easy rotation, a
second disc of the same diameter rests on the surface of the one described,
and moves on three friction wheels round a pivot passed through the centre
of each. Near the periphery of this upper circular disc, upon the opposite
sides of it, are fixed, vertically, two flat pieces of brass, about half the dia-
meter of the tube iu height; upon these the telescope rests by means of
two horizontal arms projecting from the sides. The object is to form a
universal joint, and prevent the telescope rotating on its own axis. The
upper end of the tube rests upon a pair of shears a little inclined towards
the tube, thus the entire fabric is one large triangle, possessing the greatest
steadiness. The shears are attached at their lower end to a horizontal
bar, which slides in a groove. The bar is worked by means of a universal
joint and rack and pinion, and by which the slow motion in azimuth is
given. The shears are so constructed as tu admit of being lengthened or
sliortened. The fine movement in altitude for finding a star is provided by
a slide on the outside of the under part of the tube, to which slide the
shears are attached. The slide is moved by a rack and pinion. The
equatorial movement is the link of connexion between the head of the

shears and the slide for the fine altitude movement, and is thusetfected :

the two legs forming the shears are hinged together at the top by a circular
joint, in the centre of which is inserted a piece of brass, which carries the
equatorial movement slide, and is worked by a toothed-wheel and pinion.
The equatorial slides are attached to the altitude slide by a universal Joint.
By placing the lower end with the discs it rests upon,ona tripod, this frame
may be made to suit the Newtonian telescope for viewing terrestrial ob-
jects.

2. " Ok a Process for the Preservation of Animal and Vegetable Sub-
stances with their forms and colours unimpaired." By Dr. J. Silvestri. —
A number of specimens of preserved animal and other substances were ex-
hibited.

3. " Specimens of a new process of dulling the surface of electrotypes."
By Mr. Colchester, and also specimens of a new method of brjnzing, by
Mr. Loope, were also exhibited.

April 13. — T. M'ebster, Esq., V.P., in the Chair.
The first communication was on " Mr. Rand's inventions for the Manu-
facture of Flexible Metal Vessels for preserving paint and otlw.r matters."
By W. Carpmael. Mr. Carpmael slated that Mr. Rand, who is an artist,
had, from the inconvenience and waste of colour which takes place when
it is put up in the bladders ordinarily used, been led to endeavour to find
a substitute, and the use of metallic vessels suggested itself. After ex-
periments he succeeded in forming them of so thin a body of metal that
they are capable of being collapsed so as to shut out all air. The tubes
are made of block tin the 150th part of an inch in thickness, and have at
their upper end a nozzle and screw cap, and are closed at the bottom by
being folded over once or twice with a pair of pincers so as to exclude all
air. .A.S the colour or other matter which they contain is pressed out, the
tubes are collapsed and thus the upper part of the tube always remains
full. Each tube has to go through the following process of manufacture.

158

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Mat,

A small piece of block tin is put into a die upon which a punch worked
by a fly-press descends and forces the metal up, of the required thickness,
between the surfaces of the die and the punch ; thus by a single blow the
body of the tube is formed. It is then removed to a second press, by which
the screw on the neck of the tube is formed, and by a second blow, in the
same pres<, the maker's name is stamped upon it. The cap is formed in a
similar manner by a third machine. The tube when struck is placed on a
lathe and cut the required length. Thus an air-tight bottle is formed with-
out seam in a few seconds.

The second communication was by Mr. Banks, on the Cotton produced
in Honduras and Yucatan, and the practicability of introducing free-labour
cotton from Africa and other countries into the British market. The ob-
ject of the communication was to point out the importance of our cotton
manufactures — the successful competition of white and grey fabrics with
those of Britain in foreign markets — the great production of raw materials
by slave labour in the States — the general inferiority of the cotton imported
from India — the practicability of obtaining larger supplies by free labour,
from other quarters within our reach — the improvement of the staple, and
consequently of the fabric, and the opening of a new market with Africa
and elsewhere.

April 22. — R. TwiNiNS, Esq., V.P., in the Chair.

The first communication was by Mr. Hanks, who resumed his paper on
cotton produced in Honduras and Yucatan, &c. Heproceeded to show why
the American white and grey fabrics maintained a higher price and so
snccesfuUy competed with the British manufactures in foreign markets.
He next described the peculiarities of the kinds of cotton ; and means re-
sorted to by the Americans for cleaning or freeing the cotton from the seed,
— namely, the Saw Gin. The amount of cotton exported to England from
America he stated to be 1,500,000 bales per annum ; while that from India
and other countries amounted to only 500,000 bales. He next proceeded
to show that the sea-coast of Africa presents a large territory which is
capable of being made to produce cotton in larger quantities, and of a
quality equal, ifnot superior, to the American. From inquiries which had
been made at the Wesleyan and Baptist Missionary Societies, he had as-
certained that the missionaries of both those Societies have instructions to
promote such objects as the cultivation of cotton among the natives at their
several stations, which extend ail along the coast of Western Africa — and
he strongly urged the necessity of their introducing the saw gin, in lieu of
the roller gin and hand labour, to free the cotton from the seed, and the
screw-press for packing it into bales.

The second communication was by Mr. Keyse, on an apparatus for pre-
scrrm? life htj supporlin/; persons when in the water. It consists of a
covering for the arms, which are made of mackintosh cloth, and are capable
of being inflated, of a pair of webbed gloves, and also a pair of cork clogs,
■with concave bottoms. The apparatus is stated to give an additional
buoyancy of 35 pounds to the body.

EOYAX INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.

Extract from the Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting, held on Monday,
March 23, 1846.

Resolved, — That the Medals of the Institute be awarded next year to the
Authors of the best Essays on the following subjects : —

1. On the Adaptation and Modification of the Orders of the Greeks by
the Romans and Moderns.

2. On the best system to be adopted with regard to the arrangements for
the thorough Drainage of a Town House, and of a Nobleman's JIansion
and Offices in the Countn.', respectively. Comprising the general arrange-
ment for carrying off the Waters and Sewage, the sizes and most convenient
forms for the Drains or Conduits, the requisite fall, the description of ma-
terial to be employed, and the several precautious for the prevention of
damp, smell, and passage of vermin ; — to be accompanied by block Plans
and Details.

N.B. Each Essay to be written in a clear and distinct hand, on alternate
pages, and to be distinguished by a Mark, or Motto, without any name at-
tached thereto.

Resolved, — That the Soane Medallion be awarded to the best design for
an Edifice, suitable to the Congregational Worship of the Church of Eng-
land, and capable of accommodating One Thousand Persons, without Gal-
leries.

The design to be Roman or Italian, expressive of its purpose both intern-
ally and externally, presenting as little obstruction to sight as possible. The
Chancel to be properly marked in Plan and decoration, with reference to its
Protestant uses. All the Windows to be charged with stained glass.

There must be a conspicuous Belfry, but the body of the Church is not to
be surmounted by a Dome.

The Drawings of the Elevations and Two Sections, to be to a scale of
one-quarter of an inch to a foot, — the Plans and Perspective View to one-
eighth of an inch to a foot, and tinted with India ink or sepia only.

The competition is not confined to Members of the Institute.

Directions for Candidates.

£ach Essay and set of Drawings is to be accompanied by a sealed letter,
containing the nameof the writer within, and on the outside the same motto
as that attached to the Essay or Drawings ; this is to be enclosed in a sealed

envelope, containing an address to which a communication may be sent of
the decision of the Institute, and directed —

To the Honorary Secrefarieg of the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Essay for Medal (or) Drawings for Medal f Motto).

The Packet, so prepared and directed, is to he delivered at the Rooms of
the Institute, on or before the 31st of December, 1846, by Twelve o'clock
at noon.

The Council will not consider themselves called upon to adjudge a Pre-
mium, unless the Essays or Drawings be of sufficient merit to deserve that
distinction ; and, if the best Drawings should be by a candidate who has
been successful on a former occasion, the Institute reserve to themselves the
power of adjudging such other adequate reward as they may think fit,
and of awarding the medals offered to the second in merit. The Essays and
Drawings, to which Premiums are awarded, become the property of the In-
stitute, to be published by them if thought fit. In case of the papers not
being published within eighteen months after receiving the Medals, the
authors will be at liberty to publish them.

The object of the Institute is not merely to draw the attention of the
Students, and younger members of the Profession, to the importont theo-
retical and practical subjects which are annually brought forward as subject
matter for the Prize Essays, — they have a still higher aim ; — they would wish
to enlist the experience, the judgment, and the taste of those profoundly
acquainted with the several departments of the .\rt, whether Members of
the Institute or not; in the hope of collecting a series of authoritative Es-
says upon every branch of Architecture, considered both as a Fine Art and a
Science, so as ultimately to form an important body of information on Ar-
chitecture, both decorative and constructive.

The Institute trust that this appeal to professional men will not be in vain,
and when they consider the honoured names of Palladio, Chambers, Ron-
delet, Smeaton, Tredgold, Nicholson, KrafTt, and others who have done so
much, and deservedly gained so much honor in like investigations, |they can-
not but confidently hope that many other men of erudition, taste, and
science, will be induced to add in like manner to the stores of Architectur»l
knowledge.

April 20. — Earl de Grev, President, in the Chair.

A paper was read by the Rev. Richard Bdrgess, on " The Ancient
Triumphal Arches." The paper commenced by explaining the purposes
for which those monuments were erected ; that they were properly divided
into two classes, arches of triumph and honorary arches. The former
placed nowhere but across triumphal roads, like the Via Appia, Via
Flaminia, and other great approaches : the Via Sacra, by which the pro-
cession moved to the Capitol, was distinguished by several. The honorary
arches were placed where the acts they commemorated had taken place,
as the Arch of Trajan at Ancona, where that Emperor had built a port,
the Arch of Augustus at Susa, at the foot of Mount Cenis, where Augustus
passed in journeying to or from the transalpine provinces. Mr. Burgess
having established this distinction, then enumerated all the arches now ex.
isting or known to have existed in Rome or Italy, in chronological order.
Before proceeding to the description of the principal existing arches, he
described a triumphal procession, especially taking Vopiscus's account of
Aurelian's triumph. After disposing of the provincial honorary arches,
and some general remarks on such as might be termed mere gateways, the
paper contained an historical account of the arches of Drusus, Titus, Sep-
timius Severus, and Constantine in order, and to the historical account
were added various architectonic observations, and illustrations of the or-
naments which still exist upon those arches. Mr. Burgess pointed out the
decline of Art in the arch of Septimius Severus, and the perfection of it in
that of Constantine, which he showed to have been an arch belonging to
the best age of sculpture, and was adopted but not erected by Constantine,
In the course of the dissertation Mr. Burgess paid a tribute of respect to
the memory of the late Mr. Basevi, and mentioned the Fitzwilliam Museum,
at Cambridge, as a fine example of genius soaring above the littleexpedient
of loading with ornament that which was deficient in architectural result.
Mr. Burgess took occasion to compare the pageantry of the Roman triumphs
with the modest deportment of our commanders, and drew some parallel
between the Indian victories and those of the Romans iu Asia, and the
paper was concluded with a reference to the influence of Christianity in
moderating the proceedings of modern warfare.

The President announced that the Academic Royale des Sciences, des
Lettres et des Beaux Arts de Belgique had expressed a desire to place it-
self in communication with the Institute ; and likewise that the Accademia
Olimpica, of Vicenza, had acknowledged the receipt of the report of
Messrs. Poynter and Donaldson, the honorary secretaries, on the colleclion
of drawings by Palladio, in the possession of the Duke of Devonshire,
and as a mark of their sense of the courtesy of the Institute on the occa-
sion, had elected Messrs. Poynter and Donaldson, Members of that Aca-
demy.

The Honorary Medal, voted on the 17th of November last, to the Che-
valier Beuth, as a testimonial of the sense entertained by the members of
the Institute of the benefit conferred by him on the art during the period he
held the important oliice under tlie Prussian Government, from which he
has retired, was presented, with an appropriate address, to the Chevalier
Hebeler, who had been requested by the Chevalier Beuth to receive it oa
his behalf.

The Prize Medals awarded on the 23rd of February, were presented by

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

159

Earl de Grey :— to Mr. Wortbington ; to Mr. S. J. Nicboll ; and to Mr.
J. F. Wadraore.

The President announced that the Queen had been graciously pleased
to bestow a further mark of favour upon the Institute, by giving annually
a gold medal for the promotion of the useful purposes of the Society, and
that the regulations connected with this gratifying instance of Her Ma-
jesty's continued favour, would be forthwith determined and communicated
at the earliest opportunity.

DECORATIVE ART SOCIETY.

Mr. E. Cooper exhibited a process for producing a volute by means of a
natural form. He had selected a shell, the Buccinum spiratum, or Syra-
cuse whelk, and affixed it to a board ; a string with crayons attached was
then wound along the spiral hollow of the shell, and this, in the course of
its convolutions, delineated what he assumed to be the Greek volute. He
compared the result, satisfactorily, with engravings, by Nicholson, from the
Ionic capitals to the Temple on the lUissus and the Temple of Bacchus at
Teos, and he also had detected an exact correspondence in size in Inwood's
Erechtheion, plate 21, from the Temple of Victory on the Acropolis. BIr.
Cooper then explained that, in an examination of an Ionic capital in the
British Museum, he observed that the eye had been litted with a stone
simitar to the other parts ; and, further, that in another instance the eye
had been lost out. The orifice thus exposed, he conjectured, had been ne-
cessarily made to receive an instrument for guiding the tools used in work-
ing mouldings on the face of the volute. Its diameter agreed very nearly
with that of the lower part of his shell, and he presumed that a modified
cast in metal from the shell would supply an instrument suited to such a
purpose, and which, at any rate, oft'ered an inexpensive and ready mode of
striking scrolls for hand-rails, &c. Mr.Tapling tested the volute described
by Mr. Cooper by a notation of eight radial intersections, and he contended
that the scale of expansion was ditfereut from that of the Greek volute.
His remarks were afterwards sustained by a comparative experiment upon
a rubbing which Mr. Cooper had in his possession. It was also said, that
the engravings referred to by Mr. Cooper were incorrect.

NOTES OF THE MONTH.

One of the entire floors of the new Houses of Parliament of the build-
ing|facing the river, is to be completed forthwith for the numerous commit-
tees that are likely to be called into action by railway proceedings in the
Houses of Parliament.

Mr. Ambrose Poynter, the indefatigable Hon. Sec. of the Royal Institute
of British Architects and the architect of numeroua ecclesiastical buildings,
and Mr. John Shaw, architect, of Christ's Hospital, have been appointed,
under the new act, official referees in place of BIr. Higgins, who some time
since resigned the appointment. We feel assured these appointments will
give great satisfaction to the profession.

We regret to announce the demise of Mr. Le-keux, justly celebrated for
the accuracy and neatness of his engravings connected with architecture.

Lord Mahon has been appointed President of the Society of Antiqua-
rians. It is time that this Society commenced a revolution in its proceed-
ings ; it ought to embrace all the intentions of the two rival Societies — the
Archaeological Institute and Association.

The Royal Academy has announced for its architectural prize, to be
awarded on the 10th December next, a silver medal for the most accu-
rately finished drawings of St. Peter's, Cornhill ; the plan, elevation, and
section to be drawn from actual measurement.

The progress of the new Houses of Parliament have been greatly de-
layed on account of Dr. Reid's system of warming and ventilation ; serious
disputes have arisen with Mr. Barry, the architect, who was obliged to
take his stand against the enormous inconvenience Dr. Reid's works occa-
sioned to the progress of the building. At length Government has taken
the dispute in hand ; in the House of Lords, Viscount Canning announced
that three gentleman had been selected to enquire into the whole subject
connected with both the warming and ventilation, and to advise Go-
vernment thereon. The gentlemen to whom instructions have been ad-
dressed are Mr. Hardwick, so well known as the architect of the new
dining hall and library at Lincoln's-inn; Professor Graham, the Professor
of Chemistry at tlie University of London ; and Mr. George Stephenson,
the engineer, a gentleman who, apart from his general scientific reputation,
has given much attention to the subject of ventilation.

The ancient temple of the Knights of Malta, at Laon, has been com-
pletely restored under the auspices of Government.

A statue of Sophocles is on its way from Athens to Paris, to be placed
in the Louvre. It is said to be one of the most remarkable antique works
of art.

At New York, the new Trinity Church, said to be one of tlie best ex-
amples of Gothic architecture in that city, is nearly [finished. It has a
tower and crocheted spire 300 feet high ; and the windows are filled in
with stained glass.

M. Blouet, architect to the Arc de I'Etoile (given in the Journal, vol. II.,
1839), has been elected of succeed the Baltard professor at the School of
Fine Arts, in Paris.

The restoration of the works at the Chateau of Blois, by M. Duban, is
making great progress.

An electroiihonic telegraph, the invention of Chevalier Laskott, has been
presented by Professor Jacob to the Imperial Academy of Petersburgh.
It is composed of a clavia of ten keys, ten bells of different sizes, and ten
conducting wires, by which the letters of the alphabet, and words which
they form, are expressed by sounds and harmonics.

On the Dublin and Kingstown Railway the consumption of coke per
train per mile is 2G|lb., and the total cost of power and maintenance of
way 10-7 pence.

Mr. Bidder, in his report on the recent gauge experiments (detailed in
the Journal for February last, p. 49), gives the following results : —

Broad Gange.

Narrow Gaupe.

Date of experiment

Dec. 30.

Dec. 31.

.-.0
8i

lot; 12

19708
232

Dec. 31. 1

Draft in tons

5tt

»U

Distance travelled in miles

42

42

Time in minutes and sec.

72 i;

•tCi 52

Water evaporated lb.

12215

H90O
23.V7

Ditto do. per mile lb.

291

Ditto do. per hour lb.

lOlCO

lllSO

1 04.10

Cubic feet per hour

162i

1"«

lt>7

Coke consumed lb.

13H1

1176

Water evaporated per lb.

of Colie lb.

<»-3

'J-6

8-8

Coke consumed permilelb.

31-2

24

26-t;

Pressure

n

60

Engines

A

Surface of fire-box feet sq.

OS

Areas of blast pipes in cir-

cular inches

S3t)41

1

ContsQts of cylinders do.

472.')

1

Dec. 17.

Dec. 16.

Dec. 16.

60

SO

60

1014

lOOJ

loii

112 42

117 4

131 3-

22596

23489

24838

232

2335

24*

11820

12020

12300

198

mi

mi

7-8

7-12

7-12

29-6

133-6

33«

Ixion

97

372U

4961

The friction of air through tubes, Mr. Bidder observes, is tolerably well
ascertained ; it appears that, with a pressure of -04 lb. per inch, the velo-
city of the air through the long tubes of the A engine used in the narrov^
gauge experiments was 16 miles per hour, and through the shorter tubes
of the Ixion 18 miles per hour.

ARTESIAN WELLS IN CHINA.

It is about twenty years since the report of Artesian wells in that coun-
try has reached Europe, through the medium of the French missionaries.
According to these statements, one single district of the Celestial Empire,
equal in size to one of the provinces of France, contains more than
10,000 (?) Artesian wells, some of which attain the astonishing depth of
8 to 900 metres. These extraordinary soundings of the earth's surface are,
it is said, made by very simple means, and for various purposes, of which
one, certainly, is most extraordinary, and altogether peculiar to the
Chinese. Some of them discharge a water greatly impregnated with,
common salt, others bring to the surface a bituminous oil, others in fine,
seemingly by passing through coal measures in the state of ignition, exhale
constantly combustible (hydrogen) gas. These are the so-called fire-wells
of the missionaries, with which the Chinese procure the gas which they
use for the evaporation of the salt brine of the adjacent wells.

The importance of these statements is easily conceived, not only in a
scientific but also a practical point of view, as we might be able thereby
to furnish our cities, at a nominal rate, with that vast quantity of gas we
now consume, but the jealousy hitherto of the Chinese authorities prevents
travellers pushing to that quarter. The French Academy of Sciences has,
therefore, of late inspected with great interest the specimens of bitumen
and brine which the director of the French missions in China has addressed
to them. The only fact of importance elicited by the chemical analysis
which these substances have been submitted to is the complete absence of
iodine in the brine. M. Boussingault acted as reporter in this important
transaction.

J. L Y.

THE AURIFEROUS SAND OF THE RHINE.

Some observations on the utilizing the hitherto hidden riches of this
river have been laid before the French Institute, by M. Daubr^e, Engineer
of Mines at Strasburg. It has been calculated that the amount of gold
contained in the sand of the above river amounts to 35,916 kilogrammes,
of the value of 114 millions of francs. M. D. has made many experiments
to determine how the particles of gold detached from the Alpine rocks are
distributed in the alluvion {atterissements) of the banks of the Rhine.

The pebbles most usually searched after for gold are those which the
river deposits at a short distance from the stratum, subjected to the abra-
sion of the waters.. It is on the upper part of banks thus formed, in the
midst of large pebbles, to a depth of not more than 15 centimetres, that gold
is to be met with. Out of the actual bed of the river, gold is also to be
met with in the ancient deposits of the river, which form a band of 4 to (>
kilometres broad. In the fine sand without pebbles, such as is deposited
in the hollows of the bed, no gold is to be found, any more than in the
alluvial soil (slime), which, nevertheless, is of Alpine origin. The sand
which is usually searched after for gold contains generally from 13 to 16

160

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[May

"hundred millionth parts ; it is rare that this richness passes 7 ten inillionths.
The revolulione, therefore, which the Rhine. occasions, at times, in the
contents of its bed changes the amount of gold from 1 to 70. The parti-
cles of gold are always very small, 17 to 22 making only a kilogramme.
Compared with the sand of rivers worked in Siberia and Chili for gold, the
former are r> times, the latter 1 0 times richer than those of the I?hine. The
ffold of the IJhine sand seems to be derived from the tertiary formation, and,
in the first instance, from the schistous crystalline rocks of the Alps, as is
the case with most other rivers which descend from these mountains.

J. L V.

STEAM NAVIGATION.

Three steam vessels of war. the Sidoyi, the Odin, and the Termai^ant, m

course of construction at Deptford Dockyard, are on the eve of being launched. The
Sidon steam frigate is constructed on a plan of Sir Charles Napier's, and appears a rer^*
fine looking vessel, very stronglv put together. Although only two feet longer, and two
feet broader than the Odin sleain vessel building in the same yard, the Sidon is intended
to carry 40(i tons more c( als than that vessel. She was jjlaced on blocks on the LMth of
June, \Mb, and in exactly 10 months will be ready to enter her future element. All the
parts of her machinery above water mark are to be constructed of malleable iron, and of
ifreat power to resist injury during actual warfare : and every beam across her decks has
been secured with strong iron kneedbolts to the powerful timbers of her sides.— The
Odin steam frigate was designed by Ulr. Fincham, master-shipwiight at Portsmouth
Dockyard, and the whole of her frame is put together, and she will soon he ready for
launching. She was placed on the blocks on the 19th of Febniarr, 184.>.— The Terma-
Kant steam-frigate, constructing from a design by Mr. White, builder at Cowes, is a ves-
sel of the same length as the Odin, designed by Mr. Finchnm ; but 3 feet fi inches greater
dimensions in htr extreme breadth, and will have engines of GOO liorse power.— The fol-
lowing are the dimensions of the three vessels ;— „ _,

The Sldon. The Odin. The Termagant.

Length between perpendiculars 210 ft. 0 in. L'Ogft. 0 in. 208 ft. 3 in.

Ditto of keel for tonnage . . 18.^ n \B:i 6i 181 M

Breadth extreme . . . . 37 u 37 0 40 6

Ditto for tonnage .... 3« 6 .^6 6 40 U

Ditto moulded .. .. 3.i 10 35 10 39 4

Depth in bold .... 27 U 24 2 , J': ^

Burden in tons 1.323 1,.V.>6 l.MO

Horsepower 560 500 600

Launch of Two Iron Steam Ships, at Liverpool.— The Diamond —
This vessel was launched from the yard of Messrs. P. Cato and Co., south end of the
Brunswick Dock, and the second of two fine iron steamers built by them for the City of
Dublin Company, to run between Dublin and London. She is the sister-ship of *' The
Emerald," (and from the same moulds). She is to be propelled (in addition to sails) by
the screw, with engines on the direct action principle. The model fas of the Emerald)
■■was furnished bv Mr. John Grantham, C.E., and is well adapted for the donble object of
■considerable stowage and rapidity of propulsinn. The vessel is lap jointed, or " clincher-
iuilt," in her upper-works, as well as below the water-line, a plan which, in vessels of
her comparatively small burthen, is more expensive than the flush joint, but is not only
■stronger, but quite as pleasing to the eye, if the workmanship be equal to that in ques-
tion. The Diamond is built in the most faithful manner in every point, and does equal
credit to the spirited owners in the outlay, and to Mr. Cato and those under him. — The
Antelope— her model, by Mr. Grantham, is fine, and, though sham at the extremities, of
Buch rotundity and swell in the body, without *'a lump" in any part, that she promises
to carry and to sail well. She is the property of Messrs. M 'Tear and Co., who have
spared no expense in her construction, and the builders, Messrs. Hodgson and Son, have
<lone ample justice to her in every respect. This vessel will have, in addition to sails,
auxiliary propelling steam-power by two engines of 50-horse each, turning a screw of 12
feet diameter, on the direct action principle, patented by Mr. Grantham. The engines
are by Messrs. Fawcett, Prestou, and Co. She is the first of an intended line of 8 vessels
of the same class, to run between this port and Rio de Janeiro, and more intimately to
connect this rountrv and the Brazils in bonds of amity and commerce, the present pas-
■Bflge, by sailing vessels alone, being generally long and tedious The Antelope has a finely
designed billet-head and appropriate decor.-\tions. executed by Mr. Robertson. The trail-
boards, gilded on a white ground, represent, in relief, the antelope pursued by the tiger,
and the foliated ornaments around are rich and chaste, giving the vessel a peculiarly light
and " go-ahead" appearance. The quarter-galleries are of a corresponding design, and
enriched with quivers, bows, and other emblems of the chase ; and the stern carving also
assimilates— the whole having a peculiarly new and elegant appearance. We learn that
in place of drawing so much water as was expected, she drew two inches less than was
calculated, thus showing a superior degree of buoyancy.— The following are the dimen-
sions of the two vessels : —

The Antelope. The Diamond.

Length overall .. .. 190 ft. 0 in. .. 145 ft. 0 in.

ofkeel .. .. ItiS 0

„ between perpendiculars 175 0

Breadth of beam . . . . 26 4 . . 21 0

Depth of hold .. ..17 0 .. 13 6

Burthen in tons . . 600 . . 300;

Diameter of screw . . .... 12

Horse power .. .. 100 ., .. 60

Telegraphic Commiinication BEXUEts France and England. —

Amidst the many wonderful inventions of modern days, wherein the faculties ef man have
overcome difficulties apparently insurmountable, and made the very elements themselves
oubservient to his jtower and use, there are none more wonderlul than that now about to
be carried out by the establishment of sub-marine telegraphs, by which an instantaneous
communication will be trtected between the coasts of England and France. The British
Government, by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, and the French Government,
by the Minister of the Interior, have granted permission to two gentlemen, the projectors
of the sub-marine telegragh, to lay it down from coast to coast. The site selected is from
Cape Grisnez, or from Cape Blancnez, on the French side, to the South Foreland, on the
English coast. The soundings between these headlands are gradual, varying from seven
fathoms n<-ar the shore on either side, to a maximum of 37 fathoms in raid-channel. The
Ixirds of the Admiralty have also granted permission to the same gentlemen to lay down
a sub-marine telegraph between Dublin and Holyhead, which is to be carried on from the
latter place to Liverpool and Lordon. The sub-marine telegraph across the English
<'hannel will, however, be the one first laid down ; the materi.ils for this are already un-
dergoing the process of insulation, and are in that state of forwardness which will enable
the projector! to have th«m completed and placed in position, so that a telegraphic com-

munication can be transmitted across the Channel about the first week in Jun#. When
this is completed, an electric telegraph will be established from the coast to Paris, and
thence to Marseilles. This telegraph throughout France will be immediately under the
direction of the French Government, as, according to the law of Itf-'C, all telegraphic
communications through that country are under the absolute control and superintendente
of the Minister of the-Interior. Upon the completion of the submarine telegraph across
the Enghsh Channel, it is stated that a similar one, on a most gigantic scale, will be at-
tempted to be formed, under the immediate sanction and patronage of the French Ad-
ministration ; this is no less than that of connecting the shores of Africa with those of
Europe by the same instrumentality, thus opening a airect and lightning like communi-
cation between Marse'lles and Algeria. It has been doubted by several scientific men
whether this is practicable, and, indeed, whether even the project between the coasts of
France and England can be accomplished; but il has been proved by experiments, the
meat satisfactory in their results, that not only can it be effected, but effected without any
considerable difficulty. — * Globe.'

The *' LrsAR Corrector." — Invented by Captain Andrew Thompson,

consists of an instrument, the principle of which depends upon the minute variation of
small spherical triangles. It is formed by the third part of a circle of brass, having ac
index similar to a sextant, on which is set the apparent distance. The index bar and left
limb are graduated, and furnished with moveable slides for performing what is termed
" Laying off" the apparent altitudes; onr of the' slides being graduated also to a scale
proportioned to the radius of the instrument, shows at the point of intersection, a number
of minutes and seconds, which is the correction required; and thvn, by the help cf a
brief table, or by working a rule-of-three sum, the true distance is at once obtained. The
great advantage of this instrument is its simplicity, and the little time — which, by the
use of it, is required to work a lunar observation; in fact, the time required scarcely ex-
ceeds that required to find the latitude by a meridian altitude of the sun. At Messrs.
Spencers, in the Blinories, the invention may be seen.

Bricks. — Return of the duties paid upoD bricks iu the several excise
collections in England from 1839 to 1P4.^ inclusive. The total amount collected in 18S3
was 4.Vj,6t>4/. ; and in 1C45, 656,415/. The amoiint in 1^.'^9, in the London district, was
2.^,yll/. ; in the Manchester district, 34.7yi/. ; and in the RochestT district, '2A,IT3L In
lH4.i, in the London district, ;il, 267/. ; the Manchester district, 44, 2W/. ; and in the Ro-
chester district, 44,6-14/. Including the metropolis there are 56 separate collections: in
five of which, during the last year, the amount received was less than bOOl.

LIST or NEVir PATENTS.

(From Messrs. Robertson's List.)

BRANTED IX ENGLAND FROM MARCH 31, 1846, TO APRIL 25, 1846.

Six Months allowed for Enrolment, unless otherwise expressed,

William Henry Moggridge, of 13, Old Burlington-street, Middlesex, dentist, for " cer-
tain improvements in the plates or pieces for the roofs and gums of th« mouth, for
attaching thereto artificial teeth."— Sealed March 31.

John Ainslie, of Alperton, Middlesex, brick and tile manufacturer, for "certain im-
provements in the arrangements for the manufacture of bricks, tiles, and other similar
articles from clay and other plastic substances, and in the machinery' or apparatus for the
manufacture of bricks." — March 31.

William Spiby, of Carrington, Nottingham, engineer, for " improvements in the con-
struction of furnaces used for heating water and other fluids." — April 1.

Harold Potter, of Darwen, Lancaster, paper manufacturer and stainer, for "improve-
ments in printing or staining paper." — April I.

Henry Crossley, of King William-street, London, engineer, for " certain improvements
in the manufacture of sugar, and in the machinery and apparatus employed therein."—
April 3.

Ferdinand Charles Warlick, of Deptford, Kent, gent., 'for "improvements in the manu-
facture of fuel." — April 7,

William Thomson, of Kilmarnock, North Britain, manufacturer and fur merchant, for
" improvements in machinety for operating upon wool and other fibrous material, intend-
ed to be wrought into felted fabrics." — April 7.

George Lewis, of High Cross-street, Leicester, locksmith, for "improvements in the
constructioR of shutters and blinds for windows aud doors, and in the construction of
doors." — April 7.

James Allingham, of Dublin, gent., and James William M'Ganley, clerk, of Dublin,
aforesaid, for " certain Improvements in steam engines." — April 7.

Joseph Hunt, of Brixton, Surrey, chemist, for " imjtrovements iu the manufacture of
soda." — April ;i.

Joseph Bunnett, of Daptford, engineer, for "certain improvements in water-closets,
part of which improvements is applicable to other usetul purposes." — April l.'>.

Peter Armand le Comte de Fontainemoreau, of New Broad-street, London, for "an
Improved mode of constructing certain paits of the harness of horses and other beasts of
burden." A communication. — April 15.

Simeon Hyde, of the Strand, merchant, for "improvements in refri gir at ors."— April 1-j-
William Tutin Haycraft, of Greenwich, doctor of medicine, for " improvtments in
steam engines." — April 1.^.

Charles May, of Ipswich, Suffolk, civil engineer, for " improvements in machinery for
punching, riveting, and shearing metal plates." — April 15.

Henry Mandeville Meade, of New Vork, America, pent., for "improvements in pre-
paring food for animals when Indian corn is used." A communication. — April 15.

Elijah Galloway, of Buckinghant-slrset, Strand, engineer, for "improvements in loco-
motive engines." — April 18.

Joseph Clinton Robertson, of Fleet-street, civil engineer, fer "certain improvements
in the manufacture of pins." A communication.— April IS.

John Gillett, of Brailes, of the firm of Ward, Colbourne. and Gillett, of Stratford on
Avon, and Brailes, near Shipston on Stour, Warwick, agricultural implement makers,
for " an improved machine or machines, for cutting, slicing, and otherwise dividing hay.
straw, turnips, and other vegetable substances."— April IS.

Peter Bishop, of Birmingham, manufacturer, for " a certain improvement, or improve-
ments, in the manufacture of bayonets. " — April 21.

William Heward Bell, of Edmondsley, near Chester le Street, Durham, for "improve,
ments in working coal in coal mines." — April 21.

Arthur Philip Perceval, of East Horsley, Surrey, clerk, for " improvements in communi-
cating between places separated by water." — April 2.^.

William Ashby, of Croyden, Surrey, millwright, for " certain improvements in the manu-
facture of fiour." — April 2fc.

George Philcox. of High-street, Southwark, watch-maker, for " improvements in the-
constrtiction of chronometers and other time-keepers."— April 23.

C HURCH OF SACROW • N 6. A R P O T S D MV1

1- V h £ '.•■

^1

-^_^:r^iirfc;W

C Bo/qstrr y««?

;HURCH of S t C « 0 W ■ g t_AR__P 0 JLS,Q-'l"

l-L-ATEVllI

i' Ha^i^f lUi "

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

161

CHURCH AT SACROW NEAR POTSDAM.
( With Two Engravings, Plates VII. and VIII.)
Of considerable merit in itself, the subject of our engravings this month
acquires additional interest from its being, besides the representation of an
actual building — one moreover of very recent date — a work of Persius's, the
present king of Prussia's architect, who died last summer. Relative to the
individual himself we are unable to add any particulars to our notice of his
death at page 348 of our last volume ; for besides that he is distinguished by
Naglerby being omitted in his tremendously comprehensive ' Kunster- Lexi-
con'— comprehending everybody who is of no note at all, — he is not given
in the ' Conversations-Lexicon der Gegenwart,' notwithstanding that several
German architects of the present day are there spoken of. Still we now know
something positively both as to what he executed and what he merely de-
signed; and sketches showing examples by him of both kinds have rather
exceeded than fallen at aU short of our expectations, for, to say the truth,
some remarks which we had met with led us to apprehend that his works
partook too much of flimsy showiness, of fantastic spielerei — as it was
termed — and of hurried sketchiness, without due consideration as to detail
and finish ; — a not uncommon fault among those who study composition and
general eflfects, while, on the other hand, those who are meritoriously atten-
tive to beauties of detail and execution are apt to be either very indifferent
to, or else negligent of, original composition and the character derived from it.

The Church at Sacrow, — one of the numerous structures with which Per-
•ius embellished the environs at Potsdam, is both picturesque in itself, and
placed most picturesquely — even romantically, immediately on the Havel,
where that river expands into a lake, and just over against Prince Carl's
Park. We have before us a general " situations-plan," exhibiting the whole
environs of Sacrow, as far as the Heiliger See, the Marble Palace, and Pots-
dam in one direction (West), and the Pfauen-insel, and Griehnitz See, in the
other (East) ; which, map as it is, is also a picture, calling up images of
landscape scenery interspersed with sinuous lakes, and enlivened by architec-
ture— palatial residences, villas, casinos, bridges, belvederes, and what tanta-
lizes us by its name of the Maurische Tempel. To confine ourselves to the
Church of Sacrow itself, — it is charmingly placed — put just as a painter
would hare it, and perhaps just as a pedantic precedent-monger would not,
for the latter prefers the prosaic in architecture, and leaves all touches of
poetry in it to artist. architects. Taken merely by itself, the Church would
be more than ordinarily striking, not on account of situation md position,
alone, but for regularity and consistency of design, kept up throughout, since
so far from consisting chiefly of a show front, or making most show just at
that end, it captivates from every point of view, by its singular completeness,
and also by its originality, the external arcade being a happy innovation upon
the basilica character, from which class of ancient ecclesiastical buildings,
the style has been borrowed, — but also freely treated, with artistlike feeling,
and with many tasteful modifications — albeit the precedent gentry here may
shake their heads at them. The Church, however, is only one feature in an
architectural group, even the campanile only one of its accessaries; and that
tower, a graceful object in itself, contributes to variety in a very unusual de-
gree, inasmuch as by standing detached, it comes difl'erently into combination
with the main building, according to the direction in which they are viewed
together. Architectural ensemble is greatly promoted by the enclosed area
in front, a paved fore-court surrounded by a low parapet wall, partly forming
a terrace, above river. Independently of its effect in other respects, this
enclosure, simple as it is in character, is of great value, because it plainly
connects the campanile and church together. In our opinion, too, such well
expressed demarcation of site is a propriety which, notwithstanding our pre-
cise and affected scrupulousness in some matters of ecclesiastical architecture,
is frequently most strangely overlooked by us, for we have churches in coun-
try as well as towns, that seem to have fallen down/rowi heaven, alighting by
road-side or street-side just as chance might direct, without any sort of in-
terval or intermediate space between the secular and the ecclesiastical. Both
this fore-court and the external ambulatory around the church may look to
us like innovations ; yet the one and the other hold out hints to us well
worth adopting ; and the one and the other afl'ord excellent situations for
monuments, — the walls of the church, for instance, wiihin the arcade, might
in time be quite incrusted with marble in monumental tablets, — but unless
they were allowed only under proper restrictions — such as would ensure
general symmetry as to arrangement and size, and further, preserve some
keeping as to style, therefore nothing at all like the RagrtiDt post mortem ad-
Tertisements of quacks and charlatans which disgrace the Kensal Green Ceroe-

No. 105.— Vol. IX.— June, 18-16.

try, and render it at once disgusting, and ridiculous, — embellishment of the
kind would be only disfigurement.

The church at Sacrow, begun in 1842, and completed in all but its inte-
rior decorations the following year, is of very economic materials, nearly
the whole of the exterior, excepting the columns of the arcade, which are
of stone, being only of brick, nevertheless very ornamental, every four
courses of the general brickwork being relieved by two others of coloured
bricks (as shown in fig. 4), and similar ones, with a figured pattern upon
them, form a sort of frieze or string-course just beneath the principal cor-
nice. The pavement within the arcade is also of bricks of various sizes, so
skilfully though simply disposed as to produce considerable richness of effect.
All the other details, including those of the two cornices (that of the body
of the church, and that over the arcade), are carefully studied, and manifest
much clever invention as well as good taste. These minutiae and pecuUari-
ties are, however, lost in drawings on the scale of those herewith given;
wherefore it becomes necessary to observe that the capitals (fig. 3, plate Vlll.)
of the columns are also of novel design — partaking of Grecianism in taste,
though quite dissimilar from Grecian examples, — without the name of a new
order being therefore arrogated, even thought of, for them.

The interior of the church is sparingly, but tastefully, decorated : the
walls are wainscoted for about the height of seven feet, and above that, are
coated in imitation of pale green marble, whereby, at the same time, that
offensive raw blankness of surface is avoided, the fresco-painting in the
large altar or chancel tribune (designed by Professor Begas, and representing
Christ and the four Evangelists,) is made to tell more effectively. The ceil-
ing shows the timbers of the roof, which are partly relieved by colours,
while the intermediate spaces are filled in with stars on a cobalt blue ground.
The pavement forms a sort of mosaic work of three colours (dark green,
dark red, and black) on a general ground of a pale reddish hue. The metal-
work for the glazing of the windows is of ornamental pattern, the effect of
which is heightened by some intermixture of coloured and ground glass ;
and it should be, remarked, that if they do not exactly constitute what we
should call a clerestory, there is only one tier of windows in the upper part
of the walls.

Taken altogether, the church at Sacrow will, we think, recommend Per-
sius as one who thought for himself, and could seize upon and turn to ac-
count such points as opportunity and subject afl'orded him. For our owq
part, «e like it very much better than some of Scbinkel's designs for
churches on about the same scale, which, to say the truth, are in a somewhat
cramped and affected style, owing, perhaps, in great measure, to his deviating
too far from, and yet keeping too close to, Greek orthodoxy. The sketch of
another church by Persius, since erected at Sans Souci, shows a somewhat
similar design, exclusive of the external arcade ; yet, though the church
itself is so far plainer than that at Sacrow, it forms only a portion of a
widely-extended architectural assemblage of various buildings (some of them
erected), all so happily brought together as to form quite a Poussin-like
scene. His talent for combination, and his predilection for extending archi-
tectural accessories for some distance around the main building, so as to
blend natural and artificial objects into one captivating tableau, are forcibly
manifested in a design by him for altering a villa residence, which he has
distributed in the most piquant masses, prominent among which is a noble
belvedere tower (circular in plan), so placed as to form not only an adjunct
to, but an object from, the mansion. This design, it appears, was intended
for some place in the neighbourhood of San-Souci ; whether it has been
carried into execution we know not ; but if the environs of San-Souci an
Potsdam have been embellished in other instances by Persius, in a manner
and taste at all similar, they must present some very charming architectural
pictures, and we heartily wish that some such artist as Allom would visit
— with quantum sat of drawing paper — Berlin and Potsdam — or, we might
say, discover and explore them, for they seem to be utterly unknown to Eng.
lish artists.

We regret that we are unable to specify with tolerable certainty any other
of the various buildings on which Persius was employed for some years pre-
vious to his death, and which, whatever their faults may be, no doubt dis-
play considerable power of fancy and warmth of imagination. It has,
indeed, been said of him that he sacrificed too liberally to picturesque eflFect,
yet, in an artistic point of view, that ought hardly to be made a reproach,
provided the effect aimed at was really secured. Here, we frequently sacri-
fice a great deal in the shape of cost, without getting any return at all for
it in the shape of art.

Before we lay down our pen, we may as well mention that we have^now
ascertained the exact date of Persius's death, viz., July 121b, 1845t.

21

163

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Junk,

ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF COLUMNS AND PEDIMENTS
AS WINDOW MOULDINGS.

*' Why, His a cockle or a walnut shell,
A knack, a toy, a trick, a baby's cap ;
Away with It ! come, let me have a bigger.

Taming the Ahreui.

In inirsuinK the consistent development of the subserviency of decoration
to utility iu chissic architrcture, we crae to a division of our subject con-
cerninir which it is almost impossible to obtain information from authentic
examples. Kespecting the forms of windows adopted by the founders of
classic architecuire, we have little to guide us except mere surmise for ot
the domestic architecture of the Greeks we are entirely ignorant, and tbeir
temples, as far as we know, were lighted exclusively by the doorways or

from the roof. . . n r _

The modern forms of window-architraves are derived principally frorn
the architecture of the period of Revival, as it is called, in the fifteenth
century And notwithstanding the multiplicity of forms of wmdow-deco-
rations which this stjle exhibits, we may observe one general characteristic
which distinguishes them from those of Pointed architecture. In I ointed
architecture the sides of the window-opening, in the thickness of the wall,
aresplayed-tl.atis, the jambs, the lintel, and the sill are not at right
angles to the face of the wall, but inclined obliquely. In the splay are
sunk mouldings, frequently of the most elaborate description, which con-
stitute the principal, and commonly the only, decoration of the window. I he

decorations on the face of the external wall are comparatively unpretend-
ing-cenerally no more than a simple label or hood-moulding. It is true
that a"s the art advanced, and especially in the last period of it, the square-
headed windows were decorated with elaborate spandrels, &c. But still,
as a generHl rule sufficiently accurate for our purpose, we may slate that
Pointed windows are characterized by the decoration of their splayed sur-
faces * In buildings of Classic architecture, on the contrary, the decora-
tions of the windows are almost universally in the plane of the exterior
wall, and the jambs and lintel are seldom moulded or cut obliquely in the
thickness of the wall. . .

Among the commonest ornaments of Italian windows are miniature
pediments stuck upon the exterior wall, and apparently supported by con-
soles or by miniature pillars. There are several reasons for concluding
that this use of pedimeuts and pillars is contrary to the principles of pure
taste The most obvious reasons are that these members, when so ap-
plied, are factitious appendages, that they unavoidably have the appear-
ance of being s<«cA: «», and that they are dwarf imitations of members
whichalwaysare,orought to be, used constructively.

But it may be answered, that all ornaments of windows are subject to
this latter objection, that they are not used constructively ; that this objec-
tion necessarily applies to all decorations on the surface of external walls
-to the hoo.i-mouldi.igs, for instance, of Pointed windows. This coa-
sideratiou certainly lessens the weight of the original objection when ap-
plied to pillars and pediments ; so that it is impossible to consider the use
of small pillars for the decoration of windows quite so flagrant an offence
against •'ood t»ste as the hoisting of full-sized columns to the upper story
of buildings. But still, the minor fault is not excused by the existence of
a greater one. To window columns is attached that sense of the ludicrous
which is inseparable from diminutive resemblances of things noble and dig-
nified iu themselves. A dwarf may be extremely well formed, but no one can
attribute to him ihe idea of digmUj. A little column may be a symmetrical
„bi..ct but It can never be a dignified one, simply because of its resem-
blance to architectural members, which, in all pure architecture, are made
of great strength and size in order that they may perform their natural

" Thu»-e isolated column used to support a monumental statue, and a
ni.nny c'olunin used to decorate a window, are the opposite extremes of
ah'^surdity The one has the hideous coarseness and exaggerated fea-
tures of a giant, the other the ludicrous littleness of a mannikm : they
should be transported to the kingdoms of Brobdignag and L.lliput respec-

" The real objection to window-colomns is-not so much that they
are not used constructively (for in that respect they resemble all other
window decorations) as that they are copies of members which ur,: used
couslrnctively. Simple mouldings like those of the h,rer range of win-
dows in the Reform Club House may be extremely graceful and appropriate
to their purpose, but window-columns have too much the appearance of

* W.. are here of course. speakinK of ancient Pointed architecture. In some of the
starved muJm specimens the'walla are so thin, that they do uot admit of any splay.

caricatures: the resemblance to their prototypes is, to use the mildest
term, extremely unfortuuaie. If window-dressings be-and they must be
—merely decorative, it is at least unnecessary that their forms should re-
mind us of what are by far the principal members of classic architecture
—the gable-end of the roof and the columns which sustain its weight.

Imagine for a moment the same anomaly existing in Pointed architec
ture Let us conceive the effect of diminutive buttresses or miniature
spires stuck against the sides of the windows! Can anything more lu-
dicrous be imagined ' And yet it is very difficult to see why this degrada-
tion of the most m.jestic architectural forms to base uses should be more
absurd in one style than in another.

It may here possibly be replied, that in Pointed architecture, door-ways,
and arches of entrance (which, in many respects, fall under the same rules
as windows), are decorated with series of shafts or slender columns. But
this objection is entirely obviated by the consideration that in these cases
the columns are not merely decorative-that they have an ofhce to perform,
and perform it ; being, in fact, the imposts of arches which sustain the
superincumbent masonry.

But even supposing the above considerations insufficient, what we look
upon as a fatal objection to window-columns and window-pediments is the
utter barrenness of invention which they display. By the adoption of
them, we seem to say to the first great founders of Classic architecture,
" You have given us full and explicit information on every point of your
system but one-the treatment of windows. It is the only point on which
you have left us to our invention ; but we are unable to invent or think for
ourselves, and therefore we copy over again some of your forms, and apply
them in absolute indifference of their original purpose." Now this hu-
miliating confession is all the more unnecessary, because the possibility of
designing window-mouldings which are not only intrinsically beautilul but
perfectly appropriate has been proved by actual example. The palaces of
Italy exhibit a great number of these designs, and we have already in-
stanced the exceedingly graceful forms of the windows of the ground
floor of the Reform Club House.

We said that it was difficult to see why the application of architectural
members to ignominious purposes should be more ludicrous in Classic than
in Pointed architecture. And yet, perhaps, it may be easy to find a rea-
son for this inconsistency. It is that in the one case we are reconciled by
long custom to absurdities, which in the other, either never existed or have
lon^ been lost si^ht of. We have, in our own country, pure and genume
specimensof the skill of the Mediaeval architects; consequently, we are
able to study these great masters in their own language, so to speak, with-
out the intervention of translations. With respect to the Greek architects,
however we have not these advantages ; we take our notions at second-
hand from the Romans, or at third-hand from the Italians, and, conse-
quently, frequently make gross blunders from mistaking the meaning of
our teachers. Mediajval architecture has now, happily, begun to be stu-
died philosophically-that is, we are not now content with mechanically
copying the forms adopted by the Christian architects; we study the
principles which produced those forms. Why should it not be so with
Classic architecture also? Why should the most monstrous absurdities
be perpetrated daily, because we will uot leave the beaten path of mere
imitation, and think for ourselves?

Sydney Smith defines wit to be the discovery of a real and accurate rela-
tion between sufijects, which to ordinary understandings, do not appear con-
nected. All the great emotions of the mind and the idea of utility are
inimical to wit. "There are many mechanical contrivances," says he
(Collected works. Vol. 1.), " which excite sensations similar to wit, but
the attention is absorbed by their utility." The converse of this idea is
also true- for when things to which the idea of utility is attached are, by
accidental circumstance, rendered useless, they seldom fail lo excte lu-
dicrous emotions. It is for this reason that a man who is so fat that he is
incapacitated from active exertion is usually an object of ridicule, and
that a man confined in the stocks gels mure laughter than pity. An ex-
tremely small model of a steam-engine frequently elicits from the observer
a smile which if he were to analyse his own feelings, is caused by a mental
comparison of the obvious inutility of the model with the g.gani.c power
of a large engine. Again, there is a story of some one, who in speaking
of the rapid advance of the mechanical arts in modern times, suggested
(perhaps rather irreverently) that we should soon have "cast-iron parsons.
The absurdity of the notion evidently arises from the consideration that
however much the machine might resemble the minister in outward form,
there would be no hope of rendering it capable of performing the ministe-
rial functions. Many other instances might be adduced in which the m-

18 J6.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

163

capacity of things for the purposes which their forms suggest renders them
absurd ; the application of this theory to the subject of the present paper
will not be very difficult.

Whatever is opposed to the principles of common sense must be opposed
to the principles of good taste; and if architects have determined thai
they will not recognise this axiom, they will find out sooner or later that
the people, at least, have done so. We have endeavoured on a former
occasion to show why Pointed architecture is gradually subverting the
Classic. Every day adds to the strength of our conviction that this tend-
ency can only be resisted by studying Grecian architecture in the same
spirit as Pointed architecture — that is, by investigating its genius and
spirit. The greatest injury which it has received has been inflicted by in-
judicious admirers, for they have endeavoured to incorporate with it forms
and ideas which can never amalgamate with it, because repugnant to ils
very nature. If it be not purged of these inconsistencies we may be quite
certain that it will soon altogether fall into disuse. The taste of the people
will pronounce for mediaeval architecture, not on the ground of ils abstract
superiority, but because it is more philosophically studied and practised, —
and unless architects will lead the popular taste, lliey will certainly be
compelled to follow it.

Not that we wish to advocate the exclusive adoption of pure Classic
architecture — this pure classicality is generally nothing better than insipid
imitation — but what we contend against is, the alfectation of classicality
where there is no chance of its being successfully realised. Surely it is
better to erect a building without columns at all, than to stick columns on
the surfaces of the walls, here, there, and everywhere, and to jumble to-
gether columns of all sizes (and belonging to three or four different styles)
in the same edifice. To look at some modern edifices, one would think
that the architect had ordered his columns at so much a dozen, and that
it was quite an after-thought where he should put them.

This indiscriminate predilection for columns aud pediments (and the
pigmy resemblances of them) is in the vilest taste. Is it quite impossible
that a huildiog can be beautiful without these appendages? On the con-
trary, we are not certain whether columns and pediments might not be
entirely banished from domestic architecture with advantage. If stuck on
to the front of a house, they are mere caricatures ; if used according to
their original and proper purpose, they generally obscure the light of the
building and diminish its convenience.

VV'ith respect, however, to the more immediate subject of this paper —
the form of windows— there are one or two things besides the bits of
columns and pediments, which might conveniently be suffered to go out of
fashion. There is, for instance, a poor contrivance for breaking the con-
tinuity of surfaces by bevilling the edges of the stone; it is, at the best, a
wretched expedient. The architect has not skill enough to group his sha-
dows in masses, and, therefore, to render the flatness of the unbroken sur-
faces somewhat less intolerable, he gives the masonry the appearance of
being badly jointed. Cognate to this flimsy artifice is that of scoring in
the surfaces of the stone deep irregular channels which give it the appear-
ance of being worm-eaten. This kind of masonry receives the gentle ap-
pellation of " rustic masonry," — we should have thought " tattooed ma-
sonry" a more appropriate term. l''ancy the Parthenon thus gashed and
cicatrised !

Another practice in the construction of windows is the placing them so
that the architraves intrude upon the frieze of an order, the continuity of
which is broken to make way for the intruders. This practice is so evi-
dently indefensible that it is not necessary to waste argument upon it.
The fault is happily not very prevalent, but if the reader require an in-
stance, we will refer him to the cathedral church of St. Paul.

The last solecism we have here to notice, is the construction of sham-
windows (and also of sham-doors, for most of the rules respecting win-
dows are applicable to doors). These, like other shams and pretences,
generally reveal their own dishonesty. The architect who makes use of
these expedients reflects far more severely on himself than the strictest
critic could, for he confesses that he has managed his design so badly
that, for the sake of uniformity and symmetry, he ought to make more
windows than the purpose of the building requires, and that he has no
better way of getting over the difficulty than by building sham windows in
places where it is either unnecessary or absolutely impossible to construct
real ones.

With respect to these and all other artifices and make-beliefs, we have
one safe and certain rule to guide us — architecture is not a system of
artifices. Its claim to elevated rank among the fine arts rests on much
higher aud nobler principles than those of trick and show. But there is

BOW, unhappily, in all the fine arts a fashion for imitation, which is dia-
metrically opposed to true artistic feeling. In painting, we have minute
resemblances of leaves, fruit, or the pattern of silk and embroidery. In
sculpture, sublimity of general expression is thought less important than
accuracy in chiselling each particular hair, vein, or wrinkle of the skin.
In music, we have clattering railway overtures, crashes iu the base to re-
present thunder, and runs in the treble to imitate the nightingale. And in
architecture, we must have stone look like lace, and iron like stone ; we
consider it imperatively necessary that every material which we use should
look like something else than what it really is — above all we prefer the fop-
pery of sticking on a few bits of finery here and there to the harmony of
composition, the due disposition of light and shadow, the adaptation of
every member to its appropriate office, and that general dignity which
results rather from the conscious possession of beauty than the ostentatious
display of it.

A NEW THEORV OF THE STRENGTH AND STRESS
OF MATERIALS.

By Oliver Byrne, Professor of Mathematics.

I do not intend to occupy much space or time in dilating on the import-
ance of my subject, or in giving a history of its rise and progress, or in
making apologies when I differ from my predecessors, however instructive
entertaining, or judicious an opposite procedure may be; but when I do
differ, I will give my reasons for doing so without a circumlocutory apo-
logy.

Theory tells us that if a uniform bar — no matter what the figure of the
cross section may be, or what substance it may be composed of— be sus-
pended by one extremity, and loaded at the other till it is on the point of
being torn asunder, the weight and the corresponding transverse sectional
area are proportional. The bars or rods compared requiring only uniform-
ity and equality of texture, we may lay down a general law, the lateral
resistances (in the direction of a perpendicular to the transverse sections)
are in proportion to the areas of these transverse sections. This law is very
evident, for if a bar or rod were conceived to be longitudinally divided
into any number of equal strips, no reason could be assigned why one of
these strips should support a greater portion of the weight than any of the
others, so that each would support an equal part of the weight, in the same
manner as an assemblage of equal parallel ropes divide the weight of an
appended body equally among them. Experiments on lateral strains prove
these deductions to be correct, and it affords an instance iu which theory
and practice may be said to coincide. The contrary is the case when the
beam or bar is supported in a horizontal position, for then, the law of re-
sistance, opposing fracture by an incumbent weight or force, is more diffi-
cult to establish, because we do not so readily see how the resistiu" forces
exert themselves. Unlike lateral strains, the discrepancy existing between
the results given by theory aud by experiments is very great indeed • so
much so, that very little can be relied on the theoretical results thdl are
beyond the range of experiments. Indeed, with experiments of a ran^e
sufficiently extensive, no very great mistake can be made, however loose
and uncertain the theory may be ; but when we require a step far beyond
our experiments, such as the determination of the best form and dimensionj
for a tubular bridge like that proposed by Mr. Stephenson, then the want
of a theory, supported by experiment is a very great requirement.

Fig.l.

Galileo was of opinion that if a beam were supported ai its extremities
as iu fig. 1, and loaded by a weight at the middle, that all the fibres or fila'.
meats would exert equal resistances to prevent fmcture, aud that when
these were overcome the whole would tend to turn about that boundary
A B, in contact with the weight.

As this view of the subject supposes all the fibres to exert equal resist-
ances, aud in the direction of their lengths, these resistances will be's*

21*

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

rjuNE,

164

„,anv equal an.l parallel forces and may be considered as acting together
ZZ centre of ,Liy of .he section, so ,hat denoting "- -.stance a
single 6bre by /, and supposing the section to be a -^""^'fj^p;;^,
and height ft. then will/i ft express the sum of .he '^'^^'1°'''' ^"'\~^
acts at the centre of gravity of the section, which is at the d.s.ance of Jft

A _ /*"
fromtheline AB.itsmoment to turnabout AB will be/ftftXg - 2

Leibnitz gave another hypo.hesis, which agreed with that of Galileo with
respect to the position of .he axis about which the segments would turn
But Leibnitz supposed .he filaments or fibres to exert forces proportional
to their dis.ances from the axis ; so that the middle fibre, according to .he
theory of Leibnitz, exerted but half the force of the extreme fibre. LM-
ing the force of the extreme fibre /, the sum of the forces would be-^- i
and since the centre of such a system of parallel forces is at the distance of
" from the axis about which the whole is supposed to turn, hence the

and I will give you something like the result of experiment from a line so
determined Let j Y Z be a portion of a beam in the locality of fracture,
caused by the forces F F acting in the direction! of the arrows. The same
process of reasoningwhich points out a neutral axis in the whole A H D C,
will point out a neutral axis in any portion of the body ^ a6x <?, no
matter where it be situated ; in fact, every fibre may be sa.d to be cora-
pressed on one side and extended at the other, while the whole or each is
bent round a common centre, as S, entirely outside the body. Then S Y
is the radius of curvature of the arc C I^ D at the point p.

Fig. 3.

It is easily seen.

fbh 2h_,fbl,-
moraent to turn will be expressed by-jp x j - 3

that, as far as regards the comparative strength of rectangular beams of
the same material, or of similar beams whose transverse sections are rect-
angular, it is no matter which of these hypotheses be adopted, for both
pofnt out the law of resistance to be as the breadth multiplied by the
square of the height; we shall in future use the term height or depth for
the dimension in the direction of the pressure.

Fig. 2.

Galileo and Leibnitz supposed that the segments of a beam X Y, frac-
tured by a weight W, turned about the line A B where the fracture termi-
nates But James Bernoulli, Mariotte, and others, were of opinion that
the segments had a tendency to turn about a line, as nm, entirely within
the section ; the fibres on that side of the line where the fracture begins
are extended, and those on the other side compressed. If the beam X Y,
resting on two props at X and Y, be fractured by the weight W and mn,
the line inside of the section A B a 6, about which the segments of the
beam have a tendency to turn, then the fibres or filaments in the space
„ m 6 a are supposed to be extended, and those in the space B A m n com-
pressed. The imaginary line in n, which divides the section A B a 6 into
two parU-Ihe area of compression and the area of tension-is called the
neutral axis Mr. P. Barlow laboured much to find out the true position
of this neutral axis in different sorts of timber. The result of his labours
and experiments may be summed up in the following words, the truth of
which is very questionable :-" The centre of tension and the centre of
compression each coincide with the centre of gravity of its respective
area(') and the neutral line which divides the two is so situated, that the
area of tension into the distance of its centre of gravity from the neutral
axis is to the area of compression into the distance of its centre of gravity
from the same line, in a constant ratio for each distinct species of wood,
but approximating in all towards the ratio of 3 to 1." (?) It would take
up too much space to dwell on the absurd conclusions of Mr. Barlow;
there are one or two things which require but little consideration to detect,
first the neutral fibres do not arrange themselves in a right line in all forms
of beams, indeed, if such aline did exist, it would be a curve governed by
the external form of the beam and the force applied. In the second place,
the centre of gravity cannot agree in all cases with the centres of the forces
of the filaments of the compressed and extended areas, and any man at
first sight might suppose that the areas of compression and tension would
bear a constant ratio to each other in each distinct species of wood. In
the third place, I defy experiment either to confirm or contradict these
conclusions of Mr. Barlow, for they have nothing whatever to do with the
Strength of beams. He merely says, find where MY line is by experiment,

Now let us take ff c d J- f y 9 Z, any portion of the beam , it is evident that
the filaments in the upper part near to di, are expanded, and those near
toxYZ are compressed; according to this reasoning there is a set of
fibres between d (9 and xYZ which are neither compressed nor expanded ;
hence each portion of the beam is entitled to a neutral axis, which is rela-
tively correct, but each neutral axis is itself bent round a centre in r S.

It is stated by Tredgold (" Practical Essay on the Strength of Cast
Iron " page 53),—" When a rectangular beam is supported at the ends,
and loaded in a'ny manner between the supports, it may be observed that
the side against which the force acts is always compressed, and that the
opposite side is always extended ; while at the middle of the depth there
is a part which is neither extended nor compressed ; or, in other words, it

is not strained at all. ,f.i,..i,-

"Any one who chooses to make experiments may satisfy himself that this
is a correct statement of the fact, in any material whatever, whether it be
hard and brittle, as cast iron, zinc, or glass ; or tough and ductile, as wrought
iron and soft steel ; or flexible, as wood and caoutchouc ; or soft and ductile,
as lead and tin. In very flexible bodies it may be observed by drawing fine
parallel lines across the side of the bar before the force is applied ; when
the niece is strained, the lines become inclined, retaining their original
distance apart only at the neutral axis." Now this fallacious statement
ffirst made by M. Mariotte, which Mr. Barlow aud a host of others down
to Mr Mosely have endeavoured to support by experiments, conjectures,
and assertions,) may be exposed in the following descriptive manner and
afterwards by a mathematical investigation. Suppose X \ , V W , and Z T to

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

165

bi» the same beam under different circumstances. If a beam ZT betioa of the breadth a 6 ; that is , the breadth a i , ia one position, is repre-

strained, with parallel lines drawn as above directed, at m" m" p" q", the
very fact, that the line b s being bent, shows that its particles are not in a
state of quiescenre, although it maj' be the same length as m' n', or that
one of the subdivisions of 6 s is equal to one of those in m'n', (he position
of the beam before it is bent ; as Z T becomes more and more bent, the
divisions will open in the upper regions near m" n", and more contracted
towards the lower near q" p", so that the position of the neutral axis must
shift towards the lower part of the beam from the top, unless the curves
m" n" and p" q" be arcs of concentric circles, then the arc a o in the centre
will always be equal to m' n'. But it is not evident that the particles in
the arc ao or b s are not strained at all, because either of them happen to
be of the same length as m n, m'n', or m" n", which were all equal before
the forces were applied

The conclusion we come to here is, that the whole turns round an axis,
sometimes outside of the body and sometimes inside, according to the
position of the centre of the circle of curvature of the curve where the
greatest strain is applied. Let c' be the centre of the circle of curvature
of the point in the centre of the arc q" p", then that arc is supposed to be
strained round r.' as an axis. Let c", c'", and C be respectively the cen-
tres of the circles of curvature for the points in the middles of the arcs
b$, ao, m" n"; then the arc m" n" is supposed to be bent round the centre
C; ao, round c'" ; and 4s round c". When the filaments that are the
most expanded — that is, those near m" n'' in Z T, and near, 7 p in X Y, —
become flatted at the centre, between m", n", or between q p, which is
generally the case before fracture ensues, then the centres of the circles of
curvature at these centre points, after changing from C to c'" to c", &c., as
the beam Z T becomes more bent, now returns in a contrary direction,
c', c", c'", &c. ; and when the fibres in m" n" become straight, the radius
of curvature becomes infinite, as in the case of the beam V W at rest, io
which the particles or fibres at m" n'' are supposed to be straight.

We shall next consider the nature of the forces exerted by the filaments
at different points of the cross section, in the region where fracture would
ensue, when the strain exceeds the elastic limit of the body.

The beams or bars, the nature of the cross sections of which we are in-
vestigating, are supposed to be supported at the ends and loaded in the
middle. In small beams, the change in the particles that we are about to
describe is not perceptible ; yet it will be found very considerable in large
girders, such as the tubular bridge about to be constructed by Mr. Stepbeo-
(OD, or in small girders of a flexible nature.

H^-..

"---.A

TTT

c,pq

7"L

The figure used in elucidating this matter is distorted, in order that the
change under consideration, near the centre of the beam, may be more ap-
parent. A very simple mode of illustrating what we shall describe rela-
tive to the molecular action of the particles in a cross section, near the
centre of the beam, may be obtained by taking a rectangular piece of
caoutchouc, whose cross section would be represented by a 6 ^p ; but, it is
to be understood, that in point of structure we do not compare caoutchouc
or india rubber with iron, brass, or wood ; — but, merely to show the man-
ner in which the particles in the cross sections of bodies, under the cir-
cumstances we have just described, endeavour to exert themselves. Let
ECDF be the position of a beam before the weight W is applied, —
H G A B K L its position after ; the cross sections in the two positions
will be represented by the figures a fcyp and cdnm. The action of the
weight or force W compels the point s to move to (, and the point r to move
to g, and has a tendency to lengthen the whole beam ; while at the same
time, the filaments in the upper part of the beam, near the middle, become
compressed in the direction of the length A B, and extended in the direc-

sented by c d in the other. But the fibres in the lower part near r, in
changing from r to g, become expanded in the direction of the length A B,
and contracted in the direction of the breadth p q, so that p 9 in the cross
section becomes mn. From the rigidity of materials, this change may not
have place, or may not be perceptible ; but, in all cases, a force acting in
the direction of the arrow will have the tendency to change the cross sec-
tion a i 9 p into one like cdmn, which if it be not able ultimately to effect,
fracture must ensue.

As we have before observed, what we have just described will become
clear by bending a rectangular piece of india-rubber. If the section of
the rod or beam be circular, as Z, the change will differ materially from
the one already described, for the circle will become, or endeavour to
become, a figure like an oval. The change in the molecular particles in
the cross section will arrange themselves differently, according to the ex-
ternal forms of the beams and the positions in which they are placed :
something like the change of form in triangular beams are given in the
figures X and Y. When the strain is about to exceed the limit of the

Fig. 8.

Fig. 9.

10.

Fig. 11.

a

^i: 5

-I

i

, f

~" -w

Ml ,

-t L<'

' —.4

r-

m ,

,-) a J:

_K^

elastic power of the material, the fibres which are in a state of quiescence,
compared with those in the extreme upper and lower regions of the beam,
will arrange themselves in a curve resembling n f in the figures X, Y, and
Z, the equation to which will be given hereafter. The behaviour of the force
and filaments here stated are in themselves sufficiently simple and explicit,
but, in order that none of our readers may enter npon the mathematical
investigation of this important subject with incorrect notions respecting
the different circumstances under which the beam may be placed, we have
thought it expedient to add the following expositions and illustrations : —

Let E i F be the upper or lower
surface of the beam before the
weight W is applied ; H < L will
represent the upper, and G §■ K
the lower, after its application.
The same parts are marked with
the same letters as the figure pre-
ceding, for these surfaces are sup-
posed to have reference to that
i figure. If the particles at a « i in

the bending process were such that they would merely become more
dense, then the breadth at a j fc would not be changed; but it is not the
case, for the harder parts of the material merely obtrude themselves into
the softer, and partly become compressed and partly swell the breadth of
the beam near these parts, as at ctdia the upper section H t L. But
in the lower surface Gg-K, or near it, the pariicles at rag- n become se-
parated, and the breadth becomes contracted from a b, which is equal to
pqiomn.

We shall in the next place proceed to the mathematical investigation.
Let W be the weight in pounds that would be borne by a beam of wood,
iron, or any other material, whose cross section is an inch square, when
the strain is as great as it will bear without destroying the elastic force of
the body, and the direction of the force coincident with the length or axis
of the bar; and let W' be any other weight to be supported under the
same circumstances. Suppose the cross section of the piece to support it
to be a rectangle, whose breadth = j: and thickness = y inches.
W'
Then W ; W':: X'.xy; or, ^^=zxy.

Strictly speaking, the lengths must be the same, or W and W' must in-
clude the weights of their respective beams. This proportion has place
from the well-known principle— abundantly proved by experiments—
that " the strength of a bar or rod to resist a given strain, when drawn in
the direction of its length, is directly proportional to the area of its cross
section ; while its elastic power remains perfect, and the direction of the
force coincides with the axis."

166

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Junk,

F.g. 12.
1— A

— d

— b

Let d be the quantity a bar of iron, or other material, an
inch square, and a foot in leni;th, represented by a h, would be
extended by the force of the weight W in pounds, which, as in
the last, is supposed to be the greatest, it would bear without
destroying its elastic force ; and let L be the length of any
other portion of the same rod in feet.

Then I : L; -. d : Ld = the extension of the rod, whose
length is L. This is evident, for if we suppose the weight W
to be attached at «, and to stretch a h a quantity d it will stretch
ac,2d; ad,Zd; kc, because \V, after stretching «fc, will
apply the same force to he, and, strictly speaking, a little more,
for it will have an additional weight in the length ub, a. foot of
the material ; the same reasoning will hold with respect to any
other foot, as e A for the weight W, and the weight of 4 feet of
the material may be supposed to be applied at e, and act in ex-
pounding cA, but the weight of the rod is so small, tliat it may
be neglected in moderate lengths. Strictly speaking, then W ,
the ultimate force must involve the weight of the bar to which
•• ■ ,nnr,Pd The weight W would ultimately be reduced to zero, for the
;Vr: only be able to support its own weight without destroying its
elastTc rce.-Example: cast iron will bear, without permanent al.era-
tion 5 300 lb. upon a square inch ; consequently, the length of a rod of
cast'i n^^a' would be just able to support itself without P-^-n al.er-
aUon would be 4,896 feet; a cubic foot of cast iron weighs «0 lb no
Ttter what the cross sectional area ma, be. Again, suppose W to be
any other weight less than \V,—

The number of pounds on each square inch of cross section _ -^,

tosether with the weight of the bar up to that section. Then just at the

point where the beam is suspended, there will be -^ +p L pounds on the

square inch which must not exceed w, the elastic limit in pounds for each
AV . . . W r

square inch of section.

W

Av : w" : : d :

M'd
W

'■ - — = the elongation of each foot
Alt'

W

in length by the weight -^ on the square inch ; but as each square inch is
strained by the same weight, each foot of the bar will be increased by the
same length. . • • ^^ ^ = the elongation of the length L, by the weight

W,

L + ^L2 =L-

4 W

P
A + 2

lU

E, the elonga-

= the extension produced by the weight W, sup-

posin.. the length to'be one foot, and the cross section an inch square ; and
aTo that the extension of a bar or rod by a force acting in "e d.rea.on of
its length is proportional to the straining force; the area o the cross sec-
t!oi remainin'g the same, and the strain not to exceed the elastic power of
the beam, bar, or rod. j^^^„ ^

The extension for any length L, by the weight W, =— ^y- S for,

VV d . . LW'd

W is supposed to involve the weight of the bar, as well as V. .

Let it be required to the elongation E of a bar suspended vertical y, and
suia n ug a given strain or weight W, in the direction of its length equal
Lfrethe influence of its own weight being taken into account, the sec-
. lalVrea A square inches. Without destroying the elasticity, or surpass-
.heetaiic limit, suppose . to be the length that w pounds will elon-
'il a bar we^gS; pounds, one foot long and one square inch sectional

^^^^' .u loc. f„„t nf a bar L feet long to be suspended to the second

laslr :ktt^fll lu:^::ga.e the sLond last will be found by the

following proportion :-„, : p : : . : ^ = the elongation of the second foot.
Suppose these two feet to be attached to the third foo.,^we have
„- • 2p • • € : — = elongation of the third foot ; ir : 3;, : : . : -^' = elon-
gation of the fourth foot ; therefore the sum of the following series will
^wTthe whole elongation, the length of the bar L representing the number

Or

W. And hence, ^ 1- -r ^ ^, " „

tion by the weight W and L A p the weight of the bar.

We shall next explain certain numbers introduced by writers on this
subject and called by them ynoduli. There is the modulus of elasticity,
the modulus of resilience, the modulus of fragility, and the modulus of rup-

"The ,nodulus of elasticily is the strain in pounds which would be required
to extend a bar, one foot long and one square inch sectional area, to double
its length without altering its sectional area; or it is the trust in pounds
that would compress the same unit bar into half its length, that is, till the
foot becomes G inches, the sectional area remdining, as before, one square
inch We never could see the real use of introducing these imaginary
numbers, unless for the purpose of mystifying the subject or to make it
assume a very scientific appearance.

It would be a stretch of the imagination to suppose a brick to be pulled
till it would become the length of two bricks. He must be a very clever
man indeed who determined the modulus of elasticity of pipeclay. Mere
book-makers like Hall and Moseley, of King's College, cannot be offended ;
but men like Barlow and Hodgkinson, who have lost their tune experi-
menting to find them, may be a little indignant to find their favourite num-
bers spoken so lightly of. ,,.,.,

Let us suppose, for argument sake, that Tredgold is right with respect
to the modulus of malleable iron ; he found the modulus of elasticity to
be 24,920,000 lb., or 7,550,000 feet of the same matter ; sectional area one
square inch. Those who have made experiments will give but little credit
to one who finds him wrong. Tredgold found that 17,800 lb. on a square
inch of good English iron would cause no permanent alteration, and would
extend a foot or any other length, not taking into account the weight of
the bar, the ^S^, part of its length. ,U i° ""' ''^^^ ^™"''l ^^ '' 17«»0= «>
and p = \]i, for a cubic foot of malleable iron weighs 475 lb. nearly. Now
it isevideut',ifthe elastic limit of malleable iron were such as to allow it, and
that the elongation was in direct proportion to its strain, that it would require
1400 times 17,800 lb. to extend this foot of iron till it becomes two feet long,
or which is the same thing, till it becomes a foot elongated. Now 1,400

' "' .u

times 17,800 =24,920,000 lb., or, 17,800 -^i,U = 24,929,000 =- i this,

to muke the matter assume a learned appearance, or rather, a more college
appearance, we shall represent by M^; the modulus of elasticity and its

reciprocal -^ by jj ; so that E = L -^ [ ^+ f L | may be written

of terms, we have^l 1+2 + 3 4-4-1-

1 L L>£

2 w

the elongation may be determined thus :-Let :r be^the length in feet mea-
sured from the lower extremity, then ,„ ; ;, ^ : : e : ^"= the elongation of
a foot in length from the strain of the weight ;<.r. And let d x, as wri-

,Z ON THF. CaLCDLUS SAY, BE THE LENGTH WHICH IS NEXT TO NOTHING.

foot . feet . . iP^ .IE xdx =the elongation of the length which was

■.•—-- j^ .. u' ■ ic

» . „.^tv,incr Intezrating between the limits .r = o and
supposed to be next to nothing, inicgia &

L ^W

e=m:( A+2

"t '

A bar of malleable iron, one square inch of se«-

tional Irea and 7,550,000 feet-nearly 1,430 miles long = 24,920,0001b ;
from which circumstance 7,550,000 feet is called the modulus in feet ;

That is, — -i-p —

pe

-^e^P->

■ PhiE

J _ 9 ,n — L2. So that a bar 1 inch square

I =L; that

and L feet long wiU be elongated by its own weight ^ X U . i indeed, let
the sectional area be what it may, the bar will be elongated by its own
weight the same length, because the body is uniform, and each loch of
sectional area is circumstanced in the same manner.

24,920,000 -r fi5 = 7,550,000.
this modulus Hodgkinson dilTers 400 miles of iron from Tredgold, and
Barlow about 250 miles of iron from Hodgkinson. So much for the mo-
dulus of elasticity.

The elongation of a bar suspended vertically, and sustaining a strain of
W lb. —the influence of its own weight not being taken into account— was

c W L , „ „ ,

found to be— • -^, which we shall call I :—

by substituting for -^ its value -rjr- . Before we eiplaia

.1-

what is meant by the modulus of resilience or fragility, it is necessary to eaj
what is meant by a unit or work. A pound weight raised vertically

1S46.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

167

one foot is a unit of work done. A spring that lifts 1000 pounds ^Jjj part
of a foot does a unit of work. It is evident, tiiat to elongate a bar an ad-
ditional length I, the weight necessary to keep it elongated needs not be
applied from the commencement of the process of elongating ; for half I
would be produced by half the weight, and one-third of / by one-lhird the
weight, and so on. It is evident thatWi would be too much, for the
weight W would not be actually employed in the business of elongation
in moving from » to I.

Let L be the length of the bar before the weight W is applied ; A, the
area of its cross section ; as before, I = elongation consequent on W. And
let X be any elongation between o and /. The weight necessary to keep L

stretched to L + a; will he - x '^V i this weight may be said to be fully

employed while it passes through dx at the very extremity of L -f .r.

W

7

xdx expresses the work done

W pi

is

\\i,

2

the whole units of work.
We have shown that I —

M.A!

WL

M,A
W I

■ .fJi^Xl = WL

M A/2

^ = the units of work.

h ^ 2 L

Also, the work done, or the resistance overcome, expressed in units of

hence it is evident that the

work, = M ^'^ = I M
f 2 L e

amount of work to be done to elongate different bars of the same material,
any fractional part of its length expressed by -r, which must not exceed

theelasticlimit, will vary as LA; for in every case ^M (^\ remains
constant. The work done in elongating a bar to its elastic limit,
(To be continued.J

FITZVVILLIAM MUSEUM.
The following particulars respecting the site and purpose of this noble
building may be interesting to those readers who are not acquainted with
the topography of Cambridge.

The situation of the Museum is one of the most favourable which an
architect could desire. It is near the entrance of the town from the Lon-
don road, in a broad open part of the main street. When first erected the
building was hemmed in by several mean and decayed tenements which
have since been removed. The edifice is now perfectly isolated : on three
sides are broad spaces of lawn, on the fourth or principal side is the open
thoroughfare. So (hat the architect has had the advantage of placing his
building where it may be readily seen, and where it is the conspicuous ob-
ject of a place of public resort, without the architecture being marred or
concealed by the adjacent houses.

The material of the masonry, pure white Portland stone, contributes
much to the architectural effect— and especially in summer by the contrast
of the dazzling colour of the building with the dark fol.age of the trees in
Peierhouse gardens. The whiteness of the stone is really extraordinary,
and generally gives to strangers the impression ihat the building is con-
structed of pure marble. Those who are merely accustomed to see Port-
land stone of the colour which it assumes in the smoke of London, can
scarcely imagine the almost slariling effect produced by the brilliant ap-
pearance of the Museum at Cambridge, when seen for the first time: there
are few strangers who on entering Cambridge are not impressed with
a feeling akin to amazement when they suddenly come in sight of this
gorgeous monument of classic architecture. The effect by night, espe-
cially, when the moon is shining, is very striking. The columns show in
the moonlight as white as snow, and there is somelhing almost magical in
the manner in which they contrast with the dark shadows of the sur-
rounding trees.

It must not be supposed, however, that the whole of the effect is to be
attributed lo the accidents of situation and colour : these serve only to ex-
hibit fully the excellence of the architecture. It has been Mr. Basevi's
good fortune to place his masterpiece where it will be seen and appreciated '
by men of taste and education ; and it has successfully undergone the 1

ordeal of their criticism. This ordeal is the more severe, because, as most
of the readers of the Journal are aware, there is in Cambridge a strong and
energetic party of amateur architects whose exclusive tenets would lead
them to regard with little favour such a building as the Filzwilliam Mu-
seum. Even from the hands of these, however, its architectural character
has escaped safely. The most zealoos of the Camdenists will generally
allow (in moments of candour and liberality) that the Museum is on the
whole an exception to the usual hideousness of Pagan architecture ; and
some of them have gone so far as to say that the building exhibits positive
merits, and that they look upon the lofty columns and the sculptured pedi-
ment not only without disgust, but with a feeling very like absolute satis-
faction.

But the Fitzwilliam Museum has undergone a test even surer than the
judgment of the members of the Camden Society. The test is this— that
the architecture appears more beautiful as the eye becomes more familiar
with its character. There are many buildings which appear well at first
sight, which cease to please on a second inspection; but this is by no
means the case in the present instance. If on his first visit to the Museum,
the stranger be gratified by the boldness and richness of its architecture,
his pleasure will be only increased in subsequent examinations, when he
begins to criticise the architecture in detail. Perhaps no one feels a greater
admiration of it than the old Cambridge man after having been familiar
with the building during the whole time ot his residence, examines it
afresh after the interval of several years.

That the architecture is not perfect it is useless to deny. The square
mass or hump which rises above in the rear of the pediment sadly injures
its effect, and this injury appears far greater on actual inspection of the
building than could possibly be supposed from an examination of a view
of the elevation. The reason of the injury produced probably occurs to
few, though all are able to pronounce as to the reality of it. There can be
no doubt Ihat this reason is to be found in the fact that the rules of "ap-
parent construction" are violated. The pediment, instead of being, as all
pediments should be, the gable end of a roof, assumes the appearance of a
factitious appendage-it looks stuck on and not an integral and essential
portion of the structure. This effect is certainly produced by the " hump"
in question, which destroys all idea of the continuity of the roof. To the
same cause must be assigned the disfigurement produced by the lateral
wings flanking the portico. This criticism rests not merely upon an in-
dividual opinion— the defects to which it refers are universally condemned
by those who are familiar with the building. The superstructure above the
apex of the pediment, and the wings to the right and left of the portico are
equally destructive to its chaiacter-and from the same cause :-they show
that the portico is not treated constructively, but is merely an ornament
— an appendage.

There is a phrase among sculptors for a group of which the several
parts are not sufficient separated— they say of such sculpture that " it does
not show enough day-light," and the cutting away the marble so that limbs
appear distinct and the light shines through in different parts of the group
is called " letting in day-light." To apply this phraseology to a portico
which like that of the Fitzwilliam Museum is flanked by wings-it ex-
cludes too much light. In pure architecture such as that of the Parthenon,
the Temple of Theseus, or that of Neptune, at Pa;stum, a most beautiful
effect is produced by the light shining in between the extreme columns of
the portico and the angles of the cella.* The relief thus given by the corner
columns standing out distinctly against the sky or background is neces-
sarily lost in the Fitzwilliam Museum.

It may also be fairly objected that the character of the street front of
this edifice is not maintained in the other sides of it. Not indeed that we
accuse the architect of masking it with a " show front :"— that utter viola-
tion of the rules of architecture— that hopeless vulgarity of taste, was re-
served for our two national repositories of works of art, the British Mu-
seum and the National Gallery. Of these buildings the less conspicuous
sides have about as much architectural pretension as a factory or union-
workhouse, being in fact built of the plainest brickwork, so that the shovf
sides, even if they were tenfold better than they really are, must be pro-
nounced absolutely devoid of artistic value. It is however but fruitless
labour to criticise these monuments of perverted taste ; they display that
entire want of all true architectural feeling which renders animadversion
obviously useless, and we merely notice them to institute a contrast in favour

,1,= T of the very few good qualities of the architecture of Budsiugham Palace, is that
the columns ol the pediments at the wings stand out in this manner. The only oh«
ments, and they are but negative merits, of this building, are that the pediments at the

THE CIVIL ENGINELR AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

168

of another museum of art, which though situated in a provincial town, and
built neither by the national wealth nor under the auspices of the govern-
ment, is the only one of the three worthy of the high purpose for which it
was designed.

Of the architecture of the other parts of the building, besides 'hose ex-
hibited in our drawings, it must be allowed that though not absolutely bad
in themselves, they by no means correspond to the elaborate magmhcence
of the portico. This is the more to be regretted, because from the nature
of the site the sides of the Museum are quite as conspicuous as its front,
and the observer can never approach it without being made aware of be
disagreeable contrast. The elevation next Peterhouse Gardens has tbe
raost°architectural pretension, and it, as well as the sides, are of the same
beautiful stone as the front ; but still the surfaces appear comparatively
flat and unbroken ; and what is perhaps even of more consequence, tne
few ornaments displayed by no means correspond in purity of taste to tne
character of the portico.

The interior of the building is still in a very unBnished state; the com-
pletion of it is assigned to Mr. Cockerel), and it is earnestly to be hoped that
the decoration, will be as real as possible, and that there will be no attempts
to make plaster look like stone or cast iron, and deal boards look like oak.
The building when completed will hold the statues, pictures, cameos and
engravings bequeathed to the University by the Earl of Filzwilliam, and
also another very valuable collection of pictures at present m the Fitt
Press.

[Junk,

ARCHITECTURAL RECOLLECTIONS OF ITALY.

By Frederick Lcsh.

From some ornaments taken in Italy I select the accompanying sketches

for your Journal, on account of their beautiful forms, and because they

might serve as a model for our English knockers, or at least suggest a

more graceful and pleasing feature than that which is generally placed

Pig. 1

else which passed through tbe hands of these cunning goldsmiths and m-
dustrious sculptors, there is an elaborate finish, of which they are quite
worthy, and which for the most part challenges the closest inspection.

Fig. i.

on our doors. Figures 1 and 2 are from Venice, but most probably of
Florentine workmanship, and fig. 3 is from Verona.

Whoever has seen these small though magnificent objects abroad, mus
have felt how much they ennobled the entrances of the old palaces, and
how delightful it was to Imger on the threshold and admire them. It is
.iran.e that in England, where within the last few years so much has been
done^to improve every kind of decoration, these things have been ne-
glected as though they were consi.lered beneath the notice of '''e ,«^ J^ •
Tl names of such men as Ghiberti, John of Bologna, Benvenuto Celhn,,
and others, who have left us th.ir beautiful works, along with larger ones,
could not sutler such an opinion for a moment to be entertained ; but it is
well known, as in the examples before us, the beauty and pa uresque
effect which is infused into the smallest th mgswhen genius has laboured
upon them. In the design of these knockers, as well as in everything

Leaf flower, bird, or figure, were executed with so much feeling, and such
trulli' to nature, that even the simplest articles of common use or ornameutj
in dress were real works of art ; nor could a censer, salver, goblet, or a
crucilix, that was fashioned by the same hand as that which wrought the
Perseus, be otherwise than a gem in the collection of a prince or in the
cabinet of the virtuoso. ^, . . ~

The high opinion conceived by the Italian artists of the humblest de-
partment of art; the intense care and industry bestowed on small things
as well as great; and their associating together in ooe common brother-
hood where none was excluded from the rest, were circumstances
which acted most happily towards the development of taste and the per-
fection of Uie arts, and of which Lanzi speaks in his history of the Italian
nainters The result of these ideas and the strength acquired by this
union is epeciallv evinced in Italy. Common objects, which in Britain
seldom receive any attention, there reveal some striking artistic beauty.
It is sufficient in addition to what has been already referred to, to mention

1816.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

lo;)

the famous lam pholder in the Siroizi palace, Florence; the dolphins and
•ea-hoises sculptured on the top of the tall mooring-posts in Venice ;
llie lanterns on her canals ; the ornaments of the Ca' d'oro ; the pedestals
to the Grecian standards in the Piazza di Sau Marco; or the bronze cis-
terns in the quadrangle of the Uucal palace.

HOYAL ACADEMY EXHIBITION: ARCHITECTURE.

We will not disturb the opinion which attributes improvement to the pre-
sent Exhibition as far as the painters are concerned, — although for our part
we do not perceive the slightest general advance at all,— but matters have
most assuredly not mended this season with regard to architecture. How
ever, we are tired of repealing the same complaints year after year, and
th.it to no purpose. The Academician architects take pattern by Sir Robert
Smirke, and their quality brethren lake pattern by tbera, therefore from
those v^'ho, it is to be presumed, could show us most, we get least; nor
have we much from other quarters to inform us what is going on in various
parts of the country. Liverpool, Manchester, and many other important
places are wholly unrepresented in the present annual parliament of art in
Trafalgar Square. Where are all the things whose fussy " lirst-stone-lay-
ing" ceremonies are recorded with such " wink o' the eye" admiration by
newspapers? Where, all those drawings which have borne off five and
ten pound premiums from liberal and self-enlightened competition commit-
tees? We see them not here : but to speak of what we do not see would
be a much longer tale than to enumerate what we do find, that either de-
serves commendation or is worth mention. In an exhibition of architec-
tural drawings we have a right to look for interest of some kind— either
that attending designs adopted or proposed for particular buildings, be the
talent shown in them, what it may ; or else that which is produced by the
intrinsic merit of the subjects themselves, though they may be merely ima-
Kinary ones. This year there is an unusual dearth of interest of eiiher
kind. Tliere are besides a number of drawings, which though put into the
architectural room hardly belong to it at all, more than the unlucky oil
paintings which are stuck up there in order to be out of harm's way, till
their owners send for them again. We allude to mere views and delinea-
tions of buildings, whose execution gives them no pretensions whatever as
productions of the pencil, while the subjects they represent are either so
exceedingly hackneyed, that their titles in the catalogue operate as a warn-
ing to pass them over; or so trivial, that we turn away from them as soon
*i beheld. Not a little provoking is it to find that few of those who do
bring home any architectural sketches and studies from abroad, care ever
to hunt out any thing fresher than such wonderful rarities as the Athe-
nian Acropol.s and Parthenon, and the Roman Coliseum and Forum. Does
the actual capital of King Otho afford nothing whatever at all worth re-
presenting upon paper? Is his " Modern Athens" so deplorably insipid
as not to have a single marked feature, or even any general physio-^nomy ?
It would seem that even our architectural draftsmen and sketchers are so
infected with the " precedent-mania" that they dare not show us any
building unless there is precedent for so doing by its having been repre-
sented times innumerable before. Whether it be abroad or'at home that
they go in quest of subjects, our architectural likeness-takers, seem terri-
bly averse to novelty, or else they must fancy they have no right to lake
subjects from buildings which are so recent, that the office of showin- ihem
seems to belong exclusively to those who designed and erected them" The
latter, however, do not always consider it worth their while to do so • cer
Urn at least it is that we do not find at the Royal Academy's exhibitions
many 0 the things which are best of all suited for pictorial representation
The Co osseum »n the Regent's Park, for instance, might have supplied
more than one unusually striking subject, since, besides its beautiful
Glypto heca-perfeclly unique as an inteiior-it offers many scenic archi-
tectural bits in other parts of the place, which would show still better in
picture than they do in themselves, because in picture they would look
like realities, whereas as seen in reality tiiey are most undisguisedly only
.lever imitations and fictions. There might, again, have been one or two
drawings of some of the apartments in the new budding at Lincoln's Ion,
nd among them, both a general view .nd a partial one of the Library
Yet somehow or other,-and it may perhaps be as well not to inquire too
•wely into the reaaoo.-architeots are apt to be of most stepmotherly dis-

position towards their own productions, begrudging what it would cost !•
let us behold them in pictorial effigy. Few of them take any generous in-
terest in their art, as a fine art, and fur its own sake ; therefore they cannot
with any sort of fairness complain of or express surprize at the indifference
ofthe uninitiated, and the apathy of the general public ;-and the latter
seem to consider the architectural drawings little better than a dead weight
on the Exhibition. Not a little mortifying is it to witness the hurried,
listless glance bestowed on architectural subjects. If there be ever any
thing of the kind among the oil paintings, it is never estimated except
according to its execution as a picture. Even one of Scarlett Davis's
glorious achievements of pictorial and architectural art,-one of Scandretl's
fascinatingly exquisite groups of detail, or scenic views, has been known
to engage attention far less than such horribly trivial subjects as swill-de-
vouring pigs, turnip-munching boys, and strapping country wenches wash-
ing their not over and above delicate feet ! How refined and poetic we
English are in our ideas I

What sort of relish there is among the public for any thing relating to
architecture is most disagreeably apparent from the circumstance of archi-
tecture being passed over altogether by the daily critics who profess to en-
lighten us in matters of art. The " big Times" has spoken of the present
Exhibition without bestowing even so much as a syllable upon the archi-
tectural drawings. So that unless the " Times" be very much behind the
times we actually live in, its silence as to our art is significant and ex-
pressive enough.-Aud what, all the while, is the Institute about?—
has it done, is it doing, can it do, or does it care to do any thing, to give
the requisite impulse, and bring architecture forward -and not only bring
It forward, but force it upon the attention of the public? Leaving it to
answer the question as best it can.

Of about two hundred and thirty subjects placed in the catalogue under
the head " Architecture," barely one-half belongs to it, the rest consisting
of graphic odds and ends-the very " tag-rag and bobtail" ofthe pictures ;
nevertheless the half constitute more subjects than can be properiy seen
and the deficiency to be complained of is not so much that of quantity at
of quality and interest. There certainly is very little of architectural in-
terest in the solitary production contributed this season, after a couple of
years' absence, by Professor Cockerell, for he makes his appearance rather
as a truant from his own art, and ambitious of signalizing himself in
another. This is all the more singular, because St. George's Hall, Liver-
pool, for the sculpture of whose pediment he here exhibits a design in No
125 1, (showing only the pediment and upper part of the columns, on a
large scale), is the «,ork of a different architect. Leaving more competent
judges to determine the technical merits of the composition as one intended
for sculpture, we can only say it strikes us as being so very Greek and
classical as to forfeit character for originality; and at any rate there is
nothing peculiar in the mode of its combination with the architecture un-
less a return to the Greek system of placing entire statues within a pedi-
ment, can pass for an artistic conceplion; whereas by venturing to depart
from ancient authority-as he has oft-times done in architeclure-the Pro-
fessor might have " initiated" a still more effective as well as perfectly
new mode-produced by omitting the tympanum, and leaving the pediment
quite open, except as filled iu by the statues, (so fixed as to support th«
raking cornices); which would then tell all the more vigorously seea
against the vacant space behind. Once adopted, this idea might be made
to lead to other quite novel yet adequately matured effects, which we can-
not now stop to point out, wherefore leaving this hint to suffice ad interim,
we shall perhaps explain ourselves more fully at fitting opportunity. In
taking leave ofthe Professor, we express the hope that we shall see him
again next season somewhat more inpro;;rio personi, and in his character
of architect.

With the above exception— St. George's Hall-Grecian and Roman ar-
chitecture does not appear to be in great request for au; buildings of im-
portance actually projected. The principal object of that kind which ws
here meet with is No. 124U, " Elevation ofthe new Theatre to be built on
the east.side of Leicester-square," F. C. J. Parkinson ; which, though it
has been spoken of disparagingly by a contemporary, who calls it « an in-
different transcript of the Haymarket Theatre," appears to us a pleasing
and tasteful composition, with some clever touches of original detail and
not only ornate but consistently so; and further, possessing more strongly
marked and appropriate character than any of the existing theatres. If
any resemblaace can bs traced between this fajade aud that of the Haj.

28

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Junk,

m

market it most assuredly does not amouat to that of " transcript" or copy,
ZZ, ,;. ,o that of an " indifferent" one, since the " Hayn.ar.a w.^
it. common.place straddling portico stuck up before a parcel of ordinary
doors and windows, is in barbarously vile and vulgar taste. The drawing
^e are speaking of is not treated very happily as to colour, and we thmK
it roust be exceedingly incorrect in one respect, for according to the >..ze o
the figures, the columns must be forty feet or more in height, which is no
very likely, the portico not being the centre height of the edilice. In all
drawings of the kind, the only use of dgures is to serve as a scale, there-
fore, unless they are strictly according to scale, they are neither more uor
less than falsifications— sometimes even ludicrous ones, as, for instance, in
the view of Sir R. Peel's new Picture Gallery, last year, where the figures
in the room were only half the size of those representing the portraits on
the walls ; therefore, either the former were dwarfs, or the latter were co-

1oSS3.1

Critics differ ; and it is, perhaps, but right that they should do so, since
one opinion frequently helps to correct another, and where with dissent on
some points there happens also to be conformity on some one other, the
judgment passed in regard to the latter becomes tolerably well confirmed.
Differ we do from the critic-one apparently very eager to get through his
task with all possible dispatch-who, besides detecting in the preceding
.ubiect an unlucky resemblance to the Haymarket Theatre, regards with
complacency such a production as No. 1174, « one of the designs submit-
ted to the grand jury of the county of Clare for the Ennis Courts, as
possessing claims on the score of originality of treatment. If not remark-
ably original, the treatment may be allowed to be unusual, jet hardly ap-
propriate ; neither the particular species of " Italian" adopted, nor the
irregularity of the composition, befitting a public building in a town, es-
pecillly one that ought to command attention by an expression of sober
dignity, without playing at the picturesque. Let us hope that the design
actually chosen is some degrees better than this " submitted" one. The
two subjects just mentioned are almost the only designs this year for what
can be called public buildings— that is, secular ones, and in other style
than Gothic. We have, indeed, in No. 1214, what rather innocently calls
itself a " Gothic design" for a town-hall and public assembly-room in the
West of England, but as to its exact " whereabouts" we are left in most
comfortable uncertainty, since it would be anything but comfort to be
assured that there was any likelihood of so preposterous an affair being
perpetrated anywhere. In this scarcity of designs for public buildings—
except those which are evidently merely visionary ones-we may refer to
No. 1217,—" The Lord Warden's hotel, &c., now erecting at Dover," (J.
Beazley)-a3 a ?uasi-pubUc structure, and what will certainly be a suffi-
ciently conspicuous one-more so than it merits to be by the taste dis-
played in it. The main idea must, however, be a very favourite one with
Mr. B., it being a repetition of what he showed us last year in what was
then called a design for the Carltoa Club House. What may be the dif-
ferences between the two designs we are unable to say, but the principal
portion is the same in both, and consists of a large Corinthian order above
the ground floor, in coupled columns, with arches springing from their en-
tablatures. (See our last Vol., p. 214.) It might have been thought that
revision of the first design would have led to the adoption, for an arcade of
the kind, to the more compact and legitimate combination of arches spring-
ing immediately from the capital of single columns.* The display affected
by this columnar-arcade is, besides, far too pretensions for the building
itnelf, which is so decidedly— don't print it " deucedly"— poor and unstu-
died in style, that the ostentatious decoration affected for it strikes as vul-
gar, tawdry, in buutiquier taste. When will architects learn to give more
attention to what Cockerell calls "eurytliym of quantities," ar.a to con-
si, tency of expression, be it that of richness or plainness, or of any inter-
mediate degree between the one and the other ?

What could induce either Hopper or Railton to thrust forward into notice
this year, their respective designs for the Nelson Monument, (No's. 1171
and 1»13) we cannot imagine. Hardly can it have been any particular
admiration which the former obtained at the time of the competition, that
encouraged its author to bring it into notice again ; yet, whether the draw-
ing itself attracts notice or not, he has taken care that the subject shall
not be overlooked in the catalogue, where it is spoken of more lengthily

* Tht church at Sacrow. ghowa ia Our preteot aumber, «empllfl«8 luch eompoucd
^plicatioa of eoluma and axcti.

than intelligibly, it being impossible to make out how the little Ua-^arde,
esoue temple which constitutes the design, can possibly form part of a
group of buildings for picture-galleries and exhibition-rooms. By singu-
L coincidence, Kailton's " Nelson Colun,n"-too well known to require
any remark, from us here-makes a gallant show in the catalogue but n
absolutely a nonentity in the Exhibition in comparison with his Beau
Manor Park," last season, of which mansion we should very thankful y
have received an additional view this year. As to his " R.seholme Hall,
adapted and enlarged for the Bishop of Lincoln" (No. 1194), it possesses
no -reat architectural interest, though it certainly looks like a very envi-
able residence, and shows that bishops have no disrelish for the comfort,
and luxuries of this worid. No. 1306, " The garden-front of Chfton Hall,
Notts" (L. N.Cottingham), did not impress us at all favourably. In
fact while as to composition it isalmost a nullity,-tbe house being a mere
lumpish mass,-as to the style affected for it, it shows the worst exlrem.
of the latest Elizabethan, when our renaissance had become prematurely
exhausted and worn out, and had fallen into all the forced conceits and
drivelling of blasi imagination. Whatever it has recommended itself by on
this occasion, it can hardly be by its economy, since its criukum-crankum
ugliness must be of a rather expensive kind. Neither is it any advantage
to this garden front that instead of being raised upon a terrace, it has a
terrace rising up immediately before it. However, the painter has done
all lie could to command admiration by a bravely showy display of flower*
and peacocks.— Infinitely more to our taste is No. 1326, " Laraboaro
Place, Berks, the seat of H.Hippesley, Esq., (F. L. Donaldson). If cot
very striking, this subject is a very agreeable and satisfactory one, both
for its execution as a pictorial drawing, and for its unaffected yet suffi-
ciently marked character as a design in the more sober style of the Eliza-
bethan Tudor period. To say the truth, the'style of house is rather that
of a former period than of what any one might be likely to build at the
present day, there being more of ancient gentility about it than of modern
refinement.— As the immediately preceding No. is by the same archi-
tect, (almost the only member of the Institute who exhibits) we will speak
of it here although it belongs to a different class of subjects. It is entitled
the " Elevation of a design for an Insurance Office, being an attempt to
adapt the cinque-cento style to the street architecture of the metropolis :" in-
stead of " to adapt," the more suitable expression would have been " to intro-
duce," because, as it seems to us, there is very little that indicates adaptatioD
of the style to modern town-architecture in general, too much of what bear*
an antiquated and exolic look in it, being retained, for instance, in the form
of the windows. There might have been more freedom, and less timidity
and dryness of treatment ; nor would it have been amiss had the drawing
ifelf, which is now merely slightly shaded in India ink, been such as to
ensure attention to the subject. Still it must be confessed that its utter
want of pictorial attraction of any kind serves to distinguish it rather
markedly from the subjects around it.

To return to mansions— Capernwray Hall, near Lancaster, shown ia
Nos. 1263 and 1310 (Sharpe and Paley), is one of the most ambitious, and
shows careful attention to detail and individual parts, yet for a modern re-
sidence it looks but a gloomy sort of pile, with too much of the castle in iti
character. Of mansions or villas in the regular Palladian style there ar«
none, but No. 1187, " Allenheads, now erecting on the property of T. J.
Beaumont, Esq., in the county of Northumberiand" (E. B. Lamb), is an
application of what may be called the rural Italian villa style, that shows
very great talent of a peculiar kind-the talent of accomplishing much
with exceedingly limited means, for though the structure itself is simple
even to plainness, it is rich in picturesque effect, and in well expressed
character of an excellent kind, without artifices and affectations.— There
are four designs for villas by Mocatta, small and rather showily coloured
drawings, so unfavourably placed, however, that we did not give them
much attention.— Of suburban villas and mansions similar to the " Ken-
sington Garden" ones in last year's exhibition, there are none this season,
although one since erected at Kensington would have furnished a subject.
With respect to town and street architecture, designs for it are almost in-
variably confined to those for public buildings ; we, however, get some-
thing so denominated in No. 1275 (W. H. Leeds), a design for a house-
front, unusually ornate, though far from being violently showy, still it i»
what we must not hope to find the least favour with those ultra-orthodox
and rigidly puritanical critics who turn up their noses at the Travellers
and Reform Clubhouses, and who look upon Barry as being scarcely a

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECrS JOURNAL.

m

degree better than Borromini. By this remark it is not to be understood
that the design we are speaking of is indebted to either of the two build-
ings just named for any of its features ; on the contrary, it difTers altoge-
ther from Barry's mode of composition, the middle window of the principal
floor being not only distinguished from the others, but distinguished in a
very eminent degree, for although the window opening is of the same size,
its decoration forms a larger and loftier central compartment. There is
some novelty also in introducing a bas-relief as a frieze between the prin-
cipal floor and the one over it, where figures of the kind would be more
distinctly seen than higher up.— We meet with subjects of street architec-
ture for projected metropolitan improvements in Nos. 1175 and 1185 by
W. J. Donthorn, and 1319 by AUom, the two former being designs for a
new street in a direct line from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey,
and for a new Square adjoining the Abbey ; and the other for improving
the North bank of the Thames between London and Blackfriars Bridges.
This last is a very able drawing, but the architecture is rendered quite
iubordiuate, being treated as little more than background to the splendid and
animated river view, which, as picture, would have been just as good had
the present houses been represented. Perhaps it would be unfair to con-
eider the buildings here put in as intended to do more than convey a gene-
ral idea of the proposed line, fur they are made up of just the same sort of
showy fronts as are now in vogue for new trading streets. Were the sepa-
rate elevations drawn out as usual and left to speak for themselves as de-
signs, some of them, we fancy, would cut but a sorry figure. The same
remark may serve for Mr. Donthorn's jirojc'f .- as a street it would be a very
great improvement, but as street architecture no great improvement if any
upon the samples we have got.

The transition from streets and the outsides of houses to the insides of
the latter is so natural that " Inturinrs" seem to claim our attention next,
almost as matter of course, but we must reserve our remarks upon them
and the remaining drawings, for a second notice.

NEW METROPOLITAN CHURCHES.

St. John's, Charlolle-street, Fitzroy square.— This church is now nearly
eompleted. The style adopted in the more conspicuous parts of the build-
ing is Norman, or rather the modern mongrel between Norman and Ro-
manesque. The west front exhibits two towers divided into stages ; of
these towers, that at the north-west angle is surmounted by a slate-covered
spire. The rest of the facade consists of a gable, containing a triplet of
round-headed windows, with a wheel-window above, and the west door
below them. The surface of the west front is broken by small arches
and columns of decoration, string courses, and a corbel-table. These
members and the dressings are of Bath stone, the rest is faced with Kent-
ish rag. As might be anticipated in a Loudon church built in the line of
a street and crammed in between the neighbouring houses, neither the in-
terior nor the exterior of this edifice has the slightest pretensions to the
spirit of Norman architecture, notwithstanding the imitation of some of
the forms peculiar to that style. The cumbrous massive grandeur pro-
duced by the colossal proportions of the Norman era are here missed al-
together. Instead of vast towers, walls of enormous thickness, and
columns no more than three or four diameters in height, we have all the
principal parts of a Norman cathedral comprised in the narrow space of a
street elevation. The pigmy dinieusions which the architect has conse-
quently been compelled to adopt, give the idea that the building is meant
rather as a sort of illustration or reduced model of a Norman church, than
as a real attempt to build such an edifice in all the amplitude of its di-
mensions.

The church has neither transepts nor a central tower — almost universal
features of ancient Norman churches. The dimensions of the interior are
fully as diminutive as those of the exterior : the nave and aisles are
divided by pillars and arches with wretched mouldings ; the roofs are of
open wood-work ; the aisles are bisected by galleries, and the light is ob-
tained from couplefs of circular headed windows in the clerestory ; con-
sequently the north and south walls are blank, and the light is very un-
equally distributed.

The back of the church (we regret to have to apply the word "back"
to a church, but the east end cannot in the present case be distinguished
bj a more honorable term,) is. in a mews-yard, and it is needless to say

that the architecture here exactly accords with that of the neighbouring
slacles and coach-houses, being of the commonest brickwork. The de-
signer seems to have been content with making a show, such as it is, io
the main street.

French Protestant Church, Holborn — The plan of this church, which
has recently been consecrated, is a rectangle. The eastern end is in
Bloomsbury-street, and the western in George street: the north and south
sides are in the course of being blocked up by houses. The eastern ele-
vation consists of a gable, without towers, and contains a large centre
window with two lateral windows ; underneath are doors, the entrance
being— not at the western — but the eastern end (for the sake of facility of
access, as the Ecdesiologist suggests, from " the more genteel street.")
The great east window has five lights ; but the floriation does not show
much invention, being simply a number of trefoils contained within a
pointed arch. The lateral windows in the same front are almost close to
the central window, and in their proportions display a ludicrous contrast
to it, being very narrow compared with their length, whereas the centre
window is disproportionately broad. The group possesses neither the in-
dividual beauty nor the family likeness which would remind the observer of
the three Graces.

The west front displays two long windows with a triangular window
above, and beneath a string course, three lancets. This and the east sides
of the church are faced with rag; the north and south are plain brickwork
without any windows or mouldings. There has not been any absolute ne-
cessity for this nakedness, as on one side, a large open space of ground at
present intervenes between the church and the neighbouring houses, and
on the other side the architect himself has built a school abutting on the
church. The interior of the church has of course the advantage of north
and south walls perfectly blank.

At the end of the same street is another church which has recently been
" done up." The style is one of which there are happily so few specimens
that it has not yet received a name ; we are therefore relieved from the ne-
cessity of a detailed criticism. We have only to notice, on account of (heir
profanity, some extremely otTensive ornaments with which the upper part
of the exterior walls are decorated. On three sides of the building, which
is bedizened in all the glories of plaster, in which it rivals most of the gin-
palaces in the neighbourhood, are stucco ornaments bearing respectively
the semblances of an equilateral triangle, a lamb bearing a flag, and a dove.
It is needless to state what is typified by these figures, which are repeated
several times in the order mentioned, so as to form a kind of frieze to three
sides of the building. We trust that the incumbent clergyman will use his
influence to get these profane and hideous symbols removed : as works of
art they are on a par with the plaster images sold at fairs as toys for
children.

Catholic Church, Farm-street, Berkeley-square. — This church is a very
gratifying example of the rapid advances which have been made in the
science of mediaeval architecture during the last few years. While iu
Classic architecture the most barbarous periersions and absurdities — pedi-
ments surmounted by spires — columns supporting nothing — stilted bases —
shafts broken by dies, &:c., — are still tolerated, our national architecture is
cultivated with a purer and more philosophical taste, which is fast eman-
cipating it from the hideous deformities of the last age. IMr. Scoles' de-
sign for the Catholic church near Berkeley-square is a satisfactory proof
that our self-complacency is not without foundation.

The situation of the building is by no means advantageous ; it is, indeed,
almost impossible to get a good view of the exterior. From one corner of
Grosvenor-square a glimpse may be obtained of the east gable, the beauti-
ful Decorated tracery of the great east window, and the bell-turret; and
another view from beside the ugly plastered church io Mount-street dis-
plays somewhat more of the new building. But still it is so hemmed in
among the houses, that it can scarcely anywhere be viewed as a whole.
The difticulties to be contended with in obtaining a suitable site may be
judged of by the fact that the west entrance is in a mews yard. The ar-
chitecture of this part of the building will not however be made inferior to
the rest because comparatively little seen : on the contrary, if there be
one thing more to be admired than another in the design, it is that it dis-
plays perfect faithfulness and uniformity, and betrays no anxiety for what
is coUoqually termed " showing off"

The plan of the interior is nearly a rectangle (about 150 feet long) with
aisles extending about half the length of the church from the east-end.
Tliese aisles are separated from the chancel and nave by piers and arches.
There will be three altars — the high altar at the end of the chancel, and
one at the east-end of each aisle. The side altars will be dedicated to the

22*

172

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECFS JOURNAL.

[June,

Virgin and the Sacrament respectively. In the south aisle are three con-
fessional* and the saoristy, and above the south arches in the chancel is
the tribune. The light will be obtainid from the east and west windows
and from clerestories in the north and south walls. It is worthy of notice
that the tracery of no two windows is alike, though the patterns of all
of them are extremely rich : the design of the east window espei ially may
be safely compared with some of the noblest examples of ancient Deco-
rated architecture. With respect, however, to the absence of north and
south windows below those of the clerestory, we have already siven a ge-
neral and distinct opinion. Our views on this subject have been so recent-
ly delailed that we need not now say more than that the examination of
the churih which we are describing suggested uoihini; which would modify
our opinion. On the contrary, we can state positively that the elTect of
the light thrown down from above by no means harmonises with the cha-
racter of the church, and that the large surfaces of blank unbroken walls
are great defects. We say this the more freely because the excellence
of the general design is sufficiently great to afford some drawbacks, and
twcause the architect may justly plead the difficulties of the site as an
excuse.

Parts of the interior walls will be plastered and painted with frescoes.
This use of plaster is perfectly legitimate, for there is not the slightest
pretension of making it look like masonry ; it reveals itself honestly in its
true character— that of a ground surface for the pniniing. No deceptive
materials whatever are employed in the church. The external masonry is
•f Kentish rag ; the mouldings, window-muUions, piers, &c., of Bath

•tone.

There is a temporary brick wall at the west-end : this is about to be
removed for the purpose of completing the west gable, which will display
three windows, with a door b-low the central window, and a trilateral
window near the vertex of the gable. There will also be a bell-turret at
this end of the church in addition to that now existing over the^ chancel
arch. The roofs incline to the horizontal at an angle of about 00° ; on the
north and south sides of them are rich perforated parapets.

We hope to be able hereafter to give a more complete account of the
cturch, and to accompany the description by illustrations.

NOTES ON ENGINEERING,
V.

MENAI TUBULAR BRIDGE.

Since the former paper (see ante p. 100), on the application of the theory
of the strength of beams to the case of the Tubular bridge was published,
» report has appeared of experiments by Messrs. Hodgkinson and Fair-
bairn, with reference to this particular subject. As far as analogy can be
drawn between the method of those experiments and the investigation of
which the present paper is a continuation, the results agree exactly. It
will be observed however that the experiments had reference solely to the
ultimate strength of the girders experimented npon-that is, to the ex-
treme weight which they would bear before breaking, the present investi-
gation however relates not so much to the strength of the girders as to the
ttrain which they must have to bear; and as the results here arrived at
are obtained from the fundamental laws of statics, and not from any as.
•umptions respecting the nature of the bodies operated upon, the points of
resemblance between this theoretical examination and the reported experi-
ments are few. It has seemed sufficient in the present paper to point out
the precise nature and amount of the forces which the metal will have to
resist ; leaving it to the engineer to contrive the proper means of fultilling
Ite requirements here pointed out.

We now proceed with the subject from the point where we left it in the

former paper.

5. Form of the Girder of uniform strength.
When the girder is of uniform strength throughout, the strain on it is
greatest at the centre for two reasons. First, from the weight of the girder
iuelf independently of the load: for when a vertical section is made
through the centre, it is seen that the molecular forces of the metal have
to resist a greater moment of external forces, than when the section is sup-
posed to be made elsewhere. Secondly, the load is a moveable one, and
has the greatest moment when its centre of gravity is over the centre of the
bridge. It is possible to vary the dimensions of the bridge so that the
tlrain on ench square inch shall be uniform throughout almost the whole

length of the bridge. There are three ways of effecting this object — either
by increasing the thickness of the plates towards the centre of the bridge,
or by increasing the depth of the bridge towards the centre, or by combin-
ing both these methods. The second methoil is however the preferable one,
because it does not require any considerable addition to the quantity of
metal.

On narrow gauge railways the proportion of the loading of the goods
trains to the length of the wagons is such that about 4 tons of load extend
over about 9 feet of railway ; consequently on the Menai girders (the length
of which is 4.'iO feft; we may take the extreme load to be 200 tons uni-
formly distributed over the length. We have now to find the law of the
variation of the depth of the girder, so that its own weight, and lb«
load together shall produce a uniform strain on the metal.

Let 21 be the length of the bridge, and m the weight of load and bridge
together for a unit of length, and 21 m will be total weight supported.
Consequently the pressure on each abutment will be tm.

Let a vertical section CD' be supposed to be made at a distance x
(=AD') from the end of the bridge. Then replacing the molecular
actions by a vertical force along C D, and equal horizontal forces at
C and D' ; these new forces may be equated with the external forces,
which are — first, the vertical pressure at the end A, which, as has been
said, is equal to m / ; secondly, the weight of the part A B C D' ( = mx),
which may be supposed to act half way between A and D'. And aa wt

B
A

ml

^__3^==n

■m ■

inx>

*=- '

1*^ 1

1

^

shall hereafter find that the curvature of B' C is very small, it will ba
seen that the error arising form this supposition is quite inappreciable.
Taking moments about D' and calling the depth C D', y, we have —

My = m i J- — m X . J X.
Now y is supposed to vary so that M remains constant. Consequently
the equation to the curve B C will be

y = jjj- (i X — 1 x') a parabola.

It will be observed that by this equation y = 0 when x rz 0 or 2 /, th«t »,
the depth is zero at the two extremities of the beam. It is impossible,
however, that this condition could be satisfied, since room must be left for
the passage of the train. The height of common railway bridges usually
allowed for this purpose is 15 feet, which gives a sufficiently clear spao»
above the funnel of the engine ; y, therefore, in the above equation, after
it has attained the limit of 15 feet, must remain constant. The only elfecl
of this will be that the bridge will be stronger than theory requires it l«
be, since, of course, if the depth towards the ends be greater thaa reqai-
site, the result is an increased strength in those parts.

To determine the numerical value of m ; the weight of a square foot of
iron one inch thick is about 10 lb. : and since the Menai Bridge is to b«
15 feet wide, the weight of one foot of the upper and lower plates together
will be 1200 lb. The weight of the train we have supposed 4 tons to 0
feet, or about 1000 1b. to a foot. Consequently m =: 2200 ; we will, fkir
convenience of calculation put m = 2240 or 1 ton

M is to be found by determining its value at the centre of the bridge.
Here y = 30 feet and x — 225 feet. Substituting these values in tb«
equation to the curve, we find M = 844 tons ; and since i = 225 aotl
m = 1, the equation becomes —

y = Bj,(225-Jx)x.

The following are some of the values of y, corresponding to given value*
of*:—

210 feet y

= 39-8 feet

20O

29'B

130

J8-*

1«0

27-4

140

267

IM

M-4

IM

20-r

SO

17-«.

lHi6.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEEERAND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL

173

When X is between 70 and 60 feet, y will be reduced to 15 feet, and
inii»t not be farther lessened. By adopting then the form here indicated,
»he tension will be for 160 feet on each side of the centre uniformly equal
to 841 tons, and for the 05 feet near either extremity will be less. Taking
it however at 841 tons, we observe tiiat, since the plates are 15 feet wide
and 1 inch thick, and the cross section consequently contains 180 square
inches, the strain per square inch on the metal plates is about 4| toni.
Iron will bear a strain of 29 tons per square inch without breaking, and
D tons without permanent injury ; but the diminished strain here as-
Mgned to it is not too great an excess on the side of safety, when the dimi-
nation of strength at the places where the several pieces composing the

■ pper and lower plates are welded or rivetted together is taken into con-
tideratioQ.

6. Necessary strength of the vertical rihs.

The beam of greatest strength for a given quantity of material is that in
which the material is collected in two wide horizontal flanges, separated
bj a thin vertical rib. It has been usual to consider that no more strength
ii requisite in this rib than will suffice to keep the flanges apart; and the
consideration seems to have been hitherto neglected in all philosophical
idiestigations of the subject, that the longitudinal strains which the flanges
«ert upon the rib, render it necessary that the latter should have much
more strength than what is required for the mere separation of the flanges.
A very simple method may, however, be given for determining the exact
amount of strength actually required in the rib by its connection with the
other parts of the beam. As the subject appears to be an entirely new
oor, no apology is necessary for discussing it fully.

The most convenient method of determining the strains upon the vertical
web or webs is to consider the vertical strains and the horizontal strains
<)uite separately. This plan of keeping the two kind of forces perfectly
distinct has been observed throughout these papers, and is by far the best
for getting clear and precise notions of the subject.

We will first consider the Inngitudinal strains which the flanges exert

■ pon the rib. Now it is to be remembered that the upper flange is in a
»tate of more or less compression throughout its length ; and the lower
flange in a state of more or less tension. We know, however, that a string
stretched by two forces only, one at each end, is in a state of uniform ten-
tion throughout its length ; but if forces be applied to the string at inter-
mediate points along it, the tension will vary in various parts. For instance,
suppose that a string, A B, is fastened at B to a staple firmly fix°d in a

wall, and at A, passes over a pulley, and is stretched by a weight P,, it

a clear that if no weight but this act on the string, it will have a uniform

-VI,

AS

Pi

"T3I

ff^

tenaioD = P,. Suppose, however, that at the points Aj, A„ A^, other

weights are hooked on to the string and made to act upon it horizontally
by means of pulleys, it is obvious that the tension of the string will now
vary in various parts ; between A^ and B all the weights are acting on the
tiring, and consequently the tension of this part = P, + P^ + Pg + Pj ;
between A3 and A4 the tension = P, -f" Pj + P3 i between Aj and A,
the tension = P, + Pj ; between Aj and A, the tension = P,.

Now, to apply this consideration to the lower flange of our girder — we
cbserve that the tension of it varies in every part ; this variation, therefore,
wises from the action of horizontal forces at every point throughout its
length, and it is certain that these horizontal forces have been communi-
•ated by no other means than by the vertical ribs.

In order to estimate the amount of the strains communicated by the bot-
tom flange to the ribs, we must find out the law b; which the tension of the

' fh»

former varies. Let us first for simplicity suppose the depth of the girder
uniform throughout and = a. Also let the whole length be uniformly
loaded, and let one foot of the length of the girder with the load upon it
= m ; then if 2 i be the length of the girder, 2 ml will be its weight, and
the reaction on the abutment A = ml. Also, if a section be made at any
part C D and A D = X the weight of the part A B C D = m r. Let the
tension at D = M. Then taking moments about C
M a = m i X — m X . J X
=: m{lx - 4x2).
Similary, if we had supposed a section made in the girder at a distance x-'
from the end, and that the corresponding tension was M', we should have
the equation

M'a = m (i x'— J i' ).
Consequently

(M-M') a = ,n{t (x-x')-i (x'-x'=}
This last equation gives the law of the variation of the tension.
We have now to see how this variation is produced by the vertical ribs.
Let us first of all suppose that the connection between the upper and lower
flanges is maintained— not by continuous plates — but by a lattice consist-
ing of vertical and horizontal bars crossing each other. Now the upper
horizontal bars will exert thrusts, and the lower, tensions. In the follow-
ing figure, let A B represent a portion of the lower flange resting on the

abutment at A. Above A B are represented some of the horizontal bars
of the lattice, but those only which exert tension ; those which exert thrust
as well as the upper flange being omitted in the figure. Now by this
arrangement the tension of the portion of the bottom flange, between any
two vertical bars is constant. For instance, the tension of that part of A B
which lies between a and b is uniform, and of the part between * and c
the tension is also uniform, only it is greater in amount than the tension
between a and b. Call the tension between a and b, M and between b
and c, M,, then it is clear that the vertical rod b b' is solicited at the point
6 by two diflerent horizontal forces, M^, at the left of b tending to pull it
towards the abutment, M^ to the right of b tending to pull it further /roni
the abutment. But M^ is the greatest: therefore on the whole the rod
b b' is acted on by a force M, — M^ tending to pull it towards the rigbu
For the equilibrium of this rod therefore we must have equal forces tend-
ing to pull it towards the abutment. These forces are supplied by the
tension of the horizontal bars above a b. Hence this conclusion— the
aggregate tension of the horizontal bars above a b=M M

Now if we suppose B the tniddle point of the beam, we know that the
tension is equal and opposite on both sides of that point ; that is, the ten-
sion of c Bis equal to the tension to the right of B. Consequently the
vertical bar at B will stand of itself without any tension of the horizontal
bars above c B. The tension of these bars is therefore zero. The bars
however above 6 c are in a state of actual tension, the amount of which
equals the diflTerence between the tension of the portion B c of the flange
and of the portion b c.

Let the successive dilTerences of the successive portions of the flange be

represented by P,, P^, P3 P„,then the bars above A c are stretched

by a force P, at c ; the bars above a b are stretched by a force P at c and
a force P^ at 6 ; the bars next to the left are stretched by a force P at c,
P^atft, aidPj at a, and so on. Consequently the tensions of the hori-
zontal bars are, to the left of the first upright rod, P, ; to the left of the
second, l\ -1- P„ ; of the third, P, + Pj + P, and so on. The tension to
the left of the rth vertical rod =:P, + P„ + P + + p.

But the forces P,, P^ P^are respectively equivalent to M — M

M.-Mj M„ _ , — M^. HenceP,-hP2 + P,+ .... +P^ =

M - M , + M . — M2 -H + M^ . ^ — M,=M — M^,

or the aggregate tension of the hori zontal bars at any point is equal to Ibe

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

174

difference between the tension of tlie flange at that point and its tension at

^uTlThave just shown that the tension of the flange at a distance x
from the abutment

[Junk,

a

-i'")-

Putting in this equation x = J, we have for the tension of the flange at
the centre

^(r-lJ»)ori(»".

Hence finally we get the tension of the horizontal rod. at a distance ^
fro" the end by subtracting the first expression from the second. This
gives

We will apply this very simple formula hereafter to show '^e necessa^
thickness of ihe vertical and horizontal bars, suppos.ng the "PP- -J^° ^
flanges to be connected by a lattice work. For the present t suffic en
to point out that the same mode of investigation ''PP'^ " "^^ ^e 'a,
ribs are not lattice work, but continuous plates. For though we have

ppo^^l the points of application of the forces which the ^^^^^^^^
.be nbs to be separated by determinate intervals, ^\^\f^jj2TeZl
going reasoning that the result is the same whe her those ■"'"^^'^JJ =7\'
'r small. So that if the intervals be indefinitely d;«'--t>;d 'h^ ^ '^ "^
rib and flange be joined at every point throughout the.r ^'^,f^'l^''^ll'f
s!on for the strain which the one exerts on the other wdl be t^e s.me m
both cases.

REVIEWS.

The Place of Egypt in the History of the World. By Chevalier de
BtJNSEN (^.ypteos^Stelle m der Welt-Geshichte.) Hamburgh, 1S45.
3 vols. 8vo. Plates. ,

The object of Dr. Bunsen is to prolong the incipient portion of man s
history fo about 2000 years, and to show, that where b.therto oolj an
unconnected \i.i of obscure names and dates was to be met. real history
and ch onologv may be elucidated by our increased knowledge of anc.ent
reco d , and he monnmea.s of the land of the Nile. If the work be ore
U3 were one relating to a country un-monununtal, it hardly would fall withm
the scope of our Journal; but being one of Egyptian ax>t.qu>ty, we may
2ive a brief account of its contents.

^Looking over the numerous dates and names, and Usts and tables of the
th.^e volumes before us, one hardly can .magine that one man sabour
w u d s ffice to construct such an array of chronological forn.ula,, as .t were
7rom out ot the/.» given data of such remote antiqu.ty. But cons.denng
haTwe are now in .846, and that Dr. Bunsen says that h>s research on
I-gypt began in 1812, ,he thing becomes plausible Besides, there .s no
e| p ian scholarof the age wUh whom the author had not been ,n.,mately
connected ; and his work is a resunU of all what the grea Irench expe-
dition 1 ad begun, and such men as BeUoni, Salt, Champoll.on, Rosselm,
tminson. Col. Vyse, Perring, and last but not least, Leps.us, had brought
tn a orettv satisfactory close.

"To restore," says Dr. Bunsen, "the chronology of the oldest monn-
uiental nation of the world, from Menes to Alexander the Great for an

Extent of at 1-^' ^""O >-^^' ^™"'^ ''""' '^''" ""''""'" "I, T M 'T
facte ucidation of those monuments and partly documents, whuh Mane.ho

and Eratosthenes had before them. As geolog.sts have endeavoured to
find a plrm in the forn.ation of the strata of the globe, an,l .herefrom
deduce the epochs o. our earth, we may accompHsh a similar ta.k, . , as
?, tl^ case tlfe monuments of high antiquity of one of the most nuportant
^oHds'.nat ons be not wanting. To sift the chronology of these anc.ent t.mes
^il b m St feasible by the aid of ,nonu,nents. Those n.onu.nents do not
:„ datTfrom much earl.er times than the publ.c in gene.-al (w.th exception
liieEgyptiologisis) are accustomed to expect ; but they are of far great r
iport tha.' eve,: these have h.therto thought, because the chie monuments
"'h old reigns are the kings' sepulchres, and these sepulchres are he
pyramids ; and amongst them the world-famed three are cer aiuly, not the
oldesT It is very remarkable, that we find on the field ot the Pyramid
(Piram;.ionA(.;e)almostallkingsoftheMemphisdynasty,.>utnonames..h,eld

iNumeuschild) which can appertain to the thinHe kings Those, ho»e, ,
»ay yet be discovered .n the ruins of Abydos-thal pr.m;.val tnetropol.s

of ancient Egypt which, notwithstanding the report of Strabo and the
great import of the kings' table [Konigstafel) has been entirely neglected
bv travellers. It is also remarkable that the building of Thebes is neither
ascribed to the second thimte dynasty, nor to the first memphitic, which,
as we said before, lays (according to all reports, traditions, and even his-
torical traces) beyond the times historical. A builder of Men>ph,slo„.
ever, is mentioned by Diodorus, according to a fragment of a P^P" " 'f^"
dition. According to this author, the eighth successor of Bus.r.s II. built
Memphis-then proceeds tradition: his daughter Memphis had conceived,
from father Nile, a son Egyptos, a mild and just king, his successor.
Busiris II forms the concluding link of the anle-historical Thebaic tradi-
tions-he is the builder of Thebes. After him succeeded another dynast,,
and the last king was the eighth of the successors of Busiris II , conclud-
ing therefore a dynasty of nine kings. His name was HUmphU; he
founded Memphis, and built a royal palace, not surpassed in after tunes-
still, not approaching the older royal palace of Thebes. ' (p. 105, vol. 2.)
It was on this very ,;,o(-".liat originated with Herodotus that part of
his wonderful description of Egypt which treats of the Pyramid^epoch.
Before him, the older Hecat.rus had been in Egypt. \V hat had become
nearly clear by the discoveries of Belzoni, is now completely ascertained
bv the labours of Vyse and Perring, viz., that the regular entrances to tb.
Pyramids were (at the close of the original construction and the interment
of the builder), shut from inwards by granite trap-doors, and slabs of
rock • that from that time, to tlieir forcible opening, none had ever viewed
their 'interior A tablet sunk in the granite blocks of the dressing seem,
to have contained the hieroglyphic inscription, wuh the name of the buried
and other particulars. The assertion of Niebuhr and W ilkinson, that the
dre.sin- was simply formed by the exterior slabs being subsequently (be-
einnin- from above) cut ofi-at the angle of the slope, seems to be confirmed
bv Pe^rin- and he adds that the surface was moreover carefully polished.
The history' of the destruction of these wonders of art shows, that curiosity
and thirst after concealed treasures enticed the ancient caliphs, most pro-
bably fir=t the son of Harun al Rashid, Mammun, to track an entrance ;
subsequently, especially under Salad.n, the Pyramids, especially the.r
dressing, were regularly used as quarries; in hue, the recklessness aiid
destructiveness of the Mamelukes completed the sacrilege. (p. 149,

""Thelistorical details of the building of the thirty Pyramids of Egypt,
put forth by M. Bunsen, are numberless, but cannot be brought within the
compass of this Journal. The biographical notice of the builders of the
two largest pyramids will, however, interest our readers. " M ith the ex-
tinction of the two Menes lines, the southern and northern, after the death
of Amchura-Bicheris the ninth king of the first Memphis dynasty ,-another
familv probably a memphitic one, related to the former, ascended the throne
of E"vpt The fir=,t two rulers were the brother-kings Chufu. The elder
builtTbe second greatest Pyramid, and made a commencement of the stu-
pendous stone wall; the largest also was probably begun during his reign.
The younger brother, erected (according to Manellio) the largest, as a
seoulchre for himself, wishing to surpass his brother by its size, as well
as bv Uie splendour and solidity of construction. He, however, disdained
the dressing of the lower part with the reddish granite of Syene, which
distinguishes the second largest Pyramid." ■,. i- .

A Treat part of the second volume of our author is taken up with a bislo-
ricil disquisition ou the Moeris Lake-the most stupendous, hydraulic work
which has been constructed in auy age. Situated at the confines of the
Lvbian Desert it escaped Uie notice of travellers, until M. Linanl, chief
engineer of roads and bridges to the Pacha of Egypt, made a considerable
steli towards exploring it.* " Egyptian irrigation," says Dr. Bunsen, •• re-
quires two ihings-canals and dykes. The system ol the former, in the
district alluded to, may be traced out so far, that the mam canal had to
serve the purpose of retaining the water on the upper slope of the land
and then to distribute it to the right and left, as well as westward to the
second slope. The canal leading on the right side to the lake, caused an
iiuiuediate connection of the Bahr Jusef with the Lake, and would at least
serve for the irrigation of those lands it passed through, if the waters were
dammed up in it. The second s>slem is that of dykes, for the purpose of
retaining the flood-water at the height to which it had been previously
r!ise<l until the Nile sl.me has been deposited and fertilized the land.
The ir'ri-ation of the lower pans is effected by the piercing of the dyke.;
and a similar system (instead of artificial sluices) we may imagine to have
bLn r::orted to during the period of Egyptian antiquity But there were
also artificial dyke gates for the same purpose^ (p. 217, vol. J.)

^;^^::^i^:^:^^^^

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

175

What the ancients thoaght of this artificial sea may be gathered from
Strabo, who says, " This nomos (Fajum) is the most remarkable of all, as
well for its natural fertility and beauty as for the art exhibited in its con-
itruction. It comprises also the so-called Moeris Lake, almost as large
as an inland sea, and of the sea-colour ; its banks, also, have the appear-
ance of sea shores. It is capable by its size and depth, of containing,
at the time of the flooding of the Nile, its abundant waters, without over-
aowing the inhabited and fertile land ; at the receding of the river, the
anperabundant waters return by the same channel, by one of the two em-
bouchures; while so much as is required for irrigation, both in the lake
and channel still remains." Herodotus states its circumference to be up-
wards of 2000 stadia, equivalent therefore to the whole extent of the
Egyptian coast on the Mediterranean, an assertion which Chevalier Bunsen
considers to be correct.

In this interesting locality, the tombs of Moeris and his wife, in the
Fajum, north of Crocodilopolis, are yet to be adverted to. At present,
only two pyramidal structures are to be seen ; but the German traveller,
Wansleb, had seen (I6G4), on these very pedestals, the fragment of a
colossal statue of akiDg,in asitting position. Wilkinson recognized, in these
rwo ruins, the Pyramids seen by Herodotus ; and Perring, though igno-
rant of the researches of Wansleb, had guessed, with great tact, the whole
arrangement. He assumes the ruin to be the foundation of a truncated Py-
ramid. According to Pococke, the ruin with the destroyed king's statue
was called by the natives Har'm, the Pyramid ; according to Jomard,
rigl Faraun, the feet of Pharaoh. Mr. Perring. on the other hand, told
Dr. Bunsen orally, that other people still called the two pediments
Senem, the statues ; or in Arabic, Musthamel, the " bathed ones ;" whence
the former architect supposes that the pedestals, and even the lower parts
of the statues, were once bathed by the floods of that fertilizing irrigation,
which the great king had secured for his land and people. Our author
eoncludes his notice of this slupendous artificial lake in the following terms ;

" Thus Moeris's statue surveyed the land which, from bog and desert, he
bad changed into blooming fields, and converted (for thousands of years to
come) into the garden of Egypt. A work lay before and around him, the
e<]nal of which for magnitude and utility the world does not know. Wall
and dyke remain even now, like a work of nature, after ages of neglect;
even nature seems to have been surpassed, for the Nile found, through the
Lake Moeris, an eflJui from his stream-bed and no longer flowed into the
ses— thus supply and utilization were both calculated. This structure,
nearly five thousand years' old, would alone prove the art, skill, and science
of the old Pharaoh dynasty to remotest posterity, if there were no annals
to testify of it."

" Such, therefore, was King Moeris's work and sepulchre. When (be
floods of the Nile, augmented by those of the lake, covered the land, his
and his queen's statues appeared above the waters, and seemed to the be-
holders like the tutelary deities of the spot."

Railways. Their Use, Progress, and Construction. By Robert Ritchie,
Associateof the Institution of Civil Engineers. Longman, 1846. 16mo.
pp. 444. Woodcuts.

The object of this book is to give a general historical account of the im-
provements which have gradually taken place in the construction of rail-
ways, and the application of the motive power upon them from the time of
their first introduction. The work is divided into three principal parts—
the construction of the railway— the motive power— and the causes of rail-
way accidents. Under the first of these heads the writer shows how the
first idea of wheel tracks of stone and iron tramways, became gradually
matured and improved, till it led to the construction of railways as
the universal means of land transit. This account is followed by some
general views of the rigidity of iron rails, their forms and weight on difi'er-
eot railways, and the different modes of fixing them by transverse sleepers,
longitudinal sleepers, and stone blocks set at intervals ; with a comparison
of the merits of each system. The author generally states the arguments
on each side of a controverted opinion with remarkable fairness, but in the
present instance, though he has given very fully the arguments in favour
of longitudinal bearers, he has not devoted quite enough space to the con-
sideration which the advocates of transverse sleepers urge in reply.

The various shapes of the wheel flanges, the methods of passing cross-
ings by means of points or switches, the construction of turn-tables, &c.,
are next detailed. Under the heads of retaining walls and viaducts, ac-
counts are given of the size and conetruction of some of the principal of
tiese works hitherto executed.

Under the head of motive power of railways, we have the history of
the different improvements of locomotive engines, from the time of the ex-
periments on the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. In
considering the advantages and disadvantages of the atmospheric railways,
the author is careful to state facts only and the opinions of others, without
coming to any determinate opinion as to either the locomotive or atmosphe-
ric system, except that injwhich every impartial and competent person will
concur, namely, that " it must be left to time to test their comparative ad-
vantages, fur at the present time the accounts of the latter are conflicting
and contradictory."

To give a better idea of the book than can be obtained from mere de-
scription, we have selected the following extract, making however a few
omissions. The subject is the various forms and dimensions of iron
rails : —

"Mr. Barlow came to the conclusion, that the strength of a bar should be
double that of the mean strain or load. In his first report, he thought from
10 to 20 percent, would be sufficient ; that is, for a 12-ton engine, as the
weight is at present distributed, a strength of 7 tons would be ample provi-
sion ; and with greater accuracy of construction, a less strength would suf-
fice ; or rather, allowing the same strength, an engine of 14 or 15 tons might
be passed over with greater confidence. Thus, for 12 tons' weight, with a
velocity of about 35 miles per hour, 7 tons would allow a surplus strength
of 16 per cent, beyond double the mean strain. The deductions from bis
experiments led him to recommend that the section of an iron rail for a 5-
feet bearing, with strength 7 tons, should not exceed 5 inches in depth ;
that the head ought not to be less than 2-25 lb. per yard, and be 1 inch in
depth ; that the whole weight at the sections should be 67-4 lb. per yard ;
the thickness of the middle rib, -85 inch; depth of bottom web, 1-66 inch ;
and breadth of ditto, IJ inch ; that the deflection of such a rail, with 3 tone,
would be '064 inch.

" For bearings of less width, he did not reduce the weight or size of the
head, but kept it at the same section, decreasing the whole weight and depth
of the rail : thus for a strength 7 tons, with a 3-feet bearing, the whole
weight was 51-4 lb., whole depth 4| inches, depth of bottom web 1 inch,
breadth 1-25 inch, thickness of middle rib -6 inch, dtflection with 3 tons
was '024 inch.

" Notwithstanding that Professor Barlow expressed a strong opiniofl ia
favour of the single-flanched rail over the double, — that he could see no ad-
vantage the latter possessed to compensate for its actual and obvious defects,
that he considered it inferior in strength and convenience in fixing, and that
the advantage it was supposed to possess, namely, that it might be turned
when the upper table was worn down, was impracticable, and that he saw
no advantage in the broad bearing, — still the double-headed rail, in practice,
has almost entirely superseded the single one : whether the adoption of the
double one arises from affording greater convenience to the rail layer, and
facilities for keying it, and the advantage of having the power of reversing
it, and selecting the best side, or from the manifest advantage of a broad
bearing to the rail, — this form is now generally preferred.

"The Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company has of recent years
adopted a double parallel rail of a peculiar section ; not admitting, however,
of the power of turning it. The object to be attained in adopting this
shape, is stated to be, that by having the part of the rail upon which the
flanch of the wheel acts, of the same outline as the flanch itself, greater
strength is given to the rail, while the other edge of the rail is lightened.
These rails have been laid down at 60 and 75 lb. per yard.

" The more common and useful form of a double parallel rail, is when the
segmental outline is the same at top and bottom : for although it cannot be
denied that the weight of the bottom flanch does not add proportionably to
the strength of the rail, nor even that the power of turning it is at
all times practicable, — yet there cannot be any doubt that this form, for
railways constructed on separate blocks and sleepers, presents many advan-
tages ; and besides, as the cost is nearly the same for a rail with the top and
bottom flanches alike, with that where the bottom web is somewhat lighter,
no hesitation can exist in preferring the former, however much theoretical
deductions may mystify the subject.

" A double parallel rail, weighing 75 lb. per yard, has been laid down on
the London and Birmingham, Eastern Counties, South Eastern, Edinburgh
and Glasgow, and many other railways. The whole depth is 5 inches, the
top and base are the same sections, 2'5 inchest, the thickness of middle rib
is about { of an inch, or less.

" A double parallel rail has been used upon the Grand Junction and other
railways, weighing 62 lb. per yard ; whole depth, 45 inches.

" A double parallel rail, about 65 lb. per yard, of which the whole depth
is about 4^ inches, has been laid down oa some parts of the London and
Birmingham railway.

" A 75 lb. rail was laid down on the Edinburgh and Glasgow railway.
The inner side of the chair being curved, admits of ample space for the key
to wedge the rail firmly.

" The rail and chair which are now laying down on the North British
railway are about 70 lb. per yard, in 12 and 16 feet lengths. The top and
base are different sections, probably adopted with a view of saving in the
weight, but presenting no corresponding advantages. The key> or wedges
are made of oak, and are small ia size.

176

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[ J t' K K ,

" It seems generallv agreed, that the bearing surface for the wheels to
run upon, without being too heavy, or so narrow as in an additional degree
to wear the wheels, should be about 2J inches ; and hence this Size of a
head is generally adopted for public railways. Although, both theoretically
and practically, it has been assumed, by Messrs. N. Wood, Barlow, and h.
Wood, that the strongest form of rail is that of which, with sufficient depth
for rigidity, the base does not contain too great a quantity of material,— and
though Mr. Barlow has given a formula for calculating the section of great-
est strength,— still the great object tliat the public are interested in, is the
best form of rail for safety ; and of which, while it has sufficient strength to
bear upon it heavy loads in motion, the bearers should not be too far apart,
to increase in the least degree the amount of either vertical or lateral deflec-
tion. When a rail possesses these advantages, its exact shape on mathenaa-
tical principles is of less importance than its convenience of being easily
fixed, and qnicklv shifted. Hence, while the single parallel rail is decreas-
ing in practical application, the double one, from its convenience, is progress-
ively extending. A knowledge of these facts is essentially necessary for
everv one engaged or connected with railways, whether he be a director or
shareholder, whether an engineer or manager. With all the knowledge yet
acquired, there is ample ,-vidence of tlie uncertainty which still hangs around
the subject ; and the great expense it has already cost some of the older
companies in making alterations, shows that experience to them has been
dearly boiii;lit. For example, it has been shown that the Liverpool and Man-
Chester Kailwav Companv has had several times to alter the rails on that
line ; to increase the weight from 35 lb., the weight of the original rail, to
50 lb., 65 lb., and 75 lb. per yard, successively; while the London and Bir-
mingham Railway Company, nntwithstanding the advantages derived from
Mr. Barlow's able report, was obliged to reduce the width of the bearings
or supports from 5 feet to 3 feet 9 incjies, and to increase the weight of the
rails from (A Ih. to 75 lb. On other railways equally expensive alterations
have been made. There is every probability, therefore, that, so long as that
plan of railway construction continues, whatever may be the first cost to
railwav companies, a still greater weight must be given to the rails, and a
still farther reduction of the width of the bearers must take place, in order
to adapt the stabilitv to increased rapidity of traction.

" It mav he observed that the rails have gradually been increased in
strength since steam power was introduced! the bars are usually made in
12, 15, and 16 feet lengths, with square or butt ends, and are laid end to
end, the earlier complex contrivances to secure the joints being all dispensed
with, and the half-lap joints now rarely used. About j\ of an inch, at
least, should be left between the ends for expansion ; for it has been ascer-
tained that a bar of 15 feet in length will expand about ^\ of an mcli at
7^° F. Some have, indeed, proposed to place a small piece (t wood between
the ends of rails, as the difft-rent expanding properties of wood and iron
would fill the space, the wood expandmg as the iron contracts: but such a
plan is liable to ol.jection from tlie wood being likely to be shaken out, and
the space being left vacant. There is no part of railway construction that
requires more accuracy of fitting than the joints : the squareness of the ends,
and tlie space allowed for expansion, cannot be too carefully regulated. In-
stead of that, bow often are seen spaces at the joints of difTereut widths,
and the ends of the bars in juxtaposition, without paiallelism and uniformity
of level ; thus increasing llie amount of friction, adding to the joliiug and
rocking motion, and to the risk of the wheels of carriages being thrown off
the rails."

This little work contains a large quantity of information in a very small
compass. The information is not perhaps quite profound or minute enough
to be of great value to the experienced engineer, but the student who is
commencing the subject will find here a general and compendious view of
it. which will form a useful and certainly a very interesting introduction to
more recondite researches.

Railway Map of England and Wales.— Vlessrs. Arrowsmilh and Basire
have recently published the large railway map of England and Wales en-
graved by them for the Board of Trade from plans deposited there in
November last. Having only printed a few copies for the Committees of
the Houses of Lords and Commons, the publishers purchased the plates
from the Government, considering them interesting to the public, as giving
an authentic account of all railways up to the commencement of the present
time, showing those in oi>cratwn—\n progrcxs—iirojected—lUose tliat failed
at the Private Bill Office the end of December— and those for which peti-
tions were not presented to the House arterwards.

A similar map of Scotland, and one of Ireland, are soon to appear. Of
the map before us we can give no better encomium than by saying, that its
magnificent size and the style of execution render it fully worthy of the
rei:u aliiin of the publishers, and of the occasion for which it was origin-
ally engraved. The size is 4 feet 9 inches by 0 feet.

OBSERVATIONS OX CAPILL.iEITY.

By Prof. Henry.

In 1830, the author presented the results of some experiments on tha
permeability of lead to mercury ; and subsequent observations had led him
to believe that the same properly was possessed by other metals in rcfe-
rence to each olher. His first attempt to verify this conjecture was mad«
with the assistance of Dr. Patterson, at the United Slates Mint. For Ihia
purpose, a small globule of gold was placed on a plate of sheet iron, and
submitted to the heat of an assaying furnace ; but the experiment was un-
successful; for, although the gold was heated much abovr its melting-
point, it exhibited no signs of sinking into the pores of the iron. The idea
afterwards suggested itself, that a difltreot result would have been ob-
tained had the two metals been made to adhere previous to heating, so
that no uxide could have been formed between the surfaces. In accordant*
with this view, Prof. Henry inquired of iMr. Cornelius, of Philadelphia,
if, in the course of experience in working silver-plated copper, in his ex-
tensive manufactory of lamps, he had ever observed the silver to disappear
from the copper when the nutal was heated. The answer was, that tha
silver always disap|iears when the plate is heated above a cerlain tempe-
rature, leaving a surface of copper exposed ; and that it was generally b«-
lie»ed by the workmen, that the silver evaporates at this temperature.

Professor Henry ^-nggested that the silver, instead of evaporating, merely
sunk into the pores of the copper, and that by carefully removing the sur-
face of the latter by the action of an acid, the silver would reappear. Td
verify this by experiment, INlr. Cornrlins heated one end of a piece of thick
plated copper to nearly the melting-point of the metal; the silver at thu
end disappeared, and when the metal was cleaned by a solution of diluia
sulphuric acid, the end which had oeen healed presented a uniform sur-
face of copper, whilst ihe other end exhibited its proper coating of silver.
The unsilvered end of the plate was next placed, for a few minutes, in a
solution of muriate of zinc, by which the exterior surface of < opper wa»
removed, and the surface of silver was again exposed. This method of
recovering the silver before the process of plating silver by galvanism caii>a
iuti) use, would have been of much value to manufacturers of plated ware,
since it often hapiened that articles were spoiled, in the process of solder-
ing, by healing them to the degree at which silver disappears.

It is well known to the jeweller, that articles of copper, plated with gold,
lose their brilliancy after a time, and that this can be restored by boiling
them in ammonia ; this elfect is probably produced by the ammonia acting
on the copper, and dissolving oti' its surface, so as to expose the gold,
which, by dilfusion has entered inio the copper.

A slow diirusion of one metal thiough another probably takes place in
cases of alloys. Silver coins, after having lain long in the earth, bate
been found covered wiih a salt of copper. This may be explained by sup-
posing that the alloy of copper, at the surface of the coin, enters into coni-
binaiioo with the carbonic acid of the soil, and being thus removed, ill
place is supplied by a iliHusion from within ; and lu this way it is not iiu-
probable that a considerable portion of the alloy may be exhausleil in Iba
process of tune, and the purity of the coin be considerably increased.

Perhaps, also, Ihe pi.eoomenon of what is called Sfgiegution, or the
formation of nodules of Bint in masses of carbonated lime, ami of indurated
marl in beds of clay, may be explained on the same principle. In break-
ing up these masse.-, it is almost always observed, that a piece of shell or
some extraneous matter occupies the middle, and probably formed tha
nucleus, around which the matter was accumulated by attracuuu. Tha
difficulty consists iu explaining how the attraction of cohesion, which be-
comes insensible at sensible distances, should produce this elTec. To ex-
plain this, let us suppose two substances uniformly dillused through eatk
olher by a slight mutual aitraction, as in the case of a lump of suj;ar dis-
solved 111 a large quantity of water, every particle of the water will attract
to Itself its proportion of the sugar, and the whole will be in a state of
equilibrium. It the diBusion at its commencement had beeu as.-isted by
heat, and this cause of the separation of the homogeneous particles no
longer existed, Ihe dillusiou might be one of unstable equilibrium ; and the
sliglilest exir.ineous force, such a.i the atiraction of a minute piece of shell,
might serve to disturb the quiescence, and draw to itself the dillused pai-
tules which were immediately contiguous to it. This would leave a ve-
cuum of the atoms around the alliacling mass : for example, as in the case
of the sugar, there would be a porliou of the water aiouul the nucleus de-
prived of the sugar; this poilioii of the water would attract its portion of
sugar from the laver without, and into this layer the sugar from the layer
next without would be dillused, and so on until, through all the water, tba
reiimiMiiig sugar would he uniformly dillused. The process would COD-
liuue to be repeated, b> the nucleus agaiu attracting a portion of the sugar
from the water ininiediately around ii, and so on until a considerable uc-
cuinulaliou would be lornieU around the foreign substance.

Wf can iu this way conceive of the manner by which the inolecular
aclion, which is insensible at perceptible distances, may produce resulu
which would appear to he ihe elft-i t of attraction acting at a distance.—
From llie Pruc. of the American Philosophical Society.

IS16.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

IT-

KENTISH RAGSTONE.

To Mr. Whichcord we are indebled for the following practical informa-
tion regarding Kentish Ragslone, used by our forefathers rather largely
in many of our Gothic edifines, and at the present period it is
again introduced with considerable advantage ; it afl'ords, combined with
dressings of Caen stone or Bath stone, an economical and, at the same
time, a durable material for the construction of the walling of our ecclesi-
astical edifices, for which purpose it bids fair to supersede facings of white,
red, and yellow bricks, and when it is judiciously introduced is very little,
if any, more expensive. There is not a question as to its superior advan-
tages in an architectural point of view.

Mr. Whichcord is an architect of extensive practice in Kent, and has
had an opportunity of watching the working of Kentish ragstone, both in
the quarry and in the building ; he is, therefore, fully qualified to give us
an opinion of its merits, which he lias done in a pamphlet just published,*
containing the whole of his paper, read at the Institute of British Archi-
tects, noticed in the Journal for January last, page 27, where we gave
an account of the geological character of the stone, and which we now
propose to follow up by adding some iuforraation regarding its practical
uses.

" The larger blocks of Kentish Rag Stone of superior quality, are locally
known under the name of ashlar, which comprises all work that is bedded
or jointed ; in fine, the stone when applied to any of the uses for which
Portland or York are generally available. Stone of this description is
sold by the cuiiic foot, and fetches a much higher price in proportion than
the smaller kind.

The stone, when quarried, first has its rough projections knocked anay,
and for economy in transport (as the blocks cannot be sawn) is usually re-
duced as nearly as possible to its required dimensions. This process is
technically called " skiffling," (termed " kiiobbling" in the neighbourhood
of London, and also in the west of England.) and is performed with a
heavy, double pointed hammer, such as is used in working granite. The
necessity for this practice would cause great waste upon the stone, if the
fragments of the better description were not available for burning into lime.
The best lime, however, is usually burnt from the best stone.

Raifstone usklar is usually dressed with the hammer, either roughly or
with more care, in which state it is said to be *' rott^hlij piclced" or *' close
picked.^^ In the better kinds of wark it is usual to run a tooled draft
round the arris of the stone, which gives to the blocks a very neat appear-
ance ; sometimes the whole face is tooled, a process which greatly in-
creases the labour without adding to the beauty of the stone ; even the
best kinds are full of small hassocky spots, which show themselves upon a
smooth face, turn rusty upon exposure to weather, and facilitate the decay
of the stone. A building faced with tooled ashlar, even when newly
erected, exhibits the appearance of bad Portland when going rapidly to
decay : an evil that is not lessened by the frequency of the joints, neces-
sarily caused by the small size of the stones, and a defect which is not so
observable when the face of the work is picked. Sunk work and mould-
ing upon ragstone should, as much as possible, be avoided, both from the
great cost of executing them in so hard a material, and the rapid decay
that so much wrought surface causes in this stone. The mediaeval builders
were well aware of this fact, and while they used ragstone extensively in
the more substantial parts of their structures, preferred Caen or even fire
or sandstone for the decorated portions. Caen stone is more peculiarly
appropriate to be used with ragstone, on account of the small dill'erence of
the two materials in colour, a distiuction entirely obliterated by time.

In using '* ragstone ashlar'^ great care should be taken to have the stone
laid upon its natural bed, as any other proceeding will almost certainly be
followed by rapid decay ; not but that I believe the stone in its soundest
form to be almost beyond the influence of time or the elements, but that
from the thinness of the strata, blocks of a large size can seldom be entirely
freed from hassock ; and even what appears to the eye as blue stone, does,
for a considerable distance inward, retain the perishable nature of its en-
veloping crust. A block of ragstone (if the face be worked) will present,
in damp weather, an appearance precisely similar to the heart and sap of
timber.

When it is necessary (as in case of copings, &c.) that one bed should be
exposed, care should be taken in skiffling the stone to reduce its dimen-
sions as much as possible from the upper side, so as to expose only the
soundest portion of the stone to the action of the atmosphere. In scmie
situations, such as mullions, and door and window jambs, an unsightly
appearance would be produced by too exact an attention to the beds of tiie
stone, as the ashlar is generally too small to range with more than one
course of headers. In these cases the old masons seem to have departed
from their usual rule, and to have set the blocks on end so as to embrace
two or three courses; but as the depth of the block required to work an
ordinary jamb or mullion is not very great, it is not a dillicult thing to get
the whole thickness required out of the heart of stone, and where this has
been done, the work will be found pretty free from decay.

Stone of the smaller layings is generally worked into headers, and
used for the facing of walls, or for paving. In dressing headers for build-
ing purposes, it is common to work one side of the stone to a rough face
with parallel sides, without paying much attention to the beds and joints,

* A Pamphlet, " Observations on Kentish Ragstone aa a Building Material." By John
Wtiicbcord, jun., architect, London : John Weale,

which often recede at an acute angle with the face, so as to bring the
stones, when laid, to a closer joint. Attention, however, should be paid in
building to have the stones pro|ierly pinned in behind, and carefully bonded
with the work at back. Headers are generally knocked out to six, seven,
eight or nine inch gauge for the height; the length and tail being deter-
mined by the size of the stone. Most headers, however, on face do not
vary a great deal from the square form. No attention is paid to setting
headers on their natural bed, as the appearance of the work is not so much
injured by any superficial decay. It is not unusual, however, to tiud
stones in an old wall entirely gone from this cause.

" Coursed header wurlc." — There are several modes of building with rag-
stone, either now iu use or practised by our ancestors. That most fre-
quently adopted in the better kind of modern buildings is the coursed
header work, iu which headers of an equal height and parallel joints are
laid round in a similar manner to brickwork. There is always something
stiff and formal about this kind of work, from the large size of the joints
marking out eacli stone in distinct individuality. To make the matter
worse, the work is generally finished with a raised or a sunk joint, and
the mortar coloured of a deep blue colour ; sometimes we see the work
eren tuck-pointed, as though it were designed to set each stone in a frame.
Coursed header work is pariicularly inapplicable to the free forms of pointed
architecture. If used at all, the stones should be laid in ragstone lime
mortar, not chalk lime, aad the joints simply struck. As far as appearance
goes, it would be ahnost better that they were left rough. Chalk lime
should be especially eschewed as both aislhetically and practically bad.
It will not adhere to the ragstone, and the difference of colour is more
offensive than when hlue moriar is used.

" Random coursed work" seems to have been an improved mode of build-
ing, viz., the carrying up all the walls as nearly as possible together ; this
led to the practice of levelling out the work in a rough manner at every
foot, or sixteen inches in height, carrying up each portion with stones of
various sizes, roughly headed (as facing ihein is termed), and without much
attention to jointing. It consequently occurred that one stone would some-
times occufiy the height of two or three, while the rough sides caused con-
tinual irregularities in the joints. Great care is, however, frequently
shown in tilting smaller stones to the irregularities of the larger ones, anj
the result of the whole is a more substantial mode of biiikliug, and greater
uiiifuriuity of surface; the joints, from not occuriug in straight lines, being
much less observalile than in header work. Tlie bond, too, is much more
complete, and an inspection of our county churches, of wliich mo^t have
the towers executed in this style, will convince any one of i'.s durability.

" Random header work." — There is, however, now in use a kind of ap-
proximation to " randoincoursed work," that is even more objectionable
than header, or rubble work; I mean "random header work." This,
though only applied iu inferior situations, is nearly as expensive as coursed
header work, which it is in fact, only done in a more slovenly manner. It
is executed with headers of the ordinary description, but of unequal sizes,
as though attempted to be carried up in courses. The joints of the mortar
are generally left roMff/i; this lessens the bad effect that would otherwise
be produced by the arrangement, or rather ho arrangement, of the headers ;
but when the whole is done, ti>e courses are only crooked, when, to all ap-
peflrauce, they were intended to be straight.

" Random work^' is a style now much used in ornamental buildings, such
as lodges, cottages, almshouses, dairies, &c. &c. It is commonly executed
with unsquared stone, with the joints carefully fitted together and piuned
in with smaller stones. W hen this description of work is well done, the
joints never run in continuous, horizontal, or vertical lines, and every stone
oufjhi to break joint. The appearance is very good, but considerable time
and much skill and nicety are required for its performance. Of course,
from the mode of building in this style, it is scarcely applicable to large
works, both because there is a certain littleness of appearance about it,
and that it is wanting in the requisite stability.

" Rough random work" may be placed in the same class as that just de-
scribed, but executed in an inferior manner. In this descriptiou of work
it is not customary to give the stones any dressing at all, hut merely lay
them together with as much compactness as their irregular forms will
allow : filling iu between the larger stones with smaller pieces. When
this kind of work is well done, it will be found very durable, and it is not
an uncommon practice, where ragstone abounds, to build mclosure walls
in this manner, but without using mortar or any cementing substance; and
walls thus constructed will last for a considerable length of time. It is
the cheapest kind of building, as there is less waste in the sloue, and the
expense of heading is saved, besides that a good workman will do more
of it than of header work in the same time. Foundations are usually laid
in rough random work, and it is applied to inclosure walls and interior
buildings.

Galleting. — It is customary in many parts of the county to " gallet" the
joints of ragstone work ; that is, to stick small " stone pinners" as thickly
as possible in the pointing mortar. Galleliug* is applied iud.ffereutly to
every description of work, and it has the good effect of securing the joints
in a great degree from the action of frost, (?j and iu some situations ii im-
proves the appearance of the work.

Mention has already been made of the use of hassock as an inside
lining to walls built with ragstone It is usually roughly squared, an ope-
ration that should never be neglected, as thecrumhliug nature of the stone

* The masons call the pieces of stone chipped off by the stroke of the chisel " ga,l«ts,'*
probably from " galette" (French) a small cuke.

23

178

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[June

wotilj eiulanper the pecnri'y, if Iho work is exposed to the unequal pres-
fine that would result from the use of irregularly shaped slonrs. Care
should betaken not to place hassock in situations « here ii is exposed to
very sreat pressure. For jambs, arches, &c., sound bricks are best to be
(i«ed with it. W hen the work is of a superior description, and the ma-
sonry intended to show inside, as is sometimes the case, tlie hassock is
capable of heinfj worked to a very good surface with close joinis ; and as
it can be procured in blocks of a considerable size, hassock is very appli-
cable as an internal facing.

RnxntoTie Paring.— \n Kent, ra{;stone is much used for paving. Inmost
of the towns of this district the streets are laid with rH;>stone headers, iu
the same manner as granite is used in London; stables and yards also are
paved with headers, which are generally preferred for these purposes to
anv other paving material. It is better, liowever, in public llutroughfares
where exposed to heavy draunhts, to make the kirb stones of granite.

The iiurahilitij of l)uHili»;;s erected with ragstone depends mainly upon
the qualities of the linif from which the mortar is made ; it can only be
depended upon when executed wiih mortar made with lime burnt from the
ragstone itself; this niorlar becomes in the lapse of time so very hard as
to form almost one and the same body with the stone. Many buildings
may be seen that have been erected a number of years that retain the ori-
ginal pointini; In the joints, fair as when first finished, aud so hard as to
resist the blow of a chisel.

Ragstone lime is usually burnt in inverted conical kilns from seven to
ten teet diameter at the lop, such as are ordinarily used in this neighbour-
hood in common for burning either chalk, or ragstone lime. The process
is the same in either case, but the ragstone requires more fuel for its con-
version into lime. A kiln of the ordinary size will burn from one and a
half to two loads per Hay, each load averaging 36 bushels. A load of
lime requires for its production about four chords of stone, and one third
of a ton of coals.

Although ragsione lime may be said to be ofaverystrongnature.it
will f'Ot take so great a quantity of sand as most other linies ; two parts of
sand by measure to one lime, is the proportion generally used. If an
excess of sand be employed, the mortar becomes short, and drops from
the trowel. iMortar made from ragstone lime nevei exhibits those proper-
ties common with the chalk limes, and technically known as " fatty."

A concrete of ragstone C" Betun" J, and ragstone lime, is much used in
this part of the county ; the stone is broken small, uo piece larger than a
hen's egg, wiih half i's bulk of sand added, a quantity about sulHcient to
till up the interstices of the stone. The usual proportions may be stated
at six parts of stiuie, two of sand, and one part of lime. It is needless to
say tl.at the lime should be well burnt, ground, and used hot. A very good
practice is to dispose the broken stones and sand in layers, alternately,
with lime, in the proper proportions of each, then to be picked, and twice
turned over, and a sufficient quantity of waler added to reduce the mass
to a proper consistency. In other respects the us3 of ragstone concrete is
subject to the same regulations as concrete made from ballast.

Pi icts. — Subjoined is an average list of prices of stone of various kinds
in the quarry, aud the rate at which it can be supplied in London along-
side ' the wharf, tugether with some prices paid for labour upon the
stone: —

Rough rag. per ton

Headers, per ton ..

Rag lor breaking, per chord ..

Rag for lime, per ctiord

Hassock, roughly squared, per chord

Hassutk, beat, per cliord .,

Ashlar, scapled out, per foot cubic

Aatilar, large acaritlings

Lime, per load ot' 36 bushels

It would, in most cases, be cheaper and otherwise preferable to burn the
lime in Loudon.

Prices of labour on ragstone in Maidstone.

». d.

Beds and joints (usually measured as plain work) . . . . 8

Plain picked face ., .. .. .. 8

Plain close picked in a superior manner .. .. .. 10

Tooled face . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Sunk work .. .. .. .. .. .. 10

Sunk and tooled .. .. .. .. .. 18

Moulded .. .. .. .. .. .. as

Circular plain .. .. .. .. .. .. 10

Circular and tooled .. .. .. .. .. 18

Circular sunk and tooled •. .. .. .* 2 0

Circular moulded and tooled .. .. •■ .. 3 6

For ragsione concrete, the quantities may be slated at eleven chords
broken rag, one hundred of lime, and four bushels of sand, for ten yards
of concrete. Breaking the rag may be reckoned atone shilling the chord.

it Quarry.
^ s. d.
1 6

In

London.

s. d.

5 0

8 0

12 6

1 6

5 0

2 6

6 0

3 0

6 6

4 0

7 6

2 0

2 9

2 6

■i 3

1 0 0

1

4 0

FICTILE MANUFACTURES— POTTERY AND PORCELAIN.

At a meeting of the Archjeological Institute, May 1, a very interesting
paper, by Mr. I5irch, was read,on " Fictile Manufacturen, including Pottery
and Porcelain of alt countries and all periods." The subject excited great
interest, and causeii llie table to be covered with numerous and valuable ex-
amples of the art, from the earliest to the most recent period. Specimens of
liahylonian, Greek, Roman, Mediaeval, Italian, and German pottery were
grouped according to date; and, to continue the aeries to our own time, a
large case presented specimens from the collection of the late Enoch Wood,
and the manufactory of the Messrs. Minton, illustrative of the progress of
the SlafTordbhire manufactories, from the time of Queen Elizabeth to the
present day. Among the contributors to the exhibition were the Marquis
of Northampton, Earl Spencer, Viscount Strangford, Sir Philip Egerton,
Bart., Mr. Talbot, Mr. Jekyll, Mr. Bidwell, Lady Brancker, Mr. Strutt, .VLK,
Mr. J. \V. Burgon, Mr. Dilke, .Mr. M'hincopp, Mr. Cole, .Mr. Mayer, of
Liverpool, the Kev. H. Addington, Mr. Gowen, Dr. Bromet, and Mr. Engle-
heart.

Mr. Birch commenced by giving a brief, but eompreliensive history of an-
cient Fictile Art. He observed that the most ancient pottery extant was,
probably, that found at Babylon and Nineveh ; some of this was of a fine
red clay, and at the latter place varnished and enamelled ware, probably of
the time of Sardanapalus, had been found in the recent excavations of M.
Botta. It was, perhaps, from Babylon that Fictile Art was transmitted to
the Egyptians, who appear to have exercised it at the earliest known period
of their history. Vases are found in the tombs in the vicinity of the Pyra-
mids, of a date probably 2000 B.C., of baked clay, some glazed and of vari-
ous colours. The ornaments of Egyptian pottery consist chiefly of flowers;
with occasionally a few human and animal forms traced in black outliue, but
the designs are coarse, and show little taste or invention.

Mr. Birch proceeded to describe the Fictile Art of Greece and Italy. The
vases of the archaic period are, \. the Athenian, of a light and fine clav ;
the ornaments are on a fawn-coloured ground, and consist of bands and
Meander borders. Animal forms occur but seldom in these designs — the
human form never. 2. The black ware, ornamented with figures in relief,
found throughout Etruria ; and which we must coi.sider the \Nork of the
Etruscan people, from about 6G0 B.C. to 416 B-C, when their power began
to decline. The subjects of these vases are the most early Greek myths ;
some of the figures exhiliiting monstrous combinations, borrowed from the
oriental religions, and to be ifaet with on the Babylonian cylinders and in
the art of Persepolis. The material of this ware is black throughout. Be-
sides this class of vases, the indigenous product of Etiuria, we find in that
country specimens of the Fictile Art, imported by the Greek settlers, and
resembling the vases found at Corinth by the traveller Dodwell. These are
known by the name of Nolan-Egyptian or Phcenician. The ground of this
ware is a pale straw colour, with animals painted iu maroon ; the details and
inner markings being given with the point of the graver, and some accesso-
ries picked out with crimson. The date of these vases is piobably from
600 B.C. to 5-10 or 520 b.c, — corresponding v\ith the mythic arrival of the
Greek potters, Eucheir and Eugrammos,said to have been brought to Etruria
by Demaratus, from Corinth. To these earlier specimens, succeed the vases
with black figures laid on a light ground. These are made of red clay,
tinted with an orange-coloured varnish : the design was drawn in slight
dark outline, or traced with a point, and the whole internal part of the
figure filled up with black. The light inner markings of the figure were
then incised on the black pigment with a craver, which cut down to the
yellow ground of the vase itself; the accessories being picked out with pur-
ple and white, as in the class last described. These vases are often accom-
panied by inscriptions recording the name of the artist, the maker, that of
the person to whom dedicated, and of the personages represented, — which
are particularly valuable as evidence of the early forms of the letters.

The subjects of these vases were all taken from the most ancient Greek
legends, — the Capriaca, the Iliad and Odyssey, the Hymns of Homer, and
the works of AlcEeus and other early Greek poets. The figures on them are
Btill drawn in the archaic style, and resemble those on the early coins of
Sybaris, Caulonia, Tarentum, and other places in Magna Grascia. This class
of vases is found associated with Etruscan art and inscriptions in the tombs
of the Etrurian Lucumos. They also occur in Greece Proper, — but with
certain differences of fabric which forbid the supposition that they were all
manufactured there, and imported thence to Etruria. It is more probable
that, while those found in Greece itself are the indigenous product of that
country, the Italian vases were the work of the Greeks who settled in tb(
Etruscan cities.

Second Period. — After the above archaic period, succeed the va^es of the
best time of Greek Art, from the epoch of Phidias and Polygnolus, B.C. 470,
to the urchonship of Euclidcs, B.C. 404. These vases have red figures on a
black ground. The material, like that of the earlier vases, is a fine red clay.
I'he artist, having traced out the design, then filled up the whole of the
background with the black pigment, following the contours of the group.
The inner luarkings of the figures, which iu the former style bad been in-
cised with the graver, were sketched in with a brush dipped in the black
pigment which formed the ground. This change in the technical jirocess
gave scope to the freer and mure refined treatment to which the Art of the
period had attained.
The subjects of these vases are apparently suggested by the works of the

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

179

great painters of the day. They chie6y represent myths ; historical subjects
are rare, and seldom of later date than the time of Cyrus. Representations
of Crcesus on the funeral pile, Musaeus, Anacreon, and the Athenian Codrus,
have been found. In the inscriptions of these vases, the use of the E and 0,
instead of the II and n, affords a strong presumption that their date is
earlier than the archonship of Euclides, b.c. 40-t, — the recorded epoch of
the introduction of the double letters into the Greek alphabet. The finest
Bpecimens of this style are from Campania, Canino and Vulci. Of the Athe-
nian school of pottery contemporary with these vases we have examples in
the lecythi buried with the dead, and the alabastra, or phials for unguents,
so called from the material of which they were originally made. They are
of a fine red clay, covered with a white pigment, on which designs were
traced in black, sienna, brown, or scarlet. The subjects of the lecythi are,
principally, the meeting of Electra and Orestes at the tomb of Agamemnon,
and other scenes from the Oresteid of the three tragedians. On the alabas-
tra are represented the meetings of Athenian ladies and their lovers. Be-
sides these kinds of pottery, the vases with red figures on black grounds are
also found at Athens, — but are not so peculiarly the product of the Attic
school.

The third period of Greek Fictile Art may be considered to range from
the close of the Peloponnesian was, b.c. 404, to the time of Alexander the
Great, B.C. 333. To this time belong the fine vases of Apulia, — particularly
those of Ruvo, the ancient Rubastini. Among the most beautiful examples
may be mentioned the vase of the potter Meidias, in the British Museum,
with the subject of Castor and Pollux carrying oft" the daughters of Leucip-
pus, — the vase with the subject of the Toilet of Aphrodite, belonging to Mr.
Rogers, — and that with the myth of Dionysos and the Camel, the property
of the Duke of Hamilton. The design, in these vases, is characterized by
greater freedom and technical skill in drawing, and more complexity of group-
ing ; the lines of the composition are more flowing and luxuriant. — This fer-
tility of invention and dexterity of execution immediately preceded the com-
plete decadence of vase painting. In that part of Italy now called the Basi-
licata, a coarse style arose after the time of Alexander the Great ; — the ex-
tant specimens of which enable us distinctly to trace the progressive decline
of the art. Clumsy, full forms, like those of the Flemish school of painting,
were substituted for the graceful proportions of the earlier Greek style ; the
ornaments are crowded and ill designed, and the subjects almost limited to
the Dionysiac rites, — then very prevalent in Italy. The taking of Syracuse,
by Marcellus, 212 b.c, may be considered the final epoch of the art of Greek
vase painting ; after which time it is probable that the manufacture of them
ceased.

From a survey of the history of (5reek Fictile art, it appears that, in each
successive period, the subjects represented on the vases were supplied from
the myths commemorated in the popular poetry of the day. It is remark-
able, that the epoch when the art of vase painting ceased is distinguished in
the history of the Greek mind by the extinction of poetic invention, the cor-
ruption of taste, and the decay of ancient faith and regard for national tra-
dition. It would seem that Fictile Art obeyed the general law of national
decadences; and that when the subjects of the vase painter ceased to be of
popular interest, his art was no longer needed.

Mr. Birch illustrated his remarks by the fine collection of Greek vases on
the table before bim ; and, after describing the painted vases, called the at-
tention of the meeting to three fine examples of the black Greek ware of the
latest period from Benghazi, the ancient Berenice, near Tunis, — one of which
had an inscription of palaeographic interest. These rare specimens were ex-
hibited by Mr. Bidwell.

Mr. Birch then proceeded to give an account of some varieties of Roman
ware found in this country. 1st. The so-called Saraian or red ware, appa-
rently imitated from the fabric of the early Etruscan black ware. It is or-
namented with reliefs, the whole vase being either cast in a mould, or por-
tions of embossed work laid on the plain surface. The clay is red, and ap-
parently an artificial compound ; it is generally glazed. The reliefs are
coQimonly hunting subjects, but are sometimes mythological. This ware is
found in great abundance in Italy and throughout the Roman provinces. It
is called by the Roman writers Aretine ware, from Arctium, or Arezzo, —
where a celebrated manufacturer of it continued probably till the 8th cen-
tury, AD. — I'his ware is generally stamped with the name of the potter, who
appears to have been of servile condition, and occasionally of a barbarous
race. The recurrence of the same potter's name in the specimens found in
England, Holland, and other parts of the Roman Empire, would lead rather
to the inference that it was all issued from one or more great central manu-
factories in Italy ; though it has been strongly maintained that the speci-
mens found in Britain and other provinces were the product of native pot:
teries. Specimens of this ware were exhibited by Sir Phihp Egerton, Bart.,
from Northwich, in Cheshire, — where a Roman pottery is supposed to have
existed, — and also by Mr. Talbot.— Mr. Birch proceeded to point out and
compare a variety of specimens of the coarse j allow, dark blue, uiiglazed
red, black, and light red terra-coua tioman ware, — chiefly from the collec-
tion of the Marquis of Northampton.

Some interesting examples of Celto-Roman ware, recently discovered at
Harpenden, Herts, were exhibited by the Rev H. Addingtun. Mr. Birch
pointed out the distinction, in fabric and material, between these works of
the Romanized Britons and the genuine British ware of ruder and coarser
character, found in barrows. Excellent types ot the latter were exhibited
by E. Strutt, Esq., M.P., and by Sir Philip Egerton, Bart.

Among the specimeas illustrative of viediaval pottery may be noticed a

remarkable fragment from the collection of Mr. Whincopp. It appeared to
have formed part of a vessel ornamented with a Gothic architectural design,
in high relief, and bore a very brilliant green glaze.

The specimens of Maiolica, or Faenza ware, contributed by Mr. Mayer, of
Liverpool, and Mr. Gowen, were numerous and good. The Secretary, in
alluding to them observed, that Dr. Klemm, of Dresden, was of opinion that
this ware was first made suosequently to the introduction of Chinese porce-
lain into Europe, by the Portuguese, in 1518. The earliest manufacture
was at Faenza ; but Urbino and Sienna became afterwards celebrated for it.
It has been supposed that many of the designs are from the hand of Raf-
faelle himself; but although a letter from the great painter to the Duchesa
d'Urbino has been cited, stating that the drawings ordered by that princess
for porcelain were in progress, it is probable that most of these subjects were
furnished by engravings after the great masters. Mr. Mayer also exhibited
some curious landscapes in terra cotta, which he purchased in Calabria,
where they were made; but he had not been able to ascertain where the
manufacture was situated, except that it was in the "interior." Mr. Octa-
vius Morgan, M.P., with reference to these specimens, made a few remarks
on the terra-cotta decorations of the Furstenhof at Wismar, in Mecklenburg,
— which he considered to be of Italian workmanship.

The discussion was closed by Mr. Cole ; who observed upon the examples
illustrating the progress of the Staffordshire pottery, ancient and modern,
procured by Mr. II. Cole from an extensive collection made by Mr. Enoch
Wood, a cofemporary of M'edgewood — and from the works of Messrs. Min-
ton. Among the modern specimens were a copy of the Portland Vase,
moulded the size of the original, and reduced by firing ; a Sleeping Figure,
after Dresden China, with lace introduced; Encaustic Tiles (of the revived
manufacture of Messrs. Minton) of three colours, similar to those making
for the new Houses of Parliament; — and other interesting specimens of this
branch of our native manufactures.

Sir Philip de Grey Egerton communicated an account of the discovery of
a sepulchral urn in a tumulus on Delamere Forest ; it is of earthenware, ap-
parently slighlly baked or sun-dried. The marks of the lathe are visible in
the interior; but, for want of support while the material was soft, the form
of the vessel is not symmetrical. Its largest circumference is 2 ft. 11 in.;
diameter of the foot, 5 inches; height, 1 ft. 1 in. It is rudely ornamented
on the upper part with parallel lines drawn diagonally in various directions.
— Mr. Willement sent for inspection a plaster cast from part of the iron-
work which formerly inclosed the monument of Queen Eleanor, in West-
minster Abbey. Although rough, it was sufficient to show the great beauty
of the original. A general sketch of the whole screen is given in " Carter'*
Ancient Architecture," Vol. 2, pi. vii., — in which the juxta-position of the
several varieties of patterns is shown. Mr. Willement considered this work
to he quite equal in design and execution to the more celebrated iron-work
on the doors of Notre Dame, at Paris ; and expressed a hope that, at the
recommendation of the Institute, the Dean and Chapter of Westminster
miglit be induced to restore this beautiful work of Mediaeval Art to its origi-
nal situation.

THE GAUGE COMMISSION.

Analysis of Evidence given before tfie Royal Commissioners appointed to Investigate
tile subject of the diversity of Railway Gauges.

Robert Stephenson, Esq. : Witness's father, Mr. George Stephenson,
v^'as chief engineer of the Manchester and Liverpool Railway, completed
in 1S30. The giuge of 4 feet 8^ inches was adopted by his father, as it
was the original gauge of the railways about Newcastle. The Manches-
ter and Liverpool was the brst line in this country worked by locomotive
engines. After the Liverpool and Manchester had been established, it was
considered imperative that all the lines in that ueighuurbood should be of
the same gauge.

It is difficult to say where a break of gauge in the northern lines could
have been made with the least inconvenience, as it involves the questioa
where is the line of uiioinium traffic. — When travelling on the Man-
chester and Liverpool Railway, before laying the gauge of the Loudoa
and Biriniogham, it appeared to witness, as an engine-builder, wheu called
upon to construct engiues of greater power, that an increase of three or
four inches in the gauge would have assisted him materially, but since, Ihe
iin|>ruveiuents in the luechanisni of the engines have rendered that increase
quite unnecessary ; they have ample space and to spare. In the arrange-
ment of the machinery, which is ihe main question, having reference to
the width, the working gear has been much simplified, and the commuai-
catiuus in the most receut entsines between the eccentric and the slide
valve have been made direct commuuicatioDS ; whereas formerly it was
made through the intervention of a series of levers which occupied Ihc
width. With refeieuce to the increase of power, the size of the boiler is iu
point of fact the only limit to the power, and they have been increased iu
length on the narrow gauge; the power is increased by iucreiisiiig iheir
length both iu the fire-box and in the tubes ; in fact the power of the engine,
supposing the power to be absorbed, may be taken to be directly as the
area of the fire-grate or the quantity of fuel contained iu the fire-box, Ne
incuuveiiieuce results from leugtheuing the engines to tlieir present extent,
and their steadiness is increased ; they are at present 12 feet between the
Iruut and hind axles. The iucrease of length between the axles reodeit

ISO

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Junk,

the engines less liable to get nffthe rails; the short engines on four wheels
were liable to violent oscillation "when nieetini; any inequality, the front
■nheeU being sometimes actually lifted olf the rail : believes the accidents
on the Brighton line and on tlie Hrcntwood inclined plane were attributable
to this pilrhins; niulion. The thickness of the crank of the original engine
on Ihe iManrhester and Liverpool was 3J inches. There were various
plans of reversing Ihe engine at that time. Kvery engineer, in fact, at
that time, had his own plan; some were extremely complicated, requiring
lime for Ihe reversing to be elfected ; they moved in fact, the eccentric.
For a long time they moved the eccentric, which slipped upon an axis, and
thereby move{i the eccentric from one side of the axle lo the olher, and
conse(iiiently reversed the engine ; but it ie(iuired a lateral motion of some-
thing Ilk*- 3^ inches ; and there being two eccentrics, of course, Ihe mere
act of changing Ihe g^ar occupied G or 7 inches of the axle, independent
of the m<ire bulky construction of the apparatus itself. The long engines, if
kept withiu 12 iVet, are not more likely to get oflT the rails at curves than
short ones.

The resistance in passing round curves is materially affected by the
width of the gauge. In the collieries about Newcastle, where the 1 feet 8 J
gauge prevails, wherever they come to any mining operations where the
power to be used is that of a horse or man, they immediately reduce their
gauge, because thfy want to go out and in amongst ihe mines with very
sharp curves, and the wide gauge would be quite impracticable amongst
those. In fact, the small carriages that are used in Ihe mining operations
are upon a gauge of about 20 inches, and they go round curves under
ground of about 10 or 12 feet radius; and they could only work such
mines by such a gauge. It is quite obvious ihat the width of gauge must
limit the curve. In the case of every gauge at a sharp curve, the outside
and the inside rail are quite brightened by the sliding motion, because the
one set of wheels has lo slide forward lo keep pace with Ihe other, and the
others have tb slide backward. In fact, when going round a curve, both
operations have lo take place, — Ihe sliding backward of the one set and
the sliding forward of the other. Of course, as you increase the width of
the gauge, the dili'erencc between the two becomes augmented.

Is chief engineer of Ihe Northern and Eastern Railway, and was at its
construction. Adopted the .'S-feet gauge in consequence of its being
brought into connection with the ^'astern Counties line, which had been
laid down with that gauge by Mr. Uraithwaite, and with the same view
lie laid down the 5-feet gauge on the IJIackwall, in case there should be
connection between tliem hereafter. The gauge of the Northern and East-
ern and Eastern Counties lines has recently been altered under his direc-
tion; vthen the extension of the Northern and Eastern was considered,
aud that junction with the narrow lines in the Midlands would take place,
a ch tnge was thought absolutely neceasary, and the same change was also
decided on for the Eastern Counties, from the inconvenience of blending
two gauges at the Shoreditch station ; the expense of a separate carrying
estai)lishment would have been greater than the cost of alteration, which
was £.52.000. Of course it involved the necessity of working upon a sin-
gle line of rails ; the establishment was divided into two parts, one of
which was retained as available for the 5-feet gauge, whilst the other half
was altered to be ready to work upon the other line, which had been con-
verted into the 4-feet 8J in. gauge, therefore the alteration from one gauge
to the other was to lake place in one night, in fact, between Ihe two
trains, the last at night and the first in the morning. The whole distance
was 8H miles. The operation occupied about six weeks altogelher, but
preparations were made beforehand. The alteration was made entirely
under his superintendence, and the rails being on transverse sleepers faci-
litated it materially. No new rails were required, and the boilers being
of tlie same size as those on the 4 feet S- J in. gauge, the engines could be
ocnverted.

Considers it would be advisable to run the same carriages from Euston-
square to Edinburgh and Glasgow, were a railway complete. There are
men at different stations to see that nothing is wrong, and the carriages,
both for passengers and goods, are now so substantial, that they may run
many thou^-anil miles without anything but greasing. Goods wagons go
at less velocity, and would probaljly stand it better. The carriage is now
much more judiciously constructed than formerly. Tlie strength of car-
riages conduces very mucli to safety in case of accident, and the plan of
making the under frames of carria;;es of wrought iron instead of wood,
will be carried out lo prevent the harm at present done by splinters. Is
projector of the Chester and Holy hiad Ifailway, and will use the 4 feet
.M^ inch gauge, that carriages may run from Euston-sqnare to Holyhead ;
««y change would interfere with communicaliim to Ireland. His father
anil he were consulted as to the lines from Antwerp lo Brussels, aud from
Liege to Os'end, and he was connected with the Leghorn and }*isa, and
recommended Ihe 4 feet Scinch gauge, as it liad been fouml in this country
to answer every purpose. An inch or two, more or less, would have in-
volved a dill'erent construction of engines, and he saw no reason for altering
that which had been established by experience. Was consulled on the
Belgian Kailways and on the Leghorn and Fisa. When giving his opinion
as to the lielgiau lines, the Great M estern was not opened, but in reference
to the Italian line he had seen both gauges in operation.

Is not aware of any advantage the Great Western possesses, and it has
several disadvantages ; the additional expense of construction, as in etu-
baukments, cuttings, tunnels, bridges, and viaducts, and also in carriages,
engines, tenders, workshops, and stations, everything being on an increased
scale. The sliding-frame system has lo be introduced instead of turn

tables, so that the management of the station is more expensive. Thinks
the t^ar and wear of the carriages on the Great M'eslern is as much as on
the narrow lines, and the resistance of the wide carriages is greater ; there
is more friction of the wheels on the rail to be overcome. The increased
expense of the carriage department on the wide gauge would not be in the
haulage per mile, but in the fixed establishment of engines. Even the in-
creased boiler (4 feet 9 inches) of the Cireat M'estern would as nearly as
possible go into the narrow gauge. While he thinks the Great Western
has no advantages by the wide gauge, its introduction has involved the
country in great inconvenience ; if a meeting of gauges takes place in the
midst of great traflic, canals would have a decided advantage over rail-
ways ; the system of boxes and loose-bodied wagons for the transfer of
coals has been tried aud failed. The loose-box system involves the neces-
sity of increasing the number of carriages on the railway very materially.
At Erewash the coal-owners could not avail themselves of the railway,
and sent the coals by canal. Coal-owners would prefer transferring their
coals from railway to canal, to moving them from one railway to another,
on the loose-box system, as by the latter they would lose control over their
boxes ; they would prefer the transfer by hand, from one railway to an-
other, to loose boxes. The American railways are universally of
the 4 feet SJ inch gauge. There is a railway from Basle to Strasbourg
of 6 feet 3 inch gauge, but parlies there deeply regret the alteration, as
they look forward to a transfer at each end. There is a line laid down by
Deridder, from Ghent to Antwerp, of 3 feet 9 inch gauge ; travelled with
him on part of lhat line from Brussels. Has seen at the Paddington ter-
minus the modes proposed to supersede the necessity of removing goods
and passengers at thejunction of different gauges, and believes it would
answer the purpose as far as machinery could, but seeing one or two trans-
ferred does not convey the amount of inconvenience incident to transferring
100 coal wagons. The olher mode of transferring by running the
train on another set of trucks, would increase the dead weight to be drawn,
so as to be highly objectionable, and Ihe increased height would prevent
some classes of goods from getting through the bridges and tunnels. The
London and Birmingham goods- wagon, properly laden aud placed on the
Great Western truck, could not pass under their bridges. The expedient
at the Great Western terminus for diminishing and widening their gauge
of wheels may be safe, but being complicated, he thiuks it would not keep
in good order; it would also be au expensive arrangement. A modifica-
tion of the sliding axle was tried on the Newcastle and Carlisle, and soon
abandoned. Has not been able lo think of any expedient to avoid a
transfer; he has seen various ones contrived; Ihe one by Mr. Harding, of
the Bristol and Gloucester, is as good a mechanical expedient as any, but
that would be so objectionable as to lead to the actual transference of goods
in preference. An arrangement at the Birmingham termini for lifting
goods wagons from one level to another is the simplest operation, but if
they had to be put on different wagons, the evil would be very much ag-
gravated ; even with regard to Birmingham, ihe inconvenience of the lift
is so great, that it is to be abandoned, and au inclined plane substituted.

Is still a locomotive engine-maker, and is of opinion lhat the 4 feel 85
inch gauge gives ample spade to get the utmost power necessary for work-
ing ordinary trains ; at present there are, he believes, more powerful
engines working on the narrow than on the broad-gauge lines.
The cylinders of those engines are 10 inches in diameter, the length of
stroke is 24 inches, and the wheels vary from 4 feel ti to 4 feet 9 in dia-
meter. They are all six coupled ; and ihose engines are as heavy as the
present rails will bear. They weigh from 22 to 23 tons ; I believe the
same weight as the Great M estern engines. There is now as great a
weight upon six wheels upon the narrow gauge as ought to be put upon 6
wheels; and that will be hereaftertlieliinit of power, not the widtii of gauge;
engines may be built upon the wide gauge, no doubt heavier and larger
in dimensions, and more powerful, but then you must make a road to sup-
port it on purpose. The weight of the rails is 75 pounds to the yard; 65
have been used. 1"he widih between the bearings varies from 3 ft to 2 ft. 9,
Thinks the narrow-gauge lines best calculated for carrying weight with-
out injury lo the road, and the transverse-sleeper system is belter for keep-
ing the rails in order than Ihe longitudinal bearings. The expansion and
contraction of the iron tend to disturb the action of the sleepers. Instance
on Ihe l'eterborou;;h line, where the rails had been laid loo close, and
acted on by the heat of the sun, raised the sleepers three feet into the air.
Locomotives can be manufactured for the narrow gauge capable of attain-
ing as high velocities as those on the broad ; they are now running up-
wards of 50 miles an hour, with engines not made for maximum speed.
No diHiculty in making a narrow-gauge engine to take 40 tons at 60 miles
an hour, or more ; the engines on the Great \V estern were made tor greater
speed, but the average on it was the same, or a little under the Northern
and Eastern. — The average speed of the Great M'esteru is greater
than on the Loudon and Birmingham, except for mail trains, which are
precisely alike. — Has worked the express trains ou the narrow lines
with as much economy of coal &c., as on the Great Western. The ex-
press engines on the Birmingham are smaller than others, weighing only
12 or 13 tons, aud costing about £1300. — Should recommend those weigh-
ing 17 or 18 tons, and costing about £1650. Thinks the public safety
would be endangered by having the bodies of Ihe passenger carriages
moveable at a change of gauge ; any slight collision, not otherwise dan-
gerous, would throw them oil', besides Ihe risk of porters neglecting the
fastenings of each. — Would never incur the responsibility of having
the bodies separate from the under frames, as, besides other oljjections, the
under frames wou!d be more liable lo deraugemenl. — The couiplexity

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

ISI

of the broad and narrow gauges in the same station would be great ; the
turntable, a most invaluable machine, must be abandoned. — Combin-
ing two gauges, by laying the rails of one centrally within the other, would
get rid of some of the difficulties, but not at stations. Turn-tablfs could
be used, but already in the wide-gauge system they are beyond the pale
of turn-tables, from the distance betvpeen the fore and aft axles of wagons.
In changing from a narrow lo a broad-gauge line, believes the least evil
is to transfer everything, changing the carriages and moving the goods by
hand; with reference to general merchandize, has heard Mr. Brunei ex-
press the same opinion. Thinks it would be belter to have two rails for
the nnrrow laid within those of the broad gauge, than to have only one,
and to use one of the broad gauge rails; as in the latter way, the two
trains could not accompany each other, the centre ofgravity not being on one
line. If Ihe engine were at the head of (he trains, it would be of less con-
sequence than if they were propelled from behind. A double system
would be required lo drive each carriage from Ihe centre, and this is a
matter of serious expense. Witness would lay down the narrow within
the broad gauge, on the transverse sleepers, and Ihe cost would be about
4000Z. a mile, or more, in addition ; Mr. Brunei estimates a single line ad-
ditional at 2r>00/., besides the extra cost of station. This is on Ihe sup-
position that the broad gauge is first laid down on transverse sleepers, but
the expense would not be materially different in either case. The rails
would not be packed well with longitudinal sleepers, on bolh systems. In
adding a pair of rails within the broad-gauge, witness would lay down Ihe
transverse sleepers independenlly ; for with other longitudinal sleepers,
there would not be room for another bulk like the present, and the ballast
of the weight would nol be in the centre. Could not mix the systems of
sleepers, on account of the length of the transverse, which would almost
cut the longitudinal in two. It would be impracticable to lay down Ihe
broad on Ihe narrow gauge, without sacrificing one line in tunnels, which
would, from danger, amount lo a prohibition. On Ihe narrow gauge 24
feet are required for tunnels, and on the Great Western 4 feet to 6 feet
more. Four feet is the minimum space between the two, just room for a
man to stand, and Ihe same spaces at each side of the tunnel, and any
diminution would be fatal. Recesses might be made at intervals, to meet
a diminution, bul a man might not be near a recess when the train came.
Recesses could be made after the tunnel is formed, but in many cases the
brick-work would thereby be much injured. Impossible lo' place the
broad gauge on the London and Birmingham, without enlarging the tun-
nels and closing the line for two or three years. Would rather make a
new one than enlarge the present Kilsby tunnel. A cutting could nol be
kept open there, and it would be a gigantic work. With reference to Ihe
present and future meeting of Ihe broad and narrow-gauge lines, does not
apprehend much interruption lo the express and other passenger trains at
the points of junction, if they are made at the proper places ; thinks Bris-
tol and Oxford two places where Ihe two gauges ought to meet, as at these
two points he believes there is the least quantity of cross traffic ; ihis ex-
plained by witness.

The principal Midland Counties traffic, from Rugby to the Great West-
ern, supposing the double line were constructed from Oxford, would be
coals going towards Oxford, and corn coming back. Looking to
Southampton as the port, it would only require, supposing the narrow
gauge carried down to Oxford, a line from Oxford to the South Western
to complete Ihe narrow gauge system over the kingdom, as far as South-
ampton is concerned ; the Great Western Company have a line from Read-
ing to Basingstoke, and if that were laid on the narrow gauge, and the
double system from Reading to Oxford, there would be no break in the
country at all ; commercially, Southampton, London, Bristol, and Liver-
pool, would interchange with each other, and with Ihe manufacturing dis-
tricts, by the same carriages. No extension of the wide gauge towards
the London and Birmingham would relieve Lancashire or Yorkshire from
a change of gauge, but an extension of the narrow from Oxford to Bas-
ingstoke would relieve Ihe whole question of embarrassment. The Great
\V estern Company can be compelled to lay down the double gauge from
Rugby to Oxford, and on the greater portion from Wolverhampton to Ox-
ford, and to Worcester, as Ihey agreed to do that. The loss of lime in
transferring a passenger train at Rugby to go lo Oxford on the broad gau^'e
would depend on the amount of passenger traffic; it is a point of small
passenger traffic; it may be a large one of coals and corn; the extension
of the wide gauge into that district must multiply the points of junction of
the two gauges, and the chances of interruption : passenger trains could
Dot be changed in less than half an hour. Has experienced Ihe incou-
venience of changing carriages, and scrambling for Inggage on ihe Bel-ian
railways, at Malines. Was detained the last time about half an hour If
the change of gauge took place at Rugby, a new station would be're-
quired.

With regard to agricultural traffic, at any point of change, the beasis
would require to be grazed before removing them from one carriage lo
another, and is afraid the loose bodies would be required for pi^s • thev
conld not be managed otherwise ; they must be lifted en masse. The" wagons
themselves upon Ihe narrow gauge vary from 2 tons 10 cwt to 3 tons'-
some recent large ones run as far as 3 Ions 10 cwt., and they will carry 5
and 6 tons of goods. I think the latter is as near two to one as possible ;
that is, that if the dead weight is one, the useful weight is two The
difference is here against the broad gauge ; the trucks for intermediate
traffic seldom average more than a ton each, so that all the intermediate
(rathe on the Great Western is carried on with trucks of five tuns, with

one ton of goods in them. As railways extend into every comer of the
country, the advantages of the narrow gauge would be most apparent and
asthe wide is more expensive than the uarrow, the former would limit Ihe
ramifications of railways. The narrow gauge wagons are infinitely supe-
nor for mineral traffic, particularly coal ; if the mixed gauge system be
allowed to extend in this country, the charge on coal will amount in many
cases to a prohibition. Thinks the broad gauge has a disadvantage as to
horse-boxes ; Iheir m.otion is sometimes fearful ; they want length with re-
ference to their width, while on Ihe narrow gauge a carriage of the same
length might be very steady. Prefers the narrow gauge passenger car-
nages, carrying three in width, to those of Ihe wide, carrying four • the
latter are cold in winter, and want ventilation in summer. There has not
been so much attention paid to Ihe construction of the narrow gauge pas
sengers carriage as to the broad, but the narrow could be made 6 feet high
so that a person might stand up in them. The lowest longitudinal dis-
tance between the axles of 4 and 6-wheeled engines on the narrow gauo-e
IS 10 feet, and Ihe highest 12 feet 9 inches ; Ihe last are too long ; witness'
adopts a maximum of 12, and a minimum of 10 feet ; relatively the centre
ofgravity is the same height , in both gauges. Though there would be
great difference as to the cost of constructing the broad and narrow lines
cannot say there is any difference in the cost of working. Whether the
traffic be much or little, it is merely a question of expenditure of power
and though the most powerful engine is cheapest to work with a propor-
tionate load, each may have engines of the same power.

The wide gauge engines are not more powerful, but are heavier in pro-
portion to their power; everything in Ihe width gives the engine no power
at all, but is an encumbrance. Neither commercially nor mechanically
has the wide gauge any advantage over the narrow, but rather the contrary.
The driving wheels of the broad gauge engines are not generally of greater
diameter than the narrow ; 6 and 7 feet engine wheels are used on the
Great Western. The greater diameter of the driving wheels has a ten-
dency to reduce the axle friction ; but comparing 6 and 7 feet, the amount
of this is not worth measuring, but if by increasing the gauge, the axle has
to be increased in size for strength, what is gained on the one hand is lost
ou the other. The friction of the flange of the wheels against the railway
has a retarding effect on curves, but not much on straight lines. Any-
lateral friction arises from the angle of the wheel against the line, and must
be greater on the wide than the uarrow gauge ; round curves the slidmo-
motion must be directly as the width of the gauge. "

The evaporating power of a passenger engine, on the Northern and
Easiern, is about 130 cubic feet an hour; he has some evaporating 160 feet
The most powerful engines are constructed with either oulside'or inside
cylinders; the largest are inside. Certainly, some engines that have been
recently made with outside cylinders have too much of that motion than I
like. It is exceedingly difficult to say how the motion is produced • if yoii
consider the action of the cylinder, it is perfectly rigid metal— eng'ine and
cylinder altogether. Now, when the steam presses upon the piston it is at
the same time pressing against the lid of the cylinder ; the action and re-
action must be equal. Therefore, that it is not the steam that causes the
irregular action, but the mere weight of the pistons themselves, and there-
fore if we could contrive to balance the pistons by the weight upon the
wheel, we should get rid of that very much ; but in Ihe most recent de-
signs of engines of that kind, he has brought Ihe cylinder much nearer to
the driving wheel, and nearer to Ihe centre of the engine; at present
Ihey hang over the wheels a good deal ; now he has brought them wilhia
the wheels.

It is now an indispensable part of the broad-gauge system to use the
longitudinal bearings ; it is a question of expense. As you increase the
widlh of the gauge, of course, ou the longitudinal system, it leaves the ex-
pense Ihe .same ; whereas, if you adhere to the transverse system you in-
crease the size, and, of course, you increase the expense more rapidly ■
therefore Ihe transverse system with a very wide gauge would be very ob-
jectionable on account of its expense, but I think the principle of couslruc-
tion would be better. With reference to the maintenance of the way
imagines that the way is kept in better order upon the transverse system
than upon Ihe longitudinal at the same expense ; has never seen any por-
tion of longitudinal bearing railway in perfect order. It is more difficult
to pack, and there is always more friction in a longitudinal railway than
in a sleeper railway. The Hull and Selby is part of it longitudinal and
part of It transverse. The engines, where they were heavily laden, upon the
longitudinal bearings would just creep along ; the moment they got to the
transverse bearings they went 5 or 6 miles an hour more directly, from the
yielding in one system, which gives a little less noise and a little softer
motion which the Great Western has. Does not think that in that parti-
cular case it resulted from the longitudinal bearings being of insufficient
dimensions and slighter than the Great Western, thinks they were the
same size ;— Memel balks, 12 or 14 inches square, cut up; and the Great
Western are 14 inch balks. In the longitudinal system there is a little
less noise, and there is a little softer motion than upon the transverse sys-
tem, but there is a great deal more motion ; there is far more actual motioa
upon every longitudinal railway than upon the transverse sleeper system

If Ihe London and Birmingham had originally been made on the broad
gauge, estimates that it would have cost about 3000^. a mile more without
including the additional cost of the central slalion at M'olverto'n which
must have been much larger. As lo altering Ihe existing gauge'ou the
London and Birmingham, thinks as it would slop the line for at least two
years, that it is practically impossible. It would cost about 15/ a yard

182

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[June,

for tunnelling, taking good ground and bad. To make the Kilsby tinnel as
[age a7 he Great Western tunnels, it ^vouM have cost a great deal more
than titat On the other hand, in increasing the size of the tunnel ,n good
ground, such as chalk, the addUioual cost would not have been so muh
States the results of experiments, showing the consumption of '''e'»°'}
water by an engine with difTerent load. Found that the consumption of fuel
f'r drkwing the engine without a load, was equal to about the consumption
of fuel to overcome a load of 15 carriages at 30 miles an hour ; that is, it
Lk as much .0 move the engine and tender as it did add. .onalto move
15 carriages. There have been many reasonings upon that without con-
sidering the precise application of it. A large proportion of the fuel in
1 ov ng the engine alone is consumed in overcoming '^e resistance of he
Ltmos^here to the pistons; it will not require more than three or four
pounds to overcome the friction of the engine and tender proper, but ,t re-
quires 15 pounds in addition to that t" overcome the engine and tender
taking into account the atmospheric resistance to the piston ; so that there
ralways 15 pounds of pressure of steam in all high-pressure engines ab-
solutely lost ; it is not the friction of the engine ; certainly it is a defec in
the engine frim its being a high-pressure engine, but on »o other accoun
It is not a peculiar loss applicable to locomotive engines alone, but to al
hi-h-pressure engines ; and therefore in estimating the consumption of
fuel and dividing the proportion of expenses, it became important o ascer.
ain what was the relative expense of conveying 8 carriages, and o con-
veying 15, because all the trains of the Croydon Company were small, and
all thetra ns of the Dover Company were comparatively large; and from
tl s exper ment it appears that as to the cost of coke, whether to convey 8
carriages or 15, there is a very small difference. Therefore, if you pro-
no ion you expenses by the lold, you give the small load very greatly the
advantage, because you charge them only half the f-x^'-.^ay^s 8 i to 15
whereas you ought to charge them as 8 plus the engine is to U plus the
engine, which will make a very great dillerence. ,■•„,«„,„ hp r

Believes the gauge of the Dutch railways, constructed m 812, to be 6
feet 5i The Amsterdam and Haarlem Railway is essentially level, and
aid o. longitudinal timbers, which are best suited to the unsound ground
of Holland. The line laid over Chatmoss is laid on transverse sleepers
but the moss there has much more tenacity than the substratum of peat n
the low part of Holland. Mr. Conrad constructed or projected t^e line in
Holland ; he examined railways in this country, but does notknow whether

'%re^.„" tV-K^E^q^ii^^th^^ntnerwho completed the Grand June
tionRa'way This line was opene"d to the public in .837. Wl^en witness
assumed the office of engineer on this line, the rails and sleepers had been
contracted for, the bridges designed, and some portion of the work com-
menced for the narrow gauge. Alteration of gauge at this time would
have been attended with considerable expense ; narrow gauge selected for
this line because surrounded on all sides with lines of^'milar gauge and
it was desirable to preserve uniformity of gauge in the district. Great
Western Railway not commenced at this time. Narrow gauge rails may
be laid down on a broad gauge railroad, so as to carry on the narrow gauge
traffic continuously ; this process is very expensive, and in reference to the
stations, very inconvenient. Where two gauges meet, the station by his
plan must not only be made larger, but also of a different construction than
[f made for one gauge only. If called upon to project a series of rai road
in a new country, would prefer an intermediate gauge, between 4 feet 8i
inches and 7 feet' wide gauge not necessary for machinery ; carnages on
narrrw'gauge liles^an be m'ade longer and loftier than at P-ent, giving
as much space to each passenger, three on a side, as in broad, as four or

'^'neight'l.'f'carriages on narrow gauge lines lately increased 6 or 8 inches
At high speeds hisher wheels are necessary ; the centre of gravity would
consequently he raised, rendering wider gauge than 4 feet 8J niches desir-
ableTat The same time, witness is of opinion, .hat looking to the construe-
tion of the road, the speed now attained is as great as is consistent with
safety, and would neither increase the gauge, speed, nor size of wheels
without more experience in the construction of engi.ies and strength of
materials; inequalities of road from change of temperature and weather
mpos ihi; to be overcome ; some engines on South Western .R*'l;YJ"'h
wheels 6 feet 6 inches diameter, where the boilers are -jot higher than on
engines with wheels of 5 feet 6 inches ; this done by P'^<='»g '^^j''"'!^^
outside the boiler, and bringing the boiler nearly on to the 'V'le; tl"*^ =«°'^;
of gravity as low with the large wheels as the small ones by this arrange-
ment. No disadvantage caused from this change ; application of power
"uts de The wheel does no. produce a rocking motion Great changes have
been made on engines on narrow gauge lines, with a view to obia.n in-
creased power; engines of enormous power have -cently been constructed
on North Midland Railway to carry heavy trains of '"'''«"'^- ^^I;'" '^^
space between wheels and boiler in engines on narrow gauge l'"es caused
,ome inconvenience in the attempts to obtain increased P^"- T"/""*
his attention to improving the engine and altering the arrangement of nia-
chinery; and now gets all necessary power on narrow gauge ''"es- ^e-igth
of boilers on Grand Junction and South Western lines increased fiom 8
feet 6 to 9 feet 6. . .

Cannot tell the velocity attained upon the Great Western ; express rains
on South Western line travel 40 miles, and could no doubt run dO miles an
hour. Does not think 50 miles an hour can be done with safety on any
line that witness has been on ; is much opposed to such excessive speed
Curves more difficult to traverse with broad than narrow gauge, taciliiy
for turning curves ia inverse ratio to the width ot gauge.

Broad gauge gives greater facility for conveyance of heavy trams, by
giving larger space to put the power in, but witness considers that as muc-b
Ld :ven more power than is necessary can be obiained on the narrow
gauge ; disapproves of throwing a large force upon one engine. Has heard
of trains of CO and 70, and in one instance of 77 wagons >»o"e train
would alto^'ether prohibit such trains ; would divide them, and not a low
mo"e than 40 wagons, each weighing 5 or 6 tons, at one time ; more than
tha"number strains the wagons, the frames are l^-- out of square the
chains are broken, and cause delay and inco.ivenience on the road. Would
norhavt greater power than sufficient to drag 00 wagons ; the enS'^es on
North MfdTand' with large boilers, cylinders, and fire-boxes, can drag 100
wagons ; they generate more steam than they consume

Wide eauge more expensive than narrow; it required longer sleepers,
greater fpac'e for emba'nkmeats. cuttin-s, f.c. ; Mr. Brunei «. a contrary
opinion; his calculations were fo"n;led upon using smaller tiinbrs and
lighter rails .ban he is now using. The South Western rail i, 75 Ih to the
yard- both the Grand Junction and London and Birmingham were origi-
n!lly 651b. ; have been recently increased to 75 lb. Increased expense of
b?oad gauge would be in bridges, tunnels, cuttings, and embankments
Outside rail of Great Western nearer the slope or ditch than upon other
Une^ If engines get off the lines, more liable to fall over ; witness pre ers
a wide em^ankm'ent, and where possible, always gives a-l^'tiona width
Estimates that a broad gauge transverse sleeper would cost aO per cent
more than a similar sleeper on the narrow gauge ^''^'"^nj" ^\^{
bankments 30 feet, giving 7 feet on each side between edge and outer ra 1.
In such roads if engine got off one rail, it would remain on embankment ;
f off both rails It would go over. Cannot say how far the extra width in
G^eat Western engines would prevent them getting over the embankment^
Would gfve a space of 7 feet beyond the rails in wide as well as narrow

^'Kffls laid upon longitudinal bearings give greater elasticity to the work,
and tend to throw the engines and carriages off the line; tried wth lo. gi-
rnHinal bearinffS two viaducts, Dutton viaduct and Birmingham viaduct,
and could neve^r keep them in order ; considers the principle bad ; prefers
'ransverse"leepers. This opinion the result of actual observation. Rad-
^ys laTd with'transverse sleepers more easily repaired than a longitudinal

™Hks not seen the contrivances used at Paddington f-^ '^^ff ^'" V^1^=
from one gauge to another. Believes the transfer can easily be made The
machine itself very simple ; the practical difficulty is in use of carriages
carrying oose box buddies to be tranferred ; a machine was formerly used
on Live'rpooTand Manchester for lifting ^"^.e co.Ubo.es ■r..ch.nee.c,X
lent and saved much labour, but the boxes were so much broken and in-
ured in lift.no-, that the contrivance was abandoned ; carriages with oose

same manner, and dropped on to a trame oi 'our i

journey. Th^ contrivance is very simple and '^.^ f'', '« '^^" /,^1j\7.
safe Thev take the truck as it stands when the diligence is '< a"eu
h ;isfirsIo?alll.truckmade for the diligence ''-.;';;;- ^.^.'^
a simple bottom to it, but has sides to it, and it is hen Ike an ord nary
truck ; and 1 believe that when the diligence is "?"" ^^''';''^"';v'' '%'"'

you might have a --^^t "f^'y about five or ..^s^^^^^^
carriage you are carrying a great deal oi oeau „ .„nision on the
the necessity of changing the carnages. There "''^^ * <="' '"^"ji" ^ce.
Orleans Railway by some sudden stoppage ; one of those very diligence,
was thrown off Its position. j„ „:n, „„tairlfl cvlindere :

Engines on narrow-gauge lines are not all ™'*<lf/''h »" f'^ llhey^Te
on Grand Junction line, about one half are *« made. »nd o.he s, as Uiey are
renaired are altered upon the new system ; but evet^ with cranked dxies
a'angements of m'achinery are so simpldied and compressed that n
inconvenience is felt from want of space. No ^'fi^erence in construcUon
of horse boxes on broad and narrow-gauge lines. ^/f^'^/XoDa-es and
Western attributed to their having better gradient f'■"^';'°PP^^;;■^,"t
larger engines than on narrow-gauge. Has travelled o" an engine witn
6 ffet ti inch wheel (the largest wheel on narrow ^^''^^If-^^'^'^^^Z
with ease ; that engine capable of taking «'\°^ ^ «" "T^^,, ° Hett
an hour; one of the new engines on t'™"/ J unction with only
wheel, and expansive gear, recently travelled " m'les a° hour

Believes that wherever a break of gauge o^^»" ^"^^''r'i^'„po7b,oad
tirely new line must be laid down, or a narrow 8*' g« !'"/ '»'° ^nd having
.riugeroad In the latter case, continuing the narrow gauge, a"'' °"' *
rirfoubte gauge upon the shortest possible length ,s the lesser e,. of the

two, and in'all probability will h^^Y-^/^^^^yf.-'-P^^-.ue^I ion of al. tL

should take place where there is little traffic. An aiie

broad gauge lines to 4 feet 8i inch gauge would "« "^ \^f '^P^VterCom-

obviating The evil of different g-"f ^;, »! '"^^Je ,0 ^reat, '^^^^^^^^^^ -"'
pany will find the inconvenience of break^f gauge so gre ' j

be compelled to lay down the narrow gauge from 0^f°™ '"J;';"^ g.
not prepared to say at once that a change "^ "road U, narrow gg
throughout would lead to the ^-a'est economy and g^a^es^ ^ ^^^^

advantage, because th» oSicers of the Great \» estern Kaiiway

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

183

the inconveniences attending a change of gange are less than supposed by
witness; could iiol, therefore, as a government oflicer, supposing all the
railways novv made the property of government, advise a change of broad
to narrow gauge witliout greater experience.

Reason of engineer of Great Western Railway adopting wide gauge,
after the Bill had passed through Parliament, supposed to be a desire to
attain greater speed, a better road, and greater economy of construction ;
one great item of expense in locomotive engines supposed to be the rapid
reciprocation of the piston : and to diminish this was thought very desir-
able ; but the expense of working locomotives on narrow gauge has di-
minished from 2s. 6d. to 2s., Is. 4d. down to lOd, per mile run ; it is very
<loublful v\bether the expense is not just as great on Great Western as on
the narrow gauge; Mr. Brunei at first intended using wheels of much
larger diameter than are used at present ; wheels on Great Western for-
merly 10 feet in diameter ; those now used only 7 feet; only 6 inches
larger than those at present working on South Western Railway ; the
adoption of the broad gauge it was supposed %vould tend to diminish the
Working expem^es ; this result, however, has not yet been proved. Con-
siders that a far higher speed can be obtained on narrow gauge lines than
is compniible with safety. If desirable to change gauge of South Western
to broad gauge, should take certain length, and use a single line ; this is
the practice when any substantial repair is in progress, when a mile or
mile and a half of rail is taken up, using a single line, and keeping a
policeman at each end. The tunnels on South Western line nut large
enough for broad gauge, and while enlarging these, the traffic must be
stopped ; the bridges and viaducts would also require alteration.

Has bestowed considerable attention to the consiructiou of locomotives,
particularly at the time the difficulty was first experienced in obtaining
greater speed on narrow gauge lines. The first engines used on Grand
Junction line of very inferior construction; the dirtirully of obtaining
greater speed on this line first induced witness to turn his attention to im-
provements in the construction of locomotive engines. Outside cylinders
introduced on Kingstown and Dublin line without outside frames; by this
plan the cylinders overhung the frame too much On Grand Junction
line outside frames were used, but the outside bearings were attached to
the front and hind wheels only; the cylinder by being attached to the
driving wheels, without the intervention of the outside frame, kept the
engine more compact. By this arrangement the widtli of engine was di-
niinistied several inches. Inside cylinder has necessarily a crank axle,
and more liable to break; on Grand Junction line, accidents from this
cause formerly a source not only of expense but of danger, as the crank
broke when the train was in motion, and often threw it off" the line. Has
not had a single accident from breakage since the introduction of outside
cylinders. Engines getting o(f the line not of frequent occurrence ; more
60 now than formerly, in consequence of the increased speed.

Tenders on Great Western line of greater capacity to contain water
than on other lines, and run longer distances without changing. Tenders
could be made f<ir narrow gauge lines larger than those on Great Western
if considered necessary ; tenders upon Great Western line all upon six
wheels ; on other lines upon four wheels only. The 10-feet driving wheels
on Great \V esleru abandoned from the difficulty of getting engines large
enough to moie the trains at any ordinary speed, and the further difficulty
of slopping iheni when once started. Wheels of these dimensions not
suitable ou a line with severe gradients. By increasing the size of the
wheel there will be a danger of the springing of the wheel itself on its
motion, from the axle not being sufficiently rigid. In going through points
or crossings with a ^ery large wheel, a very little force applied to the
flange will spring the wheel unless it is made proportionately strong, and
if you do that jou will have a wide boss ; the bosses are 8 or 10 inches,
the spokes are 4 or H inches, tapering up to 3 inches at the rim ; if you
increafe it from 6 or 7 feet to 10 feet you must increase the width of your
boss, and you will have a very heavy weight and very wide boss. Weight
of largest engine ou Southampton line, about 17 or 18 tons. No evil will
result tu the road by increasing the weight of the passenger engines.

Wagons on either gauge can be made to contain 5 tons ; in the north of
England, where so much more is carried than in the south, small wagons
are still adhered to. Wagons upon both lines made to carry 10 tons of
coals. Narrow gauge most convenient for side lines running to the pits.
Relative cost of vvoikiiig trains at 16 miles and at 40 miles an hour about
one-third more. Some engines on Grand Junction line burn 10 lb. of coke
per mile. Probable consumption of express trains about 4 or 5 lb. per
mile more ; on Great Western the consumption is considerably more than
this; they have larger and heavier engines ; on South Western line, the
<]uantity of coke consumed per mile is considerably less than on Great
Western.

There would be increased difficulty in the ordinary working as regards
the maintenance of way, packing the rails, &c., if the narrow and broad
gauge were combined. The easiest mode of maintaining the road would
he, where you have the broad gauge, by transverse sleepers, and then put-
ting a single rail upon one single sleeper ; that is the best mode of keeping
the road in repair : but it is not a good mode of laying the road for two
carriages, nor is it couvenient for working, because the centre of gravity is
not in the same line. If you take two rails between the longitudinal
bearings of the wide gauge, jou have not space enough to put longitudinal
bearings, unless juu put them close together: and you cannot ram them ;
if you ram down one side jou will run a risk of eh vating the other rail ;
auU in ramming down the inner rail you would run a risk of lifliog it up

out of the level on the opposite side; in fact, the want of the facility of
getting to both sides of the baulk would be found a very serious inconve-
nience. Would propose, under those circumstances, to lay both rails upon
transverse sleepers ; and if railways w ere to be made in that manner,
should certainly lay a large sleeper, long enough to take both gauges.

A considerable number of the transverse sleepers upon the Great West-
ern Railway have been changed ; their duration is very variable; those not
well saturated decay sooner than others ; their duration also affected by
the nature of the soil. Construction of passenger carriages on Grand
Junction line much improved ; they are now made stronger and more sub-
stantial. They are now made solid instead of being carved out. This
change is adopted partly from economy and partly to obtain greater strength.
Liverpool and Manchester Company began with very light carriages, con-
sidering that the lighter the carriages the less the draught; on the slightest
collision they got out of the square; they have been gradually increased
in strength up to the present time ; they now weigh about 3 or 3f tons,
but have not yet adopted the solid frame ; cost more from the quantity of
iron-work used in their construction. Reasons for the adoption of the
solid frame were these :— In the bolt-holes in all these small scantlings of
timber not more than 4 inches square, or 4 by 3, on taking a carriage to
pieces, you found a little decay ; that one corner of the bolt-hole gets a
little larger, and there is a little play ; consequently it has to be renewed
far sooner than if it had been a solid and substantial piece of timber, for
the least decay in a small piece of timber renders it unfit for its work, and
it must be renewed. 11 pon seeing this at the Grand Junction workshop
at Crewe, witness advised the directors to abandon entirely the construc-
tion of the carriages on that plan, and to adopt the solid frame; and they
now have carriages with solid frames. Considers the public safety much
increased by the alteration. Many engineers entertain a dilTerenl opinion,
and consider that very high velocities may be obtained with much lighter
carriages than those now used; Mr. Brunei and Mr. Cubitt are both of
opinion, that by the atmospheric system, they will be able to keep the road
in better order, use lighter carriages, and go at greater speed than has
hitherto been attained on any of the locomotive lines. Witness altogether
disapproves of light carriages, and considers that with them accidents are
more frequent, and when occurring, more dangerous than with the stronger
carriages. Safely of train depends greatly upon weight of engine which
draws it. If the engine were a light engine, at the speed at which it
sometimes travels, it would leave the rail ; but, as it is heavy, it gives
security to the train behind it. Recent accident on Great Western line,
where all the light carriages were more or less damaged, while the strong
one, in the same line, was scarcely strained. SIrepers can be renewed on
transverse system at much less expense than on continuous bearings. Es-
timated expense of one mile of permanent way, £4,838. —

jg 8. d.
Rails, 75 lb. per yard . . . 2311 tons at £11 . . 2,596 0 0

Chairs 56 tons „ £9 . . . 504 0 0

Sleepers 2 640 „ 5s. . . . 660 0 0

Ballast 9,080 yards „ Is. 6d. . . 726 0 0

Laying Road, including Spikes and Keys, 3,520 at 2s. 352 0 0

Total 4,838 0 0

The prices of Rails, Chairs, and Ballast are variable.
(To be continued. J

AMERICAN PATENTS.
Granted in March 1845, reported in the American Franklin Journal.

MARBLE POLISHING MACHINE.

A machine for " polishing flat plates or tables of marble." Jacob Zieglcr,
Philadelphia, Peunsjivania.

The plates of marble, &c., to be polished, are placed, face upwards, on
the top of a carriage which carries them slowly under the rubber, which
is a flat plate qf wood or other material, covered with the polishing sub-
stance. This rubber receives a movement from two cranks or cog wheels,
attached to the lovier ends of parallel vtrlical shafts, geared together and
driven by an inteimediate cog wheel on Ihe driving shaft. These shafts
are hung in a sliding cross head suspended by levers, 6.C., tu regulate the
pressure of the rubber.

BRICK-MAKING PRESS.

For an " improvemettt in the bricK press." John Waite, Leicester, Mas-
sachusetts,

The improvement is for arranging and operating on the brick machine,
so that while one brick is being compressed in one couipartment of the
mould by the compressing pistons, the discharging pistou shall be per-
forming its office of expelling from the mould the brick which had next
previously been formed ; the mould being progressively mi.ved forward at
regular intervals of time, so as to present that comparliuent of it jn winch
the brick has been coroprcised to the action ot the discharging pisien.

184

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[JUME,

where Ihe compressing pistons next enter the precedingapartment, to effect
the formation of a brick therein.

TINNING PIPES,

For "improvements in maddnerij fur making and tinning lead pipes."
Robert W. Lowber, Rochester, N. York.

This is for tinning lead pipes, (wliich are formed in a die and around a
mandrel) by introducing the melted tin through the mandrel, or core, which
is hollow and provided with apertures for the discharge of the tm inside
the pipe.

Claim. — " What we claim herein as oar invention and desire to secure
by letters patent, is the method herein described of tinning the inside of
lead pipes in the course of manufacture, by passing the melted tin down
into the mandrel and out at the side thereof, as above made known, whether
applied to this machine or any other substantially as described."

VENTILATING STOVES.

An " improcement in stoves for warming parlours, and for other pur-
poses." John Morrison, Newark, New Jersey.

The nature of this improvement " consists in taking the air from near
the ceiling of rooms, for supplying air to the lire, and thus incidentally
ventilating the apartment. For this purpose there is a pipe which extends
up from the ash pan to within a short distance of the ceiling, where it is
made bell mouthed for the free admission of air. This pipe is surrounded
by an outer jacket, which communicates with the chimney, the Ure cham-
ber, and with the case surrounding the fire chamber of the stove, by separate
pipes governed by dampers for regulating the draught, heat, &c.

HYDRAULIC PAINT.

An " improved mode of making hydraulic paint." Thomas G. Warren,
Troy, New York.

The patentee says, — " This paint is composed of ' hydraulic cement,'
(sometimes called ' water lime') made line by grinding, and ' linseed oil' to
be mixed in such proportions as to make a paint of ordinary thickness.
The use lo which this paint can be applied is general. It can be applied
to houses of either brick or wood, and also to cloth roofs for houses, or other
purposes. I have a cloth roof to my house painted with this new paint,
and it is perfectly tight. The cost of such a roof is considerably less than
that of ordinary roofs. The same materials, but with a less proportion of
the oil, make an excellent water-tight putty."

PRINTING PRESSES.

"Improvements inpresses." Joseph Saxton, Washington, District of
Columbia.

The patentee says, — "My invention and improvements consist, firstly, in
the use of a flexible or elastic platen, instead of a rigid or inflexible plate
of metal as a platen. Secondly, in the application of pressure to such
flexible or elastic platen by means of a liquid, or aeriferous fluid ; and
thirdly, in the arrangement of machinery in printing presses, copying
presses, and lithographic, and zincographic presses, for the purpose of ap-
plying such pressure to such flexible or elastic platen. The object and
effect of using a flexible or elastic platen with the pressure by means of a
liquid or aeriferous fluid is, that the platen is equally pressed or acted
upon over its whole surface, and which may therefore be employed in any
position, to press upwards, downwards, or sideways. The elastic platen
is to be of the necessary size for the press in which it is to be used, as in
the case of the ordinary platen, and is to be a thin plate of brass or other
suitable metsil, varying in thickness from that of a sheet of foolscap paper
to about half an inch, according to the dimensions of the platen, and of
the vacant spaces between the columns or pages of types or figures, lech-
■ically in printing called ' the white.'"

SAFETY VALVES.

For " improvements in the safety valve for preventing steam boilers from
bursting or collapsing." Abraham Patterson, Rush, Pennsylvania.

The claim is for the employment of the apparatus termed the working
column, in combination with the uplifting valve and float, as described,
whereby the pressure of steam on the working column is added to the
pressure on the safety or uplifting valve, for the purpose of opening it
when the water descends below a given point, and which, at the proper
height of the water, permits the free action of the uplifting valve. A
claim is also made for the employment of a pendulum, so situated, or so
suspended, that by the rocking, tilting, or careening of the boiler or boat
upon which such pendulum shall be employed, the said pendulum shall
so attach itself to, or so suspend itself upon a tackle, lever, or pivot, as
thereby to apply its weight as a moving power to the opening of a safety
valve or valves for steam boilers, as described.

RAILROAD TRUCKS.

For an "improvement in railroad trucks." Fowler M. Ray, New

York.

The patentee says the nature of his invention consists in substituting a
single cross beam of timber, having end bearers of metal for the connect-
ing bars of the axles, furnished with a single spring, and having a pedestal
connecting the bearer, spring, and cross beam together at each side of the
truck in such a manner as to give to the whole frame work or superstruc-
ture of the truck a yielding capacity, instead of the usual method of a
stiff frame work, and short unyielding springs, two at each side, as here-
tofore most commonly constructed. By which yielding quality several
desirable objects are elfecled. — 1st, The capability of elevating either of
the wheels of the truck to a considerable height without affecting the posi-
tion of the remaining wheels upon the track, and by which obstructions
are passed with greater safety. 2nd, It gives to each axle, independent
of the other, a facility to vibrate laterally without changing their parallel
position to each other, and by which, short curves are made easy. 3rd,
Its yielding and elastic quabty, rendering vertical and lateral concussions
less severe than in the ordinary (rigid frame) truck.

For " improvements in the manufacture of boats and other vessels of sheet
metal. Joseph Francis, New York.

The invention consists in forming the sheets of metal with mouldings or
beads in suitable places to take up the surplus metal, when ihe said plates
are pressed into form, by means of projections on the die and correspond-
ing depressions on the matrix, or concave mould, which gather up the
metal and prevent wrinkles around between the upper and lower parts of
the boat, so as to present a smooth surface, and also in forming a recess or
bed for the gunwale, which holds it in place and prevents its getting
knocked down. A flanch around the stem and stern posts, and along the
line of keel, is also added, which takes up the surplus metal there, and
forms the keel, and stem and stem posts.

REGISTER OF NEW PATENTS.

If additioral information be required respecting any patent, it may be obtained at the
office of this Journal.

ROLLING IRON BARS.

Thomas Howard, of the King and Queen Iron Works, Rotherhithe, iron
manufacturer, for ** improvements in roilmtj iron bars for suspension bridyes
and other purposes." — Granted October 6, 1845; Enrolled April 6, 1846.

Fig. 3.

Fig. I

a

a

^^ ■-- ~

_--— X

\

^^^1)

Fig. 3.

The improvements consist in a method of rolling wrought-iron bars with
heads, or increased breadths thereon, in one entire piece, so as to avoid the
uncertain and insecure process of welding such heads on to the bars, parti-
cularly when subjected to great strain or tension, as in suspension-bridges,
and other works requiring similar bars. To effect this, the slab faggot or
shingle from which the bar is to he produced, is heated in a furnace and
passed through grooved or other rollers in the ordinary way, to form an
elongated slab. This slab is then carried to what are termed heading rollers,
having enlarged parts or collars upon them, between which the slab is passed
edge first, or breadth ways, as often as is necessary, and which produces the
form required on the slab o, fig. 1, while the intermediate part of the slab re-
mains incompressed by the rollers, which are of less diameter where this
latter part passes between them. The slab is then elongated by plain or
finishing rollers of ordinary construction to the finished bar or length and
thickness required, as shown at b, fig. 2. When the heads are intended to
be of the same thickness as the other parts of the bar, they should come
from the heading rollers sufficiently thick to receive some pressure by the
finishing rollers, due allowance being made for the elongation, particularly
when the bars are to be employed in suspension-bridges, in order to produce
the grain or fibre of the iron in cross directions around the holes made in
such heads, when completed by any ordinary means. A view of the heading
rollers preferred is shown in fig. 3, and when the bars are large, it is recom-
mended that these rollers have given to them a to and fro or reversing mo.
tion, by means of known machinery for such purposes, in order to expedite
the rolling out of the heads in conjunction with the other operations, and ta
render a second heating of the slab unnecessary.

1848.3

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

SLAILWAV RAILS.

""Mosis Pools, of Lincoln's-inn, in the county of Middlesex, gent lem»n,
for "improvements in rails for railiaays." (A communication.) — Granted
October 6, 1845 ; EnroUed April 6, 1846.

The invention consists in so constructing
rails for railways, that the wheels of the
locomotive engines may run on wood, and
the wheels of the railway carriages may
run on metal, as shown in the annexed
figure ; 'a is a rail of wood armed with
iron i, on the inner edge, c the wheel
of a locomotive, and d the wheel of a car-
riage. The wheels of the locomotive en-
gine being thus removed from off the metal
rail will not be so liable to slip, particularly
in damp weather, as has been heretofore
the case, when the locomotive engines and
railvvay carriages of the train all run on the
aame metal rails.

STEERING APPARATUS.

KoBERT Clark, ship's painter, and Alexander Pirnie, ship's smith,
both of Newburgh, Fifeshire, for '^Improvements in steering vessels." —
Granted October 2, 1845 ; Enrolled April 2, 1846.

The improvements relate to an apparatus arranged as shown in the an-
nexed engrayings. Fig. 1 is a side view, and fig. 2 a plan, a is the steering

Pig. J.

Fig. 2.

wheel fixed on one end of an axis *, on the other end is a chain wheel c,
which by means of a chain transfers the motion to another small chain
wheel d, fixed on an axis e, with an endless screw /, that takes into the sec-
tion «■ fined on the head of the rudder. The axis e turns on bearings, which
are formed with cork or other elastic substance placed at the ends, so that
any sudden movement of the axis endwise would be counteracted by the
elastic packings. For the purpose of keeping the chain at all times tight,
the standards carrying the bearings of the axis 6 are made to rise or fall.

gas apparatus.

Hbmrt Baucis, of Wardour-street, London, civii engineer, for " Im -
pronementi in the marm/acture of Gas," — Granted Oct. 9,1815 ; Enrolled
April 9, 1846.

The apparatus consists of an ordinary retort, supported on a perforated
tile fixed over a furnace ; the openings in the tile allow the heat to pass
freely to the retort, and at the same time form a complete support. This
tile constitutes the first claim for improvements; the second claim consists
in the mode of fastening the door to the retort ; this door is made with in-
clined surfaces on the rim, and is ground to the mouth piece, so that when
the door is pressed close by means of a key that turns it slightly round under
fixed lugs, it will be gas tight. The gas, as it is made in the retort, ascends
by a pipe in the front, and enters into a hydraulic main or vessel placed
within a larger vessel fixed on the top of the brick-work over the retort ;
the larger or outer vesstl receives the tar and ammoniacal liquor as it flows
over from the inner compartment, and at the same time forms the tank for
those materials. It is the combination of this apparatus in one vessel that
constitutes the third improvement claimed. The gas passes from this inner
vessel or hydraulic main by a pipe to a condenser, consisting of a coil of
pipe or worm placed in the tank of the gasometer ; by these means, only
one vessel of water is used instead of two apparatus, as heretofore, for the
condenser and gasometer ; this constitutes the fourth claim. After the gas
has passed through the vjorm condenser, it then passes into the purifying ap-
paratus, consisting of a vessel divided into two compartments, and so ar-
ranged that w et and dry lime purifying can be adopted in the same vessel ;
this combination forms the fifth claim. From this vessel the gas passes back
into the gasometer, and thence to the burners. To prevent the pressure of
gu in the gasometer blowing up any part of the apparatas, there is a cbatB

fixed to the inside of the top of the gasometer, and at the other end of the
chain there is an inverted cap, which closes the orifice of a pipe standing op
in the lower part of the gasometer ; the upper part of the pipe just emerges
above the water, so that when the cap is down it enters the water and forms
a water valve ; when the gasometer rises beyond a certain point, the cap is
lifted off the pipe and allows the gas to escape down it and pass away to a
distance. This valve forms the sixth claim.

II

chimney FOTg.

George Ewart, of New Road, Middlesex, zinc manufacturer and plonber,

for " certain improvements in the mantifaeture of chimney pott." Grant«t

November 2, 1845 ; Enrolled May 2, 1846.

The following is very nearly word for word of the specification of this ia-
vention, which is said to " consist in constructing chimney pots in such man-
ner that each pot consists of a double tube, one portion sliding upon the
other, and capable of being fixed to any desired height by the aid of thumb
screws and nuts, or other convenient means." The pots may be constructed
of zinc or other suitable material. The advantages arising from the applica-
tion of these improved chimney pots are stated to be very great, inasmuch
as it gives the povver of increasing the draught of the chimney by increasing
the height. The inventor claims the constructing of chimney pots to slide
one upon another in the manner described.

ship building.
James Boydell, Jun., of Oak Farm Works, near Dudley, iron master,
for " improvements in building ships and other vessels." — Granted NoTember
17, 1845; Enrolled May 17, 1846.

The first part of this invention relates to a mode of building ships and
other vessels with iron and wood, and secondly, to building vessels with
iron. Fig. 1 shows a sectional plan of portion of the side of a vessel con-
structed according to the first part of this invention, in which a a represents
the iron ribs of the vessel, on the inner edges of which is firmly fixed, by
means of rivets, plates of iron 4 4; c c is the planking forming the sides of
the vessel which is afterwards covered with copper in the ordinary manner

Pig. I.

s'mSTR

^ ^-■^.■M.-t-'.VioJJ-V^ssv^sskl.,^

the space between the planking c c, and plates of iron 4 4, is filled np wiili
timber marked with the letters d. d, tlie grain of such pieces of timber o»
planks being in a direction fore and aft of the vessel. Fig. 2 shows a sec-
tional plan of portion of the side of a vessel constructed according to the
second part of this invention, in which e represents plates forming the sides
of the vessel, /one of the ribs of the vessel having a groove throughout its
entire length. The edges or ends of the plates are bent at right angles so
as to enter the groove, and are secured therein by means of a wedge-formed
bar g, the whole being firmly held together by means of keys i, which pus
through holes in the rib, edges of the plate, and bar or wedge, as shown itt
dotted lines.

atmospheric engines.

Joseph Richard Atha, of Walton, near Wakefield, of Yorkshire, engi-
neer, for " improvements in atmospheric engines." — Granted November 4,
1845 ; Enrolled May 4, 1846.

This invention consists in the application of wind power, as the first mover
in the following manner. Four or more sails are to be attached to a shaft,
which shaft is intended to give motion to two force pumps for the purpose of
compressing atmospheric air into a large vessel or vessels, denominated re-
ceivers, which may be provided with a safety valve for preventing accident.
From this vessel there is to be a pipe leading to a minor receiver fixed npoa
the carriage of a locomotive, the pipe to be capable of being connected and
disconnected at pleasure, for the purpose of filling the minor receivers, and
from which receivers the compressed air is to be admitted into the working
cylinders of an ordinary locomotive instead of steam. The speciScation is
not accompanied with any drawings to show how the above is to be carried
into effect.

IS6

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[JOMB,

COUBIKING 8TEKL AND IRON.

Charlbs Sanderson, of West-street, Shtffield, steel manufacturer, for
" improvemenli in combining steel and iron inio bars/or tyres for wheelt,
and/or ot tier purposes." — Granted Nov. 4. 1845; Enrolled May 1, 1845.

In carrying out this invention it is proposed to take iron which has been
manufactured irjto a bloom in the usual way and of any required form, and
pass the same through rollers suitalily formed for making a cavity in the
iron, which is afterwards to be filled up with liquid steel in the following
manner. The tloom when in a hot state is to be passed between rollers or
)ianimers, so as to form an indentation or hollow sufficiently large to contain
the liquid steel intended to be incorporated with the iron as shown at fig. 1,
in which a represents the bloom, having an hollow formed in one of its sides,
which is to he covered over by a thin plate of
iron, b, welded to the two edges of the bloom,
so as to form a sort of tube, into which is to be
poured the melted steel ; the bloom is then
worked up into the form required by the usual
process of rolling or compressing, when the
steel will be found to be united with the iron
in the place required. In manufacturing roll-
ers, piston-rods, mandrels, &c., the inventor
takes a thin wrought-iron case or cylinder of
about -jJjj of an inch thick, the internal diame-
ter being equal to the diameter of steel intend-
Kg. «, Fig. J.

ed to be manufactured ; within this cylinder is placed a rod of iron so as to
form a sort of core, having an annular space between the iron and internal
diameter of the case, equal to the thickness of steel intended to be cast or
incorporated with the iron. The bar of iron being placed within the tube,
and the same fixed in a vertical position, with the lower end closed ; the
melted steel is poured into the annular space, so as to surround the bar of
iron which forms a sort of core. The whole is then manufactured in the
usual way.

For the purpose of melting the steel economically, the inventor describes
and claims as his invention a peculiar form of furnace (fig. 2), which shows
a sectional elevation, fig. 3 being a plan ; a represents the body of the fur-
nace, built of fire brick ; b are three crucibles for containing the steel to be
melted; c is a blast pipe, provided with a stop-cock, and is made to enter
the lower part of the furnace ; y are doors which can be opened for the
purpose of clearing out the furnace ; ff is the flue for carrying off the pro-
ducts of combustion, and is provided with a valve at A. The air from the
blast pipe c enters a chamber, from which it passes through holes, i. into
the furnace.

The inventor claims the mode of manufacturing steel as described; and
also the application of a thin coating of iron, which protects the steel from
injury during the subsequent process of manufacture.

PROPELLING VESSELS.

Stephen R. Pabkhurst, of Liverpool, machinist, for "a method qf
propelling vessels." — Granted Nov. 4, 1845 ; Enrolled May 4, 1846.

This invention consists simply in the application of seven, more or less,
oprigbt propellers on each side of the vessel. Fig. 1 shows one side of the

Fig. 1;

Tessel, with an end view of one of the propellers, and the position of the
Fig 2. remainder, which are enclosed in an iron case having

circular recesses somewhat larger in diameter than
the diameter of the propeller, one of which is
shown in elevation at fig. 2. In fig. 1 it will be
seen that the blade or floats of the propellers are
made to project a little beyond the case on each side
of the vessel, and in order to jirotect them from
injury by coming in contact with other vessels, a
strong wooden beam, shown in dotted lines, is af-
fixed to the casing so as to project a little beyond
the floats of the picpellers, which are to he driven
by straps or other convenient means by the engines
on board.

BAILWAT CARRIAGIS.

Robert Miller Brandling, of Low Cosforth, Northumlerland, Esq.,
for " Improvemenh i» railway and railway carriages Jbr the security and
convenience of the public." — Granted October 31, 1845 j Enrolled April 30,

1846.

This inventioL is saii' in 'he first place to consist in a mode of keeping the
wheels of the carriages upon the rails by the application of counteracting
pressures, and by means that do not cause any shocks. Secondly, in con-
structing the machinery by means of which the railway trains are firmly at>
tached to or released from the rope which dtaws them. Thirdly, in causing
the trains to pass upon the surface wiihout any obstruction to the usual
traffic along the highways; and fourthly, in conveying the machine and rope
below the surface, and also in a new mode of connecting the tractive power
to the ropes used in railways. The first part of this invr ntion consists in the
application of an additional rail on each side of the line of rails, as shown ia
the accompanying sketch, in which a a represent the additional rails, having
projecting ribs at right angles to the rails, on the underside of these rails
there is fixed the segment or portion of a rail ; i * is a piece of timber

1 1

-

'1 r

-

i;;]

ft-

'••^^^

1 M

b

i\

I.

firmly attached to the framing of the carriage, the ends of which are made
to pass underneath the projecting parts of the rails a a, preventing the car-
riage from getting off the line, "without producing any shock," which we
very much question. The remaining portion of this invention appears to be
a pack of nonsence, the drawings and description of which are very imper-
fect, indeed so much so that it is next to impossible to understand them.

arresting railway carriages.

Dylrymi'LE Crawford, of Birmingham, for " certain improvements in
the means of, or machinery for arresting the progress of railway carriages
and trains."— Granted October 31, 1845 ; Enrolled April 31, 1846.

The first part of this invention relates to a mode of working the breaks,
and consists in the application of a cylinder fixed in a br)riznntal position on
the top if one of the carriages. This cylinder is provided with a piston and
piston rod passii'g through a stufiing box in the usual manner at each end of
the cylinder there is a stop-cock. To the piston rod is attached a chain, the
opposite end of which passes round a pulley, fixed upon a short vertical shaft
this shaft gives motion by means of two S|iur wheels to a vertical shnft, the
lower end of which extends to the underside of the carriage framing, which
by a peculiar arrangement of mechanism causes the breaks of the several car-
riages to be brought into action in the following manner. Suppose the pis-
ton to he at the bottom or further end of the cylinder, the stop-cock tl that
end is closed, and the cock at the opposite end, opened the piston, is there
drawn by means of the chain and handle to the opposite end of the cylinder,
the consequence is that a vacuum will he formed in the cylinder, and a pres-
sure exerted on the piston in proportion to its area, both cocks are then
closed, .ind the mechanism for withdrawing the piston is put in gear with the
vertical shaft which gives motion to the breaks. It will therefore he seen
that when it is required to put the breaks into action it is only necessary to
open the stop-cock at the near end of the cylinder, when air will be admitted
to the cylinder, the pressure of which upon the piston will be transn,itted in
the manner describi d to the breaks. For the purpose of opening the stop-
cock a chain or rope is attached t'l the lever, and extemls the whole length,
of the train, sn as to be under the cnntiol of the engine driver, or any of the
guards upon the train. Another mode of wi king the hreaks is shown in
the annexed diagram. The top of the carriage there is a bent lever a, mov-

o^

^

o — <>

-HJ

ing upon a fixed centre at a, b' ii a heaTy weight mounted opon wheels nd
supported by the lever a a, c ia a chain extendiDg along the carriages of the

1846.}

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

187

triin to liny convenient part, and is worked by mpans of a winch or handle,
so that by drawing the weight along the lever a a' to the opposite end to
that where the weight is shown, the end a of the lever a a' would be pressed
down when the breaks d d will be brought into action by the arrangement
of levers shown in the diagram which w'll be understood without further
description. Another part of this invention consists in facing that part of
the break which comes in contact with the wheel, with a casing or covering
of wood, having a number of conical holes which are to be filled witli chalk
or a mixture of sand gravel, asphalt, or other attritive material. The inven-
tor also proposes to attach to the back of the break a vessel containing a
liquid for tiie purpose of keeping the break moist, and carrying off the heat.

)

Fig. 2.

JUNCTION OF THE BROAD AND NARKOW GAUGES.

The following is a descripliou of a plan patented by Messrs. Austin and
Quick, for obviating the difficulties of diversity of gauges. It consists
merely in the application of additional sets of wheels to each axle of the
carriages, so that the same carriages may travel with equal facility both
on the broad and narrow gauges, and pass from one to the other without
stoppage or inconvenience of any kind. Fig. 1 is a section of a wagon,
P'S- !• and fig. 2 of a carriage provided with the double

sets of wheels. The locomotives of course would
not require the proposed alteration, as each line
would possess its own establishment of engiues
which would be changed at the break of gauge.
On lines of uniform gauges a similar change of
engines usually takes place every forty or fifiy
miles, without the least inconvenience to the pas-
sengers.

The carriages employed for the purpose
would be of narrow gauge dimensions, the
axles being lengthened sufficiently to receive
the additional wheels. The axle bearings
would be most conveniently situated between
the wheels on either side, the grease or lubri-
cating box being so placed as to be readily
accessible between the spokes of the outer
wheels. As the steps of the narrow gauge
carriages now project invariably beyond liie
broad gauge dimensions ; the additional
wheels would involve no alteration whatever of bridges, tunnels, or even
tiie station platforms of the narrow gauge lines. The only alteration re-
quired, throughout the works, for the uninterrupted passage of these car-
riage>, would be an addition to the rails, at the crossings, to sidings, to
allow the flanges of the wheels that are not travelling on the rails to pass
through. It would be necessary at crossings to make two openings instead
of one in each rail which is crossed, so that both sets of wheels might.
At the junction of the gauges nothing more is requisite than that the sets
of rails should overlap for a few feet. Fig. 3 represents the means of pass-

c4

h

ing from gauge to the other.

Fig. i.

=^

The inventors calculate that the al-
teration of the crossings would at the
utmost not exceed 25/. each, so that
' the cost on this head for a long line of
railway would not amount to 1000/.
In the case of a wheel breaking or a
train getting off the rails, additional
security would result from the extra
wheels, as tending to preserve the car-
riages from upsetting and preventing their running entirely off the railway.
The proposed invention has certainly the merit of simplicity, and it is to
be regretted that the Gauge Commissioners had not the opportunity of ex-
amining it. It is certainly much superior to the plan of shifting carriages
from frames with narrow gauge wheels to frames with broad gauge wheels ;
an operation which must always produce delay besides lessening the se-
curity of the carriages. The telescopic axles are also liable to the objec-
tion of insecurity. The only danger from the new plan would arise from
the accidental olistruction of the additional set of wheels by obstacles which
did not lie across the rails. The additional dead w-eight would also be an
objection of some importance. We can scarcely regard the invention as
anyibing but a temporary expedient, but we are inclined to consider it
much superior to those which have been hitherto proposed. The double
wheels would only be required for those carriages which were intended for
through traffic.

The Nelson Monument is once more in progress towards completion, the
brickla3ers are at work forming the foundations for the Sights of steps and
stooe bases.

DAMPNESS IN BUILDINGS.

ITS CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES, AND THE MEANS OP PREVENTtNG IT.

(Translated from the Magazin PitloresqueJ*

Dampness penetrates into the lowest floor of buildings either from the
soil itself or by means of the foundation v, nils ; it frequently arises also
from rain beating on the surface of the exterior walls.

The influence of the difl'erent causes of dampness varies according to the
nature of the soil or climate, the aspect in which the houses are built, the
materials employed in their construction, md the different modes of coQ-
struction. To get rid of humidity in the lowest story, it is ordinarily sup-
posed, that all that is required is to elevate the foundations within the
building above the level of the external soil ; but if no other precautions
were employed, this super-elevation would not diminish the dampness
which rises from the earth itself, and that from the walls would be very
imperfectly remedied, supposing the buildings constructed without cellars.

Among the numerous bad consequences of dampness we must reckon as
the principal its unhealthiness, and its destructive efl'ect on almost every
thing subjected to its action ; it causes plaster to fall, ceilings and floors to
decay, paint to peel off, paper to become rotten : furniture, pictures and
books are rapidly injured by it, and even the materi:.ls of the walls them-
selves undergo a gradual alteration which diminishes (ueir solidity.

A constant moisture is not however nece';;arily destructive to buildings
built of stone : stones laid in the ground although constantly immersed ia
water, will remain uninjured ; although this will not be the case where
the stone is exposed by turns to dryness, moisture and frost.

It is a common expression that damp always rises : and it might thence
be supposed that moisture, in order to affect a hygrometric body, must
come from below it, whereas in reality moisture is also diffused down-
wards, horizontally, and in every other direction. Now the materials
ordinarily employed in building, wood, brick, rubble, and stone of every
kind, including even marble and granite, ; re more or less hygrometric;
that is to say, if carefully weighed after having been immersed in water,
are found to be heavier than they were when completely dry.^ It is there-
fore clear that the opposition which the nature of the materials offers to
the progress of moisture is much less than is commonly supposed,

Inefficacy of the ordinary remedies.

Till lately attention has been confined to the means of remedying damp-
ness in buildings after they have been constructed ; precautions have seldom
been taken to prevent it in the first instance. Recourse is generally had
to cements, plasters, and paint, applied to the interior surfaces of the walls
so as to substitute by means of a body supposed to be impermeable, a dry
surface for one more or less humid. Without desiring to analyse the
qualities of the plasters usually employed, we do not hesitate to say that
these various compositions, not only do not prevent, but do not even
diminish, the real cause of the evil. The luoisture which has penetrated
through the walls is an agent of which the operation is continuous, and
cannot be stopped. Its action cannot be diminished except by the action
of air. The pretended hydrofuge cements merely disguise the evil for a
certain period ; they are even liable in many cases to the grave ohjectioQ
of diminishing the chances of absorption, and instead of helping to dry the
building, tend to retain its moisture.

It is then the first cause of the evil which must be attacked. The only
useful means are those which prevent the moisture from penetrating into
the walls of the building, for when once it has entered them it is almost
impossible to remove it.

Means of preventing dampness in the construction of buildings.
With respect to the dampness arising from the soil, the best means of
preventing it is by interposing at a certain height some impermeable sub-
stance which will prevent the moisture passing beyond it. The only sub.
stances of this kind are lead, bituminous or resiuous cements, and certain
kinds of mortar.'

The interposition of a plate of lead or a layer of some bituminous sub-
stance in the thickuess of the wall has been already tried with success,
and is found to stop the progress of the moisture absorbed by the lower

« Tills paper I? an abstract of an Essay for which tlie Brst prize was aivarderi by tlie
Society "U'i':ncouiagement pour I'iodustrie natiwiale." The aullior o» the priie eM»y
is M. Vandoyer, government arctlitect.

s From eiporicnenls made on llie powers of absorption of different liinda of stone, It
appears thai a (ubic metre of marble will lioirt SJ piuls of water. A metre laSlt. 3ia.

3 The nature of ihe mortars best adapted to resist vaaiaiaie is explained In M. Viat'Jt
worli. See tlie C. K. and A. Journal fur februwy last.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[JVVK,

portion of the wall. This plate or layer should be a little above the inter-
oal level of the fouodatioDS.

This method, however, though efficacious in resisting the dampness aris-
ing from the ground, does not prevent the efTects which the humidity of the
atmosphere produces on the exterior surface of the walls in their lower
part. In ordinary buildings we may point out as an excellent preservative
against atmospheric moisture, a rev^teraent of flag stones placed against the
external face of the wall, and reaching to about a yard above the ground.
If the fonndations of the walls be of good limestone or grit-stone, this re-
v^tement will not be necessary. It is well known that in the lower parts of
walls to a certain height above the ground, the mortar of hydraulic lime
should alone be used, and that when there are means of resting the found-
ations on an impermeable concrete, the best effects may be anticipated.

The precautions, then, to be taken against humidity in the walls are
these— a foundation on hydraulic cement, the employment of hydraulic
mortar in the lower parts of the building, the use of calcareous stones or
refitement built against the walls, and the interposition of an impermeable
substance through the whole thickness of the walls between the exterior
and interior levels of the soil.

ATMOSPHERIC RAILWAY.

Sir — 1 think your correspondent S. T. is labouring under a mistake
when he epeaks of monthly attacks on the atmospheric system. The com-
parison of theory and experiment shows that the development of the latent
heat of air, during its sudden compression in the pump, causes a small and
unimportant loss when the degree of rarefaction does not exceed the limits
assigned by the patentees.

The losi by leakage depends on the degree of perfection in the machinery,
and remains to be determined by experiment.

The regularity with which the Dalkey line has acted during the past
jear, as well as the high velocities attained on the Croydou line, are very
satisfactory. The failings of the engines and pumps in the latter case have
been frequent, but few will be inclined to doubt the possibility of surmount-
ing this diOScuIty. After examining all the tables and writings that I can
find respecting the practical working of a very defective example, I can
see no good reason to doubt the capabilities of the system. One fair trial
of the constancy of the system will be of more value than volumes %vritten
on the subject. In the mean time it is very desirable that the opponents of
the system, should patiently await the result of the experiment that is now
being made, for they may rest assured that the case will be decided on its
own merits, and (juite irrespectively of their assertions. In the mean time it
will be remembered that the losses inherent in the system are very trifling

A few years ago it was believed that the adhesion of the driving wheels
of a locomotive to the rail was insufficient to enable it to draw its load and
Dumerous walking machines were patented. A simple trial would have
saved much time and money. It will be better to test the constancy of the
atmospheric system rather than trust to doubts and surmises.

It has lately been asserted that the power of the locomotive is nearly
double of the Croydon atmospheric. However, if the greatest evaporating
power of any locomotive engine hitherto constructed be combined with any
cylinder and driving wheels, in actual use, I think it will be found that at
velocities of GU to 70 miles per hour, the efficient power of locomotives
falls couiiiderably below that of the Croydon Atmospheric.
I remain, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

F. Basbfortii.

Semper has been chosen architect of the new Picture Gallery at Dres-
fled. At Berlin, the king has ordered the erection of a vast cathedral ;
the spires are to be 300 feet high. The new Campo Santo, which will be
connected with the cathedral and palace by a collonade, will be a large
open square, of whicli the sidts will be 180 feet long. There will be a
covered arcade or ambulatory all round the square ; and the inner walls
•f this arcade will be covered with frescoes from the designs of Cornelius.

PBOCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.

ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.
May 11.— Mb. Tite, V.P., in^the Chair.
Mr. Scoles, honorary secretary, read a letter from Mr. Myers, dated Rome,
contradicting the reports which were current a abort time ago, that the
dome of St. I'eter's was in danger. Some repairs had been made last sum*
mer, one or two of the string courses bad been restored, and this had pro-
bably given rise to the assertion. A contradiction of the report appeared
immediately after the statement was made. With reference to the fact that
there had long been numerous cracks in the dome, the chairman reminded
the meeting of an anecdote, respecting some figures erected in the cathedral,
the architect, on being asked his opinion of them, said there was too mnch
flutter in the drapery. " That ;" replied the sculptor, " is caused by the
wind through the cracks you have made in the dome."'

A paper by M. De Lassaux, on a preparation of plaster of Paris, proposed
to be used in England as an improvement on that now sold. In France,
plaster is employed extensively for external work, and endures well ; whereas
that in England will not stand the weather. The buildings in the Champt
Elyse'es, erected on lease for forty years, are mainly constructed of plaster.
The Circus there, a model in its way, is chiefly of iron and plaster. The
English plaster-stone might be called a sulphate of lime; and he considered
it was the presence of a small quantity of sulphuric acid in the plaster
which prevented its endurance. The plaster, for which he had established
a depot in England, might be used externally, as in France ; and, moreover,
was very moderate in cost, being 30s. per ton. As a guide, the paper stated,
twenty-six pounds of the plaster, costing 4 Jd., would cover one yard of wall ;
and thirty-two pounds, the cost of which would be i^i., a yard of ceiling.

Mr. Bellamy observed that the price at which it was stated in the fore-
going paper that the plaster could be supplied, was most materially lower
than that of English plaster. He wished, however, to know whether the
price mentioned included the import duty. The present cost of plaster ia
England was 3/. 10s. per ton for the coarse, and H. hs. for the fine; so that
the difference between this and the plaster introduced by M. de Lassaux was
very great.

M. De Lassadx replied, In French, that there was no duty on plaster im-
ported into England. He alluded also to the valuable property of this plas-
ter when used as a coating to iron, of preventing oxidation. The plaster
was thoroughly dried in eight days.

Mr. Tite remarked on the very extensive use of plaster for external deco-
ration in Paris, \fhich was a principal cause of the difference between the
appearance of the streets of that city and those of London. A great diffi-
culty in introducing cement into general use here was its shrinking in the
drying, and this difficulty was especially felt when the material was employed
for " pointing," or filling crevices. .Umost every kind of cement, except
plaster of Paris, diminished in bulk in setting, and consequently was apt to
fall out when used in pointing. Plaster of Paris, however, expanded in set-
ting : it probably contained a portion of carbonate of iron as well as sulphate
of iron. A remarkable illustration of this property of expansion was afford-
ed by the method in which party-walls were usually built in Paris. They
were never connected with the external walls, as in this country, but were
separated from them by a considerable interval. The reason of this was,
that the party-walls being built of rubble, it was necessary to make consider-
able allowance for their expansion in drying. When used for external
mouldings, it was usual in Paris lo protect the upper surface of the plaster,
which was most exposed to the weather, with thin plates of zinc.

Mr. PovNTER thought that the great difference between the climates of
London and Paris must have a great effect on the durability of these mould-
ings when used externally. Wooden blinds which, when exposed to the air,
would not last more than a few years in London, would in Paris remaia
sound almost as long as the houses themselves. Canvass blinds, in England,
generally perished in two or three years. He considered that this rapid
decay was owing not so much lo the actual quantity of rain which fell in a
year, as to the general humidity of the atmosphere. This was particularly
observable in the vine, a plant which, it was well known, endured a degree
of cold far more intense than it was ever subjected to in England, and yet
never flourished in this climate on account of its constant moisture.

Mr. Bellamy remarked that he had observed, in Nottinghamshire, two
instances of houses being thrown down from space not having been left for
the expansion of the party-walls when built with plaster.

Mr. Tite did not think the humidity of the air here was a sufficient cause
for the explanation of the rapid decay of plaster. The climates of some
parts of Switzerland and Bavaria were fully as humid as our own, and yet
these effects were not observable there. At Freiburg, for instance, block
tin was very much used externally without decaying or becoming tarnished-
The angles of the spires of churches were frequently covered with sheets o£
tin, which, when the sun shone on it, looked as bright as silver. In the
same way, tin was used for the heads of water pipes and other purposes
with equally good effect. In Canada, also, the same thing was observable,
and it could hardly be disputed that the climate of many parts both of Ca-
nada and Switzerland was quite as damp as that of London. He thought
there must be anotlier agent at work to produce the destructive effect alluded
to ; he was, however, unable to indicate the true cause. It was well knowa

1946.1

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

189

tint the air here contained * certain qnantity of sulphuric acid, arising from
the combustion of coal ; the quantity of the acid was, however, 30 small,
that it was difficult to detect it by chemical analysis. He had enquired of
several excellent chemists, but they were unable to state what effect the sul-
phuric acid in the atmosphere had upon building materials.

Mr. Godwin alluded to the necessity of seeing that work of every kind
was perfectly dry before the cement was laid on. He had recently had oc-
casion to use Jardan's cement, and had, as he thought, used sufficient pre-
caution in waiting till the work was dry. Owing, however, to the slight
quantity of moisture which it retained, the plaster all fell off.

Mr. TiTB observed, that all cements of this class, beginning with mastic,
were, chemically speaking, nothing more than very coarse paints, mixed up
with oil or grease. The disadvantages attending this class of compositions
wa« that the sun and wind dissipated the fatty matter or oil with which they
were combined, and the cement soon decayed. The Portland-stone cement,
which was, in fact, the hydraulic cement of the French, was an excellent
material, and was in almost universal use in France. It was absolutely ne-
cessary that this material should be mixed with a certain proportion of clay:
it was also of the greatest importance that after it had once been " gauged,"
it should never be disturbed or touched till it was thoroughly hardened.
Unless this precaution were strictly observed, the permanence of the work
could never be ensured. It was also a good rule that were patent cements
were used, the patentees should be required to use it with their own work-
men, and not with strangers, who were ignorant of its nature.

Mr. PoTNTER referred to the use which Mr. Nash had made of the oily
cements in his own house in Regent-street, as a proof of the disadvantages
to which those compositions were liable. It might be supposed that the
cement being applied to the architect's own house, the work would be done
in the best manner possible. It was found, however, that the oil soon fried
out, and the surface became discoloured with the well-known stains resem-
bling the lines in maps.

Mr. TiTE remarked that the Portland-stone cement was, in fact, an artificial
imitation of the nodules of lime, from which Roman cement is prepared.
The nodules are found in great abundance on the coast near Harwich.
They fall from the cliffs, in which they are imbedded, on to the beach, and
are there picked up. They are compact masses of carbonate of lime con-
taining a small quantity of iron, to which latter substance they owe their
dark brown colour. The chatix hi/draulique was precisely the same sub-
stance, without the colour derived from the iron. He thought, however,
that the iron added materially to the strength of the cement when hard-
ened, and that for this reason the Roman cement would never be equalled in
strength by any artificial composition. Atkinson's cement was made of
nodnlee in which the iron was not present; the advantage of this and the
hydraulic lime was, that they naturally possessed a good colour and did not
require painting.

SOCIETY OF ARTS, LONDON.
Jpril 29.— W. F. CooKE, Esq., V.P., in the Chair.

The first communication was " On Mr. Godson's Patent Furnace for con-
turning smoke and economising Jiiel." By W. Spence, Esq. The general
features of the furnace and the parts of which it is composed uiay be tnus
described : — A box with a moveable bottom, or feed-plate for the fuel, and
fitting its internal surface, is substituted for the ordinary bars in the middle
of the furnace, and is capable of being raised or lowered within the box or
chamber, and which is made to occupy a position in the ash-pit below the
furnace. The fuel is fed on the plate while in its lowered position ; and
when raised it is introduced into the centre of the fire, by which means the
smoke evolved from the fresh fuel is consumed. In order, however, to ren-
der such a mode of supplying fuel available for its purpose, it is necessary
that at the time when the feed-plate in the centre of the furnace is to be
lowered to receive its charge, the portion of burning fuel resting thereon
should be supported : for this purpose two plates of metal are made to enter
the furnace, one on each side, and meet in the centre. Again, it is requisite
for the due promotion of the draft into the furnace, that inasmuch as the
centre support of the fuel consists of a dead plate, that plate should be kept
a little below the fire bars, and that a series of oblique bars should be
formed, and extend from the ordinary fire bars to the plate. A model and
diagrams of the invention were exhibited, and a lengthened discussion took
place as to its merits.

