1839.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL 



149 



circumslaiiccs. Mr. J. W. Hunoe, honorarv secrelary, stated that the rooms 

 would, ill future, lie open from nine in tlie morning to seven in the evening, 

 for studying iVom casts , and that the library would be accessible, from seven 

 to nine o'clock, every Wednesday and Saturday evening. He had also great, 

 pleasure in adverting to a circumstance, highly gratifying to the society, and 

 honourable to the individual to whom he was "about to refer. A letter had 

 been received from Mr. Thomas L. Donaldson, honorai-y secretary of the 

 Royal Institute of British Architects, stating that the council of that body 

 had awarded their medal to a member of this society, for his successful 

 essay-. Mr. Hance then read the following letter, addressed to Mr. Edward 

 HaU (applause) : — 



" 5th March, 1839. 

 " Sir, — I have the honour to inform you, that, the council having mada 

 their report upon the essays sent in for the medal of the institute, at the 

 ordinary meeting, held last evening, the members awarded to you the medal 



of merit, for the essay bearing the motto,- — ' Scspicc ad Pulaiinam Montem 



t^asta nidera.' I shall communicate to you the day appointed for the distri- 

 bution of the medals as soon as the council have api)ointcd the time, which 



mil probably be shortly Believe me, sir, very faiibfullv yours, 



""tHOS. L. DONALDSON, Honorary Secretary." 

 The subject and title of the essay, as ii.\ed by the British Institute, is '^ An 

 analytical investigation of the peculiar chai-acteiistics, in design and con- 

 struction, wliich distinguished Roman from Grecian architecture, with par- 

 ticular reference to ancient Roman examples." Mr. Hance added that Mr. 

 Hall, who was present, was, as they were all aware, a very young inau ; and 

 he (Mr. Hance) trusted that his mei-it and success w-ould stimulate others^ 

 He hoped that this society w-ould in time be enabled to offer honorary 

 rewards fordruwings and essays; the council had wished to do so, but they 

 felt that their exertions must first be directed to settling the society iu their 

 new premises. The chairman briefly acknowledged the kind wishes 

 expressed towai'ds his son, of whose success he had only heard a few hours 

 before, on his own return from Ireland. Mr. Hance next expressed tha 

 pleasure of the society at the presence, for the first time, of resident artists. 

 It would be seen by the walls that the conversazione was not limited to 

 arcliitectm-al subjects ; and it was intended to place works of art, generally 

 of standard mei-it, on the walls and tables, without distinctioir or reserve. 

 He expressed his regret that another series of cou-\ ersazione had fallen into 

 disuse, and the hope that, with the aid and support of artists and 

 amateurs, those of this society, proposed to be held quarterly, would assume 

 a rank creditable to all parties. In conclusion he expressed the thanks of 

 the society to Mr. Andrew Hall, its president, for his kind interest in and 

 attention to its welfare. The greater part of the evening was agreeably spent 

 bv the members and visitors, in looking at the drawings and works of art 

 upon the walls and tables. Blr. R. Tattersall contributed several interiors of 

 halls, library, &c. and designs for a church, and for a club house. Mr. J- 

 W. Hance had drawings of the pump-room at Cheltenham, the hall of the 

 Manchester Royal Institution, a design for a new post-office, exchange, bank, 

 and other public offices (which, it was stated, w-as about to be published), 

 and a design for a picture gallery. Mr. J. W. Fraser contributed a number 

 of pleasing landscapes in oil, and drawings ; Mr. T. W. Atkinson, an inte- 

 rior of Sefton church, and an architectural design. Mr. Horner sent a large 

 oil painting decoration for a room, and there was another very fine decora- 

 tive x^iece iu a new style. Mr. J. C. tjrundy contributed a number of 

 paintings and drawings, amongst which we noticed a fine landscape by 

 Carmichael ; and Mr. Agnew also sent some. There was a very neat isomo- 

 trical view of Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire (a seat of the Duke of Devon, 

 shire), contributed by Mr. C. J. Tulott. Mr. E. Corbett sent an elevation 

 for a bank at Liverpool. There was a very good full-length portrait in oil, 

 small size, of Mr. C. A. Duval, artist, painted by himself; and we noticed a 

 pretty little oi'.-paiuting of a village inn, by Chester. Mr. Calvert and other 

 artists also sent water-colour drawings; and the collection generally waa a 

 very pleasing one. On the tables were vai'ious portfolios of engravings, 

 illustrated books on art, including Richardson's Illustrations of the Architec- 

 ture of Elizabeth and James I. ; Flaxman's designs ; Robert's Spain and 

 Morocco; Stansfield's sketches, &c., 5cc. Mr. J. E. Bowman placed on the 

 table a number of the photogenic cbawiugs of ferns, lace. Sec. and a copy- 

 produced by this uewdy -discovered means, from a small copper-plate engrav. 

 ing. In conclusion, we are happy to state, that every one present at this 

 very agreeable conversazione teemed to be highly gratified with the objects of 

 interest provided for their inspection. — ManchesUr Guardian. 



"voided, as they ate dangerous ; and sometimes, as in tlie case of arches, one 

 stone of this description will, from its failure, ruin the whole work. Spots of 

 oxide of iron or of manganese are equally bad omens, as the stones on which 

 they exist are liable to action from the weather. .'Argillaceous stones generally 

 contain mica, and this is so susceptible of wet, as greatly to deteriorate from 

 tiieir qualities. Brown or black stones generally exfoliate in laminie. from 

 their re.^dy absorption of moisture, so that they should only be used in places 

 under cover, where they are secure fiom this dangerous a^ent. Moisture, in- 

 deed, from the conipactnessof its atoms when frozen, injures stones apparently 

 of the strongest constitutions, and this is the weak side of granites, syenite, 

 porphyry, and breccia, whicl-v frec|uently, from this cause, exhibit fissures. 

