THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



13 



instead of tbrniiufT a blot in the design, might be made conducive 

 to its general good effect, and that without detriment to its stability 

 or usefulness. 



As regards the qualifies of iron, we find the following recom- 

 mendations :^Whitc cast iron is less subject to be destroyed by rust- 

 ing than the gray kind ; and it is also less soluble in acids ; therefore 

 it may be usefully cmiiloyed where hardness is necessary, and where 

 its brittleness is not a defect : but it should not be chosen for pur- 

 poses where strength is necessary. When east smooth, it makes 

 excellent bearings for gudgeons or pivots to run upon, and is very 

 durable, having little friction; white east iron, in a recent fracture, 

 has a white and radiated appearance, indicating a crystalline strnc- 

 tiu'e, it is very brittle and hard; gray cast iron has a granulated frac- 

 ture of a gray colour, with some melallic lustre; it is much softer and 

 tougher than the white cast iron, but between these kinds there are 

 varieties of cast iron having various sliades of these qualities, those 

 should be esteemed the best which approach nearest lo the gray 

 cast iron. Gray cast iron is used for artillery, and is sometimes 

 termed gun-metal. 



The utmost care should be employed lo render I he iron in each 

 casting of an uniform quality, because, in iron of different qualities 

 the contraction is different, which causes an unequal tension among 

 the parts of the metal, impairs its strength, and renders it liable to 

 sudden and unexpected failures. When the texture is not uniform, 

 the surface of the casting is usually uneven where it ou^lit to have 

 been even. This uneveuness, or the irregular swells and hollows on 

 the surlace of a casting, is caused by the unequal contraction of the 

 iron of different qualities. 



Too nuich attention cannot be paid by the architecl to the fact of 

 ascertaining the capabilities of every portion used, by the necessary 

 proofs, the importance of which has been frequently proved, the 

 castings having been, to the eye, good and sound, but, under the 

 necessary proofs, were failures, but which reflects no discredit either 

 on the architect or founder, but only shows the high necessity for 

 the before-mentioned caution. 



I have been led to make these few remarks from a wish that some 

 more able hand, and well-stored mind would, some evening, instruct 

 us with a better and more elucidated detail of so interesting a 

 topic. 



The architect who has his mind thus filled with ideas, and made 

 expert by practice, will work with ease and readiness, whilst he who 

 woidd have yon believe he is waiting for inspirations of genius, is, 

 in reality, at a loss how to begin: whereas tlie well-grounded architect 

 in theory and practice has only maturely to weigh liis subject, and all 

 the mechanical parts of his art follow ; without conceiving the 

 smallest jealousy against others, he is content that all shall be as 

 great as himself, who have undergone the same fatigue, confirming 

 the importance of the fine arts, and drawing forth a strong response 

 from the generous hearts of all classes, ere a nation may wear that 

 high intellectual honour which the production of masterpieces in 

 painting, sculpture, and architecture has ever conferred. 



May we not trust and be persuaded that we shall have the gratifi- 

 cation, al no distant period, of adding a new page of lustre to the 

 English history, there being nothing of glory left to achieve, we 

 may still snatch the only remaining laurel in the midst of the enjoy- 

 ment of peace and plenty ; we may, after a long and severe struggle, 

 enjoy those enchanting, fragrant, and ever-blooming laurels of 

 painting, scidpture, and architecture, entwine them round our 

 country's brow, stamp the age in which we live, and, by the patron- 

 age and encouragement given to the mass of talent in all the 

 branches of the arts now in this country, if to the glorious names of 

 Augustus, Pericles, and Leo, we may add that of Victoria, as the 

 most enlightened and liberal patroness of the arts since the bygone 

 days of Italian splendour, and make those days in which she ruled 

 the golden age of England's pride. 



RAILWAY CURVES. 



Sir, — I have recently been engaged in staking out the line of one of 

 the principal railways now in progress of formation, and in the course 

 of my operations met with some difficulty, in consequence of being 

 compelled to cross several roads and rivers, and certain lands, at fixed 

 points. To accomplish this, I was obliged to make use of curves of 

 different radii for shorter distances than usually adopted. 



Now, although it is, doubtless, an object in laying the rails, to make 

 the resistance equal by continuing a good working curve, or gradient, 

 as far .as possible, yet I think it would be an improvement upon the 

 system of running directly from a straight line to a curve of H, '2, or 

 '■i^ miles radius, if a curve of ;i, 4, or 5 miles radius for a short distance 



(say 6 or 10 chains, or any dietance which the locality would make 

 convenient) were made use of to connect them. 