The second communication was " On a Machine to Register the Velocily
Iff Railway Trains when in motion," by M. Ric.\rdo, Esq. The machine
consists of two parts : one receives motion from the carriage, the other by
clock-work. They are arranged in the following manner ; — an excentric is
placed on the axle of the carriage, and gives motion, by means of a con-
necting rod, to a lever atladied to the machine, which lever acts upon a
ratchet wheel, and is so arranged that each revolution of the wheel of the
carriage advances the ratchet one tooth. An endless screw is turned on the
spindle of the ratchet wheel, and gives motion to a small toothed-wheel
telow, and on the spindle of which is fixed what may be termed a lateral
ticcntric (as one part projects more than the other on the side of the wheeJ).
Against this the short end of a horizontal lever is pressed, by means of a
ipting. As the excentric revolves from the projecting to the lower part, it
moves the lever, and with it a pencil fixed at its other end, in one direction,
till it reaches the lowest point ; when, by a spring pressing upon it, it lakes

the opposite direction, till It reaches the" highest point, when it returns
again. The wheels are so arranged, that the excentric makes one revolution
in each mile that a train travels. The clock-work is used to turn a drum,
upon which a ruled paper is wound. When the train is stopping at a sta-
tion, the pencil is stationary, and marks only a straight line; but when in
motion, diagonal lines are drawn by the action of the lever as described.
The extreme distance between the two points of the diagonal lines deter-
mines the velocity at which the train has been travelling. Thus, the train is
made, by this apparatus, to keep a perfect register of the work done, which
would at all times indicate the neglect of either the engineer or conductor.
Mag 6. — Thomas Websteh, Esq., M.A., V.P., in the Chair.
The following communications were read : —

1. On an Improved Poppet Head/or Turners, by W. E\ekett, Esq. The
first attempt at improving the poppet head (observes Mr. Everett) was to
take off the point and insert a screw carrying a spindle and wheel fitted up
as a drill, to be driven by the overhead motion, and this he found to answer
very well when the hole to be drilled could be brought in a line with the
drill. Having done this he still anticipated that he could make this partjf
the lathe more useful, in fact a substitute in a great measure for the slide
rest. The following motions have therefore been given to the point. Ist.
An upward and downward motion so that it can be applied to all lathes. 2d.
A circular motion which enables it to be applied at any required angle ; and
3rd, a motion directly across the mandril, and there is no motion but what
is strictly mechanical, as each has a scale to guide the workman in its use.
Several gentlemen present examined the instrument and its arrangements
and considered it likely to prove a valuable addition to the ordinary lathe.

2. On the Ventilation of Buildings. By Mr. A. J. Greex. — The paper com-
menced with an account of the various plans which the author adopted for
the purpose of ventilating the sick ward and other rooms of the Sudbury
Union Workhouse, and it then proceeded to point out the way in which he
would propose that all large buildings about to be erected should be built.
Where a double chimney is to be erected, he proposes that two air flues
should be carried up in the stack as near the centre as they can be got. If
the chimneys are not in the centre of the side or end of the room, the flues
should be carried so as bring them as nearly into that position as possible.
The flues need not he more than 14 inches by 0 or 7 inches, or 9 inches by
9 inches, and should be commenced from the first floor and continued
through every successive story to the top of the chimney, in the same way
as the flues for the smoke. One flue of the above size would be sufficient to
ventilate four or five stories, if each room required it — valves would require
to be fixed in the wall or ceiling in connection with the flue. This system
of ventilation, he considers, would be very applicable to smoking rooms, tap
rooms, eating houses, or any buildings where a large number of persons as-
semble.

3. On. the Concentrated Gravy of Meat. By Mr. Warriner. — This arti-
cle is manufactured at Sydney, New South M'ales, from the carcases of oxen
and sheep, which are bred there for the sake of their tallow, wool, hides and
bones. The value of oxen in Australia is from 15s. to 20s., and of sheep
Is. 6(/. to 2s. 6d. each. During the last year the leg bones of upwards o£
109,000 oxen were sent over to this country, the greater part of the flesh of
tne anima.s oaving oeen nrown away. Ihe object of the present manufac-
ture is to render down the lean of the carcase into a solid portable soup, by
stewing it down in its own gravy, without water, in double pans ; by re-
ducing it in this way the water in the lov er pan prevents the fire passing
through, and giving to the soup the burnt flavour which it has always hitherto
had. When manufactured it is sold in cakes of various sizes, at the rate of
2s. per lb. One pound of the soup is said to be equal to 24 lb. of the best
gravy beef.

CHEMICAL SOCIETY.

April 20. — A paper was read by Messrs. Joule and Playfair, " On the
maximum density of water." In this the authors contended that the point
of maximum density is the proper standard at which waler should be taken
as unity for the purpose of comparing specific gravities. There are two
methods for determiuing the point of maximum density of waler; one of
these being the comparison of water in its expansion with that Of some
other substance the expansion of which had been already determined ; the
other virtually consists in weighing water in water, and was pursued by
Hope iu his original researches on this point. The authors adopted the
latter method as the one most likely to yield correct results, but altered the
method of experimenting, and the nature of the apparatus employed.
Their apparatus consisted of two vessels connected at the bottom by a
pipe with a cock, above by an open canal. One of these vessels was made
to contain waler at a temperature decidedly below that of the raaximum
density, the other being above that temperalure. On opening the stopcock,
a current took place from the colder vessel to the hotter, until a certain
time, when Ihe current became reversed. The rapidity and direclioo of
the current was determined by hollow glass beads. The experiment was
tried under varj log condiiions; and, as a mean of several series of experi-
ments, the authors fixed 39- 101° Falir. as the point of maximum density,
stating ihat Ihey believed ihis 10 be within -^th of a degree of the Irulh;
at all events, that it could nut be ^'j,ih of a degree in error.

190

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[JtTna.

I AUST SUSPENSION BniDGE.

S[R I observe in your number of last month a letter signed " Francis

Giles," relating to the Aiist Suspension Bridge, to wbicli is appendt^d a
diagram aud eome calculations respecting it. On these latter it is not my
intention at present to offer any remarks, beyond expressing my satisfac-
tion that Mr. Gil'-s llius publicly makes known an opinion, which I before
tnew he entertained, of the perfect practicability of erecting a bridge upon
the suspension principle, suitable for railway purposes across the river
Severn, between Beaobley and the Aust Cliff. It is the general inference
from Mr. Giles's letter to which I wish to direct attention : as I feel, though
it may not be designedly intended, it 13 calculated to incline those who may
peruse it to the impression, that the idea of erecting a bridge at this lo-
cality originated with him.

It will be found upon reference to the evideDce given before the same
Committee upon the South Wales Bill in the Session of 1845, to which
Mr. Giles refers, that I had previously expressed a decided opinion upon
this important subject ; and that prior to this, James AValker, Esq., had
made the following mention of my views in his Report to the Lords Com-
inissioners of the Admiralty as to the crossing the River Severn as pro-
posed by the South Wales Railway Company, viz., " Mr. Fulljames,
county surveyor of Gloucester, considers that a Suspension Bridge, 120
feet above high water mark, at the Old Kerry, or Aust Passage, is pradi-
cable. He thinks the piers might be placed on rocks which are bare at
low water; but being particularly dangerous at some states of the tides,
would have their situations defined by the piers." These views were
based upon the results of observations and soundings taken by me at 'he
Old Passage in the year 1838. Whilst engaged upon this, I found that in
the year 1 825, Mr. Telford, the late celebrated engineer, was consulted upon
the improvement of the communication across the River Severn at the Old
or Aust Passage, and the New Passage three miles to the southward ;
and though his attention at that time was specially directed to ascertaining
and reporting upon the best situations and mode of constructing landing
piers for the convenience of the steam boats, the peculiar inducements
and natural facilities for the erection of a suspension bridge at the Old
Passage did not escape his acute and comprehensive observation; and
though foreign to the subject on which he was called upon to report, so
strong was his conviction of its desirableness, that he gave a most decided
opinion in favour of a suspension bridge at the Aust; particularly advert-
ing (as the reasons for so doing) to the great height of the banks at the
Old ''assage, to the fact of the bed of the river consisting wholly of solid
rock, and to the circumstance that suitable materials for the work could
be procured within a reasonable distance.

During the summer of last year I have been professionally employed by
the Bristol and Liverpool Junction Railway Company to report upon this
site, and the kind of bridge best adapted for it, both as regards their pro-
posed railway and the navigation of the river, and under their directions
have prepared designs for this bridge, on one of which, the opinion ex-
pressed by James Walker, Esq. (to whom it was referred by the Admiralty
■to report as regarded the interests of the navigation), has induced the
Lords Commissioners of that Board to consent to the principle of the
bridge proposed. The reports and plans have been published, together
with the design approved by the Admiralty ; of these I enclose you copies,
by which you will perceive that Mr. Giles is not the only party whose at-
tention has been directed to this truly national and most important subject.
I beg to remain,

Yours obediently,

Gloucester, May 25th, 1846. Thomas Fulljames.

FOREIGN PUBLIC VtrORKS.

Recen t Prizes proposed by the French Institute (accessible to all nations).
—Prize of Mechanics, founded by M. Montyon, gold medal of 500 francs,
for the discovery or perfecting of instruments useful in the mechanical
arts, sciences, or agriculture: term of competition, April 1, 1847. — Prize
of Hygiene, for the discovery of a remedy for making any art or trade less
insalubrious : term, the same. The Prize of mechanics of last year, as
well as the great one of 6000 francs on the application of Steam, has been
adjourned, and that on the insalubrious arts decreed to M. Cbausserat.

Expulsion 0/ Foul Air from Mines. — An engineer (M. Halaud) has
forwarded to the Academy of Sciences at Paris, a very interesting mtnioir
on the expulsion of foul air from mines, pits, cellars, and similar places.
It consists in the pumping of steam into places thus contaminated, which,
if the foul air consists of hydrogen gas, acts merely as a forcible expeller;
but if it be carbonic acid gas, the steam will also absorb that substance.
As most places where deep excavations are now made, are near steam en-
Itines, the pumping of steam into mines, &c., becomes the easier. It is to
be done ihrougli elastic tubes covered with india-rubber. The inventor
£tates, that in a deep pit, where the work had been suspended by necessity
for several days, the emission of sliani purified it to that extent, that the
Workmen were able lo go down as usual.

Public Works in France. — A report of M. Oger has lately been dis-
tributed at the Chamber of the Freuch Deputies, to be laid before the

commission appointed to examine the fill foe the completion of several
public edifices. The first of these struclures is the Palace of the Archivia
of the realm. The commission, in lamenting the mistakes and disappoint-
ments to which the erection of this edifice has hitherto given rise, propostB
a grant of COO.OOO francs, on condition that the stuccoes, gilding, and paint*
ings of the original project should be replaced by cases more adapted lo a
dep6tof archives. It further alludes to the dangers of the steam engine
of the Royal printing oBices being so near this invaluable collection of na-
tional records. — The Conservatory of Arts and Trades (C. des arts et
mftxers) figures for a sum of 1,411,000 francs, which is to employed in the
restoration of such portions of the edifice, which have been completed
in augmenting the number of its halls of exhibition, and opening a princi-
pal entrance in the Rue Saint Martin by the j'urcbase and demolition of
two houses.— 250,000 francs is to be expended on works of the Royal
Veterinary School, at Alforl; 050,000 francs at that of Lyons; 89,000
francs at the School of Arts and Trades of Chalons* ; 180,000 at the bui!d«
ing of the Ro>al Observatory of Paris. — 180,000 francs are proposed for
the Palace of the Chamber of Deputies. The ancient chapel, says the
report, is in the worst possible state, and although used but very rarely,
its restoration is desirable as a matter of public decorum.— The offices of
the secretary of state for agriculture and commerce require a sum of
43,000 francs ; and, finally, 45,000 francs are to be expended in the demo-
lition of the belfry of the north tower of the church of St. Denis, whicU
menaces ruin.

Archaological Society of Rome, — At the auniversaiy lately held, Dr,
Biiiun slated the present prospects of the great publication undertaken by
the Association — the Monumenti inediti. Cavaliere Canina spoke of the
discovery of the eleventh mile-stone of the Via Laurentina, which has
thrown much light on the position of the laurentine villa of Pliny and
the city of Lanrentium. The elucidation of some ancient inscriptions of
Cora was also alluded to.

Munich. — Independent of the great progress which inrentire art is con-
stantly making here, the multiplyiug of objects of art is equally advancing.
The great engraving of Professor Amsler, after the picture of Overbeck—
" Triumph of Religion in Arts," — which was begun four years ago, is near
its completion. Kaulbacb's great picture of the destruction of Jerusa-
lem, has also been begun by M. Charles Waagen.

The Architectural Drawings in the late Art F.xhibition of the LoHtere—
are not much praised, as they consist mostly of restorations, of good ap-
pearance— at least on paper — of ancient, mediaeval, and renaissance
structures. I he only specimen of interest bearing on a practical subject is
the plan for uniting the Louvre and Tuilleries by M. Badenier, of which,
the artist had already exhibited some studies in 1844 and 1845. It is,
however, not probable that amidst the many plans of a really practical
nature, the French government will embark an immense sum in a plaa^
after all, but ornamental.

French Architectural Exploration ttf the Island of Cyprus.—^, Mas
Latrie, commissioned by the Secretary of Public Instruction for the above
undertaking, has addressed the following remarks to His Excellency: —
" Everywhere in this island I have found traces of the former sway of
France. There is scarcely a town or village which does not contain either
a church, or abbey, or castle of the French occupants in the Middle Ages.
I have made careful tracings of the slabs best preserved of the sepulchral
monuments of her once great families, the Ibelins, Brunswick, &c. The
Gothic edifices constructed by the French in Cyprus can be divided
into two classes — military, and religions. I have especially studied ia
each of those the modifications which ojiyaj architecture has undergone
in Cyprus, compared with the Gothic in France at the same period. I
have ascertained the position of the principal castles aud monasteries, and
laid down by the compass many points and localities important lo mediae-
val geography. I have also somewhat swerved into the domains of Classic
antiquity, and have discovered several iuedited Greek inscriptions, and,
by the means of excavations made at Dali, brought to I'elit several frag-
ments of statuary, &c. I have ascertained the real position of ancient
Larnaca and C'itium, the birthplace of Zeno the Stoic. In excavating a
place near the high city of Larnaca, we have found a basalt slab of 7 feet
high, 21 feet broad, and 1 foot thick. It is covered with cuniform in-
scriptions, and the figure of a king or priest, bearing the garment of those
figures discovered by Mr. Botta in Mesopotamia. I think this to be a
tomb, and one of the rarest monuments of the dominion of the Assyrians
in Cyprus." M. Mas Latrie proposes, in fine, that some of the speci-
mens should be deposited in the Museum of National Antiquity at Cluny.

Model Raihvay in France. — It seems that Aries, the place where Roman
structures 1800 years old exist in such perfect preservation, is prompting
French engineers to similar exertions. The following is a short extract of
the projects for the present buildings. — The viaduct of the railway of the
Durance River, will hare a length of 493 moires between the abulmentSj
besides 20 mfeires of abutment at each side, which will give it an absolute
extension of 533 mclres. Its height is to be 9 30 metres, computed from
low-water mark to the level of the rails ; its breadth 8 metres between the
parapets. It is to be supported by twenty pier.-i of 3,50 metres thickness,
combined together by Iwcniyone elliptic arches of 20 mdtres opening.
Thcclpg.iiici' of the piers, ihe gracious opening of tlie arches, and the im-
posing mass of the Viaduct, wid make it one of Ihe finest siruciures of

* Our readur* will |icrceiK Ibittitli tbeu puliiii: Ju«tiiuUoi.» ait umiiit-ineil b/ puU.C
money.

J846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECrS JOURNAL,

191

she whole line. After this imnienge art-structure, the thing next worthy
of admiration is the cutting of the rock of la Roque — an immense mass of
stone, which was to be ci.t through from top to bottom to the extent of
125 metres by 25, which yielded a mass of 42,000 cube metres of debris
of rock. Especially also is to be noticed the nicety of the nineteen cot-
tages of the guards of the line, between Aries and the Durance. To each
a little garden has been annexed, to employ profitably the leisure of the
men and families. Follows then, the monumental viaduct of the Khone,
which will coanect, by the way of Tarrascon, the Avignon line with that
of Bordeaux to Cette. This gigantic structure is already begun. It is
ooly 370 metres from the suspension bridge of Beaucaire ; thus two of the
finest and hugest modern structures will be erected at a short distance
from each other. The activity on the railways in the south of Fiance is
now so great, that in the arroudissement of Aix alone, 1390 workmen arc
employed.

New Hospilal at Consianlinople. — The East, which, during the cru-
sades first established those — unknown to the ancients — institutions of
public benevolence, is it seems, reverting again to that praiseworthy prac-
tice. A new hospital is to be erected, by the voluntary subscription of the
Protestant inhabitants of the Turkish metropolis.

New Hxcavations in Assyria. — From the head quarters of M. Laynard,
at Nimrud,at the embouchure of the Zab in the Tigris, the following is
reported. The mound at which M. L. is digging is an arliiicial one, like
that of Chorsabad, and the ruins are covered by soil; but the stratum at
Nimrud is less than that of Chorsabad, so much so, that many of the
basso-relievos are broken off at the upper part. The vestments of the
figures are different from those discovered by Botta ; but there is no doubt
that the ruins are also of Assyrian origin. There are more basso-relievos
of a mythological character at Nimrud, but the structure of both the
palaces is^the same. Here also are door-ways of colossal winged bulls,
lions with human heads and arms, in which they carry flowers, &c. The
number of inscriptions is very considerable.

Campo Santo of Berlin. — The celebrated painter. Baron Cornelius, is
expected shortly in the Prussian capital, on his return from Rome, where
he went to compose the cartoons of the Frescoes, which have to adorn the
walls of the great cemetery, which is to be erected in the neighbourhood
of Berlin, similar to those of Munich and Pisa,

Safety Harbours in France. — The Lower House of the French Legisla-
tion has, of late, received the Report ol M. Felix Real on the above sub-
ject. The Commission, convinced that every facility alTorded to commerce
will react on all other brandies of public utility, has sanctioned this Re-
port, with rescinding only the execution of the maritime canal between
the harbours of Bouc and the £tang de Berne. The Commission has
moreover recommendeii that Government should employ some professional
persons to study the means, by which the mouth of rivers can be made ac-
cessible to ships during low water tide.

Directorship of the Dresden Picture Gallery. — M. Julius Schnorr Ca-
rolsfeld, of Munich, has obtained the above situation, with which also that
of a professor at the Academy of Painting is combined. The King of
Bavaria has given, but reluctantly, his consent ; the more so, as a number
of Munich artists had addressed his majesty for the sake of retaining this
great artist amongst them. As M. Schnorr has yet to paint several fres-
coes of the Niebelungen Song in the new royal palace, he will not leave
the Bavarian capital until the end of summer, and will return every season
until these great mural pictures are completed, which will occupy him
many years to come.

The Iron Trade in Austria and the Zollverein. — All the iron to be used
for the railroads of Austria must be of home consumption, foreign metal
being excluded by a heavy duty. This has advanced their forges aud fur-
naces lo a great extent. But it is to be seen, whether this exclusive and
protectionist principle will work well in the long run.

The Bronze Statue of Charles John, King of Sweden — has just been cast
at the foundry of Munich. According to all appearance, it will be a su-
perior work of art, and ready for being conveyed in a few months to its
destination at Norrkiiping, in Sweden.

The Monumental Fountain of the Place of St. Sulpice, at Paris — will be
completed this season. Fur mouths past, the square has been encumbered
by immense blocks of stone, which have been cut for forming the immense
basin of this monument.

' M. Jules de Saly, architect of the Chamber of Commons of Paris, has
been elected houarory and free member of the Imperial Academy of Fine
Arts at St. Petersburg.

Monument to the Duke of Belluno. — An enormous block of white mar-
ble, from the quarries of Laveline (Vosges), of the weight of 10,000 kilo-
grammes, has been of late conveyed to Epinal. It is to form the basement
of the statue of the duke, which is to be erected to his memory at La-
marche, the little village where this distinguished warrior first saw the
light. .

Trying of Railway Bridges. — It appears that these strnctures are not
made use of for public trathc in France, until their solidity has been
tritd, by oOicial persons. Thus the elegant bridge over the Seine, at
Courcelles, near Paris, on the Rouen line, has undergone that ordeal,
and been found completely safe.

Orgixnizalion of Public Works in Algtria.—Tlie French GoTernment

has created an especial direction of Public works for Africa, and a member
of the Council of Slate is placed at its head. Even the name of the supremo
office of public works is to be changed, which will henceforth be called
Direction of the Interior and of Colonization. Chief Engineers have beea
nominated for each piovince. The hydraulic works of the harbour of AI-
gii IS aud the service of mines in that province, are under the charge of
especial government engineers.

Railroad through the Continent of South America.— Ueaas have been
discussed at Rio de Janeiro, to connect, in the first instance, Liverpool and
Para by the means of steamboats, from which latter place minor crafts
have to ascend the Amazon river so far as Bolivia. A railroad has to
traverse the latter country aud to extend as far as Arica, on the shores of
the South Sea. The government of Bolivia has already given its assent
to that plan, and a similar step is expected to be taken by that of the Bra-
zils.

New Structures at Berlin. — Much scope to the industrial exertions of
the inhabitants of that capital will be afforded shortly by the constructioa
of the new navigation-canal, and the buildings over that large area now
called Kopenicker Fields. The latest news from Berlin, state that an
especial commission foi carrying these plans into execution has been ap.
pointed by the king. The plans proposed exhibit a thorough ornamental,
spacious, and sietimg ensemble ; and amongst the public buildings, new
parochial churches, both Protestant and Catholic, occupy the first place.
It is generally hoped that they will approach the grandeur of the new re-
ligious structures at Munich.]

NOTES OF THE MONTH.

The first stone of a new wing of the University College, in Gower-
street, has been laid. The ceremony was performed by Lord Brougham,
the president of the council.

A new story has recently been added to the Treasury and adjacent Go-
vernment offices, under the superintendence of Mr. Barry. The show
sides fronting Downing-street and Parliament-street are nearly completed;
the columns are hoisted to their former position on the first floor.

An equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington is about to be put on
the top of the triumphal arch in Piccadilly. A huge arch supporting
nothing is bad enough ; but the proposed addition makes it absolutely too
ridiculous. Even members of Parliament have been able to dedect the
absurdity, and have complained of it in the House of Commons. The
view of the statue will be the exact reverse of a bird's eje view : an ad-
mii ing public v, ill have excellent opportunities of contemplating the burse's
belly and girth, and the soles of the hero'a shoes.

The evidence before the Royal Gauge Commissioners and their report
have been referred to the Board of Trade.

The Archoeological Congress of France will commence on the 1st of
June. The proceedings of the British Association for the advancement of
science will commence at Southampton on the 10th of September.

Masses of iron and nickel, having all the appearance of aeorolites or
falling meteoric stones, have been discovered in Siberia, at a depth of 10
metres below the surface of the earth. From the fact, however, that no
meteoric stones are found in the secondary and tertiary formations, it would
seem to follow that the phenomena of falling stones never took place till
the earth assumed its present form.

The restoration of the western part of Ely Cathedral progresses. Fears
are, however, expressed as to the stability of the octagon tower. The
lauthern is of Perpendicular architecture, and a subsequent addition to the
octagon, which is of much earlier date, and does not seem to have beea
built of sufficient strength for sustaining the load now resting on it.

The Cathedral of Spires is to be adorned with frescoes at the cost of the
King of Bavaria.

A great black stove has been placed in the choir of Bristol cathedral,
Tith a black chimney mounting straight up to the vaulted roof, which is
pierced to make a passage for the smoke.

LIST or NEW PATENTS.

(Front Messrs. Robertson's List.)

©RANTED IN ENGLAND FROM APRIL 28, I84C, TO MAY 26, 1846-

Six Months allowed for Enrolment, unless otherwise expressed.

William Edward Newton, of ChaDcery-lane, civil engineer, for " certain Improvement
lo clocks or time keepers." (Being a commiinioation.)— Scaled Apnl ib.

Samuel Pickford, of Stockport, glass dealer, for "certain Improved apparatus applica-
ble to casks or vessels for preserving ale and other fermented liquors, and also for raising
or forcing the same for draught."— April ^8.

Isaac Henry Robert Mott, of 76, Strand, for "certain Improvements in musical lastrii-
ments, whereby they are rendered much more durabl,, much rnore capable of re.istlDg
the injurious and destructive effects of tlie atmosphere, (especially of extreme climates,)
and whereby the quality of their tone is greatly improvsd and remains good for a muctt
longer period. "^-Aprli 2S.

192

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[JVVB'

Williiin Higgs, of Weslmintter, cberoist, for " the means of cpllectlng the contents of
Sewen and drains In cllies, towns, and vlllsgos, snd for treating chemically the same, and
•pplyloi! such contents when so treated to agricultural and other useful purposes. "—
April 28.

Anthony Nathan de Itothscbild, of London, merchant, for ** ImprovemcDts in beating
apparatus and buildings." (Being a communication.)— April 28.

William Mather, of Salford, near Manchester, and Colin Mather, of the same place,
miliivrlKhts and engineers, for " Improvements in metallic pistons."— April 28.

Charles de Bergue, of Arthur-street weat, London, engineer, for " ImprovementJ in
atmospheric railways." — April 28.

James Timmins Chance, Handsworth. StatTord, glass manufacturer, and Henry Badger,
of West Bromvkicb, glass stainer, for " Improyeraents in the maiiufutture of glass." —
.April 23.

Joseph Douglas, of Newcastle-upon-Tyue, rope-roaJcer, for " Improrements in the
manufacture of yam, twine, and cordage." — April ao. ^

Joseph Toncbe, mechanist, of Rue St. Antoine, Paris, for " Improvements in lamps.'
— April .'<0.

Edward Aupustiu King, of Wiirwick-street, Charing Cross, Middlesex, gentleman, for
** Improvements in the production of magnetic electricity." (Being a communication.) —
April .'10.

Thoinas Lambert, of New Cut. Blatkfriars, brass founder, and Charles William Rowley
Blcbards, of Charlotte-street, Blackfrlurs, engineer, for " Improvements in cocks for
drawing ofi" liquids an<l gases."— April IlO.

John Mercer, of Oakensbaw, Clayton le Moors, Lancashire, chemist, for " Improve-
jnenta in scouring and clearing wool and woolen fabrics, also in bleaching and clearing
silk, cotton, and linen, and other fabrics." — Bfay 2.

George Palliser, of Finsbury-place, for " Improrements in the construction of outside
seats of carriages." — Way 5.

William Longshaw, of Manchester, for " certain Improvements in machinery or appa-
ratus for spinning and doubling cotton and other fibrous substances." — May ^k

Peter Carmichael, manager for Baxter Brothers and Co., Dundee, for "Improvements
in hackling or dressing flax, hemp, and other fibrous substances, and improvements in
machinery for rubbin?, stretching, and equalizing the breadth of cloth made trom flax,
liemp, jute, and other fibrous substances." — May .3.

George Riddett, of Ryde, Isle of Wight, upholsterer, for " Improvements in reading-
tables." — May 5.

John Carter, of Fleur-de-lis-Street, London, ivory merchant, for ** Improvements in
paddle-wheels." — May .').

Alfred Vincent Newton, of Chancery-lane, mechanical draughtsman, for "certain Im-
provements in machinery for manufacti'.ring screws.*' (Being a communication.) — May 5,

William Church, of Birmingham, for '*certain Improvements in machinery, to be used
In making candlestick pans, and various other articles which are usually produced wholly
or In part by means of the process called atamping ; and also in machinery for making
sockets or tubes for candlesticks and tubes, or tubular articles applicable to various other
purposes." — May .'i.

\VillIam Pidding, of Wiemore-street, gentleman, for *'an Improvea process for pre-
serving the flavour of coffee and cocoa, or of any preparations thereof, from the effects of
the atmosphere." — May 5.

Thomas Melling, of the firm of Melling and Co., Rainhill, Lancashire, engineers, for
"certain Improvements in (team engines, marine, stationary, and locomotive; and in
machinery and apparatus connected therewith, parts of which are also applicable to regu-
lating the flow of fluids generally." — May 7.

Edward Shepard , of Trafalgar-square, gentleman, for " certain Improvements in gates,
doors, shutters, and other articles of the like construction, and in fastenings to be atiach-
cd thereto." — May T.

Rfark Rolllnson, of Brierly-hill, near Dudley, engineer, for "certain Improvements in
steam-engines." — May 7.

Alexander Angus Croll, of Suffolk-Street, Clerkenweli, chemist, for " Improvements in
gas meters." — May 12.

Robert Wiliam Sievier, of Upper Holloway, gent., for *' Improvements in printing." —
3tlay l;i.

WlUiim Little, of 198. Strand, publisher of the •' Illustrated London News," for " Im-
rovements in machinery for printing." — May 12.

John Lloyd Bullock, of Conduit-street, Hanover-square, chemist, for "Improvements
the manufacture of quinine." A communication. — M.iy 12.

Christopher Vane, of Frederick-street, London, gent., for " Improvements in apparatus
ployed when transmitting and drawing beer and ale." — May Kl.

Charles Hancock, of Grosvcnor- place, gent., for " certain improvements in the manu-
facture of guttapercha, and its a))pticatioa aione, and in combination with other sub-
stances."— May l.'».

Henry Valentine Bartlett, of Sheffield, dentist, for " Improvements in artificial palates^
teeth, and gums, and certain machinery empljyed in the manufacture thereof." — May 15'

Julius. Jeffreys, of Norfolk-crescent, Hyde-park, gent., for " Improvements in steam-
engine boilers and furnaces, and improvement? in propelling vessels."— May Ifi.

William Rodger, of Shamfield-street, Chelsea, Lieutenant B. N., for " Improrements
in anchors." — May 18.

George Duncan, engineer, E.1inburgh, for " an improved method of making comfits
confectionary, lozenges, and all description of pan-goods, the machinery and apparatus
for the man»ifacture uf the same, or for any olher article to which the said apparatus or
machinery may be made applicable." — May 10,

Stephen Perry, of Woodland-place, St. John's-wood, gent., for " certain Improvements
in the manufacture of rings, straps, bands and bandapes, cords and string, and in their
application to clockwork, to locks and other fastenings, to presses, to books, to paper-
holders, to candle lamps, to window-sashes, to doors, to window-blinds, to seals and sur-
faces for lyint^ and reclbdng upon." — May 19.

Alfred Markwick. of Longham-place, for " Improvements in the manuff cture of epi-
thems, used for medical and surgical purposes." A communication.— May 20.

Zacbariah Major Parkes, of Peckham, surveyor, for "Improvements in the manufacture
of coffins for the dead."— May 22.

Charles Thomas Luti\yche, of Birmingham, gold and silver chain maker, for " Improve-
ments in the manufacture cf porcelain buttons." — May 22.

Hugh Greaves, of Hulme. Manchester, engineer, for " Improvements in the construc-
tion of railways and the carriages to be used thereon." — May 22.

Charles Wright, of Southampton row, Kusaellsquare, boot-maker, for "certain Im-
provements in the manufacture of boots and shoes."— May 22.

John Walker Wilkins, of .Stanhope-street, Hampatead.road, for "certain Improve-
ments In water-closets." — May 26.

Charles Bertram, of Gateshead, Durham, Esq., for " certain Improvements in lie
manufacture oi artiliclal ftael, and in the application of the residual products to useful
purposes." — May 2G.

..nTi'^nl'''' JL*''"''''';' "' '"''" Bromwlch. Ironfoonder, for " Improvement in glsilng and
«oameUmg the surfaces of cast Iron,"— Man 28. o o

James Montgomery, of Sallsbory-street, for " certain Im proremests in the eonstrvctioa
of stedin-builers and steam engines, and In steam-ressels, and In the machinery for erv-
pellingtbe same."— May 26.

Edward Alfred Cowper.o f Sraethwick, near Birmingham, engineer, for *' Imprgvfr-
mentB in themaoufac'ureof railway chairs." — May 26.

WiUia-T Mayo, of Silver.atreet, London, manufacturer of mineral waters, foe " la.
provemeots in the manufacture of aerated 1 iquidj, and in bottling aerated and c
liquids." — May 2(i.

" Blasco Gakay" Steam Ship. — The engines of this new vessel are
remarkable for being by far the largest yet constructed on (he oscillatiDg
principle. They are 350 horses' power; the engineers are Messrs. Mil-
ler and Itavenhill. An experimental excursion was made on the 14lh of
I\Iay, and proved perfectly satisfactory. The regularity and smoothness
with which the enormous cylinders oscillated on their trunnions was really
surprising. The principal peculiarity of construction to be noted is (hat
the valves and ports are placed over the inner trunnions, and oscillate ia
the same direction as the cylinders : the advantage of this method is that
the necessity of having large balance weights is avoided. The equability
of the motion of every part of the engine is a most gratifying proof of the
extraordinary perfection to \vhicb English workmanship has attained.
Messrs. W'igram aod Son are the Builders. She is intended for the Spaoialk
Government.
The following are the principal dimensions :—

Length between the peupendiculars. . . . 187

over all 209

ft. tn
Breadth between the paddle-boxes .... 31 II

Depth of hold 'M

Mean depth with machinery on board ... 10 6

Diameter of cylinders 0 68

Length of stroke 6

Messrs. Miller and Co. have undertaken to construct for the Oriental
Steam Company three pairs of oscillating engines, on the same plan, but
of still larger dimensions. The cylinders are to be of 76 inches diameter,
and the length of stroke 7 feet.

CORRESPONDENTS,

" A Working Mechanic" (Newcastle on Tyne). — We are not certaia
that we correctly understand the construction of the proposed mercurial
air-pump. Without the mercury be allowed to run out at the bottooi o{
the conical tube, the mere turning of a screw will not make it descend.
In any case, the mercury in the conical tube will descend no lower than
the point where the difference of the heights in the conical and the upright
tubes balances the difference between the pressure of air in the receivec
and the external air.

" Messrs. Blair and Phillips" have sent us a very pleasing design for a
railway bridge. It is not our custom to publish designs for structures not
actually erected or about to be erected, but the inspection of the drawing
which we have had the pleasure of receiving reflects credit on the taste of
the designers, and induces us to think that we should agree better vtith
them on architectural than on mechanical subjects.

"J. Huntingdon" (Wanstead, Essex). — When an engine is travelliag
with uniform velocity, the pressure on the piston depends not on the pres-
sure on the boiler, but on the load drawn. If the size of the train be sucll
as to produce a resistance of A lb. per inch to the piston, the pressure on
the piston must also be A lb. per inch. If it be more, the speed will bo
accellerated ; if less, diminished. If, therefore, as is always the case,
the boiler pressure exceed A lb., the steam must be dilated in passing to
the cylinder. The whole theory is correctly laid down in De Pambour.
The ratio 10 ; 16 must have been arrived at by a statical process: the
problem is a dynamical one. The only correct way of determining di»
rectly the relation of the force of the driving-wheel to that of the piston,
is by equating the impressed and effective forces by D'.41embert'3 princi-
ple. A much more simple method is however to compare the respective
distances traversed by the piston and a point in the circumference of the
driving-H heel in equal times. Tor instance, suppose the length of the
stroke 18 inches and the circumference of the driving wheel 17 feet: while
the piston makes a double stroke (3 feet), the engine, if there be no slip-
ping, travels a distance equal to the circumference, 17 feet. Consequently,
the ratio of the average force of the driving wheel to that of the piston is
(neglecting the friction and inertia of the crank) 17:3. If < be the leogtb
of the stroke, and D the diameter of the wheel, the relaiion of the force
of the piston to that of the wheel is wD ; 2i or D ; i-6i67. Mr. Hun-
tington makes it D : < ' 8, which is too large by more than one-fourth of
the real value.

" Mr. K. H. Sharp."— Received with thanks and will appear nest
month.

ERRATA. — In the paper on the Aust Passage Bridge, —
Page 122, column I, line 10 from bottom, d<-le the full stop.

„ column 2, line 29 and 31 from bottom for (S -(- 1), read (i -{- 1^

„ colamn 2, line 3S from bottom for (height^s read (height) '

1846. J

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECrS JOURNAL.

193

THE ENGINES OF H. M. STEAM FRIGATE,
"GLADIATOR."

( With Two Engravinf(s, Plates IX. and X. )
The gradual improvement of direct action engines, and the general
adoption of them in the place of beam engines in steam navigation are sub-
jects of the greatest importance to the mechanical engineer. On the first
introduction of direct action engines it was imagined that they could never
be made to work so steadily as those of the original form, and that conse-
quently the application of the principle must be extremely limited in ex-
tent. It was confidently predicled that in large engines, the great mass of
metal put in motion must cause such a vibration, if the beam were dis-
pensed with, as would speedily cause >he pistons, slides, &c., to work un-
truly.

It has been found, however, by actual experience, that the evil in ques-
tion may be entirely removed by accuracy of workmanship, and by skill
in the arrangement of the working parts. And on the other hand the dimi-
nution of the weight of the engines and of the space occupied by it, are ad-
Tantages of so great importance in navigation, that they far outweigh the
supposed disadvantage of removing the beam.

The Gladiator, one of the vessels forming the " Squadron of Evolution,"
is a beautiful example of the perfection of workmanship exhibited in the
construction of British marine engines.

Before, however, describing those peculiarities in the engines of the
Gladiator, which are illustrated in the accompanying plates, we wish to
remark willi respect (o the observations which have been made on the per-
formances of the steam vessels of the Squadron of Evolution, that those
remarks apply exclusively to the powers of the steam vessels as sailers
when deprived of the assistance of their engines. To compare the powers
of a steam vessel as a sailer with those of a ship built to be propelled i)y
its sails exclusively, seems to us as absurd as to compare the speed of two
animals possessing altogether dilferent organs of locomotion. It can be no
matter of wonder ihat a vessel containing the enormous weight of marine
engines, and built of a form suitable for containing them, should not sail
so fast as one which does not contain this load, and is built of the form best
adapted for sailing. Between steam-ships and sail ships no correct com-
parison can be drawn. Not only are iheir means of propulsion entirely
dilferent, but tlie circumstances under which each acts most usefully, are
altogether dissimilar, so that for the purposes of war each in its turn would
be invaluable, where the other would be inefiicient. The most rational
method therefore seems to be to keep the individual characteristics of the
two classes of vessels perfectly distinct, — to render each as perfect as pos-
sible in those qualities which consiitute its peculiar advantages — in other
words, to speak to those whom we have the most interest in addressing, to
render the war-steamer as perfect as possible us a stemner, and not to injure
her powers by injudicious attempts of combining with them the peculiar
qualities of sailing vessels.

The engines of the Gladiator were constructed by the well-known firm
of Miller, Ravcnhill, and Co., of Blackwall. The principal feature of
these engines is their compactness, the cranks, and consequently the cylin-
ders being brought close to each other, to give deck room for moving the
cannons fore and aft. The air pumps are constructed on a principle pa-
tented by Mr. INIiller, being inclined towards each other, and worked by a
crank common to botli, on the same shaft with the cylinder cranks.

The following are the references, I'lales IX and X.

A A, Cylinders 7b^ inches in dia(i:eter, 5 feet *J iuch stroke.

B B, Piston rods.

C C, Conoecting rods.

D D, Cranks ou working sliaft.

E, tJprigbt sleatn.pipe. At its lower end are bracketfl e €» cast on ttie slide-valve
casing, to support tlie steam-pipe.

F, Expansion valve box.

G, Beam working the refrigerator pump of Howard's patent condensing apparatus.
Ttie beam, of which the bearings are supported by the upright steam-pipe, forms part of
the parallel motion.

H, Slide valve casing, h h k> Openings from the steam. pipes on wtiicb the expansion
TBlves work,

I I, Cross-bar, and K K, Eccentric rods, for working the slide valves.

I,, Opening between slide valve casing and condenser.

M M, Condensers.

N N, Air-pumps, n n. Delivering valve openings.

O, Crank for working air pumps.

P P, Hot water cisterns. Q Q, Feed pumps. R R, Bllgs pnmps.

The annexed <l lagrani represents a section of one of the air-pumps and con-
denser of the Gladiator.

No, 106.— Vol, IX, July, 1846,

Fig. 1.— Section of one of the Air Pumpa and CoiuleaBcr of tbe Gladiator.

A, Air-pump. — B, Pflrt of condenser— C, Foot-valve.— D, Delivering valve. — E, Hot
water cistern-— F, Bracket for suppor.ing guide-rods for air-pump cross-bar.

The following extract from the specification of a Patent, granted March
22, 1842, to Mr. Joseph Miller, will further explain the construction of
the air-pumps and condenser.

The engraving fig. 2, show a vertical section of the condensers B B, and
air-pumps C C, dispo.sed wilhin the condensers, and between the steam cy-
linders, in a ditlerent manner lo that hereinbefore described, one pump being
before the other, instead of the two pumps being side by side. The pumps
C (J are inclined from the vertical, in contrary directions, so that the di-
rection of the centre line of each pump will point to the centre of the ro
tative axis G, and both pumps are workea by the same crank A, on that
axis, by means of two crank rods k k, of which only the centre lines are
shown dotled. and the upper ends whereof may be applied side by side on
the pin of that crank /i, one of those crank-rods k being for working one
pump C, and tlie other of those crauk-rods A: for working the olher pumn
C. In case of the two crank rods being so applied, side by side on ihe
said pin of the crank, then the two air pumps (when viewed frmn the
front) cannot stand exactly in the same vertical plane one with the other
but the centre line of one pump will be as much at one side of the centre'
line of the other pump as is lequlsite to suit the crank-rods fc k, in case
they are one at the side of the olher, in order that they may both work
upon ihe same crank-pin A, as already mentioned ; or one of the crank,
rods kk may be made forked at the upper end, when it is applied uuon"
the crank-pin, with twojolnlson that pin, side by side, and including the
joint of the other crank-rod between them, and in such case the centre
lines of both air pumps may be in the same vertical plane. In such an
arrnngement of ibe air-pumps, the steam cylinders will stand nearer
together, and the middle portion G of the rotative axis will be very short
and there will be only one crank A on that middle portion. The condens'
ers will be narrower in ihe direction between the cylinders, but longer in
the opposite direction. The vertical partition b, by which the condenser
IS divided inlo two compartments or distinct condensers, may stand in the
direction from the centie of one steam cylinder to the centre of the other
provided that, by means of another partition or a branch of one partition
suitably disposed within the condenser, one of the eduction passages G of
one of the cylinders cut only one of those passages, is prolonged and con-
tinued withiuside the condenser beyond or through the partition b so as to
communicate very freely from that said cylinder to that condenser or
compartment of Ihe condenser which is most remote from the siidiuo- valves
and Ihe eduction passages G. The manner of fixing the air-pums C C into
apertures through partitions m and n, and the manner of placing the foot,
valves 0 o, is much the same as aire -dy described, except that instead of Uie

25

194

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[JuLY»

said partilioDO being horzionlal, they are as much inclined as will suit the
inclining position of the air-punips C C. The discharge valves p j> may be
applied at the top of the covpr L of each air-punip to discharae ilie water
into the space above the upper partiiion n. which space constitutes the hot
well M, and may be coniniun to both pumps. The condensers will
have the same kind of flarif^es, with vertical surfaces of contact and union,
with the corresponding surfaces of the two steam cylinders, as already de-
■cribed, except that those surfaces will not be quite at the angles of the
condensers when the same are made as shown, but the mode of uniting
the two steam cylinders to the condensers by such surfaces, with holts
through the flanges thereof, wdl be the same as hereinbefore described,
and need not be repeated. And note, it is not necessary that the inclined
air-pumps should be put within the condenser, as is there represented, for
each pump may be joined to the condenser at bottom, beneath the lower
partition m. by means of a branch projecting laterally from the bottom of
the pump, or el^e projecting laterally fron) the condenser, and by an(,ther
branch projecting from the top of the pump it may be connected with the
upper part of the condenser above the upper partition n. Those branches

Fig 2.— Section of Air Pumps end Contlenscra.

being united to the condenser at the lower and at the upper parts thereof,
in a similar manner to that whereby the air-pump of a marine steam en-
gine, of the kind heretofore made by Messrs. Boulton and Watt, with side-
levers, is most commonly connected to the condenser and hot-well of such
an engine, except that the pumps will be inclined instead of being vertical,
and the pumps may, in that last-mentioned case, be somewhat more in-
clined than they are represented, if that is requisite, in order to give as
much more space of condenser between the two pumps as will give the
required capacity of condenser. The lower branch by which each air-
pump is joined to the lower part of the condenser (whether that branch is
formed as part of the pump, or as part of the condenser,) will join to the
condenser below the loner partition m, and the foot-valve o may be within
the interior of the condenser, or it may be within the lower branch thereof,
to which the air-pump is joined. If the said lower branch is formed in
the same casting or piece of metal with the condenser, it may project out
from the lower part of the condenser, and the air-pump may join thereto,
with a bottom flange around the lower end of the pump, or if the branch
is formed with the air-pump, it may join laterally to the front side of the
condenser, at the lower part of that side. The branch at the upper part
of the air-pump will have the discharge-valve or valves applied to it,
those valves being within the hot well, which hot well may either be a
space M within the condenser at the upper part thereof, above the upper
partition, or inside of the condenser, or the discharge valves may be in a
hot well, which ib formed bj a vessel distinct from the condenser. Although

two distinct condensers and two distinct air-pnmps have been described
(that lieiug preferable in most cases), nevertheless, that is not essential t*
my improved arrangement and combination ; but the same is equally ap-
plicatile if the condenser is made without ihe parliliim fc so as lo be only
one condenser, and with only one large air-pump, equivalent in ltd capa-
city to the two air-pumps represented in the drawing."

NEW METROPOLITAN CHURCHES.

Westbuurne Terrace, Hyde Parle. — The plan of this church is nearly a
rectangle, and comprises a nave with low pitched roofs, north and soutk
aisles, wiih lean-to roofs, a chancel, an octagonal vestry at the north-east
angle of the church, and a tower and spire at the west end of the nave.
The spire is very lofty, and rises to a height of 212 feet. The length of
the church from east to west is 130 feet.

In the interior of the church the nave is divided from the aisles by pier»
which are intersected at mid-height by galleries, which of course partially
obstruct the north and south windows. There is also an organ gallery
which communicates with the staircases by d.^ors having straight jambs
and lintels like the doors of an ordinary dwelling house.

The walls of the church, the piers, the groined roofs, the walls of tb*
porches, staircases, &c. are all coated with stucco, on which are drawa
lines to mimic the jointing of masonry; the hood mouldings of the win-
dows are run in vile patent cement, the bosses of the roof, the capitals and
bases of the columns are all of the same material — moulded first and stuck
on afterwards. You see lying about the church the halves of bases, black
dingy things, not yet whitened by drying, that resemble detached hoofs
rather than real architectural members — these are to be fitted into their
places directly they are dry, and if coated with a delicate layer of colour
will defy detection. — Boz describes one of his humble heroines who had
small means of gratifying her love of dress and consoled herself with tb*
reflection that " a brave show may be made with ribbands for sixpence."

The ceilings of the church are quite dazzling with white wash. Tb»
connoisseur in imitations will not fail to admire also the stained deal pan-
elling, and probably will not object to the indentations in the plaster which
suggest sham windows.

The architecture of the exterior perfectly corresponds to that of the in-
terior. To those who have familiarized themselves with the architectura
of our English country churches, the tracery of the windows of the new
church might appear of somewhat " formal cut," but then it is very showy
for the money, and an approved specimen of jjaiitrn Gothic. Beneath the
parapet, which is panelled, is a row of grotesque masks; for the archi-
tect, determined to have at least some point of resemblance to ancient
Christian art, has selected for imitation the least admirable feature of it —
those barbarous and ridiculous imitations of the human form which wera
excusable in an age, when a familiar connection of solemn and ludicrous
subjects was tolerated, but which would now be pronounced impious or
indecent. But here the disciple has out-done his masters ; in his reverence
for antiquity he has produced forms more monstrous than ever disfigured
ancient freemasonry — Bacchanalian visages with huge tongues hanging
below their chins, or with fists forced into theirdistcnded cheeks, and similar
distortions which might make the fortune of the clown in a penny theatre
but seem rather out of place in a religious edifice. To compensate how-
ever for these barbarities we have over each porch an angel, who fervently
clasps a shield to his breast, and by his beaming countenance exhibits a
perfect ecstasy of pious beatitude.

The general character of the architecture is ostentation in the fomia and
unreality in the materials— two things, by the by,. which always accom-
pany each other ; for where fictitious and dishonest materials are employed,
the fatal facility which they alTord for introducing ornament is usually too
strong a temptation for vulgar display to be easily resisted. Of this truth
the multitude of terraces and crescents which are springing up in the vici-
nity of the new church are lamentable examples. They look uncommonly
showy and fine in the lithographic views which are got up for the purpose
of letting the houses, but we trust that the time is not distant when by the
force of universal public detestation this common-place architecture will be
abolished forever.

Soulk Hackney. — A new church is keing erected here from the design
of Mr. E.G. Hake will, and although the building is not in a very advancid

1816.1

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

105

stale, the proRress made is siiSicientto lead us to hope that this new church
when conipleled will be an addilional proof of the advancs made ia the
knowledge of Christian architecture during the last few jears.

169 feet.

61 „

92 „

34 ,.

37 „

65 „

200

South Haciney New Church.

The plan of the building shows a nave, transepts and chancel, and a
western tower. The archway of the entrance in the tower is aeren ftet in
liepth,— a gratifying contrast to the miserably shallow doorways of some
•f our recent churches. The following will be the principal dimensions of
«ii4S Church when completed : —

Length from east to west internally

Width of nave and aisles

Length from north to south in the transepts

Width of the transepts

Heishl internally to the top of the walls .

Height to apex of the roof

Height of tower and spire

Unlike the churches which we had occasion to notice last month.'thised

fiee will ha\e north and south windows in the aisles, and will not be lighted

by a clerestory exclusively. We should however like to have seen more

light admitted from the lower, and less from the upper, windows. It is

not necessary to repeat what we have already insisted upon, that to let in

a euod of light near the roof is to admit it lo the grea est disadvantage as

regards picturesque effect. The roofs ought to appear dim, shadowy and

ftbscure— especially in a church of the early style here chosen; it was not

imtil the decline of art in the Perpendicular period that the upper parts of

•hurches were brilliantly illuminated.

No criticism is complete without it delect some faults, we roust there-
fore endeavour to find some, though we confess that our feeling in favour
of the general merits of Mr. HakewiU's design renders the task somewhat
difficult. The tower is perhaps too much cut up into parts by string
Bourses, &c. ; some of these might be omitted with advantage, for a tower
•hould have the character of massiveness and strenalh, and consequently
the parts should be large and well defined. Neither do we much admire
the position of the statues at the base of the spire : there is always an idea
of awkwardness and insecurity attached to a statue perched upon a point,
or in any way overhanging its base. In the drawing which Mr. Hakewili
baa been kind enough to send us, the form of the flying buttresses seemed
rather formal, and the manner in which the upper parts of the buttresses
at the angles of the transept met the wall appeared abrupt.
, However, these ar* matters of deUU whieh the architect will be able to

alter, if he see fit, during the progress of the works ; the general character
of the church, (he massiveness and boldness of the features, and the conse-
quent depth of the shadows contrast very advantageously wiih \.be flattest
and showiness which modern churches too frequently exhibit. The mate-
rials are Kentish ragstone, with Bath-slone dressings ; the good taste of
the architect will, we are confident, lead him to reject fictitious or imitative
materials.

Our acknowledgements are due to several architects, to whom we have
applied, for the readiness with which they have afforded information of
churches in the course of erection under their superintendence. We shaU
feel obliged by receiving notices of new churches in or near London : these
notices should be accompanied by a list of principal dimensions, and must
not contain any remarks of a critical character. We shall also be glad lo
publish views of churches of which the general composition is good, or
illustrations of interesting details ; in the latter the jointing of the masonry
should always be distinctly shown.

BOYAL ACADEMY EXHIBITION: ARCHITECTURE.

SECOND NOTICE,

It might be imagined that of Interiors there would be an abundance rather
than a deficiency, because eacli single building contains a great many divi-
sions within, and although only two or three of the principal parts or
apartments may be of any architectural importance, subjects of that kind
would still greatly out number the buildings themselves. Nevertheless
such drawings— whether designs or views— are rarities and exceptions
notwithstanding that designs for rooms and their decorations would be
somewhat less chimerical than those for cathedrals and other buildings on
" monster" scale. Unless the private mansions and other edifices of which
we meet with drawings at the exhibiiions, be totally devoid of archileclu-
ral interest within, there must be a great deal that is withheld from as •
which is the more lo be regretted, because it is through drawings alone
that the public can become acquainted with what lies on the other side of
the threshold of a private residence. We should therefore have been thank-
ful had we been favoured by the sight of a drawing or two— nay, even of
a single one, in evidence of the taste displayed by the noble President of
the Institute of British architects, in his newly fitted-up mansion Wrest
House. Either it has been fulsomely flattered by newspaper paragraphs
and the " suraptuousness" which, it seems, characterizes it, is after all
little better than extravagantly costly commonplace, or there must be some-
thing in it well worth seeing ; whereas now we hiive neither verbal nor
graphic description lo give us any idea of what it really is. Earl de Grey
however, chooses to conceal hi» light under a bushel,— at least, from £u«h
as ourselves, and by so doing he shows one thing— thai he is oblivious of
or else indifferent lo, his connection with architecture as the President of
the Institute ;— whose members, by the by, require to be spurred on to
support the Academy's exhibitions.

After these very grumbling remarks, it may be some relief when we say
that the present season is not more barren of Interiors than usual for
which we have chiefly to thank Mr. Sang, who exhibits four subjects of
the kind, Nos. 1202, 1336, 1337, and 1358, the first of them a sectional
view of the ambulatory of the merchants' area in the Royal Exchange
and Ihe other three, views of Ihe Grand Staircase, Lower Hall, and Up-
per Hall of the Conservative Club-house. These last are especially wel-
come, because the Club-house is not open to every one, as the Exchange
is, and even those who like ourselves have had Ihe opportunity of going
over the building, cannot have such favour renewed at pleasure. Yet for
teeing any drawings of it at all we are perhaps entirely indebted to Mr.
Sang's share in the work, which, we hardly need say, is confined to the
encaustic polychromic decorations of the architecture. Except that Ihey
are in perspective, the drawings themselves make very little more preten-
sion to pictorial expression than coloured sections would do, artist-lika
treatment and effect of light and shade being renounced in them for the
purpose of showing with all possible distinctness the actual colours and
ornamental patterns. Hence they are to be looked upon not as pictures
but merely as graphic descriptions aad explanations of those parts of ihe
interior which they represent. As respects the decoration, we think it is
rather too minute and showy to be altogether in character for the places
where it is iniroduced.themost effect of all in the building being thrown into
what requires to be rather subdued than exaggerated, and not allowed to

2S«

im

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[July,

overpower all that follows. What strikes us as a fault in the general de-
sign— one, however, for which Mr. Sang is not answerable — is the want
of stained glass of some kind in the glazed skylight dome of the upper
hall, which is now rather too much of a blank, and whicli must, we think,
have not only a blank, but even a biack and therefore dismal look by
night, when it must show as a dark yawning void overhead. Such, in-
deed, would still have been the case had it been tilled in with painted or
embossed glass, unless it could also have been lighted of an evening from
the outside ; wherefore it would perhaps have been belter to close the
opening of the dome by a cove and plafond or horizontal ceiling, with
trausparent panels of painted glass, letlmg ihe present dome be an exter-
nal skylight, and within the intermediate space there might have been
gas-burners to shed light through the panels of the ceiling by night.

But our pen is running away from us, and we are running away from
our proper subject. So let us return to the Exhibition, — No. IIGO, *' A
Library," (W. \V. Deane) possesses much merit in its idea, and a very un-
usual degree of scenic effect is produced by the semicircular recess lighted
from above and separated from the room by a screen of Corinthian co-
lumns (forming live open intercolumns) ; which order is continued by aula'
on the other walls, those on the window side being placed not as pilasters
against the piers, but at their angles, with Ihe draperies hung within the
embrasures or window recesses, so that, instead of at all concealing, those
curtains serve to relieve and set off the archiiectural forms. So far, this
design seems to us to fulfil even better than No. 127(1 does the title given
-to the latter, viz., " A design to illustrate an architectural arrangement of
draperies in a drawing-room," (J. Dwyer). Though drawings of the kind
are so few that as much show as possible should be made with them, Mr
Dwyer's is so placed as to fruslrate examination, but were it not for the

■ intimalion in the catalogue we should never have suspected it to be intended
as a study of " arrangement of draperies," there being nothing at all novel
— as far as we can perceive — in that respect, except it be that what is
either an open doorT\ay or mirror at the end of the room, has a drapery

- corresponding with those of the windows. — Nos. 1279 and 1355 show us
the " Staircase and Music Hall of Mr. Hullali's Singing School." (VV.
Westmacott) ; but where the building is, or is to be, is not said. The
style partakes of Tudor, modernized and enfeebled in character ; how-
ever, we have not a right to expect much in what we suppose is only the
speculation of a private individual. Less indulgently are we disposed
towards the very next No., viz. 1356, "The hall and staircase of a gentle-
man's residence executing from the designs and under the superintendence
of G. Mair." In its general idea it is rather the reverse of what would
be thought of as suitable in a residence at the present day, it being upon
the old system of hall and staircase thrown together, so as to form a lofty

■ space that seems to occupy too much of the house, unless it be a very large
one. Neither is space here made to contribute to display ; while as to
character and detail, there is more of what is faulty, objectionable, and in-
convenient in Ihe Elizabethan style, than of what is meritorious in it, and
applicable in modern houses ; in short, it is rather what one would pre-

' serve, had it previously existed, than now produce. — No. 1312, " Interior
of the Upper Chapel, Sau Benedetto, Subiaco" (D. Wyatt), is the finest
picture drawing iu the room — others equal to it we may occasionally have
seen — certainly some that we should prefer in point of subject ; for in-
stance, the Loggia of the Villa Madama, by G. Moore, — but for power
and mastery of execution, we cannot call to recollectiou anything superior.
With the force of oil it has a clearness which we seldom find in the very
best architectural pictures in oil, although there seems to be nothing to
biuder the highest finish and most deceptive degree of imitation being ob_
taiaed in them, just as well as in still-life subjects — seldom worth the skill
and labour bestowed upon them. This production of Mr. D. Wyatt's —
whom we cau hardly suppose to be a young hand, although we never met
with his name before — is a perfect study for its execution, all the details
and different materials being most admirably expressed ; yet the whole is
in perfect keeping. — No. 1312, " Milan Cathedral," (F. W. Stent) is an-
other interior not a little remarkable, but more so for the singularity than
the excellence of its execution, force being here exaggerated into carica-
ture, for the tone of the whole is soexceedingly dark, and the lights which
fall upon a few prominent parts, so unnaturally brilliant, that the latter
look like so many pieces of mother-of-pearl inlaid on a ground of ebony. —
No. 1258, " Interior of the Church of the Apostles, Rome," (J. P. Crew),
is a drawing marked by the directly contrary fault of want of depth and
solidity, not however to such a degree as to be therefore faulty in itself,
and we only wish the artist had employed his pencil upon a better subject,
the building being in poor and tawdry taste :— however, rather this than

so very stale a subject as that of Mr. Crew's other drawing, (No. 1248, A
View of the Coliseum from Ihe Arch of Titus). Sadly at a loss for sub.
jects for interiors must architectural draftsmen be, when they give us such
a one as No. 1I7G, than which one more destitute of merit or interest Oj-
any kind could hardly have been found in all London. Had the author of
that production walked into Moses' shop, he might hate found a rather
striking subject, at all events something quite fresh, but that any one should
think it worth while now to show us the " Interior of the Chapel of the
Foundling Hospital," is to us perfectly unaccountable. Me should have
been very suspicious of its being merely a copy from a print.

There are still one or two drawings of interiors, which we have not yet
mentioned, because they belong rather to the class of designs for churches •
— of which it will be expected ihat we tliould say someihing, yet it is but
little thrtt we have to say, there being few of them at all distinguished by
any thing particularly good in them, or the contrary, except it happen to
be by the sort of merits and defects that are extolled or viiuperaled by the
" Ecclesiologist." What strikes us as rather singular, is, that among them
there are scarcely any drawings of Churches or Chapels in or near the
metropolis. St. John's, Charlotte-street, Filzioy-square ; St. Michael's
Pimlico; St. Andrew's, Mell's-street ; the Catholic Church, Farm-street ;
Bedford ( hapel, the newly erected campanile of the Caiholic Chapel
in Spanish-place, Manchester-square — not one of these are in the Exhibi-
tion. Those which are, are exclusively in ihe Gothic or mediaeval style
there being not a single drawing for church or chapel in any other
although Grecian or rather Greco-Italian seems fitter for buildings of Ihe
kind iu towns, and so far from being prejudiced against such style, by the
wrelched and insipid productions in it twenty years ago, tliey might now
be serviceable to us as warnings, and might convince us that should we
resume the style at all, we ought to treat it very differently from what it
then was. As lo (jothic, it is undoubtedly very much better understood
and practised than it was a quarter of a century ago or even much less
still it seems now to be got into a sort of respectable mannerism and me-
thod. Instead of design being left to be moulded by circumstances, every
part of a church must be shaped according to ceriain arbitrary regulations;
there must be this thing or that, though so far from its being at all re-
quired, inconvenience should be incurred by adopting it. Lucky is it for
Eton College Chapel that it is not a modern structure, since it falls short
of the present orthodox standard, in having ueither aisles nor chancel, nor
spire, nor even tower ; neither has it more than a single range of windows,
and those at a considerable height from the floor; yet it is not only a very
fine specimen of architecture both internally and externally — but also ex-
ceedingly well suited for the Protestant worship. Nor is it without reason
that we here mention it, there being three designs (12ti8, 1290, and 1290)
by J. M. Derick, and J. Shaw, fur restoring the interior. — No. 12CU, de-
scribed only as " View of a Church, designed by G. Alexander," without
the name of its locality ; — and Nos. 1295 and 13U7, exterior and interior of
"St. .lames, Seacroft, near Leeds, Yorkshire," (T. Hellyer,) are among
the best productions of this class. But none displays more forcibly the
enviable talent of being able to infuse a strong degree of character and
originality into what in most hands would prove a very insignificant sub-
ject,— than No. 1329, " Healy Church, now erecting in the parish of
Masham, Yorkshire," (E. B. Lamb). Small as it is in dimensions, and
simple as it is in style, this little edifice is so full of piquant expression that
it might pass for the ideal of an English tillage church. There is a great
deal of effect with scarcely any thing lo account for it, — it being that of a
fel icitous aggregate, and artist-like combination of parts. A design of this
kind is a very severe reproach upon the soulless and idealess compounds
of vulgar tawdry calling themselves designs for cathedrals and townhalls,
which however we will pass by, in mercy, without pointing to them by
their numbers or names. — The show of models this season is even poorer
than usual, and things of the sort are always so badly shown at the
Academy, so huddled up and jumbled together, that wc almost wonder
any should be sent at all.

SUPPRESSION OF SMOKE.

A report has been recently addressed to the Government by Sir Heory
De la Beche and Dr. Lyon Playfair, respecting the means and effects of
preveuting the smoke of furnaces. The following extracts will sulHcientlj
explain the conclusions arrived at.

" The general principles upon which the combustion, or rather the pre-
vention of smoke, may be effected are now well known, and admitted to be

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

J97

. applicable in practice. Smoke consists of vapours produced by the partial
conibustioD or distillatiou of coal, carrying up small particles of the fuel in
inechauical suspensioD, and deposilinp, by the combustion of one of their
fonstitueuts, carbonaceous matter in a fine state of division. The mode of
preventing this smoke is to admit a sufficient quantity of air to efl'ect the
conibustiou of the carbonaceous matter, when the vapours are of a suffi-
ciently elevated temperature to unite entirely with the oxygen of the air.
If the temperature be not sufficiently elevated, the hydrogen of the vapours
alone is consumed, and the carbon is separated in the fine state of division
referred to. The gases produced by the complete combustion of fuel are
colourless and invisible, and therefore do not come under the definition of
ihe term smoke.

" As the prevention of smoke implies the complete combustion of fuel,
the result, as an abstract statement, always is, that more heat is generated,
and a saving of fuel effected, when it is so consumed as to prevent the
emission of smoke ; but although this theoretical conclusion is undoubtedly
correct, the practical results are not always consonant with this statement.

" lu consuming smoke in the usual way a quantity of cold air is intro-
dnced into the tire, and as this must be heated up to the temperature of the
surrounding fuel, the loss of the latter may be equal to, or even greater
than, the saving of the fuel from the combustion of the products of distilla-
tion. This often results in the careless use of furnaces constructed on the
principle of smoke prevention, and thus leads to the contradictory state-
ments given by those who have used such furnaces. But in all carefully
conducted experiments the saving of fuel has been considerable, and the
reason of this will be at once perceived, when it is considered that in addi-
tion to the combustion of the products of distillation there is a large amount
of fuel saved by the combustion of a gas called carbonic oxide, formed by
the proper product of combustion, carbonic acid, taking up in its passage
through the incandescent fuel, another portion of carbon, which escapes
useless as regards the production of heat, unless burned by the air intro-
duced at the bridge of the furnace, for the purpose of consuming the pro-
ducts of distillation.

" From these considerations, and from experiments conducted under our
inspection, with a view to determine this point to our satisfaction, we ar-
rive at the conclusion, that although from careless management of fires
there is often no saving, and that indeed there is frequently a loss of heat
in the prevention nf smoke, still that with careful management the preven-
tion of smoke is in many cases attended with, and may in most cases be
made to produce, an economy of fuel.

" It may be unnecessary to remind your lordship that the cause of th*
emission of smoke in manufactories may be classed under three different
heads, the relative importance of which involves very different considera-
tions in any attempt to legislate for its prevention. These are— 1. The
want of proper construction and adjustment between the fire-places and the
boilers, and the disproportionate size of the latter to the amount of work
which they are expected to perform;— 2. The deficiency of draught, and
improper construction of the flues leading to a chimney of inadequate
height or capacity ;— 3. The carelessness of stoking and management by
those entrusted with the charge of the fire-places and boilers."

It cannot for a moment be questioned, that the coutinued emission of
smoke is an unnecessary consequence of the combustion of fuel, and that
as an abstract statement, it can be dispensed with. But your lordship
will perceive that there are grave difficulties connected with a general law
to the effect that it shall be unlawful for chimnies, after a certain date to
emit smoke. With regard to steam-engines, the processes fur the preven-
tion of smoke have been matured, and in very many instances successfully
employed. In this case, therefore, a law to that effect could be most easily
and promptly carried out. In other cases mentioned in Lord Lincoln's
letter, such as distilleries, dye-works, &;c., the legislature has already
granted powers in the Manchester Local Act; and as there are certain in-
stances in which processes for the prevention of smoke have with theiu
proved successful, it may be anticipated that the nuisance arising from
these sources may be much abated, if they be subjected to the general law
with that forbearance and caution whicli, under certain cases, is so advisa-
ble. There are certain processes in glass-works, iron-furnaces, and pot-
teries, in which it is neither possible nor desirable to apply a general law
for the prevention of smoke; although the nuisance may be partially miti-
gated, by causing the steam-engines employed in them to be so constructed
as not to emit siuoke.

It is useless to expect, in the present state of our knowledge, that any
law can be practically applied to the fire places of common houses, which,
in a large town like London, contribute very materially to the pollution of
the atmosphere; but it may confidently be expected, that by a wise ad-
ministration of a legislative enactment, carefully framed, a great progres-
sive diminution of the smoke of large manufacturing towns will be effected,
and that the most happy results will thus flow from this improvement, in
the increased health and moral feeling of their population, the intimate
connection of which with facilities for cleanliness has been so often pointed
out.

PLATE-GLASS MAKING IN ENGLAND IN 1846, CONTRASTED WITH WHAT IT WAS IN 1827.
(Compiled from authentic data by Henrv Hovvard, Blackwall, and 4, Railway-Place, Fenchurch-street. 1846.

In 1840.
Coals are landed at works near Loudon at about 13s. per ton.

An annealing kiln contains 400 feet.
A casting furnace produces 4,000 feet per week.

Open pots are used, requiring less fuel, and containing about 20 cnt.
each.

Pearlasbes are about £23 per ton.

The casting-table is heated underneath by cylinders, at scarcely any ex-
pense.

An engine of GO-horse power will grind and polish at least 3,000 feet
per week.

A grinding bench at Works grinds about 500 feet per week.

A grindiugbench may be constructed to grind COO feet per week.

A polishing bench at — Works polishes about 500 feet per week.

A polishing-beoch can be constructed to polish better and cheaper nearW
1,000 feet per week. •'

A company near London is making 8,000 feet per week, or more than
400,000 feet per annum.

And that is insufficient, but they can make no more, having no room to
extend.

The price of rough plate (i and } of an inch thick) is Is. 6d. to 2s. per
foot; (cost lOd. to Is. per fo»t.)

And one compaujr has an order for 43 000 feet !

Wages are high, hut they do not amount to so much per foot as in 1827.

The largest plates are made with perfect facility, at less than Ss per
foot.

And this amount may be still further reduced to about 23. 6d. per foot.

None of the houses can keep stock, but can only supply their customers
from hand to mouth, and that very inadequately.

Summary — Average. — In 1827 Plate Glass sold for about 12s. per foot, to the extent of about 5,000 feet per week.
" In I83G Plate Glass sold for from 85. to Os. per foot, to the extent of about 7,000 feet per week.

In 1844 Plate Glass sold for from 63. to 7s. per foot, to the extent of about 23,000 feet per week.
In 1846 Plate Glass sells for Ss. to Os. per foot, to tiie extent of about 40,000 feet per week.
May 30. — Now nearly 45,000 fett per week— (Exclusive of foreign glass )
Looking at the extraordinary increase that has taken place, notwithstanding the severity of excise restrictions, and seeing that the demand now nro-
grtsses more rapidly than ever, even at Ss. to 6s. per foot,— if the price were reduced to 43. or 3s. 6d. per foot (which, free as the trade now u from
excise interference, would aUbrd ample profit), what must then be the demand ?

In 1827

Coals in London were about 31s. 6d. per chaldron in the Pool, which,
with lighterage, wharfage, and cartage to the works, rendered them about
40s. per chaldron, or 30s. per ton.

An annealing kiln contained 200 feet.

A casting furnace produced, say 1,200 feet per week.

Hooded or covered pots were used for melting the glass, containing
about 12 cwt. each.

Pearlashes were at a high price, and heavy duty on alkali made there-
from. Pearlashes were in 1836, £43 per ton.

The casliug-lable was heated on the top by charcoal, at an expense of
£500 per annum.

An engine of 32horse power ground and polished (12 hours to the day)
from 800 to 1,000 feet per week.

A grindiug-beuch ground 200 to 250 feet per week.

A polishing-bench polished, 200 to 250 feet per week.

A plate-glasswork in London manufactured about 60,000 feet per annum

The price of rough and moulded plate varied from 5s. to 6s. per foot.

Wages were comparatively low.

Large plates were made with great difficulty, and thecost on the average
is estimated at about lOs. per foot.

The manufactures kept a very large stock on hand.

m

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[JULYI

TRIAL OF MAIL STEAMERS.

The Lords Commi9«ioDera of the Admiralty, having ordered a compara-
tive trial to be made, to ascertain the speed of three new boats, recently
built for service as mail packets, on the Dover station, the trial was made,
and the following is given from impartial persons who were present during
the whole time: —

" Dover, May 31.

"A most extraordinary trial of speed took place yesterday, between
three of Her Majesty's steam-packets — Garland, Onyx, and Violet — the
former being of wood, and designed by Mr. O. W. Lang, jun., assistant to
the Master-shipwright at ('hatham Dockyard (son of Mr. Lang, Master-
shipwright at Woolwich Dockyard), and built by Messrs. Fletcher and
Sons, of Limehouse ; and the two latter well-known iron-boats, the fastest
ever built, by Messrs. Ditchburn and Mare, of Blackwall; the dimensions
uf the vessels being the same, and the engines also of equal power, by
Messrs. Penn and Co., of Greenwich.

"The Garland, under the able command of Captain Smithett, and the
Onyx, Lieutenant-Commander Mudge, left Dover xi 7 o'clock, a.m , the
latter having the mail and passengers for Ostend, Captain Mercer, R.N.,
Superintendent of Her Majesty's packets on this station, being ordered by
the Admiralty for this purpose on board the Garland.

" Off Dunkirk these two vessels were met by the Violet, Captain Sher-
lock, who came out of Ostend to meet them and to return with the otheri.
At this time, about 10 o'clock, the Garland had gone by and distanced the
Onyx about a mile and a half.

"The great trial of strength then was to beat the Violet, and although
there was a decided superiority in this vessel over the Onyx, the Garland
in less than three-quarters of an hour was far enough ahead of the Violet
to be able to cross her bowes. After this a second trial was made, the
Violet altered her trim, but in this the Garland showed a still greater supe-
riority ; and in a third trial it was conclusive that the Garland could beat
Violet about one-third of a mile an hour, and Onyx half a mile an hour,
which has established the fact that the ' Wooden Walls of Old England'
are not to be beaten by any other material or power, and we ought to con-
gratulate ourselves and the country on the fact.

"The Garland returned from Osiend to Dover this day in 3 hours 55
minutes, which is by far the quickest ever known, and has established her
reputation a* being the fastest steamer in England.

" The Garland also fell in with the Queen of the Belgians, the fastest of
the South-Eastern Uamsgate steamers, and went round her in less than a
quarter of an hour,"

THE NEW LOCOMOTIVE ENGINE "THE GREAT WESTERN."

On June 13th an experimental trip was made on the Great Western,
from London to Bristol and back, for the purpose of trying the tractive
powers of the new monster engine "The Great We-tern." The train
weighed ino tons, and consisted often first class carriages, seven of which
were ballasted with iron, the other three being occupied by the directors
and those intere-^ted in the experiment.

The traiu started from Paddington at 11 hour 47 inin. 52 sec. It passed
the 1st mde-posl at 1 1 hour 51 min. 1 sec, and came abreast of the 52Dd
mile (immediately after which the breaks were put on for the stoppage at
Didcot), at 12 hour 4.i min. 21 sec, running, therefore, the 51 miles, with
a rise of 1 18 feet, in a few seconds over 51 minutes, or at an average speed
of upwards of 50 miles per hour.

At Didcot a stoppage of 5 min. 15 sec. took place. The mile-post
beyond Didcot, viz. the o4th, was passed at 12 hour 54 rain. 27 sec, and
the 75lh mile post (just after passing which the breaks were put on for
the stoppage at Swiudoii) was reached at 1 hour 18 min. C sec, the dis-
tance of 21 miles having been passed ovt-r in 23 min. 39 sec, or at the
average rale of upwards of 54 miles an hour.

At Swindon there was a stoppage of 4 min. 27 sec. The 78lh mile-post
was passed at 1 hour 29 min. 30 sec, and the 98lh mile-post, which is a
short distance on tlie Paddington side of the Box Tunnel, was reached at
I hour 49 min. 26 sec, the 20 miles having therefore been accomplished in
19 min. 56 sec. or at upwards of a mile per minute. The train came
abreast of the 117th niile-post at 2 hour 12 min. 3 sec. This gives the
time occupied in running the distance lielween the 7Slh and n7th as
42 min. 33 sec. for the 39 miles, or something like 53 miles per hour.

The maximum speed on the down journey was obtained between the
83rd and 92 mile-posts. Trom the 80th to the 84lh mile there is a falling
gradient of 8 feet per mile, and from the S.i.lih to about the SGAth mile
there is a falling gradient of about 1 in 100, and a fall of 8 feel per mile
then reaches to about the 90J mile-post; a rising gradient of 8 feet per
mile then succeeds, and exteiids beyond theI22iid mile-post. The train
came abreast of the 63rd mile-post at I hour 31 min. 5G sec, and passed
tlie 92nd mile-post at 1 hour 43 min. 8 sec, performing the 10 miles in
9 min. and 8 sec, or at an average speed "of nearly liO miles per hour.
The 87th and 8Hth miles, on a falling gradient of 8 feet per mile, were run
over at the rate of sixty nine miles per hour.

The train arrived at Bristol about 15 min. past 2, thereby making the
time occupied in starting from a state of rest to coming to a state of rest,
or, in other words, from platform to platform, 2 hours 20 min., including
stoppages, which averages a rate of 50 miles per hour.

At Bristol, a collation awaited the invited goeslB, Mr. C. Russell, M.P.,

in the chair. In the course of his speech took occasion to remark that
a greater speed mif,'/i< have been attained, had not one of the pumps for
supplying the boiler wiih water given way shortly after passing Slough, to
remedy which they were under the necessity of reducing the pressure in
the buders. The train afterwards returned to London. Mr. Brunei drove
the engine both ways.

The principal dimensions of Ibis great locomotive are— Cylinders, 18 is.
diam. and 2 ft. stroke; driving wheels, 8 ft. diain. ; supporting wheels,

4 ft. G in. diam. ; has six wheels and uiicuupled ; 27S tubes, 9 ft. long and
2 in. diam.; fire-box outside, 5 tt, G in. by 6 ft. ; inside, 4 ft. 10 in. by

5 ft. 4 in., with a partition through the middle, giving 160 ft. of heating
surface, and 20 fts for area of tire-grate ; total heating surface, 1,750 ft. ;
from level of rail to lop of cylindrical part of boiler, 9 ft. fl in. ; and from
level of rail to lop of chimney, 14 ft. 8 in.; supporting wheels 16 fU
apart, with ihe driving wheels in the centre ; total leiiglh of engine, 24 ft. ;
tender on six wheels ; weight of engine, 30 tons ; lender, 15 tons.

The following statement of the time kept between London and Bristol
takeu from the Times slightly differs from the preceding slalemeut, which
is given on the authority of the Railway Chronicle,

Paddington
Ist Utile
2nd „
3rd „
-Itll „

;.th „
fill) ..

7ib „

Stti „

Kih ..

KHh „

11th „

l-'ih ,.

13ili „

14lll „

15lli „

lUlb „

i;tli „

IStli „

I'J b ,.

20tli „

21st „

Z'.'nd „
Maidenhead
Twylord

32nd mile

ixrd „

.■)4lh „
Reading;

iAlh „

Slilll „

,')7tli „

38111 „

3:jtll „

h. m. 8.

11 51 50

U 54 0

II .)5 2i

U 5'i 40

1 1 57 4 ;

U .W 4d

II 59 51

0 57

1 55

2 56

3 58

4 59

5 58

6 51)

7 55

8 52

9 49

10 48

11 4«
12 12 45
12 13 45
12 14 4>!
12 U AH
12 16 48
12 25 4u
12 26 0
12 .7 10
12 28 i8
12 30 10
12 311 29
12 31 33
12 32 37
12 33 -Jl
12 34 47

40th „

41st „
42nd „

••3rd „

44lll „

45lh ,.

46th „

47th „

481h „

49th „

50th „
Didcot
Started again
53rd mile

64lh „

55th „

56th „

57th „

58lh „

59th „

60th ,.

61st „

62nd „

63rd „

64th „

65lh „

66th „

67th „

68th „

69th „

70th „

71st „

72iid „

73rd „

h. m. 8.
12 85 55

12 37 3
12 38 11)
12 39 l.i
12 41 21
12 41 2
12 42 34
12 4.1 40
12 44 4.<
12 45 65
12 47 4
12 50 10
12 .')5 25
12 .W 10
12 58 15
12 59 40
1 0 48

2 4

3 9

4 15

5 21

6 26

7 32

8 38

9 46
1 10 55
1 12 0
I 13 7
1 14 15
I 15 19
1 16 2i
1 17 27
1 18 32
1 19 38

74th „

75th ..

76th „
Swindon
St.nrted again

78ili mile

79th „

80lh „

81 St „

82nd „

8.(rd „

84th „

86lh „

86th „

87 th „

88ht „

byth „

90tb ,.

9>st „

92nd „

93rd „

91th „

9«th „

97lh „

98th „

mist „

I02iid „

lll3rl „

104 h „

li'Sih „

liioth „

118ih „
Biistol
Time occupied

b. ro. 1.

1 20 4S

1 21 Mt

1 22 »7

I 24 40

1 29 »

1 .12 U

1 33 3S

1 34 4a

1 85 4»

I 36 4S

1 37 40

1 X8 at

I 39 »

1 40 24

1 41 1»

1 42 It

1 43 3

I 43 57

1 44 5S

I 45 51

I 46 4a

1 47 48

I 50 H

1 51 2

1 52 «

1 55 85

I 56 66

1 58 0

1 59 4

2 0 8
2 I 2«
2 15 12
2 16 :12
2 2i 41

•,* The results of this experiment are deemed by the advocates of th«
broad gauge to settle the controversy in their favour, or, as Mr. Uusse II,
M. P., chairman of the company, expressed it with more empha-is than
elegance, " to put an end to the 'humbug' uf the narrow gaiigf." With
great deference, however. It may be submitted that this is not quite cor-
rect. The observation, that the engine would have gone faster if one of
the pumps had not broken, seems a rather innocent one; for that "if"
contains llie whole gist of the matter. They never get up any astonishing
perfonnauces on the Great Western Railway without one of these casual-
ties ociurriug. We are constantly told of the wonderful feats of the ex-
press trains, but tliose wlio are accustomed to travel by this railway are
always on the look out for some accident especially, which, if it do not
involve loss of life and limb, causes a detention. There is always "a screw
loose somewhere," or if it be not loose at starting, it works loose during
the journey.

Now what is wanted in an important commercial agent such as the Great
Western or the Birmiiigliam Railway, is not a lew showy results now and
llien, but coll^laut uniformity and punctuality — not an excessive speed,
but oue which may be thoroughly depended upon. Until, tl erefore, the
Great VVe^terll Company can work their engines at these high velocities
for tniiHlli.i together, and pass over the points and crossings at llie interme-
diate stations, without accident, they will not have proved their point.

We offer no opinion here as lo the superiority of either gauge ; it seems
to us that too many opinions have been offered already. As far as we can
judge, the best laiUvay gauge, if we had to begin de nolo, would be one of
intermediate width. but whether excess or deficiency of width be the great-
est evil we cannot decide ; of neither gauge have the powers been yet suf-
ficenlly developed lo render it possible to pronounce an authoritative opio-
lon. However, this is certain, that the diversity of gauge has at least one
beneficial result; it stimulates the rival eugioeers to exert ihemseltes lo
the utmost.

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECPS JOURNAL.

199

ROMAN REMAINS AT COLCHESTER.

The fifth mimber of the Journal of the British Archaeological Association
•ontains a descri(.tion of some remarkable specimens of Roman art, discover-
ed at Colchester. Among them was a sphynx, sculptured in stone, found in
the garden of the General Hospital, about ten paces from the west wall, and
about fifty-five paces from the London Road, at two feet from the surface of
the soil : close to it was dug up a fragment of the tibia of a human leg, bones
of oxen, deer, pigs, and fowls, with Roman pottery ; and between twenty and
thirty paces from the same spot, part of a scpulnhral inscription to the me-
mory of one or more legionary soldiers. Within the hounds of the hospital
were dug up at the same tijne a large quantity of building materials, ted and
white tiles, coarse and unhewn stones, used probably in foundations, and a
great many well-hewn fragments of a stone called swanage, from a place in
the Isle of Purbeck, where it is chiefly dug; the fragment of the inscription
above alluded to is of the same material. The stone in which the sphvnx is
sculptured is freestone, brought probably from Portland. Very recently, Mr.
Taylor, the resident surgeon, has noticed, in the same locality, a Roman wall,
from four to five feet wide, and from ten to twenty feet in length, as far as
it was excavated. A bronze statuette of a sphynx, about an inch and a half
high, was found in 1820, within a few yards of the stone figure. As a work
of art, the sculptured sphynx exhibits a good taste and executive skill of no
mean order. The fabled monster of Thebes, combining the five-fold attri
butes of a virgin, a lion, a bird, a dog, and a serpent, is correctly exhibited
in accordance with the ancient myths in which it figures so conspicuously.
The head, breasts, and arms, are those of a beautiful virgin ; the fore-paws
are of a lion; the body and fecund dugs indicate a bitch ; the hinder part
takes the lion's form ; and the tail, doubled upon itself in short foldings, is
the serpent in repose. The mangled remains of a human being lie beneaih
the figure, and protrude on both sides. The head of the victim is extremely
well executed ; the eyelids are closed ; the mouth is drawn down at the cor-
ners; muscles are strained and set, and the countenance, sunk in death, con-
veys an expression of exhaustion and agony. Altogether, the composition is
good and harmonious, and is probably of early date. On the base is cut a
large S, douhtU ss a mark of the quarrier or of the sculptor.

In the collection of Mrs. Mills, of Lexden Park, is a bronze figure of
Cupid riding on a sea-griffin, discovered some years since in excavating for
laying the foundations of Colchester bank, but which has been hitherto un-
published. The god of love is often represented riding on the back of a lion,
or on dolphins and sea-monsters, emblematical of his omnipotence, which is
well symbolised in the triform griffin, a combination of bird, beast, and fish,
ebedient and tractable under the gentle sway of the youthful divinity.

AUST PASSAGE BRIDGE.

Sir— With respect to Mr. Fulljames's letter on the subject of the Aust
Passage Bridge, I beg to state that in the paper published with the names
of Mr. Giles and myself in your April number, there was no claim to
originality in the proposition to build a bridge across the Old Passage of
the Bristol Channel at Chepstow, the idea having been originally suggested
by Mr. Tellord many years since. A mere reference to the map will at
once point out the Aust Passage as the narrowest part of the channel in
that neighbourhood. The occurrence of rocks, visible at low water and
suitable for the foundation of piers, is a still further recommendation of
that locality for a suspension bridge.

The span of the bridge at Freiburg is 820 feet, and Telford proposed
one of 1,000 feet at Runcorn. There is no doubt that this could be con-
structed so far as the mere strength of the main chains is concerned but
the liability to undulation is a very serious obstacle. I see no reason to
alter the opinion already expressed that the plan which I have been anx
lous to lay before the public, would completely remedy that defect which
has proved very injurious to the most celebrated of our suspension biidses
iQ exposed situations I believe that a bridge with radial bars would if
properly constructed, be quite capable of allowing the passage of railvv'av
trains, and that opinion is confirmed by considering the strenglb which lat
Uce brulges have by actual experience been found to possess

wIm^'^T,"''. ""i^ '''^P^''*7 bridge proposed by me was firs't published in
Weale s Quarterly Papers for Lady-day, 1845, and I there gave an outline
of the design, which was afterwards described in a more complete form ,n
your Journal, f,.r a bridge over the Aust Passage.

Mr. Fulljames appears to intimate some intention of commenting upon
my calculations 1 shall feel very much obliged to him for pointing out aT/
Hie errors which he is able to detect. ^

I am, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

Francis BAsiiFonTii.

REVIE'WS.

Studies of Ancient Domestic Architectdre, with obsermtions on the
Application of Ancient Architecture to the Pictorial Composition of Modem
Edifices. By Edward Buckton Lamb, architect. Twenty Plates 4to
London, Weale. 1846.

A book, that comes with a quotation from Candidus for the motto on iU
title-page, brings with it, as may be supposed, a letter of recommendation
to us, nor has the prepossession in its favour, so caused, been at all de-
ceived. Mr. Lamb-whose name has repeatedly been mentioned by us
for praise in our notices of the architectural drawings in the Royal Aca-
demy's exhibitions-has here produced an exceedingly clever work, re-
plete with original remark and sound instruction. In the generality of
architectural publications in which engravings constitute the leading and
foremost feature, the letter-press is either of very subordinate quality-
little better than mere filling-up stufi-, or anything but architectural-some-
limes evidently the compilation of some book-maker, who besides pillagiDR
not only bis matter, but entire paragraphs verbatim from others, does 00*1
seem to have even so much as looked at the plates to which he was writing.
Such is not the case here, for, though all the subjects represent actual ex-
amples of ancient-that is, Old English-domestic architecture, instead of
cramming his pages with gossip history about the houses themselves and
the people (all their kindred included) by whom they have been occupied,
Mr. Lamb leaves those readers who have a taste for such " information''
to seek it in professedly topographical works, contenting himself with
speaking of the respective subjects, " exclusively with reference to artistic
criticism elucidated by direct example." Criticism of that kind— espe-
cially so good of its kind as what we here obtain— is rather a scarce arti-
cle ; at least, it is very rarely served up to the general public, who are
kept upon a water-gruel diet of discussion about "styles" alone ; as if
people needed to have such incipient information to be dinned into them on
every occasion, and needed no other instruction at all. A very great deal
more, it may be suspected, is requisite for enabling them to make use of such
" first-step" knowledge, when we find that even those who can show off
very fluently, so long as they stick to styles and dates, either become quite
mule in regard to anything further, or else betray that their knowledge is
all got by rote, and does not reach beyond what just enables them to dis-
criminate between one style and another, but leaves them incapable of
judging of individual productions of the art, except as they happen to con-
form to or deviate from precedent. So strongly, indeed, is a blind and
servile regard to Precedent now insisted upon, that nothing seems to be left
for us to do in architecture but to copy literally what has been done; be-
sides which, it might be thought that those who lived in former ages had so
completely foreseen and anticipated all the wants of the present one and of
our actual social condition, as to render any further modification of the
styles we borrow from them wholly unnecessary— and not only unneces-
sary, but dangerous. If Precedent is to be so followed— not as a guide
merely going before us on the road, but one on whose footmarks we must
plant our own feet at every step,— we may as well renounce at once, both
for ourselves and for architecture, the power of doing anything that has
not been done before. Those who cautiously follow Precedent step by
step generally hobble along though they may not stumble ; yet better is it
that some should stumble— perhaps, break their necks— than that a whole
generation should go hobbling along, and perhaps, at last, get angry and
shove Precedent aside, and fairly take their leave of him altogether.

We are not losing sigbt of Mr. Lamb all this while, for we are glad to
find that he has not at all more respect for that same bugbear Precedent
than ourselves. He too considers Precedent- that is, that " slavish ad-
herence to it which paralyses all invention"— to be the " very rust of art
—the canker that feeds upon its vitality." After all, too scrupulous a regard
to precedeet aflfords not the slightest defence against bad taste in architec-
ture and decoration, for, as is here observed, " the worst conceits of the
Pompeian, ihe tawdriest crinkum-crankums of the Louis Quatorze style,
are facsimilized by our decorators, as if the taste displayed in them were
so pure and perfect, that to deviate from it would be profanity." — But let
us begin at the beginning, taon ami Belier, and, certes, the opening para-
graph of the volume is well penned, and serves as a very appropriate ves-
tibule—to express ourselves architecturally— to what follows.

" At the time of its being re-introduced and adopted into modern prac-
tice, so very ill was our mediaeval architecture understood, so great was
the ignorance that prevailed even as to its very nature, constitution, and
physiognomy, and so completely was even thatordinary sort of good taste
which is founded upon good sense disregarded, that notwithstanding lis
evident and almost total unfitness for the purpose, the ecclesiastical style

200

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[July,

of former times was taken-or, to speak more correctly, mistaken— as one
for imilation in modern residences, while our ancient Domestic architec-
ture" (Mr L. rejects the orthodox final k of the Camdenists in Uomes-
ti-k") a -examples of which are, or were then at least, suflTiciently nu-
merous and varied, both in towns and in the cnuntry,-was overlooked
altoeeth-r. Church windows — or something like church windows-
spruced up and divested of all characteristic finish and detail, entitled a
modern house to be called a Gothic mansion. In like manner a line ol
battlements, and perhaps a turret or two besides, were deemed quite f,ut-
ficient to constitute a very passable ' castellated style. Then again, we
bad Gothic cottases-perhaps the race is not yet quite "'""^'-'P"'"
little thinirs, whose Gotldcism lay in their having po.nted-arch apertures tor
windows In short, had it been intended to parody and burlesque our
former styles of architecture, for the purpose of bringing them into con-
tempt, hardly any better mode could have been devised.

This is most true; and not the least singular part of the matter is, that
the most egregious parody and burlesque of all should have been perpe-
trated by one who not only set up for but actually was, and by some still
is, looked upon as an accomplished antiquary and a profound authority in
matters of taste ; for in both the one character and the other, most cora-
pletel) does Strawberry Hill damn the credit of Horace Walpole. The
Strawberry Hill humbug, however, is over; and, as Mr. Lamb says,
" We can now laugh at such things as supremely ridiculous, although the
laugh will not bejoined in cordially by every one,-not by those who have
had such flagrantly absurd taste entailed upon them by their immediate
predecessors, and perlwps at an enormous expense. Even yet, however,
he continues, " Ancient Domestic architecture is not suHicien ly under-
derstood. In regard to certain individual features that serve as distinctive
marks of buildings of that class, it may be allowed to be tolerably well
understood at the present day ; yet hardly is it so in iis nature as a style
—as one capable of expressing itself distinctly, decidedly, and without
any alfectalion, even on ordinary occasions. In like manner, as there may
be a great deal of ami at character by means of certain pretensions fea-
tures, yet. after all. little of it in general composition, and just as little of
artistic effect,— so may a very strong degree of character be kept up or
produced where there is apparently scarcely anything to account for it.
In art— and I would wish to assert such title for architecture— it is only
what would be called a few trifling touches that frequently contribute all
the difference between the masterly and the trivial. Unfortunately for
architecture, it has not been considered necessary to teach more than ele-
mentary forms, without regard to their value and elTect in combination ; in
other words, without regard to composition and character. It is true, the
really ariivdcaMies beyond the limits of the teachable, yet for that very
reason ought students to be impressed with the necessity for striving to
advance beyond mere rules— with the necessity for self thinking.

Now, confound the book ! we go on transcribing and transcribing with-
out knowing where to stop ; and feel ourselves shrunk from a reviewer into
a mere copyist. And, as if on purpose to vex us, what is said is so much
to the purpose and so well expressed, that we cannot attempt to condense
it without injuring it. We must, therefore, skip over a very great deal^
and content ourselves with producing some of the passages which have
most arrested our attention, or which are sufficiently intelligible in the
separate form of extracts. The following is one of them : — .

" The reproduction of ancient forms cnn never be the means of continu-
ing (Iw art as it was practised by those whom we afl'ect to imitate by
merely dning exactly as they did uniler widely different circumstances.
The adoption of the improvements necessarily resulting from advancing
refinement has ever influenced architecture. The whole history of the art,
in our own country in particular, attests this. Almost every successive
century produced some markeil change — some one of those distinct modes
which we designate styles, though all belonging to one general style. Be
it especially observed, loo, that such successive changes were always gra-
dual and uniformly progressive : ihere was in those days no such thing as
the re assumption of any torraer style. Wherefore there is reason to be-
lieve, that had not an eniirely new direction been given to architecture in
the sixteenth century, the very latest (Jolhic or best Tudor might have been
carried on much longer, and would have acquired fresh spirit and energy.
We of the present day are, on the contrary, at once exceedingly strict, and
exceeilingly lax, — most bigotii-d in some respects, and most latituilinarian
iu others; for although sliockeil at the idea of presuming to treat any one
style with artistic freedom, our taste is so pliant that it accommodates itself
to nearly all styles alike, just as whim or fashion brings them by lurns into
vogue. For all the styles we possess we are eniirely indebted to those who
have gone before us, not even attempting to make any addition of our own
to the general stock ; whereas, by continuing the same spirit winch marked
the works of preceding ages, we should in a short time work out a stjie
accommodated to our actual requirements, and at the same time marked
by asthetic quality."

Very different is this from— we need not say how much more rational and
how much more cheering than — that doctrine which would convert art into
mere mechanical routine, and which tacitly proclaims— (mark the bull!) —
disbelief in the ability of architecture to do more ihan copy and repeat its
former deeds and doings. It would seem that, though its hands may be as

strong as ever, its intellectsareimpaired— its imagination completely gone /
so that it has become not only prosaic, but a twaddler and proser at once
boastful and desponding, and for ever and anon exclaiming "Oh! the days
when I was young!" Not content with its keeping to one route, pedants
and sticklers for precedent insist upon architecture being handcuffed and
manacled also. If it presumes to put forth a finger or make a single
movement of any kind that is not in conformity with their instructions, they
stand aghast at iis temerity and audacity. Yet surely there is nothing un-
reasonable in demanding that we should be allowed to continue any style
which we have taken up, by modifying and adapting it to existing occa-
sions and purposes. The right of such continuation-process has been
claimed in Germany, where its good effects have shown themselves in
several instances. That it has been uniformly attended with success we
do not say ; but for what style, we would ask,— let it be adhered to ever
so slavishly,— can uniform success be insured ? Some have gone astray,
quite astray perhaps ;— well, what then ?— are we to have no more wine
because some people get beastly drunk with it ?— or " are we to have no
more cakes and ale because Sir Robert is virtuous 1" Let it also be care-
fully borne in mind that the ultimate efficacy of a continuation-process is
not to be prejudged from its beginnings. It must have lime to operate. A
tree does not bear the desired fruit the very day after it has been engrafted.
At any rate, those who do not care to venture upon any fresh ideas them-
selves, ought not to discourage others by " pooh-poohing" and sneering.
To say the truth, their doing so betrays what they would most studiously
of all conceal, namely, their apprehension not of failure for others, but of
their success, — apprehension lest ihose who are more enterprising and pos-
sess more artistic stamina than themselves should get forward by leaping
over the fence that bounds the beaten pathway.

It is easy enough, it will perhaps be objected, for any one to say that we
ought to modify those styles belonging to former periods which we novy
make use of; the difficulty lies in the doing it. True: and to be re-
proached for not doing it might seem too much like an inconsiderate if not ,
insolent taunt on the part of a mere writer on architecture, totally unprac-
tised in design. Such a one speaks uuder the comfortable assurance that
his o«n ability will never be put to the test ; but the author of the present
volume has shown that he is capable of acting up to his own doctrine, and .
that while treating a style freely, he can be truer to the spirit of it than
many one who pique themselves upon copying from it literally, and can
produce " certificate" for each separate pait in their designs. There are
buildings which cut a very brave figure in descrip'ion, yet a very sorry one
when beheld; for we then ofttimes find that the great something in words,
turns out to be a nothing in reality, or at the best, something very feeble
and poor. Nor is it iu the treatment of style alone that Mr. Lamb shows
/or<f, for he is generally exceedingly happy in composition; and on the
subject of composition— certainly a very important one— he gives us some
excellent remarks in this volume, and they are all the more welcome be-
cause scarcely anything of the kind is to be found in books that are other-'
wise professedly for architectural instruction. In continuation of the gene-
ral remarks on composition, are others more specific, and in detail forming
a connected commentary on the subjects shown in the plates, and which
are thereby rendered studies in a double sense. In fact, the work alto-
gether abounds with instructive lessons, and is one that deserves to be
studied with attentive reflection as well as read ; and that it will be read
by all those who, if they can't buy, can steal or borrow it— (viz., steal by
borrowing, the latter being the approved fashion of book-stealing)- we
may venture to prophecy, unless we are altogether mistaken by attributing
to the architectural public far greater relish for art than they feel. Al-
though we cannot even pretend to prophecy as much, we would fain hope
that this is only the precursor of other publications from the same quarter,
for Mr. Lamb has opened a path for himself and entered upon a wide as
well as an ungleaned field. At present, he has shown us only actual instances
of Old English mansions and country-houses, but though they hold out
excellent hints, and possess character and physiognomy, we now require
to see some of those or else similar examples accommodated to modern
ideas of comfort, and to modern refinements and modes of living. At any
rate, he has rendered himself debtor to the public for a corresponding
volume on the other division of Domestic Architecture, viz., that which
relates to internal arrangement and design, furniture, perhaps, included,—
a branch of his profession to which Mr. L. has directed his attention in a
more than usual degree, as is attested by various contributions of his on
the subject, in " Loudon's Encyclopaedia of Cottage and Villa Architec
ture.

ISi6.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

301

Horizontal Water Wheels, esiieciall.j Turbives ; thrir history,
tonstruction, and Iheonj. By Moritz Ruhlhas. Edited bj Sir R. Kane.
Dublin : Hodijes aud Smilli, 1840 ; small quarlo ; pp. 70. Six lithogra-
phic platen.

Notices of the coastruoti.in and power of the turbines, or horizontal
water-wheels, have appeared in this Journal in the volume for 1842, p. 203,
and in the volume for 1814, p. 85 and p. 32... The publication of the
work before us enables us to give some further information respecting the
practical results obiaiued from these machines.

The present treatise is translated by the editor from the German, with
the adilition of some notes and an introduction. The translation was un-
dertaken on account of numerous inquiries from millwrights and engineers,
addressed to Sir Robert Kane, in consequence of his having directed atten-
tion to the turbine in his work on the " Industrial Resource.s of Ireland."
He has selected for translation the present treatise by Professor Riihlman,
as the most suitable for his purpose: at the same time he gives accounts
of several other treatise's on the same subject. From one of these, that by
M. Morin, we take what we consider a very important extract, because it
exhibits the general practical eft'ects of turbines as determined, not from a
doubtful theory, but from actual experience, and because these conclusions
are conOrmed by the authority of a commission consisting of MM. Arago,
Prony, Gambey, and Savary, appointed by the Academic des Sciences to
report on the subject. The following are the genei al results of the investi-
gation : —

1. That the wheels are applicable equally to great and to small falls of

2. That they transmit a useful effect, equal to from 70 to 78 per cent, of
the absolute total moving force.*

3. That they may work at very different velocities, above or below that
eorresponding to the maximum effect, without the useful effect varying ma-
terially from that masimuni.

4. That they may work from one to two yards deep under water, without
the proportion which the useful effect bears to the total force being sensibly
diminished.

5. In consequence of the last preceding property, they utilize at all times
the greatest possible proportion of power, as they may be placed below the
lowest levels to which the water surface sinks.

6. That thev may receive very variable quantities of water without the
relation of the useful effect to the force expended being materially less-
ened.

Kiihlman's treatise is divided into three parts — I, a history and descrip-
tion of the turbine; II., rules of construction ; III., the mathematical
theory. We shall confine our attention chiefly to the first of these sections,
for the " rules" in the second section are derived from the " theory" in the
third, which theory, whatever may be its value as a speculative inquiry,
does not seem sufficiently well established to satisfy the wants of the prac-
tical mechanician. M. Ruhlman's calculation of the useful effects of the
turbine is founded on the principle of the Conservation of Vis Viva, aud
would perhaps be perfectly satisfactory if that principle held for fluids in
motion. But it does not : the theoretical effect calculated from this prin-
ciple is much greater than the effect really produced in practice; for it is
found by actual experience that a large portion of the force of water in
Eiotiou is absorbed by the mutual action of the molecules of water on each
other, and by various resistances far too complicated for calculation. It
is true that the results obtained theoretically may be modified by the in-
troduction of " practice-coefficients :'" but these coefficients, obtained from
experiments on one kind of water machines, are not necessarily accurate
when applied to another kind. Indeed, Sir R. Kane himself observes in
his introduction, that " the action of the turbine, considered as a problem
•f hydrodynamics, involves conditions to the discussion of which science
in its present state scarcely reaches." The value of the theoretical rules is
therefore very doubtful. The most prudent course in this, as all other
cases of practical mechanics where the theory is not fully settled, is to
trust principally to experience, not neglecting, however, the general sug-
jestions obtained from theory.

To proceed, however, to that portion of the present treatise which is of
wore direct interest, we observe that the general result of experience and
of all that has been written on the subject tends to show that, of all the
forms of the turbine hitherto invented, that by Fournejron is by far the

most useful, and to this, therefore, we may confine our attention. The fol-
lowing is a plan of a quadrant of a horizontal wheel erected on Fourney-
ron's principle in a cotton factory, at St. Blasien. The plan is drawn t«
a quarter the actual size.

• From Smeaton'8 fiperimenta (Phil. Traua. 1759) it appears that In ordinary oversUut
water-wheels, nearly 80 per cent, of the original moving force U usefully applleJ: (uiJ
Jliat in undershot wheels, the useful effect la no more ttian 30 per cent, of the original
patrer.— Ed. C.E. and A. loiuaal.

In order to understand the action of the wheel, the reader must imagine
the circles, of which the quarter only is drawn, completed. The machine
will then be seen to consist of two parts— an inner wheel fixtd, and aa
ouler or larger wheel revolring. The water comes from ihe centre, pro-
ceeds along the guide curves F, F, which cause it to impinge directly upon
the curved paddles D, D, attached to the outer wheel, which consequently
revolves in the opposite direction to the impulse of the water.

The shaded parts x, x, are stops attached to a drum J J : the object of
these stops is to shut ofl' when requisite, the communication between the
inner fixed wheel and the revolving one. J J is capable of being raised
or lowered by external niaciiinery, and consequently x,jr, descending be-
tween the guide curves regulate the supply of water or shut it off allo-
gether.

The next cut is a vertical section of the whole turbine, and shows the
method in which the water is supplied to the revolving wheel.

■■{_J.

20

302

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[JCLT,

The water comes first from the snpply-pipe H, into the cylimler G G,
descends EE, a>ul falls on ti.e fi«.l suidecnrves F,F; from these ,t
r,.she9 in horizontal streams a-nirist the pa.Mle.s in the revolviog-wheel
D D and finallv escapes at the cirnumfer.-nce D I).

Tl'e revolvinc wheel is connected by CC with a shaft R 15, whifh turns
on a pivot at its lower extremity. B B carries a main axle A A, which
goes up throneh the water cylinder, and is applied to tiiru the ma< liinery

of the cotton factory.

J J as has been explained, is the sluice which resulates the supply of

water' The manner in which .1 J may be raised or lowered is easily seen
from the diagram. The arms ()..0 contain ma-rices, in which the screws
P !• work : these screws are at the ends of hmg rods Q, Q, lurneTl by
winches not shown in the diagram. It is clear that by turning Q, Q one
way or the other, the sluice will be either raised or lowered.

L K, M, show the means of packing .1 J to keep it waler-tiiiht.
u'is a little conduit hiy which oil is conducted from a small reservoir to
keep the pivot R constantly lubricated.

The main shaft and pivot are of steel, the wheel of wronght-iron, and
all the other parts of cast iron. Though the wheel is only 124 inches in
diameter it drives 8,000 water spindles, the roving frames, carding engines,
and all 'the accessory machinery. The number of revolutions with i of
an inch sluice opening, are 2,200 per minute. The available fall of water

is 3.50 feet.

The following is Ruhlman's account of his first impressions on examin-

ing this machine: — r n r

The second turbine erected by the inventor at St. Blas.en, with a fall of
1 17 ards, has become more important than any other. 1 can best descrihe
this turbine bv detailing what 1 myself saw and learned upon the spot
duru g be journev already referred to. Already, half an hour before a r r i -
in^ at the remarkable locality of St. Blasien, situated in one of the most
beautiful huralso of the wildest and londiest parts of the Schwartzwald of
Baden, a curious noise announces the uncommon spectacle, which becomes
more estraordinary as you approach.

On entering into the wheel-room one learns t''"-^,. *'^'.'''''* ^l*^'.;"
heard at a distance about this place was not merely mystification, hot reality.

One then feels seized with astonishment, and wonders, more than in any
other place, at the greatness of human ingenuity, which knows how to ren-
der suhiect to it the most fearful powers of Nature. , , . ■

At every moment the powerful pressure appears likely to ""- •" f-"^
the little ^heel, and the spiral masses of water issuing from it threaten o
de-troy the surrounding walls and buildings. Often when I went out of the
wh l.room, and looked at the enormous height from which the conducting
Tubes bring down the water to the wheel, the idea f-™", '" rZk into
.- that it v.w'LS impossible," but that idea passed away when I went back into

''Fomnejr^rhas here, for the first time, solved a P™"'-;. -';'=^,;'" [-
ever render his name historical in the technical and scientific world a pro-
blem in which he had to overcome not only the greatest ^'''•'^'l"^''"'';
but also disfavour and prejudices in a thousand '"'""■ ^''" •=""''' '!"'„, 7
other means of utilizing this existing water power ? Perhaps a water-pies-
sure e"L, might be applied ? Certainly not ; since even without pro ing,
by ca ad Uo^ low little that kind of machine is suited for rotatory triotion
t is only necessary to consider the very difficult and very power-destroying
conversion of a vertical reciprocatini; moti.m into an uniform rotatory mo-
tion, in order to sufliciently appreciate the difficulties.

The conclusions arrived at respecting the general merits of the invention
Beem well worthy of attention, fur they are expressed by an impartial wit-
ness, who has taken great pains to get at the troth. „ ,. , .

It is certainly not true that turbines are capable of totally displacing ver-
tic. wate wh els, as was at first asserted. The greatest obstacles to the
er?cti^n,corstr:.ction,audworkirgof turbines, at least in Germaiiy ari
frnn the fact that many years must elapse before our m.lUrigl ts will have
a red the necessarV theoretical knowledge an practical "penence
With these machines everything must be really calculated. 1 Ml not do
lo construct one wheel after the pattern of another, or to trust to what s
iiTt! P nractical shape But also the construction of these wheels, in
h Irk hlo e machine-maker, requires the greatest care, ohserva. on
td prudence, otherwise, no matter how it may be calculated, a good wheel
"^riluovralt'udiyadmittedlhatFourneyrondeceived himself in supposing
tl a h e wtel VcLmized 80 per cent, and more of the total available
that "«^«^ « "f ' ;™ ^„,, f„iiest expeiience has shown that they economize
c'^Uinlv from cot 70 per cent., wh'en those precautious are taken which
1 \A i.fl QftP.irlpH tn in t\ieir formation.

' Fma 1 as to the cl oice between vertical wheels and turbines, in any par-
.. -'p it is decidedly to lie considered that in every case where an

Vnrwi;eel or a whee \..i,h tolerably high breast, and what are termed
refill slu^eolbre ted. such is to be preferred to the turbine ; since
llefomrw,;™ carefully constructed, easily economizes more than 70 p^r
ient of the puwer. Yet in cases, as in cornmills, where the horizontal mo-
" a 0 lb turbine may be immediately made use of, or where there is much

hack water to contend against, this assertion may require to he modified,
since, as mentioned already, the turbine may be sunk to a considerable dei.th
in the back water, without losing any material proportion of its po-.ver.

In every ca'.e of a fall, eilber higher or lower than that ^u.talile for an
overshot v^-bcd, the turbine deserves decidedly the preference, and th.-ir not
being erected in all such localities can only arise from "ant of knowledge,
the apprehension of their being badly made, or of their cost being greater
than that of the vertical wheel, which it should not really be.

The share which Sir Hubert Kane has in this work as translator is by do
means an unimportant one. He ha? reduced all the German and French
measures to the English standard, and has interspersed the test with useful
notes. Hi? introduction is also valuable, for it directs the inquiries of
those who require more iuformalion than that given in the present treatise,
and h.s undertaking is, on the whole, a very valuable coutribulion to the
literature of engineering.

The principal practical objection to the use of the turbine is, we believe,
the difficulty of preventing the smaller parts of the machine from being
stopped up by impurities in the water. The velocity with which the
water is required to be discharged from the wheel renders it difficult to
strain or filler the water sufficiently without impeding the current.

It may be useful to observe that in order that the full effect of the water
may be obtained, it ought, when issuing from the circumference of the
wheel, to be moving with the same linear velocity as the point from which
it issues. For this is clear, that if the water be moving with gieater ve-
locity than the extremity of the channel between the paddles from which
it issues, then, had the length of the channel been greater, the water would
have co'utinued to impinge on the paddles, and would have done more
work. Again, if the vyater be moving at l^ss velocity than its point of
exit, it is obvious that, for some distance before the exit, tlie channel has
been urging the water forward, instead of the water impelling the channel.
But iu°the°case where the velocities of the water and its point of exit are
equal neither acts on the other: the water no longer impels the channel,
which shows that all the work is got out of it; and the channel does
not urge the water, which sho«3 that the motion is not impeded. This is
the reason why turbines are made to revolve with so great velocity as that

stated above.

Very similar reasoning will show that the end of the channel ought to
be a lan-ent to the circum'erence of the wheel ; for in that case neither
does the'water act on the wheel nor the wheel on the water at the point of
exit- whereas, had the channel been more or less oblique, either the
wate'r must have been pressing on the paddles, or the paddles on the
water, at the moment of issuing.

It may be useful to some of our readers to know that there is a model of
Fourneyron's turbine in the model-room of the Museum of Economic
Geoh.gy in Cr,,ig's-court, Charing-cross-a museum little visited, be-
cause, we suppose, it is one of the most interesting in Loudou, and is per-
fectly open to the public.

Wealv/s QiiARTiiRLY PAPERS ON ENGINEERING, for Christmas, 1S45 ;
part X., published June \st, 184G. Weale, pp. 204, 16 PlaUs.

The present part contains four papers: the first, a continuation of the
"History of the IMachinery and Manufactures of Great Britain," occupies
137 pages; the "Memoir on the Thames Tunnel," 29 pages ; " an ac-
count of the Construction and Statistics of the liailway from Frankfort to
Wisbaden," 27 pages with 15 plates ; " a description of the proposed Wet
Dock on the Wear at Sunderland," 11 pages, with one plate.

The first paper is devoted to the manufactures and improvements lO
machinery during the seventeenth century, and displays considerable an-
tiquarian research. It contains, among other subjects of interest, an ac-
count of the efforts of Parliament to remedy the abuses arising from the
royal privilege of granting patents. That wise and revered monarch,
kin- James I., seems, lo use a common phrase, to have made a good thing
of l°is power of protecting inventors, for he frequently managed lo share
the profits, without bearing any part in the risk of the speculation, ror
example, in 1612 was granted "a patent to Simon Siurlevaut for diver,
mechanic arts aud mysteries of his own invention, whereby all kinds of

metal woikes now made after the ordinaric course with wood-

fuel and charcoal, may bee as well made and wroughte with sea coale,
pit coale, earth coale, and brush fewel." The agreement was this- the
profits were to be divided into thirty-three parts, ten of which were to go
to the King, five to Prince Henry, two to the Uuke of York, and one to
Viscount Rochester: the remaining ./?/tec« shares were to be the property
of the patentee, who was to find all the money and run the "■''"*'■;»*■••
Fortunate Simon Sturtevant - The paper contains also a copy of the Mar-

1846.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

203

quis of Worcester's celebrated " Centurie of Inventions." The marquis
mii^t have lici-n an eMniurdiimry man, for, by his own account, he eliected
several physical iiiipossibililies.

The coiiliniiatiun of the memoir of tlie Thames Tunnel follows. The
account of ihe repeated discouraging failures to whicli Sir 1. Brunei was
aubjected iu the progress of Ins great work, and the courage witli which
he persevered, is very inleresling. There are not, however, in the present
Dumber any of tho;-e adniiralile plates, representing the mechanical con-
trivance employed by Hrnnel in the Thames Tunnel, which rendered the
former portions of this memoir of speciliu value to the engineer.

The letterpress description of the Krankf irt and Wisbadeu railway does
nut possess an interest cummeusurale with the excellence of the engrav-
ings by which it is illustrated, for the ground traversed by the railway is
so level that there are few, if any, engineering works worthy of detailed
description. We can speak from personal knowledge of the excellent
regulations by which this railway is nwiiaged, and the convenience of di-
viding the pas-ieiigers iii\o four clauses, all of whom travel much more
cheaply than ihey would iu linglaad, and are seated in comfortable car-
riages defended from the weather and the smoke aud hot cinders of the
engine. In (lermany, the comforts of the poor are less lallud about than
in England, but we are not certain that they are less attended to.

The new dock at Suudt-rland is designed by Mr Stephenson and Sir.
Murray, and is to be 27 acies in extent. The following extract from the
report of iMr. Walker, who was commissioned by the Lords of the Admi-
ralty to examine the plan proposed, will explain the principal novelty in
Ihe design : —

"The lift of a spring tide heing only 14 feet 6 inches, the dock is to be
6 feet under low water, giving 20 leet (i inches water in the dock on a spring,
and 17 feet on a neap tide. The above depths can he maintained in the
dock, liut the riepih at the bar at the harbour mouth is two feet less, so that
with the " scud " of sea during a north-east gale a vesel drawing more than
14 feet cannot venture over the bar with safety. To have the dock so much
deeper than the approaih to it would be of little use, and yet, from the great
draught of ships from foreign ports, it would be very <idvisalile to have not
less than 17 feet at neap and 20 at spring tides. The engineers propose to
accomplish this by sending laden vessels chiefly out at the south end through
a tidal basin of 4.j acres, with two dpenings, one having gates of 6t) feet,
and the other of 45 feet, iielween the dock and it and other siluilar gates
between the basin and the outer entrance. The outer entrance or rather
exit points south, south-east nearly,* and is to he formed by means of rough
breakwaters, one on tlie east ride, nearly parallel with the entrance, and the
other on the west side, neaily square with it. This southern passage is pro-
posed to lie as deep as the dock, and to kept to that level by dredging and
icourhia. The very important feature of the plan (the southern passage),
is, so tar as I remeinber, uetv ; and if it can be effected as proposed, will he
a great convenienee, by giving laden ships two to four feet more water than
can at present he depended on ; starting them in the riglit direction for the
•outh, when the wind is fair, also leaving the Wear or harbour entrance clear
for the present harbour, and the entrance of light ships into the docks."

On Staking out Railway Curves. By George Heald, Carlisle, 1846.

pp. 7.

This is a small lithographed pamphlet of seven pages, of which the ex-
tract given below will give a sufficiently correct idea. The author's plans
of setting out curves seems correct; however the investigation does not
require any wonderful amount of geometrical ingenuity, and we hope that
the time is not far distant when every engineer and surveyor will know
enough mathematics to solve so simple a problem for himself, without hav-
ing recourse to books. This remark is however made without disparage"
nient of the treatise before us.

The curve described in the following extract is strictly speaking a para-
bola—the curvature of a parabola near its vertex resembles that of a circle
with sufficient accuracy fur the purpose here proposed, if the ofl'sets be
small, and the radius of curvature very large.

** Having by the practice and examination of several methods of staking
out railway curves arrived at the comlusion that it is best eflfected by em-
ploying the theodolite ; and several friends having requested a detail of the
system that I have pursued for that purpose. 1 have had the following
summary of the principles lithographed for the in^ormaliun of those who
may be desirous of becoming acquainted with the system. Suffice it to say
as its recommendation that the system insures the curves being truly cir-
cular, ami greatly economises the labour that is often requisite to drive the
curve through a distant given poiut from which little or no variation can
be allowed ; which is a case of frequent occurrence, and upon some sys-
tems one whose practical execution is very tedious.

* The beariDgs are all by corapats.

" The first principle is, that in circles of Ihe magnitude of those used for
railway curves, if a tangent be drawn to them, the olfsets from the tangent
to the curve increase according to the squares of their distances from the
point of contact

Thus let the junction of a curve and tangent be at 0 ; then, if equal dis-
tances be set oil from 0 at the points 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, which may repre-
sent chains, the otrsel from the laiigent to the curve at the 2od, 3rd 4th,
5th, and 0th will be respectively 4, 9, 10, 2j, aud 30 (or 2" 3^ 42' 5»
and U") limes the offset at the ist chain. ' > . •

" This is one of those close approximations which, though not rigidly
correct as an abstract mathematical proposition, is much too uear the truth
to permit any discrepancy to appear after the most critical examination ;
It being understood that when the radius is as snail as twenty chains, the
length of the tangent io restricted to three chains, and when it is three miles
radius It is restricted to eight chaius, it is between these limits that rail-
way curves are supposed to range.

" In Ihe praciical slaking out of curves the offsets from the tangent to
the circle at each chain length, expressed in inches, or feet and inches are
made use of, aud from ihe preceding paragraph it will be seen that having
the oS'set from the tangent lor one chaiu length given, the succeediug chaius
will be deduced from it by miilliplyiiig by 4, 9, 10, 23, &c.

" It perhaps will not be amiss at this stage to point out a rule for finding
these offsets, which is panicularly cunveuieiit when the radius is some
aliquot part of a mile, like the principle euunciated iu section 2, to which
it IS so closely allied, it is practically correct, but not mathematically true.
Its somewhat singular phraseology runs thus — from the square of the tan-
gent in chains subtract Us ,Jjlh part ; divide the remainder by the diameter
of ihe circle in miles, aud ten times the quotient is the required oti'set in
inches.

A Treatise on the Steam Engine. By the Artizan Club. Parts XXIV.
and XXV. Longmau : 1S40.

As these are the concluding parts of the treatise, we may as well say a
few words respecting its general character, notwithstanding that the work
has already been frequently noticed in these pages.

Excepting an excellent folio plate giving views of 14 of the most cele-
brated varieties of direct action marine engines, the present numbers con-
tain little that possesses independent interest, for they are chiefly occupied
by the index. We have however the introduction, by the editor, Mr.
Bourne, aud the character which he gives his own performance is on the
whole so nearly correct, that we are content that it should be taken as an
expression of our Judgment on the work.

"The circumstance of having been published in monthly numbers fur-
nishes, of itself, au explanation of many imperfections ; for it can hardly
be expected that works produced under the exigencies of periodical pub-
lication should be distinguished by the perfections which belong to literary
leisure aud fastidious ePaboratioo. I have been obliged to confide the
greater portion of the theoretical part of the present work to some mathe-
matical assistants, whose algebra has, I fear sometimes risen lo a needless
luxuriance, and iu whose superfine speculatious the engineer may perhaps
discern the hand of a tyro. In spue, however, of its iniperfeclioiis I be-
lieve that the present Treatise on the Steam Engine is likely to prove the
most useful yet published ; and it is the only one, 1 believe, which can be
regarded as of a really practical character. Although falling far short of
my conceptions of what such a work should be, 1 believe that it substan-
tially fulfils the promise held out iu the prospectus; and having now col-
lected the rough materials, I irust to be able, should another edition be
called for, to clear them of the drojs by which they are now didgured, and
present them ia a form that will in some measure justify ihe public appro-
bation.

'• The preliminary and practical portions of the work have, for the most
part, been executed by me, the disquisitions upon the slide valve and
parallel motion are taken from the 'Artizan,' aud oiher portions of the
work are by various members of Ihe Artizan fraternity. In the praciical
part of the work I have been able to obtain but little assistance from pre-
Mous auihors, and many of the subjects discussed are now brought for the
first time bef(»re Ihe public. Mr. Farcy's work, though of great merit,
gives but little iuforniation of any kind touching modern engines; and
Tredgold's work is chiefly made up of mathematical sublimities, whicii
have but little relation lo practice."

The acknowledgement of the theoielical errors is made in a manner
which disarms criticism. As far as we could judge the errors arose from
an attempt to coiubiue the theory of De Pambour with that of Tredgold —
that is, the true with the false. We have uo besitatioa in saying that

26«

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

204

Tredgold's theory of the stcan. en;;inc bears the sr.me relation to the truth
v,bich the speculations of the old (ireek philosophers respect.ng planetary
motion bore. The evaporative power of the boiler as an ,ngred>ent of nu-
: al calcula.ion is e'ntirely neglected in Tred^old's theory, and the gross
Trrors of principle with which his work is mied are made ten t.mes wo .e
bv Mr. Woolhouse's profession of having corrected the,,,. It .s really too
late, now that De Parabour's masterly investigations have been for s,. or
.even years before the world, to endeavour to revive Tredgold s exploded
views and we regret that the trealise before us should have been .n-
j„red by this injudicious attempt. However the reader is, we are very
Mad to find, put upon his guard in the preface, and it is therefore h>s own

''r;.r^^m:nr:;'i,e present work is the vast quantity of inh^rmation
whicl. it alfords as to details of construction. In this respect ■' f-ms un-
nvalled. The only thing to be complained of under .h,s head >s that a
large amount of matter is frequently compressed into so small con, pas. that
he eader will often have a difliculty in finding the informat.on for wh.ch
he s in search. The book is not sufficiently digested-not systemat.c
enoug It contains avast store „f invaluable facts, but these l.keoter
warehoused commodities, are frequently so crowded together that U .s d.f-
hcult to get at them. Mr. Bourne talks of having a new ed,t,on we hope
,1 a he n ay be encouraged ,o do so, and that he will adopt >n U a s.mp le
lid Let arrangement by vU.ich the reader may find " every th.ng >u .ts
place, and a place for every thing."

[JULT,

Hand Book of Mapping and Engineering Drawing. By B. P. 'W iI-ME.
London: Weale, 1846, quarto. Parte. Page 6i).

This is the concluding part of a practical treatise on engineer.ng draw-
i„g, which has been already favourably noticed by us. The P-^n part
contains a comparison of the different methods of copy.ng maps « descr.p-
tl of drawing instruments, methods of representing geological strata, &c.
There are some useful suggestions respecting the execution of Parliamentary
Plans, which will be of interest to some of our readers, and may be quoted
as a fair specimen of the character of the book.

" By the standing orders of the House of Commons, engineers and snr-
vevorsVre required to plot their railway plans at a scale of no le^s than
veyors are icquii ."p,,, ^,,:j,i, of railway surveys vanes from 5 to 20

20 chams to an inch, fhe width ot f^' J ■ j^,, ,■„( ,„ i,, ^,.

ft' Uo s^:' Tef IV ir e plot; nnd number all honsls, fields, &c.,
tended to '%*^° .^■'^^;"2lil,„' rhe limits of deviation are certain lines

vvnen ran ^jy pnlareed plans of those subdivisions of land

usual C<=°"P" f° 'y '° f !" '" dX ,P„„ses, &c., subdivisions being often

tXVesXl ho.h by drawing and numbering ; a -P-^ ^-^f^ -'f

J "id'JLf be written, an'd of late days the co«„/, -- -^P -^me ^f

Inn of each sheet. The sheets are numbered 1,2, 3, iit., ana tne name oi

he hue of railway is sometimes written over the number o the street as

Elvertou No 1. The enlarged plan should be p aced in each case direcUy

tumbled together that H '^^l^i^-if j-;:;-^ 7 1 1^ in ^'::^
It: c"reVo°cc;: ; t tt ^lu i-i-- «' a scale of 20 chains to an
rncMtee'aUrged plans are usurUy plotted at a scale of five chains to an

'"The scale of si. chains to an inch is one frequently adopted (or F^vli^-

.1^ frradw.y pi^ ; ^f^^^^^^ :^^:z:.'::z:^n^

mmmmm

^r^ca;:: Tins is done with a ;>- . ..bscure a. - - P-^^>

ad«,iS of plans being drawn at a large scale it ''/f '^^^^ ';'" "^^ "'
the time be sbojt, the work will be sooner done at a small scdlt.

« \gain for the duplicate plans ; this becomes a consideration. Litho-
Eraphers charge a less sum for lithographing and printing plans at a small
^cale, than at a large one. Lithography has of late years become a very
favourite medium with engineers and surveyors, for the production of dup-
licate plans for parliamentary deposit. It certainly has much to recom-
mend it, and in proper hands, it would he a most invaluable medium. It
is to be regretted tliat this art, (as applied to the purpose above named),
almost essential to the surveyor, has fallen into the hands of an ignorant
class of persons, viz., the picture-copiers and lithographic printers. It
were impossible to detail the mischief annually done by persons being in-
trusted with this class of business, who are totally ignorant of the construc-
tion or use of maps. The numerous railway schemes brought before I ar-
liament during the last two sessions have compelled engineers and other
persons intrusted with the getting up of plans and sections to employ a
miscellaneous collection of persons, who had never before been similarly
enaaaed A proportionate amount of mischief has been the consequence.
It is painful to see even the professed picture-copiers or lithographic artists
attempt to copy plans. The most ridiculous blunders are made, as nnght
be expected : but of this no more. The remedy is simple ; at least the evil
may lo a great extent, be le5sened,if not altogether removed. Letsurveyors
lithograph their own plans, or employ their draughtsmen upon them ■ much
tine and expense would thus be saved. The picture-copiers and litho-
..raphic artists would no longer have their brains addled with pursuits
^bove their capacity ; and the lithographic p'inters would have the plans
put into their hands in a perfect state, instead of being oh iged o send
them back to the lithographic ignoramus for every alterauon of his blunders
required to be made by the engineer, on examining proofs. In fact, by tb«
method recommended above, the necessity of proving may be m a great
measure dispensed with. i i „■ • .

"The principal point to be attended to in getting op such drawings is to
draw them accurately. There is seldom time for pains-taking with em-
bellishment, and the plainest style of execution is quite as useful as the
most elaborately finished production."

The work is illustrated by excellent plates, and seems to convey detailed
information on every point connected with the execution of architectural
and engineering drawings.

THEORY OF THE STRENGTH OF M.VTERIALS.

In our last number we published a paper on this subject, by oar old
correspondent Mr. Byrne, and as some of the arguments on which his
viewsare founded, seem insufficient, we do not hesitate, iiot«ithstanding
our respect for Mr. Byrne's scientific attainments, to state where his opinion
differs from our own.

The new theory proposed seems to be founded on the idea that there
does not exist in deflected beams what is termed a neutral line. Now it
appears to us that the existence of this line is capable of being proved by
several methods which possess the strictness of mathematical demonslra-
tion Before however, detailing these proofs, it may be as well to define
what is meant by a neutral line, and to reply tp the argument brought to

disprove its existence. j „ . , i • . i

The originators of the term " neutral line" stated that when a honzoDtal
beam supports a transverse weight, the upper part of the beam exerts a
thrust and the lower part a tension, and since these two portions of the
beam exert opposite kinds of action, there must be in the beatn sonie in-
termediate part which marks the transition from one state to the other-
where therefore, there is neither thrust nor tension. They asserled more-
over that the actual position of this neutral line, or rather neutral boundary,
depended on the dimensions of the beam, the degree of deflection and the
wei-ht supported ; and their theory has hitherto been considered incontro-
vertible Mr Byrne however brings forward this argument against ,t-
he savs'that if a beam be deflected and a slice be taken in the upper part
fit(fi- 3 P 164). ""is slice has the same form as the whole beam, and
consequently there is as much reason for assigning a neutral line to the
slice as to the whole beam. The consequent inference would be that the
beam has an infinite number of neutral lines, but this absurdity is to be
deduced, not from the original theory, but merely from Mr. Byrne s method
of stUing it. For when he says that the/orm of the thin upper slice is an
argument for the existence of a neutral line in it, he makes the neutral ,ne
depend merely on the form of the beam and not on its mechanical action
an t ,e connection of Us parts. If the slice a were actually cut off and
' parated from the retuainder A, so as to have no connection with it then
whe bent ,t would no doubt have a neutral line of its own. And if ben^
Ts represented in the figure, while lying upon A, the lower side o a would
Tot le "omuch extende^d as the upper side of A, but there would be some
such difference as that in the diagram.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

1846.]

Bot in an undivided beam owin? to the connection between its parts the
portion a could not assume the form here represented. Its lower surface

205

must coincide with and be of the same length as the upper side of A, and
be much more extended than when separated from it. Consequently no
argument taken from the consideration of the slice a, in its separated atalei
will apply to it when considered as an integral portion of the beam.

We proceed now lo the direct arguments establishing the actual existence
of the neutral boundary.

Whatever may be the degree of deflection of a beam, and however great
the load which it bears, it is clear that while the system is in a state of
equilibrium, the internal forces of this beam and the external pressures
upon it are subject to the ordinary principles of statics. Let A B C D be

-<C.-M

^>II

one-half of a uniform beam resting on an abutment at A. Then if we sup
pose for simplicity that the beam is loaded uniforndy throughout, the centre
of gravity of the system is half way between the two abutments; that is,
the pressures on each abutment are equal. Hence the pressure on A is
the weight of A B C D, and the load on it. Or if R be the reaction at A,
and W the weight of the beam and load together, R=4W.

Now if we suppose the beam actually cut in half at CD, it is certain
that ihe equilibrium of A B G D will not be altered if we consider the molecu.
iar forces which the supplied by the connection with the other half of the beam
to be external forces acting at C U. And whatever these forces may be,
they are capable of being resolved parallel to three co-ordinate axes, and
the resultants maybe equated with the remaining forces of the system.
Let the axis of x be parallel to the length of the beam and horizo>.tal, let
,he axis ofy be vertical, and that of s perpendicular to the two former.
Tlienif 2 (X), 2 (Y), 2(Z) be the sums of the corresponding molecular
forces we have equating all the forces of the system,

2(X)=:0, 2(Y)+R-iW = 0, 2(Z) = 0.
With respect to the second of ihese equations we have since R — JW _ 0,
2(Y) = 0, and since these forces represented by 2 (Y) are all parallel
and lie in one plane, they have a single resultant, and this resultant is
zero, consequently there is no vertical force at CD. Similar reasoning
applies to the forces represented by 2 (Z).

With respect however to the longitudinal forces 2 (X) the case is diffe-
rent • for these though parallel to each other do not lie all in one plane.
Consequently they do not necessarily have a single resultant. The equa-
tion 2 (X) = 0 may be interpreted by supposing it to represent a couple
M -M ■ and if we take moments about A we shall see tliat this is the
correct interpretation, for the moment of JW about A must be balanced by
some equal and opposite moment, and this can only be supplied by the

"Thl final conclusion is therefore that the resultants of all the molecular
forces at C D are two equal and opposite forces M,-M, such that if the
distance of the centre of gravity of A B C D from A be called a, and the
distance between the points of application of M and - M at C D be called b,
Uh- iW a.
It is certain also from the direction in which M acts that it arises from
the compression or tendency to compress the upper part of C D, and in the
same way - M arises from the extension or tendency to extend the lower

^*We have therefore the upper and lower parts of C D in opposite states
pf action and these two portions must be perfectly distinct from each other.
It IS quite impossible to conceive that the compressed and extended parts

can alternate, that as we examine successive portion of C D, we shall have
first an exteuded part, then a compressed part, then again an extended
part, and so on. The portion of the beam exerting thrust cannot contain
any part in a slate of tension, and the portion exerting tension cannot con-
tain any part exerting a thrust. Neither can these two portions overlie
each other, for then vie must have some part of the beam exerting both ten-
sion and ihiust, which is as absurd as to suppose a man can pull and push
a thing at one and the same time.

It is clear then that the two parts of the beam in opposite states of action
are perfectly distinct from each other, and there must therefore be some
boundary which marks tlie transition from the one state to the other, some
place where the one kind of force ceases and the other begins. This place
is called the neutral boundary.

It will be observed that this conclusion is deduced from foundamental
principles of statics and not from hypotheses respecting the molecular
structures of the beam which, however ingenious, are seldom trustworthy.
It is a necessary consequence of the existence of a neutral line that the
compression of the upper side and the tension of the lower should vary in
decree, and gradually diminish towards the neutral boundary, so that there
should be no abrupt transition from one state of action to another. It is
impossible to imagine that the molecular action can suiideiily char.ge in any
part; from the connection between each two successive Iamina3, it is clear
that the extension or compression of the one must be affected by the exten-
sion or compression of the other. We are therefore perfectly safe in sup-
posing that there is some general law by which these variations of action
may be represented, thisis,thattheamountof molecular force at any point of
either side of the beam is a continuous function of the distance from some
fixed point. Now this function changes its sign in passing through the
neutral boundary, for on the upper side of the beam it represents forces
contrary in direction to those on the lower side, and therefore, since no
continuous function can change its sign without passing through zero or
infinity, and since iu the present case it is obvious that it cannot pass
through infinity, it must pass through zero, and consequently there is no
longitudinal action whatever at the neutral boundary.

It is usual to represent the molecular forces as a function of their dis-
tances from the neutral boundary. This is perfectly arbitrary and merely
corresponds to a convenient choice of co-ordinates, for by properly altering
the form of the fuuction we might make the molecular forces depend on
their distances from any other point of refereuie.

The determination of the actual position of the neutral boundary may
frequently be dilficulf, but the fact of its existence does not depend on the
labour of calculating its place. It fortunately happens however that for
the cases which most commonly occur in practice — those in which the de-
flection of the beam is small — the place of the neutral boundary can be as-
certained with quite sufficient accuracy to answer all useful purposes.

It may be as well to point out to those not familiar with the subject that
this neutral boundary is not a mere matter of curious speculation, but one
of direct practical importance. Every thing depends upon it. Without
we know its position, we cannot tell how much of the beam is in a state of
compression, and how much in a state of tension— in other words, we can
know nothing about the strength of the beam.

We have wished to confine attention here to those things only which may
be strictly deduced from the fundamental principles of mechanics, an
which cannot be controverted without attacking those principles. We
therefore do not enter into the consideration of the /or/« of the function
above alluded to. The assumption usually made accords perfectly well
with the results of practice, and there does not seem the least reason for
disputing its accuracy. At the same time we must remember that its cor-
rectness depends on experiment, and not on independent reasons. When,
indeed the beam is perfectly homogeneous, there are good theoretical reasons
in favour of the usual assumption, and of this at least we are certain, from
both theory and experiment, that the true law must be so near the assumed
one, that any error introduced into the calculation by this assumption will
be inappreciable iu the general result when the deflection oi the beam is
small.

We have slated our objections fully and freely, because if any mistaken
conclusion be here set forth, Mr. Byrne will be able to correct them. If
in error, we shall be sincerely obliged to him for setting us right, for we
have no other object but the advancement of the trulh ; but till he does
this, we shall confide little on a theory of the strength of beams founded oo
a denial of the existence of a neutral boundary.

206

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECFS JOURNAL.

[JULT,

MAGNETIC EXPERIMENTS ON METALS, ALLOYS. AND METALLIC

SALTS.

A paper on tliis sutiji-rt was lately read hy Mr. William Sturgeon, at the
Manchealer Literary md Philosophical Society. After liaving talicn a retro-
.pectivr view of th.- lahimrs of ,illwr .xp'-iiincntali-ts in this liepartment of
magnetics, llie author proceedeil to ilescrihe a novel apparalos liy means of
which liis own experiments liad heen made. It eoiisisls principally of a
po^^■erf^l magnet and a liglit wooden lever, delicately suspended hy a few
silken tihres, the whide lieing enclosed in a glass rase. By means of tins
apparatus, Mr. S. lias found that gold, silver, copper, platinum, antmiony,
bismuth, lead, till, and some other metals, when pure, art peifcclly neutral
to the action of the magnet, but that when some of tliem are comhined they
become maKiietic in an eminent degree. Some of his eacliest experiments,
especially those on hrass, many specimens of which he found to he magnetic,
led him to suppose tliat their magnetic actions were due to small portions of
iron which they contained ; for in some of the metals of commerce on which
he experimented, iron was ahsolutelv present. In a mass of hismuth, for in-
stance, iron was found in consideralile proportions. Mr. ,S. has discovered
that all our silver coinaue is magnetic, hut in difTirent degrees, according to
the dates of its production. Domestic articles of silver, as spoons, &c., are
itill more magnetic than silver coins. Gold coins are also magnetic, hut not
80 highly as silver ones. The gold of articles of jewellery is more magnetic
than gold coins. Mr. S. was still of opinion that these alloys might possihly
contain iron, and their magnetism be therefore dependi-nt on that metal, al-
though he had met with some facts which he could not reconcile to that
view. Having found much more magnetism in an old half-crown piece of
William and Mary than in any other coin, and the histniical report heing
that the silver coinage of that period was in a very hase state, he supposed it
possible that the high magnetic action of the old half-crown might he due to
the extra proportion of copper, which led him to (orni an alloy of pure silver
and pure copper, in which the latter metal formed ahout one-sixth part of
the whole ; and what is very remarkahle, this alloy was more highly magna-
tic than any siUer atticle he had previimsly examined. The copper and silver
of this alloy had previously been ascertained to ne non-magnetic ; they were
melted in an earthen crucible, and no inm entered the alloy. This fact, and
»ome others which he subsequently discovered, shook the opinion Mr. Stur.
geon had first formed respecting tiie pre ence of iron in brass, and the other
alloys which showed magnetic action. Cavallo had discovered the magne-
tism' of hrass, and showed that hammered hrass was never more magnetic
than when unhammered, which facts corresponded to Mr. Sturgeon's own
observations, liul the most capital discovery bad yet to he made. Mr. S.
formed an alloy of iron and zinc in equal parts, and, to his surprise, found
that this alloy was almost neutral to tin- magnet; so much so, that it would
not move a magnetic needle at half an inch from the pole. In another alloy
of those metals, the iron being about one-eighth of the zinc, magnetism was
quite extinct. These novel facts naturally led to the inference, that as zinc
is an essential constituent of brass, the magnetism of that allov could not be
owing to its containing iron ; and subsequent experiments, both magnetic
and chemical, have shown that this is the fact. Antimony has long been
known to deteriorate the magnetism of iron, but Mr. S. has ascertained that
its neutralising powers are much inferior to those of zinc. An alloy of anti-
mony and iron, in which the latter metal was less than a twentieth part,
still showed magnetic action, though in a slight degree. Mr. S. had also dis-
covered that nickel loses all its magnetic powers when alloyed with about
ten times its weight of zinc. Antimony also counteracts the magnetism of
nickel, hut not so powerfully as zinc. German silver, which conlains a large
proportion of nickel, is slightly magnetic; but in the inferior kinds of this
alloy, where nickel is less abundant, no magnetism is perceptible. The neu-
tralising metal in these cases is zinc.

The salts of iron which have been examined are mostly magnetic ; but
what is remarkable, their magnetism hears no proportion to the proportions
of iron thev contain. In conforming bis theoretical views to the fads thus
developed, 'Mr. i. now considers all bodies to be more or less magnitie, and
classes them into two grand divisions— those that are palpably magnetic, and
those that are hut obscurely magnetic. The former class he calls sapho-
magnetics, and the latter asapho maynelics.

Sapho magnetics are again divided into mono-magnetics and suno-magnetics,
accordingly as tluy consist of indiviriu.al or compound bodies respectively.
Those bodies which counteract the magnetism of others, Mr. S. calls kaialo-
magnetics, because many of them, if not all, have the power of completely
neutralising even the highest powers of mono-magnetic bodies.

The mono magnetics at present known are iron and nickel, and perhaps
cobalt. In the class suno magnetics. .Mr. S. places alloys of silver and cop-
per, gold and copper, and zinc and copper, under the expectation that many
more will soon be added to their number. The katalu-magnelics are very
numerous, being all those that deteriorate the magnetism of other bodies.
Amongst the metallic iatalo magnetics, Mr. S. has found zinc, antimony, tin,
and lead. Giber ialalo magnetics are sulphur, oxygen, chlorine, cyanogen,
and the generality of those bodies which combine with metals.

RAILWAY STATISTICS.

The annual return of the Board of Trade, recemly published, coutaiu*
some very vnludble informatiou on the subject ot rail»a> suii.lics. 'i ho
following lufonoHtiou is taken in a condensed form Irum that itluru:-

The toial number of passengers, as giveu lu the returns lor the year
ending 30tb June, 1844, and for the year ending 3Uth Juue, ls4o—

1844. 1845.

1st class .... 4,874,;i32i 5,474,103

2ndcla=8. . . - l2,2S...(ii.O 14,3-.i..,b2.5

3rd class .... 8,5b3.li85i lJ,l.io,b;iU
Mixed . . . • 2,Oli'J4>Jo4 8 5,445i

27,703,002^ 33,7yi,-,!531

The rate of increase of travelling in each class is—

Ist class 12 per cent.

2iid class " percent.

3rd cla=s 15 upwards of . . • 50 per cent.

The amount received for each class is as follows :—

1843 4. 1844 5.

1st class . . .£1,432 088 £l,.il0,8ti5

2nd class . . ■ 1,3(5 071) l,oU6,.l5

3rd class - - • 4S3,u09 twi,-JU3

Mixed . - • 147.ftob 2uy,.)18

Total . . £3,43y,2'Jl £3,070,341

The increase of n turns on the year 1844 5 w,i3, thtreiore, upwards of
half a m.llioii on tasscugcr traUic alone. Ou gioas receipts from all
sources it stood thus : —

1843-4 £.-.,071.074

la44-4 WMUi

Increase . . 1,135,040

The rale of fares on the lines included in the above returns, and the re-
ductions in liie two years, staud thus al the eud of tne year 1845 :—

Ex-

press. C

d.

300 ;

m 2-88 :

2-44

■ester '■

(1. ;

J . 3-4G ;

2 97 ;

2-87
igbam 2i7

ton 3*23 :

245

nd
Catllt', Sheeji, Ifc.—TUe total number of cattle conveyed in the year
1844-5 IS nearly two millions. The gloss auiouuis received range as lot-
lows : —

London and Kirminghani

Oil eat Western

Midland, and Bristol and Birmingham

Kastern Counties

South Western

Manchester and Leeds

York and North iMiiIlaud

Oreat North of England
Horses. — The number conveyed is as follows :

Bristol and Birminghaiu

Chester and Birkenhead

Eastern Counties

Noriheni and Eastern .

Grand Junction

Manchester and Birmiiighaui .

Great Nortii of England

Great Western

London and Birmingham

London and Souih Western

London and South Eastern

Londou and Urightou

Manchester and Leeds

1.S45

lieduction.

Ex-

1st

2ii-l

3rd

1st

tlncl

Srd

urrss.

Class.

Cliiss.

Class.

Clus Class CUss

d.

d.

d.

d.

d.

d.

d.

Great Western

300

274

1 60

1-

London and Birmingham

2-88

245

1 81

1-

•74

•32

•48

Grand Junction .

2-44

2-08

1-71

1-

•02

•41

•5S»

Midland .

3'21

2 19

1-

•41

Birininghain and Gloucester

ilti

2-37

1-

Chesier and Birkeuiiead.

■mo

1 00

1-

Great Norib of England .

3-4G

2U3

213

1-

•53

-20

Ot

Hull and Selhy .

ru3

1-54

-907

Lancaster and Preston .

3 30

2 10

1 .

Leeds aud Sclby .

20G

iOO

1-

Brighton .

2 97

2-3T

1 78

1 18

•47

•11

Croydon .

1-42

1-14

•85

South Western

2-87

2-48

1-91

•70

•42

•26

Manchester and Birmingham

•.i-47

211

162

1-

112

•17

Manchester aud Leeds .

2-28

2-00

1-

•!i4

•23

•41

Newcastle and Darlington

3-23

3 07

it-la

1-

•15

•30

•jH

Newcastle aud Carlisle .

2 40

1 80

1-

Nortli L'uiou

2 45

163

1-

•54

•51

-iO

Prestou and Wyre

2 52

1 -jO

!•

South Kasleru

245

204

1-30

-82

•48

•28

•10

York and North Midland

300

225

1-

•50

•25

l^Utt

£50,000
17,000
9,000
5,300
4,0u0
4.00U
3,200
3,200

2,879

664

2,160

2.706

4,207

785

2,709

10.504

10,749

5,570

2,714

4.303

1,409

i846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEEERAND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL

207

Midlands S/'^S

North I'nion . . . . • ""sO

York and Norlh Midland . . . "J.l'J^

Tnii Tivi/^e.— The fdilowins shows tI)P sross tonnase and amounts re-

eei»ed on the iind.Tnieniinned lines io the year beginning 1st July, 1844,

aud ending 30th June, 1815 : —

Arhroalh and Forfar
Ardrossan
Balloiliney

Bristol and Birmineham .
Canterbury and U'hitstable
Clarence .
Ounferudine

Hurhiiin and Sundeiland .
rdinburgh and Dalkeith .
Olassow and Ayr
Glassow and Garnkirk .
Great North of Enf;land .
Harilepool
Ha>le

Leicester and Swannlngton
Liverpool and Mani-hester
Llanelly and Llanililo
London and Croydon
London and Sotiih Eastern
London and Brighton
London and South Western
Manchester and Bury
Marvport and Carlisle
Midland ,

Newcastle and Carlisle .
Newcastle and narliii^too
Newcastle and North shields
North Union

Pontop and South Shields
Preston and Wyre
St. Helens and Runcorn Gap
ShefSt-ld aud Manchester
Slieflield and Kotherhain
Stockton and Darlington
Tatr Vale
Ulster

Whitby and Pickering
\V)«liaw and ('tdtness
York and North Midland
Bale per mile for toll only, and for total charges : —

Canterbury and Whitsfable .

Dunfermline and Charlestown

Bodmin and W'adebridge

Hayle .

Dundee and Newtyle .

Maryport and Carlisle

Arbroath and Forfar .

Monklaad and Kirkiotillocb

South Western

Wishaw and Coltness .

Manchester and Bury

London and Croydon .

South Eastern

Brighton

Newcastle and Carlisle

Leicester and Swannington

Llanelly and Llandilo

Bristol and Birtniniiham

Durham and Sun-Ierland

St. Helens and Uunrorn Gap

Pontop and South Shields

Garnkirk and (ilasijow

Newcastle and Darlington

Edinburgh and Dalkeith

Preston and Wyre

Taff Vale

Manchester and Leeds

Clarence

Hartlepool

York and North Midland

Great North of England
The above are not in all cases the average charges, but the maximum
oharges ; as on 'nmi lines, a higher rate is charged for going up hill thaa
far going down bill.

Tons.

£

12,01)0

1.700

42,141

2 100

. 2S2,622

3,-20G

70,000

3,7(18

13,000

1,188

. 300,000

20 010

28,177

3,142

. 372,714

2.',7I2

118,310

4,800

120,000

8,000

. 1,761 000

7,000

. 181,012

13 079

. 790,186

32,027

20 000

2,400

. 178,506

1 ,'-.,827

. 133,396

9,414

92,381

6,067

6,000

500

22,519

30,000

2,400

4,000

49,8-'0

3,332

. 119,375

7,214

. 313,854

42,000

. 205,500

19,476

. 4110,000

20,930

1,103

. 321,923

. 602,829

49.S91

21,538

4,289

, 229775

9,702

58,608

2,447

16,000

977

. 900,000

80 000

125,980

19,939

807

130

1.708

241

. 390,210

9,909

47,529

2,419

charges : —

Toll.

Total

Charges,

d.

d.

,

0 00

4-29

4 25

4-20

3 37

110

3 33
3 30
300
3 00

2-27

2-90
230

200

2i5
2 12

'. -25

210
2-00
1-75

100

1-50
143

r40

1-10

•75

130
127
1-25
1-25
1 25

•66

116

100

■91

•75

•75

•50

VIBRATION OF TRAINS IN TUNNELS.

Report on the vibration proilucid hij trains in passing tUrough the tunnel of

liiHsiil Green. To R. Stiphenson, Esq.

Sir — I hare the honour to submit to you the results of the series of ex-
parinients perforjned at Ken.sul Green, with the view of ascertaining to
what distance the vibration produced by a train in passing through the
tunnel may be sensible.

In these experiments. I employed a basin of quicksilver, which was
placed on the ground and fixed as tirmly as possible. A lens carrying a
set of cross wirts wan attached, in such manner that the imaxe of the
wires could be reflected in the mercury, and therefore any vibration of the
mercury could be easily detected by the oscillation of the reflected image.
A piece of glass etf.'ctually protected the mercury from currents of wind,
and the experiments were thereby rendered very satisfactory. In observ-
ing tl>e reflected wires. 1 did not employ a telescope, as a previous trial
had convinced me that no material advantage would arise from the use of
a lelesci>pe, since the sensibility of the eye in detecting the least vibration
of the mercury was far greater than I could have exoecled, and more than
sullicieully dflicate for the purpose in view.

The situation selected was a field belonging to Mr. Sullon, on the north
side of the tunnel. Th.* distances were measuied with a land chain from
the northern side, as nearly as its position could be ascertained.

April lOih. — The day cloudy, but without rain, a moderate breeze blow-
ing from the eastward.

Distance liO feet. Down train very great vibration, the reflected image
of wires was quite invisible from agitation as the train approached the
centre of the tunnel ; the vibration commenced immediately the train en-
tered the tunnel, and ceased the moment that it left.

Distance 138 feet. Down train — the vibration began about two seconds
after the train entered, and ceased about the same tune before it was out
of the tunnel ; though the amount of oscillation was much less than at
60 feet, it was still considerable.

Distance 30.< feet. Down train— the vibration began immediately the
train was in the tunnel, and continued about ten seconds alter it had left ;
the train was in the tunnel twenty seconds.

Distance 472 feet. A heavy down train — thirty-two seconds in passing
through the tunnel. The vibration was seen about seven seconds after it
was in the tunnel, and ceased four seconds before it left. The amount was
rather considerable.

Distance 572 feet. Up train — twenty seconds in tunnel. The oscilla-
tion of the mercury was sensible five seconds alter the train entered, and
ceased ten seconds before it emerged from the tunnel. Another up train
produced the same i li'ect.

Distance 644 feet. A down train — twenty seconds in the tunnel — pro-
duced not the slightest effeei. The obsei vulion very salisfactory.

Distance 609 feet. A down train — twenty-seven seconds in the tunnel.
The vibration so excessively small as to be visible only by transient
glimpses when the train was lairly in the tunnel. I consider this to be the
distiince where the ribration becomes sensible, and beyond U the trams Wilt
have no perceptible effect in this locality.

The following estimated values for the amount of vibration, though ne-
cessarily very rude approximations, may still be interesting : —

Distance 60 feet. Amount of vibration 100

138 „ „ 40

300 „ „ 25

„ 472 „ „ 10

„ 572 „ „ 5

609 „ „ 1

044 „ „ 0

On April 11th, some observations were attempted in a field adjoining
that belonging to Mr. Sulion, at a distance from the tunnel of 400 feet,
but the perpendicular drawing from the place of observation to the tunnel,
would fall not more than 50 ftet from the entrance, and this circumstance,
in addition to most unlavoniable weather, probably prevented my seeing
any vibration. An objection being raised on this day against the perform-
ance of the experiments on iMr. Su lion's propel ty, I was unable to proceed
until the 15th, when that gentleman was kind enough to allow me the use
of the field on the north side of the tunnel, a most favourable locality for
the purpose.

On April I5th, I made some experiments to ascertain whether a hori-
zontal wire of a transit telescope placed at difierent distances from the
tunnel to bisect a distant objrcl would show tiie vibration at those dis-
tances to be sensible. I very soon found that this method was not suf-
ficiently delicate, as no vibration could be detected even at 60 feet distance
from the side of the tunnel. The experiments with mercury on the follow-
ing day were made under very favourable circumslauces, aud the results
are, I believe, worthy of great confidence.

Mr, Biship's Observatory, Regent's Park,
April 17, 1846.

J. R. HiNU.

208

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[July,

EXTRACTION OK COPPER FROM ITS ORES BY ELEC-
TRICITY.

The a.lmiral.Ic researches of ISecq.ierel upon the chemical actions
eflecle.1 under the influence of weak electrical currents liave opened a
p-dlh destined to lead. metallurgy to results of which we are even now un-
able to annreciate the full importance.

Havin'/for their object the application of these actions to < >e ext--aa,on
of copper from its ores. M. M. Dechaud and (iuaUier l)e CUub have
long been engaged in researches which they now cons.der s.-llicenl y ma-
rred to command attention, being destined to elfect a complete '"■. "nna-
tion of the existing processes. The following is a bnef account of their
results reduced to the simplest form. ... • r

The exl a<^tion of coppeJ from pyrilous ores is divided into two series o
operatioL entirely distinct, the roasting the ore, and the precp.tat.on of

^'' IVuTf"'s/i«!r.-This is elTected in a reverberatory furnace, either by the
direct conversion of the sulphuret into sulphate by the sole action of he
air, or else by another reaction of useful application which cons.»ts m the
transformation ot the oxide of copper into ^'''l'''f ^ ''>',,"\';'7{:;i' ",' ^
sulphate of iron, at a dull red heat in a current of air, the iron being lelt

*" S^.abtwllinrett^acts the sulphate of copper, which contains neither
arsenic nor antimouV, so that the most impure minerals, as the;aft/fi.s, w. 1
airord copper equally pure with the carbonates or oxides of copper which
contain no oiher metal. . i .• „ -„

The PreaiJiMion.-The precipitation of copper from its solution re-
fluires in tlie galvano plastic processes, batteries of wdiich the co,t i= fa
i'oo gr^at to be en.ployed in metallurgy. It has therefore been attempted
to obtain the same elTcct without the use of exterior batteries. Ihe prin-
ciple upon which the apparatus depends are these.

If we place, one over the other, two solutions, one of sulphate of cop-
per very dense, and the other of sulphate of iron, less <lense, and in the
hrs we pb.ce a plate of metal f.^rming the cathode, and in the sulphate of
iron a fragment if cast iron, and then un.te these two metals by a conduc-
tor, the pn-cipitatiou of copper commeuces at once, and is completed lu a
longer or shoter time according to the temperature the concentration o
tli^liquids, and the extent of the metallic surfaces. T.ut as M. liecque el
has observed, the physical state of the copper undergoes great change as the
i^uid becomes weaker. We obviate this great difficulty !•> t"-ng to proht
,l,e observation that after some minutes' action there exist, our s rata in
the liquids ; at the bottom we (iod the dense so ution of j'"! ■"??"'
then a less dense solution of the same salt which has been 'l>-P"^"l "' '^
copper bv precipitation ; next is sulphate of iron become "'"'e - -^e by
the solution of the cast-iron ; and last, on the surface, the same salt in us

"'rtlleSfatthe level of each of these strata we arrange suitable
apertures for the addition or removal of the liquids in P^"^''"" J*^ '■;«
chemical action goes on. we can easdy preserve these ''q"'J» "' »°'^"™
states of density; and thus the copper is always pure and in the same phj-

*'7i thrSu-ation of this process to metallurgy, the extent of surface of
land required to precipitate a large quantity becomes an importan con-
sideration ; it is, however, easy to modify the torm of apparatus, tboui.h
preserving the same principle, so as to avoid this olijection. ,..„.

With this object we arrange the liquids in vertical instead of horizontal
layers; they are now to be separated by a diaphragm very P-^n, ^^ble to
electricity but not to liquids. Paste-board answers perfectly fo. h,s pur-
pose : it lasts for months without undergoing any alteratmn, and the quan-
tity of sulphate of iron which penetrates into the sulphate of copper i.
stiil too small to elTect the operation. The apparatus is therefore arranged
in the following manner :— ,

• A chest of wood, lined with lead or some suitable mastic, contains he
solution of sulphate of iron ; through an opening near the top, we add the
liquid until the proper degree of density is attained, while through d louver
onenin" the saturated solution is allowed to escape.

'Tnto''this chest we plunge a number of cases, made of a frame having
its ends and bottom formed of iron plate coate.l with lead ; the sides are
,ade of a sheet of paste-board. The strong solution of sulphate of copper
nlers through a p.pe near the bottom, and escapes in its «eaU slate
through an opening at the top. I. each case is P'-"' , "j''-' "^ 7/;„''
iron ■ helween each case, and outside the end ones, are plates of cast iron.
Separate rods connect each plate with the common conductor vyhich is
supported above the apparatus. Two large reservoirs of constant levels,
receWe the solutions and furnish them continuously. H e adjust once for
,11 the densities of the liquids, and then the apparatus works on for whole

liths without requiring any ^'"\°^ ,''^''^"''""- .^^^^VZlZt
strength of the solution of copper wh.ch escapes from the apparatus is
fron" one fourth to one-half of a saturated solution. The copper is pre-
cipitated on both sides of the sheet of metal forming the cathode.

As the paste-board prevents ilie imumliaU contact ot the two liquids,
«e ellecl this bv making small holes lloough its upper edge, taking care
lUt t'!^y are Jome distance above the highest p.irt of sheets of metal
f,.ruin.Mhe cathode ; the sulphate of iron can thus lloat above the solution
of sulph. copper, and the vertical apparatus now fullils all the conditions
pf the hortiuntal one. /,,>-,,„ n N „f

At a tciupcia'.ure of 20 Cent. 08 F. one square metre (10.3 jq. ft.) of

surface will receive as much as 1 kilogramme (15-144 grs.) of copper ia
twenty four hours.

1 he precipitateil copper is pure and is always in the same physical con-
dition ; the tlitets obtained are tit for immediate working under the ham-
mer, or to pass through the rolling mill ; four or five passings through this
gives the metal a density of 8'y5 ; we therefore avoid all the operation*
required in the common process to reduce it from the form of bars to that
of sheets. The manufacture presents no diflicullies, requires no refining,
and gives no scoria. In a regular manufacture as much as 75 per cent, of
the copper has been obtained in the form of sheets, the remainder being
precipitated, partly in pure fragnieuts, and partly in powder of cenieniation.
The authors consider, as a metallurgical result, at the lowest, 50 per cent,
of the copper in sheets, 25 per cent, in fragments which only require fusion
to be reduced into bars or plates; and 25 per cent, in powder requiring
subsequent refining.

The question as to the applicability of galvanic action to the extraction
of copper, appears to be reduced to the simplest possible form. It is hardly
necessary to remaik that elecirotyp. s on the largest scale can be thus ob-
tained.—Juuniui nf Franklin Institute.

THE LEANING TOWER OF PISA.

" The moon was shining when we approached Pisa ; and for a long time
we could sec, behind the wall, the leaning Tower, all awry in the uncertain
l,gl,t,— the shadowy original of the old pictures in school-books, setting forth
' The Wonders of the World.' Like most things connected in their first as-
sociations with school-books and school-times, it was too small. I felt it
keenlv. It was nothing like so high above the wall as I had hoped. It was
another of the many deceptions practised by Mr. Harris, bookseller, at the
corner of St. Paul's Churchyard, London. His Tower was a fiction, but this
was reahtv — and, by comparison, a short reality. Still, it looked very well,
and very strange; and was quite as much out of the perpendicular as Harris
had represented it to be. The quiet air of Pisa too; the big guardhouse at
the gate, nith only two little soldiers in it; the streets, with scarcely any
snow of people in them ; and the Arnn, flowing quaintly through the centre
of the town ; were excellent. So, 1 bore no malice in my heart against Mr.
Harris (remembering his good intentions), but forgave him, before dinner ;
and went out, full of confidence, to see the Tower, next morning. I might
have known better; but, somehow, I had expected to see it casting its long
shadow on a public street where people came and went all day. It wat a
surprise to me to find it in a grave retired place, apart from the general re-
sort, and carpeted with smooth green turf. But, the group of buildings
clustered on and about this verdant carpet — comprising the Tower, the Bap-
tistery, the Cathedral, and the Church of the Campo Santo— is perhaps the
most'rimarkalile and beautiful in the whole world; and from being clustered
there, together, away from the ordinary transactions and details of the town,
they have a singularly venerable and impressive character. It is the archi-
tectural essence of a rich old city, with all its common life and common habi-
tations pressed out, and filtered away. Sismondi compares the Tower to the
Usual pictorial representations, in children's books, of the Tower of Babel.
It is a happv simile, and conveys a better idea of the building than chapters
of laboured description. Nothing can exceed the grace and lightness of the
structure; nothing can be more remarkable than its general appearance. lu
the course of the ascent to the tup (which is by an easy staircase,) the in-
clination is noi very apparent ; but, at the summit, it becomes so ; and gives
one the sensation of being m a ship that has heeled over, through the action
of an ehb-tiile. The ell'ect upon Ihe low side, so to speak — looking over frona
the gallery, and seeing the shaft recede from its base — is very startling; and
I saw a nervous traveller hold on to the Tower involuntarily, after glancing
down, as if he had some idea of propping it up. The view within, from the
ground— looking up, as through a slanted tube— is also very curious. It
certainlv inclines as much as the most sanguine tourist could desire. The
naturalinipulse of ninety-nine people out of a hundred, who were about to
recline upon the grass below it, to rest, and contemplate the adjacent build-
ings, would probably be not to lake up their position under the leaning side,
— it is so verv much aslant." — Vicierui' Pictures from Italy.

Steam Factory in America. — The central part of the Portsmouth

steam fuilory, ivtiich Is •J04 fttl long, Is now two-ttiirds up. Tbe Cfnlre part ii to be tlx
stories tiigh, the wings Bve slories. Heigllt of the lower story 13 l«t, of the otlier sto-
ries 12 feet. Tlie lenglti of llie front will be J04 feet, or about a tenth of a mile. There
will be about four aires of Sooriiig in the factory. Number of spindles, 60,001); number
of operatives, l.iOO to 1,500. In the rear, two parotlel buildings, two stories high, wilt
be extended 100 fret back from the junction of the main building with the wings ; aod
between those buildings, 50 feel from tlie main structure, the l>oiler.house is to be erected.
The fouudaliou of the chimney, which is to be 140 feet high, is laid, and Is in progress of
erection. A genlleman who has been travelling the last year in pursuit of iiilorm3tiou_
respecting manufacturing establishmenls, and who has Tisiled more than a thousand fac-
tories, informs us that the largest factory building he has seen or heard of is at Wanches-
ter in this Stale, which is 440 feet in length. There U oc fa»;lorjf In England to sompaia
with it for siie.— " American Paper."

■PLATEXI-

K . H.SHARP- ARChT.

1845.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECFS JOURNAL.

209

RESTORATION OF ST. SAVIOUR'S CHURCH, YORK.
ClFilh an Engraving, Plate Xl.J

TTie ruinous condition of this church having excited very serious appre-
hensions, a subscription was raised in 1843 under the patronage of the Arch-
bishop of York, for the restoration of the decayed portions of the edifice.
The work was assigned to Mr. Sharp, architect, who generously offered to
•uperiatend the restoration gratuitously. The church now affords accom-
modation for 1000 persons, of whom 423 have seats in the galleries. The
report of the subscription committee expresses a regret that the funds raised
did not suffice for the restoration of the tower and east wall of the chancel.
A well-deserved compliment is also paid to Mr. Sharp for his liberal exer-
tions, and the ability with which be has drawn up the report, which appears
below.

The plan and section of the church here given are taken from drawings

•(»t by Mr. Sharp. We avail ourselves of his permission to print those por-
tions of the letter sent with the drav>ings, which are of a public nature.

"Sir — Having received much gratification from able papers in your later
numbers on Church Architecture, I am tempted to send you a " slip" of
some observations I had occasion to offer to the Restoration Committee of
one of our old churches in York, not so much from the importance of the
work done, as that the opinions contained in the notes seem to harmonize
with those of your talented correspondents ....

My only object in these communications is to answer the call that has
been several times made on architects to supply notices of their works, and
if I may be allowed to do so, to hint that letterpress of late usurps the place
which we should all like to see filled with drawings.

After forty years study and practice of the profession of architecture,
praise and censure are alike indifferent to me.

I send at the same time a carefully reduced plan and section of St. Sa-
Tiour's church, the one side showing the former condition, and the other the
present state. I am. Sir, with great respect.

Your obedient humble servant,

Richard Het Sharp, Architect."

The total receipts and disbursements for the restoration amounted to
£1300. At a meeting of subscribers recently held, it was agreed that a
tomraittee should be formed for considering the best method of presenting
* testimonial to Mr. Sharp, in acknowledgment of his services.
The Architect's Report.

It woold appear that the edifice lately restored was erected about the year
1420, at a time when the perpendicular style of Gothic architecture had su-
perseded the decorated or flowery style. Traces, however, of this last re-
mained in a beautiful four-light window, at the east end of the north aisle,
which retained its painted glass. This circumstance prompted the retention
of the flowery or undulatory style of tracery in the present eastern windows.
Whatever merits the perpendicular style had over the earlier one, it is un-
questionable that it was inferior in the adornment of the windows. A much
earlier edifice, probably of the twelfth century, existed on the spot, the ma-
terials of which, including several gravestones, had been very unceremoniously
employed in the walls of the later building. It is not unreasonable to sup-
pose that the extreme badness of the foundation (the church is styled St.
Saviour's in the Marsh) caused the premature ruin of the earlier building.
Kven in the later one, the south-west angle had sunk very considerably. On
digging down to obtain a more secure foundation, the cause of the failure
vits plain enough. After passing through what appeared to be Soman rub-

bish, at the depth of 14 feet below the floor of the church, several ruda
coffins were found, which mny not unreasonably be referred to a British ara •
they were made of slabs of oak, 2J inches thick, fastened by wooden pins or
dowells, and contained skeletons in a very perfect state, but perfectly black
from the infiltration of water from the bog in which they were laid. One of
these cofiins was directly across the angular buttress, so that there is no
wonder that it should have sunk. The coffins were too much decayed to
admit of removal, and the bones were laid in some of the vaults which the
excavation had laid open. The usual methods of rubble foundation, now
called concrete, were r.-sorted to, and the corner is now perhaps more secure
than the rest of the fabric. The eastern end of the church, as far as the
chancel extended, had declined about eight inches, and it became a matter
of urgent consideration with the architect, whether to take up the whole of
this wall, and to refound it in the same manner; but as the settlement wa»
of ancient occurrence, and did not appear to have increased of late, it was
thought that the old foundation might be trusted to, and the more so as the
new weight to be borne would not materially exceed the old one, which had
been supported for so long a time without increase. The event has justified
the opinion of the architect, as no settlement has become visible. As a mea-
sure of precaution, however, this half of the south wall was bound together br
an iron tie-bar, ending in a stout anchor, which may be seen at the east end".
A similar one is placed in the north wall, but the anchor is concealed within
the buttress. These bars are connected with the large stones forming the
window Sills in what is thought to be a novel manner. What may be termed
double lewises are inserted into the middle joints of the stone sills, and run
with lead so as to connect them firmly together, the chain bars before men-
tioned are then scured by single or ordinary lewises. In this manner a
powerful and permanent bond or connection is obtained. This detail is en-
tered into, as the method may be useful in similar cases, or in new works.

A satisiactory foundation having been obtained, the main walls were car.
ried up in a solid manner, and the windows inserted. This part of the work,
and one of the most important, is executed in a very satisfactory manner, and
is highly creditable to the contractor. The settlement before mentioned had
extended to the arcades separating the aisles, which, when the plasteiing
was removed, exposed cracks of an alarming character. Relying on the fore,
going considerations, it was thought sufficient to wedge them up with solid
oak, we believe from the Minster, and the result has been equally satisfac.
tory. The paramount consideration of economy doubtless pressed on the
architect's mind throughout all the operations. The next main point wai
the roof. It appears probable that the church had originally three roofs as
at present, but at the time of important repairs, in the time of Charles 1st,
the roof, whatever may have been its pristine form, was reduced to an uni.
form plane from the ridge to the eaves. In order to obtain this plane sur.
face, the depth or thickness of the limbers was from 18 inches to 2 feetabout
half way up, the outer roof being separated from the lower and original one.
The existence of several churches in York, All Saints, North-street, St. Samp.
son, and others, corroborates the notion of the triplicate roof. Indeed, so
long as side galleries are demanded of the architect, this is perhaps the best
form that can be given to a church, as it affords the requisite height to the
side walls. It is to be hoped, however, that these abominable contrivances
will either be abandoned, or that the Gothic stjle of building with which
they are whol'y irreconcileable, will be relinquished for the churches of
Queen Anne, with which they are in perfect harmony.

Sufficient sound oak timber was obtained to frame the new roofs in a sub.
stantial manner; the old tiles were re-employed as more in character than
slating, and as in lapse of time the defective tiles have perished, the remain,
der, although not very sightly, promise to endure for a very considerable
period. An opportunity offered of procuring some excellent slates from the
Minster, which were used in the inside roofs.

The main constructive points being obtained, the roof was lined with thin
wood, the ribs intended to strengthen the roof added to the beams, which
the safety of the church did not allow us to remove, and some ornamental
work added.

In uncovering the old pews, which had been suffered to remain all this
while, by reason of the uncertainty of obtaining the funds necessary for the
repewing, a discovery of the original pews was made, and to the great gratifi-
cation of the architect they were found to be almost identical with his de-
sign for the new ones, and for which the contract was made. It is not pre-
tended that these fittings were the furniture of the church of 1400, or 1 120.
No doubt that edifice was prepared for the Roman Catholic seiviee in a very
different manner. Screens, oi parcloses, doubtless then separated nearly oae
half the church from the people. The altar of the Saviour would occupy the
eastern end of the nave, that of the Virgin Mary the end of the north, an
of St. John Baptist of the south aisle. Near the second pillar Iruin the east
end screens, or reredos, would be placed across the aisles, against which
stood altars belonging to the chantries, founded in the ehurch by individuals.
A piscina still remaining in the south walls confirms this opinion. Another,
much defaced, existed in the north wall, and there were traces of others near
the eastern walls. The particulars of these chantries are adiled below, but
the business of the architect is not with them. The seven chantry priests
presided over by the rector, would form a choir sufficiently numerous to oc-
cupy the middle chancel, and it would be for their use that the stalls, of
which two have been preserved, were doubtless provided. Each of the»«
priests had an equal endowment with the rector, and if these emoluments,
properly reformed, had been continued to the church throughout the land,
bow different might the present state of things have been.

27

210

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[July,

All these decorations had probal)ly disappeared when, in the time of Charles
1., the church was thoroughly repaired and fitted for the Protestant service.
Many churches in York felt the henefit of similar, and as it often happens,
simultaneous efforts. In St. Cuthbert's we have the date I63fi on pews of a
character precisely similar, and others might be named. At that pcrind York
was often the residence of the Court, and would partake in the advantages
of it. The architect decided that it was fruith'SS, with the extremely limited
means at his ilisposal, to attempt any decorations of the fifteenth century,
and that it was in better taste to adhere to the Protestant moilel of the first
Charles. The lectern or reading desk now placed by the font is of this time.
The font is of the time of the restoration, when the clergy exerted them-
selves, it has been said, with more zeal than taste to repair the ravages of
the Puritans. The altar pieces of Belfry's, of St. iNIartin's, Coneystreet, and
St. Martin's, Micklegate, are of this epoch, and, aUhmigh out of place, are
very handsome in themselves. The style, however, of the time preceding
the rebellion retains enough of the Gothic character as not to shock the eye,
and may therefore, it is conceived, be eroployeil where circumstances forbid
recourse to an infinitely more elaborate ornament. Of the fittings up of the
Norman and early English styles we have in this country at least very scanty
remains : the fifteenth century seems to have been the time of a general re-
furnishing, so to speak, of sacred edifices, in a manner more suitable to the
greatly increased luxury and wealth of the age. In the more important edi-
fices this change was not confined to the wood work ; in Gloucester C'athe-
dral the vaulting and pannelling are " spread like a network of embroidery
over the old .\orraan work""

Ijtfore fixing the pews, precautions were taken to ensure dryness, and to
prevent the ascent of noxious gases from the grouud beneath. Means have
since been employed to give sufiicicnt warmth to the church.

It now only remains to the architect to acknowledge very thankfully the
obligations he feels under to the restoration committee in general, and to the
church-wardens in particular, for the great confidence they have been pleased
to have in him during the progress of this tedious, and somewhat difficult
work, without the succour of which trust his efforts would have been unequal
to cope with the discouragements inseparable from such undertakings, where
the funds are necessarily precarious.

It should have been noticed that considerable expense has been incurred
in rebuilding the church-yard walls. The public spirit of the Improvement
Commissioners came to the aid of the committee to carry out the very de-
sirable object of insulating the church, and at the same time affording a
double width to Hungate. A substantial wall and railing have been carried
along St. Saviourgate and west end of the church, and although it is difficult
in such matters to reconcile old ideas with modern ones, yet recourse has
been had to Lincoln Minster for the pattern of the iron work. The external
drainage of the church has been thoroughly completed. When it is remem-
bered that the earth on three sides reached up to the place where the new
works begins, about three feet above the door, it is no wonder that damp and
rottenness should have prevailed within.

To complete the perfect restoration of the church there remains only the
tower, some parts of which are in a state of rajjid decay. To remove the un-
sightly roof, to repair the mouldering stone work, to renew the dilapidated
windows would be a most desirable thing, and after what has been done, it
is surely worth an effort to accomplish it. Another work, hardly less desir-
able, is to remove the hideous vestry to a situation on the north side of the
church, insulated from the church, but connected by a passage, where its
being constructed in a plain manner would be of less importance ; to renew
the very beautiful eastern window, and so restore to this elevation its very
handsome former appearance which has not, it is hoped, been injured by the
elevation of the side aisles. Without having entered into a minute estimate,
it is thought that .€300 would suffice to carry out all these objects, and it is
worthy of consideration by the benevolent persons who have already done so
much to the restoration of an interesting and highly useful structure.

Ricii.iRD Hey Sh.mip, Architect, Y'ork.

There were formerly no less than seven chantries belonging to this church,
all of them of considerable value. The first was a very ancient chantry,
founded at the altar of St. Mary, in this church, for the soul of Robert Ver-
denell, whose tomb-stone is under the present floor in the north aisle of the
chancel. There was another chantry founded in this church, at the altar of
St. John the Evangelist, for the souls of John de Ilathelsey and Emma his
wife. In 14G8, this chantry was united to another chantry in the same
church, founded for the souls of William Burton and Ivetta his wife, at the
altar of St. James the Apostle and St. Lawrence. M'Mliam Burton, of Y'ork,
founded another chantry in this church, at the altar of St. Anne, for his soul
and the soul of Ivetta his wife. There was another chantry founded in this
church, at the altar of St. Thomas the martyr, for the soul of Adam de
Spiriden ; also one founded by Richard Watters, of great value; a chantry
founded by William Frost, alderman, and Isabella his wife, in 1399 ; a chan-
try founded by William Gilliot. Besides these chantries there was also a
gild or fralernity of St. i\lartin in this church, which was founded by letters
patents from Henry VI.

DECISION OF THE BOARD OF TRADE ON THE GAUGE QUESTION.

The Minute of the Board of Trade, containing their lordships' deliverance
on the Report of the Gauge Commissioners, is dated the 6th of June, 1846.
It commences by stating that —

" .My lords fully and entirely concur in the general conclusions at which
the commissioners have arrived with respect to the advantages of uniformity
of gauge for the conveyance of the internal traffic of the country. They
are of opinion that the facts set forth in the report, and the evidence by
which they are supported, incontestably establish the conclusion, that a
' break of gauge is a very serious evil,' and they see no reason to doubt the
soundness of the opinion the commissioners have expressed, that none of
the mechanical contrivances, or other methods proposed for mitigating the
evil, ' are calculated to remedy, in any importanc degree, the inconveniences
attending a break of gauge.'"

The Minute then quotes at length the conclusions and recommendationi
of the commissioners. The recommendations are in substance : — 1st.
That equitable means should be found of producing entire uniformity of
gauge, by reducing the broad gauge lines to the narrow gauge. 2nd. That
all public railways now under construction, or hereafter to-be constructed in
Great Britain, shall be formed on the narrow gauge. With respect to these
proposals, the Minute remarks: —

" After long and anxious deliberation, my lords are unable altogether to
concur with the commissioners in the full extent of these recommendations.

"Adverting to the vast expense which must be involved in an entire al-
teration of the broad gauge, and having regard to the circumstances under
which the companies employing this gauge were established, and to the in-
terests they have acquired, my lords cannot feel themselves justified in re-
commending that it should be proposed to parliament to compel the entire
reduction of the 7 feet gauge. They feel, with the commissioners, that 'they
cannot recommend the legislature to sanction such an expense from the pub-
lic moneys, dor do they think ttiat the companies to which the broad gauge
railways belong can be called upon to incur such an expense themselves
(having made all their works with the authority of parliament), nor even
the more limited expense of laying down intermediate rails for narrow gauge
traffic.

" Still less can they feel themselves justified in proposing that the expense
of such alteration should be defrayed by a contribution levied, as has some-
times been suggested, on the rest of the railway companies in Great Britain ;
and they are unable to suggest any other equitable or practicable means by
which the desired uniformity of gauge could lie obtained.

" The conclusion to which my lords have come respecting the reduction
of the broad gauge on existing lines necessarily affects their opinion with
regard to the future gauge lines now in course of construction."

The Minute goes on to state that all that seems now possible is to prevent
the further extension of the evils arising from different gauges, and reduce
the inconvenience inflicted on goods and passenger traffic within the nar-
rowest possible limits. To this end it is recommended that

"The lines for which acts have been obtained, but which have not yet
been completed to the south of the line from London to Bristol, should be
permitted to be constructed on the broad gauge, as originally intended.
They have had some difficulty in coming to a conclusive opinion on the case
of the South Wales line. They ate aware that strong arguments may be
adduced in favour of requiring this line to be constructed on the narrow
gauge ; but, adverting to the great public importance of a continuous line of
communication with the south of Ireland, and of a second line of railway
communication from Lonon to Ireland generally; and having regard to the
value of a continuous line to Milford Haven, &c., for the furtherance of the
public service ; they are of opinion that, on the whole, it would be advisable
that the South Wales line, together with its branch to Monmouth and Here-
ford, should, as originally sanctioned, be formed on the broad gauge."

The districts to which the Board of Trade has directed most of its atten-
tion are those which are to be supplied with railway accommodation by the
Rugby and Oxford, and by the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton
lines.

1. Uugly and Oxford lines,

" In the last session of parliament an act was obtained for forming a line
of railway from Rugby to Oxford. The act contained the following
clause : —

"' Cap. 188, sec. 35. That as a commission has been appointed for in-
quiring whether provision ought to be made for securing a uniform gauge in
tlie construction of railways, and for other purposes in reference to the mode
of obviating impediments to the internal traffic of the country ; if, in con-
formity with the report of the said commission, it shall appear to the Board
of Trade expedient that rails of the same gauge as the rails of the London
and Birmingham Railway should be laid down on the line hereby authorised
between Oxford and Rugby, it shall be lawful for the said hoard to ord^
and require that such railway upon the said gauge shall be laid down and
maintained, and that the company hereby incorpora.ed shall thereupon pro-
ceed with reasonable despatch to execute the same to the satisfaction of the
Inspector-General of Railways for the time being. Provided always, that
nothing herein contained shall prevent the said company from laying down
and maintaining, on the whole or any portinn of the said line, rails of the
same gauge as those now laid on the line of the Great Western Railway.'

" It is their lordships' intention, in the exercise of the powers granted t»

1S46.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

211

them by this clause, f o require that tlie narrow gauge rails shall be laid down
from Rugby to Oxford forthwith. They would, therefore, submit that it is
not necessary to interfere with the construction of the line on the broad
gauge, as authorised by the act. In order to complete the general clain of
narrow gauge coramunication from the north of England to the southern
coast, they beg to repeat with a slight variation the suggestion of the com-
missioners, that ' any suitable measure should he promoted to form a narrow
gauge line from Oxford to Basingstoke,' or l)y any shorter route connecting
the proposed Oxford and Rugby line with the South-Western Railway.
With the same view they beg to sujgest that any suitable measure should be
promoted for forming a narrow gaugf link from Gloucester to Bristol, and so
completing the general chain of narrow gauge ccunmunication between the
manufacturing districts, the centre and north of England, and the port of
Bristol."

2. Ojiford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton line.

" In the act by which the company was incorporated in last session the
following clause was inserted : —

" ' That the said company hereby incorporateii siiall, and they are hereby
required to lay down and maintain upon the whole extent of the railway
hereby autliorised, between tlie point of junction thereof with the said Bir-
Diinghara and Gloucester Railway at .\bbotswood, and the point of junction
thereof with the said Grand Junction Railway near Wolverhimipton, as
well as on the said branch railways by this act autliorised to Kingswinford
and Stoke Prior aforesaid, such additional rails, adapted to the gauge or the
said Birmingham and Gloucester and Grand Junrtinn Railways respectively,
as may be requisite for allowing tlie free and uninterrupted passage, as afore-
said, of carriages, wagons, and trucks passing to or from the said Birniingliam
and Gloucester, and the said Grand Junction Railways respectively, or from
the last-mentioned railway to the said Birmingb.im and Gloucester Railway,
or passing from one portion of the said Birmingham and Gloucester Railway
to another portion thereof, or to or from any intermediale place between the
two said railways to the one or the other of them ; and such additional rails
shall be laid down, and maintained and used, to the satisfaction and approval
of the Board of Trade, and all necessary facilities and accomodations shall
be afforded by the company hereby incorporated, or their lessees, lor the
convenient use thereof; aiid it shall be lawful for the said buaid at any
time, on complaint made by any company or person interested in the ques-
tion that such aiUlitional rails have not been laid, or that such facilities or
accommodations are not afforded, to order anil direct the said company
hereby incorporated, or their lessees as aforesaid, to adopt such regulatinns
as they may see fit to require with reference to the laying down of such
additional rails, or to the use of the said additional rails and other conveni
enees as aforesaid, and for the purpose of securing such free and uninter-
rupted passage thereon as aforesaid.'

" It is their lordships' intention to exercise the power given to them in
this instance, as in the case of the Oxford and Rugby line ; and on the same
grounds they would submit that it is not necessary to interfere with the con-
struction of this portion of the line on the broad gauge in the manner autlio-
rized by the act. And, since they regard the break of gauge as a most serious
evil, more especially in the conveyance of goods, they conceive that a con-
tinuous and a second line of communication between London and the district
of Statfordshire, &c , must be regarded as of great value and importance.
They accord ugly submit that the line from Worcester to Oxford should be
made as proposed on the broad gauge. They regret that the provision fur
the formation of a second line of rails was not inserted iu the act affecting
the portion of the line between Oxford and Worcester, in the terms of the
clause regulating the portion lying between the Birmingham and Gloucester
line and Wolverhampton ; and they would recommend, that if it should
hereafter appear that there is a traflic requiring accommodation on the nar-
row gauge between the Staffordshire districts and the southern coasts, any
suitable measure should be promoted by Parliament to form a narrow gauge
link from the Birmingham and Gloucester line to Oxford, on the same grounds
and in the same manner as the commissioners have recommended that it
should be formed between Oxford and the South Western Railway."

The Board of Trade declines to give an opinion on the merits of the 4 feet
8,^ inches gauge. They do not think that its ado|>tion by the legislature as
a national gauge — recommended by the commissioners — ought to be positive
and final. They would leave an opening to adopt what may be recommended
by the experience of Ireland or foreign countries.

" With this explanation, my lords beg to recommend, that no line shall
hereafter be formed on any other than the 4 feet 8^ inches gauge, excepting
lines to the south of the existing line from London to Bristol, and excepting
small branch lines of a few miles in extent, joining the Great Western Kail-
way, and conveying to it the traflic of places in its immediate vicinity ; and
they further recommend, that no bill for any such line as above exiepted
shall be passed liy parliament, unless a special report shall have been made
by the committee on the bill, setting forth the particular reason which have
led the committee to advise that such line should be formed on any other
than the 4 feet 8 J inches gauge. They concur, also with the commissioners
in recommending that, unless by the consent of the legislature, it shall not
be permitted to the directors of any railway company to alter the gauge of
such railway."

The suggestions of the board, recapitulated in a condensed form at the
close of the minute, are as follow :

" 1. That so line shall hereafter be formed on any other than the 4 feet

85 inches gauge, excepting lines to the south of the existing line from Lon-
don to Bristol, and excepting small branches of a few miles in length, in
immediate connection with the Great Western Railway ; but that no such
line, as above excepted, shall be sanctioned by Parliament unless a special
report shall have been made by the committee on the bill, settine forth the
reasons which have lead the committee to advise tnat such line should be
formed on any other than the 4 feet H.J indies gauge.

" 2. That, unless by the consent of the legislature, it shall not be permit-
ted to the directors of any railway company to alter the gauge of such rail-
way.

" 3. That, in order to complete the general chain of narrow gauge com-
munication from the north of England to the southern coasts, and to the
port of Bristol, any suitable measures tlioiild be promoted to form a narrow
gauge link from Gloucester to Bristol, and also from Oxford to Basingstoke,
or by any shurter route connecting the proposed RugOy and Oxford line with
the South-Western Railway.

" 4. That the South Wales line, and its branches to Monmouth and Here-
ford, should be permitted to be formed on the broad gauge, as sanctioned bv
their act.

" 5. That the Rugby and Oxford line, and the Oxford, Worcester, and
Wolverhampton line, should he peiniitted to be formed on the broad gauge,
as saiictiuncd by tlieir acts; that the Lords of the Committee of Privy
Council for Trade shall exercise the powers conferred upon them by the
several acts, and shall require that additional narrow gauge rails shall forth-
with be laid down fmin Kugl.y to Oxford, and from Wolverhampton to the
junction with the Birniingliam and Glnucpster line ; and that if it should
hereafter appear thai there is a traflic requiring accommodation on the narrow
gauge Irom the Slatfunlshire districts to the southern coast, any suitable
measure shall be proumted by Parliament to form a narrow gau^e link from
Oxford to the line of the Birmingliam and Gloucester Kailwav."

THE GAUGE COMMISSION.

Analysis of Evidence given before the Royal CommissioDera appointed to investigate
the subject of the diversity of Kailivay Gauges.

{Continued from page 183.)

Mr. James Edward MConnell: Is, and has been for upwards of four
years, superintendent of the lucouiotiie deparlment on the Birmin"ham
011(1 Gloucester Railway, now part of the Urislol and Birmingham. If as
large an amouut can be got of evaporating space, compared with the
Height of the engine, on ihe narrow as on the broad, they would be equal
in that resp> ct.

Dimensions of Mr. M'Connell's Locomolive Engine ut BromsTore.
The dinieusiuus of ihe Great Britain Locomotive Engine, constructed at
Broiiisgrove Slatiou and now emplojed to work Ihe heavy goods trains
upiMi the Lickey luclioe on the Bristol and Birmingham Railway, are as

foliOw, viz. : —

Diameter of cylinders . . 0

LeOKtl' or stroke ... 0

Diameter of each of the six wheels 0
Distance trtiin centre lo centre of

Iroiit wheels ... 6

Distance trom centre to centre of

hind wheels ... G

Leng h of boiler . . . IJ
Length of tank over bjiirr . II
Breudth ot ditlo. . . S

Depth of ditto ... 2

Distance from centre to centre of

cylinders .... 6

Length of tubes. No 134. . 12
Diameter or nitto ... 0

Didineter of piston rods , . 0

Ft. In.

Diameter of pump rams . ,
lireadth of shell of tire-box .
Length of ditto, outside .
Height from bottom to top
Heigh' of lower edge of cylinder
Length of chimney ... ti
Circumference of ditto . . 5
Total weight of ensine . aO tons
Weight on front wheels . 9 tons
Weight ou centre wheels IL' tuns
Weight on hind wheels . y tons
Height of smoke-box . . 6
Width of ditto. . '. . 4
Diameter of boiler cylinder verti-
cally 3

Ditto ditto horizontally 3

In.

H

4i

II
s

0
9
6

The Lickey incline is one in thirty. seven, which is a very steep gra-
dient, and has always beeu worked by a locomotive eugiue. For the last
four years, engines were >■{ so light a construction that they had not
soflicieiit adhebion on Ihe driving wheels; in order to test the relative eco-
iiiiuiy of a heavy and light engiue in v%orking this steep gradieut, witness
made an engiue which lias beeu at work now the last two months, with a
cjlinder 18 inches diameter, stroke "JO iuches, and the driving-wheels 4e
inches diameter, SIX wheels, ad coupled. The eugiue carries its water in
a tank ou the top of a boiler, so as to give it the advauiane of all the
weight possible to increase the adhesion ot the wheels, and it weighs in
working order somewhere about aO tons. There is a great variety in
the weight of the engines ou ihe tv\o lines, from I04 up to 30 tons •
the average weight of the 30-iiich cjlinder passeuger-eugiaes is about
123 tons, with 5 feet driving wheels. Four have 5ft. (iin. wheels, for
mail and express trains, and weigh about 13 tons. The average
speed of express trains about 30 miles an hour, with 15 tous load.
The luggage van is about half a tou lighter than Ihe passenger carnages,
and is placed next the engiue. For the last three years, the van has beeii
placed there, on the recommendation of the Board of Trade, for public
safety, and if they had two, or any empty carriages, they would be placed
there lo prevent risk to passengers. Is aware that ihe lighter the cairiaga

27»

212

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Jolt,

•with biRh velocitj, the greater it ihe tendency to rnn off the rails, hot
thinks when the luftgage-van is luaded, the weight is suflicient ; and the
empty carriage is about as heavy as ihe loaded van ; should not place an
empty van there; would place two loaded vans if he had thera. The re-
lative speed of heavy goods trains on ihe two lines averages on tlie broad
8| milefl and 13 on the narrow. The broad gauge wagons do not load
more heavily Ihan the narrow ; that is Ihe result of ibe regular work
ing of the traffic. 135 wagons upon the narrow gauge carried 13h tons
net; and that on the broad gauge, 135 wacons carried 131 tons net.
On one occasion, the gross load upon the broad gauge conveved by
Mr. Slaughter's engine was 235 tons 2 cwt. ; the lare was 137 Ions
12 cwt. ; the net was 97 tons 10 cwt. On the narrow gauge Ihe gross
load was 254 tons 0 cwt., the tare 101 tons 17 cwt , and the net
152 tons 12 cwt. The wagons were taken and loaded expressly, that
there should be as liitle dead weight as there possibly couhl ; and
this is a further proof of the comparative net and tare upon ihe two
gauges. There were 30 wagons upcm the narrow gauge, and 25 wagons
upon the broad gauge. On the latter the gross load was 235 ; on the for-
mer 254. With 35 tons 15 cwt. less tare, there was on the narrow gauge
65 tons 2 cwt. more net. Went up iwo iodines of 1 in 100 at a speed of 8
miles an hour. On other portions of the line, that is, on level portions of
the line, and slight inclinations, our maxinunn speed was 25 miles an hour.
Size of the engine on the broad gauge : rj Under 16 inches diameter, stroke
21 inches, wheel 64 inches, gross weight of engine and tender 23 tons.
Size of engine on the narrow gauge: (jlinder 15 inches diameter, stmke
84 inches, wheel 54 inches, weight of engine and tender 27 tons. All six
wheels were coupled in both cases, so as to t-et the uttnost adhesion 'o the
engine. The Birmingham and Gloucester is laid with longitudinal hearings,
thinks the Bristol and Gloucester is also laid with them. An increase of
the boilers would increase the weight of the machine, and thinks that, at a
high velocity, a very heavy engine would act very injuriously on the rails;
so far as it is safe for the rails, the increase of the weight and power of
the engines to produce speed, can be gut on the narrow as well as on Ihe
broad gauge. The consumption of coke, consequent upon the generation
of more steam, would be greater, butlhiiiks it ii> cheaper to work with one
large powerful engine, than with two small : has an engine on the narrow
gauge capable of taking 600 to 700 tons, and his engine wdl take 1000
loos on lines of easy gradients, at 10 or 12 miles an hour. Thinks the injury
to the rails and permanent way would be very much increased by increased
weight and speed. Believes the injury to the permanent way on both
gauges is more cau.t^ed by high veUicily than increase of weight. Has
observed that the shocks received from the fast trains appear to affict the
rails more than the slow, and the contractors for the repairs do nut like fast
trains so well as heavy ones at slow speed.

Has not seen the fractures of axles on Ihe broad gauge ; has seen them
on the narrow. A very extraordinary change takes place in axles from
the constant blows the wheels receive ; it amounts to what is called cold
swedging on the anvil, and renders them more brittle, which must exist to
Ihe same extent on the broad gauge ; on Ihe narrow, axles have broken
that had worked three or four years, and though at first they might be
fibrous in their texture, yet on fracture they appeared as if broken up inio
amall crystals ; considers the breakage of axles roust arise generally from
this, and the greatest care is required to get them of the best manufacture,
and of the toughest and strongest iron. Prefers those of the patent axle
company, near Wednesbury, with radial bars all weldi-d together, and finds
them, from experience, superior to the Low Moor. The elasticily of the
IoOr bearing of the axle would affect Ihe wheel, throw it out of the per-
pendicalar, tend to injure the railway, and force it out of gauge; on
curves, an objection arises again to the broad gauge, as one wheel has to
travel over greater surface than the other, there is either a straining of the
wheel, or a twisting of the axle ; the axle will be strained and deteriorated
in this manner more on the broad gauge than on the narrow.

100 miles is a fair day's work for an engine, but he sees no objection to
doing more ; thinks that by seeing that the engines are in good order, and
changing them once a fortnight, there is economy in working as much as
150 miles; the steam being raised in fewer engines would save fuel. Is
aware that the London and Birmingham Company change their engines at
Wolverton ; they make a trip each way, being 120 milfs aday, without
putting out the fire. If the gauge were uniform at Gloucester, one-third
of the present staff of porters could do the goods trade ; at present they
are kept for lifting goods from one wagon, and repacking them in another,
which requires five to six hours from their arrival. The guards' returns
show, during the month of August, an average detention of 16 minutes for
passenger trains. The detention to goods trains by transhipment from one
gauge to another cannot be estimated at less than from 4^ to 5 hours.
Thinks the alteration of gauge matter of necessity, and that the cost would
form a very small practical part of the ultimate profit. Supposing the cost
to be £6,000 a mile, has no doubt the increased profit would mure than
cover the interest of the outlay, but thinks £5,000 is very much too high a
sum for the alteration, for this reason — with respect to the wagon-slock, it
would take for instance for 60 miles of railway a certain number of
wagons, but for iOO miles of railway it does not take a double number of
wagons, because if the wagons work through, a small addition, compara-
tively speaking, would work the 100 miles beyond what is required for the
60. And so with respect to all the carrying stock. Having the carrying
ilock for the Birmingham and Gloucester portion, it would require a very
■mall addition for working the other portion of the line, comparatively
•4ieakiug. To lay down the broad gauge to Birmingham would amount

to a complete demolition of the present works; the bridges and tunnels
are loo narrow, and the stations must be removed. Imagines Ihe expense
would be very great, almost a re-making of the line. The largest good*
train he ever knew to arrive Irom the north at Gloucester «a» 320 or 330
Ions gross weight, but thinks only a small quantity was transhipped to the
broad gauge, as it consisted chiefly of salt shipped at Gloucester. In
many ca..es, a day is occupied in traushipping Recollects 40 or 50 loaded
goods wagons waiting at Gloucester a fortnight for bmad gauge wagons to
come up, and that may occur either way. No met haiiical arrangenient at
(Gloucester for transferring goods, but manual labour and cranes At first,
shifting on low trucks was proposed, but on inquiry, they did not go to
tliis expense. Goods wagons placed on additional trucks would not pass
under the narrow gauge bridges, but they could on the broad. The weight
of the additional i rucks on the broad gauge would be about 3 Ions 5 cwt.
Although merhanical arrangements may work well experimeiilally, be-
lieves they will lie found in practise totally unfit for every day tralhc. The
strength of the railway carriage and body is increased liy their being
united, and being exposed to rough usage, a separation -Houid be a con.
slant cause of damage to the carriage and the goods in it. Thinks that
detaching the bodies of passenger carriages from the vvheels and framea
would be highly oljectionable. High velocities would not increase the
expense on the narrow as much as on the broad, Ihe lighter machine oa
the narrow having less tendency to damage Ihe rails. The permanent way
on both lines is kept up by contract, and the expense on Ihe Birmingham
and Gloucester is about £100 per mile. The rails on the latter were
originally too light, and the timbers and cross sleepers of the embankments
not sutlii ieiitly seasoned, nor put into the Kyauizing process, so that the
expense of repair has thus been increased. A line well made would be
kept up at a very low expense. Believes that 75 lb. rails are now adopted
on all lines, and they are to be substituted for those on the Birmingham
and Gloucester.

Descri/itiott of the improrements on the narroiD gavge engines vith lix
uhe<ls. — Ihe general features ot both are as follows: iVlr. Itolieri Stephen-
son has aPwajs advocated the six-wheel engine, and has made it; he has
improved it very much ; he has simplified the arrangement and construc-
tion of the engine; he has adopted the outside cylinder to his passenger
engines, witn a framing nvetted to the boiler plates; and he works hi*
slide valves in a vertical direction. He has very much increased the length
of Ihe boiler. The average length, before it was varied by .Mr. Stephen-
son, was from 8 to 10 feet, and now Mr Stephenson has adopted the 12
feet tube and upwards, thereby safely calculating that a very great eco-
nomy is effected in the consumption of fuel, thai is, that a less proportion
of beat is allowed to escape unprufitably up ihe chimney. This engine is
found to answer in practice exceedingly well, inasmuch as it gives a
greater length of engine on the rails, and increases very much ils steadi-
ness at a high speed. He has also a patent for placing the whole six
wheels between the fire-box and the smoke-box, whereby he is enabled to
distribute the weight more equally on the wheels. In woikiug the engine
he also uses what is termed the expansive motion, the link motion. It en-
ables Ihe driver of the engine to regulate the supply of steam lo the cylin-
der in proportion to the load. There are various plans of doing so. There
is a plan proposed and patented by a Mr. Bodmer of Manchester and Mr.
Myers of Mulhauseo on the Continent for doing the same thing, all tend-
ing lo the saving of steam, and providing the quantity of sleam requisite
to overcome the load. The size of the engine is increased. At one time
it was considered that from 12 to 13 inch cylinders was a good average
size for working railways. Now we find from experience that economy
of working is very much assisted by taking the train by one heavy engioft
instead of two light ones: that is to say, you save the wages of two men ;
and the expense of repairs is very much reduced, and materials, for in-
stance, oil and tallow, &c., and the consumption of coke in the one engine
is not at all equal to the consumption of the two, which would only do the
same amount of work. The practice has become general on narrow gaugs
railways to adopt 15 inch cylinders instead of 12 inch, and even higher
than that. There are at present engines being made at Messrs. Sharp's
manufactory at Manchester with 18 inch cylinders of nearly the same size
as the one at work at Bromsgrove, but with 24 inch stroke, 4 feet 6 inches
driving wheels. They are intended for the Sheffield and Manchester
Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham, and it is calculated they
will be of very great service with heavy goods trains, and enable them to
carry at a very low cost indeed. Those engines will be equal to take 800
tons, and travel with ease when they are at work ; proving that, so far as
the power of an engine is concerned, the power of getting machinery on
the narrow gauge is sufficient to take any load ; it will be quite equal to
produce it, at least as far as it can be properly adopted without increasins
the weight of the machine to the injury of Ihe permanent way. Our
power is increased more than it would be warrantable lo increase th«
weight of the machine, of which the engine at work at Bromsgr&ve is an
instance; for although it is 30 tons in weight, the whole six wheels can be
made to spin round and slip wiih the six wheels coupled. That settles the
point completely that we can get sufficient power on the narrow gauge,
without at all injuring the construction of the engine, or rendering it ob-
jectionable. With respect to those engines that aie in cooslruciion by
Messrs. Sharp at present with the 18 inch cylinder, it is a most remark-
able thing that the cylinders are nut placed outside the wheels, but inside,
so that there is room fur two 18 inch cylinders in the narrow gauge to be
constructed inside the wheels, working with the crank shaft. That dues
cot much affect Ibe centre of grarity ; the cylinder is kept low ; the valves

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

91S

»re underneath in this case. The principal objection is the crank shaft, to
get room for the hoiler ; but on the drawing and on the elevation of the
engine, the centre of gravity does not seem to be at all too high. Those
engines have four eccentrics, and are to be worked with the link motion.
Thinks a speed of from 12 to "iO miles an hour with a goods train, as
great as would be safe with this weight of engine on either gauge. These
engines not used for passenger trains, the wheels being only 4 feet 6 inches
in diameter, aud wanting adhesion as well as power.

Description nj the improvements un narrow gauge engines of the second
kind, namely, those with Jour wheels.— ^\t. Buiy has always bet-n a maker
and supporter of the four-wheel locomotive engine. They are in use on
the London nnd Birmingham Railway and several other railways. They
also have been much improved ; the boilers have been lengthened to about
11 feet; they have been increased in size with 15 inch cylinders and 2 feet
stroke. Tlie inlerval lietween the fore and hind axle is somewhere about
6 to 7 feet; in those of Mr. Slephenson's the distance is rather less
than 12 feet ; they nre all in the space between the tire-box and the smoke-
boi. A plan is adopted on the London and Birmingham, of attaching the
engine to the tender by a dra»v spring, rendering it au 8 wheeled machine.
Believes, with the inside bearings adopted by Mr. Bury, that thr engine
would go on with the axle bioken. Has seen them going 12 or 14 miles
an hour with the axle cut through. Has known the axle broken, and not
discovered till the train was at the station. The breaking of the axle takes
place close to the journal, and sometimes at the corner ol the crank, the
iron being cross iliere, and not so strong. Prefers the straight axle with
outside cjlinders for safety. The chief objection to the crank aile is lia-
bility to give way.

John Urpeth Rastrick, Esq. : The largest engine on the London and
Brighton Railway is one of ISinch cylinder. Gives a preference to the
cross over the longitudiual sleeper, as it is much more easily rectified and
kept in order. At Uie lime the extension of the Greenwich Railway (that
is. the widening out of it where the Croydon, Dover, and Brighton Kail-
ways run over it,) was proposed to be done, the Directors of Ihe Green-
wich Railway Company desired their engineers (Colonel Landmann aud
Mr. Miller) to make a report upon the sort of rails they ought to use in
the laying down of those two lines. Each of those gentlemen made out a
report; one recommended rails to be laid of the same size as those that
are laid on the Croydon Railway, which is a rail that has got a flat top to
it ; it is rather a low rail, with a wide flange at the bottom, and a narrow
rib between the top and the flacch.and that was to be laid on longitudinal
bearers. The other gentleman recommended that the rails should be made
about 75 lb. per yard (these are called the H rails), and fixed in cast iron
chairs with wooden keys. The Directors of the Greenwich Railway
Company did not think proper to take upon themselves to decide which of
those rails should be laid down, and they sent the reports that bad been
made to them, to witness (of course not putting the names ot the engineers
to the reports, but merely stating that they were the reports of their en-
gineers), and requested an opinion as to which of these methods they ought
to adopt. Advised them to adopt neiiher of the rails, as the Croydon rail
seemed (that is the light rail, and the light longitudinal bearer,) altogether
too weak, and the other was not so well adapted for a viaduct as it would
be if laid on longitudinal bearers, but a stronger rail ; therefore recom-
meoded them, instead of making use of a cross sleeper, with a 73 lb. rail,
to make use of a bridge rail of 80 lb. per yard, which had got a wide
flange at the bottom. The rail was about 2J inches wide at the tup. The
flange was half-an-inch thick, and the outside width of the flange was six
inches, and each of those sides was three-quarters thick ; these rails were
screwed to Ihe timber; screw pins went through the longitudinal timbers,
«od underneath there were bars into which the screw pins were screwed.
By placing an auger-spanner on the top of the pins, the raits can be
screwed down most securely. The rail laid down on the viaduct of the
Brighton Railway was found to answer so well that witness recommended
its adoption to the Greenwich Railway, and those rails are now laid down
there. The nut keeps its hold and will run back, because it can at any
time be screwed up ; they have nothing to do but to apply an auger-span-
ner 00 it. Is laying down a railway from Hastings to Lewes, and likewise
from the Chichester line, from Shoreham to Chichester, with rails of that
description, but on cross bearers with this addition, that to each of them,
at the joints, there is a wrougbt-iron plate into which the two rails slip.
There is a wrougbt-iron plate about 10 inches long, turned up on the
edges, so as to lorm grooves ; the two rails come together into this wrought-
iron plate ; the rails cannot separate, and of course that part which turns
down on the upper flange of the rail keeps the one rail from rising above
Ihe other. In laying down these rails on the Greenwich Railway, we had
no provision of that sort, and consequently they are liable in some degree
to rise one above the other, unless the screws are kept tight ; but even if
the screws are all slack where these wrought iron joint plates are used,
they cannot rise one above the other. The rails were laid on cross sleep-
srs; did not use the screw-pins at all, but merely a parallel bolt live-
eighths of an inch in diameter, which holds better than screws or any
other contrivance. We bore a hole half an inch in diameter, and then
drive in the bolt ; in fact, they hold so very fast, that in endeavouring to
get them out sometimes on the Brighton Railway when a chair has broken,
we have had to bend the pin backwards and forwards considerably before
we could pull it out.

The velocity of the express trains on the Brighton is about 34 miles an
iioyr, with one stoppage at Red Hill. There is vtry little oscillatioa if

the road is in good order. Outside cylinders do not produce any yawing
motion; it is impossible any such motion can be produced, unless there is
a play in the framing itself. Considers the outside cylinders to be verj
much preferable to the inside, and thej run a great deal steadier.

Mr. Henry Pringle Bbdyeres: Is superintendent of the London
and Birmingham Railway, and controls the general arrangements both of
passengers and goods. Average speed of express trains on London and
Birmingham line between staiion and station, exclusive of stoppages,
rather more than 40 miles an hour, making no allowance for slacking and
regaining speed. Including the stoppages at siaiions, the speed is 37
miles an hour. Does not think the greatest speed at any time exceeds 45
miles an hour for any distance. Passenger carriages on London and Bir-
mingham line greatly improved. The improvement in the first class car-
riages is, as respects the construction, making the under framework
stronger, and making it solid instead of open, as it was originally ; Iq
point of comfort to the passengers, in making the carriages larger alto-
gether ; each compartment being longer, to give more room for the legs,
aud higher. The carriages the company now build are in size proportion-
ate to those on the Great Western Railway, with the exception that they
may be three or four inches less in height. The reason of having them
less in height is to allow of the luggage being conveyed on the roof ; how-
ever, ample room is given, even for a tall person with his hat on inside.
The luggage placed upon the lops of the carriages is principally " through"
luggage, belonging to passengers that are going a long distance, so that
when they arrive at the end of their journey, instead of having to seek
their luggage at the forward part of the train, it is over their heads, and
if they can only diiest themselves of the idea that they are in a crowd
upon their arrival, and remain stationary on getting out of the carriage,
they will find their luggage immediately before them. All inside
cylinders, and only one six-wheeled engine. The Company are now
building six-wheeled eni;ines. The engine and tender are tighily screwed
together. Probable expense of London and Birmingham goods wagons
into loose boxes for transfer on to broad gauge, about £50 per wagon.
The London and Birmingham line now so consolidated, that the rains have
litile eSect upon it ; subsidence of the ballast dues not take place upon
the embankments.

The area of the Rugby Station is about 12 acres, including the portion
used by the Midland Railway, as well as the London and Birmingham.

Dimensions of old and of new carriages. — They consist of three com-
partments, holding six persons each ; the old carriage was in length, that
is between the persons, face to face, 4 feet 11 ; the new are S feet 9, being
an increase of 10 inches ; the width of the old carriage was 6 feet, and
the new is 6 feet 6, giving 2 inches more in width to each seat. The
height of the old carri-ige was 5 feet, and the new ones are 5 feet 7, giT-
ing an extra height of 7 inches, that is between the floor and the ceiling,
and taking it at the centre of the ceiling ; the ronf is curved about 2
inches, and is 5 feet 5 at the two sides. The outside length of the old
carriages was 15 feet 6, and of the new, are 17 feet 0. That is the entire
body. The width was 6 feet 6 in the old, and is 7 feet in the new. The
height, allowing for the curve mentioned before, would be 5 feet 2 the old,
and 5 feet 8 the new. The total height above the rail of the top of the
carriage is 8 feet 9 the old, and 8 feet 10 the new. The additional height
inside has been obtained by lowering the floor.

At present, if the Great Western Company require engines from the
North of England, when not carried by water, they come up upon the
London and Birmingham, and are transferred from Euston-square to Pad-
dington, and run down Ihe Great Western line. This has frequently been
the case ; they are brought up on trucks. The comparative dead and net
weight carried by the down express train for the month of August, 1845,
is as follows : number of passengers, 1,613 ; carriages, including luggage
van, 132 ; weight of passengers, at ten to a ton, 101 tons; weight of car-
riages, 556 tons.

CoNONEL George Landmann : Was engineer of the London and Greea-
wich Railway and the projector of that scheme. When the line was con-
structed, used a very light rail, uf 50 pounds to the yard. Subsequently
changed those rails for others of a heavier description, weighing 85 pounds ;
the first rails did not reverse; the present rails do reverse; the new part
is upon the Great Western principle, upon longitudinal sleepers; in the
first instance, used stone blocks, which were afterwards changed to trans-
verse sleepers. The widened portion of the line, from London to the
separation of the Croydon, and the portion from Deptford to Greenwich,
originally laid upon longitudinal sleepers, with the same form of rail as
the Great Western ; that rail was £0 pounds to the yard, whilst the Great
Western was 43 pounds. The longitudinal sleepers between Deptford
and Greenwich are 12 inches wide by 6| deep; those upon the widened
part are the whole size of the baulk ; 12 and 13 inches, with ties across the
same depth, to preserve the gauge. The longitudinal sleepers of the
Greenwich line, extending from Deptford to Greenwich, rest upon trans-
verse sleepers, 1 0 inches by 6, by 6 to 7 feet long, and placed at distances of
about 4 feet apart, and to which the longitudinal sleepers are spiked; these
sleepers were all Kyanized,aod, as far as witness has been able to die.
cover, are still quite sound. With longitudinal sleepers a lighter rail
might be used than would be required where there is a space between the
supports; and if the ground be properly made at first under longitudinal
sleepers, is of opinion that that would be the best mode of constructing a
line ; objects to the mode adopted under Mr. Bastrick's direction of laying

214

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[JuiT,

the rails upon the widened portion of the Greenwich Railway. Witness's
design was to have transverse sleepers, with the loiigiucllnal sleepers
upon them; it now entirely rests bfdded upon earth; if it had had fixed
points to rest upon, it would have been much more secure. Should rely
entirely upon the bearinj; upon ihe transverse sleepers. It is not found
too elastic upon the Great Western; the longituduial sleeper is oidy 7
inches thick ; they have no transverse sleepers. The engines on the
Greenwich line wei^h about 14 tons with die waler. Some arc six arid
some are four-wheeled engines ; four-wheel engines are going out of use
as fast as they become destroyed ; upon a portion of the line (the Urighlon
and .South Eastern line) they run with much heavier engines, weighing 16
or 17 tons.

Charles Vignoles. Esq. : Laid out the Eastern Counties with Mr.
Rraithwaite, but that geiitleniaii executed it ; a question as to Ihe gauge
arose; was then very desirous of making the gauge wide; Mr. Biailh-
waite's view of having a .^-feet gauge was adopter! ; shoulil have prefer-
red a 6-feet gauge. Intended ilip, Dulilin and Kingstown IfaiKvay lo have
been a 6-feet gauge ; but the Direciors overruled his opinnm, on th- plea
that so short a line miphi, if necessary, have its gauge altered wiihoul in-
convenience ; they harl lo obtain all their first carriages ami engim^s from
England, where 4 feet 8J was the prevailing gauge, and tliey were very
unwilling to depart from it ; he has been coiijulierl in laying out many
principal lines, and also on the gauges of many ; the Edinburgh and
Glasgow was laid out, though not executed by him ; as it was Irkely to
connect ultimately with lines coming from Ihe soulh, on the 4 feet h^ prin-
ciple, that gauge was adopted ; some Scotch lines already execiiled are on
rather a narrow gauge ; thinks one coal line, Ihe Forfar, was 5 feel 0
inches; but the general feeling was slmng that coimection with soulh
lines should be kept in view ; most of the lines mentioned were previously
to the introduction of ihe broad gauge hj Mr. Brunei. On Ihe C..ntine»l,
as the engines and carriages were obtained from Englanil, they were un
willing lo deviate from Ihe fixed rule ; Ihe lirsl railway in Brunswick was
about 30 miles lo the foot of tlie Hartz mountains, and tlie English gauge
was adopled ; Ihe latest large operation ot his on Ihe Conlinent was laying
out Ihe Wiirteiuberg railways ; there the question of gauge was greatly
discussed, and is not yet sellleil ; they are intended to uiiile the railways
in Baden, which run parallel to the Idiine, aiitl those in Bavaria, which
run from the Danube ; the gauge of the Barleii railways is 5 feet, or 5
feet G, and that of the Bavarian 4 feet SJ ; under all Ihe circumstances,
he recommended that 4 feet 8^ slioulrl be arlop'ed ; as all the railways in
connecliou with Bavaria, and all Ihe Saxon and Austrian, are 4 feel 8|,
and as a great transit trade was coming from those countries, he considered
that the larger amount of trallic woulrl be from Ihose of 4 feet 8^, and
that the length of rail on the Baden siile, next the Rhine, would be short
in comparison ; he thought Baden would ultimalely be obliged lo change,
and bring it lo Ihe gauge of the others on Ihe Conlinent ; hriwever. Baden
and Bavaria persist in not changing, and it is a que-lion at what point the
transit shall take place, whether on Ihe eastern or western frontiers of
Wiirlemburg ; thinks the probability is, that they will ultimalely adopt the
4 feet 8J gauge throughout Wiirlemburg.

As to the co=t of the carriage-frame, thinks it woulrl increase as the
squares of the gauges, but with a certain additional amuuiil of accommo-
dation ; one great advantage of a large carriage is, that \.m get less gross
weight in proportion lo the nel; does not know whether lluit has been
realized in practice, but tliinks it ought to be so As reganis increase of
speed, does not Ihiiik on that alone the (ireat Western haie an ad\antage;
the trains ti-avel \ery fast on it, but much more is due to the (;radients,
which are very flat, Ihan lo Ihe gauge; with respect to economy of vvnrk-
ing, tlie expense on the Great Western and the London aifi Birmingham
is as near as possible the same. Wiih respect to safely, as far as it is con-
nected with steadiness, is quite satisfied that at very high velocities the
trains travel more sleidily on the Great Western than on Ihe Lnmlon and
Birmiiigliam, taking ihe gradients as they occur. In the abstract, is quite
satisfied there is greater sieadiness of motion on the broad garige at high
velocities. It the road happens to be out of order, or the springs of a
carriage stifi', or if it is not loaded or overloaded, or a little slack in the
coupling up, or too tight— all those will all'ect it, particularly at high velo-
cities ; has not made a series of experiments, but is quite satisfied that it
is steadier with the broarl than with the narrow gauge at a high velocity.
It is impossible to wrile on Ihe London and Birmiiigliain at a high speed ;
he could read in their express trains very well where Ihe road was in good
order, but when bad could not.

Useil to be, and is still, very partial to the longitudinal sleeper; but
Bome facts have come to his knowledge to shake his views , in particular,
on a foggy morning on the North Union, when an engine comes to the
longitudinal sleepers she invariably slips, which does nut lake place on the
cross-sleepers; cannot account fur it. it may be ov\ing to a ilampness
that remains on the longiludinal sleepers which may impart to the rail a
moisture which converts dust to mud, and proiluces greasiness. The soil
is chiefly sand, with probably a little clay in that porlion of it; but still,
wherever the longitudinal sleepers are, the engine has a great tendency to
slip. Has often calculated the relative cost of laying rails on the longitu-
dinal and cross-sleepers; it was very much in favour of Ihe longitudiual
in the first instance, where a slighter baulk was used ; but as it is now
necessary to have the whole, or at all events a tlireei|uarter baulk, the
balance is against the longitudinal as the more expensive ; a very heavy
rail, with a cross-sleeper without the chair, answers very well, and is the

most economical mode. The first Liverpool and Manchester rails were
33 lb., and the 42 lb. rail on die Dublin and Kingtown is still in use. Oo
Ihe lower pari of tlie North Union the 42 lb. rails have been taken up and
replaced by 03 lb. Oh that line the passenger trains are light, but the
merchandize and coal excessively he-ivy. The lengths of bearings are
3 feet 9 inches and 4 feet ; four to a rail.

Should the Graml Junction (.'ompany alter to the broad gauge, it would
be pradicable lo alierthe North Union loo. as the bridges and tunnels are
sullicient fur the purpose; none of the bridges are less than 30 feet span,
and those of the (ireat Western are not more. His practice is lo make
bridges about 30 feel. The tunnels are about 27 feet. On the Midland
Ciiuiities the bridges are all 30 feet ; the viaduct at Rugby is 27, which
wiiiild arlinit of the broarl gauge by corbelling out the parapet ; the Great
Ribble Bridge on the North Union is 27 or 28 feet wide, and the tuonel
inio I'restoii, the .)iily luie, is nearly 30 feet. M'ith less than 30 feet there
would not be room fur a man with safely ; it would be heller to have re-
coses built in Ihe tunnels. Thinks, by a Judicious system of transferor
biidie>, the paikiiiL; and unpacking at Gloucester might be avoided. The
passenger carriage-borlies may be transferred, as at Rouen, to the frame of
the railway carriage, wilhoiit any risk or difiiculty. Has ridden in one of
those carriages, and been lifted up with it, without any practical inconve-
nience. It is bolteil down, and is as perfect as if it were the railway car-
riage itself. A carriage put together in ihat way is as strong as a usual
one, in case of collision ; it is strong enough to be lifted, and, being re-
quired for the road, is strunger than the railway carriage. Considers the
7-feet gauge w'di'r Ihan is necessary ; the wider the gauge, the more the
effect of curves is felt ; does not think the gradient at all enters into the
question. The dlri'at Western have large driving-wheels, not with regard
to garige, bu' velor ity ; there is no necessary connexion between the dia-
meter of the wheel and the gauge. Would not adopt the 7-feet wheel on
the narrow ^.'auge ; but Ihat is a proof that it must be steadier on the
broad. A great number of things were proposed in adopting the broad
gauge, which have not jet been carried out with efl'ect. Were he the en-
gineer of a broad gauge line, should avail himself of the increased space
to make engines more powerful. The necessity of increasing the engine
is every tlay apparent, and lo have engines so far above the work that
there can be no question about tlieir power. The driving-wheel of the
engine will regulate Ihe velocity ; one of the Great Western engines, with
the large ilriving-wheel, would give Ihe same amount of speed, whether OD
the brrtari or Ihe narrow gauge. The diameter of the driving-wheel is
quite a dili'erent question from that of gauge, except as regards the ia-
creased steadiness arising from the wider gauge.

(To be continued, i

VENTILATION OF THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.

The second Rejiort from the Lords' Select Committee to inquire into the

Prof^ress oj the Building of ike Houses of Furliument,

That the Committee have again met. and having examined Jlr. Golds-
worthy Gurney as lo the best system of ventilation for the new Houses of
ParliamenI, are of opinion that further inquiries and experiments should
be marie, under Ihe direction of her I\Iajesty's Commissioners of Woods
and Forests, before the final adoption of any plan hitherto proposed for that
purpose. And the Comiuiliee have directed the evidence of the said Mr.
Goltlsworthy Gurney, taken before them, to be laid before your lordships.

[We select frnm the appeudix the following extracts from the evidence
of Mr. GuLiisvvoBTnY Gi r.vev ]

Are \ou aware of all the plans proposed by Dr. Reid, for ventilating the
new Houses of Harliameut ? — No.

Tlieiefore ynu do not know what his scheme is, and how he proposes to
force a due drllusiou of air over all parts of the building? — Except from
hearsay. I have no accurate information.

In what niaunerdo you understand that he intends to do it? — By a large
upcast shaft, the base of which is to communicate by air passages to Ihe
varirius aparlments in the building.

Do you suppose that that is to be assisted by any power either of fur-
naces or steam power.' — I suppose it must be assisted by a blowing cylin-
der, or a centrit'iigal fan. Those adjuvants would be unnecessary if the
nprast shaft had suflieieut power. They are always objectionable, in con-
sequence of involving machinery, and being liable to get deranged. Vet
some mechanical assistance must be had ; for if this extensive building is
to be ventilated by the upcast shaft it must fail. The size of a shaft would
be inadmissible, for it will be evident to your lordships that the whole of
the air drawn from the whole extent of the building ventilated must pass
through it. This is not all ; the whole of the air drawn out of ihe diflerent
ap-irtmeuls, and passing through the shaft, must be raised to the tempera-
ture of 500° of Fahrfuheit, otherwise it will have no power. That is a
very important point ; one to which I wish to fix your attention, and ex-
plain as clearly as possible. Suppose the buildings of the new houses ex-
tend over ten acres of ground; suppose five acres — one half only — occu-
pied by rooms, Ihe sectional area of the five acres of rooms will be, in round
numbers, 200,000 feet, accurately 217,000 feet square, which is about the
square surface of live acres of ground. Suppose the moremeat of air to be

1816.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

215

at tbe rate of 11 feet a minnle, which it must be for good ventilation, the
quantity of air discharger) must be 2,303,000 cubic feet per minute. Now
the whole of this 2,000,000 cubic feet of air must be heated sulliciently high
to produce an available power, by the difference in the weight or balance
of the internal and external columns. A temperature of 300 degrees Fah.
believe, is necessary to produce any available pressure. The whole of
the air must, therefore, be passed up the chimney, and then raised to a
temperature of . 500 degrees of heat as it passes. This appears to be im-
practicable. But supposing it possible, the quantity of fuel burnt could
never be suffered. On referring to experiments made by myself some years
since, I find a pound of charcoal will heat 1,000 cubic feet of air from 60
degrees only to a temperature of .500 degrees. Therefore, if we take this
as sufficiently accurate and favourable data, we shall find that we require
at least 2.000 lb. of fuel per minute. The impossibility of being able to
consume this quantity of fuel is evident; it is not possible to burn this
quantity of fuel. To produce practically a discharge of that quantity of
hot air, or effect an available power, it must be borne in mind that air raised
from CO degrees to 500 degrees doubles its volume.

You object, also, to the system of ventilating from the floors or sides of
the room instead of from the upper portion of the apartments?

Yes ; there is a practical objection to this direction, which will be seen
by looking at the subject carefully. These retrograde currents produced
from air entering at a low level into a room are practically very objection-
able ; they produce an increased rate of evaporation upon the skin, which
produces a sensation of cold. Although the temperature of the air in mo-
tion itself may be warm — say 70 or 80 degrees — it will produce a tempera-
ture very considerably lower on evajiorating surfaces. The skin of the
human body is essentially an evaporating surface, and suffers much from
this law. The feeling of cold in the parts of a room where retrograde or
direct currents act is not due to the actual temperature of the currents, but
to the increased rate of evaporation produced by them. Evaporation pro-
duced by retrograde currents rapidly absorbs heat. A person cannot get
out of the influence of the direct or retrograde currents if they enter near
the floor or at a low level, but if the openings are made in the ceiling or at
a high level, then they are mixed with the atmosphere of the room above,
and cease or become destroyed before they can possibly reach any one
standing on the floor.j

Although not evinced by the common thermometer?
Not by the common thermometer, but instantly by aa evaporating ther-
mometer.

It does not depend upon temperature, but evaporation ?
It is entirely due to the increased rate of evaporation produced by a cur-
rent of air passing over tiie surface. It is said, "If you cover the skin
with ether, or some other rapidly evaporating substance, you may freeze a
roan to death in the height of summer." A current moving at the rate of
three miles an hour, acting on highly alcoholic ether placed on (he surface
of a thermometer, will occasion the mercury soon to fall to the freezing
point, notwithstanding the current of air may he at 80°. Evaporation
where there are partial currents goes on unequally ; there is a feeling of
heat out of the currents, and a feeling of disagreeable cold when in them.
You cannot get out of them if the entering current is anywhere where it
impinges upon the person. There is a great objection to air for ventilation
entering a room anywhere at a low level; it must necessarily irapigne upon
the person.

Will you state what force you propose to apply to set the atmosphere in
motion ? — I prefer the ris <i tcrgo arising from the escapage of high-pres-
sure steam ; through proper sized air passages it furuishes a power capa-
ble of being managed so as to produce at will any rale of current down to
almost an insensible breathing. I prefer if, also, in consequence of its
great capability of management. M hen I state that in some experiments
which I made ten years since, I raised a column of mercury nine inches
by the force of the current of air produced by it, the C'omraillee may see
from that fact that it is capable of producing a force which never can be
required for ventilation. M. Arago, in some experiments within the last
few months, has raised by a current of air thus produced a column of mer-
cury 15 inches. Therefore these facts prove that we have abundant power
so as to overcome every opposition arising from wire drawing or other re-
sistance, and to compel air to pass with uniformity wherever it may be
necessary. It is simple in application, and its economy great, though that
is not of so much consequence as the former ; it is capable of being passed
easily and independently to any part of the building separately. You may
act by this principle upon groups of rooms, or upon single rooms, or any-
where where it may be convenient ; by that means, you prevent the neces-
sity of cutting up the building, or the making of large communications.
Another advantage which it will produce, and which though last may not
he the least, is, that it is capable of passing a sufficient quantity of air, as
much as can be required to produce ventilation, through small passages,
which passages may be secured against the communication of flame, iu
case of tire, on tlie principle of the safety lamp. This is a circumstance
of great importance where a building is to be made fire-proof. Supposing
there are several rooms connected together by ventilnting flues, all would
be rendered safe and perfectly independent of each other as to fire by the
intervention of diaphrims of wire gauze, upon the principle of Sir Hum-
phrey Davy's safely lamp. Wire gauze cannot be introduced unless you
have great command of power, because you offer by it a strangulation dif-
ficulty in the passage of air, which cannot be overcome by the ordinary
msans of ventilation.

You consider ibis principle perfectly applicable to fire-proof buildings—

that it does not affect the fire-proof quality of the buildings in any way?

Not at all ; but if there should be any doubt as to the safety of a wire
gauze disc, or layers in succession, each room may be ventilated independ-
ently of any communication made between them ; in that case it must be
self-evident that there can be no danger from fire.

So that the system may be applicable either to single rooms or to an en-
tire building ?— Yes ; the power is suflicient to produce ventilation for the
entire building.

You are aware that Dr. Reid's view of taking the air, by which the
houses are to be supplied, f.om the top of this great tower, when com-
pleted, is for the purpose of getting a purer atmosphere than he thinks he
can get down near the river, where it is, in a degree, vitiated by sewers
and smoke ; do you think that it would be advantageous to get your air
from such a source for the general ventilation of the buildings? The sew-
ers I know little about ; but in regard to smoke, the most deleterious and
injurious products of combustion in London from the chimneys I believe

are those which are invisible. The visible smoke— the unburnt carbon

we need not be much afraid of; it blackens our laces, but I believe does
no harm to our lungs. The most serious injury is from the sulphurous
acid formations, and from some of the volatilized metallic oxides : but this
is a question of great difliculty, a question that much better chymists than
I am must answer.

Do you mean to imply that you doubt whether air two or three hundred
feet high is not likely to be loaded with much greater impurities than the
lower atmosphere, which appears to be coarser ! — Yes ; I should have
some doubt about it.

You are aware that Dr. Reid has a plan for collecting the smoke of
every fire in the building, and conveying it all through one shaft? — I have
heard so.

Do you believe that cao be done?— I think it is very difficult.

SUBSTITUTE FOR RAILWAY SLEEPERS.

The following suggestion occurs in the Engineer's eleventh report to the
Georgia Central Railroad Company, (America): —

During the past year, I have made an experiment of substituting iron
cross ties for our present wooden sleepers. In renewing the sleepers as
they decay we use no other timber than cypress — this is uot to be obtained
near the road above the Ogechee river, and we are obliged to transport
the sleepers from the lower portions of the road, which increases the
labour and expense.

1 have long entertained the opinion that a much smoother track could
be attained by removing entirely the sleepers, which support ihe string
pieces at intervals, so as to give the string piece a continuous and uninter-
rupted bed of earth. I am now convinced of the correctness of this opin-
ion. The plan is as follows : —

The string pieces (6 by 12 inches) are laid on an even, well rammed
surface, and iu length of from 30 to CO feet — at the joinings, a bolster
piece of the same scantling as the string piece and three feet long, is placed
lengthwise immediately under the joint, and the string piece pmned to it.
The iron rails, of the ordinary j, pattern, are laid along the centre of the
string piece, and the track is kept in gauge by the iron tie, a piece of fiat
bar iron, half an inch thick by two inches wide ; this tie is let flatwise
into the string piece, flush with its upper surface under the rail, and the
ends, bent into the form of a hook, grasp the outside of the bottom web of
the rail at the joint. The rail is confined in other respects as usual with
the ordinary hook spikes. The track is filled even with the top surface of
the string pieces. We have laid about seven hundred feet in Ihe manner
above described, on a portion of the road where the earth was sprinjy
and it was difficult to keep the track in adjustment. It has borne tiie
transit of the trains for several months past, and keeps in much better
order than with Ihe wooden sleepers. The follovv*ig statement shows Ihe
comparative expense of a mile of road with iron cross ties, as above de-
scribed, and with wooden sleepers, for twenty years : —

With Iron Cross Ties for one mile.
352 iron bars, 181b. each, at 4 cents per lb., . . . 233-44 dollars
Bending Ihe ends and preparing them, at 4 cents each . 14-08 „
330 bolster pieces under the joinings of string pieces (G by
12 inches, and 3 feet long), at 7 dollars per thousand
feet, B.M., to ba renewed three times in 20 years . . 166-32 „
Putting in 352 ties 57-12

Amount ....
With Wooden Sleepers for one mile.
660 cypress sleepers, allowing them to be left sound at the
end of 20 years, will have to be renewed three times ;

then 1980 ties at 25 cents each

Putting in 1980 ties

490-26 dollars

49500 dollars
471-24 „

Amount .... 966-24 dollars
Difference in favour of iron cross ties ia a period of
twenty years, per mile 475-28

316

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Jolt,

The first cost for sahstitating the iron for the wood is, per

mile 37Q00 „

First cost of reoewing the wooden sleepers . , . 322 00 „

Difference. . . . 5760 dollars

Yon will thus perceive that in a period of twenty years, a saving of four

hundred and seveniyBve dollars would be effecied, while the additional

first cost is only tifty-sevrn dollars per mile. The cost of piittiug in the

ties, both of iron and wood, is estimated from actual experiment.

I have said ootliiu^ in the above estimate, of the saving wtuch would be
made in the labour of keeping the track in adjustment; this would not be
less than 10 <lullars per mile per annum, and would swell the difference in
favour of the iron ties to nearly 700 dollars per mile ia the period of twenty
years.

SMELTING WITH ANTHRACITE COAL.

The following particulars respecting the first discovery of the applica-
bility of anihracite coal for smelling iron are communicated to the Journal
of the Franklin Instilute, by Mr. S. W. Itoberts. He states the original
inventor of this important application of anthracite was Mr. Crane, wiio
superintended the Yniscedwin works, in Breconshire. When Mr. Crane
took charge of the works, and for a long time after, the smelting of the
iron ore found in the vicinity was carried on with coke made from bitu-
minous coal ; but, as an extensive field of anthracite coal existed in the
neighbourhood, which was considered useless for smelting purposes, his
attention was early turned to the importance of bringing that fuel inio use ;
and at different periods, during fourteen years, he had, at a large outlay,
tried a Tariety of plans to effect the object.

Though repeatedly baffled he still persevered, and his efforts at length
were crowned with complete success. Finding that the use of this hard
and refractory fuel caused his furnace to chill, he resolved to try the effect
of heating the blast to a temperature sutticient to melt lead, upon the plan
80 successfully introduced by Mr. Nielson, for increasing the yield of fur-
naces worked with bituminous coal. — Having made the necessary prepa-
rations, he began the experiment with the hot blast on the 7ih of February
1837, in a furnace forty-one feet high and eleven feet in diameter at the
boshes. From that dale until the I2tli of March the furnace was worked
with roasted anthracite as the only fuel, and thenceforward exclusively
with raw anthracite as it came from the mine without any preliminary pre-
paration. In all respects Mr. Crane's success was complete ; his furnace
worked well, the yield was belter than w ith coke, and the iron was of supe-
rior quality. He felt that the problem to which so many experimenters had
turned their attention, both in Europe and America, and to which he had
devoted so much of his time, was triumphantly solved. He had accom-
plished the object on an extensive working scale, with continued and in-
creasing success ; and from this period dates the establishmeut of a new
and important manufacture, from which the iron trade, both of Great Bri-
tain and the United Sates, is now deriving great advantages. The writer
of this notice, who was at that lime sojourning among the iron works in
Wales, visited Mr. Crane's establishment in May, 1837, for the purpose of
seeing ihe process and of satisfying himself that the materials used were
similar to those which exist so abundantly in Pennsylvania. Finding that
the great object was accomplished, and ihat the results were highly grati-
fying, he communicated the fact to his friends in Philadelphia, by whom
it was shortly after made public through the newspapers. At that time
there was no blast furnace in Pennsylvania working with anthracite coal ;
their number in ihe Stale is now twenty-seven, and there are several iu
New Jersey.

At the meeting of the British Association fortheAdvancement of Science,
held in Liverpool, in September, 1837, Mr. Crane attended and presented
a paper descriptive of his process, which is printed in the sixth volume of
the proceedings of that association. He had secured a patent in Gieat
Britain and had applied for one in the United States, the issue of which
was for some time delayed, owing to obstacles which grew out of the pre-
mature publication of his process. His patent was infringed, and he be-
came involved in a tedious and expensive litigation which some of his
friends feared might end in his ruin. At length, however, the question as
to the validity of his British patent was decided in his favour, and thence-
forward it became a source of much profit to him. He extended his works
at Yniscedwin by the erection of several additional furnaces, and his con-
cerns became highly prosperous.

ORNAMENTAL FLOORS.

At the Decorative Art Society, May 13, a paper " On Ornamental Floors,"
»»« read by .Mr. Laugher. The suliject was treated principally with regard
to modern appliances, and more particularly to the use of parquetry (or inlaid
wood), in our principal apartments. Some observations, however, were made
respecting the pavements and floors of antiquity; of which several familiar
imitations were referred to in the painted floor-cloths of the present day.

Subsequpntly to the introduction of Canadian timber into this country, itons
floors were said to have become nearly universal ; and also that, for upper
rooms, plaster was generally adopted. It was observed that bonrdcd floor*
(usually of oak) were considered a very distinctive appurtenance to the Eng-
lish mansion in the seventeenth century ; and that they received increased
attention to ornamental effect in the early part of the eighteenth, at which
period the parquet floor had obtained considerable favour, and was constructed
at grerit cost. Carpets of home manufacture then began to enter into com-
petition with them ; and the use of foreign deals (which, from their shrink-
ing, rendered carpeting more essential to comfort) tended to tlie disuse of
this superior kind of flooring. It was remarked that at present there was a
revival in the feeling towards parquetry; and explanations wire given of
several applications of steam and machinery (by Messrs. Steinitz and Co.) for
accelerating, not only the production of the geometric forms of the compo-
nent parts, but ulterior processes of framing and construction, whereby con-
siderable economy in time, labour, and cost resulted. Several observations
were made upon the relative cost of parquetry ; and it was saiil that its price,
when laid down marginally in dining-rooms, does not now exceed four timet
that of its imitation on painted cloths, and than for drawing-rooms it is not
more expensive than the richer kinds of carpet. The superior results arising
from having an inlaid margin of hard polished wood were enumerated.

DAMPNESS IN BUILDINGS.

ITS CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES, AND THE MEANS Or PREVENTIN« IT.

In our last number (page 187) we gave part of a translation from the
Magazin Pittoresque, of an abstract of a prize-essay, by M. Vandoyer, on
the preveniion and cure of damp. When we commenced this paper we
were not aware of Protessor Donaldson's intention of reading before the
Royal Institute of British Architects a translation of the original essay.
He has however since done this, and we gladly avail ourselves of a trans-
lation which, being prepared by one of the best French scholars in Eng-
land, would in all probability be far superior to our own. In order how-
ever to avoid repetiiion of part already published, we have ventured to
omit some portions of Mr. Donaldson's paper.

According to physical laws, the damp of the soil tends to penetrate, in
one direction or another, Ihe hygrometric bodies with which it meets. It
hence lesults, that the walls of buildings will absorb from the soil a certain
dose of humidity at all the points immediately in contact with it. That is
to say, if there be an underground basement, the outside walls will absorb
by their footings, and by one of their faces, and the division walls by the
footings alone. If there be no underground basement, the division and
outer walls will be under precisely the same conditions, with respect to
those parts of them below the level of the exterior surface of the soil. But
are these the only causes of humidity ordinarily regarded iu lower parts of
buildings 1 Certainly not ; and it is easy to prove that, with regard to
external wall.s, there are other causes, which, although less constant, are
notwithstanding not less immediate; — we mean the rain-water, which the
wind drives upon the faces of walls, by which Ihe lower part is welled;
as well by that driven directly on the surface as by that which reboundt
from the ground, or by that which falls down Ihe face of the wall. In the
case of dripping eaves, without gutters, it may be easily imagined the
abundance of wet which the walls receive at the lower parts from ihe drip*
of water, and from slacks of rain-water pipes without shoes.

If the lower floor of a building be covered, whether it be by any pave-
ment whatever, or by a planking, immediately upon the soil itself, it is
certain that the ground under the floor contains, first its own humidity, as
also the damp which traverses the foundations of the outer walls; so that
there will exist always a constant humidity throughout the whole extent of
the lowermost floor, susceptible of exercising its influence upon all bodies
immediately in contact with the surface of the soil.

The paving the outer surface next the building, or its being unpaved,
materially affects the dryness of the inside; and the construction of nume-
rous and full-sized sewers and drains in large towns, also carries off a
great portion of the surface waters ; and again, an isolated building ia more
exposed than one contiguous to another ; and also when a house is on the
slope of a hill, with one part against a bank, through which the waters
may flow, it is necessary to adopt precautious to prevent their penetrating
the solid constructions.

No reliance can be placed on the impenetrability by humidity, of any
material — wood, bricks, ordinary stones of every quality, marble, nay
granite itself, are more or less hygroineiric— that is to say, that plunged in
water or kept in a humid atmosphere, after having been previously weighed
in their dry state, there is nut one which will not have acquired some addi-
tion of weight. Thus, if the base of a column be immersed in water, it
will gradually rise up the shaft, and the damp never quits a body into
which it has once penetrated, unless it be absorbed by the air or heat. If
the upper part be dried by exposure, as soon as it ceases to be acted upon,
the humidity of the lower portion will again rise to the dry part.

A wall, therefore, constructed of brick or stone of any quality whatever,
will he subject to the damp which exists in the soil, and which will enter
in all directions and in all parts, where the wall is in immediate contact
with the ground. The extent to which this damp will penetrate, caDoot

IS4i5.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

2ir

lie (ielermlned. and it may rise to a very great Iieislit above tlie level of
the soil ; and if it be arrested more or less, that will be caused by live in-
(luenne of Ihe neutralising power of ihe temperaUire of the alniosphere ; so
that a wall, which may be very damp at the beginning of summer will be
much less so at Ihe end of Ihe dry season, and particularly so if immedi-
ately exposed to the sun, but Ihe followinc winter the damp will return,
unless the ori;^iual causes of humidity be subdued

It is desirable in all and every class of soil, to have a substratum of con-
crete under the footings. I"or the purposes of damp this need not be very
deep, perhaps not exceeding a foot h\g\\. As soon as the footings and
lower part of the wall arc cirried as hiRh as the level of the crouud inside,
it will be well to introduce a thin sheet of lead the whole thickness of Ihe
wttll, or a layer of bituminous substance as thin as possible, so as to pene-
trate the brick and slone and fill the pores, or a double course of thick
elate set in cement.

7 he purpose of the sheet of lead and of the bituminous substance, and
the slaliDC, is to prevent the wet from rising up froiu Ihe fooliugs. But
other precautions are necessary to prevent Ihe access of damp from the
surface of the ground next the outside face of the wall. A facing of stone
is the best reinedy. It need not be very thick, but it is well for it lo be at
least two or three feet high ; and if a small interval between this facing
slab and outside surface of the wall, so luiich the better, providing a circu-
lation of air be kepi up in the space. By this provision neilher Ihe rain
beating against this part of Ihe wall, nor the water returning from the pave-
ment or ground, will be able lo reach the main substance of the wall ; for
although Ihe faring slabs maybe leiuporarily damped, they will sooa be
dried without ccmimunicating the damp to the body of the wall.

The inside of external walls shoidd never have the plastering applied
immediately on Ihe face. They should he battened by means of long nar-
T(»w slips of wood, attached by hold-fasts lo the inside face of the v^all.
These slips or battens receive the laths upon whiidi the plastering is ap-
plied. The space formed by Ihe battens between the wall and the lathiug
^flfectually. keeps out the humidity.

No impervious covering should be laid on wooden floors in the lower-
most story, such as oil-dolh, for instance ; a certain moist air always rises
from the grouud, and escapes through Ihe joints of the boards, but if this
be intercepted by an oil-clo h, the air will rot ihe boards and oil-cloth in a
very few months.

But it is important to keep the damp from the floor which come upon
the ground, that is, Ihe floors of the lowermost story. It is eviilent that
the limber of stone slabs should not be in imiuediale contact vvilh the soil ;
for this purpose, let a stratum of concrete be laid over the whole surface
-of Ihe house, six or uine inches thick at the least. Upon this form sleeper
-walls or piers up to the necessary herght, and on Ihem lay ihe plates or
paving slabs; as an additional precaution, a thin sheet of lead might be
laid under each pier on the bed of the sleeper walls. In palaces, as a
greater precaution, and In buildings where expense is a secondary object,
a thickness of asphalle might be laid on the concrete. In the dwellings of
the poor it is expedient ai all events, to have the sleeper walls or piers,
which need be only half brick wide, and one course high, wilhout the ce-
ment, and generally that will be a sufficient precaution ; where slone pav-
ing foims the floor, bricks must be laid under all the joinls. Thus will the
'humidity be more or less prevented from reaching the floors.

But of all precautions to prevent damp entering by the face of Ihe wall,
Ihe best remedy is have an area, which, by keeping the soil at a distance,
preclude its fatal ertijcts on the wall. There areas may be three or luore
feet wide, and may serve as a passage all round the building, and aH'ord
access to cellars outside, as in the London houses ; or if this, from want o,
«pace or the expense, be impracticable, it will be sudicieut to have wha.

Fig. 1. Fig. 2.

are called blind areas, with convex walls against the earth, the points of
contact with the outer wall of the house being as small as possible, lo
diminish the possibility of the communication of damp. Care must be

taken to leave openings at A A A (fig. 2), 90 as to raainlain a draft or cir
eolation of air throughout the several areas ; and to render this circulation
perfect it will be requisite to form iu the wall three or four shafts, as B B
(fig. 1 ), to beep up a coinmunicaiiou with the outer air. It is necessary lo
leave the angle C, quite free and clear, for Ihe angle at C being a solid
mass, requires the greater exposure, that it may throw olf the damp, which
it originally acquired by exposure to the atmosphere, as it tends Iu make
it evaporate. The top of the areas must be covered by stone slabs, which
it is desirable to Iveep above the surface, anti the face of the wall immedi-
ately above should be reiulered with cement. If it be necessary to have
the covering slabs below the earth, the face of the wall must be rendered
with cemeni, or the damp will undoubtedly penetrate through the wall
from the slightest deplh of grounil next to it.

Another precaution must alivavs be taken in regard lo floors, and that
is, lo insert in the outer walls iron gratings, with channels in the wall, say
UX*'. so as to let air pass into the floor from the outside ; and in order to
exclude the air from the floor in winter time, or Ihe event of damp v^ea-
ther, it is well lo prepare a sliding plate in the skirting, which may shut it
off or open the holes for the re-adiuissiou o( the air, as the one or the other
ert'ecl may be desired.

Dripping eaves and rain-water shoots or gurgoils, wilhout standard
pipes, sh 'uld always be avoided; for the water, which falls from the eaves,
or gushes from the piojecting spouts or shoots, is driven against the face of
the wall ere it falls a few feet, and keeps the brick or stone- work saturated
at limes with the water. Hence eaves-gutters and standard rain-water
pipes are always indispensable, and a proper shoe at the foot of the pipe
should never be omitted, otherwise the force of the water causes it to un-
dermine the wall, producing the most disastrous results, whereas a shoe
keeps the water from the wall, and turns it into a drain prepared to re-
ceive it.

ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.

June 8.— \V. Tite.V.P., in the Chair.

Sir T. Deane, of Cork, made some observations on the drawings which he
exhibited of the Abbey Church of the Holy Cross at Tipperiiry.

An address on Ventilation was delivered by J. Toynbee, Ebq.,^F.R.S., Sur-
geon to the St. George's and St. James's General Dispensary. He introduced
the suhject, by stating that during the whole of his professional career he
had almost constantly been attached to public medical institutions ; and that
he had slowly become aware of the existence of an enorracui amount of dis-
ease in the human race. \. large share of this disease was incurable when
once produced ; but he was iu a position to prove that much of it could be
wholly prevented. He, therefore, felt that it was the duty of medical men,
while they devoted themselves to the cuie and palliation of disease, also to
exert themselves in behalf of preventive measures. In the performance of
this duty, he had investigated the sources of disease ; and he found that one
of the most fertile was the want of a due supply of air in dwellings and
public buildings. In speaking on the Necessity for Ventilation^ it was shown
that 10 cubic feet of air, or a volume double the size tf the person, is re-
quired for the purposes of respiration and transpiration each minute. The
circulation of the blood was described as the process of carbonization — re-
s|iiratiou as the process of decarbonizalion, in the 170,000,000 of air cells,
forming a surface 30 times as large as that of the skin. In the process of
transpiration, the so-called insensible perspiration was continually given off;
which, together with the vapour expelled from the lungs, amounted to two
fluid ounces per hour. Thus, 500 people in a church during two hours give
off fifteen gallons of water into the air ; which, if not carried away, saturates
everything in the building, after it has been breathed over and over again, in
conjunction with the impurities it contains collected from each individuaL
The use of lamps, gas, and oil, was shown to deteriorate the air, and to add
much moisture to it. The efl'ects of neglect for carrying out plans for ven-
tilation are shown in the production of three of the most formidable and
frequent diseases which afl"ect the human race, — fever, scrofula, and con-
sumption. Numerous facts were adduced in proof of Ibis view ; and the
way in which these diseases was produced was pointed out. Thus, it was
shown that all those who were among the victims in the Black Hole of Cal-
cutta, and did not perish from immediate suflTocation, died, in a short time
afterwards, of putrid fever. The proportion of people dying of consump-
tion who follow in-door occupations is double that of those who work out
of doors; and it increases as the space for labour is more contracted. Dr.
Guy has shown that it is more common iu the upper parts of large establish-
ments, as printing-houses, &c., where the air is most vitiated. The inhabit-
ants of tonus exposed to the wind are much less liable to consumption than
those which are well protected and sheltered; and the goitre afflicting the in-
habitants of the valleys of the Rhone is produced by a stagnation of air.
Instances were cited of schools in which the mass of the children were scro-
fulous, and to whom an increased diet, warmer clothing, &c , was not pro-
ductive of any benefit — and by the aid of proper plans of ventilation the
disease disappeared entirely. The same result has taken place in the Zoolo-
gical Gardens, Uegent's Park, since the new dens opened to the air have
been in use. It was then shown that hitherto there had been a total absence
of plans for the suppy of pure air, in a sufficient quantity, to the abodes ol

98

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[July,

218.

human beings. Towns are erected in localities vrholly unaJapted fo, r^\i-
human Bcmg>. ^^ 3, efifectually to exclude the a,r, and often

b:^^:^^.S^tr=df:";E^r«^

tt "■nu'^shmad be L much as possible '"''^'^'ai/ Tf^.^ c'n:r. '^^ '-

f "'fisnj^n -^r^xr.^ r:i='b! 1 -ti^Jtr^iiate/air ,

heVure ^"r t^ b^e atn,:.^; wUhin 3 or 4 feet of the ^oor and to be «a„.
by all of the nre-place. The v-Jo"^ P -^^^^^ ^^'Z': ^^ 4-ntW

died, and important advantages gamed. In^P^^mg of the ™eaus ^^

Tf the foom,-from which there ^^''f ' f f,^^ ';^,^pre a d on'sa'nds of
Arnott's valve had been S'^""^''^"^! ^"V ! i7health If it were the

Commission, oflfered some remarks on the '"^^f^'/'^f^ "ratings in the
freVh air into the engine-rooms and other conBned parts of vessels.

FRENCH ARCIl.EOLOGICAL CONGRESS.
At the annual meeting of the Congress held at MeU^v^rajsubieots of
great interest were proposed for <i.sc"ss n T ^«--'". g'^,^_^^^„^^ ^,
lowing list of questions :— Is it not P0"'""= portions, and a

pomte'd architecture the ;;---t i.^ ^ c fol ?-Do"nt'the ecciesiasti-
geometncal declnjt.on of t' e arch tecto ^^,^^^^^ ^^ ^^ architectonic

cal ■°o"""\'=f;°f^., >; ,\Xjr if, nd ahhatial and parochial ehurehes and
hierarchy, by which all '^''^"'="/'' ' , . , ., according to certain dispositions
even P"vate chape s, wxre sev a b bn.l =^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ .^^^^^ ^,^

and dimensiODb ?— Is not tne puia J, ;_-m.,, „„ not trace the pro-

in Germany ?-K, as ^"PPO^^" ^^'^ ,a,„ the numerou3 exceptions to

churches due east and «est, how can ^« "P" >_\Vhat is the origin of the
,uch rule observable in L.rraine ^";^;''ou^ '''''^Ji^,,-;^ ^';,:,^^^^^^^^
Uttle gaUery so comr^on^ ^und^ „„,

? rSo^i^ o' thX statuary be "»''- J^e .e,nte.;s^ont...^d^o^^
of coloured glass as church ornament ?

SIR JOHM RENNIE'S CONVERSAZIONI.

manufactures, among the former were Jlr- ^.''J^^^^^y Leans of a platform
conveying Railway '^i^'"'. "^^ '''!,,'^ ' ,e riv; -A model of the Pre-
travelling upon rails lixed on P'l'^^/^O'! !?!. ' ^y.;,,, in Lincolusiure, by

T-u^ Cf K-.th.Tinp s Point and Menai L-iguinouses. -^s. ..
— The 3t. Kdtnuiue & i uiut a n „ ■ , D,-onosed harbour

.U'satmospJ-ericraiiway-PansoM,^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"an"[h!''new Srea" W^t^ern' en,ine.-Mr. Ricardo's instrument for show-
'''^'^^I'n::!^:^ "^.-S eoHapslble tubes e.ei.etl a go.l^dea. of
att^nuJJ: as a skilful aJaptationof aj^uowu ^l;^:^^^^:^^^
subject a high pressure It may be m^^^^^^^^ A flarcap.ule

In the machine exhibited the P"^-:^^"";"''; , „„ and embracing

of tin being struck by a -''^.^''^frper •» "^ ' 'hese tubes are in-
{^:^dt^;:^srU^ia':J^:;:.l:f cl^as artist, colours), which it .s

^i5:-f-j^^=r^--^ j^^r.^i^;-% :^

The assembly rooms, "'"^" ' ^.r^mihstautiallv and were elegantly

ii-:r^:d -^i^^hro^ :^yi::i.""->-^ -^^ -- ^-- - -

• luarkable persons present.

RAILWAY GEOLOGY.

lew, and chiefly confined to the upper beds.

REGISTER OF NEW PATENTS.

If .dditiocal information be required respecting any patent, it may be obtained at the
office of this Journal.

ATMOSPHERIC PROPULSION.
loHN Reld Hill, of Upper Siamford-street, Lambeth, civil engineer,

u-dl as land carnages. (A communicatio.i.)-C.ran ted Oct. i, 1845 , tu
rnllpd Auril •-',1840. With an Engraving, see Plate A.1.

The iinnro^eiuents relate-Fir»tly, to the mode of constructmg pneuma-
tic"^ inl'^'thrcou^eyance of goods and passengers '^>-'-^J--/^-
pulsion, combined with the description of carriages and piston» herein

'"^coudl'y, to the removal of the air through the piston oj FSto-carriages
of tne mains, and also through the pistons of metallic cylinders, as now
used by means of tubes communicating with the external carnages through

"^ tSI^^SvI^'S^^o :i;;^;^, ia the manner hereafter described,
without the aid of a pneumatic main.

18-16.1

TtlE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

219

And Fourthly, to (he mode of applying this power to the I--';P"'^i<"' »f
passage-boats oVother vessel on water, by placing the mams herem de-
«!rribed on the banks of canals. , , v*««

Fiffl I'late XI, IS a transverse section of the main closed, w. h the p.ston-
carr f ge, c, and ai^-tubes././; for the removal of the air fron, the mam, t le
annaratJs for that purpose being attached to the p.ston-carriage. gg, the
vSwes or rorf of the main, to be Uned at the points where they close ^^.th
so . leat" e'rc oth, or other elastic material, attached to thm boards or other
flexible maerials and covered, as indicated, with a flexible cap u«,
wood navi"' with iron edge-rails between the blocks, level w, h the sur-
^.ce 'ng 2 iVa transverse" section, with the main open aud carnages
passino- tiTrough it. h ft, steps for ascending to the roof or top ,of the ca, -
S 6 dwarf walls, c, concrete foundations, or ballas . d phmlung
or sleepe s. e, wall-plate and hinges. Fig. 3, long.tudmal section. The
?,s'oncarra,e, in its practical application, is to be placed at a greater
Si'l'ceahefdof thelirst carriage of the train '1'- jV^P^-f;;^; »;;;■
dicated by the break in the connecting-bar; a tram of '^^'"^Sesfo, heavy
goods may be continued from the piston to the passenger carnage, instead
of this connectio<--bar, if preferable. Fig. 4 is a ground-plan.

The en"?avi g^hov^s a main of sufficient width to admit of trains mov-
ing inside, each carriage is provided with rollers to throw open the upper
sides if he mains are not of sufficient size fur that purpose, he carriage
.s to move in.ide, at a certain distance behind the piston, in order to throw
openTheTe valves by means of such horizontal wheels or rollers attached
to the upper parts of the side of the carriage, which carriage should also
serve to'connect the trains to the piston when moving outs.de ortoconnec
barges on water, by such mains being laid on the bank of the canals, and
this power substituted for horse-power for the purpose of »"«'"= ^"'
barges The roof, or valves, are to be composed of a series of rafte s,
aUached bv axles or hinges to a wall-plate bedded on the dwarf walls,
fnd tvere'd tntde and outside with asphalted felt, or "''>- A-'b-ia.e
rials, rendered impervious to air and water, and of sulhcient ^ ■•eng'h °
resis the atmospheric pressure; a covering of india-rubber, o^oter im-
pervious material, should likewise extend to the dwarf walls in order o
render the joints air-tight. A comnmnication is also intended » be made
between the roof of the carriages, thus represented, and «,e n'" or
means of stairs, or a step-ladder, to enable passengers to ascend or le c "U
as from the deck of a ship to the cabin. It is proposed, also, to convey
goods and passengers by means of pistons moving on wheels, as thus de-
fcribed, and propelled by atmospheric pressure through close tunnels or
galleries, somewhat similarly constructed, but with arched roofs, and the
side-walls of greater elevation, in order to afford suflicient carnage room
and such tunnels or galleries may be illuminated by artdicial lights when
necessary, or by davlight through strong glass, and provided with doors in
the sides for the admission of passengers, placed at any convenient dis-
tances, opening outwards, so construcled as to exclude the external air
and resist the atmospheric pressure. It is likewise proposed to put car-
riages in motion by means of rapid currents of air ihus driven through
cylinders, traversing such carriages from front to rear, without the aid of
a pneumatic main ; the apparatus for such purpose being placed in such
carriages, and the velocity with which such carriages can be moved vvill
be in proportion to the amount of power applied to the area of the cy in-
ders, and the rapidity with which the air is propelled through such cy in-
ders or other channels, which should traverse these carriages from front to
rear.

HILL'S P.\TENT PRINTING PRESS.

John Reed Hill, of Stamford-street.— Granted August 2, 1844 ; En-
rolled September 2, 1845. (See Engruving, Plate A/.)

This is a very ingenious invention, by which, by means of hand labour,
and without the aid of steam power, a hand printer is enabled to produce
impressions with a rapidity far beyond anything that the handpress, or any
press not worked by steam, has hitherto produced. The simplicity of con-
stuction is also a great advantage, for it has neither tooth wheels, rack, or pi-
nions for giving motion ; neither has it the tapes for conveying the paper
A strong lad can work off from 1,200 to 1,500 impressions per hour with
less labour and exertion than is required by the common hand-presses to
■work off 300 impression." , . , ,. • , ,,

We are indebted to our contemporary the Mechanic s Magazine, for the
following description.

A A are the side-standards of the machine ; B B honzontal frame for sup-
port of type-table; C C tvpe-table running on wheels or rollers ; D, print-
ing cylinder, revolving on horizontal axis ; E E, inking rollers ; F, distribut-
ing rollers; G ink trough and supplying roller; H treadle for foot motion;
I flv-wheel for rendering the motion uniform ; J grooved wheel for driving
the machine ; K K lever for throwing off the printed sheets ; L receiver for
sheets when printed ; M register plate for receiving or " laying on the
sheets to be printed ; N part of top of machine, forming a table when in
use, but which is turned up to afford access to the type-talile .

Motion is given to the machine by means of a treadle, which the pressman
works with his foot, whilst his hands are employed in laying on the sheets ;
but this is an arrangement intended to be confined to presses for small work :
in presses of larger dimensions it is proposed to use hand-wheels.

Originality cannot of course be claimed, either for producing the impres-
sions by cylindrical pressure, or for the mode of working the cylinders, la

both of which respects Mr. Hill's press differs in little, if anything, from the
(now) common steam-press. The chief novelties in this press we conceive to
be these ; />-s^ the peculiar arrangement for moving the ' m-'^^le ; and
second, the apparatus for taking off the sheets when printed. In both ot
thcie respects the simplicity of construction and working efficiency of the
machine are such as apparently leave nothing more in the shape of improve-
ment to be desired. tu t n(
The manner in which impressions are taken is as follows :— the form oi
tvpes being fixed and made ready for printing, and motion being given to the
wheel the pressman connects the motion of the wheel to the axis of the
printing cylinder by a sliding clutch ; he then lays a sheet on the register-
plate, with its front-edge and one of its ends in contact with a guide, and
on the printing cvlinder arriving at a certain position of its revolution the
front edge of the sheet is secured to the cylinder by claws, which carry it
round to meet the tvpes and receive the impression. By the time the im-
pression is completed, the cylinder has brought the front edge of the sheet
within the claws of the removing arm, which claws then close, and secure
the sheet; and simultaneouslv, beneath, the cylinder claws open and allows
the sheet to pass from the cylinder by the removing claws, and to be depo-
sited on a shelf ready for being removed by hand.

On the end of the cylinder spindle outside the frame, there is a crank-
arm which pushes back the type-table after an impression has been taken,
and on its arriving at its most backward position, the crank-arm quits its
connection with the table, and a connection takes place between the end ot
the printing cylinder and the edge of the type-table, by which means a firm
contact takes place between the two surfaces, which produces the forward
motion of the tables and types to produce the impression.

The supplv and distribution of ink are effected by the table and types
running under the inking rollers in the ordinary manner of steam printing
machines.

EXCAVATING MACHINE.

Moses Poole, of the Patent Bill Office, London, for "Improvements in
raishig and transporting earth and other heavy bodies." A comniunication.
Granted Nov. 18, 1845 ; Enrolled May 18, 184G. (Witli an Engranng,
see Plate XI.J

This invention, for improvements in raising and transporting earth and
other heavy bodies, consists in the application of certam mechanical ar-
rangements or combination of parts for facilitating the removal of eartt^,
stone, and other matters, when constructing or forming cuttings for rail-
ways, canals, and other similar works, which will be understood by the
following description, reference being had to the drawing, which shows a
section of the earthwork and side elevation of the apparatus fo""""? '^e
subject of this patent, and consists in the application of endless pitch-
chains in the following manner :- a a is a framework of wood or other suit-
able material, forming an inclined rail or tram road, and supported by
props or standards 6 b b, capable of being lenglhened or shortened at plea-
sure. At the top and bottom of the incline there is a wheel c c , round
which is made to pass an endless chain d d. e e is also an endless chain
passing round a wheel fixed on the axis of the wheel e' and also round a
wheel keyed upon an horizontal shaft/, g is a vertical shaft, ''h.ch may
be driven by a horse or other suitable power, and gives motion to he shaft
/and pitch chains by means of a pair of bevil wheels, h h are the carts
which are drawn up by means of the chain d d, which is provided w. h <i
number of hooks that take into an eye or link attached to the tail part o
the cart. When the carts arrive at the top of the incline, they are alio" eel
a little fall on to the horizontal rail, which, together with the velocity they
have acquired in coming up, has the effect of liberating them from the
hook. Fig. 2 is a hack end view of one of the carts, showing the ar-
rangement of levers for disconnecting the hind part of the cart which is
effected by pulling a string which passes over a small pulley and along the
side to the frout part of the cart.

SLUICE COCKS.

William Henry Waller, of Vauxhall Water Works, Upper Kenning,
ton-lane, Lambeth, in the county of Surrey, engineer, for ! '7™''f "'"'''
m sluice-cocks."-Gr^ated October 31, 1845 ; Enrolled April il, 1846.

