112 



THE CIVIL ENGINEEU AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[March, 



fo raise steam more rapidly on any emorgonry It is not adapted for use asa 

 fuel by itself, but when about 2j cwt. of this fuel is used with about 20 

 cwt. of coal, by throwing it iu front of the fire with cacli charge of fresh 

 coal, a much belter combustion of the coal takes place, and the effect is 

 equal to that whicti would be produced by 27 ewt. of coal. Tluis 2i cwt. of 

 this fuel so employed is equivalent to 7 cwt. of coal. The cost is from 

 .^s. to 40s. per ton. The Transatlantic steamers carried from 40 to 60 tons 

 of it, and besides the advantage attending its use, there was a saving in 

 room, which was applicable to the stowage of cargo. 



A long discussion took place on the important facts wliicli the application 

 of tliis fuel liad elicited. Tliese .appeared in some mea.sure contradictory to 

 tlie results, which could not be doubted, that 9 lb. of ctikc will do as nuicli 

 in any department of the arts as 12 lb. of coal : for on adding to coal a peal 

 and a hydro-carbou far more inflammable than coal, the result is equivalent 

 to that wliich is produced by all the carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, inmany 

 tinu's the quantity of coal. It was remarked, that the circumstances under 

 which fuel was eiuployed ought tobe considered, as the consumption of fuel 

 under steam-boilers could hardly be compared with the consumption for 

 simply heating and keeping liot a large mass of matter as in a glass-house. 

 It could not be believed, that the absolute quantity of heat from the coke 

 of a ton of coals is the same as of the ton of coals, for in that case all the 

 heat of a coke oven would go for nothing, and there were instances of this 

 being beneficially emi)loye(l. 



INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS. 



Feb. 4. — P. F. Robinson, V.P., in the chair 

 The Cavalier Bianchi was elected an Honorary and Corresponding 

 Member. 



The report of the Council, as to the adjudication of the Prize for the best 

 restoration of an ancient castle, was read and confirmed ; and tlie letter, 

 bearing the motto of the successful drawings, having been opened, the 

 author appeared to be Mr. Samuel Sharp. Associate, of York. In consi- 

 deration of this being the secoiul time that Mr. .Sharp had entitled himself 

 to the approbation of the Institute, for the zeal and talent with which he 

 had executed the restorations of St. Mary's Abbey, York, and Sherifl' Hut- 

 Ion Castle, it was resolved that a gold rim be added to the .Soane me- 

 dallion, wliicli will be awarded to him. 



A traHslat'ion, by Mr. Donaldson, was read, of a memoir of the late M. 

 Perciei!, architect, of Paris, Honoranj and Corresponding Member, for- 

 icu'ded by M. V.\uDoyER, archilcet. 



Charles Percier was born at Paris of a respectable family, and received * 

 liberal education. From his earliest age he evinced a talent for drawing, 

 was placed by his father at the free school for drawing, then under the ma- 

 nagement of the formder, M. Bachelier, painter to the king. His tasti; 

 leaning to tlie side of architecture, he soon after entered the studio of M. 

 Paris, whose school had long enjoyed considerable reputation. In 178.3, M. 

 Percier carried off the second great prize; and in 1786, having gained the 

 first great architectural prize, he became a travelling student to the French 

 Academy at Rome. He there became the companion and intimate friend 

 of M. Fontaine, who, possessing like tastes, like ardour, and like infornni- 

 tinu, entered with him into the same branches of study, and from that time 

 the two friends worked together, travelled together, and Ined in the same 

 dwelling ; and, till they were separated by death, they shared the same 

 glory, the same joys and sorrows. On the return of MM. Percier and Fon- 

 taine to France, the storm of 17'J2 was raging, and they employed their ta- 

 lents in designing for manufacturers of carpets, paper, furni(iu-c, &c. It 

 was at tills time, also, that they engraved and publislied tlieir many useful 

 studies in Italy. A calm having at length succeeded, M. Percier's talents 

 began to be appreciated under the Emperor, and in the following reigns he 

 was called to assist in great works. Le Carrousel, the Triumphal Arch, 

 the interior of the Tuilerics, the line de Hi\oU, the completion of the 

 Louvre, Le Chapelle Expiatoire, the improvements of rEIy.se'e, de Malmai- 

 son, de NeuiUy, and Fontaincbleau. M. C. Percier died on the .^th of 

 September, 18.38, at the age of seventy-four. He was a man of gicat gene- 

 ral information, conversant with the literatiue of )iis own and foreign 

 countries, well informed in history, antiquities, a lover of painting and of 

 music, to all of which he had devoted much attention. In consideration of 

 the advantages he had in his youth derived from the Royal Free School of 

 Design, M. Percier bequeathed a sum of l.')0,()00 fi-ancs to this institution, 

 for the encouragement and assistance of poor and deserving students. At 

 the conclusion of the paper, Mr. Donaldson reviewed at some length the 

 various merits of the numerous works published by Messrs. Percier and 

 F'ontaiue. 



At an Ordinary General Meeting, held at 16, Lower Grosrcnor-street, 

 ISlh Feb., 1839, P. F. Robinson, V.P., in the Chair. 



A letter was read from Mons. Vaudoyer, acknowledging the thanks of the 

 Institute for his former communication, and enclosing a list of the restorations 

 made by the students of the French Academy at Rome, and preserved at the 

 Academy of Fine Ai'ts, at Paris. 