 Stones, therefore, which are to be used above the surface, sliould not be of 

 moist tendency, but such should he reserved for subterranean purposes. The 

 consequence of absorption of moisture, as before observed, is liability to 

 injury from frost; and, to ascertain this susceptibility, one of the simplest 

 methods is to allow a piece of the stone to remain in water, and then to weigh 

 it, to find out the quantity imbibed. Another method recently introduced is 

 to take a small cube of stone, dip it in a solution of some salt, and then 

 to hang it for a few days over the vessel containing the salt, so as to 

 allow the salt to crystallize on its surface; this process is to be repeated for 

 five days, and then, if tlie stone be good, no sand or fragments of the stone 

 will be discoverable in the solution ; but if it be liable to injury from frost, 

 then corners of the cube or sand will be deposited in the vessel over which 

 it hung. Wet stones, when brought from the quarry, should he dried, 

 because it is found that the mortar will not adhere to them, and that if the 

 stone be wet it will always remain so. Stones should also be left for twelve 

 months before they are used, in order to see in what manner they are 

 affected. 



Granite formed of mica, felspar, and quartz, is liable, from its first consti- 

 tuent, to destruction by weather, although it is a material susceptible of the 

 highest uses. Not to speak of the many magnificent works formed from 

 this material in Egypt, we have noble specimens in Waterloo Bridge, and the 

 King's Library in the Museum, in which latter four columns of .Aberdeen 

 granite cost each l,500;., or 16,000^. for the set. Syenite is composed of the 

 same constituents as granite, with the substitution, however, of hornblende 

 for mica, and derives its name from the city of Syene, in Egypt, by the 

 people of which it was much used. Gneiss is a slaty granite, and is, from 

 this definition, not very useful. Quartz is principally adapted for subterra- 

 nean localities, and is used for foundations. Porphyry was used most exten- 

 sively by the Egyptians, and so was the striped stone called serpentine, of 

 which even cups and vases were formed. The volcanic rocks are divided 

 into basaltic and trachitic ; the basaltic contain a portion of iron, and are 

 used for fortifications, and also in the Cathedral of Cologne; the trachitic 

 rocks are also used most extensively on the banks of the Rhine, even for the 

 purpose of milestoues. Of the white marble of the lias formation — that 

 treasure of the British Museum — the Birth of St. John, by Albert Durer, is 

 executed. 



It seems as if, by Divine interposition, the very arrangement of the 

 strata is made conducive to human convenience and advantage ; from the 

 primary and transition strata we derive our hardest materials, and from the 

 secondary and tertiary, our limes and cements. All, indeed, leads us 

 upwards to the Deity, through Nature to Nature's God ; and our investiga- 

 tion of his glorious works is one of the best acknowledgments we can make 

 of his power and love, and of the manner in which he has devoted the most 

 wonderful agencies to be blessings to us during our stay on eartii. 



ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY. 



The following donations were announced ; — 



MUner's Treatise on Ecclesiastical Architecture iu England, by H. Roper, 

 Esq. 



Chapman's Observations on Canal Navigation, by H. Roper, Esq. 



■Voyage Pittoresque dans le Province d' Yucatan, par Frederick 



de Waldcck, by William Tite, Esq., President. 



Letter to Lady Duncannon, by 'Thomas Hopper, Esq. 



Sir Edward Gust's Pamphlet, by Thomas Hopper, Esq. 



Mr. Brayley delivered a lecture " On the Chemical History of Cements, 

 aud of the Artificial Substances employed as Substitutes for Stone," being the 

 third of a course now in piogress of delivery. 



The Chairman announced '• That the next public meeting of the Society 

 would be held on Tuesday evening, the 9th April, when Mr. Brayley would 

 deliver his fourth and concluding lecture. The subject to be " On these 

 physical and chemical properties of Building Stones on which their use essen- 

 tia'ly depends. " 



That the meeting to be held on the 23d April would be a public meeting 

 for the introduction of visitors, and that Mr. JeflVeys, the inventor of a new 

 grate for elTectually warming rooms, &c. would read a paper " On the Warming 

 and Ventilating of Rooms." 



THE MANCHESTER .-VRCHITECTURAL SOOIETYS 

 CONVERSAZIONE. 

 The first conversazione of this society, in the present season, was held on 

 Wednesday evening, the 6th ultimo, when the new rooms of the society, No. 

 24, Cooper-street, were opened. Mr. .\udrew Hall, who hiul recently beeu 

 elected president of the society, took the chair, aud congratulated the" mem- 

 bei-5 ou theu- assemblius togethei m their iieiv aiiartuients, iiuder I'livournble 



ROYAL SOCIETY. 



fell. 28. Obscri-aUons on the Parallel Roads oj Gleii Roy and uf other parts 



of Lochabar, with un attempt to prove, that they are of marine origin. By 

 Charles Darwin, Esq., M.A. 



The author premises a brief description of the parallel roads, shelves, or 

 hues, as they have been indefinitely called, which are most cnnspicuo-us in 

 (lien Roy and the neighbouring valleys, referring for more detailed accomita 

 to those given by Sir Thomas Dick I,auder, in the Transactions of the Royal 

 Society of Edinburgh, and by Dr. M'CiiUocb, iu those of the Geological 

 Society of London. Both these geologists endeavour to explain the for- 

 mation of these shelves, on the bypiithesis of their resulting from depositions 

 of the margin of lakes, which had formerly existed at those levels. The 

 author however shows that this hypothesis is inadmissible, from the in- 

 superable difficulties opposed to any conceivable mode of tha constructiou 

 and removal, at siiCDesBivs iH-rioiis; ol' suveral harriers of imaienss dze, 