The improvement consists in applying moveable bushes or facmgs to
sluice-cocks, and in constructing them in snch a "a"f ^ "^^/.^'^.'b^^
harder, fit more truly, and be more readily applied, and replaced when
worn. Fig. I, is a vertical section of the improved sluice cock , fig. 2 a
Trt cal sec'tio; taken transversely to the last figure A is he case of tl e
cock, bored out at the points, and recesses, and '^e backsoHhe bushes
b b kre turned in a lathe, so as to fit the recesses thus foimed. The in-
ten'.orpreferr making the bushes of cast-iron, the "orking surfaces are
chdledinthe act of casting, and are ground with emery n a lath^^^^
bushes are coated on their backs with marine P'oe, or sini lar mateiidl,
previously to introducing them Into the cock ; and after the bushes have been
irodnced inJo the cock, they are moved back in the recesses be ore men-
tioned, into a proper working position, by forcing down the valve ., into it,
place The patentee does not confine himself to the particular shape here
described as that may be varied. <i is a screw for raising and loweriug
the valve e a screw-nut,/, formed on the interior of the upper part of he
cock -and ^corresponding nbs on the outer surface of the upper part of

26*

230

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECFS JOURNAL.

[JULT,

the valve ; (he rib? are to guKle the valve in its movement np and down.
Tile eurfaces of the valve are chilled in the act of casting, and ground » ith

Fig. 1. Fig. 3.

^H3M^

emery, h h, are portions of two pipes let into the sockets of the cock. For
sluice-cocks without moveable buslies. the surface aKainst which the vnlve
works is to be cliilled in the act of casting the body of the cock, so us to
make it more durable j and afterwards ground true by a revolving tool
uad emery.

LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES.

Thomas Russell Cramptok, of Southwark-square, London, engineer,
for "Improvements in locomotive engines and railways." — Granted Uct. 6,
1845; Enrolled April 6, 184G.

The firtt claim is for arranging a locomotive engine so as to include the
teoder ou the same carriage or frame ; this is etfected as shown in fig. 1

Fig. I.

where B is an upright tubular boiler, supported on the same framing that
carries the tender T with the coke and water; c the cylinder fixed on the
side of the tender, and d the driving wheels ; the stage for the engine driver
is between the boiler and tender. The second improvement relates to using
external cranks or excentrics for working the slides, as sliown at ee, instead
of having tlie excentric on the axle between the wlieels. The tliird im-
provement is for forming the shape of the fire box, so as to increase the
Fig. 2. length of the tubes and tlie area of

the fire grate, as shown in lig. 2. The
fourth improvement or claisn is for the
combination of wooden rails with iron
rails ; the wooden rail is fixed on the
outside of tile ordin-iiy iron rail, and
the top is a' tout one-fnurlh of an inch
a'tove the top nf the iron by tiiis ar-
rangement the wiiet-ls of the locomo-
tive etigine may travel upon the wooden
rail, and olitain greater adhesiveness,
and the wheels of the carriages run upon the rails as at present.

ELECTRIC LIGHT.

Edward Al'gi:8tin King, of Warwick-street, in the county of Middle-
sex, ^'enlleman,for '• improiemcnts inobtuiniiif; lif^lit hy elerlricity." iJcing
« ciuumunication. Granted November 4, 1S45 ; Enrolled May 4, lS4li.

This invention consists in the application of continuous metallic and car-
bon ciiiiducturs (intensely heated bj the passage of a current of electricity,
to the purposes of illuminattuu

Tlie metal to be used is that which, while it requires a very high tempe-
rature for its fusion, has ouly a slight afiinily for oxvgen, and oflVrs a great
resistance to the passage ol an electric current. Platinum, though not so

infusible as iridium, has but little affinity for oxygen, and offers a great re-
sistance to the passage of the current, and as it is abundant and easily
worked, appears to be preferable to any other metal. It sbould he reduced
to very thin sheets known as leaf platinum, sothin that, on liuliling it before
a printed page, ihe letters can be distinguished througli il. A strip is lo b»
cut from llie platinum leaf of a wiilih proportionate to the quinlity of tho
current (wliicli, with Grove's cells, luiving platinum plates three inches
long and two inches wide, is about one-fourth of an inch), and of a length
proportionate to the in'ensity (which, of course, varies witti the number of
eel's) ; care being taken to cut the strip of an equal width throu;;lioul. and
with a clean edge, as otherwise it will be uneijually heated, and will bo
fused in one part before ttie other parts have attained a sufllcieutly high
temperature to produce a brilliant light.

Fig. 1

-53

Fig. 3.

\

/

w

The strip of plalinnm is to be suspended between two forceps in the ap-
paratus represeiiled in vertical section at fig. 1, a is a square brass bar
lixed on llie wooden sland b, and having a bindingsciew c, at it lower
end ; upon this bar two sockets d e, slide, carrying ihearms/g-, which are
terminated by broad forceps, lipped with platinum, and opened or closed
by milled screws A i. The upper arm/, is fixed at the top of the bar a, by
means of the screw j ; and the position of the lower arm g, is adjusted by
turning the nuts k k, upou the screwed rod /, which passes through th«
arm ^ : the socket e, of the aim ^, is lined with ivory or other noncon-
ducting substance, to prevent any metallic communication between that
arm and the bar a. in, is the platinum leaf, which is held by the two for-
ceps, and is included in the electric circuit by attaching one of ibe wires
Irom the battery or other apparatus to the binding-screw c, at the bottom
of the bar n. and the other wire lo the binding screw ii, at the Ijotlom of
the rod / 'I'he cuirent should be one of considerable iuleusity, and the
distance between the forceps should be sufficient to prevent the platinum
from being fused, u, is a glass shade, which ser\es to screen the platinum
from currents of air, dust, tVc

M'hen carbon is used, it becomes necessary, on account of the affinity
this substance has for oxvgeu at a hi,''li temperature, to exclude air and
moisture from it, which is best elftcted by inclosing it in a Torricellian va-
cuum. Fig. 2, is a vertical section of the apparatus employed for this
puipose. a, is a glass tube, similar to those used for barometers, except
that its upper end is enlarged into a cylindrical bulb, and a stout platinum
wire sealed in at the top. The upper end of the wire is furnished with a
binding screw 6, and the lower end is screwed into the iron piece c, to
vihich the forceps i/, is attached ; the piece c, is connected, by a porcelain
rod e, with a similar piece /, that carries the forceps g ; and the piece of
carbon A, is held betvieen the forceps d, and g- ;— i, is a copper wire which
is attached lo the piece/, and extends to the bottom of the lube. Th«
tube is tilled with mercury in the same manner as a barometer (the air
being carefully expelled, as usual); its length, independent of the bulb,
should be about '.hirly inches, so that a vacuum will be formed in the bulb
when the tube is inverted in a cup of mercury. I'he instrument is included
in the electric circuit by connecting one of the wires from the battery or
olher apparatus with the binding-screw ft, and the other with a wire which
enters the mercury in the cup at the bottom of the tube. The circuit is
thus completed by the column of mercury ; and when it is depressed in tho
tube, by the formation of vapour of mercury in the bulb, the connection is
lireserved by the wire i. That form of carbon found in coal-gas retorts
which have been long used, is well suited for Ihe purposes of this inven-
tion, and may be worked into Ihe form of small pencils or thin plates, by
the aid of the saw and file. As carbon will bear a very high leniperalore
without fusion or volatilization, it may be employed when a very inlens*
light is required.

If an inierinilting light be required, for light-houses or other purposet,
t may be obtained by breaking the circuit at intervals by clock-work.

18^6.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

231

when the apparatus is suitably sealed, it may be applied to submarine
ligliting, and lo tlie illumination of plitces where it is necessary to guard
against ibe inflammation of hiRlily combustible or explosive compounds, as
in powder magazines, mines, &;c. When the current is of sufficient inten-
sity, two or mure lights may be made in the same circuit; care being
taken to regulate the power, by increasing or diminishing the number of
»rmalures (if a magneto-electric machine be employed), or the number of
celU (if a voltaic battery be used), so ihat the united resistance of the
•trips of platinum or carbon shall be sufficient to preveut the passage of
such a quantity of electricity as would destroy them.

The patentee riaims the application of continuous metallic and carbon
conductors, intensely heated by the passage of a suitably regulated current
of electricity, to the purposes of illumination, as above described.

SHIP PROPELLERS.

Thomas Samuel Parlour, of Park-road, Holloway, in the county of
Middlesex, geutieman, for •• improvements in jiriipelling tesseU.'' — Granted
November 20, 1S45 j Enrolled iMay 20, IHJO.

Fig. 1. Fig. i.

The improvements relate to the form of the propeller, fig. 1 Is a side view,
gnd fig. 2, a vertical section of the propeller. '■ The propeller is formed by
taking a hollow cone, of sudicient thickness, and cutting it through the
vertex at right angles to the plane of its base, so that the two parts may be
equal ; these are alfiied to arms, as represented in the drawing ; and these
arms are affixed to a boss; which boss has a hole through it, for ihe pur-
pose of securing it to the shaft. The number of half cones forming the pro-
peller may vary. The au,:le also of the vei lex of the cone may vary ; but
the most satisfactory results have hitherto been obtained by taking a half-
cone, whose angle at the plane of the base was thirty-two degrees, liy
extending the surface of the half-cone, a greater propelling surface is ob-
tained.

FIRE ENGINES.

John White, of Salford, Lancaster, engineer, for " certain improre-
ments in engines, machinery, or apparatus for raising and forcing water."
Granted Nov. 27, Iti45; Enrolled May 27, 1846.

This invention is for certain improvements in engines commonly called
Bre-engiues, the object of the inventor being to construct such apparatus
with a greater number of pumps of considerably less calibre than those
hitherto employed. The mode of arranging the pumps according to this
invention is shown at fig. 1, which represents a plan of a fire engine ; a a
is the edge of a circular tank or reservoir, from which the pumps are sup-
plied. This lank is mounted upon wheels in the ordinary manner, to fa-
cilitate its removal from place to place; bb are force-pumps, twelve in
cumber, each of which is worked with a separate handle c, moving upon
a fulcrum or fixed axis at c'. In the drawing only one handle is shown,
which is sufficient to explain the construction of Ihe engine, as each of Ihe

flumps are worked in the same manner, namely with a separate handle or
ever. The several pumps discharge their contents into the air-vessel d,
which is fixed in the centre of the machine, and over the air-vessel there
is fixed a platform for the firemen to stand upon. We have not thought it
necessary to give a sectional elevation of the machine, as it will be evident
that each of the pumps must be provided with two valves and a channel
or passage leading to the air-vessel and are the same in construction as
ordinary force pumps.

The advantages of a fire engine constructed as above are stated to be,
that the engine can be worked before a sufficient quantity of men arrive,
Ihat is to say, it can be partially worked; another advantage is stated lo
t>e that it will be easy tu detect those men who are not doing their dut) ;

also, a greater pressure per square inch will be obtained upon th* sorfttoe
of the water; and lastly, Ihe pumps may be worked alternately, whereby
a mure regular supply of water will be obtained.

Fig. I.

Fig. J.

Another part of this invention consists in the construction of air-veaselg
for regulaling the flow of water through the pipe. Fig. 2 shows a sectional
elevation of one of these improved vessels, in which a u represents the
vessel, on the top of which there is a perforated plate A, and on the lop of
this plate there is stretched a piece of vulcanized india-rubber c ; d is an
hemispherical vessel forming a cover to the whole, which are firmly bolted
together; within this last vessel the inventor proposes to compress atmos-
pheric air to about two atmospheres, or thirty pounds, which forms a re-
sistance or elastic cushion for the water to press against. By this ar-
rangement it will be seen that the water in the aforesaid vessel does not
mix with the air ; Ihe consequence of which is, that the air cannot pass off
from the vessel through the pipe and form the crackling noise which is so
frequently heard when working engines of the ordinary construction, llx
air in the air-vessel being kept entirely distinct from the water.

GAS BURNERS.

John Lesslie, of Conduit-street, Hanover-square, tailor, for " Imprure-
ments in the ctmbustion of gas." Granted, Dec. 4, 184S ; Enrolled, Juua
4, I84C.

This invention is for certain improvement'
in the construction of gas burners, the object
being to obtain a greater supply of atmoi<-
pheric air for the more perfect combostion of
: the gas. The peculiar form or construction
of this improved burner will be clearly seen
on referring to the annexed drawing, in
which fig. 1 shows a sectional elevation of
the burner and glass, and fig. 2 is u plan view
of the burner, the glass being removed, a a
is a circular tube, having a branch pii>e t
for the purpose of fixing the burner ou the
supply or gas pipe ; c is the glass, wliich
the inventor prefers to be of the form sLovvq
in Ihe drawing; on the top side of the circu.

Fig. 1.

lar tube, a a, is fixed a number of small bent tnbet **t, throagfa wkieh
Ihe gas passes, the point of ignit-iou being at /, just t>elow the prujevting
or bent part of the glass, as shown in the drawing.

222

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[J

ri.Y ,

FILTKRER.

JOMA.I Wilkinson, of Lincoln's inn-fields, gent., for" certain /""P™";
ments in filtering tvater and oti.er fluids." A communication, t-rantea
Dec. 8, 1845 ; Knrolled June 8, 1846.

This invention consists in a peculiar mode of arransin? » f.^^Jlf .P"';
forated metal or wooden tul.es tilled with spon.-e, annual '^' "^ "'•/J^,^;^'^;
other suitable material. The mode of constructing ''"V""? "f^*-' ^^'^^
as follows :-I'ig 1 shows a plan, and C-. 2 an elevation, of a series ot

Fig. 1.

QOO

JG 0

i'- 0

C

cu

<i,V

oo o

OVJC

o'A

0^0,1

.0 0

aAC

"■•''i.

o..*?o

o i'

0«

0 o^i

'^OO

0 y

o^?o

perforated metal or other tubes, arranged as shown in the plao, the centre
tube a being perforated at those parts only which come in contact with the
lubes marked 1,2,3, 4, .5, (i, so that a communication is formed between
the latter tubes and the central one. Each of the tubes, I, 2, 3, &:c., the
inventor proposes to fill with sponge, the tube a being filled w'llh sand,
charcoal, or other suitable filtering matler. Fig. 3 shows a plan of the
interior of a filler when complete, which consists of an arrangement of
seven groups or series of tubes, as above described, in all, forty-nine tubes,
which are enclosed in an outer vessel or case b b, having a pipe c, leading
from a vessel plaeed in an elevated position and containing the turbid v^■ate^
to be filtered, which, by the hydraulic pressure, is forced through the per-
forated vessels or tubes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, containing sponge, into each of the
centre tubes, which latter are provided with a branch pipe, leading to an
outlet pipe situate above the filter and in the centre thereof, which outlet is
common to all. At the lower part of the vessel there is a pipe d, provided
•with a stop-cock, for the purpose of cleaning out the filter, which may be
effected by stopping the outlet pipe, opening the stop-cock, and forcing
water through it. The inventor, in conclusion, states that he does not con-
fine himself to sponge as a substance to be used in filtering, but afterwards
distinctly claims the mode of filtering by means of sponge. He also
claims the mode of filtering be hydraulic pressure.

NOTES OF THE MONTH.

It is with extreme regret that we have to record the melancholy death
of Mr. Benjamin Robert Haydon, the artist, which took place on Monday,
the 22nd ult., at his residence, Burwood-place, Edgware-road. He con-
tributed several valuable articles to this Journal, and to him we were in-
debted for the interesting extract from Sir Joshua Reynolds' Diary.
Next month we will endeavour to collect some information respecting the
life and works of this artist. , > ■

The Augsburg Gazette informs us that Cornelius has completed and ex-
hibited at Rome his cartoon for the mausoleum of the royal family of
Prussia. It is made the subject of the following piece of magniloquence—
'• The cartoon represents the four powers described in the Apocalypse,
•which are to appear at the end of the world. They ride through the
air on horses that seem more intimately connected with them than the
centaur with the animal of which he forms a part. In the van is a
Tartar chieftain, who sends from his twanging bow-string, like unto
Homer's Apollo, the shaft of Pestilence before him. Hunger folovvs.
Corn is so dear that it must be weighed in the scales which he holds
ou high, while a figure to the left with horrid mimicry proclaims the
high price to which all food has risen. Now follows Mar; a youth
of exceeding beauty, swinging the bloody sword of battle above his
head, with the united strength of both arms; and lastly comes Death,
mowing down all that the others have left him. A chorus of the de-
parted accompany the dreadful host with cries of woe, whose tones
seem to sound from out the picture and become audible to the spiritual
.sense. The tone prese>rved in this part of the painting is, it is said, inde-
scribably beautiful. Eleven figures, three of whom are children, represent
the perishing human race. And yet in this group is contained a represent-

ation of all the horrors which the .magmation of man can take m at a
e ance In more ihan one figure wc see the celebrated motive of Timan-
fhes employed, who, in the sacrifice of Iphitenia, represented Aganiei.,n.,u
veiler Hut ;iiat is not expressed by the gestures, by the figure of a
youth who, amid the agonising struggles of death, covers his eyes with
convulsiveW-closed hands I What name might be given to the sutfering ex-
™d on the countenances of the won.en, who imploring mercy and
pty fln'°l>emselveson their knees before the mighty band ! Hut above
a is ATi^uish, represented with a wonder ully deep knowledge of the
hun anioul in he iwo little children, invested as they are with a sublime
beauty. The young too, the age of innocence, all is unsparingly swep
awav Despa r is foreign to such tender souls; but in the countenance of
nem"an, who with cla^p'ed hands has fallen to the ground, we buhold it la
'r,K horror ■ and this figure forms the centre of the picture." From this
descript.o" it'may be concluded that the German school has exceeded even
itself Cornelius seems to have painted with a thousand horse power and
prepared a rich treat for the admirers of the '• intense and convulsive
■^ A euer from Cairo (May 17), written by an intelligent traveller, mforms
usThat the temple of Dendera had been completely cleared of all the rub-
bish with which it was encumbered, and was now to be seen as one of the
mnct n«rfect of the Egyptian temples.

■llie arch tects at Haniburgh appear to have imbibed the taste for the
chromatic .tyle. Biilau, the architect, in his buildings, does not use stucco,
but introduces ornamental bricks of different colours.

A fiue mosaic pavement has been discovered in the church of St. Paol
at Nimes It represents a warrior in his car driving his fiery coursers at
full sTeed, with the body of a man fastened to the tail of the car, and ,s
suDDOsed to represent the triumph of Achilles. , o i-

X ic rfc J. des Sciences at Paris has elected M. Jacobs of Berlm
one of its foreign members, to supply the loss occasioned by the death of

'" ThrghTl"'ex:rTons of Sir Stratford Canning, England is likely to
possess the treasures discovered by Mr. Austen Layard, at Nimroud The
Times gies us the following particulars of these antiquities :-" The dis-
00 ver'es of M. Botta, at Horsabad, are well known to the learned world.
Those in which M. Layard is now engaged at Nimroud promise to be
much more interesting and extensive. The mound is eight or ten times
irgerThan at which was excavated hy the French. It contains the re-
mains of a palace, a part of which, like ihat at Horsabad, appears to have
beenburnt.^ There is a vast series of chambers all buil with marble,
and covered with sculptures and inscriptions. The inscriptions are in the
cSneXrm character, of the class usually termed Babylonian It ,s possi-
b"e that this edifice was built at an epoch pnor to the ov^erthrow of the
As.vrian empire by the Medes and Babylonians under Cyaxares,-but
whether u'nZ the fi>st or second Assyrian dynasty is doubtful Many of
he cu ptures discovered by Mr. Layard are even in the smallest detail
as sharp and fresh as though they had been chiselled yesterday. Amongst
then, is a pair of winged lions with human heads, which are about twelve
feet hgh.'^ They fornfthe entrance to a temple. The execution of these
wo figures is admirable, and gives the highest idea of the knowledge and
civilization of the Assyrians. There are many monsters of this kind, lions
and bu 1= The other reliefs consist of various divinities ; some with
eagles' heads,-others entirely human, but w,nged,-w.th battle-pieces
and sieses, as at Horsabad." . ,

A letter from Alexandria states that the barrage of the Nile is proceed-
ing with "reat vigour, and the men are made to work both night and day
nirder to take ev'ery possible advantage of the present low state of the
water The Pasha's frigates are employed in bringing cargoes of tirahei
from the coast of Caramania; these are immediately squared and sent up
o t"e s te of the barrage with all possible speed. '/.OO men, -mprising
soldiers and country people, are at present employed at the barrage, and,
ow^ig to n,e great fatigue and privations of these poor people, the deaths

are verv numerous. .

The Cathedral of Durham is now undergoing various repairs and re-
storations. Among other sacred edifices that have sufiered by the hand
of the despoiler, this venerable cathedral has not been ^^'''''"f'^fj^l
one who visited it a few years ago must have been greatly oUended at the
disfigurements which would meet his view at almost evei^ step tor some
time the Dean and Chapter have devoted themselves to the task of restor-
ngthe interior to something like its original beauty A highly valuable
and important restoration is being made in the Chapter-house M hen m
its original state, the Chapter-house of Durham was justly described as
the finest in the kingdom. It was built by Bishop I ufus, 1133 43 and
the only subsequent additions were some buttresses at the end, a large
perpend,cularliiidow above the doorway, formerly toll of f^'ned glass
knd tracery, with stained glass in the east window. Its whole 'enS'h was
77 feet, width 34 feet U inches, and the height at the western arch of the
groinin- 45 feet. The east end was of a semicircular form, and when m
fts original state, with its fine columnar work and beautiful tracery, must
have been an object of great interest. ,,„.,, .. „i„,„i, iWnt

On removing the oak stalls from the chancel of St. M»7,^.^,''";,'=^'i;°'-
tingham, preparatory to repairing tlie roof, a sculptured 'a^'-^' °f "™
was discovered, buried with its face downwards, w-^hich Prob^bW h^» been
lying there since the Reformation. It is said to be a spirited and well-
executed bas relief, consisting of eight figures, and represents the Pope
seated on a canopied and elevated throne, consecrating a bishop. ueMOe

he Popearet-vo'cardinals wearing their hats. The bishop is attended by
his apparitor, bearing the crozier, and three other attendant figures com-

18-lG.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEEERAND AllCHlTECT'S JOURNAL

223

plete the group. The tablet is above two feet in height] and one in width,
and has been curiously paiuted and illuminated, the traces of colour being

^"iXraiVnVs of the Royal College of Chemistry.— On the ICth of June
the tirst stone of these" buildinss was laid by Hrince Albert on the
north side of Hanover-square. The show front of the structure will ap-
pear in Oxford-street, and will combine the usual aDsurdiliesof modern
debased architecture-a ru.Ucaled basement and columns hoisted to he
arst lloor. Heally there are so many instances of columns thus elevated
out of their places, that it is surprising that architects do not now and then,
for the saUe of mere novelty ulone, and irrespectively of all sense ol pro-
priety exhibit designs with the columns in Iheir right places.

St JnhirsGate, ClerUenwdl.—rhe resioralion of this ancient monument
is commenced ; the owners have consenled to case the buihliug with stone
and cover the roof with lead. The restitution of the decorative parts is to
be effected by public subscription.

Botanic Gardes at Camhriilge.—A proposition to levy a small tax on
the members of the University, to raise a sum fur torming the new I.otauic
Gardens, has been rejected by the senate. „ , , , ,

Booksellers' Proeidcnt Institution.— The " Retreat" of the aged and
destitute lielongiug to this institution is progressing ; the first portion ol
the building is nearly finished.

The new College at Galuwj.— The design selected by the Board of
Trade is staled to be that of a magnUicent edifice m the style of Henry
the Eight's time ... <■ o-

Scott's Mniiument in Eitinlmri:U.—Mr. Steel's colossal statue of bir
Waller Scott will, it is expected, be erected in its place in the moniiment
in Princps-slreet on the anniversary of Scott's birthday— the ISth of Au-
.'ust In Kri'dand we have an invariable rule of lilevatiug honorary sta-
t"ies out of sight : we trust that our northern neighbours will not disregard
this sage and venerable custom.

Vicioria Fomitain at Bridtlon.— A new fountain has been erected on
the S,eyne at a cost of £1000. The design is appaieuily vei7 unsatisfac-
tory. It has the appearance of being designed by an upholsterer, it is de-
lici.-nt of solidity, and looks as if it were made of zinc or tin bronzed over.

Jhc Brf'klonand Chicliester UaiUcai is now open. The drawbridge
over the Arun, described at length in a former number of this Journal,
acts quite successfully. . , , 1,1,

Conversion of tlic Regent's Canal mio a Railway is abandoned, the re-
quired amount of capital not having been subscribed.

Tlie Eastern Union Railu-mj is o^eued. The fares between London and
Ipswich are 1.5s., iOs., and 5s. Sd.

A longboihr engine of Mr. Stephenson's construction lately ran from
Birmingham to W'ulverton, 52.i miles, in 70 minutes, drawing 100 tons of
goods. At Ackemon bridge, the funnel of the eajine was struck down,
it being SIX inches higher than the arch.

FOREIGN NOTES.

Emhanlcment of tlie hid of the Adige in T,jrol.-The floods of this river
have of late caused such damage in the south of the I yrol, that its embank-
ment has been decided upon— the more important, as its valley is one of

,l,e c eclino- links between Italy and Germany. 1 he court councillor

Das-elli has just completed his report, which is accompanied by an instruc-
tive litLo-rapl.ed map of the valley of the Adige, from Meran to boschetfa.
After the completion of the cut at Ischia Peratti, another more expensive
will be commenced at Ischia Lidorno. The plans for damming up the
"Noce one of the most impetuous and mischievous Alpine torrents, are also
to be 'commenced- The expenses will be very great-but only apparently
so as by the regulation of this mighty Alpine stream, b,800,000 square
klafter (cubits) or boggy land will be restored to its pristine fertility, an
equal area preserved from the destroxiug inliuence of Goods, and the air
improved for about 50,000 people, who have, hitherto, constantly suffered
from fevers and other diseases iniierenl in damp localities.

Public Baths on the Continent.— 'ni>fiie are now being established very
extensively in almost every town. At Amsterdam a huge swimming basin
has been laid out on the Y. ; at Paris the old established and extensive salle
de natation de I'ile St. Louis has been much unproved. , . , ■

General Canal eonslruclions en frunce.— Never before has any legislative
session been taken up by so many subjects reUting to constructions, for the
improvement of the working classes, &c. The following is extracted from
tbe Journal des Traraux Publics,— ''TUe original plan for the maritime
canal of Caen is still carried out with energy ; ■2,S00,000 francs have been
aione expended in the erection of one of the four walls of the basin, a new
bed for the Orme 2,700 metres long, and the two yeliier of Oysterham.
Some an-'ry observations have been made on account of the opening of
the Orme having cost 800,000 francs, while the original estimates amount-
ed only to 280,000. 1,200,000 francs have been voted for improving the
navi-'ation of the Vilaine in the environs of Rennes, comprising earthwork,
excavations, aqueducts, bridges, &c. Now a credit of 15,000,000 rancs
is asked for the completing of the branch canal to the Garonne, between
Toulouse and C'asterts." The allusions made by M. Adolphe Beaumont
to EnWish canals, in the Chamber of Deputies, are not without interest.
" In England," said he, " canals give way to railroads. I have spoken in
London of our proposed canals, but no one would believe me. The can. 1

from London to Birmingham, which yields 4 perct. is merely an adventitious
exception, because their has sprung up on its banks manufactories, which
are its main support. The only remedy against the monopoly of railroads
are the railroads themselves. The expense of 15,000,000 of francs for a
canal at the present time is an anachronism."

Submarine Vessel. — Some experiments have been, of late, made with a
boat constructed after the plan of Dr. Payerne, and called by him bateau
cloche (bell-ship). It is made of iron, and to be seen near the Pont Iioyal
at Paris, where it is now moored. On its last experimental trip, elevea
persons were on board, and the craft passed (invisibly to the public) through
the space between the Pont Royal and that of La Concorde. None of the
passengers felt the least inconvenience, although there was a sort of telc-
iM-aph established for communicating with those above water.
" Completion of E. Gerhard's work on Ancient Sculptures hitherto unpub-
lished.—Ihis work, which was formed after those of Winkelman's " Mo-
numenti Inediti," and that of Zoega, has, at length, reached its concluding
parts, not without many a sacrifice on the part of the author and publisher.
The plates are folio lithographs, the letter-press r.ijal Svo. They contain a
rich harvest of sculptures collected by U. Gerhard in his many peregri-
nations Ihrough Italy. The publication extended over the period froni
1828 to 1841. M. Gerhard was one of the contributors to the splendid
work on Ancient Rome, in which Chevalier Bunsen also took a share.

Supjjhj of Water to the City of Uladrid.— Tins metropolis is very scan-
tily supplied with water, which the poorer classes have to purchase. An
extensive contract (su6h6(<i) has just been entered upon for supplying it
with water for drink and irrigation. The contractor has to furnish the
town with 10,000 reals of water (the standard Spanish measure), which is
to be available even to tlie highest parts. The adjudication amounts to
the great sum of 71^ millions of reals, and the works are to be completed
within the term of two years. If we compare this projected supply with
the present which is only 500 reals, it may be easily imagined what a boou
will be conferred on Ihe cnmfort and heafthfulness of the humble classes.

The New Post-office (/ //amiuiff/'.— The judicious grandeur with which
every part of the destroyed city, especially its public edifices, are re-con-
structed, becomes every day more conspicuous. The Post-oflice, whicfi
combines the iom/e of four especial post departments, erecting after the
designs of M. Charies Teauneuf, has next the street a length of 27.) feet
by a'depth of 87 feet, including the courts 27 feet broad. The front is
faced with sandstone and ornamented with cornices; has a height ot t).j
feet above the pavement; the roofs will be covered with thick lead plates.
On the east side of the edifice will be erected the new telegraph tower,
150 feet above the pavement, or 169 feet above the average height of the
Elbe, not including the signal staff. Immediately below the roof will be
the observation room, of an octagon form with a window at each end.
The building will include the dwelling of the Director, printing and other
ofiices. The clock will be at an elevation of 150 feet, lighted in the night
by a Bade light; each of the two dials will be of the diameter ot 6^ feet.
All the rooms in the lower story of the Post-office will be vaulted. Be-
sides spacious halls for the public, there will be a general room for those
who wish to read their letters. The building will be in some parts three,
in other four, stories high, and contain altogether 110 rooms. Ihe paving
along the main front will be 17 feet wide.

New G«/ra«icTc(e?ra;i/i.— German journals speak of a new discovery
of M. Leonhard, watchmaker, at Berlin, relating to the above subject. At
present, it has been only executed between Berlin and Potsdam, but it is
to be prolonged successively to Brandenburg and Magdeburg. The outer
form of the machine is simply that of a writing desk; on these, two dials
are to be seen. A hand indicates the letter or sign which has been made
at the other station. Both machines are connected by metal wire chains,
and have been hitherto placed on wooden blocks, but will hereafter be
conducted under ground. JI. Leonhard is also said to have discovered a
new system of railway telegraphs. . , „ .

The great Danube Docks ai Alt-Ofen executed by English Engmeers.-r-
The extent of the Danube Steam Navigation Company is such, that Ihqy
possess at present thirty-seven boats for pas.-engers, and two barges for
the conveyance of goods, both combined of 3,926 liorse-power. 1 he docks
of AltOfen, since they have been under the direction of M. Massjohn, who
studied in England, have assumed the shape of a real manufacturing
colony. Since 1844 alone, there have been built at this place tea boats of
13UG horse-power. Thirty iron barges, each of the burthen of 5,000 cwt.,
are in preparation or nearly ready, besides four iron coal barges, and eight
for merely convejing pigs and other cattle, one guu-boat for the Austrian
government, and twenty moveable piers with the boats appertaining
Thereto. The establishment is now in a position to manufacture in its OWQ
workshop all the requisite parts of a sleani boat of from 200 to 250 horse-
power, and eveu all the tools fur ship construction, which hitherto they
were obliged to obtain fr.mi Engfand. The greatest part of the hitherto
wooden building has been replaced by IM. Massjohn by fire-proof struc-
tures, and boats and machinery have been much improved. Ihe passen-
"er boats now ascend Ihe Danube from Pesth to Vienna in 18 hours, and
from Vienna to Linz m 17 hours,— a considerable saving ou former voya-
ges Boats of 4,000 to 5,000 cwt. burthen do not draw more than 4 feet
water, and can, therefore, safely pass over the sand shoals, which formerly
much impeded the navigation of this river. M. Massjohn has also esla-
bli,hed a superior mode of discipline and order amongst the 1,2UU mea
who constantly work at these docks. Still, the Austrian railroads consume
a great quantity of iron, which has had the eflect, that the above number
of steamboats is only half of what would ha»e been othervtise made.

2«4

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[JULT,

lately, tlie ilvkea around the Hocks have been heightened for protiiting
them aRaiiist the AdoiIs. idc. Besides M. Massjohn, both the shipbuilders
and chief machinist, Messrs. Prelious and Bissacker are Englishmen.

Supphi of Water to the City I'f Ltjons.—U is an inconceivable anomaly
that Lyons, situated' between two rivers, should have bien, hitherto, en-
tirely deficient of an adequale supply of water for its numerous mat ufac-
tnring and working population. Aficr many sham proposals of piojectors'
and contractors, the Town Council are about to take the subject in tlieir
own hands, besiuuinx with a complete canalization of the city, and execute
the works on a grand scale, letting the public reap the profit of the under-
taking.

IniviguratUni of french Riii7i/iii/,« — The present season is, without doul.t,
the most imp(jil,uit for the miuy new lines vvliich have been .i|.eaed in
Trance. On the Htli of June look place that between I'aris and .Sceaux, a
short line, it is true, but one on which the svsiem AinoHX li'is been lirst
tried With Bucess. The Ureal North Line (Lille) has aho been opened
with jreat festivities.

Kmliellishmentsof P.iri*.— The great work of a general paving of the
Boulevards are nearly completed. The next will be the appro.ich to the
bridge de la Concorde and the levelling of tlie earth which is now in
work. The paving of tiie Place du Caruussel will be completely re-
modelled in a very short time.

n^epegt Artesian Will in Hurope.—ln {'..e Duchy of Lu^enibnnrg, a
well is being sunk, the depih of which surpasses all <ithers of the kind,
lis present depth is •2,3Ui teet. nearly 1)84 iVet more than that of la (Jren-
elle, near Paris. It is said, that this immense work has been uuUerlakeo
tiir working a large etratuiu of rock salt.

F.MBANKMENTS.

SfR— Having been a subscriber to your valuable .Kuirnal from its com-
mencement, I have read with considerable interest and profit several of
the communications and papers therein. I am at present in search of in-
formation respecting the construction of embankments for reservoirs or
water daniB, in the formation of which there is little or no material to work
upon excepting peat or bog earth, and a small portion of clay, with stones
sufficient for the formation of 14 inches of breastwork.

I obwrve in vour Journal, vol. .'J, page 20, that at a meeting of the In-
stitution of Civil Engineers, on the 29th June, tliere was read a paper
containing a "Description of the Banu Reservoirs, County Down, Ire-
land," by John Frederick Bateman, M. Inst. C.E. ; and also in your
Journal, vol. 6. page 420, that at a meeting held on the 13th June, a paper
was read "On the Formation of Kinbankments for Ecservuirs to retain
Water," by Robert Thorn, IM. Inst. C.E.

I should feel much obliged by your informing me, in your next number,
whether either of the above mentioned papers have been published in a
separate form, and by whom, or how I can procure a larger knowledge of
their contents than is given in your Journal.

Should you have any knowledge of any other treatise on the subject of
Water Darns, or can give me any reference to any parties practically ac-
quainted with the subject, I shall esteem it a favour if you will refer me

thereto.

I am. Sir, your most obedient servant,

J. B.
Midilleton,in Tecsdale, June 5, 1846.

The abstracts of IMr. Baleman's paper, and that by Mr. Thorn, given in
this Journal, roniained the whole of the information afforded by the origi-
nal. No fuller accounts have been published. If our correspondent will
send ns full particulars of the dimensions and form of his reservoir, we will
tell bim the pressure the sides will have to resist.

LIST OP NEW PATENTS.

(From Messrs. Robertson's List.)

SRANTBD IN ENGLAND FROM MAY 26, 1840, TO JdNE 24, 1846.

Sir Months allowed/or Enrolment, unless otherwise expressed.

Natlmo Defrlcs, of .Saint Martln's-lane, engineer, for " Improvements In gas meters."—
SMled May 27.

Jolln Hyde, of Manchester, engineer, for " certain Improvements In looms and appara-
tu». connected witli iuoms for weaving."— May 27.

Charles Henrd de Boissi.Tinn, of Leicester- place, in the county of IMiddleHex, merchant,
for " Improvements in manufacturing corks and bungs." {A commniiication.)— May 27.

Jotin Aston, of Birmlngliam, for "Improvements in buttons and in ornaments for
dress."— May 27.

Alexander Southwood Stoclcer, of Camden-road-villas, gentleman, for " Improvements
in the man«faclqre of tiotttes and olhei similar vessels, also in stoppini- and covering the
same, anil In the manufacture and application to the whole or part of the arlicleB to be
Med."— May 27.

John Blyth, of St. Anne. Llmehouse. engineer, for "an Improved mode of closing the
orifices of bottles or other vessels applicable to Inkholders."— May '.'8.

Richard Marvin, of Portsea, Southampton, gentleman, and William Henry Moore, of
SoutJuea, Id tbe ■ame county, gentleman, for " Improvemouts in gratings of metal or

wood for the fronts of houses and general pnrposes for the admission of light and venti-
lation."— May ".is.

Henry Seymour Westmacott, of John street, He-lfordrow. gentleman, for "an Im-
provein«i't in tht construction of rotatory steam engines."— May 30.

Moses Poole, of tl.e Hill Office, peotleman, for •■ Improvements in making fabrics from
fibrous iiiat-^rials." (A cummunication.) — J'ine 2.

William farter Stafford Percy, of Manchester, upholder. f-T "certain Improvemeota
In the manufacture of bricks, tiles, chimney pots, and other similar articles."— June 2.

Henry Lawrence Ti)hias Tschuily Von Uster, of tha College for Civil Ensineirs, Putne •
for " Improvements in apparatus or machinery for measuring and indicalini the distant;*
travelled by wheel carriages."- June 2.

John Welislcr Cochran, of Paris, engineer, for "certain Improvements in machinery
for cutting and shaping wood fjr ship-building and otlier put poses. "—June 2.

William Slnbijs, and John Isaiah Grylls, both of T.lauelly, South Wales, engineers, foi
" Improvements in loc'imjtive and oilier engines and carriages." — June 2.

Joseph Clinton Robertson, of fleet street, London, civil enaineer. tor "certain Iin>
proveuients in r.;ilwavs and raiUvay carriages." (A communication-)— June 4.

George Lowe, of Finsbury.ciicus, civil engineer, of an extension of a patent for tha
term of bve years, from the tith Jnoe, 18-l»'. for iiicirasing the illuaiinating power of such
coal gas as is usually jiroiiuced In gas vvflrks. aU.) lor converting the reluse products fnuo
the iiianufaclure of coal gas into an article of commerce not heretol.ire protlucrd there-
Irum. and also of a new mode or conducting the process of condensation iu the niaoufav-
ture of gas lor illumination." — June 4.

John Tayler, of t'arlisle. miller, for " certain Improvements in flour mills, and in ma*
chinery ci-nuccted therewith.". June 11.

Hnhert Rettie, of Glasgow, civil engineer, for " certain Improvements In the manufac.
tiire nffnel, parts 01 vvliich iniprovements are app icat'le tor the purposes ctf purifying,
conipiessinr. or extrjcting vegetable and other substances, an-1 tJuiJs, and in the m^
chinery or apparalus to be used for the s^me."— June 12.

Kdward Cottam, of St. John's-wood, for " Improvements in bedsteads." — J«ir.e 16.

Fredeiic Handell Burkinyoung, of Baker street, Middlesex, gentleman, for "Improve-
ments in piano fortes." — June I'i.

Benjamin Fotlierfiill, of Manchester, machine-maker, and Itichard Johnson, of Clitbe.
roe, in the same county, cotton-spinner, (or Improvements in certain l-'arts of machinery
used in the pa parat-on for spinning, and iu the spinning and doubling of cotton, wood,
and other librous substances."— June 16.

Robert Reyburn. of Brown. street, Glasgow, chemist, for " Improvements in making
extracts from animal and vegetabia substances."- June 17.

William Cormack, of 'I'hsmes-street, Greenwich, chemist, for " Improvesientj in ob-
laiuicg motive power." — June i7.

Alfred Uicbard Johnson, of the firm of Messrs. Johnson and Co., of Regent-street, and
Messrs. Giilfilhs and Johnson, of Old Bond-street, hatters, for " ceriain Improvements
in hats, caps, and bcnnets— June 18.

John siuison, of Riches court. Lime-street, merchant, for "certain Improvements Id
machinery tor jireparing and spinning tl ix, and other hbrous materials." — June 20.

Henry Austin and Thomas Webster Rammell, of 10. Walbrook. City, civil engineer, fo»
" Improvt-menis in woou, mosaic, and tessellated work." — June 22.

Spencer Thomas Garrett, of Clitf-bank Lod^'e, Stoke upon. Trent, Ksq , for " certain
Improvements in cements, b icks, tiles, quarries, slabs, and artiliiial stones." — June 22.

Benne't Woodcr.jft, of Manchester, consulting engineer, for "an Improved mode of
printing certain colours ill calico and otlier fabrics."— J uue 22.

Thomns Walker, of Birmingham, stove. maker, for " Improvements in shipsMogs and
In sounding inacliines." — June 22.

John Mercer, of O.kenshaw, chemist, and John Greenwood, of Church, in the sane
county chemist, lor " ceriain Improvements in dyeii'g and |.riutlng Turkey red, and other
colours " — June 22.

William Slathers Hall, of Leeds, brass-founder, for " a certain improvement, or certain
Improvements ill, and applicable to sliding gas pendants, lamps, lustres, and chandeliera.'*
—June 22.

Josei h Renshaw, of S ilford, Lancashire, meclianic, for " certain Improvements in ma-
chinery, or apparatus, for tinishing velvets and other piled goods or fabrics."— June 2^.

William Cotton, of Louehborougli, manufacturer, for " certain Improvements in Itult-.
ting machinery."- June 22.

John Giilett, of Brailes, Warwick, agricultural implement maker, for " an Improved
apparatus for protecting property by sounding alarums, or giving signals." —

Joseph George, of Chelsea, Middlesex, coal and twine master, tor " Improvements la
the construction ol bouses, builoings, and other erections." — June 22.

Thomas Jones, of Salford, Lancaster, niachuie-maker, for "ceriain Improvements in
machinery or apparatus for preparing, slubbing, and roving cotton, wool, ana other
filjrous materials."- June 22.

William Topling Nesham, of the London Docks, engineer, for " certain Improvements
In the apparatus and mode of applying power for raising and lowering weiglits or heavy
bodies " — June 22.

Ambrose Lord, of Allerton, Cheshire, toll-collector, for " certain Improvements in fur- .
naces and tbe tiues of steam-boilers, for the purposes ol consuming thu smoke and rcoDo-
niisiug the fuel." — Juue24.

CORRESPONDEHrs.

J. M. — The abstracts of the proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engi-
neers which appear iu the weekly periodicals are generally of too popular a
character to be of much value tu the professional engineer. By the courtesy
of the Institution we have been hitherto supplied with au ulhcial ac-
count of the proceedings, but owing to some unexplained delay, the pub-
lication of the papers of the present Session has not yet been commenced
and consequently we are deprived of our usual source of mfoimation. It is
reaMy of no use in a work making any pretensions to philosophical accuracy
to give any but authentic reports. For example, a long paper has recently
been read at tbe Institution, by Mr. W. llirding, on resistances to Railway
Trains. The only part of bis conclusions winch /,v at all new, is what ha
calls " resistance from concussion ;" we therefore naturally wished to confine
our attention to tliis part of bis paper, hut on turning to the reports in the
weekly publications, we can find neither an explanation of what is meant by
the phrase " resistance from concussion," nor any account of the reasons for
adopting the expression " ^ V" as the measure of this resistance.

A Working Mechanic, and J. B. will be auiwered next month.

l'!4rt.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

225

THE FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF MEDIEVAL
ARCHITECTURE.

Modern ecclesiology is the revived study of a neglected branch of human
knowledge; and like all similar revivals compensates for previous neglect
by present enthusiasm. It is by no means an uncommon occurrence in the
history of literature and art that a zeal for reproduction and servile
imitation should suddenly spring up which threatens, at first, to destroy
not only all hope, but even all desire of originality.

These indications, so prejudicial to the true interests of art are however
transitory — at least they have always hitherto proved so, as far as we are
acquainted with intellectual history, and we may safely hope that they will
be 30 with respect to the modern study of Mediicval architecture. While
the first impulse and freshness of the novel pursuit lasts, all attempt to gain
a characteristic individuality is sacrificed to an unthinking and undiscrimi-
Dating admiration of the ancient models; but after a while the votaries of
the new science become weary (and perhaps a little ashamed) of being
mere copyists, they find for the first time that all the features of their idol
are not admirable alike, that some parts are far more worthy of study than
others, and then finally, if they themselves possess creative power, adopt
those parts, not as patterns, but as so many hints — way-marks, as it were —
of the direction in which their own genius may most successfully pursue
its course. Just in the same way— the greatest orators, writers, sculptors,
and painters have been content to be for a time disciples of ancient masters,
in order that they might form their own style on the classical models, of
which their creative genius forbad them from copying the actual ideas or
modes of expression.

In accordance with these considerations it becomes a matter of great
practical importance to ascertain exactly the degree and nature of the ad-
miration with which we should regard Mediaeval art, to discriminate be-
tween its merits and defects, and above all to determine which of its nume-
rous varieties or styles are most worthy of being studied with a view to
further development. We by no means claim the merit of originating this
investigation, it has already been pursued to a considerable extent by others,
although the conclusions at which they have arrived are extremely various.

One class of writers, who represent a considerable portion of the English
students of Jlediaeval architecture, recommend the exclusive adoption of
the second great style of Pointed Architecture, commonly known as the
Decorated, which, to use their own peculiar mode of expression, " is the
style of Pointed Architecture which we consider to have the mo.st nearly
approached perfection, or, as we should more truly say, the furthest de-
parted from imperfection. It was but an approach, and but for an instant.
It just unveiled to men a distant glimpse of heavenly things and dazzled
his [their] poor eyes with that imperfect vision." Another class of writers
describe Perpendicular as the most perfect style of Pointed Architecture,
but recommend Romanesque for exclusive adoption in building new
churches, as being the most suitable for modern purposes.

These contending opinions represent, we believe, with tolerable accuracy
the respective views of two bodies who have rendered themselves cele-
brated by the zeal with which they pursue the study of church architec-
ture— the Oxford Architectural Society, and the Cambridge Camden or
Ecclesiological Society; and seeing, as it is impossible not to see, that
these ^two bodies have promulgated, among much which is inconsistent,
and much which is controvertible, a large mass of sound and valuable in-
formation respecting Pointed architecture, it is useless to treat their opi-
nions with indifference.

We are very anxious to contribute to the attainment of a sound conclu-
sion as to which of the styles of Mediaeval architecture should be preferred
but in stating the views and arguments of the two Academical bodies men-
tioned, we are met by this difficulty, that the discussion has been made to
assume a theological character, which renders it in a great measure un-
suitable for these pages. The advocates of one or other of the various
styles of Mediaeval architecture do not rest the claims of either merely on
its intrinsic beauty or constructive value, but chiefly on its typical refe-
rence, or supposed reference to religious doctrines. For the completeness
of our argument it will be necessary to allude in general terms to the latter
class of argu ments, and show that even if we allow to them the weigh t gi veu
by their authors, they are still so nearly balanced as to leaye the main
(juestion unaiTected.

Ho. 107.— Vol. IX.— -Ac6dst, 1346.

It is indisputable that during the middle ages there was a tendency to
establish resemblances between material forms and abstract ideas. This
tendency may probably have arisen from the prevalence of monastic insti-
tutions; for in the vacuity of thought unavoidable in a state of monotonous
seclusion, the mind must either be occupied by some fanciful unreal em-
ployments, or become enfeebled by pure inaction. (.And it may be remarked
in passing that this consideration is a reasonable explanation of the fact
that symbolic speculations are in our times most rife among academical
and cathedral bodies, wherein the manner of life most nearly resembles
ancient monachism.) These speculations were anciently applied to all the
sciences — chemistry was neglected for alchemy, astronomy for astrology.
The study of botany became a mere collection of comparisons between
Bowers and church festivals— the snow drop and Candlemas, the daffodil
and the Annunciation, the ranunculus and the Invention of the Cross, the
white lily and the Visitation of our Lady, Skc, the passion flower being
however the favourite subject of this species of mental indulgence. To
the same source must be attributed the cabalastic interpretation of myste-
rious numbers, and lines on the human hand, the black art and the whole
cycle of occult sciences. The whole material and intellectual world were
arranged in a universal system of type and antitype ; and all things visible
were supposed capable of a recondite symbolic interpretation. The Ger-
mans in modern times have somewhat refined on this method of doublg-
signification by their system of esoteric and esoteric ideas, that is, in sim-
ple English — the system of saying one thing and meaning another.

It is easy to suppose that in the Mediaeval times the love of syuibuli«m
would be frequently exhibited in architecture, and as a matter of fact thers
is no doubt that it frequeally was so exhibited. For to what other cause
can we assign the cruciformity of churches, the position of the foot near
the entrance, and orientation or the position of the chancel at the eastern
end ? Occasionally the symbolism seems to have been carried into minute
particulars, and atibrds a curious reflex of the mind of the architect, for it
is generally observable that where these indications of trivial resemblances
exist, the architecture is of a feeble character, and does not exhibit that
boldness and vigour of conception which belong to a vigorous mascuUn*
intellect.

But that symbolism of every kind, whether minute or general, depended
on the individual caprice of the architect, and not upon any accepted lavr
of church architecture, is evident from the partial manner in which it in
exhibited. Taking all Christendom through, the number of churches with
cross transepts is far exceeded by those of which the plan is rectangular
or irregular. In the same way the orientation has been as frequently dis-
regarded as observed ; in continental churches especially, the disregard of
orientation was so great that in one church the chancel is sometimes nearly
opposite in direction to the chancel in a neighbouring church. Of the
position of fonts it is not so easy to speak, because, being moved with
tolerable facility, they have been frequently displaced from their original
situation. Another architectural form, which has been supposed to bear
an obvious symbolic meaning, the eastern triplet window, is by no means
of universal occurrence: in every successive style of church architecture
there are numerous examples of other kinds of windows at the east end of
the church. And it is important to observe also that the Mediaeval archi-
tects were by no means jealous of restricting to ecclesiastical uses the
forms which are capable of a symbolic interpretation, for the triplet window
is commonly found in edifices constructed for secular purposes.

That the general affectation of analogies and fanciful conceits wbich
prevailed in the middle ages should be occasionally displayed in architec-
ture was naturally to be expected — that it should be universally displayed
was practically impossible. And this reason, if no other existed, would
have sufSced to prevent symbolism becoming a positive law of church
building. If for instance it had been determined that one essential re-
quisite in the construction of a church was that the plan of the building
should typify the doctrine of the Cross, if this kind of teaching were cod.
sidered a religious necessity, then it is evident that a church without tran-
septs must exhibit some other kind of teaching, that it must inculcate a
heresy, and that the worshippers in it must be heretics. It would how-
ever be frequently necessary to build churches where it was physically
impossible that the plan should be cruciform. This necessity alone would
prevent symbolism from assuming the sanction of universal custom ; for it
is to be observed, greatly to the credit of the Medieval architects, that
they never sacrificed real palpable advantages for the gratification of their

29

220

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECrS JOURNAL.

[August,

speculative prejudices — that their mioda constaotly exhibited a practical
tendency entirely unknown to or unappreciated by those who now ape
their idiosyncrasies.

We trust that the reader will perceive in the sequel that nur argumfnt
on the point before us has not been unnecessarily minute, for the whole
question of the luture development of Mediaeval architecture depends
upon it. If those who assume the oflice of pronouncing publicly on the
merits of ninderu church architects ground their criticisms on speculative
doctrines, such as those here alluded to, it becomes the direct interest of
architects to ascertain how far those doctrines are correct.

What seems a fatal objection to doctrinal instruction by the aid of mate-
rial forms is, that the system never did and never can becoiue gene-
ral, and moreover that if it could, it would never be free from ambiguity.
This kind of teaching must belong to one or the other of two classes— sug-
Restive or conventional : that is to say, the forms in which it is embodied
must be either suggestive of their intention, or if they bear no outward re-
semblance to thethingtypified, their signification must be purely arbitrary.
To the first of these classes belong cruciformity and orientation which as
we have shown are liable to the objection of want of generality, because
occasionally they would from local circumstances become practically im-
possibilities. In the same class .if suggestive symbols most be ranked the
eastern triplet: a species of symliolism which makes out a case stronger
even than that derived from the two former species. In the case of
the eastern triplet the deviation from the general rule (if such rule existed)
was perfectly gratuitous and unwarranted by necessity : for it is impossi-
ble to suppose that the architect was ever practically compelled by local
requirements to build a window of five or seven lights in preference to a
triple window. What then shall we say of a conventual church like that
of .lesus College, Cambridge, for example? Were the worshippers poly-
theists? They must have been so if they derived a symbolical teaching
from the eastern window.

The argument respecting ambiguity applies with equal force. If the
eastern triplet consisted of three separate and distinct windows, then it
tau?ht a heresy, and if the centre window were larger and more important
than the rest, it taught another heresy. The nature of these heresies need
not be here specified, they are both denounced in the Quicunijue milt, in
the expression " una est divinilas, oequalis gloria."

But the ambiguity would become absolutely inextricable confusion
when forms possessing siinilar peculiarities were made to represent difi'e-
rent doctrines. For instance, if anything like system and distinctness were
to be maintained, it would he obviously necessary that all forms of which
the most distinguishing mark was their triplicity, should suggest one and
the same doctrine. The fleur-de-lys, for instance, three component parts
united by a band, ought to teach the same thing as the eastern triplet em-
bniced by one hood moulding. The fleur-de-lys however teaches some-
thing altogether ditVerent. It has, says the Ecclesinlogisl, " from the twelfth
ceotury at least, probably fur ages long anterior, been the recognized em-
blem of the Virgin Mother as such." We must beg the reader to take no-
tice of the wordg " recognized emblem," because we will show by another
quotation from the same place how far the emblem actually was recognized.
The reason of its being " appropriated as an oroamsnt to the seats of the
Laity in particular," was that it suggested what was peculiarly ■' the
peoples' doctrine." Now then how far did the people understand the
suggestion ? We are told that the popular name of this ornament (popie)
was derived from its supposed resemblance to a bundle of hemp. The old
church-designers had however "something more significant in view than
the mere giving of an ornamental finish to an otherwise plain seat-end.
Nor had they any intention of imitating ' bundles' of hemp or of any other
substance: that teas a mere fancy of the uorkmen." It appears therefore
that whatever may have been the intcJiiion of the designers, it failed of its
effect. The workmen misunderstood the meaning intended, and the people
generally committed the same error, for the name " papie" seems to have
been a popular one, and the result of a vulgar error similar ta that by
which " Pau and his Bacchanals" was corrupted into " the devil aad his
bag o' nails," which was a corniHoa sign of old inns.

.So much for the efficacy of symbolic teaching, where the form of the
symbol was suggestive : with purely conventional symbols the matter must
have been still worse ; for here even the memoriu lechnkn, which afforded
some little help in the former case was wanting. To understand at all the
aaeaning of the types, constant reference must be bad to a written code.

like that now used in the navy for interpreting signals made by flags or
rockets. Such a code has been compiled by Durandai, though never
authoritatively recognized. We confess, without much shame, that we
know as little of this work as we do of the " Aurea Legenda," or Butler's
marvellous " Lives of the Saints," and that little is obtained from merely
meeting with a few occasional extracts. Still, we apprehend, the great
body of the people, in the most flourishing times of the unreforraed church,
were in the same state of lamentable ignorance. At least we are certain
they are at present, and that there would be some slight difliculty in getting
them to read Durandus now, — if they did not, really we cannot see what
the use of the symbols would be. Itwould become the case of the rockets
without the signal book.

Butsuppose the difficulty removed. Suppose the people were at last got
to study Durandus (which by-the-by seems as likely as that the inhabit-
ants of St. Giles's should take it into their heads to commit the Nautical
Almanack to memory), would not the labour of teaching be twice as great
as that required by a more direct method ? First the forms are to be learned,
then the code of interpretation has to be " got up," then the application of
the interpretations. But why go by such a circuitous route ? We are
convinced the thing would never answer. Among so many scholars with
very dilierent degrees of desire and aptitude for learning, so many mistakes
would occur that we should soon have to revert to the more direct process.
Complicated machinery is seldom successful in practice.

But there remains another argument fur symbolism, one derived from
mere architectural considerations, and not connected with theological doc-
trines. It is this, that symbolism is a source of the beautiful— that truth
and beauty are so nearly allied, that material representations of truth must
exhibit beautiful forms. This is one of those showy sentiments which en-
trap unwary readers, especially if they have a taste for magniloquence.
But what is the fact? The beauty of the symbol depends, not on the na-
ture of the truth symbolized, but on the method of representation adopted
by the artist. If the artist have taste and genius the symbol may be beau-
tiful, if not, the symbol will most likely be absurd and ugly. The restric-
tion put upou the designer that the forms adopted by him shall typify ab-
stract ideas, will add so much to the difliculty of his task, as to have in all
probability the very reverse of a beneficial tendency. The design instead
of being improved (as it is arguedj by syniboiism, will most likely be
greatly injured : unless we suppose that the desire of symbolizing reli.
gious truth will necessarily be accompanied by the faculty for doing it in
a graceful manner — which is much the same thing assuft)osing that every
religious person is ipso facta imbued with good taste. We will not cite
examples to the contrary,* but we may at least mention one or two in-
stances which disprove the converse proposition, namely, that men imbued
with good taste are ipso facto religious. Material beauty is far better re-
presented in the paintings of Salvator Kosa, and Raphael, than moral
beauty in their lives and conversation.

There seem therefore no reasons (except those which fauatacism would
suggest) why ecclesiastical symbolism should be more beautiful tliau any
other. The Chinese characters are a kind of symbolism, for they originated
in the representation of natural objects by conventional forms, so did Egyp-
tian hieroglyphics, so did our own heraldic devices. Is there any thing
of beauty or propriety in these forms ? We fail of discerning the graceful-
ness of a rampant spare-waisted unicorn, or a double-headed dragoa
covered though they be with Mediaeval rust, and honestly coufess that we
prefer the Elgin marbles.

We have alluded in another place to the significant symbolism of skulls,
cross-bones, and chains, which decorate the front of Newgate gaol, as a
proof that symbolic architecture is not always beautiful, hut we have not
spoken yet of the profanity aud indecency occasionally exhibited by Me-
diieval symbols and grotesque carvings. The sculpture of the Hotel-de-
Ville of Louvain, for exampie, representing the mortal sins aud their punish-
ment, displays forms revolting to any but the foulest imagiuatiou. AgaiD,
tlie constant collocatiou of serious aud ridiculous subjects sanctioned by
Mediieval architects would be deemed intoleiable now. We have seen ia
an old continent churches an absurd representation of a raonk with his toe
in his mouth, &c. These and similar extravagances might be permitted in

* Vet we may be allowed under this head to remind Ihe Ecclesiologiat of the fact men-
tioned Iiy our coleoiporury, ttial AtL-liljistiojj liaud ^uic tlKine niKt admiiatiou o( all ritUA*
lists) caused Inip-o .tout's to distiijure oue otlhe noijleiit 01 our CatUedrait, ola Si. Paul's,
wilb a dctesluLde Cormthiau porUco.

1 846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

227

the time of the ancient " moralities" or " mysteries," religious dramas in
which the Divine names were freely introduced among the dramatis jier-
sona, but no amount of precedent would suffice for their revival now. If
there be one instance more striking than another uf the necessity of distin-
guishing between the valuable and the valueless parts of Medieval art, it
is this of grotesque or monstrous devices. Nothing which is unnatural
can be beautiful, for nature is the source of all ideas of beautiful forms — the
heraldic monsters of the new Palace at Westminster, the hideous encaustic
tiles recently laid in the Temple Church, and if we remember rightly,
similar modern absurdities in the Round Church at Cambridge, are no
better thau simious displays of the faculty of imitation.

Symbols such as these will never probably be ranked in serious argu-
ment among the valuable parts of Mediaeval architecture. But there re-
mains yet another class to be alluded to which may be termed historic
symbols, symbols employed in church architecture to represent not doc-
trines whicii are true through all ages, but current facts of ecclesiastical
history. We are not certain that this distinction was really made by an-
cient architects, hut notice it because it is laid down by Duraudus, and
adopted by modern ecclesiologists. To take an instance —

" It is well known that all Media?val cathedrals either do now or did
formerly contain stalls in their choirs : we know also that in the primitive
basilcs there were no stalls in the choirs, but that the Divine offices were
sung standing. We know from history that stalls were not iutroduced
without a struggle. They however became a " fact," (to use a mueh
abused word), and what does Durandus say of them ? 'The stalls in the
church signify the contemplative ' Truly the con-
templative life in a healthy state of churchmanship is a mnst tit vocation
for the canons of a cathedral-church, and it is certainly not very hard in
this case to discern the analogy between type and antitype. But suppose
a vast increase of Bishops to be made in England under an improved slate
of churchmanship and cathedrals to be built in our poor and teeming trad-
ing and manufacturing town — Liverpool for instance and Sheffield— charity
and common sense would dictate that the canons of these cathedrals would
have a very diflerent vocation from their brethren at Liclifield or Ely ;
that ttiey would have in the strictest sense of the word to do the work of
Evangelists ; that they have to go forth us preachers of the rcry first riidi-
mcnts nf religion to a virtimUy heathen ynjiulation. Contemplation there-
fore to tliem must be a recreation not an occupation, and the symbolism that
should point them out as contemplatives vouhl not he borne out by facts . .
The cannn of the symbolism of choirs would then be embodied in the fol-
lowing form : — In some churches are found stalls. These stalls signify
contemplation, &c. (as in Durandus). In other churches built in large
towns to serve as missionary staliims, there are no stalls, but there the
Divine office is performed standing.* These choirs signify wretchedness
as it is said in the Prophet. ' How beautiful upon the mountains are the
feet of bim that bringeth glad tidiugs.'

"We have, we trust, sufficiently vindicated the truthfulness of that
minute system of symbolism which is found in the writings of Duraudus
and other authors of the middle ages"! ! — Ecclesiolagi.it, p 226.

After the reader has carefully perused this extract and noticed the pas-
sages which we have marked in italics, let him retiect on the result likely
to follow from the system here impliedly recommended. How much grati-
fied the good people of Liverpool and Sheffield would feel to have cathe-
drals on the terms suggested ! To be reminded continually by visible signs
that they, in contradistinction to the people of Ely, are heathen idolaters !
The proposition forcibly reminds us of Sydney Smith's celebrated selections
from the Evangelical Magazine — "Christianity introduced into the parish
of Launton, near Bicester in 1807." " Chapels opened— Hambleton Bucks—
eighteen months ago this parish vras destitute of the Gospel: the people
now have one of the Rev, G. Collisou's students," &c.

But the principal consideration in an architectural point of view is this —
we are told in the extract before us, that the kind of symbolism which
would be appropriate to a particular church at one time, at another " would
not be borne out by facts." How then shall the species of symbolism be
appropriate to each locality be decided upon ? Who will undertake the
delicate task ? And for localities halfway between the heathenism of
Sheffield and the godliness of Ely, what intermediate system of symbolism
shall be adopted ? Who will invent a finely gratuated scale of symbolism
which will exactly suit all the variations of that spiritual thermometer of
which Ely and Sheffield are boiling point, and zero respectively > And

* We have alreaiy noticed the circumstance that tlie writers here quoted do not co:i-
aider it always imperative to observe tlie ordinary rules of Eimlisll composition. In 'he
expression " the Divine office is performed standing," the participle "standnitj" should
by the principles of" Syntax refer to the preceding noun " office ;" the Meaning is htvr-
ever. not that the Divine office stands— which is nonsense— but (we presame that the
canons stand when the Divine office is performed.

when Sheffield has begun to improve— when the influence of the standing
canons has begun to tell upon the people— when the original symbolism is
no longer " borne out by facts," who is to make the alteration, and how is
to be ascertained the exact moment for making it?

We are told that the main object of symbolism is not so much to teach
religion, as to honour it. We will not stop to prove that the system here
advocated would lead to the grossest materialism and dishonour religion by
making it appear ridiculous ; it is enough for us to show that the scheme is
impracticable. It would be beyond the collective wisdom of the Cambridge
Camden Society, it would be beyond the compass of all human sagacity
and invention to overcome the practical difficulties here mentiooed. If
the system were a mutable one—true at one time and not true at another,
then it, or at least the mutable portion of it, even though we wave all dis-
pute as to its actual merits, must yield to the fatal objection of its impracti-
cability.

A large proporlion of the whole number of church symbols, namely, the
historic class is thus disposed of. Respecting the remainder, those sym-
bols which refer to immutable truths, we may be certain that the greatest
part, like the " popies" aforesaid, would be the subjects of vulgar perver-
sions, which would render them useless if no worse. The representation
of abstract truths by material forms is difficult enough even when those
forms are the 20 letters of the alphabet combined into words and sentences.
If the greatest of philosophers and divines have found all the resources of
written language scarcely sufficient for the perpicuous explanation of their
thoughts, if the church herself have been unable to express her articles and
rubrics with a distinctness which would place them beyond insidious mis-
representations and additions, what shall we say of the difficulty of ex-
pressing the same abstruse doctrines by the unyielding form of architecture?
To every unprejudiced mind it must be obvious that bricks and stones,
however contorted, could never answer the purpose elfectually, that the
architecture must become a congeries of hideous and absurd devices, and
above all, that where honour and reverence were intended vulgar ridicule
and desecration must infallibly ensue. This consideration disposes of the
second sort of symbols ; and so the whole delusion melts into air — thin
air.

To some of our readers we may perhaps appear to have been unneces.
sarily minute in the arguments by which tve arrive at this conclusion.
There are some who would have us treat church symbolism as an obvious
absurdily, not worth arguing about : and the whole doctrine is doubtless
one which might easily be made the subject of sarcasm and ridicule, but
we have been careful to view every part of the question seriously and pa-
tiently, because upon the due settlement of it greatly depends the future
development of Medieval architecture. The principal arguments brought
forward by those who advocate the exclusive adoptiou of the Decorated
style are founded on symbolic considerations ; those who would adopt Ro.
manesque exclusively rest their case entirely on the supposed doctrinal
interpretation of the prevailing forms of that style. Having then explained
to the best of our power the grounds on which we would exclude from the
question of the future developmeut all symbolic considerations, we shall
have less difficulty in discussing the remaining part of the question, namely,
the purely architectural considerations.

To begin with the consideration of the architectural value of Romanesque
or Norman architecture, our own opinion is decidedly against any very
general re-adoption of that style. It is essentially imperfect in its general
character and individual details. It is a transition style — not a transition
from one of two congruous modes to the other — but a transition from the
Classic mode to another in every way antagonistic to it, the Pointed. Ro-
manesque constantly exhibits traces of the effort frequently made iu Roman,
namely, that of reconciling two directly opposite and irreconcileable modes
of construction, tiiabeation or construction by straight beams, and arcua-
TioN or construction by arches. Every transitional or mixed style must of
necessity be incomplete : and for this reason a great objection will always
exist against the revival of Romanesque, It does not however follow that
because it is an incomplete style that it is absolutely valueless. It is an
important rule of criticism that a work of art may have beauty and yet not
be perfectly beautiful. Now this we apprehend is precisely the case with
Romanesque architecture; the very eflbrt to combine two incongruous
modes was the source of beauties which belong exclusively to this faulty
but effective style. The enormous massive pillars and walls are evidences

29*

228

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[AUGUST»

of imperfect knowledge of construclion. Had the Normans possessed the
constructional skill of later architect?, had their knowledge of mechanics
enabled them to construct a spire wilji the magical appearance of lightness
which belongs to the Strasburg spire, they would certainly have availed
themselves of that knowledge. Modern ecclesiologists tell us that the
Normans built massively and imperfectly, because their mode of contruc-
tion typilied the slate of the church in their own times. The reason which
we sliouhl assign is far too simple and unsophisticated to find much favour
iu the Universities, but we are disposed to think that if ihe Normans did
Dot build with the symmetry and graceful proportions which distinguish
later architects, it was simply because they could not.

Uomanesque, like all mixed architecture (cinque cento for instance)
abounds in surface decorations. For the reason of this circumstance we
need not look far. A style which combines incongruous modes of con-
struction must aflTord means for masking the inconsistency : and accord-
ingly we find in Italian and Romanesque, and every other impure kind of
archileclure, that the construction is never clearly exhibited, the decora-
tions do not arise naturally from the constructive arrangements, and that
the architect is compelled to resort to surface ornaments as alternative ex-
pedients for producing variety. The arches of decoration which characterise
Romanesque towers, ice. are examples of these inconslructive ornaments.

A practical objection to the general adoption of Romanesque — an objec-
tion which perhaps will weigh more with the professional than the amateur
architect — is that it is a very expensive style. The modern kickshaw
Romanesque structures with thin walls and slender pillars are not very
costly ; but we speak here of real Romanesque — not of a mongrel architec-
ture which mimics the details of that style without possessing the least
- portion of its spirit. The characteristic solidity and massiveness of Ro-
manesque masonry can seldom be reproduced in modern times. Besides,
it is poor alTectation to copy defects — to return to imperfect modes of con-
struction when we possess more perfect modes.

The advocates of Decorated architecture are not quite so exclusive as
the advocates of Romanesque. It is true that the former usually condemn
new churches built in any style but their favourite one; they admit how-
ever the merits of other styles. " Willi t be maintained," say they, " that
though Middle Pointed be as a whole more perfect than First Pointed,
yet that there are not parts and details in the latter more perfect than in
the former, and that it is primA facie clear that there can be no absolute
impossibility in engrafting them upon Middle Pointed? Therefore any
style which shall combine them with the mass of Middle Pointed must be
a more perfect form of architecture than has yet been produced. We ad-
mire the smooth flowing delicate sweep of a Middle Pointed moulding,
still we cannot but desiderate the wonderful boldness, the solemn depth of

light and shade in a mass of First Pointed mouldings Again,

we will be bold to say, why should not back surfaces and splays display
that prodigal variety of surface ornament which is the di=tinguishing em-
bellishment of Romanesque?"

This question appears to us capable of a satisfactory answer. The at-
tempt to combine twodifTerent styles has always failed — always will fail—
because it destroys the individuality of both. This necessity of character-
istic physiognomy is quite independent of intrinsic beauty, and is much
overlooked in modern art. The artist who endeavours to give a water-
colour painting the effect of oil colours — the musician who would impart
to the violin the peculiar ictus of the piano or intonation of the organ — the
sculptor who by piercing the eyes of his statues borrows the efl'ects of
colour, entertains, we hold, defective notions of the true purposes of art.
Kach of these combinations is made at the sacrifice, so to speak, of identity.
The mixed result instead of preserving the merits of both its archetypes
usually injures both.

To view the subject historically — had not the architects of the Decorated
Period fully as many opportunities of combining with their own architec-
ture, the characteristics of the previous period as we have? The very fact
that they did not avail themselves of these opportunities is a strong pre-
sumptive argument against the expediency of making the attempt now.
We see, as the second great style of Mediieval architecture approached
perfection, the characteristics of the first style, one after another, volun-
tarily relinquished. The deep undercut mouldings of Early English, the
exquisite lancet windows with detached shafts, &c., fell into disuse. Can
we imagine that men who fliowed such a thorough appreciation of the
beautiful as did the architects of the Decorated period, would have given up
forms of so much beauty wantonly, and without they had entertained a
lixed purpose for which those forms were incompatible? If we examine
au Early English church or a Decorated church separately, we shall find

that the details of each are exactly consistent with Ihe general character of
the building. And this observation applies not only to the actual forms
but the modes iu v\hich those forms are applied. In Early English some
parts are elaborately ornamented, which in Decorated were left plain. It
is diflicult to explain these characteristics by verbal description, but we
feel convinced that the architectural reader who has become familiar with
them, by actual observation, will bear us out in the assertion that the cha-
racter of each style so thoroughly prevades every portion of it, and is so
strongly marked in its minutest details, that the attempt to transfer parts
of one style to another must produce coufusioo.

This unsatisfactory result may be partially traced in the transition styles
of each period. It cannot be denied that the monuments of transition ar-
chitecture are usually very interesting, and that their prodigal display of
rich embellishments elicits the highest admiration. But these buildings
seldom have a distinct character of their own. They are, as it were, bor-
derers on the confines of two countries, and exhibit some of the good and
bad qualities of both, without possessing the nationality of either.

The remainder of our space must be devoted to the defence of Perpen-
dicular architecture from the obloquy to which it has been subjected.
The principal objection urged against this style is that it is not symbolic.
We do not consider it necessary to resume the discussion ; we shall merely
make one observation with respect to the absence of the Triforium.. The
symbolists protest against the disuse of a feature which, with the clerestory
above and the arcade below it, constitutes the triplicity which they love to
trace in every part of a sacred edifice. To ourselves, however, a sufficient
argument against the re-adoption of Triforia is that they are useless. In
the unreformed Church they appear to have served as galleries from which
were hung draperies on high festivals. It is clear that they could never
be applied to such purposes in modern English churches, and it must or
ought to follow thence, that all who advocate faithfulness in architecture
must object to the introduction of members which are not merely useless
but fictitious also, from assuming au appearance of utility which dues not
really belong to them.

The objection that the mullions of Perpendicular windows are incon-
structive has but little weight, for it applies to all mullions whatever,
whether they meet the soflit of the arch vertically or obliquely. Any one
who is acquainted with the mechanical properties of an arch knows that
it ought to be supported on its abutments only — that it does not require
support from intermediate props. If, then, such props be applied either
by the vertical mullions of Perpendicular windows or by the curved
tracery of Decorated windows, these additional members are alike incon-
structive; and quoad hoc the Lancet style is more constructive than either
of the other two. But it would be impossible to fetter art by these minute
restrictions. If a comparison be established between two styles to ascer-
tain which is the most constructional, it is not the ornamental details, but
those larger parts to which the building owes its stability, which should
be compared.

Viewed in this manner, we have no hesitation in saying that Perpendic-
ular is the most constructional of all the styles of Pointed architecture.
Its very name implies as much. It might be pronounced a priori that a
style distinguished by continuous vertical lines would alford the most
convenient bearings for sustaining superincumbent weights, and would
therefore be the most useful for lofty buildings. Accordingly, we find
vertical shafts, such as those which run up between the windows of King's
College Chapel, from the ground to the vaulting, support the roof more
directly, and therefore more efficiently, than do the clerestory walls of a
Decorated church. At all events, it cannot be disputed that the construc-
tion is more apparent in the former case.

Vaulted roofs appear more consistent with Pointed architecture thaa
wooden roofs, because the construction of the latter is usually of the kind
which we have termed trabeate. The principle of arcuation has never
oeen so thoroughly and magnificently developed as in the fan-vaultiog
peculiar to Perpendicular architecture.

It has been objected to the panel-work of this style that it produces
"an easy but gaudy system of surface decoration." The ohjectors seem
to forget that each style is capable of being treated skilfully and unskil-
fully, and that, after all, its excellence depends principally on the com-
petency of each individual architect. It cannot be denied that throughout
the Perpendicular period the facility of produciug embellishment Ijy
panel-work was frequently abused — ^jnst as in the Deoorated period
Uovving tracery frequently became entangled and confused. The Medi-
eval architects with all their skill were not infallible {honus dhrmitat
Homerui). M'hat then .'—because the use of panelling was sometimes

18-16,]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

229

excessive was it always so7 Was the whole character of Perpendicular
an easy but gaudy system of surface decoiation ? Look at the external
architecture of King's College Chapel. Not much surface decoration
there ! Plain almost to severity — bold almost to ruggedness, this glorious
pile exhibits more massiveness than any other Mediajval monument what-
ever. In the colossal disposition of its parts, it outvies even Norman ar-
chitecture; as for Decorated buildings, there is not one of them that ex-
hibits the same play of light and shadow. It seems alm»st incredible that
those who have constant opportunities of seeing this Chapel should speak
of Perpendicular architecture as characterised by superficial decora-
tions.

If art is to progress, its resources must be increased — cot diminished.
Yet, how much must we relinquish if we decide on abandoning Perpen-
dicular architecture? Fan-groining, the most magnificent of all methods
of roofing ; the four-centred arch which, not to speak of its constructive
value, exhibits in its outline when correctly worked a peculiar grace
which no other arch possesses; the curves of contrary flexure in Perpen-
dicular canopies ; the square headed Tudor arches with their exquisite
spandrels ; these are part only of the wealth which we lose by the rejec-
tion of Perpendicular architecture. In no other style were the windows
entirely incorporated with the rest of the building. In Early English they
were frequently nothing but mere perforations ; in Decorated they appear
more connected with the rest of the architecture, but it was not until the
Perpendicular period that the problem of identifying them with it was
truly solved. There are many Decorated churches in which some of the
windows might be blocked up without any perceptible alteration in the
character of the architecture ; but it would be absurd to make the same
experiment in a Perpendicular edifice. Unity and harmony are essential
elements of beauty, and the most perfect architecture is surely that in
which each member is an integral and essential portion of the whole sys-
tem.

The most eflfeclive way of advancing Pointed architecture seems to be
the liberal adoption of all three styles, and the careful preservation of the
distinctive characters of each. They who object to this course would
have us give up all the peculiar beauties of the third style, and would
recommend Decorated architecture, or rather a transition between it and
Early English, as the model for invariable adoption. A new church of
the pure Lancet architecture, or Romanesque, or Perpendicular, ipso facto,
meets with their condemnation. They affect a zeal for the future progress
of Pointed architecture, and yet would confine it within the narrowest
compass. They would SU the land with buildings of which the variety
and originality should be a minimum ;

Facies non omnibus una,
Nee diversa tamen.

Such edifices would bear the same relation to the glorious works of our
ancestors which prize poems do to poetry. They would bear all the aca-
demical polish and insipidity of the former, without a particle of Iha
genius and spirit of the latter.

It remains with architects to judge for themselves which path they will
choose — whether they will limit themselves to one style, or adopt the
catholic feeling which we have here advocated. Me have, however, one
parting word of advice to those who presume to build in styles proscribed
by either of the Universities. These architects are almost certain to be
condemned by one or the other class of academical critics, and if the cri-
ticisms be founded merely upon the distinctive prejudices of either body,
may safely congratulate themselves that no more serious objections have
been alleged against them.

We are sorry to have to inculcate a certain amount of indifference to
criticism, but it is necessary for the purpose of our present paper— a more
liberal and extended view of Pointed architecture— that we should do so.
At the same time, the architect must be warned that if his efforts be con-
demned on purely architectural grounds, the condemnation usually pro-
ceeds from those wlio are qualified to pronounce it. We have no reluct-
ance in sayiiii; that we have learned much from the pages of the Ecclesio-
logist acid the Keports of the Oxford Architecture Society. With respect
to our contemporary especially, we have seen with great satisfaction the
tendency recently exhibited to advocate progress in architecture : instead
of being told that antiquity and perfection are synonomous, we are now
bidden to look forward to a perfection of English architecture, compared
with which the glories of Cologne shall be as nothing. There are many
other points of sympathy between us — the war against unfaithful architec-
ture, which, however, we do not limit to the lUedia:val styles — the con-
demnation of superficial " save-trouble" expedients — the admiration of

such men as Didron, Willis, and —let 03 add — the author of the Manual
of Gothic Mouldings. We recognise the general soundness af the archi-
tectonic criticisms of the Ecclesiologist, and if ever we dissent from them
it is with regret ; but we have uniformly found the most liberal and gene-
ral views of art to be the most valuable, and are unwilling to sacrifice its
interests to an exclusive spirit which, we believe, will be found on exa-
mination to result from the prejudices of academical education.

Our paper has already reached considerable length, and this must be the
excuse for not fully examining the proposed alterations in the nomenclature
of Pointed architecture. Brevity on this subject is the less to be regretted,
because names are less important than things. A good nomenclature is that
which is definite, generally received, and not liable to be changed. For
this reason we are unwilling to disturb the well known appellations in-
vented by Rickman for the three great divisions of Pointed architecture-
Early English — Decorated — Perpendicular. These names have certainly
the fault of want of homogeneity : the first refers to a date, the second to
the amount of ornament, the third to the character of the ornament. The
dissimilarity between the second and third is however avoided by remem-
bering that Rickman spoke of Decorated in contradistinction to Florid, one
of his names for the third style. These names however are well understood,
and being suggestive are easily remembered. ^The titles First, Second, and
Third Pointed, are not so suggestive, and besides are unnecessary innovo-
tions. They are also deficient in homogeneity. For the term Pointed
should be balanced against the term Round, as the Ecclesiologist tacitly
confesses, in the same way as the French term Ogival is balanced against
Plein Ceintre. Yet the advocates of the new names inconsistently call the
style anterior to Pointed — " Romanesque," from the name of the People
from whom this style was mediately derived. The term Third Pointed
has also the grand defect of confounding Perpendicular with a style alto-
gether different — Flamboyant. The old nomenclature is not theoretically
perfect, still it is more so than the new one, and besides is sufficient for all
practical purposes.

We agree with the Ecclesiologist in condemning the term Gothic. His-
torically speaking, it involves an anachronism, and, moreover, it was in-
vented as a term of reproach by those who knew nothing about it. For
the latter reason we also object to calling Classic architecture Pagan — we
would as soon speak of classic literature as Pagan. The term confounds
a style which the EcciesioZog^ijt confesses to be "faithful," "beautiful,"
and to have been produced by a " beauty-loving people," with the archi-
tecture of the Hindoos and Mexicans. There can be no objection, how-
ever, to the application of the term to the mongrel architecture of
" Classic" cathedrals, and to all attempts at combining the horizontal con-
struction of the Grecian with the vertical construction of the Mediaeval
architects.*

ARCHITECTURAL RECOLLECTIONS OF ITALY.
By Frederick Lush.
{Continued from page 109).
In considering any ornaments in connection with the architecture of
Italy, or the numerous bronze and marble works which adorn her piazzas,
we see how much the grander and more imposing chdracler of buildings
is set off by these smaller embellishments. In Tuscany, and elsewhere,
in the time of Lorenzo Ghiberti and Donatella, the churches and cathe-
drals were decorated with apostles and scriptural subjects, and heroes
occupied her colonnades ; in the same way as formerly fables were re-
presented by Phidias on the temples, and statues of gods and sages stood
under the porticoes of Greece. Aud the similar works were attended
with corresponding happy results. In each epoch and country, the artist
" felt himself a public benefactor ;"t aud he was one. Now, in Italy, the
respect paid by ihe fuwest and most uneducated classes to artists, whether
native or foreign, is greater, perhaps, than it is in any other country ; and
we think this is chiefly owing to the exhibition of works of art in all her
public places. However easy of access they may be, museums and pic-
ture-galleries will do little towards enlightening the people and interesting
lliem in the cause of the line arts, compared with the good derived from
tlie works of acknowledged artists, in spots which men habitually frequent
Nothing has had such a tendency in the south to engage the feelings and

* We must guard ourselves against appearing to condemn the use of heraldic devices
u-l.ere occasion renders them necessary, 'i he condemnation in the text refers to the gra.
tiuluus cnjflojuient ol mouatrous and unnatural forms as purely arctiileclural ornaments.

Hulilt.

230

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[AU6U3T<

induce the mind to reflect and grow refined, or instil into it patriotic ideas,
as the presence of Buch productions in the squares and in the streets.
The public taste is thereby constantly exercised. Indeed, so many are
the portions of ground appropriated exclusively to works of genius, that
it may be said the taste of the people coold not degenerate, even were the
treasures of the Vatican or Uffizii unknown to them. The effects, also, of
viewing these works in the open air are more healthful, and, on account of
the freedom and independence of the spectator, yield a pleasure superior
to that afforded by works of the same description within a palace ; the
glorious sun that heightens these beautiful objects rendering the Italians
at the same time susceptible of every emotion which it is in the power of
art to inspire. Every traveller must have heard the exclamations of praise
that are uttered by mule-drivers, beggars, porters, and boatmen, when
looking on the colossal figures which adorn some fountain, or a noble group
of statuary in one of their favorite squares. And all admire these places
abroad, from prince to peasant. It was gratifying to me, vphen in Venice,
to see the blind Holmein feeling and passing his hands over the beautiful
bronze and marble works in that city, and to witness the lively pleasure he
experienced from such monuments. The impressions thus produced only
make us regret that art does notdevelope itself to the same extent in Eng-
land and that such things are not carried out ou that magnificent and
liberal scale we see in the Italian cities. An opportunity which was
lately offered for making one of the most splendid piazzas in the world, in
front of the National Gallery, was thrown away ; and, with the exception
of the equestrian statue to King Charles, the whole is now a disgrace to
the nation, and one mass of rubbish. This is the more to be regretted,
because the artists of our time take precedence of the moderns in Italy ;
and were there less /a/se and more real patronage, some of our first sculp-
tors would have graced the spot with subjects rivalling the best produc-
tions of ancient Greece.

To those men who contributed so much to the restoration of art in Italy,
we owe the most beautiful works in her great squares ; and we cannot
forget that the sculptors of those grand works in the Piazza del Gran-
duca, at Florence, of the bronze gates to the Baptistery in the same city,
of the fountains in Rome, Perugia, and Bologna, whilst they attained
excellence in that high style of art which they exhibit, were at the same
time or had been, jewellers, mosaicisti, and medallists; and that the prac-
tice of putting together the minute fragments of stone or glass, or cutting
the shell or cornelian into admired cameos, did not prevent them from exe-
cutiu" some of the grandest works ever known in sculpture ; works, of
which the reputation is sealed by the encouiunis of Michael Angelo and of
our own Flaxraau.

II.

"Fe« of these palaces are of good architfcture—somp of very bad; others are whim,
sical, but present among their strange forms many happy ideas."— Wood's •• Letters of
an Architect," &c.

The details of the Venetian palaces are valuable, because they lead the
mind, like all eccentric but beautiful things, to think and invent for
itself. Their peculiarities and caprices of style are positive faults if tested
by the standard of the Classic examples, or by Palladio ; yet, for all thi»,
we see in the composition of the windows, balconies, and other parts of
the palaces of Venice, principles of real beauty. An early and too ex-
clusive admiration of the Roman edifices is apt to prejudice the mind
against them ; but we think they must be studied by all who would not
separate the painter from the archilect.

The architecture of Venice is what the city itself is in its history and
associations— strange and romantic; and her Doge's palace, fairy-like and
Eastern in its appearance, reverses the principles of all other architecture.
As Forsyth* says, — " Here the solid rests on the open, a wall of enormous
mass rests on a slender fretwork of shafts, arches, and intersected circles.
The very corners are cut to admit a thin spiral column, a barbarism which
I saw imitated in several old palaces. A front thus bisected into thick
and thin, such contrast of flat and fretted, can please only in perspective.
It is not enough that the structure be really durable, it should also appear
80 " The writer had, however, formed his notions of arcliiiectural beauty
and propriety on the precepts of Vitruvius and Palladio, and anything
contrary to these was immediately ridiculed and censured by him. Now,
the sketch of the Doge's palace (fig. 1) shows, with all its defecls, what a
pleasing beauty it has about it; an effect which it owes solely to its de-
parture from tbose prescribed rules. Ou the other hand, we see edifices
which the judgment might pronounce faultless, most correct in the propor-
tions usually given to them, Uiosl perfect in the features suitable to their
particular class, and, indeed, without any of those vagaries which are
* " Anti«iuilies, Arts, and t.etleis in Italy,"

here displayed — before which the mind remaios cold and nnexcited. A
total incapacity of raising pleasurable emotion must beget apathy, if not

Fig. 1.

disgust, towards an object. A building, like a book or a picture, may be
without a single absurdiiy, yet be very far from beautiful. Now, iu the
works of those men who thought for themselves, and were more ambitious
to be artists than imitators, we often find that, in departing from conven-
tional rules, the defects (if such they were) were redeemed by the inven-
tion of some striking beauties which pleased the imagination, exercised,
whilst it fascinated the eye, and at least possessed the merit of originality
and that charm which all works of great invention have — of which dull
copies are always destitute. Instances of these abound in Venice, and in
many of the Italian cities, exhibiting an approximation to the Gothic in
feeling, although that result was attained in quite a different way ; in the
Loggia of Sansovino, for example, and that of Lanzi, and in the cornices
and other parts of these celebrated designs, on which has been bestowed
great attention ; in San Michele, Florence, also, remarkable for the beauty
of its crowning member and the tracery of its windows : and in the Palaz-
zo Publico at Piacenza and Cunio.* It should only be remembered that
whilst on one side, by too strictly following precedent, we often substitute
elegance for seniiment ; ou the other, a too open defiance of it, might lead
to a corruption of true taste.

It is observable in the Ducal palace, as in many other Venetian build-
ings, how well the contrast between the fiat mass of wall and its windows
is effected ; how admirably one part serves to relieve the other; also how
the coloured diamond patterns on those masses reduce the heaviness which
might otherwise appear too great for the light, ornamental corridor below.

The angular balcony and recess (fig. 2) from another palace is a " bar-
barism" perhaps not likely to be committed by many English architects.
Nevertheless it is very beautiful. It was ingeniously contrived for com-
manding, from one point, different views on the canals ; but for this and a
thousand other similar picturesque features in her buildings, with the me-
mories they awaken of her former pageantries, Venice would lose more
than half its enchantment. .Such things fully express their meaning in
this wonderful city, and impress the mind with all that poetry and ro-
mance that is infused over it. They must be applied, however, with great
caution to other places and circumstances, for, bearing, as they do, more
the stamp of power and the force of original thought, than the evidence
of good taste, they should serve rather as stimuli to invention than as ex-
amples for imitation. The danger of sacrificing correct drawing and just
representation to a love of splendour, of which Reynolds, Fuseli, and
others, warned the student in the fascinating colours and wild compositions
of the great Venetian painters, might equally be incurred in an immode-
rate fondness for the florid palaces of Venice and the fanciful creations of
the Moor.

* See "Illustrations to Hope's Historical Essay on Architecture," and CIcognara —
Fabbriche pin cospicae cii Venejia.

1846.J

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECPS JOURNAL.

231

It is eajy to recognise a correspondence in the principles and effects both
in the painting and architecture of Venice.

Pig. 2.

That variety of tints, of forms, of colours, and of the manner of break-
ing and blending them into one another, which is seen, with one or two
exceptions, in the Venetian painters, was in itself extremely attractive;
but its merit of beauty and picturesqueness was fatal to all grandeur and
dignity. So in the architecture, there were such a richness, such an intri-
«acy, so many curves of contrary flexure (archi proteiformi), and, as it
would sometimes seem, such a positive avoidance of anything lil^e uni-
formity or along continuatiuo of lines, that, picturesque though it be, and
interesting for reasons already given, it was yet far removed from simpli-
city and grandeur of effect. All these highly ornamental qaalities were
rejected by the Roman and Florentine schools, which excelled in the grand
and imposing style; and those palaces of Rome and Florence, which have
(be national features most strongly marked on them, as the Farnese,
Strozzi, and Pitti, contrasted with those in Venice most remarkable for
their peculiarities, present the opposite characteristics of grandeur and
mere picturesque beauty as much as objects totally diOering from each
other possibly can do,

III.

Although the marked characteristics of these styles arose out of pecu-
liar times and circumstances ; yet it must be allowed that the details of
these edilices are attributable partly to tie amount of the labour bestowed
on them and, in a great measure, to the degree of artistic skill and know-
ledge of picterial effect possessed by the Italians. At a period happy for
art they united the painter with the architect. Dominichiuo, Raphael,
Michael Angelo, were the better able (as were also our Christopher Wren
and Vanbrugli) to impress some originality and power on their works,
from possessing this combination of taleut. Ornaments, showing great
attention to chiar' oscuro, and a knowledge of the artificies of contrasting
light with shade and producing relief, and executed with reference to the
distance at which they would be viewed, are well displayed in some of
(bedetaili of buildings in Italy, as well Roman as Italian-Glothic; although

in a different, rather than, perhaps, to a less extent than that seen in the
elaborate enrichments of Gothic architecture.

Thus in many of the Italian cornices,* as in the brick and terra-colta
ones in Padua and Ferrara, but especially (as being likewise of superior
material) in that to the Strozzi palace, there is such a union of boldness
and richness— and sometimes these qualities stand out so conspicuously
singly, that they make all the impression on the spectator which it is pos-
sible for such things to do ; deriving their etfects from bold projection,
breadth of shade, and judicious arrangement of surfaces ; and not these
members only, but the chimneys, which make such sorry figures on our
roofs, are remarkable for their beauty and the outline they offer against
the sky ; and tbe deep effective border ornaments and decoration to doors
and windows often receive all the character and importance of which they
are susceptible.

Let any one compare this Strozzi cornice with any cornices in England,
designed on buildings of an equal size with that palazzo, and he will see
and lament the difference. The former has been accused of " projecting
beyond all authority" — by so doing it becomes a bold and spirited produc-
tion. In England, too often this feature, even in large public buildings,
where it is capable of being made imposing, and ought to be so, dwindles
into insignificance and meanness ; for their parts are seldom large and
definite enough ; but often too small and too confused ; no account is taken
of the point of view whence they are beheld ; and little attention is given
to increase as much as possible the effect of light and shade, by making
some parts prominent and deepening the recesses of others, as, for instance,
in the dentiles, and egg and tongue moulding. From neglecting this, those
portions of the cornice are often entirely lost in the open air to the eye,
and require, in order to be seen at all, to be brought within the bounds of
the architect's own room, or else to be viewed through a telescope.

* " when they came to the cornices — the massive unbroten cornices of their palaces —
the littleness of the other parts is so completi ly lost, that it is evident they wore actuated
by the same feelings of unity and breadth titat lent so much value to the best works of

the ancients I cannot refrain from calling the attention of the student to the

cornices employed by the Florentine school, inasmuch as there is no member of a build-
ing from which it receives so great an assistance and effect as from the cornice. In the
best and most celebrated examples, such us the Strozzi and Pandollini palaces, and the
Picolomini palace at Sienna, whose court and staircase are of extraordinary beauty, the
cornice is proportioned to the whole height of tlie building, as the height of an order,
notwithstanding the horizontal subdivisions and small cornices that occur between th«
ground and ihe crowning members. Not less celebrated than those just meutioned, is
that of the Farnese paliice at Rome, which has always been considered one of the most
powerful architectural effort* of Michael Angelo."— Givilt's " Elements of Architectural
Criticism.'*

A NEW THEORY OF THE STRENGTH AND STRESS

OF MATERIALS.

By Oliver Byrne, Professor of Mathematics.

(Continued from page 167.)

The work done in elongating a bar to its elastic limit, whose sectional

area is one square inch, and length one foot, equal '" i ^^ ( 77 ) i sup-

l
posing the limit to be expressed by the fraction i, ; in this case A L= 1

The units of work done in elongating any other bar of the same material
as the last, whose length equal L, and sectional area equal A, t* its elastic

limit,-=JM^ ^-j-^

(I \2
T )

elongated to their elastic limit, i "^I, ( T" ) '^ called the modulas of
Resistance, and may be written M^, and is sometimes called the modulus
of longitudinal Resilience. If the work of elongating goes on till fracture
is produced M^ the work necessary to cause fracture in a bar a foot long
and an inch square, is styled the modulus of fragility, so that My L A, will
express the units of work that will cause fracture, in Ihe same manner that
M- L A expresses the units of work to extend a bar to its elastic limit.
By-aod-by we shall explain what is underslood by the term Modulus of
Rupture in Transverse Strains. The modulus of fragility. My must not
be mistaken for the unit of tenacity, which is the number of pounds that
would tear asunder a bar one square inch in section. Length is not taken

A L. It is evident that -r- is the same value as in

' is the same in all cases with bars of the

232

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[August,

into account in the nnit of tenacity, but as the strain is supposed to be on
the highest section of the bar, it is therefore at this section the rupture will
take place, hence the length mast be taken into account in determining the
weight that produces fracture.

Condition of rupture in a rectangular beam under a transrerse strain.

Let us next consider the nature of the forces exerted by the filaments of
the cross section, near g, when the beam is in the state bordering upon
rupture.

Let g' be any point of the curve g g', very near g ; and let the normals
teg and t' e' g' meet in the (point o. Let p = the radius of curvature of
the mean filament, e e', at the point e, that is, the filament which i.s in a
middle slate between 1 1' and g g' ; it is represented by h k in the cross
gection through t g; hk is in such a position that it is equal in length to
abor p q, the breadth of the beam before the weight W was applied.

It must be observed that fig. 14 is part of fig. 13 enlarged, the same
Fig. 14.

3 S

letters represent the same parts, and that e e' is not considered neutral.
Let a — ee' ; i = the distance of any filament whatever as//, from the
mean filament, and a' the length of //'
of— p + s — radius of curvature of//', at the point/, then,

.' . a p — a p -\- K a, a =: a -\-

On account of the forces applied, the longitudinal filaments undergo
»mall dilations, which will destroy the equality that existed between a and
a' before the forces were applied. Let o = the primitive magnitude, then,
supposing 5 and 5' very small fractional parts of a, so that
<r = o (1 + 8) and ff' = a (1 4- S')

.•.<.(l + J') = a(l+a) + a-''('+')

. 8' = ! +

^(1+8)

I ar8

= S + - + —

Let<(' = o(l — €');g-ff' = a(l +e); n'=:a(i_5',); and let the
height of the fibre a.ig -i, and breadth a A or p ? := 3, that is, the breadth
before the force is applied, ef-x; el = y ; e g = a^; and c < =: Oj.
When the element or fibre at g-, becomes expanded till its length a becomes

Q

a (I + €), then its breadth will be ^j^T^^J.and height ! ^i.the heighti

i« ao small, this supposes the cross section of the extreme fibre, before the
expansion takes place, to be similar to it after being expanded,*— mind we

Q

say similar, not equal, for is less than ^ ; so the breadth is di-

minished. It will be perceived that we are here speaking of the lower
filaments at g.

Tlie assumiJtion BeemB inconBisIent with theass'imed liiillening of llie beam. For it
IS Clear that if the proportion lietiveef the depth and width ..I the constituent elements
lemnn.s unnlleretl, the proportion hetwesn the depth and width oflhe whole heam must
«f.^ . L /,n ; I u ■; VM'" '"rf"^>^ of 'I"- I'eam bulsed out. the depth of the upper 81.,.
a.eiits would he , ImMnshed and the width increrijed-if we afsume the density to rem ,in
Hike's Law- Ed* °"'""'P''''° "'" '" contrary to our knonkiige of elastic bodies and to I

• . the 1

breadth of the fibre. at//- = ^^ + "-i^ 0" (TT^Ji)
fir ^

~"i i "i" f 1 — ^1 1 y^ L- The force arising from the action of

//' is proportional to 6', and may be represented by m 8', m being a con-
stant depending upon the nature of the material of which the bar con-
sists ; therefore, the normal force which corresponds to the point /, normal

totf, IS represented by ~^ a,— / 1 — , , , I x \ml dx, and the
moment of all the forces normal to eg- with respect to the asis A fc = M =

'^/""["■-O-raV}''

xdx

(1 -f 8) .r
but 5 _ 8 -| ; Iience, by substitution,

Therefore M equal
— S rc — 4(1— _i ~)18pa? + r4 — Sri — _J_M/, . « .1

(l-t-8)<i} I ; butp:p + a,::a(l + 8):a(l + e);

P(l +0.
P + a,

f-^a.

, M =

m&(i\p

I2(p + n,)(l+0i^

> (2 (1+01 + 4) ( p e «,) + ( (l-f e)J- -f 3) (I + .) a. |
This being established, we shall next determine the nature of the for(»»
between e and t, or on the area hkdc. The breadth of the extreme fibres
6

at tf

aj :y::

ot zz p — n„; ol = p — y,

S - - y . 1

(T=^i-^:^((-i=7yi-^)'

breadth of the fibres at 1 1'. The elastic forces of compression between
e and t, as well as those of extension between e and g, tend to turn the
surface of rupture in the same direction about the axis of rupture. The
moment of all the forces normal to e t, with respect to the axis h k which
we shall call M, is equal

— a.

, , „, 6, p — (i;-f (1— <,'ly

but 8 =: ,

p — a^

forp — o, : p — !/ :; o(l — «,) : a(l — J").

_a,fp-o,

• "■ - m,i8 ^

.•.M, = ""^^^ X

• latp-a,) (l-,,)i ^
{(-' »(l-*.)i +4) («,p-a,)-f( -3 + 7 (l-€,)i )(!-.,)«. I

Now the elastic forces M and M,, when th« beam is on the point of
breaking, together wilh the pressure applied at B or A (fig. 7), which it
equal to half the weight W and half the weight of the beam.

Espresenting, therefore, by ir the weight of the beam,
M + M, = 4(W + t() X rB
Let rB = p = half the distance between the supports =:the perpendicular
let fall from the axis round which the section of rupture turns upon the
direction of the pressure at A or B. In the next number will be pointad
out the erroneous principle upon which Hooke's law is founded.

(To be continued J

1810.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEEERAND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL

233

CANDIDUS'S NOTE-BOOK.
FASCICULUS LXIX.

"I must have liberty
■Willial, as large a charter as the wiuds,
To blow on whom I please."

I. Even should Burton's arch prove able to bear Wyatt's Wellington com-
fortably, it is more than in all present likelihood good taste will be able to
do. If those vvlio are mainly concerned and interested in hoisting up the
statue to that " bad eminence" and unenviable point of exaltation for it, have
felt all along so assured of a satisfactory result, how happens it that they have
not imparted some degree of that same comfortable assurance to the public,
if only to stop the mouth of criticism ? Some half dozen years ago, indeed, a
mere flat pasteboard sort of scheme of the figure was stuck up on the top of
the arch for a day or two,— and a strange figure it cut, which may have heen
one reason for taking it down again as expeditiously as possible, instead of
allowing time for its being generally seen. In the interim, which has been
a tolerably long one, nothing farther has been done in the way of precau-
tionary trial, or if it has been done, the public have not heen informed of it.
Yet most assuredly it would not have been amiss, had a good-sized model of
tlie structure with the equestrian figure upon it, been prepared, and exhibited
at the lioyal Academy ; besides which there should have been perspective
views also taken from dilTerent points, in order the better to determine what
would be the effect of such contemplated " improvement" of the arch, upon
the other buildings and objects in its immediate vicinity. Hardly could the
expense attending such model and drawings have been made any objection
or difficulty, where so goodly and serious a sura as Thirty-thousand pounds
or thereabouts was to be expended, and that upon a single work of art. It
is well should the managers not prove to have been penny-wise and pound-
foolish in the matter, and should the work so liberally subscribed for, not
verify the proverb of buying a pig in a poke. The thirty thousand pounds
for the bran-new statue by our modern Phidias, is not much less than what
the priceless Elgin Marbles cost the country ; or than what would have secured
to us theentire Houghton collection, and prevented its going out of the country,
Alas ! for those days ! Among the whole monied aristocracy, among all our
wealthy collectors, nay among our city millionaires, there was not one who
cared to glorify his own name by inseparably uniting it with that of the
Houghton Collection. Many could easily have snatched the prize from the
grasp of the Russian Catherine, by merely taking up a pen, and giving a
cheque for the sum demanded — a sum that has frequently been staked at the
gaming table without compunction or hesitation.

II. By way of apology for, or in order the better to reconcile us to the
Wyatt Wellington — which might adorn some other situation , being put where
it will prove a Wellington " out of place," we are told that the idea has been
sanctioned by the consent of thelateandpresentSovereign. Now as to William
IV. it is notorious tliat he neither had nor pretended to have any taste at all
for art — and that last was some merit; he neither knew nor eared about it ;
and as to the consent of her present Majesty, it may fairly be suspected that
it is merely a negative one. Like Dickens' Mrs. Davis^ — if such very un-
courtly comparison be allowable — she does not care to be " worritted" about
the matter, — though of course there is no such word as " worrit" in the vo-
cabulary of royalty, — so leaves the managers and subscribers to please them-
selves in the aftair. — Granting that the Arch may be able to bear the enor-
mous weight that will be put upon, secure enough for some time to
come, yet the time will come, sooner perhaps than is thought of, when the
structure will require repair, and when it be so loaded, will not that be an
operation attended with some hazard, as well as very great difficulty ? It
will not be matter for much surprize should it eventually be found necessary
to fortify the work by converting the hollow parts within the structure into
•olid masses of earth, concrete, and brickwork. At all events should the
scheme be persisted in, we shall have a huge Wellington mounted on guard
before little A psiey House, which for an ^rcA-duke's mansion is as lilliputian
in taste as it is in dimensions. Instead of giving us a mere " sentinel" statue,
might not the artist have properly thrown a little allegory into his work, —
have represented the hero of Waterloo not exactly fast asleep, but merely
taking a nap, while perfectly wide awake ? — or rather, putting that said Nap
to flight.

HI. Speaking of the decoration of rooms and of his conversations with
the late Stuttgart architect, Thouret (who died January 17, 1845) on the
subject, Goethe says that the imifa/ion of granite, porphry, and all sorts of
marbles, &c., is matter of great importance (se/irtmc/iti^). Constquently he
for one — and his opinion may be allowed to stand for something, even should

it not entirely remove the scruples of the ultra-conscientious, — did not look
upou such imitation as mere " sham," unworthy the dignity of genuine archi-
tecture. The deception is surely of perfectly legitimate as well as innocent
kind, for we all know that in the most sumptuous palaces or other buildings
the internal walls never are or can be of solid marble, at the utmost are
only incrusted with such material. So long as the construction of a build-
ing be sound, and calculated for durability, what matters it though the
beauty which array it, and captivates the eye, be only skin-deep ? Fresco
paintings themselves are only superficial ; the external surface once gone, no
redressing or repolishing can revive it. It is no argument against the imita-
tion of costly and perhaps somewhat inapplicable materials also, that it is
apt to be very paltry. It certainly is not necessarily so, for it may, on the
contrary, be very excellent ; and as the processes by which it is produced
partake more of mere manipulation tlian art, excellence — positive merit can
safely be ensured for it beforehand, which is assuredly no small advantage.
Those who affect to despise all deception of the kind, may be left to recon-
cile to themselves as well as they can, that of gilding, by means of which
the most valuable of all metals is counterfeited for purposes to which that or
any other metal would be perfectly inapplicable, — picture frames, for in-
stance, which though apparently of gold are, and are known to be, only of
ordinary wood gilded over.

IV. Barry is now not only eclipsing Soane, but absolutely extinguishing
him hit by bit, at least in the purlieus of Westminster. Poor Soane ! not
only has the exterior of his " Board of Trade" been so completely refashion-
ed, as to be metamorphosed into a different piece of architecture, but his
Scala Regia and Gallery, and his Law Courts — on which last he prided himself
so especially, are doomed to pass away,without leaving a wreck behind, or other
memorial of them than the wretchedly vile engravings of them in his " Pub-
lic and Private Buildings," a work remarkable for nothing so much as the
extraordinary penuriousness with which it was got up, more particularly the
old architect's character for " munificence" considered. Poor Soane ! pity
that he had not the heart to he a little more liberal towards himself, — some-
what less positively stingy. Poor Soane ! too, it will be doubly, if Britton
should now pass by him without mention, when recording the other distin-
guished patrons and persons of talent whom it has been his good fortune to
attract to himself during his long and industrious career. Will he now cut
" his esteemed friend Sir John Soane," or will he recant, — at least qualify
his former admiration by giving a dark a la Rembrandt portrait of him ? —
Nous verrons.

V. Welby Pugin has obtained a distinction very rarely conferred in any
shape, upon members of the architectural profession, however eminent they
may be, namely, that of having an engraved portrait of him published. To
say the truth, architects are treated as a sort of Impersonals by the public, —
creatures without bodies, therefore it is to be presumed, all intellect, all
mind. At any rate, it seems to be taken for granted that no one cares to
behold what manner of men they are in outward shape and physiognomy.
You shall look over catalogues and hsts of portraits, and among thousands
will scarcely find one of a single architect. It fares very little better with
foreign architects than with English ones: portraits of recent or living ones
are rare phenomena. Things of the kind may be painted, but they are not
transferred to copper or stone, ^ro lono pullico. There is a published por-
trait of Cagnola, one- — nay two, if not more, of Schinkel ; beyond which
number the list can hardly be extended. It may be questioned if there
be one even of Zwirner, although a likeness of him ought to be in request
with the multitude, he being the architect employed upon the works at
Cologne Cathedral- What Nagler will say of Zwirner is not likely to be
known — at the rate his work progresses — till some twenty years hence-
When he does reach him, it is to be hoped that he will not blunder so egre-
giously, as he did about Pugin — or rather the two Pugins, father and son, of
whom he completely made mincemeat, by chopping them both up together,
and stuffing the compound into one article.

VI. The second series of Allom's " France Illustrated," is decidedly infe-
rior to the first, as regards interest of subjects. In that respect it exhibits a
deplorable falling-off ; and hardly less than deplorable it is to find him, after
giving us such delicious interiors of the Madelaine, the Pantheon, and several
of the apartments at Fontainebleau — that excepted, called the Salon d'Abdi-
catioii, a very commonplace room, remarkable for nothing more than a very
big-headed Napoleon in an arm-chair, — he should dish up for the second
course, such watergruel things as monotonous landscapes — chiefly all moun-
tains and skies, that we seem to have met with before, again and again, there
being nothing in sceneiy of the kind to individualize and extinguish one par-
ticular spot from another, wherefore one or two specimtns are as good as

3U

•2M

THE CIVIL knginh:er and architects journal.

[August,

a score or two, — nay, very much better, because there is then more room
ior better subjects. And pray, has Mr. Allom taken leave of Paris? — does
he not intend to let us have from his truant pencil — views (interior and exte-
rior) of Notre Dame de Lorette, and St. Vincent de Panle, of the Ecole dcs
Beaub Arts, the Hotel du Quai Orsay, the Hotel of the Banker Hope, and
many other edifices which would show his forte? Let him labour in his
own proper vocation and be will be almost unrivalled in that department of
architectural illustration in which he has evidenced such captivating talent
in his "Constantinople," and his " France." As much cannot be said for the
putter-together of the letter-press in the latter work, for of architecture he
seems to know actually notliing, — is altogether unable to speak of buildings,
except by sometimes blundering most deliciounly, as when he talks of the
Theatre at Bordeaux been adorned with " interesting" ! Corinthian pilasters,
wliich is nearly all that he snys of it !

VH. Schlegel was not very wide of the mark in saying " Art has become
a slop-shop for pedantic antiquities." Those who pretend most to busy
themselves and to take interest in it, give their attention chiefly, and some-
times exclusively, to what is not of the slightest aesthetic or artistic import-
ance. In what are called Celtic monuments, for instance, there is no archi-
tectural articulation, they consisting of no more than so many brute stones, —
unshapen, shapeless, or misshapen. Such tilings are wholly destitute of
organization; hardly can they be called the work of man's band, being
.merely rude blocks of stone in their natural form, testifying that those who
set them up, had no architectural skill or science, and were unable to reduce
them to even the simplest artificial regular form, as the Egyptians did the
monoliths which they erected as obelisks. Yet though they possess neither
pictorial nor architectural interest, several plates are devoted — literally sa-
crificed to the subject of Celtic monuments, in both the first and second
series of Gailhabaud's Ancient and Modern Architecture. Surely a single
plate of specimens of them would have sufBced, would have been quite as
much as was their due share ; whereas modern architecture has as yet come
off very poorly, and must do so at last, unless the work is intended to be
carried on indefinitely. A really new and fresh subject has not yet been
given in it at all : they are all old acquaintances derived from other publica-
tions,— new only to those who are themselves new in architectural study.
Yet if unedited subjects — such as have not yet been made known in this
country at least, there is abundance, — even perplexity of choice. Out of the
number of recently erected structures at Paris, there are some infinitely more
worthy of notice than those which have been selected from that capital.
There is for one the new church of St. Vincent de Panle, also that of Notre
Dame de Lorette ; and a section of the Madeleine, which seems to have never
yet been so shown, would be very acceptable. The new Theatre at Dresden
by Semper, the new Palace at Brunswick, by Ottmer, would be novelties
worth setting before us ; whereas the modern specimens selected are stale
and mouldy, — are of what, in speaking of ladies, is termed a " certain age,"
being neither old nor young, neither lovely, nor venerable.

Vin. Architectural description is generally very dry stufT; few bring that
rich poetical imagination to it, or scatter such flowers of " gay rhetoric" over
it, as does the accomplished George Robins. As an example take the fol-
lowing elTusion from bis pen, which appeared the other day in the Times,
ri'laiive to a place distinguished by the not particularly inviting name of
Thistle Grove, but he has such a Midas touch tliat he makes every subject
he handles glitter like pure gold. — " The house," he teils us, " is a solid piece
of architecture based on the Corinthian order, adorned by a conservatory in
capital taste, with painted glass ; and within this little Elysium comfort is
conspicuous in every department." An uncomfortable Elysium, however,
would be something more marvellous. " The tact tliat prevails is of peculiar
cast; it disdains the prevailing order" ! This is somewhat transcendental
in meaning ; and requires some cniitation to make it out. The prevailing
order, by which it may be presumed the above-mentioned Corinthian order
is to be understood, is it seems after all, prevailed over — even disdained by
the still more prevailing tact. The tact and the order contend for pre-emi-
nence, and poor order comes otf with the worst of it, wherefore there is
likely to be some disorder in the matter. — " The doors of the drawing-room
arc distinguished by plate-glass ;" what an ingenious and delicate way of
Eiving us to understand that there is no plate glass in any other part of the
house '. Passing by the rest of the description, it will be suflicient to give
the conclusion — a climax not to be surpassed : " These apartments are so
perfect that really Elysium is brought to recollection" 1 ! As George Robins
is the only mortal upon earth who recollects Elysium, be cannot possibly do
better than enlighten the world by an accurate topographical descriptiun of it
from his own poetico-graphic pen.

RUSTIC MASONRY.

The value of what is termed rustic masonrj' has been alluded to incidentally
in the paper on the employment of pediments and columns in the decoration
of windows ; we now propose to consider the aesthetic propriety of " rustica-
tion," a little more generally.

Of this kind of masonry there are two principal species. In the one ex-
terior surfaces of the stones are indented to resemble imperfect tooling; in
the other the walls are streaked viith prism-shaped channels in imitation of
defective jointing. Both kinds of rustication are studied counterfeits of de-
formity— not merely deceptive imitations, but imitations of defects.

Were not our eyes familiar with every absurdity important into classic
architecture, during what is termed the Revival of the Arts, it would not he
necessary to defend by argument the condemnation of studied defects. As
it is, however, it will be necessary to show in what manner the defects under
consideration violate the fund.imental principles of classic architecture.

The origin of rustic masonry was necessity. At a very early period of
Grecian architecture, while the mechanical arts were rude and immature, the
irregularities in the masonry were unavoidable evils, and the edges of the
stones were chamfered to palliate in some degree the defects in the jointing.
In proportion however as art advanced, the surface of the stone was more
smoothly wrought, and the arris better squared, till at last the Greek masons
were able to build that which is or ought to be a pleasing object to every
architect — perfectly finished masonry. In this manner and no other were
built the glorious temples of the age of Pericles. Many centuries however
after these monuments of perfect art had been forgotten, and when also the
decay of mediajval architecture evidenced how rapidly the principles of pure
taste were being abandoned, an Italian architect, Brunelleschi (the same
who built the cupola of Sta. Maria del Fioreat Florence, a structure in which
the essential feeling of classic architecture is systematically misinterpreted
throughout) re-adopted rustic masonry along with a multitude of similar
solecisms, for which be has received, facetiously we suppose, the title of Re-
storer of Architecture.

A writer who has attempted to defend the propriety of rustic decoration,
observes that though it be the imitation of defects, it exhibits a studied in-
tention, which is a suflicient excuse for its adoption ; and yet the same writer,
by a singidar inconsistency, condemns the use of rustic dies on columns in
which, beyond controversy, studied intention is more distinctly exhibited
than in rustic or tatooed masonry.* But we wish to found our condemna-
tion of the practice not ou the inconsistencies of a single writer, but oa
general principles.

It has been shown in a previous paper, and will therefore be taken for
granted in this, that the distinctive characteristics of Pointed and Classic
Architecture arc multiplicity in the one, and simplicity in the other. The
former style (when correctly developed) consists in the picturesque combina-
tion of a multitude of dissimilar parts ; the latter exhibits but a very few
forms, and those of the simplest kind. Now directly chamfered masonry is
adopted, this essential character of simplicity is lost at once; each stone as-
sumes a separate individuality and appears as if set in a frame ; instead of
showing but few lines the structure exhibits an infinite i.umber everywhere
intersecting each other and forming a rectangular network. Where columns
are employed, as in porticoes, the horizontal lines of this reticulation appear-
ing beliind the columns, appear to cut tliem athwart, and destroy that idea
of verticality which is their essential attribute.

A remarkable instance of the injury produced by horizontal lines crossing
or appearing to cross the columns of a classic edifice, is seen in the church
La Madeleine at Paris, certainly as far as regards the exterior, one of the
most successful of modern attempts to revive pure classic architecture. The
channels scored on the masonry of the cella have a most injurious efl'ect on
the cbaiacter of the columns, and this injury is further increased by the im-
perfect (French) workmanship of the columns themselves. The shafts are
composed of stones so imperfectly united that they appear encircled with a
series of hoops or rings which, except the observer be at a considerable dis-
tance, cause the columns to appear discontinuous and vertebrated,

* We presume that there are few people who think at all on the subject who would
advocate the employment of rustic dies in columas. The French apply the word " Bos-
sage," the derivative of which signilies a tumour or hump, to projecting stones left rough
iu building, to be carved and bnisbed subsequently; jus* as we now see in new churches.
&c., corbel stones or crocl^ets merely boasted out in the tirst Instance and sculptured
afterwards when built into their places- There is no doubt that rustic dies originateii la
a stupid blunder by which mere Hossages were mistaifeii f"r iinished work. What shoaliJ
we think of the taste which would leave the irrtgular lumps of stone now to be seen in
some of the arch-lnouiUiogs oftho Palace of Westminster in their preseot uuHnished
State'

18^6.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECrS JOURNAL.

235

It is obviously impossible that mere streaks and crevices on a wall can be
dignified by the appelatioa of mouldings, for they never tould be made to
have tlie same value and importance ; but even if for the sake of argument,
we set aside tliis unavoidable inferiority, is it not palpably absurd to decorate
a building all over with mouldings ? These decorations owe their effect to
their rarity and their contrast with the simpler portions of the structure ; and
the value of them if applied every where indiscriminately is entirely lost.
There is nothing in which the Greeks showed' themselves more eminent than
in introducing mouldings just where they were required and no w/tere else.
It cannot be expressed too emphatically that the whole effect of mouldings,
the whole of the relief which they afford, arises from their being used sparing-
ly and marking distinctly the outlines of separate portions of the building. If
they be used otherwise CEmfusion — not enrichment — is the result. The dressings
of a doorway are not new accessories, but answer a distinctive purpose : the
listel or horizontal fillet, which in a Doric order separates the triglyphs and
metopes from the architrave is essentially a constinctive decoration for it
exhibits the method by which the joists of the roof are supported by the
columns. And in the same way we might explain the purpose of every
moulding used in pure classic architecture ; but mere channels cut in the sur-
face of the walls canhot answer any purpose either real or imaginary : they
do not serve to mark distinct parts of the building, for they merely separate
one portion of the wall from auother exactly similar portion ; they do not,
like mouldings properly so called, divide the building into large well-detined
masses, but cut it up into a confused multitude of little parts.

If the composition of a building be properly managed it will present no
large continuous surfaces which unless so scored all over appear blank and
naked. If we examine actual examples of rustication we shall find it to be a
mere make-shift expedient, the palliative of an evil which if the architectural
grouping had been duly attended to, would never have been called into ex-
istence. It may be safely asserted that no buildings whatever, be the style
adopted, can be architecturally effective unless some portions of the building
throw shadows on the remainder. This consideration is much overlooked in
the present age. The great defect of modern architecture is that it seldom
displays sufficient depth of shadow ; it is usually to shallow and flat ; it is
not made up of large strongly defined masses, and the variety which ought to
be obtained by depth is imperfectly compensated for by surface-decorations
and minute details. Rustic work is essentially a surface-decoration, aud for
that reason alone, if no other existed will find little fevour among those who
would restore architecture to that place among the fine arts which it once

If the architect had to deal, not with solids, but surfaces, he might take
lessons of a line-engraver and the River farade of the Palace of Westminster
would be perfect. A mere fafade however no more constitutes a palace,
than a modern church-front constitutes a church. Much more than this is
necessary — especially in classic architecture of which the constituent forms
are so few and simple that unless the effective disposition of light and shadow
be observed, meretricious ornaments mjist be resorted to prevent the mono-
tony and nakedness becoming absolutely intolerable. There is scarcely any
thing which has more debasing and fatal infloence upon art than a system of
tave trouble expedients : among them must he reckoned all supertlaus sur-
face-decorations, and especially rustication. We know but one class of build-
ings for which this kind of masonry is appropriate— namely, prisons, which
it seems agreed should be as ugly as possible, consistently with security. In
them at least rustic masonry is in sufficiently good taste and accompanied by
the ornaments of skull and cross-bones, and iron chains will constitute a
species of perfectly symbolic architecture which may be safely recommended
to the admiration of the Cambridge Camden Society.

The subordinate decorations of a building ought, it is clear, to correspond
in character to style of architecture to which they are adopted. A most im-
portant consideration under this head is that while Medioeval Architecture
delights in free forms, in Classic architecture, perfect finish and accuracy are
essential. An ancient church-tower of rough rubble work is a picturesque
object, however simple and unpretending the architecture may be, but if the
cella of Greek temple were built in a similar manner, can it be denied the
coarseness of the workmanship would be totally out of character with the
rest of the building. The delicacy and accuracy of outline which distinguish
Greek architecture are characteristics which would be naturally looked for in
a southern climate ; the bold and alpost rugged lines of northern architecture
«eem exactly to correspond to the energetic character of the people, among
whom they were produced. Now these considerations, simple as they ap-
pear, are of the utmost value in determining a question like that before us.
Rustic masonry displays ruggedness and coarseness of execution which, if

what has just been said respecting the distinctive character of Classic and
Pointed Architecture be correct, show it to be inappropriate to the former

style.

This brings us to our last argument. These who defend the propriety of
rustic work seem totally to overlook this consideration — that they ought to
be prepared to adapt it to Pointed architecture as well as Classic, or else to
point out some characteristic differences between the two styles which render
rustication suitable for the one and not for the other. This however has
never yet been done ; on the contrary, any argument drawn from the com-
parison suggested would lead to the conclusion that if there be any style for
which this mode of decoration is suitable, it must be Pointed architecture.
The attempt to so apply it would, we apprehend, meet with universal ridi-
cule ; should not this feeling be a sufficient argument for abandoning rustic
masonry altogether ?

To what heresies have we not given utterance ! We have condemned the
use of columns which support nothing, of show sides used as masks, of
pigmy columns used as window mouldings ; we have declared the attempt
to combine Classic and Medijeval architecture absurd ; and now we include
rustic masonry in our list of barbarisms. But what an amount of precedent
and written testimony is against us ! Does not evert/ one of the things
which we have condemned exist in St. Paul's Cathedral, the pride of the
metropolis, and one of the wonders of the world .' And yet we maintain
our position, simply because we have in no case substituted assertion for
argument. If we have in any case failed to prove our point we shall be very
glad to be set right. That in promulgating these opinions we must contend
against an enormous amount of educational prejudices is unavoidable ; but
it is better to do this than to let pure Classic architecture be forgotten in the
detestation of debased Classic architecture which the modern improved
taste for the Medixval styles has justly inspired.

RESTORATION OF ST. BOTOLPH'S CHURCH,

Boston, Lincolnshire.

Among the Church Restorations, which the revival of Christian architec-
ture in the present century has instigated, few deserve more the public at-
tention than that of the Church of St. Botolph, Boston, Lincolnshire, both
from the celebrity of the edifice itself, and from the extent and excellence of
the work of which we make this brief notice.

The church is a Decorated structure of the 13th century, originally con-
sisting of a nave aud chancel with side aisles as at present ; to this a magni-
ficent tower in the Perpendicular style, was added in the beginning of the
Hth century.
The dimensions are — Ft. In.

Exterior length, including buttresses .. .. 305 8

,, breadth, including porch .. .. 138 6

Interior breadth of nave . . . . . . 98 6

Interior height of inner roof of nave . . . . 62 8

Span of arches . . . . . . . . 18 8

Height of ditto .. .. .. .. 40 H

r Ft. In. "I

r, , ) Base o 9 I or o

Columns -^ gj^^f^ 22 lO^f" •• •• ^' ^

Leap 1 Oj

Tower —

From the ground to coping stone of lower battlement I'lO 11

From do. do. of upper battlement 55 4

From base of lantern to top of stone-work of ditto . . 59 2

From base of lantern to top of vanes .. .. 5 0

Whole height of tower . . . . . . 269 5

Tower base interior . . . . 22 ft. 5 in. x 26 5

Glazed part of windows in tower (length) .. .. 52 0

Below windows in nave . . 4 6

Above ditto . . 4 8

Being the largest church in the United Kingdom without cross aisles.

The tower is a feature of such beauty and architectural celebrity as to
need no descripition here. The octagonal lantern by which it is surmounted
furnished the model from which that at St. Dunstans, in West Fleet-street,
was designed.

The building is constructed of an oolite of great durability, procured, it is

30*

Thickness

of walls I ]

23(5

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[August,

supposed, from the quarries at Ketton, near Stamford, Northamptonshire.
The inclemencies of the weather during the winters of 5 centuries (for there
arc no traces or records of suhstantial repairs since the original erection)
have but slightly impaired the general effect of the structure, though the
corroding influences of damp and exposure had long been seen in the lighter
and ornamental parts, and here and there on the surface of the stone work
in the walls and buttresses. The circumstance, not unknown to architects
in the present day, deserves a notice here, that the stones placed in a hori-
zontal position, corresponding to that which they occupied in the quarry,
have entirely escaped corrosion, while those in other positions are invariably
injured). To vindicate the integrity of this chief ornament of the pro-
vince of Gothic architects, the first efforts of the Restorer were directed
to the mullions and arch-mouldiiigs of the windows, and these have been re-
placed almost throughout with fresh stone, the glass-work of the windows
being at the same time re-arranged in diamond squares, for which the oblong
arrangement had been substituted at a comparatively recent date. The whole
of the pannelled parapet of the nave and parts of that of the aisles and chan-
cel were next rebuilt, the use of iron braces to compact the stone work,
having caused considerable distortion, especially of the south side where the
variations of temperature are more felt. The stonework on this side was so
much injured as to require in a great measure to be replaced by new work,
in which either copper or stone has been used. At the same time the decay-
ed stone in the walls of the church were entirely removed and fresh stones
substituted.

The restoration of the woodwork in the roof was one of the heaviest of
the expenses to be incurred in necessary repairs : the ends of the larger
heams being decayed to some distance from the walls, which imperfectly
supported their vast bulks, sound timbers were dovetailed with that part of
the larger beams which still remained sound, and along their whole length
on either side strengthened by cast iron bars, which have secured the stability
of this part of the structure probably for centuries to come.

The restoration necessary for the safe continuance of the structure thus
provided for, the ornamental parts were next proceeded with. Four large
pinnacles of 16 feet in height, and of elaborate workmanship, standing at the
east and western corners of the north and south aisles were entirely rebuilt
for the most part with fresh stone, and the ornamental heads of buttresses,
crocketed finials, &c., throughout the structure restored or replaced.

The work of reparation was conducted by Messrs. Scott and Moffat,
who have, as usual, evinced their appreciation of the spirit of mediaeval
architecture. The following are some extracts from the report presented
by the former gentleman to the Restoration Committee. The remarks re-
specting the restoration of the ceilings are worthy of attention. We need
scarcely say how fully we agree with the condenination of the painted
imitations of stone and oak.

The church appears, from the style of its architecture, to have been
built during the reign of King Edward the Third, a period during which
a great niovemeut in the way of church building seems to have taken place
throughout this district, as nearly every church in the neighbourhood seems
to have been, either wholly or in part, rebuilt at the same time. It origin-
ally consisted of a nave with aisles (perhaps the largest to any parish
church in the kingdom); achaucel of three bays only in length ; a south
porch of one story only ; and a chapel at the south-western angle. It ap-
pears to have been begun and completed in the first instance without any
tower — the original wtst wall being built perfect aud distinct from the
jireseiit tower, and the arch now leading into the tower having evidently
been the western wiudmv, which was converted into a tower arch, by re-
moving its tracery aud uiullious, and lowering the cill to the floor. At a
subse(iueot period, priibably about tiftv years from its first completion, the
present most W(icderful aud maguiOcent tower was addi*d : and at about
the same time the additional bays were added to the chancel, bringiug the
church to its present splendid proportions. The porch has since been in-
creased in height by the addition of the chamber now used as a library,
and some other minor additions have beeu made, and agaiu removed, but
in the main the church rctoius tlie same appearance which it must liave
jiresented on the first completion of the tower, at the commencement of the
fifteenth cr-nlury ; and considering its a^e, and the neglect which it has
suffered, it is in a remarkably tine stale of preservation.

Navi; Roof.
The nave, or central portion of the church, is the most iin|)ortant as
being of the greatest span, and is unfortunately in the worst condition of
any part of the roof, so far as can at present be ascertained, it was at
first very securely aud substantially constructed. The walls were tied
together by fourteen beams of most poufJerous dimensions, which were se-
cured to wall plates sunk in grooves in the stone cornice, which runs in
one width of stune through the whole thickness of the wall. Tliese beams
have in parts become much decayed — the ends of many having in fact
completely perished, so much so, that had it nut beeu for some rather clum-

sily contrived precautions, which have from time to time been taken for
their support, they could not have retained their position, but must have
Jiillen in.

The precautions alluded to, may possibly be suOicient to provide for the
immidiatc security of the roof (though even of this I cannot speak with
certainty), but there can be no doubt that it is anything but a satifaclory
state for so essential a part of the fabric to be allowed to remain in ; and
that if the decay of the beams should increase, very serious cunseqiiences
might be apprcliended. lu addition to this, I find, on a closer inspection,
that the wall plates (of which there are two ou each side) are (so far as 1
have been able to get at them) entirely perislied, by which the connecliuu
of the timbers with the walls has in a great measure been destroyed. An
attempt has been made (pmbably at a very early period) to remedy this,
by the introduc.ion of the huge irou hooks which so much disfigure the
exterior of the clerestory wall ; these, however, obviate the evil in a very
partial manner, being ill-ciuistructed for their purpose. Th-re are soniK
further defects in others of the timbers, particularly in the feet of some of
the upright wall-pieces and braces, which have been partially decayed
through the water having been allowed to get down into the pockets or
springing points of the groined ceiling, aud to saturate the masses of
dust and decayed wood which have there accumulated. The extent to
which this defect exists it is almost iinpuisible at present correctly to as-
certain, the parts allected being completely c incealed by the mouldings of
the groining; but I am inclined to think that it has not proceeded to a very
serious extent.

The effect of these different defects has been to cause an undue thrust
upon the southern wall, the timbers being most decayed on that side,
which has occasioned a considerable curvature in the length of the wall.
The wall having been, by flie joint pressure of the rafters above, and the
braces below, thrust outward, and partially drawn off from the ends of
the tie-beams ; and the enormous weight of these (each beam of itself
weighing nearly three tons) being thrown in great measure upon the
braces, has tended still further to increase the evil, which must even now
be constantly becoming greater; and must, if not remedied, greatly en-
danger this part of the building. The north side of the roof not being so
much decayed as the south, — and the latter having been the first to give
way, — the effect upon the north wall has been of a contrary nature to that
on the south ; aud, as might have been expected, this wall has been drawu
inwards, though to a much less extent than the outward teudeLcy of the
other.

It would probably be hopeless to attempt to restore these walls to their
proper position, and the utmost we can do is to previit their getting worse,
and to do this we must endeavour — 1st, to restore that lunguudinal stiff-
ness to the walls, which has been lost through the decay of the wall
plates. — 2nd, to complete the connection between the opposite walls, which
has been cut olf, partly by the same cause, and partly Oy the decay of the
ends of the beams : and jrdly, to support the tie-beams themselves in such
a manner that by their own weight they may not be causing the failure*
which they were intended to prevent. The first object cannot, I fear, be
effected without the introduction of new wall plates of oak, where the old
ones are decayed ; this appears particularly necessary on the soutli side.
The second aud third objects I should recommend to be provided for, by
cutting oil all the decayed ends of the beams, and replacing them with
new oak, well scarfed, and with strong iron plates above and below the
scarfe ; and by introducing to each beam a chain truss of wrouglit irou,
on such a coustrucliou that it would at once form a perfect tie to the roof,
and would in great measurse support the weight of the beam. Such other
timl)ers as are decayed should also be replaced with new. The above re-
pairs could be effected without materially disturbing the covering of the
roof, with the exception of the gutters and some other parts of the lead
work, which must be taken uji aud relaid.

ExTi-BNAL Stone Work.

The stone work generally is just in that stale which renders it most dif-
ficult to determine the extent to which it requires reparation: it is in many
parts much decayed and injured, but still not to that extent to warrant the
renewal of all the decayed parts; indeed, it is generally the smaller por-
tions of the ornamental work which are most affected ; the more solid
features generally remaining tolerably sound. The great object appeal's
to prevent it from getting worse, by relixing or renewing all such parts as
are in a shaken and dilapidated condition, or which are so decayed as to
endanger their stabiliiy, aud to replace all those detached ornamental fea-
tures, such as pinnacles, finials, &C., which have been displaced or
shaken, and such other injured parts as can be repaired without interfering
loo much with the more substautial parts o( the building. There are some
decayed portions of such a nature as to render it doubtful to what extent it
might be prudent to attempt to replace them, such as the base-mouldings
of the tower and church, and other parts which are intimately connected
with the strength of the buildings, and the decay of which has not gone
further than partially to eti'ace the mouldings on their surface. No general
rule can be laid down for liiese, but ihey must be viewed separately ou
their own merits, and accordin;.; to the extent of their dilapidation, aud the
comparative dilliculiy aud importance of replacing them.

1 will now attempt to enumerate, in order, the several parts requiring
reparation.

Clerestory.

SoiTM Side. — The upper part of the stair turret i« in a very shattered

ISiS.]

THE CIVIL EN^GINEER AND ARCHITECFS JOURNAL.

237

state. This stair bflongs to llie nave rather than the tower, havinfc in fact
existed before tlip tower was built. It appears to be quite distiuct from
the tower till within a few feet of the top, where it has been connected
vvilh it by turnins the stairs into (hose of Ihe tower. It is this connection
■>vhich has caused its dilapidation ; the settlement occasioned by the weisht
of the tower having completely crushed it and disjointed the stone work,
which has from time to time been further injured by the iron ties which
have been introduced. I am of opinion that it will be necessary to rebuild
it from the gutter upwards, a height of about S or 10 feet.

The Pariqiet on this side has been much injured by the undue pressure
of the roof, and by the improper use of iron cramps. It is twisted into
every variety of curve, and in some part overhangs considerably. Many
of the stones have been split bv the iron wedges impriidently used by the
plumbers, and the whole is in very bad condition; so much so, that I thiuk
it necessary that it should be taken oil' and re-set, using uew stone for such
parts as are injured.

The Buttresses to the sides of the clerestory have lost their linials, and
the heads are a good deal broken. The niche-heads on the same side are
much decayed and broken, and all Ihe figures but one are gone.

The Windows require considerable repairs. The midlions are many of
them very much out of the perpendicuLir, and the tracery is displaced and
broken, both by the settlement of the whole, and from the effects of the
iron-work. The ashlar-work also requires to be generally repaired, that
which is decayed being replaced, and the whole pointed where neces-
sary.

North Side. — The stair turret is as bad, or worse, than that already
described.

T/i« Parapet is not so bad, but some parts at least must be rebuilt. The
eastern pinnacle is not quite so bad as that on the other side.

The Side Buttresses, with their heads and linials, aie not quite so much
injured as those on the south side, but the linials are all gone, the niche
heads are much decayed, and only four figures remain. The windows and
ashlar require similar repairs, though to a less extent.
South Aisle.

The Parapet is in some parts shaken and crooked, and the ornamental
tracery decayed. The part of Ihe west end, and some few other portions,
must be taken down and refixed,and the decayed parts generally repaired
with new stone.

The Buttress heads have generally lost their finials, and are in other
respects defective ; these must be eflectually repaired, and new finials
provided.

The two large angle pinnacles are very much shattered, and will require
very considerable repairs. That at the western angle is particularly dila-
pidated, almost every part of it being more or less shaken or defaced —
this must in a great measure be worked anew : that at the eastern angle
is not so bad, but slill requires considerable work to make it perfect. The
figures from the niches are all gone, and should be replaced with new
ones. The greatest care should be taken iu the restoration of these beau-
tiful features, as if repaired by men who are ignorant of the style and
character of the ornamental work of the period, their beauty would be
entirely destroyed, which would be far worse than leaving them iu their
present dilapidated state.

The buttresses, string courses, and ashlar on this side are in parts de-
cayed and defaced, and will require general restoration where injured.
The South-West Chapel.

(Xow used as the Vestry and F.ngine-house.)
The exterior of this chapel is more dilapidated than any other part of
the building ; it is needless to enter into particulars, as nearly all the
stone.vvork is more or less decayed. It is a very beautiful feature, and
merits a perfect restoration.

North Aisle.

The parapet is generally substantial, and requires but little repair; ex-
cepting the exquisitely pierced parapet at the eastern gable, which requires
some restoration, lieing in parts decayed. The buttress heads require
some general repairs, and new finials throughout. The large angle pinna-
cle at the western end is sadly shattered, and requires the same extent of
repair with that on the south aisle. That at the eastern angle has been
partially repaired, but without much regard to correctness of detail ; it
requires still a good deal of work, and the figures should be made perfect.
These, like those on the other side, require a very careful study of the
details, to render them correct.

Interior.

Stoneicork.— l should recommend that the entire surface of Ihe freestone
work, such as doorways, windows, pillars, arches, &c., should be carefully
cleaned from the yellow-wash and paint by which they are at present dis-
figured, and tliat they should, where broken or injured, be repaired and
brought to a clean and perfect surface. The parts which have always been
rough, should be carefully pointed, and those which have always been
plastered, should be re-coloured and repaired. This would improve the
general aspect of the interior more than anything, and would remove that
plosfei'!/, disagreeable character which now so much injures the elTect of
the building. The great surface of the building causes this to be a rather
more expensive operation, than might at first be expected, but the cosl
would be amply repaid by the improved aspect of the building.

The Ceilings wonlii require painting, but on this a question might arise
as to the colour which should be used. There are three ways in which it
might be done. First, to paint it in imitation of stone, which I think ob-
jectionable, as being an imitation of a totally different material from that
of which they are actually constructed, and one of which, in their preseut
form, it would be hardly possible that they could have been made. This
system of imitation of one material in another, is so contrary to the prin-
ciples of the ancient church builders, that I think it very desirable to
avoid it; particularly in restoring an old building. The centre ceiling is
ancient, though not so old as the church ; it was originally all of oak,
though much of the boarding has since been replaced in deal. Strictly
speaking, it should not be made to appear like anything but oak. The
second kind of painting would be graining it iu imitation of oak ; this
would be coming nearer to the truth than the former method, but is to a
certain extent open to the same objections, as being a mere imitatii>n.
Perhaps, therefore, the most correct way would be that which was fre-
qupntly used in old churches, for the decoration of wood ceilings, viz. : —
merely ornamental panning, not imitating any particular material. Some
of Ihe ancient ceilings were most richly decorated in this way, and it pro-
duces a very beautiful effect. It might perhaps be practicable to take olf
the present painting alto;;ether, and to restore the original surface of the
wood ; which would, if it could be done perfectly, be preferable to any
kind of paint: iu ihis case the oak boarding must be restored throughout.
The experiment might be tried on a portion of the ceillug. Tliis would
not, however, apply to the ceilings of the aisles, which are of deal.

The Stone Floor
Is in many parts very much broken, and is throughout very damp. I
should think it desirable to relay it on a good bed of concrete or shingle.
I would, however, strongly recommend that the ancient monumental slabs
should be retained, and that wherever they are found to be over the graves,
they should be relaid in their proper places. They add much to the in-
terest of an old church, even when worn and defaced, and should uot be
removed merely to gratify a love of neatness and novelty.

The Glass.

The glazing throughout is in a very imperfect state, and needs extensive
repairs. It has been much weakened by the removal of the upright iron
staucheons, with which every light was formerly strengthened. Its strength
has also been much diminished by the use of squares instead of diamouds,
which are much less capable of withstanding the effects of the wind.

These repairs may be varied greatly in their cost, according to their
greater or less conipletness. Should the funds be suliicient, I should
recommend the whole to be re-glazed iu diamonds, with new iron-work,
which would vastly improve the appearance of the church, both externally
and internally, which is much disfigured by the bad character of the
present glazing.

To the above suggestions I will add a few more, which though not im-
mediately necessary are still requisite, to render the state -of the church
worthy»of the original ma-inificence of the design. The first is the ex-
pediency of raising a separate fund for refitting Ihe interior in oak iu a
manner worthy of such a building, the present fittings being so mean iu
their appearance, and absurd in their arrangement, as to destroy the whole
effect and propriety of the internal character of the building. Should thii
be done, a more suitable situation might probably be found for the organ,
which is a great obstruction to the chancel. The second suggestion is,
that the external and internal restoration should be extended to the chan-
cel, and that its beautiful stalls should be cleaned from the thick coatings
of paint with which they are disfigured. I would thirdly suggest that the
portion of the south-western chapel, now used as the engine-house, should
be united to the remaining portitm which is used as the vestry, and that
the arches between the latter and the church should be thrown open, eu-
closing the lower part only with an oak screen. And also that the beau-
tiful roof and other internal features of this chapel should be restored.

It would also be a most noble restoration if Ihe present ringing floor
coula be removed, and the magnificent story above, with its groined vault-
ing and its beautiful windows, restored to its original intention. This
would then be one of the finest things in existence, of this description. I
was, on the first examination of this part of the building, at a loss tn
imagine how the bells were originally rung, but on a closer inspect iun, I
Sud that they were formerly rung from Ike litile stone galleries, whicli run
round the second story on the level of the window cills, the ropes pa?»jug
through the beads of the windows, thence for a considerable beigl.t
through the interior of the wall, and over blocks or pullies set in openings
in the walls of the bclfiy. The holes through which they passed, may jet
be seen in each window-head, and also in the belfry above.

I will now conclude by strongly urging the necessity of a faithful ad-
herence to the ancient details, which can only be doue by a most carelul
study of their existing remains, and a comparison between them, and
those of other churches of a corresponding age : without this, the beauty
of the building will be destroyed, and the preseut work become a subject
more to be lamented than rejoiced in.

I would beg to add, as a practical suggestion, that io restoring the stone-
work, the use of iron should be as much as possible avoided ; its plucit
being substituted by stone plugs and capper cramps, or dowells.

238

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[August,

ST. EDMt'XD'S BURY GATE-TOWER.

WEST VIEW.

Much interest has recently been excited among the reatling portion of
the public respecting the antiquities of the Great Abbey Church of St.
Kdinunrf, at Bury, by the Camden Society's publication of the Chronica
Jocelini de Brackdonda. This work contains the earlier auuals of the
Monastery, Written by a monk of the bouse, named Jocelyn ; the reader
who is curious in such matters may obtain a most vivid and graphic pic-
ture of the monastic life in the times of Kings Henry 11 and Richard I, by
referring to the republished " Chronicles," or to the interesting and most
original analysis of them iu Carlyle's " Past and Present.''

Of the Abbey Church little is now preserved. The magnificence which
from the existing remains and the testimony of historians, we must suppose
to have characterisi-d its architecture, did not preserve it from the effect of
Vandalism which accompanied the general Dissolution of Monasteries.
The Norman gate tower, the Abbey Gateway and parts of the enclosure
walls are now the only vestigia of glories which caused the historian Leland
to exclaim enthusiastically, " The sun has not shone upon a monastery more
illustrious, whether we consider its wealth, its exient, or its incomparable
magnificence. Vou might indeed say that the monastery itself is a town ;
so many gates are there, some of them of brass ; so many towers, and a
church than which none can be more magnificent, and subservient to which
are three others also splendidly adorned with admirable workmanship and
standing in one and the same churchyard."

The growing zeal for architectural restoration has never shown itself
more worthily than in the efibrts now making to preserve to posterity so
much of the inestimable monumental legacies bequeathed to us by our an-
cestors, as yet remains at 15ury St. Kdmunds ; and accordingly we view
with great satisfaction the works in progress for repairing and reinstating
the Norman gate or campanile. 15y the terms repairing and reinstating,
must not be understood merely the removal of rubbish and plaster, and the
obliteration of churchwarden " beautifyings," but those substantial works
also which are requisite to preserve the building from actual destruction.
For it appears from a well written pamphlet now before us, in which are
described the present state of the tower and the steps taken for its restora-
tion, that it has suffered so much from violence and injudicious repairs as
to threaten imminent danger by its fall. The masonry, six feet in thick-
ness, displays numerous fissures in every part ; several stones of the prin-
cipal arch have fallen out; and the walls have swerved considerably from
the vertical. This dangerous condition of the tower has during the last
few years been the subject of serious apprehension, and attempts have beeo

made to repair the evil, or at least prevent it from increasing. In ISU ,
the parish being threatened with an indictment, some injudicious patchings
were commenced, and an elegant " pepper-box" was erected on the top of
the tower. The fissures however increased ; in 1818 two of them extended
from the very summit to the lower or ground arch.

The cause of this last disaster appears to have been the vibration pro-
duced by the ringing a large peal of bells in the tower. All that was done
was however to replace some of the stones which had fallen out, and to
JiU up the fissures witU cemait ! They did " but skin and film the ulcerous

place." , .

At len-th however the work of restoration was commenced in earnest.
A minu'e" report of the state of the building having been drawn up by Mr.
Cottingbam a commiltee has been formed for the purpose of superintending
the works recommended in that document, and raising funds for defraying
the expenses. In the progress of the survey there have been removed
nearly ino tons of rubbish and bricks, the weight of«hich added to the
insecurity of the building. The adjacent ground has been cleared of the
mean tenements with which it was encumbered, and the general work ot
restoration is now proceeding in a very satisfactory manner. The Restora-
tion Commiltee have published " a [n] historical and architectural notice
of the Gate-tower ;" the profits arising from the sale of this notice are to
be presented to the restoration fund. This tract, which contains a view of
the lower, is exceedingly interesting, and displays great research. We
should have liked however to have seen a more minute account of the na-
ture of the reparations proposed, and of the advance which has been made
in them The following extracts from the architectural description wdl
.how how worthy the building is of the efforts made for its preservation,
and may perhaps awaken the interest of some of our readers and render
them anxious to aid the undertaking.

'• The Tower is in height, from the plinlh to the parapet, 86feet, and in
arei 30 feet 'square. The walls, nearly six feet in thickness, are built with
rubble and boulder, and faced with an ashlaring or Barnack stone. The
Lsblar stones as usual in the most finished buildings of the Norman era
a e hewn o/'.he size which a labourer could carry on^his back, without
much inconvenience, to the top of the building; and which the Norman
architects, from their knowledge of the principles of equilibrium, knew so

''' " TheVur^stories of the tower are marked on the exterior by horizontal
fascias.or string-courses, of varied mouldings, which go uniformly round
the four sides. The first string-course is ornamenled with the chevron or
zi-za- moulding, the most comiflon and distinctive characteristic oi Nor-
man architecture. Here it is tilplicale, wiih pendant drops somewhat re-
sembling the gutiiE of a Doric entablauire. The second string-course ex-
hibits the plafn nebule corbel table ; and the third is a simple tile mould-

'"''"Inthe lower story is a large archway, lofty and wide, for carriages,
and in the centre of the South wall is the postern entrance, being a Norniaa
transom dourway, the lintel of which has b.en cut out of solid stone. I his
doorway has been blocked up and hitherto unobserved, from being princi-
callv in thai part of the wall which is below the present road. Ihe prin-
tipal entrance of the archway is to the West, under an elaborate deeply
recedinu arch, with an angular pediment projecting from the lace ot the
tower about five feet. This noble arch springs from three single pillars
and a triplicate column on each side; and its mouldings are plain, with the
exception of ihe outer one, which exhibitsthe double n.ll billet. Ihe bases
of these pillars are bold and plain, but being below the leve of the road
have been long hidden ; the capitals are cushion-shaped and plain, vvitli
the exception of those to the triple-columns, which are sculptured--that on
the South side with a representation, in bold basso relievo, ol a lion Ue-
strovin.' a serpent, which is subdued and under his feet ; the other with a
human figure between two winged dragons, who are biting their tails. A
print of St. James's Church and Tower, engraved by Godfrey m 1779, re-
presents the great arch as tilled up, above the capitals, with masonry and
sculpture, similar to that of the Abbey Gateway.

"The pediment is formed by two angular lines exhibiting the cable
moulding; and Ihe tympanum is decorated by a kind of diaper work of
small sesments of circles in lines, somewhat resembling scale-armour.

» The^main entrance arch is flanked on either side by a square turret ot
three stories, terminated by a pyramidical apex. The lower story has a
semicircular niche with the nail head moulding. The second story has a
similar niche with the double rod billet moulding on each jamb, and around
the curve of the niche. In this niche, in the south turret, was a marble
sculpture, which has been removed by Mr. Cottingham as it evidently
formed no part of the original edifice. It appears designed to represent tlie
castingof the apostate angels out of heaven. rc.„„.

"The corresponding niche in the north turret had also a piece of stone
sculpture, till removed by Mr. Cottingham, which, though of more ancient
date, was evidently an interpolation into the original buildmg, tlie souiii
lamb of the arch having been cut away to admit of its insertion. It must
have been sculptured for the corner of some building, having two sides
finished in high relief. It was probably found at some distan period
among the Abbey ruins placed here for preservation of which it is sldl
worthy. The thud story of each turret is ornamented with an arcade of

1S46.J

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECrS JOURNAL.

23!?

interlaced arches springinj; from duplicate columns, and above is a corbel
table cornice, with the corbels carved intoheads, some of which are in good
preservation. The whole is finished by a pyramidical apex.

"The second story of the Tower is pierced by two blank arches, each
enclosing a small duplicate arch, which served as lights to a small gallery,
constructed within the thickness of the wall, to permit iif ihe warder's ob-
serving what might be going on in the town, 'i^hese lights, wiih the ex-
ception of a small loophole in each, were blocked up till Mr. Cottingham's
survey, when they were opened, and now add u)uch lo the beauty of the
fa9acle. Vilhin the tower on this story, and near lo the western piers, are
small doorways on the north and south sides, which communicated by a
few steps, still remaining, with the parapet of the embattfed wall that sur-
rounded the entire groumls of the Abbey, Their position is indicated on
the north and south faces of the tower, liy simicircular apertures in small
flat buttresses. There must have been an unbroken communicatiim along
Ihe whole line of the Ahbatial walls, and these doorways show where the
warders enieredfrom the noiili, and passed to the south battlements. They
also render it certain that there must origmully have been a floor, in a line
with the string-course, over the arcliway ; and the contrivance by which it
was thrown across was developed during a recent survey, by Mr. Cotting-
hani. Equilateral spaces were left in tiie ashlaring on one side, for the in-
sertion of the floor-beams, and on the other side were obhuig spaces, be-
tween two and three feet high, into w liich the beaius were dropped to their
level. This plan of flooring furnished the old builders with great facilities
for the repair of the floor; and avoided the necessily for those unsightly
trusses introduced in modern carpentry. The architraves of the two front
arches in this story exhibit some unusual and very beautiful mouldings,
with a kind of arabesque and chain work, of a rare and singularly rich
character. The masonry above the duplicate arches is oruamented by rows
of small cones, resembling sugar loaves.

" The third story exhibits an arcade of three arches, divided into two
stories by a plain transom running through the whole. The lower story is
decorated by a duplicate blank arcade ornamented by a net-work. The
bases of the two central pillars have groups of caried heads on their faces,
and those of the lateral pillars exhibit a single head.

"The fourth story has an arcade of three lights with a circular panel in
ecah base. The architrave is plain. Immediately above this arcade is the
tile string-course marking the line of the embattlements, which ai'e pre-
sumed to be the original finishing.

" The ascent to the embattlements is by a circular stone staircase in the
north-west pier ; entered through a narrow doorway in the north wall,
which was origiually approached by an external flight of steps."

In speaking of the manner of flooring the second story, the writer tells
lis in a note that in one of the caissons for the ends of the floor-beams, Ihe
workmen found the perfect mummy of a cat, who had probably taken re-
fuge there when the building was in the course of erection, and had been
immured by "the ignorance or wantonness of a Norman mason." By the
licence of an abominable figure of speech, Ihe caisson in which puss was
found is termed a cafacomb. Mention being made of a resica piscis, sup-
posed to have formerly adorned the great arch, the following account of
Ihe term is given in a note, page 4.

'• The " Oxford Glossary" describes the vesica piscis *' as a mystical
figure, of a pointed oval or egg-shaped form, originating in the figure of a
fish, one of the most ancient (Jhristian symbols, emblematically signilicant
of the word 'x^vs, which contained the initial letters of the name and titles
of our Saviour. The symbolic representation of a fish we find sculptured
on s(Mne of liie s^irropliagi of the early Christians, [who, Tertulliau says,
called themselves t*isciculi, considering that the Christian life commenced
in the waters of baptism] discovered in the catacombs at Home; but the
actual figure of Ihe fish afierwards gave place to an oval-shaped compart-
iiu'ut, pointed at both extremities, bearing the same mystic signification as
Ihe fish itself, and formed by two circles intersecting each other in the cen-
tre. This was the must comnmn symbol used in the middle ages." In
this country it is loiind in a variety of positions, and of various dimensions,
both in stone and on painted glass. It is lo lie seeu over many Norman
doorways enclosing the figure of Christ ; in the form of certain windows,
as in the beautiful chancel window at Mildenhall parish Church ; in the
shiipe of Ihe seals of religious houses; and to it some writers have attri-
buted the origin of the pointed style of .4.rchitecture. French antiquaries
see nothing in this oval but "a glory;' and IM. Didrou says the term
"■ tecisii piscis," which was invented, and is abused, by English antiquaries,
ought to be repudiated for its grossness. The term, however, is spoken of
by Albert Diirer, at the commencement of the IGth century as one well
understood at that time. An interesting paper on this subject, from Ihe
pen of Mr. George Godwin, Jun., F.K.S., illustrated by various examples
of its use, will be found in the Civil Enginter und Architect's Journal, for
April 1842."

The attempt to derive the forms of arches and plans of churches from the
form of the bladder of a fish was made by Mr. Kerrich, of Cambridge, in
the Archa;ologia. The able pamphlet from which the preceding extracts
are made is, we believe, written by Mr. Tymms, the secretary to the Re-
storation Committee, to whom we are indebted for the wood-cut at the
head of this paper.

RAILWAY SYSTEM.

The following extract is taken from the Evidence of Mr. Cuhitt before
the Select Committee of the House of Lords. Instead of recommending
for general adoption the gauge of those railways in which he himself ij
particularly interested, Mr. Cubitt appears to view the question on its
general merits.

I think an uniform gauge might be made throughout the kingdom,
which will be better than either of the present gauges, and at a very mo-
derate cost ; at a cost which would be scarcely felt by the railway com-
panies.

Can you make any sort of estimate of what the expense of the altera-
tion would be? — Not a decided estimate what it would cost to alter the
gauges; but I could stale a minimum and a maximum. I would say it
would cost from £500 lo £1,000 per mile to alter Ihe gauges. That is not
a large sum.

Will you state how you would propose to alter the gauges? — It is a
thing very easy to do practically; but liicre is a little to be cleared away
first. Almost all persons think, or are taught by a certain class of persons
to think, that if we were to alter the narrow gauge to a wider gauge it
would be necessary to alter the existing bridges and tunnels, and soon,
through which the carriages pass. Now that is not at all necessary ; the
carriages on the Birmingham line, and the generality of carriages almost,
are sudiciently large for any gauge whatever ; their post ofiice carriages,
and their large horse boxes, and the very largest trucks, are suflicieiitly
wide for any gauge that could be a fair workable gauge. They are big
enough for the wide gauge, for I believe their post olTice carriages are as
large as the Great Western passenger carriages. That being premised, it
will be evident that if we take for example the large carriages ot the Lon-
don and Birmingham Railway, which now pass upon that line through the
bridges and tunnels, and pass within a certain distance of each other, and
pass safely, you have only to suppose the carriages to remain uumoved
sideways, and simply to imagine that the wheels are slipped right and
left, brought out a little, about six or eight inches. A six feet gauge would
work with the wheels set within the breadth of liiose large carriages, and
the carriages would run exartly in the track as tliey did before. Conse-
quently if you do that there is no necessity for any alteration of the tun-
nels, &c., about which so much objection is luade. If we want to make
the gauge wider, we have only to bring the rails out about eight inches ou
each side, and there is still pleuty of room.
You only alter Ihe under carriage? — Yes.

You put Ihe wheels at a greater distance ? — Yes; and the wheels will
still be within the width of the carriages. Therefore, as the carriages
pass each other now at a certain distance, they will still coulinue to pass
each other at the same distance. The gauge will be a better gauge, aud it
will enable us lo bring Ihe centre of gravity of the engine lower down, us
well as lo widen the gauge.

Do you consider that the bringing the centre of gravity of tlie engine
lower is a very important point for safety ? — Yes ; but that has never been
done yet.

And practically the carriages now in use upon the narrow gauge are of
such a width as to allow of that operation .' — Yes. Since this thing lia^
been rather more upon my mind I have given particular attention to it. I
have now ihe prospect of having some control over nearly 1,000 miles of
railway between the north aud south, in large and direct lines, and I should
be most happy if I could see my way open to improve the gauge which
might be udupled in the first instance.

Vou have staled that there is no difficulty as to bridges and tunnels ; is
there any as to embankments? — There is no difficulty as to embaukmeuts ;
no carriage overliaugs the embankments.

It ought not lo do so? — I believe it never does. The means of widen-
ing that I should employ would be very simple. The rails are almost all
laid upon cross sleepers or upon stone blocks; now witli respect to those
which are laid upon cross sleepers, it has been stated that it would cost a
great deal to alter the railway because of the cost of taking it up and re-
laying it altogether. Now I will undertake lo widen the gauge, if the
road is in good order, iu a very little lime and at very little cost, and wiih-
out disturbing a single rail on its chair, or a single chair iu its sleeper. I
should simply cut with a saw through the sleeper in the middle of llie
liue, and just put each out eight inches, and then nail a short piece of
wood in to connect the two parts of the sleeper. The thing would cost
very little to do.

Would that leave you with a trustworthy sleeper? — Yes. And we will
take the case of stone blocks. A great many miles of some of our great-
est lines are laid with stone blocks ; simply a small block upon the bal-
last. They will only want removing six or eight luches out.

The alteration, at all events, of the permanent way could be made with-
out stopping the traffic? — Cerlainly. I am now going to relay a line en-
tirely ; a new set of rails and fixtures altogether, and I shall not stop the
traffic ; yet there are 80 trains a day on that line, or 40 each way.
Where is that ? From London lo Croydon.

Do you consider that there is room for great improvement in the perma-
nent way ? — The permanent way is the most defective part of the railway
system.

Are not many of the rails that hare been laid down upon the lines at
prtsent at work loo light? — The rails are, many of them, too light ; but we

240

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURXAL."

[AUGVST,

can always nxel light rails by a different mode of layin?; them. But the
great defect is the want of ]no\)eT attention to the fastenings of the rails
and the chairs. I attribute almost all the accidents that have happened
from engines and wagons and carriages getting off lines of railway to the
imperfect state of the road ; and yet no sooner has an accident happened,
than the engineers go to examine the engines, and examine the carriages,
to tind out what is the matter. The fact is, the caun- is done away with ;
because it generally happens in most of those cases from the ends of the
rails gelting out of the joint-chairs, or the end getting loose, that it must
inevitably throw off the engine, and throning off the engine it tears up the
line at the place, and we never can see it, because it is done away with.
I have seen 100 yards of line torn up entirely frdin an engine running off

be rails. ^ ■ • i

There was an accident not long ago upon the Urnndling .Junction, where
the engineering officer sent down to report ujion it stated that he could dis-
cover no cause for it. Do you thiuk that it probably was from some defect
of this kind ?— No doubt of it. 1 have witnessed an accident upon that
vi-ry line. The engine and carriages tumbleil over one another, and the
line was lorn up for 100 yards ; but I knew from whiil had taken place
inst before upon the line that that was from the defective state of the

road.

And you think that in the case referred to in the preceding question,
when it was clearly proved that there was no fault in the arrangement of
tlie points, or m the engine, in all probability there must have been some
fault in the permanent way ?— Yes. M hen the permanent way is a little
defective the shock become? very sharp, and the rails, resting in an imper-
fect chair, are apt to work ont. I am now having chairs made with a very
long socket, to prevent the ends of the rails getting out, for when one of
those ends gets loose it jumps up or gets sideways, and it must throw
the engine otl', and in doing that it must break the chair to pieces.

One of the witnesses has stated, when the Gauge Commissioners were
duwn near York, the engine they had went off the line, and was upset;
and tliat that was occasioned very much by the great length of the engine;
and that they found on the rails the marks showing where it had struck,
by tlie great sway backwards and forwaids, till it found a defective rail,
aiid then it went off?— I have seen rails and sleepers moved out of their
jilHie from the oscillations of an improper engine upon a badly laid road.
1 mean an engine not well balanced, and having too much play.

Do you thiuk that if it were possible to get the weight lower down, by
a greater width of gauge, it would in a great measure obviate that?— The
difficulty would be obviated altogether by a wider gauge, a better road,
and an improved engine. AVe might then go 100 miles au hour with as
great safety as we no now do 30 ; there is nothing to limit the speed.

Is not it from the increased rate of speed that engines so frequently
burst ?— No ; it is a small tube that bursts ; a tube about two inches dia-
meter. There are about 90 to 120 of them in each boiler. After they
have been used some time they wear thin, with the draught and the fine
particles of coke ; one tube may be a little defective in its making; and
when a great pressure of steam and the action of the wear upon them cut
them thin, sometimes they will burst, and the water will flow into this
tube, and the steam will flow out, and stop the engine going.

Does that ever happen with any but fast trains?— Yes ; but you do not
hear of it. Indeed it would be rather less likely to occur with an increas-
ed rate of speed, because when the engine is driven very fast there is less
pressure upon those tubes.*

When the directors of a railway are desirous of remedying the want of
power, what is the expedient to which they have recourse?— To build
larger and more powerful engines. They require to be made either longer
or larger to make them more powerful. Some of the engines on some of
the lines, I believe, are worked up to more than lOOhorse power. That is
an enormous thing in that space.

If for the purpose of increasing the power the expedient adopted is that
of lengthening the engine, does nut that increase the danger upon the nar-
row gauge?— No ; not the lengthening it, but the raising it higher makes
it more dangerous. They have to make them higher when they make them
larger and more powerful.

A wituess staled the other day, that projecting the engine very much
over the wheels, if they could not extend on account of the turn tables,
caused oscillation from the w eight being fore and aft ?— So it does. That
was the great defect of the engines on the Eastern Counties Railway, and
caused the late accident on that railway. In making them longer it brings
the wheels too far apart, and there was an overhanging weight.

Would not also the great length of the engine be inconvenient in a curve?
The longer engines are between the wheels the more they are likely to im-
pinge upon the rails in going round very sharp curves ; but that is obviated
in America upon another plan, and I recommend the plan very much to
the Gauge Commissioners. I told them that all those things may be over-
come v/hh proper arrangements. On narrow gauge railways they cannot
go so fast as on broad, because they cannot get as large driving wheels
■with safety, without carrying the centre of gravity too high. I could make
an engine of any length which should be better adapted for going round
curves than any engines now are. For instance, au engine 20 feet long
might be made perfectly safe and steady with veiy large driving wheels
upon a narrow gauge, even with wheels as large as the Great Western
wheels, simply by having what the Americans call a " Bogy" carriage— a

« It is a^l^fd «itli great deftreiice wbetlier lliti opinion be quite consistent with known
me^auical piiiiciplee. ILe pressure on the tubes will generally increase willi ;ui increue
ot velocity!— Ed

small cairiage with four low wheels moving upon a centre horizontally.
Imagine a small truck with four w heels upon the line ; then imagine an-
other small truck behind it with four wheels. Now those wheels and
axles would be stronger than the present ones, and lighter. 'lhen,if we
support a very long boiler indeed upon tliose trucks, the trucks with four
wheels can each turn independently at each end. Then anywhere be-
tween those we may have large driving wheels without flanges, there
being eight other wheels to take the weight at both ends. \t e might have
the driving wheels of any height; then they would turn round curves very
rapidly indeed. I explain this to show that there are no insurmcuntable
dillicullies mechanically, for the wheel might be improved in every re-
spect.

Still you would recommend, as the best security for safety, an alteration
of the narrow gauge to a wider gauge'- Yes; to a reasonable gauge.
The lower the centre of gravity the greater the safety.

Will you state what width of gauge jou would consider the best? — A
six feet gauge I take to be ai)outthe best that could be adopted, or it might
be live feel eleven or six feet one ; a few inches more or less is of no con-
sequence, but six feet is about the best gauge; it is an integral measure,
it is an even measure, it is an easy measure, and il is of easy reference,
and well understood.

Is that the gauge which was recommended by the commissioners upon
the Irish railways ? — They recommended six feet two inches ; but 1 do not
know why the two inches were put on.

Have you ever made any estimate of the cost of altering the carriages
or wagons? — The first, second, and third class carriages will cost about
the same sum almost to alter. The average passenger carriages may be
altered from a four feel eight inches and a half to a six feet gauge at an
average cost of ±130 each, and I think for less.

By multiplying the number of carriages constituting the stock of the
different companies at present at work you could ascertain the total cost of
altering the carriages ? — Yes ; and it would cost fS.'JO to ±1400 to alter an
engine and tender, leaving the working parts exactly as they are now.

So that it would be perfectly possible to ascertain the total cost of the
alteration ? — "^'es.

Have you ever turned your attention to the means of providing the ne-
cessary sum to defray the expense of the alteration? — 1 think it should be
paid for partly by lime gone by aud partly by futurity ; that is to say,
money might be taken up at a certain rate of interest for doing this work,
either from Government or by transferable bonds, payable off by lot; any
thing of that sort. Then ihe works should be paid for as they were done.
Athatever they cost should be apportioned, as nearly as it could be, over
about 40 years ; that is, 20 by-gone years, and 20 future years of railway
extension; and all newly-made railwajs should pay their quota of the
alteiation as the past had paid ; so that in 40 years, or 45 or 50 years, the
thing should be paid ofl', aud the work all done. The work should be all
done at once, for the sake of the public. It would be paid for in a long
time, for the sake of the parlies. It would not lax any company harshly
to make the alteration, and therefore they could not complain of it in point
of expense. AU the new railways would have to pay a quota for the same
thing, although they would make their gauges right in the first instance.
I think thai is but fair.

You have no doubt that it would be of considerable advantage to the
country in many points of view that there should be but one uniform
gauge? — There can be no donbt about that.

Both for traflic and for the military defences of the country ? — Yes ; in
every respect ; I w ill not make one exception, because 1 do not think one
can be made. But I should be sorry to see olher narrow gauge lines
granted if there is likely to be an alteration, because there will be many
miles of new railway ; many more than are made ; I thiuk twice as
many.

You think this is a good opportunity for making the alteration? — I
think if the thing is ever to be done there should not be a season lost, cer-
tainly. I think the thing may be easily done, and economically done, and
done without loss to the public and without loss to the companies, and ia
a very short time, and at a very moderate expense. ■

You tliink it very important that if anything of the kind is contemplated
it should be settled with the least possible delay, in consequence of the
numerous railways now in progress? — I think so. It is a very serious
subject, but almost all parlies who speak upon the subject are in some way
or other interested in this, that, or Ihe other gauge.

You think it is very important that it should be practicable to go at high
speeds on railways for persons who have to go great distances? — I think
that Is evidenced every day, for if we put on express trains every day, and
advertise to go at 60 miles an hour, people will risk their necks as long as
you will carry them, and therefore it is highly necessary for the safety of
the public (for people will not take care of themselves) to have all the ma-
chinery of the best kind, and if Ihe permanent way is perfect, and the gauge
a proper gauge, there is nothing to limit Ihe speed but the resistance of the
atmosphere. Tiiat I am sure of, as far as safely is concerned there is no
dauger.

No greater danger in going CO than in going 30 miles an hour ? — On
a perfect railway there is no more dauger in going 60 miles an hour ihau
ia going 30.

But the mere alteration of the gauge to the improved width which you
propose to make It would not at once allaio the Increased speed which you
hope to attain ? — It would be the greatest step to it.

18 iC]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

241

GASES AND EXPLOSIONS IN COLLIERIES.

Tlie following interestinj: document is the report of a commission ad-
dressed by L"rd Linroln to Sir H. De La Berlieanil Dr. Lyon I'iayfaii-, for
tlie purpose of obtaining information as lo llie best means of preveolius, or
niiiiRatins, tlie fatal eiiVcts wliicli are so frequently the reiult of the gene-
ration of noxious gases in coal mines : —

My Lord, — Havinj, in conformity villi the instructions contained in t!ie
E«rl of Lincoln's letter of the 27ih of August, 1815, directed our attention
to the composilion of the gases evolved from coal beds, lo the mode of ven-
tilating collieries, and to the subject of explosions in them generally, we
have the honour to submit the following statement for consideration.

With respect to the gases evolved from beds of coal, they may be viewed
as the result of the continued decomposition of the vegetable matter from
whicli coal is derived, a decomposition which may be regarded as still in
progress under favourable conditions. Omitting the mineral substances.
which, when burnt, are known as ashes, coal is essentially composed of
carbon, oxygen, h\drogen, and nitrogen; and the quality of the coal de
penfis upon the relative proportion of these ingredients. When the propor-
tion of the carbon to the oxygen and hydrogen does not exceed about 75
per cent, the coal, in common terms, is called "bituminous;" when the
carbon amounts to about 8) or 90 per cent, it is termed " anthracite," or
stone coal : or, in other words, the most advanced state of decomposition
of the original vegetable matter bears the latter name.

During the decomposition a portion of the carbon is removed by its union
with oxygen, forming carbonic acid, and another portion by combining
with hydrogen, as carburetted hydrogen. Thus by continued decomposi-
tion the carbon gradually becomes a more important constituent in the re-
maining part of the original vegetable mass. The change from bituminous
coal to anthracite can be produced artificially, and in a manner to illustrate
the subject, considered geologically.*

Though carbonic acid is, no doubt, found in many of our collieries in
such a manner as to show it to be derived not only from the lights, horses,
and workmen employed, but also to be partly the result of the progressive
decomposition of the coal, it is with the carburetted hydrogen, or firedamp,
as it is termed, that the collier has chiefly lo contend. This comes upon
liim in various ways. Some coals more readily emit it than others, and
hence they are locally termed fiery seams, beds, or veins. From some coals
it would appear to escape more generally from the mass of the bed than
from others, the gas gradually accumulating from the discharge over a
wide surface. Other beds, again, are more fiery in the softer than tlie
harder portions, and where joints or fissures are common. M'hen two or
more seams of coal, having different qualities, make up a workable bed,
one will sometimes be more fiery than the other. Again, much depends,
all other circumstances being equal, upon the kind of roof or covering rock
of a coal-bed. If this be sufficiently porous, as many sandstones are, the
conditions for the escape of the firedamp upwards through superincumbent
rocks are more favourable than where the roof is composed of clay or ar-
gillaceous shell.

The dislocations of the strata termed " faults" or " troubles" act fre-
quently also as channels for the passage of the firedamp into the works, as
they conduct the gas from coal seams beneath, yvhich may be highly
charged with it, although the seam underwork may be free.)

Although we may regard a large proportion of this gas as previously
fo'nted, and ready to escape when the necessary conditions, sucii as those
of colliery workings, present themselves, we can scarcely suppose that
carburetted hydrogen is not also formed during the time occupied by the
progress of Ihe same workings, much being evolved from the older portions
of tiieni. The manner in which splinters of coal are thrown off during the
cutting of some beds has led to the hypothesis that the gas may be present
in a liquid slate, produced by condensation, so that when the needful pres-
sure is removed during the progress of the work, the sudden expansion of
the " fire-damp" from a liquid to a gaseous form throws oft' the fragments.
The force also with which the gas bursts suddenly fonh from clefts or
joints in some beds of coal is so considerable as to prove much previous
compression, particularly when those bursts or blowers last only for a short
time. When they continue for prolracteil periods, we may infer a more
constant supply from continued decomposition of the coal, though the first
sodden burst would point to compression. It has been inferred that Ihe
small cavities in yvhich the fluid gas is confined can be detected by the mi-
croscope in some coals. It is probable tiiat soft places, the sitles of joints
and fissures, and the walls or faults, are more favourable to the decomposi-
tion of the coal than its more solid poriions.

The escape of fire-damp is generally influenced by the barometrical slate
of the atmosphere, especially yvhen much of the gas has become accumu-
lated in the wastes or goafs. This is more or less experienced in all pits;
but one striking case was pointed out to us by Mr. Jobliiig, of Jarrow Pit.
In a pit of which he is the viewer the gas issues from cracks in the roof of
the seam, and in low stales of the barometer is evolved in considerable
quantity. When the barometer is high, instead of this issue of gas, there
is a sensible current of air which enters into the cracks. When this in-
ward current takes place the pit is worked with naked candles, but when
the evolution of fire-damp commences Davy's lamps are employed.

Assailed in this manner by a gas which, when mingled wilh atmospheric

* Specimens in illustration of this, made by coking coal in a very ^adual monuer, are
lieposised in Che Museum of Ecoaomic Geoiogf.

air in certain proportions, is highly explosive, a knowledge of its exact
composition becomes a subject of great importance lo the collier, since
ell'ective precautionary measures, more especially as regards the lights em-
ployed, must necessarily depend upon such knowledge.

Dr. Henry, Sir Humphry Davy, in this country, and Bischoflfand othen
on the continent, have examined into the nature of the explosive gases of
mines, but wilh results differing from each other; for while the English
chemists found them to consist of carburetted hydrogen, with litde or no
admixture, the continenlal chemists have described Ihem as very complex,
mixtures of olefiant gas, carburetted hydrogen, carbonic oxide, hydrogen,
nitrogen, oxygen, and carbonic acid. On such a point ignorance would
be culpable; and we were instructed lo bring our knowledge up to the
present advanced stale of chemical an.ilysis. Whilst we were engaged in
this research. Professor Graham made a report to the Chemical Society on
the sa'iie subject. The previous invcsiigations of this chemist had render-
ed him well filled for the task, and Ihe results of his inquiries (according,
as they do, with our own) amply guarantee that the subject, as far as re-
lates to this country, may noyv be considered as decided, and show that
the importance of an exact determination had simultaneously engaged the
attention of the public.

It is unnecessary to describe in detail the methods which we pursued in
the analysis; it may be sufficient to state that we adopted the methods
mentioned in a report to Ihe British Association on the analysis of gases
by Professor Bunsen, and one of us. We may, therefore, at once tabulate
our results, merely slating that we have devoted much attention lo this in-
vestigation, so a« to remove doubt upon a subject so important lo the in-
terests of Ihe public. The gases were collected in various ways, some from
blowers, others from the freshly exposed surfaces of the coal while the gas
issued out wilh a singing uoise, others from the explosive atmospher* of
pits.

Q.

fe - ►*"

a

s

B

-E S

Ies

•2 " <;

■c* S

a

a

ii

JSi

^^s

Gasej.

SS B

n

II

a

is

^

O a>

t: ^

m

o

ill

■3St

5« =

Carburetted

Hydrogen

92-8

77-5

83-1

860

79 7

93-4

98-2

92-7

Nitrogen

6-9

26-1

H-2

12-3

14-3

4-9

13

6-4

Oxygen

0-0

00

0-6

00

30

00

00

00

Carbonic Acid

0-3

13

21

1-7

20

1-7

0-5

09

Hydrogen . .

00

00

0-0

00

30

00

00

00

The general result of this examination is, that the only inflammable con-
stituent present in the explosive gas of collieries is carburetted hydrogen or
fire-damp ; there is not a trace of olefiant gas, and only in one out of Ihe
eight gases analyzed is there hydrogen. It follows from the previous
analysis that Ihe issue of fire-damp into the atmosphere of a mine must de-
teriorate the air, by adding an undue proportion of nitrogen gas ; in one
case this gas amounts to 21 per cent. During an explosion the oxygen
necessary to the respiration of the workers is removed by uniting with the
carbon of the fire-damp, and thus producing carbonic acid, a gas most fatal
to animal life. This carbonic acid, mixed with Ihe residual nitrogen of
the atmosphere, and that present in the explosive gas itself, forms what is
termed after-damp, which produces eflecis more fatal even than those aris-
ing from the explosion. It often happens, that after an explosion a sulh-
cienl quantity of oxygen remains to support the respiration of those wh»
survive its effects, were it not for the presence of carbonic acid. This gas,
when present in no greater pi oportiou than one or two per cent., is capaljle
of producing Ihe most injurious efiects. It has therefore been snggcsicil,
that cheap mixtures, made of substances capable of ab.sorhing carbonic
acid, such as glauber salts and lime, would prove useful to those who try
to aid the suflerers after the explosion. Such a mixture placed in a coarse
bag and applied to the mouth would elfectually absorb the carbonic acid,
and prevent it exercising an injurious effect on respiraiion. Certainly the
want of some such precaution in the case of Ihe Jarrow explosion causeJ
the death of a very meritorious man Jacob Uifty, Ihe overman of the pit.

An explosion is, however, generally attended with much more complex
results than those described as attending the combustion of carburetted
hydrogen. The amount nf fire damp which may be first ignited may be
trivial, and yet produce the most disastrous efiects. From its lightness it
accumulates at the upper part of the passages, and diffuses with consider-
able difficulty, often acting as a train, and comniuuicaling the explosion to
the pent-up reservoirs of gas in the goafs. It is thus that in almost all ac-
counts of explosions two are generally described as taking place ; Ihe tii-l
local, and at the seat of the explosion ; the second more general, and aideii
by any accumulation of foul gas in oilier parts of Ihe pit. In the case nt
.1 arrow. Ihe heat attending the explosion was so intense as lo have thoruin>bly
cukeU to the de^ih oi nearly one quarter uf an inch the cual lining part ul

31

242

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[August

the walls of one of (he passajps ; an effect which conld scarcely be con-
ceived without supposing that the flame played for some time upon it with
the intcnsily of a blow. pipe flame. The surface of coal thus acted upon
was so considerable that the amount of explosive gases e\olve(l (luring this
eoUing must have been far fiom insiKnificanl, and may liave aided llie ex-
plosion itself. Atl<\ to this, lliat the lirst effect of llie explosion is to blow
up and ignite the immense quantity of coal dust lyin^ about the pit, and
not only produce from it an evolution of gas, but also occasion the produc-
tion of much carbonic acid. And it cannot escape attention that the whole
fobject becomes involved in much complexity. It is known tliat a certain
mixture of air with carburetti<l hydnigen prevents its ascenilibiliiy ; and,
in the case of pure carburetied hydroj;en, the proporlimi has been ascer-
tained to be not less than 15 times its own bulk. IJut the variation in
coinposilion of the lire-damp of ddferent mines, the uncertain modes of lis
issue, and tlie absence of any ready means of ascertaining its quantity, pre-
vent any general rule being given as to the amount of air which should be
thrown into mines to prevent the atmosphere ever attaining the explosive
slate. All this must be determined by practice to suit tlie varying condi-
tions of different mines. It is certain that impnivemenls might be iiiade
on the rude methods now in use for effecting tlie necessary mixture. 'I he
fire damp being, from its lightness, at the top, is not quickly, influenced liy
the current of cold heavy air descending the downcHst shall, and ciiculal-
iug through the passages. It is therefore not uafreqnenl to see colliers
flapping Iheir jackets among this light gas, so as to dilute it wiih the sulli-
cieut quantity of air,and ihusdislurh the train of communicating gaswhi.h,
iu a fijul stale, may connect two dangerous parts of a pit. Jlechaiucal
contrivances, such as fanners, would more efficaciously produce the result
than the ineflicient extemporaneous means referred to ; but, in general, buch
arrangements are only necessary when, fnmi a defective veulilatiiin, the
current of air througli the pit is not suflicienlly strong.

Various artificial means had been proposed to facilitate the withdrawal
of fire-damp from a pit. Suggestions have been made to take advantage
of the lightness of the gas by favouring its ascent to the upper parts of the
pits, and drawing it off by special air ways. Pipes let do«n into the
•wastes have been proposed for the same purpose, while other suggestions
have been made of pipes to blow in air at the tops of the passages, so as
to cause the dilution of the gas.

We do not slop to consider these plans, because, as we have already
stated, the condiiions under which coal is workeil are so numerous, that a
plan which might prove useful in one pit would be wholly inapplicable
and sometimes positively injurious in another, and the legislative applica-
tion of any one plan might prove highly prejudical to this great branch of
national industry.

In 1S35, a Select Committee of the House of Commons was appointed
to inquire " into the nalure, cause, and extent of those lamentable catas-
trophes from explosions which have occurred in the mines of Great Bri-
tain, wilh the view of ascertaining and suggesting ih- means of preventing
the recurrence of similar accidents." Numerous witnesses were exam-
ined before this Committee, a body of important evidence colleited, and a
report published in the same year,— a report repl"te with valuable inform-
ation, and to which we would wi^ll to refer for ample details connected
with the general mode of working collieries, especinlly in the uurlh of
England. The Committee observe, on the subject of colliery explosions,
that while the loss of interrupted trade by these accidents is enormous,
" it is nevertheless rather with reference to the cause and iulerest of hii-
manily than in a pecuniary point of view that this inquiry lias assumed its
great importance." This Commillee did uol recommend any remedial
measures.

The difficulty experienced of obtaining accurate information respecting
the number of lives lost from colliery explosions within a limited period is
nearly as great at the present time as it was in 183.5. And it should be
borne in mind that the number of lives lost by the great explosions, those
which chiefly become known and arrest public attention, by no means
affords a correct view of the collective loss of life sustained by colliery
explosions generally, including the minor accidents not commonly heard of
beyond limited districts ; neither does it represent the injury sustained by
these explosions, short of the loss of life, but from which many persons
are more or less disabled.

The Committee were enabled to ascertain that during the 25 years pre-
ceding these inquiries 2 070 persons had perislnd from colliery explosions;
and they considered this number much underrated. During the last 10
years the rale of loss of life from this cause has certainly not diminished.
The experience of the past year has shown that considerably more than
100 persons have been known to have thus perished.

It has so unfortunately happened tiiat, during the few months we have
been engaged upon this inquiry two explosions, one at Jarrow in Durham,
and the other at Kisca, in Monmouthshire, have together deprived 7ti per-
sons of their lives, 41 having perished at the former and 3.5 at the latter.

15y direction of Sir James Graham and the Earl of Lincoln, we were
eonimissiooed to ascerlain the causes of both explosions. It so occurred
that, being at that time in the south of Irelaml, engaged on the duties of
the geological survey, Sir Henry de la Beihe could not reach Jarrow in
time for the inquiry, and tlierefore the investigation into the cause of the
•xplosion at Ihal place devolved upon Dr. I'lajfair, who, under these cir-
cumstances, availed himself of the services of Mr. David Williams, at
that time one of ihe geologists attached lo the geological survey of Great
Britain, and well skilled iu coal mining, but now iu the service of the

East India Company, examining the coal resources of India. The result!
of this inquiry are given in the accompanying report by Dr. Playfair.

Iiiinieilialely afier the explosiim at Itisca on the 14lh of January, 1840,
instructions were again received lo proceed without loss of time to Ihat
colliery. Dr. Playfair being, however, so enjjaged upon duties in London,
that he could not readily proceed to liisca, the investigation was under-
taken by Sir Hi nry de la Heche, aided by Mr. Warrington Smylh, mining
geologist to the geological survey of Ihe Uniled Kingdom, who was m
every respect qualified for such an inquiry. The accompauyiag report
contains the results of this investigation.

During these inquiries it became very important carefully to consider
the kinds of lights employed in collieries, and the usual regulations re-
specting them. The subject was not new to us. since for more than 25
years the mode of working collieries in different parts of the I niled King-
dom, as also on the conliueiit of Europe, had engaged the attention of one
of us. On the subject of safely lamps, of lighting generally, and of the
regulations connecled with it, the Committee of 1B35 collected a Urge
amount of evidence, mure especially regarding our northern collieries. Id
the report of Ihe South Shields Coinmiilee of 1843 there is also much in-
format. on on this head. To these reports, therefore, we would wish to
refer for suliicieiit information on the subject.

The Cuiiiiiiittee of 183.5 pointed out ihat more persons Lad lost their
lives from colliery explosions for the IS years succeeding the introduction
of the Davy sal'ety lamp in 1810 than in the 18 years preceding the inven-
tion, and accounted for this fact by the working of numerous " fiery"
seams of coal, which had, in consequence of the assumed security of that
lamp been undertaken, and by the abandonment of many precautions con-
sidered requisite when candles were commonly employed in collieries.

As much doubt has been thrown upon the real safety of the Davy lamp,
it is but justice to the memory of Sir Humphrey Davy to stale Ihat he was
perfectly aware that, if a proper mixture of fire-damp and common air
were thrown against the lamp with suflicient force to project the flame upon
the gauze cylinder, it might communicate with the flame, and cause explo-
sion. iMr. liuddle, in his evidence (Iteport of tlommitlee of 1635, Nos.
2,220 and 2, 227), clearly shows this to have been the case. He mentions
an experiment at Mortou M'est Pit, were a very powerful blower from the
shaft was tried with the lamp, when the flame passed and the blower wa»
tired. Sir Humphrey Daiy then, addressing Lord Durham, and many
other ptrson.s who were present, said, " Now, gei.tlemen, you see the na-
ture of the d.inger to which you are exposed in using the lamp, and I cau-
tion you to guard against it in Ihe manner I have shown you. This is to
show the only case iu which the lamp will explode; and I caution and
warn you not to use it in any such case when you can avoid it without
using the shield." The shield recommended was one of tin, inside the
cylinder, to prevent a current of fire-damp from actmg on the flume. Mr.
liuddle stated before the Committee that in the lamps used in the collieries
under his niauhgenient the shield passed from oue-half to two-thirds round
Ihe inside of the cylinder, and, being bright, reflected the light lo such an
extent as to be more advantageous than a glass cylinder inside that of
wire gauze, a coutrnance often recommended to obviate the risk of cur-
rents of fire-damp.

Dr. Peieiia, at the request of the Committee of 1S33, experimented
upon many lamps before them, and passed the flanie through all those
tesled, except that of iMessrs. Upton and Itoberis. The experiments have
beeu repeated at llie iMuseum of Economic Geology, by Dr. Pereira and
by ourselves, with the ordinary Davy lamp, and with ihe same results.

Tliere can, therefore, he very little doubt that the flame cau pass, and
explode file-damp adjacent, if the current be sufficiently strong, and no
pioiection be afforded either by a metallic shield or by an internal glass
cylinder. I'he tjuestion as to the amount of current required seems not so
well ascei'laiued. Mr. ISuddle considered that the blowers would rarely
be found strong enough. Mr. Siephenson supposed that many accidents
may have happened by the falling of llie roof producing a sudden rush of
explosive fire-damp. It will be obvious that the same effect might be pro-
duced by the careless swinging of the lamp with the required velocity
through an explosive mixture ol fire-damp and air, or from the lamp being
so jerked out of a collier's hand, by an unlucky fall, that the cylinder pre-
sented the necessary front to the same compound.

Without desiring, in the slightest degree, to cast unnecessary doubt OB
the salely of the Davy lamp, since we consider its cautious use an
immense boon to coal mining, and belie\e Ihat much additional security
is obtained by the proper use of the original Davy, or of its im-
provements, it can scarcely be denied that far more care in the use of
safely lamps is needed than is commonly employed. Although shields or
glass cylinders are used in some localities they are uever employed ia
others; and the bare siugle cylinder of wire gauze, uot always properly
maniifaclureil, is llie only form lu which Ihe Davy lamp is known. And
it should be observed that, with a few local exceptions, the Davy lamp is
that commonly employed. Numerous iiiodiDcalions, and in some cases
improvenients. of llie safety lamp have been made, but, either from the
expense, or want of simplicity lu management, have never come generally
into use.

The colliers, by Iheir usual mode of carrying Ihe common Davy lamp,
certainly, under ordmaiy ciicumstances, guard against the passage of any
curtenl of fire-damp sullicieiitiy strong to pass the flame, by placing the
lamp within their jacket flaps, or carefully prolecled in some other man-

ISiG.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

243

ner. Abundant rarelessness is often, however, apparent; and, when the
collieries are viewed as a whole, unnecessary risk is loo common, espe-
cially when it is recnllected that the fool- hardiness or carelessness of one
may destroy the lives of many.

To those who have, diirins; many years, had occasion to visit collieries
in different parts of Great Britain, the thcmshlless diirins of many of our
colliers, and their frequent carelessness under danger, must be familiar.
They will often, in an endeavour to execute more work in a given time,
when paid by the ton or piece, remove the covers of their lamps, or em-
ploy a candle at a risk. Some even prefer a candle to ascertain the pres-
ence of tire-damp, since by it they more readily see the change in the
flame. In many districts, ihoui^h in some they are anxious to employ the
safety lamp, it requires much ti-oub'e on the part of the managers to pre-
vent the conllnnal use of candles in suspected places before the danger
becomes known to them. The less light aiforded by lamp^ is considered a
great drawback to their use when it can be avoided. Many mo^t careful
men, no doubt, anxiously watch over the coiumuD danger, and great pre-
cautions are taken by many coalovviiers and workers ; but looking at the
subject generally, and without reference to many exceptions, especially to
be found in the north of England, the want of system in t^ie management
of lights, and in due precautions respecting the kinds employed, can
scarcely escape the observation of those whose opportunities have been
suOiciently extended.

When we consider that the safety lamps have now been in use for so
many years, causing security in all cases where proper care is employed,
although they may not be ahsolutely safe under unusual circumstances,
their utility appears sufficiently sanctioned by experience to make them
the subject of legislative enactment. The evils complained of in the modi-
fications of the Davy lamp are, that, while they add to the security, they
diminish so much tlte amount of light, as to render them practically use-
less. These are described ill the report of the Select Coinniittee referred
to. A new inoditication of Dr. Clannj's lamp, invented since then, is not
subject to this fault, and in principle is an elegant application of the safely
lamp, and consists of a wire gauze cylinder, having heneath a thick glass
cover to the lamp, which only ascends till it meets with the gauze ; the
thickness of this glass is supposed to free it from accidents, and, whilst
strong enough to bear a considerable blow, it is sufficiently well annealed
to resist sudden changes of tempeiature. 15ut whether, in a manufaciure
80 uucertaiu as glass, these conditions can always be attained, is question-
able, and at all eients has not been sufficiently tested by experieuce to
induce the coalowuers to employ this lamp in their mines.

It has been at various times proposed, during the last eight years, to
employ electricity as a means of lighting coll-eries. The electricily,
streaming between two charcoal points from a Grove's or Bunsen's bat-
teiy, affords a light of much beauty, and perfectly safe, if completely sur-
rounded by glass, but capable of igniting an explosive mixture if expused.
Professor Grove has constructed a lamp on this principle, which he kindly
prepared for us, and which we have examined lu action. It consisted of
a box, containing four galvanic cells, and the light was obtained by the
passage of electricily between two coils of platinum wire. These were
surrounded with glass vessels ; the inner one for the purpose of isolation,
the exterior one being filled with water, so as to destroy the light should
the inner glass vessel be broken. The light given out was rather more than
that of a miner's caudle. This, certainly, is a safe lamp, but in its present
state still unlitted for the purpose of the collier as at present arranged.
The acids, sulphuric and nitric, render the lamp so inconveniently heavy,
that both hands must be used in carrjing it; besides, from not being
covered, the spilling of these corrosive liquids on the persons of the miners
could scarcely be avoided. The water in the exterior vessel soon becomes
heated, and ultiinalelv boils, and the light only lasts in proper strenglh for
two or three hours. There must, therefore, be considerable modilication
in this lamp before it can be rendered available for ordinary mining pur-
poses, which we may readily expect, from the ackuowledi;ed talent of its
inventor.

The means of obtaining the needful lights in collieries, though most im-
portant, wouldstillappearsubordinaie.ashas, indeed, been before remarked,
to such a system of ventilation as should not expose men in such large por-
tions of a colliery as is now frequently the case to the risk of death from
explosion (the greater proportion, and often all, perishing from the care-
lessness of one man), or to unforeseen accidents under the greatest pre-
cautious in the use of lights. The too common use of single shafts in col-
lieries, in cases where others might have been sunk, the single shaft
divided into two or three portions by wooden partitions named brattices, a
dowu current of pure air descending through one division, and the foul
air from the colliery workings rising up through another, has often been
reprobated. The Comt.ultee of the House of Commons of 1S35, and
many important witnesses examined, animadvert upon this practice; and
the bad elfecls of this system is pointed out by the South Shields Com-
mittee in their report of 1813.

In a single shaft, as has been often remarked, the ventilation may be cut
off from the workings of a whole colliery in an instant by an explosion
sufficient to destroy the doors or partitions directing the air-courses, the air
merely going down one division in the shaft and rising through another,
when the biatlices may not be destroyed by the explosion, and a kind of
draught kept up. Thus all not destroyed by the explosion perish in the
mixture of nitrogen and carbonic acid, known as after-damp, to which no
fr«sli air can reach, la the explosion at Jurrow Colliery there was only

a single shaft communicating with the workings upon two beds of coal ona
above the other, and the lower part of the brattice in the shaft was so
shattered by the late explosion in it, that Dr. I'layfair and Mr. Williams,
in their descent into the pii, then lontaming a large amount of fire-damp,
had to be let down a considerable distance by a loop in a rope. In this
explosion the upper portion of the brattice fortunately remained, and thus
the lives of many of those engaged in the upper workings were saved,
although several perished,

Eveu in a double shaft, or two shafts not far distant from each other, if
the air be not made to course fora considerable distance amid the work-
ings by a firm thick parting of coal, any needful perforation in the parting
for the progress of the colliery being lirnily built up, a whole mass of
workings may, by an explosion, be suddenly cut off from ventilation, and
numbers of persons, not killed by the explosion, perish by the after damp.
This was the rase at ihe late explosinn at Kisca, It should, however, iu
this instance, be observed, that the colliery was, as regards ventilation, in
a transition state, a more perfect arrangement for ventilation being in pro-
gress.

Great improvements were introduced in Ihe ventilation of collieries in
many districts, when the course of air was quickened by means of a fur-
nace established near the bottom of the upcast shaft, or that through which
the foul air passes outwards, and more particularly when, in the north of
England, instead i,f permitting the air introduceil liy Ihe downcast shaft to
pass slowly and imperfectly along a course of 'JO or 30 miles of pass-
ages, it was split or divided into separate courses, from two to six miles
iu length. Those, however, who may possess an extended acquaintance
with our collieries in different parts of the country cannot but be aware,
that, as a whole, their general ventilation is very imperfect, good as it may
be iu some collieries, particularly in certain districts.

When it is considereil that coals are worked in the United Kingdom
under every variety of condition, — from levels driven into mountain sides
to pits sunk to great tlejjths through m-isses of superincumbent ro';ks, — in
beds ranging from a vertical to a horizontal position, and even contorted
and bent, — sometimes traversed by faults, at others free from them, — the
beds near the surface in one place, and ranging beneath mountains in an-
other,— in fact, under a great variety of geological conditions, it is not dif-
ficult to see that many plans which have been suggested for the v\'orkiugof
coUieres, good as they may be for some localities, would be iuapplicaOla
generally, and would indeed fail, except under the conditions Ijtted for
them.

So various are the conditions under which collieries are or can be worked
in the United Kingdom, that we would suggest for consideration, if legii-
lative measures slmuld be deemed advisable, and an extension of the prin-
ciple which regulates the ein|>loyment of women and children in our mines,
and the labour in our factories, be thought good, that eli'ective discretion-
ary powers should be vi sted in properly qualified persons, appointed in
convenient districts, so that the needful adjiistments to conditious may be
effected, and no single'system be attempted, napplicable to our collierie*
as a whole.

Any general system of legislation for conditions so different could only
be productive of failure or nf injurious consequences, both to owners uud
workers; but a local examination and inquiry, with power to adjust to
special conditions, would, v.'e apprehend, remove the difficulties which the
Legislature has felt in dealing with inierests so important.

Jealous as the coalowuers should properly be of any undue intermed-
dling with their collieries, it may nevertheless be true that a judicious sys-
tem of superintendence iu a district, by which the pi'oper ventilation of
collieries, efficient knowledge on the part of subordinate agents, and proper
punishment for fool-hardiness or carelessness on the part of the colliers
may be secured, would be a great advantage to them individually and col-
lectively, and be the saving not uuly of lives but of much capital, securing
them, in the case of accidents, from many au unjust accusation for ne-
glect.

On the other hand, careful but not overmeddling supervision would
afford confidence to the collier. Proper persons being appointed as super-
intendents (and, if improper, their deficiencies would soon become ajipar-
ent, and their removal the consequence), he would feel that he li-is the ad-
vantage of the existing knowledge of the day brought to bear upon tha
particular conditions iintler which Ihe colliery iu which he labours is
worked. Iu some districis the working collier is far better informed upon
the general principles which should receive attention than may be cum-
mooly supposed, and he would feel far more secure from danger than ha
now does, if assured that the State was not neglectful of his safety.

Though several collieries in particular districts possess good plans and
sections of their workings, and an inspection of such plans and sections
ali'ords a view of the system of ventilation and general mode of working
adopted, this is far from being the case generally, and has been much re-
gretted alike by the enlighteued coalowuers and by the public. The im-
portance of correct plans and sections has been prominently pointed out,
both by the Committee of the House of Commons of 1835, and in the
report of the South Shields Committee of 1843; indeed, the necessity of
them is sufficiently obvious.

Should the suggestion of a system of judicious inspection be considered
worthy of consideration, the ready access to proper plans and sections uf
collieries, brought up to given times, would necessarily form a part of any
general system of regulations. If correct (.and power to ascertain that
they were &o would be essential), they would at once UiAcluse the sytlcut

31*

244

THE CIVIL ENGIiNEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[August,

of norkini; and venlilalion adopted, and, uitli information respecting the
police regulatious, and an arcoiiut of ihc kind of liglits employed, would
at once afford a general view of tin- morle of nonduciing any particular
colliery, and of tlie adjustment of the workings to comliliuns

It being considered that safety lam])S, pioperly used, du elfect much se-
curity in the working of coal, and that in so mauy cases explosions do
take place when tliey are nut eiuployed, it has often been su;;gested that
the Legislature should compel the general use of safety lamps in coal
nnnes. I'.ut, on the other hand, there are many collieries in which lire-
damp never appears, and it would juslly.be considered a hardship in such
cases to compel a precaution altogether unnecessary.

We would suggest that it could not be considered unjust for the Legis-
lature to coinpi'i the use of safely lamps in all liery collieries ; and, in the
present stale of the law of property, it niinht even be prudent to assume
Ihat all collieries iu districts where' explosions have been frequent are fiery,
putting the onus probandi that they are not upon the owners of su'h col
lieries. If proved to the satisfaction of the inspectors that no reasonable
danger was to be apprehended in their collieries, license might be given
for them to work with naked candles, this license ceasing at short periods,
hot being renewable on ascertaining that the conditions of the mine had
not allered.

Careful investigations into the causes of explosions in collieries, only
part of which arrest public attention by Iheir magnitude, appear to have
led to the very general conclusion ihat the coiidilion of our collieries is
most unequal. While iu some localities there is so little to imp'ove that
it liecomes subject of regret that such examples shouhl not more generally
be follov^■ed, in others it becomes a matter of surprise how the works can
be permitted to remain in so defective a state, seeing tliat the owners them-
selves sull'er much loss thereby. Under such a state of things, and con-
sidering the number of valuable lives annually lo-t by colliery explosions,
the continued risk to which so many are daily exposed, the national injury
sustained by the imprudent and careless mode of extracting coal in many
localities— one often felt oppressively also by the parties engaged in col-
liery speculations— and that the workings for coal must be adjusted to
local conditions, we are led to consider that these evils might be at least
mitigated by the careful and judicious inspection of convenient districts by
competent |>ersons, the necessary funds to be raised from such districts by
a very slight impost, not even exceeding one farthing on each ton of coal
raised in it; and we believe that the cause of humanity and the interests
of the coalowners would be alike benefited by a well-considered legisla-
tire measure of this kind.

We Lave, &c..

H. T. De La BiiCHE.
Lyon Piaypair.

THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.

The following are portions of Mr. Barry's evidence before the Committee
appointed to inquire into the progress of the Houses of Pailiaraent ; —

"The committee had an impression, from evidence given by you on a
former occasion, that you would be willing to undertake to warm and ven-
tilate the new House of Lords upon a system of jour own? — I believe I
GO stated.

If you were to adopt a system of your own, would it render it impossible
hereafter to revert to such a system as Dr. Reid has in a general way re-
commended or suggested ! — Is it meant that that question should apply to
the House of Lords exclusively, or to that and any other portions of the
building 7

To the House of Lords exclusively ? — As the subject is altogether new
to me, I could not at the present moment answer satisfactorily ; but if your
lordships would give me fonr-and twenty hours to consider that point, I will
then be prei>ared to give you a definite answer to the question.

Do you think that you could prepare the apartment for the Peers by the
commencement of the session of 1847, if it were ventilated and warmed
according to your own system, and without any interference with your
»y»teni from any other quarter? — Until I have determined what that sys-
tem shall be, it would be rather dilhcult for me to answer that question.
With respect to the fixing of the joiners' work, as unfortunately a very
large portion of the year, and the portion best adapted for fixing work of
that description, has been suffered to elapse, I should be sorry to pledge
myself that I would compleiely finish the House of Lords by the time men-
tioned, viz. the commencement of the next session ; but all I can say is,
lliat I will do every thing in my power to accomplish the object, and 1
trust that i should at least be able to bring the House into such a state as,
if not completely finished, it might be occupied by your lordships.

The " session" is rather an indefinite word ; do you mean by the 1st of

February? I understand the commencement of the session to mean the

lit of February.

Vou think 5 ou could get the House ready by the 1st of February ? — I
sltojuld not wish to pledge myself to have the House completely finished in
all respects by that time ; but I think I could finish it so completely that
it might be occupied by yoiir lordships.

You mean that every convenience for the sitting of the House might be
supplied, aUhough the more ornameutal parta luight not be finished? —
£i«ctly.

Has any further advance been made in the arrangements of Dr. Reid
since you were last examined before this committee ! — Not that 1 am
aware of.

Have you the slightest hope, from what has already transpired, and from
what you are aide to collect, that the work would be at all advanced by
this lime next year, unless some new anangements were made with regard
to the ventilation ? — I must say that I have no hope whatever.

All the fittings are prepared ?— They are, with the exception of portions
of the throne, and they would be prepared during the time that the rest of
the fittings were being fixed.

Ill making any arrangement for the ventilation, you do not conceive it
will be necessary to destroy any piirt of that which has already been pre.
pared in connection with the arrangements suggested by Dr. Reid ? — I du
not think it would be necessary to destroy any part; it would be necessary,
probably, to modify some of the arrangements, in order to make them avail-
able to my own system, if I may so call it.

In the arrangement that you would contemplate for warming, you would
not have to alter the ceiling, or any thing thai has been done there? — Not
at all.

Is the putting up of the ceiling a very expensive work ? — The putting
up of the fittings is a very expensive and rather tedious work; the work is
of an unusual description, and will require the greatest possible care ia
fixing.

Are you in such a slate that you could proceed immediately towards the
completion of the House if jou received the necessary authority .' — Yes ; I
am quite prepared to do so.

Will you describe the state of forwardness of the building adjoining the
House, including the lobbies ? — The Victoria Hall, which is the apaninent
immediately ailjoining the throne end of the House, is covered in, and the
ceiling is nearly fixed. I think it possible to make that room available as
well as the House, althou;;h the fittings which are to he placed in it might
not be completed. The public lobby is also roofed in, and the ceiling is
completed, and if it were necessary, that portion of the building also might,
I think, be got ready for use. The finishings of the corridors adjoining the
House ou each side are entirely prepared, and I think, if the time is sufli-
cient for fixing the work, which is very minute and elaboraie, there is no
reason why the corridors should not also be made available for occupation
with the House.

What is the state of the royal gallery ? — The roof of the royal gallery is
on, and a commencement is made w ith the fixing <if the ceiling

What is the state of the Queen's robing room? — The roof is over the
Queen's robing room, and the brick arches forming the ceiling are turned,
but none of the fittings are comn.enced.

In what state is the staircase from the royal entrance ? — That is in a very
forward state. All the stonework is completed, or nearly so, with the ex-
ception of the steps.

Have you sufficiently digested your plan for the ventilation to be able to
state in what manner you propose to introduce the air into the House and
the lobbies? — No, I have no!, because my attention has not been directed
to that part of the subject.

But you have slated that you would be prepared to undertake the venti-
lation and warming of the new Houses, and to complete the arrangements
before the meeting of next session? — Yes.

Without tying you down to a day, you can have no objection to the com-
mittee reporting that jou propose to ventilate and warm the apartments
upon your own responsibility? — None whatever.

And that that is not the portion of the work from which you contemplate
any delay in preparing the House for next session ? — Not at all.

IfDr. Reid's plan was abandoned, as it respects the House of Lords,
will the central tower still be necessary? — IfDr. Reid's system, or any
part of it, is adhered to in other parts of the buildins, it will certainly be
necessary, according to the arrangements made, to have the central tower.

But not otherwise.' — Not absolutely necessary, except for Dr. Reid's
purposes.

With respect to the central tower being abandoned for the purposes of
ventilation, might not that tower be made available for other public pur-
poses?— I think it might.

Do not you think that even in theevent of abandoning Dr. Reid's schema
it would be a great loss to the design if the central tower were given up ? —
I think it would be very desirable to retain the central tower ; but I do
not mean by that to say that it v^ould be desirable to relain the same height
or form of tower as would be required by Dr. Reid for bis ventilating pur-
poses. I think the central tower would be a great ornament to the build-
ing; but I am not of opinion that it is necessary to carry it to the height
that Dr. Reid requires In order to obtain the effect that I should desire.

The central tower, sucli as contemplated by Dr. Reid. would be of a
lower height than the Victoria tower? — lam hardly prepared to answer
that question, because I am not avvare that Dr. Reid has yet made up his
mind as to the height of it. When I have spoken to him ou the subject, be
has said, "I should like to have it as high as possible; the higher the bet-
ter: higher than Saint Paul's, " and so forth.

What IS the proposed height of the Victoria tower ? — About 342 feet.

The following are the answers of Mr. Philip Hardwicke, IMr. George
Stephenson, and Professor Graham, to questions submitted to them by the
Chief Commissioner of Woods in regard to the warming and ventilation
of the New Hoases of Parliament.

18-JG.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

24S,

I. To call upon Pr. Raid to lay before them the details of the system of
■roarmins and ventilation, as intended to be applied to the New Houses of
Parliament?— In consequence of ibe instruction numbered I., we called
upon Dr. Held to lay before us the details of his system of warming and
»entilalioii, as intended to be applied to the New Houses of Parliament.
He has laid before us his general principles on warmins; and ventilaiion,
the details only to a limited extent, but suflicient to enable us to form an
opinion on the subject.

II. To consider and to report how far it is practicable, and if practic-
able whether it would be advisable, that snch system should be extended
to the whole building, including the subordinate offices and private resid-
ences contained therein ; or whether the application of the system should
be restricted to such portion as comprises the two Houses of Parliament,
their corridors, libraries, kitchens, and refreshment rooms, or to a stdl
more limited poriion? — Agreeably to the instruction numbered II. we have
considered Dr. Keid's system as he has explained it to us. It consists of
of one general scheme for the warming and ventilation of the whole of
this extensive building, bringing in the atmospheric air from a considerable
altitude at the Victoria and clock towers at the two extremities of the
building, carrying olf all vitiated and impure air by a set of channels,
both conveyed to a central tower proposed to be of gre-iter elevation than
the towers already mentioned. Although the scheme may be practicable,

' we are of opinion that it is too much complicated in its details and uUintate
management to render such a system advisable to be applied to the
whole building, including all subordinate offices and private residences
contained therein, and that the application of the system considerably mo-
dified should be restricted to such portions as comprise the New Houses
of Parliament, their corridors, libraries, kitchens, and refreshment rooms.

III. To consider and to report whether there would be advantage in
applying the system, as far as its application should be deemed abvisable,
to different divisions of the building separately and independently of each
other? — In reference to the third instruction, we are of opinion that there
would be advantage in applying the system modified to two divisions of
the building— viz., to each House of Parliament, and the various rooms
and corridors belonging to it, and separately and independently of each
other. We are further of opinion that it \\'ould be unnecessary to apply
the system to the committee rooms, as we consider they are capable of
being warmed and ventilated in a more simple manner. That whatever
warming and ventilation may be requiied to the Speaker's residence and
the other private residences should be effected separately and independ-
ently of any other parts of the building, and from each other.

IV. To ascertain and to report how far Dr. Reid's system of warming
and ventilation is compatible or ran be made compatible with rendering
the buildings or the portions thereof to which it is applied fire-proof? —
We have not been able to consider the fourth question so much in detail as
could be desired to enable us to express a decided opinion upon it ; but we
have a strong impression that the system of warming and veniilath)n, as
proposed by Dr. Reid (if earned out in conformity with his plan) cannot
be made compatible with rendering many portions of the building fire-
proof.

V. And, according to the opinions which may be formed of the points
above mentioned, to ascertain and to report how far such plans and in-
formation in regard to the building have been supplied to Dr. Reid as are
sufheieDt to enable him to furnish to the architect corresponding plans and
information, in regard to ventilation, or if further information should be
considered requisite for either party, to what extent and in what manner
it should be furnished ? — With respect to the fifth point it appears to us
that Dr. Reid has had access to or been furnished with a great many plans
and sections of the building, and has received sufficient assistance to en-
able him to apply bis plans fur warming and ventilation to the building in
progress.

Philip Hardwickc.
Geo. Stephenson.
Thomas Graham.
Soath Audley-street, 25th June.

LIVERPOOL TOWNHALL DECORATIONS.

The Liverpool Mail praises the deceptions employed in the decoration of
the staircase of the Liverpool Town Hall in the following terms : — By
«ome process, the invention of Mr. Ingram, decorative artist, of Birming-
ham and London, who is now, with about twenty of his own workmen,
carrying on this work, the walls, which are of the usual description, and
pillars, are mode to represent the finest polished marble, and are susceptible
of receiving a polish of great brilliancy. The walls are enamelled in imi-
tation of Sienna marble, and the columns are finished in Jasper marble.
So perfect is the work, that the best judges acknowledge the imitation to
be perfect, and, to the untutored eije, the deception, we are sure, iroutd he
camptete. On the window cases and framing are painted the arabesques
from the Vatican — the arabesque style being strictly observed, nothing
which has life being introduced. The door cases will be finished in imita-
tion of statuary marble, highly polished, and the Jasper pillars stand out
io bold relief from the Sienna and statuary marble. The whole of the or-
naments in the door cases and nnder the dome, the friezes, cornices, &c.,
•re richly etched with gold. This enamelled style differs much from that
ofscagliola, inasmuch as that gr;at transparency and sparry character,
pecuUar to marble, can be produced."

WORKING STOCK OF EXISTING RAILWAYS.
The following is an abstract of the Returns made to the Railway Depart^
ment of the Board of Trade, in pursuance of an order of the House ef
Lords, of the " Working stock (engines, carriages, and wagons) belonging to
Railway Companies at present in operation" : —

Name of Railway.

Engines.

Passenger
Carriages.

Luggage

Vans and

Trucks.

Arbroath and Forfar

5

12

110

Birmingham and Gloucester . .

40

46

586

Bristol and Gloucester

11

20

213

Chester and Birkenhead

10

60

36

Dublin and Drogheda

15

69

105

Dundee and Newtyle

7*

9

138

Durham and Sunderland

13+

23

28

Dunfermline and Charlestown

Horses

2

189

Eastern Counties

66

204

1142

Edinburgh and Dalkeith

Horses

28

104

Edinburgh, Leith, and Granton

Horses

8

Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock, and Ayr

31

133

1334

Grand Junction, including Liverpool and

Manchester, and Bolton and Leigh

128

343

1978

Gravesend and Rochester

4

16

0

Great North of England

37

46

717

Great Western..

127

232

919

Hartlepool Dock and Railway

5

8

6

Havle

n

6

119

Hull and Selby

17

45

238

Lancaster and Preston Junction

6

37

36

Leicester and Swannington ..

8

4

13

Llannelly and Llandillo

4

2

454

London and Blackwall

2+

47

9

London and Brighton

44

163

423

London and Croydon

8

56

89

London and South- Western . .

47

212

508

Manchester and Birmingham. .

27

100

961

Manchester, Bolton, and Bury Canal Naviga-

tion and Railway

12

52

228

Maryport and Carlisle (including Whitehaven

junction) ..

8

16

135

Midland

109

251

1842

Newcastle and Darlington . .

37

81

2515

Newcastle-upon-Tyne and North Shields . .

5

28

124

Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Carlisle

26

67

653

Newtyle and Coupar Angus . .

1

2

48

Norfolk

18

50

497

North Union ..

19

49

54

Pontop and South Shields . .

13

5

2649

Preston and Wyre

8

40

108

St. Helen's Canal and Railway

9

20

Sheffield, Asbton-under-Lyne, and Man-

chester

25

105

469

Stockton and Hartlepool, and Clarence

19

23

67

South Eastern

90

409

881

Taff Vale

12

23

328

Lister

11

34

102

Wishaw and Coltness

11

10

1016

York and North Midland

48

109

1050

* 3 are stationary engines.

t All are stationary engioes.

t ? are stationary engines.

i Passenger carriages provided by the Newcastle and Darllogton Company.

AMERICAN PATENTS.
Granted in April, 1845, reported in the American Franklin Journal.
For " an Improvement in carriage wheels." Eliphalet S. Scriptara,
New York City.

The object of this improvement is to arrange the spokes and bub in suck
manner as to afford a ready means of tightening the wheel when the spokes
become loose by shrinking, which is effected by inclining the spokes either
way from the plane of the wheel to form what is termed a double disked
wheel, one half of the spokes being inserted in a permanent hub or cheek
piece, and the other half in a movable hub, or cheek piece, which KliUe.s
on the pipe box, so that by means of a out the moveable bub can b« fen <d
with its spokes towards the other, and thus tighten the spokes.

246

THE CIVIL KNGINEER AND ARCHITECrS JOURNAL.

[August,

For " an Improvement in the connecting rods for connrctins: the crank
pins of three or more dricing wheels of locomotives." Hulmes Hiuckley,
iiosluu, Mass.

The object of tills Improvenipnt is to connect three, four, or more, driving
wheels with a single connectin;^ rod, and permit those h-'tween tlie two
end ones to have a veriical and lateral play, which is eliVcted by having
the crank pins of the interriicdiaie wheels work in boxes that slide verti-
cally in the comiectint; rods, tlie said crank pins being made of suDicient
Jenf^tli to give end play to the axles.

Claim — " I claim makin;; the bixes to slide vertically in the connecting
rod, in combination with extendmg or lerii^tlM'ning ilie rrarik piiH of the
wheels beyond the siid boxes, so as to slide throui^h them in the direction
of their axes, as set forth ; ihe whole being for the purpose of convening
all of the several wheels of the engine into drivers, as described,

¥or " Imprnremints in the aurilmnj steam engine for supplying steam
ioilers irilh water." John Cochrane, lialtiniore, Md.

The pateolee says, " The intention of an auxiliary supply engine is not
only to supply water lo a hjiler, hut to preserve the same at a uniform
height therein, widiout its being alTeeted hy any irregularity in the con-
sumption or evaporation of that fluiil; said auxiliary engine slopping and
starling, and working; quickly or slowly, as the demands of the boiler may
require. Under the arrangement thai I prefer, the admission of steam to
the auxiliary engine is goverued by a float and balanced valves, placed in
a chamber outside the boiler, but commuMicalin; therewith by l»o branch-
es, one above and the other below the water line ; so that llie water may
have the same level boUi in the chamber and boiler. The float is furnished
with a tubular stem at bottom, openiug into it, for the purpose of carrying
off any leakage ; this stem passes out iliningh a stufling-box in the lower
part of the chamber, the arrangement of tins part being subslaniially Ihe
same with that represented and described in the speciticaiion and drawings
accompanying letters patent of the United Stales, griuled to me on the
13th day of July, lS4t, for regulaling the supply of water in steam boil-
ers. The float, however, may be oilierwise arranged and modilied, the
only requisite being lliat its action on the steam valve should be goverued
by the height of water in the boiler.

"It is not pretended that an auxiliary engine for the supplying of water
to steam boilers is in itself new, such engines having been heretofore em-
ployed for that purpose ; but I have, as 1 believe, succeeded in so con-
structing and arranging the parls of such an engine as to obviate the main
difficulties heretofore encountered in the alteiupts lo employ them,''

Claim. — ■' Having thus fully described the nature of my improvements
in the auxiliary supply engine, wliat 1 claim therein a-i new and desire to
secure by letiers patent, is, first, the manner herein described of complet-
ing the stroke, or traversing mulion, of ihe valve, by the commencing
return stroke of the piston operating on Ihe spring arms, substantially in
the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.

" I likewise claim tlie niauuer of regulating the stroke of Ihe water
pump, by adjusting the same by means of a valve, or cock, as set forth, so
tiiat a smaller and regulated quantity of steam shall be admitted to the
lifting, than is admitted to the forcing, side of the piston, as described."

For " an improved method of supplijing water to steam boilers ht/ means
of an uuxUiarij steam entwine." Isaac N, Cirllin, Washington, D. C.

Claim. — " What I claim as new, and desire lo secure by letters patent,
is the combination of the float with the valve, steam engine, and supply
pumps, substantially as herein described, so that the depression of the
float, caused by a deficiency of water, shall open a valve, and that Ihe
steam which escapes through said opening shall drive an engine to operate
the supply pumps."

VoT " a hydrostatic power machine." John Gregg, Rochester, Monroe
county, N. Y.

The patentee says, — " There are many siiiialions in which the power of
water can be obtained under a very considerable head which, from local
rauses, cannot be rendered availilile by means of waler wheels without an
expenditure of money greater llnu coiiM be made wilh prudence; it is
principally in such sitiialiuns tliat it is inlended to employ the machinery
jnvenled l)y nie. To eli'ect this object, I employ two cylindrical or other
formed waler receivers, into which receivers, water is alternalely admitted
under any desired head, and is made by its pressure lo condense alnios-
plieric air, which air, so condensed, is lo be conveyed by tubes to a cylinder
furnished with a piston, valves, and other appurtenances, similar to those
usually employed in a steam cylinder; the air being, in fact, sub,tiiuted
for steam in such manner as that an ordinary sleam cylintler* will not re-
quire any alteration to adapt it to use by means of condensed air."

For " Improvements in the sleam engine." Rslpli Pomero'y, Belleville,
Essex county, N. J.

' ■ Within the cylinder of this engine there are four pistons, the two end
ones being conuecled together and operating one crank ; and of the other

* Wtiy not admit tbe waUc at once Into tbe cylinder }~-Ed.

two, each operates a separate crank ; and the three cranks being on th»
same shaft and dividing the circle into three equal parts. All tlie pistoQ
rolls, except the last, are hollow, and pass through each other, and the
steam is to be admitted alternately lo the dilTerent pislnos, and so cut oOT,
that whilst it is expanding in one division, another division is receiving the
sleam directly from the boiler, but the manner of operating and arraogiog
the valves for this purpose is not described or represented.

Claim — •' What I claim as my invention and deiire to secure by letters
patent, is combining four pistons, conitructed and arranged subslantiallj
in the manner set forth, in one cylinder ; said pistons being connected with
three cranks placed at about aa angle of l'iO° from each other, all M
bereio described."

REGISTER OF NEW PATENTS.

If arlililioral information be required respecting any patent, it may be obtained al t&t
office of this Jourual.

MOULDING IRON.

William Mitshet and Robert Mushet. iron-founders, of Dalkeith,
Scotland, for " Improvements in moulding iron." Granted Dec. 10, 1845 ;
Enrolled June 10, 1S4G.

This invention consists in the application of stampers and rollers or other
suitable apparatus for pressing the sand into the boxes instead of perform-
ing such operation by hand as heretofore. In carrying out this invention,
the patentees propose lo employ a machine having one or more stampers,
or rammers, worked by means of "ccentric or other convenient means, or
the same may be effected by a roller or rollers in the following manner:
that is lo say, the sand after being put into the lower box, is placed npon
a carriage and passed under the machine, for the purpose of compressing
it into ihe box, the mould being inserted and suitable sand employed to
form the parting; the top box is theo put upon the lower one and filled
wilh sand in Ihe usual manner, when it is again suiijected to this improved
mode of ramming, after which the mould is finished in the ordinary man-
ner. The patentees state that the moulding of railway chairs ami other
similar articles, when a great number of the same sort are required, will
be greatly facilitated by the process above described.

STEAM ENGINE IMPROVEMENTS.

William M'Naiigiit, of Glasgow, Scotland, engineer, for" certain «m-
prorements in steam ingines." — Granted December 10, 1815 ; Enrolled
June 10, 1840.

This invention, which relates to certain improvements in steam engines,
consists in the application of what the inventor terms a non-condensing
cylinder, in adJilion to the present c\ Under in beam engines, which
present cylinder may be supposed to be the condensing cylinder. In car-
rying out these improvements, Ihe patentee proposes to have a second
sleam cjlinder placed between the centre of the beam and the connecting
rod. the piston rod of such cylinder being attached to the beam by means
of links, and to that part thereof about midway between the connecting
rod and beam gudgeons. This auxiliary cylinder is provided with a valve
of the ordinary construction, and worked by a rod, one end of which is
attached lo a lever keyed upon the weigh shaft of the ordinary cylinder,
the other end being attached to a lever on the weigh shaft of the auxili-
ary cylinder, so that the valves of both cjliuders are worked by one ec-
centric. The action of Ihe engine is as follows : that is to say, ihe steam
from the boiler is first ailraitted into the auxiliary cylinder, and having
acted upon the piston so as to force the same from the top of the cylinder
to the bottom, it passes through the eduction pipe into the ordinary cylin-
der at the opposite end of the beam, and into such cylinder at Ihe upper
part thereof, so as to force the piston down after performing the stroke ; the
sleam passes through the eduction pipe into the condenser, which is of the
ordinary c instruction. So that the steam from this additional or auxiliary
cylinder, after having performed a stroke — say the up stroke — passes from
the underside of the piston of that cylinder to the underside of the piston
of the ordinary cylinder, which latter, it will be observed, is at the bottom
of its cylinder when Ihe oiher is at the lop, so that the luventor works with
high pressure steam iu one cylinder and low pressure in the other, from
which latter the steam passes into the condenser.

The specilicilion shows a mode of applying the invention to marine steam
engiues, in which case there is a cylinder placed at each end of the beam,
one of which, that is, the high pressure cylinder, being somewhat smaller
in diameter than the other ; by this means the power is said to be mure
equally distributed than in engines having but one cyliuder.

R.4ILWAY CARRIAGE WHEELS.

JosF.ni RoMNALD UozF.K, of Clieapside, mechanic, for "Improvement*
in Ihe coiixlruct'vn and application of railway carriage wheels."— Gcaated
January li ; Enrolled .June 24, 184G.

The improvements relate to the application of the flange of railway
wheels on the outside instead of on the inside of the wheel.

Ifi-iG.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

247

GLASS TILES.

John Rosstli, of Eilinbursli, accountant, for " Mnnv/acture of glass
tiks." — Giaiiled December 30, 1845 ; Eurolled June 30, 1810.

This invention relates to making tiles out of sheets or pieces of Rlass ;
the pieces iiave two of llieir opposite sides turned up perpendicularly,
from half an inch to an inch, lo form flanges, and made in such a manner
that the plane or flat part of the glass jhall be wider at the upper enil of
the tile than the lower end, so as to allow the lower end of one tile lo lap
and lit into the lop of another between the two flannes. These tiles, the
inventor stales, may be formed of any shape, suitable for hips, valleys,
domes, or anades, and either of staineil, coloured, or opaque glass. The
tiles when used are laid on laths nailed on to the rafters, in the usual
manner, and the apertures between the flanges are to be filled up wilh
putty or any oiher suitable cement, and covered oier with a hollow head
of metal or glass, or a thin slip of metal may be fastened lo the rafters
and passed up belvveen each tile and thea turned over the flanges on the
top.

The patentee slates that he does n >t claim the mode of shaping or manu-
facturing tilt gla^s, but only for the f.irra or shape of the glass and for the
purposes of rooliug, as above described.

ATMOSPHERIC RAILWAYS.

John Robi;rt Johnson, of Alfred place, Blaclifriars, in the connty of
Surrey, chemist, for ^' Imjirovemeiits in the nutttriuts emiihijid in constriut-
ing and tvofking almusiiheric railivuijs." — Granted December 0, 1845;
Enrolled .lune 0, 184C.

This invention relates, first, to a new composition for sealing the longi-
tudinal vaUes of aimospheiic railway tubes. It is made by adding to
various mixtures of resinous, oily, and bituminous substances, dry clay,
ochre, and chalk, in powder, as much as will make the composition of the
proper confistency ; the following mixture is preferred and found to suc-
ceed : 1 part palm oil, 2 parts brown resin, and 4 parts china clay, in fine
powder. Insoluble soaps, prepared by a combination of fat and an oxide
or earth with oily or resinous substances, may answer the same puipose.

The second improvement is a composition for lubricating the interior of
the traction tubes, made by mixing with fat or oil, and resin or pilch, a
quantity of earihy malter, as before described ; the following proporlions
are recommended : 7 parts rrsin, 4 parts slearine, 4 parts tallow, and 12
parts clay.

The third improvement is for making fabrics impervious to air and
moisture with elastic varnish, for the purpose of using them instead of
leather for the longitudinal valves. The fabric may be made eillier of cot-
ton, flax, hemp, or wool, in the form of a belt, of the breadth and thicKness
required. The varnish must be such that oils or fats will not act upon it
when dry, and it must possess sufKcient elasticity to bear the bending re^
suiting from its use; linseed or nut-oil is pre:erred, particulaily boiled
linseed oil, v\hich is made to penetrate the fabric by healing the oil to 250°,
and immersing it therein until the air and vapour is expelled from tbf in-
terstices of the fabric. The fabric is then passed between a pair of iron
rollers, to squeeze out the superfluous oil, and dried in a warm room, and
afterwards again passed through oil healed to 200% and also between the
rollers, and dried. Ihe operations are repeated until the interstices are
filled by the successive (oats of varnish and the fibres cemented together
into one mass. To remove the inequalities, if any, on the surface, pumice
Btone must be used, after which a finishing coat of varnish is to be ap-
plied.

The fourth and last improvement is for constructing the traction lubes of
materials not before used for that purpose, such as calcareous cement,
Keene's cement, Roman cement, and the like, which can be cast in the
form desired, and do not require burning. The cement may be mixed
■with sand or fine gravel and r.immed into moulds of the form required.
The patentee prefers to form the pipes by the aid of an apparatus made
with a cylindrical case and a hollow core for forming the inside of the
pipe. When the tubes are dry and seasoned they are rendered impervious
lo air and moisture, by causing the cement to absoib coal-tar, which has
had its more vol^ttile portions separated by distillation.

STEAM ENGINES AND PROPELLERS.

John Penn, of Greenwich, engineer and manufarturer of steam engines,
William Hartrlb, the younger, and John Matthew, of Greenwich, en-
gineers, for " the inventton of certain improvements in steam engines and
machinery fur ]iro]jelling vesstls, which irnvrcvements are also appltcable lor
»lher purposes.'— Gianieil December 25, 1845; Enrolled June 25, 1846. —
Reported in the Patent Journal. (6'ee Engraving, Plate XUi )

These improvements in steam engines relate to a certain mode heretofore
invented, of making the piston rod of steam engines of enlarged iize, and
hollow, like a tube, to admit a long connecting rod to be received within the
hoUon of the piston rod, for transmitting the force and motion of the piston
to the revolviii:: crank on ilie axis, which is to be turned round by the force
of the steam cnfine, likeibe direct acting steam engines, the said connecting
rod being jointed to the piston at that end of the rod which is fuitiiist with-
in the said hollow of ihe pinion rod (and which for distinction may be Icriu-

ed its inner end), and the other (which may be termed the enter end, because
that end extends out from tlie said hollow beyond the hollow end of the
piston rod) being jointed upon the crank pin of the revolving crtnk, so as to
operate ly direct action for turning the crank ami axis thereof round. The
said hollow within the piston rod is sufficiently wide for permitting the
vibration of the connecting rod, without touching the inside of the hollow,
so that the connecting rod liciiig moved round with continuous onward mo-
tion in the circumference described by the crank pin, the joint at the inner
end of the connecting rod will move with alternating motion in a line which
is central with the line of the piston roil, the said joint being guided in the
said line by the sliding motion of the hollow piston rod, thrcugh its stuffing
box in the cylinder covers, as the mution of the crank piu in the circumfe-
rence of its orhit will occasion a very considerable extent of vibration of the
connecting rod within the hollow of the piston rod, which is of so large size
externally, in order to have sufficient hollow to allow its vibration without
touching. The large size of the hollow piston rod deducts materially from
the surface of the piston against which the steam is to act for impelling the
piston in that direction which will move the large hollow pi^lnn rod (through
its stuffing boxes in the cylinder covers) into the interior of the cylinder ;
consequently the piston will lie impelled with less force than if the rod were
small, or of proper size to such piston. But, on the other hand, steam will
operate against the whole area of the piston, without any such deductiou
therefrom, when steam operates for impelling the piston in a contrary direc-
tion to that already said, or in that direction which will move the large hol-
low piston rod (through its stuffing box), out of the interior of the cylinder.
Hence, the piston of a direct-acting steam engine, with large hollow piston
rod as afonsaid, will move by the steam with more velocity in one direction
(luring one half of the stroke, than in a contrary direction during the other
half of the stroke. And to avoid any unnecessary size of the hollow piston
rod, the same (instead of being of cylindrical form and circumference in its
transverse section), has been made oblong in its transverse section, having
two flat sides and two semicircular ends, so that the lengthway or oblong
should allow as ninth room within the hollow of the connecting rod as re-
quired for the performing of its vibrations, hut in breadthnay the oblong
hollow being no wider between the two flat sides than necessary fur admit-
ting the connecti.ig rod to move freely. The stufbiig box in the cylinder-
cover was adapted to the oblong form of the said hullow piston rod. In
direct acting steam engines, with such oblong flattened form of hollow piston
rod, have been called trunk engines, and were subject of patent granted to
Francis Humphreys, fur England. 2Slli March, 1835.* Our improvement in
steam engines of the aforesaid descriptiun, consists in extending the afore-
said hollow piston rod or trunk each way from the piston, instead of merely
on one side as heretofore. And with that improvement, the suiface against
which steam will operate for impelling the piston, will be the same when
impelled in one direction as the other. Also, the guidance of the piston in
its alternating rectilinear motion within the cylinder, will be rendered more
complete in consequence of llie said prolonged hollow piston rod passing
through the stuffing boxes at both ends of the cylinder. Also, the joint at
the inner end of the long link or connecting rod, is rendered more accessible
than heretofore. Fig. 1, is a horizijiital section of an engine constructed ac-
cording to this part of our impruvcments ; a a, is the steam cylinder ; 6 b
the steam piston lifted ii to the cylinder, and moving up and down therein;
e c, the hollow piston rod or trunk, fastened to the piston, and moving
therewith ; dd, the end of the cylinder ; and E E, the cylinder cover, having
the stuffing box, e e, at the centre pait of it for hollow piston rod, c c, to
pass through ; y is the long link or connecting rod, jointed at its inner end
U|)on a pin, A, at the centre of the piston, and jointed at its outer end upon
the crank pin, B, of the revolving end of the crank, G, which is on the main
revolving axis of the steam engine; ; i, is the frame-work for sustaining the
said axis. The hollow piston rod may be either of cylindrical or oblong
form, as aforesaid, but must be truly prismatic. In the motion of the en-
gine, the centre of the joint-pin. A, at the inner end of the connecting rod,
will move along the cylinder with an alternating rectilinear motion, whilst
the centre of the crank pin, B, at the outer end of the said rod,/) is moved
onwards around, in the circle described by the crank pin with a continuous
rotary motion, and during such motion the connecting rody will require to
vibrate from the direction ol the central line of cylinder to the extent of the
internal diameter of the piston rod, with alternate deviation on opposite
sides. The hollow within the hollow piston rod c c, is sufficiently large to
permit of such extent of vibration of connecting rodyon either side. Ihns
far this engine is the same as other trunk engines, or hollow piston rod en-
gines ; hut fig. 1 show tlie hollow piston rod c, c to he prolonged at 1, 1,
Irom opposite side of the piston b, b to that side thereof from which the
aforesaid part c, c proceeds; the prolonged part 1, 1 passing through, and
being fitted with a stuffing box 2, 2, at the centre part of end, d, d, ot cylin-
der, and the part 1, 1 being a continuation of the part c, c, which, together
with the said part 1, 1, forms a long hollow piston rod, c, c, having piston
b, b fastened to it at or near the middle of such rod, and the said long hol-
low rod c, c, being cuided by both stufling boxes at e, e and 2, 2; the piston
A is thereby securely retained in a proper position at the centre of the cylin-
der when moving with its altrrnating motion therein, without any undut
rubbing with more force at one side than the other of the inside ot the ey-
hnder; and the sa d lung hollow rod c, c bring open at the end of the pro-
longed part 1, 1, the joint of the inner end of the connecting rody upon

* See C, E. and A. JounuU, vol. 3, 1840, page 142.

248

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHlTECrS JOURNAL.

[A.UGUST,

the pin A can be got at for screwing up or tightening brasses of such joint
when the engine is stopped. Fig. 1 is supposed to be in every other respect
exactly like other direct acting engines, which, being well kiiDwn, need not
be described. The air pump may be worked by means uf another short crank
or an eccentric upon the main revolving axis. Such an engine may iiave
the tly wheel on its main axis, and may be applied for actuating any ma-
chinery requiring a continuous rotary motion , or may be applieil in steam
vessels, in which case the main axis would be prolonged eai.-h way across the
vessel to serve as the axis for wheels on each side of muMiip line of vessel
with the main axis of both engines in the same horiz mtal line across the
•vessel, the air pump or pumps being amidship in a spai'C left for the purpose
between the two engines, and the air pump or pumps inay be >orked liy a
short crank or cranks, or eccentric or eccentrics on the main axis, all which
being the same as iu direct acting engines need not further be described;
and in consequence of the effectual guidance of the piston during its motion
in the cylinder, which results from the long hollow piston rod passing
through stuffing boxes in both ends of the cylinder as above described, such
an engine is well qualified for working with the centre line of the cylinder
in a horizontal position, as in fig. 1, because the weight of the piston and its
hollow piston rod is effectually sustained by the fitting of long hollow piston
rods into and through the stuffing boxes at both ends of the cylinder, and
therefore that weight will not cause the circumference of the piston to rest
with any more force at the lowest part of the internal surface of the cylin-
der than at the upper or other part of that internal surface. Engines of
this description are well adapted for steam vessels having revolving propel-
lers at the stern under water, or nearly so, operating in water by an oblique
or spiral screw, or windmill-shaped propeller, that require their axis to be
low down within the vessel, and to be turned round with a rapid motion.

Several different engines are given in the drawings attached to the specifi-
cation,— some vertical, others with the connecting rod projecting from the
lower part of the hollow piston rod, with the cylinder at right angles to
each other, and attached to the same crank, or the end of the propeller
shaft.

Another part of the said improvements in steam engines relates to the air
pump, or rather to the valves of the air pump in cases where the air pump
is placed in a central line in a horizontal position, and is double acting, so as
to draw water and air from condensers, when the piston of the air pump is
moved either backwards or forwards in its horizontal barrel ; an air pump,
disposed in a horizontal position, double acting, as aforesaid, must have four
valves and a solid piston ; such air pumps have been proposed, and are not
new, but, according to this part of the improvements, those valves, and the
seats to which they fit, are so dispoi^ed with respect to the barrel of the
pump, as to be able to be removed with ease, and spare valves and seats sub-
stituted when required. Fig. 1 contains a longitudinal section of a conden-
ser and air pump, or a pair of condensers and air pumps, suitable for a
steam engine or pair of steam engines, as already described, y. y is a me-
tallic vessel, serving for condenser and hot water cistern. It may be divided
with a vertical partition to divide its internal capacity into separate conden-
sers for the two engines, or else may be two separate vessels, disposed side
bv side. In either case, the air-pump barrel, r, r, extends in a horizontal
direction through the inside of each compartment (or of each condenser),
with an opening into an end of the barrel, whereof one opening may be
closed bv a door, q. and the other by an air-pump cover, U, U, which has, as
usual, a'shifting box at the centre of it, for the rod, s, of an air-pump, to
pass through the piston, /, of the air-pump, wliich is fastened on the rod s,
> is solid. The space left within vessel y, q around the extent of each hori-
zontal air-pump barrel is further divided by a horizontal partition not shown
in drawing, but it is nearly at the level of the upper part of eacli barrel, r, r,
and so much of the upper space as is beneath the level of the horizontal
partition is the actual capacity of the condenser for reception of steam that
is to be condimsed, and of the injection of cold water by which the conden-
sation is to be effected. The eduction pipe, K, from the cylindir of the en-
gine, joins by a side branch to that lower part or condenser; the space above
the level of such horizontal portion is for the hot water cistern or hot well,
into which the air-pump is to discharge the hot water, and air is extracted
by it from the condenser, and the surplus of which hot water will pass away
as usual by the overllow pipe, v.

The air-pump, btiiig double-acting, requires to be constructed with four
valves, two at each end of barrel, r, one of these valves being a foot-valve,
for admitting water and air to pass from the condenser into the baricl, r,
when the air-pump piston, i, is moving away from that end of barrel, r, at
which such foot-valve is situate, and the oilier of the said two valves being
a discharge valve for allowing air and water to pass out frum liarrel, r, into
hot well, u', when air-pump piston, /, is movinn towards that end of barrel,
)-, at which such discharge-valve is situated. This part of the improvements
consists in disposing the said two valves, which are at the same I'lid of the
barrel of air-pump with said discharge-valve, exactly over foot-valve, so that
the same upri:;lit spindle or guide rod will serve for both valves, and will
also serve to keep seats for bnth valves in tnnir respective olices in the
metal work at the end of pump-barrel, into which places the said valvcseats
are accoratelv fitted, lint when the guide-rod is withdrawn, then the valves
become loose', and can he taken out for exaniin:itlnn or repair, and the valve
seats can also be removed out of their said places, if necessary, and other
spare valve seats put in, and valves thereon. 0, and 4, are the lower or foot-
valves, and 5, upper or disih.argc at caetuwidwf air-pump barrel, r, li and 7
being their respective valve seats, accurately fitted into recesses in the luetal

at end of barrel, r, those recesses being bored correctly circular, and slightly
conical, so as to be correctly concentric with upright guide rod or spindle,

8, which passes through central hole of upper valve seat, 7, and into central
hole of lower valve seat, G, and has suitable shoulders formed upon it, for
confining both seats, 6 and 7, down in their respective places, when rod 8 is
forced and held down end-ways, by a cover, g, screwed down over a bole in
upper part of hot water cistern, q, and which cistern bears on the upper end
of the rod, 8, so as to press and hold the same down, and consequently
fasten down the tv>o valve seats, 6 and 7. Valves 4 and 5 have central
holes through which the rod 8 passes, so as to allow the valves to fall and
rise on the rod which guides them when so rising and falling, and the rod
has suitable slip shoulders formed or fastened u;)on it, to limit the height to
which the valves shall be allowed to rise. Valves 4 and 5 may be fitted to
their seats, G and 7, with llat surfaces, or with conical fittings, when the
door, q, or air-pump cover, R, is also eorrespomling with the door, in same
end of hot water cistern, \V, or one door on the top thereof, and likewise
the Co 9 ; then the upright r^id. 8, being withdrawn upwards tnrough hole

9, will leave valves 4 and 5 loose, and at liberty to be removed through
doors or openings aforesaid ; and the valve seats, 6 and 7, may be also lifted
out of their respective recesses into which they are fitted, with a sutScient
tapering to be tight, hut without any other fastening than by means of rod
8, as aforesaid. And the upper valte seat, 7, may be made so much larger
than the lower valve seat, C, as well as the upper one, through the hot
water cistern, w, and its doors, a? aforesaid. The upright spindle, 8, of two
valves, .'i and (J, which are at the same end of the barrel, r, as its cover,
R. is so much on one side of the central line of the barrel as to avoid any
interference with the air pump rod, *. But s can be disconnected, and,
together with the air pump present, can he withdrawn frimi the barrel, r,
through the door, q or R, and the packing of piston /, can be performed at
those doors. The reces-es into which the valve seats for the foot valves, 6, 6,
are lodged, should be continued downwards, as at s, s, near toward the bot-
tom of the condenser, in order that water may be effnctually dra»n up from
the lowest part of the condenser by the action of the pump; and as to cur
said improvements for propelling and other purposes, the same are, for the
most part, applicable to vessels, with revolving screw propellers for diminishing
friction and wearing which takes place at that extremity of the horizontal
axis of the revolving propeller within the vessel, and which extremity, at the
same time it is turning r.'pidly round, must press endways against some suit-
a'de fixed end bearing in the vessel, so as to transmit to that bearing the
whole endway force of the propeller, by which the vessel is to be urged on
through the water. This part of the improvements relates to such fixed end
bearing or extremity of revolving axis, or any other end bearing for quick
revolving axis in mill work or machinery of any kind, and consists in apply-
ing a flat circular disc of hardened steel or other hard metal, in a vertical
plane at the proper place for receiving the flat end of the revolving axis,
which end is also to be hardened steel, the said disc being larger in diameter
than the said flat end, and being lodged in a cell at the central part of a
toothed wheel, which is mounted at the end of a short horizontal axis, sus-
tained in some suitably fixed socket, so as to be somewhat eccentric to (be
central line of the axis of the propeller, and the said toothed wheel being
turned round by means of other wheel work, carries the steel disc slowly
round with it in the same direction as the end of the axis of the propeller is,
at the same time, revolving with a rapid motion ; and owing to the said slow
revolving motion of the disc being eccentric to the quick revolving motion
of the end of the axis, fresh parts of the said surface of steel iii>c are con-
tinually brought opposite to, and in contact with, the same end, in order to
avoid any tendency to wearing the rubbing surfaces into rings, as usually
takes place, and also to introduce oil or water more effectually between the
rubbing surfaces.

Figs. 2, 3, 4, show some of the improvements by way of example, but the
details of construction there represented may he greatly varied. Fig. 2 is a
longitudinal vertical section; fig. 3 a plan view, and fig. 4 a horizontal sec-
tion taken at the propeller shaft. The box A, A, is to be securely fastened
in the vessel, so that a spindle, H, will correspond with the direction of cen-
tre line of the axis of the propeller, the said spindle, H, being inserted and
fastened into the end of the axis; but there is another suitable bearing not
shuwn, which sustains the axis laterally on its intended place as it revolve*.
The spindle, 11. passes through a hole in one end of the box. A, A, whieli
has partition across it at A, through which the spindle, II, also passes in a
stutling box, b, the smaller compartment of which box contains the circular
steel disc before mentioned, and filled with oil or water for keeping rubbing
surfaces cool. This is better shown in fig. 2. B circular disc, and Z* is a
tootheil wheel into the cell, at the centre wheteof the steel disc, B. is inlaid
and fastened, so as to be held on vertical plane, and so as to be carried round
with slow revolving motion of wheel, D, which is sustained by means of
prominent central boss, e, e, on opposite side of it, to that side on which
disc, li, is fastened, which boss, e, e, is received in, and fitted to, correspond-
ing circular cell, y,/", which may for the present be considered as immoveably
fixed, with its centre somewhat eccentric to centre line of spindle, H, as is
apparent in tig. 3.

I'lie toothed wheel D, is capable of turning round in said CR\\f,f, as
though it were mounted on the end of the horizontal axis, and revolving
therewith in a vertical plane, and carrying the disc B, round with it in such
miition, and there may he a horizontal centre pin at ^, in centre of the said
ell. A/, fixed to or part thereof, and fitted into the central hole of the wheel
1). arouud its prominent boss t, e, applies with close contact against tht Oat

ENOINE.S OF HER MAJES TY8 ST£AM FRICAT E.

P £izfiier.

LONOITUDINAL ELEVATION

- 1.

CLA DIATOR-
Cylinder J^f DiaMiet«r, Slroke5^i

M/LLEK , KAYENHILL ■ %, ■ Qi -

C &a,gst!cr

NEW PATENTS

PLATE XU

,immmm,tumiiwuiHiiiyiimnHHuwmmw"v

18-16]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

249

circular border around cell/,/, and by the aforesaid fittings and contact over
a considerable diameter, tlie wheel D, and disc B, are securely sustained in
their intended vertical planes, and qualified to bear the endway pressure of
spindle H, notwithstanding the eccentricity thereof to wheel D, as shown ip
fig. 4. The aforesaid slow-revolving motion of the disc B, and wheel D, is
given thereto by means of the endless screw E, on the cross axis F, which is
turned round by spin-wheel G, on the end of it, that wheel receiving motion
from another spin-wheel N, on the end of another cross axis I, whereon is
another screw wheel J, which is turned by the endless screw,;, on spindle H.
The aforesaid wheel-work and screw-work will give a very slow revolving
motion to wheel D, and the disc B, compared with the rapid revolving
spindle H; hut the proportions of the said wheels and screws may be varied,
and the endless screws, E and j (or one or them), may be made with 2 or
3 spiral threads, in which case the revolving motion given to disc B will not
be so slow. And if the parts are constituted according to the drawing, so that
the cell // is not immnveably fixed, the degrees of eccentricity can be
varied at pleasure, and the motion quickened merely by turning the lever
handle K, which is fastened on tne extreme end of the axis i in figs. 3 and
4, which axis is part of the metal of the cell //, but eccentric thereto, as
shown in fig. 4.

It is easily seen that the said axis i is fitted into a socket, perforated
through the end of the box A, and fiat vertical surface of the said end
around that socket affords a flat bearing for the flat vertical surface at back
of the cell,//, around its axis /c. The socket for the axis i is somewhat
eccentric to central line of spindle H, as shown in fig. 4, and by the position
of the parts there shown, the eccentricity of axis 4, in respect to spindle H,
concurs with the eccentricity of the cell//, in respect to its said axis R, for
giving tlie full degree of eccentricity for disc B, in respect to spimlie II, that
the disc B, and of the end of the spindle H, will permit, as is shown in
fig. 4. But if the handle K, and axis R, with the cell//", were to be turned
half-way round from their said position, fig. 4, then the eccentricity of the
axis R in respect to the spindle H ; and those of the cell //, in respect to
the axis k, would counteract or neutralise each other, so as to give little or
no eccentric motion to the disc B in respect to the spindle H. On the han-
dle K being turned to any intermediate position between the aforesaid ex-
tremes would give any intermediate degree of eccentricity as may be pre-
ferred. The axis R should be made less tight into its socket, and to fasten
them by screwing a nut on the end of the axis. The lever handle K should
have some adequate means of holding it fast in any requisite position. And
whereas the motion so given to cell //, in turning it with its axis R by the
lever handle K, as aforesaid, would derange the position of the wheel D in
respect to the glaring of its teeth in spiral threads of endless screw E, the
cross axis F of that screw ; and if the spur wheel G must be allowed to
to rise and fall in its bearings, but it will be retained at its proper distance
from the cross axis I of the other spur wheel N by means of two levers rr,
formed by bearings for the cross axis F, which hearings will rise or fall freely
with it, but will always keep it horizontal. Also, the endless screw E is fitted
upon iti said cross axis F with feathers or keys, so as to be capable of sliding
along that axis F, end-ways thereon, but so as to be compelled to go round
therewith, and the place the endless screw will occupy in lengthening of its
said cross axis F is regulated by two bearings 1 1, which are Utted on axis F,
80 as to include the screw between those bearings, 1 1, as projected from the
collar, PS, fitted around the outer circumference of the «ell // and are
collars made on two halves united by screws x j:'^ the said circumference is
concentric with the interior of the cell//, and consequently with the wheel
D ; wherefore when the cell// is turned round by the lever K, the collar
vv, by its projections 1 1, will cause the endless screw E to rise or fall,
together with the axis F, or move sideways along that axis with such com-
pound motion ; t will always preserve proper contact of its spiral threads
with the wheel D, for turning the same round, as aforesaid. Claim first : for
improvements in steam engines, which have hollowed piston rods and con-
necting rods in the hollow thereof; of making such hollow piston rods ex-
tend both ways form the piston, and passing through stuffing boxes in both
ends of cylinder, in order to obtain an equal surface of piston for receiving
pressure of steam, and impelling piston in both directions in cylinder, up,
down, back, and forwards, at same time obtaining secure guidance of the
piston in such motion, in consequence of long hollow piston rod sliding
through stuffing boxes at both ends of the cylinder, also rendering joint at
inner end of connecting rod accessible within the hollow piston rod; but no
claim is made to extending of piston rod each way from the piston, and
guiding such long piston rod by passing through stuffing boxes in both ends
of cylinder, when that is done for the mere purpose of the guidance of the
piston in its motion within the cylinder ; hut claim is only made when the
long piston rod, which is so guided, ia hollow, for the purpose of receiving
the connecting rod within the hollow, as before described. Secondly, ia
improvements in disposing the valves of horizontal double-acting air-pumps,
with the lower or foot valve directing beneath the upper or discharge valve,
and holding the valve seats for both those valves fast in the proper place,
and ^Iso guiding the valves in their rising and falling motions by means of
oue forced upright spiodle.

IMPROVEMENTS IN GOVERNORS OF STEAM ENGINES.
Charles Wiliiam Siemens, of Finsbury.square, Middlesex, engineer,
for " Improvements in steam engines and in regulating the power and velocity
of machines for communicating power." — Granted December 24, 1845 ;
Enrolled June 24, 1846. See Engraving, Plate XII.

The first part of this invention consists in some further improvements in
the chronometric governor, a patent for which was granted to Mr. Joseph
Woods, of Barge-yard Chambers, Bucklersbury, April 18th, 1844.

Figs. 1 and 2 represent the improved chronometric governor, which is
generally applied to steam engines. The differential velocity between the
engine and a revolving pendulum P is obtained by means of three bevil-
wheels. A, B, and C. The wheel A is firmly connected with the arm or
crank E of the pendulum by means of the upright shaft K, and revolves
always in concert with the pendulum. Tlie under wheel B is fixed to the
pulley D, which is driven by the engine with its uncertain velocity and in
contrary direction to the motion of A. Both these wheels move in gear
with the third bevil-wheel C, which runs perfectly free on its axis, and is
also permitted to travel round the perpendicular socket d. It is obvious that
whenever A and B revolve in contrary directions, but with equal velocity, C
will also revolve on its axis, but will not change its angular position, while
any difference in velocity between A and B will cause C to follow the direc-
tion of the faster wheel, which will at once alter the supply of steam, the
double arm m being attached to the throttle valve T by means of the lever
and connecting rod /. To maintain the motion of the pendulum a constant
power is required, resembling that of a falling weight in an ordinary clock.
This power is given out by the weight w, which tends to pull the wheel C '
permanently to one side, and this strain being borne equally by the wheels
A and B, causes A, and with it the pendulum P, to revolve, while B, which
revolves in the contrary direction to A, is constantly engaged to lift W back
again in its proper position. In practice, it has been found that the power
requisite to maintain the action of the pendulum is much less than that
required to effect the movement of the valve, and the inventor now adopts
the principle of driving the pendulum with an excess of power, which shall
he neutralised by a friction apparatus when not wanted, and shall be allowed
to act freely when the governor requires its assistance to move the valve.
This is effected as follows : R is a ring of cast iron or other proper material,
against which a surface of steel or other material g, revolving with the pen-
dulum, is pressed by its short lever, a spring s being placed between the
point of the rod and the steel rubber, to let the pressure come on gradually.
It is evident that whenever there is an excess of driving weight, which
causes divergence in the arc of vibration, the surfaces of the steel rubber
and of the fixed ring will be pressed in contact together with a force exactly
sufficient to produce the required amount of friction necessary to counter-
balance the excess ; and so soon as the pendulum falls back towards a
smaller arc of rotation it will reUeve the friction apparatus, and permit an
increased supply of power to overcome the resistances of the valve, &c.
A second spiral spring t is laid in the groove of the arm F, behind the
point of the pendulum, for the purpose of never allowing the latter to drop
quite in its perpendicular position, and also to facilitate its starting with the
engine.

There is also described another mode of obtaining the differential velocity
between the pendulum and the engine and a governor of a more powerful
description, which is calculated to move the gates of water-wheels or the
expansion gear of large engines, but the general principle of these governors
is the same as we have already described, and we therefore omit them.

The great advantages of the chronometric governor over Watts's Centri-
fugal governor, or others which have hitherto been proposed, are — that the
engine must always keep pace with an " independent" pendulum, which will
travel only with its proper velocity according to its perpendicular length
— no matter whether the engine has to overcome the maximum of her loatl
or none at all; and another principal advantage is, that the adjustment of
the valve is done at the very instant when the equilibrium between the load
anil power of the engine is disturbed ; there is no variation in speed visible,
even if the whole amount of load of an engine is suddenly thrown off, an
advance of about ji^th part of the revolution of the fiy-wheel being sufficient
to shut the throttle valve.

The patent has been applied to engines at the Steam Flour Mills of Mr.
Carpenter, Shad Thames ; at the saw mills of Mr. Rosliug, Southwark-bridge,
and Messrs. Ransome and May, Ipswich, and several other places.

ELECTRIC CONDUCTORS.

William Young, of Paisley, manufacturer and dyer, and Archibald
McNair, of the same town, merchant, for " certain improvements in the
construction and tneans of manufacturing apparatus for conducting electri-
«7y."— Granted August 4, 1845; Enrolled February 4, 1846. (With En-
gravings, Plate XII.J

This invention of improvements in the construction of apparatus for con-
ducting electricity consists of a new and improved method of manufacturing
electric conductors. The electric conductors are formed of one or more
copper, tin, or other metallic or mixed metallic wires, which may be covered
with cotton, woollen, or linen thread, in a manner similar to those termed
" bobbin wires," aied in the maoafactare ot caps and b^wisM ; or the wir««

Si

230

THE CIVIL ENGINEEK AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[August,

mav be covered with threads in a plaited or braided form, by means f a
bra'idinir-machine ; such description of covering being much stronger and
less likelv to be disturbed or rubbed off when passing through the machinery
hereafter described, than the coiled coverings of the ordinary bobbm-wires,
or anv other description of covering hitherto employed for that purpose. As
the liabilitv of the wires to come into contact, and thereby disturb the elec
trie circuit is greatlv diminished by braiding tlieir surfaces, the patentees
consider this mode of protecting the wires as one of great importance in the
construction of electrical conductors. , , , .,,. ,,

The wires so covered are to be introduced into and enclosed within a tube
or pipe composed of lead or other similar soft metal ; which tube or pipe is
filled with asphalte, pitch, wax, resin, or other substance, being a noncon-
ductor of electricity, and capable of being liquified by heat, and afterwards
becoming concrete by cold. ... . ,

The wires being covered with thread, as above mentioned, are prevented
from coming into contact with each other, or with any adjacent conducting
medium which might divert tlie course of the electric fluid; and the spaces
between the covered wires being filled with pitcli or other suitable noncon.
ductor of electricitv, as before mentioned, and enclosed in pipes or tubes of
lead or other soft 'similar metal, the wires will be cfl'ectually preserved in
an insulated state, and protected from damp as well from other sources of

'" xlfe means of manufacturing the improved electric conductors will be best
understood by reference to the drawings in Plate XII. F.g. 1, is an eleva-
tion nartlv in section, of a machine for effecting this object, a, is a cistern
or vessel formed of iron or other suitable material, for containing the bitu-
iiiinous o'r resinous matters which are intended to surround the wires in the
leaden pipe • b, represents a tubular or hollow rod or mandril, open to and
descending from the bottom of the vessel a ; which mandril is preferred to
be made of polished steel, and fixed, by means of flanges and screw-bolts, to
a triangular plate or head, q. c, is a tubular core at the lower end of the
mandril b, also made of polished steel ; and d, d, is a circular hollow die,
resting on the top of the ram e. The ram e, is cylindrical, having a perpen-
dicular opening through its centre ; the lower part of the ram is enlarged at
f with a transverse slot tiirough it, and is bolted firmly upon a triangular
Dlate s ff is a piston, working in the hydrauliccylinder i, having a projec-
tion or enlarged diameter A, to be packed with leather or otherwise, so as to
fit the cvlinder i, accurately. This cylinder is of cast-iron, bored, and lined
with copper, and is bolted to the ground ; i, is a ring or cap-plate, over the
end of the cvlinder, embracing the smaller diameter of the piston g, winch is
to be properly packed ; i, is a malleable iron cylinder, having a chamber >n,
within it and an aperture to admit the sliding tubular mandril « ; it is also
provided with a small opening at o, for filling the chamber m, with lead or
i.ther soft metal. p,p, are pillars, fixed upon the plate q, and intended to
support the cistern or vessel a ; the plate y, has an aperture in its centre to
admit the tulmlar mandril b, shown in the drawing, r, r, are three sliding-
rods (two onlv are shown in fig. 1,) which pass through the snugs or ears of
the plate g. aiid are fastened thereto by nuts ; their other ends are attached
in the ^ame wav to the plate s. These rods pass freely through a heavy cir-
cular plate r, which, bv means of a ring.plate bolted to its under surface,
supports the cvlinder/; a ledge or belt being provided at x, to rest upon
the inner edge if the plate y. z, z, are six iron pillars, with screw-nuts at
their eads, for binding the plate v, to the cylinder i.

The covered wires which form the electric conductors a, are intended to
oroceed from reels, placed in convenient situations (but which reels are not
represented in the drawings), and pass through the vessel a ; the reels should
be loaded with a weight or drag to keep the wires always at a certain ten-

"'"The relative position of the hollow circular die d, d, with regard to the
tubular core c, of the mandril, will be clearly seen in fig. 1. I'he core c, is
screwed into the tubular mandril b, and is tapered off and terminates before
it reaches the most contracted part of the opening in the hollow circular

The mode in which the machine operates is as follows :— The wire or wires,
covered as before described, are introduced into the machine through the
vessel a where thev become coated with pitch or other similar material.
They are'then brought down through the tubular mandril b, the hollow core
c the hollow circular die d, and the tubular ram c, to the opening at/,
where they issue from the machine. The asphalte, pitch, wax, resin, or
other nonconductor of electricity, capable of being liquified by beat, and
afterwards becoming concrete by cold, is put into the vessel a, and brought
to a liquified state bv means of heat applied to that vessel. The l.qu'fied
Ditch or other similar substance, will descend into and fill the tube of the
mandril b, and the hollow core c, and during its passage oown the said man-
liril the pitch or other matter will remain in a liquified state. The chamber
m of the hollow cvlinder /, is filled with lead or other similar soft metal,
introduced in a molten state through the opening at o. The metal in this
chamber is to be forced therefrom by the action of the hydraulic ram, when
in either a heated or cold state ; but the patentees prefer to operate upon it
in a heated though solid state, varying from 250 to 400° of Fahrenheit's
thermometer. This degree of temperature may be preserved in the cylinder

by anv convenient means. . , , . . ^ , ,, • , t

When the chamber m, is filled with lead or other metal, the said mass of
metal will assume the form nf a thick hollow cylinder or tube, of which the
mandril b, and the core c, form the centre. The cylinder i, and piston g,
constitute a common hydraulic press, and water being forced into the cylin.

der i, at the opening w, below, by means of force-pumps in the usual way,
the piston y, will be made to ascend, and with it tlie rame, and the whole of
the superstructure attadied to the plate y. As the ram ascends, it will force
the hollow circular die d, against the mass of the lead or other metal in the
chamber m, which, having no other outlet than the channel between the
core c, and the hollow circular die d. the thick cylinder of lead in the cham-
ber m, will be forced into the form of a small pipe or hollow tuhe, and de-
scending through the tubular ram e, will he delivered finished at the opening
at/, with the wires firmly secured and enclosed within it.

When the charge of lead has been pressed out of the chamber m, it is
again to he filled with melted lead or other metal, to be operated upon in
the same manner, and the charge repeated, until a proper length of tube is
produced. The metal being hot when it is poured in, will amalgamate with
the remaining metal of the previous charge, so that one continuous perfect
tube will be formed. Previously to commencing the operation of forming
the pipes, the wires must be carried down to the opening at/, and when the
first portion of the pipe is produced, it must he made fast to the wires; the
further operations will then draw down the wires from the reel or coil,
through the pitch vessel a, and tubular mandril ; so that the pipe or tube,
during its whole formation, will always have the wire or wires and the non-
conducting material encloed within it.

The screws at each end of the rods r, and corresponding nuts, are intend-
ed for adjusting the mandril and die. The vacancy formed in the cylinder i,
between the projection li, in the piston g, and the ring k, is to admit of
water being injected through a small opening by force-pumps, for the pur-
pose of accelerating the descent of the piston.

Figs. 2, 3, and 4, represent various views of another construction or ar-
rangement of machinery, which is a modification of the one above described ;
for although the arrangement of the parts is somewhat different, the princi-
ple upon which both machines are constructed is the same, and the effect
produced is identical in both. Fig. 2, represents the machine in vertical sec-
tion. As many of the parts in both arrangements are the same, their situa-
tion only being changed, it has been thought unnecessary to give a detailed
description of this machine ; but similar letters of reference are employed to
denote the corresponding parts. The hollow mandril in this machine is
made of much greater length than that in the first described machine, and
the position of the core and die is consequently changed, which is poured in
at the top, by raising the ram or plunger e, out of the chamber. In this
machine the hollow mandril and the die do not move up aud down with the
other moveable parts, but are stationary, and only so far moveable as to
allow of their proper adjustment. The die d, is placed in a recess made at
the bottom of the malleable iron cylinder /, and is secured therein by means
of a plate d*, bolted to that cylinder. Through the cover of the hydraulic
cylinder passes the hollow mandril 4, surrounded by a strong tube n, which
is a prolongation of the piston g.