The following donations were announced as having been received since the 

 last meeting : — 



From Mons. Laves, Hon. and Cor. Mem. at Hanover : A Print of the Water- 

 loo Column and Hall of the Knights, Hanover; and Pamphlets on the Qualities 

 Of Words.— George Saunders, Escj., : two steel standard foot measiues, pre. 



pared by Ramsden. — H.E. Kendall, Fellow : Cast of the Lion's Head, from the 

 Parthenon. — C. J. Richardson, Fellow: Proof impression of a view of Hol- 

 land House. — T. L. Donaldson, H.S. : one volume of Transactions of Ameri- 

 can Institute, containing the (luestions published by the R. I. B. A. — ^W. C. 

 Mylne, Fellow : Editio Princeps of \itruvius, and Autograph T,ettersof G.B. 

 Piranesi, Bonorai, Robert Mylne and Lewis, Architi'Cts ; andof Sir William 

 Hamilton, formerly British Ambassador at the Court of Naples. — Copy of 

 Resolutions of Associated Architects, to consider cases of frequent fire and 

 means of prcventimi. — Thomas Chawner, Fellow, presented twenty guineas. 



A paper was read from Mr. Martin, of Derby, describing a new species of 

 cement invented by bim, accompanied by specimens. 



A paper was read by John Shaw, F'ellow, on Ecclesiastical Architecture 

 applicable to Modern Churches ; a printed copy of which Mr. Shaw also 

 presented. 



A Description of the Manufacture of Paper Hangings, by Mr. John Gregory 

 C race, was read; Ulnstrated liy various samples of papers, and explained by 

 specimens executed by Mr. Crace's assistants at the tiuu'. 



A Letter was read from Wm. Wilkins, Esq., R.A., addressed to his Lordship, 

 the President, calling attention to some drawings which accompanied the 

 letter, made by a young self-taught draughtsman at Cambridge. The Icttsr 

 also stated that another volume of the Dilettanti would soon be ready for 

 publication. 



ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY. 



Ordiirary Mretiiii/ of the Society lield 39//i January, ISSO — William Baenes, 

 Esq., in the chair. 



Michael Meredith, Esq., of Blomfield-street, Finsbury Circus, was elected 

 a member. 



The Chairman announced a donation of twenty guineas, by J. Griffiths, 

 Esq., (member,) of Finsbuiy place, South. 



MonthJij Maiing of Ihc Soiirlij lield Tncsihuj crenliii/, tlie VZlli Fehruary, 1839 — 

 William Tite, Esq., President in the chair. 



Thomas Nichols, Esq., of Castle-street, Holbern, was elected a Member. 



E. W. Brayley jun., Esq., delivered a Lecture " On Limestones and other 

 substances affording materials for Cements," being the second of a course of 

 lectures now in progress of delivery in the Society's Rooms. 



The Chairman announced that the subject for the sketches proposed to be 

 produced by the student members at the next meeting was as follow? :— " The 

 elevation and plan of an entrance to a Lunatic Asylum, detached with lodges 

 each side." 



The next Public Meeting will be held on Tuesday evening, the 12th instant, 

 when Mr. Brayley will deliver his third lecture " On artificial substances 

 employed as substitutes for Stone." 



ROYAL SOCIETY. 

 Feb. 7 The Marquis of Nortuvmpton, President, in the chair. 



James Heywood, Esq., and the Rev. H. Mosely, M.A., were elected 

 fellows. 



A paper was read, entitled, ' Notice of a Shock of an Earthfialc, felt in the 

 Island of.St. Mary's, one of the Hcilly Islands, o/i the 2\st of January, 1839. 

 Bii the Rco. George Wordley.' 



The tremulous motion of the ground is described as being very slight, and 

 felt chiefly in the south parts of the island. It was accompanied by a pecu- 

 liarly harsh and grating sound, which was only of momentary duration, 

 .and no particular agitation of the sea was obsei'^d. 



A paper was also read iu part, entitled, ' Observations on the Paralkl 

 IZoads of Glen Hoy, andof other parts o/'Lochabar, ivith an attempt to prove that 

 they are of marine orifjin,* by Charles Darwin, Esq., F.R.S. 



Feb. 14. — J. W. LliBBOCK, Esq., V.P. and Treas., in the chair. 



A paper was read, entitled, ' Itesearchcs on the Chemical Eqniealents of certain 

 bodies,' to/ Richard Phillips, Esq., F'.R. S. 



The author examines, by a new series of experiments, the truth of the 

 theory of Dr. Prout and Dr. Thomson, namely, " that all atomic weights are 

 simple multiples of that of hydrogen"' — a theory which the late Dr. Turner 

 had maintaiueil is at variance with the most exact analytic researches, and 

 consequently untenable. Although the experiments of Dr. Turner, and the 

 inferences which he drew from them, agree very nearly with those of Berze- 

 lius, it still appeared to the author desirable to investigate this subject ; and 

 it occuncd to liim, tbat the inquiry could be conducted in a mode not liable 

 to some of the objections which might be urged agamst the processes usually 

 employed. Dr. Turner having adopted a whole number, namely, 108, as the 

 equivalent of silver, this substance was selected by the author as the basis of 

 his inquiry into the equivalent numbers of chlorine, and some other elemen- 

 tary gases". It appeared to him, tbat the chance of eiror arising from the 

 fusing of the chloride of silver might be entirely removed, and other advan- 

 tages gained, by experimenting on silver on a large scale, with such propor- 

 tions of the substances employed as were deemed to be equivalents, and in- 

 stead of calculating from the whole product of the fused chloride, to do it 

 merely from the weight of such small portion only as might arise from the 

 difl'erenco between theoretical views and experimental results. The author 

 concludes, from the train of reasoning he applies to the series of experiments 

 so undertaken, that no material, and even scarcely any appreciable, error can 

 arise, from considering the equivalent numbers of hydrogen, oxygen, azote, 

 and chlorine, as being 1, 8, 14, and 3(j respectively. 



