Royal Institution vf Great Britain, 173 



mg to ^ive the expression of a wooden building, they contradicted 

 that idea of difficulty, stability, and strength which would be sug- 

 gested by an unprejudiced contemplation of the edifice, as composed 

 of massive stone piers and walls, surmounted with stone vaultings. 

 From this it was argued that Greek architecture, or Roman 

 architecture, which is its offspring, could seldom be consistently ap- 

 plied to the decorations of modern buildings ; that the only instances 

 in which Greek architecture could be appropriate, were those of 

 simple porticoes not placed against a higher structure, as at Covent- 

 garden theatre, but where the portico, with the pediment, formed 

 the natural termination of the edifice, and of its roof, as in the 

 church of St. Paul, Covent-garden, and as was universally the case 

 with the Greek temples. It was contended that the departure from 

 the natural use of the order, as bequeathed to us by the ancients, 

 had been the means of introducing anomalies into the art which 

 had depressed architectural science to the condition in which it now 

 exists, and which had sanctioned the perpetration of every degree 

 of ugliness and absurdity under the shelter of Greek associations. 



Master George Noakes, the young lad, now ten years of age, so 

 remarkable for his calculations and knowledge of figures, was pre- 

 sent in the library, answering numerical questions ; and in illustra- 

 tion of his method, thought aloud, or, in other words, wrought his 

 operations audibly. 



On the tables were placed models of Thorold's reel, for commu- 

 nicating with stranded vessels from the shore — Hockey's improved 

 log-ship — Specimens of embossed black marble, and another of 

 pearl, by Mr. Pearsall, the original inventor of the processes by 

 which the effects were produced — and presents of books. 



February Ibtk. 



The subject this evening, in the Lecture Room, was on Reso- 

 nance, or the Reciprocation of Sound. It was delivered by Mr. 

 Faraday, who, however, gave all the credit belonging to the illus- 

 tration, and the new information communicated, to Mr. C. Wheat- 

 stone. It was illustrated by some striking experiments, by many 

 curious instruments of music from Java, for the loan of which the 

 Institution was indebted to Lady Raffles ; and by some very novel 

 and curious musical performances on the Jew's-harp, by Mr. Eulen- 

 stein. We refer our readers to the paper at page 175, of this num- 

 ber, for a detailed and scientific account of this subject. 



The Library contained numerous objects of interest. There were 