The ram e. is firmly bolted to the lower end of the piston or plunger y,
and the hollow mandril i, which, at this part, is contracted in diameter, is
passed through it. The lower end of the ram e, is furnished with a steel
plate, which accurately fits the chamber m. The cylinder /, is suspended in
a strong circular plate v, firmly secured to the frame work, and is prevented
from moving from its seat by means of a ring y, which is bolted to that plate.
q, is a circular plate, supported from the top flange of the hydraulic cylinder,
i, i, by means of rods, and has an aperture in its centre, through which the
hollow mandril i, passes; 7, is another plate, supported above the plate y,
upon vertical worm-shafts a*, a*, which pass through holes made in the
plate; and to the centre of this plate j, the hollow mandril b. is secured in
such a manner that by moving tlie said plate ^^ up and down, the hollow
mandril is moved also in a corresponding ratio. The vertical worm-shafts
a*, a*, each carry a toothed |>iuion b* \ aud upon a horizontal shaft c*,
mounted in bearings on the plate q, are small endless screws or worms e*, e*,
which gear into the pinions 4*. Vi hen ihe pinions 4*,i*, are made to revolve,
the worm-shafts a*, a*, will raise or lower the plate j, and, consequently,
the tubular mandril A, to which it is secured. By this contrivance the dis-
tance between the core c, and the die d, is regulated, and, consequently, the
thickness of the pipe is determined with the greatest nicety.

The mode of operating with this machine is very similar to that first de-
scribed. Ihe wires being enclosed in tubes or pipes, filled in the manner
aforesaid, may be laid down or otherwise used, either abo\e ground in the
open air, or underground, or below the surface of water : and when so con-
structed, according to this improved method, will present outwardly the ap-
pearance of a common leaden or soft metal pipe. The improved conductors
may be manufactured, by the machinery and means described, in longlengtbs,
and may be rolled upon reels. If the electric conductors are to be used in
great lengths on land, it is proposed to carry them on reels, on a wheeled
carriage; and while the pipe is heing laid down, ose end is to be held fast,
as the carriage proceeds in the direction in which the pipe is to be laid, so
that the reel may revolve on its journals or centres, and thereby allow the
pipe containing the wires to be unwound and delivered on the ground, with-
out risk of injury, and with great facility. Should the conductors be re-
quired to be laid in water, it would be advisable to employ a floating vessel,
propelled at a suitable speed, by drawing upon ropes or chains, made fast to
the bottom or banks ; or by steam-boat machinery, applied so as to regulate
the speed.

When the electric apparatus is laid down or used on land, it may be laid
in a trench made in the ground ; and at regular or convenient distances, the ,
ends of the pipes should be raided above ground, and placed in a cast-iron or

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL

251

other suitable case or box, provided with a lock or other means of safe keep-
ing, so that the wires may be easily accessible to the examination of parties
wishing to communicate intelligence by them. The ends of the individual
wires may also be disconnected from each other in these boxes, and the cir-
cuit with the corresponding wires belonging to the adjoining tube completed,
when required, by means ol small pinching screws, or by causing the ends of
the wires to dip into a hollow space, filled with mercury, or an amalgam of
that metal, so as to produce metallic contact, in order that the conductors
may be sn joined as to form a continuous length to any extent, but capable
of being disconnected wheu required.

For this purpose the patentees propose to employ an apparatus, shown in
plan view at tig. 5, which represents the terminations of two pipes of soft
metal, each containing three conducting wires a, b, c. The ends of these
wires extend beyond the termination of the pipes, and are bent downwards
into cups of mercury g, h, i. By this means the connection of the conduc-
tors is restored through the mercurial medium ; that is, the conductor a, by
its end being immersed in the cup g, oonimunicates with the wire d; and the
wire i, in the cup h, communicates with the wire e ; and the wire c, through
i, with/; connection is also made with the ontsides of the pipes a, and b,
by thick wires /(■, and ;, soldered to the pipes, which are made to communi-
cate through the mercurial cup m. This apparatus, placed at any desired
part or parts of the line of communication, may be enclosed in a box n, and
locked up securely.

The improved electric apparatus may be used not only as conductors for
telegraphs, either by land or water, but also for firing mines, or other pur-
jinses for which electric co!iductors have been or may hereafter be employed.
It is likewise proposed to use the leaden or other aforesaid metallic pipes or
tubes, as means of returning the electric currents conveyed by the metallic
wires enclosed in such pipes. Metallic contact is produced through the
whole length of these tubes, so as to complete the electric circuit, either by
soldering a piece of copper or other metal to each end of the leaden tubes,
and bringing these pieces of copper or other metal into metallic contact
through the mercury, or by other means, as above said.

When the conductors are used for electric telegraphs, these ends and the
wires enclosed therein are attached to the wires proceeding from the clock-
work of such telegraphs, in the usual way ; but which may vary according
to the construction of such telegraphs. If the conductors are to be employed
for igniting gunpowder, a short piece of metalUc wire, of small diameter,
may be placed in any convenient situation, so as to form a part of the elec-
tric circuit ; and if the electric currant be sufficiently powerful, this small
wire will he made hot enough to ignite gunpowder, when a current of elec-
tricity passes along the wires.

The patentees, in conclusion, state, that they do not intend to claim the
adaptation of wires, surrounded with nonconducting substances, enclosed in
tubes for electric conductors ; but that which they do claim is. the construc-
tion and manufacture of electrical conductors, by the employment of ma-
chinery having a tubular mandril or hollow rod, through which wires may
be drawn, whilst the leaden or other soft metal tube is forming, by pressure
between a core and die; such wires being at the same time imbedded in
pitch or other nonconducting material.

PROPELLING ON RAILWAYS AND CANALS.

William Hannis Taylor, of Piccadilly, gent., and Francis Eoobi-
LIAC Condor, of Birmingham, civil engineer, for *' certain improvements
in propelling," — Granted December 20, 1845 ; Enrolled June 20, 1846.
(See Engraving, Plate XII.)

The object of this invention is to propel a train of carriages by means
of electro magnetism in connection with the atmospheric principle, in the
following manner : — A tube a is laid betwixt the rails throughout the whole
length of the line, having two pistons h moving within it, similar to the
present mode of working atmospheric railways, with this difference, that
in place of forming the connection between the piston and leadiijg carriage
by means of an arm passing through the longitudinal opening. The in-
ventors efTect the above by means of powerful magnets c attached to one
or more of the leading carriages of the train. On the top of the atmos-
pheric tube a, which is provided with an opening of about three inches
wide, there is firmly fixed a rectangular box of copper, d, projecting above
the tube about three inches, so that the longitudinal opening is covered as
it were with an inverted trough. Wiihiu this box there is a piece of soft
iron, f, supported from the piston by means of a wood frame and arms,/.
The magnets e are bent of such a form that the two ends or poles approach
the sides of the copper box. or covering to the longitudinal opening, and
fixed to the underside of the carriage ; then being charged with the mag-
netic inSuence, by a galvanic battery, are attracted by the piece of irou e,
attached in the manner before described to the piston, so that the connec-
tion between the carriai;e and the piston is effected by means of powerful
magnets, in place of an arm passing through the longitudinal openiog as
heretofore.*

* The application of the above principle will be fouod in the ipecifivatlon of a patent
(ranted to lUr. Heorir finliui, in the ytar 1834-

CONNECTING OF BOILERS.

James Garporth, of Dunkinfield, Chester, engineer, for "certain im-
provements in machinery, or apparatus for connecting of boilers, and oilier
pur/joses "—Granted December 10, 1845; Enrolled Ju'ue 10, 1S46. ( Wiili
Engravings, see Plate XII. )

These improvements for connecting metallic plates fur the construction
of steam boilers consist in the direct application of the expansive force of
sleam to the dies for rivetting the plates together, and in the inachinerv or
apparatus, whereby such force is brought into action. Fig. 1 is a side
view of an arrangement of machinery for rivetting metallic plates for the
construction of sleam boilers, and fin. 2 is a vertical section of the cylinder ;
a, a. is the frame work supporling the steam cylinder A, b, in which a
steam-tight metallic piston c, is mounted upon the rod d, d. which passes
through stuffing boxes e, e, at each end of the cylinder A ; in the end of the
piston-rod the die/ is fixed, the other die g, being rarnin^ed in the pillar /i,
which is firmly secured to the frame-work. Steam being admitted through
the entrance or feed-pipe i, it passes onwards through u common slide
or other valve A:, to the cjl.nder, and after having performed its office, is
allowed to pass out through the pipe (, the slide valve k, being worked by
hand by means of the lever m, so as to admit (he steam on either side of
the piston, as required.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows :— steam of sufficient pres-
sure being admilled by means of the slide vnlve k, on the left hand side of
the piston c, it will force it, together with the piston rod </ (to which is at-
tached the die/), against the head g, which forms the end of the rivet n,
between ihe dies / and g ; thus firmly connecting the plates p, thereby
producing a perfectly steam, air, or water-tight joint. The head of the
rivet being formed at one or more blows as required, the intensity of Ihe
blow depending upon the area of the piston, the length of the stroke, and
the pressure of Ihe steam employed. The valve k, is then reversed, the
steam admitted on the other side of the piston, which movement will with-
draw the die/, when another rivet may be introduced and the operation
proceed as before.

The inventor does not confine himself to the use of steam pressure, as
Ihe direct action of water, air, or auy other elaslic;medium, may be similarly
employed without departing from the principle of his invention. He does
not claim as his invention the exclusive use of the several parts of the
above machine, except it be employed for Ihe purposes of his invention,
which consists in rivetting metal plates by dies driven by the elastic force
of steam, water, or other clastic medium as above described.

CHIMNEY DRAUGHT.

Henry Watson, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, brass-founder, for '* /m.
prorements in withdiauing air and vapours from furnaces or other appara-
tus, and in condensing and employing such vapours." — Granted January 6 ;
Enrolled July 6, 1846.

This invention relates to introducing a jet of steam through a cone fixed
in a chimney, to create a draught and for withdrawing the air and vapours.
Fig. 1, a is a section of a floe, with a cone A fitted inside, and made to

~» -J^^W.-.^^.^'^.'V'^-^^^'.' v' .-^^j

A;r-m»»;"

slide, 90 as to regulate Ihe proper position for preventing a back dianght.
c is a pipe for introducing a jet of steam through the aperture of the cone,
and for producing a partial vacuum below the opening ; the inventor also
shows how a chamber, D, to be used as a condenser, may be connected
with the apparatus when a draught is employed for the purpose of reducing
ores, such as lead, e is the flue, leading from the furnace. D, the cham-
ber, half filled with water, and divided into compartments by partilioug
alternately dipping into the water. As the vapour passes from the flue «
it will, the inventor states, on account of the partial vacuum created in the
cone A, be made to pass through the water, and thereby be condensed and
absorbed by the water.

253

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[August

STEAM SHIP PROrEI.LING MACHINERY.

JosEni MAID3LAY, of tie firm of Maudslay a»d Field, Lambeth,
engineers, for " Im/irovements in prnvelling and propelling machineYy." —
Granted Jan. 13 ; Enrolled July 13, iS40.

Fi?.

C

This invention consists in a mode of raising screw and other similar stern
prcipellers, when the same are fixed ahaft the stern-post. Fig. 1 shows the
mndc of effecting this object, a a is a rectangular framework of iron, which
su|)ports at its lower end a hollow shaft b, carrying the vanes of the pro-
peller and working freely in the plummer blocks ec. The rectangular frame
a a is provided with projecting pieces a' a' which fit into and are attached to
a sliding piece d, in a similar manner to a hinge joint. This sliding piece
d (I is capable of moving freely upon a strong frame e e, which latter is firmly
bolted to the counter of the vessel. / is the propeller shaft which passes
through a hollow shaft or tube g, the propeller shaft being squared at its
outer end so as to fit the hole formed in the boss or hollow shaft A, which
hole is of the same figure. A represents a chain, one end of which is at-
tached to the rectangular frame a, the other being attached to a capstan or
windlass on board the vessel. When it is necessary to raise the propeller,
the square end of the shaft/is withdrawn from the boss or shaft 4, then, by
giving motion to the wmdlass, the part d will slide upon the frame ee, car-^
rying with it the rectangular frame o a and propeller. The advantages of
this arrangement are stated to be, that the propeller may be placed lower
down than heretofore, and consequently a larger propeller may be em-
ployed, moreover the water passing from the propeller will meet with less
obstruction against the sides of the vessel, and which vessel will be less sub-
ject to that tremulous motion caused by the action of the propeller.

Tbe second improvement consists in disconnecting the propelling shaft
from the driving shaft, thereby allowing the former to run loose upon its
axis when the vessel is required to be worked with sails only, or when she
is laying in a tide way. In fig. 2, a is a circular plate of cast iron, firmly
keyed on the outer end of the driving shaft * ; e is a casting in the form of
a frustrum of a cone, and is firmly keyed upon the inner end of the propel-
ler shaft d; upon the periphery of this conical piece there is a hollow cast-
ing e turned accurately to (it the conical part c. On the periphery of the
plate a there is cast three " snugs'' or projections, through each of which is
passed a bolt/ (one only of which is shown in the drawing) ; at the outer
end of these bolts there is a winch, g, or handle, having three projecting
arms g', ao that one is always uppermost. It will therefore be seen tjy the
above that by screwing the bolts/, and the part c, the propeller shaft d will
be driven by the friction of the two conical pieces c and e, and by unscrewing
the conical part c aud propeller shaft will be allowed to run loose.

ATMOSPHERIC RAILWAYS.

Charles Wheeler, of Speenhamland, Berkshire, machinist, fnr " cer-
tain improvements in the construction and working of railways" — Granted
January 22 ; Enrolled July 22, 1846.

The first part of this invention is for an improved form of rail for rail-
ways, shown at fig. 1, which represents a transverse section of a rail con-
structed of such a form as to present three ditTerent surfaces to the action
of the wheels, that is to say, when one surface is worn out, another can be
turned up, as will be clearly understooil by the following description, a is a
section of the rail, fastened down to the sleeper by means of cast iron
blocks b; between the rail and the block a piece of felt Is placed, or a key
way may be foroaed in the blocks, as shown at d', and a hard wooden wedge
driven. The rails are further secured to the sleepers by means of a lialf
round piece of wood c, upon which the rail is made to rest. The specifica-
tion states that this description of rail may be made by rolling the bars of
iron betwixt three rollers.

The second part of the invention consists in transmitting motion from the
pitton of an atmospheric railway to the carriage by having a flexil le coverinij

to the top of tbe tube, which is raised up and forced against a wheel at-
tached to the leading carriage by means of a vtheel attached to the pistoa.*

Fig. J.

Fig. 2.

The third part of the invention relates to a mode of closing the longitu-
dinal opening by means of a continuous sliding valve, shown at fig. 2, which
represents a transverse section of the pipe and sliding valve constructed ac-
cording to this part of the invention ; a is the tube, which is cast with a pro-
jecting rib A ; c is a sliding plate, also having a projecting fiange similar to
that upon the pipe ; a number of these plates are hinged together with a
rule joint, so as to extend the whole length of the line. Vpon the under-
side of this sliding plate there is a piece of leather d firmly attached to
the side of the pipe, which piece is brought over the longitudinal
slit or opening by the inner edge of the plates c, the outer edge of such
plates being acted upon by means of springs e, supported at intervals hy
pillars/, which have a tendency to force the plate c and leather over the
opening, g \% & framework of iron attached to the vertical arm A; this
framework supports three anti-friction rollers which, as the piston travelj
along, forces back the plate c, so as to allow the vertical arm to pass, the
opening being closed again by the action of the springs e. Fig. 3 shows a
plan of tbe framework g and rollers i.

* This mode of forming the connection has already been patented two or three times
0T«r,

DECORATION OF HOUSES.

Henri Augvste Bex, of Great Titchfield-street, Marylehone, decorator,
for " A new method tf drying, polishing, and colouring marble, stone, and
certain other materials used in the construction or decoration of houses and
other buildings." — Granted December 10, 1845 ; Enrolled June 10, 1846.

The improvements are : First, in pohshing marble and stone by fiUing up
the pores with pbister of Paris or marble cement ; then rubbing them with
hard stones, applying a thin layer of plastic before each rubbing ; and lastly
rubbing them with wax, or a mixture of wax and turpentine. Secondly, in
polishing other materials used in the construction or decoration of houses
by rubbinn them with a varnish of gum lac. Thirdly, in dyeing and colour-
ing marble, stone, and other materials used in the construction or decoration
of houses, hy wetting them with certain acids, salts, and colouring materials .
or their chemical combinations, by means of a brush cr sponge.

The inventor then proceeds to describe the manner in which the said inven-
tion is to be performed. To polish marble or stone the surface to be polished
is first rubbed with apiece of sandstone, aud afterwards with a sandstone of a
finer description, in same manner as is now ordinarily practised ; the pores
of the marble or stone are then stopped up with plaster of Paris mixed with
a thin solution of gelatine and some colouring matter, to render it of the same
colour as the marble or stone to be polished, till it attains the consistence of
creain, or else marble cement mixed with colouring matter, till it attains
same consistence, and is similarly colouretl. These mixtures are then laid
on respectively, as the case may be, with a brush, and afterwards scraped o£F
with a wooden knife, taking care that all the pores of marble or stone are
filled up. The marble or stone is then rubbed with a kind of sandstone
called t'hiirley Purest stone ; the |)nres being stnpped up, jire rii- ''fiJ v/tth
ttie stone, and after tliat with a piece of German stuue» and tluilijr with a

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECFS JOURNAL.

253

piece of touchstone ; before each of these rubbings there is 'aid on with a
brush a thin coat of plaster of Paris or marble cement, raised with water to
the consistence of milk; and lastly, should the colour of the stone or marble
be clear, a coat of wax, or mixture of wax and turpentine, is laid on and
rubbed with a linen, cotton, or woollen rag, till the marble or stone becomes
perfectly polished, but if the colour of the marble or stone should not be
clear before applying the wax, or mixture of wax and turpentine, it is rubbed
with linseed oil till the colour becomes clear, taking care to remove all the
oil before the wax is applied. In addition to the above process, sometimes
the marble or stone to be polished is rubbed with a piece of jasper, if a very
brilliant polish is required. Other materials used in the construction of
houses are to be polished in same manner as the marble and stone above de-
scribed, till the rubbing is completed with the Charley Forest stone ; they
are then rubbed with linseed oil, taking care to wipe it off thoroughly, and
then varnished with gum lac in the following manner: — Take a ball of wool,
wet the surface of it with the varnish, and cover it with a linen rag. Then
well rub the material to be polished, adding a little oil occasionally, if the
varnish should not work freely. To dye and colour marble or stone, and
other materials used in the construction and decoration of houses, the same
system of acids, salts, or colouring matter is employed as generally used by
dyers in dying cloths and other textile fabrics. The said acids, sails, or
colouring materials, or their chemical combinations, are applied in a liquid
state, over the surface of the material required to be dyed or coloured by
means of a sponge. If the dyed or coloured surfaces are to have the same
polish as the rest of the surface, the said colouring materials are applied
before polishing the said substance, or when the process of polishing is only
half finished ; but if it be wished the dyed or coloured matter to be dead or
unpolished, the colouring materials are applied after the process of polishing
is completed. The certain other materials alluded to in his title are plaster,
stucco, scagliola, and a species of stucco invented in France, and introduced
by the inventor for the first time in England, and which is called stiic a la
brosse. The claims are : — First, the filling up with plaster of Paris, or mar-
ble cement, in the manner above described, the pores of the marble or stone
intended to be polished, and rubbing them with certain hard stones, as here-
inbefore described ; secondly, the polishing of certain other materials used
in constructing or decorating houses, &c. ; and thirdly, in dyeing and colour-
ing marble, stone, and other materials, as above described, by wetting them
'With certain acids, salts, colouring materials, or their chemical combinations,
as above described, by means of a brush or sponge.

GRAND BLAST AT THE DOWNHILL TUNNELS, LONDON-
DERRY AND COLER.\INE RAILWAY.

The novel nature of the undertakins proposed by the Londonderry and
Coleraine Railway Company, has, from its first appearance before the pub-
lic, invested that project with peculiar interest to scientific and the mone-
tary world.

Lough Foyle, a deep indentation of the sea on the northern coast of
Ireland, covers an area of about 00,000 acres. With the exception of the
channel along the Donegal shore, leading up to the port and city of Lon-
donderry, the tide in this lough does not generally rise more than six feet,
and, at low water, a large portion of its area is left perfectly dry, exposing
a slob formed of the richest alluvial deposit, capable of immediate conver-
sion into valuable soil. The situation of the lough — almost land-locked,
protected from the swell of the Atlantic by its narrow entrance, and shel-
tered from the prevailing westerly winds by the mountainous nature of the
country on the Donegal coast — is such as at once to suggest the idea of
facility for shutting off the sea, and reclaiming a great portion of the slob
land. lo the Session of 1837, an Act of Parliament, authorising this re-
clamation, was obtained, and two enclosures were made, winning from the
sea about 4000 acres, upon part of which luxuriant crops have already
been reared. In 1844, public attention became alive to the necessity for
establishing railway communication between the important towns of Lon-
donderry and Coleraine. The mountainous nature of the interjacent coun-
try, rendered a line inland impracticable, and the idea was conceived of
combining the Railway and the Foyle reclamation, making one embank-
ment serve for both. With this object a Company was formed; terms
were arranged with the parties in whom rested the powers under the Act
of 1837 ; and, in the Session of 1845, the Londonderry and Coleraine Rail-
nay Company obtained its Act of incorporation.

The length of line proposed by this Company is 39 miles, including a
branch to the town of Newtown-Limavady — 15 miles to be constructed on
an embankment through Lough Foyle; and by which embankment about
22,000 acres of land will be recovered from the sea. Of this reclaimed
land, 12,000 acres are set apart to cover the expenditure on the railway.
The works are now so far advanced, that by the end of the present year
the Directors anticipate being in a position to enclose and sell a portion of
the land ; and, as the works proceed, like portions may from time to time
be enclosed and sold.

The line, after leaving Lough Foyle, proceeds eastward across Magilli-
gan Point, and along the coast towards Coleraine. About seven miles
from the latter town, and close tu Downhill, the beautiful residence of Sir

Hervey Bruce, Bart., if passes through the cliffs between Downhill Hoose
and the sea by two tunnels, one about 700 yards and the other about 300
yards in length. The works upon those tunnels have been some lime ia
progress by the ordinary process of picking and blasting; but it being
deemed necessary to expedite their construction, it was determined toefliect
the removal of the obstructing rock by one grand blast.

ROCK BEFORE THE EXPLOSION.

ROCK AFTER THE EXPLOSION.

We are indebted to the Illustrated News for the following particulars
relative to an extensive blast which took place at Downhill, about 7 miles
from Coleraine, on the (ilh June last : — " The mass of rock which it had
been originally necessary to remove was at the western mouth of Ihc- large
tunnel, and measured nearly 60,000 Ions, the material being the hard ba-
saltic stone, iu which the coast of Antrim and Londonderry abounds ; a
large portion of this rock bad been previously removed by the common slovr
process already named. Having resolved upon the large blast, Messrs.
Bromhead and Hemming, the contractors, formed a heading or gallery into
the rock, from the side of the clilT, 50 feet in length : at the end of this, a
shaft was sunk, 22 feet to the level of the railway, as seen at C A ; and
again another gallery at the bottom, running at right angles to the first gal-
lery, and furth-T into the rock, was made for 10 feet. At the end of this
was placed the large charge of powder, 2,400 lb., shown at A. The whole
was then well filled op, aud tamped with clay and masonry, and the wires
to convey the electric fluid from the battery through the charge were care-
fully arranged. The smaller charge, which was higher up in the ruck,
and which is seen at B, contained 000 lb. of powder; aud the gallery B F
leading to it was about'70 feet in length ; this was also tamped in a similar
manner to the larger one. The galvanic battery, which stood on a siied on
the top of the clilf, was a very powerful one, consisting of 18 cells, each
cell about 14 inches square.

The operations were conducted by Mr. Hemming and Mr. Webb, Super-
intending Engineer lo the Contractor. Mr. M'Leod, acting under Mr.
Robert Stephenson, the Engineer of the Company, was present, with Mr.
Langon, and other civil engineers. There were also several royal esgi-
neers and scientific gentlemen who had come from different quarters of the
country to witness the explosion.

At the appointed hour some little delay occurred in connecting the wires
with the battery ; but, at half-past three o'clock, the two poles were united,
and instantaneously the bottom of the rock was seen lo heave out for a
moment, the mass of rock above stood, trembled, and, cracking; into a thou-
sand fissures, rolled into the sea beneath. A deep and hollow souo<l was
heard, like distant thunder, but no report. The quantity of rock removed
must be upwards of 30,000 tons. The effect will be seen by referring to
the accompanying profiles or sections taken through the lines a a h b, in
the front view, both before and after the blast. The result, in an engineer-
ing point of view, was perfectly successful, and reflects the greatest credit
on the gentlemen superintending the operation.

The dotted lines show the quantity of rock lo be removed. A is the
larger chamber, containing 340Q lb. of gunpowder, c, the beading leading
to it, which is 50 feet in length. B, the smaller chamber, containing (iOO
lb. of powder. A x, the line of least resistance — 50 feet. From A to the
top of the cliff— 1 05 feet.

354

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[August,

THE GAUGE COMMISSION.

ADalyais of Evidence given before tbe Royal Commissioners appointed to investigate
lh« subject of tbe diversity of Railway Gauges.

(Continued from page 214.)

Mk. Edward Bcry: Is a manufacturer of locomotive engines, and has
been such for 17 years. The heaviest engine made by witness has not ex-
ceeded 13 tons. 14-inch cylinder the largest yet made by witness ; evapo-
rating surface in proportion to the cylinder. Length of boiler increased
from 8 feetC inches to 11 feel 6 inches. Space between fore and hind axle
very considerably increased; interval 7 feet G inches. Alilness considers
that the speed now attained on narrow gaage lines as great as consistent
with safety. The securities for the rails not sufficient to justify a higher
rate of speed.

The transverse sleeper better than Ihe longitudinal. There is a better
chance of keeping the transverse sleeper right than the longitudinal sleeper ;
there is a great deal less packing with the transverse sleeper than the lon-
gitudinal sleeper; the und«t surface of the longitudinal sleeper is too
great to admit of its being thoroughly and uniformly packed, (irealer
speed can be obtained on broad gauge than on narrow, because the speed
depends upon tbe ratio of the stroke to the wheel, and on broad gauge a
longer stroke and larger wheel cau be had. The narrow gauge trains,
however, can travel faster than is necessary or safe. If the Midland
Counties were changed to broad gauge, the inconvenience to the London
and Birmingham Company would be so great that they would be compel-
led also to change to broad gauge. Does not consider the rigidity of the
rail essential to safety at high velocities ; it would be better with a mode-
rate elasticity in it. The best part of the Liverpool and Manchester Hail-
way, and the most easily maintained, is that which occurs at Chat Moss,
which is always elastic. The most difficult part to maintain on the Liver-
pool and Manchester line was that which went through Olive Mount,
which is on a slone foundation. They have been obliged to take the stone
out for a considerable depth under the rails and fill it up with ballast.
The engineer of the liolton and Manchester line was anxious to make
that line perfectly rigid. He built a continuous wall, and put it upon a T
rail ; but that did not stand at all ; it knocked everything to pieces ; it was
always out of order, and they have been obliged to change it. The rail
itself ought to be rigid, and the fonndatiou on which it is placed shuuld be
elastic. Does not think any of Ihe rails that have hitherto been laid are
heavy enough. Has no knowledge of the feeling of proprietors in the
mineral districts with respect to broad or narrow gauge, but considers that
the narrow gauge is more suitable to their traffic, because the curves can
be made sharper than on broad gauge, and bring them closer to the pit's
mouth. Prefers a wider gauge than 4 feet 8^ inches, which witness be-
lieves too narrow for the engines and carriages and machinery working on
the rails. C or 8 inches' additional width would be amply sufficient.
Does not at present use outside cylinders, but some are now being made.
Can get sufficient power on the narrow gauge, but a more convenient and
accessible machine, with greater range and capability, could be constructed
with a little additional width of rail. If witness had to determine on the
gauge for a country having no railway, should certainly not adopt the
4 feet 85 inch gauge. Mould not adopt the 7 feet gauge. Should adopt
an intermediate gauge, as preferable for engines, carriages, and wagons.
Strength of passenger carriages on London and Birmingham Railway
considerably increased, weighing 10 or 12 cwt. more than when the Hue
was first opened ; this increased strength essential to public safety as well
as to the durability of the carriage. Reserve fund appropriated to pur-
chase of new engines. Stock deteriorated within the last half-year in
consequence of being compelled to run the engines, &c., longer without
the usual repairs, on account of the heavy traffic on the line.

Stock of Great Western Company valued at £534,000 ; of the London
and Birmingham at £275,000, the latter doing the most work; ditference
accounted for by inferior size and expense of engines on London and Bir-
mingham line. M'ith the additional stock the expenses will come nearer
the expenses of the Great Mestern Company. The 175 miles now worked
■with the original stock of the line. They have 03 engines and one bor-
rowed from another Company.

Accidents from breaking of axles of rare occurrence ; not one carriage
axle broken within the last five years, and very few engine axles. The
fracture of axle usually occurs in the journal; outside the wheel in the
carriages, and inside the wheel in the engines. Engines frequently run
some distance with a broken axle ; have never had one so crippled as to
be unable to get home ; some have even taken out trains with a broken
axle. The train taken off the line from broken axle in only one instance
when the front axle of the engine broke. Increased length of engine'
gives increased steadiness. Messrs. Sharp are manufacturing an engine
with 18-inch cylinder." ; the cylinders are not placed outside the wheels,
but inside, so that there is room for two 18-inch cylinders with the narrow
gauge to be constructed inside the wheel wilh the crank shaft. Impossible
to say what load an engine can be made to take on narrow gauge, but con-
siders that for the ordinary traffic of the country, au engine on narrow
gauge may be M)ade of sullicieut power to take at high speed both passen-
ger and luggage trains. Present luggage engine on London and Birming-
ham hne too small. Luggage trains often worked with several engines.
The heaviest luggage train on this line was a train of 112 or llti wifous
making upwards of COO tons ; for this train four engines were used.

Long trains much impeded by high winds. Has seen the transverie
sleepers pushed out of their places, sometimes twisted like the letter S, bj
the expansion of the rail ; this has occurred when sufficient allowance was
not made between the rail for expansion. Average speed of express trains
on London and Birmingham line 43^ miles an hour, including stoppages.
They now use I3-ioch cylinders; some of their engines for the express
trains have been altered, by increasing the size of the boilers, an additional
inch to the cylinders and three inches to the wheel. Does not think it safe
to run a small train very fast ; should prefer more weight on the engine to
make it run steadier ; when any of the royal family are on the line, always
put more carriages on than are required for passengers, in order to steady
the train. Has frequently travelled by express train on London and Bir-
mingham ; there is very little oscillation ; thinks the express train steadier
than any other because it is better screwed up ; everything is in higher
order. Outside cylinders not yet tried on this line ; they were tried on
the Liverpool and Manchester and condemned ; the oscillatory motion ob-
jected to; the boilers, however, were shorter than they are at present;
there was a greater tendency to Ihe yawing motion. Decidedly objects to
the use of carriages with shifting wheels on account of the difficulty of
keeping the securities alwajs right. Experiments have beeu made in the
United States to allow wheels to adjust themselves on curves; they were
soon abandoned, it being impossible to keep them in order. A very small
increase on the narrow gauge would afl'ord great accommodation in the
construction of the engine. The difficulty of oiling and cleauing the nar-
row gauge engines a very great inconvenience, and can only be felt by
engine-makers. They require more space for the tube of boiler, anil a
larger fire-box.

Mr. Benjamin Cibitt : Does not think an equal power can be ob-
tained on narrow as on broad gauge. The narrow gauge does not allow
width enough to get a firebox large enough, and is cramped for width in
getting strength for the working parts of the engine. Thinks it impossible
to make so etl'ective a boiler for narrow as can be made for broad gauge.

Has not particularly considered the relative advantages and disadvan-
tages of outside or inside cylinders. There are about balf-a-dozen outside
cylinders upon the lines of which witness is superintendent. Total stock
of engines about 120 : all but 16 on 6 wheels. The Dover Company have
ordered a large number of outside cylinders. Has ridden a good deal
upon the outside cylinder engines. At first they travel as steadily as the
inside cylinders, till they have been at work eight or ten weeks, and then
they begin to get side play and oscillate a good deal. This motion in-
creases with the wear. The repairs upon outside cylinder engines are not
more costly than upon inside cylinder engines.

The repairs required vn the outside cylinder engines.

No. of

Maker

Descrip-
tion.

Continued
Working.

Miles
Run

Coke

used.

Cost of

Repairs.

heating surface

Engine

Total

p. mile

fire-box

Tubes

42*

1 1
Sharp Cranli axle' Feb., 1844,
and Co.' with out- !toAprill2,
side bear- j It^.
ings. 1

i Cwt.
40,13S'll,304

lbs.
31-04

je s. d.
137 8 8

sq. feet
60

sq. ft.
47S

43*

Bury jCrank axle Aug., 1844,
and Co. with inside to April 12,
bearings. ; 1845.

! 1

14,63t!

0,680

3S07

109 7 10

59

5»5

44t

Stephen-
son.

Straight
axle, with
outside cy-
linders and
inside

bearings.

Oct., 1844,

toApnll2,

1845.

18,447

4,867

2,955

67 H 1 55

89S

Bodmer

Engine

73

769

* April 14, 1845. — Taken into dock to have new tyres, axle-hearings, and general re-
pairs.

t August, 1844. — Taken into dock for two new eccentric straps, and temporary re-
pairs.

i April 21, 184.').— Taken into dock for new driving-wheels, new bearings in leading
wheels, and general repairs.— July 10, 1S45 ; Taken into dock for new bearings to trail-
ing wheels.— July 22, 1845 : Taken into dock for leading wheels keyed on to axles, and
new axle boxes and bearings to driving-wheels.

In the narrow gauge inside cylinder engine there is scarcely sufficient
space for the necessary repairs and cleaning ; there is also a difficulty in
Ihe outside cylinder to get at the bearings, both to oil and to clean them,
without lifting the engine. As a locomotive engine-maker, is in favour of
a gauge of 5 feet 3 inches. There is at Ihe New Cross station a new en-
gine of great power, made by Bodmer ; he has taken out a patent not only
for locomotives, but for steam engines in general, for what he calls a com-
pensating engine, as it works with two pistons in one cylinder, so that
the connecting rods pull and thrust at the same time, which takes the
strain off all the other parts of the engine, except between Ihe cylinder
and the crank. The length of the boiler is 10 feet, the cylindrical part of
the boiler. The fire-box is as large as it can be got to suit the gauge:
This engine has been tested against other engines and found more powerful
than any other wilh one pair of driving wheels, because it is a larger en-
gine, with a larger boiler, and larger cylinder ; the cylinders are 16 inches
in diameter, and the stroke is equal to a 30-inch stroke, being four 7^-inch.
cranks. It has taken 38 carriages upon an incline of 16 feet a mile, about

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL;

356

4| miles long, at abont 20 miles an hour, with a gross load of about 150
tons.

Cannot accurately ascertain the comparative locomotive cost of working
goods traina and passengers trains upon this line, the accounts not being
separately kept.

Locomotive Expenses of the Brighton, Croydon, and Dover Railways,
compared with the Great Western Railway Company, for the half-year
ending December, 1844.

Uinnber of enRiues and tenders
belonging to the Companies .

JJumber at worlv during the half,
year

Number of engines in steam each
day

J&verage number of miles run dur-
ing the half-year

Average cost per too per mile .

Average weight of coke per ton

per mile
Average quantity of coke used per

mile run .

Average coat of repairs, including

general charges, per mile
Average cost of coke per mile run
Average cost of wages per mile run
Total cost per mile run

Great Western Railway
Company.

Passengers. Goods,

103

9()

.15

r.'iHO

0-15d.

lb.
0-56

34'27

■-'•Sid.
3-88
1-3U
9!I0

II

8720

0-05d.

lb.
0-23

2'.il

s-a;

1'44
12-07

Brighton, Croydon, and
Dover Locomotive Comp.

Passengers. Goods

14
14

83

7/

3S

6555

Passengers and Goods.

0'183d.

lb.
0'587

34-93

3-31
4-87
l-4'.»
U-12

Dimensions of two engines on Brighton, Croydon, and Dover Railway.

—

Diameter.

Length.

Depth,

Breadth.

STEPHENSON'S ENGINE,

SIX WHEELS.

Ft. In.

Ft. In.

Ft. In.

Ft. In.

Ptssenger Engine, Link motion:

Cylindrical pait of boiler

3 0

12 fi

.,

Outside fire- box

3 8

7 8

3 8

Inside tire-box ..

, ,

3 0

4 li

3 0

Smoke-box

3 0

3 8i

Tubes. L^O

0 IJ

13 0}

,,

Chimney

1 2

• •

,.

Cylinders, I ft. 10 in. stroke..

1 3

• •

Driving wheels

5 C

••

SHARP'S ENGINE, SIX

WHEELS.

Passenger Eni>ine:

Cylindrical part of boiler

3 6

8 0

Outside fire-box

3 8

7 iOi

4 2

Inside fire-box

3 0

4 0

S 7

Smoke-box

..

2 li

4 3

Tubes, 9H

0 2

8 5

Chimney

1 H

»•

Cylinders, 1 ft. G in. stroke . .

1 2

..

Driving wheels

5 1!

Distance from Centre to Centre of leading and following Axles.

Stephenson . . 44

Sharp ., 8

Bury .. 23

Bury . . 39

Sis wheeled, Passenger Engine ., 10ft. 35 in.

Ditto ditto .. U 34

Four wheeled, ditto .. 7 2

Ditto, coupled .. 7 8

The passengers of an ordinary train of 10 or 12 carriages could not be
changed from one train to the other under 20 minutes. With engines on
narrow gauge, even with outside cylinders, there is more difficulty in get-
ting access to the axles to clean and oil them than in the broad gauge.
This difficulty of oiling the axle depends upon the circumstance of the
cylinders being outside, and not upon the breadth of the gauge. It is
easier to do this with the wide gauge engines ; on the crank axles the
bearing is taken on the outside of the wheels ; on the four-wheel engines
the bearings are inside bearings, and there is a difficulty in gelling the men
to keep those bearings clean. If the gauge were increased from 4 feet
8i to 5 feet 3, the weight of the engines would be increased from 10 cwt.
to a ton. Average weight of engines on South Eastern Railway, about
14 tons ; on Great Western about 17 tons. Considers that the general
construction of th^ roads will admit of heavier engines being placed upon
them.

Weight of rail upon the South Eastern line S5 lbs. a yard. The bear-
ings average 3 feet apart upon a cross sleeper. The sleepers are triangu-
lar; they are four triangles cut out of a 13-inch square. The rails are
fastened to chairs with wooden keys ; and the chairs are fastened to the
sleepers by wooden treenails. The boilers upon Great Western are not
much larger than those upon the Brighton line. If witness had the con-
trol of the engines of the Great Western, should certainly make larger
Ix)ilers. There is room to get sufficient strength and cranks, with inside

cylinders ; but the engine and the boiler have to be raised, which ig a
great objection. Would like to have the cranks more separated, and keep
the boiler still the same height. To give the cranks strength, obliged to
make the baariugs lihorter to get room for the cranks. The thickness of
the side of the crank, which is perpendicular to the axis, 4 inches ; some
IJ. Does not think it necessary to make that thicker; the great advan-
tage would be In getting the bearings longer. The eccentrics are reduced
as much as possible. When they are very short bearings, they are apt to
heat and get dry; then they cut away the journal, and it is reduced and
made weaker. With the present con.struction of the Soulh Eastern Rail-
way, should venture to Increase the speed by having much more powerful
engines. The quickest train is upon the Brighton line, which runs from
Brighton to London in an hour and a half ; that is 50J- miles, stopping
once five minutes. The distance is often run in an hour and a quarter;
some parts of the distance cannot be run at 40 miles an hour, on account
of the gradients ; and other parts have to be run at more than that speed,
in order to keep the time. There are 120 engines for the three Companies,
working 166 miles. This includes the Dover, Brighton, and Croydon, and
two miles of branch to the Bricklayers' Arms, and the branch to Maid-
stone.

William Cubitt, Esq. : The limit to safe speed on narrow gauge lines
is the want of evaporating surface and space for the fire boxes, the want
of solidity and perfection In the road, the want of base for engines or car-
riages, the want of greater strength In the rails, and greater security ia
connecting them with sleepers ; many accidents have been caused by at-
tempting to go too fast upon a bad road. And that danger Is very much
increased by Increased velocity. A speed of 15 or 20 miles an hour may
be safely attempted on a bad road, while double that speed would throw
engines and cariages off the line of road. Attention to the state of the
road has not kept pace with the improvement in the driving machine.
Before increased speed is attempted that particular should be attended to.
The perfection of the permanent way has been less thought about than
almost any other part of railway mechanism, and that Is the basis upon
which it all rests. Does not think that the speed might be increased,
without a corresponding increase of danger to the traveller, by adding to
the width of the narrow j^auge; considers the narrow gauge wide enough
for safety at almost any practicable speed, but not wide enough to get the
most perfect machinery for speed. An addition of C or 8 inches over the
present nanow gauge is wide enough, perhaps, for all practical purposes
of machinery of locomotive engines and carriages. A gauge of about
6 feet would be the best. Has often heard that an increase of gauge
would involve the necessity for widening the tunnels; does not concur in
this opinion ; if the size of the largest loads is not altered, nothing need
be altered but the gauge. Does not think that if they had carriages upon
a wider gaui,'e, they would wish to carry larger loads ; in railway opera-
tions would rather adopt the same width, making the vehicles of greater
length, which, would produce greater safety and greater convenience thau
by shortening them, so as to produce greater width and greater height.
The adoption of a wider gauge in tunnels would not restrict the room for
workmen, as regards trains passing ; the wheels are always far inside the
outside of the trains, and so they would with the 6 feet gauge, because the
loads are 8 feet ; the only difference would be that the two inner rails
would be nearer to each other, and the two outer rails would be nearer to
the walls ; the centre of gravity would be the same if the loads were no
higher.

An increase of the width of gauge would not render it imperative to
have a corresponding increase of the radius of the curves. Au increase
of the gauge would not render necessary a corresponding Increase of the
height of the driving wheel. Does not think that In reference to the num-
ber of miles run on the broad gauge, and the number of miles run on the
narrow gauge, that there are fewer accidents on the broad gauge than on
the narrow. The superiority of either gauge depends not upon the gauge,
but upon the condition of the permanent way. Gradients are of less im-
portance If the road Is in perfect order. Rigidity in a road is preferable
to elasticity in a road. With elastic rails, it becomes like driving over a
series of points. If there be any elasticity at all, it is best to have it in
the whole road, like having a perfect road laid upon a bog, as In Chat
Moss, or any other soft ground, where the whole railway itself could, in a
very great length, have a very slight elasticity. There Is less cost in the
repair of Chatmoss than any other part of the Manchester and Liverpool
Railway on that account. It always will be so upon soft ground. If you
have a good permanent way, thick enough and strong enough in itself, and
lying upon a substratum, which has a little tendency to elasticity, it is
most easily kept in repair. Cross-sleepers are belter than longitudinal
sleepers for keeping in repair. Any sleeper of a proper form can be
packed, whether it lies longitudinally or transversely. There is a greater
length of bearing to be obtained upon cross-sleepers than upon longitudi-
nal sleepers. If we were to have a railway laid from end lo end, all upon
cross-sleepers, there would be a much greater length of bearings than upon
a railway wheie it is all upon longitudinal bearings; and the greater
number of sleepers we have the better the road will be.

Is not aware of the exact limits of contraction and expansion, by cold
and heat, of a 16-foot rail ; has known the road lifted up ; has known it
bent sideways by expansion; has never had time or opportunity to mea-
sure it exactly ; it Is a difficult thing to ascertain what the expansion is iu
certain cases ; it can be done best off the line, by ascertaining the tempera-
ture of certain lengths of bar uniformly. Expansion and contraction oo

31"

25S

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECFS JOURNAL.

[August,

longitadinal beariDgs have a tendency to loosen the screws which bind the
rail lo llie balk.

Break of ;;augp is of little consequence in reference to passengers, but
becomes a great difficulty in transferring heavy i;,iods. It becomes a mat-
ter of importance lo devise the best, cheapest, and quickest mode of
transhipment from the one gauge to the other, whelher it be by removing
the goods from one carriage to another carrlHse, or by moving the boJy of
one carriage on to another set of wheels by mechanical power; it becomes
a question of cost. The measure of the inconvenience is the cost per ton
to do it quickly. The expense of constructing powerful lifting machines
of little importance where the traffic is large; has lanl out 1130,000 to
save about a halfpenny per ton upon the shipping of coals. Could put up
apparatus to move 25 wagons in one minute, or in a couple of miuules,
requiring the employment of not less than 50, nur more than 100 men.
The cost of transhipment would be a triQe upon a long line, but a large
item upon a short one. It is perfectly easy lo make wagon frames and
wagon bodies for a large trade that wonid go to any part iif the country ;
the bodies must go quite through, and return again ; the frames would
keep on iheir own lines, and the wagons would simply drop into them.
There would be no difficulty in constructing passenger carriages lo move
in the same way ; if there is Iraflic enough to render it worth doing, there
is no difficulty in doing it.

THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.

Ventilation has taken the character of stagnation in its effect upon the
progress of the Houses of Parliament; more especially those parts of
the interior whose completion is soonest required — at legist impalieutly
demanded. Talking and Reidhig have considerably retarded operations.
l>io one room is yet anything like Bnished, — or much more than merely
sketched out,— though the main work, that of construction in the rough, is
nearly terminated in the House of Peers and the royal approach lo it. At
present, the picture is merely drawn in and dead-coloured ; llierefore we
pretend not — especially from such cursory insperticm as ours has been — to
judge of intended effects otherwise than conjecturally, and with due sub-
mission to correction for any misunderstandings into which we may have
fallen.

To begin, then, with the royal entrance from the giganlie porch beneath
the Victoria Tower :— the Scala Regia, which is parily lighted by lanterns
in its vaulied and groined ceiling, ascends in a direction, as seen from the
entrance, turning to the right or southwards, in two successive flights.
We forgot lo count the number of s'eps in eacli (light, which Lord Sudely
found fault with as being too many for architectural dignity. But there is
a precedent for more multi stepped, and certainly for loftier, flights, in
what is, perhaps, as magnificent an example of a staircase as any we
know of — viz., the Parade trep/ie in Giirtner's new building of the Biblio-
thek at Munich. This greatly exceeds in point of amplitude, splendour,
and perspective display, what the Westminster staircase promises to be.
In one respect, indeed, the latter is almost unparalled, — the risers being
unusually low, and the treads broad ; so that what, iu moderation, contri-
butes to elegance and convenience, is here carried to such excess as to be
likely to prove an incommodity. It is not only somewhat fatiguing to
walk up such very shallow and broad steps, but rather difficult to do so
without seeming to stride or jerk along, or making two steps of each stair.
Some little practising will be necessary for either ascending or descending
majestically. Passing through the sliell of the Victoria Gallery and an-
other room, we enter the House of Peers, at Ihe w est, or throne, end ; —
the first glance at its ceiling, a wide expanse of gorgeously carved and
gilded work is already striking enough. How far more imposing — almost
bewildering — will be the first coup d'ccil of this spacious and niagniHcent
ball when completed in all its decorations— its walls arrayed in gilding
and emblazoning, displaying a series of coniparliuenls of fresco below,
with a corresponding range of richly painted windows (six on each side)
above. Still, we have our misgivings : because, though casual visitors
may be more than satisfied— even enchanted—" My Lords," themselves
are likely to ftel sated by Ihe constant blaze of so much anhiteclural and
pictorial pomp. Such a sumptuously, not lo say extravagantly, adorned
ball, would be more in place within the walls of Windsior Castle, for royal
banquets and fcslivilies, Ihan as a place for solemn debate on grave and
anxious matters. Putting propriety of purpose out of the question, we
entertain great doubts, too, as to Ihe effect which such profusion of painted
glass as is intended will have upon the fresco paintings. Hesides that
gleams of coloured light may occasionally fall from the windows upon
parts of Ihe mural pictures, quite different in hue from the colours on the
latter, — will not the windows overpower the paintings, anil cause them to
look flat and dull, by comparison? — or can that inconvenience be remedied
by exaggerating the colours of the frescoes, and palming them up accord-
ingly ? We may be allowed also to ask, whetlur another matter has been
taken into consideration — because if it has hitherto been forgotten or over-
looked, attention should be directed to it wilhoiit further delay. Will not
the ellect and character contemplated for the " House" be, in great mea-
sure, lost at those particular times when the pla' e will be chiefly used for
business? After dark, the painted windows will not show themselves
otherwise thau as gloomy gaps and vicancies, occupying the upper half

of the two side walls. A singular degree of brilliancy might, however,
be obtained at niglil, by lighting up the house chiefly, if not entirely, from
without, by means of gas burners on the outside of Ihe windows. This
would be further useful as helping ventilation. The plan appears to us to
have, independently of its novelty, much to recommend it; should there be
objections lo it, not perceived by us, we yet hope that while they have
their due weight, the suggestion itself will not be wholly disregarded,
merely because it is a suggestion. — Athenceum.

PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.

ROYAL SCOTTISH SOCIETY OF ARTS.
June 8, 1846, — John Beatson Bell, Esq., V.P., io the Chair.
The following communications were made : —

1. Description of the machinery us.'d,arid of the manner in which the land
at the sides and end of the open-cutting was supported during the excavating
and buildiny of the works of the Edinburgh, Leilh, and Granton Railway
Tunnel in Scotland Street. I5y Mr. William PATtRSON, F.R.S.S.A., Resi-
dent Engineer of the Tunnel. In this communication, Mr. Paterson described
the machinery used, and the manner in which the sand at the sides and end
of the open-cutting was supported during the excavating and building of the
works of the tunnel in Scotland-street. A beautiful and accurate model was
at the same time exhibited, representing the face of the tunnel, and the man-
ner of disposing the beams to resist the pressure. There were also plans and
sections of the works shown. The Society were greatly interested in this
communication, which was cleaily illustrated by the model and drawings.
Referred to a committee.

2. Description qf a Patent Crane, by Datid Henderson, of Renfrew, ia
which the important peculiarities of his improvements will be illustrated by
drawings and a working model. Mr. Slight described this patent crane, dis.
tinctly showing the important peculiarities of Mr. Henderson's improvements
by the aid of drawings and a working model. One of these patent cranes is
at work in Mr. Slight's own works, and the valuable invention is coming into
general operation in the west. In the ordinary crane as the Derrick rises the
load also rises, and much time and labour are wasted ; but the relative forces
of the present have been all calculated by Mr. Henderson with mathematical
accuracy, so that it combines great power and efficiency with safety. The
barrel and wheels are so constructed as to afl'ord a self-acting check ; that is
to say, although several tons weight weie suspended, and in the act of being
raised or lowered, the handle of the crane can be let go at once, and the ma-
chine remains in statu quo. Mr. Slight pointed out several other valuable
properties of this invention, the principle of which consists in the Compensa-
tion Barrel, by which after the load is raised as high as necessary, it is then
brought in nearly on a level, although the Derrick be raised. This of itself
saves much lime and labour.

3. Description of a Revolving Valve for Locomotive and other Steam En-
gines. By John .\ndlrson, Esq. The principles and construction of this
valve are entirely new. Instead of the reciprocating or alternating motion,
so long in use, Mr. Anderson adopts a continuous rotary motion. The valve
may be said to consist generally of two circular metal discs, connected to-
gether by a tube, placed opposite the ports of the cylinder. These discs are
divided into two chambers, the one having communication with the steam, '
and the other with the exit passage. Into each of these chambers ports are
cut so as to form, al certain parts in the revolution of the valve, a free pas-
sage, either for the ingress or egress of the steam, the disc for the npper part
being so placed that Ihe one may be admitting steam into the cylinder while
the other is allowing it to escape. The whole valve works in a cylindrical
case, having ports corresponding with, and opening into, those of the cylin-
der, the same as that of Medhurst's, but with this important difference, that
the one revolves, while the other moves in a vertical direction. The revolv-
ing valve, Mr. Anderson states, possesses the following advantages : —

1. The valve, by its continuous rotary motion, effects a great saving in
power, especially in locomotive engines, where the motion is very rapid.

2. The valve is devoid of pressure, and superior in that respect to the long
and short D, or slide-valves.

3. The valve creates no loss of steam in the ports, as is the case in the
short D, or slide-valve.

4. The valve wears equally, and can, at a comparatively small expense, be
given any length of lap or lead.

5. The valve can be easily examined and packed when required.

COLLEGE FOR CIVIL ENGINEERS, PUTNEY.

It is very gratifying to those who take an interest in the advancement of
practical science to find that a sound knowledge of the exact sciences is be-
coming more publicly recognised as a necessary part of the education of the
engineer. Compared with the stupendous public works which have been
undertaken during the last few years, the greatest engineering labours of the
ancient world are as nothing : and when it is reflected that the lifes of

I84S.J

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

25r

-thousands may prohably depend on the construction of these works with a
due knowledge of the mechanical sciences ; it becomes a matter of direct
public interest that those to whom the task is confided should possess a
tystemalic knowledge of their profession. That the importance of this
knowledge is becoming publicly recognized, we have a gratifying proof
in the condition of the College at Putney, and the results of the recent ex-
aminations there.

We have to regret that the limits of our space will not permit, at present
« detailed account of the course of the examination, and an analysis of the
printed examination papers now before us. We can do little more than re-
cord the names of the students who obtained honorary distinctions, and
principal circumstances of the annual meeting, which took place on the 21st
June, for the distribution of these rewards. The following is the list of
prize-mea.

MATHEMATICS.— 1st Class, Stephenson.
„ iilmrp.
2nd Class, W. Clark.
3rd Class, Coghlan.
CHEMISTRY.— I.alloralory Class, Newsoine.
Ward.
1st Class. Codrington.
2nd Class, Bennett.
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECTURE.— 1st Class, Sltpheusoii.

2nd Class, W. Claik.
8rd Class, Crump.
UACHINERY.— Ist Class, Dratiing Prize, Male.

2ad Class, ditto, Hawsen.

Examitiation, Willett.
GEODESY. — Trigonomptrical Surveying, StepiieuBon.

Ordinary Survey and I'lan Drawing. Coghlan.

Dilto, 3rd Class. Christie.

Military Class, F. Davidson.

„ the Hon. P. Feilding.

UANUFACTUBE OF IRON AND GENERAL PRACTICE OF MACHINERY.—
Pontifex.
Descriptive Geometry, sharp.
French, Baldry.
German. Hansen.
Landscape Drawing, F. Davidson.

The chair was taken shortly after two o'clock by the Duke of Buccleucb,
who called upon the Reverend the Piincipal to read the report detailing the
examination. Of these reports we can say no more than they must have
been satisfactory to the most sanguine supporters of the Institution. The
certificates for prizes were given by the noble chairman to the students as
their names were successively mentioned in the Reports.

The noble Chairman in the course of his address showed in very clear
terms the fallacy of the notion that mere professional " experience," un-
guided by preliminary systematic education, was sufficient for the purposes
of the engineer. He argued that modern engineeiing had made such ad-
vances and was now frequently applied to purposes so perfectly new and
Unprecedented, that cases must continually occur where the " rule of
thumb," as it was called, would be of no avail. He took occasion also to
compliment Mr. Cowie on the successful issue of his labous.

The Bishop of London, in his usual felicitous manner, eulogised the moral
and gentlemanly deportment of the students. From living in the vicinity he
had taken great interest in this subject, and had uniformly found that his
neighbours concurred with him in giving the college this merit. Their tes-
timony was of the greatest value because founded on impartial personal ob-
servation.

The Earl of Devon proposed and Sir Charles Lemon seconded a vote of
thanks to the Duke of Buccleuoh. Sir Charles Lemon observed that the
enlightened sentiments of the Duke had never been more conspicuous than
in his zealous support of the College, and his talents had never been belter
exhibited than in the clear views which his address contained of the results
of the system pursued in the education of the students.

The following were among the noblemen and gentlemen present ; — Duke
of Buccleuch in the chair ; Bishop of London ; Earl of Devon ; Earl of Den-
bigh ; SirC. Lemon, M.P.; Sir J. Duckworth, A1.P. ; Hon. U. Howard; E.
Antrobus. Esq., M.P. ; the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor; Major Olephant ;
Gen. H. Thompson ; Col. Sykes ; Capt. Moorsom ; Col. Devereux ; Dr. .\r-
nott; J. C. Whiteman, Esq. Mr. Walker and Mr. Cubitt had both promised
to attend, unless prevented hy urgent business, and the Bishop of Oxford
sent a letter regretting that buisness prevented his presence at the College.

A NEW THEORY ON THE STRENGTH AND STRESS OF
MATERIALS.

Sir — Although I did not intend to answer queries, or discuss dilTerences
respecting the theory of ihe strength of materials, which I am advancing,
unlil I should have the whole developed, jet I Ihink it my duty to stop
and more fully explain one or two points lo whicl; you have alluded in
your laot number. My iheory is nut founded un Ihe idea, "that there
does not exist in deflected beams what is teimed a neutral line," yet I
deny the existence of a neutral line, or a neutitil surface as some wrilers
term it. Your definition of the neutral line dill'ers a little from that given
by Barlow, Tredgold, Moseley, &c.; be good enough lo look atTredgold's
flefiaitiou again, I gave it io my lirbt article. Moseley says, " One surface

of a beam becomiuj;, when deflected, convex, and the other concave, it is
eviilent that the material forming that side of the beam which is bounded
by the oue surface is, in the act of flexure, extended, and the other com-
pressed. The surface which separates these two portions of the material
being that where its extension terminates and its compression begins, and
which sustains, iheiefore, neither extension nor compression, is called the*
neutral surfui-e.'' If jou look you will find that your deliuilion of the
neutral line dill'ers a little from this also. Vou say that " the originators
of the term neutral line staled that wheu a horizontal beam supporis a
transverse weight, the upper part of the beam exerts a thrust and the lower
part a tension ; and since these two portions of the beam exert opposite
kinds of action, there must be in the beam some intermediate part which'
marks ihe transition from one state to the other — where, therefore, there is
neilher thrust nor tension." Now this is the truth, but not the whole
truth ; consider two sections in a beam deflected by a weight, one in Ihe
centre and the other anywhere between that and one of the supports ; the-
compressions and extensions in these sections will dilTer in inleosily, and
if we suppose a libre v\ho.se breadth is very small, dx, if you please, I say
that the state of neutrality of this fibre, at one of these sectious, dillers ia
degree from that at the other, without reference to the action wiiich in-
creases or eudeavouis to increase the thickness of the beam at top and
decreases it at the lower part, which action has been neglected by every
writer on the subject. For argument sake, let the line which separatee
Ihe thrusts and tensions of every section be a mathematical line, then Ihe
only change that cau lake place in this line is in its length and deflection ;
then ask yourself the question, as the beam becomes loaded, is not this
neutral line, under one amount of pressure, longer and more deflected than
under any less aniouut. However, my great diflerence with other writers
is not about the neutral line or surface. Other writers might have estab-
lished their theory iodepeudent of the thickness of the beam, for they
state that no action lakes place in the direction of ihe breadth, that is, ia
the direction of your axis of Z. I show that there does exist an action ia
the direction of Z- I say that if a body becomes extended, or compressed,
its cross sectional area is diminished, or increased, or has a tendency to
dimmish or increase, although the cross sections present similar figures : I
am now speaking of the elongation of bars suspended vertically, and sus-
taining a given strain in the direction of their length. Other wrilers go so
far as to suppose that the cross sectioo remains the same till the body be
extended to ivvice its length ;— of this matter I will speak by-and-by.
AVhen you refer to fig. 3 of my last article, page 104, " he says," speaking
of me, 'that if a beam be deflected and a slice taken from tlie upiier pari
of it, this slice has the same form as the whole beam, and consequently
there is as much reason for assigning a neutral line to the slice as lo the
whole beam." You will find that I did not take a slice from the upper
part, and that I said, " the same process of reasoning which points out a
neutral axis in the wiiole, will point out a neutral axis io any portion ot
the body, no matter where it is situated." In this instance you will find
that I attacked the reasoning employed by others. Lower down it is
said, " For when he says ihat the Ibriu of the tUin upper slice is an argu-
ment for the existence of a neutral ia it, he makes the neutral depend
merely ou the form of the beam and not on the mechanical aciiun of its
pans." Vou will find that I said no such thing, nor made use of no such
argument; what I siid 1 will repeat; it follows immediately what I
quoted above, — " in fact, every fibre may be said to be compressed on one
side and extended at the other, while the whole or each is bent round a
common centre, entirely outside the body." When I select a porlioii I do
not take an upper slice, for I say, '• Now let us lake g-cdxt 1/9 : (fig. 3,
page 104), any poriiuu of tlie beam, it is evident that the tilameuts in the
upper part near dtq are expanded, and those near to xyz are compress-
ed ;" mark what I say, — " according to this reasoning there is a set of
fibres between iltq and xyz which are neilher compressed nor expanded ;
hence, etch poriiou of the beam is entitled to a neutral axis, which is rela-
ticetij correct, but eacli neutral axis is itsiilf bent round a centre." I hope
you do not mean to say •' tiiat the form of the beam is not inliuenced by
the mechanical action and connection of its parts," for I think that it will
not be denied that the mechanical action is influenced by the form, and also
that the form is influenced by the niechaoical action. I have got to the
place where jou say, '• We proceed now to ihe direct arguments establish-
ing the actual existence of the neutral boundary." Neutral wilh respect
to what? Neutral wilh respect to thrust and tension? Neutral wilh re-
spect to what degree of thrust and tension? You might as well try to
upset the truths of the mulliplicatioa table as 2(X) = 0, 2(V)-|- K— iW
= 0, 2 (Z) = 0 ; aud you might as well try to undersland what ihe
author of ihe work on ihe ''Calculus," published by the Society for the
DitTusion of Useful Knowledge, means when he describes the third difl"er-
eutial cuefhcieiil, as to try to uudeisland what writers on tuis subject mean
by such terms as " the iulernal forces of he beamy' " the molecular action
of the forces in the cross section," &c. ; or, in other words, tlie equaiions
have nevf r been satisfied. If K = J W, it is evident that 2 (V) = 0, but
how is2(Y) made up? This would be of no consequence, only the
thrusts aud tensions of 2 (X) are uninfluenced by it. You, or rather the
writer of the arlicle in question, having despatched 2(Y), says, ■' similar
reasoning applies to the forces represented by 2(Z)"; uow this assertion is
not correct. 1 have before stated (page IG5, tig. 1 1) the nature of the actioa
of the particles in Ihe direction ol Hie axis of Z, so I need not dwell upon
the mailer here ; ami although 2 (X) = 0 may be represented by ihe stati-
cal couple -{- M,— M, little is knowu with respect to iheir actual amount,
and as the distance between their points of appiicatiaa vary, your equation f

258

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[AtreiM*,

M6 = iWa, although true, leaves us in the very same ilidicultj- as
j/X\— ;0. Ab (> is variable, it would have been better to have said
My = iW«. Indeed, in taking moments about A ffig. 2, p. 205), it would
be as well to call the perpendicular let fall from A, on the direction of
-)-M, ^; and the perpendicular on the direction of — M, .r' ; then,
4- M X ^ added to — M x x' = M (x-x') = 5 Wu ; this supposes both
forces to be directed at the same side of A ; however, if one acts above
and the other below, then we have M (x + .r') = JWa, but in both cases,
the quantities between the brackets is the distance between the points of
application of the forces. At first sight, the equation M ij, or iM 6, or
M (x + x'), or M (a:— a;'), =: J Uu would appear to involve but one un-
known quantity ; but it involves two, for there is as little known about M
as there is about y. I cannot see for what purpose these equations were
introduced, except to show, if we were able to do it, how the principles of
statics might be applied to the problem under consideration ; however, I
can see no connection between them and what follows, but perhaps others
may.

The next four paragraphs, beginning with "We have, therefore,
the upper and lower parU of CD in &c.,'" at the bottom of the first
column, page 205, contains very little more than diiferent methods of
stating the same thing, or some general expressions that would be true in
almost any inquiry, such as, " We arc, therefore, perfectly safe in suppos-
ing that there is some general law by which these variations of action may
be represented, that is, that the anouut of molecular force at any point of
«ither side of the beam is a continuous function of the distance from some
fixed point." You must not be oflended, for I am mow speaking plainly ;
to beat round the bush would take up too much space. Lower down,
■where you come to the conclusion, " Consequeolly there is no longitudinal
action whatever at the neutral boundary." If you reflect for a moment,
you must admit that this boundary might be elongated, for it is only capa-
ble of being elongated and deflected, without altering the thrusts or ten-
sions, except with respect to their intensity, of which there is but little
known.

For the present, I beg you will excuse these few remarks, hastily made,
tictil I b£.v3 dsTelopsd the vvisole of my Theory, then I will be glad to
cDter into any explanation that may be required.

I am. Sir, yours obediently,

Oliver Byrne.

NOTES OF THE MONTH.

Wellingtm Memorial. — The newspapers announce the gratifying intel-
ligence that, in consequence of a discussion in the House of Commons,
the preparations for raising the statue of the Duke of Wellington to the
lop of the triumphal arch in Piccadilly will be discontinued.

JFitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. — We learn also with great pleasure
that Mr. Cockerell has obtained power to deviate from the original plan
for completing the Fitzwilliam INIuseum, by substituting real marble for
imitation marble in the internal decorations.

Jesus College Chapel. — Among the contemplated alterations is the sub-
stitution of an arcade of five lancets (according to the original plan) for
the present Perpendicular window. A Norman triplet in the north tran-
sept will be displayed. The choir had formerly aisles extending as far as
the present lancet windows ; the northern aisles will be rebuilt. We are
not quite reconciled to the destruction of any of the genuine architecture,
but the restoration is superintended by Mr. Salvin, and is therefore in safe
bands.

Ely Cathedral. — ^The restoration advances rapidly. All the plaster work
is bein^ ruthlessly destroyed. The great tower is opened to the second
story. Two painted wintlows by Mr. Wailes have been completed. A
painted window will be inserted in the lanthern at the expense of the
members of the University of Cambridge in statu puppillari.

The French Minister of Public Instruction has informed the Ecclesiolo-
gical, late Cambridge Camden Society, that a complete set of the works of
the Comil<! Historique is placed at the disposal of the Society.

Standon, Uerls. — A new Decorated church has been erected from the
designs of Mr. Salvin.

St. Bartholomew's, Nettlebtd, is being rebuilt by Mr. Hakewill.

Seamen's Church, St. Katherine's Dock. — This church, which will hold
800 persons, is in the Early English style. The design appears to be
exceedingly faulty.

St. James's Church, Westminster. — A new east window has been
painted for this church by Mr. Wailes. The colours are very brilliant and
the jointing of the glass is managed so skilfully as to be scarcely seen
from the interior of the church ; but the designs have an appearance of
confusion and the drawing is not very correct. Of course we need not
state our opinion respecting the use of Corinthian columns as mullions, as
in the case of this window. Among the decorations or desecrations is the
painting of parts of the walls in imitation of marble.

Architecture in Edinburgh. — The .Scotsman speaks highly of the archi-
tecture of the New Commercial Hank, from which the scalfolding is par-
tially removed. The design and also the sculpture is by Mr. James Wyatt.
There is a project under consideration for connecting all Natural History
Societies wiib the Llnnaiau. The latter will be the principal Society, and
)he others will be considered as sections.

M. Hallette, whose inventions connected with atmospheric railway*
have been described in this Journal and are now being experimented upon
at Peckham, recently died at Arras. He was an eminent builder of loco-
motive engines.

The third centenary of the birthday of the Danish astronomer, Tycho
Brah(!, was celebrated on the 21st of June by the erection of a monu-
mental bust under a triumphal arch on the little island of Hveeo, his
birthplace.

The second centenary of the death of Leibnitz has been celebrated with
great pomp by his alma malcr, the University of Leipsig.

At Paris, the Chamber of Deputies has voted £41,000 for purchasing
ground required for the purposes of the Museum of Natural History.

The Dew papal government have withdrawn the old prohibition against
the construction of railways in the papal dominions.

Painting on Lara — This new process seems to be one of considerable
importance as a substitute for enamel painting, on account of the large
size of which the pieces of lava can be obtained. A large historical pic-
ture, painted on four plates of lava, which together have a surface equiva-
lent to 10 feet square, has been completed for the church St. Vincent-de-
Paul, at Paris. The advantage of lava for this purpose is, that being
vitrious it receives vitriUable colours without changing its form in baking.
The restoration of Malvern Abbey is completed.

The figures ou the great gate of the cathedral of Senlis have been re-
stored by >I. Rabinet, sculptor, under the direction of the architect, M.
Ram^e. '

The French Chamber of Deputies have voted a sum of money for the
publication of the work by MM. Cotta and Flandin on the ruins of Nin-
eveh.

It has been suggested that the fields north of the Model Prison at Pen-
tonville should be converted into a park. This, if done at all, must be
quickly ; otherwise, there is every reason to suppose, from the rapid in-
crease of buildings in this neighbourhood, that the ground will be soon
built upon. A park in this locality, which is far removed from any of the
existing " lungs of the metropolis," would be an incalculable benefit to the
poor inhabitants.

Electric Clucks. — By means of the electric telegraph on the Edinburgh
and Glasgow Railway, Mr. Bain has exhibited a clock of which the pen-
dulum at Glasgow regulated the movement of the dial-wheels and hands
at Edinburgh !

The Presbyterian Church, in Lower Gloucester-street, Dublin, has re-
cently been completed, from the designs of Mr. D. Ferguson, a young and
rising architect. This building is the first in the Grecian Doric order that
has been erected in Dublin, with fine Irish granite, and the execution -is
highly creditable for a first attempt of the workmen. The Acroteria are
perfectly new in this country, and have a very pleasing eflect upon pedi-
ments too small for the support of statues. The lighting of this church
is effected by a most economical plan, costing not more than half the ex-
pense of lighting in the usual manner with pillars and brackets. Mr.
Ferguson holds the Mastership of the Architectural School of the Royal
Dublin Society.

An Institute going a begging. — Under this title theAthenceum alludes to
a circular issued by the Institute of British Architects, soliciting archi-
tectural essays from men of erudition and science. The paper in the
Athenteum contains some valuable suggestions, to which we must refer next
month.

Comparison of the economic properties of coals. — A most important series
of experiments is about to be undertaken at the College for Civil En-
gineers. Putney, on the part of the Admiralty, in order to a comparison of
the relative evaporative powers and facility of combustion of different
kinds of coals. The examination will be conducted by Sir Henry de la
Beche and Dr. Lyon Playfair. A enormous mass of iofortnation on the
same subject is conlained in a report published by order of the American
Congress, which was noticed in our last volume, p. 242.

The French Geological Society meet at Alais on the 14lh of September.
St, Mary's Church, Kidderminster, is to be restored, at a cost of £2,000.
The Isthmus of Panama Railway will be commenced, it is said, next
November.

The Hungerfurd Bridge Terminus of the Southampton Railway. — Several
houses are being cleared away for the construction of the viaduct from the
Nine Elms station.

Bridge over the Mersey at Runcorn. — The Admiralty requires that the
arches shall have a clear headway under their centres of 100 feet, and a
waterway between the piers of 280 feel. If flat girders be substituted for
arches, 250 feet between the piers will be sufficient.

British .Museum. — Sir R. Inglis has stated in the House of Commons,
that the works will be completed in three years time.

Geology. — A very curious theory has been propounded by Commander
Morton respecting the columns at Giant's Causeway and Staffa. He
asserts that molten lava in crystallising could never form blocks fitting
into each oeher with sockets or joints ; and that, consequently, the usual
opinion that the columns in question are formed from molten basalt is
untenable. He asserts that they are petrified forests of gigantic bamboos ;
and refers to the well-known fact that bamboos and canes, when growing,
secrete silex. The divisions in the basaltic columns resemble in form an(f
position the joints of growing bamboos.

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECrS JOURNAL.

959

Professor Donaldson invited all tlie principal members of the Architec-
tural profession to a soiree at his house at Bolton-gardens, Russell-square,
on Tuesday, 7th ult. ; it was well attended. Several works of art were
laid on the tables, and a sumptuous eotertaiumeot provided at the close.

Westminster Bridge. — It is reported that Mr. AValkerand the committee
have had several consultations respecting the condition of M'estminsler-
bridge, and the general opinion entertained by them is that the present
•structure should be pulled down and a new one substituted. Mr. Walker
has already drawn out plans and specifications for the new bridge. He
proposes that a temporary wooden bridge should be erected, and the new
bridge commeuce eastward of Ginger's Hotel.

Substitute for Gunjiowder, — Professor Schonhriuhas just presented to the
Society of Natural History, Basle, a specimen of cotton prepared by him
tvhich is more inflammable than gunpowder, and explodes within a cap-
sule. Sevaral trials have been made of it, from which it appears that a
small quantity, equal to the sixteenth part of au ounce, placed in a gun,
projected the ball with such force that it perforated two planks at a dist-
ance of fifty-eight paces, and at another time, with the same charge and
at the same distance, drove a ball into a wall to the depth of nearly four
inches.

Coloured Glass. — Mr. Hoadly, of the Hampstead Road, has shown ns
several patterns of a new description of coloured glass borders which pos-
sess considerable elegance, and can be produced at a very moderate price,
a handsome border with a ruby or blue ground and a silver and gold em-
bossed ornament can be sold at 5s. Cd. per foot, and a ruby blue or gold
ground with silver or white embossed ornament at 2s. !o 4s. per foot.

Fortifications at Sheerncss. — The new works continue to progress
slowly and steadily. The scarp of the battery forming opposite the Dock-
yard gate is now being proceeded with. The musketry walls connecting it
to the old works of Garrison Point on the one hand, and to the line of bas-
tions extending from the Thames to the Medvvay in the other, are well nigh
completed. Each wall is upwards of 120 yards in length, three feet thick,
from 10 to 12 feet in height, and has loop-holes for musketry at every three
and a half feet distance. A ditch 50 feet wide, and 15 feet deep, is to sur-
round the battery. It is almost formed, and will communicate with that
from the Medway, which is to be cleared out and deepened, and the bas-
tions extending along it are to be heightened with the mud procured by the
excavation. The following guns have been ordered for the new works ;
One 66-pouDder, 97 cwt., 11 feet long, 17 eight-inch guns tii cwt. each,
9 feet long — 28 32-pounders,56cwt. each, 9 feet long — and 12 2-l-poundcrs
of 20 cwt. each, 6 feet long — total, 58. The 24-pounders will be mounted
on iron carriages, but all the heavier guns on wooden carriages with Ira-
▼ersing platforms. Sixty-three guns of a similar description have already
been received, and are to be mounted on the old works surrounding the
garrison. The alterations and repairs there are progressing favourably,
the pivots and tramways for the traversing platforms of all the 32-pounders
being already laid down ; the parapet has also been heightened along its
whole extent. One or two companies of artillery are to be in future per-
manently stationed here, and new and extensive bai'racks are to be erected
for their accommodation, the present being conlined and incapable of ac-
commodating more than 300 men, which is the average number of troops
forming this garrison.

THE BASILICA AT ROME.

The Times correspondent of Rome gives us the following description of
the Basilica : — The Basilic is the metropolitan of Rome. The original
structure was commenced ten centuries ago, but the building was twice
burnt down, and the Basilic, as it now stands, was begun in 13G$. Several
Popes, including Clement V., Urban A'., Alexander VI., Pius IV., Sixtus
v., and Clement XII., lavished enormous sums of money on it, so that,
although the proportions are not so vast as Si. Peter's, it is almost equal
in magnificence, and certainly far superior to all other churches of the
Eternal City. Severe taste will, however, condemn the gilded roof, though
by the crowd it is very much admired ; but where mosaic marble, painting
and sculpture abound, the meretricious ornament of gilding should not be
introduced. The bijou of the cathedral is the Chapel Corsini ; it is per-
fection, and within that little space there is more to be found to satisfy the
eye and exalt the mind than in any other part of the immense pile of build-
ings. The altar-piece is a mosaic, copied from a picture by Guido, exe-
cuted with so much delicacy that you almost desire to touch the work to
be convinced that it is not a painting. The bronze statue of Clement XII.
is also admirable. The expression of the face is perfect ; and every line
traced by care and age is reproduced with the fidelity of nature. There
are two groups of marble in tlie niches at each side of the bronze statue by
Monaldi, on which it is said Canova studied intensely. There is a female
figure in one which is almost the model of his Venus, but the neck, bust,
and arm are far superior to anything that Canova ever produced. The
mosaic floor is very remarkable, as well as the precious marbles, which
are used with an unsparing hand; but the wonder of the place is a subter-
ranean chapel, where the tombs of the Corsini family abound, and where a
marble group of the Virgin and dead Christ are not inappropriately placed.
Bernini is given as the sculptor's name, but I imagine that much of the
fame which the group has acquired is owing to the purity of the material,
which admits a little of trick in the exhibition, and to the place where it is

situated disposing the mind to religions meditation. The man who shows
the statue does so by the light of a small wax taper, and as he passes the
light along the lifeless body of our Saviour it appears to be wax, not mar-
ble. The hands are positively transparent. The agony of life in the Virgin
is finely contrasted with the inert weight of the corpse which hangs from
her embrace ; but I believe that the group, however beautiful, would lose
much of its value if exposed to the open day. The late Count Somariva,
"at Paris, used to show Canova's JNIagdalen in the same manner ; but good
judges condemned him, as the eye never embraced the whole figure, but
was carried from one littleness, such as the graining of the skin, which
Canova introduced, to another. There is a chill of death in the subter-
ranean chapel of the Corsini, and the sacristan who shows it not only covers
his own head, but carefully recommends you to do the same. The cere-
mony at St. John de Lateran was limited to the celebration of mass, and
the Pope returned to the Ciuirinal in the same simple manner that he leftiU

THE CHANNEL SQUADRON— TRIAL OF STEAMERS.

On the 30th June, the steamers were ordered to try rate of steaming.
At 10 a.m. the Retribution, Gladiator, and Avenger, started, full power,
with a strong breeze six points on port bow. In two hours the Retribu-
tion gained on Gladiator If miles ; on Avenger three miles. At noon
altered course to wind on port beam, and tried until 4 p.m. — at each suc-
cessive step of expansion gear — during the whole of this time the relative
distances were perceived as near as possible as during the trial from 10 to
12, At 4, being about seven or eight miles dead to leeward of the Admiral
the signal was made to prepare to steam to windward. Topmasts were ia
consequence struck, and everything got ready to join the ships to wind-
ward. At about 4'30they started abreast. Retribution soon got the lead,
although Gladiator stuck very close for a few minutes; but once clear of
her, she soon shot ahead, beating her in the run about two miles, and
Avenger four miles.

Gladiator and Avenger were each working up to 10 lb. tlie square inch,
having tubular boilers Retribntioa can only work up to 61b,, having the
old common boilers.

July 1. — The Terrible having joined the fleet during the previous night,
a signal was made to try rate cf steaming with her. They accordingly-
started at about 10 a.m., with full power, the Terrible, with her tubular
boilers, working up to 13 lb. the square-inch, and after steaming dead to
windward, with a strong breeze and heaiy head-swell for three hours, she
beat Retribution as near as possible half a mile an hour. Unquestionably
she is a noble ship ; but, nevertheless, I am inclined to believe she beat
Retiibution principally by the great command of steam generated by tubu-
lar boilers. Had both ships been titted with similar boilers, probably the
result would have beeu diQ'ereut. One thing by this trial appears to be
clearly settled — that where two ships of similar tonnage, or nearly so, and
equal horse power, but fitted with tubular and common boilers, are matched,
the former must have the advantage in speed over the latter. This was
very evident in the trial the day before with Gladiator, for with Retribu-
tion's immense engines of 800 horse power, over Gladiator's 450, the former
certainly ought to have beat her double the distance, had they both been
fitted with similarly constructed boilers. At 1 p.m. a signal was made to
Terrible to steam with 6 lb. pressure only. At first Retribution gained
rapidly on her, but as soon as this was perceived on board she shot ahead
again. In short, this trial is not wortli relating, it being almost impossible
to keep steam at any exact pressure. A few stiovelsful of coal, or slightest
alteration of throttle valve, more or less, will always cause an alteration.
In the evening they both banked the fires.

July 2, at 9 a.m., we tried rate of sailing on the wind, starboard tack.
Terrible, under all plain sail ; Retribution, with single-reefed topsails. At
11, the wind falling light. Retribution shook out first reefs. At 1*30 p.m..
Retribution being about one mile ahead, tacked. At 3, having weathered
on her opponent about three quarters of a mile, bore up and set port stud-
ding sails. Ran until sunset without any difference of sailing; then lighted
the fires of two boilers and steamed all night. Terrible gained two miles
all night. Arrived at Cove this evening, July 3, at 7 p.m. Found the
squadron lying there.

iaiSCEI>I>AMEA.

ScuLPTDRE Machine. — During a recent visit in Boston we were shown

specimeos of the production of a wonderful piect of mechani»m, which were, indeed,
truly aitonishing. They were miniature busts of Daniel Webster, Abbot Lawrence, and
Levi Woodbury ; being perfect facsimiles of their distinguished originals, and HTOught
out of beautiful American marble, and by a machine which has been invented by Mr.
Thomas Blanchard, of Boston. This invention certainly sstablishes a new era in the art
of sculpture, and promises to dispense almost entirely with the deep thought, and classic
study, and indefatigable labour of the artist, in his etforts to put life and poetry into the
marble, for nature, art, every thing tangible, can be copied by Ihic machine, with a pre-
cision which defies the chisel, even when guided by the most skilful hand and directed by
the most gifted talent. The machine, too, can be graduated so as to give reduced copies
of any statuary, which shall, in their miniature, be perfect and exact copies of the ori.
ginals in everything else but size ; preserving every line, furrow, and dimple, and giving
prominenct to muscles and veins, and every particular liiieamaal and feature, ia exact

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

260

„rtin. Bv the tmt oBchlDerr. the roo»t correct and perfect ba..rellef profile like-
•rr,. i av' be cut on the harde.1 material, and of any sue required, from half an .nch to
?,rnf."iri.e.Ue We»"» .trikingly exact can^eo r'ofile .,f Henry Clay. a. perfect a
1 L i that » a esman as we have erer seen in any of the busts or csts to be found, and
if ,te fashinnaWe size for a lady', breaat-pln. Among the specimen, shown us, too,
° Ithe heads of sereral of <ur acquaintance., cut In .ameo and ivory, the ,.roper s.ie
for^euing n pins, he first glimpte of which called before our min„s the on.inals a,
for selling in P'u. daeuerrcotype or pencilled miniature would have done. We

"fa'^uieitHrKest ofTreenou'g^i-s anS Persico's productions, which have cost
?hemeLrs or study and elTort, can be copied by Ihi, apparatus >vi,h most positive .ecu-
raf^- and the block of shapeless marble put into its power will, in a few hours, stand
fothaperfectcopyof the most beautiiul and animated statuary the grea est sculptors
ever nroduced And, what is most wonderful, this machinery may Ije readily gra.luaed
to increase ordiminish the copy, so as to furnish a colossal or a mii.ialure l.gure, with
equal precision, and in all respects exact proportions.-" American paper

AiiiGAToK Oil.— A letter from St. Augustine, dated April 12, says.—
•• I suDDO..' that you may not liave heard that wo have discovered the utility of alligators.
A^ Xator ist^lSnd to be as valuable in his way as a spermaceti whale. An expedition
h" lit iWs Place for the river of St. John's, and the dark tributary stream of Black
Oeeiwarml^nglith these hideous creatures, with the view of killing them to obtain
fhnir o:l The oil of the allifcator is said to be better for lamp, than even whale Ml. and
t u ex r'acted from he animal in considerable quantity and without any grea. difficulty.
F,^rthi^ discovery wc are indebted to the Indians, who have been in the habit, for how
lonVa tin e I know not. of extracting the oil of the alligator and ...10. it for various pur-
nose. I make, a fine transparent fluid and burns admirably. Yon know how many of
these enomouV'nimals are .hot out of wantonness from fe decks of the .teamboats
Jharnlough our waters. 1 expect he-eafter to hear of laws passed for their protection.
Every ti^e an alUgator of 18 feet long is shot iu the long grass ot the river banks, or
while hl^ss,rimmlng, a barrel or half abarrel of oil, a. the case may be, is wastet^ This
Thould nit be We must allow them to be killed only at a proper season when they a^e
JaUest and not permit their destruction at the season when they lay iheir eggs. 'Hie
Slgator is a formidable looking creature, it is true, but he i. generally harmless. Hi.
office is to prowl in the sluggish waters of this southern region, pick up what he can, and
S^e!ttinU) excellent oil fir the illumination of our houses. Alligators will l.e hereafter
eXemed as u" ful animals as pigs-perhaps more .0. for their keeping costs nothmg.
The danger is, thai now that the world has discovered what they are good for, their race
.Bill lip exterminated." — * filontreal 'J imes.' ,..,.,.

MaiTmoth LocoMOTivEs.-The Great Western have just completed three
most Dowerful locomotive engines, built upon the plan and under the superi.itendence of
Sr Brunei a sisted by Mr. Gooch. the superintendent of the locomotive riepartmen .
I'h^dimen.ons of the Great Western engine ftlie leviathan of locomo ives) are as fol-
lows -D°ameter of driving wheel 8 feet ; cylinder. 18 inches : siroke. 24 inches ; boiler
between 1." and 16 feet; weight of engine, »6 tons, without water ; weight of the tender,
wHhou? ei her coke or water 10 tons ; making a total of 4i; tons. This splendid engine,
h, ItTor nassenger trains, drew a train weighing 130 tons up the incline at Wootton Bas-
^ett «°[h as much -.ase and as fast as one of the smaller engines would a passenger train.
Th;,r„or„eO?,eeu is likewise for passenger trains, and was built at Swindon: Driving
ISee"Tfee?m.metin stroke, fs inches ; cylinder. 16 inches; boiler. 14 feet i weight
of engine without water, 26 tons ; weight of temler. it tons, without coke or water. The
Sbove^ ng'ines, whc„ their machinery get into perfect order, are intended to be employed
Tu propelling the express trains. The other is ;. luggage engine the I remier. having he
^x wEs of 5 feet diameter connected. The dimensions of this locomotive are in other
^sjVcts similar to the Great Western passenger engine. The Premier is d^'ded'y the
most Dowerlul employed on the broad gauge, surpassing in itrengtli and speed the Her.
"u°es engine"which propelled 406 tons on the experimental trip with the gauge conims-
^loners -An™ and powerful locomotive, the Goliah, was lately tried on the Sheffield.
ASn.under.Lyne. and Manchester Railway. It is the largest crank.axle locomotive
engine ever built! The cylinders are 18 inche. in diameter, with two feet stroke, mounted
on six wheels of four feet six inches in diameter, allcoupled. so that they will not be liable
to .npTn wet weather, or with a heavy load, a, is often the case with those constructed
ipon the present pr nciple. The engine is calculated to take a load ot up.var,l. of 1,000
toM on a level, at the rate of 20 miles an hour. It has given every satisfaction to the
company, who have nine more engines of a similar description in progress of building
at tho works of Messrs. Sharp, Roberts and Co.

[AueuST,

Thomas Parkin, of Hoxlon. in the county of Middlesex, engineer, for " ImprovemenU
In the means of giving motion to locomotive carrl-ge.. with or without bearing wheel*
attached to them, and in the construction of ways, pmaages, and roads, on which the
said carriages arc to travel."— June 2H.

Charies Clark of Cornhill. City, merchant, for "certain Improvement, io the pyro-
hydro.pneumatic apparatus lor generating, purifying, and condensing, .team and oth«f
vapours, and for obtaining vegetable extracts. "—June 29.

James Hastings, of Havre, in France, for " an Improved machine for making bricks,
tilss, quarries, and cornice ornaments."— June 30.

William Clarke, of Hoxlon. Middlesex, machinist, for "certain Improrements la
weighing machines, steel yard., and scale beam.."— June 30.

James Thompson, of Liverpool, engineer, for " certain Improvements in machinery ot
apparatus for obtained motive power, part or parts of which improvsments are apphc*.
ble to other useful purpose.."— July 6.

Peter Ward, of Oldbury. county of Worcester, chemical manager, for " ImproTcmeiltt
in the manufacture of certain saluof soda and magnesia."- July 6.

Richard Wright, of Hermitage-terrace, in the parish of Bow, .ngar refiner, for " Im
provements in refining sugar."— July 6.

George Donning, of Birmingham, steel pen tool maker, for " a certain Improvement In
the manufac'ure of penholders."- July 6.

Frederick Kansome, of Ipswicli, engineer, and John Crabb Blair Warren, Little Hork^
lev Essex clerk, for "certain Improvements in the manufacture of bricks, tiles, plpe^
and other articles composed of plastic male-ials, and in the preparauon of plastic mate-
rials to be used for such purposes."— July 6. .,.^^,

John Palmer De la Fons, of Cariton-hill, St. John's Wood. In the county of MiddlMei,
Esq.. for " Improvements in the manufacture of loc^. andjjther fastenmg..^ J..'

^ililam M'Gary, of Hoxlon. Middlesex, for " " — " '" '" ' "'"•

candles, and shades." — July 6

1

improvements in lamps, lamp gluses*
Improvementa in

IiIST OP NETV PATENTS.

CFro7n Messrs. Robertson's List.)

CHANTED IN ENGLAND FROM JUNE '27, 1840, TO JULY 23, 1846.

Six Months allowed for Enrolment, unless otherwise expressed.
Joseph Storer, of Stanhope street. Mornington- crescent, musical Instrument maker,

for " Improvement. in organ., seraphines, and other free reed instruments, part of which

inatrument. are applicable to piano fortes." (A communication.)— June 2".

John Davie Morris Stirling, of Black Range. North Britain, esq., for "certaiij new

alloys and metallic compound, with a method of welding the same and other metals. —

June '29.

Francois Stanllas Meldon de Sussex, of Millwall, Middlesex, manufacturing chemist,

for " Improvements in the manufacture of soda and potash."— June 29.
Thomas Lane Coulson. of Assington Hall, Asaington, Suffolk, esq., for " Improvements

In the construction of chair.."— June 29.

Charles Payne, of Whitehall wharf. Cannon row, Westminster, gentleman, for " Im-

provementB in preserving vegetable matter."— June 29.
William Mill, of Newhall street, Birmingham, manufacturer, for "Improvements in

Instruments used foi writing and marking, and in the construction of inkstands."— June

29.
Moses Poole, of London, gentleman, for " Improvements In regulating the velocity of

steam engines." (A communication.) — June 29.

Joseph Moreland, of Old. street, Middlesex, copper still and boiler setter, oven builder,

constructer and designer of fumaie. generally, for " Improvement, in setting and fixing

toppers, stills, and boilers, and in the construction of fun aces."— Juue 29.

William Smith, of the city of London, gas meter manulacturer, for " certain Improve-
ments in gas meters."— June 29.

Antolne Perpigna. of Pari., advocate, for "Improvement, in regulators for qnalifying
the action, of mechanical powers." (A communication.)— June 29.

John Tatham, of Rochdale, Lancaster, machine maker. David Cheetham, of the same
place, machine maker, and John Wallace Duncan, of Manchester, gentleman, for "
tain Improvements in machinery or apparatus, to be used in the preparation and spin
«f cotton and other fibrous .ubstaaces." — June 29.

Joseph Seraphin Faucon. of Rouen, In France, banker, for " Improvements in com-
bining mate ialg to be employed in fulling cloth "—June 29.

Sir James Caleb Anderson, of Buttevant castle, Ireland, baronet, for "certain Improve-
ment. In obtaining motive power, and In applying it to propel carriages tui ntscli, and
to tL« driving of macbinerr,"— Jime 29.

Thomas Wooiley, of Nottingham, piano forte manufacturer, for
piano fortes."— July 8.

Robert Beart, of Gudmanchester, in the county of Huntingdon, fanner, for Imptore-
ments in liling land." — July 10.

William Middlemore. of nirmingham. manufacturer, for "a certain Improvement, Of
certain improvements in saddles."— July 13.

William Seed, of Preston, Lancaster, machine maker, for " «rt»i° '■"P'^™"'' '»
machinery or apparatus for preparing, slubbing, and roving cotton, and other 6brou«
substances." — July 14.

George Knight, of Southampton, wine merchant, for " cerUin ImprovemenU in cica.
vaUngfnd dredging; also in the form.ition of permanent and temporary harbours,.^al..
bridges, docks, Ind other similar works, and in the apparatus to be employed thereln."-
July 14.

Odert Gripenberg. of Finland, Russia for "Improvements in machinery for Mwing
grain and other seed."— July 14. ^

William Watson Pattinson. of Felling, near Gateshead. Durham, manufacturing che-
mist, for " Improvements in the manufacture of chlorine. —July 14.

Charies Frederick Bielefield, of Wellington-street. Strand, papier raach^ manufacturer,
for ••Improvements in the m'aking of moulds or d vs used in the manufacture of paoier
mach^, and other matters, and in moulding or forming articles from certain plastic m.-
tcrials."- July 14.

Gastaf Victor Gustafsson, late of Sweden, but nowof Warren.street, Fit.roy-.quare,
engineer, for '•certain Improvements in steam engines. —July 14.

Lawrence Hill, iuii.. of Glasgow, civil and mechanical engineer, " for Improvernents In
the manulacture of iron for building ships and boats, and other vessels ; and in the con-
Ifmron 01 sh[ps and boats, and other vessels ; and In instrument, machinery, «.d ap-
paratus to be used in the said construction. (A commuiilcation.j-July 14.

Sir Samuel Brown. Knight of the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, and Captain in oar
Navy.ot Blackheath. for ••Improvements in railways and carnage, to run «n rallw.n,
and In the con.lruction and arming ships or vessels."— July 14.

David Yoolow Stewart, of Montrose, Scotland, for "Improvements in moulding Iron
and brass."- July 14. „ . . i .

Thomas Symes Prideaux. of 5iouthampton, genUeman, for Improvements In no,
chinery for excavating. •■— July 15. .... . t

William Thomas, of Cheapside. London, merchant, for "certain ImprovemenU l»
frames, locks, and fastenings for carpet-bags and purses, parts of said ImprovemenU

being applicable to all other locks."- July 1.5; two mootts.

Thomas Boiiser. of Merton. Surrey, and Edwin Walker ^.1 .•■». Wy"" P« ".«. of

Yorkroad, Lambeth, civil engineer, for " certain Impr.vements In machinery for tlUlng

land."— July 15. , ,. , ^ .. .. • i_

William Shurman. of the town and county of Nottingham, hosier, for certain Im-

provemenu in the manufacture of glove., .lockings, and other hosier, goods, -•'"'y '»•

James Napier, of Shacklewell. in the county of Middlesex, op.nllve chemist, for Im-

provemenu in smelting copper ores."— July 20. , .,. v

John Boyes. of Mincing-lane, gentleman, for " Improvement, in mnchloery for thiub-

log and winnowing grain and seeds."— July 23.

Augustus William Hillary, ol No. «■ Cadogan-place. Chelsea at present reading »t
No. 146. Avenue des Champs Elysees, in the city of Pans, esq., for Impror.meaU In
the mnnufacture of gas." — July 23.

cer-
splnnlng

CORRESPONDENTS.

<■ A Working Mechanic."— The improvement of the hydranlic press is
yery ingenious, but the small end of the pump piston roust wtjrlk. lo the
air • for if it work in a reservoir couiainiug water, the water will be forced
through the upper compartmenl into the main cylinder, and consequently
the quantity of water pumped in at each stroke will equal the sum and not
the difference of the volumes of the two parts of the plunge If our cor-
respondent will allow us 10 make the necessary alteration, the descripliOD
shall appear next month. If we understand the action of the Arcbimedeao
air pump, the mouth of the spir..l tube muit alternately rise above and
sink beloW the surface ot the mercury. Hut as the exhaustion advances,
the mercury would be elevated, till the mouth of the lube became whoUy
submerged.

From press of matter, the Reviews and several communications are an.
avoidably postponed.

ERRATUM.-Page-223. col. 2. The name of 't^^ architect of tfce
New Host Office, at Hamburgh, misprinted " »'• Char e. "lenuneuO
should be " M. Alexis de ( haleauueuf," author of " Archtlectura Do»e.-
tica," a work published in Ibis country in 18S9.

MlpM.

a B^l.t.r l^i

Jtmi* if K~

ISIOMffi ©FIFKeS. 3B©AmB @W TmABS. &o. WMSTBHALIL.

CHARLES BARSy E80"" ARCHITECT.

184(5.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

261

HOME OFFICE, BOARD OF TRADE, &c., WHITEHALL.
CJI'ilh an Engraving, Plate XIII)

Twofold interest attaches to this subject heeause, as it exhibits a rifaccia-
nento — sire-dreasing, so to call it, of the former csterior, while the structure
itself remains in other respects nearly as before, we have to consider not only
the building as it now presents itself, but also what it has replaced. We
have, besides, here a very remarkable ease, — that of a building of quite re-
cent date being subjected to complete alteration ; while many others that
might he materially improved by a much slighter degree of it — some of them
even by a few corrections, remain in statu quo with all their blemishes : let
US hope therefore that the example thus set will not he thrown away. Sir
John Soane himself, we dare say, would not greatly have relished the idea
of his " Board of Trade" coming to a second edition after his death ; more
especially as it was, with the exception of the " Bank," his principal and
best work : but his design is now expunged, and what is more, after other
things will have disappeared — as will shortly be the case — the front of his
own house in Lincoln's Inn Fields will remain and be preserved intact to
posterity as a monument of his taste. Hardly could Soane have conceived
it to be at all possible that any thing which he had done should pass away,
or else he would doubtless have ensured the perpetuity of his designs and
ideas by means of the graver. It is true he did publish many of them in a
folio volume, but they are so incorrect and exceedingly rude in execution,
many of them of such paltrily diminutive size, and altogether so insufficient
and unsatisfactory, as to be in some respects worse than nothing — more in-
jurious to his reputation than the contrary. Were they to he judged of from
jhat work alone, it must hereafter be thought that at the time of its pro-
duction, both architectural drawing and engraving were at the lowest ebb
in this country, since with all his wealth, and also his soUcitude about his
works, Soane could find no artists capable of doing them justice. — And here
we may just remark en passant Hitt engraving might almost as well be ex-
tinct among us, for any advantage that is now taken of it by English archi-
tects, wo hhave executed structures, that if adequately represented would ob-
tain for them celebrity where their names are now not so much as heard of.

In the volume above alluded to, there is a plate containing several varia-
tions or different ideas of the design of the " Board of Trade," including the
one adopted, hut they are upon so preposterously small a scale (attached
scale there is none) — the entire height, 54 feet, being only j% of an inch, —
that they are mere diagrams, from which no more can be made out than the
general composition, and the number of columns and windows. There would
have been no harm in giving that plate, had there been also another showing
the executed elevation at large, or rather only so much of it as could be
shown on the largest scale the size of the plate would admit of ; whereas
now only the mere skeleton of, the elevation is there given, all its lineaments
being suppressed. In the " Illustrations of the Public Buildings of Loudon,"
again, it is shown very unsatisfatorily, — only a small oulline perspective
view ; wherefore we purpose to record it faithfully next month in another
engraving, in like manner and upon the same scale as the present one of
Mr. Barry's new front to the Board of Trade.

Were there nothing else satisfactory, it would be so to know that the
building will now forthwith be carried on northward as far as Dover-house,
and the entire facade at length completed, as perhaps it would have been
done before ; had it not been for a most strange oversight in setting out the
line of front, owing to which the North Pavilion could not have been erected
without advancing considerably upon the pavement. Therefore if that really
was an oversight on the part of Soane — and we can account for it no other
way he has been punished for it, since the consequence of it may have
decided for remodelling the fa9ade in order to get rid of the advanced hexa-
ityles at its extremities. Besides which, even had there been no obstacle to
completing the building according to Soane's design, it would, when so ex-
tended to half as much again in length, have looked still lower than it did :
whereas now there will be better proportion in the ensemble, and the entire
fa9ade will form a noble mass, — one that will show admirably well in itself,
but which will perhaps overpower that little architectural gem Dover-house,
and will certainly cause the Horse Guards (that is, its street front) and Ad-
miralty to look more indignified than ever. In one respect, indeed, the con-
trast is an agreeable one, inasmuch as Mr. Barry's new piece of architecture
shows, as compared with the two last-mentioned structures, the very great
improvement that has taken place ail at once in the quality of official and

No. 108.— Vol.. IX.— September, 184C.

government buildings, which have hitherto been mostly made jobs of, and
instead of conducing to the advance of taste, have in some instances been
quite discreditable to the nation. The National Gallery stands a monument
of the wretched system of doing things of the kind by halves : either a great
deal too much was there attempted, or a great deal too little done ; and should
any thing more now ever be done to it, the expense will be very much greater
than if it had been done properly at first, for there will be much to correct
as well as to supply.

In the present instance every thing has been done most liberally : we have
got, not as repeatedly before, what might have been good, or a good thing
spoilt, but a really excellent one — a very superior example of its particular
style, one that is thoroughly studied, and which therefore both deserves and
cannot fail to become an instructive study and authority. While elaborately
ornate it is marked by such refined taste, that rich as it is, it is the very re-
verse of tawdry. Numerous as the details are, there is not one that seems
to have been neglected, or not to have been carefully considered by the
architect. The whole and every part appears to have been done with relish
— with true gusto, — without which, what is called art is only manufacture.
If there be any thing which we could wish had been otherwise, it is, that
the heads of the second floor windows had not been carried up quite so high,
because they now break into the line of the lower edge of the capitals of the
columns, which if not actually objectionable, is what is much better avoided ;
and no doubt Mr. Barry would have done so, had he not been over-ruled in
that particular.

It is quite unnecessary for us to enter into a minute architectural descrip-
tion, because the engraved elevation, from Mr. Barry's own drawings, is
upon such a scale that even the details are shown sufficiently distinctly, — an
advantage that very far outweighs that of having the entire front represented
in a plate of the same size. Had there been a marked central feature — one
principal in the composition, the case might have been different j but as there
is not, it being the extremities alone that are distinguished from the rest,
and that only by the addition of an attic, both the composition itself is clearly
enough made out, and the character of the whole intelligibly conveyed by
as much of the elevation as is here represented, — which is rather less than
half, there being thirteen windows on a floor, between the two end pavilions.
To remove all doubt as to one point, that might otherwise be felt by those
unacquainted with the building itself, we should observe that the middle
compartment resembles the others, there being not even so much as an en-
trance there to mark it out at once to the eye as the centre. Perhaps a
doorway there, of more ornate design than the others, either in addition to
the four present ones, or as a substitute for the two in the middle division
of the fafade, might have been an improvement, but Mr. Barry was obliged
to conform to the number and situation of the entrances determined by
Soane's plan. There is also one peculiarity which has been forced upon him,
in order to accomplish the raising of the columns to the level of the first
floor ; for they are placed upon projecting breaks or piers in the ground
floor, that serve as pedestals to them ; had not which been done, the thick-
ness of the wall there must have been very greatly increased. While these
breaks below produce a certain degree of variety and richness, they are in
conformity with the treatment observed for the order itself, whose entabla-
ture is now made to break over the columns, and thereby, itself conforms to
the treatment of the order, both the columns and their immediate portions
of the entablature, being "engaged." Whether such effect has been an in-
tentional or incidental result, this continuation of breaks upwards, throws a
strong expression of verticality into the design, more especially at its ex-
tremities, where the vertical lines are prolonged by the attic pilasters, and
their breaking cornices, and after being further carried on by the pedestals
in the halustrading, terminate in the pyramidal vase-shaped acroteria.

The character of the rustication for the ground floor or basement of the
order, has moreover been influenced and determined by the necessity for
breaks in it, below the columns, it being thus reduced to nearly horizontal
channels alone, with only a single vertical one in the alternate courses of
each pier : what is here done however explains itself, and the effect is very
different from that monotonous and jo/a/ii-like appearance (without any in-
dication of bond in masonry) which takes place when horizontal channels
alone are continued uninterruptedly on the surface of a wall, without auv
jointing. In both the order itself and the attic, the rustication is treated
with some degree of novelty, the channels not being continued quite up to
the columns, but stopping against the edge of a narrow plain surface ; where-
by the rustics themselves are let into a sort of upright panel, not wider tiiaa

34

262

THE CIVIL KXGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Sept.

half the diameter of the columns. And the panels thus formed, appear very
much to assist the expression of verticality, which we have pointed out. We
hardly need call attention to the development which Mr. Barry has given to
his attic, — rendering it not a mere addition or excresence to the order, but
identifying it with the latter in point of Inxuriant richness, and thereby ren-
dering those portions of the design crowning ones in it, — parts which are to
the general mass — what its capital is to a column, or its cornice to an entire
order. The example of an attic,whichhe has here given us, is compared with
the things of the kind we are accustomed to, what the comicione in his Club-
houses is to the meagre shelf-like cornices in that lean starvation style which
so long prevailed in every style we affected. Barry will have given embon-
point to our architecture.

Leaving our readers to note for themselves minor specialities of design,
which if their attention has been at all excited by what we have said, they
will no doubt do, we will merely add that the north pavilion (the one shown
in the engraving, and which is for the Home Office), together with the two
adjoining compartments, has yet to be built, and will, we understand be
commenced almost forthwith. When the entire front is completed, it will
extend 29G feet, and be 56J feet in its general height, and 67^ at its ex-
tremities.*

The structure is not only admirably finished up, hnt all of a piece through-
out, every part that is at all visible, being strictly in accordance with what
is completely seen. Thus the West side 'of the attic of the South or Down-
ing-street pavilion, is finished-up like the others, although seen only partially
above the adjoining buildings ; for Barry does not countenance that misera-
ble system oi pinafore design, which leaves the end of a building — that is, as
much of such end as really shows itself — whether intended to do so or not —
quite bare and unfinished ; as is the case with Inigo Jones' Banquetting
House, just by, which as there is no probability of its unsightly ends being
shut out from view by other buildings erected against them, ought to be
completed externally. Unless that be nowdone, it will cut but a poor figure
in comparison with Mr. Barry's new work on the opposite side of the street.
The South-east view of the latter presents a striking contrast to the South-
west view of the other, whose South end is a mere brick wall ; whereas the
South end or elevation of the Downing-street pavilion (the Council Office),
is precisely similar to the East one (therefore to the one shown in our en-
graving), with the slight dillerence, that there are five windows to the ground
floor, there being no entrance on that side.

If there be much to excite admiration in the building, there is also some-
thing to excite surprise, for surprising it is or would seem to be, that so
superior a piece of architecture should have risen up almost all at once with-
out any flourish at all of newspaper trumpetings, while the most vulgar non-
sensical fuss is made about the most trumpery buildings imaginable, merely
because somebodj or other who is a somebody, performs the farcical cere-
mony of " laying the first stone," as it is called, to the great edification of all
the nobodies who assist on the important occasion.

Fig. l.-Plnn of First Floor, Windous and Columns.

Fig. 2.— PIftn of Ground Floor Windows and Balustrade.

* Height from pavement to bases of coltimna 19ft. Oiii.

Height ol'culunios .. .. ., '^ia ^

„ entaMafjre .. .. .. 7 rt

„ balustrade .. .. .. 4 6

,. altic .. .. .. 11 0

Entire height .

f,-

CANDIDUS'S NOTE-BOOK.
FASCICULUS LXX.

" I must have liberty
Withal, as large a charter as the winds,
To blow on whom I please."

I. As Wigbtwick vows to go, D.V., to Naples and eat macaroni there,
it is to be hoped that he will not forget to bring back with him some pen-
and-ink sketchings — and if he like, some pencil sketches, too, of the recent
architecture of that city. There is suflicient ^aiu/um of that kind for his
pen, — the church, for, inslance, by that unl^'agkrized uobody, Bianchi.
And let him portray ihat aud whatever other buildings he speaks of, archi-
tecturally, so that we may be able to make out a tolerably distinct image
of it, not a mere forndess, shapeless Ossianic spectre. Let him take a
lesson from the novelists : — they after all are the people for exact and con-
scientious description ; they are content with nothing less than that of giv-
ing us a complete inventory of a heroine's "personals," noting every item
separately, — though with all their exactitude they uever inform us of her
exact weight — the weight of a mortal "sylph." As to Vesuvius, we can
very well dispense with any remarks on that from ^V'ightwick ; so let him
eschew speaking of its crater — that bore of tremendous calibre, — or we
shall wish that he had fairly Jumped into it, and like Empedocles, distin-
guished by extinguishing himself within it.

II. It is curious that we should be indebted to a Cookery book for a
detailed plan of the kitchen offices in the Keform Club-house. Al. Soyer
has supplied a leaf that was very much wanted in architectural lore, for
those who have published plans of town mansions, have never revealed t
us the complex arcana of their below-ground territories, but have literally
passed over them, as matters altogether beneath them, — low, vulgar, and
infra dig. Yet the arrangement of the numerous separate rooms requisite
for an extensive domestic establishment, vvithiu the basement of a town
residence, calls fur the exertion of more than ordinary ingenuity and con-
trivance. A collection of a dozen basement plans, minutely detailed and
explained, would form a series of valuable and useful lessons. There
then, is an idea at once for a publication of entirely new character. So
let some one now take it up. But no, — nothing will take or go down with
the profession or the public, that does not address itself to and flatter the
present church-mania, and the passion fur studying Roman Catholic "rub-
bish," What with churches, church furniture, and church upholstery, on
the one band, and with railways on the other, the demand for architectural
publications of any other kind, seems to have ceased. Archaeology is all
very well io its place, as the handmaid to architecture, but it has of late
given itself such airs, and domineered at such rate, that it is time for it tu
be taken down a peg, and not be suBered to keep poking all sorts of paltry
old trumpery in our faces, and insist upon our admiring batched-faced
saints, and angels with dislocated limbs. — Let us escape to the kitchen.

III. Talking of escaping to the kitchen, reminds me that the kitchen it-
self has completely escaped the attention of that great architectural ency-
clopasdist, Gwilt. Even so ; his fat FalstaS" tome contaius nothing what-
ever on the subject of kitchens and their accessories, and the multifarious
apparatus belonging to them ; an omission the more remarkable consider-
ing how much stufl' — stuffing I mean — he has crammed into bis book, that
one would never think of looking for in it. He has indeed given the word
" kitchen," a place in his Glossary, — and very properly, it being so strictly
technical a term, as to render explanation of its meaning, indispensable,—
indispensable at least for the information of those over-and-above genteel
young ladies in middling life who are presumed never to have entered a
kitchen, or to know what sort of operations are carried on in one. It is
only thus that the insertion of such a word can be accounted for, while so
many strictly architectural terms which are not to be found in general dic-
tionaries, or even in encycloptedias, are omitted. Nor are ouiissionsof the
last-mentioned kind the most remarkable of all in Gwilt's book, because
he has chosen to omit Kickman's well known work in the list which he
gives of publications on Gothic architecture. I say " chosen" to omit, be-
cause it is not for a moment to be supposed that he was ignorant of the
existence of a work which besides being exceedingly useful as a synopsis
or catalogue of English structurei in that style, is continually referred to
as an authority. There are besides what look very much like instances
of intentional forgetfulness, in regard to other publications, which though
not mentioned by him were as well or better entitled to such distinction as
very many of those which obtained it. That on Barry's Travellers' Club-
house, is of sufficient merit if only on account of the examples of Italian

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL

S63

detail given in the plates, to have been worthy of a place in the list of
works on Italian architecture ; and its non-insertion is all the more re-
markable because Gwilt himself points out for particular admiration, and
as example in which " the principles of that style are so admirably de-
veloped," the fafade of the Palazzo Pandolfini, to which the Clubhouse
above-mentioned bears a more than casual general resemblance. Possibly,
however, Mr. Gwilt never saw or heard of the book ; and if so, he will
thank me for pointing out both that and Rickman's, that he may insert
them accordingly in the next edition of his valuable Encyclopaedia. —
Apropos to RIckman, — the German Nailer (Nagler) has not nailed him in
his Lexicon, though he has nailed up there an immense number of obscure
or else quite forgotten names — some of them tlie smallest of the small-fry
artists. Well then, all the more industry and greater research does it
show to go and pry about with a farthing candle, and peep into all the
crevices and crannies of tenebrous obscurity, and turn out the poor little
things that lay there ensconced.

IV, The " Times" has been very pleasant a la Punch, on that iVas/iional
calamity, Buckingham Palace, which it is now discovered is hardly habit-
able, neither Nash nor George IV. having any idea that rojal nurseries
could ever be wanted within its walls, and not nurseries alone, but apart-
ments for a whole colony of tutors and preceptors. As to a mere nursery
— that is already provided, there being nothing more required than to make
use of the " Garden Pavilion" for such purpose, for which indeed it ap-
pears to have been actually intended, it being so very pretty, all covered
over with " nice darling little pictures"^-e3iactly what a royal baby-house
should be, with a kitchen and other " conveniences" attached to it, — a
proof that it was built not only for show, but for service. The idea of so
making use of it, was perhaps abandoned, because it was found not suffi-
ciently large for the purpose ; yet surely it is just as easy, and would be
as CHEAP to build additional rooms out behind it, as to enlarge the palace
itself. If Mr. Blore will take this hint — and he ought to jump at it — it
will spare him a great deal of pathos, and perhaps no less perplexity also,
since perplexed he, no doubt, will be to patch up decently the Park front
of the Palace, on which side it is proposed to add another range of build-
ings, filling up the space between the wings, and enclosing the open court
in front. In doing merely that, there will be no particular diflicully ; but
Dnless the wings themselves — the ends of them at least are to come down,
and to be taken into the new East front, either what comes between them
must be accommodated to them — made of a piece with them, in which case
the architecture will be just as mesquin as at present, or the whole will be
more or less a piece of patch work. It will be necessary also no doubt lo
advance the new building before the present line of front, and continue the
wings also for the same distance, because unless that be done, what will
then be an inner court will be smaller than the present open one; besides
which the side elevations of the wings towards the court most either be
altered accordingly, or their regularity would be destroyed ; — as may be
seen by one of the plates of plans and elevations of the Palace in the im-
proved edition of the "Public Buildings of London," — which, if never
looked at before, are likely to be so now, out of curiosity, and in order to
judge what contrivance can do for improving the building.

V. Whether Blore be a great master as to contrivance, I know not, but
it may be questioned if he be exactly the right Bfor the occasion, or likely
to improve the architectural quality of the Palace. What I have seen of
his, is marked by littleness and feebleness of manner; and though he has
had some favourable opportunities — Lambeth Palace for instance, he has
done nothing at all of a superior kind, nor is any work of his ever quoted
as manifesting more than ordinary talent. In one respect he is a copyist
of Sir Robert Smirke, for like him be has a horror of exhibiting at the
Royal Academy, and exposing any of his designs to the profane gaze of the
multitude. Pity that such architects can not keep their buildings as well
as their drawings secluded from public view.

VI. There is one notable inconsistency in what is rumoured relative to
the alteration of the Palace : the works, it seems, are to be carried on with
all possible dispatch when once commenced — the necessity for which is
sufficiently apparent, and yet only £30,000 per annum is to be voted for
the purpose, although £150,000 is the estimated expense — at present, and
if there has been any miscalculation at all in the matter, it is easy enough
to guess on which side the mistake will be found to lie. But I forget, —
the Pavilion at Brighton is to be sold towards paying expense — of taking
it down, perhaps, unless some railway millionaire should happen to take a
fancy to it, and offer to give a good round sum for it. — about a tenth of what
it has cost first and last. Yet that would be horrible ! — only think of some
mushroom man of money installing himself in the pet place of George the

Fourth. Poor George! poor Nash! poor Soane I methinks I hear the
ghosts of all the three abusing " Posterity" for its villainous taste, and for
committing such deadly havoc with their works. Carlton House gone,
George Ill's Golhic Palace at Kew gone, the Pavilion going ; Soane's
"Board of Trade" so metamorphosed that it does not know itself, the Scala
Regia going, " my Law Courts," too, going— about to be knocked down,
though not by George Robins' hammer, and now Buckingham Palace to
be improved I— improved indeed ! as if what the newspapers, at the time
of its being built, and John Britton also spoke of as an august metropolitan
palace becoming the dignity of a British sovereign, could possibly admit
of improvement. Oh dear !— but it is all owing to the March of Intellect.
VII. One comfort is that it will now be more work for the "Silver
Trowel," as no doubt the first stone of the new front of the Palace will be
laid with all due pomp and ceremony, if only for the benefit of the news-
papers, which invariably take prodigious interest in such operations. Prince
Albert must by this time be quite a proficient in the art of handling the
trowel, if in no other; but his Royal Highness seems more ready to lend
a hand that way, than at all to care what the buildings themselves will
turn out. There is a little pigmy— I might almost say piggish or priggish
—thing growing up in Oxford-street, the first stone of which was laid by
the Prince on the 10th of last June— happy and memorable day !— but all
the other stones after that first one have changed into bricks, which are to
be compoed over; and whatever it may turn out in other respects, the
front will be a most minikin affair. Moses — Minories Moses, I mean —
will turn up his nose at it, as a thing that he could easily stow away in
his own shop. Of course the Prince did not see the design, or he would
have employed the trowel differently from what he did, by plunging that
instrument into it. Hard work that some first-stone-laying, considering
the precious balaam that must be listened to on such occasions. However
the Prince is relieved from the drudgery of Cabinet-makiag.

ARCHITECTURAL RECOLLECTIONS OF ITALY.

By Frederick Ldsh,

{Continued from page 231.)
" Architecture (where it was not a mechanical art dependent on mere convenience, and
upon the rule and plummet) was an emanation of the arts of design, and consequently,
in everything that regarded its more liberal concerns, its beautiful and majestical
effects, as a whole and parts, it was the pure offspring of drawing or modelling, and ab-
solutely and solely depended on the composition of forms, and the compositions of
chiar'oscuro and relicTo which those forms produced."— Barry's " Lectures on Painting."

The most important constituents of beauty and grandeur in architec-
ture are mentioned in the above quotation. They can only manifest
themselves in art in proportion as that mind is imbued and acquainted
with the principles of beauty which we find are requisite for the
painter, and by which alone the architect is distinguished as an artist
who thinks and feels, from the mere mechanic who measures and
builds. How necessary then it is to possess these principles will be
very apparent. Architecture, as a fine art, must be judged of by its
agreeable effects and expressions — a cultivated eye or mind being the
arbiters in these results. But the architect must need have a strong per-
ception of several painter-like qualities — of the composition of beautiful
forms, chiar 'oscuro, and relievo — before he can give that expressive cha-
racter to his works which fills and elevates the mind, iu the same manner
as poetry and painting. To accomplish this end is the chief glory and
ambition of the architect. But to what motives and to what ignorance
are such noble ends too often sacrificed ?

This art being in its nature so utilitarian, necessarily demands an ac-
quaintance with those general principles of art which, combined with its
utility and fitness, may afterwards invest it with that poetic character
which all works must have whose ultimate and grand object is to affeet
the imagination. The Italians, at the revival of art, who applied the
principles of painting, i. e., drawing, harmony of light and shade, &c., lo
architecture, eminently succeeded in this particular ; but their works, and
the effects they produce, could never have been created but by this com-
bination. Were proofs wanting, look at Michael Angelo— perhaps the
grandest painter, one of the greatest architects ; look at St. Peter's and
his other works. Then Raffaele, greatest in expression and beauty as a
painter, is he not elegant and beautiful in his architecture? Villa Madania
ana other buildings may occur to the reader as illustrations of this truth.
Again, what is more elegant, simple, and lovely, than the Campanile of
the Duomo, at Florence ? And was this not the work of a painter, and
when painting was in its early days of purity ? Yes ; Giotto was great

34*

S64

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Sept.

both 83 a painter and an architect. And why are the works of such
masters never forcotlen when onee seen ; that even in presence of them
they seem as if they had been called up by enchantment ; and that at an
after period they so frequently come before the imagination like dreams?
Why, but because of their extraordinary and powerful effect ; because of
that beauty and grandeur in composition, which give life and intelligence
and poety to building. They well knew that architecture required to be
distinguished by such forms, such magical effects, such prominent bulks
in the grand mass, as would produce this, ar.d with it a most lasting im-
pression. Where such thought and mind is evidenced in the works of the
Italians, there is ample atonement for their defects, which are numerous ;
just as in the earlier paintings fine feeling and expression, make us forgive
every anachronism and absurdity.

The noble group of buildings in that solemn square at Pisa, the cathe-
dral, baptistery and campanile (whose beauties we owe more to painters
and sculptors, than architects,) whether each is viewed as a whole or in
detail, are further instances of the incalculable benefit architecture de-
rives from a thorough understanding and practice of the union of the
principles of the sister arts. Very many other names might be brought
forward and examples mentioned to show that these men, when they
took upon themselves to build and adorn, possessed a painter's percep-
tion of beauty. Each brought to the task and ennobled his design by apply-
ing the principles of painting and grounding it not so much on antiquated
rules and precedents, as on the eternal laws of taste, harmony, and pro-
portion existing in the mind ; who, from the enlarged and comprehensive
view he had of art, knew more than the subject demanded when he com-
menced the work ; felt the nature of the idea his building was made
for ; saw bis work was made (or the place, and took care the place was
adapted to his work.

Now, the neglect of these principles of painting among English ar-
chitects is, wilh some few exceptions, the main cause, we think, of bad
architecture, want of originality, &c., and one reason why we observe the
art so often degenerates into a mechanical trade. We seldom see origin-
ality,—and where it does occur, there is little taste; and beauty is another
word for the evidence of the existence of pictorial faculties, and indicates
or reflects a mind that is conversant with the beautiful forms in nature.

Those principles (referred to by Barry) of uniformity and variety which
must be pursued in the arrangement and construction of all forms which
enter into the composition of buildings— are executed with the greatest
success by him who is most capable of conceiving and delineating fine
forms— aud this power of drawing is very much neglected by the English
student.

I of course allude to the study of the human figure, for all drawing
implies a knowledge of that, and deserves first consideration, as it is this
alone which is the best means, in the first, as well as in the last step of the
art, for cultivating the eye and filling the mind with ideas of beautiful
form, which facilitate and ennoble design, composition, and all the effects
of chiar' oscuro resulting from them.

The prevailing practice is to begin with architectural inanimate lines,
and copy ancient examples, before any part of the human body or even
ornament is attempted to be drawn : the one has a vicious tendency —
cramping both the hand and intellect; and the neglect and ignorance of
the latter makes the power of adding the beauties of ornament, the foliated
capitals, the enriched friezes, &c., at first an unconquerable and disgusting

diflSculty to the tyro.

Without a knowledge of the principles of design, we cannot give that
contrast, elegance of line, and variety of form which, bearing in mind the
purpose of the building, add to its beauty. A knowledge of chiar' oscuro
will enable the architect to combine the various parts of his work witli
such general effects that, while every part may be beautiful in itself, such
beauty will be but a part to increase the ensemble of the whole building.
" It is he alone," as Barry says, " who, from the sure and expansive prin-
ciples of composition and chiar' oscuro, can pursue beauty and sublimity
in a thousand different ways; whilst, without these essential requisites of
dosi'Mi, men are but mere builders, and must unavoidably copy or plunder
from the works of those who are gone before them ; and in either case,
the absurdities that may result from the difference of climate, local situa-
tion, and from ill-according particulars, however beautiful in their own
original proper arrangement, are too obvious to be mentioned."

But a knowledge of chiar" oscuro will prompt him to dare to give relief
and power to his work as he can combine light wilh shadow, and play
with relief till his idea of effect is fully carried out. In our old Gothic
cathedrals, what richness and variety— what effect ! how powerful they

look, and eloquent and grand they are ! In the numerous churches that
have been erected in imitation of them, we see, with only a few excep-
tions, in their effects, the deficiency of architectural spirit and talent in
their authors. In general what sameness — how barren and unmeaning
they seem ! as if they had tottered out of their places — and could not
stand there long. So far short do they come of those glorious models of
the I3lh century — such meanness is there instead of profusion — such sav-
ing instead of cost— such reduced proportions and littleness of manner —
that although the Gothic may be more appropriate to our Christiaa
churches than the Classic Roman, there is far more beauty and skill obserr-
able in the spires of Sir Christopher Wren, than in those of the modera
Gothic builders. The skill displayed in the construction of the spires of
Wrrn, and the ingenuity with which he applied the ancient orders to the
modern Campaniles, for which he had no authority, deserve our admira-
tion. They exhibit, too, — many in an eminent degree — the principles ad-
vocated in this paper. We observe such simplicity, yet such variety^
such a fine relief aud " making out" of the parts, and to an extent which
IB vain we look for in the flat modern Gothic towers, 6:c.

It is a knowledge of these principles — valuable in their application to
every branch of an, but more especially to architecture — that is the source
and inspirer of originality. Hence the old Italians, though little profess-
ing architecture, possessed qualifications which raised and ennobled
it; their inventions are steeped in beauty, for they were drawn from the
infallible principles wliich guided their practice. And the opinions upon
architecture as a fine art are always to be accepted and preferred before
the judgment of architects, why then separate from tbtir professiua
a knowledge of painting.

STAINED GLASS WINDOWS.

St. James's Church, by Mr. Wailes. — Woolwich Church, by Mr, Hood-
ley ; from a Cartoon, by Mr. Corbould.

The two new windov\s lately completed, in the opposing styles — modern
and ancient — which now engross so much attention, afford a good oppor-
tunity for instituting a contrast between them. The ancient window, or
rather, leries of windows, at St. James's Church, Piccadilly, consists of
an upper and lower range of compartments, separated by a deep enta-
blature. In each range are three lights, divided by columns : the painted
glass with which each light is filled exhibits a scriptural subject con-
tained m a panelled centre or medallion, «hichis surrounded by a wide
border of mosaic woik, with an additional circular mosaic ornanii nt
introduced in the lower part of the upper centre compartment. The
drawing, though superior to that of many of Mr. Wailes's former produc-
tions, is very inartistic, — the arras aud legs appear to have been stuck
on, as though the painter had copied some Dutch doll, made to scale,
and wrapt round with cloth of various hues, for a model. The flesh
tints and other colouring must have been done from some of those
Italian glass paintings frequently seen decorating (!) many of our agricul-
tural labourer's cottages— they exhibit about tl.e sunie taste. The Mosaic
work has little pretension to consisteut design; it is distinguished by all
the beautiful " regular irregularity" of the kaleidescope, and could not,
we should have thought, by any chance have been executed in any other
way, — the colours are so varied and the pattern so heterogeneous.

As we happen to be a little in the secret, we may perhaps be excused
in explaining how this competition was managed. We believe it to have
been all fair and above board at first, and that many of the committee
did, after looking many times over tlie several designs, choose one, esioUed
it, and were delighted with its originality, grandeur of conception, and
extraordinary talent. It was but a sketch — hut we all know what the
sketch of a good artist is, — aud they determined to make it their own. It
appears, however, that after the committee had come to this resolution,
they were informed by the Bishop that he liked not this modern style of
glass painting — that it must be ancient '"for his money;" mosaic work,
with figures and all that sort of thing ; which he thouglit the best adapted to
this window ; — and then, by some extraordinary argument, dictation, or
power of patronage, did he win over this said committee to his views, and the
result now appears to stain, not the window only, but the character of
England, as a nation of taste.

The sketch first chosen we have seen, and pronounce it to be, in our

humble judgment, one of the best conceived designs we ever beheld,

either from ancient or modern paiuler. The lower part was the re-

lS-)6.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

265

raoval of Our Saviour from the Cross, and a cross on each side for
the thieves. The principal cross and figures would have occupied the
centre compartnient, and one of the other crosses, with the thieves and
subordinate ligures, the sides ; — but although thus separated, the sulyect
was so well managed and balanced, as to appear one picture. The whole
was treated as a night srene, and lighted up with burning fuel in vessels
with long handles, held by attendants ; giving a sombre and grand effect
to the solemnity of the scene. The upper windows would have contained
the " Wise Men's Olfering," consisting of splendid figures of all nations,
attending on camels with canopied seats, and other display of Oriental
magnificence, seldom before embodied in one picture. These would also
have occupied the three upper compartments, as one picture. Thus would
have been exhibited the Birth and Death of Our Saviour, treated in a bold
and original manner, and, from the well-known talent of the artists, could
have been executed in a way that would have revived the art of glass
painting, and have been a proof that tliere are now those who can produce
better things than ever ancients did, and redeem the art from its present
degraded state. This sketch was by Mr. Corbould, and was to have been
painted on glass by Mr. Hoadley,from Mr. Corbould's cartoon, who would
otherwis* have assisted in the progress of the work.

The St. James's window has been in contemplation so long back as
thirty years, when Mr. Backler was actually commissioned to make a de-
eign from the Transfiguration by Rall'aele, and was engaged to execute
the work, but by some unforeseen circumstances has been unfuriunately
delayed to this day to give place to another, who declared himself incom-
petent to paint the window in the style required, but was nevertheless
chosen for that purpose!

We do not so much complain of Mr. Wailes, — he would have been to
be pitied, had he not pocketed the good round sum of 1,000Z, for his labours,
which may, in some measure, cover any little annoyance he may receive
from the iadignation of the public ; but we do blame the eommiltee, with-
out the least reserve, for allowing themselves to be seduced from the right
path and dictated to in a matter of such importance ; for it is not the St.
James's window alone that may be subject to this degradation, — but the
tendency to imitation is so strong in this country, that many other parishes
will follow this vile example, for although many excellent examples of
painted glass have been done of late years in distant parts of the country,
yet this abominable trash, called Mosaic work, is still patronised and se-
lected by a committee who, of all others, from its position in society,
should have known better.

The pleasing effect of old stained glass, we well know, is not always
caused by good drawing; on the contrary, it is produced by harmony of
colours and a mellowness obtained by time. This gives that richness and
beauty so much extolled in ancient windows ; but it is no argument that
bad drawing should be used ; as it stands to common sense, that were
the subjects belter treated, the beautiful effect would have been greatly en-
hanced and the educated eye would not have been subject to the disgust
now experienced on viewing the caricatures so often seen on old glafes.
Let any one attempt to decipher the subjects of many ancient windows,
and he will find it as great a difficulty as transposing an Egyptian hiero-
glyphic*

The Woolwich window, painted by Hoadley, is in the pictorial style,
from a cartoon by Corbould. By a singular coincidence, these are the
same artists who were to have executed the St. James's window, if the
committee had not been deterred from their good judgment by the ecclesias-
tical dignitary. This window is 14 feet high and 6 feet wide, circular
headed, and contains but a single figure — that of Christ bearing the cross,
with a wide border and pedestal beneath, the latter having been judiciously
designed to shorten the window and give the picture a better proportion ;
upon this the emblems of the palm branches are introduced with the touch-
ing motto — " Christ bearing His cross went forth." Ihe figure is colos-
sal, being at a great height and generally viewed from a distance; the fea-
tures of the face depict sorrow and suffering, and the hands and arms are
well executed and doing duty— not mere puppets to the figure, as at St.
James's ; the drapery is broad, and allows of a depth and mass of colour
which give dignity to the picture, exhibiting those splendid ruby and
purple tints said, by the ignorant, to be lost; the border judiciously intro-
duces the passion flower, well executed aud entwined in scroll work.
There is a grave solemnity about this single figure that strikes the be-

* At tUe time of ttie Revelntion. many of the painted windows in our catiiedrals were
taken down and pacj^t-d away in tiiding places, to be secured irom the violence of the
Puritans. When th- glass was subsequenily replaced in the windows, the wnrk was fre-
quently confided to those who were iKiperfectiy acquainted with the original design and
therefore unable to reproduc* it accurately.

holder with religious reverence, at the same time there is a pleasing har-
mony in the colouring and design of the rich border, which relieves the
principal composition. It is a contrast — and a bold one too— to that style
we have just denounced in the St. James's window, and so much admired
by ecclesiastic patrons of the art. We would seriously advise these gen-
tlemen to look '' upon this picture and on this," and try for once to clear
their vision, so as to distinguish gold from tinsel, art from kaleidescope,
talent from mechanism, and then decide whether 'twere better to remain
in ignoi'auce or to recant those bi^olted notions they have heretofore so
strongly held, and, although at the elevenlh hour, to assist this degraded
art, and make it one worthy of an intelligent nation.

ARCHITECTURAL IMITATIONS.

esse quam videri malebat.

In the introductory note to the present volume it was stated that our
architectural criticisms would be based on the doctrine of faithfulness in
architecture; and accordingly in the paper immediately following, the prac-
tise of using imitative materials in building was discussed and condemned.
It was hoped that this and similar papers, if they failed of producing absolute
conviction, would at least preclude the chance of our views on the subject
being misapprehended. It appears, however, from some observations in our
last number, that this hope was ill-founded, for we are by a side-wind ac-
cused of uttering sentiments which, if legitimately carried out, would lead
to a condemnation of the use of gilding in architecture.

Gilding, as ordinarily employed, is not a deception. No one who looks at
the gilded boss of the vaulting of a church-roof is deluded for an instant
into the idea that what he sees is solid gold. Not only is he not deceived,
but there is no attempt made to deceive him; for the position of the boss
among other stones sculptured in a similar manner, and many of them painted
of different hues, plainly shows that the gilding is nothing more than a
means of giving to the stone a beautiful colour. When however gilding is
used to make the substance beneath it seem to be solid gold, it becomes at
once a paltry contemptible deception. The flashy gentleman (or gent) who
wears gilded rings will generally prove, like his jewellery, a counterfeit : not
in outward appearance only, but in education, feeling and language also, he
will be found to be a gentleman in semblance alone.

What matter, it is nsked, though the beauty which invests works of art
be only skin-deep.' If it be no matter ai aW, why then should stone and
marble and costly woods be in any case preferred to less expensive materials ?
If the deception can be practised to perfection, why should we have the least
preference for the reality.' But as a matter of fact we have that preference
— there is not an architect in England who would not always, if he could
afford it, use real stone rather than the most perfect counterfeit. The ex-
istence of this feeling proves that the mere excellence of the counterfeit does
not remove all objection to it — that the imperfect nature of the deception is
not the onli/ argument again t its employment.

Let us suppose it to be discovered hereafter that the noble piers of the
nave of Canterbury Cathedral are not Portland stone but Portland cement,
and that the shafts of the Norman choir are not Petworth marble but stucco
overlaid with black varnish, and that the beautiful foliated ornaments of the
crockets, pinnacle-work, &c. were not sculptured by the hands of skilful
artists, but were run in moulds by common workmen — would our admiration
of the building be increased or diminished ? Why should it be diminished .'
The imitation was perfect; we have supposed it to remain for centuries
without being discovered, and though the beauty be only skin-deep there was
no outward signs to reveal that circumstance.

Or to take a commoner illustration — the descriptions of public entertain-
ments usually enlarge on the magnificence of the display of gold and silver
plate, and the splendour of the jewellery work by the guests. Would the
description be more or less glowing if it were found that what seemed gold
or silver was merely electro-plated, and that the diamonds were only paste?
Why should people care to have the Hall-mark on their dinner-service.'
Britannia metal is exactly the same colour as silver.

But we are told that it is no argument against deceptions, that they are
" apt to be paltry." This may be disputed — for if all the paltry imitations
were got rid of there would be scarcely any left todispute about. And is it
not obvious moreover that those who practise p.iltry imitations will shield
themselves under the sanction of those who defend more costly deceptions ?
So that in fact these defenders are in fact fairly chargeable with providiug
excuses for the most miserable expedients of sham showy architecture.

266

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECrS JOURNAL.

[Sept.

Let u« consider for a moment what are the imitations most generally prac-
tised. By far the most common of them is the expedient of smearing over
the honest hricks actually employed in the construction of a house with a
coating of plaster, on which vertical and horizontal lines art drawn with the
point of the trowel. It may be fairly assumed that at least half of the newer
houses in London are ornamented in this way. Occasionally the lines, espe-
cially inside churches, are drawn in black lead ! What miserable expedients
are these ? Can any one for a moment be induced to suppose that a few
thin black lines represent the joints of real masonry? They show all the
intention of deceiving, but are too clumsy to effect the deception. Another
favourite expedient is to paint the stucco of a uniform colour, and then. ?pa<<fr
it over with spots of dark paint, by means of which it is supposed to assume
the appearance of granite.

It may be assumed that no one sincerely desirous of maintaining the dig-
nity of architecture as a noble art will defend these wretched juggles. But
the condemnation rests not merely on their unsuccessfulness,for then a thief
by parity of reasoning ought not to be punished unless taken in the fact The
true ground of condemnation of all architectural deceptions, whether successful
or unsuccessful is that they " partake more of mere manipulation than of art."
They tend to substitute the workman for the artist, the builder for the archi-
tect. Unless, as has been well observed by the Builder, the skilful band be
apparent, the result is disappointment rather than delight. It is to this con-
sideration we must refer for the cause of the failure of all the save-trouble
expedients which have so long exercised their pernicious and debasing in-
fluence upon architecture and the other fine arts.

But there are many other arguments against that class of save-trouble ex-
pedients which we are more particularly considering. Imitative ornaments
are necessarily inconstructive. A pillar or pilaster of stucco must be stuck
on for show — the material has not sufficient cohesion to be useful in resisting
either vertical or lateral pressures. Again, there is a practical tendency to
evil in the system of imitative decoration, which if it be not an actual part
of it, results certainly form it — namely, the introduction of redundant and
inappropriate ornaments. The facility of being showy is certain to be abused :
the temptation is too strong to be resisted by those who make the common
mistake of confounding architectural beauty and elaborate enrichment. Ac-
cordingly we find plaster-architects bedizening their work with a crowd of
ornaments as ridiculous for their number as their inapplicability. A building
with showy bits of plaster thus stuck over it reminds one involuntarily of a
village landlady tricked out in her myriad of Sunday ribbons.

They who defend deceptions in building should remember that for the
sake of consistency they should be prepared to vindicate all such deceptions
if well executed. If an architect wish to introduce more windows into an
external elevation than is convenient for the internal arrangement of the
building, why may he not /)ain< resemblances of those windows on the ex-
ternal walls ? The deception might he managed so well that it would scarcely
ever be found out. The ornament would be only skin-deep to be sure ; but
what of that ? Why should not the great doors of a cathedral be of deal
grained and varnished to look like oak. Why should not the timbers of the
roof of Westminster Hall be painted so as to appear elaborately carved ? or
why should not the parapet of the external roof be painted to look as if
panelled or perforated .' The triglyphs of a Doric order might be drawn in
their proper places instead of being sculptured there, and the more inacessi-
ble columns might have the flutings painted upon them. This seems the
legitimate development of the the theory of architectural deceptions.

It is gratifying to those who are anxious for the advancement of architec-
ture to find that the importance of faithfulness in architecture is being
every day more distinctly recognized. The rapid growth of this doctrine
even the last year or two is a most favourable indication that art is not to
remain for ever in its present degraded condition. Every periodical which
treats on subjects of art now recognizes this principle of criticism, and con-
tains correspondence which proves that the detestation of plaster Gothic and
plaster Grecian is becoming pretty generally diffused. Of course those who
have long practised or defended these kinds of architecture are very angry
at having their favourite tenets cut up by the roots : but they will generally
acquiesce when they find the tide of opinion too strong for them and silently
adopt the principles which they find it in vain to oppose. Those few who
have too little wisdom or too much obstinacy to yield to the dictates of
improved public taste will be left behind to enjoy their own opinions in un-
dittuibed solitude.

NEW METROPOLITAN CHURCHES.
All Saints, St.Jahn'a Wood. — The new church which has been recently
erected in the Fiucbley Road, St. John's Wood, from the designs of Mr.
T. Little, is, as regards the exterior architecture a great improvement upon
the churches built in and about London ten years ago. The general cha-
racter of Mr. Little's design is an unpretending simplicity, which if it do
give opportunity for the di.sptay of much original genius, at least preclades
the occurrence of gross defects.

The plan of the church is nearly a parallelogram — a nave and two aisles ,
with lean-to roofs, a tower at the north west angle, and at the east end a
prolongation of the nave which, though too shallow to be called a chancel,
serves the purpose of a sacrarium. The style is Perpendicular, The fol-
lowing are the girincipal dimensions.

Extreme length . . . .98 feet.

Width of nave . . . . JO „

Ditto including aisles . . . 61 „

Depth of sacrarium . . . . 20 „

Rise of nave-roof . . . . 19 „

Heieht of apex of ditto from the ground . 55 „

Height of nave-arches . . . . 28 „

Span of ditto . . . . 20 „

The tower is designed to consist of three stories surmounted by a spire,
but at present the first story only is finished. In the west gable is a four-
light window, beneath which is a small door (with very poor mouldings)
for the use of the soldiers of the neighbouring barracks. The north and
south windows are the least praishworthy features of the external architec-
ture. The window at the east end is of five lights divided by a transom.

One of the principal reasons of the satisfactory appearance of the church
is the judicious manner in which the architect has used his building mate-
rials,— Kentish rag with Bath stone dressings. The ragstone instead of
being squared and laid in regular courses (a most expensive and ineffective
method) is built in what is technically termed " Random-coursed work."
It is a matter of great regret that in many modern churches the ragstones
are hewn and laid with the same precision as softer kinds of stone, and
that the joints of mortar are moulded so as to give the appearance of pro-
jected fillets, in which, as has been observed, the individual stoues appear
set as in frames. This method is very faulty ; it arises from the almost
universal ambition of modern architects to make their materials look better
than they really are, instead of applying them honestly to the purposes for
which they are naturally adapted. The very fact that this coursed rag-
stone masonry presents the appearance of rustic work is quite suflicient
condemnation of it. The practice not only adds to the expense on account
of the hardness of the material, but detracts greatly from effect of the ma-
sonry. Our old country churches are proofs not only of the beauty of the
irregular ragstone masonry, but also of its durability : for a familiar exam-
ple near London, we may refer to the tower of Lambeth church. Alas,
when will modern architects build with the boldness and picturesque sim-
plicity exhibited in that structure?

The interior of the new church, at St. John's Wood is by no means so
praiseworthy as the exterior. The internal architecture is in fact as bad
as it well could be. The span of the nave arches and the width of the
nave are disproportionately great. The north and south windows are
treated as mere holes cut in the walls, without any dressings or mouldings
to connect them decoratively with the rest of the building. The difference
between the forms of the inner vault of the windows and the exterior win-
dow opening, which in ancient Perpendicular architecture is a principal
source of beauty, is here entirely disregarded. The piers and windows are
intersected by galleries supported on paltry cast iron columns. The
mouldings throughout are very poor and shallow.

The walls are coated with some kind of plaster on which are drawn
black lines to mimic the courses of real masonry: over the heads of the
windows and doors these lines converge and suggest imaginary arch-vous-
soirs. Can any artifice more paltry and palpable be imagined ? Were it not
so common it would be absolutely laughable. The trick is as shallow and
obvious as that of the ostrich which is said to hide its head to escape pur-
suit. Even if we allowed (which we do not) that deceptions and imita-
tions were at all permissible in building sacred edifices, surely they should
be better managed than this is. It is merely a child's make-belief — no one
can be deluded for a moment into the idea that a few indentations and
black streaks are are the joints of real masonry. The artifice should be
reserved exclusively for gin-palaces and the lath and plaster edifices digni-
fied by the appellation of suburban villas.

18^6.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

267

The church is filled with low ugly pews of deal stained and varnished :
this staining is another ridiculous deception, an abortive attempt to make
deal look like a better kind of wood ; whereas in fact it looks much worse than
in its natural state, for the varnish renders the coarse grain and misshapen
knots of the wood offensively and unnecessarily conspicuous. In village
churches where the deal boards are either painted of some uniform colour
not imitative of a costlier material, or left in their natural state, the lines
of this unornamental wood are little seen, and consequently the appearance
is comparatively unobjectionable. But to make an ostentatious display of
the " figure" of a wood which has no beauty to recommend it is a piece of
vulgar pretence, which we always rejoice to see proved, as in the present
instance, a complete failure.

There is a large family pew for the minister screened oBF from the rest
of the church by a curtain ; the privileged inhabitants of this pew are
therefore enabled to offer up their praises and petitions unseen by their
fellow sinners assembled and met together (or public worship. These in-
vidious distinctions in a church are most unseemly, especially when they
who avail themselves of them are those who are set over the congregation,
and whose duty it is therefore to afford an example of fervour and attentive
demeanour.

We regret to see that it is publicly stated elsewhere that this building it
creditable alike to the taste of the architect, and the munificence of those
who contributed the funds. These general commendations can answer
no beneficial purpose whatever. The great object of architectural criti-
cism should be the advancement of architecture, and therefore eulogiums
of bad architecture (except in newspapers, where their value is pretty well
understood) can never be innocuous. We have already praised the external
design of the new church, but the interior displays the grossest faults. It
has however one good feature which we must not omit to notice. Con-
sidering the shallowness of the sacrarium, the absence of a chancel-arch
is a matter of commendation. In some modern churches with mere re-
cesses for the communion table, the nave terminates with an enormous
chanuel-arch, which would be in proportion were there a spacious chancel
beyond it, but from the absence of that member appears disproportionate
and entirely out of place. These cases are instances of the unthinking re-
tention of forms after the use of them has ceased. It also should be stated
that the building has not a show-side — it is a church and not a church-
front. The architect has avoided the vulgar ostentation of making the
most conspicuous side of the edifice the most showy : the eastern side of
the church is as much ornamented as the western, although the former can-
not be viewed from the public road, and is therefore comparatively incon-
spicuous.

STEAM NAVIGATION.

We are indebted for the annexed Table showing the proportion of
British and American built Steam Ships, to the American Frariklin
Journal, it is taken from a Report of IMr. W. C. Redfield, of New York,
U. S., to the President of the Board of Navy Commissioners, dated Dec.
31, 1841.

Of the ;team vessels comprised io the table, class A is intended to re-
present the largest class of war steamers which has yet been constructed ;
together with the most approved and successful class of ocean steamers
now employed in transatlantic navigation ; but which, in case of war, will
also be employed as steam frigates. Of the former, I have selected the
Gorgon, steam frigate, belonging to the British navy, the Kamschatka,
lately built in this city for the Russian navy, and probably superior to any
war steamer in the navies of Europe ; together with the Missouri, from
our own navy, superior in size to either of the above named vessels. From
the mercantile class of steam ships I have selected the Great Western, and
also one of the four Halifax or Cunard steamers, each of these being per-
haps superior in relative power of engine, and probably in speed, to the
war steamers already mentioned. It is known the four Halifax steamers
are alike in all respects.

The medium sized war steamers, or class B, are represented in the table
only by the United States steamers Fulton, and the two war steamers lately
constructed here on the British plan, for the authorities of Cuba. I do not
attach much importance to the results shown in this class.

Class C consists of three American steamers which are employed on
coasting routes, viz. — the Narragansett, Neptune and New York ; toge-
ther with the South America, one of the steamers employed on the river
Hudson. It is to the qualities of this class of steam vessels that I shall
more particularly invite the alleutiou of the Board, — believing as I do,

that it promises to be more efilcient and useful for naval service and coast
defence than any other class.

Class D in the table consists of the steamer Balloon, a very light vessel,
built solely for the navigation of the upper part of the Hudson, but which
has been well proved in her sea-going qualities in rough weather, and has
been also employed on Narragansett bay, and on James river ; together
with the steamer Gladiator, which was first employed on the coast routes
eastward of this city, but now runs regular trips on the southern coast,
between Charleston and Wilmington. This class, I shall attempt to show,
is also capable of rendering moat important services.

It would have been easy to have added other examples of this and the
foregoing classes had it consisted with the size of the table, or been neces-
sary to the immediate objects which were had in view in its compilation.

The English methods of computing the tonnage of steam vessels, not
being suited to show the full size or capacity of the vessel, and disagreeing
also with American rules of computation, I propose to adopt the following
as a rule for obtaining the approximate tonnage, viz: — " Multiply the
length between the perpendiculars (reckoned from the rabbets of the stem
and stern post at the level of the deck) by the full breadth of the hull at
midships, and the product by the central depth from the top of the deck
beam to the top of the floor timbers, or of the ceiling thereon: divide this
product by 100, by separating the two right-hand figures, and the quotient
may represent the conventional, or approximate tonnage,"

As the estimated working power of marine engines will doubtless con-
tinue to be expressed in horse power, and as the power actually obtained in
practice, even with like engines, must necessarily be variable, it seems de-
sirable to obtain, also, a ready rule for this estimate and expression, found-
ed on the capacity of the cylinder, or of that portion of it through which
the piston moves, at each stroke. I have, therefore, in the construction of
the table, adopted a rule founded on this principle, "and have estimated
fourteen huudred cubic inches of the capacity aforesaid, as being equal,
approximately to the power of one horse." This rule affords results which
perhaps correspond more nearly with the working power of English marine
engines, than with those which are found in the best American steam ves-
sels.

For my estimate of the actual buoyancy of the several vessels in the
table, as compared with their entire weight in line 17, I have taken the
immersion of the midship cross section, both at the greatest load and at
light load, as being the measure of weight ; and the floating area of the
same section, from the water line Io the top of the beam ends, as being the
measure of surplus buoyancy. This method of computation is probably
sufficient for the purposes of comparison ; although the entire weight or
displacement of the vessel as compared with the whole floating capacity
between the entire water line and the top of the central beam ends, would
show the surplus buoyancy more accurately, and would increase somewhat
the comparative buoyancy shown in line No. 17 of the table. The want of
room has caused the omission of some other comparisons which might be
interesting and useful.

On examining the table it will be seen that a strong contrast is presented
i the proportions and other qualities of the steam vessels of the classes A
and B, as compared with those of the truly American classes C and I).
This contrast is mainly founded on the more bulky proportions and greater
weight of the two first named classes.

One of the most important elements of proportion in a steam vessel is
the ratio of its length to its breadth ; as will appear from considerations to
which I have already alluded. In the class A, of frigate build, the pro-
portion of length to breadth, line 22 of the table, is found to be as SCS to
one : while in class C the proportion in nine to one. The proportion also,
of deptk to both length and breadth, lines 23 and 20, afforU us a constrast
equally remarkable ; while the proportion of breadth to the draft of water,
lines 27 and 28, are no less worthy of our attention,

I do not now propose to examine all the various practical results which
are exhibited in the table, nor to point out the many important inferences
which may be drawn from the facts here presented ; but shall confine my-
self Io a passing notice of some of the chief qualities which appear to claim
our attention.

It is well known that the finer proportions and lesser weight of the steam
vessels of classes C and I) ensure for them a higher rate of speed than can
be attained by the vessels of the other classes, even if we allow to the lat-
ter, in favourable circumstances, the full aid of sails. Nor can it be
doubted that superior speed in ships or war steamers must constitute a
chief element of success in naval warfare.

268

THE CIVIL ENGliNliER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Sept.

Table of Dimensions and Qualities of British and American Steam Vessels.

SPECIFICATIONS AND PROPOSITIONS.

CLASS A, heavy and Irigate built Steamers.

G. Western. Acadia. | Oorgon.

Missouri.

I Kam-
scbatka.

General

avurage of

Class A.

CLASS B.

Fulton.

I LiOD and
Eagle.

General
average of
Class B.

1 Length bftvvuen perppnrliculars

2 Hreailth btrt-veen paddle boxes

3 Depth of hold

4 Dividing angle of the bow at deep toad line

5 . . . . at the (iffk

6 Kntire weight with full load, ^thieflv estimated)

7 Meu8'ired tonnage, as yer rule offered
^ Horse poner of engine, as per rule offered
9| Draft of water at common or light load

10 . . with fuel and stores for HiOO miles route

3000

i'^ Height of dect line (top of midship beam ends) above

water, at greatest lof^d
13 Depth of centre of gravity of displacement of midship

cross section at full load
l-* Area of deep load line, or water surface covered by

the vessel
Id Area of midship cross section, Immersed at greatest

load

16 .. ., .. common or light load

17 Buovancy to entire weight at full load (reclconing at

top of beam ends mid8hi|)s'/
IS Bouyancy to entire weight at common or light load
ly Proportion of measured tonnage to horse power .. ^
20i , , to each ft. of immersed cross sec, full load

21 .. .. : .. light'

22 Proportion of length to breadth
2;i .. depth of h<tld

24 . . draft of water at full load

25 ,, .. light load

26 . . breadth to depth of hold

27 . . to draft of water at full load
|28 .. .. .. liRhtloati

|29 Area of bearing surface (No. 14) to measured tonnage
;30 . . to entire weight at full load

31 . . to area of immersed cross sec, at full load

32 .. .. .. .. at light

."*;} .. .. to horse power of engine

Horse power to each foot of immersed cross section,
;34 .. .. ,. at full load

35 . . . . . . at light load

36 Estimate of coal used per hoTir with full fires

37 Estimated average speed at full load

88 Comparative efficiency of movement at this speed . .
'A9 Eatiniated average speed at light load

40 Comparative efficiency of movement at this speed . .

41 Diameter ol cylinder in inches

42 Length of stroke . .

212 ft.
36 ft. 4 in.
J3ft. 2in.

3196 tons.
l/X'i .,
516
13 ft.

17 ft.

eft. 6 In.

7 ..

481 ..
341

I'fito I

2-26.. 1

.^•36 ton.. Ih. p.

3-6 . . 1 ft.

5 .. 1..

6tol

9.. 1

12*.. 1

16 ..1

l-!> ..1

207.. 1

27 ..1

37 ft. to a ton

13 3 to I

■18.. 1

lOi ft. to 1 h

P

20li ft.
34 ft. 4 In.

2107

40rt
14

17 ft. 3 in.

7.. 6 ..

6.. I ..

6068

4.'<7

1-5 to 1

2.. 1
3 9.. 1
3-3 . . 1
4-2 . . 1

6.. 1

9.. 1
11-6.. k

14.. 1
1-5..

U3 ft.
37 ft. 9 In.
3..

2262
1571
304
13 ft. 9 in.

18 ft. 6 in.

7 ..

7.. 2 in.

5882

635
390

1-5 to 1
2.. 1
6.. 1
3.. 1
4.. 1

4» .. 1
8.. 1
10.. 1
13

220 ft.
40 ..

23 ft. 6 In.
CaOvSlJ" ca.side)
-5"

283«
2068
517
16 ft. 6 in.

19 ft.

7 ft. 2 In.

7540

CIS
468

l-.'i to 1

2 . . 1

4 .. 1

3-34 . . 1

4-4.. 1

107 h.p. to 1 ft
1-5 .. 1..
1| tons.
8i miles.
72

12 roiles.
144
Two 74 in.
7 ft.

Inettrly

2-4.. r

3-8 .. 1

2-87 .. 1

12-.i.. 1

16 .. 1

15 .. 1

0-84

1 U6

1 ton 3 cwt.

8J

72

12

144

Two 72

6 ft. 10 In.

7 .. 1

2.. 1

2-1 .. 1

37 .. 1

2-6 .. 1

11 .. 1

15.. 1

19.. 1

0-67
078
1 ton.
8
64
11
121
Two 64
5 ft. 6 in.

64.

t*i.

12 .

14 .
17.
2 1 .

»-6.. 1

2-66 .. 1

12-2.. 1

16.. 1

14i.. 1

0-85
11
H tons.
8
64
II
121

Two 62
10 ft.

i« n.

36 ft. 10 in.

70"

2400

1907

476

14 ft. 6 in.

18 ft.

6.. 8.
6633

488
337

4 .

3-9 .

h:i .
6 84.

84 .

12 .

14 .

1-5 .

25 .
35 .
2 76 .
Ul-6 .

IS .

14 .

0-97
1-3

U Ton.

84

72

114

132

Two 60

9 ft. 10 Id

2iiS ft
36 ft. 10 in.
23 . . 4 . .

2360
1776

14 ft. 3 in.

18 ft.

e..

7 ..

522

386

1-65 to 1

2-09 .
405..
3 4S..
4-6 ..
6-65 ..

84..
11-6 ..

14..
1-6 ..
2-07 . ,

1 ta.p.
1 ft.

1
1
1
1
1

1

2'5 .. 1

S-66 ft. to 1 t.

277 .. 1
12 5 .. 1
16-B .. 1
14-6 .. 1 h.p

0-86
115
IJ Tons.
bi miles.
68-8
114
132
Two 664 in.
7 ft. 10 in.

iKl It. 6 in.
34 .. 6 ..
IJ ..

66" (28")
68"
1320

750

302
lift.
12.. 21n.

5 .. 44 in.

6024

3.'i4
320

1 26 tol
1 26.. I
2-48 .. I
2-1 ..I
2;i4 . . 1
6-22.. 1
il5

16
16
2-9
2-9
2-9
67
»-8
142
167
16-6

.. 1
.. 1
.. 1
.. 1
.. 1

154 ft. 168 ft.

30 ft. 8 in {32 ft. 7 in.
14.. 8. .113.. 2..

0-85

0-94

14 ton.

11

121

114

132

Two 5j In.

9 ft.

933

650

166
8 ft. « in.
10..
12..

4.. 7..

4.. 6..

»85

285
187

1-6 to I
2-2 .. 1

4 16 .
2-3 .
3-6 .
6-4 .

184 .
13
19 ,

1-8 .. 1

2-4 .. 1

»-4 .. 1
5-8
4

134.. 1

20 .. 1

24 .. 1

1126
700
229
9 ft. 8 in.
II ..

3 ft. 6 in.
4.. II .

320
253

1-38 to 1
1-73.. I
3-32 . . 1
22
3-42
5-3

13

14

17
2-8
2-66 . . I
31 .. 1

fij.. 1
»-9 .. 1
1372.. 1
17-8 .. 1

20.. 1

0-56

0-81

4 too.

8

64

11

110

Two 42i

4 ft. 7 in

07 .. 1

«-86.. 1

1 ton.

94 miles.

92

111

121

Two 47 I

6 ft. 9 in.

SPECIFICATIONS AND PROPOSITIONS.

CLASS C.

CLASS

D.

General
average of

General
average of

South

Gladia-

Neptune."

Naragansett.

America.

New York.

Class C.

Balloon.

tor.

Class D.

221 ft.

212 ft. 6 in.

260 ft.

230 ft.

228 ft.

160 ft.

190 ft.

176 ft.

25 ..

27.,

a ..

23 ..

25 ft. 6 in.

H ..

22..

•JO ..

13.. 6 in.

10.. 4..
ight load tine.
^50 (124" ea-)

9..3ln.
15" 74" each.

U ..

11..

7 ..6in.

9 ft. 3 in.

8 ft. 3 in.

deep 30"

230 114" each.

324" lejo each

28"

645

654

621

496

580

206

430

318

745

596

624

682

637

216

3d7

301

193

242

216

181

208

58

130

94

6 ft. 6 in.

6 ft. 6 in.

6 ft.

4 ft. 9 is.

6 ft. 8 in.

4 ft.

6 ft.

5 ft.

7.. 6..

7.. 6..

6..

6..

7..1

5 ..

6 11. 9 in.

6 ..

7.. 9..

5..

6 ft. 3 in.

6ft.9io.

6 ft. 2 in.

4 ft. 3 In.

4 ft. 6 in.

4 ft. 6 hi.

3.. 1..

3 .. 1 in.

2.. 6 ..

2.. 7 ..

2.. 10..

3.. 4 ..

I..64..

2.. 5 ..

4126 ft.

4218

4528

38.''0

4180

2160

2934

l.'>4

166

134

115

142

72

111

91

130

140

108

93

118

64

95

74

2-26 to 1

1 -81 to 1

1-86 to 1

2-6 to 1

211 tol

1-8 tol

1'8 to 1

1-8 tol

2-67 . . 1

2-3 ..1

2-85 .. 1

2 91 .. 1

2 68.. 1

2'25.. I

2 .. 1

212.. 1

1-8 .. 1

2-46.. 1

3.. 1

i-2 .. 1

31 .. 1

37 .. I

3 .. 1

«-4 ..1 h.p.

4-8 . . 1 foot.

3-6 .. 1

4-S .. 1

5 .. 1

4-6 .. 1

2-86.. 1

3-6.. 1

3-18.. 1 foot.

.57 .. 1

4-2 .. 1

6-8 .. 1

62 .. 1

64.. I

4.. 1

4.. 1

4 ton to 1

9 . . 1 nearly

8 .. Inear.

94 . 1

1(1 .. 1

9 .. 1 near.

9 . . 1 near.

87 .. 1

8-9 ..1

16.. 1

204.. 1

27 .. 1

20 ..1

214.. 1

21.. 1

20 6.. 1

208 .. 1

294 . . 1

28 .. 1

36 ..1

38 .. 1

33 .. 1

32 . . 1

28 . . I

30 .. I

34.. I

324.. 1

414.. I

48 .. 1

39 .. 1

4».. 1

32.. I

36 .. 1

1-9.. 1

2 6 .. 1

3 .. I near.

2 .. 1

2-4 .. 1

2 5 .. 1

2-4 .. 1

2-5 .. 1

3i.. 1

3-6 .. 1

44.. 1

3-8 ..I

3-8 ..1

3-5 .. I

3-3 . . 1

3-4 .. 1

4 . . 1 nearly

4 .. 1

6-4.. 1

4-8 ..1

4-5 .. 1

44.. 1

3-6 . . 1

4 .. 1

5-5 .. 1

7-8 .. 1

7 3.. 1

6-6 .. 1

68 .. 1 ton.

10.. 1

7-58.. 1

8 8 .. 1 ton.

6-4 .. 1

6 6 ..1

87 .. 1

7-8 .. 1

7-4 .. 1 ..

107 .. 1

7.. 1

8 8 ..I

27.. 1

25-6 .. 1

34.. 1

M .. I

SO .. 1

24 . . 1

26.. 1

26 .. 1

32.. 1

.30 .. 1

42 . . 1

41 .. 1

36 .. 1

30 . . 1

31.. 1

304 . . 1

21 .. I

1/ . 1

21 .. 1

21 .. 1

21 .. 1 h.p

37 .. 1

23 . . 1

30 .. 1

1-2 h. p. to I ft.

1-46 .. 1

1-61 .. 1

1-H ..1

1-47 ..1 foot

0-8 . 1

1-17

1 h.p. to afoot

1-4 . 1..

17 .. I

2 .. 1

2 nearly.

1-8 ..1

107 .. 1

i:)8

l':2 h.p. to a ft

Uton.

IJ ton.

1 ton.

1 ton.

14 ton.

10 cwt.

15 cwt.

124 cwt.

12

12

13

13

124 miles.

12

124

124 miles.

144

144

169

169

156

144

156

160

14

14

15

15

144 miles.

14 miles.

144

144

196

19 i

226

225

210

196

210

203

•'>0 in.

56 in.

54 in.

62 in.

53 in.

28 in.

42

36 in.

11 It. 6 in.

lift. 6 in.

lift.

10 ft.

1 1 ft.!

11 It.

lift.

11 ft.

1 Length between perpendiculars

2 Breadth between paddle boxes

3 Depth of hold

4 Dividing angle of the bow at deep load line
51 . . .. at ihe deck

6 Entire weight with full load, (chiefly estimated)

7 Measured tonnage, as per rule offered

8 Horse power of engine, as per rule offered

9 Draft of water at common or light load
lOi . . n*ith fuel and stores for 1000 miles route
ll| .. .. .. 3000 ..

12 Height of deck line (top of midship beam ends) above
I water, at greatest load

13 Depth of centre of gravity of displacement of midship

cross section, at full load
14. Area of deep load line, or water surface covered by the

vessel
15jArea of midship cross section, immersed at greatest load.

16 ,. .. .. common or light load

17 Buoyancy to entire weight at full load (reukoning top of

beam ends midship)

18 . . . . at common or light load
l9. Proportion of measured tonnage to horse power

20 .. to each foot of immersed cross sec, full load

2l| .. .. .. .. light

22i Proportion of length to breadth ..

23 .. depth of hoi

24 . . draft of water at full load
23 .. .. light load

26 ., breadth to depth of hold

27 .. .. todraftof water at full load

28 .. .. .. .. light load ..

29 Area of bearing surface (No. 14) to measured tonnage ..

30 ..to en'.ire weight at full load

31 .. to area of immersed cross section full load

32 .. .. .. .. light load

33 .. to horse power of engine

34 Horse power to each ft. ot immersed cross sec. at full load
a!* .. . . . . . . at light load

36 Estimate of coal used per hour with full fires .. *.

37 Estimated average spted at full load

38 Comparative efficiency of movement at this speed

39 Kstiraated average speed at light load

40 Comparative efficiency of movement at this speed

41 Diameter of cylinder In inches
42j Length of stroke

.1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECrS JOURNAL.

269

ON RUSTICATION.
By Candidus.

Taking at his word the writer who has just decried Rustication as being
no better than the counterfeit of deformity ; and believing, or at least pre-
tending to believe, him sincere when he declares his willingness " to be
set right," I purpose to do so — at any rate, to make it apparent to others
t hat he has been setting them wrong, — to expose the futility and one-sidedness
of his objections, and to convict him either of great intolerance in some mat-
ters, or of great inconsistency in tolerating in others what may have similar
objections may be enforced against with equal plausibility. That Rustica-
tion is most decidedly expressive of stonework construction, and that it
renders the articulation of masonry more prononci, is not to be denied.
Buildings are not supposed to be e.xstructcit or carved out of solid masses,
they being known to consist of separate stones put together in courses ;
wherefore there can be no impropriety — nothing irrational in permitting
such compaction and bonding to declare itself* to the eye, and become a
mode of decoration for the general surface of the walls, which, accord-
ingly as it is treated, may be expressive chielly of rude strength and
energy, or of finished elegance and elaborate symmetry. While it is so uni-
form that it does not at all cut up the surface and distract the eye — there-
fore, is not destructive of simplicity — it gives the surface richness, crisp-
ness, and colour, and forms a ground that greatly relieves pilasters and
other architectural members, causing them to appear more distinct. So
far from deserving to be stigmatized as a deformity or studied counterfeit
of it. Rustication appears to me to be perfectly legitimate and ajsthetic —
at least in itself, for like everything else, it may be made to minister to
bad taste as well as to good.

One formidable argument levelled against Rustication, and intended to
operate as a complete demolisher, is that it was not practised by the
Greeks ; at least, not at the best period of their Doric style. Yet what
then ? — are we at once to condemn, without further inquiry, everything
that does not accord with Greek practice? Is it pretended to be affirmed
that the Greeks, who contented themselves with just one or two ideas in
their temple architecture, so completely exhausted all the modes of beauty,
and all the resources of design available for any similar style, as to leave
113 no other alternative than either doing precisely as they did, or plunging
into deformity ? Because severe simplicity was the character of the Par-
thenon, is it to be that of every other structure ? Are critics to be allowed
to make use of the Parthenon for ever as a bed of Procustes, by which
they take measure of every building, lopping off from the unlucky one
which has fallen into their clutches, whatever of it exceeds that infallible
standard of excelleuce ? The Parthenon w as, unquestionably, most ex-
quisite both as to material and execution, as it was constructed of large
blocks of white Pentelic marble, so admirably wrought that the jointings
of the masonry were imperceptible. But to that kind of beauty our
buildings may not aspire — we have neither the marble nor the climate of
Greece. Our best ashlar stone-work will not retain perfect uniformity of
tint and surface, and even were it to do, and could it be so wrought that
the masonry joints would not at all be seen, the effect, it may be presumed,
would be no other than that of good stucco, — of course more durable, but
no better in appearance than the other, so long as the stucco remains in
good condition. It is, therefore, an advantage that we are enabled by
means of Rustication to turn the masonry jointings to account, and to pro-
duce a difTereut species of regularity and beauty of surface.

If we are to abide by Grecian architecture alone, and to reject all that
has been added to or engrafted upon it, only as so many corruptions of it,
we ought not only to protest against Roman and Italian architecture, but
ought to abandon the study of them, lest we should catch infection from
them. The Florentine style more especially must be held in aversion by
those who perceive neither grandeur, vigour, nor any other merit in Rus-
tication, but only unqualified deformity, and what the writer whom I am
trying " to set right" is pleased to brand by the intended-to-be-ignominious
terms of " tatooed masonry" and mere " surface decoration." He will
have it that '' as soon as chamfered masonry is introduced, all simplicity
is lost at once, each stone assuming a separate individuality ;" yet, as it
appears to me, he might just as well maintain that a striped dress is incon-
sistent with perfect simplicity of attire; or — to keep to architecture— that
a striped — in other words, a fluted — column is contrary to simplicity and is
a barbarism, a shaft so decorated being in fact neither more nor less than
" tatooed," while each of the fillets " assumes a separate individuality;"
and the beautiful rotundity of the shaft itself being greatly impaired by
* The reader will excuse the singular or can substitute the plural number for it.

such unlucky " surface decoration." Even the Greeks themselves then,
it would seem, were not altogether infallible; and besides being at vari-
ance with what appear to be some persons' notions of true simplicity,
what meaning is there in the fluting of a column ? — what does it express?
— most assuredly nothing constructional, whereas Rustication docs. It
has been supposed by some that the first idea of fluting was derived from
fissures in the shafts of wooden columns, or from channels worn by the
rain ou the surface of stone ones, — an hypothesis, however, that must
henceforth be rejected with scorn, because it would make out the Greeks
to have been guilty of such very bad taste as to condescend to counterfeit
defects and deformities, which would have been an inexcusable enormity,
notwithstanding that so counterfeited what were originally defects became
beauties. There were very strong aesthetic reasons — too generally known
to require to be stated here — which induced the Greeks to adopt the prac-
tice of fluting, if such term be not " too dignified" for the scoring produced
by " mere streaks," and for the absurdity of covering the shafts of columns
^•tillovci' with mouldings,"

May not the deep channels employed for the flutings of Ionic and Co-
rinthian columns be reproachfully described by the terms " gashes" and
" incisions," with just as much fairness as the channelled joints of rus-
ticated masonry ? Diflicult it surely would not be for any one so disposed
to get up — upon paper — a pretty strong case against the practice of fluting
columns as an unmeaning one at the best, as one at variance with simpli-
city, and partaking more of disfigurement than of embellishment.

It is contended by the writer who has laboured to prove — and who, no
doubt, fancies that he has clearly proved, both the irrationality and bad
taste manifested by Rustication — that when employed together with
columns, the horizontal channels appear to cut athwart the shafts of the
latter and "destroy that idea of verticality which is their essential attri-
bute;" of which injurious eflect, he quotes the peristyle of La Madeleine
as an instance. Now, had he chosen to say that the columns appear to
cut athwart the horizontal lines of the rusticated wall behind thein, he
might have done so in welcome, and have made out of that circumstance
as much as he could for argument against Rustication ; but as he did not
do so, it is for him now to make out how the columns appear to be cut
through by lines which they themselves cut by interrupting and iutercept-
ing. It is, therefore, rather the idea of horizonlaliUj as expressed by the
courses of masonry is destroyed, than that of verticality, which latter is
rendered all the more evident by the direct contrast between horizontal
and vertical lines so produced. But of the value of contrast the critic
who has detected such equally unlucky and curious appearance in La
Madeleine seems to have no idea. Fortunate, therefore, is it for the credit
of the Grecian-Doric style itself that it is protected by the aegis of classical
precedent and authority, else were it ever to suit his immediate purpose
to do so, the same writer would probably not scruple to censure as an ab-
surdity the intermixture of triglyphs and sculpture iu the Doric frieze.
With far greater plausibility of argument than he has now used, he might
urge that if sculpture is to be introduced, the triglyphs ought to be dis-
missed ; or if the latter must be retained, the metopes ought to be left
plain, since sculpture and triglyphs together mutually destroy each other's
effect, and produce a most unsatisfactory jumble the very reverse of sim-
plicity. Instead of being kept continuous, the sculpture, it might be
argued, is cut up into bits and fragments ; each piece of it assumes a
separate individuality, and really appears to be " set in a frame ;" besides
which, the sculpture of course seems to cut the triglyphs themselves
athwart, precisely in the same manner as the rustic joints ou a wall behind
columns cut athwart the columns in front. After being so exercised, cri-
ticism might descend — might stoop down to examine the steps of Greek
Doric temples, and attack with ridicule the deep moulded channel cut
below in the front of each of them, as being a marked defect, and causing
the steps to appear undermined and weakened. To be sure, those grooves
contribute to a;sthetic effect; and if that be sufficient excuse for what, if
now done for the first time, would be reprobated as a caprice, excuse may
be extended to other cases.

Having pointed out circumstances in pure Greek architecture, upon
which the same sort of captious hypercriticism might be brought to bear
which protests so peevishly against Rustication, we follow the writer's
remarks, and next find him just after observing that the sunk-channels in
Rusticated work cannot be received as " mouldings" — and who has ever
called them such ? — talking of the absurdity of a building '■ all over mould-
ings ;" so that in one and the same breadth, he denies and admits them to
be equivalent to mouldings. As to confusion being produced by so many
lines of that kind on a building — that may be left to contradict itself — is,

35

S70

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Skpt.

in fact, BfroDsW contradicted by the exterior of Newgate, which is cha-
racterized by breadth of surface, but which, had it not been Rusticated,
would have been comparatively an insipid blank; although admirably
combined in its general composition, in which respect it fulfils a condition
which the writer in question has made a very stringent one, although it is
frequently quite impracticable.. "It may be safely asserted," he says,
that no buildings, whatever may be the style adopted, can be architectur-
ally effective unless some portions of the building throw shadows on the
remainder." No doubt, bold relief and chiaroscuro contrasts are highly
valuable and impart unwonted spirit and energy to a composition ; and the
same distribution of projecting and receding parts which produces shadow,
produces also great varietyof perspective effect. Yet, except in some few
cases, how is it possible to plan town buildings so as to obtain tlie
requisite breaks for the purpose in the general line of frontage? Of what
can street architecture chiefly consist if not of what so greatly excites the
writer's positive indignation, viz., " show fronts" towards the street, and
"surface decoration" upon them,— terms which are quite favourite and
pet ones with him, and invariably intended to be emiuently reproachful ?
If, wiihout regard to its merits in what it does show, we are to be dis-
satisfied with every building that does not stand quite Insulated, and so as
to show itself on every side,— if that is to be made a sine qua non, we
must be prepared for being very much out of humour for a very long
while locome. There is no help for it; so let us console ourselves by
fairly damning modern architecture altogether, as our philosophical writer
appears disposed to do himself, and, if he can, to prevail on others to do
50 likewise.

We cannot, however, afford to damn it just yet, because we have not
yet quite done with Kustication.— Rough rubble-work, we are told— not
that there was much occasion for the information,— would be unfit for the
cella of a Greek temple, because " the coarseness of the workmanship
would be quite out of character with the rest ;" and by this it is intended
to be insinuated that every mode of Rustication must be equally unsuitable
for the same style. Is there then, I ask, no distinction of character be-
tween rubble-work and rusticated masonry ?— none between the coarse
workmanship and rough surface of the one, and the uniform regularity and
elaborate workmanship of the other? This dilference— which striking as
it seems, the writer does not perceive, or else wilfully shuts his eyes to it,
— n-oes very far towards answering what he says when he calls upon those
who would defend Rustication, to point out wherefore, if unexceptionable
ir. itself, such mode of masonry should not be equally proper for buildings
in the Pointed as in the Classic style. He affects very innocently to won-
der what can possibly be " the characteristic differences between the two
styles," that they require, at least admit of, different modes of masonry
for them, just after he had himself said that rubble-work would be incoa-
gruiius in a Grecian edifice. If Rustication is to be held illegitimate, and
to be renounced because it does not become all styles alike, the irregular
masonry of the stonework in Gothic buildings, together with brickwork,
flintwork and rubble, may be all set down as vicious and absurd, unless it
can be shown Ihat Ihey are just as appropriate for the Classic as in the
Pointed and Old English styles. As well might we be told we ought to
be " prepared to adapt" flutings to columns in the Pointed style as well
as in the Classic, or else abandon such decoration altogether.
Thediflerence ofcharacler between the twostyles,orrat'herthetwodistinct
architectural rncfs, is so great that hardly any one except the writer whose
opinions and dicta I am controverting, would propose to reject Rustication
because though it accords with the idiom and practice of the one style, it
is contrary to the practice, and therefore to the idiom of the other. Had
rubble-work been used in classic buildings, it would have belonged to the
classic idiom of the art ; and in like manner had that species of masonry
which is distinguished by the term Rustication been practised by the me-
difcval archilecis, it would have been incorporated with the rest of their
system of design, and would have become idiomatic and characteristic.
Separate styles have, like separate languages, their respective idioms and
peculiarities ; but though peculiarities widely differing from each other, it
does not follow that tliey are therefore contrary to those universal and ca-
tholic principles which apply to all styles of the art alike. In architecture
a very great deal is purely conventional, and might be applied indiffe-
rently were it not tliat custom has stamped such or such particular mode
as belonging to a particular style, as being a part of its costume, conse-
quently proper to that, though in any other it might show as a decided
impropriety. Possildy, therefore, it will still be pertinaciously maintained,
that Rustication is foreign to pure Grecian architecture— a departure from
its costume : true; but it is Roman, and so far legitimately antique and

classic, quite as much as the Roman, or what we call the Corinthian, order
itself And if the nom,wism which so decidedly pervades La Madeleine
in all other respects be not objected to, wherefore should its Romanism
in legard to Rustication and the " surface decoration" of its walls be con-
demned as nothing less than a barbarism at variance with all classical pre-
cedent' If we ought henceforth to abide strictly by pure Greek architec-
ture, just as it was practised by the Greeks themselves in such temples as
the Parthenon, without presuming to adopt into it innovations of any kind
-not even those which have become to ourselves rather arcUisms than in-
novations, let us be told so explicitly ; but let those who would enforce
such doctrine, keep to their own bond. Let them reject and discard all
and every thing that is at variance with Grecian practice and costuine--
that is, the costume of Greek temples, almost the only class of Greek
buildings which we are sufficiently acquainted with to be able to judge of
them correctly asa class,-aDd then perhaps they will discover to what ex-
ceedingly limited resources they will have restricted architecture; yet
whether even then all of them would actually confess as much, may be
questioned, for some of them might feel far more exultation in having gain-
ed their own point, than any sort of concern for the consequences to archi-
tecture itself And this seems to be the case with some who not having
any real affection for the art, seem to regard it only as a very good subject
for them to discourse and debate about, more or less fluenlly, caring for
little else than displaNing their own expertness in logomachy. One cha-
racteristic of such critics and criticism, is that bigotted intolerance which
peremptorily decides every thing to be wrong which differs from their own
exclusive standard of what is excellent and right ;-nor is it at all difficult
to make it appear to those who are content to look merely at one side of a
question, and take up with a decisive and seemingly firmly settled opinion
without further trouble to themselves,-that whatever deviates from such
standard must of course be wrong.

My opponent— at least, the writer to whom I have here presented myself
as an opponent, is certainly most intolerant of Rustication, for he insists
that it is absolutely intolerable-a gross abuse and absurdity that ought
to be no longer tolerated by us at all, nor any longer be recognized as a
mode of decoration to which the architect can have recourse on suitable
occasions. How greatly I differ from him is sufficiently attested by this
vindication of Rusticated masonry.-which, indeed, I could wish to see
more frequently and more effectively made use of among us than it now
is I am very far, however, from intending to recommend it as an infalli-
ble nostrum, or as what ought to be applied iu all cases. Rustication may
be well or ill applied ; may be either very good of its kind, or very bad;
yet the bad is so far from justly discrediting the good, that it rather adds
to the merit of the latter. Were not such the case, some of our modern
specimens of it would long ere this have brought -pure Classic architec-
ture" into utter discredit among us, they being far more deserving of
" detestation" than that " debased Classic architecture" which had openly
revolted from Classic precedent, had thrown off allegiance from it, and
had rendered itself independent of it.

FENESTRATION AND WINDOWS.
Audi Alteram Pastem.
Although another writer has in the interim taken up the subject of the
Decoration of Windows, and given his opinions upon it, especially as regards
the emploving columns for such purpose, that is so very far from frustrating
the intention hinted at by us in a note (page 130), in the article on the
FitzwiU^am Museum, by forestalling what we meant to say, as rather to
stimulate us to take up our pen without further delay. Having thus ap-
prized the readers of this Journal that the remarks, in the May number, on
the building just mentioned, proceeded from ourselves, we may be permitted
to confess our surprise at finding, the following month, a second paper on
the Fitzwilliam Museum, denying it all those particular merits as a piece of
architecture, which had been claimed for it by ourselves. Had that second
article distinctly announced itself to be the production of a second writer,
and intended to reply to and correct the criticism that had just before ap-
peared, the sort of mvstification that must now have been occasioned by it
would have been avoided. Strangely enough, it did not even take the
slightest notice of what had been previously said,— no more than if nothing
had been said at all, at any rate nothing more than a mere account of the
building, without any criticism upon it. Admiration was still professed ;

IS 16.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

271

only it was made out after all that every tiling in it which had leen espe-
cially admired just before, was naught, and that the uesign would have heen
infiuitely better, were it almost the reverse of what it is ; wherefore we may
consider is fortunate for us that what we had said was not formally contra-
dicted and cut up. Tardy as it is, this explanation is due both to ourselves
and to the Journal,*— for the latter not undesirable, since it exculpates it
from what must have looked like inconsistency.

We are very far from wishing — to say the truth, have more conceit of our-
selves than to desire that opinions which militate against our own should be
suppressed ; and we only claim in return that ours be not suppressed, be-
cause they happen not to accord with those of other persons. Differ we
most assuredly do very strongly, both from the author of the article " On
the Employment of Columns and Pediments as Window Mouldings,"—
(mouldings seems a terra very oddly applied to columns), — and from Dr.
Fulton, — who has mistaken a ludicrously droll and whimsical comparison for
argument ad alsurdmn against window pediments, and has flourished it
about accordingly for the purpose of intimidating those who allow themselves
to be scared by words and nicknames. But before we begin to speak of
windows themselves, it may be as well to say something on "Fenestration"
generally, — its influence on design and composition, and the characteristic
physiognomy occasioned by it. Rather strange to say, it is one of those
subjects which so far from being taken up are scarcely even approximated to
in architectural " treatises," and didactic writings of that kind ; and when it
has been touched upon elsewhere, it has been only aslant, and to fly ofi" from
it again in a tangent. While of speaking of columns there has been no end,
hardly a word has been uttered as to the essentials and conditions of Columni-
alion ; and in like manner, instruction with regard to windows is confined
to a few ordinary matter-of-fact rules — without anything being said of Fene-
stration as a system. Nevertheless that and Columniation are two such de-
cidedly distinct systems, that buildings now classed together as belonging to
one general style might properly enough be further distinguished accordingly
as they belong to, or most partake of the one or the other of the two diff'e-
rent modes. Neither are the two systems merely different forms, but hostile
and repugnant to, and almost incompatible with each other. They conflict
so obstinately — what is required by the one is so strongly opposed to what
is demanded by the other, that scarcely any treatment, however dexterous,
can efl^ectually reconcile them, or effect more than a tolerable compromise.

That windows are totally at variance with the effect attending genuine
antique columniation, whose columns are backed by a continuous surface of
wall, unbroken by openings for admission of light, is indisputable. If not
destructive of beauty, they are destructive of the effect — associated with
ideas of classical taste — which results from their absence. Wherefore it
generally happens that the more ambitiously and rigorously classical purity
of style is aimed at in all other respects, columniation included, the more
offensive and incongruous does fenestration show itself. It avails not to say
that it is matter of sheer necessity, — that windows there must be, unless the
building — however else it may be divided within — has no division of floors,
in which case it may be best of all lighted through ceilings and roof. If such
unavoidable necessity sufliciently excuses the fenestration, it at the same time
condemns the practice of mixing up that and columniation for the nonce, when
it is, or to be, known beforehand how greatly the effect of the latter must be
impaired by the former. That very necessity which is pleaded by way of
apology, ought to be sufficient argument against a style which, however
scrupulously copied in regard to matters of mere detail and mechanical ex-
ecution, must be violated altogether in what constitutes its genuine and pe-
culiar physiognomy. The necessity for numerous apertures in the walls for
windows proves thatapjwcGreekstyle is not the one for us at the present day,
it being only in very rare cases, and under peculiar circumstances that it can
be adhered to with tolerable fidelity and consistency. Quite idle is it to
point out to ns the Parthenon as if it were a model expressly fitted for mo-
dern purposes. At any rate it ought at the same time to be pointed out also
that the sine qua non condition of being faithful to its Doric idiom, as well
as to individual forms of detail, should be observed and attended to.

In such modern structures as the Walhalla near Regensburg, and the Ma-
eleine at Paris, which being lighted within entirely from above, could there-
fore be made peristylar externally, without any intermixture of windows,

• There was a signature attached to the second article on the Fitxwlltiam Museum,
which would plainly have distinguished it, as coming from another writer, but it hap-
pened, moat uofortunately, to be omitted hy the printer.— £d. C. E. and A. Jommal,

the simple dignity of columniation and the repose which ought to accompany
it, can easily enough be kept up. So also is it when columniation in the
form of portico or colonnade is employed for embellishing that side of a
building, where windows can be dispensed with, as is the case with the fa9ade
of the Berlin Museum, the Filzwilliam Museum, and the East or principal
front of St. George's Hall, Liverpool.

Fenestration and Columniation are two modes of architectural composition,
requiring such very different treatment, and productive of such opposite
character, that they mutually neutralize the good eft'ect which e.ich might be
made to ensure separately. What would be well proportioned and dignified
as an astylar front, becomes almost inevitably more or less discordant, and
out of character as the background to any colonnade whose pillars are erected
in advance of it. Either the colonnade itself has the lock of being an after-
thought, an addition — whether made for convenience sake, or for mere
ostentation, — to what was or ought to have been complete without it. On
the other hand, the main structure itself looks as if it had been erected be-
hind a previously existing range of columns, originally belonging to an edifice
very differently constituted. While the columns seem as much to encumber
as to adorn the front behind them, certainly not to belong to it by evidently
growing out of the general organization, the windows — be they ever so un-
exceptionable in themselves, become blemishes, inasmuch as they cut up the
general composition, nay, the graceful simplicity of a colonnade, and contra-
dict the would-be-classical taste which is affected by merely sticking up a
few classical columns. Many preposterous instances of the kind are to be
met with in the buildings erected some few years ago when we were in the
heyday of our Greekomania. Of such examples we might mention scores,
but will content ourselves with one — nor is it by any means the worst, viz.,
the Law Institution in Chancery Lane, which exhibits the front of a Greek
Ionic tetrastyle in antis temple, stuck up before one that is totally different
in costume, filled in with windows— it being bouselike, and therefore posi-
tively undignified, intimately associated as it is with what reproaches it for
being homely and dowdy. Well is it, perhaps, therefore that columns can-
not kick, or they would frequently be tempted to kick down what stands just
behind them.

In fact so far from being at all fit to become yoke-mates, Fenestration and
Columniation pull in such contrary directions as to leave only a choice of in-
conveniences. One of them may be good, or the other may be good, but
hardly can both be rendered so or if it be attempted, the result is likely to
be that both the one and the other, will prove on a par by being equally un-
satisfactory. While good Fenestration requires wide spacing, good Columnia-
tion requires just the reverse, otherwise it is attended with a look of meagre-
ness and meanness — the very same defects that are- produced by close spacing
or joycnos/y/e disposition of the piers between the windows in Fenestration.
If there are windows in a wall behind a range of columns, corresponding
with the intercolumns, harmony requires that those openings should par-
take of the proportions of the intercolumns themselves, that is, be very nar-
row and lofty, and even then such openings will appear crowded together
and be destructive of all breadth of surface and repose behind the
columns, they being confined to the alternate intercolumns, as is the case in
the portico of the Chambre des Deputes at Paiis, which consists of twelve
columns in front, consequently eleven intercolumns, but has only five aper-
tures (doors) in its background. Therefore in that example — and we are
not aware of any similar one, the two different systems are admirably re-
conciled, and for each the particular mode of spacing which it demands, it
duly observed : — a merit which, remarkable as it is, has never before been
pointed out by any of those who have spoken of that facade, — not even by
Woods himself.

In some cases the Gordian knot has been attempted to be cut by putting
the columns in pairs, thereby obtaining great width for the intercolumns,
and the breadth of two columns and a half between them. Yet although
this obviates the inconvenience of thick set windows and narrow piers, it ij
objected to as an impropriety — by architectural puritans at least, who will
have it to be a downright solecism, because not sanctioned by classical /jrc-
cedent ; which is surely being over scrupulous and hypercritical, for where can
they find precedent for windows at all within a Greek or Roman colonnade ?
If they can tolerate the one innovation, they have no right to be very much
scandalized at the other.

One not unusual mode of getting over the difficulty — at least so it seems
to be thought — and obtaining sufficiently narrow iutercoiumuiation, at the

35*

272

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Sept-

same time avoiding disagreeable narrow proportions for the piers between
the windows, is to adopt a macrottyle order for the colonnade, including two
floors of the building behind it, and two scries of windows. Consequently
these latter become small openings, in height at least, as compared with the
columns, and by their frequency tend still more than ever to cut up and dis-
turb the surface behind the columns. Uhile greatness is aifected by the
order, littleness — comparative littleness at least, is expressed by the fenestra-
tion, and the inner wall assumes a most unlucky resemblance to an astylar
composition, in whose physiognomy Fenestration is intended to predominate,
and from which Columniation is intended to be excluded ; so that while the
windows are a sad drawback upon the pomp and classical style affected by
the order, the order itself serves chiefly to put us out of conceit with the
Fenestration.

Your Pecksniffs, indeed, get over the difficulty very easily by making no
difficulty of it at all. They merely make so many holes for the windows,
which being left quite bare of dressings, are not to be considered as belong-
ing or intended to belong to the architecture it all: the columns are the
things to be looked at ; the windows to be overlooked. Yet would it not
he far more economic and answer the purpose just as well, to leave it to the
imagination to put in columns, in the same manner which it is now called up
to put out windows, by fancjing them away ?

.\11 things considered, if an order must be employed in conjunction with
Fenestration, the best way perhaps, is to make use of it avowedly as decora-
tion, either with pilasters or attached columns, so that the intercolumniation
can be regulated according to, or rather accommodates itself without further
difficulty to the spacing which is most suitable for the windows ; without
occasioning that straggling look which would attend a colonnade whose
pillars were at the same, or any thing near the same intervals apart. There
J3 at least a certain degree of compactness and solidity attending such inti-
mate combination of columnar architecture and fenestration ; whereas co-
lumniation is mostly so employed as to appear something quite adscititious—
a mere hors d'ceuvre, and perhaps an inconvenient and encumbering one into
the bargain.

Wilkins, who plumed himself so much upon his rigorous observance of
classical proportions as to intercolumniation in the portico of the \ationaI
Gallery, does not seem to have duly considered the consequences of it in regard
to the interior of the portico. Had there been within only a single door of
loftier proportions, recessed as at present between two columns in antis,
there would have been nothing to contradict or disturb the close interco-
lumniation affected for it ; whereas now the interior looks crowded-up even
to confusion, and the end doors are of too wide and low proportions, so as
to appear crammed into the spaces they occupy, although those spaces cor-
respond to two intercolumns in frout.

There is another species of combination of the two systems (columnar and
fenestrated) which ought to be noticed, namely, that wherein columniation
is employed only for one or more distinct portions of a facade, the rest of it
neing astylar and fenestrated. The Post Office exemplifies such combination
the centre portion exhibiting columniation without windows, and the two
next fenestration only ; while the extreme compartments of the front display,
both fenestration and columniation together ; the latter however as mere
embellishment, because though the columns are insulated, they do not form
any sort of practicable colonnade or loggia, therefore seem still more idle and
useless than such as by being attached to a wall appear in some degree to per-
form the office of buttresses to it. 'Well, what is the effect of the combina-
tion alluded to ? — does it not partake rather too mucn of the sandwich, the
composition being that produced by mere juxtaposition ? 'We behold a por-
tico of temple-like aspect clapped between what look like two distinct build-
ings, altogether different from it in character and style — constituting a sort
of macaronic architecture — and by no means very satisfactory in themselves.
Of the window dressings we need not speak, they being Utile more than
architectural fig-leaves to screen positive nudity ; but the fenestration itself
is poor and undignified; the windows are too close together, neither is there
sufficient space between the two tiers of them ; whence there is nothing of
that simplicity which arises from breadth and repose. Notwithstanding
however the odd patching together of modern poly fenestration with the
windowless system of the Greeks, the Post Office was hailed at first by the
Greekoraania of the day, as something vastly classical ; and so well satisfied
with it is the architect himself, that he is now giving us a second edition of

it in the facade of the British Museum. — Pity, he is so slow about it, for
Greekomania will be all evaporated before that chef-d'ceuvre of pure classical
taste, " neat as imported," be completed.

Id the two buildings erected as detached wings to the Museum fayade, we
have fenestration between a single order of pilasters, carried the height of
three floors, which mode certainly preserves due width of spacing as regards
the pilasters themselves, but it causes the windows to appear meagre and
insignificant, and too much cramped up.

One Greek example of a design for windows there is, namely that atTorded
by the Triple Temple at Athens, which we could wish had never been made
known to us, because then it is most likely that when they wanted windows
for buildings in the Grecian Ionic style, architects would have derived ideas
for the purpose, from the exquisitely beautiful doorway in the tetrastyle por-
tico of the edifice just mentioned, whose highly finished and delicate ornate-
ness correspond perfectly with that of the order ; whereas the window does
not partake of, or agree with the order at all ; there being no more than a
very plain border round the aperture, deflned by an external moulding. Yet
this unlucky precedent has been taken by us, in our Greekomania, as an
authority to be impUcitly adhered to on all occasions — no matter how diffe-
rent those occasions may be in themselves. Be the order Doric or Ionic, or
if the latter, the plainest or the richest in character, we find that unitfrsal
window perpetrated everywhere alike, as if no modern architect could muster
up imagination enough to design a dressing for a window aperture just as
easily as for that of a door or a fire-place. Thus instead of being made cha-
racteristic features in our modern Greek style, windows are suffered to be-
come quite negative ones, — monotonous, feeble, and inexpressive.

In the Gothic or Pointed style, on the contrary, fenestration is so charac-
teristic, as to be almost indispensable on that account alone ; and is besides
differently constituted, and accordingly subjected to other conditions, — most
certainly is emancipated from most of those restraiuts and regulations which
it has to submit to in Greco-Koman, and Italian architecture. But leaving
our readers now to cogitate upon what thus far we have said, we reserve
our remarks upon Gothic fenestration till we return to the subject next
month, —

" che '1 Canto presente
Non e bastante a dirla degnamente."

PRACTICAL PRODLEMS IMPORTANT IN PLANE TRIGO-
NOMETRICAL SURVEYING.

By Oliver Byrne, Professor of Matheroalic*.

Sir, — In the October Journal of last year, you published a portion of an
article of mine, entitled " Problems on Plane Trigonometrical Surveying,"
as soon as convenient, I hope you will insert the remainder. That spirit
of fairness, which has ever been an ascendant property of yonr valuable
publication, will secure also, I feel confident, a corner for the succeediuR
remarks. The subjects upon which I have written, if they have no other
recommendation, have at least the quality of being oris;inal ; but, in the
case of these problems, originality has been questioned by Mr. TurnbuU,
which, I believe, could not have been done, had the whole of my paper
appeared. But, for the following editorial remark, appended to Mr. Turn-
bull's communication, I would have attended more promptly to the matter:
— "Me regret to say, that iNIr. TurnbulTs present letter appears to have
been written under most painful circumstances; they are of too private a
nature to be made public, hut we cau assure the reader that they entirely
preclude any further strictures on Mr. Turubull's past productions." Mr.
TurnbuU says, speaking of me, "The principle from which the Professor
deduces the solution was first employed by me for that purpose in 1829,
when all the cases of the problem were resolved exactly in the same man-
ner as in your Journal." \A by did he not state his principle and compare
it with mine ? He further adds, "The problems, with their solutions ap-
peared in one of the earliest numbers of Colburn's United Service Journal,
but, being without signature, tlie author's name was unknown to the pub-
lic." Under the head " Stasimetric Surveying," Colburn's United Ser-
\ ice Journal, second part, page 75, 1S29, the first four or fire problems

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEEERAND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL

273

given by me in your Journal, were soWed from the following principle ;
" The angles of the figure can be ascertained in terms of those observed
witliout ioTolving any of the containing or subtending parts, and hence
the distance between two remote objects become known in terms of the
observed angles and the measured base. If to all the angles of any plane
polygon figure, right lines be drawn from a point within it the product of
the sines of the alternate angles will be equal to each other." From what
Mr. TumbuU calls an obscure and neglected proposition in Emerson's
Trigonometry, the abnre principle was tery readily drawn. It will be found
that the principles on which Emerson, Gregory, and the writer in Col-
burn's Journal, proceeded, are but particalar cases of the very extensive
one, upon which I have based my solutions ; this will become very evident
when the whole of my paper ii published. You will find that I Worded
my general principle tiius: — "If any number of lines A, B, C, D, kc, be
drawn, the ratio propounded of the ratios of A ; B, B ; C, C ; D, &c., con-
tinued in order to A, is a ratio of equality : or which is the same thing,
when each becomes an antecedent and a consequent, taken in the above
mentioned order, the continied product of the antecedents is equal to the
continued product of the consequents." My application of this proposi-
tion I consider entirely original ; I have used it in the solution of numerous
problems, a few of which I have submitted to you for publication.
TVhen the whole of them appear, I will revert to the subject again.
I am, Sir, your's sincerely,

Oliver Byrne.

Continued from Part XCVII., Oct., 1845.

(5.) In order to determine the horizontal distance between two remote
objects, O, B, a base line A C, of 500 chains was measured, then at each
extremity of this base the following angular distances were taken : — At
A,OAB = 75=50' = a, BAC = 45°03' = i ; at C, OCB = 75°30' = c,
and OCA =: 40" 20' = d. Required the distance between the two objects ?
From having the angular distance a, b, c, d, all the other angles of the
Fig. 1. figure may be found, without knowing

the lengths of any of the lines; there-
fore, from having the length of any of
the lines, under such circumstances the
remaining linear distances can easily
be determined. Let angle OBA = x,
AhC=lSO° — b — c — d = e. Then
OBC = e-fj-. .'.OA; OB =sin.j:
: sin. a ; OB : OC = sin. c ; sin.
(e + x); and OC : OA = sin. (a + b)
: sin. d. Hence, sin. (a -f b) sin. c
sin. d sin.(e-f i); sin. (a -|- i) sin. c — sin. a sin. d

sin. (c -f- x) sin. e cos, x + cos, e sin. x

sm. .r = sm. a

sin. (e + x)

But,

sin. j:

cot. X -\- cos. e. . • . sin. (o + b) sin. c = sin. a sin. d (sin. e cot. x -f cos. e) ;
sin. (a + b) sin. c ^ sin. a sin. d cos.e = sin. a sin. d sin. e cot. x. . • .cot.

sin. (n 4- ') sin. e

X — :; — cot. e; or, cot.x^cosec.a sin. (a-fo) sin. ccosec.

sin. a sin. o sin. e ' ' \ i /

rfc osec. e — cot. c. Rcle. — Add together, the log. cosec. »fa, the log. sin. of
the »um of a und b, the tog. sin. of]c, the log. cosec. ofd, and the log. cusec. of
e; the natural number corresponding to this sum, rejecting 50 in the index,
mide less by the natural co-tangent of e, will give the natural co-tangent
of X.

log,

(« + *)

= 75° 50'
= 120
— 75
= 40
= 19

65 , log.

30 , log.

20 , log.

05 , log.

cosec.

sin.

sin.

cosec.

cosec.

The natural number corresponding =:
The natural cot. of 19° 05' (e) =:

= 100134127
= 9 0334445
= 99S59416
= 10-1889391
= 10-4855279

0-6072758
4-0483290
2-8905407

Natural cot. of x = 1-1577823
. • . ir = 40' 49' 04" = ABO ; and c -f x = 59" 54' 04" = OBC. Hence,
OC = 1JS4-49, and OB = 1493-34 chains respectively, which may be
found by Plane Trigonometry.

Suppose the angles a, b, c, d, remain as before, but it is found impossible
to measure AC with any degree of accuracy, OB being on a plane it is
measured and found to be 18G09 links. Required the angle x, and the
distance AC in feet? In this instance, x = 40" 49' 04" ; and 4C =
4112-227 feet. This could not be solved by the rules of pla'ne trigonome-
try.

(6.) There are four stations on the same plane, the linear distance be-
tween every two of any three of them being given, as well as the angular
distance of the fourth from each of the other three ; to find the remaining
parts.

Let A, B, and C, be the three stations whose distances are known ;
^en<:e the three angles a, b, and c, of
the triangle ABC may be found. [See
Problem III, in the Journal for Octo-
ber, 1845.] Having these three angles,
and also m, and n, taken at the fourth
station, we can find all the angles of
the figure without any reference to the
lengths of the lines.

Let X be the angle made by the dian-
onal .4D and the side AB ; then will
the angle BCD = 6 — n -f x. Hence, AB ; BC = sin. c ; sin. a ■ CC :
BD = sin. (m -f n) ; sin. (6 — n) + x ; and BD : AB = sin. x ; sin. m.

. - . sin. c sin. (m + n) sin. x =z sin. a sin. : (4 — n) -|- x i sin. m.

sin. c sin. (m-f n) sin. {(«.— n) -f x} \ » ,

-^ -' -' = — = sin. (0 — «) cot. X -L COS.

sm, a sin. m

{I'

sin. csin,(m + n\
- ")• • ■ • sin. a sin. m " "'"■ ^* ""^ = ''°- (^ " ") ™'- •^-

sin. c sin. (m + n)

^ : — r, : — cot. (b — n) = cot. x. .• . cot x=cosec. a sic.

sin. a sin. m sin. i,i — n) ^ '

c cosec. tn sin. (m -{- n) cosec. (6 — n)— cot. (i — n). If i=n, the problem
will be indeterminate, for cosec.(i — k)i or cosec. o,is infinite. It also shows
that a circle can be described through the four points .4, B, C, D ; so that
the point D, when such is the case, will have an infinite number of posi-
tions all satisfying the question. When A, B, C, are in the same right
line, this problem is readily solved by problem 2. Or when any two of tlie
stations A, B, C, and the station D, are in a straight line, the problem
falls under the resolution of plane triangles. It may also be remarked,
that the angles b and c, are negative when the point A is below the line
BC. Rule. — Add together the log. cosec. of a, the log. sine of c, the ksr.
cosec. of m, the log. sine nf{m-^n), and the log. cosec. of(b—n) ; the natu-
ral number corresponding to this sum after a proper allowance is made in
the index, made less by the natural cotangent if (i — n) u'ill give the naln-
ral cotangent of x.

This problem, of which the three following examples are particular
cases, was first proposed by Richard Townley, in the Philosophical Tram,
actions, where also is inserted solutions to the different cases by John Col-
lins, No. 69, 1671. The first of these examples is given in the Lady's
Diary for 1723, by John Richards, and answered the following year ty
John Topham. Dr. Hutton in his edition of the Diaries gives an addi-
tional solution, with a geometrical construction. Professor Leybourn, in
his edition of the Diaries, gives a second additional solution, also with a
geometrical construction ; and in his appendix to the same work, he gives
a general one from " Cagnoh's Trigonometry." However, none of lhe.se
solutions are as simple or as practical as the one htre given. Cao-noli
< sin. c sin. (in -f n)

makes cot. x = cot. (B_«) < ^Z'HACTin. m sin. (B - „) ~ ^ i

It

sin.c sin, (m -|- «)

.-1?

should be cot. x = cot. (B — n) , .. , ,, — n

^ ' ( 5111. bAC sin. m cos. (B — n)

This must be a misprint, for it cannot be supposed that either Cagnoli or
Leybourn could make such a mistake.

I. It is required to find the distance from the Edysfone Lighthouse to
Plymouth, Start Point, and the Lizard, respectively, from the following
data: — The distance of Plymouth from the Lizard CO miles, from Lizard
to Start Point 70 miles, and from Start Point to Plymouth 20 miles; also
Plymouth bears due north from the Edystone Rock, the Lizard W.S.M'.
and Start Point N. by E. Let E represent the position of the Edystone,
L the Lizard, P Plymouth, and S Start Point. When a right line is sui:-

274

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Skpt

Fig. 3.

posed to be drawn from L lo S, it is evident that the point E falls within
the triangle LPS, the angles of which are found by problem (3) to be as
follows : —

ylSPL = 112' or 27" = a;

ZPLS = 15 21 32 ^ h;

Z PSL = 52 37 01 = c; we have also

Z PES = 112 30 00 = »« = 10 points, or W.S.M'.

/ PEL = 78 45 00 = n = 7 points, or N. by E., and

Z LPE = X. Then by the general rule we have,

log. cosec. a ■=10-0339082

log. sin. c =9 9001454

log. cosec. m =10 0313847

log. sin. (m + n) =9 2902357

log. cosec. (6— n) =10.0486213

Reject 50 and 49'30G2953= 1-3062953 = log. of 0-2024395 ; from which
substract — -5002568, the natural cotangent of (6— n), and we have,
0-7033003 for the natural cot. of a-, .•. ^■=54'' 52' 40"=L P E. The dis-
tances L E, S E, C E, can be found by Plane Trigonometry, and are
53-11906; 17-1334; and 1391746 miles respectively. John Topham
makes them 53-04; 17-36 ; and 14333 respectively.

II. Being at a town in Kent I observed three objects on the other side
of the river Medway, a castle (C), a windmill (W), and a spire (S), whose
distances from one another are known; from the castle, (the nearest object
seen,) to the spire, (CS) is 10 furlongs ; from the castle to the windmill
(W C), 23 furlongs ; and from the windmill to the spire (W S), 25 furlongs.

I took with a theodolite, the angular
distance between the castle and the
spire (CT S) and found it to be 28°
34', and between the castle and the
windmill (C T W) 57° 45' ; what dis-
tance did I stand from each of these
objects ? From having the three sides
of C S W we can find the three angles
by problem 3 ; hence we have.

Being calculated independant of
each other, and making 180° affords
a proof.

Fig. 4.

a -89o

30'

06

6=23

34

38

c =66

65

16

nj = 57

45

00

n=28

34

00

m + n) = SG

19

00

(4 + 7i) = 62

08

38

}

00; and instead of (4 — n) take

negative. Putting a-=zTCW; and
proceeding according to the general rule, we find the sum of the five loga-
rithmic quantities to be 501382785, or 0-1382785 which correspond to the
natural number 1-374923, which is negative. From — 1-3749236 take the
thenat. cot. (52° 08' 3S") = 0-7772423 and it leaves — 0-5976737 :— this
nat. cot. corresponds to 59° 08' 04" ; . • . .t = 120° 51' 56". Then (59° 08'
04") — (S7° 45' 00")= 1° 23' 04 '= Z T W C. To find the remaining parts
fall under the head of common-place Trigonometrical calculations,
T W = 23-3439 furlongs, T 0 = 0-6570643, and C S= 10-57215.

III. In a garrison there are three remarkable objects. A, B, C, the dis-
tance of which from one another are known to be as follows : — B A = 213,
B C = 424, and A C = 262 yards. lam desirous of knowing my position
and distance when standing at a station A, with respect to the three points
A, B, C ; at A T observed A to be the nearest object, and the angles
BS A=13° 30', A S C = 29° 50'. This example was originally propesed
in Dr. Hutton's Conic Sections, then reproposed in the Lady's Diary for
17B7, where two ditferent solutions are given the following year ; but none
of the different solutions to any of the cases of this problem are as practical
as following the general rule here given. A S will be found = 429-6814 •
C 8 = 524-2365 ; and B 8 = 605-7122 yards.

(7.) In running a mean line through a country, I arrived at the bank of
» river, B ; and having booked a station at O, I find by subtraction that

O B is 25-36 chains : causing a flagstaff to be plaied at O, and another at
B, I crossed the river in a boat, and set up a third at A, in a right line
with B and O. Proceeding along the line to O', a distance of 2536
chains, a fourth flagstaff is set up ; then continuing the line to a convenient
point T, a theodolite is set up and the point in each staff as O, B, A, O',

which is cut by the same hori-

^ zontal plane is noted. Now

at C any station where the

points O, B, A, O', can be

seen, I take the angles a, b, c

and find them So be 12° 05''

28° 25', and 17° 23' respect.'

ively ; required the breadth of

the river A B ? Let B A = j;

the angle A O' C = x, then will zB A C-c + x, and A B C=

180°— 6-c-.r = <;-x;also(i=180°-4-c=134°12': BOC = 180°-a-

4-c-x, putting e=180°-u-6-c = 122° 07'. In this problem we

shall compare the ratios round two points O and O'.

First round O, O B ; O A = n In + ij;

O A: O C = sin. (0 + 6) :

O C : O B = sin. {tl-x) ;

Second round O', O' A- -O' B = k ; n -|- 1/ ;

0'B;0'C = sin', (4+.;);

O' C : O' A = sin. (c + .r) ; sin. c.

^Ve obtain directly from compounding both the analogies and expunging

the common factors.

; sin.
; sin. ,

{c-l-x);

: sin. ('i — x) ;

sin. (d — t)

/siu. a sin.
^\/ sin. c siu.

(6 + C-)
{b + a)

Let the right hand member of thi>

sin. (c + x)

equation for the sake of brevity be called K. But, sin. (d — x)

sin. {b + (c + x)}

(180°-6-c-i-) = sin. (4 + t + ar). .•
. • . sin. 4 cot. (c -f a-) + cos. 6 ^ K.

sin. (c + x)

= K.

cot. (c + x) = ^ cot, 4.

sin. 4

X = cot.

'{(n

sin. a sin. (4 -)- c)

sin. c sin. (4 4- a) sin

jt^J-cot. 4j-

From this equation the rule is deduced. We need scarcely remark,
that before finding any of the distances is necessary to find the unknown
angle x.

Rdle. — Add into one sum the log. sin. of a, and the log. sin, of {b -\- c) ;
then add together the lug. sin. of c, the log. sin. of {b -j- a), and twice the
log. sin. of b: subtract the latter sum from the former and divide the re-
mainder bij 2, the neutral number coj responding to the <iuotient made less by
the nat. cot. of 4, will give the nat. cot. of (c -)- x), and consequcntii/ x be-
comes known.

Log. sin. 12° 05' (a) = 9-3208400
log. siu. 45 48 (4-f c)= 9 8554654

Reject 20

F'rom

Take

19-1763050
1-1763050
2-6428665

Log. sin. 17° 23' (c) = 9-4753271

log. sin, 40 30 (a + 4) = 9-8125444

2 log. sin. 28 25 (4) = 193549950

Reject 40 38-6428663

2-0428665

This divided by 2)0-5334385 = 0'26G7192 which correspond to the nat_
number 1-8480730, this is to be made less by the nat. cot. of 28° 25' (4) =
1-8181761, which is greater than 1.8480730 by 0 0001031 ; . • . this is the
negative nat. cot., and corresponds to 21" ; hence, (c -{■ x) — 90° 0' 21" ;
but c=17° 23', . • . ^=92^ 37 21''. The remainder of the calculations
are common place. B A = 43-88967; A C = 81-009 chains. Before
proposing the next problem, which is rather complicated, we wish to re-
mark, that it is given more to illustrate the properties of the foregoing
aialogies than for any practical utility.

(8.) In superintending an extensive survey, I gave directions to as as-
sistant vrhu chained one of the base lines, A B, to set up flagstaffs equally

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECrS JOURNAL.

275

distant from each other as he passed over a common which lay in his way ;
not knowing the comparative length of his proposed line, he was not coo-
fined to any particular distances. Now it so happens, that he sets up a
staff at each of the four points C, D, E, F, as in the annexed sketch, and
continued the measurement of the line. A second assistant who measured
a tie line from G to K, before leaving G, took the angular distance be-
tween E and F at IG" IG' 16"; this was the only angle he could take from
the point G, he not being able to gee C or D, though from the direction Clay,
he knew the angle F G C, to be acute ;— then measuring from G to K, his
line exactly passes through the station D ; hut when I met him at H, the
chain he was using was not correct. Therefore, the only particular we
knew of this line was, that G D happened to be the same number of false
chains as D H. Leaving this assistant to take the angle E H D, which he
makes 34° 34' 34', I measured H K, with a correct chain and found it to
be 1500 links, and at the station K, I took the angle F K C at 70" 10' 10" ;
not being able to see T> or E. It is required from this data to find the
length of the different lines; not having any information from the first
assistant as to the distance he placed the pickets, and ou returning to re-
measure the distances, the exact place where they stood could not be as-
certained.

Now, we have given, the distance CD = DE = EF ; and DG = DH ;
also HK = 1.500 links. Likewise, Z FGE = 16° 16' 10" (a) ; EHD =
DGC=31°34'34"(i); and FKC = 70° 10' 10" (c). Let Z DGE =
X, DEG = y, CKG = s, and ERF = v. . • . CDG = {x + y), FKD
= (c — :), and EKG = (c — ti). Hence, by comparing the ratios round
two points C, and E, we have

CD : CE = 1 :2;
C E : CG = sin. (4 + ■^) = sin. y ;
CG : CD = sin. (x + i/) : sin. l ;
FE : FD = 1 : 2 ;

FD : FG = sin. (o + ^) : sin. (x + y);
FG : FE = sin. y : sin. «. By com-
pounding these six ratios and expunging
the common factors we have, sin. (a + x)
sin. (6 + jr) = 4 sin. a sin. b. cos, (i — a)

— COS. {(a -f i) + 2.r} ^ 2 sin. (a + a')
sin. {b -\-x) = 8 sin. a sin. 6. Cos.
(a — b) — 8 sin. a sin. b = cos.

{(a + 6) + 2.r}. But, — 8 sin « sin.

i = 4 cos. (a — i) + 4 cos. (u + ii) ; . • . 4 cos. (a + i) 3 cos. (a — b) = cos.

{{a + b) + 2x} . An arc whose cos. is 4 cos. (n+b) = 3 cos. (a — b),

written thus; — Cos. 4 cos. (a-hi) = 3 cos. (a— i) ; made less by

(a+b) =2x. .•• 2.r = cos. ^{4 cos. (a -f- 6) — 3 cos. (a — b)} —a—b.

Whence tiie Rule.— From /o«r times the nntural cosine of (a + b), take
three tintes the natural cosine of (b-a) ; an arc whose natural cosine is the
remainder, made less by (a + b), and divided by 2, will gire x.
(a+b) = 50° 50' 50", 4 nat. cos. = 2-5235C16"l
(4-a) = 18° IS' 18", 3 nat. cos. = 2-8481913/

subtract.

Difference = 0-322G327 negative.
The angle which corresponds to this nat. cos. in the table is 71° 10' 41'' ;
but as the cos. is negative, the angle may be 108° 49' 19", or 251° 10' 41";
bnt it cannot be the latter, because the angle FGC is known to be acute.
Then from 108° 49' 19"

take 50 50 50 = (a -f i)

half of 57 58 29 = 28° 59' 14'-5 =:ar= KGE.
In order to determine y, let us compound the ratios of the lines drawn
from E, which are compared in the foregoing ratios. Hence we have sin.
(a -\- x) sin. y = 2 sin. (.«■ -|- y) sin. a. But, sin. a cos. x sin. ;/ -f cos. a
sm. X sin. j/ ^ 2 sin. x cos. y sin, a + 2 cos. x sin. y sin. a. This divided
by sin. y, gives sin. n cos. x -f- cos. a sin. .r = 2 sin. x cot. y sin. a -j- 2
cos. X sin. a. . • . sin. a cos. x 4- cos. a sin. x — cos. x sin. a = 2 sin. x
sin. a cot y ; sin. x cos. a — cos. x sin. a = 2 sin. x sin. a cot. y. .' .

sin. (x—a)
it sm. a sin. x ~ '^°'" ^' '^''°'" ^'^ '"'^'"^ "*" '^°'' ''' "^^ following method
of calculating y is deduced : Rci.e. — Add together the log. sine of (x—a),
the sub. log, of 2, the log. cosecant of x, and the log. cosecant of a ; the sum
will be the log. cotangent of y. By this rule y is easily found, and x is I

known, — call their sum m. [Which will be found too by 79° 57 35"-5].
Then to find z, we have

FD:FC = 2:3;

FC; FK = sin.csin.(OT-2);
and FK ; FD = sin. m sin. (c—z) ;
.-.2 sin. csinm = 3 sin. (m— :)sin. (e — z;
cos. (m-<:)-cos. {((n + c)-2i} = 2 sin. (m + :) sin. (c-t).

^ 2 S'°. « sin. m;
cos. {m—c) — \ sin. c sin. jn = cos. {(,« — c) —2:}.
But, COS. (in-i;)-cos. (m -j- c) = 2 sin. c sin. m
. • . f cos. (»n-c) — f COS. (m-\-c) = ^ sin. c sin. m

J COS. (m-(;) + f COS. (m-fc) = cos. {{m^c)-2z}.

.-. 2z — (m + c)— COS.— i {cos. (m—c) -^2 cos. (m + c)},
EcLE. — Add together the natural cosine of (m — c) and twice the natural
cosine <if (in + c), and divide the sum by 3 ; the result will be the natural
cosiJie of an angle, which angle taken from (m + c) will leave twice z.

This gives the angle = 22» 50' 14"= » = CKG. To find the angle
GKE = v, we have FKG = (c-z) = 47° 19'56" = n ; FDK = (x-y)
= 79° 57' 35"-5 = m.

We have also, FE : FD = 1 : 2 ;

FD : FK = sin. n : sin. ra;
and FK : FE = sin. (m + v) : sin. (n-t).
.• . sin. n sin. (ra + f) = 2 sin. m sin. (n — v);
sin. n (sin. m cos. i; + cos. m sin. d) = 2 sin. m (sin. n cos. »— cos. n
(sin. v). Sin. n sin. n cos. v+ sin. n cos. m sin. i') = 2 sin. m sin. n cos.
f— 2sin. m COS. n sin. ». Dividing by sin. n sin. m sin. r, we have cot. »
-fcot. m = 2 cot. »— 2 cot. n;

. • . cot. m -I- 2 cot. n = cot. r : which affords the Rule. — To the natural
cotangent of m, add twice the natural cotangent of n ; the sum ivill be the
natural cotangent of v. . • . ti = 26° 19' 55." All the other angles of the
figure can be found by addition and subtraction; and any of the linear
distances calculated at pleasure. EH, ED, and GK, will be 464013
26-7423, and 100-7355 chains, respectively.

THE PRACTICE OF SETTING OUT RAILWAYS AS PRE-
LIMINARY TO THE CONTRACT WORKS.
The duty of an engineer when setting out a line of railway, finally
and permanently, has not, so far as I am aware, been described in any
publication. It may be serviceable to some of the readers of the Journal
to show in what it consists, and to impress the evident fact that its careful
and accurate performance is important in every department of the construc-
tion of the line, and to the interest of the railway company in relation to
the landowners. Can anything be more discreditable than a distorted or
irregular alignement ; — Uian a deviation from the gradients established on
the permanent seciion, or than winding slopes ? Can anything be more
injurious to the character for honesty, which a railway company, ihrou^h
its servants, ought to maintain, than the frequent squabbles with land-
owners as to tlie quantity of land purchased from them? Discreditable
however, as these exceptions to propriety are, instances of them all are
familiar to the practical engineer. They are in many cases attributed
perhaps to the hurry of commencing the contract works most fre-

quently they can be traced to the want of experience or of care on the
part of those entrusted with the duty of permanently setting out the line.
To assist the inexperienced and to direct attention to the points which
chiefly require care, is my purpose in oli'ering a contribution to the pages
of the Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal, upon this part of an en-
gineer's practice, and it has been my object to avoid all, but the simplest
forms of calculation, to reduce them to the fewest in number, and to show
how they may be made with the least trouble — in fact, so as to save all
the trouble that it is possible, consistently with accuracy.

A line of railway is permanently set out,— First, by tracing upon the
ground the centre line, which must conform to the final plan, as to curves
and tangents.

Secondly, by planting permanent bench marks to indicate the gradients
laid down on the final section.

Thirdly, by marking off the widths so as to show the space occupied by
the railway at formation level, or balance line, by the slopes, and by fence
and ditch, from the dimensions presented by the cross sections.
To the two last operations it is jiroposed to confine this paper.

276

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Sept

Setting out Gradients.

A fixed point to which the gradients are referred is always determined
at one end, at least, of a proposed line of railway, and from this point the
levels must be carried forward, following the centre line, w hich, it is as-
sumed, has already been marked by pegs or stumps at distances which
ought not to exceed four or five chains. Two levelling staves, a chain of
lifty feet in length, and a perfect spirit level in complete and accurate ad-
justment, are the iustruments with which the engineer should be equipped,
and which he will require to use with skill and expedition.

The gradients should be laid down in the field, —

1st, — By measuring the length of each from end to end, and fixing ordi-
nal y pegs to mark the beginning and termination.

2nd, — P.y carrying a series of levels over the whole length of the gra-
dient without using the chain, so as to determine the difTerence of level of
the ground surface at each end of the gradient.

jrd, By planting permanent bench marks within a convenient distance

of the line, but secure from being buried or destroyed during the progress
of the works.

These bench marks should be formed of posts of squared timber,
0 inches x 6 inches, secured round the head with an iron hoop, and either
driven into the ground as a pile, or, being squared at the foot, set upon a
slate, tile, or flat stone, in a hole dug to the depth of three feet, or there-
abouts; and they should stand 2' 6" out of the ground. Upon this post a
saw kerf, nick, or other mark, to be described iu the level book, must be
made as a reference to the height of embankment or depth of cutting at
the end of the gradient, already marked by a peg on the centre line.

It is a matter of most essential convenience during the whole progress
of tlie construction of a railway, that these bench marks should be readily
accessible and properly protected from injury or derangement , and a little
expense incurred to attain this end will save ultimate cost, in the shape of
tim--, to all parties interested, whether contractor or engineer.

Fig.:,
fl^^-^^ .. 1^

1 i

! i

The only calculation requisite to complete this preliminary operation is
readily understood from the figure, in which a 6 is the ground surface,
c d the gradient line, and g b the difference of level at the surface between
the limits of the gradient cd. Then, as we know the position of the point
f, with reference to a, at the beginning of the gradient, that is, in the
present figure, the depth of cutting ac — gh, then gb — gh-\-hd = bd
the height of embankment at h.

Now, to render this process perfectly general and free from any hesita-
tion in applying its result, the following conventionality must be borne in
constant remembrance : —

Calling, B the sum of all the back sights.
F the sum of all the fore sights,
G the rate of inclination of the gradient or the height dh

through which it rises or falls in its whole length.
(". the depth of cutting or height of embankment at one end,
C the same depth or height at the other end.
Then the general formula is B — F -f- C — G = C.
Iu which we must use the positive or negative sign to C and G, as the
circumstances may be, thus —

When C is in cutting it is always taken with the positive sign ; when in
embimkment, with the negative sign.

VVheu G is a falling gradient, it is to be prefixed by the negative sign ;
when a rising gradient, by the positive sign.

Then the sign which will be the result attached to C will indicate
whether the end of the gradient is in cutting or embankment.

Suppose a case, in which B = 200; F = 208; C = -f G; andG = -f 3;
then, 200 — 208 -|- 6 — 3= — 5, where we have a cutting of G feet at
the beginning of the gradient, and an embankment of 5 feet at the other.

Suppose we nse the same figures, but work the reverse way ; then
20S — 200 — 5 -f 3 = -f 6.

A little consideration will make this familiar, and the remembrance of
the proper signs will be facilitated by connecting them with the fact, that
when the ground fulls, the difference of level is negative; or, in other
words, the sum of the fore sights is greater than the sum of the bark
sights. In the same way, when a gradient line falls, the expression G is
negative. On the other hand, where the ground rises, the difl'erence of
level is positive, for the sum of the back sights will exceed the sum of the
foresights; and in like manner, when a gradient line rises, the expression
G is positive. Also a negative sign before T! shows that the ground sur-
face is below the gradient line ; and when the sign is positive, that the
ground surface is above the gradient line ; the first indicating an embank-
ment, the last a cutting. J

The inclination of the gradient must, on do account be taken from the I
ratio of inclination usually given on the section, but the dillerence of the
heights above datum at the ends of the gradient must alone be employed
in all cases.

The ground between the ends of each gradient must be levelled over at
least twice, and should any difference appear, it must be gone over until all
uncertainty as to the truth of the result vanishes ; and then — and no^ until
then — the height of embankment or depth of cutting, above the nick, or
saw-kerf, in the bench mark, should be properly painted in figures on the
post, say in red paint for cuttings, and in black or white for embankments.

When the length of the gradient is, in the first instance, chained out, pegs
should be driven into the ground occasionally where the rise or fall amounts
to a whole number; thus suppose a gradient of 1 in 3U0, a peg at 300
would show that the rise was 1 foot ; at 900 feet that it was 3 feet ; and
so on. The use of these pegs is to serve as a check upon the levels taken
for the widths, where an accumulation of small fractional parts of a fool,
individually too small for reading on the staff, and therefore neglected in
each chain's length, might amount to a serious multiplied error if carried
on ; and for distinction these pegs should be painted red.

Marking off flie Widths.

The first step, at this stage of the work, is to divide the entire length of
each gradient into spaces of one chain, or 50 feet each ; for these space.-^,
levels to determine the height of embankment or depth of cutting should
be simultaneously carried on with the chaining and measurement of the
widths. It is not uncommon that the surface of the ground is covered
with soil or grans turf, which is directed in the specification of earthwork
to be removed from the site of each embankment, and set aside and re-
served from each cutting before the embankments are begun, and to be
used subsequently in soiling the slopes, in forming mounds for the quick
fences, or to be disposed of to farmers or others. In calculating, therefore,
the quantities of earthwork in each chain's length (for it is presumed the
contract quantities will be computed from the level books, and not accord-
ing to the lazy method of scaling heights from a section), we must bear in
mind that the removal of this soil increases the quantity in every embank-
ment, and decreases the disposable number of cubic yards in every cutting ;
and the thickness of soil directed to be removed must be added to the
heights of embankment shown, as taken from the surface, in the level
books ; and must in the same way be subtracted from the depth of cut-
tings. For the widths, however, tlie existing surface must be worked
from.

We will now suppose then, that commencing at the beginning of a gra-
dient, a length of 50 feet has been measured along the centre line, the
spirit level set up, and a back sight to commencement, as well as a fore-
sight to the end, of the chain's length observed and entered on a level-
book, the form of which will be presently given.

The height of embankment, or depth of cutting, must be then calculated,
as already explained, for the value of C, and also entered on the level-
books. Half the width of the roadway must be measured off horizontally
on each side of the centre line, and at right angles to it, and also a space
for each slope corresponding to the value of C, multiplied by the ratio of
the slopes. A reading from the level staff, taken at each of these last
points, and entered on the level-book, completes the first part of the field
work.

The values of G, or inclination of the gradient, for the several distances
of 50 feet, should be very accurately calculated, and entered in the proper
column of the level-book in the office ; — and it is not sufficient that this
calculation be made for one distance and repeated; but the sum of the
inclinations for any number of separate lengths should correspond with the
inclinatioa for the whole length ; so as to correct any multiplication of

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

27:

minute errors from the necessary omission of small decimals. — For ex-
ample : On a gradient of 1 in SOO, the value of G for 50 feet would be
0'1666G, &c.; now, if we used 0'17 as the nearest approximation and
repeated it, we should obtain a total difference of 17 feet in one hundred
lengths of 50 feet ; whereas the correct difference for 5000 feet is 16 feet
8 inches. But if we take G, for the first two lengths as 0-17, and for the
third 016, and pursue the same alternation for the entire length, we shall
have a correct result. This will, it is hoped, be sufficient to show one
subject deserving of care. All the points laid out should be marked by a
nick in the ground ; but if such a mark is not very visible, small wooden
pegs must be employed.

The cross sections annexed exhibit what has been done so far, and what
there still remains to do.

-Embankment.

There has been determined, the height of embankment or depth of cut-
tingcc'; the width, measured horizontally, of roadway cd, cd', and for
slopes de, d'e' ; and the heights ch, fe, /',' have been taken. And there
remains to calculate, the horizontal addition to the widths for slopes e x on
one side, and horizontal deductions on the other side, e'x'. The properties
of the similar triangles cge, cxx, and of xxg, agd, afford a variety
of expressions for the distance at g- ; and in making a selection from them,
I have chosen that which requires the least quantity of field work, without
increasing the labour in the office.

The notation employed will be

Kg. 3.-

Form of Level Book to be

C, to represent the height of embankment, or depth of cutting.

r = the ratio of the slopes.

B=half the width of roadway, ac, or c d.

k = the height read off the staff at the centre, c h.

h'= the height read off at the edges of the slopes as first set out

that is/ < and/' e'.

Take H = A — A'. The expression then for the horizontal distance

(r-C' + B)H

gxia its general form is r.< i B „"
^ -r — — 11

r

In applying this formula we must pay attention to the essential signs of
H and — , as well as of C.

As already explained, the essential sign of H is positive when the ground
m cross section is rising, and is negative when it is falling; and the sign of

— is to be taken as negative in embankments, for the slopes fall from

the centre towards either side, — and as positine in ccttings, because the
slopes rw« in the same manner ; the sign by which the result is affected
will show whether it is to be added to, or deducted from the width already
set out for slopes.

The calculation of this formula is best performed in the office ; and the re-
sult in each case should be entered in the proper columns of the level-book,
to be set out on the ground on the next day devoted to field work, when the
marks indicating the spaces for slopes should be removed, and replaced
after the corrections.

It is recommended to use the ordinary slide rule in making the calcula-
tions—a modification, in the shape of two concentric circles of card board,
divided on the edge into a logarithmic scale, of which the circumference
of the smaller circle is the logarithm of 10, I have employed with much
satisfaction. The outer circle is laid down on a rectangular piece of card-
board, and divided from right to left ; the inner circle is a separate card,
cut exactly round its circumference, is divided from left to right, and is
moveable upon the rectangular card on its centre ; and all the calculations,
involving multiplication and division, are performed by inspection. The
smaller circle may convenintly be 3J or 3J inches in diameter.

I need not encumber the Journal with a demonstration of the simple
formula; I have given; the investigation may, however, prove an amuse-
ment to the younger members of the Profession, and to them it will be a
useful employment for half-an-hour. The only postulate is that the three
points, c, e, x, should be in one straight line lying in the plane of the cross
sections.

When the corrections to the widths for slopes are made which are due to
the inclination of the ground surface, we complete the work by adding the
necessary width for hedge and ditch, which should be measured off hori-
zontally ; this offers no difficulty.

When all the widths are measured off, the several lines are marked on
the ground by nicking it with a spade or grafting tool, or by running a.
light furrow with a plough over the several marks.

A convenient form of level book for entering the particulars, which
ought to remain on record, belonging to the setting out of the widths, has
been alluded to in a previous part of this paper. I annex a form of this
kind, and have inserted in it, the registry of a short length of r&ilway, suf-
ficient to offer a praxis, to those disposed to pursue the subject.
used for Setting out Widths.

Dist.
ance.

Feet.

Qra-
dienr

G

Centre Levels.

Value of C

•Ratio

of
'Slope

('

Horlic

ntal Widtlis.

Crosi Levels.

DilTereace of level

Corrections for Slopes.

No

H.

Left.

Riglit.

Remarks.

Back.
B

Fore
F

Cutting

Embnk.
ment.

Slope
rC.

R way.
B

r

Left.

Right.

Riae.

Fall.

Add.

Subtract

Add.

Subtract

0

0

0

4-12

10-5

1-5

15-75

15

10

2-22

1-9

3-15

Gradient rises

1

50

0-37

4-12

7-95

6-3

9-45

10

4-95

6-32

30

2-2

5-5

2-96

2-4 ft. in 320 ft.,
or 1 in 133.

2

50

0-38

7-95

5-97

86

12-9

10

5-27

9-85

0

1-9
0

0

0

2-53

3

50

0-37

5'27

11-50

2-00

3-0

10

13-4

7-97

2-7
1-9

2-45

3-53

4

50

0-38

5-5

10-12

3

2

6-0

15

7-5

10-12

10-2

1-3

0

0

0

0

2-25

5

50 0-37

4-88

9-71

8-2

16-4

7-5

6-91

12-42

2-8

2-3

4-75

3-77

6

50

0-38

9-71

11-23

101

20-2

8-53

11-41

2-7

1-7

6-38

3-81

7

20

0-15

11-23

12-98

12-0

24-0

9-73

13-93

3-2

2-7

5-5

4-67

320

14-58

1-6

3-4

iotal

2-4

58-66

68-76

10-5

12-0

1, Lancaster Place, Aug-ust I, 1846.

J. H.

36

278

THK CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Sept.

WESTMINSTER BRIDGE.

R(port of the Select Committee appointed to consider the present state of
Westminster Bridge, dated August 5, 1816.

The Committee having taken evidence on the subject of the present
state of Westminster Bridge, unanimously agreed to the following resolu-
tions and Report : — . u -r

Resolutions. I. That the majority of the witnesses who have been ex-
amined on the point concur in the statement, that the foundations of W est-
minster Bridge having been originally vicious, the bridge can never De
permanently sound.

II That the expense of completing the alterations and repairs now in
progress or coutemphition, according to contracts and designs ""fer the
superintendence of the bridge commissioners, will be very considerable,
amounting at the least to £70,000.

III That this expenditure will still leave the bridge in a state requiring
constant attention in respect to repairs, and without any certainty ot per-
manent security; while it will likewise leave the -a'er-way far less
adequate to the requirement of the navigation, particularly when the con-
^racVon of the stream by the embankment in front of the New Palace is
considered, than would be the case under a new bridge.

IV That, irrespective of the approaches, the expense of a new stone
brid-e near the site of the present bridge, and retaining the present bridge
fo temporary use. would not exceed £360.000, according to the highest of
the estimates for that object which have been furnished to the committee,
either in 1844, or in the present year.

V That the bridge estates would probably furnish a clear surplus of
at least £100,000. in aid of the funds for the erection of a "fw bridge

vT That Parliament having by direct grants from the Exchequer (the
remaining expenditure having been provided by money raised in loiter.es
under Arts of Parliament) furnished a large part of the expense of erect-
in-, originally the present bridge, and having constituted the commission
Lder which the said bridge was erected and has since been administered
and haliic by sec. 20 of the 9 Geo. 11. c. 29, declared, that the said
bridge shaU be exlra-parochial, and by sec. 21, that it shall not be a county
bridge, maintainable as such bridges are by county rates, has recognized
and Lnctiourd the principle that this bridge, which .s thus by '«; J-I^j^ded
from other support shall be maintained, and when needful, repaiied, re-
stored, and rebuilt, at the expense of the State.

VII That in these circumstances, a suffictent case has been made out
to iusti'fythis committee in recommending to the House, that the present
bri(b'e be pulled down, and that a new bridge be constructed ; and that a
bill be brou-ht into Parliament next session to transfer to the Commission,
ers of Her Majesty's Woods, &c., the estates and property of the bridge
commissioners/due consideration being had to the claims of the oSicers of
the bridge estates, if their services should be discontinued.

rteoort —The practical question which the committee had to decide, in
relation to Westminster bri.lge, was, whether, under all the circumstances
of the case, it were or were not desirable to endeavour to maintain the
existing fabric of the bridge, or, on the other hand, to pull it down at once,
and to substiiute an entirely new bridge. . r j

n e result of the inquiiy instituted in the session of 1844, and referred
to this committee, proved unquestionably, that, without relerence to money
(i. e. assuming that the pecuniary means were forthcoming) "^^y ^o"^"'-
eration of the convenience of the passage under and over ^'e bridge and
even of economy when the expense of the maintenance of the existing
structure is regarded, combined to recommend the removal of the old
bridae, and the erection of a new bridge. ,. , ^ „,

It was Slated in substance by several witnesses examined in that year,
that the foundations of Westminster bridge were originally defective , and
therefore that the superstructure could never be made as eflect.vely secuie
as it the whole were now rebniU on an improved plan.

Evn irrespective of the particular vice of the foundations, the charac er

of the soil on which the bridge is built was suthcieutly illustrated by the

late Mi: Telford, in the following passage describing one of h.sown opera-

tiuns on the site : " I then proceeded to ascertain the nature of the matter

of wluch lie bed is composed, and on which the piers rest; and I found

"hatan iron rod was easily pressed by hand through sand and gmvel, to

the depth of six and a half feet below the surface of the bot om of the

r ver, or three and a halffeet below the bottom of the platform ; how much

lower a longer rod might have penetrated I had not an opportunity of try-

„"•■ \nd as to the foundations, James Walker, Esq. C.E., who was at

the time, and still is, the professional adviser of the bridge commissioners,

stated 11 1844, ' All the defects of the bridge have arisen from the imper-

ect foundation of the piers." In his original report '» 'h'L'o™'"'^ '""^/i

of Westminster bridge, seven years before, namely, 2bth February 1837,

Mr Walker alter having stated "that for every useful and ornamental

purpos: a new bridge would be preferable, if the funds will justify the

expense," proceeded to slate the facts and reasons vvhich led to =»"•'' con-

elusion nLely, "that the |.iers of Westminster b"dge w^'^e built in

caissons, wuhout bearing piles under them; that the bed o the river for

a considerable depth under the caissous. is loose gravel ; and that the

eilect of the removal of the piers and dams of London Bridge is to increase

tiie velocity ot the ebbing current, and to deepen the channel between the

piers, and thus to endanger the foundations." After the experience of
Dine more years, Mr. Walker, reviewing the whole case and being re-
quested to state his opinion as to '^/perfect stability of the existing fabric
o( the bridge" says, on the 19th of May, 1846, " After that bridge h.s
sunk and twisted about m the way it has done, from the commencement of
its building to the present time, I have seen enough of it not to risk any-
thin.. like a professional opinion upon it,' , e. its perfect stability. . .. I
feel with reference to Westminster bridge, that it is like a patient whose
constitution I did not make, which has been in the hands of doctors from
the day it was built to the present time." Mr. Walker added, indeed, on
the same day, " 1 do not think that there is any reasonable expectation of
anything like a sudden failure of the bridge that would cause public dan-
ger; but when it is considered what an immense stake there is in the case
of any accident happening to the bridge, to be set against he '^king of the
thing Ldly in hand, and making a complete job of 't /t once to „ e an
expression common with us, I must say, as I have said from the begin-
ning hat it is Lthing but a deference to the Lords of th. Treasury which
won d in my mind make it politic at all to expend a great deal of money
upon the repair of the old bridge." Mr. W fubitt, C L , stated in 18i7
in his report, "It .Iso appears from the history of Ihi. bridge that the
oundat!ons,'as at present existing, were designed and - -1» ^^ ^^ "-^
smaller piers, with a light wooden superstructure for a bridge; which plan
was af envards changed to that for the present stone bridge, and carried
into effect upon the original foundations, by casing or ^■'■"S out '^.e pie^»,
and surmounting them with heavy stone arches. Lnder these circnm-
stances, it is not surprising, as was stated in a contemporary work, which
describe the erection of the bridge,-that, " before the bridge vvas evea
finished viz in 1747, the third pier from the centre, viz. the hfth from the
Westminster shore, began to sink ; so that the two arches which rested on
t d pa;"d from th'eir circular figure, and some of their ?"-?=';'»-/
fell into the water." (Gephyralogia, 1751, p. 111). The remedy applied
n he first instance, according to that authority was, to lay such a weig t
on the pier as to sink it gradually to the level where ■'"?'>' fi"d^f
Accordingly, a weight " amounting to 12,000 tons" was laid on the sink-
fng pie, Ipparently to sink it lower; and it "continued sinking several-
months Lfter the weight was laid on." Three whole years was the use of
this noble structure retarded by this accident, pp. 111-13. it '^ 'r"e.
however, as the late Mr. Telford observed, in a memorable repo t wh. h
he addressed to the commissioners of Westminster bridge, on ihelilU
Mav 1823 that "the dangerous instability of the piers of AV estmins ter
bridge seems to have passed into oblivion." It is true, ^l^^'-'^f'' •/*''"
Walker observed in his evidence, that, "in the '='>''''<' ''..ZlLo'dol
fabric had come to a stale of repose, comparatively, until oU London
br dge was removed, the eilect of which was to ^^?''l''Z"-Z\'''ZJerl
tidalcurrent. This deepened the ground under the bridge and the pier,
being thus deprived partly of lateral support, and some of he fine and
also getting from under the caisson bottoms, they began to be restless

''^Tbe cause of the original failure in 1747 was the omission of driving
pills under the piers ; but the miserable economy "f^Yt 'to'be'th—u
sand pounds, for which Mr. King (whose name ought to be there"pou
preserved in honour) oflVred to execute the work, P^.^''^^'^,' f,rf(j
was " not one part in GO or 70 of the whole expense of 'h^ b"dge (Ge
vhiiralo'rm pp 96, 97). Hence, the first faduie ; and hence all the sub-
^e^uent°wea'kl;ess;s of the struc'ture, and the enormous expense of make-

shift repairs. lu n „-

When engineers like the late Mr. Telford and the present Mr. Walker
suggest a remedy for an evil, occuring in the line of their own professiou
Tnf fn n'a te" d'aily under their eyes, those who have not 'l-e advantage of
their science and experience ought to be slow '" P™""""^?, ^° °P'^^~d
favourable a priori to any suggestion so made. Mr Td o^d ■^^!';7"\',"„^?J
that, as piles had not been originally driven under the PerSP'le should
be driven round the piers, using the d.ving-bell for P ac.ng hem and cut
ting them. A number was done in this way ; but even those tha were
done did not seem quite at rest; and the commissioners, f^rom the expen^se,
uncertainty, and delay with which the operation "''.^/"^"'^f,'^' ^™:
before I was called in" («aid Mr. Walker in his evidence) o have n^^
solved, for a time at least, not to enclose any >>'ore of the p eis -n the way
I have described." Then came the system of coffer-damm.ng^ M> de
cided opinion is that cotlei-damming is the best plan : and that P'^n « -'S
thereupon adopted; but while "r. Walker discontinued Mr. lelfords
useof the diving-bell, and did not concur in Mr. Cubuis pan of paving
"hebedof .l.erfver,Mr.Cubitt, on the other '-"<»,. eq-'f,,-"~f.
the use of colierdams in the case of Westminster bridge ; s'*' "S f '="""
ly " That in the case of Westminster bridge, ''^e'.r.g.ual construction and
p^resent state of the foundations are such as wdl ^''[^t . r.^ei
dam plan being carried in.o effect with safety to the bridge, " « je
go"nded certainty of asuccessful result" between these tvvo d'scordiu t
Lthorities, the commissioners made their election, a»d »?;,'? edMy;;,.
ker's plan of cofler damming, and in the course of the following year
tered into contracts for completing it. _

It is due, however, to both gentlemen to state that, even m 1837 mey
each recommended a new bridge, if the pecuniary means ««"'^ ^f,^ ^J^J
in preference to any attempt to repair the old structure, f "^"j;! I'^^'j';^.
" l^iat there is no doubt but a new bridge would cure all the ev Is com
plained of." And Mr. Walker enumerated those consideration which
"would probably turn the balance in lavour of the new bridge. At a

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

279

later period, the committee of 1844 received from that gentleman this fur-
tlier statement : " Without hesitation I say there is no art that can make
the piers of this bridge so secure as I could have made a new one."
Nevertheless, upon a review of all the case, he added : " I did not doubt
as to the security of the whole superstructure. When I say this, I must
at the same time allow, that the sinking which has taken place in the 17-
feet east pier, after the water was admitted within the coB'er-dam, is a
drawback." meaning, of course, the only drawback, " which has at all
raised a doubt on my mind ;" a sinking, be it remembered, which has gone
down nine inches, and has left that pier three inches out of the perpen-
dicular: "but ever since last October that pier has been, as every other
part of the brid^je has been, perfectly motionless : and therefore I have
reason to think that the cause which created that movement in the 16 and
17-feet piers is at an end, and that these also are secure." At this time,
the 16-feet pier had gone down two inches, and the 17-ft. pier nine in.:
" all the piers," indeed, " sunk a little during the operation of driving the
piles."

The confidence, however, or to use Mr. -Walker's wordsin another place,
** My faith, which amounted to conviction previously." {i. e. to the sinking
in October, 1S13), " was somewhat shaken" by that sinking; but he adds,
" it is proper also to say, that my confidence has revived, by the entire
freedom from all movement since that tiaie," viz. up to the date at which
he was then speaking, 10th June, 1844. If, however, the confidence re-
vived solely because the piers had ceased to sink, it must, of course, die
again when they again begun to sink. And this is the fact. The sinking
has begun again; and, though in no one week considerable, or indeed ob-
eervable except by very nice tests, yet the aggregate sinking in the course
of mauy weeks becomes perceptible to the eye; and above all. as it is pro.
gressive, must, at some period, terminate in the destructiou of certain por-
tions of the bridge, even if it do not endanger the whole fabric. So early
as 1837, Mr. Walker's recommendation to the commissioners, as already
seen, had been to build a new bridge, if the funds could be obtained. On
the 7lh May, 1845, he stated to the commissioneis, still more strongly, —
** to the reasons I then gave for recommending the new bridge, there is to
be added the bad foundation which has caused the sinking in the two
piers ; for even half an inch in two years is enough to prove the want of
perfect stability, and to weaken that confidence which I ought to feel in
order to justify my recommending an outlay of £100,000, in addition to
the £90,000 already expended. 1 have before staled, that all the othe
piers, which have been finished, are secure ; but two piers on the Surrey
Bide next to the defective piers, remain to be coder-dammed round and,
piled ; and if the sand under those two be of as loose a nature as those
adjoining, they may cause further trouble and expense. Should they re-
quire to be taken down, the difference between the partial plan" (i. e. con-
tinuing the system of repairs) " and the entire renewal" (i.e. the removal
of the old bridge and the construction of a new bridge) ** will be consider-
ably lessened." The causes which induced Mr. M alker to recommend a
new bridge in 1837 and in 1844 and in 1845, have not ceased to operate.
The sinking in the 17-feet pier since the 7th May, 1845 to the 19th May,
1846, has been 1 J inch, and in the 16feet pier about 1^ inch ; and it con-
tinues in both. 15y the report of Messrs. Walker and Bulges to John
Clementson, Esq., Secretary to the bridge commissioners, dated 20th July,
3846, those gentlemen state that they have this day taken the levels of the
piers of Westminster Bridge, and have to report a further sinking of
fjths of an inch in the 17-feet east pier, and ^th in the 16-feet east pier,
since their report of the 6th instant." [6lh July, 1846.] They go on to
say, " The movement of ^ths of an inch in the 17-feet pier is double what
-we have had occasion to report for a considerable time. The continued
sinking in the two piers has affected the stones of the 72-feet arch which
rests upon them, an open joint being perceptible in the soffits between two
of the courses near the crown, and one of the south-face stones having
dropped down about half an inch." Messrs. Walker and Burges concur,
accordingly, in the statement, " that a way or thoroughfare over the river
at Westminster, consistently with the safety of the public, can be best
secured (or perhaps we ought now to say can be secured only) by a tem-
porary bridge ; and that no time should be lost in proceeding with it."
More than a month earler (11th June, 1846), Mr. George Rennie gave, in
substance, the same opinion, namely, that no time should be lost in making
ariangemeuts for the construction of a new bridge ; and being asked,
** Might not the present bridge serve as a temporary accommodation while
another bridge is being constructed ?" he replies, " It might;" but he adds,
" with all the chance belonging to it."

It is true that Mr. William Cubilt, the contractor, whom your committee
felt it to be their duty to call as their first witness, inasmuch as the pro-
gress of the New Palace was a matter, as has already been observed, of
comfort and convenience to the two Houses of Parliament only, whereas
the safety of the bridge was of paramount importance to hundreds of
thousands of the Queen's subjects, stated in answer to the second ques-
tion, " 1 do not appreheuJ the bridge to be otherwise than safe." • • " I
do not mean by that, that it is in a state of perfect stability ; that there
may not be from time to lime slight settlements in it : bui I am very
strongly of opinion that no settlement will ever take place to a degree that
should endanger the public safely."

The same witness, indeed, had stated in 1844, that he thought the bridge
may last for two or three centuries ;" " that the bridge, W/th a very mode-
rate repair from time to time, is captible of carrying the piildic sufely for
centuries to come ;" and he added, accordiugiy, " I know uo reason why
it should be pulled down."

On (he extent, however, of the knowledge of the witness as to the facta
connected with Westminster Bridge, it is due to the other gentlemen who
gave a very opposite opinion, to slate, that Mr. W. Cubitt, being asked
whether he can state the depth of the river at Westminster Bridge now, as
compared with its depth before the removal of old London bridge, an-
swered, " I cannot ;" and being further asked, " Have you ever understood
that it has already (1844) deepened as much as five or six feet? ' replied,
" I have never hard such a thing : if that has been stated, it can only be
in one particular place, where, from some cause or other, there has been a
gullying out by a peculiar current:" and when again asked, " You are
not, however, aware of the depth which has been given to the river by the
removal of old London bridge ?" he replied, " I am not aware of it ; but I
am pretty sure that it has not given an average of 18 inches." The com-
mittee understood, of course, that in this answer Mr. W. Cubitt was
speaking at the time of the locality in question, namely Westminster
Bridge, and not of the Thames at Staines or Walllngford ; and therefore
proceeded to put the following question : ■' You conceive that anything
less than an average of five or six feet would not endanger the security of
the sheet-piling round the piers, by which they are surrounded?" to which
Mr. W. Cubitt answered, " I rather hesitate in giving the precise line : if
it came to five or six feet I should begin to feel uneasy, if I was sure it
ever came to that." It appears, by sections of the river taken by Mr.
George Rennie, and laid before this committee, as furnishing a very curious
and interesting view of the changes produced by natural causes in the bed
of the river, that between 1823 and 1835, the river, 50 feet below West-
minster Bridge, had deepened between six and seven feet ; proving the
tendency of the river to "engineer for itself," to use Mr. Page's expression,
to a greater degree than was previously anticipated; and this measurement
near Westminster Bridge proves that the very case had happened which
as Mr. W. Cubitt stated, would have made him " begin to feel uneasy,"
namely, that the bed of the river had there deepened at least five or six
feet : it fact, it has done more, inasmuch as, " by a longitudinal section of
Westminster Bridge which appeared in Appendix 15, G. 1, to the Report
on the Thames Embankment, and upon which," said Mr. George Rennie
in his evidence, " 1 have coloured by a dark line the existing bed of the
river in May 1846, it will be seen that the sixth and seventh piers from
the Surrey side have their fouudations exposed eight or nine feet."

On the whole subject of the effect which the deepening of the river or
any other cause may have had iu unsettling the foundations of Westmin-
ster bridge, and consequently its superstructure, the committee feel it to
be their duty to recal two circumstances to the attention of the House:
first, the settlements which did take place in the autumn of 1843, which
as already noticed, caused the bridge to be closed and shut up for car-
riages during a portion [of the winter following; and secondly, that the
favourable answers already quoted as to the stability of the whole struc-
ture, depend on the assumption that the whole structure is to be subjei:ted
to the same process and system of repair which has already been applied
to parts. Now, the amount of the contract — remaining so to complete the
repairs — was, in 1844, £52,870, together with a lurther sum of £40,000
to make the bridge of the same width as London bridge. This aggregate
of £92,870 was therefore necessary, in 1844, according to the then views
of the commissioners, to the repairs of the existing bridge ; aud might have
been saved accordingly, and made applicable to the construction, in part,
of a new bridge, if the repairs had been then discontinued, and if a new
bridge had then been substituted.

In addition to this, it must never be forgotten, that Mr. W. Cubitt being
the contractor for the works commenced in 1838, gave evidence as strong
as that of any other witness, on the question of the original vice of the
foundation. In 1844, he referred " to the original defect in the surface of
the foundation ;" adding, " I mean that it never was correct and proper."
"There was one pier which had always been called the sunken pier; that
was the one they were obliged to uuload when the bridge was first built.
Then these two other piers in the bridge which were called sinking piers:
they had that name given to them because they had been in the habit of
sinking more than others." And being asked, in reference to a subsidence
of nine inches in one of the piers, whether such subsidence shakes his
belief in the future stability of the foundation, he replies, " 1 always had
au impression that the bridge would be liable to sink a little;" and being
further asked, whether, " When you say ' a little,' do you consider nine
inches a great or a small subsidence ?'' ue replies, " I consider nine inches
to be a great deal ; but with reference to an arch of that form aud with
stones of that thickness, it is of very little importance with regard to the
safely of the bridge." While, however, Mr. W. Cabitt states, that, so far
as the original defectiveness of the foundation is concerned, tlie bridge is
sufficiently stable for all purposes for which it is required, that no disaster
ever can accrue by which the public would be damaged from that cause,
he does not retract his preceding opinion, "that the bridge always must
be an imperfect structure" in reference to the mode in which it was built •
and, though be may contradict the opinion of others, he cannot gaiusav
the fact, that the bed of the river has been gradually deepening, and the
foundations of the bridge abraded aud laid bare in co;!stquence ; and the
committee feel, that if this be so, Westminster bridge cannot he "as stable
as it ought to be.

The very remedies, indeed, which have been applied to strengthening
the foundations of the piers may in fact ha\e loostced them, by loosening
the ground on which they rested. Even so early as the 16th of May,
1823, the late Mr. Telford himself admitted, in reference to bis own sug-

36'

280

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Sept.

eestionof sheet-piliDg, " I believe I did not sufficiently explain that by
driving piles through loose sand and gravel, that the matter is always dis-
turbed, and, during the operation of driving, liable to be washed away,
and of course produce more risk to the piers than if left undisturbed.
And iMr. \V. Cubitt being asked, as the contractor engaged on the ^^■urk,
" Can you stale to the committee whether it be or be not the fact, that
every pier, as has been alleged, with only one exception, sank, more or
less, after the sheet-piles round it to secure the bottom of the caissons from
being underwashed by the general deepening of the river, were driven ?''
Iklr.W. Cubitt replies, "they have not all sunk;" and being thereupon
reminded " The question implies that one was an exception; do you wish
the committee to understand, that all the piers, with one exception, have
sunk more or less since the piles were driven ?" Mr. W. Cubitt answers,
" I am not prepared to state positively that they may not all of tbem
have sunk a Utile. I am not quite sure but that they may have sunk an
inch or half an inch, or some very slight thing ; but one of them sank nine
inches, and another sank two inches." And as to the future, Mr. W.
Cubitt bad already stated his previously formed opinion, that the bridge
was not in any part of it in a state of perfect steadiness ; that it might
always be liable to subside a little, from the defect of the foundation."

The result of the whole question connected with this species of repair
is slated by Mr. Walker in answer the question, " Do you think that the
tiridge will now be brought to a state of as perfect security and stability
as a new bridge, if you were called upon to construct it?"—" Certainly
not" And in answer to the next question, "Do you think that by any
resources of your professional art, this bridge can be brought into a state
of perfect stability and security as compared with a new bridge?" Mr.
Walker replies, " Without hesitation, I say, there is no art that can make
the piers of this bridge so secure as I could have made a new one." It is
right, however to add, that Mr. Walker staled, in his examination this
session, " Ihat the measures which had been adopted had been completely
successful in preventing any further movement in six of the piers: * ^ *
there has been no movement since" (i. e. since the 7th of May, 1845,) "in
any of the piers, except the two I have already referred to." Neverthe-
less, in answer to the question, " Are you, or are you not of opinion, that
with a due regard to the public convenience, and to avoid danger, arrange-
ments should be made, without loss of time, for building a new bridge?"—
INI r. Walker's answer is distinct : " Certainly, without reference to money,
I say ' Yes.' "

As to the mere durability of the bridge, by which the committee under-
stand ihe perfeclness of the masonry both in the arches and in the piers,
excluding always the question already discussed as to the stability of the
foundation, there appears no reason to doubt the accuracy of Mr. Walker's
opinion : "There is no part of the work which will not last for ages;'
but a qualification to this opinion must here be given on Ihe authority of
Mr Walker himself, who, in 1837, stated as follows:— " From the piers
being intended originally to carry a wooden bridge, and being cased round
when a stone bridge was resolved to be substituted, and from the very had
quality of the masonry, the superstructure never can be made a very secure
and solid work ," and even admitting Ihe superior accuracy of his later
opinion, when, during the interval, be had had fuller opportunites of ex-
amination in relation to the durability of the superstructure of the bridge,
it is obvious that this admission does not at all establish the expediency of
maintaining the present bridge so long as Ihe first and main question, as
to Ihe sufficiency and stabiliiy of the foundations on which the structure
rests, remains in a stale so unsatisfactory as at present.

It was not contended in 1844 that the bridge was then in a " perilous'
state- Mr. Walker expressly repudiated the word; and, even before the
new system of repairs, he had sUted, " that the bridge is not in immediate
danger;" and W. Cubitt, Esq., the civil engineer (and not the gentleman
of the same name, who is Ihe contractor for the bridge), being asked, in
reference to the state of the bridge when the repairs should be completed,
" Your conclusion is, that the bridge will be an insecure bridge ?" replied,
" A very doubtful one." " You will not say it will be an insecure bridge? '
—"No" He had been previously asked, " Do you regard it possible,
with any talent and any expenditure of money, to make Ihe foundations of
Westminster bridge as secure, under existing circumstances, as the founda-
tions of a new bridge could be?" replies, " Certainly not." Mr. Cubitt,
C E further states, that " from what I have seen, 1 would rather build a
new bridge than spend more money upon this, seeing it has done exactly
what 1 cxpecied it would do when I made my report in 1837. My opinion
is that it IS best not to go on spending a great sum of money to repair and
w'iden and beauiify this bridge, which never can be good, either in its road-
way or in its foundations." Therefore, under all the circumstanres, the
hridge having proved to be too heavy for the nature of the clay it stands
upon It being very difficult to protect it without piling and paving, 1 say,
asanengineer, that the best thing is to dispense with all further repairs,
and make a new bridge. I said so before, and Mr. \\ alker said so also,
and I am confirmed in that by what has subsequently taken place." And
when asked in the next question, " You consider the only question to be
one of finance ? ' he replies, " Certainly ; the bridge is a mass of rubbish.
The piers and the masses of masonry and rubble were lirst built for a
wooden bridge, which was afterwards converted into a stone bridge, and
heavy arches were put upon ihat which was not more than strong enough
f..r a wooden bridge." * * The small piers were then cased round to
make ihem larger ; and springings were made for stone arches, and a very
biavy bridge was put on those foundations,"

Though Westminster bridge so constructed, — without piles and on the
imperfectly-levelled natural bed of the river, — did actually fail during its
construclion, yet, " after it was constructed, and the arches which had
failed were rebuilt, it stood for some 60 or 70 years unmoved." • " On
the removal of the dam caused by old London bridge, "a wider passage
was opened to the Thames, and the foundations of the arches underneath
Westminster bridge began to weitr away ; so much so, that they caused a
great apprehension of the bridge falling ; and from time to time they were
repaired by the diving-bell, and various other modes. Mr. Telford was
called on, and advised stones being thrown in ; and he advised also to pave
underneath the arches between the piers, so Ihat the bottom might not be
washed away. After his death, the commissioners did me the honour to
call upon me to advise them. I considered the thing, and felt quite aware
that disturbing the bottom would not be a good thing ; but that if we could
continue the bottom exactly as it always was, the bridge would stand the
same as it had done ; that there would be nothing to prevent it ; and to do
that, I propose to pave with large stones, two feet tliick ;" * • • •• to
pave a perfectly fiat floor down as low as the frames which form the foan-
dations, and have been carried into the soil." • • • " J proposed,
paving under the whole of the bridge, and 50 feet parallel along it, above
and below, so as to make a perfect stone pavement ; with such pavement
the bottom never could have washed away ; and without washing away,
the piers would not have fallen down."

A suggestion made by such an authority as Mr. Cubitt, C. E., is of
course entitled to Just attention ; but your committee, after bestowing that
attention upon it, feel bound to state two objections to it, which, in their
judgment, are insuperable. They relate to the effect of the plan upon the
navigation, and to its cost. The one may be conveyed in the admission of
Mr. Cubitt himself — " The only disadvantage (if disadvantage it can be
called) of this plan is, that it limits the depth of the navigation under the
bridge to the level of the stone paving; but as this would be greater, by
about three feet, than originally existed, and till after the removal of the
old London bridge, I imagine that no complaint could arise on that head."
• • The answer to this observation is, that those concerned with
the state and probable condition of Westminster bridge have to deal with
Ihe river, and its actual depth in 1846, and not with its depth in 1823; and
must not forget that if the river has deepened under the arches, say six
feet, the proposed plan of raising a pavement of something like three feet,
would take away a depth of three feet from the actual navigation. The
second objection is, that irrespective of all repairs to the bridge; and leav-
ing that bridge as it is, the probable cost of the paving would, in Mr. Cu-
bitt's own opinion, be about £120,000. It is not necessary, therefore, to
pursue this subject.

Another remedy was proposed by another gentleman, Wm. Hosking,
Esq., architect and engineer, and professor of the principles and practice
of architecture in King's College, London. While he differed from other
witnesses on some important points, and specially in his belief that " the
present foundations might be rendered sufiicieuily secure to be entrusted
with a new superstructure, especially if the superstructure was not an
unnecessarily heavy one," he concurred with almost all in the opinion that
the present bridge cannot be made " permanently available," to use his own
words, " without the bar or weir I have spoken of, which I consider to be
an absolute essential to the security of the existing foundations." Now,
inasmuch as the bar or weir in question is, in the judgment of the same
witness, a necessary precaution " at the other bridges" also, as otherwise
"all the other bridges will be undermined as well as Westminster bridge,"
it ii clear that his remedy must be viewed in relation to the whole of the
river as it flows through the metropolis ; and irrespective of the objections
to which the plan, if ever adopted in any one breadth of the river, would
be liable as an obstruction to the navigation at that part (which, even Ihe
witness admits, " it certainly would not improve,"), and so on, wherever
adopted, the ultimate expense of making successive weirs above each
bridge would be obviously immense ; and the committee — to confine them-
selves to the consideration of this project in relation to Westminster bridge
alone, the immediate subject referred to them — cannot recommend any
further attention to it.

However wonderful as a structure Westminster bridge was regarded at
the time of its erection, and there is reason to believe that at that time it
was the longest stone bridge which covered water all Ihe year round, not
in England only but in Europe, Mr. Hosking expresses an opinion, in
which your committee fully concur," that a bridge, in every respect better,
would be produced at the present time by almost any man of moderate
ability, who is conversant with the subject."

On the general subject, both of the present state of the bridge and of
the expediency of subsistuting a new one, other professional gentlemen, of
the first character for skill and for experience, give evidence to the same
effect.

Mr. Rendel states, " I should be very indisposed to risk any professional
reputation upon giving to the present structure that permanent character
which is adverted to." — "The foundations are wholly different from the
foundations of any other bridges across the Thames." — "I do not believe
that any talent or any skill, or any application of that skill, could, at a
cost which 1 should call justifiable, give to the preseut bridge that security
which its importance demands."

Mr. George Kennie states, " I should decidedly condemn the old one
(the bridge), and recommend the expediency of its being taken down, re-
garding It us an engineering question entirely," — "Setting aside that (i.e.

1846- J

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECFS JOURNAL.

2»l

moncj), I should condemn the present bridge decidedly, and hare a new
bridge; not only Ihat, but you may be liable to very considerable further
repairs besides those at present contemplated ." - " 1 have no other observa-
tion to make, but that I consider it a great pily to devote that money to the
repairs of an old siruclure which might and ought lo be devoted to a new
one, on the ground of the insecurity of the present bridge, and that there
is no safe guarantee for the money laid out upon it being properly spent."
In bis evidence before the present committee, Mr. George Kennie stated
that he retained precisely the same opinion: " I think it would be throw-
ing away good money after bad to attempt to repair the bridge so as to
make it a permanent structure." The removal of from 20,000 to 30,000
tons, as slated by Mr. James Walker in 1844, in order to lighten the verti-
cal pressure upon the piers, by means of the abstraction of that material,
has, in Mr. George Rennie's judgment, not succeeded in preventing the
further subsidence. In fact, the further subsidence is stated distinctly in
the evidence of Mr. James Walker this session.