I would add, that projectiles (where the resistance is equal) assume 

 the parabolic curve, to which the plan I propose is an approximation. 



If any of your more experienced readers would correct any error I 

 may have fallen into, they would much oblige 



Vour obedient servant, 



Dec. U, 1838. " A SUB." 



THE SOANEAN MUSEUM. 



Under the head of •' Weekly Gossip,"' in its number for December 

 1st, the Allieiicriim has made the following rem.arks respecting this so- 

 called /)K?i/;V establishment : — " Whilst upon the subject of ^luscums. 

 let us ask, are the Soanean trustees still nodding ' in the pleasant 

 land of Drowsihood,' as well as their great prototypes abovemen- 

 tioned r (vi?.. those of the Rritish Museum), llow long is the Public 

 Inheritance in l.incohi's-inn-fields to remain a close borough for Mr. 

 So-and-so, the curator, and Mrs. So-and-so, the housekeeper? A rich 

 Aichite.cturul Library was left, we submit, to be devoured by some- 

 thing else than the dry-rot. Wh.en sh.all we have the use and enjoy- 

 ment of our heritage ? Or has the entrance been removed to terra 

 incognita f Two years almost has the testator been dead, yet the 

 British people must still be satisfied with permission to visit their men 

 properly some few months (rather some few days) during the fashiou- 

 .able season ! Let us hope that by next spring such arrangements will 

 have been made, as may render a recurrence to this subject unne- 

 cessary." 



It affords us great pleasure to find the matter so strongly taken up 

 in such a quarter ; for were we solitary in our condemnation of the 

 svstem of nominal access to, but viitu.al exclusion from, the Soanean 

 Museum, we might be thought to plead rather for our own conve- 

 nience, than for the right of the public generally. So long as it con- 

 tinues upon its present footing, the whole is a monstrous piece of 

 humbug — an absolute dog-in-the-manger affair, and as such cannot be 

 too strongly reprobated. As far, too, as the liberal donor's memory is 

 concerned, it would be infinitely more charit.able towards him, to pay 

 no regard to his childish freaks and whims, but throw the Museum open 

 to the public, " every day and all day long," than, by adhering to them, 

 to remind the public perpetually of his stingy disposition, which in- 

 duced him to tie up the property in such manner that no one^ncither 

 the public nor his own family, can enjoy it; the only parties who can 

 really be said to be in actual possession, being Mr. Curator and Mrs. 

 Housekeeper — the servants of the public — who, no doubt, have full 

 leisure to perform " high life below stairs," or. lor the matter of that, up- 

 stairs, too. If there be a rich Architectural Library, which, after 

 what we have heard, we very much doubt, let all those who can benefit 

 by it have free access to it. The only respect in which the .Soanean 

 Museum can now be considered i\ pro bono publico, \^, that it seems 

 likely to be a bone of public contention. Let u?, therefore, fight for it 

 manfully— no, not manfully, but doggedly, imtil one part} or the other 

 get the day. At all events, it is a case wherein the next best tiling to 

 a decisive victory would be an equally decisive defeat. 



SCHOOLS OF ENGINEERING, MINING, AND SURVEYING. 



As very great ignorance seems to exist among the would-be poli- 

 tical economists as to the state and progress of the schools for 

 engineering, mining, and surveying, we are induced to publish the 

 following remarks : — The fiovernment have the departments at 

 Sandhurst, Woolwich, and Chatham ; the East India Company have 

 also a college ; the Royal Dublin Society have long given regular 

 courses of lectures and' instruction, under the superintendence of 

 Mr. GriflRths ; and surveying has been so cfieclively taught at the 

 Agricultural Seliool of Templemoyle, that the Ordnance Surveying 

 Department there has received considerable assistance from it. Sur- 

 veying is one of the regular branches of instruction at Elizabeth 

 College, Guernsey; and we believe also at King William College, in 

 the Isle of Man. 



But if any deficiency of these institutions exists, it will be fully 

 supplied by the faculties established at Durham, and in University 

 and King's Colleges, London. In the college in progress at Bath, 

 professional instruction is part of the course proposed, and we have 

 no doubt that it will soon be adopted in Ireland or Scotland. 

 The southern mines will also have a school founded by means of the 

 Dunstanville subscription. 



We wonder that the admirers of the Polytechnic School had not 

 pointed put the defici<;ncy of agricultural schools in England, while 