The committee could readily extract, for the more easy consideration of
the House, numerous other passages in the evidence of 1844; but they
have perhaps suflicieotly selected some of the most striking answers which
have been given to the inquiries made on the subject of Westminster
bridge ; and they leave the remainder, without further selection, to the at-
tention of the House, But they cannot conclude this collection of ex-
tracts from the evidence of 1844 without adverting to the fact, that the
witnesses who depose the most explicitly to the propriety of removing the
existing bridge are men of the highest engineering talent and experience
in the empire ; while the only witness, however excellent and respectable
in his profession, who gave in that year any testimony in favour of main-
taining the present structure, is the contractor employed to repair it.

Mr, Walker, while, as already stated, he repudiated the word "peril-
ous," as applied to the bridge, distinctly stated that the want of money for
a new bridge would alone induce him to propose the continuance of the
actual structure.

When examined in the present session, Mr. Walker admits Ihat, so far
as regards one of the piers, " My opinion of being able to make the bridge
perfectly secure, has not been a correct opinion, as far as it is shown
at present. There is to be set against that, the expense to which the
commissioners have been put, in repairing and strengthening the other
piers ; but, on the whole, my opinion is now, that, but for the question of
expense, the better way is, under all circumstances, referring to the im-
provement of the situation, the future stability of the work, the giving an
easier approach, an easier inclination, a wider bridge, a better water-way,
and an improved navigation by a smaller number of piers, the safer and
better course is to rebuild the bridge."

This answer well embodies the chief considerations which induced the
committee to recommend, by unanimous resolution, the removal of the ex-
isting structure, and the substitution of an entirely new bridge.

Other considerations, however, have not been without their weight on
the minds of the committee in the resolution which they adopted. The
traffic over Westminster bridge has greatly increased within the last few
years, " so much that it is difficult at times to get over it." It is obviously
immense. Sir James M'Adam stated, in 1844, that he had been directed
to cause lo be counted the number of horses which passed Charing-cross
annually, and Ihat it had been ascertained that it was 6,600.000 ; and
though there was no record of the proportion which passed over the bridge,
he added, " I consider that the larger proportion of that thoroughfare,
particularly the heavier carriages, passed over the bridge." It is stated
further in evidence, that the inclination of Westminster bridge was in 1844
probably greater than that of any bridge over a tidal river in England ; that
its inclination was, at its commencement, i. e. for a distance of 50 yards
at each end of the bridge, about 1 in 14^, and about 1 in 33 for the re-
mainder. It is true, that the inclination has been reduced since 1844, but
it has been reduced by the sacrifice of a quarter, at least, of the carriage-
way of the bridge. As a general principle, it is clear that the wear and
tear, both of the animals which draw a carriage on a steep inclination, and
ot the surface of such inclination itself, must be considerably greater than
on a level, or than on any road-way in proportion to its approach to a level.
When, in addition to this, it is recollected that, in the course of the system
of repairs recently adopted, and for the purpose of lightening the vertical
pressure on the bridge, such a mass of stone has been displaced as has
reduced the present surface of Ihe road by a depth of tive steps below the
footpath, on both acclivities, and that the carriage-way has thereby been
contracted about the width of a carriage, it is sufficiently evident, that
almost in the measure of the increase of the traffic has the accommodation
for its passage over the bridge been diminished,

When, further, it is recollected that the headway under the existing
Westminster bridge is lower than the headway under any of the bridges
in the metropolis, and until reaching Battersea, it is clear that, as favour-
ing the navigation of the river, it has no special claims to consideration.
New Bridge.

The committee of 1844, whose report has been referred tu the considera-
tion of the present committee, look evidence on the question whether in
the event of its being decided to pull down Ihe present structure, and lo
erect a new bridge, Ihe material should be of iron or of stone ; and if of
iron, whether in suspension or in Ihe form of arches ; and if of stone,
whellier of granite or what other material. And the committee, in the

present session, examined at some length bolh Mr. George Rennie and Mr.
J. Walker, on this general subject. The committee do not feel it necessary
either to analyze this evidence, or to come lo any formal conclusion on the
subject, except to recognise the two following propositions, namely, (1)
Ihat a suspension bridge, though aflbrding greater facilities to the naviga-
tion than any other form of bridge, is inexpedient; and (2) that irrespect-
ive of expense, a granite bridge is expedient. On the first point, Mr.
George Rennie compressed into one sentence the whole question: — "The
great inconvenience of suspension bridges is, that they are always at work,
that they are always in a state of degradation ; whereas, bridges by com-
pression are always in a state of equilibrium." The illustrations which
he gave will well repay Ihe attention of Ihe House. On the second point,
it is clear that, in proportion to Ihe strength of the material, may be its
thinness ; and a greater waterway can be afforded by an arch of granite
than by an arch of Bath stone. From this gentleman, from Mr. Walker,
from Mr. Barry, and from Mr. Page, the committee have received designs
for a new bridge, and have directed them to be lithographed. All have
great merit; and perhaps the one which possesses the least might, if it
stood alone, have satisfied every requirement. But Ihe committee do not
feel it within their province lo give any opinion on the relative value of
these productions. They do not, however, consider it to be inconsistent
with their duty to recall lo Ihe attention of the House a suggestion appli-
cable to the erection of all public works ; it was made lo Ihe committee of
1844 by a gentleman already cited, who appeared to have given par-
ticular attention to Ihe subject. The substance is slated in the next para-
graph.

Competition Designs. — On the mode by which competitioi might best se-
cure the application of the first talents to the production of the best designs,
and might thence enable some superior authority to select one from all, or
to combine different parts from two or more, Mr. Hosking stated as follows
(and the committee concur generally in his opinions) : — The essential mat-
ters should be defined by the proper authorities, in the first instance, and
before attempts are made to obtain designs. A specification of what is
required should then be made ; and this should be more or less particular,
as it may be determined either to fix a sum of money as the limit of ex
pense ; or, on the other hand, to receive designs with reference lo the object
and without limiting Ihe expense. Such a specification should be put into
the bands of a reasonable number of competent practitioners, with a
request that they would each make a design for the contemplated work in
accordance with the stated conditions. All the designs so obtained may
be examined and investigated with Ihe advantage of the presence of their
authors to explain what they may have intended, and to correct what may
be misunderstood. In this manner the best energies of competent men
would be applied lo the work, and it is probable Ihat the best result would
follow. * * * A general competition would end in general disap-
pointment ; • • • as none of the persons who would be recognized
as most competent, would send designs without being specially applied to
for them. * * • At Ihe lime London bridge was in contemplation,
advertisements were issued for designs, with offers of some three or four
premiums. Drawings were sent accordingly by 70 or 80 persons, and the
premiums were awarded to the three or four which were said to be the
best designs ; but not one of them was used ; they were immediately
thrown away, and a design was taken up which had not been in the com-
petition ; but which, indeed, had been in the hands of the bridge commit-
tee befurehand, and the author of which was already dead. The late Mr.
Rennie's design was executed. In order to avoid this apparent invidioDs-
ness and unfairness, and lo secure the real benefits of a competition among
competent men, the selection of Ihe architects and engineers should be
limited ; and each should receive a certain remuneration for the work
which he might send in. No man can afford to work for nothing. Every
design asked for should be paid for; and no one ought to be asked, either
directly or indirectly, lo make a design, unless it be intended to pay him
for it. If this system were adopted, the properly in Ihe designs so sent in
would belong thereafter to Ihe authority, by the directions of which they
had been sent in ; so that the good parts of one design might be accommo-
dated lo the good parts of other designs, and Ihe combined result of the
whole would be something superior to that of any one individual design.
This is one of the advantages from requiring designs from persons of known
ability, and paying for them, so that all the designs obtained may be turned
to account. Il is the parlies seeking designs, and who desire to derive
advantage from the application of many minds lo the same subject, that
are to be benefited ; and they who seek a benefit must be contented to pay
for it. It can never happen, but that in several designs for the same thing
there will be some points or parts in some of Ihe designs, other than that
which may be generally the best, better than the same points in the best
design. When all are paid for, all may be used; and the best design in a
" concurrence" may be greatly improved by the incorporation of the ex-
cellencies of the others.

Site of the New Bridge.
The House will observe Ihat Ihe committee, in their resolutions herein
adverted lo, have not pronounced any opinion as to the precise site of the
new bridge; but it is obvious that, while many considerations might be
urged for the removal even lo a distant position, other considerations, en-
titled to the highest attention, might be adduced in favour of the existing
line, or one in immediate juxtaposition to it. It has been suggested by a
high authority that it would be very desirable to remove the bridge to the
south of the Victoria Tower, thereby opening a more direct communicatioa

282

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Sept.

from the region of Belgrave-square to the right bank of the river, and
generally to Lambeth, Southwark, and London bridge, and the railway
termini now established in its neighbourhood, or hereafter to be so estab-
lished. It has been also suggested, as a consequence of such removal of
M'estniinster bridge, tliat a new bridge might be thrown over the Thames
at the east of Whitehall yard, with an access from Charing-cross, and
another access from the Horse Guards. But independently of the objec-
tion, more or less valid, of ilisturbiog the present traflic from Charing-cross
to the north, and from George-street, the rest of \t estraiuster, and the
parks to the west, the committee think it right to refer to the evidence of
Mr. Kendel in 1844 ; '■ I do not believe that there is a part of the Thames
better suited for a bridge, by which I mean a permanently founded bridge,
to stand upon, than the site of Westminster bridge." It is right to add,
that the approach to the actual bridge from the left, or Middlesex bank of
the river, is carried along Bridge-street, almost the whole of the property
on the north side of which is part of the bridge estates ; and therefore,
that a new bridge, on the existing site, would be erected with little sacri-
fice of that property ; and that a new bridge erected to the north of the
present structure, that is, further down the river, and at a better point of
view for regarding the New Palace, need involve no other sacrifice of the
bridge estates than that of the ten houses forming part of the north side of
Bridge-street, and without any considerable outlay in the purchase of the
other houses on the same side. In connexion with this consideration, it
was at one time assumed, that, though there was no prospect of perma-
nently preserving the present bridge, it might, nevertheless, continue avail-
able for the temporary passage over the river, while the new bridge was in
the course of erection in Juxta-position to it on the north. But Mr. Wal-
ker urged, in the spring of 1845, the erection of a temporary bridge as
even at that time desirable ; and he has urged it with increasing earnest-
ness in the course of the present examination. He estimates the first cost
of a temporary bridge, of which he has prepared a plan, at £40,000 ; and
he considers that a certain portion of that expenditure might be recovered
by the sale of the timber forming the materials of that temporary bridge,
when the new bridge should be opened ; and that the remaining portion of
the cost of such temporary bridge would be met by the value of the mate-
rials of the existing bridge, if used up ou the spot.

Estimate of New Bridge.
Your committee will now proceed to consider what means remain in the
hands of the commissioners of M'estminster bridge, in aid of the expense
of a new structure; and what, in the first instance, is the constitution of
the commission itself.

The management of Westminster bridge is in the hands of 94 commis-
sioners : 26 sit by virtue of their offices ; 57 by virtue of their seats in
the House of Commons, as representing the metropolitan counties ; and
11 sit as elected by virtue of the Bridge Act, 9 Geo. II. The annual
expense of that management, irrespective of the expense of repairs, is in
salaries :

£ s. d.
Treasurer . . . . 300 0 0
Clerk . . . . 40 0 0

Cleik of the Works . . . 140 0 0
Sir James M'Adam for "coating the
road," including a small sum to himself
for superintendence . . . 772 10 0
Police . . . . 169 10 0
Gas .... 65 0 0

1,487 6 0
The general expenditure in connexion with the bridge from the 5th of
April, 1810, to the present time, that is to say, to the quarter ending 5th of
July, 1846, has been £190,221 ISs. lOid. There is a further sum re-
maining due to Mr. W. Cubitt, under his contract ; and another sum due
to Mr. Walker in respect to his per-centage. Probably, if the account
could be closed at the date of this report, the aggregate charged and
chargeable upon Westminster bridge would not be less than £200,000
from the 5th April, 1810, to the Cth July, 1846.

The sum actually expended is distributed over three periods : I. From
the 5th April, 1810, to 5lh April, 1838, when the commissioners began
their great system of repairs and alterations in the structure and founda-
tions of the bridge. II. From the 51h April, 1838, when that great system
may be held to have commenced, to the 5th April, 1844, which may be
taken as the period when the attention of a committee of the House of
Commons was called to the question of the expediency or inexpediency of
continuing that system. III. From the 5th April, 1844, to the 5tb July,
1846, namely, from about the period when the said committee concurred
in the expediency of con, inning the system of repairs, and thereby encou-
raged the commissioners to proceed therein, to the period when the present
committee, on a review of all the circumstances which had occurred up to
the 15th July, 1846, unanimously, on that day, recommended the removal
of the existing bridge and the erection of a new bridge.
The sum for the repairs under the old system,

and for management, &c. was for the first £ s. d.

period 83,097 6 9i

The sum for the repairs under the new system,
and for management, &c. was for the second

period 81,341 16 8

And for the third period .... 25,782 12 o

190,221 15 li)i

In addition to this sum, in addition to the two items which remain
chargeable upon the bridge estates for work already done, and for the per-
centage upon it, it must always be remembered that, in order to complete
the great system of repairs commenced in 1838, two, at least, of the piers
remain to be included in that system, at an expense proportionate to that
of the others, and the widening of the bridge 12 feet to make it equal in
width to London Bridge, that is to say, building a bridge 12 feet broad, in
union wilb the existing bridge, on its south side, at a cost of £40,000, the
aggregate of all which was stated by Mr. \\ alker, the professional adviser
of the bridge commissioners, at £100,000, about the time when the works
generally were discontinued on the bridge ; namely, in the early summer
of 1845.

The House will observe that the committee in their resolutions took the
sum remaining to complete the repairs, and which might be saved and
applied to a new bridge, if those repairs were discontinued, at no more
than £70,000 ; they also took the amount which might be raised on the
credit of the bridge estates, in aid of the fund for erecting a new bridge,
at no more than £100,000 ; — in both cases preferring to understate rather
than to overstate the facts on which their recommendation has been found-
ed ; — but, as they have placed on record the evidence, parole and docu-
mentary, which they received on the general subject, — the excess of charge
which might remain to be incurred if a new bridge were not built, and the
excess of assets, above the amount which they have been willing to take as
available for a new bridge, if such new bridge be built, \\M be open to
the judgment of the House.

The commissioners began the works with an amount of £51,124 19s. 6d.
in the funds, and a cash balance of £4,299 Os. lOJd., being the accumula-
tions of their income above their expenditure. Since that time, besides
the expenditure of their current income, sales have been made, in order
to provide for the repairs which they had undertaken. These sales have
reduced the capital to £10,000 Consols, giving an income, after deducting
the properly tax, of £291 5s. The value of their estates was estimated
by their architect and surveyor, Philip Haidwicke, Esq., in 1843, at
£172,521.

The aggregate of this sum, and of the funded property, might almost
have suiHced, according to some of the plaus before the committee of 1844,
to build a new bridge ; or if not, at all even's to have required but a com-
paratively small sum from the public Exchequer in order to complete the
whole structure, as well as the approaches, of a new bridge.

It is right to recollect that the case of bridges in the metropolis differs
widely from the case of those in the counties of the empire ; not only in-
asmuch as all the Queen's subjects have a common interest in their resort
to her capital, and a share in the fame which its aggrandisement rellects
ou all her dominions ; but specially, because, perhaps from this cause, the
State did, in fact, erect the only bridge which for centuries existed in
London; and in the last century did create, directly and indirectly, by
grants from the Treasury and by money raised by lotteries, the very fund
from which the present Westminster bridge was actually itself builtaiiun-
dred years ago. If, therefore, it be said, that the nation does not erect
bridges in the county towns of England, or did not erect the other existing
bridges in the metropolis, it may be replied, that the case of Westminster
bridge, built in a large part by annual votes from the Treasury, stands on
difi'ereot and now exclusive grounds ; that the structure has been adopted
by the nation ; and that when Parliament enacted, — see 9 Geo. II., c. 29,
s, 20, — that it should be extraparochial, and should not be a couuty
bridge, chargeable either to Middlesex or Surrey, — see same Act, s. 21, —
it sanctioned its claim to be national, and to be sustained at the expense of
the empire.

The expense however of a new bridge, if a new bridge shall be deemed
essential, will not, as alreudy shown, necessarily fall on the State exclu-
sively. It was calculated in 1S44 that a sum of £172,521 could be raised
on the credit of the bridge estates, irrespective of a comparatively small
amount of funded properly then in the hands of the commissionei's: and
even deducting from the number of their houses, those which would be
required for the completion of a most magnificent approach on the West-
minster side, if that site should be adopted, and indeed on the Surrey side
also, there will still be left, in addition to the balance of the fuuded pro-
perty, enough to raise at least ±;100,000

Resolution of Committee. — In this slate of things, the committee felt
themselves justified in coming to the resolution which on the 15th of July
they adopted unanimously, — That it is expedient that the present bridge be
pulled down, and that a new bridge be constructed ; and it is further ex-
pedient that a Bill be brought into Parliament next session to transfer to
Her Majesty's Commissioners of Woods, ic. the property of the bridge
commission; just consideration being had to the claims of those officers of
that commission whose services should be discontinued.

Partial Dkstkuction of the New Locks at Bristol. — By the

pressure of the high spring tide, on the nigfat uf August i^tti, at CumberlaDd basin, the
extensive works now- in progrsss by the dock compacy, with a view to widenhig tlie
soutbero entrace lock sulaciently to ndmit of the ingress to the port of vessels of the ca-
pacity of the Great Western ai'd Great Briiaiu, were seriously iujured. In order to
admit of the necessary excavations and ercLtions, the tlow of the tide had to be kept out
of the lock in question, and this was sought to be effected in the usual way, by driving
double rows of piles and loading the interstices, so as to form po\ver.*'ul dams.

18 iS,]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

283

ON THE PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION OF THE ENGINEER
AND ARCHITECT, THE BUILDER AND MACHINIST.

The Classes of Architecture and Engineering at University College,
under Professors Donaldson and Harmau Lewis, closed on the 15th of
June. The distribution of prizes, of which we were compelled last month
to defer the notice, took place ou the 1st July as follows :

In Architecture. — First year's course in Fine Art : Prize and First Cer-
tificate to J.Benwell; Second Certificate to F. Lawrence (see below).
First year's Class as a science : Prize and First Certificate to G. P. Boyce
and F. Lawrence, equal (see below) ; Second Certificate to B. J. Benwell
(see above). Second year's course : Fine Art Prize and First Certificate
to John Pollard Seddon ; Second Certificate to W. Wood Deane (see
below) Second year's course as a science : Prize and First Certificate to
J. G. D. Allasou ; Second Certificate to W. Wood Deane (see above).
In Engineering:. — Prize and First Certificate to F. Lawrence (see
above); Second Certificate to — IVlackenzie.

The advantages of the courses of instruction followed at this Institution
must be obvious to every one. It has hitherto been too much the practice
for young men in this country, in almost every department of professional
knowledge except the medical, to neglect a systematic elementary course
of education, and to rely upon the experience of actual practice to carry
them through their arduous career. 'The consequence has been that men
of an inferior rank in society, moved by greater energy of purpose, more
self denying habits and activity of mind, have devoted their spare hours to
master the elementary branches ; and thus having fitted themselves for
great undertakings, have stepped forward and acquired reputation and
wealih, while their more genteelly connected competitors have been thrown
in arrear by the weight of the more solid acquirements of the humliler
aspirants. Nay, we feel assured, that if, in the inferior ranks of construc-
tion and mechanical science, those connected with such pursuits as build-
ings and machinery would make themselves acquainted with the element-
ary principles of science, their inventive genius would receive greater
development, obstructions would be more readily overcome, and they
would find less difficulty in giving reality to their conceptions. In every
dep^riment of knowledge there is now a great advance, and those, who
wish to succeed in the contest for wealth and fame, must piepare them-
selves for the struggle by their superior attainments. The student, the
apprentice, the mechanic, the foreman, the clerk of the works, niay, iu
such courses as these, learn to regard their pursuits in a methodical system
of instruction and reasoning. Commencing from first principles and mas-
ters of ihe elements, they proceed to the consideration of their applicaliou.
The choice of materials, their applicability and adaptatation for economic
purposes, are brought before them ; a wide and comprehensive view of
the world of science is opened ; they acquire the habit of reasoning with
precision and of a systematic consideration of objects; they have explain-
ed to them, in addition, the finest examples ; they learn the history and
progressive development of invention, with the names and characters of
the most illustrious men ; they are also made acquainted with the value
and importance of the best scientific liteiary works. They are thus tho-
roughly grounded with a fund of knowledge, which the hurry of subse-
quent practical life forbids their ever acquiring, and which they canuot
gain in the oflice of the professional man. It were idle to suppose that
this system can supersede the knowledge to be gained under the architect,
engineer, or builder ; but it completes, at all events, the practical experi-
ence acquired on the works of the master: and the education of the young
roan being perfected by tiiis combination, he is enabled to follow up his
pursuit, the matured and well grounded architect, engineer, builder, or
njechinist, and not with the raw inexperience of unskilled youth.

Both the Professors accompanied the classes during the session to works
in progress, and explained the principles which directed the conception
and execution. Professor Donaldson has had to acknowledge the liberal
courtesy of the Deans and Chapters of VFestminster and St. Paul's, they
having granted unrestricted permission to the Professor and his pupils, to
visit every part of those edifices, the examination and description of which
occupied in each case many hours.

To give an idea of the habits of thought inculcated in the class rooms,
we transcribe merely two of the questions out of the series which the
students had to answer for the prizes ; and we will ask, if the qualification
to answer these does not presuppose a course of previous study of incal-
culable benefit to the future candidaie for fame : —

" Take a review of the history of architecture from the third century of
the Christian era, and investigate Ihe influences which probably caused
the modifications of sentiment perceptible in the edifices of the diil'ereut
epochs of niediteval art in various countries." — " Supposing that the ex-
pres.-.ion of a leading principle in buildings may be distinguished, accord-
ingly as the leading lines of ihe elevation may be either vertical or hori-
zontal; examine this theory by reference to the ed.fices of ancient and
n.odern art, and state under what class respectively should be ranged the
uiouuweuls of Egjpt, Greece, Rome, and the Middle Ages."

REGISTER OF NEW PATENTS,

If additional informatioD be required respecting any patent, it may be obtained at Ulc
office of this Journal.

PURIFYING GAS.

John Robert Johnson, of Nelson-square, Surrey, chemist, for " Im-
proremeni sin Purifying Gas anilin the treatment of products of gas-works."
—Granted December 20, 1845 ; Enrolled June 20, 1846.

This invention relates, first, to a new mode of purifying gas used for
illumination, from those impurities which consist of ammonia and its com-
pounds. The inventor ellects tlie separation of the ammonia, by using
the substances possessing the property of absorbing ammonia or its com-
pounds in the dry, or more properly speaking, solid state, instead of in
the state of solution, as has hitherto been practised. Among this class of
substances are comprised, the solid acids, such as the phosphoric, boracic,
and other acids ; the salts with excess of acid, as the bisulphates of pot-
ash, of soda, and of ammonia, the biphosphates of these bases and other
salts of this class ; the salts of alumina, and of some other earths. Those
substances which absorb the compounds of ammonia entirely, acid as well
as base, entering into combination with the components of the substance
used. The metallic sails, containing the requisite quantity of water, will
serve more or less perfectly for the purpose required ; but the salts of iron
and manganese, from their cheapness, will be found preferable to others.
These salts are reduced to powder, and used precisely as the moistened
lime is used in dry lime purifiers.

The second part of the invention consists in a new mode of treating the
ammoniacal liquor of the gas-works, for the purpose of preparing the
salts of ammonia in a purer slate than they have been usually obtained,
and without the noxious exhalations which attend the ordinary mode of
operating. The liquor is placed in a vessel A, similar to an ordinary
steam-boiler, and heat applied through the furnace B. The liquor consists
principally of hydrosulphuret and carbonate of ammonia, with small
quantities of other salts of that base. As soon as the temperature rises,
the hydrosulphuret of ammonia comes over, it being the most volatile pro-
duct. A slow fire is kept, so as to volatilize this product exclusively, and
during its passage is conducted by the pipe a, into the vessel C, contain-
ing a solution of some substance which has the property of absorbing the
sulphuretted hydrogen and Ihe deleterious gas, as the salts of iron and
manganese. The product, after sufficient of the vapours have passed to
saturate the material employed, is a solutiou of a salt of ammonia, holding
iu suspension the sulphurtt of iiou or manganese. In this plan, one vessel
for holding the material through which the vapours are passed is sufficient,
but if more be employed they are charged with the same solution. W hen
lime or alkali is used to absorb the sulphuretted hydrogen, the ammonia
is liberated and must be conducted into a second vessel D, charged with
an acid. At the end of this part of the operation, that is, when all the
hydrosulphuret of ammonia has passed over, the products found in the
first vessel are sulphuret of lime and some free ammonia, and in the second
a solution of a salt of ammonia. If the acid was but slightly diluted, the
solution may be obtained saturated and fit to christallize on cooling. The
liquid remaining in the boiler, and now consisting principally of carbonate
of ammonia, may be treated in the ordinary way for preparing the salts,
or the evaporation may be continued in the boiler at a higher temperature,
iu order to drive over the other volatile sails and the vapours passed
through acid to absorb the ammonia. In the latter case the apparatus
just described may he used, the cock E being opened. The vapours then
pass through the pipe b, and through the acid in the vessel D, without
entering the vessel C, containing the lime, and are then absorbed. The
evaporation is continued until the volatile salts of ammonia are all driven
oft", when the liquor in ihe boiler may be rejected, unless it be found that
Ihe fixed sails remaining in the liquor are iu sufficient quantity to be worth
extracting, which may lie asceriaiiied approxiniatively by evaporating a
drop of the liquor on a strip of glass, or accurately by evaporating to
nearly dryness a known quantity of the liquor, and by weighing the re-
sulting salt. These fixed salts may be obtained by entirely evaporating
Ihe liquor in a lead vessel, or by adding to the liquor, while in the boiler
A, a certain quantity, more or less, according to the quantity of the fixed
suits present, of sulphuret uf lime ia solutiou. This substance may b«

284

THE CIVIL ENGINEtR AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Sept.

obtained from the first part of the operation when lime is used, or from
the liquor of the wet purifiers of Ihe gas-works. The sulphuret of lime
decomposes Ihe fised salts of ammonia, liberating the latter substance in
the state of hydrosulphuret, which may be treated in the same manner as
that erolved in the first stage of the process.

STEAM ENGINES AND PROPELLERS.

John Seaward, of the Canal Iron Works, engineer, for " Improvements
in the steam engine, and in macliinery for propeUinj;. Granted January
12; Enrolled July 12, 1846. — Reported in \he Patent Journal. With
Engravings, see Plate XIV.

Guide hlock. — The first part of this invention relates to a guide block
(fig. 1) for preserving the parallelism of cross-heads of steam engines, and
other machinery, a a are two guides, bevelled on both sides, forming an-
gular edges, to which are fitted two sliding pieces, b b, c is a block titled
between the pieces bb and their respective lugs or projections, dddd.
Two powerful spiral springs, as shown by the dotted lines, are compressed
within the block c, forcing the pieces 6 b against the guides, and in order
that they shall not cause the friction to be too great it is furnished with two
bolts ee on each side side, and thus regulated at pleasure ; /is a hole for
the reception of the cross heads.

Plumber block. — Secondly, this invention relates to a plumber-block, to
be used where the force acts longitudinally, or at an angle. It is fitted
with two sets or pairs of brasses, one being divided longitudinally, the
other vertically ; the last-named are closed by keys placed vertically at the
back; these are furnished with screws and nuts similar to the key of a
connecting rod ; the others by bolts, as usual.

Valves. — Thirdly, these improvements consist of an apparatus for work-
ing the valves of such engines as are fitted vith a double set.

Fig. 2 shows a fore and aft vertical section of a cylinder fitted with a
double set of slide valves ; and fig. 3 an external side view of the same,
li is a horizontal slide, which moves in dove-tailed grooves, b b, and is con-
nected to the bent lever c by a rod, as shown by dotted lines. This lever
works on a fixed fulcrum at rf, the short end being connected in the usual
way to the eccentric or other rod by which it may be worked, eeee are
four weigh shafts connected in pairs by the levers////, and cross rods g-g-.
The levers A A A A on the weigh shafts are connected by links to the valve
spindles, as shown in fig. 2.

Now, it will be observed that when the slide a is moved to the right by
the motion of the engine, the tappet h will come in contact with tl>e lever
J, thereby closing the steam valve_;, cutting off the steam at any part of
the stroke according to where Ihe tappet may be set, and partially closing
the escape valve fc, as shown in fig. 2. On the slide moving still further,
the lever i will slide along the back of the tappet h, till it meets with the
tappet /; this will entirely close the eduction valve k; the lever m will be
acted on in a similar manner by the corresponding tappets producing the
motion of the opposite valves as before described, when Ihe lever > is
moved by the tappet I. The toe n (fig. 4) is caught in the step o, and held
in that position till relieved by the opposite toe p coming in contact with
the corresponding step, which, it will be remembered, does not take place
till the tappet q closes the eduction valve s, the weight on the weigh shaft
bringing it smartly back to its original place ; the spiral springs, r r, are
for keeping Ihe steps moreeirectually to their work. The tappets are fitted
with regulating screws 1 1, for the purpose of altering their position so as
to cut off the steam at any required part of the strokes, uu are rods by
which the weights are hung on the weigh shaft to alter the valves for the
return stroke of tiie engine.

Steam Pipe. — The fourth part of this invention relates to an apparatus
for the better separation of the steam from the water in boilers, thereby
preventing what is usually called priming ; it consists of three circular
concentric casings, a (/ c (fig. 5); they are attached to the upper parts of
the boiler in the space occupied by the steam, b is filled with a conical
bottom, terminating in a pipe d, reaching nearly to the bottom of the
boiler; the upper part of this casing is perforated with a number of small
holes to admit the steam which passes up between it and the outside casing
a, thence downwards under tiie inside casing c, where the water separates
and runs down the pipe d ; the steam again rising, passes off by the steam
pipe e to the engine.

Screw Propeller.. — Fifthly, this invention has relation to an improved
metho*' of shipping and unshipping, or in other words, raising and lower-
ing screw propellers, and the means of fixing them to the shift.

Fig. G is a view of the stern ((uarters of a ship fitted with these im-
provements. Figs. 7, 8, and 9, show some of Ihe parts separately, n a is
a swinging frame furnished with bearings and journals, in which the pro-
peller revolves freely, b h are two sliding bearings to support the journals
of the swinging frame, and ^uide it in its ascent or descent. The lever c
is for swinging the frame on its bearings dd, for the purpose of placing or
displacing the propeller on or from the shaft, which, it will be observed, is
conical at the end, for its more easy entrance and removal. Fig. 8 shows
part of Ihe propeller shaft ce in section, having an internal shaft, the outer
end of which is furnishced Avilh a screw/, the inner with a screw wheel g,
gearing into a screw spindle by it turned round. The action of this is as
follows : — The swinging frame and propeller being placed within the
sliding pieces h b, it is lowered (by Die. ins of the chain and crab placed in
the stern, as indicated by dotted lines) till, opposite the end of the shaft,

the lever c is forced back ; this will place the propeller on the shaft, and,
by turning the screw wheel, the screw will enter the propeller, thereby
firmly securing it. The reverse of this operation will unship the propeU
ler. By another plan the swinging frame is dispensed with, in which
case the shaft is supported by two stays, as seen at fig. 9, by dotted lines.
The propeller is raised and lowered by means of two round bars, pointed
and screwed at Ihe lower ends, and placed in a vertical position immedi-
rtely over two holes formed in the blades near the centre ; these bars slide
vertically in guides, and are connected near the lower ends by a yoke,
which is attached to a crab by a chain, as shown in the last case; the boss
is drawn on and secured to a conical wedge-shaped clutch on the propeller
shaft, by the means before described ; when it is desired to unship the pro-
peller blades, they are placed in a horizontal position, with the holes
before mentioned uppermost; the round bars are lowered and screwed
into them ; the shaft is then withdrawn from the propeller, and purchase
applied to the crab, which will bring it above water under the counter of
the ship.

The sixth and last part of this invention has also relation to propelling
machinery, and is for the purpose of reducing the friction on the end
thrust of the propeller shaft, by introducing a thin film or stratum of oil or
water between the rubbing surfaces, which are of hardened steel. The
face that receives the pressure from the propeller shaft is secured to some
convenient part of the engine, or beam of the ship, and has a channel
bored through to the centre of Ihe steel face, which is turned concave
about one-third its diameter, as also that on the end of the shaft. A con-
tinuous stream of oil or water is forced by three pumps through this chan>
nel into the hollow faces, and escaping at the circumference, where it is
collected by a casing, is returned through a tube to Ihe tank below the
pumps ; thus preventing the rubbing surfaces from coming in contact, and
thereby reducing the friction.

Claim : — First, the forming of guide blocks of steam engines of three
several pieces, having springs and adjusting screws, as before described.

Second, the improved compound plumber block, having two sets of
brasses, one pair divided longitudinally, the other vertically, as before de-
scribed.

Third, the working of steam engines having double slide valves, by
means of horizontal slides having double tappets at each end, as before de-
scribed.

F'ourth, the adaptation of an apparatus to steam boilers, for the preven-
tion or lessening of priming, as before described.

Fifth, the methods of connecting and disconnecting the propeller to or
from the shaft, in screw-propelled vessels, as before described.

Sixth, the means of reducing the friction consequent on the end thrust
of the propeller shaft, in screw-propelled vessels, as hereinbefore de-
scribed.

PLATE AND SHEET IRON CUTTER.

William Vincent Wennisgton, of Goscote ironworks, Staffordshire,
Esq.. for " Improvements in or improved methods of cutting plate and sheet
iron." — Granted January 20 ; Enrolled July 30, 181(i. With Engravings,
see Plate XUT

The improvements consist in the combination of a rotary and horizontal
continuous movement, by which means plates of iron of any length may be
cut without curling or buckling. The rotary movement consists of a circu-
lar cutter a, set in motion by the gearing hereafter explained and the hori-
zontal movement of another cutter b, attached to the traversing table c,
upon which the iron plate is laid. An alternate rotary motion is produced
by the circular cutter a being fixed on one end of a shaft d, revolving in
bearings fixed between the standards e, and over the bearings are regu-
lating screws//; on the other end of the shaft is a bevelled wheel g-,
which takes into either of the bevel wheels h or ;', keyed on to the hollow
shafts ^j, and which slide on the main shaft k, set in motion by steam or
any other known power. For the purpose of giving a horizontal move-
ment to the traversing table, there is a cog wheel keyed on to the shaft d,
immediately at the back of the cutter a ; this cog wheel takes into the rack
I and causes the table c to move on the \ rails m m. On the under side
of the table are tappets n, which act on a lever, n', fixed on the small
shaft 0 ; and at the other end is a forked lever p, which acts on the clutch
g, for throwing the bevelled wheels h i in and out of gear ; thus an alter-
nate backward and forward movement is given to both the revolving cutter
a, the traversing table c, and cutter b.

The claim is for the combination of a rotary and horizontal motion for cut-
ting plate and sheet iron.

COKE OVEN.

jAnr.z Chcrch, of Colchester, Essex, gas engineer, for " Improvements
in manufacturing coke." — Granted December 20, 1845 ; Enrolled June
20, lb4(i. With Engravings, see Plate XIV.

The improvements consist in the construction of coke ovens with regu-
lators, valves, and flues for admitting cold air to the inside of the oven
during the niaaufacturing process and to cool the coke within the oven at
the end of the process. Fig. I shows one half of the front elevation and
one half of the transverse section of a coke oven ; fig. 2 the side eleva-

NEW PATENTS

TiS-i

Fiif.Z. ^

/""""^^^

IS

_o^

\'fr—>^^ - ./.- -_-•-. — ^.

■ l- i ;

~

igt j-^..^^''. __.._. ^^^..

\V^^--^^-'-^f-^:,^

Fiff.4,.

«. c d^^' ^'

^^;^;«fc/^ ico| i^d

CReHNHOWe rmlway cawriaoe -

fty S. -Pig- C.

t=l

18460

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

285

tion ; fig. 3 one half of a horizontal plan of the coolins passages under
the oven, on a level with the line Y V, and one half of the plan of the
oven on the line Z Z. The other half in each figure is similar in construc-
tion to the half shown iu the engraving, and similar letters refer to similar
parts in each figure.

A is the mouthpiece of the oven (see enlarged view, fig. 4) with a tem-
porary wall of bricks b, built up as the coke is put in ; <; cast iron door
with oblong apertures (/, fitted with vertical slides e, for regulating the
size of the apertures, or entirely closing them; //are two passages on
each side of the oven mouth, fitted with regulating valves and incliDing
upwards towards the top of the interior of the oven ; g is the floor of the
oven ; h the flue leading from the interior to the chimney !. jj (fig. 1) are
two vertical pipes with hinge caps and covers, opened by the dependent
chains, to allow the escape of the air employed for the cooling down pro-
cess from the interior of the oven to the external air. kk (tigs. 2 and 4)
are two openings with regulating valves, / Z (fig. 4), through which, after
the coal has been converted into coke, the cold air is introduced to the
horizontal passages m, under and round the oveu fbut not communicating
with the interior), for cooling down the coke: Those parts marked n be-
tween the brickwork forming the pa.ssages are filled in with concrete.
The mode (tf operation is as follows ; — The floor of the oven is covered
with coal to the thickness of about two feet, the surface inclining a little
from the front and sides towards the centre ; the brickwork h to the oven
mouth is built up as the coal is introduced, and the bricks luted with fine
clay ; a shovelful of burning coal is thrown in at top, and when the coal
is fairly ignited the regulators of the door c are then closed; the aper-
tures d. as well as the passages//, are kept open until the coal is fairly ig-
nited, and at the same lime, the passages fc k are kept entirely closed. At
the conclusion of the process, the valves II of the openings k k are opened,
for admitting cold air to the chambers m, to cool down the c*)ke, and at the
same time the caps ot the exit pipejj are taken off. The coke is not to
be removed from the oven until it has been thorougly cooled down.

Another part of the patent is for the application of electricity to purify-
ing of coke from sulphur and other metallic mixtures, which is done in
the following manner: — As soon as the flame on the surface of the ignited
coal begins to die away, the apertures s of the door c and //are closed ; an
iron rod is then introduced through the temporary brickwork of the mouth
into the coke near the bottom, and passed through to the back of the oven
to the flue A. A second rod is passed over the surface of the coke, so that
it stiall rest and be in contact with it. The Ibrmer rod is connected with
the positive pole of a powerful electric battery, and the second rod with
the negative pole by means of copper wire, leaving the body of coke iu
the oven to complete the electric current. If the mass of coke be equal to
eix tons, it ought to be subject to the electric action for about two hours.

TANNING.

RoDf.RT Warrington, of Apothecaries' Hall, London, for " Improve-
ments in the operation of Tanning." — Granted March 25; Enrolled July
25, I84G.

This invention consists in the application of certain mixtures or com-
pounds to be employed in the process of tanning hides or skins, the several
mixtures being divided into three classes, which are as follows : — First, in
order to prepare the skins for unhairing, the inventor proposes to employ
carbonate of soda or potass, in the proportion of from one to two pounds
to ten gallons of water. The second class is also intended to prepare the
skins for unhairing and also to swell them, for which purpose the inventor
employs various agents, such as baryta, potass, and soda, dilute muriatic,
nitric, oxalic, or any other acid, except sulphuric acid. The third class
consists of vegetable matters, such as rhubarb, sorrel, apple, mare, vine
cu tings, and other similar vegetables, which may be economically employ-
ed. In the first class, from half-a-pound to two pounds may be added to
ten gallons of water, the same being rendered caustic by the addition of
fresh burnt lime ; of the second class, the inventor prefers about the same
proportions of muriatic acid, of specific graviiy 1-17, to the same quantity
of water; of the third class, the inventor prefers to employ culinary rhu-
barb. The following is a summary of the claim :— First, the applu:ation
of carbonate of soda or potass when soaking the hides or .skins, for facili-
tating the removal of the hair; second, the employment of baryta, soda,
potass, and muriatic, nitric, oxalic, or any other acid, except sulphuric,
together with the above named and other similar vegetable matters, for
facilitating the removal of the hair and also swelling the hides or skius.
He also claims the application of vegetable matters and chemical agents
for retarding oxydation, which agents are to be used with the tanning
liquor ; and lastly, he claims the application of bi-carbonate of potass and
dilute sulphuric acid for preserving the skins and other animal substances.

RAILWAY SAFETY BUFFEH.

Edwin Chesshirb, of Birmingham, for " /m/jrorpmcHis in apparatus to
he applied to railicaij carriages to reduce the prejudicial effects of collision
ta passengers in railway carriages." — Granted February 3; Enrolled Au-
gust 3, 1S46.

The apparatus consists simply of a strong straight inflexible rod of
cither iron or wood, or both combined, placed lougi:udiually under the

centre of the carriages ; the ends of the rod are to have enlarged heads,
and the length of the rod to be somewhat less than the carriage, to
which it is attached, and the buffers when in ordinary contact. This rod,
which the inventor calls a " safety buffer," is not intended to have any
effect in stopping the motion of the train in the usual manner, but only
when a violent collision, either before or behind, occurs, — then the heads
of all the bars will be brought in contact, and " form one straight, inflexi-
ble, unyielding bar," by which means the effect of the collision will be
neutralised.

ELECTRIC LAMP.

William Greener, of Birmingham, gunmaker, and W. E. State, of
Peckham, Surrey, Esq., for " Improved means of ignition and illumina-
tion."— Granted February 7 ; Enrolled August 7, 1846.

The inven'ion is for the purpose of effecling illumination of public and
private buildings, streets, 6ic., by means of solid or hollow prisms or cy-
linders of carbon (purified from impurities), or rods or strips of platinum,
or other difficult fusible metal, enclosed in transparent air-tight vessels,
and rendered luminous by passing currents of electricity ; the carbon or
metal is to be divided on the surface into numerous acute points. Hollow
cylinders of carbon may be used, partially inserted within, and placed in
perfect contact with, hollow cones of platinum, either plain or acuminated,
and enclosed as before described.

CEMENT.

John Keating, of North Mews, Filzroy-square, Middlesex, scagliolist,
for " Improrements in the manufacture of cement," — Granted February 11 ;
Enrolled August II, 184G.

This invention consists in mixing borax with gypsum (sulphate of lime)
in the following proportions : — 5 lb. of borax and 5 lb. of crude tartar are
each to be dissolved in G gallons of water, and when dissolved the two
solutions to be mixed together. Gypsum in lumps (first deprived of its
water of crystallization by heat) is to be put in this solution till it has
absorbed as much as it will take up, and then put in an oven and heated
red hot; afterwards it is allowed to cool, and ground, and then again
mixed with the above solutions and heated in an oven ; when taken out, it
will be ready for use.

LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES.

George Stfphenson, of Tapton House, Chesterfield, engineer, and
William Hovvb, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, mechanic, for an " Improve-
ment in locomotive steam engines." — Granted February 11 ; Enrolled
August II, 1846.

The iraprovemeot consists in the application of three steam cylinders to
locomotive engines, two to be of the same diameter and capacity, and
together to be equal in capacity to one large cylinder. The pistons of all
the three cylinders are to move simultaneously in the same direction ; the
large cylinder is to be placed exactly in the longitudinal central line of the
engine, and the other two cylinders on each side at equal distances from
it. The piston of the centre cylinder is to drive a crank on the axle of
the impelling wheels, and the pistons ot the two smaller cylinders are to
be connected with crank pins fixed on the naves of the driving wheels;
the crank lo be fixed at right angles to the crank-pins. The intention of
this arrangement is to neutralise any tendency that the oblique action of
the connecting rods on their crank pins may have to produce a lateral
vibration on the supportiug springs of a locomotive when travelling very
rapidly.

RAILWAYS AND CARRIAGES.

Conrad Haverkasi Greenhow, of North Shields, Esq., for" Improve-
menls in the construction of raitu-aijs and railway carriages." — Granted
January 6 ; Enrolled July G, 1846. VVith Engravings, see Plate XIV.

The improvements relate, first, to forming the tyre of the wheels and
rails so that they can be adjusted and adapted to each other. This is
etfected by using a convex rail and a peculiar formation of a concave
wheel tyre, combined with inclined spokes, whereby, in the event of one
rail sinking below the level of the other, the tyre of the sunken wheel will
bear on the rail with an increased diameter, so as to compensate in surface
motion for the depression ; and from the peculiar concave shape, the wheel
and the rail will maintain a correct adjustment in respect to each other.
Notwithstanding any varying elevations and depressions of parts of the
length of rails, ilie wheels on the opposite rails will at all times be running
on such diameters as to muke the distance moved through (by the common
axle) the same, without any drag or friction corresponding with that here-
tofore consequent on the flanges, when moving against rails similarly cir-
cumstauced. Aud owing to tins constant adjustment between the running
surfaces of the wheels aud the rails, the rails may be laid with the gauge
so correct as not to allow of any play, for the adjustment which takes
place will prevent, or tend to prevent, any rebound from rail.to rail, besidea

37

2S0

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Skpt.

111! rd will he no tendency lo run ofl' the rail ; and should there be any im-
jiedinient lo the «heels on one of the rails, those wheels may rise over
«uch impediment wilhout injury, owing to the opposite wheels retaining
their correct contact with their rail, so long as the raised \^heels do not
rise olf their rail lo an extent which will throw the diagonal line on the
opposite wheels bejond the perpendicular line.

Figs. 1 and 2 ^huw the secliuu of r.tils upon ihe improved form, which
may be of wrought or cast iron. The invenlor does not confine himself to
the section shown, but the rail is such that the surface on which the wheels
C'ime is to be a portion of a cylinder, and part of ihe running surface of
the wheels is lo be struck to the same radius ; hence, the two cylindrical
surfaces will correspond. Fig. 3 shows a section of one of the wheels on
an axle, and also one of the rails ; Ihe spokes are to be set at an angle
of 22J' Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the rail and tyre.

The second improvement relates to suspending the body of thecarriagea,
as shown in tigs. 5 & 6, on axes at each end at /;, bearing on uprights c, lix< d
on the frame of the carriage d ; the body is prevented oscillating by means
of chains or straps c, which allow suliicieut movement to the body as may
be required. The frame (I is fixed on the springs mounted on the lower
frame e. The cl.iirn is for combining the suspension, as described, with
the use of straps or chains.

The third improvement relates to applying ''an uncontrolled locking action
to the axles and wheels of radway carriages," as shown at tig. 7. a is a
strong bar formed into the arc of a circle, sliding in bearings li, fixed on
the frame; the bearings c of the axle of the wheels are made fast to this
bar, and can only move vvilhin a short space, there being stops at d d. l>y
this means, when a carriage is going round curves, the wheel accommo-
dates itself to the curve.

REVIEWS.

Metropolilan Bridges and fJ^es/mrnsfer Improvements. By Sir Howard
Douglas, M.P. Second edition. London : Boone, 1S46. pp. 27.

The second edition of Sir Howard Douglas's pamphlet appears opportunely
at a time when much public interest has been excited by the report of the
dangerous condition of Westminster Bridge, and the proposal to replace it
by a new structure. The old bridge was erected about one hundred years
ago, and considering that it was built with scarcely sufficient strength to re-
sist the comparatively gentle current of the Thames when its tidal waters
were impeded by the huge piers of old London bridge, it would need no
prophet to predict that the removal of those obstructions must ultimately
involve the destruction of Westminster bridge also. The pamphlet before
us describes the defects in the original construction, and the progress of the
consequent injuries, but as these subjects are investigated with considerable
minuteness in the official report now before the public, it is not necessary to
enter into detail respecting them here. We shall prefer giving one or two
extracts in which Sir H. Douglas describes his proposition for the improve-
ments between Charing Cross and the river.

"All that can be expected from the expedients which have been tried is,
that they may retard the ruin, which nothing, in fact, can avert — so that,
with proper precautions, the bridge may serve as a temporary means of com-
munication while a new one is being constructed ; but even for this it would
be prudent to lighten it as much as possible, by removing the masses of ma-
terials which form the foot-path on both sides, down to the level of the car-
riage-way, and to replace the stone balustrades, with a temporary railing or
parapet of wood. Should the piles, which form the present caisson or coffer-
dam about the pier on the Surrey side, be not removed, they might be cut
down ; and if that or any other pier should seem to be in danger of settling
further by the deepening of the water-ways, the expedient already pro|)osed,
of paving the bed of the river in those parts, or depositing there masses of
stone, might he adopted ss a temporary measure. It is somewhat remarka-
ble, that, notwithstanding the defective mode of construction of Westminster
bridge by caissons, and the large sums of public monev laid out in vain at-
tempts to rescue this bridge from destruction, it should be seriously proposed
to adopt the like expedient on an immense scale in Dover Bay :— to strand
caissons containing large portions of ready-made break-waters in 7 or 8
fathoms water for the formation there of a harbour of refuge ! A new bridge
cannot be constructed on the present site without previously removing the
old one; and this would involve an expense of at least 40,Oo6;. in erecting a
temporary bridge, to avoid stoppiiig altogether, the communication between
the Borough and Westminster, whilst the new work is proceeding. There is
no room for a new bridge between the Parliamentary Palace and the present
bridge, for these are already in contact ; and the construction of a bridge
any where below the present site, say from Maudslay's premises to Man-
chester buildings, would occasion a very great outlay in providing new ap-
proaches. But, if leaving Westminster bridge, in its present state, "as a tem-
porary communication, a new bridge were constructed from Lambeth stairs
to t' <■ reirest pnrt of the opposite bank, no expense for new approaches
wotild be incurred, a direct communication with Westminster would he esta-

blished, and a magnificent entrance into the capital formed, at an interesting jj
and venerable part. The river face of the new Parliamentary Palace, would 1
be seen to great advantage ; ami, no longer disfigured and obscured on the
other flank when the distasteful structure which now defaces it shall have
been removed, the edifice standing gracefully and boldly out, would form a
beautiful object upon the concave sinuosity of the river, extending thence to
Blackfriars' bridge, and Somerset House, wbicli, for this purpose, should be
reclaimed from its present unwholesome and disgusting slate by the proposed
embankment and terrace, which it were easy to show is an interference with
the state of the river much required at that part, — and thus that pestilential
locality would be transformed altogether into a beautiful and highly embel-
lished portion of the metropolis. From the Westminster end of this new
Lambeth bridge, a street should be opened to lead directly to Shaftesbury
terrace, Eaton and Belgrave squares, or to communicate with some part of
that which is now being executed under the provisions of a bite act, &c. ;
and another formed by the river hank, to Victoria Tower ard Whitehall,
passing between Westminster .\bbey and the Parliamentary Palace. Enter-
ing the Court end of the town by this magnificent porial— ^l. Margaret's
church removed, in conformity with the unanimous reconinrendation of a
Select Committee, from the immeiliate vicinity of a splendnl and ample
place of worship, which requires not the aid ol an iiiljnimug chore h, and the
relies which lie around that incongruous building, exhumed — the western
face of the quadrangle, by which, according to the present design, it is in-
tended to enclose Westminster Hall, set hack, to give greater space between
it anil Henry the Seventh's Chapel ; — I'arliauieiit street widened, by remov-
ing the block of buililiiigs between it and King-street — Downing-street
finished — and the Board of Trade completed, a majestic CDiuniunication
would be formed, between the Regal and Parliamentary Palaces ; and if
Whitehall-street may not, or cannot be straightened throughout, those build-
ings at least should he thrown back, which, on approaching Trafalgar-square,
obtrude, more immediately on the left, to destroy its symmetry."

The last sentence of this extract pleases us but little. We would much
rather see St. Margaret's Church restored than destroyed. It was once one
of the most magnificent churches in London, as those who have seen the old
prints of it can testify ; the work of desecration has, it is true, proceeded
very far, but not beyond remedy ; and in the hands of a judicious architect
St. Margaret's Church might once again raise its head unmarred by the vile
barbarisms of the last age. The desire of removing this structure for the
purpose of obtaining a clear and uninterrupted view of Westminster Abbey,
proceeds from ignorance of the true principles of Pointed Architecture,
which always appears most beautiful when it alfords picturesque combina-
tions of numerous detached parts. ^A'e accordingly see that the mediaeval
architects loved to group a great many difTerent structures together, and ad-
jacent to a cathedral usually erected its cloister, chapter house, baptistery or
collegiate buildings. It is precisely this combination of a crowd of pinnacles
and towers, steep roofs and massive buttresses, from which arises the magni-
ficence of a pile of Pointed buildings : and for this reason also (though there
are many others) the demolition of an ancient church in the neighbourhood
of a cathedral can never be justified except on the plea of unavoidable neces-
sity. St. Margaret's is at present covered over with a thick coating of plaster,
the tracery of the windows has been destroyed, the panel-work of the tower
concealed by stucco, the finials and crockets churchwardenised ; but great
as are these injuries, they are not past all surgi ry, and we unhesitating re-
peat that a judicious restorer of this ancient church would have the honor
of adding one more to the number of beautiful buddings with which this inte-
resting spot is crowded.

For the same reason that we would retain St. Margarets' Church we would
resist any project for erecting a continuous pile of buildings concraling W'est-
minster Hall. The irregular outline of the Palace of Westminster on the
Abbey side is far more in accordance vi'ith the spirit of Pointed architecture
than the flat unbroken surface of the river front. It is most desirable that
the present pseudo-classic law courts should he removed, and that the mag-
nificent flying buttresses on either side of Westminster Hall should be dis-
played; hut the proposition for enclosing it altogether is unjuslifiable. Neither
do we see the necessity of throwing down the buildings which " on ap-
proaching Trafalgar-square obtrude more immediately on the left to destroy
its symmetry." We quite concur with the general opinion that for the sake
of the national character for good taste, Trafalgar-square ought to be kept
out of sight as ranch as possible.

To turn to a difl"orent subject, we must notice what seems an error of
principle in a note (p. 7 — 14), the object of which is to prove that Hunger-
ford bridge is not built with sufficient strength. It is first shown that the
utmost load which can by any chance be put on the bridge at one time is
less than one-third of the weight which would impair the chains. This ex-
cess of strength is pronounced insufiiiient ; hut the opinion is not confirmed
by very conclusive reasoning : among other things the curve of the chains is
assumed to be a common catenary, which it is not. The note then proceeds

IS 16.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

287

" There is one additional point still to be noticed, namely, the pressures
on the piers. It is shown by writers on mechanics, that the horizontal ^^train
at every point of the chain is the same, and equal to the tension at the lu.Test
point of the curve. Wlicn a bridge is properly constructed, the catenary on
the other side of the pier is a portion of the same curve as the first. The
horizontal strains on the two sides ol the pier will then be equal, but in op-
posite directions, and, therefore, they will counteract each other: the two
vertical strains will also be equal, and in the same direction : and as it is
evident that each of those strains is equal to half the weight of tlie chain
between the piers, the vertical pressure on eacli pier is equal to the weight
of this chain. (See MilUanj Bridges, p. 311). In the case of the Hunger-
ford Bridge, however, the catenaries at tlie two ends when completed, have
a considerably less span than the central curve, but they have the same droop
or deflection. Hence if 2 y he the span of the centre arc, 2 y' the span of
the curves at the two extremities when completed ; and a, a', the corres-
ponding tensions at the lowest points, we have

3yH^
6 X

3 y'- + J^
t> X

And as y' is considerably less than y, a' will evidently he less than a in a
still higher ratio. Hence there will he a constant horizontal strain, equal to
(a — a') actinir at the top of each pier, (which the ingenious contrivance of
the shifting saddles at the summits of the piers cannot remedy.) which will
of course tend to pull and shake the piers, and may ultimately overthrow
them, founiled as they are, without underpiling, on the natural bed of a river,
which is continually becoming deeper."

The conclusion here arrived at is erroneous, and the error arises from the
application of a formula to a case with which it has no connection. The
value given for a' is taken from the expression for the tension in a chain at
its lowest [}oint, when the chain is suspended between two piers of the same
weight, and the lowest pohtt is consequently /lorizontal. But here the shorter
chain at ihe end where it is attached to the abutment on the banks of the
river is inclined to the horizontal at a considerable angle. Moreover if the
saddle (which is furnished with friction rollers) were acted upon by an acce-
lerating force a — a', it would be set in motion. And lastly, however, the
question may be complicated by mathematical symbols, the general truth
remains indisputable, that the pressure of the rollers upon the top of the pier
is normal to tlie surfaces in contact, and is therefore wholly vertical. Con-
sequently the reader, whether acquainted or unacquainted witli mathematics,
will not have much ditliculty in concluding tliat the danger of the piers of
Hungerford Bridge being overthrown by the unequal strain of the suspension
chains is purely imaginary.

A Critical Dissertation on Professor Willis's Arcliitectnriil History of
Canterbury Cathedral. By Charles S.^ndts. Smith, Old Compton-street.
18-16. pp. 02.

Canterbury Cathedral is in one respect pre-eminent beyond dispute above
all other ecclesiastical edifices in England ; more has been written about it
than about any other. Not only is its library rich in manuscript chronicles
and records of the erection of diflferent parts of the building written con-
temporarily by resident Monks, but the number of Itineraries, County His-
tories, &c., of comparatively recent date, in which this cathedral is described
as unequalled with respect to similar buildings.

The work of description seems to have gone on nearly continuously from
the time of the Conqueror to the current year 1846, and probably is not yet
finished : for the dissertation by Mr. Sandys, is of too controversial a nature
to remain long without an answer. We have no intention of plunging our-
selves or readers into the labyrinth of a purely antiquarian discussion; still
as the name of Professor Willis of itself carries considerable interest with it,
and as his opponent has displayed great learning and accumen in conducting
the controversy, a good many architectural readers will be anxious to know
what the dispute is about.

Simply this : Professor Willis ascribes the architecture of a large part of
the Cathedral to an architect who, Mr. Sandys says, has no claim to the
merit. There is something very laudable in this anxiety to commemorate
not only the building but the name of the builder, which might he imitated
with advantage in more modern instances : still we apprehend that the ques-
tion whether Archbishop Anselrae built merely the choir of the present ca-
thedral, or the external walls of tlie choir-aisles, the Trinity chapel, and the
east transept also, will not attract so large a share of public attention as to
render it incumbent upon us to give more than a brief outline of the discus-
sion.

The dispute seems of long standing. We have before us an old and we
believe rather scarce copy of Somner's Antiquities of Canterbury,* published

* Mr. Samiy3 quiues trum ibe Siime boot:, but from a niuc-li later edition : the orif^inal
work i3 ttie more interestuig because written before the commeauement of the Civil wars,
ia wlik-h the Cutbeiinil greatly suITered,

in 1640 (the imprimatur is dated from Lambeth, October 1639.) Now
Somner alludes to the subject of this very dispute — namely, what parts of
the cathedral are to he assigned to Anselme and Ernulpli — in the following
terms.

" Matthew Paris Records a dedication of the Church o{ Canterbury in the
yeare of Christ 1111. being the yeare of Anselmes death. Haply it was of
that new piece or new work, as Edmerus cals it. This doubtlesse is the part
meant by Malmesbnry. ascribed to Er/iul/jhiis the then Prior of the Church,
and of him (erroniously it seemcs) said to have beene built in the place of a
like part then demolished, whereof he hath these words Cantim (saith he)
dejectum priorem partem ecctesiie qnam Lanfrancns cedificaverat, adeo splen-
dide erexit^ ut nihil tale possit in Anglia videri, in vitrearuinfenestraum luce,
in marmorei pavimenti nitore, in diversicoloribus picturis qua mirantes
oculos trahunt adfastiyia lacunaris."

The above extract proves at least thus much, that there has long been a
dispute respecting the architects of the eastern part of the church. Mr.
Sandys has not referred to this circumstance ; he gives however the Latin
sentence from Malmeshury, with his own translation, which commences
" Ernulphns having thrown down the front (or fore part) of the church
which, &e." It may be observed that the assumption that Ernulph was the
author of the work of demolition is Mr. Sandys's own. The original Latin
simply states that part of the church was thrown down — but does not inform
us whether destruction was accidental or intentional, or who was the de-
stroyer. The whole dispute turns on the interpretation of the words
" priorem partem," which Mr. Sandys takes to mean the choir and no more ;
whereas Mr. Willis gives the^ihrase a much wider signification. The former
takes it to mean the choir, the latter the whole eastern part of the church.
Might we not translate priorem simply" former" or "older".' In that ca?q
the meaning of the quotation would be that " Ernulph rebuilt an older part
originally erected by Lanfranc, which had been thrown down."

The author in the present dissertation gives several extracts from Edmer,
iXc, in confirmation of his opinion, but his translations are in one or two cases
made more favourable than they ought to be, for his own side of the ques-
tion. For instance, " super hcec, ipsum oratorium quantum a majorc turri in
orientem porrectum est. ipso Patre Anselmo providente disponente, aucturti
est." he translates thus, " Moreover this oratory [choir or chancel] so far as
it stretches from the great tower eastward was enlarged, Anselm himself
providing for and directing the works." The words super haec are not re-
presented with sufficient force in the translation. In addition to tliese tliinys
Anselm enlarged the oratory itself — meaning that he had undertaken otlier
works besides that. This interpretation, if it do not specifically assign to
Anselm the works which Professor Willis assigns to him, at all events leaves
room to suppose that be did more than Mr. Sandys would have us believe.
He neglects also the word ipsum which adds force to the super lime : and
his assumption that oratorium means the chancel or choir is at least contro-
vertible. An oratory is a place of prayer in distinction to auditorium, the
place for hearing. We may therefore suppose every part of the church set
apart for prayer, to be included in the word oratorium. Mr. Sandys quotes
the expression ^nis ecclesice ornabatur oratorio beatm Matrix Dei Marice, and
this instead of confirming his interpretation seems to show that there were
all over the church parts distinguished by the appellation oratorium, which
therefore is not limited to the choir. The sense of the passage seems there-
fore—that in addition to other works Anselm's labours extended to that
part of the church which is devoted to prayer, and that he enlarged so mu'jh
of it as was built to the east of the great tower (intimating, it may be sur-
raised, that there were parts to the west also set apart for prayer.)

Mr. Sandys states, page 43, as a conclusive objection to Professor \Villis'»
opinion, respecting the architect of the present Trinity Chapel, that Lan-
franc is expressly stated in the Latin history to have been buried in Trinity
Chapel, which must therefore have been standing at the time of his death.
But this difficulty is entirely got over if we suppose Trinity Chapel to have
been one of those parts of Lanfranc's works which were subsequently de^
stroyed and then rebuilt by his successors.

In an architectural point of view it seems difficult to suppose that Anselm
could have enlarged the choir without rebuilding the choir aisles and their
external walls. There seems nothing unreasonable in Professor Willis's
supposition that " the increased space must h.ave aft'ected all the arrange-
ments of the choir of the monks."

We throw out these suggestions merely to show that Mr. Sandys argu-
ments are not of such a nature as to preclude reply. We are tolerably well
acquainted with the architecture and history of Canterbury Cathedral, and

288

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Sept.

ave eiamincd the choir with Mr. Sandys's book in our hand, but confess
ourselves unable to form a decisive opinion on this question. There is no
doubt that Professor Willis's reply will clear up many apparent difliculties :
at the same time Mr. Sandys has the merit of arguing his case acutely, and
of duly acknowledging the learning and research evinced by his opponent.
The following extract from the publication before us is selected rather as a
specimen of the general style than as referring to the particular question
above alluded to— there is little in it which will gratify the lovers of mongrel
architecture.

" The Dark ylgen C\(Jlh to \9l/i Cen/ury.^— England at the commence-
ment of the sixteenth century possessed in its cathedral and parochial
churches, abbevs, priories, and other monastic and conventual structures,
the most splendid specimens of the Saxon, Norman, early English, decorated,
and perpendicular styles of architecture; whilst Henry VII, in his newly
erected chapels at Westminster and Cambridge, had carried the floiid Tudor
style to the utmost perfection. These temples were, however, the abodes of
the most abject and degrading superstition, of the most revolting and dis-
gusting idolatry. Hence arose the fierce and hitter contest between truth
and error, between the pure and undefded religion of the gospel, and the
legends, Iving miracles, and extravagant pretensions of the See of Kome.
This struggle terminated in the Reformation. Glorious as was the emanci-
pation of the human mind from the degrading influences of superstition and
Papal tyranny, yet we cannoc but deplore the iconoclastic zeal of the re-
formers and puritans, which, not satisfied with removing the idolatrous
shrines, altars, and chantries, violated the sacred reiiositories of the dead,
destroyed the tomlis and sepulchral monuments which pity had raised to the
memory of departed worth, and levelled to the dust some of the most beauti-
ful rem'ains of the architectural skill of our f„refathers. Then also arose the
Royal Ruffian, at whose name humanitv shudders, and religion herself grows
pale '. This ruthless tvrant having dissolved the monasteries, extorted from
his parliament a grant of the possessions which were annexed to them, a
large portion of which he afterwards parcelled out amongst his courtiers and
flatterers. This led to the rapid decline, and at length, total extinction of
English ecclesiastical architecture, and the revival of the classical style,
(shortly afterwards introduced from Italy,) comphled the downfall ot a
science which hsd for many centuiies been the pride and glory of our coun-
trv In these more enlightened days we are astonished that men of the
greatest genius should so long have continued blind and insensible to the
sublime beauties of our native architecture. But to show their utter igno-
rance and contempt, they have even branded it with the approbiious name
of 'gothic' Inigo Jones (the English Palladio) with most inha-monious
taste added a Corinthian portico to the west front of the venerable gothic
cathedral of St. Paul, London ; and Sir Christopher Wren (struck with its
want of harmonv) afterwards wished to replace the whole of the gothic
church by another to accord in style with Inigo Jones's classical portico.
This scheme, though opposed at the time, was afterwards rendered inevitable
bv the great fire of London, which involved both the gothic cathedral and
it's classical portico in one common ruin. So great indeed was the darkness
of this period, that even Addison's cultivated and enlightened mind could
not appreciate the exquisite beauties of Gothic architecture. It is at once

amusing and instructive to hear hisremarks If to the illustrious names

of Inigo Jones, Wren, and Addison, we add those of Somner, Battely, and
Gostling, (the learned historians of Canterbury Cathedral), no aomirer of
that venerable and exquisitely beautiful church will censure us for appro-
priating to the last three centuries the opprobrious appellation of ' the Dark
Ages.' "

Our author might have added that the ignorance of the true principles
of architecture extended to the Classic as well as the mediaeval styles. It
is not so many years since a great architectural authority expressed his
opinion that the Parthenon would he improved if surmounted by a

steeple !

Mr. Sandys scolds Professor Willis for not describing the restorations
which the present Dean and Chapter have efl'ected in the cathedral, under
the supervision of Mr. Austin, their architect. Mhy did not Mr. Sandys
supply the omission ? He is an inhabitant of Canterbury, and probably
has had ample means for fulfilling the task.

Description and uses of the Byrnegraph, or neii- propnrlional comrassrs,
an instrument /or viultiplying. dividing, ami comparing lines, angles, sur-
faces, and solids: by Oliveu Byrne, formerly Professor of Mathematics,
College for Civil Engineers. Adlard, 1816; pp. 38.

The purposes of this publication are the explanation and illustration of
the uses of an instrument invented by Mr. Byrne, to which the British
Association has given the not very descriptive appellation of the " Byrne-
graph." The object of this invention is to attain increased accuracy in
the use of proportional compasses, or rather, to so extend the use of them,
that the improved inslrumeut bears to its prototype much the same relation
as a Manton to a matchlock.

With the old proportional compasses, lines could not be reduced with

even tolerable accuracy to less than one-ninlh their original size ; but, by
combining with them the vernier scale, the new instrument not only eflects
much greater reductions with perfect accuracy, but may be made to indi-
cate proportions which extend to several places of decimals. For instance,
at page 20 is explained how the compasses may be set to the proportion

1 : 31110, the ratio of the diameter of a circle to its circumference.
These refined adjustments are perfectly unattainable with the old instru-
ment. I'ig. 1 is a side view of Mr. Byrne's invention, of which fig. 3 re-
presents the plan when the instrument is open ; fig.4, when it is shut. Fig.

2 is a separate view of one end of the compass.

t\ ;.

ti.. s'V^fT

!

The principal feature of the invention is that the moveable centre E F,
about which the two arms turn, is provided with a vernier, and that the
points X, I/, are moveable and also provided with verniers. Beside this,
there are tightening screws to fix all the points when they have been ad-
justed.

" The framework of this instument may be made to assume differeot
proportions and forms for the sake of ornament, compactness, or conveni-
ence, according to the fancy or design of the maker; the first completed
was constructed by Cary, 181 , Strand, London, and explained at York,
before the iSritish Association, in 1844. A view of the instrument, which
ive shall describe, is given (fig. 1) ; it diflers but little from that construct-
ed, according to the directions of the inventor, by Desire Lebrun, of Paris.
The two boxes E^ ^, F/i g, are so adapted to the beams AB, CD, that
they may be moved together by sliding to any part and fixed in that posi-
tion by tiglitening the clamp screws E and F. When the moveable centre
E pq F, is clamped in any position, the instrument turns on an imaginary
line or axis passing through EF, perpendicular to a plane passing through
P <], the junction of the boxes E p 9, F ;> 9, the friction of the planes meet-
ing at pq renders the motion uniform. Connected with the brass boxes at
K and L are two points of the instrument meeting at x : at K and L there
are two clamp screws to fix the boxes, which must be moved together.
M hen the points are in their proper places, the proportions of the instru-
ment that we are describing are these : — Suppose st — \, then (k:^24, and
«i'=5. The points at .T are represented in proper adjustment, but those
at If must be moved till y comes up the liue r u', and then made fast by the
clamp screws at Q and K."

The faces of the arms are graduated to four scales, which mark the pro-
portions for straight lines, circumferences of circles, surfaces, and solids,
respectively. Tables of the numbers corresponding to these graduations
are given in the publication before us, and as instances of the applicatioo
of them, we quote the following problems, taken at random: —

"In the circumference of a circle A B B' it is required to lay off aa ar«

1 846. J

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

289

equal to 3° 39' 37'''26."— Page 20.

" Let it be required to describe a
figure abcde, similar to A B C D E,
whose area will be ^ of it." —
Page 21.

" Let it be required to construct
a parallelogram whose area shall
be equal to that of a given circle."
Page 2G

" Describe a circle whose circumference will be llj inches."— Page 27.

" Given the diameter of a globe, to find the side of a cube whose solid-
ity will be equal to that of the globe."— Page 28. , ^ . . ,

" In a certain construction the square root of 33 equal parts is required
with great accuracy ; at what point must the centre be set to eliect this
object?" — Page 28.

Mr. Byrne has not spared his labours. The tables which he has given
for the purpose of graduating the instrument are very extensive and carried
to a greater number of places of decimals than would be generally re-
quired in practice. The enplanations are so ample and precise that, with
this book before him, the draughtsman can never be at a loss respecting
the various problems which he is constantly called upon to solve by prac-
tical construction. It has been remarked truly that, while the theodolite,
SEXtant, and other instruments of surveying, have been brought to extra-
ordinary perfection by the refinements of modern ingenuity and workman-
ship, the constructions obtained from these exact instruments are reduced
in a very rude manner. While almost everthing that could be done for
attaining accuracy in the original trigonometrical operations has been
effected, the means by which they are rendered practically available have
been comparatively disregarded until the iuveution of the simple instru-
Hient which we have been describing.

Proposal for a general Metropolitan Railway. By J. C. H. Ogier, Esq.,
Barrister-at-Law. London : Weale, 1846. pp. 14.

This pamphlet is published in the form of a letter addressed to the Com-
missioners for inquiring into the various railway projects of which the ter-
mini are proposed to be established in or near the metropolis ; the object of
the letter is the discussion of a plan for uniting the various metropolitan
railways in such a manner that they may be rendered accessible from every
part of London. The impartial opinion of an unprejudiced person, on a
subject usually debated with reference to individual interests, is generally
worth having : and accordingly in this pamphlet we find the various schemes
for perfecting the railway communication with London put in a new light,
because for the first time examined by one who has no private interest in
the settlement of the question. Mr. Ogier observes truly that with respect
to the project for uniting the various great lines which now radiate from
London, " the greatest impediments arise from the clashing of the various
interests connected with it, rather than from the impracticable nature of the
undertaking."

The proposal that a line of railway should be laid down according to a
scheme agreed upon by representatives of the interests of each railway com-
pany, the city corporation, and the government, appears very practicable,
and moreover it is suggested by the wise policy which avoid obstacles in-
stead of overcoming them. There is no doubt that by a little tact all the
companies might be enabled to come to an agreement respecting the method
of connecting their lines, and the course so agreed would probably be the
best that could be devised. In all other great cities but London the tra-
veller is able to pass from one line of railway to another without incurring
the wearisome and unnecessary delay of traversing the extreme length of the
city through crowded streets ; whereas facility of uninterrupted communica-
tion with opposite parts of the kingdom is the most important with respect
to London, where the traveller is frequently delayed as many hours as would
suffice for the rest of the journey. The object is one of national interest,
and impartial practical suggestions such as those here offered towards the
effecting so important an undertaking, deserve the attention of all who would
have the subject fairly discussed.

A Series of Letters on the Improved Mode of the Cultivation and Manage-
ment of Flax. By James H. Dickson. London: Groombridge, 1846.
pp.248.

This book deserves attention, as the result of the observations of one who
bas devoted fifteen years assiduously to the examination of the subject. We

confess ourselves incompetent to give an opinion as to the merits of the
several improvements suggested by Mr. Dickson ; still we imagine that his
object will be sufficiently answered if we draw the attention of those interest-
ed in the cultivation of flax to the fact that they will here find detailed inform-
ation on every point connected with its agricultural and commercial purposes.
The machinery for spinning the yarn, &c., the economic value of the plant,
ascertained by a comparison of the cost of cultivating it> and its productive-
ness, and the methods of cultivation and preparation for manufacture pursued
in various countries, are fully and clearly described.

Got hie Ornaments, being a Series of Examples of Enriched Details and
Accessories of the Architecture of Great Britain, drawn from existing autho-
rities. By James K. Colling, Architect. Bell, Fleet-street, 1846. Nos.
1 & 2.

Every contribution towards a more accurate knowledge of the beautiful
architecture of our ancestors is worthy of commendation; and the work be-
fore us is one of the most elaborate which has been published with this ob-
ject. Each part contains one illuminated, and three uncoloured, lithographic
plates. The subjects are the decorative enrichments of Pointed structures,
and will comprise " bosses, canopies, capitals, crockets, corbels, dripstone
terminations, finials, foliated cusps, gurgoyles, paters, poppy-heads, span-
drils, subselloe, string-courses." The subjects of the first illuminated plate
are portions of a Perpendicular rood-screen in Langham Church, Norfolk,
showing the manner in which it is enriched by painting. The colours are
magnificent, and beautifully printed. The other plates contain poppy-heads
from Paston Church, Norfolk, wooden spandrils from North Walsham
Church, and capitals from the choir of Ely Cathedral. The subject of the
illuminated plate in the second part is diaper enamelled on copper gilt, from
the tomb of William de Valence, in St. Edmund's Chapel, Westminster
Abbey. The other subjects are details from Lincoln and Norwich Cathedrals.

We certainly object to the use of the word " Gothic" as applied to forms
so beautiful as those here depicted, but it is difficult to find a substitute for
it. We are not favourable to the unnecessary invention of technicalities,
but certainly wish the continental term " Ogival" were in more general use
in this country ; the word is expressive and does not involve an architectural
or chronological blunder. The ornaments delineated by Mr. Colling are
Ogival — not Gothic. We must not conclude without speaking in commenda-
tion of Mr. Jobbins, for the very beautiful manner he has got up the illus-
trations.

Tables for setting out Curves for Railumys, S(c. By G. C. Darbysbirb,
land-surveyor. Weale, 1846. pp.16; foolscap.

The review of a series of tables can contain little more than an opinion
respecting the general method of calculation ; an examination of the accu-
racy of the numerical results cannot be expected. As far, then, as concerns
the general method, this little work has our unqualified approbation : there
are many grounds of superiority to similar publications ; in the first place,
instead of mere rules for calculation, which, in practice, would be found
tedious and liable to error, the actual figures are here given, and can be
referred to at once ; in the second place, the curve for which the calcula-
tions are made is the arc of a circle, and not a parabola; lastly, alterna-
tive methods of calculations are employed, so that where the nature of the
ground does not admit one set of tables being used, another may be substi-
tuted. The following is the author's preface, which, being brief enough,
may be given entire : —

" The author calculated the following tables for his own private use, but
at the solicitation of several friends, he has been induced to publish them.
He can speak with confidence of their accuracy, great pains having been
taken to prove every figure, and the utmost caution observed in correcting
the press. When the calculation of these tables was nearly completed, the
author's attention was directed to the ' Civil Engineer and Architect's Jour-
nal' for January, 1840, containing tables (calculated by Mr. A. A. Mornay)
on the same principle, but having only the column headed t for finding the
tangent to the curve : and it was satisfactory to find that the principle he
had adopted had been approved of by the conductors of that Journal."

A table shoiving the Contents of Excavations, derived from Mr. G. P.
Bidder's furnmlie. By C. Creeoy. Maynard, Earls Court, 1846. 24 mo.
pp. 24.

This is a pocket edition of Mr. Bidder's tables, of which the utility has
been greatly increased by Mr. Creedy's additional calculations for muc&

290

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Sept.

greater depths than those for wliicli the original tables were formed. Mr.
Bidder's formula appears quite correct, Imt has this defect — that the api)li-
cation of it is limited to those cases in which the cross section of the surface
of the ground is horizontal. For the admeasurement for sidelong ground
and excavations of which the vertical depths depend on the inclination of
the natural surface of the ground, we must refer the reader to the more
comprehensive tables by Mr. Hughes. (See ante p. 73.)

COMPKTITION DESIGNS.

Sir — It is time for Ihose who regard either the interests or the credit of
the archiiectural profession, to protest iu \Up most unqualifieil manner
against a most scaudalous practice that has of late come up, and vt-iiich if
not openly repmbateil and stigmatized will become confirmed. Tlie prac-
tice 1 allude to is that of obtaining designs for a mere nominal price, by
means of a very plausible artifice, yet at the same time so very Irausparent
that it might be thought no one could possibly be gulled by it; neverthe-
less that it does succeed is but too certain, since otherwise it would not be
continued. Either a builder himself or those who intend to employ one
without calling in an architect, wants a design, and accordinglv resort to
the following clever expedient of getting one as cheaply as i>os»ible. They
know very well that ihey cannot apply to an ardiitect only to make them
drawings for the purpose without paying him a fair equivalent for his
time and trouble. J'-ven their own sense of common decency deters ihem
from going to i\lr. A. or Mr. Z., and saying : we do not intend to employ
you as our arcliilecl, all we require is a set of drawings, and if you will
])repare one for us, for Five Pounds or so, you are our man. They have
an instinctive suspicion that such an otfcr would be received not as a kind-
nes?, but a personal insult. What therefore they dare not propose to an
individual, they do to the profession generally. The additional cost of the
advertisement, will they know — at least hope — procure for them, not only
one design, but many, from which they can choose. Accordingly the ail-
vertisement is fniili/ drawn up, and it very hiim'slli/ stated in it, that the
architect whose design is approved will not be employed, but that he will
be eutilled to a small I'REMIum I — so very siuall it seems that it is not at
all adviseable to give it its money name, lest it should operate as a scare-
crow instead of a bait. Nevertheless, small as it is, the premium is not to
be flung away, but is to purchase for the liberal advertisers the possession
o( the fortunate drawings !

After all. loo, wl-.al assurance is there that there may not be some dirty
trickery at the bollom of this apparent fairness, — though at the best very
evident paltriness ? — What assurdnce that the premium is paid to any oue !
If when ihe designs are looked at, it is found that there is no occasion to
retain any one of them, for expressly making use of it, all that each com-
petitor knows IS that he gets back his own, and that he is not the/oWuno(c
man. After thai, nothing further is heara of Ihe matter, till, perhaps some
local newspaper informs its readers that : "the new is just com-
pleted, and cannot fail to obtain for their talented townsman, Mr. ,

the title of the FuilgcaU Vitrnvius ; it is particularly chaste, the windows
being quite unencumbered by any mouldings," and so forth.

Wliat is the Institute about- — what the profession, and also you Editors,
that one and all suiTiT such iniquitous and shameful transactions to pass
unrebuked, instead of exposing them, and branding and cauterizing those
who are implicated in them? How much longer do you mean to tolerate
such skulking hole-and-corner proceedings, — such a species of systematic
swindling — for in reality it is no better, though not of that kind which the
law can take notice as illegal ? But if not illegal it is base and scound-
relry, and if nothing else can be done to check if, it is probable that in-
sulting advertisements would not be hazarded, were public indigna-
tion to be most strongly and unequivocally expressed against them. Or
are the whole profession so vThite livered and pluckless to a man,— each
one so entirely for himself alone, that none care for aught beyond self —
beyond what concerns self directly and immediately, that they can put up
with such abuses without the slightest elfort to repress them ? The ques-
tion will be answered one way if not another; for should the matter be let
drop, that of itself alone will confirm the opinion of

ViNDLX.

THE CATHEDRAL OF COLOGNE.

The following extract from the Alhenaum will be read with interest,
and the concluding suggestion especially is worthy of attention : —

" Before the Germans, incited by the example of the King of Prussia,
began to take up the matter so warmly as they have lately done, one of
your correspondents wrote with animation and interest on the subject of
the works executing at the Cathedral of Cologne — undertaken to redeem
what poor Hood so poetically called a " broken promise to God." The
pine years which have since elapsed have done wonders ; opened many a
journal besides yours to the subject, — enlarged progressively the interest
of Europe in an undertaking, the accomplishment of which need no longer
be considered a chimera, — and added largely to the funds provided. The

Cologntse gentlemen and Merr Zwirn>-r, the gifted and indefatigable ar-
chitect, now say with confidence tiiat, in twenty-five years the Dom may
be completed, even to the spires; — and this, not iu bravado, but from cal-
culation, based upon present progress. To the tourist, approaching the
building at railway speed, who sees, as yet, no appreciable diminution in
the enormous gap betwixt the choir and the crane on the western tower —
such promise seems au extravagance ; hut Ihey who have had the privilege
of look ing into the deuils, in company with the architect, may admit the
possibility of the feat.

"In two years, as Herr ZwirnersAoirerf us, the nave, aisles, and transepts
of the Cathedral may be thrown open — not, in truth, to the entire height;
hot complete to a level above the clerestory windows. The vaulting of the
side-aisles will be then completed ; and a temporary roof will be easily
placed over the central portion, — leaving, within, the upper part of the
wails, vaults, SiC, to be raised : — without, the flying buttresses, pinnacles,
and other garnitures, are a more serious busiiirss. The raising of the
transept walls to their present important height, HerrZwiruer assured us,
was a heavier two years' task than what remains to be done in realization
of a scheme so attractive to the fancy. Moreover, the casual visitor is
little aware of the vast collection of ornamental sculptures, ready to be
placed, which the worksli >ps contain. The canopies round the retreating
portal of the norlhern transept are already fixed : the capitals of the pil-
lars of the clerestory gallery are waiting, by Ihe score. Let not my state-
ment mislead any one into imagining a case of manufacture. The old ca-
pricious variety of fancies in ornament has been as religiously carried out
as every other intimation of the nameless architect's intention. The small
grotesque figures at the angles of the canopies aforesaid (which are merely
shelters for statues of saints, angles, &:c.) are as minutely finished and
whimsically diversified as if they could be seen without the aid of an
opera-glass when they shall be raised to their destined position. The
foliage, again, of the capitals has the sharpness of the best period of cut-
ling. No two devices are alike. The stoue used for these iimre delicate
portions is of peculiarly fine and close quality, from lioclieforl. Nothing
seenis slighted or overlooked ; and the workmen, nf course, become more
skilful as they proceed, and fuller of spirit and invention. A growing
confidence that all this labour is not to be in vain as regards Ihe grand
result, probably animates those who have contributed to a scheme so mag-
nificent, but for a loug time deemed so visionary. W indows are beginning
to drop in. The King of Bavaria's donation of six for one of the side
aisles will be ready in 1848 ; and then, it is said, the spell is to be broken
— the wall thrown down betwixt nave and choir, with splendid festive
ceremonies. This will give an immense impetus to popular feeling, I
was shown the corner where our Queen's donation is to be phiced. Whea

I saw this, and was told of one window contributed by Herr at a

cost of thirty Friedrichs iror, and of another promised by some other en-
thusiast— a wish arose in my mind, to which you will, perhaps, not object
to give currency. Mould it not be a pleasatt thing to the English artists
and lovers of art to have (/leir memorial in such a building? One of the
smaller windows — presuming their zeal unequal to vie with that of Royal
donors — might be haudsomely compassed for fifty sovereigns : or, let us
say — to state the sacrifice more tangibly to those whom I fain would in-
terest— fifty white-bait dinners! Could not so much as this be done, with-
out injustice to any of our own works of art or benificence ? It is true
that the offeriug, when completed, would make little more show thau the
hatchments or votive tokens which cover the w alls and pillars of the Ca-
tholic churches abroad ; but it v\'ould be, still, "Ihe Knglishmen's win-
dow," for the father to show his son — a token of brotherly kindness and
sympathy, especially grateful to such lovers of memorials and celebrations
as are our German friends ; — who, let me add, are more abundantly irri-
tated by the sneers and exactions of our swarm of vulgar summer tourists,
than soothed by the courtesies of the refined and intellectual among us.
At all events, my hint can do no oue harm."

To the above, the following particulars, taken from the report of Zwir-
ner the architect, may be added. The past winter was chiefly occupied ia
preparing the stones required for the triforium of the nave and the north
and solith transepts. On examining the foundations of the great north
tower, they were found to be so imperfect that it will be necessary to ex-
cavate to the depth of thirty feet in order lo renew them. This discovery
will lead lo great delay and labour. Zwirner complains that the employ-
ment of workmen on dve difl'erent portions of the budding simultaneously
leads to needless trouble and expense. The list of royal donations is as
follows: — Emperor of Austria, £833; King of the Netherlands, £84;
Grand Duke of Baden, £170; King of Hanover, £80; Prince of Lich-
teustein,£9G ; Queen Victoria, £523. The most favourable signs of pro-
gress are the arching of the south aisles and the completion of the north
and south portals, The latter are already arched over. Considerable
controversy has existed respecting the manner of erecting the south portal ;
certain traces of foundations which have been discoveied, and which are
said to indicate the form which this part of the cathedral was intended tu
assume, have been disregarded in the restoration. The restorers appear,
however, to have acted on mature deliberation, and the restoration of the
north portal, which is indisputably in accordance with the original plan,
furnishes a powerful answer to the otijections raised respecting the south
portal.

IS-IG.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

291

NOTES OF THE MONTH.

The Tubular BrUlgie. — It appears from the report of the engineer of the
Chester and Holyhead railway, that the model tube constructed by IMr.
Fairbairn, one sixtli of tlie actual size, has been subjected to such experi-
ments as he considers sulliciently justify the company proceeding with tlii'
works. He reports: — " In tlie former preliminary experiments, I Has led
to the conclusion tliat gi'eat care would be required to prevent the npfier
side of the tube from crushing, — that, In short, the main object to be aimed
at was to give the top of the tube the requisite stiffness. In this respect,
the result obtained from the model has been highly satisfactory ; and, being
upon so large a scale, may be deemed perfecly conclusive upon seveial
important points. The dimensions of the tube were as follows: length,
75 ft. between the supporters; depth, 4 ft. 6 in. ; width, 2 ft. 6 in. The
total weight a little above five tons. When progressively loaded, the mean
deflection was about one-tenth of an inch per ton ; and with a load of
thirly-tive tons suspended in the middle, it gave way on the under side, —
the upper part not having exhibited the least sign of failure up to the mo-
nient of fracture. Hence, therefore, we have arrived at a most interesting
result ; viz., that the liability of the plates on the upper side to crush has
been completely removed from the construction in compartments. The
experiments having now furnished us with the necessary means of calcu-
lating the relative thickness and proportions of the several parts of the
tube, we are in a condition to contract at once for their construction.''
.Supposing the strength proportional to the size, the real bridge ought (o
break with six times the load on the model — that is, with 210 tons, ami
the deflection would be 21 inches. Mr. Stephenson stated, in his report,
that 747 tons on the centre, or double this distributed over the whole
bridge, though equal to any weight " that can in practice be placed on (he
bi'idge, is not sufhcienliy in excess for practical purpctses." But the 6<ip-
position which seems to have been acted upon iu this experiment that the
strengih is directly proportionul to the dimensions, is founded on false phi-
losophy. The load which can be sustained is a function not of the length,
but of the square af the length nearly ; or at all events, depends on a
higher exponent than the lirst power of that quantity. The deflection
would depend not on the breadth aud depth simply, but probably on the
cubes of those quantities.

Buckingham Palace is to he enlarged by the addition of a fourth side,
completing the quadrangle : the architect is Mr. Blore. Let us hope that
the faults iu the present structure will not be repeated — that columns will
be used to support the building — not to be supported by il, and that there
will be no sham pediments stuck on for show. The destruction of the
huge triumphal arch, supporting nothing but a little flag-staff (" a must
lame aud impotent conclusion"), is happily resolved upon. The p^opo^i-
tion to build an altogether nevv palace of purer architecture seems pit-t:-r
able to thnt of paiching up the old one. The liberality of the people o.
England must, in the former case, be the more acceptable to the Qii'-eti,
because forced upon her, as it were, in generous disobedience to her ex
pressed wishes.

Triumphal Arch, Piccadilly. — The statue of the Duke is to be hoisted
lip after all, and to remain ou the arch tor three weeks, to see how it will
look. Sir F. Trench might as well walk through London on stilts, to see
how he would look. This scheme of putting up the statue on trial appears
very much like a ruse: the pieces of metal, if soldered together, cannot
be disunited witlmnt injury. Besides, it would be much easier and
cheaper to again raise the great wooden doll which was placed in the
same situation as a gaziug-stock some time ago.

At the anniversary meeting of the Botanical Society of London the
receipts were slated to be £12,041 and the expenditure l'9,84o.

In the Papal Slates an Anglo-Indian company has been formed for es-
tablishing a complete system of railway communication. The I'ope is
stated by the Journal ilei Dibats to have obtained from the French Go-
verunient copies of all the statutes relating to railways.

Alont Blanc, this summer, appears for the first time this many years,
discrowued. The sun has roblied " the monarch of mountains" of his
insignia of royalty ; neither •' the avalanche is iu his hand," uor does the
*' diadem of snow" remain upon his brow.

Narigulinn of the Seine. — The French Chambers have voted 26,000,000
francs for the improvement of the Seine navigation. Near the mouth of
the river the channel will he narrowed, in order that the current by its
increased rapidity may constantly act to scour the passage.

Mr, Hudson's railu-uijs. — The following table exhibits the average of
fares per hundred miles ou the railways under iNIr. Hudson's management
and eleven other railways : —

1st. Class. 2nd. Class. 3iii. Class.

Hudsoniao lines 24s. 7d. 10s. 6d. 13s. 4d.

Eleven other lines ISs. 9^',d. 13s. 7y,d. 8s. 9f[d.

la one case (the Great North of tngland), 17s. yd. per 100 miles is

charged for second class passengers, while ou the London and Birmingham

Uie first cla^s tare for tiie same distance is 16s. Gd !

The Birmingham Town Hall has been decorated in the Polychromatic
style.

The Masonic Hall Cowes. — A long account of the laying the first stone
of this building has beeu given iu the newspapers, The Illustrated Lon-
don Ntu-s publishes the design, which appears to be perfectly disgraceful.
It has been observed, among other things, that the Grecian-Doric pilasters
are twelve diameters in height !

The Sailor's Home, Liverpool, is to be erected in the Elizabethan style
from designs by iMr. (_'uriningl;:im. It has been calculated that the cere-
mony of laying the fouiidatiuu stone by Prince Albert has cost more thau
will sultice for erecting the building.

St. Michael Heavitree, near E.xeter. — This church has been re-erected
under the superintendence of Mr. Alexander. The form aud details of the
former church have been almost exactly repeated.

Trinity Church, Puddington.—The cost of this building is £18,000.

St. John Baptist, Sudbury — A small church, near the Birmingham rail-
way, has beeu erected from an excellent design by Messrs. Scott and Mof-
fatt. The style is Decorated ; the materials flint, with stone dressings.

All Saints, Harrow-weald.— The first stone of this church has beeu laid.
The design is by Mr. Harrison, iu the Early English style.

Frescoes in the House of Lords. — Very favourable reports of the success
of Mr. Dyce's labours are in circuhilion. His mural picture is said to
have been recently inspected by the members of the Ifoyai (Commission of
Fine Arts, aud to have given great satisfaction to the distinguished
visitors.

Statue of uSir Fowel Buxton. — The competition respecting this statue,
which is to be erected in M esiminster Abbey, has resulted in favour of
Mr. Thrupp. The price is £l,Ot)0.

M. Vignon, architect to the Empress Jose|ihine at IMalmaison, to Louis
Bonaparte when King of Holland, aud to iMurat, recently died at Pans,
at the age of eighty-tive.

The Society for building, Sfc., churches and chapels determined, at their
last meeting to grant assistance towards the erection of II new churches,
the rebuilding w ith enlargement 7 parish cliurthes, and the enlargement of
19 churches and chapels. The Socieiy, since November last, has contri-
buted £20,360 towards the erection of (J9 new chuiches.

South Devon Railway. — Atmospheric tubes of the increased diameter of
22 inches are said to be in course of formation.

The Midland Counties telegraph, from Leeds to BirmiDgham, and from
Derby to Nottingham aud Kugby, has beeu completed at a cost of £40,000.

Instruction of engine drivers. — The French Rlinister of Public Works
has resoheJ ou instituting a school for this purpose at Pans.

A failure of an embankment oa the Sliellield aud Manchester railway
took place recently, when 3,000 yards of earth fell.

The Richmond line is opened. It cost only £170,000, though the ori-
ginal estimate was £:iOO,000. Mr. Locke is the engineer : the rate of
progress was a mile a mouth.

Foreign conijietition with English manufactures. — The merchants of Bir-
mingham have beeu ollered liclgiau wine-glasses and tumblers 2.i to 35
per tent, cheaper thau they can be produced in England.

The newspapers announce the death of Dr. Bostock, of Liverpool, an
associate of Priestly and Davy in their labours. His principal work was
the " Elementary System of Pliysiology."

Discorery of an ancient forest. — In excavating the new road from Wood-
side, which has beeu commenced by the Birkenhead tommi.-sioners, the
workmen have discovered a forest six or eight leel below the level of the
soil. Many of the trees retain their original forms almost perfectly.

The Newfoundland Times asserts, from observations of the sea level, that
all the land about Conception Bay, and piobaldy the whole island, is gra-
dually rising above the sea.

Chichester Cathedral. —A rose window has been placed in the east gable.
The tomb of Kichard, bishop of Chichester (1252), has beeu restored aud
placed iu the south trauscpt.

London Docks.— A new warehouse is being erected by Mr. \V. Cubitl.
The length of the new building is 2$4 feet, the breadth 189 feet, and it is
five stories in height.

The Hotel de Ville of Aix-la-Chapelle is being restored. In this build-
ing took place the congress by which the celebrated treaty of Aix-ia-
Chapelle was concluded.

Railway Legislation of the Present Session. — 3,072 miles of railway
have beeu aullioi ized, witli a capital of £90,500,000, aud povser to borrow
£38,700,000 moie.

Loudon and \orth-\Vestern. — In consequence of the graud amalgama-
tion of the Loudou aud Birmiogbam, the Grand .Junction, aud the Liver-
pool and Manchester, into one great company, uanicd the Lunduu and
North- Western, most extensive improvements are coutemplated. At Eus-
tousquare aud Camdeu-towu whole streets will be demolished to gain
additional space. The Wolverton and the Crewe statious will be greatly
enlarged ; but the most important alterations are being carried ou at
Liverpool: there will be a tunnel right under the town of cousiderable
length.

The Contracts for the Menai Tubular Bridge are distributed as follows:
Mr. W alter \V illiams, 2,000 tons of best irou plate ; Brauiah and Co. and
Foster aud Co., each 1,500 tons; Thornejcioft aud Co., the Colebiook
Dale Company, and the Butlerly Company, each 1,000 tons; — lU all,
8,000 tons.

The Railway of the United States extend over 10,500 miles.

The late Stornt has considerably injured the exleruul masoury of Henry

!^S

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

IShi't.

Vllth's Chapel, which, nolwithstaoding the comparatively recent restora-
tion, shows signs of general decay. It is of Halh stone.

The (^orernment School of Design — The annual meeting for distribu-
tion of I'rizes has recently taken place. This institution has efiectcd little
which would induce the public to respond to the tone of gr.jtulation
adopted in the annual report.

The Three New Parks at Manchester have been opened.

The Restorations at Ely Cathedral progress rapidly. The tombs of
Bishop Alcock and Cardinal de Lidanborough, the Purbeck marble shafts
of the triforium and clerestory, the corbels, string courses, &c., have been
purged of the coatings of paint and piaster. But the chief work** are at
the west end, where the towers have been restored and opened to the nave.
The Chapel of St. Catlierine, which opens into the newly-restored tran-
sept, is to be repaired. At the east end of the church, the soutli pinnacle,
which was never finished, is in course of erection at tlie expense of Mr.
Hope. The dean has restored Prior Cranden's Chapel.

MISCELLANEA.

Rocket Making in the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich. — The out-
side case of the rocket is of thin sheet iron, and the inner case of paper. This case
being dxed, a ladleful! of clay is placed at the bottom of the rockat and the composiiion
is then poured in ; one ladlefull being put in at a time. Each complement of the com-
position is then driven down by an instrument called a " monkey," similar to those used
in pile-drivinp, which is allowed to fall on the rammer 6u times. This process is repeated
on the addition of each ladlefull of the composition, 'ill the whole tube or case is fille'',
when it is coated over with clay, which hardens and protects the composition from acci-
deut till it is required for use, when the clay is bored lhrou^h.

Blasting of the White Shell Rocks at Sunderland. — These
rocks, which have long been a source of daneer to shius entering the port of Sunderland,
were examined recently by T. Meek, Esq., engineer. On surveying their for.n and na-
ture, by means of the diving bell, he satisfied himself of the practicability of their being
blasted with gunpowder, and their most dangerous parts removed. The surface was
found to consist of rid es of pseudo-magnesian limestone, running in an easterly direc-
lioD. The highest projecting ridge was not more than two feet six inches below the
surface ol the water. This being the most dangerous point, it was selected for th*- com-
mencement of the operations. The first blast loosened and displaced six tons of rock,
and by means of iwn others this portion of the ridge was levelled, and a depth of five
feet water at low spring ebbs obtained. Another projecting ridge, not so dangerous, has
been lowered and broke-n up. The operations are still progressing, and much advantage
to the port is expected to result from them.

Indian Railways. — The Indian journals, received by the overland mail,
Are discussing the possibility of constructing the lailroads. Mr. Simms, after a fair
month's survey, has declined to attempt a rsgular estimate of the cost of cnstrufting a
railway from Calcutta to Delhi. In his general report and gaess estimate, however, he
seta it down at £lb 000 per mile; one bridge alone he estimates at two million rupees.
This really appears no extravagant estimate of what it may cost to carry a railway
through a country subject to inundations so violent as to sweep the most scilirl structures
away. At this rate, the total expense of a railway from Calcutta to Delhi would be some-
where about twenty million rupees. The Great Indian Peninsular iS, at on^ part of its'
course, to rise \7\S leet in rather less than six mites and in this portion of it there are
two miles of tunnelling and one of cutting through a hard fissured trap. The [ass
through nhicb these operations are to be conducted leads to a ** lugged difficult coun
try."

LIST OF NEW PATENTS.

eBANTED IN ENGLAND FROM JULY 23, 184G, TO AUGUST 25, 1846.

Six Months allowed /or Enrolment, unless otherwise expressed,

Charles William Firchild, of l-eamington, in the county of Warwick, for " a new en-
gine for obtaining rotary motion."— Sealed July 23.

Peter Claussen, of Leicester-square, Middlesex, gentleman, for " Improvements in me-
thods of, or apt)aratu3 for, propelling and exhausting and compressing air and aeriform
bodies."— July 23.

John Tulloh Oaborn, of Demerara, now residing in London, Esq., for "certain Im-
provements in power machines, or machinery for tilling, druining, and otherwise cultivat-
ing land, and io the mode or modes of Working the same.*' — July 23.

James Henry Dickson, Esq., Capt. Half-pay, of Cheltenham, for "certain Improve-
ments in saddles."— July 23.

Harold Crease, of Brixton-hill, Surrey, paper stainer, for " certain Improvem'nts in
thtt preparation of paints and colours for decorative and other similar purposes.*'- July
23.

Francois Henry Bickes, of Mayence, on the Rhine, in the Grand Duchy of Hesse, gen-
tlemen, lor " Improvements in distillation." — July '2^.

George Henry Fonrdrlnier. of Hanlcy, in the county of Stafford, paper-maker, for " Ira-
provemenls in preparing the materials usffd in manufacturing earthenware and china,
and in printing the designs for ornamenting the same."— July 23.

Edward Hammond Bonsall, of Heybride, in the county of Essex, iron-founder, for
•' Improvements in implements for ploughing land, and clearing land of weeds."- July
23.

Alfred Vincent Newton, of Chancery-lane, draughtsman, for "certain Iroprovemeiits
in the manufacture of sugar." (A communication.) — July 23.

Thomas Bell, of Don Alkali Works, South Shields, for " Improvements in smelting
copper ore." — July 23.

Robert Heath, of Manchester, gentleman, for " certain Improvements in wheels to be
used upon rail and other roads which Improvements are also applicable to mill gearing,
knd other similar purposes."— July 27.

John Aagustin Alexis Sauvape. of Rue Richer, Paris, for " Improvements in condensing
the steam in Bteam-ergine«, and in supplying water to steam-engine boilers." — July27.

Thomas LucoR, of No, 1 13, Alders^iate-street, London; lozenpe niantifacturer, for " cer-
^«in Impruvements in the manufacture of lotentjcfl or sweetmeats."— July I'll.

Henry Besemer, of Baxter- house. Old St. Pancras-road, Middlesex, engineer, for " cer-
t»lD Improvements in the manufacture of ^lass, and in machinery and apparatus con-
cecttd therewith, and also in silvering or coating glass, parts of which improvements are
applicable to the manufacture of tin foil and thin sheets of other metal, or alloys of me-
Ul."— July 30.

Robert Mallett, of Dublin, civil engineer, and John Somers Dawson, of Dublin, coach
builder, for " certain Improvements iu railway carriages, and in (he machinery for work*
ing railways, parts of nhieb are applicable toother ctrriages,and to the bearings of other
machinpry." — July 30.

William George Armstrong, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, for "an Improved lifting, lower-
ing, and hauling apparatus."— July 31.

Theophile Augusle Dreschke, of Rue Therese, Paris, late an officer of Artillery, in the
service of Prussia, and late professor of sacred music at the University of Berlin, for " Im-
piovements in the keys ol pianofortes and (jther keyed musical instruments." — July 31.

John Bayley, of Heaton Norris, near Stockport, manager, for " certain Improvements
in machinery or apparatus for spinning or twisting eolton and other tibraus substances."
August 1.

Thomas Payne, of Handsworth, near Birmingham, gentleman, for " Improvements in
the manu facture of rcUs for rolling iron and other metals."— August 4.

Charles Vignoles, junior, of Apperby-hridge, near Bradford, Yorkshire, civil engineer,
for " Improvements in employing steam as a motive power."- August 4.

Francois Teychenne, of Redcross square, Cripplegate, feather merchant, for " Im-
provements in treating stone to render it bard and impermeable, and iu colouring the
sauje." (Partly a communication.)- August 10.

George Lodge, of Leeds. Yorkshiie, engineer, for " certain ImproTcments in heating
water, generating ste<im, and saving fuel." — August 11.

Frank Hills, of Deptford, Kent, manufacturing chemist, for " a method or methods of
treating certain gases, and matiutacturin; sulphuric acid, muriatic acetic acid, and cer-
tain salts of potash, so !a, and ammonia." — August U.

William Kayser, of Bread-street, Cheapside, London, gentleman, for " Improvemenli
in the manufacture of looking glass." (A coBimunication.) — August 11.

Richard Whytoch, of EdinI urgh, manufacturer, for " an improved method of manu-
facture which facilitates the production ot regular fiijures or patterns on diftVrent labrics,
particularly velveis. velvet pile, and Brussels, Wilton, and Turkey carpels, being an ex-
tension for the term of live years, to be computed from the tfth day of September, iS4ti,
of letters patent granted to the said Richari W hytoch for the said invention, by his tale
Majesty King William the Fourth."— August II.

Charles Dowse, of Camden Town, gentleman, for " Improvements in the manufacture
and finishing of fabrics capable of beiug used as substitutes for paper." — August U.

William Warcup, of Ashton-terrace, Coronation road, Bristol, civil engineer, for " cer-
tain Improvements in the manufacture and arrangemeut of parts and apparatus for the
construction and working of atmospheric railways." — August U.

Henry Constantine Jennings, of Cuml^erland terrace, Regent'a-park, practical chemist,
for •' a new method, or apparatus, or machine, for the better or more economic evapora-
tion ol tluids or liquids containing crystalline or other matters to be concentrated or crys-
tallised."— August U.

Jean Michel Borgognon, of New Broad-street, London, genileman, for " certain Im-
provements in producing artificial basaltic lavas." (A communication.)— August 11.

Daniel Sydney Hasluck, of Birmingham, merchant, for " certain Improvements in the
manufacture of baru*"S3 for beasts of burden." (A communication.) — August 13.

Johu Buchanan, of Queen. square, Westminster, gentleman, for "certain Improve-
ments in ships or vessels, and in propelling thereof, and in securing the same from floatal
damage, certain pai ts uf which machinery may be used for motion on land." — Aug. 15.

William Aitken. of Aberdeen, in North Britafn, gentleman, for " certain Improvements
in two and four wheeled carriages." — August 16.

George Phillips, of Park-street, Islington, chemist, for " an Improved construction and
arrangement of apparatus for supporting garden-pots, and improving the growth of
plants.*'— August 17.

Moses Poole, of the Patent Bill Office, London, gentleman, for " Improvements in
manufacturing terry and cut piled fabrics." (A communication.)— August 17.

Joseph Gray, of Redcrosa-street, Soulhwark, machinist, for " Improvements in gas me-
ters."—August 17.

George Remington, of Park-street, M'estroinster, cini engineer, for " aertain Improve-
ments in locom-iiive engint^s, part of which improvements are applicable to marine and
stationary engines."— August 17.

Joseph Clinton Robertson, of Fleet-street, London, civil engineer, for "an Improved
method of constructing boats, ships, and vessels of wood.** {A communication.) — Aug.
17.

George HInton Bovill, of MiUwall, Middlesex, engineer, for " Improvements in manu-
facturing wheat and other grain into meal and flour." (A communication.)— August 18.

Samuel Haven Hamilton, of Paris, gentleman, for " Improvements iu machinery or
apparatus, for dredging or excavating." (A communication. J — August 19.

William Crofts, of the Park, Nottingham, for " Improvements in tba manufacture of
lace and other fabrics."— August 2^.

Henry Parry, of High-street, Deptf^rd, gentleman, for "certain Improvements in the
maniifacture of hats.''— August 20.

Matthew Gibson, ot Wellington-street, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, machine maker, for "a
machine for leaping, cutting grass, and other similar purposes.'* — August 22.

Maximilian Francois Joseph Deltosse, of Paris, but now of Regent-street, Esq., for
" Improvements in preventing and removing incrustation iu steam boilers.*' — August 25.

James Bishop, of Piccadilly, warehouseman, and Thomas Wiod, of Upper BarDsbury-
street, Islington, gentleman, for *• Impr-jvementsin passengers' carriages." — August Iw.
Thomas Russell Crampton, of Adam-street, Adelphi, Middlesex, engineer, for " Im-
provements in locomotive engines." — August 2-).

Alexander Parkes of Birmingham, artist, for " Improvements in the manufacture of
candles, and in preppring and combining certain animal, vegetable, and mineral sub-
stances, applicable to the manufacture of cundie; and other uses."— August 2.^.

James Murdock, of Staple-inn, Middlesex, for a process for "making a composition or
artificial stone, applicable to building and otbvr uselul purposes.*' — August 2£>.

CORllESPON DENTS.

Received " Ilodgkinson on the Strength of Cast Iron,"' " View of Christ
Chuich, Po^t^wood," " Noniiullus," \\ e are agi.in coinpelled to postpone
several papers for want of room. Correspondents who wiih to have their
communications in?eitcd must send them eaily in the month.

PLATE XV

I

SCALE or U>

■ ' I ■

i®AM© ©F Tiai-DIE^&e.WIHIIITISIHIAJLIL.

SIR JOHN AOANt - ARCHITECT.

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

293

THE BOARD OF TRADE, WHITEHALL.
fjnth an Engraving, Plate XV.J

■ffe have reserved till now, when we exhibit an elevation of it, our re-
marks on the " Board of Trade," as it was originally designed by Soane, and
we may commence them by observing that though he selected a singularly
ornate and highly finished example of the Corinthian and adhered to it with
that literal exactness which though merely belonging to the province of
architectural orthography, is allowed to pass for a positive merit, he deviated
widely from — at least did not at all enter into, the spirit of it. Were the
rest of the elevation shown before the columns were put in, hardly would it be
imagined that the latter were to be of the Corinthian order, least of all that
example of it ; or rice versa, were it the order that was drawn in first, we
ibould naturally anticipate a corresponding degree of richness for the other
features, whereas they are of such marked plainness as to be both inconsistently
and aflTectedly so. It is rather strange that as he did not intend to keep up to
tone of the order, he did not adopt the middle coarse of sobering it down to
that of the rest, preserving its proportions and profiles, but retrenching its
luxniiance. But like many others, Soane was content to take orders and
apply them just as he found them without endeavouring to make them in-
fluence the composition. He could copy Corinthian columns — and we are
certainly indebted to him for the introduction of the Tivoli example — but
fae had no clear perception of Corinthianism, still less of lonicism, for his
Ionics are intolerable. 'With all the originality, too, that he possessed, or
had the credit of possessing, he does not appear to have ever turned any of
it to the composition of a well studied and carefully devised example of his
own, — we say example, for we are not so absurd as to expect any one to
originate and perfect a new style of order — a preposterous idea that has
proved a stumbling-block to those who have attempted to do so, and whose
extravagant and tasteless conceits have caused those to exult who comfort
themselves with that good old orthodoxy which spares them all trouble of
invention, and which by making the whole profession mere copyists in re-
gard to the orders, puts all of them so far upon the same level. — But all this
may pass for digression, and we therefore break away from it.

In his " Board of Trade," Soane kept up uniformity of intercolumniation,
but not to the very great advantage of that portion which had insulated
columns, the latter being like the attached ones, four diameters apart ; which
occasioned in the building what does not show itself in an elevation, more
especially an outline one, namely, a certain degree of meagreness as to co-
lumniation, at variance with the character of richness aimed at by it, and
certaiuly at variance with the intercolumniation in the original example,
where it is only one diameter and a half. Another disadvantage was that
the effect of shadow was greatly diminished in consequence of the width of
the intercolumns. What is more, those advanced columns were quite as
parasitical, and more decidedly for mere embellishment than the others, for
instead of the order being a portion of the building, it was merely stuck up
against it, the entablature being actually detached from it, and having imme-
diately behind it small windows to a mezzanine floor. It would seem there-
fore that those columns were brought forward chiefly in order that the en-
tablature might be so also, for the purposing of masking the unsightly aper-
tures required in so ungainly a situation. As an expedient in urgent neces-
sity, such Concealment of what would else have blemishes, might have passed
for ingenious and legitimate, had not the artifice manifested as much bungling
as contrivance by being allowed to show itself; whereas had the sofiit of the
entablature been closed up, it would not have been even suspected, while at
the same time by the entablature being hollowed out, so as to form a mere
parapet in front of those windows, the light to them would have been hardly
at all obstructed.

In one respect the fenestration of Soane's building was praiseworthy, for
the heads of the second tier of windows and their dressings — in builders'
phraseology those of the " one-pair" — did not break into the line of the
capitals of the columns, owing to which the latter display themselves with
more dignity. Nor can we help being of opinion that in this particular point
Mr. Barry has not improved upon the original design. We expressed some
disapprobation last month of the infraction of linear harmony by the second
floor windows being allowed to rise up between the capitals of the order, but
we did not mention — in fact had not then considered how the difficulty was
to be overcome, the columns being just of the same height as before, and
the windows in question considerably taller. As to difficulty, indeed, there
was no such word in the case, nothing being more easy of accomplishment,

No. loa.— Vol. IX.— October, 1846.

for there was only to raise the columns to the level of the window balus-
trades, which done, their bases would have ranged with the sills of the first
floor windows, and their capitals would have cleared the line of the top of
the upper windows. The building would thus have gained an addition of
three feet in height, which increase would hardly, we conceive, have been
an objection, though decrease of height, to the same extent, might very justly
have been so.

Soane's attic looked more like an after thought, and excrescence than as
having been designed in conjunction with the order. Instead of contributing
any of that play of outline and concomitant piquancy of composition, which
so happily mark some portions of the Bank, it produced only monotonous
and spiritless heaviness. If that be any great merit, it was certainly free
from Soaneisms, but unluckily when Soane was not somewhat oddly fanciful
he was dull, and sometimes even without a decent idea at command. We
have, however, his architectural autograph here in some of the chimneys,
which have certainly more of Soane than of Corinthianism in them. Pity
that with his ambition to he original, he got out of the beaten track only by
fits and starts ; he jumped out of it onlyto jump back into it again, or only to
jump about the new track he thought he had discovered, but without making
any progress in it. He had ideas of his own, but he was apt to put them
forth to the public in too raw a state, and he almost invariably left some
grating incongruity — some trait of littleness and meanness in every thing he
did. His choicest piece of design was the Loggia forming the north-west
angle of the Bank — from which, most strange to say, no one has ever taken
an artistic lesson in composition.

FENESTRATION AND WINDOWS.

SECOND ARTICLE.

Although there are other characteristics which more or less strongly
mark Gothic exteriors, particularly in regard to outline and composition,
it is in the apertures alone that the arch, which prevails throughout the
entire organization of the interior of the fabric (at least, in ecclesi2istical
edifices), manifests itself externally, for open arcades corresponding to
porticoes, on the outside of buildings are of such exceedingly rare occur-
rence in the Pointed style, as to be only exceptions. We shall perhaps be
reminded of the open arches of porches; but they belong to doorways,
and do not form continuous arcades, of which latter, however, or what
may else be called a portico of three lofty arches, the front of Peterborough
cathedral affords an instance, and is accordingly very remarkable. This
comparative absence of the arch from exterior situations has led Schnaase
— if we mistake not the writer — to give it as his opinion that the Pointed
style seems to have been calculated chiefly for internal effect, inasmuch as
it is within buildings that it displays itself in all its completeness and with
perfect homogeneousness — not in doors and windows alone, but in a suc-
cession of arches, combined with vaulting and its arched surfaces. Ex-
ternally, therefore, windows are valuable features, because strongly ex-
pressive of the style, even should there be, as is sometimes the case, very
little besides to indicate it. Nor is it only on account of the presence of
the arch in them that they are thus expressive, for in the later Perpendicu-
lar the arch is sometimes almost lost, or even entirely so as regards the
general form of the aperture, since square- headed windows occur even in
ecclesiastical buildings as well as in secular ones; notwithstanding which,
the character and constitution peculiar to Gothic windows are strictly kept
up. It becomes necessary to consider in what respect Gothic windows
are differently constituted from others, and so very much more advantage-
ously, that what renders them both highly characteristic and orna-
mental externally, renders them also such internally, or vketersi. Per-
haps the matter is so exceedingly obvious as to require neither considera-
tion at all, nor explanation, — at least it would seem to be so, for we do
not recollect to have seen it adverted to by any one of the numerous wri-
ters on the subject; nevertheless, we will, at the risk of putting forth an
oflicious and superfluous observation, lay it down as the distinguishing
constitution of Gothic windows, when the style is fully developed, that
tbey consist not of one, but of many apertures united together into a
general composition. However large they may be — and they may be
extended to any practicable dimensions — they are not mere gaps in the
wall ; 00 the contrary, the larger they are the more decorative they be-

38

294

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Oct.

come, the increase of size being obtained by an increased number of
lights and mullions, and a consequent increase of tracery ribs in the
" head" of the window ; whereas, unless the general opening were divided
in its lower part into lesser apertures, there could be no tracery above.

After the idea of them had been fully developed and brouRht to ma-
turity, Gothic windows exemplify very strikingly how admirably that
disposition of them which originated in conveuience if not in actual neces-
sity, was made to conduce to both character and decoration ; for the
division into separate compartments or " lights," systematically combined
into one general whole, resulted in some degree from the exigencies of
construction — not indeed as regards the arch which is so filled in, but in
order to afford due support, and also the appearance of it, for the glazing
^nd its lead-work. Instead, therefore, of causing mere vacancies and
voids in the walls, and of being little better than dull gaps and blanks in
the architecture, without any of the bold effect attending unglazed open-
ings, the apertures themselves become positive features in it, they forming
so many perforated screens inserted into the arched voids which they
occupy. Hence, they dilfer not only most decidedly but most advantage-
ously from windows in the Greco-Roraan and Italian styles, in which or-
namental design is entirely confined to the dressings enclosing the aper-
ture, which, however rich they may be in themselves, contribute
nothing whatever to internal effect, the aperture itself remaining nothing
more than a mere large circular — or square-headed, opening, without any
possible variety of design for it; whereas, in Gothic architecture, the ac-
tual windows, and not the mere external framing around them, admit of
almost inexhaustible diversity ; and however plain they may be in their
splays and external mouldings, they are both integral and ornamental
parts of the structure.

In some instances, however, much external and adscititious decoration
is bestowed on Gothic windows, — even such extraneous additions as small
crocketed gables enclosing their heads, which therefore seem to offer a
direct precedent for the application of pediments to windows in Italian
composition, and must accordingly be condemned as gross solecisms, — that
is, by those who are intolerant of window-pediments, such gables or
(iothic pediments being, like the oihers, merely " stuck on," and minia-
ture resemblances of constructive forms diverted and perverted from their
original intention into mere accessories for the sake of embellishment.
Indeed, miniature gables, we may stop to remark, are so exceedingly
common in Gothic architecture, that the term Gablet has been expressly
invented for them ; and some of them— ej-. grat, on the several stages of
buttresses — are so diminutive, that they ought to be held very " ludicrous"
tilings indeed by those who adopt the profound dictum that " the ludicrous
is inseparable from diminutive resemblances of things noble and dignified
in themselves."

To return to windows, — those who denounce the application of pediments
and columns to windows in the Italian style, must be equally scandalized
at those examples of Gothic windows in which miniature buttresses fortify
the lower part of the principal mullions, and again, at such enormities as
"embattled" transoms. In claiming for Gothic windows the merits and
advantages we have done, we must of course be understood to refer to
genuine and worthy examples, since we can by no means extend the same
praise to that sort of "something like Gothic" that gives us little more than
the mere skeletons and rudiments of mullioned windows and tracery, —
such as, till very lately, we have been doomed to behold in churches and
other modern Gothic buildings, for whose windows, proportions as to the
mullions and intervals between them are totally disregarded; — probably,
because it has not been even so much as suspected that there are any pro-
proportions at all to be attended to. Nevertheless, though it may not have
been formally entered among bookish rules, the same principle regulates
the spacing of mullions — or, what is the same thing, the breadth of the
mullions in proportion to the width of the lights — as regulates intercolum-
niation. The mullions should not be further apart than 3 or 4 at the most
of their diameters, so to call tliem ; — or, in other words, should not be
much narrower than from about a third to nearly a fourth of the width of
the " lights." It is owing to the non-observance of such proportions that
so many modern Gothic windows are very unsatisfactory in character,
even when correctly designed in other respects, the mullions being reduced
comparatively to mere upright bars, so that the whole window has a wiry
and meagre appearance, as offensive to the eye as yawning and stran-
gling intercolumniation, the disagreeableness of which is felt even by those
who are unable to account for it. Another point to be attended to, yet
frequently disregarded altogether in modern practice, is sijstcmalic unifurm-
ill) of division of the windows for all of them alike, both large and small ;

that is, the width established for the lights in one nindow shonid be ad-
hered to for those in all the others, whether the number of lights be more
or less ; instead of which, modern architects — even those who are very
particular and exact indeed in matters that are comparatively quite indifler-
ent and unimportant in compostion — do not scruple to vary the width of
lights, just as suits their convenience or their indolence.

f attention to uniformity with regard to the width of the lights seems to be
a fettering restriction in Gothic design, there is freedom enough in all other
respects as far as windows are concerned, for their dimensions, forms, and
position may be varied in the same building, as circumstances require.
Nor is it the least recommendation of the Gothic style, that even where
exact uniformity, both as to dimensions and general design, is required for
windows, they need not be precisely alike in pattern. It is, again, in
favour of Gothic windows — at least, for churches and other spacious
halls— that even when there is no stained glass in them, the light is con-
siderably moderated by the mullions, transoms, and tracery.

As the value of advantages is generally best appreciated by comparing
them with contrary deficiencies, we will now consider how the case stands
with windows for churches in other styles of architecture, nor have we long
to consider since it is easy to perceive immediately that they have been and
continue to be made blemishes in the architecture. Nothing equivalent to
tracery has ever been invented or adopted for them, accordingly they are
invariably mere vacant though glazed spaces, and as the glass is always of a
very ordinary sort and in small panes — in conformitj with churcli etiquette,
we presume, — they become actually mean in appearance, and externally pre-
sent only so many dingy and paltry-looking surfaces, which contrast rather
grotesquely with the dressings around them, if these latter are at all noble
or elegant in design. The larger too the window the worse does the defect
become : the glazing appears insecure and to need support ; and no better
method, of strengthening it can, it seems, be devised than that of employing
sometimes rude metal bars which have an equally mean and clumsy appear-
ance. If Wren's churches in general are not disfigured by their windows, it
is — we make bold to say — because there is nothing to be disfigured in them,
they being exceedingly uncouth both in composition and style, though there
may be a bit of tolerable detail or good feature in their elevations here and
there, hut the system of design adopted there is radically faulty and taste-
less, it being modelled upon the Gothic without possessing any of the quali-
ties or resources of th.it style : on the contrary, windows which are the
source of so much character, beauty and variety in the Gothic style are at
the very best only dull, insipid and monotonous features in the other, and to
make matters worse, very obtrusive ones. In that otherwise noble edifice,
St. Paul's, the windows are sad drawbacks on the architecture generally,
both within and without ; and within, although thire is not that offensive
rawness which is occasioned tiy undue quantity of light scattered in every
direction to the destruction of that valuable ingredient — shadow, there is no
effect of light — no brilliancy, no relief, for the windows show as so many
harsh and cutting spots or holes, in comparison with which the rest looks
gloomy. Never do we enter the building without regretting that Wren did
not bethink him of getting rid of side windows altogether except those form-
ing the clerestory of the nave ; nor would it have cost him much study to do
so, the mode of effecting it being obvious enough, for he had only to open
the small blind domes in the vaultings over the aisles, and there would have
been not only abundance of light but a charming effect of it. In that case the
spaces occupied by the present windows would have afforded large compart-
ments for fresco painting, which if such decoration for the edifice was ever con-
templated at all, could not have been introduced half so effectively any where
else, since the light would diffuse itself upon them from above, and from the
nave each picture would have been seen in succession, framed in, as it were,
by the arch between the nave and aisle.

At the time St. Paul's was built, Hijpatliral Fenestration — as we may
for distinction's sake call that mode in which the light is admitted from
above through the roof of a building, does not seem to have been even so
much as thought of, not even for domes, since the light was made to pro-
ceed chiefly from windows in the tambour beneath the dome, where they
form a circular clerestory. A most noble object externally, the dome of St.
Paul's shows itself almost the reverse within, presenting to the eye little
more than a mass of sullen gloom, rather increased than the contrary by
Thornliill's paintings. It seems therefore to require to be lit up by the most
lustrous surfaces and ornameuts of the purest white and gilding, which might
perhaps sufficiently overcome the obscurity which now prevails in it. As to
obtaining a sufficiency of light in a single volume of it by enlarging the eye

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEEERAND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

295

of the dome, that was and is an impossibility, owing to the great space be-
tween the external and internal cupola.

Should the modern Greco-Roman or Italian style be resumed by us for
churches — as as it is to he hoped that it will be, at least for those in towns,
let us look forward to its being treated in a very different spirit from what
it hitherto has been either in the last or present ;century, and to its being
enriched by new elements and combinations. There certainly is abundant
opportunity for imparting to it a new and more refined character by correct.
ing it in regard to fenestration, so as to convert what has hitherto been a
•ource of deformity into one of beauty and captivating effect. All the various
mode of hypathral fenestration — and they are exceedingly numerous, might
be employed according to circumstances, very successfully, although they
have hitherto been obstinately rejected for churches, — perhaps with a sort of
puritanical horror, — assuredly more for conscience sake than for taste's. We
can, however, vouch for the equally novel and happy effect produced in a re-
cently built — in fact not yet finished chapel at the West-end of the town,
where the light is admitted entirely from above, and on one side only, and
in such manner that the windows themselves are not seen on entering, or
afterwards, except by standing on the opposite side to them, and looking
directly up at them, when they are discoverable, but even then only partially
so. The idea thus thrown out — and to us it is quite new — is a valuable and
fertile one. Owing to the beautiful effect of light and half-light — and the
breadth of chiaroscuro, the interior we allude to is a complete picture.
Possibly, the peculiar mode of lighting was forced upon the architect by
circumstances of situation and juxta-position to houses ; and if so, he has to
bless his stars for the felicitous necessity which compelled him to step out of
the hackneyed prosaic track of ordinary church-builders into the picturesque,
the artistic, and the poetic. How fortunate would it be for many, were they
to be equally favoured by untoward circumstances. — Our subject is not ex-
hausted, but we will here close our present paper on it.

GOETHE'S HOUSE.

As the German Diet have resolved on purchasing Goethe's house, and on
having it preserved in its present condition, as a monument of national re-
coguitlon, the following description, derived from the German, and written
by one of Goethe's friends, will, we trust, be acceptable to the reader: —

" On a roomy place (square), enlivened by the murmur of a fountain,
stands a two-storied house, painted reddish-grey — the windows surrounded
by a black border. Although apparently of spacious dimensions, it in no
way exceeds the size of the dwelling of a respectable commoner. We
pass the threshold, and enter a brill, whose colouring, resembling yellowish
stone, renders it of a light and cheerful appearance. We now ascend the
staircase, surrounded by a massive entablature, which leads us, by its
broad steps, almost imperceptibly upwards. Its breadth must astonish any
one, being disproportionate to the other dimensions of the building — occu-
pying, nay absorbing, the whole lower part of the structure. It is
interesting to know how it came to be such. During Goethe's stay at
Rome, the house presented to him by the Grand Duke was to be finished,
and an appropriate staircase was all ready, when the poet saw one at
Home which enraptured him. Having procured a drawing, he sent it to
Weimar, with orders to make a similar one in his house. Vain were
all remonstraces sent over the Alps ; — there was no help but to obey him.
When he returned, he saw, not without surprise, this huge structure,
which deprived him of the lower part of his house, — ascended it, shaking
his head ; and never spoke of it afterwards.

In the upper vestibule, the statues of Sleep, Death, and the colossal
head of Juno, gaze at the visitor from their mural niches. Roman land-
scapes and views, also, remind us of that land, after the leaving of which
he said he never more enjoyed perfect happiness.

A small yellowish saloon is now opened. There he dined with his
guests. Meyer's drawings of antiques, and Poussjn's master-pieces, cover
the walls ; aud behind a green curtain he preserved the Aquarcll copy of
the Aldobrandini nuptials, also by Meyer, which he considered his great-
est treasure. The adjoining localities also exhibit only such objects which
appertain to that period of art, and to that lendency of Goeihe. Here,
everywhere the past and its recollections speak to us, and to any one
familiar with his works, — ' the stones have tongues, and the walls fea-
tures."

A string of historical associations seizes us, — that sensation which alone
can make us theroughly happy ; because nolbing is here which had nut
been touched, as it were, by him during the period of his life-apprentice-
ship ; — and to everything new or different, the access was hereafter rigour-
ously prohibited. It is with a deep feeling that we survey those trifles
and minor things, in which this great man found such high edification.

To the right of this saloon we see the so-called ceiling-room ; it is not
known why Goethe thus called it, as all the rooms have ceilings made of
stucco. To the left is his blue receiving-room, and behind it the Urbino-
room, thus called after a picture of a Duke of Urbino, which Goethe had
brought with him from Italy. On the threshold of his receiving-room
greets us his friendly ".S"«(t'e.' " When he received strangers, he never
came the way which we had passed from the staircase, but went from his
study by a passage to the Urbinoroom, and from thence he stepped
forth, prepared and composed. He did not like —

" That moments, blind-passioned and dark-ruled,
Should have their sway."

These, therefore, were the rooms accessible, in the main, during his life-
time. To his study he admitted no one, with the exception of a few of
his most intimate friends — C'oudray, MUUer, Uiemer, Eckermann. When
the King of Bavaria paid to Goethe his famous birthday visit, he asked
the poet to allow him also a view of the laboratory of his mind. Goethe
looked perplexed, and intimated that his study was not adequately filled
up for the gaze of Majesty. The king seemed resigned, but feig ned soon
afterwards a bleeding at the nose, declined any one to follow him, and or-
dered the servant to conduct him to Goelhe's washing-basin. The fellow,
surprised and perplexed, brought him into Goethe's bed-room, which ii
behind the study, and left him alone, according to the king's desire. He
remained long absent. Goethe, at last, went himself to look after the
king — and found him in his study, absorbed in the observation of its con-
tents.

The descriptions which I had found in memoirs and travels, of these
rooms had all given me but an incorrect idea. I expected a certain
splendour, as it might well be met with now in the bouses of those who
have talent and means to ornament their alentours. It was to that sup-
position that the flimsy words of visitors had led me. They saw Zeus,
aud therefore the walls surrounding him widened in their eyes to temple-
halls, resplendent from his lustre. Most probably, I should have found
myself in the same position then. Now, as we pass through the widowed
rooms, illusion vanishes to give way to modest truth. It is a dwelling,
comfortable, cheerful, decent, but thoroughly simple, in the fashion of a
time rather passed away— in some places even the worse for wear. It is
the dwelling of a patriarch, whose best recollections are attached to some
piece of furniture, sashes, or colours, of former days, and which he there-
fore wishes to be preserved around him, even if they have begun to be
unseemly, and are fading away into a duller colouring.

The death of the master has now broken the spell ; we pass freely
through small closets of communication, right through the house, to his
library and study. In one of the rooms, we stopped a moment — it was
that in which he dined, when alone, with his children ; a blind throws a
green shade around. With one step we were in the garden, in which the
poet was accustomed, in time of leisure, to enjoy every clear glimpse of
the sun. In the corner is a little garden-house, where he used to keep his
physical apparatus.

In the fore-room of the museum we saw, in little presses and under
glass frames around the walls, minerals, pieces of rocks, shells, fossils — in
fact, all which had become a subject of his studies in natural history
Everything was kept very clean, and arranged with good taste. A door
to the right opened into the library. For such means as were here avail-
able, it may appear small ; but Goethe purposely did not collect many
books, as the libraries of Weimar and Jena were at his disposal — nay, to
avoid the accumulation of such sort of treasure, which appeared superflu-
ous to him, he gave away most of what had been presented to him from
far and near, after having perused them.

Assistant-librarian Kriiuter, clerk to Goethe before he took John
as a copyest, now the faithful guardian of this sanctuary, opened the door
of the master's study. I recollected from Eckermann's conversations, the
occasional allusions of Goethe, which prepared me to find here high sim-
plicity ; still, even here, reality was somewhat different. This small, low,
unornamented, green cabinet-closet, with the dark bliuds of serge, IU»
worn out sills, the nearly decayed frames, was therefore the space whenc*
such an abundance of the most splendid light has poured forth !

38*

296

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Oct.

Nothing is moved from its place ; Kr'auter adheres with pious rigour to
bis cliarge ; every leaf of paper — every worn out pen — remains on the
spot where it was when the poet fell asleep. The clock yet shows the
death-hour — half past eleven ; — it stopped then ; an accident almost mi-
raculous ! Near it, to the right of the window, stands the small writing-
desk, which the grandfather had made for his grand-children, who«, after
the death of the father, he took under his care and immediate protection.
Wolfgang was his favourite ; next to him, Walter ; Alma, for the sake of
learning to sit still, was obliged to pluck pieces of silk next to her brothers
at the little desk. There they are yel, in the envelope of a letter.

Here every spot is holy ground, and a variety of objects, of which the
room is full, bespeak the being and actvity of such a mind. Around the
walls run rather low presses, iu which MSS. and other papers are kept;
above are shelves, in which Goethe placed the objects with which he
chanced to be occupied. The wood is browned by age, which is much
contrasted by a chest of drawers of well polished cherry-wood. It was
Goethe's daughter-in-law who gave this piece of furniture to him ; but
he could not long suffer its insinuating appearance, saying that it " dis-
tracted his thoughts." On that account also, there is no object of art in
the room, and the visitor seeks in vain for either a looking-glass or a sofa.
The latter he was not iu need of, on the account that he either stood or
moved about the whole day ; — he read standing, wrote standing, and even
took his breakfast on a high table. A similar conduct he recommended to
every one in whose welfare he took any interest, designating it as " life-
prolonging," — as well as the keeping of the hands behind the back, by
which, he added, " every narrowing and compressing of the chest is
avoided."

Let 113 look a little more around this reverenced workshop of a great
mind ! There, at the left of the door, hang a sort of historical testimonials
of ctuiracter. Goethe had, at a certain period, written out one column in
which was a list of celebrated men and public bodies who, according to
bis opinion, promised to bear some political fruits ; and in the next column
was remarked, whether and how far they had yielded, iu subsequent
years, the result which had been anticipated. Of General Jackson,
Goethe had great hopes ; his behaviour, however, towards the Indians was
subsequently marked in black.

A triangle of pasteboard, which he had himself made, and which occu-
pied the next shelves, is interesting as a sort of physiological jeu d'esprit.
Goethe wanted to illustrate to himself the action of the powers of soul.
The senses {Sinnlichkeit) appeared to him the basis of all ; to it, therefore,
the lower part of the triangle was devoted, and he painted it green.
Imagination received a dark red; intellect (Ffni«)i/4), a yellow; reason
( Versiani/), a blue colour ; and occupied each one of the sides. Next to
it is a black hemisphere, also of pasteboard, on which, by the aid of a
glass ball filled with water, Goethe used to depict all colours of the
rainbow, in moments of clear sunshine. With this he could pass his time
for hours, especially after the death of his son, and he enjoyed great plea-
sure when the motley glare was developed right powerfully. And thus he
found thorough happiness whenever a phenomecon of nature came wilhin
bis reach. There stands the small bust of Napoleon, made of opal-llux,
which Eckermann brought him from Strasburg, and on which he found
confirmed some of the assertions of his doctrine of colours {Farbenlehre),
which filled him with extacy. A sealed bottle, which we see on one of
the tables, he exulted in like a child. There had been some red wine in
it, but had long been put aside, and Goethe once holding it towards the
light, saw therein the finest crystals of cremor tartari in the shape of
leaves and flowers. Like one inspired, he called those around him, or-
dered a candle, and put, with an air of festivity, his seal of arms on the
cork, that no chance should any more destroy this fine phenomenon. The
bottle henceforth never came out of his room.

From Napoleon he received revealings in tlie sphere of light ; but he
acted also demoniacally upon him from that region, to which, it seems, no
ray of an upper world can ever penetrate. On the day of the battle of
Leipsig, a medallion of plaster of Paris fell from the wall ; a piece of the
margin was broken off, without, however, the portrait of the hero being
injured. There— in yonder recess— the image is yet to be seen, around
which Goethe, parodising Lucan, had placed in red letters : " Scilicet im-
tneoso superest ex nomine multura."*

Thus stand's Goethe's house — tasteful, simple, as it behoves the man of
mind and letters. A monument of his life and being, it will remain a

beacon for others, pointing out the track they have to follow ; although
there is no person living at present, to whom a similar public recognitioa
could, by any possibility, be ever decreed.

J. L Y.

* Of a great name much remains.

ARCHITECTURAL RECOLLECTIONS OF ITALY.

By Frederick Lush.
(Continued from page 26-1.)

The depeodance of architecture upon painting and the composition of
forms, for its most beautiful and majestic effects, and consequently the ne-
cessity of studying its principles in the works of eminent painters, was
shown merely as an introduclion to, or foundation for any remarks which I
might subsequently make on the buildings of Italy ; for a knowledge of
these, forming the judgment to speak accurately upon the effects and com-
binations of visible objects, seemed the only sound basis for architectural
criticism. Writers on art have oftentimes evinced much classic learning,
and in some instances much taste ; but these are not necessarily connected
with each other ; in some they are found existing together, though in others
not. Wood and Forsjth,to whom the architectural world is indebttd for a
geat deal of learnmg, sagacity and research, iu some of their critiques, do
not appear to have alwajs appreciated those excellencies in Italian build-
ings which to others were so striking, so obvious, and so often praised.
The faculty of looking at them with a painter's eye, seemed to have been
deadened, or not called into exercise; the want of perceiving beauty
where it existed Ijing in the temperament or condition of mind under which
it was viewed, but sometimes bigotted and pre-conceived notions of what
was beautiful, and of a beauty altogether different, perverted their judg-
ment, and they have sentenced a budding, as ugly and monstrous, because
it was so contrary to their previously imbibed ideas, and exhibited that
which was totally at variance with the rules which guided the architects
of their own favourite edifices. In these cases, their opinions were pro-
duced not upon the feelings or impressions which the objects were capable
of making on their minds— or at least on minds not possessed of such an-
tipathies— but from iheir dissimilarity from other styles to which their
thoughts had been restricted.

Now a building which has made a wonderful impression upon myself
and many other travellers, is St. il/arfc'a, Venice ; but this has been severely
censured both by Forsyth and W^oods. Here it is evident their senses
were blind to its magic effects ; to those effects at least which other minds
differently constituted have experienced. But because they saw beauty iu
one style of architecture, will thej deny it in another? The beauty of one
flower differs from that of another — but if we admire the loveliness of the
rose, are we to despise that of the lily 1 Because we have received one
kind of emotion in beholding the awful ruins of the Coliseum and have
felt the gloomy grandeur of Rome, is the heart incapable of admiring the
splendid and magnificent architecture of Venice? The grand simplicity
and convenience of the Colisco adapted for the cruel, barbaric daylight
spectacles of the Romans cannot be compared with any modern theatre,
nor can the massive architecture of the Romans, or the purity and sublimity
of the Greeks be placed in juxta-position with the rich fantastic Gothic of
Britain, Normandy, and Belgium. But can we infer that one is bad or
faulty, because it differs from the other ?

It seems that the romance of St. Mark's could in no manner operate OQ
hearts steeled against its influence by a confirmed partiality for the stern,
grand, and diametrically opposite features of the Roman school. The
dislike to it extended so far with Woods, that in his " Letters," &c., we
find him, after blaming this thing and the other, suggesting such additions
and alterations as he thought would improve it. I believe it was the
same, or a similar person, who thought it a pity the Parthenon was not
surmounted by a steeple ! Here the greatest deformity was in the mind,
but none whatever in the work, its beauty, along with many another, being
that of fitness, whose necessary quality the change proposed would in-
stantly destroy.

The architecture of St, Marks, beautiful in spite of its want of purity
and many anomalies, is, as an Italian says, loi grotesco,ma un groteaco
vmgnifico. Exhibiting a happy mixture of different styles aud ditierent
materials; making the rules which have limited the conceptions of all
other buildings only subservient to its purposes, it can have nothing in
common with them, and is put out of the scale of comparison. "There

184G.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

29.7

is no law — sayB Charles Lamb — to judge of the lawless, or canon by
which a dream may be criticised."

Seeing, therefore, by what false criteria St. Marks has been judged, and
consequently how Ihe beautiful characteristics of ibis strange pile, have
been misunderstood, I speak in praise of it now, out of pure love and
recollection of the feelings which it gave on the spot, and am grateful — as
those who have seen and been wrought upon by it must be — for the proud
vision which memory frequently brings before the fancy. Its effect on the
mind, as well as of tlie scenery amidst which it is placed, should be pon-
dered over, as a means of raising the taste and increasing our ideas of the
beautiful in art.

This Basilica (combining, as it were, the Mosque or Mahommedan house
of prayer, with the Christian temple), both in its parts and as a whole, is
magical in the extreme. Look for a moment at the profusion and magnifi-
(*nce of its ornaments. The Byzantine-Greeks, unlike their forefathers,
avoided the horizontal line as much as possible, and indulged in the curve-
the fondness for it resulting from their co-operations with the Saracens ;
and the commuDication of the crusaders with the East served to spread it
over mauy parts of Europe.* This love of wavy lines and intricate forms
characterises the Venetian architecture, and is most conspicuous in St.
Marks. (See Ihe annexed engraving of a portion of the vestibule.)
The object of the designers was a great richness of effect — which
certainly the nature of the ornaments produced, and often also a gran-
deur of ensemble, — although, on a close examination into their minu-
tiiB, we find much that is defective : as in the ornate and kindred style
of the Alhambra, or that of the Elizabethan. But with all the blemishes
in its details, the mind is presented with a view, resulting from the union
and consent of so many opposite parts, which is a principal cause of its
beauty. The wildness or irregularity in the simplicity of the whole affect
the mind with a series of strong impulses, more delightful than that mono-
tonous, though sometimes agreeable, sentiment which is experienced in
works built after ordinary rules and common -place precepts. Even the

* An Infnaton of the Saracenic style Is seen in many parts on the continent— from
Venice, traces of it along tbs road to brescia, and in other directions- The border orna-
oent so common in the Venetian palaces, is round the windows of St. Peter's cethsdral,
Geneva; and the minarets and metal globes on the towers of many churches in Switter-
laad, give to the towns a rather Eastern appearance. For details, sculpture, &c., of St.
Uarks, tee the works of Clcognva, Zanotto, Kieutter, Cwaletti, kc.

littleness and multiplicity of the ornaments, spreading over a vast surface,
produce a great eflect-beau.iful and rich in its mass.s, l.ke the foliage o
a majestic and wide-spreading tree.

The nch colouring of the many mosaic pictures also greatly add to the
splendour of San Marco. Here Iris may be said to have dipt the woof.
These mosaics are described by Northcote in his " Life of Titian " This
painter as also Giorgione (who first introduced frescoes to the Venetian
palaces), contributed much by their pencils to the architectural decoration
of A enice ; delighting the eyes of the inhabitants with that colour, a love
of which they imbibed from the gorgeous landscapes of their native city.
The effect imparted to most of the churches in Italy, and abroad generally,
by mosaics, painted glass, frescoes, tapestries, carvings, .^c, makes one
regret that these arts are not more in use amongst us. Or, without refer-
ing to the decorated and impressive interiors of the foreign churches we
have eminent examples at home, in the magnificent cathedrals of our Gothic
ancestors.

In looking at the rich mosaics in St. Marks, and observing what taste
and skill are displayed in shrine, altar, screen, lamps, candelabra, and, in
short, every work which the ceremonies and splendour of the church re-
quired, we see how every art, that was known at the time, was had re-
course to for heightening the eOecl, both of its exterior and interior. Every
object that enriched it, received an additional attraction from, and was in
keeping with, the splendid crosses and reliques borne by the processions in
the celebration of the festivals ;-witiiess it, for instance, on the festa of
Corpus Domini. The one absorbing object in its erection and adornment
was to render it as splendid and symbolic as possible,-most precious in
all materials and workmanship, and to surpass even the Orientals in its
magnificence. This was Ihe purport of its inscription : " Istoriis, auro
forma, specie tabularum ; hoc templum Marci fore die decus ecclesiarum "
Its interior, though far from " glooray"-as it has been miscalled-has, it
IS true, become somewhat dimmed by age and the frequent burning of
incense ;-but in its palmy days, how bright and glittering must have beeu
Its gold ! what life and light must it have transfused around, by reflection
and refraction i

There is another point for our admiration. Placed in one of the finest
piazzas in the world, can anything be conceived more enchantin- on such
a spot, viewed from the Palazzo Reale, either at noon, when the sun pours
lis full brilliance upon it; or at night, when the numerous lights below
bring out in all their contrast and colours and proportions the wonderful
details of its facade ;-the moon shedding a bright light on its cupolas and
pinnacles, and the dark blue sky around heightening its effect ) Can any
object be more appropriate than this to Venice ? Wealth and gaiety
luxury and romance, make the character of the city,-and the irchitecture'
partakes of it. \ et the vesture of mosaics, and gold, and sparkling mar-
b es, in which it is arrayed, seen anywhere else but in Venice, would look
like a mountebank in a company of diyines.

208

THIi: CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Oct.

nOTBS ON ENGINEERINQ,
VI.
MENAI TUBULAR BRIDGE.

(^Continueil from page 174).

In the lasl paper on llie Menai Tubular Bridge (ante p. 174), a formula
was given for calculating the lioyizontat strains to which the vertical plates
of the tube would be subject, and a truth hitherto entirely overlooked was
demonstrated, that these plates ought to be sirongcr towards their ei-
tremities than at the centre.

To complete the investigation of the forces to which these plates are
subject, the amount of the rertical strains ought also to be determined.
But as these papers were already been carried to some length, it is ne-
cessary tos'udy brevity; and it will be sufficient to point out the general
steps of the calculation.

The vertical plates consist of two different portions discharging two dif-
ferent ollices. That part of each vertical plate which lies over the abut-
ments supports the upper horizontal plate upon the lower : the pari between
the abutments and clear of them suspends the lower plate /rom the upper.

In the following diagram, then, the vertical forces of those parts of the
vertical rib which are over A a. and B b, are Ihursls.and the vertical forces
of the part of A B, tensions. To consider tlie latter first, let us suppose

41

I

A

B

1

1 1

1

sections made at A and B, and that the connection between the upper and
lower plates is made not by a continuous rib, but by a number of vertical
rods. Then it is clear that we may consider ihe lower plate and the load
on it suspended by means of these rods from the upper plate. We must
also take into account the vertical molecular at the sections at A B. But
as it is impossible to calculate their amount exactly, it will probably be
sufficient for practical purposes to suppose that they sustain half the pres-
sure of the load, and that the other half is communicated by means of the
Suspending rods to the upper plate. Hence the total tension of these rods
will be equal to half the weight of the train -\- the weight of one of the
horizontal plates. If we suppose the rib couliuuous and not formed of
robs, the conclusion will not be widely ditl'erent. A continuous rib indeed
would be cut by the section through A and B, but the molecular forces of
the rib at the sections would be small compared with the total tension dis-
tributed over its whole length.

Hence we conclude that the vertical plates between A and B must to-
gether possess suflicient strength that half the load and the weight, one of
the horizontal plates may be suspended from tliem without injuring them.

To consider next the vertical thrusts on the portions A a, B 6 of the side-
plates, it may be easily seen by similar reasoning that these portions sup-
port half the load and the weight of one of the horizontal plates resting on
them. An important practical conclusion from this is that the portions of
Ihe vertical plates over the abutments should be much stronger than the
remainder, for they have to resist an equal amount of force distributed over
much less surface, and moreover the power of wrought iron to resist thrust
is greatly inferior to its power to resist tension.

We cannot conclude this part of the investigation without expressing a
conviction that the connection between the upper and lower plates should
be maintained, not by continuous plates, but by a lattice of vertical and
horizontal rods, firmly clasped together at the points where they cross
each other. The necessary strength of them might be calculated w ith con-
siderable accuracy, they would accommodate themselves far better than
continuous plates would to the variations of form produced by changes of
temperature, would oflTer less resistance to the wind, and v>'ould admit
light and air to the interior of the tube.

7. Variationt of Temperature.

It may be demonstrated in the simplest manner, that on account of the
expansion and construction of the tube from variations of temperature, it
would be absolutely necessary that the ends should be left free to move in
a horizontal direction.

It is shown by a very common experiment that a plate of metal if fasten-
ed in a horizontal direction between two props, and then considerably
heated, will, if prevented from expanding laterally, become bow ed or de-
flected. The same thing would happen with the tubular bridge if it were

so fastened that it could not expan^l laterallv. In order to ascertain the
amount of deflection let A B be half of the length of the bridge before, A C

after, expansion. We will first for sake of simplicity suppose A C a
straight line. Then B C is the deflection, and

BC= = AC» — AB2 = (AC + AB) (AC — AB).

It is usual to reckon the limits of expansion of iron at j^^ of the length.
Therefore if A B be 225 feet or 2700 inches, the expansion to be allowed
for is 2J inches each way, . • . A C = 2700J, A C + A B = 5400f,
AC— AB = 5. Hence 8^ = 12150 inches, and BC = 1I0 inches
nearly. Therefore the amount of deflection by expansion would be rather
mare than nine feel.

A C has been here assumed to be a straight line : if however we suppose
as a probable approximation to the truth that it is a segment of a circle we
shall find that the amount of deflection is not materially diminished. It
may b^ iscertained by a laborious numerical operation which it is not ne-
cessary here to repeat that the amount will be about 8 feet. It is clear
that a much less distortion than this would suffice to fracture the vertical
plates, or wrench them from the horizontal plates.
8. Effect of Wind.

A subject of the utmost importance with respect to llie permanent stabi-
lity of the Tubular Bridge is its power of withstanding the lateral pressure
of wind. It appears from the experiments of Smeaton, detailed in the
Philosophical Transactions for 1757, that the extreme pressure of Ihe wind,
when blowing violently, is 49'2 lb. to the square foot. This probably is an
amount of pressure which the wind rarely exercises except at sea or when
confined between hills. It is said, however, that in March last the force
of a gale in Scotland, as registered by an excellent anemometer, was 45 lb.
to the square foot. We are also to consider that the situation of the Menai
Bridge is one exceedingly subject to Ihe violence of storms, and that Ihe
sea-winds confined between the high lands on either side of the strails
would exert their force perpendicularly upon the Tubular Bridge, which
of course crosses the straits at right angles.

We therefore shall not be exaggerating if we estimate that 45 or 501b.
per square foot is the amount of lateral pressure which the tube ought to
be capable of resisting. In this ease we shall find that as the area of one
of the vertical sides is 13500 square feet, each span of 450 feet would sus-
tain a pressure of 271 or 301 tuns.

Now the utmost vertical pressure which the weight of a train will exert
on the same length of the bridge is 200 tons — that is 71 or 101 tons less
than the lateral pressure of the wind. It would therefore seem to follow
that whatever precautions be necessary for vertical strength are still nwre
necessary for lateral strength, and if it be requisite to strengthen the top
and bottom of the tube by a collection of rectangular cells or compart-
ments, the same apparatus (or rather one much stronger) ought to be ap-
plied to the sides of the tube. It is quite impossible to assign any solid
reason for preferring the consideration of vertical strength to that of lateral,
or for endeavouring to obtain Ihe two kinds of strength by dissimilar me-
thods. Tor it is clear that if the apparatus of cellular compartments be
Ihe best possible for ensuring strength vertically, it is also the best for en-
suring strength laterally.

It might be answered perhaps that the cellular compartments gi»e to
the top and bottom of the tube an excess of strength which will never be
required in practice : but then it may be replied that this excess of strength
is just as requisite for Ihe sides of the lube ; for Ihe efl"ecl3 would be
equally disastrous whether the structure broke laterally or vertically. If
the tube require an excess of \ertical strength, it equally requires an ex-
cess of lateral strength : if it do not require an excess of lateral strength,
neither does it of vertical. In which latter case the cellular compartments
are simply superfluous. ,

The force of the wind on one span only of 450 feet has been reckoned.
If we calculate Ihe force of the two spans of that length, and Ihe force on
tlie two smaller spans of 250 feet each, we shall have Ihe total force tend-
ing to overturn the piers er otherwise displace Ihe structure.
9. The hest form (f the vpper and lower sides.

In calculating Ihe strength of Ihe tube, the course taken in the preced-
ing parts of this investigation has been to estimate Ihe sectional area of the

IS-iO.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

299

metal composing the upper and lower sides of (he tube, and to suppose the
strain equally divided over the whole area. In order however that the
latter assumption may obtain, it is necessary that the lop and bottom of the
tube should be of a particular form. We shall proceed to show that where
the lop aud'bottum consist of continuous plates, esteodin;;; from one side of
the bridge to the oilier, or where they are formed of cellular comparlnients
such as those described in another part of this Journal, the above requisite
is not answered, but that on the contrary, a large proportion of the metal
is placed where it is almost entirely inoperative, and that consequently any
calculation founded on the supposition that this metal contributes to the
strength of the tube must lead to dangerous results.

It the reader will take hold of the page which he is now perusing, at
the tup and bottom, and pull it, he will see that if the paper were torn the
rent would commence somewhere in the neighbourhood of the straight line
joining his two thumbs. If, for example, he held the paper by the two
right-hand corners the rent would commence on the right side of the page,
and the material on the left side would contribute nothing to resist the tear-
ing. Again, if he took the page near the two ends of the black line, sepa-
rating the two columns of letter-press, the rent would in this case com-
mence in the middle, and the material to the right and left would not under
these circumstances contribute anything to the strength of the paper to re-
sist tearing.

These experiments may appear very simple, and perhaps very puerile.
But it is precisely these simple illustrations which give us accurate notions
of the action of forces. The case of tearing the paper is exactly analogous
to that of tearing the lower plale of the Menai Bridge. It has been shown
that owing to the connection of the lower plale with the two side plates,
the latter communicate to Ihe former a longitudinal tension which acts all
along its two sides. Now this tension is most effective in the immediate
neighbourhood of the line in which it acts. If the bridge were overloaded
and the bottom plate torn, we are sure that tUe rent would cummence at the
edges, and not in the middle of the plate.

If a piece of India rubber, originally square, be stretched by four forces
acting in the directions represented by the arrows, it will be found to as-
sume the form here represented; that is, the extension will be greatest in
the neighbourhood of the lines joining each pair of opposite forces, and
least midway between those lines. In fact if the forces be not loo great it
is possible to extend the sides of the india-rubber without extending the
middle portion at all ; so that a small slit made near the centre will
remain closed. There is probably some law for the decrease of tension
from the sides towards the centre, but there seems no way of ascertain-
ing it except by experiment.

In the recent discussion respecting the Tubular Bridge, in the Mechani-
cal Section of the British Association, it was asserted by Mr. Lamb that
provided the lop and bottom plates of the lube were of a given sectional
area, it was immaterial what proportion Ihe thickness of the plates bore to
their width. If this theory be true, it must be true in the limit; and con-
sequently if the top and bottom plates were rolled out till they were no
thicker than the finest gold leaf, or the film of a soap-bubble, they should
retain their original strength. The mere statement of this notion might be
considered a sufficient proof of its absurdity, had not something very
similar been sanctioned by high authority. Professor Moseley states in a
passage already quoted, that the strongest form of a beam would theoreti-
cally be that in which the material of the extended and compressed sides
is " collected into two geometrical lines parallel to Ihe neutral axis." Now
this would be perfectly true were we dealing with mathematically rigid
bodies, but with extensible and compressible substances it seems obvious
that the extension or compression could not be uniformly distributed over

two indefinitely thin flanges, but would be greatest in Ihe neighbonrhnod
of Ihe vertical rib. Professor Moseley has throughout his investigation
assumed that in the vertical section of a deflected beam the extension or
compression is proportional to the distance from the neutral axis, and i'
seems curious that he should have overlooked the fact that in a girder with
wide flanges Ihe extension and compression of the flanges also would be,
not uniform, but greatest in the neighbourhood of the rib.

M'ecomethen with the utmost security to this conclusion, that the strongest
form of a beam is one in which Ihe material of Ihe flanges is collected as
closely as possible to the upper and lower edges of the vertical rib. This
form is very nearly approached in (he rails in most general use on our rail-
ways, and may be easily imitated in the case of the Tubular Bridge. The
accompanying diagram shows a section of the
bridge with the principal portion of the material
collected at the four angles. If we suppose these
four masses to have circular sections, it is easy to
calculate what diameter they must have in order to
satisfy the conditions of the preceding investigation.
It will be remembered that the sectional areas of
the upper and lower plates were each taken at 18iJ
square inches, and if the half of this area be as.
signed to each side of the lube, the area of each of
the circles represented in the diagram must be 90
square inches, and the diameter will consequently be about 10| inches.
Let us take the diameter at one foot. Then the thickness of the solid
masses at the angles will be equal to one-lhirlieth of the height of the
bridge. These masses should not be united by continuous plates but
braced together by a laltice of iron rods. There are many reasons for pre-
ferring open lattice — they are chiefly these— superior sirength for equal
weight of material, diminished resistiince to the wind, admission of light
and air to the interior of the bridge, equalisation of Icmperalure by which
the danger of distortion by unequal expansion is avoided, and lastly faci-
lity of construction.

The bridge is to consist of two parts, containing two parallel roadways.
These two parts should be united so as to afford mutual support ; the sec-
tion of the bridge would then appear as in Ihe accompanying illuslralion.

The upper and lower sides of the
bridge would be braced together by lat.
lice work similarly to the vertical sides.
By these means it will be seen from a
mere inspection of the section that the
lateral strength would even exceed the
vertical. This may be considered
another most important advantage aris-
og from the disposition of the material
in masses at the angles. If the bridge be covered above and below by
cellular compartments extending across it, the same apparatus ought to be
applied to the vertical sides, as has been clearly proved ; whereas by dis-
posing the material in compact masses it is made to answer both purposes
al once — it resists the lateral pressure of wind and the vertical pressure of
a train with equal efficiency.

There is one reason more to be assigned for the employment of the upper
and lower lattice work. It was observed during one of Ihe recent experi-
ments that the top or compressed side of Ihe tube bulged out transversely;
and it may be seen that with a bridge of the construction here suggested, the
masses at the upper angles would, when in a stale of compression, tend to be
similarly bent. They would be likely to be bowed outwards or inwards^
and this tendency is restrained by the horizontal bracing. These con.
siderations confirm, to a certain extent, the views of Mr. Byrne, recently
propounded in this Journal. The particular mode of calculation adopted by
him may fairly be subjected to discussion ; but it cannot be doubled tliat
his general views respecting Ihe horizontal transversal strains to which de-
flected beams are subject, when they tend to break rather by the distortion
of the material than the disruption of it, form a valuable addition to the
theory of the strength of beams.

10. The employment of Suspension Rods.
The reader who has followed the course of the present argument will
have no difliculty in understanding that the strength of Ihe bridge depends
on the moments of the molecular forces about the abutment — that is, the
molecular forces multiplied into their perpendicular distance from the abut-
ment. And it will foUovf as a necessary coasequeace of this consideratioa-

300

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Oct.

tliat by a proper disposition of stispensiou rods, aa enormous saving of
niult-rial may be elfecleil.

In some ofthe piiblislicd views of the Tubular Urid^^'e, llirre are repre-
sented curved chains, similar to those of coninion suspeusion bridges, meet-
ing llie tube at a very acute angle. The only points where these suspen-
sion-chains are attacked are their extremities, and as they are unprovided
^ith vertical rods, their action is extremely indirect, the greater part of
the tension being revolved horizontally instead of vertically. A more in-
efficient contrivance could scaicely be suggested.

If hov\ever ruii/infu/ rods be applied according to the plan explained
by Mr. Bashforth, in a former number of this Journal, the result is very
differenl. Let the diagram represent a section of part of the bridge and

one abutment-tower. BD E one of the straight suspending rods joining
the points D and E of the bridge directly with the top of the tower.
Then the perpendicular distance of B E from the abutment is equal to
A C, and the moment of the forces about A is the tension of the rod multi-
plied by the length of AC. This length may be termed popularly the
leverage of the rod. But the leverage of the horizontal forces in F D will
never exceed A F, the height ofthe bridge, and consequently the efficiency
of the material in B D, over the material in F D is the proportion
A C : A F. If we suppose the height of the towers to be 80 feet, (the
height of the towers ofthe Hungerford Bridge), and E to be at the centre
of the bridge, we shall find by simple trigonometry the proportion A C : A F
equivalent to 2'985 to 1, In other words by putting the material in the
form of a straight rod the efficiency is in this particular case nearly trebled.

The enormous increase of strength for a given quantity of material which
this reasoning demonstrates ought scarcely to be neglected. Even if we
look at the question practically without regard to definite mechanical prin-
ciples, it seems clear from a mere inspection of the diagram, that the rod
B D exerts au upward pull or strain applied directly to sustain the bridge
and that the action of F D is comparatively indirect and inefficient.

But there is another great advantage in the use of suspending rods —
that they act by tension only. Where the metal is applied to exert a
thrust it will give way far sooner by bending than by actual disruption, as
the recent experiments abundantly prove : but where it exerts a tension it
can only fail by being torn asunder. If it were accidently bent, a thrust
would tend to bend it still more,— a tension to straighten it again.

It will be seen by reference to Mr. Bashforth's paper that the effect of
the expansion of the rods in summer would be so small that it might safely
be neglected, and small as it is, it would be almost entirely compensated
for by the expansion of the masonry of the towers. The sinking of the
bridge from this cause would not be nearly equal to that due to a heary
load. The rods could never become loose and cease to exert a tension.
Even if we suppose they could do so, their value as means of security
would still remain the same : for this is certain— the bridge could never
actually give way under the elfect of a heavy load until the rods were
broken.

The experiment of the applicalion of rods to the tube has not yet been
tried. If this were done, it may be safely predicted that the amount of
the breaking weight would be very greatly increased. It would be diffi-
cult to calculate beforehand the exact increase of strength, but if the com-
parison be fairly instituted by experiment between a bridge with cellular
compartments and without suspending rods, and one with suspending rods
and the material collected in masses at the angles of the bridge, it may be
confidently anticipated that the strength would be increased to three times
probably many more times — its former value.

The suspension chain should be relied upon as the principal means of
security, the masses at the angles of the bridge as the principal means of

rigidity. By thus assigning to each part its separate appropriate office,
the efticiency ofthe whole is most likely to l.'e ascertained.

The preceding invesliga'ion has been earned to so great a length tiiat
many things are necessarily omitted which are important with respect boih
to the theory and to the practical construction ofthe bridge. The circum-
stance of the eiperimeuls being confided into such hands as those of
Messrs. Fairbairn and Hodgkinson has prevented the appearance of many
suggestions which otherwise might not have been superlluous. If however
the remarks here oflered conduce to any improvements in the particular
structure which has been here considered, or should facilitate the applica-
tion of simple slaiical principles to the general theory of the strength of
materials, the labour of the writer will not go unrewarded.

H. C.

SETTING OUT RAILWAY CURVES.

Sir, — In reference to Mr. George Heald's communication to yon on the
subject of laying out railway curves, I beg to say that I have occasionally
used a method which is, I think, more simple and accurate, which is as
follows: —

Take any given curve, and fix the two extremities of tt by two polea
and flags. Then run a right line between these two points, which will, of
course, be a chord to the curve. Divide this chord line by two, which
point of division will be its centre, and each half will = sine of i the
whole arc, and iis versed sine will be the perpendicular to set off at this
point; and this r.s. is found by multiplying the tubular t.s. by radius of
curve.

Then proceed to ascertain, in a similar manner, the centre points of each
of the two halves of the curves, by running chords, dividing them in two
parts, and setting off the perpendicular from the centre by means of its
versed line.

When the curve has been divided into a few parts in this way, the small
divisions, being now equal and close at hand, may be ascertained by strik-
ing one of them on a large size, and, by a scale of equal parts, ascertain
the ordinates of one part, which serves for ail the other parts,
I am your obedient servant,

An Engineer out of Employment.

Oswestry, July 18, 1846.

[The suggestion above is well worth recording. The method described
by our correspondent appears to be very practicable, and is geometrically
accurate. Whether, however, this method, or that requiring tables of rail-
way curves, similar to those reviewed by us last month, require the least
labour, can only be determined by actual experience.] — Ed.

THE PROBLEMS IN "PLANE SURVEYING."

Sift — Such communications as those of your correspondents, Messrs.
Byrne and Turnbull, are little calculated to support the high credit to
which your work aspires, and to which by the general ability of your
articles it has attained. In common, therefore, with other of your readers
with whom I have conversed on the subject, I could not but feel indignant
at the unwarrantable pretensions to originality which characterise both ;
and still more, at the accusation brought by one of them of bad faith on
the part of the late Dr. Olynthus Gregory. At the same time, it was a
source of real regret to see your pages made the medium for claims,
which, to say the least, are preposterous; but much as I should dislike
any personal dispute, or other inlercouse, with either of those writers, I
consider that the importance of any otherwise unworlhy statement which
may appear in your pages, is so far enhanced by that circumstance, that il
ought not to be alhiwed to pass into currency without a caveat from those
who set an estimate upon truth, and are iheniseives cultivators of science.

In the first place, Mr. Byrne's "fundamental principle," upon which he
sets such extraordinary value, was given by C arnot, nearly half a century
ago, in his Ge'uin&'trie dt Position^ and in his Essai sur la Tke'orit det
Tranxiersates. The application of it to the problems in question have been
given over and over by Dr. Gregory in successive editions o! HiUtnn's Ma-
Ihematict, and there they still remain in the last edition of that work, pub-
lished in 1842, in a form only differing so far from that in youi pages as
would follow from a wish to conceal their origin. So much for Mr. Byrne's
boasted '■ quality of being original."

With respect lo your other correspondent, Mr. Turnbull, 1 have in the
second place to admit, that against his opponent his claim is conclusive for
as much as it is worth. That worth is however, inconsiderable, in a prac-
tical point of view, at least ; and beyond being useful exercises in trigo-
nometrical reduction, they have no scientific value whatever. Under either
aspect, no person whose inventive powers in mathematics is ofthe average
order, would consider the discovery worth a moment's dispute. It is
to the grave charge made against Dr. Gregory by Mr. Turnbull, (who
should have been the last man to make that charge against him) that I

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

301

take the most decided objection, and to which I will wholly confine my
remarks.

It was ia your number for October 1845 that I believe this strange
charge was first made, and on the same page you refuse to allow any anim-
adversions on Mr. TurnbuU's writings— merely from private reasons affect-
ing that person. It must have escaped your notice, at the time of writins;
that interdict, that you had just marked for press a communication from
him which casts a serious imputation upon the memory of a distinguished
geometer and truly good man, whose name is justly endeared to the en-
gineering profession.

Now it appears lo me that notwithstanding any private considerations
affecting Mr. Turnbull, you and the public are entitled to demand of him
his evidences of the truth of the statement which he makes respecting Dr.
Gregory. Mere allegation in such a case is not enough from any man —
from Mr. Turnbull certainly not. The question is one between Dr. Gre-
gory's honesty and Mr. TurnbuU's veracity : it is a question of character,
and must not be slurred over as one of no moment. Originality is in this
case a question of such minor importance as not to deserve a single thought,
except so far as regards its decision upon a question of personal character.
I at once apprize Mr. Turnbull that his explanation will be submitted to
a scrutiny so rigid, that it will be desirable that he attend more closely to
strict accuracy than usual : for the character of public men, and especially
of such men as Dr. Gregory, is public property, and will be guarded with
corresponding vigilance.

Pending Mr. TurnbuU's proofs that Dr. Gregory appropriated his dis-
coveries " without acknowledgment of the source from which they were
derived," I only claim that due weight shall be given to the admitted charac-
ters and known talents of the accuser and the accused : — and that with this
shall be coupled a recollection of the triviality of the scientific part of the
•question at issue.

I am. Sir, your obedient servant,

ViNDEX.

September 15, 1846.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION.

The British Associaton for the Advancement of Science held its annual
meeting at Southampton during the past month. The President's address
appears on another page. The following report contains merely a selec-
tion of those parts of the sectional proceedings most interesting to the
engineer. The proceedings of the mechanical section are the most fully
noticed, and are followed by some editorial notes. The report will be con-
cluded next month.

On Thursday, Sept. 10, the General Committee met in the Town Hall
over the Bargate, Sir John Herschel in the chair. After the minutes of
the committee meetings, Cambridge, were confirmed. Colonel Sabine read
the following Report of the Council, being the account of their proceed-
ings since June, 1845 :

Report of the Council to the General Committee.

1. The Council have the very satisfactory duty to perform of reporting
to the General Committee that the Resolutions of the Magnetical and Me-
teorological Conference, adopted by the General Committee at Cambridge
on the 22th June, 1845, were submitted to the Right Hon. Sir Robert
Peel, Bart., by the president, Sir John Herschel, Bart., accompanied by
a communication from the Marquis of Northampton, president of the
Royal Society, conveying the concurrence of that body in the recommenda-
tions contained therein : that they received a very favourable consideration
from her Majesty's Government, and that the recommendations connected
■with the British observations both at home and in the colonies are in pro-
gress of being carried out. Tbe resolutions relating to the East Indian
observations and surveys have met with an equally favourable reception
from the Hon. Court of Directors of the East India Company, and the
recommendations which they contained have been approved and sanction-
ed. In accordance with the resolutions passed at Cambridge, therefore,
the Magnetic Observatory at Greenwich is permanently continued upon
the most extensive and efficient scale. The magnetical and meteorological
observations are constituted a permanent branch of the duties of the As-
tronomical Observatories at the Cape of Good Hope, Bombay, and Ma-
dras, and arrangements are in progress for making them also a permanent
branch of the obserations to be made at the Observatory at Paramatta.
The detachment of the Royal Artillery, by whom the duties at the Cape of
Good Hope have been hitherto performed, has been relieved by a perma-
nent incretise in the civil strength of the Astronomical Observatory ; and
in like manner the officers of the Royal Navy and the marines who now
form the establishment of the Observatory at Van Dieman's Island, will
be relieved as soon as the establishment at Paramatta is completed. The
Ordnance observatories at Toronto and St Helena are to be continued
until the close of 1848.

With reference to the recommendations relating to magnetic surveys, a
magnetic survey of the Indian Seas, by Lieut. Elliot of the Bengal En-
gineers, has received the sanction of the Hon. Court of Directors of the
East India Company, and arrangements are in progress for its commence-
ment. Also, early in the present summer Lieut. Moore, of the Royal

Navy, proceeded under the direction of the Lords of the lAdmiralty to
Hudson's Bay, in one of the vessels belonging to the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany, for the purpose of connecting the observations of the Canadian Sur-
vey with those which the expedition under Sir John Franklin is making in
the seas to the north of the American Continent.

In accordance with the recommendation concerning the co-operation of
foreign magnetical and meteorological observatories, communications were
made, on the application of the president, by the Earl of Aberdeen, her
Majesty's principal Secretary of State for Foreign Aflfairs, to the govern-
ments of Russia, Austria, Prussia, and Belgium, from all of whom very
favourable replies have been received.

2. The resolution passed by the General Committee to the effect "That
it is highly desirable to encourage by specific pecuniary reward the im-
provement of self-according magnetical and meteorological apparatus, and
that the Presidents of the Royal Society and of the British Association be
requested to solicit the favourable consideration of her Majesty's govern-
ment to this subject,' has been brought under the notice of government,
and favourably received, and arrangements have been made to carry the
recommendation into effect. Whilst on this subject, the Council has also
much pleasure in noticing that the President and Council of the Royal
Society have granted £50 from the Wollaston Donation Fund, to assist in
the construction of apparatus devised by Mr. Ronalds for the self-registry
of magnetical and meteorological instruments, and which apparatus is in
progress of completion at the observatory of the British Association at
Kew. The Council are persuaded that the CJeneral Committee will view
with satisfaction this co-operation of the Royal Society and British Asso-
ciation for objects common to both, and for which the observatory at Kevr
furnishes a very convenient locality.

3. The General Committee at Cambridge having passed a resolution,
" That it be referred to the Council to take into consideration, before the
next meeting of the Association, the expediency of discontinuing the Kew
Observatory," the Council appointed a committee, consisting of the Pre-
sident (Sir John Herschel), the Dean of Ely, the Astronomer Royal, Pro-
fessors Graham and Wheatstone, and Lieut.Col. Sabine, to collect informa-
tion on the scientific purposes which the Kew Observatory has served, and
on its general usefulness to science and to the Association. The report of
the committee was as follows : —

"Kew Observatory, May 7, 1846.— Present : Sir J. F. W. Herschel,
Bart., the Astronomer Royal, Professors Graham and Wheatstone, and
Lieut.-Col. Sabine. After an attentive examination of the present state of
the establishment, and of other matters connected therewith, the following
resolutions were unanimously adopted, viz. :

" That it be recommended to the General Committee that the establish-
ment at Kew, the occupancy of which has been granted by her Majesty
to the British Association, be maintained in its present state of efficiency.
1. Because it affords, at a very inconsiderable expense, a local habitation
to the Association, and a convenient depository for its books, manuscripts,
and apparatus. 2. Because it has afforded to members of the Associatioa
the means of prosecuting many physical inquiries which otherwise would
not have been entered upon. 3. Because the establishment has already
become a point of interest to scientific foreigners, several of whom have
visited it. 4. Because the grant of the occupancy of the building by her
Majesty, at the earnest request of the British Association, is an instance
of her Majesty's interest in, and approval of, the objects of the Associa-
tion. 5. Because, if the Association at the present time relinquish the
establishment, it will probably never again be available for the purposes of
science. 6. Because it appears, both from the publications of the British
Association, and from the records in progress at the establishment, that a
great amount of electrical and meteorological observation has been and
continues to be made, and that a systematic inquiry into the intricate sub-
ject of atmospheric electricity has been carried out by Mr. Ronalds, which
has been productive of very material improvements in that subject, and
has in effect furnished the model of the processes conducted at the Royal
Observatory: and because these inquiries are still in progress under local
circumstances extremely favourable. 7. Because other inquiries into the
working of self-registering apparatus, both meteorological and magnetical,
are in actual progress at the establishment, and that there is a distinct
prospect of the facilities it affords being speedily much more largely pro-
fited by. 8. Because the access to the observatory from London to mem-
bers of the Association will shortly be greatly improved by railroads, and
because the local facilities and conveniences of the establishment have
been very greatly enhanced by alterations in its relations to the Commis-
sioners of Woods and Forests."

" J. F. W. Herschel, Chairman."
In laying before the General Committee the report received from this
committee, the Council desires to add the expression of its own opinion in
conformity with its resolutions.

4. The Council has received a letter from the honorary secretary of the
Literary and Philosophical Institution at Cheltenham, expressing on the
part of the members of that Institution deep regret that circumstances have
arisen which render uncertain their being able to give the British Associa-
tion that welcome and generous reception which it would be their desire to
do, and which they last year felt they could have done had the Associatioa
been so circumstanced as to have accepted tbe invitation for the summer of
1846.

5. The Council has been informed by a letter from W. R. Grove, Esq.,
F.R.S., that a deputation has been appointed by the Mayor and Corpora-

39

302

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

fOcT.

tion of Swansea, Ihe principal inhabitant?, magistracy, and (lie country
gcDllemen of (he neighboiirliood, and by tlie memljers of the Royal Insti-
tution of South Wales, to attend the meeting at Southampton for the pur-
pose of inviting the British Association to hold their annual meeting at
Swansea at as early a period as may suit their convenience. The (ieneral
Committee will therefore have before them at this meeting invitations from
Oxford, Norwich, and Swansea.
Southampton, Sept. 9, I84G.

Proceedings of Sections.
SiiCTio.s A. — Mathematical and Physical Scienci;.
President: Sir J. F. VV. \\tric\\t\.— Vice-Presidents: Sir D. Brewster,
Prof. AVheatslone, Col. Colby, Dr. M hewcll.— ,S>iTW«r(es; Dr. Stevelly,
Messrs. G. G. Stokes, J. Drew. — Committee: Prof. Oersted, M. Svan-
berg. Prof. M'ortmann, Messrs. .Vlkn, W. R. Birt, Hon. and Rev. C.
Harris, Messrs. W . S. Harris, R. Aunt, Dr. Lee, ^\\■. J. Phillips, Rev.
Dr. Robinson, j\lr. F. Ronaldo, Capt. Sir J. C. Ross, R.N. Mr. .1. Scolt
Russell, Col. Sabine, Rev. Dr. Scoresby, Rev. Dr. M ilson. Rev. R.
Walker, Mr. J. A. Dale, Dr. Green, Col. Everest, Mr. R. W . Fo.x,
Prof. Eicenlohr,

Sir J. I". M. Heijschel, President, on taking the chair, explained the
objects of the Association.

The first paper read was a Report, " On Gauss's Magnetic Constants,"
from I'rofessor Erman. — The author, aftor pointing out, by several ex-
amples, the uselessness of accumulating, beyond certain bounds, mere
observations, without subjecting them to scientific reduction, and llie im-
portance now attached on all hands to such reductions — as exempliljed in
the case of the reduction of all the Greenwich Observations, lately executed
by the Admiralty, at the solicitation of the British .Association — a work
■which M. Ressel welcomed in the last moments of his life as the beginning
of a new period in astronomy ; and, after instancing the fact ihat the Asso-
ciation had been compelled to discontinue many valuable and systematized
courses of meteorological (ibservations, in consequence of the stores of un-
reduced observations outstripping their power to have them reduced,
stated, that the determination of the Gaussian magnetic constants had ap-
peared to them at the meeting at Cambridge last year, of such importance,
that a sum of 59/. was entrusted to him, for the purpose of reducing certain
observations made by him on terrestrial magnetism during the year 1S29,
at several stations round the earth ; and applying them to the purpose of
determining those constants for that year. The present report was a state-
ment of the results already obtained from this arrangement. The obser-
■vations to be reduced had been made by M. Erman, from the year 182S to
1830, at 650 nearly equidistant stations, along a line encircling the globe
between the latitudes 02° N. and 60°S.:— at each station the dip, the
horizontal direction, and the intensity had been observed. The labour of
reducing these had not only far exceeded Ihat which he (M. Erman) could
afford to bestow on it, but even the leisure of an industrious and intelligent
young mathematical friend, M. Petersen, to prosecute the task ; and the
report now detailed the extent to which he had gone in his labours.

" On the Bands formed hij the Partial Interception of the Prismatic
Spectrum." By Professor Pow ell.

" On the C'liistitution a':d Forces of the Molecules of Matter." By Dr.
l,AMi>G.— This was an elaborate theory of the molecular constitution of
matter ; applied in forty-two distinct propositions lo the explanation of
gravitation, temperature, and specific lieats of gases, cohesion, allinilies,
Jatent heat, volume, disturbances of electrical eipiililirium, and other
electrical phenomena, with electro motion and cleclro-chemical deconi-
posiiion. One remarkable consequence of this theory is, that gravitation
depends on the electrical atoms ahme; and tliat hence a positively elec-
trified body must be heavier, and a negativdv eleclritieil body, lighter than
the same body with its electricity in the onliiiarilv undisturbed state. This
the author projiosed to prove experimentally to the Section by an expe-
riment to which he was conducted by the th'eorj-, as soon as he could pro-
cure a cylinder electrical machine with an insulated rubber. The pre-
sident proposed that discussion on the communication should be suspended
until Mr. Laming had exhibited this experiment.

" Reiwrt on Recent researches in Hydrodi/namirs." By G. B. Stokes.
—This report was divided into the following heads:— 1. General theories
connected with the ordinary equations of fluid motion. 2. Theory of
waves, including tides. 3. The discharge of gases through small orifices.
4. Theory of sound. 5. Simultaneous oscillations of fluids and solids.
6. Formation of the equations of motion, when the pressure is not sup-
posed equal in all directions. The first head referred to investigations of
a rather abstract nature. L'uder the second, the researches of Mr. Green,
Professor Kelland and Mr. Airy, on the subject of waves, were particu-
larly alluded to, and the accurate agreement of theory with the experi-
ments of Mr. Scott Russell pointed out. The important investigations of
Mr. Airy on the the theory of the tides, were also mentioned. Under the
next head were mentioned some experiments of MM. Barr^ de Saint-
Tenant and Wantzel, by which an empirical formula was obtained for the
velocity of discharge of air through a small orifice, when the discharge is
produced by a considerable dillerencc of pressure. The common formula
does not apply to extreme cases. A memoir, by Mr. Ureea, on the reflec-
tion and n fraction of sound was then alluded to — a memoir which is re-
markable from its bearing on the physical theory of light. The investiga-
tioDs mentioned under the fifth head related principally to the motion of

pendulums in resisting media. Mr. Green has solved the problem in Ihe
case of an o.-icillaMng ellipsoid. The last head contained a notice of the
theories of i\lM. Navier, Poisson, and others on the irregularity of pres-
sure in dilTereut directions about the same point. This theory may be con-
sidered to be that of the internal friction of fluids.

Dr. WiiEWELL thought he had ample reason to congratulate himself and
the Section on the success of the advice which he had given when, in the
year 1830, his friends Mr. Harcouit and the Dean of Ely, had consulted
regarding the proper objects which such an association as the then con-
templated British Association should propose to itsidf. He had then
advised that one very prominent object should he the preparation of
reports on the actual state of human knowledge in the several deparlnients
of science. — and one of the frnits of that advice had been the very able
report which had just been presented by his friend Mr. Stokes. Mhen he
contracted the present scientific position of British philosophers with what
it had been only sixteen years ago, when Britain was vastly behind the
continental philosophers, not ouly in scientific attainments, but even in the
knowledge of what had been achieved by others, he could not but congra-
tulate all concerned that that stigma bad been so completely wiped away.
Dr. Whewell then proceeded to comment on several parts of the report
and pointed out the importance of keeping distinctly before the mind the
essential dilference between two kinds of waves, in one of which the mo-
tions of the particles of the fluid were the same from the top to the bottom,
in the other, the mulions of the particles, while all circular, or rather
elliptical, diminished rapidly until at the bottom it became nothing. Of
this latter kind a familiar illustration could be had by watching the waves
which the wind produced as it swept over fields of standing corn or long
grass. He then adveited to the formation of the double wave — an example
of which was afforded by the tides at Southampton; and which had been
investigated by Mr. Scott Russell in the Forth, and by others at Ipswich.
He then briefly reviewed the theoretical researches of Weber, iiellaud,
and Airy, on the subject of waves; and concluded by sajing, that as
waves of sound were reflected eciioes, so he conceived they must suffer
refraction, though the observing of this was attended with experimental
difticulties ; but that these waves were diflracled, he conceived no one
could doubt who would attend to the varying sound of a cascade as you
approached it round a bending course, it being at first hidden from sight
by interposed rocks, banks, or other obstacles. The President agreed
with Dr. Whewell, and not only did he conceive that sound could be re-
flected, refracted and diflracled, but pointed out several cases, as in some
of the phenomena of the tuning fork, where something closely analogous,
at all events, to polarization must take place.

" Notice of a New Property of Light exhibited in the Action of Chrij-
sammatc of Potash upon Common and Polarized Light." By Sir D.
Brewster. — The chrysammate of potash, which chiystallizes in very
small, flat rhombic plates, has the metallic lustre of gold, whence it derives
its name of golden fluid. M'hen the sun's light is transmitted through the
rhombic plates it has a reddish yellow colour, and is wholly polarized ia
one plane. AVhen the crystals are pressed with the blade of a knife on a
piece of glass, they can be spread out like an amalgam. The light trans-
mitted through the thinnest films thus produced, consists of two oppositely
polarized pencils —the one of a bright carmine red and the other of a pale
yellow colour. AVith thicker films, the two pencils approach to two
equally bright carmine red pencils. It is to the reflected light, however,
and its new properties, that 1 wish to direct the attention of the Seciion.
Common light, retiecled at a perpendicular incidence from the surfaces of
the crystals, or of the films, has the colour of virgin gold. It grows less
and less yellow as the incidence increases, till it becomes of a pale bluish
white colour at very great incidences. The compound pencil, thus re-
flected and coloured, consists of two oppositely polarized pencils — one
polarized in the plane of refleciiou, and of a pale bluish white colour at all
incidences, ami the olhtr polarized perpendicular to the plane of refleition,
and of a golden yellow colour at small incidences, passing successively
into a deeper yellow, greenish yellow, green, greenish blue, blue, and light
pink, as the angle of incidence increases. This very remarkable property,
which I have discovered also in some olher crystals, is not caused by any
film of oxide formed upon the natural surface of the crystal, nor is it the
result of any change produced upon the surface by external causes. It is
exhibited, under the usual moditications, if the surface of the chrysammate
is in optical contact with fluids and with glass : and when the crystal is in
the act of being dissolved, or when a fresh surface is exposed hy mecha-
nical means, the superficial action uf the cryslal upon light is in both cases
the same. When the chrysammate is re-ciystaliized from an aqueous
solution, it appears in tufis of prisms of a bright red colour, the gulden
rellection being overpowered by the transmitted light; but when these
tnfts are spread into a film by pressure, the golden yellow colour re-appears.
When the crystals of chrysammate are healed \\ ith a spirit lamp, or above
a gas burner, the}' e.rplode with a flame and smoke like gunpowder; aud,
by continuing the tieat, the residue melts and a cross of colourless amor-
phous crjstals is left, i have found the same explosive properly in the
aloetinate of potash.

Dr. Whewell conceived this was raiher a curious action of the chry-
sammate aud aleotinate of potash on light than any new property of light.
7he President, Sir .1. HEnscHi L, was inclined to agiee in that opinion,
since nothing was more clearly established than that the colours ultimately
exploded by light reflected i'rom the surfaces of bodies depended on the
number of superficial particles which (he light penetrated in the first in-

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

303

stance, and their power of absorbing or extinguishing a portion of that
light during that penetration. This had been experimentally decided by
thin plates of gold, through all the various shades of that melal, down to
the red of copper. Whether the title of the paper, however, exactly agreed
with the observed tacts or not, all must admit that tliese facts were most
important, and deserving of serious attention. He was not acquainted
with the substance — chrysainmate of potash — but its properties, both op-
tical and mechanical, seemed to be interesting. The plasticity which it
seemed to exhibit in particular occurred to him as curious ; and this re-
minded him of a somewhat analogous property lately discovered in the
substance plumbago, or the black lead which pencils are made of. It is
w ell known lluit that substance can only be obtained in any purity at Bor-
rowdale, in Cumberland, and is lately becoming very scarce. Now, al-
though the powder of plumbago is one of tile best materials for preveutiog
friction, or the partial adhesion of other things, yet it has been lately found
that the particles of the powder themselves are capable of being made to
adhere i[]to a mass — indeed, more compact and uniform in its texture than
the best mineral plumbago, by simply inclosing it in a case, extracting the
air from among the particles, and subjecting the mass to violent com-
pression.

Professor Powell said that the young gentleman who sat near him was
the discoverer of the chrysammic acid, and would, perliaps, be kind enouah
to describe its mode of production. Mr. ScH^I^CK (of Kochdale) said that
he had discovered the acid, which was part of the composition of the salt
of which Sir D. Brewster's paper treated. It was formed by the action of
boiling nitric acid upon aloes, and was one of the last products of that
action. The chrysammate of potash was a beautiful and curious salt ; and
although so plastic as to be readily moulded into thin plates, was yet so
si)aringly soluble as to require above 1,500 times its weight of water to
dissolve it.

" On Elliptic Polarization." By Mr. Dale.

" On certain Cases of Elliptic Polarization of LiglU by Reflection." By
Prefessor Powell.

" On some of the Results of the Magnetic Uhsercalions made at General
Sir T. M. Brisbane's Observatory, Makerstoun." By J. A. Broun. —
1st. Magnetic Declination. — The annual diminution of westerly declina-
tion at iMakerstoun is 5' 8". M'hen proportional parts of this have been
added to the monthly means, from January 1814, till August 184fi, their
whole range is only 2' 1" ; that is to say, the mean position of tlie magnetic
needle fur any month, freed from secular change, has not been about 2' 1"
farther west than the mean position for auy other month. Mr. Broun
conceives that he has found the annual period of westerly declination to
consist of a minimum at the vernal, and of a maximum at the autumnal,
equinox : the mean range being under 1' 2". From the observations for
1843, Mr. Broun has concluded that there is a maximum of westerly de-
clination when the sun and moon are in opposition, and a minimum when
they arc in conjunction ; that there is a maximum of westerly declination
when the moon has its greatest north, and also when it has its greatest
south declination, minima occurring when it crosses the equator, in the
diurnal jieriod, the double maximum and minimum have been found
to exist in each month of the year. In the " Transactions of the Royal
Society of Edinburgh," Mr. Broua'has given certain results relating to the
horizontal and vertical components of the earth's magnetic force; but these
results were obtained in scale divisions corrected tor temperature by his
metliod. In order to deduce the variations of magnetic dip and of the
total magnetic force, from the variations of these components, it was neces-
sary to determine the values of the scale divisions in known units. Jlr.
Broun had previously shown* the inapplicability of the method given by
the Committee of Physics of the Koyal Society of London for the balance
magnetometer. He now described a metliud by which the \a!ue of the
micrometer divisions may be satisfactorily determined. This metliod will
be found in the Introduction lo the Makerstoun Observations for 1S43.
He has applied the same method lo the biSlar magnetometer, and has
found that the value of the scale divisions, obtained in the way recoiu-
inended by the Committee of Physics, is also inaccurate for this instru-
ment. With the aid of the values obtained by the new method, the follow-
ing results have been deduced 2ad. Magnetic Di/i.—Tlte dip is a niini-
inuin when the sun and moon are in opposition. In the mean diurnal
period for the year,

Ttie priDcipal miiximum occurs at lOli. lum. a.m.
„ miiiimutn ,, o 40 p.ui.

A secondary maximum „ 2 0 a.m.

., minimum „ -S 40 p.m.

iMakerstoun mean time being always used. These periods vary to some
extent throughout ihe year, the principal minimum occurring at G a.m. in
winter; the two minima being nearly equal to the cquitioses, and the
diurnal curve being smgle in summer. Mr. Broun has found that there is
a maximum of dip about four hours and a half before the iikkjo's passage
of the superior meridian; a inininiiiin about half an hour after the passage;
a secondary minimum about three hours after it ; and a secundary max-
imum about eight hours after it. 3rd. Total Force of the Earth's Mag-
netism.— A minimum occurs s\bi n the sun and moon are in opposition,
equal maxima near the quadratures, and a secoudary minimum at the time
lit conjunction. In the mean diurnal period for the year,

* Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin. vol. xvi.

The principal maximum occurs at 5ti. 40m. p.m.
„ minimum „ 2 10 a.m.

A secondary maximum „ 7 10 a.m.

„ minimum „ 10 10 a.ni.

The periods of maxima and minima shift about two hours in the course of
the year, and in summer the principal minimum occurs at lOh. 30m. a.m.
The variations of force with reference to the moon's hour angle were found
by Mr. Broun as follows: — The principal maximum occurs about two
hours after the moon's passage of Ihe inferior meridian ; a secondary mini-
muni about fiiur hours before the passage of the superior meridian; a se-
condary maximum about one hour after the superior passage; and the
principal minimum about six hours and a half after that passage. Curves
were exhibited illustrating these results, and also the diurnal motion of a
magnetic needle freely suspended in the direction of the magnetic force.
From the latter some curious results have been deduced, which will be
found elsewhere. It will be enough to mention, at present, that in the
mean for the year, the motion from 6 a.m. till 6 p.m. is very trilling ; be-
tween midnight and 6 a.m. the needle is almost stationary, nearly the
whole motion occurring between G a.m., noon, and G p.m. The end of the
needle describes an ellipse whose major axis is at right angles to the
magnetic meridian ; but the direction of this axis varies throughout the
year.

Blr. Hopkins, " On the relations of the Semi.Diurnal Movements »/ the
Barometer to Land and Sea Breezes." — Mr. Hopkins exhibited diagrams,
drawn up from Col. Sabine's paper " On the Meteorology of Bombay," of
the diurnal temperature curve, total pressure curve, and gaseous pressure
curve; with a diagram representing the swelling and sinking of the land
and sea breezes ; and endeavoured to show that these were inconsistent
with the explanation given by Col. Sabine, but harmonised with alterna-
tions of pressure caused by the alternate extrication of heat and absorptioa
of it during the alternate evaporations and depositions of water, in the
state of clouds and dew.

Capl. Shortrede asked Mr. Hopkins several questions ; and, from his
own observations in India, extending over many years, must dissent from
Mr. Hopkins, as to the manner in which he supposed clouds to form and
disperse. The effects he ascribed were disproved by the fact, that several
miles inland, when there were no land and sea breezes, the clouds were
formed and dispersed in precisely the same manner.

Section B.— Chemistry and Mineralogy.

President: Mr. Faraday. — Vice-Presidetits: Prof. GJrove, Dr. Andrews,
Prof. Johnston, Dr. Daubeny. — Secretaries : Dr. Miller, Messrs. R.
Hunt, M'. Randall. — Committee: Prof. Rose, M. Dumas, Prof. Oer-
sted, Dr. Playfair, Prof. Solly, Mr. J. Prideaux, Prof. Schcjnbein, Prof.
Forchhammer, Messrs. R. Mallett, H. Osborn, W. West, R. WarringtoD
Dr. Leesou, Messrs. J . Wilson, \V. Lucas, T. J. Pearsall, T. AVard,'
Capt. Ibbetson, Dr. Percy, aiessrs. W. Sharpe, T. P. Gassiot, Prof*
Counel, Mr. J. P. Joule, Dr. Schunk, Messrs. T. Henry, W. Francis*
Rev. J. Barlow, Dr. Letheby, Messrs. P. Johnson, — Maskelyo.

" On the Pirserice of Atmospheric Air and Uncombined Chlorine and
Carbonic Acid found in the Water of some of the Wells in the Suburbs of
Southampton, and their Action on Lead." By H. Osborn. — The principal
object of this paper was lo caution persons residing in the neighbourhood
of Souihauiptoii, against the use of leaden pipes for conveying water, and
to induce them to avoid the use of lead in auy form lor that purpose, with-
out having the water previously examined in order lo ascertain whether it
possessed the property of acting upon the melal and holding it in solution.
The author brought forward several instances of the serious cousequences
which had resulted from the use of water impiegnated with lead, and
pointed out the ditlerent solvent principles found in the water; one of
which was uncombined chlorine discovered in a spring in the New Forest.
The water possessed the property of bleaching brazil paper, and reddening
litmus paper by evaporation. The amount of uncombined chlorine was
estimated as cliloride of silver, — by deducting the amouut of the latter
contained in 20 ounces of water from that of the chlorine contained in the
solid contenls, the former weighing 1'2 more than the latter — thus indicat-
ing 0'296 of uncombined cjhloriue, which is capable of uniting with 0-864
of lead, forming I'lG of chloride of lead in the imperial pint. The lead
held in solution by carbouic acid, and the oxygen of atmospheric air, was
converted into chromate of lead, and estimated as chloride of lead; which
indicated 0*2.j or 0'2 of the oxide in twenty ounces of water. I'he solid
contents in an imperial pint were found to vary from one grain to three
grains, and to be composed of Ihe chlorides of sodium, calcium, and mag-
nesium, sulphate of lime, silica, and vegetable matter. Notwithstanding
the preservative property, which the salts contained in spring water are
said to possess, by forming an insoluble crust in the interior of the pipes,
it was found that the leaden pipes had been in use foj some years, and the
action of the water on the lead still continued with as much energy as
when they were tirst laid down, thus showing the presence of the above
solvents, and that they met with no resistance from the presence of the
saline matter.

Dr. Dai Biisv made some remarks pointing out the importance of the
inquiry of Mr. Osborn, and the necessity of paying attention to the condi-
tion of the water supplied to towns through leaden pipes, or received in
leaden cisterns. — Mr. Pearsall stated that he found that the presence of
lead may be constantly removed from the water by the action of carbon,
and that lead may be always separated by well agitating the water in conj

3J*

304

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Oct.

tact with the air, and mixing up the sedimentary deposits. — The subject
excited considerable attention, and many gentlemen joined in the conversa-
tion, all of Ihem adducing additional evidence of the importance of in-
vestigating the coudilioD of water supplied to large towns.

Section C. — Geology.

Prenidmt: Mr. L. Horner.— IVce Presidents.- The Dean of Westminster,
Sir H. T. Ue la Heche, Dr. W. 11. Fittoii, Mr. \V. Hopkins, fFor Ceo-
graphtj) Mr. G. li. GreenhouKh.— SecrWaWes; Mr. R. A. Austin, Prof.
Oldham, Mr. J. II. Norton, (For Geography) Mr. C. T. Beke.— C'om-
mitiee: I'rof. Agassiz, Prof. Ansted, Mons. Le Blanc, Major Gierke,
Messrs. C.Darwin, Duncan, Prof. E. Forbes, Mr. G. W. Featherstonhaugh,
Mons. Graves, Messrs. R. Hutton, \V. J. Hamilton, Capt. Ibbetson, Mr. W.
King, Mons. dc Koninck, Mr. C. Lyell, Prof. Von Middendorf, Mr If. Mal-
let, Marquis of Northampton, Mons. de Pinteville, .Messrs. W. Sanders,
W. Sbarpe, Rev. Mr. Walker, Mr. J. Yates, Lieut.-Col, Colbr, Messrs. G. W.
Ormerod, J.Phillips, Sir P.de M. G. Egerton, Dart., Dr. Pye Smith, Hon.
and Rev. C. Harris, Mr. J. 13. Jukes, Capt. James.

" On the Artesian Well on the Southampton Common." Bv U. Keelk,
Esq. — The town of Southampton has hitherto dei)ended for a supply of fresh
water to private wells, which are attached to almost every house. They are
sunk through a bed of gravel, and vary in depth from 10 to 20 or 25 feet,—
at which depth the London clay is reached. An uncertain quantity has also
been obtained from the public VN-ater-works, supplied by land springs. These
sources being insufficient for a growing town, with 30,000 inhabitants, other
njodes of supply have long been contemplated. The river Test was con-
sidered too distant ; and the commissioners could not accede to the terms
proposed by the proprietor of the most convenient part of the river Itchen.
lu November, 1835, Mr. Clarke, of London, made an experimental boring
on the Southampton Common, through 80 feet of alluvial strata, 300 feet of
London clay, and about 100 feet of plastic clay ; and afterwards the boring
was extended 50 feet into the chalk. The supply was ample ; and an Act
of Parliament was obtained for providing the means necessarv to construct
a well which should supply 40,000 cubic feet of water daily. Mr. Clarke
estimated the expense at i/.OOO. In 1837, a contract was made with Mr.
Collyer, who proposed to sink an iron cylinder, having a diameter of thir-
teen feet, to the depth of 160 feet, and from that point to bore to the fur-
ther depth of -100 feet, commencing with a bore of 30 inches, and graduallv
diminishing to one of 20. The estimate amounted to £9,980. The cyliu-
der was found inefficient ; and a brick shaft, of 14 feet diameter, was con-
tinued to the intended depth of ICO feet. Two pumps were employed to
raise the water, which amounted to 4,000 cubic feet per diem. Here, in-
stead of commencing the boring, the brick shaft was carried on, by advice
of the consulting engineer. At the depth of 164 feet, the diameter of the
shaft was reduced to 1 1 ft. G in. At this period, the candles could scarcely
be kept lighted ; and an air-tube of zinc, with a pair of bellows worked by
the steam-engine, was attached, for the purpose of ventilation. Masses of
limestone, five or six tons in weight, had frequently to be raised. There
was a considerable escape of gas from the sides and bottom of the well,
which, together with the vapour that filled the shaft and the impure air
caused by so luany men at work, occasioned some alarm. At the depth of
214 feet, the shaft was reduced to 10 feet in diameter; and at the depth of
270 feet, to 8 feet G inches. The work was then suspended till more pow-
erful pumps could be obtained. On emptying the shaft, and deepening it
23 feet, the influx of water became so great that iron cylinders, 7 feet in
diameter, were again resorted to, instead of brickwork. At 322 feet the
brick shaft was resumed; the quantity of water raised bv the engine
amounted to 30,240 gallons in twenty-four hours. At 380 feet from the
top of the well, the plastic clay was reached, and the brick shaft continued
through it to the chalk. Little or no sand or water was found in the plastic
clay. The work w.is continued day and night till December 4. 1841, when
the shaft was 520 feet deep; about three gallons of water flowed into it per
minute, its temperature at the bottom ranging from 61° to 62° Fah. The
atmosphere of the well at 50 feet was 54°; at 160 feet, 60°; at 543 feet,
G5°. The temperature of water at the surface was 44". In March, 1842,
the shaft measured 562 feet ; and the pumping having having been suspended
for a week, the water rose 400 feet, amounting in quantity 'to 21,578 cubic
feet. Tins supply being insufficient, the contractors commenced boring with
a 7J-inch augur, attached to a rod, conducted to the bottom of the shaft by
an iron tube, fixed in the centre of the well. The total depth of the shaft
and boring amounts to 1260 feet; and at the time the boring was suspendeil
the water rose to within 40 feet of the surface. In 1 845, during upw.irds of
four months' daily pumping, the delivery of water was at the rate of up-
wards of 1,500,000 gallons per month; and afterwards, in eight davs, the
quantity raised exceeded 725,000 gallons . When the pumping was discon-
tinued in November, 1845, the water rose, as before, to within 40 feet of the
siu-face.

Mr. Hopkins, in reply to questions as to the advantage of continuing the
operations, and the probable supply, stated that the example of the artesian
well at Crenelle was calculated to give confidence in similar undertakings
where a general analogy existed. The comparison, however, between Paris
and Southampton was not complete. Paris was in the verv centre of a ter-
tiary, and probably over the deepest part ; the water flowed to it in all di-
rections ; the inclination of the beds, too, was gentle ; and there were no
dislocations. Here, however, the chalk of North Hampshire inclined gradu.

ally towards the sea, and, passing under it, rose again, with a much greater
inclination, in the Isle of Wight. There was no reason for supposing that
Southampton was situated over the lowest part of this basin ; and since, in
the Isle of Wight, there was an enormous dislocation, there might be other
dislocations or fissures in the intermediate space, which might afford an out-
let for the water below. The height to which water would rise in an arte-
sian well would be affected by the construction of other wells in its neigh-
bourhood. The first artesian well at Cambridge rose 15 feet above the sur-
face, but other wells had reduced its height to 4 feet below the surface. The
borings in these instances were only 4 or 5 inches in diameter; but the sup-
ply was large, and independent of the eristence of any large caverns or fis-
sures. The water came from the iron sands below the gault clay ; it had a
sUghtly ferruginous taste, but was quite good. No water was obtained in
the chalk, nor could an artesian well be expected in that formation, which
is too permeable to hold water. In conclusion, Mr. Hopkins said that he
should himself recommend the continuation of the boring, as the trial was
not complete till the beds below the chalk were reached.

Mr. Greenuoigh remarked on the extent of the dislocation which ex-
tends through the centre of the Isle of Wight. He believed geologists had
done more good by discouraging hopeless speculations than by encouraging
useful experiments ; and they would not give a positive recommendation,
except from experience. He alluded to the artesian wells of Lincolnshire,
in a district before scarcely habitable, on account of the scarcity of fresh
water, and the thickness of clay impervious to water. Porous beds, resting
upon others which were not porous, could alone afford a supply of water.

" On the Origin of the Coal of Silesia." By Prof. Gobppert, of Brcslau.
This paper was an abstract of an essay which received the prize offered by
the Society of Sciences of Holland, at Haerlem, in 1844. Prof. Goeppert
remarks, that hitherto few well-preserved plants had been obtained from the
coal itself, but its composition had been inferred from the plants which lie
in the associated shales. In the coal-fields of Upper and Lower Silesia,
which yield four millions of tons a year, he had met with extensive layers,
in which the plants were so well preserved, that he could distinguish coal
formed from Sigillaria; from that formed by .\raucaria; or Lepidodrendra. In
most instances the bark alone was preserved — the specimens being flattened ;
but the Araucaria;, being much harder than the rest, often retained their
woody tissue and medullary rays. The species, 80 in number, were found to
be differently grouped in the various coal strata, and also under different
conditions ; and this, with the delicate preservation of the ferns, the multi-
tude of upright stems, of which 200 have already been observed, and the
uniform thickuess of the strata over a space of many miles, are considered
by the author a proof of tranquil deposition on the present localities. The
Silesian coal strata are from 30 to 60 feet thick ; a larger portion of which
M. Goeppert supposes to have accumulated after the manner of peat, during
the lapse of time. He has ascertained that, by keeping vegetables in boiling
water for three months or a year, they are converted into brown coal (lig-
nite), and, by the addition of a smaU quantity of sulphate of iron, a salt
which occurs commonly in coal, acquire, a; last, a totally black, coal-like
condition.

Sir R. I. Mi'RCHisox expressed his readiness to receive this explanation
for the origin of many extensive coal strajo. There were other large coal-
fields to which the explanation would not apply at all, the materials having
certainly been drifted to a distance by currents of water.

Mr. J. Phillips retuarked, that although even fragments of coal-plants
were uncommon in the coal of England, yet, with the aid of the microscope,
coni/eroiis tissue might be detected in much of the fibrous coal, which dif-
fered only in being less bituminous than the rest. In the ashes of coal, sili-
ceous casts of vegetable tissue were always to be found ; and Mr. Bower-
bank had detected traces of structure on the fractured surfaces of ordinary
solid coal.

SECTION F.— Statistics.

President: Jlr. G. R. Porter. — Vice-Presidents: Sir V. Lemon, Colonel
Sykes, Messrs. Hey wood, E. Nightingale. — Secretaries: JMessrs. W.
Cooke Taylor, J. Fletcher, F. G. P. Neilson, Rev. T. L. Shapcott. — Com-
mittee : The Mayor of Southampton, Messrs. W. Duckworth, H. Hallam,
M. PhiUips, .M.P., M. Ricardo,J. C. Sbarpe, J. Shuttleworth, T. Tooke,
G. S. Kenrick, Dr. King, Mr. M. MUnes, JI.P., Capt. Allen, Rev. Prof.
Elton.

Among the papers read was " yi Jteview of the Mines and Mining Industry
of Belgium." By R. Valpy, Esq., of the Board of Trade. It stated that, as
a coal-producing country, Belgium ranked the second in Europe. The
ratio of the coal district to the total area is

Tons
Acres. annually.

Great Britain ^, or 2,930,000 producing 34,000,000

Belgium jiji or 335000 „ 4,500,000

France -rns> "^ 630,000 „ 3,783,000

Germanic Union 3,000,000

In 1838 the total number of coal-mines in Belgium was 307, with 470 pits
in work, and 172 in process of construction, employing 37,171 persons;
being an increase of 8,454, or 28 per cent, on the number employed in 1829.
The increase of the quantity of coal raised was not accurately ascertained,
but it appeared to be about 37 per cent. The average cost of production is
10s. 8d. per ton, and theaverage price 23s. Id. forfirst quality, and IGs 6id.

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

805

for the second quality of coal ; the average rate of wages is Is. 6.j",jd. per
day. The establishments for preparing other mineral productions for
market in 1838 were, for iron 221, copper 8, zinc 7, lead 2 ; tlie total num-
bes of furnaces was 132, of which 47 used coke and 22 charcoal. The
total number of accidents from 1821 to 1840 was 1,352, which occasioned
severe hurts to 882, and deaths to 1,710, making a total of 2,592 sufferers.
A paper was read " On Plate Glass-making in England in I84fi, con-
trasted with K'hat it was in 1827." By Mr. H. Howard. — The writer fur-
nished carefully all the materials for establishing this comparison. Amongst
other results he stated, that in 1827 plate glass was sold for about 12s. ave-
rage per foot, to the extent of about 5,000 feet per week ; in 1835, for from
8s. to 9s. per foot, to the extent of about 7,000 feet ; in 1844, for from 6s.
to 7s. per foot, reaching about 23,000 feet ; and in 1846, for from 5s. to 6s, —
about 40,000 feet per week. The sale is now about 45,000 feet weekly.
He mentioned that, in 1829, a plate glass manufactory ceesed operations
because of the small profit realized when selling at 12s.; while, in 1846, a
company, with a paid-up capital of 130,000^., reahzed a net profit of
30,000/. selling at from 5s. to 6s. Looking at this extraordinary increase,
in spite of the severity of excise restrictions, tlie author asks, what would
be the probable demand if the price were reduced to 4s. or 3s. 6d. per foot,
which, free as the trade now is from excise interference, would yield an
ample profit ?

Section G — iMechanics. Professor Willis in the Chair.

Vice-Presidents: Rev. Dr. Robinson, IMesisrs. G. Rennie, J. Scolt Russell,
W. Snow Harris. — Secretaries: Messr. C. Manby, W. Belts, juu. —
Committee: Messrs. J.Taylor, J.Walker, K. Stephenson, J.Locke
I. K. Brunei, C Vignolles, W. Fairbairu, E. Hodgkmson, E. W. Dent
W. Chiitfitld, J. Whitworth, J. Nasmyth. J. G. Bodrner, J. Fincham
R. C. Grantham, T. Hoblyn, Dr. Phipps, M. Ricardo, Mr. R. Roberts,
Sir J. Guest, Messrs. Grant, Brockedou, C. H. Gregory, W. Harding,

Dr. Robinson gave an account of a " Modification of Dr. jr/ieivell's
Anemometer," for measuring the velocity of the wind. He explained to the
section verbally the nature of the various anemometers hitherto employed to
measure the Jorce of the wind, and distinguished Whewell's from them, as a
measure merely of comparative rate. The fault of it was, that the instru-
ment gave no absolute measure of velocity in miles per hour, and that it re-
duced the rates to no standard, and therefore the observations made at one
observatory were not capable of comparison with those at another. He had
applied an obs«rvation of Mr. Edgeworth, who was a family connexion of
his own, to the constrnction of such an addition as would render Whewell's
anemometer more perfect in this respect. He mounted on a vertical axis
three or four arms, carrying hemispherical cups at their extremities. These
cups opposed much less resistance to air acting on the concave sides than on
their convexities, and in such ratio that uniform revolution was produced,
at the rate of one-third of the velocity of the wind. From this measure,
which would be the same for all sizes of the instrument, and at all places
the mean velocity of the wind during a given period could always be ob-
tained in miles per hour. He concluded by reading some of the determina
tions of his own instrument at the observatory at Armagh.

The Chairman, in giving the thanks of the Section to Dr. Robinson, ex-
pressed their sense of the scientific elegance and great practical value of an
invention applicable generalU- to the measurement of velocity of fluids ; and
he called their attention to the dexterous logical process by which the one
definite desired term had been eliminated from a multitude of unknown
quantities, as exhibiting an admirable example of the combination of sound
mathematical reasoning with sagacious experiment.

Mr. Vignolles read a paper furnislied by M. Arago, for the express
purpose of being communicated to the Association, at which M. Arago
was prevented by illness from attending, " On a new metlwd of boring
for artesian springs," by M. Facvelle, of Perpignan, in France. The
paper, which was an abridged translation of M. I'auvelle's own account,
stated that —

" Id 1833, I was present at the boring of an artesian well at Rivesaltes ;
the water was found, aud spouted up abundantly. They proceeded to the
tubing, and for that purpose enlarged the borehole from the top downwards.
I was struck by observing that it was no longer necessary to draw the
boring tools to get rid of ihe material, and that the water, risiug from the
bottom, brought up with it, in a slate of solution, all the soil which the
enlarging tools detached from the sides.

I immediately observed to my friend, M. Gassal, who was with me —
" This is a remarkable fact, and one very easy to imitate ; if, through a
hollow boring rod, water be sent down into the bore-hole as it is sunk, the
water, in coming up again, must bring with it all the drilled particles."
On this principle I started to establish a new method of boring. The ap-
paratus is composed of a hollow boring rod, formed of wrought iron tubes
screwed end to end : the lower end of the hollow rod is armed with a per-
forating tool, suited to the character of the strata which have to be encoun-
tered. The diameter of the tool is larger than the diameter of the tubular
rod, in order to form around it an annular space through which the water
and the excavated material may rise up. The upper end of the hollow
rod is connected with a force-pump by jointed or flexible tubes, which will
follow the descending movement of the boring tube for an extent of some
yards. 1 his boring tube may be either worked by a rotatory movement
or by percussion with a jumper. The frame aud tackle for lifting, lower-

ing, and sustaining the boring tube, ofl'er nothing particular. When the
boring tube is to be worked the pump must be first put in motion.

Through the inferior of the tube a column of water is sent down to
the bottom of the bore holes, which water, rising in the annular
space between the exterior of the hollow boring rod, and the sides of the
bore-hole, creates an ascending current which carries up the triturated
soil; the boring tube is then worked like an ordinary boring rod, and as
the material is acted upon by the tool at the lower end, it is immediately
carried up to the top of the borehole by the ascending current of air. It
is a consequence of this operation that the cuttings being constantly car-
ried up by the water, there is no longer any occasion to draw up the bor-
ing tube to clear them away, making a very great saving of time. An-
other important and certainly no less advantage, is, that the boring tools
never get clogged by the soil ; they work constantly (without meeting ob-
structions) through the strata to be peuerated, thus getting rid at once of
nine tenths of the difficulties of boring. In addition, it should be men-
tioned, that experience has shown there are no slips in any ground which
ordinary boring-rods can penetrate ; that the boring tube works at 100
yards in depth with as much facility as when only ten yards down, and
that from the very circumstances of its being a hollow rod, it presents
more resistance to torsion than a solid rod of equal thickness and quite as
much resistance to traction: these are the principal advantages of the new
system of boring. Indeed these advantages have been fully confirmed by
the borings which I have just completed at Perpignaa, in St. Dominico's-
square. This boring was commenced on the 1st July, and was completed
ou the 23rd, by finding the artesian water at a depth of 560 feet. If from
these twenty-three days, each of ten hours' work, are deducted three Sun-
days and six lost days, there remain fourteen days or 140 hours of actual
work; which is upwards of one yard per hour, that is, ten times the work
of an ordinary boring rod.

In the method I have described, it will be perceived that the water is
injected through the inferior of the boring-rod. Experience has taught
me that when gravel, or stones of some size are likely to be met with, it is
better to inject the water by the bore-hole, and let it rise through the bor-
ing tube. The additional velocity which may be thereby given to the
water, and the greater accuracy of calibre of the tube, allow the free
ascent of all substances which may be found at the bottom of the bore
hole, and which the former mode of working may not so readily accom-
plish. I have brought up by this latter way stones of 2J by 1^ inches.

The idea of making the water remount through the interior of the boring
tube suggests an easy mode of boring below a film (sheet) of flowing
water: it would be sufficient to close the orifice of the bore hole hermetic-
ally, still however so as to allow the boring tube to work, but yet so that
the flowing water should be always forced down to the bottom of the bore
hole to find its way to a vent : it would thus draw up and carry away all
the detritus. If, in addition to the above, we consider the possibility of
making the hollow stem of the boring rod of wood, and of balancing it so
that it would weigh no more than the water in which it bus to move, the
problem of boring to depths of 1100 yards and upwards would appear to be
solved.

In the square of St. Dominique at Perpignan, a boring had been carried
on upon the old method for upwards of eleven months for the purpose of
forming an artesian well, and the water had not been found. Fauvelle
placed his new tube alongside the old boring tackle, aud soon got down to
a depth of nearly 100 yards, when an accident occurred which would have
required some days to remedy. Fauvelle decided upon abandoning the
bore hule_ already sunk so deep, and commencing a new one, satisfied that
there would thereby be a saving iu time. The rate of sinking was equal
to four feet per hour of the time the hollow boring rod was actually at
work, the depth of 560 feet having been obtained iu 140 working hours,
for a bore hole of about six inches in diameter.

M. Arago, who had seen the rods of Fauvelle at work, mentions how
fully they answered, and that the large powerful tools at the bottom of the
hollow boring rod cut easily through the hardest strata ; he confirmed the
fact of the large sized stoues and gravel coming up with tlie ascending
current, himself having watched them. He also mentioned tiiat such was
the opinion of the people in the vicinity of Perpignan, and so much was
water wanted, that orders for the sinking upwards of 2U0 artesian wells
had been given to Fauvelle. The introduction of this system into this
country, especially if combined with the Chinese or percussive system of
boring, as practised with bore holes of very large diameter, at the Saar-
bruch mines, and at many other places on the continent, must be product-
ive of great beuefit, aud wuuld not merely effect a saving of money aud
labour, but the paramount advantage of immediately solving the question
of the existence of coal, minerals, water, &c."

[By reference to the last volume of this Journal, page 50, it « ill be seen
that a patent was granted lo Mr. R. Beart, July 12, 1844, for a nielhod
almost identical with that of M. Fauvelle.] — Ed. C. E. aud A. Journal.

Sir JoBX Guest asked Mr. Vignolles to explain the system of percussion
boring, for the information of ihose gentlemen present who might not be
acquainted with it.— Mr. Vignolles said, instead of boring v\ith augurs or
rods, there was a heavy weight suspended by a rope and pulley ; and fixed
to the bottom of the weight was a tool of the crown form, viz., a circular
tool of iron, indented at the bottom. There was no description of rock on
which he had tried it that this tool did not penetrate with faciUty. The
prejudice of English workmen, however, had hitherto prevented its intro-

306

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Oct.

duction in this country ; but he had no doubt it would make its way, ]nrti-
cularlv if it could be combined with I'auvelle's system. — J. Lobb, Ksq.,
Mayor of Southampton, wished to ask a question relative to the applicabi-
lity of FauTelle's plan to tlie boring of the Southampton artesian well
They had got to the depth of 1 ,200 feet with a bore of G inches in diameter-
and the expense had been nearly 20,000/. ; this system, however, seemed to,
diminish the expense of boring in an extraordinary manner; and lie wished
to ask if it could be applied to the present boring at the Southampton Com-
mon .' — Mr. ViGNoi.Lts, as an engineer, had no hesitation whatever in
saying that it conld be applied without dilliculty. If they wanted force to
send the water down tlie tube, they might use a steam-engine. — Dr. RoBi>r-
SON suggested that a deputation from the Section should go to the works of
the Southampton well, and inspect them. — Mr. J. Hill said that percussion
had long been used in this country. They had used that plan whenever they
came to hard substances in the Southampton boring. The rods were drawn
up by a windlass, and dropped down a foot or six inches ; and after the
material was loosened the rods were drawn, and the pulverized material
raised up by a cylinder. — Mr. Vignolles said this was different from the
Chinese system of percussion, where a rope was used, which saved the
trouble and loss of time in drawing the rods. The power required for
sending down the water on Fauvelle's plan was much less than might be
supposed. — The Marquis of Northampton suggested that a committee of
the Geological Section should be invited to accompany the committee from
this section. — Dr. Lankuster expressed his warm approval of M. Fauvelle's
plan, and his opinion of its applicability. — V conversation followed, in the
course of which Sir John Guest said tlie weight of a hollow rod, three
inches in diameter, and the iron a quarter of an inch thick, would be less
than that of a solid rod of an inch iliameter ; the weight would be further
lessened by the rod floating in water.

Mr. Sharp read a paper on improvements in the construction of gas-
meters.

Mr. RicARDu explained the construction of a machine which he had
used for registering the velocities of railway trains. An eccentric is keyed
on to one of the carriage axles and gives reciprocating motion to a rod
which turns a ratchet-wheel by engaging with each of its teeth in succes-
sion. By these means, a drum, provided with a paper for indicator-dia-
grams, is made to revolve with a velocity proportional to that of the train.
A separate part of the machine contains the mechanism of a common-
clock, attached to which is a tracing pencil, which moves with a velocity
proportional to the clock's rate of going. Consequently, the diagrams
register the velocity of the trains for every period of time during the tran-
sit of the train.

IttsisTANCE to Railway Trains.
This paper was of considerable iinportaace, and we are the more glad to
have the opportunity of expressing an opinion respecting the formula
proposed, because it is the same as that of which Mr. W. Harding re-
cently gave an account before the Institution of Civil Engineers.

Mr. Scott Russf.ll commenced by briefly reviewing the labours of those
who had gone before him in the in\e.'!tigation of the subject. The report
on the experiments, instituted at the instance of the British Association,
concluded by observing that tlu' results were so anomalous, that uo satis-
factory law could be deduced from them. He had undertaken a large
series of experiments, but only collected those on which he could place
perfect reliance. The trains varied in size from one one to fourteen car-
riages. Mr. liusseil thcu exhibited his results in three columns of figures ;
the first column showing the velocities iu miles per hour, the second the
resistance experimentally determined in ijouuds per ton weight of the
train, the third the resistance determined by I'.is formula.

It would be seen from the second coltimu that it was not very easy to
elicit a law : the resistance was very variable with respect to the vt-locity ;
for instance, in certain cases the resistance actually appeared to diminish
as the velocity increased. The old theory had been that the total resist-
ance was about 8 lb. per Ion, and remaiued constant at all ordinary veloci-
ties. It had been found, however, that this theory was quite untenable.
The next iiuiirovement was to add for the resistance of air a term varying
as the square of the velocity. This, however, was still iusuflicient to re-
present the experimental results. He was therefore iuduced to propose a
modification of the formula, which be by uo uieens asserted lo be theoreti-
cally correct, nor did it exactly coincide with the experimental results ; but
which, however, came nearer to them than did any of the old formula", and
might be used till a better one was discovered.
Mr. S. Russell's formula is —

R = Api-'-' + Bwii-f C ;«
where K is the total resistance, A the area of the front of the train, >■ the
velocity, m the weight of the train ; B, ;), aud C empirical constants. The
last term of this equation represented the resistance from the trie t Ion of
the axles. The value of C, as determined by the experiments of M ood
and llip llritish Association, appeared to be six pounds per ton, so that
the whole of the resistance = 0 times the number of tons weight of the
train. The next element of resistance was that of the air, which ilepended
rather on the surface exposed than on the weight of the train. The greater
number of experiments under this head were few and inapiilicable.
Smeatou's were made by observing the rotation of thin disks, which pre-
sented no analogies to the present case. It ajipeared, however, to be
pretty clearly established that the total resistance could be deduced from
multiplying the area of the front of the train bv the square of the velocity,

and by multiplying this quantity again by a certain empirical constant,
which he had represented by p.

After deducting these two resistances, namely, A p t = and C hi, there
Btill remained a considerable residue, which indeed was, in many cases,
more than half the resistance determined experimentally. Now the
general appearance of this residue was, that it was a quantity varying as
the velocity multiplied by the mass of the train ; and therefore v being the
velocity of the train, m its mass, and B a constant, B m v represented the
remaining term of the expression for resistance to trains.

The whole argument turned on this question — Does the expression hmv
represent with sufficient accuracy the residue, after substractiug from the
total resistance, as experimentally determined, the theoretical quantities
for friction and resistance of air? In answer to this question, Mr. Russell
proceeded to exainiue the two columns of figures before him, one of them
showing the theoretical, the other the practical, resistance. In many
cases, the accordance was very exact: in others, he confessed, there were
great discrepancies. There were anomalous results in both columns of
figures ; for instance, in the column of experiments, the resistance to the
the train at 3i miles was actually less than it was at 31 miles. In fact,
there were frequent iustances iu both columns of the resistance diminish-
ing when the velocity increased : the resistance at a given velocity was
often no greater than, and often less than, the next less velocity.

Mr. Scott next considered the physical causes which would account for
the new term. A most important element of resistance was the concussion
sustained fay the wheels of the carriages as they passed over the joints of
the rails. This concussion produced a noise aud vibration of the earth,
which was sometimes perceptible at extraordinary distances. It was fre-
quently so great as to derange the position of the rails, aud was a constant
cause of wear and tear of the road. This was one most important ele-
ment of his new term. Another was the lateral abrasion of the flanges of
the wheels against the rails — this abrasion representing, of course, a loss
of force. Another loss was occasioned by the vertical movement of the
carriage.s on their springs, which was, from the imperfect elasticity of the
springs, equivalent to a loss of vis cica. There were other elements of his
" remainder" or new term, but these were the principal. In conclusion,
Mr. .Scott Russell stated that all the experiments were not his own ; that
some of them were the previous property of the Biiti?h Association, made
on trains descending inclines by their own gravity. The dynamometer
%vhich he had employed was an excellent one, made by Morin ; it was
placed between the tender and the first carriage. He exhibited the dia-
grams which had been actually drawn by this dynamometer, aud which
were traced in red ink by a camel's hair brush.
The following is the table referred to : —

Velocity in Sliles Resistance by experiment Kesistance by for-

per liour. in lbs. {)er ton. uuila in lbs per ton.

h hi) i-T

14 12 « 13'9

■Ji) 16-5 157

;il

33
34

3.5
.11)
37

3:i

41
4.1
4fl
47
50
.'■I
■<X
t>l

ll'H

16-5

23-3

22-6

166

22"5

22 .'>

17.')

30-0

32-9

23-1

S3-7

32-S

2C-4

4I-"

62-6 .

25-4
227
2?7
17-3
22.4
25-.5
18-2
31-6
19'6
21-0
23-3
33-1
36-3
23-0
421
54-8

Dr. RoiiiNsd.N said that though great credit was due to Mr. Scott Rus-
sell for putting the invetlii;ation in an improved form, there were still seve-
ral elements of resistance which he thought ought to be taken into con-
sideration. He then proceeded to write on the diagram-board a formula,
of wdiich each term explained some kind of resistance, which he explained
as he wrote down the corresponding expression. The loss from concus-
sion at the joiuts should vary as (velocity)^. The resistance to the motion
of the wheels, regarded as separate bodies acted on by the air, was two-
fold ; aud arose, first, from their rotation, secondly, from their longitudi-
nal motion. The one resistance would vary as the velocity ; the other, as
the square of the velocity. In like manner, the resistance from the air lo
the carriages themselves was composed of two terms; the one representing
the resistance to the front of the train, the other lo its sides.

Mr. Sraup thought that Jlr. .Scott Kussell ought to have taken into ac-
count many contiugencies w bich occurred in practice, such as the efl'ect of
curves in the railway. The axlc-fnction was far greater in some carriages
than in others.

Blr. l.'oiititis confirmed the latter statement : be had constantly observed
that the w heels of carriages were out of their proper place, and consider-
ably inclined to the axle. In many cases which he had examined, the
divergence from the perpendicular was so great, that the resistance must
have been enormous. The learned professor did not, however, appear
aware that Mr. Russell's formula applied lo the resistance of the train
only, indepeiideully of the engine : nor did he seem to have a very clear
idea of the line of argument pursued, for he look occasion during the dis-
cussion to obserie that Mr. Russell had proved everything experimentally,
aud that " he had not taken anylhiug for granted," whereas he had taken
for granted an integral point of his argument, namely, that the accuracy of

1816.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

307

the first and third terms of his formula had been proved by the labours of
preceding investigators.

After some further observations, Professor Willis closed the discussion
by remarldns on ihe reciprocal action of the pistons as a fruitful cause of
resistance aiRl loss of power.

[It remains only to give our own opinion on the result of JMr. Russell's
labour. On a subject of such great moment to the engineer, a general
account of the deductions to be made from the arguments employed in the
discussion cannot fail to be acceptable, ^^e must begin then by according
to Mr. Russell the merit of having approached tlie subject in a philoso-
phical spirit. He says that his conclusions are the results of a great
number of careful experiments, but he does not dogmatise upon them. On
the contrary, he tells us plainly, that his formula has been suggested for
want of a better. M'ith respect to the '' remainder" term, which consti-
tutes the novelty of his results, he rather asks whether it may not repre-
sent physical facts, that asserts that it actually does so. This is precisely
the language of a. true student of science. AVhile, however, we feel that
Mr. Russell has made a step in the right direction, we unhesitatingly deny
that his formula will account even appreximately for the resistance to
trains. There appear snIHcieut reasons Un- questioning tlie accuracy of
each of the three terms of his expression. The last (C in) makes the axle-
friction independent of the velocity; whereas it depends materially on the
velocity, as we will show. Mr. Russell says that the friction of the axle
is proportional to the pressure, and he evidently takes it (or granted that
the only pressure is a vertical one, namely the weight of the carriage.
This looks very like an error of principle, for it is obvious that if no hori-
zontal pressure acted on the axle, the wheel would not move forward.
The wheel is subject to two retarding lorces, — Ihe action of the rail on its
periphery, and the action of the air on its whole surface. Now, these
forces both depend on the velocity of the train, and their sum is equal to
the accelerating horizontal force on the axle ; on the principle that when a
body is moving uniformly its accelerating and retarding forces are equal.
The pressure, then, on the axle is a function ()f the velocity, and conse-
quently the axle-friction also depends on the velocity. It may be further
observed, witli respect to the retarding for'ce on the circumference of
(he wheel from the rad, that it is made up of three parts — rolling friction
on the tire, iatei'al friction on the flange, and concussion at the joints of
the rails. The efl'^ ct of all these probably, or at all events of the latter of
them, depends materially on the velocity, and also greatly aifecls the pres-
sure, and consequently the friction, on tlje axle.

Next, with respect to the term (Api;-), Mr. Russell here assumes that
the whole resistance of the atmosphere varies as the square of the velocity
of the train. Now it seems certain, that whatever law represents the re-
sistance to the front of the train cannot apply to the wheels; for the latter
rotate as well as move forward. The action of the air on them difl'ers so
greatly from its action on the rest of the train, that the resistance must be
expressed by dilferent functions of the velocity. Moreover, the symbol r
ought to express not the actual velocity of the train, but the relative velo-
city of the irain and tlie wind. For if the wind and the train were both
moving in the same direction, with the same velocity, the resistance on the
bodies of the carriages would he zero. And lastly, whatever function be
adopted ought to l)e a discontinuous one, for this reason : if the wind
moved faster than the train, it would urge the train forward and be changed
from a retarding to an accelerating force. In this case, v (the relative
velocity) would be negative ; but i-^ would still remain positive, which it
ought not to do. This contingency ought to be provided against. We
know that the expression for the motion of a projectile in air is discoQ-
tinuoiis : the resistance during the ascent of the projectile is not the
same function of the velocity as during the descent.

Lastly, in the term Bmw, it is assumed, without sufficient data, that all
the other resistances besides those of the air and at the axles, vary as the
velocity simply. We may decide wiib absolute certainty, that this cannot
correspond to physical fads. The concussion of the joints, for instance, is
more likely to depend on the second than Ihe first power of the velocity.
It is shown in Moselpy's Engineering (p. 59-1-C), that when a body in mo-
tion impinges directly on a body at rest, the mutual pressure at any period
during impact is expressed by certain quantities, which represent the
hariJness o' the materials, multiplied by the product of the mass of the
moving body into the square of the velocity. There are many other in-
gredients of the calculation for which it would be difficult to prove that
they vary as the velocity simply. It may be also observed, that Mr. Rus-
sell's formula frequently did not agree with his own experiments. In
about a dozen cases tiiere was an analogy; but the coincidence seems
purely accidental, and it would be easy to invent a score of different
formuliie which might be supported by similar comparisons. — [Editor (J. E.
and A. Journal.]

A paper on Imjirovcmcnts in Sttam Engines, by Mr. Lamb was read.
One object ol Ihe paper was to suggest an improved method of ** blowing
off." It was found by experiment that the scales which formed the concre-
tion in boilers weri> bojed on the surface of the water when boiling, and
that they were not precipitated to the bottom till ebullition had ceased.
Mr. Lamb proposed to take advantage of this circumstance by putting the
blowing otf pipe near the surface of the water. The subject of the next
paper was

The INIenai and Conway Tubular Bridges,

The subject was illustrated by a large number of diagrams, sections,
and "working drawings; a view of Ihe Menai Bridge with two long and

two shorter spans was shown, and on the table was a large model of the
bridge which it is proposed to erect over the Conway before the Menai
bridge is commenced. The model of the Conway bridge shows a single
span ; the abutments are two massive towers rising to about twice Ihe
height of the tube ; the sides of the tube have a series of cruciform aper-
tures for the admission of light and air.

Mr. Fairbairn commenced by detailing the course of the experiments
which had been made to ascertain the strongest form of the tube. The
tube generally gave way on the upper side, and it was first attempted to
strengthen it by making the top plate of corrugat-
ed irou. This being found insufficient, the next
proposition was that the top of the tube should
contain long tubes between two horizontiil plates ;
the form of the section being that represented
in the accompanying diagram. This form was
afterwards modified by making the top with rect-
angular cells or compartments, and a model of
this form was made one-sixth the dimensions of
the proposed bridge ; that is to say, of one-
sixth the length, breadth, and height, and with
plates rolled as nearly as possible to one-sixth
the thickness of those intended to be adopted.
The following diagram represents the section of the model at the middle,
and also of the Conway Bridge for which the dimensions will be as fol-
lows : —

'^

'>■

,i»"

i— 2'/-— >

'^-'2's"—>

«

1--

'6

1 ^

^

ir

"--^ 1

^

1
)

/

"

V

1
t

■<;

i

i

1
1

1

ij

lo 1 1

V 1

V ;

1

1

1

1
f
1

1

j 1
[

1

I
I

1
1

1
1

4'.«i'
1 1

_->

1

k

/
1/

1

1

1

1 " X'^

>

1 ^ir

^ \

1

iS

.

;i

T

— 1

^'z

<- — 2.'j,"—>\

<-. _oj'.._,i

14'. S"

[Section of the Conway Bridge at the middle.]

Dimensions.

Hsight outside

*• inside
Breadth outside

" iuside

Thickness of side plates

ft.

in.

27

<l

21

65

14

8

!4

0

0

4

308

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Oct.

which are united to form the side

[j-r'i*. '»'' ^ici if th: tarsi port'oa

plates *- ■*_,,"

HelRht of rectangular cells at top and bottom
Breadth of ditto

(Excepting those at the angles of the tube which are in breadth
Thickness of plates forming the cells

n

9
4

2 8

In all the experiments on the large model the weights were suspended at
the centre of it, from its lower side. In the first experiment the tube
broke with a weight of 35^ tons. It was then thoroughly repaired and
the sides were stiffened by vertical ribs attached at intervals throughout
their length : by these means and the addition of another plate at the bot-
tom the breaking weight was increased to 56 tons. It was observed in
one case that the lop of the tube bulged out transversely. The form of
joint which was intended for the top of the tube was made by laying ihe
ends of the plates together without uniting them ; they were then lo be
simply overlapped by pieces of metal above and below to prevent tliem

islippiug past each other , . Instead however of adopt-

fng this'form, the maker of the model had by mistake used a joint of the

loUowiug form — — , bolting the two plates where they over-

apped. In consequence of this arrangement and ihe great pressure to
■which the upper side of the model was subjected, Ihe plates slipped some
considerable distance past each other, and slits were cut in tliem by the
bolts. The section of the Conway bridge given above, shows one of the
vertical stiffening plates attached to each of the sides of the tube. These
stiffening plates are T iron J ioch thick.

Mr. Eaton Hodgkinson said that his own decided conviction was that
the best form for the top of the bridge was a series of long hollow cylinders
such as those first described by Mr. Fairbairn. There were three forms
proposed for the top — solid iron, rectangular compartments and cylindrical
compartments. He certainly thought the latter form was the best. In
fact the superiority was so great tliat no difficulty or expense in the manu-
facture ought for an instant to weigh as an objection lo its adoption. The
great object was perfect security, and to this every minor consideration of
trouble or preliminary outlay ought to be sacrificed.

From the proportions which had been chosen he estimated that the
strength to resist lateral pressure was one-fourth of the vertical strength.
In his own models the proportions for the side plates were different, and
he had laid his tubes on their side to compare the lateral to vertical
strength. He found the latter was to the former in the proportion 26 ; \5.
This comparison he had instituted in order to ascertain the capability of
the bridge for resistance to the action of wind. As however the propor-
tions actually chosen for the Conway bridge differed from his own, he had
suggested that the strength of the side plates should be increased, and this
suggestion had been partially acceded to. He did not think that the top
plate should be arched between the abutments as in that case the steam of
the engine would rise to the top and have no means of escape. [This by-
the-by is a very insufficient objection, and one which might be easily re-
moved by some simple mechanical contrivance.]

Mr. Clark, who had been present during the performance of all the ex-
periments, next read a paper. Each of Ihe longer tubes of the Menai
bridge would be 462 feet long, and weigh 1200 tons. It was intended to
put all the parts of tube together at a place about a quarter of a mile from
tlie intended position of the bridge. When the structure was finished it
•nould be floated to its place on large barges, and finally raised by hydrau-
lic presses al the two ends simultaneously. The Conway bridge had to be
raised only 18 feet, and this work would be completed first. Mr. Clark
then read some calculations respecting the strength of the bridge, but they
bore so great an analogy to those which have been already published in
this Journal, in the Notes on Engineering, that it is not necessary to re-
peat them. He said also that the tensile strength of the bottom
would be proportional to the sectional area, and independent of either the
width or thickness considered separately ; so that provided the sectional
area contained a given number of square inches, it was immaterial what
proportion the thickness of the bottom plate bore to its width. [This is
one of several grave errors which have been committed in the contrivance
of the Tubular Bridge. We do not however consider it necessary to enter
on the demonstration here, as it will be given in the Notes on Engineer-
ing.]

From the experiments it would appear that the sectional area of the two
sides together ought to be equal to that of the bottom plate.

Mr. Fairbairn expressed some surprise that Mr. Hodgkinson should
take to himself the credit of suggesting the cellular form for the top of the
tube. He could assure him that he was mistaken on this point, as experi-
ments on tubes with cellular tops had been commenced at Millwall before
he arrived there. Wilh respect to the pressure of the wind, it would be
found that if it be taken at 50 lb. per square fool, Ihe total lateral pressure
on one side of the bridge amounts to 300 tons. The proposition of sup-
porting Ihe bridgH by suspension chains had been finally abandoned. In
order to deaden as much as possible the effect of vibrations from the pass-
age of a train, the rails would be laid on vulcanised india-rubber 2 inches
thick.

Dr. RoDiNsfiN called attention lo the difference between laying a load
gradually on the bridge and drawing a load rapidly over it. If Ihe im-
pulses from the train were synchronous wilh Ihe vibrations, the latter
would be increased to a frightful extent. He himself had ascertained
the vibration of a train at a distance of 15,000 feel by observing the effect
on quicksilver. He thought that in the model different loads ought to be
drawn through very rapidly to test effects corresponding to those of the
passage of trains.

Mr. Fairbairn said he would certainly endeavour to follow out the
suggestion.

Mr. Scott Eussell said that it appeared to him that the principal ques-
tion had not yet been discussed. The point lo be considered was — not
whether the bridge could be made strong enough to bear the weight on it ;
for there was no doubt that the engineers would keep on adding metal till
they removed all chance of fracture — but the real question was whether
the requisite strength was attained with a minimum quantity of metal:
whether, in fact, the metal was disposed in the most advantageous manner.
He had some doubts on this point. If two spans of the bridge were united
at the bottom pier, it was clear that any deflection in one span would com-
municate its effect to those which adjoined it ; so that there would be points
of contrary flexure, and the line of the bridge would be alternately convex

and concave. In this case the top plate of the bridge would, in the neigh-
bourhood of the pier, be subject to tension instead of compression, and
conversely for the bottom plate of the bridge.

Mr. Hodgkinson said the consideration of vibrations from the rapid
transit of a traiu was of the utmost importance. The effect of a train ia
motion could scarcely be calculated accurately. " I confess," added Mr.
Hodgkinson. " that when I consider this subject my mind misgives me,
and I cannot help feeling a few tremors." This announcement produced
a sensation.

Mr. Roberts said that vibrations might be checked by altering the time
of the impulses. It was a common practise of engine-drivers, when they
found the engine began to " kick," as they term it, lo accelerate or retard
the train, and this generally destroyed the vibrations.

Mr. Fairiiairn allowed that rectangular compartments for the top of the
tube were not theoretically the best, but they were so practically. It was
necessary to provide means for the entrance of workmen into every com-
partment to make any repairs that might be required, or to renew defective
plates.

Dr. Robinson said that what was to be apprehended during the passage
of trains was not a sudden impulse, but the accumulation of vibrations. It
was well known that even a child might set a great bell in motion by con-
tinued efforts properly timed. If the impulses communicated by the bell-
rope were synchronous with the vibrations of the bell itself, the extent of
those vibrations might be increased till the bell got its full swing.

Mr. Hodginson said that it had been suggested that the top plates
should be of cast iron. He objected to this proposition on the following
grounds. From his own experiments on the strength of cast iron, and
wrought iron columns to resist pressures applied in the direction of their
lengths it appeared that the relative strength of the two materials depended
entirely on the length of the columns. The columns might fail either by
bending or by crushing. With short columns cast iron bore to wrought
iron the strength of 17 : 10, but with long columns the strength of cast iron
to that of wrought iron was at 14 : 50. This showed the superiority of
the latter material for the upper plates of the tubular bridge.

MICHAEL ANGELO.

A correspondent of the Literary GazeUe has furnished to that paper
some particulars relating to the discovery of certain works by Michael
Angelo and other artists of renown. The correspondent is described as a
lady married into a collateral branch of the family of the great Italian.
A minute search through the Buonarotti Gallery has led to the following
results ; — " Upon opening the door I found Michael Angelo's own original
wax model of his superb David, looking even more majestic and imposing
than the well-known gigantic statue on the Piazza del Gran Duca, which
may be imputed to the fact of his having been stinted in the size of the
block of marble. Besides this masterpiece, the cupboard further con-
tained two other wax models by Michael Angelo, one his Giorno, the other
his Crepuscolo, — both of which are in the chapel called Cappello di Michel
Angelo in the Church of St. Lorenzo. There were likewise in this same
closet models in clay by Giovanni di Bologna ; they are his first concep-
tions of his most celebrated groups and statues. Another in wax, by Bac-
cio Bandinelli, besides another by an unknown hand. Then, at tho bottom
of all, under a thick veil of cobweb, I perceived a quantity of fragments,
which appeared to me of surpassing beauty. I collected the pieces, and
joined them together with boiling wax, thread, &c. ; when, to my great
delight, 1 found my fragments ussumed the form of the torso and legs of a
Satyr, which is one of the finest works of Art that can be imagined. The
celebrated engraver Jesi and another artist chanced to call upon us, and
both proclaimed the Satyr to be the work of Michael Angelo ; — but then,
we had no proof of such being the case. Now comes what I deem the
marvellous part of the story. The following morning, I again occupied
myself groping and poking about the gallery, particularly in an old cabinet
or closet whicii they say Michael Angelo used to write in. At length, I
pulled out a drawer, in which was a letter, dated 1660, from one Covr.
Pansani, who begs the Proc. Buonarotti to accept a Torso di Satiro, the
work of his great ancestor Michael Angelo.* * "—In this extraordinary
Banner have I obtained the proof of the authenticity of my Satiro,

1840]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

3\)<J

DESIDERATA FOR THE MORE ADVANTAGEOUS STUDY
OF MEDLEVAL ARCHITECTURE.

SIr. Editor — In your August numher I read Ihe article on the " Future
Development of Mediajval Architecture," wilb much ialerest and gratili-
cation, and no doubt very raany of your other subscribers did the same,
the good taste, the soundness of judgment, the freedom from all dogma-
tising or flippant treatment of opposite opinions, quite led me to anticipate
from the paper a thorough knowledge of his subject iu the author, and
this the wbole article fully sustained.

Milh a view to follow up the subject in a practical way, I will venture
to put down a few thoughts that have for some time occurred to me, and
which jou may perhaps consider worthy of insertion in your valuable
Journal. They relate to Ihe necessity there still exists of some well
digested compilation, to set forth Ihe choicest examples of really good
Mediaeval architecture, both in the mass and combination, and also in the
details. This may at first appear a startling assertion, when the number
and vast variety of works already published and constantly issuing from
the Press are considered, intended to bear upon that professed object.

So far as I am able to judge of any work I have yet seen, I tliink we
have no grammar of the art, as it were, such as we have in all other stu-
dies, whereby the student may really begin at the right end as to what he
lias to learn, and arrive at the procurement of that elementary knowledge
in the shortest possible time. I consider this latter, in their railway era,
of real importance.

From the architectural student of the present day so much will be
required, that whatever facilitates his path by enabling him promptly to
acquire the mechanical, and helping him quickly to discover or to feel
the beautiful, and as readily to repudiate the elaborated though expensive
trifle, however ancient, will do much to help forward the future practitioner
to a fuller attainment of the style in its highest excellence.

That much has been done within the last few years, to set up and induce
the adoption of the style on a right foundation, must be admitted; and
perhaps a condensation of, or a compilation from, existing publications
might go far to accomplish what is wanted. Of books we have, I con-
sider, far too many — that is, as to the good a student can derive from them ;
of those that profess to be initiatory, how much is there iu the best of them
of little or no arail for his purpose. We find a beauty of engraving — a
costliness of drawing most engaging, — but there is in them all far too much
beyond the energy or the attainments of a mere architectural student to ex-
pect him to work out ; and, except Ihe treat of frequently reviewing the
plates and, perhaps, some general suggestions, he does not derive Ihe help
from the work which is most needed by him.

After much study of the architecture of the Middle Ages, I am satisfied
the real practicable and imitative beauties for our adoption are confined to
a much briefer epoch thau many of its professors have been disposed
to admit: and of Ihese beauties— like all other truths or principles — the
simplest, Ihe most obvious, and least intricate of them, are those identical
ones most capable of combination and espansiveness. Of the works
issued by the several provincial societies, there are none that I have yet
seen that will survive as conferring any abiding solid benefit on Pointed
architecture ; they all start from the same point, and none advance beyond
a parallel degree or stage ; indeed, it appears as though the pleasing illus-
tration of the architecture of a district or archdeaconry was their only in-
tention. Now this, from the nature of such associations may perhaps be
essential to keep up an interest amongst subscribers ; but I have long since
thought that a portion of the funds at the command of these societies might
be devoted to higher and more permanent advantages. Most of the element-
ary or instructive treatises that I am aware of have been undertaken as a
trading matter, and as such they must necessarily combine as much for the
money as possible, and they must further be made to suit the tastes of the
greater number, and here appears to me to result their inadequacy. With-
out intending to disparage any work, it strikes me there needs in all of them
a much sounder discrimination, to separate the precious from the vile ; and,
therefore, a society rot publishing for profit could do what an individual
publisher could not. In looking through eien those works most recently
issued, or iu course of being so, I am surprised to find the omission of
many choice examples infinitely more worth the drawing and engraving
than some of the subjects given, and such examples, too, not at all in-
accessible. Now, the collective knowledge of a society is likely to be
able to gather a much more select assortment of specimens than an indivi-
<lual can be supposed to be aware of. I will repeat — what we want i?
far fewer, and far more select, subjects. The publishing of whole build-

ings cannot procure these, for in almost every structure there are many
points which the student should be cautioned to avoid, as well as others
he should be called upon to admire ; — and therefore why publish faulty
lessons instead of unexceptionable ones? Were the several societies
moderately to contribute part of their funds to a delegated number of their
respective bodies, some half dozen well qualified individuals might unite
for the purpose of selecting examples wherever they were to be met with ;
to procure their accurate and detailed delineation, suitably figured ; merely
giving the place and where attainable, the date, and architect's or church
builder's name, without encumbering the work with any topographical
particulars, but giving, instead, the reasons for Ihe excellency of the sub-
ject, the causes of beauty in Ihe composition, or the feature. The exam-
ples need not be expensively engraved, but they should be drawn to a suf-
ficiently large scale to be at once obvious and serviceable, as conveying
their true portraiture, and to have a form and a substance imparted to
them even more speakingly than is sometimes done in many of the exqui-
site examples of engraving frequently adopted in the present day.

The germ of the plan or method of selection is suggested by Pugin's
lectures and Palej's moldings; hut it ought not to be a sufficient recom-
mendation that the examples be copied from an esteemed structure, or be
of unquestionable antiquity ; -its only recommendation should be its es-
sential fitness and beauty ; multiplicity of examples, except of the best
character, should be most cautiously avoided.

After treating of details in their order, the work might proceed to give
examples of combinations, still excluding or carefully repudiating every
part not worth imitating, — and then at the conclusion, some examples of
the massing of wbole structures, which many of the Pointed buildings
beautifully illustrate, and which Mr. Petit, in his work on Architectural
Expression, has so happily developed from the very plainest structures.
These might be accompanied with a few simple structures, showing why
the effect of a certain mass is rich, and the elfect of another ;joor.

The labour of the rising school of architects will have to be given to so
many objects, that it will not do to direct the student to a choice example
merely ; but it must be to the very choicest of any two choice ones, that he
may sieze the best first, and leave the second best, and go to something
further, — that he may know more, day after day, how to weed bis port-
folio of questionable treasures in exchange for cardinal verities, and to
give him time to digest these verities and get them thoroughly into him ; —
so that after a while he may trust to books less, and himself and his own
correct principles more. The multiplication of books, as an architectural
publisher admitted to me the other day, was the bane of Ihe age, so far as
the student was concerned.

On the basis of some such principles as Ihese, Mr. Editor, do I consider
Mediaeval architecture should be studied ; — to copy merely because the
example is ancient, or because the original is associated with circum-
stances which can never be imparted to the imitation, is not to advance in
architecture — but to retrogacle.

If these remarks should lead to any practical good, I shall be glad; or
should they suggest any hints to au inquiring and industrious architectural
student, so as to show him what lies before him, I shall consider my lime
not mis-spent. 1 am, Mr. Editor,

One of jour early Subscribers,

NoNNUl-LL'S.

THE GAUGE COMMISSION,

Analysis of Evidence given before the Royal Commissioners appointed to investigate
the sul)ject of the diversity of Itailivay Gauges.

{Continued from piige 214.)

George Parker Bidder, Esq.* : Is in the immediate management of
the lines in Norfolk, and the Peterborough line. From his connexion
with IMr. Stephenson, has more or less information of Ihe lines with winch
he is connected. With respect to the great increase of cost which Mr.
Gooch says exists upon the narrow gauge lines for the locomotive power of
the goods trains, the cost upon the Lindon and Birmingham and the Grand
Junction being double what it is upon the Great Western, is prepared lo
dispute that fact entirely ; but there are circumstances wliich might ati'ect
that comparison as to the particular character of the goods trade. On one
hue it niay be necessary lo have trains which may liave to pick up goods
at difl'erent stations, so as not lo carry the same load from Ihe terminus,

* The Editor has felt it his duty to append to this evidence some conNnents, which will
be found in thtir proper places, inserted in brackets.

40

310

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

rooT.

and at the same time to have the same engine power ; and there may be a
variety of other circumstances. For instance, on the Nurfulk railway : at
present the connection is not completed of the two railways at Norwich on
account of a bridge of an original construction, a swin^ bridje ; su that
the Csh is brought from Yarmouth to Norwich, then discharged, and car-
ried across the river, then loaded again, and then brought to London, and
those trucks go back light. Therefore, if you were to take the actual cost
of the locomotive power for the goods there, you would have to charge
two miles of locomotive power for one mile of effective traffic, and conse-
quently, although the locomotive engines might be running at actually a
less mileage than another line, yet in that sort of comparison, they might be
made to appear to be working at a greater cost. Therefore, unless you
have all the circumstances brought before you, any comparison of that
nature appears to be not conclusive.

It does not appear that very much higher rates of speed would be re-
quired. There would be much more convenience from giving frequent
departures, than from running particular trains at a very high velocity.
And there is another question ; after you have attained a speed of 40 or 45
miles an hour, the saving of time by the increase of speed does not go on
;)i'o rata ; it is very much diminished. You save a great deal of time by
an increase from 20 miles an hour to 40 miles an hour ; but an increase
from 40 to 50 miles an hour is not of that importance. With the present
permanent way, where the rails are 70 to 75 lb. weight, you might travel
certainly at 70 or 80 miles an hour.

The repairs are very much augmented by bad curves, and a wide car-
riage, or a wide engine, must be subject to greater torsion from curves than
a narrow one. Cannot believe that it is possible that the repairs of the
wide gauge carriage and engines can be so little as of the narrow. Has
no experience of the repairs on the wide gauge, but on a bad curve line the
repairs are very much augmented. On the Newcastle and Carlisle, the
repairs of the engines, as compared with the North Shields, are about £250
per engine per annum.

Has a return of the performance of a goods engine in ordinary working
on the Alidland line between Derby and Kugby ; and whether you take it
as the actual weight moved or the evaporating power, it stands a favour-
able comparison with any engine referred to in the evidence of Mr. Cooch.
In one trip the engine took from Kugby a gross load of 348 tons IG cwt.,
to which you would have to add herowu weight and that of her lender,
about 35 or 30 tons. She took that load up 16 feet a-mile from Kugby,
and she acquired a velocity for that 16 feet a-mile, of 15 miles per hour.
If you compare that with a level line, it is equivalent to a gross load of
very nearly 700 tons on a level. The quantity of water evaporated on that
length was 35^ gallons per mile; that is equal to about 100 feet per hour.
Now, from ihe experiments it appears, and it is consistent with one's no-
tions, that the power of evaporation is directly, or nearly so, as the power
of blast, that is, the number of strokes per minute, and the volume of that
blast. I'rom a return of an experiment on the Northern and Eastern, an
engine which, at 30 miles au hour, evaporated not more than 70 or 80 feet
per hour, evaporated 150 feet at 50 miles per hour.

[Mr. IJidder here assumes that the resistance to a train of 348 tons, on
a gradient of 16 feet a-raile, is the same aS that to a train of 700 tons on a
level. The conclusion is independent of the velocity, and seems derived
from taking the resistance of friction at 7 or 8 lb. per ton. This calcula-
tion omits the pressure on the blast pipe, which is a function of the velo-
city, and the resistance of the air, which is nearly as the square of the
velocity, and depends, moreover, not on the weight of the train, but on the
surface exposed to the action of the air, 15ut setting all this aside, the
amount of 7 or 8 lb. for friction is not even approximately correct, for it is
certain that resistance from the unevenness of the rails, he, is much greater
at high than at low velocities. The idea that " the power of evaporation
is directly or nearly as the power of the blast," is contradicted hereafter
by Mr. Bidder's own figures. Besides, if this theory were true, no water
at all would be evaporated when the engine was standing still, for then the
blast is not in action.]

On the last experiment the train was reduced to 72 tons 12 cwt. gross, a
little more than half the first load. The net speed realised was 43 miles
]>er hour, and the quantity o£ water evaporated was at about tile rate of
190 feet per hour. Tliis engine was a lung tube engine ; the tubes are 13
feet long, 15 inch cylinders, 22 inch stroke, 5 feet G inch wheels ; the area
of the lire-box is 49 7S0 feet, and the heating surface of the tubes 738 ft.
Then the letter from which I take this goes on, — "To prove the tempera-
ture of Ihe heat in the smoke box I suspended four pieces of metal, viz.,
one piece three parts tin and two pai'ts lead, one piece one part tin and
four parts lead, one piece lead, and one piece zinc, their melting poiuts ,
respectively being 33 1^ 470'', 59'J°, and GSO^". Tliese metals being sus-
pended immediately above the top row of the tubes, about one inch from
the tube plate. I fouud at the end of the journey ihat the three first-men-
tioned metals had melted, but the zinc did not melt in any of the three
trips, proving the temperature of the heated air to be about 691)°." Now
that shows that the temperature oV the stcaiu iu the boiler being about
312', and the air, when escaping from the tubes, being about COD°, it is
quite clear that every part of those tube; must have been available in
heatiug the water, and in the evaporation of steam ; and by a comparison,
taking the different loads and comparing them with tlie experimiuls of the

goods engines, which are of a similar construction, with the same area o
fire-box, and the same tube surface, you will find, as nearly as can be, that
the evaporating power is a function of velocity, and also the funclioa
of the area of the cylinder. This clearly shows that the long boiler not
only increases the evaporating power, but increases the economy in the
conversion of water into steam.

["This clearly shows" nothing of the kind. To get at anything like a
trustworthy conclusion, Ihe same experiment should have been made with
a short-boiler engine, and the results compared. We are not told who
made the experiments, or how they were made, and consequently do not
know how far they deserve to be trusted. Our confidence, by the by, is
not increased by reading that the fact the zinc did not melt proves " the
temperature of the heated air to be about 600°" ; this makes well for Mr.
Bidder's side of the question, but all that can be legitimately concluded
is, simply, tnat the temperature was under GSO°— it may have been 670°.
The fact that the temperature of the air was about double that of the
steam, shows that not nearly all the heat of the former was usefully ap-
plied. To economise the whole of it, the hot air must continue to act on
the steam till it can impart no more heat to it — that is, till the temperature
of both is the same. How c.-»n we tell, a priori, that if the experiment
had been tried on a short engine, this result would not have been more
nearly attained than with the long-boiler engine, especially if we are to
conclude that "the evaporating power is a function of velocity and also
the function of the area of the cylinder," and does not depend on the
amount of heating surface. It is to be observed the words, " is a function
of," are incorrectly used as synonomous with " is proportional to."]

"In those experiments are you well assured that there was no priming ?
— Yes, especially in the goods engine ; because, if you take that particu-
lar experiment to which I have alluded, where she took 385 tons gross up
16 feet a-raile ; if you take the area of the cylinders and see what quantity
of steam must h^ve passed through them in passing over that gradient,
and see what was the volume of the steam at the requisite pressure to con-
vey that train, you will find that the quantity of water is more than that
which appears to have been consumed, which I attribute to the fact that
they must have been using steam at rather a higher pressure than ordinary
iu the boiler.

" How did you ascertain the amount of evaporation ; after the experi-
ment was over, how did you ascertain the quantity of water? — They take
the gauge of the tender, and the gauge in the boiler, aud theu they have
the superficial area of the boiler at the different heights, and the area of
the tender. It is ascertained with very great exactness, and great fa-
cility."

[Here Mr. Bidder assumes his proposition in order to prove it. He
takes it for granted lhat there would be no priming, in order to show that
there was none. First, wilh respect to the means of ascertaining the
amount of evaporation : his method simply shows the quaniity of water
got rid of — not the amount converted into steam and usefully employed.
The water mijht have passed away by leakage or priming,* or the steam
might have escaped by the safety valve. But he is assured these contin-
gencies could not have occurred, for he calculated the amount of work
done, and the quantity of steam required to do it. He is certainly the
first person who has been able to ascertain the resistance to a train with
anything like the accuracy necessary fur a calculation of this sort, and has
increased the simplicity, If not the accuracy, of his operations by taking
it for granied that 700 tons on a certain gradient are equivalent to 348 on
a level. To find the quantity of water required to do the work, the recipe
is to "take the area of the cylinders and see what quaniity of steam
passed through them," but who but Mr. Bidder could tell a /in'ori how
much that steam was dilated iu coming from the holler, and what was its
precise etlect when acting expansively — in other words, the exact nature
of its mechanical action ? Both problems are, considered separately, so
intricate as to baffle all human ingenuity. The first, the resistance oflered
to the train depends on the wind, concussion at the joints of the rails, fric-
tion of Ihe axles of the carriages, and other complicate mechanical actions,
varying with every variation of velocity. The second, the mechanical
efliijct of the steam it is equally impossible to predict. The relation of the
power of the steam lo Ihe quantity of water used depends on the tempera-
ture and tension in the boiler and the temperature and tension iu the
cylinder ; the latter varying not only at every stroke, but (when the steam
is used expansively) at almost every part of the stroke. It is therefore
quite impossible to take the two problems separately ; they must be con-
sidered together, as De I'ambour has considered them. We have quite
suflicient proof, however, that Mr. Bidder's calculations were all wrong,

* Pe Pambour shows ttiat of the whole quantity of water consumed, one-fourth is, on
the average, wasted by being drawn into the cyliiuiers in a liquid stale. So Diuch lor
there bdng no priming 1

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEEERAND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL

311

from his anomalous conclusion that mure water was required than was
actually expended ! In accounting for this anomaly, he let us into a se-
cret;—he confesses that he did not know the pressure in the boiler,
which of course should have been an essential ingredient in his calcula-
tion.]

A law seems to exist that the power of producing steam is as the velo-
city, that is, the number of blasts and the volume in the cyliniier; that is,
as long as the fire-place will supply you with combustion to that amount ;
but as you increase the blast the combustion goes on in that ratio ; and
eveu with the Great Western experiments, and those taken with a short
boiler, it is found almost invariably as the result, that 1 lb. of coke evapo-
rates 7 lb. of water. With the long boiler we hardly ever get an effect of
less than 8 lb. of water to I lb. of coke, and in some of these experiments
it is as much as 10 lb. And we get economy in another way. In a com-
parison of engine power and of the consumption of coke, you may get a
fallscy from not knowing to what extent there may be pilotage in one line
or another. If an engine on one line has double the amount of engine
piloting which there is on another, her consumption goes into the general
mileage ; whereas the consumption of coke while running may be very
much less. On Ihe Northern and Eastern, when that line was 6rst opened
to Broxbourne, their engines only consumed 20 lb. of coke while running,
and yet the daily returns showed 36 lb. ; that was from llie quantity burnt
at the stations. Now a long-boiler engine is economical in tliat respect,
because, no doubt, from the length of lubes, the quantity evaporated whi!e
standing and the coke consumed is very much less ; in fact, an engine with
13 feet tubes burns only half the coke standing that is consumed by an
engine with 8 feet 6 tubes.

[In the first part of this paragraph the blast is supposed to increase the
evaporation, but to also increase the consumption of coke in ihe same raliu;
so that though more coke is burned in a hour, the effect of each pound of
coke is not increased. In other words, the blast is supposed not to increase
the economy in the use of the coke. Now, it has always hitherto been
supposed that a strong current of air (and, therefore, of oxygen) rendered
the combustion not only more rapid but more perfect also, and that where
the supply of oxygen was insufficient, a great part of the fuel was wasted
and passed away unconsumed, or without developing its evaporative
power. It is, therefore, concluded that the rapidity of the current of air
(within certain limits, of course,) increases the actual economy in the con-
sumption of, fuel. In the last sentence of the paragraph, the "quantity
evaporated while standing" by a long-boiler engine is supposed to be less
than by a short boiler engine ; and yet the principal argument in favour of
the long boilers has always been understood to be their increased amount
of heating surface, which mig ht be supposed to increase the quantity of
water evaporated, whether the engine were standing or in motion.]

" Do you lliink any good would result from the use of corrugated metal
for fire-boxes? — I do not think there would be any. They get apparently
a larger surface ; but I think the effect upon that surface must be weak-
ened to the same extent as >oh happen to extend the gauge. With a cer-
tain amount of combustible matter in a pound of coke, if you get the
whole of that out, which we do with a long-tube engine more eB'ectually
than they do with a shorter one, from the fact that we get 8 lb. of water
evaporated instead of 7 lb., I do not see myself how you can do more than
extract that matter and apply it usefully ; it does not matter whether it is
in the fire-box or in the tube."

[Mr. Bidder does not see any use in increasing the surface of the fire-
box, because " you can do no more than extract the matter and apply it
usefully." But, then, that is assuming that all the matter is applied use-
fully in the long-boiler engines ; whereas, he himself has proved that this
is not the case, from the fact that the temperature in the tubes is twice
that of the steam.]

There is a great dilference of opinion respecting the atmospheric resist-
ance ; the fact has come before me from the experiments not only with the
locomotive engines but on the atmospheric railway, where I see the power
that has been expended and the result, and I cannot account f\tr the ex-
penditure but by atmospheric resistance, or some resistance which is a
function of the velocity. For instance, I false a locomotive engine. No. C,
on the Northern and Eastern. I put behind that engine a tiain of 100
tons, she will travel with that train at the pace of 30 miles an hour, and
she will evaporate at the rate of 80 feet per hour. I reduce those 100
tons to 20, that engine goes at 50 miles an hour and evaporates at the rate
of 150 feet per hour ; and I find, as nearly as can be, that the same quan-
tity of water is converted into steam per mile with the light train as with
the heavy train, showing that the pressure ujio'i the pision is nearbj the
same, and that the power has been absorbed by this great augmentation of
resistance.

[The blunder marked by italics rivals the celebrated notion started in
the investigation of the Norfolk railway accident {ante page .^1), that au
engine can be forced off the rails by the suddenly shutting off tlie steam.
lu the present case, Mr. Bidder evidently disregards the fact that the
quantity of water drawn into the cylinder in a liquid state is much
greater at high than at low velocities. Otherwise, how could he conclude

that, because the same quantity of water was consumed during a slow as
during a fast journey, the cylinder-pressure was the same in both cases.'
It is impossible to estimate Ihe effective vaporisation by the water con-
sumed; for even the mere circumstance of the boiler being fuller at one
time than another will account for an enormous increase of priming. The
inconsistency of this paragraph with that in which Mr. Bidder states that
he is "well assured there was no priming" is also to be noted. There he
was able to calculate Ihe resistance to the train with the utmost exactness ;
all language of uncertainty was avoided, — we were told to " see" the
resistance of a train in passing over a certain gradient, as if this seeing
were the easiest process in the world. }lere, however, the resistance is
treated in quite a difl'erent manner — it is some very vague uncertain thing,
which Mr. Bidder " cannot account for" but by supposing there is "some"
force or another (he knows not what) functional of the velocity. Here,
too, Ihe resistance can only be ascertained from the vaporisation. There
it could be calculated independently of the vaporisation — aye, and with
that precision that Ihe amount of priming could be deduced from the cal-
culation. It is important to observe that at ordinary boiler pressures,
steam occupies/rom/o«r iofite humh-cd times Ihe space of the water from
which it is produced. This shows how enormously the evaporation is
exaggerated by neglecting the effect of priming.]

The following are extracts from Mr. Bidder's report on the results of
the experiments tried with the broad and narrow gauge engines : —

" Before calling your altention to the facts shown in these experiments,
which cannot be influenced by any circumstances, and which, in my opin-
ion, are alone worthy of your notice, I will repeat that the object proposed
was to ascertain the truth (and that alone) of statements which had re-
spectively been made by Mr. Gooch and myself, as to the comparative
power and economy of engines now in operation on Ihe broad and narrow
■raune lines, and more especially with respect to the importance of surface
obtained by increasing the fire-box, or lengthening the tubes, and that any
inference drawn from the results which shall bear on the merits of Ihe two
fauces will be foreign to the objects proposed, and false, as Ihe circum-
stances of the experiments are not found to obtain in practice. Supposing,
however, that they were, and that an in increase of power were deemed
desirable, I do not hesitate to say that that which is at present found
ample for all purposes might be doubled, or more than doubled, on either
"aufe.* 1 shall now proceed to examine Ihe evaporating power of Ihe en-
gines, as well as the relative economy of evaporation and eflicient application
of the' steam evaporated. It will be recollected that on Ihe part of Ihe broad
"anoe, it was alleged (in reference to the statement Ihat on the narrow
gauge, not only economy but power was obtained by lengthening Ihe
boiler) that the area of the fire-box alone was Ihe test of the power of the
locomotive engine, and that 2 cubic feet of water per hour per superficial
foot of fire-box have the capacity of evaporation of locomotive engines ;
and thus it was alleged, that the Great Western engines could evaporate
nearly 200 cubic feet per hour, while the narrow gauge engines could only
convert into steam 100 cubic feel, the comparative fire-box surfaces being
as 97 feet to 50 feet. In order at once lo lest this principle, let us examine
Ihe facts shown in the experiments. By reference to the particulars of Ihe
experiment with 50 tons with engine A, on December 31st, 1845, between
Darlington and York, a distance of 88^ miles, it will be found that the
water evaporated is 20.520 lb., being at the rale of 232 lb. per mile. In
the (up) journey the fir:>t mile, as well as the last 1-}, were passed over
slowly ; as also were the first quarter and last mile on the return trip, in
all 3i mile>i. In order, therefore, to get at the maximum a\erage rale of
evaporation on Ihe trial, I take 20,250 lb., less 812 lb. (the water consumed
in passing over the above Sj miles, at llie rate of 232 lb. per mile), 19,700
lb., the weight of water evaporated by the engine in passing over the re-
maining 85 miles, which was eliected in lOG minutes 12 seconds, being at
the rale of 11,150 lb., 178 cubic feet per hour. I will now compare ihis
with the experinii nt most resembling it iu regard to the evaporatmn tried
on the broad gauge. I lake Ihe experiment with CO tons on December
17lh. The total water evaporated was 24,0-10 lb. on 100 miles, or 232 lb.
per mile ; deducting from this 1,041 lb. for water due to H miles passed
over slowly, leaves 22,596 lb. of water evaporated in 112 minutes and 42
seconds, being at the rate of 11,820 lb., 189 cubic feet per hour, that is
little more than the evaporation of the narrow gauge engine. When, how-
ever, we compare Ihe coke, we find in Ihe case of the broad gauge engine,
that 7'8 lb. of water only were converted into steam by 1 lb. of coke,
whilst the narrow gauge engine evaporated 96 lb., being a difference lu
regard to economy of fuel of 23 per cent, in favour of Ihe narrow gauge

engine." ^

* " In evidence given by Mr. Goucli, the average gross weiglit of passenger trains on
some or" tile principal railways is given as follows : —

Great West-
ern Railway

Average gross
iu tons . .

iveight

Granfl Junc-
tion Railway.

London and

Birmingham

Railway.

Birmingbaro

and Gloster

Railway.

42

38

South West-
ern Railway.

SB

The lightest of the trains included in the above average .ire express trains,- theie are
now, therefore, engines in use on both gauges cn-pable of taking trains ot double lUe
weight of those required in practice ol the expiess speeds."

312

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Oct.

From the cnncliiding senlence of lliis quotation, it is clear lluit Mr_
Bidder's only lest of the relative economy of the two engines is — not
which does the greatest quantity of work for a given quantity of coke —
but, which gets rid of the greatest quantity of water for a given quantity
of coke : and, accordingly, he has drawn up a tabular account of the ex-
periments, wherein, in the very cases in which the broad gauge engine
evidently did the most work with a pound of coke, he concludes that
because it did its work with a small quantity of water, therefore the engine
was comparatively ineconomic ! If the table «ere not actually printed
and published, our readers might perhaps doubt whether we had fairly
represented its conteuts. The following, however, is an exact copy : —

Experiments.

Engine.

Water
evaporated
per niile.

Coke

consumed per

mile.

Water

evaporated

per lb. of coke.

No. 1 80 Tons.
2 70 „
;i 00 „

Ixion
Ix'on
I.\ion

lbs.

2-63i
232

lbs.
33-0
33-6
29-6

lbs.
712
7'12
7-8

Broad gauge.

No. I !>0 Tons.

2 50 „

3 80 „

SOlliDec., A.
3Ist Dec, A.
alst Dec, A.

291
232
2367

.■)l-2

24-

266

9-3
96
8-8

Narrow gauge.

The fifth column gives, according to Mr. Bidder's views, the flgures by
yhich the economy of the engines is to be tested. Let us take the first
experiment in each case. In the narrow gauge experiment, No. I, the
train was 50 tons, and the consumption of coke 3r2 lb. per mile; in the
broad gauge experiment the train was 80 tons, and the consumption of
coke 7iot 2!^\h. more per mile. It is obvious that the 21 lb. will not alone
account for the enormous difference between the two loads — namely 30
tons. The only conclusion which any rational unprejudiced man could
draw would be that more work was got out of the coke in the one case
than in the other. And this conclusion would be greatly conBrnied by
observing what Mr. Bidder omits mentioning, that the broad gauge train
moved fourteen miles an hour faster than the narrow gauge train. And
yet, because the water evaporated was less in one case than the other, we
are provided with a fifth column of " water evaporated per lb. of coke,"
from which it is gravely iiiferred that the narrow gauge trip was performed
the most economically ! We must protest against this wholesale method
of jumping at conclusious which shows a lamentable confusion of ideas
respecting the mechanical action of steam

We said that Mr. Bidder's own figures contradicted his hypothesis that
"the quantum of evaporation is a function of [i. e. is proportional to] the
number of blasts per minute." Taking Nos. I and 3 of the broad gauge
trips, which were respectively the slowest and fastest trips, the quantity
of water in the first case was the greatest (viz., 243 lb.) and in the second
the least (viz., 2321b.). We get precisely the same result with the fastest
and slowest of the narrow gauge journeys : so that if Mr. Biddei's table
prove any relation of the evaporation to the blast at all, the conclusion
must be the very reverse of his theory. It has been ascertained that if an
engine be deprived of its blast pipe, the rate of evaporation will be re-
duced to about one-fiflh ; but from the few experiments instituted under
this head, it would appear that uuder ordinary circumstances, when the
blast is in action, its effect on the rate of evaporation varies as the fourth
root of the velocity.

Before concluding these observations, we ought to ofler some remarks
on the particular circumstances under which the narrow gauge experi-
ments were made. The following extracts from Mr. Gooch's report are
Dot a little surprising " The ensi'n- was on each occasion placed at Durliut;-
ton over a powerful stationurij blast for the purpose of getting xerij hot uater
in the tender and a bright fire to start with." 15y these means, the water
in the tender was raised to IhU". In the experiments witli goods trains,
" tlie engine teas placed over the blast, and remained there an hour and a
half. The tender containing warm water teas tuUcnfrom another engine and
attached to the regular tender, and men were prorided to bucket the icater
from one tender to another as the train uas moring." Mr. Gooch plain-
tively observes that this contrivance would have been of great use in the
broad gauge experiments.

The love of philosophical accuracy displayed by the- conductors of the
narrow gauge experiments precludes the supposition that theij sanctioned
these devices, which must therefore be attributed to the subordinate ofiicers
of the railway. But, at all events, they suHiciently aecouut for the cir
tumstance that the narrow gauge engines got rid of more water for each
pound of coke (although they generally did less work for each pound of
foke) than the broad gauge engines. It is, of course, more easy in the

dead of winter to boil water previously raised to a temperature of 180
than water originally at the temperature of the atmospliere.

We must guard ourselves against the supposition that the experiments
prove decisively the superiority of the broad gauge engines. In fact,
they prove nothing. They were so few and so improperly conducted that
no trustworthy conclusion can be derived from them. They ought to have
been repeated several times over, under ihe superintendence of disinterested
persons, whose object was — not to get up a series of showy results — but
to exhibit, as nearly as possible, the ordinary working of either kind of
engines. However, the observations here made will have, at least, one
good elTect: they will enable the reader to appreciate the philosophy givea
in evidence before public commissions o i engineering questions, and to
estimate the value of the experiments authoritatively sanctioned.

ON MASONRY.

[From the F.cclesiologist.)

The writer of this paper remembers an incident which puis in a rather
striking light a very puzzling questiou about masonry, that must have often
occurred to some or <itlier of our readers. He had just been shown some
of the famous quarrie.^ near Caen, by one of the proprietors ; and having
come out near a little Norman church, claimed his conduclor's admiratiou
for the effect of solid strength and lasliogness w hirh Romane.-que ashlar,
particularly when of Caen stone with the hoar> grey of suven centuries
upon it, always presents.* The answer was not what he expected. In-
stead of joining in his praises, his guide began to lament that the ancients
could not do better, because Ihey could not draw stones of any consider-
able size from Ihe quarries. They had made good use, he allowed, of the
small broken bits of stone they could dig out ; but our mechanical advan-
tages enabled us, willi larger blocks, to adopt a more perfect kind of ma-
sonry. Now it is difficult to answer this. There is no doubt that some of
the finest buildings of antiquity are constructed of stones of immense size.
The Pantheon may be quoted for this ; and every one will remember the
huge blocks that must have been quarried for monolith columns. The
general declme of art shows itself in this respect perhaps as well as
others. There is a great gap between such a building as the Porta Nigra
of Treves, and the best of early jiomanesque masonry. Art in all its
branches was, it seems, almost to die: in order perhaps that Christian .\rt
might be less a development than a new creation. The Pharos in Dover
castle is a fine specimen of Koman excellence : iis builders could not get
hewn stone ; hut they so bound their flint rubble with bands of brick, that
the tower stands like a rock. Close by is the desecrated church with a
good deal of undoubted British masonry in its shell. Here too, there is
'' Uoman brick" in tiie qn:ilus, &:c. ; but the general inferiority of tlie ma-
sonry to the real Kiiman Hork is very sinking. Then, again, the fine Ro-
manesque ashlar in the chapel of the Norman keep in Ihe same fortress, is
a specimen of the reviving art of masonry ; but it is in kind like that of
the little parish church near the Caen quarries. t The stones are all small,
tliough beautifully and effectively used : there is no single slone to tempt
you to measure its length and width, and to exclaim at its bulk : which
seems to be the general ellect produced on people's minds by modern ma-
sonry. As a mailer of fact, it must, we suppose, be granted, that the ar-
chitects of the Romanesque and Early-Poinled slyles could not procure
large stones : they were compelled to use even line building stone, like
that (which they so highly valued) of Normandy, in small masses, as they
could iuartilicially oblaiii it from the quarries. So late as 1841 there was
not a single crane at Caen, by which to ship the slone, had it been extract-
ed in very large blocks, — a fact that may assist us to comprehend the great
mechanical disadvantages under which the lUKlia-val architects laboured.
But though their stone was in such small pieces, how beautifully they
used it ! Of course, there is a great deal of ancient work that is very
bad ; although m hat has stood for six or seven centuries, may seem fairly
eniitled to enliie exemption from any blame. But as a general rule, early
nia.sonry — at least after Ihe later Romanesque liad superseded the Anflo-
Saxon kind — is surprisingly excellent : not only for solidity, but for keep-
ing and harmony. It suits the stjle. The eye is saiisfied entirely, wilhout
knowing or inquiring why. You admire the design, and feel almost un-
consciously that it IS worthily embodied in its material exhibitum. ^ uu
are neither induced to examine and commend the ingenuity wilh which the
difliculiies of a bad building stone are overcome, nor are you called on In
join in the vulgar admiration of " such big blocks." lu a word, you for-
get such a mere detail in the whole : but when jou can descend I'roin the
whole into particulars, you find ihem all that can be wished.

There is so much that might be said about masonry, that we are unwil-
ling to open the subject from a consciousness of our owu ignorance. No

* Ttiis efi'ect may be partly judged of from an examination of the drawings of Than
church, in the elder Pugiu's '■ Normandy."

t Nut nearly eiidugh attention has been paid to the subject of masonry, if only tn de-
termine dates. Let any one compare the excellent asiilar of lliis cliapel, und the wretched
rublle of St. Seimlchre's Cuinljridwe, which is later in pLiiut of age; or even \vilh the
White Chapel iu the Tower of London.

1846.1

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

313

quostion more deserves study, and few are less attended to. The Cam -
bridge Camden Society very early called attention in its church-schemes
to the nature of masonry and joiuling, but with small results. The nature
of buildins slones, and the peculiar treatment of each, particularly as
regards mouldings, — In granite for example, where from tlie hardness of
the stone they are of necessity superficial, and in Kentish rag, where they
are broad and coarse because the stone will scarcely take an edge, — are
points for further investigation. At present, we propose only to make
some general remarks, chiefly on llie treatment of Kentish rag, whcih seem
called for because this stone is coming happily into more frequent use in
London.

In the beginning of the present revival of Church Architecture, the
masonry, where brick was not used, was quite of the modern kind.
Squared stones, as large as could be easily procured, were laid very neatly
and closely, with as much regularity as was possible. This kind of ma-
sonry is by itself enough to spoil the effect of a Pointed building ; as will
he evident to any one comparing the new Pointed work at King's College,
Cambridge, with the masonry of the chapel on the opposite side of the
quadrangle. The same defect goes through all the modern Pointed work
in Cambridge. It is curious to notice how truly small stones seem to be
appropriate to the requisites of Pointed architecture. An arch is the
skilful adjustment of stones not long enough to go across, so as to span
over a space and support a weight. Hfuce a metallic development of
architecture would probably reject the arch, because a strong metal bar
may be of any length, and would be sufticienily strong for the top of
almost any aperture. Whence it seems to be a gross unreality to cut a
whole window-head, with arch and tracery, out of one block of stone large
enough to cover the whole window opening. Vet this mockery has been
resorted to in the New Houses of Parliament, — to mention a rather con-
spicuous instance. But without any reference to principles, few will
doubt that, for whatever reason, the small masonry of ancient work is far
more effective than the finest building on the modern plau with huge stones
laid in regular courses. Some have thought that this diflerence arises
from the fact that the smalluess of parts gives increased scale to the whole;
others, that from the regularity of courses in modern masonry there comes
a too great preponderance of the horizontal lines in the buildiug. But
this question we cannot now discuss. Suflice it to say, that it is now be-
coming generally acknowledged that there is a great ditfereuce between
Pointed and Classical masonry, and that the smaller size of the stones and
the irregularity in laying them are main characteristics of the former
style. But of the attempts to copy ancient masonry there are few which
are not great failures. It was easily seen that the primness of modern
quoining was not only taiue and dull but utterly unlike old work ; but it
was not found so easy to remedy the fault. Builders began to try irregu-
lar quoining, and we soon saw prodigies of irregularity. On one side of
the angle there would be three stones of different leiigtlis running into the
wall ; then two running into it on tlie other side ; then perhaps one, and
again three, on no plan or principle whatever. The quoins became dis-
tressingly jagged; and after being pained one wonders why it need be so
jagged. A more close observation of ancient work would enable us to
detect some principle of order in its seemiug irregularity. We believe that
the very natural and reasonable alternation of long and short stones,—
which is seen in its primitive simplicity in Anglo-Sasou masonry, of which
indeed it is considered a great characteristic, — was always retained, though
not in so harsh and cramped a form. The mason took long and short
stones alternately, but was not careful to make them all tail into the
wall of the same length, nor even to keep them of the same thickness.

Perhaps this is one great reason why brick quoins to a random wall are
so particularly ugly, as brick can scarcely be used for quoins unless witli
the strictest uniformity.

So much for quoins. With respect to walling, the days are happily fast
going when people were not satisfied without at least a scored stucco sub-
stitute for large ashlar. Architects are beginning to venture upon using
local stones, rag and rubble. This is a very great change for the better in
all respects. ; and it is proportionately a matter of regret that these mate-
rials should not be rightly treated. Kor example, that useful stone, Kent-
ish rag, has been already several times used in London; as at St. Michael's
Chester-square, St. John, Charlotte street, and Christ Church, Broadway.
No one can doubt that this is a great gain over brick or stucco : this rag-
stone being both very durable aud of a good colour. It would also be an
economical material if used as the ancient architects used it ; but in these
churches it is used iu regular square blocks, producing no better effect
than that of bricks of a new colour, and being very costly to boot. For no
stone is less adapted for squaring than this, owing to its hardness and its
decided grain. Any one who would visit the quarries near Maidstone and
watch the process of squaring would be astonished at the wasie. The
small pile of squared material contrasts most strikingly with the huge heap
of refuse stone, which, being rejected as unfit for building, is used merely
for road-mending, for which purpose it is transported to great distances.
And besides this waste, a good deal of labour has often been spent upon
refuse stones, which, when nearly squared, have been shatte ed by some
unlucky cross-grained blow. But to what purpose is this expensive
squaring in a stone which seems only adapted for cleavage ? In effect, a
random wall, properly treated, is far better than one of squared bloclis.
AH Saints, Maidstone, is built, we are aware, of squared rag; but it is
squared in thinner layers than is now usual. St. Peter aud St. Paul,
Lmgfield, is an example of the extremely bad appearance of very large

and unwieldy masonry.* As for the expensiveness of this squaring pro-
cess, the reader may judge when lie is fold that the s'one may be drawu
from the quarries in a natural way f'.ir half-a-crown a ton ; the squared
stone costs eight shillings and siN pence a ton. It really becomes a duty
of church-builders to lake care that their architects do not waste so much
money in a process which is at best so unsuccessful and unsatisfHCtury.

There have been, however, several aftempfs, particularly in the neigh-
bourhood of Maidstone, to use Kentish rag properly, that is, as irregular
(or random) walling. But here again we have to find the same ^ult as
with most modern attempts at irregular quoining. The irregularity is
overstrained. There is not one stone at rest; not ime seems to have .a lied.
They lie at all angles : some even stand on their points, merely propped by
the contiguous stones. The masonry looks more like an intricate puzzle
than anything else. Instead of this, in ancient random walling we may
trace this principle, — always to lay every stone iu its best bed, lifting up
any part of it which may want thickening by means of thinner pieces.
Regular courses are not studiously atlempted ; but any stone that comes to
hand is laid in, provided it has a good plain bed.

These brief remarks must suffice, upon ihe use of Kentisli rag more
partitiularly, in quoining and walling. Many of them also apply however
to other stones ; for example, to the lieautifiil Bramley-Fall stone of York-
shire, which is squared iu the new church of St. Saviour, Leeds, for the
walling as well as for the dressings.

As a general rule then we would give this advice to church-bnilders ; —
use the material of which the neighbouring churches are mostly built, aud
in the way in which they are built. If we study carefully the method of
masonry employed formerly, we shall avoid both needless expense and
eccentricity. For example, if flint is the material most easily procured,
let us use flint; but only as it was used iu old churches. We will not uow
enter on the nature of fliut masonry, but would contrast only the absurd
modern plan of using Idaclc luorlar, from a fear of the wide joints iu while,
with the old way of " garrettiiig" flint-work, that is, of inserting small
flint-shivers in the mortar of the joints. I!ut we purposely keep ourselves
more particularly to the use of rag-stone ; and upun this we may, in con-
clusion, remark that, without attempting to solve Ihe general question
started at the begiuning of this paper, as to Ihe su|iposed unreality of using
small stones for masonry when we can get large ones, we may surely lay
down that it is wrong and absurd to spend much money in squaring
stones, the nature of which does uot easily jield to the process, and which
have lasted so well and with such good effect as used in random work by
ancient builders. What we want tor cliurch-work is that the material
should he good and substantial, and the best that we can afford. We do
not object even to brick iu a bad stone district, and wfiere Ihe funds are
small. Only let the brick be honestly and ino'lligenlly used On the
other hand we see uo objection to importing Caen stone for rich and stalely
churches in any district; though perhaps we shall rather rejoice than la-
meut that the architects of Carlisle and Chester used the perishing red
sandstone of their neighbourhood. For nothing can be more tilting than
that we should press into the service of Cod whatever suitable materials
His wonderful Creation may offer us. The very difference of material is
a sign of the unity of the purpose to which they are consecrated, namely.
His honour in His sanctuary. We would use flint, granite. sandstone, and
ragstone, each in its proper district, in the spirit of the hymn, ** Beuedicat
terra Dominum: Benedicite montes et codes Domino."

* All Saints, Maidstone, is built altogetlier iu u very costly style, and bas no pretensiou
to random walling; the quoins and jambs are all iu the same squared ra^. The neiv
churches we aie criticising have their dressings in Caen slone, and the squared rap is
used as if for random work. This is a great .ibsurdity. One ought always to quoin With
the strongest stone: if, therefore, one can afford to square so sliong a stone as rag for
the walling, it ought to be also used lor the quoins. To use a soft stone like Caen
for quoins to walling of a strong rag-stone is preposterous.

BRITISH ASSOCIATION.

Session IGM, held at Southampton, Septemier, 1846.
Address of the President.

Sir R. MURCFtlSON, after complimenting the late President for his distinguished
abilities and efficient services, addressed the association as follows :—

Ladies and Geullemen,— After 1,') years of mi|;ratiQn to various cities and towns in the
United Kingdom, you are for the hrst time assembled in the South-Eastern districts of
£lngland, at the solicitation of the authorities and inbabitants of Southampton. Easdy
accessible on all sides to the cultivators of science, tills beautiful and flourishing sea-purt
is situated in a distiict so richly adorned by nature, so full of objects for scieulinc con-
templation, that, supported as we are by new friends in England, dnd by old friends from
the farthest regions of Europe, we shall icdeed be wauling to ourselves, if our proceed-
ings on this occasion should not sustain the high character which the British Association
lias hitherto maintained.

For my own part, though deeply conscious of my inferiority to my eminent predecessor
in the higher branches ot science, I still venture to hope that the devotion I bare mani-
fested to this Association from its origin to the present day, may be viewed by you as a
guarantee for the zealous execution of my duties. Permit me then, gentlemen, to offer
you my warmest acknowledgments for having placed me in this honourable position: and
to assure you, that I value the approbation which it implies as the highest honour which
could have been bestowed on me — an honour the more esteemed from its being conferred
in a county endeared to me by family connexions, and in which I rejoice to have made ray
lirst essay as a geologist.

The origin, progress and objects of this our " Parliament of Sciet\ce'' have been so
thoroughly explained on former occasions by your successive Presidents, particularly in
reference to that portion ot our hotly vi-bich cnltivales the mathematical, chemical aiul
inechanicai sciences, that after brietly alluding to some of the chief results of bv-gone

314

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Oct.

vears with a view of Impressing upon our new members the neneral advances we have
maile' I shall In this discourse- dwell more parliiularly on the recent projiress ail present
stjle of natural history, the department of knowleclBe with irhlch my own pursuits have
been most connected, whilst I shall also incidenally advert to some of the proceedings
which are lil<ely to occupy our attention during this meeting.

No 8<ioner, centlemen. had this association fully established Its character as » JfS'l!-
mate representative of the science ot the United Kingdom, and by the reports whictl it
had nul'liihed, the researches which it had instituted, and the other substantia services
which it had rendered to science, had secured public respect, than it proceeded towards
the lullilment of the last of the great objects whch a Brewster ami a Harcourt contem-
nlated at its foundation, by inviting the all.'ntion of the government to important national
liointsof scientilic interest. At the tonrlli meeting held in Edinburgh, the Ass"Clatlon
Inemoralised the government tn increase tlie lorces of the Ordnance Ceograolucal Survey
of Itritaiu. and to .itend spec.ily to Scotland the benefits which h..d been alrea.ly "Pi'''''';
hv that admirable establishment to the south of England, Wales and Ireland. Irom that
to the present it has not scrupled to call the notice of the Ministers of the day to every
ereat scientilic measure which seemerl. after due consideration, likely to proiiiole tne in-
teresls or raise the character of the British nation. Guided in the choice ol tbe'ie appli.
cations by a committee selected from among its members, it has sedulously avoided the
presentation ofany request which did not rest on a rational basis and our ri^h'"; /"
from resisting such apiieals, have uniformly and cordially acquiesced in them, inus it
was when after paying large sums from our own funds for the reduction ol large masses
of astronomical observations, we represented to the government the necessity ot enalj.ing
the Astronomer Koyal to perform the same work on ihe observations of his predecessors,
which had accumulated in thcaichives of Greenwich, our appeal was answeiert by ar-
rangements for compieliiig so important a public object at the public expei.He. 1 bus it
was when contemplating the vast accession to pure science as well as to useful mariliine
knowleilge. to be gained by the exploration of the South Polar regions, that we gave the
nrst Impulse to that Jiroject of the great Antartio expedition, whicli, supported by the in-
Uuenceof the Koyal Society and its noblo President, obtained the full assent ol the go.
vernment. and led to results which, through the merits of Sir James Ross and his com-
uaoiona have slifd a briiilit lustre on our country, by copious additions to geogrjony ana
natural history, and by olTording numerous data for the development of the laws that re-
gulate the magnetism ol tlie earth.

The mention of " Terrestrial Magnetism" brings ivith it a crowd of recollections cre-
dllatile to the British Association from the perspicuous manner in which every portion ot
iresh knowledLe on Ibis important subject has been f '«'"!',*" "V'i 7 T^i'-ff',.!!!
view to generalisation, by Colmel Sabine and others ; whilst a wide field lor its diffusion
and combiiii-.tion hss been secured by the coni/ress held at our last meeting at which
some of the most distinguished foreign and British magnetinans were assembled under
the iiresidency of Sir .lohii Ilerschell. It is indeed most satisfactory for us to know, that
not only did all Ihe recommendations of tlio Association on this subject which were pro.
sented to our government meet with a most f .vourab'e reception, but that in consequence
of the representations made by Her Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Aflairs to
the public ruthorities of other countries which had previously taken part in the system
o; CO operative observation, the govenimmts of Uus-ia, Austria. Prussia, and Belgium
have iiotifK'd their intention of continuing their respective magnetical and meteorological
observations for another term of three years.

In p.issing by other instances in which public liberality has been directed to channels
of knowledge which vequired opening out. I must not o»iit to notice tlie gra'it olitained
from our gracious Sovereign, of the Koyal Observatory at Kew, which, pirvuiusjy dis.
ronomicalinstrumenls. has been converted by us into a statiui

uomena
nil rmiuire such unremitting attention, that they

from our gracious sovereign, oi cue noyui vyi.»vi >a.ui , ... ,...^.., ,,..,..-., ....

manlledof its astronomical instruments, has been converted by us into a statiuu for ob
servations purely physical, and especially lor those details of atmospheric pheoomem
which are so minute and numerous, and rmiuire such unremitting attention, that the;
imperiously call for separate establishmenls. In realising th's principle, we can now re-
fer Biitish and foreign philosophers to the observatory of the British Associalnm at Kew,
where I have the authoritv of most adequate judges for sayi.>g they will hnd that a gieal
amount of electrical and ni.leorological observation has been made, and a systematic in-
quiry into the intricate suMect of atmospheric electricity carried out. by Wr. Konalds,
under the suggestions of Prof, ssor Whcatstone. to which no higher praise can be given
than that it 'has. in fact, famished the model of the processes conducted at the Koyal
Observatory at Greenwich. This establishment is besides so useful through tiie facilities
which it oilers for researches into the working of stlt-repistering instruments which are
there constructed, that I earnestly hope it may be sustained as heretofore by annual
grants from our funds, particularly as it is accomplishing considerable results at very
small cost.

Transactions of I'ol. 1845. — Physical Science.

Our vo'iime for the last year contains several communications on physical subjects
from eminent foicign cultivators of science, whom we have the pleasure of reckoning
amongst our corresponding members, and whose communications, according to the usage
of the Association, have been printed entire amongst the reports. In a discussion of the
pecniieiities by which the great comet of 1SJ3 was distinguished. Dr. Von Bogiulawski of
Bresliu has taken the occasion to announce the probability, resting on calculations wh'ch
will be pulilished in Schumacher's " Aslronomische Nashrichlen." of the identity of this
comet with several of a similar remarkable character recorded in history, commencing
with the one described by Aristotle, which apreared in the year 371 before our era ; should
bis calculations be considered to establish this fact. Dr. Von Bognsinwski proposes that
the com:t should hereatlcr be distinguished by the iia'i e of " Aristotle's Comet." This
communication contains also some highly ingenious and important considerations relating
to the physical causes of the phieiiomcna ol the tails of comets.

Dr. Paul Erman of Berlin, father of the adventurous geographical explorer and magne-
ticiaii. who was one of the active members of the magnetic congress at Cambridge, has
cominnnicated through his son some interesting experimeuis on the " electro-dviiamic
elfects of the Iriction of conducting substances." and has pointed out the differences be-
tween these and normal thermo.electric effects. Baron Von Senftenberg (who is an ad-
mirable example of how much may be done by a liberal zeal for science combiaed with an
iiidepenilent tortunc) has published an account of the success with which self-registering
meteorological instruments have be n estnblishsd at his observatory at Seutenberg. as
well as at the national observatory at Prague.

Of our own members. Mr. Birt has cnnfibuted a second report on "Atmospheiic
W.ives." in continuation of the investigation which orginated in the discussion by Sir
.lobn Herscheil. of the meteorological observations which, at his sugsestion. were made
in various pans of the globe, at the periods of the eiiuinoxes and solstices, commencing
with the year 1813.

In a communication to the meeting of the Association at York. Colonel Sabine traced
with great clear ess (from the hourly observations at Toronto) the effect of the single
diurnal and single annual •• Progressions of Temperature." in producing on the mixed
vapours and gaseous elements of the atmosphere, the well-known progressions ot daily
and yearly barometrical pressure. To tlm conclusions which he then presented, and
whicn aiipiy. perhaps generally, to sit'iations not greatly elevated in the intci lor of large
tracts of land, the same author has addtd. in the last volume, a valuable expliination of
tlie more complicated phenomena which happen at points where land and sen breeses.
Ilowiiig with regularity, moiily perloclicallv and locally the constitiilbn anil pressure ot
the atmojpliere. Takuig tor Ibis dat.i the two-hourly observations executed at the Ob-
servatory of Bombay by Dr. Bulst. Colonel Sabine has succeeded in demonstrating for
this locality " a douldo daily progiessioii of gaseous pressure." in accordance with the
How and te-flow of tlie air from surlaces of laud and water which are iiiieqimlly atlected
by heat. And thus the diurnal variation of the daily piessure at a point witliin the
tropics, and on the margin of the sea, is cx|ilained by the same reasoning which was sug-
gested by facts observed in the interior of the vast continent of North America.

Amone the many uj.ful national object, which have been promoted by the physical
researches of the British Association, there Is one which calls for marked notice at this
time in the nrouosal ot Mr. Robert Stephenson to carry "An iron tube or suspended

mne over theTenai St-aits'' to sustaln'the great railway to Holybead. This bold pro-
Do.al cimld never have been realised, if that eminent engineer had not been acquainted
w-ith the k-reat progress recently made in the knowledge of the strength of materials, and
snetialivotiron; such knowledge being in gieat measure due to investigations in which
th. Association has taken and is still taking a conspicuous share, by the devotion ol its
friords and the employment of its influence-investigations which have been prosecuted
with great zeal and success by its valued members, Mr. Hodgkinson and Mr. Fairbairn.

gaveVeVti'mmiy to the practical value of our researches iiy .adopting their results.

However imperfect my knowledge of such subjects may be, I must also notice that the
Inst volume of our Reports contains two conlribnlions to expeiimental philosophy, in
wHch subiects o' the dc'epest theoretical and practical interest have been elucidated, at
the reipiest of the Association, by the labours of its forsign coadjutors.

That some substance of a peculiar kind everywhere exists, or is formed intheatmo.
snhere liv " Electrical Agency." both natural and artiticial. had long been suspected,
especially from the persistency of the odour developed by such agency, and its transler-
ence bv contact to other matter. Professor Schoiibein. to whom I shall hereafter advert
as the author of a new practical discovery. Is, however, the hrsl phdosopher who under-
took to investigate the nature of that substance ; and, though the investigation is not yet
complete, he has been enabled to report uo Inconsiderable progress in this difficult and
refined snbiect of research. -,, , j

A reoueat trom the Association to Professor Eiinsen, of Marburg, and our countryman.
Dr I von Plavfoir coopled will! a contributiou of small amount towaids the expenses In-
Tol'ved in the undertaking, has produced a report - On the conditions and products of
iron furnaces." which is of the greatest value in a commercial view to one ol the most
important of our manufactures, and possesses, at the sanie time, a very high interest to
chemical science in some of the views which It develops. On the one hand it exhibits an
entirelv new theory of the reduction, by cyanogen gas as the chief agtnt. ot iron Irom the
ore- oil the other, it shows that, in addition to a vast saving of fuel, about two cwt. of
sal 'ammoniac may duly be collected at the single establishment of Allrclon. where the
exucrimeiits were made i thus Icadidg us to inter that in the iron furnaces of Britain
there niav be obained from Vapour which now passes away, an enormous quantity of
Ibis valuable substance, which would materhilly lessen the dependence of our agncul-
•uriats on foreign puaiio. It is. indeed, most fralifying to observe, that in pursuing tbia
innuiry into tile gaseous contents of a blazing tiunace ot great height, our associates traced
out foot by foot, the most recondite chemical processes, and described the fiery products
with the Slime accuracy as it their researches had been made on the table of a laboratory.
Weiehed however only in the scales of absolute and immediate utility, the remarkable
results of these skilful and elaborate experiments give them a character of national im-
poilance, and justly entitle the authors and the body which has aided them to the public
thanks.

Natural History.

After this glance at the subjects of purely physical science treated of in the last volume
of our Transactions, let us now consider lb., domains of natural history ; and as ono of
the cultivators of a scienca which has derived its main support and most of its new and
enlarged views from naturalists, let me express the obligation which geologists ars under
to tlus Association, for haviog aided so effectively in bnnging forth the zoological re-
searches of Owen. Agassiz. and Edward Forbes. These three distinguished me., have
themselves announced, that in default of its countenance and assistance, they would not
have undertaken, and never could have comp eted, some of their most .inportant inquiries.
Airassiz for example, bad not otherwise the means of comparing the icbthyolites of the
British Isles with those of the Continent ot Europe. Without this impulse. Owen would
not have applied his profound knowledge of comparal.ve anatomy to British lossil
saurians: aid Edw.ird Forbes might never have been the explorer ol be depths ol the
/^gean, nor have revealed many hitherto unknown laws of submarine life, .t his wishes
and suggestions had not met with the warm sujiport of this body, and been supported by
its strongest recommendiilions to the naval authorities.

These allusions to naturaPsts, whose works have afforded the firmest supports to geo.
logy, might lead me to dilate at length on the recent progress ol this science, but as the
subject has been copiously treated at successive anniversaries of the Geological Society of
London, and has had lis recent advances so clearly enunciated by the actual President ot
that body, wlio now presides over our Geological Section, I shall restrain my "esprit de
corns" w-hiist I advert to some of the prominent advances winch geologists have made.
When our associate Coiiybea.e reported to us, at our second meeting, on the actual sla e
and ulterior prospects ot what he wall termed the " archieology ot the globe." he dwelt
withjusticeonlhe numerous researches in diSerent countries which had clearly estab-
lished the history of a descent, as it were, into the bowels of the eartn-which led us. in
a word, downwards thiough those newer deposits that connect high antiquity with our
own period, into those strata which support our gieat British coal-delds. Beyond this,
however, the perspective was dark and douiitlul —

" Kes altfi terrl et caiigine mersas."
Now however, we have dispersed this gloom, and by researches first carried out to a dis-
tinct classification in the British Isles, and thence extended to llussia and America, geo-
logists have shown that the records of succession, as indicated by the entombment of
fossil animals, are as well developed in these very ancient or palieozoic strata as in any
of the overlying or more recently rormed deposits. After toiling many years in this de-
partment of the science, in conjunction with Sedgwick, Lonsdale, De Verueuil, Keyser.
line and we have reached the very genesis of animal hfe upon the globe, and that no
further "vestigia retrorsnm" will be found beneath that protozoic or Lower Silurian
group in the great inferior mass of which no vertebrated animal bus yet been delected,
imid the countless iirofiision of the lower orders of marine animals entombed in it. But
however this may be, it is certain that in the last lew years all Central and Eastirn
Furopc, and even parts of Siberia, have been brought into accordance with Britisn strata.
France has been accurately classified and illustrated by the splendid map of Elie de Beau-
moot and Dufrenoy; and whilst, by the labours ol Desbayes and others, its tertiary fos-
sils have been copiously described, the organic remains of its secondary strata are now
undergoing a complete analysis in the beautifni work of M. Alcidc d'Orbigny. Belgium,
whose mineral slrnctuie mid geological outlines have been delineated by I) Omabus,
d'Hailoyand Duraont. lias produced very perfect monographs of its palKiozoic and ter-
tiary fossils, the first in the work of M. de Koiiingk. the second in the recently published

loiiograph f,f Jl. Nyst. Germany, led on by Von Bui h. has shown that she can now as

. ., _. ._ ... .1... i.,„: ...I I I ;,...l ..r..,,nHiL'MrL-a nf the ScieOCe. aS lU the

SI ecifv the names of individuals in n country wbich boasts so many who are tread.ng
closely in the steps of an Ehreiibcrg and a Kosc\ As distinctly connected, however with
the objects of Ibis meeting. I must be pcrmitteil to stale that the eminent botanist Ooep-
pert whose works. In combination with those of Adolphe Brongniart in !• ranee, nate
slieil so much liisht on fossil planU, has just sent to me. tor communication to our Geolo-
gical Section, tlie results of his latest inquiries into the toimation ol the coal ol SUesia--
results which will be the more nteresling to Dr. Buckland and the geoloBists of hnslano,

.lS-i<5.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

315

because they are founded on data equally new and original. Italy has also to a great ex-
lent been presonfed to us in its true general geological facies, through the labours of
Sismonda, Marmora, Pareto, and others; whilst our kinsmen of the far Wfst have so
ably developed the structure of their reBpective Statea, that our countrymen Lyell has
informed us, that the extelient map which accompanies his work upon Nurth America is
simply the grouping togeihtT of data prepared by native State geologists, which he has
paralleled with our well-known British types.

If then the astronomer has, to a vast extent, expounded the mechanism of the heavens ;
if lately, through the er^at telescope of our associate the Earl of Rosse, he has assigned
a fixity and order to bodies which were previously viewed as mere nelmUe floating in space,
and has also inferred that the surface-cavities in our nearest neighbour of the planetary
system are analogous to the volcanic apertures and depressions of the earth ; the geolo-
gist, contributing data of another order to the great storehouBe of natural knowledge, has
determined, by ibsolute and tangible proois, the precise manner in which our planet has
been successively enveloped in divers cerements, each teeming ^vith peculiar forms of
distinct life, and has marked the revolutions which have interfered with these successive
creations, from the earliest dawn of living things to the limits of the historic sera. In
short, the fundamental steps gained in geology, since the early days of the British Asso-
ciation, are si remarkable and so numerous, tliat the time has now coine for a second
report upon the progress ot this science, »vhich may I trust be prepared for an approach-
ing, if not for the next meeting.

Intimately connected with these broad views of the progress of gaology is the appear-
ance of the first volume of a national work by Sir Henry De la Beche aiul his associates
in the '* Geological Survey of Great Britain." Following, as it does, upon the issue of
numerous detailed coloured maps and sections, which for beauty of execution and exact-
ness of detail are unrivalled, I would specially direct your attention to this new volume
as affording the clearest evidence that geology is now strictly brought within the pale of
the fixed sciences. In it are lound graphic descriptions of the strata in the south-west of
England and South Wales, whose breadth and length are accurately me isurcd, wliose
mineral changes are cheniicallv analysed, and whose imbedded remains are compared and
detftmined by competent pakeontologists. The very statistics of the science are thus
laid open, theory is made rigourously to depend on facts, and the processes and produce
of foreign mines are compared with those of Britain.

When we know how intimately the Director-General of this survey and his associates
have been connected with the meetin^js of the British Assoc ation, and how they have
freely discussed with us many parts of their researches — when we recollect that the geo-
logist of Yorkshire, our invaluable Assistant General Secretary, around whom ail our
arrangements since our origin have turned, and to whom so much of our success is due,
occupies his fitting place among these worthies— that Edward Forbes, who passed as it
were from this association to the iE^can, is the pal;t?ontolo^ist of this sur\'ey ; and again
when we reflect, that if this association had not repaired to Glasgow, and there discov-
ered the merits of the survey of the Isle of Arran by Mr. Ramsay, that young geologist
would never have become a valuable contributor to the volume under consideration — it is
obvious from these statements alone, that the annual visits of our body to ditferent parts
of the empire, by bringing together kindred spirits, and in testing the natural capacity of
individuals, do most etlectnally advance science and benefit the British community.
Whilst considerint; these labours of the government geologists, I shall now specially
speak of those of Professor E. Forbes in the same volume, because he here makes him-
self doubly welcome, by bringing to us as it were upon the spot the living specimens of
submarine creatures, which through the prai<!eworthy enthusiasm of Mr. McAndrew, one
of our members, who fitted out a large yacht for natural-history researches, have been
dredged up this summer bv these naturalists from the southern coast, between Lund's
End and Southamnlon, As a favourite yachting port like Southampton may, it is hoped,
afford imitators, I point out with pleasure the liberal example of Mr. McAndrew, who
not professing to de'icribe the specimens he collects, has on this, as on former occasions,
placed them in the hands of the members best qualified to do them justice, and is thus a
substantial promoter of science.

The memoir of Edward Forbes in the Government Geological Survey is, in truth, an
extension of his views respecting the causes of the present distribution of plants and
animals in the British Isles, first made known at the last meeting of the British Associa-
tion. As this author has not only shown the anplication of these ideas to the researches
of the British Geological Survey, but also to the distribution of animals and plants over
the whole earth, it is evident that these views, in great part original, will introduce a new
class of inquirifs into natural history, which will link it on more closely than ever t > geo-
logy and geography. In short, this paper may be viewed as the first attempt to explain
the caases ot the zoological and botanical feat:ires of any region anciently in connexion.
Among the new points which it contiius, I will now only mention that it very ingeniously
(and I think most satisfactorily) explains the origin of the peculiar features of the botany
of Britain— the theory of the origin of Alpine Floras distributed far apart — the peculiar-
ity of the zoology of Ireland as compared with that of England — the presence of the
same species of marine animals on the coasts of America and Europe— the specialities of
the marine zoology of the British seas called for by this Association— tlie past and present
distribution of the great ilediterranean Flora; — and, lastly, it applies the knowledge we
possess of the distribution of plants to the elucidation of the superficial detritus, termed
by geologists, the " Northern Urift."

Amid the numerous subjects for reflection which the perusal of this memoir occasions,
I must now restrict myself to two bridf comments. First, to express my belief that even
Humboldt himself, who has written so much and so admirably on Alpine Fioras, will
admit that our associate's explanation of the origin of identity removes a great stumbling-
block from the path of botanical gecgraphfrs. Secondly, having myself for some years
endeavoured to show that the Alpine glacialists had e-roneously applied their views, as
founded ou terrestrial phenomena, to large regions of Northern Europe, which must have
been under the sea during the distnbution of erratic blocks, gravel, and boulders, I can-
not but consider it a strong confirmation of that opinion when I find so sound a natural-
ist as E iward Forbes sustaining the same view by perfectly independent inferences con-
cerning the migration of plants to isolated centres, and by a studious examination and
comparison of all the sea shells associated with these transported materials. And if I
mistake not, my friend Mr. Lyell will find in both the above points, strong evidences in
support of his ingenious climatical theories. Recent as the blocks and boulders to which
I have alluded, may seem to be, they were however accumulated under a glacial sea,
\vhose bottom was first raised to produce that connexion between the Continent and Bri-
tain, by which the lantl animals migrated from their parent East to our western climes; a
connexion that was afterwards broken through by the separation of our islands, and by
the isolation in each of them of those terrestrial races which had been propagated to it.
This latter inference was also indeed tliorouijhly sustained by the researches of Professor
Owen, communicated to this Association : first, in the generalization ijy which his report
on the extinct mammals of Australia is terminated, and still more in detailed reference to
our islands in his recently published work " On the Extinct Fossil British Mammalid" —
a work which he has staled in h'S dedication originated at the call of the British Associa-
tion. Professor Owen adds, indeed, greatly to the strength of our present meeting, by
acting as the president of one of our sections, which havmg in its origin been exclusively
occupied in the study of medicine, is now more peculiarly devoted to the cuiiivation of
physiology. Under such a leader, I have a ri^ht to anticipate that this remodelled sec-
tion wdl exhibit evidences of fresh vigjur, and will clearly define the vast progress that
has been made in general and comparative anatomy since t!ie days of Hunter and of Cu-
vier, for so large a pari of which we are indebted to our eminent associate.

Assembled in a county which has the good foitune to have been illustrated by the at-
tractive nnd pleasing history of ihe naturalist of S«lborne, I am confident tbat out fourth
Section, to whose labours I wouUl now speciaKy advert, will yield a rich harv^*st, the more
bu as It is presided over by that great zoologist who hai enriched the adjacent Mu-euai of

the Naval Hospital at Haslar with so many animals from various parts of the world, and
has so arranged them to as to render them objects well worthy of your notice. The re-
port of Sir John Richardson in the last volume, on the Fishes of China, Japan, and New
Zealand, when coupled with his account in former volumes of the Fauna of North Ame-
rica, may be regarded as having completely remodelled our knowledge of the geographical
distribution of fishes; first by affording the data, and next by explaining ths causes
through which a community of ichthyological characters is in some regions widely spread,
and in others restricted to limited areas. We now know, that just as the lofty mountain
is tlie barrier which separates diiferent animals and plants, as well as peculiar varieties of
man, so the deepest seas are limits which peremptorily check the wide difl'usion of certain
ponera and species of fishes ; whilst the interspersion of numsrous islands, and still more
the continuance of lands throughout an ocean, ensures the distribution of similar forms
over mauy degrees of latitude and longitude.

The general study, indeed, both of zoology and botany, has been singularly advanced
by the labours of the Section of Natural History. I cannot have acted for many years
as your General Secretary, without ohserviiig, that by the spirit in which this section has
of late years been conducted, British naturalists have annually become more philosophi-
cal, and have given to their inquiries a more physiological character, and have more and
moJe studied the higher questions of structure, laws, and distribution. This cheering
result has mainly arisen from the personal intimacy brought about among various indi-
viduals, who, living at great distances from each other, were previously never congregated ;
and from the mutual encouragement imparted by their interchange of views and their
comparisons of specimens. IVIany active British natur^dists have in fact risen up since
these meetings conimi^nced, and many (in addition to the examples already alluded to)
have pursued their sJence directly under the encouragement we have given them. The
combination of the enthusiastic and philosophic spirit thus engendered among the natu-
ralists has given popularity to their department of science, and this section, assuming an
importance to which during our earliest meetings it could show comparatively slender
claims, has vigourously revived the study of natural history, and among other proofs of
it, has given rise to that excellent publis^Jingbody, the Ray Society, which holds its anni-
versary duiing our sittings. Any analysis of the numerous original and valuable reports
and memoirs on botanical and zoological subjects which have enriched our volumes is
forbidden by the limits of this address, but I cannot omit to advert to the extensive suc-
cess of Mr. H. Strickland's report on Zoological Nomenclature, which has been adopted
and circulated by the naturalists of France, Germany and America, and also by those of
Italy headed by the Prince ot Canino. In each of these countries the code drawn up by
the Association has been warmly welcomed, and through it we may look forward to the
great advantage being gained, of the ultimate adoption of an uniform zoological nomen
clature all over the globe.

Whilst invastigations into the geographical distribution of animals and plants have
occupied a lar=;e share of the attention of our Browns and our Darwins, it is pleasing
to see that some of our members, cliiefly connected with physical researches, are now
bringing these data of natural history to bear upm climatology and physical geography.
A committee of our naturalists, ti» whom the subject was referred, has published in our
last volume an excellent series of instructions for the observation of the periodical phe-
nomena of animals and plants, prepared by our foreign assoL-iate iVI. QietelJt, the Astro-
nomer Royal of iJelgium. Naturalists have long been collecting observations on the
eftVcts produced by the annual return of the sea.sons, but tkeir variou'^ natural history
calendars being local, required comparison and concentration, as originally suggested by
Linnseus. This has now for the first time been executed by the Belgian Astronomer,
who followed out a p'au suggested by himself at our Plymouth meeting, h>i3 brought to-,
gether the contributions and suggestions of the naturalists of his own country. When
M. yuetelet remarks, "that the phases of the smallest insect are bound up with the
phases or the plant that nourishes it ; that plant itself being in its gradual development
the prodijct, in some sort, of all anterior modifications ot tlie soil and atmosphere," he
compels the admission, that the study which should embrace all periodical phenomena,
both diurnal and annual, would of itself form a science as extended as instructive.

R«ferring you to M. Quetclet's report for an explanation of the dependence of the
vegetable and animal kingdoms on the meteorology aud physics of the glob?, and hoping
that the simultaneous observations he inculcates will he followed up in Britain, I am glad
to be able to announce, that ttie outline ofamt;moiron physical geography was some
months ago put into my hands by Mr. Cooley, which in a great degree c )inciding vvith
the system ot M. Quetelet, has ultimately a very diffijrent object. M. Quetelet chiefly
aims at investigating the dependence of organised bodies on inorganised matter, by ob-
serving the periodical phenom-na of the former. Mr. Cooley seeks to obtain an acquaint-
ance with the same phenomena for the sake of learning and registering compirative cli-
mate as an element of scientific agriculture Speaking to you in a county which is so
mainly dependent on the produce of the so 1, 1 cannot ha.e a more favourable opportunity
for inculcating the value of the suggestions of this British geographer. The complete
establishment of all the data of physical geography throughout the British Islands ; i.e.
the Tt-gistration of the mean antl extremes of the temperature of the air and of the earth;
the amount of conduction, radiation, moisture, and magnetism ; the succession of various
phases of vegetation, &c. (with iheir several local corrections for elevation and aspect),
must certainly prove conducive to the interests of science, and are likely to promote some
material interests of our country.

A minute knowledge of all the circumstances of climate cannot but be of importance to
those whose industry only succeeds through the co-operation of nature, and it may there-
fore be inferred that such a report as that with w!iii_h I trust Mr. Cooley will favour us,
if followed up by rull and cimplete tables, will prove to beamost useful public document.
Imbib ng the ardour of t mt author, I might almost hope that such researches in physit-al
geography may enable us to define, in the language of the poet,

" Et quid quseque ferat regio, et quid quieque recuset."
At all eve nts, such a report will tend to raise physical geography in Britain towards the
level it has attained in Prussia under the jegis of Humboldt and Hitter, aud by the beau-
tiful map s of Berghaus.

Though our countryman, Mr. Keith Johnston, is reproduc np, in attractive f jrms, the
comparative maps of the last-mentioned Prussian author, much indeed still remains to be
done in Britain, to place the study of physical geograpliy ou a basis wjrthy of this great
exploring and colonising nation ; and as one of the highly useful elementary aids to the
training of the youthful mind to acquire a right perception of the science. I commend the
spirited project of a French geographer, M. Guerin, to establish in London, ageoirma of
vast size which shall teach by strong external relief, tlie objects and details ot which he
will in the course of this week explain to the geographers present.

Reverting to economical views and the improvement of lands. I would remini our
agricultural members, that as their great practical Society was founded on the model of
the British Association, we hope they will always cone to our Sections for the sulution nf
any questions relating to their pursuits to which can be given a purely scientific answer.
If they ask for the explanation of the dependence of vegetation upon subsoil or soil, our
geologists and botanists are reidv to reply to them. Is it a query ou the comparison of
the relative value of instruments destined to economise labour, the mechanic ans now
present are capable of answering it. And if, above all, they ask us to solve their doubts
respecting the qualities of soib aud the results of their mixtures, or the eliects of various
manures upon them, our chemists are at hind. One department of our Institution is in
fact styled the Section of Cnemistry and Muieralo^jy, witu their applicati »ns ti Agricul-
ture and the Arts, and is officered iu part by the very men, Joansion, Daubeny, and
Playfair, to whom the agriculturists have in nearly all cases a*,)pealed. The first men-
tioned of these was one of our earliest frien Is and founders; the secon 1 hid the merit of
standing by the British Association at its first meeting, and there niviting us to repair lo
that great Uuiversiiy wheie he is so mmh respected, and whe-e he is now steadily d-ter-
mming, by elaborate (rxperimenls, tfie d--veadeacp of many s lecies oi plants on soils, air,

31(3

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Oct.

and stimulus; whilst the third bag already been alluded lo as one of our best contri-
butors.

If in reviewing our previous labours I have endeavoured to gain your fltteotion by some
incidental allusions to our present proceedinits, I have yet to assure you. that the me-
moirs communicated to our secretaries are sufliclently numerous to occupy our sectiona
(luriog the ensuing week with all the vitrour which Las marked imr opening day. Among
the topics to which our assembling at Souihampiuu «ives peculiar interest, I m;iv s'ill say
that If foreign and English geologists should lind muci to interest them in ibc Isle of
Wight, the same island contains a fieUl for a very curious joint discussion bi'twten the
iiiaiht'matieians and the geologists, with which I became acquainted In a previous visit to
this place. It is a discovery by Colonel Colby, the Director of the Trigonomeirica! Sur-
vey, of the existence of a considerable attraciion of the plumb-line to the south, at the
irigonometrical station called Dunnose, on Shanklin Down. The details of this singular
plienomenon, which has beec veriUed by numerous observations with the best zenith sec-
tors, will belaid before the Sections. In the mejntime, we msiy well wonder ihat this
low chalk range in the Isle of Wight should attract, in one jmrallel at least, with more
Ihiio half the Intensity of the high and crystalline mountain of Stbehallton in the High-
lands of Scotlanrt, whilst no other chalk bill in the South of England exhibits such a
phenomenon. Can those of our associates, who like Mr. Hopkins have entered the riih
field of Bcological dynamics, explain this remarkable fact, either by the peculiar structure
and distribution of the ridge of upheaved strata which runs as a back-bone from east to
west through the island, or by referring it to dense plutonic masses of rock ranging be-
neath the surface along the line of displacement of the deposits ?

The SuuihumptoH Well.
Another local suhject— one indeed of positive practical interest— that stands before us
for discussion is, whether, by persevering in deepening the large shaft which lliey have
sunk so deep info the chalk near this town, the inhabitants of Southampton may expect
to be eventuaity repaid, like those of Paris, by a full supjily of subterranean water, which
shall rise to the surface of the low plateau on wbich the work has undertaLeti ?' On no
occasion, I must observe, could this town be furnished with a greater number of willing
couiisellers of divers nations whose opinions will, it is hoped, be adequately valued by the
city authorities. 'I he question whether this work ought to be proceeded with or not, will
however. I apprehend, be most effectively answered by those geologists who are best ac-
quainted with the sections in the interior of this country, and with the levels at which
the upper greensand and subcretuceous strata there crop out and receive the waters,
which then flow southwards beneath the whole body of chalk of the hills in the south of
Hampshire.

Naval Architecture*

Considering that we are now assembled iu the neighbourhood of our great naval arse-
nal—that some of its funcrionahes, incluHing the Admiral ob the station, have honoured
us with their support, and that, further, I am now speaking in a tuwu whose magnificent
new docks may compete with any for bold and successful engineering, I must say a few
uopds on our naval architecture, the more so as we have here a very strong Mechanical
Section, presided over by that ingenious mechanician Professor Willis, supported by that
great dynamical philosopher and astronomer Dr. Robinson. Duly impressed with the
vast national importance of this subject, and at the same time of its necessary depend-
pure on mathematical principles, the British Association in its earliest days endeavoured
In rouse attention to the state of ship-building in England, and to the history of its pro-
greps in France and other countries, through a n^emoir by the late Mr. G. Harvey. It
WPS then contended, that notwithstanding the extreme per!ection to which the internal
mechanism of vesFels ha* been brought, their external forms or lines, on which their
sailing so much depends, were deficient as to adjustment by mathematical theoiy. Our
associate Mr. Scott Uussell has, us you know, ably developed this view. Experimenting
upon the resistance of water, snd ascertaining with precision the forms of vessels whicb
would pass through it witli the least resistance, and conbequently with the greatest velo-
city, be has cmtributed a most valuable serws of memoirs, accompanied by a great num-
ber of diagrams, to illustrate his opinions and to show the dependei-ce of naval architec-
ture on certain mathematical lines Employed in the neantime by merchants on their
own account, tfi p'an the consfruction of sa- ling ships and steamers, Mr. Scott Russell
has been so successlul in combining theory with practice, that we must feel satisfied in
having at dilfeient meetings helped him onwards by several money grants; our only
regret being that our means should not have permitted us to publish the whole number
ot diagrams of the 1 nes prepared by this ingenious author.

But however desirous to promote knowledge on this point, the men of science are far
from wishing not tn pay every deference to the skilful artificers of our wooden bulwarks,
on account of their experience and practical acquaintance ivith subjects they have so long
and sn successfidly handled. We are indeed fully aware that the naval arc dtects of the
go\<rn Tient, who construct v-ssels carrying a great, weight of metal, and requiring much
sol Y- it; and capacious stowage, have to solve many pioblems with which the oivners of
tr-dJof vessels or packets have little concern. All that v-e can wish for is, that our naval
ar-ena^sshnuld contain schools or public boards of ship-building, in which there might
be collected all the '• constants of the art," in reference to capacity, displacement, stow-
age, velocity, pitching and rolling, masting, the effect of sails, and the resistance of flu'ds.
Having ourselves expended r nntribulions to an extent which testiiy, at all events, our
leai in this matter, we are, I think, eutiited to express a hope, that the data derived from
pruciice by our eminent navigators may be effectively combined with the indications of
wnind theory prepared Ly approved cultivatois of mathematical and mechanical scie-
eace.

Statistics,

I cannot thus touch upon such useful subjects without saying, that our Statistical Sec-
tion h.is been so well conducted by its former presidents, that its suljects, liable at all
times to be diverted into moral considerations, and thence into nolitlcs, have been invari-
ably restricted to the branch of the science which deals in facts and numbers : and as no
one individual has contributed more to the storehouse of such valuable knowledge than
Mr. George Porter (as evidenced even by his report in our last volume), so may ue believe
that in this town with which he is intimattdy conr,ecied, he will contribute to raise still
higher the claims of the section, over which he is so well qualified to preside.

If in this discouise I have referred more largely to those branches of science which
pertain to tlie general division of natural history, ii> which alone I can venture to judge
o( the progress which others are making, let me houever say, that no member of this
body can appreciate more highly than I do, the claims of the mathematical and experi-
n.wntal parts of philosophy, iu which my friend Protessor Baden Powell, who supports
uie on this occasion as a Vice-President, has taken so distinguished a part. No one has
witnessed with greater satisfaction the attendance at our former meetings of men (rom all
parts of Europe the most eminent iu these high pursuits. No one can more glory in
Jiaving been ;in officer of this Association when it uas honoured with the presence ot its
jlii.siiious conesponrient Bessel, tli.jn whom the world has never produced a more pro-
lt)und jistr nomer. If aoiong his numerous splenuld d'scoveries he furnished astrono-
meis with what they had so long and so ardently desired— a fixed and ascertained point
in the immensity of space, b^-yond the limits of our own sid« real system, it is to Bessel,
as I am assurer! by a contemporary vvoithy of him, that Englishmen owe a debt of grati-
tude for his elaborate discus^ion of the observations of their immortal Bradley, which, in
his hands, becamo the base of modern astronomy.

Foreign Contributors.

Passing from this recollection, so proud jet so mournful to HS all as friends and admir-
ers ot the deceased Prussian astroncmer, can an> one see with more delight than myself
tbe brilliant concurrence at our present meeting of n.ituralists, geolo^dsls, physiologists,
ethnologists, and statists, wi>h mathtmalicians, astronomers, ntechauicians, aud experi-

mental philosophers in physics and in chemistry? Surely, then, Imay he allowed to
signalise a particular ground of gratification among so many, in the presence at this meet-
ing of two Individuais in our experimental sections, to one of whom, our eminent loreign
associate. Oersted, we owe the first great link between electric and magnetic phenomena,
by shotting the magnetic properties of the galvanic current; whilst the other, our owa
Faraday, among other new and great truths which have raised the character of EngUsh
fcieiicc throughout the world, obtained the converse proof by evoking electricity out of
magnets. And if it he not given to the geologist whom you have honoured with this
chair, to explain how such arcana have been revealed, still as a worshipper in the outer
portico of the temide of physical science, he may be permitted to picture to himself the
delight which the Danish philosopher must have felt when, on returning to our shores,
after an absence of a quarter of a centurj*. he found that the grand train of discovery of
which he is the progenitor, had just received its crowning accession In England from his
former disciple, who, through a long and brilliant series of investigations peculiarly bis
own, has shown that magnetic or dia-magnetic forces are distributed throughout all oa-
ture.

And thus shall we continue to be a true British Association, with cosmopolite con-
nexiuns, ao long as we have among ua eminent men to attract such foreign contemporaries
to our shores. If then at the la».t assembly we experienc; d the good eff"ects uhich flowed
from a concentr.\tiou of profound mathematicians and oiagueticians, drawn together Irom
different European kingdoms — if then also the man (Mr. Everett) ot solid learning, who
tlien represented the United States of America, and who is now worthily presiding over
the Cambridge University of his native soil, spoke to us with chastened eloquence of the
benefits our institution was conferring on mankind; let us rejoice that this meeting is
honoured by the presence of foreign philosophers as distinguished as those of any former
year.

Let us rejoice that we have now among us men of science from Denmark, Sweden, Rus-
sia, Prussia, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, and France. The King of Denmark, himself
personally disiiiitiuished for his acquaiotaHce with several branches of natural history,
and a warm patron of science, has honoured us by sending hither, not only the great dis-
coverer Oe^^ted, who evincing fresh vigour in his mature age, brings with him new com-
munications on physical science, hut also my valued fr.end, the able geologist and chemist
Forchhammer, who has producer! the first geological map of DenniErk, aiid who has pre-
sented to us a lucid meuioir on the influence exercised by marine plants on the formation
of ancient crystalline rocks, on the present sea, and on agriculture.

As these eminent men of the north received me as the General Secretary of the British
Association with their wonted cordiality at the last Scandiuavian Assembly, I trust we
may convince them, that the sentiment is reciprocal, and that Englishmen are nearly akia
to ibem 111 the virtues of friendship and ho3pitalit5 which so distinguish the dwellers
within the circle of Odin.

Still adverting to Scandinavia, we see here a deputy from the country of Lionieus in
the person of Professor Svanberg, a successful young experimenter hi physics, who repre-
sents his great master, Berzelius— that profound chemist and leader of the science of the
Not th of Europe, who established on a firm basis the laws of atomic weights and defiaitc
proportions, and who has personally assured me, that if our meeting had not been fixed
in the month of September, when the agriculturists of Sweden assemble at Stockholm,
he would assuredly have repaired to lis. And if the same cause has prevented Nilsson
from coming hither, and has abstracted Retzius from us (who was till within these few
days in England), I cannot mention these distinguished men, who earnestly desired to be
present, wiibout expressing the hrpe that the memoirs they commuuicate to us may give
siicb additional support to our British ethnologists as will enable this new branch of
science, which investigates the origin of races and languages, to take the prominent place
in our assemblies to which it is justly entitled.

The Royal Academy of Berlin, whose deputies on former occasions have been an Ehreo-
berg, a Buch, and an Erman, has honoured us by sending hither M. Heinrich Rose,
whose work on chemical analysis is a textbook even for the most learned chemists in
every country ; and whilst his researches on the constitution of minerals, like those of
his eminent brother Gustave on their form, have obtained for him so high a reputation,
be now brings to us the description of a now metal which he has discovered in the Tan-
talite of Bavaria.

Switzerland has again giyen to us that great master in palseontology, Agassia, and also
our old friend Protessor Schonbein, who in addition to his report on ozone, to which I
have already referred, has now brought to us a discovery of vast prjictical importance.
The "gun-cotton" ot Schonbein, the powers of which he will exhibit to his colleagues, is
an explosive substance, uhich, exercising a stronger projectile force than gunpowder^ is
stated to possess the great adrantages over it of producing littie or no smoke or noise,
and of scarcely soiling fire-arms; whilst no amount of wet injures this new substance!
which is as serviceable after being dried as in its first condition. The mere mention of
these properties, to which our associate lays claim for his new material, is sufficient to
show its extraordinary value in all warlike affairs, as also in every sort of subterranean
blasting.

Professor Matteucci of Modena, who joined us at the York meeting, and then explained
his various new and delicate investigations in electro physiology, again favours lis with a
visit, as the representative of the Italian Philosophical Society uf Mudena and of the
University of Pisa. This ingenious philosopher, who has measured the ellect ot galvanic
currents in exciting through the nerves mechanical force in the muscles, doubtless brings
with him such interesting contribution as wiil add great additional interest to the pro-
ceedings of the Physiological Section.

Having already spoken of the rapid progress which the sciences are making in Belgium,
through the labours of our associate Quetalet and others, it is with pleasure I announce
that M. de Koningk, the paUtontologist, who has mainly contributed to this advance and
to the solid loundation of the geology of his country by his excellent work ou palteozoic
fossils, has been sent to us by his own government.

Among these sources of just pride and gratification, no one has afforded me sincerer
pleasure than to welcome hither the undaunted Siberian explorer. Professor von Midden-
dorf. Deeply impressed as I am with the estimation iu which science is held by the
illustrious ruler ot the empire ot Russia, I cannot but hope that the presence of this tra-
veller, so singularly distinguished for his enterprising exploits, may meet with a friend in
every Englishman who is acquainted with the arduous nature of his travels. To traverse
Siberia from south to north, and from west to east ; to reach by land the extreme nortfiern
headland of Taimyr; to teach us, tor the first time, tha: even to the latitude of 7:.' deg.
Bonh, trees with steins extend themselves in that meridian; that crops of rye,'more
abundant than in his native Livonia, grow beyond Yakutsk, on the surface of that frozen
subsod, the intensity and measure of cold in which he has determined by ihermometric
experiments, to explain, through their language and physical form, the origin of tribes
now lar removed from their parent stock ; to explore the far eastern regions of the sea of
Obkotsk and of the Shantar Isles ; to define the remotest north-eastern boundary be-
tween China and Russia ; and finally to enrich St. Petershurgh with the natural produc-
tions, both fossil and recent, of all these wild and untroddeu lands, are the exploits lor
which the Hoyal Ueographical Society of London has, at its last meeting, conierrcd its
Gold Victoria Medal on this most successful explorer. Professor Middendorf now visits
us lo converse with our naturalists most able to assist him, and to inspect oui- museums,
in which, by com|)arisun, he can best determine the value of specific characters betore he
completes the description of his cjpious accumulations; and 1 trust that during his stay
in England he will be treated with as much true hospitality as I have myself received at
the hands of his kind countrymen.

It is impossible tor me to make this allusion to the Russian empire without assuring
you that our allies in science on the Neva, who have previously sent to us a JacoLi and
Kupffer, are warmly desirous of continuing their good connexiou with us. It was indeed
a source of great pleasure to me to have recently had personal intercourse iu this very

1S46.J

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

317

town with that eminent scientific navi^tor Admiral Lutke, in whose squadron his Im-
perial Hiphness the Grand Duke Constantine was acquiring a knowledge of his maritime
duties. Besides the narrative of his former voyagts, Lutke has since published an ac-
count of the periodical tides in the Great Northern Ocean and in the Glacial Sea, which
I have reason to think is lit;Ie known in this country. Having since e6tal)lished a " hyp-
salographe" in the White S"a, and being also occupied from time to time in obsemiions
in Behring's Straits, the Russians will soon be able to provide us with other important
additions to our knowledge of this subject. Separated so widely as Admiral Lutke and
rr. Whtfwell are from each other, it is pleasing to see, that the very recommendation
which the last-mentioned distinguished philosopher of the tides has recently suggested to
me, as a subject to be encouraged by this Association, has been zealously advocated by
the former. Let us hone ihen that this meeting will not pass away without poA'erlully
recommending to our own government, as well as to that of his Imperial Majesty, that a
systematic and simultaneous investigation of the tides in the Great Ocean, particn-arly
in the Northern Pacific, he the object of special expeditions,— a subject (as Admiral
Lntke well observes) which is not less worthy of the attention of great scientific bodies
than tj.e present inquiries into terrestrial magnetism ; and one which, I may add, this
Association will doubtless warmly espouse, since it has such strong grounds for being
satisfied with the results which it has already contributed to obtain through its own
grants, and by the researches of several of its associates.

Lastly, in alluding to our foreign attendants, let me say how well our nearest neigh-
bours have responded to our call, who. Imitating the example oT their enlightened mo-
narch, have proved by their affluence to Southampton, that in the realms of science, as in
public affairs, there is that " entente cordiale" between their great nation and our own,
of which, at a former meeting, we vvere personally assured by the profound Arago him-
self.

No sooner was it made known that the chair of chemistry at this meeting was to be
filled by Michael Faraday, than a compeer worthy of him in the Academy of Sciences of
Paris was announced in the person of M- Dumaa. To this sound philosopher it is well
known that we owe, not only the discovery of that law of substitution o* types, whicti
has so powerfully aided the progress of organic chemistry, but also the successtul appli-
cation of his science to the arts and useful purposes of lite ; his great work on that sub-
ject, " La Chimie appliqu^e aux Arts," bemg as familiar in every manufactory in England
as it is upon the Continent.

Nor, if we turn from chemistry to geology, can such of us as \vork among the rocks be
backward in our expressions of thankfulness, in witnessing the goodly attendance of our

brethren of the hammer from France, headed by W. , who h;»ve come to examine,

in our own natural sections of the Isle of Wight, the peculiar development of their Parii
basin, the identity of their chalk and our own, the fine sections of our green sand and of
the WeaUien formation of Mantell, and to determine with us " in situ" the strict rela-
tions of their Neocomian rorks with those peculiar strata which at Atherfield, in the isle
of Wight, have been so admirably illustrated by Dr. Fitton and other native geologists,
and of which such bez.ntiful and accurate diagrams have bean made by Captain Ibbot-
lon.

It is utterly Impossible that such gatherings together of foreign philosopher* W'th our
own should not be productive of much advantage; for he must indeed be a bad statist in
science who knows not that numerous are the works of merit which are publislied in
periodicals, or in the volumes of societies of one country, which remain altogether un
known in aaotharj and still less can be acquainted with the present accelerated march ' f
science, who is not awrtn? that the germs of discovery which are lyinp ready in the minds
of distant contemporaries must often be brought into action by sucli an interchange of
thought. The collision of such thoughts may indeed be compared to the agency of the
electric telegraph of ou^ Wheatstone, which concentrates knowledge from afar, and at
once unites the extremities of kingdoms in a common circle of intelligence.

But although the distinguished foreigners to whom I have adverted, and others, in-
cluding our welcome associate M. Wartmann, the founder of the Vaudois Society, and
jM. Prevost. of Geneva, on whose merits I would willingly dilate if time permitted it, are
now collected around us; many, among whom I must name M. rie Caimnnt, the Pre-
sident of the French Society for the advancement of Science, have been prevented fro'n
honouring us with their presence, because the national meetings in their several countries
also occur in the month of September. T^i remedy this inconvenience, I ventured, when
addressing you six years ago at the Glasgow meeting, to express the hope, that each of
the national FJnropean societies might be led to abstain during one year from assembling
in its own country, for the purpose of repairing by its own deputies to a general congress,
to be held at Frankfort or other central city under the presidency of the universal Hum-
boldt. Had the preparation of the "Cosmos," and other avocations of that renowned
individual permitted him to accept this proposition, which I have every reason to believe
tlie British Af^sociatiou would have supported, I am convinced that many Iienffits to
science would have resulted, and that each nat'onal body, on re-assemb'.ing the following
year in its native land, would have more vigorously resumed its research'.s.

Adhering still "to my project, 1 beg my countrymen and their f ireign friends now pre-
sent, to sustain this proposition for centralising in a future year the representatives of
the various branches of science of different countries, when they may at once learn the
national progresses respectively made, and when, at all events, they can so appoint tlie
periods ot their national assemblies as to prevent those simultaneous meetings in France,
Germany, Scandinavia, Italy, Switzerland and England, whiLh are so much to be depre-
cated as interfering with a mutual intercourse.

Finally, my fellow-labourers in science, if by our united exertions we have done and
are doing good public service, let me revert once more to the place in which we ar*- as-
sembled, and express on your part the gratification I know you experience in beuig on
this occasion as well supported by tlie noblemeu, clergymen, and landed proprietors
around Southampton, as by its inhabitants themselves— an un-on which thusttstifies
that the British Association embraces all parties and nil classes of men.

Seeing near me Her Most Gracious M-ijesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the
Speaker of the House of Commons, and other persons of high station and very great in-
fluence, who willingly indicate by their ))resence the sense they entertain of tlie value of
our conferences and researciies, let us welcome these distinguished individuals as living
evidences of that good opinion of our countrymen, the possession of which will cheer ns
onward in our career. And above all, let us cherish the recollection of the Southimpton
meeting which will be rendered memorable in its annals by the presence of the illustrious
Consort of our beloved Sovereign, who participating in our pursuits, in many branches of
which his Royal Highness is so well versed, thus demonstrates that mir aasociaiiim is
truly national, aiid enjoys the most general and effettuat support througliout British so-
tiety, from the humblest cultivators of science to the highest personages in the realm.

Royal Naval Steam-vard, Plymouth — -The total acres of ground to

be included in th<? establishuient at Morice Town, is about 75 aires. The contractors
have new employed on the w. rks 750 men, UO horses, 3 steam-engines, with 12 miles of
railway. 6'''0,'i0t) cubic feet of stone {granite and lime-stone) are on the ground, ami they
areiiortring seven of the principle quarries of the country. Th- works w II go forward
with the greatest rapidity, and it is expected that a steamer will be admitted into une of
the basins within three years and a half from this time. The cotier dam, which the en
terprisinf? contractors, Messr^ Baker and Son. have undertaken oi' then- own responsi-
bility, is 2,000 feet long, within wliich the seawall o( the sa'ne length is to !;e built. '1 here
will be two immense basins, the nor- h basin, 650 feet by (;2& feet, and the south basin,
fiL'.") feet by otli) feet, each having a depth of 27 feet of water .\t idl times, and will allow of
18 first-class vessels to be fitted out, or 2.") ot all classes, exclusive of those in the dock-.
The two hasins contain Itj acres. There will be thee large docks; one (the north dock)
360 feet long by 94 feet wide for first-rates ; another 40(1 feet lonir by 82 feet wide, fur the
largest steamers ; and the third (the south dock) 3U0 feet long by 82 feet wide.

RBVIEVT.

Experimental Researches on the Strength and other Proportions of Cast
Iron. By Eaton Hodgkinson, F.R.S. London : Weale, 1846. 8vo. pp.
200. Five plat(?s.

The first part of this work which is a new edition of Tredgold's Treatise
with additional notes by Mr. Hodgkinson, appeared in 1842; the secontl
part now before us is entirely written by Mr. Hodgkinson, and though it is
published as a separate volume, the pagination is continued on from the pre-
ceding one. The principal distinction between the two works is that the
former treated of the effects produced upon bodies by forces small compared
with those necessary to produce fracture, whereas the present volume refers
almost exclusively to the ultimate strength of cast iron, or the capability of
resisting fracture.

The subject is divided into four parts, the strength to resist, 1st, longi-
tudinal tension; 2iid, longitudinal compression; 3rd, transverse pressure
(the case of girders) ; 4th, tension ; the course of experiments under each
head is explained at length, and the results tabulated: a mathematical in-
vestigation of the theory of the strength of beams is also given.

The first part of the work which considers the tenacity of cast iron occu-
pies but a small space, as the subject offers comparatively little difficulty to
the experimenter — the following concluding remarks will sufficiently show
the nature of the results.

" With these facts before the reader, he will, I conceive, be unable to see
bow the mean tensile strength of cast iron can properly be assumed at more
than 7 or 73 tons per square inch ; but some of our best writers have, by
calculating the tensile strength from experiments on t!ie transverse, arrived
at the conclusion that the strengtii of cast iron is 10, or even 20 tons, or
more. Mr. Harlow conceives it to be upwards of 10 tons (Treatise on
Strength of Tim'rjer, Cast Iron, &c., p. 222), and Mr. Treugold makes it at
least 20 (art. 72 to 76). The reasoning of Mr.Tredgold, by which he arrives
at this erroneous conclusion, with others resulting from it, will be examined
at length under the head ' Jransverse Strength.' Navier, too, (Application
de la Mecanique, article 4,) calculalts the tensile strength of cast iron from
principles somewhat similar to those assumed by Tredgold, and finds it much
too high."

In considering longitudinal compression the experiments are divided into
two classes, those upon long and those on short pillars, as the former usually
broke by bending, and the latter by crushing; and consequently the laws for
the two cases wiiiely differ. Under this head we find the foilo'.ving interest-
ing results.

"The strength of a pillar in the form of the connecting rod of a steam
engine was found to be very small ; indeed, less than half the strength that
tlie same metal wouki have given if cast in the form of an uniform hollow
cylinder. The ratio of the strength, a<.-cording to ray experiments, was
17573 to 39645. A pillar irregularly tixed, so that the pressure would be iu
the direction of the diagonal, is redu-'ed to one-third of its strength, the case
being nearly similar to that of a pillar with rounded ends, the strength of
which his been shown to he only ^rd of thft of a pillar with flat ends.
Trcdgiild, art. 2S3 of his work on Cast Iron, and in his Treatise on Carpen-
try, following the idea of Serlio in his Architecture, recommends circular
abutting jnints, to lessen the effect of irregularity in the strains upon columns,
from settlements and other causes ; but this, we see, is voluntarily throwing
away two-thirds of the full strength of the material to prevent what may
often be avoided."

The question of transverse strengtii occupies the greater part of the book.
The first point ascertained is how far bars of cast iron will bear the long con-
tinued pressure of weights which are not sufficient to break them immedi-
ately. The effect of temperature and defect of elasticity are next considered,
and lastly the general laws of the transverse strength of beams. The ex-
periments instituted are extremely numerous, the results tabulated are de-
rived from researches extending over a great number of years, and are of
course invaluable. The information given with respect to bars of rectangular
section is so full and complete as to almost exhaust the subject ; wiien how-
ever Mr. Hodgkinsiia investigates the strength of beams varying in their
rectangular section, and endeavours to ascertain the form of uniform strength,
he leaves room for further inquiries. Before commenting on this most im-
portant part -»f the subject, we must let our author explain for himself the
mode of investigation which he has adopted.

" The ribs in the model were first made equal, as in the beam of strongest
form according to the opinion of .Mr. Tredgold (Section IV., art. 37) ; and
when a casting had been taken from it, a small portion was taken from the
top rib, and attached to the edge of the bottom one. so as to make the ribs
as one to two; and when another casting had been obtained, a portion more
was taken Irom the top, and attached to the bottom, as before, and a casting
got from it, the ribs being then as one to four. In these alterations the

41

318

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Oct.

only cbanie was in the ratio of the rihs, the rlepth and every other dimension
in the model remaining the same. Finding that all these beams had been
broken by the bottom rib being torn asunder, and that the strength by each
change was increased, I had the bottom rib successively enlarged, the size of
the top rib remaining the same. The bottom rib still giving way first, I had
the top rib increased, feeling that it might be too small for the thickness of
the middle part between the ribs. The bottom rib was again increased, so
that the ratio of the strengths of the bottom and lop ribs was greater than
before ; still the beam broke by tlie bottom rib failing first, as before. As
the strength continued to be increased more than the area of the section,
though the depth of the beam and the distance between the supports re-
mained the same, I pursued, in the future experiments, the same course,
increasing by small degrees the size of the ribs, particularly that of the
bottom one, till such time as that rib became so large that its strength was
as great as that of the top one, or a little greater, since the fracture took
place by a wedge separating from the top part of the beam. I here discon-
tinued the experiments of this class, conceiving that the beams last arrived
at, were in form of section nearly the strongest for cast iron."

The form of the strongest section thus ascer-
tained was, as shown in the adjoined diagram ;
the ratio of the sectional area of the top and bot-
tom was as 1 : 6 ; so greatly does the compres-
sive strength of cast iron exceed its tenacity. The
depth of this beam was uniform throughout, but
thickness lessened towards each end, so that the

plan of each flange was lens-shaped, the curves
being portions of a parabola. This form has been shown theoretically to be
that which makes a beam of uniform depth equally strong in every part.

The omissions in Mr. Hodgkinson's inquiry, or rather the subjects in
which he has left room for further inquiry, appear two-fold. In the first
place, the object of his experiment was confined almost entirely to ascer-
taining the proper proportion of the two flanges to each other ; and secondly,
the flanges were always thin, compared with their width, and of a rectan-
gular section, '"'he proper form and dimensions of the vertical rib, seem to
have been comparatively neglected ; and it was not ascertained whether for
a given quantity of material, additional strength might not be attained by
making (he bottom flange of greater vertical depth in proportion to its
width.

The strongest beam is that of uniform strength, or that which when it
tends to break has that tendency in every part ; consequently the best form
is that for which the beam tends to give way in both flanges, and the Ter-
tical rib simultaneously. Moreover, the tendency to give way must be
equally exhibited in every part of each of these members : the beam when
the load is placed at its centre, must not tend to give way sooner in the
middle than towards the ends, nor to fail in the flanges sooner than in the
rib. Now Mr. Hodgkinson's beams always broke in the middle, and the
failure was aluays in one of the flanges.

It is a great mistake to suppose that the vertical rib ought to be as thin
as possible. Where nearly the whole strength is contained in the flanges,
the rib need not usually possess much strength towards the centre, but it
ought to be increased in streugth towards the extremities ; and the law of
increase has been clearly shown in a former page of this Journal {ante p. 174).
The consideration of the exact nature of the forces acting on the vertical rib,
seems to have been overlooked in our theoretical books ; and it ought to be
made the subject of an altogether new c'ass of experiments.

The next question on which it appears to us further experiments are
wanted, relates to the possibility of improving the sectional form of the
flanges themselves. It has been usually considered that they ought to be
two thin wide lamina;, and the object for adopting this form is, that tlie iha-
terial may have the greatest possible leverage about the neutral axis. Mr.
Hodgkinson evidently falls in with this notion, which, as we think, arises
from erroneous conceptions of the action of the vertical rib. Wc are
strongly inclined to pronounce the bottom flange in the section given above,
too thin for its width, It does not seem very hazardous to predict that, all
other things remaining the same, the strength would be greatly increased by
doubling the thickness of this flange.

It seems clear that the part of the metal in the immediate neighbourhood
of the vertical rib will be more acted upon than the outer or more project-
ing parts of tlie flange. These are comparatively incrticient ; for to suppose
that all parts of the flange, because nearly at the same distance from the
neutral line, therefore exert the same elastic force — what is this but assuming
in another form the old exploded notion of the incompressibility or inex-

tensibility of the material .' The parts projecting the greatest distance be-
yond the vertical rib will be least acted upon, and consequently the great
object ought to be to collect the material of the flanges as closely about the
upper and lower edges of the rib as is compatible with other considerations.
Under this head also new experiments might be advantageously insti-
tuted.

In the theoretical investigation of the transverse strength of beams, Mr.
Hodgkinson does not adopt the theory of John Bernoulli, Mariotte, Prof.
Moseley, and others, that the elastic forces of the fibres are proportional to
their distance from the neutral axis, but represents those fores by an expres-
sion ax — (p(x') where q>(jr) is " a function representing the diminution of the
force in consequence of the defect of elasticity." He is disposed to conclude
from experiment that for cast iron tliia function would be of the form b x'.

The present treatise shows clearly enough that the old assumption leads
to erroneous results. We may furnish the following proof in addition to
those given by him. We recently had the curiosity to apply the formulae
given by Professor Moseley (p. 507 & il'i) for the deflection of beams to
several cases of the experiments relative to the Menai Bridge, detailed in this
Journal, p. 147, and found the deflections so calculated six or seven times as
great as those actually observed. This seems to us quite suflicient proof that
the old theory is not to be trusted ; it is indeed founded on an assumption
which it would be very difticult to prove, that the centre of curvature for all
the filaments of the beam, and for the bounding surfaces, coincides with the
centre of curvature of the neutral line.

But although Mr. Hodgkinson has probably made an improvement in the
theory in the particular here alluded to, we by do means assent to one of the
assumptions on which this theory proceeds, namelv, that the parts of the
section will be extended or compressed according to their distance from the
neutral. We think that enough has been said to show that the bottom flange
cannot be in a state of uniform tension throughout at equal distances from
the neutral axis. At all events this ought to be proved before it is
assumed.

It should be mentioned that the works before us contains a large portion
of the results already communicated in reports to the British Association.
The theory of the strength of materials is daily assuming a more complete
form ; in fact there is scarcely any branch of the philosophy of engineering
of which so much is known. The subject is one which has been illustrated
by the splendid talents of Euler, Bernouilli, and many others of almost equal
celebrity : but the merit must undoubtedly be awarded to Mr. Hodgkinson,
of having realised the investigations, and of having given to them that cer-
tainty and method which alone can render them useful to the practical
engineer.

WILLIAM OF WYKEHAM.

The annual volume of the Archoeological Institute is just published. It
refers almost exclusively to the architecture of Winchester. The following
extract, from a paper by Mr. Cockerell, wdl show that we are not singular
in our notions of the necessity of faithfulness in architecture. The extract
refers to the artistic merits of one who, if worthier notions of the funda-
mental principles of art were generally entertained, would be esteemed in-
comparably the greatest of English architects:^

" The chief expression of Wykeham's architecture is its constructive cha-
racter ; throughout we trace the sound builder, the able mason, the inge-
nious carpenter, whose well-designed operations satisfying the mind, carry
with it the fancy, by natural consequence, in harmonious consent; and an
unsought felicity follows as a matter of course. He wrought out his design
through the model, and an intimate knowledge of the materials, and careful
consideration of the wants and requirements on the spot. His cornices and
labels and watertables explain their purposes of carrying off the wet; the
buttresses are never for ornament alone, but proportioned to the support
and durability of the edifice. No parasitical excrescences obtrude them-
selves ostentatiously, no parts and prettiuesses are indulged which may not

be accounted for by a natural grace and logical fitness He

was one of the first to recognise the utility of the four-centred arch, and to
employ its depressed form where a superincumbent floor made it convenient.
It is probable that he did not encourage that fashionable adoption of it,
which introduced it (under Edgiugton, his predecessor in the see of Win-
chester) into the cathedral itself, for we find uniformly the two-centred arch
in his halls and chapels; while the four-centred was confined to situations
of limited elevation. He was one of the first to condemn the tenuity, elon-
gation, and weakness, real and apparent, of the Lancet and Decorated style,
and to introduce the so-called Perpendicular, which, fortified by its muUions
or constructive subdivision of skeleton framing, or network, the enormous

]846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

319

openings then demanded by the growing fashion of fenestral decoration ; as
Chaucer says,

richly peint
With lives of many divers seiut.
He ahandoned the high-pitched shingle roofs, excluding sun and air, and
was one of the first to employ the low pediment, and roof covered with
lead; and in his works we first discover the liammer-bearu roof in all its va-
rieties— -a system of the highest ingenuity and constructive economy, hotli
for space and material, as well as beauty and power, as exhibited in West-
minster Hall, Elthara Palace, Windsor Hall, and our college chapels and
halls.

BARKER'S MILL.

Sir — Perhaps through your valuable journal you would be kind enough to
decide the following argument : — Doctor Barker's Mill. One gentleman
argues " that the power is obtained by the resistance of the atmosphere to
the egress of the water, thereby causing a reaction."

The other gentleman denies such to be the cause, and says, " that it
would revolve with greater power if placed in vacuum." Leaving it for you
to decide, with many apologies. I remain, Sir, your obedient servant,

A Constant Reader.

In Barker's Mill the supply of water is obtained from a cistern placed at a
considcraliln height above the revolving tubes or arms, which, if the orifices
of them were stopped, would sustain a hydrostatic pressure acting equally in
all directions, and proportioned to the depth below the surface of the water
in the reservoir. When, however, the orifices are opened, there is, ii. "ach
revolving tube, a predominating pressure on one side of it ; for it is clear
that the internal area of one side of the tube exceeds that of the other
sides by a quantity equal to the area of toe orifice.

The motion is in the direction of that side of the tube which sustains the
greatest pressure. The external air is a cause rather of retardation than ac-
celeration, on account of its resistance to each arm on the side opposite to
the orifice. It may be easily conceived that if the atmospheric pressure
accelerated the motion, an increase of that pressure would increase the ac-
celerating force. If this view were correct, the arms ought to revolve more
rapidly if immersed in mercury, which certainly would not be the case.

Very similar to Barker's mill in its mode of action is the rocket used in
pyrotechny and for military purposes. Here the iguited powder generates
an elastic gas, which presses on one end of the chamber containing it, hut
escapes bythe open end ; the motion is, of course, in the direction of the
end subjected to the elastic pressure. The external air tends to retard the
escape of the gas, and, to a certain extent, increases its pressure by partially
confining it ; but the accelerating force so gained is far more than compen-
sated for by the resistance which the air acting on the external surface of
the rocket offers to the motion — a resistance varying nearly in the square of
the velocity.

The revolving steam-machine of Hero, of Alexandria, is another instance
of the application of the same mechanical principles as those of Barker's
Mill.

The apology with which our correspondent concludes his note is quite
unnecessary ; we know no better way of serving the interests of our sub-
scribers than by considering questions like the present as they arise, and con-
tributing as far as we can to the solution of them.

ST. MICHAEL HEAVITREE.

Mr. Editor — In this month's Journal, at p. 291, under the head of St.
Michael Heavitree, is a small paragraph relative to the new church there,
which was designed by me, and executed under my sole superiulendance.
The paragraph is altogether erroneous ; and how it could have crept inlo
your paper, generally so accurate, I am a loss to ihink. Who Mr. Alex-
ander is I cannot think, no such a person was ever in any way connected
with the matter. Will you please in your next number to correct this. If
you can find, next mouth, space for a few concise particulars relative to
the church, which is a large one, and esteemed highly in this city, yuu
would oblige, and I would with pleasure send them.

Your very faithful Servant,

David Mackintosh, .Architect.

Exeter, Sept. 2, 184G.

For the following additional particulars we are indebted to Mr. Mack-
intosh, who has forwarded them at our request: —

This church has been rebuilt on an extensive scale, and in a most sub-
stantial and perniaDent manner. The style is that of the Fifteenth Century,
and all the peculiar characteristics of the ancient church (a small edifice
of early perpendicular date) have been carefully maintained and restored.
The dimensions wiihin the walls are as follows:— chancel 23 ft. G in. by
16ft.; nave 86 fi. by 22 ft. ; north and south aisles each 94ft. by 13 ft.
Gin., with a southern porch in the second bay from the west end. The
height from the stone flooring to the summit of the open roof internally is

44 ft. 6 in. The vestry is placed at the eastern end of the north aisle; ex-
ternally the walls above the plinth are built with lime stone of a blue grey
lint, from Chudleigh, and the windows, string courses, battlement, mould-
ings, and other dressings are of Caen stone. The plinth is of granite ; the
walls 3 ft. in thickness, and the gables are surmounted by floriated crosses
of rich character. The church internally is remarkable for the high pitch
of its fine open roof, consisting of 13 pair of grained principals with cir-
cular ribs of oak, wrought and moulded, and enriched with carved bosses
coloured and gilt after ancient ones in tiw. old church ; the principals spring
fnai richly carved stone tubals, and the columns and arches separating
the nave from the ailes, are a restoration in every point as regards detail
of those in the old church. They are especially rich and varied in their
foliage and capitals, and are carved with muib spirit and vigour illus-
trations of these capitals are intended to be published by the Exeter Archi-
teclural Society in their transactions. There is a fine chancel arch, richlv
moulded in Caen stone, on the north side of which is placed Ihe pulpit
hexagonel in form, and an elabonite specimen of stone carving, executed by
Rowe, of Exeter; it abounds in rich foliage, varied in eai:h compartment,
and carved in bold relief, having niches surmounted by crocketted canopies
over figures of the four Evangelists and St. Michael the Archangel. There
is a fine eagle carved in old oak, and an open Litany desk. The eagle was
carved by Mr. Winsor, who is the senior verger of Exeter Cathedral. All
the carved works in this edifice are admirably executed, and prove the
great advance lately made in Ihe correct execution of wood and stone
carving. At the east end of the chancel it was at first intended to have
restored the former window, but on inspection, being found much decayed,
as well as of a somewhat debased archilectural characler. The Rev. Dr.
Warren, of Portview, liberally presented a new window of fourlighls, and
the Rev. Arthur Atberley (the Vicar) has munificiently filled the same with
stained glass at his own expense. The design of this glass, which has
been executed in a most satisfactory manner by Mr. Robert Beer, of Exeter,
a talented and rising artist, comprises figures of the four Evangelists under
storied canopies having scrolls at their feet, on which are texts having
reference lo the Supper of our Lord. In the upper tracery are placed the
Phoenix and Pelican; the Symbols of the Evangelists; the Virgin and
Infant Jesus ; and St. Michael (the patron Saint of the Church) in conflict
with the Dragon. The south window of the chancel has a fine figure of
the Virgin bearing in her hand her emblem, the Lily, lu the south aisle
there is a good specimen of a memorial window of three lights. The first
and third are bordered after a specimen in Exeter Cathedral, in a flowing
pattern and blue glass, with the "Crown" quaiTy within, the centre bor-
dered in ruby glass with the " Trinity flower" quarry, the family arms,
and badge of the order of the Bath being inserted. At the bottom of the
window the names of the father and his two sons, buried in the adjoining
church yard are recorded, and the scripture '■ blessed are the dead which
die in the Lord" runs through the lights. The font is the gift to the church
by an old parishioner ; it is of Caen stone, large, aud highly enriched ; it
is placed near the western entrance. The bowl is octagonal, having each
panel filled with ornamental tracery, varied in each compart:nent ; the
sides of the shaft are likewise panelled with cinque foil headed arches,
aud springing from the shaft to support the bowl, are a band of angels with
expanded wings, bearing shields. For the present the old tower still re-
mains, but it is hoped, ere long, to add an adequate tower and spire, which
when complete, will render this one of the largest and finest churches in
the county of Devon. The contracter for Ihe whole of the works was Mr.
John Henshole, of Heavitree, v\ho has fulfilled all his ohligalions in the
most satisfactory manner. The works have been well done and unworthy
imitations avoided.

DIFFERENTIAL HYDRAULIC PRESS.
I think it must be evident to all who have thought on the subject, how
much superior the Hydraulic Press is to the Screw, where enormous pressure
is required ; but even in the hydraulic press, as at present made, if we wish
to increase its power to a great extent there appears but three ways of ac-
complishing it, all of which are liable to objection: the first plan is to in-
crease the size of the large piston and cylinder, thus making it more expen-
sive and unwieldy ; the second is by diminishing the size of the smaller pis-
ton, but if this is carried too far it will be in danger of bending or breaking
under the pressure which is applied to it ; the third is to obtain greater
leverage upon the small piston, which if carried too far will also be in danger
of injuring it. But it appears to nie that it is possible to diminish the acting
part of the piston to almost any extent, wliile its strength remains the same
by the plan which is given in the figure, in which i is the large piston work.
ing in the stufiing box c, and carrying the press-board v upon it ; d e'u the
small piston or forcing pump thicker at the part d, than at e, and works in
the two stufiing bo,xes/ and g-, and is nearly at the top of its stroke. A is
the pump cylinder communicating with a reservoir in this cylinder, the small
piston works, descending through a water-tiglit collar into the space s, which
is open to the air. A: is a pipe communicating with the large cyander at the

38»

520

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Oct.

end of which is a valve / opening outwards. Then if we suppose the cylinders
to be full of water, and the piston at the top of its stroke, when it is pushed
down it will force a quantity of water into the large cylinder, nearly equal to

the difference of the solidili/ of the two parts 0/ t/te piston d e, which will be
a very little if the two parts rf and e, are nearly alike ; thus giving it the ad-
vantage of a small piston while it still possesses the strength of a large one.
I have not marked the handle and other parts as they do not differ from the
usual construction.

A M'ORKING MeCH.WIC.

Neu'castle-OH- Tyne.

[The above suggestion is very ingenious, and appears likely to prove
valuable. .4s the principle of the press in its improved form is to pump into
the main cylinder a quantity of water equal in volume to the differeitce be-
tween the solid contents of the two pump-pistons we have ventured to apply
the name Differential Hydraulic Press

During the military operations of the French in .\lgeria it was necessary to
export from France hay for the cavalry liorses, and in order to compress the
hay into the smallest possible compass, it was subjected to the action of the
hydraulic press. But it was found that the operation was excessively slow,
as during the first part of it a very large quantity of water was pumped in
with little or no resistance from the compression of the hay. A similar diffi-
culty frequently occurs on less important works tlian that of maintaining a
new colony, and a very simple addition to the pump here desciibed would
probably remedy the evil.

Let the cylinder to be continued down into the space s, and let this lower
cylinder communicate by a pipe, having a stop-cock, with the reservoir, and
also by a pipe similar to k, witli the main cylinder. When the pressure at v
is small a large quantity of water may be pumped in at each stroke, and if
the stop-cock be open, the upper and lower pump pistons will both draw
water. When the pressure at v becomes great, the stop-cock may be closed
and water will be forced from the upper pump cylinder only.

By this contrivance two relative rates of working are obtained. Three or
more rates of working might be obtained by having three or more sires of
the pump-piston and a corresponding number of cylinders.]

REGISTER OF NEW PATENTS.

If additional iofonn&tion be required respecting any patent, it may be obtained at the
oflGce of this jouruiil.

HEATING BV HYDROGEN.

Joseph Pierre Gillaro, of IJue Martignac, Paris, professor of ma-
thematics and philosophy, for " Improvements in the produclion of Heat in
general." — Granted February lllh, 1846; Enrolled August Uth, It546.

The improvements relate to the application of pure hydrosen for heating
apartments, steam eugiues, furnaces fur smelting, and other purposes. The
hydrogen is obtained by driving jets of steam lhrou;<h red hot retorts con-
taining thin iron plates, when the oxygen of the steam forms an oxide on
Ihe iron, and the hydrogen of the water is set free and carried oil" by pipes
to suitable gasometers. Another process for obtaining hydrogen is by
injecting steam, %vith pulverized coal or coke, into red hot retorts, by which
means carbonic acid and carburetted hy<lrogen gases are formed ; these
gases are carried oU' by pipes to a purjtier containing lime-water, when
the carbonic acid is absorbed, and the carburetted hjdrogen carried with
another jet of steam throuj;h a second red-hoi retort, when the carbon is
decomposed and united with the oxygen of the steam forming carbonic
acid, and at the same time the hydrogen of both the steam ur.il the carbu-
retted hjdrogen is liberated; thus pure hydrogen is obtained, which is
carried off to tlie gasometer, and at tlie same time the carbonic acid is
passed to a second purifier, where it is absorbed.

For healing apartments two pipes and two gasometers are employed,
one furnished with hydrogen, and the other tilled with atmospheric air;
the pipes are so conveyed to jets at the sp^t, that the gases may be
mixed before the combustiou takes place. Two volumes of air to one
of hydrogen will be required for proper combustion.

For locomotive engines, there are to be introduced into the space occu-
pied by Ihe firebox, four or five reli.rts, as first described, for obtaining
hydrogen ; and the tender is to ha\e two or three gasometers, to hold the
hydrogen ami atmospheric air, from which the gases are to be conveyed
by pipes to burners lu the engine, for heating the retorts red hot, and at the
same time the water in the boiler. When the steam from the engine-boiler
has passed through the cylinders, instead of its escaping into the open air,
it is to be conducted by pipes to the retorts, where it is decomposed, and
the hydrogen passes from the retorts by pipes to the gasometers in the ten-
der for suppljiog the engine.

ZINC PAINT.

James Mirdock, of Staples-inn, INIiddlesex, mechanical draughtsman,
for " an Improved process for jireparitig a certain material for the purpose of
painting." (A communication). — Granted February 11; Enrolled Aug.
11,1846.

This invention relates to obtaining pure oxide of zinc, to be used for
painting instead of white lead. Zinc, or zinc ore, is put into a tire-clay
retort, open at both ends; at one end the chaige of zinc or ore is placed
and then sealed up ; the other end is left open, and communicates with a
chamber. M'hen the retort is heated, the zinc passes off in a state of
vapour, and as it comes in contact with the atmosphere it unites with the
oxygen of the air, aud forms the oxide of zinc, the vapour floating in the
chamber like a while cloud. For Ihe purpose of collecting the oxide, a
series of tine wire sieves are placed in a passage leading into another
chamber; this chamber communicates with the large chimney of the
retort furnace, and thereby causes a strong draught of air to pass from one
chamber to the other, through the wire sieves ; in doing this, the current
of air carries with it the fine particles of the oxide of zinc, aud deposits
them on the wire sieve.=, which are occasionally shaken to prevent their

MOTIVE POWER.

James Nasmvtm, of Arundel-street, Middlesex, gentlemau, for "certain
Improve merits in engines or machinery for obtaining and applying motive
power." — Granted Feb. 16th; Enrolled August 10, 1846. (Reported in
Patent Joiirnnl.)

These improvements consist in the construction aud working of engines
in a novel manner, by the agency of steam or other elastic fluids, or other
means, whereby a greater amount of power is obtained than by means
ordinaiily employed. In this iraiiroved plan, two, three, or more cylinders
may be employed, as may be required, aud the power of the motive agent,
whellier it be steam, air, or gases, or any other pressure, is made to act
alternately, first at one cud of ihe train of cjlinders, aud then at the oppo-
site end, that is to say, if there be two cylinders connected together by a
tube, the motive agent is admitted alternately above the pistou and at the
upper end of each cWinder, each being in laruo alternalely. If more
than two cylinders are uaeil, tliey are put iu connection with each other by
means of tubes, the addilioiial cylinders, whatever may be their number,
are always iu pleno (that is to say), they are filled with air, or some other
elastic or non-elastic fluid, the pistons of which cylinders move up and
down simultaneously with the two end cylinders. The pistons of tlie two
end cylinders I'r of those which are alternately in vacuo as before explain-

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

321

ed, are actuated alternately by the iatroduction of the motive agent into
the cylinders above the piston. On the opposite side of the piston the
space which intervenes between the pistons of the two steam cylinders, is
occupied with air or any other elastic, or non-elastic fluid, not susceptible
of condensation. It will be understood that the tubes which connect the
cylinder together, as well as the additional crlinders, which are placed
between the two end ones, are also kept full of air or other elastic or non-
elastic fluid, not susceptible of condensation; therefore the power received
by the piston of either of the two end cylinders, which are alternately in
vacuo, is simullaneously transmitted to any other piston or pistons in any
other cylinders which may be situated between the two end ones, and these
additional cylinders may be placed at any distance or in any position that
may be required, always provided that the communication is kept up by
means of tubes.

If two cylinders only be employed, they are connected with each other
below the piston by a tube, steam only being admitted above the pistons
alternately; therefore when the steam exerts a force to depress the one, the
opposite piston is acted on by the exhaustion from the condenser, also by
the elastic or non-elastic fluid rushing from one cylinder to the other.

When air compressed, or any other elastic fluid, is employed as the mo-
tive asent, it is admitted iu the same manner as steam, and the same ellect
■will result from the same arrangement of cylinders and the connecting
tubes, whether the cylinders be two or more ; with this difference, that the
air which has followed the piston must be withdrawn by air-pumps out of
the cylinder, in order that there may be a vacuum above the piston,

LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES.

Robert Nisbet, of Lambden, Esq., for " certain Iinproi-cments in Loco-
moiite Engines and Railways." — Granted February 19 ; Enrolled August
19, 1846. — Reported in the Patent Journal.

These improvements consist in making such additions to engines and
railways, as to enable a train to ascend, at a very slightly diminished
speed, almost any incline. A toothed circle or ring is bolted, or otherwise
secured to the rim of each driving wheel of the locomotive engine, or, if
necessary, a circle of teeth may be attached to each side, the diameter of
which, at the pitch line, must of course be the same as the diameter of the
sole or hearing periphery of the wheel. Racks corresponding with these
toothed rings are laid down at the inclined portions of the railway, aud
may either be secured to seats formed iu the chairs for their reception, or
bedded on separate longitudinal sleepers laid for that purpose; they are
continued beyond where the gradient commences, to the distance equal to
the length of the longest train likely to travel thereon; at the beginning,
or where the toothed rings first take into these racks, the pitch line is
placed below the level of the rails, and the teeth at the same point are
bevelled off on one side to a sharp edge. From this it gradually rises
until it attains a proper level, and the teeth at the 6ame time are bevelled
less in proportion as they rise, until they assume a proper shape. This
arrangement will facilitate the junction of the rings with the racks, and
prevent any possibility of the teeth of the one coming opposite the teeth of
the other.

On railways intersected with many crossings, he prefers making use of
only one circle orf" teeth to each wheel ; this he places on the inside, as
where the flange passes there will be room for it; also by cutting a portion
of the rail away, through which it may pass freely.

By another arrangement, the toothed rings are secured to the driving
wheels by means of fourshort links, on which they swing, placed at equal
distances on (he circumference, and will admit of their being raised two or
three inches, so as to clear the rails in crossings, or any other obstructions
likely to be met with. The toothed rings, in this case, are acted on by
a lever, over which the driver has contiol, who raises or depresses
them accordingly,

He states that he is aware that toothed wheel and racks have before
been applied to railways, throughout their entire length, and which method
of propulsion he does not claim. But he claims the bxing of toothed circles
or rings to the driving wheels of locomotive engines, for tiie purpose of
ascending inclines, and also for retarding iu its descent. (This is not new.
— Ed. C. E. and .\. Journal.)

VENTILATION OF MINES.

William Price Strute, of Swansea, civil engineer, for" Improvements
in vent Hating mines." — Granted March 11 ; Enrolled Sept. 11, 1S46.

The improvements relate to an apparatus for exhausting the air out of
pjines, for the purpose of ventilating them and withdrawing explosive gases
formed therein. The patentr e proposes to effect these objects by an appa-
ratus, that will draw a continued current of air through the upcast shaft of
the mine, consisting of two large cylindrical tanks built of masonry or other
suitable material, partially filled with water; within the tanks are to be sus-
pended two inverted chambers similar to gasometers. From each tank two
air-tight enclosed passages are to be formed leading to the upcast shaft, one
passage to lead from the top of the tank above the inverted chamber, and
the other passage to lead from the underside of the inverted chamber, just
above the water line; each of these passages are to be furnished with valves
oiiening inwards, and also with valves opening outwards to the external air,
the valves to be of the same area as the upcast shaft, and are recommended
to be made in compartments of plates of metal faced with Isather, bolted on
to a framing, the leather forming a hinged joint.

For working the apparatus a horizontal shaft is set in motion by a steam
engine, or other power. This shaft passes through the sides of the tanks to
the centre, and at each end of the shaft is fixed a crank, attached to a con-
necting rod ; the upper end of the rod is fixed to the centre of the inside of
the top of the inverted chamber. When the shaft is set in motion, the
cranks, which are set at each end of the shaft opposite to each other, are
made to rotate, and by them the connecting-rod causes the inverted cham-
bers to be raised and lowered alternately, so that at each stroke of the engine
a quantity of air is displaced equivalent to the capacity of the two inverted
chambers. By this arrangement the air is withdrawn from the upcast shaft to
each tank through the inlet valves, first under the inverted chamber, then
over it, and as the chamber rises the air is expelled out of the tank above
the chamber through the outlet valve, and at ihe same time the interior of
the chamber is being filled with air from the upcast shaft, and when the
chamber descends the outlet valve is closed, and air is drawn from the upcast
shaft through the inlet valve to the upper part of the tank above the cham-
ber, and at the same time the air is forced out of the interior of the inverted
chamber through the outlet valve. Thus a continued current of air is being
withdrawn from the mine through each tank.

ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS.

Hfnry Heighton, M.A., of Rugby, Warwickshire, for " Improvements in
electric telegraphs." — Granted Feb. 3 ; Enrolled Aug. 3, 1846.

This invention relates to the introduction of an apparatus to supply the
place of the magnetic needle now used for electric telegraphs. The appara-
tus consists of a glass tube fitted with brass caps at top and bottom, and
having a strip of metallic leaf (gold leaf is recommended as best) passing
through the centre of the tube, loosely hung in metallic contact with the
brass caps ; the upper extremity of the leaf being fixed at right angles to
its lower end. so that; the leaf, from whatever direction seen, will present at
some part its flat surface to the eye. Tue brass caps are placed in a circuit
suitable for electro-telegraphic communication. Near to the leaf (as on the
outside of the glass) is placed either of the poles of a magnet. The effect
of this arrangement is, that when a current of voltaic electricity is caused
to pass through the circuit, and thereby, the metallic leaf, the latter is de-
flected to one side or the other, according to the direction of the current ;
.-ind the distinct motion so obtained may be repeated and combined and used
for the purpose of designating letters or figures or other conventional sig-
nals. One of the apparatus is to be placed at each terminus of telegraphic
communication, and others may be placed at intermediate points, each to be
provided with a voltaic battery and one of the key-boards used in single
magnetic-needle electric telegraphs.

NOTES OF THE MONTH.

Bavaria Canal. — This canal, which has been opened for a few months,
promises to he of the highest importance to commerce, by it the Rhine and
Danube, and consequently the Black and North Seas are united. A
vessel can transport its cargo from London or Rotterdam across Bavaria,
Austria, Hungary, and Wallachia,as far as Trebizond and Constantinople,
This canal, bearing the name of Ludtcigts Kanal, was executed by the
King of Bavaria.

Tetegrajiitic Wires. — A new coating has been applied to the wires of
the Munich and Augsburg railway telegraph, the invention of Profeesor
Steinheil, of Munich, it possesses the properties of protecting the wires
from lightning.

We are happy to announce, observes the Athenieum, that the Budrua
JIarbles, secured to us by the exeitions of Sir Stratford Canning, have ar-
rived from Asia Minor, and are now safely deposited in the British Museum.
The pieces of frieze of which this most interesting collection consists have
been removed from the walls of the Turkish fort into which they were
built; and where they have, from time to time, been noticed by Europeaa
travellers — though no very critical account of them has ever been publish-
ed. Budrun, as is well known, occupies the site of the ancient Halicar-
nassos ; and it has, with great probability, been supposed that these sculp-
tures formed part of the celebrated mausoleum erected, iu that city, by
Artemisia, Uueen of Caria, to the memory of her husband, Mausolus, B.C.
350— and have, like the frieze of ihe ■ieiiiple of Victory, at Athens, been
used by the Turks as the building materials of a fort erected on the site of
this monument. If this opinion be correct, these sculptures have an his-
torical value scarcely less than those of the Parthenon ; for we learn from
ancient writers that the frieze of the Mausoleum was the work of four of
the most celebrated artists of the day, — Bryaxis, Leochares, Scopas,Timo-
iheos, — or, according to Vitruvius, Praxiteles. The Budrun Marbles
would thus represent the style of a period in the history of Greek sculp-
ture, of which, from the want of dated monuments, our knowledge is most
uncertain,— the century preceding the reign of Alexander the Great, aud
distinguished in the history of art as the Praxitelian period. \V e will
describe these sculptures as far as a first hasty examination will enable us.
The subject, like that of the Phygalian and Lycian friezes, is a battle with
-Amazons. At the first glance, we are struck by the masterly composition
of the groups, the knowledge and skill which distinguish the Alheniaa
.-school. As the eye dwells longer and compares more critically, we per-

323

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECrS JOURNAL.

[OOTJ

ceive certain perculiarities distingnishing the style from that of the older
Greek friezes with which we are acquaiuted. With no trace of the care-
less, barbaric ignorance so apparent in the Lyrian friezes, with more ela-
borate a«d skilful execution than the Fhygalian, these sculptures still want
the simplicity, repose, and unconscious beauty of the art of Phidias.
Though the general composition is finely conceived, the design and treat-
ment are not without mannerism. The true proportions of the fijurfS,
when compared w ilh those of the Elgin sculptures, appear unnaturally
elongalud ; and the graceful flow of the draperies is singularly contrasted
with the poverty and meagreness of some of the anatomical details and the
constraint of the attitudes. We are at once reminded of Pliny's descrip-
tion of tlie new style introduced by Lysippus ; — who, in order to give
greater height to bis figures, substituted a greater dryness of treatment for
the squareness, and full muscular development of the earlier school. \l ith
this change in the type commenced that general decadence in Art which
may be traced step by step in the coins of the Seleucidic, and other suc-
cessors of Alexander; and which, from the evidence of the Hudrun mar-
bles, according to their presumed date, must have been already introduced
B.C. 350. This is rather an earlier epoch than that from which the decline
of sculpture is usually dated : and it must be confessed that the Hudrun
friezes, when compared with the reliefs of the choragic monument of Lysi-
crales, a contemporary work, and other sculptures considered to be of the
same period, exhibit far more strikingly the characteristic of decadence ;
and might, in the absence of all historical data, be assigned with great
probability to the century after the death of Alexander, B.C. 329. Me will
not, however, here anticipate a discussion involving the historical research
and critical knowledge of art which will be required to solve the question
whether the Budrun Marbles can be identified with the friezes of the
Alausoleum. The surface of the sculpture is tolerably preserved — the
marble not of very fine quality.

Launch of an Iron Steamer at Liverpool, built by Messrs. Vernon and
Co., took place on the 8lh of September, she is named the Haddington, and
is bailt for the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company. Her
dimensions are length between perpendiculars, 221 feet, overall 240 feet,
breadth of beam 36 feet, depih of engine room 21 feet tonnage, new mea-
surement 200 tons. The engines are of 450 horse, constructed on the direct
action principle by Messrs. Bury, Curtis and Kennedy, of Liverpool.

The Norman Tower at Jiiiri/. — The great eastern arch is removed, and
the snperstruetiure will be supported by shores until the insertion of the
new arch is completed.

Excavations in the Acropolis. — The Archaiologieal Society of Athens are
busily pursuing the work of investigation. We trust they may be enabled to
set at rest the disputed points respecting the architecture of the interior of
the Parthenon.

The Electric Telegraphs of the United Stales extend to 1659 miles.

The Railway Monopolij. — A correspondent of the Times, under the signa-
ture " Cato," gives the following illustration of the effect of low fares.
The charges on the Glasgow and Ayr line are — 1st class, ^d. ; 2iid class,
l^d. ; 3rd class, |d. per mile. The returns last year were ninety thousand
pounds, the expenses thirty-six thousand pounds, leaving a profit of fifty.
four thousand pounds, or nearly sixty per cent, of the gross returns .'

The London and North Western Company are about to carry the mail to
between London and Liverpool in five hours, including stoppages.

The Doncaster Station of the Great Northern Railway will, with neces-
sary buildings and premises, occupy 35 acres.

Brighton to Havre.- -Great efforts are about to be made to effect rapid
communication between these towils. Under the auspices of the Rouen
and Brighton Railway Companies, it is proposed to deepen the harbour at
Havre, and to construct a floating breakwater off Brighton Pier. Wlien
these works are completed it is expected that passengers will be able to em.
bark and disembark at all states of the tide and wind ; and the journey
from Paris to London will occupy 12 hours.

The Folkestone Pier progresses rapidly.

The Portland Breaiumter. — Active preparations are being made for the
commencement of the works, and the transmission of materials.

The Works at Devonport are carried on with great activity. There will
be two basins, each 625 feet long; two docks, 309 feet long; another dock,
406 feet long ; and a factory, 800 feet by 320 feet.

The Gas Companies at Bristol have reduced the price of gas to 6s. per
1,000 cubic feet.

Glastonbury Market Cross is completed.

Ihe Manchester Parks appear to have cost 30,000i.

Rouen Railway. — The commission appointed to investigate the accident
from the use of liquid hydrogen gas to light the Post-ofiiee carriage have re-
ported thereon, the continued use of that method of lighting will probably
lead tu frequent explosions.

Draw- Bridge on the Brighton and Hastings Line. — There is a draw-bridge
on this line, near Lewes, similar to that over the Arun, described Vol. VIll ,
p. 269. An engine-driver, a few weeks ago, mistaking, or neglecting the
signal to stop, endeavoured to cross the river when tlie bridge was drawn
back, and, consequently, drove the engine into the water. No one was
injured.

The JtriglUvn iiailwuy Company intend to run express trains to London
in one hour and a quarter, instead of one hour and a half, as heretofore.

The New Ciuitdhall at Bristol is in Ihe late Tudor style. The front is
built of Bath stone and elaborately ornamented ; but the building is said
to be ill-ventilated and ill-lighted. Mr Pope is the architect.

St. James's, Bristol, is being restored under the direction of Mr. Fripp,
The ancient architecture is chiefly Norman, and the architect appears to
be treating it in a very unceremonious manner. He has removed an an.
cient piscina to make way for an arcade at the east end, of his own design,
and some of the pillars which have swerved from the perpendicular he has
coated with plaster to make them look straight.

Museum of Economic Geology. — A site has been prepared for the new
building by pulling down some houses in Piocadilly, near St. James's
church ; but there are great complaints of the dilatory manner in which
the works proceed.

Blackburn Exchange Buildings. — The competing designs having been
examined by Mr. Cockerell, R..\., the first prize has heeu awarded to Messrs.
Dickson and Brackspear ; the second to Messrs. Bank and Clarke ; the
third to Mr. Wilson, of Bath.

The Liverpool Dock Works. — The expenditure for the year ending June
24, 1846, is £321,491 for new works.

Kemerlon Church. — Archdeacon Thorpe's liberal offer to rebuild the north
aisle and erect aspire, at the expense of Jt;i,500, provided the parish would
contribute £500, has been accepted by the parishioners after some oppo-
sition.

Government Offices, Wliifehall. — The remains of the ancient chapel of
Cardinal Wolsey are about to follow the fate of St. Stephen's Chapel. Is
St. Margaret's Church to be the third sacrifice to the " Westminster Im-
provements" ? Verily it becomes us well to sneer in the Nineteenth cen-
tury at the iconoclastic fury of the Puritans ! Had we less self-complacency
in comparing our architecture with that of our ancestors, the following quo-
tation from a recent number of the BuiWer, might be listened to. — "The
recommendation of a select committee to remove St. Margaret's Church we
protest against strenuously ; restore it — improve it — make it a fitting ad-
junct to the neighbouring buildings, but don't think of destroying it.

The Academic des Beaux-Arts at Paris lately awarded the prizes
of architecture. The subject proposed for competition was the construction
of a Museum of Natural History. The successful candidates were— first,
M. Normand, 24 years ; second, M. Monge, 25 years ; and, third, M. Ponthieu,
29 years of age.

Manchester Soiree. — The Manchester annual soiree this month, with
Lord Morpeth in the chair, boasts of an att.-active jilatform assemblage,
whose names and eloquence will, no doubt, crowd the spacious rooms, and
bring fruitful contributions to encourage the worthily ambitious literature of
this populous place.

Wellington Statue. — Mr. C. R. Cockerell, R. A., the architect, has addressed
a letter to the Times, on the subject of this statue, and added, " one more
voice to the outcry already so justly raised against the erection of the statue
on the arch at Hyde Park corner." He calls it a solecism in art, seriously
involving the honour of the country. " The solecism consists," he says, " in
the proposition to place a statue of colossal dimensions as an ornament to a
triumphal arch of disproportionate magnitude, so that the ornament and the
principal are in danger of changing places, and ihe major may become the
subordinate of the minor ; and again, in proposing to place that ornament
on an axis at right angles with tliat of the arch itself." An unparalleled
hero, it is said, may have an unparalleled position ; but in questions of this
nature, he properly observes we naturally turn to classical examples. We\
We wish the committee would ! All Bellori's examples in his book on the
triumphal arches of Rome arc against this infatuated sub-committee ; the
architect of the arch, Mr. Decimus Burton himself, is against its being there;
the artists, the journals, and the good sense of the country have denounced
it. " Had the sub-committee condescended," fhe says, " to seek the advice
of professional men, the disgrace they are preparing for themselves, and the
trouble to the public in replacing this fine work in an accessable and proper
site might have been spared."

New Harbour at Holyhead. — The obstacles which have hitherto prevented
the commencement of the public works in this harbour, are now, it is said,
entirely removed, and the works are to be immediately begun. Captain
Beechey, of the surveying steamer the Firefly, with the assistance of Mr.
Rendell, and a number of divers from Portsmouth, made a most minute
survey of the sea ground ;that is to form the harbour ; which has proved
to be equal to that of any harbour in the kingdom. Hitherto an opinion
was entertained by many nautical men that it would always be a dangerous
harbour, on account of the supposed rocky nature of its anchorage ; but the
jiresent survey has dissipated this idea ; for, with the exception of one or
two small insignificant rocks, there is excellent holding ground within the
entire space to be inclosed for the new harbour.

At the Academie of Sciences, Paris, a i)ai)er from M. Jobard was received
on the Chinese system of boring wells by means of a rope instead of metallic
rods. He states that M. Goublet-Collet has adopted this system with the best
results in Champagne ; and that the cost is only 3 fr. per foot, without any
increase according to depth. The whole of the apparatus costs only 500 fr. —
B. Biot, in his own name and in those of Messrs. Babioet and Pouillet, read
a favourable report on an apparatus, constructed by M. Rumkorff, to facili-
tat.; the exhibition of the optical phenomena produced by transparent bodies
when they are placed between the opposite poles of a magnet of great
power.

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

3SS

Pans Academy of Sciences. — Sept.li. — A communication was received
from Mr. Morse, giving an account of the extent of ttie telegraphic lines
alreailv establislied in the United States of America. It is as follows i —

Miles.

Albany io liuff.ilo 350

New York to Boston 220

Do. to Albany 150

Do. to Washington , 230

Washington to Baltimore 40

Baltimore to Philadelphia 97

Philadelphia to New York 88

New York to Nevvhaven 84

Newhaven to Hartford 30

Hartford to Springfield 20

Springfield to Boston 98

Albany to Rochester 252

Total 1C59

Mr. Morse states, in his letter, that the electric telegraph is now the chief
mode of transmitting all the news of the Government and the important
correspondence of mercliantsand of the public generally. Its influence has,
he says, been already felt by the press. The journals of the large towns,
which were taken in the country on account of their giving the most recent
news, have lost a great number of their subscribers ; whilst there has been
a very large increase in the circulation of the journals of the small towns
near the extreme points of the electric telegraphs.

New Volcano. — A letter, dated Aug. Uth, from Lieut. Barker, of the East
India Company's steamer Victoria, states, that on that day smoke was ob-
served to issue from the summit of Saddle Island, lat. 15° 7' n., long. 42°
12' E. The account adds : " The weather at the time was very squally, with
thunder and lightning. Saddle Island is one of a group called Zebayer
Islands, in the Red Sea, in the direct track of vessels proceeding up and
down , and are all of volcanic origin ; but there is neither record nor tradi-
tion of their having been in active operation. Jibble Seer, in lat. 15° 32' n.,
and long. 41° 55' e., was observed to be smoking when visited by the officers
of the Benares during (he survey of the Red Sea, but never since. There
is a tradition among the Arab pilots of its having been on fire some fifty
years ago, and it bears among many of them the name of Jibble Dookhan
or Hill of Smoke, and has the appearance of having been in active operation
at a much later period than the Zebayer Islands."

The " Great Western" Locomotive is taken off the line to be repaired,
though it has been but a short time in use.

The " Great Britain" Sleum-ship has gone ashore off Ireland. All the
passengers were rescued.

The Marley Tunnel. South Devon Line. — Fifty yards have fallen in, and
four men have been killed by the accident,

Newcastle and lierwick Railway will consist of six arches of 125 feet
span. The quantity of iron required is 6,000 tons.

On the Glasgntv and Greenock Railway, 3rd class passengers pay one
farthing per mile.

Ipswich and Bury Line. — The embankments on the Stowmarket Marsh
have sunk into the morass (which is 80 feet deep), and disappeared.

St. Mary's, Truro. — Some time back, the pillars of the chancel were
restored by the vicar. The effect was so good, that several parishioners
undertook to restore each one pillar of the nave. The improvements are
■very encouraging.

All Saints, Wigan. — %'ery extensive repairs are in progress. The ar-
chitecture is Perpendicular.

Holy Trinity, Hull. — This noble church has been the subject of a costly
renovation. The capitals of the pillars are gilded, the ceiling is coloured
blue with stars of gold, and new church furniture has been provided,

St. John's Gate, Clerkenwell. — The reparation progresses slowly. All
that the funds suffice for is the rebuilding the parapets in brickwork, and
pointing tlie stonework where it is not too much decayed.

Whitfield, in Glussop. — A new church in the Early English style is
nearly completed : it has a lofty enriched steeple.

The New Music Hall, in Licerpool, has been commenced. It is to be in
the Italian style, and will contain 2,300 people. Mr. Cunningham is the
architect.

Manchester. — The Infirmary is enlarged. Two large Catholic churches
are being built.

The Brussels and Antwerj) Telegraph is open to the public. The charges
are, for communicating from 1 to 20 words, _/ii)e francs; reply, one penny ;
sending it to the residence of the inquirer, five pence. In England the
charges are from twelve to twenty times dearer. How much better (is the
old remark) do they manage these things on the Continent ! But John
Bull has plenty of money, and can afford to spend it. On all the lines ter-
minating in London five shillings is the lowest charge for a telegraphic mes-
sage ; and 8d. per mile is usually charged for sending a porter to communi-
cate the message in any part of London.

NOTES ON FOREIGN WORKS.

The Water-cities vf China. — The French commissioners lately returned
from that country, have added much to our present knowledge of those
curious habitatious of the Chinese. That country is literally paved with
human beings, hence great numbers have chosen the waters for an abode —
their they are born, live, and die. Canton, for example, has a floating
city on the Tchou-Kiang. Eighty thousand barges are there at anchor,
and form regular districts and streets. Allowing to each barge only ten
inhabitants, which is surely not enough in a country where families are
very numerous, tliis rivercily will have a population of nearly a miilioa
of souls. The cities in the interior resemble rather ants' nests than any
thing else. The wonder of all is the city of Sou-tchou, on the Imperial
Lake, 180 miles from the sea, with which it communicates by a marine
canal, accessible to the largest vessels. M. Hedde, one of the commis-
sioners, has vi.^ited it, and stales the number of its inhabitants at twenty-
five millions (?) Of these, ten millions live on the waters— viz., in the
port and the canals of the city. Up to a certain age, the children in these
water-cities have a sort of wooden buoy attached to their shoulder, which
preserves them if they fall in the water. Not only men, but even animals live
on these barges, and ducks, to an enormous extent, fill up the decks and
holds of barges and vessels.

Panoramas of the Principal Cities of Russia. — The attention of the
people of Moscow had been attracted, during the summers of 1844 and
1845, towards a person, who every day established himself on the platfoi-m
of the steeple of Ivan-Veliki, and remained there until sun-set. This
height commands a view of the holy city and fifteen leagues around it.
They knew, in fiue,that this curious personage was M. Acaric Baron, a
French artist, who painted a panorama of the old city of the Czars. The
higher classes of Moscow thus took an interest in the artist. Such was
the renown of his prseverauce and skill, that the Emperor wanted to see
him, and M. Acaric-Baron received orders, as soon as his beautiful car-
toons were completed, to repair to St. Petersburg. His Majesty, after the
inspection of the work, ordered that the panorama of Moscow should be
placed in one of the rooms of the Imperial palace. M. Acaric obtained,
moreover, permission to publish his work on stone, and the Emperor and
Prince Leuchtenberg headed the list of subscribers. It is now spoken
of, that M. Acaric will receive commands to paint the panorama of St,
Petersburg and the other large cities of Russia.

Art in Italy. — The Italian Academies, like those of other countries, lay
under the imputation (right or wrong, we shall not decide), that the truly
vivifying and pregnant spirit has departed from them. It is to be taken
into account, however, that while all other instructional institutions aim
only at the affording of the current stock of knowledge and acquirements,
art-academies, ou the other hand, are only then praised, if they have pro-
duced extraordinary talents. More than ever, Italy is engaged in the ex-
ploration of her subterranean treasures; and soon, the art-specimens of her
old inhabitants— the Etruscans and others — will cover the presses and
tables of our museums. As to the general mode of exhibition, we may
rejoice at the greater adherence to historical arrangement now generally
resorted to; while, ou the other hand, those merely arbitrary shiftings of
the specimens of art in the Vatican, or the pasting of a row of tickets ou
them (requiring the constant purchase of new catalogues), as has been
done at Naples, are far from being commendable. Even the, perhaps
well-intentioned, transposition of the antiques in the Villa Albani inspires
us with grief, when we think that the former arrangement had originated
with Winkelmann. The picture galleries of Italy lose, at times, by the
circumrotation of men's fortunes, their fairest gems ; and thus that splen-
did picture of Francesco Francia, of the Ercolani Palace at Bologna, has
gone to Russia. Others, however, refuse any offer, as for instance, the
Duke of Terranuova, in Naples, who praises his Holy Family, by Ra-
phael, painted for one of his ancestors, like a family relic. <Jn the other
hand, many hitherto forgotlen.or buried pictorial treasures are brought to
light, as, for instance, the paintings of Gritto at Florence, in the Bargello,
or the Last Supper of Raphael in the convent of St. Onofrio delle Mo-
nache, in the same city. Collections which, hitherto, were scarcely con-
sidered of any note, like the Royal Palace at Turin, are better known and
appreciated, and at Rome a new one has sprung up, which has made a
splendid beginning, with the acquisition of the great Altar piece of
Filippo Lippi. In several galleries the lighting from above has been
introduced ; if, however, this is not done efficiently, it will always be
unsatisfactory, especially were pictures of small size are to be viewed.
Moreover, such a half-light from above will make pictures appear in an-
other light than that in which they were painted, and in which the artist
intended them to be seen.

X.<.<e Excai-ations in Italy. — M. Alessandro Fran9ois, known by his for-
mer sucesses in the above enterprise, has began of late some excavations
at Chinsi, in the so-called Nun's bush, and his tact is so correct, that after
he had traced his lines, by the work of only six excavators, after the short
space of two hours, the vestiges of an ancient tomb were found. Further
exertions laid open the row of tombs, which led to the subterranean cham-
ber. To penetrate, however, to this, full six days of incessant labour
were required, as the Hypogoeum lay at a tremendous depth. This con-
sists of three rather large rooms, of which the first is adorned with wall-
pictures. Two, however, only have been preserved. One represents a
chase — two men and a dog pursuing a hare. The other consists of two
persons, who are received by another, sitting, with a certain air of solemn-
ity. A flute player stands beside them. 'The pictures are made in an

324

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Oct.

exceedingly delicate and free manner. In the middle of liie first to<nb
there are also paintings — viz., two red tents, whose ends are extended by
two genii. The pictures of the ceiling are in a perfect state of preserva-
tion, being red cnssetons with a dark border. The minor contents of these
tombs were also interesting, as besides several paierce with charmioi; de-
sii;n^' fragmcnis of works in bronze and gold, and a very fine vase of
(Merite with fine relievo rl^sijjns, were discovered. The Princes^ of Ca-
nino rontinues to explore the environs of Civila Vechia, the ancient city of
the Vulci They have hfen resumed this ye;ir near Ponte Uotto, on the
banks of the Fiora — the locality where, \n^t year, the fragments of some
splendid bronze chariots were discovered. The worknen have (!iis time
found a large sepulchral chamber, in which two huge sarcophagi were met
with. The one is of that rock called ncnfro, and the other of marble, or
rather alabaster — the latter being ten yards long, and on the lid are two
figures of natural size. The main tomb is covered all ar)und with basso-
relievos of tine design, well preserved. They represent scenes of com-
bats, and also some of those figures, often to be met with, where bulls are
delaniated by lions and grifiins. On the upper rim is an F.truscan inscrip-
tion ! Such sarcophagi have never before been found at Vulci. A'ery in-
teresting and extraordinary is the following : It has been found here, that
in the walls on whicli sepulchral vases have been, most probably, placed
in the time of the Romans, fragments of vases with very tine designs had
been used as an admixture of the cement or mortnr of the walls. It is
obvious, that at a period when such could have been done, the value and
estimation of these Etruscan vases must, for some reason or other, have
been completly exploded.

The J)onau-Main Cannl — The iVonument. — This '.reat undertaking,
uniting (at least, for smaller craft) the German Ocean with the Black
Sea — projected by Charlemagne and carried out by Lewis of Bavaria — has
been fully concluded by the erection of a monument at the place where its
construction had been the most difficult and expensive — the Burgberg,
near Krhingen. The canal had to pass close to the banks of the Kegnitz,
between two vertical walls, whose distance is 24 feet, and which are, at
some places, 30 feet high. For the sake of widening the space taken up
by the Hamberg-Niiremberg road, it had to be extended in the direction of
the canal, part of the Burgberg to be cut, and the considerable terraces
protected by wails, rising in several stories. The space between Erlangeu
and the Burgberg, about 4,i)00 feet in length, occasioned considerable
trouble and expense, as a dyke 2,100 feet long, and of an average height
of 15 feet, had to be made up to tiie banks of the Swabach. This dyke is
protected by a wall I ,r)00 feet long, which, like some Komau structures of
the kind, is dressed with hewn stones. On this spot the monument is
erected, whose foundation consists of blocks from the quarries of Kehlheim,
some weighing 25 tons. It is Schwanihaler who made the designs, exe-
cuted by some of his best pupils. The material selected for the four sta-
tues is also the splendid .[uralimestoue of Kehlheim, and they were cut
out, in their rough s'ate, in the quarrv itself, as tlie block for the statue of
the Danube alone weiglis 40 Ions. The two reclining statues are 17 feet,
and the two standing ones 14 feet, in length. The execution of this work
occupied four years, and it was though lit that lliey should be first objects
to be conveyed on the canal, along its whole extent, from Kehlheim to
Bamberg. The monument is 48 feel hinh and 42 feet broad, and its base-
ment bears the following iubcriptiou in brnnz" : *' Donau and Main — fiir die
SchifiTarth verbuoden— eiu Werk vou Kail dem Grossen versucht, durch
Lndwig I., Ki'mig von IJayern neubegDimen nnd voUendel." Beside this
inscription is a bronze trident and an oar, -iilnriied with wreaths. At the
base, a copious stream of w-iter issues Irom a bronze lion's head. The
statue of ihe Rhme represents a vigorous man, whose upper part is un-
covered, and exhi'dts a powerful, maidy chest ; the features are stern, and
the head, adorned with garlands of vine, is turned towards that of the
Danube, represented under the form of a virgin, reclining in placid repose.
Commerce and Industry are reptesented by two other female figures. The
whole appearance of Ihe monument, whnse background is formed by a
somewhat receding mountain covered with oak trees, is imposing and
noble. — And to show, in fine, that ir is understood now on all hands, that
industry, commerce, and the arts can never exist isolatedly to any perfec-
tion, the die-siker of the king, M. Neuss, of Augsburg, has executed a
fine medal tii commemoration of the above great achievement for the com-
munication of n)iddle Kurope.

Panama <!an(il — The Freneh Mmvieur states, that the proceedings be*
tween the I'rench-F.nglish Company for the canalizing of the straits of
Panama and the government of New Grenada, have arrived at that point,
that nothing but some minor matters remain to be settled. Ii was M.
Klein, agent to the Company, who had negotiated at ISagola with the i*re-
sident of New (Grenada.

Effects of the late Earthquake in Hahj. — A great many scatfoldings yet
to be seen in the streets of Leghorn, attest the severity of the shocks; and
the damage caused in that city alone is valued at two millions of livres.
In Pisa it was necessary to demolish whole houses.

A whole Mountain of Grecian Antiqiiitits to he Purchanedf — A German
traveller in Asia Minor seriously puts forth the suggestion, for any friend
of antiquities to purchase the mount near Priene, on the banks of the
Meander. On the plateau of the hill lay a world of ruins of the old show-
buildings, amongst which are the huge ruins of the famous temple of
Athene. Our informant says, that with two tliousanrl dollarsi a mountain
of, columns, marble slabs, frieses, &c., could be acquired.

IjIST or NBW PATENTS.

GRANTED IN ENGLAND HIOM AUGUST 25, 184G, TO SEFTBMBER 24, 184G.

Six Months allowed/or Enrolmentt unless othertoise expressed.

Alfred Kriipp, principal of the house of Frederick Krupp, of Eswn, Prussia, but now
of Leiceslep-siiuirtf, for "certain Inprovements in tbe manufacture of spoons, forks, and
other similar wares, and in the machinery, or apparatus, employed therein, parts of wliich
ar« also applicable to other manufacturing proccj^es." — Sealed August I'G.

Thomas Wroughton. of Eltbam place, Kenninffton, gentleman, lor " certain Improve-
ments iti apparatus and iiistnimenis for ventilation and respiration." — August '2i'».

Henry Bessemer, of Baxter-house. Old St. Pjncrns road, eoKiaeer, '* certain Ituprore-
meoti in railway engines and caniages, parts of which improvements are applicable to
the propelling of steam vessels, and to motive purposes generally." — August 20.

Richard Clnrkp Hurlelgh, of Bath, gentlemjn, for "certain Improvements in artificial
light."— August L'S.

Arthur Howe Holdsworth, of Brookhill, I>.irtmoiith, Devon, Esq., for " Improvements
in buoys and giving buoyancy lo boats." — Augusc 'J'J.
James Hoydell, of Oak-farm-works, near Dudley, ironmaster, for "Improvements in

applying appiiratus to carriages to facilitate the draught."— August 'J'.K

\Villiam Air Forstcr, of Gla^igow. leather merchant and boot maker, for " an Improved
mode of making belts fi>r driving machinery, traces, reins, and other articles of leather^
felt, or parchment, and for an improved apparstus or machinery for the same." —
August 2i».

Alexander Debain, manufacturer, of Pari?, France, for "certain Improvements appli-
cable to keyed musical instruments." — August '2'J.

James Roose. of Darteston, Stafford, tube manufacturer, for ''Improvements in the
manufactu'c of welded iron tubes." — August 2'.'.

Henry Hensun, of Hampstead, Middlesex, gentleman, for " certain Improvements in
railways, and in railway carriages, having for ihcir object the better accommodation add
security of the public." — August 31 .

James Warren, of JMontague-terrace, Mile- end -road, gentleman, for ** Improvemrnts in
the manufacture of cast screws." — August 31.

Frederick Henry West, of tlie City-road, Middlesex, gantlemen, for "certain Improve-
ments in securing corks in bottles, jars, and other vessels to contain liquids and other
matters, and also Improvements in such bottles and otlur vessels." — August .'Jl.

Nicholas Harvey, of Hayle Foundry, St. Krth, Cornwall, for "certain Improvements
in filtering of w.iter for steam engines and boileis."— Sapt. 3.

James Coles, of Harley-street, Cavendish-square, Middlesex, surgeon, for " Improve-
ments in apparatus for the prevention and treatment of distortions of the spine and
chest, also for treatment t f diseases of the spine and other disorders where a recumbent
position of the patient is required."— September 3.

George Senior, of Bradford, York, gentleman, for "certain Improvements in washing
cleansing, scouring, and bleaching silk, cotton, wo(d, and fibrous substances generally,
also in dyeing, combing, carding, spinning, felting, niilling,or otherwise treating or pre-
paring fibrous substances generally." — September ;(.

Peter Armand Leconte de Foutainmoreau, of New Broad-street, London, for '* certain
Improvements in the machines for the manufacture of bricks and other plastic pro-
ducts;" being a communication from a foreigner residing abroad.- September 3.

Charles Ylery, of Rue St. Lazare, Paris, France, engineer, for " Improvements in as-
certaining and regulating the speeds and times of railway trains."— September 10.

Moses Poole, London, gentleman, for "Improvements in treating vegetable fibres to
render them applicable to the manufacture of paper." (Being a communication.^ — Sep-
tember 10.

Charles Richardson, of Dalston, Middlesex, gentleman, for "certain Improvements in
making and refilling of sugar, and in the machinery and appartus employed therein."
(Being a commuDiration.) — September 10.

David Daries, of Wigmore-street, Cavendish-squar^, Middlesex, for " certain Improve-
ments in steps for carriages and other purposes."— September 17.

Richard Ford Sturges, of Birmingham, Britannia ware manufacturer, for " Improve-
ments in filtering app^i'atus, and in apparatus lor making tea pots, aud other vessels of
metal."— September 17.

James ''\ illiam Bowman, of Great AHe-streel, Middlesex, for " Improvements in re-
burning animal charcoal." — September 17.

William Palmer, of Suttoii-street. Clerkenwell, manufacturer, for " Improvements in
the manufacture of lumps and candlesticks, and in gas and other pillars and pipes." —
September 17.

Henry Franklin, of Marstone Mortaine. Bedfordshire, for " Improvements in the maou-
facture of bricks, tiles, and other like articles." — September 17.

Frederick Biown. ot Luton, Bedfordshire, ironmpnver, for " Improvements in ovens ft>r
kitchen-ranges."— September 17.

William Edward Newton, of <jt», Chancery-lune, for " Improvements in preserving fruit
and vegetables."- September 17. — (A communication.)

Henry Wrigg, of Upper HoUoway, Middlesex, civil engineer, for "certain Improved
mtaiis or methods of diminishing draught and friction ii- carriages and other conveyances.'*
—September 17.

James Lamb, of Canal Koad, Kingsland-road, for '* Improvements in the manufacture
of clogs."— September 24.

Altred Vincent Newton, of Chancery-lane, for " Improvements in the method of hard-
ening and tempering various articles made of steel, or of iron and steel combined ;" beinj
d communication.— September 24.

Henry Deacon, of Eccleston, Lancashire, engineer, for " Improvements in the con-
struction of flattening kilns."— September 24.

Charles Fo.x, of London Works, near Birmingham, engineer, for " Improved machi-
nery for shearing, cutting, and punching metals."— September 24.

Charles Chinnock, of Seymour-place, Litt'e Chelsea, for " Improvements in folding
and securing letters, envelopes, and covers."— September 24.

Edmund Nerot, of Lombard. street, aentleman, for " Improvements in the manufac-
ture of papier, being a communication." — September 24.

Peter Armand Lecomte de Foutainmoreau, of No. l;j. New Broad-street, city, for an
" Improvement or Improvements in the mode of manufacturing corks," being a com-
munication.—September 24.

CORRESPONDKN'TS.

Next month will be noticed " Peschel's Elements of Physics," ''Castle's
Surveying," " Mulliiis on Peat Bos:, and the construction of Roads, Railways,
and Canals in Bog," and a Tract by Sir Howard Douglas, entitled, " A Reply
to some Observations in a review of the pamphlet entitled, Metropolitan
Bridges and Westminster Improvements in the CivH Engineer and Archie
fecf'-s Journal, September 1S46."

ERK.\TUM.— The last sentence ou page 306 is editorial, and does not
belong to Mr. Koberts's remarks. It belongs to the next paragraph.

1S46.J

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

325

TRABEATE AND ARCUATE ARCHITECTURE.

The adoption of technical terms in any art usually results from a sacrifice
of one or other of the two essential requisites of a perfect nomenclature —
perspicuity and conciseness. A new compendious term which supplies
the place of a long periphrasis affords to the initiated the advantage of
brevity — while to the uninitiated it is liable to appear pedantic and obscure.
So that the addition to the list of technicalities of an art already containing
a large number of them should not be made except where the new term
supplies the place of long and continually recurring phrases, and is of it-
self sufficiently significant to be remembered without difficulty.

Now, in developing the principles of constructive architecture, we are
constantly presented with this fact — that the architecture of every age and
country of the world is separated as regards mechanical structure into two
classes — that in which the masonry sustains vertical pressures only, and
that iu which both vertical and lateral pressures are sustained. The
former consists of horizontal entablatures supported by vertical imposts,
unjointed blocks or architraves resting at their ends on piers, and
rectangular frame-work formed of transverse beams or joists sustained by
upright timbers. In the other great division are contained all structures
in which the intervals betweentwo piers, columns, or abutments, or between
the sides of iiu embrasure or other opening in a whII, are spanned by an
arch consisting of many stones so shaped and united as to be capable of
resisting the pressure of superincumbent weights. In the science of INle-
chanicsthe principles of these two methods of construction are distinguished
thus — in the first method — that in which spaces are spanned by one single
block or beam, the material is influenced by two equal and opposite forces
of tension and compression — in the latter method where spaces are spanned
by more than one block, the internal forces of the material are generally of
the nature of compression only, but there are moreover lateral forces ex-
ternal to the system, exerting outward thursts or pressures which must be
sustained by external appliances.

It is immediately obvious that these different mechanical principles
must, where the decoration is dependent on the construction, produce alto-
gether different architectural forms. Where the embrasures or intercolum-
niation are spanned by a single block, the difliculty of procuring single
blocks of great length will render it necessary that the piers or columns
should be comparatively close together, and as the pressures are wholly
vertical, the only requisite for strength is that the columns be not crushed
by the weight on them, and no great precautions need be taken to prevent
them from being overturned by lateral pressures. Consequently, in the
one mode the columns will be of nearly uniform thickness throughout their
height, and the intercolumniations will be narrow: in the other mode,
the intercolumniation may be increased and the piers will have enlarged
bases.

These considerations in their utmost generality, distinguish all architec-
ture into two grand classes : and when we regard the value and exceeding
comprehensiveness of the classification, it does not seem unreasonable to
demand that distinctive appellations should be appropriated to it, and be
received among the recognised terms of architectural nomenclature. For
the names of the two classes no words seem more natural than those con-
tained in the title of the present paper, and accordingly we assume that
all architecture is divided into two kinds — Traeeate and Arcuate.

Trabeate architecture is the most ancient. Very little reflection will
show that a system of construction, identical with that of the primitive
timber hut, would be the earliest adopted, and that the arch, a structure
requiring much mechanical skill in the workman, and much theoretical, or
at least experimental, knowledge in the architect, would be one of the
appliances of later art. The early history of the arch is very obscure;
it is however certaiu that neither Pelasgic, Babylonian, Egyptian, nor
Grecian architecture present any trace of arcuate construction : the earliest
examples which have had any important influence on modern art are cer-
tainly to be found among the Romans. Tlie nature of this influence is
admirably described in the following passages from Professor Willis's
Architecture of the Middle Ages.

" After the arch and the vault had enabled the Romans to construct
buildin2;s with small materials, it is curious to observe the struggle by
which the arch forced itself into the Decorative construction. At firsi,
the arch is used sparingly, and only in cases of necessity. It is either hid
under th^ plaster, or it is kept subservient and as if the architect were
ashamed of it as a clumsy and economical expedient, all the resources of
the Decorative construction are emploved to cunccal the important place it /
No. 110.— Vol. IX.— Notembeb, 1S4G.

holds in the mechanical structure of the building. Gradually we find the
vault first, and then the arch, assuming a more prominent place only to
pTO<\uce that discoiJatit effect which must ercr result fr urn the attempt io
harmonise two cimtendiuii; principles.

" For when the arch is employed, the diagonal strains must be provided
for; and as the Decorative system of the Greeks wai founded upon a
mechanical structure that only exerts perpendicular pressures, it is clear
that the diagonal ones must be concealed by huge rectangular masses,
decorated so as to appear as if sustaining vertical pressures only, unless
we choose to invent new forms for the diagonal props. The Romans at-
tempted concealment, and hence introduced discordance between the
decoration and mechanism of the structure. The Gothic builders, in later
times, more wisely adapted their decoration to the exact direction of the
forces required by the vaulted structure." — p. 17.

Every word of this extract demands the most attentive consideration.
No other comment is here requisite tlian the citation of a few instances of
that violation of the principles of faithful architecture which the Romans
exhibjied in their attempts to combine arcuate with trabeate construction.
In the Coliseum the weight of each story is in reality sustained by tiers
of arches ; in addition to these, however, there are entablatures between
the stories which, as well the columns between the arches, are merely affixed
to the building for show, and have no constructive purpose. The same
remark applies to the Triumphal arches, one and all : and these moreover
involve the additional solecism of being treated not as members of a
building, but as integral buildings of themselves— they have all the strength
and solidity requisite for sustaining an immense superstructure, but like
the monumental columns known by the names of Pompey and Trajan, are
isolated and sustain nothing but their own mass, or at most that of statues
of which the weight is ridiculously disproportionate to the solidity of the
supports. This species of solecism has found great favour in our own
country, and is exhibited on a large scale in the Barriere de I'Etoile, at
Paris.

Rluch, however, of the architecture of the Romans was free from the
incongruity described by Professor Willis, and even where it exists there
is frequently discernible in spite of it (not in consequence of it), great
beauty and pictorial etfect, which cannot be overlooked without an in-
tolerant adherence to systematic principles. It will, however, be our
business to show hereafter that the i\oinans gained nothing by this sacrifice
of purity and harmony — that equal vigour, variety, and depth of shadow
may be attained without violating the principles of constructive decoration
which were observed in Greek and Pointed architecture.

The opinion of the authority cited above is confirmed (with a modifica-
tion similar to that which we have just suggested,) by Professor Whewell,
who, in his " Noies on German Churches," speaks of " the Roman intro-
duction of the arch into Grecian architecture" as (ollows :—

"In this manner, then, were produced two planes of decoration ; one
consisting of the traditional scheme of the structure ; the other, behind it,
containing the real construction — the arch and the impost mouldings. And
though this combination is, in reality, incongruous and inevitably tniiisi-
tional, it would be impossible for a genuine artist not to perceive that it
disclosed an extraordinary richness and depth of effect." — p. 8.
Again, —

" The introduction of the arch undermined the Grecian system of en-
tablature, and introduced a double plane of decoration : the ruin of art
and taste supervening on this, broke up still further the Roman traditional
arrangement; caprice and the love of novelty introduced new forms of
members and ornaments into this incoherent mass: arches, of various
shapes, were invented or borrowed ; the Byzantine dome was added to
the previous forms of Roman vaulting. So far, all is a proof of disorgani-
sation. But then comes in a new principle of connexion first, and unify
afterwards. The lines of pressure [are made prominent features ; the
compounded arches are distributed to their props ; the vaults are supported
by ribs; the ribs by vaulting shafts'; the upright meeting of the end and
side is allowed ; the structure is distributed into compartments according
to such lines, each of these being symmetrical in itself." — p. 15.

If the admirers of Precedent, those who confound antiquity and excel-
lence as essentially synonomous, feel unwilling to admit the authority of
two eminent writers who characterise a large part of Roman architecture,
the one as discordant and dishonest, the other as incongruous and inevi-
tably transitional, let them reflect that the Komans were, until the time of
their emperors, so constantly engaged in foreign or domestic wars, that
they had little opportunity for cultivating the arts of peace, even if thay
had not lacked the desire and c; pacify ; that they never exhibited that

42

326

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Nov

pare love and vivid perception of the Beautiful which essenlially charac-
terised the Greek race; and, above all, that the Fine Arts were not indi-
genous with them, but imported — imported, moreover, as the exotic pro-
ductions of a tributary province. The previous education of the Komans
by no means qualified them for a comprehension of the subtle principles
of Greek art ; and wlien we consider that they appropriated its splendid
results with no patriotic enthusiasm for them— with no higher feeling,
indeed, than the love of luxury and the ostentatious magnificence natural
to victorious invaders— it is scarcely to be wondered at that they misun-
derstood the spirit in which llieir glorious spoils had beeu designed. In
a word, the Romans not only laid no claim to the artistic feeling of the
Greeks, but actually boasted of the opposite tendency of their national
genius ; and the greatest of their poets so describes them in a noble pas-
sage, in which his evident object is to paint the character of his country-
men in its fairest colours : —

" Others, I know, will more skilfully mould the breathing bronze and
shape the lifelike marble; others will excel in the arts of eloquence ; or,
by the aid of philosophy, mark out the pathways of heaven and tell the
risings of the stars. Uut, Roman ! take thou heed to rule nations by lliy
might! These shall be thy arts— to dictate terms of peace, to spare the
submissive, and subjugate the proud."*

In pur.'iuing historically the development of arcuate construction, the
next period of its progress is that subsequent to the destruction of the
Roman Empire in the West at the close of the Ufih century. The change
which architecture now experienced was not one of mere individual form,
but one which effected a revolution in its fundamental principles, and led
ultimately to the most extraordinary results, by entirely destroying the old
classic forms and substituting altogether new kinds of arcliitectural com-
position and detail. The ch 'Hges which followed the fall of the Roman
empire, though essentially similar throughout Europe, assumed two difler-
ent forms of expression in the North and South. To the Northern class be-
long the Norman of our own country, the Romanesque of France and Ger-
many ; to the Southern, the Liimbardic style of Italy and Moresque of Spain.
These two classes, though originating in the same type, never amalgamated
at any subsequent period of the art. They possess, however, certain
grand features in common, which distinguish them from their Roman
model, and are especially to be noted as the real causes of the total change
of art which ultimately ensued. The grand innovations of the Ujzantine
period were, th^n, the ostensible use of butiresses and the employment of
columns to support arches springing directly from their capit.ils. Archi-
tecture continued, however, to exhibit the discordance between arcuatioa
and trabeation : the style every where manifests itself as transitional and
imperfect — and these evident marks of transition, it may be observed
parenthetically, are of themselves sufficient objection to the modern iiiiita-
lion of Xorman or Romanesque architecture. The buttresses of buildings
of that period never possessed «ny great solidity; the hiteral thrusts of
the arch were chiefly resisted by the enormous thickness of the walls,
Still a new and fruiiful principle had been introduced — that of applying
members for the exclusive purpose of resisting horizontal strains. The
springing of the arch, also, directly from the pillars, led to greatly in-
creased freedom of construction ; — the architect was thereby enabled to
get rid of the stmight entablature, which had been a source of constant
diliicully and restraint by giving to buildings a horizontal regularity,
whi'h, combined with the verticality of successive stories, confined the
architect to what may be loosely termed a reticulated mode of construction.
It is obvious, therefore, thut until tie arch was allowed to spring imme-
diately from the columns, it would be impossible to build edifices possess-
ing the diversity of form exhibited in the Cathedrals of Spires, IMayence,
or Peterborough, or the church of St. Martin, at Cologne.

It will be seen, therefore, that the change introduced into the architec-
tnre of this period was a great step in the progress of arcuate construc-
tion towards its complete development; and although the contest between
the arch and entablature was not yet won, the casus hdli — the real discord-
ance between the two principles — had received practically an accurate
definition. The entablature still appeared, but was no longer sustained
upon columns. Where it existed, it was either supported by arches or
else was purely adscititious — that is, was simply affixed to the building for

* Excudent alii spirantia mollius sera.

Credo equ'dem : vivos ducent de inarmore vultus ;
Orabunt caiisas melius ; cceiiq'ie meatus
Describent radio, et surpenlia sidera dicent:
'J''i revere imijerio populits, Koiiiane, memento.
Hte tibi eruiit artes ; pacisque iniponere morem,
Parcere subjei-tis el debeUare supeibos. — i£u. vl. 347.

ornament, without any constructive purpose. Nor was it the only member
of the architecture of this period which was treated thus inartistic illy :
arches of decoration, corbel-tables, &c., were frequently introduced, not
constructively, but merely as clumsy contrivances for giving variety to the
surface of the masonry. It is an important practical observation respect-
ing all mixed styles such as the Kuraao, Romanesque, and modern Mon-
grel Classic, that they necessitate the eniployment of adscitious orna-
ments to conceal the mechanical structure of the architecture.

Romanesque architecture — taking tlie term Romanesque in its most
extended sense — may be considered to have lasted seven hundred years —
that is, to the end of the 12th century. At that time, another great change
took place iu European architecture — the iniruductioo of the ngival yrimitif
of France and the Early English or Lancet style here. The great formal
distinction between this style and the preceding is undoubtedly the intro-
duction of the Pointed arch. But our present object is to trace not so
much the changes of form, as those of construction which characterise
successive styles. Restricting ourselves to this branch of the subject, we
find the chief importance of the Pointed arch to consist in the lightness
and lufiiness of the structures iu which it is employed. By known me-
chanical principles it may be shown that, ccrleris paribus, the lateral thrust
of an arch is diminished as the rise, or height of the crown above the
springing, is increased. If, for instance, two arches, which sustain equal
loads, are of equal span, and resemble each other in all other respects
except their rise, be compared, the flattest arch will exert the greatest
horizontal thrust. Now, in the semicircular arch the rise could not
exceed half the span — in the Pointed arch, the rise was incr ased fre-
quently three-fold, and occasionally four-fold. It will be seen, therefore,
that in the new style the necessity of resisting lateral pressure would be
greatly diminished, and accordingly the piers and abutments aie found to
be much less massiie. The facility of sustaining great weights without
cumbrous piles of masonry at their bases, lead to the adoption of that
glorious characteristic of Christian architecture — the Spire; a member
which the perversity of modern debased architecture has applied to build-
ings in %vliich it necessitates incongruity or concealment of the mechanical
construction.

Another important innovation of the Lancet style was the increased
breadth of the buttresses. This change may at first seem inconsistent with
the diminution of the lateral pressures of the arches; but it is to be re-
membered that in the preceding style, these pressures were resisted not by
buttresses so much as by continuous walls of enormous thickness; and
that in this style the thickness of the walls was greatly diminished. So
that in the Lancet style, in fact, the appliances for resisting lateral pres-
sures were not increased, but merely rendered more apparent. In the
Norman style the whole wall formed one continuous buttress; in the new
style this continuity was broken — the buttresses were put just where they
were wanted, and no where else. Moreover, the form of this buttress was
greatly improved : instead of being of a uniform height fiom the base to
the summit (like the continuous wall) it became tabulattd — that is, di-
minished by stages. To refer again to mechanical principles, we see how
great an advantage was here gained. The mechaniial requisites of a but-
tress are that the "line of pressure" should fall wilhiu the buttress in
every part of it; so that provided the base be sufficiently broad and the
diminution of the breadth of the buttress from below upwards be not too
rapid, all the strength of a uniform structure is attained. The new form
of the buttress, therefore, effects a vast saving of superfluous material,
and, therefore, a great increase of architectural beauty.

No generic changes of arcuate construction were made subsequently to
those described. The succeeding style (the Decorated of this country)
introduced great variety and complexity of form, and the traces of the
entablature are still fainter than in Early English. Still, considered con-
structively, the arch and its appliances remained unaltered. In the third
stjie, however, the arch becomes far less acute than before. It is curious
to notice in this, as iu many other cases, the recurring cycle of variations,
which seems to be a law of art. The first innovation of Pointed architec-
ture was the lofty acute arch — now the arch becomes actually fl,itter than
in the old Norman or Roman. As a necessary consequence, the piers and
buttresses are increased in magnitude. Me have now the piers of the
nave of M'inchester, the buttresses of King's College Chapel, and the
flying buttresses of Westminster Hall.

The later Perpendicular exhibits in form, but not in reality, a return to
the Trabeate system. Horizontal lines become more frequent than here-
tofore : but they are usually confined to surface-pauellmg, transom-bars,
and similar details. They never exhibit themselves in true anhiiraves,
or single unjoiuted blocks. On the contrary, the extraordinary width now

1816.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

327

given to arches and vaulting taxed to tbe utmost the resources of arcuate
construction.

Then followed the decline of the arts. Pointed architecture became dis-
tinguished hy conventionalism and over-refinement— the sure precursor of
decay. Artistic feeling grew feebler and at last absolutely perished. A
conclusive proof that it had perished, and that caprice had succeeded to its
place was this— that men lost sight of architectural principles and cared only
for architectural forms. There arose a strange classic mania, and, as might
be expected in such an age, the classic forms were employed in utter igno-
rance or defiance of their right application. Every perversion and grotesque
absurdity which empericism could invent or ignorance tolerate received
sanction during the period styled the Revival. The confusion of arcuate and
trabeate construction e.xhibited in Roman architecture was renewed in an
aggravated form. Columns stilted to give them an undue height, their shafts
deformed by square dies disposed at regular intervals, or channelled with
sinuous lines in extravagant imitation of the natural roughness of unhewn
stone were among the minor barbarisms. What shall we say of semblances
of huge gables or pediments attached to the internal walls of buildings and
ridiculous imitations of small gables arranged in rows on the external walls ?
Sometimes we find double pediments on the outlines of two gables repre-
sented in the surface of a wall by triangles set one immediately above the
other. And sometimes we find portions of cornices cut away so as to leave
a gap in the upper or lower part of the pediment; and at other times the
pediment is polygonal or curvilinear, the curves having occasionally a con-
trary flexure. No amount of precedent would sanction these abuses which
seemed to have been perpetrated for the express purpose of bringing the
Classic forms into disgrace. Moreover, the weight of Precedent, if in this
case it have any weight, is on our side, for it was the Revivalists, not we, who
rejected its authority by appropiating the ancient forms to strange and novel

uses.

It belongs immediately to the subject to observe that in the history of Art
tbe decadence of constructive arts has generally been coeval with the ad-
vancement of the decorative. At the time when architecture has flourished,
painting, sculpture, *c., have generally been neglected, and conversely. The
noblest, purest, most faithful architecture which the world has seen since the
Christian era, belongs undoubtedly to the age of Cologne Cathedral: and yet
the uncouth forms of monumental brasses, wood carvings, and painted glass,
of that age, are inartistic in tbe extreme. They are for the most part incor-
rect in drawing, shadow, or perspective ; inaccurate in the anatomical forms
and proportion, and manifest that stiffness and uncertainty in the use of the
chisel and pencil which infallibly mark the first efforts of rude art. Monu-
mental sculptures did indeed occasionally exhibit great merit, but these works
are rare exceptions ; and those of them which exist in our country seem to
have been the productions of foreign artists. In proportion however as
architecture progressed toward decay, tbe decorative arts established them-
selves on its ruins. Tbe Chapel of Henry YII. at Westminster is filled with
the most beautiful carving ; and his tomb is one of the last and noblest pro.
ductions of mediteval art. The painted windows of King's College Chapel
have no parallel throughout the world for magnificence : executed probably
after the completion of the building, they exhibit far higher merits than
those of gorgeous colouring and minute workmanship. The composition
and drawing of the east window in particular are wonderful proofs of the
excellence to which the decorative arts had attained.

Of the era of Raphael it does not lie within the compass of our subject to
say more than that the magnificence of its sculpture and painting presents a
strange contrast to the impurity and incongruity of its architecture. Once,
and once only, in the world's history, a Phidias and Ictinus appeared toge-
ther.

The classic Revival affected England more slowly than the rest of Europe.
Among a people, whose attachment to particular forms and customs is slowly
contracted and long retained, an imported style of architecture would not
easily find favour. Even after Pointed Arcliitecture had died of old age,
many of its forms were retained. The windows of the Debased Tudor style
are mullioned and retain their hood mouldings. The Elizabethan frequently
shows a great deal of constructive faithfulness and picturesque effect, and
where it is tolerably free from classic details, presents much that is worthy
of modern imitation.

There was a trabeate style which reached its greatest perfection in the
reign of Elizabeth, which is to be noted as especially remarkable for its
character and the time in which it appeared. We mean the timber framed
architecture of the halls and manor-houses erected in this reign. This style

is frequently exhibited in great magnificence in this country, and in parts
of the continent, such as Belgium and Normandy, where timber is abundant.
The cities of Ghent, Bruges, Rouen, &c, display beautiful specimens of street
architecture, which put to shame our modern system of showy decoration.
It seems singular that a style almost purely trabeate should have flourished
at a time when great eft'orts were made to effect an incongrous adaptation of
Classic forms to arcuate construction. Nor is it less remarkable that the
timber-framed style should be so nearly faithful as it is. The gables are
treated constructively as the ends of roofs, and where columns are used, they
are generally used as supports. The fashion of aflising columns upon the
faces of walls, where they appear as mere protuberances, was of later growth.

The Elizabethan and tiraljer-framed were the last of the original styles.
The houses of tbe period of Queen Anne have indeed a certain degree of
character from the conspicuous use of the plate-band or straight arch in
doors and windows. Still it may be considered with sufficient accuracy that
no new species of construction was introduced subsequently to the reign of
Elizabeth. Since that period architecture has consisted in the imitation of
ancient styles and the reproduction of ancient forms.

We have therefore arrived at the conclusion of the historical portion of
our subject. The application of the principles which distinguish arcuate
and trabeate constructio to modern architecture, will be tbe subject of
another paper. These principles have been so systematically violated during
the last three centuries that great difference of opinion will exist respecting
their importance in architecture. The historical sketch here given may
however be useful in indicating a plan for compiling an altogether new kind
of History of Architecture. Numerous writers have already chronicled the
successive changes of architectural forms — the history of Architectural Con-
struction remains to be written.

CANDIDUS'S NOTE-BOOK.
FASCICULUS LXXI.

" I must have liberty
Withal, as large a cliarter as the winds,
To blow on whom I please."

I. Those who have suggested — altogether prematurely, it now seems —
the Tudor style, for a new metropolitan royal i-esidence in lieu of Bucking-
ham Palace, have overlooked one or two objections that present them-
selves. In (he fir-st place, the Queen herself might wish for something
altogether different from Windsor Castle,— for a "companion" or " pendant"
to it, but distinct from it in character, and aH'ording opportunity for ex-
hibiting quite another mode of embellishment. In the next, were it to be
at all similar in style to the " Palace of Westminster," immediate compari-
son between the two would be the consequence, and as it is not at all likely
that a second palace would at all rival or approach Mr. Barry's edifice, in
luxuriant oinateness, the comparison would hardly be to its advantage.
Thirdly, domestic Tudor or Elrzabethan are now so frequently employed
for buildings, which however large they may be, are the reverse of palatial
in purpose, that owing to the modern application of them those styles are
now in some degree identified with hospitals and other public buildings of
that class.

If. Surely it must have been said for Wilkie, since be himself could
hardly have uttered such a piece of extravagance as to assert that, " what
the tour of Europe is necessary to see elsewhere is now found congregated
in the single city of Edinburgh !"— At any rate he could not have uttered
any such arrant claptrap in Ids sober moments, for only the influence of
" mountain dew" could have enabled him to find " the bays of Genoa and
Naples, the Roman capitol, and tbe Grecian Acropolis, there realized."
Pity ! that he could not fancy Venice there also, and take St. George's
church for another St. Mark's. If nature has been somewhat liberal to-
wards the Northern capital by affording it a picturesque site, art has been
stingy enough. The locality may be called romanlic, but the architecture
is shockingly prosaic. Scarcely a single edifice in the whole city can be
quoted as a monument of art or superior taste, least of all those which
have been erected for the nonce as " monumeuts," to wit, the Nelson one —
a thing so truly contemptible that its architect has prudently preserved a
strict incognito ; — the fragment of the Calton Hill Parthenon that was to

42'*

328

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Nov.

hare been ; and the Scott structure, which, soolh to say, is but a very so-
soish specimen of Gothic. Probably some of the more recent buildings
may show a little advance in architectural taste, but hitherto it has been
at a very low ebb indeed, a good deal of the Edinburgh architecture being
truly Pecksniftian, although it has the advantaj-e of being all of genuine
8toue; yet it would, perljaps, be more correct to call that a disadvantage, since
the durability of the material serves to perpetuate and record the poverty
of design exhibited in the buildings themselves, and their utter want of
jesthetic value. Though the picturesque of lillh and wretchedness may
be found in many of the " wynds" and lanes in the older part of the city,
the modern architecture of th« Northern Athens is almost the reverse of
pictorial, — chillingly cold, tame, and insipid ; which accounts tor the pic-
turesque just mentioned btiiig selected by draftsmen and illustrators in
preference. The stone edifices of Edinburgh reconcile us to the " lath and
plaster" ones of London ; — as to the matter of the " lath" it happens to be
invariably of brickwork, therefore far more substantial than it has the
credit of being; and as to " plaster columns," there is no occasion to rail
at what exists only in imagination, unless it has been found that either cast-
iron or brickwork becomes transformed as to mere plaster, as soon as it is
plastereil over. — To skip back to Edinburgh, its buildings sound much
better than they hole, which accounts for the architects themselves not ever
publishing designs of them, notwithstanding the admiration they seem
to excite, if we may judge by the vapouring made about them. Drawings
are in one respect the best test of architectural design, because design is
then judged of by its intrinsic merit and the taste displayed in it, apart
from adventitious circumstances, and those of material ; the excellence of
which last, or the contrary, is not to be imputed to the architect himself.
In drawings, while stone buildings show no belter than if they were of
meaner material, the merit of tasteful design in " lath and plaster," may be
enjoyed without any drawback, and we have the satisfaction of knowing
that if the structures themselves are of perishable quality, their beauty is
rescued from deslroclion and preserved by the graver, as is the ease with
many antiquities, and also many far distant buildings which we are ac-
quainted with only by means of the representations of them.

III. The Institute is no Society for the DiflTusion of Knowledge either
nsefnl or useless. M'hat knowledge it gets it keeps to itself; and truly,
knowleilge is so valuable a commodity that it ought not to be squandt-red
away in lavish largesses to the public. The Institute is perfectly free
from the mania of proselyte-making ; it has no notion of encouraging archi-
tectural "education for the people," but leaves the people, or people who
would fain unders:and something of architecture, to instruct themselves as
well as they can, or else — which is perhaps better still — to remain in igno-
rance. Nor, indeed, is it by any means certain that a more general dlliu-
dion of taste for the art would at all increase ihe amount of admiration now
bestowed on some of iis productions and their authors, or the amount of
satisfaction derived fr(.m them to the public. Great truth is there in the
maxim of nmne ignclum pTu niiignifico, as there is also in the remark that
*' familiarity is apt to beget contempt ;" and there most assuredly would be
danger of its being di^covered how very little mind, or talent of any sort
there is in many things that have been cried up as wonders. Thanks to their
convenient ignorance, there are a good many honest people who have no
suspicion whatever that ihe "fine" and " grand" columns they behold,
and whose "haid names" are to them a mystery, are only copied from
patterns got out of books. It would be cruel to undeceive them, — to dis-
sipate the dreamy wonder that now fascinates them ; and cruel not only to
them, but also towards those whose works now pass with the ignoraut for
marvels of art. If the public is to be liberal with its admiration, it must
Dot be clnirv'itjnnt. On no account should it be sutTered to know enough to
be able to criticize fairly and justly ; so that it can but find words for
praise, that is sufficient, and if they are somewhat ill-applied, they are not,
on tiiat account, likely lobe the less laudatory, or less magnificent insound-
It is, however, exceedingly difhcult to hit the exact mark, and to keep the
public at that convenient point of the thermometer of taste, where igno-
rance of art is so free from indiflerence towards it, as to be accompanied
by a praiseworthy relish for it. \\ bile it is proper, it would seem, that
persons in general should not be at all instructed in architecture, it is de-
sirable that they should take great interest in it, and be disposed to en-
courage it very liberally. Architects are apt to complain of the obtuseness
and obstinacy of employers — of the stupid whims and caprices which have
caused many a fair idea to be marred, but they do not perceive that the only
real remedy is to be sought in the belter instruction of that class of the
community to which architecis look for their employers. — But I am inter-
rupted^

IV. — .V packet has this very instant been put into my hands ; I open it,
and find a book, I open that too, and turning over its leaves immediately
alight upon the following very free remarks upon the Institute: —

" Their policy, I say, is bad, utterly bad ; but I do not say blameable :
it is mislalien. They have, I doubt not, as sincere and houest a desire for
the advancement of the art as 1 could possibly claim ; but their policy is a
false one, and in manner as well as in matter. The doctrine of the Insti-
tute is false ; the constitution of the Institute is false likewise. .'\nd when
I point out (according to my judgment) the errors in general faith, I would
point oul also (as equally iinporlanl), the errors in government of our na-
tional s( hool of the art. The Koyal Institute of liritish Architects has not
a free liberal constitution. It is beneath the level of other institutions of
the connlry. And this ought not to be. Mistaken doctrine is bad, mis-
taken policy is perhaps worse. The narrownesses, coldnesses, roughnesses,
of much of our social system are expa'. ding, warming, softening, in these
days. Year by year the thoughts of men are widening. And the broader
basis, the kindlier liberality, the freer liberty, have never failed to be pro-
ductive of good !

" The curse of the Institute is the constitution of its Council, — an irre-
sponsible and despotic secret government, which, in the circumstances, it
would be preposterous to expect to rule otlierwise than wiih narrowness,
jealousy, and pique, wanting in ingenuousness, weak in disinterestedness.
There are cases in which a committee of the noblest and best could not
possibly be otherwise than a clique. The Institute is no represenl.tive of
the Architects of Great ISriiain at all. And it is but natural : to become
so (as it ought to be) it must change ; — and first ils government ; its doc-
trine will come secondly in due course. Its gross exdusiveness generally
is a grand error. — It is loo professional, another grand error." — i)r. Verd.
"Tell us then, Iriend, what thou wouldst have it to be." — Mr. Newl. "^
broiid ImseU.frce, disinttresfed school of architecture ; — open to all who love
the art, — old .iiid voiiiig, professional and non-profe>sional alike; — a free
theatre of liberul discnurse, — a society of artists and arthvers in architec-
ture, for the ends of architecture purely ; sly ballot- boxes iini\ secret councils
utterly overthrown, as tyrannical, illiberal, and bad. That is wliat 1 would
have, and what the public of England, dini architects especially, are en-
titled to demand. — Let the Institute change its character, and repudiate all
close-fisted and selfish policy, — all pro/etsioiialism, — and hoist ihe banner
of art, free to all, and to all equally." — The At'ic/tn/t' Discourses.

V. A capital fellow that Newleafe ! and a capital book I — one likely to
do a great deal of good, by clearly explaining the character of architecture
as a fine art, as which it is now scarcely recognised at all, except merely
nominally and by courtesy ; nor have architects themselves much clearer
notions of it than those who are not architects. Not only is its doctrine
excellent, and perfectly free from all conventionality, and cant, but the
book iiself is so clever and entertaining, so full of original thinking— of
shrewd remark and caustic pleasantry, as when once opened to be found
irresistibly fascinating. Even those who dislike the writer's opinions, and
more especially their being uttered to the world, accompanied with so
many home-truths — and they will not be a few — will be forced to read oa
in spite of themselves. Speaking as he has done of the lusiitiite, it argueg
considerable boldness in the writer to put his real name on the tille-page;
one which till now has never been before the public, but which is likely to
be henceforth more and more distinguished, since it is not to be supposed
that one who has made his dibut with so much ipirit, will now lay down
his pen. Some parts of the book are quite dramatic, and the characlerg
of Mr. Scaniozzi-Brnnelleschi Brick, Ur. Bluebottle Crape, the antiquary,
Mr. Coeur-de-Lion iMivlfe (sic) the ecclesiologist, and littleSmug the travel-
led architect, are admirably hit otF characters, with merely the slightest
soupcon of caricature. What the Vitruvianisis, the arcb;eologists, the
Camdenists, and the Ecdesiologisls will say of the " Newleafe Discourses,"
is more doubtful than what they will think. Probably they will, as the
wiser course, say little or nothing, but that they will think Newleafe a for-
midable opponent is an assured certainty ; — and all the more formidable be-
cause he will have the public on bis side, and bis example may stir up
others to continue the assault upon those inveterate — not, it is to be hoped,
invincible-prejudices which beset architecture on every side. One com-
mendable trait of spirit in the writer is that he shows himself perfectly
free from Jluukijism ; he is not awed by the authority of names, pays no
servile deference to professional rank, but censures erroneous opinions in
" a Professor," with just as little ceremony as he would in any other indi-
vidual. Both Professor Cockerell and Professor Willis get a few rub»
from him ; and if they deserve them, why should they not? At any rale
they are game worth aiming at, whereas some others are hardly worlk
powder and shot.

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEEERAND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

329

FENESTRATION AND WINDOWS.

THIRD ARTICLE.

Id returning to our subjeet we sliall not pursue any farther our remarks
on FeueslratioD in cnauection with modern church architecture, because we
purpose going into the latter subject generally, and inquiring how far it is
adviseable entirely to repudiate for buildings of that class, the Greco-Roman
style, instead of taking it up again with a fresh and better spirit, so as to
infuse into it renewed vitality. We will, however, just advert here to one
unseemly defect which deforms most of our churches in that style — if, in-
deed, they can be said to belong to it, very few of them possessing what
can fairly be called style at all. Ale allude to the practice of making a
row of small mezzanine-looking windows beneath the others, to the great
injury of character, composition, and breadth, and of unity likewise, for
such little windows seem to express a division of the building into distinct
floors within, and appear to belong to low ground-floor rooms intended for
inferior purposes. At any rate such apparent division of the structure
must be considered an indefensible solecism by those who make it an ob-
jection against St. Paul's, that its exterior is divided into two orders. In
some cases, indeed, the practice in question is harmless enough, there being
neither beauty nor pretension to it, nor any kind of architectural quality to
be injured by it ; but in St. Pancras' church the small lower windows are
glaringly and olfensively at variance with the scrupulous — perhaps some-
what over-scrupulous adherence to the original classical pattern, which,
unluckily, not going far enough for the occasion was eked out with some
" ready cut and dried," but not very classical ideas.

From what we have just been saying the transition will not be very abrupt,
if we now proceed to consider one very material point in Fenestration with
regard to composition. We have already said that interfenestral breadth
is one great requisite for good fenestration — almost essential fur greatness
of manner and dignity of character, and have now to observe that there
ought to be " breadth" in both directions — vertically as well as horizontally,
for if there be not corresponding largeness of spacing between the several
tiers of windows or Soors of the building, as well as between the windows
on each separate floor, the design will so far partake of littleness and be of
the ordinary stamp. Quite contrary to vulgar opinion it may safely be laid
down as a maxim that dignity of expression in architecture is in inverse ratio
to the number of windows or aggregate superficies of opening compared
with the general surface of the building or entire elevation. It is not the
frequency, but the paucity of windows that conduces to nobleness of phy-
siognomy in architecture; whereas, on the other hand, that quality — the
unquestionable aristocratic mark — can hardly be maintained at all where
inflexible necessity demands closely-spaced fenestration. No matter what
size a building be, without something like greatness of scale, — nobleness of
taste of course included, — its greatness will amount to no more than the
vulgar quality of mere bigness. And unfortunately — or rather, fortunately,
grandeur of scale is what cannot be mimicked or counterfeited. It is not
to be produced by clubbing a number of ordinary-sized houses together
into one elevation, for the individual littleness leavens the whole mass, and
the larger the latter is, all the more strongly does the littleness which it is
attempted to disguise, contrast wiih the more than ordinary pretension that
is made so indiscreetly and so awkwardly.

The two houses facing each other at the Albert Gate, Hyde Park, seem
to have been expressly intended to make manifest the striking dlHerence
of character produced by closely or widely spaced fenestration ; for though
they are of the same size, and in other respects alike, while that on the
East side is only three windows in breadth, the opposite one is of five, and
the very superior appearance of the former must, we think, strike every
one who has the slightest tincture of architectural taste.* Yet if so far
that East house excels as well as differs from the opposite one, in another
it resembles it in regard to fenestration, and perhaps even to greater disad-
vantage, it becoming in consequence of unequal character,insoninch as it
consists of the same number of stories, therefore the rertical interfenestra-
tionf is not so good as the horizontal, owing to there being too many tiers of

* Since it was first erected, howeyer, tlie front of that liouse has been most barbarously
distigured by one of the ground- floor windows being enlar(;ed, without the sliglitest re-
gard to appearance in any one respect. The house seems to have fallen into the hands
»f some tavern-keeper.

t We make no apology for coining and employing what some will object to as " new-
fangled" words : they are sufEciently intelligible and expressive, and being expressive are
nstful. Well grounded objec ion there may be to the merely disturbing the torniinology
of the art by the revival of obsolete terms in lieu of thoae in general use, or by substitut-
ing for the latter, others which if more correct are ouly equiraieut to them ; but it is

windows, and they are put too closely together— or in other words, and to
express our meaning by a single term, the interfenestration in that direction
is thickset, or pycno-fenestration ; and, as has been already observed by
us, although pycno-style columniatioa produces richness, pycno fenestra-
tion is generally attended by an air of littleness, if not of meanness. Ex-
cept in Gothic— the Perpendicular and Tudor styles, also Elizabethan,
wherein fenestration may without impropriety be carried to any extent, it
being, as we have already said, highly characteristic and expressive also of
construction,— crowded fenestration produces confusion, and a great deal
more than the space properly admits of, seems to be crammed into a front.
As an instance of the kind— an example that forcibly illustrates what we
have just said, we may point to the group of three tall stone-fronted houses
erected a year or two ago in Grosvenor Place : intended to be more than
ordinarily dignified, they are so terribly deficient in amplitude of propor-
tions, as to look compressed and crushed horizontally, while loftiness is
obtained not by lofty proportions, but merely by piling up an unusual
number of stories. Another example of the ad evitandum class is the Alias
Insurance Office, Cheapside, and a remarkable one it is for mesquinerie
and tastelessness both in regard to fenestration and to columniation also.
We will not at present touch upon what some are altogether intoleiant of,
and peremptorily denounce without further consideration as a barbarous
solecism— we mean the application of columns and pediments to the win-
dows themselves,— because that is a matter which we shall have to discuss
somewhat fully when we reach that part of our subject, but we certainly
have nothing to say in favour of that particular specimen, for besides that
the columns to the windows crowd up the intercolumns of the order, in
which they are set, too much, the display aifected by means of them is so
far from being consistently kept up that their entablatures are even more bare
than those usually employed for windows, there being instead of architrave
and frieze, or moulded architrave only, a mere black surface between the
capitals of the columns and the cornice, notwithstanding that the capitals
themselves are Corinthian. The division of the building into two distinct
orders,— one for each floor above the basement ; cuts it up very disadvan-
tageously, causing it to appear upon a contracted scale, whereas had the
composition been astylar, it might have possessed a greater degree of or-
nateness as well as simplicity, for at present the details are very crude and
common-place.

We now proceed to consider what is a very important matter in fenestra-
tion, whether with or without columniation, namely, the number of win-
dows from the ground upwards, or of tiers of them, that can with good
effect be introduced in architectural composition. And here again we find
that it is paucity, not number, which contributes to nobleness of manner. A
front may be prolonged horizontally to any extent, without the fenestration
itself being thereby in the slightest degree affected, but it cannot be extended
upwardsai//iii<a»i, by adding story to story. On the contrary, the maximum
is very limited, if good composition is to be observed, it being scarcely
possible by any sort of management to introduce more than three rows of
windows— that is, two besides the ground-floor— into a well-proportioned
elevation. The greater the number of stories, the .'iinaller do the windows
become io proportion to the general mass ; and though if looked at as a
mere pile of building, the structure may be striking enough by its unusual
height, and perhaps possess even some degree of grandeur when it comes
into view as a distant object, it will be any thing but dignified in regard to
architectural physiognomy ; and Iitileness of manner will be aggravated
in the same ratio as the number of stories is increased. Therefore what-
ever pretension be nflected for them by means of decoration, many-storied
houses — even when combined with others so as to form a general elevation,
well proportioned as to relative height and breadth, — are the reverse of
aristocratic in appearance, inasmuch as they look more like barracks than
palaces— or if not exactly like barracks, like large hotels and lodging
houses — buildings erected for the accommodation of a number of families
upon a limited ground-site.

If orders are employed — and in combination with windows, psendo-
columniation (or attached columns) is preferable to the genuine — consider-
able difliculties are apt to arise, both as regards fenestration and the order

surely rather desirable than the contrary that the deticiencies in our present architectnial
vocabulary should be tilled up, which can be done in no other manner than by invenlmr
sudiciently significant terms for the respective occasions ; and of course when they first
come up they are liable to be called •• uew-fangled" :— what then ?— to stand in awe of
the reproach of '* new-fangled" is downright '* Old Ladyism." The Germans, we find
have begun to adopt from us— at least adopt into their Art-lexicons, the terms Di'prostyle*
Triprostyle, &c. ; yet we have heard them, if not positively objected to, attempted to be
depreciated, because— O what an excellent and sagacious *' Because" I— because any one
acquainted with the Greek numerals might have formed them— and we suppose also be-
cause ihey are so exceedingly simple, clear, aud intelligible, when once explained, that a
child may uoderstimd ihem.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

330

itself Good composition does not admit at the utmost of above two tiers
of windows in the intercolumns, and even then it is better if the second
ran^e of them are either mezzanine ones, or very little more in height.
The'refore, if two stories are required above the ground-fioor, the latter
must be treated as basement, and the order be elevated upon '<-•'"'
course which Barry was forced to adopt in altering the Board of Trade.
That done, «u additional range of windows can be obtained only m the
form of an attic story, because to put a second order over one which com-
prises more than a single floor, and therefore ought, exclusive of other
superstructure than a mere attic, to complete the elevation, is beginning
again, and piling up one building on the top of another. L.lher there
ou"ht to be a separate order to every separate floor-no matter how many,
-or if the composition be not regulated that way, there ought to be no
more lines of windows than will properly come in within a single order.
As far indeed, as precedent to the contrary avails anything, it may
easily be found, as it raav for a great many other faults of composition,
and we have now got precedent for;;«?i/-/e«cs(ra(mH-so to describe it-in
coninnction with an order, where three tiers are inserted into the inter-
columns, such being the design of the front of the Royal Institution in
Albemarlestreel, and the wings of the British Museum. In one respect,
perhaps, such disposition seems to suit colmumniation exceedingly well,
because the intercolumns are kept narrower ; yet that single advanlage is
considerably outweighed by several inconveniences. While, on the one
band, fenestration preponderates too much in the general composition,
owing to the multiplicity of windows ; so, on the other, does columniation
(columns or pilasters, as may be the case,) make the windows appear com-
paratively insignificant features ; nor is it the columns alone that do so,
for they being nearly as much in diameter as the width of the windows,
the entablature, proportioned to them, seems quite disproporlioned to the
height of the floors. The consequence is, the order and the building itself
are upon difterent scales ; the former has the look of having been origin-
ally intended to form an open colonnade, whose intercolumns have been
afterwards built up and filled in with windows, as was actually the case
with the Temple of Antoninus, at Rome, which Bernini (if we mistake
not) converted by such process into the Dogana or Custom-house. Thus the
temple and house-front characters, irreconcileable and repugnant to each
other as they are, are brought inlo immediate contact with each other.
The Albemarle-stieet building is evidently after the Roman one, and the
Museum wings are not much Wiind: all that is not column is window,
and vke-versi. If, however, such mode has nothing to recommend it
ssthetically, it has the merit of being au exceedingly simple one, and of
evading a great deal of trouble.

[Nov.

RUSTIC MASONRY.

We have been compelled by the more immediate urgency of other sub-
jects to defer till now the reply to the paper on Rustication, by Candidus,
which appeared in our August number. Free discussion respecting the
principles of architecture is by no means to be discouraged, for during the
last three centuries mere conventionalism has so completely usurped the
place of true art, that we may easily foresee the long and obstinate contest
which prejudice will wage against the resumption of correct principles.
Still the discussion, however necessary it is for ultimate success, must be
restrained within certain limits ; and we therefore feel entitled to protest
a^rainst the controversial tone assumed by our opponent. The paper to
w^hichwe are about to reply, commences with the assumption that our
profession of willingness "to be set right," was insincere; and though
there has been no hesitation in bringing this charge of disingenuousness,
not the least attempt is made to support it. Bare assertion can only be
met by counter-assertion, and it therefore seems sufficient to assure Candi-
dus that our declaration of readiness to listen to temperate reasoning was
made in perfectly good faith, and that we see no reason to repent of having

made it. ,. .i. u- r

These preliminary remarks seem the more necessary because the chief
object of the present paper will be not so much to defend our original argu-
ments as to show that the purport of them has been generally misunder-
stood in the subsequent paper. Passing over, therefore, the first paragraph,
in which the writer states, with singular modesty, his intention of exposing
the "futility and one-sidedness" of our objections, we come to the first
argument properly so called :-it is, that as this country possesses neither

the marble nor the climate of Greece, our masonry will not retain perfect
uniformity of tint and surface, and that it is an advanlage to obtain a dif-
ferent species of regularity by the means of rustication. This, like most
apologetic argument, proves too much ; for the direct conclusion from it 13
that rustication should be employed in this country-not occasionally— but
always The rule would stand thus that in Greece and all " sunny
cliraeV" rustication should never be adopted, but that in all northern or
humid countries, the joints of masonry ought on all occasions to be bevilled
in order to palliate the efl-ect of diversity of " tint and surface." In ihis case
then, unfluted columns, such as those of the portico of the Royal Exchange,
should be marked by a series of horizontal annuli at the junction of the
blocks composing each shaft. The same argument would apply to Me-
dieval architecture also, and we must conclude that the walls of our ca-
thedrals would be improved in appearance if covered with a rectangular
mesh-work of horizontal and vertical lines.

The nest paragraph attributes to us a condemnation of all that has beCQ
added to or engrafted upon Grecian architecture— a condemnation of Roman
and Italian architecture. This statement is inaccurate— we would indeed
reject the combination of the principles of Greek architecture with other
discordant principles, and readily avow that many (not all) of the innova-
tions of the Roman and Italian styles were inharmonious. This however
does not amount to a total condemnation of those stjies, and we have else-
where attempted to point out in the paper on " Trabeatio.i and Arcuation,"
the true method of discrimination. We may here notice, out of its course,
an assertion in another part of the paper now under discussion, 'o wl''c'>
we are accused of " fairly damning modern architecture altogether. The
charge is as unfair as it is unfounded; if the object of it be to enlist the
prejudices of the reader against our arguments, it signally fails of its elfect,
for we have never condemned any modern building in which the canon of
architectural faithfulness is tolerably well observed. We have frequently
spoken of the superiority of modern architecture to that of the last age, and
have occasionally done even some violence to our opinions, by speaking lu
terms of partial admiration of buildings which exhibit little regard for
principles of constructive decoration.

The objection that our views respecting rustic masonry ought for con-
sistency to be extended to the fluting of columns seems pur. ly factious,
since it is obvious that parallel lines of fluting contribute to the principal
esthetic idea of columns-their verticality ; whereas our main argument
against scoring masonry all over with a vast number of lines running both
perpendicularly and horizontally was that they distracted the eye and sug-
gested no esthetic idea whatever. The remarks respecting the Madeleine,
must have been written in total misapprehension of our meaning or else
are the result of a hasty and careless inspection of that bnildiog-if indeed
there be not an attempt on the part of the writer to criticise the architec-
ture without having seen it. We will venture to say that no competent ob
server, who has actually inspected the Madeleine, will contradict our as-
sertion that the horizontal channels indented in the walls of the cella greatly
injure the etfect of the periplery. The columns do not stand out with that
bold relief, which they would have, were the background left plain, and
their vertical character is greatly injured by the horizontal lines running
behind them and apparently meeting them at right angles. This is so no-
toriously a matter of fact-of common observation, that it has never yet
been disputed by those who have seen the building. However we may
perhaps facilitate the proper conception of the argumert by referring to
analogous instances nearer home. If Candidus will examine the two last
plates in this Journal, representing the Board of Trade as it was, and as it
is he will find in both facades a number of horizontal lines extending the
wiiole length of them, which distract the eye and almost destroy the verti-
cal character of the columns. In the later edition of the government
offices the rustic lines are not continued quite up to the columns, but stop
■igainst a plain panel ; still the defect is but little palliated by this contri-
vance-the mental eye continues the lines, and the naiural eye is conse-
quently offended by the incongruity and confusion. The same remark ap-
plies to the windows between the columns: the mouldings ot the sills and
architraves range in horizontal lines, and the eflect is nearly the same as if
those lines were continued to meet the columns. This seems .he true rea-
son for the axiom laid down by many architectural writers that two range,
or stories of windows ought not to be included within one order of coluinns
and also for the objection laid down in the article on Fenestration (p. 271),
that where windows are introduced between a colonnade '-the columns
seem as much to encumber as to adorn the front behind them, certainly not
"to belong to it by growing out of the general organization. f he bor.zou-

i846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

331

tal lines of the sills and architraves are mentally united by the observer,
and have the effect of being continuous : the eye recognizes the windovrs,
not separately, but collectively as one range; and (he general direction
of this range being horizontal, and therefore at right angles to the columns
produces inevitably the appearance of disconnection among the component
members of the architecture.

The paragraph in which the rusticated masonry of the Madeleine is de-
fended, concludes by attributing to us certain opinions on Grecian archi-
tecture which the writer justly treats as absurd. As, however, we never
expressed these opinions, we are not called upon to defend them.

Of the Architecture of Newgate it is observed, " had it not been rusti-
cated, it would have bnen comparatively an insipid blank." Why, yes ; this is
true enough, and it brings us precisely to the very gist of the argument. Our
real ground of objection to rustic masonry is not so much that it is intolera-
bly ugly in itself as that it stands in the way of something better — bold and
effective composition. Had the architect of Newgate been debarred from the
paltry expedient by which he has palliated the nakedness of his design he
must have contented himself with this alternative — either to let the poverty
of his ideas manifest itself undisguised, or else to substitute a design possess-
ing intrinsic and legitimate merit.

On examination we shall find the same remark applicable to the general
employment of rustic masonry. Where the architect possesses real genius
and correct principles of taste, the beauty of his architecture will be at-
tained by massive combinations, by effective distribution of light and
shadow, by graceful proportions, by strong contiast between the decorated
and undecorated parts, and by making the mechanical construction of the
building a source of beauty. In proportion as his conceptions are vigorous
and effective, he will have the less necessity to resort to rustication and
other insipid inexpressive save-trouble expedients. We would deprive
architecture of these expedients for the same reason that we would deprive
a child of its go-cart — that it may learn to run alone. AVhen these tricks
of art are got rid of, good architects will be forced, as it were, to trust in
their own strength, and bad architects will do as they always have done —
follow their betters.

If our opponent could have assigned only one good reason why rustica-
tion should be employed in Classic and not in Pointed architecture, we
should have been satisfied that he argued on abstract principles, and that
his judgment had not been (as we sincerely believe it to have been) per-
verted by custom. This opinion is not uttered invidiously, for we know
how hard it is for those who have been long habituated to technical rules,
to look beyond them. It is well enough to tell us that "separate styles
have, like separate languages, their respective idioms and peculiarities ;''
and that Rusticntion may be considered as a characteristic peculiarity of
one kind of Classic architecture — "as being part of its costume, ci.nse-
quently proper to that, though in any other it might show as a decided im-
propriety." But why — for what reason an impropriety in any other style ?
The only possible answer to this question is to show that the style with
which alone rustication harmonizes, possesses certain distinctive principles
which produce this harmony, but which exist in no other style. If there
be such principles in Classic architecture, it is surely very easy to point
them out. We all know what are the main distinctions between Classic
and Pointed architecture : tlie one is horizontal — the other vertical ; the
one simple — the other complex ; the one rectilineal — the other curvilineal.
To which of these or the other distinctions between the two great arthi-
teclural systems are we to attribute the circumstance that rustication ac-
cords with the one, and not with the other? This will, we think, be found
on reflection an indisputable position — that either rustication offends against
those Catholic principles which apply to all styles alike — or else that
< 'lassie architecture has certain principles, possessed by no other style,
which render rustication applicable to it alone.

Which member of tliis alternative is to be adopted ? If the first, there
is an end of the controversy. If the second, our opponents have still to
point out the existence of the principles by which their position is defended.
Therefore the wht>le question may in some sort be said to turn on tlie
causes of the incongruity of rustication with Pointed architecture. Now,
as far as we can see, it would be less incongruous with Pointed than with
Classic architecture, for the former delights in a multiplicity of lines which
is directly antagonistic to the latter.

Our objection that rustication precludes a contrast between the orna-
mental and plain parts of the structure has not yet been answered. To our
view, decorations derive their chief grace and fitness from contrast. If
eecrg part of a building were richly ornamented it cannot be denied that a

dazzling and gorgeous effect might be produced. But the most artistic
architecture is not that which is most ornamented, but that in which the
decorations and plain surfaces are balanced against each other — in which
some parts are purposely left undecorated in order to enhance the beauty
of the rest.

The connection between the subject in dispute and that of mouldings
seems also to have been misunderstood. The iesthetic value of mouldings
seems to consist in this, that they mark distinctly the mechanical construc-
tion of a building. In Classic architecture the cymatium, &c., mark the
outline of pediments; the antepagmenia of doorways, the taenia indicates
the super-position of the cross— joists on the architrave and the rautule
marks the termination of the inclined rafters of the roof: in Pointed architec-
ture the hood mouldings defines the arch of the windows, the corbel table
indicates the manner in which a roof or upper floor is supported : in Italian
architecture also the division of a building into stories is frequently with
the utmost propriety exhibited externally by horizontal mouldings. But
without the mouldings have thus a logical fitness, they are adscitiliousand
indefensible. It is clear moreover that their value as indications of con-
struction must be nearly annihilated where the wliole surface of the walls
is marked with lines like those of rustic masonry. lu such cases they
cease to be distinctive.

Ajiothcr misapprehension of our meaning respecting rustication is the
supposition that we have insisted " that it is absolutely intolerable." This
is not the case : on the contrary, we think there are many buildings which
as they stand are improved by it, or rather would be worse without it. It
is not rustication, so much as the necessity for it, which we wish to get rid
of. There are many buildings— the Reform Club for instance— of which
the architecture is intrinsically too good to need such embellishments.

The true end of art is to produce the greatest effect with simple means.
It is easy enough to overload a building with mouldings and sculpture — to
do that requires nut genius but money; and the vulgar, caught by the
glare, will give to the architect the credit which is in fact due to the work-
man. Architecture, except during its purest periods, has always tended
to degenerate into a system of surface-decorations. It is so now, and orna-
ment usurps the place of architecture. Directly the sjstem of polychrome
decoration was revived how eagerly was it caught at ! It is such an easy
method of making a building look showy ! Fresco-painting also, encaustic
tiles, and cheap imitations of costly woods will often save the architect a
world of trouble — the trouble of thmking. And yet these things are not
intrinsically worthless, or to be despised ; unlike Rustication, they are
valuable accessories of art, but no more than accessories — excellent ser-
vants, but bad masters.

THE NEW PLANET.

The discovery of a planet of which the existence, distance, orbit, and
mass had been predicted by mathematical computation long before its pre-
sence in the heavens had been recognised by the telescope, may justly be
considered, as Mr. Hind observes, ** one of the greatest triumphs of theore-
tical astronomy." It cannot but be a matter of regret to fiud the new
planet called Le Verrier's, whereas in fact the first theoretical discovery of
it is due to Mr Adams, who to our certain knowledge completed his in-
vestigation, as far as the approximations of the first order, two years ago.
Sir John Herschel has addressed the following letter on the subject to the
Athenaum.

Collingirmd, Oct. I.

" In my address to the British Association assembled at Southampton,
on the occasion of my resigning the chair to Sir U. IMurchison, I stated,
among the remarkable astronomical events of the last twelvemoulh, that it
had added a new planet to our list, — adding, "it has done more, — it has
given us the probable prospect of the discovery of another. Me see it as
Columbus saw America from the shores of Spain. Its movements have
been felt, trembling along the far-reaching line of our analysis, with a cer-
tainty hardly inferior to that of ocular demonstration." — These expressions
are not reported in any of the papers which profess to give an account of
the proceedings, but 1 appeal to all present whether they were not used.

" Give me leave to stale my reasons for this confidence ; and, in so doing,
to call attention to some facts \\hich deserve to be put on record in the his-
tory of this noble discovery. On thel:;th of July, lS42,the late illustrious
astronomer, Bessel, honoured me with a visit at ray present residence. On
the evening of that day, conversing on the great work of the planetary re-
ductions underlaken by the Astronomer-Royal — then in progress, and since
published,* — M. Bessel remarked that the motions of Uranus, as he had

* Tile expense of this magnificent worlc was defrayed by tjuvernuieot giants, obtaiu«u
at the instance of the British Association, in 1»J3.

332

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Nov.

satisfied himself by careful examination of tlie recorded observations, could
not be accounted for by tlie perturbations of the linown planets ; and that
the deviations far exceeded any possible limits of error of observation. In
reply to the question. Whether the deviations in question might not be due
to the action of an unknown planet? — he stated that he considered it highly
probable that such was the case, — being systematic, and such as might be
produced by an exterior plan>t. I then inquired whether he had attempted,
from the indications ad'orded by these perturbations, to discover the posi-
tion of the unknown body, — in order that ' a hue and cry' might be raised
for it. From liis reply, the words of which I do not call to mind, I col-
lected that he had not then gone into that inquiry ; but proposed to do so,
having now completed certain works which had occupied loo muc h of his
time. And, accordingly, in a letter vvhirh I received from him after his
return to Kiinigsberg, dated November 11, 1842, he says, — ' In reference
to our conver.sation at Collingwood, I annnunce to you (melde ich Ihnen)
that Uranus is not forgotten.' Doubtless, therefore, among his papers will
be found some researches on the subject.

The remarkable calculations of iM. Le Verrier — which have pointed out,
as now appears, nearly the true situation of the new planet, by resolving
the inverse problem of the perturbations — if uncorroborated by repetition
of the numerical calculations by another hand, or by independent investi-
gation from another quarter, would hardly justify so strong an assurance
as that conveyed by my expressions above alluded to. But it was known
to me, at that time (I will take the liberty to cite the Astronomer-Koyal
as my authority), that a similar investigation had been independently en-
tered into, and a conclusion as to the situation of the new planet very nearly
coincident with M. Le Verrier's arrived at (in entire ignorance of his con-
clusions), by a young Cambridge mathematician, Mr. Adams; — who will,
I hope, pardon this mention of his name (the matter being one of great his-
torical moment). — and who will, doubtless, in his own good time and man-
ner, place his calculations before the public.

J. F. \V. Herschel.

Sir John Herschel compares the discovery of the new planet to the dis-
covery of the Western World : he might have added that America did not
take its name from Columbus, but from a later navigator.

Professor Challis, of the Cambridge Observatory, has published a
statement in the Cumbrid):e Chronicle, that, in September and October,
18-15, Mr. Adams deposited in the two principal observatories of England,
those of Greenwich and Cambridge, calculations of the heliocentric longi-
tude, mass, longitude of perihelion, and eccentricity of the orbit, of the
supposed planet. M. Le Verrier published a calculation of the heliocen-
tric longitude of the planet last June (eight months later).

To the personal friends of Mr. Adams the dispute must appear a ridicu-
lous one : seeing that his discoveries have been a subject of common con-
versation among them for the last two years. And they very well know
that modesty, which characterises profound science, alone prevented Mr.
Adams from making his investigations known in a more public manner
than by depositing them in the observatories of Greenwich and Cambridge.
His original intention was, we believe, not to take any active steps for the
publication of his investigations till the planet had been observed by the
telescope.

The question seems likely to be made the subject of as " pretty" a
quarrel as any in which the saians have ever been engaged. At a recent
■leeting of the Paris Academy, the announcement that the Engliish astro-
nomers meant to claim for their countryman the honour of first predicting
the place, &c., of the new planet was received with manifestations of the
utmost indignation. It is stated that in the excess of their wrath, they did
not refrain from designating Airey and Herschell — impostors I In a letter
in the National, which a correspondent of the LiteruTij Gazette attributes
to Arago, Sir J. Herschell and Professors Airey and Challis are said to
have entered into a conspiracy to rob M. Le Verrier of his discovery.
Herschell in particular is reviled with ingratitude because he is the son of
one u'hose fame M. Ara^o made knoicn to Europe.^^ This exceeds the
usual limits of even French bombast.

Our own journals take up the question very coldly. Surely this cannot
arise from ignorance of the importance of the subject. However, "the
truth is great, and will prevail," and as we happen to know personally
that Mr. Adams's claims are indisputable, we do not for an instant doubt
that they will soon be established to the perfect satisfaction of the public.

The planet is said to have a ring and a satellite : its distance from the
sun is three thousand two hundred millions of miles — upwards of thirty
times that of the earth. The distance of Uranus from the newly dis-
covered source of its perturbations is one hundred and fifty millions of
miles. The new planet is the largest in our system, except Jupiter and
Saturn : its cubic bulk being 250 times that of the earth.

The Alhinicum, speaking of M. Le Verrier, says incidentally, that " he
worked out the problem first" ! A more heedless admission was never
made in a scientific journal : if it be, as it appears to be, a mere obiter
dictum, the result of sheer carelessuess, it ought, fur truth's sake, to be

withdrawn immediately. M'e repeat emphatically, that it i!? notorious to
ourselves and to all Mr. Adams's scientific friends, that his discoverifi
were made long before M, Le Verrier's name was heard of in connectiijii
with the subject.

INSTRUMENT FOR TRACING EAILWAY CURVES.

Sir — The accompanying sketch and description of an instrument which
I have found extremely useful for setting out railway curves is well adapted
for all situations, and is very portable and simple.

A r. C O'P- I) is a permanent frame or square B C being perpendicular
to A B, and li C is a moveable limb with a vernier to read ofif the degrees
on the quadrant. Instead of making the offsets as heretofore perpendicular
to the tangents, they are made by this instrument in the direction of the
secants aa 4 c, df, and A c;, &c. (fig. 2.)

Fig. 1. Fig. S.

In order to use this instrument, it is necessary to calculate by trigono-
metry the angle a b c fig. 2, and the length of the secant, for the purpose
of finding the length of the effect a b, the latter is equal to the dillerence of
the radius of the cune and the secant; in all cases it is requisite first to
determine what length of tangent is most suitable to the ground, on which
the curve is to be set out.

After this the moveable limb B C, is fixed on the quadrant at the angit so
found for a b c, and the tangent a b being traced and measured on the
ground, the instrument is placed with B of fig. 1, corresponding to 4 of fig.
2, and B .A. in the direction of 4 a, being so placed the moveable limb BC,
fig. 1, will he in the direction of the required oflFset b c, fig. 2, which is to be
measured off accordingly, giving the point c (fig. 2) as the first point in the
curve A B.

For the second and other points df, and A g, and a, the instrument is re-
versed, laying the fixed limb B C", fig. 1, on the offset 4 c. B of the instru-
ment corresponding with c, fig. 2, the line A B of the instrument being per-
pendicular to 4 c, will consequently point on the ground in the direction of
the second tangent c d, and at d the second operation is to be performed as
at 4, for the oti'set df, and so on.

The circular openings at \ B C, and c, are for the purpose of receiving
nicely fitted rods to keep the instrument in its proper positions on the ground
until the necessary prolongations a 4, and b c, and a have been made.

Wii. Ta:t.

Military Library, 30, Charing Cross.

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

333

EARTHWORK ON SIDE-LONG CIROUND.
By John Hbghes, C.E., A.I.C.E.

The corrections to quantity arising from an inclination of the ground
surface, in cross sections, are most frequently neglected, when estimating
the cuttings and embankments of a railway or canal. This omission is in
general expressly mentioned in the engineer's specification, so as to avoid
all question upon the terms of the contract ; it gives rise, therefore, to no
positive injustice to any party, whilst a statement of the number of cubic
yards to be removed, as ascertained from the heights taken along the centre
line, is considered sufficiently near the truth to enable a contra' tor to ap-
preciate the means he is required to supply. This practice obtains, be-
cause the corrections for excess and defect are assumed as balancing each
other, and because the process of calculating them has been considered a
tedious and troublesome labour. My purpose is to show thut neither of
these grounds should be acted upon ; — the tirst is mathematically unsound,
and the strength of the second may be materially abated.

If the ground surface is supposed to be generated by the motion of a
straight line, which is alvpays at right angles with the centre line, its ends
resting on the outer edges of the slopes, the direction of such motion being
coincident with the centre line, and all positions of the generatrix being
parallel, then the correction to the area of a cross section of any cutting or
embankment first computed on the assumption that this line is horizontal,
and that the height or depth is measured on the centre, will, when it has any
inclination with the horizontal, always be additive. The corrections to
widths due to this iticlinatiun I will designate by -|- J^ on one side, and by
— x' on the other ; the correction to area will then be represented by the

X x'
expression — — ; r being the ratio of the slopes.

If the ground surface is supposed to be generated by the motion of two
lines, situated in the same vertical plane, having their ends resting on the
centre line and on the outer edges of the slopes, all other circumstan-
«es being the same as already described, then the correction to area will be

oa one side, as an addition, supposing the ground to rise(B-j-r C) — ; and

x'
on the other side, as a deduction, supposing the ground to fall (B + r C) r—

Consequently, the whole correction to the area of the cross section, calcu-
lated to the height C, in the ordinary way, is — — — (.r — x').

I take leave, at this point, to refer to the diagrams and characters em-
ployed in a paper on " Setting out Railways," in the Journal for Septem-
ber last (p. 277), as explanatory of these I now adopt. Moreover, let
-f r and — 2 represent the corrections to widths in a cross section parallel
to the first at a distance from it = L.

Then, in the case first named, where the cross sections all exhibit the
ground surface as a right line, the solid, which is constantly to be added,
has for its value

-[x(2x' + 2') + = (2:'-i-x')] ..A

And in the second case

L/B + rC\ ; L/B-HrC'\

g-V^-7— ^(:r-x') + J(2-s')+-^^— ^r-j(2-2') + i(^-x')....B.

However complicated these formulEe may appear as algebraic expres-
sions, their numerical application is perfectly simple and easy. To com-
pare the two, let us first consider the increment to the area of one cross

V u • ^^' , , /B4-rC\
section only, which is -y, and also I — — — j (^ — x'); by assigning

the following values : —

B-|-rC = 31;r = 2;x=:5; x' = 3 78.

xx' 5 X 3-78
Then, — = = 945 Square feet

B-f rC „ 31 X 1-22
•nd, —^7- (-T — x') = 2x'i' ~ ^^^ Square feet.

Also, in the other cross section,

if B -I- r C = 35, r = 2, s — 7 241, s' =: 5122,

xx' 7-241 X 5-122
we have, — = =: 18-54 Square feet ;

B + r C 35
and, — ^-j— {z—z') = — x 2-110 = 18-54 Square feet.

Upon the choice between these two formula;, it is proper to remark that

X x'
although the process according to is the shortest, perfect accuracy re-

quires that the values of x and x> should be nicely calculated, even to a

third place of decimals, to ensure exact coincidence with the result by th«

B + rC B+rC

formula — ^-:— (x — x') ; and more especially when — - — - is large.

In the next place, let us compare the facilities of the two formula for
the increment to the solid due to the side-long inclination of the ground
with the values above given, the cross sections being 50 feet asunder =: L.
First, x' =: 3 78 5122

X = 3-78 5- 122

2' = 5 122 3-781)

(2 x' + 2') = 12-682 (2 2' -I- J^') - • - 14-024

Multiplied by 5 7-241

63- 41 101-548

63-41

2)164 958 =82 5.
With this number enter Table No. I of my Tables* for calculating earth-
work, where I find, on the first line of figures,

opposite 82 10123

„ -5 -0062

For 82-5 1-0185

.-iO 100

and multiplying this by — ~ we get . . . 25-46 cubic yards.

2 4

By the second formula for the increment to the solid, the process

will be —

x — x' 5 — 3 78 =122 this -^2 = 0 61

7-241 — 5122 '
\{z — z') = 1-059 this X 2 = 2-119

(x-x)+i(2-2')
B + rC 31
r "'T —

2-279 (2-2')-f i(x-x)..
B + r C" 35

35-324

2729
171

4fi 393
1-304

47-757
35 324

1-0247 from Table No. 1

-0009

83-081

1 0256

and multiplying by -

50

. . 25 64 cubic yards.

A slight examination will enable us to perceive that the last is the pre-
ferable process to be adopted in practice ; for as an algebraic expression
it involves less trouble, although apparently the contrary ; and avoiding
the extreme nicety necessary iu the values of x, x', 2, and 2' in the first
is, even in the hypothesis of the generatrix of the ground surface being on«
straight line, the most accurate of the two.

This hypothesis will never be satisfied over the most uniform ground,
and in this sense also the second formula claims the superiority. Ex-
pressed in words, it may be stated as follows : —

1. Take the difl'erence between the additive and subtractive corrections
to the widths at each cross section terminating the length of cutting or of
embankment under calculation.

2. Add together half the width of the railway previously divided by the
ratio of the slopes to the height at the centre of each cross section; and
call these the multipliers.

3. To the dilTerence of the corrections to widths in each cross section add
half the difl'erence of the corrections in the adjoining cross section, and
multiply these sums by their respective multipliers.

4. The last two results added together and multiplied by one-sixth
of the distance betwien the ciuss sections gives the solid content sought.

The rule thus expressed requires moditication according to the signs
attaching to x, x', 2, 2', as will be evident to every oue familiar with the
first principles of algebra, and needs no further remark here.

* " Concise Tables to facilitate the Calculation of Farlhvvorlv and Land required in Iht
Construction of llailways. Canals, and other Public Worlis: adapted to the Practice of
the Engineer, Architect, and Surveyor." By John Hughes, engineer. London; Elflng-
tiam Wilson, Royal Exchange.

43

334

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Nov.

The elements for calculating the corrections to cubic quantity which have
been previously employed, require that the corrections to widths, due to
the inclination of the ground surface, should be determined ; that is, that
the values of a-, x , z, and :', should be known j and this process may
appear to involve as much trouble when preparing a preliminary estimate
for ordinary parliamentary purposes, as when the position of the line is
absolutely final; and when the more careful and accurate calculations are
undertaken. They would appear, in fact, to require that the field-work
should embrace every level and measurement necessary for setting out the
earthwork on the gidnnd. It is desirable, therefore, to present a form of
calculation which should dispense with so much detail, and which should
at the same time enable us to make an estimate that cannot be attacked
before a committee of tlie House of Commons for insufficiency, on the
score of a neglect to take into account the addition to be made to (juantities
derived from the central heiglits, on the supposition that the ground in
cross section does not diller materially from a horizontal plane ; an addi-
tion which is due to the fact that this supposition cannot be maintained in
a mountainous or rough country, such as occurred on the various lines
projected through Wales in the session of 1845-0.

Under such circumstances, after the usual deposit of the plans and sec-
tions have been made, in accordance with the standing orders, it should be
included amongst the various additional particulars sought by the engineer
preparatory to his estimate, to obtain a number of cross sections, over the
length of each projected cutting or embankment, sufficient for determining
the increase in earthwork which may arise from a material inclination of
the ground to the horizon. And, noir, the first formula (A) is, on the
whole, the most concise in application. Such cross sections can do no
more than exhibit the roie at which the ground inclines; in other words,
to what extent it falls or rises in any given horizontal distance, as of 100
feet, or 1000 feel, &c.

Table for Corrections to Widths of Railways, Sfc, due to Sidelong Ground.
0 i 2 3 4 5 G 7 8 9"

0 lOOUO -5000 -3333 -2500 -2000 -1667 -1429 -1250 -1111

10 -1000 •i'gOOl 8333 7G92 7143 6667 6250 5882 5556 5263

20 -05000 4762 4545 4348 4167 4000 3846 3704 3571 3448

30 -^3333 3226 3125 3030 2941 2857 277S 2703 2632 2564

40 2500 2439 2381 2320 2273 2222 2174 2128 2083 2041

50 2000 1961 1923 1887 1852 1818 1786 1754 1724 1695

60 -^1667 1639 1613 1587 1563 1538 1515 1493 1471 1449

70 1429 1408 1389 1370 1351 1333 1316 1299 1282 1266

80 12a0 1235 1220 1205 1190 1176 1163 1149 1136 1124

90 1111 1099 1087 1075 1064 1053 1042 1031 1020 1010

100 -^1000 •
10 -2^19091
20 8333

30 .^7692
40 7143
50 6667

60 -5^6250
70 5882
80 5556
90 5263

i!i9901
9009
8264

7634
7092
6623

6211
5848
5525
5236

9804
8929
8197

7576
7042
6579

6173
5814
5495
5203

9709
8850
8130

7519
6993
6536

6135
5780
5464
5181

9615

8772
8065

7463
6944
6494

6098
5747
5435
5155

9.-)24
8696
8000

7407
6897
C452

6061
5714
5405
5128

9434

8621
7937

7353
6849
6410

6024
5682
5376
5102

9346
8547
7874

7299
6803
6369

5988
5650
5348
5076

9259
84 75
7813

7246
6757
6329

5952
5618
5319
5051

9174
8403

7752

7194
6711

6289

5917

5587
5291
5025

200 •'i^SOOO
10 4762
20 4545

30 -^4348
40 4167
50 4000

60 •'1^3846
70 3704
80 3571
90 3448

4975
4739
4525

4329
4149
3984

3831
3690
3559
3136

4950
4717
4505

4310
4132
3968

3817
3676
3546
3425

4926
4095
4484

4292
4115
3953

3802
3603
3534
3413

4902
4673
4464

4274
4098
3937

3788
3650
3521
3401

48 78
4051
4444

4255
4082
3922

3774
3636
3509
3390

4854
4630
4425

4237
4065
3906

3759
3623
3497
3378

4831
4608
4405

4219
4049
3891

3745
3610
3484
3367

300 -^3333
10 3226
20 3125

30 -^3030
40 2941
50 -^2857

60 -^2778
70 2703
80 2632
90 2564

3322
3215
3115

3021
2933
2849

2770
2695
2625
2558

3311
3205
3106

3012
2924
2841

2762
2688
2619
2551

3300
3195
3096

3003
2915
2833

27,55
2681
2611
2545

3289
3185

3086

2994
2907
2825

2747
2674
2604
2538

3279
3175
3077

2985
2899
2817

2740

2067
2597
2532

3268
3165
3067

2976
2890
2809

2732
2660
2591
2525

3257
3155
3058

2967
2882
2801

2725
2653
2584
2519

4808
4587
4386

4202
4032
3876

3731
3597
3472
3356

3247
3145
3049

2959
2874
2793

2717
2646
2577
2513

4785
4566
4367

4184

4016
3861

3717
3584
3400
3341

3236
3135
3040

2955
2866
2780

2710
2639
2571
2501)

Table for Corrections to Widths of Railways, ifc. — (Continued.)

0

6

8

400 •'^2500 2494 2488 2481 2475 2469 2463 2457 2451 2445

10 2439 2433 2427 2421 2115 2410 2404 2.398 2392 2387

20 2381 2375 2370 2304 2358 2353 2347 2342 2336 2331

30 '^2326 2320 2315 2309 2304 2299 2294 22i-8 2283 2278

40 2273 2268 2262 2257 2252 2247 2242 2237 2232 2227

50 2222 2217 2212 2208 2203 2198 2193 2188 2183 2179

60 -^2174 2169 2165 2160 2155 2151 2140 2141 2137 2132

70 2128 2123 2119 2114 2110 2105 2101 2096 2092 2088

80 2083 2079 2075 2070 2066 2062 2058 2053 2049 2045

90 2041 2037 2033 2028 2024 2020 2016 2012 2008 2004

500 -^2000 1996 1992 1988 1984 1980 1976 1972 1969 1965

10 1961 1957 1953 1949 1946 1942 1938 1934 1931 1927

20 1923 1919 1916 1912 1908 1905 1901 1898 1894 1890

30 -^1887 1883 1880 1876 1873 1869 1866 1862 1859 18.5S

40 1852 1848 1845 1842 1838 1835 1832 1828 1825 1821

50 1818 1815 1812 1808 1805 1802 1799 1795 1792 1789

60 -^1786 1783 1779 1776 1773 1770 1767 1764 1761 17S7

70 1754 1751 1748 1745 1742 1739 1736 1733 1730 1727

80 1724 1721 1718 1715 1712 1709 1706 1704 1701 1698

90 1695 1692 1689 1686 1684 1681 1678 1675 1672 1669

600 -^^^1667 1664 1661 1658 1656 1653 1650 1647 16|5 1642

10 1639 1637 1634 1631 1629 1626 1C23 1621 1618 1616

20 1613 1610 1608 1605 1603 1600 1597 1595 1592 1590

30 -^^1587 1585 1582 1580 1577 1515 1572 1570 1567 1565

40 1563 1560 1558 1555 1553 1550 1548 1516 1543 1541

50 1538 1536 1534 1531 1529 1527 1524 1522 1520 9517

60 -^1515 1513 1511 1508 1506 1504 1502 1499 1497 1495

70 1493 1490 1488 1486 1484 1481 1479 1477 1475 1473

80 1471 1468 1466 1464 1462 1460 1458 1456 1453 1451

90 1449 1447 1445 1443 1441 1439 1437 1435 1433 1431

700 -^1429
10 1408
20 1389

30 -^1^11370
40 1351
50 1333

30 ••'^1205
40 1190
50 1176

60 -^1163
70 1149
80 1136
90 1124

1427 1425 1422 1420 1418 1416 1414 1412 1410

1406 1404 1403 1401 1399 1397 1395 1393 1391

1387 1385 1383 1381 1379 1377 1376 1374 1372

1368 1366 1364 1362 1361 1359 1357 1355 1353

1350 1348 1346 1344 1342 1340 1339 1337 1335

1332 1330 1328 1326 1325 1323 1321 1319 1318

1314 1312 1311 1309 1307 1305 1304 1302 1300

1297 1295 1294 1292 1290 12S9 1287 1285 1284

1280 1279 1277 1276 1274 1272 1271 1269 1267

1264 1263 1261 1259 1258 1256 1255 1253 1252

1248 1247 1245 1244 1242 1241 1239 1238 1236

1233 1232 1230 1229 1227 1225 1224 1222 1221

1218 1217 1215 1214 1212 1211 1209 1208 1206

1203 1202 1200 1199 1198 1196 1195 1193 1192

1189 1188 1186 1185 1183 1182 llSl 1179 1178

1175 1174 1172 1171 1170 1168 1167 1166 1164

1161 1160 1159 1157 1156 1155 1153 1152 1151

1148 1147 1145 1144 1143 1142 1140 1139 1138

1135 1134 1133 1131 1130 1129 1127 1126 1125

1122 1121 1120 1119 1117 1116 1115 1114 1112

900-^1111 1110 1109 1107 1106 1105 1104 1103 1101 1100

10 1099 1098 1096 1095 1094 1093 1092 1091 1089 1088

20 1087 1086 1085 1083 1082 1081 1080 1079 1078 1076

30 -^1075 1074 1073 1072 1071 1070 1068 1067 1066 1065

40 1064 1063 1062 1060 1059 1058 1057 1056 1055 1054

50 1053 1052 1050 1049 1048 1047 1046 1045 1044 1043

60 '2^1042 1041 1040 1038 1037 1036 1035 1034 1033 1032

70 1031 1030 1029 1028 1027 1020 1025 1024 1022 1021

80 1020 1019 1018 1017 1016 1015 1014 1013 1012 loil

90 1010 1009 1003 IqO? 1006 1005 1004 1003 1002 lOOl

1000 -iii^l 000^^^9990 9980 9970 9960 9950 9940 9930 9921- 99H

lOnjiiiggoo 9891 9881 9872 9862 9852 9843 9833 9823 9814

20 9804 9794 9785 9775 9766 9756 9747 9737 9728 9718

30 9709 9699 9690 9681 9671 9662 9653 9643 9634 9625

40 9615 9606 9597 9588 9579 9669 9560 9551 9542 9533

50^2^9324 9515 9506 9197 9483 9479 9470 9461 9452 9443

1816.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

335

To facilitate the calculation of the corrections to widths, and therefore
of the increments to quality, I have arranged a table, available as well
when the ground surface is examined in the approximate manner just
described, as when the more detailed levels are taken for setting out the
earthworks of the line. This table is annexed, and its use will become
familiar from following the steps of an example : —

Taking the measurements from the form of level book attached to the
paper on " Selling out Railways," already referred lo (see the Journal
for September, p. 277), we lind at the beginning of the first chain's length,

B +rC = 30-75 ; H ^ 1-9 ; — H = 22 ; i- = 1-5.
Then I'5 X 1-9 = 2-85 ; and 1-5 X 2-5 = 33.

Entering the table wiih 2-85, I find opposite 285 the tabular number
•903509; from which, as there are two decimal places iu the number 285,

I cut oft' two decimals and have for )• H 2'85 "3509.

And in the same way, entering the table with B + r C =: 30 8, I obtain

SO-8 0324 ; and taking the difference of these two tabular numbers,

•3509 — -3324 =-3086, which, found in the table, corresponds to 3-14,
the value of .t, additive.

On the other side, for the value of — .r'.
r H' =: 3-3 tabular number 3030

X 30 8 -0324

•3354, which corresponds lo 2'98.
At the other end of the first chain, B + r C'= 24'45 ; H = 3 ; H' = 1 'O.
SxU = 4'5 •• Tab.No. .. -2222 1 9x I J Tab.No.for 2'85 .. -3509
deduct for, 24-5 do -0408 add ..-0409

*, additive = 5-51 •1814 ar' snbtractive = 255 ....'Sgn

These examples show Ihe use of the table in setting out the earthwork.

For values of .r, .t', &€., as elements of calculation for correcting the
quantity, when the rate of inclination of the ground surface simply is taken
in the field, this rate of inclination should be expressed so as to indicate a
vertical height iu terms of 1000 parts horizontal : — Thus, if in a chain's
length of 50 feet, the inclination of the ground amounts to 1'25 feet, Ihe
ratio expressing the vertical height in terms of 1000 parts horizontal is 25.
Also, if in the length of a Gunfer's chain = 60 feet, the rise or fall mea-
sured 2 2 feet, the ratio in 1000 parts would be 333. This is a common
Rule of Three question, thus : —

£0 : 1-25 :: looo : 25

which, when using a Gunter's chain, and a level-staff divided into feet
and decimals, is abbreviated by converting the height or difference of level?
read off on the latter, into links, and multiplying that equivalent by 10'
Let us call this ratio of the inclination of the ground b ; — r the ratio of
slopes of cutting and embankment, as before, as likewise the other charac-
ters which follow.
The table should be entered with a number, the result of the formula

— — , from the tabular number of which we must subtract

the tabular number corresponding to the valuel^B -f- r C), to obtain the

value of X ; and, on the other hand, we must add to get the value of x'

Thus, suppose 6 = 33 3 ; and B + r C = 30.8; r = l-5;

r6(B +rC) 33-3 X 1-5 X 30-8 o^ u xt

1000 1^0 =■ l-5«"-Tab.No -6494

30-8 deduct -0335

X =• 1-63 '6169

x'= 1-47 -6819

Again, if i=7'64 ; r=2 ; B + r C=35-2 ;

7-64 X 2 X 35-2
Yoiio ^ -538.... Tab. No -1859

352 deduct -0284

» additive 6'35 .... ■1575

;r'subtractive 4'67 .... '2143
It is not altogether foreign to the subject of this paper to present some
applications of the prismoidal formula, which, as cases of frequent occur-
rence, are deserving of being noted for their simplicity, and for the brevity
of their solution in numbers; especially as they are seldom, if ever, met
with in works on mensuration.

1. In a triangular prismoid, of which the area of the base is called B,

and Ihe three heights perpendicular to the plane of that base h, k', and A",
the solidity = B .— ■'.

2. In a prismoid with a trapezoidal base ; divide this base into two
triangles, and call one of the parallel sides of the trapezoid as the base of
each triangle; then add together twice the heights above the base of one
triangle, lo once the height above Ihe base of Ihe other triangle, and multi-
ply tills sum by one-sixth the area of Ihe base of the triangle ; this done
for each triangle, and the results added together will give the solidity of
Ihe prismoid. Thus, if A, /i", are the heights above the base at Ihe ends of
one of the parallel sides of Ihe Irapeznid ; and h'', h'", the heights at the
ends of the opposite parallel side; B, and B', being the areas of the tri-
angles, having those sides for their bases respectively ; then

the solidity

(.2h + 2h' + h" + h'') (2h" + 2h- + l, + h')

6 + ^ "i •

This solid may have one, two, three, or four heights, and the formula
admits of further simplication according lo the relation of the heights to
each other.

3. When the four heights, being unequal, Ihe base of the prismoid be-
comes a parallelogram of which the area = B,

the solidity = B

(h+ h- + h" + h'")

This last formula furnishes the means of determining the solidity of a body
of any extent whatever, terminated by an irregular surface, but of which
the base is a parallelogram. With this view, we must suppose it divided
by two systems of equidistant vertical planes, parallel respectively to each
other and to the sides of Ihe parallelogram ; and if I = one of Ihe equal
parts, into which one of the sides of the parallelogram is divided,

A,Aj, Aj, A3, A4, &c.,the series of vertical dimensions taken through points
at the distances I, in the first vertical plane ;

A', A'l, A'2, A3', A'4, &c., the corresponding vertical dimensions in the
second vertical plane; and soon.
Then the area of each plane is,

A = ^{^h + 2h^+2h^+2h,+...A\

A'= i A' + 2A\-f 2A',-f-2A'3+.... A'\ .

and soon. Then if L represent the perpendicular distance between the
vertical parallel planes,

the solidity = -^ (A -j- 2 A' -f 2 A" + 2 A'" -f A").

These theorems may readily be deduced as corollaries from the prismoidai
theorem, but they are also capable of an independent elementary proof.
— See Puissant Traile'de Topographie.

4. If a line of slope (of a single slope) turns at right angles to its ori-
ginal direction, the solidity of the angular portion, when A = height at the
angle, and r the ratio of the slope, is

r A»
rAx ^

5. If the direction of a double slope and bottom, as a ditch or trench,
turns off at right angles, then b being the width of the bottom, the solidity

of the angular portion is (3 i -f 6 r A) — 2^ — .

Example.

In erecting some Iron Works, it became necessary to provide a proper
foundation for a quantity of ponderous machinery, by removing a consi-
derable depth of cinders, rubbish, and loose ground over the whole site of
the proposed buildings, which covered a rectangular space of 150 feet x80
feet.

To calculate the quantity of earthwork to be executed :— The parallelo-
gram being set out, each of its long sides was divided into six equal parti
of 25 feet, and each of the short sides into four equal parts of 20 feet.
Note, — the calculation is much shortened by ditiding each side into an eveh
number of equal parts. This is shown on Ihe figure.

The necessary depth was then ascertained by boring, and a series of
levels over the surface of the ground were taken, as shown by the dotted
lines, which being reduced to the plane at the intended depth, as a datum,

43»

336

THE CIVIL ENGINELR AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

Nov.

]n (he usual way, ;;ave the tlimensioDS as figured in the (liaerain.
sides of ibe excavulioD were to be fiuiijhed wilii stupes of 1 tu 1.

Tlie

\

SI op e

\

J

ft

\lZ '10

\9

!

6

5

lit

16

\I6 \li,

\'i

I'i

9

1

1

15

20

\i9 '^0

\2Z

- -,57- —

zu

to

23

j

iu

\20 \ZZ

j23

liZ

zo

2',

;2' 122

;2;

\n

23

Slope

Ciilculiition of Volume.

Heights at angles.. 15+ 5-r22+21 = fill. . Tab. No. 1 .

Eiterior heights ..12+10+ 9+ H+ 0 = 4.->
23 + 22+21+21+23 = lit)

18 + /1I + 23 = I'l

10+15 + 21 = 19

End$.

l5^

24 (

as above.. 101728

5( "°-"^
23)

20 Table No

2.

9-87rj»

15

5 5556

18 Tal)le No

4.

IGOOOO

23

2G-1235

10

4 9384

24

28 4414
1071112

cubic yards 1071112
Slapcs at the angles.
Tab. No.

15 Table 1.
24
5
22

'A

2-7778x15= 4l-f)(>7

7 1111X24 = 170 066

•3086X 5= 1 543

5-9753x22 = 131 457

0-8148

265.. Tab. No. 2..

6 119

Interior heiglits ..16+14 + 13 + 11 +

9 = 63

■1235

19 + 2

0+22 + 21+20 = 102

20+2

2+-.S3+22 +

^0 = 107

13 3333

272.. Tab. No. 4..

•0988
20-7894

JX2

0X25 = 375.
centra! part .

multiplied. . .

cubic yards . . .

375

Content of

. 7796 U2

aioj:

•s.

Sides.

r 15

Table No. 1

2.7778 ■)

7 1111 .'0'"'*
5 9753 )

Heights at euds. < .^^

»»

(22

Heights at the 3rd r 10

and rilh points of; H

Table No. 2

2- 1091

M

l-5«0^

divisiou, or llie o(lti\ 22
numbers. v. 21

)'

1 1 -9506

10-HHS9

/12

Table No. 4

7 1111

Heights at the 2nd I 9

»»

40000

4th, and Olh points 7 0

ft

1-777S

of divisi.iu, or the j 23

»»

20 1235

tern numbers. f 21

,,

21 7778

^■23

1)

26 1235

129-975I

a a — iM

1624-T

cubic yards

10247

1071-11

345 333

Total 10837-163

It is to be observed that a more rigorous calculation, with the use of
Table 3, which would involve just double the number of figures, gives, as
the content of the slopes along the sides, a smaller quantity by G^ cube
yards, and of the slopes along the ends a smaller quantity by 42 cube yards
and if extreme accuracy is desired, such form of calculation must be fol-
lowed, as explained p. 17-19 of the introduction to my tables. It is only,
however, when each height did'ers from being an aritinelhical mean between
the two adjacent heights, that this more lengthened operation can be re-
quired J and such a diU'erence may be estimated by inspection, to enable the
calculator to judge whether it is desirable tu iucur the trouble.

JouN Hughes, A. I. C. E.

1 , Lancaster Place.

" Sjnoe the tables are calculated to ftire ' lloth ■ sinpta of a cutliiig, tlie multiplier must
ba dIrUed by 2, io otftaiu the coDteuts uf * ou9 ' 8lO[je.

A NEW MINING SURVEYING INSTRUMENT.

Sir — I beg to offer to your notice, and through your valuable Journal
to that of practical surveyors and engineers, a sketch of a model instru-
ment for taking hori-«}ntal angles, which I think is new, and likely to be-
come exceedingly useful, although it is but a modification of the principle
upon which the quadrant and sextant are constructed. I have been led to
the construction of the model, by constant experience for the last 20 years,
of the difficulty and uncertainty of the use of the dial or compass for un-
derground surveying. Practical men need no mention of thise, but for
the information of those not actually conversant with subterraneous sur-
veying, I may mention briefly the principal difficulties, — there is first the
attraction of the needle by the tram rails (now generally composed of
wrought iron) which renders it necessary at each slation of the instrument,
to take them up for a distance (to make sure work) of 5 to 7 yards on each
side of it — a laborious operation, and much impeding the mining opera-
tions by obstructing the wagon-way, besides occupying much of the time
of the surveyor, who has to await the pulling np and removal of the rails.
The next difficulty is the slow but progressive variation of the needle ren-
dering a colliery plan of 9 or 10 years old altogether inaccurate, and there-
fore making it necessary to alter the meridians (generally numerous on a
working colliery plan) or to make allowances in the observations taking
during every survey made after the lapse of such a period of time. Then
follow local attractions in the stratum of the coal itself or in the strain
above or below it, often causing a difference of 2° to 3° between a fore and
a back observation on the same line. Another is the gradual weakening
of a needle in constant use, and its consequent sluggish working causing
great lo.ss of time, and great uncertainty — these are formidable evils, and
other minor ones might be adduced if necessary.

It may be said with perfect truth that horizontal angles may be readily
taken by a common circumferentor, or by a theodolite, — but of these the
latter is too bulky, heavy, and complicated an instrument to be admissible
into or usable in a coal mine, under ordinary circumstances, and there is a
radical defect in the former which completely destroys its efficiency in
mine surveying. It consists in the instability of the instrument and its
consequent uncertainty during the movement of the upper up.)n the lower
limb, — and if by way of correcting this, the instrument be furnished with
a double set of sights, one for the back and tlie other for the fore observa-
tion, in the manner of those of early construction — this difficulty occurs,
that the surveyor having lixed one pair of sights, must go to the other side
of the instrument in a gallery very often less than three feet high, and than
five feet in width (and this width occupied by the legs and other parts of
the instrument itself) to take the other observation, and afterwards he
must go back again to take the first obseivatiou again to assure himself
Ihat the instrument has not shifted during the adjustment of the moveable
sights for the second observation. If he find, as is most probable, that it
has stirred, the observation must be repeated perhaps several times, and
this in a space where it is next to impossible to move without disturbing
the instrument. Even two operators, one on each side of it, would be use-
less, as they would be in the way in nine cases out often of each others
observation, and would obstruct it by intercepting the view of the object.

By the instrument of which the above is a sketch, both objects are
brought to the eye, as by a quadraut, at the same vertical line, and seen at
the same time, and the angla indicated by the vernier, without any of the

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECPS JOURNAL.

337

uncertainty and difficiilly I have mentioned as besetting the use of the
common dial and that of the circumferentor.

Briefly to illustrate its use, permit me to refer you to the sketch, sup.
posing it requisite to take the angle formed by the two lines joining re-
gpeclively A B, BC, the instrument is placed at the angle, and the limb x
y z, which is flat, circular, and divided on the outer edge into 720 or half
degrees, each indicating in an observation a whole degree — this limb is
then turned on a joint below, admitting horizontal motion, until the candle
A is reflected from the mirror B, to the eye of the observer placed any-
where opposite the vertical line D E — this mirror B is fixed vertically on
the lower limb, with the silvered surface exactly in the centre. Then the
upper limb is so adjusted (hat the candle C is also reflected from the mirror
G (which is fixed vertically to this limb, and whose centre of motion is in
the plane of the mirror B,) to the eye of the observer on the line d c, of the
sight D E, during this adjustment if any movement occurs in the instru-
ment, it is instantly detected and adjusted by the observer without change
of place, witJKjut difficulty, and in the leaU imaginable time. The angle
required is then indicaied by the vernier at either end of the limb 7, ?•, s, /,
at 1/ or t. To test the efficiency of the instrument, I made the subjoined
survey wiih it, of a small but very hilly sloping piece of ground, of which
I subjoin the plotting showing the error, which considering the iuiperfec-
tion of the model, will be considered, I think, very small.

irror 3.

The model is constructed, the lower limb of wood and divided by the
hand, and the upper one of brass, and with the whole filling constructed
by a workman unaccustomed to instrument making. I propose in the per-
fect insUument to place tno levels at right angles on the lower limb, to fix
it upon a ball and socket joint or parallel plates to facilitate the levelling
thereof, and to apply rack -work capable of being easily thrown in and out
of geer to the upper limb, and similar racks and a champ screw to the sight
D E, which is moveable round the lower limb, and which in the model is
a Blip of glass— for this I propose to substitute an ordinary sight with a
vertical thin wire in lieu of the line on the glass. I should mention that
the mirrors are marked by vertical lines on the silvered surfaces, and that
these lines are in the axis of motion of the upper mirror. I should men-
tion that in the graduation of the lower limb, there are two opposite points
marked zero, situated in the line of the silvered surface of mirror B, and
marked in the sketch K L respectively.

I remain. Sir, your most obedient servant,

William Peace.

Haigh Culliery, \Vi«;an, October 9, 1846.

ENCAUSTIC-PAINTING, WITH WAX, UESIN, AND OIL.

By Mr, Linton.

(Communicated to the Commissioners 0/ Fine Arts.)

Wax was the most important ingredient in the vehicles for painting em-
ployed by the ancients. Its use is tracealile from the early ages of Egypt,'
and throughout those of Greek and Roman art. It was extensively and al-
most exclusively used hy the early Chrisiian painters, and continued to be
commonly employed ti'l a late (leriod in the middle ages. There is also
abundant evidence of the use of resins hy the ancients, and the employment
of such suhslances among the ingredients for painting, as well as for var-
nishes, was continued after the invention and improvement of oil-paintinj.
The process which has been fnund most s:itisfactory is that vxhich excludes
the fixed oils as much as possible, suhslituting for them wax, re^in, and an
essential oil- As a first condition aflecting the durability and brilliancy of
the work, a ground of pure wliite is recommended- In this, the practice of
remote antiquity has been confirmed by the best modern authorities. The
Egyptians, in the preparation of the surface for painting on walls and on
mummy cases, have left proofs of the estimation in which white grounds
were held in the earliest times. The practice of the Greeks and Romans is
exemplified by the prepared white tablet which was found among the ruins
of Herculaneum- Aristotle among the ancients, and Leonardo da Vinci and
Armeuini among modern writers, speak of white grounds as essential to the
brightness and durability of pictures- Caravaggio and others of the " Tene-
hrosi," on the contrary, who were instrumental to the decline of ait by em-
ploying dark grounds, have proved that the effects of time are accelerated
by that piactice. Many of the works of Tintoret have suffered from the
same cause.

In the method about to be described, wax with resin may be considered,
as a substitute for a portion of the oil usually employed ; " the object being,"
as a French chemist observes, '-to replace an alterable recipient for the
colours, such as oil is, by one whose nature it is to resist the action of time
and the agents of destruction."-

The Process. — Secure a stout and well. pumiced canvas, free from size
and gummy matter. Fasten it slightly on the stretcher, with the smooth
surface undermost. Dissolve any quantity of bleached wax in double its
weight of oil of turpentine, and saturate tlie canvas with the solution while
hot, and near the fire. Then take the canvas oft" the frame and strelch and
fix it properly, the smooth side being now in front for the reception of the
ground.

The Vehicle. — Prepare the vehicle, which is to be exclusively employed
throughout both ground and picture, in the following proportions : —

3 ounces of essential oil (of turpentine, lavender, or rosemary, &c.)
2 „ resin (mastic. Copal, or Damara, &e.)

1 „ bleached hees' wax.

Place them in a glazed put near the fire, occasionally stirring them with a
stick, until the solution is completed. When cool it will be a magylp ready
for use.

Procure a quantity of white-lead ground in oil ; that of the shops may
answer the purpose lor the two first coats, but flake white is preferable, and
is indispensable in the two last layers. Mix a pnrtion of tlie vehicle with
the lead, and reduce to a creamy consistence by the addition of turpentine
essence.

Ground. — Spread, with a large flat knife or trowel, four coats of this white-
lead cream over the canvas as smoothly as possible, allowing several hours to
intervene between the layers.

Picture. — In proceeding with the picture, the usual tube' or bladder-
colours of colourmen, ground in oil, may lie employed (unless the painter
have this labour performed at home), while the vehicle may be placed on the
palette near the colours, in the usual way, to he ready as a diluent. If a
rapidly obtained impaslo be desired, a portion of the ve lii'Me must be mixed
with the colour, which in a very short time "ill be found to have obtained a
consistence almost fit for modelling.* The vehicle can also be thinned at
pleasure by additional oil of turpentine, which will enable it to work more
freely ; or it may he softened and retarded in drying by a slight addition of
plain oil; or stiffened by replacing it near the fire to diminish the essence.
The most careless or lavish use of it cannot he followed by any injurious re-
sults, since, after the essential oil has evaporated, the ingredients subside
into a firm and unchangeable mass among the colours, witliout eitlier shrink-
ing or losing the foinis into which they have been wrought by the hand of
the painter. The essential oil has free egress, by the agency ot the wax,
through the back of the canvas, as well as through the front of the pictur'.

1 See, among otller examples. No. ;jt in the J3ritisll Museum — a small funereal group
of painted srulpture.

2 Diirosiez, ib. p. 12. — I took a quantity of the best flake white ground in oil, and
thiuniUR it with nut oil, I put several layers on a piepared millboard. From the (■iime
parcel of oil white lead I took anutlier portion, and diluting it to a working consistence
with wax creatu ;wax and oil of turpenline) I put tlie sunic number of layers on another
part of the millboard. In a few weeks the portion ubicli was diluted with additional oil»
had become of a decidedly yellow tint, while that which was mixed with the wax cream
remained as purely white as at hrst.

a Bladder-culours beco[ne fat and rancid from the access of air in the course of time,
and many of the colours in tubes oxidize or blacken in a few months; among the latter
1 have found while lead, Naples yellow, yellow ochre, raw bieuua, &e.. so elfected.

•* It may be as well to reinaik that an excessive application of essential oii in painttiig
has a tendency to ininre ttie teuncity ot the paint, as may be seen in uhut honse-painters
term bad " fljtting." The rapid evaporation of the essence from the more suLstautial
maleriois witli which it is combined breaks up, in some Ue^rck-, their cotiesiveaeas.

33S

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[No

v.

Pictures painted with oil only, or with common magjlp, consist of a succes-
iionof skins or layers of paint, more or less cut off from mutual intercourse ;
but the cero-resinous medium keeps the whole substance in a constant state
of intercommunicative moisture during the progress of the work. The
painter can pursue his operations, without delay, to any stage he may think
proper; he may also return to them at pleasure; and he will find himself
relieved from the necessity of such a preparative as " oiling out," an in-
jurious and disagreeable practice, often called for by the greasy oozings
tlirough the surface or outer skin of the oil picture. It may also be remark-
ed that the scrapings, glazings in, and rubbings off for texture, which are so
often resorted to where oil alone has been used, are wholly unnecessary in
this system, which, by humouring the vehicle to the required consistence,
yields all the means for a varied manipulation that can be desired.^

Encaustic. — When the picture is completed, a short time being allowed
for the evaporation of any excess of essential oil which may remain in those
portions of tlie work which have been recently loaded with colour, it should
be gradually moved towards and held in front of a fire until the surface has
obtained an equal gloss, care being taken that it does not fry by too sudden
or close an approximation ; it must then i)e withdrawn to set and cool ;
after wliich it must be rubbed with fine linen cloths or with silk until a
pohsh is produced. If the picture be large, a cauterium, or chafing-dish,
may he moved in front of it at a careful distance (from 2 feet to 18 inches or
a foot, but not nearer), in order to obtain the required gloss. Should the
picture have been painted upon millboard or panel, the evaporation of the
essential oil must necessarily take place from the surface only ; the capacity
of the picture for retaining heat being thus greatly increased, tbe latter will
act, if the encaustic or " burning in" process, be performed gradually and
slowly upon the resin, as well as the wax and oil, and effect a thorough fu-
sion of the whole medium, which will result in a most brilliant and durable
enamel, more resembling a vitrified than a waxed surface. The more perfect
the desiccation, the more perfect and durable will be tbe gloss. Tbe reason
why encaustic surfaces frequently become dull is, that the gloss is produced
before the essence has entirely evaporated, the after-evaporation through the
wax enamel reproducing the flat and porous surface. " Its lustre," says
Professor Tingry, " is equal to that of varnish, without having any of its in-
conveniences. A wax surface stands shocks, a varnished one does not. If
any accident alters the polish of wax, rub it with a piece of fine cork." To
clean an encaustic picture, M. Durosiez gives the following directions ; —
" Remove the dust, wash it well with alcohol and water, then with pure
water, dry it, expose it to heat (In the mode described), and polish with
cloths as at first." The encaustic surface has more atmosphere than very
new varnish," and is sufficiently transparent to display the deepest shadows
to advantage; it does not require periodical additions, like fresh varnishings;
and it is not subject to chill, like most of tbe essential oil solutions of the
resins. " Encaustic pictures," says Montabert,' "never alter; they can be
retouched ; they are luminous and transparent, and possess all the excellen-
cies of oil-painting, combined with greater durability."'

As an addendum to the description of the process, a few remarks on the
materials of which it consists may not, perhaps, be thought unnecessary. Oil
of Turpentine being the most available essence in this country, and answer-
ing the requisite artistic purposes quite as well as either rosemary or laven-
der, it may not be amiss to retain it for the process. The best bleached
bees-wax that can be procured is another required ingredient. Pure wax
from the comb, bleached by exposure to the light,' is to be preferred to the
shop white wax, as the latter is usually adulterated with tallow. Wax is
said by many to run when used in pictures, and by others to be subject to
crack. Professor Brande, however, informs us in his " Chemistry" that this
substance will not melt under 154^^ Fahrenheit, adegree of beat scarcely ever
attained by the sun in this country; this statement, which differs but slightly
from that of other eminent chemists, ought to satisfy the most suspicious
that the confidence placed in wax by the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians,
denizens of far hotter climates than ours, was not thai of ignorance. Be-
sides, when in combination with other matters, wax is so notorious for its
powers of adhesion, that a vastly increased degree of heat would be required
to fuse it when so circumstanced. I have several times exposed sketches,
painted with this cero-resinous vehicle united to colours ground in oil,'to a
stove heat of ICO° Fahrenheit after tbe essential oil had entirely evaporated,
without the slightest running of the surfaces. And in forcing the heat still

5 If the addition of a little oil or extra turpentine essence be required, and the magylp.
ing property be overpowered, recourse must be had to the palelte tins.

Dr. Bachoffner, in allusion to Sir Humphry Davy'a having? found the colours of the an-
cients (at Pompeii) to be similar to those now in use, thinlcs " that modern vehicles are
at fault." — * Chemistry applied to the Arts."

6 See Boschini's remarl<s on varnish glare, and the aversion in which the Venetians
held it, in the *' Third Report of Commission of Fine Arts."

' "Traits complet de la Peinture."

fl For a wax v.irnish : "Take three parts white wax and one part resin; melt toge-
ther; apply over the picture, and polish with cloths."— * Antologia Romana.*

3 The blocks of yellow wax may be bleached as follows : Cut them into shavings upon
a carpenter's plane inverted; and then expose them to the sun in an unsmoky .atmo-
sphere, occnsionally turning over and moistening them with clenn water. In the steady
and potent light of Italy, the bleaching operation is completed in three or four days, as I
have many times witnessed; but in our variable climate it cannot be etfectad without
more time and trouble. The brown wax of commerce is frequently adulterated with
common resin. The dark. coloured old combs are almost unbleachable, and their sub-
stance is of a less tenacious or waxy character, as it is mixed with hie bread and oth«r
impurities . Fine bees-wax may always be obtiined of Mr. Milton, the eminent apiarian,
111 Wejmauth-slreet, Portland-place.

higher upon a layer of white-lead ground in oil added to tbe vehicle, the
white became very slightly tinged with yellow (from the partial combustion
of the oil, as I afterwards proved) without any other change whatever.'" As
to tbe disposition of wax to crack in pictures, it may be observed that unless
it be employed in some layers and excluded from others, cracking cannot
possibly ensue. Since, however, there are no two substances in the painter's
mali'riel which are characterized by similar dispositions to contract and ex-
pand, extreme caution should be adopted in the juxta-position of differently
constituted vehicles in the several layers of a picture. Varnish overunhard-
ened oil, drying oil over the same, or wax over any of the three, would be
very likely to produce cracking. Dr. Roux says tiiat "wax does not con-
tract like the unctuous oils ;"'• and the Italians consider that new tempera
as well as oil-paintings are subject to crack in extremely dry seasons, but
that wax rests undisturbed. Among tbe resins suitable to this process there
is abundant choice. Damara is a favourite on the continent. It is very
clear and bright, and does not crack when spread alone as an essence varnish
over a wax picture. Mastic, which has a little more colour, has long been a
favourite with painters, but it is very subject to chill (a failing which has
been attributed to unsound watery tears'^) when made with volatile only.
Correggio and tbe Lombard painters are said by Armeuini to have dissolved
it in fixed oil for a glazing vehicle or varnish. Sandrac was a favourite with
the old masters ; but I found it work very harshly without fixed oil. Elerai
is anotlicr continental favourite. It is slightly coloured, but is said to be
tough in varnish. (Aiken.) Anirae is difficult to dissolve; " it is more brit-
tle and less solid than copal. (Tingry.) The fluid resins, Venice and Chio
turpentines, with Canada and Capivi balsams, may any of them be used to
advantage in this process, due consideration being had to the excess of es-
sential oil which they contain. '" Tlie solution of the harder resins seems
to have been better understood in former times. To dissolve copal effectually
has ever been considered a difficult task; and perhaps a greater value has
been placed on tbe resin on that account, Tbe power of wax in consolidat-
ing the feeblest resins seems to place every requisite means at our command
without undue labour or difficulty. And yet the superior qualities of copal,
its toughness, its brilliancy, its consistence, and its durability, single it out
as the most desirable of all resins to bring into subjection. Bonanni, Tingry,
&c., &c., have devoted much time and skill to its solution, and have succeed-
ed variously. Oil of turpentine, which Tingry pronounces (because it is a
resinous essence) the most perfect solvent for resinous substances, and espe-
cially for copal, requires several months exposure to light in order to imbue
it with the requisite powers. The essence having attained these qualities,
will, when made hot, and in a warm room, take up the powdered resin, if
carefully sprinkled into it and stirred up at the same time. If the essence
be new, tbe solution is almost impracticable. When copal has been fused
and thrown into cold water before levigation, it dissolves more readily. It
has sometimes been fused a second time before solution, but this is an opera-
tion which must have a powerful effect on its best qualities, and it is to be
hoped that tbe least injurious mode may be generally adopted. The oils of
rosemary and lavender have often been successful where oil of turpentine of
a sufficient age has not been available. If the caoutchouc portion (so called)
of the resin continue to float in transparent masses after tbe essence has
cooled, time and light only can perfect the union. Tbe fluid resins readily
take up an eighth of tlieir weight of copal. I could never effect a stronger
solution with them ; but with three ounces of turpentine oil alone I have
completely dissolved an ounce of tbe pale copal unfused ; a proportion which
is quite strong enough for any useful purpose. One ounce of copal in eight
ounces of essence is the usual proportion in Tingry ; but one in three or four
is necessary to make a good cero-resinous magylp. I may observe that the
above solution of one to three dried very rapidly ; and that it possessed such
a degree of toughness and flexibility that five stout coats of it spread on a
broad strip of letter paper, and hardened, exhibited not the slightest symptom
of cracking when closely wrapped round so small an object as a common lead
pencil. ]f everv' painter desirous of possessing real copal varnish would
place a quart of oil of turpentine in his window, every three or four months,
in a clear glass bottle, leaving an interval of one or two inches between the
cork and the essence, removing each bottle as it became fit for use (in eight
or twelve months as it might happen), he would have every chance of con-
tinued supplies of the varnish for his studio ; since a pestle and mortar, a
common brown mug to hold the essence, and an Argand chemist's lamp to
receive the mug, constitute all the apparatus requisite to perform the opera-
tion both with precisian and safety.

WnLiAM Linton.
7, Lodge-place, Regent's Park, August, 1846.

» o Cenninl and Baldinucci give recipes for cements of wax and resin only for brokeo
marbles, in which the wax is proportioned to the resin as three to one.

1 1 See the Third Report.

12 J. Schetfer's " Graphice," Norimbergo, lGli9.

1 a In applying these balsams and turpentines to pictures it has been advised to eva-
porate by heat the excess of essential oil which renders them fluid at the common tem
perfilure of the air, and to re-dissolve them in some more evaporable essence. An nn-
drying principle may be productive of as mucU mischief in a resinous as in an oleaginous
vehicle.

IS46.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

339

CANAL OF THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA.

The following translation of extracts from tiie report of Napoleon Ga-
rella, an engineer appointed by the French Government to survey the
Isthmus of Panama, is taken from the Journal oj the Franklin Insti-
tute: —

The remarkable isthmus which unites the two Americas and extends
between the Gulf of Mexico and (he Pacific Ocean, to a length of 1430
miles, in a direction from W'.N.W. to E.S.E., presents along this enormous
length a variable width. From the mouth of the Guazacoaico, its point of
junction with North America, where it has a width of 137 miles, it con-
tinues narrowing regularly enough, with the exception of the two large
promontories of Yutacan and Central America, to its other extremiiy,
towards the Gulf of Darien, where it is united to South America. It is
towards this latter portion, wbere it is called more particularly the Isth-
mus of Panama, that it attains its minimum width, trom the mouth ot
the Caimito, on tlie Pacific Ocean, to the embouchure of the Uiagres on
the Atlantic, the distance is but 30 miles ; but the miuimum width appears
to be a little more to the eastward, between (he bay of Mandingo or San
Bias, on the Caribbean sea, and the shore of the Pacific Ocean, near the
embouchure of the Rio Chepo, where the distance, according to the map,
is but 31 miles. The chain of mountains which extends m a direction
nearly north and south, the whole length of the two Americas, from the
icy seas of the north pole to Cape Horn, presents along nearly its who e
length a considerable elevation. Us peaks are only surpassed in height
by the summits of the highest of the Himalayas, and even its vast pla-
teaux have an elevation superior to that of the highest mountains of the
interior of France. This chain extends, without any discontinuity, the
whole length of the isthmus, but then as the breadth of the land dimi-
nishes, so the ridge of the chain sinks considerably, and presents some de-
pressions, of which the height above the ocean is less than that overcome
by some of the European canals already constructed. One of these re-
markable depressions exists in the neighbourhood of Panama— not at the
point where the isthmus is narrowest, but a little to the westward, where,
however, it is narrower than at Panama. In examining the configuration
of the isthmus from west to east, it will be remarked that, passing from the
state of Costa Uica (Central America) into the province of Veraqua (New
Granada), under the 85th degree of west longitude, 3 degrees to the west-
ward central ridge dividing the waters flowing into the two oceans, ap-

migueros. The ridge . _ , . .. ., ., •

Bello, and near the Gulf of San Bias, its previous height. Along this
distance there are a number of points whose elevation varies from 425 to
525 feet, between which the ridge rises but little, and forms hillocks, and
not peaks or elevated masses. This depression of the central chain is,
then, one of the first and most evident observations which the explorer
makes ; and it has been noticed by nearly all those who have surveyed the
isthmus; Mr. Lloyd points it out for the line of a canal ; and it is there,
also, that Mr. Morel, the agent of ihe Salomon Company, has laid down
his route. It is evidently there that the summit level of the maritime
communication to be opened between the two oceans, should be placed.
Unfortunately, those who have hitherto visited the isthmus, have only
judged approximatively of the height of this portion of the chain, and
that by a simple visual observation, made without employing any instru-
ment, and mostly at long distances ; and taking, without doubt, as points
of comparison, the elevated mountains of the Trinity, and other masses of
a considerable elevation, situated more to the eastward ; those of the
Cerro Cabra, which are 1614 feet high, and those of the Cerro Grande of
Gorgona, which rise to a height of 1017 feet. Thence, doubtlessly, comes
the erroneous opinion spread abroad, on the faith of some navigators, that
the central chain uniting the elevated table land of iNIexico wiih the Andes
of Peru, ceases entirely in the portion of the country of which we are
now speaking; and is cut by a transversal valley, where man will have
almost nothing to do to establish a navigable coiumunicalion between the
two oceans. Thence, also, without doubt, the extraordinary assertion ad-
vanced by the Salomon Company, that this depression of the chain oliers a
point of passage situated only 37 feet above the mean height of the sea at
Panama, a point which the company naturally chose for carrying across
the summit level of the canal which they projected. From the sides of
the Cerra de la Trinidad flow three principal streams, of which the most
important, the Caimito, empties itself into the Pacific 14 miles west of
Panama. The two other streams, which flow towards the Atlantic, are
the Cano Quebrado and the Rio Trinidad — rising at nearly the same point,
they separate as they advance. In the triangular space comprised between
them, the laws of nature, which, throughout America, have placed tlie
ridge of separation of the waters flowing into the two oceans, nearer the
western side, appears to have been maintained. The wide space which
separates the bed of the Trinidad from the base of tiie spur, is occupied
by vast and, for the most part, unbroken plains, from the middle of which
rise some isolated hillocks. One does not there meet with the water-
courses which might be expected from their extent, but many s%vamps, and
even deep lakes, communicating with the Rio Trinidad by small natural
canals, called esteros. In these plains is found the large lake of Vino
iinio, observed by Mr. Morel, which is upwards of a league in diameter.
Here also are found, near the mouth of the river, the swamps of Agua

Clara, which have in some places, as I have been assured, a depth of
water of 42 feet.

Besides these streams, there is another on the western slope, flowing
directly into the Pacific; it is Ihe Rio Grande, situated between the Cai-
mito and Panama, and having its month 1^ miles west of that city. It i«
indeed a stream of no great magnitude, the upper portions of which are
completely dry during some months of the year; but it presents a charac-
teristic which it has in common with other aflluents of the Pacific Ocean,
which is, that the lower portion of its bed has but a slight descent and
great width, so thai the tide mounts it to a considerable distance, and thus
forms an arm of the sea {estero) intruding into the land, with a depth vary-
ing from 25 to 33 feet, and sometimes even more, which oflTers facilities for
navigation, though only during high water, and as far as the tide flows.
It is to this characteristic that the Rio Grande owes its name, though in
fact it is but a brook. Alongside of the Rio Grande is another little
ravine, pouring its waters directly into the sea. This is the Rio Farvan,
having, towards its mouth, a wide and deep bed, which, at this point, is
only separated from the Rio Grande by a hill, around which its waters are
forced by high tides, flowing into the Alvine marshes, through which the
road from Panama to Chorera passes, thus mingling the waters of the two
creeks.

This feature of a great diminution of fall near the embouchure of the
stream, is still more perceptible on the Atlantic slope. The Chagres, which
is undoubtedly the most important and most voluminous stream of water
of this portion of the isthmus, presents it in a very striking manner. The
tide of the Atlantic, which rises but from 13 to 15 inches, ascends the
river a distance of 17 miles; and is navigable, but with some difficulty,
beyond a distance of 18 miles from its mouth. Thence it can be ascended
only by poling, on account of the rapidity of the current and the irregu-
larity of the bottom. Laden boats ascend it as far as Gorgona and Cruets,
but in the dry season (from December to .June) they are obliged to unload
the larger barques on a beach near the mouth of the Cano Quebrado, and
to load again in smaller boats ; and even with these they have great diffi-
culty in reaching Cruets. With the exception of the Rio Chagres, the
other rivers of the isthmus can hardly be said to be navigable, and none of
them can be made useful for the purposes of navigation.

The waters flowing from the central chain, at its point of depression,
are divided, as we have seen, between two basons : that of the Caimito
upon the Pacific slope, and that of the Rio Chagres, or rather of the Cano
Quebrado, upon the Atlantic slope. It is then between these two basins,
that the point for the passage of a canal of communication between the
two oceans, is to be sought. It is along their tributaries that we must
look for the valleys where the canal should pass ; and finally, it is in the
neighbourhood of the localities where their waters empty into the sea —
that is, near the mouths of the rivers Caimito and the Chagres — that we
must seek the points of communication of the conal itself with the two
oceans; the bars which always form at the points where the running
waters of rivers meet the still waters of the ocean, rendering it necessary,
as a general rule, to avoid carrying a great line of navigation to those
points.

The Rio Chagres has, in fact, at its mouth, a bar with a depth of water
of but 13 feet. Under these circumstances, the insufficiency of such an
entrance for an oceanic canal like that of which we are treating, may be
easily comprehended ; a canal which should admit ships of the greatest
tonnage, and demanding at the least a draft of 23 feet of water. Doubt-
lessly it would not be impossible to remedy, at least temporarily, this
defect ; but the uncertainty, proved by experience, of the results of ope-
rations carried on at the mouths of rivers even larger than the Chagres,
especially when they are for the purpose of opposing the accumulation of
sand, should induce us to employ such means only in case it should be
impossible to find another suitable entrance ; here, however, nature herself
appears to have provided one. Five miles to the eastward of the Rio
Chagres, is the large and capacious bay of Linion, 21 miles in width, and
3| miles long. It has a great depth of water, which, in the centre, reaches
32 feet. This bay is separated from the river by a tract of land in general
of but slight elevation, and offering some low portions, which aflbrd facili-
ties for excavating a canal of communication with the river ; works simple
and easily constructed, will suffice for the establishment of a vast and sure
port at the entrance of the canal, in the bay, which, opening to the north,
is at present exposed directly to the action of the north, north-east, and
north-west winds, which reign almost constantly in these latitudes.

These disadvantages found at the embouchure of Rio Chagres in the
Atlantic, are still more apparent at that of the Rio Caimito in the Pacific.
This embouchure is situated in the middle of a vast beach, which lovir
water leaves uncovered ; it thus unites a want of depth of v\ater and the
inconvenience of sand banks. The coast does not olfer in this neighbour-
hood a favourable locality for a good port, with a sufficient depth of water,
for to the deptli of water necessary for vessels must be added the height of
the tide. But, fortunately, the neighbourhood of the port of Taboga, and
the almost constant tranquility of the Gulf of Panama, at the bottom of
which is the mouth of the Caimito, permit us, in establishing the entrance
of the canal, to take into consideration only the depth of water at high
tide.

The place on the coast which appears to me the best to correspond with
the required conditions in this respect, is a little bay with an opening of
382 yards, situated 24 miles to the eastward of the mouth of the Caimito.
At its entrance the mean depth was found to be at least 26^ feet at high
tide. There would be but little to do at this point to establish the entrance

340

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Nov

lock of the canal with surh a depth of water that ships iright enter, at
least at high water, duiing the neap tides, about the first and last quarters
of the moua.

TANNED CANVAS.

Communicationii from Mr. Hamlf.t Millf.tt respecting a mode of ren-
dering Canvas durable by means of Tun, to the Commissioners on the Fine
Arts.

It may he necessary first to stale that the process of'tanniiie; canvas,
althoujih easy and exjiedilioiis, is altogether dillerent from that wliich is
emplojed by tanners for converlini; the skins and hiJes of animals into
leatlier: it varies also from that mode in comnion use among the \'ai month
herring-fishernien and olliers for tanning tlieir nets to pro ect them from
prenialure rottenness, allhonnh the process of extrarling the tan from the
oak bark is nearly the same as that whi( h is used by the fishermen for
the above piM po-e, namely, by decoction. It will he seen from the
following stiitement that every possible care and attention has been
paid to render the results of the experiments as decisive as could be
desired.

Four iinprimed | canvases were tacked with copper nails to four stretch-
ing frames. The four canvases were cut from oil the same roll of cloth,
and the stretchers were all manuraclured from the same plank of w .od.
Two of the four canvases, after being stretched on their frames, were
immersed for three days and nights in a vat of strong tan, made expressly
for the occasion ; the tanning li'juor being kept, dnrini; the whole process,
at a tPiupcrature of 150°. The two canvases, after being taken from the
vat and well dried in the open air, were hung on the side of an under-
ground cellar, the walls of which were never free from damp ; the floor
was often tii>odeil in wet seasons for months together, and the water, long
before it disappeared, never faded to become putrid. This circumstance
rendered the situation in which the tanned canvases were hung for trial
peculiarly well adapted for ascertaining the power of the antiseptic
properties of tan. The two uuianned canvases, after being tacked with
copper nails to their stretchers, were hung up near the two tanned ones.
Care being taken to exclude all circidation of air, the cellar door was
locked, and the four cau\ases were entombed without once seeing the
light for no less a period than ten years.

Mr. iMdlett proceeds to state that when, after the trial, the four canvases
were removed from the cellar into the light for examination, the two tanned
canvasses were found lo have completely resisted putrefaction, no symp-
tom of decomposition appearing in any part of them. Fliers were forcibly
applied to the edges, but the cloths were found to be as strong as they
were on the day when ihey were tirst placed in the cellar. The stretchers
also, which were tanned with the canvases, were found lo be no less
sound ; they were piei'ced with a gimlet in several pans, both back and
front, and wire found to have undergone no change. Not so with the
untanned canvases and their stretchers ; in them decomposition had maile
very considi rable progress; they were found to be in a half stale of decay.
On using the pliers the canvas proved to be extremely tender, rending
with little exertion. The stretchers also were in a state of decay; on
piercing them with a gimlet they were observed to be very unsound; and
the growth ot fungi, one of the evidences of decomposition, showed itself,
particularly about the joints of the stretchers. The same two tanned
canvases were again placed in the cellar, together with one of the two
untanned canvases ; the other, after having been cleansed (as well as its
stretcher) froiu the mould that covered it, I caused to be tanned precisely
in the same way in which Iha other canvases had been treated. After
being taken from the vat and dried in the open air, this canvas was also
placed in the cellar with the other three, and the door was again closed on
them.

These experiments, Mr. IVlillett adds, were continued with the same
canvases during a considerable lapse of time, in all ahcmt twenty years.
When finally examined, the two taioied canvassses, together, with their
stretchers, continued, notwithstanding the severe trial they had exprri-
enced, sound in every part; not the smallest symptom of decay could he
discovered ; proving, far beyond my anticipations, that the antiseptic pro-
perties of tan are sufliciently potent to resist putrefaction and decomposi-
tion in canvas, and even in wood ; hence, rendering them durable even
when placed in the most trying situations.

The untanned canvas and its stretching-frame were found, on their final
inspection, lo be completely decomposed; the canvas dropped from the
frame, and the frame itself was a mass of touchwood. The half decom-
posed canvas and stretcher which I had caused lo be tanned before the
second trial look place, as above stated, had suH'ered no further decompo-
sition ; a strong proof that tan has not only the power lo prevent but lo
arrest the progress of decomposition. This latter experiment was ex-
pressly on a supposition that, if the result should prove successful, Ihe
process might be rendered available in prolonging the existence of the
valuable works of the old masters.

Process for extriiclin^- tan from oak bark for tanning canvas. — One hun-
dred weight of good, sound, and conrsely-ground oak bark, will make one
hundred gallons of proper tanning liquor, which is sufficient to tan about
sixty scpiare yards of canvas.

To make a vat of tan of any required si:f.— Take any quantity of good

coarsely-ground oak hark, according to the number of square yards of
canvas about to be tanned, and water agreeably to the foregoing propor-
tions; boil them together for twelve successive hours in a copper vessel
(not in an iron one, as Ihe oxide of iron has a tendency to decompose tan),
taking care to supply the decoction with fresh water from time to time to
make up the loss occasioned by evaporation. When sufliciently boiled,
strain oil' the tanning lii|uor from the bark through a hair-sieve, and put it
by for use. The tanning liquor thus made is at least three times as strong
as that made made use of by the herring fishermen, to render their nets
durable, and still stronger than that employed by the Dutch shipowner*
for tanning the sails of their vessels with Ihe same view.

The copper in which the oak bark has been boiled, will serve every
required purpose as a vat, with one trilling addition, namely, a small piece
of Hat oak board, about nine inches in iliameter, and one inch thick, cut
into a circular shape, lo be pliice'l at the bottom of the inside of the cop-
per. Its use is to prevent the canvas, whilst undergoing the process of
tanning, from touching the bottom of the vessel.

Process fur tanning the canras. — Take any quantity of canvas, say 15
yards, to tan which 25 gallons of tanning liquor, made as above are re-
quired. Hour the tanning liquor into >our vat or copper, and heat it by
means of a gentle lire uniler it, to the temperature of 150°, then immerse
the canvas therein, and continue the immersion at the same degree of tem-
perature, day and night, for 48 hours. A longer period would do the
canvas no harm; a shorter is by no means recommended. The canvas
during the process of the tanning should now and then be moved in the
vat, in order that every part of it may be equally tanned. The tanned
canvas, on being laken from the vat, must be neither wrung nor squeezed,
but hung up or laid out on a grass-plot to dry, allowing the air alone to
take up the remaining moisture.

The process for tanning canvas, when strained on stretching frames, is
dissimilar to the foregoing, both as to the construction of the vat, and the
mode for regulating and keeping up the necessary temperature required
for carrying on the process of tanning the canvas already strained. The
process about to be ilescribed rajght indeed be dispensed with, as canvas
can be as readily strained on the stretching-frames after as before it bai
undergone the process of tanning, and much labour and expense would be
saved thereby ; but it has been thought that the stielching-fiaines on which
the canvas is strained, ought to receive from the tan the same protecting
advantages as the canvas itself, they being equally subject to the causes of
decomposition. Stretching frames intended lo undergo the tanning pro-
cess, ought to be completely made and fitted, but not put together before
they underao the process ot tanning. It is scarcely necessary to observe
that the stretching-frames here mentioned are those to which canvas is not
yet attached.

To construct a rat for fanning canvas when stretched on its frame, togethir
with the aiijmrnlus for heating the tanning liquor, and keepnig it at a proper
temperature during the operation of tanning. — A case made of oak plank-
ing, about an inch in thickness, and somewhat resembling a picture pack-
ing-case, was provided, with one side left open to admit the strained can-
vases ; this served as a vat. The case or vat being placed edgewise, a
lead worm of a20-gallon still was wound round Ihe inside of it, and steam
from water, constantly kept in a boiling state in the still, and forced through
the worm in the vat, kept the tanning liquor at a proper temperature. This
was the sort of vat which was used for tanning the two ^ canvases and
their stretching frames, before mentioned; it was expressly made for carry-
ing into efiect those experiments.

Jlr. Millett proceeds to offer some observations on the mode of lining
pictures: — A picture requiring to be new lined, being spread oul for that
purpose, take a basin of strong tanning liquor, prepared according to the
foregoing process, and in a moderately warm stale ; wash the back of the
picture therewith, using a soft sponge ; when the tanning liquor so applied
shall have become dry, the same process should be repeated, and so con-
tinued for three or four times. The use of the tanning liquor so employed,
is to arrest, by the antiseptic properties of tan, Ihe further progress of the
decomposition which may have taken place in the original cun\as on which
the picture is painted. The second precaution to be observed is lo apply a
well-tanned canvas as a lining to the picture ; and lastly, as a still further
protection to it, it would be well to use a stretching-frame that has under-
gone the process of tanning also.

A vat or apparatus constructed as follows, will be found well adapted for
the purpose of tanning stretching-frames: — A square trough of any re-
quired length, and about a foot in height and breadth, formed of zinc and
lined inside with oak planking, with a lid made to open and shut, is all
that is necessary as regards the vat itseli. To heat the tanning liquor
therein and keep it at a proper temperature, during the operation of tan-
ning, a lead-pipe leading from a steam-boiler, and passing through Ibe
tanning liquor in the vat, is also required. The heating process should be
regularly kept up for at least 48 hours. The stretching frames should be
regularly maile and tilted previously to their being tanned, and they should
be tanned before they are finally put together.

The writer further remarks that few things are so destructive to canvas
as oil, and expresses his opinion that, in priming canvas for painting, care
should be taken to have it well sized, so that it may fully resist the oil in
the priming colour.

184G.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

341

BRITISH ASSOCIATION.

Session- lOlh, held at Southampton, September, lSi6.

{Continued from page 308.)

Section A. — Matiiejutics.

Self-Kegistering Instruments.

Mr. Brooke stated that he had applied to the barometer, thermometer,
and psyclirometer, a new apparatus, by which also he had olitained a register
of variations of the declination magnet, a description of which he had trans-
mitted to the Roval Society. This may be hrietly explained to consist of
two concentric glass cylinders, which enclose between them a piece of pho-
tographic paper, and are carried round by clockwork once in twelve hours.
These are covered by a blackened case having a narrow slit parallel to the
axis of the cylinders, through which a small point of light, reflected from a
spherical concave mirror attached to the magnet, and then refracted through
a cylindrical lens, passes and impresses the paper. Some photographs were
exhibited, and were much approved of by the president, by Dr. Whewell,
and other leading members of the committee who were present: from these
the position of the magnet at any given time might generally be determined
within ten seconds, and frequently within five. Tlie self-registering baro-
meter was described as a syphon barometer, the extremities of which were
nearly an inch in diameter, and exactly the same size, being adjacent por-
tions of the same tube. A glass bulb having a tubular stem rests on the
surface of the mercury in the lower end of the tube, and is maintained in a
vertical position by small friction-rollers. On this stem rests tlie short arm
of a balanced lever, and the barometer is so placed that the long arm of the
lever carries a black paper screen between a lamp and the slit in the appa-
ratus above described ; the light of the lamp being condensed by a cylindri-
cal lens placed in front of and parallel to the slit in the apparatus. This
screen has a narrow slit in it, at right angles to the former; and the small
portion of light, transmitted through the point at which the two slits cross
each other, produces a trace upon the photographic paper. The ratio of the
arms of the lever may be determined at pleasure, so as to ma,^nify the varia-
tions from two to ten times; and as the line is very sharply defined, when
magnified five times the variations may be readily determined to the thou-
sandth part of an inch. The author stated that he had not had the oppor-
tunity of determining the errors of the instrument, arising from friction and
other causes, but he believed them to be very small. In the self-registering
thermometer and psycbrometer the mercury in a wide flat bore of the tube
intercepts a portion of the focal line of light formed by refraction throusb a
cylindrical lens placed as above. This does not require more particular des-
cription, as it differs only in details from similar apparatus, of which a de-
scription is in print.

Mr. F. Ronalds, on presenting his third annual volume of observations
and experiments made at the Kew Observatory, described bis experiments
on the photographic self-registration of the electrometer, the barometer, the
thermometer, and the declination magnetometer, explained his existing appa-
ratus for these purposes, and exhibited the resulting photographs — but first
briefly adverted to bis previous proposals in 18-40 and 1841, and experiments
in 1341 relative to the subject. The principal characteristic of his improved
system is a peculiar adaptation of the lucernal microscope. An instrument
of this kind was employed in July 1843 to register the variations of Volta's
atmospheric electrometer. The pair of straws were properly insulated and
suspended within the body of tbe microscope, and towards its object end.
A condensing lens was placed at the end itself, and a good lamp stood be-
yond it ; a strong light was therefore projected upon those sides of the straws
which were turned towards the condensing lens, and the other sides were in
deep shade. Tbe lignt also impinged upon a little screen fifteil into the
back of a case about two feet long fixed to the eye end of the microscope, at
right angles with it, and vertically; through this screen was cut a very nar-
row curved slit, whose chord was horizontal, and radius equal to tbe length
of the straws. Between the electrometer and the screen an excellent com-
bination of schrometer lenses by Ross was accurately adjusted, to produce a
good chemical focus of the electrometer at a distance as much beyond the
external surface of the screen as the thickness of one of the plates of glass to
be presently mentioned. In the long vertical case was suspended a frame
about half the length of the case, provided with a rabbet, into which two
pieces of plate glass could be dropped, and these brought into close contact
by means of six little bolts and nuts. The frame could, be removed at plea-
sure from the line by which it was suspended, and the line, after passing
through a small hole stopped with grease at the top of the long case, was
attached to a pulley about four inches in diameter, on the hour arbor of a
clock. Lastly, counterpoises, rollers, and springs were used for insuring ac-
curate sliding of the frame, &c. A piece of photographic paper was now
placed between the two plates of glass in the movable frame, the long case
was closed so as to prevent the possibility of daylight entering it, the clock
was started, and the time of starting was noted. All that part of the paper
which was made to pass over the slit in the screen by the motion of the
clock, became now therefore successively exposed to a strong light, and was
consequently brought into a state which fitted it to receive a dark colour on
being again washed with the usual solution, excepting those small portions
upon which dark images of the lower parts of the straws were projected

through the slit ; these parts of course retained the light colour, and formed
long curved lines or hands, whose distances from each other at any giveji
part of the photograph, i. e. at any given time, indicated the electric tension
of that time. Sometimes daylight was used instead of the light from alamp,
and in that ease, during the process some appearances of the sky were occa-
sionally noted, by which it was evident that in serene weather, when the sun's
light and heat varied, and the paper became consequently either more or
less darkened, the electric tension as shown in the photograph varied also,
increasing with tbe increase of light, &c. This fact has not perhaps before
been observed : but as the darkening effect on the paper could not always
be depended upon, separate notes were taken of the intensities of light and
the same results obtained. At the suggestion of the astronomer royal a dis-
tinguishing electrometer formed on the day pile system was afterwards era-
ployed, which exhibited in the photograph not only the tension but the kind
of electricity possessed by the electrometer at any given time.

The dry thermometer was next tried ; it was of the horizontal kind, had
a flat bore, and its tube was introduced through the side of the microscope ;
the tube had a diaphram of very narrow aperture fixed upon it, and the slit
in the screen at the eye end of the microscope was now of course straight
and horizontal. The image was a little magnified, and the breadth of the
dark band or line in the photograph became tbe measure of temperature in-
versely at any time.* The barometer employed was of the syphon kind ;
the microscope was turned, in order to bring the long case and its sliding
frame into an horizontal position ; the clock was placed at one end, and a
little weight sufficient to keep the frame steady was suspended by a line
parsing over a pulley at the other end. The lower leg of the barometer was
introduced through the now bottom of the microscope, it was provided with
a similar kind of diaphram to that on the thermometer, and of course the
slit in the screen was now vertical. A very light blackened pith-ball rested
on the surface of the mercury, and its image was slightly magnified, but will
in future be much more so. The declination rnaf/net was one of two feet,
provided with a damper, and its mode of suspension was essentially similar
to that of the Greenwich declinometer. In order to adapt it for self-regis-
tration, a very light conical brass tube, projecting six inches beyond its north
end, was affixed to the lower side of the spur which carried it, aud to the
north end of that tube a small wire, called the index, was attached at right
angles ; this index descended through little slits in the bottoms of the two
cases, enclosed the magnet, &c., and took the place of the electrometer de-
scribed above in the lucernal miscroscope, which was placed below the cases,
and was now required to be much longer than before, in order that the
image and motion might be suliicieatly magnified, yet retaining a flat field.
Everything was very firmly fixed upon the two pillars which formerly carried
tbe transit instrument of George III.

A great many photographs were obtained and sent for inspection to Green-
wich. Of some termday impressions, Mr. Glaisher, the magnetical and me-
teorological superintendent of the Greenwich Observatory, says, in an official
note, that " the beautiful agreement of those results with these at Green-
wich is highly satisfactory." This must be gr,itifying to Mr. Ronalds, who
has from the first so ably devised and conducted the experiments and obser-
vations at Kew.

Mr. DoUond's atmospheric recorder registers simultaneously and continu-
ously on the same sheet of paper every variety of change in the barometer,
thermometer, hygrometer, electrometer, pluviometer, and evaporator: it also
records the force and direction of the wind.

The barometer is upon the siphon principle, of a large bore. Upon the
surface of the mercury in tbe shortest leg is placed a float, very accurately
counterpoised, leaving only sufficient weight to compel it to follow the mer-
cury, and is correctly adjusted to that part of the apparatus which moves
the indicator, when the pressure of the atmosphere is at thirty inches. The
connexion of the float with tbe indicator is so arranged as to give a scale of
three to one.

The if/iermome^r/cfl/ arrangement consists of lea mercurial thermometers
of a peculiar form. These are suspended upon an extremely delicate and
accurate balance. They are placed at the north end of the frame, and are
screened from the effects of the wind and rain by perforated plates of zinc.

The hygrometer consists of a slip of mahogany cut across the grain. This
was placed in a cylinder filled with water, and suspended from the upper end
with a weight of two pounds at the other end, until it was found by repeated
examination to be completely saturated, and no longer to increase in length.
The length was then referred to an accurate scale, and the slip of mahogany
placed alongside the pipe of a stove, under the same suspension and weight,
until its shortest length was obtained. The difl^erence of the two results
being carefully taken, the scale was formed accordingly. It is placed in a
tuhe, open at both ends for a free passage of air, outside the observatory.
It is suspended and weighted as before, with full power to act upon the arm
of the indicator, quite free from the action of the sun or rain, and is found
to be extremely active and firm in its operation, showing upon an open scale
every hundredth of its extremes in dryness and moisture.

The electroimter for thunder-storms and electric changes is constructed
by placing a well insulated conductor upon ihe higiiest convenient place,
from which a wire is brought down to an insulation on the top of the obser-
vatory, and from thence to a standard through another insulation to a metal
disc, between which and another fixed disc there is a movable disc attached

* In order to cowvert this into tlie wet. bulb ' liygroraeter' nothing of course is necessary
but the application of tbe usual cup of water and the capillary threads.

44

342

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Nov

to a glass or Insulating arm, for the purpose of connecting it with an accu-
rate support upon which it can move with the greatest facility. In connexion
with this arm and disc there is a pencil carried forward to the line of indi-
cation. The third disc before stated is fised to a standard at ahout three
inches from the first : to this a wire is attached and carried into the earth.
By this arrangement the electricity put in motion by a thunder-cloud is re-
ceived and registered. The effect during a thunder-storm is extremely inte-
resting. When a cloud charged with the electric fluid comes within the
range of the conductor, the movable disc begins slowly to pass from the first
to the third disc, discharging each time a proportion of the electricity, and
increasing in rapidity of motion until the discharge of the cloud by lightning
takes place. It then falls hack to tlie first disc, and remains perfectly quiet
until the next electric cloud approaches. If, in the interim, a cloud charged
with rain only should descend or pass over, no movement of the disc takes
place.

For the pluviometer, at a distance from the outside of the observatory,
there is a receiver of one foot square, clear from all surrounding matter that
might interfere with the direct fall of the rain upon its surface. From this
receiver a pipe conducts the rain into another receiver inside the observatory,
directly under the registering apparatus; in this there is an air-float con-
nected with a set of inclined planes, each inclined plane being equal to one
inch of rain. These inclined planes, as they pass up, move the indicator
across the destined proportion of the paper ; showing, as it proceeds, the re-
sult of each drop to the hundredth part of an inch in superficies, and con-
tinues to advance until it arrives at one inch. It is then instantly discharged,
and returns to the zero of the scale, or commencement of another inch. The
internal receiver is calculated to contain six inches of rain.

The evaporator is supplied with water from a vessel which is, in form, an
open cube of one foot square, placed by the side of the receiver for rain, and
filled from a correct gauge to a given number of inches ; it is covered with
a plate of glass, elevated sufficiently above the edge of the vessel to prevent
rain from falling into it, but not so close as to prevent the air from freely
acting upon the surface of the water. A receiver inside the observatory is
placed under the arm of the indicator upon the same level as that outside,
connected by a pipe. In this receiver there is a float, governed by the eva-
poration from the external vessel, which moves the pencil of indication until
an inch of the water has evaporated ; it then, as in the rain-gauge, returns
to the zero. This is repeated for several inches until the receivers are nearly
empty, when they must he refilled from the external vessel.

The power or force of the wind is registered by a combination of suspend-
ed weights, acted upon by inclined planes or edges in connexion with a board
of one foot square to receive the impression ; this board is kept in opposi-
tion to the direction of the wind by a powerful vane, its motion being as
free from friction as possible, every part being correctly counterpoised. When
the board is acted upon by the wind, it raises the suspended vieights by a
chain passing over a pulley in a line with the direction of the wind, and well
secured from the weather. The suspended weights in connexion with an in-
clined lever carries the pencil of indication along the scale, and registers the
weight lifted in oz. and lb. avoirdupois. The scale having been found, by
repeated trials, to be correctly equal to the weights recorded upon it. The
direction of the wind is also registered at the same time by another pencil,
which marks the course upon the paper, throughout the whole circle of the
horizon, or that proportion through which it passes.

Section B.— Chemistry and Mineralogy.
"On the Decomposition of Water into its constituent Gases by Heat."
by W. R. Grove. — Prof. Grove, in the first place, called attention to the
fact, proved by Cavendish and the French philosophers, that oxygen and
hydrogen being exposed to a high temperature, or the electric spark, im-
mediately combined to form water. He theu announced his discovery Ihat
all the processes by which water may be formed are capable of decompos-
ing water. He believed that the explosion of the mixed gases by the
electric spark was due only to the heat of the spark, and not at all to
electrolysis. Priestley's method for decomposing gases by passing them
through heated tubes was described, and the advantages of using a form of
A'olta's eudiometer, in which incandescent platina was employed, to ell'ect
decomposition, pointed out. By an apparatus of this kind, ammonia, cam-
phor, the prot- and per- oxides of nitrogen were readily decomposed. It
was stated that hydrogen gas exposed to the ignited wire always shows
the presence of oxygen ; and that it is impossible to pass hydrogen gas
through water without its taking up so much oxygen, as to acquire the
power of giving luminosity to phosphorus in the dark. It was found that
if hydrogen and carbonic acid were exposed to the action of the ignited
■wire, there was a contraction of one volume, leaving a residue of carbonic
oxide. If, instead of carbonic acid, carbonic oxide was employed, the
mixed gases expanded in volume ; and the carbonic oxide, taking oxyen
from the water, was converted into carbonic acid. Here we have two dis-
similar results produced by the same cause — by means of hydrogen we take
oxygen from carbonic acid, and by means of hydrogen we take oxygen
from water. If steam is formed in the eudiometric tube and acted on by
the iguited wire on cooling, a small bubble of gas is formed, which is found
to be oxygen and hydrogen in the exact proportions in which they form
water. This is the result of the first action of the heated wire : — in a few
seconds a small bubble of gas is formed, but if the action be continued for
a week, it does not increase in quantity. It is, however, easy to remove
the bubble as it is formed, and bring a fresh quantity of steam under the

influence of the heated wire, and thus collect a quantity of gas which
should be quite sulficient for any eudiometric examination. Numerous
forms of apparatus were described by which this experiment can be per-
formed. It might be objected that, as the wire was ignited by a voltaic
battery, the decomposition was not due to the heat of the wire, but to an
electrolytic action. This objection would not, however, be maintained by
those who were acquainted with electrical phenomena. With the view,
however, of removing all doubt, the use of the battery was entirely done
away with, and all the results were obtained by the agency of heat aloae,
in the following manner. Into a silver tube a capillhry lube of platina is
soldered, and this is again connected with a bent tube, which admits of
the removal of any gas formed. The tubes being filled with distilled
water, their ends being immersed in vessels of oil or water, the flame of a
spirit lamp, urged by the blow-pipe, is brought to bear upon the capillary
tube of platina, by which it is almost immediately brought to a white heat.
The water is, of course, instantly converted into steam ; and this steam is
decomposed by the agency of the heat alone. By boding, we thus convert
steam into mixed oxygen and hydrogen gases ; and this operation may be
continued for any length of time by removing the bubble of gas formed,
and bringing a fresh supply of steam under the influence of the heated
platina. If fused globules of platina are dropped into water, there is im-
mediately formed a bubble of oxy-hydrogen gas, which may be collected
in an inverted tube. Prof. Grove went on to show the probable connexion
between this phenomenon of decomposition and the spheroidal slate of
fluids when they are projected on capsules of heated platina, which had
been referred to a repulsive action of a coating of steam enveloping the
spheroid of fluid ; but in all probability the revolving drop was under-
going decomposition by the agency of the heat to which it was exposed.

Dr. L. Playfair remarked that the facts which Hr. Grove had an-
nounced might possibly be regarded as due to a citalytic action of the
platina, such as had been observed by Dr. Faraday, and such as was evi-
denced in the action of oxi<le of copper on the hypochlorites. Many
bodies at high temperatures exhibited a great affinity for oxygen, which
they did not possess at lower temperatures, as, for instance, silver, gold,
and even platina itself, which metals absorbed oxygen when intensely
heated, and gave it out again on cooling. If the experiments had been
tried in tubes of quartz or silica, they would not have been open to the
objection which the use of so peculiar a metal as platina appeared to
involve.

Dr. Leeson made some remarks, which went to show that in all proba-
bility the bursting of steam boilers might be explained by the discovery of
Prof. Grove,

Mr. Hdnt explained some experiments of Woolfe on the boilers of some
Cornish steam-engines, which appeared to prove the conversion of steam
into gas under the influence of the heat to which the water and steam were
exposed in the experiments.

Prof. Faraday thought Mr. Grove's discovery would not explain the
bursting of steam boilers, which might be easily done hy Prof. Boutigny's
experiments on the spheroidal condition of fluids. He did not agree with
Prof. Grove that the repulsion of the steam was insufficient to explain the
spheroidal state. He would rather desire, in the present stage of the
inquiry, to discuss the philosophy of the question than the applications of
iMr. Grove's discovery. Was it a decomposition of water by the agency
of heat, or was it the action of certain substances when heated ? It ap-
peared to him that the investigation was a great step onwards and towards
a knowledge of the corpuscular action of bodies, and he did not doubt Ihat
some remarkable developments as to the influence of caloric in overcoming
the force of aggregation would ensue.

On the changes which mercury suffers in glass ressch hermetically sealed.

Prof. Oersted read a paper on this subject. He said that the progress
of these changes is so exceedingly slow, that it seldom becomes sensible
for years. He had observed them twenty years ago in a glass bulb of
mercury. At first a yellow powder was formed in the bulb, and after some
years a black one. He took up the subject in 1838, experimenting with
four bulbs, two of while and two of green glass, carefully weighed, in order
to detect any portion of air Ihat may be admitted through the pores or fis-
sures of the glass. The weight, however, remained unaltered. In July
1839, a small change was visible. At first a feeble ring of yellow powder
adhering to the glass was observed, where the mercury had been a long
lime in contact with the glass. And again in a new place, under similar
circumstances, a new ring was formed, and so on. The surface itself upon
n hich the mercury had rested some time had a thin covering of yellow ad-
herent powder. In the course of years the yellow powder became black.
The mercury had losi a great deal of its fluidity, and it adhered slightly to
the glass. The order in which the two colours follow each other indicate
Ihat they are not produced by oxidation. In the green bulbs no change
was visible. In 184,5, Prof. Oersted procured twelve bulbs, six of which
should contain besides the mercury, atmospheric air, the air of the other
six being expelled by boiling the mercury; three of each series being
while, and three green glass. In July last there was no sensible change
in the first series (namely, mercury mixed with air), but in the second
(from which the air had been expelled), change had taken place at all but
one. Karefaction of the air had no conuexion with the phenomena, but the
boiling of the mercury seemed to have some influence upon them. The
Professor intends to continue the investigation of these phenomena, which,
however, appear to him to depend upon a reaction between the glass and

1S46.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

343

the mercury. Analysing the two powders, sulphur was detected. But as
a yellow compound of mercury and sulphur contains oxygen, and as no
oxygen was found in the black powder, it may be questioned wliether the
first compound takes oxygen from the air of the bulb and returns it in pas-
sing to the state of the black one, or that some hitherto unknown exchange
takes place between the elements of the glass and the mercury.

" On the Corrosion of Iron Rails in and out of use." liy R. Mallett. —
The researches on this- subject are still in progress, experiments are being
made upon six ditTerent lines of railway. The principal facts already ascer-
taiued are : — 1st. That there is a real difference in the rate of corrosion be-
tween tlie rails in use and out of use : — that this appears to be connected
with their peculiar molecular condition so induced. 2nd. The determination
of the complex conditions as to magnetism, which affect rails some time in
use, producing both induced and permanent magnetism in the rails, each rail
being magnetic with polarity, and having from four to eight separate poles
each.

Mr. Hunt stated his confirmation of the experiments of Ritter — that mag-
netism had the power of protecting iron from corrosion ; — to which he re-
ferred the protecting influence exerted on the rails in use on railways.

" Notice of a Gas Furnace for Organic Analysis." By Dr. Percy. — This
was an ingenious arrangement, by which gas, burnt, mixed with air, through
wire gauze, was substituted for charcoal. Its advantages are its extreme
cleanliness, and the power which the operator possesses of regulating, at
will, the heat, — which is not practicable iu the ordinary furnace for organic
analysis with charcoal.

Section C. — Geology.

" On the Northwich Salt-Field," by G. W. Ormerod.— The rock-salt
of Northwich is part of the New Red Sandstone series : it forms two
strata, the uppermost of wh-ch is 75 feet thick, and the lower 105 feet;
they are separated by 30 feet of stone, containing veins of salt. Through-
out the district, the brine is reached at the same level, about 87 feet below
the river Weaver; and varies uniformly in all the shafts when any change
takes place. In this district there are three faults, which have displaced
the strata to a considerable amount. The first fault is a throw-down to the
east of 400 yards; it intersects the South Lancashire coal-field, and passes
into Cheshire, along the valley to the west of Bellefield and Hill Clifl', a
range of New Red Sandstone (hunter sandstein), capped by the ripple-
marked beds denominated " water-stones," iu which the foot-marks of the
Cheirotherium occur ; the summit is 352 feet above the level of the sea.
Near Northwich this fault appears to pass into another, which is an wp-
i/iroK! to the east of 460 feet, and passes also through the South Lanca-
shire coal field, by Wigan Chord, and east of Warrington into Cheshire,
when it continues along the valley east of the Bellefield range. Through
the coal district this line is proved by nismerous workings; and in the salt
district, by the extent to which the workings and the sinking of the land
have gone. The third great fault, passing by Northwich, ranges by south-
west to north-east, passing near Holt, and running up the valley between
the Peckforton Hills and the low range occupying the east side of the Dee.
This valley is occupied by marl, in which saline springs are frequent. At
Northwich the line runs in a north-easterly direction, forming the north-
west boundary of the rock-salt. The subsidences already mentioned as
taking place in the salt district are either sudden or gradual, and have been
noticed for many years. At the yard of the Weaver Navigation Office the
sinking is at least six feet; and on the road from that place to Winningtou
the depressions are shown by cracks in houses and visible subsidences iu
the land. From the same cause, a lock and a factory have required to be
removed, meadows are laid under water, and the towing-path by the river
has had to be raised. The Whittou Brook has also been made six feet
deeper, to enable the navigation to proceed as formerly.

Mr. Phillips observed, that one of these faults laid down in Mr. Orm-
erod's map was 50 miles long, and one was in the direction of the magnetic
meridian. In the south of England, the New Red Sandstone became
much thinner, less complicated, and was deficient in salt.

Sir H. Die La Beche stated that the variegated tints of the water-stones
were due to a diderence in the amount of oxydation of the ores they con-
tained. The decomposition of vegetable matter had, in some places, re-
duced the per-oxide to the condition, comparatively, of a prot-oxide, —
changing the red colour of the rock to a pale blue.

Mr. Greesoogh remarked, that salt existed below the coal-measures in
Durham, as well as in the New Red Sandstone, whilst the salt beds at the
base of the Carpathians were of tertiary age.

■' On certain Deviations of the Plumb-line from its Mean Direction, as
observed in the neighbourhood of Shanklin Down, in the Isle of Wight,
during the progress of the Ordnance Survey," by Mr. W. Hopkins. — The
difference of latitude between Greenwich and the station of the Ordnance
surveyors at Dunnuse, on the north side of Shanklin Down, as determined
by triangulation, was greater by 2'22 seconds, than as determined by
zenith sector observations. When, however, a new station was chosen on
the south side of Shanklin Down, the difTerence of latitude, as determiutd
by triangulation, was less by 3'99 seconds than it appeared to be when
determined by the zenith sector. These discrepancies would be accounted
for, if the mass intervening between the stations at Shanklin Down were
sufficient to produce, by its attraction on the plumb-line, the observed de-
viations. The requisite calculations for proving the adequacy of this
cause had not been made; the tendency, however, would necessarily be to

produce effects of the same nature as those observed ; and the author
thought it probable that the intensity of the attraction of the hill would be
found sufficient to account for the phenomena.

Coal of India.

Mr. Ansted read an analysis of a report to the Indian Government on the
coal of India. — The subject of coal iu reference to our Indian territories has
for a long time been looked upon as of great practical importance ; and the
increase of steam navigation, as well as the proposed introduction of rail-
roads into that country, renders every matter connected with the subject in
the highest degree interesting. I have received, since my arrival at South-
ampton, through the kindness of Colonel Sykes, a copy of a report recently
made to the Indian Government, giving an aperfu of the information at
present obtained concerning the various beds of coal chiefly in Northern
India, and I cannot help thinking that an account of the information thus
communicated may be generally useful, especially as much of it is new,
and a very large proportion of the remainder, although known to those
who have been long accumulating matter that bore reference to this sub-
ject, is little familiar to the great body even of those most interested ia
Indian aflairs.

The coal-districts of India, as determined in this report, may be consi-
dered as five in number, — three of these are in Northern India, and one in
Cutch, while the fifth includes the province of Arracan and the coast of
the Burman empire near Tennasserim. Of these the Cutch coal is cer-
tainly not of the carboniferous epoch, and it appears to be of little import-
ance at present, and unpromising. It has also been described by Captain
Grant, in the Transactions of the Geological Society, and therefore I will
not now allude to it. I shall endeavour to describe, first, the chief points
of importance with reference to the great and continued series of the North
Indian coal-fields, and then allude shortly to the prospects of success in
the attempt to obtain coal from the coasts of the Bay of Bengal.

The whole district, extending from the neighbourhood of Hoosungabad
on the Nerbudda river (lat. 23 N. long. 78 e.), on the left or south bank of
the river, and extending in a north-easterly direction for a distance of about
400 miles to Palamon, thence eastward for 250 miles to Burdwan near
Calcutta, and running northward for 150 miles to Kajmahal, exhibits, it
would appear, at intervals by no means distant, a continually repeated out-
crop of rocks, consisting of sandstones and shales, with occasional lime-
stone; while at intervals a number of beds of coal have been recognised,
of variable thickness and value, but all appearing to exhibit evidence of
the existence there of a great coal district.

Commencing again on the flanks of the Garrow mountains, near the
Burhampooter, and on both banks of that vast river, we find another, or
perhaps a continued, outcrop of similar beds also containing coal, and
reaching in a north-easterly direction for nearly 400 miles. The interme-
diate plains, whose breadth between Rajmahal and Jumalpore is about
100 miles, are chiefly alluvial, and thus it is possible that there exists a
vast range of carboniferous strata, reaching for upwards of 1000 miles
along the flanks of the Himalaya mountains, — the distance from the moun-
tain chain gradually increasing as we advance west>vard, the mountains
tending northwards and the outcrop of the carboniferous bed southwards,
until finally, the distance between them being upwards of 500 miles, the
relation is not easily recognised. The whole of the drainage of the Gan-
ges and the Burhampooter occurring, however, in this interspace, we are
enabled to connect the geological phenomena in a very interesting manner.
Before, however, considering the relation of the discovery thus made to
Indian geology generally, it will be necessary to give some account of the
nature of the coal in the various places where it has been worked, and the
present state of our knowledge on the subject.

Neighbourhood of Calcutta,

I. Commencing with the neighbourhood of Calcutta, we have first to
consider the Burdwan coal-district, and with this I shall group the Adji
and the Rajmahal fields ; all these are on the banks of either the Hoogh-
ley or Ganges, or on the tributaries of these rivers. The Burdwan dis-
trict has been long known, and a good deal worked. The workable beds «f
coal are nine and seven feet thick respectively. They are associated witli
sandstone, shale, and a little clay, ironstone, and about six other thinner
seams of coal, while other thick beds are mentioned, but their real exist-
ence as separate beds is doubtful. There are uow thirteen spots at which
this coal is worked, but most of them are surface working. The deepest
sinking is 190 fret. The distance to Calcutta is about 90 miles, but the
actual transit of coal is nearly 200 miles. There would seem to be a con-
tinuous outcrop of the same kind of rocks from Burdwan up the Adji
river, and northwards to Rajmahal. On the Adji river the coal has been
worked ia more than one spot, and is found to be of about the same quality
as that of Burdwan ; but neither of Uiem is considered of nearly so good
quality as the English coal. Farther on, at Rajmahal, coal is known to
exist, but has notyefbeen much worked. The quality of that which has
been obtained does not appear good.

Palamon Coal Field.

II. The Burdwan coal-field appears to be connected, by a continuous
outcrop, with a district at Palamon, in" which coal has been worked iu no
fewer than four places. The coal here is apparently immediately reposing
in a valley enclosed by hills of granite, aud is associated with a good
deal of iron. There are several beds that are of workable size, but a good
deal of the coal is heavy and of inferior quality, and some of it appears to

41*

341

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Nov.

be anthracilic. These coal-beds are not far from the Soane river, a n
about 100 miles from its confluence wilh the Ganges, a little above Diua-
poor and i'atna ; but the Soane is not at present navigable. To the west
of Palamon the carboniferous beds are described as appearing; along two
irregular lines, the uue towards the south-west for 150 miles, reaching
beyond Koorbah, and the other more westward, by Sohagepoor, lo the
Nerbudda, These beds appear to connect themselves with the 15urdwan
coal-lield ; and near ](ani;;urh, coal has been obtained in two or three
places. This coal is said to be of very good (juality and of considerable
thickness; but there can be little doubt that a statemeut made in the
report, of the bed of coal being 200 yards in thickness, must be owing to
some misunderstanding of the account and sketch originally communi-
cated. It seems certain, however, from the extent of the outcrop, that the
seam must be oue of considerable magnitude. Westwards, again, from
Palamon, and at a distance of about 60 miles, coal has been found in se-
veral places in Singronii, but the beds at present known are thin ; and
again, lo the south-west, the same mineral occurs at Sirgoojah, where line
coal lias been seen, but is not used at present. Between the Singrowli
coat and Jubbulpore excellent coal has been found in several places, indi-
cating aa extensive coal-lield ; but the nature and thickness of the beds is
not slated.

The Nerbudda district, although from the drainage of the country it
btl^tugs to the Hombay side of India, is manifestly more related, so far as
the old rocks are concerned, with the Bengal territory. The coal is about
330 miles from Bombay, and the Nerbudda river is at present not navi-
gable. There seem to be three districts in the Nerbudda valley in which
coal is found, but the most important of them is that near Gurrawarra,
about midway between Hoosungabad and .Jubbulpore. The coal here,
indeed, appears lo be perhaps the best hitherto found in India, and exists
in beds three iu number, whose thickness respectively is said to be 20 feet,
40 feet, and 25^ feet. There are also other beds, one of which is four
feet.

The discovery of this, the Benar coal-field, promises to be of great im-
portance. It is also very near another basin, where there are beds also of
excellent quality, one of them 6 feet in thickness. At Jubbulpore itself
coal has been found at a depth of TO feet, oue bed being nearly 12 feet
thick.

Coal Ficlils East of Calcutta.

III. Let us consider now the district east of Calcutta. We there find
true carboniferous rocks on both llanks of the Garrow Mountains, com-
mencing near Jumelpore, and thence continuing north-eastwards for a dis-
tance amounting on the whole lo nearly 400 miles through Lower and
Upper Assam. The district nearest Calcutta isSilhel, on the south flanks
of the Garrow, where eleven beds of coal have been determined, whose
total thickness as already ascertained is said to amount to 85 feet. This
coal is of excellent quality, and can as readily be conveyed lo the LTpper
Ganges as the Bnrdwan coal. The most remarkable beds dccur at Cherra
Ponji ; but these appear irregular, although they are undoubtedly of great
thickness in several spots, amounting snnidlimes lo nearly 30 feet. There
are also otht-r important beds. They have been known for more than ten
years, but have not been worked; and since their first discovery large
quantities of iron have been smelted with charcoal.

After |iassiug the districts in which the coal has been thus clearly ex-
hibited, we proceed next to the Assam districts, also more or less continu-
ous, and extending for about 350 miles chiefly along the south side of the
ilurliarnpooler ; the whole being divided into the two gri>ups of Lower
and Upper Assam, separated at Bishrnatli, 170 miles above Calcutta.
.Six coal-flelds are enuineraled in the Upper district, and three iu the
Lower; but the latter, although it would seem not so promising, are looked
on as scarcely less important in consequence of their greater accessibility.

So far as details are ctuicei'ued, however, the Lower Assam coal ofl'ei's
but little that is in any way positive ; the indications consisting rather of
rolled fragments drifted, than of distinct and well-marked beds, it is
called lignite iu a report from Lieut. Vetch ; but both coal and lignite are
terms frequently used without reference to any peculiar character of the
mineral, or any geological position. Similar beds of coal or lignite to
those found in Lower Assam, south of the Burhampooter, are al-o men-
tioned as occurring on the north in three of the streams flowing into that
river from the Bootan range. The Upper Assam coal is manifestly of
great interest, and likely to prove very important. It is associated with
abundance of clay ironstone.

About eighty miles above Bishenath other beds, stated to be G feet
thick, have been worked for the sake of trying the economic value of the
coal. It is described by the commander of one of the Assam Company's
steamers, in a letter dated 24lh January, 1S45, as far the best he ever had
on board a steamer, and far superior to any coal in Calcutta. From the
growing importance of the tea-trade from Assam, this is likely, therefore,
to be of great value. SliU farther up the country there are several im-
portant beds, dipping, it would appear, at so high an angle, and placed so
unfavourably with regard to present means of transport, that it would be
diflicult to work them. The other beds that appear in this district are
exposed to the same diHiculty ; and the coal tliroughout northern India
appears to be in this respect unfavourably placed.

Passing on now to the other districts iu India, and the East, in which
carboniferous rocks and beds of coal have been met with, I have to enu-
merate two, the Tenasserim and the Arracan districts, which, from their
near vicinity to India and their geographical position, are of considerable

importance. The former has been known for some years, and there are
said to be four spots at which coal appears; but of these one only seems
likely to prove of economic value. From the accounts given of this coal
there is every reason to conclude, that one of the beds is not of the car-
boniferous period ; and although another (on the Thian Khan) his been
the subject of a far more favourable report, being called cannel coal, and
staled by Mr. Prinsep to be an admirable coal for gas, there is yet much
probability of the whole being of the tertiary period. These beds have
been described in the Journal of the Asiatic Socielij for 1838.

In Arracan there are eleven beds of coal, bul all of them are thin, and
their position nearly vertical. They are said to be associated with sand-
stones, limestones, and shales ; but it is clear that they can at present be
looked at only as indications, and not of any practical importance.

Such is a general account of the coal-districts ot India, so far as I have
been able to glean evidence from the report of the committee for the in-
vestigation of the coal and mineral resources of India for r^Iay 1S45.
This report manifestly contains much detailed information that is of prac-
tical importance; but one can hardly help being struck by the absence of
that delinite information with regard to associated beds, and the general
position of the coal, which could alone, under the peculiar circumstances,
have given to geologists satisfactory evidence as to the age of this widely-
extended deposit. Speaking now to geologists, and to many who are fully
alive to the vast importance of accurute and detailed knowledge of the
structure of a country before great mining operatmns are commenced in it,
I need nut do more than allude to the absence of this kind of information ;
bul, having staled its absence, I may perhaps be permitted to olicrmy own
views of the subject as obtained from ihe perusal of the documents laid
before me.

Geological Position.

Connecting, as I think we caunot help doing, the general geology of
Asia with that of Europe, and looking at the wide extension of true coal-
bearing rocks iu the northern hemisphere, — tracing these rocks, as we are
able to do at intervals, from our owu country eastward through Belgium,
Northern Germany, Bohemia, and Silesia, thence across to the val-
ley of the Dunetz, watching the development of the older beds of ihe
Devonian period in Armenia, and theuce on the northern side of the
great Himalayan range, — discovering them in their most characteristic
form in the Altai mountains, and finding them also on the south flanks of
these lofty mountains in the neighbourhood of Calcutta, where the Burd-
wan beds have long been known, giving satisfactory evidence of their age;
there is certainly no reason for wonder if these carboniferous bfds, in their
most typical and valuable form, should be traceable also throughout
Northern India. For what is the geological structure of that country >
The Himalayas themselves, the great back-bone of Asia, are probably to
be looked on as a mountain chaiu much more recent than the Alps. In
India, the great Sewalik terliaries, where fo-sils are now being figured
and described by Major Cautley and Dr. Falconer iu a monograph, the
most magnificent that has yet been attempted, are lifted into hills which
elsewhere might well deserve the name of mount lius; and whatever the
conditions nia\ have been subsequently to origmal deposition of the beds,
there is no reason why, in a country where the scale is iu everything so
vast, there should not he a continuous outcrop of carboniferous rocks fur
hundreils of miles logetlur. In consequence of movements of very recent
date, wiile tracts of India, occupying tens aud almost huiulreds of thou-
sands of square luiles to the south, are covered wilh basalt, aud other large
tracts of still greater extent by modern and almost alluvial formations,
providing by their decomposition Ihe must prolific soil in the world. Be-
tween and amongst this extent of modern eruptive movement, aud forming,
perhaps, a barrier to some of the beds, comes in, it would seem, the great
range of carboniferous beds, exhibited at intervals tlirough the couutry,
nearly parallel wilh the great range of disturbance, and also greatly dis-
turbed and elevated, and broken into small basins. So far as the evidence
goes, it is certainly probable that the coal found near Burdwan to the
north and west, aud apparently continuous with it, is of the same age. if
so, analogy would suggest that the similar aud similarly situated beds
much fartlier to the west but still nearly continuous, are of the same age ;
aud the districts to the east contain, it would seem, at least some coal so
like the other in quality, tliat here also we should expect it. But analogy
goes jet farther, aud running down the coast of the Birman empire towards
the great island of Borneo, recent iuvestigations seem to show that there
also beds of coal of great value, and of the carboniferous epoch, exist. 1
will not cross the great line of elevation in the tropic of Capricorn, and
cross to the eastern coast of Australia, fur a farther illustration ; but the
idea caunot fail to strike every geologist that so singular an association of
similar beds oier so large a part of the existing land on the earth must, if
true, have its origin in some general cause, the result of a law of far
greater univeisaliiy than any we now recognise.

But, on the other hand, it is by no means impossible, when we consider
the extent to which the terliaries are developed iu the great range of con-
glomerates on the flanks of the Himalayas, and the similar and almost
equally fussiliferous dcpii.sitson the banks of the Irawaddi on the east and
in the Gulf of Canibay oii the west, thai, after all, these beds are not car-
boniferous, but merely occasional aud irregular bands of modern or ter-
tiary lignite. Should this be the case, it will tie necessary and interesting
to determine the point, aud recognise, if possible, the actual extension of
the Burawan field, concerning whose age the fossils collected by Dr. Royle
leave no doubt. The relation also of these beds with those of the Altai J

18 JG.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

345

mountains by a comparison of fossils is an important and most interesting
point.

Economic Valve of the Coal Fields^
Speculations of tliis nature cannot fail to be suggested by the present
communication. A vast and most important subject is presented for our
consideration, but, unfortunately, the evidenee is imperfect in a most im-
portant point. These beds of coal, occurrina as they do chiefly in granitic
basins, and often detached, like the coal of France, may be, as I believe
they are, of the carboniferous age ; they may also be oolitic, like the im-
perfect coal of Cutch, and of some parts of our own country, or they may
be tertiary lignites. Now it may seem of lillle importance to the mere
surveyor what tiie n^eological position of these beds may be, provided there
is the material he needs ; but experience renders it probable that on the
mere question of age does, in fact, depend niiicb of their true economic
>alue. Could it be satisfactorily shown that tlirougliout the wide district
of northern India there is a true outcrop of carboniferous beds, such as
occur in England, in America, or even iu eastern Australia, there can be
CO question that the value of a very large part of the possessions of Eng-
land in tiie East might be considered much increased ; for the beds would
then probably be steady and permanent, and the application of the re-
sources in knowledge and wealth of a great, a rich, aud an enterprising
people, would very soon bring into operation, in all those districts, manu-
factures and contmerce on the grandest scale. The navigation of the
rivers, the stale of the roads, the means of communication by railroads,
would be immediately established or permanently improved ; and the
result must be improvement in the condition of the country.

Should it, on the other band, appear that these so called coal iields are
merely detached basins of lignite, whether tertiary or oolitic, they would,
in all probability, be of variable and local thickness : their value might
appear considerable at the first glance ; but it uiigbt even not repay the
expense of working: the quantity would be much less than was calculated,
the quality would not iiupruve in deep workings, and the real and ijiiport-
ant uses of mineral fuel would not be recognised in it. A small amount
of strict geological knowledge and a few fossils would have tended to set
at rest, if it did not completely settle, this question, which I think it will
be at once seen is of great irapurtauce. I ought, perhaps, to apologise for
taking up the. time of the meetiug by such remarks as these ; but the ab-
sence generally of distinct knowledge of the principles of our science
amongst gentlemea who on every other account are so admirably adapted
for the work they undertake is too well illustrated in the present case and
too generally important not to excuse my introducing the sufjject. My
o\\ u position, too, as one of those employed in the education of a large
number of practical men in geological science ; and the fact that I have
interrupted a course of geological lectures to the cadets, who will in future
years form the great body of the oflicers of our Indian army, is a satisfac-
tory proof that this view is now beginning to be understood by those who
are, perhaps, most interested in its application. Mucii yet remains to be
done in the application of science to art, and possibly the result of the
present investigation may give additional reason, if any were wanted, for
commencing S(tme general system of scientific education.

The result of the present inquiry will be seen at once to be unsatisfac-
tory, although highly suggestive for future imestigatiou. No value can be
attached to mere slatenieuls of the existence of carlionaceous matter in
beds, because many of the important practical conditions are independent
of mere appearance and experiments on detached fragments.

Col. Sykes observed that it was of importance to obtain coal for the pro-
posed railways in India, especially as wood was beginning to be scarce in
many parts. The report mentioned the occurrence of coal at 90 localities,—
most of them in a bed between the Nerbudda and Calcutta. With a trifling
exception the whole of India south of this line was destitute of coal.

llr. Lyell stated that he had lately examined the coal-field of Richmond,
in Virginia, — one of the most valuable in the United States. He had ob-
tained fishes from that coal-field, which M. Agassiz referred to the Oolitic
period ; and the plants, which had been examined by Mr. Bunhury, presented
an assemblage agreeing with those found at Whitby, in Yorkshire. The
coal-field was known to be newer than the carboniferous period ; and it con-
tained one bed of coal, 30 feet thick, from which gas had been made, — and
it was now becoming of great value. No estimate of the probable value of
Indian coal could be formed by comparing it with coal of the same age in
Europe.

Sir H. De l.\ Beche observed that it was incorrect to suppose that, in
other countries, the most valuable coal would be found in rocks agreeing in
age with our own coal-measures. The Burdwan coal appeared to be of the
same age with the Australian coal, as there were plants common to both.

Mr. Jukes pointed out the identity in direction of the granitic hills of
North-Eastern .4ustraUa with those of the Malay Peninsula ; and the occur-
rence of coal, at an intermediate point, in Borneo.

Dr. Falconer considered the Burdwan coal-field peculiar: — its plants
were all unlike those of Europe ; and it contained neither dicoyledonous nor
coniferous wood. He thought it might be older than any of our coal-fields.

Mr. W. Sanoers exhibited Sections made on the line of the Great Wes-
tern Railway, between Bristol and Taunton. — The general section represented
a distance of 45 miles, on a scale of 33 inches to the mile. It passed first
through the junction beds of red marl and lias ; then for 6 or 7 miles through
new red sandstone, touching once upon the upper beds of the carboniferous

limestone. For the next 12 miles there are alluvial tracts, separated by
cuttings of new red sandstone. At 21 miles, the Uphill cutting passes
through the new red sandstone and lias and then the carboniferous lime-
stone, at the base of which are some masses of trappean rock. The railway
then proceeds for 1" miles over an alluvial plain, interrupted only by a cut-
ting through the new red marl and lias at Puriton. From tliis point to
Taunton the course is over a moderately level country of new red sandstone.
Four enlarged drawings represented the details of the Ashton, Uphill, and
other cuttings. In the section at Pylle, Mr. Sanders discovered remains of
Cypris, and a plant {XaiadiUs lanoeola/a), in the lower lias marls; and in
the Uphill and Puriton sections the representatives of the bone bed occurs.
Since there are usually several calcareous beds in the lower marls, containing
the same fish-scales, siiells, &c., Mr. Sanders prefers the classification of Mr.
Conybeare, who considered these beds the lowest member of the lias to the
separation of the bone bed, — which is only a part of this series, into the
Triassic system, as proposed by M. Agassiz, on account of the nature of its
fishes.

" On the Muschct Band, commonly called the Black-band Ironstone oj the
Coal-field of Scotland." By Mr. Bald. — This band of ironstone was dis-
covered about forty years ago, by Mr. David Musehet, of tne Caider Iron-
works, near Glasgow. It had been frequently passed through ; but was
thrown away as rubbish till Mr. Musehet ascertained its value, — when ex-
tensive mines were opened for working it. Two bands of this ironstone are
found in the great coal-fields of Lanark, — one H inches thick; the other,
which is 73 fathoms lower, is IG inches thick. The ironstone of the Muschct
band is much more easily reducible than the ordinary dry ironstone, — and
requires less fuel. In Scotland it appears to be co-extensive with the coal
formation. In South Wales, also, it is found ; but there is little of it in
England or Ireland. Fifty years ago there were only five iron-woiks in
Scotland, comprising about filtecn blast furnaces which, togetlier, produced
540 tons of iron per week. There are now 100 blast furnaces in action,
which produce 12,000 tons per week, or 624,000 tons in the year,— the
value of which, at 3/. per ton, is l.S72,000/. This great increase Mr. Bald
attributed to the discovery of the Musehet ironstone, and to the introduction
of the hot-blast. He also mentioned that Mr. Musehet, who is now in his
eighty-sixth year, has published a volume on the manufacture of iron, con-
taining an analysis of every ironstone and ore be could olitain ; and be trust-
ed his lal'ours would, at least, be recognized in scientific societies, allbough
the pecuniary advantage arising from his discoveries had fallen inti) other
bands.

Section G — Mechanics.

" On the Sidling Powers of tico I'nckts, built on the fVave Priniiple."
By Dr. Phipps.— Tlie first was built for Dr. Co ri^an, of Dublin, in 1S4-1 ;
a small open boat -J-l feet by G, of 3| tons, which did so well that she was
able to beat everything near her own size, and to sail with those which
exceed it in some instances as far as four times. She was dry i n seas
where they were wet, was very stiff, sure in stays, and steered well at all
times. Tlie second is a jachtof 4o tons, O.BI., for Samuel Hodder, Esq.,
of Kingabella ; built from the drawing by Mr. Peasley, of Passage West,
in Cork. She appears to have the following qualitiis : a first rate per-
formance, attained without sacrifice of any good quality, large accommo-
dation, high stability. She is weatiierly, steady and easy, dry in the worst
weather, and pitches and ascends less than any ves<el I was ever in. She
turns so sharply that no 10 ton y.^clit can do it quicker, and steers so well,
scudding in a gale of wind, that notwithstanding an unbalanced state,
from an injudicious shift of mast, she neither broaches to, nor is compelled
to lay to — which a companion of larger size (GO tons), and of trieil sea
qualities, was forced to do, and, in consequence, arrived from Cork to
Dublin 14 hours after the wave-built jacht. In a race at Kingstown for
the Eailway Cup of 100 guineas, in which she was matched against the
best boats of the three countries, in a time race, including one tine yacht
of 100 tons, she won — and did the course exactly in 4h. 22m. 5Ss.— it
being 4G nautic miles. Making no allowance for tacking or starting from
absolute rest, the rate of this is 10^ knots per hour. 1 his is a great result
for a principle yet in its infancy. The same vessel left Holjhead in a gale
of wind, with storm-sails, main-sail stowed, and everything made snug;
with a reefed try-sail, a double-reefed fore-sail,, and tiiird jib. She lay in
one Etretch to the Irish coast, where she tacked to the southward, beating
down to the Arklow light in 11 hours. Six persons ou board, being sepa-
rately questioned, agreed that the time from Holyhead to the Irish coast
was 4^ hours. Making every reasonable allowance, less than 50 nautic
miles could not have been done ; and this gives a velocity of 11 nautic
miles per hour, — an unrecorded speed for ships of any size, close hauled,
but surprising for a vessel of 45 tons, and in a very rough sea. It was,
in fact, remarked on board that, as the wind freshened, her pace increased
without limit. This agrees with the fact stated by Capt. Fishbourue, of
the Flambeau steamer, on wave lines, that she had a speed greatest in the
worst weather, as compared with her rival. — It is perhaps possible to
improve sailing vessels greatly, as compared with steamers. \l hen so
improved, they might be used where sailing vessels nearly compete with
steamers at present. This may be further helped by the dimiuulion of
insurance and of the present uuneccssary waste of human life.

Mr. Scott Kussell, after expressing his gratitude to the AssociatioQ
for directing its attention to so imporiant a subject, proceeded to explain
the theory of what was known as the wave principle in ship building.
He was first induced to direct his attention to this subject when the canal

3^6

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Nov,

companies proposeJ some years ago to establish swift boats that misht
compete with the mail coaches. (Jn beini; applied to by them, his lirst
attempt was to build one with a spheroidal bow, produced by the revolu-
tion of an ellipse ; but the result was not as successful as was to be
■wished. The favourite shape of bow among seamen at the time was that
called a duck's breast, but the ell'ect was to raise a large wave immedi-
ately in frout of the vessel, which of course considerably retarded its
velocity. He then directed his attention to the motion of the water itself.
When a vessel passed through the water at a great velocity a high wave
was raised at the head, as high in the old steamers as four feet; and this
wave on falling back formed a hollow by its pressure immediately behmd
it, and the water was afterwards sent out with great force on both sides of
tiie bow. All this was a costly and useless expenditure of force. He
thought that, in removing the particles of water to allow the vessel to
pass, it was necessary to expend the least force on the whole; and, there-
fore, the tirst impulse should be given gently. This force should increase
to a certain poiut, and then decrease as gradually, leaving the particles to
rest quietly at the greatest breadth. la endeavouring to ascertain the
least resistance necessary to bring the particles of water out of a state of
rest he conceived that there ought to be a similarity between the motion of
water and that of a pendulum revolving in a circle according to the curve
of the vessel's size; and this led him to adopt the form known as the wave
principle. This is different from a bow formed of two straight lines meet-
ing at an acute angle, in being gently hollower than such a bow towards
the cut-water, and a little rounder towards the greater breadth. The object
to be attained was, he conceived, to remove the particles of water rapidly,
and al tlie same time not to throw them farther aside than the breadth of
the vessel amidships. That this object was effected by the wave principle
he ascertained in the following manner : — He got his model boat, 75 feet
long, to be carried along by high-bred horses at a speed of 17 miles an
hour, and made the head pass between two oranges floating on the water,
and which be intended to represent two particles of the water to be re-
moved. The oranges merely touched the side of the vessel until they got
amidships and there remained ; thus showing that no greater force had
been appliid to them than was necessary to remove them out of the way
of the \essel. Another phenomenon observed was, that, instead of the
high wave at the bow, which sailors thought was a sign of a ship sailing
well, or VI hat they called carrying a bone in her teeth, the elevation and
subsequt-nt depressson of the water were entirely got rid of. In their
place there was a gentle, long elevation, just under the shoulder of the
vessel, where all sailors would like her to be supported. For the closing
of the water at the stern he at first thought it would be better to have the
same shape behind ; and this had the efl'ect of bringing the oranges
together again behind in an horizontal direction ; but he found it did not
answer at all. It occasioned too high a resistance, and had a multitude
of bad qualities. He discovered, in fact, that the fuller she was behind,
and the flatter she lay upon the surface of the water, the quicker she
sailed : and that this should be the case is clear, when it is considered
that the water, returning to its level, is governed by an entirely different
law from that by which it is first separated. The power which sends the
water into the wake has nothing to do with that which displaces it before.
It is forced upwards by the greatest pressure from below in vertical lines
of the cjcloidal family. A run fine below and full above was attained by
many experiments, as the best for good steering and other qualities. This
full water-line above should never exceed a cycloid. The vertical lines,
in which the water rises in the secondary wave (which really replaces
the displaced water) may he cut oil', at any convenient height, close to the
stern. These two considerations united led him to the adoption of what is
known as the wave principle. In the wave formation the greatest breadth
of the ship is not at the bows, or even amidships, but a great way aft, in
the ratio of three to two. In the shear plan the bow of this form has one
main cycloid, and all the other bow lines are parts of cycloids. In this
form the particles ascend and descend without shock.

Mr. ViGNOLLEs asked if the Admiralty had got vessels built on this
principle, — and if nut, u-liy luitf

Mr. Scott Russell replied, that he had been much more desirous for
the adoption of the system in other ships than in the Admiralty, because
he had been informed that the Admiralty did not like tiie introduction of
scientific principles into ship-building, and preferred remaining as they
were. He had, therefore, been averse to obtrude the subject on ihera.
He might state, however, that the best informed men at the Admiralty
were aware of the existence of the wave principle ; and it was not impro-
bable they might adopt it, although he could not say how soon, nor to what
extent.

Professok Owen's Geological Lecture.
Extinct Animals of Great Britain.
In one of the evening lectures the Professor commenced by stating
that he proposed to submit to the learned and distinguished assembly
which he had the honour of addressing some of the general conclusions
which he had deduced from a study of the fossil remains of the class mam-
malia discovered in the soil of Great Britain ; and he deemed it fortunate
to have tliis opportunity of showing what enlarged and unexpected views
of ancient nature might be obtained from dry comparisons and descriptions
of processes of hone and tubercles of teeth, and he hoped to make those
views iutelligible to all, without the obscuratioa of technical auatomical
terms. He proposed, first, briefly to notice the principal forms or kinds of

mammalian quadrupeds that had been successively introduced into the
portion of earth which now constituted our island ; secondly, to consider
the mode of their introduction here, and their relations to existing species
at present localised in Europe and Asia ; and, finally, to point out the cor-
respoudence between the existing and extinct groups of mammalia pecu-
liar to other great natural divisions of dry land.

Animals Preceding the Oolitic Period.
We discern, he said, the earliest trace of the warm-blooded, air-breathing
viviparous quadrupeds at that remote period which immediately preceded'
the deposition of the oolitic group of limestones. The massive evidence
of the operation of the old ocean, from which those rocks were gradually
precipitated, extends across England, from Yorkshire on the north-east to
Dorsetshire on the south-west, with an average breadth of nearly thirty
miles ; and from some land which formed die southern shore of this arm
of sea, were washed down the remains of small insectivorous, and proba-
bly marsupial quadrupeds, distinct in genus and species from any now
known in the world. With these small mammals there occur elytra of
beetles, and debris of cycadea; and other terrestrial plants. The character
of some of these vegetable fossils and of the associated shells, as the tri-
gonia;, and the great abundance, in the oolitic ocean, of fishes whose near-
est living analogue is the cestracion, recall many of the characteristic fea-
tures of actual organic life in Australia. From the remote period in which
the remains of mammals first make their appearance to that in which we
again get indubitable evidence of their existence, a lapse of time incalcu-
lably vast has occurred. We trace it, though inadequately, by the succes-
sive deposition from seas and estuaries of enormous masses of rocks of
various kinds, the graveyards of as various extinct forms of animal and
vegetable life. The shelly limestone slate, which contains the bones of the
amphitheria and phascolotheria, lies at the base of the inferior oolite
Upon it have been accumulated the enormous masses of the great oolite'
the cornbrash, and the forest marble ; and upon these have been success-
ively piled the Oxford clay and coral rag, the Kimmeridge clay and Port-
land stone. In the still more enormous masses of Wealden rocks, rising
to the height of eight hundred feet, and deposited after the formation of
the Portiand sands by the water of an immense estuary, no true indica-
tions of warm-blooded animals have been hitherto discovered. Four hun-
dred feet deep of gault and greensand rest upon the Wealden, but reveal
no trace of cetacean or other form of mammalian life. Over these founda-
tions of the present south-eastern part of our island the ocean continued
to roll, but under influences of heat and light favourable to the develop-
ment of corals and microscopic calcareous shells, during a period of tinie
which has permitted the successive accumulation of layers of these skele-
tons, in a more or less decomposed state, with probable additions from
submarine calcareous and siliceous springs, to the height of one thousand
feet. But although amongst the remains of higher organised animals that
have become enveloped in the cretaceous deposits there have been recog-
nised birds, pterodactjles, and a land-lizard, probably washed down from
some neighbouring shore, no trace of a mammalian quadruped has yet
been discovered iu them. The surface of the chalk, after it had become
consolidated was long exposed to the eroding action of waves and currents
Into deep indentations so formed have been rolled fragments of chalk and'
flint, with much sand. The perforations of marine animals on that surface
have been filled with fine sand ; and there are many other proofs of the
lapse of a long interval of time between the completion of the chalk de-
posits of Britain and the commencement of the next or tertiary era. Of
this era our present island gives the first indication in traces of mighty
rivers, which defiled the fair surface of the rising chalk by pouring over
it the debris of the great continent which they drained,— a continent which
has again sunk, and probably now lies beneath the Atlantic. The masses
of clay and sand that have been thus deposited upon the chalk are accu-
mulated chiefly in two tracts, called the London and Hampshire basins
which seem to have been two estuaries or mouths of the great river ■ tlie
one extends from Cambridgeshire through Hertfordshire and Suffolk to
the North Downs, the other from the South Downs into Dorsetshire.

At the time when these vast but gradual operations were takino- place
an arm of sea extended from the north to the area called the basin of Paris'
which received the overflow of a chain of lakes extending thither from'
the highest part of the central mountain group of France. An enormous
mass of mixed or alternaUng marine and fresh-water deposits was accumu-
lated in this basin, coeval, if we may judge from the identity of the spe-
cies of shells, with the outpouring of eocene, London, and plastic clavs
upon the English chalk. ^

Eocene Animals.

The proofs of the abundant mammalian inhabitants of the eocene conti-
nent were first obtained by Cuvier from the fossilised remains in the de-
posits that fill the enormous excavation in the chalk called the Paris basin
But the forms which that great anatomist restored were all new and
strange; specifically, and for the most part geneirically, distinct from all
known existing quadrupeds. Long before any discovery had been made
of remains of terrestrial mammals in the contemporary Lo'ndon and plastic
clays, the existence of neighbouring dry land had been inferred from the
occurrence in those deposits of bones of crocodiles and turtles, and from
the immense number of fossil seeds and fruits, resembling those' of tropical
trees, as pandani, cocoa-nuts, &c.

Scanty as are the eocene mammalia hitherto discovered in the London
clay, they are highly interesting from their identity or close affinity with

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECFS JOURNAL.

347

some of the peculiar extinct genera of the Paris basin. In the fresh
waler and marine beds at tbe north side of the Isle of Wislit, and at the
opposite coast of Hampshire, the united tliiclcness of which beds is abont
400 feet, remains of the very same peculiar quadrupeds of the contempo-
raneous Parisian formations have been found.

One of the rarest and most remarkable of the pachyderms, whose pe-
culiar characters were obscurely indicated by Cuvier from scanty fossils
yielded by tlie IVIoutmartre gypsum, has had ils claims to generic distinc-
tion established, and ils nature and afhnities fully illustrated, by more per
feet specimens from the eocene marls of the Isle of Wight : in no other
part of Great I'ritain has any portion of the cha;ropolamus been found,
except in the above limited locality, which alone corresponds with the
formations of the Paris basin in mineral character as well as in date and
origin. This discovery becomes, therefore, peculiarly interesting and sug-
gestive. For were the common notion true, that all the fossil remains of
quadrupeds not uow^ existing in our island had been brought hither during
a single catastrophe, and strewed with the detritus of a general deluge
over its surface, what would have been the chance of finding the lower jaw
of a chseropotamus in the very spot and in the very limited locality where
alone in all England the same kind of deposits existed as those in which
the unique upper jaw of a cha2ropotamu3 had been found in France?
With the chairopolamus are associated, in the Binstead and Seafield quar-
ries, remains of aooplotherium, dichobunes, paleeutherium, and lophiodon,
showing, with the fossils from the London clay, that the same peculiar
generic forms of the class mammalia prevailed during the eocene epoch in
England as in France.

With the last layer of the eocene deposits, we lose in this island every
trace of the mammalia of that remote period. What length of time elapsed
before the foundations of England were again sufficiently settled to serve
as the theatre of life to another race of warm-blooded quadrupeds, the
imagination strives in vain to form an idea of, commensurate with the evi-
dence of the intervening operations which cootiuental geology teaches to
have gradually and successively taken place. Our own island yields us
but a dim and confused indication of the geological operations that took
place between the eocene and pliocene periods, in the wreck of strata that
constitute part of the so-called crag formations on its eastern coast. When
the eocene and other foundations of our present jsland begin to rise from
tlie de^p and become the seat of fresh-water lakes, receiving their tranquil
deposits, with the abundant shells of their testaceous colonies, and during
the long progress of that slow and unequal elevation which converted
chains of lakes into river courses, an extensive and varied mammalian
fauna ranged the banks or swam the waters of those ancient lakes and
rivers: of this we have abundant evidence in the bones and leeth of suc-
cessive generations which have been accumulated in the uudisturbed stra-
tified lacustrine and lluviatile formations. The like evidence is given by
the existence of similar remains in unstratilied coral drifts, composed of
gravel exclusively derived from rocks iu the immediate vicinity of such
drift, without a single intermixture of any far transported fragment ;
equally conclusive and mure readily appreciable proof that the now ex-
tinct pliocene and pleistocene mammalia actually lived and died in the
country where their remains occur, has beeu brought to light from the dark
recesses of the caves which served as lurking places for the predaceous
species, and as charnel houses to their prey.

Gigantic Pliocene Animals.

At the period indicated by these superficial stratified and unstratified
deposits the mastodon had probably disappeared from England, but gi-
gantic elephants of t«ice the bulk of the largest individuals that now
exist in Ceylon and Africa roamed here in herds, if we may judge from the
abundance of their remains. Two-horned rhinoceroses, of at least two
species, forced their way through the ancient forests or wallowed in the
swamps. Deer, as gigantic in proportion to existing species, were the
contemporaries of the old uri and bisontes, and may have disputed with
them the pasturage of that ancient land. The carnivora, organised to
enjoy a life of rapine at the expense of the vegetable-feeders, to restrain
their undue increase and abridge the pangs of the maimed and sickly,
were duly adjusted in members, size, and ferocity, to the fell task assigned
to them in the organic economy. Besides a British tiger, of larger size,
and with proportionally lager paws than that of Bengal, there existed a
stranger feline animal of equal size, which, from the great length and
sharpness of ils sabre-shaped canines, was probably the most ferocious
and destructive of its peculiarly carnivorous family. Of the smaller
felines, we recognise the remains of a leopard or large lynx, and of a wild
cat. Troops of savage hyenas, larger than the fierce crocula of South
Africa, which they most resembled, devoured what the nobler beasts of
prey had left. A species of bear, surpassing tlie ursus ferox of the Kocky
Mountains, found ils hiding place in many of the existing limeslone caverns
of England. With it was associated a somewhat smaller kind, more like
the common European bear, but larger than the present individuals of the
ursus arctos. Wolves and foxes, the badger, the otter, the foumart, and
the stoat, complete the category of the known pliocene carnivora of Bri-
tain.

These a7iimals native in Great Britain.

The first idea which commonly suggests itself on the discovery at some
depth in the soil of tbe fossil remains of a large quadruped, now strange
to our island, is, that the carcase of such animal had been drifted hither
from some distant region. Prof. Owen alluded, in refutation of this idea,

to the evidence which Dr. Bucklaiid had brought forward of the long-con-
tinued habitation by hyenas of the Kirkdale cave in Yorkshire ; of the
remains of young mammoths, rhinoceroses, and hippopotamuses, that had
been dragged into the cave, and their devoured, or their bones knawed, by
the hyenas. Amongst other phenomena he particularly adduced the fol-
lowing : it is well known that the antlers of deer are shed and renewed
annually, and a male may be reckoned to leave about eight pairs of antlers
besides its bones to testify its former existence upon the earth; but as the
female has usually no antlers, we may expect to find four times as many
pairs of antlers as skeletons in the superficial deposits of the countries in
which such deer have lived and died. The proportion of the fossil antlers
of the great extinct species of Brilish pliocene deer, which antlers are
proved by the form of their base to have been shed by the living animals,
is somewhat greater than in the above calculation. Although, therefore,
the swollen carcase of a great exotic might be borue along a diluvial wave
to a considerable distance, and its bones ultimately deposited far from its
native soil, it is not likely that the solid shed antlers of such species of'
deer should be carried by the same cause to the same distance, or rolled
for any distance, with other heavy debris of a mighty torrent, without
fracture and signs of friction. But the shed antlers of the large extinct
species of deer found in this island and in Ireland have commonly their
points or branches entire, as when they fell ; and the fractured specimens
are generally found in caves, and show marks of the teeth of the hyenas,
by which they have been knawed ; thus at the same time revealing the
mode in which they have become introduced into those caves, and proving
the contemporaneous existence of both kinds of mammalia. The perfect
condition, and the sharply defined processes, often in high relief, of many of
the bones of the elephants, rhinoceroses, and liippopotamuses,from our tran-
quil fresh-water deposits, concur with the nature of their bed to refute the
hypothesis of their having been borne hither by a diluvial current from
regions of the earth where the same genera of quadrupeds are now limited.
The very abundance of their fossil remains in our island is incompatible
with the notion of their forming its share of one generation of tropical
beasts drowned and dispersed by a single catastrophe of waters. This
abundance indicates, on the contrary, that the deposits containing them
formed the grave-yard, as it were, of many successive generations. With
regard to the mode of introduction of this laiest and most extensive series
of quadrupeds, it could hardly be supposed that the ponderous rhinocero-
ses, the hyenas, wolves, foxes, badgers, oxen, horses, hogs, and goats, the
smaller deer, hares, rabbits, pikas, or even the aquatic rodents, could have
reached this island from the continent, if the present oceanic barrier had
interposed. The idea of a separate creation of the same series of mam-
malia which existed on the continent iu and for a small contiguous island
will hardly be accepted. The zoologist Desmarest deduced an argument
in proof that France and England were once united, from the correspond,
ence of their vpolves, bears, and other species known to have existed in
this island within the period of history. Prof. Owen deemed the conclu-
sion irresistible when the same correspondence was found to extend throuo-li
the entire series of proboscidian, pachydermal, equine, bovine, cervine,
carnivorous, and rodent mammalia, which characterised the two countries
during the pliocene and post-pliocene periods of geology. Thus, observed
the lecturer, the science of anatomy having revealed the great fact of the
former existence in our present island of the same species of quadrupeds,
most of which are now extinct, that co-existed on the continent, has become
in an unexpected degree auxiliary to geographical science, and throws
light upon the former physical configuration of Europe, and on the changes
which it has since undergone.

Geographic Viiinn of England and France.
Prof. Owen then briefly touched upon the purely geological evidence of
the former union of England with the continent, and to the comparatively
modern period of some remarkable changes which have taken place on our
southern coast, and to which may be attributed the final establishment of
the British Channel. But in referring to that event as comparatively
recent, the term, he said, must not be judged of in relatfon to any such
insignificant fraction of the world's time as has been marked down in the
records of the present infancy of the human race : we shall better appre-
ciate it, perhaps, by recalling the ideas of perpetuity which we attach to
our ocean barrier, when, gazing on its waves, we sum up the known
changes which they have produced on the coast line within the period of
history or tradition. The indications of such changes, mighty in compari-
son with any of which human history takes cognisance, prepare us to view
with less surprise the corresponding changes which have taken place in the
mammalian fauna ; but we are still ignorant of the cause of the extirpa-
tion of so large a proportion of it as has become extinct. It is an import-
ant fact, however, that a part, and not the whole, has thus perished, and
that the cause has not been a violent and universal catastrophe, from which
none could escape but by miraculous intervention. There is no small
analogy, indeed, between the course of the extirpation of the pliocene
mammals and that w hich history shews to have aliected the wild animals
of continents and islands in connexion with the progress of man's domin-
ion. The largest, most ferocious, and the least useful of the pliocene
species have perished ; but the horse, the hog, probably the smaller species
of wild ox, the goat, and many of the diminutive quadrupeds, remain.
There is not, however, any satisfactory evidence that the human species
existed when the mammoth, the tichorine and leptorhine rhinoceros, and
the great northern hippopotamus, became extinct. It is probable that the
horse and ass are descendants of species of pliocene antiquity in Europe :

348

THE CIVIL ENGINEKR AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Nov,

there is no anatomical character hy which the present wild boar can be
ilistingiiishecl specifically from that which was conlcmporary will) the
mammoth. The reindeer has, relatively to Hrilain, been exterminaled, nor
will our present climate permit its existence here. With llie diminution
of the fireat herbivora, which ^vouid naturally follow the liiuilation of their
range when England became an island, that of the carnivora, dependent
on them for food, would inevitably follow. And not here only, but like-
wise on the };reat continent over which they ranf;ed, which would indicate
that the extirpatiPR cause, if it were extrinsic to their own constitution,
liad been due to changes of the earth's configuration and climate much
more extensive than could be connected with the insulation of so small a
jjortifin of Europe as Britain.

Thus, continued tlie Professor, in the endeavour to trace the origin of
onr existing mammalia, I have been led, by long researches on the fossils of
this island, to view them as descendants of a fraction of a peculiar and
extensive mammalian fauna which overspread Europe and Asia at a period
geologically recent, yet incalculably remote and long anterior to any evi-
dence on record of the human race. It would appear, indeed, fi*om the
comparisons which the present state of palaionlology permits to be insti-
tuted between the recent and extinct mammalian faun* of otlier great
natural divisions of the dry land, that these tlivi&ions also severally pos-
sessed a stries of mammalia as distinct and peculiar in each during the
pliocene period as at the present day.

Compurison with the Exlincl Animals nf other Countries.

When such a comparison is restricted to the fauna of a limited locality,
especially an insular one like Great Britain, the discrepancy between the
pliocene extinct and the existing groups of mammalia appears to be ex-
treme. But if we regard Great Britain in connexion with the rest of
Europe, and if we extend our view of the geographical distribution of
extinct mammals beyond the limits of technical geography, — and it needs
but a glance at the map to detect the artificial character of the line which
divides Europe from Asia, — we shall then lind a close and interesting
correspondence between the extinct Europreo-Asiatic mammalian fauna of
the pliocene period and that of the present day. The very fact of the
pliocene fossil mammalia of England being almost as rich in generic and
specific forms as those of Europe leads, as already staled, to the inference
that the intersecting branch of the ocean which now divides this island
from the continent did not then exist as a harrier to the migraliun of the
mastodons, liippopoiamuses, bisons, bears, ^c, which have left such
abundant traces of their former existence in the superficial deposits and
caves of Great Britain. Now it is a most interesting fact, that in the
Europa;o-Asialic expanse of dry laud species continue to exist of nearly
all those genera which are represented by pliocene and post-pliocene mam-
malian fossils of the same natural continent and of the immediately adja-
cent island of Great Britain.

Arncrica.

If we turn our atlenlion to a more distant natural continent — South
America, for example — ue shall find that at the present day South Amer-
ica ahme, is inhabited by species of which no fossil remains have yet been
discovered in Europe, Asia, or Africa. In South America not a single
fossil is referable to a true old world mus, though numbers of the common
rat and mouse have been imported into South America since its discovery
by Europeans.

In North America the most abundant mammalian fossils of the corre-
sponding recent geological epoch belong to a species of mastodon (il/. gi-
gunteus) peculiar to that continent. Since, however, North America bor-
ders closely upon Asia at its northern basis, aud is connected by its oppo-
.site apex with South America, it perfectly accords with the analogies of
the geographical relations of the list-extirpated series of mammals of the
old world that the Asiatic mammoth and the South Americm megatherium
should have migrated from opposite extremes, and have met in the tempe-
rate latitudes of North America, where, however, their remains are much
more scanty than in their own proper provinces.

Australia,

Australia, in like manner, yields evidence of an analogous correspond-
ence betvveeu its last extinct and its present aboriginal mammalian fauna,
which is the more interesting on account of the very peculiar organisation
of most of the native quadrupeds of that division of the globe. The first
collection of mammalian fossils from the ossiferous caves of Australia
brought to light the former existence on that continent of larger species of
the same peculiar marsupial genera; some, as the thylacine, and the da
syurine sub-genus represented by the Das. ursiiius, are now extinct on the
Australian continent; but one species of each still exists on the adjacent
island of Tasmania ; the rest of the fossils were extinct wombats, phalan-
gers, potoroos, and kangaroos — some of the latter being of gigantic stature.
Subsequently, and after a brief interval, we obtain a knowledge of the
former existence of a type of the marsupial group, exemplified by the
genera Diprotodon and Nototlierium, which represented the pachyderms of
the larger continent, and which seems now to have disappeared from the
face of the Australasian earth.

The most remarkable local existing fauna, in regard to terrestrial verte-
brated animals, is that of the islands of New Zealand, with which geolo-
gists have been made familiar by HIr. Lyell's indication of its close anal-
ogy with the slate of animal life during the period of the Wealdeu forma-
tion. The only terrestrial mammalian quadruped hitherto discovered in

New Zealand, whose recent introduction into that island is at all doubt-
ful, is a small rat. The unequivocally indigenous representatives of the
warm-blooded vertebra'a are birds, of which the apteryx is the most pe-
culiar. It is the smallest known species of the struthious or wingless
order, has the feeblest rudiments of the anterior members, and not any of
its bones are permeated by air-cells. This bird forms the most striking
and characteristic type of the proper or primitive fauna of New Zealand.
Not a trace of a fossil quadruped has been found in New Zealand ; but
our present knowledge of the living and the last-exterminated faunae of
the warm-blooded animals of that small but far-distant and isolated por-
tion of earth, shows that the same close analogy existed betwen iliem as
has been exemplified in the corresponding faunjE of larger natural divi-
sions of the dry laud on the present surface of this planet.

These Animals cannot hate been derived from a common Asiatic centre.

Thus the facts obtained from a study ol the fossil remains of mamma-
lian quadrupeds, apjilied to a scientific consideration of the present distri-
bution of the highest organised and last-created class of animals, demon-
strate that, with extinct as with existing mammalia, particular forms were
assigned to particular provinces, or natural divisions of the dry land of
this globe; and what is still more interesting and suggestive, that the same
forms were restricted to the same provinces at the pliocene period as they
are at the present day. In pursuing the retrospective comparison of re-
cent mammals to those of the eocene and oolitic strata, in relation to their
local distribution, we obtain indicationsof extensive changes in the relative
position of sea ai^d land during those epochs, in the degree of incongruity
between the generic forms of the mammalia which then existed in Europe,
aud any that are now found on the great natural continent of which Europe
forms part. It would appear, indeed, from our present knowledge, that
the further we penetrate into time for the recovery of extinct mammalia,
the further we must go into space to find their existing analogues. To
match the eocene palteotlieres and lophiodons, we must bring tapirs from
Sumatra or South America, — we must travel to the autipodes for myrme-
cobians and dasyuies, the nearest living analogues to the amphitlieres and
phascolotheres of the ancient oolites. From what ancient centre, if any
the first types of the primary groups of the class mammalia may have
radiated, we seem ever destined to remain ignorant, by reaj-on of the enor-
mous alterations of land and sea that have come to pass since the class
was first introduced into our planet. Me find, however, that from the
period when the great masses of dry land assumed the general form and
position that they now present, the same peculiar forms of manimalia cha-
racterised their respective fauna?. If we carry our retrospect no further
back than the pliocene tertiary period, the evidence of the distribution of
the recent and extinct mammalia would justify the conclusion that New
Zealand, Australia, Souih America, and the old world or the geographei-s,
had been as many distinct centres of creation. The difficulties that beset
the commonly received view are insurmountable. According to the hypo-
thesis that all existing land-animals radiated from a common Asiatic centre
within the historical period, we must be prepared to admit that the noctur-
nal apteryx, which can neither fly nor swim, migrated across wide seas
and found its sole resting-place in the island of New Zealand, where alone

the remains of similar vvingless birds have been found fossil; that the

wombats, dasyures, and kangaroos should have as exclusively travelled to
Australia, where only have been found, in pliocene strata and bone caves
the remains of extinct and gigantic species of the same genera or families
of maisupialia ; and that the modern sloths, armadillos, and anteaters,
should have chosen the route to South America, where only, and in the
warmer parts of North America, are to be found the fossil remains of ex-
tinct species of those very peculiar edentate genera. It is not less striking
and suggestive, though at fir=t sight less subversive of the recent-dispersioQ
theory, to find the elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, hyena, beaver,
pika, hare and rabbit, vole and mole, still restricted to that great natural
division of dry land to which the fossil remains of the same genera or spe-
cies appear to be peculiar.

Mr. Lyell's Lecture cm the Mississippi Delta.

Mr. Lyell delivered an evening discourse on the delta and allnvial
deposits of the Mississippi, and other points in the geology of North
America, observed in the years 1845-6. The delta of the Mississippi may
be defined as that part of the great alluvial plain which lies below or to the
south of the branching off of the highest arm of the river, called the
Atchafalaya. This delta is about 13,000 square miles in arrear, r.nd elevated
from a few inches to ten feet above the level of the sea. The greater part
of it protrudes into the Gulf of Mexico, beyond the general coast line. J he
level plain to the north, as far as Cape Girardeau, in Missouri, above the
junction of the Ohio, is of the same character, including, according to Mr.
Forshay, an area of about 16,000 square miles, and is therefore larger than'
the delta. It is very variable in width from east to west, being near its
northern extremity, or at the mouth of the Ohio, 50 miles wide, at Memphis
30, at the mouth of the White Kiver 80, and contracting again farther south,
at Grand Gulf, to 33 miles. The delta and alluvial plain rise by so gradual
a slope from the sea as to attain, at the junction of the Ohio, a distance of
800 miles by the river, an elevation of only 200 feet above the Gulf of
Mexico.

Mr. Lyell first described the low mud-banks cnvered with reeds at the
mouths of the Mississippi, and the pilot-station called the Balize,then passed
to the quantity of drift-wood choking up some of the bayons, or channels,

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

349

intersecting the hanks, and lastly enlarged on the long narrow promontory
formed hy the great river and its banks hetween New Orleans anil the Balize.
The advance of this singular tongue of land has been generally supposed to
have been very rapid; but Mr. Lyell and Dr. Carpenter, who accompanied
him, arrived at an opposite conclusion. After comparing the present state of
this region with the map published by Charlevoix 120 years ago, they doubt
whether the land has, on the whole, gained more than a mile in the course
of a century. A large excavation, eighteen feet deep, made for the gas-
works at New Orleans, and still in progress in March 1S4C, shows that much
of the soil there consists of fine clay or mud, containing innumerable stools
of trees, buried at various levels, in an erect position, with their roots at-
tached, implying the former existence there of fresh-water swamps, covered
■with trees, over which the sediment of the Mississippi was spread during
inundations, so as slowly to raise the level of the ground. As the site of the
excavation is now about nine feet above the sea, the lowest of these upright
trees ijiiply that the region where they grew has sunk down about nine feet
below the sea-level. The exposure also in the vertical banks of the Missis-
sippi at low water, for hundreds of miles above the head of the delta, of the
stumps of trees buried with their roots in their natural position, three tiers
being occasionallv seen one above the other, shews that the river in its wan-
derings has opeired a channel through ancient morasses, where trees once
grew,'^and where alluvial matter gradually accumulated. The old deserted
bed also of the river, with its banks raised fifteen feet above the adjoining
low grounds, bears testimony to the frequent shifting of the place of the
main stream ; and the like inference may be drawn from the occurrence here
and there of crescent-shaped lakes, each many miles in length, and half a
mile or more in breadth, which have once constituted great curves or bends
of the river, but are now often far distant from it. The Mississippi, by the
constant undermining of its banks, checks the rise of large commercial
towns on its borders, and causes a singular contrast hetween the wealth and
splendour of SOO or more fine steamers, some of which may truly be called
floating palaces, and th e flat monotonous wilderness of uncleared land
which extends for hundreds of miles on both sides of the great navigable
stream. .

Mr. Lyell visited, in March 18-(6, the region shaken for three months m
1811-12 hy the earthquake of New Madrid. One portion of it, situated in
the states of Missouri and Arkansas, is now called the sunk country. It ex-
tends about seventy miles north and south, and thirty east and west, and is,
for the most part, 'submerged. Many dead trees are still standing erect in
the swamps, and a far greater number lie prostrate. Even on the dry ground
in the vicinity all the forest trees which are of prior date to 1811 are leafless;
they are supposed to have been killed by the loosening of their roots by the
repeated shocks of 1811-12. Numerous rents are also observable in the
ground where it opened in 1811, and many "sink holes," or cavities, from
ten to thirty yards wide, and twenty feet or more in depth, interrupt the
general level of the plain, which were formed by the spouting out of large
quantities of sand and mud during the earthquake.

Formation of the Delta occupied 67,000 years.

In attempting to compute the minimum of time required for the accumu-
lation of the alluvial matter in the delta and valley of the Mississippi, Mr.
Lvell referred to a series of experiments made by Dr. Riddell at New Or-
leans, showing that the mean annual proportion of sediment in the river was
to the water -j^'j^ in weight, or about ^oVo in volume. From the observa-
tions of the same gentleman, and those of Ur. Carpenter, and of Mr. Furshay,
an eminent engineer of Louisiana, the average width, depth, and velocity of
the Mississippi, and thence the mean annual discharge of water were de-
duced. In assuming 528 feet, or the 10th of a mile, as the probable thick-
ness of the deposit of mud and sand in the delta, Mr. Lyell founds his con-
jecture on the depth of the Gulf of Mexico between the southern point of
Florida and the Balize, which equals on an average 100 fathoms. The area
of the delta being about 13,600 square statute miles, and the quantity of
solid matter annually brought down hy the river, 3,702,758,400 cubic feet,
it must have taken 67,000 years for the formation of the whole ; and if the
alluvial matter of the plain above be 2G4 feet deep, or half that of the delta,
it has requiied 33,500 more years for its accumulation, even if its area be
estimated as only equal to that of the delta, whereas it is in fact larger. If
aome deduction be made from the time here stated in consequence of the
effect of the drift-wood which roust have aided in filling up more rapidly the
space above alluded to, a far more important allowance must be made, on
the other hand, for the loss of matter, owing to the finer particles of mud not
settling at the mouths of the river, but being swept out far to sea, and even
conveyed into the Atlantic by the Gulf stream. Yet the whole period dur-
ing which the Mississippi has transported its earthy burden to the ocean,
though perhaps far exceeding 100,000 years, must be insignificant in a geo-
logical point of view, since the bluffs, or cliff's, bounding the great vallcv, and
therefore older in date, and which are from 50 to 250 feet in perpendicular
height, consist in great parts of loam containing land, fluviatile, and lacus-
trine shells, or species still inhabiting the same country. These fossil shells,
occuring in'a deposit resembling the loess of the Rhine, are associated with
the bones of the mastodon, elephant, tapir, m\lodon, and other megathoid
animals ; also a species of horse, ox, and other mammalia, most of them ex-
tinct species. The loam rests at Vicksburg and other places on eocene or
lower tertiary strata, which in their turn repose on cretaceous rocks. A sec-
tion from Vicksburg to Darien, through the states of Mississippi, Alabama,
aud Georgia, exhibits this superposition, as well as that of the cretaceous

strata on carhonift rous rocks at Tuscaloosa. Mr. Lyell ascertained that the
huge fossil cetacean named Zeuglodon by Owen is confined to the eocene
deposits. In the cretaceous strata the remains of the mosasaurus and other
reptiles occur without any catecea. The coal-fields of Alabama were next
alluded to, from which fossil plants have been procurred by Professor Brum-
by and Mr. Lyell, of the genera sphenoptcris, neuropteris, calamities, lepido-
dendron, sigillaria, stigmaria, and others, most of them identical in species,
as determined hy Mr. C. ISunbury, with fossils of Northumberland. This
fact is the more worthy of notice, because the coal of Tuscaloosa, situated in
latitude 33° 10' north, is farther south than any region in which this ancient
fossil flora had previously been studied, whetlier in Europe or North Ameri-
ca ; and it aft'ords, tlierefore, a new proof of the wide extension of a uniform
flora in the carboniferous epoch. Mr. Lyell, adverting to the opinion recently
adopted by several idle botanists, that the climate of the coal period was re-
markable for its moisture, equability, and freedom from cold, rather than
tlie intensity of its tropical heat, stated that this conclusion, as well as the
oscillations of temperature implied by the glacial period, is confirmatory of
the theory first advanced by him in 1830, to explain the ancient geological
changes of climate by geographical revolutions in the position of land and
sea.

The lapse of ages implied by the distinctness of the fossils of the eocene,
cretaceous, carboniferous, and other strata is such, tiiat were we to endea-
vour to give an idea of it, we must estimate its duration not hy years, as ia
the case of the delta, but by such units as would be constituted by the inter-
val between the beginning of the delta and our own times.

Doctrine of the earth's antiquity not to be refuted by prejudice.

" It is now fifty years," said Mr. Lyell, " since Playfair, after studying the
rocks in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh in company with Dr. Hutton and
Sir James Hall, was so struck with tlie evidences they afforded of the im-
mensity of past time, that he observed, ' How much farther reason may go
than imagination can venture to follow !' These views were commou to the
most illustrious of his contemporaries, and since that time have been adopted
by all geologists, whether their minds have been formed hy the literature of
France or of Germany, or of Italy, or Scandinavia, or England ; all have ar-
rived at the same conclusion respecting the great antiquity of the globe, and
that, too, in opposition to their earlier prepossessions, and to the popular
belief of their age. It must be confessed that while this unanimity is satis-
factory as a remarkable test of truth, it is somewhat melancholy to reflect
that at the end of half a century, when so many millions have passed through
our schools and colleges since Playfair wrote that eloquent passage, there
should still be so great a discordance between the opinions of scientific mea
and tlie great mass of the community. Had there been annual gatherings
such as this, where they who are entitl d to speak with authority address
themselves to a numerous assembly drawn from the higher classes of society,
who, by their cultivation and influence, must direct the education and form
the opinions of the many of humbler station, it is impossible that so unde-
sirable and unsound a state of things should have uow prevailed, as that there
should he one eieed for the philosopher, and another for the multitude. Had
there been meetings like this even for a quarter of a century, we should
have already gained for geology the same victory that has been so triumph-
antly won by the astronomer. The earth's antiquity, together with the his-
tory of successive races of organic beings, would have been ere this as cheer-
fully and universally acknowledged as the earth's motion, or the number,
magnitude, and relative distances of tiie heavenly bodies. I am sure it
would be superfluous if 1 were to declare, in an assembly like this, my deep
conviction which you — all of you — share, that the farther we extend our re-
searches into the wonders of creation in time and space, the more do we ex-
alt, refine, and elevate our conceptions of the Divine Artificer of the uni-
verse.

Mr. Lyell concluded this discourse by announcing his corroboration of the
discovery recently made by Dr. King at Greensburg, thirty miles from Pitts-
burg in Pennyslvania, of the occurrence of fossil footprints of a large rep-
tilion in the middle of the ancient coal measures. They project in relief
from the lower surface of slabs of sandstone, and are also found impressed
on the subjacent layers of fine unctuous clay. This is the first well-estab-
lished example of a vertehrated animal more highly organised than fishes
being met with in a stratum of such high antiquity.

COMPARISON OF SCREW PROPELLERS AND PADDLE

WHEELS.
(With Engravings, see Plate XVI. J

The B«<ird of Engineers of the United States Navy having been officially
directed to inquire respecting the merits of dillerent methods of propelling
steam-vessels, presented, at the commencement of the present year two re-
ports (dated in January aud May respectively), detailing the result of their
enquiries. We are euabled to give the following analysis of these docu-
ments.

The first report contains a comparison of the relative effects and ralues

43

350

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Nov.

of " HanlerV ami " Loper's" propellers, deduced from llie performances
of a rt'Veuue sleamcr fitted io the first experiment with tlie former of these
propellers, and subseq'icntly with the latter of tiiem.

The secoad report compares the effect of I^oper's propeller with that of
Ihe ordiuary paddle-wheel fitted into two vessels of exactly the same size
and dimensions. The section fig. 1, plate XVI. will show the plan of
gearing on board the .S/)cncfr (the screw vessel). The steam cylinder is
horizontal, and the conuecling rod drives a horizontal bevil wheel, which
lakes into a vertical bevil wheel on the same with the screw propeller.
The propellers are therefore two in number; they project from either
qu-trter of tiie vessel. The mode of [gearing here adopted seems to possess
peculiar advantages. It is well known to engineers that bevil wheels run
lighter than the ordinary spur-wheels, and indeed it may be shown theore-
lically that they have, cceteria pnrihns, less friction ; moreover the teeth of
the former will generally, come in contact more gradually and consequently
with less concussion and noise. This mode of gearing has also the ad-
vantage of compactness and affords peculiar facilities of construction where
Ihe cylinders are horizontal.

The vertical wheel contained 75 wooden cogs and the horizontal wheel
no iron cogs. There seems a slight error of detail in making the numbers
of cogs in each wheel bear the relation here stated. In general the re-
tpective number should be prime to each other, that is, should not contain
a common measure. The greatest common measure of 75 and CO is 15,
and consequently instead of each tooth in Ihe one wheel coming into con-
tact with each tooth in the other duiing successive revolutions, it happens
that by the time one wheel has revolved 4, and the other 5 times, the con-
tact of the same teeth commences again. 15y the contrivance of a " hunt-
ingcog," that is, an additional tooth, in the smaller wheel the numbers
(75 and 01 j become prime to each other, and this disadvantage is avoided.
Cog-wlieels driving screw propellers are subject to so much wear and tear
that no expedient for diminishing the evil ought to be neglected.

The plan of gearing on bnard the McLane, fitted with paddle-wheels, is
eihibiled in fig. 2, plate XVI. The cylinder is horizontal as before. On
the engine shaft is a pinion of 47 teeth taking into a wheel on the upper
«haft of 72 wooden teeth ; the wheel and pinion are io diameter 7 feet and
4{ feet respectively, and concussion or jar is diminished by forming each
of two similar wheels b inches wide with the teeth off set. The pinion and
the wheel driven by it have therefore each a face 10 inches wide. The
fallowing extract from the reports will give the remaining particulars.
Dimensions of Vessels, Engines, Propellers, Ifc. — Vessels (iron).
Length between perpendiculars . . 143 feet.

Beam at knuckle ..... JgJ „
Beam at water line . , . . 22 „

Deptii of hold H „ 10 inches.

Uis/)/(itemeH/ at load line . . . 400 tons.

Area of immersed sfc/ion . . . 160 feet.

Engines — Two, non-condensing; cylinders, 24 inches diameter, by 3 ft.
stroke of piston ; steam, cut off at halt stroke ; one boiler containing 1,450
square feet of heating surface cotndustion, anthracite coal aided with a
blast.

Power. — The horses power of the engines is estimated by the formula —
^X(I'-/+l4-7)

vToJu > "''^''^ ^ represents velocity of piston in feet per mi-
nute. P, means effective pressure upon cylinder piston in pounds, per
square inch ; and /, the friction of the engines, equal J of pressure upon
steam gauge.

^^ Spencer." — Two screiv propellers. 8 feet in diameter, having four
blades each, with an area of II J square feet on each side. Angle of
blades at hub, from plane of axis, 3U° ; at edge of blade, 54°. Kevolu-
tions of propellers, I^ for each revolution of engines. Draft of water,
g feet 8 Mil hes.

'• ^ytLin.f."— Two siJe wheels, 10 feet 5 inches in diameter, in trials 1,
2, S,and 4, and 15 feet I inch in trials 5 and 0; 14 buckets in each Hheel,
10 inches by 5 feet 11 inches each. Immersed area of buckets, in each
wheel, 24 square feet. Heroliiliiins of wheels, 05 for each 100 of engines.
Draft of water, 9 feet 8^ inches.

The two vessels being almost identical in form, allowed a comparison
by meansjof simultaneous experiments which were accordingly commenced
in April by Capt. 1'kaser, under the supervision of Mr. Haswell, engi-
neer-in-chief of the navy, and Commodore Perrv. From Capt. Eraser's
report we make the following extract: —

(Jreat care was taken to trim both vessels as much alike as possible.
The coal to be used was the best quality, anthracite, from the same mines,
(Beaver Meadow).

Taking into cuusideratioa the very defective model of these vessels, and

that the engines were constructed for, and particularly adapted to Hunter's
submerged wheel, rendering it necessary to use ctig wheel geering, no
proper estimate of the speed attainable by the side wheel or propeller can
be arrived at. Still, their relative value in speed and consumption of fuel
may be very satisfdcl(trily determined. It must be borne in mind that the
diameter of the propeller, and consequently its ellective power, is limited
by the draft of water, in order to keep it entirely submerged, and at the
same time atiove the line of the keel, while the diameter of the side wheel
may be increased by raising the shaft, thereby increasing the speed.

In the McLane, however, Ihe diameter of the wheels is as great as de-
sirable for sea service.

Both vessels, as exhibited in Ihe annexed drawings, are precisely similar
in model and dimensiiuis, and each is furnished with two high-pressure
horizontal engines : diameter of cylinder 24, and length of stroke 3G
inches.

A ske'ch of the half cross section of the vessels is hereunto appended,
which will clearly exhibit to practical men, that speed under steam, or
stability under canvas, are unattainable objects. Plans of the propellers
and mode of gearing, are likewise given.

Each vessel is furnished with a single boiler, having 1,450 feet fire sur-
face. The Spencer is furnished with two of Loper's propellers, one pro-
jecting from each quarter, and the McLane with side wheels, having 14
buckets each. All the dimensions of the propellers and wheels are here-
after given, and the draft of water, dip of bucKets, &c., are exhibited iu
tabular form, with each day's trial. The buckets of the side wheel were,
at Ihe sug::estion of Messrs. Haswell and Coney, moved eight inches
towards the centre, before making the trial on the last day.

It will be perceived by reference to Ihe drawings, that the relative revo-
lutions of the engines and wheels of the McLane, are as 1 of the former
to 'Oj'JS, while the relative revolutions of the engines and propellers of the
Spencer are as 1 to I'25. The greatest care was exercised in weighing
the coal, and the pressure of steam, revolutions, times, &cc., were carefully
noted every fifteen minutes. The distances, set, and velocity of the tides,
are given upon the authority of the superintendent of the coast survey,
and the time of slack water, noted in each day's work.

The trial on the first day, from New London to Kalkner's Island, and
returning, was under, as nearly as possible, an uniform pressure of steam,
and the safely valve was loaded with 45 pounds to the square inch. On
Ihe second day, the trial was made by conlining the number of revolution!
of the engines as nearly as possible to 35, and returning under 22j pounds
pressure of steam.

On the third day, as before mentioned, the buckets of the side wheels
were moved eight inches towards the centre, increasing the revolutions
under the same pressure, in order to ascertain whether the increased speed
attained was commensurate with the increased consumption of fuel, and at
the same time to ascertain what distance each %essel could be propelled
with 2,000 pouu'ls of coal. This poition of the trial was quite interesting.
The second propeller of the Spencer did not stop until the steam gauge
exhibited a pressure of but two pounds.

On the first day a strong gale pie\ailed from the westward, with a tur-
bulent head sea, reducing all the sailing vessels in sight, which were
working to windward, to double reefs, and the great diflferences exhibited
in consumption of fuel and speed, between the passage from and returuing
to the light boat, was doubtless produced by the resistance offered by the
wheel houses of the McLane, when steaming head to the wind, and the
assistance alibi ded when before it, as well as the inethcieut opeialioD of
wheels of so small diameter in a sea way, while the propeller being sub-
merged was exercising the same effort at all tunes, and under all circum-
st.tnces.

A trial of the sailing qualities was not deemed important, for experience
has hitherto shown, that by the wind, this model has neither speed or sta-
bility.

A full and detailed journal of the trials is next given, but it is not neces-
sary to make an abstract uf it, as the general results are included in the
official reports of the Engineer-in-chief and Commodore Perry. The joiot
report of those gentlemen is as follows : —

Washington, D. C, May 18th, 1846.
Sir, — In the execution of instructions contained in your letters of the
Ctli ultim ), the undersigned proceeded to New London, Conn., for the pur-
pose of witnessing some experiments that were to be made by order of the
'I'reasury Department, with the lievenue Steamers "Spencer" and " Mc
Lane," the former fitted with two of Loper's propellers (screw), the latter
witli the ordinary side wheels.

Upon our arrival at that place, we were met by Capt. A. V. Fraser,
temporarily iu command of the " Spencer," under whose directions the
experiments were to be made — and also by Capt. W. A. Jfoward, in com-
mand of the *' McLane," who, iu conjunction with the former, atlbrded us
every practicable facility in the prosecution of the object uf uur attend-
ance.

The necessary preliminary arrangements being made, and the two ves-
sels having been brought to a similar draft of waier, and provided with
similar fuel (auihracile), it was decided that the trials made, should be to
determine the following points :

2. The relative speed of the vessels, and consumption of fuel, with equal
pressures of steam, wheu ruuuiug under various ciicuuistauces of wind
and weather.

NEW PATENTS

PLATS X?I -

JB JobJnne.lith.

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

351

2. The same points as above, Ihe engines of the " Spencer" being re-
duced in speed to assimilate, as far as practicable in power, to those of the
" McLaae."

3. The same points, with the pressures of steam reduced one-half.

4. The effect of the coosumplion of an equal quantity of fuel (2,000 lb )
with similar iniiial pressures.

The elements for a comparison of the two vessels, regarding their form,
&c., are as follows : —

The hulU, euRines, and boilers were constructed from duplicate draw-
ings. One vessel had three and the other two masts, adapted for equal
surfaces of canvas. This dillerence of rig. however, could not in the least
have influenced the results of the trials; and especially so, as the vessels
were not tried under canvass. The instruments of cutting otT the steam
differed in some degree, — that of the " Spencer" being a slide valve, and
that of the " iMcLanc" a puppet. In the spaces between the grate-bars,
there was also a vnriante. those of the " Spencer" being the greatest, and
consequently effecting a greater waste of fuel. The geering of Ihe engines,
propellers, and wheels, was similar in its charscter (cogged wheels), the
only mechanical diff'erence being that necessarily due to the peculiar means
of propulsion.

The bottoms of the vessels, and Ihe engines and boilers, were, as far as
our observation extended, aided with the iuforuiatiou received respecting
them, in equally good oriler.

Respecting Ihe proportions of the different propellers, it was clearly
shown that they were of sufficient diameter and surface for the purpose
intended. There was a point, however, connected with their application
which in our opinion malerially interfered with the speeds of the vessels,
arising from the relative speeds of the engines, and each of their attached
propellers. Had the engines been geered so as to have worked faster
with equal pressures, there would have been a material increase of power
(as the boilers of the vessels were capable of supplying a greater quantity
of steam than that they were restricted to in these trials). Had this dis-
advantage been similar, it would alone have effected the rate of speed ; but
as it occurred, Ihe engines of the "McLane" were geered so as to preclude
the attainment of a power with similar pressure equal to that of the
" Spencer." The effect of this, however, is duly considered in determin-
ing the results given in slatemeut C. which was prepared by C. H. Has-
well ; as a s■lb^tltute for which, M. C. Perry submits statement D ; while
to those marked A and B, we refer you for details of the iuforuiatiou on
various points indicated in your letters.

M. C. PtBRY, Engiiieer-in-chief U.S. Navy,
V. H. Haswell,

Commodore Charles Morris,

Chief of Bureau of Construction, Ifc, Washington, D. C.
From the concluding sentence it appears that a difference of opinion ex-
isted as to the conclusiceness of the experiments : the separate statements
[C] and [D] refer to those points on which a difference of opinion existed,
and are submitted, the former by the Engineer-in-Chief, the latter by Com-
modore Perry.

[C]
Results of the Comparisons deduced from the Preceding Elements.

Iq these the consumption of fuel is not considered, for reasons which
will appear obvious when presented.

1. The boilers and engines being identical in capacities, the amount of
steam used in the engines is an exact measure of ihe expenditure of each
means of propulsion, which amount is estimated in the calculations of
power here given.

2, The steam required was so much below the actual capacities of the
boilers to furnish it, and so nearly alike in its quantities, that a hurried
combustion of the fuel was unnecessary. Hence the waste consequent
upon rapid combustion was not only not incurred in either vessel, but was
not incurred by either means of propulsion at the risk of its economy
compared with the other.

J. The omission of this element sets aside the effects of the difference
in the grate-bars, and of any difference iu firing by different individuals.

The computation then, of the powers of the engines is considered a fair
and proper exponent of the cost of propulsion; while the cubes of the
speeds are taken as the measures of the effects produced, which elements,
(those of power and effect) being reduced for each trial, the fullowmg de-
ductions are furnished : —

First. — In this trial, the application in the " Spencer" was 1'52 to 1
more efficient than that in the " McLane."

Second. — In this trial, the application in the " Spencer" was ri4 to 1
more efficient than that iu the *' AlcLane."

Third. — In this trial, the application in the " McLane" was 1'16 to 1
more efficient than that iu the " Spencer."

Fourth. — III this trial, the application in the " McLane" was 1 to -82
more elhcient than lliat in the '' Spencer"

Fifth. — In this trial the application in the "Spencer" was r04 to 1
more efficient than that in the " McLane."

Sixth. — In this trial, the application in the " Spencer" was 1"03 to 1
more efficient than that in the " McLane."

[D.]

"Having stated in the foregoing papers all the particulars connected with
Uie experimental trials of the steamers '' McLane'' and " Spencer," 1 &a<i

in passing them in review a diflicully in forming any definite conclusioos
upon the subjects under inquiry.

Notwithstanding the care with which the trials were made under the
skilful management of Captains Fraser and Howard, very little of a satis-
factory character was elicited. On Ihe contrary, the results tended rather
to confuse than to elucidate: certainly ihey furnished no criterion by which
to determine the relative properties of the propeller and the side wheels,
and the causes may, in my judgment, be justly ascribed to the defective
form of the bottoms of the vessels.

It may be assumed by some, that as the models and dimensions of the
two vessels were precisely alike, and the steam force exeited upon their
respective propelling power was the same, the results ought to be conclu-
sive of the superiority of the propeller — but such is not my opinion.

Captains Fraser and Howard both affirmed, and I give much weight te
their professional opinions, that neiilier vessel would stand up under can-
vas, that they would not stay under ordinary circumstances, and it was
difficult to wear them within any reasonable space, or to keep them to the
wind in heavy weather — that in fresh breezes, on the wind, the lee wheel
of the '■ McLane" would he immersed almost to its axis ; in a word, that
they were unmanageable at sea, and in their belief would be unsafe if
thrown upon a lee shore in a heavy gale, even if assisted by steam
power.

It is plain, therefore, that no application, whether of steam power or
sails, or both combined, to vessels of such unusual model, could by possi-
bility pioduce any satisfactory results, illustrative of the question of reW
five merits of the two modes of propulsion : and this opinion is strength-
ened by the fact, that on the occasion of their first day of trial in the
Sound, when there was a strong double reef topsail breeze from the north-
ward and westward, they were so slow in their movements, that all
agreed that any fair sailing vessel would have worked from New York to
Falkner's Islaud, and made the run baek, in a less space of time than was
occupied by the fastest of the two steamers in accomplishing it."

The general result of the experiments is given in the following table »(
the Elements of Comparison of the various Trials : —

The distances given are in nautical miles.

Trials 1 and 3 — Speed and consumption of fuel with equal pressures,
and under various circumstances of wind and weather.

OUT. IN.

Spencer. McLaac.

Average* pressure of st^am in pounds, per
square incll ..

Average revolutions of engines per minute

Time of running, in hours and minutes ..

l>istanceran ttirougli tlie water in miles,
ttie elfect of ttie tide (2 Icnots} being esti-
mated ..

.Speed in miles per hour

Consumotion of fuel in pounds per hour ..

Power of engines in horses

Spencer.

423
415
4 31

24-25
54

1224
186

47-
24-6
6 42

2775
4 14

928
l.'»

42-

42-
3 33

22-85
6-48

8«D
192

45-
28-
3 »7

22-4

5-e7

1176
147

Trials 3 and 4 t — Out. — Speed and consumption of fuel, the pressure of
steam in the " Spencer," being reduced in order to assimilate the
power of the engines to those of the " McLane."

/».— Speed and consumption of fuel, the pressure of steam in both
vessels, being equally reduced to 22-5 lb. per square inch.

Average pressure of steam per square inch

in pounds ..

Average revolutions of engines per minute
Time of running, in h urs ami minutes ..
Distance run through the water in miles ..
Speed in miles pep hour
Consumption of fuel in pounds per hour ..
Power of eogines in horses

IN.

jencer.

McLane.

Spencer.

McLane

39-

47-

23-

22't

35-

29-6

S-25

22-

I 46

1 31

2 7

2 10

11-25

10-23

9-8

9-4

5-.-i«

678

462

434

360

HM

58S

172

150

155

76

52

Trials 5 and G.** — Out. — Speed and duration of operation with similar
quantities of fuel — 2000 pounds of coal being allowed to each vesael.

In. — Speed and consumption of fuel uuder equal pressures aod
various circumstances of wind and weatber.

IN.

ATerage pressure of steam in pounds per

square inch . .
Average revolution of engines per minute.
Time ul running, in hours and minutes .
Distance run thruu;^h the water in milei .
Speed in miles per hour
L'onsumptioti ot futl in pounds per hour .
Power 01 engines in horses .,

Spencer.

McLane.

Spencer.

lUcLan*

Vulve

loaded.

at 45 lb.

41-

48-

45-

40-

1 3 46

13 29

2 45

2 48

23

22-7

i9»

19-8

7-2

7-07

t

(

926

125»

220

216

It will be observed that these *' elements'* do not include the amount ©f
steam evaporated during the experiments. The formula given above for

* In these trials, the cut-off of the starboard engine of the *' Spencer" was cot used,
the effect of which, however, is estimated, and the consumption of fuel given is in ac-
cordance with it.

t The throttles of the " Spencer's'' engines were constantly closed, to reduce the revo-
lutions in the run out. The effect of this is fully ttstimated, as the revoluiions of the
engines of this vessel were ascertained at such pressures as were necessary to deter-
mine it.

** In these trials the wheels of the " McLane" were reduced in diameter 16 inches.

I In this tiidl the distames run, and the limes of running (equal distances), were very
nearly alike, the difference being inappreciable. One of the engines of ihe "Spencer"
continued working for several minutes after alt the oth«r6 had slopped, which increased
the time ot running of ih;it vessel beyond the other.

t While coal lasleiJ 960 lb.

S While coal lasted b;*u lb.

352

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Not.

ettimaliog the power of the engines is similar in form to that of Tredgold,
and tbe cylinder pressure is deduced from the boiler pressure by a meiliod
independent of the omitted element : that is, the calculation proceeds on
the assumption that the boiler pressure and cylinder pressure will bear a
constant relation to eacli oiher, whatever may be the rate of evaporation.
This assumption, Ue I'anibour, in his Treatise on ihe Steam Eugine, has
shown to be erroneous, and he contends therefore that the whole ofTrcd-
gold's Theory of the Steam Engine is incorrect, and that his formula; for
computing the power of engines can never be correct, except by an acci-
dental compensation of errors. — The views of De Pambour are now gene-
rally adopted by scientific men. We>vill venture at the risk of appearing
to dilTer in some measure from the very high authorities by whom the re-
ports before us are sanctioned, to apply De Pambour's method of calcula-
tion to one or two of the results of the experiments just described.

In tlie report duted .January 31 (p. 3), we find the following comparison
of two experiments : —

Total l)oiler pressure per square inch
llevolutiona of engine per minute
Fuel consumed per minute

It is assumed in the report that until the steam was cut off the cylinder-
pressure was the same as that of tlie boiler. On Ue Parabjui's princi-
ple, however, the conclusion would be very different. In absence of more
accurate data we may suppose that since the form and dimensions of the
bailer, &c., were identical in the two experiments each pound of coals
evaporated effectively the same volume of water (M). Then

Expt. (1).

Expt. (2)

■JJL' lb.

63 70 lb.

53-5

44-4J

36 lb.

21-i;61b.

Expt. (1).
■ill M

Expt (2).
•2016 M

Cubic feet of water evaporated per minute
Now it appears from the table in De Pambour's Treatise on Locomotive
Engines (p. 00), that steam at 922 lb. pressure occupies 310 times the
volume of the water from which it is produced, and steam at 03 79 lb.
pressure occupies about 414 times the space of tbe water from which it is
produced. Therefore in ibe present case

Expt. (I). Expt. (2).

Cubic feet of steam evaporated per minute 4iiMx316l 2010 M x 444 -t

= 14536 M / -8;(6I M /

The capacity of the cylinders was the same in both eases ( = N), but in
the first experiment the steam was cut off at one-third of the stroke, in the
second at one-half of the sti'oke, consequently taking] the number of revolu-
tions of the engine per minute in each case, we have

Expt. (1). Expt. (2).

Cubic feet of steam admitted to cylinders per minute 33.''XiN\ 44'4ri x ^ N •»

"17 83N i -•22-225N /

Comparing these quantities with the volumes of steam generated in the
boiler, we see that in experiment (1) 11530 M cubic feet of steam at a
pressure 922 lb. were dilated to occupy 17 83 N cubic feet: and in ex-
periment (2) 8951 M cubic feet of steam at pressure of 03-79 lb. were
dilated to occupy 22 223 N cubic feet. But by Mariotte's law the pres-
sure of steam is inversely as the space occupied. Hence

Bolter pressure

Cylinder pressure

Expt. (1).

17-83 N

14536lu

Expt. (2).
_ 22-225 1>I
"825 1 M~

22-225 X 14536
17-83 X WjI

' X 2-0208.

Hence we get finally the following relation :

Cylinder pressure (1). Boiler pressure (1).

Cylinder pressure (2). Boiler pressure (2J,

_ Boiler pressure (1).

Builer prebsure (2J-

Showing that the proportion between Ihe cylinder pressures before the
steam is cut off, instead of being equal U) the proportion between the boiler
pressures will be more than double lliat jiropurtion. This certainly seems
to show the importance of taking into consideration the relative generation
of steam in the boiler and consumption of it in the cylinder.

Let us take another case — the trials 5 and 0 in the second report of
which the experimental results are given above. Adopting a method of
calculation exactly the same as the foregoing, and considering that in the
.S'/icnn'r and McLane the cylinders were of the same size, that the steam in
both was cut oil' at half-strol^e, and lliut by De Pambour's table steam at
68-7 lb. occupies 480 times, and steam ai (i2-7 lb. occupies 150 times the
vtilume of the water producing it — we have

Expt.
58-7 lb.

^!?V

45

40

15 41b.

20-8

15-4 M

20-8 M

15-4 M X 4801

211-8 .M X 450 1
==8360 M ;

JNx4S

4Nx40

/.■i!)2 M

KiROM

22-6 N

20 N

ssure (McLane)

8360 X22-S

isure (Spencer^

■^ 731)2 X 24

1-27

Total pressure In boiler

Revolutions per minute

Fuel consumed per minute

Culiic feet of water evaporated per minute

Cubic feet of steam evaporated per minute

Cubic feet admitted to cylinder per minute
Cylinder pressure
Boilt-r pressure
Hence we get the relation

Cylinder i)re3sure (McLane) Boili

Cylinder pressure (Spenser) Boili

Boiler pressure (McLane)

Boiler pressure (Spencer)
That is Ihe proportion of the cylinder pressures before Ihe sleam is cut
off is not thiit of the boiler pressures, but upwards, of one-fourth more.

The actual relation of the boiler pressure to the c\linder piessure in each
engine is immediately ascertained by giving M and N their proper values
— that is, by substituting the size of the cylinder, and the evaporative
effect of each pound of coke. It would however generally be more accu-
rate to ascertain the total quantity of water evaporated during the trial,
and make a correclioa for priming according to the method detailed by Da
Pambour.

We are indebted to the courtesy of an American correspondent for copies
of the reports alluded to. The source from which this favour comes, and
the very flattering manner in which it is conferred, greatly enhance its
value, and induce us to hope that notwithstanding differences of opinion
between American and English engineers, we shall have hereafter further
opportunities of recording the investigations of our transatlantic fellow la-
bourers in tbe advaucement of practical science.

METROPOLITAN SEWAGE MANURE.

The select committee, which was appointed last session to consider
sundry plans for Ihe appiicaiion of the sewage of the metropolis to agricul-
tural purposes, reported in favour of the Aletropolitan Sewage Manure
Company Hill, which has since passed into a law, with certain modifications.
They declined to recommend its postponement or rejection for the sake of
Mr \i'icksted's plan, for cairying olf the entire sewage of London, in a
tunnel of fioin eight to twelve feet in diameter, and at a depth of from 40
to 80 feet under the level of the streets, being of opinion that tlie first ex-
periment of dealing with sewage water had belter be tried upon a smaller
scale and at a less formidable exoense ; and, as regarded .Mr. Hig.;s' plan,
they conceived that the public miuJ was not at present prepared to risk
the establishment of any such reservoirs as he proposed lo construct, al-
though, by the precautious he contemplated, he would prolialily preclude
the possibility of any deleterious or offensive consequences. It appeared,
indeed, that the main ground of complaint against the bill by the owners or
occupiers of land was, that power had been taken in it to couotruct reser-
voirs or tanks for the reception of stagnant and oll'ensive sewage water.
That power was, in consequence, relinquished by the promoters. The
committee, however, seemed to concur in the propriety of such a step out
of deference to public feeling only, being of opinion tint the loss of such a
provision would, in some degree, impair the elhcienry of a measure which
proposed at all tunes to remove from the Thames Ihe daily-increasing re-
fuse of Loudon. As explained by Air. Smith, of Deanston, llie operations
of the company are lo be limited lo the Kind's .Scholars' poiiil sewer — the
contents of that sewer to be received in a well coiisiructed for the purpose,
thence to be raised by steam-engine pumps, and carried by a main pipe
about eleven miles in the direction of Egliani, wiUi branch pipes to the sur-
rounding farms ; the distribution of which, however, will depend much
upon private arrangement. When nsetl for irrigation, Ihe liquid is lo ba
discharged from one of these .service pipes into the channels usually em-
ployed for that purpose; when applied to tillage laud tlie service pipe is
to lie brought to some convenient tlistanc e in the licid, there tocoinmunieale
with a hose made of canvas, and capable of being elongated and conveyed
to particular spots, from whence the water may be thrown by a Jet over as
extensive a surface as Ihe pressure upon the pipes will admit — that pres-
sure being derived from a stand-pipe about two feet in diameter, and 150
in height, the eiilire distribution lo be conducted by the servants of the
company, with a view to its proper control, aided by an ailjuslmeut at Ihe
steam-engine, to indicate the quantity of ivaler taken at Ihe extremities, so
that Ihe speed of the pumps may be diminished or increased accordingly.

The company expect that Ihe farmers will hud it Iheir interest to allow
it to be used exclusively for irrigation durii.g ihe night and during the day
by jet and otherwise, so as to equalize tiie supply iu the 24 hours, and
prevent the waste which would otherwise occur iu the absence of reser-
voirs. Looking, however, to the dilhculties that usually alteiid a lirst ex-
peniueut, and to provide for extiaordiuaiy Hoods, means are to be adopted

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECPS JOURNAL.

353

for allowiog any surplus to flow into the Thames witliout going back into
the sewer ; at the same time that the company confidently anticipate, after
the farmers shall have had experience of the value of the manure, that the
demand will be greater thau the supply. The supply is calculated at
60,000,000 tons annually, producing, at 2d. per ton, an income of 50,000/,,
which would leave above the outlay a net profit of 13,000(. on an estimated
expenditure of 120,000/. It will require 2S,000 acres to consume the
60,000,000 tons, of which it is expected that two-thirds will be taken for
the irrigation of meadow, and one-third for the enrichment of tillage land.
As the process of pamping will be conducted in a closed building, so con-
structed as to carry any foetid exhalations that may arise from the water
during the short period it is exposed to the atmosphere, into the furnace of
the steam engine, there to be destroyed, the committee arrived at the con-
clusion, not only that this station-house will be unobjectionable, but that
by the proposed means the liquid will be removed in a far less ofl'ensive
state than that in which it is now found, when backed in the open sewer
by the high tide, and stagnating for hours together in the immediate vicinity
of a thickly inhabited district, to be subsequently poured forth at low tide
into the open bed of the river. The only remaining danger or inconvenience
to be apprehended was from the breakage of the pipes or the ultiniats dis-
tribution of the water upon the land ; but as it had been clearly established
in evidence, first, that sewage water is not corrosive in its nature or liable
to generate explosive gases, and next that its distribution is not attended
with an ofl'ensive effluvium unless in hot weather, when, owing to its rapid
absorption into earth, the unpleasantness is of very short duration, the
committee had no hesitation in believing that it may be as safely conveyed
in iron pipes as the water of the Thames is at present by the several com-
panies who supply the metropolis ; and that in its application to the land
it will be less ofl'ensive than manure in i(s solid state. The report contains
some very interesting evidence from scientific men, supported by that of
skilful farmers, and showing, that under an improved system of husbandry,
by the application of the science of chemistry to that of agriculture, the
soil, no matter what its nature or locality, may be rendered by many de-
grees more productive and more profitable. A minute chemical analysis
of the sewer water of London, besides being unintelligible to the general
reader, would be out of place in a mere abstract. All capacities, however,
can understand the result, as given in the evidence of Mr. Miller, Profes-
sor of Chemistry in King's College. He found in it considerable portions
of amraoniacal salts, alkaline salts, and earthy phosphates, substances
which are found in the soil in only small quantities, but which are never-
theless absolutely essential to the maintenance of vegetable life. These
ingredients are principally derived from the ashes of our bodies, resulting
from the food we have digested ; and as we have received them either di-
rectly from plants, or indirectly through animals from plants, it is evident
they must be the food of plants, and that plants receive them from the soil,
which they gradually exhaust. Mr. Miller stated also this curious fact —
that the money value of those ingredients as poured into the Thames from
the King's Scholar's Pond Sewer alone, assuming that the quantity falling
from that sewer is 12,000 tons a day, amounts to no less than G2/. every
twenty-four hours, or 22,030/. a year. The report likewise contains much
useful information derived from the experiments of practical men in the
application of sewage water to land, showing in all instances that it pos-
sesses a much greater fertilising power than either guano or the ordinary
farm-yard manure. A Mr. Thompson, of Clitheroe, in Lancashire, on ap-
plying eight tons of it to one acre, fifteen tons of common manure to another,
and three cwt. of guano to a third, found that the grass raised by the sewage
water, compared with the quantity produced in the other two cases, was
as fifteen tons against eight. The Duke of Portland is stated by means of
the sewage water of Mansfield, and a cost of 30/. an acre for bringing the
land into a proper form for irrigation, to have raised its value from 4s. Gd.
to 14/. an acre. Mr. Dickinson, au extensive keeper of horses, by the use
of liquid manure derivtd therefrom, got ten crops of Italian rye grass in
twelve months, some of them more than three feet high, out of land (on his
farm atWillesden, near London), which a Lincolnshire man had previously
said he would not give 12s. an acre for, if at his own door; and which a
Norfolk man declared he would not farm as a freehold. Speaking of the
present year, Mr. Dickinson stated, that the first crop was cut in January,
yielding more than four tons an acre, (hat the second gave about double
that, and that the fourth, which had been cut in the month of June, had
produced at least twelve tons an acre. From his calculations it appeared
that one horse supplied sufficient manure for one acre ; and when pressed
for a direct opinion upon the subject, he replied, that he had no doubt
whatever that every animal that lived, by his refuse being economised,
would produce more than he could consume. This is an important fact
for the agriculturists, especially at the present moment, and it is to be
hoped they will not lose sight of it, but endeavour, like Mr. Dickinson, to
make their land more productive, and thereby not only benefit themselves
and the country, but materially serve tlie cause of science

Fall of Railway Bridges, Embankments, kc. have occurred at numerous
places. At Aberdeen, several arches of the inclined plane ; between Lin-
ton and Dunbar, three bridges ; on the Tynemouth Extension line, three
yaads of tunnel ; on the Newbury line, several bridges ; fifty yards of cut-
ting on the iiiighton and Hastings line.

PORT OF DUBLIN.

Improvements of the Gr.\nd Canal Docks at Ringsend.

flfith an Engraving, Plate XVII.J

Among the chief commercial interests of the city of Dublin is the extensive
trade of the Shannon and the Grand Canal. The enlargement of the canal
docks has therefore been long considered a subject of great mercantile im-
portance, and from a Report of Sir John Macneill, now before us, there ap-
pears every probability of this great improvement being speedily effected.

The principal features of the undertaking are the formation of a new Tida
basin, the diversion of the river Dodder and the construction of a new en-
trance to the Floating and Graving Docks. The task of preparing a design
for effecting these objects has been confided to Mr. McMcllen, and has
been performed in the most simple and satisfactory manner. The plan pro-
posed by Mr. McMuIlen is made the subject of a warm eulogium in Sir J. Mac-
neill's report, which speaks of its extreme " simplicity," and the " extraordinary
facilities which every where exist for carrying it into execution." The
following extracts from the Report, and a reference to the Plate XVII. will
sufficiently explain the nature of the proposed improvement.

It is impossible to cast the eye over your Company's splendid Floating
Basin, covering, as I understand, twenty-five statute acres, with a depth of
water which I find is now steadily maintained at 18 feet or thereabouts,
without a feeling of great regret, that facilities, such as are thus afl^orded,
both for the foreign and coasting trade of the port of Dublin, and the im-
portant adjacent districts, should not be as available for the advantage of
that trade as they unquestionably can be rendered ; and for the accomplish,
ment of this most desirable object, I freely admit that I have seen no project
or plan at all comparable to that now before me, either as to the extent of
the advantages which it is calculated to secure, or the comparatively small
cost at which it is capable of being executed.

Of the several operations which the carrying out of the project involves,
there is none the necessity for which is so manifest, or the cost of which
would be so trifling, compared with its importance, as the turning out of the
Dodder upon the South Bull. An enormous deposit is carried down and
lodged in the channel opposite the entrance to the docks. The dredging
out of the narrow, and as yet quite inadequate channel, forming the ap-
proach to Camden and Buckingham Locks, and of that portion of the rivei
immediately opposite, has, this year, as I am informed, occupied the two
powerful steam dredgers of the Ballast Corporation, for a period of about;
two months, at an expense which cannot but be very heavy, and which must
recur annually, and inevitably after the winter floods, as long as the river
is allowed to remain ia its present course. The necessity for an improve-
ment so obvious has been long felt. I find that it was recommended by the
Irish House of Commons on various occasions, and attached to their pro-
ceedings of the date of 26th February, 1785, there is a ground plan of the
new course into which it was proposed the river should then be turned,
which scarcely at all differs from that laid down in the present plan. And
this was further followed up by the enactment contained in the act, creating
the present Ballast Corporation, by which the directors of that corporation
are authorized to carry out and complete the measure. In accomplishing it,
there is no actual necessity for the removal of the present weir, although
this would render the results more useful to the adjacent grounds, and in
this case a supply of water to the neighbourhood could be readily obtained
from the river above Ball's bridge, and a reservoir formed on the site of the
mill-pond of the old distillery, as sketched on the plan. I have examined
the ground which it is proposed the new course should occupy. In length
it is about 600 yards.

An apprehension has, as I am informed, been expressed in some quarter,
assumed to be entitled to attention, and in this way brought under your no-
tice, to the effect that the sand, carried down by the river, and which, in the
event of the proposed change of its course, would be deposited on the south
strand, might possibly be drifted across the Bay towards the entrance of
Kingstown harbour, and produce inconvenience or obstruction there. Such
a result I consider to be altogether out of the question, and the anticipated
suggestion of it, destitute of the slightest rational foundation.

In turning to the plan for the formation of the Tidal Basin, it is impossi-
ble not to be struck with the fact, and it is one of manifest importance,
namely, how much of the work has been already done, and how little, for
the realization of the whole project, remains to be accomplished ? while of
this latter, the entire is of the plainest, every-day character, and quite free
from any thing which could be regarded as an engineering difiiculty. The
whole is in fact comprised in the excavation of the ground, the extension of
the present south quay wall, the lining of the interior with cut-stone facing,
well puddled, and the constractiou of the entrance gates. The proposed
Lock for the admission of steamers of the largest class to the upper basin
does not appear so indispensable to the successful working of the plan, as to
call for its being immediately undertaken. It may be prudent to wait the
result of the trials of the screw propeller now in progress, and in the mean-
while the outer basin will afford a very large amount of accommodation to
the ordinary class of paddle steamers. In reference to the excavation of the
basin, it is well deserving of notice, that the ground inside of the Queen's

46

364

THE CIVIL ENGINEKR AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Not.

and the other adjacent timber yards, is greatly below the level of the quays,
and of high water, and that the material excavated may be not only very
beneficially and usefully deposited in these yards, but that the close prosi-
raity of such a place of deposit will be a source of considerable economy in
carrjing out this part of the work.

As regards the convenience of the shipping of the port, the portion of the
project which, beyond every other, would seem to recommend it to public
favour and approval, is the position of the entrance to the Tidal Basin, in a
right line with the direction of the River; a fact so manifestly important,
and calculated to afford facilities both for ingress and egress, so obvious, that
it is quite unnecessary to enlarRC upon it.

It will be necessary to continue the main sewer, by which the water is at
present discharged from the Gravin Docks, at a sullicient depth under the
bed of the Dodder, to the opposite or Ringsend side of it to be carried in a
direction parallel with the bank of the river down to the Liffey, east of the
Dock entrance, there to discharge at the level of low water spring-tides, and
which sewer can also be made use of for unwatering the low ground, south
of the docks.

The last in order of the various points to which, in considering the whole
of this question, my attention has been drawn, is one which, especially in au
engineering point of view, I regard as not only most important, but highly
interesting. It is indicated on Mr. M'Mullen's plan, but not on a scale, in
my mind, sufficiently extensive to accomplish the object which I should con-
template. I allude to the Break-water which he proposes should be formed
from the point at which, by the new course, the Dodder would be discharged
upon the South Bull, across to the great South Wall, with an opening in the
latter for the out-flow of the water retained within this barrier at each ebb
of the tide, and through which opening it would consequently be discharged
into the channel of the river, which forms the sailing course, and where it
would necessarily act as a scour, in regard to that important portion of the
entrance to the harbour. Of the soundness of the principle, and tne benefi-
cial effect which would in this way be produced, there can be no doubt ; but
to render it as effective as the general condition of this portion of the sailing
course would appear to require, it must, in my opinion, be carried out on a
considerably more extensive scale : the mound to be raised commencing, in
any case, as far eastward as the Pigeon House, and terminating at or near to
the Martello Tower, on the Sandymount strand. It does not seem necessary
that the proposed barrier or mound should be raised to any considerable
height, as the effective action of the Scour would occur as the ebb tide ap-
proaches to low water. I think that a sufficient mound or barrier could ue
formed, of such a height as 1 contemplate, from the heavy clay and gravel,
of which the strand in this part of the bay consists, at a verj' moderate ex-
pense. The bridge to form the opening in the wall for the efflux of the
water, of whatever number of arches it may consist, should be at the least,
from 200 to 300 feet wide. Of the cost of this part of the work I have not
framed nor submitted any estimate. It is plain,however, that, with reference
to the importance of carrying out such a project, it would be comparatively
speaking but inconsiderable.

A elance at the present state of the Bay shows that, as far eastward as
the Poolbeg Light, it is divided by the great south wall into two nearly equal
portions. The effect of the great north wall, has been to cause the ebb water
of the northern division to act upon the bar, and in this respect it abundantly
answered the expectatious entertained by its projectors. If. in addition to
the important and valuable action so obtained from the northern section oj
the Bay upon the Bar, it shall be practicable, in a similar way, to empound
the Tidal Waters of the southern division of it, and, as I confidently contem-
plate, to produce from their effiux a corresponding beneficial deepening ac-
tion upon the continuation of the bed of the river, forming the entrance
channel to the inner harbour, a result will have been obtained of the most
decisive character, not alone as regards facilities of access, and the safety of
the shipping frequenting the port, hut calculated also to diminish, to a very
large extent, the cost annually incurred in dredging out of this channel the
vast quantity of silt and mud, which under present circumstances is, and
must continue to be deposited in it.

Estimate of the proposed Course of the River Dodder through Irishtown.
Purchase of Land . . . . . . . . 2,245 n 0

Earthwork in excavation, cube yards, 21,3G8 at 0(1. per yard 801 6 0
Sea-pitching at Irishtown, ditto 508 „ fid. ditto 152 8 0

Bridge at Irishtown, with approaches, &c. .. .. 1,975 4 10

Add 10 per cent, for contingencies

;*5,i;3 is 10
Sir 7 10

Total amount

THE WYATT WELLINGTON.

Sir— On the appearance of Professor Cockerell's Letter in the
" Times," I addressed one to that paper to say that the objections urged by
him against the equestrian statue of the Duke being placed transversely
across the arch, instead of in the axis of the archway itself, were brought
forward nearly eight years ago in a work where it might be supposed they
could hardly have escaped the notice of architects, at least not of the archi-
tect of the strnclure, since they were made in the letter-press account given
of it in the second edition of the " Public Buildings of London,'" where

that arch forms one of the new subjects added to the original work, and is
illustrated by a ground-plan and elevation. Yet, although the "Times"
appeared to take very great interest in the affair of the statue, having
brought it forward more than once in its leader, the Editor did not think
proper either to insert or to offer any reason for rejecting my letter; and
as it had then become too late in the month to send to your Journal, ray
comments on the matter could not possibly appear earlier in it than they
do.

The whole affair is a curious one from first to last, and exemplifies more
forcibly than favourably the manner in which matters of the kind are
managed in this country — the crooked policy, and that species of astuteness
which is called cunniug, that are brought to bear upon them. No deference
has been paid to public opinion, for concealment has, as far as practicable,
been studiously kept up, as if the public possessed no right of opinion, and
therefore the expression of it in any shape, was no belter than unwarrant-
able interference. Would it then be more becoming iu the public to ob-
serve the neutrality of silence upon such occasions — to manifest an indiffe-
rence that would be praiseworthy because not at all troublesome? If so,
those are taking a very wrong course indeed who are advocating and seek-
ing to diffuse among the whole community a more familiar acquaintance
with art generally, and a more enlightened appreciation of it. On one
side, the public are told that they ought to acquire a taste for Art, to take
a lively interest in il, and also to watch over its interests; on the other
they are told — at least given very signiticantly to understand, that Ihey
have properly no voice in snch matters, or their voice no authority, and it
may therefore be disregarded as idle clamour.

Those concerned in (he management of pulilic works — some people call
them jois — will perhaps say that they do not dispute our right of judg-
ment and of freely expressing it; all that they request is that we should
not express it prematurely, but wait until the work be completed, when it
can be judijed of fairly. This is very plausible; it seems at first sight,
perfectly rtasonable, but only at first sight, for when looked at more closely,
it will oe found to mean that the public ought to be kept as long as possi-
ble in the dark as to what is going on, and be hindered from judging rashly
and prematurely by being debarred from foiming more than random con-
jectures and vague surmises, until not only the work, but the mischief that
might have been guarded against by a little picm«<Hie criticism, is com-
pleted. The most ill-timed criticism of all is surely that which comes too
late to be of service, because unless it be the bearer of commendation, it
brings only reproachand regret, — warning, indeed, for the fulure,but warn-
ing just as useless it seems as mere regret itself. We have had our warn-
ings— our dearly-bought experiences, and much we profit by them. There
is Buckingham Palace, which after costin;; about a million in the first in-
stance— how much more has been expended upon it since it was occupied
is not so well known — is spoken of only for universal scorn and derision as
a positive " disgrace to the nation," — which as far as the nation is con-
cerned is flagrantly unjust, because the nation had no other hand in the
matter than paying for that costly piece of architectural brummagem. It
was not the nation that forced that precious bargain upon George IV.,
but just the reverse ; so let the " disgrace" fall where it ought. Not but
that the nation was to blame too, for its negligence and supineness in not
inquiring premuturely what was the quality of the commodity — or the in-
ciimmodiousness as it now turns out to be — which it would have to pay for.
Nor is that unhappy edifice the only one, by very many, that has been pro-
nounced a failure : the National Gallery is another signal instance of mis-
management ; and the hackneyed idea of a mere column was adopted for
the Nelson Monument, in defiance of the strong wish expressed for some-
thing less common-place. ^Vlien the fafade for the British Museum was
begun about two years ago, no regard was paid to the demand then made,
that the model should be produced for public inspection;— on the contrary,
such a dogged silence preserved that a formal refusal would have been
almost courtesy in comparison with it.

To what purpose then, it will perhaps be asked, is it to raise clamours
of the kind when we find that they are altogelher unheeded ? It certainly
istoverylittle purpose merely toraisetheni,if they are dropped again almost
immediately, as is generally the case, wherefore no notice is taken of
them ; those who might else be forced to do so, feeling; pretty confident,
that after the first firing the press will have exhausted its ammunition or
give up the attack in despair. It is not by a furious momentary discharge,
but by a constant and well-directed one kept up determinedly tliat we can
reasonably expect to carry tlie point on such occasion. Would rt lu.t be equal
folly and presumption on the part of auy individual writer— of myself, for iu-
stance,— to imagine he can eltect any thing, unless he be publicly seconded
by others? But people seem to think that if remonstrances are found to
produce no immediate efl'ect, it can be of no use to continue, or to bring
fresh detachments of them into the field. On the contrary, when a harder
blow than usual has been given, — one that ought to stagger and confound,
instead of following it up by another still harder, they draw back as if in
alarm for the consequences of their own might and valour.

Professor Cockerel I appears to be one of the considerate, for he not only
considered a very long while before he could prevail upon himself to step
forward and protest against the Wellington statue being placed on the
Arch, but, lest his interference should derange matters and upset the scheme
was so considerate as to keep silence till almost the very last moment,
when it was hardly possible that his advice should be followed without
great incomenience ; whereby he himself furnished the committee with a
good excuse for not adopting it, conveniently reserving to himself the power
of saying or fancying that it would have been adopted, had it nut unluckily

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

355

come just too late; still, even the convenience has^ils awkwardness, for
some people are so inconsiderate that they will be apt to ask why he held
back till the very last moment. They may also feel a little astonishment
at tl;e complete silence observed by the other architectural Professors.
Are we to understand it to be equivalent to consent — acquiescence in and
approval of what has been so virulently condemned ' If so they have been
wanting in generosity towards the authors and perpetrators of the scheme.
On the other hand, if they ac;ree with Professor Cockerell, they might,
■without impropriety, have openly sided with him. Or shall we attribute
their silence to indiflereuce ? — or if not exactly to indifference to that dis-
cretion which prompts steady people to cross over the way, or turn into
another street where they see a fray going forward ? Even if i! was no
aHair of theirs, and they were fearful that the ofl'ering any opinion might
be considered busy-body ofticiousness, it did concern Mr. D. Burton, and
as he did not choose to appeal to the public when he was sure that the
general opinion would have strongly supported him, it may very fairly be
questioned whether he cares at all about what has been done to his build-
ing. The inference may not be very charitable, nor particularly flattering
to him, but it is certainly a very natural one.

After all, houever, his Arch does not suffer more than another building
does, viz , the house over the way, which now looks more iusignilicaut auil
nndignifif-d than ever. Strange! that of two Uyafis, one thought he could
not make the Uuke look toe big, the other, his house look too little — and
too petite in style.

REGISTER OF NEW PATENTS.

If additiocal information be required respecting any patent, it may be obtained at the
office of this Journal.

BRICK AND TILE MACHINE.

Alfred Hall, of Coxsackie, iu the United States of America, brick-
maker, for " certain improvements in machinery or apparatus for making,
moulding, or manufacturing briclis, tiles, and other articles, from earthy or
plastic materials." — Granted October 2, 1843; Enrolled April 2, 18-16. — Re-
ported in Newton's London Journal.

This invention relates to the construction of a machine as shown in
the engravings, Plate XVI., for making bricks, tiles, and other articles
from clay. Fig. I is a side view of part of a pug-mill, and the moulding ap-
paratus. Kg. 2 is a plan, and fig. 3 a vertical section through the centre of
the moulding apparatus and pug-mill, and fig 4 a front view of the moulding
apparatus. A is a pug-mill, set on a brick foundation B and pillar C ; in
the centre of the mil] is a vertical shaft b, supported upon a step at the lower
part, and at the upper part by a framing, to which is attached a beam for the
application of horse-power. On the shafts are fixed a number of horizontal
cutters, c, set radially, and at the lower end are 4 plates, d, set horizontally
in two lines at right angles to each other, and slightly inclined from the per-
pendicular, they extend nearly to the sides of the mill, and are for the purpose
of sweeping the clay, as the shaft rotates, into the chamber of the moulding
apparatus.

The moulding apparatus consists of a chamber, D, with iron plate sides,/,
and a cast-iron grating, g, for the bottom (shown separately in fig. 5), con-
sisting of a square frame with cross bars forming as many compartments as
there are bricks or tiles to be produced at one working in the mould or box,
z, under the grating. Above the chamber is a shaft, h, with bearings at each
end in the side plates, ,/, which carries quadrants provided with segmental
racks, i, and the cover or pressing plate, k, extending the whole width of the
chamber D, for the purpose of forcing the clay into the chamber through the
grating g into the mould :: below. I is another shaft with bearings in the
side plates y, carrying 2 pinions, m, that take into the segmental racks ;, and
having a hand-wheel, n, keyed on to the end of the shaft, for giving motion
to the quadrant racks. ;; is a scraper, the whole width of the chaniber, fixed
on a shaft with bearings at each end in the side platesy; this scraper is for
cleaning off the clay from the segmental portion of the preising plate i.

Below the chamber is the frame work, E, with an adjustable framing. F,
suspended thereto by 4 pins, which carry the bearing of a horizontal shaft,
5> ; shaft supports arms at each end, attached to the framing F, and also at
each end a lever, q' ; there is also a cross-bar, r, to carry the inner end of
the framing, F, which is attached to and forms the cast iron tables or grating,
», which support the moulds, :. s' are rollers for carrv'ing the mould im-
mediately beneath the grating of the chamber. The lower parts of the
framing, F, are bearings for a horizontal shaft, which carries a vibrating
lever, t, with another lever, w, jointed thereto, having forked branches on the
end in the form of a V, whioh carry a pair of guide-wheels with flanges, to,
running in a slot made iu the upper face of the framing F, and to the ends
of the Y lever, a cross bar, x, is bolted, y is a lever fixed on the end of the
cross-shaft for actuating the lever t and the parts connected therewith, and
: are moulds which are supplied to the machine by hand as they are re-
quired.

The action of the improved machine is produced as follows : — Rotary mo-
tion being given to the vertical shaft 5, of the pug-mill, the plates d will

force the clay through the opening e, into the chamber D ; and, supposing
a mould to be placed upon the rollers 9, in the position shewn at fig. 3, the
hand-wheel « is turned, which giving rotary motion to the pinions m, in gear
with the segment-racks, will bring down the pressing plate k, and force the
clay into the compartments of the mould. The workman then pulls down
the lever y (at the same time letting go the hand-wheel), which action will
cause the lever I to vibrate and draw forward the lever «, and with it the
cross-bar x. This bar, guided in its course by the wheels w, will push for-
ward a mould previously placed in front of it, as r>, fig. 3, and drive that
mould to the position of mould ., now full of clay, from under the grating g,
in escaping from which the superfluous clay will be removed by the inner
edge of the inclined side of the grating. The full mould will then arrive at
the position, on the framing, of the mould z^, from whence it is readv to be
carried to the drying ground. By throwing upward the lever y, the bar x
will retire to its former station, and another empty mould being placed be-
fore it, the same movement will be repeated after the mould last pushed
under the grating g is filled with clay, as before described. If, by accident,
any stone or other hard substance should get into the clay and stop'the proper
action of the moulding-machine, it is only necessary to depress the lever 7,
on the shaft 4, which will briug down the framing a sufficient distance for
the mould to be released.

The claim is, firstly, for the general arrangement of the apparatus, as de-
scribed; secondly, the peculiar arrangement and construction of the knives
and plates for tempering the plastic composition, and forcing it out from the
pug-mill ; thirdly, the construction and application of an adjustable framing
for holding the moulds to receive the plastic composition, such framing being
capable of instant depression, as above explained ; fourthlv, the arrangement
of apparatus for placing the moulds successively under the grating g, as above
described and shewn in the dranings ; and lastly, the peculiar arrangement
of the grating g, with respect to the compartments of the moulds, wherebv
perfect bricks, tiles, and other similar articles are produced, as above ex-
plained.

DIBBLING APPARATUS.
John Fuller, of Beacham Well, Norfolk, Farmer, for " improvements in
apparatus for solving corn and other seeds." — Granted March 5, 1846 ; En-
rolled September 5, 184C.

This apparatus, formed of sheet tin, is held in the hand, and used for
dropping corn or other seed when dibbling, in place of the fingers. There
are three different apparatus described in the specification ; the annexed
figures shew the application of one of them. Figs. 1 and 2 are sections of
the apparatus taken transversely to each other ; a is a chamber in which the
seed is placed, b a roller with small recesses c in the circumference, of suf-
ficient capacity to deliver the proper quantity of seed through the hopper or
spout d; e is the handle,, /"a slide to be pressed down by the thumb on the
top, the lower end acts upon pins g on the margin of the roller b and forces
it round one division ; after each pressure the slide is drawn upwards by a self

366

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Nov.

acting spring h. i, i, are friction plates, acting against the ends of the cy
Under to prevent it turning unless it be forced forward by the slide/, and k
is a small brush.

PAPER STAINING.
Habrold Pottbr, of Darwen, Lancashire. Paper Manufacturer, for "im-
provements in printing or staining paper." — Granted April 1, 1840 ; Enrolled
September, 1846.

Fig. 1. Fig. 2.

f The improvement relates to the supplying of colour to the surface roller
a, for printing or staining paper, as shewn in the annexed engraving, fig. 1,
by an endless blanket or sieve cloth b, stretched over 4 rollers c, and to move
at the same surface speed as the roller a, in the direction shewn by the ar-
row. The various colours are put on the endles cloth b, by a hand-block d,
fig. 2, having several rows of studs e, which dip into a colour-tray, contain-
ing as many compartments as there are to be different colours. For staining
the paper the studs are dipped into the colours, and then placed on to the
endless cloth as shewn at d, and the colour so placed will be spread by the
cross-bar g, covered with woollen cloth, and pressed slightly against the end-
less sieve ; any excess of colour will be scraped off by the bar h.

MANUFACTURE OF TILES.

William Benson, of Allerwash House, Ilaydon Bridge, Northumberland,
Gent., for "certain improvemeiils in machines for the maimfaclure of tiles
and oi/ier plastic svbstayices." Granted January 15,1846; Enrolled July
15, 1846. — Reported in Netvton's Londo7i Journal.

The object of this invention is to manufacture tiles, pipes, and other arti
cles, by forcing the clay or other suitable material through dies, secured to
the side of a mill, similar to an ordinary pug-mill. In Plate XVI., fig. 1, is
an elevation of the machine, furnished with dies for making both drain and
ridge-tiles at the same operation, fig. 2 a horizontal section, and fig. 3 a ver-
tical section, a is the cylinder of the mill, made of cast or wrought iron,
and fastened to a cast-iron bed-plate 4, by eight screw-bolts c ; this bed-plate
rests upon two pieces of timber d, d, about six inches square, and secured to
the foundation stones by four iron screw-boUsy; 17 is the vertical shaft of
the mill, with a bevil-wheel /i, keyed on its upper end, and taking into the
teeth of the bevil-pinion i, on the shafts, which is driven by steam, horse, or
other power. The lower end of the sliaft j works in a brass step k, placed
in a square box, and capable of adjustment by means of screws. The upper
end of the shaft g works in brass bushes, fitted in the iron carriage n. Near
the lower end of the shaft g there is a Uange, to which is bolted a cone, 0,
formed of wood or iron, p, q, are 23 arms or knives, fixed round the shaft
y, arranged in six planes, but there may be a greater or less number of knives
and planes ; for instance, a machine which is to be worked by one horse
should be of smaller dimensions, and would require a less number of knives
and planes, but in no case ought there to be less than three or four knives on
the two lower planes, and two on each of the upper planes, and there should
not be leas than three or four planes of knives. In the lower plane 6 curved
knives y, are inserted in the snaft g, in the second plane 6 straight knives 7;,
fixed immediately above the curved ones, the third, fourth, and fifth planes
3 blades, and in the sixth plane 2 blades, all set at an angle of 45°. It is
necessary that the bottom of the spindle should be conical, to facilitate the
passing of the clay to the bottom of the mill, and as much as possible to the
outside of the lower set of knives y, which, from their peculiar shape and po-
sition, press it through the dies r, r'. The dotted circles, outside the curved
knives, shew the position occupied by the clay when the spindle is in motion,
and as the clay descends in the mill, it is pushed towards the dies by these
arms, with the assistance of the cone.

The dies r, r', are slipped into dovetail grooves », formed on the outside
of the cylinder a, and in the bed-plate b (see fig. 4) ; the shape of the open-
ings will necessarily vary with the form of the tiles or pipes required to be
made ; the dies represented in section at r', are for making drain-tiles ; and
the die at r for ridge-tiles, t, t, are the tables for receiving the tiles or pipes
as they come out of the dies, and are furnished with rollers «, a, which carry
endless bands or webs of flannel or other suitable flexible material. In fig.
2 the tables /, t, are shewn in plan view ; Nos. 1 and 3 are covered with the
flexible webs. No. 2 is uncovered but with the rollers inserted, and No. i
shews the top of the frame, without the rollers or web. w, w, are the tiles,
which traverse the endless webs by the motion they receive in coming out
from tlie cylinder a ; and as soon as a sufficient length of tile has passed on
to the endless web, it is cut off by the instrument x, commonly called the
" horse."

In working this machine, tiles or pipes can be made on the four sides of
it at the same time, or at one, two, or three sides therof, or more, if required ;
and different sorts of tiles or pipes can be made at the same time.

IRON MANUF.\CTURE.

James Palmer Budd, of Yslalyfera Iron \Vorks, Swansea, Merchant, for
" imprurements in the manufacture of iron." — Granted February II, 1816;
Enrolled August 11, 1846.

In burning coal, clinkers are produced and considered as refuse ; these
clinkers, it is proposed to apply in the manufacture of iron ; they may be
obtanied where large quantities of coal are burned in furnaces, or from
smith's fires and waste heaps of small coal, and also from refuse ash heaps of
many works which have fired and burned down, leaving a substration of
clinkers near the bottoms of the heaps.

As clinkers are of a light porous nature, of small specific gi'avity, and con-
tain a large proportion of earthy matter, they will be found peculiarly suitable
for use in blast furnaces, with rich oxides of iron, cinders obtained
in the manufacture of malleable iron, hemieteter iron ores. The clinkers
when mixed with the rich oxides of iron in the blast furnace will lessen the
density of the mass and allow a freer passage for the blast, and supply the
proportion of earthy matters required for the perfect separation of the
iron.

In charging the blast furnace the clinkers are generally to be combined
with rich iron stone, iron cinder, or ore in proportion to the quality of the
clinkers ; if rich in iron ore a smaller quantity is required than when they
are comparatively poor ; the proportion of iron in the blast must be below
50 per cent — from 40 to 45 per cent is the usual proportion. If the clinkers
contain less than 45 per cent, of iron, then a richer material, such as cinders
of malleable iron or rich iron ore is to be used therewith. When the furnace is
charged the usual fuel and fluxes are to be used with the ore and clinkers.

REVIEWS.

Elementary Text Booh for Yotmg Surveyors and Levellert. By Hen-rt
James Castle. Simpkin and Co. 1846.

This little work is an abridgement of alarger volume published by the samSk
author, and intended principaly for the use of Students at King's College,
for which Mr. Castle is the Surveying Professor. The book commences iu
the usual way with a few useful geometrical problems and theorems, some
examples of mensuration, the description and use of various surveying instru-
ments, specimens of field-book and general instructions for land surveyiDg
and levelling.

The description of drawing instruments partakes too much of the old
school ; no surveyor now would ever dream of using the parallel protractor
or scales engraved thereon, on the plea of the circular one being " too ex-
pensive." Those who desire to learn the practice of surveying, must not be-
grudge good instruments, for upon them of course greatly depend the accu-
racy of the work. The card-board protractor of Troughton and Sims, used
by the Ordnance surveyors, is an excellent one for theodolite service ; the
centre being cut out, all the meridians or bearings are laid down with the
parallel rules, without moving the protractor. This for traversing is invalu-
able, and particularly if all the work be contained within the circle cut out,
which being 12^ diameter admits of a tolerably sized plan.

The cross-staff is also described, but this, as well as the parallel protractor,
is now entirely eschewed by practical surveyors, tho " optical square" being
an excellent substitute ; it is made upon the reflective principle of the pocket
sextant, but being required merely for right angles is much smaller and less
expensive.

The off-set staff the author says is a " narrow slip of deal about
I J X 1, and generally 10 links long, divided into links ; and should be fur-
nished at one end with a small notch or hook to put the chain through

J846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

357

hedges and be numbered on both sides from different ends." This number-
ing on both sides is unnecessary, if Ihe staff be divided into 10 parts, the
centre having a double line : a little practice will make it perfectly familiar
without the figures. The link-staff is best made of round ash, divided as
above with a red hot wire, instead of painting or cutting ; it should be shod
Tvith iron, and have a small hook and spike attached to the top ; the diame-
ter at bottom should be about one inch and taper (o | at the top, and the
hook and shoe should be included in the measurement, namely, within a
fraction of C feet 8 inches for the whole length.

The field book is hkewise described in the old fashioned manner, having
figures merely to the off-sets, without sketches. It is invariably the best way
to sketch in the work on each side of the line as nearly as possible to resemble
the objects to be delineated, and although it may take a little more time in
the field, the labour is well spent by its assisting the memory in plotting.
His system of " naming" the lines by their length, viz., " 6S5 on 731" is
confusing ; it should be according to the page upon which the number is
found, viz., "685, folio 47," and a circle should be made round the figures
which are intended for stations. It is hkewise vei-y serviceable to the memory
to surround those stations that run from, or across, the base line with a
triangle, instead of a circle, which will be found to act as a useful index.

.\ chapter upon the reduction of customary to statute measure, and vice
versa, will be found useful, —

" Rediietion of Customary to Statute Measure, and vice versa. — The statute
length of the perch is 16 and a half feet, but it is different in various coun-
tries of England.

In Devonshire and Somersetshire, the customary perch, that is, the local
measure of the perch, is less, being but 15 feet.

In Cornwall, it is more, 18 feet ; while in Lancashire, it increases to 21 ;
and in Staffordshire and Cheshire it is as much as 24 feet.

This is a lineal difference. There is, also, in some counties of England, a
superficial difference in the measure of an acre ; an acre, in Wiltshire, con-
taining only 120 square statute perches, instead of 100.

The Wiltshire customary acre is, therefore, one quarter less than the statute
acre, and the rood one quarter less than the statute rood.

As property is frequently bought and sold by the customary measure of
the county wherein it lies, the surveyor is often called upon to reduce it from
one to the other.

Different Values of the Acre. — The number of (statute) square yards in an

acre, will, of course, vary with the length of the customary perch of the

county. — (--Vn acre consisting of ten square chains or of 160 square perches.)

In the statute acre, a square perch is 272'2j square feet, and the acre,

therefore, is equal to

272-25 X 160 = 43360 square feet,
= 4880 square yards;
In the acre of Devonshire or Somersetshire, as the square perch contains
15 X 15 square feet, or 225 square feet.

the number of square feet = 225 x 160 = 36000
and of yards = 4000
In Cornwall, where the perch is IS feet,

18 X 18 = 324 X 160 feet= 31840 square feet.

or 5 760 square yards.
The Lancashire perch is 21 feet long; the square perch, therefore, must
contain 21 x 21 =441 square feet, which will make the acre to contain 70,560
square feet, or 7840 square yards.

The customary acre in Cheshire and Staffordshire is the largest of the
whole, each perch being 24 feet ; the acre will consist of 24 x 24 x 100 square
feet, which is equal to 92160 square feet, or 10240 square yards ; while the
Wiltshire acre consists only of J the statute acre, or 3630 square yards.

To reduce Statute Measure to Cnstomart/, or one Customary to another.
Rule I. — Bring the acres, roods, &c., in every case, to square perches ;
multiply these by the number of square feet in the given perch to bring them
into square feet (a foot being the common unit of measurement of both
statute and customary measure), and divide by the number of square feet in
the required perch; this will bring it into perches ; raise these perches to
roods and acres and the result is the area in acres, roods, and perches of the
customarj' measure required.

Example 1. — Reduce 25 acres, 2 roods, 16 perches, statute measure, to
the customary measure (Derbyshire) of 15 feet to a percb.

25a. 2r. 16p. = 4096 statute perches,
but the square feet in a statute perch = 272-25 ;
• . • 4090X 272-25 = 1115136 square feet.

Whence 1115136 1115136 cust. perches.

15x15 "^ 225 = 4956 = 30a. 3r. 36 P.

Ans. 30a. 3r. 36^. Derbyshire measure.
To bring customary into statute measure, reverse the preceding rule.
Example 1. — How many statute acres are there in 28 acres, 3 roods, and
15 perches, of Devonshire measure ?

2Sa. 3r. 15p. = 28-843 75 Devonshire acres
if the Devonshire acre = l ; the statute acre = -826447 statute acres,
whence 28-84375 x -826447 =23-8378 = 23a. 3r. 14p.
Ans. 23a. 3r. 14p.

Scotch Measure. — The acre in Scotland consists as in England of 10 square
chains, (each chain divided into 100 links,) and is reckoned in acres, roods,
and falls, which are equivalent to the English perches ; 40 falls making one
rood, and 4 roods one acre. The Scotch chain, however, is 8 feet longer
than the English, being 74 feet instead of 66.

The acre being 10 square chains = 10 x 74'* = 54760 square feet.
-\na as 10 square chains = 160 square perches,
54760 feet
^ =one square perch ;

Therefore one square perch or =342-25 square feet.

7'o bring English Statute Measure into Scotch.
Rule 1. — Reduce the given area into English perches, and then into square
feet by multiplying by 272-25, the number of square feet in an Enghsh
statute perch ; divide this product by the numlier of square feet (342-25)
there are in a Scotch fall, and you obtain the area in terms of Scotch falls,
which bring back to their proper quantities in loods and acres.*

* To briog Scotch measure into English, rererse the preceding rule.

Example 1. — Reduce 32a. 3r. 25p. English statute measure, into Scotch
measure.

32a. 3r. 25p. = 5265 square perches.
272-25 X 5'205 = 1433396 square feet in the given area.
And dividing by 342-25 = 4188 square falls = 26a. Or. 28p.

Ans. 26a. Or. 2Sp."

The Theodolite is next described with some examples of its use ; then
follows the CiRcuMFERENTOR, apothcr old fashioned instrument, which, by
most London surveyors, is superseded by the theodolite.

Examples are shown for laying down " the variation of the needle," but
unless it can be precisely ascertained at the date of the survey, it is much
better to omit it and show the magnetic bearing only — for inasmuch as the
variation of the needle is different in different countries, it is safer to put the
needle-bearing only, which answers all practical purposes. Many other hints
and examples follow which may be more or less useful to the beginner.

The treatise on levelling is of the usual description, but does not give suf-
ficient examples, omitting for instance, all mention of cross sections, that
mostly puzzle the beginner. The author describes the staff-holder as " hav-
ing considerable responsibility reposed in him." We advise therefore that this
duty be simplified as much as possible, and in order to facihtate the most
important part of it, that of keeping the staff" upright, there should be at-
tached two small spirit levels placed at right angles on the staff', one being
at the back and the other on one side, about four feet high from the ground.
Some levellers attach a circular bubble at the back, which answers the same
purpose, also a handle for holding the staff without conceaUng the figures.
The staff-holder should also carry a small iron tripod to place under the
staff whenever used — this should not be attached to the staff, for it is re-
quisite sometimes to leave it, whilst observations are being made with the
same staff", at other plac s. It is always adviseable to level with two staves ;
when one only is used there is much liability to error, for should the instru-
ment be out of adjustment or ba turned it round, there is no means of again
taking the back set. The bubble must always stand in the middle whenever
the level is turned round or the work will not be correct. We mention this
on the knowledge that many levellers neglect it, considering it of no im-
portaiice so that the bubble is in the centre when the observation is made.

Origin and Reclamation of Peat Bog, with observations on the Construc-
tion of Roads, Railways, and Canals in Bog. By Bernakd Mcllins,
C.E., Vice-President of the Institute <f Civil Engineers of Ireland, and
M. B. MuLLiNs, A.M., C.E. Dublin : Oldham, 1846 ; Svo., pp. 48 ; five
lithographic plates.

This treatise contains the subject of a paper read before the Institute of
Civil Engineers of Ireland, and the result of long professional experience,
makes its appearance opportunely at the present time, when the e.xecutioa
of public works iu Ireland attract peculiar interest.

iNIany fallacies are exposed in the present work. It seems to be shown
pretty clearly that bogs are the cause, uot the effect, of the destruction of
ancient forests ; that, in fact, the accumulated vegetable matter which
covers one-seventh of tlie area of Ireland (nearly three millions of acres)
does not arise from the decay of trees, but from the bog moss, which only
fiourishes iu comparatively cold climates, and entirely different from the
vegetation of the morasses of warmer couutries.

The absurdity of the recommendaliou iu various Parliamentary Reports
not to drain too deep is successfully shown, and the value of draining by
deep drains for purposes of agriculture aud also for the construction of
solid foundations of roads and railways is considered at length. Messrs.

358

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Nov.

MuIliDS show thai Snieaton and liis successors have entertained erroneous
views respecting works cuuslrueted in bog lands, and suggests methods
which are recommended by experience and common sense. In addition to
the valuable information which it contains, the work has the advantage of
being written in a concise and perspicuous style.

Elements of Physics. By C. F. Peschel ; translated from the German
by E. West. Part II. Imponderable Bodies. London : Longman, 1846.
I2mo. Vols. 2 and 3. Moodcuts.

The publication of the second part of this work has been hastened by
the rapid sale of the first. This circumstance is a gratifying indication
that the public taste for sound knowledge of physical science is on the
increase. The volumes before us are similar in plan to that already re-
Tiewed {atite Nov. 1845), and treat of light, heat, magnetism, electricity,
electro-magnetism, and magneto-electricity. Of all elementary treatises
on t!ie philosophy of what are termed " imponderable bodies" which we
have examined, the present gives by far the clearest and most accurate
account of the state of scientific knowledge up to the present time. The
author, from national prejudices, occasionally assigns too large a share of
the merit of important discoveries to the experimentalists of Germany ;
but even this defect has its compensating advantage, for it enables the
^English reader to regard science from a new point of view, and familiar-
ises him with worthy names with which he has hitherto been little ac-
quainted.

The tables of the tension of steam do not seem happily chosen.
Southern's formula is accurate for a low pressure only, and TreJgold's
is not trustworthy, except for pressures ranging between 1 and 4 atmos-
pheres. The experiments of the French Academy apply only to very high
pressures. The translator would, we think, have been justified in giving
the far more complete tables in De Pambour's treatise on locomotive en-
gines. The theory of the power of steam engines, developed in the same
treatise, might have been substituted for the totally erroneous theory given
in ^421 of the work before us, in which the evaporative power of the
boiler is not taken as a numerical ingredient of calculation.

The number of errors is, however, exceedingly small in reference to the
extent and variety of the subjects embraced. The author has, in many
cases, given practical hints for the construction of apparatus and perform-
ance of experiments, deduced from his own experience : the collection of
the matter contained in this treatise must have cost him much labour and
research, and his efforts have been well seconded by the translator, who
has produced a very perspicuous version of the original texts.

A Reply to some Observations in a Rerieiv of the Pamphlet entitled Me-
tropolitan Bridges and Westminster Improvements, in the Civil Engineer
and Architect's Journal, September, 1816. Addressed to the Editor of that
Journal.

Sir Howard Douglas has written a reply to that part of our review of
his pamphlet entitled " Metropolitan Bridges, &c.,"in which the accuracy
of some of his views respecting the stability of Hungerford Bridge is
questioned. The following extracts from the " Keply'' will, we trust,
fairly represent the arguments brought against us : we had prepared some
remarks in answer to these arguments, but are compelled to defer them
till next month. The reasons for difl'ering from Sir Howard Douglas were
expressed with caution, and remain unchanged ; but we have to express
our acknowledgments of the very corteous spirit in which he has addressed
to us the present vindications of his opinions : —

The reviewer's first objection is, that it is not confirmed by very conclu-
sive reasoning, that the strength of the suspension chains ought to be
greater than three times the strain to which they may be exposed. This
can only be derived from experience. In rigid or inflexible works, this
strength may be sufficient; but in suspension bridges, sutiject to consi-
derable motion, and an increased strain, arising from vibration, undulation,
and momentum, it is quite clear that additional strength ought to be given
to those parts which support the strains; and Mr. Davies Gilbert's rule,
that the strain ought not to be greater than one-sixth of the weight which
the chains are capable of sustaining, appears to be well founded

The reviewer's next objection is, that the curve is not, as assumed, a
common (simple) catenary. This observation is correct, but no error arises
from considering the curve as such. In fact, it has been demonstrated by
mathematicians that, when the abscissa or height of the curve bears no
greater proportion to its length than that which exists in any suspension
bridge which lias yet been constructed, the horizontal tensions, or strains,
whether the curve be a simple or a loaded catenary (a slender chain, or

one from which, for example, a heavy bridge is suspended) will varv di-
rectly as the ordinate or span, and the length of the curve, and inverselv
as the abscissa or height : it may here be added that, when the height is
small, compared with tin; span, the curve coincides very nearly with the
common parabola (and such curve Galileo supposed it to be). In the
pamphlet reviewed, the curve was assumed to be the simple catenary
merely because precise values could on that supposition be given to the
tensions. But whether a catenary be simple, or whether it be considered
as such a curve, modified by the weight of a road-way and suspension
rods, the values of the horizontal tensions (corresponding to a or n') vary
directly with the length of the chain above a given point, and with the
span, or ordinate; therefore the heights, or abscissie, being equal, the term
corresponding to a' is less than that which corresponds to a, in a higher
ratio than y' is less tlian y, which was all that it was intended to express.

The reviewer's third observation is, that, in finding the strains on the
curves at the two extremities, " a furiiuila has been applied to a case with
which it has no connection :" it is added that " the value of a' is taken from
the tension in a chain at its lowest point, when the lowest point is hori-
zontal ;" and it is observed that " the shorter chain, where it is attached to
the abutment, is inclined to the horizon at a considerable angle," implying
that there is a difference between the horizontal strains in different parts
of the length of a chain suspended between two points. In this the re-
viewer has, however, overlooked the first principles of mechanics, respect-
ing the properties of the catenarian curve ; and it may be added, the equi-
librium of an ordinary arch, since it is demonstrated by mathematicians
that, both in the catenary and the equilibrated arch, the tension, estimated
horizontally, at every point in the curve is the same. Hence, if a chain
suspended from two fixed points in a horizontal line be in equilibrio, and if,
while the chain remains fixed at one of the points, any poriion ' e removed,
the lower extremity of the portion which remains being attacbiJ to a fixed
point, that portion will still be in equilibrio. The abutment chains of a
suspension bridge, instead of descending at a considerable angle with the
horizon to a point of the abutment much below the platform, as in Hunger-
ford Bridge, should be fixed at points so situated that each of those chains
may assume a figure precisely equal and similar to half the chain betweea
the piers. In Hungerford Bridge, " the chain attached to each of the abut-
ynents being shorter than half the chai7i between the piers,"" and '• descending
to the groiaid at a considerable angle," is precisely the cause that the hori-
zontal tensions of these chains are less than those of the chains between the
piers, and that a power (represented by (« — a') is constantly acting at the
head of each, to draw it towards the middle of the river.

The Reviewer appears to doubt this, observing that " if the saddle were
acted upon by an accelerating (qy. moving) force as o — a', it would be set
in motion;" and he probably intends to imply that the motion of the saddle
would prevent the pier from being disturbed. He asserts, moreover, that
" the pressure of the rollers upon the top of the pier is normal to the sur-
faces in contact, and is therefore irholly vertical." Now, with respect to
this assertion, the use of the rollers is to permit the saddles, to which the
chains are attached, to shift their places, or slide, on the piers with the
vibrations of the bridge; and in so far, certainly, they diminish the shaking
of the piers ; but, though the shaking is diminished, it is not removed ; it
exists to a great degree on account of the enormous friction, arising from
the weight of the bridge, which takes place both on the saddles and piers,
and when, in consequence of great strains arising from sudden accessions
of weight on the bridge, the saddles are drawn to the limits of their motion
on the tops of the piers, they cease to relieve the latter from the eflects of
such strains. This is a defect which exists in all suspension bridges ; and
even the ingenious expedient of the shifting saddles is incapable of remov-
ing it. The evil is, moreover, rather augmented in Hungerford Bridge, ia
consequence of the strains introduced by the convex figure which has been
given to the platform, the height of the convexity being about four feet in
the middle of the bridge.

AVilh the suspension bridge, if A B and A C, — or to speak more mathe-
matically, if the tangents to the curves, formed by the chains at the heads
of the piers, do not make equal angles with the vertical line A V, even if
the tensions of A B, A C, were equal (which is not the case in Hungerford

Bridge), the resultant of the strains at A would be in the direction of a
line A D, drawn from the point at which the tangents meet, to bisect the
angle B A C, and would therefore not be vertical ; thus there is an excess
of force acting horizontally towards the middle of the bridge, at the end
of a lever whose length is equal to the height of the pier, by which the
pier is continually strained, and the uniformily of pressure, on the founda-
tions of the piers, destroyed. A very considerable error of this descrip-
tion exists in the Hungerford Bridge, " by the shorter chains descending

J846.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

359

at considerable angles to abutments greatly beneath the level of the floor
of the bridge ;" moreover, the defect, not having, so far as the author is
aware, been previously noticed, he deemed it right to call the attention of
practical engineers to this important circumstance, in the note, page 7, &c.,
of the pamphlet; and now finding that a writer in so respectable and in-
fluential a periodical as the Cicil Engineer and Arekiteet's Jounml, asserts
"that the conclusions at which the author has arrived upon this subject,
are merely imaginary," assuming that notwithstanding the inequality of the
angles formed by the chains with the piers, '' the pressure imjhe piers is
wholly vertical, because it is normal to the surfaces in contact," the author
addresses to the editor a proof of the fallacy of the assumption, and trusts
that, iu justice to the author, as well as in consideration of the practical
importance of the subject, he will not permit his Journal to sanction the
repetition of so serious an error.

NOTES ON FOREIGN WORKS.

Triumphal Arch at .Vmiicft.— Besides the new portal which is to be
erected at the end of the Brienuer Strasse, Ludwig-street also will be
adorned by a uew entrance hall, which is already up lo tlie architrave. It
is to be called the Sieges P/orte (Arch of Victory), and has been planned
after the triumphal arch of Constaotiue, at Kome. Its details are worked
out to ail astonishing nicety and beauty by the architect de Giirlner. The
material used is a marble of a greenish grey colour, and its fine grain
admits of a very careful elaboration. On the atlic of this splendid monu-
ment there will be placed a statue of " Bavaria," mounted ou a pedestal,
with victories at the four corners. The models for this statuary have been
made bv the sculptor de Wagner, at Rome, well known by his large frieze
in the \V'alhalIa, and are to be cast in the Government brass foundry of
Municli.

Latest Architectural Publications of Municli.— One o( the most active
and deserving authors in the Bavarian capital is G. G. Kalleubach.
His work, entitled "Chronology of German Medieval Architecture," in
48 oblong folio plates, comprises specimens from the beginning of the Ro-
manic stjle, about the year lUOO, to the last fading of the Germanic. It
is accompanied by a short test, which, to the great advantage of the stu-
dent, is placed beneath the engravings. This work is only the nearer ex-
planation of an architectural collection of j\l. Kallenbach, unique in its
kind, brought together by the dint of most zealous exertions, during a
number of years, comprising about seventy models of mediasval build-
ings, eccleastic and private, made on the spot, after an accurate survey
of the originals, and finislied in their most minute details. Tliey are made
to one scale, which much enhances their value. Another publication by
the same artist, entitled "Album of Mediaeval Art,* contains copies of
the remains of mediasval sculpture in its relation to architecture and all its
subordinate branches; most faithfully copied afterthe originals — and which
is intended to dissuade the artisan from a mere repetition of macliiue-made
models, and induce him to the study of real art originals. — Professor E.
Metzger is the author of a work of great importance for the technical parts
of buildings, entitled " Uoclriue of Architectural Construction." It will
contain 200 plates of geometrical plans, with a concise, yet comprehensive
text, printed beneath the plates (a plan worthy of general imitation). The
first part will treat of the ditVerent methods of construction in stone, iron,
and wood ; the second, of their practical adaptation to the diflereut styles
and forms of buildings, as derived from the study of architectural struc-
tures.— The Government architects of Munich continue to publish the
■works, with the execution of which they are intrusted. Amongst them is
M. de Gartner's work on the Royal Library and Record Office in Ludwig
Street, containing, on the 20 plates hitherto published (some splendidly
coloured), the diflerent elevations, ground plans, and longitudinal and
transverse sections of this splendid and extensive structure ; and also the
detail of the ornaments, and a view of the fine staircase supported by
columns, which unites the fronts of the two buildings. — The lirst part of
>I. Lange's (the royal building counsellor of Greece) " Works of high
Arcliitetture" {hiihercr Baukunnt), contains Ihe plans fur a rojal residence,
which was exhibited at the last Munich Art Exhibition. The same work
will contain M. Lange's plans for the completion of the Munich Frauen-
kirche, which has lo lose its characteristic, though unhandsome, octagonal
cupola, instead of which a Gothic spire is to be raised. — Building-inspec-
tor Anger has published a work on the remarkable private buildings of the
Bavarian capital, and such as serve for public and benevolent purposes. —
To crown this, even the pupils of the architectural section of the Munich
Academy of Fine Arts, publish the plans, made by them according to the
programme of the Academy.

Academy of Sciences, Paris. — ?if. Person made some experiments for
determining the necessary heat for fusing alloys of metals, and thinks that
it is possible to determine that point, from the knowledge of the tempera-
ture which each of the component metals requires for the same process.
The solution of this problem confirms perfectly the results which M. Per-
son had drawn from his experiments on fusion — viz., the btw that the
latent heat of the fusion is given by the formula (IGO +f) d = /.— M.
Walcbuer announced to the Academy a most curious fact, that copper and
arsenic were to be met with in all substances and bodies — in every sort of
iron, in mineral waters, and even in meteoric stones. M. Flandin said
he had analyzed the mineral waters of Passy, but had not found even
a trace of copper or arsenic, either in following the procedure of M.
■Walchner or that of Marsh. More important is what M. \\ alchner says
oa the copper and arsenic contents of the soil of burial grounds. It has been

a hitherto unresolved question whether the contents of these substances in
the bodies of poisoned persons were entirely ascribable to that cause, or
to the natural contents of the soil surrounding them. He had found both
substances in the soil of cemeteries, but in very minute proportions, and
he has collected a number of specimens of those soils. — JI. Pierre submit-
ted to the Society his experiments on Ihe dilitatiou of fluids. The author
divides liquids into two categories, and these again into nine groups. The
first division comprises the bodies composed of chloride of bromine and
one simple element — phosphorus, arsenic, tin, titanium, and silicium. The
second category comprises the compositions of chlorine, iodine, or bromine,
with any compound element, ethylc or metbyle. The law which results
from these experiments is this — two fluids formed by the combination of
any common with any isometric element, follow (from the point of their
respective temperatures of ebullition) very diflerent degrees of contraction ;
or, in other terms, equal volumes of liquids thus constituted, considered at
their respective temperatures of ebullition, will not preserve that equality
at degrees equidistant from their temperature of ebullition. The dilierence,
in most cases, is considerable. — M. Blauquard Evrard has forwarded to
the Society two samples of photography on paper, obtained by an especial
process. The samples surpass everything hitherto seen, even those of M.
Bayard.

Prague and Dresden Railway. — This huge undertaking occupies alone, in
the neighbourhood of the former city, 3,000 workmen, and tfie greatest diffi.
culties to be overcome are from the Prague terminus to Kralup, a distance
of about 16 miles. The viaduct from the terminus north to Karolinenthal
and Bubna will be 580 cubits long, with Si arches, — certainly one of the
largest works hitherto accomplished in Austria, '''here are three minor
water-courses of the Moldau river, a branch, between two islands, and the
main branch, which must be bridged over. A number of bridges are required
to pass the numerous water-courses and islands. The bridge over the main
arm will be 535 feet long, and consist of 3 arches. The arches of the main
bridges will have a span of 7S feet in the clear, and form a segment, the
height equal to one-sixth of the span, and are to be built of granite. The
quantity of granite and sandstone to be conveyed by land and water is
astonishing, some of the blocks weighing between sLx and seven tons. The
expenses of this part of the line alone are calculated at IJ million of florins.
There will be a small terminus in the Bauingarten (a place of public resort
two miles from Prague), which will afford the humbler classes the advantages
of country air at a merely nominal price.

Berlin Bresslau Railway. — This most important undertaking has lately been
completed, and is open for trafSc. The distance of i'i-rs German miles
(nearly 200 English) is performed in 13 hours, including stoppage for dinner,
and thus a journey, which even Frederick the Great could never perform in
less than 36 hours, is made in a few hours at a trifling expense. I'he chief
works of the line are some very long and costly embankments — for instance,
that at Frankfort-on-the-Oder, 100 feet high. The great viaduct of Gorlitz,
over the Neisse, does not lay on the main, but a branch, line, connecting the
lower Silesiau and the Saxon-Silesian. Its length is 1500', the height of the
arches 122' above the level of the river, and the foundations of the
arches are 40' lower, making a total of 162'. It has cost between 600,000
and 700,000 dollars, and Kurope does not yet possess a work of equal mag-
nitude. The viaduct over the Bober at Bresslau is an equally imposing
structure. It is 1550' long, and has 35 arches of a height of 76' built of
blocks of white grit. This is the longest line in the North of Germany, under
the same administration. It is the more important, as being laid out afar
from the hitherto commercial road, or the valley of the Oder ; it passes a
tract of land hitherto little connected with industry and commerce. The
renting of this huge line is a matter hitherto uuascertainable, which costs
18,000,000 dollars — 400,030 dollars per German mile. .\ great drawback is
that this line has only one line of rails, by which much delay and trouble are
occasioned,

Prague, Austria. Sculptures. — Excavations of the Archeological Com-
mittee of the Bohemian Jluseum. — M. Veitli, a large proprietor in Bohe-
mia, has resolved on the curious, though praiseworthy, plan, of erecting a
national Walhalla at his own expense. Professor Schwanthaler is the
artist entrusted with the execution of the statues, of which twelve are
ready in small models, and six in a size above life. Ready for casting are
the statues of Kings Uttakar II. and George of Padiebra (the latter a
sort of Bohemian Cromwell), and of Elizabeth, wife of King John of
Luxembourg. — M. Wax, the sculptor, is also executing some large marble
statues for public establishments. — M. Raphael has made the bust of
Mozart for the public library, and of Dr. Krombholz, the great physician,
for the University. — Parson M. Krolmus has been successful in his exca-
vations of heathen tumuli, hitherto very scarce in that country. He has
found in the Scharka, near Prague, two stone sacrificial tables, several
well preserved cinereal vases, brunzes, ^;c. Another heathen sepulchral
ground has also beeu found on excavating for the Dresden railway, near
Prague.

Australian Mines. — The wages of a good miner in the Borraborra lead-
works, in South Australia, are ±.'170, per annum. Even those of other
artizans, masons, carpenters, wheelwrights, i:c., are in proportion.

Winter Garden at Berlin. — The King of Prussia has subscribed
£120,000 for the erection of a covered garden in the centre of the
city.

New Pinacotheca. — The King of Bavaria has just laid the first stone of
the new Picture Gallery, which will contain paintings of the present cen-
tury only.

360

THR CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Nev.

NOTES OF THE MONTH.

The Rmjal Institute of Brilish Arcliitecla will commence their meetings
on Monday evenins, November 2, at eight o'clock, at their Rooms, No. 16,
Grosvenor-street, (irosvenor-squaie.

nienal Tubular Bridge. — The experiments have been renevred at Blil-
wall.

Nelson Monument, Trafalgar Square. — The proverb "a joke is a joke"
has its exceptions, and the Nelson monument is one of them. The man
and the boy renewed their operations upon this elegant structure a few
weeks ago, but now seem to have again given them up in despair.

Coast Defences. — The Martello tower, between Hastings and Seaford,
are being covered in with stone.

Chinese method of Boriiif!. — The Southampton AVater Committee have
voted £150 for trying this method at their Artesian well.

Snlford, Munchesler. — A new chnrch has been erected in the Early
English style. Mr. Lane is the architect.

A New Institution of Mechanical Engineers has been formed at Bir-
mingham for the advancement of various branches of mechanical know-
ledge, which do not fall within the province of the present Institution of
Civil Engineers.

Cemetery at Cambridge. — Nine acres of land have been selected, and
will probably be allotted in separate portions to each of the 13 parishes.

The South Devon Railway. — The sea wall has again been greatly in-
jured by the wind and waves.

Public Message Delieery Company. — Of the schemes of the day, one of
the most curious is a proposition to establish electro-telegraphic commu-
nication between numerous stations in every part of London, for the con-
veyance of messages at a low charge.

The Hatha and Wash-houses in Manchester since they were opened in
September have been attended by 3,000 persons.

h'ew Dock at Ilonjleur. — The greater part of the wall has been destroyed
by the water getting between it and the earth.

Lord Rossc's Telescope. — The report tliat an attempt had been made to
injure this instrument has been formally contradicted.

Gold in Austral'ut. — A valuable auriferous vein has been discovered in
one of the copper mines, and the shares have risen 900 per cent.

The Wellington Statue. — Lord Morpetli has addressed a circolar to all
the Royal Academicians, requesting their opinion respecting the present
position of the statue on the arch. , .

St. Michael's Ottery has Ijeen consecrated. The style is Early English ;
the architect Jlr, VveliaBlon. •

St. Alkmund, Derby. — This new parish church is built entirely of stone,
in the late de'corated style. The spire rises 112 feet above the tower,
which is !)2 feet high. Mr. Stevens, of Derby, is the architect.

City Improremcnts. — The Court of Common Council have agreed to a
report, presented by Mr. R. L. .Jones, recommending the formation of a
new street from King William-street to the south side of St. Paul's
Churchyard.

Collision of the Prometheus at London Bridge. — Propeller vessels have
been very unfortunate of late. The Irish steamer Prometheus, during
the mouth, has suU'ered severely, by heina; carried against an abutment of
London IJridge. The screw propeller was unable to resist the force of the
tide, which Was running very strong; the stern bulwarks were crushed in,
and the masts and funnel swept away.

Gun Cotton. — There are numerous claimants of this invention. Dr.
Otto, Professor of chemistry in Brunswick, states, in the Hanorerian Ga-
zette, that he has invented an exploding cotton, independently of Schonbein
and Bex-ttger. His preparation, which was suggested by an observation
of Pelouze, in his Journal of Chemistry (Vol. I., page 126), consists in
immersing well-cleaned cotton in highly-concentrated nitric acid for half-
a minute, and instantly afterwards soaking it in water, which must be con-
stantly renewed, in order to effectually free the cotton from the acid. The
preparation, when dried, is ready for use. It may be exploded with a
hammer on an anvil, but is capable of being rammed in a gun, in the ordi-
nary way, without danger. M. Morel, an engineer at Paris, has recently
exhibited before General (iourgaud, President of the Committee of Artil-
lery, a fulminating cotton, which may be burnt on the hand without
causing pain. It leaves little residue in a fowling-piece, and is nearly
noiseless.' 51. Chodsko,a Polish refugee, has exhibited another fulminating
cotton, which resembles the last, except in that it leaves a residue in the
fowling-piece. The materials prepared by M. i\Iorel and M. Chodsko both
ignite by a blow of iron upon iron, but not of iron upon wood. The Eng-
lish Government have instituted experiments with Schonbein's gun cotton,
which have been attended with success.

The Drainage of Haarlem Lake is to be continued by three enormous steam
engines, which are to complete the work in 13 months. The Cornish
esgine already at work discbarges a million tons of water daily.

The Great Britain. — This luckless vessel still remains a-ground on the
Irish coast. She is to be protected by a floating breakwater; and the last
accounts state, that an attempt will be made to rescue her by the method
of flotation. Why was not this plan adopted in the first instance, instead

of the violent experiment of dragging her ofT by main force ? Had the
steam tugs sent to the aid of this vessel reached her, and succeeded in
drawing her into deep water, she would have been in danger of foundering.
Mr. Marris Dinsdale has proposed a method of buoying her up by rafts,
with Greenland oil casks on either side of the vessel, and connected by
chains underneath it. This method was first proposed by him for the Prince
Frederick, on Corton Sand.

tIST OP NEViT PATENTS.

GRANTED IN ENGLAND FROM SEPTEMBER 24, 1816, TO OCTOBER 17, 1840.

Six Monl/is allowed for Enrolment, unless otherwise expressed.

Tliomas Bartlett Simpson, of Islington, Uiddtescx, genttemaD, for *' certaia Improve-
ments in propelling, and in machinery connected therewith." — Sealed September -M.

Albert Ilobert Ciinningbam, of Sydenham, Kent, gentleman, and Joseph Threlfatl,
Carter, of th-* same place, engineer, for " certain Improvements in the propelling carriages
on railways.'" — October 1.

Williaiit \\')ld,ol"Salford, Lancashire, moulder, for "certain Improvements in macbiner^-
or apparatus for manufacturing barrels and otber vessels of capacity.*' — October '2.

Peter Fairbairn, of Leeds, macbine-maker, and Peter Carmichael, manager for Messrs.
Baxter, Brothers, and Co., flax spinners, Dundee, for " Improvements in machinery for
drawing, roving, and spinning flax, hemp, silk, and otber fibrous substances." — Oct. 2.

Pierre Bryere. of Rue Boileau, Nantes, France, for " Improvements iu the manufac-
ture of boots, shoes, and clogs." — Oct. 2.

Edm. Morewood, of Steel-yard, Upper Thames-street, merchant, for " certain Im-
provements in machinery for separating certain fibrous substances; from seed and other
extraneous masses."— Oct. 2.

William Wield, of Blanchester, mechanical draughtsman, for " Improvements in cer»
tain mills for grinding, and ia the manufacture of certain parts of mills." — Oct. li.

Charles Marie FouiUet, engineer, of Paris, for " Improvements in railways.'' — Oct. 2.

Samuel Holdsworth, of Norwood, Surrey, gentleman, for " cartain Improvements In
apparatus to be applied to railway carriages, to prevent accidents thereon." — Oct. 2.

William Farthing, of the town and borough of Kingston-upon-HuU, for " certain Im-
provements in the manufacture of glass." — Oct. 8.

Robert Wilson, of Woodhouses, Laocsster, weaver, for ** certain Improvements in
looms for weaving velvets and other pilsd goods, and in the machiucry or apparatus for
cutting the i)ile or nap of the same." — Oct. 8.

Samuel Heseltine, juu., of Bromley, in the county of Middlesex, engineer, for " certain
Improvements in the construction of lamps to burn oil." — Oct. 8.

. John Warburton, of.Eearsley, Lancaster, tic-smith, for **certain Improvements in ma-
chinery. (K...lpparatus, for preparing, slubblng, and roving cotton wool, and other fibrous
materials."— Oct. t*.

William Fairbairn, of Manchester, in the county Palatine of Lancaster, civil engineer,
for "Improvements in the construction of iron beams for the erection of bridges ana
other structures."- Oct. 8.

Francis Nalder, of Cheapside, warehouseman, for *' Im])rovements in the manufacture
of gloves."— Oct. 8.

Marcel Teau Milon, of 2r, Rue Fronches, Paris, gentleman, for "Improvements iu
making roads and ways." — Oct. 8.

John Bombley, of Sunderland, engineer, for "Improvements in capstans and wind,
lasses." — Oct. ti.

George Lowe, of Finsbury Circus, civil engineer, for " Improvements in the manufac-
ture of aud iu burning gas, and iu the mauulHcture of fuel." — Oct. 8.

Price Struve, of Swansea, engineer, for " Improvements in railway transit, and in mov-
ing or raising weights." — Oct. H.

John Taylor, of the Adclphi, gentleman, for "Improvements in tlic manufacture ot
explosive compounds." (A communication.) — Oct. 8.

James Farnsworth, of Sheflield, in the county of York, engineer, for "certain Impro\-ed
machinery or apparatus, for "the manufacture of bricks aud tiles." (A communication.)
—Oct. 8.

Michel Louis Ferant, of ^(51, Oxford-street, gentleman, for " Improvements in treating
oils." (A communication.) — Oct. 8.

George Frederick Muntz, Esq., M. P., of Ley Hall, Birmingham, for " an Improved
m.iuufacture of metal plates for sheating the bottom of ships or other vessels."— Oct. l.'i.

John Condie, of Glasgow, engineer, for "Improvements in machinery used In manu-
facturing malleable iron."— Oct. l.'i.

Francois Durand, engineer, and OnesiphorePerqueur, engineer, of Paris, for "Improve-
ments in forming leather into tubes, cylinders, switches, cases, sheaths, hats, and other
articles." — Oct. 15.

James Kite, of New North Road Bridge, Hcxton, in the county of Middlesex, gentle-
man, for "certain Improvements in steam engine-chimneys, in furnaces and flues, in
vent and exhaust pipes, and in other like smoke and air conductors, and in the machinery
or apparatus connected thereivith."- Oct. 1;J.

Arthur MilUvard, of ISirmingham, gentleman, for " certain Improvements in producing
figured surfaces, sunken and iu relief." — Oct. 1.5.

William Palmer, of Sutton-strcet, Clerkenwell, manufacturer, for " Improvements in
the packing of, and in the gaining, aud the manufacture of products from fat, or tatty
matters." — Oct. l.*).

John Hornby Maw, Esq., of Hastings, Sussex, for " Improvements iu tlie manufacture
of pens." — Oct. 16.

John Donkio, of Grange Road, Bermondsey, civil engineer, for " Improvements in the
manufacture of paper, or in the machinery employed therewith, and in the process of
bleaching paper, linen, and other manufactures in which chloride of lime is employed."
(A communication.) — Oct. l.i.

Ebeuczcr Southworth, of Chorlton-upon-Medlock, near Manchester, draper, for " cer-
tain Iin])rovemenls iu engines, to be worked by steam or other power, and applicable to
raising and forcing water, to the propulsion of vessels, and otber similar purposes." —
Oct. 15.

George Winslow, of Blnton Crescent, merchant, for " Improvements in raacliineiy for
manufacturing files and rasps." — Oct. 15.

John Ryan, of the Iloyal Polytechnic Institution, doctor of medicine and professor o'
chemistry, for "certain Improvements m the preservation of organic and other sub-
stances."— Oct. 1?.

Flo/teijYm.

iniiir
iZJ "'

|C=1

FITZWILLIAM MVSEVM + CAMBRIDGE

□

OR 0 V N D

FLOOR.

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

361

THE INTERIOR OF THE FITZWILLIAM JIUSEUM.
fJJ'ith an Engraving, Plate XV J 11. J
The accompanying- engravings exliibit the internal arrangement of the
Museum at Camhiidge, of which the farade is represented in the Journal for
May last, page 129. The building is occupied internally ^y a ground floor,
and an upper or principal floor. The latter is approached by a staircase of
most magnificent dimensions, leading from the hall to the sculpture gallery
which extends round three sides of the hall and staircase. The architectural
and sculptural ornaments of this gallery are to be of the richest and most
elaborate description, and this part of the building alone will, it is estimated
cost when completed £10,000. Here will be deposited the valuable collec-
tion of statues bequeathed by Earl Fitzwilliam and others. Several of these
works are roaster-pieces of the highest class.

The principal floor contains a picture gallery 67 feet long by 39 feet
broad; the height of the frieze being 27 ft., and the height of the frieze
IS 3 ft. 6 in., which is a correct copy of the Elgin Marbles at the British
Museum, and from it springs a richly ornamented coved ceiling, which curves
inwards from the sides to the centre of the apartment ; above the four upper
boundaries of this cove rise a vertical lanthern light, between each light are
beautifully draped and winged figures, and above is a horizontal ceiling
divided into compartments and most elaborately enriched with open panels
and above which are conic-al sky-lights ; the whole height of the room from'
the floor to the conical sky-light is 53 feet. The floor will be of wainscot
with an inlaid border, and all round the apartment there is a scagliola dadj
of Rosst hroccata, with a plinth of black and gold marble. The side picture
galleries communicate with that which we have been describing, by arched
openings, of which the archivolts and pilasters are decorated with various
kinds of scagliola.

The ground floor of the building will be occupied by another sculpture
gallery under the long and two end galleries, a library beneath one of the
tide galleries, and a museum of terra cottas and vases beneath the other side
gallery There is a large space under the hall and the portico, occupied
by vaults, which we think might be usefully occupied as a sepulchral mu-
seum.

There appears to be some intention to remove the frieze containing a
copy of the Elgin Marbles,-we most sincerely trust that this wasteful
alteration will be resisted by the Senate. The frieze is thought to detract
from the height of the room ; we think however that when the walls are
filled with paintings, the appearance in the height will be increased, and be-
«.des. It IS perfectly useless to have paintings where the frieze now is, which
IS 27 feet from the floor-for who will be able to see them to appreciate their
m^rit at so great a distance from the eye .'

Mr Cockerell has obtained permission to substitute real for imitative
marbles in the work yet to be undertaken, and he deserves great praise for
having effected this alteration. The enrichments and carving are admirably
executed, from the designs of the late Mr. Basevi, by Mr. Nichols, of Graf-
tnn-stieet, London, whose name deserves to be recorded with great com
mendation; and we understand that it was Mr. Basevi's intention that all
the enrichments should be picked out in gold and polvcbrome

We are very desirous of seeing the brick fence wall now enclosing the
ground at the back of the Museum removed, and replaced by a ballustrade
similar to that at the front. This would open the back view to Pelerhouse
ground and form a great improvement to the Sculpture gallery, as well as
to the College grounds.

When the Museum is finished, we hope there will be a greater liberality
shown to the public in allowing them to view the magnificent works of art

at will adorn it, than at Oxford, where the Taylor Institute has all
h gates and doors closed, and admittance is only obtained either by an
0 reduction by a member of the University, or by pennission of the porter
Of course, as at many other public establishments, a fee is expected

aslfed! m!"h '"'1l ",™""' ""■°"^'' ""^ ^°"^"^ grounds of Oxford, we
asked a member of the University if permission could be obtained for view-

L'Llrv 'Tl ^^r'fr"^ ^^»"'^<^™'- ">« l-aj'or Institute. Radcliffe

library &c. He said he had no doubt it might by speaking to the attend-

ts ; 0 course they would look for a fee to be paid them for their trouble

he jealousy with which Academical and Ecclesiastical corporations, ad

the edifices committed to their trust is on every account to be re^tted

TRABEATE AND AUCUATE ARCHITECTURE.

SECOND ARTICLE.

No. Ill,— Vol. IX.— December, 184C.

In order that any branch of human knowledge may become a science it
must be founded ou exact principles which distinguish it from every other
science. The mere compilation of facts and opinions, however valuable
and accurate in themselves, will not lead to systematic and definite results
unless the facts be referred to, aud the principles deduced from fundamental
axioiQS.

The application of these considerations to architecture is very simple
Facts and dogmas innumerable relating to architecture have been recorded'
but we have been too apt to estimate them according to their intrinsic not
their relative, value. Now the most valuable aid to the advancement of
architecture will be the systemizing our present knowledge of it : it has
hitherto been seldom regarded as a system. If every critic is to pronounce
on the merits of each new edifice as it looks to his eye, it is obvious that
his criticism will have no higher than an individual authority, that it may
be disregarded by contemporaries and reversed by posterity. But if some
great architectural principle be universally received hy both critics and
the criticized as the basis of all criticism, aud if this principle be so com-
prehensive as to include every style of architecture, it is clear that much
less will be left, than before, to the fallibility of individual judgment and
that the conclusions obtained will possess the value of being systematic

We search in vain for any other principle than that of constructive faith-
fulness, which receives universal consent. There are, it is true, many
architects and architectural writers, who find it their interest to resist thea;,.
plication of this principle, but none are now bold enough to deny its abstract
truth. It is curious to observe bow completely the general opinion has
changed on this point. Now it is conceded on all hands that (theoretically
at least) the decoration of an edifice ought to be the exponent of its con-
slruction-yet it is not a very long period since a doctrine the direct reverse
of this was maintained. The Abbfe Laugier in his Obsen-ations sur I'archi-
teclure (Haye 1765) condemns Pointed architecture, because edifices built
in that style exhibit too evidently their mechanical structure. Some of his
remarks are so directly opposed to the doctrines of the best writers of the
present day, that the following version of a few sentences may be interest-
ing, if not valuable. All the requirements of solidity (says he) consist in
establishing a proper equilibrium between the arch which thrusts and the
abutment which receives the thrust. Buildings, however, ought to be so
constructed that no part of them may appear to exert or resist pressure.
Up to the present time we have been too much subject to this grand defect
of Gothic churches ; not until it was high time, did a man of genius teach us
to do better. The arches of the new church of St. Genevieve are sufliciently
supported, but no one can see how they are so. Nothing external an-
nounces resistance aud eflort. The spectator has no observations to make
on the strength or weakness of the buttresses. Delivered from all anxiety
on this point, he gives himself up to undisturbed coutemplation of the
beauty of the edifice.

Since the \hh^ Laugier wrote this curious passage, architectural know-
ledge has so greatly increased, that it would be superfluous to show here
the fallacy of his opinions. They are quoted to prove how ingeniously an
error may be disguised, and to show that, in his time at least, it was ad-
mitted that the architecture subsequent to the Pointed was inconstructive
This IS a most important admission, and one which many a modern practi-
tioner would like to retract.

The importance of distinguishing between entablature and arch archi-
tecture was, we think, first insisted upon by Hope, in the invaluable Archi-
tectural Essay, which it may be presumed has by this time been carefully
read by every one who professes a knowledge of architectural principles
Ihe unsparing denunciations which Hope commenced against the showy
unreal decoration employed during the last three centuries, in consequence
of a confusion of the principles of trabeation and arcuation, have been ad-
mirably followed up by Professors Willis and Whewell, in the works from
which we quoted in the preceding article on the present subject. Until
however, the laws which Hope suggested, and which Whewell and Willis'
o.veloped, be practically applied, they remain almost barren speculations.
iUe object set before us is not so much to elucidate existing architecture
as to promote its future advancement. To this end it is requisite to see
how far the laws in question tend to facilitate or impede the improvement of
modern decorative construction.

It may be objected that in making architectural decoration immediately
dependent on mechanical structure, we restrict the art to purely uUlitarian

47

362

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Dkc-

rules. To this objection two satisfactory replies may be given. In the
first place, architecture differs from other fine arts, such as painting or
sculpture, in that it is not an imitative or representative art. The ends of
painting and sculpture are the gratification of the taste by the representa-
tion of beautiful natural forms. But architecture is restricted by the
euoflomic purposes of the materials upon which it works. In one sense it
stands alone among the fine arts, and is 'he nubleat of them ; for while the
results of other arts have no value excep; their beauty, the results of archi-
tecture have a two-fold value— beauty and practical utility. The direct
and accurate imitation of nature, which in painting or sculpture is the per-
fection of excellence, in architecture is simply impracticable. And there-
fore we come to this conclusion, that while other works of art are judged
by their beauty alone, the works of architecture are to bejudged not merely
by their beauty, but by their fit>ess also. This consideration has been
much lost sight of by those who attempt to draw analogies between
the laws of architecture and those of painting : the neglect of it led, for
instance, to Sir Joshua Reynolds's eulogium of the works of Vanbrugh.

But there is another strong defence against the charge of utilitarianism ;
■which is, that the restrictions which we would lay upon architecture have
been proved experimentally to be neither oppressive nor unnecessary. If
it were found practically impossible to coir ply with this restriction with-
out making the architecture formal and uns ..vying, a ground of complaint
against the strictness of the rule might .-x.st; but, in point of fact, the
buildings which have displayed the greatest freedom and variety of form
have b.-en those in which the canon of constructive faiihfulness has been
most scrupulously obeyed. We observe, moreover, in the works of nature,
from which all the principles of beauty must ultimately be derived, that
the most graceful forms exhibit a wonderful fitness for the useful purposes
to which they are applied. The petals of a flower are not merely beauti-
ful ornaments; they serve effectually for the protection of the reproductive
organs of the plant. The slight swelling or entasis of the slalk of corn
not only renders its form graceful, but adds also to the strength necessary
for its preservation. Smeaton, in cuoslructing the Eddystone lighthouse,
took for his model th>- trunk of the oak, which increases in breadth towards
its base, meeting the ground in curved lines which experience has proved
to be the most etfecliial for resisting the violence of storms. Lastly,
anatomy teaches us that those forms and proportions of the human frame
■which the sculptor considers most beautiful, are the very same which best
enable the several members to perform their respective functions.

Throughout the whole economy of nature this rule is maintained, of
making beauty dependent upon utility. The love of the grotesque, or bizarre

that is, of forms without purpose-'is seldom exhibited except in art.

It must, therefore, be regarded as a thoroughly artificial taste — a taste, more-
over, unknown in the best periods of art. To revert, therefore, to th^;
rules of criticism, it is clear that there are two distinct ways of estimating
the merits of a building, — one by the eye alone, the other by the eye and
judgment. We will not be so intolerant as to assert that all architecture
■which satisfies the eye alone, and not the judgment also, is to be rejected ;
but this may be safely set down, that the beauty of such buildings is of a
superficial and inferior character, and therefore undeserving of modern
imitations. Th-re are, i- ; ct, many buildings, which, from their magnifi-
cent size and gorgeous ornai.ient, produce a dazzling eflfect which gradu-
al!' diminishes as the eye becomes familiarized with it. But those glorious
piles, which exhibit in every part a logical fitness, derive an inner beauty,
a tenfold deeper and purer eloquence, from the gratification of the judg-
ment. They do not appeal grossly to the senses, the eye does not weary
of them after the first impressions are faded ; for every renewed view
serves to discover new meaning, and, therefore, new delight. They satisfy
the highest test of works of art— they bear studying.

Applying these considerations to what is usually considered the most
magnificent edifice in London, St. Paul's Cathedral. Can the eye fail to
be impressed with the depth of shadow, the proportion and variety of the
lines, the graceful contour of the dome, and the apparent boldness and skill
by which it has been raised at a vast height above the rest of the stru cture ?
But how does the admiration lessen when the judgiuent conies into exer-
cise; when we find that this boldness in the construction of the dome ex-
ists in appearance only ? This dome is not the thing it looks to be, — it is
a mere juggle, an ingenious delusion of the sight. It loolis a. mafsive,
ponilerous structure, and an integral portion of the building ; it is, ie fact,
a mere frame-work of wood, stuck upon the building, and not belonging
to it. It appears to rest firmly upon its base ; but, in reality, derives its
support from hidden props and chains, and other delusive cootrivances.

The architect has shown vast ingenuity ; but he has, in this instance, mis-
taken his vocation, and invaded the province of the theatrical machinist.
A dome should be vaulted, resting nowhere but upon its abutments ; but
this sham dome is not vaulted ; il is supported at every part of its concave
surface. Had it been made of pasteboard, or canvas stretched on a frame,
and painted, it would have looked just as well.

And the upper half of the side walls of the Cathedral are delusions
also. They serve only to conceal the fljing buttresses behind them. They
do not add to the internal capacity of the building; and if they were re-
moved altogether, the alteration would not be visible from llie interior.
On the outer or conspicuous side, little columns are affixed midway in the
air— for show. Had these columns, and the walls to which they are
attached, been also of painted pasteboard, their present purpose would
have been answered fully as well as by more solid materials.

NOTES ON THE HYDRAULIC RAM.

The invention of this singular engine is due entirely to the genius of the
celebrated Jlontgolfier, who made it known in 17U7 ; the peculiar simplicity
of its construction, as well of its mode of action, attracted the attention of
hydraulic engineers, and of mathematicians, and in 1801, Eytelwein
conducted a series of experiments upon a well digested plan, to develop
the power, the proportions, and other relations requisite to its greatest etfi-
ciency. The oscillatory motion of the water in the ram, and the alternate
action of the valves, indicate the physical causes which produce the eflfect
of this machine ; they are nevertheless still very far from being suffi-
ciently understood to furnish the basis of a mathematical theory. The
passive resistances, and especially those arising from the shock or blow
given by the valves, interpose difliculties in affixing their value, which
render any estimate of the whole dynamic effect almost impossible. Ex-
periment alone can instruct us as to the useful etfect it is capable of
aflbrding.

D'Aubuisson de Voisins has given a succinct account of the researches
of Montgolfier and of Eytelwein, and these notes are chiefly derived from
it.

The parts of a ram are, a pipe connecting a reservoir of water with a
case or chest containing two valves — an air chamber, and a rising or sup-
ply pipe. The pipe attached to the reservoir was by Montgolfier termed
the body of the ram, and the valve chest its head. Further description of
the construction of the machine and of its mode of action is unnecessary
here, as it may be readily found in every modern work on hydraulics.

The largest ram ever erected was put up at IMello, near Clermont sur
Oise, by the inventor's son. Its principal dimensions were.

Length uf body pipe . . .108 feet.

Diameter of ditto . • • 4^3 inches.

Weight of ditto . . • 3100 lb.

Weight of head . . • 4-10 lb.

Conteatsof air chamber . . • li gallons.

The tail or stop Talve consisted of a horizontal metal plate pierced with
seven holes, each covered by a hollow ball l^ inch diameter ; it beats 60
strokes per minute. This ram worked under a head of water of 37 feet,
discharging 31 J gallons per minute, and raising 3^85 gallons to a height of
195 feet. The ratio of the useful eU'ect to the labouring force expended
was G53. The comparison of effect is made without taking into account
the velocity of the motion ; it is the weight of water raised to a certain
height in a determinate time. Calling p"this weight, and H" this height,
the effect is p"H".

The corresponding force (P being the weight of fluid furnished by the

stream in the same time, and H the height of the fall or head of water), is

,,- H"
expressed by P H. — The ratio of these is consequently ~p~jj") or since

9H"
p" : V :: q:Q, the ratio is y-jr

The following table shows the ratio and the eflecl of ordinary rams.
The first experiment was made upon the ram constructed by Montgolfier
himself, at his house at Paris ; the second upon that erected by his son,
above cited ; and the others upon rams in the neighbourhood of Paris,
mentioned iu the Traite dts Machines, p. IGI.

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

363

Heighl.

Water per iiiinule.

,;ll
(.> 1!

Fall.

Elevation.

Expen^ e.

Deliveri-d.

H.

H".

Q.

7'

I

8'G"

52-8

15

1-37

'5i

2 37 -2

193 0

31

3 8.-.

(i.-.:i

Mean n\lio

3 31 -9
4| 3-3

111-11

18i

374

(ii\

</ H" : QH =

15.

14 11

437

59- 1 8

■()i'y

i] 22-10

190 10

2 b6

0-22

■|j7|

j Ft. In.

Ft. In.

Uallaus.

Gallous.

Eytelwein miule, at Berlin, 1123 e-ipei-iineats, giadiially and successively
▼arying the dimensious of the several parts of the hydraulic ram. He
confirmed the effect produced in each case, and deduced rules for the di-
mensions and arrangement of the parts, suitable to the greatest elfect.
The following table contains some of the experiments upon the largest of

the rams he employed, in its most advantageous arrangement, viz. : —

43 feet 9 inches.

0 2i

1-94 gallons.

3-74 square inches.
6'2 square inches.

Length of body pipe
Diameter of ditto
Capacity of air ebamber
Area of opening of tail or escape valve •
This area in the lirst experiment was raised to
The valves were clack valves and the escape valve was placed between
the air chamber and the reservoir. These experiments may have their re-
sult expressed by the following formula,
■jH"
QH

But as this has been deduced from experiments which in some measure
refer to the maximum effect of which the water ram is capable, we may ob-
tain the ordinary results exact enough by reducing the numerical ..^efficient
about i, and we get

a

p H"=:l-2 P (H — •2a/HH"-)

See D'Aubuisson, p. 503,— also Taffe, Application de la Mechaoique, p.

278.

No. of
Strokes

Heiglit

in feet of

Ratio.

Gallons of water
per minute.

Ratio '/ n"

"qh.

Ratio

a

Minute.

H

Elevation
H"

H

Expended.
Q

Raised.
?

Experi-
ment.

Formula.

'1

G6

10

0

20

4

203

1005

339

09

097

2-92

64

10

2

S2

4

3'18

13-97

S-S3

0-873

0-92

3-07

eo

9

n

38

H

39

12 01

2-022

0-85

0-87

4-58

52

8

0

32

4

4-

8-16

1-687

0-847

0 85

4-72

45

8

9

38

8

44

10-85

2-09

0845

0-84

5-2

42

7

5

38

8

5 21

9 92

15

0'7b7

0-78

002

30

G

0

38

R

05

bS9

1-05

0-754

0 71

8-02

20

4

(>h

32

4

7-2

5-23

0-495

0-072

0-07

10-7

31

5

0

38

7

7-7

8-05

0704

0 007

005

11-54

23

4

1

38

S

9-47

11-11

0 049

0-548

0-50

17-2

17

3

0

32

2

10-7

10-8

0-479

0-473

0-51

22-6

15

3

3

SS

8

11 9

1234

0 303

0 352

0-45

33-8

14

2

G

38

8

15-5

11 95

0 22

0 284

0-32

54-G

10

1

m

38

8

193

9-81

0-088

0181

018

100-0

According to Eytelwein, the length of the body pipe ought not to be less
than J of the height to which the water is to be raised. Its diameter in
inches, (when Q" is the number of gallons expended per second) —i^ VQ".
The diameter of the rising or delivery pipe should be one half of this.
The air chamber should be as large as the cube content of the rising pipe.
The two valves should be close to each other, but it is of little moment
whether the escape valve is above or below the air chamber, with regard
to the stream of water. The opening of the escape or tail valve should not
be less than the section of the body of the ram.

Example.

Let it be required to raise 220 gallons of water per hour to a height of
46 feet ; the disposable head of water being 4 feet ; — to determine the
expenditure of water per Becood, and the principal dimensions of the
ram —

220 gallons per hour = 22001b. = 300 lb. per minute ;
36-0 X 40 =: 1-2 P (4 — -2 -^^46 X i).

36-0 X 40 1403

or, P = 7=- = -r— t; =: 1087-6 lb. per minute;

1-2(4 — -2 ViBj) 1-29

and 108-76 gallons per minute =; 1-81 gallons per second.

Diameter of bo-Jy pipe = 4J "^1-81 =:4J X 1-340 := 6 inches, nearly.

Length of ditto should not be less than 44 feet, — say 30 feet.

Diameter of rising pipe =: -J = 3 inches.

32 X -7854 X 40 , ^ . r -

Content of ditto — Tj: = 2icube feet = capacity of aij

chamber.

Diameter of opening for escape valve = 6 inches.

If ball valves are used, their weight should be twice that of the corre-
sponding bulk of water.

D'Aubuisson, p. 504, makes the following important remarks: — "The
hydraulic ram has only beeu employed, hitherto, in raising small quantities
of water, and, therefore, in producing small effects. The greatest effect ob-
tained by Eytelwein from 1123 experiraeuts was only 11761b , raised one
foot in a minute ; aud the greatest fi-om the rams used in France is but
7500 to 8500 lb., raised one foot in a minute, or about one half the work
done by a horse, harnessed in a gin."

It is very doubtful whether the ram can be used for raising large vo-
lumes of water. The violent shock of the valves, and the heavy pulsa-
tions of the machine, derange the frame anc'. the foundations made to sup-
port it. This it has been attempted to obviate by materially increasing
the weight of the ram, and in this way the loss of effect arising from the
movement of the machine may be dimiui:,hed, and the evil remedied up to
a certain point.

The strong frame- work and heavy masonry, constructed to support large
rams, have been entirely destroyed after a certain length of :ime; and it
is much to be feared, that the employment of this eLgine,in iMier respects
so remarkable, will continue to be restricted, and that its sphere o; useful-
ness will not extend beyond the supply of w ater to an isolated house or
manufactory.

1, Lancaster-place, Nov. 5, 1846. J- H.

STABILITY AND STRENGTH OF HUNGEEFORD BRIDGE.

In our last number (p. 358) we published extracts* from some remarks
addressed by Sir Howard Douglas to the editor of this Journal, respecting
the stability and strength of Hungerford Bridge, and promised to reply to
the objections raised respecting the sufficiency of that structure. The objec-
tions are chiefly these— that the main chains are not strong enough— that
the piers are not sufficiently stable, being liable to horizontal strains at
their summits, which the shifting saddles do not entirely remove. Tiie
first point which we will consider is

The Instabilily of ike Piers.

It is asserted that, owing to the difference of the form, &c. of C.e catena-
ries on either side of each pier, its head is subject to a force, tt-uding to
overturn it, which is represented by a — o', where a and a' are the hori-
zontal tensions of each catenary respectively.

Now this hoi-izontal force a —a' acts upon the shifting saddle. Let us
consider the object of this contrivance. 1 ' it recede (that is, move towards
the bank of the river), it iucreusvs the span of the centre chain and dimi-

* In order to make the extracts more complete, the following words ought to hove
been inserted, after the word " destroyed," which concludes the sentence referring to the
diagram, " And these unequal strains which exist even when the bridge is at rest, are
greatly increased by the vibraiions to which it is subject, and particularly by the action of
storms of wind. Unless the error be extreme, these unequal strains may not be pro-
ductive of immediate disaster, but they are constantly acting, and by so much they aggra-
vate the delects which have been pointed out as attaching more or less to all suspension
bridges. Applying the above diagram to an accurate elevation of the bridge, and produc-
ing A D till it meet the horiioutal line at the base of the pier, we may see to what extent
the stability is endangered, and it is evident that beyond a certain point, the strain at the
head of the pier would cease to be supported in the direction of the resultac , A D. Seeing
that this error has in point of fact been committed on several occasions, in constructing
suspension bridges-that insecurity and failure have eosued-that in one instance which
proved fatal, the error was of such magnitude as to make the angle on one side of a pier
71° 2S', and on the other 6fi° SO', and that a very considerable error of this description
exists in Hungerford Bridge," &c.

47*

361

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Dec'

Dishes its deflection : — both these alterations tend to increase the horizontal
tension of the middle chain. At the same time it tends to diminish ihe
span of the side chain and increase its deflection: — both these alterations
tend lo diminish the horizontal tension of the side chain. So that on the
whole, if the horizontal tension of the side chaiu exceed that of the middle
chain and Ihe shifting saddle recede, there are four causes in operation to
establish equality of tension. Conversely, if the horizontal tension of the
middle chain exceed that of the side chain, and the saddle advance, there
are four causes in operation lo establish equality of tension.

But there are two ways by which the establishment of this equality may
be prevented. Either the friction of the saddles on the piers may restrain
them from moving, or a sufficiently large range of motion may not have been
provided for in the construction of Ihe bridge.

Let us consider first the eflect of friction. By reference to the last
volume of this Journal, p. 1G5, it will be seen that between the saddle and
Ihe top of the pier a number of rollers are interposed in such a manner that
the friction is wholly of Ihe nature of rolling friction : there is no rubbing
friction, such as that at the axle of a wheel, or the pin of a pulley. It is
known by experiment that rolling friction is exceedingly small, almost in-
considerable, compared with rubbing friction.

From experiments by Babbage, it would appear that weights placed on
wooden rollers, 3 inches in diameter, can be moved with jJjth of the force
required to move them when placed on wooden sledges. The friction of
metallic rollers is a subject which, notwithstanding its importance, seems
to have been greatly neglected. Of all the laborious and careful experi-
ments upon friction which have been instituted by numerous investigators,
comparatively few relate to rolling friction.

The rolling friction of any material depends not so much on its smooth-
ness as upon its hardness: for it principally arises from the slight flatten-
ing of the roller where it is in contact with the plane, and the slight de-
pression of the plane itself. Now in the shifting saddles of Hungerford
Bridge these causes must operate very slightly, for each saddle rests upon
50 rollers placed almost close together and arranged in an ingenious man-
ner so as to work with the utmost regularity. As we said, however, little
more than a rougli estimate of the friction can be arrived at ; but we
think that an inspection of the saddle itself will instantly satisfy any
one that the coellicient of friction cannot be nearly so great as in a railway
cirriage. Now the friction of a railway carriage is about ^^Ih of its weight.
This friction consists of two parts : the rolling friction at the circumferences
of the wheels, and the friction of the axles. These axles are about half the
diameter of the rollers at Hungerford, and the rubbing friction of llie former
must greatly exceed the rolling friction of the latter. Moreover,in Ihe railway
carriages the axle friction is only a part of the resistance, and tlierefore
would be represented by a smaller coeflicient than ji^ ; the roller friction
of Hungerford Bridge would be represented by a still smaller coeflicient.
If then we make the friction on each saddle half the friction of railway
wheels, or ^ of the weight, we probably shall have considerably over-
estimated it. Now the total weight on each pier will be scarcely SOU* Ions
supposing the passengers packed together as closely as they can stand'
(a most improbable supposition.) In this case the utmost resistance to the'
motion of the saddle will be less than a ton. Consequently, if the " power
represented by a — a'" exceed 1 ton, the saddle will begin lo adjust it-
self.

It is impossible to suppose that masses of brickwork such as those which
form Ihe piers of Hungerford Bridge can be overthrown by a force of one
ton. We believe, however, that we have greatly over-estimated the amount of
this force. In addition we must remember that the vertical pressure on the
pier has an cll'ect as well as the horizontal, and that the former tends to
the stability of the pier. In the extracts given, ante p. 3JS, there is a dia-
gram in which the line A I) represents the magnitude and direction of the
resultant of the forces acting on the head of the pier. Let us suppose the
diagram slightly altered, by constructing a parallelogram in which the
rcrtical and horizontal pressures, instead of the tensions of the chains, are
represented. Then A D represents the resultant of those pressures, and it
is Ihe diagonal of a parallelogram, of which the sides are in the proportion
1 (ton) ; 8U0 (tons). Me see then how extremely oblique is Ihe direc-
tion of A D. If when produced it fell with the base of the pier, the pier
would be stable, even if it had no weight, and the morlar no cohesion.

To illustrate this important point a little more fully, let us actually
construct the diagram. Let A B C L) be the parallelogram of Ihe forces

* The total weight of thf centre ctiain when loaded is 1000 tons. One-half of this
weight presses each abutment, and 3U0 tons more may be added for the side chaiu.

applied by the saddle to the top of the pier, an I
let AB be Ihe resultant of the vertical pressures
exerted by the rollers : this rejultant will always
be somewhere near the centre of the tower. Let
A D represent the horizontal friction of the roll-
ers : then the diagonal joining A and C will re-
present the direction and magnitude of the result-
ant. Now, B C is only j^th part of A B, ainl
therefore, since the pier is 8U feet in height, tha
diagonal A C will, at the base of the pier, be
only the ^th of a foot out of the vertical. The
base of the pier is 40 feet wide. If, therefore,
the position of A B be supposed to be exactly
central, the friction or horixjntal force must be
two hundred times what we have supposed it to
be, before the re:;ultaut cau fall bt-yonU the base.
If we take into account the ell'ect of the weight
and cohesion of masonry itself, the horizontal force must be sliU further
multiplied, before the stability of the pier cau be endangered.

Limits of the Motion of the Shifting Saddle.

The next point lo be considered is, whether the motion of the shifting
saddle has a sufficient range. Me think that it may be satisfactorily
shown that the saddle has ample room to adjust itself to any variation of
the horizontal tensions of the chains which is likely to occur. It is diffi-
cult, in a subject so complicated as the theory of catenaries, to work out
general solution of the problem ; a little attention, however, to the case
before us, and an allowable simplilication of it, will furnish all the in-
formation required.

Let us first see the effect of a slight diminution of the span of the cen-
tral chain, everytliiug else remaining unaltered. In the tract on '• Metro-
politan Bridges," p. 10, the following useful approximate relations are
given : —

2x^ = 3y{,-y) (1) a = — ^— - (2)

where s is half the length of the chain, y the half span, jr the deflection,
and a the length which measures the horizontal tension. In the case of
the Hungerford Bridge (supposing the curve to be a common cateuar) j,
Ihe values of these quantities are —

Half the central span, J .... 338-25 feet.

Deflection, x 50-

Half length of the chain, s . . . 343-
Length mt-asuring horizontal tension, a . 1152'5
where the first two quantities are found by actual measurement, and Ihe
two latter are those calculated by Sir Howard Douglas from his for-
mulie.

Now let us suppose the half span to become 337 feet — that is, to be
diminished by 1^ foot ; and the length of the chaiu being unaltered, let us
see what will be the new value of a. By equation (Ij,

2 x' = 3 X 337 X 6 ; or, x = 3 X ""^ Ssf.

Therefore, by equation (2),

3 X (337)^ + 9 X 337

" = « X 3 X ■^m = * " ^^^ ^ ^"^ + ^) = ^°**' '■^^t-

It follows, therefore, that by the small diminution of the span here sup-
posed, a very great alteration of the horizontal teusiou is produced — •
namely, from 11.52 to 1054, or in a ratio of about 11 ; 10. The lengtli a
indicates not the actual value of the tension, but iis proportion to the weight
of the chain. Hence, whatever proportion Ihe horizontal tension bora
to the weight of the chaiu in the first case, it would beari^ths of ihat
proportion in the second case. Now, in the construction of the Bridge,
provision has been m.ide for giving the saddles on each pier a play or range
of three feet. And we have made the case far too unfavourable for
our own view of it; for we have neglected the consideration that, when
the saddle moves, the horizontal tension of the side ciiaius is increased at
the same time that the horizontal tension of the central chain is diminislted.
So that the adjustment would take place much sooner thau has been here
supposed.

The adjustment neglected in the above calculation is by far the most im-
portant in point of magnitude. For a variation of span would not nearly
so much alier the tension of the main chain as that of the sides chains, of
which the curvature is very small. The latter are stnlched almost in a
.straight liue between their points of attachment, at the banks of the river
and the top of the piers. So that it tjay be doubted whetlier an increase

18 J5.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

365

of iheir span much beyond a foot, would be geometrically possible if the
lengtli of these chains be supposed constant. 'We know that if the chains
were absolutely straight, their tension would be iulinite,and as an appruxi-
matiun to the straight line must produce an enormous increase of tension,
there nerd be no fear that the range of the saddles of Hungerford Bridge
would be insuflicieiit for the requisite adjustment.

Approximalious similar to those used above would scarcely be suitable for
calculation of the variations of the side chains, of which the tension alters
!io rapidly for slight alterations of span that the approximate expression
must be continued to a much greater number of times to be at all salisfac-
tory, This objection does not however obtain respecting the main chain,
in which the vari.Uious of tension are not so rapid.

We have also fjllowed Sir Howard Douglas in assuming the chain to
be a common catenary, and ihe load to be distributed uniformly along the
curve. These suppositions might be dangerous, if the strength oftliecbain
were being discn-seil, but fur the purpose of estimating roughly the eft'ect
of variations of the span, they seem sufficiently accurate. We may as wel
remark that the calculation of the strength of the main chain, which is
quoted in the last volume of this Journal, Vol. VIII, p.05, is exceedingly
incorrect and unscieniific.

In ihe tract on iMetropolilan Bridges, and in the Reply to our remarks,
several analytical ditficultjes have been suggested which certainly appear
to miliiate against the conclusions here arrived at. These difficulties are
not however insuperable, as the consideration of the following passage,
which we quote from the original pamphlet will show.

" In the case of the Hungerford Bridge, however, Ihe catenaries at the
two ends when completed, have a consider*ibly less span than the central
curve, but they have the same droop or deflection. Hence if2y be the
span of the ceutre arc, i y' the span of the curves at the two extremities
when completed; and «,a', the corresponding tensions at the lowest poiuis,
we have

3y+T-

3 y'- + r2

And as y' is considerably less than y, a' will evidently be less than a in
a still higlier ratio. Hence there will be a constant horizontal strain, equal
to ((I — 0') acting at the top of each pier."

The supposition that the side chains " have the same droop or deflection"
as the central chain, is a misapprehension as to a point of fact — tliey have
a considerably greater deflection. Hence in the second of these equations
we must put for x, a larger quantity x'. This correction is a satisfactory
solution of the difficulty suggested. The extracts quoted last month from
the Reply, contain the following clause in the sentence explaining the dia-
gram,

" If the tangents of the curves formed by the heads of the piers do not
mftke equal angles with the vertical line A V, even if the tensions of A B,
A C, were equal (which is not the case in Hungerford Bridge), the re-
sultant of the strains at A would be in the direction of a line A U," ice.

It seems to have been overlooked that the fact alluded to in the paren-
thesis, and the fact suggested just previously, are of a compensating nature
If there be an inequality, not only of the amount of the two tensions, but
also of their angles of inclination, the resultant may be vertical — if only one
of these inequalities exist, the resultant cannot be vertical.

To Sir Howard Douglas belongs the merit of having suggested for dis-
cussion a subject of great interest to engineers and the public generally ;
and of having considered the question in that purely argumentative manner
which always ensures respect in a scientific controversy. He will, we are
sure, give us credit for having the same object in view as himself— that of
ascertaining the truth ; and if our reasoning should appea- erroneous, we
shall be quite ready to be set right. Of the strength of the main chains of
the bridge we have not as yet said anything, as we are not in possession of
ail the data. These however are promised to us, and a separate paper on
this part of the subject shall, if possible, appear in our next number.

AM\TEUR ENGINEERING.

The English Government is distinguished from those of other countries by
its reluctance in assisting or rewarding the etforts of mechanical inventors.
There is no doubt that from the operation of this rule many valuable dis.
coveries are lost to the country, which has a direct interest in promoting
those scientific labours which tend to the benefit of the whole community.
At the sHme time, it is certain that an indiscriminate encouragement of in-
ventors would suliject the country to an overwhelming numlier of claims on
the behalf of futile immature and valueless schemes.

The restrictive rule observed by our Government is however occasionally
relaxed, and it happens, unfortunately, that the occasions chosen for this re-
laxation are those where the least benefit results to the country, and the
consideration shown to favoured individuals is least deserved. We allude to
public encouragement of amateur ship. building and marine engineering. It
would be invidious to point out all the instances in which the public money
has been recently squandered in constructing war steamers upon plans sug-
gested by persons whose occupations and previous studies by no means quali-
fied them for the task undertaken by them. Of course the inventors them-
selves stoutly deny the failure of their plans, and can overpower us with
proofs of their success ; but the professional engineer will immediately recall
numerous instances in which persons possessed of Parliamentary influence,
or Ihe advantage of titles to the peerage, have been able to waste many
thousands of pounds of public money in the manner alluded to. We may,
however, take one instance where failure has been so obvious that denial
would be impossible. The Sidoti, the offspring of Sir Charles Napier, was
intended to have been a lesson to all future engineers ; and such indeed it
has proved — in the way of salutary warning.

If it be determined that the rule of discouraging inventors is to have ex-
ceptions, they ought not surely to be so selected that the possible failures
shall be productive of the greaten ' imnaat of loss. Judging a /^r/on', we
might suppose that naval construction on which the strength of Great Bri.
tain depends, and of which the operations are necessarily of the most costly
kind, would be the very last branch of the industrial arts chosen to be sub-
jected to the experiments of inexperienced amateurs. We might suppose
that the building of steam and other vessels of war, involving as it does, in
every case, a vast expense to the country, would be conducted with the ut-
most caution, and would be intrusted solely to careful and experienced hands.
It would seem a matter of common prudence that if amateurs must be en-
conraged in their taste for practical mechanics, they ought to try their 'pren-
tice hands on some work a little less costly than ship building.

But the Government is not alone responsible for the errors in question,
which have been largely participated in by companies of private individuals.
A clever busy man, with a good deal of intrigue and energy, may often get up
a company, which he can coax into an encouragement of his own private
schemes, or those of the cliqtte to which he belongs. The Great Northern,
built at Londonderry, by some one who, from modesty (or more probably,
from prudence), has not trumpetted forth his name, was to have been a
model of Irish steamers for English engineers ; but alas, turned out but ill
The restorative applications of London engineers — Miller, Ravenhill and Co.,
were found requisite intus et in cute before the unfortunate victim of me-
chanical dabblings could be brought to a state of vigorous healthy action.

The Great Britain again was a woeful example of amateur patchwork.
The public were invited to inspect and admire this gigantic specimen of ship-
building ; and attracted by her magnitude and showy decorations, they in-
spected and admired accordingly. Could a promiscuous crowd of visitors be
supposed likely to scrutinise the proportions of the engines, the size, shape,
and arrangement of the small and inconspicuous parts, and all those minutia
which, as the professional engineer knows, constitute the excellence or
worthlessness of a marine engine .' The history of this vessel has been a
series of unfortunate mistakes from beginning to end. First, she was huilt in
dock? of which the opening was too narrow to permit her exit. The chrysa-
lis grew and increased in stature, and when the time came for quitting its
wingless state, and going forth freely into the world, was found unable to
emerge from its integument. However, these difficulties, the result of gross
bungling, were at last got over. But the troubles had only just commenced.
The engines were found to be— what engines might have been predicted to
prove, which were constructed by men who had never undergone the disci-
pline of an engineer's workshop. Professional engineers were again called
to the rescue, and this time, Mr. Field, of the firm of Maudslay and Field,
was the re-operator.

At present, the Great Britain lies upon the coast of Ireland, beaten and
buffetted by the wind and tide. No one knows how she got into her presnet
position ; this, like all her previous adventures, has the charm of mystery
about it — a mystery which baffles human penetration. There is a convenient
complexity about the story, which averts condemnation by puzzling Ihe judg-
ment. Bristol charts not drawn as they ought to be, the Isle of Man
appearing where it ought not to be, the captain's notions of time and space,
the advantages of an untried course to the north of Ireland, the directors
complaisance, and barrels of gunpowder placed behind the vessel to blow
her — not up — but off: — these are the materials of the story ; of which the
only certain part is the event — namely, that the Great Britain lies ashore iu

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Dec.

Dundrum Bay, beaten and buffetted by wind ami tide, as afoiesaid, and
that she is reserved for further amateur experiments.

As no lives have as yet been lost in these experiments, one would not crum-
ble at their having been carried on with a view to the advancement of prac-
tical science, if they had been conducted with some regard to economy. But
what is chiefly to be complained of is, that experience has been purchased at
to dear a rate. Fifty thousands to a hundred and twenty thousands of
pounds are not trifling sums to pay in experimenting. Are we to suppose
that engineers like Watt, iMaudslay, Miller, Seawards, Penn, or Napier, ac-
quired in a day the experience necessary for the conslrnctinn of marine engines
of from 500 to 1000 horse power.' Amau must flatter his inventive talents
most outrageously if he supposes that they can compete against the accvmu-
lated knowledge of others, who, even if for argument sake we suppose them
greatly inferior in individual capacity, have yet been working together for
years in the same pursuits. It is impossible to imagine that the abilities of
one man can ever so greatly surpass those of the rest of mankind as to enable
him to contend against the long-continued and co-operating efforts of his
fellow labourers. M"e do not wish to give to experience more than its due
share of merit ; but it is obvious to every one who knows any thing of marine
engines, that the most profound scientific knowledge, and the most brilliant
inventive talents, will not alone constitute a practical engineer. Long, labo-
rious, even painful, experience must be superadded.

That every man is to be trusted in his own art — cuiqite in sua arte creden-
dum est is a proverbial expression, aud like other proverbial expressions in-
volves both truth and falsehood. The man who is constantly in practice of
the technical rules of bis profession, and who trusts to his experience alone,
will frequently become the slave of routine. He has got into fixed habits of
thought — like the mill-horse he can only go his round : and a valuable idea
which would occur to a mere bystander may be overlooked liy him. The
extra-professional suggestions of clever amateurs or men of science are not
discouraged : and the professional superciliousness with which such sugges-
tions are frequently met is destestable. But there is a great diflTerence be-
tween encouraging the suggestions of inexperienced persons, and suffering
such persons to carry out their ideas independently of professional control ;
especially when the works undertaken are of such magnitude as the Sidoi,
the Great Korthern, or the Great Britain.

THE NEW PLANET.

The dispute respecting the discovery of the new planet is likely to be
brought to a satisfactory termination. At a meeting of the Astronomical
Society, held during tlie last mouth, the Astronomer- Rojal read a paper,
tracing the iuvestigalions from the commencement, and distinctly assigning
to Mr. Adams his priority of right and title to the liiscovery. Profesor
Airy has beeu iu correspondence with both M. Le Verrierand Mr. Adams,
and his paper was supported throughout by original letters and other
authentic documents, of which the dates are indisputable. He allows
fully to JI. Le Verrier the merit of having performed his investigations in-
dependently, and of having, in the first instance, anuoiinced his results in a
more public manner than Mr. Adams. The latter contented himself with
depositing iu the Greenwich and Cambridge observatories the calculations
necessary to facilitate the search for the planet with the telescope.

It is very important to remark, that the calculations of Mr. Adams were
not only the earliest, but by far the most ample aud recondite. M. Le
A'errier contented himself with publishing last June the heliocentric longi-
tude of the planet. In addition to this, Mr. Adams announced its mass,
longitude nf fierihclion, and eccentricity — infinitely more difiicult and com-
plicated investigmions than those to which JI. Le Verrier restricted him-
self. No one would wish to detract from the merit of the latter, but to
compare bis labours with those of his scientific opponent would be ridi-
culous.

It is very gratifying to learn that the paper read by the Astronomer-
Royal, and Mr. Adams's investigations, are about to be published. The
world will then have the opportunity of examining the two independent in-
vestigations. Hen of scicuce will confine themselves to the examination
of them on their own merits, irrespectively of all considerations of the
time when they were made, and we doubt not that even the French philo-
sophers will allow the superiority, iu this respect, of the claims of the
Enj^lishman. The publication of the paper read by the Aslrouomer-Royal

will also confirm, on the highest authority, the assertion made in these pages
last mouth, that Mr. AdaiLs's claims were prior iu point of time, as well as
intrinsic merit.

The opponents of this view of the question are now shifting their mode
of attack — a sure sign that they are losing ground. They say that the
announcement to the French Academy was »nort public than that to the
English astronomers, and that according to a conventional rule in these
matters, the discovery belongs to him who makes his announcement in the
most public manner. But what more could be required of Mr. Adams
than that he should deposit his results in the principal public observatories
of Great Britain? He made kno^^n his discoveries to the Astronomer-
Rojal, and through him to the whole body of English astronomers— Sir
John ilerschell, for instance, was perfectly aware of .\lr. Adams's investi-
gation, though the information reached him in no other way than through
the Greenwich observatory, besides, the papers were deposited in the
very places where alone the requisite telescopic observations could be un-
dertaken. Had Mr. Adams the least suspicion that any attempt would he
made to wrest his rights from hira, he might, with the greatest ease, have
precluded the attempt effictually. The Fren< 'i Academy may hug their
self-conceit, and extol M. Le Verrier for having flattered it by addressing
his commuuic'ition to them ; but let them not accuse Mr. Adams because
he has not imitated this course, but acted more soberly and quietly. The
publiraliiin made by him was quite sufficient for all useful purposes— not
quite suRicient, it seems, for show and ostentation.

Many great matiiematical discoveries have heretofore been communicated
in a far more private way, aud yet the claims of the discoverer remaio
inconlestible. John Bernoulli first announced the general principle of
Virtual Velocities iu a private letter to Varignon. Is therefore tiie merit
of his discovery the less because hf stated it through the medium of ordi-
nary correspondence? The different modes T making a discovery known
are comparatively trifling ; and certainly if in the case belbre us a com-
parison must be made, it results in favour of Mr. Adams, who chose the
method most advantageous — not to his own fame — but to the interests of
science.

There is one consideration however which may perfectly satisfy us in
all these disputes. Whatever discussion may now exist as to the proper
conventional method of making known a discovc.y, posterity will concern
itself little in a debate so trifling and artiScal. Future generations of
philosophers will be more anxious to know the author of the discovery,
than the etiquette which ought to be observed on the occasion. These
foolish ephemeral quibbles will be forgotten with the authors of them;
and the great sterling fact will alone remain, that our countryman was the
first man in the history of the world who looked into the firmament
with prophetic sight, and discerned there a new world — weighed it,
measured it, and traced the course of it, while as yet unseen by human
eye.

One of the magazines spe.iks of Mr. Adams as an under-graduate ! It
is provoking that these " sciutific journals" do not confine themselves to
subjects of which they Icljw a little. Mr. Adams look his degree as
senior wrangler, is fellow and lecturer of St. John's, and tht University
moderator fur next year.

The following may be relied upon as an accii ate sketch of the history
of Mr. Adams's labours. We should not perhnps be justified in slating the
authority for this statement, but the reader may be assured of the accuracy
of the dates. The resolution of endeavouring to account for the perturba-
tions of the motion of Uranus by the action of another planet, was first
formed by Mr. 4danis iu the year 1841 ; and it appears, from memoranda,
that finding, in the summer of that year, the labour of calculation to be
so great, that, if undertaken at that time, it would seriously interfere with
his academical studies, he resolved to defer, until after taking his degree,
the investigation which was to determine approximatively the place of the
disturbing planet, aud thus assist astronomers in discovering it by actual
observation. In the course of 1813 (three years ago), the first approxi-
mation to the place of the planet was arrived at by Mr. Adams, and the
calculations, though comparatively rough, were suliicienlly close to satisfy
him that his hypothetical explanation of the anomalies iu the motion of
Uranus was a correct one. In February, 1S44, having obtained from the
AstronomerUroyal the observations made at Greenwich since 1781, he
renewed the investigation of the problem, and this time rendered it much
more complete than before. Several solutions were obtained, differing but
very slightly from each other; and by successively taking into account
more and more terms of the series expressing the perturbations, first ia
April, lb4J, again in May, and finally in September of that year, the ac

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOUllNAL.

Z67

curate solulion of this -.Toiiderful problem was at last obtained, and was
immpdljitely comnuiuicated lo Professor Cliallis, and iu the following
month to ihe Aslrononier-Rojal. Both Professors were therefore iu pos-
session of the perfectly complete solution upwards of a jear ago.

MOVEABLE JIB CRANES.

Remarks or the ■utility and defects of the Moveable Jib Crane, according
to the construction now generally used in Glasgow, with proposed If/prove-
ments to obviate its defects. By William Gale, Glasgow. Head at the
Institute of Civil Engineers. (With Engravings, Plate XIX.J

The author's attention having been recently drawn to an examination of
the causes of numerous accidents (many of them attended with fatal conse-
quences) during the erection of some of the public buildings in Glasgow
and the neighbourhood, he found that one of the most fruitful sources of
these accidents was the defective construction and injudicious use of the
movea'de jib crane. This crane, it may be remarked, has nearly superseded
all others used by builders in Glasgow, and is at present employed at most
of the pu''ic buildings in course of erection. It has, however, undergone
material alterations since its introduction by Francis Watt upon Mr. Ste-
venson's works, during the erection of the Bell Rock Ligbth) use ; but while
undergoing these modifications and changes to suit convenience, the princi-
ple of construction has undergone a change, which has increased the strains
to a very considerable extent.

As originally constructed, the post or upright a was from 20 feet to 30 feet
long, the jib b being of about the same length ; the upright was supported
by gye-ropes or chains, similar to the mode usually adopted in quarries ; but
at present the past is reduced to 15 feet in height, and the jib is extended
to 50 feet in length, whilst the inconvenience or rather impracticability of
getting the gyes fastened in many cases, such as in erecting street buihlings
or quay walls, where there is a great trafHc, led to the substitution of the
two arms c, d, and the framing (Plate XIX. fig. 1) ; and, in order to prevent
it upsetting, the framing is loaded with stones, or other heavy materials, or
when placed on the upper itories or roof of a building, which is frequently
done, the framing is lashed down with chains to some fixed points beneath.
It will at once appear evident that this alteration in the construction, by
shortening the post or upright a, and lengthening the jib or derrick b, must
liave increased the strain on the jib chain to an enormous extent, and in
many instances the accidents occurred from the snapping of the chain.

No one who has seen this crane in operation can call in question its great
utility to the builder, on account of the expedition and ease with which
heavy blocks can he bedded over a considerable extent of front, without
moving the position of the crane after it has been once fixed down ; but the
point to be objected to, is the great amount of strain thrown on the jib
chain, even with moderate weights attached, when the jib is worked at a
great inclination from the perpendicular, and when it is considered that a
weight of 4 or a tons is frequently suspended from it, it is certain that if
builders were only made sensible of the risk, they would be more scrupulous
in hazarding the lives of those under their charge, and fewer accidents
would he heard of.

From what has been stated it will be obvious, that the total strain thrown
on the jib chain depends upon various causes. 1st, The length of the jib.
2nd. The height of the post. 3rd, The inclination of the jib. 4th, The
weight attached. 5th, The proportion of weight due for the jib itself, with
its mountings and chains ; and Cth, The friction. Awa'e of the danger of
trusting to theory alone, in making an accurate investigation into these
sources r.f strain, the author had recourse to a variety of experiments, by
model, being at the same time sensible of the fallacious nature of the results
deduced therefrom, unless increased size and weight, and consequently
increased leverage and friction, were all accurately calculated and allow-
ed for. After numerous experiments, however, it was found, that a near
approximate agreement took place betwixt the results brought out by
tlie model and those deduced from theoretical investigation for the full-sized
machine.

In the theoretical investigation of the question, the weight to be raised
being known (which must include the proportion of weight due for the jib,
&c., along with that due for friction), it is only necessary to apply the paral-

lelogram of forces in the usual way, in order to obtain data wher^jy to
ascertain the strains; thus if A B represent the total weight, B D =
AC gives the strain on the jib chain, while AD represents the strain on the
jib. Or if C D' represent the total weight, A C and A D' respectively re-
present the strain on the jib chain, and the jib or derrick.

Keeping in view, that the great utility of this crane, for street erections,
consists in its having a long jib and short post, it became an object to im-
prove the acknowledged defective part of the machine, the jib chain, not by
adding strength to the chain itself, which had already been done by Luild-
ers, until it was rendered quite inapplicable for winding round a barrel of 8
or 9 inches in diameter, but simply by introducing a pulley between two
rods of iron, bolted to the point of the jib *, as shown in Plate XIX,, figs. 1
and 2, and having the end of the chain attached to the top of the post or
upright a, instead of attaching it to the point of the jib. A mechanical ad-
vantage was thus gained, and a much lighter chain than had hitherto been
used, could with safety be adopted. The loss of speed was more than com-
pensated by the increased ease with which the jib could be worked ; but;
speed in this part of the crane was of little importance, as the jib was
generally placed at the required angle, or nearly so, before commencing to
raise the block. This is the chief improvement, which it is intended to sug-
gest wuc/e this description of crane may be found suitable. It is preferable
also to increase the diameter of the pulleys from 10 or U inches to 18 or
20 inches. The importance of using large pulleys does not, however, seem
to be sufficiently appreciated by the builders, otherwise they would not allow
their machines to be fitted up v\'ith smaller ones. Lastly, tne friction caused
by the angle of the jib chain, after passing the pulley in the post to either
side of the barrel of the wheel and axle, may be obviated to a considerable
extent, by confining the chain to a barrel of from 20 to 24 inches in length,
(fig. 3.)

The strength of chain necessary for working the jib of this crane will
depend on the nature of the work, but for general purposes a chain made
of the best iron, |ths inch or -i^ths inch diameter, will be found amply suf-
ficient.

As some builders might prefer using a rope instead of a chain for working
the jib, the back \iew of a crane (fig. 3), and the jib head (rig. 4), are
shown. Two pulleys are introduced at the end of the iron rods, the other
end being bolted to the end of the jib, as in fig. I, and a third pulley is fixed
to the top of the post. The rope is fastened to the barrel of the wheel and
axle, thence it passes over a pulley fixed on one side of the post, and then
over one of the pulleys at the end of the iron rods; it then returns to the
pulley at the top of the post, and passing over the other pulley at the rods,
returns to that fixed on the other side of the post, and is fastened to the
barrel of the wheel and axle. Thus there is one continuous rope, equally
strained by means of the pulley at the top of the post. By having also the
barrel of the wheel and axle divided into two compartments, as shown in
fig. 3 (back view), the one compartment being about two inches larger in
diameter than the other, the whole of the pulleys will be set in motion
when the jib is working. The rope necessary to work this crane may vary
from 1^ to la inch in diameter, according to the weight of the materials
used, and it would be preferable to a chain, where this construction is
adopted. Fig. 5 is another view of a jib head, showing II e atlachnient of
the rope and pulley to the jib head. The scale of Fi;,'. 1 is drawn to a
scale of 10 ft. to | of an inch, and the remainder of the figures double the

368

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

MARPING HAULAGE ON CANALS.

A new system of hanlast- has been tried for the first time in this rountry

on the RcRent s-ranal, tlirongh the tunnel underSt. John's noo.l. Padding.

ton. I ,s the .nveniion of Captain I5eadou,and is said to have complelely

succeeded. Me have some impression that a similar ssslem has beeo

fr,™ lis merits, but otherwise, proves that ihe invention is a practicable
one. The plan consists of a steam tug-hoat and ropes, as shown in the aii-

2tt 1 vv",l "",""''■ ^'^- ' ;■' ^ '!'" ^•''■"•«'"' «S- ^ a plan view, of a vessel
htttd with steam power and the haulage ropes.

[Dec.

A A engine and boiler, B C two reels or cylinders, carrying wire ropes
D and I- passing out fore and aft of the said boat. 'These reels have'^fn
front of them guides to regulate the wire ropes in winding up, and passing
off such reels, and they are connected with the driving shaft of the entrine
by endless chains shewn in fig. 2, and are placed in the boat fore and
aft he engine and boiler. F. ach reel contains six miles of wire rope, which
IS alternately laid down in the bottom of the canal. The ends of these rones
are attached to the reels, and the two other ends of such ropes are fastened
to posts in the canal banks ; and when the one, say the rope D. is wound
up, the entire working end of the other, E, is down in the canal.
1 be reels are thrown in and out of gear by the reversing motion of the en-

Fig. I.

■"-"-'»'«>•;- <-s>A

Fig. 2.

gear'anT'therTu " boat is as follows : the reel C is thrown out of
der or rp. R 1 '" " r^""' ""' '■""'"^^ ="•'■ s^' i" "lotion, and the cy in
der or reel B revolves and winds in the rope D, whilst the cylinder or reel

.^.e f.io" c^f th?r7„"V'"' Z'r- '^'^^''"^'' '" revolv:,'ind does soby

eca'a aslhehoT ' ",'"'': " "'"' gradually delivered down into

end of tte lo e n^h '""'"""' "'^S' ^^ '''°° "' ""' boat arrives at the

end of the lopeD the engine is reversed, the cylinder or reel B is thrown

"i"rhrro,;e«. ,■"■;.'?'"%'" "'.'"' ""^ ^°P^ ^'-•' ""^ < vlinde H to de"
li.er the rope 1) , so that, m fact, by simply winding in and out of t:;e two

ropes is the boat propelled along backwards or forwards six miles each

h J," '!T ''"'"' °^ •'»'>'' along, they are attached by a tow-rope to thig
boat, and proceed with it to the end of its rope or station. They ar t e,!
disconnected from the boat, and attached to another similar one, "and taken
oihe SIX miles, and so on to Ihe end of their journey. The cana s thus
so't'har h ? " ''?.'' of stations, having tug-boats to stirt atappomfed inie,
80 that boats, as they arrive, are forwarded with regularity. '

RAILWAY CURVES.

,,loyment," in the" Journal fjr October p 300 ''"""' ""' ""^ '^"'^

U here the extremities of a chord line have been already ascertained and
given, and sf.kn there can be no doubt of the simplicIlyVnd alcu^e^ "f
your correspondent's method, provided the localities be s liUble for its exe
cntion. ndeed, I am much inclined to think that, unde those^ e""'
stances, U ,s superior, being less complex, to any otii'er method I hale me"t

I would suggest that it is better to avoid referring to tabular information •
but to be as independent of it as possible. The versed sine of iny "c mav'
be readily found, where the radius and chord are given, by the 47th nro

»eat. After this, the time and trouble of chaining the whole length of the

chord of half the arc may be saved, for it will be found to be equal to

c„.i , I .u ^ *,i'5* '''""■'' "''"'« *'"'■■) "^ + ('-ersed sine) 2,
is ver "i"^ ^^u V ""'"l ^' ''^^"'""^ '° ^' "''^'"'<^'i ■' and at this point,
orZr^iTn^^ \ ^r'"' "V°. ""^ "■'^"•'^ ^'' ■' "'^' i^-F™" "-e square'
«1 I r Ih^ ""^"^^ '*'■"' ''''duct the square of half the chord of half the

of 1,1 . I ^^"".y'O'^ --oot of the dilference, deducted from the radius

on „;«/'■''' "■'"''^''1'"'' '" '""^ versed sine of half the arc; and so
on, ad injinitum. '

The chief object I had in view, in recommending the use of mv instrB-
Wlln,"!,'","''''"'''''']''^' "'""'*'' ' "«y ^ay, under any circumstances,
nls, ,r r ".""'■,' ^"'" '"Z"'"':'^' tbe tangent may either be made to work

past ihem or to stop short of them. &c. ; a new calculation will of course be
requisite to be made at each alteration of the tangent, but that can very soon
be done Another a.lvantage is, that it does not require to see further thao
the length you choose, or fiud it convenient to make the tangent.

Military Library, 30, Charing Cross. "' *"'

os^rf'I'""';" ""^.'^fi."'":'"; of ""y " ^""e Tracing Instrument," " a 6" is
used lor c b, and " effect " for offset.

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

369

EARL'S GONIOMETRICON.
CRegistered lij Mr. George Earl, School of Design, Peckham.*)

The grnat recommendation which this instrument has received from the Pictorial Times induces us to lay it before our readers,
be found to be a very serviceable appendage to the travelling architect,

We doubt not it will
The following is a description of the instrument as given in the above

journal. F'B. '•

"This neat, elegant, and portable delineator has been con-
trived to enable persons unskilled in drawing to find the perspec-
tive direction of the vanishing or receding lines of objects.
This it does with an ease and accuracy which is almost fascinat-
ing. All practitioners, and persons in the habit of sketching
architectural or other complicated views, know the extreme diffi-
culty of getting the leading lines of the picture projected with
accuracy, and how easily the subordinate parts fall into their
places when once these are obtained. This difficulty the gonio-
nietricon obviates, and with its assistance the most uninitiated
may hereafter master the art of drawing in correct proportionate
perspective. The mode of using the instrument is thus described
by Mr. Earl: — Place the instrument between the eye and the
object to be outlined, which is done by holding it with
the finger and thumb of the left hand, at a point between the
top of the arc and the universal joint. It is then fixed in that
position at an angle of 00 degrees with the line of vision, a task
accomplished by taking a small ivory acorn attached to the in-
Btrument by a string, and placing it firmly between the teeth,
■wben the connecting string is stretched to its fullest tension.
This done, the instrument is moved till one of the indicators
(which in the cut looks like the hand of a clock,) coincides with
.the line whose downward or upward direction it is sought to
ascertain. That point discovered, the instrument is laid flat on

the drawing-paper with the horizontal bar parallel with its lower line, and gently moved to the required position, when the line of direction is ruled off
from the edge of the indicator. The bottom of the instrument is set with divisional points, to assist in sketching the proportions of figures, trees, and
objects of irregular form or outline.

•' We have only to add to our recommendation of the goniometricon, that it is much used by artists and travellers, and recommended to general use
by no less a person than the .Astronomer Royal."

The Engraving, fig. 1, is a front view of this very ingenious and useful instrument; fig. 2 exemplifies the manner of its application.

Besides the valuable testimonial referred to, from Professor Airey, we observe there is one from IVlr. Reynolds, of the Kew Observatory, who says —
" Tour instrument is precisely what Dr. Priestley, in his valuable work on perspective, hoped some mechanical man would discover, in order to make
the science of perspective tangible to the comprehension of all." Fig. 2.

* We are indsljted for the use of the wood engravings to our eotemporary, the " Mechanics' Magazine."

BLASTING UNDER WATER.

Paper on the application of Gunpowder as an instrument of engineering
operations, e-remplified by its use in blasting marl rocks in the River Severn.
By George Edwards. Read at the Institute of Civil Engineers.

Many plans have been proposed at different times for the improvement o'
the Severn. It is sufficient, however, for the present purpose to state, th a'
in 1842 an Act was obtained under the advice of Mr. W. Cubilt, V.P. Inst.
C.E., fur the improvement of 43 miles of its length, from Stourport to
Gloucester; over which distance, in many places there was not 2 feet depth
of water during the summer season. The object of the proposed works i

to increase this depth to 6 feet of navigable water during all seasons. Above
Worcester the additional depth is obtained partly by dredging, but chiefly
by a series of four weirs, varying between 300 and 400 feet in length, with
side locks for the the traffic. Between Worcester and Gloucester (a distance
of 29 miles), it is proposed to obtain the required depth, partly by contrac -
ing the channel by embankments of fascines, and partly by dredging. Messi
Grissell and Peto having undertaken the entire completion of the works,
from Stourport to Gloucester, the superintendence of the dredging oj. r.
tions was entrusted to the author. The shoals to be removed by dr.dging
are generally isolated, varying from 100 yards to half a mile in length, and
they require excavating to a depth of from 3 to 5 feet. A large proportion

4tj

370

THE CIVIL KNGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Dec.

of these shoals consist of alluvial gravel, without 'flints, but principally of
quartiose and granitic pcbblo, varieties of porphyry and of compact and
granular sandstone. This material, altbcjugli vcryhaid in some places,
offered no engineering difficulties. Other shoals consist of denuded beds of
hard red marl; this material being found in every instance, when the river
impinges upon the eastern or western limits of its valley. In most places
it was so bard, as to render its removal by the dredging machine (juite im-
practicable; and it is the object of tljc present commimicaiion to describe
the method of blasting, or breaking up this material, witli gunpowder, so
as to render it capable of being dredged up with facility.

That part of the river Severn, above described, traverses nearly north and
south the great plain of red mat! of the new red sandstone foriualion, the
bed of the river from Stourport to about a mile I elow Holt liridge, near
Onilietsley, being formed through the upper strata of the new red sandstone;
upon Ibis lies the great bed of red marl (in places saliferous), d)])ping at a
small angle, but irregularly, to the south east. The river traverses the
whole of this strata, which is prohalily more than 1000 feet in thickness,
passing through the upper strata, and entering the lias formation above
Gloucester.

The led marl is generally considered by geologists to he formed from the
debris of older rocks, and it appears to be totally devoid of organic lemains.
It lies generally in beds, rarely exceeding 15 inches in depth, and often
much less. It is divided occasionally by strata of greenish grey marl, and
near the upper part of the formation by thin, but very hard, beds of shaly,
or imperfect lias.

It is difficult to describe the comparative hardness of materials, but when
it is stated, that in many places it was impossible to cause a steel chisel-
pointed boring tool to enter it by any ordinary exertion, by bond, from a
boat, it will be conceived that it could not be readily raised' liy dredging.
After exposure to the action of the air it breaks up into small fragments,
almost like the slaking of lime, so that solid blocks, which could only be
broken by the application of considerable force into tbarp-edged fiagme'nts,
would, in the course of a few days, fall to pieces and afford no criterion of
its hardness in an undisturbed state.

■When the dredging machine was tried upon one of these mail shoals, it
was found impossible to raise above 50 or CO tons per day, and that with
constant risk and repeated accidents to the machine ; but such rate of pro-
gress was totally incompatil)le with the required progress of the work. At-
tempts were first made to break it up by driving iron bars into it, and priz-
ing it up, but this plan did not answer. A second attempt was made to
loosen it with a very strong plough, something like a "subsoil" plough,
which was proposed to be pulled through the marl by a powerful crab fixed
on a barge, the plough being guided by a strong pole ; the effect produced
was, however, so superficial, and tb.e expense of labour was so great, that
this method was also abandoned, and experiments were made to ascertain
the effect and probable cost of using gunpowder. These were so satisfac-
tory, that it was determined to bla>t all the marl shoals, )>revious to dredg-
ing them. In January, 1B45, as soon as tlie requisite maieiials and estab-
lishment could be prepared, this operation was commenced, and has since
been carried on with no other interruptions than those occasioned by freshes
in the river; the total length of blasting required (about a mile and a half,)
being now nearly completed, and a considerable portion of the marl since
dredged up, at the rate of 200 or 300 tons per day with perfect facility.

The most economical method of using powder, to break up a depth of
rock like that described, would pnibably be to obtain a face of the required
depth atone end cf the work, to put in a row of shots at the back of it, and
after each discharge to remove the loosened marl ; continually repeating the
process; but this method would have been open to many serious objections.
The dredging machine and the blasting gang would have been constantly
waiting for cacli other, and having but two dredging machines to perform
the work, it was of great importance to economise their time in every possi-
ble way. By such proceedings also, a constant obstruction to the navigation
would have been created, equal to the whole width of the new channel.
The number of men that could have been employed in blasting would also
have been very limited. These objections, in 'this particular instance, far
outbal.-inced any little saving of gunpinvder. It was therefore determined
to put in perpendicular shots, througbnut the site of the cbauuel, at such
distances as experience might prove to be best, and proceedings were com-
menced with spaces of C feet from centre to centre of the shot holes.

Six rafts were used, as stages to work from : they were each formed of
four baulks of timber, aliout 10 feet long ; the baulks, placed in pairs, were
secured at a distance of 4 feet apart, by cross pieces, G inches squaie, well
.^piked to the baulks at intervals of 0 feet ; these' were covered with deals 3
inches thick, laid lengthways of the raft, a space of 12 inches in width being
left open along the centre. The ends of the rafts were provided with strong
ring bolts to moor by. Tiiese rafts were confined to one bank of the river
by ropes, and retained at the required distance from it by a series of " sets,"
or booms, abutting against the bank. At tlie up-strcam'end of the raft was
a large barge fitted up as a blacksmith's shop, for tlie necessary repair of the
tools, viith dwellings for the watcbman, the ganger, &c. The hows of the
barge were strongly fortified, and a strong oblique boom of large baulks
reached from it to the shore, so as to protect the whole fleet from the craft
onming down the river. At the duwii-slream end was another barge, fitted
up as a powder magazine and as a shop, furnished with every necessary (or
the ipanufacture of the cartridges and for the storing of their' material. The

words " powder magazine"
this vessel.

in large letters were painted on both sides of

The first operation consisted in placing and securing in their proper posi-
tions, the pipes through which the holes were to be bored. Small stakes,
painted with a series of numbers, were first driven into the bank, parallel to'
the work, at distances of G feet apart ; as far behind them as the slope
would allow, was anotlier row of stakes parallel with the first, so that a line
drawn through two stakes would be at right angles with the river, and a person
standing behind the two stakes could readily direct the workmen when to
lower the charge-pipe, which was then secured in its place, in the opening
of the raft, by a " timber dog," driven into the raft on each side of it. The
pipes were of wrought iron, drawn for the purpose by Messrs. James Russell
and Sons, of Wednesbury : they were 3J inches in diameter, ^ylis inch
thick, and 9 feet long.* Two collars, half inch square, were shrunk on
them near the upper end, for the purpose of retaining a rope, bv which they
were secured when the charge was fired. When the depth of the water
increased, these pipes could be lengthened 4 feet by an additional piece,
prepared for that purpose ; this joint was made by shrinking on a collar, 6
inches long, over the joint. The pipe being in its place, was driven through
any gravel that might remain and a few incises into the marl. The gravel
was generally so thick upon the marl, that it was requisite first to remove
it by means of the dredging machine. To protect the thin edges of the
pipes whilst being driven, a cast iron cap. or plug, was used, which received
the blows from a heavy wooden beetle ; the interior of the pipe was next
cleared of any sand, or gravel, that might have entered while putting them
down. The principal tool used for this purpose was an iron bucket or
cylindrical tube, 2 feet in length, of as laige a diameter as would pass down
the wUdle ; it was furnished at the bottom with a valve opening inwards,
and was jointed to a round rod, of the requisite length, half an inch in dia-
meter, and when used with a pumping motion, tpiickly brought up whatever
could not enter at the valve.

The boring then commenced; a gang of three men being stationed at
each pipe. The first operation was that of the jumper, which was made
with a single steel edge, a little rounded. The jumpers were of round iron,
IJ inch diameter, except 2 feet in length at the lower end, which was li
inch diaiueler. For general use they were 15 feet long, and weighed about
52 lb. each ; after working them till they were nearly set fast, an'aujer was
inserted to raise the plug of loosened marl and to render the hole true.
The shell of the auger was 20 inches long and nearly closed up, the better
to retain the loosened borings.

Tlie shot holes were bored two feet below the proposed bottom of the
dredging, as it was expected that each shot would dislocate, or break into
small pieces, a mass of marl of a conical or parabolic form, of which the

Fig. 1.

A-,' - I- ; • <>^-': " ' V '"

f

I

'./

t'

^Y V

V

V

o

;l

;i

o

\l

0

1 ii

/\

/\

A

'i

i

i

" t

:.-.-

/,'"

~j:.~>^

X '^

1 V

T.V

.' ^\

•>

y

<-.

,x

'/-.

/-^x

i

,'^

^' /

'. ><.

"-^

'*' ^/

\ "-"'

rjr

-•<:'' -' ■> ~v

i

t,

o

V

A.

I'

o

V
li

Ij

o

A

/,

\

V

i

A

'i V

* Where tlie mnrl was bo iU*ep as to require 3 or more pounds of powder, It was found
that the cartridtjes of such diiimeter as could be used in tliese small bores were fo long
as to lose part ot the effect of the gunpowder j BuUequently, pipes of 4 Inches diameter
ucie used uith advauUtje,

184G.J

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

371

bore hole wonUl be the centre, and its bottom the apex, so that four adjoin-
ing shots would leave between them a pyraraidical piece of marl, where the
powder would have produced little or no effect. By carrying the shot holes
lower than the bottom of the intended dredging, the apex only of this
pyramid was left to lie removed, and in practice this was found to form but
a small impediment (figs. 1 and 2). A second reason was, that if the re-
moval of the shoals should cause the level of the summer water to fall
lower than was e.'spected, the marl might still be found suiiicieutly broken,
to enable a greater depth to be obtained without further blasting.

The cartridges, or charges, were formed of strong duck or canvas bags,
somewhat tapered at the bottom ; these were filled with the required charge
of powder, virying from 2 lb. to 4 lb., according to the depth of the marl ;*
the end of a cnii of Bickford's patent fuse was inserted to the centre of the
powder, and the neck of the bag was carefnily gathered up round the fuse,
and well tied with small twine. If the cartridge was small, it was then
dipped into melted pitch, which had about one-fourth of tallow melted with
it, or otherwise the melted pitch was ladled over it, till it was uniformly
coated; in this state, the cartridges were hung to drain and stiffen. When
hard, they were well rubbed over with tallow, and lastly powdered over with
dry whiting. The tallow, whilst it insured the stopping of any little
cracks in the pitch, facilitated the passage of the cartridge down the hole ;
the whiting also prevented the pitch from adhering to anything. It has
already been stated, that the powder was ignited by means of Bickford's
patent fuse; but as this material is never made in lengths exceeding 48 feet,
it was found expedient, in order to save waste, to use the whole coil, cutting
it off at the requisite length when absolutely in the hole, and using the
remainder in the same way till the whole was used up.f

The charge was carefully pushed down into the hole hy a wooden ramrod
of suitable diameter, with the end rounded ; the same instrument was used
for ramming down the tamping. The material found to answer best for this
purpose was the small fragments of hard marl, separated hy the action of
the weather from the lofty escarpment at each of these shoals; this was
gradually filled into tlie holes, and rammed solidly, till the bore was full up
to the surface ; the timber dogs which held the pipes were then removed,
the pipes were loosened from the marl, ropes were attached to the pipes and
to the raft, or to some loose pieces of timber, and the shnts were fired.
Generally there was little external effect beyond the pipes being lifted a few
inches, though sometimes they would be blov,-u up several feet, and occa-
sionally the water would be forced up through the pipe to a height of 40 or
50 feet. All the gangs commenced their holes in the morning, and they
were generally all ready to fire at the same time, which was always done, as
it caused least interruption to the work.

It was a rare occurrence for a shot to miss fire — probably not once in a
hundred shots ; the failure arising generally from a leak at the joint between
the fuse and the hag. If the leak was not very serious, the shots were often
saved by the following somewhat singular expedient. An iron bar, | inch
in diameter and of sufficient length, pointed at the end, was kept in readi-
ness, and when required the end was heated red hot, put quickly through
the water into the tamping, through which it was driven as rapidly as possi-
bly into the powder, which in nine cases out of ten it was still hot enough
to ignite.

The result of the whole work being invisible, great care was necessary in
order to prevent mistakes and omissions. As each shot was ignited, a red
mark was laid against its corresponding stake upon the bank ; when it had
gone off, each shot was carefully examined with a steel chisel-pointed
searcher, to prove that the required effect had been produced to the deter-
mined depth ; when so found, the red mark was inserted into the top of the
stake, as a certificate of that shot having passed examination; the numbers
so certified were then transferred to a book kept for that purpose, and if a
shot was found ineffective, another was j)ut in the same place.

To afford space for the workmen, every alternate hole was first made, and
afterwards those which had been left between them ; one line being com-
pleted, the whole line of raft was moved 6 feet outwards to the next line,
and so on till the required width was obtained. The whole estalihshment
was then dropped down the length of the rafts, and the process was repeated.
When the men had become used to the work, each gang would sometimes
get down four shots per day, to that with fifteen gangs sixty shots have been
fired per day.

It may be objected to the use of the patent fuse, that the ignition of a
number of charges simultaneously by the galvanic battery would have pro-
duced better effect, at less cost, and in a more scientific manner. The author
commenced the work under a different impression, and subsequent experience
with the battery has not altered his opinion. When it is required to separate
a large stone from its bed in the quarry without breaking it, nothing can be
better than the numerous simultaneous discharges, which can only be ob-
tained by the use of the battery, but the object in this work, on the con-
trary, was to break the mass to pieces as much as possible, which it is con-
ceived would be more likely to be effected hy distinct discharges.

Then as regards cost : the patent fuse No. 3, carriage included, cost -^ths

* Tlie weigt\ts of powMer used for deptlis of 4 feet, 4 feet 6 incties, and 5 feet, were
respectively about 2 lb., 3 lb., aud 4 lb.

t The short remaining ends, though useful for less depths, were of little value, from
the diilicu'ty of splicing them to^fther. This oper.ition. though troublesome, was re-
sorted to with success on one occasion ivJiiKt waiting the arrival of a parcel of t ise. On
returning the short ends to Messrs. Bickford they atlowed half the length of new fuse
in exchange, I

of a penny per foot; if the average length is taken at lo feet, that is just
nine-pence per shot, a sum which would barely pay for making the arrange-
ment of wires necessary for the galvanic ignition. It was also foumi, from
the compressihle nature of the canvas cartridges, that the arrangement of the
wires was very liable to be disturbed, during the insertion of the cartridge
into the hole, or by the subsequent ramming of the tamping. After con-
siderable experience, therefore, aud the use of nearly 100,000 feet of the
patent fuse, the author feels that he is only doing an act of justice to the
M.-ssrs. Bickfords, in stating the perfect satisfaction which the use of their
ingeniously manufactured material has afforded him, iu the prosecution of
the work now described.

There now only remains to be given the cost of the operation above de-
scribed. The first cost of the establishment or pl,;nt, sufficient for 6 months'
work, was £300. This includes the waste and use of timber, in the raft,
stages, booms, c^c, hire of barges, and cost of fitting them up for the work]
cost of pipes for boring, iron and steel for tools, deducting estimated value
when done with, sundry ironmongery, waste and loss of ropes and other small
stores.

More than four thousand shots have already been fired, and in the six
months, at a low computation, six thousand will have been fired. This num-
ber gives just one shilling per shot, as the proportionate share per shot of
the cost of the plant ; this would of course be much less if the work was to
be continued.

The cost of labour per shot varies from 2s. Gd. to 4s.; this sum, however,
must be understood to cover the wages of tfie whole establishment as under'
Superintenileut of the work. — Foreman and timekeeper. — Examiner of the
shots. — Maker of cartridge and two assistants. — Carpenter. — Blacksmith and

hammerman. — Labourers, some at 3s.; majority at 2s. 6(/. and 2s. 9d.

Watchman. — Thus the total cost per shot is as under :

s. d.
Use of material . . . . . . ..10

Labour, average . . . . ..33

Pitched bag . . , . . . ..03

3 lb. of powder, at Sjf/. .. .. ..14.!-

15 feet of patent fuse .. .. ..0 9

Pitch, tallow, twine, coals, &c., say .. .. 0 4i

7 0
If, therefore, the shots are 6 feet ap.irt, and an average depth of 3 feet is
broken up, 4 cubic yards are prepared for dredging at the cost of one shot;
or the cost of the whole operation is Is. 9d. per cubic yard. Distances of 5
feet apart were used in some very hard shoals, and spaces of 7 feet were
tried in some that were softer than usual ; spaces of 6 feet apart, however
appeared to be generally sufhcient. '

ON THE CORROSION OF METALS.

P,iper ijR. Adie, of Liverpool, read ut the Inslitution of Civil Engi-
neers. "

This communication is intended to give an experimental proof of the
fact, that Wilier saturated with common salt, preserves to a great extent
the surface of the oxidizable metals from corrosion by the joint action of
air and water. From some trials upon metals placed beside water in
closed glass tubes, it was shown that water, or water containing a saline
solution, does not act as a corroding agent, without the aid of the oxyo-en
of our atmosphere. The details of some experiments, made to ascertain
the quantity of oxygen dissolved by water under different circumstances
showed that brine and some other saline solutions contain much less dis'
solved oxygen than sea or ordinary water, which was the fact that induced
the trial of salt water as a preserver of iron. The object of the last set of
experiments v^-as to determine by trial, the rates of corrosion of metals in
fresh water, sea water, and brine; the results of these show that sea water
corrodes the quickest, fresh water less rapidly, and brine very much slower
than either.

Ore the rate of action of brine, sea and fresh water, in currodin".

These experiments were made with weighed pieces of metal immersed
in the three solutions under examination. Those which are compared to
gether, were tried in every re.-pect under similar circumstances, as to wei<'ht
and surface of metal ; size and form of vessel ; quantity of water emnlovp°d •
light and temperature. I'^^t

The experiments on zinc were made with that metal in connexion with a
piece of copper, so as to form a galvanic couple ; for zinc, when uncon
uected with a less oxidizable mdal, is soon covered with a crust of oxide
so that pieces, after a month's immersion in wafer, are found to be sli^htlv
heavier than at the beginning of the experiment. This is not the case when
a piece of silver or copper is in metallic connexion with zinc; for then the
white oxide of the metal is gradually precipitated to the bottom of the rnn
tain ing vessel. = i.uu-

A plate of zinc, 1 superficial inch in area, immersed

for 60 days in sea water . . . lost 1-0 grains.

A similar experiment in fresh water . . 1-15

A plate of zinc, 7 superficial inches in area, immersed
for 90 days in fresh water • . . 4-9

48*

372

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Dec.

A similar experiment in brine, or the saturated solu-
tion of common salt tested as above for dissolved
air . . . . . . „ 1-4

Wrought iron wire : —

Twenty pieces of iron, weiijhing 374 grains, im-
mersed for HO days in fresh water . . lost I 9 grains.

A similar experiment in sea water . . „ 20

A similar experiment in brine • . . „ 0"1

Cast iron ; —

Three rods of cast iron, weighini; 787 grains, im-
mersed for C2 da>s in fresh water . . lost I'G grains.

A similar experiment in sea water . . „ 20

A similar experiment in brine , . „ 0'4

On comparing logellier the loss of weight of metal in the fresh water,
sea water, and brine, it will be observed, that in sea water the corrosion is
about one third more than in fresh water ; while in brine, the loss of weii,'lit
is about one-fourth part of the loss in fresh water, and one-lifth part of that
experienced in sea water; showing that brine possesses corisidfrable
power for preserving metals from corrosion. The carbonates of potash and
soda are still more efl'ectual in arresting oxidation ; for in saturated solu-
tions of these salts, iron wire remained immersed for sixty days without
any amount of corrosion being detected. The surface of the plate of zinc,
when taken from the brine, was the same as at the commencement of the
experiment, excepting in three spots, where there was deep corrosion. The
principal of these being around the point, where the copper wire connected
the plate with the negative element. The dilference shown between fresh
water and sea water, in their power of oxidizing metals, is in the reverse
order of the quantities of oxygen dissolved by them, as given in the pre-
ceding experiments ; where the sea water is to the fresh as 78 to 85. The
principle on which the preserving power of alcohol is attempted to be ex-
plained may, in like manner, be here applied to pure water. Although the
experiments on the corrosion of iron were continued for eighty days, the
dillV-rence between the action of common water and brine may be made
apparent in one day. In the fresh water, the hydrated peroxide of iron is
Seen forming; while in the brine, only a slight tinge of a greenish infusion
can be detected, a sure indication of the scarcity of oxygen.

The experiments given to determine the respective rates of corrosion in
fresh and sea water, are only correct for pieces of metal wholly immersed
in them. Where the surfaces are subject to be wet and dry, the corrosive
effect of sea water will greatly increase ; on the same principle that iron
once coated with rust, decays much faster after the rust has provided a
oJgmeut for moisture. Take for example a bar of iron in a field, and a
similar piece on the deck of a ship. On the first, the dew of night deposits
water, which corrodes until the return of the sun dries it all olf. On the
second, on the deck, it deposits spray, which acts like the dew, until the
sun dries it oft'; but when dried, there is left a thin deposit of salt, with
a powerful uOioity for moisture, which ou the return of evening will attract
moisture from the atmosphere, long before the dew wets the metal in the
field. Thus it is that a coating of salt or rust, keeps metals much longer
in a wet state, than if their surfaces were clean.

RinKtrbs. — The experiments which showed that brine (by which term,
be supposed, a saturated solution of common salt in waur was meant)
should be found to be less corrosive of iron than sea water, was consistent
with the circumstance, that less air was contained in v\'ater which was
saturated with any solid substance, than was contained iu water only
slightly impregnated with such substance, and there was no doubt, but
that the atmospheric air performed a principal part in the oxydation of
iron, which v\as exposed to the weather. Air containing water in solution,
corroded iron rapidly ; aud water containing air in solution did the same;
and alternate exposure of iron to water aud to air, corroded it still more
rapidly ; particularly when by the warmth of the sun, and the blowing of
the wind, the film of water which was left on the surface of the netted iron
was evaporated, or dried away from that surface, before a fresh wetting
occurred. Perfectly dry air was very slightly, if at all, corrosive of iron,
aud water completely freed from air by boiling, was not actively corrosive,
in the manner that air and water were. Kespecting salt, there was nothing
corrosive of iron in its own nature; it cimtained no oxygen, but althoug'i
it was a great cause of corrosion of iron, the corrode<l iron was found to be
an oxide, not a muriate of iron. The salt when dissolved in water, greatly
increased the corroding ell'ect upon iron which was immersed in the salt
water, aud still more if the iruu was frequently wetted, or washed with
salt waier and dried by the sun and tlie wiud, lu the intervals between suc-
cessive wettings. The concurreut tifect of air, water and salt, was ex-
tremely corrosive of iron. It was well known, that dry salt was not at all
corrosive of iron, for in stoveo fur drying salt, the iiues were frequently
made of iron plates, aud the salt iu lumps being laid directly upon the irou,
did not corrode it at all, the iron being always kept hot and dry ; in the
same stoves, if they were not used, and allowed to cool, the salt absorbed
liumidity from the air, and became very corrosive of the iron work. Iron
salt-pans, for boiling brine, did not become oxydated as rapidly as might
be expected ; indeed, they were scarcely afl'ected at the parts of the up-
right sides of the interior surface of the pans, which were always beneath
th:^ surface of the hot brine aud were not exposed to the action of tire. The
manner in which salt operated, to increase the oxydation of irou, w as pro-
bably by an electro-chemical action, the chief part of the oxygen which the
iron absorbed, being derived from the atmospheric air, the other part from
the water, and uone from the salt. In heaps of old iron exposed to water,
it might be observed to lodge lu the hollows, and to occasion rapid rusting

of the iron, attended by a smell of hydrogen, and a thin pellicle floatingon
the surface of the water, showing dingy prismatic colours. The paper
which had been read, mentioned absorption of oxjgen from the air by
wat-^r; it was generally understood, that when water absorbed air from
the atmosphere, the nitrogen of the air, as well as the oxygen, were both
absorbed together by ihe water, in their accustomed proportions, as they
existed in the atmosphere, so as to be an absorption of atmospheric air by
the water.

Mr. Low E said the paper led to the consideration of the change which was
induced iu cast iron, by continued immersion in various fluids. This bad
been frequently discussed at the Institution, and it would be desirable if
Mr. A<lie would continue his experiments, with a view to elucidating that
question, as the cuuversion of cast-iron into carburet of irou, or graphite,
appeared, under certain circumstances, lo be so rapid, as to have rendered
necessary the substitution of other aud more expensive inelals. In brewe-
ries, for instance, the change had been produced so very speedily, where-
ever the acid wash came into contact with metal, that copper gratings had
been of necessity substiluied for cast iron.

Sir JoH.N IfLNNiii, President, stated, that the earliest example in his re-
collecliun of the change produced by sea water in cast iron, was in some
iron guns which were fished up in 1822 oft Holyhead. 'I'hey were sup-
posed to have belonged to a pirate vessel which was destroyed there about
100 years previously. M'hen found they were quite soft, but after exposure
to the air fur a time, they became so hard, that they were used to fire
salutes, when George the IVth passed through Ho!}head, on his way lo
Dublin, and it was remarked that the report from them was louder lliaa
from any other irou guns of a similar size.

REVIE^VS.

Turning and Manipulation. By Charles Holtzapffel, Vol. II. Illus-
trated by upwards of 700 woodcuts. Hultzapftel. Loudon : I846. 8vo.

This large octavo volume of upwards of 500 closely printed pages, is
only one of a series of six. in which the subject of Mechanical Manipula-
tion is intended to be comprised. The first volume (reviewed, u«(e, vol.
VI, p. 1843), treated of the properties of various materials used in the arts,
and their preparation, &c. The present volume describes the various
kinds of cutting tools used by the hand, such as boring tools, saws, and
planes, and their modification when worked by steam-engine power. The
third volume will refer to abrasive processes, such as grinding and polish-
ing ; Ihe fourth to simple hand turning ; the fifth to complex turning; the
sixth to amateur mechanical engineering. It is intended that the first three
volumes should form a general preliminary work with an index in com-
mon.

The volume before us is of so thoroughly technical a nature, and afl^brds
the most minute and practical information on the subjects of which it treats ;
at the same time, it is written aud arranged iu a very perspicuous mauuei ,
and abounds with interesting accounts of successive improvements of dif-
ferent machines, the extraordinary perseverance aud skill of the mechani-
cians to whom these improvements are due, aud the beautiful accuracy of
their final results. While therefore the chief value of this work will be the
practical guidance which it affords respecting peculiar classes of industrial
art, it has also an interest for the general reader, and especially lo the en-
gineer pursuing some branch of his profession collateral to that here con-
sidered, because it exhibits to him the important mutual dependence of the
arts to each other. The introductory chapter (the 22nd of the work) gives
general remarks ou cutting tools, the variations of the cutting angle of the
tool, (that is the inclination of the surfaces meeliug at its edge) and the
variations of the angle of inclination to tlie material to be cut, which of
course depend on the hardness of the material.

In the next chapter the plane aud planing machine and their modifica-
tions are described, together with a great deal of minute information about
joiuers' benches, bench stops, adjustment of bench planes, aud other 105 steries
of the workshop. The subsequent chapter treats of turning tools for hard
aud soft woods, ivory, brass, iron, and steel, aud the nianipulatiou of these
instruments. Next conies a chapter on drills of all kinds, watch drills,
press drills, ratchet and lever drills, corner drills, dift'ereutial screw drills,
&c. The following chapter is a most interesting one upon cutting ma-
chines, and traces ihe consiruction of the screw from the simple method
invented by Pappus to the most refined processes of modern art. The four
following chapters are devoted to saws, tiles, shears, and punches, respect-
ively, and the application of tliose instruments ou a large scale by steam
or other engine power.

We offer the following extract from the chapter on screws, of an account,
which we have ourselves read with great iuterest, of the successive iiu-

1S46.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEEERAND ARCHITECPS JOURNAL.

373

provements in the manufacture of the screws. The great difficulty is to
make the inclination of the thread uniformly regular, and the extraordinary
and microscopical accuracy which has been attained in this respect may
be considered among the most admirable triumphs of practical science.
The ingenuity, skill, and perseverance of the mechanicians engaged in this
pursuit can be but little known to general readers.

" The late Mr. Henry Maudslay devoted an almost incredible amount
of labour and expense, to the amelioration of screws and screwing appa-
ratus ; which, as regarded the works of the millwright and engineer,
were up to that lime in a very imperfect state. Willi the view of pro-
ducing screws of exact values, he employed numerous modifications of
the chain or band of steel, the inclined knife, the inclined plane, and in-
deed each of the known methods, which however he remodelled as addi-
tions to Ihe ordinary turniuglaihe with a triangular bar ; a natural result,
»s he was then in the frequent habit of constructing that machine, and
which received great improvement at his hands.

" It was noticed at page 5S1, that of all the methods he gave the prefer-
ence to the inclined knife, applied against a cylinder revolving in ihe laihe,
by means of a slide running upon the bar of Ihe lathe; which besides
being very rapid, reduced the mechanism to its utmost simplicity. This
made the process tu depend almost alone on the homogeneity of the mate-
rials, and on the relation between the diameter of the cylinder and the
inclmation of the knife ; whereas in a complex machine, every part con-
cerned in the transmission of motion, such as each axis, wheel and slide,
entails its risk of individual error, and may depreciate the accuracy of the
result; and to these sources of disturbance, must be added those due to
change of temperature, whelher arising from the atmosphere or from fric-
tion, especially when different metals are concerned The rela-
tions between the guide-screw and the copy were varied in all possible
ways: ihe guide was changed end for end, or difl'ertnt parts of it were
successively used ; sometimes also two guide-screws were yoked together
with three equal wheels, their nuts beii g connected by a bar joinitd to
each, and the center of ihis link (nhose motion thus became the mean of
that of the guides) was made to traverse the tool. Steel screws were also
cut, and converted into original taps, from which dies were made, to be
themselves used in correcting the minor errors, and render the screws in
all respects as equable as possible. In fact, every scheme that he could
devise, which appeared likely to benetit the result, was carefully tried, in
order to perfect to the utmost, the helical character and equaliiy of sub-
division of the screw.

"Jlr. Maudslay succeeded by these means, after great perseverance, in
making a very excellent brass screw about seven feet long, and which,
compared with standard measure, was less than one-sixteenth of an inch
false of its nominal length. Taking the error as the one-thousandth part
of the total length of the screw, which was beyond its real quantity, to
make from it a corrected screw by the system of change wheels, would
have required one wheel of 1000 teeth, and another of one tooth less, or
999 ; but iu reality the error was much less, and perhaps nearer the two-
thousandlh of an inch ; then the wheels of 200O and 1999 teeth would
have been required ; consequently the system of change wheels is scarcely
applicable to the correction of very minute errors of length.

"The change of the thousandth part of the total length, was therefore
given to the tool as a supplementary motion, which might be added to, or
subiracted from, the total traverse of the tool, in the mode explained by
the diagram, fig. 1, in which all details of construction are purposely
omitted. The copy C, and the guide-screw G, are supposed to be con-
nected by equal wheels in the usual manner ; the guide-screw carries the
axis of tlie bent lever, whose arms are as 10 to 1, and which moves in a
horizonlal plane ; the short arm carries the tool, the long arm is jointed to
a saddle which slides upon a triangular bar i i.

Fig. 1.

" In point of fact, the tool was mounted upon the upper of two longi-
tudinal and parallel slides, which were collectively traversed by the guide-
screw G. In Ihe lower slide was lixed the axis or fulcrum of the bent
lever, the short arm of which was connected by a link with the upper slide,
to tliat the compensating motion was given to the upper slide relatively to
the lower.

" The triangular bar i t, when placed exactly parallel with the path of
the tool, would produce no movement on the same, and 0 and G would be
exactly alike; but if i i, were placed out of parallelism one inch in the
%vhole length, the tool, during its traverse to the left by the guide-screw G,
would be moved to the right by the shifting of the bent level, one tenth of
the displacement of the bar, or one-tenth of an inch.

" Therefore whilst the guide-screw G, from being coarser than required,
moved the principal slide the one-thousandth part of the total length in
excess ; the bent lever and inclined straight bar i i, pulled back the upper
or compeusating elide, the oae-thousandtb part, or ibe quantity in excess ;

making the absolute traverse of the tool exactly seven feet, or the length
required for the new screw C, instead of seven feet and one-sixteenth of
an inch the length of G. To have lengthened the traverse of the tool, the
bar i i must have been inclined the reverse way ; in other words, the path
of the tool is in the diagram the liifftrence of the two motions; in the re-
verse inclination, its path would be Ihe sum of the two motions, and i i
being a straight line, the correction would be evenly distributed at every
part of the length.*

"Whilst Mr. Maudslay's experiments in perfecting the screw were being
carried on, his friend Mr. Bartonf, paid frequent visits to his manufactory,
and also pursued a similar course. Mr. Barton preferred however, the
method of Ihe chain, or flexible band for traversing the tool the exact
quantity ; because the reduction of the diameter of the pulley or drum
afibrded a ready means of adjustment for total length ; and all the wheels
of the mechanism being individually as perfect as they could be made, a
near approach to general perfection was naturally anticipated on the first
trial. This mode, however, is subject to the error introdued by the elas-
ticity or elongaliou of the chain or band, and wliich is at the maximum
when the greatest length of chain is uncoiled from the barrel.

"Ihese two individuals having therefore arrived, by different methods, as
near to perfection as they were then respectively capable of; each made a
screw of the same pitch, and 15 inches long, and the two when placed
side by side w ere found exactly to agree throughout their length, and were
considered perfect. The two screws were submitted iu 1810 to the scru-
tiny of that celebrated mathematical instrument maker, Ihe late Mr. Kdw.
Troughton, F.K.S., &:c., who examined them by means of two powerful
microscopes with cross wires, such as are used for reading oif the gra-
duations of astronomical instruments; applied like a pair of the most
refined compasses, to measure the equality of some 20, 50, or 100 threads,
taken indiscriminately at diiferent parts of the length of the screws.t
From this severe trial it resulted, that these screws, which to the
unassisted sight, and for almost every purpose of mechanism, were un-
exceptionable, were found to be full of all kinds of errors, being un-
equally coarse at diflerent parts, and even irregular in their angles, or
" drunk." This rigid scrutiny led both parties to fresh and ultimately
successful efforts, but of these our limits will only allow us to notice one,
apparently derived from the use of the tico microscopes.

" Wr. Barion employed iiio pairs of dies upon the one screw ; the dies
were fixed at various distances asunder upon one frame or bar, and the
screw was passed through them. This was found to distribute the minute
errors so completely, that little remained to be desired ; as it is obvious
that at those parts where the screw was too coarse, the outer sides of the
threads were cut, and which tended to shorten the screw ; and where it
was too short, the inuer sides were cut, which tended to lengthen the
screw; in fact the two pans temporarily situated within the dies, were
continually endeavouring to approximate themselves to the fixed unvarying
distance, at which the dies were for the time placed.

" Blr. Barton informed the author that he employed the screw corrected
in the above manner, in his engraving machine, employed for cutting with
the diamond, the lines as fine as 2000 in the inch, on the steel dies referred
to in the note on page 42, vol. i. ; and he said ' that such was the accu-
racy of the mechanism, that if a line were missed, the machine could be
set back for its insertion without any difference being perceptible.' The
author unintentionally ascribed the first application of the diamond to
turning steel, to Sir John Barton, whereas it had been used long before by
Kamsden in cutting the hardened-steel screw for his rectilinear dividing
engine."

These adjustments and corrections, almost perfect as they would seem
to be, have been subjected to still further refinement. One of the most
beautiful mechanical devices which we have ever met with is described in
the subdivision relating to the application of the screw to the graduation of
mathematical scales.

" One very important application of the screw, is to the graduation of
mathematical scales, ihe screw is then employed to move a platform, which
slides very freely, and carries the scale to be graduated ; and the swing
frame for the knife or diamond point is attached to some fixed part of the
framing of the machine. Supposing tlie screw to be absolutely perfect,
and to have fifty threads per inch, successive movements of fifty revolutions,
would move the platform and graduate Ihe scale exactly into true inches;
but on close examination, some of the graduations will be found to exceed,
and others to fall short of the true inch.

" The scales assume, of course, the relative degree of accuracy of the
screw employed. No test is more severe ; and when these scales are ex-
amined by means of two microscopes under a magnifying power of ten or
twenty times, the most minute errors become abundantly obvious, from the
divisions of the scales failing to intersect the cross wires of the instrument ;
the result clearly indicates, corresponding irregularities in the coarseness
of the screw at the respective parts of its length. An accustomed eye
can thus detect, with the microscope, differences not exceeding the one
thirty-thousandth part of an inch, the tweuty-five-thousandth part being
comparatively of easy observation.

* The apparatus was htted to the second screw-lathe of those described, and the in-
clined bar was placed on temporary wooden standards.

t Subsequently Sir J. Barton, Comptroller ot the Mint, &c.

i The niicrosi-Ope had been long ustd in the process of graduating instruments, but
this invaluable mode of employing two micwscopes in combination, was first Buccesaluky
practised by Mr. Troughton.

374

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Dkc.

" From Mr. Donkin's investigation of the subject, he was led to con-
dude that it is quite impossible to protluce a screw which shall be abso-
lutely free from error, when microraetricully proved ; and in lS2;i, he was
in consequence led to consider that as Mr. Maudslay's method of the bent
lever and inclined straiglit bar, would compensaie the error of total length
in a nearly perfect screw, a similar mode mi^ht be applied to all tlie inter-
mediate errors, by the employment of a ciirre, experimentally obtained by
the method of continual bisection employed in hand dividing.

" It having been explainer! in reference to the diagram,* that the incli-
Dation given to the bar would reduce the ell'ective li'iigth of a screw, and
the reverse inclination would increase it, Mr. IJonkin considered that from
the observed fact of one half of the screw (as estimated by counting the
number of threads) being generally too coarse, and the other half loo line,
the compensation would require the one half of the bar to be inclined to
the right, as in the diagram, and the other half to the left; in fact, thus
bendmg ihe right line into an obtuse angle.

" Extending this mode, upon the presumption that the quarters, eights, or
•ixteenths of the screw were also dissimilar, the bar would require many
flexures instead of tlie one only, giving to it a more or less zig-zag character,
or rather that of a gently undulating line. The undulations being propor-
tioned experimentalli/, to effect such compensations, as should add to the
movement of the upper platform or supplementary table, where the screw
was too line, and subiract from its motion, where the screw was too coarse ;
so as, from a screw known to be slightly irregular, to produce the divisions
of a scale, or the thread of another screw, considerably nearer to equality.

" lie carried out this project in 182G, and be has satisfactorily proved the
existence of a correctional method, which is within reach of any clever
workman who will devote sufficient patience to the adjustment of the engine,

and which latter will be now briefly explained To effect the com-

pensation, the platform or table consists of an upper and lower plate, which
are capable of a small independent motion. The lower plate carries the ful-
crum of the bent lever, whose arms are at right angles and as fifty to one,
the lever moves in the vertical plane, so that its longer arm lies by gravity
alone on the curvilinear edge of the compensation bar ; the upper platform
is pressed endlong against the shorter arm of the bent lever, by a spring
which always keeps them in close contact.

" The compensating bar, which is of the length of the screw, or 24 inches,
has 48 narrow slips of metal placed like the keys of a piano-forte, each
having an appropriate adjusting and fixing screw, by which the ends of the
pieces may be placed in a continuous line, or any of them may be placed
above or below the line, as required in the following mode of compensation.
For chanee of total length and adjustment for temperalure, the curved bar
is more or less inclined, as in the former example, except that it is placed
edgeways or vertically ; it is attached to the outside of one of the rails, by
a pivot which intersects the one end of its curvilinear edge, and the other
end is raised or depressed by a screw, which effects the adjustment for tem-
perature.

"Conceiving the length of the guide-screw divided into 48 equal parts, de-
noted by the figures 0 to 48, it would be first ascertained by two fixed mi-
croscopes, if the halves 'of the screw, measured from 0 to 24, and from 24
to 48, were absolutely equal quantities ; if not, the central slip or finger
would be raised or lowered until on repeated trials tlie due correctional
movement was applied to the table. The two halves would be similarly bi-
sected and corrected in the points 12 and 36, and the quarters again bisected
in 6, 18, 30, and 42; and the eighths when also bisected, would extend the
examination to the points 0, 3, 6, 9, &c., to 48. The easiest method is to
compare the path of the slide, with the divisions of a superior scale, fixed
upon the shde or platform of the machine.

" It would now be needful to divide the whole into three parts, by the
comparison of the spaces from 0 to 10, from IG to 32, and from 32 to 48,
the points 10 and 32 being adjusted until exactly equal, which is the most
difficult part of the work ; and then these three distances being bisected
four times, every point of the 48 would have been examined, and some of
them twice over. These adjustments having been repeatedly verified, during
which a very frequent recurrence to the total length is imperative the con-
cluding step is to file off the corners of the 48 slips very carefully, so as to
convert them into a line with undulations, slight it is true, but which repre-
sent fifty-fold the actual errors in the guide-screw ; and therefore shift the
table simultaneously with its general traverse, so as to apply the exact cor-
rections for inequality, at every point examined and found to be in error.

" liut the term error must be received in a very restricted sense, as it de-
serves to be noticed that Mr. Donkin first used a screw made by Mr. Mauds-
lay, and the maximum deflection of the curved edge of the compensation
bar from a straight line was very nearly the ei()htk of an inch, indicating the
maximum error of the screw to have about the 4n0th part of an inch ; and
as the curve was nearly limited to a single undulation, or a bill at one
end, it may be presumed this minute error was in part attributable to a
difference in the material, a source of perplexity from which no care is a
sufficient protection. The dividing engine was employed as a traversing
lathe in cutting a new screw, and which, although it had the advantage of
the compensation, onlv reduced the error of the new screw to about one-
third the quantity of that of the first ; as shown by the new curve assumed
by the compensation bar, its deflection being t}j; of an inch, when re-adjusted
in the tedious and anxious method described.
," lu the past year, 1842, Mr. Donkiu has made a similar bnt en-

* GiTeu in tLe lust extract.

larged dividing engine. The length of traverse of the new machine
is 42 inches, the screw has 40 threads to the inch, the compensation
bar is as UO to 1, and the value of one single tooth in ihe counting
wheel is equivalent to the C0,000lh part of an inch ; that of the first ma-
chine having been the 30,000ih part. It is to be hoped that Mr. Donkin
will complete his labours, by publishing a detailed account of these ma-
chines, the latter of which, in particular, exhibits throughout its structure
a most refined contrivance and execution, of which no adequate idea can
possibly be conveyed within the limits of this slender notice, nor without
exact drawings of the details, to the arrangement of which great attention
has been bestowed."

The work is in plan one of the most extensive of all those which form
the literature of praclical science, and forms an invaluable addition to it.
We may probably again refer to it. There are two papers by Professor
Willis ; we should like to know whether they have been originally com-
municated to this work, or are merely reprinted. They are inserted with-
out any iutroductiou.

The Assistant Engineer's Railway Guide in Boring, Ifc, preceded by
Practical Memoranda on Specifications. Illustrated by 60 woodcuts and
plates. Hy \f. Uavis Haskoll, Civil Engineer. Williams, Strand, 1846.
8vo. pp. 130.

So many books are now published on various branches of the practice of
railway engineers, that we naturally look to the commencement of each
new publication fo learn the author's specific object, and how his produc-
tion differs from the rest of its class. The present work has not, however,
any preface or introduction : it indicates as far however as may be learned
from the title of the book, and an examination of its contents, Mr. Haskoll'a
object has been to set before the assistant engineer a concise, but at the
same time, explicit directions for his guidance, in examining the progress
of a railway, and in ascertaining that the contractors' work is satisfactorily
performed. The first, and one of the most useful chapters, gives an ab-
stract of the clauses which ought to be contained in a specification for the
construction of a railway, and the general conditions of contracts. The next
chapter treats of railway borings, and about one-fifth of the whole work is
occupied by a full account of the tools and operations requisite in boring
to ascertain the nature of the strata which a railway traverses ; this chap-
ter concludes with an account of the economic properties of various kinds
of English building stones. The third chapter treats of the methods of
setting out the centre line and curves of a railway. This is followed by
minute directions for setting out slopes, making land plans, &c. The fifth
chapter explains the method of setting out foundations, and affords eome
hints which will be very valuable to those eugaged in over-looking tlie
construction of brick arches and masonry. Mr. Haskoll gives a very bad
accouut of bricklayers. They seem a slippery set of fellows, and require
as much watching as horse-dealers.

The general duections for securing firm foundations are good in
themselves, but not perhaps sutSciently extended : instead of referring
to other works, such as Hughes's papers on Foundations, Godwin on
Concrete, Vicat on Cements, and papers in the " Civil Engineer and
Architect's Journal," the author might have furnished a useful colla-
tion of information from those sources. At the end of the book are a table
of gradieuts, and that most valuable appendage— a good index. The ar-
rangement of the book is very clever ; the paragraphs are numbered and
reference to them is greatly facilitated by the frequent marginal references
which occur on every page. The author has saved the student much
trouble by bringing together a great deal of information, scattered about
different publications, and his task is performed in a successful manner.

The following is, with some omissions, the abstract of the clauses which,
ought to be contained in a specification drawn up on the part of railway
company, for the direction of contractors. For precedents of the general
conditions of contracts, the author refers to those of Stephenson, Brunei
and other engineers, in Brees' Railway Practice. The perusal of the ex-
tract below will give to the student a good general idea of the practice of
railway construction, and of the points to be attended to in overlooking the
progress of the works.

" Strong general clauses in a specification are unjust and arbitrary to-
wards a contractor, where they are only iuteuiied to shelter au engineer
from neglectful omissions, and from due responsibility, aud where full and
particular explanations and instructions are not given, for the construction
of the various works, as they occur along the different contracts. But
where they refer to the manner of the work, general workmanship, to the
kinds and qualities of materials, unless otherwise specified in particular
place, tliey canuot be objectionable. General couditions to contracts should
be added lo protect companies from trouble ami annoyance, resulting from
the depredations and reckless conduct of workmen, times of payment, re-

1846.1

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

375

strictions from neiglibouring lands, and also for the protection of the work-
men from fraud and tyranny ; power to increase number of men, or to re-
move objectionable parties.

" Tlie permanent fencing may consist of a brick wall, of which materials,
dimensions, footings should be given, by drawings figured ; and whether
set in mortar or cement, or in part. Or it may consist of a rubble wall, set
iu mortar, with half hammer dressed coping, accfrding to drawings and
dimensions. M here thorough stones or borders are to be inlroduced, it
should be mentioned, and the size of the stones limited, both fur ihe walling
and coping. Permanent fencing may also consist of a good set fence
and ditch, with a row of posts and railing lixed on the outside, according
to dimensions to be given. The posts and railing to be good oak or larch ;
the posts to be 0 inches square, or 6 by 3 J inches, 3 fed ti inches out of the
ground, and 1 foot 0 inches in the ground ; that part below the ground to be
•well charred, and llie posts to be from 7 to 9 feet apart.

'* The soil underneath the cop must be carefully trenched over 12 inches
deep, previously to the cop being formed ; the cop must then be formed by
a rampailing of sods on each side, and the intervening space filled with
good vegetable soil; the cop must be planted in the monlhs of October or
November, P'ebruary or i\larch, wilh good white-thorn plants four years
old, having been transplanted from the seed bed three years.

" The ditch to be 4 feel wide at the top, and 2 feet at ihe bottom, and I
foot (i inches deep ; the depth of the ditch must be varied, so as to carry off
all the waler flowing from the embankments or adjoining lands, and projier
comuiunicalions must be made with each intersected dram, so as ell'ectually
to attain the desired object, and drains must be formed under the cop,
at such intervals as may be requisite to carry of all the waler from the foot
of the embankments.

" If the engineer should deem it necessary to increase the width of the
excavations or embankments, or to flatten the slopes, the contractor will be
paid extra for increased quantities, unless it happen that there is excess of
excavation, which would otherwise have to go to spoil, in which case the
engineer may direct the embankment to lie increased wiihout the contractor
being paid any extra sum, or, unless side-cutting berequireii, in which case
the engineer may direct the excavation to be increased, and the contractor
shall have no claim for so doing.

" At the proper season the slopes must be sown with rye grass or white
clover seeds, at the rate of 2 bushels of the former to 6 pounds of the latter
per statute acre.

" W henever any change is made in Ihe inclination of any of the slopes,
it must be done gradually, and in not less than 25 yards in length, unless it
occur at a bridge, in which case the inclination of the slopes may be dif-
ferent at each side of Ihe bridge.

" During the progress of execution, great care must be taken to prevent
water from settling in the excavations and embankments, and any means
deemed fit by the engineer, must be resorted to in order to prevent it. A
ditch or channel, 12 inches wide and G inches deep, must be formed along
each side of the excavation, at the foot of the slope, to carry oil' the water ;
and if, in the opinion of the engineer, it should become necessary or advi-
sable, in any one case, to put open drains, formed wilh rubble pitching and
side walls, as shewn on drawing, the contractor shall be paid extra for such
increase of work, according to the prices set forth in Ihe schedule.

" In the event of any soaks, springs or streams of water appearing from
the face of the slopes or otherwise, the conlraclor must, at bis own expense,
eBeclually drain ihe same, by means of drains or water courses, of rubble
or brushwood, put in such manner, and to such extent, as the engineer
shall deem expedient from time to time, to prevent such soak, spring, or
Stream, from injuring Ihe works during progress, and the whole of such
water shall be conveyed into proper drains.

" Whenever the seat of an embankment occurs on side-long ground, the
same must be cut out in steps, sloping inwards towards the embankment,
and the material punned so as to prevent the embankment from slipping.
Should the seat of Ihe embankment be peat or other soft material, deemed
by the engineer unfit to bear Ihe weight, the contractor shall, at his own
cost, and ascording to instructions from Ihe engineer, remove the same, or
ctit out a trench, 10 feet wide, entirely through the pea', under the foot of
each slope, and till up Ihe same with good dry material, to be approved of,
carrying it 0 feet above Ihe surface of the ground previously to the em-
bankment being tipped on it.

" In bringing an embankment over any bridge, or culvert, the greatest
care must be taken to prevent any unequal loading; and any damage
caused by neglecting this precaution must be made good by Ihe contractor
al his own cost. Jn ihe case of culverts with side vsalls, a space of 10 feet
on each side, and over the top, must be punned to a height of S feel above
the culverts, and no greater height of embankment must, in any case, be
allowed to be tipped against or upon the culverts than the height already
laid upon the culverts. In the case of crossing of bridges in embank-
ments, the earth must be punned in each case, fur such a space as the en-
gineer may deem requisite, in no case being for a less space lliao 10 feel
from the abutment or wing wall, and the material must be conveyed acitiss
the bridge by means of baulks of timber laid so as to enable each side lobe
embanked equally at llie same time.

'• Where the building of bridges may interfere with the traffic of roads,
and previous to any bridge works being commenced, a jiroper well-made
temporary road shall be prepared and made, which must be suliicient for
the free passage of carriages of all descriptions. The contractor must take
every precaution during the alteration, to erect proper fencing, tix lights,
and have a night watchman to prevent accidcuis, as the company will not

be liable for any injury arising from any neglect of these precautions on the
part of Ihe contractor.

"The bricks made use of shall be hard, sound, well shapen, thoroughly
burnt, and of uniform size, and unless made a year before they are used,
must be well salurated wilh water. No broken bricks will be allowed, ex-
cept where required as closers; and, in case of backing, the whole must
be flushed up perfectly solid wilh morlar, for which purpose, afler the out-
side course is set, Ihe morlar must he laid on Ihe interior space, and water
being poured on must be worked about until every joint is filled perfectly
solid. The whole must be built in old English bond, that is, in alternate
courses of headers and stretchers, and in case of thick walls, every third
and fourth course of the interior, must be laid a " Herringbone ;" the face
work must all be neatly jointed with a trowel, and struck with a slrait-
edge. No face work will be allowed to be Iniilt over-handed; no four
courses with three joints, must exceed in thickness, when built, three-
quarters of an inch more than the same bricks measure when piled on each
other without mortar.

"No brick work or stone work shall be set in frosty weather.
" All Ihe slone used in the work should be sound, hard stone, free from
shakes, clay holes, beds, or flaws of any description : if desirable, describe
Ihe quarry ; it must he approved of by the engineer. No slone either in
the inside or outside work should break joint less than 18 inches ; the stones
iu the interior work should bond well with each other, and each course
well grouted wilh lime.

" The ashler uoik shall lay in courses, not less than 12 inches thick, anri
wilh stones, not less than 4 feet by 2 on the bed, and laid alternately as
headers and stietchers ; all joints must overlap at least 12 inches. In all
cases where the engineer may deem it advisable, the whole must be
dowelled together with dove-tailed bard stone dowells, or cramped with
iron.*

"The block in course shall be of stone laid in courses, not less than 7
inches thick, and each stone shall not be less than 12 inches by 18 inches
on the bed, laid allernalely as header and stretcher; and one-fourth the
length of each course shall consist of slones not less than 30 inches in length,
measuring from the face of the work to ihe interior, laid as nearly equidis-
tant as possible so as lo eflect a perfect bond with the rubble backing.

" The rubble backing must consist of flat bedded slones, as large as can
be obtained. The whole must be carefully pinned and made solid, laid iu
mortar, and cut to a level surface at every course of the face work ; and
alter the next course of the face stones is laid, the interstices must be com-
pletely filled with thin mortar, the mortar being mixed with water, and
worked about until every crevice is filled perfectly solid.

" When rubble is used for Ihe entire work, both on the face and iu the in-
terior, Ihe slones must be laid wilh great care so as to be perfectly bonded
together ; no stone must conlaiu less than a cubic foot except when used
only for pinning.

" Pier points will consist of flat bedded stones, cut into uniform sizes,
not being less than 10 inches by 5 inches on the bed, and 3 inches thick ;
they will be used for turning tiie smaller arches.

" Where desired by Ihe engineer in foundations, in parts below the sur-
face of the ground, or under water, or parts exposed lo wet, to any height
desired, the mortar shall be made wilh hydraulic lime, of a quality that
shall meet wilh the approbation of the engineer. No mortarwhich has set.
or become hard, will be allowed to be used.

"The cement used shall be patent Lilhige, or Earle's cement, or any other
desired, but vvhichever be used shall be of the best quality, and shall be ap-
proved of by the engineer; it must not have more than one part of clean
sharp sand to two parts of cement, and these proportions shall be accurately
measured ; Ihe mixture shall be wetted only as required for use, and none
shall be used that has set or hardened.

" The concrete must be composed of good coarse gravel, or broken stones,
either being approved of by the engineer, with an admixture of good sharp
sand. The gravel and sand must be n.ixed wilh lime, in Ihe proportion of
one part of ihe latter to six parts of the former.

" Stone arches will be of ashler, block in course, or pier points. The
beds and joints of the slones must be worked lo accurate planes, and the
beds in Ihe direction of the radii of the arch. The greatest care must be
taken to cut the stone in the spandrils, so as to fit close on Ihe extrados of
the arch.

" In all cases where Ihe arches are built askew, the courses must be in
spiral lines, at right angles to the face of the arch.

" Pierpoint arches will be laid similarly to brick arches.
" Counterforts must be worked into Ihe boiiy of the arch, and tlie courses
below the springing of the arch must all be parallel to the radius of Ihe arcli
at the springing line.

" .\s souii as the weather will permit, or when the engineer may direct,
the arch and backing shall be covered with coal tar. Or asphalte, properly
prepared and approved of by the enyiueer, may be used for this purpose,
whn h is to prevent water from sinking into Ihe arch ; and the contractor
shall be held responsible that the arches, backing, and spandrils shall be
made thus impervious.

"Above this coating of tar or asphalte, and, when ordered by the en-
gineer, a coating of sand to the depth of G inches shall be laid, and above
this, ihe space must be filled wilh shivers of slone laid with a regular sur-

* Though iron cramps are often used, they should not be resorted to without mucti
coilsideratioD, as the corrosion of the iron is sure to rend the stone sooner or later aud
where the iron is much exposed to atmospheric influence this will soon occur.

376

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECFS JOURNAL.

[Dko,

face, and lastly, a good road metallinj;, of a kind approTed, of 8 inches thick,
shall lie laid, and the stones properly broken.

" Where stone imposts or springers are used, they must be equal to the
full thickness of the arch, besides allowing; for the projection, and no stone
shall be less than 30 inches in length ; where there is more than one arch,
at least four stones on every pier shall extend across the whole breadth of
the pier. In cases of skew arches, the skew back must be worked out, to
suit the oblique direction of the courses.

"Openings must be left through the lower parts of all abutments, wing
wal!s, and retaining walls, and dry rnbble drains carried up at the back, in
order elfectually to prevent any water lodging behind the brick work or
masonry.

" The abutments and wing walls shall be filled into and backed with
chipping of stone, as far as they can be procured, clean dry gravel, or suit-
able material approved of by the engineer, and to be procured in the
neighbourhood ; as they are carried up, the filling and backing shall be
well rammed with punning malts, in courses not exceeding eighteen inches
thick.

" Culverts, under three feet in length, must be carried to the outside of
the fencing. Culverts must be built to the necessary angle, and each culvert
shall be so placed as to give a free and uninterrupted passage to the water ;
and whenever the position or direction of a culvert does not coincide with
that of the existing course of stream, the course shall be altered to such ex-
tent as may be considered requisite by the engineer, to adapt it to the posi-
tion of the culvert, by the contractor, at his own cost. They shall be built
of materials to be approved of by the engineer, and such as will stand well
in water, and shall be set in good hydraulic lime mortar. The site of cul-
verts may be varied by the engineer.

"The foimdations of viaducts, bridges, culverts, walls, and other works,
must be excavated to such depth .is the engineer may deem requisite, and no
masonry or concrete must be put in until they have been examined and ap-
proved of by the engineer. All the water must be effectually kept out during
the execution of the works by means of coffer-dams or pumps, or both, and
the cotfer-dam or pumps, or other machinery, to be provided by the con-
tractor, and approved of by the engineer. If it is required to carry the
foundations lower than shown on drawings, the contractor must execute such
additional masonry, brick work or concrete, or piling and planking, according
to the schedule of prices, being paid only for such additional work so
put in.

" The piles to be of red pine timber, 10 inches square, each pile shod with
a wrought iron shoe, weighing at least 18 lb. ; the piles to be driven well
home, and at least 2 feet into a solid material, with waling pieces, 12 inches
by 10, bolted to them by wrought iron bolts, to which 3 inch planking shall
be firmly spiked.

" The whole of the timber used in the bridges shall be of the best St.
John's red pine or Baltic timber, and the deals from Dantzig, of such lengths
as may be required, free from heart shakes, sap, dead knots, dry rot, or any
other defects whatsoever, and thoroughly seasoned, having been felled at
least two years, and six months out of water. All the trenails used in the
bridges shall be of sound English oak. It must be stacked as soon as brought
on the ground, and preserved from wet until used. All the timber must be
painted with three coats of good oil paint, at such times as the engineer may
direct. In measuring timber, no allowance to be made for mortices, tenons,
&c., but only the net measurement taken ; and the workmanship throughout
to be good, sound, and firm, and such as shall be approved of by the en-
gineer.

" All castings shall be moulded of a true form, and free from air holes or
other defects, and shall be of correct measured dimensions when ready to be
titled in place. All cast iron shall be of the best No. 2 iron, re-melted in the
furnace, and shall be of a quality approved by the engineer ; no hot blast iron
will be allowed.

" Girders shall be subject to be proved by the hydraulic press, under the
inspection of the engineer, and at the expense of the contractor, according to
what the substance and form are calculated to bear, and each girder shall be
tested by at least one half the calculated breaking weight. Or the iron shall
be of such strength, that an inch square bar, of 36 inches in length, between
supports, shall bear a weight of 500 lb. suspended in the centre. And,
should any castings be injured by testing, or prove unequal to the test,
others, that shall be satisfactory to the engineer, shall be provided by the
contractor.

" All joints shall he made to fit perfectly close and tight, and no cement
stopping or plugging shall be introduced ; and in all cases where iron rests
upon stone, a milled pad must intervene, and the whole must be put together
in the best and most workmanlike manner.

" Wrought iron must he of the best scrap, or No. 3 bar iron, approved of
by the engineer, and of sufficient strength to bear, without injury, 15 tons
per square inch of sectional area.

" No wrought iron straps, bolts, or other work, must on any account be
hammered when cold, without being afterwards annealed. The bolts to be
made so as to fit the holes correctly, after they are seasoned to receive them.
All iron work must be painted with three coats of good oil paint, without
being allowed to rust.

Engineer'a Manual of Mineralogy and Geology. By Sirs. Varley.
London : Weale. 1846.

This is a very clever little work, well written, lucid in its descriptions,
and we think fully carries out the intention of its talented authoress.
Mineralogy is a subject of growing interest, both as a pure science, and in
its applications to the arts ; and a work, divested of technicalities, and the
intricacies of nomenclature, is a desideratum. No science has undergone
more revolutions in this respect, as we find many minerals have no less
than four or five names in dEflerent books. A knowledge of the laws, and
the relations of crystalliue forms, which obtain in the mineral kingdom is
valuable, not only as a subject of philosophic speculation, but also in its
applications to geology, chemistry, and especially to engineering pursuits.
Few men have more frequent opportunities of studying practically the
sciences of geology and mineralogy than engineers ; for at the present
time, when railways are being carried on, and the surface of the
earth penetrated in almost every direction, the diflferent strata, and the
mineralogical character of the country must be constantly under their no-
tice, and in the words of our authoress, " They ought in such operations
to compare and combine an accurate observation of whatever comes under
their cognizance with facts already established ; and every new incident
however trifling it may at first appear, if recorded with precision, will be-
come valuable as an addition to the geological knowledge we already pos-
sess."

As an illustration of the necessity of paying due attention to the internal
structure of the materials used in machinery, and more particularly to those
parts which are subject to a long continuous vibration, we may instance the
alterationof structure to which the iron axles of railway carriages are li-
able from the perpetual vibrations to which they are exposed. The toughest
and most fibrous wrought iron is always selected for the construction of
these axles, and from this continuous vibration the particles assume a new
crystalline arrangement, assimilating to the construction of cast iron, and
eventually becoming brittle. We understand this important point is under
careful examination. Some very interesting specimens of iron axles which
have undergone the molecular changes in question, may be seen at the
Museum of Economic Geology.

We will now give a brief sketch of the subjects in the work, and the
manner in which they are handled. The first 42 pages give a short account
of the rocks of Devon and Cornwall ; the unstratified rocks, granite, syenite,
greenstone, basalt, porphyry ; all of which belong to the trap formation with
the exception of granite; also the places at which they most abundantly
occur: then follow the stratified rocks, gneiss, mica-slate, clay-slate, the old
and new red sandstone formations, carboniferous and oolitic systems, creta-
ceous and tertiary systems, with the minerals which are found in them-
with a short account of the analysis of them, by that invaluable little in-
strument, the blow-pipe. Although we agree with the authoress that " ia
the greater number of cases, if a specimen of ore be characteristic, an ac-
curate observation of its external character will enable us to recognise it
without having recourse to chemical process;" yet we vpould strongly re-
commend students who wish to acquire a knowledge of mineralogical
science, first to obtain some acquaiutance with chemical analysis. A few
tests or re agents, combined with the application of the blow pipe, will en-
able them to perform a qualitative analysis of an ore, and thereby obtain a
much more intimate knowledge of the composition and nature of the ore
than could possibly be acquired by the simple observance of its external
characters: again, according to Mitscherlich's law of isomorphism, there
are minerals whose crystalline forms are identical, but whose chemical
composition is different.

The different ores of gold, silver, copper, iron, &c. are next brought
under consideration, their characters are succinctly given, and the richest
ores for smelting stated. The tables of analysis of silver and copper ores
are valuable, as showing the amount of metal which can be extracted from
each one : we should have liked to have seen the same carried out for some
of the other metals. The next part of the work treats of the mineral rocks
and earths, and closes with the physical characters of minerals, embracing
a brief account of the doctrines of crystallography. M'e would notice the
only error which we have observed while perusing the work, and that for
the purpose of having it corrected in a subsequent edition. It is stated,
page 40, that gold is soluble in hydrochloric acil, whicli is a mixture of
nitric and muriatic acids ; now, hydrochloric arid is the new name for
inuriat'C acid, and as such, gold is insoluble in ; , Gold is not dissolved
in any of the pure acids ; its best solvenis ai t lorine and nitro-hydro-
chloric acid, and the latter only when it giv t.se to the formation of
chlorine. We miglit observe that fluorine also coi.- jines directly with gold.
In every other respect the work merits our most cordial approbation, and
our thanks are due to the lady who has produced a book which we feel
assured will be useful.

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECFS JOURNAL.

377

TAe Newlfafe Discourses on Fine Art Architecture. An attempt to
talk rationally on the subject. By Egbert Kerr, Architect. Weale,
12nio. pp. 2U8. [No ilate]

Tlie author of this book ought to be condemned to write his own review
of it: his principles are so 'indefinite, and are expressed in such dilFnse
language that no one but himself could give a fair analysis of them.

Trusting to the table of contents more than to au examination of the
book itself, we may state that the subjects considered are mainly these : —
The definition of architecture, considered as a fine art, comes first. Then
follows a contrast between an orthodox, well-fed, alderman-architect, dis-
tinguished principally by a sedulous regard for the main chance, and a
heterodox, visionary, artist-architect, distinguished (as we should say) by
having, as times go, no chance at all. Next, the several pursuits of two
Buch architects are distinguished, and are illustrated, moreover, by some
stories which are meant to be very funny, and are in fact very puerile.
Archaeology, the history of architecture, Ecclesiolog/sm, architectural
study, &c., are subsequently considered. The concluding topic is the
Royal Institute of British Architects.

We quite agree with the opinion published by Candidas last month
{atife p. 328), that the book is clever and entertaining, and thp doctrine
(what little there is of it) excellent. We think also that the writer has
displayed a generous courage in defence of his art by boldly— and without
respect of persons — denouncing all atlempts to degrade it. But what we
'chiefly object to in these Discourses is, that they are overladen with verbi-
a,ge. The reader plods on — and on— and on — page after page, expecting
every moment to arrive at the gist of the argument, but never reaching it
till he be fairly tired out. Yon are perpetually reminded of eating 07iie-
htte souffle ; or quote mentally Polonius's question to Hamlet, with the

reply —

" Wliat do you read, my lord ?'*
'* Words, words, words."

The question of Precedent, which occupies our author a good deal,
seems capable of being so easily stated, as to be scarcely worth discuss,
ing. Antiquity afJbrds a presumptive, but not a final, proof of excellence.
There are precedents for error as well as for truth, for bad architecture as
well as for good ; but still we may presume that, on the whole, good ar-
chitecture would be the most carefully preserved. The noblest monuments
of ancient art are old because they are good — uot good because they are
old. That is to say, their long preservation is the eCect, not the cause, of
their excellence.

Both good and bad precedents have their value, however : the former
teach us what to emulate (uot imitate), the latter what to avoid. It is
well enough to say thai all art must be ultimately criticised by the princi-
ples of beauty observed in nature; but this canon, invaluable as it is as a
fundamental truth, is of that abstract nature, that its full value can be
learned only from its examples. Two architects may both agree as to its
accuracy and importance, and dilTer toto ceelo as to the methods of uppUjing
it. The right-thinking student, therefore, will not refuse to benefit himself
by the efibrts of his predecessors, which enable him to compare actual
examples of these different methods.

Or, to view the subject a little more metaphysically, is it not clear
that the principles of beauty observed in nature, are applied in nature in a
manner in which they cannot be applied in art ? What the architect wants
to avail himself of are, not so much natural forms as natural principles.
Now the process of separating the one from the other is too difficult to be
efTected by a single trial — it must be tentative. It is only after many
trials and many failures that we shall be able to combine masses of ma-
sonry into forms useful for artificial purposes, and yet strictly restrained
by " the modesty of nature." That a man may have sufficient genius to
do this at once is possible, though not probable ; but for men of ordinarily
constituted minds the bare knowledge of principles is insufficient; expert-
ness in the correct use of them is the result of actual practice. An accu-
rate knowledge of hydrostatics, for example, does not necessarily lead to
dexterity in the art of swimming; and a man may be thoroughly versed
in the theoretic rules of horsemanship, and yet break his neck in the first
attempt to apply them.

The attack upon the Archaeologists and Camdenists is ingenious enough,
but not sufficiently discriminating. Archaeologists no doubt have their
follies like other people, and are especially apt to consider that the most
estimable parts of antiquity are its dust and rust. Still tlie Archasologiets
are our fellow labourers, and useful in their way. They have ofien pre-
served or discovered monuments of the Beautiful which had else been lost
— and the Beautiful is ever to be venerated whatever be ite date or the de-

signation of its guardians. The Camdenists are a still more valuable
body, for they openly avow the doctrine of progression. It is true that
they are slightly touched on the subject of symbols, and are apt to wander
and talk wildly when the topic is introduced. They display also a most
lady-like punctiliousness on the subject of dress. But take them from
their idiosyncracies and they show an honest generous enthusiam for artistic
architecture — talk like men who observe diligently, and yet are capable of
reasoning for themselves; reason for themselves, and yet are not above
confirming their judgment by observation.

The strictures upon the Institute of British Architects are, we fear, too
correct. It were difiicult to say what the Institute has done, since its
foundation to advance the art which it professes. It is clear that the col-
lection of editions of Vitruvius and prize essays on slates does not forward
architecture a single step. Can the most zealous member of the Institute
inform us of any one fact or opinion elucidated during the last sessions
which will tend to the advancement of architecture? A\'e know of none —
except it be the ingenious investigation by Mr. Penrose,* tending to show
that the Greeks observed in their works one of the sources of beauty which
has been overlooked by the moderns. There were discussions usque ad
nauseam about plaster imitations of stone, and the Five Orders, and prizes
for architectural designs in which the canons of constructive fidelity were
systematically violated. But efforts such as these are not progressive, but
retrograde.

The truth is that the Institute is too orthodox— too bigwigged — too
donnish, to use a Cambridge word. The individual members have, we
believe, a sincere love of architecture, and are actuated by the best inten-
tions; b',ut they are infirm of purpose, fear to speak unless they can quote
chapter and verse for their authority, and shut their eyes to the fact that
the whole system of architecture has grown debased by the lapse of time,
and wants reforming.

Mr. Kerr's talents are certainly above mediocrity, and his denuncia-
tions are courageous, if not the most prudent. At all events he shall not
have cause to complain that we are opponents of his efforts to purify archi-
tecture. We are among the malcontents ourselves. The reform of abuses
which Pugin advocated in the Pointed style must in spite of opposition be
extended to all styles, and if Jlr. Kerr will but write a little less diffusely,
and lay down more definite and tangible principles, he may become an in-
valuable labourer in the good cause.

We had nearly forgotten .to state that a considerable part of these Dis-
courses is a republication of letters addressed to The Builder. This fact,
in courtesy to our contemporary, ought to have been stated in the present
volume. The pervading fault seems to be an over-anxiety to be facetious.
We do not mean to say that there is no real original wit in the book, but
simply that we have been too dull to perceive it.

A manual of Gothic Architecture. By F. Paley, M.A., with nearly
seventy illustrations. London : Van Voorst, 1846. 12mo. pp. 304.

An instructor should always know more than he teaches. It might ap-
pear at first sight that the writer of an elementary treatise need possess no
more than elementary knowledge ; yet it is a matter of experience that those
who have not advanced beyond first principles cannot teach first principles
correctly. Profound erndition has never been more worthily displayed
than in smoothing the paths which lead to the gate of knowledge.

Architecture is at present in a stale of transition from a crude code of
dogmas to a systematic science. Some of the simplest principles are at
this moment the subjects of warm con tro^■ersy, and until those principles have
been definitely agreed upon, it is evidently impossible to write a complete
elementary treatise upon architecture. Such a work may fitly teach all
that has been strictly ascertained, but the debated points must be reserved
for those who are competent for the discussion.

It follows from these considerations that there are two qualifications re-
quisite in a Manual of Gothic Architecture — profound knowledge on the
part of the author, and the exclusion of uncertain speculations. The first
of these requisites is perfectly, tlie second generally, satisfied in the work
before us. The object professed is simply to teach the uuinilialed to dis-
tinguish and classify architectural details, but many of those who deem
their knowledge sufficient to qualify them for the praciice of the art would
Dud their errors tacitly demonstrated in this unpretending treatise. Mr.
Paley however considers the present imperfect state of church architecture
neither acrimoniously nor ungenerously : he sets out by acknowledging

See ante, p. 97.

47

378

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Deo.

that "we are all too ready to disparage unjustly the works of modern
architects, who more frequently want the means than the power to produce
Gothic works equal to those of antiqnity. It is next to impossible to judge
of modern designs wilh strict impartiality ; an I critics are seldom fully
aware, or disposed to admit, how much their judgment is warped and
biassed by that utterly false and unjust notion, that every mediaeval work
is good, and every modern imitative design is a failure."

The first chupter traces iu general terms the history of church architec-
ture from the fall of the Roman empire to the present time. Respecting
the word Cthic it is observed that " the term is in itfelf absurd and
calumnious ; but it has now become so general that it avails little to en-
deavour to supersede it by another." We cannot assent to this conclusion.
The word Pointed is now popularly understood to refer to all styles in
•which the arch is angular at its vertex, and has been so generally adopted
by architectural writers that the revival of the word Gothic seems like a
retrograde step. Moreover, Mr. Paley does n.t adhere consistently to his
own argument, for he proposes to disturb the present terminology of Eng-
lish Pointed architecture and to substitute new appellations for those which
at present are used without inconvenience, and being descriptive are easily
remembered. Tlie term "Third Pointed" would confound the Perpendi-
cular of England with an altogether dilferent style— the Flamboyant of
France : a similar objection applies to the term " First Pointed." On the
other hand the term " Early Ciitish,"(,r " Anglo Saxon,"— the first on .Mr.
Paley's list— refers to our own archilecture exclusively. His nomencla-
ture seems therefore unsjslematic; in one case his desire of generalizing
leads him to overlook national peculiarities of style; in another he disre-
gards his own g nerali/'.Uou.

The second chapter treats principally of rou;id-arcb architecture. In
the following extract, the first statement is contrary to known mechanical
principles, and appears sufficiently refuted by what follows it.

"The pressure nf Norman vaulting is straight downwards on the walls,
that of Pointed vaulting oblique, or laii-ral (See Hope, p. 312). Yet, from
had construction, or other causes, Norman vaults have a great tendency to
push outwards the supporting walls. The aisl, of St. Sepulchre's, Cam-
bridge, actually fell down from this cause just before its late restoration.
Thus some resistance has been proved by the result to be wanting, though
the want might not be known or suspected at the time." °

In the third chapter the successive development of the three Pointed
styles is admirably treated, and the engraved illustration possesses singu-
Jai' beauty.

A subsequent chapter is devoted to " the uniformity and progressive
character of the Gothic styles." The following extract is a long one, but
the subject is so interesting, that we have made but few omissions.

" No architect of the present day is fettered by any other rules or con-
ditions thau those imposed by his employers, in regiir I to the choice of a
style. He may copy that of any nation and any period, and he may alter
combine, detract from, or add to it, as he pleases. Indeed he must do so
more or less, because no one recognised and distinctive national architec-
ture, either ecclesiastical or secular, exists at 'he present day It is all
copied, and none of it is, properly speaking, original or self-developed.
It has ceased to be inventive, at least in any favourable sense.

" But the case was very different in the Jlid lie Ages, when freemasonry
was a craft in the hands of a corporate ecclesiastical confraternity, the
members of which seem to ha- e been bound down to certain rules, and
yet to have had almost ■lolimited license in carrying those rules into effect ■
precisely in th- same v, ly as if the alphabet of a language were given to any
one, and he were allowed to combine the letters into words as he pleased
but not to introduce any new forms or symbols. This seems exactly to il-
lustrate the position in which the ancient freemasons stood. Thev had cer-
tain cmdsof mouldings foliage, window tracery, &c, which were, with com-
paratively trifling modifications and exceptions, repeated in all buildiuos of
the san e era, only very arbitrarily combined, arranged, or applied Fo? ex-
ample, .n the age of the Complete Gothic or Flowing Ut-corated all win-
dow tracery was designed on one fixed principle ; it was neither geome-
tric, nor rigidly vertical, as in the next style; but it was, wilh surprisin-ly
few exceptions, of wavy and curved lines. Yet each architect seem," to
have had ful liberty to adapt this principle to his own taste ; and thus we
find thousands of different patterns. Again in mouldings; some ten or a
dozen forms being emi.loyed by all with inflexible exactitude, their sroun-
l-iff, or positions in relation to each other, us well as their application,
seems to have been the result of individual caprice (See Hope's Essay
p. 2 3). And herein is the glory of the Gothic styles, that they attained
by these means perject uniformity combined with almost infinite vanet,,
Ihere is no monotony, no wearisome repetition; every dkail has sonie
^eshness ; yet all are strictly subjected to certain laws of composition.
Mence that charm of never-ceasing interest created by perpetual novelty ;
lor this in rea ity ,s a much more enduring gratification thau either the
magnificent effect or the exceeding aggregate beauty of some buildings,

both which impressions are rather those of first sight, while the minute
detail of any one building might engage the attention for months, or even
years. '

" Little or nothing has ever transpired of the secret system which the
freemasons adopted in building, nor of the organisation of their body
except that it was ecclesiastical, and under the jurisdiction and benedic-
tion of the Pope. It is certain that they were a very numerous, energetic
anl talented class, whose genius was chastened and ennobled by all the
enthusiasm of a grand religion, and whose efforts were aided by the supply
of almost unlimited resources. They must have had the entire monopoly
of both domestic and ecclesiastical architecture ; though perhaps the dis-
tinction IS vain, for everything in the Middle Ages was ecclesiastical.

Constant communication must have been kept up between all

the members of this numerous and widely-extended body. For if we
consider the immense number of churches built in every reio-n from the
Conquest to the overthrow of the ancient religion, and the perfect uniform-
ity of style 111 all of the same period, we shall perceive how complete the
intercourse must of necessity have been. Perhaps the followin ' is a
plausible scheme of their constitution. Those whom we now calfarchi-
tects seem to have been designated ' Masters,' as we read that ' the Mas-
ter' did so andso, in ancient accounts, where it is clearly equivalent to

the Architect.' These ' Masters' must have been trained in one and the
same school, just as our clergy are trained in the universities, and they
seem either to have been sent about to different stations, or to have been
attached to some mother church or cathedral, or even to have taken up
their permanent residence in certain localities, since wi often find several
churches in a p.irticular neighbourhood which clearly exhibit the same
hand in their design.

"Though we may in most of the arts attribute a good deal to mere
fashion, which might formerly (it may be said) adm:t of as little variety
in architecture as it now does in the shapes and materials of costume, still
this 13 quite insufficient to account for the positive identi'y of coi^val capi-
tals, bases, foliage, windows, &c., in the two opposite extremities of the
kingdom. We suppose therefore there was either some central school
whence all such details emanated, or, which is the same thing, the Mas-
ters went about as so many missionaries, disseminating what they had
learnt or developed toget'aer. How this adherence to rule for a long period
can be reconciled with t!,e phenomena of sudden changes in, and eventu-
ally complete revolutions of, style, or who had the boldness to su-^crgst or
the authority to enforce, novelties in the masonic art, must be raat°ters of
mere conjecture. In England, indeed, the employment of foreign artists
will account for many new introducuons ; but the question remains the
same, — whence did these foreign artists themselves derive ihem ? How-
ever such changes were first introduced, they were quickly adopted iem-
per, ubUjue, et ah omnibus.

" William of Sens is the first known master mason whose works are
extant. The masons were not incor/mmted in England till the thirteenth
century; yet there is at least as much uniformity of detail observable in
the Norman and (as before observed) even in the Saxon styles. An oath
of secrecy is said to have been tendered to all novitiates.' They appear
to have been convened and held secret meetings at certain times and
places. The name Free-masons is a corruption of Frires mafons, or fra-
ternity." A presumptive proof how exclusively the details of the art
were in their keeping may be derived from the blundering attempts at
drawing them, which are always found in MSS., stained |lass, brasses,
and fresco paintings. The master masons were generally t'oreit'uers in-
corporated by royal authority. When a large building was contemplated,
the masons removed in great numbers to the spot; hence they have beea
well described as a kind of ' nomade race.'= How they were paid, or
how maintained during their sojourn, is not certainly known. Perhaps
the masters did not so much design, as carry out the designs of powerful
and munificent jcclesiastics.* A good deal, too, of actual handy-work
was done by the ecclesiastics^ themselves, which will account for any of
those touches of the satirical in the way of droll portraits, which seem so
pointedly directed against rival clerics.' But when we read of repairs
and buildings executed by ahbats, bishops, or monks, we must generally
understand the expression to mean that they promoted them, but that
masons were employed in carrying them out.'

" ' The old builders possessed nothiug but the sound intelligence of sen-
sible men, and an aptness in practice exercised from earliest youth. They
lived more at the building place than at home; thought of little else and
did little else; and thus they evidently succeeded much better than our
well-grounded sages, who often bring into the world their left-handed
productions, or tamely written pamphlets, and would fain superintend the
erection of buildings from their writing-desk.' "^

" One thing is quite clear, and admiTted by all ; that the masons of the
time being were aDsolutely restricted to one styl''. They never thought of
going backwards, under any circumstances whatever, and seem to have
contemned the very idea of copying older work, however incongruous

' ooli'",""""''''' "'""""' AucouQt of Muster and PreemasoQS. Also Hope's Essay,

2 D.illuway.p. 4S4.

3 miints History of tile Reformation, p. 83 .

4 D,illaway, p. 15(:.

3 i\f:iitlaii(l*s Dark Aijes, p. US.
Norfolk"^ '"^'' ^"""^ specimens in the beautiful middle Pointed chancel at Southitjps,
T Willis's Canterbury, p. 120.
8 Wiienrell's Notes, &c., , I 83,

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

379

would be tbe result of the new, in additions to, or alterations of, a pre-
existing ediBce. In fact, tliey thought they could improve upon it. Of
this principle many of the most interesting illustrations might very easily
be adduced, did space allow their insertion. Scarcely ever did they com-
pose a single detail even with a view of suiting the older work ; for in
truth they had a thorough contempt for uniformi'y. They placed traceried
windows of many lights in juxla-posilion with single lancets, pointed with
semicircular arches, aud complex Gothic columns with ;)laiD and heavy

Komanesque piers It is very possible that the masons themselves,

in always using the stjie of their day, desired to stamp an imperishable

evidence of date upon the works they were executing In altering

churches, the parts most generally preserved were doorways, nave piers
aud arches, north-west aisle windows (for some unexplained reason),
sedilia, piscinas, fonts. The parts most commonly innovated were windows,
aisle walls, clerestories, roofs, porches, chantry chapels.

"It is very singular to observe how even the slighiest changes and turn-
ings of style were regularly adopted in the progress of such large build-
ings as required a great number of years for their completion. For exam-
ple, the west elevation of York Cathedral exhibits early Middle Pointed
work in its lower part, while the belfry windows, battlements, and pinna-
cles are finished of pure Third Pointed detail^ These changes we may
attribute to the succession of new master masons, each of whom could or
would design only in the details of his day.

" Every master mason must have been able at all times to command the
services of workmen well acq<iaiuted with and accustomed to the working.
Perhaps tliese operatives {coiij'iires) accompanied him from place to place ;
certainly they must generally have devoted their lives to the work ; for the
exquisite chiselling of the boss, and floriated capital, or the statuary aud
canopy work of such a place as the Lady Chapel at Ely, could never have
be*n attained without intense and zealous application, aided by great lasle
and artistic feeling, and long practice. Probably the few modern archi-
tects to whose lot it has fallen to carry out work of this description, would
verify this from their own experience. It is one thing to design, another
to find workmen capable of executing accurately the more minute and
difficult details. That such workmen did anciently exist, and in great
numbers too, is proved by the works they have left behind them as monu-
ments of their skill. It is probable that they worked by drawings, as at
present; or the plans were laid out for them by the master's hand, as oc-
casion required ; of which perhaps the diagrams and geometric marks
sometimes found on the stones of disjointed buildings may be taken as ex-
amples. Yet there are parts occasionally to be met with which must be
called ' botches,' and which are clearly the results of extemporary con-
structive ingenuity without any pre-arranged plan There must

have been, for centuries previous to the change of religion, a constant,
untiring, incessant zeal for church building, a zeal which is more striking,
when contrasted with the dead apathy, or at least the almost exclusive
plundering and demolishing, which from first to last has characterised the
new system. Only let the reader contemplate the vast quantity of ancient
ecclesiastical work we still have left, taking into account the enormous
destruction of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and the unceasing
havoc of the combined causes of neglect, avarice, and profanation, which
have been in active operation for three hundred years ! When we think of
some towns having anciently had forty or fifty great churches, where not
more than ten or a dozen now appear, all the rest having long ago been
razed to their very foundations; of a thousand abbeys aud religious
houses, of which scarcely one hundred shattered ruins now remain, though
some of them were fully as large and splendid as our first-rate Cathedrals,
— Glastonbury, Heading, Bury St. Edmund's ; when we know fully what
we have lost, in comparison with what we have left, — we shall be indeed
amazed at the almost superhuman efl'orls of the media;val church ! It has
been computed that each one of these vast Cathedrals or conventual edifices
would cost, in our times aud with our much greater facilities, from five to
eight hundred thousand pounds. A million of money must have been
expended on the fabric of some of our greatest churches ; and if we may
credit the accounts of the vast wealth stolen by Henry VIII. from Can-
terbury aud Lincoln Cathedrals, aud include all the vestments, plate, and
other furnitures, the stained glass, pictures, tombs, silver statues, and
shrines, we are justified in doubling that sum. How inadequate a notion
do our present bare, dilapidated, aud rifled structures aUurd,of the amount
which religion once bestowed on the Church, and which irreligion has
sacrilegiously taken from her !"

There are many other parts of the work from which we should like to
make extracts, but our limits prevent us from extending them. We must
therefore refer the reader to the work itself: we cannot however omit the
following quotation in which the ancient and modern principles of church
building are happily contrasted.

" Let us now observe how completely every one of these principles has
been INVERTED in modern practice, and we shall have obtained some clue
in tracing the causes of modern failures.

"Modern principles are:

" 1. To make buildings uniform by equal and similar wings, correspond-
ing doorways, windows of the same size and kind, level ami regular ele-
vations, not broken up into parts of greater or less prominence and height.
Every Gothic new building in Cambridge exhibits these faults, which are

o*seter Cathedral was, however, carried out on a UDlTorm plan for fifty years by
Bt&tiop Quivit.

the certain result of the same hand composing in two contradictory styles,
Classic and Gothic.

" 2. To add unnecessary and unmeaning ornament in conspicuous posi-
tions to attract the eye and produce a showy appearance, leaving the less
exposed parts bare and naked in the contrast.

" 3. To place effect before utility, as by building an inconvenient or un-
necessary feature because it is supposed to look well. Hence we have
doors which afl'ord no entrance, turrets with no available interior, and
chimne}s which do not emit smoke.

"4. To erect buildings whose primary idea is that of a large unbroken
area, without columns and arches, with wide roofs, and without distinct
component parts. .Such jcere the great majority of the modern churches,
which often had neither buttress, nor string course, nor arch in the whole
design ; in short, nothing Gothic about them except the minor details.

" 5. To use usijue ail nauseam a few hackneyed Gothic details, copied
from celebrated churches or cathedrals, or borrowed from books; and to
apply the.-e without sufficient regard to diflereace in the kinds aud charac-
ter of buildings.

"6. To sacrifice solidity and strength to unnecessary and adventitious
ornament, and to impoverish the fabric to obtain the greatest possible
amount of conspicuous but needless decoration.

" 7. To arrange exterior elevations without regard to the nature of the.
inferior, or to force the latter to suit the former; as to give the outward
appearance of nave and aisles where there are no columns or arches in-
side ; of three gabled roofs where there is but one flat ceiling within ; of
pinnacles or gable-crosses which are but chimneys. Hence the custom of
building jnas/is either to hide necessary parts which do exist, or to give the
idea of those which do not.

" 8. To be satisfied with actual weakness without even apparent light-
ness, as by the use of plaistered timber to imitate stone, and by the omis-
sion of essenlini constructive details, such as shafts, mouldings, aud the
visible resistances of lateral thrusts.

"All might be summed up in a very few words. The ancient church-
men built for God, not for man ; for the church, not for private interest;
for religion, not for fame; for endurance, not by contract; for devotion,
not iu a spirit of economy ; pro salute anima, non pro crumena."

There are of course many opinions incidentally expressed by our author,
which might be disputed — such as the indiscriminate intolerance of Classic
architecture, &c., but it is not necessary to discuss here topics which have
been fully treated in other parts of this Journal. The student who desires
to learn the elements of Christian architecture accurately, may be confi-
dently referred to this work. Our criticism however relates exclusively
to the architectural information : respecting the religious dogmas which
the author briefly propounds, or rather alludes to, it is not within our pro-
vince to offer an opinion, beyond an expression of regret that Mr. Paley
has suflfered his name to be involved in the religious dissensions which
unhappily exist iu our Universities. These disputes are in any case de-
plorable, but the evil of them is greatly increased when they tend to
diminish the public esteem of our academic institutions as " seminaries of
sound learning and religious education."

STEAM NAVIGATION.— GUN STEAMERS.
(With Engravings, Plate XIX.)
We are indebted for the followingjudicious remarks on a better adapta-
tion of the light classes of steamers to the objects of the naval service, to
a letter from Mr. Kedpield to the Navy Commissioners of the United
States, published in the Franklin Journal. It is a sequel to the report
given in this Journal in September last, p. 2G7.

1st. The proportion of length to breadth in these steamers should never
be less than the average of class C— the length being equal to nii.e hreatlths
or diameters; aud, if extended to nine and a half, or even ten diameters,
this will perhaps be within the limits of maximum advantage. These
ratios of length are especially required for objects yet to be noticed. The
proportion of depth, however, may be slightly increased, if sufficient care
be taken to restrict the top weight.

2ud. The extreme horizontal outline of the deck and guards should be
brought within an angle of fourteen degrees from the midship line at Ihe
bow and steru ; in order not only to ease of motion, but to favour the de-
flection of the shot of an enemy from the hull when engaged head or stern
on. The bow and stern angles at the water line will necessarily be much
finer — say within the semi-angle of eight or ten degrees. The stem and
stern post should be nearly vertical, and the floor frames, or at least their
rudimentary forms, should be extended forward and aft to the joinings of
the stem and stern post ; dispensing altogether with the common " dead
wood" of the steru. Suitable provision should also be made for steering
iu opposite directions, with either stem or stern foremost.

3id. The deck frame should consist of plank-sawed and deep-moulded
scantlings, one to each frame of the vessel, and screw-bolted to the same
in crossing to the guard or fender line. The common deck knees should

47*

380

THE CIVIL ENGLXEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Dec.

be dispenseJ with, and snuR knees of hackmatack be applied externally,
at proper intervals, where the projection of the guards will permit.

llh. There should be a very light hurricane-deck over the central por-
tions of the hull, and extending to a length eijual to two or three diameters
of the vessel. AH the constructions above deck should be of the very
lightest description, and be comprised, if possible, within the same limit.
Thus the forward and after ends, each to the extent of about three diame-
ters of the vessel, would be left free of incumbrances ; excepting the gun-
fixtures and other indispensable attachments.

5th. The engine should be so placed below deck as to act directly upon
the cranks, as in the steam frigate Missouri, if the midship body of the
vessel will allow of this arrangement ; otherwise, a half beam arrange-
ment may be resorted to. The paddle-wheels should spread less on the
shaft than is common in American steamers, and the paddle be extended
to a point at its centre in a trapezoidal or triangular form. This form will
admit of a greater immersion, and thus obtain a better resistance, than the
common paddles, especially in a sea-way. The crank and chimney open-
ings in the deck should be comprised in a narrow enclosure, with upright
sides, extending fore-and-aft-wise to a point, so as to present an acute
angle of deflection, for the proteciion of the crank and lower part of the
Ctiimney from shot when end on with an enemy. The main shafts, which
must be above the deck, should also be protected by deflecting planes,
covered with iron and slightly inclined from horizontal.

iNluch apprehension has been sometimes manifested for the safety of the
wheels and paddles when under fire ; but those who have employed
steamers day after day, for successive seasons, in encountering ice from
four to fourteen inches in thickness, and who have witnessed the speed of
a steam vessel when one half or more of the wheel arms and paddles have
been disabled in this service, will think more lightly of this hazard; to
avoid which, almost every quality valuable for a war steamer has some-
times been sacrificed.

0th. To sustain the guns, the scantlings beneath them should be some-
\vliat enlarged in thickness, and securely stanchioned and screw bolted.
The gnn pivots should be of strong timber, adequately secured to the
deck-frame, and extending to the keelsons. The ileck, where exposed to
the action of the guns, shonhl be strongly sheathed, and the whole be
secured, if needful, by transverse bars, strongly bolted or clamped to the
deck-frame; and, if necessary, connected by vertical bolts and stanchions
with the floor-timber. M'hen about to engage, sand bags, or other equiva-
lent weights, may also be used for coveting that portion of the deck ex-
posed to injury from the explosion of the guns.

To illustrate my views of the proper form of construction of these ves-
sels, I annex an approximate sketch of the Jeck plan and guards. This
outline has, for its base, the elongated rhomb a it, h 6, (fig. 1, Plate XIX.)
and presents at the deck a guard line of the bow and stern, a a, the maxi-
mum semi-angle of fourteen degrees; which is only equal to that which
has been already adopted in some well-proportioned steamers for coast
service. It also contemplates a length which is equal to nine diameters of
the vessel ; each of these diameters being visibly set olf on the plan, fig.
It will be found, practically, that this proportion of length is sufficiently
limited ; for the engine, if placed as proposed, will require much length,
and the necessary weight must, also, for a light draft, be extensively dis-
tributed. IMoreover, the first diameter at each extremity, the flotation of
which can properly support little more thau itself, may be viewed as sub-
stituted for the cutwater, bowsprit and other fixture, wlilch is coramouly
attached to heavy steamers and sailing vessels ; while the second diameter
thus set oil', answers practically to the usual bow and stern in other ves-
sels ; thus leaving five diameters for the proper body of the vessel and the
necessary machinery and storage.

7th. The armament of each steamer, I apprehend, should consist of six
ttai'trsing guns. Two of these, of ten inciies calibre, should be worked
each ou a strong pivot, placed on the line of the keel, at the distance se-
verally of about one and a half or two diameters of the vessel from the stem
and stern post. The four remaining guns, each of eight inches calibre, may
be worked on like pivots, placed near the sides of tlie vessel, and as much
nearer to the main shafts as will avoid interference with the two larger
guns. When engaged with an enemy, the line vf fire shuuUi alivai/s, iihcn
praclicniile, be in the line oj Ike keel. The above mentioned ordnance con-
stitutes the armament of the recently constructed war steamers of Eng-
land ; and, so far as I can perceive, is the most appropriate and ell'eclive
for a steam vessel : the peculiar vocation and advantages of which ouglit
to be rapid motion and eli'ective fire.

l'erha|)S some persons may entertain apprehensions of the inability of
these light steam vessels to carry and sustain the action of the guns above
mcntioneil. lint these apprehensions are without any just foundations, as
will appear from the following facts and considerations: — (1.) The points
at which the guns are placed, require an access of weight equal to this
armament, in order properly to equalise the load throughout the body of
the vessel. (2.) The weight merely of these guns is uo more formidable
or destructive to a vessel than a like concentrated weight of other heavy
articles, of which vastly greater amounts are safely carried in all weathers
on lighter decks than I propose for these vessels. (3.) Owing to their
large capacity, and their great superficial bearing upon the water, these
vessels are better able to bear the addition of the above weight than any
vessels now iji the naval service.

This may appear from the following facts ; First, tho average load-line
area, or bearing superficies, of class 0 is nearly three-fljihs of that
o! the lirandyvvine frigate ; while, if we allow 50,t)001b.for the guns and

carriages of the steam vessel, and 48,0001b. for the ammunition and other
accessaries, it will then equal but one-fifth of the weight of the armament
and its accessories of the lirandyvvine ; and will require to sustain it only
a draft of IJ inches from the light load-line. Again, this average super-
ficial bearing of the steam vessels is more titun four-ninths that of the Ohio
ship of the line : while the above weight of guns, ammunition, &c., is less
than nne-eleienth the weight of the military outfit of the Ohio. Once
more, the average height of the decks of these steamers above the water at
midships, exceeds six feet, with an average bearing surface of near 74
feet per ton of the vessel and its contents; while the height of tile port-
sills of the liruidywine and Ohio are but 5J feet above water, with an
average b«--ai'ing superficies of nearly 2J feet per ton. This shows an im-
mense proportiim iu favour of these steamers, in the ability to carry acces-
sory weight. Hence, this class of steamers may not only carry this arma-
ment, but, in addition, may also transport, when occasion requires, from
five to eight hundred troops.

It may be well to notice here the apparent chances of this class of
steam vessels when opposed to heavy war ships of the rates above men-
tioned.

1. The choice of action and position will always belong to the steamers.
This is important when opposed to any force whatever; for the most fa-
vorable time and circumstances for combat may thus be commanded, or, if
it should be proper and advantageous, tlie action may for the time be
easily avoided. Mliile, on the other band, an equal or inferior force need
not be allowed to escape.

2. The target surfuce presented by the Ohio when in chase, below the
hammock rads, is probably equal to 1450 square feet ; and in broadside
about 5CU0 square feet. The cross area of the Brandywine presented la
chase is probably equal to 940 feet, and that of her broadside area near
3800 feel; while the average cross area of tlie hulls of the steamers of
class C exposed above water, to a height of seven feet above the deck, is
only 340 feet. Now, as the steamers will probably engage chiefly at long
shot, and end on, we may here perceive how great will be the advantage
for the steamers, with equal skill in gunnery, whether or not a sufficient
number of steamers to match the broadsides in weight, be taken into the
account,

I say nothing here of the extraneous exposure of the wheels and smoke-
pipes on one hand, nor of the spars and rigging of the ships on the other :
believing that these chances, with proper precautious, are not unfavour-
able to the steamers.

From the great stability and superior steadiness of these steamers when
in motion, particularly on the line of the keel, and from the accuracy with
which they may be made to head on or off' an object, by means of a mark-
ing point subtended above the bow, to guide the helmsman, they will afl'ord
to skilful gunners greater accuracy of fire than is usually obtained in ships,
unless the latter be lying in smooth water.

In comparing the weight of metal opposed, if we reckon to the steamers
the full weight which is due to the increased calibre of their guns (and
considering the greater destrucliveuess of shells to a ship, this appears
not improper), we shall find that four of these steamers, each with three
guns engaged, will exceed, at each round, the weight of shot thrown by
the broadside of the 15raudywine; and that the fire of seven steamers will
equal, in like manner, the broadside of the (Jhio. While, iu chase, there
would be an overwhelming advantage in favour of the steamers. In these
estimates the weight of shoi thrown by the broadside of the Ohio is taken
at 11)00 lb., and that of the Braudy wine at 8G4 lb., as by advisement ; and
the shot of the eight and ten inch guns at 68 lb. and 98 lb., respectively.

As regards the relative power of endurance, if shells are used, as they
doubtless will be, this power in a vessel cannot be in [>roportion to the
weight and massiveness of the structure ; and may proie quite the con-
trary. Hut, if the form of model and position in action, which is here re-
commended, can be made efficacious in some degree for the protection of
the engine and byilers below deck, which seems practicable, the steamers,
with equal gunnery, must clearly have greater advantages for the endur-
ance of fire in the aggregate thau will belong to the ships. Besides, if we
may estimate the aggre^^ate power of endurance to be in proportion to the
bearing area or superficial extent of the vessels, as appears not wholly im-
proper, this advantage will be proportionally in favour of the steamers.
Moreover, in shell-firing a single shot may prove fatal to a ship ; while
even a like result to one or more of its alert antugouisls need not cause a
discontinuance of the combat.

However import.int it may be to maintain a powerful and well ordered
navy, consisting of ships of the established classes, it can hardly be in our
power, or within the scope of our policy, to maiutaln a numerical superior-
iiy as against England, even on our own coasts. And without such supe-
riority, or at least a near equality, ellectual blockades may not hereafter
be prevented; to say nothing here of the chances of losing our ships and
naval arsenals, by the onset of a powerful and well appointed expedition,
supported by a numerous fleet of ships and war steamers.

With the aid of her numerous and heavy armed steam ships, England
might ell'ectually blockade not only our ships, but our war steamers of the
heavy and medium classes. For our steamers of these classes could hardly
put to sea, or return to port, in the face of a superior force of the same
cliaracter; and it would be quite iu vain to attempt gaining a superiority
of this force by new constructions of like klad, for the present means of
England, both mechanical and financial, are suflicient to outdo us in this
etl'ort, more than three to one. It is therefore indispensable tu our supe-
riority, that we should be prepared with fuster steamers, of lighter druft.

184G.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

381

and equal weight of metal, with those of England. These steamers, being
of the classes which 1 propose, could never be blockaded in our ports by
the existing naval means of any country. Moreover, if maintained in sufii-
dent numbers, so as to be readily assembled in large squadrons at the
pcnnts where the exigencies or demands of the service iiiight require, the
most powerful fleets would be unable to maintain a blockade, or to carry
out with success a military expedition against our shores.

The same classes of steamers are also of esseniial importance on our
frontier lakes, where armed steamers of the heavy classes and draft of
water hitherto adopted, would be of greatly inferior value; and where all
the strategetical advantages will be in favour of the classes proposed.

The greater value and adaptation of light built steam vessels, tenaciously
constructed — not less in lengtii and size, uor exceeding in weight and draft,
the average of the classes C and D, may be now reviewed, or more sum-
marily considered.*

I. Their facility of movement and surpassing speed, exceeding that of
existing war steamers from three to six miles an hour, must necessarily
atTord, as above mentioned, the choice of action and position ; and except-
ing accidents, no enemy can either escape or overtake them, except at the
will of their commanders.

II. Owing to the light draft of water and greater speed of these vessels,
they may shelter themselves from a superior force in shoal positions, or
attack and annoy the enemy from such positions on a vast extent of coast
and inner waters, where heavy ships or steamers cannot approach. M hen
the elaborate survey of our coast, now in progress, shall have been com-
pleted, and our officers shall also have become familiar with these shallow
grounds by active co,ist service, in proper steam vessels, these facilities
may become of great value.

Hy this means, not only may the exposed positions at Key West and
oJher points be maintained in war, and made available for the annoyance of
an enemy, but the strait of Florida, if not the other outlets of the Caribbean
Sea and Gulf of Mexico, maybe effectually and securely blockaded by
squadrons of these steamers.

By means of these active steam vessels, and a suitable and skilful force
of marines and marine artillery, trained for both land and sea service,
which, 1 trust, may shortly be provided, an enemy's colonial posts may be
captured, and his military resources laid under contribution. By like
means, in case of a war with England, might the coal furnishing ports,
and other outposts near our eastern frontier, be taken into our possession,
and retained, or abandoned, as occasion might require.

It is chiefly by these means that we may expect to command, in such
emergency, the more hazardous coasts of Maine, Nova Scotia, and the Gulf
of St. Lawrence; thus cutting olf the communication and niililary supplies
uf an enemy, and virinally blockading his American colonies. On these
rocky coasts, as elsewhere, any general degree of safety which might be
supposed to result from solid built bottoms and heavy structures, may be
far more than compensated by lightness of draft and tenacity of structure,
and facility of movement ; while in security against attack from a superior
steam force, the heavy built steam vessels could maintain no equality with
the light footed classes. The coast of Maine alfords all necessary shelter
and resources for this service ; and this description of force, if matured by
timely preparation, and put forth in our strength, might geuerally command
the coasts and shores, from Quebi'C to Nantucket. Two or three vessels
of the proposed class would doubtless prove more than a match for one of
the heaviest English steam ships ; and, for reasons already noted, the latter
might Uiid it ditlicult to escape.

By proper arrangements, and, if needful, with the associated aid of one
of the ateam frigates, these lighter built steamers may be sent to any part
irf'the world, where their services may be desired, and where frienjly or
neutral ports can be found to afl'ord the necessary shelter and supplies of
fuel. Their great speed and efficiency might thus be employed with great
effect on an enemy's commerce and resources.

I have been led, by the request of the commissioners, thus to explain, to
some extent, my views on this essential branch of public defence, and to
urge the adoption of a class of measures ou which I consider the fuiure
safety of the country may largely depend ; being fully persuaded that it is
not so much ou the magHitude,a.A oa the available quuUties u! ouf uavni
force, that we must rely for success in any future conflict with the great
mistress of the seas.

cylinder at a pressure of 43 lb. to the inch, and "cut off" at one fonrleenth
of the stroke. As I could find no table showing the elfect of the expan-
sion of steam when carried so far, I prepared the following: —

• I consider tlie Gladiator as being the proper type of the class D; except I
stlgblly debcieut in tengtti, whiclt would be belter at 200 feet.

being

EXPANSION OF STEAM.

Obseritttions on the effect af using Steam expansivehj under different pres-
sures, and U'Aoi cut (iff' at different points. Reported in the American
•Journal of the Franklin Institute.

I was led to the following calculations respecting steam, by a notice
published some time since iu the Franklin Journal, of the operation of the
Cornish Engines. The writer of tliat notice intimates, that the "duty,"
said to be performed by the engines, is greater than the calculated power,
to be derived from the fuel, and that a new theory has been proposed to
account for it, by the ''momeutum" of the percussion of the steam upon
the piston. He states that iu some of the engines the steam is let into the

Steam tet on
during the

Effect produced by
expansion.

Total eSect of the
steam used.

Averape effect

throughout the

cylinder.

Full Stroke.

0-000000

1-000000

1-000000

J do.

OUUSIol

I -0931 51

■840575

\ do.

1-09S61(>

2098010

•099538

i do.

l-3Sf.30a

2-380303

•590575

t do.

lTiOt>148

2-009448

•521889

1 do.

1 -701708

2-791708

•405294

i, do.

1-U45y^7

2-945927

■420840

k do.

2079455

3-079455

■384932

t, do.

2-1U7-J33

3-197233

■355248

Vii do.

2-302ti00

3-302000

■330200

V, do.

2-397904

3-397904

•308900

,',; do.

2-484919

3-484919

•290401

it, do.

2-504958

3-50495S

•274227

11 do.

2-039078

3039078

•239219

V; do.

2-708004

3 70S004

••247204

X do.
j\ do.

2995751

3U95751

•199787

3-218890

4-218890

•108755

A do.

3-912048

4-912048

■098240

153 do.

4-005200

5-005200

•05C052

From the above table it appears that one per cent, of a cylinder full of
steam, if suflTered to expand, will give an average pressure throughout the
cylinder equal to 5-0 per cent, of the pressure it exerted when entering the
cylinder; or that the same quantity of steam, if suffered to expand to 100
times its volume, will do 5-0 times as much work as if used, without ex-
pansion, through the whole stroke of the cylinder. And when cut off at
I'j of the stroke, as in the Cornish engines, the average pressure will be
more than one fourth of what it would have been, if fourteen times as
much steam of the same pressure had been used. This sufficiently ex-
plains the cause of the superiority of the "duly" performed by the Cornish
engines over those in which expansion is not carried to so great au extent ;
for it requires less water to be raised inlo steam to work expansively than
would be required to work with steam of the same average pressure,
and full cylinders. In the case of the Cornish engine the steam was used
at 45 lb. pressure for ,', of the stroke, giving au average pressure, agree-
ably to the table, of -259219 X 45 lb. = 11 005 lb., and to perform the
same work, with the full stroke, would have required steam of at least
this average pressure. Now to determine the quantity of water required.
Dalton says that steam obeys the same law as the gases with respect to
pressure, and theij have expansive force iu the raiio in which tliey are
compressed. Then steam of double pressure should coutain a double
quantity of water. The published tables of the specific gi-avities of steam
give an addition of weight of only about 87 per cent, to steam of double
pressure, wliich would contradict Dalton's position. Supposing, however,
that Dalton's law is correct, and that atmospheric steam contains 253
grains of water to the cubic foot, then steam having the above pressure of
11-005 lb. would coutain 433 grains; and steam of 45 lb. pressure would
contain 1012 grains of water per cubic foot. But, with this last, it requires
but,'j of the quantity, or {'W' zz) 72 grains to give the same average power,
when used expansively, as the 435 grains on the full cylinder plan. The
fuel required should be in proportiou to the water to be evaporated.
Watts's experiment with the open and closed boiler, each subjected fur an
equal time to aa equal heat, showed that the same quantity of water had
escaped, in steam, from the open boiler, as flew off from the close one,
upm opening the valve at the end of the operation ; thus proving that
equal weights of Water require equal quantities of heat to raise them into
steam, irrespective of pressure. On this principle, then, the Corn:sh en-
gine should require but ^'jj or about J of the fuel that would have been
required to work them ou full steam, which very nearly corresponds with
the " tluty" performed by the present Coruish engines compared with that
done by the engines formerly constructed by Bolton and Watt in the same
locality.

Another principle comes iu play, in working expansively, which is lost
sight of when working with equal steam throughout the stroke— viz., that
matter in motion would never cease to move unless retarded by external
causes, and would require, to stop it, a power equal to its weight multi-
plied by its velocity. Now, iu working expansively, the steam is applied
at a pressure sufficient to start the load at a certain velocity, to continue
which. It is only necessary that the additional quantities of power should
equal the retarding forces of gravity, friction, and resistance uf air, until
the commencement of the next stroke. Now, in the Cornish engine, where
the steam is cut of at ^', of the stroke, the increments of power beyond
that point, or that portiuu of the power gained by expansion, amount to
nearly 2-04 times the direct power of the steam applied, and which gave
original velocity. This velocity must therefore be continued until the gra-
vity, friction, and resistance of air, amount to 2 04 times the original
power, applied before cutting off the steam. The whole weight of the
machinery and load thus operates, ou the fly-wheel principle, to continue
the motion, as the velocity given to them forms one of the factors of

382

TIIK CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Dec.

their roomentuni, nliich is counteracted only by the oilier factor, the
gravity.

ll is thus readily seen that the weight of the load raised by an engine
working expansively, may exceed Ihe average pressure of the steam on the
piston, for it only requires the steam to be at a high initial pressure, so as
to give Ihe necessary velocity, and of course nionientuni, to the load at the
commencement of the stroke; it may then expand so as to brinj; clo«n the
average pressure and leave sufficnnt power, to be derived from the
momentum and the expansion, to carry forward the work. This reserved
power will of course be applied in a decreasing progression, while the re-
tarding powers would be constant. It will be a useful exercise of the
akill of some of your mathematical friends to calculate how far the load
may exceed the average pressure upon the piston.

It appears from the table that the advantage to be derived from expan-
sion, increases with the expansion. It becomes tlierefore important to
ascertain the extent to which it may be carried. I noticed that in the Cor-
nish engine they use a " steam jacket" to their cylinder to prevent conden-
sation. This led me to inquire into the heat of the steam, and how it
■would be aflected by its expansion. Mill steam expand in a cylinder from
any given pressure down to that of the atmosphere? Pressure or conden-
sation of air produces heat, and the release of it from pressure, cold. If
steam be aflected iu the same way, and you suffer it to expand to 100 times
its bulk, will not its heat be divided by 100, and be reduced below the
freezing point ? The cut-otV steam can take up no heat from the boiler,
and its inherent heat is slated to be about 1212° divided into portions, sen-
sible and latent, according to its pressure. As each particle of steam
must be supposed to contain an equal portion of heat, the heat must neces-
sarily be divided with the expansion of the steam. Then if it contain but
1212°, and this be divided by the expansion, it is evident that before the
steam can have expanded 40 times, its heat would be reduced below the
freezing point, even if the latent heat all became sensible, unless it could
take up heat from the cylinder, which is not of a nature to conduct it with
sufficient rapidity. That the heat is divided by the expansion, any one
may satisfy himself by placing his hand in the steam issuing from a high-
pressure boiler. He will in the same way be convinced that steam is not
frozen by expanding from 151) lb. to the pressure of the atmosphere, ^ow
it is impossible that in this case it should lake up from the atmosphere
sufficient heat to prevent freezing, if the heat, originally in it, did not ex-
ceed 1212°, as indicated by our books. To account for the phenomenon,
I suppose we may assume that the heat in atmospheric steam is correctly
slated at 1212°, of which 212' are sensible, and 1000° latent— a second
volume of water, rising in the form of steam in the boiler, takes up an
additional 1212° of heat; and now the steam contains twice as much
■water, and twice as much heat, as atmospheric steam, shows 15 lb. pres-
sure by the mercurial gauge, and about 242° of heal by thermometer, the
remaining 2182° being latent ; and so, for each individual 15 lb. of pres-
sure, another volume of atmospheric steam would be compressed into the
original space, a less portion of its heat each time becoming latent. Ou
this theory, steam of 150 lb. pressure will contain 11 limes as much water
as atmospheric steam, and 13332° of heal, while the thermometer woulil
show but about 300°. And the temperature of such steam, when expanded
to the atmosphere, should be 8b°. It would therefore rush into the air and
immediately assume the form of water, which, judging merely from the
sensation, is near the fact. The advantage of the " steam jacket," there-
fore, is obvious. It is also obvious, that steam of any pressure may be
used, on the plan of expansion, in a condensing engine, as the heat may
always be reduced, by expansion, to the point at which it may be conden-
sed. The following calculations seem to show, that the most economical
engine would be built upon this plan.

Steam at 180 lb. pressure, cut otl' at ijj of the stroke, by the table, will
give an average pressure of 10 lb. to ihe whole cylinder, and, by adding
the vacuum and air pump, 10 lb. more may readily be obtained. Such an
engine would therefore give a power equal to two of Bolton and Watt's, of
the same size, worked with atmospheric steam. Proceeding on the data,
that equal quantities of water are to be evaporated for each lb. pressure of
steam, at the same expense of fuel, on both plans, we have two cylinders-
full of atmospheric steam, weighing 253 grains per cubic foot on the Bol-
ton and Watt plan, and only t^J;, of one cylinder-full of steam at ISO lb.,
weighing 3289 grains per cubic foot, in tlie other. The water to be evapo-
rated to produce the same power in both will then compare as 253 to =_?^'g',
or, the Bolton and Watt engine will require 15] times as much water to be
evaporated as the other, and fuel and boiler in the same proportion. The
180 lb. steam, by the theory, would contaiu 15620° of heat, which, divided
by the txpansion 100, would be reduced to 156°, while in the atmospheric
steam, there would be 1212°, or nearly 8 limes as much. Of course, the
condenser, air pump, and coudensing water, need only be Vj of w hat the
two Bolton and W alt cylinders would require for the condensing pro-

I'f Daltou be correct in the opinion that steam, like gas, has expansive
power in proportion to its compression or density, we have data to calcu-
late the maxiujum power of steam. W ater is found to expand nearly
1800 times into steam of aimospheric pressure, or 15 lb. lo the inch.
Then, by compressing such st.aiu to ,^^ of its bulk, we should get it back
into water, and multiply its elastic force in the same degree, 1800 X 15 =
27000 1b. per square inch, the maximuiu.* In following the same law of

* Sleam thus compressed into water, would instantly give out all its heat, and produce
a temperature, occoidiDB IQ Itie Uliory, of 212° X ItJOO -I- 1UU«° SB2t<l;0°,

elastic power in proportion to density, we find, that each expansion of steam
to twice its volume, in a steam cylinder, gives precisely the same increment
of power to the piston, which must move each time double the distance.
Thus the distances moved by the piston foreaih expansion, form the series
1, 2, 4, 8, iVc, and the increment of power for each distance is -693151 of
the power applied before the steam is cutoB'.

Erskine Hazard.
Philadelphia, July 20, 184C.

REGISTER OF NEW PATENTS.

If additional information be required respecting any patent, it may be obtained at tb«
office of this Journal.

MANUFACTURE OF IRON.

George Hinton Bovill, of Mill-wall, Poplar, Middlesex, engineer,
for " Imi>roveineuts in Ihe niativfacture of Iron." — Granted Jan. 31 ; lin-
rolled July 31, 1840. {With Ensruviiigs, Plate XIX) Reported in the
Repertory.

The improvements relate, 1st, to an arrangement of apparatus for beat-
ing the blast from the flames passing off from the top or funnel head of
bias! furnaces ; 2nd, to an improved mode of healing the air or blast, by
blowing the same partly through and partly over a tire in a closed retort or
fire proof chamber; 3rd, to the working of blast furnaces by exhaustion
or suction, in contra-dislinction lo the present method of blowing air into
them at a greater pressure than the atmosphere : 4th, to the introduction
of steam above the boshes of blast furnaces; 5th, lo an improved method
of puddling iron by the application of the water furnace, commonly knosvn
as Kyiner and Leighton's furnace, the same being worked by air blown
into a closed ash pit, and the introduction of air over the fire lo consume
the gases generated ; 6th, lo a preparation to assist the working of iron io
the puddling furnace, and its further application lo facilitate the combina-
tion of steel with iron ; 7th, lo a mode of calcining iron ore by combining
the use of furnaces with heaps of ore ; 8lh, to a mode of construcliug
furnaces for heating or re heating iron.

Plate XIX., fig. I is a side elevation, fig. 2 a section, and fig. 3 a plan of
apparatus placed at the top of a blast furnace, the cold air from the blast
main passing through the same, and being heated by the gaseous flame
passing oB' from the furnace top, is blown iu at the tuyeres of the furnace
in the ordinary manner, a is the top or stage of a blastfurnace; 4 the
brick tunnel head of the furnace, showing the doorway c, through vThich
the furnace is charged, and lo which doors are hung, confining the gaseous
Dame lo pass through the heating cells ; d the cold air main and branches
from the blowing engine connected lo the three chambers c, provided with
doors or bonnets/, secured by bolts and nuts, air tight: the object of these
doors is lo get access to the socket joints, by which the connection is made
with g, flat cells or chambers (shown in enlarged section, tig. 4), extending
across the tunnel head /», and connected, as above-iueiitiooed, to the cold
air chambers e on one side, and to A, three similar chambers, on the other
side, from which the heated air is conveyed by the three pipes i, to their
respective tuyeres and blown in at the bottom of the furnace, j, spaces
between the air-cells, ?, through which all ihe gaseous flames from Ihe
furnace ascend, the cold air being divided into thin currents, absorbs heat
in its passage through the cells §■, from the Same of ihe furnace, and ob-
tains sufficient temperature to be blown into the furnace. By this arrange-
ment the air, being divided into thin currents, is brought into contact with
greater heating surface, and consequently absorbs the heat therefrom more
rapidly than when pipes of considerable diameter are employed : it is im-
portant to keep the healing cells for each tuyere distinct, and by the ar-
rangement here shown, it is clear either of the sections may be repaired
without any interference or stoppage of the others; the arrons indicate
the direction of the currents. The great object of this part of the inven-
tion is to use apparatus at the tunnel head of a blast furnace of such a
description, that the heated compartments through which the air passes
shall oiler considerable depth as compared with the width, and so that the
air may be said to be iu a series of very thin sheets or currents of consi-
derable depth.

Fig. 5 is a section of an improved hot air stove for heating the air need
for the blast, h a light iron case, lined with fire-brick, and provided wilh
a Kymer and Leighton's patent water grate, i, supplied with fuel by means
of a hopper, j, provided with a horizontal sliding door at the end near the
furnace, and at the opposite end with a piston door, I, that will move
freely along the hopper ; m ash pit, closed by the door n, and supplied
with air from llie blowing engine; o air pipe, furnished with a valve to
regulate the quantity of air to be admited from the cold air main p^ to
which also is applied the nozzles <;, to admit the cold air into the space
above the fire on the water grate, where it mixes with the products of com-
bustion and vapour of water, supplied from the water troughs of the
fire-bars, and passes away through the pipes r, to the tuyeres of the fur-
nace ; the admission of air and consequent regulation of heat of the blast
are governed by the slide valve s. The mode of applying the blast pos-
sesses a great advantage in giving a command over the working of the fur-
nace : when the cinder from the furnace has a glassy appearance, indicat.
iug the presence of unreduced oxide of iron, the admission of air over the
iiie shuiild be reduced or the quantity throut^h the fire iucreased ; ob the

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

383

other ImnJ, should the furnace be woikin? sliis!;ishly, the quantity of air
over the fire should be increased ; by the application of the Kyraer and
Leighton's water grate, the fire bars of the furnace are preserred.

Fig. 6 represents a blast furnace, with a double hopper, a, the slides of
vriiich, b, are worked by gear from the handles c, on tlie top of the furnace ;
the furnace is charged by the furnace man opening the top slide and tilling
the hopper, which, when closed, and the lower one being opened, the
diari'e descends into the furnace. (/, suction pipe from furnace connected
to the exhausting engine, by which is worked the furnace, instead of blow-
ing or forcing air into furnaces at a greater pressure than the atninsphere,
by which means is obtained a more perfect distribution and circulation of
Bir through the red hot mass of materials in the body of the furnace with
a smaller exertion of power ; the uncousumed gases drawn otT from the
furnace may be profitably applied to various purposes connected with the
manufacture of iron ; either hot or cold blast may be used with this as well
as the system at present adcipted ; if the former, the air may be heated by
the plan already described, ur otherwise. It is well known iron is fre-
quently much injured by the presence of sulphur in the materials in the
blast furnace (of which the fuel contains the largest portion), at the point
of fusion this enters into combination with the iron. The object tl'.erefore
for that purpose, is to apply an injection of steam and distribute it through
the mass of materials in the furnace, above the point where any fusion
takes place, at the upper part or above the boshes of the furnace.

Fig. 7 represents a puddling furnace, with one of Kymer and Leighton's
patent water grates (tig. 2 is one of the water troughs and a bar, in
large section) ; a hearth of furnace ; b patent water furnace ; c double fire
door; d air pipe through which the air it blown from a blowing machine
between the plates of the tire door, and distributed over the furnace com-
bining with the gases of the furnace, more particularly produced from
the decomposition of the water, and producing an intensely hot flame ;
e ash pit, with closed door g, and air valve/, for regulating the supply of
air from the blast pipe through the fire. In commencing the operation of
puddling, it is preferred to introduce a portion of some carbonaceous sub-
stance mixed with the iron.

The sixth part of the improvementjs has for its object the preparation of
what the patentee calls a cinder, to be used in the puddling furnace, when
puddling iron and also when piling iron, or iron and steel, in order to facili-
tate and improve the welding of these matters. In preparing this cinder,
take Cumberland ore, or oxide of iron, such as hammer scale from the
iron forge, and charge the same into a cupola or other blast furnace, with
the slack of anthracite coal er other suitable fuel, and cause the same to
be melted by the blast, and tap the furnace from time to time, and allow
the melted cinder to run out and become cold, or it may be used by being
conveyed at once to the puddling furnace. In charging the furuace, the
Cumberland ore or other rich oxide of iron is first mixed with a like
quanlity of the slack or culm of anthracite coal, and the charge is con-
tinued as it descends into the furnace. The cinder for puddling is to be
broken into small lumps ; and when the iron has been brought to the me-
tallic state iu the puddling furnace, is to be stirred in about 21' per cent, by
weight of the cinder to the iron in the furnace, and then the bailing process
is to be completed as usual. In using the cinder when piling iron, or iron
and steel, the cinder is reduced to powder, and dusted over and amongst
the surfaces to be welded, by whicli the process will be facilitated and im-
pioved.

The seventh part of the invention consists of a mode of calcining iron
ore, by combining the use of furnaces with heaps of ore, in place of
combining the ore and fuel in heaps and igniting the whole mass. Fig. 8
shows a section of a furnace and a heap of ore ; and fig. 9 a front view
thereof. The furnace is so arranged that a blast of air may be applied
below the fire bars as well as over the ignited fuel above, the ashpit being
closed. The flame and products of combustion are thus forced through
the heap of ore, and the same becomes calcined by the passage of the pro-
ducts from the furnace.

The eighth part of the invention relates to a mode of constructing fur-
naces for heating or re-heating iron, and the improvements consist of so
forming a reverberatory furnace, Ihit, in place of the flame and heat pass-
ing off at the end of the furnace, it is caused to descend through the bed
of the furnace, which is made open for that purpose. Fig. 10 represents
a section of the furnace. The general construction is similar to an ordinary
reverberatory furnace, and is provided with a passage at the end into the
ctininey, for the purpose, when first lighting the fire, to get up the heat to
allow the working to take place in the same way as if it were an ordinary
reverberatory furuace ; but on the slide being closed, the bottom of the
furuace is so openly formed, that the heat and flame pass through the bed
into the chimney. The bottom of the furnace is preferred to be constructed
of a series of brick arches, «, leaving a space of about two inches between
the neighbouring arches, or, instead of the brick arches, a water grate may
be used as the hearth ; and to facilitate the draft of the chimney, a steam
jet is applied at b, or other convenient means may be used. In working
with this furnace, the bottom is covered with coal or coke of such size,
that it will not pass through, and on such bed is placed the iron to be
heated. By such construction of furuace it will be found that the reheat-
ing of iron will be facilitated and the cost reduced.

STEAM ENGINE CONDENSERS.

Thomas Howard, of King and Queen Iron Works, Rotherhithe, Surrey,
engineer, for " Imprnrcments in stmm enzi'ie cmilenserH." — Grauteil March
25 ; Enrolled September 25, 1846. (With Engranings, Plate XIX.)

This invention applies to such condensing steam-engines as have their
boilers supplied with water of condensation, and wherein the steam is
condensed by iiijeciing water properly cooled down. .V tank o, is placed
in any cimvenient situation, and supplied with cold water by pumps or
otherwise at 6, and which having its course governed by plates c, c, within
the tank, escapes at (/, as further shown by the arrows. The ends of the
tank are closed by plates which are recommended to be of brass, c, e,
pierced with holes, in »\hich are secured, water tight, the ends of tubes of
copper or oth'r appropriate metal, /, /, /, a section of one row iu height
only being shown in the drawing, but which extend ihrough the breadth
of the tank. Bonnets i,', g, are fixed over the plates and open ends of the
tubes, (and so as to be removeable if access tie required to the tubes,) and
are divitled into compartments, whicli in either bonnet alternate in position
with those in the opposite one at the other end of the tubes, as shown in
the drawing. A nozzle, A, on one bonnet is connected by a pipe or other-
wise with the hot cistern, and a nozzle i, on the other is connected with the
injection cock of the steam-engine. Within the nozzle A, is a plate h',
perforated with small holes. A quantity of water being introduced into
the hot cistern (by first starting the engine with the ordinary injection,
which it is recommended to be attached or o'herwise) sulHcient to till the
tubes, and properly effect the circulation, the injection cock connected with
the nozzle, at i, is opened, when the warm water iu the hot cistern will
pass by the atmospheric pressure through the opposite nozzle at k, and to
and fro along each series of tubes determined by the divisions in each bon-
net (and as shown by small arrows), and will be reduced to nearly the
same temperature as the external water, supplied at b, and wUI, afier pass-
ing through the nozzle i. and eflecting the condensation by its injection, be
withdrawn by the air-pump of the engine in the ordinary way into the hot
cistern, from whence it will again circulate, through the tubes, being cooled
and reinjected continually, as before described. Any waste which takes
place is made good by the ordinary injection, wiiich the inventor prefers to
the use of stills; but the latter maybe employed upon any ordinary plaa
if required. He does not confine himself to the precise arrangements here-
inbefore described.

The injeciion water and the external refrigerating water may be made to
change positions, the former to pass without and the latter within the tubes,
'i'he cold water may be supplied by any known means. It is recom-
mended that the refrigerating surface be about ten square feet per nominal
horse power, when the steam is so employed as to leave the cylinder of the
engines at 10 lb. per square inch pressure, irrespective of tlie atmosphere,
and be more or less accordingly, and that the supply of external or cold
water be not less than twice the quantity of the injection water.

The inventor states that patents were granted to him, dated 13th October
1825, and 30th November, 1S32, in both of which was included a process
of condensation by the reinjection of the same water or other liquid, which
he does not hereby claim.

But he claims the so arranging apparatus, that the water for condensa-
tion shall be subdivided into many streams in its progress to be cooled and
used as injection water, as herein described.

RAILWAY LIFTING APPARATUS.

Thomas Pope, of Kidbroke, Kent, gentleman, for " Improvements in
apparatus for moving railicaij carriages on to railways, and in machinery for
lifting and moving heavy bodies." — Granted March 25 ; Enrolled Septem-
ber 25, 1840. With Engravings, Plate XIX.

The invention relates firstly, to an apparatus for moving railway carriages
on to or from a line of railway in case of accidents or otherwise ; and,
secondly, to apparatus for lifting and moving heavy bodies. Fig. 1, Plate
XIX. shows a side view of the apparatus for moving railway carriages ;
a is a frame with a screw shaft b, turning in bearings at each end ; on one
end of the shaft is fixed a pinion e, which takes into another pinion d, with
a winch handle e, and on the shaft is a female screw with a travelling nut
/, with a piu that passes through the groove or opening in the top of the
frame a, and secured in a hole to the plate g ; the two plates g, g', carry
portions of two rails h h, and the plates are connected together by the rod
i and rest on friction rollers _;', which run on the frame a. When the ap-
paratus is to be used, the carriage, supposing it to be oH' the rails, is raised
at one end by a screw-jack or lever, then the apparatus is placed under
the carriage with the rails k h under the wheels, and if the carriage be not
far off the rails, one end of the frame a is placed on the line, and then by
turning the handle, the end of the carriage is gradually brought over the
line or part of the way, then it is either lowered on the rails or allowed to
rest, and the apparatus applied to the otherend of the carriage and shifted,
and so on shifting the apparatus from end to end until the carriage is cor-
rectly over the line, or in place of one apparatus two may be used to shift
both ends at once.

The rod i is made moveable so as to adopt the apparatus to diflTerent
gauges of railway, and instead of the pinions on the shaft b, the shaft may
be made to revolve by a screw wheel taking into a screw wheel b. The

3S4

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

[Dbo.

inventor does not confme himself to the apparatus, be says in some cases a
simple ratchetwlieel may be placed on one of the rollers taking into a rack
on the frame «, as shown in fig. 2. The frame a may be dispensed with,
and any plunks of wood used to form a bed for the plates i to run upon.

The second improvement is for an apparatus for lifting purposes, consist-
ing of a case with a screw inside, and a female screw working up or down
vith a bracket thereon, anil passing through the side of the case. On the
tup of the screw shaft is lised a toothed wheel which takes in and is
driven by a worm wheel turned by a handle.

STAINING AND ETCHING GLASS.

Isaac Hawkf.r Bedford, of Birmingham, for " Imfntements in the
tnamifacture nf uimluw and iilher glnss." — Granted June 12; Enrolled
September 12, 1840. — (Partly invented and partly communicated from
abroad.)

The improvements relate to staining and etching glass. The staining is
effected by the use of copper to produce a red colour either before or after
cutting and polishing the glass, and the whole or any part of the surface
may be stained ; the invention is most successfully performed with glass
made without the use of soda. The glass is to be well cleaned, and
treated in the following manner : — take one part by weight of sulphurct of
copper; two parts of the scales of iron from a smith's forge ; three parts of
sulphate of copper burned to whiteness; and four parts of calcined yellow
ochre, all ground as fine as possible with the essence of turpenline, which
has become rather thick by exposure to the atmosphere. The mixture
being of the consistency of cream is laid on the surface of the glass to be
stained by a brush, and allowed to dry; the glass is then placed in astaiuer's
muffle and heated to as high a degree of heal as it will allow with-
out melting. The fire is then drawn off, and the glass allowed to cool
down slowly, and washed when cold, when the appearance of the glass
should, on looking in a direction edgewise of the glass, ofl'er a greenish
yellow if lead has been used in the making of the glass ; the colour ob-
tained will, however, differ according to the composition of the glass. The
glass is again placed in a muffle, and heated as before ; when the fire is
withdrawn a quantity of small coal is introduced into the lower part of the
mufHe; (4 lb. of coal is the quautily for a muffle 24 inches in diameter and
30 inches in length). The muffle is then completely closed and luted, by
which the products of the coal will be prevented escaping. The muffle
and the glass are to be allowed to cool down, and wlien the glass is
taken out, it will generally be found to ofler a brownish-red colour.
Those articles which oiler such colour are then to be placed in another
muffle which has been lime-washed, and again heated and cooled down as
before.

The second pirt of the invention relates to ornamenting of glass by a
peculiar process of etching. For ornamenting window glass take five parts
of puce-coloured oxide of lead (peroxide) to one part of fius, (the flux em-
ployed is 17 parts of glass of borax and 1 3 parts of red lead fused together) ;
the oxide of lead and the flux is ground with turpentine, and with this
composition the artist paints the desired devices or designs on the surface
of gla.ss to be etched : when coloured glass is to be etched, acetate of lead
is preferred in place of the oxide of lead; the s-ime are then allowed to
dry, and the articles are to be tired in the same manner as when gilding on
glass, and allowed to cool; and when cold they are dipped in a weak solu-
tion of nitric acid in water, and the surfaces cleansed by rubbing off the
preparation above mentioned. — The claim is firstly, for the manufacturing
stained window or other glass, by applying copper for producing a red
colour for staining the same on the surfaces, as herein explained ; and,
secondly, for the mode of manufacturing window and other glass, by etch-
ing on the surfaces thereof by means of lead acted on by acid.

STEAM ENGINES.

Mark IJollinson, of Brierly Hill, near Dudley, engineer, for " /m-
proveinent:) in sleam engines." — Granted iSIay 7 ; Enrolled November 7,
ISIO.

The improvements relate to obtaining additional power by admitting
steam in the upper part of the air pump of steam engines during the down
stroke, simultaneously with the admission of steam in the steam cylinder.
The air pump has a solid packed piston, and valves and passages com-
muuicating with the condenser.

COKING ARTIFICIAL FUEL.

Ferdinand Charles M'arlicm, of Deplford, Kent, gentleman, for " Im-
provements in the manuj'aeture «/ Juel." — Granted April 7 ; Enrolled Oct,
7, l«4(i.

The improvements relate to the subjecting of moulded fuel to the pro-
cess of coking ; for this purpose the patentee prefers the manufactured fuel,
consisting of the small of anlliraclte coal, of free burning coal, and of bilu-
rainous coal, mixed wilh pitch or hitummons matter moulded into bricks ;
to be heated in retorts or ovens to drive off the volatile products (as
described in a patent granted October .5, 1843, to the present patentee).
■| he bricks are then placed one upon another with a small space between
the sides, in a coke oven, (a (quare one is preferred), when they are con-
verted into coke by the oidiuuiy process.

PUNCHING AND SHEARING.

Charles May, of Ipswich, Suffolk, civil engineer, for " Improrements
in machinery for punching, rivetting, and shearing metal plates." — Granted
April IJ; Enrolled October li, ItitO. (Keported in the Patent Journal.)

This invention consists of the application of different modifications of the
principle of the hydrostatic press.

It consists first in its application to the punching of metals, used for
boat building, boiler making, ^ic. Fig. 1 represents a side view of this
improved machine, which is partly exhibited in section. It is a strong
iron frame a, in the shape of a horse shoe, the upper arm of which is fur-
nished with a die 6, llie size of the hole in which corresponds with the
size of the hole desired to be perforated in the plate or plates of metal ; it
is affixed to the arm by means of a pinching screw c, which admits of its
being changed for a new one, or one of a different size. The extremity of
the lower arm is cast hollow and fitted with a ram or cylinder d, similar to
the ram of a hydraulic press ; this ram d, carries the punch e, used to force
out the hole in the metal plates. It is placed directly opposite the hole in
the die i, info which it is received when forced upwards. Another exter-
nal or annular cylinder/, which is bored to suit the external diameter of
the ram d, and the exterior is turned to fit the hollow in the arm ; both
these cylinders have cap-leathers g h, placed in recesses turned to receive
them, which prevent the water escaping between the surfaces of the cylin-
ders when the pressure is applied. Attached to the centre cylinder is a
rod i, which passes through a stuffing box in the bottom, and has attached
to the other end a spiral spring, which withdraws the punch from the plates
after the hole is punched, k is the aperture to which the tube is attached
to form the connection between the pumps and the press.

Fig. 1— Punching Apparatus,

(

The frame a may be of any other convenient form, but the patentee pre-
fers the foregoing, as it may be easily suspended by the rings from a tra-
versing crane, and moved about in any direction where it may be required ;
the pumps being placed on the platform of the crane, and connected by
means of a flexible tube, the best for which purpose being of metal, and
coiled round in the shape of a spiral, having a sufficient number of turns
to give it the requisite flexibility.

The action of Ibis apparatus is as follows : — The plates I, n, having been
introduced between the punch and die, water is forced in below the rams
by means of pumps, one of which should be considerably larger than the
other, in order to take up the slack, and the small one to produce the pres-
sure. The water being thus forced in, will raise both cylinders d and/,
until they meet with some resistance from the plates ; the external cylinder
/forcing them close together, and the pressure being continued, the inter-
nal cylinder or ram will rise still further, and force the punch e through the
plates; and on the water being allowed to escape, the cylinders will be
withdrawn by the action of the spiral spring, both of which cylinders are
furnished w itli suitable collars, so as to prevent either of them being forced
or depressed beyond a proper range.

PLATE XM.

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

385

The second part of this inveatioa relates to the rivetlinK togethei' plates
of metal by the same means as before described for punching ; the only dif-
ference in the machine being, that rivet sets are adjusted in the same posi-
tion as the punch and die; to receive and form the rivet heads, it is not
necessary that it should be furnished with a double ram or cylinder.

The third part relates to tlie shearing and cutting of metal plates, the
machines for which, are modifications of that already described, one being
exactly similar to the common form of Bramah's press, but furnished with
a double ram. The patentee proposes to use this for cutting such articles
as railway axle guards. A punch, of the shape of the article desired to be
cut, is fixed on the head of the ram, and a corresponding die in the cross
head ; the ram, on being forced up by the means already explained, will
cut the metal plate the shape required.

Fig.

-Catting Shears.

1 — 1

k

i'

0

1

c

0

0

a

c

0

a

0

0

■

c 1

,

<l!

c '

; '

® <5 e

d

Fig, 2, represents a front elevation of a machine of shearing; «, a, is a
strong iron frame, supported in a vertical po.sition by means of dovetail
guides, in which it moves freely up and down; b, li, is a knife or shear,
attached to the frame a ; c, c, c, are a series of hydraulic rams, by which
pressure is applied directly on the knife or cutting shear ; the correspond-
ing shear d, is stationary, and a fixture lo the frame of the machine.

Having described the manner of applying the invention to the different
purposes for which it is intended, the patentee wishes it to be understood,
that he lays no claim to the details as herein described and carried out, nor
to the application of water for the same purposes; but claims, first, the ap-
plication of the pressure of a fluid, caused by means of pumps, for the
punching of metals. Second, the application of the pressure of a fluid,
caused by means of a pump or pumps, for the rivetting together plates of
metal, as hereinbefore described. Third, the arrangement of a series of
hydraulic rams, for the purposes of shearing metal plates, as hereinbefore
described.

APPARATUS FOR PREPARING FIBROUS MATERIALS.

WiLLiA.M Newton, of Chancery Lane, Middlesex, civil engineer, for
" hnproved modifications and novel application of known machinerij and pro-
cess to the purpose of cleaning, softening, dividing a)id preparing Jia.r, hemp,
and other vegetable fibrous materials." (Being a i:ommunication.) —
Gianted August 14, iS45; Enrolled February 14, 184G.

The invention relates to the employment of an apparatus similar to the
ordinary fulling-stock, for beating, breaking, or operating upon textile
plants of all descriptions, and for constructing the beaters and trough or
bed of the slocks in the manner hereinafter described.

Fig. 1 is a vertical section, and fig. 2 a plan of tlie apparatus; the bed or
trough may be made of cast iron, copper, or other suitable metal, the in-
ternal surface is formed of three curves ; the first curve is the front of a
radius of 10 feet and 2 feet in length, which is the length of the arms of
tlie beaters ; the bottom curve is 10 inches in length and 10 inches radius,
and the back curve 19 inches in length and 24 inches radius ; the trough
is about 24 inches w ide on the top. The wooden beaters are of equal size,
and lifted by rotary tappets e, falling alternately on the substances in the
trough, they are about 400 lb. in weight, and have a fall of 2 feet, (the
weights and fall may be varied according to the degree of hardness and
resistance of the plant). The beaters have 5 teeth, the front tooth is 2J in.
thick, and projects half an inch beyond thS two following or intermediate
teeth b h, wliich are 2 inches thick, forming an arc of an inch radius, and the
fourth tooth c is Ij inch thick, and 2i inches longer than the first, and the
fifth and last tooth li is 4^ inches thick, and projects nearly 7 inches ; a space
of 24 inches is left between the 4th and 5th tooth. The upper surface of
tlie beater is perpendicular to the first tooth, and curved to the shape of the
trough. The teeth are covered with sheet copper, and the arms of the

beaters are mounted so as to vibrate in an arc concentric with the front
curve of the trough.

Fig. 1.

Fig. 2.

The operation is performed in the following manner : — the plants are
firmly twisted together in bundles of about a pound each, and then cleansed
and deprived of all gummy and other extraneous matters, and softened by
being beaten or pressed. About SO lb. of the plant is then laid on the
trough and submitted to the action of the two beaters, acting alternately
for about four hours.

This alternate action of the beaters turns the plant over and over, in a
regular and uniform manner, compressing it forcibly against the sides of the
bed, and causing the fibres to rub against each other at every stroke of the
beaters. The outer covering or woody portion of the plant is first broken
and then removed by the peculiar shape of the teeth of the beaters. Alter
a time the outer covering and ligneous matter being broken oH', the fila-
ments are separated and the plant gently heated, which facilitates the re-
moval of the gummy matters, and all the parts become softened. After
this operation, and a cleansing in water, the fibres are operated upon in the
ordinary matter.

METALLIC PISTONS.

William Mather and Colin Mather, of Salford, near Manchester,
millwrijihts and engineers, for " Improvements in metallic pistons."-—
Granted April 28; Enrolled October 21, 184G.

,v-.-.

.^^.ji

Mf

The improvements relate to the mode of packing pistons by a combina
tion of two helical springs, one within the other, as sliown in the annexed
figure, one-half of which shows the outer spring a, aud tlie other half the
inner one b, wliich surround a groove or channel formed round the body of
the piston e ; they are compressed and held in their places by the top plate
or cover d of the piston when fixed down by three screws t' ; at the twa
ends of the outer spring, there are tilling or stopping bits /, placed across
the two openings in recesses formed in the outer spring in order to stop
the steam passing down or up through the splits.

The two springs a aud b are made by first forming a cylinder by casting
and then cutting out a portion of the metal in an incliued direction, a
Tertical cut being made at the points a', a' : when the springs are put toge-

49

386

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Dec.

tlier, tlie f wo ends of the outer spring are made to come at the opposite side
of the piston to the two ends of the inner spring. The outer spring a is
formed witli an inner flange, and the inner spring b comes hitween the
flanges, and causes hy its elastic force, to open out and press tlje top and
bottom surfaces of the outer spring a, against the top and bottom plates of
the piston. As the two springs require to be compressed when the piston
is introduced into the cylinder, they will when in exert an expansive force
and fill up the cylinder in which it is working, notwithstanding any wear
either in the cylinder or the packing.

The claim is for parking of pistons by the use of helical springs a in
combination with spring 4.

M.\RINE ELECTRIC TELEGR.VPH.

Arthi'r Philip Perceval, of East Horsley, Surrey, Clerk, for " Im-
provements incommunicatiti!; Iietwcen places scpiiratcd bij water," — Granted
April 23; Enrolled October 2», 1S4C.

These improvements consist — First, when the electric wires have been
eflectually secured from water, by tlireail and gum or caoutchouc, they are
to be cncloserl in a *' necklace of iron rings in conlact with each other, or
of iron sockets dove-tailing one into the other. Ciiil it on the deck like
any other cable, and throw it overboard in transit." Secondly, where
this means of communication is unavailable, transfer a semaphore appa-
ratus on land, to hulls, fixed at proper distances and secured by an-
chors, sufficiently spacious for the accommodation of men to work the
signals.

AMERICAN PATENTS.
Granted in August, 1845, reported in the American Franklin Journal.

For "«tt Improved metliod of making matrices for casting printers' tijpe.'
Thos. W. Starr, Philadelphia. '

This is for forming matrices on types by the electrotype process, which
afterwards are properly fitted up to give the necessary strength and dura-
bility. Claim. — " Having thus fully described my method of forming
matrices for casting the face of printers' type, and other articles therein,
what I claim as new, and desire to secure by letters patent, is the manner
of forming the same by means of a common type or cut, and a metallic plate
with an opening, with slanting sides, the two arranged and prepared in the
manner described, and placed in a solution of sulphate of copper, and
connected with the pule of a galvanic battery, in the same manner usually
practised in electrotyping ; and after receiving a sufKcieut deposit of cop-
per, to he fiUed up for use, in the manner set forth."

For " nil Improved method of lessening friction in clocks, 6-c. Eli Terry,
Plymouth, Connecticut.

The claim is for " the employment of a suspension piece, arranged and
operating substantially in the manner of that which I have denominated
the friction-prevenior, for sustaining the weight of the balance wheel and
its arbor. The arbor of the balance wheel is supported by a stirrup which
Tibrates as the balance rotates, so as to relieve the journals or pivots from
the friction due to the weight of the balance."

YoT " a composition of matter for removing acids from cloth, Ifc . Solo-
mon Guess, Boston.

This compound consists of 4 lb. of fucus vesiculosus (sea or bladder
wrack) boiled in 3 pints of water until reduced to one, mixed with one
quart ox gall, 1 lb. of carbonate of ammonia, j lb. of alum, and 24 lb. of
common white soap ; the whole is properly melted and mixed together.

For "<m Improvement in the propeller." John Ericsson, New York
City, N. V.

The claim is for constructing the hub with perforated projections, and
the combination of the same with elliptic braces, for the purpose of sus-
taining and strengthening spiral propeller blades. The projections from
the hub to which the blades are attached are made hollow for the passage
of the water in the direction of the plane of the face to which the bladels
attached. And the elliptic braces are segments of hoops made oblique to
the axis, and therefore elliptical— they are used to brace together the
blades about midway between the hub and tips.

machine for folding sheet metal. Henry A.jRoe, Erie, Pennsylvania.
The patentee says :— "The nature of my invention consists, first, in at-
taching what I term the folding plate, that is to say, a plate which gripes

the edge of the sheet of metal, and on which the folding is elTected by the
folder, to a bed placed below it and hinged to the bed of the machine, so
that the sheet of metal can be folded entirely over, instead of griping the
sheet b> a square jaw extending above and forming a stock above the
plane of the bed of the machine, as heretofore, which prevents the sheet
from being folded entirely over, and therefore requiring a secondary opera-
tion to complete the folds. Secondly : la sup|)orting the said folding bed,
to which the folding plate is attached, in the middle of its length by ajoint
bolt, the head of which lies in a semicircular recess in the folding bed and
as near as practicable in a line with the axis of motion, and secured in the
bed of the machine. Thirdly ; In the employmtut of a side plate below
the folding bed and back of its journals, provided with inclined planes oa
which j)rojectious from the back of the folding bed rest, so that by the
working of the side plate by a lever at the end of the machine, the folding
plate can be made to gripe and liberate the sheet of metal."

For "an Improvement in the propeller. Leonard Phleger, Wilmington,
Delaware.

The invention consists in making the wings of the propeller in the pre-
cise form of such a portion of the convex surface of a regular cone as
would be cut out by a plane or planes passing through its axis, and com-
prehending about half of its surface, each wing being attached, along one
of its straight edges, to the shaft.

GUN COTTOX.

It will be remembered that Dr. Otto, of Brunswick, claims to be con-
sidered one of the inventors of gun cotton, and states that he was led to the
discovery by a remark published by Pelouze, in the Journal de Chemie. M.
Pelouze, at the Academy, on the 2nd November, says, on the subject of gun-
cotton: "Although M. Schonbein has not published the nature or mode of
preparation of his cotton, it is evident that the properties which he assigns
to it can only apply to xyloidine. Reasoning on the hypothesis that the
poudre-coton is nothing else than xyloidine, I may be permitted to say a few
words with respect to its history, and of some of its properties. Xyloidine
was discovered in 1833 by M. IJraconnet, of Nancy. He prepared it by dis-
solving starch and some other organic substances in nitric acid, and precipi-
tating these solutions in water. In a note inserted in the Comptes remlus
de V Academic ties Sciences, in 1 838, I showed that the xyloidine resulted
from the union of the elements of the nitric acid with those of starch, and
explained, by this composition, the excessive combustibility of the substance
produced. I ascertained — and this I think is a verv important result in the
history of the applications of xyloidine — that instead of preparing it by dis-
solving the cellulose, it might be obtained with infinitely greater facility and
economy by simply impregnating paper, cotton, and henip with concentrated
nitric acid ; and that these organic matters thus treated took fire at 180 de-
grees, and burnt almost without residuum, and with excessive energy: but I
think it right to add, that I never for an instant had an idea of their use as a
substitute for gunpowder. The merit of this application belongs entirely to
M. Schonbein. Eight years ago, however, I prepared an inflammable paper
by plunging into concentrated nitric acid, a sheet of paper known in com-
merce by the name of papier ministri. After leaving it there for twenty
minutes, I washed it in a large quantity of water, and dried it in a gentle
heat. I have recently tried this paper in a pistol, and with about three
grains pierced a plank two centimetres in thickness (about three quarters of
an inch), at a distance of twenty-five metres." The results of experiments at
Paris, under authority, were communicated to the Academy on the 9th inst.
The proved advantages of the gun-cotton appear to he, cleanliness, rapid
combustion without solid residue, the absence of had smell, lightness, no dust
possible, and therefore no sifting necessary, an indisputable force, and valued
at present as triple that of an equal weight of gunpowder. The disadvantages
are — volume, and hence a difliculty in making up, and in the transport of
ammunition ; and the production of a large quantity ot watery vapour within
the guns, which is, perhaps, more inconvenient than the dirt of ordinary
powdrr. Of five specimens tried, one fired the fourth time without the gun
having been sponged, was projected with the greatest part of the cotton un-
burnt, and this was so moist that it would not take fire in the open air.

Test of quality. — M. Pelouze announced an important discovery by two of
his laboratory pupils ; it is, that when xyloidine has reached its greatest de-
gree of explosive power, tli.-n it is completely soluble in ether. Hence a
test of quality, and a proof of the best make.

At a meeting of the Chemical Society of London, the same day, a paper
was read On (Ac Gun Cotton, by Mr. E. F. Tesciiemachkr. The author
stated that he entered on this subject with a view of obtaining some data
as to how far the possible introrluction of this substance in the place of
gunpowder was likely to affect the consumption of saltpetre and uilrale of
soda. The gun cotton examined was made by Mr. Taylor's process.
Fifty grains of South American cotton were dried over a waterbalh, and
lost 3-40 grains. It was steeped in the mixed acids, washed, dried, and
found to have increased to 79 grains. The acids used were then examined,
by saturating with carbonate of soda, and it was found that the cotton had
taken acid equivalent to 2bi grains of soda ; or 48 grains of dry nitric acid

1846.J

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

387

had combined with the 4G CO grains of cotton, forming the 79 grains of gun
cotton. The synthetical composition was stated as

4600 cotton, less

l.ifiO water taken away by the sulphuric and nitric acids, leaving

31-00 cotton deprived of a portion of its constituent water,
35-55 oxygen } j^, ^^ ^g g■^^^■^ ^^-^^^
12-15 nitrogen )

79 parts, or

39-25 cotton deprived of a portion of water,
45-00 oxygen I ^ ,g g^.^j ^^^^■,^ ^(.jd,

15-75 nitrogen J ^

I DO parts.
Thus it would require 11475 parts of saltpetre, or 99-10 parts of nitrate of
soda, to form 100 parts of gun cotton. INIi. Teschemacher directed attention
to the large quantity of oxygen— viz., 45 parts in every 100— which must
be derived for combination with the cotton. He stated that he had also
experimented upon other vegetable substances, such as flax, sawdust, &c.
He found 50 grains of flax to increase in weight to 72 grains, but that the
combustion of this substance was less perfect and less rapid than that of
gun cotton.

The gun cotton does not ignite when violently struck. It may occa-
sionally be made to dt'cri'(»'<(Uc— not explode— by percussion. The King
of Prussia has issued a decree extending all the safeguards for the
manufacture, keeping, and selling of gunpowder to this new explosive
material.

Professor Schtinhein, in a letter to the Times, denies the identity of the
syloidiue of M. Peloiize with his gun cotton, as believed by some chemists
and as stated iu the Academy of Sciences al Paris. The dilTerence between
them, he says, will be made known at the proper time. Until then, also,
we may here remark, the several experiments and their results that have
been made public can be received only as the performances and etiects of
certain explosive materials, concocted by sundry individuals, and not as
proofs of the properties or capabilities of the gun cotton.

WESTMINSTER BRIDGE.

Our attention has been drawn to the following announcement in the
daily journals : —

"Demolition of Westminster Bridge and Construction of a New
One. — It is definitively arranged by the Westminster Bridge Commis-
sioners, that the present bridge shall be removed. It is intended to apply
next session for an act to pull down the old bridge and erect a new bridge,
from the eastern end of Whitehall-place, to Sutton-street, in the York-road,
Lambeth. Powers are to be taken in the act to allow the commissioners
to make the following new streets in connexion with the bridge ; — 1st. A
new street from the south side of Charing-cross by the south-west side ot
Northumberland-house to the north bank of the Thames, near the end of
Whitehall-place, passing over Angel-court, Craigs-court, the eastern ends
o? Great Scotland-yard, and Whitehall-place. On the Surrey side of the
bridge there will be a new street in a direct line to the east side of the
Westminster-road, to Mason-street, Lambelh. On each side of the bridge
it is intended to construct large and commodious piers for the use of the
steamers plying on the river. The bridge will, it is said, be constructed of
granite."

We fear the construction of this new bridge will be most detrimental to
existing interests, and cause the greatest inconvenience to the inhabitants
of Westminster. It will not only destroy the direct line of thoroughfare
from Pimlico through the Park and Great George-street, over West-
minster-bridge to the Elephant and Castle and theSurrey roads, but it will
be the lause uf increasing the traffic through the already over-crowded
thorougkiaies from Charing-cross to the City, as it is now far nearer and
quicker to go fium the Law Courts and Parliament-street over Westminster-
bridge to the City, the Brighton and Dover Railways, and ultimately to the
new staliou of the South-Western Railway ; and cooseijueutly this traffic,
if this new bridge be constructed, will be directed along the Strand ; and
besides, there will be a distance of a mile through Westminster from Vaux-
ball-bridge to the site of the proposed new bridge that will be entirely cut ofl'
from the Surrey side, excepting \>y the circuitous route over those two
bridges. By a reference to tlie map of Loudon, it will be seeu that if this
uew bridge be carried over the river at right angles to the shore at White-
hall-place, the end on the Surrey side will almost come in contact with the
foot of Hungerford-bridge ! Surely the direct communication from Charing-
cross over ihis last bridge is ample accommodation for the public, witliout
intruding another vvithiu a stone's throw.

Why the uew bridge should be removed from the present site of West-
minster bridge we cannot devise. A uew bridge might be constructed on
the eastern side of the present bridge, and the latter pulled dowu when the
new one is erected, as was done viilh Old London Bridge. By removing
■Westminster-bridge, the only land-view from which a perspective view can
be obtained of the new Houses of Parliament will be lost, and, as we before
stated, all the elaborate and minute sculpture and decorations will not be

seen. To get a view of the grand facade, we shall be obliged to go in one
of the river steamers, and catch a transient glimpse as the vessel passes
along.

Can it be supposed that Parliament will sanction such a scheme, to
the destruction and despoliation of all the valuable interests connected with
the trade and property in Wcstniiuster and Lambeth ? and ultimately cause
another bridge to be constructed, at the expense of the public, somewhere
above the new Parliament Houses, which niustfoUowif AVestminster-bridge
be removed from the present site.

MACHINE FOR PRINTING TWELVE THOUSAND SHEETS
PER HOUR.

We have been shown the model of a printing machine, which we have
little hesitation in designating a stride in the already wonderful progress
that has been made iu the printing art during the last live and twenty
years. The steam press by which the Didlij Neirs is printed is, we be-
lieve, the fastest — because the newest, and, consequently, provided with the
latest improvements— at present in existence ; yet the average number of
copies it produces within the hour is 5,000. The improved machine is cal-
culated to print 12,000 per hour; and after a careful examination of the
model, we have every reason to believe that the calculation is correct. To
persons unacquainted with the details of printing machinery it will be next
to impossible to convey a complete idea of the improvement, simple as is
the principle on which it has been effected : a general notion may, how-,
ever, be given. For the benefit of the uninitiated, we must premise that
the present printing machines consist of two principal pans ; fiist, of a
sliding table, the middle of which is occupied by the type, each end having
a surface on which the ink is distributed, and from which it is taken up by
soft elastic rollers, and imparted to the type, secondly, of cylinders con-
stantly revolving, to which the sheets are conveyed by tapes, impressed by
the periodical sinking of the cylinders upon the type, and conveyed away
again by the tapes. By the present plan, as the impressing cylinders re-
volve in one direction, an impression can only be taken at each forward
transit of the type; the cylinders being lifted, to clear the type as it travels
back again. Iu other words, the type passes under each cylinder tivice
to produce one impression. The new, or, as it is aptly termed, "The
Double-action Machine," takes advantage of both passages of the type
under its cylinder, printing a sheet as the type passes backward as well
as when it goes forward. This is managed by reversing the revolutions of
the cylinders at each stroke, simply by means of straight racks placed upon
the long edges of the table, in which work cog-wheels attached to the axles
of the cylinders. In this double action resides the main feature of improve-
ment. It not only allows of two sheets being printed for one, but— by dis-
encumbering the steam-press of the machinery necessary for lifting the cy-
linders that they may clear the table at each return— admits of the intro-
duction of eight cylinders into the machine instead of four, the present
maximum number. By this accession seven sheets are printed in the lime
of four— the natural supposition would be eight sheets; but a peculiarity
it would be impossible to explain in this paragraph prevents the double ac-
tion being imparted to the two outside cylinders, which constantly revolve
as of old, in the same direction, and which reduces the ratio of production
one sheet per stroke of the machine. There are many minor advantages
derived from the application of the new principle, that would, if described,
involve the general reader in a maze of technicalities which would not be,
to him, very interestiug. The inventor and patentee is Mr. 'William Little,
publisher of the lUuslraled Londun ^eivs. We are told that his first
draught of the invention was so correct, that in making the model not the
minutest alteration was found necessary- a proof of the soundness of the
mechanical principle from which he started. — DaUy News.

PROCEEDINGS OP SCIEBJTIPIC SOCIETIES.

ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.
Nov. 2.— The President, Earl De Guey, in the Chair.

Mr. G. Allen and Mr. C. Mayhew were elected Fellows, and Mr. C.
Barry, jun., an Associate.

A paper was read by Mr. Mair, " On an Ancient Structure existing at
il Hather, in Mesnimlumia, <md on some Antiquities recently discovered Oy
A. H. Layakd, Esq., ut Nimroud ,"— the description and drawings having
been forwarded by that gentleman. Of the budding at Al Hather, which
appears to have been both a palace and a temple, considers ,le remains
still exist. They were visited by Mr. Ross, the surgeon to ihe British Re-
sidency at Bagdad, m the year .837 ; and again by Messrs Ainsworth,
Mitford, and Layard, in Ib40,-wheu the latter gentleman took he dimen-
sions and made the drawings exhibited by Mr. Mair. As to the precise
date of the origin of this building, there is adifierence of opinion ; but Mr.
Layard conceives that it owes its origin to the Sassaniau dynasty of I er-
sian kings. At the time of Joviaa's retreat, the city was deserted ; but,
as the character of the ruins in question is that of a later date, it is proba-

3S5

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'. JOURNAL.

[Dec.

ble that, after the treatj- of Dura, the Persians, seeing the importance of
Hatra or Al Halher, rebuilt and strongly fortified it. By an inscription
repealed more than once upon the walls of the palace, it appears that that
building was restored in the year of the Hejira580(A.i). liyOj. The period
of its final desertion is not known. The resemblance of these ruins to
those at C'tesiphon is striking. To this day, the mode of construction
adopted by the Sassauian Kings of Pcr-ia has been preserved in most parts
of that country : — the centre of the edifice being usually occupied by a hall
of large dimensions, which extends the whole depth of the building, and is
open only at one end. Jt is called the Aiwam ; and is flanked by a num-
ber of smaller rooms, generally forming two stories. The whole structure
usually stands in tfie niidst of a large court-yard, ornamented with gardens,
fountains, and reservoirs. The palace at A\ Hather has three aiwanis
(two of which are 'J8 fei t long l)y 48 feet w ide) ; but in other respects it
closely resembles, in arrangements of the apartments, the modern houses of
Shuster and Dizful, in M eslern Persia. The arches over the entrances
are richly adorned witli human busts; the head-dresses of which are ex-
tremely varied and peculiar, — but generally resemble those found in Persia
on monuments of the .Sassanian dynasty. Tiie stone of which the building
is composed is a very fosr^ilifeious limestone. The blocks are well cut,
neatly fitted, and firmly nuited by a fine and tenaceous cement. On each
of them is found a peculiar mark, to which some have ascribed a myste-
rious meaning; but Layavd apijears convinced of their having been used
solely in connexion with building purposes — as they occur also on those
stones which could not have been exposed when tlie building was perfect.
Mr. Mair then read a letter from Mr. Layard, respecting his discoveries at
Nimroud. The mode of construction is described as peculiar. .Slabs of
marble, highly sculptured, are placed against intervening walls of sun-
baked bricks. The roof was, probably, flat, and constructed entirely of
timber. Ornaments and rings of ivory, copper, and porcelain are found
among the ruins. The rooms are paved with either slabs of marble, layers
of bitumen, or bricks. In some parts of the building, glazed and joa(n(c<i
bricks occur ; — the ornaments of which are extremely elegant, and the
colours very brilliant. They are still in perfect preservation. Mr. Mair
exhibited to the meeting drawings of one of the ias-re/iV/'s representing
chariots and warriors, and of one of the winged bVinmu-ludJed lions, —
which excited considerable attention and curiosity. — It was stated that
Government had lent its aid in promoting these researches; and that eight
bas-reliefs and other sculptured fragments were on their way to this cuuu-
try.

Nov. 16. — S. Angell, Esq. A'.P.,in the Chair.

John Haviland, Esq., of Philadelphia, was elected as honorary and
corresponding member.

The following paper was read: — " Remarks on the Art of the Marbles
from HalicartiusMS," by Charles Newton, Esq., M.A. (of the British
Museum) ; and Drawings of the Bas-Reliefs, by JosEPii Bonomi, Esq.,
were exhibited to the Meeting.

Mr. NiWTON proposed to consider whether these marbles really formed
part of the celebrated Mausoleum of .\rteraesia. He stated that the de-
scription of Halicarnassus left by Vitruvius is far more minute than that
of most cities of antiquity ; hut unfortunately the interpretation of some
expresions made use of by that author are so doubtful as to leave the
question of the site of the principal buildings mentioned by him still open
to much dilference of opinion. Mr. Nevfton then explained, by reference
to an enlarged copy of an Admiralty chart of that pari of the coast, his
arrangement of the various buildings surroundiug the port— which was
only a partial adoption of Vitruvius's description, and would make the
spot now occupied by the fortress the site of the pulace of Mausolus ;
while that of the mausoleum itself would appear to have been situ-
ated where the modern street of the town now exists. Still, there are no
remains which woulJ justify any positive conclusion on this point. Adopt-
ing, however, this arrangement, the niarbles in question must then either
have formed part of the palace, and have been used in the construrtion of
the fort as materials lying " in situ,"— or, if fragments of the mausoleum,
they must have been brought for that purpose from the higher ground.

Mr. Newton then proceeded to consider whether the style of these sculp-
tured fragments is that of the period at which the celebrated mausoleum
was constructed (ii c. 350) ; and whether they are worthy of the great
reputation of the artists employed in the adornment of tliat monument.
Alith respect to the subject represented— a Combat between .Amazons and
Greek Warriors— Mr. Newton entered at some length into its connexion
with the mythical history of Caria, or of the house of iMausolus. These
figures appear on the coins of several cities of Caria, and other parts of
Asia Minor; and the myth was, without doubt, suHiciently national to
account for its being chosen as the subject for the decoration of so import-
ant a monument as the mausoleum.

Lastly, Mr. Newton referred to the structure of this monument itself,

giving inleristiug extracts from Pliny, from the Comte de Caylus, and from
several ancient MSS. Few of the conjectural restorations of the monu-
ment eslirely agree: the data — particularly the dimensions on which they
have been made— being slender and equivocal ; the question of the relative
size and position of the substiuciure or basement, and the consequent ar-
rangement of the steps, being doubtful. The description given by Pliny
is too doubtful to enable us to adjust the measurement of the frieze to any
of his dimensions. In default, then, of more direct evidence of the site
which these marbles originally occupied, their dimensions considered ar-
chitecturally, or the character of their execution and subject, we must re-

main contented with the positive declaration of Fontanus — that the fort-
ress of the Knights of lihodes was built out of the ruins of the sepulchre
of Mausolus ; and, on the faith of this declaration, consider that in these
marbles we possess fragments of one of the seven wonders of the world.

Professor Donaldson offered some remarks on the Design of the Mau-
soleum erected at Halicarnassus by Arlemesia, and read some extracts
from his journal, in illustration of the description given by Vitruvius of
the site of the ancient city ; and in describing the existing antiquities
there, alluded to many fragments of the Ionic order, lying about the mo-
dern town, now called Boodroom. Mr. Donaldson exhibited his restora-
tion of the .Miiusoleum, and also drawings of the details of a Doric temple
and other antiquities, from measurements taken by himself on the spot.

Proiassor Cockerell, U.A., stated his intention of devoting two Lec-
tures, in January next, at the Koyal Academy, to the subject of this and
other similar iMausolea, and invited the attendance of such Members as
felt interested in the subject.

The following resolution of the Council respecting tlie HalicaroassiaD
marbles was announced : —

"That the circumstance of the opening to public view, in the British
Museum, during the vacation of the Institute, the sculptured marbles re-
cently obtained from Boodroom (the ancient Halicarnassus), demands spe-
cial notice and record ; and the Council therefore avail themselves of the
opportunity afforded them by this, the first meeting of the session, to ex-
press the gratification they feel, that these important and interesting relics
of antiquity are now secured fur the general advantage of artists, and for
the promotion of art, in this kingdom. — The Council reflect with satisfac-
tion, that the acquisition of these valuable monuments of ancient art has
been efl'ecled through the suggestions offered to her Majesty's Government,
by the architects of this country, in the year 1841, and they desire to ex-
press the acknowledgments of the Members of the Institute for the cour-
teous attention given to the representations tlien made to her Majesty's
principal Secretary of State for Foreign Aflairs, the Viscount Palmerston,
through whose instrumentality so desirable an addition has been made to
the National Collection.

The Chairman announced, that since the last meeting, an application
on the part of her Majesty's government had been made to the Council, for
their opinion relative to the position of the equestrian statue of the Duke
of Wellington, on the arch at the entrance to the Cireen Park ; in conse-
quence of which, a report had been prepared and forwarded to Lord Mor-
peth, and the Council had reason to believe that the recommendations
therein would be adopted by her Majesty's Government. The report was
read as follows : —

"That the effect of the equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington, on
the top of the arch at the entrance to the Green Park, is unsatisfactory,
and its position there most objectionable.

" The Council in the first place deem it proper to observe, that the follow-
ing opinions are given as those of the Council only, there not being time
sufficient to submit the question to a general meeting of the Institute ; but
a well grounded impression prevails, that few, if any dissentient voices
would be found among the members to the judgment oi the Council in this
matter.

" The Council next refer to the strong opinion expressed by the archi-
tect who designed the arch, and who has supported his objections with
much of sound and excellent reasoning ; and they consider it a recognized
principle amongst artists, that the architect who designs a successful work
is by far tiie most competent authority upon a question as to the propriety,
size, and character of any sculptural adjuncts or decorations proposed to
be applied to his own design.

" Independently of the valuable opinion referred to, the Council feel,
that the statue is by far too large for the mass it was intended to decorate,
and discordant with that harmony of proportion which is indispensable
between the structure and its sculptural embellishments. The size of the
arch is apparently diminished by the colossal dimensions of the statue ; the
elegant screen of columns towards Hyde Park, and indeed all the contigu-
ous buildings are alike affected, and the grandeur and importance of the
principal approach to the metropolis is thus lessened by the false scale
produced by the colossal size of the statue.

"The most celebrated statues of colossal or heroic size were all placed
on suitable plinths or pedestals on the ground, and not applied as crowning
oru.iments to buildings. The Jupiter at Elis, the iMinerva at .Athens, the
Marcus .AureliUb in the Uoman Capitol, and the Group on the Quirinal,
may be cited among many other ancient statues ; and of modern times, the
statues in the Square and Loggia at Florence, of San Carlo Borromeo at
Arona, Peter the Great at St. Petersburg, aud George the Third in the
Long Walk at W indsor, may be instanced.

" In conclusion, the Council feel, that if the statue were removed to aa
approved site, and the arch enriched with appropriate sculptural decora-
tion, under the superintendence of its architect, such decorations being
accessorial aud subordinate, it would then no longer be suliject to the
severe criticism of artists, foreign visitors, aud persons of ackuowledged
taste."

]S46.j

THE CIVIL ! NGINEER AN£ ARC IITfiCT'S JOURNAL.

389

NOTES OF THE MONTH.

A correspondent of the^l</ira<£KW! writes from Freiburg, that in the archi-
tecture and internal decorations of almost all the b)iildin<;s lately erected, we
see the most gratifying displays of taste and skill in adaptation. Some of
the new railway stations exhibit extraordinary elegance in design and fer-
tility of invention. I would particularly refer to all the buihJings erected
in connexion with the line of railway extending from IMannheim to Frei-
burg, under the directiou of the architect of the Grand Duke. From the
policeman's cottage to the grand central station, all have been designed
with a view to utility and ornament. The smaller buildings have a good
deal the style of Swiss cottages, with overhanging roofs, quaintly carved.
The central stations are distinguished by a clock tower, and have some-
thing of an Elizabethan character. A great deal of ornament is expended
in the roofs of the sheds over the platforms. An arched portico, the ceiling
of white and red brick, covers the approach to the pay windows and post
office. At each extremity of the building devoted to waiting rooms, clerks,
offices, kc, rise two pavilions, or square turrets, inhabited by the super-
intending officers of the railway. It is easy to imagine that, with such
arrangements, a very imposing facade may be produced. In its construc-
tion, white bricks with stone dressings have been employed, and a profu-
sion of carved wood; the roofs, which are steep and visible from all sides,
are composed of tiles of three colours, light brown, dark brown, and green,
arranged in diagonal patterns. The internal decorations of the waiting
rooms and the flower frescoes of the walls and ceiling are ail designed by
the architect. A good eflect is produced on the platforms by red and white
tiles laid in ornamental patterns.

Bdrnettizing TiMr.ER AND MARINE Insects. — Sir W. Burnett, the head
of the Naval Medical Department, paid his annual official visit to iSheer-
ness, on Saturday, Tlh November last. About IS months ago a series of
small logs of ash, elm, pine, teak, " condie," or New Zealand fir, beech,
and oak, after having been duly immersed in his solution, were deposited
at neap tide at the mouth of the harbour, with another series of the same
kinds of wood in their natural state. On being taken up and laid out for
inspection on Saturday, externally Sir William's series exhibiled the
smoothest surface ; but, on being split open, with certain exceptions like
the series which had not been immersed in his solution, they exhibited one
living mass of " pholades," the generic name, we believe, of the worm in
question, encased, where not broken, in their testaceous coverings. The
Malabar teak, iu both cases, was riddled like a sieve, as were the ash, the
elm, and the beech ; the pine was in rather better condition ; the oak was
not much atlected ; the " condie" was as perfect as when at lirst laid down,
with the exception of one single worm, who had found his way into one of
the extremities of the log w liich had not been immersed iu the solution.
The exterior of all the kinds of wood was considerably injured by a smaller
insect, particularly the pine and the teak. As has been stated, the ex-
terior of Sir William's series was not so much decayed, but, as to tlie in-
terior, there was little dilierence from that of the other. Some of ihe worms
inhabiting the interior were 8 or 9 inches long, while few were shorter than
2 inches; all were about the circumference of a medium-sized quill, and
each possessed a testaceous covering and cell for itself. Deriving its sus-
tenance through the pin-head openmg in the exterior of the wood, it keeps
the smaller extremity constantly there, while with the other, gradually en-
larging, it bores for itself with its treble-shelled proboscis a cavity iu many
instances sufficiently large to admit the Utile finger.

Another Bridge over the Thames. — Parliamentary notices have been
given to apply to Parliament iu the next session to bring in a bill for con-
structing a bridge across the river Thames, from near Essex-street, Strand,
to the opposite shore, near to Dowson's-wharf, in the Marsh and Wall
liberty. Also for making and maintaining a market, at the south end of
the proposed bridge.

Railway Station at London Bridge. — The Loudon and Brighton and
Soutli Coast and South Eastern Railway Companies are inakiug prepara-
tions for the erection of a large and elegant station, to supersede the pre-
sent incommodious building. It is designed to extend from Joiaer-street
and New-street on Ihe vvest,IMaze-poud and Wells-street on the south and
south-west, to the London and Greenwich Railway on ihe North of Cruci-
lix-laue. The streets at present passing under the station are to be blocked
up.

Metropolitan Improvements. — It is reported that the following extensive
improvements in the vicinity of Leicester-square are to he made. The
whole of Upper St. Martiu's-lane is to be demolished, and a street, 101
feet wide to be formed, to be ultimately carried through the heart of the
Seven Dials to Tottenham-court-road. A new street, to be formed at the
junction of St. Martin's-lane, C'ranbourn-street, Newport-street, and Long-
acre, in a line through to King-street, Covent Garden, and Ihe Strand, the
south end of St. Martin's-lane, near the church, will also be widened by
throwing back the houses at the corner of Hemming's-row, and a com-
munication opened between Coventry-street and Oxford street, by throw-
ing down the pile of buildings separating Rupert-slreet and Berwick-
street. The cost of these undertakings will, it is stated, be I2l),000(.

The Birkenhead Docks are now progressing very rapidly, and it is ex-
pected that one of them will be ready to be opened for business at the be-
ginning of the new year.

St. James's Chapel, Morpeth, is built of stone, in the Norman style ; the
architect is Mr. Terry, of London.

Liverpool. — In consequence of the great increase of traffic on the North
Western line, the company contemplate pulling down the present terminu

at Lime-street, with all its appendages, and erecting another upon a scale of
magnitude equal to the requirements of this leviathian establishment. To
effect this object it has become requisite to remove about 430 feet of the
Edge-hill tunnel, at the extremity adjoining the station, and to excavate the
solid rock for a considerable distance at either side. Even the space thus
cleared has proved inadequate ; and it is contemplated to remove the church
near Rupert-street, London-road, and on its site erect carriage-sheds, and
other appropriate buildings. The church, which is a handsome edifice of re-
cent construction, will be replaced by another to be built at the expense of
the company, in the most suitiible position that can lie found for the purpose.
The architect of the company hes been requested to furnish plans and esti-
mates for the new station, with a view to the immediate prosecution of the
works upon the necessary act having obtained the sanction of parliament. It
is supposed that upwards of two years must elapse before the works can be
completed, and that the cost will exceed 300,000/. It is also proposed to
construct a tunnel from Lime-street to Wapping, for the purpose of convey-
ing goods from the docks.

It is reported that the Wellington Statue will be placed in the open
space between the Horse Guards and the enclosure iu St. James's-park.

The Great liritain. — The attempt to construct a breakwater to defend
this vessel have totally failed, and she has recently suffered such additional
injuries that the engines and masts are at length about to be taken out.

Sewers. — It is stated that there are 30 miles of sewerage in London.

Electric Telegraphs in London. — Pipes containing wires, communicating
with the Southampton Railway telegraph, are in the course of being laid
down in the Kennington-road. These pipes are put about 18 inches below
ground, and run beside the foot pavement. They will be continued to
Charing-cross and the Royal Exchange.

Brighton. — A new infirmary has been erected at Brighton, for diseases
of the eye. Tlie architect appears to have been afflicted wilh an opthalmic
disease himself, or else to have bcea desirous of bringing custom to the in-
stitution. The architecture (!) follows the approved fashion of sticking the
imitation of the portico of a Greek temple on to the front of a modern
square-built dwelling-house.

Sherborne Abbey C7iMrc/i is to be restored under the superintendence of
Mr. Farcy, who proposes to remove the galleries, itc.

Croydon Atmospheric Railway. — A correspondent of Heparath's Rail-
way Journal slates that this railway will be converted into an entirely lo-
comotive line.

South Devon Line. — It is said that the repairs of the breaches made by
the sea, and the defences against future injuries, will cost £100,000.

The North British Line hds again been seriously injured by the sea.
An embankment at Lamberton, within a few yards of the sea, has fallen.

On the Chester and Holyhead lineaUo great injury has been done by the
sea ; a great part of the sea-wall at Penmaenmawr has been washed away.
Why are railways built close to the sea ? The engineer must have some-
what of King Lear's madness, who

*' Conteiitling with the fretful elements,
Bids with the wind blow the earth into the sea."

The Barrentin Viaduct of the Rouen and Havre Railway has been re-
built in a substantial niinner. Il is 100 feet high, and 1,500 feet long, and
has been completed in the short space of six months.

Cilasg-ow Cathedral.— It is very gratifying to learn that this edifice is
being restored. The Scotch possess so little good architecture that they
should take care of what they have.

Accortling to the Edinburgh Register, a corps of surveyors is now en-
gaged in the trigonometrical survey on Ben Nevis iu Scotland, where they
have a theodolite, constructed by Ramsden, 3 feet in diameter, with S mi-
croscopes, reading to tenths of seconds ; and by which, with the aid of sun
mirrors on distant mountain tops, it is expected that observations may be
taken at a distance of 120 to 150 miles.

Eton Ciiltege Chapel. — The great east window is being filled with
stained glass. The Marchioness of Lothian has contributed the glass for
one compartment, and the boys for three other compartments.

The Cambridge Botanic Gardens. — The vice-chancllor planted the first
tree on the 2ud ultimo. The Cambridge Chronicle says : '' Twenty men
are actively engaged in deeply trenching and leveling about seven acres of
the ground, intended for the imniediaie recepiion of as many of the princi-
pal groups of the larger descriptions of trees as can be procured before
winter. The curator, who is zealously superintending the work, has found
both the depth add quality of the soil much superior to what he had anti-
cipated: and he considers even the poorest portions, towards the south-
west angle, perfectly suitable to certain tribes. The gentle undulations
over the whole twenty acres, and the introduction of a large sheet of
water, where the depression is greatest, will tend greatly to break what-'
ever of formality it may be necessary to observe in the scientific grouping
of the various objects that are cultivated in a botanic garden."

Covent Garden Theatre. — The whole of the interior of this theatre be-
fore the curtain, from the ceiling to the foundations is to be taken down,
and the area of the pit considerably enlarged, consequently a larger num-
ber of boxes will be obtained, of which there will be five tier, the greater
part of them being private. The stage will also be advanced considerably
before the curtain ; there will likewise be several other alterations for the

390

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL.

[Dec.

convenience and comfort of the public who patronise the Italian Opera,
one will be to make a carriage drive under the grand portico in Bow-
street. When finished the interior will have a magnificent appearance.
These extensive alterations are entrusted to the directions of Benedict
Albano, Esq.

NOTES ON FOREIGN WORKS.

The Royal Foundry and Machine Munufaclury of Munich, — Amongst
the great works executed of late at this establishment, are ihe statues for
the great fountain on the Freiung-square, at \'ienna. The middle part of
the fountain, constructed of large-grained granite, will be surrounded by
five statues, 8 feet high, — the Danube, represented by a female, which,
with afar-reaching look and placid countenance,seein3to contemplate the ex-
panse of that river; the Po, as the guardian of Italy, is represented with
a key in her hand; the Elbe, and the Vistula. Ou the summit of the work
appears the figure of Austria, a proud, sublime, stately figure, but unfor-
tunately represented with the attributes of strife and conleation — the spear
and shield. — The four statues for the Jubilee column at Stuttgart, repre-
senting allegorically the four estates of empires — warriors, teachers,
traders, and producers, have been cast from the models of Professor
Wagner, at Stuttgard, whose thoughtful and delicate style is generally
admired. — The Huskisson statue at Liverpool, and that of Charles John,
King of Sweden, for Norkorssing, have given general satisfaction. The
prepartions for the casting of another portion of the statue of " Havaria"
causes great excitement; it is the largest ever executed in ancient or mo-
dern times. The upper part is already cast. — The plaster of Paris model
of the statue of Bavaria, for the triumphal arch in the Ludwig Strasse, is
now exhibited in the royal foundry, previous to being cast. With flowing
garments and an onward look, she firmly grasps the reins of the four lions
which draw the quadriga. This work was designed by 31. de 'Wagner at
Rome, by whom, assisted by his pupils, the model has been made. Beside
the royal establishment, the iron foundry and machine manufactory of M.
Mallei is next to he adverted to. Here, on a most extensive scale, the
forging and casting of large works of art and utility are carried on,
amongst which, some huge staircases and sepulchral monuments of Gothic
style are conspicuous. The ornamented pieces for the inner roof-work of
the round arches of the Munich canipo santo (cemetery) are also cast
here.

The Munich Art I'nion seems to have fallen into au egregious
error. As many persons of the middle classes have joined it lately, the
committee, thinking, probably, to do them a piece of courtesy, have made
the subject of the members' plate, as general and every-day a thing as
possible. It is not the aim of Art Unions to keep art continually on the
same level, still less to debase it ; on the contrary, it is the elevation of art
and public taste which is their chief and legitimate province. So, after
all, the above may be considered anything but a compliment, for which, at
least, it seems to have been intended. The subject, therefore, for next
year's prize plate is yet under contention.

Mountain' Itclieio Exhibition at Munich. — The well-known engineer and
geographer, JI. Stoltz, has lately exhibited his relievo of Hohenschwangau
in the couservatorium of the Topographical Bureau. It renders one of
the most interesting parts of the mountains of South Bavaria wiih a cor-
rectness, which only repeated barometical admeasurements and the survey-
ing of every detail could effect. The relievo of Tegernsee made by M.
Slollz previously, and on a larger scale, is equally interesting to the geo-
grapher and geologist.

Restoration of Ancient Cayials in Russian-Caucasia. — The Russian Go-
vernment have very praiseworlhily begun the restoration of those canals of
irrigation, which furrow the whole south-eastern portion of the trans-Cau-
casian provinces. Most of these canals were constructed by t!ie kings of
Armenia, and subsequeutly by the shahs of Persia and the sirdars of
Erivan. The origin of some is even ascribed to the great historical mo-
narch of ancient Asia, Semiramis, amongst which is one called Sbamiram.
What must have been the fertility of these countries — of which, however,
history has preserved no record — may be guessed from the fact, that in one
district of Kriven alone, there are to be seen 148 canals of great extent,
which were the source for the further finding of 384 secondary branches.
But Ihe greatest part, and amongst theui the very largest, present but a
heap of ruins: which, however, by their stupendous development, attest
the fertility and population of these now almost deserted steppes. All
this, war, rebellion, and oppression, have swept away. Governor-General
Prince Woronzotf is said to consider the re-construcliou of these ancient
canals as a favourite idea, which would do au immense good to the inha-
bitants of Russian-Caucasia.

The «t'H' Hacen of Swinemiinde on the Baltic. — The Prussian Govern-
ment is using great exertions for making this the " Havre of the North."
The Oder has been corrected and regulated, and the harbour laid out and
enlarged with great judgment, and at a great expense. The situation is
very felicitous, as Berlin can now be reached in y hours, Copenhagen in
18, and St. Petersburg in 48. The number of vessels frequenting the har-
bour has increased during the last year to 1500, mostly English, with
coals, ^S:c.

Ancient Roman Canals. — ^The ingenuity and sucess of the Romans, not
only in works of art, but also in objects of general utility, has lately become

more apparent by the discovery of some canals io the famous Pontine
swamps, used in ancient times for the drainage of this now unhealthy and
barren country. According to the opinion of experienced engineers it
will require but little trouble to put them in complete repair, and make
them again available for the purpose which they served 2000 years ago.

The Coal Mines o/ Hungary. — Coal has lately risen into great import-
ance in Hungary, by the inlroduction of extensive steam communication in
that country. The quality of coal in the Banat is said to be equal to the
best English. For the purjiose of properly opening the coal mines of
Oravilz, Geilislz, &c., an under-shaft is to be constructed, which will
extend to the great length of 2,G0O fathoms. For ensuring a proper venti.
latiiin, this tunnel will be 18 feet high, and occasion an expense of half-a-
million of florins : hut, when finished, will yield a yearly produce of two
millions of chaldrons of coal. But for ascertaining positively, whether the
seams of coal retain their size and quality down to the required depth,
gigantic pits will be sunk in the Slewendorf mine, and coal and rock
raised by steam engines of proportionate magnitude. For obtaining an
easy outlet for such a mass of mineral, a railway will be constructed from
Oravilz to the Danube. The iron works in these distant parts of Eastern
Europe will receive a great impulse, as an astonishing number of rails is
now in demand. Forges and tilt-hammers on a large scale will enliven
those hitherto inactive and unproductive countries.

Restoration of the Harbour of Marsala, Sicily. — This harbour, one of
the finest and best situated in that island, is to undergo a thorough restora-
tion, by the voluntary contributions of the inhabitants of Marsala and some
of the English houses engaged in the wine trade. An engineer has lately
arrived to make the necessary surveys. The harbour is so tine, that the
Arabs called it Mars-Allah (tJod'shaven), but John of Austria had it
filled up after the battle of Lepanto. These obstructions removed, Mar-
sala will double its commerce.

Neu- System if liriitge Construction. — At the late Exhibition of French
Industry, at Paris, i\l. Neville's model of a bridge, upon a new system,
attracted much attention. The Belgian government has since taken up
the subject, and experiments were made ou Ihe North Line. Two loco-
motives and their tenders were placed at the disposal of M. Neville, of
Ihe enormous weight of from 30,000 to 32,000 kilogrammes. They were
made to pass the bridge, side by side, first at a slow and then at a rapid
speed. The experiments, several times repeated, afforded the greatest
satisfaction, as these heavy masses produced very little fiexion in this
comparatively slight structure ; indeed, the flexions of Ihe bridge, with an
opening of 72 feet, did not exceed, even at the greatest speed of the en-
gines, more than J inch in the middle. M. Van Esschen, engineer of the
government railways, was under the bridge, to measure tJie flexion ; and
the persons on the bridge stated that the vibrations during the speediest
transit were nearly imperceptible.

Steamers on the Caspian Sea. — Since July last, two iron steamers, of 100
horse power each, jierform twice a month Ihe journey between Astrachan
and Baka, which occupies only two days. Thus, a person may now go
from the Caspian to St Petersburg in 1.5 days. A railway, only for horse
power, has also been opened between the Don and the Wolga.

Castle Wartiurg, Sa.re Gotha. — This castle, once the abode of Martin
Luther, is undergoing a thorough renovation by order of the hereditary
gland duke of Saxe Weimur. It is, after all, no easy task to restore such
a huge building, erected at various periods of remote date — to pitch at the
right ideas of the original builders, to omit nothing essential, and to pro-
duce a harmonic whole. This diflicull task has been confided toM.de
Quant, architect to the court of Prussia. For the sake of obtaining a
correct idea of all the slriictures which have existed on the spot, the vari-
ous foundations and walls have been laid open by extensive excavations.
What has been already found is of great value and beauty. The middle
fajade of the court or square of the castle presents three stories of arcades,
in the Byzantine style. A large quantity of rubbish and ashes of former
conflagrations has also been removed, and several rows of Byzantine co-
lumns of good proportions, have been discovered on the ea=teru wing, and
which will, when restored, exhibit a finer appearance than the mure mo-
dern ones, as they are higher and of more slender modules. All the
buildings which surround the large court are cow exposed, and present
a very dilfereut front and position than has been hitherto supposed. A
staircase, hewn in the main rock, has also been discovered, leading to the
baths of the ancient landgraves. The apartments of the landgravines ap-
pear to have been under ground, but are of large and fine proportions, each
supported in the middle by a column, with a very fantastic capital, like
those in the Remter, at Mareinburg. Some parts of the castle stdl appear
as they did in olden times, as, for instance, the bauqueting hall, which is
adorned with portraits of former markgraves and landgraves. Close to it
is the armoury, filled with figures of knights, on foot and on horseback.
It is to be remarked, that permission has been gi\en to inspect the castle at
all times, so that visitors are even occasionally admitted to the rooms which
the hereditary grand duke and his guests occupy — a liberality, after all,
only possible in a small 'lud nut over-crowded town ol Germany.

Kaulhach's Cartoon for lite Berlin Museum. — This latest work of the
great master has been exhibited at Munich, and is of the sire of the pic-
ture of the Destruction of Jerusalem, by the same artist ; but the work
itself will be still larger. It is the first of a series of six pictures for the
same royal esiablishinent, and represents the '■ Division of nations at the
buildiug of the Tower of Babel." German periodicals expatiate much on
the coincidence of the ideas of the artist with those of the modern German
school of philosophy, and quote Schilling to prove the beauiy of a car-

1846.]

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

39*

toon. So far English ait-criticism has not yet provided, and we can
merely state that Kaulbach lias represented Ninirod as failing in his over-
reaching tendencies, that the people are driven forth from their un-
holy occupation — tlie tribes of Sheni, Ham, and Japeth each power-
■fnlly and originally characterised by a splendid force of the crayon. Be-
sides this force of the composition, that particular naiveti and sweetness
of Kaulbach's works is also difl'used over the whole cartoon — making the
beholder long after the coluor execution of such sublime thought.

The Eitrihquake in Italij. — This phenomenon has now ceased to exert its
ravages, terminating with a few slight shocks. According to all experi-
ence, such undulations of the soil following a great earthquake, are the
last throbbings of the volcaic powers, acting at an astounding depth.
Tuscany had been, for ages past, free from such awful catastrophes as have
liitely visiied it, and those formerly perceived were only the last eradica-
tions of the earthquakes of Sicily or Calabria, whose efl'ects are always
felt at great distances. The Gazctta lii F/ieHif has given, of late, an
accurate account of this phenomenon, by which it appears that the centre of
the movement was the Colline, where it extended over a spaie of about
100 square leagues. In the former locality, the large villages of Lorca-
zaoa and Orciano resemble places demolished by the battering of cannon.
The opinion generally received by geologists since the times of Dolomieu
and Bertrand, that earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are contingent on
very rainy seasons — the waters penetrating to the lower parts of the earth's
strata, being there converted into steam — has not been confirmed in this
case, the season having been a very dry one.

Acuiiemii of Sciences of Paris. — JI. Lerebour the younger, one of the
principal mathematical instrument makers of Frauce, has forwarded to
the Academy a volume, "On the chemical and apparent area of the ob-
jectives of the Dauguerreotype." M. L. states that he has succeeded in
making these two areas coincide, and that the instruments which he has
invented completely obviate the hitherto definitive coincidence. The
Academy considered this a great improvement of the Dauguerreotype. — M.
Faye, astronomer of the Paris Observatory, has also sent a memoir, enti-
tled" Determination of the* parallax or distance of the Argelander (Ihe
star 1,830 of Groombridge's catalogue) from the earth. In this fine essay,
M. Faye has well combined theory and practice, and united elevation of
mind with minutiie of detail and correctness of observation. The result
of his observations makes this star of Ihe magnitude of 1" 06, and at a
distance from the .sua of 190,000 middle distances of the earth from the
sun j and, at the rate of 75,000 leagues par second, the light would re-
■quire three years to arrive from the Argelander to us.

Diffusio.i of SulfliUT o-cer t]:e Surface of the Globe. — M. Dumas men-
tioned in his memoir, the cascade which the Rio Vinagre forms not far
from the volcano of Pareci, in Popanja. The observations of Humboldt
and Boussingault have proved that this water contains free sulphuric and
hydrochloric acids. An analogous phenomenon are the Lagoni of Tus-
cany— those open spiracles of the ground, where aqueous vapours constantly
issue, and which contains, besides boracic acid, a considerable portion of
sulphuretted hydrogen. Other phenomena of the kind are to be met with
all over the globe. Sulphur also holds a great importance in the formation
of ail nitrogenous substances, animal and vegetable — constituting about
*'"^ ■ro3*h P^ff of their weight. Thus 10 kilogrammes of dried nitrogen
matter (which is about the weight of an ordinary sized person) coniain
100 grammes. The quantity of sulphur, therefore, which is scattered over
the globe, be it in a mineral or organic form, is very great. Messrs. Bel-
tield — Lefevre, and Foucault have presented to the Academy an essay on
their improvements of the Dauguererotype. " Hitherto— they say — liie
merely iodized plates have not been efficient whenever the diverse portions
of the object to be represented possess notably difl'erent intensities of illu-
mination ; and thus, by the process hitherto pursued, the diflerent portions
of the plate could not appear with the tone corresponding to the respective
intensity of illumination." The process consists in polishing and iodizing
the plate as usual, and then to make it absorb vapours of bromine, three
times the amount which has been hitherto considered the maximum of the
susceptibility of the plate.

NEW CHURCHES.

St. Thomts, Winchester. — This church is nearly completed externally
on a scale of great magnificence. The style is Decorated, and the eastern
elevation exhibits a chancel and chancel aisles under separa-e gables. The
new church has been built upon high ground, and its spire will have a very
striking effect. The old church of St. Thomas having been found inade-
quate for the wants of the parishioners, the new edifice is to supply its
place.

Christ Cliurth, Portswouii, SotUhamplon. — Messrs. Brandon are the ar-
chitects of this church, which is in the Decorated style, and consists of a
ch«icel without aisles, and a nave with aisles, and a clerestory of quatre-
foil windows.

St. Mark's, Sui'idon. — The Great Western Railway Company have
built and endowed a handsome new Church. The architect5|are Messrs.
Scott and Moffatt. It is gratifying to find a work like this entrusted to
architects, who, we know, generally prefer real to showy architecture, and

are incapable of using papier mache, or stucco, in the decoration of
churches. The present edifice consists of a chancel and sacristy on its
south side, a nave with aisles, a porch on the south side, and B tower and
a tower and spire on the opposite side.

WaHin^ford. — The Chapel of St. .John the Evangelist has been conse-
crated by the Bishop of Oxford.

Seer-Gre2n, Bucks. — The recently consecrated church has been built by
Mr. Deerson, in the early English style. The extreme length including
the chancel, is 80 feet, the bell-turret is GO feet high. The church is fitted
with open seats throughout, and will accommodate 200 persons.

Chantrey, Somerset. — The Church of the Holy Trinity is another of the
works of Messrs. Scott and Molfat, and comprises a nave with a porch on
its south side, a chancel, sacristy, and bell-tower. The style is decorated
All the windows are glazed with painted glass, by Mr. Wailes. Th
seats are of oak, uncontaminated by varnish, the pulpit is of stone, thb
chancel is paved witli ornamental tiles. There are stalls erected, not
merely for ornament, but for actual use by the choir. This church ha
been built at tne cost of a benefactor recently deceased.

St. Edmund's, Vobstor, Wells, is built by Mr. Ferrey in the Decorated
style, and consists of nave, chancel, and sacristy, with lean-to roof.
There will be neither galleries nor pews in this chapel.

St. Michael, Bissage, Ghucestershire, is a small structure built by Mr.
Harrison in the Decorated style. The western tower will hereafter be
crowned by a spire. The chancel is paved with encaustic tiles, and con-
tains returned stalls. The pulpit is of stone and stands in the nave.

Darweston, Blandford. — Mr. Hardwick has rebuilt the church here at
the expense of Lord Portman. There is a spacious chancel with an ela"
borate timber roof: the pulpit is of carved oak.

Slert Church having been almost rebuilt has been opened by the Bishop
of Salisbury.

St. Mary's Flint. We regret to learn that this very ancient church is
to be pulled down to make way for a modern structure.

St. Giles, Petsworth is being rebuilt from designs by Mr. Billing in
the early English style. The total length including the chancel is 90 feet.
Over the porch is the south aisle is a low tower, the roofs internally are
open.

St, Manfs Torquay a very fine Church, by Mr. Salvin. The nave has
aisles and clerestory, and the chancel is terminated by an apse. On the
south side of the nave is a tower. The eflect of the interior is very im
posing, and is not marred by an ostentatious redundancy of ornament.
The west window consists of five lancets of which two only are pierced
all the glass will be stained.

St. Paul, Alnwick is another spacious structure, by Mr. Salvin, and
is built and endowed by the Duke Northumberland. The style is de-
corated. The plan comprises a lofty nave with clerestory and aisles, a
chancel with aisles, and a high tower on west side. The east window i
filled with flowing Decorated tracery. The stalls in the chancel scarcely
deserve their name as they are not appropriated to their apparent use,
but are simply superior pews for the Duke of Northumberland's family.
When will dukes doff their dignities and privileges at the church-
doors ?

There appear to be about 400 churches in progress throughout the
country, and almost every one is built in the style of our national archi-
tecture.

STEAM NAVIGATION.

The Oriental and Peninsular Steam Naiigation Company. — The two

new vessels which have been lately added to the Fleet of this Company, the Pottinger
and the Ripon, have been titled with steam eugiiurs on the oscillating principle, the laigest
we believe that have been as yet constructed ; they are 7G inches diameter and 7 ft. stroke.
Letters from the captain and engineer of the Pottinger have been received, the one from
Gibraltar, the other from Malta ; they speak in high terms of the performance of the en-
gines, she passed through some very bad weatiier between Engl-ind and Gibraltar. The
Ripon went to sea without any trial of the engines, and although exposed to the most ad-
verse circumstances for new engines, and having had her rudder-head washed otf inthe late
heavy gales, there is not under all the trying circumstances to which they have been ex-
posed, any fault to be found with her machiney, for, with the ship labouring in an un-
manageable state in the trough of a heav-y sea for some hours, the engines were never
brought up, and continued to do their work all the time admirably. These satisfactory
results prove that oscillating engines of any power may be used for marine navigation, by
which there will be a saving in space and weight.

Tlie Capri and the Vesuvius. — These two new steamers have been built
for the Neapolitan Steam Navigation Company, by Sfessrs. Ditchburn and lilare ; they
are constructed of iron, and are 18V feet long, and feet beam, and 600 tons burthen,
with steam-engines of "J'Jtl horse-power — double cylinder by Messrs. Maud^lay and Field.
At the trial of the Capri down the river Thames, at Long Reach, it is stated that she at-
tained a speed of 17 miles per hour. The vessel is elegantly fitted up, and promises to
be a clipper.

393

THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL.

Dec,

The Sfihijnx Steam Frigate. — This war steamer is a vessel of 1200 tons,
fitted ffith a pair of oscillating steam engines of riiMJ horse power, by Messrs. Pcnn and
Co. ; the cylinders are H'ii inches diameter, and fi feet stroke, and fitted with double slide
vaWes. When she made her experimental trial down the river Thames last month she was
laden with ."{.''O tons of coal, »iid all herstores for I'J months, and provisions for H months;
her draught of water was 14 feet 1 inch forward, and 15 leet I inch aft. It is stated that
she ran an average speed of Ul miles an hour, and made 14^ revolutions per minute, with
the floats of Oie paddle-wheels deeply immersed. The great success which those endnes
have attain»;d, as well as those of the Pottinger and Ripon, also iitted with oscilla'ing en-
^oes, by Mes"rs. IMiller and KavenhiH, and of about the same power as the Sphynx,
clearly show that oscillating enginas of any power may be as easily constructed and
adopted for marine purposes as fixed cylinders.

New lloltjhpiid Packets. — The AdniiraUy liave coutracied for four new
steam packets for the Holyhead station. One to be built by Messrs. Ditchburn and
Mare, it is understood, on the lines of the Surveyor of the Navy, engines by Mestirs.
Seaward and Co. : one of wood, on the lines of Ulr. (). W. Lang, witli Peon's engines ;
one, engines and vessel by Messrs. Miller and Co. ; and one vessel I>y J. Laird, the en-
gines by Forester, of Liverpool. They are to be called the Caradoc, Llewellyn, the Kath-
leen, and the Hiiiishi-e.

The Janus, steam-sloop, Lortl Diin(lonald,TvilI be ready by the be};inning
of the year to make a final trial, the Admiralty havin£^ granted lOOl'/. to make the neces-
sary alterations.

The Medea* steam-sloop, on the 6th ult., proceeded down the River
Thames to test the engines, at the mile in Long Reach, Her speed on the first trial was
f*-88!.» knots ngainst the tide, and l^fliU with it. giving an average of lOl'Hl, bnt on sub-
sequent trials she ma<le more than eleven knots. She had on hoard about llH' to's of
coal. Her draught of water was 13 feet forward, and i;j feet 5 inches aft. Her engines,
which were supplied by Messrs. Maudslay and Field, were in excellent working order,
and made '2-i revollions a minute.

Scntv Propeller. — A series of interesting experiments on the powers of
the various screw-propellers, and the best mode of fixing them in steamers, have been
carried on and are still in progress with the Dwarf, steamer, which has been set apart for
these experiments- The first trial was made wfth the common Archimedian screw {Smith's
patent), and the results were as favourable as those exhibited by any subsequent inven-
tion. The next trial was made with Rennie's screw, but the results, in this instance,
were not so satisfactory. A third trial was made with Hodgson's parabolic propeller,
and, up to the present time (for this ineenlion is to be again tested) the success was
equal to that of the common propeller. A fourth trial will soon he made with Wood-
croft's patent, constructed upon a new plan of shifting the angles of the screw to the
most favourable position, with the view of determining the best angle of impingement.
Some trials have also been made by altering the dead wood of the Dwarf, so as to resem-
ble the square sterns of the old block ships ; but in this case it was found that the screw
could scarcely give the vessel tideway.

The Teazer, a small iron steamer, with engines of 100 horse power, and
fitted with the screw propeller, was tried again on Nov. 1'!, at the mile in Long Reach;
her engines, which are on the vibrating principlt?, by Miller niul Ravenhill, attained a
maximum number of nearly sixty revolutions, but she did not make very rapid progress,
the stern of the Teazerbeing square, which is apparently the worst form for the action of
the screw propeller.

It is the intention of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty that, in
future, the engineers in s'.caniers shall be considered as ward-room officers. The altera-
tion is most creditable to the board.

The Eff'ects of Shot on Iron Vessels. — The information received from the
officers of the Gorgon steam vessel, which has laetly arrived from La Plata, gives a verj-
alarming account of the effect produced on the hulls of the Harpy and Lizard iron steam
vessels by the shot from the batteries of Rosas. It was expected, from the nature of the
material, that any breach made by shot would leave a clean fracture, merely curling up
the lips of the orifice, as is usual when fractures are caused in iron by the application of
an ordinary force. The results, however, are quite different. Instead of a clean fracture,
large splinters of iron flew aboutin all directions on the hull being struck, rendering the
danger from this cause tenfold more imminent than that produced by the shot itself.
Several splinters of this kind, struck from the hull of the Harpy, have been brought
home by the officers of the Gorgon, and, amongst the rest, the splinter from the angle
iron which caused the death of poor Mr. Barnes, ihe clerk in charge, proving that the
tendency to splinter is not confined to the thin sheet iron of the hull, but to the heavier
masses which compose the vessel. These results are in accordance with those observed
in the experiniental trials on hoard the Excellent, and they constitute a sad drawback
against the general use of iron as a material for vessels of war. Whether the iron in
question is not so malleable as it ought to be, or might be if better wrought, is another
question ; for the present, houever, the men are ahimied, and those who have witnessed
the effects produced on bfiard the Harpy, declare that they will never go to sea in an iron
vesse U

IiIST OP NEW PATENTS.

GRANTED IS EXGLAXD FROM OCTOBER 22, 1S4G,T0 XOVEMgEIl 21, 18i6.

Six Months allowed for Enrolmenty unless ofhenvise ei'pressed.

Etienne Abraham Ulaccaud, of No. 1. Place de hi i\radpleine, Paris, mechanician, fo.i
■' Improvements in lamp and gas burners." — Sealed Oct. '_'!•.

John James Alexander IMaccarshy, of Sidney-terrace, Frompton, gentleman, for " cer-
tain Improvements in anchors and fids for masts of vessels." — Oct. '22.

William Anderson, of Clitheroe, Lancaster, for "certain Improvements in machinery
or apparatus, for prepaiing End spinning cotton, and other fibrous substances."— Oct. L'L'.

John Paterson Reid, of the city of Glasgow, and Thomas Johnson, mechanic, for *' cer-
tain Improvements in miichinery for weaving, anti for producing patterns in weaving, as
also in machinerj, for finishing certain woven fabrics."— Oct. '2'2.

James Thomas Jullion, of Stratford, chemist, for " Improvements in the manufacture
of certain acitis, also improvements in decomposing certflin acids, and applying the pro-
ducts resulting therefrom, to the production of certain chemical compounds."— October

James Lysander Hale, of Hackney, Middlesex, civil engineer, for "certain Improve-
ments in sewerage and drainage, and apparatus connected therewith, parts of which are
applicable to ste;im engines." — Oct. 22.

John Hutton, of Commercial-road, East, chronometer-maker, for "certain Improve-
ments in chronometers and other time keepers." — Oct. 22.

Henry Mapple, of ChiUi's-hill. Hendon, Middlesex, machinist, for " Improvements in
apparatus for transniitling electricity between distant places, and in electric telegraphs '*
—Oct. 27,

William Crane Wilkins.of Long Acre, Middlesex, for "certain Improvements iulamp^i
and apparatus connected therewith, parts of which are also appUcable to the raising of
water."— Oct. 29.

William Reid, of Saint Pancras, Middlesex, engineer, for ** Improvements in the manu-
facture of wire."— Oct. '2'J.

Noel Ktienne Aime Paret, of Lyons, in the kingdom of France, gentleman, for "Im-
provements in finishing silk, cotton, and other fabrics, and in heating apartmants." —
November 2.

Henry Headley Parish, of Chesham-street, Middlesex, Esq., and Samuel Rootsey, of
Portland. square, Bristol, Esq., F.L.S., for "Improvements in supplying and purifying
water." — November 'A.

George W.Eddy, of Waterford, In the State of New York, of the United States of
America, for " an Improvement in the manufacture of cast metal wheels for railway and
various other carriages." — November 3.

Baron Charles Wetterstedt, of Rhodes Well Road, Limehouse, Middlesex, for "Im-
provements in the manufacture of sheet metal, for sheathing and other purposes, in pre-
venting the corrosion of metal, and in the preservation of wood and other materials." —
Novembers.

William Exall, of Reading, in the county of Berks, engineer, for " Improvements in
the construction of wheels, and in certain Implements or tools employed therein, and in
the mode of forming and manufacturing the tyres of wheels, which mode is applicable to
making metiiUic rings, bands, hoops, cylinders, and other similar articles." — Nov. 3.

Alfred Vincent Newton, of Chancery. lane, inech;inical draughtsman, for " certain Iro-
provi-menls in the manufacture of driving b.mdB. part of which improvements are also
applicable to the manufacture of other fabrics." (A communication.; — November o.

Gaetan Bonelli, of Milan, engineer, for " Improvements in bridges, viaducts, aqueducts,
and other similar erections." — November 3.

Matthew Lealnv, of Great George-street. Westminster, civil engineer, for "certain Im-
jirovements in steam engines." — November o.

Robert Teagle, of Hammersmith, plasterer, for " Improvements in chimney pots, and.
in apparatus fur cleansing chimneys."— November 5.

David Barnett, of Birmingham, merchant, for " new or improved instruments or ma-
chines, for eflecting or facilitating certain arithmetical processes or computations." (A
communication.) — November .'i.

Frederick Herbert Maberly, of Stowmarket. clerk, Thomas Branwhite, of Eattlesden,
millwright, and Dennis Lusher, of Great Tinborough, farmer, for '* Improvements in
machinery for obtaining and applying, and for accelerating and for retarding motive
power, andibr giving notice of alarm in expettation of, or in actual danger."— Nov. o.

Henry Henson, of Hampstead, in the county of Middlesex, gentleman, for " a new
fabric suitable for goods, wrappers, wag'in covers, and other like purposes, and certain
processes in liie niunufaLture of the same.' ' — November 5.

Thomas Vales, of Preston, Lancaster, watchmaker, for " Improvements in time
keejjers.'* — November 12.

John McBride, of the finn of McBride and Company, cotton spinners and power loom
cloth manufacturers, Albyn Works, Glasgow, for ** Improvements in weaving." — Novem.
ber 12.

^^'illiam Bridges Adams, of Old Ford Lane, in the county of Middlesex, engineer, for
" Improvements in the construction of wheel carriages and engines moved or retarded by
animal or mechanical agency, parts of which improvements are applicable to other like
purposes." — November 12.

Louis Hypolite Piaget, and Phillip Henry Du Bois, of Wynyatt- street, Clerkenwell, for
** Improvements in producing ornamental surfaces."— November 12.

George Smith, of Camborne, in the county of Cornwall, safety fuze manufacturer, for
" a new safety fuze." — November 12.

Edward Staite, of Peckhom, in theconnty of Surrey, gentleman, fpr ** certain Improve-
ments in lighting'." — November 12.

George William Jacob, of Hoxton, in the county of Middlesex, printer, for "anew
manufacture of printed, patterned, ornamented, coloured, embossed, and moulded sur-
faces."— November 12.

John Healey, of Bolton, in the county of Lancaster, machine maker, for ".inew and
improved woven fubric, and also certain improvements in machinery for producing the
same."— November IT.

Thcmas Masters, of Upper Charlotte Street, Fitzroy-square, Middlesex, confectioner,
for " Improvements in apparatus and means lor cooling liquids and matters, and filtering
and preventing liquids freezing." — November I".

Bartholomew Beniowski, of Bow-street, Covent Garden, Middlesex, gentleman, for
" certain Improvements in the apj^aratus for, and process of, printing." — November 17.

William Eaton, of NewinL'ton, in the county of Surrey, engineer, for " certain Im-
provements in obtaining motive power." — November 17.

Robert Brett Schenck, of the city of New Vork, in the United States of America, gen-
tleman, for " certain Improvements in the preparation of hemp and flax." (A communi-
cation.).— November 17.

Christopher Robson, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, grocar, for ''Improvements in ma-
chinery for dressing fruit." — November 21.

James Denton, of Greenacres Moor, Oldham, Lancaster, mechanic, for " Improvements
in certain parts of machines used in the preparation for the spinning of cotton, wool and
other fibrous substances." — November 21.

James Barsham, of Bow, Middlesex, manufacturer, for " Improvements in manufac-
turing brooms and brushes." — November 21.

William Pidding. of North Crescent, Bedford- square, Middlesex, gentleman, for " Im-
provements in carriages."— November 21.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

PvNE on " Perspective," *' Cily, Town, and County Architecture/'
" Railways for tlie many — uot for the few," — Heceived.

" Sir \'cars' Sub!i€ribc}'.*' — Perhaps the best account of the details of the
Steam Engioe is to be found in tlie Treatise of the Artizan Club, but a
systematic and satisfactory work ou the Steam Engine remains among the
desiderata of Engineering Literature.

END OF VOLU.ME IXr

INDEX TO VOL. IX.

Academy, Koyal, exhibitions at,
169, 195

Accidents on the Norfollc railway, 51,
53

Address of the President of the Bri-
tish Association, 313

Adie on the corrosion of metals, 371

Air engine, Parsey's, 107

Allegheny, suspension aqueduct over,
47

Almanac, companion to (review), 11
• Hare's illustrated (review),

14

• railway (review), 14

Alum and aluminous compounds,

Cliff's patent, 92
Amalgamation and leasing of rail-
ways, 69
Amateur engineering, 365
America, steam-factory in, 208
Anatomy, first steps to, by Drum-

mond (review), 14
Andersan,oatherailirays of Belgium,

17
Answers to questions respecting the

houses of parliament, 244
Anthracite coal, smelting with, 216
Ancient domestic architecture, Lamb

on the studies of (review), 199
— — — and modern architecture, by

Gailhabaud (review), 13, 155
Aqueduct, suspension, over the Alleg-
heny, 47
Arago on limes, mortars and cements,

33
Arch, oblique, treatise on, by Nichol-
son (review), 73

skew, an old invention, 118

theory of, by Blair and Phillips,

151
Archaeological congress, French, 218

institute, 55

Architectural competition, by Viator,

151

deceptions, 2, 65

imitations, '-65

recollections of Italy,

by F. Lush, 168, 229, 263, 296
synopsis of buildings in

Edinburgh, 8
Architects, British, Royal Institute

of. 27, 58, 84, 123, 158, 188, 217

387
Architecture, arcuate and trabeate,

325, 361
, church, Candidns on,

106
, exhibition of, at the

Royal Academy, 169, 195

in Manchester, Liver-

pool, and Birkenhead, 3

-, medijeval, future deve-

lopment of, 225

-, unfaithfulness in, 105

Arcuate and tiabeate architecture,
325, 361

Arresting railway carriages, Craw,
ford's patent, 186

Arrogant and Dauntless frigates, the,
96

Arrowsmyth and Basire's map of
England and Wales (review), 176

Art, Decorative, Society of, 56, 159

Artesian wells in China, 159

Artificial ultramarine, 55

Artizan Club, steam engine by (re-
view), 38, 203

Arts, Fine, institute of, reports, 42

industrial, exposition of, 30

, Koval Scottish Society of, 29,

55, 89,' 123, 156, 256
, Societvfor the Encouragement

of, 28, 89,' 124, 157, 189
Assistant engineer's railway guide,

HaskoU's (review), 374
Atha's patent atmospheric engines,

185
Atlantic seas, icebergs in, 19
Atmospheric engines, Atha's patent,

185

- propulsion. Hill's patent.

218

104, 188

■ railways, Bashforth on,

tent, 247

tent, 92

91

tent, 252

-, Johnson's pa-
-, Palmer's pa-
-, Ward's patent,
-, Wheeler's pa-

37

traction, Bashforth on.

Haydonon,29

Augurs, Palmer's patent for making,
16

Auriferous sand of the Rhine, 159

Aust passage-bridge, Bashforth's re-
ply to Fulljames, 199

• , Fulljames's re-
marks on, 190

, F. Giles's notice

of, 122

Auxiliary steam engine for supplying
steam boilers with water, Coch-
rane's patent, 246

Ditto, Coffin's patent, 246

B.

Bagg's patent hot air engine, 92
Bankart's patent for refiaing copper

ores, 120
Banker's notes, printing and prepar-
ing of. Moss's patent, 16
Bareutin, cause of catastrophe at, 71
Barker's mill, letter on, with the

editor's reply, 319
Barry's evidence on the houses of

parliament, 244
Bashforth on atmospherictraction, 37
on atmospheric railwavs, 104,

188

on change of motion, 10
reply to Fulljames, on the

Aust passage bridge, 199
Basilica at Rome, 259
Bateman's letter on embankments,

224
Bedford's patent for staining and

etching glass, 384
Belfry turrets, 21
Belgium, rail\va(S of, Anderson on,

17
Benson's patent tile-making machine,

356
Bex's patent for decorating bouses,

252
Bidder's evidence on the gauge ques-
tion, 309
Birch's paper on fictile manufactures,

178
Birkenhead, architecture in, 5

Blair and Pliillips on the construc-
tion of viaducts, bridges, Sec. (re-
view), 72

on the theory of the arch,
151

Blasco Garry, steam ship, the, 192

Blast furnace. Smith on the operation
of, 144

Blasting under water, 369

Blinds, wire, fabrics for, Hdl's pa-
tent, 16

Board of Trade, decision of, on the
gauge qtiestiou, 210

and Home Office, While-
hall, 261, 293

Boodroom marbles, 119

Books, reviews of, 11, 38, 72, 154,
174, 199, 286, 317,356

BoviU's patent for the manufacture
of iron, 382

Boydell's patent improvements ia
ship-building, 185

Botolph's, St., church, Boston, Lin-
colnshire, restoration of, 235

Bozek's patent railway carriage-
wheels, 246

Brandling's patent railway carriages,
186

Brandon, Messrs., on parish churches
(review), 154

Brick and tile machine. Hall's patent,
355

making press, Waite's patent,
183

Bricks, return of duties on, 160

Bridge across the Aust passage, re-
marks on, by F. Giles, 122

Bridge, Hungerford, stability and
strength of, 363

Westminster, demolition of,
387

Bridges, railway, fall of, 353

Bridge, suspension, at the Falls of
Niagara, 73

at Runcorn, 7
tubular, over the Menai
Strait, 83, 100, 172, 298

Bristol, partial destruction of locks
at, 282

British Architects, Roval Institute of,
27, 58, 84, 123, isS, 188, 217,
387

British and American steam vessels,
table of, 268

British Association, proceedings of,
301,313,341

Museum, facade of, 65, 123
models of Parthe-
non in, 14, 44

Broad and narrow gauge, experi-
ments on, 49

gauges, junc-
tion of, 187

gauge, report
of roval commissioners on, 74

S.T.'s letter on, 136

Brooke on self-registering instru-

Bruyere's evidence on the gauge
question, 213
ments, 34 1

Budd's patent for the manufacture of
iron, 356

Buffers for railway carriages. Mill's

I patent, 61

Buffers, safetv, Chesshire's patent,
285

Buildings, dampness in, 187, 216

Bunsen's place of Egypt in the his-
tory of the world (review), 1 74

Bury's evidence on the gauge ques-
tion, 254

Byrne's description and uses of the
Byrnegraph (review), 288

new theory of the strength
nnd stress of materials, 163, 231,
257

Byrne oa trigonometrical surveying,
272

Cambridge Fitzwilliam museum, 31,
103,129, 167

Canal across the Isthmus of Panama,
339

Canals, warping haulage on, 363

Candidas on church architecture, 100
on rustication, 269

Candidus's Note-Book. Fasciculus
LXVai, LXIX, LXX, and LXXl,
134, 233, 262, 327

Cauvas, tanned, AliUett on, 340

Capillarity, Prof. Henry's observa-
tions on, 1 76

Carriage propulsion, Galloway's pa-
tent, 61

wheels, Scripture's patent
245

Castie'a Elementary Text Book (re-
view), 355

Catastrophe at Barentin, cause of, 71

Cathedral of Cologne, 48, 290

Cathedral of St. Denis, 9

Cement, Keating's patent improve-
ments in, 285

Change of motion, F. Bashforth on,
10

Channel squadron, trial of steamers,
259

CbautriU's letter on Rise and Leven
church, Holderness, Yorkshire, 100

Chemical Society, 189

Chesshire's patent safety buffer, 285

Chimney draught, Watson's patent,
251

pots, Ewart's patent, 185

China, artesian wells in, 159

Christ's church, Plymouth, 9, 60,63
106, 149

Church at Sacrow, near Potsdam, 161

Churches, modern, clerestories in,
Wightwitk on, 149

Churches, new, local, 81, 391

metropolitan, 171,
194, 266

Church restorations, 81, 209

principles of, 143
spire, raising of, 41

Church's patent coke oven, 284

Circles, Prosscr's method of project-
ing them iiometrically, 41

Civil Engineers, college for, 256
Institution of, 57

Clark and Pirnie's patent steering
apparatus, 185

Clerestoiies in modern churches,
Wightwick on, 149

Chff's patent for the manufacture of
alum, 92

Clyde river weirs, report on, 84

Coals, Kansome's patent, 16

Cochranc's patent auxiliary steam

engine, 246
Coffin's pAteut auxiliarystjaia engine
246

INDEX.

Coke oven, Church's patent, 284
Coking artificial fuel, M'arlich's pa-
tent, :iw
Colchester, Roman remains at, 199

Collection of sewage manure, 82, 3i2

College for Civil Engineers, 2.")G

Collieries, gases and explosions in,
report on, 241

Ceiling's goihic ornaments (review),
28Q

Cologne catliedral, 48, 290

Coloseum, Uegent's-park, 6

Coloured dci orations, 20

Columns and pediments employed for
wmdow mouldings, 162

Combining sieel and iron, Sander-
son's patent, 180

Companion to the Almanac (review),
17

Comparison of screw propellers and
paddle-wheels, 349

Competition, architectural, Viator on,
151

designs, letter on, l>y
Vindcx, 290

public, reports of, 42

Complete treatise on llie ol)liqiie
arcli, by P. Nicholson (review), 73

Coinpnund motion, new law nf, 1J6

Connecting boilers, Gart'orlh's patent,
2Jl

rods for cranks, Hinckley's
patent, 246

Conversazione, Sir John Rennie's,
218

C'o|iper ores, Bankart's patent for re-
fining, 120

extracted from its ores by
electricitv, 208

Correspondence, 32, 04, 96, 128, 192,
224, 200, 292, 324, 392

Corrosion of metals, Adie's paper on,
371

Coupling and stuffing-box for shafts,
Loper's patent, 90

Cranipton's patent engine, 220

Cranes, moveable jib, 367

Crawford's patent for stopping rail-
way carriages, 186

Critical dissertation on Prof. Willis's
architectural history of Canterbury
cathedral (review), 287

Cubitt's, U., evidence ou the gauge
question, 254

W., ditto, 239, 255

Cupola, improved, for melting iron,
121

Current water-wheel, Robinson's pa-
tent, 90

Curves, railway, 368

Cuttings aiid embankments, setting
out of, by Hawkins. 136

Dampness in buildings, 187,216
Darljysliire's tables for setting out

rai'U'ay curvis (review), 289
DauntlfbS frigati', 90
Decepti'jus, architectural, 2, 06
Decision of the Board' of Trade on

the gauge question, 210
Decorations, coloured, 20

of the Opera House, 99
01 houses, Bex's patent,

252

of the Town Hall, Liver-
pool, 245

Decorative Art Society, 56, 159

Demolition of Westminster Bridge,
387

Denis, St., cathedral of, 9

Dennet's patent horizontal windmills.

Description of the Byrnegraph, by 0.
Byrne (review), 288

Desiderata for the study of media;val

architecture, by Nonnullus, 309
Dibbling apparatus, Fuller's patent,

355
Dickson, on the cultivation and ma-
nagement of flax (review), 289
DitTerential hydraulic press, 319
Douglas, Sir Howard, on metropoli-
tan bridges, &c. (review), 280

reply to observa-
tions on the metropolitan bridges,
&c., 358
Downhill tunnels, grand blast at, 253
Dredging machinery for Egypt, 108
Drumniond's first steps to anatomy

(review), 14
Dublin, port of, improvements, 353

Earl's goniometricon, 309

Earth and sea, temperature of, by
Taylor, 110

Earthwork, Hughes's tables for cal-
culating (review), 73

on sidelong grounds, by J.
Hughes, 3;!3

East India Company's navy, 19

Eastlake, on styles and methods of
painting, 112

Eccentrics, remarks on, Ickworth, 60

Edinburgh, synopsis of buildings in, 8

Education, professional, of the en-
gineer, architect, builder, and ma-
chinist, 283

Egypt, dredging machinery for, 108
place of, in the bi>tory of the
wnrhl, Bunsen (review), 174

Electric coniiuctors. Young's patent,
247

lamp. Greener's patent, 285
light. King's patent, 220
telegraph, Heighton's pa-
tent, 321

Elements of physics, by C. F. Peschel
(review), 358

Elementary text book for surveyors
and levellers, by Castle (review),
356

Embankments, Bateman's letter on,
224

Employment of columns and pedi-
ments as window mouldings, 162

Encaustic painting, 337

Encouragement of Arts, Society for,
28, 89, 124, 157, 189

Engineer, architect, builder and ma-
chinist, on the education of, 283

Engineering, Weale's Quarterly Pa-
pers on, 39

notes on, Nos. 4, 5, & 6
on the strength and form
of the Meuai tubular bridge,
100,172, 298

Engineering, amateur, 365

Engineer's illustrated almanac. Hare's
(review), 14

Engineer's manual of mineralogy and
geology, Mrs. Varley (review), 367

Engines of the steam frigate Gladia-
tor, 193

England and France, telegraphic
communication between, 160

England and Wales, railway map of,
Arrowsnivth and Uasire's (review),
170

Entasis and other curved lines of the
Parthenon, bv F. Penrose, 97

Erratta, 04, 128,102, 260, 324

Erric sson's patent propeller, 386

Essay on an improved method of
constructing viaducts, bridges,
tunnels, a:c. (review), 72

Evaporative power of turf, 20

Ewart's patent chimney pots, 185

Excavating machine, Poole's patent,
219

Exchange, Royal, paper on theoriginal
foundation of, by W. Tite, 28

Exhibition at the Roval Academv,
169

Existing railwavs, working stock of,
245

Expansion of steam, Hazard's paper
on, 381

Experimental researches on the
strength of cast-iron, by E. Hodg-
kinson (review), 317

Experiments on the broad and nar-
row gauge, 49

on steam, 9

Explosion in a sewer at Ixelles, 1 1 1

Exposition of manufactures and in-
dustrial art, 30

Extraction of copper from its ores by
electiicitv, 208

Fafade of the British Museum, 65,
123

Fairbairn's report of the Menai tubu-
lar bridge, 145

Fall of railway bridges, 3i>3

Falls of Niagara, suspension bridge
at, 73

Faraday, Prof., on lime preserved
for fresco painting, 117

Fenestration and windows, 270, 293,
329

Fibrous materials, preparing of, New-
ton's patent, 3S->

Fictile manufactures, pottery and
porcelain, 178

Filterer, Wilkinson's patent, 222

Fine Arts, Institute of, reports, 42

Fine Alt architeeture, Kerr's Xew-
leafe discourses on (review), 377

Fire alarum, Taylor's patent, 120

Fire-engines, White's patent, 221

Fitzwilliatn nuiseuni, Cambridge, 31,
103,129. 107, 301

Fitznilliam museum, interior of, 361

Floors, ornamental, 216

Foreign public A'oiks, 190

notes, 223, 3.-3, 359, 390

Fortifications, old, Sheerness, guns
for, 80

France and England, telegraphic
communication between, lljO

Francis's, Henry, patent g,is appara-
tus, 185

Joseph, patent iron boats,
184

French archa:ological congress, 218
railways, 43

Fresco painting, on the lime pre-
served for, by Prof. Faraday, 117

Frigates, Dauntless and .\rrogant, 90

Fuller's patent dibbling apparatus,
355

Fulljames's lelter on the Aust sus-
pension bridge, 190

Fulton on the modification and
adaptation of the Greek onleis, 137

Fuluie development of niediaivol ar-
chitecture, 225

Gas apparatus, Francis's patent, ISS
burners, Leslie's patent, 221
manufacture of, Murdoch's pa-
tent, 02

purifying of, Phillip's patent, 01
Gailbabaud ou ancient and modern

architecture (review), 13, 155
Galloway's patent for propelling car-
riages, 01
Garforth's patent for connecting

boilers, 251
Gate tower, .St. Edmund's Bury, 238
Gauges, decision of the Board of
Trade on, 210

Gauges, broad and narrow, experi-
ments on, 4!)

junction of, 187
S.T.'s letter on, 130

Gauge commissioners, report of, 74
commission, analysis of evi-
dence, I7i», i!ll, 254,309

Geology, railway, 218

Giles's, F., projiosal for a suspension
bridge at the Aust passage, 122

Gillard's patent for the production of
heat, 320

Gladiator steam frigate, engines of,
193

Glass, Mr. Pellatt on the manufac-
ture of, 124

painting on, 149

tiles, Kussell's patent, 247

windows, stained, 254

Glass staining and etching, Bed-
ford's patent, 384

Goethe's house, 295

Goniometer and crystallonome, paper
on, by Dr. Leeson (review), 153

Goniometricon, Earl's, 369

Gothic architecture, manual of, Paley
(review), 377

Gothic ornaments, by Colling (re-
view), 289

Governors of steam engines, Sie men's
patent, 247

Grand blast at the Downhill tunnels,
253

Gravel, white, 153

Great Britain steam ship, 9

Great Western, new locomotive en-
gine, 198

Greener's patent electric lamp, 285

Greenbow's patent railways and car-
riages, 285

Gregg's patent hydrostatic power
machine, 24fl

Guess's patent for removing acids
from clotii, 386

Gun cotton, 386

Gunpowder, report of experiments
on, at Washington, 119

Guns for old fortifications at Sheer-
ness, 80

Gun steamers, 379

H

Hall's patent brick and tile machine,
3.i5

Hand-book of mapping, &e. Wilrae
(review), 204

Hare's illustrated almanac (review),
14

HaskoU's assistant engineer's rail-
way guide (review), 374

Hawkins on setting out cuttings and
embankments, ISO

Hawortli's patent steam engine, 02

Hazard's paper on the expansion of
steam, 381

Heald on stakingout railway curves
(review), 203

Heath's putent hydraulic gale, 91

Heating by hydrogen, Gillard's pa-
tent, 320

Height of Vesuvius, 111

Heighton's patent electric telegraph
321

Henry's, Professor, observations on
capillarity, 170

Hightou's patent railway chairs, 92

Hili aud Dixon's patent for lubri-
cating nMchiner>, 91

Hill's, Joseph, paleut wire gauze
for blinds, 16

John l{., patent for atmos-
pheric propulsion, 218

pateut printiitg

press, 219

Hinckley's connecdng rods, 216

Hind ou the vibration of trains in
tunnels, 207

I N D E X.

HodgkinsoD'3 experiments on the
strength of cast iron (review), 317

■ report on the Meuai

tubular bridgf, 14G
Hultzaptlel on turning and manipu-
lation (review), 372
Home Ollice, Wliitehall, 261
Hopkins's patent rails and trams, 92
Horizontal water wheels, turbiiies,
&:c,, by Riihinian (review), 2U0

wiudinjlls, Dennet's

patent, 90
Hot-air engine, IJagg's patent, 92
House of Commons, standing orders

and reports. 93
Houses of Parliament, Mr. Barrj's
evidence on, 244

■ , remarks on, 2")G

, second report on

the ventilation of, 214
Howard, Henry, on plate glass

making in England, 197
Howard's patent steam engine con-
densers, 383
Howard's, Thomas, patent for roll-
ing iron bars, 1^4
Hughes, John, on earthwork on

sidelong ground, 333
Hughes's, John, tables for the cal-
culation of earth HOI k (review), 73
Hungerford bridge, stability and

strength of, 303
Huutinglons's tables for the calcu-
lation of earthwork, &c. (review)
155
Hydraulic gate. Heath's patent, 91

paint, \t arreii's ditto. 184

— — ^^ press, dillerential, 319
Hjdranlic ran), notes on, 3C2
Hydraulics, researches in, 123
Hydrostatic power machine, Gregg's
patent, 24(j

Icebergs of the Atlantic seas, 19

Ickworth on eccenlrics CO

Idea for the fu9rtde of the British
Museum, 05

Imitations, architectural, 265

Itnprovemeots of the river Severn, 80

Incorporated railways, synopsis of,
21

Industrial art and manufactures,
exposition of, 30

Inertia of railway trains, power to
overcome it, 256

Institute, Arcii;eological, 55

of Fine Aris, reports of, 42

, Royal, of IJritish Archi-
tects, 27, 58, 84, 123, 158, 188,
217, 387

Institution of Civil Engineers, 57

Instrument for tracing railway
curves, by W.Tait, 332

Interior of the Fiizwiiliam Museum
301

Introductory Note, 1

Iron boats, Francis's patent im-
provements in, 184

, improved cupola for melting,

121

•, improved manufacture of,

Bovill's jiateut, 382

ditto, Budd's patent, 350

Isoard and Mercier's steam engine,
58

Isoard's patent for obtaining motive
power, 121

Isthmus of Fanama, canal across,
£39

Italy, Lush's Architectural Recol-
lections of, 168, 229, 203, 290

Ixclles, explosion in a sewer at, HI

JiUius Steam ship, 54

Jib, moveable, cranes, 307

Johnson's, Robert, patent for atmos-
pheric railways, 247

Johnson's, R,, patent for purifying
gas 283

Junction of the broad and narrow
gauges, 187

K

Keating's patent cement, 285
Kentish ragstone, 177
Kerr's Newieafe discourses on the
fine art architecture (review), 377
King's patent electric light, 220

Lake's patent propelling power, 152

Lamb on the studies of ancient do-
mestic architecture (review), 199

Landmann's, Col., evidence on the
gauge question, 213

LauiK h of two steam ships at Liver-
pool, 160

Law, new, of compound motion, 150

Leaning tower at Pisa, 208

Leeson's, Dr., paper on a new goni-
ometer and crjslalloiiome, 1.53

Leslie's patent gas burners, 221

Lessening friction in clocks, Terry's
patent, 386

Letter on Barker's mill, with the
editor's reply. 319

on the Wyatt AVelliDglon,354

Letters on the cniti\ation and ma-
nagement of flax, Dickson's (re-
view), 289

Leven and Rise Church, Holder-
ness, by Chantrill, 100

Lightning rods, 21

Lime preserved for fresco painting,
Prof. Faraday on, 117

Limes, mortars, and cements, Arago
on, 33

Linton's paper on encaustic paint-
ing, 337

Liverpool, architecture in, 5

, launch of two steam ships
at, 100

Town-hall decorations, 245

Local churches, new, 81

Locke's evidence on the gauge ques-
tion, 182

Locomotive engines, Crampton's
patent, 229

, Nisbet's patent, 321
, Rayner's patent, 152
, Howe and Stephen-
son's patent, 285

London, Society of Arts of, 28, 89,
124, 157, 189

Londonderry and Coleraine railway,
grand blast on, 253

LoDgridge's patent slide valves, 152

Lowber's patent for tinning pipes,
183

Lubricating machinery. Hill and
Dixon's patent, 91

Lunar corrector, Capt, Thompson's
100

Lush's Architectural Recollections
of Italy, 168, 229, 263, 296

M

Machine for printing 12,000 sheets
per hour, 387

Machinery, lubricating, Hill and
Dixon's patent, 91

Machinery for making augurs, Pal-
mer's patent, 16

McConnell's evidence on the gauge
question, 21 1

Macintosh's remarks on St, Michael
Heavitree, 319

Macnaught's patent improvements
in steam engines, 240

Magnetic experiments on metals,
&c.. Sturgeon's paper on, 206

Mail steamers, trial of, 19H

Manchester, architecture in, 3

Manual of Gotliic architecture,
Paley (review), 377

Manufacture of Glass, Pellatt's
paper on, 124

Manufactures, fictile, pottery and
porcelain, 1T8

and industrial art, expo-
sition of, 30

Manure, Muspiatt's patent, 61

, sewage, collection of, 82,
352

Marble-polishing machine, Ziegler's
patent, 183

Marbles, Boodroom, 118

Marine electric telegraph, Perce-
vals's patent, 3S0

Masonry, Irom the Ecchsiologist,Z\ 2
' , rustic, 234, 330

Materials, Byrne's new theory of,
103, 231, 237

Math--r's patent metallic pistons, 385

Matrices for casting printing type,
Starr's patent, 380

Maudslay's patent propelling ma-
chinery, 252

May's patent machine for punching
and shearing metal plates, 384

Mediaeval architecture, desiderata
for the study of, by Nonnullus,309
, future develop-
ment of, 225

Menai tubular bridge, strength and
form of, ICO, 172, 298

strait, tubular bridge over,
83

Metallic pistons, Mather's patent,
385

Metals, Adie's paper on the corro-
sion of, 371

Metropolitan bridges and Westmin-
ster improvements. Douglas, Sir
Howard (review), 286

Metropolitan churches, new, 171,
194,260,

Michael Angelo, discovery of his
works, 308

Millett on tanned canvas, 340

Mill's patent buffers, 61

Wining surveying instrument, new,
by W. Peace, 336

Miscellanea, 31,03,259, 292

Models of the Parthenon, 14, 44,
85

Modern churches, clerestories in,
Wightwick, 147

Modibcation and adaptation of the
Greek orders. H. Fulton, 137

Monument, Nelson's, 55, 187

Mordecai's experiments on gunpow-
der, 119

Morrison's patent ventilating stoves,
184

Moss's patent for printing banker's
notes, 16

Motion, Bashforth on the change of,
10

compound, new law of, 156

Motive power, Isoard's patent, 121
NasniUhe's patent, 320
^Vllkinson's patent, 152

Moulding of iron, Mushel's patent,
246

Moveable jib cranes, 367

Mud, sand-bars, &c., Vermilion's
patent for removing, 90

Mulley and Mason's patent for rais-
ing substances from under water,
16

Mullins on peat bog (review), 357

Muichisou's, Sir R., address to the
British Association, 313

Murdoih's patent for the manufac-
ture of gas, 02

Murdock's patent for the prepara-
tion of paint, 320

Museum, British, Fafade of, idea
for, 9, 65, 123

British Museum, models of Parthe-
non in, 14, 44

IMuseum, Fiizwiiliam, at Cam-
bridge, 31, 103, 129, 107
inierior of, 361

Mushet's patent for moulding iron,
216

Muspratt's patent manure, 61

N

Nasmyth's patent for obtaining

motive power, 320
Navy of the East India Company,

19
Nelson's Monument, 55, 187
Neville on the pressure of retaining

walls, 135
Newcastle Philosophical Society 31
New churches, local, 81, lOil, 391
New goniometer and crystallonome,

153
New law of compound motion, 156
Newieafe discourses on tlie tine art

architecture. Kerr (review), 377
New locks at Bristol, partial de-
struction of, 282
New locomotive engine, the Great

Mestern, 198
New metropolitan churches, 171,

194,260
New mining surveying instrument,

W, Peace, 336
New planet, 331, 306
New theory of the strength of

materials. O. Byrne, 103, 231,

257
Newton's patent apparatus for pre-
paring libious materials, 385
Niagara, falls of, suspension bridge

at the, 73
Nicholson, Peter, on the obliqne

arch (review), 73
Nisbet's patent locomotive engine,

321
Nonnullus on mediaeval architec-
ture, 309
Norfolk railway, accidents on, 51,

53
Note book, Candidus's, Fasciculus

LXVllI, LXIX, LXX, LXXI,

134,233,262, 327
Note, introductory, I
Notes, bankers', Moss's patent for

printing, 10
Notes on engineering. Nos, IV

and V, on the strength and form

of the Menai tubular bridge, 100,

172
Notes, foreign, 223, 323, 359, 390
Notes of the month, 127, 159, 191,

222, 258, 291, 321, 300, 389
Notes on the hydraulic ram, 303

O

Oblique arch, treatise on, by Peter

Nicholson (review), 73
Observations on capillarity, 176
Ocean waves. Walker on, 109
Ogier's proposal for a general me-
tropolitan railway (review), 289
Opera House, decorations of, 99
Orders of the Greeks, Fulton on

the modification and adaptation

of, 137
Ores, copper, Bankart's patent for

refining, 120
Ores, reduction of, Tower's patent,

91
Origin and reclamation of peat bog,

Mullins on (review), 375
Ornamental floors, 210

Paddle-box boats abandoned, 72

I N D E X.

Painling on glass, 1-17
Paley's iii;iimal of Gothic architec-
ture (review), 377
Palmer's, \V., a-luiospheric railway,
92

J., patent augur machiue-
ry, 10
Paper staining, Potter's patent, 356
Paris, Koyal Observatiiry of, 06
Parish churches, &c., by Messrs.

Brandon (review), 154
Parlihurst's patent for propelling

vessels, 180
Parlour's patent ship propellers, 221
Parsey's air engine, 107
Parthenon, models of, 14,44, 85

, entasis and other curved
lines <>f, by V. P. Penrose, 97
Patents, American, specilications of
90, 1S3, 215, 380

Auxiliary steam engines,
Cochrane, 240

ditto. Coffin, 246
Brick-making press, Maite,
183

Carriage-wheels, Scripture,
245

Connecting-rods for cranks,
Hinckley, 240

Coupling and stuffing-box,
Loper, 90

Current water-wheel, Robin-
son, QO

Folding sheet metal. Roe, 380
Horizontal wiud-mills, Den-
net, 90

Hydraulic gate. Heath, 91

paint, Warren, 184
Hydrostatic power machine,
Gregg, 246

Iron boats, Francis, 184
Lessening friction in clocks,
Terry, 3S0

Lubricating machinery. Hill
and Dison, 91

Marble polishing machine,
Ziegler, 183

iMatrices for casting printing
type, Slarr, 386

Printing presses, Saxton, 184
Propellers, Ericsson, 386
Propellers, Phleger, 3S6
Railroad trucks, Ray, 184
Reduction of ores. Towers,
01

Removing acids from cloth,
Guess, 380

Removing mud, sand, &c.,
Vermilion, 90

Safety valves. Rush, 184
Steam engine, Pomeroy, 240
Tide-mills, Ross, 90
Tinning pipes, Lowber, 184
Ventilating pipes, Morrison,
184

Water gates, Robinson, 91
Water wheels. Smith, 90
Patents, English, lists of, 32, 04, 90
128, 160, 191,224, 200, 292, 321,
300, 392
Patents, register of specifications of
new, 16, 01, 91, 120, 152, 184,
218, 240, 283, 320, 35.5, 382

Alum and aluminous com-
pounds, Clill, 92

Arresting railway carriages,
Crawford, 1^6

Atmospheric engine, Atha,
185

Atmospheric propulsioD,;HiII
218

Atmospheric railway, John-
son, 247

Wheeler, 252
Ward, 91
Palmer, 92
Aogur-making machine, Pal-
mer, 16

Patents— (ton/ini/cd )

Brick and tile machine. Hall
855

Buffers, safety, Chesshire,
285

Buffers for railway carriages
Mills, 61

Cement, Keating, 285
Chimney draught, Watson,
251

Chimney pots, Ewart, 185
Coke oven, Church, 284
Coking artificial fuel, War-
lich, 382

Combining coal and preserv-
ing wood, Rausome, 16

Combining steel and iron,
Sanderson, 186

Connecting boilers, Garforth
251

Copper ores, Bankart, 120
Decoration of houses, Bex,
252

Dibbling apparatus. Fuller,
355

Electric conductors, Young,
219

lamp. Greener, 285
light. King, 220
telegraph. Heighten,
321

Excavating machine, Poole,
219

Fillerer, Wilkinson, 222
Fire alarum, Taylor, 120
engines. White, 221
Gas apparatus, Francis, 185
burners, Leslie, 221
manufacture, Murdoch,
62

purifying, Phillips, 61
Johnson, 283
Glass tiles, Russel, 247
Governors of steam engines,
Siemen, 249

Heating by hydrogen, Gil-
lard, 320

Hot air engines, Baggs, 92
Iron manufacture, Bovill, 3S2
Iron manufacture, Budd, 350
Locomotive engines. Cramp-
ton, 220

Nisbet, 321
Rayner, 152
Stephenson and
Howe, 235

INlaiiure, Muspratt, 61
Marine electric telegraph,
Perceval, 380

Metallic pistons, Mather, 385
Motive power, Isoard, 121
Nasmyth,320
AVilkinson, 152
Moulding of iron, Mushet246
Paper staining, Potter, 356
Plate and sheet iron cutter,
Wenninglon, 284

Preparing fibrous materials,
Newton, 385

Printing press, Hill, 219

banker's n.ites. Moss, 16
Propelling on railways and
canals, Taylor and Condor, 251

Propelling machinery,
Maudslay,252

Propelling power. Lake, 152
Propelling vessels. Park-
hurst. ISO

Punchingand shearing metal
plates, iMay, 3s4

Rails and trams, Hopkins, 92
Railway carriages, Brandling
186

carriage wheels, Bo-
zek, 240

chairs, Highton, 92
lifting apparatus,
Pope, 383

rails, Poole, 185

Patents— (coK^'«ufd.)

Railways and carriages,
Greenhow, 285

Raising substances from tin-
d«r water, Mulley and Mason, 16
Rolling iron bars, Howard,
184

Ship building, Boydell, 185
propellers. Parlour, 221
Slide valves, Longridge, 152
Sluice locks. Waller, 219
Staining and etching glass,
Bedford, 384

Steam engine condensers,
Howard, 3S3

Steam engine improvemeots,
BIcNaught, 216

Steam engines, Haworth, 62
Steam engines, Rollinson,384
and propellers,
Penn and Co., 247

Steam engines and propellers
Seaward, 284

Steering apparatus, Clark
and Pirnie, 185

Stoves, Searle, 120
Tanning, Warrington, 285
Tiles, M'eller, C3
Ventilation of mines, Struve,
321

Wire fabrics for blinds. Hill,
16

Zinc paint, Jlurdock, 323
Peace's new mining surveying in-
strument, 336
Pellatt on the manufacture of glass,

124
Penn, Hartree, and Matthews's im-
proveinenis in steam engines and
propellers, 247
Penrose, on the eutasis. Sec, of the

Parthenon, 97
Perceval's p.itent marine electric

telegraph, 386
Peschel's elements of physics.

Part II. (review), 358
Piuilico, Si. Michael's church at, 67
Phillips's patent for purifying gas,

61
Philosophical Society, Newcastle, 3
Phleger's patent propeller, 386
Pisa, leaning tower at, 2U8
Place of Egypt in the history of the

world. IJunsen (review), 174
Planet, new, 331, 360
Plate glass making in England, 197
Plate-iron cutter, Wenuington's

patent, 284
Playfair and De La Beche on ex-
plosions in collieries, 241

ditto on the suppression of
smoke, 196
Plymouth, Christ's church at, 9, 60,

08, 106, 149
Plymouth, royal naval steam yard

at, 317
Pomeroy's patent improvements in

the steam engine, 216
Poole's patent excavating machine,
219

patent railway rails, 185
Pope's patent railway lifting appa-
ratus, 383
Port of Dublin, improvements of,

353
Potter's patent for paper staining,

350
Power to overcome the inertia of

trains on railways, 150
Poynter on stained glass windows

iu Salute Chapelle, Paris, 131
Practice of setting out railways, 275
Pressure on retaining walls, 109,

135
Preston, subsidence of viaduct at,

135
Principles of church restoration, 143
Printing press. Hill's patent, 219
Saxton's patent, 184

Problems in plane surveying, Vin-

dex's letter, 300
Proceedings of scientific societies,
27, 55, 84, 123, 166, 188,256,387
Academy, Royal, 1C9, 195
Archaiological congress, French
218
Archaeological Institute, 55
Architects. British, Royal In-
sliiute of, 27, 58, 84, 123, 158,
188,217, 387

Art, Decorative, Society of, 56,
159

Arts, Fine, Institute of, 42
Arts, Royal Scottish Society of,
29, 55, «9, 12.5, 156, 256

Arts, Society for the Encou-
ragement of, 28, 57, 89, 124, 157,
189

British Association, 301, 313,
S41

Chemical Society, 189
College forCnil Engineers, 256
Institution of ditto, 57
Proceedings of railway committees,

93, 126
Professional education of the engi-
neer, &;c., 283
Propellers, Ericsson's patent, 386

Phleger's patent, 386
Propelling on canals and railways,
Taylor and Condor's patent, 25 1
Propel ling power, Lake's patent, 152
vessels, Parkhurst's patent,
186
Proposal for a general metropolitan

railway. Ogier (review), 289
Prosser's method of projecting cir-
cles, 41
Public buildings, Eastlake on the

painting of, 112
Public works, foreign, 190
Punching and shearing metal plates

ftlay's patent, 386
Purifying gas, Johnson's patent, 283
Putney, college for civil engineers
at, 256

Q

Quality of the lime preserved for
fresco painting. Prof. Faraday on,
117

Quarterly papers on engineering,
Weale's (review), 39, 302

R

Ragstone, Kentish, 177

Rails and trams, Hopkin's patent,

92
Railway bridges, fall of, 353

butlers, safety, Chesshire'g
patent, 285

carriages. Brandling's patent
186

carriage wheels, Bozek's
patent, 246

chairs, Highlon's patent, 92

curves, instrument for tracing
332

curves, setting out of, 300
staking out of. Heald
(review), 203

curves, Tait on, 386

geology, 218

lifting apparatus. Pope's pa-
tent, 383

map of England and Wales
(review), 176

Norfolk, accidents on, 51

proceedings, 93, 126

rails, Poole's patent, t85

Rouen and Havre, fall of a
viaduct on, 54

sleepers, substitute for, 215

statistics, 206

suspension bridge, Russel's
patent, 10

1 N D E X.

Railway (rains, inertia of, 156

trucks, Kay's patent, 181
Railways, amalgamation and leasing
of, 09

Belgian, 17

carriages, &c., Greenhow's
patent, 2S5

French, 43

incorporated, synopsis of, 21
practice of setting out, 257
United States, at work, 31
use, progress, and construc-
tion of liitciiie (review), 175
Raising the spire of a church, 41
Ransome's patent for coals and wood

16
Rastrick's evidence on the gauge

question, 213
Ralller steam ship, 19
Rayner's patent locomotive engine,

152
Ray's patent railway trucks, 184
Regent's Park, Coloseum in, G
Register of new patents, 16, 61, 91
120, 152, 184, 218, 246, 283, 320,
355, 382
Removing acids from cloth, Guess's

patent, 386
Renuie's, Sir J., conversazioni, 21 8
Researches in hydraulics, 123
Restoration of churches, 81, 1 13
Retaining walls, pressure on, 109,

135
Return of duties on bricks, 160
Review of a reviewer, 58
Reviews of books —

Arrowsmilh and Basire's
railway map, 176

Arlizan Club steam engine,
38, 203

Blair and Phillips, on the
construction of viaducts, &c., 72
Brandon, Messrs., on parish
churches, 151

Bunsen's place of Egypt in
the history of the world, 174
Bjrne's byrnegraph, 288
Castle'selementarytext book
356

CoUing's gothic ornaments,
289

Companion to the almanac,
II

Creed J 's excavation table,
289

Darbyshire's ta'nle for rail-
way curves, 289

Dickson's cultivation and
management of flax, 2S9

Douglas, Sir H., on metro-
politan bridges, &c.. 286

Drummond's first steps to
anatomy, 14

Gailhabaud's ancient and
modern architecture, 13, 155

Hare's illustrated almanac,
14

Haskoll'sassistanlengineer's
railway guide, 374

Heald's railway curves, 203
Hodgkinson's researches on
cast iron, 317

Holtzapffel's turning and
manipulation, 372

Hughes's tables for the cal-
culations of earthwork, 73
Huntington's ditto, 155
Kerr's Newleafe discourses
on architecture, 377

Lamb's studies of ancient
domestic architecture, 199
niullins on peat bog, 357
Nicholson's treatise on the
oblique arch, 73

Ogier's proposal for a gene-
ral metropolitan railway, 289

Paley's manual of Gothic
architecture, 377

Reviews — (conlimial.)

Pe^clicrs elements of phys-
ics, Part II., 358

Railway almanac, 14
Reply to ul)!>ervations on the
report of the gauge commissiua-
ers, IS

Reply to observations on me-
tropolitau bridges, 358

Ititcliie's railways, 175
Kiililman on horizontal water
wheels, 202

Varley's, Sirs., engineei-'s
manual, 376

AVeale's quarterly papers,
39, 203

M illis's. Prof., architectural
history of Canterbury cathedral,
287

Wilme's hand-book of map-
ping, 204
Rivers —

Alleghany, suspension aque-
duct over, 47

Cljde, trustees' report on the
weir question, 84

Rhine, auriferous sand of, 159
Severn improvements, 80
Robinson's patent current water-
wheel, 00
E(il)ii)son's patent for opening and

closing water gates, 91
Rods, lightning. 21
Roe's patent machine for folding

sheet metal, 386
Rolling iron bars, Howard's patent,

184
Eollinfon's patent steam engine 384
Roman remains at Colchester, l'J9
Rome, the Basilica at, 259
Ross's patent fide mills, GO
Rouen and Havie Railway, fall of

a viaduct on, 54
Roval Academy, exhibitions at, 169

i<J5
Royal commissioners' report on the

gauges, 74
Royal Exchange, 28
Royal Institute of British Archi-
tects, 27, 68, 84, 123, 158, 188,
217,387
Koyal naval steam yard, Plymouth,

317
Royal Observatory of Paris, 96
Royal Scottish Society of Arts, 29,

55, 89, H3, 156,256
Eiihlmanon horizontal water-wheels

(review), 200
Runcorn suspension bridge, 7
Rush's patent safety valves, 184
Russell's, J., pafput glass tiles, 247
H., railway suspension
bridge, 10
Rustic iSIasonry, 234, 330
Rustication, Candidus on, 269

S

Sacristies, 46

Sacrow near Potsdam, church at,

161
Safety valves. Rush's patent, 184
Saint Botolph's, church, Boston,

Lincolnsiiire, restoration of, 235
St. Cbapelle, stained glass windows
in, 131

Denis, cathedral of, 9
Edmunds-Bury gate tower, 238
James's, 264
Michael Heavitree, 319
Blichael's, Pimlico, 67
Saviour's, York, restoration of,
209
Sanderson's patent for combining

steel and iron, 186
Sandjs's dissertation on Prof. M'il-
lis's history of Canterbury cathe-
dral (review), 287

Saxfon's patent printing pre.'S, 184
Scientific societies, proceedings of,

27, 55, 84, 123, 156. 11^8,256
Screw propeller (patent law case),

Woodcraft t' Smith, 117
Screw propellers and paddlewheels,

comparison of, 349
Scripture's patent carriage wheels,

245
Searle's patent stove, 120
Seaward's patent steam engines and

propellers, 284
Self-registering instrument, 841
Semper, architect of Dresden Gal-
lery, 188
Setting out cuttings and embank-
ments, 136
Setting out railway curves, 300
Sewage manure, collection of, 82,

352
Sewer at Ixelles, explosion in. Ill
Sharp on the restoration of St Sa-
viour's chuitli, York, 2(i9
Sheerness, guu:, for the old lortifica-

tions at, 80
Sheet metal, machine for folding.

Roe's patent, 3S6
Ship building, Boydell's patent im-
provements in, 185
Ship propellers, Parloui's patent,

221
Siemen's patent governor. 247
Skfw arch an old invention, 118
Skew arch, Nicholson's treatise on

(review), 73
Slide valves, Longridge's patent, 152
Sluice cocks, M aller's patent, 219
Smelting with anthracite coal, 216
Smith on the blast furnace, 144
Smith's patent water wheels, 90
Smoke, suppression of, 196

value of, 148
Society of Arts, Loudon, 28, 57, 89,
124, 157, ISa

Royal Scottish, 29,
65,89, 123, 156,256
Society, Chemical, 189

of Decorative Art, 56, 159
of Vine Arts, 42
, Philosophical, of Newcas-
tle, 31
Stability and strength of Hungerford

bridge, 363
Stained glass windows, in Sainte
Chapelle, Paris, 131

St. James's, 264
at Woolwich, 264
Staining and etching glass, Bedford's

patent 384
Staking out railway curves, Heald on,

(review), 203
Standing Orders of the House of

Commons, 93, 94, 352
Starr's patent matrices for casting

printer's types, 386
Steering apparatus, Clark and Pirnie's

patent, 185
Steam, experiments on, 9

engine, Artizan Club (review),
38, 203

Hawoith's patent, 62
Isoard and Merciet's
patent, 58

Pomero) 's patent, 246
M'Naught's patent im-
provements, 246

condensers, Howard's
patent, 383

KoUinson's patent, 384
Steam engines and propellers, Peua
and Co.'s patent, 217

Seaward's
patent, 284

factory in .America, 208
navigation, 1150, 207
vessels, British and American,
2G3

Steam vessels —

Blasco Garry, 192
Dauntless, S6
Gladiator, 193
Great Britain, 9
Janus, 51
Kattler, 19
Terrible, 127
Steam expansion, Hazard's paper on,
381

navigation, 379, 391
Steam-yard at Plymouth, 317
Stephenson's, Robert, report on the
accident on the Norfolk railway, 53
evidence on the gauge
question, 179

tubular bridge, FaiF-
bairn's report on, 145

Hodgkin-
son's report on, 146
Stephenson, George, and Howe's

patent locomotive engine, 285
Stoves, Searle's patent, 120
Strength and form of the Menai

tubular bridge, 100, 172

Strength of materials, theory of, 204

Strength and stress of materials, new

theory of, by Oliver Byrne, 163,

231,257

Struve's patent for ventilating mines,

321
Studies of ancient domestic archi-
tecture (review), 199
Sturgeon's magnetic experiments, 206
Styles and methods of painting, 112
Subsidence of the Preston viaduct,

135
Substitute for railway sleepers, 215
Surveying, trigonometrical, pro-
blems in, 272
Suspension aqueduct over the Alleg-
heny, 4 7
Suspension bridge across the Aust
p.'issage, Fulljames's remarks on,
190

at the Aust passage,
Giles on, 122

at the falls of Nia-
gara, 73

at Runcorn, 7
Russell's patent, 10
Synopsis of buildings in Edinburgh, 8

Table of British and American steam

vessels, 268
Table of the railways at work in the

United States, 31
Table showing the contents of exca.
vations, derived from Mr. Bidder's
formula, by Creedy (review), 2!-'9
Tables for setting out curves on rail-
ways, by Darbyshire (review), 269
Tables to facilitate the calculations
of earthwork, by J. Hughes (re-
view), 73
Tables and rules for facilitating the
calculations of earthwork, &c., by
Huntington (review), 155
Tait on railway curves, 361
Tait's instrument for tracing railway

curves, 332
Tanned canvas, Millett's communica-
tions on, 340
Tanning, Warrington's patent for,

285
Taylor and Conder's patent for pro-
pelling, 251
Taylor's patent fire alaurm, 120
Taylor on the temperature of the

earth and sea, 110
Telegraphic communication between

France and England, 160
Temperature of the earth and sea,
110

INDEX.

Terrible, war steamer, 127

Terry's patent for lessening friction

in cloclis, 3S6
Tlieury nf tlie arch, lilair and I'liil-

li|)S, 131
Theory of the strength of materiaU,

204
Theory (new), of the strength and

stress of materials, 0. llyrne, 103,

231, 2J7
Thompson's lunar corrector, IGO
Tiiial harbours, commissioners' second

rept>rt, 148
Tide mills, Uoss's patent, 90
Tile-making, Benson's patent, 356
Tile machine, teller's patent, 63
Tinnini5 pipes, l.owlier's [patent, 184
Tower's oateut foe the reduction of

ores, 01
Traliealc and arcuate architecture,

301
Traction, atmospheric, 29
Tracts on volcanoes, 71
Trial of the channel steamers, 239

mail steamers, 198
Trigonometrical surreying, problems

in, 272
Tubular bridge over the Menai strait,

83, 100, 172, 298

Fairbairn's report on,

115

Hodgkinson's report

on, 146

Turf, evaporative power of, 20
Turnin? and manipulation, Holt-

zaptTel on (review), 372
Turrets, belfry, 21

U

W

Ultramarine, artificial, 55
Unfaithfulness in architecture, 103
United States, table of the railways
at work in, 31

Value of smoke, 148

Yarley's, Mrs., engineer's manual,
370

Veutilation of the Houses of Parlia-
ment, second report on, 214

Ventilating mines, Struve's patent
for, 321

stoves, Morrison's pa-
tent, 184

Vermilion's patent for removing mud,
sand, hars, &c., 90

Vesuvius, height of. 111

Viaduct, fall of, on the Rouen and
Havre railway, 54

Viaduct at Preston, subsidence of,
135

Viator on architectural competition,
151

Vibration of trains in tunnels, Hind's
report on, 207

View of a reviewer, 63

VignoUes's evidence on the gauge
(juestion, 214

Viiidex's letter on composition de-
signs, 290

problems in plane
surveying, 300

Volcanoes, &c., tracts on, 71

M'aite's patent brick-making press,

183
Walker on ocean waves, 109
Waller's patent sluice cocks, 219
Ward's patent atmospheric railway,

91
Warlich's patent fuel, 384
Warping haulage on canals, 3G8
Warren's patent hydraulic paint, 184
Warrington's patent for tanning, 285
M'ater-gates, Robinsou's patent, 91
Water-wheels (current), Robinson's
patent, 90

Smith's patent, 90
Watson's patent chimney draught,

2.)1
Waves of the ocean, Walker on, 109
Weale's Quarterly Papers on engi-
neering, 39, 2U2
Weirs across rivers, reports on, 84
Weller's patent tiles, 63
Wennington's patent plate and sheet

iron cutter, 284
Westminster bridge, report on the

present state of, 273
Westminster bridge, 387
White on volcanoes, &c., 71
White's, John, patent fire engine,

221
White gravel, 152

Wheeler's patent atmospheric rail-
way, 252
Wightwick on the clerestories in mo-
dern churches, 149
Wilkinson's, David, patent motive
power, 132

Wilkinson's, Josiah, patent filterer,
222

William of Wykeham, architectural
notices of, 318

Williams on the evaporative power of
turf, 20

Wilme's hand-book of mapping, &c.
(review), 204

Windmills, horizontal, Dennet's pa-
tent, 90

Windows and fenestration, 270, 293,
329

Window-mouldings, columns and
pediments employed for, 162

Wire fabrics for bliuds. Hill's patent,
16

Wood, preserving of, Ransome's pa-
tent, 16

Woodcroft V. Smith, patent law case,
117

Working stock of existing railways,
215

Works bv Michael Angelo, discovery
of, 308i

M'yatt's Wellington, remirks on, 354

York, restoration of Saint Saviour's

church at, 209
Young's patent electric conductors,

24 7

Ziegler's patent marble polishing

machine, 183
Zinc paint, Murdock'a patent, 320

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Air-pump, 104

All Saints church, Yorkshire, 100
Aqueduct over the Allegheny, 48
Architectural recollections of Italy,

G cuts, 168, 230, 297
Aust passage bridge, 122
Beams, sections of, 3, 318
Blasting under water, 2 cuts, 370
Byrnograph, 4 cuts, 288
Change of motion, 4 cuts, 10
Chimney draught, 251
Christ's church, Plymouth, 68
Combining iron and steel, 3 cuts, 185
Cuttings and embankments, 4 cuts,

130, 273
Dampness in buildings, 217
Dibbling apparatus, 2 cuts, 355
Differential hydraulic press, 319
Earl's Goniometricon, 2 cuts, 369
Electric light, 2 cuts, 220
Engines of the Gladiator, 2 cuts, 193
Entasis of the Parthenon, 2 cuts, 98

Eithaustion of air from tubes, 91
Filterer, 3 cuts, 222
Fire alarum, 3 cuts, 120
Fire engines, 2 cuts, 221
Gas burners, 2 cuts, 221
Horizontal water-wheels, 2 cuts, 201
Hot-air engine, 92
Hungerford bridge, 358, 364
Instrument for tracing railwaycurves,

332
Junction of the broad and narrow

gauges, 3 cuts, 187
Leven church, 2 cuts, 100
Locomotive engine, 152
Locomotive engines, 2 cuts, 220
Machine for circular motion, 31
Maudslay's propelling machinery, 2

cuts, 232
Menai and Conway tubular bridges,

3 cuts, 307
Metallic pistons, 385
Model of the Parthenon, 7 cuts, 45,

46,86

Motive power, 2 cuts, 121

Moveable jib cranes, 367

New mining surveying instruments, 2

cuts, 336
Paper staining, 3 cuts, 356
Plan of windows at the Home Office,

3 cuts, 262
Preparing fibrous materials, 2 cuts,

3S5
Problems in surveying, 6 cuts, 273
Projection of circles, isometrically,41
Propelling power, 2 cuts, 153
vessels, 2 cuts, 186
Punching and sheering metal plates,

2 cuts, 384
Purifying gas, 283
Railway break, 186

carriages, 186
chairs, 93
rails, 185
Raising the spire of a church, 41
Rocks at the Downhill tunnel, 4 cuts,

253

Rolling iron bars, 3 cuts, 184

Saint Edmunds Bury gate tower,

238
Saint Saviour's church, 209
Ship-building, 2 cuts, 185
Sbip-pri)pelling, 2 cuts, 221
Slide valves, 2 cuts, 152
Sluice-cocks, 2 cuts, 220
South Hackney church, 195
Stained glass windows at Sainte

Chapelle, Paris, 14 cuts, 131
Steering apparatus, 2 cuts, 185
Strength and stress of materials, 13

cuts, 103, 205, 232
Theorv of the arch, 151
Tubular bridge, 15 cuts, 101, 148,

172, 298
Turning and manipulation, 373
M'arping haulage, 2 cuts, 363
Wheeler's atmospheric railway, 3

cuts, 252

DIRECTIONS TO BINDER.

Plate 1.— Great Britain steam ship opposite page

2. — Railway suspension bridge
3. — Galloway's railway propeller, — Ha-
worth's steam engine, — Murdock's
gas apparatus, — Walker and
INIills's railway buffer,— Weller's
brick machine ..

.. 4. — Fatade of the British Museum
,. 5. — East front of the Parthenon, — Aust

suspension bridge ..

., 6.— Filzvvilliam Museum
.. 7—8. — Church of Sacrow

9_10.—Eugiuei of ihe Gladiator steamer
11. — St. Saviours church, — Poole'.s ex-
cavating machine, — Hill's Atmos-
pheric propulsion, — Hill's priuting
press

9
10

01

63

97
129
lUl
103

209

12. — Penn and Go's s(eam enfrines,—
Siemen's governor, — Young and
RIcNair's electric conductor, —
Taylor and Condor's railway, —
Garforth's machine

13.— Home Office, &c.

14. — Seaward's engines and propellers, —
Plate iron cutler, — Coke oven,—
Railway bars

15. — Board of Trade

16. — Screw propellers and paddle wheels,
— Brick machine, — Tile machine

17.— Port of IJublin

IS. — Fitzwilliam iNluseum

ly. — Bovill's furnaces, — Howard's con-
denser,— Pope's railway lifter, —
Guu steamers, — Jib craues

opposite page

247
2C1

285
293

••

350
3&3
361

384

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

3 9358 00828802 6

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

3 9358 00828802 6

I ,,,tlU(iilUUiulUHll

,[ liiiiitiuiii!i;:iii:ii!ii!!Uii;:!!iiii!ai;